Dib Membrane mused as he thought of the vents of the Florpus event a year ago as he looked outside of the moving bus from a window from the woods of Oregon.
Since the whole Florpuse fiasco, Zim vanished without a trace. At first, he thought he once again was sitting on a toilet laughing maniacally the whole time just so that he once again turned himself into a smelly blob of fat and disgust that couldn't even move out of his chair and made even Gaz, her no-bull attitude scary sister scream in repulsion, but no, even his house has disappeared. The state of his body back then was so bad that his dad Professor Membrane had to put experimental drugs in his drinks during his very intense days of workout which did work, maybe a bit too much.
A year ago…
"I don't call feeding Dib what is basically STEROIDS a REALLY good idea Dad," Gaz told her opinion in her typical bland tone to her father as they ascended from the stairs.
"No worries, daughter of mine! My serum has none of the undesirable side effects of- "
He stopped whatever he was gonna say when he saw the result of his experimental serum. His son was now grossly disfigured into a mountain of impossible and disproportionate muscles as he was exaggeratingly giving huffs with his eyes and threatening to get off his eye sockets as he was lifting weights.
Okay, maybe lacing his son with an experimental muscle-building serum hadn't been one of his greatest ideas.
"You were saying?" Gaz urged his father to continue with an even more deadpan tone.
"I'm….," slowly he walked away "I'll have to do some more…SCIENCE STUFF!" He then raced down the stairs to make an antiserum with such urgency that he managed to break a record for the fastest antiserum ever made by man.
Fortunately, he wasn't too adversely affected by his sudden reversion from being "Too-In Shaped".
Good thing at least the common populace does think the whole Florpus thing did happen because if it was otherwise, he would have really lost faith in humanity. Oh sure, there were a few who thought that was fake, but again there will always be Flat Earthers and those who think the Moon landing was fake so it is not like anyone would take them seriously. To think he is compared to them.
The event was called the Zero Days.
Unfortunately, it is believed that the whole Earth being transported to the other side of the universe was some grand cosmic phenomenon rather than alien intervention but hey, better than his dad's profusely denial of any of that really happening, if that combined with being stuck in an alien prison hasn't been through his head then it was clear to Dib that his father for all his genius had a very thick skull. Oh well, at least he actually tries to spend time with his kids rather than simply give them online contacts through a moving monitor like before. Who knew losing your hands to experimental sharks could change a person's perspective on his life and his relationship with his family? It is true they say, you never truly know the worth of something, until you nearly lose it, bonus point: he now has a very metal robotic hand, not every child can claim that their parents are cyborgs equipped with fusion cannons in their hands. Still, even though his father did say he was always proud of him despite many times trying to discourage him from paranormal research, he always felt there was a rift between them.
As he was musing, he looked around the bus and its current inhabitants.
Gaz was still playing with her Gameslayer, no surprise.
Zita was talking with Jessica and the other girls.
Keef was still 24 hours all-too-cheerful like he was high on Smile Dips or something.
Gretchen caught staring at him before she hid her face behind her notes, he wondered why.
Mr Elliot remained the same all too bubbly teacher that made Gaz sick in her stomach.
Miss Bitters, still wearing her distasteful look like a vulture on her seat, clearly not wanting to be here. Thinking about it, maybe Miss Bitters is not human, or a normal human after all considering she can slither around with an unnatural grace like a shadow.
So nothing has changed. Then without a warning, Dib saw something big and hairy in the woods which he then tried to get a better look at; however, the moment passed. He wondered if it was a bear or hopefully a Big Foot considering the place they were going was Gravity Falls, one of the biggest hotspots of weirdness in the world. His father decided to send him and his sister to a Summer Camp as a way for them to become more socialized and a way to further discourage Dib's passion for supernaturals by seeing a place that supposedly is like a knock-off of West Virginia. Jokes on him the fact that the destination for the summer camp was Gravity Falls was all enough reasons for him to agree with the trip. That, and the absence of Zim who he totally didn't miss was driving him crazy.
The bus stopped, the door now was opened, and after this, Miss Bitters got up to announce in her usual disdain. "Alright you little midget wastes of oxygen, we only in this nowhere of a town because your enslaved adults were willing to pay for it and other countrysides were too expensive so don't get separated or," her aura got darker "Someone will die of- "
"-of fun!"
Miss Bitters's scowl got even bigger, staring daggers at Mr Elliot for interrupting her with usual detest which made the children other than the Membrane snicker, not a full chuckle because they were still too afraid of the old crone.
Unknown to Dib, after that bus stopped and after he and the other kids were no longer near the road, another bus was coming, and inside was a green-grinning boy in a weird red suit, grinning, sitting next to some green dog suit which everyone assumed was a kid in it.
