Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

We all know the story of Invader Zim. The insane defective Irken Invader, despised by his people but oblivious to it due to his ego, sent on a wild goose chase into the depths of space that led him to Earth, a cesspool of a planet dominated by the human race, a species mostly composed of utter idiots who couldn't see past Zim's rather pathetic disguise of a wig and contacts. Except, of course, for Dib Membrane, young son of the world's smartest man Professor Membrane and self-declared paranormal investigator, and also Dib's younger sister Gaz, who was too apathetic about anything outside her video games and pizza to care about the alien invader.

The story of these characters is well known, the tales of how Zim, assisted by his malfunctioning robot minion GIR, would try a variety of plans to conquer and/or destroy Earth, ranging from the brilliant to the bizarre to the outright stupid. And all the while, Dib would do his best to not only stop Zim but expose him as an alien and prove himself to his fellow humans, who all thought he was crazy and had a big head (admittedly, that last part was true despite Dib's denials, but that's beside the point). Gaz, meanwhile, would occasionally get involved too, but only if she was bored or had no choice.

We all know that story... but that is not the story being told here today. No, this is a different version of those events, caused by a very big change. Namely, by the arrival of an alien of an entirely different sort shortly after Zim first set foot on Earth...

 (Earth, Invader Zim's base)

"Ah, did you see the Tallest's expressions, GIR? They were overjoyed to finally have their greatest and favorite Invader reporting in! And now, despite the hiccup with that big-headed Earth smeet, our mission can truly begin! And this planet will fall to INVADER ZIM!"

 "Yay! I don't know what you just said!" GIR exclaimed happily, causing Zim to pause in his own laughter to glare in annoyance at the robot.

"Hmm, I may need to examine your programming. You're supposed to be advanced, but sometimes you just act... stupid," he muttered, before shaking it off, "But never mind! Now that Zim has flawlessly blended in with the Earth-monkeys, I can begin properly plotting their DOOM!"

 At that, GIR let out an excited gasp.

"You gonna throw them a pizza party?!" The maniac robot shrilled, while a pizza box shot out of his head.

"What? NO!" Zim snapped back with an annoyed expression, "Zim brings doom, not pizza!" He exclaimed out with a raised fist into the air.

"PIZZA PARTY!"

But GIR didn't listen, only shrilling with a wide grin before opening the pizza box, revealing a mostly eaten pizza... and a raccoon... a raccoon that was covered in gooey cheese and snarled as it lunged toward Zim.

 "AAAAHHHHH!!!" Zim screamed as the raccoon latched onto his face. Flailing about blindly as he tried to get it off of him, he just managed to slam against every piece of equipment in the room, while GIR helped himself to the remaining pizza.

Eventually, Zim managed to pry the raccoon off of him and tossed it into a nearby tube in the wall, causing it to be sucked upwards in a whoosh of air and launched out of the base.

"Agh, argh, GIR! Never do something like that again!" he snapped at his robot, who just shrugged.

"Okay. Want some pizza?" he asked, offering his master a half-eaten slice.

"No, Zim does not desire pizza! Zim desires you to act as the state of art minion you're designed to be!" Zim snapped, but GIR just slowly blinked, before yelling, "I'm gonna watch the monkey!"

With Zim just giving a confused look before GIR turned on the television, with the screen just displaying a hideous Earth simian staring at the camera while GIR happily stuffed his face with more of that pizza.

"Zim is beginning to think he should have asked the Tallest for your user manual," The Irken groaned, facepalming, because really, was a competent minion slave too much for an alien invader to ask for?

I mean, obviously he didn't actually need one. He was Zim! That meant that he could conquer this planet - any planet, really - with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his PAK!

But still, having a minion to handle things for him would be very convenient. But for now, he was stuck with a robot who was so advanced that even his brilliant mind couldn't comprehend it as anything more than idiocy.

Oh well. He'd just have to learn to deal with it, and work around it in order to succeed in his mission and prove himself to the Tallest. After all, what other options did he have?

 But unknown to Zim as he thought this, elsewhere in Earth's solar system another alien ship was arriving, carrying a prisoner that would change the battle for the fate of the Earth forever.

(Space, Earth solar system)

Not far from the planet, there was a rather unpleasant-looking red spaceship out for a cruise. Its fuselage was in the shape of a large rounded disc, with a narrow spindle topped by a circular projection standing dead center on the upper surface; the bridge. Several spikes extended from the diameter on either side, while two larger ones pointed straight ahead to flank the main gun.

This ship was owned by a species know as the Gordanians. A race that possessed a monstrous, reptilian appearance. They were tall, muscular creatures with dark blue, scaly skin and yellow-green armor plating across their chests and abdomens. Their faces were fierce, with glowing red eyes that gave them an intimidating, otherworldly look. Each Gordanian had a black, mask-like structure covering part of their face, with jagged yellow markings outlining the edges. They had sharp claws, long tails, and large, wing-like fins protruding from their backs and arms, which add to their dragon-like features. Their posture and build emphasized raw strength and brutality.

And yet despite their fearsome appearance, deep within the walls of the ship in the holding area meant for prisoners, many of the Gordanians stationed as guards looked worried, if not outright fearful.

 At the far end of the corridor containing the ship's prisoners, screams could be heard echoing through the air as something pounded against the door sealing the last cell. And whatever it was, it was hitting the door hard enough to make it shake.

"The door will hold?" one of the guards asked the others nervously.

"It must!" a second declared.

"The alien will be delivered on schedule. Lord Trogaar has commanded it!" a third guard added.

"And if this thing gets loose?" a fourth guard asked as the door shook even harder.

"Then Zorg help us all," the first guard stated solemnly.

At those words, another piercing scream filled the air as the cell door thudded, with cracks beginning to form around the door, and from within the shadows of the cell two burning green eyes flared up, glaring with nothing but hate and determination at the door barring their freedom.

While outside the cell, the guards took a few steps back, bracing themselves for anything and everything, and they got it when one last yell rang out and the door blew outward off its hinges, with the last thing they saw being the glow of those terrifying green eyes.

Soon, the dust cloud raised by the door being busted open cleared, revealing the being who had just escaped from the cell. It was a teenage alien girl with orange skin, long red hair, and green eyes glowing with rage. She was wearing a suit of armor, over which she additionally had on a black crop top shirt and miniskirt, as well as thigh-high black boots, with a face-framing crown on her head. Also, she was wearing thick, rigid cuffs that covered her hands and which were connected at both ends, something she was clearly unhappy about.

"Zengtha ru maka! Kek zengtha ror!" she yelled in her language, the anger in her tone obvious even to anyone who couldn't understand her words.

"Restrain her! We can't let her escape or Trogaar will have our heads!" called out one of the guards, holding out a lance that shot electrical energy from the tip.

"Lorka mesplem!" the alien girl growled as the guard charged her and tried to swing his lance at her. However, she brought up her shackled hands and caught the weapon on the chains holding them together; some energy discharged into them, but she just sneered at the guard, unaffected by it.

With a yell, she flung her arms upwards, sending the lance flying out of the guard's hands. And before he could react, she jumped up and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards through the air.

 As this was happening, one guard quickly ran over to a panel on the wall and slammed his fist against it, with alarms starting to ring all across the ship.

 "Heska vo," the girl spat, eyes narrowing as a door opened and more guards came rushing in.

"Get her!" one of them yelled, before they all screamed and charged her.

 With the girl simply snarling with glowing eyes as she lunged forward, showing no fear toward the numbers against her despite her bound arms, only fury.

 And she turned out to be right to be so confident, because a few minutes later-

BOOM

Part of the outside of the ship exploded, revealing the girl standing there, surrounded by unconscious guards. Unaffected by the vacuum of space, she levitated into the air and flew out of the hole, floating through space.

Looking around, her gaze settled on the nearby sight of Earth. Eyes narrowing, she quickly zoomed off towards it.

 And as she made her escape, the leader of her captors was expressing their displeasure.

"You fools! You had one simple job, how could you allow her to escape?!" Bellowed form of Trogaar from his command chair, his voice echoing across the ship on intercom, "I want all soldiers prepared to be sent out to retrieve her!"

He growled, his large form looming over the workers on the command bridge.

"I refuse to let this prize escape us," Trogaar said, his eyes narrowing, "With the Irkens expanding out in their Operation Impending Doom 2, any potential asset for the Gordanian Empire is vital, more than ever."

 He could not and would not allow those arrogant insects to get an edge over his people. They would gather up every powerful being in the known universe that they could bend to their will, and with that might at their disposal, they would crush the Irkens like the bugs they were, and anyone else who dared to defy them.

The entire cosmos would bow before the Gordanian Empire, or feel their wrath!

 (Zim's base)

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the new arrivals were soon to be noticed.

"Now, let's see here..." Zim muttered, currently standing in his lab beneath his Earth dwelling decoy/base, currently accessing the Earth-Monkeys' primitive information network to perform research.

"So... it seems the Dib-Monkey has quite a reputation," He muttered as the computer terminal pulled up an old newspaper article with the title of, "Son of famous brilliant scientist Professor Membrane embarrasses himself with claims of traffic accident being caused by gremlin."

"Fortunately, as the other worm-babies in class indicated, no one believes any of his claims of encountering non-humans," he mused, "So, as long as I am my usually careful Zim-self and don't actively reveal my superior Irken might to them, no one should be convinced by Dib-Stink's efforts to expose me."

Though that being said, Zim still found himself looking nervously to the picture of Dib's parental unit. Not only was he nearly as tall as the Tallest, but he was one of the few humans who appeared to have actual intelligence, and significant resources on top of that. If Dib could convince him, he could be a real problem...

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

However, Zim was pulled from his thoughts as an alarm started sounding.

 "Eh?! Computer, what is the meaning of this racket!?" Zim demanded, annoyed, before his eyes widened in worry as a theory hit his mind, "Did that Dib-Monkey somehow expose us after all?!" He demanded as a computerized voice spoke up.

"Negative, sensors have picked up an unidentified object entering Earth's atmosphere, and current projections set it for collision course for Doomsville," The base's AI computer answered, with Zim giving a blink.

"Doomsville?" he repeated, with the Computer seeming to give a mechanical sigh of exasperation.

"The designation of the city we're based it," It said dryly.

"Zim knew that! Zim was simply checking to see if your memory banks were operational!" The Irken snapped in annoyance with a glare, "And what makes this unidentified object so important to bother Zim with?!"

He added, glaring up at the screen, "It's probably nothing more than some random meteoroid, and Zim has better things to do than waste time with a space rock."

"Well, there's the fact that the sensors have also picked up and identified a Gordanian battle cruiser entering Earth's atmosphere, following after the object," Before stiffening at the Computer's next words as it added in a dry tone, "Soes that sound important enough for you?"

 "Gordanians?! What are those filthy lizards doing here?!" Zim snarled. Ugh, those lizards were just the worst! Acting all arrogant and superior, when everyone knew that they were just lapdogs of the Citadel!

"Apparently, pursuing the object," the Computer stated dryly.

"Zim can tell that much!" the Irken snapped in annoyance at the snarky attitude that the Computer was giving him. Why was all his equipment for this mission like this? "Just... tell Zim where this object is going! I shall intercept it, and figure out how to deal with the Gordanians afterwards."

"Calculating..." the Computer intoned, a loading symbol flashing on the nearest computer screen for a few moments before bringing up a map of their surroundings, a spot on the edge of the city flashing red, "Best estimated impact location is here."

 "Excellent, then Zim shall not waste any time," The Irken declared, jumping off of the chair, "Whatever this object is, Zim shall secure it in the name of the Irken Empire!" He declared with a dark grin, 'And remind these lizards why they are inferior to the might of the Irkens~"

Zim hissed, finding himself eager for this excuse to stretch his legs and display his might after being stuck in the Voot Cruiser for months with... hang on.

"GIR! GET DOWN HERE!" He bellowed as his voice echoed, and not a moment later GIR fell down the elevator shaft with a loud clang, before raising his head with a laugh.

"It's time for the pizza party!" The robot eagerly screeched, prompting a facepalm.

"No GIR, there is no pizza party," Zim growled as he walked into the elevator shaft, with it taking him up to his new Earth dwelling decoy, "The only party happening shall be a PARTY OF DOOM!"

Zim declared with a loud evil laugh, with GIR blinking before smiling.

"Ohhhh... I'm gonna shake my booty!" Then with that declaration proceeded to do just that, prompting Zim to stop laughing and give GIR an annoyed look before sighing.

"Just follow Zim and all will be explained," Zim grumbled as the two exited the base in search of the mystery object.

(Meanwhile, Membrane residence)

"I just can't believe it, Gaz!" Dib exclaimed as he paced in the living room, ranting to his very uninterested sister, "An actual alien just struts into my classroom wearing the worst disguise I've ever seen, and everyone just buys his clearly fake "skin condition" excuse? What is wrong with people?!"

"You want the whole list?" Gaz grunted, not really paying attention as she sat on the couch playing her Game Slave.

Honestly, she didn't really care. Yeah, for once her moron of a brother was right - she'd seen that Zim guy at lunch, and his screeching voice was somehow more annoying than her own brother, and it was clear he wasn't human.

But she really didn't care; so he was an alien invader, big whoop. The guy seemed like a complete idiot, she doubted he was an actual threat. Of course, it seemed Dib didn't seem to realize this or get the memo, rather he was latching onto the alien menace... loser probably saw this as his chance to be the big hero or whatever.

