A/N: So... Again I have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Probably because of Miz, huh? No... I've been busy with another project of mine that I'm dear to. As for Invader Zim, I do want to get back to it, which explains this chapter. Forgive me if it's short. I do work nights at my job and, well, I do love money. Hopefully this will make up for the hiatus I've been on-unlikely-but I hope you enjoy it. I think it's good.

Chap XI: Shoot for the Stars

Where they have launched must've been on the other side of the planet. Zim, along with everyone in the Flyer, stared out into a sky full of debris. The blank void of space was now blocked by a graveyard of destroyed ships and broken hulls. Zim remembered distinctly that the way they arrived on Meekrob there was still a war raging on. This looked like all troops abandoned the fight long ago.

"Do you think there's a Travel Arch on this side of the planet?" Spleen asked from the back.

"How should I know?" Zim retorted loudly.

Tenn, within Skoodge's arms, shot Zim an angry look. "You don't know?" she demanded.

"We shot out of a Travel Arch on the other side of the planet," Skoodge explained. "We just dove in."

"Like a pool!" screamed Gir.

"There's a low percent chance that there would be another Travel Arch nearby that isn't in Meekrob territory." Zim explained. "We're going to have to circle back around."

Tenn jumped from Skoodge and reached for the controls. She feverishly yanked the wheel away from Zim, but Zim fought her. "We can't go back!" she cried. "We CAN'T go back!"

"Get your mitts off the wheel!" Zim demanded.

The Star Flyer began weaving through the Meekrob orbit frantically, hectically, as Zim and Tenn fought over the wheel. Gir, Spleen, and Skoodge got catapulted, thrown, and bounced around the inside of the ship. Gir laughed with joy as his empty bucket of a head slammed against the walls; Spleen held his massive cranium in pain; Skoodge tried to reach for Tenn.

"We can't go back!" Tenn repeated. "I AM NOT going back!"

"Silence!" Zim screamed. "We must get back to the Travel Arch!"

Tenn was pushed out of the way when Zim's boot pushed her down. Tenn growled at Zim's unfairness. "I would've had that planet conquered if not for you!" she muttered angrily. "If I had gotten the Megadoomer everything would've been fine!"

"Again, not my fault." Zim said calmly.

With the ship stabilized, Skoodge got to his feet. He went to Tenn, picking her up and dragging her over to the back. He placed his hand on the bottom part of her PAK. "Don't worry, Tenn," he said. "As long as I'm here, I won't let another Meekrob take you."

Tenn's insect eyes looked at Skoodge. Skoodge's chubby goofy face warmed her heart, settling her down. "You mean it?" she asked.

"Definitely." Skoodge replied warmly.

Zim watched from the display of affection from the mirror above him. He saw their antennae spring forward and entangle themselves. Sickening! He thought. Then he remembered his interaction with Tak, and their Tangled Antennae Event. He could feel something beating in his chest at the thought of her.

With her nerves at ease, Tenn was levelheaded once again. She was still angry at Zim with everything. She still had her doubts about Zim, and why he was piloting the ship. She folded her arms. "So, bring me up to speed about everything and how you," she looked at Skoodge. "Got caught up with all this."

All the Irkens were silent, with the exception of Gir loudly humming to himself. No one knew where to begin. There was so much going on when they rescued Tenn that they had no time to explain. Now, with the quietness surrounding them there was time. Someone only needed to say something.

"There's this new Irken called Miz," Skoodge explained. "He's been changing up the whole place, making everything different."

"What do you mean?" Tenn asked.

"He's getting rid of Invaders," Spleen explained. "He's replacing all of us with D.R.O.I.D Units, sending them out instead of us. They're way better at conquering a planet. They come in, sweep the whole place, and the Armada can just come in and take over. Skoodge and I tried to plea with the Tallest, but Miz branded us traitors."

"That's when we escaped Irk and crash-landed on Earth." Skoodge further explained.

"Miz?" Tenn asked, perplexed. "D.R.O.I.D Units? Earth? What is going on?"

Zim finished, "Then Miz came to Earth and took it for himself! That's not fair! That's my job! I could've taken it over in less time than he did!"

"So what does this have anything to do with us?" Tenn asked, sounding skeptical about the gravity of the situation. "Sounds like Impending Doom II will be put into full gear."

"We'll all be out of jobs." Spleen said.

"If Miz continues with his power trip, who knows what he'll end up doing." Skoodge said fearfully. "He could very well be the end of the Irken Empire."

Gir added his comments on the situation, "We're all DOOMED!"

"Not unless we get to the Tallest and explain this to them!" Zim explained. "We can intercept the Massive at the Gamma Quadrant, right before Planet Lames."

Tenn still felt skeptical about the whole thing. But she is in debt to Zim for helping to save her. The least she could do is help him in return. "Okay… let's do it." She uttered.

"YES! Victory for ZIM!"

"So, all we need to do is navigate back to the Travel Arch," Tenn said.

"That's all the way on the other side of the planet," Spleen added.

