Episode Summary: After the near miss on the train the Renegades scramble to find more recruits for the cause. Meanwhile Zim's behavior continues to spike suspicions in his allies. Can the Renegades pull themselves together for the good of the mission? Find Out Now!

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, please review!

Episode 2: Welcome to the Resistance (Part 1)

(149 Years Ago)

"1 – 2 – 3 – 4… 1 – 2 – 3 – 4…."

'This is so boring!' Cadet Zim growled in frustration as he tried to carry on with his training session. He copied the moves of the military combat training simulation perfectly, but none of his instructors seemed to notice. 'It's been ten years and I'm still doing the same thing...' Cadet Zim growled again. Was he ever going to be allowed out of here? He and the others were not allowed to leave this room for any reason.

Why?

He wasn't sure why, exactly. He just knew it was forbidden.

Cadet Zim removed his hollo-visor and looked around, irritated. The other Cadets busily performed their own training simulations. There were seriously hundreds of them, and all of them were wearing their own visors as Computer brains download new data into their PAKs. Cadet Zim shook his head and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. It was the same boring routine every day…

Every morning, the Cadets would wake up to the sounds of loud shouting. Then they would jump out of their sleeping bags on the far side of the room before wolfing down a quick, slimy breakfast. Then they'd work training simulation after training simulation for hours upon hours until they were given another slimy meal. This was always a meal that they'd once again wolf down, only to get right back to training. The training wouldn't stop until the arrival of the final meal, which sometimes never came at all! Then, once they ate their dinner, the Cadets would crawl back into their sleeping bags on the hard steel floor and fall asleep, only to wake up a few hours later to do it all over again.

Cadet Zim found it all very dull and very exhausting, to say the least.

"Ten years and we're still in this education plug! When will we get to see the planet's surface?" Cadet Zim whispered harshly to the Cadet next to him.

The Cadet, a young Irken with big red eyes, gave Cadet Zim a stern look. The Cadets weren't supposed to talk to each other during their training, which was most of the day. "Zim, you're going to get us in trouble again!" The Cadet almost whined in frustration.

"Just ignore him Red," another Cadet, one with big purple eyes and a high-pitched voice spoke in a soft whisper. "You can't afford to get in trouble again."

"It's not my fault Purple; he's the one that started talking to me!" Cadet Red complained.

Cadet Purple rolled his eyes. "We're supposed to be an example to the others," he reminded both of them. "Or have you both forgotten?"

"What's so great about being one of the Worthy Ones if we're just treated like common Cadets anyways?" Cadet Zim said. "We're supposed to be better than them, more superior, so why are we treated the same? When I become the Tallest, things will be different!" Cadet Zim vowed.

"You, a Tallest?" Cadet Purple couldn't help but laugh. "You're crazy!"

"Yeah, just look at you! You're the shortest Irken ever in the history of our race!" Cadet Red agreed. "You'll be lucky to reach the final stage of the change, and even if you do there's no way you'll survive it."

"Yes I will!" Cadet Zim growled. He hated the other Cadets, especially Cadet Red, who always made fun of his height. "You're not much taller than me," he whined. "The citizens of Irk must know of my power! Skoodge!" He turned and pointed at a fat-looking Cadet, who was working on his training behind them. "You look impressionable." Cadet Zim knew everyone hated Cadet Skoodge, especially Cadets Red and Purple; in fact, that was the only reason why Cadet Zim wasted his time with him.

Cadet Skoodge walked over to them happily. "I sure am," he said, agreeing with Zim even though he had no idea what he was talking about. In all honesty, he didn't even care. It was a great honor for an ordinary Cadet like himself to be spoken to by someone with Zim's, Red's, and Purple's potential.

"Then escape with me to the surface!" Cadet Zim ordered.

"Sounds terrifying, but okay," Cadet Skoodge agreed. "When do we leave?"

"You can't be serious!" Cadet Purple was shocked.

"I am," Cadet Zim said boldly. "We're leaving now! Let's go Skoodge." He and Cadet Skoodge raced off towards the exit.

"Those idiots…" Cadet Purple was dumb founded.

"Let him go," Cadet Red advised. "If we're lucky he'll get himself killed, and that will mean that we will have one less Irken in our way of achieving our ultimate goal."

Cadet Purple watched as Cadet Zim and Cadet Skoodge disappeared out of the exit and out of sight. He knew Cadet Red was right; not all the Worthy Ones could survive, and if Cadet Zim got himself killed now it would be a lot less painful then what the change would do to him. Cadet Purple shivered at the thought; he wondered if he'd be strong enough to survive it himself.

Cadet Red gave his friend's shoulder an encouraging squeeze, as if he had just read his mind. "We'll do fine; we'll survive, and then we will rule together, and no one will stand in our way."

