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It came as a surprise to absolutely no one who even slightly knew Dib that he spent his free time investigating and attempting to hunt down cryptids. He was a fanatic in every sense of the word and incredibly interested in the side of the world (and the parts of the universe) that the majority of the others around him tended to overlook. Paranormal creatures and aliens alike had always been at the epicentre of Dib’s little world growing up and, to his father’s slight dismay, that never changed. Even as an adult, his enthusiasm never waned nor faltered.
In fact, it only became easier for him to follow these aspirations as his life went on. Not only did he have his own intellect and his family’s technology on his side, but he had an accomplice as well. His now “frenemy” (Dib loathed that word) of sorts: Zim.
Despite the complicated history of their odd relationship, the two couldn’t deny that they had grown to care for one another over the years and, slowly, they fell into a somewhat stable pattern. In spite of everything that had happened- or perhaps because of everything that had happened between them- they found themselves spending a great deal of time together. At the moment, though, neither of them were secure enough to hang out with the other aimlessly as normal friends did. They were too tied up in their own pride to allow themselves to just spend time with the other for fun- there had to be a reason behind their little get-togethers. Instead of caving and just acting as though they were a typical couple of friends, they did something that was far more intense yet still incredibly fun and interesting for one another: dual cryptid hunting.
While Zim wasn’t as passionate about the paranormal as Dib was, he found Dib’s enthusiasm beautiful and intriguing in a way that made him almost as excited as Dib was about their searches. Besides that, it was just fun and interesting in general. It allowed him to see strange parts of Earth that could definitely give him an advantage if he ever actually got around to overtaking the damned planet. It also gave him something to do- something to focus on that, strangely, made him happy. It fulfilled him in a way that many other things had failed to.
What made Zim less happy was the possibility that either of them could get severely injured or, in Dib’s case, wind up dead during their exploration. That wasn’t something that the Irken liked to focus on, though, and, truly it wasn’t a worry that popped into his mind too frequently. Especially not when they were doing the more boring but necessary parts of their “work”.
Currently, the two of them were sprawled across the floor in the centre of Zim’s living room, each on their own devices and researching the cryptid that Dib- and the majority of the internet- had most recently taken interest in: Siren Head. Zim lay on his stomach as he stared at the computer before him, mild disinterest in his eyes. He… didn’t always enjoy the less hands-on parts of this cryptid hunting- at least not when they dragged on for a long time. They had been at this for what felt like ages . So long had they been there, in fact, that Gir had fallen asleep. The fact that the tiny SIR unit who had been hell-bent on bothering them throughout the entirety of their “study session” was telling of how long they had been there and, honestly, quite the feat.
Dib, on the other hand, was far more engrossed than Zim was. While he loved the more physical aspects of getting into the field and actually interacting with the cryptids, he also loved just reading about them, gathering information about the strange happenings surrounding them and the lore that came along with their existence. Throughout almost the entire time that they had been in Zim’s base that day, Dib had remained steadfast in his focus. He had happily let himself fall into the rabbit-hole of the internet that was Siren Head and never once had his interest faltered. It was almost impressive how Dib had barely broken eye contact with his studies (and it made Zim wonder if he was this intense about his actual studies at university).
Zim tore his ruby eyes away from Dib to focus back on the device before him, lekku drooping with slight boredom as he did so.
As if sensing Zim’s waning interest, Dib paused from his typing and closed his laptop to focus his attention on his burnt-out friend, instead. His eyes looked slightly strained and tired from staring at the screen for an extended period of time and he rubbed at them briefly before speaking, “Not enough excitement for you, Space Boy?”
Zim rolled his eyes, though it was a far less useful gesture when he wasn’t wearing contacts that allowed him to make it obvious that he was attempting to do so.
Dib stretched his arms above his head, arching his back so that his spine popped satisfyingly- Zim continued to find it strange that it was normal for human bodies to make such noises- before crossing his legs and leaning back on his arms, “I can leave if you don’t want to research any more for the night.”
Zim didn’t want Dib to leave. It was nice to have someone other than GIR to visit with- someone that he could have real, intelligent conversations with. Of course, Zim appreciated the fact that he had GIR- despite how useless the robot could be most times, he did truly enjoy spending time with him- but he appreciated having other people in his life, as well, and Dib was one of those people.
“You don’t have to leave just because there isn’t any more interesting information to find about this creature.”
“Hey, there’s plenty of interesting stuff about this guy!” Dib defended.
“And we’ve seen it all already.”
“Well, sorry for not being stupid enough to run head-on into danger without knowing what I’m up against.”
Zim smirked at that, “You’ve done that your entire life, Dib-Stink.”
Dib flipped his friend off, though there was no malice behind the action, “We still don’t really know how or if we can kill or restrain it. That’s really the only thing I want to find out before we go looking for it.”
“I don’t think the humans have that knowledge, yet, Dib.”
Dib frowned at that, suspecting that Zim was right. The expression faded just as quickly as it had appeared, though, “That’s fine. That just means that we will be the people to find out whatever this thing’s weakness is!”
The corner of Zim’s lips quirked up to form a small, half-smile. There were many things that Zim had once detested about Dib but now liked or found admirable about him. One of the major things, though, was his absolutely unrelenting determination and refusal to be taken down or discouraged by anything . It was a hell of a thing to be up against and had been ridiculously annoying back when they were still constantly at each other’s throats. Now, though, it was one of the best traits to have in an ally.
