Chapter one- Living, Just As Planned
POV Sid
    “Beep! Beep! Beep!” the sound of the dream-killing alarm clock in morning made the teen regret buying the annoying thing. Groaning, she turned away from the noise before she realized that this was the fourth time it went off. Heavy, brown eyes slitted open just to squint shut again as a hand rubbed them.

‘No, is it Monday already?’ With a groan, slowly rolled out of 床, 床上 and changed into her default attire; a 随意 T-shirt, flared jeans, all-star shoes, a light 夹克 and her purple metallic necklace; a little, sphere momento that she always carried with her, it had her feel securely attached to it for some unknown reason. Passing a glance at the mirror, she brushed her bangs in the right places along with the rest of my bob cut. Grabbed her bag with everything she needed for school, the teen stumbled out the door. She waved a goodbye to her loyal companion resting outside on the patio.

“See ya, Okami. Watch the house while I’m gone.” The silver 狼 barked in reply before Sid unfolded her transferable bike and rode down the 街, 街道 while plugged into a pair headphones to her mp3.

At the tender age of five, Sid awakened from an unexplained coma which caused blanks in her memories, such as who her parents 或者 other relatives were, where she lived, and her name were 迷失 to her. Recovering from her sudden undertaking took a toll on her, for her muscle mass had depleted after a 年 of being immobilized and had to stay in the hospital to regain her strength. So for months with no one to comfort her and with no prior knowledge to whom she was before the coma, the young girl's time in the hospital would have...unpleasant. But then the morning after little Sid came to, Okami appeared at the foot of her 床, 床上 and had stayed with her since.

Several years later, Sid and her furry friend now live together in a two-story house in a suburban neighborhood, thirty 分钟 away from the dreaded skool she biked to every Monday thru Friday at 7:45 in the morning, even though class started at 8:00. Sid cut across the lawn and rode her bike through the front door and down the hall till her homeroom was a few meters away. After she put away bike in her backpack, the tardy teen ran in. Just as Sid stepped inside the classroom, Ms. 苦药类, 浓生啤酒, 苦味 was expecting her on the other side of the door to greeted her with an infuriated growl, her face was already looming too close to her own.

“You’re late, AGAIN.” she hissed, gritting her teeth.

“Only 由 thirty 秒 this time, Bitters.” Sid noted flatly, unfazed 由 her teacher's attempts at intimidation as she went to her 座位 across the room behind the paranormal believer and preacher.

“Thirty 秒 later and I’ll send 你 to the underground classroom, Sid! Do 你 understand?” She snared, the gleam of her glasses aimmed on her student's back. Sid rolled eyes, finding this daily tirade of theirs was getting older than Bitters.

“Whatever.” Sid shrugged as she dropped her pack on the floor and slouched in her chair as her teacher slithered back to her deck. ‘Old hag…’

“Hey Sid!” a familiar voice chimed from the front before her 座位 got warm enough to sleep through the morning lecture, a sound possibly 更多 irritating than the alarm clock. Sid ignored him, with her head down and ears deaf to the world as Dib began his constant rant about some nonsense. This went on for several hours, through English, History, lunch, and Math. When her subconscious started answering multiplication 问题 in her light sleep, the worn-out adolescence noticed that she wasn't able to sleep at all and was not happy to hear Ms. 苦药类, 浓生啤酒, 苦味 确认 her answer to be correct. Sid really didn't want stay awake to listen to the woman drawl on and on. Today was a half -day and she had hoped to relax and nap through most of it.

'This frickin' sucks, man.' Her lithe fingers glided through her bangs before resting a forehead against her palm with her elbow on her knee, she turned sideways and dwelled in defeat of Dib’s unavoidable babble and forced herself to listen.

“There must be thousands of them, light years away somewhere from Earth! Planning their 下一个 move-”

“What the hell are 你 talking about?” Sid murmured, patience running thin this afternoon, her puffy eyes felt unnaturally scorching to bear, hating how hyped up he gets when it comes to his sci-fi bullshit. Dib stopped preaching, as incredible as it were, and switched back to reality.

