Episode 7: Minion

Episode Summary-After their near miss with the Irken Worshipers The Renegades decided it's time for a much needed break as Dib and Zim begin to adjust to their lives on Zec. Meanwhile The Tallest begin to loss their control over their salves as War rages throughout the cosmos.

Disclaimers: I Do Not Own Invader Zim

Author's Notes: And we are back with another exciting part of Invader Zim Renegades! Thank you all for all your comments and dedication to this series.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine :)

Episode 7-Minion (Part 2)

(Back with Zim and Dib…)

{Location: Apartment building 243 Rm 008, On Zec}

He had never expected to be given a home of such high standers.

Sure Dib Membrane had been born the son of a rich father, but ever since the invasion those riches has ceased to exist. And yes their new home on Zec was an Apartment, but it was an apartment fit for a movie star!

"Well this is going to get some getting used to." Zim said as Scamooch let them in. The Irken rebel was currently disguised as his alter ego Joseph and Dib was disguised as his brother Josh. Now that they lived on Zec keeping up appearances as normal human beings was more important than ever.

Especially when there were lives at stake…

Dib or Josh bit his lip at the thought. Crystal's entire family and people were being held prisoner somewhere on Zec, being forced to work as Minions with none of benefits other Privileged humans had been offered.

Zim explained that this must be due to the fact that they did not willingly register within the newly Formed Irken Government when Earth was First conquered. Because of this none of them were actual citizens, this of course allowed the Irken race to treat them as something less than dirt with no need of fearing the consequences.

Such undermining made Zim feel sick, he just couldn't believe that he had once believed in the Irken way so blindly. Never caring who was struggling at the bottom as long as he could use them to climb to the top.

"What did you expect me to live in a dump after I graduate?" Scamooch asked plainly. Unlike Zim he was still learning the art of sensitivity.

"Hey it's not like you made it easy for us to ever live somewhere descent." Dib snapped under his breath. Sure the Cadet claimed there was no spy drones or any other monitoring devices on Zec, saying that privileged humans are trusted with their freedom and privacy just as much as their own Irken masters. But Dib wouldn't put it past the Tallest to spy on his own people especially now that several more Irkens had joined their ranks.

And the last thing they needed was to get caught so close to their end goal.

Dib gazed out of the kitchen window at the thought, for there just within sight was The Palace, home of Tallest Red, and Purple. Their targets were so close now, and yet Dib felt his heart racing for other reasons.

No his heart was going crazy at the thought of a certain female and his sister had nothing to do with it. "Tak…" He whispered under his breath knowingly feeling stupid as her name filled him with warmth. He should feel nothing for her, especially after she used his own sister to betray him. And sure he knew now that she probably only did it to win favor with Tallest so that she could in turn betray them later. However, such realizations did little to numb the sting he felt from when he stabbed him in the back.

She had been more to him than just some informant he met in the secrecy of the night. No, she had been a constant, a close friend he could rely on while Zim was going crazy from the change making him unpredictable. In fact if it were not for Tak Dib would have never found the information he needed to even begin to understand what Zim was going through.

And over time he thought they had become more than just reluctant allies.

Dib looked down at his hand, and for a moment he remembered how it felt to hold hers as they jumped done into the waves of the ocean. The day when he showed her their HQ for the first time. He also couldn't help but remember how she continued to hold his hand even after they were safely within.

Zim sighed as he too looked out towards the palace, and just like Dib he wasn't thinking of the Tallest at all.

"Seriously you two are making me sick." Scamooch gagged at the sight of their love sick faces. "No female is worth risking all our hard work over."

Zim shook his head, and forced himself to look away. The child was right, Weather Gaz and Tak had meant to hurt them with their betrayal hardly mattered. Their relationship was over, and to humor himself with the idea that it could continue was a foolish notion.

Dib however, wasn't as easily swayed.

Scamooch flicked him on the nose.

"Hey!" Dib snapped rubbing his sore face. "What was that for?" He asked.

"I was talking to you too!" Scamooch snapped. "You don't think we don't notice the way you stare at her in class?"

"I do not-" Dib began, but Zim raised a hand to silence them both.

Scamooch wasted no time storming off.

Dib However, gave Zim a look of defiance and for a moment the two old enemies stared each other down knowingly.

And for a moment things between them were how they use to be, cold and indifferent.

Finally, Dib softened with a sigh. "Am I really that obvious?" He asked quietly.

Zim shook his head as he turned his attention to one of the several boxes around them. "Look I'm not judging." He said. "Believe me I know better than anyone that you can't help who you fall in love with."

