Author's Notes: Thanks for all your support and reviews, it really helps! With that said please enjoy Chapter 10!

[Back with Dib...]

This was it,

The moment that Dib laid all his cards out on the table. Would his new friend hate him for admitting to snooping around his home for his superiors? God, he hoped not! Especially since they seemed to click so well with each other.

"What do you mean you haven't been honest?" Zim asked.

"I didn't really want to see the house." Dib admitted. "My partner wanted me to make sure you were legit before I recruited you." He swallowed hard, this was it, this was the moment he screamed in his face and locked him out forever.

Goodbye new friendship, and hello again to crippling loneliness!

Zim allowed his eyes to widen in fake shock. "You're recruiting me?" he asked.

"My partner and I work for a secret society called the Swollen Eyeball." Dib explained. "And the council wanted me to make sure you could be trusted." He's thankful that Miz, does not seem angry, but still feels the need to clarify that he was spying on him.

"The council?" Zim asked ignoring the clarification, he needed all the information he could get.

"They're the longest attending members of The Swollen Eyeball." Dib went on. "And they think your encounter is linked to our research, so they want your help." He explained.

"And if I were to say no?" Zim asked.

Now that threw both Darkbootie and Dib at a curb. After all, wouldn't an alien spy be eager to join so he could expose them?

And this was exactly why Zim decided to make this move. If he is too eager, he will confirm their suspicions. So, naturally he plays hard to get instead, that way they'll beg him to join them. Making it their own fault for allowing him in once he betrays them.

It was simple reverse phycology.

"Miz, I thought you wanted to meet my partner." Dib said.

"I do." Zim answered. "But…Dib I still have nightmares about what happened in Egypt." He explained. "I don't know if I am ready to face that thing again."

Dib nodded. "I get it." He assured him. "You need time to weigh out your options."

Zim sighed, pretending to look afraid, and torn between this decision and the possible loss of their friendship.

"Look if you decide yes, I have self-defense classes on Thursdays after school at 4:30 pm at the mall." Dib said. "You can join me."

Zim nodded.

For a moment silence ensues.

Dib wanted to kick himself, he had ruined the upbeat mood. "Still want to play those video games?" he asked hopefully.

Zim smiled, pretending that it was forced. "Sure, I could use a distraction, it's not often that I get reminded about all this."

"I'm sorry." Dib said as they made their way back down to the living room.

"No, it's okay, I know it's dumb to pretend it never happened, but it does make it easier to cope." He admitted.

"We could really use your help." Dib told him as they set up their game.

Zim nodded. "I'll think about it." He assured him.

Dib figured that was all he'd get out of his friend for now. 'It must have been really traumatic for him if he's so hesitant.' He realized. "If it makes you so jumpy why hang out with me?" he asked. "That thing maybe after me now."

"Because you seem nice, besides, I'd never want that to happen to anyone else." Zim admitted as 7 Days to Die began to start up on the Xbox One.

"Then help me make sure it never does." Dib insisted.

Zim smiled, looking still unsure, but willing. "Okay…" he decided. "But only because you're right."

Dib smiled; he had done it! Now he and Miz were officially as thick as thieves.

"Great now all we've got to do is come up with a code name for you." Dib exclaimed. "MM What kind of animals do you like?"

"Animals?" Zim asked confused.

"Well, my code name is Moth-Man so I thought you'd might want a code name like that." Dib explained. "In less you'd rather have a name similar to Darkbootie's."

Zim laughed; he couldn't help it. "Your partner's name is Darkbootie?"

"No, our Partner's name is Darkbootie." Dib corrected him giving him a stern look.

"Oh, come on, it's funny." Zim insisted. "Beware the Darkbootie!" He said in a deep voice.

Dib cracked a smile, okay so maybe it was a little funny.

Darkbootie blushed, thankful that no one else was watching the video feed. It wasn't his fault his code name was Darkbootie, it had been a joke made by Mrs. Bitters, and unfortunately it had stuck.

"Well since I don't want a name like Darkbootie." Zim giggled through laughter. "I like spiders."

"Really?" Dib asked.

"Yeah, they're so smart, and strong creatures." Zim explained. "Spiders have been revered in hundreds of really awesome myths and folk stories the world over, many cultures saw them as gods. Plus, they get rid of pesky bugs like mosquitoes which carry diseases, and stuff."

Dib smiled, this kid really had a great respect for animals, even the most hated ones. "Which one is your favorite spider?" He asked.

"Easy, the wolf spider." Zim explained. "It hides in plain sight, waiting for its prey to come closer and before the prey realizes it, it's practically walked right into the predator's grasp."

"Then Wolf-Spider it is." Dib declared. "Welcome to the Swollen Eyeball!"

The newly named Wolf-Spider took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He was in and now all he had to do was drill for resources in secret while keeping up this charade. So, he could learn the secrets of his enemy. "So how do you feel about Zombies?" Zim asked as their attention finally went to the game at hand.

"Oh, don't get me started." Dib said. "You know I actually raised the dead once." He admitted.

