A.N. Thanks to Missy Lynne (haha, of course Zim is jealous),Rahh Gumba Foo, rarofdoom, InvaderCorren (but the Tallest are my friends! I'd never kill them off!. . .maybe just. . .torment them. . . and stuff. . .), and MasterFruitCake (I fully respect your decision in holding your favorite stuffed animal in your posession at the good age of seventeen. May I ask what animal it is?) for reviewing.

Just so you know, I wrote the very awesome song in this chapter, even though it's only one verse. Cause I'm just cool like that. Yay for me.

Chapter four- The truth about the lie

Zim bows and says respectfully, "Greeting my Tallest. It is good to see you."

Tak's pulling on his arm, gesturing for him to leave, but he just ignores her.

Tallest Red stares blankly at the two for a moment, then says, "Get out Zim."

"But-"

"Come on," Tak hisses, tightening her hold on him, but Zim frees his arm from her grasp, and takes a step toward the other tall figures.

"My Tallest," he says, "I understand we're now at war with-"

"We're in the middle of something," Tallest Purple snaps, "and I don't know who was stupid enough to let you in here, but whoever they are, we should blow them up!"

"Yeah!" says Tallest Red. "At least that might relieve some of our stress!"

Then, before Zim can even respond, the Tallest, along with the other figures surrounding the table, point to the door.

"Out," they all say.

Tak then drags Zim from the room, hastily shutting the door behind her. Once safely outside, she grabs his neck tightly.

"Are you insane!" she shouts.

Zim just kicks her shin in order to break free. It works, but unfortunately, Tak kicks him back.

"Damn it, Zim!" she says. "Don't do that!"

Zim ignores her, yet again (although he's still rubbing his leg in pain), and stares at the door he had just been in.

"They dare deny Zim?" he ponders aloud. "How could they, after all I've done for them?"

"They deny you," Tak growls, "because they don't like you."

"Nonsense, foolish Tak! The Tallest adore me!"

Tak sighs in disgust, and then Joon approaches them, looking a bit amused.

"That was a really quick visit," he says. "What'd they say to you?"

"Oh, they just told Zim to get lost-"

"Silence!" Zim shouts, and at that moment, the door slides open.

Before any emerging figures can even be seen, various voices from inside the room can be heard.

". . .we don't even know what this liquid is, how are we supposed to find a way to resist it. . .?"

". . .do you want the rest of my cherry slurpy, it's making me sick. . ."

"Hey, maybe the liquid's a slurpy!"

". . .idiot. . .slurpys don't burn our skins. . ."

". . .the worst part is, no one's willing to guard the base on Meekrob, they're all afraid of dying, the wimps. . ."

"If only we could get someone desperate enough," Tallest Red is saying. He and the others all begin to exit the room, and they walk past Zim, Tak and Joon without so much as a glance.

Tak glares at Zim, but he, of course, pays it no mind, and follows after his leaders rather quickly.

"My Tallest," he says, "could you-"

"Crap!" Red shouts. "What are you still doing here?"

All of Tallest Red's companions pause in their conversations and glance down at Zim, who isn't fazed by the sudden attention.

"I was just wondering," he says, "why you haven't informed me of this Meekrob war yet. As you know, I could provide excellent assistance in combat, and-"

"Why would we inform you?" Tallest Red interrupts, seeming highly irritated.

Zim appears taken aback, then says, as though confounded by the question, "Because. . .I'm an invader. Surely you would seek the aid of such a highly ranked solider in such troubled times!"

Red clenches his fist in frustration, and taps it sharply against his forehead. He looks to Tallest Purple, who nods slightly, then back down to Zim.

"Listen. . ." he says slowly, baring his teeth, as though he's trying very hard to conceal his agitation, "do you want the truth?"

"The truth?" Zim asks, confused. "About what?"

"About your mission. . .and it's no joke, I'm not lying or anything, this is actually serious."

"What is?"

"What I'm about to tell you."

"What are you about to tell me?"

"Do you wanna know?"

"Wanna know what?"

"Shut up!" Red snaps, no longer baring his teeth, and Zim actually recoils in surprise. "You're not an invader, Zim. Your mission's not real. We've been lying to you this whole time."

The whole world's falling down,

I guess I'll miss the insanity,

how stupid to think it would last forever,

now it's an unlocked security.

Lalalala, we all fall,

Lalalala, time to go away now.

Dib jabs the "stop" button on the cd-player, and looks to Kacer, who nods solemnly.

Dib clears his throat and says as seriously as he can, "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of. . .uh. . .Kacer's stuffed bunny. . ."

"Pop-pop Bunny," Kacer whispers.

"Pop-pop Bunny," Dib echoes. "Right. . .uh. . . he was a beloved stuffed bunny, and I, personally, uh. . . would've liked to have known him. . ."

He trails off awkwardly, and Kacer is smiling through her tears. Pin pats her leg and says comfortingly, "He was a nice bunny. . ."

