Warning! This story is going to be very long! If you cannot stand long stories then do not read. If you do not like stories about incompetent aliens that no one likes then do not read this. If you cannot stand reading about the imminent destruction of Earth and enemies having to unite to stop the greater threat then DO NOT READ!!

Thank you, that is all…

Invader Zim- The End?

Chapter 33

Choking and screaming, Zim rose in a flash. The entire world spinning around him, his mind took a while to focus. The colors swirled together in intricate designs that could have fascinated lower life forms to the point where their current position mattered not. The colors would have been their entire world. But Zim, obviously much greater than said lower life forms, had no time to stare at pretty colors.

He sat up rather shakily and plopped his hand onto his temple. It ached something fierce! There was the foul stench of sulfur in the air around him, mixing and mingling with varying stenches of dirt, soul and… flesh. It was an overwhelming smell and, had he had a nose he would have plugged it with disgust. Instead, he stood, disgruntled, and surveyed the area.

It was a box. He was completely sealed in. Further inspected told him that this 'box' was constructed out of soil. It was as though he was in a dirt room. It was extremely hot and stuffy, he had already sweated through the armpits of his suit during his unconscious state and beads continued to trickle down his green skin. Though he paid little attention to the heat or the stench at this point—which he had finally recognized to be the stench of rotting flesh, that which was similar to the stench of rotting human corpses (how he knew that is an entirely different matter). It was rather disgusting and the ideal possibility that he could be close to a burial site or perhaps a place where war had recently broken out became a factor in his twisted little mind.

Zim glanced about, it was dark; too dark to really see all that much. There was a light but the origins of said light were a complete mystery. It seemed as though the walls of the dirt room itself were providing the light, though the little Irken knew of no such soil that could do that sort of thing. Perhaps the Bludgeons had a strange type of soil that was luminescent, though that didn't explain much since there were no windows or doors from what he could see—and that was assuming that he actually still was on the Bludgeon home world.

Taking a step forwards, Zim regretted his actions instantaneously. His foot came into contact with a squishy lump and he was sent flat onto his stomach, banging his face hard onto the dirt flooring of the room. He sneered with distaste and glared back at the thing that had even dared to trip him, though he still couldn't see what this strange thing was. Yet, for some reason, the scent emanating off of it was a familiar one…

Zim rolled onto his back, legs still resting over the object he could not see. It hadn't moved much but he could feel this thing breathing, and now he could even hear it. Heavy, deep breaths, strained and slightly panicked, as though it were sleeping and having a terrible nightmare. Intrigued by this strange thing, which he had now confirmed was most certainly alive; Zim sat up straight, still not bothering to take his legs off. From what he could guess, the backs of his knees were nestled neatly on the creature's chest, that was also assuming it was lying on its back.

Lightly, just in case the creature was a threat to his safety, he reached behind his back and felt about for his PAK. Upon touching it he clicking the touch pads on the very top, opened it and rummaged about within for a moment. Then, in one single fluid motion, he pulled out a light, which glowed vibrant white in the dark, dirt room.

The creature was clad in black and thin, not to mention the skin visible on it was pale white like a ghost (if such a thing actually existed, haha). There was an enormous spike that protruded from the tip of its head, five digits on each of its two hands, large black feet, which turned out to actually be large black boots over top of regular sized pale white feet. But the feature on this strange creature that gave its essence with the greatest of emphasis were the enormous, glowing golden eyes, which only shone brighter in the rays of Zim's light. And it was then that Zim realized it was…

"Dib-stink!" cried the Irken with a voracious rage.

Zim kicked his feet into the air before he thrust them down once more on the unconscious Dib's chest. The moment said feet came into contact with the human boy his eyes jerked open, his lungs cleared of all carbon dioxide in them and he let out a surprised squeal.

Coughing and gasping and screaming, much like Zim had done the first moment he awoke, Dib sat up within an instant. The boy was dazed and confused, his head still ringing and his entire body shaking with a cold chill. Dib's head swung around from the left to the right and he staggered to his feet, panting heavily and glaring towards the light shining into his eyes. He covered over his forehead with his sleeve, which was torn a bit near the end, and he screamed, blatantly unaware that it was his alien archrival Zim shining the light at him. "No! You'll never get me to talk! I'd sooner die!"

"Dib-worm!" Zim bellowed. His angry tones and clearly recognizable voice brought Dib back to his senses. And though the boy's poor heart was still beating a hundred times per second he seemed to calm down.

