Snitches Get Stitches | ZaDr (Discontinued)

{1}

Eleven years.

It had been eleven years since Zim and Dib's first battle, and much had changed. So much...

For starters, Zim had been shunned by his own race. The Tallest had called him one day, out of the blue, and revealed that his mission was a fake. Then, they exiled him to Earth, saying that he could never leave. They even took all of his equipment, including Gir and Minimoose, leaving the poor little Irken with only his pak to fend for himself.

This, of course, decreased his mental stability, since the Tallest meant so much to him. Afterall, his sole purpose in life was to please them. So, when he got the news, he was understandably very sad. Sad enough to not want to go to his HiSkool for a month, catching the attention of none other than Dib Membrane, a paranormal investigator who was obsessed with him. When the human confronted Zim about missing skool, the alien broke down and told him everything. And, after hearing the Irken's sob story, Dib saw him in a new light. No longer was he seen as an evil invader, whose existence was an obstacle in his path. Instead, Zim was seen as his friend.

He moved in with Dib, since his base self-destructed, and the rest became history.

Now, they were moving into the Pink Palace, a mansion split into several different apartments for the tenants to live in. To Zim, it didn't look like much compared to the Irken architecture he was used to, but it would have to do. It wasn't like they could afford anywhere else anyways, since Dib and Gaz weren't paid much. Hell, they barely had enough money to move there in the first place. The owner of the complex just happened to lower the price of the apartment when they discussed their job situations.

It was almost as if this was their fate.

Zim sighed. He didn't really like the idea of moving to the Pink Palace. If anything, the whole idea of it scared him. And it wasn't just the thought of adapting to a new environment. It was the weird feeling he got when thinking about it. The feeling of dread or eeriness was a good way to describe it. But, Dib liked the place, so he pushed away all of his concerns so that his boyfriend could be happy.

Zim smiled. He remembered the day that they had decided to start dating. It was after a lovely date at Disney World, one that he could never forget. At first their interactions were pretty awkward, since none of them had been in a relationship. But now, after two years of being together, they became more comfortable with each other. They even started exchanging kisses, which made Zim's heart melt. He truly loved Dib, and was beyond happy that Dib loved him back.

Eventually, they reached their destination, and Zim was the first to exit the truck. He stretched after being in there for about two hours, and took a quick look at his surroundings. In front of the complex was a large garden. There wasn't anything growing in it, but it seemed to be in good shape. Zim didn't think it would be of any importance, since none of them knew anything about gardening. Past the garden was a forest. One that had a well that was rumored to be magical.

He would have to check it out.

Besides that, there really wasn't much around the area. It was almost like the place was in the middle of nowhere, which was both bad and good, though mostly on the bad side. Zim sighed and then started to mess with his wig, trying to get it in a comfortable position. However, he stopped when he noticed Dib exiting the vehicle.

"I'm going to go explore the area," Zim announced to his boyfriend. "Alright, but put on your raincoat first," Dib started. "I don't want you to get burned by any remaining rainwater from last night. And make sure to be back before it rains again, because from the looks of it, there's a storm coming. Gaz and I will bring the boxes inside." Zim saluted him, out if habit, and walked past the gate that guarded the garden. He wasn't expecting to find anything interesting, but it was better than doing nothing.

He walked down a stone path that soon turned into a dirt one as he got closer to the forest. There wasn't much to see, but at least there weren't any humans around. Or, he thought there weren't any, until he heard shuffling. His antennae pointed up in alert under his wig as he looked around for the source of the noise. He managed to track the sound coming from a pile of rocks on a ledge. So naturally, he threw a rock that was on the ground at it.

When he heard high-pitched giggling coming from that same area, he ran. Yeah, it wasn't the bravest thing to do, but he didn't want to deal with whatever creature he had ticked off. Especially since his pak had been malfunctioning recently. That meant that he wouldn't be able to use his pak legs, and without his pak legs... the fight wouldn't end well.

Eventually, he ran into the middle of the forest, out of breath. Then, he looked back to see if he had lost the creature. When he saw nothing behind him, he rejoiced. "That's right! Nothing can catch the almighty Zim!" He exclaimed to himself. And he truly believed in himself. Until he looked in front of him.

"Ah!" He yelled, startled. A small, green dog sat in front of him. One that looked a lot like Gir. 'Wait...' Zim thought. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the dog wasn't actually a real dog. It really was Gir. "But that's impossible," he muttered to himself. "The Tallest took Gir a long time ago! He must be a hallucination... yes, that's it. He's a figment of my imagination."

"Hiya master!" Gir yelled excitedly. "How is you?!" Zim took a step back. "Eh, I'm doing...well." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, since he was essentially talking to nothing. "I'm looking for a 'magical' well. Have you seen any around here?" Gir pointed at the Irken. "Ur standing on it!" He said, giggling. Zim gasped and jumped out of the center of the fairy ring. Then, he rubbed the ground to rid it of sand, and sure enough, a wooden lid was visible.

"That doesn't look very magical," he muttered. "Oh, but it is!" Said a voice behind him. Zim turned around to see a ginger male. He looked to be around the age of 15. The boy kneeled in front of the well and knocked on the lid. "It's supposed to be so deep, that if you fell in, you would see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day," he explained. He then patted Gir on the head, showing that he knew him, and could see him. Zim came to the conclusion that he was crazy.

"My name's Keef, what's yours?" The boy asked, trying to strike up a conversation. "It's Zim, and I don't like being stalked by crazy people or their fake dogs," the alien hissed. He didn't like the boy already. "Well, he's not really mine, he just comes up to my window every night. And I feed him, and sometimes he'll bring me little dead things. But he's wild, y'know?" Keef responded, rubbing Gir's head as he purred. Zim was going to ask why his 'dog' was purring, but he chose not to. It wasn't that important.

"Hey, I'm surprised that you were able to move here. My grandma owns the Pink Palace, and she doesn't let anyone with kids in. Says it's 'cursed' or something." Zim crossed his arms. "I am not a kid, and your grandma must be crazy or something. The only cursed thing is how boring it is."

Just then, a distant voice could be heard yelling Keef's name. The boy tried to ignore it, but Zim took it as the perfect chance to get rid of him. "It sounds like someone's calling you," he said, smirking. "What? I don't hear anything," Keef said, avoiding eye-contact. Zim put his hands on his hips. "Oh, I definitely heard something. Go on, you wouldn't want to worry her, would you?"

The same voice called him again, making him wince. "Well, I guess I've gotta go. Until we meet again!" He exclaimed before running towards his house. "I hope to never see your face ever again," Zim mumbled. He looked down at the well with a curious look. He kneeled beside it and tried looking through a little hole in the lid. Then, he grabbed a pebble, only to drop it immediately and wince. He hadn't noticed that it was wet, and since he wasn't wearing gloves, it had burned him.

He waited for his skin to stop sizzling, and picked up a dry pebble. He then dropped it down the well, and waited for the splash. But he never heard it. Instead, all he could hear was the tapping sounds of the rain as he ran back to the apartment, the raincoat's hood on his head.