61: Speak
It felt like his tongue was broken. And to only add to his misery, he was given a swat over the head by his rather impatient teacher. „WRONG! Say it again, Dib-beast!" The human sighed and tried to wrap his too wide, fleshy human tongue around the clicks and chirps that were irken words.

62: Toys

„Those aren't toys!" Dib huffed, putting away the tiny computers and pieces of technology from the twins. „Yes they are! Zim played with those as a smeet." Rolling his eyes, the human replaced the „playthings" with a plush animal and a few toy blocks."I think it'd be nice to not raise them as strictly. Let them have a few normal toys, too." The human smiled, watching the babies explore their new toys happily. Zim pouted, but let his mate have his way.

63: Ocean
„It's like the ocean..." Dib whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight before him. They were passing by a yet unnamed nebula and the sheer sight of it left Dib awed, staring open mouthed at the bluish expanse of galaxies, forming a near perfect plane, myriads of stars twinkling like reflected moonlight on the sea.

64: Deceived
He had been deceived. All this time. All those years. It had all be in vain. All his efforts, his pain, his scars, his LIFE had been a giant joke to the beings he had worshipped like gods. Zim kept on staring at the blackened screens, still trying to understand what had just happened. His first instinct was to contact his Tallest, ask them what he should do now and Zim cringed at the irony of that thought. They had told him what to do. „Go and die if you 's been fun watching you try, but now we're bored by your incompetence. Do not contact us again." He wanted to... so badly, but he couldn't. Not ever again. Who could he turn to, now? A part of him knew the answer. But he was reluctant to admit that he needed *his* help.

65: Black and White
Black and white were supposed to be opposites. Things that could not be one. Yet, as Zim looked down to the sleeping teen, dark hair moving like liquid over a white neck with each calm breath, shadows hiding some of the milky pale body, accentuating the tight structure of his muscles and bones underneath. And just above the pink, silken sheets, was black ink marking white skin, the irken emblem tattooed into the soft valley next to a hipbone. Black and white were opposites, but they formed a perfect whole, and that perfect whole was his.

66: Whatever

The Dib was in trouble. Zim watched from a few meters away, pressing his back against the wall to stay mostly out of sight. He doubted, though, that any of those idiotic humans would have noticed him, even if he had worn a bright neon sign. They were too busy separating Dib from the others and pushing him into a corner behind the skool building. Even if he tried not to show it, the boy was clearly afraid of the physically stronger and larger males. Zim could tell by the way his face paled and by the faint, but obvious scent of fear in the air.

He remembered some of the occasions where he had seen the results of this... „bullying". Dib wore several scars on his skin, the bruises usually faded within a few days but some of the injuries would mark his body forever. And not only that. Once, he had found the Dib by chance, and he was sure he'd never forget the sight of him from that moment. Clothes torn and crumpled, face a blank mask, no expression at all, blood smeared all over his thighs and creating little drops on the ground. It had taken a while for the alien to understand what that meant and once he figured it out, he had felt a burning rage like never before. No one was allowed to damage irken property!

Snapping back to reality, he growled quietly when the largest of the guys grabbed Dib by the front of his shirt and jerked him up. Before the raised fist could make contact with a fragile jaw, it was stopped by a gloved, three-fingered hand. A tiny, frighteningly strong hand.

The bully looked confusedly up at the thin, delicate being hovering in front of him, between him and his bespectacled victim. It took a long moment for him to realize that people didn't usually „hover" at all. With a start, he let go of Dib and took a step backwards, hearing the other thugs gasp around him. Zim, the strange green kid with a „skin condition" was standing, no dangling, before them, supporting his flimsy body with four, metallic legs. And he was growling dangerously. „The Dib is mine. Get your filthy paws off my property." He said slowly, darkly. The reaction was too obvious. Zim didn't even blink as his PAK legs made short work of the bullies around them. All of them, except the one that seemed to be the leader and that had tried punching Dib. Fear was etched into his ugly face now, staring at the monster above him. When he started spluttering pleas and apologies, Zim made a disgusted face at him. „Yeah, yeah, that's magical! Whatever! Now listen to Zim, earth-stink. The moment you touch my property again will be the moment you'll lose your limbs. Is that understood?" Too scared to reply, the terrified teen just nodded, bolting from the scene.

