Dib had left the atmosphere with butterflies in his gut. His seat belt was fastened across his broad shoulders, a thin t-shirt sporting count cocofangs concealed his faintly muscled front. His hair was short, his scythe long gone, replaced instead by a short cows lick that no amount of coaxing with comb, water and hair gel would convince to stay flat. He was excited and anxious, and as the last of earth's clouds flew out of sight, he was swept over with a wave of nostalgia. It was strange. As a child he'd been anxious to leave, and explore space, but then space had come to him in the form of Zim. Now Zim was gone and the urge to travel the cosmos had come back to him, his 20 years alive suddenly felt claustrophobic and earth bound.
He flicked through the controls absent mindedly, one hand tracing the strange Irken buttons, the other a scar on his shoulder. He'd taught himself Irken in the 9 years he'd spent fighting, studying and generally obsessing over Zim. As for the scar, it was a small, round bite mark, made by sharp teeth, to never forget.
Dib hadn't left with the intention of looking for Zim, there would probably be no point. He'd been recalled from his mission over a year and a half ago, promising to return soon and ensure the destruction of earth. He still hadn't returned. Dib could only conclude that he was dead, knowing the Tallest's true intention of sending him to earth, through his countless bugs and cameras set up around Zim's base. He had tried to tell him once, but it had fallen on deaf ears. They had probably gotten fed up with him, and decided to put an end to the insanity. Dib wouldn't have been so quick to jump to this conclusion, but had Zim been doing well, he would have expected him to at least send a gloating message.
Whether or not he had planned to find the little Irken invader, he found himself plotting a course for the Massive. His hand froze uncertainly over the control panel when he realised what he was doing, his fingers locked in place. What was he thinking?
VIRAL BREAKOUT LOG; DAY 5.
Dib gritted his teeth. He was trying his hardest to concentrate on the molecular breakdown of a component of the virus. He was operating through a pair of rubber gloves and a sheet of plastic. A small microscope jutted out of the sheet of the glass. It was a delicate procedure and damn it he needed to concentrate, but Zim Sat beside him chewing on a sugary candy lollipop as loudly as Irkenly possible.
"Damn it Zim! Shut up! My genius mind can't work with this kind of noise!"
"Obviously it's not as superior as ZIMS mind!" He grinned a jagged grin full of broken lollipop shards.
"Gross! Zim, could your superior mind either help me out or get your superior butt over to the other corner? You're so distracting!"
"Zim will do no such thing! I do not complain when you laze around breathing loudly when ZIM tries to work!"
"Sleeping, Zim, it's called sleeping."
"Well if you did less of this 'sleeping' we would be making progress!"
"You sleep too!?"
"Not as much as you PITIFUL HUMANS!" Zim crunched on the lolly again.
Dib groaned and his fingers clenched. He was going to go mad, he really was.
His fingers clenched. He hadn't decided where to go. He realised that he'd flown blindly into space with no real destination in mind. He supposed he would have flown to the nearest planet and check it out, but clearly that's not what was on his mind. Yes he was curious as to Zim's fate. Worried even. He missed their bickering, their conversations, the exhausting brawls that would leave them sprawled on the floor gasping for breath, until maniacal laughter bubbled up and broke from their lips in gasps and shouts.
Dib flicked the spittle runner onto autopilot and rummaged around in the back. Come on there must be one somewhere... He fumbled around in a dark overhead locker until his hand closed around something small and round. His heart leapt into his throat. Could it be? He pulled it out as quickly as he dared, and his hand came up with-
An Irken disguise mechanism. A small disc capable of casting a pre-programmed holographic projection around the wearer, a disguise that could be turned off.
He leapt back into his seat and plotted a course to the Massive.
VIRAL BREAKOUT LOG; DAY 10
Zim and Dib were working in silence. Every now and again there would come a "hmmm" or a gentle clicking of teeth, but apart from that it was silent. Zim's fingers hammered furiously on his keyboard. He'd left Dib to the biology and was engrossed in designing a computer virus that might breakdown Kurt's firewalls, leading them to a clue or insight to the antidote.
A short peal of laughter escaped dibs lips and he quickly clamped his hands over his mouth, his shoulders shaking mercilessly.
"What's so funny Dib pig?!" Zim snapped "Zim is TRYING to work on some very important code!"
"I'm sorry" Dib gasped trying to quell the burst of giddiness. "It's just, well look at this!"
He held the book of biology and chemistry up for Zim to see. At the bottom of the page was an equation, the molecular structure of human… beans? And even better than that, where it should have said carbon, it said glucose.
Zim began to laugh as well, which only fuelled Dib further.
"Oh my God Zim," he gasped "you sound like an idiot!" And then his gasping laughter turned into a snort.
Zim roared with laughter.
"- !PIG" he managed. He was laughing so hard he clutched his side, rocked back and forwards, and promptly fell off his chair. This was too much. Dib could barely breathe, he removed his glasses and wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face.
"Fuck you!" Zim wheezed, still clutching his side.
It hadn't even been that funny to begin with, but it had escalated until they were both incapacitated with laughter.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INVADER ZIM OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!
Yaay! I actually wrote 2 chapters in one day! Sometimes I think people forget how big dibs ego is too… Im really excited to do more, but please let me know what you think!
PLEASE RATE!
Mia out~