Rating: T

Main Pairing: Zim/Tak

Author's Notes: Hello again. It's Mr. Alaska again. Well, after reading a review from one of my readers, I saw that I should clear something up. The reader thought that I was planning on stopping writing this story once I get inspiration for some of my Naruto stories… I assure you, that's not true. I simply meant that once I get inspiration for my Naruto stories, I won't update AS MUCH. I plan on finishing this story. So don't worry. I assure you all that I won't just STOP updating this story. I just felt I should make that 100% crystal clear. So, with that said, lets get back to the action! It seems like Tallest Red has some nasty shit planned for BOTH Zim and Tak… Not cool, man. Seriously. So now Zim will have to deal with the return of Tak, AND the impending threat that is sure to follow. So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride! YEAH! XD

Chapter 3: The Return of Tak

"So what do I do know?" Zim asked himself, as he walked to Skool. It's been 24 hours since he was informed that he was never really a Invader. With an effort from Gir and Minimoose, Zim was feeling slightly better about it. But the question still remained. What will he do now? "Now that I am banished here, I have no need to destroy it, since it will be my new home," he concluded, "but if I'm not destroying it, what do I do here? I mean, I've been trained to annihilate and conquer civilizations at the Tallests' asking… Now I'm told to stay here for the rest of my life. It sucks… But what can I do?"

As he started to near Skool, he suddenly heard someone shouting, "ZIM," behind him. Zim turned to see, who else, Dib. He was sprinting down the sidewalk to where Zim had stopped and turned. The human boy was panting, with sweat dripping down his face. His black hair was all messy, his trench coat was wrinkled, and he was gasping for air. With a crazed look on his face, Dib pointed dramatically at Zim.

"There (pant) there you are (pant) Zim," he began, gasping for air. "You won't (pant) get rid of (pant) of me this (pant) time! Now, what are you (pant) planning?" Zim sighed and slapped himself in the face. This moron just doesn't quite, Zim thought. "You're not getting away this time," Dib continued, after finally catching his breath. "Either you tell me what you are planning, or I'll make you tell me."

Even though Zim knew fully well Dib was never able to live up to his threats, Zim sighed and looked at him with a straight face. "Dib… I can honestly tell you that you won't have to be worrying about me taking over and/or destroying Earth," the Irken answered, earning a surprised expression for Dib. When Dib made another accusation after what he had heard, Zim continued. "And you can finally stop obsessing over me and leave me alone." Then, without warning, Zim took off running to Skool.

Dib just stood there, not knowing what to think. He was dumbfounded. First of all, Zim didn't call him, "Dib-Human," or, "Dib-Stick," like he would normally do. Secondly, the way Zim spoke caught him off guard. He didn't go, "I am ZIM! Fear me," or anything while speaking to him. This was the first time Zim acted normal… Which made Dib even more paranoid.

Reaching into his trench coat pocket, Dib pulled out a little handheld recorder. "Note to self," he whispered, as he also made his way to Skool, "keep an extra close eye on Zim. His behavior suggests that he has something BIG planned… Bigger than any previous plan to take over the Earth." As he continued taking to himself, Gaz ( Who had been behind him all this time ) looked up from her video game and groaned.

"You need a hobby," she sighed, turning her attention back to her game. "And I mean a NORMAL hobby. Not stalking aliens and being a paranoid creeper." Dip turned to his sister and glared at her. But he knew it was damn near pointless arguing with Gaz. So, he did what he always does. He growled something underneath his breath and continued walking to Skool.

At Skool…..

"So you see class, that is why all life is meaningless," Ms. Bitters hissed, as she paced back and forth in front of the classroom. "Eventually, the universe will implode in on itself. Despite what your parents or elders tell you, there is absolutely NO great secret behind living. We're all doomed…"

Zim had stopped listening to her for quite some time. Everything Ms. Bitters talked about was unbelievably depressing, even by Irken standards… And that's really saying something. 'Well, I suppose I might as well start finding things I like about this planet,' Zim thought, as he laid his head down on his desk. Thankfully, Ms. Bitters was too busy going on with another one of her "DOOMED" speeches to notice. 'If I'm stuck here for the rest of my life, I might as well try to enjoy it.'

Now that he wasn't obsessing about taking over Earth anymore, Zim found it somewhat of a relief to not have to be scheming 24/7. He looked around the classroom. No one ( Besides Dib ) still had any clue he was not human. So for the most part, he was safe with being around them. Even though Dib knew practically everything about him, no one ever believes him when he tries to expose it. Not even the adults thought he was a alien… Which is pretty sad, since their supposed to be smarter than their offspring. While Zim was lost in his thoughts, the door to the classroom opened.

