The Blood Of the Rose

First of all I would liketo apoligize to my readers for deleting my stories, but I had issues with an unnamed author who questioned my age. I have re formatted this the best that my computer will allow me so any more problems with the formatting will simply be ignored.

Please review about the plot and character. Now for the story!!! Oh, and thank you to the readers who did give me reviews, you are wonderful people.


Zim stood at the edge of road, looking suspiciously up at the sky. The clouds held a dark gray hue that usually meant that there would be rain soon. He waited for the damnable hi-skool bus to arrive, though it was late as usual. He didn't want o have to sit and wait to see the horrible stink beast "Dib" . there was too much bad blood between them, and Zim didn't feel like fighting, not anymore...

Dib, who was now about 16, rushed out of his own house and ran down the street, sure that he'd be late and miss the bus AGAIN! It happened quite often to him. He would stay up all night looking for ghosts, vampires, or sometimes just be spying on Zim, and would com e home and go to sleep, too tired to remember to set his alarm clock. So he woke up late for skool and had about five minutes to get dressed and make it to the bus stop. Yes, he was doomed. His sister Gaz hadn't even bothered to wake him for breakfast and he knew that by the time lunch rolled around he'd be regretting having not eaten anything before leaving. How he would be able to last through the first couple of periods of skool, he had no idea. Especially if he had to face Zim and his teachers long before they would be let out for lunch.

Zim looked down the road at the stomping foot steps of the Dib-monster, " damn it...." he muttered to himself. As Dib approached Zim turned his back towards where the bus would be coming from, ignoring the fact that Dib was soon to be near him.

Dib slowed his pace down to a fast walk when he came closer to the bus stop. He had seen the green and red blur that was Zim far down the road when he was running. At first his heart rose with joy at the fact that he hadn't missed the bus, but it sank just as quickly at the realization that he'd have to wait with ZIM. He slowed down to an even slower walk as he approached the bus stop, panting and sweating from the fast run he had made. He was thankful for the slight breeze that swept across the area when he finally came to the bus stop. He leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees and breathing heavily, his head down, not even glancing at Zim for the time being. When he had finally caught his breath, he lifted his head up just enough to see Zim's back. He had seen the Irken turn his back on him when he was getting closer.

Dib could tell by the Irken's actions that if Zim had been facing him, he would be giving Dib the coldest glare he possibly could. A glare that could even rival that of Gaz's. Dib shivered slightly, thinking to himself, "What's his problem?" Other than occasional outbursts in class at skool, Dib hadn't done anything to Zim in the past couple of weeks. He had learned over the past couple of years that when Zim got this way it was better to just stay out of his way, knowing he would eventually figure out what he had done to "offend" Zim because it always involved him, so he stood waiting for the bus, standing as far away from Zim as he could.

Zim turned his backside back to the Dib as he began to raise back up. His face contorted from icy hatred to grief, a sadness that seemed deeper that any human could ever understand. Zim was worried, mostly from the Dib-beasts' lack of activity in the past few weeks. He yearned to have the Dib fighting him tooth and nail again.... if only to be close to him. Beneath his wig, Zim's antennae twitched with the distant sound of the damned skool bus, to take them to their damned skool, with the rest of the damned Worm babies. Zim plastered his usual look of hatred back on his face as he turned enough to face the road proper. His eyes every so often would travel the Dibs' body, or would focus on one of his features for a moment before Zim would redirect his glances back at the road.

Dib couldn't help but notice the slight glances the alien was giving him. He stood completely still as Zim's eyes roamed over his body. He would tense up a bit whenever the Irken's gaze stayed glued to some feature about him for more than a few seconds. Dib held his breath, hoping he wouldn't notice the fact that Dib could see him staring. Every once in a while, he'd let his eyes wander to the side to look at Zim for a brief moment before falling back down to the ground. Dib let out a long breathe of air that turned into a relieved sigh when he heard the sound of the bus approaching. His body relaxed when the bus finally came to a stop in front of them. Dib could see Zim turn his attention back to the bus with a glare out of the side of his eye.

Zim flopped down in the second seat from the driver, throwing his saddle bag into the space between him and the window. The morning sun through the clouds glinted off of his lime green skin, making him seem to glow. His contacts, that were supposed to be blue showed violet in the pale light. His head dropped a bit as he began to stare off into nothing. His eyes half shut and clouded over with he thought. In his mind he thought about what all had been going on, why the Dib could possibly not take the opportunity to humiliate him. Was The Dib-worm not into fighting him anymore? What could possibly spark him to not want to find Zim and take him into his 'Swollen Eye Sockets' or what ever the retched beast called it. He pushed the buzzing sound of the other students out of his mind and focuses on his memory replay program in his PAK, checking to see if the Dib had done anything or said anything that would give him a hint as to whats going on.

