Invader Zim Fan Fiction ❯ Smip and Kwe's story ❯ Chapter 13

Zim folds his paper as he looks through it. Skooge sits across from him, sipping from a coffee mug contentedly beside Tak as they hold hands. The distraction of rekindled romance had helped take Tak and Skooge's mind slightly off the smeet business, but had done little more than disturb Zim and Dib.

"You know.. It's been a few days now and Smip and Kwe have yet to report in on their status.. I believe it's time that we should start to officially worry," Zim states in a very calm, collected, 'we are having civil morning coffee' way.

Skooge pauses in mid drink, setting the mug down. He realizes that it has been a while since their children had called. After that last call was when he and Tak had simply moved themselves in with Zim and Dib, as they had yet to return to Tak's base. Tak looks less than pleased at Zim's casual manner when talking about worrying for their sons.

Thankfully, Dib isn't in the kitchen with them at the moment, or he probably would have thrown his cup of non-Irken safe coffee all over his mate for making him worry like that. He actually comes in a moment later, having been getting dressed upstairs.

Zim leisurely sips his coffee as the sun beams in on him while Gir sits with a few stuffed animals around a kiddie table, drinking his own coffee. Both he and Gir apparently enjoying coffee commercials way too much and taking pride in trying to reenact them to some degree.

"Dib?.. The communicator is functional.. Isn't it?" Zim questions.. for the 82nd time in the past few days.

Dib heaves a sigh, quite sick of this question as it only makes him more worried. "Yes, Zim. I checked it 15 times last night before I went to bed, you sat there all night checking it yourself, and I'm about to go start checking on it again." He gives an idle morning greeting to their two guests before he starts some of his own coffee to brew. "I'll be back up in a minute. I'm going to go check the communicator again, okay?"

Skooge glances over to Tak before getting up, "I'll come with you too." Tak stands to join.

Zim takes one last sip, finishing his cup and stands too, not even announcing that he's coming too. Instead, he just starts down towards the lab, not caring if the others are following or not.

The convenience of all of them heading down at once automatically justifying itself as the communicator kicks on to show Smip alone, staring through to the group. They huddle around, happy to seem him.

"Ah! Smip! At last.. We were just having morning coffee.. It's quite civil and calm," says Zim, still trying his best to act like the people in the television commercials.

Dib gives a sideways look at this mate, raising a brow, questioning again why exactly he's stayed so long with the loveable idiot.

Smip looks over at everyone, almost appearing troubled. "It's good to talk to you guys again.. But.. I had to call you.. You see.. I have some good news and bad news....."

Oh, somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright. The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light. And somewhere men are laughing and little children shout. But today, squeals of joy are heard as twins are presented out! (And the authoress cracked up because of her RP partner's poetry)

Kwe walks into view, holding both smeets in his arms.

Smip looks over his shoulder, smiling at his new little family before looking back at the stunned grandparents. "Well.. I guess there really isn't any bad news actually.. I'd say that they're both good news, wouldn't you?" He beams with pride, much like when Kwe was talking with the Tallest, and wraps an arm around his mate when he comes closer, smiling down at their sons. "We got a little extra surprise."

Tak blinks at this, as does Skooge.

"Do humans.. have litters?" Skooge asks curiously, looking towards Dib in shock.

Tak gives the same shocked expression towards the only human in the house. Zim stares in shock as well, not bothering to look back at his mate though and, instead, towards the monitor.

Dib blinks as he's stared at by their houseguests. "Er.. Well, sometimes, humans can have more than one baby at a time. Twins and triplets are the most common, but sometimes there are more if fertility drugs are used.. um.. Don't Irkens ever have twins?"

Zim finally twists his head back, looking at Dib incredulously before looking back at the screen. "There has never been a case of multiple births with Irkens!"

Smip looks a little surprised himself now and looks at his sons. One of the smeets wiggle in his 'mother's' grip as Kwe holds them lovingly, one in each arm. One little one with the same purple eyes and the other with a magenta identical to Zim's.

".. What are the odds I'd have made two PAKs, you know?" Kwe finally says as he beamed with joy.

He was only just now able to really walk again and still felt quite sore. The healing process was faster than any human due to his PAK.

The smeet with Zim's color eyes looks over at his brother, stretching his fingers out on his small.. smeet hand.. of CUTE!

Smip leans down to play with the adorable little hand and looks at his parents, gently waving the tiny smeet arm to them. "I bet you want to know their names, huh? We weren't' really sure at first, but we finally decided." Tenderly, he caresses the magenta-eyed smeet, "This little guy was our first born. His name is Diz.." Smip looks to the monitor with a loving smile, "I wanted to name our smeet after you both, so this was the only way I could do it." Looking back to his little ones, he caresses the purple-eyed smeet's face next. "And this little guy came as a complete surprise. We picked the first noise he made after he was born. This is Meep."