“Woah, Sid, are 你 ok?” Her brows cocked up. He glanced briefly to the bags under her eyes and then noticed the small red bump on the right side of her forehead, which Sid seemed to have forgotten about till now.

“Yeah, just dandy.” She covered the bump with her hand, not caring for his gawking. Before he could push the matter any further, Ms. 苦药类, 浓生啤酒, 苦味 had an announcement.

“Class. I’ll like to introduce the newest, hopeless appendage to the student body. His name is Zim.” She turned to a green-skinned boy.

'Wait, green skin?' Sid faced 前锋, 期待 and turned her attention to the boy.

“Zim, if 你 have something to say, say it now, because after this moment, I don’t want to hear another sound from you!” Ms. 苦药类, 浓生啤酒, 苦味 yelled in his face then snaked away.

‘He looks familiar…' Her eyes strained as she looked over the new kid. Weird purple striped dress shirt, greaser hair, obviously-fake purple eyes?

'No shit!' She immediately straightened up and clutching the sides of the 台, 办公桌 as she leaned closer.

'He’s the jackass who nearly ran me over…with a spaceship?’ It happened last night, when Sid and Okami were at their 最喜爱的 hangout…

<Flashback>

It was the middle of the night when all the stars were out and moon was near its peak. At nights like this, the two 老友记 would walk across the 街, 街道 to a deserted lot of dirt with a fence in the back that laid between two other houses and enjoyed the night air. Sid was seated on a rock and hunched over a handheld gaming console Okami was chasing some 松鼠 while she slashed demons pigs on her Game Slave.

“Okami, please don’t bring 首页 any of your ‘friends’ for dinner, okay? I’m still trying to take out that rotting rabbit stench in the carpet from last week.” he barked once and then proceed with the chase, his grey 涂层, 外套 looking silver under the moonlight. Not one 分钟 later, a sound of an engine hummed above them. Sid looked up expecting to see a helicopter passing by, but what she saw was something else entirely. It appeared to be a fast landing funny-looking spacecraft, which was landing their way!

“Okami!” Sid hollered, getting him to come towards her. They jumped and hid behind the wooden fence among the bushes.

“Hm, where’s my Game Slave?” as the UFO landed, a loud crunch emitted from the rear and she gaped in horror seeing her in-game process deleted before her eyes.

‘Oh, they are so dead…’ As dust shrouded the area, voices could be heard from the other side.

“Come on,” She gestured, crawling over the fence to get a closer look at the new person on her shit 列表 with Okami who growled slightly. With an eye roll, Sid patted his head between the ears.

“I’m sorry 你 迷失 your squirrel, but hush.” When the dust cleared, her eyes widen to some extent, but an amused smirk overcame her shock and led back a snicker.

'You’ve got to be kidding me.' There on the sidewalk, a green person and a little robot whispered to each other. The supposed 'alien' had some similar human traits while the robot was just plain a tin can (which was stupid). The green Martian then crept in their direction; the teen backed up into the shadow of the ship as it moved vertically on its bumper. He walked into some stall, and was screaming in pain before walking out with a poor disguise.

‘These 太空 invaders are dumber than the ones in those lame 电影院 Dib watches.’

“Oki,” Sid crouched down in front of him with an idea in mind. Whispering her plan into his big fluffy ear, he growled excitedly with understanding. It was quiet again, and both the little tin man and the alien had disappeared; all there was a faint shrill of a drill in motion.

'Where is it coming from?' Moments later, the ground started to vibrate and then shake violently making the pair lose their footing; something was moving below. Thick, metal cables bursted from the surface right under their feet and raised skyward, lifting Sid, Okami, and the ship, a few yards high.

“Don’t, move.” She ordered the vigilant wolf, still stunned 由 the sudden impact, they watched a house form underneath them starting from the pipe, to the framing of the structure, and to the furntures and bits of decor. The ship hung above it all as the cables fusion into one another to become the walls and floors. The girl snapped out of her awe and surveyed a way back to the ground as a building was shutting in on them.

“Jump!” Sid lept down through the closing gaps of the cords towards a sofa with Okami close behind, as they landed in the dark.

