A/N: And here we go, the final entry in this season. It's been a long road — three years straight I've been working on this story. That is the most effort I've ever put into a single story, and I am overwhelmed by the enormously positive response it's received. I want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and favorited this story, along with anyone who's contributed to the TV Tropes page (though I've done most of the work there).

I also want to give special thanks to Eduard Kassel for being my sounding board throughout the planning of this story, The Cowardly Christian for suggesting that one chapter which I incorporated, and SaintHeartwing for letting me occasionally use his OC Senior.

Oh, and we're past 16000 views. Nice level to end the story at.

Now then, with all that out of the way, let's get on to the epilogue.

Previously, on The New Adventures of Invader Zim: Norlock revealed his reasoning for betraying Zim, and engaged in a fight with all three teams, eventually trapping them all in illusions of their deepest desires so that he could claim Project Domination for himself. However, Dib was able to escape his illusion and free the others. Reluctantly, the three factions allied to defeat Norlock, ultimately managing to do so even after he took a more powerful demonic form. In the process, however, Project Domination was terminally damaged, causing an explosion which vaporized Norlock and which the others barely escaped.

And now, with Project Domination gone, the three teams face the future.

Disclaimer: If after all this time you still don't understand that I don't own Invader Zim, there's something wrong with you. I only own the OCs (except Senior; he belongs to SaintHeartwing).

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The New Adventures of Invader Zim

Season 1

Epilogue: End of the Beginning

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An almost visible aura of anger simmered in the air of the Massive. Red and Purple were scowling up at the main screen, which was currently displaying a contrite-looking Tak and Tenn, MIMI standing behind them, a new hand attached to her arm.

"So, let me make sure I fully understand what you're saying," Red said, tone calm yet icily cold, "Despite getting ahold of the crystal and thereby getting a huge head start against Zim and those humans, you still somehow managed to get to the weapon last. Then you failed to take control of it despite Zim being distracted by getting double-crossed by that vampire. And then you let the whole weapon get destroyed, thereby failing your mission and making the whole thing pointless. Is that about right?"

"My Tallest, it wasn't our fault," Tak protested, "If Dib and his allies hadn't interfered-"

"Blah, blah, blah," Purple interrupted, "They're humans, lower life forms. Them getting involved shouldn't have made a difference. Not for real Invaders."

"Which begs the question of why you messed up so badly too, Tenn," Red said, turning his glare to her, "I mean, the wannabe over here is one thing, but you? You're supposed to be one of our best. And yet, you let yourself get shown up by a bunch of primitives and Zim. Zim, of all people! I thought you screwing things up on Meekrob was just because of those malfunctioning SIRs, but apparently you're just incompetent!"

Tenn flinched at that, clearly deeply hurt by that. However, she rallied and stood firm, replying, "My Tallest, as Tak said, the extenuating circumstances meant that anyone could have been undermined by them. And, with all due respect, I'd like to point out that things could still have turned out far worse."

"She's got a point," Senior commented from his console, "Imagine if Zim got ahold of the weapon? With that huge grudge he has against the Empire? We'd all be screwed."

The Tallest both shuddered at the thought of Zim with something as powerful as Project Domination, but pushed it aside to keep focus on chewing out their underlings.

"We're aware of that, which is the only reason we're not dragging you both before the Control Brains for punishment," Red said, "That being said, you will still be punished, if not as severely."

Both females breathed sighs of relief at that. Being taken to the Control Brains would have meant banishment or death; at least this way they had hope of some small reprieve. They held onto that slim hope as Red continued speaking.

"And honestly, I can't think of a better punishment than leaving you both where you are, right there on Earth," he said. There was a silence for a moment as everyone absorbed what he'd just said, and then Tenn's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, both of us?" she exclaimed, "I'm supposed to stay here? I was only here for the weapon!"

"Yeah, and you screwed that up, we've been over this," Purple said dryly, "And you already messed up conquering one planet, so you should be grateful that we're giving you a second chance to do the one job you're supposed to be trained to do."

"And you should be grateful too, Tak," Red said condescendingly, "After all, you've been having so much trouble taking over that dirt ball of a planet, you obviously need all the help you can get. Even though it doesn't seem to have done much for you so far."

"My Tallest, that's not necessary," Tak said, clearly offended, "While I understand the need for Tenn to be here during the search for the weapon, but with that done, I don't require her assistance in the long term."

"I disagree, and of course, my opinion is far more important than yours," Red replied, "It's perfectly clear that neither of you is qualified to take over a planet on your own, but who knows? Maybe together you'll actually prove you're worth something. This conversation is over."