Meep, unlike his twin, isn't nearly as active, as he shyly snuggles closer to his mother and tries to hide under his blanket. Huge, violet eyes look over the blankie at the strangers on the screen. He's obviously the runt of the two as his tiny body is easily engulfed in the soft fabric.

Dib feels his heart warm and watches Zim's antennae slowly lowering back against his head. He's been with his mate long enough to be able to read his body language and knows that Zim is quite touched as well, even if he won't say it aloud.

Skooge doesn't have the same problem and he smiles, taking Tak's hand and holding it.

Dib comes forward to wrap an arm around his mate and give him a gentle hug. "They're beautiful, you two. They really are," the human smiles.

Kwe stands there holding the two infants. "I'd love to go over the PAK specs that I made for them later, mother," he says softly, kissing his sons on the head.

Skooge holds Tak's hand tighter, leaning into her as he feels a warm, happy feeling washing over him. "You guys are going to hurry up and get here, right?"

This prompted Kwe to suddenly remember, "Oh! I have more good news! The Tallest wish to honor me with a meeting in their presence! For setting a new record in conquering a planet. After this, the four of us will be on our way to Earth. I'm sure they will grant me an extended vacation for doing such a wonderful job and having 'a smeet' to raise... Well.. 'A' smeet to them." He grins, kissing the little purple-eyed surprise in his right arm again on the forehead.

Zim looks tense as he pulls out of Dib's grasp, leaning into the monitor. Sure, he may be a little miffed at having this 'record setting conquest' rubbed in his face, but there's more pressing matters.

"The Tallest can NOT find out that you have given birth to two smeets! Your smeets will be in danger.." He looks over at the twins, looking for any 'abnormal' appearances. "If there is anything that does not appear 'normal' about your smeets, they will be put to death."

"Yes, I already ran some scans on them. The Irken genes were very dominant with them both. When they're old enough, I doubt the control brains will have any real misgivings in letting them join the Irken military. Only a few signs remain of their partly human heritage, which could be dismissed as excusable birth defects, such as water not really harming them... er.. At least it shouldn't.. We.. haven't wished to test it out on either of them," Kwe says, looking at his two little bundles of joy.

Smip unconsciously moves closer to his little family, as if a threat is imminent, and worries his lower lip. ".. Well.. we'll worry about them joining when they're older.. and we're sure than they'll be safe..."

Skooge looks a little concerned as well and looks over at Zim, letting his more outspoken friend say what they were both thinking.

"If there are any traces of impurities to their DNA, they will not be allowed to join the Irken military, regardless of their potential. They will be put to death on the spot. The control brains want only pure soldiers."

Kwe glares at this, "Fine, the Irken resistance front then, you know we can't stop them from being warriors. It's in their blood."

He touches Diz's face gently and he wiggles slightly in disagreement to being touched. Meep, on the other hand, was now asleep. This was where their human genes presented themselves noticeably as they required sleep to supplement further energy gained from their PAKs.

Smip scoots closer, the urge to be protective dominating his emotions as he looks up softly to Kwe, ".. We don't.. have to.. have them join though..." He knows that will probably piss off his mate at such a suggestion, but he wants his sons safe. It takes a moment though as he realizes what Kwe just said, however. "Wait.. You'd let them fight against the Irkens?.. Doesn't that.. well.. contradict everything you're doing right now?"

The Irken grandparents are shocked too, as their loyalties still lie with the Tallest.

Kwe blinks as he looks back at his partner, ".. I hope they don't decide to be warriors in this case as well.. But I'm saying.. we both know they will wish to.. I mean.. all Irkens do.. It's part of us.... And if it comes to either dying by the hands of the Irken Empire before even given a chance, or joining the Resisty and having a fighting chance.. well.. We will all be supportive, despite their decisions, UNDERSTAND?!" He speaks with a soul piercing glare of doom to the lot of them. They were simply misunderstanding what he was trying to say.

Everyone's taken a little aback by the sudden authoritiveness and Diz begins to cry, not liking the raised voices.

Smip carefully extracts him, letting Kwe tend to Meep, hoping his other son will stay asleep. Smip rocks his son gently, slowly calming him down once again.

Their family reunion is cut short though when an incoming transmission alert sounds and he almost goes pale.

".. It's the Massive.. They're here.." Carefully, Smip takes Meep as well, glancing back at the monitor. "We have to go! I promise we'll be home soon! We love you!" The transmission is cut off and Smip hurries out of the room with their children.

Kwe prepares himself, going to attention and waiting for the Tallest to show. And awkward moment of standing and looking at a blank screen later, his leaders flickering into view.

Kwe's brow rises as he sees Red standing unusually close to Purple and gazing into his eyes. Purple, drying tears upon his face, blushes up at his fellow Tallest.

"Come on, Purpley.. Who's my cuddle bear?.. Who's my cuddle bear?"

Tallest Purple blushes again and giggles, "I am.. I'm your cuddle bea--... The monitor is on.."