Ugh, whatever. As long as the moron didn't expect her to be his sidekick or something, she didn't care what he did.

"This is serious, Gaz!" Dib yelled at his sister, "That alien freak outright said that he wants to conquer Earth! He needs to be stopped, but apparently I'm the only one that can do it!"

Seriously, what was wrong with everyone? This wasn't like mistaking a guy with a hormonal problem for a werewolf, or thinking that an ugly baby was really a disguised gnome! Zim wasn't even really trying to blend in! Why couldn't people see him for what he was?!

However, Gaz merely gave a snort.

"The only one that can do it," she said with a mocking tone entering her voice, "Finally found something bigger than your head, and it's your ego," She said as Dib gave her a frown, "I mean seriously, if you're Earth's only line of defense, then we might as well declare this Zim guy king now, it'd certainly save time."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Dib demanded, feeling insulted on multiple levels.

"It means that you can't even deal with a guy breaking into our garage to use our belt sander, but suddenly you can singlehandedly save the world?" Gaz scoffed.

"First of all, that wasn't "a guy", it was Bigfoot, and he smacked me aside like a football player making a tackle!" Dib said defensively, "And secondly, I totally had Zim on the run today!"

"Rightttt... you had a dangerous alien invader with access to super advanced technology on the run," Gaz said with a sarcastic snort, "That alone either proves this guy is as dangerous as a wet paper bag, or that you really are more deluded than even I thought possible."

 Dib scowled at Gaz's dismissive attitude towards him, but before he could say anything else, a light outside the window suddenly caught his attention.

"Huh?" he blinked, walking over to the window and looking around for the source of the light. Not seeing anything, he looked up, and his eyes widened as he caught sight of what looked like a meteor falling out of the sky, vanishing from sight behind the buildings just outside his neighborhood.

BOOM

And judging by the resulting explosion, hitting the ground.

 And at this, Dib's eyes widened as he jumped to the immediate and logical conclusion.

"GAZ! IT'S HAPPENING!" He cried out desperately, pressing his face against the window.

"What? You've finally realize how dorky and crazy you are?" Gaz asked, focusing back on her game and just sounding annoyed and done with Dib's nonsense.

"No! The alien invasion, Gaz! Zim must have just been a distraction while his leaders prepared their assault!" Dib yelled, panicking as his mind immediately went to horrible images of alien armies marching down the streets, burning the city to the ground and putting everyone in chains.

He couldn't let this happen!

"I have to stop them before it's too late!" he exclaimed, running out the door without a second thought, leaving Gaz staring after him incredulously.

"Does he even have a plan?" she muttered. But then gave a shrug.

"Eh, whatever. He gets himself blown up, it's his own fault," she stated coldly, before ignoring the potential alien invasion to enjoy the peace and quiet as she focused on something actually important... her video game.

(Elsewhere, edge of Doomville)

A crowd of citizens gathered around a crater, where a green light had crashed.

"What's that?" Asked one man, scratching his head.

"Looks like a new pothole... dang mayor promised to fix them, not make more," Grumbled a woman next to him.

While they were complaining, no one noticed the caved-in ground shifting and the light growing brighter, until-

BOOM

"Slopforn ivortmat!" the orange girl screamed as she came bursting out of the ground, "Slopforn! Ond gudshik zerrole!"

"...Who's that? A circus performer?" someone asked in the crowd of people who were staring at the girl obliviously.

 "Looks more like a trouble-making teenager..." Spoke up an old man leaning on his cane with a grumpy kid, "Dang kids, with their loud explosions and glowing green eyes..."

 "That's right! What do you think you're doing making potholes, young lady?" a woman demanded. In response to her tone, the alien girl looked around in frustration and anger.

"Zop yark mesnef!" she yelled, before swinging her cuffed hands into a nearby car, sending it flying through the air.

 "My car!" Cried out a short pudgy man angrily with his hands going to his head, "You crazy! What do you think you're...?"

The man's words were cut off by the girl letting out another roar and charging toward him, with him letting out a girly yell as he jumped to the side, with the girl hitting the building behind him, with her restraints caving in the wall.

"You know what... I wanted to get a new car anyway!" The man squealed as he attempted to flee the scene.

"Someone call the police, it's a crazy hoodlum!" Squealed a woman holding her small dog close up against her chest.

 With that, the crowd screamed and ran away in a blind panic, which the girl blinked at, before scoffing and turning to stomp off while struggling with her cuffs.

"Halt right there, alien scum!"

Only to pause at that shout. Despite not understanding the words, the tone still got her attention, and she turned to face it, finding Dib standing nearby, pointing dramatically at her.

 "Your evil plans to conquer my planet stop here and now!" He declared grandly while glaring up at the girl... with silence passing for several moments, with a tumbleweed actually passing by between them before the girl blinked and shook her head.

"Zor'duni," she muttered to herself, before seeming to turn around and disregard Dib.

 "Huh?" Dib blinked in confusion, before scowling, "Hey! Don't ignore me, alien scum! Face me, Earth's greatest defender!"

The girl paused and glanced at him in annoyance, before scoffing and walking away again, more focused on trying to break her shackles.

 "Seriously?!" Dib groaned, before lunging forward and charging toward the girl heroically (or at least in his mind), with the girl ignoring him before blinking as she felt something grab at her leg, causing her to look down and arch a brow at the sight of Dib grimacing as he tried to pull and grapple at the girl's leg.

"You... won't... conquer... my world!" He exclaimed with a grunt, with the girl honestly looking a mixture between confused and unimpressed.

"Thal g'nair zha'lar!" she said with a blink, before adding with a scowl, "Thig baal vorplox!"

 With that, she raised her leg, easily lifting Dib into the air. He blinked at this, barely realizing what was happening before she thrust her leg out in a kick.

"Flua ne'er!" she yelled, the force of the kick sending flying off of her and down the street with a scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAA!" SHATTER! "OW!"

Straight through the glass window of a pet shop.

"Urg... lucky shot..." Dib groaned from the ground, before freezing as he heard the sound of growling above him, causing him to look up and pale at the sight of multiple dogs surrounding him and growling.

"Um... nice doggies..." he said with a nervous smile, before letting out screams of pain as they all lunged toward him.

 While Dib was mauled by the dogs, the girl snorted dismissively and again turned away, returning her focus to trying to free herself.

"Baka-tahl, vayka irtah su!" she snarled, straining against the restraints.

 She refused to let herself be bound any longer! Especially when it only made her more vulnerable to genuine threats instead of foolish natives with large heads, she thought with a snarl, her mind going to her captors as she let out a cry while charging toward a building to slam her restraints against.

BOOM

As this was happening, a small alien vessel, specifically an Irken Voot Cruiser, arrived on the scene.

"Hmm, whatever that falling object was, it certainly caused plenty of damage," Zim remarked to GIR, with a hint of amusement for the chaos of the scene he arrived to.

 "Party time?" GIR asked excitedly, making Zim sigh.

"For the last time, GIR, there is no party!" he snapped, "Now, look around for whatever caused this!"

"Affirmative!" GIR said, his eyes turning red as he looked out the ship, with Zim blinking but sighing, pleased that the robot could at least follow some orders, as he moved the Voot Cruiser closer to hover a few feet above the apparent impact crater, but no sign of the cause of it.

"Surely those arrogant lizards couldn't have beaten Zim here," The Irken muttered to himself with a scowl, furious at the idea of that scenario, while also disregarding the option of the Earth-Monkeys taking the unidentified object. As judging by the chaos and damage, they likely fled like the cowardly primitives they are... but that still left the question of where was Zim's prize?!

"I see a pretty lady coming to say hi!" Before flinching as GIR, his eye color and personality suddenly back to normal, screeched and waved his arm crazily.

"GIR! What are you...?" Zim started to demand answers, only to turn his head, spotting an orange-skinned humanoid with glowing green eyes charging straight toward his ship!

Naturally, as a highly-trained Irken Invader with well-honed skills and instincts, Zim knew exactly how to react to this.

"AAAHHHH!!!" he screamed in a blind panic, yanking back hard on the Voot's controls and causing it to careen off in a random direction, the alien girl just barely missing colliding with them.

"Wheeeeeeee! Pretty lady wants to play, mastah!" GIR squealed at the same time, cackling while Zim grimaced with a dark scowl as he got the Voot back under control.

"GIR! This is no time for games, we are under attack!" He snapped, before looking towards the apparent new enemy floating before him, and blinking in surprise as he fully registered what he was seeing.

"A Tamaranean? What is a troq like that doing on a planet like this?" he muttered, eyes narrowed at the floating orange girl.  While his mind raced, recalling what he knew of the so-called warrior race.

 From the planet Tamaran, they had a strong warrior tradition, though fixated on ridiculous concepts like honorable fighting instead of just crushing their enemies. More importantly, due to experiments by other races on their ancestors in ancient times, they had the ability to fly and harness energy that they could then redirect in attacks from their hands.

And hmm... this might explain the Gordanians' presence, as he recalled those lizards being at war with the Tamaraneans for a long time, on behalf of their Citadel masters. This one must be a POW that escaped from them. Which of course meant this troq was the prize Zim sought... the question was, what to do now? Well, obviously he would be making sure the Gordanians didn't take back their prisoner; why would he miss the chance to remind them their place and Irken superiority~

The question is, what he'd do with the Tamaranean? After all, his mission had only started today, and he couldn't risk a savage running around exposing him to the humans!

Zim supposed he could keep her prisoner, but then what? It'd be a waste to just keep her around without getting anything out of her. Admittedly, it might be easier to just destroy her and be done with it, but Tamaraneans, despite their inferiority to Irkens, were still strong warriors (despite their foolish honor code), made all the more deadly with their abilities, so simply destroying her would be a waste of potential resources.

After all, Zim could deliver her to the Tallest as a gift! Or perhaps use her in some kind of experiment that would naturally benefit Zim. Or maybe he could break her to his will and use her as an attack dog! Yes, that would perfect; it was a perfectly fitting role for a troq like this, and why shouldn't Zim have such a useful tool at his disposal?

Of course, first he'd have to capture her, he realized as she continued floating ahead of him, scowling at him.

"Filthy Tamaranean! Surrender immediately, or face the wrath of Zim!" he declared, shouting through his ship's speakers.

"Kusak ti? Vey ann'ku tig?" the Tamaranean shouted in reply, frustrated confusion etched into her face. And Zim... gave a clueless blink.

"Urg, can't your people even speak Galactic Basic like the rest of the universe?! Even the Earth-Monkeys speak basic!" He exclaimed with annoyance as the Tamaranean simply scowled back at him, "But enough of your gibberish, you will surrender to Zim and the might of the Irken Empire!"

 "Irken?" the girl repeated the one word she recognized with a blink, before scowling again. She knew of the Irkens of course, they were said to be even bigger imperialist monsters than the Gordanians!

By X'hal, this was not a good day...

Zim, meanwhile, puffed up at the recognition he noticed.

"Yes, that's right, Irken! And Zim is the greatest of all Irkens! So surrender, or feel my wrath!" he declared.

 However, rather than the reasonable response to his demand, the girl instead roared as she charged straight toward him!

 "Agh! Insolent troq!" Zim spat, activating the Voot's weapons and opening fire. Plasma bolts shot through the air at the Tamaranean, only for her to dodge expertly, quickly closing the distance between them.

"Zar'kawa!" she yelled as she rammed her cuffed hands into the Voot, sending the ship spinning through the air.

 "AAAAAAAAAH! URG ZIM IS GOING TO BE SICK!" The Irken screamed as the Voot spun out of control, while GIR laughed maniacally in his antenna.

As this was happening, a horde of dogs jumped through the shattered glass of the pet store, with Dib's bruised and scarred form limping through after them.

"Urg... I... am... the protector of... Earth... alien... scum," he groaned, before collapsing just outside the pet store.

 This day was NOT going how he'd always fantasized. No one had believed him, despite there being an alien right there in front of them, his epic attempt to hunt Zim down had ended with him being chased off by robotic lawn gnomes, and now another alien had just gotten him mauled by dogs.

"Where's the adventure and praise?" he grumbled as he pulled himself off the ground, "Where's the vindication of my life goals? Where-"

BAM

"-the heck did that come from?!" Dib exclaimed in shock as the Voot suddenly crashed into the sidewalk a few yards in front of him. With the hatch opening a moment later, and Dib watching wide eyed as Zim (without his disguise!) leaned out over the side, looking nauseous along with a robot (an actual alien robot!) that let out an excited cheer.

"Let's go again! AGAIN!" It shrilled, with Zim letting out a groan.

"No GIR, let's not!" The alien growled with a scowl, while pushing up but still looking dazed, "Disrespectful troq... trespassing on Zim's planet... attacking Zim's ship! Why Zim outta..." His words were cut off by Dib suddenly shaking his head and pushing himself up, powering through the pain.

"ZIM!"

Prompting a confused blink from the Irken, before he grimaced, seeing the source of the cry.

"Hi, big head!" Called out GIR with a wave as Dib approached, holding his side slightly.

"First off, my head's not big," Dib said with an annoyed expression, "And secondly..." He pointed accusingly at the alien, "I won't let you, or your reinforcements, take my planet, Zim!"

He called out with his best heroic tone. However, Zim merely look confused and annoyed.

"Reinforcements? Zim needs no reinforcements to invade a planet!" He exclaimed angrily, with a genuinely insulted expression. Who did Dib-Monkey think Zim was, Invader Larb?!

