Auhor's Notes: The last chapter sucked. I know, but it was the prolouge okay? Yes, this is the first chapter. Yes, I'm going to burst a god damn blood vessel in my fingers typing this. For the record, my leg bender also hurts. Um... if any of you have a question, about why Zim has a tail or why he is the leader of the Black Gryphons... Zim is the leader of the Black Gryphons, yes, but what are they? An intergalatic Order, that's what. There are many species in it, many many species. The Order consists of members chosen solely by Zim and the Inner Circle members. The sole purpose, a neutral organization set to overthrow any leaders they find unfit. Also, in case you are wondering, and I will give this away now... Zim has gotten as tall as the Tallest, and has gotten a tail, plus a MAJOR attitude change... mostly, it will be him discreetly pursuing Red, while Red is oblivious and in lust/love with Zim. Ha ha, yes, ze fun.

I'd like to thank the academy... no, my first reviewer, Pain Extremus for reading my story. The prolouge sucked.

Disclaimer: Bla de bladeblah smoot blaeh.

Headquarters

Zim blinked, crimson eyes glued to the screen in front of him. The screen in question cast a sickly blue light onto his already oddly-pale Irken skin, the rest of the room dim, except for the glowing screen. The screen? It showed a digital map of the Headquarters, alerting him to everything that was going on. Every move a Gryphon made, he saw. Every person that left to go on a mission, he saw. On this screen, he saw everything.

He hardly pulled out this map. But, at the moment, he knew that soon he was about to be invaded. Things going on throughout the Headquarters may have seemed normal to the untrained eye, but the whole of the members were going through the ritualistic dance of readying themselves for combat. Every few minutes, a Gryphon would step into one of the many armories, picking up their supplies as if heading off to a mission, then go the short way to what was considered the 'combat exit'. This was planned down to the very minute, so precise and well-thought out, that all felt wholly proud of the system. No two Gryphons would pass eachother more than once, for their path was drawn out in their mind, for this certain invasion. Every member was going on like they were doing their own business, visiting one of the armories, and passing through the combat exit. To make any observers feel at ease, many Doppelgangers were walking the halls as well, making it seem as the place was still full as the entire Headquarters emptied of the real Gryphons.

A smirk passed his face briefly, before he shook himself out and closed the screen. His tail unfurled from its curled posistion, swishing about. Zim himself stretched sinously, straightened his messy black hair out, and sauntered to the combat hall, a new, intelligent but arrogantly confident look on his face, eyes cold. This was his game face. He knew the Tallest, or the ones just as tall as he himself, would be here soon, wanting to know if this is where many an invader or invadee had escaped to... his own, personal oasis.

"Soldiers," he stated calmly. "Stand at attention. Technicians, stand attention. Everyone else... stand attention. We must look at our best for the leaders of Irk." he said with a delighted voice, all of the Black Gryphons smiling. Their leader was excited about being able to wave something in the Tallest's faces. Though some of the members were wondering over his choice of attire, none dared to question it. Zim himself was wondering how long it would take the recognize their old punching bag... The thought curled warmly in his mind, delighting him further.

And he was not disappointed. With what they assumed was stealth, a couple of the Tallest's bodygaurds broke down the door... subtly, of course. After all, who but the best for their Tallest? Zim scoffed quietly, his tail swishing impatiently, causing a few Inner Circle members to have to stand in a circle so they would not be hit. They were standing behind a one-way mirror, when the Tallests and their entourage came in, they would think they were in a circular room with a mirror wall. They were wrong.

Soon, after the underlings had deemed it safe, the Tallest themselves stepped in, looking around warily. They were slightly disappointed at entering what they thought had been the Black Gryphon's Headquarters, finding only a mirror room.

On cue, the whole room rang with the shouted cry of, "Ha sae! Ha sae!" and then became deathly quiet as the Tallests panicked and looked for the voices. Zim smirked, stepping out from behind the mirror, unnoticed by the panicking Tallests. One of the untrained rookies, honoured by being allowed to see this, accidentally snickered.

