Author's Note: Geez, these chapters NEVER turn out how I think they will when I first start writing them. Especially the very end, which I was surprised at myself for writing. And I forgot to add this last chapter:
Thank you to all who take the time to review my story.
"The face of the enemy frightens me only when I see how much it resembles me." - Unknown
The unnatural dark red sky on Earth quickly became smothered with thick black clouds against the wishes of the false Invader, seeming to provoke his wrath intentionally. Zim shot a glare at the sky before hurrying even faster towards the park. This disgusting planet sickened him to no end, and the fact that it was home to the largest collection of the most deadly acid known to Irkens everywhere didn't help matters. Picture a human explorer being sent to a place with radioactive lakes and liquified rat poison rain. Same basic concept. And Zim, as much as he was devoted to the false mission given to him, wanted nothing more than for it all to end.
"Ooo, look at the pretty star!" Gir exclaimed in his disguise as a green, googly-eyed dog, black paw pointed at the sky. Zim squinted in that direction. Sure enough, there was a flaming object in the sky. It certainly wasn't a star. Anyone with half a brainstem could tell that. Which is what most of Earth's population was missing, fortunately for him.
"If my calculations are as perfect as always, Gir, the trajectory of that object should cause it to land in approximately three Earth minutes in the center of the park gathering area," Zim surmised. His minion continued to gape up at the sky, refusing to move from his position, no matter how his master yanked on his leash.
"Pretty lava lamp star…" Gir stated in a dazed mode. The Irken growled to himself before unclipping the leash.
"Fine, just stay here, or no piggies for a month! Heed the BRILLIANT words of ZIIIMMM!" he commanded. Zim left his robot minion there to stargaze stupidly while he scanned the area. Were any other humans noticing the object coming into orbit besides Gir? No. Luckily the park was deserted tonight for some odd reason. Most likely because of the impending storm, or the fact that it was Tuesday, the one day he abducts people each week. Maybe they're starting to catch on? Nah. They're too stupid for that.
The Irken removed his wig piece and contacts after he made absolutely sure that no one was around. The wig muffled his hearing and the lenses were still much too scratchy for any kind of comfort. Rarely could he be like this in public, and he seized the momentary opportunity, if only to rub Dib's face in it at Skool the next day.
"ZIM?" a voice gasped. Zim whirled around in a battle stance, prepared for any threat to his mission. He smirked and straightened up when he noticed who it was.
"Go away, Dib-thing," the alien ordered. "Zim has no time for your foolishness right now! You must stop being what the hyoomans call a stalker and stay away from my greatness for as long as possible!"
Dib scowled, stepping out into the open. "For your information, alien scum, the only reason I follow you at all is so you can't destroy the human race! Besides, I didn't come here to watch you."
"Then why HAVE you come?" Zim demanded. He quickly cut off Dib's answer. "No matter! Whatever the reason, you should leave! Now."
The child with raven hair widened his eyes in surprise in a single second, but just as quickly narrowed his eyes in suspicion. They stared each other down, daring the other to make a single scathing comment or attack first. The Irken's eye twitched with impatience. Why wouldn't this human just leave him alone? Does he not possess another obsession with which he can be distracted with long enough for Zim to come up with an ingenious plan and act it out successfully? Apparently not. Of course when he came to Earth, he HAD to land in the ONE city that contained one of the few humans observant enough to immediately suspect him and his intentions, even through his brilliant disguise! Stupid, meddling Earthanoids!
"I'm not leaving, Zim," Dib retorted, crossing his arms. "I was here first!"
"Incorrect! ZIM arrived here before your big head did!"
"My head's not big!"
"Yes it is! Admit it! It's as big as the third moon of Goborghia!"
"No it isn't! Your head is just small in comparison because of your tiny alien brain, which you used to make up that planet! It doesn't even exist, does it? You're a liar with a tiny brain!"
"How DARE you accuse me of such fiction!" Zim screeched before launching himself at the human child.
