#undisguised zim

[mast3r-rainb0w]

[C] 'Jackie Chan Adventures' Style: Invader Zim by Mast3r-Rainb0w

A commission I made for a client via DeviantArt, featuring the titular character Invader Zim (in his UNDISGUISED form) drawn in the artstyle of the 2000 animated TV series "Jackie Chan Adventures". Enjoy!

[whumporpass]

Invader Zim

[neolxzr]

hey you get it its an alien stage alien au—wait a minute... this is just invader zim !!!

some more random info abt this au under the read more ^_^ open at your own risk its a lot of yapping

till makes it his mission to expose the aliens (mostly ivan. he has personal beef with him) to the rest of humanity, but he's the boy who cried wolf. no one believes him because he's been talking about aliens and bigfoot and mothman and whatever nonstop all his life.

till loves the supernatural but also fears it. it consumes most of his waking thoughts. he doesn't like how quickly the aliens grow close to mizi out of a desire to protect her from the (presumed) threat. he's kinda like if dib invader zim was some gay art kid instead of like a supergenius

this threatening feeling comes from till assuming that ivan and sua are on earth for some kind of conquest and or abduction reasons. are they actually? who knows...

mizi is a bit of a hopeless romantic and finding out that sua was an alien only served to make her fall for her more. she could think of nothing more romantic than this scenario, actually. even till screaming danger at her cannot deter her from her love

ivan fights with till and riles him up because he finds how expressive he is utterly fascinating. he says its to "learn more about humans" but mostly he just wants till's attention. he himself doesn't know why he wants this attention, though.

sua and ivan experience a range of emotions in a similar way to humans, yet their species is discouraged from acting emotionally and isnt taught about what any of their feelings mean. all they know, at the start, is that these humans draw some kind of strange feelings out of them that they've never felt before.

(it sticks with the overall theming of alnst being about trying to understand exactly what love means.)

ivan and sua's earpieces are multipurpose tools. they're connected directly to the brain and can't be taken off. they can be used to generate their disguises (its a hologram type of thing), works as a translator so they can communicate with other alien species, etc.

what looks kind of like a nose on the aliens' faces is not a nose. their antennas are used as their olfactory system (they are also quite sensitive)

till is no longer crushing on mizi at this point in his life. sometime during middle school mizi came out to him as a lesbian and so he told her he liked her and it was a whole thing and they both cried. it ended up serving to strengthen their friendship. its been about 4 years-ish since then and theyre still inseparable

till works some kind of shitty service job part time, at which he met hyuna. she's like his cool older college friend and sort of older sister. he plays with her band sometimes

this takes place in who the fuck knows where midwest united states, and the humans are korean-american. till is first generation and usually speaks korean with his mom at home

it takes a while for till to first get a glimpse of ivan and sua's undisguised forms, though when he finally does something about them seems oddly familiar to him.

mizi sees sua's undisguised form long before till does. she does not tell him this

luka is an alien too. wonder what he's up to...

ok thats all love you bye ^_^

[emeraldspiral]

Thinking about how everyone on the show thinks Zim and Dib are/should be friends, especially GIR.

In Planet Jackers, GIR doesn't understand Zim's reluctance to go to Dib for help and tells him "he seems nice" and is cheerfully encouraging as Zim works up the courage to ring the doorbell.

In Plague of Babies, GIR doesn't think it's a big deal if the baby next door has seen them undisguised because Dib has seen them too.

GIR repeatedly lets Dib as well as Gaz into the base and actually does what they want more often than he does with Zim.

GIR literally begged Dib to hunt Zim again because he knew Zim needed him in his life in Mopiness of Doom.

Gaz thinks Dib and Zim are playing an online game together in Nanozim.

Membrane calls Zim Dib's "little foreign friend" in Tak.

Keef thinks they're BFFs in Return of Keef and desperately wants in on what they have together.

Clembrane thinks Dib loves Zim.

The monsters in the Halloween episode, which need I remind you are products of Dib's own imagination, hold Zim hostage believing that they're friends.

Zim himself apparently thinks Dib secretly wishes they could be brothers (projection much?).

