a/N: Heeeeeyyy! I wish I could have updated sooner but life got in the way! Enjoy this chapter!

My first, honest-to-god thought was that Dib's head actually was pretty big. Neat.

I sat still for a few more moments before sitting up, watching the smoke fade away. Should I follow it? Keep going where I was going? (where was I going anyway, I didn't know where I was) I didn't want to interrupt anything, but... But, just, c'mon! Zim! Dib! Gaz! Gir! Everyone! Ugh!

"Fffffffffffffffffffrick it." I said, getting up and grabbing my bag. I stumbled off of the curb and started running after the smoke trail, my backpack bumping and jingling. I ran around the corner, yelping and moving back onto the sidewalk when a car drove past, beeping at me. I shook my fist at them, pausing long enough to watch them disappear, and then went back to running.

The smoke trail was almost gone but it was still there enough for me to see it. I panted, rushing after it. I should have spent the ten bucks on Planet-Fitness when I had the chance. Stupid weak legs! Horrible.

I kept running, though I was tired. This was probably a bad idea, seeing as I didn't have any food and I was tired and without shelter, but, well... Adventure! Adventure and lovely characters and, well, I was kinda stupid.

Really stupid.

Blazingly, shockingly stupid.

Excellent.

The smoke was getting thinner and, to my lungs, so was the air. I rounded a corner, panting and ready to give up. But, sticking out like a sore thumb, a small house sat squeezed between two apartment complexes, cords and wires stretching into the brick of the neighboring homes, cracking it as they squeezed their way into them. Strange lawn decorations covered the front yard and the green walls and red roof of the house shone in the light. Pale-face-mc-bighead was just ending his speech, backing up as the 'friendly' garden gnomes aimed tiny but deadly lasers at him, forcing him outside the fence.

"-...To the depths of the ocean! I'll get you Zim!" Dib, shaking a fist at the house, made a move to rush back at it. The gnomes whirred threateningly, grinning at Dib. He gulped, and took a step back. The gnomes slowly scooted back to their spots, watching Dib. Neat. I wanted some. They'd be awesome! ...If I had a house. I kept forgetting that.

I stood at the small entrance to the street, watching Dib as he glared up at the house, shifting from foot to foot. This must be killing him, an alien house, right there. Right smegging there, and he couldn't even get in, couldn't even tell anyone Zim was there without getting laughed at. Poor Dib. It was like holding candy in front of a baby and then eating it. (Not the baby.)

(Hopefully.)

(oh gosh I didn't know, they probably did eat babies here, oh gosh.)

I waited, watching, and he eventually started walking away. I made a circle the long ways around the cul-de-sac, keeping my distance and trying to look casual, and paused in front of Zim's house, watching it and smiling, Dib walked away in the distance, shoulders slumped.

Ugh, it actually... smelled. Like chemicals and upturned dirt and new plastic. Metal too. I made a bit of a face, glancing at the "I heart earth!" flag. Cute. Charming. Not weird at all. He'd be better off pretending to be an Eco-maniac with that in the yard. Hippy parent-robots for example. One who was in the war. Lost his squeezin' arm, decided that he wasn't 'all up with the man, maaaaaaaaan', became vegan. Weird lights coming from the house? Trying out some new recipes. Oh you saw an alien? Sorry we were cooking mushrooms. Green skinned kid? We did a lot of weird stuff in the sixties maaaaan. We also use this awesome algae shampoo, stains your skin though. Green shampoo for green skin for the green man, maan.

Simple, God.

Idiots.

Then again Zim had no way of knowing these social-quirks and expectations. He was an alien. Like they had vegans or hippies on Irk. Ugh. I was the idiot.

The front door opened and I jumped; eyes wide. GIR stood in disguise, and blinked at me. I stared back a moment, blinking, before turning and starting to quickly walk away. Speedwalking. There was a squeak, and then another, and then a third, and I turned my head to see GIR peeking out from behind the fence at me, blinking. I waved a little, and then started to quickly run after Dib. I loved GIR, he was adorable, but I didn't exactly want to get caught by GIR's 'owner'. Who was, well, also adorable, but probably smelly. Lizard-smelly. And lizards always smelled like their own pee or dried snake boots, so, well, no thanks.

Or, of course, Zim could also smell like a squashed lady-bug. Also disgusting. Also a 'no thank you I'll pass on the moldy bug-lizard' from me.

Also there was the small fact that Zim was an 'evil' alien monster that was utterly disgusted by humans and probably wouldn't hesitate to gut me like a fish.

And then replace my guts with fish.