Dib watched Zim as he stepped through the open door and sighed once more, this time a bit sadder. It seemed they were fighting less and less. Some days, they would go the entire day without so much as an insult to each other. Dib felt his life was slowly dying away with every argument that was avoided with Zim. He missed the daily fights and battles to save the earth from Zim; the adrenaline run and happiness he felt whenever he succeeded; his paranormal studies; his LIFE! He couldn't study paranormal phenomena as freely as he had been able to when he was 11. His father was really hoping it had just been a phase that he would grow out of but finally came to the conclusion that his son truly was insane. He prohibited Dib from performing any more paranormal studies. He threatened to throw him into an asylum if he even heard the word "paranormal" ever again. So Dib was forced to work with his father three days a week after skool at one of his labs to learn "R EAL SCIENCE!" Dib would have given anything to return to his old life of chasing Zim around. "REAL SCIENCE!" was so boring! His only relief came at night when he could sneak away to study his paranormal phenomena in peace.

Zim snapped back from his thoughts as the buzzing from the other teenagers got louder. He knew that the Dib-filth was trying to sit as close to the back as he could, though he would get his head handed to him if he sat near those piranhas. Dib was openly gay, Zim knew this, but he wasn't like those flamers that every television tried to portray. In Zim's eyes Dib looked like every other depressed sixteen year old human boy. Zim tried not to let his thoughts take him as far away as last time, this time the slander was getting to be too much. Zim knew he was attracted to other boys in his human age category, but he would never admit it. His home planet had strict laws for breeding, only when there was a great need for smeets would an Irken be allowed to breed. Another one of the laws was that here were to be only a male and a female in a relationship, any offenders were to face the wrath of the control brains. Zim Feared them, especially since the last time that he had to see them. He thought that they were going to de-PAK him right then and there. The memory was quite fond for him, he knew that more than likely they were fixed now and improved upon, so that another Zim related Miss-hap were never to happen again. the punishment for braking that law was four hundred years as Siz-Lorr's 'personal masseuse'. Zim physically shuddered at that thought. it was bad enough what had happened to him when he was there the first 2 times as a food service drone, but as a personal slave... cringe .

Once at the school, Zim stepped off the bus. It had began to sprinkle a it, but every drop of water was agony. He had not thought to put on his paste this morning, and was now paying the consequences. His skin burned and steamed even after he got under the shelter of the bus ramp. 'stupid polluted earth waters...' he thought to himself, trying to regain his composure. He knew that this would have been cannon fodder for Dib and turned to see if the paranormal whoosie whatsit boy was going to burn him, perhaps even more so than the polluted rain....

The rest of the students rushed out of the bus, pushing past Zim. Dib took his time slipping out of his seat and throwing his backpack over his shoulder. He walked to the front of the bus, his gaze on the ground. He was totally lost in his thoughts. He hadn't noticed that Zim was still on the bus until he accidentally bumped into him, causing the Irken to nearly jump out of his skin. Zim turned and gave Dib a slightly worried look on his face before turning back to look at that horrid water coming down from the sky. Dib could see a slight shiver run up his body. He almost felt sorry for the poor alien and contemplated on whether he should help the other out. He thought on it a moment, thinking it would be pretty funny to see Zim suffer through the rain again. It had been a long time since he had seen that since Zim was usually pretty good about remembering to bathe in paste. He might even be able to spark an argument between them. But before he could d decide, his stomach made the decision for him. His stomach growled in hunger, and he remembered he didn't want to fight today. At least not until after lunch.

Dib dropped his backpack to the ground and took his trench coat off. He shoved it in front of Zim's face, causing him to flinch as though the teenager was about to hurt him by pushing him into the open where the water would hurt his skin. He kept his eyes closed, expecting to feel pain. When there was no pain, he opened his eyes to stare at the black trench coat being held out to him. Dib just lazily grabbed his backpack and forced the coat into Zim's grasp. He walked past Zim into the wet atmosphere, looking forward as he said, "Just keep it until the rain stops. You can give it back to me later." Without so much as another word, he walked through the wetness toward the skool, leaving Zim standing there looking after him in confusion.

Zim watched as Dib walked away, his body covered in little droplets of water, glistening. Zim mentally scorned himself for the thoughts that were trying to pry their way into his brain, he could not afford to break any more of Irk's laws, if he did he would surely be de-PAKed. He slid the black trench coat in over his usual Invaders uniform, which was by far too small for the now 5 foot 9 inch tall invader. He knew he was nothing compared to the Dib's wonderful 6 feet... Zim knew that his people put too much faith in height, the only tallest that had any brains about them was Miyuki, though Zim's own energy blob took care of her...followed by Spork...

