Dlbn: Hey everyone! Glad to see you're not all running for the hills yet.

Nbld: *snickers* Yet.

Dlbn: Shut up.

Nbld: We're glad this is getting as much positivity as it is, considering the OC appearances. There are more later on, just a head's up if I hadn't been clear with it in the first chapter. Let's get to work with the Review Corner! Thank you to Invader Johnny and Zim'sMostLoyalServant for reviewing! Girly Ranger Cookies and moofies for you both.

Invader Johnny: They're delicious! The answer to those questions will appear soon.

Zim'sMostLoyalServant: Thank you! And I'm glad the reference was clear there. I needed another character for their group, and since it looks like Squee has Mrs. Bitters for a teacher in the comics, I yanked him into this universe. The computer is one of my favorite thigs in this story. It's like Zim's but sassier.

000

On Saturday, Zim lounged in the recliner at Keef's house; ghosting through a Chemistry book and asking his friends questions out of it.

"Alright, Dib, this is for you." Zim sighed. "Do number 47 on page 356."

"Fine." Dib nodded, flipping through his book to get to the page Zim told him about.

Zim's cell phone began ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and pressed the answer button while he flipped to the back of the book to check the answers Dib was going to give to him. "Zim." He spoke.

"Master?" His computer's voice asked from the other end. "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"An interstellar traveling ship of Vortian design has entered the Earth's atmosphere."

"You don't say?" Zim wondered. "That's…rather strange…"

"What should I do, sir?"

"Keep an eye on it. Where's it going?"

"Two developments east of here." The computer replied. "It appears to have some form of cloaking device enabled onto it."

"Hm…alright, then. I'll check when I get home."

"Alright." The computer replied.

The phone clicked and Zim hung it up. He looked to Dib. "Answer?"

"Five, three, seven, five."

"Correct." Zim nodded. "Alright, Gretchen, now for your question…"

000

Lahna's ship landed in the backyard of a two-story home with a 'For Sale' sign in front of it. It looked relatively clean. Lahna grabbed a holographic watch from the storage compartment in the console.

"What do these human creatures look like?" She wondered. "They are the dominant species, Zim said, so that's what I want to look like."

"I'll locate the file for you, Mistress Lahna."

"How many times must I tell you to stop calling me 'Mistress'?" Lahna sighed.

"Sorry." The computer beeped. "File found. This is what a human looks like."

An image popped up on the computer's main screen of a being with pale skin, lots of wiry blue antennae coming from its head, and wide white eyes with blue centers and black dots in the centers of the blue. Two nubs stuck out from the sides of its head, and one poked out from the middle of its face.

"Ew, humans look gross."

"Agreed."

Lahna sighed. "Well, I may as well look like one…" She groaned. "Are there any colors that are unusual for this species?"

"I don't have much data on them."

"Hm…I'll just have to go with my gut." Lahna put the watch on and pressed a button. "Watch, I want to be human, please."

The watch beeped a few times before scanning her with a red light. The computer put down an oval-shaped, silver mirror so she could see her new appearance. She had long black antennae things that reached her shoulders, and pale ruby human-like eyes. Her skin was pale and she had the two nubs on the sides of her head and one in the middle of her face. She cocked her head to the side as she looked herself over.

"I guess it's not too bad…"

"You look quite dashing, Mistress."

"Don't you call men 'dashing', computer? And stop calling me Mistress, damn it!"

"Yes, Lahna, apologies."

Lahna sighed. "I hope Zim isn't too far away…"

The computer printed out something and Lahna grabbed it. "Sold?" She wondered.

"To put on the For Sale sign so no one comes in here."

"Computer, you're a genius." Lahna smiled. "I would like to leave the ship now. Please shrink once I am outside of it and make the ship visible."

"Yes, Lahna."

