Disclaimer: I keep writing, and yet I still don't own Zim... why is that?

Wow, I can't thank you all enough for reviewing. It really helps me stay motivated and keep going. Utopian, I especially enjoyed your comments, and am ecstatic that you added my story to your favorites. I might attempt Gaz romance, but I'm not sure... it would be quite difficult, as you said. I'll ponder on it. And to let everyone know, I've pretty much definitely decided to make this a DATR. And now, let the craziness continue!

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Tak was in shock. She could hardly breathe. Her mind refused to think. Only one thought flashed within her, over and over again, until it reverberated within her entire being: YOU'RE STUCK HERE, AND THERE'S NO WAY OUT.

"Tak...? Are you okay...?" said a voice from somewhere far away, as a hand touched her shoulder.

Tak gasped, and fell to her knees. She didn't fully realize it, but she was sobbing. "I'm... stuck here..." She buried her face in her arms. "...forever..."

Tears of both sadness and anger flowed from her violet eyes, and her antennae pressed low against her head. She shook uncontrollably. Her emotions were completely overwhelming her - for the first time in her life.

She was stuck here forever... Just as she had finally become free of her space prison... Just as her hope had risen that she might see Irk once more... Just as she had begun to think her life might possibly turn out alright... But she had gone from one hell right into another... And this time, there was no way out... No way out... no way out... no way out... NO WAY OUT!

But wait! Her shaking stopped abruptly, and her antennae perked up. There was still Zim! Zim had spacecraft that could travel to Irk... A smile began to form on her face, which sharply contrasted with the tears still in her eyes. Maybe there wasa way out of here... maybe her life couldturn out alright!

She suddenly leaped to her feet, sending Dib, who had apparently been standing behind her, to the ground. She spun around to face him, tears flying from her face, and her cape flapping behind her. "Dib, do you know how to get to Zim's house from here?"

Dib's eyes widened behind his skewed glasses. "Zim's house? Why in the world would you want to go there?"

Tak's eyes narrowed. "Answer the question, human."

Dib's eyes widened even more. "Y-yes. I do."

"Good. Take me to him..." Tak's smile slid its way to an evil grin.

"Take you to him?"

"Yes... that is what I just said."

"I can't just take you to him! Do you have any idea what he would do to you?"

"Of course I know what he'd try to do to me. I was... should've been, an Invader, after all."

"And you still want to just waltz on up to his house?"

Tak rolled her eyes. "Yes. He has a ship I can use to get off this planet."

Dib looked incredulous. "Wha... how... what are you not understanding here? You can't just walk up to his house, and expect him to give you his ship!"

"That's why I'm going to steal it. It and the rest of his base should be mine anyways. I should have been an Invader, not him."

"And how are you going to steal it? Despite him being incompetent, his security is quite good."

"Simple, you'll tell me all you know of his security, and I'll devise an ingenious way around it."

Dib had a very disturbing look on his face. It looked as if he had both eaten something really sour, and been whacked on the head with a bat. "That's your plan? You really think you can figure out a way around his security that easily?"

Tak glared at him, offended by his doubt of her abilities. Of course she could get past Zim's security! She had trained herself for years, and was an expert in stealth and infiltration!

She continued to glare at him, and he just stared back. Neither blinked. Finally, Tak said, with very apparent bitterness, "I don't need your help. If you're unwilling to give it to me, I'll just leave. I'm practically an Irken Invader; I can handle this myself. "

With that, she strode past him, and out to the sidewalk. She looked either way, and activated her spider legs. Then she sprung to the left, activated her cloaking device, and was gone.

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Dib sat there for a few minutes, his mind in the overload stage. Why had she run off? Why did she get so angry? What the hell had just happened?

"Heh. Looks like your girlfriend left you."

Dib turned his head to the right, to see his sister Gaz, the purple-haired girl, standing nearby once again. She didn't have a drink this time, just a smirk.

Dib stared at her, confusion and anger in his eyes.

"She's... not my girlfriend..."

"Pshfft. Whatever. Point is, she's gone, and she's angry. With you." Gaz's left eye squinted open as her smirk grew a little more.

"But... why? What'd I do?" Dib looked to the ground, hurt, and very, very confused.

Gaz rolled her eyes. "You doubted her abilities, of course. Not very good at understanding people, huh?" She sniffed. "But then of course you aren't... you never have been. That's why I had to exact revenge upon you just now."

Dib looked up at her again. "What?" He stared for a minute, and then his eyes widened. "You did that?"

Gaz's smile was now the biggest Dib had seen it since they were toddlers. "If by 'that', you mean 'cause your alien ship to explode'... Then yes, yes I did."

"But... why? How could you?"

Gaz chuckled. "Because you can't seem to get it through your thick skull that you don't own the cereal. You just don't."

Dib's jaw fell open. "You blew up an alien ship over cereal?"

Gaz's eyes were slits once more as she shrugged in reply, and then turned to go back inside the house.

Dib leaped to his feet, and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Oh no you don't! You just ruined my life, over cereal! I'm not going to let you go!"

Gaz turned to face him, her eyes wide and furious as she looked at his hand upon her shoulder. One of her eyes twitched. "You're... touching... me..." Barely controlled hate filled each word.

Dib ignored her rising anger, and grabbed both of her shoulders. He was the angriest he had ever been in his entire life, and he wasn't about to let her get away with it. He pushed her up against the wall of the house, his grip on her tightening. "You're going to help me save Tak from Zim, and you're goingto do it right now, unless you never want to go to Bloaty's Pizza Hog with Dad ever again."

Gaz's head snapped forward, and she stared Dib straight in the eyes. There was the smallest hint of fear in her face, although it was uncertain whether this was from Dib's unbridled anger or his malicious threat. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine. But get your hands off me."

Dib let go of her shoulders, although his anger had not completely ebbed. He took a deep breath, trying to become calm again. Calmness being reached, he then turned around, and pointed in the direction Tak had gone.

"Okay. She went this way, straight towards Zim, so we'll just - ACK!"

Dib's airway had just been severely constricted, by Gaz's hand around his throat.

"If you ever touch me again, I won't hesitate to kill you."

She let him go, and stomped off in the direction he had pointed. Her hands were balled into fists.

Dib coughed, and rubbed his neck. He was lucky that was all she had done, and he knew it. But why did he get so angry...? Why did he lose control...? He had barely been able to keep himself from grabbing her neck... True, that was probably one of the worst things she had done to him... recently, at least... But he still had never acted that violently before. He had always managed to stay relatively cool and collected whenever anger overtook him.

He shrugged. No time to think about that, he had to help Tak. Despite her abilities, Dib couldn't get himself to believe she could stand up to Zim in his own base, armed with nothing but her pack. An image of her lying on the floor, bleeding, flit across his mind. He gasped, and ran to catch up to Gaz, hoping he wasn't too late.

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Yes, I know it's kinda short. The next chapter is going to be pretty long though, and should more than make up for it. So don't despair! Isn't Gaz awesome? I'm going to have to make her a major part in this... and maybe write her her own story at some point... But I'll of course finish this first. Tak's story has seeped too deeply into my mind for me to write anything else anyway. I love you, Tak!

Okay... I'm done now...