As he made his way to school, a broad smirk curled at the the substitute teacher's lips as he dragged a covered red wagon behind him. Today was a special day. Today...was show and tell, and he intended to bring something very SPECIAL for the occasion. He knew Dib would get a kick out of it. He was sure of that.

Mr. Senior was the new substitute teacher that had been assigned to Dib's class since Ms. Bitters had run off with her ex-boyfriend, who had popped up in school and picked her up in his big, strong tentacles, right in front of the entire class. They'd all gaped in amazement, Dib most of all, his amber/golden eyes bulging behind his glasses, mouth hanging open, the faintly scythe-like waft of black hair atop his head going erect as he squeaked in shock, Ms. Bitters letting out an almost squeaky cry of "PUDDIN'!" as she hopped into her beloved's embrace.

"Let's never fight again, darling." her beloved had croaked out in return, caressing her body deeply as the class stared and stared, Zim keeling over in sheer shock from the smell alone as Ms. Bitters had been carried out the door, into a fancy black carriage, probably off to live somewhere under the sea...under the seaaaa!

Needless to say this meant they needed a substitute. So Mr. Senior had been chosen, a very nice, green-eyed young twenty-something who enjoyed wearing a nice white tuxedo and had a very kindly smile. He often referred to himself as "their safety net", and Dib had to agree...he was learning FAR more under the gentle tutelage of Senior than he ever had under Ms. Bitters. Plus, Mr. Senior gave out Pixie Stix candy and Lik-a-Maids if you got "A's" on your tests.

Zim of course had reapplied himself even MORE, desperate to get these nice taste treats. Dib had no idea WHY Irkens loved that kind of candy so much, but he didn't question it. Perhaps, though, he should have, for as he walked down the sidewalk on the other end of the road, he saw Mr. Senior and looked confusedly at what he was bringing along with him...a red wagon, a grey tarp had been draped over it to conceal the odd device.

With a pleased, quiet chuckle, Mr. Senior couldn't help but feel his anticipation growing by the minute! He had created a fantastic device, and as Dib stared in confusion and a bit of worry, he saw Mr. Senior bringing it up the stairs and down the hallway, into the classroom. Dib scratched his head, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

"With Ms. Bitters in charge, your show and tells could be rather...varied, from what I've heard? You once did a PLAY, in fact?" Mr. Senior inquired as he stood by the red wagon, Zim raising a nonexistent eyebrow, dressed in his usual poor disguise of fake contact lenses and a black wig, still wearing his usual Invader's attire, from the reddish/maroon "dress" up top, the black pants, the gloves and boots, also of black...it was a miracle nobody realized this no-nosed, no-ears, zipper-toothed, green-skinned "kid" wasn't a kid at all.

Dib blushed at this. "I did quite a lovely job with the play, actually. I planned a lot of it out. Probably would have worked great...if Zim hadn't been taken off into space that one time." He added, Zim pointing a clawed digit at him and screaming "YOU LIE", making Dib roll his eyes. "So, uh...what did you bring for show and tell, sir? Usually the teacher doesn't bring anything into the class."

"I'm glad you asked, Dib. I brought a machine I made all by myself for show-and-tell. Behold!"

Dib's substitute teacher straightened up and reached over, pulling off the tarp covering his shrinking machine; it was an odd contraption, with numerous buttons, springs, and gears sticking out at every other part of the unusual device, faintly humming and whirring as Dib stared, and the class blinked in confusion, and Zim went noticably pale...at the oddly purple color scheme.

It couldn't be. It COULDN'T.

"...what is it...?" Dib quietly asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he scrutinized the machine, already doubtful that a hunk of junk like that would be able to function properly.

"A shrinking machine! Don't let the appearance fool you, it works very well."

Dib chuckled a bit. "Really? You...you made a SHRINKING machine...?" Dib asked, staring in confusion. "...why?"

"Well, to shrink people, naturally!" Senior said with a bit of a goofy grin. "I mean, what's the point of a shrinking machine if you don't SHRINK people with it? Here! I'll show you.." He muttered, only for a slightly mischevious grin began to curl at his lips; he stepped away from the machine as it began to shake, mechanical groans escaping from the odd device; until a beam of green light shot out from the machine, striking a stunned Zim in the chest.

"OH CRAP!" Zim cried out as the students in the room gasped unanimously in shock, expecting the worst for their classmate; only for confusion to cross each student's face as Zim began to change size, being bathed in a green light, Dib gaping in alarm, mouth agape in shock as Zim quivered and shook and spasmed about and then...

