And...

Now...

It;s...

Time...

For...

Chapter...

11!

I don't know if I've mentioned this in another story, but I think I did, that 11 is my favorite number. It eh... Kind of 'pops up' everywhere now a days..

Alright, in this chapter, you'll see stuff.

Zim ain't mine...sniff

And yet I am stuck with Dizzy... not a total loss.

-

Membrane slammed his fist on the door to his house as fast as he could. Zim was still alive, barely. He could still hear a faint breath huff from his mouth. Membrane stared carefully at Zim. Dib had been right... all along..? He hit the door another few times until Dib had finally answered.

Dib, now dressed in an old gray shirt and rocket ship pajama pants, gasped at the sight of Zim's unconscious body. He noticed his father was bruised and scraped. Before his mouth could release any words, Membrane sped past him, running downstairs to his basement. Dib followed.

Carefully, Membrane laid Zim's body on to his desk, knocking over the lamp and photograph on to the floor. Dib and Membrane both stared at the body for a few moments, then Membrane reached into one of his cabinets, taking out many strange looking tools. Dib noticed he seemed... excited?
"What happened to Zim?" He finally asked. Membrane looked at him.

"I-I was walking to his house, then suddenly this strange little robot appeared in front of you'r freaky little friend's house, son! He took me inside and I found... this, lying on the floor, almost dead. Suddenly the robot went crazy and exploded. I made it out just in time." Membrane stared at Dib, giving quick glances at Zim.

"Dad... why are you doing that?" Dib asked, giving his father a strange look.

"...Do what?" Membrane asked.

"Calling Zim freaky and this thing?" He asked. Membrane went over to his son, embraced him, and looked at him straight in the eye. "Because you were right, son!" Replied Membrane. "This thing is an actual alien! Just look at him... it's incredible!"

Dib took a look at Zim. The person he had called friend, was now lying on his father's science desk, slowly dying from smoking too many cigarettes. Membrane smiled. "I'm sorry I never believed you, son." he said. "Now... let's get to work!"

Dib gave his father a suspicious eye, but agreed. The went over to Zim's body. "Zim doesn't have any lungs." Dib said. "All his oxygen is provided by his pak. He probably smoked so many cigarettes, the smoke and dirt probably damaged the pak or something.." Slowly, Dib flipped Zim on his stomach. Membrane turned on the lightbulb above them. Dib snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. "I think if we just clean it out, he should be find. By the looks of it... Zim's been smoking a heck of a lot."
Membrane shakily opened the pak's top. In it were many irken devices, far too advanced to be human. One thing that really caught his eye was a small device that was still working; a screen of some sort, blinking red. "It seems to be the pak's power supply..." he guessed.

Dib nodded. "Don't disconnect anything attatched to it," he said, "if you do, that'll probably be the end of it." Dib flinched when he heard a loud slam behind him. He quickly spun around, realizing it was Gaz "opening" the basement door. Membrane merely looked up from a device he was gazing at. He could hear Gaz gasp.

"What are you doing to Zim!?" She yelled, acting unusually protective. Dib prepared himself for battle, taking one step back.

"The idiot had too many cigarettes," Dib replied, trying to act calm. "so me and Dad are trying to fix him."
Gaz looked up, rather surprised. She had not noticed her father was in the room. Both Membrane and Gaz stared at each other awkwardly. Gaz returned her attention to her older brother. "You better not kill him, Dib! Or else..." She stated, angrily shaking her left fist. She found herself drawing closer to Dib.

"...seriously." She whispered. "Don't hurt him." Dib snapped his eyes open, realizing they were closed out of fear. He stared at her as she walked to a corner near the door, carefully watching the operation. Dib turned back to his father, whom was still looking at Gaz. His expression was hurt. Membrane tore himself away from his stare, returning his attention back to Zim.

Membrane stared at the magnificent insides of the pak, unsure of where to start. He grabbed a small pair of clippers, wondering which tube to clip. Dib stared eagerly at his father's shaking hand, wondering what was wrong. Suddenly, Membrane completely dropped the clippers, almost damaging the blinking device. Dib stared angrily at his father. "What are you doing?" Dib said. "You almost killed him!"

"I'm no doctor, son!" Membrane replied, rather upset with himself. "How am I supposed to know which tube to clip?" He picked up the clippers. Dib took a deep breath.

"Just... pick one. It doesn't matter which. Well... actually it does..." Dib look at the pak's insides. "...look, there are 3 tubes that are bigger than the others... try one of those." Membrane held up the clippers, but Dib stopped him. "But don't cut all 3 at once. Then he won't have any oxygen." Membrane nodded. He chose the tube furthest away from the blinking device. He lowered the clippers, ready to cut open the tube. Hesitantly, he readied himself to clip it. Finally, the clippers snapped closed, causing the tube to tear open.

The blinking device went dead.

Dib stared at the device, dumbstruck. He was sure that those tubes were for the oxygen. No... no way.. Zim...! Suddenly, the device began blinking red again, but more slower than how it had the last time. Dib and Membrane exhaled their breath. "Oh man..." Dib huffed, "That was way too close..."

