Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Jhonen Vasquez.

Part two of Hanging Out. (Based off of deviantart by Cosmixed)

May God bless you all.

"Are you sure?" Asked Tallest Purple.

"Positive. I had to check my scanner but it was definitely him sir." Replied Sizz-Lorr.

"Thank you for the report." Said Tallest Red.

"Of course my Tallest… By the way still short-staffed here could us…"

Tallest Red cut off the feed before Sizz-Lorr could finish his statement.

"Hmmm… very interesting indeed." Said Purple.

Red sighed. "You know what we have to do right?"

"Yup, get more doughnuts."

"No! Well… yes, but we also have to make the call." He told his co-leader.

"OH, right… could we just spy on him?" Purple asked. "Talking to him always gives me a headache."

"His system is old it doesn't have the monitoring feature. We have to call." He told him.

"Fine…" Said Purple.

ring* *ring* *ring* *ring*

"Hmm, he usually answers right away." Red stated.

ring* *ring* *ring* *ring*

"Hello, my Tallest." Zim's voice came out but nobody appeared.

"Zim?" Asked Tallest Red. "Why can't we see you?"

"Um, just…" Zim began but paused for a moment.

"…Computer is something wrong with the camera feed?"

"Fixing image…"

"See I told you his system is old." Red told Purple.

"Image fixed." Said Zim's computer as…

…only the top of his head appeared.

"Um… Zim?"

"Yes, my Tallest?" The irken asked.

"We can't only see your eyes and antennae." Purple pointed out.

"What? Computer is something still wrong?" Asked Zim.

The Computer groaned.

"Fixing image again…" It said as the image went fuzzy for a second before…

…Showing Zim's feet.

"No, now we can only see your feet." Red Said.

"Computer!" Zim yelled.

"Ugghhghghg… fixing image one more time." It groaned.

This time…

"Who's that?" Asked Purple.

"Hi, Tallies!" Yelled Guy still in his dog suit.

"Zim!" Red yelled.

"Computer!" He yelled.

"You know what fix whatever problem you have and get back to us as soon as possible!" Red yelled before shutting off the screen.

"That was strange…" Said Purple.

"Yes, it was." Replied Red.

"But his system is old and this is Zim we are talking about…"

"True." Red said. "Not like we usually have a normal conversation with him."

"Still though… anyway we'll see when he gets back to us." Red said.

"Good…" Said Purple.

"…Now where are we on those doughnuts?"

"Phew, that was close." Said Zim as he wiped a bit of sweat off his brow.

"Good job computer."

"Good job… what!?" Replied the A.I.

"Something is wrong with the viewing system and you say good job!?"

"Of course something is wrong I manually put you on shuffle so it was very unlikely for you to see the whole body of the now tall Zim." He told his A.I.

"You did what!?" The Computer asked.

"Nevermind. I don't have time, as Zim must figure out a way to call the Tallest without revealing his growth.

The computer groaned again.

"Then why didn't you just ask me to portray you in an angle that makes you look shorter?" The Computer asked.

Zim looked up from his lab.

"You can do that?"

Groan*

"I so wish that I could bypass the "do not hurt your master" command prompt right now."

Gaz sat down on the couch. It was one of those few times when she had the house all to herself. Her father was at the company lab, while her brother said something about a Yeti and ran off. Now she could just sit and relax with a soda while watching her favorite show.

"Ahh." Said Gaz after taking a big chug of cola. That was followed shortly by a rather loud burp.

"It's good to have me time." She said to herself.

ding dong*

"Of course." She said as she answered the door.

"Package for Gazlene from… Arcadi… Arca…"

"Okay, I'll take it." She said quickly and after signing grabbed the package and shut the door. She then went inside and began ripping it open.

Arcadikon was actually much more familiar with earth than irk and the locals had figured out a way to put packages in earth mailing systems. They even digitally would make sure it was in the system, regardless of which service they used. Their packages often included promotional items, invitations, and sometimes a prize, if Zim and Gaz had ever won anything.

"What is this?" Said Gaz as she opened the box and viewed the contents.

Inside was a small ring-shaped item which fit in both of Gaz's hands cupped. Probably around the size of a large-ish bracelet.

Gaz took it out of the box and raised it to her face.

"Gah!" She shouted as the thing came to life and began to scan her.

"Scanning complete. Playing message."

"Good day, Gazlene." Said an Arcadikon local. "We regret to inform you that you and the red-eyed irken are not eligible for next month's tournament."

"What!?" She exclaimed.

"Sorry, but it's not your fault. It's his. You see Zim seems to have… angered this year's coordinator in such a way that she wants and these are her words not mine. "To never see that red-eyed little gremlin ever again. Once again sorry."

Then suddenly the hologram went away.

Gaz looked at the device, before crushing it with her bare hands.

Sure, it was just another tournament… only it wasn't. This was the winners' round. It was the climax of all the tournaments that happened this year, with only the top 10 in the leaderboards participating in it.

