A/N: Short chapter is short :c

Zim screamed. I jumped in surprise, choking on my drink. I coughed a bit, trying to get the lodged soda out of my throat.

"What's your problem?" I glanced at him. As soon as I did, I almost immediately started to laugh. Zim was hopping foot to foot on the concrete he had just walked onto.

"HOTHOTHOTHOT!" He yelled, and then leaped back onto the slightly less hot sand. "Ahhhh…." He sighed in relief but then broke out in an angry fit. "THAT HORRIBLE GROUND WAS AS HOT AS BOODIE NEN'S SUN!" Zim's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and he gripped his handful of snacks harder. I chuckled.

"Really now? I wouldn't have guessed with the hot sun and all…." I said sarcastically. Zim growled and looked at the 2 story building before us. He stared at the sign hanging on the front of the building and tried to pronounce it.

"AR-cad? What's an arcaddd?" I rolled my eyes.

"It's an arcade, Zim. An arcade is a place with a whole bunch of games you can play. They have Dance Dance Revolution, Pac-Man, and other cool games like that. Zim made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat and took in the information.

"INTERESTING! This is a new way to have normal, Earth 'fun'. WE SHALL GO AND HAVE FUN IN THE ARCAD!" He shouted. I groaned, hearing him say "arcad" instead of "arcade" again, but actually considered his idea. I stuck my hand in the pocket of my swim trunks and brought out the money we had left over. Five bucks. That would get us 50 tokens. I smiled at Zim.

"Okay. Let's go."

"YESSSS! LET'S GO, DIB- STINK!" He fist-pumped, dropping all the snacks he had left in the progress, and grabbed my wrist. I cried out in surprise as I was yanked through the entrance of the arcade. Zim suddenly froze, taking in his new surroundings. It was a two-story arcade filled with all kinds of cool games, new and old. It was dim in the whole building and neon lights from the video games were lit all around us. Zim gaped in awe.

"Wow, this place sure is…glow-y…." He muttered. I laughed and went to the counter. A woman wearing lots of pins on her arcade uniform greeted me. She had an insanely happy smile on her face and her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was extremely frizzy and falling out.

"Hi, Y'ALL! Welcome to Happy Happy Fun Timez Arcade!" She practically screamed at us. Her green eyes gleamed with craziness. Zim was suddenly at my side with a look of fear on his face.

"U-uh…yeah, hi…I just want some tokens." I placed the 5 dollar bill on the counter. Her smile got wider, which I thought was impossible.

"OKIE DOKIE!" I'll be right back, YA'LL." She disappeared for a few seconds, and then seemed to magically appear back in front of us. Zim's claws started to dig into my arm. "HERE YA ARE!" She extended her hand and handed me two small plastic containers that were filled with 25 tokens each.

"Oh, thanks for splitting them up for us." I gave a little smile.

"Aw, no problem, little FELLA." She screeched, ruffling my hair crazily. I heard Zim give a little whine in his throat, still giving a fear-filled stare. I laughed nervously and started to back away with Zim following, still clinging onto me. Then, I broke out into a full run. I stopped, alongside Zim, when we had reached the other side of the arcade where the stairs that lead to the second layer were. I panted and gave Zim a smirk.

"So the mighty Irken invader was scared of her, too?" He growled at me.

"Shut your noise tube, Dib-human." He responded, crossing his arms. I laughed, then, noticing how cold it was in the building, shivered. I guess coming to an arcade wearing only damp swim trunks was a bad idea. Shrugging off the fact the atmosphere was freezing, I headed over to a game which happened to Pac-Man. Zim followed. "What's this game?" He asked curiously, peering over my shoulder. I grinned.

"It's Pac-Man. Here, I'll show you how to play." I inserted two tokens into the slot. Suddenly, the words "Press Start" were glowing brightly on the screen. I pressed the corresponding button and took hold of the joystick. Zim watched from behind me, taking in every move I did. "The objective is to collect those little dots and avoid the ghosts." He seemed to understand it. As soon as I lost my last life, I let him try. Zim eyed the controls a bit strangely at first, then gripped the joystick and placed his finger on the button. The screen was only showing the phrase "Insert Tokens". Zim groaned and took two gold tokens out of the tiny plastic container (which he had carelessly set on the floor) and slid them into the slot. The normal "Press Start" phrase lit up the screen. The alien pressed the start button and took hold of the controls again. His eyes narrowed in concentration.

Before he even made it through half of the map, he lost one of his lives. Zim growled and I grinned. Then, Pac-Man was touched by another ghost not too long after he re-spawned and he lost another life. I could see the anger on Zim's face. He held his breath as he made it to the top of the map, almost to the end. Before he could react, 3 of the ghosts caught up to him and touched Pac-Man. He yelled in anger and slammed his fist against the screen.

"THIS FILTHY GAME IS DEFECTIVE." He shouted. I laughed at him, enjoying the moment.

"No, you just suck at it." I shot back. His eyes narrowed to threatening slits as he glared at me.

"And I suppose you're better than Zim at these video games?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips. I snorted.

"Of course. You could challenge me right now. I could beat you at any game, Spaceboy." I smirked at him. He gave me an "oh really?" look.

"Okay then. How aboutttt…." He trailed off as he scanned the arcade. Then, he grinned. "That one!" He pointed to DDR.

I smirked wider, narrowing my eyes. "Oh you're on."