A/N: Alright! Like I promised, here be Chapter 23 of ZADR Orange ON TIME this week! 8D And see? I told you guys I wouldn't keep you all waiting too horribly long for the next chapter. =3 So much thanks to those of you who have faved or added the story to your story alert lists. Without further ado, here be your next update. =3 Hope you all enjoy! 8D And remember, feedback is much appreciated! 8D
Warnings: Extreme OOCness
Rating: M for later chapters
Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Zim: Notgonnadie
Dib/Gaz: Me
Beta: Notgonnadie
Glaring at Zim, Gaz finally looked to the work he was doing. "What are you-" she began to ask again but cut herself short upon realizing that it was Dib he was working on. Eyes growing wide, she shoved him aside to get a better look. "Just what the fuck do you think you're doing to him?" she screamed.
"WAIT, GAZ! NO! DON'T MESS WITH HIM! IT'S CRITICAL!" Zim grabbed her before she could do any harm to him. At the moment, Dib's chest was cut open, and a very small pair of antennas had formed on the top of his head. His skin had also turned a vague green color, and his glasses sat on a table next to the rest of the equipment.
Turning on Zim, Gaz grasped him by the front of his uniform top and shoved him roughly against the wall. "You have five seconds to explain exactly what the fuck my brother is doing laying cut open on a table in your lab before I do something to make you wish you had never been born." she growled out, eyes narrowing even more on him.
"NO! NO! He's delicate right now! I have to give him this!" Zim struggled to pull away, frantically shooting worried glances back and forth between Dib and Gaz. "He wanted this! Didn't you notice that he looked different last night? That was a trial to see if he'd like it and want to make it permanent!" he spit out as quickly as he could so Gaz would let him go.
Growling lowly, glancing back at Dib herself, Gaz was unsure whether to believe the other or not before she finally released him. "Whatever it is you're doing to him, you better hope he comes out of alive because I swear, if he doesn't, I'll punch you so hard your head will spin right off of your shoulders." she warned him before allowing him to return to work on Dib.
Nodding his head vigorously, Zim jerked away from her when he could and quickly made his way back over to Dib, injecting a small needle into his arm. "He'll be fine, Gaz." he finally said once he had injected what he needed to inject into Dib.
Continuing to glare at him nonetheless, Gaz just crossed her arms. "You better hope that without a doubt you're right." she warned again, narrowing her eyes on him even more.
"I AM right." Zim then growled back at her, getting annoyed now. "Now either help me or go away!" he yelled at her, not needing all these distractions while he was trying to work.
"I'm not going anywhere! Not until Dib is off that table and conscious again!" Gaz barked back at him.
Sighing at Gaz's words, Zim knew he couldn't argue with her about this any longer and nodded. "Then do what I say, okay...?" he said before hearing his stomach growl. "C-Could you get me a snack?" he asked timidly, wanting that more than anything.
Scowling back at him, however, Gaz refused to leave the room while her brother was still cut open on that table. "No. I'm not leaving. If you want a snack so bad then get if yourself and leave me to watch over him. Otherwise, have your computer bring you one or something." she said, brushing off his request.
Sighing again, Zim turned back to his work. "Okay, fine. I'll wait until he's out of the critical stage." he said, taking up another syringe to fill with some strange blue liquid. Waiting for a red light to ping, he then injected it into Dib carefully.
Crossing her arms, Gaz turned to watch as Zim returned to his work on Dib. "And how long will that be?" she asked, sending him a rather suspicious look.
Glancing at the clock in the room, Zim tried to come up with an estimate for her. "He should be stable in about thirty more minutes." he said before turning back to what he was doing.
"Whatever you do, don't screw this up. And exactly how long of a procedure were you planning on making this anyways?" Gaz asked, wanting more details on it so she'd know what to expect.
"Well, it will take some time for all the changes to take effect...I've given him enough sleeping gas to keep him knocked out for a few more hours at least." Zim sighed, leaning over to stroke Dib's hair gently.
That not being the answer she was looking for however, Gaz narrowed her eyes on him again. "But how much longer are you planning on 'working' on him?" she asked again, trying not to let her temper get the better of her.
Looking up from his work yet again, Zim answered her with another response that didn't really tell her anymore than his last response had. "As long as I have to." he glared back at her.
