Dib paced back and forth in the living room, while Zim wandered through the room, poking at furniture and snidely remarking on how inferior it all was. "You see, Gaz!? I told you he was real!" he exclaimed, making wild gestures at the fish out of water.

For once, Gaz was actually paying attention, even if it was just to stare at Zim with a raised eyebrow. "Huh. You were right for once." She paused before adding, "You're still crazy, though."

Zim threw back his head and cackled, while Dib growled and tugged at his hair in frustration. "Whatever. I know I'm right, you know I'm right, and—!" He turned to Zim, the light shining off his glasses in a way that hid his eyes. "The rest of the world will see it, too!"

Zim narrowed his eyes and back away, baring his teeth as Dib approached. "What are you doing, earthworm? Stay back!"

"Me? I'm not doing anything. Just thinking of how I could best expose you to everyone and prove that mermaids—er, merkens, are real."

Zim's glare intensified, and he let out a loud hiss. "I'll kill you."

"How are you going to prove he's a mer-thing, anyway?" Gaz suddenly asked. Dib turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, he doesn't have a tail. Or gills. And aren't mermaids supposed to be beautiful?"

Zim snarled, and Dib frowned, scanning his catch again. He hated to admit it, but she was right–Zim was obviously not human, but for most people who refused to see the truth, it would be a long stretch from that to merkens.

"Maybe I could convince someone you're an alien?" he mused aloud. Even as he said it, his stomach twisted unpleasantly. He wanted to expose the truth and gain some recognition, not just make things up like he really was crazy!

He glanced over to Zim, who was now perching on the couch and growling at him like an angry housecat. "…I guess with you looking like this, I can't expose you as a merken," he finally grumbled. "How did you change, anyway?"

Zim held his head high, antennae quivering with pride. "The Tallests' magic was able to transform my body into one suited for land!" he declared. "Even if it makes it look too much like some filthy disgusting human…"

Gaz snorted. "You're kidding, right?" Zim looked at her in confusion. "You don't look anything like a human, stupid. I mean, you don't look like a mermaid, either. You just look weird."

"…is there a way you could change back? To your original form?" Dib pressed curiously.

Zim shook his head. "It'd take a powerful magic to overcome that of the Tallests'," he said. "Until they decide to change me back, I'm stuck like…this."

"Why did they transform you, anyway?" Dib asked, now pacing in a circle around Zim and looking him over. His upper half looked the same as his original form, and his legs were rather similar to his tail, covered with pink scales.

Zim swallowed thickly, feeling his blood run cold. There was no way he could tell this…human about his banishment! The earthworm would laugh at him. Or even see it as a sign of weakness, since he couldn't escape back to the safety of the sea.

So instead, he puffed his chest out. "They gave Zim an extremely important mission!" he boasted. "To walk among the landgoers and observe them. I was obviously chosen because of my superior strength and wicked cunning."

Dib narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "…you're here to conquer and invade, aren't you?"

"What? Noooo!" Zim forced a laugh and waved off the accusation. "Of course not! What makes you think that, Dib-stink?"

"You literally bragged to me about how merkens were great conquerors when I was a kid."

Zim flinched, then growled and pointed an accusing finger into Dib's face. "You LIE!"

"No, you're the liar, you…fish-face!"

"Stinking mudbeast!"

"Tuna breath!"

"Pasty biped!"

"Scaly—!" The loud cracking of knuckles made Dib's insult die out in his throat with a squeak. With wide eyes, he turned to the source.

Gaz was glaring at both of them, a dark aura surrounding her as she cracked the knuckles of her other hand. Dib broke out into a cold sweat, taking a few steps away from her. "Zim, I don't care why you're here. Dib, I don't care if or how you're going to expose him.

"The only thing I care about is that I have a quiet house so I can focus on my games. If you're going to keep arguing like this…both of you are in for it." She swiped her thumb across her throat in a slashing motion, her glare intensifying.

"W-W-We'll keep quiet, I promise!" Dib quickly said.

"Y-Yes, terror-beast! We'll do all arguing outside of this house!" Zim chipped in. Dib glanced over and saw that the merken was pressed against the wall and away from Gaz, shaking like a leaf.

