"Well, this is ominous." Voel looked around the barren landscape. There was no sign of life, Irken or otherwise. Zim had not anticipated this. His mental image had them all landing in a firefight with brainwashed Irkens. It was going to be a difficult, but rewarding fight that Zim would have won. Obviously.

But this... wasn't anything like the pictures in his head. There was no one here. Perhaps his views were skewed due to the fact that he was a city Irken... however, he thought there were at least some Irkens living in the outskirts. Zeke had allegedly lived here, right? Maybe he just made everyone else leave. He seemed to be good at making Voel and Therron leave places.

"I know this place..." Zeke's antennae twitched as he scoped out the area. "This is Rux's farm." He quickly scurried to the swinging door, stopping it with his hand as he peered inside. Of course, even a farmer would have ocular implants, so Zeke had no trouble seeing in the darken interior. "It looks abandoned..."

"Looks like it was left in quite a hurry too..." Vero had joined Zeke in the doorway. "Signs of a struggle- but most likely with other Irkens- these gougings here suggest PAK legs." Vero gestured to scratches in the door. To Zim they looked more like a bunch of lines, but if Vero thought they looked like PAK legs, that was his prerogative.

"Great just abandon the farms, it's not like we were already on the cusp of a food shortage." Therron threw up his arms in frustration. "I thought Control Brains were supposed to be smart."

"They are single-minded, I imagine." Voel frowned, deep in thought. "They think if they conquer everything in the area, they can just get food from there."

"So, they think like you then?" Therron lifted an antenna, eyes narrowed accusingly at Voel.

"Hey! I'm not that bad! I was listening to the farmers' stupid problems." Voel retorted.

"And you'll wonder why rural Irk doesn't like you." Zeke chuckled to himself. "You're a bunch of assholes."

"All Irkens are assholes. It's in our nature." Voel shot back.

" Am I an asshole? " GIR questioned from his current location in CB's arms.

"Absolutely." Zim used the legs of his PAK to elevated himself enough to pat his SIR on the top if it's little, metal head. GIR squealed excitedly.

" YAAAAAAY IMMA ASSHOLE !"

"So, our plan was not to do this quietly?" Vero had come back out of the farm house. "Because if we were being sneaky, that just killed it."

"It doesn't seem like anyone is here. The Control Brains have less influence the further you get from their cores. The signal out this way is weak." Voel replied, calmly. "It is why some two-foot sack of fuck can sneak around publishing treasonous articles without us finding him."

"Is it really treason if I was right?" Zeke retorted, looking more amused than intimidated.

"Yes." Voel shot back quickly.

"So, this temple..." Vero quickly cut in. "We should start heading that way."

"Right," Zeke went to the field and grabbed one of the tools from the ground, it was a bright, hot looking gun tool. Zim didn't know much about farming but he assumed it was used to fight other famers in a pit for land dominance. "This should help us detect and deter any wildlife. Won't get rid of them if they're hungry enough, but it might keep some off our backs."

Ah. So, it had been a tool to get rid of animals. Zim has been close in his guess.

"Ah yes," Lard-Nar spoke up at last. "That was made specifically for your Drixfurt and Gniders. Releases high energy bursts of light as a deterrent. Hot enough to hurt them- but not Irkens. Another Vortion invention."

"How far to the temple?" Skoodge looked to Zeke, ignoring the history lesson from Lard-Nar

"Can't say for sure," Zeke squinted a bit at the woods. "No one's really been there in a while. Even before the Wilds got all screwed up, the Mothra Elite were kinda reclusive."

"We have a good idea of the location, and a map." Voel started heading away from the field into the mass of towering trees. "We'll be fine." They began to head through the woods, gradually the light of the red sun was becoming blocked by the thick foliage overhead. No one was really talking. The only sound was the mechanical whir of PAK legs and the crunch of flora underfoot. Lard-Nar was mostly having to be carried by the Tallers- without a PAK- he was much slower in the overgrowth than his Irken counterparts.

"Stop." Skoodge spoke up, raising his hand in the growing darkness. "I sense something." He was perched on one of the giant roots of the towering trees, his front two PAK legs raised, as his antennae twitched. Everyone was frozen.

"Gniders." Zeke spoke at last. "At least five of them. Due south. I can hear the chatter. " Now, Zim couldn't figure out what Zeke was talking about as far as chatter was concerned- but his antennae were picking up vibrations in the trees overhead, in the distance.

"No one move. " Zeke's voice came through Zim's PAK. It was probably safer to use PAK communication. Everyone grew very still.

