E9: Summer Camps and Freak Accidents
There was an uneven silence in the office of Chaos. Uneven, meaning you were still trying to fit the pieces to this bizarre jig-saw puzzle of a story and Fayt was at the moment playing with her DS.
"Objection!" rang the game as Fayt tapped the bottom screen. The music on the game continued.
"That wasn't it," muttered Fayt. "I'll get you yet, Angel Starr, just you wait. Sorry last case."
She closed the DS putting it into sleep mode.
"Now where were we?" she focused on you.
"Right after the convention," You reminded her eagerly.
"Right, right. Any questions before we move on?"
"Not really just-"
Zim's lab...
"In coming transition," the computer's robotic voice rang through the lab. "Receive?"
"I'll receive it," Zim waved it aside and continued his work. Could the Tallest be rewarding me for my many great accomplishments? Zim mused as he watched the transmitting screen faze the image through.
"Calling all Irken Invaders," a voice came from the speakers as the Irken symbol faded in from the black screen. "There is a mandatory training session on the planet Xorex. This training will last up to three Earth months. The Tallest themsleves cordially invite the Invader Zim to come to this mandatory-"
"Training?" Zim spoke with distaste as he muted the broadcast. "The Tallest think I need to be trained some more? I'm the best invader out there! Although the Tallest did request it."
Gir came in and hit the switch to un-mute the broadcast because it was blinking.
"We have cookies," the broadcast ended with those last words.
"Oooh! Cookies!" that made up Zim's mind. "Gir pack the Voot Cruiser. We're going to Xorex!"
Meanwhile on one of the Armada ships...
"So you think he fell for it?" questioned the purple Tallest to the other.
"Of course he fell for it," the red Tallest set down his drink. "They always fall for the cookies. Or cupcakes."
"That's true. Is this the last we will hear from him?"
"Honestly, no one has ever escaped Xorex alive. Come back as zombies, yes, but never alive."
Dib's house...
"Now I have a little surprise for the both of you," Professor Membrane had both of his children waiting patently on the couch.
"You need dib for a lab rat?" Gaz never looked up from her game.
"Oh, I would only hope," the professor coughed as he received a glare from his son. "But enough of that, I'm sending you both to camp this year."
"WHAT?!" Gaz and Dib were stunned. This was one of the few things that had ever shocked both of them. Apart from the fact that they were related and this had been the second time in the month that their father was actually there in front of them.
"That's right," the professor went on. "Let me explain. I have found camps that will help both of you advance in what you want to do. Gaz," he turned to his daughter. "I have found an excellent interactive entertainment camp where not only where you can test the latest game, but you learn how to create them as well."
"I'm taking that interactive entertainment means video games," Gaz put down her game thoughtfully. "Sweet."
"As for you Dib," he turned to dib now. "I have found you a camp that will show you the true light of space science. I have arranged it so that the Space Center will guide you to a new vision of your future. That means Dib, you can finally put your paranormal ideas aside and start a new."
This is it, thought Dib feverishly. I can finally prove to him that aliens are real.
"You can count on me, Dad!" Dib saluted. "I'm going to start packing now."
Dib rushed off to his room.
"I hope he didn't take it the wrong way and completely think that this was his chance to prove himself," the professor pondered aloud. "Probably not."
Dib's room...
"You'll be gone how long?" Hiei asked again thinking that this was too good to be true.
Immediately after Dib got into his room he summoned Hiei to give orders for his absentness. At the moment he was hurryingly cramming stuff into his suitcase.
"Three months," Dib had thrown in an 'Unpredictably Phenomena' magazine in for the ride to the space camp. "And I want you to monitor Zim-"
"He's gone."
"What?"
"Zim is gone," Hiei said again to stress the point.
"Where is he going, I wonder," Dib stopped packing for a moment to reflect.
"He said some Irken training program."
"Really- hey how do you know all this?" Dib began to be suspicious.
"Little word of advice," Hiei was ready for that question. "Know your enemy."
"Well then I guess that gives you three months off," Dib started to pack again. The offer sounded more or less like a business vacation.
There came a knock on the door.
"Come on, son," the professor knocked. "Your bus is leaving in an hour, and I have to get you and your sister to the station."
"Coming," Dib called back. "Well I guess have a restful break cause when I get back we're so going to do something against Zim."
"And what is this?" Hiei asked expecting the worse.
"I don't know," Dib went out the door leaving Hiei with those words, and rushed out of the house to the awaiting cab in the street. It only took Hiei a minute to decide what to do and that was clearly: get the hell away from this city as quickly as possible.
On the way to the gamer's camp...
The moment that Gaz got on the bus, she knew there was going to be hell to pay. So did the boy who had tried in vain to keep her from her Game Slave 2, Iggins. The both gave each other a forceful glare. Gaz went past him to the back of the bus, sat down and pulled out her Game Slave 2.
At the space camp...
The senior guard on duty was asleep with the junior guard doing all the work anxiously like a rabbit on caffeine. There were signs all around the guard station that read "Do not let this boy in" with a picture of Dib over the caption. There came a shadow across the gate. The junior guard woke the senior guard up. The senior guard peeked out of the guard station.
"Great googley-moogley," the senior guard cursed. "He's back."
Billy's house...
"Come on Grim just this one time," Billy was holding on to Grim's leg for dear life as he begged.
"No, you'll hurt yourself," Grim struggled to get Billy off of him.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Mandy sighed. She and Kurama were sitting on the back porch watching.
"Ku- Shuichi, can't you do sumtin," Grim pleaded as Billy tackled him. "After all Billy's mother put you in charge."
"Not I," Kurama protested. "Mandy made it clear on the first day that she was in charge."
"You could learn something from him, bonehead," Mandy nodded. "And besides, this is rather amusing."
"Alright," Grim growled . "Get off me, boy." Billy did so. "Now, what was it you wanted?"
"I want to be a giant super robot insect dinosaur monster truck," Billy jumped up and down from excitement.
"How can you be a monster truck?" Kurama was rather confused by this concept.
"A little advice," Mandy offered. "Never question Billy's intelligence."
"Settle down, man," Grim sighed as Billy continued to jump around him. "Just hold still. Wouldn't want ta miss."
Grim then lifted up his scythe and swung. There was blood.
On the way to Xorex...
"Are we there yet?" Gir went on for the fiftieth time.
E9: Summer Camps and Freak Accidents Fin.