Before You Know It

by Mikki Warner

AU Story! In this universe Invader Zim really is just a TV show. This is the story of how Invader Zim came to be, through Zim's life. Starting with his birth and carries on with family drama and humor as well as tragedy and precious moments. Pairings: ZIMxTak, RedxOC, TennxPurple, plus more. Rated: K-M

13. Five Frivolous Friends

Back from a long vacation!

Well someone left a comment asking where Dib was in the story and if I could have sent a reply message to her/him I would have said that this is a ZIM centric story starting with his childhood and based around him and his family. He doesn't meet Dib till . . . this chapter! Enjoy mystery guest as well as the rest of you! Now if you will please let me summon Dib out from underneath his rock . . .

DIB! These people want you! They're sick of an all Irken story! ;-)

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September 30, 2000

". . . It was very nice to meet you all," ZIM said to his fellow cast members. They were now in a smaller room. Getting to know each other and talk about the upcoming show. ZIM, being the extroverted little guy he is, did most of the talking as the 'classmates' and 'other invaders' listened. Apparently all of the 'other invaders' were big fans of him. With the exception of Zee and Tenn who wouldn't get speaking roles in the first episode after the pilot. Sure they supported him in what he did but he'd never call them his 'fans'. His older sisters meant more to him than just another member of his fan club. ". . . But it's a Jewish holiday and my brother is forcing me to go to the synagogue for who knows how long." ZIM pointed his thumb in the back corner where Red and Purple were talking quietly. Red looked up with a unknowing, innocent look then turned back to Purple. "I'll see you all next week for cold reading and rehearsal." ZIM waved to his new friends to bid them goodbye. The others all waved and said their goodbye's to ZIM as he stood from his seat. Red, Purple, his sisters and Gaz followed his lead. As he sauntered on over to the lobby and the exit to the parking lot, he heard his brother's snickering behind him. ZIM sighed. "What?"

"Nothing." Red said quickly.

"Aha, not really." Purple said trying to stifle his laughter. ZIM turned to face them.

"What is it!" ZIM demanded more than questioned.

"It's just . . ." Red trailed off. "Never mind, if we told you it would make you feel uncomfortable around your co-stars."

"My Irk, Red! Just tell me." ZIM hissed. Purple decided to finish for Red.

"When you stood up and turned to leave every single girl's glance was on your rear."

"It wasn't only the girl's glances, a few boys I caught gazing too." Red added. ZIM cocked a brow and craned his neck to see his backside.

"What is so attractive about it?" ZIM questioned himself.

"I dunno, but they could have been staring just because your pants are nearly around your ankles." Zee muttered. She walked to ZIM to hike up his pants up to his waist where they should be instead of below his hips where he had them. "Honestly, I don't know why you kids these days think that having your boxer shorts showing is so cool." Zee tightened ZIM's belt. Her little brother sneered and rolled his eyes.

"Girls think it's hot and sexy." ZIM defended. "Tak said so herself."

"Tak only said that to get you to do it for her own amusement and eye candy." Zee said.

"Whatever." ZIM grumbled, walking to his car.

"There you guys are!" Leslie said, leaning against Red's truck. "We were waiting for Zee and Tenn 'cuz we drove here together."

"We were just having a meet and greet with some other stars." Red said. "You five may go home," Red said to Purple, Sam, Leslie, Gaz and Tak. "We're going to a service." He motioned to his siblings. "We should be back in a few hours."

"That is unless we die of boredom." ZIM mumbled. Tenn scowled and smacked ZIM upside the head. "Ow! What? You and I both know we ain't gonna have fun this afternoon!"

"Oh, ZIM. You and your constant need for entertainment." Tenn said.

"Alright, well we'll see you later then." Leslie said getting into their vehicle's, Tak driving ZIM's car with Gaz, Leslie and Sam driving Zee's, and Purple using Red's and driving off. ZIM got out his transporter and zapped them to Irk for the holiday.

"Yahweh, I hope my Bar Mitzvah isn't as boring as this holiday." ZIM said mentally.

October 1, 2000

Red rubbed his eyes from looking into a microscope for several hours. The science headquarters he worked for wanted him to analyze a new bacteria found on some algae. Red placed one eye back on the scope and giggled as the bacterium started to jiggle and move slowly.

"Heheh, I wonder if they know I'm watching them." Red muttered, tiredly. Red groaned wondering for a moment why he was doing this alone. So he decided to take a little walk to find his co-worker. Red was making his way to find Purple and to ask him if he's been keeping up on paperwork when he heard a sorrowful sob come from inside the man's room. This worried Red as he slowly opened the door only to find his OBFAM laying belly-down on his bed, body shaking and occasionally jolting as if he was suffering an electric shock. "What's the matter, Pur? Get stung by a bee?" Purple's antenna slicked back.

"Not this time, Red." Came the distressed Irken's reply. Red smiled and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Then what is it?" Purple sat up, whining as he did and all he said was,

"She's gone."

Meanwhile

"I've decided I hate L.A." Tenn looked up from her book.

"Why, Z? We just got here."

"I am aware that we just got here. The thing is, it's too crowded." ZIM grumbled. Tenn went back to her book.

"So is Meijour on Irk. We have a home there and you never complain that it's too crowded."

"Because there everyone is Irken. Don't you feel out of place here?"

"Well of course I do. All four of us were born and raised in Australia." Tenn said referring to herself and her siblings. "But even there we didn't really belong. Our mother planet is Irk." ZIM sighed looking out the window to the beach. He liked his beach home in Perth or even the home they stilled owned in Mears, Michigan. There, the beaches were private and you could swim naked if you wanted to. Here, everyone walked or swam on your beach whether you owned it or not. The houses were too close together to do any skinny dipping. "We're not staying here for long, Z. This city makes Red nervous."

"How so?" ZIM asked absentmindedly, still looking out the window.

"A number of reasons, the smog level is sky high, the crime rate, the automobile accident rate, there are several gangs lurking about-."

"Detroit."

"What?" Tenn asked confused. ZIM looked at her.

"If I remember correctly, we stayed for an entire day and night and another half a day, as well as went to several Red Wings and Tigers games in Detroit. I would think that city is a tad more dangerous than this one. But I digress, L.A. is not a kid-friendly place, true, but at least it ain't Detroit." ZIM paused for a moment. "There is something I don't get. Why is Red more fearful of this city than Detroit? That was the city we first visited."

"Because when we first moved to the States I was ignorant at which cities were dangerous and which ones were not. Now that we lived in America for some years I've gotten smarter." ZIM looked toward the entrance of the living room. Red stood there glaring down at the ground. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" Tenn asked. Red didn't answer for awhile.

"I'm not sure if Peder wants me to say just yet." ZIM's heart sank. They only ever called Purple by his birth name if something was seriously amiss.

"Tell us. We deserve to know just as much as you do." Tenn said. Red scowled deeply. The crimson-eyed Irken contemplated on how he'd break the news to his younger siblings. He'd think ZIM would take it the hardest. Considering it had to do with his trainer he absolutely admired and loved.

"Sam left." Red said simply. "She left earlier this morning. Peder tried to explain why exactly she left but he couldn't get the words out. She's going back to Mears." ZIM's antenna dropped so low they nearly touched his shoulders.

"B-but . . . a new season is coming up. I need her." Red frowned sadly at his crestfallen smeet-brother. "I don't understand." ZIM pouted tearing up a bit.

"I would suggest you talk to Pur about it, later though. He's very upset right now." Red patted ZIM's head. "Actually, why don't you go snuggle him a bit. You'll both like that." ZIM bowed his head but did just that. He walked to his other older brother's room and joined the crying man on his bed.

"Peder?" ZIM asked, stopping by the bedside. Purple rolled over on his side to see ZIM.

"Hey, bud." He croaked. He wiped stray tears from his eyes trying to be strong for ZIM. "It wouldn't have worked, she said." ZIM perked his antenna. Purple picked ZIM up and placed him by his side. "The whole different species thing."

"So? Red and Leslie are married." Purple cringed at that fact.

"ZIM, she didn't leave out of her own selfish desire. She left because she said she loved me." ZIM cocked a brow.

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Zei, there is a huge thing that make humans and Irkens different."

"Green skin? No ears? Nose? No hair? The fact that most of us are hermaphrodites and our special organs are inside our bodies? No buttcracks? The inability to sweat? Cuz we don't poop or pee? Because we have an average body temperature of one-hundred degrees. Because you have erectile dysfunction-"

"Who told you!" Purple gasped putting his hands between his legs embarrassed. ZIM felt like he hit a nerve so he immediately changed the subject.

"So what is it?" ZIM asked. Purple's blush soon disappeared and he started to talk again.

"Age, Zeiden. Irkens have a long life expectancy range from five-hundred to a thousand years old. Humans have a lifespan of an estimated seventy-five years. If Sam and I fell in love now, we'd regret it in the future 'cuz when she's old and gray I'll still look the same from when we first met. I'm surprised your brother never took that into consideration." ZIM suddenly felt awful. Not just for Purple's heartbreak but for Red's future with Leslie. He should have never of fell in love with her. "Life sucks, Z. You're lucky you like an Irken like Tak so treat her right, okay?" ZIM nodded not saying anything. He stood up on the mattress giving Purple a hug and a kiss then left the room pondering.

October 4, 2000

This needed to stop. She wasn't even sure if Purple was truly heart-broken over the matter. Sure he cried and didn't leave his room but lately he seems to just be hanging out in his room for solitude.

She knew this was wrong, but when Purple and Sam broke up she was kinda happy, relieved, and for some reason . . . not jealous anymore. She had her secrets and she was about to reveal one of them to the distressed man moping on his bed. She decided to take a gentle approach toward him because he may still be sensitive. No, screw that, she should just act her normal self toward him in order to not raise suspicion. And she'll continue to act on that charade till her 'secret' was known by the older, by eight years, Irken.

"Get your ass out of bed right now!" Tenn yelled through the shut door, banging on it with a clenched fist. "You've been mopin' 'round in there for four days! It's time to join the living!"

"Go away, Tenn!" Purple shouted from his room. Tenn seethed. She loved Peder, she did, but they had a famous rivalry between the two of them and this argument was no doubt apart of their frienemy-ship.

"You haven't eaten, you haven't talked, you haven't left your room! You need to get over her!" When there was no response Tenn just growled and barged into his room without warning. "I'm giving you till the count of three, Peder."

