UPDATE TIME! First of all, I'd like to thank all you guys for getting this story past 100 reviews! Each and every one of you are well appreciated, trust me, and if I could I'd send all of you thank you cookies for being such a supportive and helpful lot.

Now, on with the chapter I think. There's no experiment this week, but that's because I'm building up some things for a later experiment. Just enjoy for now!

The mall was never the nicest place in the world. It was a large, loud place and while the architecture wasn't terrible it was clear that the economic climate had hit it hard. There were a number of closed shops, boarded up windows and the place itself had a run down, dirty sort of feel.

But it was the only good mall for miles around. The only other one was run by an insane security guard who unleashed zombies on people who didn't obey his insane rules. It had been fun to kick zombie butt on the weekends but the charm grew thin when Gaz had realised that the zombies posed about as much a threat as Jack Spicer did in last years parent-child robot battle tournament at school.

"See!" Zim pointed to what at first seemed like a bunch of zombies but on further inspection turned out to be a group of mallrats, all dressed almost exactly like Zim. "See how they dress? With this outfit I would clearly be considered 'cool' by you stink-pigs."

"No, you'd be like them," Gaz replied with a disapproving nod at the group. "You're nothing like them, so why bother acting like them?"

Zim was still dressed in the ridiculous outfit but at least Gaz had wiped away the makeup because she just couldn't look at him without bursting into a fit of giggles.

They walked on, Zim almost falling over his baggy pants for the thousandth time before Gaz caught him and held him up. "Ugh, okay, we're getting you some new pants first."

"I agree, these pants are awful, no wonder you humans fail so much when your dress codes are not uniform and ridged." The irken commented as they made their way towards a small clothes shop called Thunderegg.

Gaz raised an eyebrow. "You don't have fashions on your planet?"

"Of course not!" Zim replied with a small smirk. "We dress according to our stations in life. I dress as an invader, others will dress as advisors or workers." He looked to a pair of jeans, poked them and put a tongue. "What is the point of this?"

"To be yourself." Gaz replied simply and raising an eyebrow. She found it so hard to imagine millions, no, billions of irkens all looking and acting and speaking the same. And yet Zim was so... unique. He wasn't like anyone else she knew, hell, even when Tak and Skoodge had been here for a while he had seemed so unlike them.

Tak had been so dedicated to proving her Tallest she was worthy and Skoodge seemed to do the same, albeit less fanatically. Arguably Zim too shared this obsession but he so often talked about himself being a ruler, himself conquering earth. Not for his Tallest but for his own gratification and success.

She wondered if he even realised how individual he really was, or if the other irkens around him also realised this.

Zim pulled a red and black striped shirt from a shelf and held it up. "I like this one the most."

"... but it's just like your old top," Gaz questioned simply. "Why not get something new?"

"Why not stick with what works?" Zim answered back with an shrug. He really didn't see the point of changing his clothes so dramatically, it's not like it made any difference to himself or his personality.

"Because you asked me to help you change." The taller girl replied with a frown. "If you don't change your image, you can't change on the inside. How you look should reflect who you really are."

Zim didn't reply, instead he threw the shirt back and sort of pouted, even though Gaz was sure he was trying to sulk. She rolled her eyes. "Wait here, let me find some things."

She really didn't know what to pick out for him, but it would be something less... strict. Something a little more free flowing and relaxed, casual even. Zim's slightly baggy shirt and tight blank pants were hardly the most fashionable thing ever. When they were younger, Gaz had wondered if the slightly oversized shirt was part of his uniform. Now she was realising that perhaps they simply didn't have one in his size.

Oh sure, she knew irkens as a whole weren't the tallest of races, in fact, from what she'd learned from Dib's constant chatter, humanity may actually be amongst the tallest aliens in the universe.

Which of course made finding clothes for Zim that fit all that harder. She was forced to venture into the children's clothes section before finally finding some things that Zim may look good in.

"What are these?" Zim questioned as he held the small pile of clothes out in front of him. "They look so...uncoordinated."

"They're your new style." Gaz replied with a fold of her arms. "Go and put them on."