"Hehe, excellent! With Dib-worm gone on his summer exile, no one will stop my diabolical plan to conquer this mudball once and for all!"
"OOOH, I wanna meet mommy!" Gir uttered in excitement.
"You don't have a mom unit!"
Gir then began to cry until was shut by Zim pushing a taco in his mouth, which he began to happily munch, after so long the alien Invader learned how to deal with Gir to not suffer another ear-deafening cry from the deranged Sir Unit.
He began shaking his hands together grinning "And now…The INVASION OF THE FALLS PHASE 1 HAS BEGUN! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zim cackled madly with a classic villain pose, only to realize later that everyone was staring at him apprehensively like he was a lunatic.
He feigned a cough, "It was to check my vocal cords."
Immediately, when the bus' door opened the passengers left outside in a hurry.
During their visit to the town and passing by a few of Gravity Falls's colorful cast including some guy named the Mattress King who… well is the owner of a Mattress store, and some goblin-human named Toby, who Dib then accused of being one just for his sheer ugliness. Though rude surprisingly this time his classmates didn't condemn him, but instead laughed as the goblin man gave a depressed sight and moved away(though he gained the ire of Zita and a few others, considering even before Zim, Dib had an unsavory attitude in calling others freak in front of everyone whether it was true or not which gained him no favors).
As they walked, they stopped at an Ice Cream place where Miss Bitter said to "Keep the black holes of their parent's money, time, and lives on hold to get a break" and then gave one of her moans on how everything is doomed, the said black holes of course being the Skool children.
After a very painstaking line for the ice creams, Gaz finally got a multi-flavored one which she began to lick until some brunette girl, probably one of the inhabitants of Gravity Falls on her way somewhere, hit her accidentally causing the ice cream to drop on the ground.
"HEY!" In outrage, Gaz with gritted teeth, jumped and pinned the surprised girl on the ground "That was my ice-cream you brunette buffoon!" Gaz growled at the intimidated girl who had a sweater with a Shooting Star sign on it which she found stupid considering it was summer.
"Sorry!" The girl apologized.
"You're gonna be more than sorry!" Gaz then held her up with surprising strength with one fist ready, until the girl brought out a grappling hook of all things, which she shot, leading to the hook hitting Gaz on her head sending her flying away a meter with a wail of pain coming from the purple-haired girl.
The Skool children stopped whatever they were doing and stared in surprise at this turn of events.
While all this was happening, Dib was completely oblivious as he was far more interested in catching cryptids than getting ice cream with a binocular and zooming its camera. He found a black mass which he zoomed out revealing to be the giant butt of some motorbiker
"Pheg! No!" Dib shuddered in disgust.
Next was Manly Dan in a wrestling contest with a bear as his sons cheered for him.
"Definitely No."
Toby Determined again, who secretly was being a peeping tom with a telescope to his creepy crush on Shandra Jimenez as she was filling a report on an incident involving the sightings of the 'Manotaur' trying to use one of the biker gang's motorcycles only to crush it by his weight. Whatever that even is, probably a made-up parody of Minotaurs like Bee Vampires(though he was still certain Bee Vampires are real).
"Maybe a candidate." Human or not, Toby was a freak no doubt.
"No." He groused, he was hoping to catch something really weird, but by this point, this was becoming disappointing.
The next target he accidentally zoomed on someone's red skirt, he was embarrassed and nearly took off his binoculars before realizing something.
"Hey, I saw that skirt before." He concluded, he zoomed out to see who is the wearer, it just couldn't be who he was hoping/not hoping simultaneously to be-
Weird red dress, the green skin, the wig, the hey contacts, a green near him, he was-
"Zim!" Dib gasped under his breath, he quickly began to follow the green menace and put his binoculars in his pocket.
Gaz groaned in pain feeling a huge bump coming out of her head pulsating as she nuzzled it she got up with a newfound anger "Where is she!? I'm gonna rip her a new- !" She looked around but the girl who dared to shoot a grappling hook at her was nowhere to be seen.
"Ugh! The nerve of the people of this hicktown!" She snarled at the coward then looked back at her Skool mates "What are you all looking at!?" Not wanting to anger the infamous and scary Gaz further the Skool kids began to pretend to not see her, not their fault of course as it wasn't common for someone to get the high ground on Gaz.
The girl Membrane, as she was glaring at them, then found out someone was missing "- Dib? Dib? Where's that idiot?" She looked around and saw no sign of her brother. In hindsight, she should have expected that her brother would get himself lost in a place famous for cryptid sightings, he is like an 8-year-old in a candy shop here.
"Weirdo probably went to search for Mothman around here, that's what." Jessica the blonde queen bee of the Skool gave her disparaging comment.
