Hello! Welcome to my first Invader Zim fanfic. This is going to be fun!

Disclaimer: Invader Zim and all its characters are not mine.

Chapter one: Disappearing Time

It all started with an alarm clock. And now Dib found himself running for his life, with his most hated enemy at his side, lost, in some vast forest in the middle of the night. He could hear the crunching of their pursuers' boots not too far behind them and he knew they were catching up. How is an alarm clock to blame, you may ask? It started two days ago.

At this point in time it had been two years, eight months, five days, and four hours since Dib first laid eyes on him, the alien that was absolutely terrible at disguises but still somehow managed to fool everyone. Well, not him, and he has dedicated himself to stop every plan that little invader had up his sleeves.

But then the fates intervened in the form of their homeroom teacher making an announcement. "Okay, class, just wanted to remind you of the class's end-of-the-year camping trip. The buses leave tomorrow morning at 8am sharp. Don't be late or you'll miss the bus." The 8th grade homeroom teacher, Miss Sunshine, said sweetly as she passed out the list of supplies recommended to be brought. Dib didn't pay much heed to the list as his mind went to work. This would give him a chance to study Zim's species natural habits. Now he just had to make sure he went, which would be easy. Even after all this time, the Irken was still easy to manipulate.

The bell rang, symbolizing the end of the class period, but to Dib, this meant it was time to confront his rival. He headed to Zim's locker to put his plan into action. While not much changed in the almost three years, one thing had. And that was Dib growing a few inches taller than Zim, which Zim has made painfully obvious that he was unhappy about this fact.

"Hey, Zim." Dib started, with no note of it being a friendly greeting to be heard. He couldn't help but to be smiling, though.

"What do you want, hyuman-pig?" Came the tiny one's harsh response. Zim's contacted eyes were narrowed in irritated suspicion.

"You're coming to the camping trip, right?"

"Why would I, the mighty ZIM, waste my time on a boring hyuman activity?" Zim's response, his fist clenched before him as he hissed out the last two words.

"What's wrong? The great Irken invader unable to survive in the forests of Earth?" Dib continued, his taunting only causing his grin to widen. And he got the expected effect, Zim's eyes widened at the challenge. "HAH! I could survive EASILY! It wouldn't even be a challenge!" He bragged loudly.

"Then prove it, Zim. See you on the bus." Dib said, turning and walking away, still grinning.

"FINE! ZIM WILL BE THERE, DIB-STINK!" The Irken yelled at his enemy's turned back, attracting the attention of half to hall.

The fated day was finally here and Zim couldn't stop fidgeting in his seat; only moments left before the buses left and Dib was nowhere in sight. He would get to throw this back into Dib's face if he didn't show. He sat alone in the seat, which he was happy with, but the noise around him was stifling. It was full of mindless chatter between the filthy morons that inhabited the floating dirt ball. While the noise proved annoying at best, it was easy to focus his attention at the door. The door in question was still opened, but was due to close mere moments from now.

As if on cue, the teacher in charge of this particular bus gave a nod to the bus driver. "Okay, guess that's it." And, with a returning nod, the door slowly started to close almost in slow motion…ten inches…seven…just four more to go…and….

A hand stuck through the door followed by a "WAIT!" Zim let out an Irken curse, loudly, causing the others around him to stare at him weirdly. The alien ignored them, his unhappy attention drawing to the panting monkey climbing on the bus. "S-sorry….alarm….dis…appeared." Dib huffed out, making it clear he sprinted the entire way to school.

"I'm just glad you made it, now go take a seat." The teacher said with a smile as Dib eyed the bus to find a seat. That was when Zim noticed with horror that the only empty seat was next to him. An angry growl past his lips as the human boy slowly walked over to take a seat next to his enemy. At least Dib didn't look happy about this, but he also looked too tired to care.

Yet, twisted fate wasn't done with them. As Dib headed over, the teacher made another announcement. "Okay, now look towards the person seated next to you…" Everyone followed instruction, though the looks between Zim and Dib were ones of hatred as he moved in to sit down.

"They will be your camp buddies. You two will share a cabin and do activities together for the whole weekend!" She said happily.

No sooner had Dib set his butt down did he find himself painfully flung to the floor. He head making contact with the seat across the way, which, thankfully was a little padded. It still hurt, though not as much as his butt and side, which took most of his weight on the hard floor. He glared up at Zim, who was now perched where Dib had been sitting.

"NO! ZIM REFUSES TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS HYUMAN-FILTH!" He yelled out quiet loudly, causing the teacher to jump in alarm, not used to his outbursts.

"W-well, would anybody like to switch seats?" She asked, her eyes scanning the bus. "Anyone?" There were no takers. Nobody offered. He bus remained silent.

"Then I'm sorry. I guess you two are stuck together. But, don't worry! I'm sure you two will become friends soon!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-" Zim started, Dib abruptly shutting him up as he stood and shoved him over, earning a glare from the peeved green one. Dib just sat down again and dropped his overnight bag at his feet. "What's wrong, Zim? You have something to hide?" He grinned, eyeing the Irken up.

Now Zim just grinned. "Laugh now, pitiful hyuman. But just know, unlike you mud-worms, Zim doesn't sleep." And, with that ominous warning, the alien turned away from the shocked human and contently stared out the window absentmindedly watching the passing scenery for the next two hours as the bus drove them well out of town.

And with that, the end of the first chapter is here. Stay tuned for more!