Prologue

"Everything has been going swimmingly, Almighty Tallest," Zim's voice said as his image appeared up on the screen.

"Very good, Zim," Purple answered happily.

It had taken several years, but Zim had finally managed to get the Tallest interested in Earth, even though Zim hadn't known the entire time that they could care less. Until now.

"We've got to hand it to ya, Zim. You've done something that no other Invader has ever done before," Red praised proudly. Then he noticed something was a little off.

"Zim?" Purple had noticed too. "Have you gotten taller?"

As much as they could tell, Zim's torso did look a little longer. And they couldn't be sure, but it looked like his knees were sticking up out of the bottom of the screen.

"Oh, uh… yes. I have the sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with Earth's gravitational pull. Either that or alien puberty… whichever makes more sense," Zim answered, a little uncomfortably. Suddenly, a very high-pitched voice sounded behind Zim, who immediately got a look of annoyance on his face as he was gritting his teeth to try to keep from yelling.

"Where's my moose? WEE! Crazy TAQUITOS!"

"GIR!" Zim screamed behind him. "I'm talking to our leaders. Could you at least sit still for two seconds?"

"Nope! Weeeeee!"

GIR started to spin around Zim before jumping on top of his head and tap dancing.

"I'm doing the Tappy Dance!"

"Rrrrrrrrrrr," Zim was shaking from irritation.

"I'll call you back," Zim finally said before standing and grabbing GIR by the head and throwing him to the ground.

"Could you obey me, please, just ONE time!"

The transmission cut off and the screen went black.

"I hope Zim knows what he's doing," Purple said as he turned to look at his friend.

"He's really proven himself these past years. And to think, we used to hate his guts," Red answered smiling.

"Who would've thought that he would give us the most bountiful planet of all?"

Purple and Red nodded approvingly and proudly as they thought of what they were about to get their hands on.

"Now what are we going to do about Zim's growth spurt?" Red asked suddenly.

"As soon as he gets back, we shrink him," Purple answered quickly, not wanting to lose their position of power to Zim if he got taller than them.

"Agreed."

Chapter 1:

The New Girl

"Hello Zim," Dib's aggravating voice came from behind my back. I immediately gritted my teeth as I slammed my locker shut and pivoted to glare at my arch nemesis.

"Hello Dib," I said in a voice that mimicked his.

"So Zim, any new alien plans for today?" he smirked at me.

I felt the strong impulse to stick my tongue out at him. But I resisted it because I did have another plan. But he was never going to know. No one would know until it was too late.

"Hmph," I simply grunted before turning and walking down the hallway.

"I'll get you Zim! Just wait and see!" Dib shouted after me.

"Ah put a lid on it Dib," said a kid walking past him.

"Yea Dib, you've been a jerk to Zim ever since he moved here," said another.

"That's because he's an alien! Don't you see? He's going to kill us all!" Dib yelled back at the others.

I ignored him as I continued walking. Everyone was used to me now that it had been several years and we were all in high school. Dib and I were juniors while his little sister Gaz was a sophomore. Both were still getting on my nerves. But now everyone seemed to like the "green kid" more and more while they all hated the "crazy kid" more and more. When will he ever give up?

I guess it was a good thing I randomly got taller. I was still shorter than most kids but I was still taller than I should've been. Even the Almighty Tallest noticed. If it continued, I would be taller than them! And I knew they wouldn't like that. Nor did I want to be taller than them. I was fine with my height before. But as everyone else grew, I remained small. It started to get to me after a while, but then when I woke up one morning during freshman year, I was unnaturally tall. Unnatural for an Irk that is. Now I'm this long legged, green skinned, "kid" without ears or a nose, and only three fingers on each hand. It's a wonder no one has noticed how different I am from them. Everyone except Dib that is. And Gaz but she doesn't even care.

When I finally got to my Biology classroom, I slumped into my seat and waited for the last bell to ring. Thank the Irken Armada that this was the last hour of the day. I didn't think I could take much more of this. I ignored Dib as he walked into the classroom and gave me that stupid look of his that says, "I know what you are." That filthy Earth boy was going to be the first to be experimented on when the Planet Irk took over this pathetic rock. Thankfully this was the only class I had with him.