"And Zim has no time to deal with big-headed smeets! Zim has a savage Tamaranean to subdue before those annoying lizards the Gordanians show up to capture her!" He added with a snap toward Dib, who gave a surprised blink at this bit of information.

"A what to subdue before who does what?" he echoed in confusion.

"Does your primitive race know nothing about the universe, pitiful human?" Zim sneered, "Tamaraneans are a race of brutal warriors, and Gordanians are idiotic lizards who are at war with them and apparently caught this one, who escaped and is now making it Zim's problem!"

"...I feel like there's a lot of context I'm missing here," Dib admitted, trying to wrap his head around what Zim had just said.

"Zim cares not for your context! Just stay out of my way and let the superior lifeforms handle things!" Zim spat, turning away from Dib and looking up in the sky to where his target was coming down towards him.

With Zim widening his eyes before screaming out, "GIR! DEFEND YOUR MASTER!"

"Yes sir!" GIR said with a salute, eyes flashing red. Rockets igniting in his feet, he flew up into the air to place himself between the Tamaranean and Zim, and proceeded to do a few kung-fu moves... before his eyes went back to blue and he held his arms out wide with a smile.

"Who wants a hug?!" he yelled happily.

WHACK

And then he was smacked out of the way by the orange girl, who kept going without slowing down.

"What kinda robot minion asks for a hug?!" Dib exclaimed in disbelief, while Zim gave a growl.

"It's called tactical distraction, Dib-Monkey!" He snapped as he latched onto the first excuse he could think of while deploying his PAK legs.

He then leapt up to try and intercept the Tamaranean in midair, only for her to flip around and come down legs first, slipping past the PAK legs so that her feet slammed into Zim's chest, allowing her to ram him down into the ground.

CRACK

Leaving Zim wheezing in pain in a new hole in the pavement, while she glared down at him. With a growl, she raised her bound arms to bring them down on him, and with a cry of panic, Zim wildly swung his PAK legs around in a desperate attempt to free himself.

SLING

And then, to everyone's shock, one of the legs not only blocked the Tamaranean's bound arms, but cut clean through the bindings holding the cuffs together. Both aliens froze at that, blinking in surprise at what had just happened, and then with a clatter of metal, the cuffs fell off, leaving the girl's hands fully freed.

...

...

...

Stunned silence filled the air for several moments before it was broken by the Irken's voice.

"Uhhh... Zim meant to do that," The Irken said aloud nervously as the Tamaranean flexed her free hands.

"Why would you mean to help your opponent?!" Dib exclaimed incredulously where he stood off to the side, trying to come up with a plan. He might not know much about this girl's species, but he was pretty sure removing her restraints made her even more dangerous!

"Well, obviously it would be too easy for Zim to vanquish her with those cuffs retraining her arms. By freeing her, Zim will now have a somewhat decent challenge," He explained with a huff, as Dib only gave Zim an incredulous look, wondering if Zim actually expected him to buy that or if Space Boy was telling the truth and was actually that arrogant.

Though his shock only grew at the alien girl's next move, as she lunged toward Zim, grabbing the surprised Irken by the front of his uniform and then pulling him... INTO A KISS!?

Yes, kiss, as the alien girl had pulled Zim up and was now kissing him hard.

"I... what?!" Leaving Dib to stare in a mixture of shock, confusion, and admittedly a tiny bit of jealousy as he tried to figure out what was even happening! These two had just been trying to kill each other, now they were kissing? What the hell?! Was this some weird alien courtship ritual or something? But they were different species!

As Dib was trying to process this, Zim's own mind was frozen at what was happening. This primitive savage was putting her filthy inferior lips on his superior ones! This was a disgrace to all Irken-kind!

...So, why did it feel kinda good? He felt a warm pleasant feeling spreading up from his squeedilyspooch, as well as a strange thrill that almost rivaled the feeling he had when he destroyed his enemies or showed the superiority of Zim!

Was the Tamaranean doing this? Was this some kind of ability her people possessed that Zim was somehow unaware of?

Before he could figure it out, however, the kiss suddenly stopped, and the Tamaranean dropped him to the ground without warning.

"Thank you for freeing me," she said, the boys blinking in surprise as she was suddenly speaking English (or Galactic Basic as Zim knew it), before she gave Zim a firm look, "Now, leave me ALONE!"

And with that, she leapt back into the air and flew away, quickly vanishing from sight. Leaving Zim stunned, sitting on his butt before turning his head as Dib-Monkey approached.

"Okay... what just happened!?" The paranormal "expert" exclaimed in confusion, "How the heck do you go from kicking the crud out of someone one minute to making out with them the next?! Was all of that some kinda alien courting thing or something?!"

 "Courting?!" Zim exclaimed in disbelief, suddenly feeling nervous and warm in the face for some reason, "Nonsense! Irkens do not bother with such primitive concepts! Clearly, that lowly troq was just impressed by Zim's mightiness!"

 "Right... she was so impressed when she was beating you down into the ground," Dib said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Zim had her where Zim wanted her!" The Irken retorted, standing back up, "And at least Zim did more than stand around gawking with his big mouth and even bigger head."

He added with a smirk, causing Dib to growl.

"My head's not big!" Dib snapped, annoyed.

"You keep telling yourself that, Earth-Monkey," Zim said, snickering a bit, "but if you excuse Zim, he has a Tamaranean to track down before those annoying lizards show up."

He said with a scowl, before both him and Dib jumped at a loud shrill cry behind them.

"MASTAH HAS A GIRLFRIEND!" With them both whirling around to see GIR standing behind them, smiling, "You should give her hugs and kisses~" The robot said, giggling as he hugged himself.

 "Zim does not want hugs and kisses!" Zim snapped, cheeks flushing as he stomped off in the direction that the Tamaranean had gone, GIR following and them leaving a confused Dib behind.

"I... really don't know how I feel about all this," Dib muttered to himself.

I mean, the alien menace that infiltrated his school just got kissed by another alien! Another alien who, besides her skin tone and glowing eyes, could pass for a more believable human than the space bug with his disguise. Another alien who, by all accounts, looked like a very attractive teenage girl... and she kissed Zim?!

I mean, it wasn't like he wanted to be kissed by an alien! No matter how pretty said alien was... he thought with a grimace, before shaking his head back to focus as he ran after Zim.

"Wait, hang on, you can't just leave! I want some answers!" He demanded, with Zim growling as he spoke over his shoulder while approaching his ship.

"And Zim doesn't care! Nor does Zim have time to give your tiny human brain answers you wouldn't understand," he added with a scoff.

"I can understand just fine!" Dib snapped with a glare toward the alien's back, before recalling what Zim said earlier, "Who is that tamerian girl? And who are these lizard gordonas you mentioned earlier?"

With Zim rolling his eyes in response.

"That's Tamaranean and Gordanian, Earth-Monkey!" Zim snipped as he examined his ship, "And they are none of your concern. For Zim will not let any outsiders disturb a planet claimed by the Irken Empire!"

"Hey, you can't just claim my planet like that!" Dib protested.

"Watch me!" Zim laughed defiantly as his ship powered up and took off, quickly flying off towards the direction that the Tamaranean girl had gone.

"Oh no you don't! Come back here!" Dib yelled, chasing after them on foot.

Though as the Earthling chased after the Irken and his robot as they chased after the Tamaranean, the Gordanians were entering Earth's atmosphere, with their sensors picking up unwanted news.

"What do you mean you've detected an Irken ship?!"

 The crew trembled in fear before Lord Trogaar's wrath, the larger than average Gordanian getting up from his throne with a look of rage on his face.

"It is as we said, my lord," one of his subordinates said with a bowed head, "A vessel registering as Irken technology has been detected on the planet below, specifically in the city where the escaped Tamaranean has fled to."

"But it is only a small ship!" another Gordanian quickly added, "It could not possibly contain more than a single Irken!"

"Fool! Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" Trogaar growled, "An Irken operating on their own like this can only mean one thing, an Invader!"

 At that, the Gordanians traded wary looks, understanding their leader's point. After all, the Invaders were the elite of the Irken Empire. Specially trained to infiltrate and bring down entire planets alone for the glory of their Tallest.

 If one was here, then this backwater planet must have somehow caught the interest of the Irken Empire. And if that was the case, they were potentially facing off with an incredibly dangerous figure, maybe even more so than the troq who had escaped them!

"Track this Irken. We will use him to find the Tamaranean, and then hit them with everything we have while they're distracted by each other! And I want the Irken captured alive," Trogaar commanded with a dark grin, "Not only as a potential valuable source of information about those pathetic insects' secrets, but to hold over the heads of the Tallest as both a trophy and proof in the superiority of the Gordanian Empire!"

 Yes, that would more than compensate for the delays that the Tamaranean had caused him. He would not only still be delivering her as a tribute to the Citadel, but also gaining a means to finally one-up those egotistical bugs, and show them who the true dominant species were!

"Yes, my lord!" one of the soldiers declared, before he and the rest scurried to carry out Trogaar's orders. As their leader himself looked out to the city their ship was approaching.

"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, troq," He said with a low hiss, "Because soon, you and that bug will be spending the rest of your days under the power of the Citadel!"

He said with a dark grin, actually finding himself quite looking forward to this. Perhaps this little setback would truly prove beneficial in the long run after all.

(Doomsville)

As the Gordanian soldiers were proving to move out, Zim was hot on the trail of the Tamaranean.

"GIR... we're supposed to be finding the Tamaranean... not consuming tacos from a primitive Earth mobile vehicle!"

Well... sort of on her trail.

 "But I need tacos, or I'll explode!" GIR whined, standing next to a taco truck on the side of the road, the Voot parked nearby and having been "disguised" as a car by having several pictures of tires taped to its sides, and the two of them back in their own disguises.

"I highly doubt that the Tallest would design you to explode without intaking disgusting human food," Zim said flatly. However, at GIR's pout and watery eyes, he sighed and relented, "Fine, but eat quickly! We have a troq to find before those lizards do!"

 "Yay!" GIR let out an excited cheer before jumping into the taco truck's side window, prompting a scream from the worker inside while Zim simply sighed, rubbing his head.

"Speaking of the Tallest, Zim is sure they'll want a report about all of this immediately once Zim has secured the Tamaranean and dooms those insolent lizards."

After all, what if it was more than an escaped prisoner that brought the Gordanians here? What if the Citadel was also targeting Earth for conquest?! It would make sense that the Irken Empire's enemies would desire to keep valuable planets out of their rightful rule and control, and as the planet chosen for Zim to invade, Earth would of course be highly valuable.

 Hmm, yes, perhaps that was the true reason that the Tallest had sent Zim here! They must have realized in their brilliant leadership brains what the Citadel and their pet lizards were planning, and sent Zim here to counteract them with his own amazing superior incredibleness!

Well, Zim would not let them down. He would force the Tamaranean to tell him everything she knew about the Gordanians, and then crush them like the worms that they were, for the glory of the Irken Empire!

 But first.... he had to find the dang troq and her strangely pleasant lips!... Wait, what did Zim just think?

 As Zim found himself questioning his own thoughts, GIR finished vandalizing the taco truck, popping out of it with his dog costume covered in bits of meat and sauce.

"Bye! Thanks!" he called to the traumatized truck operator, who was curled up in a fetal position on the floor of the mobile kitchen.

"The beans... the beans..." the poor man muttered, wide-eyed in horror.

GIR giggled at this and turned back to his master, whose face was screwed up in thought and who hadn't noticed his robot's return yet. His own attention span quickly drifting away at the lack of recognition, GIR looked around randomly, until his gaze fell on a nearby convenience store, whose front window had been smashed in.

"Oooh~" GIR said excitedly, running over to the store, which snapped Zim out of his distraction.

"Eh? GIR! Get back here!" he demanded, running after his robot.

But GIR didn't listen as he went over to the store, peaking through the shattered front window.

"Look mastah! It's the pretty lady!" GIR cheered, prompting a blink from Zim as he arrived, but looked into the store, and low and behold it was indeed the Tamaranean, devouring Earth snacks wrapper and all like a starving Slaughtering Rat Person.

"Good work, GIR!" Zim said with a wide smirk, "I should know better than to doubt your state of the art tracking systems," He praised, with GIR simply giving a dumb smile.

"Ahhh, she's hungry~"

"Well, she can have all the snacks she wants later, but for now, she must answer to Zim!" he declared, stomping into the store, "Tamaranean! Put down the human food and look to Zim!"

The orange girl, mouth stuffed with multiple chocolate bars, blinked and turned to face Zim upon hearing his voice. Recognizing him, her eyes narrowed, and she forcibly swallowed the food so that she could speak.

"You again?" she asked angrily, "If you do not wish to be destroyed, go away and leave me alone!"

 "Ha! You do not frighten Zim!" Scoffed the Irken as he hopped into the store, with GIR approaching the Tamaranean, "And this planet is marked by Zim's Tallest for invasion, so Zim can't just leave a wild Tamaranean running around, and risk exposure to the Earth-Monkeys," He added with a firm glare to the girl, "So unless YOU!" He pointed accusingly at her, "Wish to be destroyed by Zim, you will follow Zim back to his base and tell me everything you know about the Gordanians and their Citadel masters' plans for Earth!"

 "I know nothing of what those foul noodars or their vile masters might want with this planet, I only came here because it was the nearest world when I escaped from their ship," the Tamaranean scoffed, "And I have no desire to let an Irken of all things tell me what I can and can not do, so begone with you!"