POV ZIM

     Zim sighed annoyed after tapping his foot for what seemed like an hour, the alien marched up to the front door to investigate the delayed greeting of his 'parents', but proceeded in caution. Inside, both of the parent bots were smashed to the floor, just as he suspected, not the intruder that stood before him in his newly built lair. It gave Zim quite a start.

“AH--uh,YOU! How did 你 get in here?!” He shouted at the filthy earth teen. She was a few inches taller than him, her baggy clothing was covered in earth dirt, and her face was crossed. The girl’s brown eyes glared daggers through his purple contacts.

“Okami,” she called from behind her, keeping her gaze on him. A silver, four-legged beast came to her side, snarling at his presence, its eyes also filled with rage. Zim glanced between the two of them, his self-righteous anger turned into imminent panic. The human smirked crudely, her eyes never leaving his.

“Kill.” Her words sent the silver beast to lunch forth with sharp pointed claws and fangs. The alien screamed in pain as the creature sinks its teeth into his skull, gnawing aggressively.

“Gir! Help me!” he cried, but his minion was already inside messing around in the kitchen, not noticing his master in danger. The human stared down at me with a smile, as she walked to the exit with an air of satisfaction.

“Let’s go.” The monster growled, but withdraws its jaws and follows her owner swiftly, leaving a mess of raw bite marks and scratches on his prey. The girl stopped in her tracks just outside the front lawn entrance.

“Since you're new here, I might as well say,” she starts, turning halfway to give him a cheeky smile, one not tainted with distaste.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, little 太空 trude.” After that she disappeared. Confused and angry again, the invader quickly brought himself to his feet, despite the aching wounds.

“YOU FOOLISH CREATURE! HOW DARE 你 MOCK ZIM! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS HUMILIATION, 你 DISGUSTING HUMAN WORM BABY! YOU’LL PAY!” He shrieked into the night for a good twenty 分钟 before slamming the door. Zim stumbled inside exhausted, pondering about the earthworm.

‘What a strange earthling. Why would she turn her back on an invader when she had the upper hand? What is she plotting? Who else knows of the mighty ZIM's existence? Is she going to regroup an army!?’ Zim was disturbed 由 a loud squeal. He look down at Gir, still in his cunning disguise, with a plate full of, of--

“I made WAFFLES!” he exclaimed running around stuffing his face…<End of Flashback>

POV Sid

    Sid's thoughts interrupted 由 the sudden change of subject in the background. Seeing Dib freaking out in the middle of a boring lecture, she looked on sheepishly.
‘This should be good.’

“Ok, see,” he 说 going up the chalkboard, pointing to a couple of badly drawn sketches.

“This is us, and over here. Over here is Zim. See the difference? Anyone? Anyone? Questions?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with you? All 你 talk about is aliens, ghosts, and nearly burning Sid’s dog.” Remarked a boy with two teeth.

“Wait,” She blinked. Her mind went blank, her brain was reviewing the statement she just heard.

“You did, WHAT?” Dib’s face dropped as he saw her stalking towards him with red eyes trained on him. He stumbled backwards, arms waving in front of him.

“No, wait! It’s not what 你 think! I really thought Okayme was a werewolf, since he--”

“Oh-ka-mi, 你 dick! So what he’s a wolf, that doesn't justify murdering people’s pets alive now does it, mush for brains?” She was a step from Dib, Zim was suddenly right beside the teen awkwardly patting her shoulder. Sid whacked his hand away.

“Hands off, freak!” She gave Dib a quick 'I'm-not-letting-you-get-away-that-easily’ sneer before concentrating on the green kid.

“I don’t care what 你 are, 或者 who 你 are but if 你 keep pissing me off like this,” Sid tightly gripped the 领, 衣领 of his uniform and jerked him forward, she locked his startled gaze with her intense one.

“I will destroy you…” The class watched in silent, knowing the boundaries to the girl's explosive temper. Sooner than expected, Ms. 苦药类, 浓生啤酒, 苦味 dismissed everyone. Tired and eager to leave, Sid dropped the dead weight, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door before anyone else. Zim nevertheless, smoothed his 衬衫 and boldly shouted after her.

