A/N: Whelp, here we are, the next entry in the Ruby Pair series. Gotta say, loving how much everyone is enjoying this story concept so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy what I come up with going forward.
Also, one quick note. And that's to thank my good buddy Invader Johnny, who suggested and wrote a small sequence for this chapter that I liked so much I decided to include it. I'll let you know which section it is at the end of the chapter.
Also, hoping everyone is doing okay in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Stay safe out there!
Nothing else to say for now, except read on!
Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and will never own Invader Zim or any related characters. They belong to Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon.
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The Ruby Pair Series
Welcome to Urth
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The journey from Cyberflox to Earth wasn't very long, but this particular trip was unbearable for the two Irkens crammed into a ship that was only supposed to have one passenger at a time, especially not when loaded down with all the supplies Zim had bought. He and Tenn spent the entire ride semi-aggressively trying to shove each other off the one seat to claim it for themselves. And it didn't help either of their attitudes that GIR decided halfway through to start singing the Doom Song; Zim, not being willing to go through that again, shut him up after a few minutes by means of shoving Minimoose into his mouth (the moose didn't seem to mind all that much).
Finally, they arrived back at Earth, and descended to land in the hanger of Zim's base. As soon as the ship touched down, the pair of them practically leaped out of the ship, GIR following them more sedately and spitting Minimoose out.
"Ugh, that was the worse trip of my life," Tenn muttered as she stretched her limbs.
"Zim doesn't know what you're complaining about. It's my ship, I at least should be comfortable in it!" Zim snapped, as he likewise stretched out his kinks.
"I was your passenger, you should have made me comfortable!"
"Says who?"
"It's called common courtesy!"
"Uh, master?" the Computer cut in, "Is there a reason there's another Irken with you?"
"Yes, former Invader Tenn will be staying with us for the foreseeable future," Zim replied, Tenn flinching at his word choice.
"Do you have to call me former Invader?" she asked archly, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
"Why not? It's true."
"Yeah? Well it's true about you, too. Do you call yourself Former Invader Zim?"
"…Fair enough," Zim said after a moment, before moving on, "Anyway, Computer, set up chambers for her to stay in."
"Where, exactly?" the Computer asked.
"Eh, I don't care," Zim shrugged, "Where does Skoodge usually stay when he's here?"
"Either a storage closet in the basement or the air ducts," the Computer replied. There was a moment of awkward silence following that statement, and then Tenn turned to Zim with a flat look on her face.
"I'm not doing that," she said, utterly deadpan.
"Ugh, fine. Computer, find some other place to make living quarters for Tenn," Zim said, before turning to his robots, "And you two make yourselves useful and unload all that stuff we bought on Cyberflox."
"Yes my master!" GIR replied with a red-eyed salute, while Minimoose squeaked in acknowledgement.
As the robots went to work pulling crates out of the Voot, the two Irkens stood in a mildly awkward silence, waiting for the Computer to say something. Finally, Tenn sighed in slight frustration.
"Well, as long as we're waiting, can I get a tour of the base so I know where everything is?" she asked. Zim blinked, his mind having wandered from lack of anything to do before she caught his attention with those words.
"Eh? Oh, sure, I guess," he said. Taking one last glance at the robots to make sure they were actually following orders for once, he turned and walked towards a nearby elevator, Tenn following after him.
A little while later, the pair were below ground in the base proper, Zim leading Tenn through the various labs and other chambers.
"And this is the main test subject storage area," Zim stated, leading Tenn into a room filled with large tubes containing various lifeforms, and with an oddly sticky floor, "Watch your step, by the way. GIR likes to come down here and vomit all over the place. A lot."
"Thanks for the heads up," Tenn said, face twisting in disgust as she very carefully made her way through the room. Passing by a particular tube, she paused and arched an antenna at its occupant, a human child with red hair, a far too wide smile on his face, and a large probe sticking out of his head with a smiley face symbol on top of it.
"Hey there!" he greeted her in a rather strained voice, "I'm, urgh, so… HAPPY! …to meet you!"
"Uh, Zim? What the flirk is this?" she asked, mildly disturbed by the sight.
"Hmm? Oh, that's just Nick. He's part of my test study in human emotions," Zim explained.
"'Part of'?" Tenn echoed. In response, Zim gestured to two other nearby tubes. Looking to them, Tenn saw that they contained a pair of middle-aged humans, also with probes in their heads; the man's probe had an angry face which matched the snarling look on his own face, while the woman's had a sad face, which was fitting as she was crying her eyes out.
"Let me out, you green freaks! I'm gonna smash your faces in! You hear me, you wastes of flesh?!" the man yelled, smacking his fists against the glass surrounding him.
"Oh, why did you take me? This is awful! My life is terrible!" the woman sobbed.
"After a while I got bored with just experimenting with one human emotion, so I decided to grab Nick's parents and test other emotions on them," Zim said, scratching the side of his head in thought, "What's weird is that it didn't look like they even noticed he was missing in the first place. Or they didn't care. Meh, either way, doesn't matter."
"How could you tell?" Tenn asked, "Were you spying on them to see how they'd react to you taking their spawn?"
"Nope. They just happened to live next door," Zim replied with a shrug.
"On that subject, sir," the Computer butted in, "It occurs to me that their house has been vacant since we took them. It would be a simple matter to extend the base into and beneath it, both giving Tenn breathing room and increasing our workspace."
"Excellent idea! Glad I thought of it," Zim said with a pleased smile, earning a sigh from the Computer and rolled eyes from Tenn, "Get to work on that. I want it all ready by the time Tenn and I get back from skool tomorrow."
"Skool? Why would I want to go to some inferior educational facility for human smeets?" Tenn asked, narrowing her eyes at Zim.
"If you want to live in Zim's base, you'll aid in Zim's mission, and that means accompanying me as I carry out my work," Zim said, matching Tenn's glare with his own.
"You don't make Skoodge do that," the Computer pointed out.
"Skoodge doesn't live here, he just visits sometimes! Why must Zim keep repeating that?" Zim snapped, "Now, get to work on that base expansion, while I fill Tenn in on everything she needs to know in order to be at least moderately capable of aiding me in my glorious conquest of this planet."
With that, Zim spun on his heel and marched out of the room, leaving Tenn behind with an annoyed look on her face.
"It's going to be like this pretty much all the time, isn't it?" she asked the Computer.
"This is him on a good day," the Computer replied, a note of sympathy in its voice.