A thoughtful look crossed Zim's face as he thought about where that thing would be today...

He pulled the back of the long coat up and over his head as he ran through the rain, only getting a couple of droplets on his knuckles. While inside the jacket, Zim was greeted with the deeply sensual scent of the Dib-beast. Unlike every other Human that Zim had attempted to make contact with, the Dib had an almost pleasant scent about him. Zim breathed deep the scent, catching it on his snake like tongue. 'What ever it is that the Dib-beast bathes in I must find... this scent is intoxicating!' he thought to himself.

Zim ran down the hall way to make it to first period, Trench coat flying behind him, and saddle bag smacking against his hip. If he was late to class then the new door knobs would deliver a dangerous current of electricity to him, and in essence fry his PAK, killing him. He slipped just past the door as it slammed shut. He looked out the door's window at Dib who slammed into the door, and then tried to pry it open, getting a wake up jolt to remember... 'or not' Zim thought to himself..

The small electrical jolt brought Dib back to reality again. He kept on slipping into a state of unconsciousness. He was idly walking around unaware of everything else around him at the moment. His thoughts kept on taking possession of his mind. He shivered as all his senses seemed to come flooding back to him all at once. The pain caused by the electric shock was slowly taking over his body and the droplets of water weren't helping much to make him feel better. He mentally cursed himself, wondering why he had let Zim borrow his coat again. Now he would be hungry and cold through the first half of the day. He cursed under his breath again as he worked to open the door again only this time without touching that damned doorknob.

It took him a few moments longer to finally force the door open without facing its wrath. He sighed in relief when the door slipped open and passed into the small classroom crowded with students. Zim was already in his seat and most of the teenagers were just wandering around talking to each other. Dib sighed once more, this time in annoyance as he made his way to his seat in the front of the room. All those happy students chatting away were getting on his nerves. How could those morons be so happy this early in the morning?! Other than Zim, he was probably the most unhappy student at skool. He had no friends, his sister, Gaz, he assumed pretty much hated him, and the only other one to actually notice him was Zim! His worst enemy! Yeah his life sucked. He approached his seat, dragging his feet behind him as he walked. That's when his foot caught on something, causing him to fall forward and hit the ground hard. He moaned in pain as he slowly picked himself up, rubbing his head and looking back at the person that had tripped him. He saw Torque standing behind him, his arms folded in front of his chest, laughing at Dib's clumsiness. He blushed slightly in embarrassment as he heard the entire class burst out into a fit of laughs that seemed to fill the entire room. He wanted to just run out of the classroom to get away from those mocking laughs, but he knew there was nothing else he could do at the moment except get up and take his seat. So he did just that and buried his face in his arms, not wanting to look up until class started.

Zim watched as Dib picked himself up from the floor, something pulling at him deep inside his squeedly spooch. He hated it when the other students laughed, they always laughed in such a stupid sadistic child like manner. He Watched as Torque made his way down Zim's isle... Zim stuck his foot out and laughed maniacally as Torque smashed his face against an empty desk, blood spraying against the dull polished surface. The class went silent as Torque made feeble attempts at getting up. Zita walked by and tried to help him up, scorning Zim terribly, "Zim, that was mean!! What if you permanently hurt him?! I'm going to tell Miss Bitters and make a formal complaint!"

She pulled Torque to his seat, fawning over him like he was an injured god. Zim looked over at Dib, hoping to see the smile that he so richly deserved. Zim realized that he and Dib were the two most hated students in the county, possibly the country...

Everyone in the class went stark quiet as Bitters entered the room, "Good morning Doomed souls, turn your anatomy books to page 453 and team up with a partner to drill the sex ed into your doomed minds for your doomed test...

Zita approached Bitters and spoke in a quick hushed voice about the earlier incident.

"Zim this is your final warning, no more hurting the other shit children, or i shall personally see to your doom, Now every one team up and study!"