The door to the ship opened upwards, and the teenage Irken slipped out. She stretched and smiled up at the dimly shining sun. It appeared to be starting to vanish over the horizon, as the sky was darkening and black was creeping over the sky. Little white dots that she assumed were stars were beginning to appear. She grinned. Even back home, she always loved the night. Lahna skipped to the front yard and pushed the 'sold' sticker onto the sign. It would have to do for now. She went back to the back of the house to find a small, pet sized version of her ship sitting on the back lawn. She picked it up and carried it under her arm into the house. The house inside looked a little bigger than it did on the outside. It had two bedrooms, one of which she wouldn't need, a kitchen, living room, closet, and bathroom. It was only one story tall, but that wasn't an issue for her. Growing up, she and two of her siblings lived with their parents and their grandmother and grandfather in their three-bedroom, apartment in Saois. Her grandfather passed away when she was a year old, so the three siblings took their grandparents' room while their grandmother took their smaller room. It wasn't until Lahna was three years old that they had saved up enough money to move all five of them into their own place in Seoul, where they still resided. Lahna was four years old when her brother joined his gang. He was kicked out at age sixteen, a few years before her baby sister, Aya, was born. Lahna resented the young one for a couple years, believing that they wouldn't have kicked Zim out if it wasn't for her being born. With gentle prodding from their grandmother, who had taken Zim in when he was kicked out by their parents, she eventually stopped blaming her sister for it and realized that it was her brother's behavior and her parents' lack of compassion and understanding that led to him being kicked out. Lahna tried to tell Aya about their older brothers, since the oldest-Ense-had moved out and went missing at age eighteen; the same year that Zim was kicked out. Lahna believed that her eldest brother's leaving caused Zim, who had been close to him, to increase in his destructive behavior and get kicked out. Her elder brother was, after all, the one person that could get Zim to sit down, shut up, listen, and behave with just a word or by grabbing him by the collar. He was going to take Zim with him when he was kicked out, but he had moved in with some friends and couldn't bring his younger brother along. Lahna was secretly glad that Zim hadn't gone with him, because it meant he was still around to be in her life. She adored both of her older brothers, but it was Zim she admired most and aspired to be like. Despite all his faults and short comings, she still loved him the best of her siblings. She didn't have a problem with either Aya or Ense, but Aya was just a baby and Ense was missing.

"What now, Lahna?" The computer's voice asked from inside the ship.

"Now, I am going to give you your own secret bedroom." Lahna smiled. She walked into one of the bedrooms and sat the ship down. "Computer, make the ship fit this room."

The ship expanded until it took up the majority of the room, but left enough space to walk around it. Lahna smiled, happy that she could still go into it if she so chose.

"Now I need furniture for this place…and money. Can't buy things without money." She shook her head. "Computer, did they give me any currency before we left?"

"There is enough in here to live by, yes. There is a communications link established with Conventia to get supplies shipped down. However, once these monies run out, that will be the end of them indefinitely."

"So, I will have to get a job to buy Earth products once the money runs out."

"I suggest getting a job before then to prepare. Don't want to run out last minute and be left with nothing."

"Indeed." Lahna nodded. "Well, I'll furnish this place first and get food, then go look for a job. Oh, but I'll need an education, too. I didn't graduate back home yet."

"Unfortunately, you may no longer continue your education with planet Irk. You are banished, which means you are lucky to have gotten as many resources and form of contact as you have been."

"Right." Lahna sighed. "Can I order a cell phone too? With unlimited minutes and stuff? So I can talk?"

"I'll pull up the Conventia store."

The ship's door opened and Lahna walked in just as the main screen lit up. She smirked.

"I better get started blowing the government's money."