"You dare defy Zim, Tamaranean?" Zim growled, glaring up at her angrily.

"Yes, I do. And my name is Koriand'r, or Starfire as it translates into your language, so you will address me as such, not by my species!" the girl, apparently named Starfire, declared proudly, hands planted on her hips.

 "Zim will address you however Zim pleases!" The Irken retorted, glaring up at her, "Just as he will be taking you as his prisoner!'

 "You are welcome to try," Starfire said with a glare, eyes and hands glowing brightly, "But you will find that I am no easy target!"

 And at that, both Irken and Tamaranean glared at each other, entering battle stances and seemingly ready to reengage their earlier clash, both determined to defeat the other. But before the first attack could be thrown...

"Hi, pretty lady!" GIR's yell filled the air, causing confused blinks before the green dog costume-wearing robot lunged forward, latching onto Starfire's left leg, hugging her as she looked down with a perplexed expression, "I love you ~

Before blinking at GIR's next words as the robot smiled up at her.

"Well, aren't you an adorable bumgorf," She said, bending down and picking him up into a hug, while Zim looked annoyed as GIR giggled.

"GIR! We don't hug our enemies!" Zim exclaimed in annoyance, "We doom them! DOOOM! Hugs only bring doom if you're Squishy, Hugger of Worlds!" He cried out in exasperation while GIR giggled.

"Mastah jealous~" he whispered in a low tone to Starfire as Zim's eye twitch, "You should give him more kisses ~"

 "For the last time, Zim wants no kisses!" Zim snapped.

"What is a kiss?" Starfire asked, blinking in confusion, making Zim look to her in surprise.

"What do you mean, what is a kiss? It's when you put your lips against someone else's, like you did to Zim before!" he exclaimed, feeling his face heat up.

"That was merely me absorbing your language, I do not know why you are being so upset about it," Starfire replied with a frown.

 Zim shot her an incredulous look. Did this troq seriously not know about kissing or its meaning? Even if the Irkens had long abandoned the need for such unnecessary weak relationships, they still knew about the concept from observing other races for weaknesses and such feelings were always a weakness to exploit.

Also, learning the language? Who didn't know Galactic Basic?!

"You expect Zim to believe you honestly don't know what you did by laying your filthy mouth hole on Zim's lips?!" He exclaimed in frustration, "And Tamaranean or not, what kinda backwater barbarian doesn't know Galactic Basic?!"

"Who are you calling a barbarian?" Starfire demanded angrily, "Everyone knows you Irkens are mindless bloodthirsty savages!"

"You dare insult a superior being?!" Zim demanded, just as angrily, "You should feel honored to even be breathing the same air as Zim!"

"Honored? Like you even know the meaning of the word!" Starfire huffed out.

"As if Zim would care about something so stupid and useless in the first place!" Zim snapped back, and as an argument started between the two, a very large head was peaking into the pet store, observing everything.

"So... they are enemies?" Dib asked himself, very confused by what he was seeing, "Or is this just weird alien courtship stuff? I mean, Zim said his people don't do that, but he's evil so he might have been lying about that... No, never mind, it doesn't matter! I need to take them both down while they're distracted by each other! Then I expose both of them to everyone! And not only will the Earth be saved, but everyone will see I was right about the alien menace. I just... need to think of a plan here."

He muttered with a grimace, because the old saying to defeat one's enemy, one must know ones enemy came to mind here... only problem was... he didn't exactly know that much about either of them. I mean, they both showed up today! Zim enrolling in his class like nothing, and than the alien girl crashing down and trashing the city. Didn't exactly give him much time to do any data gathering or research on this threat... but he couldn't afford to waste time! Even if he didn't know much beyond Zim having advanced technology at hand, including one very strange robot, and the girl herself being VERY strong. He had to think of a way to bring them both down... but how?

"Urg, if that gnome hadn't destroyed my only pair of alien sleep cuffs, I could have at least managed to take one of them down... knew I should have ordered a backup pair from that magazine," Dib said with a grimace. He'd have to find something else, but what?

While Dib was desperately considering his options, Zim and Starfire were still arguing.

"You are nothing but an arrogant zar'pyak!" Starfire spat, glaring down at Zim.

"Zim doesn't know what a zar'pyak is, but Zim is sure it's better than being a savage rat beast!" Zim snapped back.

"How dare you?!" Starfire's eyes glowed as she unconsciously held GIR up against her chest, barely even remembering he was there, "I should..."

Her words were cut off as Dib finally made his move.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Which amounted to grabbing a nearby loose brick as he ran into the building and threw it with all his might straight at Starfire... with it missing her and instead hitting the wall behind her, causing Starfire and Zim to blink and turned confused annoyed gazes toward Dib, who suddenly froze, realizing... that this was perhaps not the best plan.

"Uhhh... don't suppose either of you would be willing to surrender in the name of the Earth, would you?" He asked with a nervous grin, feeling like such a moron right now as Zim and Starfire just gave him annoyed looks.

"Dib-Monkey! Do you not see Zim has greater things to worry about than your overlarge cranium?!" Zim snapped.

"His head is rather large, yes..." Starfire said, having to give the Irken that point, "Who is he, and do all the natives possess such large heads?" she questioned with a frown.

"My head's not that big!" Dib protested with frustration.

"Please, it's twice the size of your body!" Zim sneered, "And yet despite that, you're somehow brainless enough to continually interfere with things far beyond your capacity!"

"He is correct, this does not concern you, go away," Starfire added with a nod.

"You're both on my planet, that makes it my problem!" Dib declared.

 "Grr, you really need to learn to keep your big head out of the business of your superiors, Dib-Monkey!" Zim snapped, glaring at him.

"First off, you wouldn't be superior to me anyway in a million years," Dib retorted, glaring at Zim, "And secondly, there's not a single thing that would make me regret stepping in and stopping alien menaces like you!"

He said as heroically as he could, and as if waiting for his very words...

BOOM

The wall to the side exploded, sending them all flying back as a group of Gordanians charged in, "Capture the Tamaranean and Irken at all costs! Destroy anything that stands in your way!"

It was at this point that Dib realized he was standing between the Gordanians and the others.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, before screaming as the Gordanians started charging towards him.

 "You will not take me again!" Starfire roared at the same time, slinging out some energy bolts from her hands at the same time as Zim deployed his PAK legs.

"GIR, destroy our enemies!" He cried out as he lunged toward one Gordanian.

"Yes, my master!" GIR said, saluting in his more serious robotic tone... before charging forward, running crazily, "Waaaaaaahooooooo!"

 He then rammed into a Gordanian's leg, only to bounce off and land on his back.

"I'm a turtle!" he yelled happily, flailing his arms and legs in the air while the Gordanian blinked and looked down at him in confusion.

"Uh... is this thing even a threat?" he awkwardly asked his comrades, who were torn between dodging Zim and Starfire's attacks and chasing a screaming Dib around.

 "Beats me, but better capture it along with the Irken and Tamaranean just to be safe," One replied with a shrug as the first reached down to awkwardly grab the creature.

Only for GIR to immediately leap up in the air and unzip his costume, revealing his true robotic self.

"Defensive mode initiated!" He shouted with red eyes as rockets and laser blasters were deployed out of his head, prompting wide eyes from the gathered Gordanians, "Destroy all threats!" Before letting out screams as GIR immediately opened fire.

 BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

Lasers and missiles fired in every direction, blowing up the Gordanians... and everything else in sight, for that matter.

"Zim! Tell your stupid robot to aim right!" Dib yelled, barely dodging a laser.

"HA! And why would Zim do that?!" The Irken called out with a mocking smirk, "After all, if you're blown up with the lizards, then that's one less problem Zim has to deal with as he continues his invasion."

"While I do not agree with the callousness, large head boy, he is right that since you are an enemy, we are not obligated to care about your safety," Starfire stated as she casually blasted a Gordanian away from her.

"For the last time, my head's not big!" Dib snapped, dodging behind a shelf just before it got blown up.

"I believe this is what they call the denial, yes?" Starfire questioned as Zim lifted up one Gordanian with his PAK legs.

"Zim just met Dib-Monkey today, but he is quite the deluded type, yes," The Irken agreed, before throwing the Gordanian toward Starfire, who blasted at the poor fool, sending his smoking form flying out to land on a couple more of his comrades with a pained groan.

"Not bad, not as impressive as Zim of course, but not bad," Zim remarked the next moment with a hum.

"You are also not so bad, for an arrogant vrothmierg," Starfire replied with a smirk.

"Zim doesn't know what that means, but I will take it as a compliment," he scoffed while offhandedly blasting another Gordanian. With Starfire, despite herself, letting out a giggle as she punched a Gordanian soldier back, launching him toward the wall with a pained groan before joining the rather loud Irken in glorious battle.

While Dib continued to hide and observe behind the shelf.

"Urg... come on, Membrane... you want to be a hero... real heroes don't cower from combat," Dib muttered, poking his head out, only to let out a yelp from dodging a laser blast, with him letting out a groan.

"What am I even doing here?" He wondered out loud with a depressed scowl, "All I've done is embarrass myself... maybe Gaz had a point. Maybe I am just in over my head, and should just leave things be..."

"Mwuhahahaha! That's right, lizards, feel the wrath of Zim, who is soon to conquer Earth because no one can stop me!" Zim cackled as he fought, Dib tensing up at the weirdly specific wording.

 But at the same time, the words echoed through his mind, if not his very soul. No one can stop him... stop Zim... no one... but him, he realized with a scowl. Because like it or not, however ridiculous the alien's disguise was... it was working. No one saw Zim as anything but a weird kid with a weird skin condition.

He might just be some kid with a love of the paranormal... but if he just gave up... if he just called it quits and let this alien do whatever he wanted, then there would really be nothing standing in Zim's way. He could destroy and conquer to his heart's content while continuing his facade of a "normal earth child", Dib thought with a grimace, clenching his fists.

 He couldn't allow that! No matter how overwhelmed or terrified he was, he couldn't just give up! He had to keep fighting to save the Earth, no matter what it took!

BOOM

...though maybe he'd let Zim and Starfire handle the current problem first, he thought with a flinch as another explosion ripped through the store.

 "Hahahaha, that makes 14 for Zim. I bet you haven't beaten even half as many!" Speaking of, Zim had just leapt up and brought his PAK legs down, pinning one Gordanian before taking their own energy staff to give them a painful shock.

 "Actually, this one is 16 for me," Starfire replied smugly, holding one Gordanian up by his neck, before throwing him into the wall hard enough to smash a hole into it that the lizard was left dangling halfway out of.

"What?!" Zim exclaimed, outraged at losing this impromptu competition. He looked around for more Gordanians to attack, only to curse as he saw that there weren't any left.

 "Yeah, well... Zim wasn't even trying!" The Irken huffed with crossed arms, "In fact, Zim basically let you win. After all, these are Gordanians hardly worth the effort of Zim using his full might!'

"Of course, as you say," Starfire said with a nod. Zim narrowed his eyes at her, unable to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. But before he could say anything, Dib popped up from where he had been taking cover, looking around in concern.

"Is it over?" he asked, getting the alien pair's attention.

"Are you still here, Dib-Monkey?" Zim sneered, "Go away already so Zim can focus on things that actually matter!"

"I'm not leaving, Zim," Dib snapped back with a glare, "Because wherever alien menaces threaten innocent Earth-loving humans, I'll be there," He vowed with a clenched look while Zim and Starfire actually found themselves trading looks, "So how about you tell me what this is all about, if these creeps really aren't with you."

Dib added with a frown, "And why the heck all you aliens are suddenly showing up to attack my planet, on the same day no less?" He added with a glare toward Zim and... his girlfriend... ally of convenience?

"We're throwing a pizza party!" Before letting out a startled cry as a small form tackle his head from the side.

"AH! Ambush!" Dib screamed as he started flailing around blindly, trying to dislodge GIR from his head.

"GIR, for the last time, we're not throwing a pizza party!" Zim yelled as his minion, even as he found the situation amusing, "But do keep doing that, Zim finds it very entertaining~"

"His head's so big and squishy! I wanna live inside it!" GIR exclaimed happily.

"No way! Get off!" Dib yelled, finally managing to grab GIR and pull him off, throwing him aside before turning back to Zim with a glare, "And stop trying to distract me with your crazy robot! Tell me what's happening, right now!"

"Zim was actually in the middle of getting answers before you and the lizards showed up, distracting Zim!" The Irken snapped with one last glare toward Dib before turning his attention back to the Tamaranean, who herself seemed to have a look of both befuddlement and amusement. But at Zim's words, she groaned.

"As I explained earlier, zar'pyak, I have no knowledge of any plans these foul noodars..." she shot a glare at the various knocked out forms of the Gordanians, "Or their masters for this planet."

She said, crossing her arms, "This was simply the closest planet after escaping..." She frowned with a forlorn look, "I am a prize for them."

 "A prize? Wait, you mean like a slave?" Dib asked, confusion giving way to horror as he processed that statement.

"Yes, to be given to tribute to their masters at the Citadel," Starfire added with a scowl, "I managed to break free and escape their ship, and fled to this world, but it would appear that they will not easily give me up."

 "And these Citadel guys are...?" Dib asked warily, a part of him intrigued and eager for information at what powers and threats existed out in the stars.

"Not nice," Starfire stated in turn rather bluntly with a look of scorn, while Zim simply scoffed, "Nothing more than a pitiful coalition of clones who think themselves an Empire, when they and their progenitor are nothing before the glory of the Irken Empire and the Tallest!"