"Hey what a-" Vero's hand quickly covered Lard-Nar's mouth as the vibrations overhead grew more intense. Zim's ocular implants were scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. There was finally a burst of movement overhead. Zim could see the creatures, high in the trees. A mix of spindly legs and teeth. Drops of acidic drool sizzling through the brush like droplets of toxic rain. Tenn winced silently, as a small splatter fell on her shoulder, eating through the armored body suit with ease. One of the branches overhead cracked and the gnider that had been gripping it toppled toward the group. Lard-Nar made a muffled cry despite Vero's best efforts.

All at once, piercing yellow eyes flew open all along the stony, black skin of the creature, several of its fang-lined mouths opened with a screech and the others began to scurry down from the trees. It was hard to tell what there was more of- eyes, teeth, or legs as the creature shrieked again, barreling toward Vero and Lard-Nar, rearing on six of its back legs it stood taller than even Voel. Zeke quickly activated the tool he brought. A blinding light pulsed from his device hitting the burning, yellow eyes and causing the writhing mass of legs to withdraw with a horrific scream, flecks of the acidic spit going in all directions.

The vibrations from the others hitting the wet ground drew Zim's attention. "CB!" He had programmed his Control Brain to be adaptive- hopefully it would pay off. The lights on CB's helmet flashed in a similar pattern to the device on Zeke's back. The creatures withdrew, hissing and spitting all the while, leaving burn marks and gouges in the trees from their angry retreat.

"Gniders are real sensitive to light." Zeke finally toned down the device on his back. "You would be too if you had forty pairs of eyes."

"That is too many eyes." Vero remarked decisively. "They need to stop that."

"Agreed." Zim thought four eyes was too many- forty pairs was as many as four tens. And that was terrible.

" Can I have more eyes? " GIR looked excited.

"No. You have enough eyes. Share some with CB he doesn't have any." Zim knew giving GIR more eyes was giving GIR more power. He didn't know how the SIR would use eyes to do more damage- but he knew it would happen if he dared add more.

"The hell were those things!?" Lard-Nar looked as if the Gniders had given him some sort of personal offense. (Maybe he spoke Gnider? It might be close enough to Vortion. Zim wasn't sure. Maybe the Gniders had insulted him in some way.)

"Gniders. They're some of Irk's lovely local wildlife. It's pretty common to run into them this far out, especially at this hour." Zeke was looking rather pleased with how he had handled the whole encounter. "That's why I grabbed this." He patted his little device. "Sure, the Vort make a lot of our military stuff, but you can't beat good old Irken ingenuity, pal." Lard-Nar still looked in shock.

"You guys just have those things living in your woods? Just... all the time? All we have is the universe's comfiest couch!"

"It is a great couch." Vero looked a tad reminiscent.

"There is more than just the Gniders, but city Irkens won't know much about it." Again, Zeke sounded proud of himself. Zim really didn't know much about the Wilds, but it wasn't his fault. He had never expected to be out here. Only the farmers ever really went out this far. "Glad I could teach your robot how to scare them off."

" I helped ." CB remarked to anyone listening.

"You finally listened to orders, I'm proud." Zim patted his robot on the arm. "You should probably keep one of your nonexistent eyes out for more trouble though."

" I mean, this is my first trip to Irk ever and I have no more information on the dangers of the wildlife here than anyone else, but ok. I suppose I can just assume what might be dangerous ."

"Good work CB." Zim nodded. "Tenn, are you okay?"

"I got some of the saliva on my shoulder but the damage is pretty much already healed." Tenn was moving her arm, trying to assess the damages.

"We should keep moving, we still haven't gotten to the temple." Voel had his spear drawn, using it more like a walking stick as they were forced to navigate the overgrowth.

"They really should make these places more convenient. Mothra intended us to go there, right?" Therron was walking carefully, as if afraid the branches and brush would damage his armor.

"The Mothra Elite were reclusive, I don't think they wanted too many visitors." Voel remarked dryly. "Even the few that we have on record still live outside of the cities."

"Maybe seeing all of this will make one of you damn Tallests do something about the crisis out here, eh?" Zeke remarked sounding quite cheerful.

"It was on our to do list!" Therron objected.

"As far as I know, it wasn't on ours." Vero volunteered. "I don't think Xia knows we have farms, I'll be honest."

"Sounds like the Irkens were having real problems." Lard-Nar smirked a bit. "Clearly the constant threat of the Resisty was putting you on edge."

"You can feed him to the Gniders if you want, Vero. He may be our main tech support but CB can probably do the job." Voel offered.

"No no! Don't do that." Lard-Nar attempted to climb up Vero to his head to get further away from the ground and whatever dangers may be lurking on it. "I am still important to the mission."

