A.N. Wow, I am so excited with all the posostive attention this story is getting! It's like my baby. I just love writing it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The air was quiet and smooth, and the warmth of the sun was growing with the light, stretching it's red fingers across the sky. Fuz led Quin through the grass, holding her hand to keep her from falling behind. They were both in their new holographic disguises, but while Fuz was quite comfortable in her's, Quin seemed to have a fervent disliking for them. She would not stop tucking her long brown hair behind her ear.

"Stop your fidgeting, smeet," Fuz told her tonelessly.

"But I can't stop! It keeps falling in my face, and I'm nervous."

Fuz glanced down at the shorter Irken and met the chocolate brown of her large human looking eyes. She was clearly apprehensive about meeting the most notorious Irken of all time. But Fuz's face did not soften or lose its strict edge. "Zim wouldn't dare hurt you. Come on. Day is breaking, and we've kept him waiting long enough."

"Why does it matter?" asked Quin innocently. Fuz did not look down or acknowledge her, but she continued anyway. "I thought you were just going to kill him anyway."

"I am, but..." Fuz trailed of when the green house came into view. They were walking through the back yard instead of approaching at the front, so they could only see the back of the house, tall and leering. Fuz didn't seem the least bit unsettled, but Quin rushed to her side, hiding meekly behind her.

"But what?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing," hissed Fuz. "Just stay close and be silent. And stay away from those statue things in the front. I think he's using them as defense towers."

They trudged silently around the side of the house, staying close together until the porch was in sight, and Quin ran ahead of Fuz, beating her there. "Can I press the button?" She asked. "I really wanna push the button."

"Hurry up," barked Fuz, stepping calmly onto the porch. "I didn't want to seem so untimely."

Quin bit her lip excitedly and pushed the doorbell, jumping in surprise and delight when it made a ringing sound from inside the house. Fuz rolled her eyes and began tapping her foot as they waited for the door to open. She could hear excited whispers from inside the house, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Finally the door swung open, and Fuz and Quin were welcomed by the furry face of a disguised SIR unit. It was all zipped up in a lion costume, and covered in little orange hairs particularly around its head. It glanced back at something behind it, as if waiting for some sort of cue.

"Now, Gir!" Someone whispered excitedly from inside the house. "And do it real scary!"

"Rawr!" Gir shouted, waving his arms around in what was probably meant to be a frightening way. Fuz raised and eyebrow and shifted her weight, but Quin's entire face lit up, and she fell to her knees in front of the little robot, reaching out to pet him.

"He's so cute!" She cooed, scratching under his chin. Gir seemed to forget that he was supposed to be scary and slumped, leaning onto her hand and gurgling happily. Fuz ignored them in favor of turning off her disguise letting herself into the house.

"Zim!" She barked, swiveling her antennae. She could easily pick up his scent somewhere in the room. "Invader Zim, front and center!"

Silence.

Fuz and Quin exchanged quick glances, and both stepped further into the house, looking nervously up at the tangle of wires that was the ceiling. The invader they had been sent to assassinate was undoubtedly somewhere in the house, and the wires were the most obvious hiding place.

"Invader Zim, this is an order from your superior," hissed Fuz. "I want you here where I can see you. Now."

"No!" Someone shouted, though it wasn't from the ceiling. Quin squeaked and scurried to hide behind Fuz, who didn't react beyond shifting her gaze and raising her antennae.

"Excuse me?" The tall invader hissed. "What did you just say?"

"No!"

"Zim, get out here!" Fuz was quickly growing impatient.

"No!"

"You have until three, Zim!"

"No!

"One."

"No!"

"Two."

"NEEEEHHHH!" The notorious Outlaw Zim leaped out from behind the couch and scrambled for the kitchen, his Pak legs emerging. Quin peeled a terrified scream and ran in the opposite direction toward the door so that she could flee at a moment's notice, but Fuz charged after him, extending her own Pak legs.

"What do you think you're doing!" roared Fuz. "Get back here, soldier!"

"No!" shouted Zim. "I won't take orders from you! This is my planet! I was here first!" He looked wildly around the room until his giant red eyes found a flower pot on the window sill, and he grabbed it, launching it at Fuz. It would have hit her square in the head if she didn't raise her claws and bat it away, sending it shattering to the floor. Her antennae shot up like beacons, asserting her dominance, but Zim's didn't lower.

"Stand down, Zim!" Fuz shouted. "Or I will use force!"