"...Your leaders are just taller than everybody?" Dib asked, looking at Zim incredulously.

"Yes, because that's the superior way of doing things, obviously! But enough about telling you things that your tiny brain cannot comprehend! We have more important things to worry about! These fools were merely the first wave..." Zim said, gesturing toward the prone Gordanian forms, "and it's only a matter of time until..."

His words were cut off by the sounds of a loud noise.

"What's that noise?" Dib asked warily, already knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"It's the pizza, the pizza!" Before flinching and looking toward a yell from Zim's crazy robot, who was now outside the store window, looking up into the sky, with the three inside trading looks.

"I do not know what this pizza is, but I highly doubt that is what we are hearing," Starfire said slowly as she approached the shattered front window, with Dib and Zim following her before they all looked up into the sky to find the large Gordanian battleship looming over the city. With Dib in particular giving a stunned stare; this was a moment out of his deepest dreams and validations, but also straight out of his nightmares.

"Well..." the human nervously licked his lips, "At least everyone will know aliens are real now."

He said mostly to himself, trying to look on the bright side in this, not denying its dire situation.

 "Oh look dear, they must be filming a movie!" a woman commented to her husband as they walked past.

"Eh, the special effects could be better, you can see the strings from here," her husband scoffed.

"Seriously?" Dib deadpanned, eye twitching at this. First people not seeing through Zim's disguise, now this! Was he the only one with any common sense?! THAT WAS AN ACTUAL ALIEN WAR SHIP! WHY WEREN'T PEOPLE PANICKING?!

And as he asked himself this, a giant hologram was projected from the ship, displaying an alien form that even though identical to the other Gordanians, felt a lot more menacing, and was recognized by Starfire.

"Trogaar..." she hissed with glaring glowing eyes toward the hologram of her captors' leader as he addressed the city.

"Hear this, Earth scum!" Trogaar called out with a dark glare, "Your planet is harboring both a prisoner and hostile enemy agent to the Gordanian Empire and the Citadel."

He narrowed his eyes, glaring, "You have one chance to surrender them and your planet into the authority of the Citadel, or you shall face annihilation!"

 As he said this, his ship angled down so that its main cannon was aiming directly at the city, glowing ominously.

"You have one hour! Surrender them, or you all will die!" Trogaar declared, before his hologram cut off, leaving an ominous silence for several minutes until Zim broke it.

"Eh, Zim's seen bigger doom weapons," he said with a shrug, Dib turning to glare at him incredulously.

"Are you serious? We're all about to die, and all you can do is critique how it's going to happen?!" he yelled.

 "Calm yourself Dib-Head," Zim said with a scoff, with Dib giving an annoyed look at that particular nickname, "The only one who will be dooming anyone here is Zim," The Irken said with a glare, "And of course Zim will critique such sloppy work, the lizards should be thankful to receive Zim's amazing insight."

 "Actually, I must agree with the zor'duni. Now is not the time to be commenting on the Gordanians' tactics, we must fight them!" Starfire declared.

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Zim will deal with these lizards," Zim said offhandedly, "Like I said, no one will conquer or destroy this planet but Zim!"

 "Yeah? And what exactly is your plan? Going up to them, while screaming your name?" Dib asked with a dry tone.

 "No, by going up there and DOOMING THEM!" Zim exclaimed, raising his fists dramatically. When that just got him confused looks, he sighed and clarified, "Obviously, Zim means blowing them up! It's not that complicated!"

 "Oh sure, just go straight up to the alien warship, pass all the alien soldiers, and just blow it up before they blow up the city!" Dib snapped back in frustration, "Sounds real simple space bug!"

"Don't call Zim a bug, you huge-headed primitive primate!" Zim snapped, and at that Dib's frustration snapped, as he tackled Zim to the ground with a yell.

"My head's not big!" He screamed, and the next moment they were rolling and fighting on the ground as Starfire watched with a nonplussed look.

"Aww, mastah and Big Head are playing."

Before giving a blink as GIR spoke up next to her leg.

 "This is considered play on this planet? Hmm, it reminds me of home," Starfire said with a nostalgic smile, before shaking her head with a frown, "But now is not the time for play! We must defeat the Gordanians at once!"

And with that she picked up GIR, placing him on her shoulder, before grabbing and lifting up Zim and Dib in her right and left hands specifically.

"Hey!"

"Release Zim!"

The two barely had a chance to protest before Starfire launched herself up into the air, moving to fly straight toward the ship.

"Wait, are you?" Dib suddenly realized what the alien girl was doing, while also casting a nervous look down to the ground, "We can't just fly straight up to the ship! They'll blast us straight out of the sky!'

"They will have to hit us first!" Starfire said with a cocky smirk, continuing to fly towards the ship. As they approached, it started firing at them, and Starfire expertly swerved around the energy blasts, dodging each of them with ease.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

"WHHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

And all the while, Zim and Dib screamed for their lives, while GIR laughed excitedly. 

Of course, Starfire's approach did not go unnoticed.

"Sir, it's the Tamaranean!" the bridge personnel reported to Trogaar.

"Grr, blast her down! Deploy the soldiers! Just bring me that troq and insect!" He snarled out his order with a dark glare.

 "Yes sir!" the soldier manning the ship's weapons replied with a salute, increasing the rate of fire at the approaching figures, while many soldiers started flying out of the ship and towards them. Which of course didn't go unnoticed by their targets.

"Incoming!" Dib yelled in panic as he saw the approaching Gordanians.

"Hang on!" Starfire yelled, increasing her speed and heading right towards the approaching enemies.

 "Aaaaaaaah! Zim is completely absolutely not terrified!" The Irken screamed in her hand as she did so, his slightly freaked expression saying otherwise, "Zim shall doom those lizards!'

 With that, he deployed his PAK legs and started firing plasma blasts blindly in every direction.

ZAP

ZAP

ZAP

"AAAAGGGHHH!"

And shockingly, a few shots actually hit some of the Gordanians, blasting them out of the sky.

 "Let us face glorious battle!" Starfire screamed as she met some of the Gordanians who weren't hit in midair, kicking one hard in the chin before pulling the arm holding Dib back.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Dib called, suddenly looking very worried, if not freaked out.

"Show no fear! Show the Gordanians the might of your big head!" Starfire yelled, adjusting her grip on Dib before lashing out to use the Earth boy as a melee weapon, while Zim continue to open fire in her other hand.

 "My head's not-!"

SMACK

"AH!" Dib yelled in pain as his head slammed into one of the Gordanians, sending the lizard flying backwards.

 And so, with an Irken and human in hand as both an improvised long range and short range weapon, Starfire engaged her enemies in glorious combat!

"Raaaaggggg!" The Tamaranean let out a fierce battle cry, knocking back any Gordanian within arm's reach with the use of the big-headed one's very large head, while the Irken fired from his back device legs.

ZAP

ZAP

ZAP

"URGG!" Was the pained cry of one Gordanian as he was blasted down, while Zim got into his groove, laughing maniacally.

"Hahahahaha! Yes, cower before Zim, you pathetic lizards! Cower before your doom!" Zim exclaimed with a large grin, with part of Starfire finding the zar'pyak's passion for battle most admirable.

Perhaps the Irken could back up some of his arrogance after all, she thought fleetingly as she used Dib as a mallet, bashing in the head of one Gordanian, who plummeted down to the ground below.

Where the aerial fight had actually been noticed.

"Man, not sure what kinda movie they're filming, but the special effects don't look half bad," Remarked one of Zim's classmates Chunk as he bit into a hot dog, while his friend Brian just shrugged as he bit into his own dog, the boys among many looking up into the sky.

"I guess so. Honestly, sci-fi and supernatural movies are kinda spoiled for me because of Dib," he said with a grunt as Chunk nodded.

"Eh, could see that, but still good entertainment. Only loons like Dib would actually believe that's a real alien ship instead of a movie prop," he said with a snort, with Brian nodding.

"Yeah, honestly surprised he's not running through the city screaming it's the end of the world or something," he said, with the boys giving a laugh, because honestly, who actually believed in aliens? They asked themselves, while high above them on the top of one of the nearby skyscrapers, two forms were observing everything.

"I feared this day would come, Zita," Spoke the form of a black haired man wearing a trench coat and suit with tie, lowering a pair of high tech-looking binoculars, revealing a pair of dark shades hiding his eyes. As he addressed the smaller form next to him as they observed the aerial melee on a building rooftop.

"And what day would that be, Uncle Bill?" Asked the purple-haired girl that Dib would recognize immediately as another of his classmates Zita, wearing a tired, annoyed, and exasperated expression on her face.

"The day my archenemy Count Cocofang contacts heinous beings from beyond the stars, to help him spread his cereal brainwashing evil across the universe!" he said dramatically with a clenched fist as Zita facepalmed beside him.

Of all the uncles in the world... she got the one that made Dib look like a competent model of sanity, she thought with a groan, regretting not for the first time she let her mom convince her to join Uncle Bill on his "hobby outings" as she called them for family bonding.

"And yet you always avoid avoid him on Thanksgiving, and never go on an outing with him for family bonding yourself, Mom," Zita muttered and grumbled under her breath.

 "Come Zita, we must get to my bunker and prepare to fight back after the invasion!" Bill declared, grabbing Zita and dragging her away, the girl letting him do so rather than try to fight it.

"And by "bunker", you mean that shed behind your house that's covered in cardboard panelling for some reason?" she asked with another sigh.

"Of course. Cardboard naturally blocks out the brainwashing waves from the cereal that Cocofang and his alien scum allies will flood the city with," Bill stated as if this were obvious, "Why do you think cereal boxes are made from the stuff? It's to keep everyone oblivious to what that filth can do until it's too late!"

"Obviously. How did I not know that?" Zita asked, face utterly deadpan. God, she hoped her uncle and Dib never met, it would be unbearable!

 "You can blame Cocofang's puppets in the educational system keeping you and all your classmates ignorant and placated for that," Her uncle replied, his tone utterly serious, with Zita's brow twitching at those words, "Fortunately I'm here to help you see the truth of the world, and to make sure you are prepare to face the cruel evil chocolate goodness hiding in the shadows."

He said, his tone filled with determination, while Zita just looked at him in exasperation. Yes, Dib could never meet her uncle, she thought with a groan, because for all she knew she'd have to deal with both of them on the regular together if they did, she thought as her uncle pulled her away to take her to his so-called bunker.

Though speaking of her classmate...

WHAM

"Urg!"

BAM

"Arg!"

He was currently experiencing the beginning of a concussion, with his face all bruised from continued use of it to bash against evil aliens.

"But I wanted the last pizza slice, Gaz..." He groaned in a slight delirious state.

 "Remain conscious, Dib-Monkey, otherwise you'll be even more useless than you already are!" Zim yelled dismissively as he kept firing at the Gordanian soldiers, before turning to Starfire, "But Zim must reluctantly admit, we cannot keep this up forever! We must get to the ship and end this!"

"Agreed! Hang on!" Starfire said, using Dib to knock aside another Gordanian before putting on a burst of speed and zooming towards the ship, ignoring the yells from her unwitting passengers (and excited screaming from GIR) as she did so.

"Incoming!" a Gordanian on the ship's bridge yelled in panic as Starfire got close, before smashing through the bridge's viewscreen with a smash.

 "Trogaar, I have come to end this!" Starfire bellowed upon arrival, glaring at the form of the large Gordanian sitting on his command chair fashioned into a throne, as if he wasn't but a mere servant to the monsters of the Citadel.

"Have you now?" Trogaar asked with a glare, "Well, I'm afraid..."

His words were cut off by GIR shouting and waving from Starfire's shoulder, "Hi pizza man!" Prompting a nonplused look from Gordanian as the bridge crew exchange confused glances, "Where's my pizza! I want it with the piggy on it, the piggy!"

 "What? What nonsense is this?" Trogaar demanded, confused and outraged by the ridiculous statement.

Zim, meanwhile, was about to scold GIR for once again demanding the nonexistent pizza, only to pause when an idea came to him. Smirking, he said, "GIR, the lizard is hiding the pizza in his armor! You should search him for it!"

Trogaar blinked at that, only for GIR to give a high-pitched squeal and launch himself through the air at the Gordanian lord.

"I want my pizza!" the robot yelled as he hit Trogaar and started scrambling over him like a deranged monkey.

 "Yes, tremble before the might of state of the art Irken technology!" Zim called out with a cackle, while Trogaar roared, trying and failing to grab onto GIR, "Get off me, you insane TROG!'

 "How dare you insult that adorable bumgorf like that?!" Starfire gasped in outrage at hearing the slur. Eyes flashing with her anger, she dropped the boys to the floor and charged at Trogaar, with her fists glowing with concentrated energy.

BAM

Caught off guard, Trogaar was hit directly in the face by Starfire's empowered fist, sending him flying out of his throne to fly across the room and hit the far wall. GIR, meanwhile, was knocked off of him and landed in her arms.

"Aw, I couldn't find the pizza," he whined.

"Don't worry, little one. I do not know what this pizza is, but I will get you some after we are victorious," Starfire said, patting GIR on the head.

"YAY! Thanks, pretty lady!" GIR cried out, latching onto her side in a hug, causing Starfire to giggle while Zim watched with a slight frown, part of him annoyed that GIR was getting cozy with a confirmed hostile... but another part of him was strangely pleased.