Red's eyes go wide as he confirms this fact with a glance from the corner of his eye before turning upon all the others in the room, "WHICH ONE OF YOU PUT US THROUGH DURING THAT CONVERSATION?!"

Purple lets out an overly dramatic sob, "WHY CAN'T WE SHOW OUR LOVE TO OTHERS?!"

It is then the screen abruptly cuts off, leaving Kwe blinking in utter confusion at what he just witnessed.

Smip pokes his head in a moment later, making sure it was safe first as he still holds the twins. He looks at Kwe, just as confused, "... Uh.. Did we just see what I thought I did?... Wow.. I wonder if Dad knows.."

He disappears again, going to put the twins down in the newly converted nursery. Diz seemed to be getting a little fussy anyway since he was probably getting hungry.

Kwe nods as he calls back to his mate, "Yes.. Yes indeed.. The Tallest are apparently mates... Eh, it's kind of cute."

The monitor suddenly cuts back in on Red, looking determined, "You didn't see anything before.. Got it?"

The younger Irken quickly salutes, "er, Yes my Tallest!"

"Good.. Now then, we will be waiting for you to come aboard. Dock when you're ready... And we will be expecting an offering of snacks if you have any."

"They better be doughnuts!" adds Purple, still clearly looking like he had been previously crying.

Red cuts the transmission after.

Smip comes wandering back in then. "I heard them. So, what are you going to bring? We don't really have a very good selection right now." He wraps his love in an embrace. "Want me to help you get ready?.. I'm going to stay here anyway and watch the babies."

Kwe thinks, "Hrm... Did you bring any Earth snacks? We really should have stocked up on food before we got this far." He wraps an antenna around Smip's softly, leaning against him and giving a soft moan that's quickly followed by, "Ow.. er, yeah.. My body isn't ready yet.. I should get ready anyway."

Smip breathes out a sigh of pleasure from the touch, though quickly backing off when he hears Kwe in pain. He looses his grip almost instantly at the sound, but then gingerly brings his arms back, not wishing to cause his love any more discomfort.

"Hrm.. Well.. You know what? I think I may have a package of Twinkies still.. And those things are good for YEARS.. I think they said once that the two things that would survive a nuclear explosion on Earth would be cockroaches and Twinkies.." He has to chuckle at this, starting to consider how healthy the snack items were if they were that resilient. "You go get ready and I'll raid the food to see what we have." He kisses his mate's cheek before moving off towards the food storage unit, searching for suitable offerings.

Kwe blinks at this and grins as his mate leaves the room, mumbling, "So humans have a weakness to radiation, hmm?" An evil smile creeps on to his face, only to quickly die in a frown. "Ah, poo.. Dib's a human.. Oh well.. No easily conquering Earth." Kwe was talking to himself now as he goes to clean himself up.

While Kwe makes himself more presentable, Smip walks through their food storage, grabbing packages here and there that look appealing. He wasn't kidding about them having a rather low selection. If it weren't for his Irken genes, he'd probably weigh 400 pounds by the time they got back to Earth.

After his tragic search, he comes up with 4 sodas, 2 bags of chips (the good kind too, dammit!), 3 packages of sugary Irken snacks, an almost forgotten package of powdered doughnuts (which was pure luck he found anyway), and a package of his favorite sucker sticks. Setting the snacks on a counter while he goes to look for the Twinkies, he finds them up on a shelf with some of the older food.

Meanwhile, Meep, now awake, and Diz lay in one crib beside each other. Diz reaches his little hand out again, poking at his baby brother, causing Meep to cower more and more.. until...

NOM!

Meep bites his older brother's finger, causing Diz to start crying and flailing his arms about. Meep follows suit with softer crying, but crying nonetheless.

Smip jumps when he hears the sudden wail, almost dropping the Twinkies, but managing to juggle them back into his grasp. He throws them onto the pile on the counter while he runs to check on their sons. As he passes Iif, he calls back over his shoulder, "Iif! Don't you THINK about touching those snacks or I'm going to toss you outside!"

Iif promptly stands directly next to the snacks, looking at them, then back in the direction Smip runs. He touches them and runs off screaming, "HELP MASTER! OTHER MASTER IS GOING TO HURT ME!"

Kwe sticks out his head from the bedroom, half dressed, and gives a bit of a glare at the commotion, "Don't hurt my robot please.." He returns to the bedroom, buttoning and latching his formal Irken Elite uniform. Of course, seeing as he was an Invader now, he had altered it to make it cooler.

Smip picks the smeets up, trying to calm them down as he heads in to check on Kwe. "Well, don't blame me if Iif decides to destroy your offerings to the Tallest.. I even pulled out the good chips too! So, yeah, he better not touch them." Smip stops, eyeing his mate from head to toe before giving a low whistle. "Wow.. You look hot in that... And I'm rather jealous that everybody's going to be ogling your ass the entire time."

Kwe blushes at this as he finishes with his uniform. He stands there, holding his own hands in a shy manner. "R-really?..."