Zim gave him a sideward glance, and he just couldn't resist the urge to ask. "You did what?"

"Okay let me explain." Dib said, and went into the whole bloody, gruesome story about how he nearly started the Zombie Apocalypse. "Well, you see I was determined to prove that Zombies were impossible!"

"Uh ha." Zim said paying full attention, because knowing Dib this had to be good. The Irken found it strange that he already knew the boy so well. However, the child was overly trusting for a kid who knew that anyone of his closest neighbors, or family members, or friends in this case; could actually be an alien in disguise. Yes, this was a lesson he would learn the hard way if he didn't die first.

"So, I performed an experiment on the dead bodies of the local cemetery." Dib went on. "I water hosed the grounds until the whole place was flooded, and I used an old car battery to produce an electric current, and BAM I rose the dead!"

"Just like that?" Zim asked, finding it shocking that it was so easy.

"Yeah, and let me tell you the movies have it all wrong, Zombies are not slow!" Dib exclaimed. "They flooded the streets in seconds."

"Wait, wait; wait!" Zim stopped him right there. "You conducted an experiment to test the theory of Zombies, but didn't think to put up a barrier so they wouldn't get out of the cemetery?"

"I didn't think it would work!" Dib exclaimed, blushing slightly.

Zim shook his head. "Honestly Dib I know we just met, but sometimes I worry about you."

Dib laughed. "Yeah, well you should have seen the epic battle that ensued." He exclaimed as he began to act out said battle.

Zim watched as Dib grabbed a remote, pretending it was a sword of some sort.

"I had a laser sword like this!" He said. "And Gaz had a bat with spikes, and my dad had these high-tech blasters!"

Zim nodded feverishly, these weapons sounded advanced, and knowing that Dib had access to them made him crave their first battle even more than he had already did before.

"And the Zombies just kept coming at us from all sides!" Dib went on, pretending to battle imaginary Zombies with the TV remote.

Darkbootie smiled as he watched Dib act out the thrilling tell for his friend. He was truly happy that the boy had found someone since his father was always gone, and his sister already had a friend of her own. He deactivated the spy bug, and decided that there was much more important work that needed to be done. Thanks to Dib's transmission Darkbootie now knew what settings to put his own transmitter on, true his had been an older model. Which had caused a setback for the past few months, but Darkbootie had figured out a simple equation to discover what the frequency would be for this new model. However, the owners of that transmission had gone silent.

Had they moved too far off into space?

Maybe…but Darkbootie was determined to keep trying. For the more he learned, the more he could prepare for the impending doom that surely awaited them all!

Zim couldn't help but smile as his PAK informed him that the spy bug it was linked up to was shut down, however unfortunately for Darkbootie the hack is complete. Zim can now see everything that goes on in the Swollen Eyeball's secret base of operations. The enemy had took the bait, he was in; both physically, and digitally. And He couldn't help but find it funny that this Darkbootie believed his lies when his new code name practically described his true intentions.

"It hides in plain sight, waiting for its prey to come closer and before the prey realizes it, it's practically walked right into the predator's grasp."

'Humans so trusting.' Zim mused; this mission was starting to feel easy again. However, despite this small fact Zim had to admit this was a good plan. What better way to hide the fact that he was an alien then by pretending to be a human trying to hunt down aliens?

It was perfect, and Gir was about to deliver the icing on the cake. Yes, this final piece of the plan would ensure that Zim, and Dib saw some action very quickly.

Darkbootie flipped on the space transmitter, and a message instantly came through, and thanks to the new equation he used; the clicks, and hisses he had heard before now sounded like plain English.

"We cannot afford this…" A voice hisses.

"What shall you have me do?" another voice asked.

"Eliminate them…. Eliminate them all." A Third voice said.

"And Zim?"

"Yes, My Tallest." The second voice called Zim asked.

"Do not fail us again." The first voice warned.

"I promise my Tallest." Zim swore. "This one will not get away from me."

This one…

Darkbootie felt the shiver run down his back. Could this Zim be the same one that chased Miz in Egypt?

And who were these Tallest?

Where they the leaders of this unknown race? What did they want with Earth?

Surely, they wanted something, otherwise they would not go through the trouble of silencing them all.

"I should hope not." The third voice said.

Zim smiled, thanks to his link with the base he could see the security feed of the facility playing out in his own mind. He watched as a rather old looking man visibly trembling at the transmission. Zim knows this must be Darkbootie, and though he is old Zim can see great wisdom in his eyes. Darkbootie feverishly pulls out his iPad and starts writing down everything he had just heard. Of course, Zim knew it was just Gir and the computer pretending to be a transmission deep in space, but Darkbootie didn't know that!

No, to him this was real, very real!

Zim mused, now all that was left was for Zim to make an appearance as his real self, and have the robot Miz save Dib from certain death. Once they escape the near miss these Alien Hunters would be eating out of his hands.

Naturally, it was all coming together perfectly. Zim could already see Earth waving a white flag of surrender, soon all the races of this pathetic planet would bow before the awesome power of the Irken Empire!

Yes, it was only a matter of time…

-To Be Continued