Author's Notes: Done for the Writer's Month prompt "Glass." It's not the best fit, but I've had this idea for a while and it's the first thing that came to mind.
Dib pressed his back against a car, looking around it to watch as Zim planted another whatever-it-was in the parking lot. A bomb? Seemed too direct for him. Whatever they were, Zim was placing them all around this strip mall, and Dib was going to find out why.
It was a hot summer day, the kind that made Dib regret that he looked so cool in black. He fanned his shirt against his body as he crept along, then dashed out into the open for a few seconds, crouching between two more cars. That was when he heard the familiar voice chirp "Hello!"
He turned. Standing behind him was a little boy with a balloon. Or rather, Zim's stupid robot in his child disguise, holding Zim's other, moose-shaped robot on the end of a string.
The moose struck! Dib flew backwards and crashed into a car. He crumpled to the ground with a groan.
Somewhere, over the sound of traffic, he heard a baby crying.
The noise confused him so much that he barely noticed as Zim loomed over him with a huge, manic sneer on his face. He held up the last of his maybe-bombs, flanked by his robots on either side.
"Ah. Dib! I see you've figured out my plan to transport these buildings to another dimension."
"No, I haven't," Dib muttered, climbing to his feet and looking around. He was looking for the source of the crying. It sounded muffled but nearby, even though there was nobody in the parking lot except for them.
"Yes, a dimension made up entirely of screaming! That is the price they'll pay for that stupid commercial, with that annoying jingle and—hey!"
Dib had turned around, staring into the car that he had hit. Zim scowled at this incredible rudeness, but Dib was sputtering in horror.
"There's a baby in there!"
"Eh?" Zim stared past him. Sure enough there was a human smeet in its holding chair, crying loudly. "Great. Anyway. That mattress store has the most horrible commercial, and I can't get that stupid song—"
"Zim, it's like, 90 degrees out today! Who left a baby in their car?!" He tried to open the door, then ran around the vehicle, finding each of them locked. He kicked the tire angrily, then pressed his face against the window. The baby was still crying inside, its face red and shiny with sweat.
"HEY!" Zim said, waving his free hand to get Dib's attention. "Once I plant this last teleportation module, they will—"
"I'm gonna get help!" Dib cried, suddenly racing back around the car and headed toward the strip mall. "Stay here and—I don't know, try to get the car open!"
"Hyuh?! HEY! Come back here, you skrogging—!"
But Dib was already halfway across the parking lot, and quickly vanished into the nearest store. Zim let out a scream of frustration, throwing the last module to the ground.
"Great! Now I have to wait for him to get back before I can finish my evil plan!"
"NO, YOU DON'T!" GIR said cheerfully.
"What's the big deal anyway?" Zim wondered, pressing his own face against the car window. He winced at the hot glass, then peered down at the human worm-baby within.
Minimoose squeaked.
"Really? These primitive vehicles don't even have environmental controls?"
Minimoose squeaked again.
"Well, that's a stupid design! Especially since the smeet doesn't have a PAK to moderate internal temperatures! Stupid humans..."
He returned his face to the window. The baby was crying even harder now, its face redder than he had ever seen on a human before. It sure was ugly. But its piercing, strident noise was audible even through the glass, and as much as it made Zim want to claw his antennae off, something about it gave him a feeling of...well, a desire for it to stop, and not just for his own sake.
Zim stepped back back, giving room for two PAK-legs to emerge. He aimed them at the window and fired.
TSEEW! TSEEW!
"AGH!"
The energy beams rebounded—Zim and Minimoose had to duck to avoid them; GIR, who was now playing hopscotch, didn't seem to notice as the blast singed the top of his human costume. Zim scoffed angrily as he climbed back to his feet.
"What are these made of?!" He knocked on the window, scowling.
The baby kept screaming, and somehow Zim could hear the note of terror in its voice. To his own surprise, he felt a twinge of fear in his squeedily-spooch. He pressed his hands against the window again.
"HEY! Stop that!" he yelled, for lack of a better idea. "STOP! ZIM COMMANDS YOU!"
The baby kept screaming, and despite himself, Zim felt his own fear mounting. How long could a creature so weak and disgusting survive in that hot car? He could try to break the window...but then, could the glass shards hurt the child? Maybe the metal door would melt off easier than the window, but that could heat up the car in the process. Or...
He eyed the small keyhole, then took out a PAK-leg again. It slipped inside, and his not-lip stuck out in concentration as he tried to navigate its internal workings.
A moment later, Dib ran out of the mattress store with a pale and frantic-looking woman, who let out a cry and stopped when they got to her car.
The side door was open now, and Zim was holding the entire car seat, baby included, over his head, while GIR tried desperately to grab it. His eyes were wide with panic—the baby was still screaming its head off, and unmuffled it was even more terrifyingly strident. He kicked GIR away (the little robot yelled "WHEEE!" as he went flying) and looked indignant as Dib and the woman arrived.
"FINALLY! Here!" He practically threw the car seat into the woman's arms.
"Oh! Oh, Abby!" She put the seat onto the asphalt and took the baby out, practically sobbing as she rocked the screaming infant against her body. "Oh, she could have—my husband usually drops her off at daycare, but today I had her, and I guess I just—drove to work and forgot she was—thank God you two boys came along. Thank you, thank you!"
The woman had tears in her eyes. Dib stood speechless, a lump clogging up his throat. Zim just sort of stared, head cocked quizzically to one side.
"Hey," Dib said a few minutes later, after the woman had left with her child. The two were walking side-by-side across the parking lot, with GIR and Minimoose following. "Thanks for helping back there. That kid might have died if you weren't there."
Zim grunted. He suddenly felt very stupid to have worried so much about the little monster, but couldn't quite find it in him to voice that thought out loud.
Dib sighed as they stepped outside the parking lot, glancing up at the sky. It was still way too hot, with sweat beading on his forehead again, but he smiled. "It feels good, you know? I mean, I save the world from you all the time, but I don't usually get to see the good stuff that I—"
DYOOOOOOOM!
PTEEEEEEEW!
The two both jumped and spun around. A huge dome of greenish light engulfed the strip mall and its parking lot. Then there was a blinding flash and it all disappeared, leaving nothing but a massive crater next to the busy street.
Dib's mouth hung open, while GIR said "OOOH. Pretty!"
Zim chuckled. "Oh, yeah. We forgot all about the teleportation modules, didn't we? Heh. Neat."
A/N: Yeah, be careful not to do this! Try keeping your purse or whatever in the backseat so that you always have to look before exiting the car, and if you see any children or teleportation modules left unattended, act before disaster strikes.