Indeed, Kwe's ass looked rather.. girly and hot in his current uniform. It always did, yet this outfit really showed it off well. The purple highlights on the black suit also bringing attention to his eyes, giving him an even more girly appearance. Hell, Kwe was down right androgynous at this point; only lacking the female's larger eyelashes and genitalia.

Smip nods appreciately as he checks out his lover again. "Hell yeah.. If I wasn't holding crying smeets and you weren't still sore, I think you'd already be on the floor and undressed by now." He turns back to his sons, Meep having calmed down to just sniffling and Diz slowly calming down since he wasn't really that hurt. Smip gives each of them a little kiss on the forehead. "Yeah, don't you think he looks good?" He bounces them both as if to make them say 'yes'.

Kwe blushes more and walks over, kissing both of them on the foreheads and giving little Meep a tickle under his chin. "Which one do you like more?" he asks, sticking his tongue out and winking playfully, half joking with the question.

Smip looks almost appalled at the very question, then smirks, joking right back, "The one that isn't crying at that moment." He looks down, chuckling and nuzzling the little ones. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I love you both so much, there's no way I could ever pick one over the other." He leans forward to kiss his mate on the lips, whispering, "I think you have a little competition now.. But you certainly make up for it with our.. 'extra benefits'." Smip kisses Kwe again, a little more suggestively this time.

Kwe feels himself becoming aroused again and whimpers in pain, panting as he kisses back harder, "Irk.. I'm so horny.. But.. I just can't, my love.." He whimpers as he looks at their smeets. ".. It's hard to judge which I like more. This one is less smelly," he points to Meep, "But this one shows more of a fighting instinct." Diz swats at Kwe's finger as it points to him.

Smip nods slightly, trying to calm his breathing down. He blinks, however, as he listens to Kwe talk about their children. ".. Good boy, Diz. Show him he can't call you smelly and get away with it." He leans down to kiss his son again and stops, pulling back and wrinkling his face up a bit. ".. Um.. Okay, I take it back. He is a little.. uh, ripe right now.. I think it's time for a diaper change." Smip gives one last kiss to his mate, looking serious now. ".. Will you be all right?.. Do you feel okay? Are you still really sore?.. I have the snacks on the counter for you to take, by the way."

Kwe leans in and kisses Smip deeply, "My seeder.. I will be fine. Take care of our smeets while I'm gone.. And no eating them.. Either of them." He glares seriously.

A little known fact about Irkens is that they sometimes eat their young.

Kwe gathers his snacks and promptly leaves to see the Tallest.

Smip just stares in shock, hoping that his lover is just joking with him on that part as he had NO intentions of doing such a thing. Once Kwe was gone, Smip decides it was time to change the smeets.

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A transport tube connects to the ship, allowing Kwe to board easily. As he arrives, there are entrance guards awaiting him. They quickly scan him to make sure all is in order before letting him pass with his snacks towards the great hall where the Tallest and thousands of other Irken soldiers are waiting for him. A lowly servant drone takes the snacks from Kwe's hands, following beside him.

It was all a bit much for Kwe, but he took it in stride. Raising his.. not.. nose.. high in the air, he walks proudly to the Tallest, bowing before them respectfully.

"Greetings, my Tallest. Invader Kwe reporting in." He speaks in a very formal and respectful manner, going to the 'at ease' stance.

Cheers erupt from the crowd below. Red waves a hand to gain order one more.

"Invader Kwe, we're here to perform the traditional cannon sweep of Niff. As the responsible Invader, you have the honor of launching the first shot." He sweeps an arm dramatically towards the large weapon behind him.

Purple notices the drone, "Ooh, and he brought snacks!"

"Yes, I felt it appropriate to honor my Tallest in every way possible," Kwe says dramatically as he walks to the large cannon and mounts up. "This is for all Irkens! To show that no matter how fierce or cute the enemy, we can not be stopped!" With his small speech out of the way, he fires the large cannon with ease, aiming for where he was a largely populated area of the beasts. As he hops down, he follows up with, "er, But mostly for my Tallest of course."

Once again, the crowd roars with excitement and Purple happily stuffs some of the offered snacks into his face.

Red gives a pleased grin, "Of course.. You have accomplished a nearly impossible feat, Invader Kwe, with your conquering of Niff. All other previous Invaders have fallen in their attempts, yet you succeeded in only a week! Congratulations on your accomplishment and, I suppose congratulation is in order for the birth of your smeet.. I assume you will enter it into training on Irk then?"

Kwe is surprised at the unexpected question, but quickly thinking on his feet, he gives an acceptable answer on the spot. "Ah, as my mother, Tak, did for me, I wish to personally oversee the training. If this is acceptable, of course, my Tallest... Oh, Tallest Purple, you may wish to try the Twinkies. They are an Earth snack that I've had myself and they are quite good." He hopes that they would allow him this privilege and decides that distracting at least one of them might help his odds.