“It’s getting late,” Zim noted, looking at the time on the analogue clock that hung above the television, “Don’t you humans typically sleep at this time?”
“What about me screams ‘I do typical human things’?” Dib joked, “I’m spending my free time with an alien who used to be my nemesis.”
Zim chuckled, “You do need to sleep at some point, though.”
“Aww, you care about my health, Lizard?” Dib teased.
Zim did his best to flip off Dib, though the motion was far less effective on someone who only had three fingers as opposed to the typical five of a human and the gesture only made Dib laugh.
“Okay, okay, I’ll sleep when I get home. I just don’t want to drive when it’s this dark out- I’ll wake up my roommates if I try to head back to my dorm now.” Dib hadn’t intended to spend the entire evening and into the late hours of the night there, but time had really gotten away from the two of them. Dib had been far too focused on his research and on talking to Zim than he had been on keeping track of time, and Dib doubted that Zim really had any concept of Earthen time to begin with.
“Stinky, you can sleep here, you know.” Zim suggested, “Zim’s superior Irken form doesn’t require sleep, but I am capable of sleep and have comfortable places where you can sleep for the night if you need to.”
Dib rolled his eyes at Zim’s casual mention of the strength of the Irken race but said nothing about it considering how common it was for him to boast about not only his importance and power, but that of his entire race’s as well, “Thanks, Zim, but I’ll be fine.”
“You’re going to pass out in the middle of doing research and sleep on the floor, aren’t you?” Zim asked, though it didn’t come out as much of a question.
“You have such little faith in me,” Dib shook his head.
“You are human after all,” Zim retorted, grinning.
Dib snorted. “Dick,” the insult sounded far more affectionate than he had intended, though.
~~~
“Okay, so, the way I see it, there are only three basic steps that we need to take for this to be successful.”
“And what, exactly, do you propose those steps would be?” Zim asked.
“Step one: Research-”
“We’ve already completed that step.”
“I wasn’t saying that we hadn’t-”
“It was implied.”
“Can you just shut up and let me finish?” Dib rolled his eyes, continuing to speak once Zim went quiet, allowing him to do so, “Step two: acquire materials.”
“And step three?”
“That’s where we actually go into the forest in search of Siren Head.”
“Then, in your opinion, we’re already one-third of the way complete?”
“Pretty much. I mean, it’s an incredibly simplified step-by-step list, but, really, researching and gathering materials is all we need to do before we actually head out there. We don’t need to complicate the process.”
“You say that as if that isn’t something you do as frequently as breathing.”
“ You’re one to talk,” Dib retorted, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, “Anyways, what do we know that we need to bring with us? Other than audio and video recording devices for evidence, obviously.”
“Some sort of noise-cancelling headphones.”
“For the screaming?” Siren Head was known for deafening people with screams that were so intense and caused such pain that their ears bled and they went crazy from the sound. Many had, supposedly, been immobilized by the creature’s screams.
“No, for the aesthetic- yes , for the screaming you imbecile.”
Dib glared at that comment, “The only problem with that is that no human-made technology would be strong enough for that- nothing that we have access to, anyways. Besides, if we’re both wearing headphone that completely cancels out the noise around us, we won’t be able to hear one another or the warning signs that it’s getting closer.”
“One, you’re the only one who is in need of the headphones,” Zim countered, holding up one clawed finger as he began his list, “Two, you wouldn’t listen to the warnings of it approaching even if you did hear them.”
“I wouldn’t heed the warnings, but it’s still safer to know what’s happening and be able to prepare for it properly,” Dib paused, “And why do I need the headphones but not you ?”
“That thing could kill humans by drawing them in with false or hypnotic noises or by screaming and bursting their eardrums. Irkens , on the other hand, don’t process sound in the ways that you do. I won’t sustain serious damage or lose my hearing permanently if I listen to its noises. You will.”
“Don’t Irkens have better hearing than humans?”
“I didn’t say it wouldn’t hurt , it just won’t be able to seriously harm me- my pak defence and healing mechanisms won’t allow that to happen.”
“Fair enough, I guess, but aren’t you capable of being hypnotised by sounds? Or being tricked by it faking voices of people you know?”
“ Technically , but it won’t happen.”
Dib looked unimpressed and raised a brow.
Zim sighed, “It could trick or hypnotize me, but since we’re going out there looking for it rather than stumbling upon it unexpectedly, I don’t think it will be as effective against either of us.”
That was a fairly decent point and made sense based off of the evidence. It would be far more difficult for it to trick them when they knew what it had on its side as far as power went.
“Fine,” Dib relented, “But we really should make some sort of protectors for you, as well. I don’t want you to be completely vulnerable out there, even if your headphones won’t be as effective.”
“I’d really rather not wear a ridiculous pair of headphones just to make the noises slightly less intense. It’s likely that I’ll still be able to hear it, either way.”
“And I’d rather you not go crazy in the middle of the woods because some loud noises overtake you and scramble your brain,” Dib countered, “Even if they aren’t perfect with blocking everything out, they’ll do enough to keep you safe. Plus, if you can still hear with them, you’ll be able to use that to our advantage- hopefully without getting too hurt.”
Zim groaned, “ Fine , if it will calm you down, I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Dib gave him a small smile, glad he had won the debate, “Let’s get started on making those headphones.”
