A/N: Welcome to chapter two of 'Reckoning.' I would have gotten this up sooner, but I'm also working on a parody of 'Young Frankenstein' over in the Cartoon X-Overs section, and I have yet to master the ability to seamlessly work on multiple stories at once. But, you don't want to read my excuses, so let's get this thing started.

Disclaimer: Prime is mine, as are Tallest Genek and Tallest Rankor. Everything else belongs to Jhonen Vasquez.

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Zim walked down the streets of the city, cursing Dib under his breath. It had taken him weeks to set up that plan, calculating the size of the explosion necessary to destroy the cesspool and then the actual construction phase, and then in mere seconds, that interfering human had ruined it. 'Okay, so technically, it was GIR's fault,' Zim argued with himself, 'But if Dib hadn't shown up, I could have gotten the detonator myself, and this city would have been washed away in a tidal wave of corrosive liquid by now!'

Zim continued to curse and blame Dib as he entered the cul-de-sac where he lived and marched towards his house. "Welcome home, son!" the robo-parents greeted him as he walked through the door… and then started beating each other with dishwashers. The angry Invader ignored the faulty robots, tossing off his disguise as he walked towards the trashcan entrance to his laboratory. Popping it open, Zim hopped in and descended to the core of his base.

"Let me guess," the computer said in its usual bored monotone, "Your plan blew up in your face. Again."

"Silence!" Zim snapped, glaring at the computer cables in the ceiling, "I do not pay you to insult me!"

"For the millionth time," the computer said, "You don't pay me at all."

"Do not contradict ZIM!" the irritated alien shouted, "Now, open communications with the Massive. I need to report in with the Tallest."

"Yes master," the computer grumbled, before quietly adding, "But I don't think they really care."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing…"

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Several light-years away, the distant light of the stars was blotted out as a huge maroon-and-purple form emblazoned with the symbol of the Irken Empire moved through the empty void of space. This was the Massive, the flagship of the Irken Armada. The size of a small moon, this one ship had the firepower to wipe entire planets out of existence. Add in the countless smaller ships flying around it, and it wasn't hard to see why the Irkens were the most feared military force in the galaxy.

Behind the glass observation screen in the middle of the ship's forward section was the bridge, where the Almighty Tallest, the twin rulers of the Empire, commanders of the largest army in recorded galactic history, were currently involved in a very important discussion.

"I'm telling you, Pur," Tallest Red snapped at his co-ruler, "Nachos are way better than curly fries."

Okay, so they were just arguing about which snacks were better. No one ever said these two were good rulers. Just insanely powerful ones.

"Oh please," Purple said, rolling his violet eyes, "They've got all that messy cheese that gets everywhere, and the spices always upset my squeedly-spooch."

"Oh yeah?" Red asked, "Well, let me tell you-"

"Incoming message from Earth," one of the bridge technicians interrupted.

"Oh great, it's Zim," Red groaned.

"Can't we just ignore him?" Purple asked, the earlier argument forgotten.

"He'll just keep calling," Red sighed, "So we might as well just get this over with. Put him on." This last part he said to the technician, who nodded and pressed one of the buttons on his console.

"Invader Zim reporting in, my Tallest!" Zim said, snapping a salute, as he appeared on the bridge's main holo-screen.

"What is it now, Zim?" Red asked with a sigh, "We were in the middle of something."

"My apologies, my Tallest," Zim replied, "But protocol insists that I update you on my mission on a regular basis. Plus, I thought you should know about this great plan I just attempted. I was going to melt the city with a tidal wave of the human worm-babies' own corrosive filth, but then-"

"Don't tell me," Red said, holding up one two-fingered hand to cut Zim off, "That big headed human you're always complaining about ruined it. Right?"

Zim looked a little nervous, playing with his antennae. "Well," he said after a moment's hesitation, "Yes. But, if he hadn't, I would have destroyed this pathetic city, and then I would have conquered this filthy planet!"

"How?" Purple asked, "According to you, that city isn't the capital, or even really that important, so how would destroying it help you take over the planet?"

Zim blinked and put on a thoughtful expression. "You know, I don't think I ever really thought about that," he said after a few seconds, before thrusting his arms into the air and shouting, "But it still would have been really cool!"

Red sighed and rubbed the side of his head. Zim was giving him a headache, as usual. 'Time to end this, before this moron goes into a rant,' he thought, before clearing his throat and saying, "Look, Zim, as fascinating as I find this conversation, Pur and I are very busy."