"Five feet and four inches of pure estrogen." Purple mumbled to Tenn, from his laying position on his bed. He was on his back staring at the ceiling. The man was also wearing nothing except for a pair of solid blue boxers which Tenn blushed at.

"One . . ." Tenn started, ignoring his comment. She stalked to the edge of the half-naked Irken's bed.

"You don't scare me. What are you even gonna do?"

"Two . . ." Tenn said leaning over Purple's body, each hand was on his shoulders pressing him down in the bed. This made him curious.

"What are you do-"

"Three!" Tenn smashed her lips against Purple's. The male Irken jumped, eyes wide as he let out a slight yelp at the unexpectedness of what Tenn was currently doing. His mind instantaneously wandered from Sam to Tenn. What was she doing and why? More importantly, why did he like it? His thoughts cut off by her tongue licking his bottom lip. Tenn, like any of her siblings, was trying to claim dominance. Must be a family thing. Tenn moaned a bit, her eyes closed. After a few moments more of shock Purple gave in, closing his eyes too and even kissing back. Tenn grinned at his submissiveness and crawled on the bed and laid herself on top of Purple not breaking the kiss once. Her hands moved up and down his bare chest as his own hands wrapped around her torso and pulled her closer. Finally, the need for air reached both of them and they broke from each other's lip lockage. Purple stared up at Tenn for a long moment, then spoke.

"Remember that 'estrogen' joke I made earlier?" The magenta-eyed female chuckled a bit.

"You don't even want to know how long I've wanted to do that." Purple smiled softly.

"And here I was thinking you hated me." Tenn returned the smile, blushing ever so slightly.

"You realize how Sam and your relationship wouldn't of worked, right?" Purple's expression changed.

"I kind of figured it was gonna end soon anyway." Purple said. Another moment passed. "What does this mean now? Between us?"

"Whatever you want it to mean. Just don't tell my brother. He'll kill you for sure." Tenn snickered sliding off Purple and kissing the area where his nose should be. "C'mon. You need to eat."

October 5, 2000

"What's the matter? Scared of beans . . . Space boy?" ZIM looked annoyed at the kid getting in his face. The pasty white kid with glasses asked the question with much hate.

"Nonsense!" ZIM defended. "I love beans. I love them." The boy with jet black hair smirked a bit and held out a fork to ZIM.

"Oh, just one more-."

"Stop!" ZIM suddenly yelled. Everyone in the cafeteria for rehearsal looked in his direction.

"What's the matter, ZIM?" The direct, Steve Russell asked.

"He's supposed to hand me a spoon! Dillon, a spoon is the thing that looks like a miniature bowl attached to a silver handle." ZIM said crossing his arms. The boy who was just sharing the exchanges with ZIM stared at him blankly. "Honestly, you humans aren't doing your race much justice, intelligence-wise, if you keep on messin' up your silverware. Please, someone get this kid a spoon!" ZIM glared at Dillon. The black haired boy was too scared to move.

"I . . . I'm sorry?" He said. ZIM smiled.

"Daw! I'm just joking with ya' man! You're so easy to pick on, I can't help myself."

"Oh, right . . . haha." Dillon said nervously. ZIM quirked a brow at him.

"How did you get one of the lead roles? You don't seem to be that outgoing." ZIM asked. The boy shrugged.

"I dunno." Dillon said. "I think I'll get better once the season progresses. I'm always shy at first." ZIM nodded slowly. "And you can call me Dib. It's not just my stage name, it's also my nickname." He said looking down. "I believe I told you that before . . . five times." ZIM stared then snorted.

"You're funny!" He said slapping Dib on the back.

"Yeah, well, if you two are done we'd like to move on with rehearsal. Tomorrow is the day we're fitting into costumes and for you ZIM we're getting you a wig and contact lens. Speaking of contacts," Mr. Russell started. "When are you getting your laser eye surgery? We need to get those glasses off before we start filming." ZIM shrugged.

"I should have gotten them off a few years ago but the optometrist apparently estimated wrong. I scheduled an appointment for next week Thursday with a rather sexy ophthalmologist." Steve rolled his eyes. ZIM smirked.

"Okay, good. Just be here tomorrow and next week Monday though Wednesday. And if possible, Thursday to do one final dress rehearsal."

"Sure thing." ZIM said. Jhonen, who was on the scene, whispered to Steve.

"Alright folks. Let's wrap it up for today. Good job, you all on a fabulous first rehearsal and see you tomorrow at nine."

"In the morn?" ZIM asked changing his accent to a southern one for comedic relief.

"Yes, in the morn." Mr. Russell mocked as he excused the classmates. Everyone on the cafeteria set stood and left the sound stage.

"That's early . . . oh well. Finally, that's over." ZIM sighed.

"Umm, hey ZIM?" ZIM felt someone pulling at him. He turned to see Dib tugging on his jacket.

"What's up, D?"

"I was just wonderin' . . . since we're gonna be working together and all, if you'd like to hang out with me for today?" ZIM beamed.

"Heck fluckin' yeah! What do you want to do? I could drive us to the skate park, movies, surfing, can play video games at my house, we could rate chicks, don't tell Tak, go to the club, we can crash a wedding reception, that's always fun!" Dib didn't know what to say. "Do you know how to play an instrument? We can play together! Form a band maybe! I've been a solo artist my entire career so far that would be cool if I had a companion."

"Actually, I was thinking we could just- wait . . . Did you say career?" ZIM smiled proudly and nodded.

"Yuppers! I'm a musician, singer, actor, and model on my home planet."

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Didn't you go to the orientation for our show? I gave you guys a little improvised concert." Dib shook his head.

"I didn't make it to that. You're like . . . already a super star?" ZIM shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't really call myself a star, only when it comes to baseball. Then yeah, I'm one bad ass super star who everyone wants to romp with, even the straight boys." Dib stared at the insane Irken, not entirely knowing what the word 'romp' meant, but he assumed it was dirty. "So do you play an instrument?" Dib shook his head again.

"No, not really. I took only one year of piano but that's it." ZIM frowned a bit.

"Well, I could always form a duet with my brother." ZIM said leaving the sound stage and exited to the parking lot, walking over to his rental car. Dib followed.

"You can drive?" Dib asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, had my licenses for three years now." ZIM said sliding into his convertible, black, Mustang. "You coming?" Dib paused.

"Uh, well, okay." He said getting in on the passengers side.

"We're going to my house first to pick up my dog. Red said he needed attention."

"Alright." ZIM ignited the car and revved up the engine as he did so.

"This is a sweet ride." Dib said in wonder.

"Thanks. I don't normally drive Fords, though. Just so you know." ZIM said and peeled out of the parking lot.

Later

"So is there anything you can't do?" Dib ask as ZIM walked up to him after several minutes of surfing. "I mean you just showed me you can surf, you can sing, act, model, play several instruments, you can dance, snowboard, skateboard, sandboard, wakeboard, mountain board, dirt bike, play baseball and soccer, style hair, sea-doo, wrestle dangerous animals, you are awesome at parkour, you can do back flips and several other kinds of flips, paintball, you have wilderness survival techniques, you know sword and knife defense and offense, you shoot guns, you're just all around a badass. So seriously, what can't you do?" ZIM thought for a long time.

"I have no idea how to knit . . ." ZIM smiled hoping that would satisfy Dib. It didn't. "Wait here," ZIM ordered running into his house. A few second later he came out holding something. He showed it to Dib. "Look what I made!" Dib's brows furrowed.

"Zeiden . . . this is a tangled ball of yarn." ZIM looked pleased with himself.

"Rolled it up myself." ZIM said. "See what I mean by not being able to knit?"

"That isn't even a cool hobby. Is there anything else?" Truth be told, ZIM couldn't think of anything besides not being able to cook, or clean, or do any domestic chores for that matter. He didn't know how to mow a lawn and that wasn't domestic . . . but then again he never really had to. They always hired someone to do the yard work and indoor house work. And when it all boils down to it, doing chores aren't really hobbies either.

"Not really, mate. Sorry." Dib huffed.

"I feel like a loser being with you." ZIM frowned.

"Well what do you do?"

"I'm good at math and science. That's it. Nothing special." ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Nothing special? Boy, puh-lease! One day, you'll rule the world. It ain't badass-ery that is in charge of the world, it's intelligence which I can tell you have a lot of. So don't belittle yourself. You're probably smarter than me."

"What grade level are you currently studying?" Dib asked.

"Tenth." ZIM said simply. Dib scowled.

"You're even smarter than me!" ZIM sighed.

"At least you don't have permanent brain damage like I do. Serious! I also have epilepsy and low blood pressure. I'm a sickly child that doesn't have that much common sense." Dib wasn't convinced. "Alright Dib-person, you win. But keep in mind that you can always pick up any hobby at anytime."

"I know, but will I be better than you at it?"

"Depends if you work hard at it. Who knows."

The Next Day

"You're dating my sister?" ZIM asked, shocked. "Tenn of all people? You guys don't always get along."

"That's what makes the relationship work." Purple said. ZIM furrowed a brow. He'll never fully understand Purple. "You can't tell Red just yet, okay? I don't want him beating my ass." ZIM looked unsure.

"Better to tell him now than later. He doesn't like secrets kept from him."

"I know but-"

"Whatever, I lost interest approximately two seconds ago. I'm going to Irk for a little bit to have a conversation with Jalo. He wants me to start doing concerts and tours." Purple rolled his eyes at ZIM as he used his long distant transporter to beam himself to Irk.

"Whateveeer, I lost intereeest." Purple mocked in a valley-girl accent. Tenn walked in the kitchen and glanced at Purple. He smiled back at her. She raised a brow in suspicion.

"You told ZIM, didn't you?" Purple's smile deflated.

"Big mistake, I know." Tenn's mouth formed a straight line.

"You have no idea."

Three Hours Later

Purple was tackled to the floor. "Ack! I'm sorry! I promise I'll be kind to her!"

"You better be!" Red shouted. He wasn't really angry, just annoyed that he had to find out through ZIM who was told to keep his mouth shut. Obviously he didn't.

"I promise there will be no more secrets, Red! You're cutting off the circulation in my arm." Red released Purple's upper arm from his vise-like grip. "Geez, man, aren't we buds?"

"Of course we are!" Red chirped. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're dating my little sister." Purple couldn't help but chuckle. Red smiled at this getting off of his best friend. "I'm glad she made you happy again, Pur."