"Z-Zim? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Zim retorted. He shut the light off and switched to a brand that wasn't nearly so bright but covered a larger expanse in the room. The room shot up with a shimmering blue light and is was only then that Dib was able to look at his surroundings in a manner that was relatively close to neutral. His head darted about the dirt room and his eyes blinked numerous times in the dim light. The boy spun around once, giving the room a good once over, before turning back to the Irken providing his only light source.

"W… Where the heck did you come from?"

"I suppose that I could ask you the same question Dib-stink. What's gotten into you, human? You look as though you were just partially digested and then spat up into a nest of baby Dwindlions (monstrous beasts that feed live creatures to their young, from the planet Dwie, in case you wanted to know). Where's the Kim-creature?" Zim frowned, getting a little more annoyed as the memories came back to him. "And didn't I leave you on the ship-thing-person? Why are you here?"

"Shi… Ship-thing? K-Kai!" Dib's mind became a swirl of confusing thoughts as memories flooded back to him in a wave that disoriented him like never before. He'd had his arms turned into noodles, sure that was true, but now it was like someone had turned his brain into a big bowl of noodles and was wickedly swishing them about with a fork and a spoon, lifting out large masses and then plopping them back in with a big 'splish!' spraying sauce everywhere and even letting a good and juicy meatball fall onto the floor. "That's right! It was Kai!" Dib screamed, turning back to Zim. "Kai malfunctioned! Th-th-th-th-there was a virus or, or, or something in his system. Something made him go crazy!"

"Like you?" asked Zim, a sneer quietly creasing his face.

"No, Zim! Take me seriously for a second!" Dib lashed out and gripped Zim's collar, bearing bright and chattering teeth at the Irken. "Just listen to me for a second!"

Zim slapped Dib's hand away. "Do not touch Zim, Dib-stink."

Stepping back a second and attempting to calm himself, Dib took ten heavy breaths, counting each one as he went. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Then, only once he had slowed his ever-beating heart and calms his nerves, he opened his eyes and looked back at Zim. Sweat beaded his forehead like never before as he thought back to the events that took place on Kai. Then he spoke:

"When I was on the ship, there was something wrong with Kai. I'm not entirely sure what but… from what he screamed at us, it was almost as if there was someone else on the ship, tearing it apart from the inside. The last thing I remember was running into the cockpit with Kim. These tentacles came out from the wall and engulfed us, covering ours eyes and our mouths and… it became impossible to breathe but it was also like… we didn't need to?" Even Dib was unsure about what he was saying. It was almost as if he was recalling the events in a dream, and only then he was beginning to realize how false it had been and that he was finally awake. Only it was as if he was waking into a new nightmare or a new version of the same nightmare, all connected into one twisted dream that wouldn't let him go. "Then, it was like I was blinded. An amazing pain and yet incredibly soothing. Like someone or something was trying to hurt us and then there was someone else, maybe Kai, I don't know, who was trying to ease the pain and make everything sink away into itself… There was an explosion… Some screaming and then… After that I woke up here…"

Zim frowned and turned, taking the light off of the quivering human boy. "Well, that's an incredibly fascinating dream, Dib-stink but I think that we should focus on the here and now, you know, things that are real. There's no time to worry about your pathetic human dreams."

"You're not listening to me!" Dib proclaimed. "I told you to listen! You've got to! There's no one else who will listen! We're all alone!"

"Correct!" Zim spun his head around to face him. "And it's precisely that fact that leads me to not bother listening to you. Frankly, I think that there are more productive ways to spend my time besides pretending to believe your stupid stories." It was then that Zim faced the wall once more. He started to feel the dirt that was the room. He searched for anything useful he might not be able to see but might be able to feel. A small hole or a latch; maybe even a crease that was a part of a door that they could open. At the moment, there didn't seem to be anything…

Dib shrank back into the shadows, falling onto his rump he groaned in dismay. Folding his arms around his legs and resting his head upon his knees, the boy absentmindedly observed the Irken as he moved from one place on the wall to another and then backtracked his route with his sharp fingertips. And, upon growing uninterested in Zim's numerous failed attempts to discover and exist or entry point he began to think, trying to remember where he might have ended up. But he came up blank. It was just the explosion and then there was nothing more to remember. It was as though he'd simply gone to sleep.

He raised his head a little, cocking it to one side without thought and then peered over at Zim, who jumped at maybe finding something of interest before realizing it was simply an imperfection in the wall. "So," Dib began, not entirely certain as to what he was going to say. "How did you end up down here Zim?"

