It wasn't long until the group arrived at a teleporter room. This one, untouched by Zim and Dib, was still fully staffed and in perfect condition. Zim certainly got several wayward glances by these staff as he entered with the guards. After all, he was infamous even before he got the whole Earth marked for destruction and boarded the Massive only to kill dozens of guards and nearly kill the Tallest. Regardless, it only took a few instructions from the guards for the workers to set up the teleportation. The group, including the guards, stood on the platform, and then they were sent away.

They arrived at the threshold of the shipyard, at the door on the far end of where Zim had been; where the reinforcements had been entering before. They walked farther into the room, stepping over several bodies— some of which were being dragged off by makeshift cleanup crews. Indeed, it was obvious that the group's plan had come with a large body count.

Mechanics and engineers worked to fix the collateral damage the area had taken by stray laser fire and whatever other weaponry of war had been used. And in the distance, Zim could see the ship he'd taken up here— the ship he'd originally taken to Earth upon starting his mission. And there, his ship was nearly completely destroyed; worse than he remembered it being, even.

They walked closer to it, and stopped beside it, having walked nearly the full length of the large room. Beside the ruined ship was some sort of an engineer, who was consulting a computer system. He saw the group and its escorts arrive and looked up. Then, the guards and the engineer had a quick aside, a few steps away, in Irken. Zim could make out a few quiet words, although Dib was completely in the dark.

The Irkens stepped back to where they had been. The guard that had been barely tolerating Dib's earlier questions spoke up, "Your ship's damaged?"

"Yes," Zim stated, "and the Tallest said that I could choose a ship to replace it."

"I heard." The guard glared at Zim, "Well, he's told me you can choose any of these five." The guard gestured back at the engineer before vaguely pointing between the five ships closest to the group.

Zim turned to look at the ships and stepped back to try and see more of them at once. There were quite a few options to choose from. There was another Voot Cruiser, like the one Zim had flown up here, although not broken. Two Spittle Runners grouped together at the Voot Cruiser's right. And then, two much larger ships at their sides: a Ripper and a Ring Cutter.

Now, there was hardly anything that Zim wanted more than to claim ownership and to use one of these larger, much more powerful ships. But, it came with the problems of being noticed and somewhat reduced mobility. Not to mention, he'd have to modify his base significantly if it was to be stored somewhere.

But, something deep inside Zim couldn't turn down the increased power. Besides, it wouldn't be hard to keep it from being discovered; the inhabitants of Earth could easily be fooled. So, he turned back to the engineer and pointed to the Ripper— the second from the right of the selection of five he'd been offered. "I think this one will do."

Dib spoke up, "Zim, that's huge."

"Of course!"

The engineer talked with a surprisingly soft-spoken voice, "Then it's yours." The engineer pushed off from the counter or terminal he was leaning on and walked over to the ship. He had the door opened as Zim stood aside. "You know how to pilot one of these?"

"Of course." Zim said, "After all, I'm a wonderful invader."

"Yeah, sure." The engineer responded with a tone that sounded neither condescending nor agreeing, somehow. "Anyway, it should easily be able to fit all of you and take you back to Earth. And if you know how to use it, then go right ahead. If you need me to show—" He looked over to the guards who were glaring at him in disapproval. "Well, you've got it handled."

Dib, GIR, and Minimoose came over towards Zim as he began to enter into the ship. Indeed, the group piled into the much roomier ship, and Zim looked over at the engineer and the guards. Zim shouted, "Thanks for the help!" The Ripper slowly began to take off from the ground.

Over by where the engineer had originally been sitting, the guards grumbled. One mumbled to the others, "I'd like to shoot at them; make their ship crash land back to Earth." The others muttered in agreement.

And shortly, the ship was pulling out from the shipyard, and the engineer watched as it moved forward a bit before quickly accelerating away, leaving the Massive behind. Toward Earth, Zim's new ship rapidly approached, speeding closer. Dib thought it was an amazing sight to see the Earth from so high up and so far away. To see the Earth almost in its entirety. To not be able to see the land through the clouds. And to see it all approach as the ship descended back towards Zim's base.

As they came close to ground level, Dib found that he couldn't see the Massive— seemingly at all. And looking at the city and at the suburbs, there was no sign of panic or upheaval. It seemed that somehow, everything was normal down on the surface. And the group was able to make landfall without being so much as noticed.

The new ship was indeed a bit too big for what Zim had designed. Luckily, it mostly fit, and what was showing was covered with a tarp or two. Zim would make adjustments to everything, and he would have a place for it.

The group filed out and into the base. GIR and Minimoose ran and floated off, respectively, and they were probably going to go do some sort of nonsense. Zim walked over towards the couch. Quietly, over his shoulder, he said to Dib, "I suppose you're going to leave now." Dib stopped and turned towards Zim. "But, um, thanks, Dib." Zim cleared his throat. "I would probably be dead if it hadn't been for your assistance." Zim began to take another step, walking away.

Dib quickly stepped forward and put his hand on Zim's shoulder, stopping the both of them. "Thanks for helping to keep Earth from being destroyed." Zim continued to look ahead, his gaze turned exactly opposite Dib. "I know you don't really care about Earth, but I really appreciate it, Zim."

Zim half-chuckled, dipping his head down. "I don't have anywhere else to go now anyway."

The two kept silent and completely still for a short moment. "Zim?" Zim took a deep breath. Dib grabbed Zim's shoulder and turned him around and immediately brought him into a tight hug.

Zim was going through quite a bit. His thoughts were muddled and it seemed like an unorganized and inconceivable mix of everything, in one terrible unordered thought; a siege on his brain, really. That alone had nearly put him over the edge. And now, Dib, who had fought tooth and nail with him and had emotionally defended his existence, when no other being ever would, to the Tallest— Zim certainly felt tears welling up in his eyes. He reciprocated the hug, and weakly pulled Dib in tighter, which made Dib hold Zim tighter, too.

The two were silent for what felt like a long time. Then, Zim, in a rare turn of events for him, whispered, "I guess we'll resume hostilities tomorrow." He gave a quiet chuckle as he pulled away from the hug. Dib let go, looking Zim in the eyes.

"Do you still wanna conquer Earth?"

"I…" Zim looked away from Dib's passively supportive gaze, "don't know."

"Well, I'll give you time to figure that out, okay?" Dib thinly smiled, in a tired sort of way, "And if you need someone to talk to about… everything," Dib stood up straight, "I'm just down the street. Okay?"

Zim slowly, seemingly hesitantly, almost, nodded. "Okay."

Dib subtly nodded, too. "Okay." Dib adjusted his glasses. "Well, I'm gonna go back home and, uh, make sure my dad doesn't think I died or something. But, uh, be sure to come by if you need to talk."

"Yeah." Zim exhaled. "Thanks."

Dib nodded silently, and then he took his leave, closing the door behind him carefully, leaving Zim in the room, alone.