BOOP! He was now roughly the size of a mouse, and Senior calmly walked over to the door, closing it and locking it before getting out...a distinctly Irken communicator. "It works. You can get to work now." He remarked, Dib's eyes bulging wide as Senior gave Dib a little smile, and then pressed a button on his belt.

Now what stood before Dib was a green-clothed communications officer of the Irken race. He had brilliant green eyes, black boots and gloves, a green chest and pants that were slightly "bell-bottom" esque, rather large indeed and split open at the end to allow room for the boots. He had slightly darker shoulder patches of green and the clothing on his arms were the same shade, with a "communicator patch" on both sides of his head, a metallic sort of pair of "headphones" that were silver and green, much like the Irken PAK on his back. He also had spiky antannae, spikes rose up and down the black stands popping out of his head, unlike Zim, who just had normal black strands with a single black triangular jut at the top, and he bowed a bit as the class and Dib watched him pluck up Zim and easily pull off the hat and contacts.

"It took a couple of tests on the Massive to ensure the device was fully functional. I had Skoodge help me. We tested it with things like books, an apple, then we tested it on GIR!" He told Zim with a chuckle. "We had a lot of fun that night! Good thing you were too busy experimenting on chickens and shooting them into space again to realize what we were up to upstairs yesterday evening."

"I WONDERED why GIR was being so quiet!" Zim managed to squeak out, flailing around, stuck in the black-gloved/clawed grip of Senior as Dib quivered in fear.

"Y-You're a...a..."

"Irken, yes. My name really IS Senior, I'm the Head, the SENIOR Communications Officer on the Massive, the flagship dreadnought of the Irken Armada. And the current head of the Irken race!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Zim squeaked. "Tallests Red and Purple wouldn't allow that!"

"Funny thing." Senior said with a little chuckle. "I knew the guys were faking it."

"...what." Zim said, his voice now monotone, his eyes turning slightly dead.

"I had WONDERED how they got to have such an odd growth spurt. Then I caught them in bed...and out of that "power armor" they use. Funny thing, Zim. They're actually barely taller than you. The armor just makes them look larger, it's like wearing a mascot suit. I caught them on tape, too. So I gave them a choice, since we were all friends together with Spork and Miyuki and Skoodge and you back in training." Senior offered. "They step down...and pass the title of leadership to me, or I'd send the pictures to the Control Brains and broadcast their real forms throughout the Empire. They'd not only be laughingstocks, they'd be executed for faking tallness. You know how harsh the laws are about that. And since I was the next-tallest Irken on the ship, well..."

He shrugged. "I'm now head of the Irken Empire! And you, Zim, well...I need you out of the way so you can't interfere."

With that, mouth opening wide to reveal slightly purple gums and his deep, red wormlike tongue, he tossed Zim right onto his tongue and closed his mouth, Zim falling on down inside his jaws. He tasted over Zim a bit with playful little licks, murring a bit before he gave a swallow, with the silken, soft insides of Senior's maw offering a slippery start to Zim's journey into the larger Irken's body.

Everyone else watched in shock, seeing Zim becoming a tiny bulge going down this alien being's throat, slinking on down before being deposited within the stomach region of the Irken's superorgan. The interior was soft and squishy, the organs pumping gently around in a fairly rhythmic, soft fashion as Senior patted his gut, and then turned to Dib as he walked back by the machine. "Don't worry, Dib. I don't intend to actually hurt any of you."

"You...just...ate him..." Dib murmured quietly, eyes fearful as he suddenly heard the sound of people crying out in shock and terror, and looked outside. There were ships landing outside, tall and red and purple and all of Irken design, many green-skinned, armored aliens coming out...with shrinking machines of their own, going inside the school, inside homes.

"We're going to be taking over your world, Dib. But I'm much nicer than Zim, I don't want to actually hurt anyone. We just can't have any of you fighting back while we get set up." Senior explained as he patted the shrinking machine and activated it again, as a wide array of green light bathed over ALL the students, and now everyone but Senior found themselves tinier, smaller, and now all bunched together...with the entire school now having the same fate done to them. "I'll give you a choice, Dib, because I know how smart you are. If you WILLINGLY let me swallow you, I'll unshrink you later, and let you join me in helping the colonization efforts. This way you'll be able to make sure your race doesn't come to undue harm. Sound fair?"

