"Okay, we have nearly finished construction on the transmitter, but this is going to be a big job." Captain Rose had been frequenting Zim's hideout ever since the former Invader had laid out his plan. While Syndicate could not lend an army, yet, they could help the Irkens with a much smaller side project. There was still paperwork to fill out, lots of it. Which was why the Captain seemed to be always signing electronic forms when she came to visit. "How is Zeke's article coming along?" She looked down at Zim who blinked back up at her.

"I don't know..." He looked around; a bit baffled, as he began opening cabinets seemingly at random. Finally, he found Zeke curled up in a cupboard with his reader, typing furiously on the glowing screen. The tiny Irken glared up at everyone around him.

"What!?"

"Are you done yet?" Zim asked.

"No! I told you that five minutes ago when you last asked me!" Zeke's antennae were flat, a clear sign of annoyance, his rounded eyes narrowed to only slits.

"Why is it taking so long anyway?" Voel had been observing, quietly from the side, silently judging everyone who was taking orders from Zim . He should have been the one giving orders- and yet as long as they were on Earth, everyone seemed perfectly happy listening to this exiled smaller over the disgraced former leaders of Irk. Voel was willing to attribute most of this to the Syndicate and Zim's human pet not understanding the social implications of being tall.

"You can't rush art!" Zeke shut the cabinet door back, leaving him once again isolated. Captain Rose gave Zim a questioning look.

"He's not done yet. Apparently, art takes time. It also seems to make him very grouchy. Every time I talk to him he just snaps." Zim translated Zeke's outburst for the Captain, despite the fact that Zeke's PAK had him speaking in perfect Tangean .

"You're annoying him Zim." Voel remarked dryly.

"Nonsense! Zim is never annoying." Zim retorted, his chest puffed out with a smug sense of self-satisfaction. "Isn't that right?" He looked to the Captain who looked behind her trying to see if there was someone, she might have missed just out of sight to whom Zim might have been speaking. Realizing she was on the spot; she cleared her throat.

"I don't actually know you well enough to get involved in this..." She remarked with an awkward shrug. "Also, I think I hear the High Council calling me... they need me to... fill out some forms so I'm going to leave." She pointed toward the door and very quickly turned on her heel. Zim watched her go, his antennae perked up curiously.

"Fascinating. I didn't even hear her communicator go off! The Syndicate must have created a new frequency that surpasses Zim's fantastic hearing!" Zim's remark drew an audible scoff from Voel, but Zim didn't take notice.

" Zim your hearing is fucking awful."

"What?" As if proving his point, the smaller looked back in confusion. "Why do you want Zim to be leering chucking waffles! You don't even like waffles, Voel! You said food with so many unnecessary indentations makes you uncomfortable!"

"I just don't see why there are so many squares dented into the waffle - it deprives you of more waffle Zim ! There would be more waffle to eat without those squares!"

"The squares make the waffle Voel you fool!" Zim stood on his toes and made a laughable attempt to try to intimidate his taller. "You know nothing of Earth!"

"Good riddance. This whole planet sucks worse than poetry night on Vogon ."

"You're just mad because no one cares about your opinion here. For once, you are on an even playing field with everyone else." Zim crossed his arms, looking indignant as he saw his intimidation tactics had failed. Voel glowered.

"When did you of all Irkens get so fucking snide with me?"

"You aren't my leader anymore. Skoodge is right: I don't have to take your orders. And, since I've been disconnected from the Collective longer than all of us, I don't really feel the need to be quiet and listen just because you're tall."

" Skodge , Skoodge , Skoodge, Skoodge, Skoodge- do you talk about anyone else?" Voel's antennae were positioned flat, back against his skull. "You barely even looked at the guy in school- you two were partners for half of the activities and you'd just... do whatever weird thing you wanted to do on your own!" Now it was Zim's turn to glare.

"Well this isn't the Academy. Is it?" He lifted one antenna; eyes narrowed accusingly. "And you are not the tall elite with a bright future that everyone scrambled to adore." Zim straightened himself up and walked straight passed Voel, making a point not to look at him. "Now, I have a lot of work to do. Tenn and I are going to take GIR for a walk and see if we can figure out where he got this human baby, he brought home."

"GIR has a human baby?" Voel had missed that development.