Getting more and more frustrated with Zim's answers now, Gaz growled at him lowly. "Listen, you. I want an estimate of how many more hours you're going to have my brother gutted out on this table!" she snarled, in no mood for Zim's roundabout answers to her questions.
Sighing out lowly, Zim lifted his head up with a look of relief on his face. "Thankfully not much longer...I'll sew him back up once he's stabilized." he informed her, hoping that would be enough information for her.
But Gaz could only cross her arms across her chest before turning her attention back to Dib. "And then will you be done working on him? Or are you planning on running more 'tests' on him?" she asked, obviously not satisfied with the information she was receiving from the other.
"Would you just BELIEVE ME? I'm not trying to harm Dib!" Zim finally exploded on her, fed up with her interrogation of every little thing he did.
"Just answer my question then already!" Gaz shot back, no longer having the patience to put up with Zim any longer.
"Yes! I'll have to run a few tests! But that's only to make sure everything works right, alright?" Zim finally gave her a straight answer.
Meanwhile, on the table, Dib remained fast asleep in a deep slumber, his newly developing antennae twitching nonetheless at all the yelling.
Noticing the small movement out of the corner of his eye, Zim's eyes instantly lit up. "Oooh! THEY WORK!" he exclaimed happily, glomping onto Gaz in his excitement, not wanting to hurt Dib but really needing a hug from someone in that moment.
Responding negatively to the sudden hug, Gaz took out her anger on Zim by punching him hard in the jaw. "Don't EVER touch me again! Got it?" she warned him, clenching her fists to show that the consequences of such an action would be far worse than what she had just done.
Pulling away and rubbing his jaw painfully, Zim could only let out a small meep in response. "G-Got it..." he stuttered out, a bit shaken now by the sudden punch.
The thin appendages on his head curling in a bit, Dib let out a small grunt which had Zim returning his attention back onto him.
Stepping over to Dib curiously, Zim then reached out a hand to pet back one of the antennas gently.
Gasping in his sleep a bit, Dib's entire body reacted by shuddering before pulling the small antennae away from Zim's hand, the small touch just a bit too sensitive at the moment for the newly developing appendages.
A large grin spreading across his face, Zim pushed Dib's hair back a bit to note to himself how his ears were almost entirely gone, the blood having been cut off from them, causing them to fall off. Then, looking at his nose, he nodded. It was almost gone too. "Just a little longer, Dibbuh. We don't want you COMPLETELY Irken after all..." he said, making sure everything was going according to plan.
"Mmmmm..." Dib shifted in his sleep a bit, causing Gaz to speak back up.
"Hey! Are you TRYING to wake him up when he's cut open in your lab?" Gaz snapped, all of Dib's shifting about disconcerting to her.
Flinching at Gaz's words, Zim turned back on her yet again. "NO!" he glared at Gaz. "If you would just go away, this would go much smoother!" he said before grabbing a needle with a very thick thread attached to it and tucking it into a sterilizing solution. Then, turning back to Dib, he pulled on some sterilized gloves before reaching inside of him to pull out the dying human organs before they could interfere with the growing Irken ones. Although not all of the organs would be changed, many of them still would be.
Lower eyelid of one of her eyes twitching, Gaz could only shudder at the sight of Zim pulling out her brother's organs though she remained standing where she was nonetheless. "You honestly think I would leave you alone to pull out my brother's organs?" she said, sending him an unbelievable look.
Continuing his work nonstop, Zim didn't even move his eyes away from his task as he went to respond. "I'm only pulling out the dead ones so they don't screw up the new, living ones." he said, shifting through them carefully before pulling them out, one at a time.
"And how do you know you're even pulling out the right ones? What if you're pulling out one that he still needs to live?" Gaz pointed at him accusingly.
Zim merely rolled his eyes. "I know how to do this procedure, and I know what a dead organ looks like! But I swear, if you don't SHUT UP soon, something bad will happen to you though!" he lifted his gaze to glare over at her again.
Storming up to him, waiting for a clear opportunity to grab him, Gaz took hold of him by the front of his shirt and lifted him slightly off the ground. "Was that some kind of threat?" she said, tightening her grip on his shirt, ready to pound the living hell out of him now.
"LET ME GO, GAZ! I HAVE TO FINISH THIS!" Zim exclaimed, desperately struggling to get back to Dib. "He could die if I don't!" he then sent Gaz a panicked look.