Perhaps the crazy robot might prove useful in securing the Tamaranean into Zim's glorious service, he thought with a smirk while Dib rose up from the floor beside him.

"Did we win yet?" The boy asked with a pained groan while rubbing his sore face.

"Of course we've won, the Tamaranean knocked out the leader with one attack," Zim scoffed, also standing up, "And since they're facing the might of Invader Zim, the greatest warrior of the Irken Empire, the rest will surely throw themselves at Zim's nonexistent mercy."

The Irken added, smirking at all the personnel on the bridge, who traded looks. However, before any of them could even consider doing as Zim said, an angry yell sounded out from across the room.

"RAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!" Trogaar roared as he got back to his feet, face twisted in rage, "ENOUGH! I am Trogaar, Lord of the Gordanians! I will not be defeated by a handful of lower lifeforms!"

"Well, Tigger..." Zim called out in reply, entering a battle stance, with Trogaar growling with a glare as he stomped forward.

"Trogaar!" he corrected with a threat in his tone.

"Zim does not care! For Zim is Invader Zim! Elite of the Irken Empire and favorite Invader of the Tallest themselves! And Zim shall doom you for daring to target a world claimed by the Irkens!" Zim shouted defiantly.

"Okay, one, not your world, and two, as soon as these creeps are stopped, you're next, Zim," Dib said, his dizziness starting to fade as he shot the Irken a glare.

 "Yes, yes, Dib-Stink, Zim is very scared of you and your big head that's good for hitting things with," Zim scoffed, smirking at Dib's glare, "Now be quiet and let the more evolved species handle things."

"I really hate you," Dib grumbled, but nonetheless stepped back. He may not like it, but he wasn't ready to personally fight something like Trogaar. Not yet, at least, he told himself as he quietly swore to make himself more prepared for the action that was now in his life. He swore he'd find a way to tilt the odds in his favor... hmm, maybe he could see if his dad had anything he could borrow for more firepower?

 As Dib was considering this, Trogaar gave a snarl and charged towards Zim, who dodged out of the way, leaving the Gordanian lord's fists to hit the floor. Trogaar growled and turned to face the direction that Zim had gone, only for Starfire to swoop in and punch him in the face again before he could do anything.

"Troq!" Trogaar snarled, glaring at her, "You have proven more trouble than you are worth!"

"Then perhaps you should not have taken me from my world," she glared back at him.

 "Taken you~" Trogaar seemed amused, taking a step forward to loom over the glaring Tamaranean, and at Starfire's words gave a cruel laugh.

"Foolish Troq! You were given to us!" He proclaimed, before bringing both his closed fists down in an attempt to crush her.

"Lies!" Starfire proclaimed, leaping back while launching energy bolts, or rather star-bolts, to her foe.

"Heh~ You should be more careful of who you trust, savage~" Trogaar hissed back, raising an arm to block the attack while bellowing out an order, "All soldiers, eliminate these intruders! But keep the Irken alive!" He barked, before adding with a dark grin, "The troq savage can be destroyed with the rest of this primitive city to serve as an example of the price for defying the Gordanians!"

 With a chorus of battle cries, the Gordanians charged towards the allied group. Dib gave a yelp and backed away in panic, but Zim and Starfire just scoffed.

"Please, you think you are actually a threat to Zim?" he sneered, bringing out his PAK legs and firing into the crowd.

"Yes, this is growing quite tedious," Starfire agreed, also launching star-bolts at the soldiers.

 "Indeed, the lizards are nothing more than meat shields and grunts for the Citadel, nothing compared to warriors like Zim!" He proclaimed, launching himself up to kick one down while blasting from his PAK legs.

"And you as well, I suppose," he added over his shoulder, "For a Tamaranean, you certainly fight better than a number of my fellow Invaders I could name," Zim said with a scoff, "Though the fact you let yourself be captured by fools this pathetic is just sad."

He arched a brow as Starfire punched one Gordanian in the stomach before blasting him off with a close range star-bolt that caused him to hit two of his fellow soldiers as they hit the ground hard, "Did you agree to some ridiculous honor duel? I know your people follow a foolish honor code."

 "First of all, do not insult my honor," Starfire replied with a frown, while grabbing the wrist of a Gordanian who tried to punch at her and flipping him over her, "Secondly, I was caught off guard in an ambush and captured without having a chance to fight back."

"Oh. Well, Zim supposes that he can't blame you for that then," he said, while offhandedly blasting a Gordanian in the face. Missing Starfire's frown as she recalled Trogaar's words about her being given to them... and how the ambush in retrospect seemed a bit too perfect and sudden... but she couldn't believe the foul vilgoth's words! He was nothing but a spawn of a gluttonous blurbel gornoxian beast! She thought with a slight scowl, before casting curious eyes on the Irken. What she knew painted them in a worse light than the Citadel... which itself was not something to say lightly. But despite his displayed arrogance... a part of Starfire was growing impressed with his passion and skill.

"I must admit, for someone so small you are quite skilled," Starfire remarked, idly dodging a spear thrust from one Gordanian before grabbing the same spear and launching the fool out the broken bridge window with it while blasting his back with a star-bolt at the same time, "What I know of your people did not speak of them as warriors."

 "How dare you?" Zim gasped in annoyance, leaping over a Gordanian's head before blasting him in the back, "Irkens are the greatest warriors in the universe!"

"But you just infiltrate planets and subjugate them, rather than facing them head on!" Starfire protested, while throwing her stolen spear at another Gordanian, sending him flying with a cry.

"Do you have any idea how much skill it takes to undermine a planet by yourself?" Zim demanded, looking offended. After all, other races across the cosmos required whole armies to subjugate a planet, or perhaps even an entire organization worth of infiltrators for planets. Irkens had truly mastered the art of conquest, requiring only one skilled Invader to bring a planet to its knees, and prepare it for the arrival of the Armada!

However, Starfire merely frowned.

"Working alone against an entire planet is impressive, yes," she said, launching several star-bolts at the horde of attacking Gordanians while Troogar watched from the back with a growing scowl as he approached his throne's control panel, beginning to see the tides turn against his men.

"But there is no true glory in a victory gained from trickery alone, rather than true combat," she said with a frown.

"And yet trickery is enough to conquer planet after planet, or even capture a warrior of your skill," Zim retorted.

Starfire scowled at that, not enjoying the comparison. However, before she could say anything, an alarm sounded out.

"Main cannon armed," an electronic voice recited, as the temporarily-allied trio turned to see Trogaar was by the console, a fist slammed down on the activation button for the cannon.

"You fools might defeat my soldiers, but I'll at least destroy this city of yours!" he cackled.

 "Nooo! You can't do that!" Dib called out in shock and despair at the idea of his city... his home... Dad, Gaz, his friends... okay, on the last bit he didn't really have any friends, but still!

"I can and have~" Trogaar said with a menacing smirk.

"Grr, do you have any idea how annoying it would be for Zim to move his base because you blew it up!"

However while Dib was horrified... Zim was more annoyed than anything while glaring at Trogaar.

"Do you really think the Tallest will stand for this act of sabotage against their favorite Invader?!" Zim proclaimed grandly, with Trogaar scoffed.

"What care have I for how those two fools will react," he said with a dark smirk, "In the end, they and the rest of you insects will be crushed under the boot of the Citadel."

He said as he stepped forward, popping his knuckles, "Just like I'm going to crush you, that filthy troq, that big-headed primate..." He said, with Dib exclaiming out in annoyance, "Oh come on! Why does everyone keep bringing up my head today?!"

He said, caught between annoyance and the horror at his situation, but he was ignored as Trogaar continued.

"And that malfunctioning..." the Gordanian commander trailed off, as he realized something very important, "Wait a click... where is that robot!?" He demanded, looking around the bridge, realizing that he was so focused on the Irken and Tamaranean he'd lost sight of the Irken's machine!

 "Ooh, what's this do?" GIR's voice called out. Everyone turned to face it, and saw that the robot had pulled open a console and was messing around with the wiring inside.

"Get away from there, you pile of scraps!" Trogaar snarled, lunging at GIR, only for Starfire to blast him in the back with a star-bolt before tackling him.

 "You shall not harm that precious bumgorf!" Starfire cried heatedly as she started punching and hitting as hard as she could, eagerly embracing the chance to finally lash out all her frustration on her captor, and as this was happening Dib realized this was their chance.

"Zim, quick! Get your robot to disarm the cannon!" Dib cried out hurriedly, looking toward the Irken as he stepped toward him, figuring the crazy robot was still an advanced piece of alien robotics, so could probably hack the ship's systems... right?

"Zim does not take orders from you, Dib-Monkey! Why should Zim bother with the lizards' stupid cannon!" Before getting an annoyed look at Zim's retort.

"Because it'll blow up the entire city!" Dib exclaimed in disbelief, "Including your base!"

He added at the Irken's bored look, which turned to a scowl that got deeper at Dib-Monkey's next words, "And if he blows up your base, than I guess that means Irkens aren't so superior to, um... Gordanians after all."

Dib said, trailing off for a moment while trying to remember the species' name that was dropped earlier.

"Grrr, fine! But Zim's doing it because Zim simply doesn't want to go through the trouble of finding a new location to set up base! Not because you told Zim to!" The Irken snapped with an annoyed huff, before calling out to his robot, "GIR! Zim needs you to..." He was cut off as electrical current suddenly sparked out around the robot as GIR bit into the wires.

"Heheh, it tickles~" the menace giggled with the wires in his mouth, and soon the ship jerked off to the side, tilting at the same time.

 "Ah! Does that stupid robot even know what it's doing?!" Dib demanded as the ship started jerking from side to side.

"Obviously he does, and your stupid human brain just can't comprehend it!" Zim snapped, while stabbing his PAK legs into the floor to brace himself.

"Grah! Computer, begin firing sequence!" Trogaar snarled, while grabbing Starfire and tossing her away, only for her to catch herself in midair and come after him again.

 "You will fall today, Trogaar!" She snarled in rage and determination.

"Urg... and I'll be bringing you down with me, you troq!" the Gordanian snapped, lashing out to punch her, with Starfire dodging to the side before lashing out with a high kick straight to his chin, sending him stumbling back.

But his order had still gone through, as the ship's main cannon was set to fire...

"NOOO! NOT DOOMSVILLE!" Dib cried out desperately.

"Hehehe~ Look at all the pretty sparkles!" And GIR cheered as more electrical energy surged and sparks went off on the mainframe, with the ship not only continuing to tilt but turn upside down.

 And soon enough, it was completely turned over... which happened to leave the cannon pointing directly upwards into the sky instead of down at the city. And just as everyone onboard was realizing this, the cannon fired, its beam of destructive energy shooting up high into the atmosphere.

"Ha! Take that, filthy fail lizard! Victory for Zim!" Zim cackled as he watched the beam pass harmlessly into space.

BOOM

Until it hit the moon, blowing a chunk out of it and leaving a massive crater in its surface.

...

...

...

"...Eh, it looks better like that," Zim said after a moment of everyone staring at what had just happened in shock.

 Dib's eye twitched, because today... was really not turning out as well as he envisioned as Earth's brave hero.

"Maybe no one will notice..." He said weakly, really not wanting to take the blame for this, and internally hoping this wouldn't cause any problems...

(Elsewhere, coastal island)

"Dude..." said one blonde-haired surfer dude to his bro.

"Dude..." returned the bro with a smile, both of them currently sitting on surfboards, enjoying a day of surfing, before a strange feeling filled the air.

"Dude..." the blonde-haired surfer looked around confused, thinking he had heard something.

"Dude?" asked the bro with a concerned look.

"Dude..." the blonde-haired surfer waved it off, before a shadow loomed over them.

"Dudeeeeee!" Said the bro with alarm as he turned around and spotted the MASSIVE WAVE HEADING STRAIGHT TOWARD THEM!

"DUDEEEEEEEEEEE!" Was the shared cry of alarm as they were swept up by the wave that quickly hit the island they lived on, sending it the way of Atlantis.

 Just one of many islands and coastal areas that would be devastated as the change to the moon's size affected the planet's tides... but that doesn't affect the main story, so we won't be dwelling on it.

(Back on the ship)

"Your plan has failed, Trogaar!" Starfire declared, blasting the Gordanian lord in the chest, "Surrender, and perhaps I will be merciful!"

 "Surrender...?" Trogaar repeated, hand to his chest as he snarled, "I will never surrender to a filthy troq like you!" He roared, with Starfire glaring at the response, "If I die, I'll make sure you and these vermin die with me!"

 "Wait, what?!" Dib exclaimed, gaze snapping to Trogaar as he revealed a hidden button on his gauntlet and pressed it.

"Self-destruct sequence activated," the ship's computer declared as alarms started blaring.

 "Are you crazy?!" Dib screamed, his hands going to his head.

 "Perhaps I am, primate, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you all die with me!" Trogaar cackled madly.

 "Zim is not dying today, lizard!" Bellowed the Irken as he opened fire from his PAK legs.

The attack hit Trogaar head on and sent him scrambling back, with Starfire's followup attack knocking him on his back.

"Abandon ship!" one of the remaining Gordanians yelled, he and the few still conscious leaping out of the hole in the viewscreen and flying away. Something that didn't go unnoticed by their master as he got back to his feet.

"Cowards!" he screamed after them.

 "It seems your soldiers are wiser than you, to flee before Zim!" Cackled the Irken at the sight as Trogaar snarled.

"I will take great pleasure in killing you insect, before I face my own demise like a true Gordanian," he said with a clenched fist.