"Hey look! Its Zim's girlfriend," one girl giggled, pointing towards the door. Now, while Zim was in deep thought, when he heard, "Zim's girlfriend," he suddenly remembered the only other time someone made such a statement. He gulped, and swung his head around towards the door…

'… Oh shit…' Zim thought.

It was exactly what Zim feared the most. Standing in the doorway was, in fact, who Zim thought it was. It was a girl with short dark blue hair. She wore a large striped shirt, with the colors being light and dark purple. Along with her jet black pants, she wore a pair of knee-high leather black and purple boots. It was Tak, in her human holographic disguise.

Temporarily ignoring the outrageous accusation, Tak cracked a fake smile. "Hello again," she began in a sweet voice. "I'm back. So sorry I had to leave without saying anything. My "father" had to attend to important business, and I…" But while she was trying to sell the students a fake story, Ms. Bitters let out a low growl, interrupting her.

"No one cares Tak. Just find yourself a seat so we can continue."

Keeping a convincing grin, Tak nodded. "Yes, Ms. Bitters." She walked up to the girl sitting directly behind Zim, who had cried, "Hey look! Its Zim's girlfriend," when she arrived. "That wasn't a nice thing to say," she hissed, attracting the giggling girl's attention. "You should let me take your seat, and sit in the back of the class… Now…" A blue flash of light then streaked across Tak's eyes. Without saying a word, the girl silently stood up, walked to the back of the class and sat on the floor, since there were no open desks left. When Tak took the seat behind Zim, Ms. Bitters continued on with the lesson.

Zim started to get very uneasy. Even thought he wasn't looking at her, he could feel her scornful, hating, vengeful glare burning a hole in the back of his head. As he fiddled with his thumbs, he tilted his head to one side, so that he was at least making eye contact with her. "Tak," he simply stated, acknowledging her being there.

"Zim," she started back, with a venomous sting to the tone of her voice. Her loathing glare slowly turned into a wickedly evil grin when she saw her archenemy's worried expression. "It is so nice to see you after all this time," she continued, while Ms. Bitters proceeded to write something down on the chalkboard. "I hear that the Tallest finally broke the news to you." Zim's expression hardened, before he abruptly turned back to the front. Tak smirked. "I'll take that as a "Yes". Well, I tried to tell…"

"What the Irk do you want, Tak?" Zim hissed, quietly enough so that their depressing, homicidal teacher or fellow classmates wouldn't hear. "If you are here to rub that fact that I'm a Defective Invader and that I'll never be an Invader into my face, save it." Tak raised an eyebrow at the bold statement. She figured that Zim would've at least DENIEDthe humiliating truth before confirming it. "I'm already abandoned on this worthless floating dirtball of a planet. What more satisfaction could you possibly want?"

Tak smiled evilly. "Well, I have a couple of reasons, really," she replied. "Where do I begin? How about the fact that because of you, I missed the test that would've gained me the status of Invader? Or the fact that because of you, I was sent to planet Dirt to wait out the 70 years before I could retake the test? And there is the time you sent my drifting through space for SIX MONTHS."

Then, the bell rang, signaling that it was lunch. Everybody got up, except Zim. Before leaving, Tak leaned forward and placed her mouth right next to Zim's ear. "I told you I'd be back, Zim," she whispered. "And now that I am, you will finally suffer for all of the pain you caused me." A cold shiver shot down Zim's spine as Tak stood up from her chair and walked out of the classroom.

"Dude…" Zim turned to one side and saw Dib, who had heard what Tak had just whispered to him. "And I thought I hated you."

Lunch was a nightmare for Zim. It wasn't the fact that Tak was out to get him. She had always been out to get him, even since they were mere Invader-trainees. But what made it different was that she was out for revenge. And since her presence was made known, and she preferred to strike when least expected, Zim was totally jumpy. At the lunch table, he sat alone, which was common for him, since not that many people liked him. But this time, he sat at a table where his back was against the fall, so no one could sneak up on him.

As he proceeded eating his lunch, he looked across the cafeteria to the table about 40ft away from him. There sat a group of girls, giggling about, well, you know, girly stuff. He sighed, but then his eyes snapped open when he spotted Tak sitting among them. She wasn't eating her lunch, she wasn't trying to make any fake friendships with any of the other girls… No. She was just staring right back at Zim, with a "Better Sleep with One Eye Open" glare plastered to her face.