Dib had been silent through the whole thing, watching Zim with wide eyes. He came around quickly though and gave a little relieved sigh. „Thanks, Spaceboy. Though, I'd like to note the fact that I am not your property. I'll-" „You'll what? Nothing, Dib-human. You will be mine. And no one will dare to lay a finger upon you except for Zim." The alien hissed into his face. Dib couldn't help but smile. „Whatever, Spaceboy."

67: Death

Years later, they had talked about death. Irken and human life spans were different. Even with their mixed DNA, one of them would die before the other. But neither was scared. With the data in their PAKs, the countless backups and their unique connection, they knew... no matter when they died, their consciousness, their memories, their very existence would continue. In a sense, they were invincible.

68: Jump
„I'll catch you!" He heard it from the tiny irken device in his ear and, as he stepped up onto the railing of the building, he believed it. He watched the armed men in front of him, some crouching, most of them aiming weapons at him. One of them went on about how he should come down, he would not be harmed. The usual blabber given to suicidal persons. He wasn't suicidal. He was on the run. With a calm grin, he waved at them, before leaning back, letting himself simply drop off the twenty plus story building they had chased him up onto. For a split-second, he wondered what it would be like, if everything just ended like this... But then he chided himself, relaxing into the fall, the air screaming in his ears. Above that, he could hear the startled and angry shouts from above. Closing his eyes, he wasn't surprised at the sudden stop of his fall, the shock of it making him give a soft „oof". When he opened his eyes, he was met with angry, if obviously relieved, magenta eyes. „How many times will you let yourself be caught and forced to jump off high places?!" Dib smiled. „As many times as you will cause so much trouble that I have to go and fix whatever damage you've done." Climbing into the voot, he settled behind the smaller form of the irken. „Besides.. you'll always be there to catch me." It was a statement.

69: Broken Promise

„You promised us! You promised!" She screamed, angry, terrified tears on her face. He met her gaze with infuriating calmness. „And what did I promise you?"

„To save us! And now... now you're helping them!"

„Oh.. I see. But there is a misunderstanding, isn't there? A promise made on deaf ears is meaningless. What did you answer, when I promised you salvation?" As expected, he was met with silence. „Yes... you laughed, you didn't want my help. And you've got another thing wrong. I'm not helping them. They are helping me. What you see there is MY army." He made a simple gesture to the spaceship-darkened sky behind him. „My army and my family." he added, still eerily calm. His former classmate stared at him in disbelief and terror. „You're insane!" She repeated helplessly. „Yes... what will you do against it? Seems the promises of a madman aren't worth the air they're spoken with."

70: All the Little Things

Dib lay on his belly, on the large, round bed, watching his mate and kids. The twins were giggling happily when Zim tickled them with his lekku. It was also a sort of ritual, exchanging scents, forming a bond between parent and child. Dib felt a little left our, but he didn't mind. His children were bonding with him as well. In a different way, but none the less deeply. He smiled at the way Zim acted around the smeets. It was sweet and affectionate in its own, strangely cute way. All the little things he said or did, they all showed just how much he cared for their offspring. If only a defective irken was capable of feeling and showing love, he didn't want an intact one.

71: Six Feet Underground

It was like being buried alive, Dib thought. Sometimes, he became so anxious, his claustrophobia getting the better of him, that he had to pace along the twisted corridors restlessly to keep from hyperventilating. Zim's base was safe. It was the only safe place they had. And yet he couldn't help his human instincts. He needed the sun, and knowing he wouldn't be able to see it for a long, long time was slowly driving him crazy. He stopped at the highest part of the lab. From here, it were only six feet to the surface and yet, it was impossible to reach.

72: Bug

Sometimes, like right now, Dib was reminded of an insect when he looked at his former enemy. With his magenta eyes wide in curiosity, lekku twitching while he was listening to one of the human horror tales Dib knew so well to tell, he looked just like the most adorable bug.