With that statement, he waved at Senior, who cut the transmission, Tak and Tenn disappearing from the screen. With an annoyed huff, Red sat down on his throne, while Purple wandered over to a Table-Headed Service Drone and helping himself to some snacks, apparently having already moved on from the conversation.

"You don't think that was a bit harsh?" Senior asked.

"Who asked you?" Red snapped, "Besides, they deserved every word of it. The most powerful single weapon we've ever heard of, and not only do they fail to retrieve it, they let it be completely destroyed! And that's on top of how badly they've both failed to accomplish anything else. They're lucky I didn't order them both deactivated for incompetence."

Senior personally felt that that was a bit unfair, all things considered. However, he also knew that straight out disagreeing with one of the Tallest when they were already in a bad mood would mean a one-way trip out of the nearest airlock, regardless of his overall usefulness. So, he swallowed what he was going to say and instead changed the topic.

"So, what about Zim?" he asked.

"What about him?" Purple asked back, through a mouthful of cheese fries.

"Well, he is still rouge and all. Shouldn't we all be worried about that?"

"Oh please," Red snorted, "The only reason Zim had the nerve to rebel against us was because he had that Norlock guy pulling his strings. And he was only a real threat because there was a chance he'd get Project Domination before Tak and Tenn could. But now Norlock's apparently dead, and the weapon is definitely destroyed. Which means Zim will just crawl away into a hole somewhere and hopefully die. At the very least, we won't have to deal with him trying to win our approval with his stupid plans anymore."

"Unless he comes crawling back to us for forgiveness now that he's out of other options," Purple pointed out, "Which, by the way, I got fifty monies says he does before the month's over."

"You're on," Red replied smugly, sipping from a soda.

"Seriously? You're not worried at all?" Senior asked, looking between his leaders with utter disbelief, "Zim was dangerous enough when he was trying to be helpful to the Empire. Now that he's actually actively trying to cause damage-"

"It'll backfire on him, just like all his plans always do," Red said, glaring at the communications officer, "And I don't want to hear anymore about it. Understood?"

Sensing that the Tallest's patience was at an end, Senior bowed his head in acquiescence and murmured an acknowledgement of the order. But he couldn't shake the bad feeling clinging to him, the same bad feeling he'd had the day Zim had finally been told the truth and cut loose. Everyone had written him off then, too, and he'd proven them all wrong. Why would this time be any different?

Honestly, Senior was very worried about what the insane ex-Invader might do now that he was pulling his own strings.

Deelishus Weenie Building, Same Time

"Irk dammit!" Tenn screamed, slamming her hands down to smash a console, and then punching out its screen. She then stood there for several minutes, breathing heavily.

"You finished?" Tak asked dryly from a few feet away, "If not, go find something else to break. This equipment is expensive."

"Shut up," Tenn snapped, hissing as she inspected the cuts on the hand she'd punched the screen with, "I could tolerate being stuck on this planet as a stepping stone towards finding Project Domination and using it to reclaim the respect I lost. But how am I going to do that now, by taking over a backwater hardly anyone's ever even heard of? And sharing the conquest with someone else, on top of that?"

"Believe me, I'm nowhere near happy about this either," Tak replied, "I don't want to share my eventual victory with anyone else, I never have. But like it or not, we're still stuck with each other, and the only way either of us gets the recognition we deserve is by taking over this pathetic planet."

Tenn huffed in annoyance, but didn't say anything in response. She merely stepped aside to let MIMI start repairing the console she'd busted and silently fumed for several minutes. Finally, however, she gave a sigh of acceptance.

"Fine. So, I guess we're back to square one then — observe, learn weaknesses, and exploit them for conquest," she said, glancing at a set of screens displaying security feeds from around the city.

"More or less," Tak admitted, crossing her arms and also eyeing the screens, "And as always, we'll still have to deal with Dib and his annoying little friends constantly interfering in whatever plans we carry out. Not to mention that filthy mekrelmar Zim."

"Oh for Irk's sake, will you forget about Zim already?" Tenn asked, rolling her eyes, "The fact that he'd dare to betray the Empire is infuriating, no one's arguing that it's not. But it's not like he can act on it now, not without something like Project Domination to give him any sort of serious power base. And he doesn't even have Norlock as a heavy hitter or guide anymore. It's just him, Skoodge, and those two stupid little robots. That's hardly what I'd call a very threatening group."

"Never underestimate what kinds of damage that Defective idiot is capable of," Tak growled, "I'll say this for him, once he sets that tiny little mind of his on something, he doesn't let up on it. He'll find a way to act on those treasonous little thoughts of his, just you watch."

