Sleepless Nights Chapter 01

     A boy shifted uncomfortably in his bed, tossing his head left and right, desperately fighting a foe seen only to him. He was having a nightmare, one he had experienced more than once within the past few weeks.

     "NO!" he screamed, jolting awake suddenly and sitting up in bed. Looking about his dark room, the teenage boy, about 16 now, held a hand to his bare chest before running it down his body to make sure everything was still intact. "A dream! It was just a...just a dream..." he sighed out breathlessly, a bit relieved but still shaken by it.

     His nightmare seemed to be getting longer and longer each time he had it, almost to the point he didn't want to sleep at night anymore. But it was hard not to when the nights were growing warmer and warmer with each passing day. Summer had just started and school had let out only a few days ago.
 
     Flopping back down onto his back, the raven-haired teenager groaned. He hadn't even been sleeping under the covers and still he was hot. "Stupid heat..." he grumbled to himself, still panting somewhat as he turned over onto his side to reach for his alarm clock. It was six in the morning. Sighing again, he rolled back over onto his back, his skin glistening with sweat. He had been sleeping in only his boxers the past few nights in hopes that he'd feel less overheated upon waking, but the nightmares were preventing him from awakening in such a state.

     He stared at his ceiling for a few moments, contemplating what he could do now that he was wide awake. It was too early to be up and running around town, but he had no intentions of going back to sleep anytime soon. Even the prospect of getting an early start spying on Zim, the evil, alien menace, was less than appealing to him.
    
     The Irken hadn't made any progress in the five years he had been on Earth which led the young paranormal investigator to believe that perhaps he really WAS wasting his time chasing after Zim. But something still bothered him about the alien and his attempts to take over the world, all of which just led him back to his recurring nightmare.

     Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he sat up in bed and grabbed a clean change of clothes. Perhaps he wouldn't spy on Zim today.  After all, what harm could one day of not watching the other do?
 
     Meanwhile...

     Within the hidden depths of an alien base, an Irken stood before a large screen, staring up at it apprehensively, tapping his gloved, three fingered hand impatiently on the desk in front of him. The screen showed nothing but static, blaring it almost mockingly at the Irken.

"Anything?" he asked anxiously to his computer above him.
 
     "No, still nothing, sir," replied the computer monotonically.

     Zim only responded in an irritated grunt and tapped his fingers faster on the desk, still staring up at the screen in hope that there would be some change to it, his antennae twitching a little.

     It had been three weeks now since he had lost complete contact with his leaders, the almighty Tallest.  He had not been able to get a single transmission through let alone receive one.

     At first he shrugged it off as signal problems or interference. Then as the days passed, with still no sign of them, he became more and more concerned. This was unusual. He usually called them every day or at least several times a week. There were occasional times when he couldn’t get through to them in the past, but this was getting ridiculous.

     Zim turned to look at a nearby clock. 6:09 AM. He’d been standing there for hours. Irkens didn’t require much sleep. Really, they only needed a few hours a night, but he hadn’t even given himself that.

     "Well..." he began, "I’m sure it’s nothing. They’re probably concerned themselves," Zim said weakly to himself as he made his way to his base elevator.

     School usually kept him occupied, learning about all the bizarre things of this world while plotting its end, fighting with a certain student who went there and plotting his end as well. He had grown a little in height during his years on earth which was useful considering how quickly the teenagers he had to mix with grew here, but unfortunately for him he was still quite short in comparison.

     Recently, though, Zim seemed to lack any inspiration for world domination, his ideas were admittedly beginning to get a bit stupid, but that never stopped him and his human enemy, Dib, from battling against one-another. It amused him to see that human try to expose and defeat him with such feeble attempts. However, he had not seen the human for a while either. It may have been because of their summer break from school, but he wasn’t so sure.