Gaz glared at them for a few more moments before giving them a small nod of approval. She sat back down and pulled out her Game Slave, apparently done with dealing with the two of them.

"…how is your sister so terrifying?" Zim asked Dib in a stage whisper.

"I think she might have some demon blood in her," Dib quietly hissed back. Gaz raised her head to look at them out of the side of her eye, and they both shuddered violently.

Dib gulped and grabbed Zim's wrist. "Actually, let's talk in my room!" He scurried away, dragging the merken along behind him. Zim stumbled a bit on his feet but still followed along behind him. Once they were safely in his room, Dib closed the door at let out a sigh of relief.

Zim wandered about the room, staring at the paranormal equipment Dib had brought, his piles of clothes…and coming to a stop at the bed. "What is…this?"

"A bed," Dib answered as he took a seat on the edge of it. "We sleep on it. Haven't you ever…?" He trailed off, realizing this was Zim's first opportunity to see the inside of a human home.

Zim sat next to him on the bed, antennae quirking up in surprise when it gave under his weight. He bounced up and down on it a few times, testing it as a grin spread across his face.

Dib sighed, staring at him long and hard for a full minute. "…what am I going to do with you?" he mumbled into his hand. Zim's antennae twisted in his direction. "I can't really expose you without you able to go back to your true form. But I can't let you conquer the land, or wander around looking like that…"

His frown deepened. "You're sure there's not some kind of magic that could change you back?"

Zim glowered at him. "There is no magic more powerful than that of the Almighty Tallest! The gall to even suggest such a thing—"

Dib sighed, holding up a hand to silence him. "We can research into it later. But we're not going to be able to do much without being able to go outside. …I'd take care of it myself, but I don't fully trust you enough to leave you here alone."

A devious grin spread across Zim's face. Dib sighed and stood up, heading over to his suitcase and rummaging through it. "What are you doing, Dib-thing?"

"Finding something to cover you up," Dib answered, tossing a too-large t-shirt onto Zim's head. The merken squawked and flailed, trying to pull it off of himself. "If you're going to be on land without being exposed by someone else, you're going to have to blend in."

Zim finally managed to get the shirt off of his head, looking down at it with a sneer. The blue color and the ghost on the front told him it was one of Dib's. "And you expect this to be enough?"

"No, but it'll at least be enough for this morning." Dib turned around, a pair of sunglasses in one hand and a bucket hat in the other. "We're going to hit the boardwalk and get you some clothes."

It took several minutes to convince Zim that yes, they could buy convincing clothes on the boardwalk, and no, he wouldn't be found out as long as he covered his most inhuman features and they got there before most of the tourist crowd did.

It then took several more minutes to convince Zim that yes, he needed to wear the t-shirt, because he couldn't just walk around naked. No, it didn't stink, it was clean! Too bad if he could still smell it, he was wearing it anyway!

The bucket hat was easy enough for him to tug his antennae under, and with a little bit of scotch tape, the sunglasses stayed in place on his head and hid his eyes. Dib let out a small sigh as he grabbed his wallet. The last few minutes were so tiring…ugh, this whole shopping trip was going to be exhausting.

"Hurry up, Dib-stink!" Zim shouted from the front door. "Before those throngs of stinking tourists fill the walking board!"

Dib sighed and opened the door, grabbing Zim's wrist and guiding him to the boardwalk and all the assorted shops that filled it.

After several hours of clothes shopping, Zim finally settled on some outfits he was satisfied with. He had discarded most human clothing as too bright, or too dull, or plain, or impractical…Dib grimaced. His ranting was going to be stuck in his head forever now.

But at least he had chosen a handful of t-shirts, most of them pink, purple, or red. The one he chose to wear out of the store was one with horizontal pink and magenta stripes.

Pants were much, much more difficult. On top of Zim's ranting about the design of the clothes, Dib had to deal with him screeching about how uncomfortable each pair he tried on was, how dare Dib force him to press such awful fabric against his tail's sensitive skin!?

He stopped screaming long enough to at least find a pair of black leggings he claimed weren't so bad. While Dib wasn't sure black clothing in the summer was exactly smart…at least it would hide his scaly legs.

