(A/N: Hee-LO, little ones! Back for the chapter where everything goes wrong, huh? I'm sure you are! Well, enjoy! I sure hope people are reading these author's notes...)
"Hello, Skoodge."
"Zim! Where have you been?! I've been experimented on three times this week already! I've got stitches in me the size of an outboard motor!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's great. Anyway, Skoodge, we're all planning to destroy this place, so if you want to come with us, you'll have to figure something that will contribute to the escape."
"What?"
"AndIneedthatdonebeforeSaturdaygettoworkbye."
"But- -"
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"Alright, now everyone is informed!" Zim announced, tucking his communicator away.
"It's already Wednesday," Tak reminded him."I just hope this manages to work in time."
"Of course it will!" scoffed Zim."I came up with it, didn't I? My plans always work!"
"No, they don't."
"What?"
"Your plans don't always wor- -"
"Shush! Somebody's coming!"
"It's me!" Dib popped around the corner."I brought you guys some gifts!"
"Exploding gifts?" accused Zim.
"Maybe," Dib replied, reaching into his backpack."I have no idea what they are. But I got direct orders from Agent Pinkeye to deliver them to you. And she's my superior, so..."
Tak remembered seeing Pinkeye on the phone a couple days ago. She crawled over to the edge of the cell, trying to see what the "gifts" could possibly be.
"One for you," Dib threw something into Zim's cell that Tak couldn't see. (Zim: "OW!") "And one for you."
A small object flew through the bars and slid in front of Tak. It looked like a data drive of some sort. (A/N: Look at me trying to sound intelligent.)
Dib slipped his backpack back on."Well, see ya. Those squirrel-duck hybrids aren't going to cut their own brains open!"
He waved and hurried out the door.
XXXXXXXINTERLUDEXXXXXXX
And so, for the next couple of days, Zim and Tak worked on their plan by day, snuck out of their cells by night. Tak's PAK wasn't quite able to decipher the data drive that Dib had given her, but she could just barely figure it out. Eh, it would probably come in handy later. Zim had received what looked like a frequency transmitter for sending signals. He decided to keep it and maybe, you know...send it to the Tallest later.
The cannon was getting closer to arriving to HQ, and things were looking good for everyone.
So, why did the author choose to just expose everything here and move onto Saturday? Because this is supposed to be the chapter where everything goes WRONG. And it will.
XXXXXXXINTERLUDEOVERXXXXXXX
"Zim!"
"Heh?"
"It's nearly midnight! That cannon I warned you about will be arriving here tomorrow!"
Zim was silent for a moment, then he suddenly appeared in front of Tak's cell and unlocked it.
"Then it's time to put the plan into action!"
"Shush!"
XXXXXXXSOONXXXXXXX
Zim and Tak had located the cells of the others a couple of days ago. They released Minimoose, who squeaked in delight, first. They quickly found MiMi's cell after that and let her out.
After a short reunion, they found GIR's cell, which was not too far away.
Zim unlocked it and let the robot out.
"Master!" GIR greeted cheerully."Did you get a haircut?"
"GIR, now is not the time," his master replied."You remember the plan, right?"
"YEAH, we're gonna- -"
Zim covered GIR's mouth before he could speak further."You don't have to say it out loud!"
Tak sighed."Let's get moving already."
They hurried to Skoodge's cell, where he was waiting expectantly.
"Well, Skoodge, what have you done to aid in the escape plan?" Zim asked him.
"Uh, I didn't quite know what would help," the pudgy Irken admitted."You never told me what the plan was. So, I made us all tapas!"
He held out a dish full of Mexican food.
Of course, GIR wanted to let him out.
"Fine! That's good enough." Zim unlocked the cell door and opened it to let Skoodge out."With ME on the team, we'll hardly need your help, for I have a plan! And it is the single greatest plan in the history of plans." (A/N: Man, how many times is the word "plan(s)" used in this story?)
"It's not that great," murmured Tak.
They dashed off to the site of the next phase: The Swollen Eyeball Network HQ's control room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Mothman, wake up!"
"Huh?" Dib jolted out of bed and banged his head on the bunk above."OWW! What is it, Pinkeye?"
"I heard a noise come from downstairs," Pinkeye told him with urgency."I think the prisoners might have escaped!"
"What?!" Dib pulled the blanket off of him."Wait. Your room is on the top floor. Why did you come all the way over here to alert ME?"