~~~
While humans had made leaps and bounds in creating headphones and earbuds that were fairly good at blocking out other sounds from outside sources, none of them would be powerful enough to block out anything loud enough to burst people’s eardrums. Especially considering the fact that Zim had far better hearing than most humans did (and had a different skull structure than them), no regular headphones would work for him. Nothing that they could find online or in stores in person would be good enough for what they needed and they weren’t certain that any currently existing headphones were good enough to even use as a base. That in mind, Zim and Dib decided to completely start from scratch when making the headphones.
For the most part, the only thing that they used normal headphone blueprints for was getting the shape correct for Dib’s pair of headphones. Other than that, they almost completely ignored the typical process for creating the device.
While most headphones were made of plastics, vinyls, and silicone, the main materials that they used were ones that were used frequently by the Irken Armada and couldn’t even be found on Earth as well as strong but typical Earthen metals. These things would block sound, reflecting it rather than absorbing or drawing it in. For the pieces that would be the closest Dib’s ears, they used things that were able to be found on earth- mainly consisting of pliable, porous cloth and sealant.
It took quite a bit of time to perfect the headphones. While Zim and Dib wanted to complete the project together, Dib had college classes and Zim had a part-time job, so their schedules clashed often, making it sometimes difficult for them to get enough time together for them to be able to fully focus on and make progress for their project.
Despite the scheduling difficulties they faced on more than one occasion, they were eventually able to create something that they hoped would work perfectly for their plan- one pair of headphones that were completely noise cancelling for Dib and one pair of vaguely headphone-esque things that lessened noise for Zim.
At least, they were hopeful that the things would work. While both of them were very confident in their abilities and the work that they had created together, they decided that it would be best for them to try out their inventions before actually trying to find Siren Head. They didn’t want to get into the forest and find Siren Head only to discover that their devices worked far less well than they intended and have either of them sustain serious injuries due to it.
This lead to some serious testing as well as some… not so serious testing of their devices.
“CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” Zim was screaming at the top of his lungs- something that he was quite good at considering all fo the practice he had gotten for it over the years.
Egged on by the excitement of the situation, GIR joined in on the screaming fest, voice becoming nearly as loud as Zim’s while hitting a far higher octave, “CAN YOU HEAR? CAN YOU!?”
“I CAN SEE THAT YOU GUYS ARE TALKING, BUT I CAN’T HEAR SHIT,” Dib called back. He couldn’t hear his own voice as clearly or as loudly as he typically was able to, and he couldn’t truly tell how loud he was being, leading to him screaming rather than speaking his questions.
Zim blinked, unable to hear either of them at all, “WHAT?”
“WHAT?” Dib screamed back, squinting as if trying to read Zim’s lips.
Zim removed his own headphones, confident that they worked well enough for their upcoming expedition. He continued to scream, though, wanting to see whether or not Dib’s were working as well as his had.
“CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Zim repeated, keeping his volume consistent with how loud he had been screaming previously.
“I CAN’T HEAR- ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE YELLING LOUD ENOUGH?”
“WE ARE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF OUR-”
GIR cut Zim off with a loud screech that pierced through Zim words, cutting through their air like a knife with his nonsensical noises. He began screaming and continued to make the hideous noise for several long moments that Zim found agonizingly irritating, pinning his antenna back both at the loud noise and the annoyance of GIR’s actions.
Once the silence finally returned, Zim spoked, “Are you done ?”
His question was met with another loud scream from GIR- though this time it was, thankfully, far shorter and less intense.
Zim put a hand over his face, rubbing his temples for a moment before looking up to Dib and meeting his eyes, “So, I take it you didn’t-”
“I STILL CAN’T HEAR YOU.”
With a groan, Zim mimed taking off the headphones. Dib followed suit by actually removing them once seeing this.
“So I take it you didn’t hear any of that?” Zim asked, eyes flickering over to GIR in a slightly distasteful manner, still somewhat disturbed by the robot’s earlier display.
“Nope!” Dib followed Zim’s gaze to the robot, who was, at that point, cheerfully playing with some random pieces of scrap metal he had found scattered around the lab and put two and two together, “I guess it worked, then?”
“Good,” Zim couldn’t hold back his pleased smile at the confirmation that it had worked, proud of himself- of them as a team- for putting together something that was not only perfect for what they needed, but that actually functioned well, “Does this mean we can move onto the final step?”
“We should probably get some other basic supplies, but, other than that...” Dib found himself grinning as well, amber eyes shining with delighted excitement, “I think we’re actually good to go!”
That night, the two of them celebrated with some strange, homemade waffles that GIR made. The waffles were surprisingly very good, despite the strangeness of having waffles that had M&M’s and sprinkles mixed into the batter, and it seemed like a fitting way to celebrate their success. Plus, GIR was thrilled to be able to be part of their operation in one way or another.
All in all, the day had been a complete success.
~~~
Dib wasn’t the tallest person ever, but, considering his source of genetic material, he was no shrimp, either. Over the years, he had grown quite a bit- as humans tend to do- and even Zim wasn’t as short as he had been when he first arrived on Earth. Despite that, the two of them knew that their height was nothing compared to that of the Siren Head and their stature would be a massive handicap when they went up against the large creature.
Because of this, they decided that they would need to obtain one more thing for their expedition to be successful (though they hated to put it off even longer): grappling hooks.
As ridiculous as it sounded, they knew that there was little chance that they would be able to do much to harm or restrain Siren Head without the assistance of such devices and, according to WikiHow, they were incredibly easy to make.