73: Alibi
Zim sat frozen on Dib's couch, staring nervously at the suited men. Dib stood in front of him, showing a nonchalant face and, considering the situation, was frighteningly calm. „He was with me the whole day. What do you want?"

„We have suspicions he might have been involved in an incident concerning a secret aircraft." Dib lifted an eyebrow. „Are you telling me you think he's an alien and you saw him fly by in a ufo?" Zim stopped staring at the agents and instead focussed his carefully schooled expression on Dib. The disbelief and open mocking was perfectly played. Never in his long life would Zim have thought that this human boy would be the one to save him from the earth government. The very persons he had always claimed he'd expose him to. And he was doing such a perfect job at it, too! The suited men hesitated at the open doubt in the boy's voice. „I mean... look at him! Does he look like an alien to you? Just look at his hair!" After some whispered discussions, the men gave them a warning and left, leaving an angry, but relieved teen and a nonplussed alien in disguise. „You... saved Zim..."

„Yes, I wasn't done playing with you yet." he replied, pointing at the running video game that had been gave a grin and silently thanked his former enemy.

74: On Holiday

This was nice, Zim decided. He had bothered Dib for at least a week straight to do something about the horrid weather this winter season brought, until the human finally relented and agreed to take him on a trip. Here, in some forgotten patch of nature, a small lake in the middle of an old volcano, the alien found even the water to be clean enough to not irritate his sensitive skin. It was warm and watching the Dib-human skinny-dipping in the clear water made the tranquility of this place that much better.

75: No News
It had been months without annoying calls. Without the constant grating voice of the tiny, exiled self-proclaimed invader. And the Tallest Red and Purple thought it was a good thing. No news meant no bad news. That meant Zim was probably finally gone for good, having met his end at that horrible, backwater planet. Good riddance and they would never hear about that little pest ever again. They couldn't even begin to fathom how very, very wrong they were.

76: Under the Stars

It was completely dark, only the soft twinkling of stars in this moonless night was seen. In the safety of darkness, they kissed for the first time. If, by morning, they regretted it, they could always pretend that it didn't happen. No one had seen them. Not even they. It was the safety they needed.

77: Running Away

Rounding a corner, both of them dived behind a large dumpster, trying to hide in the darkness. Neither dared to make a sound as their pursuers passed by the tiny alley they had hidden in. Once they were well out of eashot, Zim watched the boy next to him, clad only in white pants and the shredded remains of a sturdy straitjacket. Dib had gotten pale during the months he had spent in that mental hospital, or „crazy house" as they liked to call it. But as they hid in the cold, dirty corner, he grinned, looking more alive than he had in ages. „Running away with you never sounded as good as it does right now." He breathed, and Zim chuckled quietly.

78: Window

Dib stared at the TV-screen fixedly, watching the news and any other programs that showed events on the surface. It was like a window to the world from down here in their self-chosen exile. Zim let him, knowing the human needed to see other faces than his sometimes. He wasn't irken. He wasn't used to and raised in a society with nearly no social interactions. Zim felt a little sorry for that. But he knew Dib had chosen this way for himself, knowing of the consequences. Still, he needed a break every now and then and if watching TV for a while helped, Zim wouldn't bother him while he did.

79: Make Me Happy

„He does, doesn't he?"

„What?" Zim stared at the newest, random outburst from his silly robot minion, only half-wondering what it was this time. Still, the tone had been almost serious and that alone piqued his interest. „Make you happy!" It squealed, flailing its stubby arms happily. „Wha... Who? What are you talking about, Gir?!"

„MARY! He's making you aaaaaaaall happy!" It lasted around three seconds, until Gir stormed off, screaming something about gophers. „Make me happy...?" The alien wondered, the concept of happiness foreign to him. But he had to admit, in the solitude of his own thoughts... it was kind of pleasant, being around this certain creature...

80: Villain

With their polished, alien armor, the bright colors and their proud appearance, the pair looked like superheroes. But to the screaming mass of people below, they were nothing but villains as they rained death and destruction down upon them.