"If and when he does, we'll just have to kick his c'horta then, won't we?" Tenn replied, "In the meantime, you're just making a problem where there isn't one. Let the traitor rot in the hole he's dug for himself, and focus on your own situation. Once we've taken this planet for the Tallest, we can deal with him then."

"I suppose," was all Tak said in response. Apparently sensing that the conversation was over, Tenn walked away, leaving Tak quietly watching the screens. Scowling, she entered a command into a console, and one screen switched to exterior footage of Zim's base. There was no sign of activity at the moment, but she knew that he was in there, licking his wounds, just like she was.

"Just go ahead and try something, Zim," she muttered, "Give me an excuse to end you. I'm still better than you and always will be. And one way or another, I will eventually prove it for good."

Tak glared at the screen for a few more seconds, then slapped its deactivation button and stormed off. Tenn was right, she could worry about Zim later, whenever he decided to show his face again.

For now, she had plans to make.

Membrane Household, Same Time

An soon as the exhausted Team Save Earth had returned from Siberia, the twins had headed home. Now, having had time to recover, they'd rejoined Dib at his house, specifically once again in the garage looking over the battered Spittle Runner. They had barely managed to fix enough of the damage that Norlock inflicted on the ship to make it flyable again, and then it had all but fallen apart as soon as they'd gotten back.

"Is it me, or does this thing only work when we really, really need it to?" Steve asked, as he and Dib worked on the main console.

"Better than it not working when we need it to," Viera commented. As the technical aspects of working on the ship were outside her area of expertise, she was staying out of the boys' way, sitting off to the side and watching a livestream of the news on a laptop.

"Tell me about it," Dib commented, "Imagine if we hadn't gotten it working again and been stranded in Siberia? I don't know how we would have gotten out of that one."

"Not exactly a reassuring thought there, oh fearless leader," Steve said dryly, earning a snort of acknowledgment from Dib. Viera, meanwhile, rolled her eyes at her brother and changed the channel on the laptop. As she saw the new content, her eyes widened.

"Uh, guys? You might want to come see this!" she said. Startled by the urgency in her voice, Dib and Steve ran over to join her in looking at the screen. And the sight that greeted them made them stare in utter shock.

The laptop was currently showing a new episode of "Mysterious Mysteries". The host, John Mysterioso, was standing among the familiar crowd of the Children of the Bright and Shining Saucer. More importantly, and what the three of them were really shocked to see, was the massive form seated on a platform in the middle of whatever room was being shown — namely Phil, who was panting happily as the surrounding crowd "ooh'd" and "ahh'd" at him.

"Here on Mysterious Mysteries, we're always looking for proof of things being ordinary understanding," Mysterioso was saying, "As such, despite hesitations regarding more… fringe groups, we'll still give them all a chance to share in their discoveries, which is what brings us here today. Mr Flapp, would you care to explain this remarkable find to our audience?"

"I'd be happy to share this cosmic knowledge with the world, John," Desmond Flapp said happily, "After all these years of devotion to and study of the universe, the aliens have rewarded myself and my followers by sending one of their own to live amongst us — the Great Space Wolf!"

"'Great Space Wolf'? Is he serious?" Steve asked.

"As serious as those nuts can be, I guess," Dib replied.

"How'd they even get ahold of Phil in the first place?" Viera asked.

"And how did you come into possession of this creature?" Mysterioso asked, unknowingly echoing Viera's own question, "And how do you know that it's an alien, and not just some normal Earth wolf that's been mutated?"

"Because an Earth wolf, not even a mutant one, would have fallen from the sky with rockets attached to its body," Desmond replied haughtily, "What other logical explanation could there be for where it came from?"

"Military experiment?" Mysterioso suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous," Desmond waved him off, "It's obviously an alien."

"And it has proven its divine providence!" Yoa exclaimed, stepping into frame, "For it has become one with the Blotch, thus earning its place as our new seer!"

"And how did it 'become one with the Blotch'?" Mysterioso asked.

"It ate him!" Yoa said, "And that means that he's been absorbed by its alien biology, allowing it to assimilate and gain control of his prophetic abilities. We're pretty sure that's how it works."

"…I see," Mysterioso said hesitantly, sounding somewhat alarmed, "Um, are you certain its safe to have it around without a leash or cage?"

"Of course, the Space Wolf would never harm its loyal followers," Desmond said. Meanwhile, Trudy was approaching Phil, carrying a platter over her head, stacked with large pieces of meat. Seeing this, Phil grew even more excited, and he opened his mouth wide, clamping it down over the entire platter… as well as Trudy's arms and head.