"Go ahead!" challenged Zim, hopping side to side. Maybe he wasn't as tall or frightening as this new female invader, but when it came to hand-to-hand combat, the battle was his, and there was nothing she could do to change that. "I dare you!"

Fuz accepted his dare with a roar and flung herself toward him, her teeth bared, and her antennae held forward so they fell in front of her eyes. Zim moved his antennae forward too, and swerved at a diagonal angle, going around and beneath her at the same time. They passed each other without a clash and swerved around again, both braced for action.

"You're quick," commented Fuz, a somehow blank look in her indigo eyes. Zim flashed her a cheeky grin, and jumped in the air, spinning toward her. Fuz let herself fall to her back, catching herself on two Pak legs, and kicking upwards at Zim with the other six. He gasped, having expected her to dodge beneath him instead, but he parried in time not to be pierced and slammed into the wall, crumpling to the floor.

Breathing heavily, Fuz leaped away, and swerved towards him again, giving herself room to defend. Zim scrambled to his feet, and lifted himself on his Pak legs. "You're mean," he growled, but got ready to attack again. He was the almighty Zim, the best fighter in the universe. No female could take that away.

He surged forward, two Pak legs going up, and two going down, moving to snap around Fuz like jaws. Her eyes widened and she cried out in alarm, but she ran between the Pak legs, and headbutted Zim in the gut, sending him sprawling to the ground again.

"Hey!" Shouted Zim. "That hurt!"

"Are you ready to surrender?" asked Fuz calmly, placing a foot on Zim's belly.

She towered over him, leering down with glittering midnight eyes. Zim bared his teeth from the floor and squirmed beneath her, Pak legs writhing. How could she even ask him that? Asking the mighty Zim to surrender was like asking an infant to recite Shakespeare. It just didn't happen.

"Fuz?" Quin's soft, frightened voice squeaked from the doorway.

Fuz looked up.

This was his chance.

He thrust one Pak leg at Fuz's chest, and she cried out as he lifted her into the air and pinned her to the ceiling. He stood up slowly, using his Pak legs to brace himself.

"Why you...!" Fuz struggled and kicked, pushing against the ceiling with her Pak legs, but the harder she pushed, the more Zim's blade dug into her belly. The outlaw grinned up at her, breathing heavily.

"Yeah, I know. I'm uh..." Zim trailed off and put his hands on his knees, holding up a finger to ask for a moment to catch his breath. "I'm... yeah," He stood up and straightened his tunic. "I'm amazing."

Fuz didn't seem to agree. "You're a despicable snake," she hissed.

"Yeah," chuckled Zim. "That too, I guess. But mostly I'm ZIM!"

Fuz glared, but her eyes were calculating. She glanced down at the Pak leg that was pinning her to the ceiling, and back at Zim, who seemed too busy talking to realize she was about to escape.

"And you thought you were my superior!" he scoffed. "You couldn't hold your own against a mole! Even if that mole was a girl! A girl mole with a tooth ache! And a hearing impairment! Yes! Ha ha! The really small deaf mole of girly tooth doom will destroy you! AND YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY HELPLESS!"

In one swift movement, Fuz swiped Zim's Pak leg away with her own and fell down, catching herself expertly. Zim cut himself off and leaped back, springing into a fighting stance again. "You cheater!" He growled. "I had you fair and square!"

"But you couldn't hold me!"

So they launched at each other again, and became a writhing ball of metal blades and silver claws, seeking the blood of the other. Their roars and shrieks filled the room, along with the sound of ripping flesh and steel clanging against steel. Quin watched in terror.

What should she do? Could Fuz handle this on her own? Should she run? No... that would be cowardly. But she certainly didn't want to get into the fight. A brawl between the infamous Outlaw Zim and the mysterious Invader Fuz was not a battle she wanted to get in the middle of.

"Fuz!" Quin shouted into the kitchen. Wooden chairs were being torn up under the sheer force of the fight, and Zim's head banging against the window made the glass break with a loud shatter. He propelled forward and tried to bite for Fuz's throat, but she bucked beneath him, and began to claw upwards at his, ignoring the little Irken in the living room, who was calling her name. "Fuz!"

She still wasn't listening. After parrying her strike at his throat, Zim grabbed Fuz's claws and dug his Pak legs into the floor to hold himself steady as her swung her into the living room. She was much bigger and heavier then he was, but with the combined force of him and his Pak, he launched her into the air, and she fell heavily on her back, almost on top of Quin, who screamed and scrambled away before Zim followed through.

