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I really need to change the summary of this story, I really don't like it. It's kinda lame, 'ya know?

Hugs and kisses, thanks for the reviews, everyone!

This chapter may be a bit graphic for some, so fair warning. And yay for references from chapter ten! :D

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Lesson of Control

…

(Planet Vort, Within The City Of Naruan)

…

"-Hmm- Pathetic. You still do not understand how to properly control an entire race. Left was for utter control set on one being-"

"Why won't our transmissions go through?! It's been weeks!"

"Planet Irk's power source must be completely out by now. They can't save us."

Invader Larb crouched further when the ground shook beneath their very feet, trying to maintain his rapid breathing. Stay calm; they can hear your breathing. One false move and they'll get you like they got the others. It was silent for a few seconds until from off in the other direction what sounded like a grenade went off; the two Irkens left their post and bolted for their lives. Even with masks over their mouths they could still taste all of the dirt floating in the air, eyes blinking constantly to try and get the dust out with no success. Stop blinking so much! Every blink is every step they take!

The two slid along the ground to reach their next post that was all they did now. Stop, check to see if they could run, wait for some loud sound to go off, and run. Larb glanced over at the other invader by his side, her beautiful green face marked by three long, silver scars. Acidic marks. These scars were done by none other than the deadliest Vortian that Invader Larb and all of the other Irkens that had once been alive on this planet ever had to face. She was cruel, revenge driven, nothing stood in her path in achieving what she wanted. And what she wanted was the destruction of Irken civilization.

She was none other than Mistress Para.

"No! No! Please, I'll do anything! Don't touch him, he's barley trained!"

Larb grit his teeth, disgusting at the conversation he was hearing. No doubt it was another Irken that had gotten captured by his own foolishness and was begging the enemy for mercy. They gave no mercy, have you not realized that by now? Do you not see the bodies all along the ground and limbs hanging from the tops of building? His eyes wandered over the scene before himself; even through the thick layer of dirt he was able to see the curly antenna not even five feet away from him that was no longer attached to the owner. Curly meant that it had been a female Irken, probably another invader; she was first tortured and then killed. His hand trembled for a single moment when he reached up to touch the left antenna that wasn't there on his own head.

They always went for the antenna.

"Yuk! He was just a smeet! He- He-"

At least Yuk's death was quick, soldier.

He made no verbal comments though, simply tugging his way with Invader Snooks right by his side towards the next fallen building. The soldier had begun to scream; most likely one of his fingers had just been chopped off for his defiance of silence. It was too late to save him, but his torturing was buying Snooks and him time to run. And run they did. For what else could they do?

They couldn't fight the March.

That day had been so long ago… Marching of Mistress Para as it was referred too.

It had been a typical day on Vort- Yell at Vortians, mock their pain, make them come up with new military designs, and then go get some snacks. Nothing seemed out of order, everything had seemed perfectly fine. Then they had received a call from Commander Sic that their home planet had been attacked and was nearly in ruins. Birthing facilities no longer working, barley any energy, Tallest Purple captured, the Control Brains also no longer working, Left Brain completely destroyed, and so many more issues. All the invaders and Elite members needed to come home to offer protection.

That's when the screaming was heard.

Before his eyes Larb had watched as Para tumbled to the ground in her chamber, hands the shade of the gray dirt on the rotten planet gripping her horns. She was crying uncontrollably, hyperventilating even as the designs for the next cruising ship was scattered around her. Pleas and cries for mercy were spreading around Vort faster than Irkens took over planets. She wasn't the only one who had been screaming, but she was the loudest. The angriest. The most desperate one. It was Para who looked like she hated the Irkens the most back then.

And looking on it today, there was no doubt that she did hate them the most.

"Hey, worker-drone-thing? Are you, uhh-?"

Her screams had stopped.

She tilted her head backwards to have her emerald eyes meet Larb's magenta eyes. The look she gave him will always be burned into his mind. There was nothing but complete and utter hate across her features. With one hand she slipped her lab coat off one shoulder, her other hand crumpling the designs for the Irken military. His mouth had fallen open, but no words or sounds came out. Elite members Flick and Nixa tried to pull him towards the open twin doors, but to no success. His legs were mush, arms useless, and mind blank of all thoughts except one.