Red rubs his chin slightly in thought while Purple grabs the package of Twinkies, tearing them open and picking up one of the spongy cakes. He looks it over for a moment before taking a bite and crying out, mouth full, alarming everyone at first.

"These.. these are delicious!.." He stuffs more of it into his bottomless hole of a mouth, actually fighting with Red to keep the other cake for himself. Purple pouts hard when Red manages to wrestle it away to try for himself, fascinated by it as well.

"These are delicious!" Red takes another bite, moaning contentedly as he savors the treat. "Mmm, yes.. Yes, very well, you may see to training for your smeet yourself."

Kwe gives a respectful bow, thinking he should make off before pressing his luck any further. "Thank you, my Tallest, for giving me such an honor. I shall now go and see to my smeet and their training.. Enjoy the snacks." Kwe slowly turns and starts to leave so that the Tallest can continue on with the invasion as normal. True, most Invaders stood to the side and watched, but Kwe just wanted to get away after that close call.

Red notices the slight slip of the tongue in referring to 'their' training, but doesn't comment on it, thankfully, simply assuming it was a mispronunciation. When Kwe starts walking away though, he lifts his arm commandingly. "Just a moment."

They both float closer, still towering over him a bit. The two Irkens exchange a grin, obviously plotting the same thing.

Purple speaks up, "We have a new mission for you..."

Kwe stops in his tracks and blinks as he turns back, "er, Yes my Tallest?" Remembering himself, he quickly salutes and stands at attention.

Once again, the Tallest grin at each other before leaning in more, the air growing more sinister each passing second.....

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Smip was nervous while he waited for Kwe to return, looking after the smeets. He rocks little Meep to sleep as his loves comes aboard once more and offers a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're back.. Did everything go okay then, Kwe?... uh.."

Kwe was pale as he reboarded the ship, not knowing what to say to his seeder. He doesn't even talk to Smip, simply walking right past him, starting the ship up, and leaving in a hurry. His antennae lay flat against his neck and he stares with wide eyes.

Smip watches the other walk right past him and he looks a little put off by being ignored. After laying Meep down in his crib, he heads into the control room. "Kwe?.. Kwe, what's wrong? Did something happen?" He clutches the back of Kwe's chair tightly, "What is it?.."

The only response is a rather unnerving, creepy laugh as a crazed smile forms upon the Invader's face. He still doesn't respond, other than his eye twitching nervously. Instead, he busies himself with setting the course to Earth at a very high speed.

Smip's antennae go back nervously, not liking this at all. He grabs Kwe's shoulders then, giving him a shake, "Kwe! Dammit, talk to me. What is it?... I swear to god, if they did something to you, I'll go kill them myself!"

"... Your father is going to kill me.." Kwe finally says, giving a few more insane giggles to back up the sentence. It seems his poor little Irken brain had been overloaded.

Letting go and blinking in confusion, the half Irken perks an antennae. ".. Huh?.. What are you talking about?" Smip reaches down, prying Kwe's hands free from the controls and taking him by the hands, pulling the chair completely around before kneeling down to look his mate in the eye. "Kwe!.. Talk to me, dammit!"

Kwe suddenly leans into the other, nuzzling his neck and almost purring contentedly, "My seeder.. You'll make everything all right, won't you?.. Everything will be fine.. Right?" Instantly, he turns into putty in Smip's arms while his antennae run over his lover's face, caressing him softly.

Smip is very concerned now and he gathers up his mate carefully, carrying him bridal style to their bedroom as he gets onto the bed, maneuvering them both carefully so he won't have to let Kwe go. He rocks him a bit, as he would one of their babies. "Kwe?.. Please, Kwe.. You have to talk to me.. You have to tell me what happened. What did those assholes say to you?!"

Kwe leans in, kissing and licking the other teen's delicate, black stalks. "I have a new mission," he whispers in a singsong way. His arms wrap around his mate as his body melts to Smip's every touch in his current broken state. His mind unable to accept the news yet.

Smip presses soft, tender kisses of love upon Kwe's temples and face, gently stroking his back as he tries to calm him. He turns, whispering back, hoping to coax more information forth, "You have a new mission?.. What mission is that, my beautiful love?"

Slowly laying back and getting more comfortable, Kwe feels the slight need to sleep for the first time in his life. Although, his PAK would not allow this.

"Oh, nothing hard.." he begins in a disconnected, casual tone, "I just have to conquer Earth, and quickly... The Tallest really loved the Twinkies." Suddenly, his eyes snap open as he realizes what he just said, his brain finally unfucking itself. He's quiet for a pregnant moment before starting to cry softly onto his love's shoulder, not knowing how they would get out of this, other than actually conquering the planet.

All thought process screeches loudly, before colliding to an absolute halt when Smip hears this. He stares at Kwe while his mate's eyes snap open, entire body unresponsive for a moment while he has to process this information himself.

".. er.. heh.. heh.. What?" It's Smip's turn for his brain to break, his own eye starting to twitch slightly. "I thought you said that you had to go conquer Earth."

