I'm alive everyone! So sorry about the wait but my parents went to Mexico for a week and then I redid this chapter about 5 times until I had a confident idea. Again, sorry, but I think you will find this was worth the wait!
Review Replies: I have to say, some of yours were confusing
Moth Mask — Thank you! And you know, I didn't expect to go this many chapters without Dib-ghost, but I'm still very confident in this story.
Singinplant — Oh no, Drey was just looking pretty :) sorry. And I have to warn you, I was saying the exact same thing with my first ZADR fic and I couldn't stand..some reasons either. But here I am, in love with their love!
Captor of the Crazies — Thank you. And boy toy, ha! That made me laugh :D
Trainlover606 — Idk, you might see ;)
Invader Jane — It's still a while before the ZaDr hits, but no promises! :D
Invader Neo — No way, you're not annoying! *averts eyes* Haha jk jk!
up-down — Promise I won't abandon this story!
Jugendfrei — Thankyou. And believe me, I've been trying. The small details bit has always been one of the things I struggle with, but I really am putting an effort to this. Thankyou, though, for being honest :)
Chloewow — Your first review confused me.
Coraline15 — O_o ?
*A few days earlier...*
Zim
"D-D-Dib?" Zim couldn't help but stutter when he saw the flash of a familiar scythe lock peak out slightly. He had no idea how to react, not knowing if he should believe what he was seeing. "W-What?"
"Zim?" the quiet voice of Dib echoed softly through the lab.
When Dib stepped into the light, Zim's eyes widened, and he knew this was no illusion. His whole body was outlined in white lines, his body image slightly blurry. His hair, his clothes, his glasses looked exactly the same and undamaged. His face was white as usual, and his eyes were still golden brown, maybe glowing a little. Zim's antennae started to twitch uncontrollably as he drank in the sight of a human once deceased.
"No...NO." Dib suddenly growled to himself and yanked on his hair. "How could they be serious?"
Zim stayed quiet, watching as Dib started an angry rant.
"Why? I mean, come on! I didn't...And even after what they said, I never imagined I'd actually be stuck here with the alien!" Dib was pacing in his rant, which was odd, because his feet didn't sound like they were touching the floor.
Zim had no idea what he was talking about. He was still stuck in his own shock."I saw...I saw you broken on the floor, your blood candies, those boys..." He trailed off to stare at Dib's face curiously tilting his head. He seemed in a trance.
Dib looked at him odd. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Zim snapped out of it. "You...YOU are supposed to be DEAD you Dib...thing! How...HOW can you still be alive?"
"I am dead!" Dib snapped. "I'm here on Earth, yes, but I'm not physically human anymore."
Zim looked Dib over carefully. He certainly looked about the same as usual, other than the glowing and floating. "Well then, what ARE you? Zim does not want to play games."
Dib looked away, his blurry mouth twisted into a grumpy frown. He looked like he was contemplating something. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "I don't have to tell you anything," he finally mumbled. "Unless I have to stay here, I'm not going to tell you anything."
Zim didn't know what to say at first. He didn't understand what Dib was whining about. Zim was used to Dib's insults as they usually traded them off every time they met. But Dib had been gone so long...he just had to get used to this behavior again.
Without thinking, he reached out to touch Dib cautiously toward the chest. Dib blurred completely and Zim's hand went straight through. He quickly pulled it back with a yelp. He stared at his glove, turning it around to study it, but it looked normal.
"What are you?" Zim said, half disgusted half panicked. "Tell me what you are and why you are here, NOW! I demand to know!"
Dib glared at Zim hard before saying, "No," and then his body, without moving, blurred again and sunk away into the ground.
"Wait." Zim reached out but ended up smacking the empty ground. He growled and cursed Irken curse words, then through his claws in the air. "Where did he go?" he cried. "COMPUTER!"
"Whaaat, master?"
"I want you to scan for any unusual beings in and around the base."
"Sure, whatever."
Zim sat down on a cushy purple chair until the Computer finished.