Dib gulped nervously. He wanted to run. He wanted to bolt, or scratch or kick or bite. But...

...but he was very small, very much outnumbered now that that an entire Armada seemed to be invading, and he didn't want to endanger anyone else. He hung his head and nodded. "...I...give." He murmured.

For now, anyway, he thought inwardly as Senior warmly smiled, and knelt down, patting him over the head with astonishing gentleness.

"Don't worry, Dib. I always keep my word. And I'll take very good care of your race. We're not all like Zim. A lot of us are really nice when you get to know us." He then tenderly plucked Dib up by the back of his shirt and gave Dib another gentle smile before he parted his jaws, tongue rolling over his teeth like a panting dog. Dib gulped fearfully before he was dropped in, now within deep darkness, in warmth and wetness as the tongue softly explored over him.

Senior's tongue danced and swirled over the tiny body of Dib, coiling around him a bit, tickling him, feeling like a snake, Dib quivering in fear before, at last, Senior tilted his head back; the little tiny shrunken human now going down headfirst toward the gaping, dark throat and dangling uvula. Dib "eeped", the big gulp sucking him into the gaping throat. The tight flesh wrapped around his head and shoulders somewhat uncomfortably; a second gulp sent the rest of the human down the constricting tunnel.

Much like Zim, Dib's miniscule form created a bulge outside Senior's throat. As it traveled smoothly down, the alien traced the wriggling bulge with his clawed finger, moaning as it finally disappeared past his collarbone. Soon Dib, like Zim, was stuck inside of the large and cavernous stomach as Zim pointed angrily at him. "This is YOUR fault!"

"How is this MY fault?!" Dib yelled back, being pressed up against the muscular stomach walls of Senior as they softly massaged over him, Senior's heartbeat echoing in his ears as Zim smacked his chest uselessly with his little fists.

"You didn't recognize he was an Irken, you did not stop him!"

"YOU didn't realize he was one either, shouldn't you have recognized your own kind?!" Dib retorted.

"He was wearing a disguise! I didn't realize-"

"Then you admit you think I'm smarter than you!" Dib said with a grin, smirking despite himself. "Because YOU couldn't recognize him, but you thought I could, so that means you must think I'm more perceptive than you."

"Yes...no! I mean...GAHHH!" Zim let go of Dib and began angrily stomping around the gut as Senior placed a hand over his belly and patted it, feeling the little Dib bulge.

"Mmmm. You tasted very, very good, Dib. Like a sweet little bit of candy mixed with a fine schlordogh steak." He complimented. "Don't worry, I promise I'll let you out eventually. But first thing's first, little humans." He turned to the others, smiling warmly at them, some of them now crying. Seeing this, Senior frowned a bit and knelt down, geeeently brushing away their tears with a claw. "Oh, there, there. Please listen. I'm going to give you all a deal. If you willingly let me eat you now, no more homework for the rest of your school year. And I'll give you A's for the semester." He offered with a smile. "Sound good?"

All of them seemed to immediately perk up at this. Hey. No homework AND A's for the semester? Bring on the belly! Senior chuckled as they all began lining up, the more cooperative students now at the front of the class, a few LESS comfortable ones like Torque at the back. He gently picked up Sara first, giving her a little kiss on the forehead. "Thank you for being so obedient, Sara. I'm surprised you're not afraid."

"I look upon this moment as a Daniel example. I am he who was in the Lion's den. I must be strong." she reasoned.

"That's a very admirable sentiment." He offered. "I really like Earthen religions. Christianity has the best music, though. LOVE all the Christmas carols." He added with a wink. "You're all gonna love what we'll do for that. I'm thinking...powdered sugar hills to ski down instead of snow." With that, he slid her into his waiting jaws, suckling on her a bit, savoring her miniscule body. Senior was astonished at how good humans tasted, but he didn't want to feel like he was violating them, so he tilted his head back to swallow twice, successfully gulping the student down - and of course, tracing the path her wriggling bulge made down his neck until it finally disappeared past his collarbone.

They did not have to fear being digested. Irkens didn't have to eat that much, their PAKs regulated so much of their frames. They mostly just ate for fun. As such, food could sit in their guts for weeks before digestion finally set in. They'd all be safe, Senior promised each of his little tiny meals, now guzzling down three students, almost cramming them into his jaws. It was a BIT hard to get all of them down, so instead he went back to carefully swallowing them down carefully one by one, in hopes of easing the pressure on his throat.

