(A/N: Ayyyy, here we are once again... Don't have much to say up here, so you go ahead and read!)
"'Welcome to Zim's base'...no. 'Welcome to the base of Zim. I can tell you're impressed by how neat and lemon-scented it is.' 'Welcome to the base of Zim,'" Zim recited to himself, marching home from Skool with a noticeable spring in his step. He rubbed his chin pensively as he entered his cul-de-sac. "'I am sure you're impressed by how neat and lemon-scented it is.'"
"Dangit, boy," his ugly neighbor lady said from her porch. "You sure looks happy."
"I am!" he passed her by. "I'm getting a visit from a sworn enemy!"
"Ohh."
"Mm-mm-mmm, things are happening," the Irken strode into his house, and removed his disguise with a flourish.
He whistled a merry tune as he flushed himself right down to his underground lab. There, he found Skoodge doing what he was usually doing at this time: playing free online Solitaire.
"Auhhh, 4 of clubs to column 3," he murmured. "Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll...UNDO! 4 of diamonds to column 5, 4 of spades to column 3."
If the game responded to his voice or he was just thinking out loud, Zim didn't know.
"GEE, it sure is an exciting day!"
Skoodge did a 180 in his chair. "Hark! You're home sorta early...what makes it so exciting?"
"Don't call me Hark. And the excitement stems from Tak having agreed to come here so we can hold another match between GIR and MiMi; our first competition as official rivals! See, check out the message she sent me," Zim elbowed Skoodge aside and clicked off Solitaire to his messages.
"Dangit, Zim, that game doesn't save your place when you do tha—"
"LOOK, this is from last week!"
Zim's initial message read "Greetings, Tak, my accursed rival. I am messaging you to formally request a duel between our SIR Units. This would take place in my home base on Earth, abide by the same rules as the previous, and have complimentary refreshments provided. Please RSVP if you can attend at this time next week. And I strongly suggest you do, as this is the only time in my very, VERY busy schedule when I shall be available within the next decade or so. I'd have to double-check, as it is a bona-fide wonder of existence just how busy I am. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Yours fatally, Zim."
Tak's response from an hour or two later read "OK".
"Wow," Skoodge gaped. "Clearly this means the universe to her."
"As it should," Zim replied proudly.
"How exciting!"
"Yes, very, try to keep up. Now we must make this place presentable for Tak's arrival! Carry me off to the janitorial bay, Skoodge!"
"Ca-Can I finish one more game real quick?"
"CARRY ME!"
XXXXXXXBRIEFCLEANINGINTERLUDEXXXXXXX
"TAK IS COMING!"
SLAM!
"GET THE GNOMES EXACTLY PARALLEL! YOU THINK SHE WON'T NOTICE THAT?! DO YOU HAVE WORKING BRAIN-MEATS, AND WHY ISN'T THE FURNITURE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER?!"
BANG!
"EACH OF YOU, TAKE A CAN OF DISINFECTANT! THERE CAN BE NO TRACE OF BACTERIA IN HERE AND IF I SMELL ANYTHING BUT LEMON, I WILL SHIV YOU!"
BAM!
"GIR, IF YOU HAVEN'T DELOUSED YOUR POSSESSIONS, IT'S TOO LATE NOW, INCINERATE THEM! ...AND TAKE OUT THE TRASH, IT'S BEEN A DAY!"
CRASH!
"I WANT THIS LAB FLOOR LOOKING LIKE A 31st CENTURY VORTIAN CREDIT UNION IN ONE MINUTE! WHERE'S MY BLEACH?!"
SMASH!
"DOES THAT LOOK LIKE AN EVEN PAINT JOB TO YOU, SKOODGE?! AMATEUR, GO FINISH POLISHING THE CLEANING PRODUCTS BEFORE I DEMOLISH YOU!"
XXXXXXXBRIEFCLEANINGINTERLUDEOVERXXXXXXX
"Well, it took about half the afternoon and a lot of screaming, but the base has finally been primped to satisfaction," Zim observed how much fancier everything looked, and took in that beloved stink of clean. "Only appropriate for my first real match against my official rival!"
"But Dib, though," GIR pointed out.
"This is DIFFERENT! You think a human would be able to appreciate all the time, effort and screaming that went into these preparations?" Zim didn't receive an answer, as GIR had begun tearing into a pack of fruit snacks. "...it's different!"