'Oh great,' Zim thought sarcastically, as he took a drink from his soda. 'Now is have TAK, of all people to deal with! What's next?' When Tak refused to end her "death glare" Zim decided to try something out… He saw this in a move. As he proceeded to drink his soda, he pointed at Tak. When she caught the point, she arched her eyebrow, confused. Then, feeling brave, Zim performed the "Bring it on" taunt.

When Tak saw that, she smirked and took a drink from her soda. Then, the girl must've made another comment about her liking Zim or something, because after the girl said it, all of the other girls started giggling and making kissing sounds. Furious, Tak turned to the girl who made the comment. Zim heard Tak say something that sounded like, "Face in food," followed by the quick flash of blue light. A few seconds later, the girl who made the mystery comment nodded her head, right before slamming her face into her pile of food.

As all of the girls started laughing at the girl with her face in her food, Tak turned back to Zim. But when she looked back at his table, she discovered that he was no longer there. "Damnit," she whispered, as she finished the last of her lunch.

Meanwhile, Aboard the Massive…..

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The entire control room was filled with laughter. The tiny camera hidden in Tak's shirt collar had been activated ever since Tak took the form of the new girl at Skool. They had just finished watching how Tak handled the comment to girl said about her liking Zim. "Oh man, that was priceless," Tallest Purple said, holding his sides. "I love that we've added that feature to all holographic disguises!"

Tallest Red wiped the tears from his eyes, as he sat back up in his chair. "I knew giving Tak a tiny camera and sending her to Earth would be a hilarious plan," he stated. "And this is only the humans. I can't wait to see what she puts ZIM through."

"Yeah! And I can't wait to see what he does in retaliation," Purple added. "Did you see Zim's little, "Bring it on," taunt? Its almost like the Irken Ultimate Fighter. I can't wait! SERVICE DRONE!" A short Irken ran up, carrying a empty platter. "Fetch your Tallest some donuts and nachos! We desire snacks while watching television!"

Back at Earth…..

After lunch, it was recess. But, in hopes of losing Tak, Zim decided to hide out in the Skool Library. He normally attended recess, even when Tak showed up the first time. So, in his mind, she might end up searching and re-searching the playground, thinking he was hiding from her there, and not in the library.

Sitting down in a beanbag in the back of the library, Zim let out a sigh of relief. 'Okay, calm yourself Zim,' he thought, trying to keep his mind clear. 'You dealt with Tak before, you can do it again… Right?' He reached for one of his textbooks, thinking he might as well use this time to get done with Ms. Bitters' depressing assignment. Read Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and write about how it relates to a certain part of your life. As he proceeded to comprehend what Edger was writing about, he shivered. 'Wow,' he thought, 'this Edger-Human had some issues.'

"So, the "Almighty Zim" is cowering in the Skool library? Sad…" Zim recognized the voice. He turned to see Dib, eating an apple, with a smug look on his face. "What happened to "I am the mightiest Invader of them all" crap you're always talking about?"

Zim narrowed his eyes at the human boy. "I prefer to hold my battles for after Skool, Dib… Less obvious that the two newest students are Irken In…" He paused before he could finish that sentence. He took a deep breath. "… That the two newest students are aliens." Zim turned his attention back to the poem, trying to show Dib that he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation… If only it were that easy, though.

"Well, you know what I think?" He asked, tossing his apple core into a nearby trashcan. Zim kept his eyes glued to his textbook. "I think you are sca…"

"Zim does NOT feel fear," Zim blurted out, before Dib could finish the sentence. The librarian turned to them and "SHHH-ed" them loudly. Zim glared at Dib who had backed up from surprise at the sudden statement. "I've just got a new set of priorities, is all," he whispered. "The more time I have away from Tak, the more time I have to prepare for whatever she might have planned to "get" me. Does your puny Earthling mind comprehend that?"

Sure, Zim could've just told Dib the truth. He could've told him that he was no longer an Invader, and was stranded on his planet. But he already tried telling him that. And he didn't believe him. And quite frankly, now that Zim thought about it, he'd rather Dib didn't know about his unfortunate predicament. Because Irken Invader or not, Zim HATED Dib, almost more then he hated Tak. And if Dib found out that Zim was a "Defective" and technically not an Irken Invader, he would never let him forget about it. So, Zim will let Dib think whatever he wanted to.