"Me too." Purple and Red cut off their conversation when they heard someone singing at the top of their lungs entering the room they were in. They turned to the entrance to find ZIM and Tak. ZIM being the one singing, Tak annoyed with his constant need to sing hard rock.

". . . Luck ain't even lucky, Got to make your own breaks . . . It's my life! And it's now or never! I ain't gonna live forever! I just want to live while I'm alive- Ouch!" ZIM snapped out of his musical mode and glared at Purple who had just chucked a decorative pillow at him. "Why?"

"You told Red." Purple scowled. ZIM's expression went from mad to cocky.

"Yup, and now you're doomed . . . so, ha." ZIM crossed his arms, feeling victorious. Purple frowned and turned to Red, deciding to fight fire with fire.

"ZIM was thinking about getting a tattoo." Purple said simply before grabbing Tak's hand and running out of the room. "Run, Tak! We gotta get out of the line of fire!" Red's eyes widened as did ZIM's. A few seconds passed. Finally silence was broken when Red glared deeply at ZIM.

"No way in hell is that happening." ZIM smiled nervously and innocently.

"Uh . . ."

"Right?"

"Well-"

"Right!"

"Right! Well don't we have a dress rehearsal to go to?" Red gave ZIM a bitter look and nodded. It took an hour to get ready for the dress rehearsal but soon Red, Purple, Gaz and ZIM were in Red's truck driving to the studio for the costume fitting. When they pulled into the parking lot someone from the Nickelodeon studio board came out to greet them.

"Hello gentlemen," He addressed them. "My name is Greg Lucas, I'm a representative here at the animation department of Nick studios. I was sent here to warn you that there are a few shows being filmed today on sound stages four, six and ten so you must be quiet when entering. Jhonen told me about your species." Lucas said eyeballing the three Irken males. "You're not exactly the introverted type."

"Mr. Vasquez likes to describe us as boisterous, obnoxious and slutty." Purple said. Red smirked getting really close to Mr. Lucas, putting an hand on his shoulder the other hand was on his chest. Purple mirrored Red's actions on his other side.

"I don't know where he got that crazy idea from." Red said leaning his head close to the man's face whispering seductively.

"Silly Jhonen." Purple giggled slightly, then pushed the man harshly away, almost making him fall to the asphalt. "Nah, I was kidding about the slutty part. Another word to describe us is impertinent or flippant."

"Someone's been reading the dictionary instead of their normal romance novels." ZIM stated.

"The Iliad and the Odyssey are not . . . that romantic. Plus Homer has been dead for hundreds of years so he isn't giving me anything new to read." Greg stared at the Irkens not knowing what exactly to say.

"Can you gents just . . . follow me and try to be quiet?" Red and Purple shared a glance.

"Eh, sure, why the hell not?" Red grumbled.

"Nicolas Sparks is way better than Homer." ZIM whispered to Purple following Lucas into the building.

"Don't start with me, Zei." Upon entering the studio the party of five went silent to give fellow stars the quiet and respect they need to film.

"Right there on sound stage four is a new episode of CatDog being filmed. And right here on stage six is the re-filming of some lost footage of Hey Arnold." Greg said as they passed the stages. "And on ten it's the third day of filming a Spongebob Episode. Now I know being surrounded by all these celebrities is overwhelming but I need you guys to be calm, cool and collected no matter how excited you are around these big stars." Greg said looking back at the four. He was shocked to see Purple staring at a wall, Red not even caring, ZIM nearly falling asleep standing up, and Gaz playing on a hand-held gaming device. "Ahem." Greg cleared his throat.

"That's a nice wall." Purple said in wonder touching the wall and running his claw down it.

"My little brother is a huge star on Irk, Vort, Plookesia, Meekrob and several other planets and galaxies and soon to be one here on earth. I could care less about your lame, little-known 'stars'." Red said cockily. ZIM yawned widely.

"Who is Arnold?"

"Exactly." Red mumbled.

"Eh." Gaz grunted not looking up from her small screen.

"What are these walls made of?" Purple asked himself, in his own little world. Mr. Lucas scowled, disapprovingly at the Irkens. The only polite one was Gaz and she wasn't even talking.

"Just . . . be silent as we pass, okay?"

"They're like, stone or concrete or something." Purple whispered in awe.

"Peder, c'mon." Red said tugging the slightly younger one along.

"Cobblestone but smoother." Purple went on.

"Peder!" Red yelled making his partner snap out of it.

"Huh? Oh!" He exclaimed trotting to keep up with the others who went on ahead. They walked for a few minutes in silence until they finally reached their destination. The outfit and uniform room. This is where they would get fitted for a designer costume they'd be wearing throughout the show.

"Here you gentlemen are. Our costume designers Lil and Stephani should take care of you. You'll be the first one's of your cast to receive your outfits." Mr. Lucas said before exiting. "Oh and Dr. Kinley?"

"Yes?" Purple acknowledged the man.

"It's cement covered by a stone-print wallpaper." Purple's antenna wilted.

"That's cheap." Purple whined. Red rolled his eyes.

"Oh! Hello, Dr. Macale! My name is Lil." An elderly lady said coming out of some closet on the side of the room. "Stephani and I are the designers for your Irken clothes. It took a lot of research to see how your species dress in the military and royalty. I didn't know your average citizens dressed like humans do until I researched a bit more."

"Maybe humans dress like us, ever think of that?" ZIM asked snottily.

"Well, I guess that is possible."

"Whatever, where is my costume?" ZIM asked. Lil smiled then motioned for her co-worker to get his clothes.

"We didn't have your exact measurements so it might be too big or too small. You are Three feet two inches right?" ZIM frowned and shook his head.

"I'm three feet no inches." Lil looked a bit confused. She stared at ZIM then at the outfit in Stephani's hands then at a paper with the cast's heights and weights on it.

"Oh goodness! It seems I switched your height with Dillon Baker's! My mistake." The woman said. "Well, why don't you try these on anyway. Just in case." ZIM huffed and took the clothes from Stephani and walked over to a dressing room only to have Stephani follow him in.

"Uhh . . . I've known how to dress myself since I was four. Do you really need to be here?"

"I need to show you how to put the clothes on." She said in a thick accent "This material isn't what you're used to, ja? Now, strip." The corner of ZIM's mouth curved downward but nonetheless followed the big, burly Swedish girls orders. When he was in nothing but his extremely tight, midnight-blue, boxer-briefs that almost looked like a male bikini bottom, Stephani looked ZIM's body up and down. "Now to dress little Irken boy." ZIM blushed slightly wishing he wore his normal boxers but no he had to wear his bun-squeezing underwear. At least he didn't wear his black silky briefs Tak got for him. After a moment of thinking he didn't think he actually ever wore that. "Here," Stephani held open some black trousers. He took them from her and pulled them up.

"They're a bit big." ZIM said when he was able to pull the hem all the way up to where his bellybutton would be.

"That's true." Stephani replied. "Here try these instead." She went to a rack of similar pants and got two sizes smaller of the same pants. ZIM took them and slid them on. This pair was extremely tight skinny jeans. Although they didn't have a skinny jean material. They were kinda leathery.

"Great," ZIM thought. "Like I need fabric that doesn't breath in the ninety degree weather."

"Those are better, ja? Fits tight?"

"Ja, very tight." ZIM said mocking her accent. "These are the real ball-pinchers, no?" ZIM knew he didn't have any balls but he said it more or less for his own amusement.

"This comes next." The lady said handing ZIM a pink under shirt with spiky shoulder pads and collar. Stephani instructed ZIM to raise his arms above his head as she pulled the shirt down over him. It was the same material as the pants but heavier. After that she tucked in the tight pink under shirt then got a dark magenta over shirt and put that on him next. Like Lil had said the shirt was a tad big for him. It went down to his thighs like a short dress than his waist line like it should have been. "Too big, but I like it." She gave ZIM a pair of knee high leather boots. "Kid's size seven?" Stephani asked. ZIM tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't know your American foot sizing chart." ZIM explained.

"Are your feet five point five inches long?"

"Uh . . . five point three but close enough." He said as he slipped on the boots. He struggled getting them on past the heal so Stephani gave him a shoe horn to make it easier. He was then given elbow length, leather gloves that he put on. Once fully dresses ZIM turned to look at himself in the mirror.

"Wow," He muttered. "I look like I'm an actual an Irken military trainee." ZIM said. He'll give it to the ladies. They did a good job at making the outfits. But the actual Irken invaders wore slightly different apparel.

"Jhonen wants to add one more finishing touch on costume when you meet with him today, including wig and contacts and a thing called a PAK. Now, go show friends!" Stephani said shooing him out of the dressing room. He exited the small room where his brothers and Gaz were waiting.

"What do 'ya think?" ZIM asked, presenting himself.

"Ooo." Red and Purple said in unison.

"You look spiffy." Purple said.

"Aww, my lil' brovver grew'd up and joined da military! I so proud!" Red said clasping his hands as if he were a proud parent. "C'mere! I wanna get a better look." ZIM approached his brother so Red could see his costume. Red touched the fabric with a concerned look plastered across his features. "It's a bit , uh, thick and . . . doesn't seem to filter air that good." ZIM knew Red was worried about him overheating in the hot California sun. He already had an average body temperature of one hundred degrees, the always sunny weather added on with the tight, heavy and leather suit wouldn't help. He already had one heat stroke. Red didn't want to risk another.

"It'll be fine. In between takes he can sit in front of a fan or something." Lil said. "Now to get you in your royal garb." Lil took Red and Purple's hands and led them to the changing room. "Stephani, could you get Gaz fit for her costume?" The Swedish woman nodded and led Gaz to another changing room leaving ZIM alone for a few minutes before someone else decided to join him in the room.

"Hey, ZIM."

"What's up, Dib?"

"Been working on a new hobby." Dib said looking rather proud of himself. ZIM grinned.

"Oh yeah? What is that?"

"Yesterday I was messing around with my camera and I was taking pictures and videos of several things. It wasn't until I reviewed them when I realized how good I was at photography!" Dib reached in his bag he had with him and pulled out a scrap book. "Look! They look like they've been taken by a professional! Of course my camera helped a little being that it is a very good and expensive camera, anyhow, aren't they great?" ZIM flipped through the scrap book very amused.

"Wow, D. These are awesome. Will you take my senior pictures?" Dib smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad you like them. I was thinking. You do a lot of cool things. You wouldn't mind if I took pictures and videos of you doing those things, right?" ZIM shrugged.

"Yeah, why not?" This made Dib very happy.

