Zim squinted at the puzzle before him, analyzing every possible outcome before finally deciding on the ideal strategy. "I play the three of spades. You are defeated." Skoodge and Tenn looked at each other for a moment.

"Zim, we're playing Jenga... we still don't know why you have cards." Skoodge put an arm around him, gently lowering his winning hand (most likely out of shame for his defeat). Therron sighed, looking rather huffy as he delicately drew a wooden block from the tower.

"I don't see why we're letting him use cards. He understands these rules less than I do." The fallen leader of Irk had his head in his hand, barely fitting in the chair, long legs constantly threatening to bump the table. "And I just learned this game."

"Zim has a unique set of rules for every game." Skoodge replied cheerfully.

"You think this is bad, try playing Zim ball." Tenn carefully reached out, drawing out one of the wooden blocks. The tower trembled and the Irkens all froze in collective fear. It stabilized and a unified sigh of relief swept through the group.

"Zim ball is the greatest game ever created." Zim retorted. Skoodge was focused on the task at hand, ignoring all distraction as he carefully pulled another block.

"It is fun." Tenn agreed.

"Now what number do I roll to win this?"It was Zim's turn and he had, helpfully, brought the die. Therron smacked himself in the face.

"You don't need weird numbered squares you just have to pull a block!"

"Oh." Zim looked at the structure and drew one of the blocks from the bottom as the other three players cried out. The tower teetered, it tottered, and eventually, it re-stabilized leaving three open-mouthed Irkens staring with wide eyes and the genius before them.

"No way! It didn't fall?" Tenn had her hands over her mouth.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid. I know how to analyze structural integrity." Zim crossed his arms over his chest indignantly.

"WEEEEEEEEEE!" A whirl of metal and lights zipped passed the group as the Irkens struggled to keep their precarious tower in one piece. "I'M PUTTIN' UP WIRES!"

"GIR! No! Come b-b-back!" Another blur, this one of blue and black as CB raced after GIR. "THOSE WIRES ARE NOT SPARES! I-I-I-" The robotic body seized up for a moment. "I need those you little m-m-monster!"

"You're both doing good boys." Zeke trailed along behind the robotic chaos, seemingly pleased with himself. "Soon we'll finish our set up and maintain a secure line to contact Irk directly." Zeke went to pass under the table but Therron grabbed him, picking him up by the collar.

"If you so much as fucking look at this table and make these blocks fall, I will personally throw you into space."

"Sheesh," Zeke looked unimpressed. "Cool it, pal. I am doing important work."

"So are we!" Therron dropped Zeke on the other side of the table.

"This is important?" Zeke lifted an antenna skeptically.

"It is so long as I'm winning." Therron turned to Tenn. "It's your turn."

"Right!" Tenn bit her lower lip, focusing as she pulled out another little block. The tower trembled dangerously. Tenn squeaked, closing her eyes. "Rodamnit." There was a clatter and the tower collapsed around them. Therron put a foot on the table triumphantly.

"I've still got it!"

"Technically," Skoodge glared up at him "Zim and I also won."

"Yes, but I win more because I'm taller." Therron retorted.

"Who cares who wins." Voel had finally emerged from the lower base just in time to witness Tenn's humiliating defeat at the hands of Zim's amazing talent. "The tower collapsed, just like our empire. Everything crashed down around you despite all of your best efforts to keep it afloat. You sat in your chair completely unaware to the fact that there were forces operating under your noses to collapse everything you tried so hard to protect. And yet life continues to go on like you never even mattered to begin with."

"Wow..." Therron's eyes were wide, his antennae back, as he looked at the scattered wooden blocks. "Jenga is really complicated!"

"Voel...:" Zim looked at the blocks then back at the red clad Irken. "Are you okay?" Voel had shed the crest of the Tallest wearing only the basic armor underneath. The beautiful embellishments, the symbols of his rank had long ago been tossed to the side. The once pristine armor had become rumpled and smudged. Voel looked at Zim, his antennae flat as he narrows his eyes, letting out a deep, guttural growl of intense displeasure.