"First of all Jessica: only I get to belittle my brother, not some blonde bimbo," Jessica wanted to object with a scandalized look but was too afraid of Gaz who had a rather fearful reputation in Skool "Secondly: You're in my way." The said blonde bimbo quickly moved away on her way not wanting to risk her wrath.
She looked around to see where her brother got himself lost to make sure he wouldn't cause another atypical mind-numbing adventure, where everything stupid happens for the stupidest of reasons. She couldn't find him anywhere as she looked around, she at first wanted to ask Mr Elliot or Miss Bitters before remembering it wouldn't do any good.
She spotted a couple of teens a bit older who were a female black goth with a bit of purple-dyed hair and a pale-skinned male emo walking together. She found their sense of fashion to be too edgy and childish and that's coming from the gal who used to have a skull necklace.
"You! The pale weasel and the I Don't-know-who-and-I don't-care she is!" She snapped her fingers to get their attention who frowned at what they were called.
"Have you seen a boy with glasses, who is obnoxious and has a big head?"
"You mean the noxious twerp who came in and has a weight problem."
"Yes."
"We can see her, she is in front of us, though most of the mass is not in her head." The emo jeered earned a laugh from his girlfriend and himself while the said noxious twerp was giving them a death glare for this and for basically calling her 'fat'(though she does think maybe eating pizza too much has made her fat deep down but she would never admit it just as Dib would never admit that his head is big).
Gaz lost whatever patience she had with the grappling hook girl, so she grabbed the emo by his collar, much to his shock, and snarled at him like an angry animal. "You will tell me where my idiot of a brother is or I will break every finger you both have for being a disgrace to us emos and goths, before feeding you to the very Sharks that ate my father's arms!"
Robbie gulped in fear, feeling the aura of dread radiating from Gaz like a dark star, Tambry wanted to aid her boyfriend but she was also scared by this scary creature in the form of a girl, especially when she gave a glare telling her to 'stay put!'.
"He- he w-we-went to the Mystery Shack's direction- "She did not know where this Mystery Shack was as she had never been to this place so she roared at his face.
"WHERE EXACTLY IS IT!??!"
Valentino stammered even harder and pointed to a direction "T-t-that wa-way!"
Afterward, Gaz dropped him to the ground making him fall on his butt, and walked in the shown direction.
' I swear Dib if you're doing one of those inane adventures invoke demonic pigs or Vampire Bees or that Curse you put on me once that would inevitably lead to something stupid, I'm gonna chain you in your bed through the whole summer!' She promised in her mind as she marched away.
Dib followed Zim while trying to be discreet which somehow worked on Zim and Gir despite everyone giving a few stares at him weirdly as he made unneeded and poorly copied subterfuge spying moves.
Zim told Gir to wait outside, probably as a backup for his next nefarious scheme. This capybara man was wearing an eyepatch and black attire with a staff which had an 8 ball on the top with an old man in sailing clothing near the door to a shack.
"What are you supposed to be? Some little green man from space?" the gruffed man asked suspiciously.
Zim nearly shrieked at how accurately the elder human hit "What? NO! I mean…it's just a skin condition! Totally normal human sickness because of…genetic disorder disfigurement because my mom unit drank a mutagenic can while I was inside her disgusting biological tube!"
The rodent man then tried to calm him "Woah, it's okay Hambro, no- "
"I'M NO DIRTY HAM'S BRO!" The green boy objected with a snap.
"It's just an expression dawg."
The old human despite not buying into it gruffed "Whatever, I'd rather not risk getting sued for harassing a kid for his skin color anyway." He then moved away back to the Shack. The Capybara man, like a Capybara, then acted friendly and gestured to Zim to come inside.
Afterward, Dib inconspicuously walked with his head down near the collar of his coat and came inside the Shack, inside was a redhead teen with a blue pine tree hat with boots on the table reading a magazine on the cashier place with no care in the world, a boy approximately as the same age as him with a trapper hat talking with another man which looked like the gruffed man and a girl who also looked like the boy sewing a sweater, either twins, a genetic heritage, or doppelgangers and Dib, being Dib, thought it was the latter but he had a more concerning priority of stopping an invasion, than being worried about a possibility of doppelgangers replacing the whole world's population. On his way, he snatched a Pines hat to look more inconspicuously. As he did, he heard talks between the members of the humans and their doppelgangers, except for the rodent man, seemingly talking about their green visitor.
" -Pff! Last I checked, no skin condition turns you green, and let's not forget he doesn't even have a nose or ears." The boy huffed.
"Maybe he's a Kappa dude?" the redhead hypothesized.
"Kappa needs water to survive, I think he's an alien."
Dib's jaw nearly hit the floor so that not only for the second time they weren't fooled by Zim's disguise but also thought he was some paranormal creature with the boy in question hitting the nail.