"Thanks. Now changing subject, is that your costume?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded. "It's cool looking."

"It's uncomfortable."

"But you look sweet."

"Thanks. Can't wait to see yours." ZIM said.

"You look ridiculous!"

"You're wearing the same thing, Pur!" ZIM and Dib started at the loud noise coming from the changing rooms. When the door opened Red and Purple both stumbled out trying not to trip over their skirts they were forced to wear. "I can't walk in this." Red grumbled.

"We won't have to worry about walking when we're filming. They're giving us hoverbelts, remember?" Purple said.

"Doesn't change the fact that I hate this. Who knows what kind of pervs will try to up-skirt me."

"Nice dress." Gaz said coming out of her changing room wearing a black dress, skull necklace and leggings. Purple scoffed.

"This is what our Almighty Tallest wears every day . . . sorta. Do not mock it."

"I was complimenting it, stupid." Gaz said crossing her arms. Purple opened his mouth to retort but realized he was at a loss. "Your 'Almighty Tallest' doesn't even rule Irk. He's just a figurehead. You said so yourself that it was a prime minister who made the decisions."

"I don't get your point." Purple mumbled.

"I think she's trying to say our characters aren't important." Red suggested. Purple glared at Gaz who smiled innocently.

"Eeeviiillll." He drawled.

"Well, I better get my costume on for the dress rehearsal. See ya in a bit." Dib said following Lil to the fitting rooms.

"Right . . . tah." ZIM said exiting the room as his brother's changed back into their normal clothes, since they weren't in the pilot episode. ZIM left but as soon as he turned the corner going to the sound stage they were rehearsing on he ran into someone half a foot taller, soft, square and . . . yellow. ZIM landed on his butt with a thud. "I'm sorry, pardon me." ZIM said. A spongey hand reached out to help the little Irken up.

"Oh you're fine. Partially my fault too." Came a high male voice. "Where you off to, Zeiden?"

"Oh you know . . . wherever my feet take me." ZIM said. "So how's filming, S.B.? Heard you're nearly done with 'Imitation Krabs'." The yellow sponge laughed his famous laugh.

"Oh it's hilarious. Just wait till it airs. It's pretty funny." Spongebob said. Spongebob wasn't his real name but rather his screen name but went by it nonetheless. None of his co-stars or fellow Nicktoons ever called him Robert, his birth name. "Can't wait to see what you have for us. I've listened to some of your songs and even tried watching a few of your movies."

"Yeah? Little hard when you don't speak Irken, isn't it?" ZIM asked, smugly.

"You have no idea. Anyway, you have a good rehearsal. I have to go get changed into my regular clothes." ZIM nodded, turning to walk away. Spongebob grabbed his arm. "Wait a second," ZIM's antenna perked.

"Yes?"

"A young lady by the name of Tak is here. She's asking for you." ZIM cocked a brow. Spongbob gave ZIM a sly smile. "Who is she? A crush?"

"Girlfriend. Where?"

"Front desk. She seems a little pissed off. Just a heads up." ZIM pouted.

"Thanks, mate. I'll try to avoid her."

"Yeah right, Zeiden Macale!" ZIM jumped a bit at the loud voice coming from behind him. Spongebob gave ZIM a wink and walked away.

"What is it? . . . And why are you here?"

"My parents are here. They are all done with their trip!" Tak said excitedly. "But that's not the biggest news!" ZIM sighed.

"Then what is?"

"My dad is pregnant!" ZIM cocked a brow. He didn't know Mr. Griffon was a hermaphrodite. He knew Mrs. Griffon was and Tak was too because the hermaphroditic trait runs through female DNA. ZIM's dad didn't have it which is why his mom bore him and his three siblings. But his mom had it and passed it down to her four children.

"What kind of business trips do your parents go on?" ZIM asked a tad weirded out. Male pregnancy on Irk was common but on earth it was simply unheard of and almost taboo. Except if you were a sea horse of course, then all males birth the babies.

Being born and raised on earth, ZIM couldn't help but feel how most humans felt toward the highly controversial topic of male pregnancy. It's odd. But not to Irkens.

"They told me I'm getting a baby brother."

"Yeah . . . and how did this miracle come about?" ZIM asked. Tak's features became serious.

"Well you see, there was a power outage on Vort so no cruisers were running and my parents were stuck in a hotel room. They finally got bored enough that they started to-"

"No, Tak! Was the child planned?"

"No, of course not. They just wanted a little entertainment so they screwed around for a bit-"

"That's nice, Tak. Congratulations on your new smeet brother. I got to go." ZIM said, trying to dart off.

"Now wait a second, young man!" Tak hissed. ZIM groaned. He was only two years younger than her and for some reason that entitles her to call him, 'young man'?

"What?" ZIM turned to face her again. When he looked at her again her face was only an inch away from his. Tak grinned and kissed him briefly on the lips. "I'm watching your rehearsal."

After Rehearsal

"Hey, uh, ZIM." The Irken turned to his friend who was addressing him.

"Yes, my dear Dillon-"

"Dib."

"Whatever, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out today with Timmy and I?" ZIM quirked a brow.

"Timmy? Who dat?" ZIM asked, walking with Dib to their dressing room to get out of their 'show clothes'.

"Ya' know, Timmy. Timmy Turner? He's got a new show coming out the same night we have ours premiering.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, along with his co-stars A.J. and Chester."

"Who?" Dib stared at the clueless alien for a second.

"You don't keep up with the studio announcements do you?" ZIM just scoffed.

"I didn't even know the studio had announcements."

"You're a baseball fan, right?" Dib inquired. ZIM nodded. "You probably know who Chester's father is. Bucky McBadbat?" ZIM's jaw dropped.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope!" Dib said, pleased that ZIM knew who Chester's father was.

"That's crazy! Bucky McBadbat literally lives up to his name for being the worst baseball player ever!" Dib frowned, and motioned for ZIM to stop talking. "I've seen him play for the Toon's MLB and I was surprised anyone would ever draft him!"

"ZIM stop." Dib said panicking when he saw three figures approaching the alien from behind.

"I mean really was the MLB that desperate? That man plays as if he never played before!"

"ZIM, really, cork it."

"Have you seen Chester play yet? Is he as bad as his father?" ZIM asked.

"No," Came a voice from behind. ZIM whirled around to face who spoke. A blond boy with braces. "I'm probably worse." The other two boys who were with the blond one nodded. The blond kid sighed. "Whatever. Baseball isn't everything." ZIM smirked.

"You're right. Baseball is the only thing. Sorry about insulting your father." ZIM said immediately knowing who the newcomers were. He used his confidence to hopefully make the boys think he's nice "You must be Chester." The boy with the braces nodded.

"Yeah, pretty neat we have a show coming out on the same day, huh?"

"I still think we're going to have at least some sort of rivalry between our shows." The boy with brown hair and enormous buck teeth, whispered to the kid with no hair at all. ZIM's antenna perked.

"Shh, Timmy." The bald kid hissed.

"Why is that? Can't we get along?" ZIM asked.

"He heard me." Timmy whispered again to the bald of the trio. ZIM crossed his arms.

"Well yeah, I'm standing a foot away and my antennas can pick up more sound than your human ears ever could." The bald kid who was roughly the same height as ZIM approached the alien.

"Intriguing. These antennas of yours must act as your sense of smell and hearing considering you don't have a nose or ears."

"A.J. back off. People don't like it when you go all intellectual on them." Timmy huffed. A.J. ignored his friend and proceeded to examine the long black stalks on ZIM's head.

"Oh I don't mind. As long as he doesn't- augh!" ZIM snapped his head away. His left antenna twitching. He raised a hand to feel the triangular tip where his antenna-ring was. A.J. had it in his hand.

"Oh. I'm sorry I thought it was some sort of hearing device you had installed. I didn't know it was a diamond earring." ZIM smiled in a forgiving manner.

"Yeah, a very expensive and rare diamond earring." ZIM said snatching the stud back and putting it back where it belonged. Timmy looked skeptical.

"How expensive? I have a Swatch that was two-hundred bucks." Timmy said arrogantly. ZIM looked at Dib who has been relativity silent. The black-hair boy shrugged. ZIM concluded that Chester was defiantly the easy-going one, A.J. was the brains and Timmy just wanted to best people. ZIM mentally scolded himself for judgement but it was second nature to him.

"Why does price matter?" ZIM asked.

"I just want to know how much. Maybe I want one." Timmy said.

"Uh . . . good luck. This is the only one ever made. Three-thousand Irken monies." The four boys' jaws dropped. "I want it to be an heirloom or something."

"Wow. You must be made of money." Timmy said. This annoyed ZIM. Now they probably thought he was a rich, spoiled brat. True he was rich and spoiled but he didn't want them knowing that.

"So, new friends!" ZIM said, quickly changing the subject. "What would you guys like to do?" Dib smiled.

"Well we could just hang out at the studio or something." Dib suggested. "Meet other stars."

"I wanna go to the aliens house." Timmy said. "I want to see how big it is." ZIM refrained from rolling his eyes but then realized he never introduced himself.

"The name's Zeiden Macale Junior. And believe me you're not ready to meet my family yet." ZIM said.

"Why?" Chester asked. Why? ZIM could think of a million reasons.

"My sisters talk too much, my dog will attack you, my brothers are nuts, my niece is intimidating, my oldest brother will ask you trillions of question most of which will be along the lines of, 'You're not gonna hurt my smeet-brother are you?', his wife is just as bad, and my girlfriend is-"

"Is what?" ZIM jumped as he heard Tak's voice speak up from directly behind me.

"Is . . . here. She's right here." ZIM turned to face her. She was smiling.

"Who are your friends?" Tak motioned to Timmy, A.J., and Chester.

"Oh, they're some guys Dib just acquainted me with." ZIM cleared his throat. "This is my girlfriend, Takayla."

"She's pretty." Chester said.

"And tall. Taller than you." Timmy added.

"Yeah, I'm well aware." ZIM muttered. "I think it's because she's older than me by two years."

"Or because you're just my little, short, cutie pie, sweetheart!" Tak cooed pinching and squishing ZIM's cheeks painfully hard.

"Tak, stop, not in front of the guys." ZIM whispered. He let her get closer to his face and kiss his lips.

"Oh I'm sure they don't mind." Tak kissed ZIM again and again.

"Um . . ." Dib backed away slightly from the couple. The trio of boys had disgusted looks on their faces. "Any of you guys got girls?" Dib asked. The shook their heads. "So I'm not the only one who feels awkward watching this?" They nodded.