"I'm fucking fine, Zim. Thanks."

"We all miss Irk, Voel..." Zim looked to the others for confirmation. "Zeke is going to help us get in touch with the people so we can tell them of the Control Brains evil plans!"

"No Zim. He's not. He's not going to do shit. The guy is two fucking feet tall. He can't change a Mothra damned light bulb! Irk is going to fall to the Control Brains because our new Tallests are a hot head and a moron!"

"I see no difference from the previous Tallests." Skoodge muttered.

"The Syndicate are nothing but useless bureaucrats, the computers here are either broken, insane, or both, and that weirdly shaped human-thing keeps coming around spreading its gross diseases all over everything- and I hate it here! Face it! We've lost." Red continued, ignoring Skoodge's input. Zim was quiet. He had never seen Voel like this...

"Forget about Irk." Therron was the one who actually spoke up. He sauntered over, wrapping an arm around Voel's shoulders. "What's so great about our home planet? Without us, it's nothing." Zim was not entirely sure this was helping. "I say we take over Earth instead! I mean it's primitive, sure, but it has potential! We have more than enough Irkens to conquer this place: we enslave the locals, enjoy all the sitcoms and dramas we want, and get cats. I want cats Voel I have seen them on the internet and I relate to them immensely."

"Do whatever the fuck you want." Voel growled, shoving Therron aside. "I don't care."

"Voel..." Therron blinked as the disgraced leader with the crimson eyes snatched a half-eaten candy bar from the table and returned back into the depths of Zim's lab without another word. "Well he's just in a bad mood."

"Sounds rough buddy." Zeke sounded remarkably unempathetic as he immediately turned back to Zim. "So the robots... are they...?"

"Well made? Indestructible? Mine?" Zim was a very good guesser.

"... broken...?" Zeke allowed Zim to guess before he finished his sentence. 'Broken' was going to be Zim's next guess for sure.

"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"

"Because all I did was ask your SIR to hold something and he started rewiring your base."

"Hmm... that sounds like him." Zim nodded.

"So the wires weren't for you?" Skoodge looked over to where CB was trying to actively pull GIR out from underneath the floor paneling. Zeke shook his head.

"Why are you talking about robots? We should be talking about how you guys are going to take over Earth for me." Therron flopped back into his chair, clearly upset by Voel's attitude. "I expect to see progress by the end of today."

"Oh now you want Earth. But When I tried to give it to you on a silver platter it was too stinky, and too far away, and not even a real planet." Zim did his best Therron impression much to the utter annoyance of his former leader.

"Shut up Zim."

"No." Zim wasn't exactly in the greatest mood either after seeing Voel storm off. Things were stressful. His base was not meant to house all these Irkens and he wasn't exactly a fan of being given orders in his own house by the very same Irkens that spurned him. "Zim won't-" He stopped himself. No formal Irken speech. Therron didn't deserve it. "I won't." He corrected. "You aren't going to rule Earth because it sucks. And you suck. And if you try to take over this planet then the Syndicate will get mad and we lose any chance of getting them to help us." Zim looked over at Skoodge to see how his argument was fairing. He was pleased to see his bond-mate looking rather impressed.

"The Syndicate doesn't have dibs on Earth. And if it makes them mad, who cares? We don't need to get Irk back." Therron refused to look at Zim. His arms crossed in pure indignation. "And even if we wanted to waste our time, we don't need help from the Syndicate."

"Shut up Therron." Zim felt fire in him as he spat Therron's words back in his face. Was this how it felt to be tall?

"Listen here you little shit-" Therron was on his feet in a second, teeth bared as he made a motion to grab Zim. (Probably just to throw him out of a window or something, but his PAK legs were extending and he looked royally pissed). Zim stood his ground and before Therron could touch him, the taller was met with solid, cold metal. CB was standing in front of his master, the blue light on his helmet shining brightly. "HEY!" Therron tried to pull back, but the robotic body had a grip on his arm. "Let me go, you weird robot thing!"

