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Sublime Awakenings	By : Kailean Category: Comics > Squee! Views: 1478 -:- 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
- 32
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- 34
Sublime Awakenings: Chapter 33

Lying on her stomach, facing the foot of her dark purple covered bed, Gaz smirked maliciously to herself as she tilted her head to hold the phone to her ear while tearing through mutated vampire piggies on the full TV-version of the Game Slave Five in her room, ignoring the elevator music playing from the phone. Just as she was about to defeat the evil overlord, Pigulon, her door was hastily flung open and her ears were accosted with the sound of her brother's annoying voice.

“Gaz! Get off the phone! I need to make a call.”

Losing some concentration, she barely avoided being split in half by Pigulon's giant laser slaughter blade. Quickly, she paused the game before she screwed up and had to start the level over, and kick Dib's ass as well. “You think you own all the phones, but you know what, Dib? You don't. You just don't!”

“But, Gaz-”

“Be quiet. Just use your communicator, stupid. And get out of my room. I'm busy.”

“I can't! Zim's computer won't let me through with it for some reason! I have to try something else! I NEED the phone now!” It wasn't his communicator because he had just gotten off the phone with Squee, so it had to be something going on at Zim's end. Why were his defenses so tight? Hopefully, he wasn't up to anything that would violate their truce.

“Look, you can call your stupid, alien boyfriend after I'm done. Now, seriously, get out or I will destroy you.”

“Zim is NOT really my boyfriend! He is a criminally insane Invader who is going to kidnap Squee's parents if I don't stop him! Do you really want to be responsible for whatever he might do to them, Gaz?”

“Oh! We'd better stop him quick!” Her voice rose with dramatic sarcasm before dropping back to near monotone. “Wait. No. Who even cares? Squee's parents suck really hard. Maybe Zim will try out that experiment that he was going to do to you. Remember? The one where he wanted to see what you looked like with your organs on the outside? That would be neat.”

“Neat? It would be NEAT?” Gees! He didn't particularly like Squee's parents either, but that was really harsh. It wasn't as if they were Chunk or anything! He had to fight a strong urge to yell this to his younger sister, knowing that it would only reinforce her resolution to date the jerk.

“Yes. Neat. Maybe you should run over to his base and take some pictures of it. I don't really care what you do, as long as you get your big head out of my room right now, Dib.”

“Fine, Gaz! You know, you have no sense of social responsibility at all! Gah! I'm going over there!” He started out of her bedroom door, but just before closing it, peaked back inside to add another quick sentence. “And my head is NOT big!”

“Whatever.” Gaz rolled her eyes as her brother ran from her room, finally slamming the door closed on his way out. Social responsibility. Pshh. Loser. She would show him social responsibility. Returning the phone to her ear, she waited a few minutes before the elevator music died out as she was taken off hold.

“Police Department, how may I help you?”

“Hi, you know that suicide at that football after party last night? I think I have some valuable information for you.”

-----------------------------------------POV Shift--------------------------------

It was dusk when Pepito and Todd pulled up to the curb in front of the later's house. After Nny had left to find the supposed receipt, Dib had called to inquire about his arm and the he and Todd had decided that the sooner Shmee was caught, the better. Because the skool had decided to cancel Monday's classes for the funerals of Derog and the students who had perished in the Cafeteria Accident, tonight would be perfect. They wouldn't even have to worry about putting on a show for Bitters the next day.

Even so, Pepito had been harder to convince. He seemed to think that Todd needed more time to heal mentally, but he had made a very good case that his sanity couldn't withstand much more waiting. The more people that died as he did nothing, the worse he felt, even if he had managed to stop overtly freaking out about it.

“Are you completely sure about this, Amigo?”

“Yeah. It has to be done. Might as well be now.”

As Pepito rolled up the windows, Todd quickly slumped down in his seat at the sound of a loud scream from Nny's house, right beside his own. “Uh, Pepito? Is there really a receipt?”