"Well... he did. We have to figure out if it is still in the base first. Good day Voel." Zim continued to storm off.

"Fucker." Voel grumbled under his breath.

"ZIM'S NAME IS ZIM NOT TUCKER! YOU KNOW THIS VOEL!" Zim's retort proved that his hearing had certainly not improved on Earth. Voel glared at the back of Zim , hoping that perhaps the fires of Rodan would fill his soul and allow him to shoot lasers out of his face in a way similar to the Kryptonian boy that the Syndicate idly wasted as a medic. Unfortunately, no such power was bestowed upon him and Zim walked away, unseared.

" I think that went very well. " Voel whipped around in surprise as his first instinct told him to swing. Voel's fist hit a wall, full force as he realized he had just taken a punch at a hologram. It was Zim's defective robot butler. The thing was so finicky about whether it wanted to be solid or a hologram that Voel never knew what to expect.

"What in Mothra's name to you want?" Voel was decidedly unamused by the computer's appearance. This was, in no small part, due to the fact that he had spent many months imprisoned in a tiny spacecraft with it singing.

" Do I need to want anything to enjoy your company? "

"I fail to believe that you enjoy my company." Voel's reply was very short. He didn't much care to play word-games with one of Zim's failed projects.

" Well that is true. I find you loud and angry. But I also find you interesting. " CB's voice came from behind him again, despite the hologram still being in front and Voel shouted, whirling around and getting his fist caught but CB's hand. " You need to stop trying to punch me. It is very rude. " Now the robot had the body brought out.

"Sneaking up on Irkens is also rude." Voel hissed back.

" Is it really considered 'sneaking' if you are in a house that has already been established to be a part of me? " CB tilted his head to the side as he released Voel's hand.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be helping find that baby?"

" Bold of you to assume I cannot do both. And anyway, the baby is in the basement and I am not going to go down there and be held responsible for cleaning the absolutely disgusting mess the baby is leaving in its wake. "

Voel had to admit, that sounded mildly interesting. If he was not absolutely certain that, if he went to investigate, he would be the one cleaning the mess- Voel might have considered joining Zim in the hunt. "Did humans weaponize their young?"

" I am uncertain, but I believe that is the case. "

" So what is it you want, you... weird computer?" Voel was not entirely sold on CB as a concept and was very vocal about this. He wasn't sure why the program would willingly opt to spend time with him. In fact, they had not interacted much since Voel arrived on Earth and- quite honestly- the former Tallest was more than happy with this arrangement.

" Why are you and dad constantly fighting? " The robot tilted its head quizzically.

"I'm still not sure what a dad is, but I assume you're talking about Zim ." Voel narrowed one of his eyes with a look of skepticism .

" Zim is my father ."

" Irkens to not have family units. So, the fact that you use that nickname for your creator is incredibly weird. You know that right"

" But you know about the concept of family units. "

" Yes, but they're obsolete. "

" You are only saying that because if we re-instated the family unit on Irk you would have to raise Vero and Xia. " CB replied pointedly.

"Sweet Mothra do not even place that imagery in my head." Voel made a face. "And those two are practically full adults. They were almost out of the Elite Academy when they got placed in their new roles as..." he shuddered, " Tallests ." Vero and Xia were supposed to be Irk's perfect rulers. The Control Brains had everything figured out- using Voel's genetic sequence to be sure they would be tall and aggressive leaders. (Voel could only assume Xia stole all of the aggression from Vero while the smeets were developing because Voel failed to see how Vero's laid-back personality could have come from his own genetics.)

" So they are like... teenagers ?"

"I don't understand what that means either." Voel rubbed the area between his eyes, frustrated with all the human lingo. "Aren't you supposed to be Irken ? Why is your frame of reference based on Earth-stuff?"

" Because I have never been to Irk? " CB's central light on his helmet narrowed judgmentally at the former leader. Voel scoffed.

"Well that much is evident." A moment of silence passed between the two and Voel was beginning to think the conversation had ended. However, the computer actually surprised him.

" What is your planet like? "

"Haven't you researched it? Or weren't you like..." he tried to think of the words, "programmed with the knowledge of Irk?"

