The sea rippled strongly on what looked to be a clear day. The sky was blue, the cloud was white as snow, gust of winds blew but not too strong. A voot cruiser zips by close to the water surface, causing it to spray in its track. As the the cruiser continues on, the sky starts getting darker and darker. Inside the voot, 2002, originally known as Zim, was driving the vehicle while his Gir looked out with his glowing light pink eyes in awe by the scenery. The voice of his computer came up just as soon as he started to notice something strange about the weather.

"Approaching coordinates now. Weather condition unknown."

"Ugh," the fish irken groaned in irritation, "Ofcourse. This stupid planet always has a thing with its strange weathers. Especially in the middle of the at...blantis whatever-you-call-it ocean."

He then looked about the ocean.

"What is this mysterious irken even doing here? They could have burned out to death by the Urth's water for all we know. Unless their ship crash landed here...or if they have the same condition as mine. Even so, where are they? We approached the coordinate and I don't see a trace."

A happy beeping sound can be heard from his Gir as he happily taps him and pointed out to something. 2002 went ahead and looked out at what he found. His eyes furrowed.

"...That's just a glass bottle, Gir."

Gir made a questionable beep.

"No, we will not open it to find a message. Not in this weather. Now," he looks back while tapping the buttons and looking at the monitor, "computer, locate where the distressed irken is at."

"Distressed irken is up ahead at the swirly vortex."

He looked up and noticed what appears to be a gigantic strong dark grey vortex that has been covering the entire sky, it's strength already starting to be felt by how it's beginning to pull the ship along with making it softly vibrating by the powerful wind. He looks up uncomfortably.

"You...sure that's where they're at?"

"Correct. However, the origin of the vortex appears to be unknown. There's something strange about it that won't let me analyze it further."

"Hm," he softly frowns, "looks dangerous. But it would be kind of foolish of me to leave a stranded irken in there like this. Maybe if I just go a little higher to see if anybody really is in there..."

He lets the ship go a little closer to the vortex and peeks withIn the opening, only to just see gust of clouds swirling violently within. The center of the vortex appears to be endless.

"Hm...I don't seem to see-"

Suddenly, the gust of wind from the vortex started to strongly pull the ship inside, causing the Irken to cut mid-sentence by the realization.

"Oh dookie..."

He tried to stir the ship away from the vortex and blast away from it. But not even the ship's strongest thruster can fight against the strength of the weather. The ship plummets into the vortex. Everything in the voot cruiser began to violently rattle as the alarms starts going off and the lights began to weakly flicker. 2002 now started to take this serious as he gripped unto the steering handles and looked at Gir, who have flown to the other side and is just dazed in confusion by everything happening around him.

"Gir! Hold onto something as tightly as you can!"

Gir glanced about and ponder before hugging himself.

"Besides yourself!"

2002 didn't have time to check if Gir was doing as he was told before looking back out.

"Computer! Find the best direction to exit."

"Zzzz...can't...identify. Signal is-zzzt!"

"Rrgh! Thought so. It looks like I have no choice but to let the vortex take me head on!"

He stopped stirring the ship away and let the wind take his ship whatever it was taking him. He notices a green light at the other side of the vortex.

"This looks like our exit. If I can speed up so I can zip out of the storm..."

he suddenly noticed his SIR unit rush over to look at what was in front of them.

"Gir!" He shouted out in frustration, "how many times have I told you!"

The robot's pink eyes glistened in awe by the sight of the green light that became brighter and brighter.

"Hold onto to anything on the ship and you should be-!"

The ship crashes unto the mysterious green light, causing the electricity to violently surge through the ship and make 2002 let out a harsh grunt, feeling his body be thrust forward and hit against the glass window. With his eyes still facing his SIR unit, he within a second watched the electricity violent surge through the robot, blowing his entire fried body apart. 2002 looked in blank horror and disbelief. He did not notice his ship starting to make a plummet to the ground.

"...Gir?"

He heard a loud crash and bang, feeling his body violent fly within the cruiser.

He blacked out.

"2002!"

The fish irken gasps and jumps awake, his body heaving to the point that few bubbles came out of his mouth. For some odd reason, it felt as if his body within his suit was boiling.

"Finally you're awake," he quickly turns to see 501 and the guards, who have already opened his cell door, "what the heck were you dreaming about?"

2002 gazed at them, still processing back to where he was at.

"D...dreaming?"

"You were trembling like crazy and kept saying things like 'it didn't happen' multiple times," one guard stated.

"...I did?"