"An alien from the stars came to spread the enlightenment of love and peace!?" The girl's doppelganger seems to have escalated. Dib cringed because that's not the words he would ever use to describe Zim.
"Meh, I think you'll just overthinking things." The gruffed man commented unenthusiastically. Which nearly made Dib sigh in depression, if only for not what came next.
"Grunkle Stan, after everything we saw, do you really think aliens are a far cry? Do I need to remind you there's a literal spaceship buried under Gravity Falls?" Dib nearly made choking sounds learning from the boy that there is a crashed alien vessel here.
"I'm just saying not everything involves otherworldly junk, he's probably a mutated frogman drinking too much radioactive waste."
Okay, not a hit on the mark but still a major improvement from thinking that Zim is just some disfigured human back home.
"That's not how radiation works Stanley," The doppelganger of this Stanley corrected him.
"You know what poindexter? How about a bet? Five boxes if I'm wrong and Mabel gets to do cosmetics on me." The girl seemed excited by that prospect who he guessed to be Mabel
"And if you're right?" The boy with an eyebrow asked.
"Then you two knuckleheads have to wash the dishes for a week."
"You're on, old man!" The boy shook hands with him with a grin.
"I'm so going to take a picture of you when you inevitably lose the bet." The redhead teen grinned.
As he was listening carefully, he hit someone on the way when he moved backward
"I'm sorry I-" he tried to apologize as his snatched hat fell only to meet face to face with the very green menace he was chasing, both staring at each other in shock for a pregnant 5 seconds with eyes coming from their eye sockets till Dib regain his composure and pointed his finger at him "ZIM!" His declaration of his nemesis caught the attention of the others, yet they did not care.
Zim also pointed his finger accusingly at him "YOU! DIB-STINK! How did you figure out Zim's location!?!
"I didn't! This is where the Skool sent us for a summer trip!" Dib responded.
Zim deflated realizing the convenience "..Oh, sometimes Zim is frightened by his own brilliance." Then Dib readied his handcuffed paranormal investigator tool to handcuff him.
"I'M GONNA HAVE YOU RIP-OPENED ON A DISSECTION TABLE YOU GREEN FREAK!"
Zim snarled overdramatically "NEVER SMELLY MONKEY! YOUR EYES AREN'T WORTHY ENOUGH TO WITNESS ZIM'S GLORIOUS ANATOMY!"
Then, both of the mortal enemies began to battle each other with a cry for the fate of Earth.
Their duel was downright comical, unbefitting of an Irken Invader and the son of a renowned genius, locked in a slap fight, swinging at each other pathetically.
The Pines just stared at this idiocy. They know a fight between people who have too high an opinion of themselves when they see it.
"This is just sad," Wendy noted deadpanely.
"Oh, children fighting pathetically! I can sell this!" Stan was recording this using a camera, Ford in response put down his recording camera in disapproval earning a look from his twin that said 'What?'.
Poindexter then came between them to stop the fight being the responsible adult he is "That's enough with you two."
"HE'S THE ALIEN INVADER! He should be the one stopped!" Dib urged him.
"DON'T interfere with Zim and his nemesis's business running out of grease ape!" the egomaniac Invader protested.
"AND YOU!" Zim dramatically pointed at Dipper.
"Me!?" Dipper in surprise gestured his hand to himself not expecting to be called out.
"You'll pay dookies for being the friend to encourage the encouragement injecting it on Dib's humongous head!"
The only thing Dipper could utter in his utter confusion was " Dookies?"
"I guess I'm not the only one cursed to attract freaks of nature bro." Mabel couldn't help but muse.
"GIR!" Zim shouted the name of his robot. Then, a hole in the wall was made, throwing merchandise away from an explosion.
BOOM!
A small figure showed up, Everyone looked stupefied by this totally fake green dog that was standing bipedal with his eyes never blinking
"Hello! Hi Mary!" Whatever that thing was greeted bubbly, the Pines did not know who it meant by Mary was Dib but that's like the lowest weirdest thing they have to worry about.
"Uh…is that dog…green…fake suit thing supposed to be some fake taxidermy Chupacabra?" Soos wondered with a scratch on his head.
"This is officially getting too goofy." Wendy exasperatingly announced.
"DESTROY THE DIB-CLONE AND HIS UNITS!"
To the Pines's surprise again this time the bipedal dog ripped off its clothing, revealing a small robot with glowing, narrowed red eyes who then walked with heavy steps making Ford instinctively try to reach his blaster, before its eyes changed color to Cyan and un-narrowed looking at Mabel's sweater.
"Oooh! What's that?" Gir with a friendly tone pointed at Mabel's in-work sweater, after which Dipper instinctively went between them.
Mabel smiled "You like this? It's a hobby of mine, I make sweaters."
"Oooh! Can I?"
"Sure!"