The entire class moaned in agony as they quickly rushed around, attempting to get the people of the opposite sex that they wanted as there partner, not wanting to invoke the wrath of Miss Bitters. They had no idea how they always ended up with her as their teacher. It was almost as if she were stalking them. Dib was now looking up. When Torque had tripped and cut himself, Dib couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Serves that bastard right." he said under his breath to himself. He looked over to Zim who was still laughing for a good long while before the teacher entered. He snapped back to reality, realizing that he'd have to be Zim's partner again. Nobody else ever wanted to be his partner or Zim's so they always ended up working together. It wouldn't have been so weird to him if they hadn't been studying sex ed. They were usually paired up and argued half the time about the assignment. Usually it was simple stuff like, history, or some other function of the body that they studied together but this time, everything was different. How could he work with an Irken Invader, trying to explain how humans reproduced?! Did Zim even know anything about sex?! Dib wasn't quite sure how Irkens did it on their planet, but from what Zim told him about Irkens, pretty much every function was different and "superior" as Zim put it. Hell, Dib barely knew everything about how humans did it either. He knew what sex was and how it worked but he had decided he was probably never going to have it anyways.

Zim recognized fate when he saw it, knowing that yet again he would have to be with the Dib. Zim briefly recalled the minor education that GIR's home videos of the neighbors gave him, shuddering at the memory of the squishing, moaning, squirting humans. When Zim snapped back to reality, the Dib sat in front of him, his book open to the appropriate page, while Zim's sat there shut. Dib began to read aloud in a hushed voice, as Zim flipped his to the right page. He scanned the sketched pictures with a look of utter revulsion, "Dib stink, what is the purpose of this....this mushy-room thing attached to the top of your human male reproductive thingy?! It disgusts ZIM!" Zim sorta lied at the end of his statement, in fact the picture of The penis, attached to a different body, was turning him on, causing his sheath to swell inside and push his member out into his pants. Zim shifted in discomfort, hoping that it would soon go away.

Dib couldn't stop the blush that spread across his face at the question asked of him. He pushed his face deeper into his book, not wanting to have to answer that. "Ummm...well...umm... haven't you done any research on the reproduction of humans in all the time you've been here on earth?!" Dib knew Zim's answer already but tried desperately to stall the inevitable. He took his face out of the book just enough to look at the Irken, who was squirming around in his seat uncomfortably. "Ummm...are you okay?"

"I have researched enough of the huuuuuuman body, I was just...curious." his eyes shifted from side to side," Don't you dare question the GREAT ZIM!!! I do what I want when I want, Zim is JUST FINE!" Zim turned his attention back to the book, making a few comments here and there about how gross some thing was or how ugly something about the anatomy was. "And these females with their gaping, dripping, sucking, oozing orifices, How do the other males of you humans stand it?! Thank you Irkens are much cleaner and more efficient with our bodies, we don't let things unnecessarily dangle where they shouldn't..." Zim gave a superior look half way at the book and halfway at the Dib beast.

Zim knew he should have kept his mouth shut... He might have well have produced his sheath to the Dib right then and there, for the questions would be too much. Zim sat there and hid himself into the knowledge of the book, making more comments to himself to try and hide from Dib's questioning look.

Dib stayed staring at Zim a few moments longer, watching the Irken continue to squirm around in his seat while burying his face in his book. Dib just shrugged it off before returning to read the rest of the chapter. "Whatever...if you have any questions,just read the damn book. I only know the basics of sex. As far as our anatomy goes, I could care less....You don't need me to tell you what the book already tells us. I wouldn't know any other way to describe it to you than the way the book already does. Besides...I'd rather not have to explain all this to you." He used quote fingers in the next statement. " You're supposed to be the "superior" being here...figure it out yourself...Even if I did explain it to you, you would just make some snide comment on how much more superior you are than humans or just on how disgusting it all is. You think I enjoy learning about this too?! I never said I liked the way humans reproduce." With that said, Dib turned a bit in his seat so he was no longer facing Zim and began to read silently to himself.

Zim's face went from superior to pissed in a flash, "DIB BEAST! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY SUPERIORITY!!!!!" Zim shouted at the top of his lungs grabbing everyone in the classes attention, "DO YOU THINK THAT IT IS FUNNY BEING THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT NEVER TOOK THIS CLASS BEFORE?!? ," his voice dropped dangerously low, " How would you feel if our roles were reversed you fucking filth beast? You alone know the truth about me, and yet you insult me in this fashion? I'll tell you what Dib, you had better watch your back." With that Zim got up and slammed his desk against a far wall, walking out of the class, Dib's coat flowing out behind him.
Dib had nearly jumped out of his pants when Zim began yelling. He quickly turned to face Zim when he began screaming insults and threats at him. He blushed when he realized the scene Zim was making. Everybody was staring at them, some snickering into their hands,others just gaping at the two of them. Dib flinched with each and every word thrown out of the Irken's mouth. All his anger directed at Dib. Dib hadn't been expecting that reaction from the alien. He hadn't meant to piss him off that much. He hadn't thought about what it must have been like to be on another planet far from home, having to learn another inhabitants ways of life. He never thought about how Zim must have felt. Even Zim had feelings, though the only ones he ever showed were rage or insane happiness whenever he had a new plot to take over the world.

