Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Probably didn't expect to see this story again so soon, huh? Well it's thanks to you guys! After receiving so many supportive reviews I've just felt so inspired to write, so I just had to write a second chapter this week. I think this one came out the way I intended, though it's a little shorter than I'd initially wanted. Oh well, the flow stops when it stops. Sorry if I sound too chipper this time, but I'm not used to having time and inspiration enough to get so much done on my fanfics. I hope everyone reading this story is doing well and that you all have a great week :)

Additional Note: After seeing a few reviews on here I feel the need to say something. Please don't pick on SaintHeartwing. I know the troll that's been going around has caused a lot of anger and suspicion, but that's no reason for fellow writers to turn on each other. This user has written a lot of stories and has worked hard to build up their library on this site. We don't have the same tastes in stories, and that's okay. If she doesn't like my story and wants me to know then she's entitled to that opinion. I don't mind. I understand why people are upset though. There is a troll who is making writers miserable on here. That being said, the best we can do is support each other even if we don't agree, because writing is time-consuming and takes a lot of practice to master.

Chapter 8

Ultimatum

It would yet be a while before the grand palace and the many chocolate factories completed construction, so Purple asked Gaz where their palace should be in the interim, to which she chose Bran Castle since she thought the design looked cool. After moving in they ordered a ginormous sized TV and every current game console on the market. Yes, they were behaving like children, but to be fair Gaz was a child...and Purple was really immature.

For the next few days they just sat around ordering people to do their bidding, checked up on chocolate production for when the armada got there to collect their bounty, and ate snacks while goofing off. It might have been a backwater planet that smelled like plumbing, but to Purple the role of despot just felt so right.

Four days after their conquest Purple realized he needed to send his first progress report to Zim before that oversized defect decided to push his self-destruct button and kill him. Gaz promised to not save him any pizza, which didn't really surprise her Co-Tallest.

Gaz entertained herself while Purple was gone by calling NASA Place and inquiring about the new lab for her dad. It was then that she realized she hadn't talked to her father once since taking over the earth. He was probably locked away somewhere and hadn't heard the news. She wondered if she should tell him. After all it wasn't really that important. Then again she wasn't living at home anymore and he might want to know so he could reprogram the robot that cooked their dinner.

Sighing, Gaz hung up with NASA Place without saying goodbye and started dialing her dad's work phone. She just hoped he was carrying the stupid thing this time, because she didn't remember his personal phone number.

"Hello, you've reached Membrane Laboratories!" Prof. Membrane's deep voice boomed on the other end, "Who may I ask is calling?"

"Check the number, Dad," Gaz replied dourly as she placed her chin in her hand and leaned against her new throne.

"Hm...Gazlene Membrane? Oh yes, daughter! So good to hear from you!" Membrane replied jovially, "What do you need? I hope it won't take too long. I've just discovered an unstable molecule that could revolutionize sports shoe technology!"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Gaz replied in a bored monotone, "I joined forces with an evil alien space monster and took over the world. I'm queen of earth right now. It's been on the news or whatever."

"Now daughter, are you going crazy like your brother?" Membrane chided, "I don't want to get a call from the Crazy Home For Girls this weekend. That's when I research the cure for squishy eye."

"No, Dad," Gaz rolled her eyes even though the video feature wasn't on, "Just turn on the news. My official title is Tallest, but it basically means dictator. I'm just calling to ask if you want an astronomy lab in New Mexico or Hawaii."

"Hawaii obviously," Membrane replied, "So you discovered intelligent alien life, huh? That seems rather implausible."

"Well I wouldn't call him intelligent life," Gaz deadpanned, "He's pretty cool though. He used to rule his home planet but they kicked him out. Now he rules our planet and I rule with him. Oh, and uh, sorry about any government contracts you'll lose because of this, but all military spending has shut down. It's now illegal to use non-Irken weapons tech. That way the only military force will be the occupying Irkens. Hope that isn't too inconvenient."

"Not really. Weapons may be the glamorous field of study, but I prefer the more consumer friendly aspects of science," Membrane replied, "That's where the real challenge is."

"Totally. By the way, if you have any stocks in chocolate, now is the perfect time to cash in," Gaz joked, "Anyway I gotta go. Lots of ruler-of-the-world stuff to do. Bye Dad."

"Goodbye, daughter," Membrane replied before hanging up.

Gaz pushed the button to end the call and then stuffed the phone back in her pants pocket. She sighed a heavy defeated sigh as she finally realized how much stress she had been holding in during that call. Gaz never told anyone her deeper feelings, mostly because she wasn't always aware of them, but in that moment she realized how disappointed she was in her dad's reaction.