What in Irk was going on?

"Invader Larb, it is because of you that Vortians had been made into nothing more than slaves."

Had?

"You conquered a planet that was in alliance with Irk. For years we had been under your control, building your military weaponry for it to only be used on us. We were captured because of incidents that were not of our doing, but your own race's fault. We have felt obligated since day one to follow your every command as though some force had been making us. We could do nothing, only few have been able to fight against the Irken civilization with no success. That matters no more. For that hold, that command, that obligation- It is finally gone."

Had? Used? WERE CAPTURED? Why is this all being said like that's now in the-

"That was the past though, no more. I am Para, the seventh royal blood member of Ta-Kuhuni; I am legally the ruler of Planet Vort. Not some little scientist that is here to build weapons and pleasure the hideous race that is known as Irkens. My mind is not here for you to use up nor is my body here to you to pleasure yourselves with. It is time that I take my place upon the throne that no longer stands for you had destroyed my palace. My people's lives. My home. The power you hold over us is gone. I will kill you, but not until I annihilate every single Irken on this planet first. When I have taken your last little fellow Irken fall before your eyes is when I'll kill you. Then we shall use the weapons we had made for Irk and use them against Irk.

You. Have. No. Control."

A shriek made Larb's antennas stand on end, whipping around to point a gun directly from his Pak at whoever was behind him. There was purple blood, but not his. Two Vortians in lab coats stood proudly before the invader, spears marked with dark purple blood and green flesh. The thin body of Elite member Flick fell into his grasp as Nixa's body slid to the ground, head rolling past his booted feet. Blood. There was so much blood; he could even taste it in his mouth. When the brown eyes gazed lifelessly up at him was when something had finally clicked inside that overly large head of his.

The Vortians were going to murder every single Irken in their path.

Raging magenta met cold emerald.

"Run."

That's exactly what he did.

And that's what he has been doing ever since.

The sound of running made Invader Snooks flinch, purple eyes shutting for a few seconds in order to remind herself to remain silent. When the foot steps were far enough for comfort she opened her eyes once more, noticing the other invader gazing at her through the thick, dirty air. That's all this planet had at this point. Dirt flying every where, darkness always falling on them too quickly, and shelters that were just the dead bodies of comrades that once lived and shattered buildings.

"Sorry, I… The sound of footsteps, it- It won't happen again, sir."

"Don't apologize… I'm still not over it either, but you'll need to get used to it."

It was footsteps that had given them their nickname after all.

The March.

Streets that day had been filled with thousands, no- Millions of Vortians that marched to the same beat without even trying. Stomp, stomp, stab. Jog, jog, taser. Take a step, take a step, kill an Irken. No matter what they did, no matter how quick, they all followed the same beat. At the exact same time as though it was in their blood to be killers. Vortians had always been such easy creatures to push over and control, why had it changed that day? WHY?

It was a question that the conqueror of Planet Vort had always asked himself since that very day.

They were running once more, dodging, sneaking, and rolling past a Vortian that was on guard at every corner. The thick air and darkness covered them, making it easy enough to always hide at this time of day, but still. Still. There could always be enemies. Just listen to the sounds of running feet, the shrieks of those who are being tortured, and those who plea though they will never get mercy. Listen to the noise of-

Wait. The noise.

Larb instantly gripped Snooks shoulder, who bit down on her lip to hold back a shocked cry. The Irken's face was pale, eyes wandering over every inch around them was his head whipping around. He looked insane, like there was something he couldn't see. Something missing. She squinted her eyes at him, annoyed at the fact that he had stopped her to look at the scenery around them. It was the same thing every where! Everything was in ruins!

"Larb, what are you-"

"The noise, Snooks."

She couldn't help but scoff at his harsh whisper.

"Didn't you just say-"

"No! Listen!"

It was silent.

No screaming, no footsteps, no weapons going off, and no conversations about Irken scum.

Completely silent.

Wait, why couldn't he see Snooks through the dust anymore?

"What in Tallest Red's name-"

His sentence never finished when he began choking on his own blood.

