Red and Purple's eyes were wide with surprise as Chasidy shut the front door behind her.
"C-Chasidy!" Red stuttered.
"I said I would come by." She said grinning. "Didn't think this is what I would find."
Chasidy walked to the centre of the room and picked Zim off the floor and propped him up on the sofa.
"Y'know, you should take better care of those who are trying to protect you." She said, turning to look at Red.
"Protect us? How is Zim trying to protect us?" Red protested.
"Don't you get it Red?" Purple said suddenly, causing Red and Chasidy to look over.
"Every time he's taken us out, he's always looking out for us, like when he saved me from that car."
Red scoffed. "So? Anyone else would have done the same."
"You obviously still don't know how things work on Earth Red." Chasidy said softly, sitting down in the space between Red and Zim. "Not everyone is willing to go out of their way to save others. Most people would ignore it if someone git hit by a car."
"Not even if the person was their superior?"
"Not even."
Purple sighed. "And we're not superiors on this planet Red." He said sadly.
"Or on our planet." Red added grimly.
Chasidy raised an eyebrow. "Is that unusual?"
"Not unusual, but it's not how things have been for a long time."
"I'm not following you."
Red sighed, and the two of them began the retelling of their story, beginning with the hierarchy system on their planet, and ending with how they were torn out of office.
When they were finished, Chasidy looked neither surprised nor confused. She was smiling sadly.
"I read something like this in a book once." She said quietly. "Where the people who were in charge of this big Empire or something were forced to live like those whom they had once presided over… I think it was meant to teach them how to be more generous towards those who weren't as important as them."
"I doubt Sleet wanted to teach us that and then just let us back on the Massive to be the Tallest again." Red grumbled, hanging one of his lanky arms over the arm of the sofa.
Chasidy swept the hair out of her eyes thoughtfully. "That is a bit of a stretch… But you've got to wonder… if this Sleet guy took the no-grow drugs, how did he get taller than you?"
Red and Purple stared at each other, with their eyes very, very wide.
When Zim awoke, it was morning.
Red was sitting next to him, leaning against the back of the sofa, asleep. He couldn't see where Purple was.
A shiver went up Zim's back. Had something happened?
He clambered off the sofa, being careful not to wake Red, just in case something had happened, and walked into the kitchen.
A wave of relief swept over the small invader when he saw Purple sitting at the kitchen table, playing some kind of card game.
"G'morning Zim." He said quietly as Zim drew closer.
"Good morning…" Zim replied.
Purple looked up from his cards as Zim wandered to the fridge and retrieved his normal morning nutrients.
He looked back down when Zim took a seat at the table across from him to eat.
"Me and Red are going out tonight." He said in a monotone. "You don't mind do you?"
Zim looked at Purple with a smile. "Of course not. Just as long as you're careful."
Purple nodded, and Zim, happy with the response resumed eating.
Purple watched Zim out of the corner of his eye.
So… He thought. Chasidy was right… He is trying to protect us. Why would he though? We were always so mean to him. Was he that oblivious to our taunts?
Zim finished his meal and left the room without a word.
Could we have been wrong about him?
Red and Purple left just before sunset.
"Come to the triangle of trees where the sun sets" Chasidy had said.
They looked out into the street. It was deserted, like it always was at this time of day, and the sun was sinking low on the horizon to the left of the base.
Not knowing what to make of Chasidy's riddle, the pair walked towards the disappearing sun.
After a few minutes of walking, Red and Purple came to a small park, with tall trees all around the edge, and in a group in the middle.
Intrigued, they walked over to the trees in the centre, which turned out to be in a triangle.
Before they knew what was happening, someone tackled them from behind.
Red and Purple ended up on their backs, each with a grinning human girl sitting on their chest.
"Chasidy!" Red gasped. "I can't breathe!"
Chasidy giggled and rolled onto the grass next to Red.
Purple looked up at the girl sitting on his chest.
"Who are you, and why are you sitting on me?" He gasped.
The girl laughed and scrambled over to sit next to Chasidy on the grass.
Red coughed and sat up. "So… uh. You brought a friend?"
Chasidy nodded. "Yep." She gestured towards the girl beside her. "This is Roselyn, but we call her Ro."
"Ro?"
Ro grinned and tucked her blonde bangs behind her ears. "Yep. That's me!"
"Ro is my right-hand performer." Chasidy said leaning back on a nearby tree.
"Performer?" Purple asked, sitting up.
Chasidy and Ro smiled.
"We're performers, actors, artists, writers, designers… the whole thing. We're the ones who are the best at making anything fantastic."
"So, I am supposing that you are the ones behind the parade on Halloween… right?" Red said with a slight yawn.
"Yep, that was us." Ro said proudly.
"We organise that every year. Plus a whole bunch of other things. Which is why I asked you here tonight." Chasidy said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Purple asked.
"Do you wanna get back at Sleet?"
Red and Purple froze.
Chasidy smiled. "Of course you do."
"Y-you're going to help us?" Red stuttered.
"Duh."
"How?"
"We have a philosophy." Ro breathed.
"The key to the mind is fear." Chasidy finished.
"Fear?" Purple repeated, not at all convinced.
Chasidy smiled.
"It means, if you want to leave an impression, you scare the hell outta them!"
"I see."
"Now," Chasidy reached into her backpack, which was sitting on the grass next to her tree, and pulled out a pencil and sketchbook. "What is Sleet afraid of?"
Purple and Red looked at each other.
"Dunno..."
Chasidy chewed on her pencil thoughtfully. "We'll have to guess then."
Ro pulled out a sketchbook and pencil of her own and started scribbling something on the paper.
Red looked at her curiously.
"Say, does she…?" He left the end for Chasidy to fill in… just in case.
"Know? Yeah. I told her everything. If she's gunna help, she'd better be on the same page."
"Uh huh…"
"So it's okay to turn your disguises off Y'know."
Red and Purple didn't even move, but seconds later; their Irken selves replaced their Human selves.
Ro glanced up at them for a brief moment before returning to her sketchbook.
Chasidy looked at Ro's page and grinned.
"Ro, you are unbelievable."
Ro looked up and smiled proudly. "Thanks Chas. Like it?"
"I love it. But we should see what they think."
Ro nodded and turned her book around to show Red and Purple what she had drawn.
On the paper, was a very detailed, very accurate drawing of the two of them, but not as they were. Ro had drawn them partly in silhouette, with fire and lightning coming off their arms and swirling around them.
They were both looking very ominous and evil. Very threatening.
Chasidy's eyes glistened in the dying light. "What do you think?"
Red and Purple didn't know what to think. First of all, they were shocked at the skill of the human girl. But then, Chasidy and Ro were suggesting that they take on that threatening appearance.
"I take it from your stunned silence that you are impressed?" Ro asked, feeling very proud of herself.
Red nodded.
Ro grinned.
Chasidy glanced at her watch. "Well guys, we'd better split. We'll start making this a reality, then we can get the show on the road!" She said happily.
The small group stood up, with Red and Purple activating their disguises as they did so.
"I'll come by when we've finished, okay?" Chasidy said in parting.
"Right." Red and Purple said together.
Chasidy and Ro turned to leave, when Chasidy paused. "Oh, and one more thing."
"Yeah?"
Chasidy looked over her shoulder at the two Irken males. "Practice your powers. If Sci Fi has taught me anything, it is to not be afraid of what you are capable of. Sometimes, the most frightening things aren't really as scary as they seem."
Chasidy and Ro walked away without another word.
Red and Purple looked at each other. They knew Chasidy had a point, regardless of the fact that neither of them knew what Sci Fi was.