She was earth's unquestioned tyrant. She was the most powerful girl on earth. Everything was hers for the taking, and her dad still wasn't impressed. He was such a narcissist that he couldn't even appreciate his own child's accomplishments. Even when he took an interest in his kids, Dib always got the lion's share of her father's attention. Sure, it wasn't all positive attention. Membrane wanted his son to be a real scientist, he wanted him to be sane, he wanted him to get better grades. It wasn't much, but at least Membrane wanted his son to be something. He didn't even care what Gaz tried to be or what she did.

Just as she was stewing in her own darkness, one of her new servants came rushing into the room and crouched down so he wouldn't look taller than her. That was going to get old for Gaz, but she knew Purple meant well when he enacted that law for her. At least someone showed some consideration for her.

"My Tallest," The nervous man spoke as he bowed to her, "There's some crazy man here to see you. The guards captured him for your protection. What should we do with him?"

"Did you get his name?" Gaz asked.

"Yes, my Tallest. His name is Dib," The servant replied dutifully.

"Oh, him," Gaz replied disinterestedly, "Throw him in the dungeon."

"That's being renovated," The servant informed her.

"Fine, then throw him down a well and then find a dungeon for him," Gaz growled.

The servant gulped at her testy tone and stammered "A-At once, m-m-my Tallest."

The man then ran swiftly away like a frightened deer, and Gaz sunk down even lower in her seat. She knew she was being hard on Dib, but she really couldn't deal with him and her dad within the span of ten minutes. She would probably see what he wanted tomorrow. In the meantime she just needed some down time to play Empire Piggies and forget the world outside the palace walls existed.

On board The Massive, Zim/Red sat on his throne and sunk deeper into his seat. He was bored after the conquest of planet Brofeest and wanted some entertainment. The technicians tried performing a puppet show for their Tallest, but Zim was still not satisfied. Those technicians had really run out of material after 537 consecutive puppet shows.

Suddenly there was a beeping noise, and Zim perked up; hoping it was a ship they could destroy or something.

"Incoming transmission!" The technician sang in a baritone voice, "From planet earth."

"Purple," Zim whispered darkly, "Patch it into the comm system in my room."

"But invaders generally broadcast their signals in the main-" The technician timidly argued.

"I said patch it!" Zim demanded forcefully.

"Yes, my Tallest!" The technician shouted fearfully in reply.

Zim quickly hovered to his royal bed chamber to receive Purple's message. He wanted to see how his former Tallest was suffering. He wanted to see banishment ruin Purple the way it had almost ruined Zim. This pleasure he would reserve only for himself, so he made certain only he could see Purple. Besides that he wanted the chance to speak freely to Purple, not as Red, but as Zim.

Zim turned on the communication screen and waited for Purple to salute to his new Tallest. He could tell this show of submission thoroughly vexed Purple, and he loved that.

"Exiled Invader Purple reporting, my Tallest," Purple announced with the utmost professionalism, "The mission has gone pretty good so far. I have successfully conquered earth and am currently in the process of reconfiguring it into a chocolate making planet for Irken enrichment."

"You WHAT?" Zim exclaimed incredulously.

"I conquered the planet, per your instructions, my Tallest," Purple said the last part with clear venom, but otherwise kept himself standing erect and looking like a perfectly obedient soldier.

"Yeah, well...I loosened it up for you," Zim childishly declared, "Yeah, everything I did made the planet all squishy and ready for invasion."

"You loosened it?" Purple repeated wryly, "Zim, it's a planet, not a pickle jar!"

"Ah, I see you too have been introduced to those horrible things earthenoids call pickles," Zim commented offhandedly, "The juice burns quite a bit, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Purple replied as he subconsciously rubbed his arm where pickle juice had previously hit it.

"So, how did you conquer earth, Purple?" Zim said Purple's name with just as much malice as Purple had said Zim's rank.

"I enlisted the aid of a human named Gaz," Purple told him, "She is the sister unit of your arch nemesis, Dib."

"I know who she is!" Zim snapped angrily, "You used humans to help you with your job, you smeet!?"

"Hey, you used humans all the time!" Purple defended himself, "For everything from experiments to stopping that one invader from stealing your job to working together for stupid reasons! Do you seriously think I forgot about the time you got your foot stuck in a door and begged your teacher for help?"

Purple's voice was condemning and dominating, and for an instant Zim cringed guiltily before remembering that Purple wasn't the one in charge anymore. Purple noticed the change in demeanor as well and almost pressed his luck, but then he saw Zim's finger hover over a button on his gauntlet; no doubt Purple's self-destruct button.

"Um, uh," Purple gulped before continuing, "Forgive me, my Tallest. I forgot myself for a moment."