Next was shopping for shoes. Dib was almost positive that if Zim walked around barefoot anywhere on the beach, someone would eventually notice that his feet were weird translucent claws. Zim scoffed at the idea of that being what would give him away, and complained about every pair that Dib suggested.

Zim stood up, kicking off a pair of purple sandals. "Enough of this!" he declared. He began to storm towards the door in a huff. "I've had enough of you insisting on all this feeble footwear. I demand that we leave right–"

His voice trailed off, his gaze apparently catching on something interesting. Dib followed his gaze, and…oh. Oh, no.

"You can't seriously want those," Dib said. "They're completely impractical for the beach! Where, you know, we'll probably be spending most of our time?"

"Zim can handle it," the merken said, drifting closer to the shoes that enthralled him so.

"You can barely walk as it is, how are you going to balance on those things!?"

"Zim will learn!" Zim picked up one of the shoes and held it up like it was a gift from the gods. "It'll be worth it to wear…these."

Dib groaned loudly. "Fine. But I'm getting you something that's actually practical, too."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Zim wandered to the cash register with his find, Dib following close behind.

And so, they walked out of the shoe store with Zim in possession of a pair of black high heels, and shiny black boots that Dib insisted would be much easier to walk in. Still, Zim slipped on the high heels and strutted his way down the boardwalk, reveling in his new height.

Maybe it was because of his confidence, or just through sheer dumb luck, but Zim didn't trip or stumble at all. "Where to next, Dib-servant?" he said.

Dib glared at him, imagining him tripping when he tried to walk on sand with those shoes. "We need something better to cover your head and eyes," he answered. "And I'm not your servant."

"…yet," Zim cackled under his breath, tapping his claws together as Dib headed into a hat store. Fortunately, this one also happened to sell novelty wigs…for whatever reason.

Zim wanted a bright purple one, but Dib protested. "You already stand out enough with your skin! Please, please pick a normal human hair color."

"And purple isn't?" Still, Zim eventually decided on a black wig, which he slipped on under his hat as they left the store.

"Now we just have to deal with your eyes and skin," Dib said, staring at the different shops. "Unfortunately, glasses could be tough, since you don't have ears or a nose. But I just we could just keep taping them onto your head…"

Zim grimaced at the thought of more sticky tape being put on him. But before he could vent about it, something bumped into his ankle, and he looked down.

At first, it looked like an ordinary, discarded human can, with some green dog as its advertising mascot. Zim picked it up between a single finger and thumb, planning on tossing it away…until Gir suddenly popped out.

"Hi, Master!" he chirped. "Wow, I couldn't even recognize you! And you got taller!"

"Yes…Yes, I did," Zim purred, puffing his chest out. "Thank you for noticing."

"It's only because of your high heels," Dib sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Gir turned to him with a gasp, then happily waved a claw at him. "Hi, Mary!"

"That's…that's not…" Dib shook his head. "Nevermind. How could you tell this was Zim but 'not recognize' him?"

"Well, my peepers couldn't tell it was him," Gir said, blinking rapidly. "But I can feel it's him in my heart!"

Dib stared at the crab for a few moments, then turned to Zim for an explanation. "Gir can sense where I am through magic," Zim said. "That also lets me call him no matter where we both are. Even if he sometimes forgets to actually come help…" He frowned at Gir, setting him on his shoulder.

"But Master, I found a disguise!" Gir tapped the side of his can. "And I gotchu a gift!"

He reached into his shell, quickly pulling out two large plastic disks. They were both somewhat transparent, though they were mostly white with clear blobs in the center.

"…what are those?" Dib asked.

"I have noooo idea!"

"Hmm." Zim took the disks and turned them over in his hands. He glanced between them and Dib…then stepped forward, leaning up and peering closely at Dib's face.

"Uh, is there something you need, sea scum?" Dib asked, backing away and placing his hands in front of him, ready to push Zim away if he had to.

"Hah! No, not with these!" The merken declared. "Thank you, Gir, for bringing the materials that will finally complete my igneous disguise!"

