A/N: Hey again everybody. Next chapter's obviously up. I'm thinking about starting another Invader Zim fan fic that is completely unrelated to this one. If anybody has any ideas, please, I'd love your input, especially yours Ri2. Also, please leave a review if you already haven't. I so love to hear from people who actually appreciate my work.

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Chapter 7

A VISIT WITH EDZEL AND SOME QUICK SHOPPING

We were waiting outside of Edzel's place. He lived in an old tower block much like Vova's. The only difference being that this one was abandoned and Edzel was illegally leaching power from the surrounding areas. The other difference was the fact that this particular tower block resided directly next-door to an open-air sewage treatment facility. As you can imagine, if you have the apt brain meats, the smell was utterly horrific. If I lingered about too long, I might develop some kind of a terminal cancer in my squeedly spooch or something equally as painful and messy.

We had arrived a little earlier than planned so I wasn't quite ready to go inside yet. The suns were beginning to set and the red-skied night was falling over the tired little area of the city. I sat there for a few moments in the quiet and thought about what had happened. It wasn't until this that I had the clear realization.

"I killed him," I mumbled to myself. It had been so long since I had killed another Irken and it not be in the name of military service. It always left me with a light-headed numb feeling; like I was floating in space. I looked down at my left claw. The black-gloved appendage was ever so slightly trembling, as was it's twin. I gave it a slight wiggle and smiled when I couldn't feel it move. My foot was tapping up and down on the cab's floor making my knee bounce up. Yep, I'd killed somebody. I could still smell the burning flesh. Had I really stuck him in the deep fryer? Best to think about it later. I got out of the cab and walked over to an available pay phone.

I popped in a few coins and dialed the number. The street light overhead sparked alive. It ringed a couple of times before Vova picked up. "Hello?"

"What are you doing home so early?"

"I got fired because of what you did to Gorn."

"I'm sorry," I said. I never intended for it to escalate to what it had. And I never intended to get Vova fired. What would she in Ziggy do now? They were already short on monies and Ziggy was just able to perform odd jobs.

"I'm not worried with that right now. Listen to me carefully. This place is crawling with law enforcers. Don't go to the cafetorium. And don't come back to our place. They're looking for you. You could get the air lock for this, or worse!" She started
crying.

What could be worse than the air lock? Oh yeah, the moose wormhole. Eh!

"I'm sorry I killed him Vova. I barely remember what I did," I said. I was kinda' sorry, for Vova, not for Gorn. I'd kill him again in a heart beat! Nobody treats my Vova that way. Just thinking about him made me tense up. Then I noticed was crushing the handle of the phone.

"Don't be. I just can't believe you killed him," she laughed. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. You're- so- sweet- I- love- you- good- bye." Before I could answer, she hung up.

It had started to get cold outside so I put my jacket back on before I got back in the cab. I thumbed through a couple of switches on the dashboard until the pathetic little heater coughed to life. I looked over at my little, stolen metal companion, slash, slave who was faithfully doing. . . He was asleep.

"Wake up Sid!" I yelled and leaned over trying to kick him in the head. My foot connected with a loud hollow clang and I grabbed my foot in pain. "Ooow! You little bastard!" This woke him up.

"Huh? What? Are we crashing? We're crashing! I'm on fire!" He
screamed and flailed his arms about the cab.

"We're waiting on someone. Now be quiet!" I said, still rubbing my throbbing foot. "Are you still monitoring the law enforcement's radio communications?"

"Yeah," He said and slumped back in his seat. He let his legs dangle over the edge of the seat and kick them back and forth.

"Well?" My foot had finally calmed down. I'd have to make a note that the next time I hit him, I'd use something like a club or a brick.

"Oh, you wanted to know what they're saying," he said with a large grin, his tongue poking out the side. "But all you asked was if I was monitoring the radios. I said 'Yes'! You didn't ask what they're talking about."

I gave him an angry glare. "Quit screwing around and tell me what they're saying you little metal pain in my ass!"

He paused for a moment to listen to the transmissions. "They're pissed," he laughed. "Oh man, are they pissed!" How very reassuring.

"I'll be right back!" Sid yelled and then disappeared under one of the seats into the ocean of trash and left-over food that covered the floor. I could hear a loud commotion coming from down below; rustlings of paper and what-not, quiet crunching sounds, and then a loud laugh. He soon emerged with a large, green ring of something. "I found a donut!"

I looked at the molding donut. "You're not going to eat that, are you?"

"I guess not. I don't have a stomach, or taste sensors, or a digestive track, or a..."

"That's what I thought," I said and snatched the donut from his hand and shoved it in my mouth. It was WAY better than that slice of pie I had earlier.

"I was saving that!" Sid cried in protest.

"I don't care. From now on, if you find any food, or liquor for that matter, you give it to me. We're homeless and, unlike you, I HAVE to eat to continue successfully functioning."

Sid looked at me angrily. " Fine, you can have all the food! See if I care!" he screamed at the top of his voice.

"Do we have to have another discussion about our 'inside voices' again, Sid?"

"No!" he hissed. He's as good of a liar as I am!

"Goooood." I patted him on the head.

"Quick talking to me like I'm a fucking 'tard!" He yelled. "I may be a robot, but I'm capable of getting pissed!" Great, he has an attitude problem. "So, what do we do now?"

"We hide out for about five days."

"Why?"

"Because, I killed somebody," I said. "Anyway, five days is the maximum amount of time the law is allowed to waste for an investigation into any crime. And that's only for the most sinister crimes. That's because the Irken law makers realized that there aren't enough law enforcers to fight the abundance of crimes," I told him, every-now-and-then using hand signals for emphasis hoping he would understand. With my luck he probably is stupid.

