'And this not only proves that the Titanic was sunk by a whale, but also that Zim is an alien!' Dib looked out on the class of bored and disbelieving children.

'You're stupid.' The letter M shouted out from the second row.

'You're whales and...' Zim waved a hand in the air, 'aliens are stupid and pointless. Just like your big head.'

The room started laughing and agreeing with Zim.

Miss Bitters glared at them all. The only thing she couldn't stand more than sunshine was the sound of children laughing. 'Dib, you failed your assignment. This had nothing to do with the colonial revolution. Now sit down and stop breathing.'

'Yes, Miss Bitters.' Dib said, dragging his feet on the way to his chair, where he sat. He defied Miss Bitter's orders by continuing breathing, though. It had been a bad day when Willie followed her orders and got brain damage from oxygen starvation.

-----

Dib left skool that afternoon with thoughts of the Mysterious Mysteries-a-thon that was going to be on that night running through his head. They were going to showing the best episodes, and Dib knew his episode was going to be on again. It had been voted number 1 in a watchers poll.

He wasn't even suspecting the attack that came from behind him.

'Hey look!' Torque shouted, pulling Dibs coat off and putting it on himself. 'I'm Dib', he said in a dumb voice, 'and I think aliens and ghosts are real.' He started dancing around in front of the other kids, earning roars of laughter.

'Hey!' Dib said. 'Give me my coat back! You're stretching it out of shape!' There were already tears in the back seams as it tried to fit around Torques more muscular frame.

'I'm Dib.' Torque continued on. 'And I'm a girl, with long hair.'

Dib sighed and walked off, with Torque continuing on in the background. He had other jackets at home, and the day wasn't so cold he couldn't walk home in his t-shirt. At least he had the Mysterious Mysteries-a-thon to look forward to.

-----

Torque got fed up with the game a few minutes after Dib left. He tried to pull the jacket off, but found he couldn't remove it. Maybe he should cut down on the Membrane inc. Super-Toast.

He started trudging off down the road. He could always get his mum to cut it off when he got home. Then he could shove the remains into Dibs locker and watch him cry. That would be fun, and it would give everybody something to laugh at.

He itched at his arm, where it had been touching Dibs jacket. He was probably allergic to Dibs germs or stupidity, or something. He should probably get it off soon, so he didn't swell up and choke like his sister had when she was bitten by a bee.

He started to run, itching at his arms as he went. When he felt something wet on his fingers he stopped running and brought them up to his face. There was red liquid coating the tips of them. He screamed when he realised it was blood. It was his blood, and the itching had become a burning.

He started scratching at his arms and his back, plus his check and his neck. Everywhere the coat had been touching was burning. He fell down onto the path, and started spasming in pain. His body was burning up! It was like he was getting eaten by acid!

A few seconds later, Torque stood up again. This Torque was slightly different, though. Not only could he shed the coat easily, but he was a few shades greyer than Torque usually was, and was wearing a large brimmed hat, that hadn't been there a few seconds before. He was also waving slightly as he stood. After a few seconds he pulled himself together and continued on his way, this time whistling a jaunty tune, the likes of which had never been heard on earth before.

The coat stayed behind on the ground. If anybody had picked it up, they would have noticed it was covering a large puddle of blood, and some strands of brown hair.