Truce

Not paying the slightest bit of attention to Ms. Bitters agonizingly dull science lecture, Zim heedlessly balanced a wooden pencil between his two gloved index fingers. Today's topic was insects, or more precisely, ant colonies. He was supposed to be using the writing utensil to take notes like the other students, but as usual, he was bored out of his mind. Sometimes he even wondered why he still bothered showing up to what the humans referred to as skool. He had experienced enough of it in his long life to realize, despite being a learning institution, there wasn't nearly enough useful knowledge for a potential conquering invader. Most of the time, the instructor blabbered on about how doomed they all were and how dreary they could expect their adult lives to be. Still, every time he felt on the verge on insanity, he quickly reminded himself that if he wanted to avoid any unwanted attention, he needed to attend regularly to keep up appearances.

Ms. Bitters took a step back from a medium sized glass structure resting on her desk. Inside of it, dozens of tiny ants scurried about, each performing an important task for survival. Some of the ants were different colors and were fighting aggressively for territory. She turned away from the flask and pointed to the crudely drawn chart on the chalk board behind her. "So you see students, the soldier ants will horribly annihilate their rival counterparts in a brutal battle, similar to the corporate nightmare structure that is the backbone of our economy. But occasionally when an orphaned ant loses its queen, it is absorbed into the new colony rather than killed."

The rest of the students carefully followed the yardstick their teacher used as a pointing tool as she explained the lesson. They seemed somewhat interested in the topic, but it also could have been the subconscious fear that the yardstick served a duel purpose and could be slammed on their desks in front of them at any time.

Tuning out the lecture entirely, Zim leaned back and tilted his head to stare at the poorly maintained ceiling. He had to admit he had found some facts interesting, such as how such a tiny creature could carry up to fifty times its own weight. He had thought briefly about using that to his advantage, supersizing the ants to destroy the city. But then he remembered his disastrous attempt with the class hamster and quickly dismissed the idea.

Now that he thought about it, it had been quite a while since he last contacted The Tallest with a new elaborate plan to take over the Earth. As expected of all invaders, he was supposed to report in regularly with any updates on his progress. He was surprised they hadn't reached out to him by now. Surely they would be wondering about him.

He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, desperately trying to conjure up a new way he could possibly enslave humanity. All of his previous attempts had ended in failure and it HAD been a while since he'd come up with anything fresh. He had tried to convince himself that it was just a minor setback, that he had just been too busy with other things to conjure up anything good. But the real truth was, he was rapidly running out of ideas.

Before he could get too lost in thought, he suddenly felt the chair leg beneath him snap. With a yelp, he immediately lost his balance and crashed to the classroom floor. The commotion had easily been enough to draw the attention from the rest of the class. Body aching and with confused stares looming over him, he gathered himself up. After taking a moment to ensure his disguise was still in place, he straightened his posture and glared across the room at the one student whom he knew, without a doubt, was responsible.

Dib.

His sworn enemy, and the one to blame for always foiling all of his well-thought-out plans, innocently twiddled his thumbs and whistled away while looking up at the ceiling. Zim glared and clenched his teeth. The incident had been another pathetic attempt by the human to put unwanted attention on the proud invader. Hopping up on his desk, he prepared to shout a threat of impending doom when the teacher abruptly cut him short.

"Zim! That's the fifth disturbance this year," barked Ms. Bitters, swatting the yardstick toward him. "One more outburst and you lose your desk for the rest of the school year."

Knowing it best not to argue, Zim stood up straight and gave his signature military salute. "Yes. Ms. Bitters." Sending Dib a death glare, he picked his chair back up and quickly repaired it with some duct tape he kept stashed away in his desk. He would have liked to use his personal mini-laser to fuse the metal back together, but he knew better than to show off that kind of technology in public.

Zim had learned long ago to expect the unexpected in class, no matter how juvenile it may be. It wasn't the first time his nemesis had picked on him, and it would certainly not be the last. He made a mental note that he would just have to come up with something more ingenious later to get his revenge.