"See, Tak? They don't like it." ZIM was arguing quietly with Tak. Their faces mere centimeters away from each other. Tak still had ZIM's face in her hands.

"They'll get used to it." Tak kissed ZIM again. The little Irken's shoulders slumped as he let Tak continue to pepper him with love. After awhile of that nonsense ZIM finally pulled away.

"Alright, well, the guys and I are gong to hang out. When you get back to our place just tell Red I'm still rehearsing. I don't want him knowing I'm with people he's never met before." Tak scowled. "What?"

"Nothing. Just leave me to my own devices. Forget your beloved girlfriend. Leave her behind." ZIM cocked a hairless brow.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." He said. Tak huffed and walked away to the parking lot. "You think that was bad?" He asked the boys. They nodded. "My family is tons worse."

Later

"Wow." Dib murmured.

"Yeah . . . wow." A.J. agreed.

"I never seen someone so terrible." Timmy added.

"Me either." Chester said. The four boys watched as ZIM chased the orange ball around the studio's court, cursing in his Irken tongue every time he kicked it further away from him.

"Messah!" ZIM grunted. "Tosh messah hur-aunti. Stupid ball." ZIM grunted half in English. "Okay, so I can't play basketball. Soccer and baseball is more of my forte anyway. You guys wanna do something else?"

"I kinda enjoy watching you chase that ball around. It's funny." Timmy chuckled, smugly. The brown-hair boy took the ball away from ZIM and faced the basket. "Watch and learn, alien." Timmy said as he threw the ball up, putting right through the hoop for a perfect swish. ZIM huffed.

"Alright, impressive." ZIM smiled at Timmy. "Maybe you can teach me later, mate." Timmy nodded retrieving the ball and making another shot. "So where'd you say you were from?"

"Glendale. Born and raised there. It's not far from here. Just a couple miles south of Burbank." Timmy said. "What about you. Some sort of major city on Irk?"

"Actually, I was born in Australia, we moved to Michigan for three years when I was six, we still have a house there. I have a penthouse on Irk's capitol city. And we rented a luxury home in Santa Monica here. We currently reside on the far outskirts of Perth, Australia."

"Australian, eh? That's neat." Timmy said. "A.J. is a third generation American. His grandfather moved here from . . . where?"

"Nacala, Mozambique. I'm from North Bend, Oregon. When I heard about the casting call for toons we moved down here to Pasadena to see if I could get a part." A.J. said.

"Beverly Hills." Chester stated.

"And I'm from Pasadena as well." Dib said. ZIM looked at his co-star.

"I knew that. You told me before." ZIM said. Dib stared at ZIM.

"Sorry?"

"You better be." ZIM feigned anger. "Just kidding. Well, same general area. No wonder you guys are friends."

"Chester and I have been friends since we were eight." Timmy said. "We just met A.J. a few months ago when he moved. And we knew Dib for half a year now." Timmy said. "Welcome to our little posse." ZIM looked at the three boys.

"Posse?" ZIM questioned. The three nodded. "My crew, homeboys, in-crowd, groupies, gang, set, team? Friends?" The three looked at each other.

"Uummm. Yeah?" Dib said, less than sure. ZIM furrowed a brow. The four stood in silence for a few moments.

"Alright, cool, mates." ZIM said winking at them. The boys continued to stare. "What? Don't tell me there is some sort of initiation."

"There isn't . . . It's just . . . you're so . . . bubbly." Timmy said.

"And friendly!" Chester exclaimed. "I like him. We need to give him a nickname now!"

"Nickname? Necessary?" ZIM asked as if they were joking.

"Yeah, everyone in the group has a nickname." Dib said.

"Lets call him Runt. Since he's so tiny for his age." Timmy said.

"You guys are my height!" ZIM defended.

"Yeah but we all just turned ten. You're almost thirteen." Timmy pointed out. "Chester is Chestnut, A.J. is Brainiac, I'm Fairyboy, Dib is Big Head-"

"My head is not big." He mumbled. Timmy scratched his chin in thought as he evaluated ZIM.

"Dib, you know him better than any of us. What's his personality."

"Well," Dib started. "He's very charming, extroverted, hot-tempered, arrogant, stubborn, flamboyant, Mr. Perfect, talented and aggressive."

"Really, you know all that about me?" ZIM asked not really believing in Dib.

"ZIM, you flaunt your personality more than anyone I have ever met. I've known you for only a few weeks and I know all that about you."

"Then it's settled. ZIM I now dub you Hotshot." Timmy said.

"Hotshot? Like the lethal injection?" ZIM asked.

"No, it's a good describing word as well as nickname for you."

"I like it. Better than Big head." Dib gritted his teeth. ZIM didn't know where Dib would get his nickname from. His head was no bigger than anyone else in the group.

"I have enough names my siblings call me alone; Junior, Shortie, Smeet-"

"Fairyboy has spoken." Timmy said crossing his arms. "You are Hotshot." ZIM didn't reply. Timmy was very convinced of himself. ZIM instead decided to play along with this.

"So does this posse have a leader?"

"No, we're equals here." A.J. said. "Though Timmy likes to pretend he's in charge."

"Do not!"

"Do too! You always pick what we're gonna do. Earlier you wanted to go to ZIM's house without his permission first of all."

"You need to ask for permission?"

"Well I would assume so." A.J. said. ZIM turned to Dib as the other two argued some more.

"I . . . I'm not sure what to say." ZIM mumbled. Dib shrugged.

"Once we get to now each other more, things will be fun."

"Zeiden?" The four boys cut off from their conversations to see who spoke. Red walked across the parking lot to the basketball court to where the boys were at.

"Who's that?" Timmy asked looking the new Irken up and down as he got closer. ZIM frowned.

"My brother."

"You look like him." Chester noticed.

"He scares me." Dib said quietly.

"What?" ZIM asked, scoffing. Red grabbed ZIM's arm gently.

"Why didn't you come home when you were supposed to?" Red asked crouching to ZIM's level. ZIM pulled away.

"The guys wanted to play basketball." ZIM tilted his head to the four others, Chester the one holding the ball. Red raised a brow.

"You don't play basketball." Red said.

"Oh I know." ZIM sighed. Red smirked and stood. He held his hand out to Chester.

"May I?" Chester didn't say anything. He looked at Red with wide eyes as well as the other boys. He handed the taller Irken the orange ball.

'Dib was right.' Chester thought. He is intimidating and all he did was approach them and ask for the ball! Red twirled the ball on the tips of his fingers. The five children watching intently. Red then dribbled the ball doing the figure eight in between his legs. After doing three of those he went into some taps followed by some regular dribbling, altering his hands. He then broke away and dribbled fast towards the eight-foot tall hoop. Red jumped as high as he could and dunked the ball one-handed into the hoop. Hanging on to the rim, doing a victory pull-up then dropping down to the asphalt. Red looked back at his brother and his buddies. All were stunned, especially ZIM, never knowing that his older brother ever played basketball. Red spun the ball on his fingers again before checking the ball back to Chester who barely received the ball still being too intrigued. Red scooped ZIM up in his arms giving his brother a hug. "Say ciao to your friends 'cuz we're going now." Red said. ZIM peaked down at the guys.

"Uhh . . . I'll see you guys tomorrow or something." ZIM said. Red grinned putting ZIM down.

"Drive carefully, ZIM." Red said climbing into his truck. ZIM nodded.

"I wanna talk to you when we get home, Red. Can't believe you never told me you played basketball."

"I didn't." Was all Red said before closing his truck door and driving away. ZIM cocked a brow, sliding into his driver's seat.

"Yeah right."

October 12, 2000

One Week Later

ZIM squeezed Zee's hand tightly, whimpering. "Shh, honey, it'll be fine."

"I-I don't want to do this anymore." ZIM choked out. Zee leaned over her nervous brother who was laying comfortably on a medical table. She kissed his cheek.

"You'll be fine, sweetie. These people are trained professionals." Zee stated. "Plus, you need your glasses off. You can't wear them when your filming." ZIM was almost in tears.

"Will it hurt?" He asked with pleading eyes. Zee thought for a moment. She was an anesthesiologist, not a optometrist.

"They'll put numbing drops in your eyes so you won't have to feel pain." Zee said. She caressed his cheek with her hand in hopes that would sooth her little brother.

"Ready?" The doctor asked, entering the room with a nurse. "It should only take about ten minutes for each eye. So we should be done in no time." Zee gave ZIM a reassuring smile.

"See? It won't even take that long, Zei-Zei." Zee said. "I got to go wait in the lobby while they work. I can't get in the way."

"Wha-what? No! Stay here, Zannah!" ZIM pleaded, sitting up. Zee gently pushed him back down.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I'll be just outside. Okay?"

"B-but . . . I don't want you to go. Stay with me." He whined, clutching her hand.

"ZIM, you gotta be a big boy. I won't always be here for you."

"Red would stay with me."

"Red isn't here right now, and I know he would want to stay with you but they wouldn't let him because the doctors need room to work." ZIM pouted. His eyes tearing up. Zee frowned a bit. She noticed goosebumps on his arms. "Aww, here." She took off her hoodie and gave it to ZIM. "That way you don't have to be cold and a peice of me is with you." She winked at him, smiling. ZIM took the hoddie, holding tight to it. He returned her smile weakly. "I'll see you in twenty minutes." He nodded, watching her exit the procedure room. He laid back trying to relax.

"You'll be just fine, Master Macale." The doctor said. "You're in good hands."

October 13, 2000

ZIM skipped the rehearsal he had yesterday. His eyes were sore from the surgery so he just went home not bothering to show up. Jhonen called his Imp to double check if he was alright. Yesterday was also the day of the final dress rehearsal. Now it was Friday and he had the weekend off. They'd be filming for the first day on Monday.

ZIM nearly fell off his bed, almost dropping his laptop when his Imp rung.

"Oops! I did it again! I played with your heart! Got lost in the game! Oo baby, baby! Oops you think I'm in love!-" ZIM cussed out loud hoping no one heard his ring tone. He'd never admit it but Britney Spears was his guilty pleasure. He scrambled to answer his phone.

"'Ello?" ZIM asked into the Imp.

"Hi, ZIM." Came Dib's timid voice.

"What up, D?"

"How was your laser eye surgery? I missed you yesterday?"

"It was freaky as hell!" ZIM said. "My eyes are sore and I need to wear super dark sunglasses to prevent scarring for the next week. I don't know how I'm supposed to film on Monday with all the bright studio lights."