When the bell rang, our teacher, Mrs. Singh, stood in front of the class like she always did and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Class, I have an announcement to make," she said in that squeaky human voice of hers. "We have a new student coming to join us. She just moved here from Europe."

Everyone was immediately interested. A foreign student, was whispered among the rows of paired desks.

"Earth filth, " I muttered under my breath as I placed a hand under my chin and immediately got a bored look on my face. I knew that the new girl would have to sit next to either Dib or myself. We were the only ones without partners at our tables and when Mrs. Singh had tried to partner us at the beginning of the year, we both refused and gave her a terrible time about it. She finally gave up since we worked better alone but now one of us was going to have to deal with a partner. A female partner. I shuddered. I couldn't stand the humans. And one thing that I had learned over the years was that female humans especially liked to talk. And I couldn't stand it! I sighed and prepared myself for the fate that was either mine or Dib's.

"Everyone, meet Sasha Rouvillois," Mrs. Singh introduced as she opened the door and the most beautiful female I had ever seen walked into the room. My eyes immediately popped opened and the bored look vanished as I stood up straight. My hand dropped from my chin as I examined the Earth girl. She had an hourglass shaped body with curves in all the right places. Her hair was auburn, long, and pin straight with bangs that were parted to the side so they swept across her forehead. Her skin was white like wintry cream with a warm inviting rose undertone and her eyes were like emeralds and framed by long dark eyelashes. Her pale lips spread into a shy smile as she said, "Hello," in an enchanting melancholy voice. She wore a teal shirt that was a little too low cut and hugged her chest with sleeves that came to her elbows. She was also wearing dark skinny jeans with an old pair of sneakers. And for some strange reason, she took my breath away. But I wasn't the only one. All of the boys had glazed and dreamy looks on their faces. Especially Dib. He turned to glare at me. I glared back. Now we waited to see who she would sit next to.

"Sasha," Mrs. Singh began. Suddenly, the room was filled with catcalls as boys started calling her "baby" and other things along those lines. I couldn't help but notice that Dib was one of them. Mrs. Singh noticed too. She had a disapproving look on her face as Sasha blushed and look really uncomfortable. It seemed like I was the only one who wasn't cheering for her. I remained sitting silently, secretly agreeing with some of the remarks that were being thrown out about her incredibly good looks. I immediately felt self-conscious of my own appearance. She would surely notice my differences.

"Sasha you will sit with Zim, the green kid in the middle," she continued once the remarks had died away. I smiled warmly and Sasha smiled back. Might as well make a good first impression, since I wasn't going to have to deal with the humans for much longer. She too had noticed that I hadn't partaken in the catcalls. She started to walk towards my desk, ignoring the looks some of the boys gave her. That was when I noticed something was wrong with her legs. Normal filthy human eyes wouldn't have noticed, but my superior eyesight allowed me to see the extremely small limp in her walk, the way her legs shook ever so slightly as she lifted one before the other. When she sat down, I immediately looked back up at her face. She was even prettier up close.

"So you're Zim," she said in her sweet melodic voice.

"So you're Sasha," I answered a little shyly. She smiled before turning back to the front as Mrs. Singh started talking.

What was I doing? I shouldn't be feeling this way about some pathetic little Earth human! I didn't care how beautiful she was. She was the enemy, I was going to destroy her right after I destroyed Dib, who was now glaring at me so ferociously, I couldn't help but stick my tongue out just a tiny bit.

"Alright class, we're going to start with a lab today. This lab will introduce the next section we will be learning about," Mrs. Singh said as she pulled out the supplies and then handed them to each table.

"Now," she said after she had given everyone their supplies. "You and your partner must make a baby out of these supplies," she added as one of the boys reached for his female partner. I didn't understand the gesture or the look Mrs. Singh gave him.

Everyone groaned as they realized what they were about to learn for the next few weeks. I had no clue what she was talking about and I had no idea why everyone was moaning. Sasha sighed before turning to me.