" Affirmative, however, I find it is different when you hear it explained from the perspective of a local versus what is written in articles. " The robot made a good point, but it was a bit of an odd outlook for a security system to have. Why did Zim's house care about Voel's opinion on his home planet, anyway? And why would it bother asking?

"Well... it is much colder than here. The temperature is more like that of the place where we saw the Veil of Mothra ." Voel had to think. It had been a bit since he had left the Massive to see his home planet. Not since the last Mothra Festival that he and Therron oversaw had he had the opportunity to visit Irk. Even then, it wasn't much of a pleasure trip as he had to spend most of the time making speeches and watching performances. Therron loved that sort of thing, but for Voel, it was torture. (He did enjoy the fighting tournaments, however, though he was no longer allowed to compete. What he wouldn't give to fight in one of those one more time.).

" So that is it? It is cold? " CB took a seat on the sofa, gesturing for Voel to take a seat beside him. The taller Irken remained standing.

"It has two suns , one is a red star and the other is yellow. They are called sun Alpha and Beta, though they used to be called Rodan's Fire and Ghidora's heart." He hadn't really thought much on the planet for a while. "Though now the only ones who call it that are the Mothra Elite. And we have twelve moons, you can almost always see at least one moon no matter where you are on Irk. Some Irkens say seeing the moon is how you know that Mothra is watching over you."

" And she is your goddess? "

"Yes." In a way it felt nice to be discussing his home, but on the other hand it was causing a pain in the pit of Voel's squeedily-spooch . "The Mothra Elite are those Irkens who forgo the comforts of modern Irk in order to be closer to her. They live in these isolated temples in the northern wilds. Honestly, I love Mothra as much as the next Irken - probably more- but those guys take it too far. Irk is very modern. Our cities reach the sky, our ground is false- made of metal- as we house an entire underground for the smeets ..." He was beginning to drone. "But that only reaches the cities. The wilds are the opposite. There are native creatures to Irk that would very much like to murder us, and without our PAK and our technology, we would be easy targets to be hunted."

" Zim mentions Mothra sometimes, but he has not ever spoken of the temples or the wilds. " CB looked genuinely interested.

"Of course not. Zim's never been." Voel replied. "I've never even been and I'm a lot less easy to eat than Zim ." He snorted at the image of one of the multi-legged gnuxider's gaping maw and spiked tongue trying to shovel Zim into one of its many stomachs.

" Were you and father familiar with one another back on Irk? "

"I mean," Voel stammered for a moment. "Yeah, I knew him. I've known the guy for years. We were from the same smeet hatching. Zim clogged the damn tubes and caused a blackout on Irk." Voel laughed a bit at the memory. "We went through all of our training together."

" So you were his friend? " The robot looked excited.

"N-no I mean... he was... Zim was..." He trailed off for a moment. " Zim was something else entirely." Voel took a seat, lost in thought. He had not really thought about Zim and his school days in some time. Things had been simpler back then.

"Voel!" The young elite was annoyed as he heard that same grating voice calling out his name. The mission was supposed to be so simple. This was a training exercise in gathering information. He was supposed to have been partnered with Therron, however that idiot had managed to sleep in late (despite Irkens not even needing sleep) and Sig was so pissed he had Therron sit out the assignment. So here Voel was teamed up with Defect Zim of all Irkens .

Usually Skoodge would have been in his spot- but for some reason Sig had insisted they work together. Voel wasn't sure if it was because the grouch professor saw so much potential in the ever-growing taller that he thought Voel might have the ability to fix Zim ... or if Sig was still mad about Voel sneaking snacks into the testing facility.

… It was probably the latter.

"What now Zim ?" This was taking forever. The other teams were already done and had managed to go back to the base without any complications. But no. Zim insisted he was not done. And thus Voel was trapped on Xithea with a small defect. Xithea was a planet Irk had conquered for training exercises such as this. The natives were very passive and complacent with thin, translucent skin and overly large, sightless eyes, no limbs, but a long, serpentine body. Their mouths were overly large for their face, giving them an almost friendly appearance- as if constantly smiling.

Zim was trying to catch his breath, looking up at Voel. "I know you are ready to leave but-"

"I have been ready to leave since we started." Voel cut him off.