Eyes narrowing even more on him, Gaz finally dropped him back down onto the ground and stepped aside to allow him access to Dib. "Don't screw this up..." she warned him before allowing him to return to work on her brother.
"I don't plan on it!" Zim took his position next to Dib again and continued his work, an hour or so passing before he had Dib completely sewn back up. Then, resting comfortably next to him once Dib was stabilized, Zim lifted his gaze up to look at Gaz. "...Could you get me a snack now?" he asked Gaz carefully again, not wanting to risk being beaten up by her.
A/N: And there you have it. Your weekly update of ZADR Orange. =3 Now, before you all send in your comments, I'm warning you now. I do NOT want to receive a bunch of Gaz hate mail reviews from you guys for this chapter. Gaz's reactions are perfectly reasonable considering she's walking in on a seemingly bad situation. So no, "I want to kill Gaz" reviews. Otherwise, I may decide not to update until later in the week next week. On another note, LOOK! 8D ROLE REVERSAL! XD Zim dissecting Dib instead of Dib dissecting Zim. XD Too bad Dib doesn't realize that's what Zim's doing to him. XD Anyways, next chapter will be up sometime next week. When is dependent on your guys' reviews though. So keep them flame fee, please. =3 Now, let me take this time to respond to those of you who reviewed.
To lillybean queen of the i ocean: Yesh! VERY good for Zim indeed. =3 Lol. XD Sorry for the cliffy. That just happens sometimes when I'm measuring out chapters. ^^; But the next chapter should be up in just a few days. =3 Anyways, we're glad you're loving it so much and hope to hear from you again soon. 8D
To Invader Ang: Lol. XD Indeed you did. But that's okay. =3 You're one of our regulars for the most part. Don't even worry about it. =3 And I totally know how you feel. I hate writing papers on random topics that don't interest me. -_-; Like this last one on Togo I just had to do. But anyways, you certainly are thinking just as we were when writing this story. =3 As you'll see in the next chapter, that's exactly what happens. XD Mmmm...Waffles sound really good right now. Maybe I'll make some of my own. XD Thank YOU for reviewing. =3 Until next time.~
To heartofstone15: Well, I'm glad to hear that then. 8D Thanks for the compliment. ^^ We're happy to hear you enjoyed it so much. And, yes. Zimmeh just can't help himself though. X3 Dib be oh so sexy in his eyes. X3
To Sapcoat: Lol. XD Yeah, sorry about its lateness though. I would have had it up sooner, but school got in the way. That just means a faster update for you the next time around though. 8D This chapter dives back into the plot of the story, so I can understand how you might like it better than others. =3 It's one of my favorites as well. And of course Dibbles would be nervous about to undergo a procedure Zim's never done on a human before. XD His nervousness is what makes him oh so cute in this story. X3 And you are right. Getting it up late IS better than not getting it up at all. =3 So thanks for reading and I hope to hear again from you soon. =3
To Meta-Knight-1-fan: Well, sort of. An Irken hybrid really. And, yesh. Irken hybrid Dibbeh be quite sexy indeed. X3 We're glad to hear you're enjoying it so much. 83 But like I've already told several other people, I update weekly for a reason. It gives people a chance to comment and keeps my life easier that way. I don't have all the time in the world to keep on top of updates. So this is all I'm willing to do at the moment. Maybe, once we actually finish writing the RP, I'll update a little faster. But until then, I'd rather you guys take it in slowly. After all, if I gave it to you all at once, trust me, it would be too much of an information overload.
