Not much to say.

Third to the story!

Enjoy!


Chapter 3
"The Layout"

Gaz went home a while later, in a slight daze as she drove home.

Somehow she got there thought, to find that Skool hadn't been out yet. She almost considered going to pick him up but decided against it. That would just mean she'd have to answer his questions all the sooner.

Gaz didn't really know what to do besides already start planning what mess was to come.

She went downstairs, stole a large whiteboard and some Expo markers, and dragged them upstairs, setting up a station in her room. When Gaz was a child, she'd dreamed up plenty of schemes of world conquest.

So it was a good thing she'd kept all of them in a folder, otherwise she'd have to start from scratch.

Looking them over, Gaz saw that all of them really had potential. However, they were almost all made out of anger, and so now properly thought out. She had taped summaries of the plans on flash cards and made arrows from the different phases with the markers. Gaz didn't know how long she'd been working when there was knock on her door.

"Gaz?" Dib's muffled voice called through the door. "Gaz, you in there?"

She stepped back from her work, looking over the organized mess she'd made. She smirked a little, uncapped marker in her hand, arms crossed. It really did look like something you'd seen in a movie with a plan of world takeover.

"Yeah, Dib, I'm in here." She replied before he had a panic attack. "Where's Gir?"

"He took off for home at lunch, when I told him you and Zim had left."

Gaz's brow rose in confusion. He must've gotten home just after she'd left. "Alright."

"Gaz, what's going on? Why did you ditch gym?"

Immediately she looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing her P.E. clothes. Immediately she began stripping them off, irritated her normal clothes were still in her locker back at Skool. She'd probably end up breaking in to retrieve them over the weekend, just because she didn't want them sitting in the stinky locker room.

"Nothing, Dib." Gaz growled. "Now go away, I'm about to take a shower."

She eyed his shadow standing in front of her door. Then, with a dejected sigh, it disappeared along with his footsteps. Gaz glanced around her room at the pile of blank flashcards waiting to have new plan summaries written on them, the original documents organized into separate piles. She would've thought her room was going to end up a mess, but it appeared some part of her had been paying attention to cleanliness.

"I'll tell Zim," She muttered, throwing off the last of her clothes as she stepped into the shower. "I wonder what he's doing to plan for this."


Zim, actually, was doing the same thing as her.

Well, the same system, really. Taking out old, unused plans and trying to combine them into a working, flawless plan. Zim was really trying to distract himself in his work and not think about what he was doing. That he was turning Gaz against her entire species to keep her alive.

"Master, are you sure about this?" His computer asked.

"Eh?" Zim asked, snapped out of his line of thought. "What did you say?"

"You're attempting to join nuclear fusion and Irken technology into one death ray," His Computer reminded him. "Are you sure you want to try this?"

"Um, yeah, just . . . do it. It's just a projection anyways."

"Well, okay then."

Zim watched the screen combine the two categories. However, the demo showed, to his disapproval, that the nuclear products the humans played with were far too unstable to be used in the precise and advanced Irken weaponry. The weapon spontaneously decomposed seconds after creation.

"Hm," Zim placed a hand to his chin.

It felt weird, he knew. That was why he was trying such strange, reckless ideas. He'd been playing human for far too long, stopping his attempts to take over the world altogether. Gaz was more of a distraction then she realized, but Zim knew that if he didn't have her help he'd probably be curled up in a ball, waiting to die.

And who knew the planet and its weaknesses better then the girl who was born looking for them?

Gir waddled into the room, still in his little boy costume. "Master?"

"What is it, Gir? I'm busy." Zim snapped, though he was actually glad of the distraction. He was running out of ideas quick. In a minute he'd probably end up calling Gaz or looking up ideas on the humans 'internet'.

Gir began shimmying out of his costume, leaving it on the floor as he bounded over to where Zim stood, looking up at him with wide, blue eyes. "Watcha doin?"

Zim sighed. "Planning Gir."

"For what?"

"We're going to try to take over the world again, Gir." Zim informed him, bluntly. "I'm planning."

Gir stared at him. Then suddenly he threw his arms up in the air, squealing extremely loud and running around in celebratory circles. "YAAAAAYYYY!"

"GAH!" Zim shouted. "Gir! Stop that!"