"So, that's all the time?"

"Unless, of course, if it's a crime involving that tallest, like an assassination attempt or royal snack larceny, then the time limit is absolved. But I'm sure you already knew that."

"Huh?" He looked at me confusedly, his little antenna drooping to one side.

Great, he was stupid. "Hey, if you're going to break the law, at least familiarize yourself with it first!" I yelled at him. I'd have to download some intelligence from my Pak into the little bastard or I'd probably rip him to pieces for being so stupid. The last thing I needed was a loud-mouthed slave with an attitude problem and absolutely no brains.

So, in what I guessed to be a three-day period of time, I would be a free Irken. We could do it. I'd have Sid boost some supplies from a convenient depot and we'd live in the cab. I'd slept in worse conditions. Compared to a dumpster, this was a fantastic place to live. But food might be a little more scarce than in a dumpster.

Just then a shadowy figure emerged from the front of the tower block. He was really tall. It was Edzel. He gave me a wave and I got out of the cab. Right before I left, I stuck my head in the window and told Sid, "Just wait here. I'll be back soon. And DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"

"Fine!" he huffed at me spitefully and then switched on the radio.

I knew I couldn't trust him to wait in the cab alone. So, I got an idea.

"Sid, I need you to go on a special mission, alright?"

"Yeah." He said. "There's nothing good on the radio anyway."

"I need you to go to the nearest convenient depot and stock us up on as much food and drink as possible. DO NOT GET CAUGHT! Oh, and get some alcohol and a couple of 'special' magazines. Here, I'll right it down," I said as I pulled out a pad and pencil.

I sent Sid on his run and walked toward the building. Edzel was still standing there very patiently. "What took you?"

"Having problems with my Sir Unit."

"When did you get one of those?" he asked as we walked inside.

"Today. It came free with the cab."

"Oh, yeah, the cab you've told me so much about. He coughed and then smiled back at me.

Real quick, let me fill you in on my friend Edzel. Edzel was an alien species that many call "Abductors". I'm sure you're familiar with them by now. He was about a foot taller than me. He had deep blue eyes and bony, almost insect-like features, and he shuffled around with a slight limp. Anyway, ever since his home planet, Quito, which orbits Betelgeuse, was converted into a manufacturing planet for burritos and Twinkies, he has lived on Irk, illegally of course. Since, Quitoans are not the most adapted beings for living in foreign atmospheres, he had a constant wheeze and hacking cough. But, being the species that he was, he was very good with his hands and, therefore, was very apt in the finer arts of forgery.

The inside of the building was a complete shambles. It was much in the same state as the tank factory I had visited earlier that day. Most of it was a collapsed and rusting pile of twisted metal and ruble except for a small area near the center. It was in this area, that Edzel had fashioned his living quarters. There was a bed, a TV, and a wall of computers and other equipment. On the other side of a makeshift partition was the galley and eating chamber and, of course, a lav. The place reeked of the nearby sewage plant and the entire room was filled with a thin haze of industrial vapors.

We skipped the pleasantries of this visit and got right down to business. "So, you got everything done?"

"Yep," he said. "I got your vehicular operator's license, chauffeur's license, proper papers, and you're ID plate for the cab. It's all watertight, they'll never know they're phonies."

"Thanks Ed. How much is this going to run me?" I asked. I knew I didn't have enough for something this nice.

"For you, it's free. After that favor you did for me, I could never bring myself to charge you. Besides, this only took me an hour or so." Told you he was good with his hands! And as for the 'favor', it's a LONG story.

"I can't do that," I said and pulled out my wallet. "This is all I got, but I'm gonna' pay you something, at least." He didn't object.

"Fine." He said and took the monies. "Good luck to you on your new business venture my friend." Suddenly a thin waft of black smoke drifted around the partition. "Ooh, supper's done. You hungry?"

"Nah, I just ate," I lied. If it's ever offered, never, never ever ever, eat Quitoan cooking. I tried it once, ONCE. "Maybe next time, I need to get moving anyway."

"Oh yeah. I've been listening in on the radios. So, you killed a guy?" He grinned.

"Yeah. It's no big deal."

"Is it ever?" He laughed. "I'll see ya'," he said.

When I walked back outside, I could hear sirens, yet again, in the distance. In the cab, sat Sid. In the back of the cab, sat a humongous pile of instant burritos, taquitos, bags of nutrient pellets, snacks of all types, sodas, bottles of varying liquors, and a stack of those 'special' magazines I mentioned. Judging by the sirens, I knew something went wrong.

"Sid, what happened?" I yelled as I popped open the cab's trunk and opened the back seat door.

"Nothing, I did exactly what you said. It's not my fault if the clerk got all trigger happy and accidentally shot one of the customers, damn it!" He yelled and hopped out of the car.

"I don't want to hear anymore of this. It didn't happened! Now help my get this slark in the trunk!" I yelled with an armful of food. "And mind the bottles. I don't want any liquor wasted. We're REALLY going to need everything hear!" Sid was steadily stuffing food in the trunk. Finally we finished. I looked down at Sid.

"Now what?" He asked.

Without a word, I reached down and turned him off and tossed him in the trunk. I slammed the top down. Quickly I swapped out the ID plates on the cab and got back inside. I gunned the bastard and pulled off in the opposite direction. If things went well, I wouldn't get caught. And if things didn't… That wasn't an option!