Warning! This story is going to be very long! If you cannot stand long stories then do not read. If you do not like stories about incompetent aliens that no one likes then do not read this. If you cannot stand reading about the imminent destruction of Earth and enemies having to unite to stop the greater threat then DO NOT READ!!!

Thank you, that is all…

Invader Zim- The End?

Chapter 10

"Ha. Pick up six cards."

"Dammit. Ugh and I have nothing to put down…"

"Ha. Pick up another two cards."

"Damn."

"Are you two near finished?"

"Why don't you join us? We can deal you in the next game."

"I think that I'll pass…"

Dib sighed. He looked at the cards in his hands. There were a lot of them. By a lot there were a lot a lot. By count he had about 17 cards in his hand now. Tak was very good at crazy eights for a beginner. The lights had gone back on as the power charged but the elevators remained closed off to them. Luckily, Kim had a packet of cards in her coat pocket. She allowed Tak and Dib to play but decided to hold off her own playing for a while. She had never really liked the game.

"Pick up four cards."

Dib threw the ones that he had in his hand onto the hard, metal floor and huffed out at Tak. "Fine! You win! You don't have to keep rubbing it into my face! What's your problem? You win! OK? An Irken beat a human! Fine! God!" Dib realized that he was standing. He sat back down and looked at Tak. She had her brow raised and was staring at him like he was some sort of crazy person. Just like everyone else at school always did. "Don't stare at me like I'm crazy…"

"On the contrary you hold a good point with this Earth game. I, too, am growing weary of this simple tactic of card pickup and put down."

"Really?"

"Yes. Beating you is just far too simple. I require a challenge and playing against you holds none."

Dib frowned.

---

"Doom doom doom de doom de doom doom doom de doom doom doom…" Gir happily piled up grain after grain of sand and placed it on top of his castle. He had been working on it for a while and it looked like he would be able to do in there at some point if he had made it hollow, which he did. Gaz was sitting behind him. She had a laser in had of Irken design and was slowly chipping away at the rust that had piled up one his small body while he was underwater. The rubber piggy had worked for a long time but eventually the rust had started to build more and more and the burst of joy that came from Gir each time he saw that pig could not relieve his metallic body of it. The rust had stayed and so it had to be worked away at before Gir couldn't move at all. Gaz had done his arms first so that he had something to occupy himself with. His legs were completely rusted and so he could not move them. She started on his head again just around the back. Who would have thought that it would take that long to get the rust off of Gir seeing as he was so small?

Gaz put the laser down and sighed. She leaned back to see that Zim was still under her coat. He had gotten much done in the time they had been at the river's edge. She and Gir had brought up many pieces of the ship after two hours. Now they had everything. Zim had not suspected that they would be able to do it so he had to take apart what he had already done so that he could build the full cruiser. It was a tiresome process but the Irken progressed with wondrous succession. Gaz had to admire his enthusiasm when it came to the matter.

"How much have you gotten finished now?"

"You asked me that 15 minutes ago."

"20."

"Well that's close enough."

"I just want to know. Do you have any idea how boring it is scraping rust off of Gir?"

"Yes, I do know. He's gotten himself rusted before and I always have to scrape it all off because he seems to break my computer everyday that he rusts."

Gaz rolled her eyes and then leaned down towards Gir. "Do you do that?" Gir looked up at her and smiled with his tongue sticking out from his bottom lip and coming up to his eye. She tapped his head a few times. "What is with you? Are you just one malfunctioning nightmare to your master?"

"Yes." Zim connected more wires to a chip.

Gaz smirked. She then continued with her own work as Gir drew a smiling face in the sand and then stabbed at it with a twig.

---

Elevators: Online.

The lights in the lab flicked on. Everything was, once more, illuminated. Tak shielded her eyes, as did Dib and Kim as the lights close to and above them lit up. They came in a row and soon the familiar pink, purple and silver lab was illuminated so that they could see everything.

