I think Dib might be a bit OOC at the end of the chapter. I'm not quite sure though.

Disclaimer – I may not own Invader Zim, but who here can say I don't own Jack?

Dead Man Talking
By Sanoon

Chapter 5: Reminiscence

It was a cold day near the end of October. Like I said last time we met, I was a private eye. I had recently finished a previous case about a madman who abducted little girls and tortured them for his own amusement. That man is still rotting in jail.

I was looking forward to some time off to spend with my family. I had a beautiful wife, and a smart and athletic 15-year-old son waiting for me at home. However, my job had always tended to get in the way of my family life. I had rarely gotten to see them at times.

A recent string of murders was popping up all over the city.

The public never saw the pictures of the victims, but I did. People were being found dead with holes seemingly vaporized out of their chests, cuts sliced across their skin, large objects impaled into them, and even to the extent of body parts forcibly removed. It was a gruesome sight. I was later approached by a representative of the mayor, who asked me to find the culprit. Part of me was dying to get the case, sorely because of the challenge. The other half said I was getting in too deep.

I told him that I'd think about it. I haven't really spent a lot of quality time with my family recently, due to my previous case, so I was long overdue. However, the money that the mayor offered me for the job…it would allow me to get my son a gift for Christmas that he always wanted.

I accepted the case the next day. I was given all of the police records concerning the killings. After sifting through the files, I had concluded that the killings had no prejudice intentions, since the victims were random in all cases. It was more like the person was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Thirteen were killed so far, some of them were in their own homes, and some were walking alone in Hurt Park. All of the murders happened after dark, so that would be when I go out to find him.

For the next week, I had no leads. The murderer killed an additional four people in that time; he was good. He knew what he was doing. He left no trace, no evidence. I sat in my office, looking over the recent murder files. I noticed something then. The first murder happened at the home of Ms Patterson, a single mother. The next was in the park; the victim was Mr. Kintonburg, a veteran from WWII. The next was in another home, this time the victim was Jason Hinton, a high school athlete. The boy was on the same football team as my son. The pattern repeated in the same manor. The latest murder was at the home of Dr. Pelok. If the killer continues to follow this little pattern, then his next victim will be at Hurt Park, and that's where I'll be waiting.

The sun had gone down, and I was sitting on one of the parks many benches. The moon was sitting on top of the star-filled sky, shining like I had never seen it shine before. With my lantern in hand, I decided to take a walk around the trails, keeping ever vigilant to the slightest noise that would alert me to another presence. I rounded the entire park, only to find nothing, like it was a ghost town. The criminal either wasn't in the park, or wasn't willing to show himself to me.

I found the bench I started from and took a seat. I took out a cigarette and lit it with a match, a usual routine for me. The wind had picked up, and the cold October air made my skin shiver, so I pulled my trench coat tighter around my body.

I took the cigarette from my lips and cupped my hands over my mouth so I could exhale some warm air onto them. That didn't do much. That's when I heard a rustling behind me as the bushes shook. I quickly jumped up and spun around, only to see a small creature, human in appearance, jump onto the bench that I was just sitting in. My hand instinctively went to my pistol. The creature looked up at me, and stared me square in the eyes, with grin a showing off its fearsome razor sharp teeth.

This creature may have been able to pass for a human from afar, but it definitely was not a human being. It had a bloodstained, black and white striped shirt, black pants, and black gloves that covered three fingers, all of which covering its green skin. I know I saw some sort of canister of sorts attached to its back, with what could have been yellow dots on it. Its pure yellow eyes narrowed at me as I heard the thing growl. The two antennas on its head lowered, so they were laying flat against its almost rectangular head. You should have stayed home today, the creature growled at me. I drew my pistol as the creature jumped at me. I fired a shot, while it made a deep cut my right cheek. I fell backward onto the pavement, rolling over, cursing, anything to help ease the pain. My blood poured freely onto the cement. I could hear the creature next to me also shouting, but in a language I couldn't understand. I had managed to hold onto my gun the entire time, so I rolled over to shoot the monster. When I pointed my gun at it though, the monster kicked it out of my hand, sending it into the edge of the pond.

The creature was only illuminated on its right side, and I could see that I had managed to shoot it in the arm. Green blood rolled down its tattered clothing. I then noticed how small the thing was. It was the size of a small boy. Standing maybe four feet high.

The creature held in its hand a weapon of the likes I have never seen before, and it was aimed directly at me. Thunder bellowed out from the sky, as if demanding the creature to stop its act. It glanced up at the sky, watching the lighting streak across the clouds with concern. I used that to my advantage. From the ground, I leapt forward. However, the creature noticed more quickly that I would have hoped. Four long, metal, spider-like legs erupted from its backpack and lifted it into the air. I quickly stood up to grab the creature, but it fired it's weapon before I could pull him down. A light flared from the tip of the weapon and struck me in my left leg. I fell to the ground in pain. Then the creature lowered itself down to me and laughed at my futile attempts to stop him. That's when the first drop hit, causing the creature to make a short scream. The next drop hit me on my right cheek. More and more droplets hit the ground. The creature's skin seemed to be burning. If I weren't in so much pain from being shot in the leg, I would have attacked it again. Unfortunately...It still had its weapon. The creature quickly aimed it at my head, and sneered as it pulled the trigger.