"The wolf blesses me!" Trudy's muffled voice called out from within Phil's mouth, before the footage suddenly cut to a panel with the Mysterious Mysteries logo and the phrase "Experiencing Technical Difficulties, Please Stand Bye". Team Save Earth stared at it in awkward silence for a moment, before turning to each other.

"So… should we be worried about this?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," Dib replied, rubbing his chin in thought, "I mean, without Norlock giving him orders, he's pretty much harmless. Er, unless you get too close to him, like those idiots. Which is really their own fault, so you can't exactly blame him."

"You're not worried he might, I don't know, hunt us down to avenge his master or something?" Viera asked.

"I would be, if I thought he was smart enough for that to occur to him," Dib said, "I mean, if he saw us he'd probably remember we're enemies and come after us, but aside from that, he's probably already forgotten we exist. I'm more worried about what Zim's going to do now."

"Why? I get that he was dangerous even before Norlock was around, but now that he's gone, and Zim's not even an official Invader anymore, so…" Steve said, but Dib cut him off with a raised hand.

"If anything, that makes him more dangerous," he said, "Like a cornered animal. He's got no support beyond Skoodge and his robots, but he's nowhere near smart or sane enough to realize how vulnerable that makes him. He'll probably lay low for a while, and then be back to his old self in no time, if not worse."

There was another moment of silence as everyone mulled over that. Viera shrugged it off first, and decided to change the subject.

"So, since we're probably in the clear for a while before stuff starts blowing up again, who wants to just hang out and have some fun?" she asked, earning chuckles from the others.

"Good idea," Dib said, "Let's put this stuff away and head to MacMeaties."

That earned agreements from the twins, who helped put away all the tools and throw a tarp partially over the Spittle Runner, then they walked out of the garage and down the street. For a couple of minutes, all was quiet in the room, and then the door into the house opened and Gaz walked through, glaring at everything yet nothing in particular.

To say she was disappointed in how things had turned out was quite a bit of an understatement. Viera hadn't been any worse for wear than a few cuts and bruises, and worse, apparently Dib and the others had won, so he'd ended up being annoyingly happy since he'd gotten back. Well, more annoying than usual, anyway.

"Stupid Zim," she muttered, "How hard is it blow someone up? Moron can't even do that right."

Gaz fumed for several moments, then turned her gaze on the Spittle Runner.

"Should have just sabotaged this piece of crap and kept them from going, then Zim definitely would have won in whatever they were all competing over. Maybe that would've shut Dib up and actually done something to that bitch," she said, before smirking, "Well, might as well mess it up now. That should bring their good moods down a little."

That thought warming her little black heart, Gaz grabbed a wrench out of a nearby toolbox and walked over to the Runner, ripping the tarp off to clear the way. Climbing into the cockpit, she hefted the wrench and slammed it into a screen on the main console, smashing it. She was able to enjoy the sensation for just a moment, and then, to her surprise, the entire console lit up with a surge of energy. And before she could remove the wrench or let go of it, the surge ran up it and hit her. Yelling in sudden pain, she was thrown off her feet and flew back to land hard in the pilot seat. And as she sat there, groaning and disoriented, the rest of the consoles lit up, everything suddenly back online.

"Unauthorized access detected," an automated voice intoned, "Security Protocol F-49 activated."

"Wha?" Gaz asked groggily, before metal components came from nowhere and surrounded her, sealing her in a capsule. This capsule had engines attached to its sides, which came to life almost immediately, launching the capsule out of the Runner and straight through the roof of the garage.

It then flew through the air for quite some distance, before the limited fuel in the engines ran out, and it came crashing down, of all places, right into the Doomsville Middle Skool. It smashed through the roof and through several floors, finally coming to a stop. For a moment, it just sat there, covered in rubble, until some of that rubble was shifted away by a panel on the side of the capsule opening up. Gaz, looking dazed and roughed up, stumbled out of the capsule, took two steps, and then collapsed, unconscious before her face hit the floor. As such, she wasn't aware of Nny and Miss Bitters walking up to the wreckage and staring down at her.

"…When she regains consciousness, make her clean up this mess," the old crone said flatly, "By hand, preferably."

"Yes ma'am," Nny said, giving a sloppy salute. As Miss Bitters hissed and swept away, the homicidal janitor chuckled to himself, taking a picture of Gaz's knocked out form (a lot of her fellow students would pay good money to see the intimidating Goth in a vulnerable position) and then leaned against a wall, waiting for her to wake up.