"What?" Dib said. Zim tilted the sunglasses up, briefly exposing his eyes, and started to move the plastic disks toward them. "Wait, Zim, I don't think—"

Too late. Zim had shoved the pieces of plastic over his eyeballs. He opened his eyes, blinked…and then closed them and slapped his hands over them, screaming.

"Zim!" Dib said, panicked. "What's wrong!? Did you scratch your eyes, did the plastic cause some kind of infection?"

"THEY'RE…ITCHY!" Zim shouted at him, rubbing at his closed eyes.

Dib opened his mouth…then closed it, staring as the merken continued to loudly complain about his eyes, still rubbing. "You're…yelling. Because the pieces of random plastic you just jammed over your eyes…itch."

"Yes!"

Dib stared for a few more seconds…and then sighed, grabbing Zim's wrist. "We have eye drops at the house," he stated. "We can head back now, since your disguise is…okay at this point."

He led the way back, as Zim refused to open his eyes, with Gir scuttling along behind them.

Once they made it to the house, Dib tried to help Zim place the eyedrops in. The merken refused, saying he could do it himself, snatching the bottle out of his hand.

After a few seconds of fumbling with the eyedropper while simultaneously refusing to fully open his eyes, he raised the bottle and just sloshed some liquid on them.

"That…that's not…" Dib sighed. Zim just rapidly blinked, his itching quickly soothed by the action. He opened his eyes and looked into the bathroom mirror.

"Well, now that they'd stopped itching so much, maybe you should take that plastic out," Dib suggested.

Zim scoffed. "Of course not. After all, it completes my ingenious disguise!" He turned to face Dib with a wide grin on his face.

Dib's first thought was that yeah, okay, it looked like he had normal, human eyes—white sclera, colored irises, and black pupils. But the longer he looked, the more off it seemed.

The "irises" were clear, letting Zim's unnatural magenta color peek through. The "sclera" were actually kind of transparent, so he could faintly see the pink behind them. And the makeshift contacts weren't quite big enough, so silvers of magenta were visible around the edges.

"That's…really bad, actually," he said. Zim huffed, holding up a hand to silence him.

"You know nothing, Dib-worm! Do not underestimate the power of Zim's genius!"

"Look, I'm human, and I'm telling you that people are going to notice something off–"

"Fine! I'll ask another human, then!" Zim declared. He turned and marched out of the bathroom and found Gaz sitting in the kitchen, playing a game next to the microwave. "Scary human! Behold the humanness of Zim!"

She glanced up at him for a second, then back down to her game. "Eh. Weird, but okay, I guess."

"Okay!?" Dib said. "Gaz, you barely even looked! There's so much wrong here! Green skin! Eyes are too big! Irises are pink, and no, Zim, that's not a natural human eye color!" Zim closed his mouth, letting his claw drop.

Gaz sighed, pausing her game as the microwave beeped. She removed the plate of pizza rolls and sat at the table. "Dib, you're really overthinking this. Most people don't care about other people, or what they look like, if it's not directly affecting them."

"But…his skin…"

"Just say it's a skin condition," she said, eating her lunch. "If anyone even asks in the first place. Which they won't."

Dib wanted to argue…but could only sigh. He knew from trying to reveal his past discoveries that she was correct—people were more than willing to overlook anything unusual. His stomach quietly growled, and he glanced at the nearest clock, seeing that it was past noon. Had clothes shopping with Zim really taken that long?

…though considering what a pain the merken had been about it, that wasn't entirely surprising.

He rummaged through the cupboards and fridge, quickly making himself a sandwich. "Dib-beast!" Zim shouted from the table. "Prepare a meal for Zim!"

Dib glared at him. "Why don't you make your own?"

"Why is your head so big and ugly?" Zim countered.

Dib scowled…and reached into the cupboard, grabbed a snack cake, and chucked it at Zim's head. It struck him right between the eyes, and the merken squawked, flailing and falling out of his seat. Dib laughed, taking his seat at the table and munching on his sandwich.

Zim grumbled as he climbed back into his chair, tearing open his snack and biting into it. Gir rested in the middle of the table, slurping up packets of taco sauce while messing with playing cards in front of him. Aside from the sound of their eating, the four of them sat in a silence that, for Dib at least, felt awkward.