"Okay... We'll start with this one." Membrane said. He picked up a large sponge sitting beside him, (who knows why he kept that in his closet) tore it in half, and stuffed it into the open tube. He brushed the tube on the open rim, then removed it. A cloud of black smoke puffed from the tube. He then worked on the inside, but hit something. Slowly, he pulled out what looked like an old cigarette.

"That idiot..." Dib sighed. "Zim actually tried to eatthe cigarette!" Membrane gave his son a disgusted look, then threw away the cigarette into the trash bin next to him. "You don't think he tried to eat another one, do you?" Membrane asked.

"Nah... Zim's not stupid enough to try another one, knowing how bad it must have tasted." Dib replied. "The problem is, I think the cigarette was lit when he ate it... that must of done some real damage. I bee he didn't even open a window when he smoked."

"Nope." Membrane confirmed the thought. "When I went in his house, no windows were open."

"Idiot..." Dib repeated. "Well... Lets keep going." Dib quickly glanced at Gaz, who was now clenching her heart. Her expression was total shock. Dib wondered... why did she care so much if Zim lived? She never did before.

Membrane continued, not succeeding in cleaning the open tube. "Agh... I can't reach far enough." He said. Dib reached for a screwdriver, placing the sponge on top of it.

"Just be careful not to tear any holes in it." Said Dib, referring to the tube. Membrane nodded. He then stuck the screwdriver into the tube, brushing it back and forth. He looked back at Dib. "It's just pushing the filth further in." He said. Dib became puzzled, but then hatched an idea.

"Alright... Dad, I need you to lift Zim's head up, let it lean over the edge of the table with the trash can under him." Membrane stared at him. Dib glanced at Zim, slightly disgusted. "I am going to make him throw up the filth." Dib could hear Gaz make a gaging noise in the back of the room. He rolled his eyes. "Just do it." He said. Membrane obeyed him. He scooted Zim's body slightly toward the edge of the table, letting his head hand off the edge. He quickly grabbed the trash can with his foot and put it under Zim's head. He held Zim's head up, completely disgusted at the idea.

"How are you going to make him throw up?" Membrane asked. Dib ran over to the sink, filled up an odd looking cup with warm water, then went back. He poored a few drops into the tube. Then, the took the sponge off of the screwdriver and stuck the screwdriver into the tube, making a circular motion. He was mixing the filth with warm water, making it wet. He pulled the screw driver - which was now covered in filth - from the tube, thinking of someway to push the wet filth back. He looked around the room, searching fro something... then he saw it. The vacum cleaner. It was broken, but it still might be able to help. He rolled it over by the table.

Membrane stared eagerly at his son, wondering how he knew all of these things.

Dib turned on the vacum. He jumped once the unusually powerful vacuum blasted out year old dust. He quickly turned it off, and smiled at his father. "I think this could work." He said. "Although... there's no wonder why we put it away for all these years. This was one of your experiments, right Dad? You wanted to make this vacuum more powerful, because it didn't always clean up all of the dirt around the house.. so I need you to be careful once Zim throws up the filth. Just... stand back." Membrane gulped. He took a step back, still holding up Zim's head. Dib connected the vacuum's tube to the open tube in Zim's pak, hesitating to turn it on 'blow'. He wondered if he could just suck the filth out of Zim, but discarded the thought. If he did that, some of Zim's organs might get damaged. Or worse, sucked into the vaccuum with this filth. He shuddered. Finally, he turned the vacuum on blow and almost immediately, the filth pushed itself further in the tube, and out Zim's mouth. Zim coughed and sputtered, suddenly becoming conscious. Dib smiled, knowing his idea was valid.

After a few moments of coughing up filth, Zim lowered his head and stared at the floor, wide eyed. Gaz stared at all of them, wondering if things were going smoothly. Then, Zim lifted his head, (Membrane had backed away right when Zim starting spitting up) and glared at Dib. "What... what..." was all that he could cough out. Dib continued to smile.

"Just relax, Zim. We're trying to save you." Dib said quietly. To his surprise, Zim glared madly at Dib. Dib stared suspiciously at Zim's mouth. He went over to him, wondering what it was.

A cigarette.

Dib pulled out the trash can and began digging through it. More cigarettes. He looked back up at Zim, who was pretending to be distracted by something on the other side of the room. Dib frowned. "Zim... did you just cough up an entire pack of cigarettes?"

Zim tried not to meet Dib's eyes, but couldn't help it. "I, eh.. I don't know what your talking about.." He coughed up four more. Dib growled.

"You idiot!" He exclaimed. "What the heck were you thinking!? It's one thing to smoke cigarettes, but to eat them!? What's wrong with you!" Dib glared at Zim straight in the eye. Zim didn't respond. Dib groaned angrily, then returned to Zim's pak. Zim could feel him messing with it. "Eh, eh, what are you doing?" He asked, still weakened.

"I'm re attaching the tubes. We still have two more to do." Dib replied. Zim gave a nervous expression, but hid it from Dib.

Why are they saving me?

Once Dib finished attaching the tube, he stared angrily at his father who was still in the back of the room, staring at the talking alien.

-

Hehe... I enjoyed writing this chapter.

Nothing much to say at the moment...except... POOR ZIM! EEEEHHHH! ;

At least he's finally conscious.

StAy TuNeD!