Dib fell back on the ground and found himself on his back, facing two furious Irken eyes. Dib grinned sinisterly before bringing his legs up and kicking Zim hard in the stomach, catapulting the Irken into the air to fall back against a tree. The young paranormal investigator got up from the ground to brush dirt off of his jacket only to find himself tackled again by an enraged Zim. The dark pink eyes glittered with victory as he pinned the child to the ground with his Pak legs, raising himself above the pathetic Earthen scum in an intimidating stance. He poised one sharpened Pak leg over Dib's chest with a zipper-toothed smile. Right before he could deliver the final blow, however, a loud boom echoed through the air accompanied with the ground shivering in protest of an assault. The Invader glanced away from the child, distracted.
Dib used this opportunity to maneuver himself out of his predicament and run towards the source of the noise. Zim realized this a second too late to stop it and, after swearing once in Irken, gave chase to his enemy. He had to get there before the child does! If not, a potential plan for destroying the Earth using the unknown variable could be ruined in one swift action! He mentally urged the spider-like appendages forward, trying to push them as fast as they could go. He must defeat the Dib-stink in whatever the human plans to do! The child has stopped enough of his plans, so he deserves one of his own plans stopped! YES! That will show him not to mess with the superior Irken race!
Invader Zim still used his Pak legs to make up for the head start the evil human child had gotten through trickery, for if the Dib cheated, Zim felt he had the right to do so as well. As soon as that black trench coat came into view, however, the alien retracted his advantage back into his Pak. Why? There was nothing that bothered the other more than being beat by seconds instead of minutes. Then you were forced to watch their triumphant stance, their gloating eyes, their sneer at your pathetic attempts that were rendered useless in the end. It always gave the winner of the battle a secret thrill to see their crestfallen enemy. But if this were the case at the present moment, why was the human child slowing down? Why wasn't that trench coat billowing out behind him any more due to speed and wind resistance?
He quickly discovered his answer and screeched to a halt. His eyes widened at the scene before them. A smoking metal capsule lay on its side in the center of a recently created pit in the ground. The blackened metal was as crumpled as tinfoil squeezed in one's hand, the door of the pod shrieking in protest as it tried to open automatically. Zim's antennae raised slightly in curiosity at this new development in an already interesting situation. Was the owner of the escape pod going to step forth, slightly injured, and attempt to form an alliance with the mighty Zim to help take over the planet? Or was it just a stray piece of machinery that landed on this backwater planet by chance?
It turned out to be neither, surprising both Irken and human when a glowing orb smoothly rolled out on to the barren dirt. It entranced the two momentarily as it softly pulsed from a bright crimson to a light violet. Zim stared at it until he noticed a slight adjusting of position of the Dib-human's feet. The new stance clearly indicated the oncoming sprint towards the object to claim it as his own. Zim caught Dib's eye, smirked, and shot off towards the glowing device with a speed that shocked the inferior human child. He doesn't remember the alien ever being so eager as to try to capture something so innocent looking. Whatever that thing is, it must be deemed important in the Irken's mind, therefore making it the ultimate prize in this impromptu race.
Dib quickly shook off his black jacket to decrease wind resistance before sprinting after the object as well. He caught up to his enemy before long and smiled in return to Zim's hiss of frustration at having lost his momentary advantage. The alien's maroon eyes glittered with hate at his nemesis, which ended up being the only warning the human got before being tackled by his adversary. The duo rolled around on the grass, kicking and punching, shouting death threats at each other as well as Irken profanities on Zim's part. They fell into the usual banter as quickly as they fell into the pit caused by the crash. Only when the orb was a foot away from them did they remember why they started fighting in the first place. Zim kicked away the human as hard as his short legs were able to and placed both his hands on the orb in order to hold it protectively, only to find the Dib's hands on it as well, placed on there right as the sphere had shifted colors.
"Release the device, Dib-stink!" Zim screeched. "It belongs to me, ZIM!"
"I'll never let you own anything that could destroy the human race!" Dib retorted, eyes narrowed at the Irken.
"But it's MINE! MINE!" Zim yelled, trying to kick Dib's face without relinquishing his prize. "You have NO IDEA the forces you toy with! I am ZIM! The best Invader my Tallest have ever seen!"
"If you're SUCH a good Invader, then why did I recognize you as an alien right away, huh? HUH?" Dib accused. "Oh, I know why! It's because you're STUPID!"
