Dib growled and threw himself at Zim, gripping his hands around the aliens' neck. Zim was knocked onto his back, Dib using his knees to hold Zims arms down. Zim made gargled grunts, his mouth wide open and tongue hanging over his lips. Lydia took a step back, hands clasped over her mouth in horror, she wasn't as used to this as I was. I wriggled in GIR's grip until he had no choice but to put me down. Sprinting towards them, I jumped up onto Zims chest getting in-between the enemies. They were both yelling now, heads dangerously close, my ears couldn't take much more of this. I gritted my teeth and took my opportunity. I wrapped my one fist around Zims worm-like tongue and with the other managed to dig my nails into Dibs who was just close enough. I pulled harshly, making them both gag in unison. They glared at me, but I didn't loosen my grip, I finally had their attention. Even if it was disgusting having their drool dripping over my hands.

"Right, now listen to me! BJ's did this to me with one of his jokes, okay? But he's been taken and we need to save him! Now I'm going to let go, Dib, you're going to stop killing Zim, and Zim, you're going to get up and stay still, right?" I dig my nails in further and gave an extra tug for emphasis.

They nodded stiffly and I released them. I rubbed my hands in my jeans and slid off of Zims chest and onto the floor. True to their word, (or pain, either way) they backed away from one another, prodding their tongues gingerly. Lydia lowered herself to her knees to get a closer look at me.

"What do you mean, BJ's been taken? Where?"

"I don't know, it's like this…"

I explained everything that had happened, starting when GIR and BJ had appeared in my room and ending with them arriving here. All the while, GIR nodded and even tried acting out a few scenes himself. I deliberately left out the part about Zim watching Gaz, I'd save that bit of blackmail for later, hehe. Finally, I had finished explaining and felt a sense of odd relief wash over me. Maybe I was glad that someone was listening at last!

Lydia brushed some hair out of her eyes, "So, BJ actually said his own name out loud?"

"Isn't he supposed to do that?" asked Dib, anxiously.

She shook her head, "It's part of his powers. He made a deal in the Neitherworld that he gets unlimited powers, but as a price, people who have seen him can summon him by saying his name three times, but if he says his own name, the deal is broken and he has to be taken back to the Neitherworld. Because that was the price of his powers, his name. Basically, he gave up the right of his own name, leaving himself vulnerable to anyone, for power. When he said his name, it must have been interpreted as him trying to get his name back and going back on the deal."

"Well we've got to save him!" I cried, "We've got to go to the Neitherworld and find him!"

"He could be anywhere!" Dib groaned, throwing his arms in the air.

"Well think about it Dib-beast, when you humans break a contract, you sort in out in a 'court' or something, clearly he's going to be in some sort of prison unit awaiting a trail." Zim sneered, folding his arms.

We all stared at him, mouths hanging open in shock at the sudden genius. Zim stopped smiling smugly and glared at us all nervously.

"What?"

"That's… brilliant…" I smirked, "Lydia, is there anything like that in the Neitherworld?"

She nodded, "Yeah, we had to go to a court house when we first met to try and let BJ live with me. I know the way, but the system is really quick so we've got to get there a.s.a.p!"

"Wait… we?" Zim glared, "What makes you think that the almighty Zim would accompany you?"

I tugged at his trouser leg and waited for him to look down at me, "Because if you don't, I'll tell a certain someone about your little visual project you have set up." I said, pointing at the TV.

He paled and bent down to pick me up by the hem of my jacket, letting my dangle in front of his eyes, "When we're through, you'll be nothing but a chew toy for GIR!"

"Nuh-uh!" GIR shook his head, "She's gonna give me cake!"

Zim deflated at the uncooperative minion. I folded my arms with a smirk and raised my eyebrows in triumph. He narrowed his puce eyes and lowered me roughly back to the ground. I nodded at Lydia who took a deep breath as we all gathered around. She raised her arms and closed her eyes, mellowing her voice for the chant.