"Huh..." Zim was only partially listening now. Mostly, the others were getting harder to hear as they got further away. But also, his antennae seemed to be picking up on movement. Zim's hearing was... not the absolute best- Zim was (barely) able to admit that. However, his tremor sense seemed to have compensated for what his auditory processes lacked. He grabbed to Skoodge who was only a bit ahead of him. "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Skoodge stopped walking and his antennae stood straight up as he tried to feel the same vibrations.

"Underneath us... is very..." Zim was trying to find the right words. "... wiggly?"

"No... you're right it's faint but..." Skoodge's eyes darted to the ground. He placed his hand on the dirt. "Something is moving under us."

"What?" Voel turned to look back.

"We need to stop moving, something is underground." Skoodge raised the urgency in his voice.

"Stop again? Did you forget about the giant acid spitting gniders we JUST scared off? I don't want them back." Therron didn't seem keen in the idea of stopping yet again.

"Is there anything underground, Zeke?" Skoodge ignored Therron.

"I mean, there are the Utylrianwyrms, but those don't-" the ground trembled and Zeke stopped talking.

"Oh that's not good, is it!?" Lard-Nar had successfully managed to become Vero's hat, sitting atop his head, clinging to either side. There was a sound as if air was being suckered through a tube, a horrible whirring, howl as a creature burst from the underground. It was a deep, dusty red color- no eyes, and a gaping maw of rotating, angular teeth, spinning in rows in all directions. All Irkens were instantly on their PAK legs as it dove back underground, narrowly missing taking Tenn with it.

"Your little backpack has something for that, I hope!?" Therron looked to Zeke as Tenn fired at the creature as it vanished back underground.

"Not exactly!" Zeke had perched in a low branch of the tree. "The Utylrianwyrms don't usually come this close to Irken populated areas."

"So what? This guy is lost!?" Therron shot back.

"Maybe!? They're blind pal, I don't know what you want from me." Zeke shot back. "I ain't exactly a wyrm mind reader."

"Get in the trees! If this thing has tremor sense we need to keep off of the ground!" Voel instructed as he used his PAK legs to leap up into the lower branches of the trees. Zim, Skoodge, Tenn, Therron, and Vero followed suit.

The Utylrianwyrm let out a horrendous noise again, bursting from the ground and swallowing some of the branches on its way back down. Zim could hear the rows of moving teeth grinding up the solid wood as if it were nothing. He only knew vaguely of these creatures- there was even less information on them than on the gniders.

" WEEEEEEEE! " As the Utylrianwyrm had leapt up, CB had taken the opportunity to throw GIR into the tree, jumping in after him. " I'M FLYIN! "

"I would ask why everything on your planet wants to kill you, but, you're Irken." Lard-Nar remarked smugly. Therron used his PAK legs to nearly knock the Vortion rebel off of Vero's head and back onto the newly turned earth below. "No no no!"

"Maybe we can see the temple if we get in the higher branches..." Voel was still deep in thought.

"Did you forget that in the upper branches is where the Gniders are!?" Therron demanded.

"I can handle them." Voel took his spear in both hands, using the legs of his PAK to vault himself upward. He grabbed the branches above him, drawing himself up. Zim began to follow him further up. He trusted Zeke could keep things going down below. A part of him wanted to help. Another, much larger part, just wanted to see the temple (and see it first!).

"You really should have taken care of the wildlife problem." Zim jumped up onto the same branch where Voel was currently perched.

"Thanks for that insight, Captain Hindsight." Voel grumbled, sounding more annoyed than grateful.

"You know, if I was Tallest, I would have taken care of it." Zim had many plans for if he ever got suddenly much taller.

"Is that so?" Voel looked vaguely amused. "Zim, you're four foot eight."

"I'm a tall four foot eight, though." Zim insisted. "See your problem is that you're a general. You are a great military leader but your domestic politics is lacking."

"I gave you a sandwich !" Voel looked appalled by the accusation.

"And tactically that was very clever. You also gave me Earth. Sure, that was a punishment, not an assignment- but it ended up being brilliant. Therron's problem is that he's great at talking but he's also terrible. Just... you know... personality wise." Zim could hear Voel stifle a laugh. "I am only bringing this up now because once we get Irk back, you can't just go back to the way things were. That's how we got in this mess in the first place."

"No... you have a point," Voel turned to look back at Zim which was a foolish mistake as the winds rustled through the trees and Zim saw the beautiful white stone image of Mothra, barely visible through the growth.

"I see the temple! We're not far!" Zim perked up instantly.

"You do?" Voel followed his gaze, "Oh shit there it is!" He hurried back down to the group. CB was holding GIR who was trying to drop food down the open maw of the wyrm.

"GIR stop that." Zim immediately realized what his SIR was doing. "You don't need to feed it."

" Awww. I wanted to be food ." The SIR made its crying sounds as CB was struggling to put it back on the branch.