Dib on the other hand, was fully enjoying Zim's torment. Proud of his minor accomplishment, he snickered quietly on the other side of the room. If he was honest with himself, it had been nothing more than a childish prank, but he still found it amusing. Unfortunately, Ms. Bitters did not share in his particular sense of humor.

"And Dib. Since you also seem to have just as much trouble paying attention in class, I am assigning the two of you as partners for the school science project."

Dib stopped snickering. "Aw comon! He's an alien!" he countered, holding his hands out towards Zim in protest. Taking Dib's accusations as everyday nonsense, Ms. Bitters hissed and cast her infamously dark shadow over him. Feeling defeated, Dib slumped forward and rested his chin on his hand. "Yes ma'am," he said grudgingly.

The rest of the day went on as usual. After the final bell rang, Zim found himself angrily marching back to his base, all the while ranting to some poor, unsuspecting kid about how miserable his day was thanks to his arch nemesis.

"And can you believe that!? Me!? Zim!? Ordered to work with that FILTHY Dib creature!" Upon entering the "living room" part of his base, he angrily slammed the door behind him, not realizing the random kid he had been complaining to made a run for it long ago. "The thought of such nonsense makes me sick! That horrible stink beast."

Grunting in frustration he scanned around the room. As usual, Gir was sitting on the couch watching TV with the remote in hand. "HIYA MASTER!" he screeched in his high pitched metallic voice. "YOU WANNA WATCH THE SCARY MONKEY SHOW WITH ME?"

Zim glared at the tv screen. "No Gir. No horrible monkey today." He threw one of his arms in the air for dramatic effect. "There is much work that needs to be done! I need a new plan to destroy the humans and I must do it before the-Dib bothers me about some IDIOTIC science fair project! I have recently discovered the humans have an irrational obsession with tacos, and if I can control these tacos...I CONTROL THE WORLD. I just need to-"

He froze when he realized his little robot slave had squeaked his way up to him and was eagerly awaiting to hear the rest of his master's plan. Anything involving food always managed to catch the SIR unit's attention.

Zim looked down at him apprehensively. "Eh, I mean...GIR! I need YOU, UP HERE! Collecting uh, INFORMATION! On as many...TACO commercials as possible! Do you understand?"

Excited, Gir clapped his tiny hands together in joy, "TACOS!" With a quick and tiny salute, he ran back to watch TV. Zim sighed in relief and continued on to one of his hidden elevators that would take him down into the base. He was well aware that with a plan involving tacos, Gir's assistance would probably be more of a hindrance anyway.

Working tirelessly into the night, Zim managed to complete most of the preparations for his master plan. Not requiring sleep, he often used the late hours to advantageously work on his new plans while Dib and the majority of the other humans were resting. What primal creatures, he thought to himself, needing to sleep nearly a third of their lives. How pathetic.

He struggled to slip into the silly taco costume he had stolen from an unsuspecting teen outside Crazy Taco. After zipping it up, he approached the main communication monitor and waved his hand over the control panel. The large black screen that towered above him instantly flickered to life.

"Computer! Contact the Tallest!" he shouted.

A deep robotic voice echoed throughout the room in response. "But sir, they never answer. Are you sure you want to-"

"I am your master, and I command you to contact them." There was silence. "Now!"

The computer let out an audible sigh and did as it was commanded. Zim stared at the blank screen in anticipation. He continued to wait patiently, well past the time any sane person would have given up. Finally, after twenty minutes of constant ringing, a connection was established.

Zim felt his excitement rise as his leaders appeared on screen. From the looks of it, he seemed to have interrupted some sort of binge snacking period. Littered around the floor behind them were empty candy wrappers and chip bags, empty soda cups were scattered here and there, and on the sides of the screen he could see even some of the crew members munching happily on donuts.

As usual, the Tallest looked less than pleased to see him. "Yes, what is it now Zim?" questioned Red in a rather exhausted tone.

Zim immediately saluted his leaders out of respect. "My Tallest! I am reporting in to inform you of my latest and most ingenious plan to rid this planet of the humans!"

"But that's what you always say," taunted Purple with a mouth full of chips. "And you're in a taco suit."