Dipper tried to object "Mabel, I'm not sure that's a good idea-"
His sister then shhhed him with a finger on his mouth "Shhh! I just finally found someone who appreciates my art, Don't ruin it."
Zim was frustrated by his robot unit's disobedience "No GIR! DESTROY! not make friends!"
Briefly, Gir went into his duty mood, before Mabel showed her finished sweater which had a taco painting on it.
"Oooh! I love tacos!" Gir went back to his friendly mood.
"For a disguised murder machine, you sure are friendly." The Pines girl giggled.
"I was a mongoose!" The Sir unit said dumbly.
Dipper tried to find the right word with such an egregious statement "You...You really aren't."
Gir overdramatically opened his mouth in shock with both hands on his metallic chins reminding the Pines of the poster of a film about a kid torturing a bunch of thieves in his house.
Zim's frustration reached a new peak "GIR! Stop going native! Obey your master's- !" Before Zim could finish, Dib used the distraction to hit him on his back resulting in something dramatic.
The jig was up, Zim's contact lens and the wig fell revealing magenta-colored bug eyes and two antennas the Pines now stared at the alien in incredibility while the said alien froze where he stood like a deer on headlight until he let out a dramatic howl to the sealing with his hands up.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Dib jumped in excitement at his victory "HURRAY! VICTORY FOR HUMANITY! LET'S END THIS MENACE ONCE AND FOR ALL! "
The Pines stared at this before, to the surprise of both Zim and Dib, acted normal and no longer seemed surprised despite having a literal extraterrestrial in front of them.
Stan chuckled "Ha! Good thing I wasn't gonna get sued for harassing a skin-diseased kid!"
"Yeah, though Mister Pines, you just lost the bet." Ramirez reminded him.
"Ah dang it!" Stan grumbled in a mixture of irritation and pride as he gave a 5 dollar to his great-nephew while his great-niece looked at him smugly.
"That's what you get for betting against the kids." Ford amusingly stated that his twin reciprocated with a huff.
Mabel with a hopeful tone began to ask the insectoid "Are you here to teach us the secrets of love and peace?"
The said insectoid seems repulsed by that insinuation with a hard pass "NO!"
"Aw." The Pines girl pouted.
"ZIM CAME HERE TO ENSLAVE YOU DIRTWORMS FOR THE GLORY OF THE TALLESTS!"
"Taller what?" Wendy tilted her head "And do you have a volume control problem dude?" annoyed by his outbursts.
Dib was befuddled by these lackluster reactions "Wha- why- why what- why are all of you just standing there!? The alien is here!" He gestured with both of his hands.
"Believe us when we say this dawg, we saw way weirder and dangerous things," Soos answered.
" Weirder? Like what!? Deceitful Shapeshifters? Egomaniacal Psychics? Interdimensional Eldritch horror?" The Membrane boy rhetorically questioned.
"Yes." All of them said at the same time, making the Membrane boy sputtered in surprise.
Stan then clarified "Believe us when we say it kiddo, Zimmy boy here is no real threat compared to what we have been through."
"EH!?" Zim was insulted at not being taken as a serious threat in indignation "WHAT DO YA MEAN ZIM IS NO THREAT YOU EXPIRED HUMAN GOAT! I HAVE KNOWN- " the said Zimmy boy went on a full rant using words like "Piggys" and insulting the human race so fast and loud that it sounded like a screeching harpy.
Wendy bent a bit to ask the Membrane boy "You sure this green milksop is a genuine threat to Earth dude?"
"Yes! He tried to send me and my classmates to another dimension with a Moose in it! And hijacked Mars and nearly road-killed Earth with it!"
Wendy and others just stared at him blankly at the nonsense they just heard, even by their standards it was just plain weird for stupid reasons "...so he's just a weirdo."
The paranormal agent sputtered out again "B-bu-but…!"
" -I HAVE YOU KNOW ZIM WAS SO GIFTED THAT HE CAUSED A BLACKOUT WITH HIS AMAZINGNESS IN HIS ALMIGHTY INCEPTION IN HIS SMEETY CENTER!- "
Dipper rolled his eyes with a dry humor "Yeah, because that screams competence." Making Zim screech even harder.
"B-but he was the one who caused the ZERO DAYS!"
Immediately, the temperature went down sub zero when the Pines heard and the fallout could be seen as the Pines looked at him in disbelief.
"I'm sorry… what?" Ford tried to ask for more clarification just to make sure his ears weren't hearing things wrong from old age.
"He was the cause! He punched a hole in reality by transporting Earth to the other side of the galaxy just so that his stupid Tallest on their way could subjugate us making that trans-dimensional rift!"
"YOU DID WHAT!?" Ford with outraged shouted at Zim, who winced at his volume and stopped his rant immediately, he met callous people like a certain sociopathic scientist during his travel across the multiverse who disregarded the consequences of their actions by playing with powers not meant to be tampered with in their recklessness before, but this alien may have just taken the cake.
