I didn't go to school the next day, or the rest of that week. I stayed home, playing Vampire Piggy Hunter on my Game Slave 2. The game was totally old by now, but I didn't care. I just needed something to do.

By the time the weekend came around, I had eaten my way through all the food in the house (even the exploding beans) and I had to force myself to go to the store. But when I set foot outside the door, I stepped on a small pink package. Curiously I picked it up and brought it inside, closing the door against a gust of wind.

Squinting my tired eyes, I looked the slightly crushed, pink box. The clumsily taped wrapping paper was covered in flowers and hearts and cute little piggies. I tore it off, because I already knew what was inside. The Game Slave 4. Taking it out of the box, I looked it over. It looked the same as I had left it, except all the little scratches, even the tiny dent from when I had thrown it at Dib's head were gone. My game cartridge wasn't in its slot, because something else was. I took it out. It was marked with a single bright pink bug-eyed symbol. I knew it well enough from Dib's "investigations" that it was the Irken symbol. Stupid Zim.

I took the game out, threw it to the end of the couch, and stuck in the other game cartridge. The one I had been playing, that day. It was exactly where I had left it, even though I hadn't reached a save point. Nothing was lost. I breathed a sigh of relief, before the next round of robot piggy minions appeared.

My fingers quickly lost their way through the familiar path to the Piggy Lord's fortress, and GAME OVER flashed on the screen.

I did lose one thing that day. I couldn't name it, exactly. But when Zim grabbed my arm; even before that, when he managed to break my little bubble of concentration, something changed. Somewhere, gears are turning, knocked off balance. Somewhere, inside me, something changed.

I stared at the innocent-looking, but somehow menacing, game cartridge on the far end of the couch. A cold rain began to fall.

I reached for the phone and dialed Bloaty's Pizza Hog. Poor delivery guy, in this rain. Whatever.

Hours later, it was getting late, or early. It was hard to tell, and I didn't really care. I had given up on Final Piggy XXVII, at least for a while. I decided to go get some other game from my room. Coming back into the living room, I noticed Zim's game on the couch. I turned away, and tried to start my new game, but I couldn't concentrate. Finally, I just grabbed the game and stuck it in.

The screen turned black, then pink. The magenta glow cast funny shadows in the room. I hadn't noticed how dark it was.

If you are reading this, Gaz, it isn't too late. I haven't left yet to search for your filthy brother. I am sorry about Skool, but it was really important. So is this. I hope you understand, I need you more than you know. Which is why I installed this program into your game device, which will now attach itself to your arm, and if you do not come to my house by Tuesday morning, will drag you there. I hope you understand :)
-Zim

I immediately dropped the GS4. The screen slammed shut just as I did, and would have caught my fingers. It landed easily on 6 metal spider legs, like I knew Zim had in that pod-thing on his back. It clawed its way up my leg. I kicked it across the room, and ran.

It was dark, but I knew my way around the house blind, from years spent watching my game instead of my feet. I made it up the stairs and down the short hall to my room. I could hear the spider-legs clicking behind me all the way. I slammed the door, and on second thought, locked it.

Steady thumps shook the door and walls, then the noise stopped. I relaxed. I thought I had fooled it. But the next moment, I was proved wrong. There was a smell of burning, and a pink laser cut a perfect hole in the door.

The pod skittered across my bedroom floor. I ran to the window, glancing outside. It was cold and wet, not to mention it was a long fall, but maybe...

Too late. As I fumbled with the window lock, the pod jumped across my room, latching itself onto my arm. I screamed as cables lashed out, metal claws digging into my arm. After a few horrible seconds, the pain stopped. The little green light on the GameSlave flashed once and Zim's disk fell out of the slot, turning into dust on the floor. I sat there, dazed, staring blankly at the wall.

Tuesday morning, I thought numbly. It's already Monday night, isn't it? Or is it already the morning?

Soft light through thinning gray clouds made my answer. My arm lifted up suddenly on its own. The pod yanked at my still-throbbing arm and pulled me out the window. I screamed, but spider-legs caught my fall. I didn't get a chance to catch my breath before I was forced to run through the cold gray morning to keep my arm from getting torn off. The pod slammed against Zim's door, and I crumpled to the ground. The door opened slowly, as pain and exhaustion took me into the darkness of sleep…

Thanks for the reviews :) This chapter was really 2 chapters, but it seemed really short (probably because Gaz was the only character here, so no conversations) so I stuck the 2 together... and it's still short x3 Also, I don't know a lot about video games, so I hope I more-or-less got it right o.o" Anyways, hope you like, and review please! ^^