A note: I am so sorry for the lengthy respite between updates. I was struck simultaneously by writer's block and a nasty bout of strep throat. No excuse, I know, so I offer three chapters in one update to try to appease my loyal readers.
Thank you so much for sticking with me on this story. It's truly awe-inspiring to know you enjoy my writings! I'd say something along the lines of it filling me with a warm, fuzzy feeling if it wasn't so OOC for me to do so…
Gaz sighed in frustration and glared at the textbook before her as though it was the embodiment of anti-Gaz-ness. This was ridiculous. It was a simple math problem, nothing more. So why did it insist on taunting her, dangling the answer just out of her reach? And for another thing, whose brilliant idea was it to incorporate letters into the world of numbers? Don't even get me started on the symbols, she thought as she attempted to blow stray hair out of her eyes.
This was impossible. She simply could not concentrate.
"Damn it," she growled and shoved the offending thing away from her. It was no use. She rubbed at her eyes, surprised by the liquid essence she found there. Why the hell was she crying? "It's only math homework," she mumbled in confusion. Gaz struggled to stand up and bit back a curse as her shin connected with her computer. Additional tears welled up, though these were more accepted than the others. "Oh this is ridiculous."
But it seemed that she was powerless to stop her body from leaking, as Gir had so cutely put it. She was tired. Of everything.
At the realization she nearly allowed herself to succumb to the seductive, if rather uncharacteristic, act of crying had it not been for Dib shouting at Zim, definite panic lacing his accusations. "My dad is going to kill me, and it's all your fault, you clumsy alien!"
"It's not my fault you don't know how to walk balanced on two legs, stupid human!" Zim shot back. They were in Professor Membrane's labs, but could easily be heard throughout the entire household.
Gaz restrained from bashing her head into the nearest wall. Here she was, about to indulge in feeling stupid and weak and little-girlish, and those two nimrods had to go and ruin it for her. The brief thought that she should thank them before it had gotten that far crossed her mind, but her murderous rage consumed it gleefully.
She tromped down the stairs and through the necessary rooms of the house to reach the door to the lab, her mind already running on high speed to come up with a unique punishment for the two idiots she was either cursed or blessed to have in her life.
Her eyes narrowed in confusion at the sight she became a witness too. Dib seemed to be struggling against Zim to get to the bottle of pink goo the alien held above his head with the help of a robotic arm. Why this bottle was so important, Gaz could only guess. She was preoccupied with the sudden thought that they all needed to get out of there before something bad happened.
"What the hell do you think you're doing down here?" she demanded in a voice louder than necessary. She succeeded in startling them. Perhaps a little too well.
The resounding crash of shattered porcelain echoed in the lab. The three teenagers exchanged glances filled to the brim with unavoidable doom. "Oh, shit," Dib said simply. The other two could only nod in affirmation.
This was stupid. Even stupider than wanting to shred a math textbook to confetti pieces. Gaz glared at her brother with unmasked ire. "If you would just hold still we would have been done a long time ago." She spoke brusquely, her patience reaching its end. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"It's your fault, you know. If you hadn't interrupted us, nothing would have gone wrong. So stop trying to pin all the blame on me," he retorted.
"I'm afraid I must agree with the Dib-stink. You should not have interfered with our vitally important plans," Zim added.
It was true, maybe. If she had left well enough alone perhaps this wouldn't have happened. But then again, if they hadn't been screwing around in the first place, none of them would be in this predicament. An insight she was quick to share, if only because she was irked by Zim's alliance with her brother.
"You should have known better in the first place! Dad is going to kill us when he gets home!" Gaz exclaimed in exasperation. She paused, aiming her glare, and the bottle of super glue, at Zim. "If I get grounded for this, both of you will pay dearly. I am not going to miss another pizza day at Bloaty's because of you two morons." She gave the alien a particularly nasty look. "And torturing yourself over possible punishments isn't going to save you from my wrath this time around."
She sighed and shook her head, turning once again to the trophy she was trying to glue back together. It figured. It really did. She was getting soft, it seemed. Why else would she be standing here, trying to rebuild one of her father's favorite awards, when she hadn't even been the one to break it? Never mind the fact that she did like this prize above the others, the figurine that of her father holding a piece of Super Toast above his head in a stance that screamed of pride.
She didn't even know why they had been fighting over a bottle of pink goo in the first place!
Boys. Sucked. End of story.
"Stop fidgeting! If you don't hold still, I might end up slipping and gluing you two together," she warned as she spread the sticky concoction across a long crack. "What were you guys even doing down there in the first place? And don't tell me that crap was silly putty, either."
"Well, Gaz, your brother was hoping to find some sort of potion to turn that sniveling love-beast, Lisa, into a cockroach or something. I tried to tell him that such mutations are impossible with your feeble technology, but he just kept screaming about insane girls and jelly donuts, so I could hardly resist from at least letting him try," Zim explained in a mocking tone. Dib glared at him.
"You jerk! That isn't true! I was looking for the radioactive plasma so that I could try to—"
"He was desperate to raise the undead!" Zim shouted. "He wanted to make a giant horde of candy-eating zombie Halloweenies!"
"Zim, shut your noise tube," Gaz said in a low voice. "Dib, you better not have been trying to make zombies again. You remember what happened last time."
Dib cast his sister a hurt glare. "No one is ever going to let me live that down, are they?"
"Probably not. I enjoy seeing you squirm," she replied. "I guess it doesn't really matter what you needed that junk for." It became quiet as she finished reconstructing the last of the trophy. "This should hold it. Just don't move it for about five minutes. The glue needs time to set. I'll add another layer just to be on the safe side later. You guys can let go now."
They did, glad to be out of harm's way. They still couldn't believe they had trusted the sadistic girl with something so potentially evil as super glue, but it had worked out to their benefit, it seemed.
"Thanks, Gaz. I don't know what we would have done without you. You always seem to find some rational way to fix things," Dib said with a sigh of relief.
"Yes, well, I suppose someone has to be the voice of reason. And such a responsibility would never be properly fulfilled by either of you." She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure I would have gotten in trouble as well, and there should be no need for that to happen."
"Is there any way we can repay you?" Zim ventured to ask, hoping to placate her so that she wouldn't punish them too severely.
"Yes, actually." She thought back to her interrupted cry session and a near-cheerful smirk found its way to her lips. "You could both do me the honor of being my personal servants for the rest of the week. I find that to be most fitting, wouldn't you agree?"
"No. Not really." Dib paled at the look she sent him.
"Very well. It's a shame. I guess I'm just going to have to send Lisa an email saying that you would love for nothing more than her arms to embrace you once more," she threatened joyously. "Oh, and I suppose it would only be fair to let Gir know that Zim is the one that disposed of his entire paper clip and cookie crumb collection."
Now that she thought about it, those punishments seemed like they might be more entertaining than just having personal servants to do her bidding.
Dib fell to his knees before his sister, arms held out in a sign of submission. "Anything but that, Gaz. Please, I am begging you not to do that. I'll be your slave for the rest of the week!"
Gaz raised an eyebrow, a finger to her lips. This was amusing as well. She glanced over at Zim, who glowered at her, but nodded in agreement. "I, too, will be but a servant to you. Though I shall be the best servant ever!" he shouted, pointing at Dib. "You shall cower in the might of my amazing serving-ness!"
Oh so amusing.