"If you would let Zim finish-"

"Finish what? The mission? When did you fucking start, Zim ? I finished both our parts two hours ago but you won't get back in the ship to leave and it takes two PAKs to pilot it." Voel was fairly certain this was a safety precaution Sig had installed to stop Elites from leaving each other on training planets. Because Mothra knew that he would have ditched Zim long ago if it had been an option. Voel had no desire to be stuck running an overly-long information gathering mission with the worst Irken in the class. This was a punishment. It had to be. No way Sig came up with this on the spot. This was revenge and it was probably the worst case of it Voel had ever seen.

"Are you done talking?" Zim glared up at him, clearly annoyed.

"Maybe." Voel replied, nonchalantly. "I might have a few more insults for you as you continue talking. We'll see how it goes."

"Right, well Zim has been-"

"Your voice is annoying."

"VOEL!"

"Right. Now I'm done." Voel gave a smug smirk. If Zim was going to keep them both here, Voel would be sure to enact his own brand of revenge.

"Look, I have been running through the exam and something seems weird about one of the Xitheans ." Zim sounded serious.

" Zim ," Voel knelt down so that he could reach both of Zim's shoulders, gripping him tightly and looking directly into those round, red eyes. "They're all weird."

"You're not listening." Zim glared up at him, shaking off his grip. "Something is wrong with one of them Voel."

"You won't leave until I hear you out, will you?"

"No."

"Okay," the taller Irken sighed, sitting down to be more level with his classmate. "I'm listening. Why are you holding me hostage? "

"One of the Xitheans I was interviewing during the assignment was not behaving the way they should. Firstly, my disguise malfunctioned but they did not seem at all surprised."

"Yeah Zim ," Voel sighed, "it's a training exercise, not a real invasion. They know we're really Irkens ." This was stupid.

" Yes but they didn't even cower at my Irken might." Zim retorted indignantly. Before Voel could point out that it would be hard to cower before something that they were tall enough eat- Zim continued. "And it didn't speak to me."

"Okay... and?"

"Well it looked like it was talking... but then it just... didn't and it left. Zim knows that look. But instead of repeating itself louder, like the others, it just looked away and left." Zim had a very faint hint of a point, but Voel was unsure if he was ready to admit it.

"Maybe it was just annoyed with you." Voel teased, though, it was unlikely that a conquered race that was so passive and docile like the Xitheans would have the courage to talk back to an Irken . Even if it was just one like Zim . The Xitheans in the training exercise had been hired by the Academy specifically to run this training simulation. Why would just one get annoyed enough by Zim's questioning to walk off? Honestly, they all would have given up by now if that was the case.

"I don't think it was a real Xithean ." Zim lowered his voice.

"So what, like an Invader?" Voel was intrigued.

"Nah, the not-talking is our key." Zim had his reader out and was scrolling through one of the texts. "It's a Parasite!"

"You're fucking with me." Voel would not admit it to Zim , but he was really hoping the smaller was right about this. The Parasites were rare- most Irkens would never cross paths with one, however the idea of fighting a shape-shifting creature on parr with the Meekrob was tantalizing.

"I am doing no such thing." Zim looked offended. "It is a Parasite!" Voel stood up. He reached into his PAK and pulled out a small tube that would become his favored weapon at a moment's notice. Taking down a Parasite as only an Elite- he would be a general for sure when he graduated. That was not something any other Elite could boast.

"Which one?" Voel scanned the dark, wet streets of Xithea.

"Hmm..." Zim's antennae were twitching. He hunched and took off running. Voel ran after him, it was easy to keep pace, the smaller's gait was nowhere near his own. "This one!" He singled out one of the creatures that, honestly, looked the same as all the others. Zim cut off the path for the Xithean who stopped as it was approached. "Hold it."

"..." No answer.

"Hey, Zim and I are struggling with the assignment- well mostly Zim..." Voel addressed the creature but the empty eyes just stared forward.

Nothing.

"Answer us if you can!" Zim was looking ready to pounce. The creature simply bobbed in place for a moment before slithering passed them. Voel blinked- had he just been ignored? Zim was elated as he chased after the creature in question. "If it is a Parasite," Zim was jabbering on as they ran, "I have been working on this frequency generator- well- it started as a toaster- but I think if I use it right you can disrupt the Parasite's shifting ability."

" How... Wait- how did you get that from a toaster?" Voel was lost.