" No GIR. You're not even delicious." Zim assured him.

"Okie dokie master !" GIR threw something into the back of the monstrosity's throat and it heaved a moment before burying itself back underground.

"I think your crazy little SIR just scared it off..." Zeke was peering in the void-like hole the wyrm had left in its wake.

" It is a confirmed fact that GIR's cooking is deadly to most organic life. If it is not dead, it will not be returning for seconds. " CB pulled GIR up the rest of the way onto the branch.

" I USED EXTRA HOT SAUCE! " GIR remarked proudly, as he tried to vigorously wipe his hands on CB's uniform.

" Hot sauce? Or nitroglycerin ?" CB questioned, carefully redirecting GIR's filthy hands to the branch rather than his clothing. GIR didn't so much reply, as he did just laugh. It wasn't much of an answer, but GIR wasn't great at holding conversations.

"We have eyes on the temple." Voel didn't seem at all concerned with what was in GIR's cooking, but rather was focused on the task at hand.

"And by we, he means me. Zim saw it first." Zim added helpfully. "CB can access the coordinates from my memory and lead the way."

" Affirmative ." CB was quiet for a moment. Zim knew he was going through the information. CB had gotten better at listening. Maybe he understood the severity of the situation, or maybe he was concerned about his questionable origins. Zim had some worries, but now was not the time or place to address them. So, he simply scrambled his way over to his computer, using his PAK legs, and patted him on the head.

"You are doing a good job."

" Thank... you? " CB seemed more confused than grateful, but Zim understood that he was a robot and therefore bad with self-expression . " We are not terribly far from the destination. This way. " He kept to the low-lying branches of the trees, he did not move as swiftly as the Irkens as, somehow, in all of Zim's infinite wisdom, planning, and forethought: he had not given CB a PAK. Of course, the body had really been more of CB's pet project. Zim hadn't known about it until Dib had brought it to his attention. So really it was CB's oversight. However, he was a learning AI filled with Zim's superior knowledge- he should have known better.

"Is anything else going to try to eat us?" Therron was also not the most agile of the Irkens. Despite being similar in size to Voel and Vero, he was bulky and lagged behind.

"I mean there are loads of things out here that can try to eat an Irken." Zeke, despite his size, and the machine he was carrying, was surprisingly fast and light on his PAK legs.

"And you somehow survived all of this?" Therron glared to Zeke.

"Sure did, buddy!" Zeke grinned toothily.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Therron narrowly dodged a branch hitting his face. "I suppose our wildlife hasn't developed a taste for: absolute assholes."

"Well, that'll be good for you too, if that's the case." Zeke replied without missing a beat. Zim wasn't positive, but he thought he heard Skoodge laugh.

"I've never been out this way before..." Tenn had stopped for a moment, admiring the purple hues of the trees under the red sun. "If it weren't for all the wildlife, it would actually be pretty peaceful."

"Of course, save for the giant murder-beasts, it's a real Acrilia." Therron didn't sound nearly as enthralled in Irk's natural beauty.

"I wouldn't mind exploring out here..." Skoodge remarked, seemingly just to Zim. "You know, when this is all over..."

"We could take a break." Zim agreed. "Once we save Irk, we might need to stay behind anyway to make sure Therron and Voel don't just lose the planet again. We can use that time to enjoy a nice vacation out here." Zim assured him. He would probably go back to Earth at some point- but mostly it would just be to visit. He had been away from home for far too long. Once things were settled, he planned on spending more time here.

"We didn't lose it," Voel insisted, visibly annoyed, "it was stolen ."

"And who's fault us that?" Zim pressed.

"The Control Brains'." Voel retorted. Zim was unconvinced- however, the trembling of the foliage overhead suggested another Gnider swarm so he held his witty retort. They were almost to the temple- the fight could be avoided if they were quick enough.

"Company ." Skoodge cautioned everyone through the channel of their PAKs.

"If we can just get inside the temple, we'll be fine ." Voel instructed.

Zim could see the temple ahead of them. Unlike most of the buildings of Irk which were dark in color and towering in structure; the Mothra Temple was very pale. It was tall, but wide, thus not looming at all. It looked to be more made of stone than metal. Before the entrance was a beautiful, grand statue of the Goddess herself. She had her arms upward, cast to the moon, her antennae were feathered, unlike a normal Irken. She had long, elegant wings spread out in a display of grace and beauty. Her expression was kind, her posture always welcoming to any Irken in need. The statue was in some disarray, plants had grown over the bottom and sides. The freezing rains had stained her cheeks a dingey grey. Her wings had been torn in places by the rampant wildlife.