Just then, a distinct noise was heard from above.
"Master, Tak has arrived!" announced Computer.
"Open the roof, bring the ship down to Chamber D-8!"
"Yessir..."
Sounds of shifting metal came closer and closer until the ceiling of the room opened inward, revealing Tenn's GELL Fighter.
Having just recovered from the interlude, Skoodge came coughing up to Zim. "You upgraded GIR in preparation for this...right?"
"I wha...?"
The ship touched down before them, and the windshield opened in that slow and dramatic fashion. As Tak, MiMi and Tenn made their grand entrance, Tak's badge of authority glistened and she ran a lollipop through her teeth.
Before Zim could say anything, Skoodge went to greet them.
"Welcome, people! Ah, how nice it is to have us all back together. Free of subterfuge this time," he said.
"Yahh," GIR was ogling Tak's lollipop (like he hadn't just eaten).
As for Tak, she was just surveying the lab chamber in silence, without bothering to respond to that.
"Tenn, I didn't know you'd be coming," Skoodge gave her hand a firm shake. "We must be growing on you."
"Just came to watch the fight. I'm the one who upgraded MiMi, so I might as well see the fruits of my labor." Tenn shot Tak a glare, indicating this was her insistence. "And I guess I enjoy some good demolition as much as the next guy. As long as it doesn't take up too much time, 'cause there are way better things I could be doing."
"Such as?"
"UH, I'm still working on get back to my invasion of Meekrob. You think I want to stay under Tak's thumb, dealing with the constant headaches forever?"
"Mm..." Skoodge appeared to seriously mull it over. "...hmm."
"NO, the answer is NO."
Zim hastily stood to attention as Tak neared him. "Yes, welcome to Zim's base. I'm sure you're impressed by how neat and lemon-scented it is!"
"Right," came her flat reply. "Zim, don't expect me coming all the way here to be some regular thing. My workers tend to get riot-y when they're left without anybody to intimidate them."
"Oh...okay," Zim deflated a bit.
"I mainly came this time because I'd rather have your base end up leveled than part of Aggrage 9. And with MiMi's new weaponry, there's bound to be some leveling."
"Heh?" Zim peered down at her. "But she looks the exact same!"
"Looks can be deceiving. Besides, your SIR looks the exact same, too. You did upgrade him for this match, didn't you?"
"UHHH, y'know what they say, 'looks can be deceiving'!" Zim stammered out. He didn't feel like this was starting off the best... "AHA! Come with me, there's someplace perfect for you to level!"
So, everyone followed Zim down however many hallways to the hologram room. Skoodge even did a little drum roll on his gut to hype it up for Tak and Tenn's sake, but it wasn't very effective.
"Behold, my hologram room! One of my many increasingly impressive creations," Zim was clearly enjoying the echo. "I've used it once or twice to test out GIR's enhancements. In here, any kind of environment can be simulated, and my base shall remain unaffected!"
"Any?"
"How's that work?"
"When will refreshments be served?" Tak, Tenn and Skoodge asked altogether.
"LLLET US BEGIN!" Zim replied abruptly. He hoped he'd feel more at ease if they returned to some familiar activity.
Tak offered her lollipop to Tenn, who shook her head in disgust. Shrugging, Tak gave the candy a finalistic bite and flung the stick away. "Let's see it, then."
As Skoodge and Tenn settled on the sidelines and Tak led MiMi to one end of the room, Zim sped over to the control console to input the simulation.
After a few seconds of static, the walls/ceiling electrified and the surroundings turned to a violet-hued landscape, with the ground gaining a viscous texture. It felt just solid enough to stand on, but beneath the surface was all kinds of aquatic life, swimming in their jelly home. Basically a giant, purple water balloon. This terrain was that of Planet Glitanee.
"Woo! Good choice, Zim!" Skoodge applauded. "I remember gaining my lifelong hatred of fish here!"
Tenn just uttered a small hum, seemingly surprised the room was functional.
And Tak still didn't look all that impressed, but Zim could tell she was trying to hide it. Yeah, that must've been it.
"It is time," he said under his breath. "GIR, are you ready for the first official rival match of this significance level?"
"Mmyeah, I guess."
"Some enthusiasm, please!"
"I mean, YES, with all my robo liver!" GIR took on his battle stance, a poor mirror of MiMi's.
