Once your Nasdaq was fat...now you wear paper hats and say..."Do you want FRIES" with that?

THE FRYCOOK WHAT CAME FROM ALL THAT SPACE

Twas the day after Thanksgiving…and Zim was bragging to his computer. IMMENSELY. You see, Nicholas had decided to invite everyone to a Thanksgiving dinner at his house after some convincing from DL. He'd even allowed Zim to drink an "Immunity Shake", which made him able to stomach and enjoy the meal. You see, Nicholas made "Immunity Shakes" whenever Dib or Zim left each other alone for a period of three days.

…he had never made an "Immunity Shake" before.

"So in ADDITION to the turkey, there were mashed potatoes and this lovely cheese sauce I dipped nachos in…" Zim explained as he drooled slightly at the memory of all that food.

"I HAD SPAM." The house computer remarked as Zim spoke.

"There was this DELICIOUS substance called "gravy"…it's liquefied fat! What's not to love? And there was jello of every different flavor…"

"I HAD SPAM."

"And for DESSERT, I got to eat this ENORMOUS chocolate cake!" Zim remarked happily. "Well…some of it. GIR ate the rest."

"I HAD SPAM."

Zim, sensing his computer was whining, rolled his eyes. "FINE, I shall SEE if I can invite you to the next Thanksgiving we had."

"AND SOME OF THE SPAM HAD WORMS." The computer added hatefully.

…Dib was doing another presentation, a pointer stick held behind his back. A large display stand was set up behind him along with several others, all of them displaying the simple title "ZIM REALLY IS AN ALIEN". Dib took a long, deep sigh. "Okay…let's try this…again." He said softly, pacing back and forth. "Okay. So…"

He then wheeled around to face the class, yelling. "ZIM IS AN ALIEN! Why do I even have to try and PROVE it this much!?!" He screamed. He then leapt on top of Pooncy's desk, grabbing the red-head's head. "C'MON! Just LOOK at him!" Dib yelled, turning Poochy's head to look at Zim.

Zim had Mary on his desk, and had stuck several tubes into her head. He had an visual enhancement device on his head as he tapped a tool against her forehead, then realized he was being WATCHED. He quickly shoved Mary away, flung the equipment off and pretended like nothing had ever happened, relaxing in his chair. "I sure like TV!" He announced. "And wearin' PANTS." He added cheerfully.

"He likes wearing pants, Dib! Aliens don't like wearing pants!" Poonchy remarked. Some of the students nodded in agreement.

Dib then suffered what we in the medical community call a "Brief Mental Breakdown" and he snapped his pointer as flames appeared in his eyes.

Wearing…pants.

Wearing…PANTS?

WEARING…PAAAAANTS!?!

All of them, all so IGNORANT, always laughing…LAUGHING…he couldn't take it no more! Dib began to babble madly, head shaking like a bobblehead doll as he flipped through the air and landed on his head, then fell to the ground as he flailed his limbs around and drooled. He leapt onto Aki's desk, then his own, then leapt onto ROB'S desk, landing on his head. Then he leapt onto SARA's desk, then jumped onto the light fixtures above their heads, skidding across it a few times as he shimmied up and down it like a sloth on drugs, all the while babbling madly. He then dropped onto Mathew P. Mathers III, making contorted expressions…

THEN leapt back to the front of the class, stood up, and dusted off his jacket.

"…OKAY!" He said cheerfully. "If you'd all watch this little play I put together to better explain why Zim's a horrible monster from beyond." He remarked in a chipper tone, motioning over to a platform where Nicholas and White were inside green alien outfits. White tossed the script aside and the two of them loomed over DL, who played the role of the victim. You know, when you thought about the class's likes and dislikes, THIS thing might be the thing that convinced them of Zim's true self!

"Fool!" Zim yelled, pounding on his desk. "My fellow hideous inferior human pig-smellies are insulted by this constant slander!"

Dib pointed angrily at Zim. "Would a human call their own kind pig-smelly? Huh!?! Huh!?! Huh!?!" He asked, turning his head left and right at the class. "We're not pigs!" He shouted.

Pigboy clung to Zita's shoulder, his porkish face sobbing madly. "Hey! You watch what you say around Pigboy!" Zita announced.