Dib suddenly regretted everything he had said previously. Sure Zim was still trying to destroy all humans, but it must have been hard on him trying to fit in with humans when he had so little knowledge of them. When Zim told him that he'd better watch his back, he knew that he'd be going through hell for the next week. Dib wished he hadn't wanted to be arguing with the Irken earlier. Never had he seen so much rage in Zim's eyes than in that one moment. And knowing Zim, he'd be holding a grudge for the next couple of weeks. Dib shrunk down in his seat as Zim got up and threw the desk at the wall, before walking out in a fit. The door slammed behind him and the other students decided not to get involved in this situation, so they went back to studying. Miss Bitters had fallen asleep and didn't even notice the argument. Dib felt so alone all of a sudden and just wanted to curl up into a little ball and forget all about the argument but the best he could do was just pull his knees up to his chest and spent the rest of the class time staring up at the clock on the wall.

The second the bell rang, Dib was out of his seat and out the door. He didn't know why he felt so bad for Zim. Those kind of outbursts in class were normal for them so why did he feel like the biggest bully on the face of the earth? That thought didn't really matter at the moment. What did matter was finding Zim to apologize, though he doted whether or not the Irken would actually listen to him. And even if he did, there was no way the alien would forgive him. But still he knew he wouldn't feel any better until he at least tried. Dib checked the bathrooms and cafeteria for Zim, thinking he might have gone there first to wait for their next class to start. When Dib didn't find Zim he questioned whether he might have gone home. But why would he leave when it was raining. He had almost forgotten that Zim still had his trench coat and settled with that conclusion, deciding that he'd just talk to Zim later when he got his coat back from him. Dib made his way to his second period class thinking over what he should say to the Irken when he next saw him. Little did he know that it would be sooner than he thought. He was surprised to find Zim already in class, sitting by a window and sulking. He didn't even notice Dib enter the room. Dib took in a deep breath of air before approaching the still fuming alien. "Ummm...Zim?..." Zim didn't respond. He just turned away from Dib but he continued still. "Zim? I...I just wanted to say...well...sorry for what happened in our last class....I'm just having a bad morning is all...even you don't deserve to be talked to in the way I talked to you...sometimes I forget that you're not human..." When still no response came from the silent Irken, Dib sighed and took his seat. A few minutes later, yelling could be heard out in the hall coming toward them. "Where is he?! Where is that little bastard that tripped me?! I'm going to kill him!" Avery angry sounding Torque could be heard down all the halls and moments later he barged into the classroom,spotting Zim right away. Stomping over to him, he grabbed Zim by the front of his uniform and lifted him out of his seat. " You little bastard! Nobody pulls a fast one on me! NOBODY! YOU GOT THAT! NOW PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR FUCKING FACE SMASHED IN!" He pulled his fist back, getting ready to punch Zim hard in the face.

Zim looked up at Torque with mild amusement, "You honestly think that you're going to rearrange a face like mine you retarded pig smelly? Honestly, I think that you are nothing but a steroid pumping weak minded meat sack with the limited intelligence of a door knob." Zim retorted with a smile. He had hit a few buttons on the human mechanism that was a confused Torque Smacky.

Torque was furious, knowing that Zim had just insulted him, but could not figure out how. His face took on a ferocious puce as the students that were standing around took an interest in what the green kid and the buff football player were up to.

Zim slipped out of his seat and faced Smacky, only coming to the boys chin, but glared menacingly up at the boy with a low laugh. Smacky was the first to attempt an attack. He lunged at the Irken with a right hook. Zim slipped to the right, avoiding the blow, but only by the skin of his teeth, Torque was quicker than he looked. Zim swung in response with left foot aimed at the boy's face, but connected with his shoulder. The reverberation from hitting something of pure muscle was visible with Zim's thin frame as the Irken shook visibly. Torque smiled, all those steroids really had helped him bulk up to great and grotesque proportions. An insane smile appeared on Zim's face.
They exchanged fair blows until Zim finally gained a slight upper hand. When Torque noticed that he no longer had the upper hand in the fight, he pulled out his secret weapon, the lucky lady that insured that he never lost. With the flick of an overly muscled wrist, Torque produced a silver and gold switchblade that was shaped as a naked lady blessing his every slash. He began to slash wildly at the Irkens boy, never discriminating where he was hitting.

Zim was suddenly aware of sharp winds hitting his body in every place, He looked to the bigger kid's right hand, noticing a glint of silver and gold, 'so he wants to fight dirty...' Zim thought. The insane smile that never left Zims features during the fight now broadened to evil proportions, this human meat sack was going to go down and hard...