000

Having left Keef's home at five that night, Zim sat in his basement lab to run tests on a hair sample he had stolen from Keef's brush. It wasn't that he needed to do anything with it, but he was bored. Although he had all the technology the military gave standard to Invaders at his disposal, he still grew bored. He had realized a long time ago that his leaders, the Tallest, had sent him to Earth to die, not to take part in a mission. Still, he faked that he was here to conquer when he talked to his grandmother; knowing she'd pass the word onto his family and most importantly his sister Lahna, and didn't want any of them worrying. Though his elder brother was missing and baby sister hardly knew who he was and he knew his parents didn't care, he still wanted a good word to be passed on. He knew he was a shame to the family, a black sheep if you will, but he still didn't want them knowing just what a disgrace he had become. Being banished by the Irken Empire was a fate almost worse than death. Death was most of the time quick and sometimes painless, but having to live with the fact that your own people hated you and that they wanted you gone so badly that they decided to ship you off to be a burden somewhere else? That was a pain that would last a lifetime. Most banished Irkens ended up ending their lives and sending a final farewell message to someone back home, most of the time it was the Tallest who received the message. When it was directed to a loved one, it tended to be more heartfelt an apologetic. But if the Tallest or other government official who was the intended recipient, it was often full of hate and blame. To send a message of his own, Zim took his time assimilating into the human population and sent the Tallest a letter to say what he had achieved. The fact that his family hadn't gotten a copy of the message yet was a surprise. Then again, his parents were well respected people back home. Though they had all had humble, or not so humble, beginnings, there was some semblance of respect in the city for his family; mostly his less-then-perfect parents that demanded perfection and obedience. So maybe they didn't want to offend them by letting them know that their degenerate son was also an embarrassment to the Empire that had to be disposed of.

The Tallest had thought they were clever in sending him on a false mission and giving him Invader-only materials along with the banishment monies. Though he had a lot of technology and whatnot, he had blown most of his monies on more technology; including a cell phone, several game systems and games to go with them, upgrades for his computer, and various holographic watches to change his appearances so it would be easier and to go around the city without being recognized when he wanted to roam but still wanted privacy. Once he ran low on funds, he found himself an after-school job three days a week from three until nine. It was a low paying job, but it helped him keep food in his stomach, so he was alright with that. The house he lived in and labs he used were built using an Irken writing tablet and a home-building drill. They were standard Invader issue, but since everything he had from the Empire was old, they didn't intend on taking anything back. He hadn't heard from the military since he sent the letter, so he assumed they either didn't believe him and just didn't tell his family, or they were too shocked to reply…or care.

"Computer, give me more information about this sighting earlier." Zim informed. "I have fifteen minutes to kill here."

"The ship I tracked landed two developments East; Glenndale Manor. Do you want the street address?"

"No, it's fine." Zim sighed. "What model was it?"

"A Vortian style Spittle Runner S 485 series."

"A military ship…" Zim tapped his chin in thought. "Perhaps they sent a real Invader."

"Unlikely." The computer replied. "Earth has no viable resources, and my daily scans of the databases made no reference to this planet outside of you."

"I highly doubt anyone would come here on vacation."

The computer made what sounded like a huff of annoyance.

"Well don't look at me." It ordered him. "Why don't you go check it out yourself?"

"I suppose I'll have to have a look around and see what I can find." Zim sighed. "But first, what time is it?"

"1858."

"Great." Zim sighed. He took his cell phone out of his pocket. "Power down for a bit so I can talk in private."

"Yes, Master."

Zim waited until he heard the computer shut down completely before dialing a number he knew by heart. The phone rang three times before he heard a click.

"Hello?" An accented voice wondered.

"Evening, Gram." Zim greeted in his native tongue. "How are you?"

"Oh, Zim. I'm fine, how are you?"

"Fine, thanks." He smiled softly.

Talking to his grandmother always made him feel better. It was like a reminder that it actually was possible for someone to know about his past and still love him unconditionally.

"There's a big chemistry test on Monday. My friends and I had a review session together."

"Oh, that's nice, Mina. Do you think you're ready?"

"Yeah, I'm as prepared as I can be." He shrugged, though he knew she couldn't see.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." She replied, giggling a little. "You always were a smart one, even if your choices were a little questionable back then."

"A little? Come on, Gram, you're just being nice now."

She laughed at him. "Well someone in this family has to be. It's not like you've been given nothing but kindness your whole life."

"Yeah, I guess so." Zim sighed. "Is it weird that it kinda bugs me now when I think about it? Like I spend time with my friends and their families and I just feel weird…I get to see them being teenagers and being happy and having fun…and yet…"

"I understand, Mina." She replied. "It's normal to feel that way when you see other people getting what it is you wish you had. But you know that no matter what happens or who tries to get in the way, that I'll always be here and I'll always support you, okay? I know your parents are less than ideal, and I swear I don't know where your father got his horrible parenting techniques from, but I'm sure as sugar that it wasn't from me."

