"AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The guards screamed as Zim and Maz entered the main hall of the Massive. Maz had to supress a snicker as they dropped their weapons and ran.

"What did you do to make them so scared of you?" Zim said, antennae cocked to the side in amusment.
Maz sighed. "I don't think it's me," She said quietly, "I think it's you."
Zim laughed a little too loudly, not realizing she was serious.
"Um, well... Let's go. I still need to introduce you to the rest of the family, and let the Tallest know the entire main hall is completely unguarded at the moment."

~+~+***+~+~

"DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN!!!" Purple yelled, pointing accusingly at Zim. Red promptly smacked him upside the head.
Then, more calmly, Red explained, "Look, Maz, I don't think Zim living here on the Massive is a very good idea."
"Yeah, I'm having second thoughts too," Maz said jokingly. Red frowned, frustrated that she didn't get that he was serious.
"No, really. I mean, every time Zim takes five steps within a 1,000,000,000 mile radius of us, something horrible happens."
Maz looked confused. "But he just walked all over the Massive and nothing horrible's happened."
Just then, the screen at the front of the bridge came on, and a panicked engineer appeared.
"PART OF THE ENGINE JUST EXPLODED!!!" He yelled, partially because he was in a panicked frenzy, and partially because it was the only way he could be heard over the din of the machinery. The screen went black.
"See?" Red said, waving a hand towards the screen, completely unconcerned about the huge technical difficulty they were expeiriencing.
"It was probably just a coincidence!" Zim suggested, waving his arms frantically. "PLEASE, My Tallest?! I'll never learn to be a better Invader unless Maz helps me!"
Maz nodded.
"Oh, FINE," Red growled. "But ONE slip up... and I mean ONE... And Zim gets re-banished."
Zim saluted and marched out into the hall.
"What about the engine?" Maz asked, a little worried.
"Eh, they'll fix it," Red said in a bored tone. "We've managed to solve most of the problems Zim's caused so far, and they were a lot bigger than this. Besides, it's only a small part of the engine."
"Oh, uh... Okay." Maz left, following Zim out into the hall.
Purple looked over at his brother, worried. "We're all gonna die."
"Yeah. That may just be the understatement of the year."

~+~+***+~+~

Ispen wasted no time in heading back to Maz's room and turning the TV on. Gir showed him what channel the Scary Monkey Show was on, and then Sez and Mak came to join them. The four of them watched, completely mesmerized, while Maz introduced Zim to Vivi.
"Zim, this is Vivi. He's from the planet I conquered."
Zim looked at him curiously. "You keep him as a slave?"
Maz looked up. "Uh, well, no. He's more of a member of the family than anything."
"Um, hi," Vivi said shyly, holding out his hand. Zim stared at him for a minute, confused. Embarrassed, Vivi let his hand fall at his side.
"Alright, Zim," Maz said finally, "If you're ever going to be a better Invader, we'd better start training now."

~+~+***+~+~

It was the day before Dib's first day of High Skool. Gaz was in his class, too-- the Middle Skool teachers had been terrified of her and moved her up two grades.

It had been three years since Zim had pretty much disappeared entirely. Dib had to admit, he loved not having to defend the earth or try to reveal Zim every second of the day, but he sometimes wondered where Zim was, why he had left, and if he would ever come back. (He sincerely hoped that the answer to that last one was NO.)