(Present Day)

It was all alien to her… In more ways than one!

Kathy Rogers tried to force her messy red hair out of her face, but it was next to impossible with all the textbooks she was holding! Textbooks that, mind you, held titles of topics she had never even heard of! Then there was this stupid line that stretched out before her. 'No wonder school is three extra hours long; we're in this line three-fourths of the day!' She thought bitterly, and silently cursed the Tallest as she moved another inch forward.

'I hate this school…' Of course she wasn't surprised by this thought. After all, she'd hated every school she had ever been to since she'd stepped into her first school at the age of six. Not that anyone could blame her; Kathy had lived on this good green Earth for 16 years and in that time she had lived in five different countries and gone to twenty-six different schools.

'Living in a military family sucks…' Those were the words that she used to say. It was funny, really. For her whole entire life, Kathy hated her parents, and how their job constantly made them move around. But now that they were gone, she'd do anything to have them, and that lifestyle back…

She sniffled as her eyes began to water. 'Great, now I'm crying! Could this first day get any worse?!'

Of course, her question was answered with the sound of the tardy bell. 'And we're late; nice going Carrot-top!' She scowled at herself, and then smiled as the old nickname brought back a happy memory from a happier time. Oh, how she wished those times were still here, back when her only job was to drive her older sister, Jamie, crazy with her boy-crazed gossip! Back when her life's main focus was how to get out of doing the dishes so she could hang out with her best friend Crystal! Or just chilling with her younger sister Mary by a campfire and telling cheesy ghost stories...

'Yeah, those where the days…' Kathy sniffled once more. 'And we're crying again! Gees, Kathy, get a grip already!' She rolled her water green eyes as the line moved another inch forward.

At this rate she'd be lucky to get to her second period at all…

(Back with Joey…)

The pain…

In all his life, Joseph Campbell had never felt such pain! The young 17-year-old gritted his teeth as another wave of pain climbed up his spine mercilessly. 'What the hell is going on with my body?!' He didn't have the slightest clue; first it was just migraines, and now it felt like his spine was on fire! Not to mention he had probably consumed enough food this morning to feed an elephant! 'Speaking of hunger…' Joseph groaned as he pulled a candy bar out of his pocket and wolfed it down; he barely even took the time to rip off the wrapper. Unfortunately the candy bar did little to satisfy the ever-growing rumble in his belly.

'It just doesn't make any sense!' Joseph thought bitterly. 'I've eaten everything I can get my hands on this morning, and still nothing! It's like my stomach has a mind of its own! It's a bottomless pit!'

"Joey, we have to talk about what happened the other day," Joshua Campbell raced after his twin brother, who was undoubtedly trying his best to avoid the confrontation. A confrontation that really needed to take place. 'He's slipping!' Josh could see it as plain as day; something was horribly wrong with his brother. 'I have to pull him back up to the surface before he drowns,' Josh thought. 'Who knows when the next attack will be, or who will be on the receiving end?!'

"I'm serious Joey; you strangled Mark and threw him across the room!" Josh whispered harshly.

Joseph rolled his eyes in pure frustration; between his brother and the ever-growing pain in his spine he was bound to crumble. He groaned as his stomach growled again. "He called me scum, Josh, and if I remember correctly I used to lash out at you when you called me that!"

"It's not the same and you know it!" Joshua whined. "Please just talk to me; please help me understand what's going on!"

"Nothing is going on!" Joseph snapped as he stopped at his locker. 'Please tell me I still have a bag of chips from yesterday…' Joseph sighed in obvious relief as he opened his locker to see a large bag of salt and vinegar chips sitting right where he left them. "Oh thank God!" Joseph ripped the bag open and wolfed the chips down in seconds.

"You see what I mean?! Look at you!" Josh said, refusing to give in. "You're acting like an animal! You do realize you've eaten enough food today to feed a small country for a week, and it's only second period!"

Joseph knew his brother was right, and deep down he wasn't sure he should be taking these bizarre symptoms lightly, but of course he wasn't about to give in! After all, if he did that then he'd have to apologize to Mark, and he'd die before that happened! "Honestly, can you blame me for snapping? All he's ever done is judge me and question everything I do! He was practically begging for me to lash out at him, just to prove his point!"

Josh sighed; he knew reasoning with him was useless, but he tried his best anyways. After all, who else was going to lecture him with both fairness and a firm hand? 'Not Mark, that's for sure!'

"Besides, we don't have time for this," Joseph whispered. "We need to recruit more members while we wait for the heat to die down!"

"There are soldiers everywhere!" Joshua pointed out the obvious. "How are we supposed to do anything with them breathing down our necks?!"