"You wanna start?" she asked before smiling gently.

"Human babies are made out of pieces of Earth trash?" I asked holding up an empty can of Coke. It would make sense since they were such terrible and monstrous creatures.

"Um… no," she answered awkwardly. "It's a million times more complicated that that."

I stared at her for a while. Was she blushing? But then the unspeakable happened and I realized that this worthless female human was much more dangerous than she looked.

"Zim, your hands," she said worried as she picked one up and looked at it.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I snapped as I swiped my hand away.

"You only have three fingers! What happened?" she asked, a little hurt by my yelling.

Miserable human swine! Why did she have to be one of the observant Earthlings? So far, I had figured out that these humans weren't very bright. They only see what they want to see and they don't ask questions. Why did she have to be intelligent? Why out of all people, did she have to sit next to me? She was going to notice things she shouldn't notice. I was probably going to have to dispose of her BEFORE I disposed of Dib. I felt like screaming as I gritted my teeth together and turned my head away, glaring at the floor.

"It was an accident. I don't want to talk about it," I seethed through my teeth. When I glanced up, Dib was smirking. He had heard us.

"Filthy humans," I mumbled low enough that no one would hear.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring on a bad memory," she whispered sadly. I could hear that she truly was sorry. I could hear the pity and hurt and understanding in her voice. That voice! Why did I suddenly feel ready to forgive her? This female was dangerous. She had incredible persuasive powers. I made a mental note to research further into this "Europe" from which she came from. Perhaps the people there were much more observant and smarter and much more advanced. This would be a problem for me in the future.

"It's ok," I said trying to make my voice sound calm and forgiving as I lifted my head to look at her. I resisted the urge to puke as I did. "It's something that brings me a lot of anger and pain."

"I understand," she said smiling warmly.

"So shall we get started?" I asked as I noticed that everyone else had gotten somewhere on their "project."

"Sure."

It was miserable work, making a bunch of pieces of trash and other odds and ends

fit together to make a little human child sculpture. That was when I noticed how bony and skilled Sasha's fingers were. They could fit the smallest things together and make the tiniest adjustments. I admit, I admired her concentration and patience and skill with her fingers. It wasn't long before we were done and were waiting for everyone else.

"So," striking up a conversation. "Where did you live in… Europe?"

"France mostly," she answered as Mrs. Singh walked around to inspect our work. "My father and I traveled a lot. That was before he died…"

I was a little taken aback by the comment. I had yet to understand death in this world. But I could tell that it was a bad thing to these humans and it caused them great suffering and pain. I tried to use that to my advantage once but thanks to that worthless Dib, my ingenious plan didn't work.

"I'm sorry," I said as I laid my chin on my hand and simply stared at her, pretending to look sorry.

"It's ok. That's why I moved here to live with my aunt and uncle."

"What about your mom?"

"She died years ago, when I was still a child."

So she has lost both of her parents. Which made her an orphan. Which made her more vulnerable. It would be easy to destroy her from the inside out when she was already heart-broken about her parents. I tried to keep the evil smirk from crossing my face as I thought of all the things I could do to her that would tear her apart emotionally.

"That's horrible. What happened?" I pretended to sound sympathetic as I drummed my fingers on the table, thinking of how to go about my plan to get this dangerous and beautiful human out of the way.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said simply as several boys winked at her or made the "call me" sign. Now why did that annoy me? She rolled her eyes before smiling at me.

"Enough talk about sad things," she said, causing me to turn my attention back to the present.

"Huh? Oh! Oh yea. Uh… what part of France?" I improvised as I stored my ingenious plan somewhere safe inside my head where I could access it later.

"Toulouse and Paris mostly," she answered as her eyes swept the room. "Like I said, we traveled a lot. But Paris was a wonderful place to learn about the Arts."

"The Arts? What…" I stopped myself from saying 'what are the arts?' just in time. She was too observant. She would notice something was wrong.

"What kind?" I asked instead.