He began running in a circle, squealing, but at least not screaming. Zim shook his head, knowing that was probably as good as he'd get for a while. He had no idea that Gir would be so excited about continuing their attempt to conquer the world but he almost wished he hadn't told him now.

Zim turned his attention away from his stupid minion, back to the screen. At least the screaming had given him another idea.

"Computer, is it possible to control humans through certain wavelengths, or is that just a myth?"


Gaz woke up the next morning, surrounded by papers.

She huffed, blowing now dry hair out of her face and realizing she'd fallen asleep reading one of her ideas. She pulled the crumpled piece of paper out, scanning it with her eyes and grabbing a pen.

It was just kind of implied that Gaz would be working on this crap all day. When she was a child, the ways to pull the rug out from under the human race had seemed to obvious and simple. Now she needed a whole a plan to do so though.

The starting point for world conquest was obvious. The U.S. had the most advanced nuclear weaponry, second being Russia. After that they'd go after Japan and then the U.K. Once those four were under their control, the rest of the world would have to surrender because of sheer man-power.

"Zim needs to learn to speak Russian and Japanese," Gaz muttered, frowning. "Some of the two hardest languages to learn. And I guess that means I have to learn it to." She sighed, lifting her wrist and dialing on her watch. "This is just great."

It rang a few times. Then a tired-looking image of Zim appeared, scowling.

"I would've thought this would be easier, wouldn't you?" He asked, sarcastically.

She smirked. "Glad to see we're both in such cheery moods. I've got news for you."

"Oh?" His antenna perked up slightly. "And what would that be?"

"You're going to need to learn two languages." Gaz informed him. "The four sections of the Earth that hold the most power are the ones we're targeting first. The U.S. has the most nuclear fire power, which is why we're targeting this area first. After that we're going to Russia, then Japan, and lastly to the U.K. After that the rest of the world should follow, especially when they become aware that aliens are running things."

"Two languages . . . I should have that finished within a few hours." Zim said, calmly. It was nice to know which steps needed to be taken next.

Gaz's brow rose. "A couple of hours?"

"I can find the information and download it on my PAK." Zim informed her with a wave of his hand. "It's nothing. However, I was considering what you said about an alien being the face of the takeover."

Gaz's brow rose. "What about it? Paranoia and fear are the best ways to get people to submit to a new, foreign power."

"If your face shows up with me at the first wave of the invasion, no one will be properly convinced." Zim insisted with a scowl. "As much as I'd like you with me for the first part-."

"It wouldn't be realistic enough," Gaz finished in stoic agreement. "You're right. It makes sense."

"So after Phase 1 of whatever plan we come up with, Phase 2 will involve retrieving you in a believable manner." Zim informed her. "I've been doing some research on how humans think of alien activity. I find the easiest solution to our problem is using you as acting sacrifice. We'll just have to make a part of Phase 1 putting you in a light that gives you the power to make a worthy sacrifice in the eyes of the general population."

"Makes sense," Gaz agreed. She smirked. "So does that make me a part of the rebellion, then?"

"You'll temporarily be on your brother's side instead of mine. Doubtless he'll be creating one. You'll just have to be a little actress for a while, pretend to be heartbroken and bitter about my sudden devotion to my original mission until I come to retrieve you."

"Sounds like we've got the makings of Phase 2," Gaz agreed, smiling. "You'll have to conquer at least U.S. before you come and get me, though. And we'll have to be careful. I don't want my family getting hurt."

"We'll figure out some type of tracking device to keep them away from any attacks I plant." Zim assured her. Then he threw back his head and laughed, making Gaz's brow raise. "It's almost amusing that the one who reinstates my motivation is a member of the race that I'm trying to conquer."

"Yeah, well, get used to not seeing me for a while then." Gaz stated, casually. "As soon as Phase 1 starts you're not going to see me again until you send out a transmission for your demands."

"True," Zim said, with a frown. "You're coming over to my base then, so I can spend as much time with you as possible before we become separated."

Gaz smirked. "Fine. We'll discuss the rest of the plans when we get back to your place then."

"Very well," Gaz agreed, rolling her eyes and looking back at her board. "I'll take a picture of my work so far and we'll make the adjustments to combine it with yours."

"Perfect," Zim practically purred. "Shall I pick you up or will your brother be dropping you off?"

