"I want to shine on you and always like the dazzling sun, I will defend you from all the darkness, this is the truth from my heart."

-from the song SHINE by L'Arc~en~Ciel-

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Invader Zim nor the rights to L'Arc~en~Ciel! Still, all hail Zim and the mighty J-Rock band!


Chapter IX: More Old Faces

The transport took the trio to a hotel in the main city where they checked in and made reservations. Since they didn't have any luggage they didn't have to spend too much time in the room. Zim and Gaz had already decided to go get some new clothes but Dib on the other hand decided to stay in the hotel room. He said he would probably go back to the port and help out with the Impendia. He also said that he'd tell the Taller where they were staying so that they could be contacted anytime.

Zim and Gaz walked to a nearby shopping district which was cluttered with different types of races. There were Vortians, some from Meekrob and even some Plookeeshians. There were some Irkens here and there who bowed every time they saw Zim, greeting him and referring to him as their Tallest. But the attention was not upon Zim but mostly on Gaz. Most of the aliens there were staring at her, wondering from what planet she was or what race she belonged to. After all, humans had not yet achieved the means to do space travel. The different races just shot her stares or looks of wonder, nothing at all alerting. Some were even polite enough to stop and say hello but Gaz didn't understand their language and Zim had to translate. After wading through the sea of people, they came to a store that appeared to sell clothes. They stepped inside and saw a wide assortment of garments, every one nearly of every color. Aside from that, they had strange designs and markings on them. 'So this is what aliens like to wear, huh?' Gaz thought as she picked out a dress and checked it out. Leaving Gaz to look around, Zim approached the counter. There was no one there. He looked around but there wasn't even an attendant. He found a bell on the counter and decided to push it, letting it ring out. Instantly, a person sprung up from behind the counter and what's more, from out of nowhere. She was female and actually an Irken.

"How may I help you? My name is Tenn." she said happily. "Wait a sec—you seem familiar… Invader Tenn!" Zim was shocked.

"Well I'm no longer an Invader but yeah, I am Tenn. I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked Zim. "I am Zim!" Zim raised a finger into the air, proclaiming his name.

"ZIM!" Tenn got out from behind the counter and began to bow profusely. "I'm sorry my Tallest. I did not realize it was you. I've been away for so long!"

"You can stop bowing now." Zim ordered her. "You quit being an Invader?"

"Yeah. It was after the whole Meekrob thing. The malfunctioning SIR units I got ate everything and I couldn't complete my mission. I was so ashamed of my failure that I asked the control brain to revoke my Invader status. I'm just a civilian now. I own this shop, though." she looked around and saw Gaz. She was instantly interested in the strange being she saw.

"Who is she, my Tallest? It's the first time I've laid eyes on such a being." Tenn looked up to Zim who was significantly taller than her. "She is my mate. In other words, your queen."

Tenn's jaw dropped. "QUEEN! What a joyous day! Irk finally has a queen!" a joyous tone in her voice. "As you can see, we're picking out clothes."

Tenn walked over to Gaz and bowed before speaking. "My Queen, allow me to dress you. I have the best clothes in stock for you." she bowed once more.

Gaz chuckled. "Great. Now the bowing starts." she looked over to Zim who gave her a thumbs-up. "Okay then, show me what you have." Tenn stopped her bowing.

"Yes, my Queen. Come with me." Tenn lead Gaz to the back of the store, leaving Zim to wait outside.

In the back, Gaz was already down to her underwear in a changing room while Tenn was handing her clothes through the door. Since they started, she couldn't keep count of all the items she'd gone through let alone the things that Tenn still had in mind. Zim had decided to go and get a snack seeing that it could take a while before Gaz was done. It was nearing an hour when Zim returned to the store and still there was no sign of Gaz or Tenn. They were still in the back.

"Wait. I like this one." Gaz said through the door. "My Queen, may I see?" she asked. Gaz let the door swing open. "That does look rather good. I like it." Tenn clapped her hands in approval.

Zim was licking on his ice cream when he heard Tenn's voice. "My Tallest. I present to you your lovely Queen." Gaz walked out from behind the store. "Do you like it, Zim?" Gaz asked.

Zim's ice cream fell off its cone and landed on the floor. His jaw had dropped, his eyes wide in disbelief. "You're… you're beautiful!" Zim couldn't believe that he was still staring at Gaz.

Gaz looked absolutely different in her new attire. It was black like Gaz always liked but had hints of purple here and there. It was a black sleeveless short skirt gown. Gaz was wearing purple elbow length gloves and matched them with a different set of boots that had heels. On the shoulders were strands of cloth that ran down the back to the hip. The front part of the skirt was short and revealed her long slender legs while the back part of the skirt trailed down to her ankles.

Gaz blushed the more Zim just stood there gawking at her. "My Tallest. Come with me. I have some garments for you as well." Tenn went over to Zim and seeing that he was completely stunned, dragged him into the back.

Zim and Tenn emerged 10 minutes later and there stood Zim, adorned in crimson robes fit for any Tallest. Gaz stared at Zim in amazement. She never knew Zim could look this good. This time, Zim was the one blushing as Gaz looked at him. Tenn vanished into the back once again and came back out a few minutes later carrying with her a few bags filled with clothes.

"Here." Tenn handed both Zim and Gaz the bags she had brought out. "These are a few extra clothes. As for your current clothes, they are made from a self cleansing material so you don't really need to wash them. But wearing those all the time would just be boring so those clothes are for when you want to try on something else. Don't worry. I made sure those ones make you look like royalty, too." Tenn smiled. "Oh, it's on me. It was an honour to serve you, my Tallest and my Queen." Tenn bowed once more.