"You assume we're down?" Zim didn't even turn back to look at him.

"Well… we're in dirt, aren't we? I thought that maybe we were underground or something, right?"

Zim grunted. "The Bludgeons crafted their buildings and plenty of furniture out of dirt from their planet. We could be in a tower for all we know."

"Besides the point," Dib stated. "How'd you end up here, whether we're up or down?"

Quiet for only a moment, Zim stopped feeling the walls and turned to the human, a very blank and unreadable expression set across his pale green countenance. He blinked a few times, his crimson-blood eyes nearly bioluminescent in the dim light of the room. "… The Gaz-human and I disguised ourselves (or at least I disguised myself) to fit the forms of the Bludgeons. It failed and we ended up being chased through their downtown to the square. Gaz-human got into a fight with one of the natives and another one fought back against her own people. But they didn't really seem to want to fight her. Then the ground shifted and spiraled up, and we were sucked into it. Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Dib looked around, something dawning on him. He glared at Zim. "Where's my sister?"

"Gaz-human?" Zim asked, even though he knew perfectly well whom Dib was referring to. "You expect Zim to know? Did I not say I wasn't even sure of where we are? Irk! We can't even be sure if we're above or below ground level! And you expect me to know where the Gaz-human is? Simple-minded Dib-stink!" Something dawned on Zim for a moment just then. "Wait a tick… How on irk did you get here to begin with?"

Dib stood tall. "Zim, you lost my sister!"

"Answer me, Dib-stink! How'd you get here?"

"I asked you first!"

"Irrelevant!"

Dib rushed forwards and flung his hands in front of himself, reaching for Zim's skinny little neck. Zim didn't even have the time that he needed to react; he hadn't expected Dib to simply attack him like that (sure he'd done it before but who would have guessed he'd do it over his sister of all things). Dib wrapped his finger around the Irken's neck and then began to tighten his grip, squeezing him as much as he could, cutting off his air supply. All the while, Zim clawed at him fiercely, trying to swat away the human currently seated on his chest.

"You lost my sister!" Dib screamed at Zim.

Zim wasn't able to speak at this point. There wasn't enough air left for him to say anything, he couldn't even grunt. He was too exhausted. Somehow, the unconscious sleep he had had didn't relieve his tiredness and he hadn't the strength to fight back. All the while, Dib seemed to be fully rested and only squeezed Zim's throat harder. Had he been given the time, Zim's neck probably would have been broken by him.

A light washed out over the two boys.

Dib, in surprise, released Zim and fell backwards, the sudden bright lights in the dirt room a little too much for his eyes so suddenly. He covered his eyes with his arm and moved back a bit, using his buttocks.

Once Dib had gotten off of him, Zim coughed up in a rush and he hurriedly took in as much air as he could. The Irken rolled over his arm and onto his stomach, his head down and facing the doorway with which the light used to enter the dark room. He tried to straighten himself up a moment, found that he was unable to and then gave himself another moment of quick breathing. And only once he had regained himself did Zim turn back over, lie on his back and stare into the light of the doorway.

It was difficult to see for a moment. He patiently waited for his eyes to adjust to the light, and once it had he noticed dark figures moving about within. There were two very tall figures and three, no, four smaller figures. One was even darker than the others and one was even closer than the others, a small one, which gave the illusion that it was taller, though only for a moment. He stared up at this one particular figure and tried to make out just who or what it was. And after a moment, Zim was able to compose himself and stare up at the figure and see who it was.

"You?" he asked.

"Me."

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Brooke: …boo. I'm alive. What a novelty concept. Okay, per usual, onto the comment responses. X, whom do we have first?

X-iomania: The first one comes from The Illustrious Crackpot!

Brooke: Mm, I have to admit, Gna's powers do sort of remind me of Gaara. But I'm only going off pictures. I've never actually seen that far in the anime. I saw maybe 6 episodes and got sick of it. Plus, if I'm right, I think Gaara's thing is sand? Gna's sand, rock, mud, blah, blah, blah. Also, glad to hear you're enjoying Orange Peels. If you like Scannerkil's character then you might want to check out Shark Bait. Scannerkil gets his only side story after he 'dies'. Next comment!

Krayos: The next comment is from… bunny500! Yo bun!

Brooke: Here's an update for you! Glad you like the stories!

Tuckery: Finally, our last comment comes to us from Living Darkness!

Brooke: Well, glad to know people enjoy my writing so much. Here's that update you wanted!