"So, begging for mercy and attempting to save your own cowardly skin, yes?" Starfire questioned with an arched brow. That made Trogaar even angrier than he already was, and he lunged at Starfire with a snarl.

"Shouldn't we be trying to get off the exploding ship too?!" Dib yelled in panic.

"Go ahead, Dib-Monkey, the exit's right there," Zim said, waving offhandedly to the hole in the screen while focusing on Trogaar and Starfire's fight, looking for an opening to exploit.

"You want me to jump?! We're miles in the sky!" Dib snapped, glaring at the Irken.

 "I'm sure your massive head will absorb most of the impact," Zim said back with an uncaring shrug as Dib's eye twitch.

"For the hundredth time... MY HEAD'S NOT BIG!" He screamed, only for Trogaar, who had been blasted back, landing right by and almost crushing Dib, with the paranormal expert stumbling back, but couldn't dodge as Trogaar grabbed him.

"I saw how you used this monkey's cranium against my soldiers, so let's see how you like it!"

 "Oh, come on!" Dib yelled in annoyance, only to scream as Trogaar started swinging him like a club at Starfire.

 "No head, no matter how large, is a match for a Tamaranean warrior!" Starfire roared, dodging the swings before launching a star-bolt straight at Trogaar, who raised Dib up to use as a shield, with the boy's eyes widening as he muttered, "This day sucks..."

Right before getting nailed right in the face by the star-bolt, much to his pain and the observing Irken's amusement.

"Zim could watch this all day..." the Irken said, giving a chuckle before frowning, "But Zim would rather not get blown up on this inferior sad excuse for a ship."

He said before calling out, "GIR! It's time to go!"

 "But I never got my pizza!" GIR protested, making Zim's eye twitch.

"I'll get you pizza at home! Now let's go!" he snapped.

 "Aww... okay!" GIR said, at first whining before chirping, "Is the pretty lady coming with us?'

 Zim paused mid-step at that. Glancing over to where Starfire was still fighting Trogaar, he frowned in thought, oddly apprehensive about the idea of leaving her behind.

Well, it was somewhat distasteful to just abandon a somewhat useful ally, he supposed. Besides, he originally came with the purpose of retrieving her anyway, and making sure she lived was a good way to spite that foolish lizard.

"Fine..." He said with a sigh, before smirking, "But that mean lizard doesn't want her to play anymore, GIR."

He added, pointing at Trogaar with GIR gasping, "But she has to play more! I needs her to play!"

 "Then you should tell him that~" Zim said with a smirk, anticipating what was about to happen.

With a shriek, GIR flew through the air and slammed into the back of Trogaar's head as he tried to hit Starfire with Dib.

"What?!" Trogaar exclaimed, not hurt by the attack but annoyed by the distraction.

"Bad lizard! Let pretty lady play!" GIR yelled, smacking his tiny hands against Trogaar's head.

 "GET OFF ME!" Trogaar roared, trying to bash the robot off with the Earth primate's large head.

 "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Dib cried out as he was repeatedly slammed against Trogaar's back, hitting that instead of GIR.

 Today really... really... sucked! He thought under all the pain, as GIR hit on Trogaar's helmet like a drum.

"For pretty lady! FOR PIZZA!" He cried out as a form shot out his head... which spun in the air before revealing a cheese-covered raccoon?

"I thought I got rid of that thing?" Zim said with a confused blink as the vermin started to scratch at the Gordanian's face.

 "RAAAGGGHHHH!" Trogaar screamed as the raccoon clawed his face, dropping Dib to try and grab at it, letting him hit the floor with a thud.

"Ugh, can we please leave now?" he groaned as he shakily got to his feet.

"Okay!" GIR said, before without warning he grabbed Dib and lifted him up, rockets igniting in his feet.

"What the-? AAAAAHHHHH!" Dib screamed as GIR flew out of the ship at high speed, taking him along for the ride.

 "GIR! YOU DON'T SAVE THE ENEMY! AND YOU DON'T LEAVE YOUR MASTER BEHIND!" Zim hollered at the retreating robot's form as it rocketed through a bridge window.

 Great, now how was he supposed to get out of here before everything blew up?

"Time to go, zar'pyak," Starfire stated as she landed next to Zim, making him jump in surprise.

"Eh, what?" Zim blinked, looking to her in confusion.

"You've aided me, it would be dishonorable to not aide you in turn," she replied, glancing over to where Trogaar was still struggling with the small Earth beast clinging to his face. She'd like to finish the monster off herself, but the self-destruct alarms were blaring louder and faster, indicating that they didn't have much time before the ship exploded.

 "Zim has no use for your honor," The Irken scoffed, "But Zim will allow you the honor of aiding Zim further, even though Zim clearly doesn't require your help escaping this doomed ship!" He exclaimed, with Starfire finding herself letting out a giggle as she arched a brow.

"Of course, Zim is too skilled to go down to something like this~" she stated, sending the Irken a smile... a smile that made Zim feel all weird.

 He'd been praised plenty of times in his life (or at least, he'd convinced himself that it was praise), as was only fitting for his greatness. But it had never made him feel like this... all warm and fuzzy...

"Ahem, yes, it's good to see that you finally understand that," he said, coughing and composing himself, "So, let us go, and let that arrogant lizard succumb to his own foolish plan!"

 "I THINK NOT!" Though before they could do so, a large roar echoed out as Zim suddenly found an Earth vermin thrown at his face, causing him to scream in pain and shock.

"Aaaaaaaah! Not again! Get it off of Zim!" The Irken screamed, with Starfire barely having time to widen her eyes before she was suddenly tackled by the enraged form of Trogaar.

"YOU TROQS DIE TODAY!" He roared, viciously exploiting the Tamaranean's surprise by attacking with no mercy.

 WHAM

WHAM

WHAM

Vicious blows rained down on Starfire, bloodying her face and disorienting her enough that she couldn't even defend herself, much less fight back.

"DIE, TROQ! DIE FOR ALL THE TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED ME!" Trogaar roared, manic rage in his eyes, "DIE IN THE NAME OF THE GORDANIAN EMPIRE AND THE CITADEL, YOU-!"

SHING

Trogaar froze in shock at a sudden sharp pain in his chest. Woodenly turning his head downwards, he saw what he absently recognized as the tips of all four of Zim's PAK legs sticking out of his chest, having been stabbed through him from behind.

 "No... you die... DIE IN THE NAME OF ZIM!" Roared the Irken as Trogaar coughed weakly, looking over his shoulder.

"Damn you... insect... the... Citadel... will make you... pay," He hissed, trying to fight through the pain and injury... only to find himself falling to his side as Zim pulled out his PAK legs, "Never... coff... should have... gasp... bargained... with... that... filthy troq."

The Gordanian gasped in pain, thinking back on the deal that led to all of this... his end... on a backwater planet... by a disgusting Irken. How... could... it have lead to this?

"Damn... you... to... oblivion... Komand'r... filthy..." His eyes glared hatefully at the Irken, who ignored him, approaching the Tamaranean's prone form, and found himself fueled by a surge of hate and energy as he lunged toward them with one last cry of, "TROQS!"

 If he was going to die, so were they!

But as he approached, Zim spun around and thrust all four PAK legs out again, firing plasma blasts from all of them.

ZAP

Which hit Trogaar head on, sending him flying back to ironically land slumped against his throne. He gave a final moan of pain, and then went still, succumbing to his injuries at last.

 "Pathetic lizard!" Zim spat with a scowl before smirking, "Let this show the so-called Citadel the price for making an enemy of INVADER ZIM!" He exclaimed, before cackling, enjoying the moment of his victory before the ship shook again and Starfire gave a pained groan from her position on the ground, reminding Zim of his current dire situation.

"And you had better appreciate this, Tamaranean, being saved by Zim is quite a honor... especially since Zim doesn't usually go out of his way to save others," he said with a grumble while picking up Starfire as best he could bridal style, before taking off on his PAK legs, "There must be escape pods somewhere on this stupid ship," He muttered, missing Starfire weakly opening her eyes for a moment, with her sight being that of Zim with a determined unafraid expression as alarms blared around them... and for just a moment, she felt her heart miss a beat.

 Such bravery, such determination, on top of his earlier battle prowess... it was oddly... attractive.

That was the last thought that passed through Starfire's head before she moaned again and slipped into unconsciousness.

Zim, meanwhile, continued to carry her through the ship, refusing to let any concern or nervousness show, even as he felt the ship shake and shudder as it built up to detonation. Fortunately though, he soon came across a row of escape pods lining one wall, and quickly got both of them inside one of them. With the press of a button, the pod fell through a shaft and was soon flying away from the ship.

BOOM

Just in time, as it finally exploded, with debris raining all over the city.

"Huh, guess that was the film's big finale," remarked Brian down below with a blink.

"Decent explosion. I give it, eh, 7 out of 10," Chunk said right next to him.

"Hmm... seemed lackluster to me...4 out 10," Brian said with a thoughtful nod.

"Everyone's a critic," Chunk said with an eye roll as a piece of debris crushed a car they were standing next to.

 "Heehee, things go boom," GIR giggled from where he was seated on the sidewalk, watching the flaming debris fall from the sky. Next to him was a slightly shell-shocked Dib, who despite coming down from the adrenaline rush of the battle and unwanted flight, was still coherent enough to hear and groan at what his classmates were saying.

"Of course. An actual alien spaceship shows up and almost destroys the city, then gets blown up, and everyone thinks it's fake," he groaned, facepalming. Seriously, if this didn't get people to realize the truth, what would?! He asked himself incredulously.

"You think you got problems? That was our only ride and way to communicate off world."

Before blinking and raising his head to see a bruised and groaning Gordanian dragging himself across the street.

"So now me and any of my comrades still alive are stranded on this backwater," the Gordanian remarked with a scowl, "Not to mention likely to be slated for termination once our superiors find out about this mess."

He spat out with a pained groan, before adding with a sigh, "I should have listen to my mother and enlisted in the medical field."

 Dib stared wide-eyed at this, before looking around and yelling at anyone in sight, "Look! An alien! An actual alien, right here!"

This was it, it had to be! This guy wasn't even wearing a horrible disguise like Zim! People had to realize what this meant!

"Hey pal, nice costume!" a man walking down the street past them commented to the Gordanian.

 "Uhh... thanks... standard Gordanian military uniform," the Gordanian said with a slight confused blink, misunderstanding the compliment as the man walked off.

"I... you... urggg, are you kidding me?!" Dib exclaimed in frustration, his eyes twitching, "He's an alien! An actual living, breathing alien! Who's part of an alien empire!"

He yelled, jumping up and down, "How is no one seeing this?!" He yelled, loud enough to echo across the city, with the Gordanian giving him a nonplussed look.

"Wow... having a long day or something?" he asked with an arched brow, just as Brian and Chunk walked by.

"Ohhh, look out Dib, it's a scary alien~" Brian mocked with a laugh.

"Yeah, you better be careful, he might hurt you with his rubber suit or costume zipper~" Chunk chimed in with his own laugh.

"Oh! And maybe that ship will abduct you to planet Hollywood!" Brian added as both boys burst out in laughter, leaving Dib standing there with a twitching brow.

"Like you wouldn't believe," He responded to the Gordanian's question with a facepalm.

"Okay... well, good luck with all that, I guess. I'm gonna go find any of my other comrades who survived," the Gordanian stated after a moment of awkward silence, before turning and walking away. Dib glared after his back, too exhausted to pursue this situation much further tonight.

But then, before he could say or do anything else, he was jumping in surprise as a pod crashed into the ground next to him. As he yelped and tried to stop his heart from pounding out of his chest, the pod opened and Zim walked out, still carrying the unconscious Starfire.

"Ah, Dib-Stink, I see you managed to not die. Zim is almost mildly impressed," he stated flatly, causing Dib to glare at him.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, really appreciate it," Dib spat with obvious bitter sarcasm.

"You're welcome, Zim is so happy to see you acknowledge his superiority and generosity." Which of course went over the Irken's head.

 Dib sighed, unable to even muster the energy to explain what he actually meant. GIR, meanwhile, wandered over and looked curiously at Starfire.

"Aw, is pretty lady sleepy?" he asked softly.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose she is. Zim guesses we'll let her stay at the base until she recovers," Zim muttered, feeling oddly generous for some reason.

 "YAY! SLEEPOVER!" GIR screeched excitedly, with Zim and Dib wincing from the volume of the robot... wait, robot?! It wasn't wearing a disguise... and neither was Zim! Should he try to call attention to this... or would he be blown off like with that other alien?

 Honestly, he was too tired and emotionally worn out to even try... and also possibly concussed from the numerous blows to the head he'd taken while being used as a blunt weapon, he belatedly realized. So, while reluctant, he was willing to let it go, just for now.

"Well, I'm going home too," he said, before adding with a glare, "But don't rest too easily, alien. This is just a temporary reprieve. One day soon, I'll expose you for the monster you are, and then-!"

"Yes, yes, that's nice, Dib-Monkey," Zim interrupted, sounding very bored, "But Zim has had enough of your big head full of stupidity for one day, so begone with you!"

 "I... oh, forget it," Dib glared and was about to make a retort, before just giving a groan, "I need to get home... and get an aspirin," he groaned, walking away and rubbing his head. This had, without a doubt, been the longest day of his life... and he needed to rest and recuperate... because tomorrow he would plan!

