Adult-FanFiction.org : Comics

Sublime Awakenings	By : Kailean Category: Comics > Squee! Views: 1516 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Squee!, JTHM, or Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from these works. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Sublime Awakenings: Chapter 27

Pepito balanced a plethora of snack stuffs with one arm to open his bedroom door for Todd, who had only been allowed to carry a bag of Fiery Nachos. “Let's just put the snacks on my desk for now.”

Stepping into the room, Squee slowly took in his surroundings. The wall was a dark shade of blue. Most of his furnishings were dark shades of gray, purple and blue as well, though there wasn't much actual black, which was odd since he had assumed that black was Pepito's favorite color. Only the entertainment system directly in front of the bed and the plaid strips on the comforter were a true black. Aside from a few candles, there weren't many occult instruments in sight either.

Pepito sidestepped him, depositing his load beside his computer, on the desk in the back, left corner of his room. “Not what you expected?”

“Not quite. I thought you would have a Wuv Bear bed spread.” He smirked lightly at the other as he approached with a fake glare, taking the chips from his grasp.

“Silence, mortal.” Pressing his palm to the other's chest with just enough force, Pepito pushed his friend onto the bed just behind him, tossing the bag of chips onto it as well, before making his way to the closet. “Let us not speak of this 'Wuv Bear' nonsense again.” When he didn't receive a smart comeback, he glanced over his shoulder at the other, who was lying on his bed, propped up by his right elbow, giving him a pouty look; a look that could be described as nothing short of adorable. Pepito allowed his glance to linger only slightly before he opened the closet.

Just as Squee looked away from the other to eye the books on his shelf, he was pelted in the chest with a soft something. When he looked down to see what it was he couldn't help letting a huge smile envelop his lips. He sat up fully so that he could use the right hand to pick up a light pink Wuv Bear with a rainbow across its chest. He bit his tongue lightly to stop the small bouts of laughter that were escaping him.

Pepito smirked at the clothes and assorted objects in his closet, searching for sleeping clothes for them both. “The bed spread is in the wash.”

“Oh...”

The smirk grew. His father could take THAT! He could tell a decent lie sometimes. “I'm joking.” He turned around, having found acceptable garments, nudging the closet door closed with his foot.

“I knew that,” Squee lied.

“Mother sometimes gets a little too caught up in her nostalgia of my childhood.” He gestured to the bear. “This may be of use to us with Shmee if we can't kill him. Unless, of course, you want it.”

“Uh, no thanks.”

Pepito took a seat on the foot of his bed beside his friend. “Too soon for another bear?”

“Something like that. I think if I ever get another bear it will be too soon.”

“Now, Todd. They're not all possessed by mysterious energy beings out to feed off your fear.”

“Uh huh.” Squee narrowed his eyes at the bear in mock suspicion before letting in fall to the bed beside him.

Pepito gave the other's paranoid expression a short laugh, holding out a pair of dark blue, cotton sleeping pants with an elastic waistband and an over-sized black t-shirt that he had selected. “Anyway, I found you some clothes to sleep in.”

“Can't I just sleep in Dib's clothes?” He had to fight back a blush and a strange feeling in his stomach at the thought of Pepito helping him change again. This time he would be taking the clothes off, which promised to be even more awkward. Then again, he did kind of need to pee. And a bath probably wouldn't hurt either. “Uhg. Never mind. I guess I should change. And...I guess I should just come right out and ask for help this time.”

Shrugging, Pepito put all of the clothes aside. He smiled teasingly. “Good choice.” His smile widened at the other's blush. “Raise your arms, please.”

Todd looked the other way, biting his lip slightly, trying not to laugh at his own embarrassment or return the other's smile. At least after this he could wear some pants that he wouldn't need help with. As he raised his arms, he felt Pepito push him back onto the bed a little before practically climbing on top of him. Todd quickly turned his head to come face to face with the demonic teen, who was on his knees with one leg on either side of his own. His smile was almost challenging now. Todd narrowed his eyes half playfully. He wasn't really sure whether he would win this game by playing along or taking offense. “Is that really necessary?”

“Of course! You disapprove of my methods?” Pepito slipped the hem of Squee's borrowed shirt between his pinkies and ring fingers, letting the rest of his hands gild across the boy's skin as he pushed the shirt up his chest.

“Umm. What kind of methods are they exactly?” This was definitely unnecessary.