Zim and Gaz were currently number 2, but Gaz had a feeling they were going to defeat the Inquisitorian husband and wife duo this year. But no, they wouldn't get the chance and it was all because of…

"That red-eyed little gremlin."

"Well, my tallest as you can see Zim is doing well here on earth." Said the Invader after reestablishing contact.

"Hmmm… so everything's going well?" Asked Red

"Yes, better than well, great!" Zim enthusiastically said.

"Any new… developments?" Purple asked as he munched on doughnuts.

"Developments…" Zim said. "…Of course developments… yes Zim has found so many things about earth just so many… too many to waste your precious time explaining them."

"Of course." Said Red. "Well just checking on you."

"Thank you for the check my Tallest. Invader Zim out."

With that, the screen went blank and Zim once again wiped sweat off his brow.

"So glad it worked!" He shouted.

"Um… mas…" The computer began.

"Not now machine!" Zim said. "Let Zim reveal in his vic…eck…"

Suddenly Zim felt two hands around his throat. In one switft movement he was yanked backwards and thrown to the floor.

"Gir what are… oh… Gaz human." He said as he lied below his attacker.

"Zim, I got a very strange message from Arcadikon a few minutes ago." Gaz kneeled slightly closer to the still lying Zim as she went on.

"It would appear that both you and I are not able to compete in this year-end tournament."

Her voice was monotone but Zim could tell she was furious right now. So instead of coming up with any sort of reply, he simply remained silent under her towering presence.

"And you want to know why?" She asked almost friendly.

"Zim does not think he does." Was all he said in reply.

"Because apparently you! Angered this year's coordinator to the point where she never wants to see you again! That's why!"

Zim waited a few moments before finally rising to his feet. Gaz still had her scowl but she didn't make any further attempts at violence toward him.

"What are you talking about? Zim doesn't even know this year's coordinator…" He told her. "…Computer who is organizing the tournament this year?"

"Tournament organizer is simply codenamed Moop. As normal her name will not be revealed until the day of said tournament."

"Unacceptable!" Zim shouted. "Zim must know the identity of the one who stop's I The Mighty Zim! From completely humiliating his competition in this year's tournament.

"Sorry, there is no data, simple a photo…"

Zim and Gaz watched as the being's picture came onto the screen.

"That doesn't help much. She is obviously in some kind of disguise." He said.

"Looks almost like cosplay." Gaz stated.

"This is her uniform for the tournament with cape mask and all." The computer told them.

The first was maybe a little taller than Gaz, but other than height there was not much to see as she was covered from head to toe. He couldn't even see her hair if she had any.

"Doesn't matter! Zim will appeal and surely will be victorious!" He shouted.

He turned and headed for the elevator with Gaz following close behind.

"So what do you think you did to her?" Asked Gaz as they got in the elevator.

"Nothing… well nothing Zim remembers, he has done so much to so many." He said with a chuckle.

The Elevator shot up and soon the two were in Zim's living room.

"But whatever it was…" Said Zim as they walked out the elevator.

...Zim is sure he had a pretty good reason to do it."

"I'm telling you something was off." Said Red.

"He's Zim there's always something off about him." Purple replied.

"No, no not that." Red stated. "Did you see how he looked on the camera. Almost like he was squished."

"Perhaps earth's gravity is starting to squeeze him or something." Purple said while chuckling.

Red Scratched his chin. "Hmmm… Yeah, you're probably right but perhaps… do we have any invaders near earth?"

"Nope, that's pretty far from the Galaxies we're currently trying to conquer." Replied his co-leader.

"Hmmm… Computer search all records involving Zim's name." Red ordered.

"Yes, my Tallest… Records found, most recent records of Zim and Gaz winning a gaming tournament at Arcadikon just about 1/8 of a cycle ago." The A.I replied.

"Any visuals of his win?" Asked Red.

"The tournament was online and simply a picture of his face is displayed." Replied the Computer.

"Show me that face." Said Red.

The computer did so.

"No, place next to it a picture of his face from our recent conversation." He told the Computer.

As Red studied the pictures, he noticed some definite differences. Zim's face appeared skinnier in his latest victory at Arcadikon, and his antenna seemed to extent just a little higher.

"Oh, yeah I see it now." Said Purple.

"Yes, something was definitely off…"

"Should we call him again?" Purple asked.

"No, we need some sort of proof… Computer when is the next Arcadikon tournament?"

"Within a few weeks of that planet's rotation, about one week from our current location." Said the computer. "This time the contestants are required to actually show up."

"Good, Make sure we have front-row seats." Said Red.

"The tickets are all sold out and even pu…"

"…It was a metaphor." Said Red.

"Just make sure we don't miss it."

Thank you for all who made it to the end. Don't forget to leave a review.

I know I said two-parter but with God's blessings this may actually turn into a mini story.

May God bless you all.