I don't own Invader Zim okay? I know I wanted to get Minutes to Midnight done before the end of the year as well as Taboo, but that story is pretty hard to come up with ideas for at the moment. But this one is coming along okay, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Dib stood in the shower, looking over at the sleeping form of his girlfriend who was not disturbed by any alien presence in the night. He was thankful for that. While she and the rest of the human race was certain aliens indeed existed now, he didn't want her to get wrapped up in intergalactic power vacuums as well. He was on the cusp of being pulled into it himself. As the hot water fell on his face, he could see how the Meekrob could expect something of him in their long game of chess to be the power in the galaxy. You don't give gifts like that just because you are sympathetic and charitable. At the same time, he had finished what he had started all those years ago. I saved the Earth from the Irken Empire and everyone knows I was right. Dib thought as he reached for the shampoo. So what do I do now? He thought as he washed his hair.

Once he finished he got dressed and headed out to find his girlfriend awake awaiting her turn. "So I see you cleaned up." She smiled.

"Yeah I did." Dib said putting his hand behind his back. "So what do you want to do today? I am sure I am not needed at the labs unless someone does something stupid."

"Oh I don't know what exactly..." She said twirling her finger around the blanket. But I do know who I want to do it with."

"Who?" Dib asked.

"You you idiot." She laughed as she got up and kissed him. "I got to take a shower myself." With this she headed into the bathroom and shut the door.

She always takes a long time Dib thought as he flopped down on the bed and turned on the TV. "Nothing good. Not like there is much this time of day anyway..." He said as he stared at the ceiling. He couldn't stand most of the paranormal shows that were on because they were either on aliens in the past, which having read books on the subject since he was practically a toddler was nothing new to him, or ghost shows where someone bought an old funeral parlor house and then tried to talk to the spirits with a Ouija board and let in some bad demons. He found himself screaming at the person recounting their tales when they said "I got a Ouija board to talk to them". As an expert in the paranormal, these things were patronizing and dumbed it down at best, at worst it made a mockery of it. He just left it on the channel that displayed the local weather and it was what he expected it to be, hot and dry. They were at a hotel in the Mojave after all. "Maybe I should try to help Lord Nar..." Dib said to himself as the Grim future of not having to worry about accomplishing his goals started to dawn on him. "No! I'm done with that! I am not fighting for anyone else!" He said as his phone started to ring. "Hello?" He asked.

"Oh Dib sir, we have some bad news to report. We don't know how it happened. We weren't partying that hard..." The guard said, his voice trembling.

"You were partying on duty?" Dib asked.

"Well we didn't think there would be any need for us that night, and we just had defeated an alien menace..." The guard pleaded.

"You mean I did." Dib said crossly.

"Anyway, we went to check on Zim, and he wasn't there! There was a really tall guard who came in and he left with them from what we could tell from the screen." The guard said.

"Really tall?" Dib asked, his suspicions starting to rise. It couldn't be. I mean they would have had a chance to escape being the royalty and all. I am sure they would have had the most protection of any Irken available. And why would they go after Zim, from what I got when I was spying on him was that his leaders hated him! Why would they save him?

"Yeah. This guard thing looks like he was nearly 7 feet tall!" The guard panicked.

"Oh." Dib said as he looked at the wall. "I'll be right there. I did not think they'd come for him. Although you guys fucked up."

"Sorry if not all of us have freaky powers! I don't know if our bullets would do anything to the Irkens and before you say anything, you didn't tell us their weakness outside water. We have M16s not super soakers!" The guard said.

"Fine. Just hold on, I'll be there." Dib yelled as his girlfriend came out of the bathroom.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, towel wrapped around her, hair soaking wet.

"No, I have to head back to Area 51. Seems like the Irken Tallest, their leaders," He added when she looked at him with a confused look. "has come to Earth and broke him free."

"Do you have to go?" She looked at him pleadingly.

"Yeah. It seems so. I will be back as soon as I can. I wish I could just pass this off, but the guards really let me down. Like really." Dib said as he kissed her, ran out of the room and left her standing there with a disappointed look on her face.

Sizz-lorr had landed on Irk and headed to Tallest Tower, hoping that he was not one of the tallest Irkens left. He did have a very important position at Shloogorgoh's and that was one of the most valued restaurants to the Irken Empire on Foodcourtia. However he never really thought it was worthy of being part of the royal class of Irk. But he was summoned for a measuring which meant he was over 6 and a half feet tall. This measurement was used to determine who was exactly the Tallest when no heir was already named. When Spork died, Red and Purple were in the military as generals in the administration department and they were found to be the same height so they both became Tallest. Miyuki had groomed Spork for it so there was no need for a measuring ceremony as he was made sure to be the tallest Irken in the Empire after Miyuki. Sizz-lorr had just started running Shloogorgoh's at the time so he wasn't as tall as he was now but he did keep an eye on the affairs of the Empire. It had a big impact on his business. He headed into the measuring room and looked around. "Phewwwwww..." He sighed. There were Irkens Taller than him in the room. "I don't think I will be made Tallest after all."