Pepito pulled the shirt over Todd's head, leaving his arms in the sleeves and letting the collar take residence behind his neck. “The payback kind.” Suddenly, his hands returned to Todd's chest, tickling his tummy and sides mercilessly.

“Ahh! No! Haha!” Todd fell back onto the bed completely in a vain attempt to escape the other's hands. He used his good, right, hand to capture Pepito's left, but it ended up working against him when the demon-boy simply pinned that hand to the bed and continued to tickle him with the other. “Stop! It…ha…isn't…haha...fair!”

Laughing along with him, Pepito continued his torture. “Shhhh. You're very loud, Todd. My mother is going to hear you and get the wrong idea.”

“Then you should ...ha ha ...stop...because...ha...I can't...help it...haha ha...AHHH!” Todd gave a particularly loud yelp before squirming more vigorously when Pepito found an especially ticklish spot on his hip. “Ha ha...oh god...don't do that!”

“What, this?” The half-demon repeated his previous motion, moving a short fingernail very lightly in a figure eight.

“YES!”

“Yes?”

“NO! Haha…Stop!”

“Stop what?”

“Stop...haha…NOW!”

“Noooo. 'Now' isn't the magic word.” Pepito slowed down his tickling long enough for the other to speak “the magic word”.

“Oh, you suck!” As soon as the hasty words were spoken Pepito was tickling again. “AH! HAH!”

“That could be arranged, but only if you say please.”

“Haha...you're terrible...ha.” Squee shook his head as if renouncing the word “please”, which he wanted to say even less now, even though he was laughing so hard that it was getting difficult to breathe.

“And you're turning red.”

“Hehheheh…cause I need...air...heh haa...stop it!” This was it. He was going to have to say it, not because of his need for oxygen, but because needing to pee and being tickled don't go together too well. “Okay...haha...okay...please stop. PLEASE!”

Pepito's hand came to an abrupt stop at the second “please”, though he was a little disappointed that he had to stop. He had seen Todd smile all too rarely recently.

When the tickling finally halted Squee let out a relieved sigh, throwing his head back to stair at the ceiling as he took several deep breaths. “Thanks for stopping.”

“But of course. I'm a man of my word, you know.”

“Are you?” He paused to take another deep breath. “I wonder why.”

“Well, I am with you anyway. And not just because I'm a bad liar.”
Pepito leaned closer to the other's face, intent upon reversing its progress back to a pale color. “I would never lie to you, Amigo. In fact, didn't we just come to some agreement about me sucking?”

Todd's eyes widened comically as the hand that had been tickling him traveled down his midsection to unbutton his pants. Of course, he did need them unbuttoned, so he just continued to stare into Pepito's eyes until he felt them also being slowly unzipped. “Pepito!”

“Pepito!”

Both boys froze, exchanging a brief look of shock, at the echo of Squee's chastisement.

Pepito quickly rolled off of his friend to sit up. The echo had come from his mother, who was standing in his doorway with Dib and Zim. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Diiib.” Itwould be Dib! “Didn't I tell you to call first? And whatever happened to knocking?” His eyes landed on Zim, who still had a three-fingered, gloved, hand on the doorknob.

Dib looked down, at his feet, in stupefied embarrassment. Why did healways get blamed for things that were really Zim's fault? He had told him to knock! Not that he had expected anything like this. “Uh, sorry. I tried to call, but your phone was off. I, umm,we…We can come back later.”

Zim felt a sickly quiver in the most gelatinous parts of his squeedly spooch. He had to chock down the little sicky noises that wanted so badly to leave his noise tube. Why did humans have to be so...sexual? “Yes. We will come back. Carry on with your disgusting hyuman mating rituals...that I too enjoy...because I'm human...human Zim. Yep.” He quickly jerked his hand away from the doorknob as if just realizing that it was infected with filthy human germs before spinning around on his heel in preparation to make a swift departure. “Let's go Dib.” His voice dropped low enough for only Dib to hear. “I think I'm going to need the bucket yet again.”

As the uninvited visitors turned to go, Squee quickly sat up, forcing his hands from his red face against his own will. “Wait! You don't have to go. This isn't a mating ritual. This is...something that's not a mating ritual. And now it's over.”

Zim eyed the boy's unbuttoned pants skeptically. He was even more disturbed that his undergarments appeared to be covered in small images bearing a startling resemblance to his own species.

