Finally! I managed to update after almost two weeks! Or more, I think. Okay, only two more months of school and I'll be DONE!

From here we'll be getting a bit more into action. You'll see why.

Shades of Purple

Chapter 11

"Zim WHAT?!"

Purple hurriedly shushed his co-Tallest with a half-growl, glancing back worriedly at Tenn and Rouge, both asleep. "Lower your voice!"

"Sorry, But…! Come on, Zim?! He actually did it?!"

Sigh. "Oh, trust me, I didn't believe it a first either."

Red was silent for a while as he processed the news. "Does that planet at least have any valuable resource?" Purple's eyes lit up and he described to Red all of the desserts he had tried today. "Well, if you think they are worth bearing Zim, then I believe you." He still looked like he couldn't believe it, however. "How is Rouge, by the way?"

"He's fine," Purple chuckled nervously, omitting the part where Rouge had used the teleporters on the Massive. "Sleeping alongside Tenn. Did you and Lena finally make up?"

"You could say so. But when Ilk called in her disguise, she fainted thinking she had been discovered. That night she made me sleep in the couch again." Purple snickered. "I don't find it any funny, what if it really had been a kryvtor?"

"On the bright side, last time she called she mentioned she'd finally start her reconnaissance now that she's got her disguise. And did she show you DIR's frill-neck mode? It's pretty cool!"

Red looked proud for a moment. "Well, of course, she's got my superior DNA, it was pretty obvious she'd be a natural Invader. I got the feeling she'll be the first to call for the Organic Sweep soon."

Purple was sure that wouldn't be the case. Sure, so far she was proving to be a more than capable Invader, but she was still Ilk. The Ilk that had befriended a screwhead and who never liked torturing Vortian slaves for fun. He was sure she'd actually be amongst the last because she'd try to find a way to conquer the planet that didn't involve genocide. He just hoped she wouldn't get too attached to the lizards, though.

"Anyway, how are you and Tenn doing in the romantic department?"

"We're progressing," Purple said. He decided not to mention the external insemination just yet. He wanted to surprise Red and Lena when they returned. "Zim mentioned this planet has a lot of romantic spots, so-"

Red raised his lekku in alarm. "Heyheyhey, stop it right there! Did you ask Zim for romantic advice? You forgot to upgrade your PAK again, didn't you? That's the worst idea ever, even for you!"

"I know it doesn't sound… good, but if you saw the kind of hyooman he got for a mate, you'd agree with me that he must have done it right if she accepted him."

"Purple, you can't compare a lowly, under-developed mammal to an Irken! What even makes you think that his method will work with Tenn?" Purple heard Lena's voice from offscreen. "Crap, I gotta go. Just remember, don't take whatever Zim says too seriously!" The transmission was cut off.

Usually, he would have dismissed whatever Red said, but as much as he hated to admit it, he was right. As desperate as he was, how did he even think of asking Zim for romantic advice? He was never that popular on the Academy due to his destructive tendencies. And hyoomans probably had different, much lower standards for mates than Irkens. What if instead of helping, Zim's 'methods' only pushed Tenn further away?

But Purple's greatest flaw was his impatience. He was already craving for it, and though he did manage to get away from the Massive a few times to satiate his sexual appetite in Orgydia, none of those females would satisfy him like he imagined Tenn would. He still remembered their wedding night, the one (and sadly only) time he fully touched her. If the pleasure drones were cheap soft drinks from the nearest vending machine, his beautiful Tenn was an elixir of life. This desperation for more was what drove him to actually consider Zim's advice in the first place. He needed to cling to the smallest glimmer of hope of winning Tenn over.

As he went to join bed, he saw Rouge curled up right next to her abdomen. Big, round blue eyes glowed in the dark, staring at him warily. Purple almost chuckled. Little Rouge was so smart for his age. "Don't worry, little guy," he whispered as he tucked himself in. "Not tonight."

Tenn was awakened hours later by an uncomfortable dryness in her mouth. Reluctantly, she got off the bed to look for something to drink. She could easily have asked any of the hyooman servants to bring it to her, but Tenn was used to getting her own stuff, and she wasn't going to change that. It was the only autonomy she had left, in her opinion.

As she slipped into a gown, she noticed Tallest Purple was not in bed. Thank the Control Brains. She took a quick peek into Rouge's cradle. He was sound asleep, his tiny hands grasping mini-Lena tightly. He was still as adorable as ever. Tenn felt a shiver down her spine. To think that in a few months she'd be watching her own smeet sleeping just like this… his smeet. That knowledge was enough to almost make her lose any affection for the child.