“Yes, but it will probably do him no good. Contracts with Satan are final and eternally binding, unless otherwise agreed upon beforehand. So, unless Father is in a really good mood or feels that someone else would be even more fun watching Johnny, he is stuck with Elize.” He shrugged. “I think he deserves her. And probably that figment that he mentioned as well.”

“You don't like him very much, do you?”

“No, not really. He reminds me of most of the damned in Hell. I know that he has protected you in the past, and I respect that. I will try to get along with him for you, but I'm not making any promises.”

“Thank you. I know that he can be really ...unstable, but he means well...with me anyway.”

“I'm sure he does, Todd, but...just be careful with him, okay?”

“I always am.” Todd flashed the other a reassuring smile before hesitantly opening the passenger side door and stepping out. His father's car was in the drive way, which meant he was probably due for some yelling. He glanced back nervously at Pepito, who was currently throwing a backpack over his shoulder and locking the car. “Hey, could you promise me something?”

“That depends.”

“My dad's home, and he's probably about to scream at me and maybe you too. So, do you think that you could...uh...”

“Not kill him? Sure. I'm not Johnny, you know. I do have some self control. As long as he doesn't actually touch you, I think he'll live...though he may not want to.” Pepito walked around his car to join his friend on the curb.

“Pepito...”

The half-demon gave a reluctant sigh. “Very well. I will refrain from maiming him....this time. ”

“Thanks. And don't say anything if it looks like he's wearing a turban.” Smiling a little at the odd, confused look Pepito gave him and the mental image of Mark Castil watching old reruns in a turban made up of bandages for his burned head, Todd turned and headed for the house. Yeah, he was definitely about to be yelled at.

As soon as he opened the door, the sound of the TV met his ears. In this house, that sound was a constant when anyone was awake and home because it shielded the residents from the possibility of having to actually talk to each other. So, he wasn't terribly surprised when no one was in the living room watching it when they entered. His mother might have been passed out in the bedroom up stairs. And his father might have been working in his study, which also contained a cot that he had taken to sleeping on whenever his wife actually made it up to the bedroom to sleep, insuring that the two never had to share a bed.

They might have been, but they weren't. The living room carpet was covered with an array of pills, mostly white, but some gray, blue, or pink. There was a dark stain beside the coffee table and broken ceramic of what had probably been a coffee mug. The door to Mark's study was open, and he wasn't inside. A light blue glow from the computer screen illuminated the small room. Blank printer papers, as well as random documents, were strewn all over the floor. The desk lap was broken. Great. Just great. Signs of a struggle. Dib must not have gotten to Zim in time.

“It looks like my parents won't be here after all.” Todd simply shrugged in a mixture of resigned defeat and genuine apathy. It probably wouldn't matter. As long as he continued to deny any belief in aliens, his parents couldn't blame the experience on his insanity like last time, provided, of course, that they survived the ordeal.

Pepito watched a little awkwardly as the other boy dropped to his knees to clean up the mess on the floor before finally going to the kitchen to seek out a garbage bag. At least they would have the whole house to themselves to lure in the anaphasic life-form, and if anything happened to Todd's parents it wouldn't be his fault. There were dishes piled up in the sink and even more pill bottles aligned on an elevated rack where spices were meant to be. How depressing. Finally, he spotted a large box of garbage bags under the sink, in a cabinet full of mostly unused, and aged, cleaning products. Just as he was pulling one free, there was a short series of knocks at the door.

Upon hearing the knocking, Todd stood up, fully intent upon quickly disposing of the mess before answering. If he had known the house would be this messy again, he would have come back earlier. Just as he was headed to the kitchen with two fists full of pills, the unlocked door swung open.

“Hi, Squee!” Letta strolled into the living room as if she had been invited over instead of bursting in, in a complete disregard for the privacy of the Castil family. She carried a basket full of supplies that she thought any cold-victim would be glad to receive, but before she could hand them over, she took in her new surroundings. Todd's mother was way too reliant on those pills be so careless as to spill them, and the little study was the only room in the house, besides Todd's, that was ever very clean. From her position, she could only see a few feet inside, where paper littered the carpet. She also caught the momentary look on the boy's face when she had walked in: shock, fear, dread. Shit. “Todd....where are your parents?”

