(I don't own IZ, I'm so ADD I found a new shiny so this has been neglected, I'll try to get the chapters up on a regular basis again,)
Purple smothered his smeets in kisses they were both about a head or two shorter than them
"Papa!" Rev protested and tried to pull away and Aurora just Giggled. Dib was glad that Zim hadn't gone overboard like that. Finally Purple let go and the trio stood side by side hovering a little off the ground
"Feet on the ground soldiers!" Red commanded, Rev and Dib complied immediately Aurora not trained in the military settle her feet on the ground a bit more slowly.
"You can't let anyone see you hover or float until you become Tallest, it will just fuel assassination attempts" Red glared at them
"Yes sir" Dib and Rev said in unison, "yes Papa" Aurora chimed shortly after them
"Eventually you will learn how to control it on your own and won't need the artificial gravity belts" Purple said encouragingly
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Rev asked, their elite commissions had been cut
"You are to train in politics with the other potential Tallest's on Irk" Zim said
The three of them groaned while Zim smirked
"That means you too Zim" Red grinned down at him
"But I never finished my assignment! We are still fighting for control of that planet" Zim was protesting
Purple scooped him up and wrapped a lekku around Zim's, Red stood beside them and did the same
"Zim you did conquer the planet before the Dremins came that's good enough for us"
Zim stopped struggling, neither of the tallest had spoken that aloud, it was in both their minds along with love for their lost nestmate.
This is what he had been searching for, for all his life not even mating with Dib could compare, something long broken healed up inside
"My tallest" he said softly snuggling up between them.
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As predicted politics training was boring, the only thing to keep them entertained was reports on how the war was proceeding. They watched at every opportunity to see what planet had been gained and what had been lost, so far there were more gains than losses but it was done at high cost.
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They had been shoved in a class with other potentials, at first the ex-invader was looked down upon for his short height, but soon he got looks of sympathy as he was going through a very painful and rapid growth spurt.
Zim limped everywhere all of his bones and muscles hurt. The only time he didn't seem to mind the pain was when the Tallest came to visit.
To the trios surprise they showed up to classes one day to find that Zim had outgrown them, Zim didn't even notice their glances as the recent growth spurt hurt like nothing else the only thing he could keep his mind on was the tallest were coming to visit today.
After class they went to their shared dormitory the Tallest were already waiting for them Zim rushed to them and when they stood off the couch they all froze,
Zim was looking at Red and Purple without having to look up. Purple stood beside him while Red glanced between the two, without another word they each grabbed one of Zim's arms and ran out of the Dorm.
"I think we should all go and pick out outfits for the coronation of a new tallest" Aurora said gleefully while Rev and Dib still stood in a state of shock
"I think we will have to stop growing for a while and let my papa enjoy being Tallest"
"As if we could do that on our own, the control brains will decide if they wish to stall our growth, if they do we can wait till they decide to retire and raise a whole new brood of smeets" Rev said with a wry chuckle.
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The new Tallest ceremony didn't just include Zim. All the potentials plus the current tallest lined up.
They were all were hooked up to the control brains and had their hands inserted into a oval shaped clamp. Their stats flashed on a screen behind them but they couldn't see, because of the way they were restrained. Dib heard a nasty crunch noise and his Papa whimpered beside him, the clamps retracted and Dib saw that his Papa's thumbs were removed. med drones moved in to bandage the New Tallest, Red and Purple hovered nearby their thumbs still missing, had Zim proved to be taller the clamp would have forced grow their thumbs back it was more painful than having them chopped off, Dib was not looking forward to the Day they took over as Tallest.
Dib looked back at his stats they were identical to Rev's and Aurora's and no one save the tallest were taller than them, all the other tallers stats showed the end to their growth the trios was blank a unknown.
"Do you think the control brains halted our growth or stalled it" Aurora asked
"No idea they didn't say anything" Dib who had the most experience with the brains was baffled
"Do you think they didn't stop our growth at all?" Rev sounded worried, if they continued to grow at the rate they had the tallest only had a few years left on the throne, all three of them now showed squared eyes and they looked like smaller versions of their parents
Zim now bandaged was being given his armor his robes were a bit looser since he wasn't an almighty and he was still required to walk. The trio gathered in to congratulate their Zim, Dib hugged his Papa
"Just think not to long ago I stood over you and you complained that my eyes were squaring; now you're the one with squared eyes and Tallest's robes"
"heh heh it won't be long before you're the one in the robes, the brains told me they don't want me on the throne for to long, I still have my poor record for wrecking things, so they are not stopping your growth"
"What Papa but!" Dib was flabbergasted the brains told him that they didn't want his papa
"Dib look at me, I once said that I wanted to be tallest so all of Irk could see me and I could find my nestmates, I found my nestmates being tallest is just a bonus I could be a table headed service drone and still be happy so long as I have my bondmates. You will be a good almighty Tallest, you've always wanted what's good for everyone else, you made yourself miserable as a human trying to hard, now you have bondmates of your own and a whole universe to protect"
Dib looked at Zim and saw that he was truly happy and he realized so was he.
