Carefully, Skoodge passed through the airlock systems and landed the Voot inside the Vortian vessel. Zim and Skoodge hopped out of the windshield and were greeted with shaky guns held by severely injured Resisty members.

"There he is!" Spleenk shouted. They all lowered their weapons and Lard Nar stepped forward through the crowd.

"You." He snapped, looking up at Zim. "You're worse than Spleenk!"

Zim raised an eyebrow at the bold Vortian glaring up at him.

"We were at the mercy of the Massive! You left us behind!"

Zim rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I already told you, goat. I'm here for the Tallests, not to carry around your pathetic troop."

"There were TEN of us!" Lard Nar screamed. "Three of us were in escape pods, and then YOU had us SPLIT UP! I lost three of my people because of you!"

Zim looked around at the Resisty. They were all pathetically holding themselves, very clearly injured. Laser burns, PAK wounds, gashes and bruises. Zim didn't recognize exactly who was missing from their group, but he didn't really care, he looked back down.

"Their lives were not lost in vain, Tallest Purple is dead."

Lard Nar's eyes widened. "R-really?"

Zim flicked his antennae, feeling all eyes on him.

"A-and Red?"

Zim looked away and scowled. "He escaped."

"How?"

Zim's scowl darkened as a faint blush fell over his cheeks. "It doesn't matter."

"So they were in vain!" Lard Nar yelled. "We were destroyed! And you didn't even manage to kill both Tallests!"

"One is better than you and your useless crew would have accomplished!" Zim snapped down at the Vortian.

"You're insane!" Lard Nar snapped. "Why did I even listen to you?" He turned and began to pace with a small limp.

"Break through the Massive, storm the halls, destroy the escape pods. What rubbish! Seven untrained members storm the halls of an entire ship full of elite Irken drones?" Lard Nar waved his arms around as Zim watched him vent. "And 'destroy the escape pods'. Sure! But what use was that when you didn't plan for the enormous docking bay full of prepared Voot runners?"

He whipped on Zim with an enraged fury. "I thought you were a well trained soldier! Or at least competent!"

"I was well trained."

Or maybe I wasn't. Maybe that was a lie too.

How long exactly did he live under the hoax of the Tallests' cruel joke? How much of his life had been a lie? Was it only his mission? Or did it go further? It didn't matter. What matters now is finding Red.

"You served your purpose, my ingenious plan worked exactly as it should have. I had Red, but he got away."

"You're INSANE!" Lard Nar repeated. "You used us for your own pathetic revenge scheme, and three of us DIED!"

"The casualties are an unfortunate setback," Zim waved him off and began walking away, already bored of the conversation. "But are more of a reason to continue our assault. Red is still out there somewhere. We'll avenge your comrades when-."

"STOP!"

Zim rolled his eyes and turned with his arms crossed. Lard Nar stomped over, pointing a shaky finger up at Zim.

"I was a fool to think I could trust Irkens!" He turned to shoot a glare at Skoodge and back up at Zim. "I want both of you off my ship!"

"Is that so?" Zim spoke slowly.

"You have been nothing but trouble since you arrived. Nothing more than I should have expected from an Irken. A defective Irken at that."

Zim glowered down at the Vortian, flattening his antennae.

"I'm warning you, goat. Do not try my patience."

Lard Nar pointed away from him, boldly standing taller and puffing out his chest.

"Off my ship!"

Zim's antenna flicked. He stood quietly for a moment, thinking, then he stepped forward and grabbed the Vortian by one of his horns. Lard Nar was knocked off his feet as Zim dragged him backwards toward the airlock. He thrashed and kicked, grabbing and clawing at Zim's hand.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO!"

Zim sneered and only quickened his pace. The crew sprang up, despite their injuries, to aid. Zim's PAK opened and he stabbed a few of his legs into the floor in warning. The large, three headed alien ran forward at Zim, but before he could grab for Lard Nar, Zim swiped his legs out from under him with a PAK leg. The alien fell with a crash onto the floor and Zim aimed a metal leg at the center head.

"Stay down, three-head." He scowled. The alien did not move, the center head glared back while the other two avoided his eyes. Lard Nar continued to thrash as Zim stepped around the three-head and up to the airlock, the rest of the crew backed away, fearful. Lard Nar, visibly panicked, began to scream.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" He begged as Zim opened the door. He threw the Vortian in with a hard smack against the opposite wall and slammed the door shut. Lard Nar scrambled to his feet as Zim raised a claw to the button.

"WE MADE A DEAL!" Lard Nar screamed as he banged on the glass door. Zim smirked and looked down at the terrified Vortian. He dropped his hand to lean against the glass door.

"Yes, we did." Zim tilted his head. "And you came very close to breaking it off." Zim watched the Vortian's terrified eyes soften as he leaned off the glass door. He turned his attention to his new crew. "But I'm still commandeering your ship. You'll have to remain where you won't be anymore of a nuisance."

"LET ME OUT!" Lard Nar banged on the door again.