Pepito sighed. “Just get in here and close the door. Mother, could you excuse us, please?”

“Uh, sure sweetie.” Rosemary fidgeted with her hands, clasping and unclasping them several times. “Your father has talked to you about safe sex, right?”

“Yes, Mother. I know all about it.”

“Well, alright then. I'll just go back downstairs, then. Just remember that your door does have a lock.” With that, she retreated into the hall and down the stairs. Maybe she would pick Pepito up some brochures from work, just in case.

“It wasn't a mating ritual!” Todd's voice followed her down the stairs. He huffed in irritation as the paranormalist and the horribly disguised alien stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. “It wasn't.” He sent a glare Pepito's way when he laughed at what he obviously considered an overreaction.

“Yes, yes. Whatever. The Almighty Zim doesn't want to hear about it. Just button your feeble plant-based leg coverings, and we will pretend this never happened.”

“Yeah, well, I can't really button them.” He reached behind Pepito to retrieve the sleeping clothes. “Look, I'll be right back.” Standing, Squee made his way to the bathroom attached to Pepito's bedroom as fast as he could without letting the jeans fall to the ground around his legs.

“Wait!” Pepito jumped up to follow him. “I haven't Squee-proofed the bathroom yet!”

As Pepito forced his way into his bathroom, much to Squee's displeasure, Zim crossed his arms over his chest in impatience. He glared at his large-headed, temporary ally. “You're going to pay for this, Dib-human.”

“I know, Zim. I know. I hope you see the importance of knocking now, at least.”

Zim was about to make some retort about how he, being ZIM, should nothave to knock and about how the pig-smelly beasts should be less disgusting when he was distracted by the other humans again.

“Get out, Pepito! Geez!”

Pepito stumbled backwards, out of the bathroom, with several razors and a few electrical appliances in hand. A black, long sleeved shirt flew through the air, from the open bathroom door, to land roughly in his arms. It was shortly followed by a pair of jeans before the door slammed shut and a lock clicked into place. Pepito took a few steps closer to the door, yelling into it. “Sorry, Amigo!” His only answer was the sound of the shower running.

Zim gave Dib an unimpressed look. “Congratulations, Earth-boy, you found some humans crazier than you are. What are we doing here again?”

Looking down at the Irken, Dib rolled his eyes. “You know why we're here, Zim. And I thought you said I wasn't crazy.”

“OR, you're just so crazy that you thought I said you're not crazy.” Zim gave him a smug, familiar closed mouthed smile that failed at being honest.

Dib seemed to consider this for a moment. It was an unlikely event to have transpired. “No. I'm pretty sure it happened.”

Pepito made his way to the closet, once again, where he deposited the razors and appliances that Todd might use to have another “accident” before turning to his guests. “Hey, Dib? Do you want these clothes back now or should I get Mother to wash them first?”

“I guess you can wash them. I didn't come in my rover and I didn't bring a bag, so...yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem.” He threw the clothes in the direction of his bathroom, where is hamper resided. “Nice taste in underwear, by the way.”

“Oh, ummm...thanks...I think.”

“WHAT?” Zim's eyes grew so large that his contacts nearly fell out. “DIB! WHY has this unworthy Stink-beast seen your clothes that you wear ...under your clothes?”

Smirking at Zim's reaction, Pepito decided that he was too pleased with himself to be offended by the “unworthy stink-beast” comment. “Why do you care?”

“BECAUSE! Because...the Dib is my love-pig! Everyone at skool knows this! You dare look upon the undergarments of this filthy beast of hair and meat that belongs to ZIM?!”

Pepito had to take a very slow and deep breath to keep from breaking down in hysterical laugher. “You know, I think talking about your partner like that is considered a form of domestic violence. Are you guys one of those couples who constantly role-play submissive/dominance in real life or something?”

Zippered teeth shone in a wide grin. “Why, yes. Yes, we are. Thank you for noticing.” Zim wasn't entirely sure what the Earth-monkey was talking about, but he would claim dominance over the Dib whenever he could.

“Zim, you jerk! We are not! And if we were, I would be dominant.”

“Poor, little, delusional Dib.” Zim shook his head, as if bemoaning Dib's feeble mental state. “A lowly human like you could never dominate...erm...another lowly –but not as lowly as you- human such as myself.”

