Don't ask what the nightmare was about.
I don't remember.
While Rim and Kri conversed at 2am, Dib was writhing in his bed, a nightmare clashing his thoughts. He moaned loudly and twisted from side to side, tangled in his sheets, breathing hard, heart racing. His eyes snapped open and he jolted, sitting bolt-upright and panting, looking around, disoriented.
"...A nightmare," he panted, holding his hand over his chest and feeling his heart hammering away. "Holy crap..."
A huge shadow had appeared, wrapping tentacle-like extensions around his body, and its glowing blue eyes had started making him feel more pain than before, more grief and doubt and agony than Earth could comprehend...
"Weird dream," he muttered, still out of breath, and gulped in a few deep breaths before sighing shakily. "It's over now..." He glanced at the clock, grimaced, and threw his sheets back. "Looks like another long wait..."
8am. The bell at Skool rang and the whole single student trudged in, dropping into his seat and leaning his chin on his arms, glaring crossly at the ground. The desk before him held his normal teacher as she muttered about doom and death.
"They're here," she hissed and Dib tilted his head to look out the window. A Skool bus pulled up and, once the doors open, students his own age poured out, laughing and joking and looking forward to a new Skool.
"Stay here," Ms Bitters hissed and slid out of the room to confront the teacher that had appeared at their door. A hushed conversation went on between them before the new one walked off and Ms Bitters returned.
"Not all the students are from the same Skool, so I'll be introducing you all," she said sourly as the students walked in, murmuring.
"Tommy."
A boy waked up, short shaggy hair and bright eyes. "I'm Tommy!"
"They know," Ms Bitters snapped and he fell silent, mildly surprised. "Go sit."
He ran to the back of the room in the opposite corner of Dib and fell into a seat.
"...Neo?"
A sigh. A black-haired boy with icy dull eyes walked up.
"If you have anything to say,--"
"Say it now," he muttered, glancing at her and noticing her glare before trudging to the far corner behind Dib and sitting.
"...George."
Names were called out and soon, most of the seats were taken.
"...Fir and Fer."
Dib blinked and gave the two who walked up odd looks. They had long, black hair and long bangs hiding their eyes. The girls hair had neon blue tips, while the boys had neon green. Both their eyes were a familiar shade of pink that made Dib think of Zim without his disguise. Odd.
Each wore black clothing, the girl a black dress like Gaz's, and the boy a black suit, only less formal. They looked over those seated, glanced at each other, and walked to the back, taking the two back center seats next to each other.
"Dip," Ms Bitters huffed and a girl jumped forward, landing where the twins had been before. She looked, oddly, like Dib, only her hair didn't have the spike, though her black bangs were all spiked downwards, and she had the same trench coat, only dark dark navy, almost black. Her shirt was red, almost maroon, and it had a small smiley face that had little demon wings on either side and little fangs at the ends of the mouth.
"I'm Dip, a paranormal investigator. Don't be an alien, or I'll find out." She stuck her tongue out when the class laughed and she laughed too, dancing to the chair behind Dib and falling to sit there.
"Lin!"
Another girl with short blue hair stepped up, smiling a bit. She waved, shrugged, and dashed over to sit next to Dip, like the seat might be taken. She sat and Dip grabbed her hand with a little laugh. They must have been from the same Skool, Dib thought, thinking about the girl's name and how it sounded like his own.
"Rim."
Dib glanced up and saw... saw...
A boy walked up to the front, narrowed black eyes looking around, his arms crossed, one hand tapping his arm. He had a black trench coat on, though it was longer than Dib's (and Dip's, he might add). The boy had a gray shirt on underneath with a symbol similar to Zim's on it, and he had black pants, boots and gloves on.
Weird, Dib said, eyeing this boy carefully.
"Take a seat," Ms Bitters hissed. Rim cast her an evil glare, looked over the class and slipped into the chair Zim had left empty. "Now..."
Ms Bitters continued her roll-call.
"Psst..." Dib glanced over his shoulder at Dip, who was leaning over and smiling at him. "Hi. I didn't see you up there. What's your name?"
"Dib," he said quietly. She smiled, thoughtfully.
"You look familiar. And your name sounds familiar too."
"Sounds like yours," Lin commented and they both laughed quietly. Dib smiled a bit but looked at Dip again.
"You said you were a paranormal investigator. Were you kidding?"
Dip gave him an odd look with an upside-down smile.
"Maybe. Why? Are you an alien?"
"No," he muttered, smiling a bit. "But I am a paranormal investigator."
Dip gave him an odd look before smiling a lopsided smile and leaning back. Dib blinked and sighed, looking forward again. He'd probably just blown it for this class, too. Great.
"Have you ever caught an alien?" she asked softly and he glanced back to see a gleam in her eye.
"Uh... No," he admit quietly, giving her an odd look. "Why?"
She smiled.
"I know where there are aliens," she said quietly. Dib gave her an odd look, wondering if she was trying to make fun of him. She didn't laugh, so he finally bit;
"Where?"
"In this class," she said with a smile flitting over her features. Dib narrowed her eyes at her, suddenly suspicious; what if she was an alien, trying to trick him?
"Who?" he asked, quieter.
"Who, what, where, when, why, how?" she said with a quiet laugh. "I bet those are all the questions you had lined up, right?"
Actually, when she answered who, he was going to ask what it was. He felt a little embarrassed sweatdrop form.
"Um... Kind of," he replied quietly and she laughed a bit.
"What's your name again?" she asked quietly and Dib sighed. He obviously wasn't going to get his answers.
"Dib," he said quietly.
"What's your last name?"
He blinked, surprised; nobody had ever asked him that.
"Membrane."
Her features lit up and he shifted uncomfortably.
"Dib!" she breathed, like a familiar name. "I know you! You're the Prof's son!"
Dib was taken off guard; she sounded so surprised.
"Professor Membrane, yeah," he said quietly.
"I'm your cousin!" she said, smiling brightly. Dib suddenly felt a stab of realization and shifted his weight away from her, glaring.
"I don't have any cousins!" he snapped quietly and she blinked, surprised. "You're just another robot sent by Zim to try and trick me! I won't believe it!"
He turned his back on her crossly, glaring at the front of the class again. He heard her whispers with her friend Lin behind him and deduced that she must be a robot, too. Good riddance; he had gotten his hopes up too much. He had to be more careful...
:O Robots? Robots?
Nowai!