INFINITE CRISIS
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CHAPTER ONE
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Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim or their respective characters. I'd like to. I have dreams in which I do. I would make GIR wear a tuxedo and Zim would wear a poodle skirt. AND I'd be able to poke Gaz in HER big head and get away with it.
Sadly, I do not own IZ. But I do own Nick. So remember that.
Also, this story takes place in the continuity of Erin Nightshade's stories, not the large IZ adaptation I've been doing. This story's not connected to that one either way…
…or IS it?
"Yaaaaawwwwwn…ahh. "
A twenty-four-year-old yawned in his yellow-sheeted bed, throwing off the white downy blanket he had over him, stretching his arms before rubbing the sleep from his eyes in his palm. He was wearing grey pajama pants and as he slid out of the bed at the college dorm he lived in, he approached the large green bathrobe on the door to his room, picking it up along with a large green towel.
It was a Saturday and he planned on relaxing. He'd had to put up with some WEIRD stuff for the past years in college …a dog eating his bike pedals and stealing his slushy right off the counter, strange goings-on in the neighborhood, alien kids and space cruisers…
Weird, yeah. He didn't mind that. He kinda LIKED weird stuff. What bothered him was that college ended in the spring and he didn't know where he'd go. He wasn't sure if he could BUY a house at his hometown. He'd gotten a new job and it had a nice salary, but the economy…well…
And so the question was whether he would be able to stay in the place he'd had all his Christmases, Halloweens and Birthdays. Where he'd played out in the yards and parks and had gone biking every single week to the convenience store to pick up an Icee or a candy bar…
He couldn't think of leaving that home. He couldn't.
Nick looked himself over in the mirror of the bathroom. A "cute" face…hazel green eyes…and now he headed into the shower, taking his robe off and putting it and the towel aside as he turned the water on.
PSSSSHHHHHHH!
Soon the shower was over, and Nick was drying himself off.
I believe in self-assertion,
Destiny or slight diversion…
Now it seems I've got my head on straaaaight!
He looked himself over in the mirror, doing his teeth with his toothpaste.
I'm a freak, an apparition,
Seems I've made no right decision…
Trying to turn back now, it might be-too-late…
Brushing his curly/wavy brown hair back, he nodded at the mirro.
And it's off to the moon and back again,
Same old day, same situation!
My happiness rears back as if to saaaaay…
Nick exited the bathroom and headed back to the bathroom…suddenly realizing he'd left his pajama pants in the bathroom…along with his key to his dorm room. He slapped his face.
I wanna stay home today! (Don't wanna go out!
If anyone comes to play…(Gonna get thrown out!)
I wanna stay home today! (Don't want no company, no way!)
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Soon Nick was eating breakfast, drinking some hot cocoa outside in cafeteria in the building his dorm room was located in. He took a long sip, sighing.
A simple life's my cup of tea
I don't need nobody but me,
What I wouldn't give just to be left aloooone…
Getting up and finishing, he put his things away and headed back to his room.
I wanna be a millionaire someday,
But know what it feels like to give it away…
Watch me march to the beat of my-own-drum!
Nick noticed there was a poster for a "Jack's Mannequin" concert and his eyes widened. Hmm…maybe he'd go to that. But he'd go get the tickets another time. Not today.
And it's over and over and over again…
Same old day, same situation!
My happiness rears back as if to saaaay…
Going back to his dorm, he opened up the door and sat down in front of his laptop, booting it up.
I wanna stay home today! (Don't wanna go out!
If anyone comes to play…(Gonna get thrown out!)
I wanna stay home today! (Don't want no company, no way!)
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
He began to type up his story that he was working on and was thinking about going out to get some Chinese to bring in for lunch when he heard a crash of thunder and noticed that it was now pouring buckets outside…and he had the window OPEN.
Rain, rain every daaaay now…
Everyone just step awaaaaay now
Come another daaaaaay…
He groaned loudly and rushed to the door, going past his fan and slamming the window shut, though his collection of "Justice League" comics was now covered in water. He frowned and sighed as he picked them up and brought them to his towel.
I wanna stay home today…
I wanna stay home, stay home, stay home, stay h-
And then the power went out in his building. BEEEOOOOOO!
I wanna stay home today! (Don't wanna go out!
If anyone comes to play…(Gonna get thrown out!)
I wanna stay home today! (Don't want no company, no way!)
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I wanna stay home today! (Don't wanna go out!
If anyone comes to play…(Gonna get thrown out!)
I wanna stay home today! (Don't want no company, no way!)
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
"…I only wanted a nice day at "home"." Nick mumbled, drying off his comic in the dark of his room. He put the comics away in his big desk and then lay down on his bed, sighing.
"Death rays can't stop the Justice League. Attempts to divide them only make them stronger. Armageddon weapons only make them more resolute. But leave the window open so the rain gets in and-UGH." He groaned.
…he wanted to go to his real home which was two and a half hours away. He hadn't been there in months. He got calls, sure…even letters occasionally.
But he wanted to be home. His REAL home.
He felt so…sad, then. Like he'd lost something of great and infinite value. A feeling so terrible it made him want to cry.
He just curled up and went to sleep instead.
…
…
…
…the next thing he knew, there was a loud crackling noise coming from outside his window. He jolted up and looked outside and saw there was lightning flashing through the air…and…somebody was on top of a roof, trying to hold a lightning rod up to CATCH it?!
His natural desire to help somebody in deep trouble shot up and before he knew it he had put on his raincoat and was rushing out of the dorm door, jumping on his bike after unlocking it and taking off for the house, the figure on the roof still in plain sight a few blocks away.