"Skoodge," Zim ignored. "Go find Mini-moose and GIR."

Skoodge nodded and ran out of the control room.

"As for the rest of you," Zim leaned off the door and took a threatening step toward the crew with his hands behind his back. "You'll follow me or you'll join him."

"We'll never follow you." The hooded female stepped forward, glaring with her icy eyes.

"Oh, yes you will. His life depends on it." Zim smirked down at her, Lard Nar stopped banging on the glass and looked from the Resisty to Zim.

"Nyyyyaaaahhh." Mini-moose greeted as he floated through the door with Skoodge and GIR.

"Yes, I did. Get over here." Zim beckoned.

Mini-moose floated to Zim, upside down, and stopped just short of bumping into his face. "Nyah!"

"Guard this Vortian." He gently moved Mini-moose away and pointed at Lard Nar. "He is not to escape. If anyone approaches, press this button."

"Nyah." Mini-moose hovered toward the button.

"No don't press it now!" Zim smacked the moose away, he gently spun in the air and returned back to the button. "Only if they try and let him out!"

"Nyah!" Mini-moose promised. Zim turned to Lard Nar again, about to speak, to see a wide-eyed GIR standing at his feet. His tongue was sticking out and he was making a quiet, squeaking noise like a deflating balloon. Zim flattened his antennae, looking down at the expectant robot.

"You too, GIR." Zim rolled his eyes. GIR squeaked again before sitting down, facing Lard Nar's door. Zim looked back up at Mini-moose who floated silently in front of the airlock button, and out at the wary audience.

Now he could see it, they were missing the Large Nostril Person, the brain thing, and that alien with the horn on its chin. Everyone else seemed to be well enough, their injuries would heal eventually, but they wouldn't be ready for another fight for some time. Zim furrowed his brow and looked out the windshield of the ship. The Massive was now barely visible after drifting so far away. Zim's antenna twitched and he sighed.

"I'm going to my room. No one will disturb me." Zim darted his eyes to each crew mate and began walking away to the door. "I will return with further instructions."

"You can't do this! I'm the captain of this ship! I'm the leader of the Resisty!" Lard Nar shouted through the glass, waving his fists around in anger.

"I love this show." GIR cooed, happily clicking his heels, watching the Vortian from behind the glass.


Zim closed his door, or at least what was left of it, and stood in his dark room. Silence hung in the air like thick smoke and the iciness of space still nipped at the edges of his skin. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cold door, allowing his antennae to drop. Slowly, he slid down the door onto the floor in a quiet heap. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

The room was still dark and still destroyed. The walls were still scarred open and speckled in green. Everything was still the same. Despite all that had just happened. Despite what he'd done. Purple was dead.

And she was still gone.

Zim's throat caught and he closed his eyes again. He brought his knees in and wrapped his arms around his legs.

And it's all my fault.

He took a deep, shaky breath, as he released he felt the weight of the scene fall on his shoulders all at once. Zim quaked as he took another breath, tears starting to edge at his eyes. He dug his claws into his shoulders and let his head fall on his knees, still shaking and choking back a sob.

Purple was dead. Purple was dead. He killed Tallest Purple. But it didn't change anything. It didn't matter. Nothing matters anymore. Purple didn't even stand a chance. They left him behind to die. And Red. He had him. It was over, but he let him go. He let him get away. It would have been over, done, finished, but he was too weak to finish him off. Zim ground his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.

"GAAAH!" Zim roared and raked his claws into his arms again. He slammed his head back on the door against the pain as he ripped open his wounds.

Weak! Too weak!

Too weak to finish Red, too weak to kill the purple-eyed drone, too weak to fight against space. He gave up so quickly, he didn't even try. He was sick of being so useless. So pathetic.

He clenched his fists as his arms bled and shook. You could hear faint drops of blood on the floor in the dark, quiet room. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily as the waves of pain passed. He could feel his arms throb, but his discretions would not go unpunished.

Zim sat on the floor quietly, letting his arms relax. As the drops of blood slowed, so did his breathing. He released his fists and flexed his hands, wiping his face, he groaned.

What was he supposed to do now? The Resisty would be difficult to manage now that Zim had Lard Nar imprisoned. They won't cooperate as well after the mission went so poorly, and even more so in their regrettable condition. He was down four extra members in an untrained, ill prepared, band of useless nobodys, but they would have to do. He couldn't pilot the Vortian ship alone, let alone lead another attack, he would need them just a little longer. Just an extra buffer between him and Red.

And Red? He could be anywhere by now. Once everything stabilized, Red would send wave after wave of drones on Zim until he was killed for what he had done. It was only a matter of time before the entire Irken Empire was after his head.

It's too much.

Zim sighed. He'd had enough. The battle left him weary and sore, and the creeping reminder of space left him numb. He was so tired. He raised his gaze to the unused cot in the darkest corner of his room and slowly rose off the floor. He took two steps and collapsed onto the bed, allowing his eyes to droop and close.