A/N: Here is chapter two, but it's really the first because the previous was an introduction. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and put this on their story alerts.
Disclaimer: I don't own IZ, or any of the characters for that matter, but I do own any original characters that may come up in this story.
...
It was morning in the unnamed city. The sun rose from the east and cast the city in its orange light, as it stretched towards the suburbs.
Sitting right at the centre of a small circle of homes was a strange house that looked like a child's drawing. With its bright colours and distorted windows, it was a wonder why none of the neighbours took notice. To top it all off, huge tubes extended from the house left and right, and attached themselves to the homes on either side.
The front lawn was no exception. Four garden gnomes sat like sentries, each reaching a height of four feet. There were also two puffer fish, a flamingo, and a sign that read, "I Love Earth!"
Nobody ever stopped to say "Hey, what's up with that sign?" But enough of that now.
The front door cracked ajar as a set of bulging eyes peeped out, surveying the outer regions. After a brief pause, the door swung open, and then a small figure stepped forward in a stately pose (in case you haven't figured it out yet, this small chap is Zim).
He stood dignified and looked about himself with a smug smile, since he was a conceited little thing. He truly believed that he was, in fact, the greatest creature in the universe and every other universe beyond that. That's why he often referred to himself in the third person. His name was just so amazing; he loved the way it rolled off his tongue.
So there he stood surveying his surroundings for any sign of a threat, of which there was only one — a kid with a scythe haircut, but it was very sharp, so one must stay cautious.
He breathed in through unseen nostrils, but after he got a good whiff of the air, he spat back out in disgust.
With his newly heightened senses, he could pick up on the smell of the city's cesspool. He held back the bile.
"Urgh, the smell of human sewage," he gagged, sticking out a segmented tongue. "I can pick up on the stench of humanity much better now with my amazing sense of smell. I did not see this one coming!"
He marched to the centre of his path, and breathed in all the smells of the atmosphere. It left him nauseated (who could blame him? Humans stink).
A woman down the street was baking a pie, while the sweet, sickening aroma assaulted his olfactory nerves. He could also detect the smell of freshly cut grass, as the man across the street had mowed his lawn yesterday.
"Why do the humans smell so much?!"
As if the strong sense of smell wasn't bad enough, he could also hear the sounds coming out of the homes around him. A thirteen-year-old boy getting ready for school, two doors away, had his headphones up at maximum volume.
A few doors beyond this house, he could hear an older male showering and bellowing out in song. Zim could even hear the lyrics to his poor singing: "Dude looks like a lady..."
Zim shuddered as his hatred for the humans burnt even stronger. They were just too loud!
However, this may work to his advantage. He could listen to top-secret government meetings, or better yet eavesdrop on the Dib and reveal all his biggest secrets to the world. Victory for Zim!
The Irken's mouth stretched into an evil sneer. Why was his brain so amazing?
Next, a dark cloud hovered above his head, making him apprehensive. Well, the cloud part was certainly true. He glanced up at the sky.
Despite the lovely Earth morning, he could sense a gathering storm ahead.
This also worked to his advantage. Being allergic to rain water, he could predict the weather forecast of days to come. Most animals can sense an upcoming storm even before it happens. Now Zim was similar in that respect with his new sixth sense.
He looked up at the sky and saw a dark cloud forming to the east. The Irken had already applied paste that morning, which absorbed through the pores of his skin, creating a new layer. His skin cells banded together to form a stronger and nearly indestructible tissue. Well, to the burning molecules in rain water that is.
He was on his way to the skool. So he straightened his back, and began his famous, soldierly stride.
Next, a piercing screech stopped him mid-stride. He covered the sides of his head.
"Goodbye! Have a fun day at skool. Bye! B-bye! BYE!"
"GIR!" He spun around and faced the robot. There he was in his ridiculous dog charade.
"Stop yelling so loud, I can hear you! Zim now has advanced hearing. So keep it down!"
Even his own shouting made him flinch. "Oh, yeah. I probably shouldn't yell so much myself now..."
GIR ran up to him and grasped his metal claws around his waist. Zim struggled to breathe.
"I'll miss you," he sobbed into his uniform, soaking it right through.
GIR's suit smelled of food. The pungent odour of dried taco sauce reached his nostrils, as he pushed him to the floor.
The robot looked up confused, cocking his head to the side like a real dog. He did look cute.
"GIR! That suit is filthy. Go and wash it."
"Yes, master," GIR saluted. The bulbous eyes of his suit flashed red.
He ran to the newly installed washing machine, and pulled out a box of detergent. Then he shoved the whole box into the compartment, as the powder spilt all over the floor. GIR giggled over his clumsiness.
Zim watched him from the door, growling in annoyance. But then the smell of the detergent reached him. It was overpowering, making him despise his stronger sense of smell above all others. It made it harder to tell which of them was worse.
GIR undressed and shoved his suit into the washing machine, and pressed the 'start' button. He watched his green dog suit swishing around and around.
"This is my new favorite show..."
Zim raised a vacant brow. It was a wonder that GIR's stupidness never really fazed him anymore.