"I'll get there, don't worry about it." Gaz insisted, waving a hand to dispel the concern. "It'll be a good opportunity to start dropping hints that you're acting weird."

"Why would you do that?"

"To add to the story that you've randomly started acting up again," Gaz replied. "See you in a bit, then?"

"Very well. See you soon. Oh, and Gaz?"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at his oddly sweet tone of voice. "What?"

"Please get dressed before you come over. As much as I like the look, I'd hate for Dib to be asking you about why you're coming to my base in nothing but a towel. Till then."

And he hung up on her.

Gaz's eyes widened and she looked down at herself to realize she hadn't change into pajamas before she'd laid down to read. The towel was wrapped around her body but it had sagged a bit in her sleep, like a low top. But her hair was probably messy and her shoulders were revealed, an expanse of flesh Zim had a particular liking to.

"Figures he wouldn't tell me until our conversation was over," She muttered, getting out of bed and digging through her clothes drawer until she found something. Black pants and a strapless corset top.

If Zim was mentioning wanting to spend time with her before he couldn't see her again, it probably just wasn't for planning purposes.

"Dib!" She shouted, grabbing a jacket and shoving it over her arms. "I'm going to Zim's house!"

Gaz was old enough to drive herself. However, Dib didn't like her driving his car. It made him uncomfortable to think that his little sister was driving around with mobile weapons of destruction.

"I'll drive!" Dib shouted at once, jumping up from the couch and digging through his pockets for his keys.

Gaz made a face of disapproval, even though she knew very well she needed Dib to drive her, so she could start the preparations for Phase 1. "I'm 17, Dib. I'm going to turn 18 this year. I think I can drive myself."

"I'll drive you anyways!" He insisted, opening the door to house and motioning her towards the outside. "Think of it as quality time, Gaz."

"Time I don't want," Gaz grumbled, crossing her arms but leaving the house willingly enough. "You don't have to be so protective of me all the time, Dib. I can take care of myself easily enough."

"Hey, I'm just driving you to Zim's house." Dib defended, getting into the drivers seat and buckling his seat-belt. "Relax."

Gaz continued to look out the window, not answering. She kept her face thoughtful as Dib started the car, pulling out. She knew very well that if she sat in silence, forlornly looking out into nothing, Dib would ask if something was up.

And that was just what he did.

"Gaz, is everything okay?" He asked, glancing repeatedly from the road to her. "You look off."

"Hm?" She asked, as if being pulled from thought. Her eyes narrowed but she didn't put in that real irritation, and she knew Dib would notice. "I'm fine, Dib. Nothings wrong."

Dib frowned. "Aw come on, Gaz. I know you better then that. Tell me what's bugging you."

She snorted, "It's nothing you need to be concerned about. You wouldn't care anyways."

"Is it Zim?"

Gaz didn't answer, knowing her silence would be answer enough.

"What's he doing?" Dib's tone of voice took a turn for the stern, parental sort of attitude, like she knew it would. "He's not trying to pull anything on you, is he? I'll kill him if he is, Gaz, you just need to say the word and I will!"

She almost laughed at how easy it was to predict his moves. But Gaz didn't, sighing in irritation and shooting him a look. "He's no doing anything, Dib. Zim has just been . . . I don't know, acting weird lately."

"Weird?" Dib's intrigue wasn't of concern to his siblings relationship. She could hear the paranormal investigator shining through in his voice. "Weird how?"

"Well not that you care," She hissed, looking back out the window. "But something seems a bit off with him. He's just been spending any time without me in his lab. I know he is. Gir has been complaining about it."

"Are you going over to ask him about it?"

"The way I see it, it's not really my problem, so long as it doesn't effect me." She replied, folding her arms behind her head casually. "I don't really spend a lot of time with him in the lab anyways."

Dib wasn't listening anymore and she knew it. Gaz had baited him, set up the perfect trap, and he'd snatched it up so easily it was almost funny. As soon as her brother heard that Zim was acting funny, he'd be prepared for the worst.

And ready to protect his little sister as soon as things went wrong.

Gaz knew that for their plan to work, Dib would need to be set up on the defensive, to ensure there would be a rebellion.

It was funny how large a part he was playing in a plan to take over the world.