The stage was set. All eyes on them. Time for the duel. Just when Zim thought he could finally see that competitive glint in Tak's eye...
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION—"
"OH, not now, Computer!"
"—FROM THE ALMIGHTY TALLEST!"
"...heh?"
"The Tallest? Your leaders? Those guys you, like, professionally suck up to?"
"SHUSH, YOU. Auhhh, a moment. J-J-Just a-a moment, people!" Receiving only surprised blinks in response, Zim shuffled out of the holo-room.
It was an especially off-beat exit with the simulation active, the doorway appearing as a hole in their reality.
"Hate awkward silences," Tenn soon said. "Anyone seen any good movies lately?"
"No, no...actually, yes!" Skoodge's antennae perked up. "GIR and I watched 'The Extraterrestrial Little League Coach' last week, for, like, the 30th time! 'Twas chef's kiss."
"Oh YEAH," GIR recalled. "Shing ding bloopy!"
Tak rolled her eyes. "Criminy."
"Huh." Tenn didn't know what she expected. "Did you watch the original or the remake?"
"You have to ask?" scoffed Skoodge.
"There's a remake?" queried Tak.
"You have to ask?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
His organs churning within him, Zim arrived in the nearest lab chamber to face the accepted transmission onscreen. "Yes, my Tallest?!"
The Tallest didn't appear quite so energetic.
"We're sure you've been counting the days, so let's get it over with," Red began.
"Over with? OH! It's Naturism Day already?"
"NO, Zim," Purple went on. "Don't twist the knife, just start your little spiel!"
"..." Zim stole a glance at his calendar, where the present date was circled and had a bunch of arrows pointing at it. He suddenly recalled that the SIR match wasn't what he'd originally planned on it. "Oh, DOOKIE."
*LIKE A HUNDRED YEARS AGO*
In the Irken military academy, the Elite Zim was sharing a PAK-assembling station with the then-Elite Red and Purple. The three of them had been sitting there quite a while, toiling away with their tools, but Zim had to push that boredom to an agonizing level.
"Even though I only got the one, it can replicate every time it molts without losing any energy itself! Once I've got the full schematic together, I'll be able to create a whole army, and fill them with just about any substance, with further modifications on their limbs and wings! My pliable little goldmine. SOOO—"
"Zim, you've been talking about this for, like, 3 minutes, STOP," Red cut in.
"Yeah, stop!" Purple concurred. "Listening to you is aggravating enough without you being all passionate!"
"QUIT TALKIN' ON THE LINE!" their supervisor barked as he passed by their station.
Purple waited for him to march out of sight. "You're gonna get us all thrown in the pit again."
"Tch! You never want to consider my idea for cyborg cicadas! Also known as cy-cadas," Zim pouted. "When I know FOR A FACT it's what the scientific landscape of the empire needs! We'd be ruling everything in no time if you'd just let it catch on! REVOLUTION! ZIM SHALL CARRY IRK TO GLORY ON A SWARM OF CY-CADAS!"
"Shush! OKAY, Zim...let's make a deal," huffed Red. He exchanged a reluctant, but knowing look with Purple. "Never bring this up again. But then, if any of us happen to be the Tallest like a hundred years from now, we'll reserve an hour for you to blab about it. Would that get you to stop treating our jobs like a crappy midday talk show?"
"A whole hour, hmmm...? Ah, fine! Deal!" Zim shook both Red and Purple's hands, fixing them with a steady glare. "But no backing out or I swear to you..."
"QUIT SWEARIN' ON THE LINE!"
*BACK TO PRESENT*
"RIIIIGHT. UM...!" Hitting a flashing button on the dashboard, Zim's plot of soil (topped with plastic grass) rose out of the floor behind him. He got a close look, noting that his cy-cadas were ready to emerge. "My Tallest! Grant me just a moment, I shall be RIGHT back!"
Tallest Purple barely suppressed a groan as he fled. "I hate this. I hate HIM. He's gonna drag this thing out for hours, ain't he? Why are we beholden to this, of all things?"
"Suck it up, it'll be over soon," Tallest Red advised him. "Normally, I'd be groaning along with you, but we were all elites when we made that deal. That makes it 'binding' or whatever. Plus, I've found a more proactive approach makes dealing with Zim less painful. Better we get through it and move on than have him bugging us about it for the next century, right?"