"Do not question genius!" They cornered the parasite against one of the slick , pallid walls of the Xithean buildings. Voel smirked.

"Nowhere to run now..." He took a ready stance. "Identify yourself by order of the Irken Empite." He did not technically have the power to make that order- but he was tall, he could get away with it. And if it was a Parasite, it couldn't really communicate a complaint.

Nothing.

Then suddenly the large mouth began to widen until it had folded backward upon itself- the sound of bones cracking filling the air as the creature split apart eyes of crimson began to emerge from the slits in the flesh.

Holy fuck.

Zim was right.

Voel leapt back as poison laced strings of flesh lashed out from the half-transformed Parasite and began to try to impale him. His spear extended from the tiny rod in his hand and he made a jab at the creature's core- like putty it split, moving around the spear, the skin trying to grab to it. Voel made a quick cut to free his weapon.

"This is incredible!" Zim looked thrilled, grinning from ear to ear as he was almost impaled by another appendage as the Parasite took on the form of an Irken wearing long scarfs. The scarf like fabric moved on its own as it tried to grab at the two Elites. Voel managed to dodge and Zim ... he looked back over. Zim hadn't really moved but the appendage that had reached for him was lying uselessly on the ground as Zim held a small, rectangular device in his hands.

"The fuck did you just do!?" Voel demanded.

"My invention works! I'm so amazing! I impress even myself." Good to see in the heat of combat that Zim's ego took the time to stroke itself.

"Great now-" Voel cut off as the Parasite lunged and he was knocked back. Suddenly he was staring into an Irken's eyes. The Irken smiled, then the face split in half, vertically, between the eyes and teeth formed on either side of the gaping mouth. "ZIM!"

"WAIT!" Zim pressed a button and the Parasite reared back just enough for Voel to make a jab into the Irken body's abdomen. Despite the illusion of armor, the blade pierced it like flesh. Voel was able to scramble back to his feet but the wound had already repaired on his foe.

"Shit..." Okay, he might have underestimated Parasites.

"If you use my device on your spear, you might be able to get a good enough hit to fuck this thing up!" Zim was still jabbering on behind him.

"I am not ruining my beautiful Red Death with one of your abominations!" Voel jumped up, impaling the Irken imposter with the blade. "I'll kill it on my own!" The Parasite deflated as if filled with air and the spear was nearly sucked into it again. Voel struggled to free it, getting thrown as the creature shifted its mass into the form of some sort of avian creature Voel had never seen before. He rubbed his head, the alleyway briefly spun. "Fine give me the thingy thing!"

"Huh?" Zim blinked.

"The thingy! Your thingy-thing! Give it to me!" Voel ordered as he rolled out of the way of a barrage of wings and tendrils.

"Oh, right!" Zim began fiddling with his rectangle. "Let me activate it first!"

"HURRY ZIM!" Voel was not going to give Zim the dignity of being the last to die. If this thing was going to kill them, it would kill Zim first. Then at least Voel's last few moments could be spent in peace. Finally, the smaller slid the box to him. He grimaced as he took spare wire from his PAK and tied the box to his spear. Suddenly, the Parasite was being a lot more conservative in its attacks. Voel made a few efforts to stab into it but the body moved fluidly aside as if it were water.

This was frustrating.

"HEY PARASITE!" Zim began causing a complete scene. "HEY! HEY PARASITE!" Voel would have been humiliated if he didn't see the Parasite turn to look at Zim giving him the perfect opening. Voel jumped up, using the building around him for extra leverage as he made a lunge directly onto the back of the beast, plunging his blade in deep.

The Parasite seized up and the monstrous form began to peel away. All of the sudden, the eyes began reappearing. The body trembled and seemed to almost implode on itself- the blast knocked Zim and Voel both backward several feet and caused quite a splash. Voel blinked wiping the water out of his eyes as he saw something small and white, scurrying into a tiny hole in the wall.

"Son of a-"

"I was right." Zim seemed less annoyed that the Parasite had escaped, and more pleased that it had existed at all. Voel sighed.

"Yeah Zim ... you were right." It had been a damn good call, honestly, Voel was impressed. He had always given Zim a hard time. He thought he was a bunch of loud, angry nonsense wrapped up in a small package. But it seemed like underneath the chaotic exterior... Zim was actually kind of smart. "And that invention of yours wasn't half bad."