"Just come on!" she replied impatiently.
Dib noticed that Pinkeye was already in her clothes. Odd. He decided to change too. Besides, if the prisoners really DID escape, he certainly didn't want Tak to see him in his pajamas...
But Pinkeye was still there.
"...do you mind?" he snapped, unbuttoning his shirt.
"OH!" Agent Pinkeye sidestepped out of the room."Right, sorry..." She made sure to close the door behind her.
*CHANGING MONTAGE DOO DOO DOOO*
As Dib approached the door, he could hear Agent Pinkeye on the other side, talking to somebody.
"...yes, tonight is a full moon," he heard her say."Like I said, everything is ready! Just get up here ASAP! I gotta go, Mothman is gonna come out of his room any second." BEEP!
"Who were you just talking to?" Dib silently closed the door behind him.
Pinkeye shrugged."Friend from school. Anyway, let's go."
The hallway was dark and boring. Dib stayed close behind the older and much taller girl. But not TOO close. That would be weird.
"WAIT," Pinkeye stopped in her tracks."Did you hear that?"
"What?"
What Agent Pinkeye had heard as a creak was actually a squeak from the PA system's microphone. Skoodge's nasally voice echoed through every hall of headquarters.
"Attention, all Swollen Eyeballs! I know that it's late, but wipe that gross stuff out of your eyes, and wake up because we have a special announcement! Tomorrow is Agent Mothman's birthday! We will be setting up party decorations and cake and all of that good stuff as a last minute 'happy birthday' to this underappreciated young man! Tapas will be served to all those who participate. Thank you."
Tapas? Well, there was no way anybody could pass THAT up! In seconds, every agent of the Swollen Eyeball Network wiped the gross stuff out their eyes, woke up, and hurried downstairs to start preparing for the party. They each wished Dib a happy birthday as they passed him in the hallway.
"Tomorrow's your birthday?" asked Pinkeye.
"Wow, that's hospitable!" said Dib."The Swollen Eyeballs remembered my birthday! That's more than I can say for my own family!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Now that everyone's occupied, it's time to get my ship from the garage," Tak announced.
"THE GARAGE!" GIR skipped out of the control room, and everyone followed.
It was a little tough locating Tak's ship in the immense garage. The Swollen Eyeballs boasted the largest assembly of extraterrestrial spacecraft ever...assembled.
While Zim was glad his Voot Cruiser was still back at the house, something else was concerning the short Irken. What if...after Tak got her ship, and all this was taken care of...she left? He remembered how he had felt when she said that she'd be staying with Dib, and before that, he'd been so anxious as she was held captive at Ned's mansion. Could she be leaving for good this time...?
Blegh, he felt like kissing her again.
"Come on, get in!" Tak snapped him out of his thoughts.
Zim jammed himself into the cockpit of Tak's ship. The Swollen Eyeballs had been kind/foolish enough to reunite it with the escape pod Tak had driven into Zim's lawn about a month ago, so it was pretty much fully operational again. Wow, so much had changed since that day...
It sure was cramped in there, but they managed. Time to bust out of there before any of the agents found them. Or finished Skoodge's tapas. Or realized that the "Dib's birthday" thing was a serendipitous lie. Whichever came first.
"Alright, GIR," Zim turned to face his SIR unit."Put your laser piggy behind the windshield. If anybody gets in our way, you know what to do."
"WHOO! Imma shoot some heads off!"
Tak got ahold of the controls."Only if we have to. Now, to get the bloody heck out of here!"
The ship started up and hovered just above the ground. It picked up altitude as it zoomed out of the garage. Boy, these Swollen Eyeballs sure knew what they were doing; this thing steered like a dream!
As the ship flew through the halls, Tak pulled out the data drive that Dib had delivered from Agent Pinkeye a few days ago.
"This must contain information on the Swollen Eyeball Network..." She slipped it into the data slot on the dashboard and let it take its time downloading the info."Score."
Commotion was heard from the mess hall (which was where every member of the Swollen Eyeball Network had gone) as they "nyoomed" by. There, the team of paranormal investigators had almost immediately disposed of the tapas and discovered that there was no party. (Even though Dib still wanted one.) They were unable to exit; Minimoose had taken the liberty of putting a lockdown on the entire building. That way, nobody would be able to get out and disrupt them, right? Right?