"Though I know I should be wary, still I venture someplace scary, ghostly haunting I turn loose! Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. BEETLEJUICE!"

The ground shook and an icy wind bellowed around us. The walls of the house warped and cracked, breaking away into a hazed gloom. Lights flashed around us, blinding me. But, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. I peeked my eyes open and gasped as I took in my surroundings. The yellow-orange sky hung over us while the misshaped brown cliffs towered around us, or rather, towered over them, colossal over me. Green, morbid clouds swarmed in the sky, buildings could be seen dotted in the distance.

"You couldn't have gotten us a bit closer?" Zim snapped.

"Why can't we just summon BJ here, it worked before?" Dib offered.

"Hey, I can't control where we end up in the Neitherworld, I've always had BJ there to guide me, and I don't know why but I can't summon him when he's in the Neitherworld. It's his world here, different rules." Lydia replied, pointing her finger at the pair of them, "But the court house is just down there, the big building in the middle."

"Oooooh!" GIR widened his eyes and clasped his hands together, "Can I wear the silly wig?"

"Uh…" Zim face-palmed, "Maybe."

"YAY! Let's go!"

Without waiting, he sprinted off down the mountain, Zim groaning and chasing after. Lydia rolled her eyes and strolled along behind briskly, Dib close behind. I raced to keep up with them, ever step they took was a good five while running for me.

"Uh, little help?" I called, gasping for breath, curse this asthma!

Dib stopped in his tracks, making me collide harshly with the back of his ankle, "Sorry!" he smiled.

He crouched down and lay his hand, palm upwards next to me. I bit my tongue and reddened with embarrassment as I carefully stepped on and sat down, holding his thumb for support. This kind of elevation was different to what I was used to so far, but I liked it. It was better than being hoisted by my jacket and left to hung in mid-air. Dib nervously lifted me up onto his narrow shoulder where I wrapped the collar of his trench-coat around myself for safety. As soon as I was in place, he started walking again, taking very careful steps not to shake me in any way.

We'd been following Lydia's directions, along with a screaming GIR, for what seemed like hours and it still didn't look like we were getting any closer to the town. Well, maybe that was just die to my size, to be fair, maybe we were just under half way there, but that's a generous assumption. The Neitherworld sky had turned a gloomy dark blue and an ominous full moon hung in the sky. I had to marvel at it, even where the restless dead lay, they could still have the beauty of a moon to look at.

"GIR!" Zim yelled, "The mighty Zim commands you to stop!"

"Okay! Sheesh, no need to yell!" GIR giggled, stopping and allowing his master to lean of him while gasping for breath.

We all managed to catch up, waiting for the red haze to vanish from Zims face. Lydia looked around, it was so dark now that the only real light was the teal glow from GIR's eyes.

"Maybe we should rest up for the night."

Dib shuddered, making me sway, "Is it… safe?"

"Yeah, if anyone finds us they know me so it's okay, and sandworms are much further south than this."

I jumped "What's a sandworm?"

She chewed her lip, "Oh, uh, nothing. Just these Neitherworld creatures, just worms, nothing to worry about."

I didn't like the jittery tone in her voice, but it was all I had to go on. So I nodded and found myself huddling deeper into the nape of Dibs neck. With GIR standing by, Dib managed to find some wood laying around while Zim used sparks from his PAK to start a fire. They all crowded around, holding out their palms for warmth. I was lowered to the ground and found more comfort sitting on GIR's knee than I did being close to the fire. Do you blame me?

Fatigue started to wash over us all. Lydia suggested that we get some sleep and get an early head start in the morning to find BJ. Zim scoffed.

"Pfft! The amazing Zim needs no sleep!"

"Then take the first watch shift." I offered.

"No way!" Dib cried, "I'm not letting this space-monster watch over us while we're sleeping! Who knows what he's planning!"