Tak jumped for joy. "Finally! The elevators are finally back on!" Before she knew it she was leaping about for joy. A wire was set underneath her foot. Tak stumbled backwards and fell onto Dib. He caught her in his arms as she fell and helped her back to her feet. Tak brushed herself off. She felt so stupid and she could already feel the blood rushing to her face.

Dib rubbed the back of his head.

Kim sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are we leaving any time soon?"

Tak nodded. "We'll have to find Zim first. Where would he go right after he were to get out?" They all thought. Tak snapped her fingers. "The river! His ship is still there! Zim would want to get it back, even if it is a piece of junk. It's his own and I don't think he can get any others."

They hurried to the elevators.

---

"You've gotten a lot finished. How much longer do you think it'll take?"

"I don't know… Maybe an hour or so. I have the ship's main form complete but I have to finish configuring the wires and mainframe. That's shouldn't take too long and the I'll just run a few tests to make sure that everything holds together right. We don't want the shield breaking off in the middle of space."

Gaz shook her head and smiled. Zim raised a brow. "That is so weird…"

"What is?"

"I just realized that I am not used to seeing you smile. But you've been doing a lot more lately. What's wrong with you? I thought you were always very uptight and brute-like."

"Well… I don't know. Maybe I've just been feeling a little out of myself lately. Perhaps I'm sick."

"That would explain it then."

"Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Pass me that rod over there will you?" Gaz took hold of a purple, cylindrical tube and passed it to Zim. The Irken attached it to another one and lined in several wires of varying colors. Then he leaned down and stuck his head underneath the ship's hull so that he could connect a few more rods together before he added the newer one. "Gir!" The robot stood at attention. "I need your help over here!" Gir came running at the ship. Gaz was sure that he would crash into it and she smiled at the thought. But the little robot did not crash. Instead he slid on his knees and went directly under the ship, digging into the sand a little bit. There was a buzz that she could hear and then the robot came back out with his lower half buried in the sand. He was moving very slowly and made no effort to climb back out. Zim came back out with a black face and a frown. Gaz laughed as he took a cloth and whipped his green face clean of the dark sludge. He turned in her direction. "It wasn't that funny."

"Yes it was."

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"Piggies!" They both turned to Gir. He had taken the rubber toy out of his head and was squeezing it in his hand again. He looked at their inquisitive stares, held the pig far out from himself and then pointed to it. "Piggy!"

Gaz and Zim frowned at him. Although he tried to seem as cute as he could his actions had no effect on either of them. Both the human and the Irken were immune to Gir's constant cute ramblings.

Zim thought back to when they left the house although he had no idea what brought the memory on.

Gaz came back from the elevator in an instant. No sooner had she closed the door then she came back through. Zim knew that she could see that he was awake again. Gaz walked up to the computer terminal and looked at a few of the screens. Zim frowned. "What are you doing in my lab human? You shouldn't be down here. I won't tolerate it! Leave or be destroyed!"

"You're not in a position to be threatening me, Zim." She indicated to the computer terminal and the wires that stuck out from his flesh. Zim hadn't noticed the spiders that were crawling around his body. They were buzzing at wounds and healing them but the process was slow. Very slow. Zim was surprise that they were even moving.

"Why am I here?"

"You fell in the river when your ship was shot down."

"I did?"

"You did."

"How did I get here from the river then?"

"I dove in the water and fished you out. Then Tak brought you here once we got you breathing again."

"Tak revived me?"

"No, I did."

"How? You humans should know nothing about the Irken anatomy or how we work."

"I don't… I just knew about something you called a squeedlesquoosh… I punched it."

Zim's pupils went small.

Gaz smiled wickedly at him from outside the glass tube. Then she pressed a few buttons and brought up a holographic pad where she examined statistics. Zim frowned at her again once he caught a hold of what she was doing. "I want to go to my ship."

"It's at the bottom of the river."

"No one went to get it?"

"Of course not. That thing is way too heavy to drag to the surface."

