I usually didn't get sick. Even after days of having only consumed pizza I wouldn't feel any disturbance. After Magera had left and I'd strapped myself in. I could feel the hum of the engines speeding up and getting louder. Then I felt the ship heave forward and my skin felt like it was magnetized to the wall. Everything resisted the rushing motion and the erotic noises of the engine filled my ears. I grit my teeth and tried to zone out. Think gameslave. Vampire piggies. Gonna destroy them like vampire piggies. Gonna- The ship lurched to a stop, but my body remained in motion.

I slammed against the seat belt restraining me. The ship had halted but my head was still spinning. I wished that I had a window to see where we were. I looked down at my shaking hands trying to get a hold of myself. When had I become the spineless thing I had been trying to avoid my entire life? I was scarred by a stupid ride in a spaceship. Looking back at it now I know that what I was really scared of was being so far from home. Now that all the confusion on Earth had come to pass I had to become the same cold Gaz I was before this. I had to get rid of all the things holding me back including any emotion that might make me soft. I didn't intend to lose this battle against these people. When I won I was going to make them sorry they'd ever stepped into my life. But it wasn't just a battle against them, but also a war against myself.

As I was giving myself a little pep talk I saw the disgusting creatures that had kidnapped me walk past my cell. I unhooked my seat belt and backed into the wall of my cell attempting to hide from the revolting beings. This was where eliminating those pesky emotions holding me back would come in handy. If I was afraid of these disgusting things how was I going to stand up against the other players? Magera had said the Great Species sent people to participate in the battle. I assumed that meant races like Zim's that were relatively big and conquered other planets.

It didn't make sense to me that races competing against each other for galactic conquest would all gather together to watch their race kill another member of their own race, assuming there could only be one winner. Actually it did make sense in the fact that they enjoyed senseless murder, but enemies getting in such close proximity to each other was a stupid idea. One could simply chose to bomb or tamper with the ship somehow. Although if Zim's society based power on height than maybe these aliens weren't too intelligent.

The soldiers wheeled the pods with the other sleeping humans by and one turned to my cell.

"No no no, go away." I said as it came closer with a freakish grin on its face exposing its razor blade teeth.

It opened my cell and made its way in outstretching its clawed hand towards me. Just as it was about to grab me I heard Magera's voice from outside the cell.

"That won't be necessary drone I can escort the female." Magera said her voice never wavering.

The drone turned around and snarled at her in response, clearly unwilling to give me up.

"You are dismissed."Magera said firmly.

As the drone walked away Magera quickly cuffed me. I wouldn't have let her, but I was still dazed from the ship's traveling.

As she escorted me out, Magera said "I don't like being alone with them either, those things freak me out too."

As we approached a lift I asked, "What are those things? Are they part of your species?"

Magera replied "They're genetically altered soldiers. They do the dirty work like collecting noncompliant contestants and fighting."

"They volunteer to be turned into monsters?" I asked utterly appalled.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it before." Magera said with a thoughtful look.

Typical, she didn't even question the things right in front of her. We stepped into the lift which looked a lot like Zim's.

"Most clueless species are impressed by this spaceship." Magera said.

"One, I'm not clueless. Two, I have experience with alien ships and technology. This isn't very impressive." I replied curtly.

"Well this ought to impress you." Magera said as the lift stopped.

The doors slid open to reveal a massive window. I could see a few other big ships passing by all heading towards a giant mass ahead. At first I thought it was a planet, but upon seeing the size of a planet orbiting nearby I decided it was a moon. It was small but was decorated with lights and other things. At the top of it was a giant spire that resembled a radio tower. A few things hovered around it that looked like satellites. The color of the moon was a faint blue and the different biomes on the planet were obvious. One part you could clearly see what looked like a frozen tundra. The next one over looked like a vast rain forest region. The sudden changes looked far from natural.

"That is Karoka, Galaria's largest moon and the proud home of the Galaria Games." Magera said.

"Not very impressive." I mumbled.

"Well if that still doesn't make you gasp then maybe your living area will." Magera said with a sigh.

"My living area?" I asked.

"The games don't start for another week, you'll have a living space, which has been designed to fit your human needs. You will be staying with the other female." Magera explained.

"I'd rather die than room with Molly." I snarled.

"Well you may be dead very soon." Magera replied giving me a smirk.

XxxxX

Zim heard the hum of the teleportation device working to piece his scattered particles back to their original places. He opened his eyes and looked to his sides to see the other players. Then looked down at himself to see the final pieces of his arm connecting together. As Zim began to step out of his materialization chamber, the other Irkens were seen clearly. It was unknown how my height had increased on Earth, but it was no mystery how these Irkens had gained their height. Black market exoskeleton enhancements were an illegal way of gaining height, and the act of getting one was a serious crime. Many Irken prisoners were in jail for simply knowing about where an operation was set up.

