Chapter 9

It was a bit early in the morning when Gir woke up. He hopped of the couch and checked his surroundings. On the couch Mini Moose and Zim were still asleep, so he went to the kitchen to quietly make some waffles. Only one problem, they were out of eggs. But a combination of salt and lemony fresh dish soap would work just as well, right? He got the waffle iron out of the cabinet, knocked over a bunch of pots and pans, and began cooking.

Mini Moose felt something get tossed onto his head. Immediately the moose was alert and shook it off. Then he looked to the smeet on the other side of the sofa. He kicked the blanket off and was tossing and turning in his sleep. He mumbled something and moved an arm on top of his stomach. The moose wiggled over, having trouble floating due to one of the antlers being knocked off, and sat closer to Zim. The Irken didn't seem to have a fever and he wasn't in any noticeable pain. Perhaps he was just dreaming. Mini Moose stayed on guard.

"HEY! Get up!"

Zim opened his eyes. He felt small…and weak…and tired.

"I said get up!"

"What the…" The smeet mumbled and rubbed his eyes. Everything was black.

"Oh, for the love of Tallest Miyuki. GET ON YOUR FEET SOLDIER!"

Zim slowly got on his feet and turned to the voice, only to be met by an older version of himself. Himself before he was a smeet! And he had his wig and contacts on!

"What the?! What's going on?!" Smeet Zim exclaimed.

"That's what I want to know! Why are you all tiny?!" The older Zim pointed and yelled.

"We don't have the cure yet! I'm still waiting…"

"Excuses! You are an invader! It doesn't matter what happens! You should be taking over this ball of filth!"

"But I tried and…"

"And? No and! If you failed, then you try again until the job gets done! How many times have I tried to take over before I was turned into you?"

"Too many?"

"EXACTLY!"

"I've failed to conquer the world this whole time!"

"Well…" The older Zim's face fell. "That's not the point I'm trying to make! I never gave up and neither should you!" The ground shook. Older Zim's eyes went wide. "Now we have to get out of here!"

"What?!"

"Just come with me!" He grabbed Smeet Zim by the hand and they began running. Going as fast as they could, Smeet Zim could hear something behind him. Suddenly the ground under them turned red and began to form a path. The two followed it.

"I don't understand! What's going on?!" The little Irken cried out as he nearly tripped over his own feet. The older version of him didn't answer. Whatever was chasing them let out a loud roar, and they began to run faster. It looked as if the path was headed down now, so they started moving even quicker. Then smeet Zim felt a sharp pain in his squeedily spooch and doubled over. Having his hand grasping the older Zim, they both fell and began to roll down the pathway. They both groaned as they finally stopped at the bottom and the Older Zim jumped up.

"What's wrong with you?!" He yelled. "We have to keep going!"

"I can't...I feel sick…" The smeet curled up on the ground and coughed.

"Ugh!" Older Zim picked up the young Zim and started running again, keeping the smeet tucked under his arm. They kept going.

"So, what's chasing us?!" Smeet Zim asked. The Older Zim just shook his head and kept running. The smeet held onto his older version's arm tightly, wondering what it was. Then he sighed. He didn't feel good. He wanted to wake up from this crazy dream. A dream! That's it!

"This is just a dream!" The smeet exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?!"

"All this that's happening! You, the thing chasing us, the path, I'm dreaming it all!"

The older Zim looked confused.

"Irkens don't sleep! You can't dream! You're just going crazy because you feel ill all of a sudden!"

"But I…"

The older Zim shifted the smeet's position and kept running, holding the younger Irken so he had his stomach to the older alien's chest. Smeet Zim could just peek over the older Zim's shoulder. Nothing was really there, just a bunch of white cracks. But the black that it peeked through began to shatter and fall like broken glass, revealing all the brightness behind it. Another large growl was heard and the darkness cracked even faster. The smeet cried out and they began to slow down.

"What happened?"