Zim lowered his head and thought. Then he looked back at Gaz and said: "Let me out of here and I can get it. I'll order Gir to take it apart one piece at a time and then I'll put it back together."

'You can't leave in your state."

"Why not?"

"Look at yourself!" Zim looked at his arm, his legs, his body, and his hands. He was wired the whole way. A simple healing faction in Irken labs. Zim sighed. "You are in no condition to leave this place on your own…" Zim hung his head. "That's why I'll have to help you." Zim's eyes opened. "I may not like it but I don't much feel like making Dib happy after the incident with the ship. I feel like making him mad. So I am going to help you get out of here. We'll get Gir upstairs. Is there a way for you to come up so that I can hide you somehow? Is there an elevator to the outside?"

Zim shook his head.

"To the door?"

"That one's offline."

"Behind the fridge?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll use that one…"

---

Zim leaned against the wall of the elevator. He sighed to himself and then pulled out the video device from his pack, which was now on him again. The communicator immerged and came in front of his face. Zim spoke into it. "Gir…"

---

Gir was sitting watching one of his favorite shows seeing as he had so many. The scary monkey show was one of his more favored ones and he seemed to watch it the most. He dipped a chicken in mayonnaise and dropped it into his mouth without it being dead or cooked at all. The chicken squawked up until he chomped down and broke it's neck, then Gir swallowed and laughed out loud.

Tak turned to the robot, sighed and turned back to Dib and Kim.

"Gir…"

The malfunctioning robot looked around. He could have sworn that he had heard Zim's voice. But he took it as nothing and turned the volume up.

"Gir. Answer me…"

The voice was very weak and even thought it was faint Gir heard it. He looked around and clicked the mute button on the television. He could only see the humans talking with Tak in the kitchen. There was no master around to speak with. Gir got to his feet and walked around the room in a circle. After surveying the area and finding nothing he got onto his metallic belly and put the side of his head to the floor. He could hear the machines working away in the lab but he could not hear Zim. "Master?" He looked around on his hands and knees. "Where are you?"

There was a cough in his head. "I'm in the lab Gir. Open your communications."

Gir allowed the screen to reveal itself from with his blue chest plate. It came out in front of him and showed him a holographic vision of his master, Zim. The Irken seemed to be sitting down on the ground. He was looking mighty weak. Zim could hardly keep his eyes open. Gir rubbed his chin and pointed to the screen lightly with his index finger. "You don't look to good."

"I know Gir. I need you to do me a favor."

Gir stood at attention. His eyes went red. "Yes, my master."

"Shh… You can't let them find out about me being out of the healing tube. Now… Here's what I want you to do…"

---

Gaz came up and out of the garbage can. She glared at the people in the room with that hard stare she always carried around when they looked at her. She could tell that they all wanted to ask her how she had gotten down into the lab.

Dib looked over at the towel and the jacket in the corner. The towel, he noticed, was hanging from the freezer door and the jacket was slumped on the floor. He realized that she must have crawled along the floor while they were talking and she had made it into the lab and away from them. He wondered what she had done in there. Maybe done something to Zim? Hurt him? Dib smiled at the thought a little even though he knew that he would need Zim's help to save the Earth. Then that thought passed when he remembered that Tak would still help and he smiled at the thought of Zim being hurt buy his sister once more.

Gaz crossed the room and headed back to her spot behind the fridge, in the shadows where no one would be able to see her.

No one said a word.

---

Zim felt the elevator begin to move. Gaz had pressed the button. He had told her that it was behind the fridge. It was a big blue one so he knew that she would be able to see it although he found that he had had slight doubts. Regardless, she had found it and he was moving up towards the kitchen.

The door above him opened and silently he moved into… black?

There was black all around him.

Zim looked forward and then back. He looked to the right and then to the left. He looked up to be black and down to see himself. There was nothing but black.