The two female contestants both seemed to have dyed their eyes. They were a deep black color, like the sludge-like substance human snow becomes when it gets dirty. The other male contestant had what seemed to be like a genetic mutation of dark green eyes. Zim had heard of certain malfunctions like it before.

None of the other Irkens looked like they could possibly be better than him. He was a trained military personal, and they were dirty criminals. A large guard came to escort them to the relaxation chamber provided. A banquet for the contestants was always held the day the contestants were teleported in. Everyone was brought to a large ship orbiting the moon where the games were held. Then later they would be teleported to the moon for a banquet and four days of training. Of course people like Zim didn't need training.

As they walked, the hallway was soundless, except for the click of boots on the titled floor. The walls were heavily decorated with pictures and paintings of the planet of Galaria, and the moon that orbited it. How long ago had these games been started? The thought lingered in his mind for a moment, but soon came to the conclusion that no one really knew when they started. Even for all the years Zim had tuned into the games he had never wondered that.

When they reached the designated relaxation chamber, Zim stepped inside and looked around. It seemed to have a shockingly human design to it, which bothered him immensely. He wasn't sure if it was because he hated humans, or if he was home-sick for his extremely convincing human base. The area had couches and comfy pillows.

"Why does this look like the relaxation area for a human?" Zim questioned.

The guard hesitated for a second, then turned to him.

"The regular Irken chamber is still under repair from the last time you explosive little monsters set foot inside it. We had an extra human chamber from the last time they participated in the games. We figured we'd use it for you guys. You practically mess up everything you touch."

"How dare you insult the Mighty Ir-" But before Zim could finish his insult, someone placed a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from taking on the guard.

"Don't" Warned a low voice coming from behind Zim.

Zim shuttered at the contact. He turned around to see the person who had warned him. It was the green eyed Irken prisoner. From the close proximity Zim could see a tattoo snaking up the prisoner's neck. It looked like a flaming slash across his skin.

"Don't touch me you swine." Zim said coldly.

Zim turned around before he could see the prisoner give him a death glare.

"The doors for the bedrooms are over there. Since Irkens don't sleep we didn't bother cleaning them." The guard continued.

"Banquet is in a few hours, until then make yourselves comfortable." The guard said as he exited the room.

You could hear the click of the lock helping to keep the heavy steel door closed, trapping Zim in a room with three psychopaths. Unless you include Zim of course. The other prisoners had heard all about Zim's mess up and how he was sent on a "secret" mission. They didn't so much resent him for it, the just found it hilarious that one Irken could be that stupid. The four Irkens didn't exactly buddy up to each other, but the two females with black eyes seemed particularly close. They sat on the couch together discussing things in hushed tones. The green eyed criminal began rummaging through the snack closet in search of food.

Feeling a little out of place Zim decided to venture into the bedrooms. He knew that humans slept on beds, and he'd always had this subtle curiosity about how beds felt. Irkens as well as many other races had evolved beyond the need for sleep. Occasionally and Irken's PAK might need recharging, but other than that unconsciousness was almost never voluntary or required. Supposedly beds were comfortable since humans spent an average of eight hours on them. Zim opened to the door to a bedroom and coughed trying to expel the wave of dust from his throat.

Inside was a dull room with bleak beige walls and a bed. There was an old fashioned TV on a stand at the end of the bed. He flicked the switch and the lamp beside the TV came on, illuminating the horrendous floral bedspread. Zim hesitantly walked towards the bed and sat down on it. It seemed pretty firm. He slowly laid out his body and rested his head against the pillow. He sighed and closed his eyes as if he were a human worm baby trying to go to sleep. It wasn't as bad as Zim had suspected. However, without a true understanding of feeling tired he couldn't possibly be comforted by it the way a human would. As Zim lay there with his eyes closed he felt the bed shift.

Zim opened his eyes to see one of the female prisoners. This was the one he thought was vaguely familiar. Something about her long eye lashes or her perfect complexion reminded him of an Irken celebrity he'd seen once. Zim shot up into a sitting position. The female had perched herself on the side of the bed at his feet.

"Hi, I'm Bex." She said sweetly batting her eyes.

"Umm ok. The amazing Zim has seen you. You may leave now." Zim said confused by her.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Bex said, inching her way a little bit up the bed.

Zim gulped and tried to back into the bedpost as much as possible.

"The other female, Char, and I, wanted to know if you'd team with us in the games." She said giving Zim a flirtatious smile.

"Zim needs no team!" Zim yelled, slightly confused by Bex's behavior.