"Yes..." Kwe replies while his tears start to calm slowly. He tries hard to maintain what little control over his emotions that he had at the moment. ".. My love.. I have to conquer Earth."

Before any more words could be spoken though, Meep begins to cry from the next room and Kwe quickly tunes into the sound, getting to his feet. ".. We.. are going to have to think about what to do..." With that, Kwe leaves to tend to their smeet.

Smip, on the other hand, seems to be on autopilot now as he slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position and starts to walk through the ship, not really to any place in particular. He just.. wanders.. from room to room in his trance-like state. His wanderings though, do bring him into the nursery, but he just looks at Kwe with a blank stare, as if he doesn't even know who he is.

Kwe stands there, feeding Meep, his son's tiny hands gripping the bottle tightly to keep it from going anyway. Kwe lifts his head when his mate comes in and notices the utterly blank gaze on his face before Kwe looks away, ashamed. A feeling of failure to his love washes over him and he feels as if it was truly all his fault.

Setting Meep back into his crib once he is finished, Kwe lets their smeets play, trying not to think of the freshly presented worries they had.

Smip walks the full circumference of the room before wandering back out. He doesn't even know he's walking.. or sitting.. or calling.... until the sound of his parents' voices seems to filter into his mind very slowly. He's vaguely aware of speaking, but not what the words are. The only thing he seems to be acutely aware of is that he's staring a hole into the control panel before him. It's the sound of his mother's enraged, and slightly afraid, yells that seems to finally snap him back to reality and he blinks, looking around utterly shocked that he's in the communication's bay talking with his parents.

Dib looks haggard now as he sits in his chair, leaning forward towards the camera. Zim rants hysterically and paces in the background.

Dib looks to his son with fear showing in his eyes, ".. Is that what they really said, Smip?.. Kwe has to take over the Earth?"

Tears well up in Smip's eyes now and he nods, letting them flow at last. "Y-yes... W-we can't do that though.. Kwe can't take over the Earth!.."

Zim stops, snapping his head back towards his son. "You're worried about the EARTH?! Did he not tell you what else he has to do then?!"

Smip can hear the soft giggling of his sons in the other room, but it doesn't put him at ease as he looks to his mother. ".. What do you mean? I thought that was all!"

Zim controls his temper slightly, since it's his own son he's talking to. He walks forward, setting his hands upon the control panel while he leans in, looking gravely serious.

".. If an Invader... fails.. to complete their assigned mission.." he struggles to say the words, since he would have to be admitting it to himself they were true, ".. but the Invader remains living on the assigned planet.. a replacement is assigned that must kill that Irken first before continuing the mission of conquering the planet.. If Kwe is now assigned to conquer Earth, that means that he was also assigned by the Tallest to assassinate me."

Smip feels his heart leap into his throat at these words.

Kwe simply hides away in the nursery with the twins, listening to the conversation in the other room. He doesn't wish to see Zim since he doesn't know what to say. All Kwe wished to do was go to Earth and live happily ever after; but no. The plans had changed. Now something terrible was going to have to happen. What could be done?

Smip starts to feel sick to his stomach. He jumps up, finding his legs unsteady, and falls to his knees, retching onto the floor in front of him as he tries to hold himself up on all fours. He gags and coughs, spitting onto the floor.

With his arms shaking hard, he calls pitifully, "... Kwe?..."

Kwe tucks the twins back into bed, the two tuckered out by the playing, before walking in and taking notice of Zim upon the monitor. He tries to look professional until he sees his lover's state upon the floor and comes to quickly comes to his side, helping the other boy up and latching onto him tightly.

He looks over Smip's shoulder as he embraces his mate comfortingly, speaking directly into the screen. "... I didn't ask for this, Zim... I.. I don't know what to do.. My smeets are at risk, as well as my seeder.. And I don't see any way of solving this.. Help me here if you can think of something.."

Smip's whole body trembles as he's helped up, breathing hard as nausea still rolls over him in waves. He looks up at Kwe and at his parents, honestly having no clue what to do. He becomes hysterical while he thinks again. "Oh god! This is all my fault!!!..." he clutches his head, ".. This is because of me.... I.. I doomed everyone.."

Dib tries to soothe his son over the monitor as best he can. "Smip, it's not your fault. Don't even think that way."

Smip looks up, half-crazed. "Pop.. It IS my fault!.. They wanted Kwe to bring snacks in an offering to them.. And I gave them a package of Twinkies! THEY WANT TO TAKE OVER THE EARTH BECAUSE OF FUCKING TWINKIES!!!!!"

Zim seemed slightly intrigued that he had never thought of that possibility, but quickly puts it out of his head.

Dib stares with disbelief. ".. TWINKIES?!?! That's what they're after?!"

Zim turns back to his mate, "They've conquered planets for less, Dib. So, yes. If that's what the Tallest desired, then they would conquer the Earth for Twinkies."