“Whatever, Space-boy! I'm taller, and the taller guy in a gay relationship is always the dominant one. I bet that's even more true on your plan-...country. Plus, you wore a dress until tenth grade. And you have really girly mannerisms.”

“Dib, you are not a member of my glorious...country...and therefore not subject to the same rules. Your height means little in comparison with me. And I have done some research on these ... “gay” couples of which you speak, and there is no rule regarding height. That is simply a stereotype. My uniform is NOT a dress, and your assumption that “girly” means submissive is sexist and ill-founded. Just look at your sister-beast!”

“Wow, Zim. That was actually a logical argument. I'm not sure that we've ever had one of those before.”

“Yessss. Zim is amazing. You may grovel before me now.” Interesting. Though Zim was sure that they had had a few good arguments before, that sleep thing that he was trying outdid seem to improve his logical processing a bit. Irkens didn't actually need sleep, unlike most beings throughout the known universe, because of the pak. This was yet another personal insecurity for Zim as his improved logic meant that the sleep was riding his brain of built-up, useless wrinkles. He shouldn't be relying on it enough for those to build up.

“I don't think so.”

Zim waved a dismissive hand. “Fine. Suit yourself, Dirt-child. The groveling can wait until I have conquered this filthy ball of filth.”

“What was that last bit about conquering the Earth?” Pepito raised an eyebrow in question.

Turning to the Hispanic boy as if just remembering that he was there, Zim quickly stammered a reply. “The Earth? Noooo. Don't be silly. The filthy ball of which I speak is the basketball! The Dib and I are having a rivalry in our hi skool PE class about who shall conquer that filthy, germ-riddled ball of rubber.” Never mind that they weren't actually taking PE that semester.

Pepito smirked knowingly at the obvious cover-up. The sad part was that, for most people, that explanation would suffice. He knew this from his late elementary/early middle skool days of having to invent quick, but not necessarily good, cover stories of his own after letting the truth slip. “Ah. Well, good luck with that.”

The sarcasm was mostly lost on Zim, but Dib picked it up easily. “You know.”

“What?”

“You KNOW! And you don't care! Just like Gaz and Squee and ...Dwicky!” Just thinking about his old skool councilor fueled his anger even more. “You know, it used to bother me that humanity in general was so unknowing, so ignorant. But the more people I meet who know the truth and don't give a damn, the more I don't give a damn if you all get completely doomed!”

A clean and newly dressed Squee stopped in his tracks coming out the bathroom. He leaned against the wall, temporarily unnoticed, running a hand through his damp hair before massaging is temples in dismay. Dib, the self-proclaimed “savior of mankind”, was giving his “work to save the Earth or be doomed” speech to the Anti-Christ! He desperately hoped that neither of them would do anything stupid.

Pepito shrugged. “Oh. I care, I guess. I just don't think that Zimmy here is really a threat. Have you ever considered that maybe you're looking for the right thing in the wrong place?” If he had thought the alien a threat to the Earth, and thus his own future rule, he would have disposed of him years ago, when they had meet as hi skool freshmen. It would have been hard though, to take Zim out without alerting his number one stalker, and by that time Squee and Dib were friends so getting rid of Dib as well would have been...not very nice, as Squee would surely say. Plus, Dib and Zim were entertaining...from a distance.

Amber eyes narrowed behind round glasses. “Actually, I have. That's part of why we're here. Tell me, what exactly did you mean by that?”

At that point, Squee took it upon himself to interject, both physically and vocally. He hurried over to plant himself directly between the two, who were both surprised by his presence. “He just meant that there are lots of serious threats to the Earth, like global warming, nuclear war and overpopulation. If you spend all your time worrying about only the immediate and obvious, if less serious, threats, you will miss the ones that accumulate slowly, but are, in fact, quite serious. Right, Pepito?” He gave the other boy's ribs a nudge with his elbow. “Right?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course. What else would I have meant?”

As Dib seemed to accept this explanation, and agree with it for the most part, Squee released a relieved sigh. “Good. So, did you guys come to check on me? Cause I'm pretty okay.”

“OKAY?” Zim's eyes were locked on the long, stitched cut up the boy's wrist. His hand shot out to point at it dramatically, even going so far as to wiggle a finger at it. “What in the path of this booby-trapped sun's light happened to you? You look like Keef tried to make you into a pair of footy-pajamas!”