"Well of course you don't NEED a team, you're already strong enough. However Char and I can provide other qualities to your already unmatched excellence. " Bex said, slowly placing her hand on Zim's arm.

"Zim IS excellent, but I really do not require your help." Zim said, looking down at Bex's hand and yanking his arm away.

Bex looked slightly frustrated by his lack of compliance, but quickly smiled again.

"Well if you're sure. If you change your mind, just talk to us. We could help you with all sorts of things" Bex said giving a little wink.

She paused for a moment looking at a slightly confused Zim before kissing him on the cheek and making her way out of the bedroom. After she left Zim made a disgusted face. He hadn't picked up on the flirtatious messages she was sending, but he knew he would never accept her offer for help, or anyone else's. It was beneath him to team with someone, especially lowly females like them.

Zim laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Those other filthy players would be so taken by surprise when they faced the almighty Zim they would simply drop dead. He was determined beyond all other things, yet a hint of doubt lingered in the back of his mind. If Zim had a choice in the matter, he would be back on Earth continuing his pointless feud with the Dib stink. Zim idly wondered what Dib was doing at this moment. Since Zim was gone, probably being insane. But when was Dib not insane anyways?

XxxxX

Dib walked quickly up the side walk, and placed his house key in the lock. It made a quiet click and the door opened without protest. He strode inside and threw his backpack on the floor near the couch. The smell of pizza was absent from the kitchen, which was odd because Gaz would normally order pizza on Mondays.

"Gaz? Where are you?" He called up the stairs. No response.

With a concerned expression on his face, Dib walked up the stairs. Maybe she was just mad at him, when really Dib should have been the one mad. She'd yelled at him about not understanding, and then punched him in the jaw, which still hurt. Dib however had a fairly forgiving nature. Not showing up at skool that morning was yet another of the many reasons he worried about her. Yeah, she did sometimes skip skool, but after she'd hit him, she fled from the house with an expression of regret. This wasn't like Gaz. She usually fought with him then pretended like it didn't happen. She could be anywhere doing anything.

"Gaz? Are you in there? I'm not mad at you. I mean, yeah that punch did hurt and all, but we need to talk about this. You can't just sit in your room, doing whatever it is you're doing all day. Mom wouldn't have wanted this to happen. Think about it like that. She wouldn't want us to fight, when really all we have is each other. I mean, dad thinks were ok probably because he still thinks we have Sam, our dog. "Responsibility is key, Kids!" He'd said when he brought him home all those years ago. You remember him right? He was cute, I think. I don't really remember whether or not you liked him. Did you? Gaz?" Dib ranted in his usual Dib way.

Dib realized that either Gaz was in her room ignoring him, or he was just rambling to no one. Dib cautiously opened her door. The door let out a squeak of protest as the light from the hall flooded the dark room. Dib searched for the light switch and found that the light wouldn't turn on. He looked up at the overhead light and saw that the light was shattered.

"I guess she really doesn't want any light in her room." He muttered, annoyed about the one extra chore he now had.

He quickly scanned the dim room for Gaz, and found she was absent from the vampire piggy decorated room. Indeed evidence of her obsession with the game was plastered all over the walls. From posters to decals, the eerie hogs stared at you from everywhere in the room. Dib stepped inside and looked for any clue of where she might be. Her laptop sat closed on her shiny black desk, along with her wireless mouse, which was still on.

He decided that some evidence of her whereabouts may be on her computer. Plus he had always been curious of what Gaz did in her free time other than play her gameslave. Of course Gaz would never let him close to her laptop.

Dib sat down in her purple office chair and opened her computer. Surprisingly there was no password, and when the computer woke from sleep mode, it popped up on the "Vampire Piggy Hunter 4" Homepage. Not quite sure of what he was looking for Dib clicked on load profile, and searched for the most recent game played. 11/5 11:56pm.

"Hmm, that would have been 4 days ago. Well that doesn't help." He quickly went back to the title page, and closed the laptop. Even though Dib was alone he still feared that Gaz would catch him.

Dib walked over to her bed. The purple sheets, and black vampire piggy decorated comforter were ruffled and items were scattered aimlessly. Her grey sweat shirt lay in the mess as well. Dib assumed she had worn it to hide that tattoo on her arm, but forgot to put it back on when coming down stairs that morning. Why had she gotten a tattoo at such a young age? Their state required written consent from a parent in order to give tattoos. Although considering their fathers absence, it would have been easy for Gaz to fake a note. But a signature of the famous Professor Membrane, that would take some serious forgery.

