The two weeks to Murderer Zim's party spun down more quickly than one would have anticipated. On Invader Zim's end, Violet and Skoodge were training to invade Murderer Zim's party, thus capturing him and letting Violet get back to the home dimension with him without incident. Zim ignored them, so Violet far preferred to put her faith in the mission in Skoodge's fat but capable hands.
On Murderer Zim's end, Dib had briefed Murderer Zim to many of the weaknesses of Irkens he'd discovered, and Murderer Zim had given him "selected" bits of information from his end. Their final decision: trick Invader Zim into coming to the party, and then spring their ingenious trap.
Meanwhile, Tak was being more than confusing. Sometimes she was helpful, other times she sulked miserably. Some nights she willingly cuddled up in Murderer Zim's arms as the sun set, other nights she slept in the garage rather than sharing the base with him.
"I think… having someone be nice to her is frying her circuits," Murderer Zim mused as he and Dib put the nuts and bolts on the last of their "catch Zim" trap.
"Maybe," Dib mused. It would certainly mess with his head if Gaz actually did suddenly start being nice to him. Looking back on it, that should have been the first thing to tip him off that something was wrong in Zim's holographic simulation. If Gaz had promised to be nice to him in reality, his head would have exploded and splattered brain meats all over the walls and his father's impeccable white coat.
"She set up some weird experiment she won't stop poking at. As far as I can tell it's just a big box and sheets, but she won't let me touch it. I wonder what the hell she's up to…"
Dib wasn't really listening. "I wouldn't know." After a moment, he looked up and grinned. "After all, she's your girlfriend!" In response, Murderer Zim threw a sponge at Dib's head.
"ZIM needs no girlfriend!" Murderer Zim mock-fumed, returning on working to their plans. "There, almost ready… this is going to be great."
"Are you sure it will work?" Dib asked.
Murderer Zim grinned. "Of course, my dear little human… who knows Zim better than Zim?"
Dib couldn't argue with that. Slinging his pack of tools over his back, he nodded at Murderer Zim. "See you at the party?"
"That's why I made it open invitation. I won't actually be able to talk to you, of course… but you know what to do."
Dib nodded in agreement and left. Murderer Zim set down the garage door and wandered back inside. Maybe Tak would be in a better mood after she saw the luscious dinner he was preparing for the two of them… she'd been snippy lately and he wanted to get back in her good graces.
"Tak? Taaaaak?" he called, meandering through the base. "I know you're mad at me, but I made food, Tak. You like food. You need food."
He found her in her den, two long silver needles in her hands. They were clicking together, yarn flying. "What chu doing?" Murderer Zim asked.
Tak paused, looked up at him through violet eyes, and set down the needles. She picked up a green and blue knitted shirt off the table. Murderer Zim's face went pale. It was a very tiny shirt. Just the right size shirt to fit a smeet… He was about to pass out when Tak leaned over and put the shirt on MiMi. "Fits good, don't you think?" she asked.
The color returned to Murderer Zim's face in an instant. "Don't SCARE me like that!" he cried.
She looked at him blankly, then sighed. "So is dinner ready or not?"
"Yeah, come eat before it gets cold."
Tak stood up, brushing little bits of yarn off and packing up her new knitting project, which was currently a pink blob. She gave a glance over towards her lab and sighed, looking straight at the new experiment. "Nothing yet," she sighed.
"Nothing yet? What are you trying to get?"
She patted him on the head. "You'll know when you see it." With that, she strutted out of the room.
Murderer Zim stomped one booted foot on the carpet. "WOMEN!" he cried, shaking his fists at the Gods. "Couldn't you have come up with a less complicated operating system for them?"
Finally, the night of the big party arrived. Guests milled about, looking bored. After all, Justin's party or not, they were all "too cool" to be there. There was an open dance floor, but no one was dancing. That might entail touching a member of the opposite sex and starting those embarrassing love rumors.
Justin wandered around, keeping his distance from Tak. She was wandering around aimlessly as well, but of course Justin couldn't be seen with her. His heart ached slightly. He wanted to ask her to dance, but that meant blowing everything he'd built up with so much painstaking labor. After all, two weeks worth of building popularity could crash in just a moment of being seen with the wrong person or doing the wrong thing.