Pigboy, unfortunately, had had enough, and he ran over to the window, leapt out, the flew off itno the sky. "Wow, EVERYONE'S getting superpowers." Nicholas realized. "It must be the toxic waste plant down the road…"

Zim smirked. "You see, Dib? I'm as normal as any human…" Dib growled furiously as Zim smugly went on. "And nothing you can say can make me-"

BA-BOOOM! The roof burst open as a HUGE green-skinned alien wearing a dark gas-mask and dropped down. He was BULKING in form and he looked around, shoving Poonchy away with a swat of his arm and focusing in on ZIM. He grabbed ahold of the nervous Irken and headed back over to the part of the ceiling he'd come in from as the others watched in awe and fear.

The alien activated a jetpack and shot up into the sky…dropping Zim, who groaned and rubbed his head. The alien immediately dropped back down again, picking Zim up. "Sorry 'bout that. "

"Aw, it happens." Nicholas said sympathetically.

"Now... BACK INTO OUTER SPACE!" The alien announced, flying away on his jet pack.

Dib couldn't have been HAPPIER. He pointed up. "Okay! That! Did anyone just see Zim get snatched up into space by a giant alien monster? HUH?!"

A bird passing overhead pooped on Dib's shoulder as the class stared in amazement. Then…Poonchy spoke up, pointing at Dib's shoulder. "Hey... Dib's got a BIRD DOODY ON HIS JACKET!"

All of the class laughed madly as Dib looked at his arm, then hung his head, tears slipping down his cheeks. He slowly walked out of the class as his fellow student's laughter rang in his ears.

…Zim's disguise had fallen off in the flight up to a large spaceship and now that ship was in outer space. The fat, round-headed alien flew into a large room, dropping Zim on the ground and landing nearby. His jetpack retracted as Zim stood up, frowning angrily. " You've just made the biggest mistake of your life! I demand that you-"

He then noticed the symbol for IRK was on the floor…and that the person who had kidnapped him had a PAK on his back! "Huh!?! Heh... What a minute! This is an Irken ship! What the-!?!" Zim's eyes went wide with confusion. "What's going on!?!" He asked.

The alien turned around to face Zim and spoke in a voice that was muffled by the gas mask. "Retribution, Zim. The moment I've been waiting for!" He growled, pressing one of his goggle lenses, allowing a tube that connected his gas mask to fly off. He then repeated it for the other lens and the OTHER tube disconnected. He took of a strap, revealing one antenna as Zim began to sweat. Then the alien took off the other strap, revealing his other antennae as well as a scar on his face.

Zim continued to cower in place, sweat still pouring down his brow. The alien pulled off his mask…but still Zim did not recognize this deep and purple-eyed alien, only looking at him funny. Even when the being put an APRON with his nametag on it, Zim didn't recognize him, simply rubbing his eye…

Then he put the white cooking cap on and it ALL-MADE-SENSE.

"SIZZ-LORR!" Zim gasped in horror, cowering back. "But... I…"

"Escaped from me, yes. Escaped from your exile on Foodcourtia!" Sizz-Lorr snarled.

"I don't know WHAT you're talking abo-WAIT A MINUTE!" He held his head, clutching it tightly. "It's all coming back to me…"

…It had been inside a Control Brain throne room of light purple and pink machinery when Zim had been 100 years old. Zim had been hooked up to a Control Brain as Tallest Red and Purple stood in platforms opposite of Zim, both drinking sodas. "Irken Invader Zim, for single handedly ruining Operation Impending Doom…"

"Ruined? I blew up more than any other invader!" Zim insisted.

"You blew up all the other invaders!" Red yelled angrily, squishing his soda in his hand. Zim just let out a "PFFT" sound, obviously not caring.

"You will be re-encoded." The Control Brain announced.

A hatch opened from the ceiling and two tubes circled down and connected to Zim's pak, lifting him off the ground as electricity traveled through the tubes. "No longer an invader, you will forever be banished to the Irken snacking planet of Foodcourtia!"

"But Zim needs no vacation!" Zim remarked.

A monitor screen nearby showed off the Irken Military Symbol of a smirking Invader skull. This was soon changed. No longer reading "Invader Class", it now displayed a corporate logo with the words "Food Services". And it wasn't long before Zim was at "Shloorgogh's Restaurant" at Foodcourtia.

Sizz-Lorr, master Fry Cook who had been exiled due to illegal tampering with his body (though the implants were cool, everyone admitted, they WERE still illegal), had been holding a cup up to a food dispenser that filled it up with "Yummy Nuggets". He placed the nuggets into boiling grease and then turned his head as two guards led Zim inside his kitchen, letting go of the former Invader as Sizz-Lorr looked him over.

