Dlbn: Okay, there is NO excuse whatsoever for how long this poor fic sat here not getting updated!

Nbld: it's been a crazy couple months.

Dlbn: My boyfriend is back, but he had to deal with one eviction, and now a second one, so things are a little tough. I don't know why I kept losing inspiration here…but my boss today showed clips from 2001: A Space Odyssey in class (I'm a teaching assistant), and that put my inspiration back!

Nbld: So let's get onto the chapter. It's been almost a whole MONTH D:

Dlbn: Right. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really apologize for not updating in so long! There's no excuse. -slaps self-

Nbld: Weirdo…anyway, its Review Corner time! Thank you to Achlys, PenguinBandit523, PoYD95, Guest, invadermakayla, ad Guest for reviewing! Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolates, other assorted candy, and Supreme Dissolution plushies for you all!

Achlys: Haha yea, it kind of is like that…XD Zim with a light saber would be awesome. He's already green like Yoda XD I'm on the east coast, too. I prefer the warm compared to the two recent snowstorms XD

PenguinBandit523: Very fitting indeed O.o cool :D There's gotta be some fluff in with the seriousness. With Keef and Keyvine around, the fluff just keeps coming :3 Thanks, I am too :) Although it went away for a month again…^^" But its back again, and hopefully for good this time!

PoYD95: Zim and Dib would make adorable half-baby half-smeets. So would Keef and Keyvine :D Well, I can't reveal the details ;)

Guest: Sorry for the suspense! …and how I left the suspense going for a month…^^"

Invadermakayla: No worries ^^ Sorry I haven't updated in forever ^^" Thanks a lot :D He's back, thankfully, but things are still hard. But I know he'll pull through. Because I'm here to make sure that happens ;)

Guest: The Mayans are definitely the world's biggest trolls ^^ I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day. My boyfriend and I are both broke, so we're not going to be doing much. I'm writing him a story and we're going to spend the day together, though :3 Aw I'm sorry. That sucks D: St. Patrick's Day sounds like fun for you guys then :D Thankfully it's a Sunday, so my friends can't pinch me if I don't wear green XD Yup! Nothing like the fate of the universe resting in your hands to take away the epicness of a proposal, right? ;) But at least when/if Zim gets back (can't spoil it now) he has something to look forward to :D

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim or anything from it. All Irkens mentioned in here, other they Keyvine/Krill are canon characters. I own none of them. They belong to Jhonen C. Vasquez. I am not him, therefore, I do not own them. I do, however, own Keyvine/Krill, his computer and SIR, Zim's computer, and Zim's technology…mostly.

Dedication one: This chapter is written in HUGE apologies to everyone for making them wait so long for another chapter. This won't happen again, I promise!

Dedication two: This chapter is written for all the love birds out there celebrating Valentine's Day on the 14th. It is also for everyone who is single and celebrating Proud to Be Single Day. Or whatever title you come up with. Your title will probably be better then mine. -bows-

Dedication three: This is also dedicated to my boyfriend. I know things are hard now, but they will get better. And happy Valentine's Day/one year and one month anniversary (it's the day before Valentine's Day)

000

Zim's hands wrapped nervously around his ship's controls. It was now or never. His cloaking device had been activated already, and all that was left is to launch out into space and get going towards the Armada. But he was still nervous about leaving Dib and the others behind. He knew he'd come back; he had promised that he would. But the thought that something might take him away from them for good still rushed through his mind and made him regret this decision. But it was something he had to do. To liberate the galaxy and save them all from his mother. Zim sighed and closed his eyes and thought everything over. This was something he had to do, and it was something he would do, no matter what it took. And if he had to risk his life to protect the people he cared about? He'd do it. But it was his mother. His father and brothers, his species…the empire he was born and raised to be a part of. No matter what he was doing, she wouldn't let him get hurt, right? She'd save him if he was too close to getting injured somehow, wouldn't she. If she knew it was him, that is. But if she didn't? Then he'd be in hot water.

Krill rapped his knuckles on the windshield and gave Zim an odd look when the teenage Irken looked at him. Zim sighed and opened up the windshield.

"Do you not want to do this?" Krill wondered. "You're hesitating, and hesitation will get you killed out there."

"I know." Zim stated. "I want to, I'm just preparing myself. I can't turn back now, no way." He shook his head.

"No one would blame you."

"I'd blame me."

Krill didn't speak for a moment. "You'd disappoint yourself if you didn't go do this?"