…

(Planet Meekrob, Court Mephisia)

…

"-And you in giving your race everything so there would not be just one person in control.-"

"How… Abnormal."

"That's all you can say?! That this is ABNORMAL?!"

"Please, stay calm, Mort. This is alright."

"Alright? This is not ALRIGHT! We're DYING, Zort!"

"Really now, Mort. How preposterous."

"Ugh! Stop speaking with that soft and annoying voice of yours, Zort! It drives me CRAZY!"

"And you're obnoxious."

"OH! Don't make me-"

"Mort and Zort. Cease this behavior. It is not one that royalty of Meekrob energy should possess and Lady Tenn enters our presence."

The two Meekrob sisters quickly hushed themselves, each taking one side of their older sister, Port. Mort was grumbling to herself, trying to fix her appearance as though her electrical currents could even be ruined at all. Zort was swishing from side to side, ignoring the glare being given by her Mort. It wasn't easy to tell the sisters apart physically by anything except their eyes when they weren't wearing their crowns. Youngest Zort had eyes far too big and much too innocent; Mort was always glaring unhappily with her slanted eyes, and Port always kept a calm gaze with her just perfect eyes.

Or that's how Tenn always looked at them; it wasn't her fault that Port was her favorite out of the trio.

"Come, Tenn, do not hide."

"Yeah, hurry up and come out NOW!"

"As gracious as always, Mort."

The Irken slipped one foot into the light, then the other, until her entire body had entered into their chamber within the court. She almost stumbled on the floor length, light blue dress that kept creeping under her feet, annoyed at the silver bands along her arm getting stuck to the chains on her dress. She was never going to get used to this advisor clothing that she was made to wear. It was invader dark purple blood that pulsed through her veins, not advisor blood. She had no reason to complain though, she was lucky to still be alive years later, let alone the advisor of Port.

She should have been killed when they had found her defenseless all those years ago.

"Countess Zort, Empress Mort, and Queen Port, my pleasure to see you. If I may inquire-"

"No, you CAN'T."

"Close that energy hole of yours with a screw, Mort. Yes, Tenn?"

"Why are you not present at the festival? Zort, you have been requested countless times to dance and Mort to enter into the shape shifting contest. And Port-"

Don't tell her what you have planned for her!

"-Many citizens are wondering where you're at. Is something the matter?"

"Nope, everything is FINE! Jeez- Tenn!"

"No, everything is just fine."

"Yes. Something is terribly wrong."

"PORT!"

The oldest ignored both of their cries as she floated towards Tenn, a frown plastered on her usually cheerful face. The Irken held her breath when her queen- Meekrob's queen, remember- Got mere centimeters away from her face. They just gazed at each other, neither words spoken nor any sounds made. Just staring. Tenn tried her hardest to keep a collected expression, knowing that a dark green blush wanted to creep up on her face. Her queen- By the past Tallest, Meekrob's queen- Had only gotten this close to her a few times. She had no idea how to…

Did her face just flicker away for a second?

The once invader squinted her eyes until Port's face flickered once more.

Her face just disappeared for a few moments!

"Did your face-?"

"NO!"

"No, no, no!"

"Yes."

"PORT!"

The oldest now looked annoyed, slanting her eyes at the sight of her two sisters behind her. The two quickly frowned, ducking their heads within their own flickering shoulders. Tenn hesitated for a few moments, but finally allowed her hand to reach upwards towards the other's face. Her face was there within her grasp, soft and unusually warm, and then it flickered away just to come back. They kept eye contact with one another, everyone else in the chamber no longer existing to them.

"Wha-?"

"… Our energy source seems to be failing, Tenn. Something is desperately wrong with our energy; our bodies are acting very unstable and we keep fading randomly."

"Yeah? Well, where's the machine that has your energy source? Maybe I can fix it."

Silence lingered on for a few moments, magenta eyes shifting from the oldest to her younger sisters. Mort angrily threw her silver tiara to the ground as Zort played with her bronze circlet within her hands, neither making eye contact. Confusion turned to sorrow when Tenn realized that the overly amount of sparks flying off the bottom of their eyes wasn't some sort of over excessive amount of currents, but tears. Meekrob tears that were shed as much as Irken tears. They were a mighty race, they did not cry for every terrible occasion.