Disgusting.

I glanced back at GIR once, and saw that he was dripping melted chocolate from his mouth. Or maybe it was mud. (I didn't care for the third option). Didn't really matter; it was disgusting anyway. He waved at me, squeaking, and I waved back again before rushing down the street, smiling. I would have loved to hug him but, well, Zim. And mud and or chocolate – or something else (ew) – all over his face so, well, no.

Also I could hear a faint "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiingh" kind of a noise and I assumed that it was GIR's breathing. So, double no. Wait, did robots breathe? Well, more specifically did GIR breathe, seeing as he wasn't exactly… Normal. Robot-wise.

I shook my head. I honestly didn't care – that was a lie, it actually interested me quite a bit and I'd probably be stuck on it for a while. – and started down the road. I needed to shut up the Dib part of my brain, god.

I blinked in surprise, watching as ahead and appearing as a pale speck, Dib turned a corner. I saw a flash of electricity through two houses. The electric fence (literally) for Dib's house! So he didn't live that far from Zim! Or, rather, I was on top of a hill and I could see a lot more from here. He did seem to be at least a few blocks away, though. Lucky him, he's got alien neighbors.

Maybe not lucky for Zim. Probably not Dib either now that I thought of it. They were both within explosion distance after all. Must be stressful being an alien/paranormal investigator.

Ha.

I huffed, starting down the road and down the hill. Well I at least kinda knew where I was now. Within spitting – well, walking – distance of both of the main character's homes. Sweet.

Actually, more than sweet, more like hella rad because oh my god Invader Zim characters! Within breathing distance! (yes I was sure they could hear me breathing down their necks from here already, ha. Haha.)

I let out a breathy squeal and smiled, jumping in place and grinning. This was so amazing, so totally AMAZING.

I'd have to enroll in school. That's what I would do. Would they need my parents to be there in the flesh? Probably not. 'Skool' wasn't exactly the highest of learning establishments. (hint hint they spelled 'School' wrong)

They'd probably just ask for my name and how old I was and just, toss me in to a class. I could always lie my way through it, or make some story up about dead parents/being an orphan. Which I kinda was at the moment, seeing as I was either dead or in a different reality. Or in a coma. Or stupid. I was at least one of those things. (probably two).

In all honesty I could probably just walk in. It was called 'skool', after all. I hardly think that they kept track of their students. Anyone could (probably) just walk in. I mean, look at Zim!

But, would I be in Ms. Bitters' class? Or would I be thrown in with Mr. Elliot? Elliot was Gaz's teacher though, and, hopefully, cartoon-reality-universe-whatever-luck would be on my side! Plus I was 15, taller than Gaz. Maybe taller than Dib? (that'd be sweet) I'd have to check and figure out a lie to tell. I didn't want to end up being placed in a supply closet and miss out on everything, after all. That would suck. That was for weenies. I was not a weenie and I would not accept-

"ugH-!"

I'd just run in to a bench. My stomach was currently being stabbed by cheap cartoon wood.

Only weenies ran into benches. I'd have to preform research on this new phenomenon of non-weenie-bench-hitting. I was not a weenie.

"Ow."

I sighed, rubbing my stomach, and crawled up to sit on the bench, huffing. I could already feel the bruise forming, ugh. I needed to get out of la-la land and pay attention. I hardly even knew where I was, anyway, I didn't have a house, and I was between an Alien that would attack me if he spotted me spying, and a paranormal investigator who would assume I was an alien and attack me.

I was stuck between a rock and a big head, in other words.

I had started to settle down on the bench, deciding that maybe old-lady-butt's would be what I woke up to, when a siren made me jump.

"IDIDN'TDOIT!"

That was not suspicious at all, Casey. Totally. Well done. You should run for president with how much sense and non-suspiciousness you have. Ha. I'm funny. Then again in IZ-world I could probably get away with it.

I stopped being 'not' suspicious and looked up as a police car pulled up to a house directly in front of me, an ambulance quickly following. A crowd of people leaving their homes started to form, and I watched as they trickled from their homes or from down the street. Two paramedics went running down the front sidewalk with a gurney in tow, and I watched, slightly horrified, as they returned with a figure covered in a sheet. Two police officers had stepped out of their cars to interview people, and I quickly darted across the street and into the crowd of murmuring people, blinking around at everyone.

"Some sort of accident-"

"Poor old guy-"

"Knew he'd go too, house is-"

"Death-trap, yeah-"

My eyes widened and I looked up, watching as the paramedics hoisted the body into the ambulance, shutting the doors and suddenly driving off. The police officer was talking with a neighbor, but everything was winding down pretty quickly. Freaking cartoons.