"You shouldn't have tried to steal my planet from me, Fuz," he hissed at her, as he pinned her down, his Pak legs pushing against the ceiling to compensate for his lack of weight. "I can conquer this ball of filth on my own."

Fuz grinned and chuckled quietly. "I don't want your precious Earth, invader." One of her Pak legs snaked up to Zim's exposed belly, and dug upward sharply, piercing the fibers of his tunic and slicing into his flesh. He jumped back with a yelp, and crouched low to the ground, antennae still held forward do they fell in front of his bright red eyes. Breathing shallowly, He brought his hand up to his new stinging wound and then pulled it away.

There was blood on his fingers.

"If you don't want Earth," began Zim, proud of how steady and strong his voice sounded. "Why did the tallests send you here?"

Fuz's grin grew wider, sharper. "Because you made a big mistake when you tried to kidnap them, Zim. Now they want you dead. So here I am."

"Oh." Zim crossed his arms and adopted a more relaxed posture, forcing himself not to flinch as it pulled on his wound. He let his antennae fall into a less aggressive position. "Then I worried for nothing. Here I thought the tallests would be mad at me for trying to get rid of you. But surely when I tell them you've gone rogue, they will excuse my disobedience."

Fuz brought herself to her feet, and lifted herself of the ground with her Pak legs, towering above Zim once more. "Let me say it again, just to be clear," she brought her face up close to his. "The tallests want you dead. They sent me here so I could kill you. They want you to die."

Zim stared at her for several seconds and then said the only thing he could think of.

"YOU'RE LYING!"

And so the fight began again.

Quin looked back and forth between them, panicked. Their roars, their growls, the constant sound or metal against metal was scaring the living daylights out of her. Beside her, Gir sat with a fish sticking out of his mouth watching calmly as Fuz and Zim tried to kill each other. She envied his lack of fear.

"What should I do?" She asked the disguised robot quietly. It glanced up at her, staring at her blankly, but then it looked back at the fight as if it hadn't heard her.

"Hey!" she said more loudly. "I'm talking to you!"

The robot screamed and ran away.

Quin sighed.

"Wow, they're really duking it out, aren't they?" a deep voice said from somewhere. Quin gasped in surprise, and it took her a while to realize it was a computer talking to her. "I'm kind of worried Zim will make me clean up the mess later."

"Yeah," Quin agreed reluctantly. "It must be a bother, huh?"

"Yeah."

She stood there a while, nervously watching Zim claw at Fuz's antennae. Fuz swiped her claws roughly across the smaller Irken's forearms, making him cry out, and then gabbed him by the shoulders, swinging him to the ground. Zim prevented himself from going down by putting a hand out and catching himself, doing a cartwheel to land on his feet. Fuz followed through by swinging from her Pak legs and thrusting her feet at Zim in the same place she had impaled him earlier. The smaller Irken screamed, and clutched his middle, barely dodging before Fuz brought both her fists down where his head had been.

"It's like watching a PG13 movie," commented the computer. "I should totally be filming this."

"Yeah," said Quin meekly. "Um, actually... Mr. Computer, can I ask you a favor?"

This seemed to please the computer. "Heh, wow, she called me 'Mister'," But then it made a sound as if it were clearing it's throat. "Yeah, what?"

"Um," Quin glanced nervously down at her hands. "Do you think I could... contact the tallests real quick?"

"Is that all?" The huge picture of a green teddy bear that hung above the couch swiveled from its spot, revealing a monitor. "Sure, go have fun. You can use that screen over there."

"Thank you!" said Quin as she dived onto the couch, narrowly avoiding impalement from one of Zim's flailing Pak legs. She jumped into a standing position, and put her tiny hands on the back of the couch so she was facing the screen. "Can you contact them now?"

"Sure."

"Alright!" Tallest Red clapped his hands loudly as he sat on his illustrious throne beside his brother. "You ready for court to begin, Purple?"

"I am always ready for justice!" his brother said back to him with a grin. "Okay, guys, let's hurry up and get this over with so we can eat, huh? Bring in the first ones!"

"Yes sir!" shouted an enormous guard. He made an exaggerated motion with his massive gun, and the door opened.

"I really love my job," smiled Purple blissfully.