“Uh, hey, Letta.” Noticing her lingering gaze, he quickly moved his hand behind his back. Not that it would help much at this point. “What are you doing here?”

Oh, God, he was avoiding the question. That couldn't be good. She had told her father that placing him back with these people was the worst possible idea! “I, uh, wanted to bring you this.” She held up the basket for emphasis. “I called Pepito's house, and his mom said that you guys were staying the night here, so ...yeah.” She was completely at a loss for words. Maybe she should just leave. “I, uh, made you chicken noodle soup...”

When Pepito reentered, he found Letta busying herself digging in an over sized basket, the likes of which is mother sometimes took to church potlucks. Looking to a very nervous Todd, he stepped forward with the bag, so that the other could quickly drop the pills inside.

As she raised her head, having found the soup in question, she released a relieved breath. If Todd had flipped out on his parents, his little friend would be a complete mess by now, right? “Here.”

Reluctantly, Todd reached out a, now empty, hand to take the Tupperware container that held a dark brown substance that was supposed to be chicken soup. “Thanks a lot, Letta. I'm sure that this will ...help.” He gave the container a foreboding look.

“Aren't you going to make fun of my cooking skills? Ask if I'm trying to help you get well or kill you off?”

“No, too sick.”

“That's never stopped you before.” Taking a few steps forward and a few more when Todd stepped back, Letta placed a hand on the boy’s forehead. “You don't feel hot.”

Pepito took the opportunity to make his way to the study and close the door, hiding the mess within. “Si. He's almost better. Otherwise, we would still be at my house.”

“Oh, that's good...I guess.” When she turned toward the voice, the sight of the raven-haired boy leaning protectively against the door to the unusually messy room did little to ease her suspicions. These two were acting really iffy. “So, I, uh, saw your dad's car in the drive way. Is he...?”

“He's asleep. Both of them are. They said that I must have made them sick before I left for work Friday night. And that they hate me.”

“Why didn't you just say that? If you don't need this stuff, I could take it up to them.” Not that she actually cared at all about helping Todd's horrible parents get over a cold.

“No. That's okay. I'll do it.”

“They're not up there, are they?”

“Letta...”

“Oh my God! I knew something horrible was going on Friday night! Is that when you did it? Oh, God, oh God!”

“Letta, calm down! It's not what you think!”

“Then what is it, Todd? Did the 'Scary Neighbor Man' strike again?”

“No. Well, yes, but he didn't do anything to my parents.”

“Stop it! Just stop it! Stop with the games already! This isn't funny, Todd! I thought you were better! I know that your parents are terrible, but you can't just do anything you want.”

“Letta! I didn't kill them! They're just not here right now.”

“Then where are they? Where did they go without their car?”

“They...ummm...” He shrugged helplessly. “They were abducted.”

“Abducted! By aliens? Like last time? Are you off your meds? Wait.” Her green eyes widened even more in realization. “Where is it, Todd? Where is the bear?”

“What?” His mouth actually hung open in surprise for a few seconds. “How do you know about Shmee?”

“That's it, isn't it? I really thought you had gotten over that.” The young woman shook her head sadly, making the long, blond pony-tail behind swing almost childishly from side to side. “You calmed down so much after I took it away.”

“You? You took him away? Why?”

“Because when I read your file, most of your issues seemed to be associated with the bear, so, even though I knew it was just an imaginary friend that you invented to help you deal with all the crap your parents put you though, I thought that maybe it wasn't doing you all that much good. And maybe you didn't need it anymore anyway, since you weren't in this environment anymore. But, Dad gave it back to you, didn't he? Damn.”

“You read my file?” Light brown eyes grew in shock before narrowing. No wonder she thought he was a psychopath! He knew that the stupid file credited him with the deaths of all those animals that Nny used to leave in his room. It also listed the 'Scary Neighbor Man' as one of his imaginary friends...whom he channeled his aggression through. “Damn it, Letta! You had no right to do that.”