The rest of the car ride was in silence. Gaz never made any effort to break it and for once, neither did Dib. Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she saw his face riddle with suspicion as the paranormal investigator in him began to surface. He pulled up the car to the curb and Gaz saw him glare at the green house, as if it had done him some sort of insult. Gaz smirked when her back was too him, opening the door.

Damn, she was good.

"Bye, Dib!" Gaz called, with a wave over her shoulder as she approached the house. "See you sometime later!"

"Uh, bye Gaz!" Dib called, half-heartedly. She could hear the hesitation in her brother's voice, like he didn't want her in that house. But he knew he could do nothing about it.

Gaz heard him drive only after she'd opened the door that opened upon a scan of her hand on the door knob. She rolled her eyes and entered the house, shutting the door behind her to find the living room deserted.

"Must be in the lab," She muttered to herself, hugging the jacket a little tighter around herself. It was abnormally cold in Zim's house and while she wasn't going to question it, she wasn't going to let herself freeze to death either.

Not surprisingly, the elevator ride was uneventful. However she did notice the farther down she went, the colder the air was. Gaz frowned, wondering if it had anything to do with Zim's PAK.

When the doors opened, she immediately saw something hurtling at her. Instinctively she caught it in both hands and held it before her for examination, slightly flustered but definitely surprised.

Gaz scowled upon seeing what had lunged, no been tossed, at her. "Gir!"

"Hi Gazzy!" Gir replied, being held upside-down, but not seeming to mind in the least.

At the nickname she scowled and chucked him over her shoulder, hearing a satisfying slam as he hit the elevator walls.

Exiting the elevator she saw Zim, standing in front of his large computer screen, looking at her with disapproval. "Must you attempt to break my machinery with my minion's head?"

"Yes, yes I do," She retorted, sarcastically, still keeping her arms crossed tightly around herself as she approached him. Of course, it was all written in Irken, so she couldn't understand a word of it. "Hm. This is irritating."

"What?" Zim asked, looking at her with curious red eyes.

Gaz jerked her chin towards the foreign lettering, not wanting to uncross her arms and let the small warmth she had escape. "I can't read of word of this and I see it rather often. You think I would've picked up on a bit of it by now." She turned her head to see Zim giving her an unfamiliar look. "What?"

"Hmm," He droned, nodding his head as if coming to agreement with something. "I'll just have to teach you then. We've got about a week to learn the basics of it and you're unnaturally smart. I'm sure you'll be able to learn it within that time. It's nothing but memorizing the characters as I've come to see that Irkens and humans use the same form of grammar in their speaking and so their writing."

Gaz blinked away her surprise before shrugging. "It couldn't hurt. We could inadvertently communicate that way, you send antagonistic notes to Dib's rebellion in Irken and I, being the only one to be able to read it, could get messages from you. Of course, I couldn't respond to them, but it would probably make you feel better somehow."

Zim smirked at her. "You mean make you feel better?"

She snorted. "You're the one who demanded I come over here to spend time with you."

"And I heard no objections from you about it." Zim retorted, obviously pleased with himself at finding a good comeback. "Now, what ideas have you come up with?"

"I was thinking about what you said about your face being the head of the invasion?"

"Yes?" Zim's eyes narrowed, for whatever reason.

Gaz locked eyes with him, arms crossing tighter. "You're going to need another one."

"I thought we already decided I'd steal you away during Phase 2?" Zim insisted, surprised. But he seemed optimistic about it. "However, if you changed your mind and want to start off Phase 1 with me-."

"No, it's not that." Gaz interrupted quickly, shaking her head. "There should be more then one alien face, I was thinking, otherwise people might just think you're one lone force. Something easily beatable. The fear factor will disappear."

"Yes, and?" Zim pressed, starting to become nervous.

Gaz took a breath, knowing he wasn't going to like her idea. She could already see it in his apprehensive eyes.

"I was thinking you should try and get in touch with the Tallest again."


AHAHAHAHA

Horrible cliff-hanger, I know.

But I'm not sorry! Nope!

Not one bit!

So the next chapter will, yes, involve the Tallest.

That is actually something I didn't anticipate but well, Gaz and Zim need them or the plan wouldn't work.

There wouldn't be enough man-power behind the whole thing, you know?

Well, I'm giving too much away.

Till the next chapter!