"Ugh, I guess!" Purple had his favorite snacks on-hand in an attempt to make this experience more bearable. "Even though we shouldn't have been on that dumb assembly line in the first place."
"Yeah, yeah. But we were all about dumb stuff then. Besides, I knew there was no way he'd forget."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"At long last, the day of fate has come! Haha! The empire will become an unstoppable force, and everyone will have ZIM to thank for it," Zim spoke to himself in excitement. Before recalling he was already a bit busy. "But Tak! Here! Right now! ARGH, what to dooooo?! This makes me look so unprofessional...!"
Deciding he couldn't bemoan the situation any longer, he returned up the hallway to the holo-room where everyone was waiting in the jelly planet simulation.
"What'd the Tallest want?" Tak immediately asked.
"Oh, pshh. Them? They were just telling me about some business on Planet Nunya."
"..."
"Nunya business. It's a joke? 'Ha-ha-ha'?" Zim explained flatly. "Ahhh, but really. They just wanted the usual status report and to see my lovely face. But like the true blue rival I am, I told them to make it snappy!"
"Uh-huh," Tak said dryly. "I'd like to start the battle now, if you don't mind."
MiMi raised her arms to show off her new weaponry: built-in blasters of fire and ice.
Dang upgrades. But Zim wouldn't let this deter him; it was time for him to show Tak how he'd improved his master-ing skills! By NOT having to bribe GIR with food!
"Ready when you are!" he declared.
Tak clenched her fists in determination. "MiMi, start with the ice rink maneuver!"
Her SIR aimed her blue blaster at the ground, freezing a portion of the jelly. She continued creating this stable surface as she skated atop it toward GIR. Within seconds, he had ice surrounding him and MiMi slid all around him, preparing a series of strikes as she moved closer.
And since Zim had opted not to let GIR to take those skating classes and his jets were out of fuel (as usual), he was stuck in his little unfrozen circle.
"Ooh, a tram-am-poline!" GIR began jumping up and down, and for a second, Zim was hopeful he could break the surrounding ice this way, but he didn't have enough time to really see that through before MiMi managed to land a blow.
Only then did Zim recall GIR wasn't without weapons of his own. "Oh, right. GIR, laser your way through that ice!"
GIR eagerly tried one of his many lasers, but they were shown to have no effect on the ice before MiMi whizzed by, knocking him over again.
"Impervious ice," Tenn was pleased with her work. "I knew it could be done."
"Well, back to the old grind!" GIR casually resumed using the ground as a trampoline.
Zim was prepared to whine about this, but this time he actually managed to launch himself up and out of the range of MiMi's attack. Undeterred, she skated after him once he landed a distance away, planning to get him trapped again.
"Evade, GIR, evade!"
"E-wha?" GIR made a face. "No big words, Master, you know what they do to me!"
"Ughh...OH! Do that mountain chicken thing you did yesterday!"
"NEEDEEP." Eyes flashing red, GIR crouched down and hopped out of the way of MiMi. As she kept advancing, he just kept springing to avoid her.
After a few springs, he tried stretching his tongue at her, but she was prepared and grabbed it. She smoothly swung her opponent around and flung him to the ground. He rolled, slowed to a stop, then coughed up a hairball quite obscenely. "Needeep..."
Zim grit his teeth, beginning to regret doing all this so soon. He wasn't looking impressive at all!
"Don't get discouraged, Zim," Tak called out. "At least you got your robot to dodge for once."
Zim couldn't tell if she was genuinely trying to make him feel better, but he preferred to believe so.
Just then, he remembered he still had the Tallest on hold. As much as he hated to kill his momentum, he knew he couldn't leave them waiting forever.
"Look at that, guess it's halftime already! SKOODGE, pass out the refreshments," he abruptly ordered. "Uhh, excusez-moi!"
He didn't give anybody time to respond before darting out of the room once again.
Despite his confusion, Skoodge broke out the fruit snacks, mini cookies and gross carbonated water. Tak's eye twitched as she snatched the bag that he offered her.
"OHHH," Skoodge exclaimed out of the blue. "Nunya business...it's not funny, but I get it."
"I don't," said GIR. He took a rather long sip of the water. "And I never will."
XXXXXXXBACKWITHZIMXXXXXXX
"I'M BACK, MY TALLEST!"
"Oh, goodie," Red deadpanned. He glanced at Purple, who was stuffing his face, and gently nudged him.