Zim would have given more pause to gaze up at her and maybe help restore her to her former beauty, however, there was the matter of the gniders crawling in the trees behind him. The group ran straight toward the heavy, closed doors. Voel attempted to push them open but they wouldn't budge. Zim clambered up the wall with his PAK legs, finding a window just small enough for him to squeeze through if he forced it open. He used his front PAK legs to hold open the window as he flattened his body as thin as he could and slid through to the floor below. As his eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, he could see the doors had been barred from the inside. He could hear the commotion from outside as he reached to lift the massive bars that locked them out. Suddenly he was grabbed and thrown to the ground. Somehow, in his infinite awareness, an Irken had snuck up on him.

"How did you get in here!?" She wasn't very tall, a plump Irken, she had to be fairly young too, younger than Vero.

"How did you get in here !?" Zim demanded.

"W-what? I was already in here!" She looked offended by the question.

"How did you do it!? How did you get into Mothra's layer!? What sneaky plots did you use!? Did you also use the window!?" Zim pointed to the window he had slid in from.

"You came in through the window?" She followed his gaze.

"NO!" Zim lied quickly. "YOU came in through the window! You came in from the window and accused Zim of coming in through the window in a tactic to confuse Zim! But I am smarter than that!" He pointed accusingly at the other Irken. "And now I will open your doors because my friends-and also Therron- and being eaten by gniders."

"Zim... Defect Zim?" The Irken blinked.

"No. Invader Zim. Wait! No!" Zim paused hand still on the heavy door bar. "Invade-ntor Zim!"

"I... you're not one of the Control Brains then... you can't be..." Surprisingly, the Irken ran to help him lift the heavy bars. Immediately Therron tumbled inside with Lard-Nar clinging to his back and GIR on his head. Skoodge, Tenn, Voel, Vero, Zeke, and CB were holding off the gniders. There were easily twenty of them now, hissing and spitting and trying to take a bite out of the Irken landing party.

"Doors open!" Zim called, waking to them.

"Is that where you went!? Zim you just vanished during an ambush!" Voel snapped. The remainder of the Irkens slid inside and together they forced the doors closed once more. The writhing bodies of the gniders slammed into the heavy stone, trying to force their way in as they struggled to place the bars back over the doors. Once they were secured, Zim turned back to face the strange Irken he had met within the chambers.

"Red... Purple?" The Irken seemed to be in shock. "Are you... alive?"

"Alive? Yes. But I wouldn't call what we've been doing: living." Therron stood, prying Lard-Nar off of him and failing to remove GIR.

" IMMA HAT! " The SIR insisted upon attempted removal.

"A-almighty Tallest V!?" Her eyes widened as the strange Irken saw Vero standing in the group. "The Syndicate were said to have decapitated you to prove a point!" She immediately bowed her head, wiggling her antennae in respect.

"Oh no. No. No no no." Voel not-so-gently shoved Vero to the side. "You don't just go: 'Red! Purple! You're alive!' And then throw yourself at Vero's feet. We are the murdered leaders here!"

"I never said Almighty Tallest V was murdered, just decapitated." The Irken replied quickly. "But he isn't! He's here!"

"I was decapitated once, to be fair. It sucked. Xia threw my head over a fence." Vero didn't sound too traumatized as he recollected the incident in question. "I got it back though."

"We... we can clearly see that Vero." Voel gave him a deadpan look.

"You don't know that. This could be a different head." Vero retorted.

" I want a different head! " GIR pulled on Therron's head but was quickly swatted away. The Irken cringed, looking at GIR, then to CB.

"You should leave your robots outside. They could be possessed by the Control Brains."

"No no, CB and GIR are my creations. They are good." Zim was quick to assure her.

"Technically we invented GIR..." Therron mumbled under his breath. He squinted at the Irken who had helped Zim open the door (after attacking him). "Wait, aren't you that economy Irken?"

"I'm Ara, your head Economist." She looked proud of her title.

"What are you doing in the abandoned Mothra temple?" Voel gave her a slightly incredulous look.

"Hiding, obviously." She looked at the group then down the darkened hallway. "The others might be able to explain it better." She gestured for them to follow, "this way."

"Others?" Skoodge perked up as they followed Ara down the hall into the depths of the temple. Slowly, the uneven thumps of the gniders flailing their bodies into the stone doors began to die down as they descended a long, circular stairway into the depths below. Torches lined the walls, providing light, though it was unnecessary, as the Irkens ocular implants came with dark vision. Still, it added to the atmosphere. As they drew closer to the bottom, Zim could feel the vibrations of movement. He could tell there were more Irkens down below. Voel picked up his pace and soon they were in a beautiful room, adorned with paintings of Mothra. There were several Irkens below, in the center of whom was a white Irken, head covered with a veil, though Zim could see her antennae were, long, translucent and curled.