Gaz eventually picked up the newspaper and began to lazily skim its contents while eating. "Hey, Dib," she said. "You made it into the paper here already. Nice going."

"Buh!?" He snatched the paper from her. "I haven't even announced any findings, and they're calling me crazy!?"

"I never said that." She tapped on the front page. "They were talking about the sinking boat. You're in some of the photos." Zim cackled at him, even though Dib was fairly certain he didn't know entirely what was going on.

"Oh." He looked over the photos and...yes, there he was in the background in some of them. And it was just his luck—there weren't any of him being saved by Zim that he could use as evidence.

Dib frowned as he read the article proper. "They're saying lightning struck the ship, and that's what made it sink," he said. "But that can't be right. I was at the back, and I know that flash came from behind and under the ship, not from above."

He lowered the paper to give Zim a look. "Care to explain?"

Zim crossed his arms. "Why would I know anything?"

"You were there! You caused the wreck!"

"You can't prove anything!" Zim snapped at him.

The sound of cracking knuckles made them both stop and turn to look at Gaz. "What did I say about your arguing?"

"Sorry, Gaz," Dib quickly mumbled.

"Y-You can't intimidate me," Zim said. Gaz turned to look straight at him, slowly opening her eyes. Zim backed up against the wall and started to sweat.

"You were saying something?" she drawled.

"…nothing that concerns you, demon-human!" Zim said, pressing even further against the wall. He looked half-ready to start clambering up it if it meant more distance between him and her.

Gaz looked at Dib and rose an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Good enough. Just remember that for the rest of the afternoon."

Dib quickly nodded, giving her a thumbs-up. Gaz ate the last of her pizza rolls, slipped the plate into the sink, and headed to her room, game already turned on.

Zim slowly peeled from the wall once she was gone. "…so," Dib said, polishing off his sandwich. "Would you like to go to the beach this afternoon?"

"…why?" Zim said, narrowing his eyes with some suspicion.

"It gets us away from Gaz," Dib whispered. A little louder, he added, "Plus, walking practice, and the chance for you to see familiar places. Maybe swim a little?"

He was hoping that getting in the water might make Zim transform back into his original form, but he kept that to himself.

"Humph. Your reasons aren't terrible," Zim decided. "Come, Gir! We shall get the lay of the…ugh, land."

"Yes, sir!" Gir hopped up, scattering his house of cards and rushing towards them, climbing up and onto Zim's shoulder.

Dib rushed to his room and quickly changed into swim trunks, while Zim adjusted his disguise until he was certain it was secure. Once they were ready, Dib led the way out the door and to the beach.

Zim confidently walked onto the sand in his heels…and promptly fell flat on his face after his second step.

"Told you," Dib said, laughing.

After Zim had finished throwing a fit about how it wasn't fair that he couldn't walk easily with heels on the beach, how dare the surface world be so cruel and unjust, he peeled off the high heels and stormed to the house to put them back.

He returned barefoot, something Dib protested against. "You're barefoot, too, stinky," Zim argued.

"Yes, but my feet aren't freakish transparent claws!" Dib countered, pointing down at Zim's feet. Zim looked down, then back up at Dib. He repeated this a few times before sticking his feet into the sand, burying them.

"Hah!" he said, smugly crossing his arms. Dib opened his mouth, perhaps to protest, but he sighed and shrugged.

"If you want to be caught, fine. I won't complain." He began to walk away, closer to the water. Zim paused for a second before trotting alongside him, glancing at the few humans that filled the water.

"Foolish humans," he hissed, staring at some tossing a beach ball to each other in the water. "Not even realizing how close they are to flirting with death."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dib asked.

Zim hesitated for just a moment. He shouldn't reveal the Empire's plans, but…it wasn't like the human could do anything about it. And it would force the human to understand how powerless they were against the merken. He grinned wickedly.

"Merken hunting season approaches," Zim told him. "As soon as the colony near here is repaired, the hunting party will begin to sing their siren song. They're a small enough group that their main targets will be lone humans, I expect, instead of full ships."