Making the grappling hooks themselves wasn’t too difficult. All that they truly needed were ropes (they used ones of steel to avoid easy breaks), hooks, and, if they were feeling fancy, some sort of launching mechanism. Their combined knowledge of engineering and machinery made it incredibly easy for the two of them to create several of these grappling hooks quickly, leaving them with three each- all of which they were able to complete in one day.
Even the testing of these devices was quick and easy… and, in all honesty, incredibly fun for the two of them. They would be lying if they said that they hadn’t spent more time playing around with them than necessary.
Together, they spent hours messing around with the grappling hooks as they worked to “test” them. They launched the hooks to the tops of buildings and grappled their way around. They worked on their aim and general handling of the devices of course, but, for the most part, they just fooled around with the machines, having fun swinging around like idiots.
During this “testing” period of their preparation journey, Dib finally decided what his favourite part about Zim’s entire house was: the numerous tubes and wires that hung in a massive tangle above their heads in every room.
“Fuck off, Fool-Boy!” Zim screeched as he attempted to outrun- outswing? Outgrapple?- Dib.
“Never, Lizard-Feed!” Dib cackled. He was doing his best to dual wield two of his grappling hooks so that he could move as quickly as possible. While the basement of Zim’s home was practically a labyrinth, the complexities of the wires above gave him plenty of material for travel.
Dib wasn’t the only one who was proficient with a grappling hook, though.
Just as quickly as Dib zipped through the air, Zim dodged his playful attacks and avoided him with just as much grace as his human counterpart. Throughout their childhoods, they had had numerous run-ins with one another and had fought so frequently that an elaborate dance developed between the two of them as time went on. Nothing really compared to their Spider-Man-esque battle among the wires of Zim’s ceiling, though.
“You have the grace of a piñata, Dib-Thing,” Zim glanced over his shoulder only to shoot Dib an overly-confident grin, “You have no chance against m-”
Rudely, Dib swung up right beside Zim, kicking at him to throw him off-balance since neither of his hands were free. He manically laughed as Zim let out a startled shreik, swinging away before Zim had time to recover and retaliate.
“Oh, you are dead , now, Stinky!”
Dib wasn’t threatened by Zim’s words in the least. In fact, they just inspired him to make another attack on his other-worldly friend.
With a high-pitched chirp, Zim extended his pak legs and retracted his grappling hooks, opting to run instead.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Dib chuckled, attempt to gain enough control over his own grappling hooks to apprehend Zim. The added speed and power that Zim had with the pak legs, though, made it a bit difficult.
“There are no laws of cryptid hunting, Dib-Beast.”
“For someone’s who’s only recently start cryptid hunting, you sure sound confident about that,” Dib raised an eyebrow but he was far more intent on their strange game of tag than on their usual banter. Still, their playful back and forth was a constant in their strange relationship and neither of them dropped it, even when they were more focused on other things.
“And for someone from a species completely inadequate compared to mine, you sure sound confident when talking about besting me.” Zim leapt to the side, thankful that his nimble pak legs made it possible for him to avoid his friend’s “attacks” against him.
“Well, I did succeed in making you stop trying to plan world dominaion, so I’d say I have a right to my confidence.”
Zim let out an affronted noise as though Dib’s words were an unforgivable attack upon his entire species, “You convinced me of nothing! I made that decision completely of my own volition. I don’t need a human to tell m- ACK!”
Zim’s haughty rant was cut off by Dib crashing into him at full speeds, the human deciding to take advantage of the alien’s moment of distraction to take him down and win this little game of theirs.
Dib was about to celebrate his success, but, when hurtling towards his friend as fast as his grappling hook would allow, he hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that just maybe swinging at a non-moving object at ridiculous speeds would end up taking him down as well.
The grip that Dib had on his grappling hook faltered and completely slipped from his grasp upon making contact with Zim, sending both of them crashing to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. Zim landed beneath Dib in an uncomfortable position. Were he human, he would have completely knocked the air out of his lungs during their tumble.
Zim glared up at his human for a moment, but he couldn’t keep a straight face for too long- not when Dib was already dissolving into laughter.
“I really should have seen that coming.”
Zim began snickering at their fall as well, “You’re an absolute dunce , sometimes.”
Several moments passed between the two of them, neither bothering to move from their position entangled on the hard, tiled floor of the base, both laughing too hard and too amused by their combined stupidity in the situation to do anything else.
Finally, their laughter tapered off and the two of them looked up at Dib’s grappling hook, dangling from the sky. While both Dib and Zim had fallen upon impact, the device had stubbornly remained hooked to the wires of the ceiling, leaving it hanging several feet above their heads.
“How do you plan on getting that down, wise guy?”
Dib met Zim’s eyes with a grin, aiming his other grappling hook up near the other one. Really, Zim didn’t know what he expected if not that.
“I genuinely cannot believe that you’re still alive, Dib.”
~~~
Aside from the headphones and grappling hooks that Dib and Zim had created and now stored in Dib’s blue, mildly beaten up truck, the two of them also brought along anything that they believed could be of use to them on their journey. This included several different kinds of recording equipment, extra lengths of rope, a flashlight, and a device that registered all noises in the surrounding area and would display said noises visually for the two of them. These items were stored in Zim’s pak and the pockets of Dib’s coat, forgoing the extra storage of Dib’s briefcase for their actual trek out of a concern that it would get in the way.
