Been a long time. I wrote this a while ago. Doubt I'll continue this fic, but have it anyway!

April 13th, 2001

I've seen him without a disguise! His eyes are red, reflect large amounts of light, and lack pupils. His antennae must be for hearing. This is what I'd assume. I would've had photographic proof if ZiM hadn't invaded my body and erased the information from my brain, of where I hid them. I wish he just would go away!
-Has shrinking tech.
-He looks like a little bug, to be honest. A GROSS bug! It's a bit hard to take him seriously when he looks… How he looks.
-ZiM claims he's been piloting since before my birth. Just how old IS he?

Everything was fuzzy… dark… Fuzzy darkness. That was a good way to describe it. Nice and fuzzy and soft. Comforting. He liked the darkness. It was better than the light that he could feel was beginning to settle on his eyelids as he drifted into consciousness.

Ugh.

A bright fluorescent bulb was starting to peak through.

Please…

He wanted to stay in the fuzzy darkness. It was soft, quiet. His head was warm… it was against something soft. That soft thing was warm too. A quiet humming reached him, and as he noticed it, it grew louder, more noticeable. His antennae twitched in annoyance.

It smelled good, though. The Earth stink was starting to fade away.

It smelled like… home.

Or, more specifically, an Irken hospital.

ZiM's eyes peeled open a crack, and he hissed at the white lights piercingly shining down upon him. ZiM had always hated hospitals. They were for the whiners. The weak, the sick. He was…not sick. Not on record, anyway. He refused to get help for his illnesses. He was powerful enough to stop them himself!

Why did hospitals have to be all white, in stark contrast to most of the darker Irken interiors? He grabbed the pillow and shoved it on top of his face with a loud groan of irritation that was nearly a screech. The irritated Irken mumbled quiet complaints into the plush square as he heard footsteps approaching him. He'd given himself away, they knew he was awake. A momentary panic washed over him, afraid he'd be discovered and his mission would be failed… but the realization was rather abrupt and his thoughts came to a screeching halt.

There was no mission.

"ZiM. Hey… get that pillow off of you." A voice. A male voice, a familiar voice. The same voice as before. ZiM could hear it more clearly now, and it was obvious who it was, and he was very quickly filled with dread. Which is why when a hand grabbed the cushion on his face, he whined and clutched it with a rock hard grip. He did not want to see this person. This person would ruin EVERYTHING.

Though his efforts were valiant, they were in vain. ZiM was simply too weak to hold the pillow any longer, and it was removed and thrown to the floor. He sat up, squinting wearily at the other Irken.

Ugh. Out of all the warriors from here to the Milky Way…

"You okay? You took a big fall back there, buddy."

"ZiM needs no care. I am fine, not that it should be any of your concern… Invader Skoodge."

"Oh no, I'm no Invader anymore."

ZiM felt a flash of joy, that Skoodge was in the same boat as him—no. He was on the massive. He must have been working here.

"Don't the Tallest hate you?" ZiM asked, one of his eyes widening in skepticism.

"Oh yeah, but everything's okay now." Skoodge waved the question away, shrugging.

ZiM shook his head, rubbing along where his antennae met his skull, completely unsatisfied with these recent developments. At least the Tallest hadn't recognized him—

"WAIT!" He leapt up onto his feet, on top of the mattress, and pointed an accusatory finger and Skoodge, down on the floor. "How did you recognize me?! I know, that, I, ZiM, am not easy to forget, but, however…"

The shorter Irken shrugged again. "You're taller but you look the same otherwise. Your transmission quality was pretty bad, so that's why the Tallest couldn't…" He trailed off when said Tallest entered the room. Skoodge saluted immediately, his back straightening. ZiM stood up straighter on the bed, but his arms still remained limp at his sides. He tried to keep his jaw from dropping.

"Irken Soldier." Red said, his eyes directed right at ZiM. He felt like he was under a heat lamp, with that gaze burning a solid hole right through him. "Meet us in the control room. We've decided… on a job for you."

As they left the room, ZiM's jaw dropped. Red's voice had been cold and calculating, but his expression bore a smirk, like he was excited about something. Something secret. ZiM was going to be told a secret! He jumped off the mattress and was about to run after the two leaders when something stopped him. It was a thought.

A secret mission…

The words rung in his head.

Some mission it had turned out to be. He growled, wondering if this was all a trick again. Perhaps they had recognized him. Skoodge was behind him, breathing down his neck. ZiM twitched.

Might as well go find out. Anywhere was better than here.

April 20th, 2001

I'm too sick to my stomach to talk about today. Too many organs. Poor, poor, Torque. ZiM's a lunatic, apparently. At least I've learned that.

The control room was, unsurprisingly, dark. Quite a contrast to the hospital wing, ZiM stood in the doorway for a quick moment to let his eyes quickly adjust. Then he immediately marched up to the Tallest, in his usual pointed fashion. The two were hovering on a raised platform in the center of the room, as they usually did.