Joseph knew his brother was right; it had been thirty-eight hours since the raid, and everything and everyone was definitely boiling over! After the near miss with the royal guard, the five Renegades had been on high alert, waiting for the moment that they would be figured out. It had been a risky plan from the beginning, they all knew that, but it was necessary, and afterwards they all agreed on the same conclusion…

The operation would have worked better with more people! If they'd had back-up that night on the train, then Zim wouldn't have had to of intervened. The caboose would have disappeared without a trace, and Irken soldiers wouldn't be patrolling the school looking for possible culprits!

Joseph watched as two soldiers appeared at the end of the hall. 'What's that saying humans like to use? Speak of the devil and he shall appear…?' Joseph smiled. He wasn't sure if the devil was real, but the saying definitely had some truth to it. He groaned as the bell sounded throughout the halls. "Just keep an eye out for possible candidates, and please try not to get in trouble today!" Joseph ordered before disappearing down a hall to his left and into his next class.

He sat down and groaned once more as his stomach growled AGAIN! He looked at the clock; it was only 9:36 AM. 'Someone please murder me!' He begged silently.

"Alright class, I hope you read last night's homework because you now have to wright a seven-page essay on what you learnt," Mrs. Dizon said. "It's due at the end of the class; now begin!"

Joseph groaned once more; seven pages front and back about last night's lesson on Irken Mechanics! "Someone please kill me now!"

"I'd be glad to filth; just name the time and place."

Joseph turned to his left to see one of his least favorite Cadets. "Why Cadet Rene, sir, what an honor it is to be in your presence on this fine morning," Joey said as sincerely as he could manage at the time.

"You better believe it is!" Cadet Rene said mockingly.

Joseph did his best not to hurl…It wasn't easy! Out of Cadet Scamooch's entire lot of suck-up friends, Cadet Rene had to be the worst!

"Now stop looking at me with your filthy human eyes, worm!" Cadet Rene hissed.

Joseph looked at the clock hopefully; it was now 9:45 AM…

Joseph groaned once more. 'It's going to be a long day…!'

(Back with Rachel…)

She absolutely, without a doubt, hated Coach Richardson's class!

Rachel Hearting rolled her eyes as she tried her best to focus on the task at hand; all these vocabulary words weren't going to define themselves. 'If only,' she sighed. There was just something about Health class that demanded hatred! It wasn't Coach Richardson herself; heavens no! Rachel loved Coach Richardson's P.E. class, and it was nice to have a normal, HUMAN teacher! Most students were lucky to have one, but to have two; now that was a real blessing! And it was a blessing to be thankful for, but Human teachers were only made possible because there were just some subjects the Irkens couldn't relate to. For example, a Human's health or sexual education, or just how much physical fitness their bodies could take in one day. So, of course, Rachel forced herself to forget her hatred for the subject at hand and just be thankful that she was one of the lucky ones!

"Hey Rachel, how far are you?" A voice whispered from behind her.

Rachel turned to see her boyfriend, James Carter, who was giving her a hopeful smile. If there was one person who hated Health class more than her, it was James. "I'm on number six," she whispered. "What about you?"

"Does writing your name count as a number?" James asked, giving a sly grin.

Rachel stiffened a giggle. "You're the worst! You know that don't you?"

The door to the classroom suddenly opened to reveal a girl with messy red hair and a handful of books. It was obvious that she was new… "Ma'am, I am so sorry for being late! The line…" The girl stopped, obviously surprised that the teacher was human instead of Irken.

"It's quite alright," Coach Richardson said with a smile. "I have to stand in that stupid line too, and I know how slow it moves. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"

The girl turned to the class, obviously nervous. "Um, my name is Kathy Rogers and I just moved here from Florida. My sister Jamie got this great job over here and stuff…"

'And stuff?!' Kathy could have clawed her own brains out! What kind of introduction was that? 'Great Carrot-top! Now you've blown your only chance at getting some real friends!'

"So you have a sister?" Coach Richardson asked.

"Uh, yeah. Actually, I have two. My younger sister, Mary, is in the middle school division on the other side of the school," Kathy answered, then took a leap of faith. "Actually, to be honest, I've never been in a school that has all grades K- 12 in one building. This is surprising, considering the fact that I've been to plenty of schools."

"So you're used to moving around a lot?" Coach Richardson sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I come from a military family. My mom was a nurse, and my dad was with the K-9 unit." The word "was" felt sour in her mouth.

The class went quiet, and for good reason; everyone knew what the word "was" meant when it came to military personnel.

A boy with orange hair who was sitting in the back raised his hand.

"Yes Keef?" Coach Richardson asked.

"Oh, I was just wondering which branch of the military her parents where in?" The boy named Keef asked almost hopefully.

"The Marines," Kathy answered.