Only the ones that had no solution to them.

"Tenn, it's… Mort. Zort. Alone time."

Zort frowned and Mort growled, but they gave a nod at her command. They left the two in a matter of seconds, Mort having the door shut with a simple movement of her hand. The Irken tried to ignore the jealously that she felt at the tip of her tongue, being jealous was a useless emotion to the Irken race. How could she not be though? What did it feel like to have such power? To be able to shut doors with a wave of a hand and to shift into any being without a second though? To get everything you want with a snap of your fingers or by the call of a command?

Every Meekrob must have felt like a Tallest.

"We do not know where the source of our power comes from, my fair."

"Can't you track it?"

"We have tried so many times, but we cannot find it. We have tried building machines to keep use stable, tried to see if we could combine other energy sources with ours, but nothing works."

No, stop it, Tenn! Stop getting scared! There's nothing to be scared about!

"There has to be something you can do!"

"No."

"Come on, don't give up like that! How long have you been dealing with this? A few days?"

"Months."

Apparently the Irken had looked like she was about to faint, because with a snap of Port's fingers a cushioned chair instantly went under her body. She slowly allowed herself to slip into the seat, hands reaching upwards to grip her face. Hands traveled from her struck face to her antennas that were bent back defensively, tugging on them roughly. She couldn't handle this. How could she not tell her own advisor that she had been experiencing life threatening conditions for months?

"I didn't want to make you scared. It wasn't this obvious at the time; I hadn't even realized what had been happening. It began to happen more frequently and my sisters made a comment about what they were going through. Then my citizens even started showing the symptoms of what I was going through. Flickering, shape shifting going wrong, and even commands not being listened to when given. The Meekrob race is fading away, Tenn."

"No- You can't be fading away like you weren't even here."

Electric blue hands slipped into her green ones, magenta meeting blue, the Irken having no idea at how to react with the queen floating right before her face. She wanted to feel like blushing again, for her emotions only to be embarrassment and overly shy. All she felt was self hatred and utter loathing. She should have noticed what was happening! She should have seen that the queen was fading away before her eyes! How could this ultimate energy source be fading away like this?!

"I have a ship ready for you, Tenn. You never betrayed the Meekrob race once, even when I had left communication links up for you to contact them. You never stole any of our ships, our weapons, our plans for society, or even our snacks. You have gone through the ranks of our race, proving yourself to be more worthy than most of the actual citizens of this planet. The promise you kept years ago about serving the Meekrob race for your freedom is now done with. You have earned your freedom."

"No. No, no, no- My time isn't up yet, I have not worked hard enough to prove that I deserve my freedom! Queen…"

"No arguing, Tenn, I won't let you stay on a planet that is destroying itself! And-"

Port seemed to have hesitated for a few moments, letting her hands slip from Tenn's grasp.

"This isn't your planet. Your planet needs you."

Something inside of Tenn snapped.

"They NEED me?! They left me here to die, Port! I was attacked by crazed SIR Units until my entire base was destroyed and I couldn't move on my own two legs! My own Tallests left me to lie in my own pain; my race never came looking for me! Then- Then you took me in, everyone warned you to kill me, that I was no more than Irken scum. You didn't though, you told them that I would prove myself, that I could show them that I wasn't Irken scum. But they were right, that's all I was and ever will be, Irken scum."

Magenta eyes widened when a hand swung towards her face, but it flickered away just in time so the palm wouldn't connect with her cheek. Port snarled so unlike the queen she was, Meekrob curse words rapidly leaving her lips until she finally calmed down enough.

"Don't you ever say that about yourself again! You are no scum and I will gladly beat it out of you if I must! I gave you a chance that day because I knew that there was more to you than what any of them had perceived! And you blew both them and I away with how amazing you were- How amazing you are. Call yourself something like that again and I won't just beat you, I'll tear your antennas off."

The Irken had no response to her threat- No, statement.

"My planet doesn't need me though, Port, you do."

"… There is something I haven't told you, Lady Tenn."

"What now? Please don't tell me something else is wrong with this planet!"

