Sorry this took so long! I had a small vacation with the family and couldn't find much time to write. I had trouble getting satisfied with how this came out, so hopefully it came out well! There is going to be a part 3 to this arc, so stay tuned!
Part 15: Careless
Zim sat on the rooftop until the final bell had rung and students began to trickle out of the building. Dib snuck to the roof through the rush of students leaving. He met Zim at the center, sitting down beside him. Zim had his alien pad out again, flicking through pages of what Dib could only surmise were chemistry notes.
"Have you not moved all day?" he asked.
"No. Though, Zim has found a likely antidote. Boosting the suppressor recipe using Zim's own venom as the base should allow it to attack what is left in the guard," Zim explained. He rested his head in one hand, waving the pad around. "It will take hours to synthesize using Zim's own machinery. It's been modified by me for more efficiency."
"And you haven't shared that with your Tallest yet? I'm surprised, Zim."
"It was not part of Zim's mission and they showed no interest in it. Their mistake," Zim says curtly. However, Dib could hear the small amount of pride in ZIm's voice at the small rebellion.
"How are you going to get the guard to your base? Lure him?" Dib asks.
"Zim was merely going to kidnap him from his own residence. The Voot Cruiser has a beam to carry objects or creatures into its cargo bay. Zim will use that. The guard weighs significantly less than what the Cruiser can carry, Zim is sure."
"Wait, your cruiser has a cargo bay?"
"A small one," Zim explains. He pockets the pad into his PAK. Dib shifts uncomfortably.
"You're going to kidnap him as an alien, right? Not disguised and you're going under the cover of darkness, right?" Dib asks.
"Don't be idiotic, of course that's how," Zim says. "Is Dib-stink worried?"
"Don't patronize me," Dib says, shoving the alien. Zim chuckled, easily swaying back to his previous position, arms crossed. "You don't know where he lives, by the way."
"The school computer does," Zim says simply. "Zim will simply find his file and address after everyone has left. Sports activities will cause Zim more waiting, however."
"Go between the end of practice and everyone leaving, that'll be the point when it's least suspicious to be in the halls. If you use them," Dib explains, standing. Zim raised an eyebrow at him but Dib only shrugged. "Just an observation. You're not going to steal from the science lab again, are you?"
"Do not patronize me, now," Zim says, kicking Dib's foot. "I will contact you when I have the guard. Go home and sleep, you look utterly dreadful."
"Teasing! But hey, that's what a whole day of stress will do to you," Dib teases. He stops at the rooftop door, hand on the handle. He turns back to Zim. "Can I help? At all?"
"It would be safer if you did not," Zim says, laying out for the wait. "There is greater chance of being caught with two of us, and Zim is not bringing Gir either."
"You're going alone?" Dib asks. He marches back to the alien. "Going without me I wasn't happy about, but I expected you to at least bring Gir!"
"Do you really wish Zim bring that screaming bot?" Zim asks with a scowl. Dib pursed his lips at the alien. He had a good point. Dib screamed in frustration, kicking at the roof.
"Damn it, I know that makes sense, but you could get hurt doing this-"
"It is one scrawny human-"
"Yes, we're aware we're not the strongest or baddest on the block. That's why we made weapons."
"There is a weapon on my back!"
"You don't have a gun, Zim," Dib says. The Irken opened his mouth to refute and paused. He sank back down to the roof. "Or a knife. Or a sword. …Okay, actually, I can't think of why he'd have a sword. But the other two options remain viable. It's not hard to get knives and guns around here."
"No, but Zim has many Irken weapons that can be used just as well. Some better," Zim assures him. Dib sighs, running his hands through his hair. Zim looked down at the concrete.
"Just… don't get caught and don't kill him. We're trying to go for the opposite result. If you need help, you CALL ME. Got it?" Dib asked. When Zim didn't immediately answer Dib stressed his tone. "GOT IT?"