As some of the unease on Todd's face was replaced by anger, the young woman found herself backing up the way she had came. It had been a few good years since she had actually been afraid of the kid before her. Sure, every now and then there were suspicious happenings that made her question his capacities, like finding out that instead of porn, the fourteen-year-old Todd hide a butcher knife under his mattress. They still weren't sure how he had gotten a hold of the thing. But, the last time that she had really been afraid had been directly after reading through his files, more than four years ago.

Todd rolled his eyes at the girl's unprovoked fear as he advanced toward her. When her back hit the door and the lock clicked into place, he felt an unnerving empathy for her situation, which instantly brought back memories of Shmee attacking him with Johnny's body, despite how stupid she was being about this. He shot Pepito a reproachful look for using his powers before turning back to Letta. “Just forget it. It doesn't matter. Look, my parents will be home tomorrow, okay? You can come over and see them, alive and as awful as ever.” Shit. Now he really did need for that to be true.

“O-okay.” As the word escaped her lips, almost against her own will, she abruptly felt so sedate. Todd was completely right. There was no reason to get all worked up. His parents were just out for the night. They would be back in the morning. Everything was fine. “Tomorrow. Right.” She could leave, and go back to the dorms, and do...nothing. Screw working on that term paper tonight. Maybe there was something good on TV. Maybe she would come back tomorrow. Maybe. But, she didn't really need to, did she?

The lock clicked back out of place behind her. They must have one of those new security systems. “Well, then I guess I'll just be go-ahh!”

Pepito grumbled under his breath when the door flew open, once again, behind the girl, letting her fall out onto the small porch. Of course, Dib was on the other side of the door with the alien that had caused this predicament and, surprisingly, his younger sister in tow. His influence was broken now, but the residual effect would probably be enough. Todd was probably pissed at him again, but they couldn't have her running off to tell about his missing parents before they had even attempted their plan.

Looking down at the fallen Letta with slight guilt and equal annoyance, the paranormalist muttered a quick apology as both Zim and Gaz laughed out loud behind him. “Uh, sorry about that. I didn't know you were standing there.” What kind of idiot stood leaning against a door anyway?

“Whahaha ha! Stoopid, pathetic, fall-ie, worm-derived girl-thing! YES! The Dib has shown you to your rightful place, groveling at the mighty Zim-boots of Z-OW!” Zim was cut off mid-rant by the fist of the Dib-worm's terrifying sibling shooting out to punch him in the guts. Holding his midsection, he attempted to stare her down with a mixture of fright and anger, but the first won out. How did the Dib survive living with her? HOW!

“Be quiet before I make you wish I was never born.” Zim had to have the most irritating voice on the planet, aside from her brother. And the ranting, it filled her with a terrible rage! That fall was pretty funny, though, so the purple-haired girl continued to snort into her hand.

Shaking her head at the rush of too many contradictory thoughts, Letta took the hand that Dib held out to her, letting him pull her to her feet. Most of the contents of the basket were now strewn on the carpet of the Castil living room, a few on the porch as well. What the hell had just happened to her? “That's alright, Dib. I may have needed it. What are you guys doing here?” As she looked from Dib to his companions, her eyes stuck on Zim. This was the green kid that Dib was so obsessed with, the “alien”. “You must be Zim.” Smiling, she extended her hand in greeting. “I've heard a lot about you.”

Zim did not take the hand. He simply looked at it with suspicion and mild distaste. Yes, yes, he knew all about the standard human greeting by now, but was still reluctant to engage in such a filthy, dirty, germ-sharing practice unless it was deemed necessary for his mission. “Who are you and why should I care?”

Wow. This guy was really freaking rude! “I'm Letta, Squee and Dib's psychologist's daughter.”