Zim glanced down at his costume briefly and then lifted his head. He closed his eyes and raised a hand as if to properly explain the situation. "Yes, well. You see that is all part of the plan. First I will use this taco suit as a disguise to sneak into the human taco headquarters. Then, once I have successfully infiltrated their defenses, I will-"

Hearing snickering, he opened his eyes, only to find his leaders chuckling at him. At first he was confused, but his ego quickly took over. "Ah yes, thank you. I AM a master of comedy. Now if you direct your attention to this taco."

Red and Purple's laughter only increased as Zim continued his explanation. Eventually, he found the rest of the crew giggling along with them. Confused, he ended the demonstration. Surely he could understand that the costume had been humorous, but the core of his presentation wasn't intended to be comical.

"My Tallest?" he asked perplexed. "I am confused. What is it that you find so amusing?"

Both of his leaders attempted to catch their breath. "You really still haven't figured it out yet have you?" asked Tallest Red.

Zim stared at him puzzled. "Eh? Whatever do you mean my Tallest?"

Red sighed. "Look Zim, the 'mission' that we assigned to you was a fake. Your invader status was never reinstated. We gave you that assignment hoping you would disappear somewhere in the far end of the universe."

"Oh and to never be heard from again!" added Purple happily. "Don't forget to be never heard from again!"

Red turned back toward Zim. "Uh, yeah. And to be never heard from again."

Zim stared at the two of them, speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. A joke? It had to have been a joke, he tried telling himself. Why else would his Tallest be saying such absurd things?

He forced a maniacal laugh. "Hahahahahahaha. Good one my Tallest! I will have to come up with something equally whimsical for my next report." He cleared his throat. "Now, as I was saying-"

"Were serious Zim," interrupted Red, his tone suddenly stern.

Zim's cocky smile faded and was replaced with an uncomfortable feeling in the center of his gut. "I-I don't understand."

Red sighed again and brought his two long claws to rest on his forehead. "Look, you're not really an invader Zim. You haven't been since your re-encoding to food service drone by the control brains and banishment to Foodcourtia."

"And stupid! Don't forget stupid!" Purple chimed in.

Red ignored his comrade. "You're too dangerous to keep around so we sent you away to the far end of the universe. To be honest, we've only been keeping up this charade for our own entertainment, but frankly it's become tiresome. From now on, consider yourself exiled. You are banned from all communications and setting foot on any Irken owned planets is strictly forbidden. You will no longer be sent supplies and are expected to fend for yourself. If you break these terms, you will be eliminated."

"Yeah and don't call us anymore!" shouted Purple.

And with that, the transmission went blank.

Zim stared blankly at the empty screen. Exiled? It couldn't be. It didn't make any sense. Like any good invader, he had dedicated his entire life to serving the Irken Empire. Had his whole mission really just been a complete joke? Was he really doomed to live the rest of his life on this miserable mud ball?

Denial overtaking him, he frantically waved his hand across the control panel to reconnect the call. "My Tallest! My Tallest? Surely this is a mistake!" Failing to get through, he resorted to pounding his fist against the bioscanner. "My Tallest! My Tallest? My Tallest!"

There was still no answer.

Defeated, Zim sunk back in his command seat. A lie? Had it really all been a lie? Was he really nothing more than a giant laughing stock? Had the entire Irken Empire been taking him for a fool this entire time?

Despite the news he had been told, his mind still had difficulty processing it. He sorted through past endeavors, hoping to note any moment that might have given him a clue. First their was the Great Assigning. He HAD found it odd that the Tallest didn't have a specific assignment ready for him when he arrived, but since they had assured him his mission was secret, he'd blindly accepted it. Then there was his SIR unit, or GIR as they had called it. Instead of helping him with his plans, the little robot seemed more interested in food and television than taking over the world. And then there was the general lack of communication from his leaders. As an invader, he was required to give frequent updates on his progress, but out of the hundreds of times he had tried contacting the Tallest, they only seemed to answer when it was convenient for them.