"I'm sure we'll think of something . . . or just move the filming date. Or film the parts where we don't need you." There was a pause. "So we were just wonderin'-"

"We?"

"Me and the guys." Dib clarified.

"Okay . . ."

"We wanted to know if you wanted to have a sleepover at Timmy's place?" ZIM felt his heart skip a beat.

"Sleepover?"

"Yeah." ZIM was silent. He's never been to a sleepover before. He's only hosted them. And even looking back of how many he hosted . . . he only had like three with Ike the Vortian who still lived in Australia.

"I-I'd have to ask my brother." ZIM said. There was no way his brother would okay this. "When is it?"

"Next week Friday though Saturday. We were gonna go to the skate park, play video games and stuff." Another pause. ZIM really want to go just to experience what a sleepover is like. He hasn't had one for years and years.

"Like I said, I'd have to ask my brother."

"Okay," Dib replied. "Call me when you find out."

"'Kay. I'll actually give you an answer on Monday."

"Alright then."

"See ya."

"Bye." ZIM tapped the 'End Call' icon on the screen. He then let out a long sigh.

"It'll never happen." ZIM told himself. "Unless I ask him when he's in a good mood." ZIM shrugged, sliding off his bed to find Red. He walked down the hall to Red's office. He grasped the handle loosely and pushed the door open. His lips curled downward in disgust at what he saw in doing so. Red was in his office, yes, but so was Leslie. Red was sitting in his office chair, Leslie was on his lap straddling his hips and they were . . . kissing . . . and touching. "Eww!" ZIM exclaimed to get their attention. Red pulled away from Leslie startled. Leslie looked back at ZIM.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Leslie asked.

"Nothing, I just want to talk to Red." Yeah, He should be in a good mood if by the way he was attacking his wife's lips was any indication. Red groaned.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy."

"Yeah, getting busy." ZIM retorted. Leslie got off of Red who whined in protest. Leslie held out a finger to silence him.

"Talk to your brother. I have to pee anyway." Red wrinkled the area where his nose would be.

"Well that's nice, Les." Red shook his head as she left his office. The older Irken hunched over his desk to jot something down in one of his many research journals. "What can I do ya' for, mate?"

"Okay, please take what I'm about to ask into consideration before you make your final answer-"

"No."

". . . But I didn't even ask anything yet."

"I know, I was messin'. What's up?"

"Well you've met my new friends Dib, A.J. and the other two, right?" Red gave ZIM a funny look but nonetheless nodded. "Yeah and we're buds and what not, I feel really awkward talking to you at the moment for some reason . . . So anyway, you know what buds do, right?" ZIM didn't wait for an answer this time. "My buds were wondering if I could, just for the night! If I could join them for a sleepover held at Timmy's house . . . maybe . . . for fun, and stuff." Red stared at ZIM for a long time. "Is this the consideration portion?" Red nodded slowly. "Okay, you do that." ZIM backed up a bit to sit on one of the chairs along side of the office wall. Red glanced up to see Leslie walk by the open door.

"Hey Les, C'mere a minute." Red called for her. The woman back pedaled to peak through the entry.

"Yes, dear?" Red used his finger to beckon her over. She did. Looking from Red to ZIM who was sitting at the edge of his seat with anticipation. Red pulled Leslie's head down so he could whisper something in her ear. ZIM watched her face change from neutral to cautious. He saw her shake her head a few times as Red continued to whisper.

"What do you think?" Red finally asked quietly, pulling away.

"No, not a good idea." Leslie half spoke, half whispered. ZIM's heart sank.

"Your verdict?" ZIM asked, already knowing the answer. Red sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Zeiden, I barley know your friends. I'm not sure if they are good kids or troublemakers."

"They're nice. They like to . . . be law abiding citizens." ZIM said. Red looked ZIM hard in the eye. Leslie put a hand on ZIM's shoulder.

"Honey, we can't trust them yet."

"They're only ten and eleven!" ZIM countered.

"That may be but that doesn't mean they won't leave an impression on you." Leslie said. "Try to see reason, hun." ZIM groaned loudly, crossing his arms and slumping back in his seat.

"You never let me do anything." ZIM grunted.

"ZIM, I know we had this conversation plenty of times. I love you and am just looking out for you." Red said. "I would love to let you go out an have fun but looking at your history record of how many time you've hurt yourself with and without friends . . . it's not that impressive. And like Leslie said, those kids can influence you." ZIM scowled, standing up getting ready to leave the room. "Zeiden, don't be angry-" Red was cut off by his office door being slammed shut. The corner of Red's mouth curved down. "Don't slam doors either." He muttered.

"He acts as if he's never been to a sleepover before." Leslie observed. Red bit his lip, scratching the back of his neck.

"Actually . . ." Leslie snapped her head toward Red.

"He's never been to a sleepover before?"

"He's had them! I think that counts. Yeah, he's had some with Skoodge and Ike and . . . that's it." Leslie's brows furrowed.

"Now I think you should let him go." She said. Red's antenna stood up.

"What? You crazy? I barely know his new friends. I'm not just gonna put my brother's well-being in danger just because I feel bad for him." Red heard a loud thump come from upstairs. He brushed it off as Leslie started to talk at him.

"That didn't stop you from letting him play soccer or baseball."

"Well that's different. I'm actually present-"

"Or let him ride dirt bike or surf."

"Yes, but-"

"Or wakeboard or parkour."

"I know but-"

"Or wrestle dangerous Australian animals or let him have pet crocodiles, of all things!" Leslie said. Red squinted at her.

"What do you want from me?" Red whined.

"I want you to take another chance." Leslie said kissing his lips.

Meanwhile

ZIM stormed into his room. He was planning on staying to argue with Red some more but there was no point. That man was as stubborn as an ox and there was no way he was going. ZIM flopped belly down on his comforter. After several moments on his stomach he flipped so he could lay on his back. Unfortunately for him he didn't see how close to the edge of the bed he was so he ended up tumbling off the side onto the hardwood flooring. "Oof!" ZIM gasped. "God, I hope nobody saw that . . . or heard it." He looked to his side. He remembered to shut his door. ZIM sat up. "Red is stupid. He acts as if he was never a child once and pretends that I'm an accident-prone idiot." ZIM muttered to himself. "I'm not. I just wanna have fun like I'm sure he did when he was my age." ZIM crawled back onto his bed. "He's such a jerk. Giving me the same reasons for everything if he doesn't want me going somewhere." ZIM opened his laptop and typed furiously on the keyboard, writing a English assignment that was due a few days ago. ZIM's antenna slicked back in anger when he heard the door creak open. ZIM didn't bother to look, knowing who it was already. "What do you want?" ZIM asked through gritted teeth. Soft footsteps were heard. ZIM felt the edge of the bed sink a bit at the new weight of Red sitting on it.

"Fine."

"What?" ZIM glanced at him.

"You may go." ZIM was speechless. He closed his laptop. He gawked at his big brother for a long time not sure if he believed him or not. "I'm serious." ZIM closed his mouth that he discovered was slightly agape.

"Why?" ZIM asked. "You never change your mind." Red didn't meet ZIM's eye.

"I'm giving you a chance." ZIM felt a smile tug on the corners of his mouth. "When is it?"

"Next week Friday. That should give you plenty of time to meet my friends if you want." ZIM said. Red finally regarded ZIM's eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw how hard ZIM was trying not to grin.

"It's okay. Get it out of your system." ZIM beamed, giving Red a hug around his neck.

"Thanks for cutting me some slack."

"Yeah, well, just don't screw it up for yourself." Red hugged back. "And I mean it."

"Alright, Red."

"You should get some sleep now. Your eyes need rest."

October 16, 2000

"Like I said before, we're filming this scene with an imaginary robot. Later when we edit the episode we're gonna computer generate it in. All you have to do ZIM is talk into the microphone there and the sound of your voice will be heard through the cafeteria set." Jhonen explained. They were about to film the 'food fight' scene of the pilot. ZIM gave a thumbs up to Jhonen. He was sitting by the sound area behind a booth, wearing a headset with a big microphone in front of his face. "The rest of the cast will do as rehearsed. Alright?" The classmates nodded. "Great, uhh . . . yeah lets get this scene over with." The crew decided to film the food fight scene first thinking that it would be the hardest and wanted to get it out of the way.

"Okay everyone! Places!" Mr. Russell called. Both cast and crew took their spots, immediately. "Scene five, take one. Aaannnd . . . camera. Action!"

"Hey, how's it goin'? Lookin' good, Lunchy!" ZIM spoke into the mic. Like Jhonen had said, his voice would be altered for the final version by Richard Horvitz to make him sound older. For the time being he had to say all his lines.

"Hold it, ZIM." Russell stopped him. ZIM looked at the director. "What did I say about your accent?" ZIM put his hand to his mouth in wonder.

"Uhhhh . . . besides that it's a cute one?"

"Yes."

"Ummmm . . . that I have to get rid of it when we're filming?"

"Yes, ZIM. Now say your line again. This time use a regular accent."

"My accent is a regular accent . . . to me."

"Use an American one then. Now start over. Action!"

"Hey, how's it goin'? Lookin' good, Lunchy!" ZIM repeated in his best American accent. He went to several speech classes to work on enunciation and grammar on American accents. Red had to go to a few too, as did Purple but his Canadian accent was close enough to American so they only had him go to two sessions.

One classmate ran up to a spot. All the actors and actresses stared at an imaginary robot. "The weird kid looks weirder today." The kid said. There was a pause for a long moment, as Steve instructed because the action of the robot would be animated in later.

"Hey, ZIM!" Dib finally called wearing an eye scope and armored arm attachment prop. Gaz turned in the lunch line to see what was happening.

"This should be interesting." She said.

"An automatic food launcher? . . . Neat!" ZIM smiled from behind the camera by his booth.

"You really think so?" Dib asked facing the invisible robot. "Thanks! I've been up all night working on this."

"Well it shows!" ZIM said cheerfully.

"Oh, quit it!" Dib feigned flattery.

"Cut! That was great, guys. Let's get ready for the next part. The actual fighting scene. Now please be gentle in your attacks but make them look realistic, 'kay?"

"I has a question!" ZIM called from his booth, raising his hand. Everyone on set turned to him.

"Yes, ZIM?"

"Can-"

"Wait! Before you ask, is it relevant to what we're doing?" Steve asked.

"Of course not!"