Dib shivered in horror. “Footy-pajamas. So wrong.”

Squee gave Dib a confused look before following the alien's gaze to his, now bandage and sleeve-free, arm. He cringed at the sight. “I just...had an accident. I would rather not talk about it, actually.”

“You should probably keep it bandaged up for a while longer,” Dib suggested uneasily. He had had his own fair share of injuries, but none so serious or self-inflicted. “That reminds me,” The teen reached into one of the many pockets of his trench coat to retrieve an unmarked, white, toothpaste like tube. “I took this from my dad's lab. It's a disinfectant that's supposed to contain some type of super fast healing formula.”

Squee eyed the tube hesitantly. What if it had all kinds of detrimental side effects like Super Toast? He had a secret inkling that that stuff was radioactive. It was already scary enough that Dib's little sister had performed surgery on him. He still half expected to feel sudden stabbing pains from small, sharp objects purposefully planted in his arm to teach him to be less of a whiner or something.

When Squee didn't take the tube from his extended hand, Dib offered it to Pepito instead. He could feel Zim's narrowed ocular implants boring into the back of his head, making him grow slightly nervous as the other seemed to hesitate as well. “Come on, do you guys think my dad's a quack or something?”

Actually, being very familiar with his father’s inventions, he could understand their reluctance. Even so, he seriously doubted that it would make matters any better to tell them that the formula was actually something that he and Zim that thrown together shortly before coming there, which contained nanobots that were programmed to repair Squee's arm in a relatively short period of time before dying off themselves. If he applied the cream that they were hidden in now, it would be mostly healed by morning.

Pepito finally took the tube from his hand. “Well, I guess he is, supposedly, the world's foremost scientist for a reason.” Retrieving the duffel bag he had taken from Dib's house from the corner that would be hidden behind his door when it was opened, Pepito sat it on his bed. “Todd, sit.”

“Sit?” Todd gave him a half amused, incredulous look. “You're giving medog commands now? I think that maybe this whole telling me what to do thing is going to your head.”

“Oh, come now, Amigo. You know I didn't mean it like that. It's not as if I think of you as my 'love-pig' or expect you to grovel before me when I conquer the Earth or anything.”

“What?!” That better not have had any hidden meaning to it! If anyone ever called him their “love-pig” he would be forced to projectile vomit all over them and himself. And he had never really been much for groveling either.

“NOT the Earth, the basket ball! I shall conquer the basket ball!” Zim defended uselessly.

Pepito ignored him. “Oh yeah. You missed that part. Did you know that Dib and Zim role-play S&M?”

“Nooo. Not consciously anyway.” Squee finally took a seat on the bed beside Pepito. “But feel free to not fill me in on the details. It already sounds highly disturbing.”

“AND highly untrue! We're not really going out, you know. We're just pretending because Chunk has issues.” Dib nodded to add extra assurance of this.

Pepito ran a Q-tip coated in antibacterial cream along Squee's cut as gently as he could, not lifting his eyes from the other's arm as he spoke. “Really? That's very nice of you. How long have you been doing that?”

“A couple days now.”

Continuing with Todd's arm, Pepito smiled in humor. “Ohh. I thought that maybe it had been a couple years. That would have explained a few things. Heh. You know, there have been rumors at skool for quite some time.” He paused for a moment to begin wrapping the arm in gauze. “You guys can talk to him while I do this. Feel free to have a seat wherever. I have a few beanbags and the computer chair. If you want, I guess you can stay and watch movies with us. How do you feel about Starship Troopers, Amigo?”

“Is that the one with the giant bugs that stab people with their limbs and shoot plasma into space from their butts? And the 'brain bug' that sucks peoples brains out to read their minds?” He wrinkled his noise in disgust.

“That's the one.”

“Cool.” It was funny how some of the very things that used to scare him as a child seemed be the things that made life interesting, things that he almost looked forward to, as he got older. Somewhere along the line, most of his writing had shifted to from adventure to horror. Of course, this development did have limitations, which were currently exceeded in his real life.

Dib had to fight back an urge to argue about his relationship with Zim, once again. It was really better to ignore it. People probably only said such things because they knew how much he hated Zim. Besides, he really needed to get the information he had come for. He pulled one of the beanbags from the side of the wall to sit in front of the left corner of the bed, where Squee was.