Zim laughed, though he wanted to cry a little as well. "Thanks, Gram…you've always been there for me, even when I didn't deserve the help…"

"Now you stop that talk right now." She ordered. "You may have done things that you shouldn't have, and you could have been the worst person on the planet, but you are always worthy of what you do get. You are worthy of those friends you have gained, and you are worthy of any assistance that can be offered to you. I just wish you had been willing to accept the help sooner."

"I wish I was able to do so, too."

Now that he thought about it, he really should've stopped being stubborn and done what people had suggested he do instead of doing what he wanted and thought was best. He had a lot of regrets, but he was too stubborn to tell anyone.

"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything you've done for me, I just…"

"I understand, Mina." She replied, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "You're a young man now; you're no teenager anymore. It's normal to look back on your life and reflect at your age. I know I did it. And you will do it again when you're older. But don't let living in the past slow you down, understood? You need to look to the future as well. You're on the right track, Mina, I just hope you plan on staying on it."

"I do." Zim nodded. "I'm going to prove all my doubters wrong."

"That's my boy." She replied. "Now, what else is going on with that group of friends of yours? Have the Membranes had their family dinner yet this year?"

"They have it scheduled for next week."

"Mmm." She replied. "It's sad how a father cannot be bothered to clear out more than one day a year from his schedule to pay attention to his own children…and I thought your father was bad, back when you lived with me and your grandfather, rest his soul."

"What do you mean?" Zim leaned back in his chair.

He always enjoyed his grandmother's stories; especially ones that made his father look bad.

"Your father…when you were a kid, he'd go out to work early in the morning, come home late at night, and on his days off, he'd stay as far away as possible. Whenever we did manage to keep him at home he'd actually avoid you and your brother-this was before Lahna was born, by the way. I never thought a father could be so inattentive, but you've told me enough about Dib's father that I think he might actually be worse. He's lucky if his kids don't end up growing up to resent him or hooked on drugs or the like. No offense, Mina, but he's putting them on a path to become the new versions of you."

"I thought Lahna was on that path…"

"That is another matter entirely." She snickered at him. "My point here is that their father is not paving them a good path. I'm just glad you're there. If you see them showing any signs, you can whip them right into shape right then and there."

"Maybe I actually do have a calling in this universe then." He laughed. "I was just on the wrong planet. I guess it's a good thing I was ban…er…good thing I was sent here for my mission…"

"Good thing you were what? I didn't catch that, hon."

Zim sighed. "Gram, I'm going to tell you something, okay?" He stated. "Just please don't get mad at me…"

"Why would I ever get mad at you, Zim?" She wondered. "Just tell me, Mina, it's ok."

"Well…about my mission…I…er…look, you can't tell anyone in the family this, and especially not Lahna…it would just break her heart…"

"What is it, Mina?"

"I was…er…the Tallest…this mission…it was a fake…the Tallest banished me here…"

"Oh…you're aware…"

"What? You knew?!"

"The Tallest told me." She replied. "I'm the only contact you listed on your paperwork, so I'm the only one they notified."

"So you…you knew this whole time, and you've been lying to the family to cover my backside?"

"Your parents waived any right they had to know what was going on with you the day they kicked you out of that sad excuse for a home that they live in." She replied. "I only tell them what they ask. Lahna, on the other hand, asks about you constantly. She's the only one I tell information to."

"Does she know?"

"Oh, heavens no. I didn't want her to worry about you…I'm sorry, Zim, I didn't want to hide the fact that I knew from you, but…you just seemed so happy, I thought telling you would break your heart…"

"Oh, Gram…but I figured things out a long time ago." Zim smiled softly. "Thank, you, though, for thinking of me like that…"

"Of course, Mina." She replied. "Someone has to be looking out for you. You're never too old to be looked after."

"I suppose." He smiled.

Even though he'd spent the entire day with his friends, he hadn't smiled this much in a long time.