"Yeah," Red swirled his lemonade and took another sip. He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the workings of law as Purple was, but he still enjoyed watching his brother get all worked up about it. It was funny. "If only people knew what the justice system was actually like."

Two women, one yellow-eyed and one green-eyed were led into the room from the open door, both of them with their antennae raised aggressively until they saw the tallests. The yellow-eyed one was holding a screaming smeet close to her chest.

"Um... What's the problem here?" Asked Tallest Red.

"Sirs!" The yellow-eyed women cried. "This woman won't leave me alone! She keeps trying to take my smeet!"

"Mamma!" The smeet cried out, it's tiny hands reaching toward the green-eyed Irken.

"No, that's not true!" shouted the green-eyed woman. "He's my smeet! You stole him!"

"Did not!" shouted the yellow-eyed Irken.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Somebody chop the kid in half!" Purple said loudly, and they both fell silent, wide eyes on him. One of the guard took and ax and began walking toward them.

"Okay," said the yellow-eyed woman. "Can I have the top half? The feet always kind of creep me out."

"No!" screamed the green-eyed Irken, falling to her knees. Purple raised and eyebrow in alarm. "Don't hurt him! I lied! He really is her baby!"

"Hmm..." Purple stroked his chin. "Alright, if you say so." He turned to the yellow-eyed woman. "Okay, you win. The smeet is yours. Go home and be happy!"

The yellow-eyed Irken cackled and ran off with the smeet, who screamed and stretched it's hands out toward the green-eyed Irken. "No! MAMA!" But the door slammed behind them, and the smeet could be heard no more.

"As for you!" Tallest Purple pointed a dramatic finger as the green-eyed Irken. "For trying to separate such a happy family and for lying in court, you are sentenced to death by chewing!"

"What?" the green-eyed woman screeched in horror.

"Yep!" Tallest Purple pointed at a guard. "You! Feed her to something slobbery!"

"Yes sir!" saluted the guard, and he grabbed the green-eyed woman's arm, dragging her out of the room.

Red sighed, putting his feet up. "I'm so glad it was a happy ending after all."

Purple put his feet up too, mimicking his older brother. "Yep. Justice has been served."

A loud beep from a monitor behind then made both of the tallests jump, and they fell out of their chairs onto the floor.

"Sirs," a technician said. "It's a call from Planet Earth. Shall I accept it?"

"That's got to be Fuz," Red told Purple, grinning. "She must have killed Zim."

"Accept the call!" Shouted Purple.

The face of a young pink-eyed Irken popped onto the screen, brows creased with worry. The tallest's antennae perked with confusion. "M-my tallests," she saluted.

"Hey!" Purple shouted, picking himself off the floor. "This channel is for invaders only! Who are you?"

She swallowed nervously. "Um, I'm Quin. I'm, uh... well I'm a trainee on Devastis, but I'm not at Devastis right now."

Red raised an eyebrow, but kept his face stern. "Why?"

"Because... I went with Fuz.. to Earth. You know, to kill Zim?"

Purple nodded. "Oh. Okay. Are you finished with that? Killing Zim, I mean?"

Quin tilted her head to the side. "Not quite yet, my tallests. It's, uh, it's a long process."

As if on cue, Quin was knocked to the side with a cry of alarm, and Zim's face replaced her's, annoyingly close to the screen. "My tallests?" He asked loudly. "Is that you? Hi, tallests! You know that invader you sent?"

"Yeah," said Red, sipping his lemonade.

"Well she totally flipped out and tried to kill me! I'm beating her up right now. Please don't be upset with me, my tallests. SHE IS CRAZY!"

A Pak leg wrapped around Zim's neck with a scooping motion, and began to drag him to the ground, choking him as it did so. The tallests watched with suppressed smiles as Fuz pinned him down and began to pound her fists into his face off screen.

"This is a great show," said Red to Purple. "It's my new favorite show. I'm gonna watch it all the time."

"I think I had a dream like this once," said Purple. "Except it was Zim's crazy robot that called us instead of a smeet, and he was fighting with that one big-headed creature."

Red snorted. "I don't think that was a dream, Purple. It's happened before. Twice."

"And then he killed the big-headed creature and turned into a hideous monster and walked through the screen and ate us too."

Red blinked. "Oh. Well... that hasn't happened."

On the screen, two of Zim's Pak legs hooked to the wires on the ceiling and began to pull him up, out from under Fuz. He swung away and whirled around in mid air, parrying a vicious thrust, and then landed on four Pak legs, slashing away with the other four. The tallests watched with interest, sipping their beverages.