“You are the offspring of the emotional manipulation drone who toys with the head meats of the Dib-thing?! Interesting. Very interesting. Perhaps you are fit to be a friend of the mighty Zim after all.” She could come in handy for one of his future plans ...if he, in fact, still needed them. Oh well, maybe he could use her to learn valuable information about the Dib for later use in getting him to adjust to his life as Zim's pet.

“Don't get any funny ideas, Space-boy! We're still in the midst of a truce, ya know! Besides, she doesn't know anything that you could use in one of your evil plots to destroy me anyway. My sessions with her dad are strictly confidential.”

“Don't count on it.” Todd muttered lowly, almost to himself, as he stood in the doorway, relieved that Letta seemed to have calmed down a great deal, but still upset about her invasion of his privacy.

Dib gave Squee a questioning look, but said nothing. They could discuss whatever that meant later, when Zim was out of ear shot. Shrugging it off, he turned back to Letta, answering her previous question. “We're here to investigate a paranormal phenomenon!” Dib was quite pleased with the situation and it was reflected in his voice. He had never had this much help on any of his investigations. Even Gaz seemed interested! Unless she was secretly just there to sabotage his endeavors again. Had he done anything to incur her wrath lately?

“All of you?”

“Yeah. It's gonna be great!” Uhg. He almost sounded like Keef there for a minute. Okay, Dib, calm down. Be cool. “I mean, with a complete team, it should be a very thoroughly documented case, even if not all of us are professionals in the field.”

The young woman looked back and forth between the five teens assembled around the entrance to the house in disbelief. So, all of Todd's friends were into that supernatural crap? No wonder he was becoming delusional again! “O-kay. I think that maybe I should stay for this. You know, just to see it for myself. And, Squee, you might want to mention this to Dad at your next appointment.”

Todd's hands clenched and his eyes narrowed some again. He knew that her little advisory was really more of a threat. If he didn't tell Brian, then Letta would. Spectacular. And, she wanted to stay too.

Everyone was looking at him for the final decision. A part of him was sure that that was a really terrible idea. He really had no way to ensure her safety, and despite the others not necessarily being professionals, they all at least had some experience with the paranormal, not to mention long track records of surviving strange and unusual situations. On the other hand, if Letta did stay and witness something paranormal, then maybe she wouldn't tell Brian after all. And maybe she wouldn't believe all the lies in his file anymore. “Fine. But, if you stay, you have to stay out of our way. And if you're told to do something for your own safety, like leave, you have to do it, no questions asked.”

Rolling her eyes at the sobriety in his voice, Letta shrugged. “Alright.” Like anything was really going to happen! She could hardly believe that they were all taking this so seriously.

“Great, another witness.” Dib clasped his hands together in front of himself happily. “Well, why don't we go ahead and get set up. This could be a long night, so somebody might want to make some popcorn or something. Gaz?” No answer. He looked behind him at his unresponsive sister. “Gaz, what are you looking at?” Still no answer.

“Pig-girl! The Dib is speaking words at you form the noise tube in his gargantuan head!” If the great ZIM had to listen to the constant babble of the monkey-boy, then so did everyone else! Even so, the great Zim almost regretted enforcing this justice when the Dib-sister's fist shot out at him yet again. This time, he saw it coming, jumping behind the Dib and escaping the impact to his superior Irken organs by the bristles on his lekku.

Since standing between his sister and the target of her anger was never a healthy place to be, Dib attempted to step aside, only to have the Irken copy his moves every time. It was almost like a really stupid dance. “Zim, get away from me!”

“Not a chance, Dib-thing! As my love-pig, it is your duty to protect me from other pig-smellies, yes?”

Letta perked up a bit at the mention of something that she could possibly find interest in: slashiness. “You two are finally together?”

“No! Not really.” How many times was he going to have to explain this to people? And Zim never made it any easier! Dib turned to him next. “We're just pretending, ZIM! And that whole protection thing is only at skool.”

The purple-haired-girl growled in her throat when she missed the little green nuisance. No one brought up the “Pig-girl” incident! Well, Dib did sometimes, but he was her brother, and he always paid for it. “Shut your trap, you short, little, green freak, before I plunge you into a world of hurt, the likes of which even Dib has never known.”