Zim hovered against a wall, standing next to Skoodge. Having never seen him before, Murderer Zim didn't know Skoodge was also an Irken. He swiftly cut across the floor, head aloof.
"So you decided to show yourself, even if you are a freak?" Murderer Zim taunted, his voice velvety. Invader Zim's jaw dropped to his knees.
"You would dare go out in public… without a disguise?"
Murderer Zim laughed and flipped his antennae back. "Enjoying my costume party, huh? Everyone thinks my costume is simply daaaarling."
Invader Zim managed to get his mouth back to its usual shape and size. "I'll figure out what you're up to…" he threatened.
"Ha, you'll never find my secret weapon before I use it on you." With those words of caution, he faded into the crowd.
Invader Zim narrowed his contact-covered eyes. That was laughable. He'd find this amazing "secret weapon," and then it would be Murderer Zim who would be in pain while Invader Zim laughed.
Invader Zim wandered through the party, overly cool kids parting from his path like Moses and the whatever color it was sea. Black sea? Red sea? Blue Danube? Oh well, it's not important. The point was, no one who wanted to keep their social status would be seen near him.
A giant orange sign was posted on the basement door. "No admittance!" It said. Below, written in tinier letters, were the words "No secret weapon down here." Invader Zim grinned.
"This is but child's play for my genius!" Zim smirked, reaching for the door.
"Looks like a trap to me," a female voice interjected. Invader Zim jumped a mile in the air, whipping wildly around.
"VIOLET! Where is your disguise?"
"It got itchy, and everyone thinks my costume rules," she answered, shoving cake in her mouth.
"Aren't you supposed to be capturing my arch nemesis, not demolishing the cake."
Violet took another long sip from her cup of punch. "Let me live a little! I hardly ever got out of the dingy dungeon when Spork was in control. I can catch Murderer Zim anytime. For now, Violet wants to party! But yeah… I think you're walking into a trap if you do down there."
"Pah! My brain meats are infinitely superior to yours, and I say I'm not."
Violet rolled her eyes. "If you insist on getting into trouble, I'll probably be the one saving your butt. However, I know I'm not going to change your mind, so go right ahead." With that she waved him off and disappeared into the party, trying to blend in like she was one of the hired staff. Needless to say, most of the young boys at the party either stared at her body or cowered in fear.
Invader Zim slipped through the door. Dark stairs opened like a hungry mouth before him, ready to devour him. If Invader Zim had any fear, he quickly swallowed it as he descended into the darkness.
Sitting alone in the basement was a large table, covered in a white sheet. A small sign had been attached to it. Messy handwriting proclaimed "No secret weapon here!"
"Those fools cannot fool ZIM!" Invader Zim declared, reaching out and grabbing the edges of the sheet. He thrust the sheet to the floor, leaping up on the table to claim his anticipated prize.
A metal claw shot out of the middle of the table, gripping the short green alien by the throat. Invader Zim let out a desperate cry of "Urk" as the machine lifted him high into the air, flinging him about like a dog playing with a chew rope. Invader Zim's anguished screams were drowned out by the thudding boom, boom, boom of the loud techno and pop music blaring from above.
Invader Zim's tiny body was thrown against the concrete walls several times, each time sending a resounding "crack" sound through the basement and a hot electric shock up his spine and into his brain, which was screaming in terror.
The machine then stopped, letting Invader Zim hang limply from it. Overhead, a skyway had opened. The mechanical arm drew slowly back, and then flung Invader Zim forward.
He shot a good fifty feet straight up into the air, the sound of the music still muffling his loud shouts of protest. But what goes up must come down, as physics dictate, and even a tiny Irken villain can't defeat the laws of physics.
Zim's body began plummeting like a rock. Zim was not, however, being launched simply up into the sky to fall back down. No, he could survive that.
As Invader Zim fell from the sky, he realized in slow horror that he was falling straight for the middle of a large swimming pool. The glistening blue-green water lapped at the concrete sides of the pool like a hungry animal, shining white fangs open and ready to accept the little Invader's body.
"If we simply push him into the pool, the paste will protect him," Dib had mused as he and Murderer Zim had debated how to be rid of Invader Zim once and for all.
Murderer Zim had paused a moment, then smiled. "What if we make sure he hits the middle of the pool hard enough to go straight to the bottom?"
Invader Zim shut his eyes tight as he plummeted headfirst towards a watery doom.
.