Chapter 4

Zim looked at the Irken female beside his ship. He knew that she had been examining it but he had no idea why and he wanted to know. The jerking of the ship as it rose from whatever she did brought him back into consciousness. He wasn't sure where he was nor was he able to contact his computer at the base. Gir was still out of commission and so he had no robotic unit to help him. All he had was himself.

Zim eyed the girl.

She was the same height as him, if not slightly shorter, with long antenna and a black outfit with the Irken insignia in blood red like the stripes of her outfit. Her boots, black as they were, glimmered slightly. The metal of the left one shone in his eye but he quickly shook it off. What intrigued him about this Irken, however, was the colour of her eyes. Never had he seen a colour so dark. They were like night. Before then Zim had never been aware that an Irken's eyes could be so dark.

He rose himself up on his spider legs slightly as they ejected from his PAK and moved towards the Irken. She flinched back a second and then went eerily calm. Zim eyed her for a moment and leaned in to get a closer view. He rubbed his chin once. Twice. Thrice. Then he turned to her eyes and scowled.

"What were you doing to my ship?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What jerked me awake?"

She shrugged. The she stopped. "Wait a second. What am I to you?"

Zim raised his invisible eyebrow. "That depends on what your PAK signature is."

"So… I'm an Irken? Just like you?"

"Yes."

"A real Irken?"

"Of course! And you have been since you were a little smeet! What are you thinking?"

"N… Nothing."

Zim rubbed his chin again. "You're filled with a lot of nothing today aren't you? Ok. What does your PAK read?"

"Invader…" he noticed that the Irken female paused for a second upon seeing his face. "Assistance. I was… sent here to… assist in the conquer of Earth… Um… The Tallest said that you may want… an extra hand around the planet… you know… seeing as you were never able to acquire your battle tanks and what not."

Zim lowered himself back to the ground. "Indeed. Contrary to the matter, if you are to be my assistant I will need your name."

"My name?"

"Yes. You do have one right?"

"Course I have a name! It's… uh… EB."

"EB?"

"Actually it's Brooke but people call me EB for my nickname on the web or R2B2 for the fact that I know another Brooke and I like robotics."

"You like robotics eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sir… Zim likes this new respect."

"Of course, sir."

"I see… Well, seeing as you are now the assistant of the great ZIM you can help me with my robot. Do you have one of your own?"

She shook her head.

"You never got one?"

She shook her head.

I can't believe this! I must be dreaming! I must! I must! Invader Zim is real! I'm standing right in front of him! I can't believe this is happening! I must be the luckiest fan to… wait… 'I can't believe this is happening'… Of course… I sighed in my own head as Zim crossed the side of his ship and reached inside to find something. I'm dreaming. That's the only logical answer. I can't believe this. I finally have something worthwhile happen in my life and it turns out to be a dream… This sucks ass.

Zim looked into the ship and rummaged around.

I sighed and leaned against the side of the ship. I didn't find it all too comfortable though seeing as I now had a PAK of my very own to match my Irken body. Placing my hand against my head I looked up at the sky. The clouds were starting to gather. I didn't really think that Zim would like to get stuck in the rain. I turned to the Irken, whose head was buried in the ship, and then tapped him on the side.

Zim looked out at me with his huge crimson eyes. I twiddled my fingers in a mild salute and then pointed towards the sky. Zim looked up and noticed the gathering of the clouds. He scowled and clambered inside of his ship.

I watched him press buttons and prepare to take off.

I was expecting to see him fly away.

He didn't.

"Get in."

"Eh?"

"Get in." Zim pointed to the back of the ship where a space had been made for me. I realised that he was telling me to come into the ship with him so that we could leave. I put my hands on the side of the ship and lifted myself inwards. Then I leaned against the back of the ship with my knees tucked up close to my green chin. The cold metal felt good. I watched as Zim flicked a few switches, dragged a few power pads and then lifted the ship into the air with the controls. It was so amazing. I took a mental note of everything he did and used my photographic memory to determine where he put his claws and when. Although I don't know why I did it. Zim turned back to me. "We're going back to my base. I want you to fix up my robot," he signalled to Gir, "while I check to see if the person I wished to destroyed is dead. Got it?" I lightly nodded my head but I didn't say anything. The fact that I was sitting behind one of my favourite characters in his ship as he pulled it into the air left me speechless.

Even if it was a dream I still enjoyed it. It's best to enjoy what you have while you have it.

What I couldn't get out of my head was why I continuously referred to Zim as 'sir'. I knew him inside and out from reading all that fan fiction, writing all that fan fiction, watching all those episodes and reading all those comics. I knew Zim in and out and I knew he was fake yet he was right close to me. I knew Zim's persona by heart and yet I was giving him such a respectable position like he was better than me. Then again, I had always liked the imaginary Irkens much better than I had humans. Stupid idiots… always making the world a horrible place to live.

I guess it was my mind that took a hold of me when I said that. Usually I don't let anyone know that they can be better than me if they tried but here I was giving Zim authority.

I sighed. Leaning my head against a large, hard wire, I examined the options that I had. The area around me was obviously different seeing as Zim was here and no one had come to help me. I didn't know where I was exactly. I didn't really want to know either. For some reason… I was very… very… tired…

Zim peered into the back of his Voot cruiser where the Irken female was. She had fallen asleep a while ago and she was still sound asleep. He didn't know why she did such a thing though. Irkens have no need for sleep. In order to learn about it he had tried it once. It was refreshing but a complete waste of his time.

The Irken frowned but then gave himself a more mild expression. The new recruit did have a good idea. If she were to get used to sleep she would be able to blend in with the other pig smellies in the school. They always slept in class and, if she were to do that as well, then it would be much easier to blend in quickly.

Zim looked down at Gir.

He was still lifeless.

The Irken frowned again.

A thought struck him.

He selected the scan command from his control panel and scrolled down until he found the mind scan. The entire ship was scanned and, after regaining contact to the base, he was able to find what he had hoped.

There was no Gir in the ship and he wasn't the computer's brain.

The Irken felt a little bit better as he headed home.

He had a new recruit that was good in robotics.

Gir was nowhere near him to bother his work.

His enemy, the horrible Dib-stink, should have been vaporized from the black hole that he had created around him house.

The Tallest were, finally, making up for forgetting to send him his battle tanks. He hadn't wanted to point it out to them. It would have been disrespectful to tell the almighty Tallest that they had forgotten something that stood in front of their faces.

He headed home, a grin pressed into his features and his mind.

Kim: OMG Brooke met and tricked Zim? Actually I'm not surprised. After all, I wrote that chapter.

Brooke: With a little bit of my help I may add.

Kim: Ya, ya. Go be gothic.

Brooke: … You'll pay for that…

Kim: R&R PEOPLES! Though I may not live to see them anyways…