"Oh and I have a surprise to show you after the party, it's your Grandpa's last work".
Dib was wondering what Zim was grinning about he knew how much the Professors death had hurt him.
The Professor had died a few years ago of an apparent suicide, but there was no note, no reason anyone could fathom why he took his life. All anyone knew is before he was found dead; he had been obsessing over a mystery project which he refused to let anyone know about. Dib wanted to destroy whatever it was because it had caused so much heartache. But Zim was tight lipped and grinning like a fool.
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"Zim why are we down in the smeet training facilities?"
Dib was confused; Zim was leading the whole family down. The trio, the tallest, Gaz and David. They now turned off to the wing set aside for smeets training solely in sciences
"This brings back memories" Aurora smiled
Zim opened up a classroom door and they entered into a rec area several smeets in chemical protection suits and goggles were happily playing mixing dangerous chemicals one of them stopped his project and ran happily to the group
"Hi uncle Zim, you brought everyone great"
The smeet peeled off his goggles and chemical spill suit, everyone jaw dropped a golden eyed smeet with thick lekku stood before them
"Everyone I would like you to meet Memb, the Professor decided to try the reborn trick with a tube bread smeet he added his DNA in the selection process and he waited till the smeet was at the right stage before killing himself" Zim grinned
"They had thought I had found a way of creating another smeet with mine and Dib's DNA only it wasn't my DNA in the mix but the membrane markers were quite clear"
Dib knelt down to look at the smeet it was like looking 40 years in the past, he looked just like he had when he had been a young soldier trainee
"So did it work? and why did you do it, if that is you Professor," Aurora asked, this is the first time the reborn trick had been used on a tube bred smeet most Irkens DNA wasn't added to the selection process until after they had died
"I did it for science" The smeet stuck the old familiar pose, but then he rubbed his head bashfully
"Actually I did it for selfish reasons, I invented the pak for humans in my later years while I was old, the pak can only do so much once the body had already started to deteriorate, it was more of a leap of faith rather than science so I couldn't tell anyone" he scuffed his foot across the floor and looked down
Dib grinned and picked him up, he had himself gone through the second childhood known as smeetdom, the professor no correction Memb was acting just like any child caught in the act of doing something wrong.
"It's alright you hurt us allot when you killed yourself without telling us why, but we are glad you are alive" Dib petted Memb's head the same way he remembered Zim doing so to him
"Although I have no idea what to call you anymore Grandpa, Dad, Uncle or brother, boy does this confuse things"
"Uncle is genetically correct but just call me Memb or nephew even if it isn't correct"
Memb then cocked a lekku and slid off Dib's lap to go to Gaz, when she picked him up, he seemed more interested in her belly than catching up; he laid his head against her and listened intently
"So when is my next grandchild due? Or my niece or nephew, you are right Dib our family is confusing how did you manage?"
"I stayed in the role of my body," Dib grinned widely "Congrats Gaz and David when is the little bundle of joy due"
"Six months we had hoped to keep it a surprise we have spent more than enough time on our careers and we now think it's time for a family" Gaz looked radiant
"You do realize for a human baby living on Irk is going to be vastly different from a baby on Earth, he or she will have to have a pak installed from birth and placed in a training program" Red said
"We know we took that into consideration, also we saw a med drone today it's going to be twins" David was grinning from ear to ear.
There was a bunch of congratulations all around
A bell rang and the smeets began removing protective wear, Dib and the humans noticed something odd, many of the smeets were hybrids, they sported blue eyes or brown and thicker lekku
"My tallest what is going on here" Dib looked at his uncles and his Papa with a glare
"Nothing we did deliberately but many Irkens got it into their heads that if the control brains wouldn't allow them smeets from other Irkens that other races were fair game, humans and Vortans seem to be the popular choices since their body structure is similar. There are rules to this conduct the alien donor has to be willing and the smeet has to have Irken training, if the hybrid population becomes too dense the brains will shut down the ability to breed with aliens, fresh DNA is good for our population but too much could dilute it." Purple explained hastily
Zim laughed "It is all your fault Purple you just had to have a smeet when you seen mine, a invaders smeet goes without notice but when the tallest has one everyone wants one"
"It wouldn't have been so bad if the females hadn't discovered it works for them too, we had to open up a smeet training facility on Earth, which is now being nicknamed Irth or Irk two"
Dib laughed "oh how I wish I could see my classmate's faces I bet they are old and wrinkly now, complaining about how there weren't little alien children running around when they were growing up"
"Why not it sounds like fun," Red knew that there would be mischief if Dib returned to Earth and that sounded like a fun vacation not at all like laying around on a beach
"Can Memb come with us" Dib asked
"No I'm afraid not Dib, he is just a valuable as you were when you were a smeet we can't risk him, it's bad enough that the Tallest and the guaranteed future Tallests will be traveling together" Zim shook his head, he didn't want to have to worry about a smeet, the first time was just too stressful
They said their goodbyes to Memb with promises to call and visit and prepared for their trip to "Irth"
(I'm not too happy about this chapter, there's something that just didn't seem right about it)