Author's notes: Yo. After a bit of writer's block, I kinda wondered what our buddy Zim would be up to. So yeah, no Tak in this chapter. Well, there kinda is, but she's only mentioned in passing. I also felt we needed some comic relief after the nightmare, so Zim's getting donuts for the Tallest.

ONTO THE DISCLAIMER! *steps onto the disclaimer* I don't own Invader Zim. If I did, this fic would probably already have been aired, albeit more kid-friendly. Oh, and a shot of Pig Boy crashing into Sizz-lorr would have been included in Frycook. Hopefully, I'd be able to get a crotch injury. Because it's funny.

Zim glanced at the tiny screen as a breaking news jingle played. He wondered if it could actually be called a jingle, because it wasn't exactly a jolly tune. Thinking of the word jingle brought his mind to the song "Jingly Bells," which made him think of holidays.

Holidays. Irkens had them, usually celebrating past Tallests and conquests. Humans, though celebrated ridiculous things: scaring demons away, colonists pigging out with natives, a baby being born from a virgin mother, love, and the aforementioned baby dying for everyone's sins were a few of them. They also celebrated the days they were born. He hadn't thought he'd celebrate the Dib-stink's birthday, but it turns out he did due to a certain thing happening: Tak's transfer. He'd put the video on a DVD and mailed it to Dib, along with a note that said:

This happened on your birthing day, Dib. I thought you'd like to see it. After all, she's one less thing you have to worry about now.

-Zim

Dib hadn't said anything about the DVD to him. Perhaps his sister or father had gotten hold of it before him.

Something – no, someone - smashed his head against the control panel of the Voot Cruiser. "Gir... GET OFF MY HEAD!"

"Sorry Master. You looked like you were in a trance, so I wanted to snap you outta it!" The robot said as he slipped off.

Zim realized he had gotten off track. He was supposed to be thinking about the mission at hand, not about Tak! He glanced at the news again, and saw an old coworker of his. Lard Nar? The news anchor went on about how he was the leader of a resistance, and that he'd busted up a prison to free a bunch of other Vortians.

He looked up before Gir could slam his face into the control panel again. The Tallest had insisted that he get something for them, so this side mission was super important.

"Are we there yet?" Gir asked. Zim looked at his SIR unit and smiled a soft smile, an act that always seemed to make Gir more obedient. "Almost. Look, it's right over there!" He activated the cloaking device on the Voot Cruiser and landed next to the dumpster. He put on his disguise and broke into the building. The bakery had closed for the evening, but the scent of baked goods still hung in the air. He spotted his prize and snatched the boxes, then exited as quickly as he could. Success! he thought as he entered the Voot Cruiser and went home as fast as he could, contacting the Tallest as he did so. "My Tallest, I have secured donuts for you!"

Their eyes lit up with glee. "Really? How many are there?" Purple asked.

Zim counted the boxes while he pushed Gir away from them. "There's six boxes of them."

"Six? Only six?" Red seemed upset as he spoke this.

"I meant six for each Tallest." They seemed even more excited than before. "Oh, and I sampled a few a couple days ago to make sure they were safe for you to eat. They are." Although the donuts weren't hard to obtain, he didn't want the Tallest wasting one to see if they were edible. "I'm going to send them through express mail, okay?"

"Err, that's actually kind of a bad idea, Zim." Purple said. "You see, the slaves have been switching addresses on packages lately."

"Oh. I don't want them getting stale. How should I ship them, my Tallest?"

The Tallest whispered to each other for a moment. Zim was able to reach his base by the time they came up with an answer. "We're sending someone to grab them for us, okay?" Red told him. "We've thought up a secret password so you know that's them. I'm sending it to you now." With that, they cut off the transmission. Zim took the donuts inside and locked them where Gir would not be able find and devour them. Or at least he hoped.