     Perhaps Dib would decide to show up today and they’d engage in some ridiculous form of combat. Perhaps new ideas for the world’s doom would finally spark in his mind and he could tell his leaders about all them, or at least, when he actually manages to get through to them again.

~~~
 
     Back at the Membrane household, Dib stood before a mirror in the bathroom a few doors down from his room. Staring into it, he let his eyes wander as he gave himself a good look over. He had grown in height quite a bit over the years and stood about a good foot or two taller than Zim now; something he loved to remind the other of every chance he got. But he still wasn’t anywhere near as fast as the alien. And despite his small size, the Irken was pretty strong compared to most humans. His training as an invader had put him in better shape than any human could ever be in.
 
     Pressing a hand up to the cool surface of the mirror, Dib let out a small sigh. He, on the other hand, was one of the skinniest students in his class and picked on because of it. Sure, the Irken was skinnier than even he was, but his body structure was more of a lean, flexible one; whereas Dib was considered just plain scrawny in nature and extremely pale. In addition to not sleeping much lately, his appetite had dropped considerably and he hardly ate more than one meal daily.

     It had all started a few months earlier, around the time he had started having those nightmares though he hadn’t linked them to his physical condition at the time. If anything, he had chalked it all up to puberty or some similar reason. All that aside, he didn’t feel too different nor did he think he looked bad either. He still wore glasses though with a smaller frame than the ones he had worn when he was eleven.
 
     Reaching up to remove them and place on the counter in front of him, he stepped away from the mirror to take a quick shower. The last thing he wanted to do was go out in public feeling all sweaty and gross from the night before. If anything, the warmth of the daytime sun would only add to the uncomfortable feeling he had when he first woke up that morning.
 
~~~

     Zim still had an uncomfortable feeling lurking in the pit of his squeedlyspooch as he walked out of the elevator. His mind began taunting him with fear and doubt until a loud noise distracted him and pulled him out of the unpleasant thoughts. "GIR!" he bellowed as he saw the little malfunctioning SIR unit sitting on the living room couch, watching some ridiculous childish cartoon that blared out loud gibberish noises from the television. "Turn that garbage off!" he continued as he slumped himself onto the couch.
 
     "Aww but I wanna watchiiiit!" Gir whined in his shrill voice.
 
     "Gir", Zim began as he snatched the remote away, "You’re supposed to retrieve USEFUL information from this filthy place, not fill your memory bank with this... nonsense", he glared at the screen and began to flick through the channels aimlessly, "It’s no wonder the humans are so stupid, watching this sad excuse for entertainment, but perhaps we can gain knowledge of other human weaknesses in doing so. GIR! Let us observe for a minute."
 
     "WOO! We gonna watch teeveee!!" Gir replied excitedly.
 
     "Yes, but STAY FOCUSSED! This is for important information retrieval only.....yep....oh so important this is", Zim slouched himself into the couch a little more and continued to flick through the channels, unsure of whether what he had just said was to convince Gir or himself.
 
     It had only been ten minutes and Zim already felt as though his brain was slowly being sucked out through a straw. He turned his gaze to the front door for a moment, half hoping that his rival would burst in with his usual smug expression and latest feeble plan of exposing him. The last time that the two of them fought was roughly a week ago, and Zim had noticed something odd about Dib during that time. He seemed to show a lot less enthusiasm when they fought and just looked tired in a way.
 
     He looked back to the television again. A gushy romance film was playing and showed a human male and female running up to one another gleefully and ending the film in a kiss. Zim stared at the screen curiously for a second, then stuck out his tongue in disgust and turned it off.
 
     "Humans are disgusting," he said as he pulled himself up, placing on his wig and contact lenses. "Gir, enough of this earth television. Let us go out to do some observations... perhaps we shall see the Dib-pig. I’m sure his long absence means that he is planning something." he walked toward the door, feeling rather weary from his lack of sleep but soon shook it off. Gir jumped off the couch into his doggy disguise, giggling excitedly as he zoomed out of the door. Just before Zim stepped out, he pointed up at a little purple moose that floated into the living room. "MINIMOOSE!" he yelled commandingly, "Watch the base for me while I’m out, okay? Inflict great pain and suffering on any intruders!" Minimoose squeaked cheerfully in response, bobbing up and down in mid air. "EXCELLENT!!" Zim bellowed as he slammed the door shut to wander off into the streets.
 
     Slipping out of his house at about ten after seven, Dib made his way down to the sidewalk, yawning and stretching out his arms to the sky. It was too early in the morning for him to be up and about, but sleeping hadn't been doing him any good lately, which was the only reason he'd ever force himself to get up and leave the house at such an early hour.

     Walking in the direction of the city which was a good 15 minutes away from him, he decided perhaps he could grab something warm to drink at a small cafe and snack on something sweet for his breakfast a while. He wasn't necessarily hungry at the moment. If anything, he just wanted something that would wake him up a bit, which he would no doubt not find in his own house. They practically lived off of junk food and take out over at his house considering his father was rarely home and never went shopping. Thus, the only time any of them went to the store was when they absolutely needed something. Otherwise, carrying things home without a car was too much work for both Dib and Gaz.
 