"Mothra Elite Dae!?" Voel and Therron both spoke her name in surprise. Zim knew of her, though he had only seen her on the day of Voel and Therron's official Initiation into Tallest. She was a Mothra Elite: one of Irk's few religious leaders. While her actual political power seemed to be vastly limited, many Irkens valued her opinion greatly.

"Red! Purple! I knew you had not joined Mothra yet!" Her expression was a little difficult to read through the fabric of the veil, but Zim thought she sounded excited to see Voel and Therron. She stood, gracefully walking toward them. She stopped seeing the third taller in their group. "Almighty Tallest V! You have returned to us!"

"Mothra damn it, not you too." Voel narrowed his eyes at the Elite as she bowed her head to Vero.

"Almighty Tallest V, your Tube-Mate has activated the War Protocol. We are all in a grave situation."

"You... you know he was Tallest for like two months then got his ass arrested for treason, right?" Voel pointed out.

"Oof. Yeah. Xia be like that sometimes though." Vero shrugged. "I just wanted to redecorate. Did she at least change the curtains on the Massive?"

"She... did not..." Dae replied gravely. Vero's eyes also narrowed, his expression mimicking Voel's a little too well.

"That bitch."

"This." Voel gestured to Vero. "This is what you guys are worshiping as the Tallest over Purple and myself." He sighed, shaking his head. "Mothra Elite Dae, did you clear out the temple? We heard it was abandoned."

"When Xia activated the War Protocol and began the mandatory reassignment a few Irkens on the outskirts helped me escape into the Wilds. Together we cleared out the temple. It is off the Control Brains' radar, too far away and too deep underground to be easily traced, so I have been offering refuge to those who do not want to participate in the war. It is not many," she bowed her head apologetically, "but we are a strong bunch."

"You must have moved quickly." Voel looked impressed.

"We had a feeling something was wrong. I have been in secret contact with Sym aboard the Massive. She warned me something was amiss and I reacted accordingly." Dae replied. Zim was a little surprised that Sym had done anything in a timely enough manner for Dae to clear out a temple and offer a safe house to other Irkens- but maybe Dae had made an appointment.

"Sym..." Voel frowned, "she was on the Massive... is she alright? Vero said something happened-"

"She has not been acting herself..." Dae cast her gaze downward. "I am afraid she is already taken by the Control Brains. As are all those on the Massive. We don't have much intel on what occurred, but there was believed to have been a Parasite attack."

"Parasite?" Therron made a disgusted face. "Mothra damn it, Q!"

"Q was on Earth with us." Skoodge remarked dryly. "Literally, at the time if the incident, we were talking to him about GIR."

"I still wouldn't put it past him to somehow be responsible for that Massive incident." Therron crossed his arms indignant at having been corrected.

"Q mentioned another Parasite at the party... I think." Zim was not the best at remembering boring details, but Parasites were just interesting enough that he sometimes would listen.

"Party?" Therron questioned. "You mean the murder investigation you threw because you thought GIR was dead? You ruined a perfectly good relaxation day for me, you know."

"Zim remembers it differently." Zim waved it off. GIR hadn't been murdered. He was getting pizza with Carrius. Everyone knew that, except for Therron apparently. "CB, you record everything. Can you find if Q mentioned another Parasite?"

"Parasites don't talk... do they?" Mothra Elite Dae looked uncertainly at the other Irkens who were gathering around.

"Why do you have your robot record everything?" Tenn asked uncertainly.

"I learned that trick from my Earth-teacher." Zim shrugged. "It's great for winning arguments."

"Is it really safe to bring machines in here?" Mothra Elite Dae spoke up as she took note of CB and GIR for the first time. "They could be infected by the Control Brains. The SIRs were the first to fall to their new coding."

"I don't think GIR could take to new coding even if he wanted to." Zim waved off the concern. "And CB was never in the Collective so he shouldn't be traceable unless he's being dumb again and going out looking for the Control Brains."

" No father, I am being good. "

" I'M NOT! " GIR piped up. " I'M BEING A MOOSE! " He opened his chest cavity and pulled out a bottle of barbecue sauce, squinting it on the wall, and rolling himself in it, laughing all the while as the other Irkens stared in what looked to be abject horror, but Zim figured was actually just wonderment.

"I..." Mothra Elite Dae spoke for a moment, then closed her mouth again as if seriously considering her words, before opening her mouth again. "I believe your SIR might be... not functioning... properly."

"Yeah, it's a defective piece of shit," Therron shrugged, "but we made it out of trash and whatever we had in our pockets so the fact that it functions at all is impressive." Again, the pale Irken priestess looked very thoughtful before finally speaking again.

"I... see."

