I hope you guys are enjoying this because I am! Invader Zim belonged to Jhonen Vasquez and Richard Steven, but all of the OCs involved belongs to me.

Speaking
Thoughts
Shouting
Importance

(Meanwhile with Skoodge)

The super soldier goes upstairs away from the cell room. Where he is just so tired of all of this madness. Even though he betrayed his kind and such... wait...

"Why... why wasn't I shut down?" Skoodge thought, "The Control brains should know that I betrayed the Empire, so... why? Why aren't I shut down?"

Skoodge is deeply confused by all of this where he just lays his back against the wall and takes a deep breath. He puts his hand on his forehead and shakes his head. He turns to his right where he sees Lily walking about, which Skoodge rushes to her and asks, "Hey you!"

"Mm? What is it?" Lily asked him bluntly.

"Straight to the point, eh?" Skoodge commented.

"... What is it?"

"Okay. Where is Zim?" Skoodge asked her.

"He's in Room 26." Lily answered.

"Thanks." Skoodge replied as he runs off upstairs where he walks past the office and manages to find the room, where he opens it and calls out, "Zim! We- huh?"

Skoodge sees the irken looking out to the skies through the window with a strange look on his eyes. The look is nothing like the usual Zim, it looks... softer than he usually is. The super soldier yells once more, "Zim! Oi!"

"Oh!" Zim snapped out of it as he shakes his head and turns to Skoodge to ask, "What is it, Skoodge?"

"... I... I wanted to talk to you..." Skoodge answered him, "But I guess you're a little busy right now."

"No. The great Zim is not busy at all," Zim stopped him, and asks, "So, what do you need?"

"... Do you know the history of Irk?" Skoodge asked him.

"You already know that answer, Skoodge!" Zim replied, "You know they don't allow defects into any classes unless it's military training."

"... Right..." Skoodge remembered, "Thankfully, my years in SEG Academy was able to teach me about the history."

"Why are you telling me this?" Zim asked him, "In fact, why are you talking about this?"

"Because I believe it might be the solution to all this," Skoodge answered, "At least... I hope it could shed a bit of light since my hunch thinks so."

"Really?" Zim asked rudely, "Are we really gonna rely on a hunch?"

"Do you have a better idea right now?" Skoodge asked him.

"... Fine..." Zim sighed in defeat, even if it's feels pointless.

"Thank you. You already know about Tallest Xan, right?" Skoodge asked him.

"Of course, he's the very first tallest in history," Zim answered him, "And considered a weak hearted fool by the Empire."

"Yeah, but do you remember the names of his bodyguard, his advisor and the one who killed him?" Skoodge asked him again.

"... No... I forgot..." Zim admitted.

"I'm surprised you answer that, but thanks for the honesty." Skoodge thanked him, "Nedrid was his bodyguard, Tala was the one who betrayed him and advisor Kron herself."

"... Why do those names sound familiar to me?" Zim admitted loudly, "The great Zim wasn't even born yet, and yet... ugh... my head..."

"You okay, Zim?" Skoodge asked him.

"I-The great Zim is fine! No worries!" Zim brushed it off despite his aching head. "Gah... my head... hurts... so much..."

"Well... nobody knows why, but Tala backstabs Xan in an attempt to steal his role, after she successfully killed her comrade," Skoodge explained, "Since than, Tala completely changes the Empire from a honourable Arcadia to an invading Empire as we know today. The ones who were against her was slaughtered and the ones who submit were left behind."

"... Why all of this?" Zim asked him.

"Well... there's a rumour that Tala might be alive, just as a different irken." Skoodge told him, which Zim's face turns a bit pale and utter baffled.

"... What..."

"Ah, right. You don't know that." Skoodge realised, "Back in the academy, there has been theories of Talu being able to upload her consciousness and data into her PAK and have it transfer to other irkens."

"First, why?" Zim asked, "And second, how is she able to do that? All of the PAKs get checked by the Brain Controls to avoid too many defects."

"Maybe it was overlooked, just like our PAKs," Skoodge theorised, "And for the why... maybe she want to achieve true immortality; where even though her body gets destroyed, her PAK will be safe and get passed on to the next irken."

"But why didn't the Brain Controls delete her?" Zim asked him, "After all, PAKs that belonged to deceased irkens were overwritten with new data for the smeets to avoid conflicting data."

"You have a point there." Skoodge explained, "Maybe because she was the second tallest in Irk history and the one to have created the Empire."

"But than there will be previous Tallests reincarnated," Zim pointed out, "So, why just her and not the others?"

"... That's... a good question..." Skoodge realised, "I don't have an answer for that, unfortunately."

"Yeah... I thought as much..." Zim admitted. "Besides, even the great Zim knows it's just fake and nonsense."

"Yeah... you're right..." Skoodge agreed.

While Skoodge and Zim were discussing, someone is eavesdropping on them as they is hiding behind a wall, though they sigh of relief when they just change the topic... until...

"You know something, Skoodge?" Zim said, which Skoodge raises his antenna in confusion.

"Why... why did you forgive me?" Zim asked him, "After everything I done in the past to you."

"... Didn't I told you earlier?" Skoodge asked to remind him.

"Zim knows, but there must be other reasons," Zim pointed out, "Why would you emphasise with me? And don't say you're a defect like me!"

"... That's... actually a very good question..." Skoodge admitted as he just looks down on the ground, "To be honest... I don't know... I... I guess, for some reason, I have a sudden urge to want to protect you and all that."

"..." Zim raises his non-existent eyebrows at that last sentence. To him, that makes no sense at all. He tries to think of what all of this mean... unfortunately, before he could think of anything, he notices light pink gas coming out, from behind him. "GAH! What the Irk was that?!"

"W-We need... gah!" Skoodge gasped as his eyes start to glitch out and passes out.

"Skoodge! Gah!" Zim gasped as he passed out as well, where the last thing he saw was the door opening slightly before blacking out.

A/N - I wonder what's the motive and who that person ambushing them is? Now, I hope you guys enjoyed this and if you did, leave a comment and have a good day! Aqua out!