Zim's military instinct to have someone taller than him being outraged at him made him a bit rigid by standing in a military fashion which did not send any good implication on how Irken Society works "Eh, it wasn't so bad…"
Dib choked "YOU NEARLY KILLED US ALL YOU BUGS FOR BRAINS! I had nightmares about when my molecules were being rearranged inside that Florpus Hole!"
Gir seems to recall that memory fondly "WEEE, that was Fun! Let's do it again!"
"So not just incompetent, he's a dangerous idiot," Mabel said what the Pines thought in apprehension.
Zim had enough of being ridiculed "OKAY! Zim had enough of his credibility as an Invader gets squashed by damn stinky apes!" In a fit, he grabbed his blaster pointing at the Pines only to then get snatched by Mabel.
"Catch!" She threw it to Dipper, who then tossed it to Soos, then Wendy, then Stan as the alien raced from one person to another trying to get his sci-fi gun back. Grunted in frustration, Zim activated his robotic spider legs and followed the one who had his weapon which was Mabel who ran upstairs.
"GIVE BACK ZIM'S BLASTER MISERABLE VERMIN!"
"Dude! He has spider legs!" Soos exclaimed.
"My sister!" The Pines boy exclaimed as well.
Everyone quickly followed them up with Ford being the first to react, as he was the closest, with his triangle-shaped blaster barrel ready.
Mabel was pinned back near the window of her and her brother's room, the alien with spider legs looking at her with menacingly sharp teeth from cheek to cheek, his magenta eyes glowing sinisterly, for an incompetent alien invader he can get scary when he wants to, as Mabel found out. Before she could react, one of his spider legs caught her stolen blaster right from the trigger part and returned it to Zim's right hand while making her stagger with a yelp. "Oops." She realized after.
"Nowhere to RUN DIB-CLONE GIRL!"
"I don't even know what a Dib clone is!"
Before the Irken could do anything, a blue blast hit one of his spider legs making him yelp in surprise as he nearly fell only for the other one to be shot as well making two of his four spider legs non-functional and him falling on his back. When Zim tried to get up to point his blaster, he saw the barrel of Ford's weapon pointed at his face and the rest looking at him threatening including Stan with knuckles, Wendy with an ax, Dipper with a magnet gun, and Dib grinning maniacally with handcuffs due to this turns of events with his glasses reflecting light which also made Mabel wonder if this person is just as deranged as Zim. He has been outgunned and outnumbered, time for his robot minion.
"GIR! ASSIST YOUR MASTER!" The alien invader commanded his robot who flew from downstairs, passing the caught off guard group with two thrusters on his legs and came between his master and the group with glowing red eyes.
"Yes, Masta!" The robot said this time with a serious mechanical tone, that was until his optics caught something, that thing would be Waddles who walked between the groups' legs with Dib nearly tripping himself being startled by the coming of the domestic animal
Gir's eyes went friendly so as his mood "Oooh! Piggy!" It then moved toward it.
"Grrh! You may have turned my servant against me! But this will not be the end of it!" Thrusters began to come out of his pack as he flowed backward toward the window "Mark my words, mark the words of ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!" He passed the window, breaking its glass, and flowing away into the sky.
The Pines looked at the dramatic exit as the flying alien soon became a dot in the sky, only then to fall into the woods as he screamed due to his thrusters failing and hit a couple of branches during his fall. "I'M OKAY! DESTROY YOU NEXT TIME!" from the distance the alien shouted before disappearing into the woods.
"And here I thought Gideon was melodramatic." Stanley couldn't help but say, the group relaxed with Ford putting down his blaster.
"Alright then, I suppose you, young man, can explain what's going on?" Ford looked at the shy boy with glass as everyone came down the stairs.
"Well, I'm uh, my name is Dib Membrane I'm- " he was cut short by Dipper who uttered suddenly.
" You are Professor Membrane's kid!?"
"You're a fan?"
"Well I wouldn't say that, but I do admire his contribution to science like his invention of prosthetic limbs for the disabled!"
'Only because it was convenient to him when he lost his arms to the sharks.' Dib silently thought. For all his father's genius, he can sometimes think of useless inventions because in his eyes all inventions are a contribution to science like the Super Toaster invention in his eccentricities.
"So…I think you have some questions…"
"Uh-huh. Yeah, we do dude!" Wendy uttered.
"Who's bug eye?" Dipper asked.
"And who's gonna pay for the damage!?" The conman Pines demanded nearly making his twin roll his eyes.
"So uh….That alien was Zim, he is an Invader sent by the Irken Empire to conquer Earth, I've been in battle with the menace for so long it may as well feel like decades, though honestly I do not know why he was here after disappearing for a whole year."