"What? I mean, joy."
"Let's get started, shall we?! You no doubt have places to be! Let me just go over all my cy-cada variants!" Following a proper clap, Zim reached into the plot of soil and pulled out a cup. "In here are the ones I filled with poison; their venom is strong enough to overcome even the mightiest of antidotes!"
"Ooh..." the Tallest put as much effort as they could muster into feigning interest.
"These ones can survive underwater, these ones have central heating for use in the cold, and these ones are smaller and faster than the others..." As he went on through the cy-cada cups, Zim had forgotten just how many of these he'd made. He felt an increasing need to get through the descriptions. "These ones have built-in recording devices, these ones can drill through steel, these ones have x-ray vision, and these—"
"Zim?"
"YES?! Would you like me to slow down, or speed up?!"
"Pbbbt, this is cool and all. I just don't know if these things would be worth the time and money to use in a warzone," Red tried offering any excuse to put this behind him.
"Rest assured, the versatility is well worth any cost! All they need is some dirt like this to be stored in, and alteration is simple," Zim plucked out the central chip of one of the cy-cadas, its very brain. He was about to give a detailed explanation about it, but merely set the chip down when he picked up on noise in the distance. "...uhm! Just another minute, I'm afraid I left the oven on! G-Give this one a look, whilst I turn my oven OFF!"
The Tallest seemed a bit confused as Zim scurried away, but opted not to question it. As long as they could resume their lounging for a bit...
Halfway up the hall, Zim bumped into Skoodge.
"Wha-Wha-What're you doing here? I told you to pass out the refreshments!"
"I did, but Tak got impatient and told me to check on you. And she hit me. What's goin' on?"
"UGH," Zim was drenched in sweat. "I'm presenting an experiment to the Tallest, go occupy them until my match with Tak concludes!"
"Wait, what? How am I supposed to know what to—?!"
"Just GO, you clown!" huffed Zim, practically leapfrogging off him. "Hhhh, criminy...'Tak, I know it's our first official match, but I made a lil scheduling oopsie. Try to understand.' Nope, even from my mouth, that doesn't sound good."
He'd soon returned to the hologram room, doing his absolute best to hide his worry.
"It's about time!" Tak crossed her arms. "Now what were you doing?"
"Ssssomething! Sheesh, can I not have a minute to myself?!" Zim did a few claps. "Halftime over! You're back on the clock, GIR!"
"Aww," GIR put his snacks away.
"No 'aww'! Go-go-go-go!"
"Finally, I was just getting to the fire blaster," said Tak. "I didn't get to test it before we got here."
"Ohh? Sounds like you were in a hurry," Zim remarked in a smug tone.
"Speaking of hurrying," Tak scoffed, gesturing for him to return to the battlefield.
Zim's smirk remained as he did so. He didn't quite get it, but...he seemed to enjoy Tak's anger now. It was practically always the norm for her to be cross with him, but now that they were official rivals, it felt like a sign he was doing a good job of it. Or something like that. Maybe because he'd experienced how it felt to have Tak shrug him off; the more fury built up in her, the less likely she was to disregard him again, which brought Zim a strange sense of comfort.
But now wasn't the time for such thoughts!
To continue the match, Tak ordered MiMi to use her red fire blaster to torch the jelly beneath GIR, causing him to sink into the syrupy ground below.
He managed swimming through the melted jelly, but every time he resurfaced, he had that flamethrower aimed right at his dome forcing him back down.
"GIR, show some resourcefulness!" Zim called to him as he was paddling along. "You must have something of use stored in your head, right?!"
"Hmm," GIR fished around in his head compartment, but it only contained the usual: pizza, beans, cocktail weenies, stuff like that. But he did have one thing that might help him: a pancake. "WA-TAH!"
The flung flapjack spun like a frisbee on its way to MiMi. Luckily, it got jammed in her fire blaster's nozzle, which reached a dangerous heat as she tried to use it once more. The scent of burnt pancake filled the room, and then the blaster erupted entirely, the force knocking MiMi backward.
Surprise was evident on Zim, Tak and Tenn's faces as embers arced around them. Meanwhile, GIR casually retrieved his pancake and began munching on it.
"There goes another 20 hours of work," Tenn's shoulders slumped.
Zim almost felt a twinge of concern as the flames and smoke spread close to Tak, but she just stood there, completely unaffected by them.