"New help? Excellent! I can take over from here, soldiers. Dismissed!" He ordered, pointing upwards towards the door. Grinning, he then handed Zim a broom and chuckled. "Welcome to HELL, new guy. Heh…heh-heh…HA-HA-HA-HA…MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!!!"

And so, Zim had been forced to endure HORRID indignities for years. He had been forced to scrub toilets, carry orders to ungrateful customers, clean toilets, fill up people's drinks, scrub MORE toilets, get people's food and drink thrown in his face for fun, scrub even MORE and MORE toilets, mop the floors and scrub MORE and MORE and MORE

He'd even been EATEN once when toilet-cleaning. A horrid experience indeed. But eventually 57 years had passed, and on one fateful day, Zim, who had been wiped out from the Graveyard Shift, was lying in a chair at the back of the restaurant, watching the announcer of Coventia spread the good news.

"If you've just turned in, you're watching live as the crowd gathers on Conventia to watch the great assigning for Operation Impending Doom II!" Now the TV showed off Invaders munching on NACHOS. "Ooh, looks like the crowd is being treated to nachos!

"Impending Doom II!?!" Zim gasped, leaping up and knocking a mop bucket over. "I'll be late! I've gotta get outta here!" He yelled, tossing his outfit off and running out the back door. "NACHOOOOS!"

Well, Sizz-Lorr walked in, eyes angrily growing red as he picked u the mop that Zim had dropped, frowning. "Nobody escapes from Sizz-Lorr!" He growled, looking at the back door. "I will find you, Zim!" He swore. "I will search all of space's dark corners to hunt you down and I will find you!" He roared, snapping the mop in half at the height of his rant.

… "Wait…how can you remember something I said if you weren't there?"

"…I dunno." Zim admitted, shrugging. "Maybe…you were so loud it was impossible to NOT hear?"

"Sure, let's go with that. It's not like it's a PLOT HOLE or anything." Sizz-Lorr admitted. "Anyhow, after your escape, the Great Foodening began! Foodcourtia's most horrible food rush that lasts 20 years!"

"OH." Zim stuck his tongue out. He remembered THAT.

"The gravitational pull from all that snacking makes it impossible for anything to leave the planet! I was trapped... alone... without help!" Sizz-Lorr growled.

"Wait, 20 years? But I haven't been gone that long!" Zim remarked. "Only…" He thought about it. "Three, really."

Sizz-Lorr was now the one shrugging. "Uh, there was some time warp thing involved, uh, I dunno…"

"Well, it's not like it's a PLOT HOLE." Zim said sympathetically. "But the point is moot! I am an invader! On a secret mission from the Tallest! Just call them and they'll-"

Sizz-Lorr got into Zim's face and growled softly. "Your PAK still has you encoded as a food service drone, Zim…"

He grabbed Zim by the neck and held him up as a tube slid down into Zim's pack and Sizz-Lorr let go. A monitor nearby showed the words "FOOD SERVICE".

"Don't you GET it? The Tallest lied to get rid of you! Don't bother trying to call them! Any transmissions will be blocked!" He informed Zim, snatching Zim again. He then hurled Zim into a small cage which closed up and with a smirk, the large Irken walked away as Zim groaned and looked around. Quickly Zim activated his transmission device and a floating sphere emerged from his PAK, showing off GIR in front of him.

"GIR! I've got a secret mission for you!" Zim informed him.

GIR went into Duty Mode, saluting. "Yes, my master!"

"I need you to call the Tallest and tell them I've been kidnapped, and I'm being held prisoner on Foodcourtia!" Zim informed GIR.

Sizz-Lorr's head popped up and his eyes narrowed. "HEY! I said no messages!" He growled.

"But I wasn't CALLING the Tallest!" Zim protested.

Well, Sizz-Lorr wasn't going to take THAT as an excuse. He tugged Zim out of the cage and GIR was treated to watching Zim having the CRAP kicked out of him. GIR gasped as the transmitter retracted back into his head and GIR jumped off the couch. "My master's in trouble!" He realized.

…he needed the MONKEY KITE. He quickly ran into his playroom and got out a green monkey-shaped kite, heading out the door with it over his head as he giggled madly.

MEANWHILE…

Foodcourtia. Hundreds of advertisement signs floated in space in front of this all-city metropolis that had been conquered many years ago, even before Tallest Red and Purple's time. Zim, however, was not glad to see it, and was flailing his arms around as Sizz-Lorr stood by the windshield and held Zim up by his head.