"You know, this has been lots of fun," said Tallest Red. "But Purple and I have justice to serve, so call us back when Zim is dead, okay?"

"Okay," they heard Quin say off screen, and the monitor went black again.

"Well that was useless," Quin grumbled to herself as she dived behind the couch just in time to avoid decapitation from one of Fuz's Pak legs. The fighting seemed to get slower as more injuries were sustained, but the attacks and defends were getting more desperate. Fuz and Zim really wanted to kill each other.

Rearing up on six Pak legs, Fuz thrust two forward into Zim's shoulders, making the little outlaw scream. She lifted him up, pinning him to the wall, and in blind panic, Zim thrashed around aimlessly, shouting Irken curses.

"Quin!" Fuz shouted over the sound of Zim's clanking Pak legs. "Prove your worth; destroy the outlaw!"

Quin's eyes widened, and she stepped out from behind the couch, slowly walking toward the two other Irkens. Both supported by their Pak legs, they towered over her intimidatingly.

Kill? Fuz wanted her to kill someone? She couldn't kill! She couldn't hurt a fly! But... being a good Irken meant meant a lot to her. She needed to follow orders.

"Are you sure?" She asked Fuz hesitantly. She immediately regretted it when Fuz's eyes widened.

"AM I SURE?" She roared. Two of her Pak legs rose up from beneath her as if preparing to strike. "DO I LOOK UNSURE TO YOU! KILL THE TRAITOR BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!"

"Traitor?" Zim repeated, aghast. "I am no traitor! I am Zim!" but the two Pak legs in his shoulders dug further, and he cried out.

"I...!" Quin was panicking, looking up at the two giants hanging over her. "What do I do? What do you want me to do?"

"KILL HIM!" shrieked Fuz.

Lower lip trembling, Quin extended two Pak legs and ran up to Zim, holding them high above her head so she could bring them down on him. The outlaw screamed and began struggling harder, his Pak legs scraping at the floor and ceiling, trying to get away, but it pulled on his bleeding shoulders, and he was forced to stop.

Quin's Pak legs were inches from his head when they stopped short.

"I can't," she said helplessly. "Fuz, I can't. Please don't make me."

But Fuz had lost all patience. "YOU WEAK FOOL!" she roared. Her two inactive Pak legs she sent slamming into Quin's belly, and threw her against the wall with a painful smack.

With her focus on Quin, Fuz didn't notice the calculating look in Zim's eye. With only four Pak legs supporting her, she wasn't as sturdy as she had been with six. He snaked a pair of Pak legs beneath her and, grinning mischievously, forced hers into a split. Fuz's eyes widened as she was falling, suddenly scrambling for footing.

Zim pushed her away, and rose from where he had been pinned, panting laboriously. "Temper, temper," he teased. "You might blow a gasket."

Fuz growled. "I don't need advice from a failure like you." She latched onto the ceiling with her Pak legs, moving upside down like a spider. Zim made a quick swipe at her face with his claws, but that was as much damage as he could do before she fell on top of him, thrashing viciously. He barely had time to parry and jump away.

"You can't keep fighting forever. Sooner of later the tallests will have their wish, and no one will regret it."

"I know," said Zim. "Irk will conquer the universe. I mean, who can stop us?"

Fuz groaned, and launched herself at him again, claws extended. Zim brought his up to, and they both clashed, reaching for each others throats.

"Computer!" shouted Zim. "Activate the defenses!"

"Zim," came the computer's response. "You disabled the defenses yesterday because the beeping sound was bothering you, remember?"

"Oh!" Zim scowled. "Curse my low tolerance for annoying beeping sounds!" He ducked, avoiding having his head being taken off by one of Fuz's Pak legs, and lunged at her, biting her shoulder. She growled and crushed Zim's antenna between her teeth, and he made a hasty retreat, whimpering as he brought his hand up to his feeler.

"Even the gnomes aren't working?" Zim asked, voice high-pitched with pain.

"Nope. Sorry."

Distracted, he couldn't parry a slash attack from Fuz's claws, and he screamed as long silver talons raked across the side of his head. His sight was blurring...

Fighting was Zim's forte. He enjoyed it. He did it often. But fighting Fuz was not fun. He needed to finish it up quick. It was time to throw her off with a clever trick, and if it didn't work, he didn't know what he would do.