[irkendogma]

What do you think an Irken would look like in real life if you saw one undisguised? I always took them as insectoids but I think Jhonen intended them to just be stereotypical Little Green Men with atypically bug-like antennae (and fussing over the attach point they'd have to a soft, fleshy body is one of the reasons I don't like that direction for them). An exoskeleton is also ruled out by Zim's many unpleasant skin reactions, unfortunately, but I still think they should have them. It's also fairly strange for me to picture them outside of Jhonen's distinct art styles, but they're definitely supposed to be roughly human shaped, and it's just that everything he draws for the series is incredibly angular and almost polygonal looking. We of course know what humans look like IRL, so it's not too jarring to try imagining a "real" Dib or anything (though his hair would certainly be interesting to approach from that angle), but since Irkens are native to that art style, it always takes a bit of focus.

i get what you mean with the insectoid thing - i do like taking an insectoid slant for irkens, but by and large i generally think of them as their own thing separate from human or earth categorizations of organisms? to be completely upfront with it, i hate tailed irkens and have a dislike for interpretations that lean more on the "recognizable vertebrate" side of things, whether that be furry or scalie, but i can recognize that's my own personal thing and people are free to interpret as they like

for me, personally, i really like going into the implications of irkens as a hyperindustrialized species that can only live ten minutes without a cybernetic central nervous system and according to word of god lacks reproductive organs, relying entirely on factory-scale levels of cloning to grow its population, separated almost wholly from their natural origins - while i acknowledge that their faces could be a number of shapes when "destylized", since as you said every species jhonen draws looks fairly angular, i like playing into the "polygonal heads" angle within the context of irkens looking artificial and doll-like, uncanny valley and near inorganic-seeming: hairless, unblemished skin too smooth from their pak healing shut any imperfections long before it could scar, a weird pallor to them that comes from not having needed natural sunlight in hundreds of generations

kind of a commentary on the unnatural fusion of irken societal function with their physical form, with the polygonal heads and faces in particular i think of them as blank of the small complexities and deviations in form that would be present in a human face, you can't quite see what the whole of that shape is until you see them in motion because it's like a living early playstation model - undifferentiated and interchangeable factory products rather than individuals whose history and personality could be indicated solely through minute changes to their face

[short-and-ugly]

he runs out undisguised again..... admittedly, he was in a rush to see what was happening, but, still...........

maybe zim is also, slowly, sorta learning, that the humans are too stupid to care that hes an alien?

but hes. still. super freaked out by the possibility of getting caught. so maybe not.

[ghostlytuxedo]

ID: Keef, Recap Kid, & Chammy Wamboo play in a bedroom. Drawings & glow-in-the-dark stars adorn the walls. Chammy, sitting on a pink pig cushion, & Keef, sitting on the floor beside a cup & a plate of pizza, happily hold up dolls resembling Dib & Zim to face each other. Recap Kid watches with sparkling eyes from a green cushion, a doll resembling undisguised Gir sitting beside them. A lava lamp sits on the floor between the cushions. In the background, a TV shows a video paused on the silhouettes of tallests Purple & Red as they appear in the show's intro.

They’re roleplaying the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet

[invaderzim2001]

C&D Visionary Inc. Liscened Invader Zim Nokia phone covers, ft. a disguised Gir and an undisguised Zim. These were reportedly sold on Nick.com for awhile.

Date: 2002

Source: [x]

[phasmidcore]

I love it when people draw what realistically Lil Hal would look like, but have y’all explored the shitpostability of ‘Hal but in the form of other robots from pop-culture?’

Please don’t take this seriously, I was hit by the shitpost bug and scrawled this out in like 20 minutes.

[Image ID: Mediocre drawings of Lil Hal from Homestuck drawn as BMO from Adventure Time, R2-D2 from Star Wars, Bender from Futurama, and Undisguised GIR from Invader Zim. End ID]

[diloph]

I love it to death and it's my favourite episode, if only the second best episode in the entire series, but after my annual rewatch of Tak: The Hideous New Girl, I have to say, it's the one episode I can't help but notice a lot of animation errors in.

[emeraldspiral]

Gotta love Zim's logic in Day of the Spookies.

"Dib says the reason he can see that I'm an alien is because his mind is open to the paranormal, therefore if I disillusion him enough to stop believing in the paranormal, he'll stop believing I'm an alien". As if finding out bigfoot and ghosts don't exist would automatically make him think completely separate paranormal phenomena must also not exist, especially when he's seen Zim undisguised zillions of times and has mountains of other firsthand experiences and evidence, including Tak's ship. Like, the only way this could possibly work is if he did something like the brother simulation where he just gaslights Dib super hard into thinking that he imagined basically the entire time they've known each other.