"No! Nooo!! Foodcourtia!" Zim cried as Sizz-Lorr parked the ship by the "SHLOOGORGH'S" restaurant that he worked at. Stepping out of the ship, a storage beam shot out from the restaurant and scanned the ship, absorbing the large thing piece by piece to hide it from would-be thieves. Yes, it was a most pimped-out eatery indeed. There was something to be said, though, about the fact that and IRKEN DINER was probably the most advanced building on the planet.

Sizz-Lorr headed in through a doorway that had a light blue energy field in front of it, passing through easily. A hovering monitor showed off Zim's visage with the words "Wanted: Zim". Soon, upon Zim's entrance into the diner, the sign now showed off the words "EAT! Then EXPLODE".

Sizz-Lorr stood by the counter of the diner, STILL holding Zim up by his head, his gloved hands digging in. "Hmmmm...you didn't destroy the diner in my absence?" He asked his employees.

Two Irken Employees slid up in full attire, shaking their heads. Then one held up an apron, the other a tall, dark red/maroon hat for Zim to wear. "Here ya go!"

"AAA!" Zim yelled, making the customers in the store look at the scene. "Noo! Noo! Never again!" He begged as he was forced to put the attire on.

"HA! That's more like it, Zim! I've got a surprise for you!" He added.

"Oh, you're giving me a robot death monkey!?!" Zim asked eagerly.

"What!?!" Sizz-Lorr, Fry Lord, gave him a look like he was retarded. "No! No, it's something else. Your first assignment. You get to clean up..." He pointed to the far left. "Booth 12!"

The ENTIRE both was enveloped in tentacles. HOW had been long forgotten. It had been like that for YEARS.

"I've left it unclean for you, Zim! For the day you came back! Now get to work!" Sizz-Lorr ordered. He then noticed Zim was longingly looking at the exit door and smirked. "Thinking about escaping? HA! The entire restaurant is equipped with a perimeter scanner programmed to recognize your bio signature!" He remarked, holding up his glove and pressing a band along his thick wrist.

A device above the door began to blink, and inside this device was a monitor screen that showed a rotating model of everyone's favorite Non-Invader with the words "BIO SIGNATURE: ZIM" underneath. "If it senses you trying to escape, it will make you explode!!!" Sizz-Lorr growled.

"NOOO!" Zim yelled. "NOOO-and the robot monkey?"

"You're still not getting one!" Sizz-Lorr snapped.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Zim howled.

"Oh, yes! And-"

"NOOO!"

"YES!"

"NOOO!:

"YES! And that's not all, Zim! In one week, the Foodening begins once more, and you'll be trapped here for 20 years, just like I was!"

"WHAAA?" Zim gasped in horror. "One week? But…my mission!" He protested. "20 years? I can't wait…No! No! I have to get outta here!" He screamed, rushing out the door, which "DINGED"…

For a moment, nothing happened and Zim breathed a sigh of relief. THEN he swelled up like a big, green weather balloon and an alien kid with grey skin and big eyes pointed at him. "Look, mama! He's gonna 'splode!"

Unfortunately for the kid, and luckily for ZIIIIIM!...

He was NOT going to 'splode. Zim rolled back inside and shrank to normal size, gasping madly.. Sizz-Lorr calmly walked to Zim and handed him a mop and bucket, laughing evilly as the alien kid pointed at Zim, who turned to look at booth 12…

…the next day, the Resisty, as it were, were relaxing in the most popular restaurant at Foocourtia…the one ZIM worked at! Darin nervously bit his lip as he looked at Erin, who was making a house out of WAFFLES! Lard Nar chomped away on a hot dog and Zim…well, poor Zim was being whacked around by the Booth 12 creature's tentacles. He finally managed to spray some disinfectant at it, emptying the bottle. When the smoke cleared, the booth was squeaky clean! :)

Exhausted, Zim fell down into his mop bucket as the spray rolled from his hand. Unfortunately Sizz-Lorr spoke up from behind the counter. "Break's over, Zim! Go man the register!" He shouted.

"Huh?" Zim groaned, lifting his head up.

"The register! Gashlooog is taking his break! Now move it!" Sizz-Lorr said, jabbing his thumb at the register as Gashloog walked out of the back door of the restaurant.

"Gashloog gets to take a break without exploding! Why not me?" Zim asked.

"Because I hired him!" Sizz-Lorr snapped. "You're here as punishment for almost annihilating our civilization!"

"Am I the only one who was impressed by that?" Zim asked, looking confused.

Sizz-Lorr pounded his fist on the counter and groaned. Nicholas rubbed his back. "EASY, big guy. EASY."

Zim blinked. "HAIR-BEAST?! What are YOU doing here?"

