Zim's 'spooch pounded as the lights bounced of the Dib's lenses, he followed him into space. Somehow Zim felt a flare of pride that he had driven this human to complete devotion to his cause but then a mix of fear and anger that Zim was not exactly on the good end of this devotion. So he ran, it's what they did, the location was different and it was now Zim's turn to know the back alleyways of this planet.

The echoes of boots drove him to sprint farther into the alleyways, but Dib's legs were long and ears used to Zim's fleeing footsteps. Their advantages and disadvantages leveled out, equals. Zim couldn't help but smirk at the thought, this pathetic human outlier was his equal. But how long had they been fighting to adapt as such?

A sharp turn led Zim back to the parking garage, with a short flash he summoned his Voot and started takeoff. Dib's figure was shrinking but in horror Zim saw Tak's dreaded Voot appear on the teleportation pad for Dib to drive. Soon both Invader and Investigator were in space, the pink and off-purple backdropped by the stars that blurred from their speed.

"Stupid Dib-human! You'll never catch me!" A cackle bubbled out of Zim, adrenaline screaming through him like giant radioactive rubber pants! This past month (Zim had started running on human time after 3 years of it) had been… boring. But he needed supplies for his next plan. Zim knew he could have used Prisoner 777, stayed on his planet and just did the usual… but he needed to get out. Something about returning to space and escaping the weight of Earth's gravity was invigorating.

"ZIM!" A sudden voice breached his audio transmission, deeper than the childish tone he grew to hate but still the same aggression.

"DIB" Zim yelled back, his airflow being used for what it was best at. He forced the call to end, just to piss off the human, but he knew the stupid creature would just hack through again.

"Zim! I'll drag you back to Earth by your shorter antenna-" Zim cut the audio again. Though he felt embarrassed that the human knew of his shorter antenna, in his wounded pride he came up with a retort for the next time the human cut through the audio.

"Would you stop-"

"You're more likely to break your 'glasses' than to return me to the dirt ball!"

"I'd take that bet!"

"You'd have to catch me first!" Zim threw his ship to its highest speed, letting the already blurring expanse of space just smear in his vision. The audio transmission cut on its own from the distance and Zim started to settle down in his escape. And he began to think, which was a dangerous thing if you weren't Zim and nigh deadly if you were in his general area.

If I could kill the Dib-thing out here in space- no, the idea of killing one of the top of his species would be a waste (it definitely didn't bring a sour taste in his mouth just because it was Dib). Ok ok ok, if I lured him back to the Massive for capture and testing yes! That was it, he could capture the human and finally poke at his brain. This plan clearly would not fail, fool proof! If G.I.R. was here he'd cackle evilly with him (but luckily Zim thought to leave the chaos machine at home "to watch if the TV channel changed on its own").

Felling proud of his progress, Zim dropped all plans for his supplies and started upon a new plan to lure the Dib away into the clutches of the Irken Empire.

Dib's face was flushed with rage and exertion by the second time Zim cut him off. Their sudden chase and now high speed- oh. Apparently Zim could travel faster than that. That… was anti-climactic for the exhausted investigator. Zim's Voot became all but a blurry dot after their shouting match.

"Proud of yourself?" The A.I. took back the speaker from the cut transmission. Dib didn't even dignify a response as he flopped out of the chair and onto the floor, his backpack half-hazardly put by the base of the chair. He didn't care about anything other than the adrenaline and thrill of chasing the stupid gremlin down those alleyways.

"Incoming Transmission from: GAZ MEMBRANE." A sudden alert pushed Dib from shallow thoughts, sitting up before his impromptu webcam to accept the call. The image of Gaz flickered in, clearing as time passed, the hacked older cam Dad used to call home was what hosted the call.

"It's Friday Dib-stink." Gaz stated blatantly, but Dib couldn't respond before an image of his Dad took the screen.

"Son! Where are you? Is that the project you mentioned last dinner?" Questions piled up and Dib tried to cover himself and answer. Luckily the cam faced away from the window containing only stars.

"Uh, uh, I'm in a simulator! This is part of the tests for the project, I'll tamper the results if I just leave. The simulation has me…" Dib stuttered, nerves turning his adrenaline into anxiety and sweat, "months away from home! So sorry I can't attend dinner, but uh-" Gaz pushed herself back into the image, a plate of food sending steam into her face.

"That's why he's video chatting." Gaz has saved the day, again and Dib could cry from all the anxiety shaking him. But he calmed down as Gaz stole their Dad's attention and conversed with him about his month and hers. Dib suddenly felt hungry as he watched his family eat dinner, he guessed that running after just sitting in space must have confused his calorie input/output. As Gaz and his Dad ate some sort of meal he couldn't see, Dib chowed on the most human looking food he could find from his new stash.

Gaz took up the camera, dishes clanking and a brief farewell from Dad offscreen, indicated dinner was over. Dib didn't end the call, he didn't want to and apparently Gaz didn't either.

"Can… can you turn the camera to look outside?" Gaz pipped up as she dried her hands. Dib didn't hesitate to manhandle the device to look out his windshield, he had kept a steady pace to follow Zim's trail despite his speedy escape earlier. "Whoa." Her small inhale made Dib's entire day from finding Zim and losing him again worth it. He took in the squint of Gaz's face, the small 'o' of her mouth (quickly becoming a line again) and the arch of her brows in wonder.

Something that would have taken hold of any person earlier now lodged itself in Dib's mind. He missed Earth, the faces of other people and the presence of Gaz that he had never truly been without until now. It collided with his curiosity, a flame only fed dangerously high by the sights, smells and tastes of Foodcourtia. Dib wouldn't go home, but he wouldn't forget it either.

"See you next month Gaz," Dib smiled and cut off the transmission as Gaz picked up her Game Slave again, giving her brother a small wave in return.