"I'm the only one who can." Zim gave Krill a small smile. "You and I both know that. The Resisty, the Senate, and the Council can't do it either. They'd be killed. Even you could get killed if you were to get caught. I'm lucky that I'm one of the Princes. If mom catches me, she'll just be glad to have me home and think I was brainwashed or something."

"But you weren't brainwashed. This is your own decision."

"But she won't know that. She'll think I was brainwashed, because one of her little boys would never think of betraying the empire…"

"Says the illegal arms dealer."

Zim ignored him. "And if she thinks I'm brainwashed, she won't punish me as harshly as she would otherwise. Therefore, no worries. I can act…"

Krill broke into a grin. "Like how you're acting like you're not worried when you really are?"

Zim stared. "How did you…?"

"I can read your antennae position better then anyone else here can."

Zim flushed. "Er…"

"Don't worry, I said nothing. Irken's honor." He held up two fingers, to which Zim replied by pressing his fingers to Krill's.

"Irken's honor."

"But you better get going before they get suspicious and detect how nervous you are about this."

"Yeah, true." Zim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, a look of determination had crossed his eyes. "I'm ready."

Krill grinned. "Atta boy." He hopped down from the ship and backed up.

Zim closed the cockpit up and blew Dib a kiss before letting go of the ship's breaks to hover in the air. Once he was sure the ship was stable enough, Zim nodded to Krill. The older Irken pressed a button to open up the ground behind his base to let the ship out. Zim took a deep breath before pushing a button. The ship slowly rose into the air until Zim was zooming past the tops of trees, though clouds, past a satellite, and up through the atmosphere. He could see the blackened night sky and the stars in it close by, but it would take a few minutes to get to it. Once Zim was sure he was far enough outside of the Earth's atmosphere, he slowed the ship to a halt so that he wouldn't get whiplash from it. Once the ship stopped completely, he took a moment to look around and collect himself. He didn't spot anything remotely alien, let alone Irken. Zim pressed a red button on his console and heard the computer start up.

"Searching for unidentified life forms." The computer spoke. "No life forms found."

Zim growled. "Computer." He told his system. "Search for technology."

"Scanning." The Computer replied. "Technology found. Confirm source?"

"Yes, please."

Unlike Krill's computer, which had a personality, Zim's only did what was asked of it and what it knew how to do. It only gave Zim lip when he told it to talk freely and treat him like a friend instead of an owner, but now wasn't the time for being friendly.

"Source decoded. Technology located is most likely of Vortian origin."

Yup, that was the Armada, alright. Zim sighed. "Computer, where are the aforementioned pieces of technology located?"

"A quarter light-mile east of this location. Coordinates 367 North by 102 East."

Zim nodded. "Set autopilot for 367 North by 90 East."

"Autopilot coordinates set." Computer informed. "Will arrive at destination in thirty minutes time."

Zim sat back in his seat as the ship began floating towards its destination. Half an hour time to observe his surroundings and prepare.

000

By the time Zim reached a location where he could actually see the Armada up close and personal, he hid his ship behind a large asteroid for protection. It appeared as if they were near the planet Jupiter, but he wasn't sure. Astronomy was the one thing he didn't learn at that school. According to Dib, it was a middle school class anyway. But it would have been useful now, when he knew nothing of this galaxy and the planets that were in it. Once the ships at the front of the fleet passed by and the Massive was closer in range, Zim took a deep breath and skimmed underneath the ship. He heard the grunts of the engines and the roar of the ship as it passed over him; sending a chill through his body. Inside, the ship was quiet, other then a gentle hum from machinery. But outside? It sounded like the inside of a factory. It really was its own factory, really, but that was beside the point.

Zim pressed a button on the ship's console to unleash a little grappling hook. The hook attached itself to the undercarriage of the Massive without making any noise. Zim took a breath as he left the Massive drag him along underneath. If he could make it a few moments without being noticed, then that would mean that it was okay and they hadn't been able to detect him. Zim waited until a few minutes had passed before deciding that he was indeed undetected and that he could continue. He pressed a button to take off the autopilot completely so it couldn't act up halfway during the mission and expose him. Making it so the hook was on a longer chain, Zim directed his ship out from under the Massive and up to the side of the left snack pod. He never understood the purpose of them, as most people weren't allowed inside. But nevertheless, it was part of the design.