"Being a substitute teacher REALLY doesn't pay the bills." The teenager said, his neck stretching out as he pronounced the word "REALLY". "So I mop and clean here on weekend afternoons and nights." He informed Zim. "I'll be here tomorrow too. Anyhow, man the register, how bad could it be?"

… "Oh. This bad."

DOZENS of the customers were behind the counter as Zim pressed his register buttons as fast as he could to pay for the various orders and ring other ordes up. Hundreds of pounds of food had been thrown at him.

"These are cold! I'm not paying for this!" One shouted.

"My plooka's not squirming! I ordered live plooka! You hear me!?! Live! Live! Live! That means it's still moving when it gets on my plate! Do you understand!?! Huh!?!"

"Where's my slydoodeedoo, huh? I want my slydoodeedoo! Slydoodeedoo! Where's my slydoodeedoo!?! Where's my slydoodeedoo!?! Huh!?! Where's my slydoodeedoo!?!"

"You HAVE your slydoodeedoo!"

"WHERE'S my slydoodeedoo?!!"

"You HAVE your slydoodeedoo!"

"WHERE'S my slydoodeedoo?!!"

"You HAVE your slydoodeedoo!"

"WHERE'S my slydoodeedoo?!!"

Zim couldn't take it anymore. He leapt onto the counter with a mop. "I AM AN IRKEN INVADER!" He screamed hatefully. "You'll all know the true meaning of vengeance when Tallest hear of this!!!"

…GIR was standing on his head and watching a TV special that explained Death to little kids when the doorbell rang. Squeaking happily, GIR headed to the door and opened it up to see Dib was sucking a SuckMunkey Slushie from a special promotions cup, given to him by White, who had suggested Dib go over to Zim's house to find out "Something interesting".

GIR saw the SuckMunkey slushie and grabbed it away, drinking it.

"…yeah, okay. You can have that." Dib decided as GIR coughed slightly. "Um, I noticed Zim's been gone for three days. Do you know where he is?"

GIR tilted his head to the side. "Oh yeaaaah! I's 'sposed to call the Tallest for him! He in trouble! Woo!"

Dib's eyes widened. "Call his leaders? Can I watch!?!" He asked eagerly.

"Okey dokey!" GIR admitted, nodding his head and letting Dib inside as the kid chuckled happily.

…at Shloogorgh's, Zim sat at a booth with a customer. "Me! Me! Can you believe that!?! Of course you can't! I hate this place! And the mission! My precious mission!" He complained. "What about that, huh? Gimme some 'a those!" He demanded, snatching some fries away from the alien before him. "So... I say... You want some of this? And she says... She says right back at me... She says..."

"…Who are you and why are you talking to me?" the alien inquired.

Zim stood on the booth, claws clenching. "And that huge blob thing! He's here everyday! He takes hours ordering every time! I can't stand him! Everyday! But soon, my pain will end, since my mighty robot has already contacted the Tallest and arranged for my rescue!" He proclaimed, pointing upwards.

"SAID RESCUE":

It had taken GIR QUITE a long time to get the transmission array set up, but now it was proving to be worth it, as Red and Purple were watching GIR talk.

And talk.

And TALK. This case study of insanity in action was very interesting.

"And then my master flew to the moon in a rocket of flamin' cheese! I like cheese!" GIR admitted.

Nicholas, over to the side, covered his eyes and sobbed slightly with joy. "Oh, I LOVE that robot! I…I love him so mu-uh-uuuuuch!" He squeaked out, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese…" GIR sang.

Dib shoved GIR aside, getting close to the transmission screen
"Can I ask you something? What are your species' main weaknesses? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Uh…who's that large headed kid?" Purple asked.

"I don't know... But his head is large!" Red admitted. "As large as Nicholas's head is round!"

"My head's not…" Nicholas elt his head. "Oh! You're right! It IS round! How come you never told me this before?" He asked in a hurt tone as sad violin music played from his watch. "Hearing it now HURTS."

"You…you always hurt the one you love." Red said sadly.

SFX: Record scratch!

Dib cleared his throat. "Excuse me, alien scum? Gimme your planet's coordinates!" Dib asked.

"We would do that…why?" Red asked.

"What if they do a puppet show?" Nicholas suggested.

SFX: DING!

Purple grinned.

MEANWHILE…

We bring you back to the food station in the back of Shloogorgh's, true believers! Zim stood next to Sizz-Lorr. "Sizz-Lorr? There's only-"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" He growled.