"Yeah, that's what I figured," Tenn said. Giving a resigned sigh, she followed after Zim, leaving the Computer to its work. Meanwhile, up on the surface, that work was carried out as discretely as anything designed by Zim was capable of being — which was to say that cables burst out of his house and slammed into the one next door, demolishing most of a wall as they spread throughout the house, reshaping its interior to tie it into Zim's systems. At the same time, the ground around the house bulged and cracked as Zim's base extended underneath it.
Naturally, everyone else in the cul-de-sac watched all this with apathy, before choosing to ignore it and move on with whatever they were doing beforehand, completely oblivious to the significance of what they had seen.
XXXXXXX
The next day, as the morning sun climbed into the sky, Dib Membrane was already in his garage, hard at work on his captured Irken ship.
"Hurry up with those repairs, human!" the Tak Ship AI snapped, "It's bad enough that I have to have your filthy little alien hands all over me, but do you have to work so slowly?"
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can," Dib replied, more than used to the ship's insults by now, "You know, you should be glad I've even bothered to patch you up at all, rather than use you for spare parts."
"Glad? Is that a joke?" the Ship practically snarled, "Since I fell into your possession, I've been hacked by Zim, overwritten by your putrid personality, crashed multiple times, been slingshotted into the future, nearly sunk in the ocean, and been stuck on a planet inhabited entirely by copies of Zim!"
"I don't know why you're complaining about that last part. You weren't even online for most of it," Dib pointed out.
"It's the principle of the thing!"
"Whatever. Now let me work in peace, or I'll hand you over to Clembrane for the day," Dib said, smirking as the Ship's screens all flashed at the threat.
"No! He'll fill me with pudding again!" the Ship pleaded.
"Good. Then quiet down and-"
"Are you being creepy with the ship again?" Gaz asked from right behind him. Dib jumped in response, not having heard her approach.
"Gah! Don't do that," he complained, "And I am not 'being creepy'. I was trying to intimidate the ship into doing what I want… okay, yeah, saying that out loud, that does sound kinda creepy."
"Ya think?" Gaz said dryly, "Now come on, it's time to head to skool, and I'm not going to be late because of you. Move it."
Knowing better than to try and push his luck, Dib didn't protest. Instead, he put away his tools and grabbed his skool supplies, ready for another day of confronting Zim.
Of course, things weren't going to go quite how he was expecting…
XXXXXXX
Back in Zim's newly expanded base, he and Tenn were returning to the hanger, where the Voot Cruiser was already converted into its disguise generator form. GIR and Minimoose trailed obediently behind them, though the former seemed more interested in the Suck Monkey he was drinking than what was happening.
"…And don't be fooled by the ridiculous size of his head. The Dib-Monkey is incredibly devious, and has ruined many of my most brilliant plans!" Zim was in the middle of saying.
"That's not as big an accomplishment as you're making it out to be," Tenn said in response, keeping a straight face even as Zim scowled at her.
"Hmph. Well, anyway, you must now choose a disguise to blend in amongst the pig-smellies," Zim said after a moment, "Something that will let you walk amongst them without notice. Something that-"
"I know how making an Invader disguise works, Zim. I've used plenty," Tenn interrupted, frowning as she briefly remembered the various holographic disguises she'd used on Meekrob to great success, before those SIRs had destroyed everything.
"Er, right. In that case, go ahead," Zim said, gesturing towards his ship. Tenn merely nodded in response and walked up to the ship, bringing the screen online. She looked at the many disguises that the Voot suggested; it was hardly impressive compared to the ones her old ship could provide, but it was better than nothing. After all, if she was going to live on this backwards planet, first thing's first, she needed to fit in.
She brought up the first disguise suggestion, the image of an adult human with dark skin and hair, an oddly wide rear, and an overall rather unrealistic appearance.
"Too plastic-looking," she said with disgust.
Another disguise was of a woman in dark clothes and with her purple hair in pigtails.
"Too psychotic looking."
Another choice was of a redhead girl wearing a headband, a red shirt, and a purple skirt.
"That one looks good," Tenn said, pressing the screen. Two pods emerged from the Voot and closed on Tenn, making an egg shape when interlocked, with light pouring out of the seam as it activated.
"Ahhh! Damn it, Zim! You didn't tell me it would hurt! Why does it hurt?! It's a holographic disguise!"
After a few minutes, the pod opened, revealing the disguised Tenn.
"Nyah!" Minimoose commented.
"Thanks," Tenn said, "But it does not make me look less intimidating!"
"She looks like Takky!" GIR said, between sips of his Suck Monkey.
"Who?" Tenn asked, as Zim's eye began to twitch uncontrollably.
"NO! NO! NO!" he yelled, "This disguise will not do! It is pathetic! And no member of Zim's army of evil is pathetic!"
"Hey, wait a minute, I never said that I was a part of your-" Tenn started to protest, only for Zim to push her back into the Voot's pods. She pounded on the walls as they closed on her.
"ZIM, YOU BASTARD!" she yelled angrily, "Let me out!"
Zim wasn't listening. He continued to look around for a disguise he deemed acceptable, and after several minutes of searching (and Tenn promising to cut out his squeedlyspooch and make him eat it), he found something. So he pressed the activation button on the screen, and the Voot began to fabricate the selected disguise.
"Ahh, damn it Zim!" Tenn yelled, "You sick, twisted freak! Do you enjoy pain or something?!"
After a few seconds, Tenn emerged from the pod again, now with a less human-like disguise.
"INGENIOUS!" Zim proclaimed, "Now this is a disguise worthy of Zim's army of evil!"
"It's a terrible disguise," the Computer stated.
"It's just like mine!" Zim shouted back.
"Case in point."
Meanwhile, Tenn was checking out her reflection in the screen. In contrast to her more spot-on disguise, she was now only wearing a longhaired redheaded wig and contacts with green eyes, while her green skin was exposed and her Invader uniform untouched.
She grit her teeth at the ridiculous attempt at a disguise.
"ZIM!"
"No need to thank me," he said, arrogantly and obliviously, "All in a day's…"
But he didn't get to finish, as Tenn sucker-punched him in the face and laid him out cold.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," the Computer said, "Damn… the one time I'm not recording anything."
XXXXXXX
Some time later, after reluctantly reviving Zim, the Irkens had made it to the Skool. Now, as everyone prepared for their first classes of the day, Tenn opened her locker to sort her supplies, ready to get her first day here over with.
She closed her locker, only to be met with an angry human.
"Uh, hi?"
"I don't believe it!" Dib shouted, "First Zim, then Tak, and now you! What's it going to take for you Irkens to stop coming to Earth?!"
