Emergency Transmission

Zim held up a poorly constructed model of the Empire State building so GIR could see, and then shoved it into a vat of boiling chocolate. He let it sink and exclaimed, "Is it not ingenious?"

GIR seemed fascinated. "You're sooo smart, Master!"

"Heh-heh, I sure am." Zim picked up a clipboard and made some notes.

GIR started fishing around in the chocolate for the building. Finding it, he happily yanked it out and licked the chocolate off.

Zim looked up from his notes and just sighed at GIR. "Maybe when I'm done with that I can try, once again, to figure out what on Irk's wrong with you."

"I like chocolate," GIR said, taking a big bite out of the building. He dipped it into the chocolate again.

"…Just don't make a mess." Zim returned to writing.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of static from a nearby monitor. He turned to look at it.

"Eh?"

A disjointed voice started coming through, sounding vaguely familiar. "Please help! …Horrible- Can't fight… Pl- Mee-" The transmission faded for a moment before whoever it was managed to continue. "Send rein- Planet …Krob, Inv- Tenn, out- AHH!"

It cut to static and then ended rather suddenly.

Zim stared blankly at the screen. "What the hell? Computer, trace the origin of that call."

"Call came from the Planet Meekrob, sent from Invader Tenn's base. However, apparently she needs help and is being overrun," Computer replied.

Zim thought about that. "I see… Well, she'll be fine." He looked over at GIR and saw that he had finished off the model and was now drinking the chocolate. "GIR! What're you- ah… forget it." He stalked off to another part of the lab to work more on his ingenious plan.

GIR looked at him sadly before grinning. "Aw, you look mad, Master! I'll cheer ya up!" He tackled him, hugging him tightly.

Zim dropped his wrench and then howled in pain as the heavy tool landed on his foot. He jumped up and down holding his foot, swearing in irken, before grabbing GIR and yanking him off his back. "GIR, what'd I tell you about trying to hug me when I'm working?"

GIR thought hard about that one. A few sparks actually flew from his head. Then he beamed and said, "To not to!" He looked pleased with himself.

Zim pinched his forehead between his eyes as he felt the beginning of a migraine. "Then why did you?"

"Cause I love you, Master!"

Zim sighed and put GIR on the floor before returning to his work.

GIR ran over to the vat of chocolate, which was still boiling, and dove in, somehow managing to submerge completely.

The lights in the lab suddenly flashed red.

Zim immediately looked up at the communication screen.

"Incoming transmission from the Massive," Computer reported.

"Put them through!" Zim shouted, wiping oil off of his gloves with a rag and running over to stand in front of the screen. The Tallest appeared and he saluted. "Sirs!" He was ecstatic. It was rare for them to actually call him. Usually he has to call them.

"Yeah, hi," Red said. From his tone of voice, it was obvious he wasn't thrilled about talking to Zim. He looked at the mess of chocolate behind the small Invader and the cluttered work table. "Been keeping busy?"

"Very busy, sir! See, I've been working on-"

Purple held up a hand, cutting him off. "Yeah, that's great, but we don't care. We have something more important for you to do."

"What is it?"

"A few minutes ago we got pieces of a transmission from Planet Meekrob," Red replied. "Invader Tenn's base has been completely destroyed and the Meekrob have captured her. We're sending all the Invaders in as emergency reinforcements to defeat them once and for all and get her back."

"So pack up and leave by tomorrow," Purple concluded.

"Tomorrow?" Zim exclaimed. He looked around. "But I've been here for a year! I'm so close! Surely you don't need…"

"We need everyone Zim, even you. Besides, you've done nothing but complain about that place the entire time. You shouldn't be too upset about leaving. And once you're done on Meekrob, you can go back," Red sad.

"Well… I suppose you're right. Okay, my Tallest. Where do I rendezvous?"

"We'll be organizing the Invaders and giving them weapons at these coordinates," Red replied, sending the information to Zim's computer. Zim had it programmed into his cruiser.

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Purple said. He took a deep breath, and then said, "We need every last soldier we can get, so get here quickly."

Zim grinned and bounced slightly in excitement. "Oh, of course! I'll get there as soon as possible, my Tallest! You can count on me!" He saluted. They nodded and ended the transmission.

Still smiling, Zim started cleaning up around the lab, putting anything dangerous away so GIR couldn't get to it.

"Where are you going?" GIR asked, following him to the Voot Cruiser's hanger.

"I have to go to Planet Meekrob."

"Can I come?"

"No, GIR. You have to stay here and watch the base so none of the filthy human pigs get their hands on it."

"But I want to come with you!" GIR hugged him desperately.

Zim fought to push him away before giving up. "GIR, listen to me," he said in the kindest voice he could manage. "It will be dangerous. You're too immature to handle the dangers of war and I don't want you getting hurt."

GIR stared up at him with wide eyes before slowly nodding and letting go of him.

Zim patted his head and opened the hatch of the Voot Cruiser.

"Can't you stay for a while longer?" GIR asked. "The tall guys said you didn't have to leave until tomorrow."

"They need me now, GIR. The war won't wait."

"But I'll miss you."

"…I'll miss you too, GIR. But they need me there a lot more than here right now." He double-checked the coordinates and made sure the Voot was in good condition. "It's very important for you to guard the base. This is the most important thing I can ask you to do. Can you do it for me?"