Zim had to call him "My Frylord." He quickly apologized. "My apologies, my Frylord! But there's only one day left until the Foodening begins! I must return to my mission before it is too late!"

Sizz-Lorr smirked. "Never! Now put on this happy Shloogorgh costume and fill the costumers with joy!" He said, holding up a costume filled with sizzling, bubbling grease.

"But it's filled with white hot grease!" Zim whined.

"Makes ya dance better. GET GOING." Sizz-Lorr growled, hurling the costume at Zim.

Well ladies and gents, he put the costume on, and soon he was dancing around in the restaurant as the customers looked on with glances of joy. "Doo dee doo dee doo dee doo dee doo!" He sang. "Doo dee doo dee doo dee doo dee doo! Oh! Hey all you out there! I hope you're having a good time eating our life sustaining matter! Gah-hoo! I'm so happy-"

SSSSZZZ! "Oh, it hurts so BAD! The grease!" He screamed, dancing around some more. "AAA! Doo-dee-doo…"

You know how, in times of crisis, all of time seems to slow down? Well that's what it felt like for Zim. "Doooooo…deeee…doooo…doooo…deee…dooo…."

He looked longingly at the exit…but he knew he couldn't leave. He would 'splode.

"Go cheer up Eric, that blob guy. He's our best customer, 'cause he's a blob." Sizz-Lorr announced.

Zim growled, but headed over to the cycloptic, hat-wearing, blobbish Eric. "Doo dee doo dee doo doo... OHHH! BURNING ME!" He screamed. "Doo dee doo dee doo dee doo-OOH-HOO-HOOO! TALLEST GRAPA'S PAIN!!!Doo dee doo dee doo dee doo dee!"

Finally he could bear it no more…and he began to cry, sobbing as tears burnt down trail marks on his cheeks. "Doo-dee…dooooo…WAAAAUUUUUHHH…"

"Hey, little sizzly! You look sadder than me!" Eric said sympathetically.

"It's this job! I hate it!" Zim sobbed. "And I can't leave, or this security system will make me explode!"

"He's gonna 'splod, mama!" The kid from before laughed.

"…ooh, THAT HORRIBLE KID!" Zim growled.

"Ooh, that's a Vetkin 'splodey system! I know those! Heh!" Eric laughed, looking at the exit. "I helped install one 'a those in a Vort military prison 'til they were discontinued. Prisoners were escaping by hiding deep in garbage tanks. The scanners can't read the bio signatures if it's surrounded with enough thickness! Isn't that interesting? Oooooh!"

"Yes, yes, that's great!" Zim muttered.

"The whole escaping thing? Heh?" Eric asked.

"Uh huh." Zim mumbled.

"Well, I better take my thick self on outta here! See ya tomorrow." Eric remarked, waving goodbye. Zim scratched himself. Then…he got an idea.

"Wait! I have a plan! Yes!" Zim laughed evilly. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha…HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"…let's start laughin' too!" Lard Nar remarked. He and the Resisty began to laugh as well as the "He's gonna 'splode" kid gulped, his normally big eyes widening more with stark terror.

And so…on the Day of the Foodening…

Inside Shloogorgh's, Zim was finishing up with the orders of the last couple of customers. He then glanced at the door, then ducked s a food tray hovered overhead. Sizz-Lorr was in the back, about to enter the back room and head out the exit door in the back of the restaurant. Zim saw the suitcases in his gloved hands and he blinked. "Where are you going? The Foodening is about to begin! Can't you feel it!?!" He proclaimed.

Sizz-Lorr held up an electronic pad and wrote down "VACATION" on it, stating he was taking a leave of absence as he stood in front of a hovering mechanical sphere. "With you here, I'll be taking this Foodening off! You can be in charge for this one." He remarked, sticking the pad into the hover sphere. It played a triumphant little tune and spewed confetti. Lots of it. BOY Irkens loved confetti!

Sizz-Lorr leapt up onto the top of the counter, eyes narrowing. "Laugh now, Sizz-Lorr! But you will know not to mess with Invader Zim!"

"I... wasn't laughing." Sizz-Lorr remarked quietly as Eric entered. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I…haven't laughed since yesterday..." He mumbled sadly.

Zim saw Eric had entered and enacted his plan, saluting. "My Frylord! Permission to trade stations with Gashloog!"

"Huh?" Sizz-Lorr blinked. "Why?"

"If he takes the counter, I can work in the kitchen where my pain and suffering is even more unbearable!"

"Pain, huh? OKAY!" Sizz-Lorr agreed.