"Right…" Skoodge added. "And if we head back we are most likely to encounter Meekrob."

Tenn agreed. She dared not go back in that direction. Her attention then turned to the broken ships scattered around. "How about we head around?" she asked.

Zim raised his brow. "Huh?"

Tenn pointed to the Graveyard of ships. "If we get through the Graveyard we can sneak past all the ships, the battle, on the other side. They'll be so distracted that they won't notice us."

"Tenn, you're a genius!" Skoodge praised.

"Yes…" Zim growled. "I'm glad I thought of the plan."

Suddenly, shots rang out from behind the Flyer. Several blasts erupt around the ship, causing panic inside. They all look back and find Meekrob Battle Flyers heading towards them, firing at them. Tenn began to panic. "No, no, no, not again!" she cried.

Zim screamed, "You dare shoot at me, ZIM!?" a blast from a cannon answered that question.

"Loud noises, master!" Gir shouted. "They're firing at us!"

"Get us out of here, Zim!" Skoodge yelled.

"You don't tell Zim what to do!" Zim yelled. Another blast erupted around the ship, causing the ship to shift to the side.

"NOW, ZIM!" Tenn screamed.

Zim turned the wheel. He could lose the Meekrobs in the Graveyard. He flew the ship into the Graveyard, narrowly passing by a few ships. The Meekrobs were close behind Zim, expertly flying around the ships. Zim tried to fly through more dangerous parts of the Graveyard, flying very close to the broken ships but the Meekrob would not let up.

"Who taught you how to fly?" Tenn demanded.

"SILENCE!"

Tenn looked back out into the Graveyard. She shrieked when she saw how close the Meekrob were to them. She wasn't going back to that wretched planet. Not in her lifetime. And the only way to make that happen was a different pilot.

Grabbing Zim, Tenn pulled Zim away from the wheel. "Move out of the way." She exclaimed. "You're going to get us killed."

With Tenn behind the wheel, she piloted the Star Flyer around the Graveyard, avoiding the ships and the fire from the Meekrob. She flew in between two ships coming close together, escaping before the ships collided; two of the Meekrob weren't so lucky. Tenn looked back, grinning when she saw only one more Meekrob ship behind them.

"We're almost out of the ship sleeping grounds!" Gir pointed to an open space in the Graveyard.

Tenn saw the opening, shifting the Flyer towards the opening. The Meekrob ship was right behind them. And it wasn't giving them up.

Zim inspected the Meekrob ship, locating a turbine engine at the side of it. Zim's head then got an idea. "GIR!" he yelled. "I need a piggy!"

"NO!" Gir cried. "Not Mr. Piggy Pig!" he cradled a rubber pig toy in his arms.

"GIR! Now!"

Gir cried as he handed Zim the rubber pig toy. He bid farewell to the pig as Zim took it to the hatch above.

Zim opened the hatch. He focused on the turbine engine of the Meekrob ship, and readied the pig. "Taste the pork of your demise, Meekrob!" he shouted. He threw the pig at the turbine, becoming satisfied when he heard the rubber plastic of piggy get caught in the turbine. The Meekrob ship stalled, then careened out of control into one of the broken hulls of the ships.

With the Meekrob off their tails, Tenn flew the Flyer out through the opening in the Graveyard. They were free.

"Good thinking, Zim." Spleen said.

"Yeah," Tenn said. "You saved our splutts."

"Not to mention your expert flying, Tenn." Skoodge said, embracing Tenn from behind.

Tenn rested her cheek on the side of Skoodge's arms. Her cheeks blushed a light green.

"Now, to the Travel Arch!" Zim announced, breaking up the moment. "To the Tallest!"

Tenn scowled at Zim, but took the orders. She flew around the outer rim of the Graveyard, around the circumference of the planet. The ship came up upon the other side, the light coming from the sun was a welcoming sight for Tenn. It has been so long since she had seen any sunlight that it almost brought a tear to her eye.

Granted, the moment would be shortlived. There was still a war going on. The Irken fleet and the Meekrob armies still waged their conflict above the orbit of the planet. But Tenn's motif was right—they were so distracted with their fighting that they didn't see a Meekrob Star Flyer flying off in the distance. Tenn piloted the Flyer away from the battle and she saw the Travel Arch. "There it is, boys!" she announced.

With everyone gathering around the controls around Tenn, they all felt a weight being lifted from their shoulders.

"Enter the coordinates of the Gamma Quadrant." Zim instructed. "We can intercept the Massive before they get too far."

"Got it." Tenn said. She typed in the Gamma Quadrant coordinates and sent it to the Travel Arch.

The Travel Arch lit up, a portal forming in the archway. The Star Flyer flew inside the archway, disappearing into another part of space. When they disappeared, the portal vanished, leaving behind them a war that continues to rage on.

A/N: Brief, ain't it? I hope you enjoyed it. I have no clue when the next chapter will be updated but I'll try to squeeze in whatever I can to complete this project that's been seven years in the making! Wow, that's a long time...