"I only take orders from Zim. And that is only sometimes. When I want to." CB turned to look back at Zim. "What shall I do with him, Master?"

"Let him go CB," Zim was giving off the air of compassion, when in reality he was trying very hard to de-escalate the situation before CB seized control of Therron the way he had done to Skoodge. "But thank you for defending me this time." Twice now CB had done his job, and that was a new record as far as Zim was concerned.

"Creepy robot." Therron had calmed down, the only thing injured was his dignity.

"Now, we can talk about a plan." Zim looked back to Tenn and Skoodge. Skoodge sighed, it sounded a little sad. His antennae drooped.

"Zim, we might have to cut our losses here..." Skoodge put a hand on Zim's arm. "I mean, unless the Syndicate gives us an army... which given their past experiences with Irk... is highly unlikely- there isn't much we can do..."

"We can't just... abandon Irk... it's our home..." Zim couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Irk... wasn't all that great Zim. I mean... you're short... you had to see that." Zim could not believe what he was hearing. Sure, Skoodge was unhappy. He knew that, he understood why... but this was just not an option. "I'm not exactly on board with innocent Irkens getting brainwashed... but just us stopping something this big is unlikely at best."

"Irk is our home! Irkens don't give up!" He looked at Tenn and Zeke. "Right!?"

"Um..." Tenn squeaked, her antennae both standing straight up. "It is unlikely we'll get backup, should we go to Irk directly. The Syndicate is more likely to be reactive rather than proactive. And I know I'm amazing, but... even I can't take on a whole bunch of Irkens all at once. I mean... maybe like twenty... but not two hundred..."

"And I'm just here for the story, honestly." Zeke gave a noncommittal shrug.

"But what good is a story if the Irkens are all brainwashed!? Who will read it!?" Zim retorted.

"The Vort." Zeke had that answer prepared or something because his answer came lightning quick. Zim felt his own antennae droop.

"You are all terrible Irkens. Just... all of you."

"Father?"

"Not now CB, father is busy yelling." Zim mentally kicked himself for slipping up and using CB's stupid nickname for him.

"But Father, I have a signal."

"A what now?"

"A signal, from Irk."

"Praise Mothra!" Zim's antennae instantly perked back up. "CB, alert Voel! Patch the signal through!" Zim hurriedly tried to clear the remainder of the Jenga blocks off of the table. There was a very distinct hesitation from his AI.

"I can do one of those two things."

"Why? Is Voel busy?"

"No. I can retrieve him, however... the signal is very faint. I am unable to patch it through. I am receiving heavy interference."

"Mhm, mhm..." Zim nodded seriously. "Okay. Well, stop having interference, then patch the signal through."

"Well, I suppose we could wait it out... however if you wish to expedite the process, I have managed to locate an area where the signal is stronger. It should only take an hour or two by cruiser." CB pulled up a holographic map, showing a blinking light located in an isolated area up in the northern aspects of the planet. Zim sighed.

"Fine. CB, ready the cruiser you stole from the Massive. It is the only one big enough to fit everyone in it." Zim was enjoying being the one to give orders for once. It was far more satisfying when CB actually listened. "And alert Voel that we're leaving. If he tries to stay, tell him he has to watch GIR." That should make him move.

"Affirmative."

"Skoodge, Tenn, Zeke, and whoever else, let's go to the ship."

"Whoever else? You only didn't say my name!" Therron whined but Zim was happy to ignore him as he headed to the roof which was slowly parting as the cruiser was illuminating with life. Skoodge was the first to follow him in.

"You're acting different." He mused, he didn't look upset; in fact, he was smiling.

"If Voel and Therron are going to loaf around being useless, then someone has to help Irk." Zim replied puffing his chest out a bit in an attempt to show off. "We don't have the Collective to fall back on right now. I know they're hurting... but... we have to keep fighting. The Control Brains aren't going to get away with this."

"You know what, Zim? You're right." Skoodge nodded.