"But." Dib added knowingly.

"But." Zim went on. "You know it can't hope to last." He said the obvious.

"You knew that with Gaz." Dib pointed out. "You knew your love for her would get you marked as a traitor and possibly killed, but you still went for it!"

"And look where that got me." Zim lectured.

"So you regret it?" Dib asked.

"No…never." Zim answered quietly. "But you're not a child anymore Dib, you know happily ever after's are some stupid notion you humans came up with."

Dib growled knowingly as he turned his attention to another box and started unpacking its contents. "I know that." He said. "But I just can't…" He couldn't finish and he didn't need to.

"I know." Zim stated simply. "Just be more careful." He advised. "They may not be truly loyal to the Tallest but that doesn't mean they aren't still being used." He lectured. "Why do you think I avoid your sister?"

"I am being careful." Dib insisted. And it was true, he had been avoiding Tak, keeping his distance, but nothing could stop him from watching her from afar and wondering.

Wondering if she had felt the same thing too, or if this was all some crazy notion inside his head.

He knew it was probably the latter, and yet…

"You are completely hopeless." Zim mused flicking him in the head.

"Hey don't laugh." Dib growled, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm not laughing at you." Zim said through his chuckle. "You just remind me of when I was…" He trailed off.

"You went through the same thing with Gaz didn't you?" Dib asked, starting to understand.

Zim nodded. "I constantly found myself wondering if my feeling were real, and if she really felt the same way. Or that maybe we were…"

"Just fooling yourselves?" Dib cut in.

Zim nodded. "And the whole time you told us we were crazy." He added with a laugh. "Well look who the crazy one is now."

Dib laughed as he realized Zim was right. The roles had flipped entirely. "I'm such an idiot." He admitted.

"Yes you are." Zim teased.

Scamooch shook his head as he listened to their laughter from within the hall adjacent from the kitchen. He never did understand this notion called love, nor why humans were so openly affectionate. However, Zim had seemed to catch this bad habit by simply being around them. 'Perhaps pretending to be human for so long got his wires crossed.' He thought to himself. 'Well you won't see me going goo goo eye for some stupid female.'

"I can't believe we go back to school tomorrow." Dib said breaking through his thoughts.

"I can't believe they closed the place down for a whole week." Zim stated as they continued to unpack. "School's like the only thing they have to keep us all in line."

Dib nodded his agreement that was why school was now 7 days a week and three extra hours long. It was the same thing with the adults and their work schedules, they were long and hard. So that the Irkens could keep them under control for most of the day.

And with so much of their control slipping you would think they'd need all the chances for restoring order that they could get.

"I guess things will be different now." Dib said. "You know since we're minions."

Zim nodded. "Let's just take advantage of this time of laying low to focus on our studies." He advised. "After all when this is all over you will still need a highs school diploma to get anywhere in life."

Dib scoffed at the thought. "Like a high school education means anything now."

"Fine repeat your last year." Zim mused. "Meanwhile I'll be moving on to bigger and better things leaving you in the dust."

"You wish space boy." Dib teased. "I'm going to be one of the main people putting this planet back together after all this mess is over."

"Not if you're busy stuck in school?" Zim reasoned. "After all I know how you humans feel about education."

Dib sighed, he knew Zim had a point, and usually Dib never had to worry about grades, but His role as Josh the slacker had started to have its effect on his GPA. And now if he didn't shape up he could be repeating his senior year. "Fine I'll actually try and pretend to be normal for a change." He relented. "Happy?"

"Please I could care less if you pass or fail." Zim lied. "My only worry is who will fill your place as my worthy adversary in your absence?" He teased. "How will I ever find a challenging opponent with such a large head on such short notice?"

"My head is not big!" Dib screamed before he could stop himself.

And just like that the two are on the floor laughing like a bunch of idiots.

Finally Dib managed to stop laughing enough to speak. "Man what I wouldn't do to go back to the old days."

"Yeah?" Zim asked.

"You kidding?" Dib asked. "Things were much easier when I only had you to worry about."

"Yes I must admit trying to avoid your screaming "He's an Alien!" attics was a lot easier than this."

"What is wrong with you two?" Scamooch snapped as he reentered the kitchen.

"Just reminiscing on old times." Zim assured him.

"Humans are weird." Scamooch said as he started to unpack a few of his own things. A lot of it had been placed in storage for when he graduated. But now that he had minions the cadet had a place to call his own. "No offense Sir but I think you've been on this planet way too long."

"I have, haven't I?" Zim mused looking to Dib.

"Hey don't look at me." Dib retorted as he got to his feet. "I've been trying to get you to leave for years."

