Being the sole guardian of the Earth and the only human in the entire world who is aware of an alien invasion currently going on was surely exhausting, forcing twelve-year-old Dib to eventually ‘hit the hay’ as some earthlings tend to say. 
Thinking deeply about his past day when once again he couldn’t convince the school that a literal alien from outer space acted as one of the students, Dib plotted about next move about his archenemy. Completely alone and safe while standing in his bed, the boy eventually had to give up on his tiredness, preparing himself for a daily trip into a dream world. But something wasn’t right.
His shadow looked vastly bigger for a second as if something was standing right behind him. After turning around, Dib could only see a bright, full moon from behind the window, casting its light during a clear sky night. Thinking that his mind was doing tricks, Dib looked back at his bed, but…
He was staring deep into the black, empty eyes of a monster.
Tiny, white spots of stranger’s eyeballs were directed at Dib, as if they tried to penetrate him with their gaze, right into the boy’s soul. He eventually had a chance to look at the rest of the monster’s figure, noticing some similarities with Zim’s physique, although not only adult-sized, but probably seven feet tall if not more. The muscular, alien beast was half naked, wearing nothing but a peculiar pair of partially shredded purple yoga pants as if he picked human clothing at random.
“Zim? Is that you?” After seeing many various shenanigans his archenemy did all the time they fought against each other, it wouldn’t be much surprise if that alien somewhat changed his form. And knowing him, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing he has done during their whole feud.
The strange creature opened his maw, but no sound escaped the void behind it, hovered boy could see thick strings of drool, leaking out of the gums, dripping down from razor-sharp, triangular teeth. All of Dib’s instincts told him to just run away, but frozen in fear couldn’t do anything like stare into the wide-opened mouth, as if darkness itself stared back at him.
Snap out of it!
Dib eventually came back to his senses, wanting to survive yet another danger since the alien came to his city. Knowing well he couldn’t fight back without any tools, the boy quickly turned back and went to the bedroom door, wanting to call for help from anyone in that house, finally having proof of the outer space activity. Even in near-death experiences, Dib had his priorities rather mixed up.
Before he could run towards the door, he felt something yanking his pajama pants, lifting his whole body close to the ceiling. The alien was many times bigger than him, so he didn’t even need to chase his victim, simply reaching with a thick, muscular arm. Dib wiggled at the end of the monster’s fingers, his fists flying but reaching nothing but air. 
“Let me go! I was not afraid of Zim and I’m not afraid of you, whatever you are!” While Dib could be called many things, certainly he wasn’t a coward when it came to life-threatening danger. But the creature didn’t listen to the boy’s ramblings, keeping his massive mouth open. Dib’s body twirled around, dangling from a massive, dark green hand, hoping his clothes would eventually give up. But there was no option for any window of opportunity.
The alien tired of such an unnecessary introduction turned boy’s small stature and briefly looked at the state of his behind. For the first time during the encounter, the alien made a loud, ominous sound while licking his lips with a broad, purple tongue, almost cartoonishly. Without wasting any more time, the monster lowered his captured snack close enough to smell Dib’s fear and sweat. Not caring how lively his food was, the alien inserted the entirety of the boy’s ass into his gigantic maw.
Fearing the end, Dib tried from all his might to somehow escape from wide-open maw, smacking the alien’s jaw with curled fists but nothing worked. The annoyed and impatient creature simply pushed Dib further inside, before eventually closing the whole maw around him, completely covering him in darkness.
Dib could feel his heart madly beating like it tried to jump out through his ribs, but nobody could help him out. He felt a foul stench, a moist and lively floor, and a lot of warm substance landing on his face. None of the creature’s sharp teeth sank into his unprotected and weak flesh, as if he wanted to taste the ‘food’ solely with his tongue. 
In such a pathetic position, Dib could only pray for safety, unable to see anything in his range. Bite onto an alien’s tongue? Kick his teeth out? Anything he thought about was stopped by the brutal truth that the boy wasn’t strong enough to do any damage to someone with such brutal, raw power. However, even then Dib couldn’t just lie there and wait for immediate demise.
The alien satisfied with the boy’s taste, prepared himself to swallow him completely, moving throat muscles while the fleshy, massive tongue tried to push its passenger towards the hole. Dib held onto the tongue with all of his remaining strength but he had to eventually let go, going towards the unknown, further into darkness.