"I…I need to stop…we've been running…for hours…"

The white kept breaking through.

"But it's coming!"

"I KNOW!" The Older Zim put the smeet down. "But it's hard to run when you have to carry someone!"

"Well excuse me! It's not my fault we're in this mess!"

"Yes it is! You're the one who fell asleep and dreamed all this!"

"But a while ago you said I couldn't sleep!"

"YOU SPEAK OF LIES!" The Older Zim yelled and pointed. Then he turned around. The bright white cracks seemed to be slowing down for a bit. The smeet groaned and curled up again.

"I feel ill…"

"That's too bad! You're an Invader! You should be used to experiencing the harshest pains!"

Smeet Zim began coughing.

"But I…I was…"

"I DON'T CARE! Invaders are beyond pain! You should be ashamed of yourself! Whining and moaning! You're a mighty threat to the planets you're sent to take over and here you are complaining!"

Smeet Zim began coughing even harder. He began wheezing, finding it hard to breathe.

"Just look at yourself! How dare you, the younger version of me, act weak and pathetic! What's next?! Are you going to cry?!"

"Stop it!" Smeet Zim was now hacking really hard, until he finally coughed something up. What was it? A furball? It was orange and wet and…ew.

"What is that thing?!" The older Zim backed up, disgusted. "Whatever! If you're going to sit here and be a baby then I'll leave you to fend for yourself!"

"N-No! I…I won't give up!" The smeet yelled. "I…I am…an invader…and…nothing will…will…stop me from completing…my…m-my…mission!"

The older Zim stood for a moment and smiled.

"Alright then."

Suddenly the ground rumbled again. This little quarrel let the white cracks catch up with them! The very ground below the two Zims shattered and they began falling!

"What do we do?!" Smeet Zim cried out.

"Just wake up!" The Older Zim yelled. "Little Master! Wake up!"

"I'm trying! Wait…what did you call me?"

"Little Master! I said…"

"Wake up!" Gir cried out.

"AH!" The smeet jolted up and ended up smacking his face into Gir's because the robot had perched himself on top of the couch and was staring down at the tiny Irken. Zim groaned and rubbed his aching head.

"Little master! You's awake! Now we're all happy again!"

"I don't understand…"

"LOOK AT WHAT I FOUND!" Gir jumped to the floor and put something in front of Zim. It was an orange…furry thing…like the one in Zim's dream.

"AH! Gir! Where did you find that?!" The smeet grabbed the blanket draped over him and held it in front of his face like a shield.

"I dunno…" Gir shrugged. "WHEE! YAY!" He ran around in circles. Zim watched the robot for a moment and sighed. Then he looked in front of him and saw the fuzzy orange this was crawling off the couch.

"GIR!"

"I'm so happy you is okay!" Gir curled up on the couch next to Zim. Mini Moose was on the other side also snuggling his master.

"Yeah yeah…I'm fine…I just…" The smeet put a hand on his head, going back to what happened last night. How long was he stuck in the rain.

"Oh little master! Mini Moose's broken." Gir hopped off the couch and picked up Mini Moose. Then he went to grab the antler that snapped off and handed the pieces to smeet Zim. "Little master?"

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah…" The smeet examined the antler and slumped a bit. He felt ashamed. He was lost in the alley during a rainy day with no paste on. And what did he do? He cried. He was an invader. Invaders don't cry! They never get scared! Or lost! What would the other invaders say? What would the tallest think? He whimpered and hid under the blanket, placing Mini Moose's pieces on the side. Just imagining the wrath he would feel if the mighty tallest had found out he cried was too scary.

"You look like you need a hug!" Gir went over and hugged the smeet, not bothering to move the blanket off. Getting no response, the SIR unit backed up a few steps and began humming.

"Please don't tell me he's going to…"

Doot dee doot doo dee da dee da dee! Gir sang. He tapped his feet and started dancing. The smeet pulled the blanket back behind him so he could see. The little robot spun and jumped and continued dancing and scatting.