MEANWHILE, SAME LOCATION OF ZIM'S OLD BASE

"Oh no..." Maz said to herself, looking at the computer.
"What?" Zim asked.
"It's been three years."
"Um..." Zim was confused. "Yeah. What's so bad about that?"
"No, it's been three years here on earth, too."
"WHAT?! But I thought you had the planet in a time warp!"
"I did," Maz growled. "But it obviously didn't work."
Zim scowled murderously.
"Look, it's not that big a deal. Kids leave and come back all the time."
Zim sighed, frustrated, and put on his wig and contacts. They felt weird after not wearing them for so long, but Zim was beginning to feel the old routine kick back in. He felt a little more confident that he would be able to blend in since he had grown nearly a foot, and humans seemed to grow as they aged.
Maz drilled the small, computerized, compacted version of Zim's base into the ground and waited anxiously. She had made modifications to it, but she was afraid the entire design would be warped, because technically, modifications were only supossed to be done while the base was expanded.
However, when it was done assembling, nothing appeared to be wrong with the exterior, so any mistakes could be fixed from within without arousing suspicion.
"YAY!!!" Gir screamed, practically launching himself from the ship and running into the house. The first thing he did was climb onto the couch and turn on the TV. Ispen followed, more slowly, and sat next to him. Zim ran past both of them and back into his lab, excited to see what Maz had added in and changed.
Maz walked in, satisfied. Ispen looked at her.
"So, what does coming here have to do with your...plan?"
Maz grinned. "You'll see."

~+~+***+~+~

"What were you working on last night?" Zim asked as they walked towards their new Skool. "You were up practically the whole night."
"I was hacking the Skool database and putting you in the directory. Unfortunately, the only class that wasn't full and allowed me to put you in was the one with Dib." Zim growled upon hearing his mortal enemy's name. Maz noticed this, and added, "Don't worry, though. I put myself in as the assisstant teacher for your class, so if he tries anything, he's dead in two seconds." Zim relaxed after hearing this.
At the door, skool workers were handing out schedules and locker combonations to everyone. Zim got his and just shoved it in his pocket. He didn't have anything to put in his locker, because anything he needed, he would have in his PAK. He could find a use for the locker later.
"Let's spilt up for now," Maz whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "We don't want to make it look like we're together right away."
Zim nodded sutbtly, then started off down the crowded hall, following the map to his classroom. As soon as he was far enough away, Maz followed, keeping a good distance between them.

When Zim entered the classroom, he only recognized two people-- Dib and Gaz. Luckily, Dib didn't seem to notice him--YET--and the other few students in the room looked bored out of their minds.
"Hello," The teacher said in a friendly voice. "You must be Zim. I think there may be something wrong with our directory, because you didn't appear in it until this morning. Go ahead and sit where ever you want."
Dib's eyes widened, and he instantly turned to the doorway. "ZIM!!!" He yelled.
Zim's eyes narrowed. "We meet again, Dib-human."
The teacher looked confused. "You two know eachother?"
"Yes, I used to go to skool here, but I left to go to skool in...Europe...for a few years. And now I'm back," Zim explained.
"Ah, I see."
"He's an alien!" Dib shouted, pointing at him.
"Dib, I don't know what went on between you two, but it's not nice to judge people. Please don't cause trouble," The teacher said calmly.
Zim sat at the opposite end of the room and Dib resorted to glaring at him for a while.
Maz entered the room a few minutes later, making a good show of looking shy.
"Oh, hello!" The teacher said, standing up. "You're Maz, right?"
"Yep," Maz replied cheerfully.
"Like I was telling Zim here, I think our directory may be broken," the teacher explained. "You didn't appear in it until early this morning, but I managed to find you a desk."
"Oh! Thanks!" Maz exclaimed. She was surprised at the caring and generosity of some humans.
"By the way, my name's Caty," She said, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you," Maz said, shaking her hand. She went to sit down at her desk.
"By the way..." Caty added. "Have we met before?"
Maz looked over her carefully. Something about her tigerish yellow eyes was familiar, but she couldn't place it...
"I'm sorry...I don't think so," Maz said slowly.
"Oh, alright. Just wondering."

~+~+***+~+~

About 20 minutes into class, the door opened and a new student entered the room. Zim saw who it was, and, in total shock, sunk in his seat and tried to appear as invisible as possible.
"Hello, Tak," Caty said, smiling.
"Sorry I'm late, Ms. Caty," Tak said, taking her seat.
Zim looked at her from across the room, wondering if she remembered everything that had happened, and if she still hated him for it. Her eyes met his, and he knew the answer was yes. Yes, she still hated him.