"Scan complete," it announced. "The system is...unsure."
"Unsure?" Zim echoed. He clenched his fists the arm rest. "What do you mean 'unsure'?"
"Well...an unidentified...thing...has been detected. But the system cannot identify if it is a life form or a ball of energy. Maybe even smoke."
"Hmmm."
Zim stood up and went to the elevator. When he rose above the toilet, one of his eyes narrowed as if he was confused at knowing being up in the house. "Gir? Minimoose?"
"They're not here, Zim."
Zim's antennas perked up. He peaked around the corner into the living room, but saw no one. "Where are you?" he called out.
No answer.
Zim grinded his razor sharp teeth and stomped over to his computer. He spun around quickly. "Fine, Dib! Witness as I find what you are myself!"
Again, no answer.
Zim's eyes scrolled across the empty walls before he plopped down in the seat and started up 'Google'. He typed in the words: A dead human creature that glows, blurrs, and disappears. The results were legends or news about the status of mystical creatures. There was one about vampires and werewolves and one about Bigfoot. The others were related topics. Zim clicked on the simplest one he saw and scrolled through the page.
The title on the page was 'Ghosts and Hauntings'. It didn't seem important so Zim scrolled down to the 'Types of Ghosts' section. He knew Dib was more than likely a ghost but it still didn't answer much. He looked at the first one: Orbs and through others. He searched for anything useful and stopped at Souls.
It said: Departed souls of the dead generally they do not have a form just a blur or cloud of light perhaps...
That last part wasn't right. He could see Dib in a full human form. Zim looked through other theories but none of them seemed to match. They all believed that ghosts are blurs or shapes or light.
Zim thought he heard a chuckle, and growled quietly to himself. If Dib wasn't going to come out, he would just keep looking through these stupid human theories. He hit the back button and searched through other results, but still found nothing thus far. It seemed no one he'd looked at believed in a visible, human looking ghost. Or maybe he wasn't a ghost?
"You know, you're not going to find anything on the Internet, Zim."
Zim nearly jumped out of his seat at the close sound of the voice. Zim looked over the back of his chair to see Dib standing close behind, looking at what Zim had been searching on the computer. Instead of moving away, Zim studied him while he was close, eyes narrowed. "Dib...Dib...Dib-thing. Why do you have to be such a stubborn—oh, whatever you are! At least tell me why you're here. You owe Zim that much."
Dib scowled at him. His form indeed looked nothing like descriptions or pictures from his searches. He looked everything like a human, all except for the solidness. He was only slightly blurry and white light only showed up on his body outlines; he fit the descriptions a little, so he must at least be part ghost.
Zim was still consumed in his thoughts when Dib finally spoke. "What in the world do you think I owe you?"
Zim said, "For all the times I've held back from destroying you."
Dib rolled his eyes "Yeah right, you lizard. You can't even..." Dib broke off, putting his head on his hand. He stayed that way before shaking his head as if he was exhausted. "Look, Zim, I hate you, and you know you still hate me. I won't tell you my secrets just for you to learn more about humans. You were my mortal enemy, you know."
Zim's antenna twitched, irritated. "All Zim wants to know is why you claim you have to stay here, in my base. I don't care why you turned into a stupid human ball of gas." Zim lied at the last part, but he was hoping to intimidate Dib enough to get all the answers.
"I'm not a ball of gas!"
"Well, how would I know?" Zim yelled, standing up.
Dib paced back. "I don't have to listen to this." And before Zim could protest, Dib vanished quicklier than last time.
Zim kicked the desk, which actually wasn't such a good idea. The pain in his toe from earlier pulsed hot. Why was Dib being so very stubborn?
He was about to get the net to search for him again, until there was a crash at the door. There was a frightening squeal before a green dog bounced in. "I'MMMM gonna make tacos!" Gir shouted. He waved at Zim before charging into the kitchen. There was a clattering of dishes and a strange chain-saw noise.
