D.I.B. (Devario, Iriatherina, Bio-human)

Chapter 1: First Contact

By Glowzilla

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, wish I did, but sadly, I don't.

The tall elegant figure of the Irken empire maneuvered through the halls of his castle, grace and speed that would rival the strongest of invaders shown easily on his slender yet tall form as he walked, an air of authority and pride shown in his stance. Making his way through the various twists and turns that formed the labyrinth of the underground archives, Irken tallest Zim wound his way through the corridors, bypassing the foot drones that resided within the castle, all seeming to stop in their tracks to watch their leader as he made his way to the higher levels. It was rare for the tallest to leave the castle, and if he did venture out of the archives or stop in his work, it would be to attend a meeting of generals, or to recharge in his sleeping chambers. As rare as it was however, Zim wasn't complaining about having to leave, in fact he was almost excited to get out of the dank sour smell of old books and papers that littered the archive room. Having spent almost a whole month in the cellar of his castle, sorting through paperwork from invaded planets to Irks resource levels, and then to the invader output/ input resources and analyzing the data brought back from conquered planets to be sifted through and sorted out as to what is useful and what isn't. What was only supposed to be a couple of days turned into a long, grueling month of filling, staking, graphing, organizing, and alphabetizing all, or almost all of Irks files to be stored in the main computer.

Zim, at the end of the month, sifting through the last of the files, came across one of the current planet's paper work that was to be conquered. Gaia, or Earth as it was commonly known as, a planet so far out in another galaxy that the invaders when they were originally sent to examine the planet and collect data for conquest, nearly went by it without stopping.

It was tiny compared to Irk, and most of its surface was covered with what is now known to be called water, or (H2O), a very harmful chemical to Irkens as it turns out. Having read the information the first invader sent once he landed on the planet. The acidic substance seemed to fall from the sky, burning his flesh and causing welts to form across his skin where it was directly exposed to the substance. Upon further examination of the planet and its inhabitants, the -invaders soon realized that the humans were adapted to live with this deadly acid, and even consumed it on a daily basis. Surprisingly enough, humans couldn't live without H2O for more than a couple of days or they would die. Much like their oxygen intake, they needed to breath air, eat and drink water, and water based substances. Even their bodies were comprised of more than 80% of water.

Zim was fascinated by the amount of information his invaders seemed to gather from the small planet, learning all kinds of neat facts that would come in handy if he were ever to interact with these, humans. Although water wasn't the only thing humans were adaptable with, turns out, most of the planet consisted of harsh environments and storms that plagued the planet almost on a yearly basis. Storms that were so crippling to the planets population, the humans built their living structures so that they could avoid most damage the storms could cause. Next to that, the planet had deserts, oceans, forests, and natural untamed wildlife and terrain that the humans had not yet explored or conquered. Not to mention their space exploration and theories were laughable at best. Even their technology seemed archaic and destructive to their own atmosphere, polluting their air and destroying their own wildlife in the process. The planet was going to need a lot of work done to it if it was ever going to be suitable for habituating other sentient beings and life forms from other galaxies.

But what really caught Zim off guard was the date in which the files were sent to Irk via transporter. The message was over 6 months old, and from the dates of the next scheduled landing from that invader ship, they were docking in less than a few days back to Irk. Zim to say the least was ecstatic for the hopes of meeting a human. Such an adaptable species living so far away from any other known life forms was almost unheard of. Even if their technology was laughable, they made it incredibly far on their own without the help of extraterrestrials. The status on the planet was still un- conquered, but Zim figured he'd get more information from the invaders upon their return.

This was exactly what Zim needed as an excuse to leave his castle, and he was taking every opportunity he had to be in time at the loading bay when the ship landed. Even if the planet wasn't conquered yet, the invaders must have brought something with them, and Zim was anxious to see what it could be.

Getting to one of the upper levels of the castle Zim seemed to meander through the halls, having traveled through the building many times, Zim always seemed to get lost right before heading out the doors that would take him to the outside of the castle. It wasn't like Zim hadn't traveled in and out of the building before, the infrastructure was built specifically to confuse and prelude intruf=ders from getting to the tallests in the case an assassination attempt was underway. It was meant for security, but Zim figured it was just to keep him from leaving the castle.