"I know. I'm awesome." Zim's whole face lit up with the compliment.

"You..." Voel couldn't hide the little smile, "you aren't bad..."

" Is that how you met Q? " CB was on edge, listening to every word.

"Yep." Voel grinned, "We showed that little shit who was boss."

" It was you and father! You were the bosses! "

"Correct."

" And Q remained intolerable till this day. "

Voel actually laughed. "You get it little computer; you really get it. So if you were made by Zim I guess there is a small chance you work."

" I mean, I work fantastically thank you. "

"You saved us; I suppose. Still not sure how Zim knew to put you in one of our rescue ships." The forethought for Zim to install his AI in one of their many vessels rather than just keep him confined to the Syndicate ship or to the robotic body was substantial .

" I mean technically I had to upload myself when I heard IX saying you had escaped into space... " CB trailed off and went very quiet. Voel froze. The atmosphere around them suddenly went from jovial to very cold as the words resonated in Voel's mind.

"Say that again," his voice was very soft, dangerously sweet.

" I... I would rather not... " All of a sudden, the AI who never shut up seemed to be at a loss for words. Funny how that happened.

"Hmm? But you love to talk. Remember the ship? Your songs?" Voel leaned in a little closer to CB on the couch who scooted away. The AI made a move to stand but Voel lashed out, grabbing his wrist. "You know what I heard in that sentence that was really interesting? You uploaded yourself into a ship- that right there is really weird. But... you're a Zim creation so maybe you're weird- and then you said something that got me... what was it again?"

" We were having fun recollecting. Can we not go back to that? " CB was not looking at him. Voel tightened his grip.

"You said you 'heard IX saying' that Therron and I had escaped."

" Yeah... and? "

"Who is IX?"

" An Invader. Invader Ix. "

"You didn't say Ix . You said IX. And I don't know if Zim told you this, in fact, I doubt he did because he probably doesn't know it, but the Control Brains have names. It's how they distinguish themselves. But Irkens don't use the names. Most don't even know them."

" Please do not try to look too much into this ."

"And IX is the Control Brain on the Massive. But how would a security System know that? Hmm? And how could it 'hear' the Control Brain giving orders?"

" I do not like where these accusations are headed. " Voel jerked CB a little closer.

"Did you talk to the Control Brains?" He leaned in close. "And if you did, then how could you have done it? You're a security system." Voel's head cocked to the side. "Aren't you?"

" I think we should take a step back because it looks like you are going to eat my helmet. " CB was refusing to meet his gaze.

"Aren't you?"

"I'VE DONE IT!" Voel dropped CB as both of them were taken off guard by the doors flying open and Zeke stumbling out of his little cupboard. "I HAVE WRITTEN PERFECTION!" He looked at Voel. "You're coming with me buddy!"

"What? Where? And don't give me orders." Voel added that last bit as an afterthought. He looked over at CB, "this isn't over!"

" Yes it is !" CB replied, scurrying off as Voel was dragged to the kitchen where he was met by Therron and the same three members of the Syndicate that they always seemed to be dealing with. Captain Rose was still filling out forms.

"This better be one hell of an article." Carrius, took the reader from Zeke.

"You bet it is." Zeke winked at him.

"Arrays are all online." Lor saluted to his commanding officer.

"Bout time." Zim huffed. "You took far too long with that."

"Dammit Zim, I'm a doctor not a mechanic." Lor grumbled. "I did the best I could."

"This is all well and good, but why are we here?" Therron demanded. "Did Zeke just need so much attention that he couldn't stand the idea of us not watching him press a button to publish this article?" Zeke smirked, patting Therron on the leg. "Don't touch me."

"No, My former Tallest. I had a brilliant idea while I was writing. We are going to accompany the article with a speech from the beloved, supposedly dead Tallests!"

"A... speech?" Voel frowned, this was not his strong suit.

"Yes! This is going out on Syndicate waves everywhere. Any and all off world Irkens need to be inspired to come to Earth rather than reporting to Irk for their mandatory reassigning. You two have to be more inspirational than orders from their PAKs." Zeke sounded genuinely thrilled with his plan. "So no pressure."

"Ch, speaking is easy." Therron looked more annoyed at having been dragged out of wherever he had been hulled up than by the impromptu speech.