"Music, painting, and sculpting," she said. "I used to do ballet but…"

She didn't finish her sentence. She simply looked back down at the table, refusing to meet my gaze. Confusing unworthy human.

"But?" I pressed, not being able to hold my curiosity.

"Nothing," she said curtly. I knew she wasn't going to answer. I was just about ready to scream and demand for her to tell me all of her secrets. But she wasn't like the others. I would have to learn to hold my tongue when she was around.

"I didn't mean to bring back a bad memory," I said using her same words and trying to get her to look at me again. It worked. She smiled as she turned to look at me.

"It's ok," she said just before Mrs. Singh began giving us more instructions.

"Now class, turn to page 301 in our books. As you have probably guessed, we will be talking about reproductive health."

"Woo! Sex Ed!" one boy in the back shouted. Quite a few other students joined in the raucous as they screamed about this thing called "sex." If I had an eyebrow, I would be raising it. Sasha rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Immature," she muttered as Mrs. Singh glared at the class.

"If you could be mature about this and start acting your age, we can get started!"

Slowly, the shouting and whooping died down and Mrs. Singh continued.

"Now, tomorrow, we will watch a video on reproductive health. Right now, I am going to pass out your homework. Use your textbooks to answer the questions. I'll see you all tomorrow."

The bell rang and we all began packing our stuff up.

"See you tomorrow Zim," Sasha said smiling as I stood and began walking towards the door.

"See ya," I answered as she also stood. I walked out of the door and didn't stop until I reached my locker where I picked up my things. I joined the crowd of students walking out the front door. Once outside, I moaned and immediately went back inside.

"I hate rain," I muttered as I walked back down the hallways. I would stay in the library until the rain stopped. I didn't have anything to protect me from that hideous liquid falling from the sky. I might as well get that wretched homework done.

"Stinky human Earth! I will be most pleased when my brilliant plan-"

I cut myself off. Because just then, I heard something come from the auditorium.

"What is that sound?" I asked myself. I silently slipped through the doors and was surprised to see Sasha sitting on a bench in front of a black contraption. I recognized the sound as music, GOOD music I might add. But what was she playing? The instrument stood on three legs with some kind of pedal in between the front two where Sasha's foot would go up and down as she played with her long talented fingers. A stick propped up the top, and that was where the sounds were coming from.

I was enchanted by the sounds coming from the instrument. So complex and beautiful and extraordinary. It made me wonder how only two human hands could make such magnificent music. I walked closer and closer to the stage where Sasha sat playing, unaware of my presence. I must learn the secret to this hypnotic noise. This could serve me well in the future. Silently, I walked up the steps to the stage and in no time at all, I was behind her, watching her fingers fly and dance up and down a black and white keyboard. When I looked in front of her, I saw a sheet covered in black markings. Apparently, it was some kind of language that told Sasha what keys to press and what to do at certain intervals.

I closed my eyes and listened for a few seconds. Then when I opened my eyes, I seemed to understand the piece she was playing and when I watched her fingers and the pieces of paper, I understood the pattern. Each marking stood for a key on the keyboard. It didn't take long for my superior brain to figure out how to play this instrument. When I looked at the paper longer, I saw the title. "Liebestraum No. 3" by Franz Liszt. Suddenly, without me even registering it in my brain, my fingers were there on the keys with Sasha's. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasha gasp from surprise before turning her head to look at me without stopping the music. But then she smiled as we continued playing. I moved only my eyes to look at her surprisingly beautiful face and I smiled as well. She was still looking at me. I couldn't do it as long as she could though. I had to look back at my fingers to make sure I knew what I was doing. I may have a superior brain than hers, but she without a doubt had more experience. She moved to the left a little so that I could sit and play with her. It felt weird, having her body be so close to mine. I could feel the warmth of her flesh as our arms brushed against each other and the occasional nudge of her shoulder against mine. She was playing a wider range than I was so naturally she had to move more. Which caused more contact between us. I simply stayed in the higher register. She still commanded the pedal and now that I looked closely, there were three of them. Her foot and leg brushed up against mine since the pedal she was using was the one that was on the far right, where my left leg was. It did strange things to me, having her so close, having her touch me. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't.