Soon he was right at the house…a green thing with a pointy red roof, and an odd, green-skinned child was happily cackling…looking at that DOG that had eaten his break pedals and stolen his slushy!
"Ha-ha-ha! Look, GIR! The movie was RIGHT! Lightning storms are perfect conditions for makin' stuff!"
Nick recognized him. "What the H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS are you doing up there?!" Nick yelled out, cupping his hands around his mouth to call out as the lightning struck through the sky and thunder rolled, filling his eardrums with an almost steady booming noise like all of nature was alive and he was listening to it's heartbeat.
"BEHOLD, human! For ZIM has created…THIS THING!" Zim announced as Nick got off the bike, holding up a small grey remote with a big red button and an antennae on top.
"Well what's it friggin' DO?!" Nick roared back.
"I…DON'T KNOW! Here!" Zim said, tossing it to Nick…
Who was on a metal bike…and now had ANOTHER piece of metal that he was holding up and looking over. Nick blinked, turning it over in his hands. "What, do I press it or-"
BRRRRRZZZZAAAAAAAKKKAAAAHHHH!
Lightning shot through HIM and the device, going through the top of his head and his body, out through the bike and into the ground. In his spasming "WAH-WAH-WAH-WAH's" his thumb hit the button…
And with an explosion of rainbow-colored light, he was gone from the bike, which fell, smoking, to the ground.
"Uh…IT WORKED!" Zim laughed, holding his fists up. "I'M A GENIUS!"
"Oooh…BIKE PEDALS!" The dog, GIR, announced.
"No, GIR, they give you gas." His owner, Zim, remarked, shaking his head vigorously. "Eat the chain instead. It's got lots of iron in it."
…
…
…
…at first…there had been nothing. Just a white abyss. Then…reality is twisting inside out. He can see, he can SEE himself, younger, more innocent, yet wiser all the same, he feels a pair of hands take his and feels a TUG…and the winds of eternity bring him to a single point.
…
…
…
…Nick awoke to find himself in a chair…with something METAL on his back. "Wh-what's going on?" He remarked quietly, looking around. He looked down and realized that…he had green skin…three clawed fingers…a smaller body…
He tried to grab his head to steady himself and felt…antennae! Slightly fuzzy antennae! With little spiky nubs running up and down it! He gasped in horror. "Wh-what's HAPPENED to me?!" He whimpered, tears filling his eyes…
Then a voice…electronic and cold, attempting to be kind and failing, spoke from the dark blue walls of the room he was in. "You are two minutes old, little smeet."
"Smeet?" Nick blinked in confusion.
"Prepare to be filled with the whole of Irken knowledge!"
"Irken?!" Nick gaped. Was that what he was now? An ALIEN?! Like that Zim, down on-
And then something went into the metal thing on his back, only he felt it go into HIM as well. Suddenly knowledge began to pour into his body, making his eyes widen and strange script passed over them.
The knowledge…it filled him…
"…neaaaaat." He announced.
Then it stopped…and disconnected. He suddenly knew what was on his back…a PAK. He knew the entire history of the Irken race and all about their allies and enemies, their greatest accomplishments to date and who their current leaders were.
"UPLOAD COMPLETE!" The thing announced in an almost chipper manner. "You have been given a name. IDENTIFY YOURSELF." It demanded.
"…I…am…"
He almost announced his name as "K'rish".
But NO.
No.
He knew all of Irken history. He could recite old Irken war songs by heart now and knew every single job that existed in Irken society. He knew the exact amount of time it took to build a Voot Cruiser and exactly how Tallest Grapa had contracted the disease that led him to a life filled with spasm-filled pain that ended when he got too close to a "Do Not Touch" high-voltage section of a laboratory.
But one thing he had always known before was his name…where he really came from.
What he really was.
"My NAME…is NICK!" Nick announced, his smeetly form standing up and holding his "thumb" up to his chest. "AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME FORGET IT!"
The machine said nothing. Then a pair of robotic arms booted him from the chair and the voice said "Meh. Go to the next room."
Smiling broadly, Nick headed out a nearby open doorway, noticing a large group of similar beings were heading towards a set of double doors. He got in line behind one of them and she turned around, smiling nervously at her, her eyes a beautiful shade of blue. Blue/green…cyan, that was the term.
"Hi." She said in a soft, gentle voice. "I'm a little nervous. I know every single training program that was ever given on Devastis, programs WE might end up doing…but I don't have any idea what's behind those doors." She spoke, pointing at the set of double doors.
"I doubt there's anything behind there that's TOO scary." Nick remarked, shrugging. "I mean…we're just…just smeets."
He ALMOST said kids, but caught himself just in time. She smiled a little. "You're nice." She admitted. "I'm Miyuki." She remarked, holding out one hand. "It means "Beautiful Happiness". What's your name?"
"I'm Nick." Nick said, grinning. He LIKED this strange new alien. There was something so sweet and kindly about her. "It means "Victory of the People"."
The doors at the end opened up and a tall, frowning Irken alien looked at them all…a guard. "Alright, let's go." He announced in a gruff voice. "Time to get you to started on your training exercises…"
As they were led down the hallway and out the double doors, Nick's antennae quivered with a mixture of fear, anticipation and joy. He had no idea what lay ahead for him on this planet Irk…not really. He didn't even know what he'd become.
He supposed he'd have to wing it. It shouldn't be too hard. After all…he'd been taught everything he needed to know about the Irken empire. How hard could it honestly be?
Author's Note:
Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please, review! Me and Erin are working on this story in collaboration and we really enjoy knowing that people like our stories.