Zim remained standing. He didn't need to sit as much as those weak humans, and being lazy wasn't worth picking up all manner of germs that were surely crawling all over this room. He wished for the two-thousand-five-hundred-and-thirty-first time that he had never bought those frigging, germ-revealing Microgoggles. Ever since then, he had spent way too much mission time taking precautions against them. He also chose not to comment on the status of his relationship with the Dib because he had learned that it was in his best interest if others thought that Dib stalked him simply because he was stricken with the disease that was love of Zim's greatness.

“So, Squee,” Dib began. “I know this may not be the best time, but we're currently working on taking care of one of those threats that aren't Zim, and I think you might be able to help.”

Todd gave him a tired smile. When it rains, it pours, apparently. “I'm listening.”

“Okay. Well, you know how Bitters is really weird, right?”

The smile instantly disappeared from his face, and he could feel Pepito's grip on his arm tighten a little too much for comfort. “Y-yeah.”

“Well, it turns out there's a good reason for that. You see, we broke into her house a few days ago-”

Twitching impatiently, Zim suddenly cut him off. “Dib-thing, you talk too much. She's an alien. From outer space. Unlike me. Cause I'm all humany and normal-like.”

“That, umm, that makes sense, actually.”

Dib allowed himself a momentary smile in light of someone believing him about alien life and how rare that was before continuing. “Yeah. But that's not all. She's here researching our planet for another species. They're called the Veelob and they're anaphasic life forms that feed on negative emotions. My, umm, sources, say that they are interested in buying the Earth from Miss Bitters' race so that they can use humans as conduits for feeding.”

“Did you just say that they feed on negative emotions?” Pepito asked, shocked. He suddenly realized just how tight he was holding Todd's arm when the boy finally started trying to pry his hand off. “Oh, sorry, Todd.” He released the arm altogether before turning back to Dib.

“Yes. And the reason I wanted to talk to Squee about it is because when he was younger I remember him having a stuffed bear that he used to talk to. I think its name was Shmee. Right?”

“Yes.” Pepito and Squee answered together, both of their tones very
serious.

“Well, 'Shmee' is Miss Bitters' password for the skool's computer system. And a Veelob was behind the green incident yesterday.”

At this news, Pepito looked excited in an almost happy way. Squee; however, looked a little shocked, but mostly unphased.

“Squee?” Dib ventured. “Did you already know this?”

“I...some of it. I suspected, at least. I, umm, don't have Shmee anymore. Johnny incinerated the teddy bear, and now the entity is free somewhere. That's...kind of related to my...accident. You should probably know that he can possess people. And that he can be very sadistic. Well, I'm really not sure if sadistic is the right word. Maybe he just does whatever it takes to get what he wants without regard for how he treats others.” His contemplation of Shmee's character triggered a memory of a lecture by a visiting Priest at Brian's church: Evil isn't a positive force. It's not something with a presence in a person or the world at large. Evil is a lack, an emptiness where empathy should be, a disregard for the rights and feelings of other living things. Was that what Shmee was? Johnny definitely had that kind of lack.

“Wow. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?”

Squee jerked back to attention before he could further follow that disturbing train of thought. “Well, for one thing, I thought I was having a psychotic episode at first, and I didn't want to go back to the D.H.M.I. For another, it all happened really fast.” There was also the fact that he was little afraid that Dib would treat him like one of his research subjects, which was intensified by the possibility of him having some nonhuman ancestry.

“I guess that makes sense. But, you know I don't think you're crazy and I won't tell the institute anything. So, no more secrets, alright?”

“Sure.” No.

“Great. Now we need a plan. Should we go after Bitters or Shmee first? Shmee is a more immediate danger, and Bitters doesn't know that we know yet. Maybe if we can capture him, we can get more information about taking Bitters down. For all we know, she's not the only researcher on Earth.”

“Dib-thing, you do realize that Bitters probably has some way to monitor this 'Shmee', correct? It was probably connected to the bear, making it a logical assumption that she now knows that he is free, but not where he is or what he is up to.”

Relieved that Bitters wouldn't know when, and if, they capture Shmee or about anything Shmee might find out himself, Squee released a sigh. “So, she probably knows about everything that he saw before Nny burned the bear. That's not so bad. All of that was before we knew about Bitters or even what Shmee was really.”

