Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Invader Zim.

Chapter 10

"I'm not done yet!" complained Gaz as the Query swerved away from the battle. She'd already blasted away two of the enemy craft and was having a great time.

"Foolish creature of hair and meat!" yelled Zim. "You're done when I say you are! .that's now."

A spiral mist began to rise as Gaz glared at the Irken, but Dib stopped her. "Hold on, Gaz. Zim's a jerk, but Jania told us to head toward the coordinates she gave! Er, where are we going, anyway?"

"I don't need to inform you, stink beast! HA!" Zim continued to steer the ship.

"Hey! .alright, Gaz. You can hurt him!"

Gaz raised a fist and began to approach Zim. The Irken screamed. "AAAH! GIR! Protect me!" Gir came flying in and landed near Dib. He opened his head and took out a taco.

"I like tacos!" He munched on the taco and watched as Gaz chased Zim around the room. When he was done, he hopped in front of Gaz and grinned stupidly. "Will you dance with me?"

".No!" She tried to walk around the robot, but he met her at every turn. "Get out of my way!"

"Good work, Gir!" Zim looked back at Gaz nervously and then took hold of the controls again. "Stupid Earth girl!"

Dib walked over to him. "You still haven't told me where we're going!" He placed his hands on his hips and waited for a moment. He frowned. "If you don't tell me, I'll make sure Gaz gets you."

Zim turned around and looked at Gaz, who had him pinned with a malicious glare. Evil music seemed to envelope the room. "Ah! Er, fine then! But only because you wretched sister is so scary! We're headed foooor..this moon here!" He pointed to a small dot on a map full of dots.

Dib was annoyed. "That doesn't tell me anything! What is it called? Where is it from here?"

"Bah.It's called Yir and it's right there!" He pointed out of window. Not too far away was a large, grey planet that had a number of moons circling it. Zim pointed at one of those moons.

Dib immediately smiled. "Great! Alright, Gaz, you don't have to hurt him!" At the call, Gir flew away to play with a piggy doll he'd mysteriously produced. However, Gaz wasn't satisfied. She growled and leaped on Zim.

Several minutes later Zim pulled himself from the floor and glanced around. Gaz was gone. "GIR! Why didn't you protect me?"

Gir was sitting on the floor with his piggy. "He's gonna be a beauty queen!" said the robot in a whisper. "WIENERS!"

Zim stood up and looked at the only other person in the room. He gave Dib a murderous look. "When I get back to invading Earth, I'm going to make sure you're the first pig-beast to feel my doomy wrath!"

Dib matched his glare. "And when I get back, I'm going to make sure you . don't do that. Yeah!" The two enemies were interrupted when a beeper sounded. Zim rushed to the controls.

"Pitiful stink-beast! You've delayed our progress and Jania's already coming back! We need to get to the moon!" He maneuvered the ship so it circled in the orbit of the before-mentioned moon. Two small Voot Cruisers buzzed by and attached themselves to the Query. Zim turned sharply to his arch-nemesis. "Don't say a word, or you will suffer the mighty fist of ZIM!" He shook a gloved fist at the human as a door slid open.

"How - how could it be?" asked Purple as he hovered into the room.

Red hovered over and towered Zim. "How did you get here?"

Zim smiled up at his Tallest. "My leaders, I am most honored to stand before you once again! The invasion goes well!" He put his gloved hands behind his back and smiled.

Red looked down at Zim and addressed him. "Right.shouldn't you be invading right now?" Purple nodded and crossed his arms.

"My Tallest! It was only a matter of great importance and the insistence of Jania that separated me from my mission! I assure you, once this. matter . thingy . is through with, I'll be continuing the invasion as planned!" He saluted and wiggled his antennae.

"Right.good." Red glanced around the ship and continued, "Now. why don't you. go and. do whatever you do on this ship here?"

Jania understood her Tallest's command and quickly turned towards Zim. "You! The Tallest will stay in your quarters until they can return to the Massive. Get it cleaned up and . I don't know . set out a sleeping bag or something in the hall for you." She smiled as Zim saluted.

"The radioactive rubber pants command me!" He then ran off to perform his duty.

Purpled tapped Red's shoulder and pointed towards Dib, who was staring at them with bugged out eyes. "Look at that little person there! His head."

"Yeah." Red raised one brow. "What is that?"

Dib snapped out of his trance. "I am Dib Membrane, Protector of Earth!" He posed dramatically before glaring at the Tallest. "Although I'm here to help, I won't let Zim take over my planet. Never!"

The Tallest looked at eachother and then at the human. "Well then, keep up the good work, little Earth creature!" Red looked in his pockets and handed him a bag of chips. "There you go!"

Dib gave Red a strange look. "He gave me a bag of chips.?"

Jania walked before her Tallest, conveniently getting of the way of the confused Earthling. She gave a slight bow. "My Tallest. Now that you are in safety, perhaps you would like to contact the Massive? Everyone must be searching for you. Also, they need to prepare for the looming threat." She wiggled her fingers menacingly as she said the words 'looming threat.'

Purple adopted an expression of thought while Red approached her, seeming slightly perturbed. "Wait a second! Waaaaiiit! Sure we need to contact the Massive, but don't you think WE should know this looming threat before we tell everyone else about it?" He looked towards Purple for support.

Purple approached. "Yeah! We need to know what's going on, but come on! I'm all happy to see you and stuff and you're talking about all these looming threats! I haven't seen you since before I was Tallest, and it's all business with you! Come on! Bond with me! Bond!" He stretched out his arms as if he were expecting a hug.

Jania was now obviously annoyed, but was bound by her respect for her brother's position. "Pardon, my Tallest, but I just don't have time to bond with you right now! You're lives are in danger, and as an Irken my first priority is to be loyal to my Tallest!"

"You'd be loyal if you bonded!" Purple and Jania were now facing eachother like any bickering siblings would during an argument. Red finally stood between them.

"I have an idea! I am such a genius! Okay, listen to this! We can all eat together!" He waited for a response, but Purple and Jania only looked at him strangely. "It's perfect! While we eat, Jania can tell us about this looming threat thing, and it would kinda be like bonding, so there you go!" He smiled proudly at his brilliant plan. "Besides, who wouldn't want a snack right now? Eh? Eh?"

Jania considered the offer for a moment before her serious expression melted back into her usual smiling expression. She let her shoulders relax for the first time since the Karmite had attacked her on Earth. "Right, okay. I'm hungry anyway." She was about to turn to lead them to a dining area when a door slid open and Tak appeared. She was no worse for ware, despite the battle she'd just participated in. She approached her Tallest and saluted.

"My Tallest! It's a pleasure to serve you!"

Purple and Jania were already near the door to leave, so Red addressed her. "That's good to hear. Irkens should be happy with that their doing! We're going to eat now!" And with that short greeting, the two Tallest and Jania left the room.