[violintrees]

Zadr for "do you trust me? “ “ yes. “ c:

Sure Dib had been flying in Tak's ship and even flying with Zim before while disguised, but this put all his safety directly into Zim’s hands.

"Come on Dib-thing. Do you trust me?"

Zim had his gloved claw stretched out to Dib as he leaned over the control panel of the Voot. The ship hovered a foot off the ground and hummed softly. Zim was undisguised, but bundled up in earthen sweaters and scarves on this frosty evening. It made Dib's heart soft against all the obsolete alarm bells from their rivalry days.

This answer was new and it scared Dib , but it was true. He reached out to grab the hand.

"yes. I trust you zIM!-"

Cold air whipped past Dib's face as he was suddenly yoinked inside the ship by a strong arm and two pak legs. The windshield slammed shut behind him and they shot up into the night sky. He yelped and hid his face into Zim. Two arms wrapped around him and maniacally laughed.

"ZIM!"

"What Earth boy! Unused to Zim's amazing piloting. Just watch."

"Watch what? you!.."

Suddenly Dib realized they were upside down. Or at least sitting together in the single pilot seat while looking up out the windshield to look down at the Earth. Below them, the Earth is calm and glittering like a dense universe of stars and lights. Dense cities interconnected like massive star clusters in a stellar view that takes Dib's breathe away.

Dib also realized he was still desperately holding onto Zim when the alien brushes past him to reach for the steering.

"Your trust in Zim was well founded, but I like that I can still make you fear for your life."

"I was not afraid.. simply, on guard."

"Well that's also good, a worthy opponent is never off guard. NOW!!" Zim's tone changes suddenly into something more crafty. "Shall we continue? As you humans say, I can show you the wor-"

Dib slaps a hand over Zim's face and looks away in embarrassment.

"That's NOT a saying THAT'S a SONG AND HORRIBLY CORNY TO SAY."

"ZIM IS NOT CORN."

"But erm.. yes I would love that."

Zim smiles and Dib actually thinks Zim has already succeeded in his statement.

[sillymuses]

The undisguised irken just flat out ignores this strange creature as he makes his way towards the nearby phone. He's already in a bad mood without a disguise, without his voot cruiser, and having to rely upon a phone just to reach Gir.

It takes a while for him to finally answer and even then Zim's attempts to bribe his servant into coming to him fail due to the robot's short attention span. It ultimately ends with Zim slamming the phone down and huffing.

"Don't touch me! Unfortunately for ME, I am stuck here for the moment! Do not even THINK about turning me over to your Earthly governments or else I'll...I'll liquidate your eyeballs and turn your brain into cotton candy with my mind! I can totally do that!" That should scare him enough to stay quiet for now.

"Ya'know usually I'd be all, 'I'm on breeeeak, who the H are you, don't bother me,' but I'm in a good mood. Come on in. I'm banned from using the phone right now, but YOU'RE not. You gotta name, stranger?"

Rigby watches as Zim walks, that frown plastered on his face, those magenta eyes bugging out, those antennae...yep, definitely an alien. Rigby has seen plenty of movies about those, which he probably shouldn't have watched, considering they kept him awake all night. But this little guy looked harmless.

"AlsocanIpokeyourantennas?"

[short-and-ugly]

gir answering the door undisguised and unbothered because he knows the human giving him his pizza wont care so long as they get paid. man.

zim saying "hey repeatedly in the background" like. hey. hey. come on. i was literally just defending the security of my home security. what is this.

[fastenwick]

Second Contact for Earth 15, Part Two

(Featuring @tallest-blue-nerd, @invader-d1b, @ukagaka-zim, and @aik-membrane, featuring mentions of @tak-e-over.)

"EVEN WHEN SEEING US UNDISGUISED AND WITH A SAMPLE OF MY BLOOD, MEMBRANE STILL DIDN'T BELIEVE I WAS AN ALIEN," Zim added.

"Membrane's work was the best that we had for a long time. But he's a relic of the past now," Stocks said.

"Ambassador Membrane, were you involved at all in the press conference proceedings? I haven't heard for sure," Holter asked.

"I was more or less involved," D1b answered carefully. "But not in a way that matters to this discussion."

"Did you approve of the current Professor Membrane exposing aliens?" Barkley asked.

Zim huffed. "NO ONE APPROVED THAT."

"You were the one who spoke at the conference, Invader Zim," Stocks prodded. "And you didn't approve?"