Stanford speculated "Gravity Falls is a nexus of anomalies and weirdness, perhaps he heard of it and came here to unlock its secrets for his own agenda."
"So it's all true? This place is like the West Virginia of Oregeon!?" Dib asked hopefully.
"Yeah, recall when we said aliens are not even scratching the surface dude?" Wendy added in.
Soos continued "In fact, we have all manner of weird things: Unicorns, Manotuars, Gnomes, Mothmen-
"THERE'S A MOTHMAN SIGHTING HERE!?!?" Dib with stars in his eyes inquiring nearly jumping out of his skin at the existence of his favorite cryptid here as they finally reached the stairs.
Ford chuckled, "As a matter of fact, he owes me money," Then he remembered something. "Oh I forgot my manners, my name is Stanford Pines." He and Dib then began to shake hands.
"My first Six handshake!" Dib
"This is my twin, Stanley."
"Hey." Ley unenthusiastically gruffed
"My great niece and nephew Dipper and Mabel."
So twins are a genetic heritage in their family, good, the doppelganger conspiracy is no more.
Mabel shook his hand eagerly "Hi! Hopefully you're not a pile of gnomes pretending to be a handsome cutie" making her brother roll his eyes.
'Am I being hit on!?' Dib thought in bemusement, in truth none of the girls in his home could even stand being in the same seat as he was except his sister. Though there was Gretchen who for some reason kept looking at him secretly from far away and every time he gazed back at her she looked away pretending otherwise, he wondered why.
"And I'm Wendy Corduroy, if the flannels didn't give away I'm a lumberjack born,"
"And I'm Soos! The current owner of the Mystery Shack." The gopher man greeted him.
"Uh…question: if there really are cryptids here and you'll seem to be well-experienced paranormal investigators," Dib gestured around to the attractions which most definitely were fake and offended his pride as a paranormal investigator "Why use fake attractions?"
"There are people who would try to exploit it if they find Gravity Falls' weirdness is more than just mere folklore and last time we tried, a couple suffered a mental disorder." Stanford reasoned which Dib gave a "huh." He necessarily didn't agree but could understand the reasoning.
Dipper winces at being reminded of that time he captured a Gremloblin, a creature that just staring at its eyes would make any unfortunate victim face their deepest fears.
Gir interrupted their talk "Piggy is so squishy!" He happily chirped as he hugged Waddles.
"Back to our green friend: should we worry about his tin can minion?" Ley points out the elephant in the room
Dib replied "Eh, as long as he is kept entertained, he won't be a problem. Though I warn you to not let him be near your pet or any animal without supervision."
"I ate a badger once!"
"…that's probably true." Dib gave a clap on his hands while Mabel was staring in worry at Waddles just to make sure he wouldn't get eaten "Speaking of Zim; what did he mean by 'you encouraging me'? I never met you before?"
Dipper shrugged "Beats me, I never met you either, though I remember I once online met a guy in a chat with similar interests in the paranormal who got so depressed that I- uhhh!"
Realization hit both of the boys as they stared at each other with widened eyes and then they grinned like they were old friends.
"Agent Mothman!?"
"Lord Tyrone Pines!?"
Dipper and Dib respectively pointed at each other. A surprise but a pleasant one.
"Uh, is this some nerd bond I don't get?" Ley confused asked.
"WE MET!- "Both simultaneously said before they stopped, Dipper gestured to Dib to continue.
"We met online in a chat when I was having a depressed episode, this guy stopped me from giving up on paranormal investigation!"
"Nah, it wasn't nothing, all I did- " he was humbly saying otherwise and was then cut off when his sister intervened.
"You had an online friend, and you never told me!?!" Mabel felt insulted that her brother never told her that he was socializing on the web.
"Well, I wouldn't call- "
Stanford then reasoned with her "Come on Mabel, your brother deserves some privacy," Mabel wanted to protest before Ford reminded her of something important "Also, you took your eyes off our robotic guest with Waddles." Mabel, realizing he was right, quickly went to check on Gir and Waddles.
"I let you two catch up, I'll talk to you about the Zim alien later," Ford said, and then Soos went away.
Ley then announced "Welp, nice knowing ya, but I have to taste my great niece's new coffee reception, hopefully without dinosaur toys." He shuddered as he went to the kitchen, not before he ordered Wendy "And go back to the cashier post Corduroy!"
"You're no longer the boss of mine!" The Corduroy reminded him in her objection
"Oh right…bad habit." Stan then moved back to the kitchen
Dipper elbowed Dib "Sisters, am I right? You love them but can be overbearing at times,"
"Oh tell me about it." Agent Mothman agreed.
"Your sister is also energetic and obsessed with glitter?"