"Oh what's this?" He said, grinning at Quin over Fuz's shoulder. The young Irken was sitting there, watching them with wide, terrified eyes. "It seems your little smeet has abandoned you to your fate, Invader Fuz!"

It worked. Fuz's eyes widened, and she began to look around the room. "Quin?" She called apprehensively. Zim took advantage of her distraction by digging his Pak legs deeply into her torso and slashing his claws at her face. She screamed as he brought her down to the ground, pinning her there.

"Fuz!" Quin's squeaky voice shouted, getting to her feet. "I'm right here!"

"Help me!" Fuz shrieked. "Get him off!"

Quin wouldn't fail this time. She extended her Pak legs fully and tackled Zim with all her weight, forcing him to the floor and pinning him. Fuz scrambled to her feet.

"G-good," she panted. Quin beamed. "Let's retreat for now. We can finish this piece of garbage off later."

"I am not garbage!" Zim shouted indignantly, struggling beneath the smaller Irken. He may have been bigger than her, but he was tired and injured, whereas Quin was still fresh. It was frustrating. "I am ZIM!"

"Let's go!"

Zim relaxed when he felt Quin's weight lift from him and grinned as he watched them both retreat. Pride bloomed within his chest when he noticed a distinct limp in Fuz. She was depending heavily on her Pak legs as she hurried out of his house. The door was left open behind them, and he just lay there, suddenly aware of how quiet it was.

"Computer," he said exhaustively. "I need... I..."

"I know, I know," said the computer. "I'll clean up and take you to the med bay. A please or thank you would be nice, though."

Zim sighed, but offered none of the requested pleasantries as the floor lowered out beneath him.

"So are you going to be okay?" Quin asked tentatively. Fuz's injuries were disconcerting, but she wasn't sure how she would react if she helped her. The clash they had had during the fight was still burned into her mind.

"I'll be fine," said Fuz, antennae lifting slightly. Quin held the door open for her, and she limped inside their base, hissing as it pulled on her sore muscles. Quin followed after her, shutting the door and making sure it was locked.

"SIR," said Fuz loudly. "Report."

Saluting, the SIR jumped down from the wires in the ceiling, and flipped forward, landing on its feet before its master.. "Sir, all has been tranquil, and there is nothing to report."

"Good," grunted the tall invader. "As you were."

"Sir!"

Quin followed Fuz further into the house, noting with discomfort how much of the original structure had had to be replaced with metal. It barely seemed like a house at all.

"Quin..." Fuz suddenly sighed, but didn't stop walking or turn to her. "I'm sorry I lost my temper with you back there."

"It's fine," Quin shrugged. "You were caught up in the heat of the fight, and I was being useless. I'm sorry I didn't end it right there." She paused as Fuz led her into a walk-in cabinet in the kitchen, which was actually an elevator. She could feel the movement of the floor beneath her feet and the rise in pressure as the dropped below sea level. "I should have done it. I should have killed Zim, and we could be going home right now."

"Don't berate yourself," hissed Fuz. "It's in the past now. We need to focus on the present." Her eyes were so sharply focused and calculating, they seemed like needles. Quin's brow furrowed as she looked up at her.

The elevator stopped, and the Irkens stumbled out, making their way slowly through the maze of hidden rooms beneath the house. It was more comforting down here than it was up there. The hum of technology pulsed rhythmically, and the familiar purple and magenta hues of Irken architecture made it feel like home.

Fuz's eyes widened, and her face brightened excitedly as an idea came to her. Whirling around, she put her claws on Quin's shoulders, who gasped in surprise at the sudden movement and looked up with wide, pink eyes. "Quin," said Fuz firmly. "I have a plan. Perhaps it is a good thing I brought you along. You will be a very major part of it, and you can not fail me."

Quin's antennae dropped. "W-what do you want me to do?"

Fuz grinned, revealing needle like teeth. "Smeet, you are the picture of innocence. We must use that to our advantage."

"How?"

Fuz took her hands away and lifted herself onto her Pak legs to take weight off her real legs. It made her tower even higher above Quin. "You heard Zim. He thinks I've gone rogue. He doesn't believe I am the invader the tallests claim to have sent." she grinned, crawling around Quin like a spider. "Perhaps he would even believe if I were defective."

"I don't think you're a defective," said Quin lightly. "I think you're nice."