Feeling like he was gonna get nowhere, Dib shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever man." He sighed, turning to leave. Zim let out another pleasant sigh when he saw open the door to leave. He thought he was off the hook… Until… "Hey Tak! He's in here!"

'DIB, YOU IRKEN SWAMP RAT EATING PIECE OF WASTE!' Zim screamed in his head.

Not even a millisecond later, and Tak pushed past Dib, who was making his way out. She saw the Irken Defective, with his entire face buried in his large text book. 'There you are,' she thought, as she neared the scared (Yes… Zim is scared out of his f***king mind ) Irken boy.

Back on the Massive….

On the Massive, the Tallest, and even all of the Irken workers were gathered in front of the large screen, enjoying what they were watching. Neither Red or Purple cared that the workers weren't doing their jobs… This was too good for ANYONE to miss. "Wow, I've never seen Zim scared before," Purple mumbled, as he stuffed his face with nachos. "Its hilarious!"

Red chuckled as he passed around his bag of donuts to the Irken workers around him. ( Yes… When it comes to watching Zim be scared, tormented or tortured, the Tallest will occasionally feel more generous to their fellow "We Hate Zim" club members ) "Yeah," Red agreed. "Do you see him shaking? Man, he is terrified… Though, being in his position, I can't really blame him." They continued to watch with delight.

Back on Earth….

Tak had cornered Zim in the back of the library, and was rather enjoying herself. "Look at you Zim, she began, as she smirked and folded her arms across her chest. "You are nothing more than a spineless coward ever since you found out about your mission being a fake. You're taking the fun out of this." Zim narrowed his eyes at her. He stepped forward, and shoved her.

"I'm no coward, Tak," he spat. "I've just accepted what happened. If I'm no longer an Irken Invader, if my own "rulers" don't even acknowledge me as a Irken, why bother acting like one?"

Tak scowled at him. "You are a disgrace to the Irken race, you know that Zim?" Her words struck a nerve in Zim. "Here you are, running away from your problems like a scared little child, when not even 24 hours ago you were ready to take over the Earth. Don't you have even the slightest bit of pride in y…" She never finished that sentence.

All of a sudden, Zim reached out and grabbed Tak's throat with one hand, ultimately putting a halt to her ability to speak. She looked, and met one of the coldest, lifeless, most furious glares she had ever witnessed it her life. "Now you listen here Tak," Zim hissed, with hatred dripping off every word. "I had my pride. My pride was the thing I treasured most. I worked my ENTIRE life for the Tallests' respect. But when I found out that my "mission" was nothing more then a joke to them… When I figured out that I wasn't even supposed to live to find another planet… When everything I've worked, sweated and bled for was for a joke, I lost everything. My livelihood, my honor, my respect as a Irken, and most importantly, my pride."

Zim threw Tak to the ground, who immediately started gasping for air. Oddly enough, the librarian was nowhere to be seen. Tak coughed violently. 'H-how could he be so strong..?' She thought, massaging her sore windpipe.

"Tak," he continued, getting the Irken girl to look up in anger, "if you are still interested in revenge for ruining your chances in becoming an Invader and sending you hurtling into space for six months, then I'm not gonna stop you." He picked up his books, and was ready to leave. "But just remember this: You know all of my weaknesses, and I know all of yours." Then, Zim left the library.

Standing alone, Tak continued to massage her sore throat. She, personally, was surprised at what just happened. She had never seen Zim get as angry as he did just now. The strength, the anger, the conviction of it all. It was uncharacteristic of the annoying, oblivious, short-minded, over confident Zim she trained with back on Irk. And quite frankly… she rather LIKED it.

'Well, well, well,' she thought, as she made her way out of the library. 'Looks like he might put up a reasonably good fight after all…'

To Be Continued….

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! That was f***ing awesome, wasn't it? Tak has arrived to make Zim's life living hell. But little does she know, because of what the Tallest did to him, Zim is a changed Irken. And as you can plainly see, Tak thinks this is some sort of improvement. How will all of this play out in the long run? Well, that's for ME to know, and YOU to find out! HAHAHAHA! I will be bringing up the Tallest and the Massive staff off and on, depending on the situations I put Zim and Tak in. so, whatcha think? It isn't going too fast for anyone, is it? I hope not, because I want this to be a good Invader Zim ZATR story. Anyway, please leave plenty of reviews if you enjoyed the chapter. And if you encounter and spelling or grammar errors, please inform me so that I can correct them immediately. Again, I appreciate all your input, and look forward to what you all have to say about this chapter. Hope to hear from y'all soon. PEACE! Mr. Alaska out!