Chapter Text
Lightning flashed brightly outside the window of the Membrane siblings, though both were too distracted to really even notice the impending storm on it's way.
Gaz sat slumped in her seat on the sofa, barely paying any attention to the reality show on the TV. She held in her hands a game system as well and her eyes darting between the two at random intervals.
In the kitchen, her older brother stood staring into the vastness of the refrigerator, most of the shelves empty except of condiments. He sighed in frustration, shutting the door and deciding to just have a glass of water.
It hadn't been that long since they'd gone to the store and yet they always seemed to be running out of food. He blamed his sister, she was the one who was home the most, what with his full time job keeping him busy.
"Gaz!" He called over his shoulder, only half expecting an answer in return.
Surprisingly, she responded, even getting up from her seat to join him in the kitchen. "What? I'm almost past this final level."
Dib regarded her, took in the way her eyes refused to leave the tiny screen. He sighed again. "There's no food here."
"So order a pizza."
"With what money?" He scoffed. "Are you gonna cough up some for once?"
Gaz paused her game and stared at him for a long moment. Her gaze was so intense, he was certain she was going to pounce on him or give him one good hit to the jaw. When she turned and grabbed her bag from the kitchen table, he flinched.
Digging out what she assumed was enough cash for both of them, she shoved the money into his palm and immediately headed back to the couch with her game. "Get me a medium. I'm not sharing with you. Pineapple is gross."
"Um, it's delicious, actually." He retorted and pulled out his phone to put in an order for them.
The storm outside finally unloaded on the town, buckets of rain beginning to pour down onto the roof of the house, the wind picking up in a frightening fashion.
"Jesus... " Dib muttered as he lifted a blind to look outside into the darkness. He wondered just how long delivery would take in a storm like this and continued submitting the order.
...
The ship was rickety, having seen better times and Zim was sure that without major repairs, this would be the last time it'd be able to enter a planet's atmosphere.
Setting down the cruiser in it's normal spot in the woods, the Irken was suddenly struck by his surroundings. If the GPS coordinates were correct, then he'd landed in the middle of the woods near the elementary skool but upon closer inspection, these could hardly be considered woods at all.
Zim leapt out of the voot cruiser and took a look around. Many of the trees used to camouflage his arrivals and departures before had been removed and more skool type buildings had seemed to be built in their place. The Irken narrowed his red eyes in suspicion. Why had things changed so drastically in such a short amount of time?
Pulling out his control pad, Zim quickly entered some information, attempting to specify the current terrestrial time and date. The Irken had only been gone a few months, hadn't he?
His eyes scanning over the information from his tablet, he stared in shock at the data, even letting out an enraged shriek.
According to his computer, he had been gone from Earth's terrestrial atmosphere for 3,285 Earth days. That was 108 of the dirt people's so called "months" or..., Zim swallowed nervously, nine Earth years.
The Irken stared down at the shiny screen in his hand and at the reflection of the full moon that was above him. As the full realization came over him, a brisk rain began to fall from the clouds above, the wind picking up to maneuver them and obscure the moonlight entirely.
Zim cursed loudly at the sudden weather change and hurried back to his ship. Punching in the command codes to conceal the ship in invisibility, he quickly reached around to his PAK to ignite his protective force field to guard against the rain.
Having shut down the base and hidden it from all outside prying eyes, including that of extraterrestrial, it would require Zim's personal, manual override. He just had to make it there quietly, under the cover of darkness.
As the Irken made his way towards the clearing of trees, towards the numerous new skool buildings, he paused in his pursuit, reevaluating his plan.
If it had been this long, if the computer were correct, what did that mean for The-Dib? The dirt child and he had never been on friendly terms but their ongoing battle and righteous fights were something to be reckoned with.
He had far too much pride to ever admit any sort of feelings for the dirt creature and it wasn't as if Irkens needed things or creatures or anyone. Irkens were strong. Irkens were...
Zim shook his head, that line of thinking threatening to distract him from his true mission, the most important thing right now. He continued creeping along amongst the shadows of the night, the rain still pouring down heavily from above and landing lightly across his helmet.
The night was black and with barely any cars on the road to shine their lights and catch his silhouette, he didn't bother to conceal his eyes or antennae. No one would be out this late to see him. Or would they?
Things hadn't changed too drastically in the time since he'd been gone though there were a few houses on the street leading to The-Dib's that seemed different. Colors seemed dimmer, structures a bit more worn than he'd remembered.
As he rounded the final street corner, Zim paused as he stared down the long neighborhood street towards the illuminated two story home down the block. Cocking his head to the side, the alien wondered just what he would find upon his arrival, how much things had changed?
…
The pizza having arrived, the Membrane siblings sat on opposite sides of the couch each enjoying a slice of their respective pizzas. They stared at the TV quietly, neither really reacting much to the display of humans on trying their best to win over the talent judges whose adoration they were competing for.
Dib finished off his last slice and set the ceramic plate down on the coffee table, the rattling noise filling the room. “This show is stupid! How can you watch this?”
He turned to glance at his sister who was staring at the glow of the TV in silence as she munched on her own pizza. She grunted in response, not even glancing his way.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, picking up his phone to try to find some kind of amusement online. Not a moment later, a large thunderclap sounded from right outside the living room window and their entire house suddenly went dark.
Gaz sat up straight and discarded her plate of pizza on the table as well. She glared at the now dark screen before them and let out a frustrated scream. “Fucking power company! Didn't you pay the bill?!” She glared at her brother who was already nervously looking around the room.
“Yes!” He returned her glare with ease. “How could I not? I'm the only one of us with a job! You just sit here all day and-”
“I don't just sit here! I'll have you know-”
They began to bicker in the darkness of their living room, the house filled with silence now that the electricity to the home and the entire block was out. Lightning flashed, illuminating their angry faces as they continued shouting, another large burst of thunder drowning out their voices.
Finally, the two calmed down, each glaring at the darkened TV set in resignation.
“Well, are you going to do something about it?” Gaz grumbled as she slouched further down in her seat.
Dib gaped at her. “What do you want me to do? The power's probably out in the whole neighborhood! Hello? There's a storm outside.”
Picking up her gaming system, Gaz began a new game, effectively ignoring her brother entirely.
Dib continued sitting in his seat for only a moment more, realizing the night would be ruined if they didn't get the power back on soon. He may as well just go to bed.
Standing up, he glanced out the window towards the street and noticed most of the houses were also darkened like their own. Yep, it was definitely a blackout.
He spared another glance to his sister and seeing she was already immersed in a new game, decided to head to the kitchen to put his plate in the sink.
Carefully making his way towards the kitchen, Dib quickly found his eyes adjusting to the lack of light and it getting a little easier not to stumble into things.
Stacking his cyan colored plate on top of the other dishes in the sink, he made a mental note to gripe at Gaz. It was her turn to do the dishes and had been for over a week now. He didn't see why he always had to clean up around here.
Dib peered out the kitchen window, trying to see any damage to the power lines and just how bad it was coming down with a sudden flash of lighting illuminated the entire kitchen. Suddenly, staring back through the window at him was a crazed looking figure, all teeth and big, shiny, ruby eyes.
Dib screamed for his life, falling back away from the sink and nearly busting his head on the counter top.
Gaz griped from the other room. “What?!”
Staring up at the window, Dib could only helplessly try to work his mouth to form words to call back to her the cause of his panic.
On the other side of the glass, Zim meekly knocked on the window and said, “Dib-stink, you must open the window for Zim! This is important!”