Thanks for the reviews! Sorry this took so long, but my computers had some problems with Microsoft Word, which was really annoying. Anyway... I only own the character Zag in this chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter 2

Zag's story

Tak sat in the back corner of her cold cell shivering. She had been locked away forever, in one of the most formidable prisons. She wasn't really shivering from the cold; it was more from shock, fear of what was to become of her, lingering memories she'd rather forget.

"You all right?" a harsh voice called from the cell next to her. "Stop being such a coward, you'll get used to it."

Tak wasn't sure whether this was supposed to be reassuring or not. Shakily, she stood up and sauntered over to where the voice had come from. She carefully climbed up on her bed and peered through the small row of metal bars that lined the top of her cell. From here, Tak could just about see into the next dull cell.

In the dim light she could just make out another Irken slouched lazily on her own bed, who seemed to be about the same size as her. The Irken looked up at Tak and moved her head so that what little light there was caught her face.

She had dark turquoise eyes, which came to a point at the top outer corner, much like Tak's but split at the tip like pointy eyelashes. Her antennae shot back fiercely in a sharp lightening bolt shape, and She wore a dark turquoise/teal coloured invader outfit to match her eye colour. It was quite long, and split slightly at the sides at the bottom. She also wore heavy boots, with metal strips across the shin and the front-top of the foot.

Everything about her boasted what Tak guessed was her personality- edgy, solitary and yet somewhat miserable.

"My name's Zag." She said moving closer to where Tak stared at the unusual irken.

"I'm Tak." She replied uncertainly. She wasn't sure she liked the look of this Zag, but she needed a friend right now.

"So, what you in for?" Zag mused, smirking.

Tak looked away. "I...I'd rather not say." She muttered, ashamed of her failure.

Zag's smile disappeared instantly. "Fine then." She jumped down and turned her back on Tak, obviously irked.

'Nice going' Tak thought to herself. She huddled up on her cold bed (which wasn't really more than a metal shelf with a rough piece of material thrown over) to linger on her doomed future.

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"But what is it supposed to mean?" Zim yelled desperately.

"Insufficient data." The electronic voice replied.

"How am I supposed to know the first thing about this stupid human nonsense?" For quite some time now, Zim had been trying to figure how to complete his double homework. "All this so called 'human genius', how come it's so ingenious if I can't even understand it?"

He sighed and jumped off his computer chair. "I'm so fed up of this stinking planet of FILTH!" Zim glared at GIR as he walked past sucking on his suck monkey.

'If only I had some real help.' He thought to himself miserably. But there was no one on this stupid planet who would ever help him- he knew that for certain. But still he longed for companionship, no matter how loud his conscience yelled 'Irken invaders need NO ONE!'

Without answers, he trudged towards school, and his certain doom for not completing his extra homework.

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"Here." A deep voice echoed from somewhere beyond Tak's disturbed dreams. She groggily sat up rubbing her eyes, her body screaming with the pain from her injuries (the treatment she had received at the Massive had worn off) and having to sleep on such a horrible bed.

She looked over towards the door, and saw a small plate of food waiting for her. She didn't feel particularly hungry, but she knew she must be starving. Hesitantly she dragged herself over to the door, and carried the plate back to her bed.

It was some sort of stale irken food- nothing like the luxurious snacks invaders should get. She poked doubtfully at the lump of purplish food, which resembled something like lumpy dough, but rock hard. No matter how long she stared at it, she knew she wouldn't be able to bring herself to put it in her mouth.

Sighing, she lay down, thinking things through. 'I just can't go on like this, I won't survive a week in this place. If I ever meet Zim again I will pummel him until he looks worse than this food!' She smirked slightly at the thought of Zim reduced to a lump of goo.

She was brought out of this comforting thought abruptly as she realised she was being watched. She could just make out a glimmer of reflection from a pair of eyes, staring at her through the bars along the side of her cell. Zag was watching her with a bored look on her face.

"You gonna eat that?" She said once she realised she had caught Tak's attention. Tak was amazed she was talking to her after the previous conversation, but what else was there to do in this dump?

She got up and passed the questionable 'food' over. "Thanks." Zag scoffed it greedily. "It's really not so bad once you get used to the food round here."

"So... how long have you been here?" Tak asked, trying to make conversation.

"Hmmm, let me see...probably about...three years now." She replied casually.

"Three years? How do you cope?" Tak was astonished.

"Well, it was tough at first, but so am I." She grinned.

"So... why are you in here?" Tak said uncertainly, knowing the answer she'd get.

"Oh, I'd rather not say." Zag said sarcastically, doing an impression of Tak's earlier comment.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Its just...well, I-"Tak stumbled, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay." Zag interrupted. "I understand how you feel. Besides, there's no point in keeping a grudge in this place. How about we trade stories?" Tak smiled at the now friendly irken.

So she found herself spilling her heart out to Zag. She told her everything about how she had trained for years to be an invader just to have her future destroyed by Zim, about she had attempted to regain her mission and how Zim had miraculously stopped her again, and how she had been found and brought before her Tallest only to be thrown in jail.

Zag listened attentively without interrupting Tak. As she finished her story, Tak felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders. She looked over curiously at Zag. She was silently staring into space.

"So...what's your story?" her cold stare was making Tak uncomfortable, but this seemed to alert Zag back to reality.

"Alright, I'll tell you." Suddenly her voice didn't seem so cold and threatening, but emotional and trusting.

"It all started much like your story- I was training to be an Irken elite invader. I aced every trial they threw at me, passed all my military training courses with exceptional skill and ability. I knew I was talented, but I had a weakness- my temper. I wasn't one who likes to follow orders or stick to the rules.

"However I was still highly recommended to the Tallest" she spat the word out as if it were poison to her tongue. "So, reluctantly due to my height, they made me an official invader. I know I'm small, and that's what kept bugging me. It was holding me back. I had everything I could want apart from a decent height, which unfortunately for me counts for everything in our society. The Tallest noted this, picking on me for it. It was only my talent that got me the position of an invader.

"It was Impending Doom one. They sent me to Planet Corvastican- a miserable lump of rock. It's a luxury Irken leisure centre now." She added bitterly.

"I aced my mission in a matter of days. Those pathetic simpletons. They just didn't see it coming. Didn't see me coming." She smirked, visualising the planet's destruction. Tak wasn't sure she wanted to know what she had done to the planet.

"Yes, I used illegal methods, and yes I know I was only supposed to observe the planet for weaknesses, but the anger inside of me- I knew I needed no help to destroy the planet. Part of me thinks I did it because I was angry at my height, but I know that I was really trying to prove my worthiness to the Tallest. I did an excellent job, and they knew it!

"But, the TALLEST!" she fumed, fists clenched tight, eyes burning with a horrific rage. "Just as always they ignored all the great things I had accomplished, and magnified the fact that I had broken so many rules." She paused to breathe.

"I grew more and more angry with each put down." She continued, calmer and quieter now. "I continued to break more and more rules from my burning hatred- just as they knew I would. They knew that if they kept provoking me soon I would go too far...and I did." Tak watched her with a mixture of fear and sympathy.

There was a small silence while Zag glared past Tak, unable to meet her eyes.

"So they locked me here, so they could claim all my great achievements as their own, and never have to look at me again."

"What...what was it that you did?" Tak whispered, unsure if it was the right thing to ask.

Zag didn't say a word. She turned her back to Tak and went to the farthest dark corner of her cell and curled up, the shadows blanketing her.

Tak could just see the glimmer of a single tear running down Zag's tortured face, as a small sobbing echoed throughout the cold chambers.