He still refused to give them a salute.

"Invader." Red gave him a solemn nod. The leader's brow was raised in a slight bit of confusion at ZiM's lack of formalities, but he still continued. "Your transmission quality was terrible. It is better to see you clearer. Though…" He shook his head.

"We still have no idea who the heck you are," Purple finished for him, rather rudely. "So… who are you?"

"I am…an Invader. I suppose. I was, at least." ZiM spoke carefully, knowing if he didn't, he'd start blabbing. Being in their presence made him too eager. It was uncharacteristic of him to restrain himself, but… he had to.

"Do you have an assignment? A mission?" Red's nonexistent brow was up.

"Not anymore, sir."

The Tallest looked at each other, and exchanged a few quiet words. ZiM's antennae twitched and caught something to the likes of 'Maybe he could try it…'

"My Tallest?"

"Soldier." Red turned back to face ZiM with a knowing smile gracing his face. "As I said. We have a very special mission for you."

He hadn't called it special, but…

"Seven whole planets, man!" Purple's mouth and arms were full of donuts, and Red plucked one from his partner's hands and ate it himself while Purple talked through the mouthfuls. "A challenge for an especially talented and tall Invader like you! Conquer seven planets!"

"What?" Purple had been rather blunt, and ZiM was caught off guard. But instead of an explanation, the excited tallest kept going.

"We've decided on a route for you. The last planet… now there's the kicker! It's on the far reaches of the galaxy. No one had heard of it until three short time cycles ago…"

ZiM felt a sense of dread kick in in the pit of his squeedily-spooch. Oh no… they didn't mean…

"Planet Earth."

"Yeah…" Purple swallowed. "We left it under the control of an incompetent moron who had no idea we were tricking him…

"Until we told him and laughed at his sorry face last year!"

"Yeah! That was great! So good!" There were tears in both of his leader's eyes as they tried not to laugh, more donuts being shoved in their mouths. ZiM kept his face stoic, keeping himself from doing anything drastic or violent. It was a miracle that he didn't. His hands were getting numb from clenching his fists.

"So, uh… the…" Red paused to snort out a laugh. "The planet, Earth that is. It's got something on it. So we want it, now. We figure no progress has been made, so you do it."

"Oh, and take Skoodge with you. He's annoying."

ZiM's eye twitched. The Tallest looked at him with hopeful stares that started to drop into confusion when they noticed his silence. ZiM felt a pressure in his head, like it was about to burst open. He bit his tongue, hard, and tasted blood.

"Soldier…"

Something was building up inside him. It was about to burst...

"My TALLEST!" ZiM cried out, his voice numb and cracked. "You can't make me do such a… a…horrible task!" He hadn't been able to contain it. ZiM's voice curdled on the word horrible, and he gripped and pulled on his antennae in a fit of stress. "I cannot go back to that place… that horrid planet! The humans! The… Dib monster… but the Dib sister…she…! Oh, and the smell, the awful HORRID smell… I cannot bear to think about… how putrid..." He gagged, he retched, and he turned around and threw up all over the floor. Clearly, ZiM was not completely better, not just yet.

"Wh… ZIM?" He could hear Red behind him. His voice was filled with shock, surprise, disgust, horror.

"M-my Tallest… that planet… could've killed me. It's toxic. Humans are not kind to their home. You do not want it."

The Tallest exchanged glances as crew cleaned up ZiM's mess. He shuddered, feeling the pressure of his leader's haunting gazes on him. He cocked his head a bit to glance at the two, who were looking at him with wide eyes and open mouths. ZiM went deathly pale and clutched at his spinning head, wishing he had a chance to sit down. Or maybe have a cup of tea… ergh. No. Tea was a human beverage. The foul liquid could not help him.

"ZiM! ZIM!"

His name was being called.

It was Purple screaming, his shrill voice causing the Irken's head to ring. He squinted, facing his leaders once more, slouched over, with a hopeless tired look in his eyes. They were going to throw him out. Him. The great ZiM. They could not see what they were about to get rid of. Well… he looked pathetic right now. But still! He was still—

"…Get to it, then."

What? Who? Where?

Who had said that? It sounded like…

Red was giving him a serious look. An expression of respect. Respect for a soldier who had fought long and hard. The expression that ZiM knew that he had deserved, all along.

"Go."

ZiM's legs shook at the force behind the single word. It was terrible and powerful and scary… and amazing. He didn't even notice Red's look turn into one of pity, he was so entranced by the sound.

"My… Yes! Yes, my Tallests! I won't let you down!" He stood up straight… and finally saluted, briefly, then raced out of the control room, back down to the hospital wing, wherein he would throw up several more times and take a long overdue nap. He would need the extra sleep. A long journey was ahead of him.

It was going to be awful.