"Yeah," Clox says, "S-sorry. . . um. . .I'm sorry, uh, sorry I k-killed it!"

"Thank you," Kacer whispers. She pats Clox and Pin on the head softly.

"Okay," Dib says, deadpan, "let's bury it."

He lifts the closed shoe-box (labeled "R.I.P. Pop-pop Bunny") and places it in the (rather crudely dug) hole in the ground.

All the funeral participants sprinkle a handful of dirt over the cardboard coffin, and then Kacer says softly, "I'd like to be alone if you don't mind. . ."

Dib nods, and begins to lead Pin and Clox away, and on the way back to the house, he says to himself, "I hope she realizes she can just sew the bunny up. . ."

And Kacer, who just so happened to have heard him, shrieks, "Oh my god, there's still hope!" and tears the shoe-box from the ground.

Dib is caught between laughing and being utterly weirded out, but he doesn't say anything to her.

"Hey," he says to the kids, "do you guys wanna make waffles?"

"Yeah!"

"You bet."

Zim took the plasma gun from his daughter's arms.

"You built this?" he asked, impressed.

Pin nodded shyly.

"Yeah," she said softly, "um, mommy taught me the basic structure of it and everythin' but. . .um. . .I added some stuff. . .and uh, it's a present for you!"

"Excellent!" Zim exclaimed, smiling. "I shall use it at once!" He shook the plasma gun in the air triumphantly, then muttered to himself, "I wonder if Dib is home. . . "

He lowered the gun for a moment to admire it, and when he did, Pin moved forward and hugged his leg.

"I love you Daddy," she said, looking up and smiling, "and I don't think you're an insensitive defective at all, no matter what Mommy says!"

Zim patted her on the head, and said to her, although looking to Tak with a threatening smile, "Oh, did Mommy say that?"

Tak giggled nervously, and tried her best to slink away into the background, but Zim was able to kick her with his free leg just in time. She returned his attack with a smack to the head, and Pin just sat there, laughing.

Tak thinks it was pure luck, but she's dead thankful for it. The moment Tallest Red informed Zim the truth about his mission didn't even get a chance to react. Because a second later, a rather short messenger drone approached the Tallest.

"My Tallest," he had said, "we really could use some guards at the base right now!"

"Just, uh. . ." Purple started, seeming frustrated, "force some of the combat drones to do it!"

At that moment, Zim began to wave his arm around vigorously.

"Zim," Red said, "go away."

"I could guard!" Zim said eagerly. "I can be good at guarding!"

For the first time since she had seen him, Tak noticed her leader's expression relax. He appeared to be pondering something, and then he pointed to her husband and said, "Okay.You-" he then pointed to Tak, "and your mate. You two guard the base. You know where Meekrob is, right?"

Zim nodded energetically, and then Tallest Red said dramatically, "You are to go at once!. . .Now!"

So now, here they are, on their way to Meekrob in the voot cruiser. Neither of them have spoken for nearly an hour, and Tak's almost afraid to. Zim didn't react to the news of his mission, but Tak wondered if he was really so thick he wouldn't believe it, or if maybe he was distracting himself by volunteering to guard.

So maybe he doesn't want to think about it yet. But now Tak doesn't know what to say; in the back of her mind, she wonders if she should hug him. But that is the one thing they rarely do. So he would wonder why she was doing it, and she'd have to explain that it's because he found out about his mission, and then he'll have to think about it. . .

Tak groans in frustration, which causes Zim to glance at her, confused.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Um," Tak says, unsure of how to answer, "I just. . .hit my knee. . ."

Zim reaches over, and taps her knee lightly, then goes back to piloting. Expressionless.

"Zim. . ."

"It should take three more hours to get there. If you're tired, you should sleep now."

"Are you tired?"

"I dunno. . ."

Tak reaches over and taps the autopilot button.

"Me neither," she says. She feels sick. "You're okay, right?"

"WAIT! I JUST REMEMBERED! Zim IS tired!" Zim suddenly proclaims grandly, his finger pointing in the air. Then he faces away from Tak, says, "G'night," and begins to snore rather unconvincingly.

Tak sighs in defeat, and stares out the window.

"Good night, Zim," she mutters.

End of Chapter Four. . .

Next chappy is 'Cornchips'! Great name, eh? 'Twill include:

- a flashback with Clox

- a thickening plot (gasp!)

- Zim and Tak have a sweetlittle talk moment thingy-ma-jiggy

Okay, I was wrong about this chapter.The next chapter is where the turn-of-events take place.

Random crap: I really like those Chef Boyardee microwave micro ravolis. . . they're so dee-lishous. . . and yummy. . . I wanna eat dem now. . .

Once again, reviews affect how long the chapters come out (and they're already typed, soo. . .) Meh heh heh. . .

Link to chapter 3: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 35955271/