"Right now?" the small alien looked rather shocked. "Everyone will through my amazing disguise if I take it off!"

Gaz face palmed. "Go to the changing room, Zim. Change in the changing room."

"Changing rooms?" He questioned suddenly. "And this will change what? My skin? My organs?"

The teeanger now double face palmed. "Oh my god, how does my brother think you're a threat?"

"I am a threat!" Zim replied with the shake of a fist before marching off towards the changing rooms. "I'll prove to you how... threat-y I can be!"

"It's 'threatening!'" Gaz called back before shaking her head and sitting down next to the window of the shop.

That irken was an utter moron. How had he survived for so long without getting his head blown off? She could understand about his cover, she'd seen him reveal himself in public enough times to know that no one really cared if he was an alien or not. But seriously, he was the type of person to test how strong a car was by driving it into a wall.

And yet, she found herself smiling. She found his stupidity amusing, rather than annoying. She found his strange innocence about the world entertaining instead of weary. Inside she knew she was glad to be back with him, hanging out and helping him try and be a more normal person, even if that task was a fools errand.

She wondered how long they would last this time. A few weeks? A few days? She wanted to be hopeful, but her experiences told her to be cynical.

"Well?" Zim's voice cut her out of her thoughts and she snapped her head back.

Zim looked... good. It was so shocking that she honestly was lost for words. He wore a simple red t-shirt over a black long sleeved shirt with tan-brown cargo pants that were baggy, but fitting. He still had his boots on, but also his gloves and he'd somehow styled his hair back into it's quiff shape.

For a second, a scene flashed in her mind. Zim in the same clothes but... taller. Taller than her. A slim but strong body, that same confident smile combined with maturing looks. No longer the tiny and childish but a confident, mature and driven.

A second's vision of the potential of who Zim could become.

He seemed to turn his eyes from her and his face... deepened? She couldn't tell, but it did seem her staring was making him uneasy. He folded his arms and mumbled. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Shuddup." Gaz replied, standing up and looking to him, her vision disappearing but not forgotten. "You look fine."

"Do I look normal?" He asked with a genuine curiosity.

"Yes. Very." She smirked. "Very... normal."

"SUCCESS!" He threw his arms into the air. "Victory for Zim!"

"... right." She paused and pointed to his hand. "You should take your gloves off though. They don't suit the rest of the outfit."

"My gloves are for sanitary reasons," the irken replied suddenly, drawing his hands to his chest. "I don't wish to catch any of your filthy earth germs."

"...you've been here three years," Gaz replied slowly. "You're not going to catch anything."

"How do you know?" Zim asked suspiciously. "Besides. I do not wish to make any sort of... skin contact with you meat beings."

A tiny part of Gaz felt oddly hurt by that comment, as if it was made directly at her. And yet she knew it was just part of Zim's many quirks. She brushed it away, inwardly guessing that she could not change all of him in one day. Besides, she had time to keep working on him after all.

And yet unknown to her, time was quickly running thin. Back in Gaz's home, Dib sat quietly at his computer, his eyes flicking over a very long looking document. He was in fact reading the irken rules of war, which he'd read before but this time he was looking for something rather specific.

A small line that could potentially destroy Zim forever.

"Where are you..." He mumbled softly to the screen, his eyes starting to burn from looking to long at the artificial light. Suddenly however, they widened and he whispered to himself, "No invader shall fraternise with the enemy under any circumstances. Such action will result in serious punishment."

Dib grinned viciously and leaned back, crossing his arms. "Gotcha, space-boy."

I know I promised Dibby-plotting this week and I know the ending was terrible for Dibby-plotting, but more will be done on it next chapter. Unfortunately I couldn't stick to my word limit and keep all the stuff I wanted to keep in the chapter. Besides, that only means MOAR Dibby-plotting next update!

References: 'Jack Spicer' - that awesome guy from Shaolin Showdown :D Lovable but completely useless.
'mallrats' - an excellent Kevin Smith film.
'Thunderegg' - a great little clothes shop in the city nearest to me.

Anyways, that's all for now. You guys keep rocking, reviewing, readin, feedbackin and being awesomesauce. Till next time, PEACE!