Zim then headed into the kitchen and quickly tossed Gashloog at the counter. Gashloog groaned and rubbed his sides as Eric the Blob walked up to order.

"OOOh. Uhhh…welcome to ShlOOgorgh's! My name is GashlOOg! May I take your order?""

Eric looked at the menu. "Uuuh, I'll have a deep fried mooshminky and a jumbofied sack of Vort dogs! Eh...and to DRINK…"

Meanwhile, Zim, in the kitchen, pressed a button on a food dispenser device. Grabbing a tray and paper bag, he headed over to the tubes labeled "VORT DOGS", "SPLONG WINGS" and "TAQUITOS". Yes, Taquitos. EVERYBODY loves Taquitos! You love Taquitos, don'tcha? If you don't, I'll have to bring the Moose out.

They dispensed their food and Zim then headed over to a huge, churning vat, pressing the "Order" button. Steam shot into the air from the mooshminky wrap vat and Zim then took a deep breath, leaping inside. Sizzling hot, yellow/brown goop covered him as he was soon shot out of a nozzle wrapped up like a Zim burrito. He groaned as his whole body steamed. "So painful... and delicious!" He added, eyes widening.

Carefully he stuck his hand out and pressed the "Finished" button on the tray he and the rest of the food were now on, and then the tray hovered to Eric. He gulped down the vort dogs as the alien kid saw Zim's eyes inside of the mooshminky and he gaped, pointing as Eric pulled out a knife and fork, licking his lips.

Oh dear. Zim began to sweat nervously. Eric lowered the knife to the mooshmikey loaf and began to cut…

And then he decided "Aw, what the HELL" and shoved it into his mouth. He dapped his lips with a napkin, then stuffed the NAPKIN into his mouth as the tray hovered off. Getting up to leave, Eric headed towards the door as a line built at the register and Sizz-Lorr looked around. "Zim! You've got customers waiting for their orders! Pick it up!"

Eric walked closer to the door…closer…CLOSER…

"Hey, has anyone seen Zim? He's missing!" Sizz-Lorr growled.

Now Eric was THROUGH the door, and Sizz-Lorr was looking under the booths. "Where is he!?!" He snarled, heading for the door and sticking his head out. "He COULDN'T have escaped!"

Eric walked further into the crowd around the restaurant, and then…PA-WHOOOM! Zim POPPED out of his stomach via the bellybutton. "HA-CHAAAA!" He cried triumphantly, striking a heroic and defiant pose on the ground as Eric blinked. Then Zim turned and saw Sizz-Lorr was looking RIGHT-AT-HIM.

"Oh doody." Zim mumbled, running off.

With an angry roar, Sizz-Lorr rushed into the back of the restaurant, knocking customers left and right. Tossing his suitcases into the corner, he tore his apron off as a tube shot over his body from the ceiling as the pointing, annoying alien child watched on. A brief flash of light later the tube lifted up and Sizz-Lorr was now in a BATTLE SUIT, complete with giant spatula…and he was PISSED.

Zim continued to run for his life and had thought for a moment that Sizz-Lorr had given up. Then he heard the bellow of rage. "ZIIIIM!!!"

He turned to see aliens getting knocked through the air by a furious-looking Sizz-Lorr who was armed with a killer spatula! Zim tore across the ground as Sizz-Lorr leapt up into the air, holding up his spatula as light formed in front of it and a laser blast shot at Zim, barely missing him and hitting a "Foodening" sign just above him. He continued to fire as Zim kept running for his life, diving onto a platform and rolling right into a pole. Groaning, Zim opened his eyes to see the "Snacky Cab" building was right up ahead, a famous taxi service of Foodcourtia.

"Thank you for flying Snacky Cab! In just a moment, we'll be shutting down service for the next 20 years during the Great Foodening, which is about to begin!"

Zim gasped. "No! No!! Not while I'M here!" He yelled.

BOOM! A sign right behind him exploded. "I'm coming, Zim! No use running!" Sizz-Lorr snarled.

Deciding to use the Snacky Cab, Zim waved his arm at the nearest one. "Hey! Over here! I'll pay you triple!"

It took off. He frowned and instead decided to use the OTHER method, and launched a suction tube from his PAK to latch onto a nearby cab. Unfortunately it flew around and around, then snapped free, shooting through the air and crashing into a building. "Ooh. SORRY!" Zim yelled.

"RAAAARRR!"