It was early morning, so most of the place was deserted for now. Well, almost. Tenn spotted some of those dreaded bees buzzing around the window, trying to land on the flowers decorating it. How could those puny things bring down an Irken zhook cruiser? Guess she'd never know. After some wandering around, she managed to find the kitchen. Unfortunately, she also found the last person she wanted to see.

"Hey, Tenn, try these! They are tasty!" Tenn ignored Tallest Purple and grabbed a soda from the drink. It tasted like orange. "How is Rouge?"

"Asleep," Tenn said bluntly.

"Hey, did you taste the ice cream? Hyoomans have invented some interesting flavors, such as bubblegum and even cookies and cream!" Tallest Purple was taking big spoonfuls of said dessert. He licked his lips and took a look at the empty vase. "Aw, it ran out. Would you mind getting me some?"

"Why don't you ask a hyooman to do so?"

"Do you see any around here? I'm not going to waste my snacking time in looking around for hyooman drones."

Tenn raised a lekku. "Then get it yourself. Or what? Are you that lazy?"

Tallest Purple frowned. "As my wife, you're obligated to do as I say. Besides, you're standing right next to the freezer where it's kept." She wanted to keep protesting, but the look he was giving her let her know she wasn't going to slip off the hook that easily this time. Muttering angrily under her breath, Tenn opened the door to the freezer.

Brr! It was freezing in there! Inside there were lots of metal shelves in which various things were placed, mostly ice cream containers, but she spotted some ice statues of Zim. Tenn rubbed her forearms to warm herself up a bit. Damn it, stupid gown! She better finds the stupid ice cream so she can get out of here. "What flavor?!" She asked.

"The yellow one! I think it's called vanilla!"

Tenn took a closer look at the containers, but she found herself unable to read the characters. Damn it, the hyoomans' writing system hadn't yet been uploaded into the databases. As she lifted the containers' lids, she realized that at least five of these flavors had a yellow color in them. "I can't tell which one!" She heard Tallest Purple groaning in exasperation.

"Seriously, woman, you can't even find ice cream?" He came into the freezer, rubbing his arms. "Damn it, it is cold in here! Let's hurry before I get a cold!" He started dipping a spoon into each of the containers and then taking it into his mouth to taste it until he found the one he wanted. As they tried to take it, however, it turned out it was stuck to the metal shelf due to some ice crystals formed at its bottom. Tenn tried to use a blow torch, Tallest Purple stopped her. "No! You'll make it melt!"

"I don't care, I just want to get out of here before my lekku freeze!" Tenn snapped.

Before they could argue any further, they jumped at a sudden and loud slam. Turning towards the door, they found it closed shut. Tenn dropped the blow torch and stared at their only way out of this frozen hell. No, no, no, no! Both she and Tallest Purple ran to the door and tried to open, but in their hurry, they ended up breaking off the door's knob.

"Damn it, look what you did!"

"Me?! You pulled the knob!"

"You didn't make sure the door was blocked before coming in!"

She could not believe this. Instead of just accepting he's partly to blame for this, he tried to pin the entirety of the blame on her. "Why would I when you were the one who came in last?!" Tenn groaned. "Just forget it! I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you!"

The next ten minutes were spent banging against the door while yelling, hoping someone would hear them. As time went on, however, it was evident nobody would come into the kitchen for a good while. Tenn cursed and kicked a nearby ice cube. "Damn it! At this rate, we'll freeze to death!"

"What are you saying?!"

"Freeze to death! That's what happens when you get stuck inside a freezer!"

"Oh, please, we're Irkens! A little cold is not enough to-ACHOO!" Tallest Purple sneezed.

Tenn started rubbing her forearms in an attempt to keep herself warm, but it's hard considering her only protection against the cold was a thin sleeping gown. What a 'good' way to die, stuck in a freezer with the man that ruined her life. Stop thinking like that, Tenn. She was going to think of something; she always did.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, my Tallest." Tenn retorted simply, stepping away from him. To her chagrin, he stepped closer.

"Well, since it seems we're going to be stuck here for a good while, we should try to keep our body warmth. How about we get…" his hand slowly slithered behind her to wrap around her. "...comfortable?" Tenn responded with a strong elbowing right in his ribs and a loud hiss.