"OF COURSE NOT," Zim answered.

Stocks seemed intrigued. "Why not?"

"There were many reasons," Miyuki interjected. "However, are they important to this conversation?"

"You tell me," Stocks replied.

"I've already said that we wanted to wait out for humans to be more prepared for us," Miyuki said. "The situation at the press conference was not preferable. But it happened, and there was not a way for us to move around it."

"Hm," Stocks seemed a bit disappointed in that answer.

"You sure love to poke and prod at things that aren't meant for you to touch, Doctor," Aik said coldly.

Zim chuckled.

"I do," Stocks acknowledged. "That is why I became a doctor after all."

"HOW WE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED DOESN'T MATTER. THIS ISN'T SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA RETAIN AGAINST HUMANITY," Zim explained.

"We care too much about our collective future for that," Miyuki added.

"So you choose to not hold stuff against us. We can still hold stuff against you," Took said. "I think now is a good time to discuss Tak in more detail."

"If you'd like, go ahead," Miyuki said.

"Professor Membrane has already shown us the attacks that we had registered under different names. What exactly was her story? And how common is someone like her?" Took asked.

"Tak was an old friend of mine that felt betrayed. In order to get back at me, she decided to attack an innocent people group," Miyuki explained. "I hadn't heard from her for around 50 years when Ambassador Membrane got a hold of me and told me what was happening. I came immediately to put a stop to her, but she had already caused damage on your planet for two years."

"A SUCH IRKEN ISN'T COMMON," Zim added.

"I've interacted with many Irkens in the past seven years. Tak is the only one that I ever hated." D1b placed a hand over his collar and mumbled something off screen.

Zim looked off the screen and mumbled something as well, and D1b seemed to nod in response.

"I have already made it clear that I can't control everything," Miyuki said. "Another Irken like Tak could come out and try to hurt you all. But I will protect you, even if we don't sign a peace treaty."

"Can you prove that?" Took asked.

Zim looked back at the screen.

"That is what I'm trying to do now. Prove myself and my intentions towards you. Establish trust," Miyuki explained.

"SHE PREFERS BLOWING THE MASSIVE UP THAN PUTTING ANYONE IN DANGER," Zim added.

"The Massive, eh?" Stocks seemed intrigued again.

"OUR FLAGSHIP," Zim replied.

"That seems like a good bridge to one of the other questions I'd like to ask. I want to know more about your weapon capabilities, your technology," Took said.

Stocks listened intently.

"MY TALLEST, MAY I SHOW THEM?" Zim asked.

Miyuki nodded. "Go ahead, Invader Zim."

Zim stood up and took a few steps back to be still visible. His PAK legs extended. "ALL IRKENS ARE EQUIPPED WITH THOSE. THEY ALSO SHOOT LASERS."

"Interesting choices for a species focused on peace," Took said.

"If we planned to harm you with these, we would have kept them a secret, wouldn't we?" Miyuki pointed out.

"THEY ARE A GENERAL TOOL, NOT ONLY TO DEFEND. WE USE THEM MOSTLY FOR MOBILITY," Zim explained.

"They're handy for climbing and getting into hard to reach places," D1b added.

"Do you speak from experience or from observation?" Holter asked D1b.

D1b thought for a moment. "A little of both."

Zim smiled at something off screen, as did D1b.

"Fascinating. These things, eh... what were they called? The spider legs?" Stocks asked.

"THEY'RE PAK LEGS." Zim turned around to show his back.

"Ah, so they're part of your PAK functions," Stocks said.

"Quite interesting," Barkley said.

"They seem like they could be used to kill someone quite easily though," Took growled.

"Well, that's what Tak used hers for," D1b admitted.

Zim retracted his PAK legs and went back to his seat. "YOU ASKED ABOUT OUR WEAPONS, THEY CAN BE USED AS SUCH. NO IRKEN IS DEFENCELESS THANKS TO THEM."

"Is there a way to shut them off and prevent the host from being able to use them?" Stocks asked.

D1b tensed some.

"MOST PAK FEATURES CAN BE DEACTIVATED," Zim answered.

D1b breathes deeply. "There are many intricacies to PAKs."

"You can learn more about them once a treaty is established," Miyuki interjected. "PAKs are very important to our existence, so we will refrain from revealing some things about their functions."

"Hm..." Stocks said.

Zim nodded.

"We told you about their weapons. That is enough," Miyuki added.

"Agreed." Barkley nodded.

D1b seemed relieved.

"I suppose that's a good way to move into the education topic that so many were interested in," Holter suggested. 

"Ah, yes," Miyuki agreed.

"Education for both humans and Irkens," D1b added.

"Humans being able to learn about Irkens and vice versa," Aik said.

"Yes, precisely." Holter agreed.

"I think this is something everyone involved wants," Stocks said. "Learning about each other is a great way to establish our relationships together."

Zim nodded.

"That is the reason behind these talks," Barkley agreed.

"That and to make sure you all are trustworthy in the first place. I'm still not fully convinced that Ambassador Membrane isn't an alien. Hell, maybe all the Membranes were aliens," Took said.

"Ouch," D1b sighed.

"Our humanity doesn't need to be argued over," Aik added.

"I CAN CONFIRM HE ISN'T AN ALIEN," Zim said. "A SIMPLE BIOLOGIC SCAN OR DNA TEST CAN CONFIRM THAT."

"Yeah, you'd be the one trying to cover it up if it was true," Took said.

"We're not hiding anything from you," D1b explained. "Even if I was an alien, it wouldn't change the fact that I grew up on Earth, would it?"

"No, not unless you were switched out or something," Took answered. 

"Don't spark more rumors, Commander," Aik warned.

"The real D1b Membrane could be captured somewhere..." Took mused.

"If you want the truth, then you need to listen more instead of speculate," Miyuki interjected.

Zim chuckled.

"I agree with Tallest Miyuki," Holter said.

"Fair enough," Took sighed.

"Tallest Miyuki, back to the subject of education, do you have any program ideas you'd like to present?" Barkley asked.

"Hold that thought, Mr. President," Aik said quickly. "We're going to break now."

"Ah, we'll circle back to it," Barkley said.

Zim smiled at something off screen.

"We'll be back, live again soon," Aik said.

The video feeds were replaced with the excited reporter. "Juicy stuff folks! We'll be right back with more to see, but first, a word from our sponsors."

[cdarkheartzero]

Today’s theme- “Too far”

I was skimming through some comments and such and came across @the-garbage-is-my-fandom ‘s comment of “more horror art” on my “Bathtime” piece. And I was inspired. I’m especially excited for @melodyofthevoid to tear into me like I do her when she abuses my son.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen” Dib chanted to himself choking on what little air his lungs could grasp. He had never known fear like this and his body just had no idea how to handle it.

Dib mind raced, playing the previous weeks in his head, trying to figure out what went wrong. His master plan, a small gas bomb capable of temporarily paralyzing or knocking his enemy out, was finally complete. Many a sleepless night and wasted weekend on containment structure, chemical analysis and test runs. This was it. Finally, he could capture the alien menace and expose him. Finally, he would no longer be the crazy kid. Finally, the world would see the danger they were in all along. Finally.... he would be the hero.

But this wasn’t supposed to happen.

[[More]]

Dib snuck in through the front door after Zim’s idiot sidekick carelessly left it open, making haste to the neighborhood taco truck’s sirens blaring in the distance. He cautiously entered, realizing the Invader was no where in sight and gently placed the bomb in the center of the floor of the “living room”. Carefully he made his way up to the wires completely covering the ceiling for shelter. Soon enough, Gir threw the door open, Damn near ripping it off its hinges, absolutely covered in grease and meat. It seemed the taco run was a success.

He wandered over to the “box” in the middle of the floor and started screaming for his master. “MASTAAAAA!!!! A PRESENT!!!!!!” He shrieked and screeched. How did Zim deal with this all the time?

Within a moment or two, an undisguised Zim angrily emerged from the toilet in the kitchen (which was a sight Dib never really got used to. How does a WHOLE BODY fit down the small opening of a TOILET?!)

“Gir! What nonsense are you going on about!?”

“I gots a present! I’m the birthday boy!”

Zim quickly snatched the “gift” from the metallic hands, studying it’s shotty craftsmanship briefly and returning his full attention to the wide eyed robot standing before him. “What have I told you about bringing junk into this house? First that street lamp-” “But I wanted a nightlight to keep the monkey away.” Gir quietly and somberly interrupted.

Zim sighed. Was this conversation going to go anywhere? No. No, it wasn’t. He might as well talk to the jar of mayo still sitting open on the kitchen table from 3 days ago.

He bent down, clutching the box to his abdomen and give the robot a small pat on the head. “Zim told you he took care of the monkey. It can’t hurt you anymore. But please, Gir, refrain from bringing more stuff home.” He said calmly with a defeated tone in his voice. Gir’s face lit up with a wide grin spanning from “ear to ear” (had he had them anyway). “OKAAAAAY!” He screeched and wrapped his arms around his master. Dib could swear he heard something pop and squish under the groans and painful sounds Zim was emitting.

Then there was a click.

It seemed like the blink of an eye it all happened. An explosion unlike anything Dib ever thought possible by his hands unfolding around him. Windows shattered as glass slashed through the air in every which way direction. Chunks of flooring and wall violently slammed into anything unfortunate enough to come into their path. The fogged air was tainted with this disgustingly potent smell blanketing the entire room. The resulting shock wave flung Dib from his hiding spot, colliding with the cold tiles beneath him.

He blacked out for just a moment, his body on fire and his ears ringing loudly, drowning out all other sound. His eyes slowly opened and he worked up the strength to push himself to his feet. He noticed the blood on his hands as he lifted himself. He wasn’t surprised he got cut. He just couldn’t determain how bad. He was so disoriented.

He tried his best to scan the room, eyes adjusting themselves from the bright blast that had just assaulted them. A shine in the corner grabbed his attention in the sea of rubble and destruction. The robot, Gir, was crushed into the wall by large slabs of concrete and tiles. His once blue glowing eyes dim and cracked. He remained motionless.

“Oh, no.” Dib thought, realizing the severity of his actions. “Zim!” He cried out of instinct. There was no response. There was no movement in the cloud of smoke as it slowly decepated. The clearing air revealed Zim’s limp frame sprawled out within the neon-green splattered crater the explosion created by the front door. A gigantic hole displayed the vacant interior of his chest and abdominal cavity. Every bit of his internal organs were laid on the ground. His ruby eyes open and dull with his face resting almost peaceful. Dib’s stomach dropped.

THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.

Panic was setting in. He wanted to get close to the alien but it’s like his legs forbid such an action. So he goggled. “WHAT DO I DO?!” He blurted out to no one. He backed into the kitchen, never taking his eyes off the crater of debris and guts. His breathing jagged, his pulse racing and his throat overflowing, begging to release its contents on the oddly colored tiling. He felt sick.

“INITIATING SURVIVAL MODE”

He jumped. A sudden noise in this deafening silence. It was a voice he instantly recognized. Zim’s Computer. But it wasn’t echoing from the darkness of the house... it was coming from Zim.

The once limp body slowly started to adjust itself, trying to sit itself up. The more it moved, the more it’s contents leaked out of the organic frame. Dib just silently stared in awe....in relief.... in disgust as his fallen rival stood up. Swaying slightly as it tried to regain its balance. Their eyes locked. A shutter violently shook Dib. Zim was a lot of things. A pain in the ass. An idiot. Selfish. A narcissist. Incompetent. But this wasn’t Zim. This.... was TERRIFYING.

The creature’s thousand yard stare prickled Dib’s skin with the feeling of a million bugs crawling on his person. The paranormal investigator watched-even from several feet away- the speedy throbbing of the veins protruding around It’s eyes. The alien opened his mouth to speak and all that came out through the river of brightly colored blood was the sound of static. It was painful. SO PAINFUL to hear. Dib wanted to shield his ears from the sound but his body stood there still.

The creature’s attention tore away from Dib for a moment, eyeing the damaged robot. His PAK opened up, aggressively flinging his long, thin, robotic legs outwards. The legs came down one by one, echoing a small “clink” on the floor as the razor sharp ends touched the tile. His body lifted and made his way to the faithful metallic companion. Without saying a word, Dib watched as Zim’s body pried the heavy debris pinning the small robot. Gir’s body was released and the gloved hands gently caught him before he could fall on the floor.

THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

“Zim.... I swear.... I didn’t mean to...-“

He was caught off when the red eyes turned to his direction again. Even without pupils or Iris’, Dib could feel the daggers being thrown at him. The mouth opened to speak. “Gir.... why?”

Dib backed up one more step, further into the kitchen. Zim’s voice.... it was wrong. Metallic. Cold. Disoriented. Unlike anything he had ever heard before. Words caught in Dib’s throat but he mustered all his strength to release them. “It was an accident. It-it was just supposed to knock you out.” Dib continued to ramble. “I don’t know what happened!”