Fuz smile softened. "I know. But that's not what I meant. I propose we form a conspiracy. I want you to win Zim's trust by posing as this new invader, and I'll stay out of the picture." She put her hands on Quin's shoulders again, this time from behind. "Zim will not trust me. I blew the tallests' original plan by attacking too soon. But you didn't fight."

Quin eyes were widening. Whatever Fuz was leading up to sounded like an ominous task.

"We'll say I sabotaged your ship on your way to Earth, and made you my prisoner. When we retreated, you escaped from me, and tomorrow, you will go report to Zim as young Invader Quin."

Quin gaped at her, bumbling incoherently. "Wha...? But... me...! Invader? You want me to pose as an invader?"

"Yes," said Fuz softly. "You can do it. Consider it a test of your skills." She took her hands of Quin's shoulders and began backing away. "You will be my double agent, and earn Zim's trust. This is your mission- your first official mission in the service of your nation. Do you accept it?"

Quin was breathless. "Y-yes!" She managed. "Oh gracious, yes!"

Fuz smiled gently. "Very good. For now, though, I must recuperate. And you must get prepared. Tomorrow you will report to Zim, and get him to accept you. It won't be easy."

Quin didn't know how to respond other than to salute. It seemed to amuse Fuz, who set herself down on her real legs, and began to limp away. "Good luck, smeet. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," said Quin. She stood there a while, looking back at the last few minutes in her head. She was now an official part of the mission. Why was she dreading the next day?

"My tallests!" Zim shouted at the monitor as he rubbed the back of his hand. The scratch mark there wasn't serious, but it was the only one that the computer said would scar. Zim had been scratched many times before, but he had never been scarred. It was somewhat unnerving. "My tallests!"

"Uh..." the computer voiced from above. "Do you want me to contact them?"

"What?" Zim looked up at one of the cameras on the ceiling, wishing his computer had an actual face. "Yeah, sure. Contact them."

Moments later the screensaver (a picture of Zim forcing Gir to eat his brussel sprouts) changed to a transmission, showing the tallests raising their eyebrows at him.

"Hey," said Purple blankly. "You're alive."

"Yep," beamed Zim. "Isn't it great?"

"Sure," said Red, rolling his eyes.

"Well my tallests, the crazy rogue lady has been defeated by Zim. She turned tail running!" The tiny invader paused to let out an evil cackle and continued. "I don't know where she is now, my tallests, but surely after witnessing the amazing fiery wrath of Zim, she will be too afraid to show her face around here. The conquest of Planet Earth can continue smoothly."

Tallest Red sighed and slumped in his chair. "We really shouldn't be surprised," he said to Purple as if Zim weren't there. "It's not like everything else we did to get him off our backs worked."

"I told you we should have sent a Tonovian." the younger tallest grumbled and leaned his head heavily on his hand.

"For the last time, Purple, Tonovians are vicious animals! We can't control them!"

Zim cleared his throat, getting the tallests attention, and continued. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that everything is okay. I'd better go now. I have a world to destroy, you know!"

Red nodded, waving his hand dismissively. "Great, Zim. Go do that."

Zim saluted, and the computer took the hint to cut the transmission.

"Gir!" Zim called after the screensaver had popped up again. "Gir! Where are you!"

For a while, there was no response, but then Gir's head popped out of one of the tunnels in the wall, and he grinned at his master, little pink tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Yeeeeees?"

"Gir, I want you on the house level in your disguise," barked Zim. "Guard the house, and don't let anyone inside no matter what. Bite them if you have to."

"Yes, my lord!" Gir saluted, and his head popped back into the tunnel again. Zim sighed and brought his hands up to his throbbing temples.

"Computer," he groaned. "What time is it?"

"Nine thirty in the morning, master." said the computer.

"Really? That early?" He wandered across the room, claws scraping the tables as he dragged them. "At least I have a good reason to stay home from school today. Dib will give me heck for it, though."

The computer didn't respond, but it was probably better that it didn't; Zim wasn't in the mood for talking. He put his scabby hand onto a scanner and waited for the doors to open., tapping his foot with impatience. It may have been the fight earlier; maybe there was still some adrenaline in him, but he felt uneasy. Like something bad could happen at any moment.

"Computer!" he shouted one more time.

"What?"

"Turn off all the lights in the other rooms except for my chamber and the hallways, and devote the power to the security system. I don't want anything getting through."

"Yes, Master."

A.N. Oh for goodness sake, please review!