Amongst The Reeds

The Storm In The Room

We're getting a little more into the lore now and the reasoning for why the ghost chose Zim. Let me know what you think in the comments and thanks Esthyradler for your help with this chapter and story in general! Based on @esthyradler 's Ghost Stories AU.

Summary: Dib does more research on the ghost haunting the photograph. He believes he knows how to fix everything and performs a ritual to expel the spirit and save Zim. But will it actually work?

Gir smiled as he brought his Master a plate of donuts. He'd been really sleepy lately, but nothing made him feel better than some tasty snacks! As the little robot arrived in Zim's bedroom, he frowned when he noticed his Master was still asleep. 'Oh, well. When he wakes up, there will be tasty donuts waiting!' Gir smiled brightly at the thought and set the plate down on Zim's bedside table. Task completed, he looked over to the foot of the bed. Mary's sister unit was sitting with one of the earth game tablets in her hands. Maybe they could play while Master rested?

"Can I watch?" The human grunted in affirmation, and Gir quickly sidled up the side of the bed. He liked having Mary and Gaz over. They made his Master really happy, and the house was always more lively with them around. And sometimes they brought him food! Gir cheered Gaz on as she went on to decimate several opponents in the fighting game she was playing. He was so caught up in her game, he didn't hear Mary and Tak run in.

"Gaz! Gir! How's Zim doing?" Mary let go of Tak's hand and raced over to check on his Master. Gir was startled by Mary's greeting. He stared at him as he scanned his Master's vitals. "Uh, why did you bring Tak? Isn't she more likely to kill Zim than help him?" Kill? Master? Who would do that? He looked over to see who Gaz was referring to. The second Gir blinked, his eyes shifted from blue to red.

"You're here to kill Master?" Several different missiles and lasers shifted out from his body and locked onto Tak. Wait, she was here for his Master? His eyes turned blue again, and his weapons disappeared back into their respective compartments. He'd seen how people watched over their friend units when they were on TV shows. "How nice! Thanks for visiting Master! I like you!"

Master already had someone watching over him, but more was better! "I'm gonna go eat some tacos. Watch over Master for me, okay lady?" Gir knew he didn't need to get confirmation. She would look after him while he was gone. Gir decided he'd come back with something else to make Master happy.

Dib watched Gir walk away. "I'm glad that ended well. I'm surprised he trusted you so easily, Tak." The disguised Irken rolled her eyes. "That's why he's a hunk of junk. No way am I going to be stuck watching over Zim. That's not my job." She watched with disinterest as Zim finally woke up. He turned over in bed so he could see his visitors, tiredly glaring at them. "Why did you wake me up, Dib-stink? I was sleeping quite comfortably before your big head started taking up all of the space in my room. And why did you bring Tak with you? You know how much I hate her."

The human huffed as he put the scanner away. The results showed little change in Zim's condition. "In regards to your first question, I didn't wake you up. Gir did. For your other question, I was hoping that she could see what was going on and maybe see if this was something alien-related. That was before I noticed that the picture changed." Zim's antennae twitched in confusion. "What do you mean it changed?" Gaz walked over as her brother pulled the photo out of his pocket. Their eyes widened at seeing the arms wrapped around Zim's shoulders.

"Okay, we really need to get this figured out." Gaz paused her game and slipped it into her jacket pocket. Zim huffed and turned away, so he was lying with his back to his visitors. "Can you figure it out anywhere else? I'm going back to sleep, and I can't do that if you dumb worm babies are in here. Out."