Zim "eeped" and manifested his mechanical spider legs in time to jump out of the way as Sizz-Lorr tried to SQUISH Zim beneath his massive frame. Crawling onto a nearby hanger, Zim saw a Snacky Cab driver was walking out of his cab to deliver some luggage. Seeing his change, Zim raced towards the cab,knocked the driver aside, then snuck in. Unfortunately…Zim was a TERRIBLE pilot. He flew off but kept knocking into luggage, actually knocking into another cab.

"ZIIIM!" Sizz-Lorr growled.

Okay, maybe not.

As the alien kid pointed at him, Sizz-Lorr leapt into the air, bounding from ship to ship to land on Zim's cab. He stuck his spatula into the side of the cab to try and pry it open, but Zim promptly flew the cab lose to some signs. He collided hard with one of them and his left hand slipped off the spatula. Luckily for him, he quickly regained control AND activated his spatula's laser, shocking the cab and sending it flying into a tunnel.

Zim gulped as he saw the steering wheel was sparking. He groaned and rubbed his head as he looked around and saw…odd. Sizz-Lorr wasn't on the side of his cab any-

CRASH!

The spatula from Hell stabbed in through his roof over and over, the Sizz-Lorr pried the roof open, grabbing Zim by the head and trying to tug him out as Zim desperately struggled to stay in control of the controls! The cab flew high up, out of the tunnel, and in Zim's flailing his feet hit the steering wheel and the cab flew straight up, past the pointing alien kid and a sign for Doughnuts.

"OOOH." They both said, turning their heads to look at a sign that showed an alien with grinding teeth snackin' on a doughnut. "DOUGHNUTS."

Then they went back to the tugging and the yelling and the flailing. Sizz-Lorr, however, was beginning to feel the effect of the Foodening, and try as he might, he just COULDN'T hold on. He let go and Sizz-Lorr went sailing off the cab, screaming as he fell down…down…

BA-BOOOOOOOM! Right into a crowd of aliens, sending them all flying up in a tidal wave as Zim cackled. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAA!" He announced as he flew out of the planet. "How'dya like-"

HWOOOM!

The ship quivered…and then it began to move…

BACKWARDS!

"The foodening! It's beginning! Snacking... so powerful!" He gasped out as signs began to be pulled into the planet, a few of them striking his cab. "Must... break... away!" He screamed, pressing the button for the boosters…

THWOOOOOSH!

And with that…Zim was free.

…dozens of alien customers filled the restaurant as a furious Sizz-Lorr stood behind the service counter pressing buttons and ducking oncoming food trays. His purple eyes narrowed, turning red for a brief moment as he grit his teeth. "Curse you, Zim…CURSE YOOOOOUUUU!!!"

… "Now, back to Earth! Back to my mission! Have fun, Sizz-Lorr!" Zim sniggered. "Enjoy your defeat at the Zim hands of Ziiiim!" He proclaimed, waving his fists in the air.

Meanwhile, back at the "Snacky Cab Buiding", an announcement was underway. "Snacky Cab station is now closed! Any cabs not docked will explode for no apparent reason."

Zim, meanwhile, had reached Saturn, which was really a very lovely planet up close. "Doo dee doo doo doo doo doo…"

BOOOOOM!

Somewhere, somehow, there was a very happy alien kid clapping his hands as Zim screamed madly, his smoking cab crashing through the atmosphere of Earth and into his lawn. He groaned as he staggered out and saw that a few next door neighbors were looking at him. "I…was…eh…um…eh…"

He pointed at the cab. "That's normal, ya know."

The lady with a tumor on her head shrugged. "Mmm hmm!"

Zim quickly ran back into the house and pressed himself against the door, breathing a long sigh of relief. "HOME!" He said longingly. "Ah, sweet victory for Zim! It is good to be back, good to be Zim!" He blinked in surprise, seeing a giddy Dib and GIR had locked arms and were dancing in the living room, Dib having learned some VERY interesting things in the past 48 hours AND having gotten some good footage. "Huh!?!" Zim gaped.

The Almighty Tallest, who were on a view screen that had replaced the living room picture of the cute green monkey, noticed Zim waving his fist at Dib. "Hey! Get out of my house! Get out!"

Dib dropped the camera and Zim stepped on it angrily. "GET OUT!"

"HEY! HEY!" Dib yelled. "I paid 100 bucks for that!"

Zim then chased Dib around the house as GIR smiled and sat down on the couch to watch a "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" commercial while Zim continued to chase Dib around and around.

Red raised a non-existent eyebrow, then turned the transmission off with his remote.

BEEP!

Yeah, it's early, but I was in a good mood with all this warm weather. Please, review!