Okay everyone, thanks for the comments and such! For further reference, action happening in other places will be separated with X's, considering that when I upload my chapters all my dashes and stars go buh-bye. Yeah. Okay, let's see how the teens deal with forced love, Zim with rejection, and Gir with a dead parrot. Seriously.

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In the depths of his shadowy laboratory, Zim paced furiously, throwing glances at his utility wristwatch. "Stupid human, how dare she disobey the time set by Mighty Zim!" the green boy exclaimed. His anger was simply to mask his extreme disappointment. Somewhere inside his cold, green chest beat the heart of a lover. How cute…or gross…what you will.

Zim scowled at the mirror. He had left in his contacts and wig to make Ari feel more comfortable. Here he was, a mighty Irken Invader and he was trying to accommodate filthy humans? It was beneath him indeed.

"Fine, I have no use for the stinkbeast if she decides to abandon the future master of this planet," pouted Zim. He pressed a button on his wristwatch and the small metal table adorned with alien flowers sunk into the floor. Forlorn and depressed, Zim decided to drown his sorrows in plans for world conquest.

"Never again will my mighty green presence honor a filthworm the likes of Ari! I work alone," Zim said with confidence as he scrolled through an old plan journal.

Suddenly, a panel in the wall opened and in bounced Zim's faithfully dysfunctional assistant, Gir. Despite six years on Earth, Gir hadn't changed a bit, except for his new affinity for creating art with his grubby feet. It was odd how it happened; Gir had merely stomped in some paint and walked on an old canvas. Some crazy, struggling artist took credit for the boon and made thousands of dollars. It's probably better that way, or else we'd have to imagine the consequences of Gir with thousands of dollars at his disposal.

Gir skipped up to Zim and gazed at him with a smile. "Aaaw, Master be sad…did that little Earth child make mean to you?" Gir babbled.

Zim glanced at the oddly perceptive SIR unit and sighed. "Yes Gir, now go run along and…play with your feet," he muttered.

"M'KAY!" Gir hollered as he skipped off with a tube of crazy glue in his left hand.

Zim frowned at his old journal. "So many possibilities…if only…she…no…I…" Zim argued with himself. After much debate internal, Zim came to one conclusion.

"She was captured by… Vikings! I better go hunt for her!"

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Gaz shuddered violently as the violet-haired pretty boy on the monitor before her manipulated his eyebrows seductively. "Dad," she growled, "you can't expect me to marry…THAT; I don't even know the freak!"

Professor Membrane gave a hearty guffaw and rumpled Gaz's hair. "Now now, Gaz, you'll learn to love Prince Urple," the Professor chirped. "What's NOT to adore? He's got money, fame, education, good looks…please Gaz, try to understand my position!"

Gaz snarled indignantly at her father, "NO." The Professor stood straight and wordlessly strode to his laboratory door. Before descending he turned to Gaz and said, "You are going to marry Prince Urple. Marry him…or suffer the consequences." With that, he strode down the stairs, slamming the door behind him.

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It was nearly eleven-thirty when Ari left the Membrane house with her mother. Silent, trapped, and forlorn, Ari refused to dignify her mother's flow of words with any type of response. Ari was officially a prisoner no matter what she did. Refuse Dib, and she would become horribly deformed by the shock-therapy collar-it might even kill her. Accept the marriage, and she would be forced to spend an eternity with someone she didn't love.

Choices.

Ari knew what she ultimately must do: find Zim and have him use superior technology to remove the shocker. Once that was said and done, they could escape together, and form a partnership. Of course, a deal with Zim isn't something to be taken lightly (considering his affinity for failure), and Ari was fully aware of the consequences should she fail to make a clean getaway with the green alien.

Ari trudged into her house and burst into her room. Seemingly unable to weep, she merely snarled and proceeded to drive her fist straight into her mattress. To her surprise, the mattress replied, "GAH!" Curious, Ari peeled back her mangled mattress to reveal Zim, in his human disguise, nursing a severely swollen left eye.

"Zim," Ari murmured.

Zim nodded and pulled himself from the wreckage. "Indeed, Ari-girl. I have come to rescue you from the dread Vikings! I knew filthy humans with horns could not be trusted!" Zim raved.

