(A/N: This is kind of a filler chapter, explaining some things about the characters and their situations. And I have to thank my first reviewer, ngrey651. And I'm glad you did review. It made me feel like someone was actually reading. And here comes the angst. )

Review Replies: ngrey651: it will be longer. That was one of my goals. There will be ten chapters at the LEAST and they'll be at least one thousand words each. Hope you keep up with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything shown in Invader Zim, Tears for Fears's "Mad World", or Kaito the Vocaloid's "Cantarella". I do own Zim's OCD; Dib's long hair, emo poetry, and depression; Gaz's autism; the machine mentioned in this and the previous chapter; the Irken language I use here; and the OOC-ness Dib and Zim exemplify.

Chapter Two: Battle-Plans

[[helketsu h'a'deru cathokenakef'titsarenm'etsuderu meyaz sets'_itsator WEL'OKEUMALIERDERU erl'okerenkra-]](1)

Dib walked home in the rain, glowering at the fat drops of water that fell from the sky, splattering on the ground and in his hair and all over his stuff…stupid water. He stared at the blurring lines of poetry that he had composed on his arm in study hall and sighed deeply, all his heartfelt feelings, once exposed to the elements, were destroyed in a heartbeat.

Metaphorical, he thought, story of my life.

All thoughts of the ink slowly staining his red tee-shirt with black splotches of marker were shoved aside as the music emitting from his headphones changed tempo and beat, going from a slow rock ballad to a bouncy 80's tune. He recognized the lyrics and began to sing aloud to himself.

"All around me are familiar faces,
Worn out places, worn out faces.
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere.
The tears are filling up their glasses,
No expression, no expression.
Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow.

And I find it kind of funny,
I find it kind of sad,
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had.
I find it hard to tell you cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles it's a very, very-
Mad world…"

It was the older Tears for Fears version and, despite the depressing lyrics, the up-and-about beat made Dib smile and even get a spring in his step.

I'm going to expose him! And then I will get the recognition I deserve! I won't be called crazy! Eccentric maybe, but not crazy! And with it raining, he realized, Zim is probably either in his labs trying to stop me or getting his flesh burnt off by the tainted dihydrogen oxide falling from the sky! I shouldn't be moping over some unrequited love that I'll never see again, I should be thinking of the now! I HAVE to get to that machine of Dad's… And he hurried his step just as some angsty twenty-one-year-old began screaming his sorrows through Dib's earbuds.

[[setsuoke itsa bekgosuarunake toroke wel'okerenkra lieritsakraetsu prethlierarunnaakk'etsuderu-]](2)

Zim had been working ever since he had gotten off the comm.-link with Prisoner 777 and the results were satisfyingly accurate. It would be with information from 777. Just look at the number. Seven plus seven plus seven. Twenty-one. A multiple of three. Three threes was nine. A good number indeed.

Zim was finishing the first phase of the plan, putting the last bit of detail of the mechanics of the object and then he shut the hatch and smiled.

"There, Zim's done," he said aloud. Good number…

[REALLY? I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED IT FROM THE WAY YOU WERE JUST HOLDING THE SCREWDRIVER ALOFT. I JUST THOUGHT YOU WERE POSING FOR A PICTURE OR SOMETHING AKIN TO THAT. AM I WRONG IN MY THINKING?]

Zim's antennae flattened against his head, six eights. Twenty-four twos. Baaaaaaaad…

"Well Zim IS amazing, is he not?" Zim retorted, relaxing a bit when his speech pattern leveled out and the twos went away. "And yes, you were wrong."

If the Computer had a face it would have pouted. Instead, in a deux es machina , GIR came barreling in and nearly bowled Zim over. MASTA! I GOTED U SOMETHING REAAAAAAL NICE! LOOKY, ITSA MARY'S LAPPY-TOP THINGY!

Zim stared at the laptop and then back to GIR, "Where did you get this?"

WHEN THE MUNKY BOI WAS GOIN DOWN-DOWN N2 THE GRAVE AREA. The deranged SIR unit bounced up and down as he referred to Dib's basement/parental unit's lab.

Zim stared at the laptop and grinned, "Good work GIR-!"

KTHXBAI! And the robot ran off before Zim could finish his thanks.

Zim stared at the empty spot where GIR used to be and then turned back to the Dib's laptop. "Now what to do with this…" Zim quickly tapped his PAK's wireless interface(3) and downloaded all the files off of the computer and onto his PAK, easily bypassing the human's firewalls as if they were nothing. When that was done he tossed the piece of human technology into a bin labeled 'Take Apart Later' and began surfing through the files.

He quickly found all the ones about him and put them all in a folder labeled 'Read Later' and searched some more. He came across some which were encoded and password locked which he filed away under the folder name 'Figure Out the Irk-damned(4) Password and/or Encryption Key'. Then he ran across some music files. Intrigued he played one and suddenly deep, bass tones of a cello and high, liquid tones of a violin rang in his brain(5). For a second he was frightened, he had no idea what music was since there was no such thing on Irk, and these thrumming lows and wavering highs were foreign to him. Then the lyrics kicked in and he relaxed.

