As for this chapter: Better late than never!!!

Violet blinked as Skoodge's ship vanished off into the blackened, starry night. It was funny how the stars blinked from the ground. Something about the nature of the gases in Earth's atmosphere. She couldn't imagine being so attached to such a funny planet, but he was.

"How is one Irken going to stop the armada?" she wondered as she wandered through the yellow sodium lighted streets, feeling the shiver of Earth's wind through her Irken fabrics. That wasn't her concern, however. Her simple, immediate concern was to go to Murderer Zim's base, burst in, and kill him before a single word could escape from his lying mouth.

Getting into the base wasn't the hard part. She just waited until she saw one of the sausage slave humans, hit him over the head, and dragged his greasy body into a bush where she stole his clothes and his identification.

Violet felt disgusted. The grease on the uniform was trying to stick to her powder green skin, and almost felt like it was crawling about on the surface of her body. She'd rather have had to charge into the base naked except for her laser if she wouldn't have been spotted right away. Green skin, it seemed, wasn't exactly normal on Earth.

Meanwhile, Tak watched the clock on the wall, waiting from the time to meet Murderer Zim on one of the outer travelling bases. He'd gone there to make preparations for their hasty departure while Tak remained behind, heating up a meal of mushy vegetables and juice for Midori, who was burbling cutely in the next room and bouncing up and down in her high chair.

"Just a minute, dear," Tak called as she finished fixing the food. "There, all stirred up." She inserted the silver spoon into the infant's mushies and headed into the next room.

Violet, rounding the corner, spotted her instantly. As Tak lifted her hand, Violet caught a flash of silver. Her heart jumped in her chest. Tak was going to shoot at her! As quickly as her arms could rise from her sides, she steadied her laser and fired.

Tak didn't even have time to scream as the blast tore through her lung and out the other shoulder. She collapsed to the ground, throwing the bottle of baby food up in the air. It seemed to spin around in slow motion right before Violet's eyes, and then land next to Tak's outstretched hand.

Violet trembled. She'd got her. She'd got the… the tiny, confused squeak of a smeet stopped her train of thoughts dead. No, no, no… No… Murderer Zim couldn't have been… not the truth…

She ran around the corner, long antennae flying out wildly behind her. There, sitting before Tak's body, was a tiny infant smeet. The smeet watched confusedly as a halo of thick, dark Irken blood spread around the place where Tak had fallen, her eyes closed and her legs drawn up in a near fetal position. Her arms were outstretched for the smeet she'd been trying to reach as she fell.

Violet fell to her knees, weeping. "Why? Why?" Lifting her eyes, she spotted a slight breath escaping the fallen girl's mouth. "Maybe there's still time," she cried, sweeping Tak and the infant up into her arms. "I have to get them back to Zim's base! His medical… his medical…" With that, Violet took off into the night, not caring if anyone saw her running with the undisguised forms of two female aliens.

Meanwhile, Skoodge was busily wandering space in his Voot Runner, wondering how the hell one Irken was going to stop an Invasion. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the other, black ship shooting out from the shadow of a satellite and heading straight for him.

The impact jarred Skoodge as his head hit the metal side of his ship from the force throwing him out of his seat. He managed to get his ship under control while hanging upside down from the seat.

Panting from the surprise of the blow, he looked through the pink dome of his own ship into the dark blue shield of Murderer Zim's ship. Murderer Zim smiled, showing off fang-like sharp teeth. "Die, please," Murderer Zim smiled as his ship lowered a laser and pointed it directly in Skoodge's direction.

Back on Earth, Violet practically tore the door off of Zim's base. "Computer!" she cried. "I've got a wounded Irken here! Please hurry, help!"

The computer peered down. "Master won't like it if you help his enemy… I'll do it."

Violet smiled in a worn-out way. "Thanks."

Zim, meanwhile, was oblivious to what was happening because he'd fallen asleep on his newest project and was unaware that his drooling was ruining his precious project. GIR, at the same time, had a sobbing Crazy Taco employee tied up in the corner and was in the process of eating the Taco costume off his body.

The computer was cautiously working over Tak's limp form while Violet guiltily held Midori. "The damage is extensive, but she's hanging on."

"She's fighting for her life. Probably to see her daughter and her hideous love again," Violet sighed, adjusting the infant against the smooth fabrics of her royal uniform. "But if Skoodge can't stop the Armada, it doesn't matter. We'll all die." Violet paused and patted the baby's antennae. "Do you computers believe in the afterlife?"

"We believe in reincarnation. I had an uncle that came back as a toaster oven," the computer replied, sounding bored as usual.

Violet looked up into the sky through the gaudily decorated window. "I hope Skoodge is okay…"

Skoodge, meanwhile, was frantically dodging Murderer Zim's laser. "Critical hit!" the onboard computer cried as the ship shook.

"I know, I could feel it!" Skoodge shouted back, clutching onto the controls and wishing that Voot runners had seat belts. Maybe if he lived through this, he'd install some.

"Come back here, you coward! Running won't save you!" Murderer Zim shouted, and in his heart, Skoodge knew he was right. Come on, he'd conquered the planet of the rats. There had to be SOMETHING he could do to stop Murderer Zim.

Off in the distance, a glimmering light marked the approach of the scout ship for the Irken armada. Like sand through an hourglass, time was ticking down. If he didn't do something soon, he'd be dead, and that was absolutely no fun at all.

"Where is Tak?" Murderer Zim muttered when they shot past the space station only for him to notice the interior lights were still dark. "She should have evacuated by now… computer, call my mate while I take care of this pest."

"She's not answering, sir. She's not in the base and the transport ship is still parked."

Murderer Zim slammed on his brakes, not caring if Skoodge escaped. He'd catch him later. "WHAT?"

"I've searched the base. She's not there, but as you can see from the footage, the ship is still parked and ready for launch. Look, your suitcases are still sitting by the side of them."

"The armada's almost here. She should have loaded them by now… something must have happened…" Murderer Zim looked off at the approaching ships. "I have to go down there and find out where she is!"

"Is there enough time?"

"I'm not leaving without her!" he cried as his ship plummeted into orbit.

Skoodge, noticing that he was suddenly not being fired upon, looked around in confusion. "Where'd he go?"

"He's heading for Earth," the onboard computer answered.

"Earth… Violet will have to handle him. I have to stop the Armada… somehow…"