"Then can it wait?"

"No."

"Why?" Steve asked, exasperatedly.

"Because its a matter of life and death."

"How so?"

"I left my dog in my car and all the windows are up. It's really hot outside and stuff can I go get him?"

"Is he potty trained? Well behaved, and nice?" Jhonen stepped in.

"Heck yeah! I trained him well. I don't do shit half-assed . . . all the time." ZIM said, folding his arms. Jhonen and Steve shared a look.

"Alright, bring him in. Just make sure he's quiet." Jhonen said. ZIM slid off the stool he was on.

"Yeah right." ZIM chuckled under his breath, darting out the sound stage entrance.

"Alright cast. Let's go ahead and film without him." Steve announced.

ZIM walked briskly across the parking lot. He reached his hand in his jean's pocket for his car's keys. The little Irken unlocked the door of his car and pulled it open letting his poor dog out. The white Samoyed was panting heavily. "Sorry about that, bud." ZIM also noticed he left his phone in his car. He grabbed it off the center council and checked it. He saw that he received a message from Tenn.

"Heyy, ur crocs just hatched. theyre rly cute. Red told me to tell u to get a big bag of anchovies and sardines for them. they hungry." ZIM smirked at her horrible editting skills.

"Ok, I'll get whatever and stuff." He wrote back, then sent the message. "C'mon Ty. Let's go finish filming." ZIM said walking back to the sound stage. When he entered the stage he found every actor throwing food at each other, yelling, and getting messy. ZIM quietly walked back to his booth, putting his headset back on. one camera was on Dib all the time while other cameras getting different angles followed around the backups. After several minutes of chaos Steve finally called 'cut'. He then told the kids to take five. Dib got off the stage and walked over to ZIM and Tyson as well as several other children.

"This is your dog?" Zita, one of the girls asked. She had mashed potatoes dripping down from her hair.

"It sure its. Tyson, greet the nice young lady." The dog yipped, rearing back on his hind legs, still sitting. Then with his paw he made a clumsy waving motion.

"Awww." The kids cooed. As the classmates petted Tyson, ZIM talked to Dib.

"That looks like so much fun." ZIM cackled at the sight of Dib got hot sauce running into his eye.

"Not really. It hurts." Dib mumbled.

"What ya doin' after filming?" ZIM asked. Dib shrugged.

"I dunno. Chill at home or something. Why?"

"Just wanted to know if you'd like to see some young crocodiles." Dib gave ZIM a funny look.

"What?"

"You heard me." Dib didn't know what to say. "That a yes?"

"Babies?" ZIM nodded.

"They're harmless when their smeets-er . . . babies." ZIM said. Dib thought for a few seconds.

"I'll have to check with my dad." He finally said.

"That's cool. Just tell me when you get-Ow!"

"Hey, dufus." Gaz said, coming up from behind ZIM, smacking his head in the process.

"What?" ZIM asked, annoyed.

"Red said you had to take me shopping later for new jeans, remember?"

"Can't you walk?" Gaz scowled.

"You're the biggest idiot I know." Gaz huffed. "Sure I could walk to the nearest store, but you need to pay for it."

"I'll give you money!" ZIM snapped. ZIM thought for a moment. "Oh."

"Yeah, it takes half an hour just to drive from Santa Monica to Burbank, imagine how long it would take to walk." Gaz said, flicking ZIM's antenna. The tiny Irken groaned.

"Stupid Red."

"I think your brother is cool." Dib said. ZIM gazed at him. "He still scares me though." ZIM squinted, shaking his head.

"Why?" ZIM whispered.

"He just . . . I don't know. He's an older version of you and when I first met you I thought you were pretty scary too. In fact, . . . I still think you're-"

"Red isn't scary." Gaz muttered, slumping against the booth. "If he was then my mom wouldn't have ever of married him." Dib's eyes widened. He looked from Dib to Gaz.

"Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Dib questioned.

"What?" Gaz asked. Dib went on to ask another question.

"Are you half Irken?"

"No, are you stupid? Does it look like I have green skin like his?" Gaz pointed at ZIM's cheek. She then grabbed on of his antenna and yanked it much to his dismay. "Or have these?" Dib shook his head.

"Well no, but-"

"I'm adopted, genius." Gaz muttered, walking away. Dib rubbed the back of his neck. ZIM watched as Gaz left then turned back to Dib smiling big.

"She's a peach."

"No doubt." Dib hissed, embarrassed.

"We can ditch her after the shoot if you want." ZIM suggested.

"Won't you get in trouble. Your brother seems a bit strict."

"Oh yeah, I'll get in tons of trouble, but when don't I?"

After Filming

"Cut! Great kids, lets wrap it up for today. Come back first thing tomorrow to finish the middle half." Russell had said into a bullhorn. ZIM rubbed his antennas that were now pounding being the one standing right next to the man who screamed into his left sound receptor. The Irken boy turned to go to his changing room then find Dib but was stopped. "ZIM,"

"Oh Yahweh," ZIM turned to Steve. "Please don't tell me you want me here extra early tomorrow."

"Sorry, ZIM. You and Dib both need to be here at six AM sharp. We're gonna have you two do a little one-on-one rehearsing." Steve explained.

"You're a- . . . stupid-face!" ZIM whined. The director merely chuckled, walking away from the already tired Irken. "Poop."

"What?" Dib asked, joining him.

"Didn't you here him?"

"Yes, we gotta be here early tomorrow. You know what I noticed about you, ZIM?" Dib asked.

"Whaaat?"

"You're insults are really childish when your exhausted. 'Stupid-face'? Really? I heard you call people fuck-tards before." ZIM gasped.

"Dillon! You don't swear!"

"I was giving an example. Now are we gonna hang out or what." ZIM looked idly to Gaz who had just disappeared into the changing room she shared with the classmate girls.

"Yeah, hurry up and change so we can leave without her."

"Leave without who?" ZIM and Dib both jumped at the voice of a woman, interrupting their conversation.

"Leslie?" The reddish-brunette stared down at ZIM, arms crossed. "Uh, no one. Gaz and I just got into a mild blue. No biggy."

"Uh huh . . . where is she? I know you were gonna take her shopping but I decided you'd probably want to hang out with your buddies."

"She's getting changed. You gonna take her?" ZIM asked. Leslie nodded.

"That way you don't have to ditch her and get in trouble with both me and Red." ZIM smiled sheepishly.

"Eh heh heh. Nyeah. Thanks, Les." The woman bent down and planted a kiss on ZIM's head.

"You behave and be home before seven." ZIM nodded.

"Alright, later. Let's go, Dib." ZIM grabbed Dib and dragged him to their dressing room. "At least I'm not getting in trouble tonight." ZIM whispered.

"We got to go to sound stage two. Chester, A.J. and Timmy are waiting for us there."

"And what did you guys have planned for this afternoon?"

"This is Los Angeles, ZIM. We don't have to plan we just do."

"That's retarded, what you just said right there." ZIM mumbled, taking off his uniform's shirt.

"How so?"

"I don't know, I just say things sometimes. Anyway, no offense or anything, D, I know you grew up here and all but I hate this place." Dib glared briefly at ZIM for a moment.

"Why?"

"Well, you just gotta look at it from my P.O.V., I was raised on wide open grounds. There were no buildings like this. It bugs me, how many people there are here and how they all thing this city is so cool. If you ask me, I think it's a bit overrated." Dib sighed.

"You have a point. I guess what your trying to say is, 'Home is where the heart is' and your home is a thousand miles away."

"Australia is actually fourteen-thousand-five-hundred miles away, but yes, that's exactly what I am trying to say."

"You home sick?"

"A bit. A lot a bit. I didn't get this homesickness when I lived in Western Michigan. But that's probably because it wasn't as densely populated. I honestly don't know how you grew up like this, Dib." The black-haired boy shrugged.

"It'll be an adaption process for you, Z. You'll get used to it. Don't you have a home in one of Irk's biggest cities though?"

"Yes, but I was surrounded by other Irken which helped me feel at home. I guess you're right. I'll have to stop whining and get used to the city." ZIM spat out the word as if he tasted something bitter. He pulled up his jeans to his waist and fastened the belt. "Alright, let's go."

"I got one more question for you." Dib asked.

"What?"

"Who was that lady you were talking to?"

"My sister-in-law." Dib looked a little disgusted. "Why?"

"She looks waaay too old for your brother. She a cougar?" ZIM snorted.

"Leslie's only thirty-four. Three years older than my brother." Dib looked unsure of what to say.

"You're bro can't be thirty-one!"

"He isn't, he's thirty-two. Leslie's birthday is coming up soon." ZIM insisted.

"He looks like he's eighteen."

"You should tell him that. I'm sure he'd be flattered." ZIM said amused. Thank goodness for long Irken lives.

Later

"Sooo . . . how long have you been driving?" Timmy asked from the backseat of ZIM's Mustang V6.

"Since I was ten." ZIM said nonchalantly, resting his head on his hand that was propped up on the open window. He was waiting for a protected left, traffic was so bad he didn't dare go on blinking green.

"That's like me driving in a year or two." Timmy said. "It's weird to think about."

"Dude, this car is sweet!" Chester chimed in also from the backseat. "Can the top go down?" ZIM rolled his eyes and hit a button to transform the car into a convertible. "Aww, sweet."

"Dib, turn up the radio." Timmy ordered, leaning forward over the center console. Dib looked at ZIM for his consent.
ZIM just shrugged. Dib pressed the radio's 'on' button. As soon as he did country music filled the interior. ZIM beamed as he heard the song and was familiar with it.

"Besides you had too many boyfriends to mention, and I played my gui-tar too loud. How do you like me now? Now that I'm on my way, you still think I'm crazy, standin' here today! I couldn't make you love me but always dreamed about, livin' in your radio. How do you like me now?" ZIM sang with the song. "My God, I love Toby Keith." His four friends stared at him with wide eyes.

"You like country music?" Timmy asked with disgust.

"Hell yeah. Better than that other shit they put on the radio." ZIM mumbled, turning the volume up slightly. "You guys will learn to appreciate this genre when your around me."

"But, your Australian, this is American music." A.J. pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I can't like it." ZIM said. Timmy reached his hand to the controls and changed the station. A Busta Rhymes song took place of the song ZIM would have preferred to continue to listen to. The Irken sighed, slumping down a bit. "I'm not allowed to listen to rap." He mumbled. The boys didn't hear him. "So what did you guys wanna do?"

