I continue to not own these characters, etc. I've had this chapter written for months, so I pretty much suck. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Stalking Tiemz
Three days later, Gaz tailed Tak after school. They were taking turns following her, trying to find her base. Unsurprisingly, both Dib and Zim had failed.
Gaz wouldn't have agreed to do this if it wasn't so challenging. She'd learned a lot from gaming over the years, and this was kind of like a real-life game. Not as good as VR, but even her father's connections and a boatload of blackmail hadn't gotten her into the beta for the Gameslave Awesome. This would do for now.
She knew these short streets, and it wasn't long before the lawn gnomes came into view and she figured out where Tak was headed: Zim's house.
Gaz slunk behind the white picket fence and watched the purple-haired alien girl turn invisible, and then watched the lawn gnomes and pink pufferfish imploding.
"Now, Mimi," Tak said amidst the coils of smoke, reappearing without her disguise as the robot cat twined around her legs. "Scan and tell me which level Zim is on."
"Fourth level below ground," Mimi reported a moment later. "Target is asleep next to microscope."
"Perfect. We're going to destroy him this time, Mimi." Her fake, pupiled eyes narrowed. "There won't be a single speck left."
"Yes ma'am."
Gaz vaulted over the fence and glared at the alien. "You're leaving. Now."
"Soda girl," Tak gasped. "Get her, Mimi!"
Gaz jumped out of the way of the robot's laser fire and bore down on the alien girl, bringing the blade of a pocket knife up to her neck. Tak stiffened, and Mimi kept firing until Tak yelled, "Mimi! Stop!" They fell in a mildy-burned heap, and the blade nicked Tak's neck, revealing a sliver of green blood. Gaz hissed in pain at the burns, pulling the alien girl up and regaining her footing. She kept the blade in place. Tak's eyes were wide.
"Leaving," Gaz growled. "You. Now."
Mimi sat staring at them, cocking her feline head to the side.
"Mimi—" Tak began, but Gaz pressed the knife against her neck and glared harder.
"What do you want, human?"
"First of all, my name is Gaz, not 'Soda Girl'. Second, I don't care what you do, but you will leave Zim," she spat the name, "in one piece. One functional, annoying piece."
"Why do you care what I do to Zim, Soda Girl? Are you in looove with him?"
Gaz snorted. "No. He keeps my brother...occupied." Then she hissed, "If you tell anyone about this, you will wish I'd slit your throat. Understood?"
"Yes! Let me go, human!" Tak demanded, trying to free her arm of Gaz's grip.
Gaz pressed up with the knife again. "Call me Gaz, or I will slit your throat."
"Fine." Tak's purple eyes narrowed. "Gaz."
One of Zim's auxiliary cameras had probably alerted him by now, and if not, one of Dib's had picked up the alien girl and Dib had hacked Zim's alarm to the loudest volume.
Gaz let go and flipped the knife closed. "I need to game." She tromped out of the yard.