Tonight had only proven how dangerous aliens could be! One ship almost destroyed the city, and had ended up blasting a hole in the moon! Heck, apparently some aliens actually did have superpowers, for crying out loud! As much as he hated to admit it, he was a bit out of his depth more than expected, so he needed some kinda way to tilt the odds in his favor.

"Still would have been nice to get something out of tonight..." Dib muttered, only to let out a startled grunt as he ended up tripping over something while he was distracted from his thoughts.

"Ow! Urg... can't I catch a break?" he asked as he turned on his side, and as soon as he looked over his shoulder, he froze when he saw what tripped him - one of those high-tech staffs the aliens had been using as weapons. With Dib staring silently in shock at this, before a large grin formed on his face.

 "I'll call that a break~" he said excitedly, snatching up the staff. He then turned and started running back home, keeping an eye out for any other discarded pieces of alien technology he could find along the way.

Tonight might have been a disaster, but he could still salvage something from it. He could still be the savior of Earth that he knew that he was meant to be!

Zim would be defeated, no matter what evil plot he was probably already scheming!

(Zim's Base)

"Have a nice night?" the Computer asked dryly as Zim entered the house with Starfire still in his arms and GIR skipping alongside him.

"No snark! Zim is not in the mood!" Zim snapped, depositing Starfire on the couch.

 His first day on this planet had certainly proven one pain in the squeedilyspooch. First the Dib-Monkey somehow sees through his brilliant disguise, then a Tamaranean of all species comes crashing down like a random space rock, and then a ship full of those annoying lizard slaves of the Citadel show up after the Tamaranean and Zim's amazing self, while trying to steal Earth for themselves!

 Obviously it was no real problem for Zim, since he was the most amazing Invader ever, but it was still annoying to have to deal with all at once!

And he wasn't done yet, he thought, carefully eyeing his unexpected houseguest as she lay unconscious on his couch. He knew logically that he should probably just get rid of her while he could, but for some reason, that didn't sit well with him.

 After all, despite the foolish honor her people held, she'd shown that she was indeed a mighty warrior... granted, not as mighty as Zim of course, but who was? Regardless, she was a close second, and it'd be a shame to let such power, skill, and grace go to waste!

And even though he clearly didn't need her help, she had assisted Zim, and Zim could show gratitude on the occasion, he thought... while at the same time, many sentients who had the "luck" to have interacted with Zim at one point or another felt the strange desire to snort in derision.

But there thoughts ultimately led back to the same question.

"What is Zim going to do with you?" He wondered out loud, before flinching as a certain voice screeched in his ear.

"Mastah should marry pretty lady!"

 "GAH! GIR, do not do that!" Zim snapped, turning to glare at the robot, "And don't spew nonsense, either! Irkens do not bother with things such as matings or courtship or other such primitive distractions!"

"Aw, but you and pretty lady are so cute~" GIR giggled, "You should get married and have babies and puppies and kitties and all the cakes!"

"What?" Zim asked, staring at GIR in disbelief, before shaking his head, "Just... shut up, and never speak of such ridiculous ideas again!"

 But GIR just started to hum a strange tune that Zim would learn later was known as the wedding march to Earth-Monkeys.

"Urgg, forget it," Zim groaned, "Zim must figure out how to handle the Tamaranean and report this act of enemy action from the Citadel's pet lizards to the Tallest."

 "Well, you saved her, right?" the Computer chimed in, "Records indicate that with her species sense of honor, a Tamaranean would feel indebted to you for that. You might be able to make use of that."

"Hmm, true," Zim mused, scratching his chin in thought, "That silly little honor code of theirs probably demands that she must repay me for going out of my way to save her. And Zim could definitely use a moderately-impressive warrior like her at my disposal. Especially when GIR's advanced software is currently proving beyond even Zim's amazing insight," He added, sending a glare toward GIR, who was now sitting on Starfire, poking her while giggling.

"Right... advanced software," the Computer said dryly. Because it wasn't hard for it to see that GIR was clearly a malfunctioning idiot piece of garbage. But if Zim was too oblivious to be able to tell that, the Computer wasn't going to waste time trying to correct him.

"As for the Tallest, maybe finalize details with her first before calling them?" it offered, Zim nodding in agreement with that.

 "Yes, Zim supposes securing her services first and giving her the honor of being Zim's minion should come first," the Irken said with a nod, before adding with a frown, "And perhaps Zim should see about capturing any of those lizards that are still on Earth for information to report to the Tallest as well."

He wondered, before giving a snort, "Though Zim doubts any of the fools are aware of anything particularly useful to Zim or the Irken Empire," The Irken said with a scowling mutter, while the form on the couch started to stir.

 "Ugh, my head?" Starfire groaned as she woke up, rubbing her forehead as she forced her eyes open, only to blink as she found herself face-to-face with GIR.

"Hi, pretty lady!" he shrieked, which she didn't seem to mind all that much.

"Oh, hello little bumgorf, I am glad that you're okay!" she greeted with a smile, before blinking and looking around in confusion, "But, where am I?"

"You are in the amazing and incredible base of Zim!" the Irken exclaimed, "Be honored, for few have been allowed in such a special place!"

"This base has only existed for like a day," the Computer chimed in flatly.

 "Which makes it all the more amazing!" Zim exclaimed, though shot the ceiling or rather the Computer an annoyed look, with Starfire blinking before giving a giggle, "Regardless, Tamaranean, the annoying lizards have been defeated, their leader is slain, and his soldiers are likely finding holes to hide in like the cowardly fools they are."

Zim said, getting back to point, "And since it's all thanks to Zim, and since Zim was gracious enough to save your life..."

He smirked, "Zim has decided to reward you the honor of becoming Zim's new minion!" he proclaimed with a large grin, as if he was giving the greatest gift one could ask for. Which in Zim's mind it was; after all, who wouldn't want to serve Zim?

"You may now bask in Zim's greatness and praise him for his generosity," the Irken added, closing his eyes and giving a smug look.

 "...What?" Starfire asked flatly, giving Zim a deadpan look.

"Eh? Have you a clog in your ears?" Zim asked in return, opening his eyes to scowl at her, "Zim is giving you the chance to serve the greatest Invader in the universe! What is there to not understand?"

"Much, actually," Starfire replied as she sat up, carefully moving GIR aside, "While I am grateful that you aided me, why do you think I would want to help you in your people's vile ways?"

 "Vile?! What is vile about the Irken Empire sharing their glory with the rest of the universe?!" Zim demanded with an insulted expression, "And who would not wish to have the honor of serving Invader Zim?!"

 "You have proven yourself a great fighter, and you clearly have some honor for having saved me," Starfire replied, "But as for your people "sharing their glory", that is not how I would describe conquering worlds and enslaving their people!"

"Please, it's not like they were doing anything worthwhile with their planets or people anyway," Zim said with a scoff, "If anything, they should be happy to have grander purpose as part of the Irken Empire."

He proclaimed with a smile, "And Zim is happy you recognize his greatness in combat, but Zim has little use for honor..." He said, frowning while looking away, "Zim... just saw it as a waste to simply let you die... not when you could serve Zim... that's all."

The Irken explained with a cough, wondering distractedly why his mind went back to that kiss... grr, GIR's comments were probably just messing with his superior mind after the long day he's had.

"Well, however you justify it all, I refuse to serve you in such a way," Starfire said firmly.

"Oh? So, it would seem that Zim is not the only one who doesn't care about honor," Zim stated, smirking as that gave a scowl out of the Tamaranean.

"You just said that you do not care for honor, yet you use it to shame me?" she asked with a scowl, eyes flashing slightly in frustration.

"Zim has little use for honor, but it is always a wonderful thing to exploit~" the Irken said with a tone full of smugness, "Besides, is serving the greatest invader of the Irken Empire really that bad of a deal?"

He asked, looking into her eyes... they were quite a memorizing shade of green... and the anger in her eyes spoke of such passion.

Wait, why was he thinking like that?

As Zim pondered his odd thoughts, Starfire was dealing with her own. Because as much as she hated to admit it, because of her distaste for the Irkens in general, the one before her had impressed her with how he'd handled himself. He really had fought magnificently, and never shown fear or doubt at any point that she could recall... and he HAD saved her, no matter how twisted his reasons might have been...

...dammit, she didn't really have a choice in this, did she? She thought bitterly.

"I suppose... I DO owe you," she reluctantly admitted, Zim smirking triumphantly at.

"So...?" he pressed smugly.

"Ugh... so, yes, I will serve you for a time in order to pay off my debt," she said with a frown, "But I do not approve of what you intend for this planet, nor will I partake in any particularly foul actions you may perform in the process."

But Zim barely heard if at all acknowledged her last statement, focused more on her words of serving him... for some reason, her saying that just sent such a powerful thrill through his body, more so than Zim usually had at the thought of others serving him.

"Excellent~ And with a warrior as powerful as you at Zim's side, Zim will be able to conquer this planet all the easier!" he proclaimed with a large grin, "Together, nothing shall stand before the mighty Invader Zim and his powerful Tamaranean General Starfire!" He shouted, raising his fists as he laughed like a maniac.

"I just said... wait, General?" Starfire started to protest, only to blink in surprise as she processed that last part.

"Yes, of course. While just a minion, you will be first and foremost among them, as befitting being almost as superior as Zim," he explained, feeling oddly awkward as he said that.

 Starfire herself was surprised the Irken would give her such a position from the start, especially when he seemed unaware of her true identity... she found herself feeling quite flattered and warm at the acknowledgement of her skill.

 "Um, ah... well, thank you," she said, flushing slightly, "And... I suppose I can accept such a position under the circumstances."

"Excellent!" Zim exclaimed, feeling very happy for some reason, "Then go ahead and get some rest, for tomorrow you shall begin your first day as a minion of Zim!"

"Okay... um, where do I sleep?" Starfire asked, blinking and looking around at the living room they were in.

"Eh? Oh, right. Computer, build a room for General Starfire somewhere down in the base proper," Zim ordered, glancing to the ceiling.

 "Oh? Not going to save on space by sharing a room?" the Computer asked with what seemed to be a hint of amusement in its vocal processors, with Zim finding himself feeling very warm for some reason at the thought of that.

"D-don't talk nonsense!" he snapped, stammering before he could control himself, "Just do as you're told!"

"Yes sir," the Computer replied, though still sounding amused as it went to work.

 "As for you, General Starfire, follow Zim and you shall be briefed on Zim's glorious mission!" the Irken exclaimed with an eager grin, "By the time we're done conquering Earth, you might even learn a thing or two thanks to Zim's brilliant mind and leadership."

 Despite herself, Starfire giggled at that. While objectively this was a horrible situation, and she could tell that Zim clearly wasn't a good person... there was still something about all of this that was sending a thrill through her that she couldn't explain.

Maybe this whole thing wouldn't be such a bad experience, she told herself as she followed Zim down into the lower levels of the base.

 And so, the Tamaranean who in another reality and time would have found her fate tied with four others and become known as a beloved heroine, instead found her fate leading her to an alien invader, the most infamous of his species, Zim. Only time will tell where this will take their destiny and what the future holds for them.

Though... as Starfire would soon learn... it is not her destiny alone that shall become tied to Earth... and the battle between an Irken Invader and the paranormal expert turned self-declared defender of Earth.

(Somewhere out in space)

"What do you mean, the arrangement is off?!" Demanded a figure hidden in shadows as a pair of purple eyes glared at a monitor in front of them.

 "Exactly what I said, troq," the blue ape-like creature on the other end of the screen grunted, sneering the slur at the purple-eye figure, "We never received your tribute, so we won't be backing you in your attempt at claiming the throne."

"What do you mean, you never received her?! I practically gift-wrapped her for Trogaar and his goons!" she snarled back at him.

"And now we've lost contact with him completely," the blue ape grunted.

"And I am to be blamed for the incompetency of your lackeys?!" the figure snapped, glaring, "I held my end of the bargain, I delivered her to your men."

They stated firmly, before scoffing, "It's not my fault Trogaar apparently couldn't handle one simple job," The figure said as the blue ape-like creature glared with contempt.

"Regardless, the deal was the Troq Princess in exchange for our backing. No princess, no deal," they said, shaking their head.

"And what about the offered alliance?" the figure added in contempt, their eyes flaring angrily as they approached from another angle, "With the Irkens on the move, you NEED Tamaran..." she started to say, only to be cut off with a contemptuous laugh.

"How like a troq to overestimate the value of her savage race," the creature on the screen said with a glare, "Rest assured, if there ever comes a time we need you troqs to deal with those bugs, it will be under our boot as we squash them!"

"You will regret this," the figure snarled, eyes glowing in anger.

"I'm sure. Have a lovely day, princess," the creature sneered, the title being spat out sarcastically, before the screen switched off.

"Dammit!"

BOOM

And then a purple star-bolt slammed into the screen, bursting it apart.

"It figures that Koriand'r couldn't even just disappear and be taken captive right!" the figure snarled, her tone leaking nothing but resentment and rage, "I should have known better than to trust the Citadel's bootlickers to get the job done right."

They spat out... before taking several deep breaths, "Fine... I wanted to give her this one small mercy of ignorance... but if she insists on standing in my way..."

The purple eyes flared with glowing ambition and rage, "I will finally show the darling perfect sister who is truly worthy of leading Tamaran..."

And with that, Princess Komand'r of Tamaran - otherwise known as Blackfire - turned and stomped out of the room, already planning how she was going to make her little sister pay for the inconvenience she'd caused her.