Now GIR started making snow angels in the powder. Zim let it go, and went on his way to skool.
He marched through the neighbourhood as the smells and sounds grew stronger. Morning birds twittered high in the trees, irritating his sensitive hearing (and adding further to his hatred of all Earth life). Next, he jumped in fright when a dog barked at him from behind a fence.
The dog's barks hurt with every sound wave, so he covered his antennae. He could also smell the dog through the fence, and wondered why humans kept them as pets.
"They smell even worse than humans..."
He came to a corner with a street lamp, and stopped in his tracks. Something caught his eye across the street. There was an ambulance parked outside a house, as paramedics loaded a gurney into the back of the vehicle. There was a body lying on top.
A crowd stood outside the house in silence, except for two women at the back. They gossiped loudly. Most of them were just curious, but a few in the front of the crowd cried over the loss of their neighbour. They must have known the recently deceased to mourn for their death in such a way.
The others probably didn't know the person, but the sight of a parked ambulance caught their attention. It was typical human behaviour to act so nosey, which was one aspect Zim hated most. How the humans would love to nose around his base...
The very sight was enough to catch Zim's attention too. The silhouette of a human wrapped under that sheet startled him. It unsettled him, as a cold shiver ran through his spine.
A dead human should amuse him, right? They were his enemies. So why should he feel perturbed?
The storm he sensed earlier gathered above the house of the recently deceased, as if to emphasize the morbid situation. This added to Zim's unease. It was just too convenient.
Raindrops fell from the sky, and danced around his feet.
Zim rarely noticed the droplets when they touched his skin, but a few humans began to move away. They probably didn't want to get wet while they watched the show unfold.
The smell of damp was strong on Zim's senses, but he only kept his eyes on the ambulance. The paramedics closed the back doors of the vehicle, as if to turn everything back to normal again. Out of sight, out of mind.
There were two women at the back of the vehicle. One was an elderly lady, shaking with every sob she made. A younger woman held onto her.
The old women put her hands on the back of the van, and closed her eyes.
A few onlookers stayed behind and watched. They all shared a similar expression on their faces, one which Zim could not understand.
This foreign sight made him tense, but he couldn't tear away. For reasons unknown to him, he was glued to his spot by the street lamp.
The woman's sobs reached him at last. He couldn't stand the sound, so he covered his antennae as her painful cries echoed through the street.
He tried to block out the sound, but his efforts were fruitless. Now he noticed each cry left a strange residue in his chest. He couldn't understand, and quite frankly, he didn't want to. It was an alien feeling that didn't belong in his body.
So he squeezed his eyes, trying to ease the feeling out of his system. Eventually, he looked up at the humans again, noticing someone who wasn't there before.
An old man stood by the ambulance. He seemed so out-of-place, like he didn't know where he was. He wore a night-robe and slippers on his feet.
"Probably senile dementia. Stupid old-aged humans..." (old age wasn't a problem for the Irken race, since they usually die at war).
What confused Zim the most was the lack of attention the other humans gave this man. Why couldn't they see him, standing in his pyjamas for all to see.
The man kept his gaze on the ambulance as it drove down the street. When it vanished from sight, he turned to the old woman.
More neighbours had come to console her and joined her inside her house.
Zim couldn't see the man's face, since he kept his back to him. The other humans began to disappear, going their separate ways. Now it was just Zim, the only passer-by left.
The elderly man turned around. He felt a sudden tremor go up and down his spine. It seemed he gazed straight through his body. Could he see his squeedlyspooch?
Whatever colour the man's eyes were had now faded, like all the life had drained away. They were merely soulless orbs of glass now.
Zim's optical implants grew twice their size as he stared at the old man with the empty eyes. His mouth hung loose, and then a sound escaped his lips, but it came out as a helpless squeak.
The elderly man turned away at last, and disappeared inside the old woman's home. He had never felt so relieved.
He really spooked him for some strange reason. Zim, the mighty Irken Invader, was too ashamed to admit that a human's presence scared him.
The old man was not like most humans he came by every other Earth day. It was just those eyes, so un-human like.
He watched the house long after the man disappeared, as rain continued to pour. Finally, he forced his gaze away, and carried on with his journey.
His thoughts went back to the old man. Just who was he, and why had he appeared so suddenly?
The other humans ignored him, but he seemed to stand out to Zim, despite his odd attire.
Something certainly changed. Not just his new sense of the world, but something a little more.
But what?
That Aerosmith song was running through my head for days, so I'm sorry if that part came off a bit random. But the song finally left my head after I wrote it in. Maybe it was a sign?
I should put up a disclaimer: I do not own Dude Looks Like a Lady. Aerosmith does. And that guy taking a shower doesn't either.
Another side note: that look Zim couldn't understand on the humans' faces was sympathy or compassion, as Irkens lack in this department. And to support my theory, just ask the Vortians, that guy with the screw in his head (Smika Smika Smoodoo, or whatever his name is), and any other alien race they have conquered. They would know...
I'm going to pretend Zim has a scent nerve where his nose would be for the purpose of this story. It just makes sense that way.
Thank you for reading.