Zim tried to ignore Gir while he went to sit for a minute to gather his brain.
Let's recall. A dead enemy of Zim's who would plague him and compete and yell at him every day suddenly died. It was awkward because Zim was the last one he saw. Zim lived with no purpose it seemed as he ate away his life and eventually had a visit from Gaz. They eventually decided to waste away their lives together, until Zim was fed up, went home, and on the way heard Dib's voice. He thought it was his own imagination until he saw Dib-ghost-or-other strange-human-morphing-creature roaming through his lab with a serious attitude. He won't give Zim any explanation except that he has to stay in Zim's base. And for how long Zim didn't know.
...Couldn't he just admit it? After the whole story was laid out like that it just made it look...not confusing anymore.
Zim grunted at himself. He did like Dib. Does like Dib. He is loyal, persistent, smart, needs a friend...
No! That part wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going that far, and besides, Dib was right. They were mortal enemies. They were supposed to hate each other from now til Earth or Irk explodes. Like anyone could harm Irk! Ha!
Click...Click...CLACK!
"Weeeeeeee!" Gir screamed from the kitchen.
Zim clenched his jaw, but otherwise did not shout. He wanted to see Dib, and this time, he had to approach better, because he really wanted to talk. But maybe he could try to wait, see if Dib would show up again.
*Back to Present*
Zim had been patient through at least a night, and still no Dib. Well...not entirely patient. He had tried shouting for him quite a few times and once tried getting the computer to find him again. But all that came up was the same exact answer as last time.
So Zim was just sitting on the couch and had almost decided to search again but suddenly there was a crash at the door.
Zim rubbed his temples, nearly losing his more controlled patience. He was about to yell something until there was another crash. Wait...it was at the door? Zim's eyes popped as he acknoledged the dent in the door before it broke off the henges and came towering down. The next thing Zim saw was an angry looking Gaz, and at first he thought he was in the past. But he changed when he saw Gaz's eyes weren't baggy and hopeless like last time as she stomped over toward him.
"Zim," she said, and the tone scared Zim a little. She didn't continue at first, instead grabbing his collar. She narrowed her eyes and finally whispered, "You're going to wish you hadn't messed with me."
"Wha—" Zim didn't get to finish before a fist connected to his jaw. He fell over the couch arm rest and tumbled to the floor, not having expected such force.
But he readied himself as he quickly jumped back up, wiping the liquid from the corner of his mouth. His antennas flattened against his skull as he glared hard at Gaz, who welcomly returned the gesture.
"You stupid, useless human. You're going to wish you hadn't done that," Zim said before he lept toward her and pinned her to the ground with his claws.
Gaz quickly twisted his wrists backwards and kicked him in the squeedily-spooch. Zim caught himself this time and returned with swipe across her face. But Gaz was just as strong and just as fast as any average Irken whenever she was this mad, and she caught his wrist and pinned his arms to his back, forcing him to the ground. Zim knew this was more than likely to be a fight to the death unless he could reason with her again. Unfortunately Zim wasn't so courteous today.
Despite the new sharp pains, Zim tried to toss her off. But Gaz only held tighter, pushed harder and Zim cried out. He thought Gaz was about to break all the limbs in her grip until, suddenly, her grip was gone. Zim sat up quickly, his eyes squinted shut in pain as he tried to support himself. Only he received a shock of pain in his arms and realized his PAK was starting to heal him. It was too much pain to deal with and Zim laid helplessly against the side of the couch.
Wait... Zim peeled his eyes open and looked around for his attacker. He was shocked to see she was leaving. But wait, shoving herself out and trying to resist at the same time? How?
Before Zim could ponder any further, he sensed a presence around him, and he noticed the door was bolted back on it's henges and Gaz was gone.
The invisible figure he sensed suddenly turned into a pale, blurry face inches away from his. He saw it connect to long coat sleeves on either side of his body.
"Dib."
"Zim."
So anybody up for some non-anime doodling? Please let me know. RxR(90?)