Mitsu me au
Sono shisen
Toji ta sekai no naka
Kidu kanai
Furiwoshitemo
Yoi wo satora resou(6)

Yake tsuku kono kokoro
Kakushi te chidaku ite
Toiki kanji reba shibire ruhodo(7)

Arefureta koigokoro
Ni
Ima
Wana wo shikake te
Wazuka na sukima nimo
Ashi
Ato
Nokosa naiyo(8)

The language was so like Irken that it seemed…familiar. Like home. And the music was rather nice. He could see why Dib always had his earbuds shoved in his primitive ear-holes. Music was like watching stars form, exciting and yet so peaceful.

[MASTER?] the Computer asked, interrupting Zim's blessing, [THE PLAN. IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR YOU TO LEAVE FOR SKOOL]

Zim's head snapped up and he nodded sharply, ceasing the music and filing them all away under the folder name 'Listen to and Sort Later' He turned back to the object he had been working on and pulled a small device from his PAK(9) and set it on the table. "The last bit…" he sighed, "And soon Dib will never sleep again!" And evil laughter rang in the room.

[[meumasetsuitsacath renarunakegosu itsanake meyaz PAK_satsuokem'etsutorhalkitsanakegosu gosuookkeederu toroke cathokem'etsu f'trenokeme EARTH-]](10)

Dib slammed a fist against the wall of his bedroom and growled angrily. His plan was ruined! Not only was Dad tweaking the machine which meant that he couldn't use it but he interrupted Gaz's cycle and she had pitched a fit. He had a few bruises, a split lip, and a bleeding gash on his face along with broken glasses to accompany her mini-breakdown. And then his dad had gotten on to him (HIM!) for upsetting his sister. It was unfair! It was biased! He loved her! He didn't love him.

He doesn't love me…he doesn't love me because I have no love for real Science and I embarrass him. Like an autistic daughter doesn't. But he wouldn't know that 'cause I had to take her to the doctor myself. Neglectful father…poor father…not even a father at all.

He felt it then, the urge. The itch. The need to do IT. And he had held out for so long. Almost a month. He was so close to healing completely, so close to being there for Gaz all the time, and here he was about to do it again. But the pull was magnetic, impossible to ignore.

He grabbed the scalpel he had hidden in his mattress and swiftly and expertly rolled up his shirt, exposing the many crisscrossing scars that covered his thin torso. He traced one sadly, reading it out loud:

"Unloved.
Unlovable.
That is me."

Then he began to carve, the surgical tool twisting with just a flick of his wrist, turning with barely a movement. Soon the words began to make themselves clear, standing out red against his parchment skin.

Tell me why I am
Alone. Is it because being without you is
Killing me, more than I am myself?

Then he sanitized the tool, pulled his shirt off, and lay down, his head grazing the backboard of his bed. As he slipped the sharp object back in its hiding place he smiled, a smile brimming with sorrow, and whispered out loud, "Maybe tomorrow I'll see you again…maybe tomorrow I'll be better…" and he fell asleep.

[[itsa wel'okenakederuetsuren itsaf't DIB itsasetsu bekrenokekraetsunake-lieritsakaetsu ZIM-]](11)

Translation Notes:

(1)helketsu h'a'deru cathokenakef'titsarenm'etsuderu meyaz sets'_itsator WEL'OKEUMALIERDERU erl'okerenkra-: Phonetic Irken. Translation: he had confirmed my suspicions, it WOULD work.

(2)setsuoke itsa bekgosuarunake toroke wel'okerenkra lieritsakraetsu prethlierarunnaakk'etsuderu-: Phonetic Irken. Translation: so it began to work like planned.

(3) wireless interface: think of the PAK as a supercomputer, a very advanced, very small supercomputer. With wireless interface.

(4) Irk-damned: Irk is not only the Irken home planet but one of the major Irken gods. Irk is the god of the Tall. This is where the Tallests draw their power and why the Irkens submit to those taller than them. The taller you are, the closer to Irk.

(5) rang in his brain: the music was being accessed through his PAK, his second brain, and therefore was being played directly into his head. No one else could have heard it.

(6)Mitsu me au
Sono shisen
Toji ta sekai no naka
Kidu kanai
Furiwoshitemo
Yoi wo satora resou: Japanese romaji. Translation: When I stare at you, staring back at me we act as if we don't know what to say. Completely oblivious, but we both pretend as if everything is just a lie.

(7)Yake tsuku kono kokoro
Kakushi te chidaku ite
Toiki kanji reba shibire ruhodo: Japanese romaji. Translation: But as time passed, I think I felt weak hiding my heart, just trying to speak. With a sigh I realize now with you I can't be me!

(8)Arefureta koigokoro
Ni
Ima
Wana wo shikake te
Wazuka na sukima nimo
Ashi
Ato
Nokosa naiyo: Japanese romaji. Translation: In normal love I am able to feel my heart pounding deep inside of me. This time I know the trap I set for you won't leave any traces behind.

(9) from his PAK: His PAK can also act as an actual pack and can hold things to some extent without damaging the wiring. I has to do with a space-time distortion field the PAK generates that allows it to hold more than physically possible.

(10)meumasetsuitsacath renarunakegosu itsanake meyaz PAK_satsuokem'etsutorhalkitsanakegosu gosuookkeederu toroke cathokem'etsu f'trenokeme EARTH-: Phonetic Irken. Translation: music rang in[side] my PAK, something good to come from EARTH.

(11)itsa wel'okenakederuetsuren itsaf't DIB itsasetsu bekrenokekraetsunake-lieritsakaetsu ZIM-: Phonetic Irken. Translation: I wonder if DIB is broken…like ZIM.