When the song was finished, we sat there in silence, letting the last note drift before she turned to me and said, "I didn't know you played piano."

"I didn't know you played either," I answered, trying to make sure she didn't see that I had no idea what a piano was until this moment.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

I quickly came up with an excuse before she noticed that I was hiding something.

"My ride can't come pick me up and I hate walking in the rain," I lied smoothly.

"Oh! Well if you want, my aunt can drop you off," she said smiling.

"Wait, who's your aunt?" I asked shocked. If her aunt was here, than why was she in the auditorium playing piano?

"Mrs. Singh," she answered shrugging.

My jaw dropped as she revealed this information to me.

"Mrs. Singh is your aunt?" I repeated shocked.

"Yea. I'm waiting for her to be done with her work. She can drop you off on our way home."

"But you look nothing alike!"

"That's because my uncle is my mom's brother. Mrs. Singh is only my aunt by marriage."

Then, the auditorium doors opened and Mrs. Singh walked through.

"Ok Sasha I'm ready to go," she said as she walked down the aisle. "Oh! Hi Zim," she added once she saw me.

I waved and smiled.

"Aunt Shelby, could we give Zim a ride home?" Sasha asked from around me since I was closer to the seats than she was.

"Sure! Just grab your stuff and we can get going," she answered as she picked up Sasha's pack,

"I can carry it myself, Aunt Shelby," Sasha said a little sorely as she stood and walk towards her aunt.

"Are you sure?" she asked worried as I followed her.

"Yes. I'm not helpless."

Mrs. Singh unwillingly gave Sasha her backpack. I was confused about the exchange but I didn't ask questions. I already had too much to do once I got back to the base.

We went outside and Mrs. Singh made us wait while she went out into the rain and brought her car around to where we stood. Luckily, I had purchased a jacket several weeks ago and I used that to cover my head as we both ran to the car. I got a little burned on my arms and legs but nothing too serious. However, I did have to try my best to cover up the steam before anyone noticed. Once inside, Mrs. Singh turned to me and said, "Which way?"

I told her my address and she put the car in drive. The car ride was silent as the vehicle turned around the corners and down the streets. It wasn't long before we were outside my house.

"Interesting color choice," Sasha stated as I opened the car door and pulled my jacket up.

"Uh…" curse this girl for being so observant! "My parents have weird taste," I quickly lied.

"No it's fine. I like it. It's different," she smiled at me.

"Well thanks for the ride but I really must be going."

"Bye Zim," both Mrs. Singh and Sasha said at the same time.

I pulled the jacket over my head as I slammed the car door shut and ran to the house. I ripped the door open just in time. I was starting to steam again.

"Curse this wretched planet!" I seethed as I tried to keep from shouting in pain. GIR immediately jumped up from the couch.

"Master! Look what I can do!"

"Not now GIR," I answered as I pulled my jacket off and closed the door. Mechanical arms came out and took off the contacts and wig as I threw my homework on the kitchen table.

"Computer, finish all homework," I commanded as I went straight to the trashcan and jumped in.

"Yes master," its mechanical voice responded as I went down into the base. Suddenly, GIR was on my head.

"Whatcha doin?" he asked in that annoyingly high-pitched voice of his.

"The Tallest need to know about Sasha. She's a threat to our mission. With her observant European eyes, she could bring us to our knees. I only hope Dib doesn't get to her. She'll without a doubt see the truth."

"Sasha?"

"The new girl at school," I explained.

"Oooooo! Is she pretty?"

"Yes."

"Tall?"

"Yes."

"Do you like her?"

"Ye- NO! She's nothing but another vile human. A dangerous one. She may be even more dangerous than Dib."

"But she's pretty!"

"YES SHE'S PRETTY! But that doesn't matter."

GIR started to randomly sing one of his aggravating little songs as we got down to the base. I immediately took GIR off my head and placed him on the ground as I walked over to the large screen in front.

"Computer, send a transmission to the Tallest. We have things to discuss."