"Why is it so easy for her to look cool?" he thought in awe. "Uh, I mean, I knew that pancake GIR and I found on the street would come in handy!"
Invested as he was, he still couldn't help but worry about Skoodge screwing up the cy-cada presentation, as was bound to happen. The Tallest would never integrate them into the Armada in that case, and Zim's flawless reputation would be ruined!
"Argh! Oof! I have a bodily injury!" he fake-doubled over. "I must quickly run elsewhere to de-injure it...!"
Tenn glanced over at Tak, who matched her skeptical expression. "Uh, Zim, where'd Skoodge disappear to?"
"SSSSOMEWHERE," Zim hissed. "Hey, I've got an idea! Tenn, how about you take over commanding GIR for a bit?"
"Oh, sure," Tenn said sarcastically. "That way, I can get close to success, only to have it loused up by you again."
"Will you get over that already?!"
Just then, crashing and screaming could be heard echoing through the doorway.
Zim did his best hiding just how much that bothered him (which wasn't that good). "Sounds like Skoodge is having trouble, wherever he is! I really ought to offer my assistance! D-Despite my very real bodily injury!"
He hurried out of the hologram way more quickly than an injured person would be able to, once again leaving the dissatisfied Irkens/SIRs behind.
"...he's acting even weirder than usual. I didn't wanna say anything, but it's getting impossible to ignore," huffed Tenn.
"Hmph, like I haven't noticed," Tak knelt beside MiMi to inspect her damaged arm. She grit her teeth in frustration as a few sparks flew from it. "He's got something more important than this going on, apparently..."
"Mmyeah..."
"What is that tone?" Tak asked accusingly.
"Nothing," Tenn shrugged. "I just thought you sounded disappointed for a second there. But why would you be? It's Zim, you must've known this would be a waste of time."
"Quit saying nonsense and eat your cookies," Tak replied, glaring downward.
Tenn gladly nibbled them. "These suck, but at least they're not peanuts."
XXXXXXXWITHZIMXXXXXXX
On Zim's way back to Skoodge, the sound of buzzing grew louder and louder. When he arrived back where he left him, soil was littered all over the floor and Skoodge was cowering in a mound of it, gripping his antennae. Every cy-cada had escaped their enclosure, and were whizzing and crawling around the lab chamber, fighting each other for dominance.
"SKOODGE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Zim fumed.
"I DON'T KNOWWW," Skoodge wailed as the cy-cadas circled him with malicious intent.
Observing his experiments' behavior, Zim deduced what'd happened. "You placed multiple cy-cadas in the same plot of soil, didn't you?! You know how territorial they are!"
"I KNEW NOTHING!"
"GAH, and you wonder why I don't let you eat anymore!" Zim grouched. As he stomped over to a compartment in the wall, he ignored the many cy-cadas whizzing around him. From the compartment, he retrieved his emergency piccolo and blew a little tune into it. He directed the cy-cadas into their individual containers with his free hand, gradually clearing the room.
He peered down at them once they'd settled in. "Rest now, my little miracles."
"Oh...thank the stars," Skoodge panted, looking up once he noticed the buzzing stop. "Even I didn't know you were a pied piper, Zim."
"A WHAT? N-Never mind, get outta here," Zim punted him aside.
Only then did he dare to look the Tallests' way, hoping they'd just ignore all that crap. Which they apparently would, since they were more focused on talking amongst themselves than anything else.
"And then she did get that piercing!" Purple was rambling. "I just about—"
"UHUM, my Tallest? Hello, hi," Zim awkwardly interrupted. "So concludes my presentation, sirs. Ahh, when do you see the cy-cadas being put into use?"
"The what?" Red blinked. "Oh yeah, the bugs. Uh, I'unno, man. Maybe later...I guess."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...you're supposed to hang up now!" Purple shouted offscreen.
And click!, the transmission was cut.
"Dangit, Skoodge, you ruin everything...! Buuut that aside, this was SO worth all the build-up!" Zim laughed triumphantly. "Did you hear that? They said 'maybe later'! I truly have a way with the elites!"
"SO worth it!" Skoodge raised a hand. "Up high!"
"NO TIME! Also I don't want to!"
By the time Zim and Skoodge made their way back to the hologram room, Tak and Tenn's boredom had morphed into agitation. And GIR and MiMi were idle so long, they had screensavers playing in their heads.