“Miserable”

Dib tensed up “W-what is?”

“Your existence brings misery. To your planet. To your family. To anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with you.”

Those words cut Dib’s soul deep. It’s like Zim could read his worst fears. Something he kept hidden- that black stain in his heart-all this time. Exposed. Just like that.

Before he could say anything, the alien continued “ You have always been an annoyance, you sickening human. We cannot escape you. Your voice. Your presence. Your smell. Forever a thorn in our side. The reason my tallest find me nothing more than entertainment. Why Zim can never succeed in his goals. Now this....the only good Zim had...” he said staring at Gir’s face.

“What is he talking about? What did I do with his leaders?” Dib pondered, eyes frantically shifting between Zim’s body and the door behind him.

His neck snapped in Dib’s direction. “But that’s not the worst part. Zim always heard it. For years. It was always following me.” The legs carried him one step closer to the kitchen. Dib silently took a step backwards. “There. Annoying me. Attacking his senses. A constant reminder of the misery you cause. Zim will rid himself of this....this sound...”

Dib needed to flee. But how? This creature was in front of the door!

Zim’s lips curled up. His smirk growing, stretching wider and wider, tearing the ends of his mouth apart. Blood leaking down the sides of his face as the smile grew to sizes ever more disturbing. It was like he was trying to separate the top and bottom of head. There was a silence. With a grin unseen by human eyes before, The creature chucked.

“OnCe I sILeNcE tHaT hEaRt Of YoUrS, wiLl ZiM FiNaLLy bE FrEe?

As the creature leapt towards the investigator, his body (FINALLY) responded by quickly dodging out of the way, slamming into the sink. The thin, metallic legs crashed into the dining room table decimating it instantly. Without so much as a thought, Dib crawled into the trash can and landed into the claustrophobic elevator to the lab. He panted and shook. It was a terrible idea to go down to the labs. A territory not his. He was out of his element and he wasn’t sure how he would escape. But it beat staying up there and getting ripped to shreds. The pink glow of the elevator made him even more on edge.

The doors opened, startling Dib who was frantically lost in thought. He ran from the elevator, peeking behind tables, tubes and anything else while keeping his senses sharp and alert. Zim was somewhere. Maybe he could just take the elevator back up and leave? But what if he was still in the kitchen?

There was a high-pitched screech pouring from the shaft he had just exited. The elevator lights flickered, sparks raining down and the glow of Zim’s upside down eyes peeked through its opening. His legs slowly pulled him out, adjusting he and Gir (whom was still being cradled) upright. “Diiiiiiiiib.... I kNoW YoU aRe In HeRe....” it gargled.

Dib patiently waited, holding back his sobs and screams, for the towering monster to pass. He needed to keep running. Find the elevator to the toilet! It was the only way! He hid. And ran. Hid. And ran. It was the most horrifying game of cat and mouse conceivable. The longer it went on, the worse it seemed to get for him. He couldn’t find the exit. And he couldn’t find Zim. Not that he WANTED to find him, but at least pass him to know he was still in this metallic labyrinth. That the kitchen was clear.

Finally, he stumbled upon what he assumed was the elevator on the other side of a large room. He was so close-! Within a single second, his joy faded to nothingness by the familiar sound of scraping. He watched the shadow on the floor as it shakily passed by the table Dib had temporarily chosen as shelter. It stopped and stood still like a statue momentarily: Then went about it’s way. “Finally-! To that door!”

He sprinted to the exit, knocking a few items from a table and catching the beast’s attention. Running with all the strength his body had to offer, he was finally within reach of the button left of the doorframe. His fist slammed into it and the sounds of the creature hurried closer, bellowing his name in a mortifying shriek.

The double doors opened. Dib threw his body into the room only to hit into something and get pelted with tools and cans tumbling from above. Realization slapped him in the face. This isn’t an elevator....

This is a closet.

With heavy dread, Dib turned his face to see that he and the creature were mere inches away from each other. There was no where to go. Never taking his eye’s off Zim’s, he felt two sharp knives glide over his ribcage, gently banging on each bone as they made their way to their target. It’s face had a permanent smile, gradually becoming more and more uncontrollable the harder and faster the thrashing in Dib’s chest became. As the blades slowly began digging in and red blood mixed with green, 5 words continuously haunted his thoughts.

THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

Thanks so much to anyone that read this! I hope you enjoyed!