"Smip, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known... Go look check on the twins for a little bit, love? I.. need to talk to Zim.. Please?" Kwe asks softly, feeling the trembling had finally subsided.

Smip seems to calm down some when reminded of their babies and slowly gets back to his feet, going to clean himself up first and get the horrid taste of vomit from his mouth.

"Zim.. I know what I'm about to say is a huge dishonor, but it's the only way our families can survive this.. When I get to Earth, take Dib and steal our ship.. Once I conquer the planet, then return.."

True, this may be the only logical thing they could do, but it was SUCH a huge dishonor to give up on invading a planet; and even huger to run from the battle with the Irken that was supposed to replace them.

Would Zim really do this?... There was no possible way.

Surprisingly, it's Dib that objects first. "Kwe! We're not going to let you do that! I KNOW that Zim won't, but there's no way that I will let you!.. Why do you think it's taken him so long to do anything? I keep stopping him!"

Zim looks offended. "Hey! Don't flatter yourself, Dib," he spits the name out, showing that he's clearly pissed by the insinuation of his abilities.

Kwe looks unimpressed and suddenly get the picture that neither of them are grasping the seriousness of the situation at this point. "With no offence to either of you, Dib, the only reason you've been successful in stopping the Irkens up to this point is because it was Zim they sent. And they really didn't care for it before. No, the Earth is as good as conquered at this point, you have to realize. And unless Zim wishes to duel me, this is the only option."

Dib looks offended now, but has enough humility to admit that Kwe is probably right that he would have had no chance against a more powerful Invader. He looks to Zim, more calm this time, ".. Zim.. I don't want to see the Earth taken over either, but.. I don't want to see one of you killed.. Maybe we should go, like he says.." As much as it pained him to accept it, Dib wanted to do what would be best for his mate and himself.

Kwe stands there, waiting for a response from Zim. The whole situation was really hanging on the two 'proper' Irkens at this point and not anyone else. It was a matter of honor and of pride, but more so, about family; not exactly a strong Irken ideal compared to the other two.

Zim is quiet, but obviously agitated about it. Leaving would be the safest choice, but the dishonor, humiliation, and shame it would bring would utterly destroy him. He's too proud an Irken to run away with his proverbial tail between his legs.

Plus, he doesn't want to back down to a little prick like Kwe.

"Dib will leave, but I REFUSE to do so. This is MY planet and I will fight for the right to conquer it. It is the most honorable thing to do... Zim accepts to a duel."

Dib's jaw drops in shock.

"Please, Zim.. Don't make me do this to my seeder.. to your son.." Kwe gives a final plead, but senses that Zim has made up his mind. He simply nods, "Very well.. I'll.. see you on the battlefield in a few weeks.. I promise I will never let any harm fall to Smip or Dib if you do fall.. But you must promise to do the same for my young as I know you will do for Smip."

Zim gives a slight nod, locked in his stubbornness before cutting the transmission.

Dib rounds on him immediately about it, calling him a complete idiot and a stubborn asshole. And, truthfully, he is angry with Zim, but he's also worried about him. He grabs his mate, shaking him hard out of frustration while he yells at him, yanking one of his antennae to show his seriousness.

All the while, hot, angry tears well in his eyes.

Back on the ship, Smip stands over the cribs, watching their smeets sleeping and reaches down to stroke their little faces. All of this that's happened.. and they may never meet their grandparents face to face now.

Tears roll down his own face.

Kwe pokes his head in and slowly walks over, wrapping his arms around the other. "Did.. Did you hear what we said, my seeder?.. Please tell me you did.."

Smip looks so lost as he stares down at their little ones. More tears well and fall. ".. More or less... You... and my dad.. are going to fight each other..." He has to bite his lip tightly to keep back the pained sob that wants to come forth. ".. He's going to die, isn't he?.." This time, a whimper of overwhelming grief escapes and he bites his lip harder, drawing blood.

"I could.. let him win if you prefer," Kwe offers softly, looking at their children as well. "But.. I don't think that would be fair to them.... We should activate their PAKs, give them knowledge.. So they can meet their grandparents properly... I would hope that Zim isn't going to jump me first thing." He was trying hard to remain calm.

True, it wasn't his parent he was going up against, but he did have real concern for Smip and what it would do to him.. as well as Dib. Kwe liked Dib; Dib had been nice. But, Zim had made his choice and Kwe was going to have to accept that.

Smip turns his head back quickly, "Are you saying you'd let my dad kill you?! How could you suggest that?! Kwe, I can't choose which one of you I would rather see die.. Either way, in the end, we all lose. I wouldn't be able to forgive him if he killed you and... I.. I don't know what will happen to us if you kill him... I wouldn't be able to forgive you Kwe.. Not that..." He looks pleadingly at his mate, hoping that he understands the horrible emotional struggle he's going through right now.

It's a lose/lose situation.

A small trickle of blood runs down his lip, but he makes no move to wipe it away.

Kwe stands there, hearing that his mate couldn't forgive him, knowing deep down that that meant they would probably separate. His gaze lands on the blood and he reaches up, wiping it off with his thumb.