"Dib, we're in the middle of a Neitherworld looking for a ghost in the middle of a desert area. What the heck is he going to do?" I asked, arching my brow.

"Zim, there's a good watch stop up there, would you keep look-out up there?" Lydia asked, she continued when Zim glared at her, "Just think, you'll be able to look down on us lower life forms from way up there."

He eyed the mound with an approving nod, "Very well, mission accepted!"

I gave Lydia a smile of approval at her manipulation; it was good to see she was getting used to Zim now. She returned my grin and lay on her back, closing her eyes for sleep. I followed suit after sliding from GIR and onto the dusty ground. GIR was already asleep, nattering and chuckling in his dreams. It always made me wonder why a robot needed sleep, yet Zim didn't, but I thought it best not to ask. As my eyes closed, I found sleep hard to come by. I heard Lydia breathing heavily and snoring lightly, but I couldn't hear Dib. I opened my eyes to find him still sitting by the fire, staring into the flames. I got to my feet and rested my arms on his leg, making him jump.

"Can't sleep either?"

He shook his head, "I can't trust him to keep us safe."

I rolled my eyes, "You two are more alike than you think, you know that?"

"So you've said…" he muttered, looking disgusted, "How so again?"

"You're both as stubborn and determined to see the bad in each other as the other one is for a start! But, you're both insecure too. And, now this is just my opinion now, but you kind of need each other."

"Need each other?" he scoffed.

"Yeah. He needs you so that his mission had a purpose, and you need him to prove your sanity. It's sweet, in a twisted kind of way…"

He laughed, "You're too nice, you know that?"

"Meh, so you've said…" I grinned.

He cleared his throat after an awkward pause, "Does it bother you, being, that small?"

I shrugged and clambered up onto his knee, "It's not as bad as it seems, I couldn't live like this but… it's okay for an adventure."

"But it's my fault, isn't it?"

"Okay?" I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes, "How do you figure that one out?"

"Well, if I hadn't dragged you into all this alien stuff, you wouldn't be in this position, and you wouldn't have been in danger so many times before. So it's my fault."

I had to laugh, he looked at me strangely, "Drama-Queen. I haven't been in danger that much, and knowing my luck I would have ended up like this anyway, don't you dare blame yourself or I'll… I'll pull your tongue again!"

Now it was his turn to laugh, he playfully jabbed me with his finger, knocking to me the side. I swatted him away and jumped back into the ground.

"Now get some sleep, okay?" I said, moving out of the way while he lay down, his eyes level with me now.

He smiled sheepishly and curled up by the fire. I lay about a foot away from him, the dust tickling my nose. I opened my eyes for a moment and found that Dib was still looking at me. He reddened and looked away. But almost instantly, he looked at me warily.

"Amy? Do you think we'll find BJ?" when I nodded with a tired smile, he continued, "And what if… what if I had to find someone else down here? Do you think I'd be able to find them?"

I pushed myself onto my elbow, "I don't know, who're you looking for?"

He looked away from me, "My… my mom…"

I stared as a pang of sympathy shot through my chest. He looked back at me expectantly, his eyes were red, but I knew him enough to know that he would never cry, he would hold them back to no end. I got to my feet and walked closer to him, turning over his hand that rested by his face so that his palm was facing upwards. I stepped onto it and lay down on my side to that we were face to face. I wrapped my arms around his thumb in an attempt to comfort him.

"You've been looking for her since you've met BJ, haven't you?"

He nodded, dust clinging to his cheek, "It's stupid right? I mean, I don't even know if she's dead or not, Dad never told us what happened to her."

A miniscule tear dripped down my face and melted into his skin, "It's not stupid at all, but I'm not sure you're going to find her here. But… if you believe it, then I'm with you till the end."

He smiled softly, shuffling in his coat so that the sleeve covered my body like a blanket, "You mean it?"

I nodded and said those two words that meant I was deadly serious. I looked at him right in the large drown eyes behind his glasses and said:

"I promise."