The Irken soldier poked his head out form behind his human shield to scream his retort, gaining the attention of an old woman, who peeked at them through the curtains of the house to the left of the Castil's. "Zim is not short! I ...just don't have to bend down as far. Because I am amazing." He nodded in agreement with his own brilliant defense, making his black wig sway forward and then back into place.

“Whatever.” Gaz's voice was indifferent, but there was a small smile on her face. She had carefully surveyed all of the surrounding houses, and was now certain that Johnny's house was the one to the right of Squee's, not that there had ever been much doubt. It was the most dilapidated house on the block, and it didn't even have a proper lawn. That was easy, which was good because she was almost finished pulling the strings on her human meat puppet, and soon she would make him walk off into a steep precipice with a meat grinder at the bottom.

“'Whatever'? You concede? Victory for ZIM! ZIM is AMAZING and Zim shall rule you al-HEY!” Zim rubbed his aching arm, where he had been punched by the Gaz-beast as soon as he had stepped from behind the Dib, as she enter the house, announcing that she was ordering pizza. That fragging steel skull ring hurt! “Soo much like GIR...except scary....and smart.” A shiver ran down the Invader's spin as he remembered what his SIR unit was like when functional. He was lucky that the girl had never earnestly joined the Dib in trying to catch him.

“Squee! Show me where the phone is!”

Todd left the others on the porch to help Gaz order pizza, but as he was heading into the kitchen from the living room to show her the phone, she grabbed his arm.

“Hold on a sec.” Gaz had frozen in the living room, behind the sofa, when the local news had announced a special report on the recent suicide of a transsexual high skooler.

Brow creasing in confusion, Todd watched as the bland, but stern man from earlier that day appeared on the screen.

“Yes, Dina, we are being told that the police now have several suspects in custody for the rape of a local transsexual teenager, which apparently lead to ...ummm-her?-suicide at a high skool party over the weekend. We are not allowed to reveal the names of the suspects yet, as most of them are minors, but we do know that at least five have tested as positive matches to physical evidence found at the scene of the crime.

We have also received a tip from someone going by the alias 'Chunky Chips Ahoy' that several of these suspects are members of a local football team. This person claims to be a member of the team himself, and that he was present during the crime, though he did not participate himself.”

“Tom, have the police confirmed this as a hate crime?”

“Not yet, Dina, but it is a reasonable assumption in a case like this one.”

“Gaz! That's gotta be Chunk! Weren't you at that party?”

Failing miserably at trying for a shocked look, Gaz had to bite back a huge smile. Her email to the news station had worked as perfectly as her call to the police. Now Chunk would be a suspect, AND all of his remaining friends would think that he turned them in. Perfect. Not complete, but so far, perfect. “Yeah. I guess Dib was right about him all along, huh? Maybe I should break up with him.”

“Maybe?! There is no maybe. You have to. Do you even realize how incredibly sick that is?” He might have called it “evil”, but Pepito would probably have taken offense.

“Don't tell me what to do, Todd. If I don't let my brother get away with it, what the hell makes you think that I'm going to tolerate it from you?” Her voice had taken on its usual dangerous undertone.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It wasn't really telling you what to do. It was more like advice. Very strong advice. Very strong advice that you really should take because-”

“You're doing it again!” Gaz's fist shot out yet again.

“Ouch! Sorry!” Todd moved a few good yards away from her, nursing his sore arm. Gaz would aim for the weak point.

The girl shrugged nonchalantly. “I warned you.”

“I know.” He let out a soft sigh of defeat. “Come on, let's call Bloaty's.”

-------------------------------------

An hour and a half later found Gaz and Letta still watching Punch Club, one of Gaz's favorite movies, which she had brought along to relieve her boredom, and eating the remainder of the pizza they had ordered. Zim had long since made a mad dash for Squee's bedroom, claiming that he had to escape from the “rancid smell of that cheese” and the “lippy-smacky noises” of the others before he was forced to “hurl his superior Zim-guts onto the disgusting, inferior hyumun floor”. After finishing his dinner, Dib had followed to help him set up the instruments they would be using to catch Shmee in the room. Pepito had been outside on the small porch for a good ten minutes now.