"Cool. My Sister was a Marine." Keef forced a nervous laugh.

'WAS…'

'There's that word again!'

"Who knows; maybe they were in the same platoon," Keef went on, forcing a smile.

Kathy smiled back. 'Maybe this school won't be so bad after all...'

(Back with the Tallest…)

"Alive… What do you mean he's ALIVE?!"

"I'm sorry, my Tallest… I know how much this must upset you…" Captain Giza could feel his body shaking as he spoke. For over 50 years he had served as the Commander of the royal guard, and not once had he ever failed his Tallest… of course, that was, until now!

"You had a simple job," Red continued, his voice but a harsh whisper, "And that job was to bring back the five rebels for execution-"

"But instead you come back here with stories to make up for your failures!" Purple growled as he flipped over a table with one hand, sending it across the room and against the wall.

"My Tallest. I am serious, I assure you! It was Irken Zim!" Captain Giza fell to his knees, trembling in fear. For he knew that what he was about to tell the Tallest would most likely bring him certain death, but he knew it was better to tell them now then to have them find out on their own.

"Alright, let's say we believe you," Purple continued. "Let's say Zim is alive; why couldn't you handle him?"

Here it was, the moment of truth…

Captain Giza forced himself to get a grip, even though he knew that death was most likely upon him. "My Tallest, my men and I, we did not–no. We could not harm the Irken Zim."

"And what gave you the idea that you could not follow through with a direct order from your Tallests?!" Red was fuming now, and his eyes were glowing dangerously red…

But Captain Giza would not swallow down the truth, he would not bite his tongue… Not this time!

"Because… Irken law states that it is forbidden to kill or to harm any Irken with his potential without probable cause!" Captain Giza yelled feverishly as he got up from his knees. "Why didn't you tell me that Irken Zim was an Amon?!"

"What?" Red and Purple said at the same time, both looking surprised.

"Where did you hear this?!" Purple growled.

"NO! You can't lie to me… not this time!" Captain Giza yelled dangerously. "You were both in the same class as Zim! You were all in training together as Cadets! You can't lie to me, I've seen him…"

Captain Giza's words caused both of the Tallests' eyes to widen.

"What do you mean you've seen him?" Purple dared to ask.

"He's grown since the last time we saw him; worse his eyes were glowing!" Captain Giza said gravely. "The change will be upon him soon! Now tell me you did not know!" Captain Giza was screaming now. "Tell me you had no idea that just one year ago you were sending a Worthy One, an Amon, to his death!"

Red and Purple looked at each other and nodded gravely, and it was in that moment that Captain Giza knew he was right about everything he had just said. He was right about Zim being an Amon, he was right about the Tallest knowing it, and even worse. He was right about his certain demise…!

"It is unfortunate that you have come to know this," Red spoke gravely as Purple walked up behind Captain Giza.

"And sadly, we can't have you spreading this knowledge," Purple spoke as he cut into Captain Giza's throat with his long razor-sharp claws.

Captain Giza was dead before he even hit the floor.

For a long moment, the Tallests were silent. Finally, after several seemingly endless seconds, one of them spoke.

"What are we going to do, Red?" Purple was shaking in obvious concern; dare it even be said, fear?

"He's wrong!" Red hissed.

"What if he's right? What if the change is upon him?" Purple dared to ask.

"HE'S WRONG!" The room shook as Red screamed out his denial.

"You and I both knew there was a chance that he might start growing, and he already had begun to grow! We tried to kill him last year because of it! You know it's not that far of a stretch!" Purple snapped.

"He has to be wrong!" Red looked desperate.

"We both know that he's dangerous. General Giza said it himself; he's a powerful force to be reckoned with now, and the moment that he long thought would never happen HAS COME!"

"So what do we do about it?" Red looked more helpless now than ever before.

It was strange for Purple to see his comrade this way. For so long it was Red that took the lead, and held him up on his own two feet, but now Purple could see that it was time for him to be the strong one. "We've come this far, Red, and no half-pint defective is going to move in and destroy all that we've worked for! Not when we've come so close to universal conquest!" Purple stood tall as he spoke, looking more empowered than ever in the hopes that his friend would follow his lead, as he had done for him so many times before.

Red smiled and forced a laugh. "You're right; we've come too far to stop now! Besides, we have his weakness in our grasp! If he even tries to come and take us out, we'll use her as leverage-"

Tak backed away from the door to the Tallests' private study in pure shock. She simply couldn't believe what she'd just heard!

'If Zim is an Amon, then he can stop this war before it even begins… I have to see him! I have to make sure he destroys the Tallest!' She told herself as she ran down the hall as fast as her feet could carry her. 'They've gone completely rogue, and they must be stopped before they take the Irken race down with them!'

'It's the only way…'

-To Be Continued