"That's...worrying," Dib said. "Is there anything we can do to stop them?" He paused before adding, "Wait...why does their colony need to be repaired?"

"I wouldn't know!" Zim snapped at him. "And don't expect me to join your useless crusade in attempting to stop the hunt of the mighty Merken Empire! No matter what you do, we shall emerge—hey, hey! Where are you going!?"

Dib had wandered away once he started rambling, walking towards the water and letting the waves rush up to his ankles. He was peering out at the water, scanning it carefully. "Where is the colony, actually?" he mused. "Will any other merkens come up to the shore?"

Zim growled, running up to him. "Use that big head of yours for once, fool boy," he said. "You won't be able to see the colony from land, even if it wasn't hidden from your human eyes. And no other merken would be bold enough to—"

The waves rushed up toward his feet. In a flash, Zim remembered the Tallests' warning about what would happen if he returned to the sea. He shrieked, jumping about a foot in the air and darting back, scrambling away from the water before it could touch him.

"...Zim?" Dib said, looking at him with concern.

"What!?" Zim snapped, glaring at him from a safe distance.

"Why are you avoiding the water?" Dib asked. "It...doesn't make any sense."

"YOU'RE LYING! I'm avoiding nothing, Dib-worm!"

"You literally just—"

"NOTHING!"

Dib sighed and rolled his eyes, continuing to wade through the shallows. "Whatever, Zim. You're a pain, you know that?"

"Not as big of a pain as you and your head," Zim sneered, walking alongside him along the sand. "How does your feeble human neck even manage to support all that weight?"

Dib huffed and grimaced, but didn't counter with anything. Zim smirked, holding his head a little higher. Another victory for him!

They walked for a few more minutes, Dib still scanning the waters. "Ugh. Are you still trying to find the colony?" Zim sneered. "Your primitive human eyes could never spot it."

"I managed to find you when I was just a kid," Dib countered, wading out until the water was at his waist. "Besides, it's a good day to go swimming. Nice weather and all."

With that, he dove underwater. Zim looked up at the sky with a slight sneer. It was blue and cloudless, giving the awful sunlight a direct route to his skin.

Dib popped back out of the water with a gasp. "Something wrong, seaboy?"

Zim scowled. He refused to tell Dib any weaknesses. "Just you, mud-beast."

Dib rolled his eyes and continued to walk forward along the beach. Zim trailed along, if only to keep reminding the human that his goal of finding other merkens was impossible to achieve.

They spent the next few hours wandering the beach. Gir ran ahead at one point yelling something about ice cream, while Dib spent his time popping in and out of the water. He was probably still looking for evidence of merkens that he would never find, Zim thought.

The merken stayed on the sand, far from the water. Whenever Dib ducked under the waves, he couldn't help but jealously glare. The human kept asking what was wrong, but Zim blew him off each time.

As time slipped past, the air and sand kept growing hotter and hotter. Zim tugged at his collar as he felt the heat seep into him. But he couldn't show weakness in front of all these humans, couldn't let them see how the sun affected him!

Dib hopped out of the ocean and began to babble something about trying to find shed scales. Sweat pooled on Zim's neck, trickling down his back in rivers. The sun was stabbing rays of heat into every exposed inch of his skin, and Zim swore he could hear himself sizzling, being cooked alive.

"…Zim? Are you listening?" Dib asked, though his voice sounded muffled.

Zim blinked, raising his head. The air was shimmering so much he couldn't see the Dib's face. He blinked again, feeling sweat trickle across his face, but it didn't help. "…your voice is annoying, land beast," he panted, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

He panted in an effort to cool himself. But the cruel sun continued its assault, and he only felt maybe marginally cooler. "…are you okay?" Dib asked. "Maybe we should go inside. Or you should get in the water for a little bit…"

Zim blanched at the idea. "Don't you dare—!" He tried to back away, but stumbled over his own feet and fell forward into the sand. It scorched his flesh almost as much as the sun.

He hissed and tried to push himself back up. But his sweat-covered arms trembled uselessly, and with a groan, he turned his head to the side, letting his body slump into the ground. He stared longingly at the tantalizing ocean waters.