~+~+***+~+~

During lunch, Zim casually walked over to Tak's locker.
"Um... Hi, Tak. How's it going?"
Tak slammed her locker door and turned to him with a look so full of rage it made him flinch.
"You've ruined my life TWICE now," she said furiously.
"Um...yeah...but... You WERE trying to take my mission."
"WHAT mission?!" Tak yelled at him, causing him to step back in alarm. "You're NOT an Invader!"
"Yes I am," Zim squeaked.
Tak turned away from him, frustrated. "Fine. Believe what ever stupid, impossible fantasies you want to, but stay away from me."
She stomped off down the hall, leaving Zim totally dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Dib was blabbing his thoughts away to Gaz. Having matured slightly, Gaz was able to tolerate his rants for short amounts of time, but eventually she would snap.
"...And now Zim AND Tak are here! AGAIN! How am I supposed to defend the planet from TWO aliens!? I mean, Zim's a total moron... But Tak might actually be able to pull this whole destroying-the-world thing off!"
"Maybe they'll just kill eachother?" Gaz wondered aloud. Dib sighed.
"I sure hope so..."

~+~+***+~+~

"I know I've met you before," Caty insisted. "You're Maz."
"Yeah, I am..." Maz said uncomfortably. What's wrong with her? she wondered.
"No, I mean, you're former Invader Maz, currently Irken Elite General. Your height is 5'6", your eye color is red, and you conquered the planet Gaia."
Maz was unable to keep her jaw from dropping.
"How...?"
Caty grinned devillishly. "I know almost everything about you. We've been best friends since birth, don't you remember?"
Maz's eye's widened in shock. "Chev...?!"
Chev lowered her voice to a whisper. "Yeah. But save the touching reunion for later, 'kay? I'll come with you to your base after skool."
"Okay," Maz said, a huge grin spreading across her face.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz was about to explode as she, Zim, and Chev walked back to the house. Zim kept giving Maz looks that said What the heck is wrong with you?! but she ignored them, she was too happy to care.

Finally, they got to the house, and Zim's confusion reached a whole new level when Maz allowed Chev into the house. Once they were inside, both Maz and Chev's holographic disguises flickered off. Zim's confusion had now reached a record level.
"What the...?!"
"You've grown a ton, Maz."
Maz grinned. "I MISSED YOU!!!" She screamed, tackling Chev so hard she squeaked in alarm. Gir saw the hugging moment and decided to join in, latching himself to Maz's leg.
"Well, I see you've grown too, Zim. Guess you got that from your sister," Chev said, looking over at Zim.
"How'd you know Zim was my brother?" Maz asked, confused.
"I've been keeping up with your record," Chev said mischeviously. "And I found out that Tak was headed here, so I decided to come, thinking we could conquer the planet together. Finding you was an added bonus."
"So, this Tak is the Tak I thought she might be. Does she know...?"
"Yeah, she knows it's me. I'll tell her about you tomorrow."
Zim raised an eyebrow. "You guys know Tak?"
Maz unintentionally mimicked his expression. "You know her?"
Zim nodded. "Yeah, she tried to steal the planet from me a while back. Anyway, I'm going back into the lab." Zim left to go downstairs, Gir trailing behind.
After he had left, Maz turned to Chev. "If you don't mind, I need to ask you not to destroy the earth."
Chev looked at her, amused. "May I ask why?"
"I have a plan. It's long and complicated, but I need you to trust me."
Chev smiled sightly. "You may not be very good at hiding your identity from me, but your plans have almost never failed. Of course I'll trust you."
Maz nodded. "Good."

~+~+***+~+~

"My base is nothing compared to this," Chev said, impressed. "I may have to move in with you."
"Well, the more the merrier," Maz said. Ispen walked up next to her.
"It doesn't matter anyway," he pointed out. "We're leaving soon, aren't we?"
Zim's head shot up. "WHAT?!"
"Thanks, Ispen," Maz said through clenched teeth.
"But we just got here!" Zim yelled, sounding more whiny than he meant to be.
"I know that, Zim," Maz said, narrowing her eyes. "And I told you we weren't staying long."
"You didn't tell me WHY," Zim grumbled. "And you didn't tell me we were only staying a few days."
Maz sighed. "Look, Zim... I told you about my plan, right?"
"Well, you told me you had a plan, and that's about it. Why? Is this part of it?"
"Yes," Maz answered. "And I'll tell you what it is right now."