"Liiieeessss!" Zim hissed. He was so wrapped up in the argument that he barely noticed the weakness spreading through his joints. "It is YOU who is lacking a brain with which to think!"
Dib was ready with a hot reply when he realized something odd was happening to the sphere. "Uh, Zim?"
"Your mother must have been a Sport crab and your father a Gnoihblk to have caused you to have no brain whatsoever!"
"Zim?"
"AND YOUR SISTER IS A GREAT BIG BI-"
"HEY!" Dib yelled. "That's enough! Now will you just LISTEN to me?"
"NEVER!" Zim announced. "Irken Invaders listen to none but their Almighty Tallest, leaders of the entire Irken Empire and the force behind the Armada that will wipe out or enslave all life in the universe!"
"Why is there never anyone listening when you say things like that?" Dib sighed. "Look, I think there's something...off about this thing. See? It was only red and purple before, but now it's different from when we touched it."
Zim glanced over at the orb long enough to notice the colors shifting from red and purple to pink and gold. His eyes narrowed. It WAS changing colors, just like when his Cthulu creature obtained a slightly bluish hue when it absorbed Tallest Miyuki, then green when it ate Tallest Spork. His eyes widened when the connection in his brain was completed at having noticed the coloring around Dibber's pupils start to change from its original hue to one of the fading colors belonging to the sphere. Zim tried to remove his hands, and his failure to do so caused him to emit a small shriek of panic.
"Doom!" Zim exclaimed, frantically trying to push the orb towards Dib and away from himself. "We're DOOMED! Release Zim from your grasp, evil...thing! Or suffer my horrible wrath!"
It was at this moment that Dib noticed Zim's eye color changing as well, but he observed something that the panicked Invader did not notice during his shouting. The recognizable, slightly squeaky voice of the alien was becoming weaker, being replaced with another voice the human had only heard once before in Zim's living room in front of a monitor with Gir by his side. The voice of one of the despicable leaders, though he couldn't remember which one. He decided to test his own voice out to see if the same thing was happening to him.
"H-hello?" he spoke aloud. "Oh, crap!" His suspicions were quickly confirmed and he ended up in a struggle similar to his nemisis, trying any way possible to get the evil orb off of his hands.
Exhaustion overtook the pair after several minutes of continued struggles, but despite the situation looming over both of them, they still stuck to their nature and threatened each other with grandoise ideas of the other's death. Even laying on the ground, panting for air, they despised the other being so near.
"And then...I'll...have Dad dissect you..." Dib managed to get out between breaths, his new voice disturbing him slightly with how unfamiliar it sounds. "And he'll...finally...call me his son...without tagging the word insane on to it."
"That will...NEVER...happen..." Zim retorted, weakly kicking the human and missing by a few inches. He tried to fight the confusion and weakness clouding his mind, gritting his teeth from the effort. "I am...Zim...I'll destroy you before...that can happen..."
"You jerk," Dib grumbled unconvincingly at his enemy before giving in to his own mind's fogginess. Moments after, the alien near him collapsed. Their hands slipped from the Captura, now glowing gold and dark pink with no trace of the previous colors. A childish shout of joy echoed through the park as a green dog bolted over to the form of his master lying on the ground.
"Guess what!" Gir giggled. "It's gonna rain soon, and you'll get all burned like sticking Piggy in the oven!"
The robot tilted his head to the side in confusion at having received none of the harsh responses he had gotten so accustomed to. He noticed Dib nearby and became even more puzzled.
"Why is puppy-head and you sleeping on the ground?" Gir wondered. He picked up a stick nearby and poked the Irken's foot. "Master?" Again, no response. The SIR unit was getting worried. His master never slept, his Pak made sure he didn't ever need it. And Dib sleeping near him made even less sense.
"Are you sick?" Gir suddenly realized. His costumed eyes started to tear up in false realization. "And Dibby was takin' care of you and fell asleep 'cause I wasn't here? I'm sorry, Master. I'll help you get better and stay warm." With that, Gir lay next to the fallen Zim and huddled into him, his defective brain confirming that hugging will work to get his master healthier again.