Well, the lockdown didn't prevent other people from getting IN, which explains how the door got broken down.
When the smoke cleared, two shocking things appeared.
The first shocking thing was the cannon from NASA.
The second shocking thing was a bunch of werewolves.
Wait, what?
"My cannon!" Darkbooty exclaimed.
Dib's eyes widened."What the...WEREWOLVES?!"
"I KNEW IT!" Agent Crow's Feet shouted from the rear of the crowd. Tunaghost smacked him.
"Not now, Crow's Feet."
"Oh! GUYS!" Agent Pinkeye grinned and skipped out to greet the wolf creatures as if they were her family or something. The one in the front, who was wielding the cannon, received a hug from her.
"Babe!" it spoke."It's been so long!"
Pinkeye, still smiling, stepped away from the werewolf and spread out her arms."Hon, I'm sort of strapped for time. Make it quick, okay?"
"Of course." The werewolf aimed the cannon at the ceiling and fired, which created an immense hole in it. Light from the night's full moon streamed through the hole, and fell onto Agent Pinkeye.
The Swollen Eyeball Network watched, awestruck, as their beloved member...slowly, but steadily...transformed into a werewolf!
(A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
"Wh...What is this?!" Agent Eye Drop gasped incredulously.
"Ahh...my prefered form," sighed Pinkeye."Sug, take care of things here for me. Give 'em the LONG and overly informative speech. You five, come with me. We've got some alien escapees to catch."
The five burly werewolves Pinkeye had gestured towards followed her out of the demolished doorway.
"Oh, um," the werewolf in the front grunted and awkwardly placed the NASA cannon at his side."Well, ahem. My name is Darrell. Uh, I am the alpha male of this...lovely group of werewolves here. We have inhabited the underground of Swollen Eyeball Network HQ for..."
"Uuugh..." Everybody groaned as "Darrell" droned on in a business-like tone.
"I've gotta get out of here." Dib took it upon himself to find the one way out if the room while the werewolf delivered his monologue. There was only one way out: air vent.
There was one such vent in the bottom corner of the room. A few kind souls at the back of the crowd helped Dib get it open. He was the only agent, despite the massive size of his head, who had a chance of getting through.
So, they quietly wished him luck and sent him on his merry way. Crawling through the vents like a rat.
"Our fates are in that boy's hands now," Eye Crust muttered."Oh, God."
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"Uh, what's happening?" Skoodge asked from the back of the ship."Why are we slowing down?"
"I don't know what's happening!" Tak shook the controls. She noticed that the data drive had been fully downloaded and gasped."The drive! It's causing a malfunction!"
"Then un-cause the malfunction!" blurted Zim."We're almost there!"
"I can't just- -"
But it was too late. Tak's ship totally glitched out and slammed into a corner.
"Ouch...Minimoose, you're standing on my organs..." moaned Skoodge."Is everyone else okay...?"
"Yes, I- -*gasp* A LYCANTHROPE!" Zim pointed ahead in alarm.
Werewolves. Six werewolves heading straight for them. It sucks to be Zim.
"Aha!" Pinkeye cackled."I knew that drive would work! You can all thank Dib for telling us so much about Irken technology. You're not going anywhere. But don't worry, I've got separate tapes for each of your autopsies slash disassemblies."
The werewolves closed in on the cornered aliens, preparing to strike.
"WAIT!" Tak turned upright."Don't even think of killing us! We've got lifeclock bombs inside us! If we die, this whole place explodes!" She was bluffing a little; she had no idea what the blast radius of those things was.
"Uhm, about that," Zim spoke up."I've been meaning to- -"
"You made that up so that I wouldn't kill you when I showed up, didn't you?" Tak's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Zim nodded.
Tak covered her face with both hands. Her words came out muffled."HOWCOULDIFALLFORTHIS...STUPID...FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...Zim."
"Yes?"
"Not loving you so much right now."
"Figures."
(A/N: AH FINALLY UPDATED I AM NOT A QUITTER! AHHHHHHH!
Okay, there are only two chapters left, but I PROMISE YOU, ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED, okay? Please, just trust me on this one. I edited this a lot...there were many unneccessary parts and misspellings...I'm fairly proud of it. What did you think?
Please review, fave and follow, and I shall see you next time! Check out my profile for more stories! Au revoir!
PS, Zim, this was not the best time to tell Tak that. Then again, Zim sucks, so.)