"Zim...? Zim!" Panicked, sweaty hands started feeling at Zim's scorched flesh.

"Shhhhut up, Dib," he groaned, just before closing his eyes and letting the sweet, cool embrace of darkness overtake his mind.

The first thing Zim realized when he came to was that he didn't feel like he was being cooked alive anymore. The second thing he realized was that most of his body was cold and wet, coating his pained skin in a soothing numbness.

He groaned and opened his eyes. His human clothes and wig had all been stripped off, and he was laying in a bathtub filled with cold water, the back of his head resting on the outer rim. He reached up and removed his contacts, tossing them on top of the pile the rest of his disguise was in.

"Zim?" Dib poked his head into the room, and his shoulders sagged in relief once his gaze landed on the merken. "Oh, thank God. You're not dead."

"Zim cannot die," Zim declared, raising a hand to wave off the very idea. His movements felt more sluggish than they should have, though. "What would ever give you that ridiculous assumption?"

"How about the fact that you literally just collapsed out on the beach?" Dib countered. He stepped forward and handed Zim a glass full of yellow liquid with ice cubes on top. "Here."

Zim looked between him and the glass before sticking the tip of his worm-like tongue into the liquid. It was sweet, cold, and tasted a but like…fruit, perhaps. He pulled his tongue back into his mouth and smacked his lips. Nothing happened, so it must have been safe for him to consume.

He raised the glass to his lips and took a sip…followed by a large gulp when he suddenly realized how thirsty he was. Before he knew it, he had drained the whole cup, aside from the ice. With a sigh, he tossed it at Dib's forehead, sticking back into the water.

Dib stared at the empty cup. "So…was it heat stroke that made you faint? Or dehydration specifically?"

"I did not…'faint'," Zim sneered. "The cruel sun brutal beat me unconscious."

"What's the difference—?"

"Silence!" Zim huffed, crossing his arms. "…but know that you did well, Dib-thing. The water will naturally allow me to heal from my glorious battle against the sun!"

With that he ducked his head underwater, taking a deep breath of water—

Only for the cold liquid to pour all the way down his throat, instead of out his gills, and into his land respiratory system.

He shot out of the water, loudly coughing up all the water he had swallowed. "What is wrong with this body!?"

"I…guess your gills don't work?" Dib said, scratching the back of his head. "I honestly thought you might transform back into a real merken when you were in the water, but I guess not."

Zim frowned, turning away from Dib and glaring down at his knees. Breathing underwater…he hadn't even thought about whether he would still be able to do that or not. The fact that he couldn't made him feel weak…

And that a human had witnessed it made him feel even worse.

"Hey, the pizza's here," Gaz said, sticking her head in. Zim glared, antennae flattening against his skull. "You guys should hurry if you want something." With that, she turned and left, probably heading back to the kitchen.

"Right…you were out for a while, it's almost evening," Dib said. He held his hand out to Zim. "C'mon. After we eat, we can figure out where you'll be sleeping tonight."

Zim stared at him blankly. The thought of humans helping him made him feel…weak. Needy. They thought they needed to care for him, smother him!?

He bared his teeth and slapped Dib's hand aside. "Zim doesn't need any of your...human stuff!" he spat. "Not your stinking food, or your filthy beds, or...or any of it!"

He turned away, sinking into the water. "Just leave me here! This room is Zim's now, you can't have it back!"

"We...kind of need to use the bathroom," Dib said. "We can't just—"

Zim grabbed a bar of soap and chucked it at his head to shut him up. "Get out of Zim's room! Leave Zim alone!"

"It's not your—" Dib tried to protest. But Zim just kept grabbing anything within his reach and throwing it at him, forcing him to back out of the room. "Okay, God, fine! I'll leave you alone!"

"Good!" Zim shouted as Dib ducked into the hallway, slamming the door behind him. Zim huffed, laying down and letting the water cover his now-useless gills as he stared up at the ceiling.

He didn't need the Merken Empire to survive out here. And he didn't need to be coddled by a bunch of humans, either! He was Zim, and he didn't need anyone!

Anyone at all.