"Yeah!" Purple said, trying to help stop Zim from talking, "We've got important, uh, leader-y stuff to do."

"Oh, okay," Zim said, sounding a little disappointed, "I'll call back later, then. Invader Zim signing off!" Zim snapped another salute and cut the transmission.

"…Leader-y stuff?" Red asked, narrowing one eye in confusion.

"It was all I could think of!" Purple snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, "Besides, this is Zim we're talking about here. He'd believe us if we said his transmission was breaking up because we were going through a tunnel."

Red laughed at this. "Good point," he said between laughs, "He really is the stupidest guy I've ever met. Including you."

"Yeah… hey, what a minute!"

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Unbeknownst to the two Tallest, they were being watched. The security cameras on the bridge monitored everything all the time, and then transmitted the footage back to Irk, where it was then transferred into the memory banks of the Control Brains stored underneath Tallest Tower. However, at the moment, the data feed was being spliced and also sent to the remnants of Prime's bunker. This was due to a previous hack by the former ruler of Irk, who had done so to insure that he didn't miss any important information.

Prime stared up at his holo-screen, watching the current discussion-turned-argument between the two Tallest. "Imbeciles," Prime snarled, "To think this is where the legacy of Genek has led. At least Rankor, may he rot in Hell, knew how to conduct the Empire when I was busy. With these two in charge, I'm surprised Irk hasn't fallen yet." Prime let out a chuckle, "Oh well, soon, so soon, these fools will be gone, and I will once again rule."

Prime turned his attention back to the conversation he was spying on as Purple said, "Why do we keep putting up with Zim, anyway? Every time he calls, it always the same thing: He's come up with some stupid new plan to take over Earth, but an hour later he'll call again to tell us it hasn't worked."

"Well, I guess you've got a point," Red grudgingly admitted, "It's not like he'll ever succeed. Even if one of his plans knocks the humans down, he'll need the Armada to completely subjugate the planet- and we're sure not going to help that defective dolt!"

"You got that right!" Purple laughed, "And it's not like there'll ever be anything that can match the Armada in strength!"

The bunker filled with Prime's laughter as he deactivated the holo-screen. "Oh, I wouldn't say that," he said, before turning on a holographic projector in the middle of the room. A purple hologram appeared of what seemed to be some kind of schematic. "Once I give this gift to Zim, he will be unstoppable, and you fools will pay for your ancestors' crimes! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

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Back on Earth, Zim stared up at the blank communications screen for a moment before leaning back in his chair and saying, "Well, I think that went pretty well."

"If you say so," the computer said, "But I personally got the feeling they were just looking for an excuse to stop talking to you." Zim paused for a moment as he considered that. Was it possible the Tallest didn't like talking to him? However, he quickly pushed the thought from his mind, as he always did when it came to subjects he didn't like to think about.

"Nonsense!" he said, waving an arm dismissively at the computer, "They adore Zim!"

"If you say so master," the computer sighed.

"I do," Zim said, before his PAK let out a warning signal to show it was low on energy, "Hmm, it seems that my dedication to complete this latest plan has taken more out of me than I thought. Computer, I'm going into recharge, make sure no one disturbs me. Oh, and search for any spy devices. I think the Dib-Worm managed to sneak a few in recently."

"As you wish, master," the computer said, as it began scanning the Irken base for any human technology.

Zim smirked and got into a comfortable position as several cables emerged from the wall and attached to his PAK. He then closed his eyes and let his conscious mind shut down, allowing the PAK to start absorbing energy, and thus continue to preserve his life functions. However, his unconscious mind continued to be a storm of thoughts and memories, which was ever brewing and growing- and easy to manipulate.

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Back on Irk, Prime would have smiled if he had a mouth. "Yes, sleep, my pet," he said, "And in your sleep, dream of destruction, and of revenge, and of my gift to you." As he said the last part, Prime latched onto Zim's PAK's signal and began uploading an information package. "It is nearly time. Soon, your rage will consume you. Soon, you shall become the perfect weapon. Soon, you will be unstoppable!"

Prime unleashed a mad cackle as his metal tentacles began waving wildly in the air. "Soon, I will have my vengeance, and Irk will burn!"

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A/N: And there's chapter two. If you don't remember who Tallest Genek and Tallest Rankor are, go reread the first part of 'The Puppet Master.' I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible.

Until then, read and review!