Slowly, he felt the reality of the situation begin to sink in. His mission, his SIR unit, the general disregard for any of his ideas. Everything was starting to make sense. His race didn't care about him. As far as they were concerned, he was as good as dead. This entire time, he had simply been a side show for his leaders' amusement and had just been too stupid to put the pieces together. Was he really considered that much of a threat to his own people that they would rather have him exiled than working as a fast-food drone? He wasn't sure which was more humiliating.

Each thought that crossed his mind sunk deeper than the last. Denial giving way to anger, he dug his claws into the cheap, flimsy fabric of the taco suit. With a loud tearing sound, the costume split apart. He shed it from his body and forcefully tossed it aside. How dare they do this to him! Him! The great ZIM!

Anger rising, he grabbed the nearest object he could find, which in his case, happened to be some metallic wires running along the wall. Grabbing hold of the metal tubes, he yanked them out as hard as he could. The damaged components let out a series of sparks as they became disconnected.

He had expected the outburst to calm him down, but it wasn't enough. Rage fuming, he thrashed about the communications room, ripping out any mechanical parts he could find, throwing debris chaotically in any direction, and generally destroying anything he could get his claws on. I'm an invader! A member of the Irken elite! How dare they cast me aside like I'm nothing!

When the communications bay was thoroughly destroyed, he continued on to the lab. Grabbing what looked like an advanced wrench, he raised it above his head and smashed it into a nearby test tube chamber. Glass shattering, he didn't even bother to take a step back as the semi-clear liquid spilled out over the floor. Swinging the wrench again, he bashed a nearby computer console. Erratic parks flew out from the dashboard and traveled across the fresh spillage, causing localized explosions around various nearby electronics.

He had nearly completed destroying most of the lab when the computer's deep robotic voice rudely interrupted him. "Sir, there is someone at the door."

Breathing heavily from his raging tantrum, Zim whipped his head around to glance at the monitor. "What is it now?" he spat angrily.

It was Dib. The sun outside had risen to approximately mid-morning and the boy was pounding on his front door demanding the ex-invader to open up. Zim growled in annoyance. Out of all the things to bother him now, it had to be that filthy nuisance.

He tried to ignore the alert, but it only irritated him further. "Computer!," he barked. "Let the dirt child in." He made his way toward the elevator, his claws balled into tight fists. "I'm going to take care of that bothersome human myself."

Dib, still banging on the front door, was now shouting to get Zim's attention. "Zim! I know you're in there and I want to talk about this stupid science project thing! I am not letting my grades slip because of you! You hear me space boy!? I want to discuss a tru- huh?"

To his surprise, the door swung open automatically. He stared at the opening confused. "Zim?"

Gir, who was still watching tv, greeted him from the couch. "HIYA BIG HEADED KID! YOU HERE TO PLAY WITH MY MASTER?"

"Uh, not exactly," Dib answered. Cautious, he took a few steps inside and proceeded to yell at the ceiling. "Listen Zim, if this is some kind of trap, I'm not falling for it! You got that Irken scum!?"

Dib waited for something in retaliation, an alarm to sound, a robot arm to try and nab him from the ceiling, a hatch to open that Zim would pop out of from behind, something. But there was no response. Puzzled, Dib turned his attention toward the tiny robot. "Hey, is your master around?"

Gir stood up excitedly from the couch. "He sure is!"

Dib stared at the robot waiting for him to follow up with Zim's location, but Gir simply stared back at him with a big goofy grin plastered on his face. Dib sighed. "Can you take me to him?"

"Okie dokie!"

Gir approached the wall, but stopped a few feet away. Dib watched in amazement as the elevator hatch opened, revealing a circular, floating platform. He had seen it only once before, back before he and Zim had battled it out as nanobots. Dismissing the memory, he and Gir stepped onto the platform. Without so much as a command, the two of them were smoothly, but rapidly transported down the tube.

The platform eventually came to a stop, and the two of them stepped off. Dib followed Gir as they passed through a set of sliding doors that led to the main portion of the underground base. Dib stared at the components around him in awe. Everywhere he looked, technological wonders lined the walls. He silently cursed himself for not bringing his camera.