(Author: Oh...? IT'S FLASHBACK TIME?! HOORAY!!!)

"I know it's a bit ridiculous that I'm asking this," Maz mumbled for probably the fourth time. "But I promised my friends I wouldn't let their planet be taken over. At least not forever."
Red frowned. "Well... We could form an alliance instead of taking over Gaia." Maz grinned and nodded. "But..."
"It's kind of not really under OUR control anymore," Purple finished.
"PURPLE!" Red yelled.
"Well, it's true," Purple grumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maz asked, confused.
"Well..." Red hesitated, as though he was trying to decide between telling the truth or making something up. "See, we lost control over the planet about a year ago."
"WHAT?!" Maz exploded.
"Well, we got this signal from one of the soldiers. He kept saying that someone had taken over the planet, and then the signal got cut."
Maz didn't say anything.
"And then we got another signal, but it was just a voice..." Red continued. "Well, you'll need to hear it for it to make sense." Red hovered over to the nearest computer and pulled up a file.

"Alright, see that? I just killed off half the soldiers working on this planet. The other half have all surrendered to me," The voice said. Maz gasped slightly. She knew that voice well. It was deeper now, though, and had a sneering tone that she had never heard before.
"So, if you're observant enough, you may have noticed that this planet, Gaia, is no longer on the map. If you somehow manage to find it again, don't even bother sending forces here. I will kill them all. I'm not stopping here, either. I'll keep going until I eventually reach Irk and take it over too. You'll all regret ever having ridiculed me."
The recording ended with derranged laughter.
"We think it might be--" Red began, but Maz cut him off.
"Xith," She said simply. Red and Purple looked at eachother, stunned.
"I knew him... I was his friend once," Maz explained. "I knew he didn't really have his head on straight, but... I never, not in a million years, thought he would go this far."
Maz remembered Xith from years and years ago, back when she and Chev were training to become Elite Soldiers. He was quiet, depressed, and usually sat by himself. He had given up on trying to be friends with anyone, because they all teased him too much. He was an outcast.
He was an outcast because he was a mutant. A glitch in his DNA had caused his body to be slightly warped, and his eyes to be a pitch black color. His antennae were jagged and bent, and his claws too long on one hand. He was the very definition of "mutant freak".
He was also able to live without a PAK, however, he had to eat regularly to keep himself nourished, unlike normal Irkens, who could live without eating. Most, however, chose to eat anyway. Something in the glitch also had to do with an electric problem, so Xith could control elecrtical devices. That was possibly the only advantage.
Maz and Chev had befriended him, and were his only friends for a long time, up until they had both become Invaders. Maz figured their leaving had caused him to snap.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Maz demanded.
"I thought you wouldn't care." Red looked down. "But I guess you do. Sorry. I guess I should have told you."
"Well, this changes everything," Maz mumbled. "Now I need to go back to Earth..."

(Author: Aww. Flashback over.)

"Oh," Zim said. "But I still don't see what coming back to earth has to do with all this..."
"Yeah, that explanation didn't explain why you're here," Chev said.
Maz sighed, exasperated. "I know. Just bear with me, okay? You'll find out everything tomorrow. And Zim, you may want to pack up. Whether or not my plan works, we're leaving tomorrow night."
Zim knew what would happen if he resisted Maz and pissed her off, so he resorted to making faces at her for the remainder of the evening.