"Get your filthy existence away from me."

Tallest Purple's only response was a painful growl. "Woman, you're so lucky that you're carrying my smeet…!"

Thankfully, GIR happened to enter the kitchen not long after. They had to bargain their freedom, but eventually, he let them out after they promised him half of the ice cream ration for his waffles. Afterward, Tenn buried herself under at least four furry blankets to get warm again… Okay, Tallest Purple was the one to put her there to make sure 'his smeet wouldn't get a cold before even being born'. Tenn repeated for the hundredth time that she wasn't pregnant yet, but he didn't seem to listen, or he did and didn't care. Probably the latter.

Rouge finally woke up, and the first thing he did was look for a pouch to crawl into. Tenn had been the first option, but upon finding none, he hid deep within the blankets and refused to come out except to eat. Guess he hadn't had a good time around here. She wanted to leave as soon as possible too, frankly. Being around Zim was unbearable; he might have gotten taller and conquered the planet, but he hadn't changed a single bit. His ego was still the size of the Massive.

Then Tallest Purple comes and turns out with his. "Bad news, my dear. The zhook cruiser is finite, and it'll be a while before they can get another one ready. And the ration of snacks I ordered is going to take a little while too, so, unfortunately, we're stuck here until then." Tenn found it odd: she imagined he of all people would be in the greatest hurry to leave, given he despised Zim. But he didn't sound that upset at all.

"So what now, then?" She muttered.

His grin widened. "Well, instead of just being stuck in here all day with Zim, I figured we could take a look at this puny planet and see what kind of snacks it has to offer. From what Zim says, every continent has its own variations."

"Can't they bring it here?"

"That takes too long and I want to taste them now. So come on, there's a ship waiting for us already and I'm hungry! "

Tenn grunted, but nevertheless, she slipped into her robes. It took them a long while to find Rouge amongst the blanket nest, though, and when they did find him he clung to his 'hideout' like those little parasites that often clung to Irkens and had to be removed with the cleansing gel. It wasn't until Tenn changed into the robe she had sewn the pouch in that Rouge finally let go of the blanket.

Thankfully, the spittle runner they used was more spacious than Zim's diminutive voot runner, and she could scoot away from Tallest Purple this time. Even better, Zim and that defective robot of his didn't come along in this ship but instead flew in his voot runner.

Tenn stared out the window to take a better look at this planet. Aside from the futuristic cities and the settlements that bore the Irken Empire's banner, it mostly consisted of woods, fields and a large mass of water that composed most of the planet's surface. Zim called it an ocean, and it held great importance in Earth's ecosystems, as it was filled with edible aquatic fauna. One of his most 'brilliant plans' consisted of creating millions of microscopic nanobots that eradicated the garbage accumulated in the ocean over the centuries.

The two ships crossed one of the oceans separating the continents (Atlantic ocean, according to a map she downloaded from the hyooman's databases to kill the time) and landed in a city known as Venice, famous for its water channels; the main entertainment there consisted of sitting in a long boat and being toured around the city through the maze-like water streets. Tallest Purple claimed to feel curious about it, and the next hour was spent in a 'gondola' around Venice with a dish consisting of slimy, motionless red worms called spaghetti in Tallest Purple's lap. Admittedly, it was tasty, but as she was slurping unto a very long spaghetti, she didn't realize Tallest Purple was also slurping that one and they ended up exchanging saliva in the process*. Tenn threw up on the gondola afterward.

During the first trip, Tenn thought she saw a Vortian. She initially assumed she was imagining things until she saw a Planet Jacker pass by with a white-and-black stuffed doll. Soon she noticed there were aliens of different breeds roaming around. Judging from a few conversations she managed to hear, she figured all these aliens heard that Earth was not only out of Irken jurisdiction, but it also wasn't marked for conquest, so they decided to come here to escape from slavery.

The next stop was a large city called Parees. To her chagrin, Tallest Purple opted to have lunch on top of a tall tower just because it was tall and he liked it (she made sure to her keep Rouge inside the pouch all the time). Midway through the meal, GIR showered them with a strange plant called mistletoe. It caused them an allergic reaction, which manifested in a green rash. Much like on Venice, she saw lots of aliens touring around, particularly aquatic species.

Finally, their last stop for the day was a large earthen fauna reserve in the continent named Afreeca. Tenn admitted that one did sound interesting; part of her was curious as to this planet's non-sentient life forms. To her utter dismay, however, she learned that his zoo-reserve thing didn't use cages, and instead all the animals roamed freely as they pleased.

