Sorry I haven't been updating this fic that much. I've really been feeling sick lately, so pardon my absence. Anyways, I suggest you read this chapter CAREFULLY. There is a lot of important stuff here, and if you don't read it slowly, you won't understand it.

                Chapter 4

                "...and then there was this horrible floating thing, and it leaped from his body! It was insane! It was a ghost or something! And it didn't like water, just like Zim!" Dib yelled, chasing after his dad.

                "That's nice, son," the Prof. said, not really listening, and he continued down the steps to his lab. "Now now, you can't come down here. I'm working with very unstable chemicals, and I'm still not sure how they'll react to each other," he said, and he entered his lab, slamming the door behind him. Dib sighed, then went up the stairs and back into the kitchen to continue his breakfast. Gaz was there, eating toast and drinking a glass of orange juice. She was still in her pajamas.

                "Dad wouldn't listen to me," Dib said sadly as he took his seat at the table. Gaz stared blankly at him, then shook her head. "I mean, what if this new ghost thing is a bigger threat than Zim? Zim was acting funny all day, maybe he knows what it is," Dib said, thinking aloud. Gaz grunted angrily, grabbed her orange juice, and took it to the living room.

                "I don't want to hear you stupid rantings this early on a Saturday morning, Dib," she said, and she turned on the TV. Just when she got comfy, there was a knock at the door. Gaz growled irritably. "DIB! GET THE DOOR!" she yelled into the kitchen. Dib was too deep in thought to hear her. Gaz sighed in annoyance, jumped off the couch, walked over to the door and opened it.

                "What do YOU want?" Gaz asked angrily, wishing she could slam the door.

                "I need to talk to Dib," Zim said, and he walked in. He was carrying what looked like a purple briefcase.

                "He's in the kitchen," Gaz said, and she sat back down on the couch. Zim nodded and headed toward the kitchen. Dib sat with his back toward him, drinking a cup of milk. Zim cleared his throat to get his attention. Dib spun around and spit up his milk when he saw Zim. He jumped on the table, holding up a spoon menacingly.

                "What do you want, Zim?!" Dib demanded, glaring. Zim blinked, then put the briefcase on the table. He pushed a button, and it transformed into a computer. Zim typed a password in, pushed a few buttons, and brought up a picture of the black ghost.

                "That's...that's that thing!" Dib said, and he climbed down from the table and joined Zim at the computer.

                "It's called a Shadole. They're a species of ghost that like to possess people. I did some research in my lab last night on them." He brought up a picture of a different Shadole on the screen. It was colored a mixture of purple and black. Its head was in a tear drop shape, just like Vapor's, but at the the sides, it peeled off into a curl. There was a jewl in the center of its forehead, which glowed neon green.

                "This is Queen Shade," Zim said, pointing at the screen. "She is over 3,500 years old. Nobody really knows her exact age. She is the most powerful Shadole, and the ruler over the whole species. I learned from my research that the Irken empire had a long war with the Shadoles. We won, of course, but many people died and most of our cities were destroyed. After the war, the Tallest that ruled back then exiled the entire species into a black hole. Queen Shade and her personal servants were thrown into a seperate black hole from the rest."

                "Then how come theres a Shadole thingy on Earth?" Dib asked.

                "The one that attacked me was named Vapor. He was one of Queen Shade's closest servants. I'm guessing that they all got out of the black hole some how, and are planning to attack the Irken empire again. They're probably going to attempt to open the black hole with the rest of their species in it too." Zim clenched his fist angrily and growled. He slammed his fist on the desk. "I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" he yelled, startling Dib. "That's why YOU are going to help me," he said, turning to face Dib.

                "What?! Why me! I don't care about you're stupid little empire! It can be destroyed for all I ca-" Dib said, but Zim pounced on him. He pinned Dib to the ground and glared at him.

                "If the Shadole species is freed, they won't attack us Irkens head on. They will try to make it seem like everything is going great. That means that they will possess all the invaders first, use their bodies to destroy that planet they're on, and come back to Irk as a heroes. When they finally do decide to attack us, all of the unimportant planets will already be destroyed or enslaved by them, and we won't be suspecting a thing," Zim said tightly. Dib stared up at him blankly. "You didn't understand a word, did you?" Dib shook his head. Zim sighed, then stood up.

                "I suppose it doesn't matter that you don't understand. Just know that if we don't stop them, we're all dead," Zim said, wiping the dust from the floor off his clothes. "So far, me and you are the only two people in the entire universe that knows what is going on. If we try to warn people, they won't believe us. That's why we have to work together, even if we don't want to."

                "How the heck are we going to stop them?!" Dib said standing up as well. Zim flashed a smile at Dib. "Let me guess...I'm the bait?" Zim nodded. Dib sighed and shook his head, muttering to himself is discontent. Zim closed up his computer and started to leave.

                "Report to my house at 2 pm. NO CAMERAS," Zim said as he left, slamming the door behind him.

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                "YOU WHAT?!" Purple shouted with rage. Red was keeping his distance. Vapor flinched, watching Purple twitch in anger on the transmission screen. Vapor cleared his throat and looked down.

                "I couldn't control the Irken..," he said softly. Purple grabbed the sides of his head and shrieked in anger. Red backed away even more, trying to stay clear. "I'm sorry, my Queen...he was stronger than I thought...I was foolish...forgive me," he continued shakily. Purple got control of himself and glared at Vapor.

                "Foolish?! You were idiotic! Half-witted! Simple! Brain-dead! You possess the intellect of a house fly!" Purple screamed over the monitor. "You're even worse than this pathetic creature!" he yelled, pointing at Red. Red just nodded and accepted the insult, afraid to anger Purple even more.

                "B-but...my Queen, I'm still in his lab. I could try again, and I wouldn't be as cocky as before. I'd do it quickly...if you'd forgive me and give me another chance, that is," Vapor pleaded. Purple folded his arms and sighed, looking up towards the ceiling.

                "I know you're good, Vapor. You're a good henchman. I know you are. But this flaw will not go overlooked. After we gain full control over all the invaders, you'll be punished. For now you can just carry out your mission," Purple said, rubbing at his forehead. Red slowly approached him, seeing that he was calming down.

                "And try not to screw up this time!" Red yelled. Vapor glared at him. Purple glanced over at Red and shook his head in disgust. He looked back at Vapor.

                "Queen Shade out," he said.

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Okay, very sorry this chapter took so long to post. Now, I will TRY to do a new chapter of Dib-ario before Christmas, but it is a big if. I'm very sorry for lack of updates peeps. Please forgive me.

-Crystal