By animeninjaNIPPON

"Why did you kiss me?" Dib asked angrily, glaring at a stunned-silent Zim. Zim blinked and stood up.

"Why did YOU enjoy it?" he retorted.

"That was my first kiss," Dib stated matter-of-factly. "I wanted it to be memorable."

"Well… was it?"

"I'll have a hard time pushing it out of my nightmares." Dib walked by Zim and continued his journey home. For some strange reason, that one line made Zim feel sadder than every remark the Tallest had made about him earlier that day. He watched silently as Dib walked away as if nothing had happened… then turn back around.

As soon as Dib became aware that Zim wasn't following him, he became embarrassed – and slightly insulted. "Aren't you going to pursue me, or something?"

"You think I want you THAT bad?" Zim snapped.

"You said you were going to marry the – " Gir started.

"I KNOW what I said!" Zim shouted. "But that's – the DIB!"

"You just get weirder and stupider every day," Dib remarked sadly.

"Shut up, HUMAN!" Zim turned back to Gir. "Come, Gir! We have to find an ELIGIBLE Earth-bride!" They turned and walked away.

"Zim's getting MARRIED to a human?" Dib tried to figure this out as he walked home but came up empty. He spent a long time thinking about it…

When he got home, he realized that "Mysterious Mysteries" was long over. Naturally, Gaz hadn't bothered to tape it for him. Crestfallen, Dib went up to his room to get ready for bed. Before he could turn on the lights, he heard a tap on his window.

Dib went to his window and opened it, but no one was there – just a video cassette with "Mysterious Mysteries" and the date written on it. "This is today's episode," he noticed. "But who…"

Hiding behind a tree in Dib's yard, far beyond earshot, was Zim. "It's no coincidence that we ran into each other today," he noted. "All I need is a human bride to get back into the Irken rankings, and if I woo that Dib monkey, he'll no longer be a threat to me." He clenched his fist as his crimson eyes blazed like fire within. "And it'll be that much easier to conquer Earth!"

End of part three