To Watermelondrea: Lol. XD Well, it is VERY delicate work he's doing on Dib right now. Probably best NOT to scare the living daylights out of him. Otherwise this procedure on Dib might go horribly wrong and end up killing him! D8
To Vithian: Yesh! Lol. XD And it's very important to the plot of this story that he did. =3 You'll see why later. And thanks. -_-; It WAS horribly boring. And random. Oh, so random. Not a bit of warning from our teacher that we were going to be stuck with a paper due in her class this week. Normally, teachers are at least kind enough to give a little bit of warning before dropping one on us. And usually 2 weeks in advance for anything longer than 3 pages. 8 isn't really a lot, but it sure can seem like a lot to do in such a short amount of time. -_-; I barely got it done in time. I finished it literally an hour before it was due. But oh well. At least it's out of the way now. And I agree. Rushing the lemonade does tend to ruin most stories. So we held it off for as long as we could. Developing their relationship first was our top priority when it came to this story. And we definitely planned out beforehand how we'd get to that part in the story. So I wouldn't worry too much about it just being randomly slotted in there. =3 We weren't going to have them just randomly jump into bed together and start screwing. XD What fun would that be? And the wait will only make it all the more sweeter when we get around to it. =3 I think Membrane really gets bashed on mostly because he's Dib and Gaz's father. And also because in the show they make him out to be "the smartest person in the world" So wouldn't he NOTICE something like an alien standing right in front of him? That's what people would think, but he doesn't, because he's just as ignorant as everybody else. As for Gaz, she'll be getting some loving soon enough. =3 Honestly though, I support all IZ pairings. ZADR just happens to be my favorite. Some people might pair Dib and Gaz together. But it's not a very common pairing. I've seen stories pair Dib and Membrane together in the past. Didn't bother me too horribly, honestly. The author wrote it well. It's just touching on subjects most people are too afraid to explore for themselves. So I appreciate those types of stories. Because such relationships DO exist in the world, as wrong as some people may make them out to be. You just gotta keep an open mind. There are good ZATR stories out there, just like there are good ZADR, DATR, DADR, RAPR, TAGR, and ZAGR stories. All pairings should at least be given a chance before being completely rejected. Hell, I love it when people come up with new relationships in the IZ universe. A lot of them really could have potential. The only IZ pairings I don't really approve of are pairings between people's OCs with cannon characters. Then it just gets annoying. -_-; But anyways, no, I don't believe we'll be including Keef in this story at any point. We haven't yet, and chances are slim that we will between now and the ending. But you never know. It really just depends on whether Notgonnadie and I decide to add any scenes we haven't yet discussed. I suppose it's possible. But not likely as things stand at the moment. Perhaps in one of the sequels we'll think of somewhere to add him if he doesn't get a part in this story, but I can't really think of any reason for him to be present anywhere in THIS story. Thanks again for reading. =3 And we hope to hear from you again soon. =3
To maliceofhumansacrifice: Lol. Well, there's a reason I always role play as Dib. I think I relate to him the most. =3 But that's not to say he's my favorite character. I don't have a favorite. I love them all. =3 I could never possibly choose. Though, in some ways, I'm more like Gaz. XD Just depends on my current mood. X3 Thanks for reading. I'll talk to you again soon. =3
To Illisandria Carthain: Lol. XD No worries at all. I totally understand. Shit happens. Sometimes it just can't be helped. So don't worry too much about missing chapters every once in a while. =3 We're just happy to have you back. So no need to hyperventilate and pass out there. XD And, yesh! Zim does indeed love his waffles. X3 Especially waffles served to him by Dib. XD They be full of love and waffle. XD Hey, at least Gaz didn't walk in on them having sex. That would have been ten times worse. XD Though, admittedly, the situation she did walk in on DOES look pretty bad. XD And, yayz! 8D I missed your weekly questions. My response to this weeks question however would have to be no. She lives in Missouri. I live in California. So we haven't had an opportunity to meet yet save for over her livestreams really. But I'd love to meet her in person someday, just as soon as I have the money to make it out there for a visit.=3 That might take a while though. ^^; I need to finish school first because all my money goes towards paying for books at the moment. X'D But anyways, that be all I have to say in response to you this week. So until next time~ =3
To Casykirby: Lol. 8D Well, we're glad to hear you're getting so into it then. Just don't let it completely suck you in. Otherwise it might try to steal your face! XD But anyways, the chapters are short for a reason. Keeps updates more regular. I'm sort of known for writing really LONG chapters in other stories, so updates are rare because it takes me so long. But keeping the chapters to this story at the length they're at now helps motivate me to keep it updated regularly. =3 So just try to bare with me here. Besides, a lot of the chapters have a lot going on in them. Shorter chapters allows you guys to soak it in before moving on. As I've said many atimes, without the breaks in between, it's an information overload. Trust me. And thanks for your kind words. (Hug) It really was a horrible paper. I think I would have done better on it had I been given more time. But oh well. At least it's out of the way now. =3 We're glad to hear you loved the last chapter so much and hope you enjoy today's update just as much. 8D And, yesh. X3 Dibbles shall make quite a sexy Irken/human hybrid indeed. Sexy and cute. ^.^ Thanks for reading! 8D Until next time!~