"Oh you can never be too certain anymore." a blue eyed scientist with spiral eyed goggles said as he looked at Sizz-lorr. "I mean if the Massive could have been taken down by a genetically modified human, then there is so much we need to do to keep our place. I have so many ideas and I will pump so much of our resources into the scientific research department."

"Why?" Sizz-lorr asked annoyed at the scientist talking to him.

"Well since the recent months of Operation Impending Doom II, we never could seem to get what we fully need to perfect our research." He said with a flick of his hand. "If I am made Tallest I will correct that."

"Who are you and why are you talking to me?" Sizz-lorr asked.

"Oh were are my manners! But I am Cel. I am one of the head scientists in the department of planetary adaptations."

"Oh." Sizz-lorr said as he looked at one of the other Irkens in the room. "Think she'd have you beat. You look to be the same height as me but she's nearly as tall as Red and Purple were." He said pointing to a green eyed female Irken in the corner of the room.

"Ceus." She said introducing herself. "Love your work at Shloogorgoh's. Snack foods are important to the Empire. When I am made Tallest I will be sure to make sure that you have only the best employees and not dump defective trash on your doorstep. I mean Zim was re-encoded as a food service drone but that doesn't mean he should have been placed with you."

"I made sure he did have the worst jobs." Sizz-lorr smiled.

"Good." Ceus said smiling at him. "In a little while the Control Brains will begin the measuring. I can tell you don't want this job Sizz-lorr," She noticed him stare at her. "Nothing wrong with that, not everyone is meant to be the ruler of an entirely planet and its intergalactic empire, especially when it is in crisis. I will need your help because I heard your skills handling a Foodening all on your own, so you will be an advisor."

"Well if there was an election, I'd vote for you, Ceus." Sizz-lorr said.

As the tallest Irkens in the Empire gathered for the Great Measuring, Chowfun and Lomein looked over at the group. This was going to be their chance to strike and help to cripple the Irken Empire so they could take it for the Meekrob Empire. "Well, we may not be able to take the Control Brains at this very moment but we can narrow the pool of Irkens that could take over and possibly stop us." Lomein said.

"Yes, that is actually a good idea." Chowfun said. "I think we should attack over there," He motioned an energy arm over to where Cel, Ceus, and Sizz-lorr were standing and discussing the measuring.

"Well two of the Irkens seem to be possible candidates, but the one they are talking to with that spatula pack on their back, he seems to be shorter than the others and Irk does not have leaders shorter than 7 feet tall. At least not in the past 500 years..." Lomein said.

"Who cares, the more tall Irkens we take out the weaker we can make them." Chowfun said as he charged up his energy beam and took aim at Cel, Ceus and Sizz-lorr.

"What's going on?" Sizz-lorr said as he turned around and yelled, "LOOK OUT!" He said as he dove on Ceus and pushed her to the ground, causing Chowfun's energy beam to pass over her and strike Cel fully through the chest and to his PAK, shorting it out and causing him to collapse.

"What the name of Miyuki is going on here?" Ceus said looking around.

"I don't know," Sizz-lorr said as he looked over at Cel's dead body. "Well, he's out of the running. Speaking of running, we should do that. Seems like some Meekrob have gotten in and are trying to kill us all."

"How can you tell?" Ceus said as she looked over Sizz-lorr's shoulder and saw Cel's dead body.

"I know Meekrob burns. Just trust me on that." Sizz-lorr said. "Now let's go!"

"How can a simple manager of a food service store on Foodcourtia be that tall and well versed in injuries from Meekrob?" Ceus asked.

"I'll tell you later, but we got to get the fuck out of here!" Sizz-lorr said.

"Fine, but you WILL have to tell me later." She said in annoyance as she followed him.

"Once we're safe I will, but we got to get there first!" Sizz-lorr said heading for a utility room, a place where the Meekrob would never suspect an elite Irken to be. He opened the door and shut it behind him and Ceus. "This just got more messed up beyond just the Massive going down..." He sighed as he looked at Ceus's panicked look on her face.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I know it didn't have much Zim, Red or Purple in it but the collapse of an Empire is a lot like ripples in a pond or the ocean after an earthquake making a Tsunami. I really don't have much else to say in this A/N, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm.