-1 CHAPTER 6: A History of Insanity

I'm once again back with yet another chapter of the Invader Zim/X-Files crossover of doom. I've recently been asked by several readers about my work as a paranormal investigator. Some have even shown much interest in contacting me with questions about my theories, my cases, and my findings. If you wish to contact me, visit my Bio page. I have posted the URL of several of the organizations I am a member of, am affiliated with, or support, as well as contact information of my own paranormal research organization that is currently in the works. Enough about me, though, let's talk about Zim. Enjoy chapter 6.

City Police Station

Feb 12 1:04pm

Mulder walked into the police department, and strode up to the front desk. An overweight sergeant sat, filling out forms, and yelling over the phone at the same time. The sergeant, whose nametag read O'Reiley looked up at Mulder, and flashed him an upraised index finger.

"Yeah?!" He yelled over the phone in a heavy Irish accent. Mulder watched the multitasking cop with interest. "Well this makes the 14th time ye've called us aready. Ye..Yeah. Jus listen, snakes in yer toilet is a job for animal control. ANIMAL CONTROL!" He started furiously signing papers on his desk. "Yeah, I tell you what, I'll pull a couple a' detectives offa last night's double 'omicide and send 'em over there because you have a wee blacksnake in your crapper! That make ye happy?! HUH?!" He slammed the phone down on the receiver and looked up at Mulder. "They got a 'ole in their ceilin', they call the police. They got a snake in the plumbin', they call the police. Then they call us names. Huh. Whaddya gonna do, you know?" He sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"FBI." Mulder said, showing his ID. The sergeant stood up. He looked around nervously. Mulder looked around out of curiosity, a slight smile on his face.

"This about the crazy rabbit woman?" The sergeant whispered. Mulder's bottom lip trembled a bit in suppressed laughter.

"No," He replied "I'm just looking for some information." The sergeant's expression changed dramatically.

"Ah. Information, eh? What do ya need?"

"I need to know if there have been any strange reports filed in the past year." The sergeant looked at Mulder as if he'd just asked if the sky was blue. Mulder smiled. "I mean any really bizarre cases that have gone unsolved. Cattle mutilations, strange lights in the sky, bizarre disappearances, things of that nature." The sergeant raised an eyebrow.

"Ah. It's the strange a'goins on your wanting. There's more 'n enough a' that 'round here." O'Reiley leaned in toward Mulder as if he were afraid of being overheard. "Like nothing' I ever seen, agent, lad. You'd think the man 'imself was runnin' 'round this town a' raisin havoc. I never seen any of it meself, but ol' lieutenant Pembrey'll fill you in." O'Reiley looked toward the back of the station. "Lieutenant!" The sergeant yelled over the din of the station. "Oi, lieutenant Pembrey, sir!" A tall older officer with a white handlebar moustache came walking up.

"What is it, sergeant?" He asked sternly. O' Reiley motioned toward Mulder.

"FBI, Lieu." O' Reiley "He wants some information on some of the strange things that you've seen in the past year." Lieutenant Pembrey looked at Mulder for a moment.

"Step back into my office, agent…"

"Mulder." Mulder said. Pembrey turned, and Mulder began following him back.

"Ol' Nick 'imself." O' Reiley muttered. Mulder looked at him. The irish cop smiled a little. "Can't arrest 'im, you can't."

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"So, the FBI is taking an interest in some of the strange stuff going on in my city, huh?" Lieutenant Pembry asked. He sat behind his desk, but Mulder could tell he was out of place in an office. Pembrey smiled gravely. "I know just what your thinking. I look more like a beat cop, huh? Try SWAT."

"How did you end up behind a desk, Lieutenant?" Mulder asked. Pembrey Scoffed.

"You report a 211 suspect getting away by growing spider legs like Alfred Molina, and try to explain to your superiors that you wrecked a cruiser chasing a house through downtown, and see what their reaction will be." Mulder quickly pulled out his notepad, and jotted down some notes.

"I'm sorry. Can you…elaborate on those…"

"What I wrote in the report was nothing short of the truth." Pembrey interrupted. I saw with my own eyes, a suspect wanted in a bank robbery sprout metal spider legs out of a backpack, and use them to run up a flight of stairs. My team gave pursuit, and cornered him on the roof. Then, I swear to you, agent Mulder, he blasted off like a rocket."