Zim pressed a button to make a little machine come out to cut a hole in the Massive. It had a noise-canceling shield surrounding it so that no one would hear the cutting. After cutting a Zim-sized hole in the ship, Zim unbuckled himself and pressed a button on his PAK to activate a bubble shield around his head. He opened the hatch to the ship and closed it quickly before following the chord into the ship. He used his hands to replace the missing piece and didn't move until he was sure it was shut and that no snacks would come out. Once he was sure that everything was set in place, he crept through the snack pod; tiptoeing over snacks and drinks that were spilled among the floor. The floor of the pod was full of items, but it had some patches where nothing existed. There were shelves hooked to the wall that held multiple snacks of all kinds and origins, and there were invisible glass shields on them to prevent snacks from falling during a battle or a sharp turn. Zim sighed. His people really liked their snacks, almost to the point of obsession. He hadn't realized how bad it was until now.

Tip toeing around the food and drinks on the floor, Zim made his way to the door of the snack pod that led to the hallway. He didn't hear anything, but that wasn't much of a surprise. Activating a sound-canceling bubble around himself with an open floor, and then stepping on a bag of chips. When no one came rushing into the snack pod to investigate the noise, Zim smiled. He then pressed a button on the gauntlet that Dib and Gaz had designed for him. It activated a cloaking device so he and anything he picked up and carried with him would be invisible to anyone going by. Keeping that in mind, he waited a few more minutes until he was sure that no one was nearby and opened the door to the hall. He quietly slipped out and deployed his PAK legs. Using them, he pulled himself to the ceiling and turned so he was crawling on all fours; skittering like a bug. He still didn't see anyone around, but he was still careful to hold onto the pipes tightly as he clattered along on his legs. The pointed leg tips made little ping noises on the pipes as he went by, but it was only audible in his sound-canceling bubble. Zim heard some people talking around the corner, so he stopped before the hallway began to spy on them and eavesdrop.

"Do you think the Prince is really this far out?" A female voice asked. "Far be it for me to call the Tallest and her family crazy for this idea, but would he really go this far to get away from everything?"

"He may have been kidnapped, they're saying." Another female voice stated. "If so, coming out this far is a good tactic."

"That's very true." A male voice agreed. "But why send everyone out here when they're not even sure? Isn't there a second remote galaxy?"

"They're certain they would pick here because there are so many planets." The first female voice stated. "Just do what the Tallest says and stop complaining."

"You would be wise to listen to Invader Zee." A voice Zim was all too familiar with told the others.

Zim inched forward a little to see the group and gasped, thankful that they couldn't hear him inside his bubble. Standing in the hallway, and saluting, were a violet eyes female, a slightly shorter red eyed female, and a male that was shorter then both of them, but chunky as well. Zim recognized them as Invaders Tenn, Zee, and Skoodge; in order. In front of them, however, was a tall, blue eyed female Irken with curly antennae and regal robes. His mother. Tallest Miyuki.

"Yes, my Tallest!" The three Invaders called out.

Tallest Miyuki grinned, happy that she had their attention. "Now, if you would, get back to your stations."

"Yes, my Tallest!"

The three Invaders turned and scurried off down the hallway past Zim. Zim watched his mother sigh and turn, walking in the opposite direction with her hands clasped behind her back. Once he was sure she was gone and he could no longer hear the hum of her hover belt, he continued on his path down the hallway. He pulled a map out of his PAK and stopped briefly when he came to another intersection. Using the map, Zim took a deep breath and took a left down another long, dark corridor.

000

Unfortunately, Zim had left in the late night, but it wasn't long before it was morning again on Earth. That morning, Dib and the others went about business as usual; including classes. Membrane had let everyone know that it was safe to leave their homes, as the UFOs-though he refused to call them that-had suddenly vanished. Keyvine knew that it meant that the Irken Armada had activated cloaking technology so they could sneak up on the planet, before they turned off the technology and reappeared in the sky and frightened everyone. Unlike the other, unsuspecting humans, the Membrane children and the two lovers were prepared for whatever came their way next. They could handle the Slerks months back, then they could handle what the Armada had to throw at them…couldn't they?

"Dib!" Torque's voice broke the monologue that Dib was streaming through his own mind. "Are you going to answer or not? Why isn't Zim with you?"

"He woke up with a massive migraine." Dib informed, sighing. "I told him to stay home for the day."

"Did your dad call it in?"

"No, he's too busy trying to figure out where the UFOs got off to." Dib sighed.

"You know he hates hearing them called that." Jessica piped up.

"Yeah, but he's not here to hear me, is he?"

Actually, son, I'm right behind you."