I always see my master mad!

Or sometimes bored or really sad!

But one thing that I love to see is…

When my master's glad!

I hate it when he has a frown!

So I will turn it upside down!

To make him smile all day long,

I will be his clown!

Nobody wants their friend to mope!

It makes them feel like a big dope!

So I will dance with lots of hope!

And afterwards I eat the soap!

A happy grin is was I must see!

So a silly dance is what this will be!

So master please don't feel so bad!

Just laugh along with me!

Just smile along with me!

Just be happy with me!

The robot spun, scatted a little more, and then stuck a pose. The computer launched some pre-set confetti out of the ceiling and made the sound of one of those little noise makers you often get at parties. Then he turned to his master and put a big grin on his own face. The smeet blinked for a moment, and then he smiled.

"Thank you Gir."

"YAY! YOU IS HAPPY NOW! I'm happy too!" The robot bowed and sat on the floor. "What do we do now?"

"Well, first we'll fix up Mini Moose. And then we'll think of a new plan to take over the world!" The smeet stood on the couch. Then he wobbled a bit, having trouble balancing on the cushions, and jumped down. Next, he picked up Mini Moose and the broken antler and walked over to the trash can elevator. He hopped in and they went down to the bottom floor. Walking over to the desk with tools, he tossed Mini Moose and the antlers up.

"Computer! Fetch me a stool!" He said. The computer gave him one, dropping it right next to him. Ignoring the fact it could've hit him in the head and given him a big old goose egg sized bump on the noggin, Zim moved the stool and stood on top of it. "Mask and blow torch!" He made a grabbing motion with his hand, tilting the fingers up. The mask and torch came out of the wall. Zim put on the mask, not bothering to adjust it since it was so big it blocked his view, and got the torch ready. Then he turned the blow torch on and began fusing the antler onto Mini Moose. After a little while, he pulled the mask up.

"Done! Mini Moose is now as good as new!" He stood proud.

Gir stared for a while.

"You put it on upside down!"

"What?!" Zim looked to see that the antler was indeed upside down.

"Nya." Mini Moose squeaked.

"Oh…" The smeet groaned in frustration. "Well if you think you know so much about moose and where their antlers go, then you fix him!" He threw the blow torch at Gir and tossed the mask onto the ground. "Computer, what's the status on the cure ingredients?"

"Two have been received. Still waiting for more. Will take up to a week at the most."

"Alright. We're finally getting somewhere. A little more time and I will be back to my normal self!"

"If two gooses are geese, would two mooses be meese?" Gir asked.

"And now, to begin my next amazing plan to take over the world!" The smeet cackled, ignoring his robot's question.

"You know what I just realized?" Tallest Purple asked as he grabbed a bag of popcorn.

"What?" Tallest Red replied with a mouthful of donut, sitting on a chair planted in the massive in front of the video screen.

"We haven't heard from Zim for a couple days now." Purple took a large handful of popcorn and stuffed his face.

"You're right." Red said after swallowing his pastry. "Maybe he's finally dead."

"Do you think we should check? Just in case?"

"I dunno…it would be disappointing if we called and it turned out he was still alive…and it would be a waste of time."

"Yeah, but still…knowing now would be better than waiting when he's already dead. And just assuming he's dead and suddenly him calling in a week or so would be kind of disappointing too."

"Alright, I guess we can give him a call."

Oh my gosh! I am SO sorry I haven't updated sooner! Coming home from vacation and my computer breaking and school coming got me in a bit of a funk! But here's the next chapter! Again, I am really sorry guys! REVIEW PLEASE! And thank you to everyone for reviewing the past chapters! I'm so happy you guys like this! Thank you so much! I'll try to get another chapter or two up before school starts (in case I get too busy to update stories). And don't forget to REVIEW!

I wrote that song myself. Did you guys like it? :3