"Can you describe the suspect?" Mulder asked.

"How could I forget him? Short. Really short. He had a long white beard, and wore a long brown duster coat. His skin…that was the strangest part." Mulder looked at Pembrey. Somehow, he knew what the officer was going to say. "His skin was green."

"Lieutenant Pembrey," Mulder began. "What did you say about…chasing a house?"

"That one really sealed my fate." Pembrey said. He sighed. "What a night."

"What happened that night?" Mulder asked.

"We got a report that a house had just fell from the sky and crushed someone's car. You don't forget a call like that. Soon, we had several reports, all of them saying the same thing: a house was rampaging through the downtown area. I was the ranking officer out that night, so I responded to the calls. Everyone did. When things started exploding, everyone came out of the woodwork: SWAT, the detectives, the sergeants, the lieutenants, God, everybody." Mulder nodded, and continued writing. Pembrey continued. "We caught up with the house, if you can call it that. It looked like a house, only it had these big metal legs…like a dog or something. It kicked over a tanker truck. Thing exploded. Then the house took out a bunch of our cars. I gave pursuit. We caught up with it again at the Crazy Taco off of 29th. You can't set up a roadblock for a 70 foot walking house. It ran right past us, taking out a few more cruisers. There were three of us left. We chased that…that thing like men possessed. I wasn't about to let it get away, you know. I guess I wasn't paying attention. It cleared the Mall. We didn't." Pembrey sighed. "All in all? 16 officers injured, 18 cars totaled, a couple mill in damage. They had to pin it on someone. I was the ranking officer, so I got all the credit." He said with a angry tone.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant." Mulder said. "I know how you feel. I've been stuck under the rug for telling the truth on reports myself."

"I could tell you were the type." Pembrey said. "I can spot an honest cop from a mile away. You're a man who wants the truth."

"You can say that." Mulder replied.

"I think I know what you want." Pembrey said. He opened a drawer on his desk, and pulled out a thick file. "After me, you were going to go to the library, and look up every strange event from the past year, weren't you?"

"Yeah." Mulder said with a smile. "How did you know?"

"Standard investigative work, isn't it?" Pembrey replied. "But I'll save you the trouble. I've been saving every newspaper clipping, every eyewitness report, every 911 call, and every hobo story for the last year. I saw a pattern, agent Mulder. I began to wonder if all of these events were perpetrated by the same…forces." He laid the folder on the table. "Abductions, explosions, major property damage, cattle thrown through some poor old farmer's barn."

"Strange aircraft?" Mulder asked.

"Enough to make Stephenville look like a no-fly zone." Pembrey said with a grin. "But if you're asking me if I think it's the work of aliens, I don't. I think it's some new gang, maybe even a terrorist cell, using high-tech weaponry and aircraft, testing it in this city. And I think I know who the leader is." Mulder thought for a moment.

"The bank robbery suspect?" He asked.

"So many of these reports include a description of someone with a white beard and green skin." He slid the file across the desk to Mulder. "Take it."

"You're…giving this to me?" Mulder asked.

"I can't do anything with it. If I try, I'll end up as a meter maid. I was saving all of this information, hoping that somebody would eventually be able to do something with it." Pembrey stood as Mulder took the folder. "Agent Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Get 'im." Pembrey said. Mulder smiled and shook the Lieutenant's hand. He walked out of the office, and past O'Reiley's desk, where the old sergeant was busy yelling at someone else on the telephone. Mulder held the file under his coat as he exited the police station. It was for the better that he did, because on his way out, he brushed past a man in a dark suit, entering the station. Mulder walked past the smoldering cigarette butt on the sidewalk, and was soon in the impala, heading back to the motel.

I had to work officer Pembrey into the story. He's been in several episodes, and seemed like a half-competent officer, so I always figured that he'd eventually start piecing things together. O'Reiley is of course not from the show, but is based on someone I used to know. I will be in East Texas for the next few days. There's a hundred year old cemetery in the middle of nowhere, and the people around it swear that the residents' spirits like to go walkabout at night. I'll try to get another chapter posted before I leave, but if I can't, I'll probably have another chapter up by Sunday evening. Till then, my loyal readers, cheerio.