Ari laughed and took a good, hard look at Zim.

Zim quirked a non-existent eyebrow, "What?"

Ari merely shook her head and grabbed his skinny arm. "I'll tell you later," she said, "but for now, let's get out of here. I have a plan." Ari swung open her window and pulled Zim out.

"Yeek, nraw, ooch! Where are you taking me, human woman?" Zim screeched.

Ari clamped his mouth shut and peered into his eyes. "Shut up. Look Zim, all I can say is that if I don't leave her now, I'll die. I'm being forced into a marriage with…" she swallowed in disgust, "Dib. My mom put an obedience implant in me, and I need you to take it out so we can run away to another planet."

Zim scratched his eyeball as he peered back at her. "You're a crazy one, Earth beast, but I accept. After all, The Tallest may reward me for a human captive," Zim cried!

Ari frowned at him, and decided to take a little time to pry. "Isn't there another reason you're helping me? Maybe because you like-"

The strange pair's rooftop conversation was cut short as a large Hunter/Destroyer robot emerged from an opening in the roof. Ari gazed at the machine in fear.

"RUN!" she cried.

In an instant, the two leapt from the roof and scrambled into the forest as the robot shot deadly beams of energy at them. Their escape would prove to be a short-lived triumph in the end, considering what awaited them in the forest.

XXXXXXXXXXX Meanwhile, in Paris, France….XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was shining high over the lovely Parisian countryside as a tall, good-looking youth sat in a café, wearing a white dress shirt, large Paris Hilton-esque sunglasses, and a black blazer and pants set. He looked very normal, save for his snow-white hair (which didn't match his twenty-something appearance), and the fact that he sat casually sipping an espresso while smoking a long, thin cigarette made him look that much more normal amongst the Parisians.

The very calm man was somewhat catlike in his appearance; very much at ease and very comfortable with the bustling city, almost a sleepy glaze over his very alert eyes. This catlike appearance was augmented by his lapping up of the espresso like a cat while mewing slightly in between hot gulps. The cat boy reached into his pocket and grabbed a small electronic device. With a flick of his wrist, he depressed a button on the item.

Suddenly, a terrifying explosion echoed throughout the city. A jet of debris rolled to the cat boy's feet as he sat, completely unaffected, sipping his espresso. As the terrified Parisians rushed away and sirens blared, a tall, thin girl wearing a black skirt and top stormed out of a nearby shop clenching her fists and waving them at the cat boy. Now he looked terrified. The green-eyed girl pushed a strand of red hair behind her ears and grabbed the cat boy by the throat, who howled like a drowning kitten.

"UMI," the girl shouted at the yowling youth, "you stupid, inept, loathsome dolt! You were specifically told to wait until I gave the signal to blow up that building! WHAT, pray tell, is so difficult about THAT?" she shouted.

The cat boy grinned and gave a little snicker, "You're so funny when you're mad, Jaz!"

Jaz clutched her head and let her cousin, Umi, drop to the ground. "I swear to Kali, if I hadn't promised mother, ON HER DEATHBED, to watch over you…I would have smothered you long ago."

Umi casually licked the back of his hand in the fashion of a preening cat, and glanced at his cousin. "Silly cousin, I got a lil' transmission just a while ago, but YOU'LL never know," he said defiantly.

The female terrorist squinted and placed her hands on her hips, bristling in a very fox-like manner. "You have no choice; as ranking officer I demand to hear the transmission, or I'll revoke your flying privileges!" Jaz threatened.

Umi hissed menacingly and tossed her the transmission box. "FINE, you win…"he said, breaking his childlike mood. Jaz smiled triumphantly and started the transmission.

"If the League of Anti-human Activities, Agents Rage and Starr, find this message this is the-GIR! GET AWAY WITH YOUR NASTY BRAINFREEZY OF INSANITY!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX All we need to hear, huh? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That's all for now. Sorry for a lame, sparse chapter but school is driving me crazy. It's hard to update these days, so bear with me here. I also have to set up the plot and get the groundwork laid out before the juicy stuff happens. More interesting stuff to come from now on (including a bio of those mysterious new characters). Until next time, keep reading!