"Well at our current pace we won't be here much longer." Zim assured him.

Surprisingly this caused Dib's face to fall.

"What?" Zim asked. "Don't tell me you're going to miss me." The Irken snapped with a laugh.

Dib sighed. "We've been doing this for seven years Zim, almost eight." He added. "Can you honestly tell me you won't find yourself bored out of your mind sitting on your throne one day…missing this?"

Zim frowned, he never thought of it that way, but once he became Tallest things would be different. There would be no more fighting, no more out doing enemies in battle.

No that was what soldiers were for, and he was no longer a soldier.

He was a leader.

"You really know how to ruin my day don't you?" He asked the boy knowingly.

"Just doing my job as your mortal enemy." Dib teased.

"Seriously like you two even count as enemies." Scamooch snapped.

"Children." Zim mused. "Too young to understand."

"A hatred this strong never stops burning." Dib agreed.

"You two are insane." The cadet said the obvious.

Zim laughed, he truly did miss those simpler days, but they were fading way, and had been for some time.

Dib suddenly grew very serious. "You know you have to talk to them eventually." He said.

Of course Zim knew who he was getting at. Goalit and Mia had been trying to get him to speak to Lard Nar and the Ancients since the night the Irken Rebels joined their ranks. "I know." He answered. "And I want to, I do." He added. "But if I do then…"

"This will be real." Dib finished for him.

"It already is real!" Scamooch snapped. "And if you don't see them soon." The cadet didn't finish, he didn't need to. For both Irkens knew the risk his stalling would cause.

If Zim didn't leave to see his ancestors and soon they would all pay the price.

Yes, it was obvious to even Dib that Zim would have to leave them behind to face this next chapter of his life alone. He didn't need anyone to tell him that either, he had ready read enough about old Irken tradition when he was researching on the Amons to know the truth.

In order to become the Tallest he would need to receive their blessing and to do that he would have to leave and prove himself worthy.

A task he may never return from weather he is deemed worthy or not.

"I still don't think I am the right one for the job." Zim stated the obvious.

"Well you're the only option we have," Dib stated bluntly, and then he softened "Look if you worried about us we'll be fine."

"I know you will." Zim said. "In all our years together I have never once doubted you." And it was true, Zim always saw Dib for the challenge he really was, a worthy opponent through and through.

"Than what's stopping you?" Scamooch snapped.

"I'm no different from the Tallest." Zim said. "I believed in this madness as much as they do." He went on. "I was just as bad as they were, maybe worse even. So how in Irk's name am I supposed to be worthy of their blessing."

"You've changed." Dib reasoned.

"That doesn't erase what I've done Dib." Zim argued. "I nearly destroyed this planet a thousand times over. Trust me the Ancients will take one look at me and they'll see exactly what everyone else sees. Just another Irken Monster."

"I don't see a monster." Dib assured him. "Maybe at one time I did." He admitted. "But you're not the same guy Zim."

"What difference does it make?" Zim asked. "I'm defective…broken…that's why I can't do anything right."

"Looks like you're doing something right to me." Dib said.

Zim sighed. "I may never come back." He voiced getting to the true root of the problem.

"Then you better say your goodbyes and soon." Scamooch said the obvious.

It is then that Dib understand his resistance completely. "You know she's understand."

"I still can't leave things this way." Zim muttered. "And it's not just her either. What happened to Crystal to leave now just doesn't feel right."

Dib scoffed. "Trust me I know what you mean."

"So what do we do?" Scamooch asked.

"I'll speak with them." Zim decided. "But I am not even going to think about leaving until this is right."

"But the ancients won't wait forever." Scamooch argued.

"You think I care?" Zim snapped. "Blessing or no blessing I finishing this War. We didn't need this blessing to start it, and we most certainly don't need it to finish it."

"But if you don't who will be our leader?" Scamooch asked.

"Maybe it's about time we started doing what the humans do." Zim said.

"Which is?" Scamooch asked.

"Trusting ourselves to make our own decisions." Zim answered. "True they have leader, but they don't tell them what to decide in fact they usually vote on what their leaders should decide; which is the complete opposite."

"Make our own decisions." Such a thought had never occurred to Scamooch, mostly because it had never been done. Irkens are machines, they don't think for themselves at least that was what they had been taught.

Zim knew this, however Zim also knew that his people would never truly change for the better unless they started thinking for themselves.

If they didn't it wouldn't matter if Zim became leader or not.

For nothing would truly change until Irken race freed themselves from the enslavement of the Irken machine.

Episode 7-Minion (Part 2) END!