Mr. Elliot was screaming at the top of his lungs, trying to get someone to separate the two fighting boys. Torque topped Zim, pressing his blade deep into the Irkens tough but pliable flesh. Zim hissed in pain, but still smiled, He bared his teeth , digging the venomous enamel deep into Torques neck. The neuro-muscular-dermal venom took affect quickly, the boy began to twitch, his muscles began to seize up, and his flesh began to rot...

Zim rolled out from under the boy as his almost lifeless body hit the ground. AS Zim tried to stand up, his strength failed him. Parts of Dib's now shredded coat were embedded into Zims skin as he attempted to slide into his seat. Torque was removed and pronounced dead, the principal claiming that it was prolonged use of steroids.
Dib had watched on in horror when the two boys had began fighting, worrying more for small body was letting on. He was just in really good shape. The only real reason for his skinniness was due to the fact that he barely ate anything. The human food made him sick and his own Irken food was usually thrown up with most of the human food he tried to eat at skool. However, other than that, he had become much stronger through his training as an invader; stronger than any human could ever hope to be. He had increased in strength over the years of being an invader; stronger than any human could ever hope to be. He had increased in strength over the years of being on earth. No longer was he as weak as he had been when he had first arrived and Dib knew this. What really scared him was when Torque had pulled out the knife against Zim. Torque had started slicing wildly at Zim and had managed to get at Zim's skin a few times, cutting up Dib's coat in the wide open when Torque managed to get a good slash at one of Zim's arms, burying the blade deeper and deeper into his skin, blood freely flowing from the wound. That's when Zim bit Torque's neck, causing Torque to stiffen up and die soon after. Sure the skool thought it had just been a drug overdose, but Dib was sure that Zim had done something. Dib had never seen it before. It almost scared him to remember that Zim was still pissed at him. He watched as Zim wavered on shaky legs, spitting out blood that was most likely Torque's. He had a hard time making it back to his seat, but managed on his own.

HE collapsed down into his seat, panting but still smiling. He had his hand tightly grasping the wound in his arm, trying to stop the flow of blood. The teachers and principal went out into the hall to discuss the matter further. They weren't sure whether to dismiss all classes for the rest of the day or just continue as planned. They came to an alternative conclusion, deciding to just let the children out of their last class early at the end of the day. One of the teachers that had a free period came to escort Zim to the nurse's office to bandage up his arm. Mr. Elliot came into the class moments later, trying to calm the chattering of his students down over the situation at hand. When he had finally gotten their attention, he began his lecture on World War I, this time trying to block out the whispers that could be heard still. He didn't feel like punishing anybody today; not after what had just happened. He knew that half the class too shocked at the moment to have anything else on their mind. Most of the girls in class were sniffling or just bawling out over the death of Torque. It disgusted Dib that so many girls had fallen for Torque when there were so many better looking guys out there. Dib wasn't listening to a word Mr. Elliot was saying. He was too lost in his thoughts to pay attention to anything at the moment. It wasn't until Zim re-entered the room again that time seemed to snap back to normal. Dib could see that his arm had been bandaged up and he seemed to be walking with a bit of a limp now. Some girls glared at him for what he had done while others coward in a corner, not wanting to get on his nerves. Zim completely ignored them as he held his head high on his way back to his seat by the window. Flopping down into the chair, he went back to staring out the window. His eyes shifted half closed as he stared at the rain falling down. IF it hadn't been for few sudden shiver he gave out every couple of minutes, Dib could have sworn that Zim had fallen asleep. It seemed like class would never end.


Zim's body hurt from the sheer force of the traumas rendered unto him. Mostly it was his venom sacks, he hadn't used them in ages, and had an over abundance. Normally his venom would have only made the damned stink beast a vegetable for the rest of his life, but with so much stored up, Zim had a potent batch. He had never used his venom on Dib, in all the fights, every time he had bit the boy, he had never allowed himself to go that far. Something in Zim's body and mind made him smile, and glow in the beauty of the after math. It had been a while since he had fought, let alone killed... He was sure that his body would make him pay later.


Third period rolled around, heralding Gym, with Coach Walrus. Zim limped into the changing room, all other worries forgotten. He knew that the Dib stink was behind him. They were running late because Mr. Elliot decided that the two class slackers needed remedial homework. Zim and Dib got into the changing room as most of the other boys were finishing their change out and heading for the tennis court.