"You know what? Whatever," 501 spoke again impatiently, "talking about a Zim's dream would leave us here all day. We have a new job for you."

At that moment, the pondering of his dreaming cut off from the slave, his eyes now showing full attention.

"A new job?"

"Yup!" 501 smiles, "We got a message back from Number 1 and he knows just the best place for you. So we better get moving if you wanna see what it is."

2002 blinked, his mind processing everything he was saying. The leader of all Zims...is seeing potential in him? It can't be. He's only been in this void for a day. And he has done nothing but stand behind a short column, pretending to be a decoration all day. Unless that is if he may have been told about himself by one of his guards and actually see greatness in him...

"Well? You coming or not?"

2002 blinked back, realizing he was just quiet there for quite a while. If Number 1 is really rewarding him, he can't just throw it away now. Anything that can be better than having to be stuck in a cell or used as decoration.

"Uh, yeah!" He smiled, "Sure. I'm coming."

The guards gave space so he can get out of the cell. 501 gestures him,

"Follow me."

2002 nods as the lead guard started leading the way to their destination.

—-

For some odd reason, 501 and the other guards have escorted him to the top of the walls that are surrounding the gladiatorial arena and the castle. Although the Zapper cannot be seen, it's green light can softly be seen in the distance and the horizon that had a purple tinted color, letting him know that it is early dawn. Being so high above, he can feel the breeze slightly brush his suit as he looked about his surrounding, eventually seeing some of the vortexes high above, which look extremely familiar to the one he went through. For some strange reason though, it wasn't sucking in anything. They were just...there. Possibly the ones that are making the winds.

He finally noticed a crescent moon, companied by millions of stars in the night sky. He could not help but be in awe. Despite how prisoned he was in this world, he cannot help but admire the scenery. Its empty and seemingly dead...but strange and beautiful at the same time.

"Over here," he turns to 501 when he called to him. He makes a head gesture to look out. He was hesitant, but 2002 walked up to the edge of the wall and looked out at what was in front of him. He did not realize until now that when he meant by the world being pretty dead, he didn't mean that the world was this dead. Everything outside the walls were just rocks, dirts, and piles of junk. There was no sign of life whatsoever. Now that he thinks about it...

"Uh...what am I suppose to be looking at?"

501 gives a nod to the guards while he's looking out and they walk towards him.

"If anything all I see are pieces of ju-"

He suddenly felt several hands harshly push him off the wall. He lets out a scream and tried to activate his spider legs, which for some odd reason, the weapon equipments in his PAK weren't coming out at all. But after what felt like forever, his body fell unto the ground and made a him roll a bit before coming to a complete stop.

His body quivered a bit and he grunted, trying to recover his pain from the fall. It was a miracle he was not seriously injured after a fall like that, but part of his body still hurt. Nonetheless, he was able to fully sit up and look up at the walls the guards were standing at and looking down at him in pleasure. 501 went to the front and called out,

"Congratulations, 2002! This will be your new home now! At the Wasteland with all the other Reject Zims."

He made a pause. Wait, what? What did he say? What is he talking about?

"Reject Zims?"

"Yup! Zims that have either turn against the system or Number 1 finds no use for!"

"But I never planned on turning against the system!" 2002 narrowed, "I was doing everything you asked me to do! I spent 13 hours or more pretending to be a decoration! I followed every rule!"

"True true," 501 nodded, "but even so, Number 1 said his words and that's all there is to it."

"What words?" He squinted, now feeling a sense of anger starting to click within him.

"Oh 2002," 501 crosses his arms, "isn't it obvious? Even we saw it the second you set foot in the Zimvoid. You're far too soft."

2002 blinked,

"Too...soft?"

"Oh it's written all over you. You crying out for your Gir, your politeness. Not to mention how you helped that Zim after he fell off the ladder."

"What? No! I would never do such a thing like-"

"I saw you 2002. There no need to lie to me."

"...you what?!" His eyes widened in disbelief.

"It's part of my job after all," 501 shrugs, "finding new Zims isn't my only role. I'm the leader of all the guards after all. So it's my job to do as many tasks as I possibly could in order to keep the slavery system in check. Even if it means spying on each of them."

The fish irken remained quite, but his face now showed a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"Oh cheer up, 2002. Wipe the anger off your face. Look on the bright side! You don't have to work anymore. You are free to roam about this world and do whatever you like. Ofcourse just as long as you don't go near the walls or the Zapper site."

"And what do you think I'm suppose to do here?! There's nothing here! And I can't find the Rejects anywhere!"