"Of course, I am. I'm amazing. You already knew this." Zim swished his antennae in a small, egotistical display. Skoodge laughed. Tenn and Zeke had managed to get to the ship by this point as well. Tenn looked a tad annoyed.

"I wanted to bring my backup guns but CB said I could only bring one because we're going to civilian territory."

"You have back up guns?" Skoodge raised a single antenna.

"You guys don't? I have a backup, and a back up, back up. And just in case- there is a back up, back up, back up! Oh and-"

"We got it." Zim held up a hand.

Therron and Voel eventually found their way to the roof, the ship was already fully prepared to leave. Zim had gotten in the driver's seat as CB ushered the fallen leaders into the back. "Zim, this is a waste of our time." Voel argued.

"You didn't have to come." Zim reminded him as the ship began to take off.

"Fuck you, I'm not staying with GIR. He's weird. I saw him eat a dog. I don't even know where it went. I just... he put it in his mouth and it was gone. Then I saw the same dog later in the air vents and it was wearing a hat- HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN ZIM!? WHERE DID THE TINY HAT COME FROM!?" The only thing Zim had gleaned from Voel's rant, was that Voel had learned what a dog was at some point while on Earth.

"Ah yes, dogs are interesting." Zim replied.

"Dogs are- Zim were you listening!?"

Zim was not. He was more distracted by the black blur that was coming right for the ship as it tried to take off. But the blur was on the ground and the ship was in the air- so there was no need for any real concern-

Scratch that.

The blur had jumped and was now on the hood of the ship.

"Oh, hello Lor." Zim blinked at Lor who was looking irritated.

"Sweet fucking Mothra!" Therron had a hand over where his cardiac spooch must have been pounding in his chest cavity. He looked genuinely disconcerted. "Where did you even come from!?"

"The apartment. And Dib and I were very busy when you guys decided to take off." Lor jumped off the hood, grabbing the front of the ship and dragging it with him to the ground. "Are y'all not familiar with the concept of a house arrest?"

"Oh that's right!" Skoodge clapped his hands together. "Voel and Therron are war criminals still, technically."

"Yeah, they are." Lor's eyes were narrowed as he held tightly to the hood of the aircraft, refusing to let it take off. For such a scrawny creature, Lor had a lot of strength. Zim would give him this. "You can't just leave! We're supposed to be keeping an eye on you! What if you decide to take off back to your home planet or something!?"

"Oh yeah..." Zim vaguely remembered this, but had not really deemed the information important enough to permanently store in his memory. It was just the Syndicate after all. What was the worst they would do? Make them fill our extra paperwork? Lecture them about the dangers of leaving while under house arrest? "Well then you can come with us to make sure we're not trying to make an escape." Zim offered.

"Oh... huh... all right but I kinda wanted to get back to Dib..." Lor looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing heavily. "Fine I'll just text him. We won't be gone long, right?"

"No." Zim assured him.

"Fine." Lor released the craft, and ran to the back opening it up and sitting right between Voel and Therron. "I've got my eye on you two."

"Fine. See if we care." Voel tried to shove Lor away, but found the experience to be a bit like trying to shove a metric ton of lead and he simply retracted his hand as if the action had never occurred. Lor didn't even notice the attempt.

"Where are y'all headed anyway?" Lor asked, looking at his phone.

"To trace a signal from Irk. Zeke has been trying to make contact and we finally got somewhere but CB says the signal is weak. So now we have to travel to where he can transmit it for us." Zim explained as he did his best to keep an eye of for the constant threat of human bees.

"Shit, yeah I probably need to monitor this or something." Lor finally looked up from his phone. "I mean that's a big deal, contact with your home planet."

"Monitor it? Why? In case one of us gets a cut?" Therron scoffed. "Great news everyone, the doctor is going to make sure we aren't transmitting secret messages to Irk."

"Least I have a rank." Lor shot back. Zim heard Skoodge stifle a laugh.

"It's all pointless anyway." Voel grumbled. "The signal is probably the Control Brains telling us that Mothra herself came down and decided that they were the true leaders of Irk."