"My dear Tallests... may I take this moment to say that I am very disappointed in you. So easily tricked... tsk, tsk," Zim's deep, silky voice rang through the round room, drawing the two's undivided attention upon him. "Welcome to the Black Gryphon's nest, guests. However, I regret to say I cannot treat you with the same hospitality I usually would."

Red and Purple stared at this figure, so unlike them, yet--they noticed warily, he was of the same race and height of them. Which meant... no, if they killed him, he would not get a chance to become a Tallest. Two of them was rare, three had never before been recorded. He was dressed like they thought he would be, but the rest was completely different. He was dressed in an ornate, beatiful cloak made of an unidentifiable material, matched by the silky crimson dress shirt underneath it. Baggy black pants that didn't seem to fit in were resting snugly on his hips, which currently had one of his hands splayed over it in a defiant posistion. Other than that, well... completely unexpected. The dragon's tail casually swinging to and fro behind him, not unlike a pendulum, threw them off almost as much as the glowing, familiar ruby red eyes. The mass of black, curly hair was tied in a low ponytail, setting it off completely. Two attenae, trademark their race, was sitting in the hair, looking like two pieces of hair sticking out. The smirk on his face seemed dangerous, deadly.

"W...who are you?" Purple attempted bravely, but failed miserably in the awe-inspiring presence of the Black Gryphon's leader.

"I have many names. You may call me Lord Gryphon." he smiled, a twisted, cruel smile, eyes half-lidded.

Red, however, was trying to push down whatever it was that was making it impossible for him to speak intelligently. Eventually, he managed. "Why should we call you Lord when you are no higher in posistion than ourselves?" he growled irritably.

"Ah, my dear Red." he said informally, smiling thehalfsmile he was famous for, much to his chagrin. "Let me ask you, have you yourself got a crime empire spread throughout all the planets? Are you in charge of the leaders of most of the planets? No, you have leadership of one measly planet."

Purple spoke this time. "I don't see your famed empire, Lord Gryphon." he spat the title out, attempting to appear fierce.

Zim paused, then laughed. "Is the little kitten laughing in the face of the lion? No, you are wrong." his tail tapped the ground once, twice, three times.

The mirrors dropped with a resounding crash, and the cry of "Ha sae! Ha sae!" rang throughout the hall as this small part of the Order snapped to attention once more.

Zim enjoyed the stunned look on the faces of Red and Purple, though his eyes lingered on Red. He would be the one to pursue, he thought with a smirk. "Once more, dear Tallest, you are quite wrong." he leaned onto one side, keeping his hand planted on his hip in a defiant pose. "You do realize that now you know one of our Headquarters, I will have to take action."

The crowd burst out with a ferocious, bloody-thirsty shout that chilled the two Tallest and their small entourage to the core. However, Zim managed to silence them somehow.

"...I will be escorting you to the Massive, ensuring that you are not ambushed by the small amount of my enemies. Also, if you tell, you lose your heart. I have my spies, you have yours." he purred, eyes glinting.

Various shouts of disagreement rose through the crowd, but the Circle members stayed quiet. They had known what their very own Deathdancer was going to do. He was going to stay and bother the tallest, and, some guessed, subtly courting one of them.

"Yes, my Gryphons, I will be leaving for now. But never fear, the Circle members will be keeping you safe." he smiled at his massive extended family. "For now... shall we go, Red, Purple?" he asked, fakely sweet as he leered suggestively at Red.

"Urr..." was their intelligent response as they were led out of the mirror-room, more commonly known at the combat exit, to the ships they had flown here in. Red had already been reduced to a simmering blob of hormones, Zim noticed with a satisified smirk. Soon he would be at the Massive, and the third Tallest.

Oh, how he hated the number three.

TBC

Author's Notes: That's it! That's the first chapter! The previous one was only a prolouge of sorts. Please review if you have any questions. ; Also... any of you against mpreg? -gonna get smack'd for that-