Overall, the two of them felt extremely prepared for the entire situation and were confident that they would not only be alive by the end of the night but have some sort of definitive evidence to support their claims as well.
Dib parked the truck in a small, gravel lot not far from the forest that they were planning on traversing for the night. It was a dense, wooded area that stretched for several miles and was a popular camping ground. Despite this, it wasn’t difficult to spend an entire week camping out there without ever running into another person, considering the vastness of the forest (or so the internet said, neither Zim nor Dib had ever camped in that particular forest… or at all).
The forest was, in every way, the perfect hunting grounds for Siren Head and there had even been several supposed sightings and hearings of the creature alongside several strange disappearances and deaths related to the area.
While this forest was their best bet of finding it without leaving their state- or country, for that matter- it was also a massive area and they anticipated needing to spend quite a decent chunk of the night searching or even needing to return days later to look again (they did not look forward to trying to fit another night of this into their cluttered schedules). Zim didn’t need to sleep and therefore didn’t really get tired . Dib, on the other hand, was only human and prepared for spending the night searching by drinking four cups of coffee before leaving and sleeping for a bit of the day.
Dib was about to get out of the car before Zim grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“What?” Dib asked, turning to face his friend.
Zim gestured towards the headphones they had made, “I’m not letting you get killed by that siren creature, Dib-Beast.”
Dib let out a small huff of air as he grabbed the two headsets, handing one of them to Zim, “Right back at you, Space Boy. If you need to say something, try to act it out or something.”
“Creative,” Zim teased, a small smirk on his lips, “Don’t forget to look at that device for anything peculiar. If you get yourself killed, I’ll bring you back myself so I can pummel you.”
Dib rolled his eyes, “Same to you, Zim.”
Zim puffed out his chest, huffing slightly, “As if you could ever do such a thing.”
Despite their words, though, they both chuckled.
With that, the two of them secured their headsets, completely cutting off the sound from the rest of the world for the time being. Losing an entire sense, even for a small amount of time, created a strange sense of vulnerability that neither of them was quite used to or comfortable with. Nonetheless, it was necessary for their safety, so the two of them simply exited and locked the truck behind them, carrying several pieces of their equipment along with them as they went.
There were a lot of things that could tip one off to the location of Siren Head. Those things, however, were only obvious if you knew what you were looking- or, in this case, listening- for. Almost everything that could lead them towards Siren Head was the sounds that the creature would emit, but leaving their headphones off for an extended period of time was not the safest course of action and neither Zim nor Dib were idiotic enough to completely forego the devices. Besides, the “hints” that came with Siren Head could be cryptic and, oftentimes, not really understood until it was too late.
White noise. Gentle breeze and running waters and distantly singing birds. The peaceful noises that everyone hears daily and pays little mind. The soft, lovely songs of the forest that people fall asleep to every night.
And then a terribly loud, ear-splitting, bone-chilling noise.
Followed by nothing.
No, they weren’t going to risk going through that just so that they could hear the “tell-tale” signs of Siren Head coming. They would hear the white noise of the forest all around them whether or not it was there- hearing it was a far cry from a true hint of what was to come. They were safer like this, even if neither of them wanted to admit it.
Dib opened his noise to speak as they drew nearer to the entrance of the dense forest before them, but, of course, Zim didn’t hear his question about where they should start. Dib just sighed.
They foraged forwards, heading into the thick woods. Underfoot, leaves crunched and twigs snapped but all of that remained utterly silent. It felt trange despite the fact that both of them knew that that would be the case before they even entered. The feeling of the ground beneath them was enough to ground Zim, even if he had completely lost another of his senses- one of the senses he relied upon the most.
For a moment, Dib glanced down to the device in his hands. The dimly lit green light displayed the noise all around them, showing that there was, in fact, very little going on in the woods. He did notice something, though. Further away, it looked as though there was a slightly louder noise.
Dib squinted, bringing the device closer to his face. Was it the Siren Head? They hadn’t been there for very long- it seemed almost too easy for that to be the case. The closer he looked, though, the less likely that seemed. It wasn’t a very loud nor intense noise. Maybe it was an animal of some sort? Or perhaps-
Something wrapped tightly around Dib’s upper arm, cinching around the flesh in an iron grip.
With a startled jump, what Dib assumed would have been an ear-piercing shriek had Dib had the ability to hear anything tore its way from his throat, reverberating in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the green line flare up, spiking with the sound of his screams.
His panic was short-lived.
When he looked up to face whatever it was, he was met with a completely unintimidating sight: his Irken companion, eyes blown wide and lekku pinned back- probably startled by Dib’s response to his touch.
Dib’s muscles relaxed. He took several deep breaths, calming himself down, reminding himself that he was not in danger, despite what his immediate instincts told him. He took a step back as he regained control of his senses.
“You startled me, you dick,” Dib muttered, knowing that Zim wouldn’t hear him.
“Idiot,” Zim hissed back.
While Dib couldn’t hear whatever it was that Zim had said, his facial expression- and his general douchey-ness that DIb had come to know so well over the years- made it obvious that it was some sort of insult.
Dib flipped his friend off.
Zim let out a heavy sigh, “You can’t just wander off. I thought you were going to get lost.”
With a roll of his eyes, Dib gestured towards his headphones.
“Ugh. Stupid fucking…” Zim gave up trying to talk to him, deciding to mime his words instead. He pointed to Dib, made a walking motion with his fingers, and then crossed his arms into an ‘X’.