"Zim…"

"Gaz? Is that you? I can't see…"

"Shh…" The black was lifted from his face. Gaz stood there with a towel shadowing them from behind her. He looked at what she had pulled off. It was a long jacket, similar to her brother's but more so and it looked to be a little more worn than his. Gaz put her finger to her lips and signaled that the others were just beyond the boundaries of the fridge. Zim clamed up right then. "Ok…" she whispered. "To get you out of here I'll have to carry you while I hide you under the jacket."

Zim protested. "I can walk on my own. Just hide me." Zim tried to stand. His legs were wobbly and weak. He couldn't lift himself up and so Gaz helped him. Even that turned out to be a fruitless effort for the minute she let go he wobbled and had to lean against the wall as his legs slide down. He landed on the floor lightly and sighed to himself. "I guess… Maybe… I could use… a little… help…"

Gaz took the towel that was behind held up by the fridge and made sure to cover Zim with her own shadow before the others saw him. She wrapped the towel around her waist and tied it loosely. Gaz help Zim to his feet again and then helped him into the sling that she had made. Their hips were touching now and Gaz had wrapped Zim's arm around her shoulder. The Irken placed his right foot on her left on for extra support as Gaz took the jacket and put it on and covered their bodies. They looked a little strange like that but it would be enough to fool the others if they were lucky. Hopefully everyone would still be a little bit freaked from her stare.

"Hey!"

Gaz poked her head out from behind the fridge. Gir was dancing in front of the table and all eyes were locked on the actions of the strange robot. He pulled off his head and smiled with his tongue sticking out as he tossed it to Dib. It stumbled in his hands and he hurriedly tossed it back to him. Gir let it pop onto his head and then did a black flip. He stood there mighty proud with himself. Kim and Dib clapped. Tak raised an eyebrow.

Gir motioned to them with his hand a little bit. Gaz took the time that he gave them to slip out of the shadows and walked out the kitchen.

"Wow!" Look at me! I'm the amazing dancing Gir!" He did a little dance. Gir took his head off again and placed it on the ground in front of his feet. "Now I'm a dancing head! Look at me being entertaining! I'm so amazing! Oh, look at my head! Look at my dancing head!"

There was a clink as the door closed behind Gaz and Zim.

Gir stopped. "Ok, show's over, I'm tired." He grabbed his head and ran from the house. "I'm going potty!"

The two humans and the Irken sitting in the chairs at the table raised eyebrows.

Dib looked at Kim. "What w as that all about?"

She shrugged.

---

"Are we close to the river?"

"Almost there."

"Ugh… I can't see behind this stupid coat. Let me out."

"Do you have your disguise?"

"Uh…"

"The answer is no then."

Gaz stopped in front of the river and untied the towel from around her waist. She helped Zim down but kept him by the jacket in case anyone was to pass by. It wouldn't look to good then. She looked around and sighed. "I don't see Gir anywhere. Are you sure he followed us?"

"No. I couldn't see."

"Right." She sighed. "Well it looks like he's not…"

A thunderous splash erupted from behind her. The water poured from within the river in an upward way as it reached for the clouds. Gaz looked back in surprise at the towering wave of blue and white coming down on them. She threw herself forwards and landed on top of Zim. Gaz hurriedly threw the jacket on top of his body and covered her head, still on top of the Irken.

Gir came out of the river and landed on his chin. He stood up and waved with his metal tongue waving wildly in his mouth ad he said: "Hi!"

Gaz and Zim looked up. They both frowned at the robot.

Zim only then noticed that Gaz was sitting on top of him. He could feel his face going red but he did not know why. "Uh…"

Gaz looked down at him. She jumped back in surprise and clawed at the grass until she was standing on her own two feet. Gaz brushed herself off and helped Zim stand to his feet as well. He took her hand and allowed her to pull him up. Her strength was a little bit too much for his weak body and he was sent flying into her. Gaz went red. She pushed Zim away and turned to the side. Zim turned the other way and pulled the jacket over his head, trying not to step in water on the ground.

There was a long, hard silence between them.

Not even Gir spoke.

There was only the silence and the wind.