As Dib turned to walk out of the room, he noticed something. Gaz's Gameslave lay abandoned on her nightstand. Dib picked it up. She would never leave home without it. It was practically her life. Gaz had only left it at home once, and that was because she went to go buy the new one. He knew for a fact that a new Gameslave hadn't been released yet. It was coming out in February. Without turning back, Dib sprinted out of her room, down the stairs, out the front door and onto the street. Something was terribly wrong, and he was going to find out just what it was. He had the itching suspicion it had to do with Zim. The crazy alien hadn't been at school either.

Dib ran as fast as his legs would carry him. His trench coat flared out behind him as the cold wind rushed into his face. Dib shivered and kept running. When he reached his destination, he stopped and bent over as he fought to catch his breath. Dib rolled up his sleeve and checked his watch. It read, 5:17. It was going to get dark soon, and he didn't bring anything to light his path back home. Great. In hindsight, he should've brought a weapon to take on the alien menace. He thought about going back, but decided to try to talk to Zim first.

Dib looked up at the vibrant green and purple house. To this day he wondered why nobody questioned its random appearance. The house sat quietly in-between the two buildings it stole power from. He walked quickly up the steps and pounded on the door. The gnomes turned towards him but ceased from firing.

"Zim! I know you're behind this! Get out here right now! Stealing my sister is illegal! Whatever evil plan you're using her for, you'll never get her to help you!" No response came, just as when he was trying to talk to Gaz from outside her door.

"Zim! Stop being a coward! Get out here!" Still no response.

What else could he do? He hadn't brought anything that might get him inside, and obviously Zim didn't want to talk to him. But wait, where was Gir? He would have opened the door if Zim hadn't. He silently prayed the little robot would come to the door so he could sneak inside. What about the robo parents? Did he deactivate them? They were made to open the door. Unless they had somehow done something, and were now not fully functional.

Dib was cut from his thoughts as he saw the door slowly open. It squeaked slightly, as he peered around it to look inside. The room was in its normal sate, and only the hum of electricity was heard. He slowly walked inside of the house, fearful that it was some kind of a trap.

"Hello?" Dib called into the seemingly vacant home. Like previously there was no response.

"Zim? Where are you? I know you opened that door." Out of habit, Dib shot a glance up at the mass of wire coating the ceiling to make sure nothing was lurking up there.

Dib continued making his way further into the base. When he reached the kitchen, he prayed he wouldn't have to flush himself into the under layers. Remembering the trash can that seemed presumably bigger, he walked over to it. Dib cautiously stepped into the gray can. The lift began to descend into the bowels of the base. Dib began to question what kind of trap this might be. Zim was probably trying a sneak tactic. On impulse Dib had come down here without any weapons. As the lift slowed he began to regret his decision.

When the elevator stopped, he glanced out, worried of what he might find. The hum of computers and electricity welcomed Dib as he entered the room.

"Is anyone there?" Dib spoke quietly hoping Gaz was around.

The base was quiet.

"This is creepy." Dib muttered.

He continued further into the room and stopped in front of the control panels.

"Hey, Computer?" Dib said remembering that the base had a constantly functioning, sentient AI that was just as dysfunctional as GIR.

"Hello, Dib." It responded startling him.

Dib didn't exactly remember it being that formal. He remembered it being a little more lethargic.

"Um ok, well, where's Zim?"

"Far away. He may or may not be returning."

Dib's eyes became twice their normal size. If Zim was gone, then that meant he could have his sister with him.

"Does he have my sister?"

"Not that I know of."

A sigh of relief escaped Dib's mouth. But where could she be, if she wasn't with Zim? Dib prepared to ask if the computer knew where she was but the computer interrupted him.

"Dib there is one more thing." The computer said monotonously.

"About my sister?!" Dib replied.

"No." The computer replied.

"Then what is it?" Dib asked.

"My master instructed me to play a specific file upon the case of you getting into the base." The computer replied.

Without warning panels in the walls moved aside to protrude a monitor. Dib stepped back as he saw an image flash on the screen.

What was this?

Invaderness: signing on

So, we did it again. Almost two months for an update. So sorry about that! We promise we are trying to be as fast with updates as we can. Hopefully they will start to come in faster as the larger points in the story evolve, and as we get even more eager to write. Also, thanks for the support, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Invaderness: signing off

Invader Wheatley: signing on

Wow. The plot line for this story has so many twists and ties…. I'm just really loving this. Anyways, so as you can tell, Dib is not really a main character in this story, but yes, he is still there, doin stuff. Although he is mentioned in the last part of this chapter, he will come back sometime later, but do not expect to see him every chapter. Of course we all love Dib, but this fan fic has other plans for the little paranormal investigator. I should also mention that Zim is NOT going to get any more, involved, with Bex. Any who, please R&R. It's greatly appreciated!

Invader Wheatley: signing off