Dib ended up in the tight tunnel, going downwards with gravity when the muscles kept pushing him with the flow. All of the ominous noises and groaning only made him internally sick, knowing well which organs made such a disgusting racket. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, he landed inside a larger cavity, but paradoxically some of the light came through the stomach. Dib thought that he saw something inside the belly, but suddenly…
GASP!
The boy woke in his bed, partially soaked with cold sweat. It was the same night with a full moon, but there wasn’t any ravenous creature nearby wearing a pair of ridiculous yoga pants. Gasping for air, Dib tried to calm down and make sure that nobody wanted to eat him and his precious butt. He eventually stood up, feeling uncomfortably full bladder. While everything in his body told him to stay in a safe place, apparently the other parts couldn’t wait any longer.
Dib moved into the corridor and towards the nearest bathroom on the first floor, somewhat feeling that walls were getting closer around him, but only for just a moment. After regaining posture and forgetting about that whole crazy dream, he went inside the washroom, realizing that the lightbulb had gone out. Ignoring the danger, the boy shrugged it off and finished his business in the toilet bowl, considering just leaving afterward. Wanting to feel better than Zim who was a disgusting slob in his eyes apart from being an alien, Dib washed his hands and entire face, before looking into the mirror, at his reflection. The lightbulb flickered, showing something gigantic and humanoid sitting on the toilet for a split second before it was gone. Dib turned around, seeing nothing but the tiled walls, bathtub, and ‘throne’, before turning back. 
There he was.
Dib once again was eye to eye with a creature from his dream, staring into deep darkness creeping in his eyeholes, apart from the tiny, ominous lights. Learning from his mistakes, the boy didn’t wait and immediately escaped from the bathroom and ran towards the stairs, but the looming alien already blocked the corridor. Being next to the other door, Dib went inside his bedroom but once again there wasn’t anything to help him out of such a pathetic situation. 
“Not this time, you brute! I know kung-jutsu!” The scythe-like-haired boy posed before his enemy, trying to copy one of the action movie actors, but the monster ignored the potential threat, slowly reaching towards the ‘meal’. The massive hand grasped the back of the boy’s pajama shirt, raising the tiny human way above his green head. Dib suddenly experienced deja-vu, but couldn’t use any of that experience to his advantage.
Not wanting to go down without a fight, Dib was more desperate, trying to kick the alien directly into the jaw, looking for any weak spot. When the boy thought nothing worked, he suddenly managed to hit the creature hard enough, forcing him to turn his head. But that was the only reaction, not even the bruise appeared on the alien’s thick and dark skin. With one expectation. The creature seemed to lose his patience faster than ‘before’.
The massive, half-naked alien repositioned his captured victim, so it could go into his maw head-first, while his knife-like teeth loomed ominously close to the boy’s skin and material, ripping the latter in shreds but drawing no blood. Dib was sure he already experienced such demise, landing into darkness the second time that night. Or was it first, for real?
The insides of the alien’s mouth were pretty hot, almost like it was a sauna but with less light and with much more fluids and a disgusting smell. Creature's saliva coated the entirety of Dib’s body from head to toe like it tried to smother him. Or drown him in it. Wiggling and more aggressive than in his ‘dream’, the short-sized boy had to act fast.
Dib used his legs to kick out the front teeth of his ravenous captor, but in pitch black his limbs were flailing with no purpose, only grazing his target. He could sweat that an ominous chuckle filled his ears, but it could be just his mind doing tricks out of panic. Thousand of boy’s different thoughts rushed through his head but none of them were good enough to somehow defeat such a hungry monstrosity. It was only a matter of time before the dream would repeat itself.
And just like that, the alien started swallowing his delicious, fear-induced, and pajama-wearing meal, while the tongue tried to push away its unfortunate rider. Unable to see what was in front and behind him, Dib could only rely on his sense of touch, feeling a change in his surroundings. Being in a tight, tubular space he with his arms wanting to climb out, but strong throat muscles kept pushing him downwards. Grunting out of frustration, Dib grabbed onto the back of their tongue but it was way too slippery for his tiny fingers. After a few seconds, he fell down the fleshy pipe.
None of his strategy worked and Dib was eaten almost with no effort, treating him like a regular, lifeless snack. When he admitted his feat and awaited the gruesome fate, the boy eventually found light at the end of the disgusting tunnel. He was sure that the alien’s belly was partially translucent, but that wasn’t the most surprising fact.