"You're so gloomy..." Zim did not want all this negativity while he was trying to drive. He was trying to tune out the chatter as the diverse and colorful landscape of Earth slowly changed to a bitter, vacant white. The sunny sky turning black. For humans it would have been too cold- however Irkens were accustomed to cold, in fact the preferred it. The body suits the Irkens would wear beneath their armor regulated their body temperatures. Zim was vaguely aware that the Syndicate used similar technology- though he doubted Lor would be too bothered by the cold regardless.

"This is the spot." The ship stopped and gently began to descend onto the thick sheets of snow. Had Zim thought on it more, he might have had concern that CB was actually the one driving the ship. However, Zim had more pressing matters before him. "We will need to exit the ship so I can get a clearer signal."

"Why though?" Skoodge protested.

"Silence!" Zim pressed the button for the back doors to open and Lor, Therron, and Voel (who had been leaning on the doors) all fell back out into the snow. Skoodge, Zim, and Tenn exited the ship as well, but with far more dignity and grace as they looked up at the dark sky. Zim wasn't sure why they were all looking up... well... he was looking up because CB was looking up. He assumed Tenn and Skoodge were just following his example because they had such a deep, infallible respect for him. "All right CB, patch the signal through."

"Wait!" Tenn cried out, bouncing a bit. "Look at the sky!"

Zim looked. The darkness had stirred with a sudden flash of green lighting, snaking its way through the night. It started faint, but gradually the sky became ablaze with color. The Irkens were silent. Zim felt an aching in the pit of his squeedily spooch.

The lights...

"The Veil of Mothra..." Voel slowly got to his feet.

On Irk, lights of golds, whites, purples, blues and reds would dance across the sky on the sacred nights of the Mothra Festival- it was Irks oldest and most treasured holiday... Zim recalled seeing the Veil of Mothra for the first time upon exiting the smeetry. The night had been warm for Irk, but the suns had both set and the sky was illuminated by color. Through the dark looming buildings, Zim remembered seeing the color blazing through the dark.

Zim remembered home...

"Why would Mothra bestow her glory on this lowly planet?" Therron squinted at the sky. "It isn't even the same, it is missing half the colors and the shape of the lights are just all wrong. They radiate outward from a central point. Like wings. This is the Flame of Ghidora at best."

"It is not the Veil of Mothra, it is a similar event that takes place on Earth." CB explained. "But I thought you needed to be reminded of home. You were all so angry, so sad... you needed to see what you were fighting for."

"Bold statement from a computer." Voel only tore his gaze away to give CB a glare. "You drag us all the way out here in hopes we'd be what... inspired?"

"Well... yes..."

"We're still outnumbered, outgunned, and probably way too late to do anything to stop the Control Brains. How is reminding us of the home we lost supposed to help?" Voel sounded angry, but he was looking back up at the sky again.

"Irk is not lost." CB repeated. "I really did get a signal. But if you are going to help your planet you can't be at each other's throats like this. You're arguing like a Vort and a Meekrob."

"CB's right." Zim cleared his throat. "This is not a time for arguing! This is a time for action. And while some of you may think arguing is an action, you are wrong! We're all that's left of Irk right now and we're all going to need to contribute! We need everyone. We need Skoodge and his ability to blend in and gather information! We need Tenn and her excellent marksmanship and weapons expertise! We need Zeke and his weird ability to sway the Irken masses by publishing conspiracy theory level gossip! We need Voel and his military expertise and great fighting skills. We need Therron I guess. And we need me and my brilliant brain and excellent leadership."

"Wait hey!" Therron protested.

"Zim's right." Skoodge looked back up at the sky. "Irk needs us. I'll admit it has some imperfections, but it's our home."

"We have to try." Tenn nodded.

"So... did you make the signal up?" Voel was still not sold on the idea, but he no longer looked as miserable. "Because I know I' a great fighter but we need more than just two full sized Irkens and a bunch of smallers to take on the Control Brains."

"It was smallers that saved your asses." Skoodge pointed out.