"You're old enough to drive, are you old enough to get into clubs?" Timmy asked.

"Not until I'm fifteen." ZIM said.

"How about buying alcohol?"

"Not till I'm . . . twelve . . . huh. I am twelve. I'm old enough to drink and smoke. Guess that slipped my mind." ZIM said, stopping for yet another intersection, making another left handed turn. ZIM wondered why never gave him a drinking or smoking 'caution talk' yet. Maybe Red knew that he forgot and left it that way for the better. He'll talk to Red later. The boy jumped slightly when there was a vibration in his pocket. He quickly turned the radio off.

"Opps, I did it again. I played with your heart-" ZIM smiled sheepishly at his friends as he answered his phone. He could here Chester whisper behind him.

"He likes Britney Spears?" The Irken blushed heavily.

"Yes?" ZIM spoke into his Imp.

"What doin'?" Came Red's curious voice.

"Just hanging out with friends."

"You driving?"

"No! Of course not! You know I don't drive and talk on the phone."

"You have more than one person in the vehicle with you?"

"I'm not driving!" ZIM said, defensively.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes!"

"'Cuz it don't look like your not driving while on the phone with more than one person in the car." ZIM cocked a brow.

"What do you mea- Ah!" ZIM squeaked. In the middle of his sentence he turned his head and saw Red's truck right next to his car in the right turning lane. The red-eyed Irken had his window rolled down, sporting sunglasses, phone pressed against the side of his face. He was smiling at his little brother. ZIM smiled nervously back, giving him a slight wave. "Uhh . . ."

"You know the rules, Zeiden. But since you are currently breaking them I'll let you go. But you're not gonna get away with lying to me. You know that irks me." ZIM nodded. Red hung up and made his turn. Driving home more than likely.

"Maybe I'll get in trouble today after all."

Later

"How many cans are you getting of those?" A.J. asked, standing behind ZIM as the tiny Irken as he used his arm to knock off several cans of sardines and anchovies into the grocery basket Dib was holding for him.

"Enough for four small crocs."

"Did he just say crocs? Like the shoes?" Chester asked. Timmy nodded.

"You're really odd." The brown-haired boy said. ZIM just shrugged, walking to the self-checkout and started to scan his products.

"We're going to my place before anywhere else. These need to be refrigerated." ZIM said. After all fifty cans of fish have been scanned his total came out to be $249.50. He used his credit cards to pay for the items.

"Dang, don't you have buyers guilt ever?" Timmy asked. ZIM shook his head. "I guess it's because you're a billionaire right?" ZIM bit his lip grabbed the bags.

'More like trillionaire, but who cares besides you?' ZIM thought to himself. Man, Timmy had a money issue. ZIM carried his two bags out to his car and threw them in the backseat. The five boys crawled back inside the car to drive to ZIM's house. It took a good forty minutes to get home, the traffic didn't help at all. ZIM parked outside on the driveway and walked up to his home. His friends followed, admiring the home and landscape. ZIM pushed open the front door, stumbling in. The door led to the foyer. "Tenn! Where da crocs?" ZIM called.

"In the garage, in the incubator!" Her voice rung from her upstairs room. ZIM entered the house all the way. He carried the bags to another door on the otherside of the house where the garage was and opened it. In the corner was the incubator. ZIM took the bags and placed them in a refrigerator they had in the garage. ZIM then sauntered on over to where the crocs were. He peeked over the steel holding pen and smiled when he saw a bunch of wriggling, chirping and adorable baby crocs.

"Oo! My smeets!" ZIM reached down and picked up the closest one. "This one is Handbag!" ZIM shoved the squirming croc in Dib's face who jumped back several feet. "Jeez, she's only a few hours old and your terrified of her?"

"Tell me again why you have pet alligators?" Dib wondered.

"Crocodiles, dumb-face!" ZIM thrust the baby into Chester's hand who looked grossed out, holding it away from his body.

"Umm . . . I don't think I want to hold it." He said. ZIM ignored him reaching down again to grab the other three, cuddling the green animals to his chest and face.

"And these one shall be named, Snippy, Chomper and Frank!" ZIM squealed, burying his face into the scaly reptiles. Chester slowly set the crocodile he was holding down back into the incubator.

"Dude, what's up with you and exotic pets?" Timmy asked.

"I have a dog. That's not exotic."

"Speaking of dog, where is yours?" Dib questioned.

"Leslie took him with her and Gaz." ZIM said. He set the babies back down and got two cans of sardines out and opened them. He set them in the incubator for the crocs to eat. The little creatures chowed down hungrily.
"Alright," ZIM started turning back to the guys. "What now?"

"I heard you can surf?" Timmy asked ZIM, who nodded. "You guys wanna surf?"

"I'm not allowed to without my brother." ZIM said. The other four boys gave ZIM a look. The Irken all of a sudden felt like a looser.

"Okay, how about we go to the skate park?"

"Red hid my skateboard. He doesn't want me doing that either unless he's present." Timmy scoffed.

"How about riding bike?"

"Like the ones where you have to pedal?" ZIM asked.

"Yes." Dib answered for Timmy.

"I don't own one . . . I also have no idea how to ride one."

"Wow," Timmy mumbled. "Here I was thinking you were pretty cool." ZIM rolled his eyes not letting the kid get to him, he decided to suggest something else that was 'cool' and something Red allowed him to do when he was gone. ZIM thought for several seconds. Damn it, he's got nothing. He wasn't even allowed to have guests over unless Red was home!

"Timmy, he's really cool, you just got to respect that his older brother loves him." Dib said. ZIM smiled at the black-haired boy. That was the first time he heard Dib's voice have the slightest hint of backbone.

"Fine then. What can we do?" Timmy asked, getting impatient.

"I want to learn about ZIM." A.J. said. "I heard that you are aboriginal Australian by blood. How is that possible?" ZIM sighed a bit. The Brainiac just wanted to learn and ZIM guessed that was the safest activity for them to indulge in.

"Let's go sit down in the living room and we can talk." ZIM suggested leading them back into the house, making a quick pit stop to the kitchen to offer drinks, then to the living room where they all flopped down and got themselves comfy. After a moment of silence ZIM began. "Irkens discovered earth in the year twenty-five B.C."

"Did they come as Irken immigrants?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded.

"This was a time where Irk was way too overpopulated that a lot of Irken family's had no choice but to move to different planets. Any way, my however many greats grandfather and mother on my mom's side landed on South Africa along with some other's and formed and alliance with the natives there-"

"This isn't answering my question." A.J. said. ZIM held out a finger to silence him.

"I'm getting to that." ZIM said. "And my however many greats grandfather and mother on my dad's side landed in Australia. Eventually after many decades my mom's side of the family moved to Australia for many many centuries till this day. A lot of people don't know this but a lot of aboriginal Australians came to Australia from Africa thousands of years ago."

"And how does this make you aboriginal?" Dib asked this time.

"Irkens are built to adapt to the weather, climate and people around them. Our skin fibers absorb your human DNA every time we come into contact with you, altering our own genes and DNA to make us more and more human. It's a really slow process which is why it took so long for us to be considered aboriginals. Our families weren't considered Aboriginal as of three-hundred years ago. Now we're one-hundred percent aboriginal and Irken."

"How can you be both?" Chester asked.

"It's impossible for Irkens to turn into total humans, just our DNA. And we still are Irkens by blood, but like I said my ancestors developed some human genes too."

"That's actually pretty neat. It's like evolution only your exterior body doesn't change. Only your DNA." A.J. said.

"Yeah and that's the story of how I came to be, the end."

"So you're like one of those people who dance around a big fire saying crazy chants?" Timmy questioned. ZIM smirked as Timmy chuckled.

"Actually, as a matter of fact, I am. Every year we have a huge aboriginal family get together and practice the same rituals and dances our ancestors did. Only it was the women who would dance, the men would mostly provide music." Timmy stopped in his snickering.

"Oh."

"Yeah, just this past year, as a sign of worthiness and family pride, the elders made me go out in the bush alone and hunt for a kangaroo with just a boomerang and bola. I got a big ol' jack within' twenty minutes."

"That's crazy. I'm surprised your brother let you do that." Timmy said.

"The elder's always get the final say." ZIM said.

"Who are the elders?" Dib asked.

"My grandparents." ZIM replied. He stood up when the front door opened. Purple and Tenn entered together, holding hands. When Tenn saw ZIM and his friends she immediately released from the grip.

"Zeiden, you're home. I thought you went out with your friends."

"We were going to." ZIM said. "But then Brainiac here, got curious."

". . . Well, that's okay, but could you guys leave now? Purple and I want to be alone." Tenn said. ZIM's lips curled down in disgust.

"You guys aren't gonna do anything raunchy are you?"

"If you stay any longer you may just find out for yourself." Purple quipped. ZIM shook his head, vigorously.

"No thank you!" ZIM got up to go outside. He grabbed the keys to his car. "C'mon, lets go . . . do something." The other four boys followed ZIM leaving Tenn and Purple be.

"Man, your sister's boyfriend looks like your brother." Chester said.

"He is my brother. My non-related brother, if you will." ZIM said, slipping behind the wheel again. "Well, guys. We got a few hours to kill. Here comes the million dollar question again, What would you guys like to do?" The five of them shared glances. "Right, we'll just think of something on the way then."

---

You guys thought you were just gonna get Dib, well guess what? I spat more characters at you than you thought! (Yes, this fic is slightly crossover.) I just thought ZIM needed more than just Dib as a friend and the classmates aren't in enough episodes to be his close friends so the story pooped out those three boys from Fairly Odd Parents. (I used to love that show. And no I didn't do that much research for those characters.)

Here's the Question of the chapter!

What is your position on Mpreg? And do you think someone, besides just Tak's father, should get pregnant? If so, Who? This probably won't happen till later in the story. (Truthfully, I don't mind Mpreg. It's a good way to be creative. Male seahorses get pregnant! That was a fun fact right there.)

Fact of the Chapter!

I had to re-write this chapter three times because I'm an idiot and forgot to save! But that's a good thing for you guys because every time I re-wrote it, it got better and better! I was also gonna write a EXTREMELY DRAMATIC scene in this chapter but decided to save it for later chapters. What's that scene? You are probably asking. Well, let's just say one argument between brothers went a little too far. (But that's for later!)

Anyways! Submit your answer for the question in the review box! Leave any suggestions or creative ideas if you want! Or, heck, just leave a friendly comment if you so desire!

Love ya'll!