Invader Zim - Lost Chronicles of Doom! - Continuous Novel

Chapter Forty-Six - Caught

(Don't know what I'm doing with this chapterrr....... Ooookay..... Welp, I hope it turns out nice! Hopefully! OPTIMISM, HOORAY!!! ^-^)

Loud footsteps could be heard from outside the door, and Dib hastily covered Zim's mouth to keep him from screaming. They waited for a while, in silence, in the dark. They waited long enough that Zim's breathing became normal, and Dib's racing heart slowed to its average pace. The stomping outside did not stop.

Zim pushed away Dib's hand, whispering in an annoyed tone, "Don't TOUCH Zim!"

Frowning, Dib bickered back, "Well, if you want the mysterious possible terrorists to find out we're here, then go on ahead, Zim. Go on. Just walk outside and die, I don't care."

"I won't just SURRENDER myself to those puny HYOOmans! Unlike you, I'd actually annihilate them all in one shoot of my PAK lasers."

"Do you realize how many of them there are?! Listen! They're still marching through the halls!"

"You're just jealous because clearly Irkens are the superior species, Dib."

Dib smacked Zim across the face, and then grabbed the Irken by the neck harshly. "Say that one more time and I'll kill you, right here, right now," he growled, tightening his grip. Zim made a little choking noise and tried to pry Dib's fingers away, but hate kept them as solid as concrete. He looked into the Irken's eyes, gritting his teeth to keep from growling when Zim glared back at him, face turning blue.

"You won't kill me, puny human," Zim choked out, smirking. "The guilt would crush your little, fragile soul."

"You should know, Zim!" Dib retorted. He was shaking with anger now. "How do you--how do you DO it?! You commit all these crimes, all these horrible deeds, and yet you don't even CARE?!" Zim was staring at Dib with a horrified expression, looking a bit ridiculous because his skin was turning to an unhealthy greenish gray. "What? Did I touch a nerve?" he mocked.

"No. They did." With a trembling hand, Zim pointed to something behind Dib. Yet the boy had no time to see what it was. His last memory of what happened was being hit in the temples, hard, with a hand missing a finger...

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"NO, NO, DON'T HURT ZIM!!" the invader cried, ducking with his arms over his head and shutting his eyes tightly. He coughed horribly, gasping for air. Being choked did not feel very good. What also didn't feel good: pulling a chest muscle while there was a giant open wound on it. He groaned in pain.

"Za-aak, STOOOP!" a little girl's voice whined. "He's obviously harmless! Look at the poor guy. He's green!" Another person sighed loudly, defeatedly. "Thank you, bubby."

"Whatever..." replied a male teenager's sarcastic voice. He sighed again.

Zim peeked up at the two siblings standing next to a limp Dib. "Who are.... you....?" he asked, still gasping. Was it worth suffocating just to prove that he's stronger than Dib? Eh. He didn't care too much.

"I'm Angelica Rosette Trellisk, the one and only seven year old who can successfully catch a hundred pound brother when he falls!" said the girl, bowing so low that her braided pigtails touched the ground. "By the way, that's my brother, Zakari. He's got a deformed right foot, so that's why he's such a klutz." She pointed to a tall, skinny teenager with emo hair dyed red at the tips. "He's also missing a finger on his left hand. He's such a weirdo!"

"Angelica," the boy snapped quietly. "You're not so perfect, either."

"All right..." Angelica confessed. "My knees bend backwards. So what? At least I have working limbs!" Which caused Zakari to sigh... again.

Zim stared at them. "Humans... can have mutations?" he asked.

Angelica stared back. "Aren't you a mutant, too?" She lifted up Zim's three fingers, signaled to his green skin, and rudely pointed out that he was wearing a dress.

"IT'S NOT A DRESS!!" Zim screamed. "IT'S AN IRKEN'S UNIFORM!!" His voice echoed down the hall, and the stomping outside silenced immediately. Zakari glared at Zim, making a rude gesture with his finger and mouthing an unpleasant word. "Uh... oops..." he was going to say, but the door burst open before he could make a sound, and in marched...

Scientists from the Swollen Eyeball Network?

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Whispering. A heart monitor beeping. Pencils scratching on paper. A very bright light.

Dib snapped his eyes open, heart rate spiking like an insane roller coster. His temples were throbbing so horribly he didn't want to move, and he felt so impossibly, irresistibly tired. He closed his eyes....

"Dib, don't fall asleep. You've gotten a concussion. I think you're smart enough to know why you don't sleep when you have a concussion, correct?" said a vaguely familiar voice.

"Y-yeah..." he moaned back, grimacing.

"Good. Now, I'm going to keep asking you questions to keep you awake and responsive. Ready?"

"Yes."

"What's the name of everyone living in your current household?"

"Gaz Membrane and Professor Membrane. .... And me."

The questions kept coming, and Dib kept yawning and drifting off, only to have sharp, curt snapping in front of his face to guide him back into reality. There were some sort of strange questions, too, like, "What if I told you that your life was about to get a whole lot better?", and "Who would you thank if you achieved your main goal in life?" Okay, the second one wasn't too bad, but Dib had a sense that something big had happened when he was unconscious. Right when Dib was used to being asked weird questions, the weirdest--and most exciting--one yet came up:

"How would you react if I said... we've caught the alien?"

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(GUYS!!! OPTIMISM WORKS!!! I'M SO PROUD OF THIS!!! I love where this is going.... muhaha....)