Dib still looked completely lost.
With a dramatic groan, Zim just grabbed his friend’s hand, lacing their fingers together- something that was somewhat awkward considering the fact that Zim had two fewer fingers than Dib did, though not as uncomfortable as either of them had anticipated.
Zim pointed at their clasped hands definitively and nodded trying to signify that they would stay like that- for safety reasons, of course.
While Dib wasn’t completely sure why Zim decided to hold his hand, he could make a good enough guess based off of the gesture. So, he just nodded and gave Zim’s hand a gentle squeeze, signifying that he understood.
Zim returned the nod before turning to look in front of them, gazing deeper into the abyss of the woods.
It didn’t take much miming for Dib to understand that his friend wanted to continue towards their actual mission.
Together, they made their way through the forest, disappearing deeper and deeper into the darkened land all around them. As the light of the world dimmed the further they went, Dib grabbed his flashlight, flicking it on so that he could illuminate their way.
The large flashlight that Dib held in his free hand was perhaps one of the best purchases he had ever made. The beam of light that it cast was like a small, portable sun in his hands and it had several different settings for whatever intensity of light they needed. It didn’t stop there, though. The device was crafted from a heavy, sturdy metal that he could easily use as a bludgeoning weapon if it became necessary- not that it would stand much of a chance against the Siren Head, but it was still better to have it just in case.
As Dib manned the flashlight, Zim grabbed the noise device from where it was attached to Dib’s belt, hanging on his hip, and held it up between them with the hand that wasn’t holding Dib’s so that they could both see it.
The readings on the device were normal- well, normal for their location in the middle of a forest late at night- and gave no signs of anything amiss. It was clear that the sounds around them were typical and far from the piercing shrieks and thunderous footfalls of the Siren Head. That , at the very least, was good. It meant that it hadn’t found them yet… hopefully.
While their hopes weren’t exactly high (Dib and Zim were many things, but “optimist” was not included on either of those lists), it was certainly possible for them to discover the creature before it discovered them. It may have had the advantage of its height and power to manipulate sound, but those things came with their disadvantages as well.
For starters, it would be far easier for Dib and Zim to spot Siren Head than it would the other way around. While it could somewhat blend in with trees, a sentient creature of such monstrous size wasn’t easily camouflaged. They , on the other hand, were far smaller than it and weren’t as easy to spot in the middle of the forest. Plus, with their headgear, the Siren Head didn’t exactly have a leg up on them with its deafening screeches.
If they could spot the creature before it became aware of them, they would have everything that they needed to take it down. It wouldn’t be easy by any means, but it certainly would make things less difficult.
Things never worked out that way, though.
Before they even saw the readings on their device, they felt the presence of the Siren Head. Rather, the creature was so gargantuan in size that, even the lightest of its footfalls could be felt and with every step it took, the ground beneath their very feet shook and trembled, nearly powerful enough to knock them off their centre of balance. Dib could feel the vibrations of its movement in his very bones.
Forgetting the sound device completely, the two of them turned their faces up to gaze skywards, whirling around to look behind them.
As they expected, lumbering towards them was what appeared to be a tree. Under the scrutinizing light of Dib’s flashlight, though- and with their knowledge of the creature- they knew better.
Making its way towards them was a heavily emaciated creature, its flesh stretched so tightly over its gnarled bones that it hardly looked as though it had any skin, to begin with. In fact, the creature almost looked as though it were nothing more than a tangle of wood and tree branches growing together haphazardly. Were it not for the distinct humanoid bone structure of the creature, it could almost pass for a regular tree.
Oh, and then there were the heads- the thing that earned it its namesake.
Dib and Zim couldn’t help but stop and stare in absolute wonder as the beam of light travelled up the creatures torso and shone upon its “face”. Perched atop its thin, craggy neck were two sirens pointing in opposing directions, several rows of jagged, humanoid teeth in the gaping maw of each siren.
The sounds that the creature emitted as it unhinged its terrible jaw drowned out any and all sound around them, completely dominating the device that hung limply in Zim’s clawed hand and not allowing anything else to register on it, even as Dib attempted to speak to him from directly next to him.
They truly were lucky for their headsets. If they couldn’t even see any noise other than the creature’s footsteps and screams, they would be dead by now without their headphones (or, at least, Dib would be dead- a thought that made the Irken sick to his stomach- and Zim in immeasurable pain).
“NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO GO!” Dib shouted, straining his voice to be heard or seen in any way. His attempts were futile, though. Instead, he tugged on Zim’s hand, drawing his attention to himself as he wildly gestured towards the creature drawing nearer by the second.
Zim didn’t need to hear Dib’s words to know what he was trying to communicate. Narrowing his eyes, he nodded definitively towards his human companion and began making his first move.
For the first time all night, Dib and Zim split up. They didn’t stray too far from one another, no, they just ran in opposite directions so that they would be on either side of the Siren Head. Even for a creature with limbs like that , it would be difficult for it to grab both of them at once when they were in this position. Doing this would give them enough time to rescue the other or escape if either of them was captured.
As the bone-like arms of the creature swung with its movement, Dib gulped, hoping that it wouldn’t come to that.
Shaking the worry from his head, Dib detached one of the grappling hooks from where it hung at his side and lifted it, aiming towards the creature. With one eye closed to stabilize his aim, Dib pulled the trigger, launching the hook through the air and towards one of the creature’s arms. As it soared through the air, Dib sank his teeth into his lower lip, hoping that the claw of the device would catch on the creature so he could restrain it.
