Gaz walked behind her troop of soldiers, using her enhanced eyesight to peer through the vent covers she saw periodically on the cieling. One of her soldiers asked her which direction to head in.

"Well, just keep going forward and-"

She cut herself off, and cocked her head. She could have sworn she heard someone shout 'Yay.'

"Did you hear that?" the soldier shook his head. Gaz shrugged it off, thinking that it was probably just her paranoia.

"Anyway, we'll just keep going forward into that next hallway and check all the rooms. He might be anywhere in the castle by now."

The soldier nodded and told the rest of the group the plans.

They kept walking down the long hallway, glancing into every useless room. Suddenly, a cry came from a small supply room.

"You," Gaz pointed to a nearby guard.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Go talk to the Supply Room Attendant and ask her what happened. If it has anything to do with the vent system, contact me immediatley." The guard bowed and left for the supply room, and Gaz ordered her soldiers to keep walking.

They walked for a while, and Gaz suddenly stopped. The front of her group had reached the door to the Ball Room.

Since Gaz absolutely loathed dancing, she used the Ball Room as a place to store big things. Things to hide in or behind until nightfall.

"The Ball Room," Gaz said urgently. "We need to check in there."

The soldier in the front of the group nodded, then kicked the door open. He flipped on the light, and the rest of the group filed in warily, Gaz in the very back. She stayed by the door, watching as the soldiers checked inside and around several big objects.

Suddenly, she felt something grab her under the arm and she was rising. Before she could shout, whoever had captured her put their hand over her mouth, so all she could make was a muffled murmuring.

They took her into the vents, so she guessed it could only be Zim who had captured her. She struggled, making muffled cries that the soldiers couldn't hear. She blushed furiously as she felt him wrap his legs around her waist to hold her down.

She felt his arms shift behind her and before she knew it, she had a heavy layer of duct tape over her mouth. He held her arms behind her back and taped her wrists together, then lifted her up slightly and put her down onto something she couldn't identify.

The thing holding her up felt like two little hands, and Gaz suddenly had a hunch about what 'Gir says hi,' meant. Of course, Zim's stupid little robot had helped him escape from the dungeon.

Gaz stopped crying for help, seeing that it would do no good. She heard cute little squeaks with each step the robot made, and she saw Zim crawling through the vents in front of them, heading for the other side of the castle. Then, an announcment came over the intercom, and he stopped to listen.

"Attention all," a panicky voice said. "Lord Gaz has dissapeared. We are led to believe that the prisoner who escaped kidnapped her, and that he is still in the vent system. If you see him, do anything you can to stop him and get her back. All people with weapons are ordered to kill on the spot, and Tech Workers are ordered to put the expirimental Mini Kill Robots in the vent system."

Zim cursed quietly, and if her mouth wasn't duct taped so tight, Gaz would have smirked.

'It's over, Zim. You lose.' she thought.

"Well, Gir," Zim whispered. "It looks like we aren't going to make it to the exit. Guess we're gonna have to make our own, huh?"

The little robot under her nodded, and Gaz internally frowned.

'What does he mean by that?'

He crawled a little quicker, turning at the next intersection and meeting a dead end. He sighed, and placed his hand on the wall. Gaz looked at him strangely, then suddenly realized what he was doing.

Green light emerged from the space between his gloved hand and the wall, and it started melting. Gaz stared. She wasn't really impressed, since she could do that too. The only thing she wondered is why his glove wasn't melting along with the wall.

Zim caught her gaze. "Coustom-made gloves," he whispered. He smiled faintly, seeming to be lost in his thoughts for a moment. Once the hole in the wall was big enough for them to fit through, he gestured for Gir to stay put for a moment.

He stuck his head out the hole and looked down, then slid out of the vent. "Okay, Gir," he said quietly from outside. "Throw her down." Gaz's eyes widened. 'Throw me down? Is he nuts? We're on the third floor! If he doesn't catch me, I swear-'

She didn't get to finish her thought, because Gir threw her out the hole in the wall. She felt strong hands catch her, and looked up to see Zim looking at the castle. Quite a ways up, you could just barely see the hole in the moonlight.

"Gir," he said quietly. "Jump down. Don't worry, I'll catch you." Gir jumped and landed gently on gaz's stomach. She almost laughed at the sight of the duct tape on his mouth. She remembered a long time ago, when Gir wouldn't usually shut up about the most random things.

Zim started running to somewhere behind the castle, and Gaz was surprised to see that he was about as fast as her.

Gaz wanted to ask where they were going, but because of the duct tape, she couldn't. She stared at Gir, who seemed to be struggling with something. He lifted his little arms and peeled off the duct tape. He turned back to Gaz and grinned as wide as possible.

The stupid, cute little robot. She actually almost missed it.

Almost.