EPISODE 2 - ''I 'LL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN''

I was sitting on stairs, taking my time to let emotions decrease.

- So… are you feeling any better now? – the little alien girl asked me after few minutes.

- Yeah. I guess so. – I answered. I looked at her and asked a question of my own: Who are you anyway?

- Oh, right! I'm sorry.I haven't been given an occacion to introduce myself. My name is Loo-nah, I am the princess of planet Formika. Or at least, I was…

- Huh? What do you mean?

- I landed on this planet a couple of hours ago. I don't know how long I've been travelling through space in my escape pod.

- Escape pod?

- Yes. I had to leave my beautiful, precious kingdom. It was… - the alien's voice started breaking. I could see tears appearing in her eyes.

I didn't say a word here. I was too afraid to ask Loo-nah about what happened with her home planet. However, it didn't take long before she brought herself to tell me the whole story. I supposed it would be about a natural disaster or something similar. But no. That was something much more unexpected. And more shocking too.

- It was invaded by the Irken Empire!

My eyes went wide and my lower jaw fell down, revealing my teeth and tongue.

- What did you just say?! – I asked with a tiny, microscopic dose of disbelief.

- I said - my kingdom was invaded by the Irkens. All that happened so sudddenly,so quickly… I barely remember anything. But I don't want to remember…! I dont want to…!

This confession made her cry even harder.

That left me completely speechless. I got lost in thoughts again.

- '' This can't be right. But… if it was a dream indeed, I'd wake up at the moment I found myself in that old, cluttered room. I have no fu*ing idea what's going on here, but I guess I have to help princess Loo-nah somehow. And what about that body-freezing premonition and my pocket knife turning into a some sort of sword-thingy to kill the monstrous bear? I… I think I should try out something.''

I stood up, unzipped my backpack and drew out one of empty beer cans, the same I was drinking from right before I found the mysterious, rainbow-colored gem. It was crushed, as usually. I raised my hand I focused on the piece of aluminium. Within literally few seconds, right in front of my eyes, an empty and crushed can , came back to its original shape. It was heavy and closed too, just like brought straight from supermarket. I bended the can tab, opening it. I sniffed, inhaling blissful smell of fresh beer. I took a little swallow to realize that it was the most delicious beer I've ever had in my life. I smiled and kept drinking. With every next swallow I've been getting more and more convinced. Still unaware of true nature of that fabulous little stone, I came to a conclusion that one specific object must have brought me to the universe of ''Invader Zim'', meanwhile giving me some kind of magical powers. I drank all beer and refilled the can.

- Excuse me, maam, but… what are you doing? – asked princess Loo-nah, not crying anymore.

- Oh! Sorry! Almost forgot about you. – I said with embarrassment. – I'm just… Trying something.

- What is it you're trying, if I can ask?

- Well… - I went silent, hesitant if I should tell her the whole truth.

- Please, tell me. – she persisted.

- Ok. But it's a pretty long story. Besides, I'm not sure if you're gonna believe me.

- Please. I really want to hear you out.

- Ok. If you insist… Oh, and by the way – you told me your name, but I did not tell you mine. I am Solitaire.

- Solitaire?

- Yeah. And… The most important thing is – I'm not from around here. I mean – not from this world.

- ''Not from this world''?

- That's right. I come from a completely different dimension where Irkens are a part of fictional stories instead of real galactic menace. Anyhow…

And I told princess Loo-nah about how I found a small, colorful ball in a forest before I've been somehow teleported to her world and given magical powers of some sort too.

- That sounds pretty familiar. – she said. – Wait a minute… Judging by description of a ball you claim you found, it's very, very similar to fantasites.

- Fantasites? What are fantasites?

- Luminous and twinkling precious stones of all colors of the universe. It is – or rather was – Formika's greatest pride and joy. Fantasites couldn't be found anywhere outside my dear planet.

I pulled the talked-about ball out of my backpack to show it to princess Loo-nah.

- Yes, it must be a fantasite! – little alien girl almost shouted.

- But how the heck is this even possible? How did this thing find its way to my dimension, let alone to the forest I visit every now and then?

- I don't know. Really.

- Do fantasites have any special properties? Like - I dunno – teleportation or gifting one with magic powers?

- I'm not sure. I think my mom has told me something about fantasites what was that? Hold up…

- Alright then. Take your time. I'm going to provide few more experiments.

As I said this phrase, I drank the whole second beer, put the fantasite down next to my bag with GIR's image on and pulled my GIR plushie out of my backpack. I took five or six steps away from stairs, put my toy on the floor and stepped back. I flexed and straightened my fingers hastily, aiming at the plushie. A portion of magical energy materialised itself, shining and opalizing like northern lights, charged towards GIR's effigy and surrounded it. As a result, my toy grew much bigger and changed into its monstrous version of itself. As soon as the light turned out, GIR got fully it looked like a large, bipedal, green dog with black limbs,frayed black ears, bulging foggy eyes, and – last but not least - long and sharp claws and fangs. Although moving like a living creature, GIR has remained a plushie with no mind or free will of its own. I was controlling the magically-altered toy remotely, through my thoughts. This action actually scared princess Loo-nah who made a squeaky sound, came up to me and stood right after me, holding my right calf.

- Don't be afraid. – I giggled, turning my face towards her. – He won't hurt you.

- Are you sure?

- Yeah, I'm is not a real monster. Just one of toys from my collection. So… what I've learnt so far - I can sense incoming danger, turn pocket knives into swords, refill beer cans and modify innocent toys for children into horrifying, zombie-like beasts. I'm very, very curious of all other things I can do, having these new, wonderful powers.

I couldn't even imagine what else would fate still have in storage for me. But there was that one little thing I could be certain of – I was not ever again to be the same vulnerable, worthless loser I'd been before.