“Hey! Get back here!” the door shut in his face and Sid proceeded down the hall.

‘This is just great! First, an alien crashes lands in my 最喜爱的 lot, wrecks my night, and now-,’ She craned her head to the side and can see Zim catching up.

‘And now that freak of unknown nature is stalking me. Isn’t that nice?' When he was within a few feet, Sid dashed outside.

'Well, I do need the exercise.’ Okami was laid out on the lawn where he waited for her like always. She swiftly set up her bike and rode through the streets like a bullet, with the 狼 not far behind.

‘I really don’t want to deal with him today. Poop, I’m really out of it. I couldn’t get enough sleep because of that bastard.’ A hand rubbed the bump from the incident when Sid knocked her head on the armrest of the sofa after jumping down a story. Last night, it swelled up to the size of her fist and ached like hell. She had to sleep after compressing a bag of ice on the swelling for over an 小时 或者 she would have to suffer a major headache in the morning.

The alien had barely settled in and he has already caused her to lose her cool, twice. 'The 下一个 time I see his face, I'm going to beat his teeth in so freaking hard.' The image of sucker punching Zim's green face mercily brought a twisted smirk to her lips. She won't hold back again.

POV Zim
     “Pathetic! 你 think 你 can run from ZIM?!” Zim ran down the hall after the broody human as she exited the building, but a big-headed human blocked his way.

“Where do 你 think you’re going, alien?” the boy glowered at him.

“Get out of the way!” The invader managed to push past him, but was shoved down the stairs. He tumbled onto his side with just a few scrape as he eyed the girl escaping on a low-tech vehicle with her silver beast.

“You imbecile! She’s getting away!” Zim got back up with Dib towering over him. He pointed a finger accusingly towards him.

“I knew it! You’re after Sid, aren’t you. What are 你 plotting!?”

“It’s none of your-”

“You aliens ARE my business!” Dib pulled out a neat doodad and charged forth. Panicked, the Zim dodged and jumped on 最佳, 返回页首 of human in order to flee. As he ran for the sake of his identity and his life, he hurried to catch the filth baby before she could interfere with his mission. When she threatened to 'destroy him', he was certain she meant to do something hasty. The worm already knows his true identity and the location of his base, Zim could only imagine what she was going to do with that information once she finds out his intentions for her little planet. Not unless he gets to the filthy earth creature first.

    POV Sid

Sid leaned against a metal fence breathing heavily with beads of sweat lining her hairline, wondering how she made it this far without passing out. Okami kept growling at the poor pitbull behind the them while she was catching her breathe.

“Man, that wasn’t so bad. What's that guy's deal, stalking me like that? Does he still have a grudge against me? What a weirdo. I expect that Dib and Zim are going to have a little Halo war with each other pretty soon over this whole 'alien thing'.” Okami became still all of a sudden and was intently staring down the road. She turned to his line of sight, a speeding school bus was coming this way.

“Oki, it’s just the-” After taking a closer look, the two dumbasses she just got done thinking about were playing cops and robbers on the roof of the moving bus.
‘Game on.’ She thought amusingly, enjoying the fight scene.

As soon as the bus took a sharp turn, Zim tumbled off and landed on 最佳, 返回页首 of fence beside the teen. He didn’t seem to notice her as he fell over and was being chewed 由 the guard dog, losing his boot in the process. She listened to his loud screams before having Okami retrieve him, and that’s when Dib showed up. He lingered along the fence where Zim was, waiting for him to resurface. She pushed Dib over, letting the dog on the other side have a taste of his big head. Sid smiled at her success.

“Payback’s a bitch.” Okami came back with Zim’s arm in his mouth, dragging him out of through bent opening in the fence concealed in the thick brush. Sid picked up his boot and handed it to him.

“Here’s your rubber shoe.” With a scowl he ripped himself out of the wolf’s grasp, snatched his boot and pulled it back on .

“I don’t need your assistance, human! I can handle myself just fine without 你 stinking up Zim's precious air.” Sid glared back, finding that his human matters were lacking.