Zim got to his locker and began to change out. He was careful to remove his top, the long sleeves seemed to want to catch on his bandages. His upper torso was covered by a few gauze pads, but they did little to hide the Irkens light muscles. His inhuman muscles were naturally barely visible beneath his smooth lime skin. He was sure that he felt eyes looking at him, and was pretty sure that he knew who was staring at him for ,what seemed, millionth time...

Dib stared at the half naked Zim, looking over the bandaged up cuts all along his body. He rarely saw Zim getting changed because he usually tried to make up some excuse to get out of gym, his most hated class. Not that he wasn't curious as to what Zim looked like without his clothes on, but he just didn't enjoy running around. He had decided he had gotten enough running while he was chasing Zim around. Usually he'd forge some doctor's note on why he couldn't do gym, but today he was unprepared. When all the other boys had left the changing room, he couldn't help but stare at the alien while he undressed.The upper half of his body was different in that he had no nipples on his chest like a human would have.How the other boys in his class didn't notice this, he had no idea. They were probably just all too stupid. His smooth green skin was almost captivating as it glowed even in the dimly lit room. He thought on what it would be like to touch it, just once to get an idea of what
t he felt like. Dib quickly broke out of his highly concentrated stare, blushing and cursing himself in his mind as he started bashing his head against a locker r. 'NO! NO! NO! DAMN IT, DIB! STOP THINKING THAT WAY! WE'RE ENEMIES! DAMN HORMONES!' He stopped suddenly when he saw the Irken staring at him with a surprised yet flat face. A face that screamed out, "Other than Torque, you must be the stupidest human on the face of this floating mass of dirt you call a planet!"

"Will you stop that incessant baning?! The noise is getting in Zim's nerves!" Zim growled as he slid out of his invaders uniform pants to don the horribly ugly gym shorts. When he went to put them on he dropped them by accident. He turned on the spot, halfway facing the Dib with his body. As he stood up he was unaware that his sheath was completely exposed to his worst enemy.Sensing that there were eyes in him Zim quickly turned around, as to not let the Dib beast see his weakest spot. He slid his shorts up his muscular thighs and turned around ready to go, but was caught off guard by the human boy changing infront of him. Since Dib was hardly ever in gym, Zim rarely had the time to study his feature. Sure he had felt the Dib-stink's muscles beneath his traditional trench coat and annoying human clothes, but he had never seen them. As he staggered away, Zim slipped and fell into the half naked human...

Dib blushed when he noticed Zim staring at him. He turned around quickly saying silently, "Sor...sorry..." Dib stayed turned away from the Irken for a few more moments before turning around a bit again to continue watching Zim. Dib blushed an even darker shade of red when he saw him drop his shorts to the ground. Dib's curiosity got the better of him as he turned all the way around to stare at the bottom half of the aliens body. He let his eyes slowly fall down to between Zim's legs, hoping to get a better idea of the Irken anatomy. However he only caught a glimpse of it as Zim turned away from him quickly and pulled his shorts back up his legs. Dib turned back around blushing more in embarrassment, knowing Zim had seen him admiring his body. Dib quickly started to undress, not daring to turn back around to face Zim. He pulled his shirt off and searched his locker for the dreaded gym clothes he'd have to wear. He finally gave out a happy sound as he found the shirt and stood up to slip it over his head. That's when he felt another body go colliding into him. He fell to the cold ground with a "thump" as he felt a dead weight still pressed up against him. Dib opened his eyes, feeling his head throbbing for what seemed like the millionth time today. The first thing he saw was his shirt a few inches away from him. Next he saw the dead weight that was Zim on top of him. Dib could feel his entire face turn red as he stared up at the fallen Irken on top of him. Zim shot up, pinning Dib to the floor momentarily as he attempted to make it back to his feet. He managed to push himself up in no time and jump away from Dib. Dib just sat up as soon as he was able to and looked at the Irken that was now also blushing and backing up against a locker. Zim stuttered a bit before just turning and running out of the locker room without another word. Dib just continued to stare as he ran out of the room, completely confused and flushed d. About a minute later, he pushed himself back up onto his feet and finished getting dressed before heading out to where everybody else already was.

On the Tennis Court Zim and the Human pig smellies stood in line for warm ups. Coach Walrus and his assistant Coach Neuperv stalked through the lines of boys, commenting on who needed to work on what. When Zim exhibited sheer strength and muscle control the offered him positions on all the sports teams, though he automatically declined; Zim hated having to be around these beasts any longer than he had to. Zim noticed Dib running out from the locker room to join the formation. Dib fell in just behind him, as they started push ups. Zim did his the way that he was taught back on Irk, using only his fingers to lift his body weight off the ground. He kept his legs perfectly straight and completely flush to one another. Next was squats where, as Zim felt, was nothing more than bowing down and putting your face in the person in front of yours' ass.