Using one of the security drone hallways, Zim easily slipped through the hideaway door meant for the janitorial staff, the only residing workers who lived in the castle with their tallest. In all of Irks history of tallests, Zim was the only one who cut the population of workers in his castle by nearly 95%. What used to hold nearly 250 workers was soon reduced to 80. Zim saw no reason to have that many workers, and he made it clear that their services weren't needed because he could handle most of the internal structuring of the computers mainframe by himself. Being directly uploaded into the castle via his pack, Zim was able to access any area of the castle that needed assistance and fix the problem with his own working knowledge of the structure.

Since cleaning was the only thing Zim lacked a capability of, and the janitorial staff lived in the castle on the bottom floors, it was easier to keep them on as workers. The janitors didn't need to find a new place to live, and Zim could run his castle in peace and quiet.

It was a good system since Zim loved the solitary life inside of the castle, and the janitorial staff rarely bothered him, only coming to his aid if he needed help cleaning a mess, which was usually his sleeping chambers after a couple of weeks. He normally wouldn't let them enter his room, but when it became cluttered enough to the point he couldn't actually get to the sleeping pod, he would call for assistance in getting the mess cleared out of his way. And although Zim would never admit it, the janitors would all occasionally joke that Zim was the only tallest who would bring paperwork to bed instead of a woman.

Zim never minded the idle gossip, knowing all too well the previous tallests and their behavior with such dealings throughout Irken history. He however had no time for dealing with such tedious displays of rash and unfavorable behavior. But to put it in all honesty, Zim just didn't care for people, let alone finding a partner to have and proceed with casual coitus.

Zim was also the only tallests in Irken history to not use the castle and its multitude of space for other luxuries that were allowed upon tallests. One of those luxuries being the ability to house large and exotic pets. Tallests were known for having rare animals and species from other planets, that's why the castle, or rather skyscraper, was built with reinforced steel and the hardest of materials to hold up the massive structure. Not to mention the bullet proof glass that was 4 feet thick and tinted so as not to allow others a peek inside. Although others on Irk such as nobles and war generals were allowed pets, the tallests were always the first at the slave auctions and grand markets so as to allow for first choice. Invaders were allowed pets too from the planets they had conquered, but since they tended to move around a lot, it was less likely to be done.

Zim, however much of an oddity he was for not contributing to the natural way of the tallests before him, he didn't see anything wrong with his solitary life, and rather enjoyed being alone in his tower, reading and gaining knowledge on other planets that come under their power. Figuring out a long time ago that instead of annihilating all life from other planets, peace treaties were enacted so as to ensure the planet stays within Irks control, yet the inhabitants could continue to live life the way they normally would. Irk was now 200 planets strong, with a military force consisting of other species that believed in unity among races. It wasn't unnatural now for invaders who were sent to conquer planets coming back with the prospect of a peace treaty, but usually that was done if the planet was of use to the Irken empire. Although Zim was known for giving planets who had yet to advance very far in their own evolutional backgrounds leeway when dealing with such trivialities.

I just want to see a human, thought Zim as he made his way down the quiet back alleys so as not to gain any unwanted attention to himself. Just a quick look and then I'll be back down in the archives he thought cheerily. Missing the air of Irk and craving the taste of the two suns bitting into his emerald skin. Black sleek antenna at full attention as he made his way down the street towards the loading bay, his ruby red eyes vibrant as they took in the surroundings of Irks population going about their day in the markets.

Just a quick look was all Zim wanted, but little did the tallests know, today would be the last day he had with his solitary and quiet life inside of his tower.

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Loading Bay- Irken ports for Incoming Invader Ships

Zim stood at the edge of the last loading helm, bay number 064. He was trying to be patient, but the more he read about the humans through the electronic feed he connected with the invaders informational unit, the more he wanted to see one.

One tidbit of information Zim seemed to find fascination was that humans seemed to have these grooves on their skin, particularly on their fingers. The grooves formed a pattern that was translated to be a fingerprint. Each human had their own unique fingerprint, and no two humans had a matching set. Not even the humans who came in pairs of two, three, or even four, all of whom look exactly alike, yet their fingerprints were all different. Zim even checked himself, looking at his three clwed fingers on each hand to see if… yes! He did have fingerprints as well.