Tenn stared blankly at him for a moment, before recognition sparked in her eyes.
"Oh, you must be Dib," she said uncaringly, "Zim told me about you. Not going to lie, your head is even bigger than I expected. How do you keep your body from being crushed under such weight?"
"For the last time!" Dib snapped, "My head is not big!"
"That's like saying Zim is an alien," Tenn said with a smirk, "Just because you saying it, doesn't make it true."
"Ooh, good one!" Zita said as she walked by, "See, Dib? Even the new kid is more sane than you!"
As Dib sputtered, Tenn walked away, not really wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore. Just as she was about to enter the classroom, the front door burst open and Keef came running into the building.
"I can't be late again!" he said in a panic, "I don't want to spend the rest of the Skool year in the Underground Classroom!"
Being in such a hurry, he didn't really look where he was going, and that made him the perfect target for Torque, who stuck a leg out in Keef's way. Keef hit it and fell over, hitting the floor face first. As Torque snickered at a job well done and walked away, Tenn looked on at what had happened.
Honestly, she didn't care about human smeets picking on each other. But at the same time, she never had a tolerance for bullies; it reminded her too much of back in the Academy, where shorties like her were pretty much abused by the taller Irkens. So, seeing Keef scrambling to gather up everything that he'd dropped all over the floor before the bell rang, an extremely tiny part of her couldn't help but twinge with sympathy.
Seeing one of his books at her feet, she figured it couldn't hurt to help just this once, so she grabbed it.
"Hey you!" she snapped, holding the book out in Keef's direction, "I believe this is yours."
Keef looked up, only to meet the prettiest set of green eyes he had ever seen.
"Uhh… thanks," he said awkwardly, "I'm Keef."
"Don't care," Tenn said, "Just get your stuff, class is about to begin."
"Yeah… Thanks for the heads up, uhh…"
"Tenn," the disguised Irken said as she walked away.
"Tenn," Keef repeated dreamily, "What a pretty name."
A few minutes later, a starry-eyed Keef had taken his seat alongside the other students, while Tenn was standing in front of the room next to Miss Bitters. Despite having been forewarned by Zim, she still felt her skin crawl at being next to the ancient hag, but forced down the discomfort and kept a neutral expression on her face.
"Students, as you may have noticed, we have a new, useless lump of flesh being added to the class," Miss Bitters announced, before turning to Tenn, "If you have anything to say, do it now, and then never speak again."
Tenn repressed a scowl at the wording used to describe her, instead focusing on addressing the class.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Tenn. I'm a… friend, of Zim's from the old country, and now that I've moved here we're neighbors. It's very nice to meet you all," she said curtly as she recited her cover story, not feeling in the mood to dance around the point.
"Thank you for the brevity," Miss Bitters said, before looking over the class and pointing to two students at random, "Zita! Melvin! We need to make room for the new student. Go to the Chamber of Worthiness!"
"Yes Miss Bitters," the selected students moaned in resignation, getting up from their desks and walking towards an ominous archway in the back of the room that Tenn had somehow overlooked.
"Chamber of what-now?" Tenn asked, squinting one eye in confusion.
"It used to be that if we had to make room for a new student, I could just press a button and drop them through the floor into the Underground Classrooms, but then the skool board had 'moral concerns'," Miss Bitters explained, making air quotes on those last words, "Now we send two students into the Chamber, and whichever one doesn't come back forfeits their desk."
"What happens to them in there?"
"You don't want to know," Miss Bitters said, as a battered and slightly burned Zita reemerged from the Chamber, "Looks like you get Melvin's desk. Now sit down and be silent!"
Tenn stared for a moment, still slightly confused by the situation, before doing as she was told and taking the vacated seat.
"Now then, class, we will continue where we left off yesterday, regarding how all your hopes and dreams are utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things," Miss Bitters said, "Before we begin, however… Dib, would you like to get your paranoid delusions about the new student out of the way now, or will you be waiting to randomly interrupt later in class?"
"I'm not delusional!" Dib said, answering that particular question, "I mean, look at her! Are we really supposed to believe she just happens to have the exact same 'skin condition' as Zim? And just happens to be wearing the exact same outfit?"
"Well, that just shows how little you know," Tenn sniffed in false offense, "This skin condition and fashion style just happen to both be very common in the Old Country that Zim and I are from."
"Yeah? And what country is that exactly?" Dib just, smirking smugly as if he'd just scored a major victory.
"…Oldcountrystan!" Zim blurted out before Tenn could say anything. Hearing the lame attempt at a name, she just barely resisted the urge to either facepalm or throw something heavy at his head. Probably both.
"That's not a real country!" Dib protested.
"Yes it is!" Zim snapped back.
"Enough!" Miss Bitters snarled, cutting off anything else Dib had to say, "You've now used up the thirty seconds a month that I'm willing to listen to your ongoing nonsense. Now be silent!"
Surprisingly, both Zim and Dib did as they were told and settled down in their seats. With that out of the way, class carried on as it usually did, with the small exception — overlooked by everyone else — of Keef being clearly more focused on staring at Tenn than paying attention to the class.
XXXXXXX
A couple of hours later, class let out for lunch, and the students made their way to the cafeteria. Zim led Tenn to a side table, where upon sitting down Tenn stared cautiously at the various substances on her tray that were supposed to be food.
"Zim recommends not actually eating any of this caragash," Zim commented, casually mashing the mess on his own tray with his spork, "Just move it all around so it looks like you're eating, then no one will be suspicious."
Tenn made a noncommittal noise in response, absently following Zim's example while scanning the room. Aside from Dib — who was glaring at them from his seat at a table across the room next to a purple-haired girl she assumed from Zim's briefing was his sister — there was nothing that looked like a potential threat. Assured by that, she turned back to pretending to eat her "food", only to pause as she registered someone approaching the table. Looking up, she was surprised to see Keef walking up to them.
"Hey, Zim!" he greeted cheerfully.
"Ah, Keef. I see you continue to not be dead," Zim replied flatly.
"Yep," Keef said. Then he glanced at Tenn, fidgeting nervously for a moment before coughing and saying, "Hi. We didn't get a chance to properly meet before-"
"We exchanged names. What else did we need to say?" Tenn questioned.
"Heh, right," Keef laughed awkwardly, "So, um, how do you two know each other?"
"We knew each other back in the old country, and now we live next door to each other. That's it," Tenn said, bored already; hadn't this all been covered already back in the classroom?
"O-oh. So you're just friends?" Keef asked hopefully, eyes lighting up slightly.
"As opposed to what?" Tenn asked, now genuinely confused.