I was sad for the old-guy, didn't know him of course, but it was pretty sad when old people died- wait a friggin' second. Wait...

Blinking, I looked around and then retreated across the street to sit at the bench, waiting.

…

"I can't believe you're doing this Casey, oh my god this is hideous."

Talking to myself, I quietly snuck up the front lawn of the deceased old man's home – or what used to be his home, ugh – and looked around nervously before darting up to the door. Trying the knob – locked – I muttered something my mother wouldn't have approved of.

I jumped down from the front stoop, feet sinking in leaves and making them crackle. I froze, looking around, and then started inching to the edge of the house, crouched and trying to keep my backpack from swinging or rattling against anything too loudly.

"This is stupid, so so so stupid, stupid stupid!" I hissed angrily, not doing much to keep my voice from rattling. I ran down the side of the house and to the backyard. Flower-smell met me and I looked around, heart squeezing when I saw dying flowers and a greenhouse/shed in the back fenced-in corner.

On one hand this was perfect. Free house, I could always claim to be a granddaughter or relative, and if the Skool asked for parents? Dead grandpa. On the other hand this was probably one of the nastiest things I'd done by far. I mean, seriously, Casey? You were going to use a dead old man just so you didn't have to live on the streets!? This was terrible of me! He probably had family!

"Sorry." I mumbled, looking to the back patio. It led to a sliding-glass door and I walked to it, stomach pinching guiltily. I'd waited until it had gotten dark enough to do this as well. I could only hope that everyone here in 'Invader Zim' land were dumb enough to believe whatever flaky lies I came up with, even though I deserved to be caught, if only for this. I hoped that wouldn't lead to self-sabotage, as I was prone to doing.

The patio door was unlocked and I slid inside the house, closing it behind me. It was spacious, shelves – where they were – a bit cluttered with things that didn't mean anything to me. Old-person house for sure. It even smelled like it. Like mice and old cologne.

I wandered into the kitchen, setting my backpack down on the table before I rushed to the fridge, pushing it open and starting to scavenge for food, squinting in the light. Milk, eggs, and other such things greeted me, and I sighed a bit with relief. The guy had been rather well-stocked, thankfully.

I guiltily took an apple.

I left the fridge door open and stepped out of the way of the cheap light to look around the kitchen, biting into my apple. Cute cabinets, flowery wallpaper, sink with dishes in it, only a few. A cup for coffee or tea or whatever.

Feeling like a jerk-wad, I went to the sink, hesitated, and then set my apple down before quietly started doing the dishes. Only a few, not like I wouldn't have to do them anyway if I stayed here. Made me feel better, though. Just a little.

It didn't take that long. I dried my hands and went to the table, shoving my pack off of a pile of mail I'd dropped it on. Well, more like a pile of catalogs. All signed to Egbert C. Poor Egbert. No bills though, that was good.

I quietly put the mail in the silverware drawer, under the knives and other utensils, and then put my pack on again. Stubbornly, I worried that someone would catch me, and I would rather have a quick escape anyway.

After wandering down a hall, I'd found the bathroom and a few rooms, all of which smelled like old man. I looked around cautiously before wandering into the livingroom. A TV, coffee table, and curtains greeted me, and I dropped my bag on a comfortable looking chair. Crawling up onto the couch, I settled down on it, curling up in a corner. I let out a sigh, wiping at my cheeks before pushing my glasses off and putting them on the table. It felt, well, a bit wrong, disgusting even, to sleep in a dead man's bed the first night. Let alone his house. Ugh. I'd stay on the couch tonight. And, well, it wasn't like this wasn't... Relatively perfect after all. I wasn't too far from Dib or Zim's house, I could walk to each, and, hey, I was on a hill. Close to a seven eleven too. Perfect. Horrible. Oh god I was in a dead guy's house.

I wasn't a skeptic on ghosts, mom was, well... Had been, seeing as I didn't know if I was dead or, well, what... But, mom was an Empath, I was emotionally sensitive, and, why not believe in those kind of things? But, I didn't think old man Egbert was in here anymore, hopefully. I wasn't good with these things, obviously. Not good with much of anything.

Rolling on to my back, I decided that I would take good care of this house – as good as a fifteen year old girl can when she's all alone – and dosed off.

I'd, well... I'd be doing something tomorrow. I'd have to be responsible from now on, and I needed sleep anyway. I still had to find out where Sasha was, and how I was going to get into Skool. Or, rather, even if I could. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well.