As they ventured deeper into the base, he noticed the components around him started to become scattered and broken. Dib felt a bit uneasy, sensing something was off.

Ever since the germs fiasco, Zim never let his base get so disorganized. Granted the boy had only successfully broken in a handful of times, but every time he had, everything had been so neat and organized it made it unusual to find it in such disarray. Suddenly, just as they were about to pass through the entry way into the lab, the doors slid open.

"HIYA MASTER!" shouted Gir excitedly. "I brought the big headed kid down here to play with you!"

Saying nothing, Zim ignored his minion and irately approached the boy with his claws still clenched into fists.

Feeling uneasy, Dib subconsciously took a step back. "Look Zim, I know you're mad about me breaking into your base, but that's not why I'm here."

Zim still said nothing and continued walking closer.

"Did you hear me space boy? I just came to talk to y-"

Like a mallot struck his face, Dib suddenly felt Zim's fist forcefully collide with his left cheekbone. Disoriented from the impact, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Dazed and head throbbing, he lifted his hand to caress his cheek. It had been a surprisingly hard hit. "Geez Zim," he winced, feeling a bruise already start to form. "What was that for?"

He started to get up from the cold metallic floor, but before he could, he felt Zim assertively yank him by his collar and lift him up from the floor. "Enough with your lies human! I demand you tell me the real reason you've come here!"

Still dazed and now suspended only a few inches above the floor, Dib could only stare back at the enraged Irken. He was beyond confused. All he had done was show up to Zim's front door and all of a sudden the alien wanted to beat the living tar out of him. It didn't make any sense. Sure they were arch enemies, but usually their fights broke out after an escalated argument or when Dib stopped him from carrying out his plans.

Realizing this time he may actually be in real danger, Dib quickly jabbed Zim in the gut and kicked the former invader's leg out from under him. Zim grunted in pain, but involuntarily released him. Dib ran a few steps to get to a safe distance, but stopped to look back at the alien. He was still genuinely curious about Zim's behavior. Never before had he seen the alien so enraged. Sensing he would need some extra firepower, he slowly reached into his hidden coat pocket.

Seeing that Dib was up to something, Zim readied himself to charge again, but halted when the human held up what appeared to be a taser fun. It wasn't a normal gun, but modified, similar to the handcuffs he had tried to use to capture him the day they met.

Dib, sensing he had the upper hand, held his ground with the weapon in hand. "Enough Zim! I don't know what's gotten into you, but I did not come here to fight! If you take one more step toward me, I'll knock you unconscious and drag you to the local authorities."

Zim glared at his rival, weighing his options. It wouldn't be the first time the human had threatened to knock him out and reveal his identity. He could certainly try to call his bluff, but despite his current state of mind, he wasn't sure if he was willing to press his luck.

"Very well," he stated in an agitated growl. He adjusted his posture so that he appeared upright and allowed his arms to rest across his chest."What is it you want? I am very busy at the moment."

Dib lowered his weapon, but eyed his nemesis skeptically. "I came here to talk about the school project. You know the one we were assigned to work on together?"

"Pfft. Your pitiful science project means nothing to me pathetic Earth creature," Zim spat. "Why would I agree to help you?"

"You never did repay me for helping you when we turned into Bologna," Dib pointed out. "Or I could just taze you now and turn you in if you'd rather have that. Come to think of it, I might as well do that anyway."

Zim's posture became defensive again. "You dare threaten me!? I AM ZIM! Such pathetic Earth squabbles do not interest me. Leave now human or I will destroy you with my amazing base of doom!"

Dib looked around the room briefly, noticing the collection of smouldering technology surrounding them. He held the taser back out. "Nice try space boy, but there's no way you could destroy me with your base in this shape."

Zim uncrossed his arms and took a brief look around. It only then occurred to him just how much damage he had done. At this point, the base may not even be able to repair itself, not without manual help. Repairs could take weeks, or maybe even months.

Knowing he lacked the upper hand, Zim relaxed his posture once again. "And how do you expect me to help you Earth stink?" he asked rather condescendingly. "As you may have noticed, my base is currently in need of severe repair and from the look of things, it's going to be a while before it's fully operational again."