Siren Head wasn’t easily fooled, though. The glint of the metal claw in the moonlight was enough to alert it to the approaching grappling hook.
Instead of allowing it to hit its mark, Siren Head caught the end of the small device in its hand and tugged it towards itself.
Dib shrieked as he was pulled off of his feet and sent sprawling to the ground with the force of the Siren Head’s movements, releasing the device despite himself as he fell. The revolting taste of dirt filled Dib’s mouth as he crashed down and he grimaced at the feeling. Once he spat the gritty substance from his mouth, he gasped for the air that was knocked cruelly from his lungs as he fell.
Confused, and not noticing that its human victim had fallen instead of being dragged along by the line, Siren Head held up the device, searching for the human where it assumed it should be connected.
If Zim had a heart- anatomically speaking, of course- it would have stopped for a moment at the mere sight of Dib’s actions. Concern coursed through his body as he saw Dib wipe out completely followed by mild relief as he saw the human stir, confirming that he was, at the very least, alright enough to move.
Looking back up to the creature, Zim saw what he needed to do. He had to attack while Siren Head was distracted with the foreign device in its grasp and he had to do it before it realized where Dib truly was.
Zim took on a more solid stance and launched his grappling hook at the arm closest to him. Unlike Dib’s first attempt, Zim was successful- Siren Head remaining still for the moment making it easier. The claws of the device hooked onto the sinewy appendage of the monster and embedded itself into whatever strange material it was that the creature consisted of.
Regaining his composure, Dib followed suit, using his second grappling hook to get the other creature’s arm under his control.
In near synchronicity, the two companions moved quickly, rushing to two different trees on either side of the creatures and attaching their end of the grappling hook to the tree, doing their best to wrap it around the trunk and knot the thick metal rope that had been used in their making.
Once close enough, Zim caught Dib by his shoulder and gestured for Dib to take up his camera.
Stepping back, Dib did as Zim suggested, grabbing his camera and beginning to snap photos of the monstrous being that stood like a sentient tree in the forest, confusedly thrashing and inspecting its restraints, though both Dib and Zim had the feeling that even the reinforced materials they had used for the devices were weak against Siren Head.
As Dib did his best to capture photographic evidence of the encounter, Zim snatched his second grappling hook into his clutches and shot it once more. This time, he aimed for the Siren Head’s pelvic bone, hoping to confuse the creature with the attack from a new angle.
Thankfully, Zim’s aim was true and the claws hooking into Siren Head’s obturator foramen.
Zim couldn’t help the small smile of pride that spread across his face as he saw the momentary confusion of the creature in response to the attempted restraints. He and DIb were doing shockingly well up against the beast and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit full of himself (though that was nearly his constant state).
That excitement was short-lived as Siren Head’s confusion turned into rage. Clearly, the cryptid had had enough of the two’s shenanigans and was sick of their struggles against it and its powers.
With little effort, it snapped the metallic ropes that bound it, trashing its arms out to break free and doing so with ease. Scaps of metal torn from the rope rained down above them. The angry movements even uprooted one of the trees that it had been tethered to, sending the innocent arboreal riend several feet away from its original home to meet its final resting place.
“Er, Dib?” Zim called, taking a few steps back as he witnessed the movements of the creature, “I think we should go.”
Nearly entranced with the sight before him and the task at hand, the nature of their situation didn’t fully sink in for Dib and, clearly, he couldn’t even hear his friend’s words as he tried to warn him.
Thankfully for both of them, despite what Zim claimed throughout their childhood, Dib was not stupid and, once he saw that Siren Head was beginning to make its way towards them, he stuffed the camera into one of his free pockets and ran .
The two of them ran side-by-side. As they exited the forest, though, they didn’t hold hands as they did previously. They didn’t need the physical grounding force to remind them where the other was and they certainly didn’t need the handicap of being slowed down by doing so. Up against this thing, even their amazing physique earned over their years of fighting and training seemed pathetic and weak. They needed everything that they had to escape the cryptid’s clutches.
The enormous cryptid had ridiculously long legs, though, and, even when not running at full speed, it was getting far to close to them for comfort at a far too quick pace. Siren Head was practically taking mile-long steps for each foot they moved. It was too fast for them and it only got faster and closer with every second. There was no way they could outrun that thing.
Dibs chest heaved with the effort of staying calm while keeping his speed up. Zim’s fists pumped through the air and his boots pounded against the dirt beneath them as they tried to outrun the thing. Branches from nearby trees whipped at the faces, leaving scratches that would certainly still be there tomorrow but that neither of them paid any mind to- too focused on the task at hand to take notice of the sensation. Faintly, Dib could hear the sound of blood rushing in his ears. Having gone so long without hearing anything , the sound only made him more anxious.
Zim dared to cast a glance behind them and practically felt his throat close up at the very sight of the cryptid. Siren Head was practically on top of them now, just a little too far away for the creature to reach out and grab them. Now that it was so close to them, its enormous height was even more prominent and made it all the more awe-inspiring and terrifying.
Making a split-second decision, Zim ejected his pak legs and looped his arms around Dib’s waist, pulling his companion close to him as the six legs raised him off the ground by several feet, bringing him with him as it did so. The moment that Zim had Dib in his grasp, the pak legs began moving. The extra height of the six appendages and the speed that they provided from a combination of them being numerous and mechanical gave them an advantage that they didn’t have on foot.