"Wouldn't it be better if we fly above them?" she stated matter-of-factly. "I certainly don't want to die at the hands of an earthen beast."

"Actually, ma'am, the experience is much more enjoyable on land." One of the hyoomans explained. This one was of a breed with darker skin and eyes but otherwise looked like any other hyooman.

"Technically all we'd do is walk around and watch," Zim explained happily.

The tour began, with none other than Zim as the guide. Tenn noted that although there weren't actual cages, she saw a nearly-invisible shield barrier that kept the beasts away. Even more shocking, inside some of those fields was a very different climate. It must have taken a lot of work to obtain these results. Either Zim's PAK wasn't as defective as they thought, or there was a hyooman who was smarter than average and did all the work with the Irken technology… Tenn was betting for the latter.

Rouge started to squeal in discomfort as he poked out his head. Tenn sighed. "He's thirsty again."

"With this heat, how wouldn't he?" Tallest Purple muttered, wiping some sweat off his brow. "Zim, bring something to drink!"

"Right away, my Tallest! Dib-hyooman, bring something to drink!" He had brought that one? A painful yell confirmed it, especially as she spotted a familiar black trench coat disappearing through the crowd.

Tallest Purple raised his lekku in a direction. "Hey, look at that!" He rushed towards one of the cages and pointed at a very tall creature with brown spots. "Look, Tenn, it's tall! I want it!" He said with childlike enthusiasm. Tenn raised an eyebrow.

"That animal wouldn't fit in the Massive."

"Then have it sent back to Irk, but I want it! Zim, I want that animal!"

"Wouldn't introducing an invading species on another planet be catastrophic for the environment?" Tenn glanced at GIR. It was the first time the defective SIR said something that actually made sense.

"Silence, GIR!"

"I don't think it really matters, there are no animals on Irk other than the Irkorses." she retorted. It didn't really matter if they added an animal to the Tallest Tower's garden, it did feel a little empty during those days.

"Zim shall make some arrangements to mail the geeraf-beast to your mighty palace, my Tallest!"

Zim ran off just as the Dib-beast returned with a vase of soda. "Here's your stupid drink, alien-scum- GYAAA!" he fell to the ground and twisted in pain after Tallest Purple grabbed the soda and pressed the remote control to activate the shock collar.

"That's no way to talk to your Tallest, hyooman." Tallest Purple sneered.

"You're not my tallest-! AARRGH!"

"I beg to differ, considering I'm way taller than you. Hey, Tenn, would you mind giving Rouge his drink so I can enjoy this?"

As Tenn looked into the pouch, she found it flat. Confused, she took a peek inside. She went pale. "Um, your Tallest…"

"Tenn, come on, you had already called me by my name! Can't you keep doing it?"

Tenn murmured angrily. "Okay, Purple, I just wanted to let you know we have a little problem here!" As he looked at her in confusion, she showed him the empty pouch. His eyes opened wide as the vase slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"Rouge?!" Tallest Purple abruptly opened the pouch to make sure he wasn't in there and frantically started looking around. "Damn it, not again! Rouge!" Tenn joined in, informing some nearby hyoomans to help with the search. Sweet Irk, of all the places for Rouge to crawl out of the pouch it had to be precisely here, where there was a good chance of him getting eaten.

"Alien-scum, are you looking for a tiny Irken with blue eyes?"

"Did you see it?!"

Dib-hyooman pointed at one of the habitats. Tenn and Tallest Purple shouted simultaneously. "ROUGE!" The smeet was crawling towards a two-legged, furry animal with a long tail. Tenn noticed a tiny head sticking out of a pouch in one of the creatures*. She realized what was going on.

"SOMEBODY PUT THOSE ANIMALS TO SLEEP BEFORE THEY EAT MY NEPHEW!"

"Wallabies are actually harmless… most of the time." Dib-hyooman said. "Unless they have offspring, that is."

"You mean that thing sticking its head out of the pouch?" Tenn asked.

"Yeah. Marsupials carry their young in a pouch during their first months while it develops. Kinda like that baby Irken*." Rouge clumsily made his way to a wallaby with an empty pouch and managed to crawl into it. The wallaby looked down at its pouch in confusion when a green head poked out of it with a happy squeak. Tenn thought the animal would attack, but instead, it licked Rouge's head.