Dib lowered the taser slightly. "Listen, if you agree to help me with this, then I can help you repair parts of your base. In the meantime, we can use my Dad's equipment for the project."

"Ha! That's a good one," shouted Zim. " Why would I ever let you help repair my base?"

Dib let out a brief sigh. "Look, I don't like this either. But I'd rather not fail and let my grades slip because I was paired with the likes of you." He switched off the taser gun and shoved it back into his coat pocket. Secretly, he knew the taser was just a regular gun without any ammo, but he had modified it to look more threatening in the hopes that Zim was dumb enough to fall for it. Luckily, his plan had worked.

"Listen, I know it doesn't mean much to you," Dib continued, "but if my dad found out that I failed a science project, I wouldn't just be the laughing stock of the school, I would be the laughing stock of the whole world. I can handle being called crazy, but not stupid. I'll help you repair the base as long as you help me with the project."

Taking a step forward, he held his hand out. Zim eyed him suspiciously.

"What? It's a handshake," explained Dib.

"Don't belittle me human! I know what it is!" shouted Zim. "May I remind you, the last time I returned that gesture, we both ended up as bologna meat!"

"You just have to trust me this time," said Dib. He flipped over his hand to prove there was nothing there.

Zim scoffed back at him. "I would never trust you, stink beast."

Dib rolled his eyes. "Okay look, you don't have to trust me. Let's just call a truce. No trying to kill each other until the science fair is dealt with. Alright?"

Zim opened one eye to study the hand presented in front of him. He paused for a moment. If what his leaders had told him earlier was true, he would be forced to make Earth his new permanent home. He would need to find supplies, gather equipment, and work out some sort of purpose to keep himself preoccupied. He still craved world domination, but without his privileged resources, maybe he would need to go about it a different route. If something went wrong, he could no longer flee the planet at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps with the help of a gullible human, he would be able to learn their weaknesses faster. And maybe, if did manage to take over the planet and offer it to the Tallest, they would lift his banishment and reinstate him as an invader. After all, what was the saying? Keep your enemies close or something?

Zim reached out and met Dib's hand in agreement. "Let's just get this over with so we can go back to properly trying to destroy each other shall we?"

He sneered at his new diabolical plan. While the human was busy worrying about the science fair, he would grow to earn the boy's trust and hopefully gain a deeper understanding to the secrets of their kind, possibly even their weaknesses. He would not let the incident from earlier bring him down. He was ZIM! And he was going to get his former title back one way or another.

Meanwhile:

A lone alien escape pod drifted slowly though the emptiness of space. Battered and damaged beyond repair, it appeared to be a common ball of space junk. Inside the pod was a single female Irken soldier, along with her tiny robotic companion, MIMI. The Irken had programmed her personal PAK unit on her back to keep her in hibernation mode while they traveled. It had been several months since the two of them had contact with anyone, and the last thing she wanted was to waste valuable energy. Together with her faithful SIR unit, the two of them drifted silently through the cosmos until someone stumbled across what was left of their desecrated ship.

An Armada scout patrolling the area unexpectedly discovered the vessel. Recognizing the signature as Irken equipment, he recovered its occupants without question and transported them back to the Massive as quickly as possible.

Once they arrived, the female soldier was urgently brought to the med bay while her SIR unit was taken elsewhere for repairs. The drones surrounding her worked tenaciously but carefully, ensuring that her PAK was working properly and hadn't suffered any major damage. When they had completed their task, they triggered the switch to reawaken her.

REACTIVATING

She jolted as the shock surged through her. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the medical bay resting on what the humans would have referred to as a gurney. She sat up and rubbed her head in agony.

"Ugghh. Where am I?" she asked, still feeling sluggish.

"You are aboard the Massive," answered a nearby soldier in an authoritative tone. He was taller than her, about medium sized height with red eyes, and carried a long spear. "A scout found the remains of your ship," he continued. "You were brought here to the reactivation bay to repair your PAK and SIR unit. You have been ordered to report to the bridge once repairs are complete."