     The most either of them could carry at once was two bags, maybe three depending on the weight distribution. Yet neither of them wanted to go together to the store to get groceries. So only on a few occasions did they have real food in the house. But now wasn't one of those times. The weather outside had grown unbearably hot, making neither of them willing to go shopping anytime soon.
 
     Reaching what could be considered the outskirts of the city within a matter of minutes, Dib could already make out the buildings off in the distance stretching upwards high above the streets below them. He wouldn't have to walk too much farther. Before long, he'd start passing all sorts of small antique shops, toy stores, and small restaurants. Locating exactly what he had been looking for, Dib entered a small café  sitting at the end of a street. There weren't too many places open this early in the morning, but he knew of this one. He had only been there a few times when he had gotten up early to get an early start on Zim, but he knew they served only the best. This café's specific purpose was to serve those who had to get up early in the morning for school or work.
 
     Grabbing a chocolate chip muffin and taking his place in line, he stared up at the large menu placed up on the wall behind the counter. Most of what was on it was coffee, a drink he wasn't particularly fond of. But thankfully for him, they served frozen hot-chocolate too, which would go perfectly with his muffin.

     Ordering his drink just as soon as he reached the front of the line, he paid for his things before heading back out into the streets. Looking to his left and then to his right, he could see the world around him slowly coming back to life as people late for work rushed about in a frenzy to reach their desired locations. It had Dib sighing. He had been hoping for a quiet morning, but the hustle and bustle of the city was already getting on his nerves.
 
     Shrugging it off, he continued on his way, knowing of a small park not too far from here that he could hopefully eat in peace at.

      It had been 15 minutes from when Zim had left the base, and he couldn’t decide which was worse: watching a display of human stupidity on the television screen or seeing it first hand as he walked the streets.

     The intensity of heat from the sun seemed to grow stronger as the morning went on, making the walk even more unpleasant for him. He wasn’t really sure why he had even left the base in the first place. Walking around the town only reminded him of how much he despised this place and all the people that inhabited it and how badly he wanted to have it all destroyed so he could finally return home to receive the long awaited praise from his leaders. Sometimes he feared that his over extended stay on this planet may cause them to loose faith in him, but like most of his doubts, he pushed it aside and did his best to ignore it.

     Gir strolled along beside him on a leash, occasionally deciding to go limp so Zim would have to drag him along as they wandered the city. After a short while, Gir noticed an ice-cream stand across the street and started walking towards it in a hypnotized daze but was yanked back again on the leash by his master, who was staring up at a coffee shop curiously.

     Zim watched several people queuing up, desperate to get their morning boost. "Pathetic." he said to himself , unknowingly letting go of the leash as Gir made a second attempt to wander off.

     "Hmm… perhaps if I took away all the world's ‘coffee’ …it would bring humanity to it’s weary, decaffeinated knees!!" He suddenly jumped a little at hearing a loud shout from behind him and spotted Gir running off down the street, holding a large tub of ice cream, giggling as he ran away.

     "Hey! You gotta pay for that!" shouted a man from behind the stand, eyes directly on Zim. Zim let out a little "Eep" and decided now would be a good time to run as he darted off as fast as his legs could take him.

     After he was sure that he wasn’t being followed, Zim returned to a normal walking pace and muttered angrily to himself as he continued to walk along. He now found himself passing by a small park but stopped dead when he suddenly spotted someone familiar to him. Dib. He leaned himself up against a tree, careful to stay out of sight as he peered over to watch him suspiciously. Dib was sitting in the shaded area under a tree, helping himself to an unhealthy looking breakfast of some kind. As Zim watched him, he wondered why the human was up and around so early. Surely being off Skool meant long sleep-ins for most people.

     It was the first time he had seen him in around a week, and he was curious of why he hadn‘t hassled him for so long, so perhaps today he should confront him. After all, he really had nothing better to do.

     Zim strolled out from behind the tree and made his way over to where Dib was sitting. He folded his arms and smirked down at the human, who hadn’t even noticed him walk over. "Well, if it isn’t the Dib-stink. I’m guessing your long absence from trying to defeat me is because you’ve finally realized you are no match for ZIM!!"
 
     Dib jumped a bit, of course, before turning in his seat to look back at Zim, who stood right behind him. Blinking wide eyes up at the Irken, he wasted no time at all getting back up onto his feet. "Zim! What are you doing here?!" he asked swiftly, taking a few steps back away from the other. He couldn't believe he hadn't heard Zim coming up behind him. Sure he was tired, and he had been picking at his food, only taking a bite or two out of his chocolate chip muffin, but to not hear or even sense Zim coming up behind him! That just wasn't normal for him. Over the years, he had trained himself to pick up on such things as that, especially when dealing with Zim. Perhaps he was losing it.
 