This certainly helped get them down, and made the experience much better as a whole for the Irken; he was thankfully able to enjoy himself. With each student he sent down to his now crammed belly, the plumper it got; and as he slurped up the last few students into his dripping jaws, eventually swallowing the last one, Senior placed a hand over his now rather large stomach, feeling the little squirmy bulges against his flesh. "Mmmm. Good little humans. Thank you. Get comfy, you'll be in your new homes soon."

Every wriggle was giving him a delightful feeling of satisfaction as he licked the flavor of humans from his lips and made his way to the desk, sitting in the chair and sighing in delight. All the students were slightly packed together, squirming about a bit in the soft texture of the alien belly, Senior looking up as the door opened, seeing a tubby, short alien walking in and grinning. Ah, he knew him anywhere, dear Skoodge! The short, fat, ruby/maroon-eyed Irken alien's belly was even bigger now than usual, stuffed to the brim with the faculty...and Gaz, whom Skoodge had saved for last whilst other Irkens nonchalantly made their way through the halls with their own big guts.

Skoodge grinned, patting his big, fat belly, Senior hearing the little muffled voices of his trapped prey; and oh, how it clearly satisfied Skoodge as he chuckled a bit. "They taste wonderful, don't they?"

"Especially Gaz. Nice and spicy!" Skoodge remarked cheerily.

"Just remember, we're letting them out in the containment wing on the Massive. Make sure the field's set up."

"Of course!" Skoodge said. "You're sure about..." He raised an invisible eyebrow. "I mean...Dib's a nice kid, really. He's not bad as far as humans go, but...can you really trust him?"

"I trust him to do the right thing, yes." Senior insisted. "He'll go along with it because at the end of the day, despite his faults, he's a good person. Good men know their limitations." He said with a smile, giving his bloated belly another tender pat before rising up out of the desk, heading for the doorway.

...

...

...

...Dib awoke, finding himself still shrunken, but now he was in an enormous hall within some kind of ship, as curving, steely grey tubes interwove over his head, and capsules hung on the wall, strange liquid pulsating within, bubbles bobbling up and down. Hundreds of people, the entire town of Pittsburgh, perhaps, was crammed inside, all shrunken, and within a faintly glistening, glowing, soft off-white field as Gaz stood nearby, clinging to her father, eyes bulging with fear whilst her Dad examined the field that kept them from going out of the hall. "Fascinating!" Their tall father intoned, his eyes wide behind his goggles, his gloved hands poking the field. "A force field. Some kind of nanite poly-carbonate interwoven with proton-based energy! Fascinating!"

"Dad, this is not the time!" Gaz yelled, her purple hair frazzled, the skull necklace she wore jingling about as she shook with fear, her own amber/golden eyes bulging wide. "I was STUFFED INTO SOMEONE'S STOMACH!"

"Well, we all were." Dib said, looking up, and seeing...oh WOW. Zim was now tied up and squirming uselessly, dangling around none other than Invader TAK's neck as she cheekily poked over him a bit. She had those distinct lashes, the deep purple eyes, a caped, purplish outfit with black boots and gloves, and that soft British accent that made Dib quiver a bit as she stared up at her, her form behind a large steely elevated circle at the center of the field, too tall for anyone to reach, as someone descended down from above...Senior once again!

"Calm yourselves. We will inform you of what will happen to you soon." She said, giving Zim another poke as the tiny form kept angrily squirming about, a ball gag in his mouth to keep him from biting her.

"Lovely, you're all awake." Senior said, clasping his gloved, clawed hands together. "I'm Senior, the new ruler of the Irken Empire, and Tak here is now my head manager of the Armada. At the moment, we're moving from city to city, shrinking all you lovely humans down. We expect to move about...a third of your race off the planet and off to Irk, and another third off to other colony planets. The remaining third will stay here, and you all here in THIS lovely city shall be included in that third." Senior said with a little smile as he lowered the green communications officer mask he had on that only covered his mouth region, almost like a bandit.

"What exactly do you want with us?" Professor Membrane inquired, as Senior nodded, hearing others murmuring assent.

"Simple. You, Professor Membrane, and your family, are quiet intelligent. I'm having you and other chosen humans assist me with managing this world. We'll give you access to the best Irken technology, the best tech in the galaxy, all to help you make this world cleaner, more vibrant and more habitable. No more pollution or worries over the environment, we'll cut down on crime, and we'll ensure you all are well fed, and your every need is provided for. In return, little humans, you will have but one purpose."