Dib sighed as he came up behind Zim. He was really hoping he had missed all the warm up exercises but came in just in time to do push ups. He hated push ups. He could do them and do them well, but they always seemed to leave him out of breath. He grumbled to himself as he went down to his hands and stretched out his legs in back of him to do his. He did them slowly and watched Zim in front of him as he seemed to do them with great ease. It amazed him that Zim was so strong, even after that fight with Torque. How he managed to do them even when his arm was cut up, he had no idea. Dib saw Zim to be the first one done and back on his feet and he followed a few moments later as did the rest of the boys around him. The rest of the exercises were fairly easy except for the running. The teacher made them run 10 laps around the tennis court before getting ready to split them up into teams to play tennis. Dib was pretty fast but still not as fast as Zim. When all the boys had finished their laps, the teams were divided up into groups of five boys each. Thankfully, Dib finally caught a break and was on a separate team from Zim. At least this time they could play against each other in something rather than having to work together as they had to earlier that day. It was their one chance to have some sort of fight against each other without getting in any trouble. It was a fight to see who really was better...in tennis at least.

Zim looked at his nemesis on the opposite side of the court, relieved that they weren't on the same side for once, but a twinge of loneliness ran through him. He couldn't remember a time on Earth where he and the Dib had not been on the same side in school, working together to get the hell out of there. They played their hardest, Zim against Dib, even though there were other people on the court. To both of them it felt like they wee the only ones. Zim cracked a smile, unfazed by his already mostly healed arm. He was thankful that he wasn't a human; That he had accelerated healing due to the genetic experiments of his fore fathers. The match ended in Dib's side taking the victory, though Zim's was only a point behind. They all returned to the locker room, Zim hung behind a bit, attempting not to have to go in there with everyone else. He hated the thought of being questioned about the vision of Irken perfection that Zim was, esp. the awkward ones about his sheath. After he saw most of the other boys exit the locker room he went in to change. He looked around to make sure that this time he was alone, all though he got the feeling that there was someone else in the room with him. he stripped completely down and threw his gym clothes into his locker, grabbing out his invaders uniform, once again to don the silky breathable material. This time he took his time pulling on his pants. He sat on the bench with his sheath still slightly swollen from his earlier arousal, the one that the Dib had unwittingly caused. He knew in his PAK that he could never go against the law of the Control Brains and breed with another male, no matter how beautiful they were. Zim hated the fact that he could admit to himself his attraction to a pig smelly, but he had to keep it hidden, hidden so deep in fact that he would have rather liked to forgot it in the first place.

He pulled his pants up and carefully zipped them up near his ever so sensitive genitalia, and pulled on his shirt. As he exited he could have sworn that he saw the Dib ducking into the next row of lockers.

Dib ducked behind the row of lockers, sure that Zim had seen him. He hadn't meant to be spying on Zim, but he had nothing better to do in the mean time. Another reason he hated gym was because he had to change in front of all the guys in his class. They would usually stuff him into a locker because he was gay. They always thought he would try to make a move on one of them. Even after they left, he wanted to wait to get changed until after Zim was gone. His locker was right next to Zim's and he really didn't want to have to face him again after what had happened earlier when he was changing. Once Zim had left, Dib slipped out from behind the lockers to get changed. He threw his normal clothes back on quickly and exited the room just as the lunch bell rang. Dib let out a relieved sigh as he headed down the hall to the cafeteria. His stomach growled and at this point he didn't care what they were serving today. Just as long as it was some kind of food, he would be happy. He threw open the doors to the cafeteria and took a place in line to grab a tray. They were selling some kind of meaty substance like they did almost every day and for dessert, some greenish thing that may very well have been jello of some sort. He really didn't care as he payed for the food and made his way over to the table Gaz and he usually sat at. As usual, he found her playing her Game Slave 2, threatening to beat anybody that got in her way of getting through the last level to a bloody pulp. Dib took his seat next to her and began to shovel down the meaty food. Gaz didn't even acknowledge his existence as he approached and took his seat.

After a few good spoonfuls of the substance, he turned his attention to the room around him, bustling with teenagers gossiping, begging for their friends food, and others just laughing with friends and enjoying their lunch breaks. All except Zim that is.

He sat alone across the room from Dib and Gaz, poking at the food as though it would come alive and eat his head off, which it often tried to do. Zim looked up from his food for a moment, catching sight of Dib. For a brief moment they stayed staring into each others' eyes. It only lasted a second though as Zim quickly averted his eyes away from Dib and back to his food.