“My name is Sid. And a thank wouldn't hurt either.”

“NEVER!” she eyed rolled and started untangling her bike from her bag.

“For an alien, 你 pretty much suck at doing your part of, 你 know, invading and terrorizing the Earth. So I suggest 你 get a REAL job, like donating your body to science as an experimental test dumbie?” Zim’s face boiled to a bottle green, gritting his teeth.

“Well, it was not nice seeing ya, invade-turd. Okami!” The 狼 snarled and nipped Zim before running back to her side as they headed home. Listening Zim’s cursed yelling and Dib’s screams of fear and agony made her 日 a bit sweeter that it made her forget to 冲床 him.
‘Morons.’

When Sid got to her street, the teen looked over at what used to be her old hideout and could see Zim’s ‘dog’ watching TV. Since the door was open and the alien wasn’t 首页 yet, she decided to make a visit.

"What’s with this place? Heh, so much for 'blending in.'" she put the bike away. The dog didn’t seem to bother trying to kick her out 或者 anything, it waved excitedly hi and offered Okami a 座位 下一个 to him. She eyed the two of them seated together, but shrugged it off and snooped around. The living room was very basic, with a few pieces of furniture, a TV, and a picture of a green monkey.

‘A green dog, a green house, a green alien, a green monkey, a green freaking mess…’

“Gir!” called a familiar voice. The teen saw the pup communicating through some microphone attached to his head.

“Gir, help me! There isn’t much time-”

“Turd? Is that you?” Sid 说 into the mic, making sure it was the alien. There was growl from the other side of the line.

“GIR! 你 let ‘her’ into my base!?”

“And her 小狗 friend!” 吉尔 noted, talking about the observant wolf, who’s studying the house and the robot dog beside him. Zim grumbled, irritated.

“Nevermind, we’ll discuss this later, just get over here! Human trash! Stay where 你 are!”

“What?” her brows furrowed, not appreciating the constant commands and name calling. The mic recouped as 吉尔 flew out the door like a jet to get Zim. She merely watched the smoke trail fade away after him, after the craziness that has occurred so far, the teen seemed to be quickly adjust to these surprises. Stepping into the 厨房 for a quick peek before departing, what caught her eye was…the toilet?

‘In the kitchen? Gross dude, very gross.’ On an impulse, she walked toward the green toilet yanked on the chain handle and waited. Sid peered inside the empty bowl before being vacuumed in head first into a concealed opening, falling down a pipe. It happened all so fast and before long, her back splats on the cold floor in a front flip motion ground with an echoing thump.

“Ah! Shit! My spine!!!” Her spine cracked and shifted uncomfortably as she sat up 交叉, 十字架 legged. Steadying herself, her sight adjusted to the dim lite underground. Everything was made of strange purple and 粉, 粉色 metal piping and panels. The room was immensive, easily four times the size of the house sitting above it. Electric cords shot out from ceiling and took a hold of Sid around her wrists and shins before she had time to react. The teen tried to wiggle out of their vice grip that only tightened, insistently cutting off circulation to her hands and feet forcing her to stay still as she was elevated from the ground. A huge screen flashed on, blinding her temporarily.

“Intruder captured.” A robot voice announced before the cords lifted me up three feet in the air, turning towards a small elevator. Inside, the red-eyed bastard and his robot sidekick before stood below her without their disguises. Sid narrowed her gaze on him, losing her cool all over again. Zim laughed.

“You're foolish to think 你 can get pass the mighty ZIM's defense undetected."

“Your front door was OPEN, moron! Put me down so I can leave.” She demanded, hoping get out of here before the Game Slave sale online ends. His grin only grew.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Spider-like legs pushed out of Zim’s back to his sides and adjusted his height to face her eye to eye, a foot away from her.

“You see, I can't just let 你 go, 或者 my mission would be ruined, RUINED!" he yelled, but went straight to the point with a menacing grin.

"You know too much for your own good, filthy earth girl. And after your little stunt last night, I feel like returning the favor."

Sid gave him a look. She was in deep shit now.

*TO BE CONTINUED*