“Yeah, but you are half of the experiment with Shmee, Amigo. What if she tries to take you in for testing or something? It would probably be too suspicious if you withdrew from her class, but I think we're going to need to watch you at all times. Monday, we need to change our schedules around to make sure that you don't have any classes alone. And we all need to act like nothing is wrong.”

“Fine. I'll say goodbye to what little privacy I have left. At least I only knew it for a short time.” Todd lifted the Wuv Bear from the bed, mainly just to busy his hands, glaring at it as if his predicament was all its fault. The glare softened as he realized how ungrateful he was being. For once, others actually believed him and were trying to help him escape the horrors that plagued him, even if it was mostly for their own reasons. He raised his eyes from the bear, a little ashamed “Thanks a lot for this, though. I really do appreciate it.”

A warm, tingly feeling instantly spread through Dib's body, making him want to tear up, though he managed to suppress the urge. No one had EVER thanked him for his Earth-saving efforts! He had been waiting for some kind of recognition for so long that he had finally stopped expecting it, even from individual people.

Lavender, contact-covered eyes grew wide as green lips parted for the Invader's jaw to hang open in shock as the Dib-human sprung out of the bag of beans that made up the pathetic human sitting instrument to latch onto the Squeaky kid in a tight hug. The Dib didn't HUG! His enemy was far too superior to engage in such a weak display ofaffection!

“Todd! Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much your gratitude means to me!”

“Uh, your welcome…too?” Squee raised his uninjured hand to pat Dib's back a few times uncertainly, trying to ignore the Wuv Bear now pressing into his stomach. It wasn't that he minded hugs. It was just that Dib had never really been much of a hugger. He had always seemed a little uncomfortable with human contact, though it wasn't comparable with Nny's position on the subject. And, all he had done to bring this on was give the other a measly “thank you”.

“DIB! WHAT do you think you are doing? You do not engage in such lowly, unevolved, hyuman practices! And, you are supposed to be ZIM'S love-pig!”

When he realized that he was showing weakness in front of the Irken, and apparently inciting his rage, he immediately stopped hugging Squee. “Shut-up, Space-boy! That was a friendly hug! And, it's not unevolved...not for anyone who is actually human anyway. And, we're not really a couple!”

Zim's widened eyes narrowed at the human. “You are my enemy Dib-stink, and when you degrade yourself through filthy human attachments and weaknesses, you degrade Zim as well.” The fact that the Dib was able to hold off the invasion of his pitiful planet from Zim, even back when he had been more honestly motivated to takeover the Earth, meant that, at least in some ways, they were equals. As such, Dib's weaknesses reflected poorly on the Invader as well. They reminded him of his greatest insecurities, of why he was considered a defect on Irk. That his first words, before he had even been programmed, had been an expression of the greatest weakness, according to his own people. And, that it had been something that they wouldn't, couldn't, return.

Dib released a deep, exasperated sigh, tried of arguing with the alien because of social brainwashing from a society that chose its leaders simply because they were taller than everyone else. “Whatever, Zim. I don't really want to hear it right now. Besides, we still need an actual plan.”

“You want a plan? ZIM will give you a plan! Oh, such plans will I give!” Zim thrust his hand into the air to add dramatic effect to his claim before drawing it back to himself to rub his chin in contemplation. “Hummm...I've got it! We will use the Squeaky-kid for bait! Anaphasic life forms need a relatively stable anchor into the material world in order to maintain molecular cohesion. The bear probably served this purpose well enough to allow the Veelob to maintain itself in a state of near-hibernation, but it needs a living host in order to actively “live”. Now that the bear is no more, the host is more vital than ever. It will seek him out.”

Pepito wrapped an arm around Todd as if it would somehow protect him from Zim's forming plan. “Well, I suppose if Shmee coming for him is unavoidable, we might as well be prepared for it. But, are you sure he needs Todd specifically? Couldn't he just find another host?”

“Do not question ZIM! And, from what I know about his kind, which admittedly isn't all that much, he could find another compatible host, but he won't. Veelobs form strong bonds with their hosts, usually maintaining the attachment until the death of the host before finding another, in many cases the offspring of said host. 'Shmee' may use other hosts out of necessity, but he will be compelled to return to the Squeaky-human.”

“That fits with what he said to me at Nny's house about us having a bond that would remain until I died,” Todd added in a small voice.