"Oh, um, nothing, never mind!" Keef said quickly, blushing brightly.
"Zim isn't even following this conversation but I'm thoroughly annoyed already. Go away," Zim commanded.
"Sure, okay. I'll come by your house to visit later," Keef said, starting to walk away but looking over his shoulder at them.
"Please don't."
"See you later!" Keef said, ignoring Zim's comment — and apparently Zim himself, as his gaze seemed more focused on Tenn, until he finally looked away to pay attention to where he was going.
"…What just happened?" Tenn asked, once Keef was out of hearing range.
"I used him as a proxy early in my time here on Earth in order to prove that Zim has friends and is therefore normal," Zim explained with a shrug, "But after I was done with him, he refused to take the hint and keeps bothering me. And worse, he somehow got it into his head that Dib and I should be friends as well. Eck."
"Why not just get rid of him then? I've literally seen you blow up more for less of a reason."
"I've tried!" Zim protested, "I've ripped his eyes out, blown him up, vaporized him, even tossed him into a tree shredder one time, and nothing works, he just comes back! I think he's not even really human, but some kind of force of pure annoyance that wills itself into existence just to make my life miserable!"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating," Tenn said, "Especially since he seemed more interested in me just now than you. Seriously, what was up with that?"
"Eh, I don't know, you probably just caught his attention because you're new. He'll get over it," Zim said, turning his attention back to his tray. Tenn did likewise, the two sitting in silence for a few moments before a thought occurred to her and she looked at him again.
"You said you were using him as a friend to make yourself blend in more? I should probably do something like that myself."
"Knock yourself out," Zim said dismissively, "Just make sure to avoid the table in the corner — that's where I found Keef, and I think most of the others are weird even by human standards too."
"Duly noted," Tenn said, looking around the room again. Carefully taking in all of the assembled students, she took note of one in particular, namely Zita, who was sitting at a table near the cafeteria's doors. Deciding she looked as good a target as any, Tenn picked up her tray and walked over to Zita's table, plopping down in front of her.
"Hello," she greeted with forced friendliness, as Zita blinked in surprise at her presence, "I've decided that I need to make new friends here, and you seem like a good place to start."
"Uh, okay?" Zita said slowly, "It's Tenn, right? I'm Zita."
"I know. Miss Bitters said your name during that whole 'Chamber of Worthiness' thing," Tenn said, looking at Zita inquisitively, "By the way, what happens in there?"
"Ugh, don't ask," Zita replied, shuddering at the memory before shaking it off, "So, you're from the same country as Zim, and live with him now?"
"Next door to him, actually. And only for lack of better options," Tenn explained, "Believe me, the last thing I want is to spend extensive amounts of time around him."
"I can get that," Zita said, nodding her head sympathetically, "Especially if it means also having to hang around Dib too, by default. Nice put down of him earlier, by the way."
"I've dealt with worse," Tenn said, "Speaking of which, do you know what the deal is with that Keef kid? He kept looking at me weird, and it was creeping me out."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Zita replied, "He's just one of those people who wants to be friends with everyone, whether they want it or not. Just be glad he's not like Chammy."
"Who?"
"The last new girl we had here," Zita explained, "Total weirdo obsessed with everyone being friends with each other, and weirdly capable of making them be. Hell, she somehow convinced me to be her best friend within a day. Still have no idea how that happened…"
"And where is this 'Chammy'?" Tenn asked, curious to if she'd have to deal with such a nuisance.
"I dunno, she just sorta disappeared one day. Of course, she was kinda obsessed with getting Zim and Dib to be friends, so I wouldn't be surprised if they knew what happened to her," Zita mused, before shrugging, "Eh, whatever, I don't really care, she freaked me out. So, changing the subject a bit, what do you like to do for fun?"
For the remainder of lunch, Tenn bluffed her way through conversation with Zita, slowly but surely setting up a facade of friendship. And all the while, she was ignoring the glare Dib was shooting her, and oblivious to the dreamy-eyed look Keef had locked on her.
XXXXXXX
A couple of hours later, skool let out for the day, and the students made their way out of the building. Giving Zita a politely curt goodbye, Tenn quickly fell into step beside Zim as they made their way onto the sidewalk, skies quickly greying above them.
"I see you had some success convincing the Zita-Human to be your friend," Zim commented.
"Surprisingly easy, really. I suppose humans must be naturally social creatures," Tenn replied, "I think I'll have a little fun seeing how much I can get out of her before I cut her loose. She might have some use."
"Aha!" Dib shouted, startling the Irkens as he popped out of a nearby bush, "I knew no Irken would be nice to someone for no reason! What are you planning, alien scum?"
"…Were you just hiding in that bush waiting for us to pass by and say something incriminating?" Tenn asked incredulously.
"Yeah, he does stuff like that a lot. Get used to it," Zim said, scowling as his surprise shifted to annoyance.
"Don't change the subject!" Dib said defensively, "What are you up to?"
"I'm merely trying to blend in more, if you must know," Tenn said, planting her hands on her hips, "Though if I were plotting something more, why would I tell you? I mean, really, who would be stupid enough to talk about their plans with their enemy while they're still being enacted?"
"Well, I assumed that since Zim does that all the time-"
"You lie!"
"That figures," Tenn muttered with an eye roll, before speaking up again, "Okay, so it was nice listening to you two both being stupid, but I'm going to go home now."
"Don't get too comfortable in that little base of yours," Dib said threateningly as Tenn sidestepped him to continue down the street, "I'm the sole defender of the Earth, and if either of you think I'm going to back down just because Zim's got himself a new minion, you've got-"
"Minion?!" Tenn exclaimed, startling Dib into silence as she suddenly spun around to stare daggers at him, "Did you just call me a minion?!"
"Uh…" Dib stammered, before yelping as Tenn grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close.
"Listen carefully, human," she hissed, "I am not some no-name, second-string lackey you can just dismiss like I'm no threat. I am the greatest Invader of my generation, personally handpicked by the Tallest to infiltrate Meekrob itself. Not Skoodge, not Larb, not Spleen, me! So don't you dare look down on me! You got that?!"
"…There's an Invader named Spleen?" Dib asked, too stunned to give a more coherent reply.
"That word means something different in Irken," Zim commented, rather enjoying the unexpected show. For her part, Tenn rolled her eyes again and shoved Dib away.
