Chapter 1: Taken

It was a normal Friday day today on Earth. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and the squirrels were chatting over nuts. Children were outside, playing after a long day of skool, and adults were just coming home from work. All were excited and ready for the weekend.

Now, we go to the odd sight of this normal neighborhood. A green, lopsided house, where our favorite 12 year old disguised Irken, Zim, was just walking out the door.

"I'll be back later, Gir." He called to his robotic dog. "I'm just heading down to the store to get a few things."

"Aw, why can't I come with you?" Gir whined.

"Because you and Minimoose need to make sure that nobody comes into the house." Zim answered. "I'm counting on you two. Don't let me down."

With that, Zim slammed the men's bathroom door closed and walked down his pathway. As he was just about to turn the corner, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see a shiny black convertible, sitting just two houses away.

Zim shivered at the sight of the car. That car has been sitting there for three days straight already. He assumed it was abandoned, considering he never saw anyone exit or enter the vehicle. But, almost every few hours, the car would leave, only to come back an hour later. It made the small Irken feel really uncomfortable.

Zim shivered again and ran off, down to the direction of the neighborhood Dollar Store. When Zim finally entered the Dollar Store just a block over from his house, he finally allowed his heart to relax.

Why was he getting so worked up about a black convertible? It was just a stupid Earth vehicle! He shook it off as he began his shopping.

Let's see… Stick-Free Gum for Gir, Sunflower Kernels for Minimoose, a variety of snacks for the Irken himself, a box of paperclips, laser pen, Scotch Tape, 12 bottles of paste, and a miniature squirt gun.

Now, you must be wondering… what could he possibly make with all that? Well, don't underestimate Zim. You know he's got ways.

As Zim carried his shopping basket up to the counter, he took notice of all the adults giving him a strange, yet concerned look.

'Filthy human Tallest.' He spat in his mind. 'It's like they've never seen a special needs smeet before!'

When he finally got to the counter, he placed all of his items up, allowing the female clerk behind to scan them all.

"Will this be all, sir?" She politely asked him.

"Yes, yes, fellow filthy human, that will be all." Zim nodded, just wanting to get the heck out of here.

"That'll be $24.89 then."

Zim huffed and gave the human a twenty five dollar bill.

"Keep the change." He sorta commanded as he started lifting all the bags.

"Would you like some help carrying that to your parents car?" The clerk asked him kindly. "I can get Gerald to help you out."

"Zim needs no help!" Zim hissed back at her. "And besides, my parents aren't here, nor do they have a car."

"You're here all by yourself?!"

"Of course." Zim raised an eyebrow. "It's just a dollar store."

"But there are a lot of predators out there that would just love to take advantage of a sweet innocent twelve year old boy."

Zim rolled his eyes as he picked up the last of the bags and began walking away.

"The concern is appreciated, human, but not needed. I only live a block away." He responded before walking out the door.

As soon as Zim was out of view, the woman pulled out a black walkie talkie and spoke into it.

"Janet, Richard, are you there?" She asked.

"This is Richard speaking." Said a male voice on the other side. "You got him?"

"We got him. He's heading back home now."

"Copy that, Janet and I will be waiting for him when he gets home. Gosh, this robot dog of his is actually quite friendly. And his stuffed toy moose is pretty adorable."

"You're going to let him keep them, right?"

"Of course we are, don't worry about it."

"I hope you take good care of him."

"Don't worry, he's in good hands."

…

Back with Zim, the young Irken finally arrived back to his house. He was just about to walk up the pathway, when he noticed that something was different.

He stood there, trying to figure out what it could be, when he suddenly gasped.

The convertible was parked right outside his front yard! And it was empty!

Quickly, Zim dropped his bags and ran to the front door, fearing the worst. When he threw the door open, he nearly choked.

Sitting on the couch with Gir and Minimoose, were two human adults. One male, and one female.

The female looked to be in her twenties. She had blonde hair up in a bun, blue eyes, and she was wearing a black pantsuit with black heels. Her fingernails were long and black, and she carried a silver clutch.

The male was also in his twenties. He had slick brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a simple white button shirt with a black tie, brown cargo pants, and black work shoes.

"Who are you two and what are you doing in my house?" Zim hissed at the two adults.

"... Zim," The female sighed as she stood up. "My name is Janet Wenston, and this is my partner, Richard Null."

"Pleasure to meet you young man." The male nodded.

"We are here because it has come to our attention that you have no parents."

"What?!" Zim gasped. "Of course I have parents! Every normal human worm baby has parents!"

"We have seen what you call to be 'parents', Zim." Richard frowned. "They are only a couple of badly malfunctioning robots."

Zim's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it! These two humans could tell that his roboparents were not parents at all! Well, now he was caught. What should he do now?

"We know that you may consider yourself of being able to take care of yourself," Janet sighed. "But a young boy such as yourself should be with a family, with a mother and a father, real parents."

"We only want what's best for you, Zim." Richard agreed as he stood up next to Janet. "So we're taking you into custody and sending you to an orphanage, where you will have the chance of being adopted."

Zim almost gagged.

HIM? Being adopted by a HUMAN?! Why, it was unthinkable! But, he knew that this was most likely a battle he would surely lose to.

"Please do not try to fight us, Zim." Janet pleaded. "I don't want to have to get the police force in here."

"No, no need." Zim sighed, now that he knew that this really was a lost cause. "I'll go with you."

"Great." Janet smiled. "Go ahead and pack up whatever you think you might need."

"The rest of us will be waiting for you in the car." Richard nodded.

"Does that include Gir and Minimoose?" Zim challenged.

"Of course it does."

This at least made Zim smile a bit, knowing that he would have someone familiar with him.

...

It didn't take long for Zim to pack up his stuff and enter the car, where Richard, Janet, Gir, and Minimoose were already waiting for him. Once the disguised Irken was in the car, Richard started the vehicle and they drove away.

As they drove, the car was awkwardly silent. Richard was paying attention to the road, Janet was informing the orphanage, Minimoose was pretending to be a doll, Gir was asleep on Zim's lap, and said Irken had his arms crossed as he stared out the window, watching everything familiar to him pass by.

"Cheer up Zim," Janet finally smiled to the boy. "I'm sure that on your first day, you'll be adopted immediately and you'll be back out there with a new family."

"If you say so." Zim sighed, though, he had his doubts.

Who would want to adopt a sickly green kid?