Zim and Gaz decided to have dinner outside and found a nice little restaurant. It was filled with couples of all races but they were without a doubt the strangest to walk in. After getting a table, they sat down and placed their bags aside. After a few seconds, the waiter came by bringing the menus. Zim and Gaz were both shocked by what they saw.

"Mr. Dwicky!" Gaz was stunned to see her old guidance counsellor. He didn't seem to have gotten any older than when she last saw of him. "Is that you Ms. Membrane?" he poured them glasses of some strange blue liquid.

"You were the guidance counsellor in Skool, correct?" Zim crossed his arms and pointed his finger. "Yeah, I was. And you're that Zim, right?" he handed each a menu.

"I suppose you're wondering how I got here, right?" he cleared his throat. "Well, you see, after the Plookeeshians brought me along into space, I really didn't wanna go back home. I asked spent some time on Plookeeshia and got a job there but eventually got bored. So, I travelled to Foodcourtia and learnt to cook." he brought out a tablet and a stylus. "So, after that, I met this guy and well, he hired me. He told me that he was opening a restaurant in Vort and so now here I am."

After his explanation, he proceeded to take their orders. Since Gaz didn't know what was good or even edible to her, she asked Zim to pick out something that resembles Earth food. Dwicky took notice of it and made a suggestion. "If you're looking for Earth food, we serve it." he smiled. "I am an Earthling and I recommended to my boss that we serve all kinds of food."

After that, Dwicky left to drop of the orders at the kitchen. Gaz and Zim were left at the table talking about each other.

"I never imagined that I'd be here with you, Zim." Gaz sipped some of the blue liquid. It tasted like Gatorade for some reason. "What do you mean, Gaz?"

"I thought that when you got back we could just be together on Earth with Dib. But here we are caught in a war for your race or even for the entire universe." Zim was playing with his napkin.

"I never wanted this. I just wanted a peaceful life." he set the napkin aside. "And then you asked me to marry you. I was shocked… I mean, I really didn't see it coming."

Zim reached for Gaz's hand and held it lovingly. "I'm sorry Gaz… I never wanted anything like this to happen. I'm… scared." Gaz gripped his hand tightly. "Don't be." she kissed him.

"Like I said, we'll doom them together." they both smiled. There was a loud stomp coming their way. Then a voice that made Zim cringe in fear spoke out.

"Dwicky said there was someone here. Where is he?" Zim gazed up from his spot at the large being. "G-greetings. Sizz-lorr." Zim stuttered as he uttered the name.

"ZIM! Wait, I mean, my Tallest." Sizz-lorr made a courteous bow. "I am graced by your presence." he looked at Gaz. "This is your Queen, I suppose?" he bowed to Gaz.

A floating tray came up to Sizz-lorr and he served the food to them. "I assure you, I have the best deep-fried Moosh Minkie in the galaxy!" Zim recalled how he tried to escape from Foodcourtia by hiding in the said dish. "And for you, my Queen, a special dish prepared personally by me." he set down a plate of pizza. Gaz had actually ordered pizza.

"Well then, enjoy your food." he tapped Zim on the back and took his leave back to the kitchen.

Gaz stared at Zim's food in wonder. It looked disgusting but Zim was eating it with much gusto. Zim noticed her looks and offered her bite from his fork. Gaz was reluctant to eat it seeing as that it may do something strange to her but she was still curious. Taking the bite he offered, she chewed it up in her mouth. It wasn't actually that bad. The texture was a little new to her but the taste was similar to that of deep-fried ice-cream. "It's delicious." she said. The two finished their dinner and Zim paid although Sizz-lorr was insisting that it was on the house. But after waging a battle that actually lasted for an hour and Zim trailing off to a topic on Vort Dogs, Siz-lorr gave in so he would shut up and accepted the payment.

When they returned to the hotel, they found Dib sitting in another hover chair. Dib was delighting in zooming across the room.

"Oh, hey. You're back." Dib noticed Gaz's new wear along with Zim's. "You guys bought new clothes." he scanned them once more. "They look nice." he winked at them.

Zim and Gaz decided to keep the events of the day to themselves and just listened to Dib as he updated them on what was going on.

"We already started to think of what to place on the Impendia." he brought a hologram projector that lit up with the blueprints of the Impendia. "We're installing a few dozen laser turrets over here." he pointed at specific parts in the projection. "And the main cannon should go here." he pointed to the front of the ship. "As for the shields, we're trying to come up with a stronger one that requires less energy but still provides decent protection."

His explanations and plans continued into the night and Gaz fell asleep. Zim listened intently to Dib talk, taking in every detail that came up. He even made some suggestions of his own. He hoped that after the Impendia was equipped that if would finally be able to stand a chance against their strange foes. This was their last chance, it was either win or lose. If this worked, they could just re-outfit all their ships but if it failed, they had no other options.

In the morning, Zim was awoken by a beeping sound. Floating above him he found a small monitor with a flashing button. He pressed it and saw Red.

"Good morning. I trust you slept well." and like always, Purple was there floating around with a butt load of snacks cradled in his arms. "Come to the port when you're ready." the screen went dark.

Zim looked around and saw that Gaz and Dib were still asleep. There was no use in going alone. He lay back down beside his bride and closed his eyes, hoping that he would be able to fall back into slumber.


That's chapter 9 for ya, folks. Yeah, it's been fillers for a while but that's cause the Impendia is still being redone. I have the whole plot in my head and am actually quite pleased with myself. I mean, after this, I'll have done 10 chapters! I dunno how many more chapters the whole thing will span up to but I might say over 20 and if I'm truly the bastard I think I am who likes cliff-hangers, I might reach 30!

Hoorah! Rejoice, I love to write and am finally inspired!

Oh, go listen to L'Arc~en~Ciel. To those who already do, agree with me in saying that Hyde is a pretty GOD!

Anyway, cheerio and look forward to chapter ten!

Raruku out~