-1Disclaimer: All Invader Zim characters belong to Jhonen Vasquez and no money is being made off their use. All original characters belong to me, and it would be rude to use them with crediting me.

Glass Dominos

By

Lisa-chu

Prologue

The Nameless

She figured she would awake to a wide expanse of stars. After all, when traveling the galaxy, what else was there to wake up to? But who would of thought that she of all people would stumble across a whole other solar system? One the possibly undiscovered, at that!

"If the girls only knew!" She murmured excitedly to herself, but in the same instant, realization hit. The girls would possibly never know, because she couldn't tell them. "Not that they would want to talk to a coward like me anyway. Honestly, being banished. My parents would be so embarrassed." She held the stuffed Irken close to her chest as she bit back the tears. Now wasn't the time for crying.

"Coming up on Earth in approximately 5 minutes." The deep voice of the computer boomed.

"Earth? I've never heard of it. Have you, Luna?" She held the doll out at arms length and eyed it curiously. "No, I didn't think so. Computer, give me more information on this…Earth." There was a pregnant pause before the computer replied.

"Earth, population 6 billion and counting. Made up of mostly water. The only known civilization in the solar system." Her antennae perked at the mere mention of it.

"Civilization? You mean there's actually people on that planet? And so many! Computer, set a course for this…Earth."

-

"Damn it all!" Zim shouted as he threw the towel with surprising force onto the floor. Those pitiful humans. "How dare that wretched stink beast talk that way to his future ruler. And that idiot, Scott, taking his side." The alien scoffed. "Thinking he knows everything, just because he's the manager. Sometimes I think I'd be better off talking to Gir! They should make me manager! I'd run this store like clockwork."

"Run it into the ground is more like it." A voice interrupted from a corner of the break room, nearly scaring poor Zim to death. "Do you really think they'd let a psychopath like you take charge of this place? I'm surprised they let you run the cash register."

"Ha-ha, Dib-stink. Very funny. But I'll have you know that I was a commander of high rank back home."

"Yeah, and look where that got you. Working in a Bloaty's Pizza Hog, barely making enough money for lunch, let alone any long term goal, living in what can only be described as a shanty with fake parents and dogs that's only slightly crazier than you." Dib smirked, flashing a thumbs up. "Good job, Zim. You're officially a failure at life." The raven haired young man fished in his pocket and pulled out a box of menthol cigarettes, putting one in his mouth and tossing the box to Zim. "They calm me down. You should try it before you bust a blood vessel, old man."

In the years since Zim had arrived, many understanding had been reached between Dib and himself. One of those understandings was that Zim would outlive Dib by decades, maybe even centuries, so if the human was going to stop him, he'd better do it soon. Incidentally, another of these understandings was that, by the time Zim actually had a chance to conquer Earth, he would have about three days to savor his victory before the Second Coming of Christ came to pass. So really, there was no rush.

"I don't smoke." Zim replied, dropping that box on the ground and kicking them back to the human, who reached down to put them back in his pocket.

"Pansy." His honey colored eyes bore into Zim's synthetic blues.

"Why do you humans insist on sucking in smoke? Isn't it harmful to your inferior human organs?" Dib shrugged.

"Yeah. But it's my body, and it feels good, so why not?" Dib took another drag and the alien scoffed.

"Stupid humans. Why do I even bother plotting to destroy this planet? You'll all kill yourselves eventually!" Smirking, the human was instantly standing inches away from Zim's face.

"Exactly, so why don't you take whatever little alien buddies you have here, and leave?"

"Why you wretched little worm-baby! I ought to-" The door swung open and the dingy break room was flooded with light.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Scott, the obscenely young manager of Bloaty's, gave the two a curious look. "Membrane, put the cigarette out before you start a fire. And Zim, I thought I told you to get back to work! Why do I even bother with you two?" The two stood, dumbfounded and at a loss for words. They didn't even think to move away from each other. "Whatever! Just quit your little make out session and get back to work, or don't bother coming in tomorrow." Scott exited, slamming the door behind him.

"What a dick." Dib murmured as he ran a hand through his inky black hair. Zim opened his mouth to speak, but before the words could come out…

An Irken ship closing in on Earth.

"What was that?" Dib asked, alarmed.

"Simply an alarm system. I had it installed after the whole incident with Tak a few years back." He pulled what looked like a PDA system out of his Pak. "It tells me when another ship comes within close proximity to Earth, and where the ship is from. Problem is, there shouldn't be an Irken ship within miles of here." Zim analyzed all the data the computer could come up with, which wasn't much. "It's a Voot Runner, so it's more than likely occupied by a single person."

Dib was growing slightly impatient. Possible alien invasions always made him a little edgy. "So do you have any idea of who it could be?" he asked. "Or where it might be landing?" Zim shook his head.

"I don't who it could be, unless the Tallest decided to finally chart this ball of dirt. As for where it's landing…" He didn't even bother to finish the sentence. In the distance, the clear but faint sound of steel colliding with Earth rang out. "I'd say about two miles east of here."

-

As most know, if a loud crash is heard, ninety percent of those who heard would try to figure out the source of the noise. This time was no exception. By the time Zim and Dib got to the scene of the crash, a small crowd had already formed around the steaming pile of twisted metal.

"Definitely a Runner, but there's no way we can properly examine the damage with all these people around. I wish there was someway to get rid of these people." Zim held a hand to his chin, deep in thought. Dib smirked, getting a brilliant idea.

"Yeah, luckily the thing was empty." He stated, loud enough for everyone to hear. "No one would have survived it. Yep, good thing no one was driving that thing." As planned, the crest fallen crowd began to slowly disperse, leaving the two young men alone with the wreck.

"You actually did something useful, Dib-stink." Zim smiled, obviously impressed.

"I'll take that as a complement. Now how the hell do you open this thing?"

-

The crash had completely knocked her out, and when she came to, all she could see was the floor and the underside of the terminal. She could, however, hear the voices from the outside, and the conversation scared her immensely. Open the cockpit? As in, break in, and possibly steal her and Luna away? And how did these…Earthenoids even know what a Voot Runner was?

"The model seems to have been updated, but the entry method should still be the same. The for a panel somewhere near the bottom.

Shit! Now what to do? She didn't think these Earth creatures would be so cunning! She could hear their determined pawing through the ships floor, and she knew that her options were running out. As her last line of defense, she threw herself into the seat, letting her body fall as limp as possible. As the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, play dead.

"Ah! Found it." One of them cried, and she couldn't keep her heart from racing as the cockpit opened and sunlight flooded into her little Voot Runner. This was it.

"Oh my God! There someone in here!"

"Of course, pitiful Earth creature! You didn't think it'd be empty, did you?" 'Please. Please just go away!' her mind screamed.

"Well, she's obviously an alien. A friend of yours?" One of the asked. She could feel his hand reaching toward her, and with every blessed inch, her blood pulsed harder and harder.

"I've never seen her before. She was probably still a smeet when I started my-" the creature's hand grazed her cheek, and before she could even think to control herself, she shot out of the Runner, pushed past the two…whatever they were, and landed with a harsh thump on the grass below.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, holding her finger at the ready over the self-destruct button. "I mean it! Come any closer and I'll blow us all back to Irk!" The taller creature, dressed in all black, stepped closer to her. "I mean it!"

"Calm down! Your among friends…I think." He looked back at the other, a shorter you man who looked...a tad green. The whole ordeal was so overwhelming, and she began to feel dizzy.

"Hey, are you alright?" The voice seemed to fade off into the distance, as she slowly slipped out of consciousness.

----

Phew! The story will pick up, I promise. I just wanted to get the ball rolling. Leave me something nice, chu!