" I have found the conversation with Q. Not that we seem to be interested in that anymore. But I did it. " CB finally spoke up again.

"At least that robot is obedient to its master." Ara remarked. Therron and Voel looked to one another before both bursting out laughing.

"Play the footage, CB!" Zim ignored the laughter. A holographic image of Q materialized. A bit of Zim's backyard could be seen in the background. Q was hanging between the two buildings on either side of Zim's secret base, the red tendrils of his scarf-like appendages had buried deep into the brick. His body seemed to be floating, even the hair wafting around as in unaffected by Earth's gravity.

"That's... a Parasite?" Ara looked to be in awe. Zim saw Dae lift her veil slightly to get a better look. Other groups of the hiding Irkens slowly drew closer to look.

" Don't get excited, if your species knew how to kill one of us with any degree of permanence, I assume you would have dealt with M long before now. " The rich, smooth voice of the translator came over a little too well on CB's footage and Zim could feel all of the Irkens cringing at the sound.

"Why does it sound like-" Dae began to speak but Voel quickly cut her off.

"Don't. Don't even ask."

"Who the fuck is M?" Virtual Therron and Real Therron spoke simultaneously before CB turned the hologram off.

"The Parasite in the prison on the Massive." Vero spoke up. Everyone turned to face him. His sway as Tallest still seemed to have all of these Irkens entranced.

"There was a Parasite on the Massive !?" Therron looked appalled. "I KEPT SNACKS ON THAT SHIP!"

"Xia and I had a run in with it right after becoming Tallests." Vero frowned. "Upon further reflection, that was probably an attempted assassination."

"You think !?" Voel glared at his smeet.

"This is worse than we thought!" Therron swooned a bit, taking a seat against the stone wall, hand-to-hand his forehead looking queasy.

"I know. They tried to kill Vero before there was proof that he was a spy. The Control Brains have far more drive than we could have imagined." Voel frowned. "The implications of this-"

"Ugh. No. Not that." Therron glared at him. "This means we probably need Q!"

"Ah fuck." Voel sighed. "That is worse."

Q&A

Now, as for the Q&A, how did Zim and Dib become friends? When exactly did Dib and Lor start dating (because I swear that relationship upgrade happened offscreen)? And on a somewhat random note, whatever happened to that creep Gaz said was bothering her back in Chapter 43 (if only because I'm curious who'd have the guts to creep on her, and what she did in revenge)?

A: Zim and Dib's friendship happened gradually over a span of many years. As Dib got older, he realized Zim wasn't quite the threat he had built up in his head. Zim, as time passed, realized his mission was more of a punishment and his communications with Irk died down. This calmed Zim down a bit. Overtime, they just realized they were enjoying each other's company more than they were dedicated to the mission at hand (Zim's of taking over Earth, and Dib's of stopping Zim). One day, when they were fighting, neither of the could remember what they were actually battling over, and decided to get pizza instead. Thus this launched their friendship.

Dib and Lor never really had a conversation about dating outright. On the Syndicate ship on the way back, they just started getting closer and closer. This was the beginning of the romantic aspect of their relationship. However, since they were not the focus of the story, it was never covered out right. If you look though, you can see hints about them sharing a room, being considerably closer before their first on-screen kiss. Lor doesn't have a great mastery of Earth-dating, either. But he's doing his best. Dib has no knowledge of Tangean romance. It turns out he accidentally indicated romantic interest for Lor on several occasions just because of his lack of knowledge about how Lor was raised. Lor has tried his best to be more human in his flirtation. Captain Rose tries to help him with romance culture seeing as how she successfully engaged in romance with a human already. Her advice is always hilarious to Dib.

The creep in question was a guy from a grade below Gaz who had a big crush on her. She was uninterested seeing as how she found him annoying and about as pleasant as a brutal stabbing to the eyeballs. However, he was insistent. He followed her constantly, took all the same extra-curriculars, sat next to her in every class, made his way into every group project- he was relentless. She threatened him on multiple occasions, blocked his number and his social media. He just made new accounts. Finally, she was fed up , she complained to the school but nothing was done, o: she complained to her dad. That was about all it took. Membrane gave her a grenade launcher which she took to school. hen she got in trouble for blowing up the guy's locker, Moira went off on the school for not taking her daughter's complaints seriously

Where did the idea for this story come from? I mean it's so well planned out that you keep surprising me at every update, like did u planned for CB to be build from an A.I from Earth's deadly past beginning or you just write as you go along? I'm curious on the creative process of the story.