"I'm baaack, with no further interruptions!" Zim declared in an assuring tone. "So, uh, it's about time for an epic, fulfilling conclusion, right?"
"Nah, I think the momentum's long dead now," Tak said coldly.
"I could not agree more!" Tenn tugged at her arm. "Let's go, those metal-man riots aren't gonna stop themselves! And Zim obviously has MORE IMPORTANT things to do, as do we all."
"Says who?!" Zim looked around rapidly as the simulation of Glitanee was shut off, returning the hologram room to its usual state. "SKOODGE!"
"What?" Skoodge shrugged, having deactivated it. "They're leaving, aren't they? Did I misread that?"
Frowning, Tak turned on her heel. "Ugh, I guess not..."
"Wait!" cried Zim. "WAIT! WAAAAIT!"
"I'm waiting!" snapped Tak, having already stopped.
"The truth IS...my base's computer was on the fritz this morning. I-It turned the lab into a warzone, I tell you! Anyone else would've been killed, see, but I managed to get through it with only a bodily injury, w—" Zim was cut off by Tak grabbing his collar and yanking him toward her.
"Enough! Zim, if you didn't care about having the match, then why?" Her brow furrowed harshly, causing a slight tremble in her gaze. "Why'd you bother inviting me?"
At this, the 1st of three realizations hit Zim. The visit really did mean a lot to Tak. His screwed up scheduling was a bigger mistake than he thought. He glanced at Tenn, who was giving him a judgmental pout for his shadiness.
Looking back to Tak, he still couldn't bear to admit his mistake. He opted to just dig deep, and say whatever it took to make her not totally regret this. Even if it killed him inside.
"W-Well, perhaps I got a bit 'overexcited' with everything...!" he managed to say. "An adversary such as you really deserved a better fight than I could give you, and it wasn't the easiest thing accepting that. Ahh, with enough time, effort and screaming, I may become worthy. So, I congratulate you on your victory, and hope to show you my improvement when we next face off!"
As he spoke, Zim got his 2nd realization. There was a nugget of truth in there. He really was disappointed the Tallest cut into their time, and regretted the match not getting the proper reverence.
For a few seconds, Tak just stared at Zim in thought, then suddenly dropped him. "Fine, whatever...but I've still gotta take off."
The room fell silent as she turned around again. She stopped for a moment to glance back at Zim, forming what almost looked like a grin before continuing towards the exit.
Zim heaved a sigh of relief; seemingly, that was enough for Tak and she'd give him another chance.
Tenn tiredly trailed behind Tak, feeling convinced she and Zim's ongoing craziness would be the death of her. But it could've been a worse trip.
"LATER, GATORS," yelled Skoodge, giving a peace sign.
"Nyah!" Minimoose, who was there the whole time, offered to escort the "gators" out.
So, he led Tak, Tenn, and MiMi back to the GELL. As he listened to it take off through the roof, Zim still felt the twinge of his error. But with Zim, it never stuck around for long.
Skoodge gave him a comforting pat. "I guess everything turned out okay. Now I have a lifelong hatred of bugs too! But I feel like Tak's gonna raise her standards or something next time."
"DO NOT COMFORT ZIM!" Zim waited for him to remove his hand. "And what do you mean?"
"Well, I'm sure she'll be expecting something to make up for this. Maybe we should make her some cupcakes then."
"OOH, or get her a pony!" GIR suggested.
"Or one of those quirky convenience store cards."
"Or a mime! Bet she's a mime guy!"
"Or a mansion."
"Or a honey-glazed ham set, featuring bologna."
"GIR, you're just listing stuff YOU want."
"SO?"
As GIR and Skoodge prattled on, Realization #3 hit Zim. The pressure on him for his next encounter with Tak.
A grim expression crossed his face, reflecting how uncertain he was about the whole thing.
"Good idea, Master! Let's get her a spooky mask!"
(A/N: Phew, another one in the books. With any luck, the next one won't be too far off, it's something of a follow-up to this one. You'll see. Planning. Plus I have some cool news; this series has a TV Tropes page, made by Zim'sMostLoyalServant! Search "top of the line" on the site, it'll come up. Thanks once again to them for making the page, so now I can see all the tropey goodness of this series in list form...this was a good while ago but y'all know how slow I am, so. Bear with me.
As always, please review, fave, and check out my profile for more. All that crap. See ya.)