Zim was about to gloat over Purple's humiliation, but then another thought randomly entered his mind, and he realized he could have even more fun with the banished wretch on the screen.

"You must miss being in power, right Purple?" Zim asked in a deceptively caring tone, "I know it must be rough, being sunk to the bottom after being on top for so long."

"I'm just trying to stay alive, Zim," Purple said matter-of-factly, "Oops, uh, I mean, my Tallest."

"Do you enjoy ruling earth?" Zim asked intently.

"Well, it's no Irk but I do enjoy the way the humans cower in fear before me," Purple admitted.

"GRR, D'h, ARG!" Zim felt enraged all over again at being reminded that Purple had succeeded where he himself had failed, but then Zim composed himself when he remembered where he was going with this, "Alright, so you enjoy earth enough that you would probably like to keep ruling it. I was just going to kill you after the earth was mine...probably shred your body alive or send you to the planet of sharp poison spikes, but after seeing how low you've sunk, well...I think I might just let you keep planet earth and send Irk all of its chocolate."

"You mean it, Zim?" Purple asked hopefully, "Uh, my Tallest?"

"I do, but there is one thing that's troubling me," Zim said sinisterly, "I fear that with your track record for treason to the empire, you might not be completely loyal to your home planet."

"Track record?" Purple asked indignantly, "You're the one that assassinated a Tallest and dishonored another!"

"SILENCE!" Zim screamed, and Purple stood at attention again, "Now, as I was saying, I will spare your pathetic life and let you keep planet earth as your own on one condition. You must kill one human of my choice and send me their body. Do this, and you may spend the rest of your life in peace as earth's chocolatey king."

"Let me guess, you want Dib's giant head on a platter," Purple replied sardonically.

"No, I want you to kill the Gaz human," Zim ordered, much to Purple's shock, "I expect her corpse in the transporter by the end of the Irken lunar cycle, or I will terminate you in her place."

With that Zim hung up on Purple and went back to his throne room feeling very satisfied with himself. Zim wasn't about to let his predecessor challenge his claim as the true Tallest of Irk. Zim of course had finally figured out Purple's weakness, a weakness that no one else on Irk even seemed to notice; namely that Purple got lonely easily. He formed attachments in a way that other Irkens did not. Zim would never admit it to anyone, but he understood that weakness too. It was the reason he kept Gir alive. It was the reason his animosity-filled rivalry with Dib had made earth slightly tolerable. Zim had the same defect as Purple. They both needed to be around others.

Purple looked at the blank screen for a moment in shock as he realized what he had been ordered to do. He had to kill Gaz if he was going to survive. It was Red all over again. No, in fact, it was worse. Purple had watched helplessly as his friend was murdered and then pleaded for his own life rather than avenge his fallen Co-Tallest. Now he was being commanded to actively kill the closest thing to a friend he had left. Purple would almost admire Zim's cunning cruelty if it didn't adversely affect him the way it did.

"What do I do?" Purple whispered in the small stone walled room where he kept his communication equipment, "It's her or me, and it can't be me. So, it has to be her. I have to do it or Zim will kill me. I can do this. I don't need her. She's just an alien, a stinking human, no better than the others. I can make it quick. She won't suffer. I can do this, and then everything will be fine."

Purple continued to talk himself into doing the deed. The mantra of destruction continued to fill his head as he walked through the halls of the human-made palace. He would go in there, quickly draw his weapon, set it to charred crisp, and then...

When Purple entered the room Gaz was on one of their new consoles playing a video game. She was in such deep concentration that she didn't even see Purple. If he did it now she wouldn't even have to know. It would be virtually painless, which is an odd thing for an Irken to care about, but Purple didn't want to torture his Co-Tallest.

"Co-Tallest," Purple muttered to himself when he thought of those words.

"Huh? Did you need something, Purple?" Gaz asked without looking away from her game, "I'm kinda busy."

"No, I don't need anything," Purple replied almost apologetically, "I'll just watch you play."

Purple then sat down on his throne and watched Gaz slay farm animals on the screen. Her back was to him now. He would have a clean shot. If his aim was just right it would stop her blood pumping organ immediately and she wouldn't even feel it. He felt the gun within his PAK stir, but he didn't take it out of its metallic shell casing.

He stayed like this for over an hour, trying to make himself shoot her. His PAK was tired from priming a weapon that never fired. His head hurt from suppressing how awful he felt at being given this grisly task. He watched her, and his eyes burned from barely blinking. All the while Gaz was oblivious to her friend's deadly intentions as she kept her back turned to him and played her game.

Tomorrow, Purple finally decided in his mind, I have one and a half earth weeks. I'll do it tomorrow.