"The bridge? You mean the Tallest? They want to see me?" she asked surprised. After her recent failure, she was sure her leaders wouldn't be pleased with her. Did they intend on sending her back to Dirt? She wasn't sure she could handle going back to that slum infested wasteland of a planet. Dreading whatever punishment was coming her way, she hopped down from the cushioned platform.

The soldier nodded. "Affirmative. Please follow me."

As commanded, she followed the soldier. Once they reached the bridge, he announced her arrival formally, then turned and exited once dismissed. The female Irken watched in anticipation as the Tallest approached her. She couldn't make out their mood, but based on their expressions they did not look pleased.

"Janitorial servant drone Tak," Tallest Red stated in his most authoritative tone. "I see you have returned to us empty handed."

Tak winced at her degrading title. She had desperately tried to abandon that part of herself upon escaping Dirt, but unfortunately she would never be able to outrun the encoding she was given by the control brains. None the less, she saluted respectfully. "Sirs! I apologize for my catastrophic failure back on Earth. I should have succeeded given the obstacles that were placed before me."

"I'll say! You really mucked the whole thing up!" exclaimed Tallest Purple, chiming in. "And the snacks. Don't even get me started on the snacks!"

Red ignored his co-leader. "Despite your massive failure, we have to admit your plan to take over Earth was rather...good. As it turns out, we have a proposition for you."

Tak's antennae perked up in excitement. Red continued. "We recently broke the news to a particular former invader, one whom I'm sure you are familiar with, and forbid him from returning to any known planet within our control. To put it simply, we need some assistance in containing him."

"We need you to kill him," added Purple playfully. Red waved a hand to hush him.

"What he means is, we need someone to keep an eye on him. A REALLY close eye. We banished him to that stupid little planet and would like to put you in charge of eliminating him if he decides to leave."

Tak felt the bloodlust surge through her. This was exactly the opportunity she had been hoping for! "I understand my Tallest, and I am honored." She bowed to show her respects. "I do have one question though. Will I be allowed to kill him even if he doesn't leave?"

Red shrugged. "Well technically I have to answer no, but I think you get the idea." He began to pace around the bridge. "If you choose to accept this mission and succeed, your status as a service drone will be stripped and you will be reassigned as an invader. You will be given full elite privileges and when the time comes, you will be allowed first pick in Operation Impending Doom III." He stopped pacing and turned to face her. "So...can we count on you to complete this mission soldier?"

Tak stood up with a devilish smile and saluted.

"Very well." Red took a step back and allowed his co-leader to take the lead.

"You will find your new ship ready for you in the hangar," explained Purple. He handed her a holographic information tablet. "It's as assassins ship, nothing special. It's designed to self destruct upon landing, so make sure to gather any necessary equipment before the countdown is initiated. There is also a complimentary acceleration unit installed so won't have to spend months of your time traveling there. Your SIR unit has also been repaired and will be in the hanger waiting for you. Now off you go." He flicked his claws forward to indicate her dismissal.

Tak studied the tablet and bowed again with the utmost respect. "Thank you my leaders. You will not regret this decision. I just have one more question."

"What's that?"

"How soon can I leave?"

Author's note: So what do you guys think? I've been brainstorming this idea for quite a while now and I finally feel I have the basis for a pretty good story. I had an old story with a similar opening called The Kinzak War way back in the day. It was relatively popular, but after rereading it so many years later, I decided I wasn't happy with it and ended up deleting it. I've been reading some other Zim stories that other authors have been re-writing and that inspired me to finally jolt down what's been rattling around in my head for quite some time. So thanks guys! Thanks for sticking around!

I know that a Zim movie is in the works and Zim is supposed to be officially told about his mission, but like I said, I had this idea for a long time and really wanted to get it out there. Personally, after seeing the animation style of the upcoming special, I don't know if I care much for it. In a way, maybe it's meant to be a new Zim style since so many years have passed since the original show. I don't know. Guess we'll all find out soon enough. Also, please don't forget to review! I always love me some good reviews! Till next time!