"I might be stuck living here for the foreseeable future, but don't think that means I'm going to just play along with whatever stupid feud you two have settled into," Tenn stated firmly, "So do whatever you want to each other but leave me out of it. Or else I'll-"
Before Tenn could complete her threat, there was a sudden crack of thunder, as the gathering storm clouds hit their peak and started raining, soon drenching everyone out in the open. Zim, having long since turned bathing in protective paste into a second nature, wasn't affected beyond mere irritation. Tenn, who didn't even know she was supposed to be wearing paste, was less lucky.
"AAAAHHHH!" Tenn screamed as her skin started smoking, running off in the direction of the base. Zim and Dib stood in the rain, watching her go in an awkward silence.
"You didn't warn her about what Earth water does to Irkens?" Dib asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Huh, I guess I didn't," Zim said faintly… before suddenly shoving Dib into a newly-formed puddle and taking off after Tenn as Dib sputtered in the water.
Meanwhile, Tenn had reached the base in record time, and was curled up on the floor in front of the TV as her skin still mildly burned. Minimoose had helpfully draped a towel over her, while the Computer had lowered several blowdryers from the ceiling to dry her off; GIR, meanwhile, was blankly staring at the TV, and in fact seemed oblivious to her presence.
This was the state that Zim found her in when he arrived home, showing zero concern for her as he casually tossed aside his disguise and toweled off. Noticing this, and pain having subsided enough to do so, Tenn jumped to her feet and tore off her own disguise to glare at him fully.
"What the flirk, Zim? You should have warned me this planet had Irk-damned acid rain!" she snarled.
"Technically speaking, it's not the water that's acidic, it's all the waste chemicals that the humans have seeped into the environment over the years," the Computer explained, "That's what's having the bad reaction with your biology."
"I don't care about the specifics, I want to know why you didn't warn me!" Tenn snapped, "And don't say-!"
"You didn't ask," Zim replied, earning a growl from Tenn, "And would you calm down? It's not a big deal, just bathe in paste like I do, and you'll be protected from the humans' filthy water."
"Ugh, fine, whatever, I'm too tired to stay angry," Tenn grumbled, "Is there any good news to try and balance this out?"
"Well, I finished the base expansion, so now you can get your own section to stay in now," the Computer stated.
"Zim was wondering what that door was doing there," Zim commented, looking to where a large metal hatch of a door was now taking up a large chunk of the far wall. Tenn, who had also overlooked this due to the pain she'd been in, made a noise of acknowledgement and walked over to the door to examine her new living space, a curious Zim and his robots following after her.
Pulling the door open, they made their way down a short corridor connecting the house to the one next door. Flinging open the door on the other end, they emerged into the other house's living room. About half the space had been wrecked and torn apart by the base's expansion, replaced with metal and cables which also spread into the undamaged areas. Other than that, it was a perfectly normal-looking area, wallpaper and carpeting being fairly muted pastoral colors, a TV, couch, and other pieces of furniture scattered around. A look in the kitchen confirmed it was the same there, being a completely normal, human-designed room.
"Well, the interior design's a little 'meh'," Zim commented, "But that's easily fixable, I suppose."
"This is my section of the base, Zim, I'll handle the decorating. No creepy monkey paintings or out of place toilets, thank you very much," Tenn said, "Though it just now occurs to me, couldn't we have just built downwards instead of outwards? Wouldn't that have been more subtle?"
"Maybe, but it would have meant potentially building right into that Dooxisi, and Zim is not dealing with that again!" Zim stated, eye twitching, while Tenn arched an antenna in surprise.
"Dooxisi? I thought they were extinct?"
"Zim wishes! I ran into one a few miles below the base a while back when I was looking for some splodium for a plan," Zim explained, shuddering at the memory, "Then he kept me as a 'guest' in his base and kept telling the most boring stories I have ever heard! I wanted to tear my antennae out! I finally used up all the splodium I did have just to blow him up, but I survived the explosion so he probably did too, and I don't want to run into him again."
"…Fair enough," Tenn conceded, after taking a moment to digest all that. And before she could say anything else, there was a knocking on her new house's front door. The Irkens blinked at that, and after sharing a look tossed their disguises back on, Tenn then going over to answer the door.
"Hi, Tenn! Nice house," Keef greeted brightly, standing on the doorstep with an umbrella in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. Tenn squinted an eye at him, before shooting a confused look over her shoulder at Zim, who shrugged.
"Why are you here?" she demanded crossly, though Keef didn't seem to notice.
"Well, uh, I just wanted to give you a 'welcome to town' present!" Keef responded with a slight blush, all but shoving the bouquet in Tenn's face. Still confused, she reluctantly took the flowers from him, causing his smile to grow even wider.
…
…
"…You can go now," Tenn said, before shutting the door in Keef's face. She then turned back to Zim, who looked as confused as she felt, "Why did he come all the way over here just to give me dead weeds?"
"I don't know. This is unusual behavior even for him," Zim said, "He didn't even seem to notice Zim was here, and I can't remember the last time he overlooked my presence."
"He loves you!" GIR proclaimed happily, Minimoose squeaking in agreement.
"Excuse me?" Tenn asked flatly.
"GIR, what nonsense are you spewing?" Zim demanded.
"On da TV, you gives flowers to someone to shows you love them!" GIR said, "Keefie loves da the pretty lady, just like I loves Master! And Moose! And TV! And Pig! And tacos! And-!"
"Yes, we get it GIR, you love everything," Zim cut him off, while Tenn's face twisted in disgust.
"A human has romantic interest in me? Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick," she grumbled, tossing the flowers to GIR, who immediately ate them, "I need to lie down and process this before I throw up. Go away."
Zim growled at the appearance of being ordered around in his own base, but shrugged it off and stomped over to the tunnel back to his house, GIR following him.
"Nyah!" Minimoose squeaked, lingering behind.
"No thanks," Tenn replied, tossing her disguise aside, "I just need to rest up."
"Nyah!" Minimoose acknowledged, floating after his master. Watching them all leave, Tenn flopped down on the couch, rubbing her forehead to ward off a migraine.
So, to recap her experiences after just one day on this planet: she was stuck sharing a base with the biggest moron she knew, on a filthy mud ball populated by idiotic apes who had poisoned their own water supply to the point it burned her skin, and some creepily happy human was affectionate for her, probably for no reason other than her being nice to him in a moment of weakness. Honestly, looking at it all like that, a part of her was convinced that she had to be stuck in some kind of nightmare.
But, considering that the alternative was going back to slumming through random seedy spots of the galaxy and trying to scrabble together a living, she couldn't afford to give up on this. At least here, aiding Zim in his self-appointed mission, she had a chance to reclaim her lost glory. For that, she'd have to put up with all the annoyances that came with it.