Standing up from his position between the two girls on the couch, Todd walked extra fast in front of Gaz to avoid being kicked for being in her line of sight. Once past her, he slowed down a bit as he made his way out the front door.

Pepito tensed slightly when he heard the door open behind him, pulling the cigarette from his lips mid-drag to turn around and look up from his sitting position on the stairs. “Hey, Amigo.” His voice came out a little forced as he tried, and failed, to hold in the smoke in his lungs with the greeting.

Raising a brow at the other's sad attempt to hide his smoking and giving him am unimpressed look, Todd took a seat beside him on the steps, which were covered in an old, peeling coat of gray paint. “Hey. I thought you quit.”

“I did. I guess I've just...been under a lot of stress lately. Don't tell my parents?”

“Oh. Sorry. Of course I won't tell them.” Dark bangs fell into his eyes as he studied the ground awkwardly for a small moment. Sometimes the things that Pepito got in trouble for and the things that he didn't seriously confused Todd, especially with his father. Not that he approved of smoking either. The distaste was probably something that he had picked up from Nny, though he usually felt less...murderous about it...usually. “But, just for possible future reference, I'm not going to kiss you if you taste like an ashtray. Even if it is my fault.” He paused to give the other a small smile. “I'm a hypocrite like that.”

Taking one last drag from the short stick, Pepito put it out on the concert step beside him before flicking it into a nearby trash can. “It isn't your fault, Todd. Bad things just happen to you. But, soon that will all be over.” He exhaled the last of the smoke before turning back to his friend. “Are you afraid?”

“Of tonight? I don't know. A little. I'm mostly just really nervous. I'm trying to stay positive, but if something goes wrong... it could be really bad.”

“From what Zim has told us, I don't think that Shmee would actually try to harm you in earnest, but just in case, could you do something for me?”

Todd could feel his heart rate speed up as a wave of hot agitation washed over him. If this was going to be what he thought, he was not ready to answer that question. “I...I don't know, Pepito.”

“No, not that, Amigo. I won't actually need an answer to that question for a long time, maybe a few decades even. I just want you to hang onto something for me.”

“Oh. I guess I could do that.” Todd let out a visible sigh of relief, but his pulse didn't get much chance to slow back down because then Pepito's hand removed a gold chain from the pocket of his jacket. From the end of the chain, a key dangled.” “Is that-?”

“Yes.” Pepito's other hand untucked a similar chain from under his black shirt, letting a matching lock fall to his upper chest. “This key is very important to the plans of the Administration, and, to protect itself from falling into the wrong hands or being lost, it will protect whoever is wearing it, whomever I give it to. Once I give it to you, it can not be removed by anyone but yourself. It won't fall off on its own or anything and, as far as I know, it cannot be destroyed.”

Taking in the other's worried, uncertain countenance, Pepito's tone became more urgent and he sent Todd an almost pleading look. “Please, Todd. This isn't about what we talked about last night, I promise. I just don't want anything to happen to you.”

“So, it...won't affect my soul?” Todd spoke in a near whisper to make sure that no one else would overhear them.

“Not much. Not in that way. It will keep you alive, but it won't necessarily protect your sanity from outside forces or yourself. The protection is very basic.” Pepito lowered his voice even more before speaking in a reassuring tone. “Todd, you can't sell your soul without knowing. And I said I wouldn't trick you, remember? If, and when, the time comes you won't have to wonder, you won't have any doubts, okay?”

Very slowly, Todd nodded affirmatively. God, he hated trusting people. It was just so...scary, and people were so...untrustworthy. He had no idea how normal people did this type of thing, well not exactly this type of thing, but trusty things, so casually, every day of their lives, with hardly a thought.