Tallest Purple looked like he was going to faint. He glared at the Irken guards and drones. "Don't just stand there! Go save my nephew!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers scrambled to get into the habitat, but their attempts to catch the wallaby were mostly fruitless. The wallaby ran (or rather, hopped) away from them, and this altered the rest of the Wallabies. Some of the soldiers were sent flying by a kick or received nasty bites and scratches. Tenn would have laughed if it weren't Rouge's life on the line; the smeet looked like he was having a good time, though.

As if it couldn't get any worse, the Irkpad rang. Tallest Purple went pale. "It's Lena! Shishitshitshit! What do we do?! Should we take the call?!"

"I think we should."

He looked at her as if she had gone insane. "What, are you nuts?! If she finds out about this, it'll be our necks!"

"And if we leave her hanging, she'll know something is going on, don't you think?" Tenn snatched the Irkpad from his grasp and took the call before he could do something to stop her. Lena appeared on the screen.

"Tenn? Where is Purple?"

"R-Right here, Lena!" Tallest Purple snatched the Irkpad, grinning nervously and trying to block the view. Unfortunately, the soldiers' yells of pain and the commotion in the Wallabies' habitat reached Lena's lekku.

"What is that scandal?"

"Oh, nothing in particular! We came to a… zoo to spend the day! Turns out Earth has quite the creatures living in it!" Tallest Purple spoke through grit teeth. "Where's Red, now that we're on it?" His lekku twitched as he heard the unmistakable sound of… Tenn narrowed her eyes a bit as she twitched her own lekku. Was that puking?

Lena sighed. "Let's say his squeedly-spooch couldn't take a glass of water. I told him to have a soda, but no, he insisted he could take anything. Anyway, where's Rouge?"

Tallest Purple went pale but did his best to dissimulate it. "Oh, he's fine! He's like a little angel! You know, those mini-hyoomans with tiny wings!"

"Let me talk to him." Tenn gulped.

"Oh, that! Well, you see…! Rouge is currently… He's…!"

"He's in one of the games!" Tenn said quickly, grinning nervously. "He got interested in one of the mechanic animals and…!"

Tallest Purple joined in. "He got in it! He's still on the first lap around the kid's area!" Another yell. "Hear that? even the drones are having fun!"

"Okay, can you show me an image at least?"

Tallest Purple panicked. He quickly grabbed a plastic bag and covered the Irkpad's screen with it while making strange sounds as he spoke. "What? I can't hear…! Losing signal…! Gotta go…!"

"Wait—!" The call was ended.

Tenn looked back at the habitat. The fallen soldiers had collapsed unto a pile, all of them covered in scratches and bite marks. On top of them was none other than Rouge, happily tucked into the wallaby's pouch.

Lard Nar stared at the screen's static, fidgeting with his fingers nervously.

Of all the things that could go wrong, they never expected the Massive to arrive at this backwater planet. Their informant had said 'Earth' was marked for conquest, plus the star charts showed it was far enough from the Empire's borders, so they guessed it would be a nice place to hide… That and they had delicious snacks and a pretty cool zoo. Besides, Zim had been exiled there, which meant the Tallest would want to be as far away from here as possible.

Indeed, as they arrived they found that, though Zim somehow managed to take over the planet, Earth still lacked Irken soldiers or slave drivers present in the rest of the conquered planets. Instead, hyoomans were mostly allowed to roam freely and worship Zim. The only thing asked of them was to create delicious snacks so Zim could send them to his leaders, but other than that there were no signs of the Irken Armada ever showing up, so they decided to establish their hideout there. Refugees from all over the galaxy had arrived already, so even if the Irkens did suspect anything

Unfortunately, their streak of bad luck didn't take long in catching up. A month after their arrival, the Irken Armada shows up. They initially thought they had been found until they realized they hadn't started firing at the planet. Instead, only a few ships came down. From what Spleen managed to find out from a hyooman working at Zim's place, only one of the Tallest and his consort came down, and their only purpose was to pick up a smeet. Good, then it meant they still hadn't figured it out.

"Anything yet?"

"Nothing, sir. Are you sure they said they'd call?"

"Of course I do! I might not be very fluent at Sobrekt language, but I know enough to tell they were interested in us!"