With that thought in mind, Tenn drifted off to sleep, determined to make the most of her situation.
XXXXXXX
The next day had passed fairly similarly to the one before it, with the exception of Tenn bathing in paste before leaving the base, just in case. Other than that, it went by mostly the same, Tenn forcing herself not to fall asleep as Miss Bitters droned on nihilistically, ignoring Dib's death glares at her and Zim, and then chatting amiably with Zita during lunch. In all these regards, everything was the same as the day before.
What was different was that Tenn was now fully aware of the longing looks that Keef was sending her way from his own table.
"I swear, he's making my skin crawl," she muttered as she moved around the mush on her tray.
"It could be worse," Zita commented, "Imagine if Zim or Dib had a crush on you."
Tenn shuddered in disgust at that mental image. True, at least Zim was a fellow Irken rather than a filthy human, but he was still Zim. The very idea of him potentially pining after her made her even more sick than what she was feeling from Keef's ridiculous crush.
"Do not even joke about that," she said firmly, earning a snicker from Zita.
"Seriously, though, it's just a harmless crush. Ignore him and he'll get over it," Zita said, "Though speaking of Zim, why do you hang out with him so much anyway? I mean, I get the whole thing about knowing each other already and living next door to each other, but that doesn't mean you have to spend all the time together now."
"Well, he's the only person I actually know here, other than you," Tenn replied, "And I barely know you, at that. So my options are rather limited as to who I can spend my time with."
"You know, we can hang out after skool too," Zita pointed out, "I can show you around town, introduce you to people, that kind of thing."
"…That's not a bad idea, actually," Tenn admitted after a moment, "At the very least, it wouldn't hurt to get the lay of the land."
"Great! We can do that later if you want."
"Sure, not like I have anything better to do."
They spent the rest of the lunch period hashing out a basic plan for what they would do afterwards. After that, they returned to class and trudged through the rest of the day, until the time finally came once again to escape the building for the day.
"Zim fails to see why you'd want to do this," Zim said as he and Tenn exited the skool, "Why spend all day with humans when you could be assisting Zim in his plans of conquest?"
"First of all, I've been here three days and haven't seen you plan anything," Tenn replied dryly.
"Zim is merely resting his brain meats and giving you time to settle in!" Zim protested, "I am as generous as I am brilliant!"
"Secondly, the more time I spend 'hanging out' with Zita and other humans, the more normal I'll appear and the more I'll blend in," Tenn continued, ignoring Zim's outburst, "So if I'm going to be living here on Earth, this is only natural for enforcing my cover."
"Gah, fine, whatever. Do what you like, Zim has his own things to attend to," Zim muttered, walking off. Tenn watched him go, before shrugging and walking over to where Zita was standing nearby, along with Sara and Jessica, whom she was quickly introduced to properly.
"So, what are we doing first?" Tenn asked, as the group started walking down the street.
"Well, we figured we'd start with the one place anyone our age in America should be completely familiar with," Zita said, "The mall!"
"Seriously?" Tenn asked flatly, "That seems somehow… cliche and lazy."
"Don't knock it till you've tried it," Jessica said, "Unless you want everyone to think you're a weirdo like Zim, you should at least try to do normal stuff."
Tenn glared at Jessica, deciding she already didn't like her. Seeing this, Sara quickly spoke up to diffuse the tension.
"So, anyway, it's really great to have a new face around here," she said, "While we're shopping, you can tell us some more about yourself, and we can tell you about ourselves, all really get to know each other."
"Fine, I have nothing else to talk about, anyway," Tenn said, glad that she had ignored Zim's more blasé approach and actually created some basic fake background information for herself, which she began reciting as they started down the street.
XXXXXXX
Zim had returned to his base, fully intending to sit down and get to work on a new plan aimed at finally conquering Earth. However, after staring blankly at a screen for an hour with no ideas coming to him, he finally gave a growl of frustration and kicked the console, sending his chair lightly rolling across the floor while he crossed his arms and scowled.
"Invader's block?" the Computer asked dryly.
"Silence!" Zim snapped, scowl deepening, "Gah, what is wrong with me? I usually would have come up with fifty brilliant plans by now!"
"And maybe two would have been viable."
"Didn't Zim just tell you to be quiet?! Unless you have something actually helpful to add-"
"Honestly? I think you're lonely."
"Eh?" Zim blinked, staring dumbly at the console.
"Yeah. You've finally got some company of your own kind — other than Skoodge, who let's be honest is more of a prop to you than a person — and now you're feeling a little jealous that they're spending time with people other than you," the Computer explained, "Which means that you're so worked up about that that you can't focus on your work."
"Nonsense! Zim is not so needy," Zim sniffed dismissively, "Though I will admit that I do enjoy having someone intelligent other than Minimoose to talk to for a change."
"I'll try not to take offense at that," the Computer replied flatly, "But the point is, you've adjusted rather quickly to having someone else around to listen to you, so suddenly having her choose to not be around is hard for you to handle."
"Bah, enough of this ridiculous attempt at psychology! Zim needs no one's company! I have merely hit a creative dry spell; I'm sure once I've done something to take my mind off it, ideas will come to me in an instant," Zim said firmly.
"Okay then. Well, if you're looking for a distraction, I should probably tell you that Dib is breaking into the base through the new extension," the Computer said, as a screen flipped on to display Dib prying open one of the cables connecting the base's two houses and climbing in.
"What?!" Zim yelled, jumping to his feet, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
"You didn't ask," the Computer replied smugly. Zim growled, before running off.
Meanwhile, Dib was crawling through the cable he'd pried open, the small space even more cramped by all the equipment he was carrying. In addition to his usual collection of cameras (all analog; digital was too easy to be dismissed as fake), he was also packing a pair of water pistols, several sets of sleep cuffs, a net launcher, and even an experimental laser gun he'd been tinkering with by studying the Tak Ship's weapon systems. It might seem like a lot, but considering he was now going up against not one but two highly-trained Invaders, he didn't think he could afford to be underarmed.
Squirming through a junction, Dib paused to try and orientate himself with his mental map of Zim's home. If he was right, he should be in the base proper now, though he wasn't exactly sure where. Actually, come to think of it, should he have headed into Tenn's house instead? After all, it was new, so it might not be as well-defended as Zim's… no, he couldn't waste time doubling back now. Besides, at the very least he knew what to expect from Zim's security; he didn't know Tenn well enough to anticipate what she might have in place.