"It's about… Planet Irk."

…

(Orbiting Around The Galaxy, Sector 7)

…

"-Give one everything, the whole family shall want.-"

Maybe it was because he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders months ago.

Maybe it was because Lard Nar finally wanted to feel like the captain he was of the Resisty back then. Whatever the reason was, he didn't expect so much work and planning to come out of one little sentence. Sure, it had been a powerful sentence, a suggestion really in his time of ultimate power, but that was it. Just a sentence. Here he was now though, his men surrounding him as they went over their plan for the hundredth time. He wanted to cry at how beautiful this all was. He could still remember that day…

"You want to do WHAT?"

Shloonktapooxis cried out over at his station by the laser cannon, every single member of the Resisty staring at him with shocked faces. Nothing could make this Vortian feel bad though. He was feeling so good, defiance pulsating through his blood like how Irkens marched down the lanes of the planets they took over. He felt as cocky as an invader did when he took over a planet. He felt good. Really, really good. He felt… He felt…

Is this how a Tallest felt?

"You heard me."

"We can't do that!"

"And why not?"

"It's BAD!"

Lard Nar grunted obnoxiously, hitting himself in the face with his own hand. Out of all the people he could pick as his second-in-command, he picked Shloonktapooxis…

"Why don't we just write on the Massive some more or something?"

"Huh, that is a good plan, Spleenk… Wait, what? No! No more little plans like that! That's not starting a real resistance! Think about it! We'll come up with a plan for it, a good plan. No, a great plan! We could do it! Let's stop trying to do little things like getting their snacks and marking their ship! Let's hit them where it'll really hurt! Let's get them where their power cord is! Let's do something that no one else has dared to do before!

Irk is completely weak now, all of their issues will take years to fix! Tallest Purple is already gone, so why not? We could dominate them if we actually went for it! Planet Meekrob will be on our side, I know they will! The Irkens are so busy with their planet that we could go back to ours and pull out people to help us! It'll be perfect! They won't know what hit them! We could finally go all the way!

They have taken everything from us all for themselves! We were left with nothing! They not only took our homes from us and our resources, but even our pride. Our dignity. Our love. The Irkens have been ruling over our homes for far too long! They have been taking our belongings and treating us as nothing more than snacks more times than they should of! They give their snacks more respect than us actually! We need to take back what is rightfully ours! Who's with me?!"

They all just stared at him.

It wasn't in fear or ridicule, not even in mockery. They just stared as though the wheels in their heads had stopped turning. It kind of scared him. Lard Nar realized that he was standing on his captain's chair and slowly slid back into it, head tilted downwards. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He shouldn't have proudly shouted out the idea he had. It was silly now thinking about it, way to difficult for them to do. He was in such a good mood though and… And that was no excuse. He should have just stayed quiet, he-

"Let's do it."

And now they were here, everyone agreeing on the final parts of the plan. It would work out; it was perfect to the very core. Even the print on the blue paper was perfect! They could do this! They would be the ones to free all the planets from Irk's nasty grasp! It would all be so simple and yet so complicated that it would just have to be perfect! Wait, did that even make sense? Who cares! They had a plan to get ready for!

What had been the sentence that had started off this entire situation?

"Let's kill Tallest Red."

…

(Planet Irk, Control Brain Headquarters)

…

"-Give the entire family everything and they will strive for nothing.-"

"The left brain is completely destroyed, my Tallest. There is no way to fix it."

"The other two?"

"The right brain is frizzing and power source keeps flickering away, there's no doubt it will shut down soon. The central brain is in tact; however we cannot actually get any of our Irken information and energy to power up the planet. It's merely useless to us."

"Fantastic."

A chill ran down Commander Sic's spine at the way his Tallest had said that word. It wasn't sarcastic and it hadn't been angered, just… Calm. Way to calm for what his entire planet was going through. Tallest Red was standing by the edge of building, eyes never blinking once as his gazed wandered over his once proud land. There were no voices, no busy Irkens running around to finish their job this last at night, not even laughter of taller Irkens mocking shorter ones. Nothing. All his eyes could see for miles around were the dim lights of red and purple that marked his planet. Red and purple. Purple and Red. Tallest Red and Tallest Purple.

Maybe it should just be Tallest Red by now.

"Any other questions, my Tallest?"

"Why?"

Gig gaped a few moments, baffled by his question.

"Excuse me, my Tallest?"

"Why would I have any questions for you? Either of you? Any of you? What could you possibly do for your planet? Practically everyone has given up except me, but why does that matter? No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to bring Tallest Purple back. I've lost my best friend, my citizens, my planet… I've lost everything and you think I want to ask you two any questions? Then what are we going to do after asking questions? Cry to each other and hold hands? Say that we should just give up conquering all of the galaxy and raise cute little smeets?"

A shadow overtook Red's features instantly, teeth gritting and moving his shoulder for a second.

Did he just twitch?

"Oh, that's right, we don't even have smeets. We have nothing! Nothing! Do you hear me? We have absolutely nothing! No power, no smeets, none of our historical information, lack of food, and Purple… Purple has never been found! We would have found him by now if we fixed the Control Brains! But no, everyone was so absorbed in themselves that nothing was done! "Our food supply, how will I eat?" and "If we don't have smeets, who will I pick on?" But my favorite of them all? "What's going to happen to me, Tallest Red? What about me?" What about you, simple worker? What. About. You."

A protective arm instantly latched around Gig's mid-top when she fell against Sic's top, muscles fixed underneath the Commander's uniform. Red was now turned towards them, eyes narrowed and teeth bared directly at the two.

"My Tallest-"

"Don't act so innocent, Commander Sic. Or should I say old Commander?"

For the first time in years the Commander felt the blood drain from his face.

"… What?"

"Come now, Sic, you knew that this was going to happen. I have been watching everyone's step these past few months, nothing escapes me anymore. Not since that fateful day. You want to escape from Irk, to run off with your little lover over there, and live happily ever after. Oh, no. You aren't getting off that easy. I'm not letting you run off when we have an entire empire to rebuild. You will help me and act like the Irken citizen you are. Not some coward that's trying to run off for his own pleasure!

And don't try anything stupid, I placed a device in Gig that will automatically deactivate her Pak if she tries anything no matter how far from Irk she is. You run off with her, she dies. You make the wrong move or take a wrong step, she dies. You may escape if you like; I even have a ship ready for down by the smeet facilities you can take. All you need to do is put your hand on the ship's main panel and you can leave. As soon as it is activated, the device will set off and kill her. It'll be her life for yours. If Purple's life can just be dismissed for everyone's own worry and pleasure, then so can her life, right?"

There was no mockery, no sarcastic wit that he usually had, it was just cold calculation. The Commander had no idea how to respond, only tightening his lock on Gig's thin form. Every step he took, every word he said, everything he would now do, it would depend on if Gig lived or not.

Her life was on his hands.

No longer caring that his Tallest was there he buried his head against the top of her head, murmuring incoherent words to her. Of apologizes to things that should have never happened and to future plans that the two will never be able to experience. The advisor didn't respond to her lover, only gazing at Red with tears that had been forming in her eyes way to often these days.

"You look confused, why? Did you really think I was checking your Pak to make sure there were no viruses in it? This is the only way to get help, don't you see? You two are going to fix up this planet with me, whether you like it or not. Everyone is going to help me. My citizens should be willing to help their own planet, not to just sit in their own misery like clueless smeets! I can't handle how so many Irkens don't even care what happens to their planet! I'm sorry that you must suffer for Sic's behavior, Advisor, because you are one of the only few who still help any way they can.

Sometimes the good must suffer because of the bad."

"Yes, my Tallest. I understand, if this is what is needed to restore Irk, then it is what needs to be done."

"Are you insane? This control isn't what's needed too-!"

His mouth slammed shut at the look given to him by his Tallest.

"This control is needed. This is what needs to be done when no one else is doing anything. We have already proven that it was an Irken that had attacked Irk. It was our own race that did this to themselves and I will make them fix their mistakes. You have already proven the unloyalty that is filled in our society. But I will fix this. Everything will be fixed in no time; we just have to deal with the hard stuff and small issues first. I will."

"My Tallest, may I ask a question?"

"Yeah, what?"

"What is happening with the Massive at this point? You have not returned to the ship since you have landed on Irk all those months ago. What of it?"

He stayed silent for so long that Gig had thought that he hadn't even heard her question. Maybe he didn't. She was still trying to get used to the silence herself, it was maddening, after all. Maybe her words had been absorbed by the silence to never reach his hearing range. That's what it felt like to her. The Tallest turned back towards the edge to gaze outwards at his planet, back straight and hands collapsed together behind his back. This silent hurt more than his cold words, she wanted to beg him to say something, to remind her that he was still the same Tallest he had once been. That this was all a nightmare and her Pak was still in rest mode.

"I'll check up on the Massive soon, really, I will. Irk needs me more than the ship does, it's not like we can used the Massive anyway. How can you use a ship to take over other planets when our own planet is in desperate need?"

Arms disappeared from Gig's body, Sic turning on his heel to head back down into the headquarters. He had to get away from this insanity, he couldn't stay and just let himself hurt from all these comments. How could Gig fall for such a charade? Tallest Red for all the years the Commander knew him had only cared for himself, Tallest Purple, and power, but now he was worried for his planet? No. Absolutely not. There was something else wrong and he was going to find out with our without help. When the metallic door slammed the advisor flinched, lips thinning into a straight line. How could Sic just blow off everything Red said?

How could he not care for his own planet and race?

"You know, it's funny that we can't figure out who this Irken was that took Purple. Think it would be so simple. Maybe it is so simple that it just keeps slipping from under our antenna. It really shouldn't be this hard. Nothing was special about him! He was clearly a guy in too small of invader clothing and had the typical magenta eyes that most of our citizens have! What invader just shows up randomly to things? Which invader has gotten too tall for his clothing that we haven't noticed? It would have to be an invader that we haven't checked on in a long time."

Gig made no comment when his neck moved slightly to the side, but taking a mental note that he had looked to be in slight pain. He was chuckling now, hands moving around as he began chatting once more.

"I think over the video sometimes- Often- And find some of it funny. When Purple had been saved it looked like he had actually been yelling at the guy who saved him. That invader had gotten all awkward on the video and had no way of dealing with Purple's yelling! He had just jumped from a ship, sped down towards Purple, and moments before hitting the ground he took out his Pak legs to save him! And what does Pur do? He yells at the guy! That was hilarious! Pfft- Purple even looked more terrified at seeing that guy than falling to his death! You think that he just saw a taller version of-"

Laughter suddenly halted.

"My Tallest?"

"Impossible."

There was no longer joy or humor, only disbelief.

"What is wrong, my Tallest?"

"Impossible."

Anger was replacing once a positive mood that had been the first time in months since he had really smiled. Where had this come from? What had he just figured out?!

"Tallest Red, what is wrong?! Please, tell me!"

"Impossible!"

He had rushed past her in a fit of rage before she could even process what had just happened. Even minutes later when she was just still standing there, silence swarming around her like a bunch of insects, she still could not figure it out. Her thoughts were jumbled together and emotions fought one another like it was a fight for their lives. She wanted to get sick, she wanted to vomit, and she wanted to pull her squeedily spooch out of her own body to get rid of the knotting. All she did was stand there though in the darkness of the planet that no longer spoke a word.

What else could she do?

She couldn't do the impossible like fixing her home planet.

…

(In A Dark Abyss)

…

"-You must give and take the perfect amount for the perfect race.-"

At first there was nothing.

And then there was everything.

There was a bright light hitting his eyes, blinding him as he kept stumbling backwards, desperately trying to get away from it. I'm not going towards the light, I know how the ends! When the light ended he was met with a sight that made him awe struck, ignoring the fact that he was still walking backwards. Dib finally tried over a few tools that were lying on the ground, falling on the bottom half of his body, ignoring the dirt all over his lab coat. He couldn't turn away, he knew what that thing was in front of him, and he had seen it hundreds of times on Zim's computer screen. This was different though, it was actually here now, right in front of him.

There was the Massive! Right there!

Except, then it wasn't. It was torn up into three different pieces, Irken construction workers and some other species- Vortians? - All working on every single part of the ship to fix it. No, wait, that guy had just said something about this new ship needed to have it routers rechecked. New ship? The Massive wasn't new! Perhaps they were rebuilding the ship and making the Massive even more Massive? What would they call that? The Ultra Massive? That sounded kinda silly; hopefully they wouldn't come up with such a dumb-

"They better not give it some dumb name. Whatever, all I hope for is that they build some kinda laser thingy to fire at people."

"I think a smoke machine would be cooler. We could have something that could release smoke and our ship could be hidden from enemies until we attacked them out of no where!"

"Won't smoke give away our position, stupid? It's not like it randomly smokes out in the galaxy, because, you know, it's the galaxy."

"This is why no one talks to you, you know? You're so mean. Pfft- I don't know why Advisor Spork deals with you!"

"At the academy who was the most popular student? Like you can talk about friends! You're so busy with Miyuki all the time that- Hey, isn't that your unit?"

"Huh? Wha-? Ah! No, no, no- Come back here!"

A tall Irken burst past Dib without even realizing that he was there, his arms reaching outwards to grad the little SIR Unit that was bolting towards the ship. Without a second thought the tall Irken tackled the unit to the ground, his purple tunic getting covered with dirt, grunting when the robot kept trying to escape. Purple eyes glared down at the squirming unit, biting back a sigh that wanted to escape from deep within his throat.

"This is the fifth time today, Air! What is it now?!"

"They are placing in the blockers all wrong, my master! If it does not get fix, someone will be able to hack into the ship with its coordinates and do anything they want to the ship!"

Dib felt his stomach clinch at the unit's voice that had been the voice that had left Gir when he had been acting crazier than usual. There was no doubt about it. Why was that unit's voice leaving Gir though? And was that… It was! That Irken must have been Tallest Purple! A goofy smile over took Dib's features. One point for Paranormal Investigator and another for seeing the Tallest when he was young. Young Purple frowned, pushing himself off the ground to head back towards where his other red eyed friend was at.

No way- Tallest Red?!

"We've talked about this, Air. You can't just go and keep fixing things, that's not the job of a SIR Unit. Workers get angry when you do that, I'll tell them though as soon as I can, okay? Just leave it for now though, when we get nachos later you can tell me all about the problems you saw everyone doing so I can talk to Miyuki about it."

"Now I know why you nicknamed him Air."

The purple eyed Irken narrowed his gaze at the cruel tone, arms refusing to let go of the little unit in his arms that was eyeing the drones fixing the ship.

"Why?"

"It must stand for 'A Idiotic Retrieval Unit'."

"I don't see you noticing the problems that the drones are doing, Elite Red."

"HA! Good one, Air! I'm glad that took out that silly chip of yours!"

"You mean that modifying chip that was never supposed to be removed? And you really should have never had his coating redone to be black, Purple. Putting the Irken symbol on its head in white was fine, but changing the color in general was too much. It might look cool, but Spork isn't going to be happy about it."

"Hush, Red! Air and I are making fun of you right now!"

Young Red rolled his eyes, grumbling as he crossed his arms over his chest. Young Purple was laughing as he hugged the unit closer to his chest, smirking at his best friend. All the human did was lay there on the ground, enjoying the scene that was before him. They were so happy; he had never seen Tallest Purple so happy before. Then again, maybe it was because he wasn't Tallest at this point in his life. It was just nice to see both him and Tallest Red so happy though… Hey, where were they going?!

"Get up, Meatbag, you're fine. You've been lying there for ten minutes now."

Tallest Purple was hovering right behind him, arms crossed over his chest with a smirk crossed over his lips.

"I'm… Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine! Tallest Purple, I'm fine! The plan worked out perfectly! I'm fine!"

"I heard you the first ten times, now shut up and come on, we got someone we need to follow."

"Who?"

"Myself."

"Yourself? But- What- I- Where are we?!"

"Welcome to Irk of the past, Big-head, don't get your hyu-manness on my memories!"

…To Be Continued…

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Please review, tell me what was liked/disliked, you should really know what I'm going to put down here by now. ;P

Till next time, bye, everyone! :D

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