"Okay," Carrius gestured to the two. "You're live in five."

"Speak from the heart!" Zeke urged.

"Four."

"All of Irk is listening, My Tallests!" Tenn cheered.

"Three."

"Did we ever find that baby?" Skoodge whispered to Zim.

"Two."

"Oh no, we gave up on that. It lives here now." Zim replied back.

"One."

"Oh!" Skoodge looked back to the Tallests. "Try not to insult smallers! Some of the off-worlders might be short!"

"And you're live!" Carrius gestured to the two Irkens and suddenly Voel found himself illuminated by all sorts of lights hanging from Zim's ceiling.

" Irkens !" Therron spoke clearly, filled with confidence. "It is we, your beloved Tallests. It is true that we are alive! You may still grovel at our feet!" Skoodge made a noise off screen and gestured for Therron to nix the groveling talk. "What? I can't say grovel? Irkens love to grovel to me!"

"What we mean to say is... um..." Voel was not a fan of being put on the spot. "We are glad you are... missing us. We're here. On Earth... it sucks."

"Really sucks." Therron seconded.

"And it smells." Voel added.

"And it's hot." Therron agreed. Tenn coughed and shook her head. Therron nodded. "But come here anyway! Because we told you to."

"Yeah and you need to listen because we're your Tallests." Voel continued .

"And you love us!"

"Th... they are bad at this." Zim whispered to Skoodge.

"Are your surprised." Skoodge looked both amused and incredibly concerned at the same time.

"And even if you are short and weird, and even ugly... we need you to come to Earth. We need all Irkens . Even the useless ones." Therron continued, seemingly unaware of Skoodge and Zim's little critiques . Zim sighed, jumping into the spotlight beside his tallers .

" Irkens !" Zim's voice was as loud and booming as ever. "If you are hearing this, you're off world right now. Your PAK urges you to return home to our beautiful towering cities, watched over by the many eyes of Mothra . The need to see Irk once more drives you, marching through your veins like uncontrollable pants of electric fire! You must ignore the pants!"

"Pants?" Therron looked at Voel who shruged.

"Your Tallests stand before you, imploring you to heed them. You must be confused- alarmed- fearing that you are being deceived as you know the Tallests are dead." Zim continued unabashed. "Well Irkens , you have been misled-manipulated! The Control Brains are filling your PAKS with LIES! Those dumb brains want to turn you into weird murder puppets! Zim has seen this with his own eyes! You need to fight the order to return to Irk- instead you must come to Earth."

Voel and Therron stood quietly, watching Zim talk. Zim was... weirdly good at this, his passion shining through despite his weird metaphors .

Zim jumped up on the table. "Yes, Earth is not the greatest planet, but how can it be? The greatest planet we know is Irk, our home! But if the Control Brains get their way then how can it continue to flourish? What Irk is there without Irkens ? If you obey the orders, your PAKS will be seized and you will become one with the Control Brains. Our Collective becomes a hive of minds- corrupted. This is not what Irkens stand for!"

"Yeah, we're Irkens ! We aren't just empty vessels for the Control Brains to use!" Voel was feeling a bit pumped up, hearing Zim speak. "Don't let them trick you into getting recoded!"

"You are stronger than your PAKs commands." Zim continued with the support from his disgraced, former leaders. "You can ignore the call to home in order to preserve an Irk worth fighting for! Come to Earth and join us. Together we can save our home. Together we can fight. Big, small, weird, fat, or ugly- we are all better looking than the Control Brains! So, if you hear this message, come to Earth! Bring whatever you can carry! And together we will fight! For the purple skies blessed by Mothra , for the snow-covered grounds that bore all the Irkens before us, for the Irkens of now who are already under the brainwashing of the Control Brains."

"We need an army to take down the Control Brains, and no matter what you were originally coded for, you can be that army." Voel spoke with a little more enthusiasm. "I can make you into the Irken you need to be."

"And together we fight:" Zim pumped his fist in the air, "for our home, our people! We will fight for the glory of Irk!"


Title drop! Roll credits.

But no we still have more to go! But we are getting toward the finale for sure! But there are still several more chapters to hike through! Are you guys liking the Irken lore (lol Lor)? I'm having fun with it!