A: The story originated as a roleplay between myself and my rp partner-turned-beta-reader: Winter. She actually screens each chapter for typos and out of character moments before each release! She's been an absolute treasure to have help. She doesn't particularly enjoy writing, but she loves to spitball ideas with me. So many chapter ideas are work-shopped with her before going live! In fact, the Mandatory Beach Episode, was a chapter I wrote as a gift to her as she REALLY wanted to see how I could do a Beach episode. She also is the one who convinced me to keep certain aspects from the roleplay that I almost cut. Believe it or not, Moira was nearly cut entirely as Dib's stepmother as I was worried it would be too out of place in an otherwise non-crossover fic. (Unless you count some of the aliens and the Mothra references lo.) In the end though, I'm glad I kept it in.

I'm happy the twists are working out! The fact that you enjoy it means everything to me! I read every comment and I take your guys opinions to heart. If there is ever a character or story element you want more information on: you can always ask. I DO listen! And I am happy to oblige!

CB was always going to be a descendant of Original AI from the very beginning! Original AI ( ) has been sort of the unofficial name for the AI that attempted to murder humans before the story's start. is based loosely on the AI A.M. from I Have no Mouth but Must Scream. It was first hinted at in the chapter Entitled: CB but it was also heavily implied in Dib's chapters based on CB's traits of taking over other machines and acting without order.

There has always been a skeleton plot, but it is very different from the original roleplay that sparked it. Big things like CB's origin, Xia's and Vero's heritage, The Control Brains inevitable betrayal, has always been in the plans. Other things though, like the entire incorporation of some of the Parasites, was a bit more spontaneous of a decision.

Oh and before I forget, where did the idea for the Cobra gun come from?

A: Anticlimactic as this is: I literally made it up on the spot while writing. I was just trying to think nof things that sounded dcrazy enough to come from the Membranes and I was just like: Cobras? Swords? Gun? PUT THEM TOGETHER! SCIENCE!

How did u get into Invader Zim?

A: I watched it on TV when I was much younger and it had first came out. Ironically, I thought the Episode "Dark Harvest" had just been a fever dream when I was talking about the show years later. But I remembered REALLY liking it as a kid. I actually have Dib's shirt from the original run! My parents had gifted me the series on DVD for one Christmas and I got the Nostalgia bug when Florpus was released so I marathoned it!

What's your favorite character from the series?

A: It's probably the Almighty Tallests. I just think they're really funny. Plus in the episode: "Backseat Driver from Beyond the Stars" we saw Tallest Red was actually super competent when pressed into it. I actually rewatch that episode before writing big Voel chapters! But I will always have love for Zim and GIR.

FAV OC?

A: Oof that's hard! I love all of them for different reasons? I would say my top are probably: CB, Vero, Lor, Xia, and Q- but maybe not in that exact order. I think Winter's might be Xia and Zeke.

What's your favorite character to write in this fic?

A: Strangely enough? It's Professor Membrane and Moira as a couple. I have no idea why I just love writing both of them so much. You can just be absolute chaos but in a weirdly supportive (and somewhat evil) way. Though I do like writing for Zim and CB for similar reasons. I have fund I enjoy writing for Xia more than I expected.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh Fav ship(s)?

A: Dib and Lor, though I know it's a guilty pleasure ship. It is something that stuck around from the original rp. Moibrane (Moira/Membrane): They are science. Literally that couple stemmed from a joke I made while playing Overwatch and I couldn't get the dynamic out of my head. I also like ZaSr and RaZr (as you can tell from the story), but I'm not much into the shipping scene.

If this fic had a playlist what would be the top 5 songs?

A: OKAY I RAN THIS ONE BY MY BETA READER TOO! This is what we came up with and sorry it's so Disney in advance. I like soundtracks!

Invader Zim- (Patron Saint)- Pretty much my song that first inspired me to write this!

Be Prepared (Lion King)- IX singing to Xia.

Through it All (Tangled)- The Irken Resistance/ Ready as I'll Ever Be (Tangled): Xia VS the Irken Resistance. And ONE MORE FROM TANGLED: Nothing Left to Lose: Xia and CB. Honorable Mention to: I Will make You Proud- (Tangled) for CB.

I'm the Bad Guy (Wander Over Yonder)- M

Starlight Brigade (TWRP, but also the Shelby Merry cover)- The Galactic Syndicate

This has been bugging me for a while now, but who was the robot that Moira and Dr. Membrane sent to the moon?

A: The robot in question who is "tranquil" and "tells jokes" is none other than: Zenyatta. He and Moira got into a fight and so he got sent to the moon to think about what he did. He's with the Syndicate now; he's doing fine. They love him.

I THINK THAT'S EVERYBODY! Please if I missed you: Let me know and I'll add another Q&A next week! I AM SO HAPPY YOU ALL PARTICIPATED! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! I HOPE YOU'RE EXCITED FOR NEXT WEEK'S UPDATE!