Something was moving, so close to him! He reached his hand towards the object, but right before he could catch it… 
… he woke up in his bed again.
Covered in lots of cold sweat but also with clean and normal-looking pajamas, Dib didn’t wait for the monster to show up. Not believing it was just a dream, the boy was sure it was all Zim’s fault, trying to mess up with his brain, not for the first time during their encounters. He got out of his bedroom and immediately went downstairs to the living room, trying to call for help. But when his hand reached the phone, Dib was lost in thoughts.
“Wait, what am I doing? Nobody’s going to believe me, like always. What I’m supposed to say? Oh, hi there dispatch. I had not one but two dreams about a gigantic alien swallowing me whole but I kept waking up safely in my bed. Free ride to local asylum? Yes, please! Ugh…” Dib looked around as if a powerful weapon against the nightmarish creature would just lie on the table. Although boy found something else.
Car keys.
Knowing well he doesn’t know how to drive, Dib took them anyway and went outside of the home without even putting shoes on. After pushing the remote button, the nearby car was ready to go. Dib opened it and sat in the driver’s seat, trying to remember everything necessary before eventual departure.
“Alright. Seat belt, key in ignition. I’ll take you down, Zim. Just wait because I’m not falling for your tricks. Monster from dreams, nice one.” Dib kept talking to himself, forgetting the fact he would have obvious troubles with reaching the gas pedal. He readjusted the mirror, looking into the reflection, seeing none other but…
“You’re kidding me!”
With a toothy smile and deeply dark eyes, a green creature was just sitting on the back seat appearing from absolutely nowhere, apparently waiting for the ‘driver’. Dib tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. Succumbed into panic, he knocked on the glass and screamed, hoping that any of the neighbors would be brought to attention. But nobody came. Just him, an empty street, an alien that couldn’t be real. Just a boy’s crazy imagination.
Dib felt a long, crooked finger on his shoulder, giving him a signal to either fight back or escape. He quickly jumped to the passenger’s seat, however, the ravenous alien had both arms, using the other one to effortlessly lift the wiggling boy from his chair. He bit hard into the creature’s skin but it was like trying to chew the bark of a tree. Not even a speck appeared on thick flesh while creature didn’t even flinch.
Lifted like a steamed dumpling out of the bamboo basket, the alien used both of his hands to morph the poor little human into a ball, now truly resembling oriental food. In such an uncomfortable and humiliating position, Dib entered the alien’s maw against his will. He would think about unknown darkness, but he was more than sure that occurrence happened at least three times that very night.
Familiar smell and warmth welcomed him like an old friend, hovered there wasn’t anything pleasant about that crammed-up space. The spit-covered boy was inches close to just keeling over and accepting his fate, but there was still a glimmer of hope that it was just a baffling dream. Dib was certain he would be pushed toward his stomach, and then he would wake up in bed just like usual.
But what if he doesn’t?
Finding the strength to retort, Dib tried to remember where the creature’s teeth were. His bare feet searched for mouth’s entrance, suddenly grazing against thick, but probably vulnerable fangs. But right before he mustered all of his remaining power to inflict as much damage as possible, the alien’s tongue reminded Dib about its presence, wrapping itself around the boy’s body, and covering it in slimy saliva.
Dib whined, not believing how pathetic the whole situation was, not giving him even the smallest window of opportunity to somehow fight back. Thinking it was the end, that time the alien took his precious time and tasted the captured snack a little longer, moving his tongue to explore the boy’s every nook and cranny. Feeling deeply violated, the boy smacked the tasting organ, doing no damage.
Eventually feeling tired from such a lively meal, the lien ejected Dib into his throat with a single swallow movement, pushing his small body into an obvious destination. The warm tunnel felt somewhat tighter than before, and the boy had trouble breathing, not to mention his diminishing will to fight back. All of that struggling took away the last shreds of his usually strong ambition. But he still remembered about other instances and how sliding into the alien’s belly ended.
At his dim-lighted destination, Dib looked at the wall, almost able to see the world outside. However, that didn’t catch all of his attention. He wasn’t alone, judging by all the movement around him, along with strange whispering, as if objects were calling for his help. Breathing heavily with a rapidly beating heart near his throat, the boy looked around barely seeing anything. When the live object was close to his view, the inevitable happened.
He woke up, again.
Frustrated beyond belief but simultaneously glad he was safe, Dib let out all of his anger into the pillow, hitting it with a curled-up fist, treating the innocent cushion as if it was that elusive alien with neverending hunger. It was the most fury-inducing alien encounter in his entire life. And he had multiple ones with Zim himself.