~+~+***+~+~

"I don't know what to do, Gaz!" Dib yelled hysterically. "What if they're working together, or what if--"
Gaz had reached her breaking point. "Will you SHUT UP about this already?! You've been blabbing about it since THREE IN THE FREAKING MORNING!!!"
Dib paused. "I...have?"
"Yes, you came into my room at three in the morning and started freaking out and practically having a SEIZURE."
"Oh. Well, anyway--"
"Save it for someone who cares, Dib." At that, Gaz got up and walked off.
Dib slouched a little, frustrated.
"Hey, Dib." He looked up to see that Maz had taken Gaz's place at the table.
"Look, whatever you have to say, can you make it quick? I kind of have to figure out how to save to world."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Dib shot Maz a skeptical glance.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I know Zim's an alien," Maz said in a low voice. Dib's eyes went wide.
"Wait, wait," he said, shaking his head. "You're just doing the same thing Mr. Dwicky was doing. You're just gonna pretend to believe me, and then RIGHT as we're about to expose Zim, you'll tell me you were faking."
Maz laughed slightly. "No. Really. That's why I've been hanging out with him, I was trying to get him to trust me enough to expose himself to me."
"...Really?"
"Yep. So, come with me to his base after Skool, and we'll expose him together."
Dib still looked skeptical, but he figured there was no harm in going with her, even if she was doing the same thing Mr. Dwicky was doing.
He just wouldn't let her hold the camera.

~+~+***+~+~

Tak walked up to Maz, looking like she was about to explode.
"Hi," she managed to blurt through the huge grin on her face.
Maz snickered. "So, Chev told you?"
"Uh-huh," Tak replied, calming down a little. "She also told me Zim was your brother." She looked a bit disgusted.
"Yeah, I hear you two don't exactly have a great history."
"He's ruined my life TWICE now," Tak grumbled.
"So I hear. I'm sorry, but for my plan, you'll have to put up with him for a few days."
"Yeah, Chev told me your plan."
"So, I need you, Chev, and Zim to make it out of Skool before me. Think you can handle it?"
Tak grinned. "Oh yeah."

~+~+***+~+~

"Okay, class," Chev said, doing a really good job of sounding miffed, "Tak just broke every rule ever established in this skool, so I"m escorting her to the principal's office. Maz will watch you for the last 15 minutes."
Tak gave Maz a thumbs up as they exited the room.
A few minutes later, Zim raised his hand.
"What?" Maz asked, glaring at him.
"I need to use the bathroom," he said.
"Fine. But make it fast."
Zim got up and practically ran out of the room, trying to catch up with Tak and Chev. Of course, not even Dib would guess what was really going on, not in a million years.
The bell rang and the usual post-skool chaos ensued. Kids jumped out of windows and ran screaming from the classroom. Maz supressed a giggle as one kid collided with the door just as it closed.
As soon as the classroom was reasonably empty, Dib walked up to Maz's desk.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yup," Maz answered. "Let's go."

~+~+***+~+~

"Alright," Maz said as they both walked onto Zim's front yard. "Wait here. I'll be right back."
Dib waited, giddy with anticipation. Maybe today would be the day he would finally expose Zim...
His thought interrupted by a hole suddenly opening in the ground right beneath his feet. All he could manage to think before he fell was Aw, crap.
He fell down into a room that looked oddly like the cells in an insane asylum. Only the walls and floors weren't padded.
Not much to his surprise, Zim appeared on a screen jutting out of the wall. And of course, he was laughing so hard he couldn't say anything. Dib scowled.
And then, (and this was a little more surprising) Maz walked up next to Zim.
"Maz! Oh, I should have known... You're working for Zim as a slave, aren't you?!"
Maz looked exasperated. "No, Dib. We're partners. And, in a way, he kind of has to take orders from me."
Zim made a face at this.
"Huh?" Dib said, confused. "Why would Zim take orders from you? You're just a human."
"Another thing you're wrong about." Maz transformed back into an Irken and now Dib was panicked.
"THERE'S THREE OF YOU NOW?!"
Chev sighed and stepped into veiw of the screen. "Four."
"OH, CRAP! And knowing my luck, I bet Tak's working with you..."
"Yup!" Tak called from somewhere off-screen.
"And... let me guess... you brought me here to destroy me, didn't you?"
"Uh, no. Actually, we need your help."
Now there was something he wouldn't have expected in a million years.