"Oh you'll find them. You will just have to figure it out yourself. As for us, we'll be continuing our duty. Stay out of trouble!"

They start leaving when 2002 remembers something.

"Wait! Is there water around here?! How am I suppose to change my bowl when it gets dirty?!"

But they were already gone, leaving former slave to be alone outside the walls.

He lets out a sigh. He looks about the lifeless land.

"...Well...at least I was able to break out of there. Sort of."

He glanced at his PAK. He automatically opens and takes out the communicating device. But when he tries activating anything, whether it's his spider legs or any other weapons or equipment, nothing happens. It seems most of the functions on his PAK has been disabled, most likely due to the effect of the Zapper. Yet, somehow, his communicating device is still able to come out of his PAK. There's however no telling if it will work this time. Maybe it didn't work because he was trapped indoors. If he can just get a second of good signal.

He took a breath,

"Gir! Come in! What's making you respond so long?!"

Nothing but static sounds came from the device.

"Gir! I said come in!"

He waited, but nothing. Ok? Maybe...

"Miniwhale! Come in, Miniwhale! I'm stuck in a void, can you read me?"

He waited, but not even his other servant was responding to him. Possibly because getting connection from another timeline is impossible.

He sighs.

"Whatever," he puts the communication device away, "I can figure out how to get out of here by myself with my great intelligence. All I need is to find my ship, analyze the damage, and then scavenge for the requirements in other crashes ships. Then again..."

He looks out at a soft green light at the distance,

"That will mean I would have to go near the Zapper site. And it's likely the guards go there to find any arriving Zims. What would they do if they catch me walking about there...?"

He was silent for a short while. But shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. I'm sure I'll figure out a way," he said before running off.

Within several minutes passed, he can see the sight of the Zapper from the horizon. And luckily, he does not see any signs of guards around just yet. Looking good. He can feel his heart pumping in confidence, his eyes lit up in determination as he starts running closer to the site.

"Yeah. You got this, Zim! I can do this. I can d-"

He suddenly runs to a hole that he did not see, causing him to fall in. He yelps out in panic and tried to stop him self from sliding down the steep ground, but it was no use. He was sliding down fast with everything getting darker the deeper he got. Until finally, the steepness stopped on a flat rocky ground, making him tumble and roll about on it, going to a complete stop with his body laying face down.

He soon grunted, shakily using most of his strength to get up again. Seriously. He just been pushed off those high walls ten minutes ago. It doesn't really make him feel any better when his body tumbled down tons of jagged rocks. But he was able to fully stand up, rubbed part of his body that was hurt and looked about his surroundings. There's no doubt he was quite deep underground...besides not analyzing how deep. One thing he knows for sure is that it's going to be impossible finding his way out of here when it's this dark. He looked at his PAK and sighs. He just hopes it still works. He focuses on his PAK, thinking of what he wants it to activate, until it started glowing. The electricity passed unto the tube and then unto his bowl. A light from the button of the bowl flickered until it faint lit up, giving the bowl a soft aquatic-like glow.

"Yes!" He whispered to himself. It was not as strong as it was suppose to, possibly due to how damaged his PAK is from the Zapper. but it's still good enough. He looked out through the tunnel that is a bit clearer to see. He took a deep breath.

"Guess I have no choice but to only follow this path."

Although his body was still recovering a bit, he wasted no time in continuing onwards.

—-

2K turns the lamp on, allowing to see the map the was laying on the table. He stretches in order to have his body fully wake up, along with cracking his fingers.

"Alright. No planning on trying to ambush them. If I'm going to recruit members for the Resistance, I'm gonna have to just retrieve back the stolen items from their base without them noticing. The big question is where their base is. I have explored the town multiple times and analyzed each sites. There has to be a hidden entrance around that area. Usually when I get there earlier, I tend to see them come out from the alley next to the hotdog stall."

He drew a mark of that alley.

"So if that's the case, there must be a hidden entrance. Either by the wall or ground of the alleyway. But that would be strange. Each side of the buildings are owned by the Hotdog and Vampire Zim. So it wouldn't make sense for their base to be in either one of them. Not to mention that there's barely anything on that alley except for piles of junk..."

He let the bottom of the marker he's carrying to softly tap on his chin, trying to figure this mystery out.

"Hmm...I guess I won't be able to figure this out unless I take a good look at that alley again. After all, I haven't seen that alley since I first arrived in the underground town."