Dib jumped and turned, expecting to see his father. Instead, he came face to face with a floating screen and a live video stream of the Professor in his lab. The man appeared to be looking over something on a computer, though it was hard to tell what his eyes were doing with his goggles obscuring his vision.

"Oh…hi dad…" He was a little disappointed.

"Zim doesn't feel well? Should is end someone to him?"

"No, no, it's fine." Dib spoke quickly. "He said he just wants to sleep it off. I gave him pain medication."
"Oh, well, good for you. Update me on his condition when you know more, alright?"

"Sure…"

"Why are you here, Professor?" Keef asked the monitor.

"I am making a public service announcement at the school today." Membrane beamed, looking up from his work. "We think we know where the space objects went."

"UFOs." Dib corrected.

Membrane ignored him.

"That's impossible." Keyvine threw out before anyone could stop him.

"Impossible? How?" Membrane wondered.

"Um…I just can't believe that it didn't take you long to figure out where they went…"

"Easy." Membrane said. "A wormhole swallowed them up."

"A wormhole." Keyvine couldn't believe his artificial, holographic ears.

The entire Armada couldn't fit into a wormhole. It was much too large for even the biggest wormholes the Empire had recorded finding. Besides, the pilots of the Massive and other Armada ships were top of the line. They could handle anything; meteor showers, asteroid fields, uncharted locations, planets with gravitational pulls that were enough to take in other planets, shooting stars, enemy attacks…surely a wormhole couldn't over take them. They would just avoid it or jump to hyperspace and make the Armada vanish altogether so they could get around it.

"Why yes." Membrane nodded. "There are a lot in the area as of late, and it's the only thing that makes sense, considering that they are not UFOs and cannot control where they go, Dib."

Dib's jaw dropped a bit. "I didn't say anything!"

"But you were thinking it!" Keef giggled, covering his mouth with his hands.

"Yeah, but I still didn't say it, so the commentary wasn't necessary."

The others burst into laughter, but Keyvine didn't see what was so funny. How could they laugh and have fun and pretend that everything was normal when Zim was out there fighting for the fate of the universe and everyone in it, and might never come back?

000

Zim made sure the coast was clear in all directions before he dropped from the veiling of the Massive to land on the ground in front of the Computer Room. Inside was the Computer system that ran the whole ship, as well as communications and distress signals. He didn't know the design of the computer that well, but it was most likely a bigger version of the one in his ship; a computer that he spent a lot of time tinkering with and getting to know. Unfortunately, the room was locked with a fingerprint pad. Using the pad would alert the workers on the bridge that it had been opened, let alone that it was Zim's prints. He didn't want to get exposed. If he had to be exposed, it wouldn't be this early in the game. Luckily, however, he had tools that could get him inside and then back out undetected. There were security cameras in the room, and they were heat sensitive. Even with the cloaking device on, Zim couldn't completely hide himself. He thought for a moment about what he had in his PAK and the little bag he had slung over his shoulder that carried additional supplies for him. He had eaten a big dinner the night before, several midnight snacks, and a large breakfast before going on the mission, so he wouldn't need to bring any snacks or eat anything while on his little mission. Everything he had was supplies for emergencies and weapons if need be.

Zim let out a small 'aha' as he thought of something in the bag that he had. He put it on the ground inside the bubble and knelt down next to it to look through. Once inside, he dug around until he found a cooling gel. He rubbed a big glob of it on the inside of the bubble. From the outside, it would still be invisible because of the shield, but it would still do its job and cool down the area. Zim put some more gel over his clothes and skin to make sure he was cool enough that the cameras couldn't catch him. When a little thermometer he placed on his skin after the goo showed his vital signs to be in the freezing area, he knew it was time to do what he had to do. Luckily, he had clothes in the ship to change into so he wouldn't be running around in goo all day at school. If he was back before school ended, that was. Time passed differently in space and on planet Earth, just as it passed differently between Earth and Irk. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long on the Massive, where time would pass like it would on Irk. It was adjustable so that it could fit whatever planet they went after, but it was on Irken time when they were idle or going after a planet they knew nothing about…or a whole galaxy, in this instance.

Confident that he was ready to go into the Computer Room, Zim pulled out a teleporter pad. The pad would transport into the other room with him, so it wouldn't be left behind and arouse suspicions. He set the coordinates for the Computer Room, based on blueprints he had gotten from Lard Nar; the leader of Resisty, who claimed to have worked on building the ship back before Vort was taken over. Zim stepped on the pad and waited for it to beep, then closed his eyes; hoping and praying to whatever would listen that he made it into the Computer Room and nowhere else.