"We haven't heard from Zim in almost a week now," Tallest Red said into the transmission com link. "We're not sure what happened, but we need to find out."
"Yes, of course my Tallest," a short, fat Irken said stiffly, saluting the Tallest. "I will find him as soon as I can."
"Very well, Skooge," Tallest Red replied with a snide grin. "We expect a report in three days."
Skooge nodded and watched the screen go blank. After the transmission died away, the Irken bit his lower lip and sunk into the chair of his spaceship. "Oh man," he said softly.
"Master, shall I set coordinates for the planet Earth?" his SIR unit asked him in a gruff voice.
"Hm?" Skooge asked. "Yeah, yeah, do that," he commanded and rubbed his forehead. After being told that Zim's memories had been sealed and his personality suppressed, he wasn't sure he wanted to face his smeet-mate. He would never say it out loud, but he always thought of Zim as something of a friend, or at least a companion of sorts. Such opinions voiced out loud would get him labeled defective faster then you could say 'emotion' but he was fairly good at hiding that sort of thing.
Too bad Zim wasn't as good at it as he was.
Skooge reached the outer reaches of the solar system and sighed. He knew he was walking right towards his own doom, and yet he knew he had too. He was as just a slave to his programming as any other Irken. He knew it, and he resented it a little, but he cared more about finding out what had happened to Zim.
As he passed the outer reaches of the asteroid belt, he heard a loud thunk on the hull of his space ship. His SIR unit's eyes glowed a bright red as the ship's systems spelled out warnings.
"Report!" Skooge barked as he straightened up.
"Sir! It appears something has hit our ship and is trying to gain access into the computer systems!" the SIR unit yelled.
Skooge was just about to eject the hood and try to get at what was on his ship when a female Irken stuck her face in front of his windshield and narrowed dark purple eyes at him. "Hello, you sorry excuse for a soldier," she said in an odd accent. "You're going to take me where I need to go, or I will blow up your ship. Understand?"
Skooge could only nod numbly as the woman forced her way inside the tiny ship and crammed herself next to Skooge. "Good," she said smoothly. "Now, take me to the pathetic backwater planet called Earth. I have a grudge to settle."
Skooge finally found his voice. "Earth?" he gasped. "You want to go to Earth?"
"And I wish to make a call to my Tall…" the woman stopped short and glared at Skooge. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"I'm going there too!" Skooge declared brightly. "I'm on a mission for my Tallest. I'm supposed to call them in three days."
The woman raised an 'eyebrow' at the odd Irken, unsure of how to deal with him. "Well then," she said slowly. "I'll wait. Just take me to the planet, now!"
Skooge nodded and the ship lurched forward. "I'm going there to check up on the Invader for the planet."
"Who?" the woman snapped.
"Invader Zim," Skooge said, almost fearfully. "He hasn't called in."
"WHAT?" the woman roared. "That filthy little traitor! My Tallest are checking up on him!"
Skooge stared at the woman, open mouthed. "Um… you know him?" he asked finally.
"I dream of the day that I will be able to tear him apart," the woman hissed in a dangerously soft voice. "Why does he have Invader status?"
Skooge's antennae fell a little as the pretty blue planet came into view. "Um… My Tallest… in all their wisdom…" Skooge frowned. "They took away his memories and personality so he would be a perfect soldier for them," he said softly.
The female Irken turned her purple eyes onto Skooge and sucked in a quick breath. "Are you sure?" she hissed.
"Positive," Skooge replied.
There was an uncomfortable silence between the two for a few minutes as Skooge's ship entered the atmosphere. Finally Skooge decided to introduce himself in order to kill the tension. "By the way, I'm Skooge. Invader Skooge, conqueror of Blorch."
The woman glanced at Skooge in surprise and shook her head. "I have no title to speak of. My only mission is that of revenge against Zim." She paused and glanced at Skooge again. "You can call me Tak."
"Robin!" Cyborg yelled loudly. "Dude, come here! There's an alien craft entering Earth's atmosphere."
"What?" Robin gasped and ran over to where Cyborg was standing. "What is its origin?"
"No idea man," Cyborg said quietly as he typed away on the master computer. "All I can tell is that it's small, so probably not an invasion. But whatever it is, it's not hailing anyone, so it can't be here for recreational reasons."