     Glaring at the Irken, he did his best to regain his composure, determined not to let the disguised alien know that he had caught him completely off guard. "Actually, Zim," his voice was laced with malice as he said the other's name, "What I've realized is that you're nothing more than a bumbling idiot too blinded by your own ego to even realize that your plans for world conquest are meaningless and a waste of time." he smirked back at the Irken, ready to duck and run in the event that Zim decided to throw something at him for saying that.

     He locked eyes with the Irken in an almost challenging way just to back away a split second later, his own eyes growing wide as something seemed to flash through his head for a split second. It had him nearly losing his balance as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and brought a hand up to hold his head before blinking his eyes open again. It had only lasted a second, but he recognized what he had just seen, although it still didn't make much sense to him. It had been a fragment of his recent nightmares.

     Face pale, he brought his eyes back up to meet Zim's again after a moment or two and glared. Whatever it was he had seen, it was gone now. Just a little less challenging, he continued to leer at the Irken as he had been doing only a few moments earlier, his focus now completely on Zim again. "What's the matter, Zim? Cat got your tongue?" his smirk grew as his eyes narrowed even more.
 
     Zim, who had just been staring up at him blankly in slight puzzlement for a moment, shook his head quickly and glared up at the other in hatred. He had found himself distracted by how drained the human seemed to look in appearance today. Yes, he was usually quite pale compared to most humans, but today he just looked plain ill, and did he just stumble?
 
     Zim responded by throwing up a hand to point at him sharply, baring his teeth threateningly in an angry scowl. "Fool! Do you not realize that delaying you’re time brings your FILTHY planet nearer to its destruction? Are you that simple minded?" Scowl then turned into a smirk as he folded his arms and shook his head a little. "Or perhaps you’ve finally come to your senses to see that your disgusting race deserves nothing more than to be annihilated!…Oh wait! No, you’d be too stupid to ever come to that realization, stink-creature."
 
     The Irken ‘invader’ leered up at the taller being, awaiting whatever he was going to throw back at him with slight anticipation. It felt like ages since the last time the two of them had faced each other in combat or even had a simple argument.
 
     He hated the fact that the human was taller than him but always made sure that he knew it wouldn’t make him at all vulnerable or weak in comparison as he stood his ground and positioned himself challengingly before the other.
 
     Rolling his eyes, Dib merely nodded his head and threw his arms up in defeat, not truly taking any of what the Irken was saying seriously. "Uh huh. Yeah. Sure, Zim. You just keep on telling yourself that like you've been doing for the past five years. In the meantime, I've got more important things to do that DON'T involve your stupidness." he said nonchalantly, turning his back on the other to walk away casually. He was NOT in the mood to deal with Zim today. In fact, all he wanted in that moment was to get as far away from that park as possible. Something about that fragment of his nightmare that had just flashed through his head had made him feel suddenly uncomfortable about being anywhere near there, especially with Zim. Besides, the disguised alien hated being ignored, and Dib knew it.
 
     Paying the other little mind as he began making his way elsewhere, he stopped suddenly when he felt something hitting him hard on the back of the head. Turning back around, he could see the muffin he had bought earlier that morning laying at his feet. Obviously, the Irken wasn't about to let him leave so easily. Not without a fight at least. So snatching the chocolate chip muffin up from off the ground, he narrowed his eyes on the other. "Fine. You want to play that way? Take this!" he said, taking aim and throwing it back at the Irken. Zim ducked however, letting out a short, somewhat high-pitched screech as he narrowly escaped having his head smacked by the seemingly dangerous yet harm-free baked good. Rather, the object merely bounced off of Gir who had come up behind Zim carrying the large tub of ice-cream from earlier, which was by now half empty.
 
     Looking down at the muffin that had hit him, Gir instantly dropped the tub of ice-cream down on the ground by Zim's feet and gasped excitedly. Grabbing the muffin off the ground, he held it over his head and ran off giggling excitedly to do only God knows what with it.
 
     Watching his insane little minion zoom off out of view yet again, Zim growled out something unintelligible and kicked the half eaten tub of icy goodness aside before bringing his focus back onto his rival. This whole situation was clearly beginning to have an opposite effect on him unlike how he had intended. How dare Dib turn his back on him, he thought to himself. Was his rival really beginning to doubt him?