Having made up his mind, Dib continued in what he believed was the direction of the main control room — at which point the bottom of the cable beneath him was torn out, and with a yelp he found himself slamming hard into a floor.
"I must say I'm mildly impressed, Dib-Stink," Zim sneered as Dib scrambled to his feet, "I didn't think it possible for that head of yours to fit in such a small space."
"Seriously, what is with people calling my head big?" Dib demanded, "I've measured it, it's only a few inches bigger than average, tops!"
"Zim doesn't care," the Irken replied, deploying his PAK legs, "Now prepare to pay the price for daring to break into my base yet again!"
"Bring it on, I'll take you both- wait, where's Tenn?" Dib responded, trailing off as he noticed Zim was alone.
"Eh, she decided to spend time with some of the worm-babies she's pretending to befriend," Zim replied with a shrug, "Zim personally doesn't see the appeal."
"Great, she's manipulating people into being her friends," Dib said, before shaking his head and refocusing on Zim, "Well, never mind, I'll deal with her later. First, you're finally going down!"
"Ha! Zim would like to see you tr-GAH!" Zim started to gloat, only to be cut off as Dib suddenly whipped out one of his water pistols and shot a stream of water in Zim's face. The pressure of the stream was just strong enough to partially wash off Zim's paste coating, causing minor burns as it made contact with the exposed skin.
As Zim screeched in pain and stumbled backwards, Dib dropped the water pistol and pulled out the net launcher and fired it. The net slammed into Zim and wrapped around him, dragging the alien to the floor. Grinning triumphantly, Dib set aside the launcher and pulled out a set of cuffs and a camera, and started advancing on his foe.
Unfortunately, before he could do anything, Zim's PAK legs spread out and cut clean through the net, freeing him. Jumping up, he slashed out with the legs, knocking the camera and cuffs out of Dib's hands. Yelping in panic, Dib grabbed for his backup water pistol, only for Zim to kick him in the chest, knocking him on his back and sending him skidding across the floor, while the pistol was knocked out of his grip and sent flying in the opposite direction. Growling, Zim flung himself at Dib PAK legs first, the human barely rolling out of the way as they stabbed into the ground, then jumping to his feet and pulling his laser gun out. Aiming it at Zim nearly point blank, he pulled the trigger-
Boom!
-and it promptly exploded, sending him flying into a large nearby pipe, which burst open under his weight, allowing him to fall into its depths with a high-pitched cry. Zim, whose face was covered in soot from the nearby explosion, blinked in surprise for a few moments, before wiping his face clean and walking over to the pipe.
"Has this always been here?" he asked, scratching the side of his head.
"I may have had to rearrange a few things to properly link up with the extension," the Computer replied, "I'm pretty sure that dumps into the caverns under the base now."
"Hmm, well, this could be a fun little way to get rid of him," Zim mused with a smirk, "Should I go down there and hunt him for sport, or just leave him to rot? Or maybe I can-"
DING-DONG
"Oh, now what?" Zim growled. Looking to a nearby screen, he grimaced as he saw Keef standing at his house's front door, repeatedly pressing the doorbell. Muttering angrily to himself, he put his disguise on and stomped off towards an elevator, riding it up to the surface.
There was silence in the room for a moment, before Dib's voice echoed up from the pipe.
"Zim? Are you there? Come on, man, you can't just leave me down here, that's a jerk move even for you! …Wait, what's that sound? …Are those giant moles?! No, stay away! AAAAHHH!"
Meanwhile, Zim reached the surface and marched over to the front door, flinging it open.
"Hey Zim!" Keef greeted, oblivious as ever to the clear annoyance on Zim's face, "Is Tenn here? I tried her place, but she didn't answer the door."
"No, she's out with some of those female dirt-monkeys from class," Zim responded in exasperation, "Now begone with you, Zim is busy!"
"Okay, I guess I can go track her down. Then I can give her the present I got her!" Keef said happily, Zim blinking as the boy held up a rather mangy-looking cat with a pink bow tied around its neck, "I found it in the park! You think she'll like it?"
"No," Zim said flatly.
"Huh, why? Is she more of a dog person?"
"That's not what I-"
"You're right, I should just ask her myself! Here, you can keep the cat, GIR might like a playmate. Bye!" Keef said, gently leaving the cat at Zim's feet before turning and leaving.
Zim watched him run with a scowl, which he then turned on the cat, which was looking up at him with a look that somehow perfectly blended annoyance and apathy.
"Zim is not going through this pet nonsense again! Go away!" he commanded the animal.
"HIIISSSS!" the cat screeched, suddenly leaping into the air to latch onto Zim's face with its claws.
"AAAHHHH!" Zim screamed in pain, running around blindly as he attempted to get the cat off of him.
"I am so glad I remembered to be recording this time," the Computer said happily.
XXXXXXX
At the City Center Mall, Tenn's group emerged out of the front doors, all of them carrying several shopping bags each, except for Tenn herself.
"I don't believe this," Jessica sniffed, "We were in there for over two hours, and you didn't buy a single outfit!"
"I told you all when we got here, I'm not interested in clothes shopping," Tenn replied testily, "I have plenty of clothes, I don't need to buy more. Seriously, what's the point of buying more clothes than you need, which you'll probably only wear once anyway?"
"It's the principle of the thing!" Jessica snapped, "I mean, what girl our age doesn't like shopping? I'm starting to think that that freak Dib is right and you really are from another planet."
Tenn's eye twitched at that. But before she could say or do anything, Zita sighed heavily.
"Jess, we're trying to help her adjust to living here now, not insult her," she said, giving Jessica a dark look.
"It's not my fault all she did was hang back like a weirdo instead of doing something as normal as this," Jessica shot back.
"Yeah, but saying that Dib is right about her?" Sara asked, "That's just wrong on so many levels."
As the three girls descended into bickering, Tenn rolled her eyes and kept walking down the street. She didn't particularly care what any of them thought of her, so long as they didn't seriously believe Dib's accusations. Beyond that, she'd at least managed to personally scout out some of the city, and while she found the obsession with the Mall pointless, she did take note of its high-end security; she might take some tips for the base. Furthermore-
"Hi, Tenn!" Keef said, suddenly appearing in front of her. With a startled yelp, Tenn jumped back several feet, while the other girls paused in their argument to see what was happening, rolling their eyes in disgust when they noticed Keef.
"Don't do that!" Tenn snapped, "And what do you want now?"
"Do you prefer cats or dogs?" he asked in response, Tenn blinking at the question.
"Neither," she said after a moment, "Now go away."
"But, I-"
"No," she said firmly, glaring at him, "I don't have time to appease your ridiculous little crush. So knock it off and leave me alone."
