The bell soon rang and the class was dismissed for lunch. Zim got up rather quickly and ran to the cafeteria to get his food. After about ten minutes of waiting in line, Zim got his tray and looked around before he spotted Crystal at a table close to the window, far away from everyone else, with a blue and white lunchbox. Zim smiled and speed walked his way to the table.

“Hello” he said

Crystal looked up and smiled at him.

“Hey there! Zim, was it?” She questioned, making sure that she was correct in his name

Zim nodded and sat down. Crystal stared at his tray of slop in disgust. She gripped her sandwich slightly.

“How can you eat that?” She asked

“What do you mean?” Zim questioned

“That stuff…” Crystal trailed off, pointing to the tray

Zim looked at his food and sighed.

“I force it down and it comes back up later” he replied

At that answer, Crystal pushed his plate aside and began to split her lunch, being her sandwich, an odd looking fruit, two water bottles, and a cup of pudding in half. She gave Zim half her sandwich, half her fruit, one water bottle, and her pudding cup. Zim’s eyes sparkled slightly before looking at Crystal in slight confusion. She pushed it all closer to him, smiled, and took a bite of her sandwich half. Zim smiled back gratefully and took a bite out of his sandwich half. 

“You’re not human, are you?” Crystal asked, still chewing

Zim’s eyes widened and he nearly choked on his food. How did she find him out so quickly? Was she with Dib? Was she going to hurt him?

“It’s okay. I’m not really human either…” She said, looking out the window as she finished her sandwich

Zim calmed down somewhat. She was Irken? But she looked so human. Was this a disguise of her’s? 

“And just so we’re clear, I’m actually half Irken. My dad was one of your kind while my mom is a human scientist” Crystal stated

“Hold on, are you able to read my mind or something?” Zim asked

“Sorry, force of habit. Have you ever heard of the tallest Blue?” Crystal asked

“The only tallest to be banished. Why?” Zim questioned suspiciously

“He was my dad” Crystal said, cringing a bit

Zim’s eyes widened. She was the daughter of a tallest. That basically made her next in line for the Irken throne. According to legend, Tallest Blue was a triplet brother to Tallests Red and Purple. He was incredibly smart, almost scarily so, and he was the first Irken to ever practice magic, which was very hard for someone on Irk to pull off. He tried to expand the empire by offering other planets trade with them, but his brothers saw it as treachery and sentenced him to banishment. Nobody on Irk ever saw or heard from him again. If this…hybrid knew of him, then that means he landed on Earth and stayed here.

“I...I now have many questions, but…” he trailed off, looking at a table where Dib and his goons now sat

“I understand. Is there anywhere you want to talk?” Crystal asked

Zim stood up, threw out his trash, and gestured for Crystal to follow him. Crystal got up, grabbed her things, and followed Zim out of the cafeteria. They ran through the halls, laughing as they went, until Zim stopped at a ladder near the back of the school. Zim gestured for Crystal to follow him and started climbing the ladder. Crystal frowned in confusion, but climbed after him. 

When they got to the top, they were met with a whole other floor of the school. The hallway was dark and dusty, clearly left forgotten for years. There were several doors on both sides, and the lights flickered.

Crystal shivered, feeling rather creeped out, and grabbed Zim’s hand, causing him to blush. He smiled slightly and began to slowly lead her down the hallway. The wooden doors were rotten, mostly due to age, which left a foul stench in the air. Crystal clutched Zim’s hand tighter as their shadows danced on the walls.

Eventually, they got to the end of the hallway and turned right, where a magenta curtain for a door greeted them. Zim led Crystal through the curtain and…

…what she saw was the most wonderfully beautiful place she’d ever seen.