(A/N: Hi...I'm back...I can't really think of anything to say this time...aw, forget it.)
"Master, you're home!"
As soon as Zim opened the front door, GIR leapt into his arms.
"Yes, GIR, your master has returned. And he has revoked his oath to destroy you."
The SIR unit's smile faded."Aww. Why?"
"Because Tak and I just slaughtered hundreds of innocent people."
"Ooh!" GIR's antenna perked.
Tak nodded happily.
Zim remembered the screams of those humans."Mm-hmm. That, and my lust for your electrical blood has been satiated by SUGAR! Here, have some cotton candy."
Zim shoved some cotton candy into his robot's mouth.
"It tastes like rainbows and glitter stars!" GIR squealed cheerfully. He activated his jets and flew off...somewhere in the house.
"I'm going to regret that later..." Zim remarked.
"Yes, yes you are," agreed Tak.
XXXXXXXDOWNINDALABXXXXXXX
"What are you doing?" Tak asked Zim.
He was over at some sort of transporter device, loading a metal box onto it.
"Sending some cotton candy to the Tallest," Zim replied."So that someday, ALL Irkens will know of this deliciousness! They'll be grateful."
He pressed a button on the device, and the box disappeared, off through the mail service to the Massive.
"Besides," Zim continued."I hadn't sent them a gift this week yet. And they were SO appreciative of the previous one!"
"NO, THEY WEREN'T!" GIR chimed in, popping out of nowhere.
"BLOOD LUST!" Zim tried to tackle GIR, but he wasn't quick enough. The android flew out of the way and headed elsewhere once more.
"You send them a gift every week?" Tak asked in surprise. She had never noticed before.
"Yes! As often as I must." Zim answered, nodding.
"You know, Zim, there IS such a thing as respecting them TOO much..." Tak said uneasily. (A/N: AKA, being a suck-up.)
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Zim."Zim's respect level for them is right where it should be! LEVEL! Now, excuse me while I complete my collage of the Tallest."
Tak backed up to the elevator."...Zim?"
"Heh?"
"The carnival was fun. Thank you," Tak said, straight-faced.
"Mm-hmm," Zim grunted awkwardly. He tried not to look at her.
The elevator quickly began its ascent to the house level. Tak pressed her back against the wall.
Great, now she was thanking the guy. AGAIN. What was this, the second time she had unconsciously done that? Or was it the third...? She may as well give him some flowers and chocolates while she was at it.
Why in the bloody heck would Tak sugarcoat herself for that twerp?
Sure, Zim had behaved in a more civil fashion towards her recently, but was that any reason to be acting...nice? Like she LIKED him?
...
DID she like him?
She had never asked herself before.
Tak felt like she should have some sort of reason to make actually liking Zim an impossibility, but did it hold up? He had ruined her life by preventing her from being an invader. She was sent to Planet Dirt because of him.
While it was his fault, it was unintentional. And what of Zim? He wasn't an invader anymore. Fifty years she had spent finding him, and...should she still hate him? Should she like him? Was it even right for them to become...?
Tak shook her head, as if trying to eliminate the thought. Was she insane?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Zim cut a little photograph of Tallest Red into a crude heart shape and glued it onto the paper.
"Nearly finished..."
Snip. Snip. Paste. Snip. Snip. Paste.
"Hello there."
"Heh?" Zim looked around. He was alone in the lab."Richard, is that you? Hm. Strange..."
"Zim, it's me," a familiar voice spoke."Your conscience."
Zim frowned sourly."Oh, you...hey! Wait! I thought I sealed you away forever in my mental vault!"
"Hehe, you can NEVER get rid of your conscience entirely. It'll always return, especially to someone as lonely and conceited as you."
"What?! That Vortian mind lord LIED to me!"
"Yeah, he did! And if you hadn't locked me up, I would have told you that. Plus, some other things."
"Well, WHAT do you want to tell me now?" Zim said with venom in his voice."Zim is very busy!"
The Irken turned in his chair, and there stood his conscience. He looked just like Zim, except taller, taller than the Tallest. Plus, he seemed to have a kind air about him.
"I'm here to tell you about all the thoughts you force yourself to repress, but actually...feel and stuff!"
Zim groaned. His conscience just chuckled.
"Like how you think Dib has good fashion sense."
"I don't think that!"
"Oh, yes, you do! I am your conscience, so I would know. And you actually care about GIR, you're just being a tsundere."
Zim had no idea what a tsundere was, which led him to question how his conscience could know of terms that he didn't, but he let it slide. He shrunk in his seat as his conscience stepped toward him. (For whatever reason, he didn't march like Zim did.)
"And Tak- -"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Zim tried to cover his conscience's mouth, but of course his hand phased through it.
"...you think she's beautiful."
"AUGHHH!" moaned Zim."Fine, it's true! Can you LEAVE now?!"
"AND that she's strong and clever and VERY good...at evil."
"Alright, ALRIGHT!" Zim shouted."That tears it! Hey, you, up there!"
"Hm?" mumbled the author."Z-Zim! Stop it, I don't want you to break the fourth wall!"
"I know, but this is just TOO FAR!" whined Zim."Zim shall not endure this...generic scene, in which his conscience appears to tell him of his developing feelings!"
"Ah, so you ADMIT that you're developing feelings!" Zim's conscience smirked.
"...GET OUT OF HERE!" Zim conjured up a giant goose with his mind, which attacked and ate his conscience.
Zim smiled."Thanks, Mental Goose!"
The immense goose honked and then disappeared.
"And YOU," Zim referred to the author."Never do anything like that again, or I swear I shall rip out your spine and turn it into a belt!"
The author flinched."You can't do that to me! I'm just a fourteen-year old girl who's never experienced the joys of having a dog!"
"Then I suggest you be careful," Zim sat back down."Ah, my Tallest collage is complete at last."
Zim stood and went over to a wall, where he hung his finished work. While his Tallest collage was on standard 8x11.5 inch paper, there was another, FAR larger collage on the wall next to it.
It was of himself, of course!
"Heh-heh. I'm incredible."
(A/N: I'll get Zim back eventually...Anyway, you have most likely noticed that I changed the rating. Mainly due to my VERY MILD language and strong themes like Ned's wife committing suicide. I was just being paranoid, so I wanted to make sure that this wasn't taken down. Everyone would hate me for that.
So, I know that not much happened, but I found this chapter pretty important to be honest. Point out any errors, per usual.
Please review, fave and follow, and I shall see you next time! Au revoir and joyeux Noel!
PS, speaking of which, I wrote an Invader Zim Christmas one-shot! It'll be up tomorrow!)