"Are you sure?" Shloonktapooxis inquired. "I mean, the Shuryo didn't seem too keen in forming an alliance the last time we called." Apparently, though the Sobrekt leader did have pending matters with the Irken Empire (especially after the Invader the Irkens sent to Sobr was discovered), his people preferred to work alone. Lard Nar had the feeling the actual reason of his refusal was that he didn't take them seriously as a resistance group. He couldn't blame him for thinking like that either; their name didn't exactly sound very convincing.

Shortly after being rejected by the Shuryo, though, they received another anonymous call from a Sobrekt vessel. They only said they'd communicate only through this private channel in a few days. It had been two weeks ever since and still no sign of them. "Okay, I admit, perhaps the Shuryo did have a good point… But come on, I don't think he'd be the type to play a prank, would he?"

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to send him those onyons." It turned out that earthen fruit was terribly harmful to the Sobrekt's eyes.

"Whose idea was that, anyway?!"

"Mine," Spleenk laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

The console beeped. One of the engineers cried out. "We have an incoming transmission from the Kirokago!"

Finally! "Hurry, take it before they change their minds!"

The captain of the Kirokago was a female sobrekt with yellowish green scales and lots of scars. Lard Nar noticed a sort of collar around her neck, which he recognized as an Irken shock collar used on conquered aliens to keep them in check. She must have been captive at a certain point. Good, something in common could help identify with her and convince her to join forces.

Okay, Lard Nar, remember what you read on Sobrekt Language for Dummies. Don't look at them directly in the eye, don't call them snakes or lizards, etc. "Greetings, ma'am! I'm Lard-Nar, leader of the Resisty!"

The sobrekt frowned and said something. The crocodilian branch of Sobrekt language sounded like guttural sounds and growls reminiscent of an Earthen croc to those. A good thing Ixane was much more fluent than he was and acted as the translator. "She said it's a stupid name."

His eye twitched and he frowned at Spleenk for a few seconds. Then he looked back at the screen. "Yeah, we're…. Working on that."

The sobrekt raised an eyebrow, but she didn't show signs of being annoyed yet. She growled. "Sincerely, I thought you'd be more… imposing, Lard Nar. No wonder not even the Irken Empire takes your little resistance seriously."

Ouch, that hurt. Before he could say something, Spleenk got ahead of him. "Hey, lizard-lady, why did your leader change his mind?" Lard Nar almost shrieked in dismay when he called her a lizard. The second thing you should never call a Sobrekt. He thought she'd end the transmission right then, but she didn't seem to be offended.

"I'm afraid the Shuryo is not aware of this. As you might have heard, his stubbornness is legendary. Once he makes up his mind, it's impossible to persuade him otherwise. Sadly, this stubborness is a flaw. He insists on taking down the Irken Empire by himself, and while that is admirable, it would take far too long." Her pupils turned to slits. "And I want them gone now."

"Okay, that's… interesting, ma'am. So this means you're interested in joining forces?" Lard Nar asked, hopeful. The Sobrekt were of the few species the Irkens actually feared, so having one on their side would be nice.

The sobrekt chuckled. "You're sharp, I see. Indeed. Me and my party wish to join forces for a brief while. As you probably know, currently there's only one Tallest aboard the Massive right now."

"How do you know that?" Shloonktapooxis asked curiously.

"The red Tallest has been uploading pictures of himself and his mate in Vacatio. And judging from the Earth news podcast, only the Purple one came down with his wife? Tell me something, did you see a smeet with them?"

"Yeah, it's all over Spacebook," Spleenk showed them the data pad to show a picture of Almighty Tallest Purple and his wife chasing after a wallaby with a smeet in its pouch.

The sobrekt smirked. "Then now would be a good time to gain a… leverage over the Tallest, don't you think?"

"Explain yourself." Lard Nar said.

"From what I've seen, that Tallest is not as smart as his co-ruler. It wouldn't be that hard to dispatch him and take the smeet as a hostage." The female snapped a bone in her claws, licking her chops at the idea of tasting Irken blood. "What do you think Tallest Red would do to get his precious child back?"

*Reference to Lady and the Tramp in the famous spaghetti kiss scene.

*What can I say? Irken smeets just love pouches.

*Headcanon: I think Irkens were marsupial at some point in their past. As stated in a previous chap, Irken females had pouches in which they incubated their eggs and kept their smeets inside until they were too big for it. As natural reproduction was replaced by cloning, the pouches were removed because they weren't esthetically nice. Naturally-born smeets, however, still have the need to crawl into mommy's pouch for protection and warmth.