Membrane nearly laughed at that "Oh I wish! My sister is like the complete opposite of yours. Sometimes I wonder if she really is my sister or a demon spawned from the deepest pits of Hell!"
Cleak!
The door to the shack violently opened, revealing a displeased purple monster with an icy glare that made even the cool-headed Corduroy feel unease as she looked at who had come in.
"DIB! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"
"Speak of the devil…" Dib muttered under his breath.
The loud screech of the door was enough for the Stans and Soos to return thinking that it was Zim again with Stan holding a cup of coffee which thank God didn't have a dinosaur toy in it.
"Can't you people stop wrecking my Shack!?" Ley grunted in irritation.
Ford then corrected him "Technically, it's Soos- "
"No one asked you to auto-correct everything poindexter!" He snapped at his brother.
Gaz then marched toward the peeped Dipper and the gulping nervous Dib "And who're these losers? What are you doing with a Gopher-pirate man and a one-dimensional ginger Mary Sue?" He gestured to the adult Ramirez and the teen Corduroy.
Soos wasn't offended at all. "Hehe, I get that a lot."
The same can not be said of Wendy " Mary Sue? Who do you call a 'Mary Sue' you little purple painted Emo-ish, Female Robbie knockoff of a gothic mean girl cliché city girl dulled up as a hollow doll!" She snarled.
Dib was slack-jawed that someone dared enough to insult his scary sister who then looked back at her betraying no emotions, Wendy slowly readied herself for a fight.
Except that never came as Gaz smirked: "...Okay I admit, she's pretty cool."
Wendy blinked, she did not expect that reaction leaving Dib's jaw even slackier.
Gaz coldly greeted someone " You!" She meant Mabel who also traded icy glares
"No, YOU!"
"No, YOU!"
"No, ME!"
"NOT you! Me!"
"You both met!?" Dib shook his head to Mabel and Gaz as they traded.
"Yes." Gaz in her displeasure confirmed.
"It was a heartwarming meeting." Sarcasm was dripping from Mabel's voice.
"So heartwarming it caused global warming." Gaz joined the sarcasm as well.
The sarcasm was so strong it made Soos back a bit while Ley was being entertained by this Mean Girl situation with Wendy giving an eyebrow.
"Gaz, can you please?" Dib with a sigh begged his sister to not start a fight.
"You tell this bouncy hick girl before she dropped my ice cream and then shot a freaking grappling hook on me!" She pointed at the bump on her head.
"Only in self-defense!" Mabel protested.
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh uh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh uh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Liar liar hands on fire!" The Pines girl put both hands on her hip after she taunted in a mocking tone and the glare contest intensified
Dipper interjected with a frown "Hey! That hick girl is my sister! Also, really? All this is for an ice cream?"
Gaz explained further "It was multi-flavored and I had to wait in a very long line for it!" That didn't make it any less petty.
"Then just buy another one, geez." Both boys said at the same time in irritation until they stared at each other for saying the same thing in amazement.
"Great minds think alike!" Dipper stated in pleasant surprise.
"Did we just become best friends!?" Dib now reached an epiphany with stars in his eyes gasping, making his sister gag.
"Oh joy, there's two of them now." Gaz unenthusiastically commented, not thrilled by this turn of events.
Mabel's reaction was the opposite of Gaz's, being glad her brother is making friends with her fangirl zeal "I don't care! It's precious!"
The bromance reached a halt when Soos recalled something "Wait, who watches over Waddles and the robot dude?" which made everyone immediately look around until they saw Waddles and Gir who without everyone noticing were playing outdoors on a grassy field for a scene that they would not forget any time soon.
"PIGGY FLY!" Gir then opened his mouth impossibly wide open and devoured the oinking Waddles fully making Mabel's eyes shrank in horror while others except for Gaz and Dib felt like their eyes were gonna pop out of their eye sockets with Soos's jaw fell, Stan spitting out his coffee from a cup, Wendy had the very expression of 'I'm not paid enough for this!'. Gaz wore a grim visage like she saw something like this happening before and Dib was wearing an expression that said 'Oh no'.
LAUNCH!
Waddles screamed like a pig as it got launched from Gir's head to the sky like a rocket.
"WAAAAAADDLEEEEES!" Mabel wailed the name of her pet to the sky as she fainted falling back while Dipper was quick to catch her from her back as others except for the Membranes were still staring at the sky not being able to comprehend what just happened.
Dib groaned and fixed his glass "Welp, I did warn you."
The Membranes and the Pines did not know then, but the arc of their lives thanks to their meeting will be changed and not just them, but as the Universe and Invader Zim.
Notes:Don't worry, Waddles will survive…physically.
Also, don't expect a steady time table because I'm busy with my SCP/GF crossover fic as well so as my university work.Also; shout out to Supremebandit for helping me out!