He smiled warmly. "You will have to do what we ask of you. We promise you will not be tortured or killed or genuinely harmed, but you'll essentially be our pets and our slaves. A comfortable existence in exchange for your freedom. Understand?"

All assembled nervously murmured and muttered amongst each other, but at long last, they all finally got out quiet agreements and assents, Senior warmly smiling. "Good, good! We'll have our SIR units bring you to your homes and your new masters. Membrane family, you'll be with me, of course." He said, extending a gloved hand as Professor Membrane, Dib and Gaz made their way through the crowd, Senior kneeling down and gently picking them up, holding them to his chest. The texture of his shirt was oddly warm and soft as he then hovered up, up, into the air, his Jet-PAK taking them up through a hole in the field as it began to fade, many robotic, big-eyed little servants entering the room to escort the humans remaining behind away.

Soon, Dib, Gaz and Professor Membrane were now inside of what had previously been the bedroom of the Tallest, put on a large circular table as various plates of food were laid out, Senior drinking a delightful milkshake as the Membrane family nervously ate as best they could after Senior unshrank them with a small remote shrinking machine he had. Gaz seemed to have adjusted quickly...it helped that Senior had brought her a bacon burger with fries, whilst Professor Membrane ate some nice sushi, and Dib quietly chewed on noodles.

"Chinese food is VERY nice. I found out quite quickly we Irkens could eat noodle dishes. We'll get to work on shipping out ramen and noodles and other pasta dishes to our colonies and to Irk." Senior offered to Dib. "We'll have whole families devoted to making Earthen cooking dishes just like we're having whole families devoted to Earthen upkeep."

"Yeah...yeah..." Dib mumbled, Senior blinking a bit.

"Now, now, Dib. I've not treated you poorly." He offered, sounding genuinely sad. "I'm not like Zim. I don't want to hurt humans. You all just need a bit of guidance. I don't like that it has to be forced on you, but it's better this way than what Red or Purple or Zim would do. At least I'll make sure you're all treated quite well. And if you'd like, I'll introduce you to some of our alien allies."

"I didn't know your race HAD allies." Dib remarked dryly as Senior chuckled.

"When I informed Vort and other planets that Red and Purple were kicked out and they could have their planets back and more, they were VERY happy to work with us Irkens again. They also want to try some of your delightful human dishes. Vortians especially seem to love your race's baked goods. They went wild over cinnamon buns." Senior confessed. "It was pretty funny to watch Lard Nar stuffing his face with hot cross buns whilst Red and Purple were chained to a chair, and getting increasing cross as I made them watch the delegation eat through all their private candy stocks. We've now made them our head janitors."

"I HATE THIS. I HATE THIS. I HATE THIS!" Dib heard the voice of Tallest Purple moan out loud as he turned, seeing Purple, now MUCH shorter, with tinier arms and legs, barely taller than Zim and wearing an ordinary t-shirt that read "Janitor" on the front being forced to push along a mop, Red carrying a bucket behind him, grumbling in irritation.

"You'll like working for me, Dib." Senior insisted with a big smile. "I promise. We're a lot alike. We both want what's best for our kind, we've both got big hearts, and we're the only ones with strong moral compasses in an ocean idiotic, immoral jerks. I learned that quickly from the essays you gave me. We've much in common indeed." He said, brushing his spiky antannae back.

"Then you'll know I don't like being...used." Dib murmured quietly.

"No. You don't. But you endure it anyway because despite how selfish you can be, at the end of the day...other people's lives matter more. So you just do what you can and try to hold on, even if it sucks...right?" Senior offered, Dib cringing. "...you and your family will have very comfy rooms down the hall, first three doors on your right. Get some sleep. You've had a long day." He added comfortingly.

"I trusted you." Dib mumbled as he looked deep into Senior's eyes with an accusatory stare, his undertone wounded. "I really liked you. You were different."

"I AM different. And you can still trust me." Senior said with a little smile, Dib struck by how...sad his enslaver seemed to be. How mournful and how...

HUMAN his big green eyes were.

And he found himself hating himself for wishing what Senior said was true. That the Irken really did care about him.

Author's Note:

This story's a bit unusual. I'm going to be experimental and try out some unusual things, all from a perspective I've not done before: in which Dib's kind of lost at the beginning. Can Dib get back his planet? At the end of the day, will he even want to, for perhaps Senior and the new, improved Irkens will end up being benevolent masters after all? Join me on this ride! And be sure to leave a comment and review, I adore them.