Robin glared at the craft image and then pressed the alarm button that told the rest of the Titans that there was trouble.
After everyone had assembled, Robin paced back and forth in front of them. "It's a threat," he said finally. "And I don't think we should be underestimating anyone at this time."
"We someone here to make sure Jenjiba doesn't come after us when we're away," Raven reminded them.
"I know," Robin hissed. "I know. But we can't risk it. If we don't have that extra force then we may not win."
Cyborg uncrossed his arms and grinned. "I know," he said. "Let's ask Dib to watch over the transmissions. Kid knows my tech already. I mean, he can obviously defend himself and he knows how to monitor things."
"I don't know…" Raven said quietly. "We don't know him that well. I mean, what if he's working with Zim or something. They almost seem like friends sometimes."
Robin shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think they're enemies, but in more of a sibling rivalry kind of way. If Cyborg is comfortable with handing his system over to someone else, then I'll okay it."
Cyborg's lips twisted. Clearly he was not happy with the idea of giving up his precious technology, but desperate times called for desperate measures. They were needed and he knew that he had to help. "I'll do it," he said finally.
"Do what?" Dib asked as he walked into the room, amid the flashing lights. "Is there a fire or something?"
Robin pushed a small button on the monitor and the alarm system died down. "Dib, we just received transmissions of an alien craft entering the atmosphere. We need to go as a team in case this is serious. Could you monitor the tower to make sure that no one invades our base after we leave?"
Dib opened his mouth and then closed it in disbelief. "You're serious?" he asked.
"Scratch it and you die," Cyborg said jokingly. "But we need an answer now, because I'm sure they've already landed."
Dib nodded. "I'll do my best," he said. "But if you need any help, tell me. I'm pretty good at figuring out ship weaknesses."
"Practice?" Beast Boy asked.
"You have no idea," Dib muttered.
"We will," Robin promised him. "And thanks."
"No problem!" Dib said and waved as the Titans left the building. He sighed and crossed his arms huffily. "Damn, they get to do the fun stuff. Why on earth did I agree to this? And why am I talking to myself?"
Zim was in his own ship; monitoring what little transmission he could receive. When he saw a picture of the ship that was entering the atmosphere he stopped cold. The shape and structure was unmistakenably Irken. Zim hissed and glared at the transmission. "They DARE check up on the mighty ZIM?" he asked, almost offended. "What? Do my Tallest not TRUST me?"
"No they don't!" Gir said cheerfully.
"Shut up Gir," Zim snarled and started up his Voot. "Come on, we're going out there."
"But Master, why go to the bad people who hurt you?" Gir asked. "They will make things all bad again."
"Zim runs from NO ONE!" Zim declared. "And I mean it."
Zim flew his ship to where the signal cut off. His ship was faster then the Titans' and he managed to get there quite some time before they did. As he landed he saw the ship of another Irken sitting in the field. He grinned and landed, readying himself for combat. "Stay in the ship, Gir," Zim said and jumped out.
"Oh my gosh, Zim!" a happy voice said. "Hi!"
Zim looked up at the ship and saw Skooge waving frantically from the cockpit. Zim narrowed an eye and shook his head. "Skooge? What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you haven't died!" Skooge said cheerfully as he jumped out of the ship. He landed and walked over to Zim. "Hmm… you don't seem… different," he said finally.
"What?" Zim asked.
Skooge frowned. "Zim, what happened 10 Irk years ago, when we went to the surface?"
"I knocked out the power for several years and you were my accomplice. I refuse to take all blame for that!" Zim declared.
Skooge clapped his hands joyfully and grinned. "You, you are normal! I thought your memories and feelings were sealed!"
Zim frowned, then realized his mistake. "Oh…"
"I'm glad," Skooge said quickly. "Really, Zim."
Zim cocked his head, unsure what to make of that. He didn't have long to ponder Skooge's words however. He was too busy wondering what was being shoved into his back.
Tak held her laser gun in the small of Zim's back, the end live and crackling with energy. "Well, that makes my job a lot easier, filth," she spat. "You know why I hate you, so now you can die without wondering why."
Blah, I'm sorry for the short chapter... I'm sooooo tired though and this is what I could get out. Better then nothing huh?
Thanks for all the reviews, I loves ya guys and now I'm going to go crash.