At those words, Pepito came to a seemingly obvious realization that he had overlooked before. “That's why you wanted to die.” So it hadn't been about escaping the Defective Head Meat Institute after all. Instead, it had been a final defiance of tyrannical creature's control over his life. He had a feeling that his father would find that quite admirable, but it mostly just made him hate Shmee even more than he already did.

“Yeah.” Squee looked down at the Wuv Bear in his hands uncomfortably. “So, are we really going to try to trap him in this?”

“THAT? That impuissant thing is unworthy to hold the white, puffy wuv that it currently contains! Just look at it...with its blatant infantile cuteness!”

Dib gave the Irken a leveling gaze, speaking in a bored tone. “Zim, you have a floating purple moose with little nubs for legs. And it squeaks adorably. It looks like a preskooler's pool toy.” Plus, Zim was pretty cute himself with his big red/pink eyes and those antennae that moved in accordance with his moods like puppy ears. Wait. No! Zim wasn't cute! Zim was a horrendous, alien monster that had to be stopped!

“SILENCE! No one insults Minimoose like that! NO ONE! And those are nubs of DOOM! Those nubs could destroy you all!”

“Do I even have to say anything at this point?”

“I meant at basket ball, Dib-monkey! Hovering is an advantage, ya know.” The alien snatched the pink bear from the Squeak’s arms, giving it a critical once over. “Fine. We will use this feeble, human cuddle thingie to trap the Veelob. I will take it to my house for upgrading. And then, we shall WAIT!”

“Yes, well, we should probably do the waiting somewhere that's not my house. And not until Squee is better.” Pepito's eyes gleamed a slight red as he stared at the alien, somehow a little offended for the symbolic relic of his childhood even though he felt no real attachment to it. Working with Zim was going to be annoying. And he definitely wasn't exposing his own identity, which limited his capabilities working within this group. Still, as an alien, Zim had access to knowledge, and possibly technology, that could prove integral to stopping Shmee and Bitters.

Dib nodded in agreement. “Squee will probably be better really soon since he used the cream. And you're right. Shmee will probably want to approach him in a familiar place, like his house or the skool. His house is the better bet because they spent more time there, and doing it in public could end badly, especially if we fail.”

“My parents aren't going to like this, but I guess we can do it at their house.” “Our house” didn't seem appropriate. Then again, neither did “my parents”. “Maybe they'll get abducted by aliens or something...again.” At least now Squee knew that the abduction had probably really happened instead of it just being wishful thinking on his part.

“Yes. Maybe they will.” Zim couldn't help the smirk that forced one side of his lips to curl. Even if he was currently working to save the Earth, he could still mix in some of his old, filthy evil. Of course, the look on the Dib's face was telling him that he would have to return the specimens to the Squeaky kid eventually, but no matter. With Irken technology, even specimens as weak as humans could survive a wide array of...fun…experiments.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:

-Anaphasic life forms come from Star Trek (especially TNG episode “Sub Rosa”, which may be a rip off of The Witching Hour). The word “anaphasic” is used very inappropriately in Star Trek, as well as here. Star Trek's explanation for anaphasic life forms is a lot o technobabble BS, so I've dropped some of it. Still, some of it is useful and funny, despite being baseless. Both anaphasic life forms and the Meekrob are beings of pure energy, a common scifi theme that is never well developed from a scientific standpoint (but, still possible).

-Pepito's love of Fire Nachos and Starship Troopers comes from the extra art at the back of Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors, specifically the one with Pepi and Squeegee watching Tv by Rikki Simons and Tarvish Wolfgarth-Simons. In the picture, it was called “Starship Poopers”, but as a Robert Heinlein fan that title felt sacrilegious.

-Squee's growing fascination with things that he once considered scary was inspired by the “Sleep Deprived Introduction” to Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors. Here a little bit of it for those not lucky enough to have the book: “I remember starting off the Squee series with a mention of how I used to hide under the covers like a little burrito when it came time for me to go to bed as a wee Jhonen. And here I am, typing this all out while lying in bed, the blankets over my head and lit by the screen of this little computer. It never ceases to freak me out, just how things have developed since those times-the very things that horrified me as that little burrito version of myself are the same things that I now derive comfort from. The uncertainty of what might be around the corner, or at the foot of the bed, or even in peoples pants, is what makes the tedium of real life tolerable.” -The Almighty Jhonen Vasquez
- 26
- 27
- 28
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Sublime Awakenings