At the other's nod, Pepito scooted closer, slowly lifting the necklace to carefully drape it over Todd's shaggy head of hair and around his neck. He almost laughed when the other's eyes widened in shock as the chain resized itself, so that it was now too small to fit around his head again.

“Squeee! That was so weird!” For a minute it had felt almost like the chain was really a smooth, but scaled snake, hanging from his neck and possibly swallowing its own tall to loss circumference. Apparently the chain wasn't really made of gold after all, though the boy had no idea what it actually was made of, and he wasn't feeling inclined to ask.

“Heh. Yeah, I suppose it would be.” Pepito didn't really know. He had had his lock, which shared the same basic functions of the key, including the shrinking feature on the rare occasions that it needed to be momentarily removed, since he could remember, so the “weirdness” was perfectly normal to him. “I should have warned you about that. I apologize.” His lips formed a half smirk.

“You're not sorry.” Todd shook his head at the obvious lie, but smiled at the other all the same. “Thanks, Pepito.”

“No problema, Squee.” Pepito put his arm around the other's shoulder, pulling him into a tight hug.

Wrapping his arms around the Antichrist, Squee returned the hug tentatively at first and then more enthusiastically. Having someone really care about him this much was very novel, and still shocked him every time that it came to the surface, but he decided that he liked it.

After a few minutes, they finally pulled themselves apart, with Pepito placing a light kiss on the other boy's forehead. “Everything is going to be okay.”

A light blush tinted Todd's cheeks, and he was tempted to admonish Pepito for kissing him, but it wasn't as though it had been on the mouth. Still, he had mixed feelings about the forehead kisses. Sometimes they felt almost religious, though he knew that Pepito was probably just trying not to overwhelm him with physical affection. He finally decided to push those thoughts aside and simply address the words. “Everything?” He gave the other an incredulous look. “How about we just stick to this individual situation?”

Pepito snorted. “You're so pessimistic, Amigo.”

Resting his head in his hand to give the other a sideways glance, Todd smiled. “Pessimism is just an ugly word for pattern recognition, at least in my life.”

Frowning slightly, the half-demon opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening once again.

Stepping out onto the porch, Dib closed the door behind him and crouched down behind the other two. “Hey, we're getting ready to begin now, so we should probably head up to your room, Squee.”

He stood back up, but waited for the other two to follow his lead with his hand on the door knob. Once they stood, he addressed Squee again, more seriously this time. “I'm really sorry about Zim taking your parents, Squee. I did try to stop him, but I couldn't get in contact until it was too late. He says that he hasn't experimented on them or anything. We should be able to collect them from his base after we catch Shmee.”

He looked down for a moment in guilt and embarrassment for another victory that he had allowed his nemesis over the Earth. “They're probably alright. I've been Zim's prisoner many times, and I've come out alright.” Even as he said this, he mentally cringed, imagining Squee's parents in Zim's kitchen, with happiness probes protruding from their heads and a demented robot feeding them waffles with soap. Actually, maybe it was kind of funny.

Taking a deep breath, Todd nodded his head. “Yeah. I'm sure you're right.” It was funny how it sounded like he actually cared about his parents when what he really cared about was his inability to explain their disappearance if they didn't come back. That sounded so cold, but it was the truth of the matter, and lying to himself wouldn't change it. That was one good thing that the DHMI had taught him: to avoid creating delusions or fantasies just to bury a little painful self-knowledge. What they hadn't taught him was the ability to tell the difference between those delusions and reality. “Come on. Let's worry about that after we have Shmee.”

Notes:
- “I am not short, I just don't have to bend down as far.” is a quote.
I don't know by who.
-”Punch Club” is an obvious allusion to “Fight Club”. Gaz was reading the book in “Rise of Zitboy”.
-I took the phrase “human meat puppet” from Jack Fenton on Danny
Phantom. He used it in the episode in which he and the family go to a college reunion at Vlad's place.
- “Pessimism is just an ugly word for pattern recognition.” is a quote.
- “Who are you, and why should I care?” is a quote by Bender on Futurama.
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Sublime Awakenings