"... Please don't injure yourself like that..." he whispers, looking away. ".. I understand, my mate.. I am sorry.. Zim, nor I, have much of a choice in the matter.. Well, Zim does, but he's already made it."

Kwe wishes he could make it better in some way. He turns to leave, his steps taking him to the medical bay where he lays back on the table to think.

It's the one room he knew that Smip wouldn't have any reason to go to, other than to see him.

Not wishing to disturb the smeets by taking them out of the crib, Smip gives them one last look before turning to go after his mate. He follows him, but stands in the doorway, unsure of stepping inside.

".. Kwe... I don't know what to say that's going to make any of this any better for all of us.. I don't want it to happen at all.. You're my mate.. You've given me two beautiful babies.. There's no words out there to really describe how much that I love you..... But.. I love my dad, too.. You have to understand that.. I just can't choose between you two and I don't want to.. I'll never stop loving you, no matter what happens.. but the pain will be too hard for me to keep loving whoever stays... And that includes my dad.. Please understand how hard this is for me.." He looks longingly towards his lover. ".. Can I come in?.. I need you.."

Kwe gets up from the table, going back to Smip's side. ".. You're my seeder.. I'd do anything for you.. But.. It looks like this is really going to happen.. There are no other options out there that I can see.." His gaze falls to the ground. ".. I shouldn't be around the smeets until after the battle is over.. just in case... So they don't become too attached to me.... And.. I'll understand that if afterwards you no longer wish to be my mate. It's perfectly understandable." Kwe speaks softly and sadly, trying to put his pain into words.

Smip wraps his arms around his lover in a fierce embrace, refusing to let Kwe go. "Don't you ever say that again.." He stands there, holding Kwe as they share their pain.

This was the first time since they left that Smip wished they wouldn't return home soon.

Things weren't much better back on Earth as Zim sits at the table staring out the window hard-headedly, ignoring Dib's pleas not to go through with the duel.

Dib keeps arguing, albeit one-sidedly, with Zim until he's almost hoarse. Finally, wearing himself out, he walks slowly out of the kitchen and up to their bedroom, letting himself fall across the bed since there is little else he can do right now.

He needs someone to go to for advice. The Swollen Eyeballs would probably be little help, as they still didn't fully believe him from his claims back in elementary school. He knew his own father wouldn't be of any help...

Dib's very last line of help was his sister, Gaz.

Picking up the cordless phone receiver slowly, he dialed her number, growing more anxious with each ring.

Gaz's aggravated voice comes over the line clearly, "President of the Bloaty's Pizza Hog Corporation, what do you want?"

She sits in her office, a full-grown woman in a business suit. It was an amazing site compared to her younger self. She sits with one leg draped modestly over the other, one high-heeled foot tapping with irritation as she glares down a hopeful employee to replace the last Bloaty's mascot, who had died of a heart attack.

Dib takes in a deep breath, letting it out in a long, heavy sigh. ".. Gaz?.. It's me... It's Dib.."

She 'hrmf's into the phone. "I know who it is. I'd know your voice anywhere. What the hell do you want?" Gaz is always generally irritated with the world, even as she's grown older.

Dib runs his fingers through his hair slowly, taking another long breath. "Well.. It's kind of a long story.."

And he proceeds to tell her what has happened in the past several months, going all the way back to Kwe showing up at Smip's school, Tak attacking and being on Earth still, Smip and Kwe running off because Kwe was pregnant, Kwe becoming an Invader, the smeets, the successful mission, then finally comes to the new mission Kwe was assigned.

"Kwe's going to follow their orders, Gaz. He has to.. He tried to get us to leave so we could be safe, but Zim refuses to.. So, he's going to stay here and fight Kwe to the death. Gaz.. You know that he won't make it.." The scythe-haired man lays on his back, wanting to sink into the mattress and disappear completely. ".. They're going to take over the world.. Just for Twinkies...."

Gaz had been staring down the young, pimply-faced teen standing half-costumed in front of her this entire time. Her glare piercing through his soul like a thousand daggers of pure doom through a marshmallow of.. non-doom.

At this point, the kid was ready to wet himself and run out of the room, but just before losing control of his bladder, Gaz finally speaks.

"You're hired. Don't get fat. Now leave," she commands to him before hitting a button upon her desk.

A trapdoor opens beneath him and the teen disappears into flames below, his screams echoing behind him the whole way down.

With this out of the way, she spins in her chair to face the back wall, "Is that all Dib? You're stupid, just like your problems.." Gaz gives a slight sigh, ".. But, because there are babies involved and they're Smip's, I might help.. I'll call if I decide to." Without a goodbye, she hangs up.

Dib just pulls back the phone, looking at it as the dial tone comes through. He hangs up as well with a sigh, not really feeling all that better, but at least feeling that some of the weight has lifted from his shoulders. Laying back on the bed, he feels exhausted.