"The signal is real, but I could have patched it through from the house."

"CB you piece of-"

"Oh hey!" Lor spoke up, alerting Zim to the fact that he still existed. He was pointing at a second space ship that was now landing in the distance. "That's a Syndicate ship!" The small, sleek looking ship landed silently on the snow and the doors opened as Captain Rose and Carrius disembarked. "Hey Captain!" Lor waved.

"Why are you all out here!? You're Tallests are supposed to be under House Arrest!" Captain Rose looked genuinely annoyed.

"It's okay, I came along to monitor them." Lor assured her. She sighed, turning slowly to give the doctor a very stern look.

"That just turned it into a kidnapping."

"You didn't text your Captain?" Skoodge looked surprised. "You were on your phone for most of the trip! I thought you were relaying the situation."

"Oh... nah, I was texting Dib, but I probably should have said something." Lor shrugged.

"Signal is live." CB interrupted the conversation as a hologram illuminated in the middle of the group. There was silence followed by a staticky picture of a closet. Zim was not surprised that a janitor would be Zeke's informant.

"Time to meet your three Irkens in a trench coat I guess." Therron crossed his arms looking at the display, unimpressed.

"Hey," a hushed voice spoke, though no Irken is visible. "Zeke are you there?"

"I'm here." Zeke stepped forward. "Eight tallers walk into a bar."

"And the bartender says: why the long face." The reply was quick. Zim didn't get it. And from the looks on the faces of the others, no one else got the joke either. Zeke waved off their confusion.

"It's a passphrase." He grumbled.

"Okay, so" the camera shifted and Zim found himself staring at the very same guard who had decided to let them in after being convinced that Zeke was trying to steal the Tallests' pizza. But that made no sense, surely if he worked for Zeke, he would have called their bluff. Zim realized, then, that his superior acting skills must have sold the lie for them.

"Vero you son of a bitch!" Voel hissed, teeth bared, antennae lying flat back against his skull. "You're the leak!?"

"I can't believe Vero is three Irkens in a trench coat." Therron snorted.

"I can." Voel retorted back. "How could you leak top secret things to this... this guy." Voel made an emphatic gesture toward Zeke.

"The guy writes good articles." Vero shrugged. "Look I don't have all that long before the Control Brains come looking for me. Things aren't good on Irk. I'm willing to go so far as to say they are bad. Downright sucky, in fact."

"Have they brainwashed the masses yet?" Skoodge asked quickly.

"No... Xia and I aren't officially Tallests yet. I'm stalling."

"Stalling?" Voel lifted an antenna, "or just lazy?"

"Lazy with a purpose." Vero winked shooting finger guns in Voel's direction.

"Well stop doing that and hurry up and tell everyone that we aren't dead and we are ready to come back and lead agin." Voel waved a hand toward Vero.

"I don't wanna do that because anyone who even suggests that you might not be all the dead is receiving the punishment for high treason." Vero hesitated.

"They can't throw you out into space, Vero. You don't fit in the airlock." Therron reminded him, hands pressed together. "I've tried."

"Mmm... yeah... it's more like they're straight up killing?" Vero's tone had an inflection as if it were a question but the statement had made silence fall over the group. "And like I said, I don't want to die. I haven't had ice-cream pizza yet."

"Vero you ate that on your first day on the Massive." Voel replied, though his expression was still shocked, the response seemed almost automated.

"Oh yeah. But I want it again." Vero leaned back. "Look I don't know how much longer I can stall. They are already gathering Irkens for something they are calling a "celebratory but mandatory reassigning". It's looking bad."

"Have a lot of Irkens gone through it?" Zim was paying attention this time.

"Yeah, a good many. All Irkens off world are being called back too." Vero paused. "Shit, I gotta go, I hear Xia. Glad you aren't dead. But if you do decide to die, text me okay?" He began to scurry up and the line went dead.

For a moment, no one said anything. The plan to inform Irk of the Tallests survival and the innocence of the Syndicate, had gotten a lot more complex.

But complex was not impossible.

And Zim had an idea.