Enthusiastic about this new discovery, much like a child discovering where their parent stashed their snacks, Zim went around placing his finger on any and all surfaces he could get too to see if the fingerprint would transfer onto that surface. Wondering if he had the natural oils and chemicals in his sytem that would make print transfer successful like the humans.

When he learned that he could do that as well, Zim went so far as to try and put his fingerprint on a foot drones head as he stopped to give his tallest the appropriate salutation for a greeting. The drone to that affect became nervous, fell to his knees, blubbered out a quick and hasty, "I'm sorry!" before running off.

Zim merely chuckled before heading back to the dock, now seeing the ship breaching the planet's atmosphere in preparation for the landing. He would have felt bad for the drone had the excitement from earlier not taken over his mind again. He wanted to see a human so badly, wanted to feel that fur on their heads and wanted to look at their strange five fingered hands, look at their fingerprints and match them with his own.

He was nearly jumping in his boots with excitement, his black robes with red lining billowing at his feet as he began to pace around the dock, watching the ship pull closer and closer to its destination.

After an eternity of waiting, the ship finally pulled into the dock, the hangar door unlatching and opening up wide for Zim to hastily look inside. Not waiting for the invaders to exit from the top of the ship, Zim quickly slipped inside the large hangar, coming face to face with a lot of…. Foliage? Slightly disheartened, Zim quickly began walking around the ship, looking at all the plants but not finding a trace of a human in sight.

Well this is disappointing, thought Zim grumpily, "I wanted to see a human." It was grumbled to the open space, Zim meandering towards the back of the ship, soon coming face to face with a large metal tank.

Zim just stared at it for a few seconds, thinking he had reached the end of the hangar, but noticing after a couple of seconds that the metal didn't reach the sides of the ship or the top, forming a large metal box standing almost 60 feet high.

This must be where they're keeping the humans, thought Zim as he felt around the box for the switch that would lift the metal away to expose what was inside. Coming up empty Zim resigned himself to just waiting for the invaders to open it for him, becoming impatient all over again as to what was taking them so long. He wanted to see a human already!

It felt like an eternity later before Zim picked up movement via his antenna, alerting him that there were others moving closer to his position in the back of the ship. Turning expectantly and coming face to face with three invaders. The tallest of the three, Scout, as it said on his invader I.D. tag stepped forward first. Bowing deeply to his tallest, antenna flicking back in a submissive gesture he quickly saluted and gave the introductions of the other invaders and a brief description of what was going on in concerns with planet Earth.

"Invader Scout reporting first my tallest, and these are my colleagues, invader scutch and invader plink. We are here to discuss a possible peace treaty with Earth, granted with your permission. We saw traits in the planet and its inhabitants that could be useful for Irks empire and galactic conquest." The other two invaders seemed to stand slightly behind Scout as he addressed their tallest, not being comfortable with his closeness and just staying slightly out of sight.

"Yes yes a peace treaty seems nice," commented Zim dryly, "but have you not brought a human to make the offer themselves?, I've been wanting to meet one since seeing their data and files provided from your information extraction."

Scout shrunk only slightly from his tallests demands, but addressed the issue nonetheless with a fines only found in invaders when pacifying a situation that could turn dramatic.

"My tallests, the humans have, in hopes of gaining your good graces with accepting the peace treaty, sent us with a gift as incentive for you specifically. And although their science and space travel hasn't adapted quite as fast as our own adaptions to the universes we traveled too, their science in DNA engineering is stunning at best."

"They sent me a gift so as to make me agree to a peace treaty?" Zim asked skeptically. It wasn't uncommon for Zim to be bribed in the hopes that a planet would be spared from the destruction of the Irken armada. And in truth Zim has spared many planets with such bribes, being given many space ships and materials Zim found uses for. But never would he have worded the bribes as gifts.

But here these humans were, sending him a 'gift' in hopes to spare their planet. If Zim wasn't excited before he sure as hell was now, yet he withheld from showing such excitement on his face. Schooling his features into the disinterested façade he usually wore when dealing with people.

"Very well, you may show me this gift, but I'm still itching to see a human. Even without the gift, you could have enacted a peace treaty without me, the humans seem like they could be a great addition to the Irken empire. Not to mention they are vastly similar to us in means of anatomical build. Am I correct in assuming we are compatible with mating as well?" The question was said nonchalantly, but it didn't stop invader Scout from turning a light shade of pink from the brashness of his tallests question.