GIR nodded. "I'll guard the base, Master! I'll be the best guard ever!"

"Good." Zim climbed into the pilot's seat of the cruiser. As he reached to start it, he remembered something. "Oh, right. I suppose I should tell him I'm leaving…"

"Tell who you're leaving?" GIR asked.

"The Dib." Zim got out and went to the house level of the base, GIR following close behind. It was nighttime; Zim wasn't going to bother with his disguise.

"But you don't like Dib. Why would you tell him?"

Zim paused to consider that. Why was he telling his enemy where he was going? "Simple. I don't want him to think I'm gone forever and get his hopes up. I want him to know I'll be back to crush his planet once and for all."

He stepped out into the night, leaving GIR behind. The robot went to sit on the couch and wait. Then, getting bored, he turned on the TV.

Zim slipped carefully from street to street, avoiding streetlamps, always moving in the shadows. He soon found Dib's house and used his spiderlegs to scale the wall up to his bedroom window. He pushed it up and slipped in, landing on Dib's bed. The springs creaked and Zim tensed up, but Dib was sitting at his computer totally immersed in a video about vampire hamsters, so he didn't notice.

Zim slowly crept up behind him and stood up.

Dib frowned as the reflection of something green and red appeared on his screen. He paused the video and turned around. "AHH!"

Zim quickly clapped his hand over his mouth before his yelling could wake up Gaz. "Silence," he hissed.

Dib writhed to get free of him, but since Zim was stronger, he couldn't break free. After several moments, he stopped.

Zim let go of his mouth and said, "I have a reason for coming here, so you pay attention."

"What do you want?" Dib crossed his arms and waited. He still found Zim as annoying as ever.

"I'm leaving."

Dib uncrossed his arms and stared in shock. "Leaving? Why?"

"I have to go help out another Invader. But why do you care anyway?"

"I don't care! Go ahead and leave! Good riddance!" Dib felt strange about that news, though. Sure, he's tried to get Zim to leave for about a year… but now that the irken was actually going, he was starting to feel a little miserable.

"I won't be gone forever, Earth-stink, so don't get used to it. I'll be back in a month at most, ready to finish what I started here." Satisfied that he had said what he needed to say, he turned to go.

Dib grabbed his wrist. "Wait!"

Zim glared at him. "You dare stop the almighty ZIM from leaving?"

Dib was surprised by his own boldness. He didn't let go, though. "You'll come back, right?" He didn't know why he was so upset by Zim leaving Earth. He had grown used to him and even liked being able to fight him. It helped convince him that he wasn't crazy, that his life had purpose. And he was closer to Zim than anyone else, even his own family.

Zim relaxed a little. Was that all the human was worried about? "Yes, I'll come back."

"You promise?"

Zim stared at him. Why did he care so much? "Yes, I promise."

Dib let go of him.

"Why do you care?" Zim asked. "You've been trying to drive me away this entire time. You should be happy."

Dib struggled to explain. "I… I don't know. I just like having you around. You're proof of everything I've been trying to tell people. You're my proof that I'm not crazy. And if you leave… well, then how will I know if you ever were real and weren't just some dream?" His voice raised in pitch as he got worked up.

Zim started to get worried and took a step back. "I'll be back!" he assured him.

"Okay, you better. I still have to put you on an autopsy table," Dib said, trying to calm down and smile. It looked strained, though, as though someone had put a gun to his head and demanded he smile or else.

"Well, I think I should get going. They really need me on Meekrob." Zim turned again to go, but Dib put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, I want to give you something to remember me by." Dib pulled him around to face him and briefly touched their lips together.

Zim jolted in surprise. What was the stink-beast doing? His hands were on him and his mouth… ugh!

But the human's grip was surprisingly strong and his touch was cautious but firm.

Zim realized this felt strangely… right. He liked the closeness of the other. Slowly, he leaned in to kiss him back.

They broke apart after a second. Dib blushed and looked away.

Zim touched his fingers to his lips. They were still burning. "Why did you do that?" he asked, curious but not as angry as he usually would be.

"I… uh…" Dib nervously patted his legs, looking anywhere but Zim's face. "I don't know. Just… Oh my God, I can't believe I did that."

"I can't believe it either. What's the matter, Dib? Are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?"

Dib shook his head, then rethought it and nodded. "Yeah, a little. It's going to be too quiet without you screaming about victory all the time."

"Well, don't worry. I'll soon be back and you'll soon get to see me again." He smirked.

Dib nodded, slowly meeting Zim's eyes. "Yeah. Come back soon."

Zim climbed up onto Dib's bed and then onto the windowsill. "I still don't get why you care so much, but I'll defeat the Meekrob and get back as soon as possible, don't you worry, Dib-stink."

"Bye."

After several moments, Zim sighed and said, "Bye," back, leaping down and disappearing into the night.

Dib sighed and sat down at his computer again. He touched his mouth where he had kissed Zim, wondering why he had done that. It made his departure seem very final, but he believed him when he said he'll be back. After all, he wouldn't leave this planet behind so easily.

He shut his computer down and went to crawl into bed. Vampire hamsters could wait until tomorrow. Right now, he needed to think about this.