Zim gave a snort, shooting up and guiding Dib to the door. "Yes, Zim will call. Zim will call regardless when the deed is done if it will ease your mind, Dib-stink."
Zim opened the door and set Dib inside. Dib turned to him, holding the door open. "Just so you know. The guards aren't allowed to bring their gear home. I see them set their stuff back into their lockers, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to get a weapon. Half the guards here used to be police. Promise you'll be careful?"
"Do not worry," Zim says. Dib let him shut the door, turning to walk home. He wasn't sleeping until he knew Zim was at his base that night.
Zim sat on the roof, tapping his claws on the concrete. He watched the last of the students file into the school after practices. He quickly made hisway down to the main floor, climbing into a vent outside the access door. Snaking his way through the maze of shoots, he checked each downward opening for the rooms or halls he was above. It took him ten minutes to find the main office.
He gripped the sides of the grate, pulling up slowly. The sounds ricocheted through the vents. Zim focused on the task, patiently lifting the grate until the screws snapped. The sudden release of a hold had Zim jolt, but he kept his balance, placing the grate to the opposite side of the opening.
He used his PAKs mechanical limbs to lower himself into the office and carry him to the computer. He grabbed a cable from his PAK. Once hooked up to the computer Zim was disappointed to find the security lacking. Dib's own computer put most units to shame on a regular basis but this was laughable. Zim was in and out with the data within a minute.
He climbed to the roof again, scaling down the side to the sports fields to make it home as inconspicuously as possible. It was still several hours until night fell, allowing Zim time to distract Gir when he was preparing for his mission. It was easy. He simply tossed the robot a jar of jelly, loathing the clean-up he'd have to endure later, but desperate to ensure the robot wouldn't interfere.
Beginning the antidote was less so. Dib had shared a video of how snakes had their venom extracted. Zim was surprised to learn that a similar method had worked with his claws. He'd essentially drained his reserves, mixing most of it into different amounts to be sure one of them would work. He had six hours to wait and find out. Zim set the containers to synthesize, locking them behind a metal grate in case Gir decided to fly.
Afterward it was only a matter of inputting the guard's home address into the Voot Cruiser and he was in the air. The guard lived far from the city, just past the suburbs. Zim was glad, there would be less witnesses. It was nearing midnight now, as dark as it was getting Zim turned off the Cruiser's outer lights and set it into autopilot while he prepared the beam and cargo bay.
He reached the house as he exited the cargo bay. Zim flipped the inside lights off. The Cruiser hovered over the center of the house. Now he needed him to come outside. Zim thought for a moment and revved the engine of the Cruiser. He repeated the action until the guard, clearly angered but not in the shape to be leaving his house, stomped out onto the back porch.
"Who is doing that?! It's almost one in the morning!"
Zim took the shot, hitting the beam and taking the guard by surprise. He screamed being lifted into the sky, but would have been heard for only a few moments. Zim steered back to his base. It was a second of silence before the guard was slamming against the cargo door, swearing. His blows were weak, growing weaker the entire flight to Zim's base. When they had landed in the roof, Zim exited out the front. He listened for any movement from the human, but heard nothing.
Zim grumbled to himself. The guard should be alive. Conscious was another matter. But that only meant that he'd be easier to transport. Zim left the Cruiser for a moment. He moved to a control panel, speaking through the system.
"Gir, come up to the attic. You're transporting a specimen."
Gir's voice cracked over the speaker in response. "Be there in a second!"
Zim unlocked the attic doors. He could attempt to keep Gir from smashing it off its hinges this time. He should simply remove the door at this rate. He moved to the Voot Cruiser's cargo bay doors, snatching a rope from the wall on his way. He wasn't having the human wake up halfway down the elevator unrestrained.
He had the rope unraveled and ready when he hit the button. For a moment, the doors opened with no movement form inside. When the bay door hit his shoulders, he heard Gir on the other side of the room smashing down the doors. They hit the floor along with Gir at the same moment a shot rang through the attic.