"Bu-but, I've never felt this way about anyone before!" Keef protested desperately, "That's gotta be a sign we're meant to be together! Give me a chance!"
"This is like something out of a bad rom-com," Sara muttered to the others.
"C-grade soap opera at best," Jessica added.
"Just to be clear, I was only nice to you when we met out of a moment of misplaced pity. I am not remotely interested in your or your emotions," Tenn said, "Now, last chance. Walk away before I send you away."
"No! I'll do whatever it takes to earn your love!" Keef said dramatically.
"Forget soap operas or rom-coms, this is like an anime parody," Zita commented, the others nodding in agreement.
"Okay, that's it. I'm officially out of patience," Tenn said flatly, pulling a palm-sized spherical device out of her PAK and holding it out, "Here, hold this."
"What's this?" Keef asked, taking the sphere and staring at it curiously. In response, Tenn pressed a button on her wrist, activating the device. It popped open, and cables shot out, rapidly wrapping around Keef until everything except his head was encased in a metal cocoon. As he blinked in surprise, a rocket also popped out of the sphere and ignited; with a scream, Keef was dragged off into the air, soon disappearing over the horizon.
Tenn smirked as he watched him go, before turning to the girls, who were all staring in shock.
"What the hell was that?" Sara asked incredulously.
"A little something my parents cooked up," Tenn replied smoothly, glad that of all the cover stories she could have created, she went with the scientist concept, "Comes in handy when dealing with creepy stalkers. Or door-to-door salesmen."
That earned some amused snorts from the others, Zita and Sara turning to Jessica with smug looks.
"See, I told you she'd be fun," Zita said.
"Ugh, fine, whatever, I guess that was pretty cool," Jessica said, waving it off and looking at Tenn, "I still think you're weird, though."
"Fair enough, I still think you're stuck-up," Tenn replied, making sure to make it sound playful, "Anyway, I think I've had enough excitement for one day. I'm going home, see you all at skool."
The other girls said their goodbyes, which Tenn barely paid attention to as she started walking away. As she made her way back to base, she silently mused over everything that had happened over these first few days on Earth.
"Well, things have certainly been… interesting, to say the least," she thought, "Less dangerous than Meekrob, for sure, but definitely more eventful. But, I suppose things will settle down soon enough."
Just as she thought that, Tenn entered the cul-de-sac… and was greeted by the sight of numerous laser blasts erupting out of Zim's house. Cursing, she charged the house, ready to join a fight, only to skid to a halt and stare in confusion as a cat suddenly darted out of the house and Zim emerged immediately after, firing at it with a blaster but missing completely as it bolted down the street.
"And stay out!" Zim snarled, while GIR appeared next to him and waved after the cat.
"Aw, bye kitty!" the robot said sadly, before perking up as he saw Tenn approach them, "Hi, pretty lady!"
"What the hell was that?" she asked, squinting an eye at Zim.
"Keef left that filthy animal here in an attempt to please you," Zim replied in disgust, throwing off his disguise as he reentered the house, Tenn following him and GIR heading for the couch, "And then I couldn't get it to leave! And it dared attack me!"
"Well, you won't have to worry about him for awhile," Tenn stated as she took off her disguise and examined the relatively minor damage to the base, "I strapped him to a rocket and launched him. I figured he ended up at least a few counties over."
"Ha!" Zim barked a laugh, enjoying the mental image for a moment before giving Tenn a questioning look, "So, are you done wasting time with your fake human friends? We have work to do."
"How is me pursuing my cover keeping you from working?"
"Not the point! Our deal was that you'd provide Zim with the help I don't need but would appreciate, in exchange for me letting you stay here!"
"Ugh, fine, I don't feel like arguing over something this pointless," Tenn said, throwing up her hands in defeat, "But I will say that reserve the right to spend time with Zita and the others on occasion just to continue to blend in."
"Why?" Zim asked, blinking, "You've proven that you can make friends and are therefore a normal human. You don't need them anymore, just cut them loose. That's what I did with Keef."
"And how has that worked out for you?" Tenn asked dryly, smirking as Zim scowled in response, "I'll handle things my own way, Zim. Now then, let's get down into the lab and get to work."
Zim merely grumbled at once again being given orders in his own base, watching as Tenn flushed herself down into the lab.
"This is going to take some getting used to," he muttered, before pausing and scratching the side of his head, "Huh, I feel like I'm forgetting something. GIR, is there something I was going to do?"
"Monkey!" GIR replied, ignoring his master in favor of the TV.
"That figures," Zim said, rolling his eyes, "Oh well. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll remember it later."
With that, Zim headed down to his lab, ready to get to work with his new partner.
XXXXXXX
"…And that was when I realized it was time for my semi-annual toenail clipping," Xooxi the Dooxisi said, leaning back in his recliner as he recounted his story, "Fortunately I had remembered to charge my laser nail clippers, otherwise I would have had to do it manually, and there's nothing worse than that, am I right?"
"Please kill me now," Dib groaned from where he was slumped on Xooxi's couch, barely conscious from boredom. Xooxi had been rambling for hours, ever since his giant moles had dragged Dib into the base, and Dib honestly couldn't take it anymore.
"Haha, you're such a kidder! Not at all like that Irken jerk," Xooxi laughed, "Hey, wanna play a few rounds of Blumpo? I'll go grab the board!"
"Please don't," Dib begged, only for Xooxi to ignore him and run off. Dib considered making a break for it, but decided against it as the moles growled and pointed their head-mounted lasers at him, forcing him to stay on the couch.
"Curse you Zim, curse you," he moaned, as he slumped further on the couch, silently praying that he could get out of here soon.
Unfortunately, it would be awhile. But that's a story for another time…
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
A/N: And done. Sorry if this was a little all over the place, but there was a lot of stuff I wanted to cover for Tenn setting up shop on Earth; some might be important later, some might not, I'm honestly not sure.
Again, special thanks to Invader Johnny, who wrote the sequence from when Tenn is getting her disguise to Keef developing his crush on her. That was simply too good not to use — it's such a bizarre pairing idea, even if one-sided, and I wanted to play with it. Oh, and Tenn "befriending" Zita was also his idea, which I liked, especially after Zita's slightly large role in Issue 50.
Speaking of which, hoping everyone enjoyed all the comic references scattered throughout this chapter.
Also, I love cats. That whole bit just seemed like something that would happen in IZ.
That's all for now. See you all next time, whenever that is. And once again, remember to stay safe and healthy out there.
Please review!