He closes up his marker and puts it down on the table before turning off the lamp. He grabs his goggle, puts it on, and hops out of the stair in order to race downstairs. He did however slow down so he can sneak past the door that leads to the Elder's room and soon after starts racing out of the base. The Meat, who was leaving his own room saw him, and hops over into the Elder's room where he was seen meditating.

"Mmmph!"

The Elder's eye squinted open,

"Ah, so he is..."

"Mmph!"

"Hmm..." he thought about it. But he close his eye shut again. "Eh. Let him be."

"MMMF?!" The baloney Zim's eyes widened in shock.

"It's no use trying to lecture him, Meat. Besides, who knows. Maybe he might be unto something. Whether or not it works, we can just hope he learns something out of it."

Meat frowns. He glances out.

"Though if you are still worried about the little guy, give him till the sun sets and you are free to search for him again. If not, you can continue your lookout."

The Meat still felt uncertainty. But after a short while, he turns to the Resistance leader and nods.

—-

2K grunted with each buildings he climbed and each risky leaps he made. But he eventually slid down a wall pipe to get to his destination: the Hotdog Alley. Yeah...he basically has started on naming alleys now after several days of being in this town. Makes him wonder why he didn't do it earlier. Whatever. He landed on the ground, heaving for breath after the exercise he has given himself, but with his heart still beating fast in determination to fulfill his mission. Though...maybe it'll be better to save up his energy for a short while and have a walk around finding the hidden entrance. After all, there's no telling if the those inferior Zims will sneak up behind him. He needs to make a good dash if they do.

After gulping the required air his body needed, he continued on by walking about the alley. But really, all there is just piles of junks, piles of junks, piles of junks and, well, more piles of junks.

"Strange," he told himself, "if there no hidden door here, why would the gangsters like to hang around here? The best will be collecting scraps in order to buy themselves food. Though...maybe the hidden door is hidden beneath these junks. But that wouldn't make sense. Even if that was that case, it would take them a while on covering and on uncovering the entire pile. If they would want to be careful not to cover the entrance long enough for someone to see them..."

His small antennae twitched upwards in realization. He took notice of the smallest pile of junk that was pretty much smaller than the smeet.

"...they would have to make it small enough to uncover."

He glanced about, making sure he wasn't spotted, and rushed over to the pile. He quickly threw any scraps off and brushing the remaining scraps and dirt until he saw a big wooden plank on the ground. He grasped unto the edge of it and let out a loud grunt of effort until he pushed it aside. Catching some breath, he looked and saw that the plank covered an underground entrance with crafted stairs descending downwards.

He stared at the entrance for a short while. He let out a grin.

"Bingo."

—-

A spark came from his PAK.

"Gah!" 2002 let out a short sound of pain before pressing his hand on his hip. Making a soft hiss and his teeth clenching, his pacing slowed while he looked at his PAK. He rest his hand on it, realizing now how really warm it felt.

"Ugh...my PAK. it's overheating to the point that it's draining my energy faster. Must be the part of the damage. Could it be that I can only light up my bowl for a short period of time? Ghh!"

He felt another spark on his PAK hit his back again, causing the light on his bowl to flicker out.

"Rrgh. Well that's just great. I swear," he squints, "when I find whoever put that stupid green device in this empty void, I will..."

His words died off when his eyes blinked up to notice something far off from the tunnel.

"Wait. Is that a light?"

He hesitated for a short moment, but continued onward, ignoring the slight fatigue in his body from using most of his energy on a nightlight. The cave started looking brighter and brighter that 2002 needed half cover his eyes due to how long he's been in the dark tunnel. But he finally emerged out of it, entering what appears to be a much wider space. And he can hear...voices? Wait. There are people underground?

He couldn't fight back the urge on shielding his eyes any longer and uncovered them. Once he looked at what was in front of him, he stood completely still, his eyes gazing in complete surprise. There aren't just people underground. This extended underground area was big enough for a small town to settle here. Buildings that can contain at least three to four floors. And these people were even more Zims. They were each doing what typical citizens normally do. Each were seen opening up their shops or hotels, doing chores, or meeting up with others. And they appear to look happier than the Zims within the walls. The place where he was a slave for a single day.

They look like they are just doing...whatever they like-

"You don't have to work anymore. You are free to roam about this world and do whatever you like."

501's words repeated in his mind, causing him to come into a full realization. All this time, he thought that the guard was making up about them, just as a way for him to stay outside the walls. After all, there no life outside the walls except several guards and a bunch of junks. At least...in the surface. This underground town. The underground town must be the Wasteland that eyepatch loser was talking about. And if this is the Wasteland...these Zims. There's no mistaking it.

They are the Reject Zims.