And that was the end. I was just another death from an unknown madman. I was the last one however. The creature never attacked another person after that night. I don't know why. I haven't figured it out.

But I didn't move on. I was angry. Surprised. Horrified.

I would never get to see my son graduate from high skool, watch him get married, or see my grandchildren. I wouldn't get to grow old with my beautiful wife. I would miss everything. And because of that, I wanted revenge. I wandered the planet looking for the creature that killed me. I never found it, but I did learn of a few things. Mostly from you, Dib.

I learned that the creature was an Irken, and that there was another Irken here on Earth. Zim. I watched him as he came up with plot after plot to conquer the Earth, and I watched time after time again how you stopped him. You alone Dib.

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"An Irken was here…50 years ago?" Dib asked as he starred at the ground.

"Dibbeh talks to himself," Gir laughed, pointing one of his metal fingers at the boy. Dib only glanced at Gir. He didn't really want to pay attention to Zim's robot right now.

"I don't know the Irken's name," Jack said quietly as he pulled out yet another cigarette from his pocket. Jack glanced at Dib, who was staring at the cigarette; an eye cocked. "A great perk about being a ghost; all the smokes I could ever want."

"I guess you won't get cancer anytime soon." Jack chuckled and shook his head.

"Last night, Zim broke into your house." Dib nodded his head. "He tried to pull out a gun on you. The first time he has ever tried such a stunt."

"You were holding it in the holster, weren't you?" Dib asked, an eyebrow raised.

A second passed as Jack took another puff. "Yes." Another puff. "He's getting more violent. Maybe he's just actually forming good schemes for once."

"He's gotten this violent before. He once used a time machine to try to kill me in my past with little pigs."

"Piggies!" Gir shouted.

"Even so," Jack continued, "he's getting more dangerous."

Dib glanced at Gir, who was just staring at the boy with a big smile. "Zim will become more passive again. He's done this before."

A small clump of dirt flew past Dib, and flew right through Jack. The spot that the clump passed through on the ghosts form only released a small wisp of smoke, which quickly filtered out in the nighttime air. All three immediately glanced at the spot where the ball of dirt was thrown from. Dib wasn't surprised to see who it was, and Gir seemed ecstatic about it.

"So you did steal my robot, Dib-stink," a disguised Zim shouted as he walked towards the bench with Dib and Gir. "You thought you could break into Zim's base and steal ZIM's robot and get away with it. HA!"

"I didn't break into your base Zim, and I didn't steal your robot," Dib replied as he crossed his arms. "He came willingly."

"You liiie!" Zim shouted back at Dib, pointed a dirt-covered, gloved claw at him. "Gir, come to Zim!"

The green dog saluted the Irken, and replied in a serious tone, "Yes, my lord!" He quickly went back to 'Gir' mode and ran giddily over to his true master.

"I don't know how you did it, Dib-filth, but you somehow managed to retrieve your memory chip. Give it to me and you might just walk away alive tonight."

"I didn't enter your base today, Zim. It must have been someone else."

"I don't think you're telling me the truth, Dib," Zim retorted, as he slowly advanced towards the boy. "I'm tired of your…actions. You should be bowing to me, not back talking me."

"What are you planning, Zim?" Dib asked as he readied himself for anything the alien might do.

"First, I'd thought that I'd ma-" Zim stopped mid-sentence and step. His face distorted in pain, and his arms wrapped around his gut. The alien fell to his knees and crouched over, mumbling in pain in the process. He looked as if someone just punched him in the gut.

"Z-Zim…" Dib said quietly as he slowly walked towards the alien. "Are you ok?"

"Oh noes," Gir mumbled as a tear came to his eye. "Masta's in pain!"

"S-stop…h-human!" Zim tried to shout. The Irken's arm shot out and grabbed Gir. He pulled the robot close and whispered something in his ear. The robot responded by igniting his thrusters in his feet and threw Zim onto his back. Zim glared at the boy from the robots back. "I-I don't know what you just did, Dib, but I'll find out. Oh how I'll find out." Without sparing a second, Gir flew off into the distance to take his master home.

"I always wanted to do that," Jack laughed from behind Dib. The boy quickly turned around and stared angrily at the man.

"What did you do to him?"

Jack chuckled calmly before replying, "I just pulled on his organs a little bit. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"You can do that!?" Dib replied, taking a step back from the ghost.

"There's a lot I can do…and a lot I can't do." He took the fag out of his mouth and threw it on the ground, stepping on it to put it out. "You act like I'm going to hurt you. You shouldn't worry about that. I'm here to help you." The ghost put his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away. "If you need me, you'll know where to find me." Jack started to fade away as he walked, eventually disappearing from sight, leaving only a boy who was now quite concerned about who he had just made friends with. He turned to leave, and walked down the path.

The clouds in the sky cackled, and light streamed across the sky. Clenched in Dib's hand was the data chip that Jack had retrieved. Maybe Jack will be the turning point for Dib. Maybe now Dib will succeed. "Maybe," Dib said to no one as he walked down the path.

"Maybe," Jack's voice repeated.

Well…the end. I believe Jack might just appear in a few more stories, but only time will tell.