“That’s it! I have enough for this madness! Where are you, Zim? Let me get my hands on you and you’ll regret messing up with my brain! Come out and fight like a man instead of relying on your lackeys or whatever is happening. I’ll get you! I’ll…”
In the middle of his rant, Dib eventually senses a nearby, ominous presence. Judging by previous ‘dreams’, it should take much longer to meet him again. But there he was, towering before the boy’s bed, staring into his soul with black eyeballs. Dib lost all of his fury, which could be used during the fight. But he lost all of it, just wanting that ‘dream’ to end as well. But how many times has he had to endure the whole ordeal before he goes truly mad and a perfect patient of the local asylum?
He was close to starting a rant towards the alien, wanting all the answers on what was happening to him that whole night, knowing well that the alien would remain mostly silent, wanting only one thing. Dib himself. After losing all remaining will to fight, the boy waiting for inevitable to happen since it would go towards sudden awakening again. The monstrosity drooled all over the carpet near his clawed feet, reaching toward the depressed meal.
Dib eventually saw something vastly different about the alien. The usually muscular creature had a gigantic, round belly as if he was heavily pregnant with multiple children. Then it hit him, how horrifying that view was. The boy could see the terrorized faces of unknown kids outlined on the skin, along with their hands and feet, trying to escape their demise. Not only that, those figures were moving around, clearly alive. His heart sank, succumbing to fear like never before, unable to avoid the alien’s next move.
That time, the alien grasped Dib’s throat in a powerful chokehold, squeezing out all remaining shreds of will from his tiny frame, before opening his gigantic maw with a massive tongue flopped outside. He somewhat gently placed the boy’s feet on his organ, slowly pushing the rest of his body into the void. The creature changed his grip, placing the palm of his claw-like hand on his scalp, shoving him with more strength.
Alien’s mouth almost felt like home at that point, along with a familiar, although foul scent. The typical, slimy saliva was also just the same. If Dib had a watch on him, he would certainly look at it dramatically, waiting to wake up once more, perhaps for the last time. Then immediately he felt dreadful feeling if that occurrence was the real one and he just stupidly gave up without any fight.
Fearing it would be the true ending of his adventures, the boy desperately tried to open the creature’s maw, not wanting to end up in an already filled stomach. That was probably the proof he needed that he wasn’t dreaming anymore. After finding the monster’s fangs in pitch black, Dib started pummeling it with all his mustered strength, but for naught.
Not even kicking worked, while something warm and wet crept behind him, before snatching him around the waist and pulling on the top of it. The familiar, gargantuan tongue met the boy yet another time if counting all the previous occurrences. Dib was overwhelmed with emotions, shaking with sadness, frustration, and desperation. Everything was so ridiculous about that night, that he almost wanted to laugh. 
After the usual shove, Dib went down the tubular tunnel when the alien’s throat somewhat tried to suffocate the poor boy along the way. A rather peculiar message of strong throat muscles could crush every bone of the boy’s body, who wanted it all to end quickly, furious at the alien who still wanted him to suffer in all that warm, foul-smelling filth.
He landed in another cavity with a wet, disgusting sound as if he was submerged in thick slime. Dib gasped for air, remembering the insides of the alien’s stomach from his dreams, eventually getting the answer of what all those faces from before were. Thinking he was ready for any kind of truth, was suddenly corrected. And it hit him harder than a blunt hammer.
All of these children… looked just like Dib!
“Help me!”
“No, help me!”
“I’m the real Dib and we should all calm down!”
“No, I’m the real Dib!”
The boy who just landed in the alien’s belly couldn’t believe his own eyes. Along already digested foods, dozens of identical humans were looking for the exit, pushing against the stomach’s wall. Sadly for them, each Dib was an individual and preferred working alone, so any attempt at organization was a failure from the start.
Dib eventually had a theory of what was happening. The alien wasn’t invading his dreams. Instead, he treated the whole multiverse like a take-out restaurant and Dib was his favorite position. Since he didn’t wake up, it only made him more defeated.
The dim light from the outside suddenly changed along with the view, before turning into something familiar once again. The alien was still hungry, and since the ‘restaurant’ was open and their favorite meal was at his reach, the creature would not stop until every possible Dib would end up in his bottomless stomach.
Or perhaps it’s still a dream?