Kloof: Avatarjk137 does not own Invader Zim, or any other TV show. If that displeases you, reality's complaints department is on the second floor.

Avatar: Don't forget, Kloof, I do own you. I also own the Gamethrall (or at least, the concept of one).

Kloof: I was trying to forget. As a side note, please review. It would be horrible if The Resisty didn't reach your planet in time to save it from the Irken Menace. Just horrible.

CHAPTER 2

Rising From the Shadows

Dib frowned. Things had been going strangely all day, mostly involving Zim. When Ms. Bitters had called class to order in the morning, Zim had been in his seat. When Dib had entered the room that morning, Zim wasn't in his seat, and Dib hadn't recalled watching Zim enter (which he would most certainly have noticed). The next oddity was in line for lunch: Zim had been two places in line behind Dib, and the next instant he seemed to be three places ahead of Dib. Then, Zim's plate was full of food, but the faulty light above Zim's table flickered, and Zim's plate was empty as he patted his thin belly in a very fake-looking and obvious display of fullness.

One other thing was strange, but it was unrelated. Gaz hadn't hit Dib in days, probably because she enjoyed her new alien Gamethrall system so much. She was sitting across from Pokee a few seats down from Dib. Pokee had his Gameslave 2 out, and they were playing Goat Copters head-to-head. A ringing indicated Gaz's victory (she was undefeated in the games she played), and Pokee cried out in pain. His glasses shattered, and he slumped to the floor. Dib had been excited to find out that in the month that Gaz had played the Gamethrall, it had more and more frequently attacked the souls of the people she beat in multiplayer, which included anybody foolish enough to play her. Gaz claimed the alien technology was just 'customizing to fit her preferences'. At any rate, those who played against Gaz in the last 10 days lost consciousness for a few hours, and suffered horrible nightmares for weeks afterward.

Suddenly Dib looked up. Zim shrieked in pain as his Pak sparked, and ran into the bathroom. Dib followed at a run, as he knew Zim's backpack was really anything but. "ZIM!" he shouted, dashing into the restroom. Zim was clutching the sides of his head, attemping to catch his breath. "What's wrong, Zim? Is there a bug in your life support system? Or did you just eat too much human food too quickly?"

Zim glanced at Dib, then he looked at himself in the mirror. One of his false eyes had a tiny crack in it. "No, Dib-filth. ZIM could hardly be better." Another spark crossed his Pak, and it leaped to the lights, causing them to flicker again. When the flicker was over a nanosecond later, Zim's face was mere inches from Dib's, causing the would-be paranormal specialist to stumble back and fall on his rear. "I suggest you end your futile pursuit of proof of ZIM's non-human-ness, Dib. All your lives will be over very soon now."

"What makes you say that?"

Zim began to laugh. "There are things I can do now, worm, that you could only dream of!" He stepped back into the shadows and disappeared, then immediately rose from Dib's own shadow. "I can travel across your horrible little planet now in the blink of an eye! And MORE powers will appear over time! You and your pitiful people are even MORE DOOMED!" He laughed maniacally, and Dib ran back to the lunchroom, scared out of his mind. When he arrived at his table to tell Gaz, she had taken his chicken leg.

"Hey, Kloof! You won't believe who's joining The Resisty!" Spleenk greeted Kloof at the small moon The Resisty had hollowed out for a secret base and hangar bays.

"No time for that! Where's the ship I ordered?" Kloof was quite worried, and in a hurry to get to Earth.

"In hanger 4. What's the rush?" Spleenk asked, curious.

"I HAVE to make the new Pak 2.0 testing on Earth fail, by any means necessary. You guys copied the blueprints for the new R.E.A.P.I.R. Unit, right?" he said, grabbing a large box of enchiladas for the trip.

"Yeahhhh…" Spleenk replied, not following.

"That's good, because my prototype may not come back. Tell Shloonktapooxis he'll have to escort refugees to safety for a while." Kloof pulled his ship into hangar 4, grabbed the Spittle Runner in a tractor beam, and pulled out of the Resisty base, flying off at top speed.

"Uh, 'bye?" Spleenk said to the empty hangar.

Kloof had an idea of what to do: tip the scales back in Dib's favor. So Zim would have some strange new powers. He couldn't give Dib powers of his own, but he could give the bigheaded Earth boy a way to make Zim afraid of his own shadow. He laughed, still a little nervous, as he sped on through empty space, unaware that he was being stealthily followed.

Dib was typing away furiously on his computer. He didn't know what to do about Zim's terrifying new abilities, but he decided looking online couldn't hurt. He had looked for tips for dealing with super-powerful aliens on the Swollen Eyeball's websites. There were tips, but Dib had tried them all when Zim wasn't able to travel through shadows, and they hadn't worked. The Swollen Eyeball themselves hadn't believed Dib about Zim before, and they didn't believe him now. He had tried randomly searching online, but that was unsuccessful so far. "I need a way to stop Zim!" he shouted aloud. "I need a way to save the Earth again. I need to stop talking to myself! I need-"

"You need help," Kloof finished, his face appearing on Zim's monitor.

"Kloof! Yes, I do need help! Well, I need help to defeat Zim, anyway." Dib was one of the few people in the universe who would be happy to see Kloof's face on their computer. Kloof's head was mostly covered by a metallic red helmet. A shiny black visor that allowed Kloof to see hid most emotions. Thin metal horns on top of Kloof's helmet replaced the antennae that usually adorned an Irken head. His mouth and lower face were visible, uncovered by the helmet. Several scars crossed his green skin, and some of his teeth were metal replacements. Kloof was Irken, but helping out his race was not among his interests.

"I'm glad you know you need help, because help is what I'm here to deliver. 'Scuse me a moment." The video feed closed, and Dib twitched impatiently in his chair, waiting for Kloof to return so he could give the help he was promising. After a minute or two, somebody knocked on Dib's bedroom door.

"Come in," Dib mumbled, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I brought some presents for you," Kloof said, opening the door. "Oh yeah, I parked on the roof, but your dad won't notice." Dib's jaw dropped.

Tell me if you think you have a good idea for Zim's powers. Oh, and if you want Gaz to take some of your soul, I can't help you. I can only assure you that in Mario Kart DS, she isn't that person playing Toad who always beats you online.