Zim's Base, Same Time

Skoodge stood in the main communications room, foot tapping nervously as he kept glancing between the central console and the door. Finally, the latter opened, and Zim strode in, but if Skoodge didn't know it was his friend, he wouldn't recognize him. And that was because he was wearing the outfit Norlock had presented him with just before the fight in the sewers, black cloak wrapped around his body, hood pulled up over his head, and red ceramic mask fully covering his face.

Reaching Skoodge, Zim reached up, pulling back the hood and taking off the mask, holding it loosely in one hand.

"Well?" Zim demanded, "How does it look?"

"You look pretty cool in that, Zim," Skoodge admitted, "But are you sure you want to do this? I mean, after everything that's happened-"

"Zim is well aware of what's happened," Zim snapped, "But while Norlock may have been a traitor in the end, some of what he said had merit. Most important being that if I want to build my own empire, the one I deserve, I need to undermine the Tallest. And I can't do that as Zim — as amazing as I might be, they have slandered my mighty name. I need to trick the fools of the rank and file into following this mask until they can accept my brilliance for what it is."

"But Zim, what I mean is, is this whole rebellion thing still a good idea?" Skoodge asked, "It'd be one thing if we had Project Domination backing us up, but without it…"

"A setback, nothing more," Zim said dismissively, "While having that weapon would have made things almost too easy, losing it doesn't make things impossible. Zim is meant for greatness, and I will take it, no matter the risk. Otherwise I might as well just give up, and I will not give the Tallest, Tak, or the Dib-Human the satisfaction of my surrender. Now get out, I need to prepare for my first broadcast."

Skoodge looked like he wanted to debate the situation some more, but seeing that Zim wouldn't budge, nodded his head in acknowledgement and left the room. Once he was gone, Zim walked over to the console.

"Computer, is that signal blaster we purchased from Prisoner 777 installed?" he asked.

"Online and fully operational," the Computer replied, "Once you've recorded your message, we'll be able to broadcast on every Irken frequency to all corners of the Empire, with no chance of it being traced back to you."

"Excellent," Zim said. He then turned his attention to the mask in his hand. Turning it over revealed a small machine built into the interior of the mouth portion, which he activated with the flick of a switch, before putting the mask on.

"Test, test — ooh, I like this," he said, voice now heavily distorted into a digital baritone. Satisfied that there was now no way that anyone would recognize him in any way, he pulled his hood up, and hit a switch on the console. Screens lowered from the ceiling behind him, blocking a view of the room, and flickered to life, displaying the same image, that of the Irken letters for N, I, and O, stylized so that they formed a rough triangle. Checking that that was in place, Zim took a steadying breath to prepare himself, then activated a camera on the console and hit record.

"Greetings, my fellow Irkens. My name is Miz. And today, I speak to you about our Empire, the past triumphs that we've wasted, and the future glory that we can still have. For too long, our fates have been held in the hands of so-called 'Almighty' leaders, who have done nothing to earn their power and privilege. Who sit back and do nothing, while our Invaders, our soldiers, our workers, all slave tirelessly to preserve and expand our people's rightful place as masters of this universe. Only to have the rewards they've earned torn away and taken by the leaders who don't deserve them, while they're battered aside for amusement.

But I say no more. I say that our rulers should no longer simply be those who are taller, but those who have earned the right to lead. I say that it's time for a New Irken Order, a better order. An order where every Irken, no matter their height, gets what they deserve. An order where we all bask in the light of our supreme place in the cosmos. An order where our triumphs and victories are not denied to us at the merest whim of those above us.

I intend to bring this order about, by whatever means necessary. And I ask that you join me, my brothers and sisters, for together we can make this dream a reality. Together, will tear down the corrupt system that oppresses us all. Together, we will remake this Empire into something the lesser species will truly fear, without question. Together, we will all achieve glories the likes of which few Irkens in all of history will have ever known.

Together, we. Will. Rise!"

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End Season 1

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A/N: And, there. That's it. This season New Adventures is now completely done.

Have you all enjoyed it? I have — this might be this best thing I've ever written. It's certainly been the longest, as this episodic format has really leant itself to lengthy entries. Hell, this epilogue alone is the shortest chapter, and it's still pushing 5000 words (for anyone who cares, Episode 13 was the longest, at just over 16000).

Anyway, a part of me is relieved to finally be done, as I could use the break. That said, I do hope to get started on Season 2 before the end of the year. Though in the meantime, I have a few smaller projects I intend to work on first, just to take a break from big writing for awhile.

I don hope you'll all join me in the new season, where the drama and intrigue really kicks in as Zim gets his rebellion under way. Plus, there'll be plenty of episodic IZ comedy and action, new OCs joining the fray, and maybe even a little romance (if I feel like braving those waters).

Until then, please review!