Coughing to the side slightly Scout answered tentatively, "we are compatible mating wise, but it is unknown if we can reproduce naturally with the humans DNA."

Zim seemed pacified with this information, but became antsy again as the prospect at seeing what the humans have given him itched his insides, watching Scout move over to the hidden controls of the metal box and place his finger on a switch. Turing to his tallest, Zim nodded in approval and Scout hit the switch, moving back as the metal encasing what was now a large glass tank lifted into the top of the ship, revealing its hidden contents to the excited tallest.

What greeted Zims sight was something he had never expected to see or witness in his life time. Sure Irk had its fair share of scientists who dabbled in genetic DNA mutation, that didn't include the many illegal experimentation wards Zim had to shut down when he came to power. But this was completely unheard of, even bordering on downright impossible. But Zim had to hand it to the humans, what they lacked in space travel and weaponry they made up for with DNA and genetically engineered humans.

The creature resembled a human on his upper torso, containing two eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, two arms and a thin lithe chest. His head even had that strange fur humans seemed to have, its pitch black color deeply contrasting with his almost pure white skin. But what really caught Zims attention was what he saw below the human's waist, starting at his slightly defined curvy hips, moving downwards to reveal not two legs like what normal humans sported, but a long, multicolored fish tail. The fins at the end were a bright translucent white, almost shimmering in the light afforded on the ship, hitting the fins and giving them a rainbow effect. There were also a secondary set of fins that landed just below the humans hips, the same translucent white of the larger fins of his tail.

As Zim stared longer at the creature gliding in the water of the tank, he could just barely make out the gills on either side of the humans well defined torso, just below his ribs were three gills on either side. Opening and closing reflexively as the creature breathed. Those long, slender fingers had sharp ends, most likely claws, and were webbed between the digits. The creature also had nipples, being more mammal-like in his nature though he represented himself as more of an exotic aquatic fish. The curve of his hips was noticeable, that and his slender form with shoulder length black locks, he would have been mistaken for a female from far off, but upon closer inspection it was easy to tell he was male. Although there was no outward appearance of genitalia, Zim figured the feature was there, just not present.

His eyes were another thing all together, and Zim found himself stepping closer to the glass, reaching his hand out to lay on the slightly cool surface, as if to touch this strange and mystifying creature. Those eyes, large gold optics, resembling a planet inside of a white casing, twists of silver and specks of amber outlining the orbs. The pitch black of the pupil looking much like a swirling black hole, threatening to swallow Zim whole lest he stare too long.

Seeming to feel eyes on its form, the creature soon turned those enchanting eyes upon Zims ruby red optics, almost as if it were being called to by the foreign being it was being watched by. Although pleased was not the word Zim would use to describe the creatures reaction towards himself.

The calm serenity that once filled the tank seemed to evaporate once the creatures eyes landed on Zim, full pink lips pulled back to reveal razor sharp teeth, a growl emitting from that once delicate looking creature. Rather than being heard, the growl was felt, vibrating the tank walls in its ferocity as the creature neared Zim in a hostile matter. The scales of his tale which were once smooth in appearance, lifted to give the impression of a frightened cat, the tail growing in size as the scales lifted to give it a menacing look. But instead of that fluffy look cat tails have, this creatures scales were triangular in shape, and no doubt sharp, the claws of its fingers flexing as its scales rippled with the force of its rage. It was no longer a delicate marvel of science, but a feral, menacing animal with a rage that was quite literally terrifying. It nearly screamed predator, promising a slow and painful death to anyone who encroached on his territory. Zim would never admit it, but a trickle of fear slowly slid down his back, tingling his spin and making his breath pick up in pace. Though he didn't back down from the creatures hostile display, noticing as an afterthought that the creature also had two thin electric blue antenna on his head, with what also looked like barbs coming off of them, and a light stream of electricity being generated throughout the lengths. A beautiful silent killer, that what Zim saw as he looked at this creature. The creature the humans had created, and were now offering to him as a gift. And although the human hybrid didn't seem to like his predicament, Zim was going to use it to his advantage.

The Irken tallest may not have coveted anything in his unnaturally long life up until this moment in time, but seeing this creature made something stir deep within his organs. He wanted this creature, this unnaturally beautiful killer, and he would have it, by any means necessary, he would have it.

To be continued. Read and review please ^_^