A Place in Our World - Invader Zim Fan Fiction

Chapter One - Silence

"GIR!" Zim barked. "Stop it with that HORRIBLE NOISE! Can't you see I'm trying to be EVIL?!"

Gir began to screech louder, almost as if it was out of spite. He bounced around the lab, poorly reciting some inferior human sound they called music, gradually getting louder and more offkey. "Annie, are you okay! Annie, are you okay! ANNIE, ARE YOU OKAY! ANNIE, ARE YOU OKAY! ARE YOU OKAY, ANNIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"GIR!" Zim repeated at full volume, his voice cracking slightly.

Gir suddenly stopped mid bounce, one foot in the air and mouth hanging open. "Yeeeeeeees?"

Zim sighed in annoyance, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching two claws against his forehead. "Go get a taco or something, I'm trying to work."

Gir gasped. "But... I don't want a taco."

Zim's eyes popped open and he sat up straight in his chair. "You... don't want a taco?"

Gir chuckled obnoxiously then ran towards his master. He lingered inches away from Zim's face and whispered, "Nope."

Zim stared into Gir's empty blue eyes. Was the robot broken or something? "Then... what do you want?"

Gir pulled an enormous stack of tortillas out of his head and screamed, "I WANT A MILLION TACOS!"

Zim flinched at the sudden burst of noise so close to his antennae. "I DON'T CARE HOW MANY TACOS YOU WANT! JUST GO AWAY!" he roared.

Gir chuckled again, then dashed away towards the elevator. Tortillas flew off the stack and littered the lab behind him, yet Gir still had an impossibly tall stack looming over him as he went upstairs.

Zim growled again and swivelled around in his chair, facing the blank screen that towered above on the wall.

"Computer!" Zim barked harshly.

"You don't need to yell, I'm right here," the Computer groaned.

"I'll yell all I want!" Zim screamed. "Now call the Tallest."

"Again?" the Computer mumbled.

"Do not question ME!"

"Okay, fine! Calling the Tallest, for the 607th time."

The Irken Emblem flashed on the screen as another comm line was opened.

"Surely this time they'll answer," Zim murmured aloud. He chewed on the tip of his tongue as the deafening silence echoed. He almost wished Gir would come back down. Almost.

"Transmission failed," the Computer relayed as a giant error message replaced the image on screen.

Zim growled and gnashed his teeth, tugging at his antennae. "How DARE they ignore me! They've never not answered a call before! I have important reports to make!"

The Computer tried to interject. "Sir, if I may—"

"You most certainly MAY NOT! Now call them again!" Zim yelled.

The Computer snapped. "But sir, the entirety of the Massive's communication is down. They can't answer your call!"

Zim paused. "They what?"

A hologram of the Irken fleet appeared on screen.

"The error message keeps returning as 'Recipient Non-existent,'" the Computer said. "To fix the problem, we can't just call again. And again. And again."

Zim growled and clenched his fists. "I don't want to hear it! Now call them again!"

"Sir—"

"AGAIN!"