Siren Head may have been the tallest living creature that either of them had seen (Dib in his entire lifetime and Zim for the first time in ages), but the pak legs were far more dexterous than the cryptid could ever imagine. While the monster smashed through trees and logs as it sped towards them, they took advantage of the pak legs’ abilities. They scuttled around in an almost spider-like manner, alternating between scrambling up trees, leaping from branches, and darting around quickly on the ground. They moved in erratic patterns that they hoped were too indistinguishable and complicated for Siren Head to follow.
Finally, the lines of trees surrounding them thinned and they could see that the edge of the forest was near. They could practically taste the freedom of their escape.
Dib snatched the lanyard with his car keys out of his pocket and frantically smashed the buttons to unlock the doors and remotely start it up, his other arm still clinging tightly to Zim to avoid being dropped to his demise. If they wanted to get out alive, they didn’t have any time to waste. They needed to be able to jump into the car the second they got out and book it .
After what felt like an eternity, they burst through the line of trees. The two of them almost screamed with relief as they saw the headlights of Dib’s car in the distance.
They weren’t fools, though, and didn’t take time to celebrate the victory of getting out of there. They still weren’t in the clear, not just yet. Siren Head may have “lived” in that forest, but nothing was stopping it from leaving when it wanted or needed to do so and it was certainly mad enough to follow them into the parking lot. Instead, they hurtled towards the vehicle as fast as they could.
Zim practically body slammed the two of them into the car door, his momentum too intense to stop them so suddenly as they grappled to get the door open.
Instead of going around to the other side to get into the driver’s side, Dib simply half let Zim throw him and half scrambled over the centre console to get to the driver’s seat.
Completely forgoing their seat belts, Dib threw the car into drive and slammed his foot down on the gas, jolting the two of them as he did so. Zim didn’t even have time to close the door behind him before they were peeling out of the parking lot and zooming into the road at ungodly speeds that few people were ballsy enough to drive at under regular circumstances.
It wasn’t until they were speeding down the road and had gotten far away from the forest they had been at that Zim finally took off his headphones before snatching Dib’s off as well and tossing both pairs into the back seat. “Put on your seatbelt before you get yourself killed,” Zim instructed, securing his own, “We’re far enough away.” He didn’t add in the fact that he only thought that they were far enough away from the creature for them to do so safely.
Regardless, Dib slowed down a little and clicked his own seatbelt in place. He let out a shaky sigh and gripped the steering wheel once more, doing so so tightly that his knuckles turned white with the force.
They sat in relative silence for several moments, just putting space between them and the place they had just escaped from.
“I believe you are still going above the speed limit, Dib-Friend,” Zim said gently. He could tell that his human was a little shaken up by the situation despite the fact that he encountered near-death experiences incredibly frequently. He could tell the adrenaline from the situation was wearing off and the exhaustion was sinking back into his bones.
With a shake of his head to collect his thoughts, Dib slowed down to a more reasonable pace. After a moment, he slowly grinned, “I cannot believe we just did that!”
Zim couldn’t help but smile as well, relieved that Dib didn’t seem too shaken up, “Yeah, you were an absolute idiot out there. It’s a miracle that we got out of there.”
“Hey!” Dib defended, though he knew that there was no malice in his friend’s words, “I did just as well as you did- and I got the pictures.”
Zim snorted, “I can’t argue with that.”
“Speaking of, do you think we got any good ones?”
“It looked like you took nearly a hundred,” Zim reasoned, “I’m sure at least once of them was decent.”
Dib nodded, “Mind looking for me?” Normally, he would just wait until they got back to Zim’s home to check, but they still had a bit of driving to do and he was anxious to see how they had turned out.
“Sure.” Zim leaned across the centre console to reach into the pocket of DIb’s trenchcoat and retrieve the device in question.
As Dib drove, Zim powered up the camera and began scrolling through the pictures taken that night. Several of them were incredibly blurry, but there were also a few really good ones that could certainly prove the creature’s existence. There were also, of course, many pictures that were somewhere between perfection and garbage fire status, as well. Overall, though, they definitely had several successful shots of the creature.
He kept scrolling through them.
Then, he saw something else. It didn’t really surprise Zim- he already knew that the pictures existed and he could clearly recall when they had taken it together.
The photo was a “selfie” of him and Dib sitting side-by-side, a smile on each of their faces. In the pictures, Dib had a practically shit-eating grin as though he had just made a terrible joke and Zim looked somewhat caught off-guard, laughing at whatever his friend had said but cringing at the horrible joke.
Zim felt a smile slowly make its way across his face as he saw the took in the contents of the pictures.
Dib glanced over at his companion, “You’re smiling- is that a yes? Are they good?”
“Yes, Dib-Thing,” Zim confirmed, power the camera off once more, “Yes they are.”
Zim wouldn’t reveal the real reason he was smiling- he didn’t know if he would ever be comfortable enough to be vulnerable like that around even his best friend. They had been victorious that night, though, so it wasn’t completely a lie to say that that was the reason for his glee.
Besides, the little cheer from Dib about their successful night was too good for him to break by admitting his own happiness was from the memory.
Before them, the road stretched out almost endlessly with few other cars alongside them. They were no longer in danger. For now, it was just the two of them basking in their victory as their cryptid hunting mixed tape played quietly over the speakers in Dib’s car.
Yes. That night had gone well.