The ArMAda, Episode 1A:
Time & Banishment
By Ang D, Angie, & Sparky

I bit my tongue and stood in line
With not much to believe in
I bought into what I was sold
And ended up with nothing
This is not my idea of a good time ...

You thought that I would never see
What was meant for you was meant for me
I was distracted at the time
Forget about yours, now what about mine?
This is not my idea of a good time ...
~ Garbage, "Not My Idea"

~*~*~*~*~

Deep in the heart of Eastern Irk, the seat of the Irken Empire, there is a squat, partially underground structure that is the cornerstone of Irken culture. Hundreds of millions of robotic arms and consoles of automated, whirring circuitry tend to the rows upon rows of incugene tubes that lie nestled in its walls. On another, deeper level of the building, the genetic mixers carefully, tediously churn out biochemical mixes that yield, by floor, perfect soldiers, servants, or other drones. Only once in a while is one special genetic vial used - that which holds the gene which codes for height in excess of four Irken xaloms.

However, sometimes, on occasion, the mixers malfunction, and before the workers can correct it, a tube becomes infected with that socially forbidden gene. However, the workers usually decide to let it be. The rate of successful incubation is sometimes low, and it becomes surmised that the malcoded tubes would fail in their incubation processes.

However, by the turn 77747, three of those unfortunate incugene tubes had managed to bypass the Irkens' pessimism - and live.

~*~*~*~*~

Welcome to life, Irken child.

The words had always lingered in her dreams, and this one had been no different. Dak, also known as Black for the color of her eyes, stiffened as she awoke, her hands tightly gripping the armrests of her sleeping chair. Panting, she ran her fingers over her antennae, finding them slightly chilly. Feeling her cardiolmar organ throbbing erratically, she clutched her other hand to her chest, one word reflexively spilling out of her mouth.

"Yellow!!!"

The Irken female in question sleepily opened one golden orb, then frowned. "Another nightmare?"

Black nodded, her eyes glistening. "The same one... everyone just walking around our ankles like we're not even here. And then ... well, things just start exploding. A lot. And I can't find either you or Blue.... and Blue...." She leaned forward in the chair, craning her neck around the tiny dormitory. "Where is Blue?"

"Probably out picking a fight with one of the soldiers. You know her."

"Yeah." Black grasped the side of her chair and pulled herself to her feet, allowing her utility pack to re-attatch itself to her spine. "Ouch." She reached around, gingerly rubbing at her back. "150 turns, and I'm still not used to this thing. It pinches a bit in the mornings."

"Well, biologically, we stretch out a little during the night. It pinches because you're readjusting yourself," Yellow explained.

"Thank you, Dr. Yellow," Black chuckled, fitting her armor plate on over her black robe and sliding the structural reinforcement cuffs over her slender wrists.

"Hey Black?" Yellow called out, straightening out a sleep-crook in one of her antennae, "you seen Blue this morning?"

"You woke up after I did," Black reminded her, pressing the button on her waist that activated her hoverbelt, taking the pressure of Irk's gravitational pull off of her fragile ankles. "She's probably scrapping it out with some cadet soldier that's half her height."

"Because he insulted her?"

"Yeah. That'd be my guess."

"I don't get it," Yellow fretted. "I mean, the Almighty Tallest are revered. We're just as tall as they are, almost. And we get ignored. We've been here twelve turns longer than anyone should be ... and we're laughingstocks. Is it ... I can't even start to think of a reason."

Black shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. Same thing I said last time we had this discussion, I guess ... something went wrong with us. They didn't expect us to be how we are. And they don't know what to do."

"Well," Yellow sighed, as they headed for the Irken Academy's auditorium, "I wish they'd figure it out."

The Irken Academy churned out thousands of young students, all around the ages of 108 to 138 by the time they left its hallowed corridors and training facilities. On that day, the massive auditorium was filled with the students who would be graduating and filling their destined positions in Irken society. Among the crowd of instructors and students, however, three Irken girls stood out like a Xenorian in a thorblax patch.

"People are staring at us." Yellow muttered, slouching down.

"Well, who, then?" Blue snarled, curling her fingers into a fist. "I'll make them even shorter... like that Grork kid I pounded this morning."

"Did you really have to do that? It cost us seven demerits, and a referral. We have to polish armor today." Yellow moaned.

"Shhhhhhhhhh," Black held up a hand. "I see them."

Instantly, the entire auditorium became a sea of wiggling antennae as two tall figures ascended the platform at the end of the massive room. One was clothed in a dark, royal purple, the other a vibrant red. They waved, then looked down at the graduates they towered over.

"Welcome, Irken students!" Almighty Tallest Red decried, raising his arms. "We have decided to grace this particular graduation with our lofty presence due to the recent culmination of Operation Impending Doom! As you know, twelve of our finest soldiers have been selected to conquer enemy planets, and ..." He paused, then turned to his co-ruler with a scowl. "What, Purple?" He hissed quietly.

"Those three. Lookit 'em." Purple whispered, discreetly pointing to Black, Yellow, and Blue.

"So?" Red rolled his eyes, then continued his speech. "... And they will be leaving Irk as soon as they are assigned their respective enemy planets to conquer!"

Suddenly, a loud rapport issued from outside the Academy, causing the entire graduating class to rush towards the long, plate glass windows. Red and Purple quickly ascended a staircase to an upper balcony of the auditorium.

"What's going on?" Yellow whimpered.

"Something's getting blown up!" Blue exclaimed happily. "Oooooh, I wanna seeeee!"

"This... doesn't sound good," Black winced. "It's a lot like ..."

She was cut off as another blast happened, nearby, sending a shock wave across the floor of the auditorium and throwing several Irkens to the ground. From above, she thought she could hear the two Tallests moaning aloud.

"ZIM...."

Blinking, she, Blue, and Yellow pulled out the auditory amplifiers from their utility packs and fit them over their ears.

"I knew we never should have assigned him to a Class J Destroyer," Red was griping.

"He's not even off the planet," Purple agreed, nodding sadly. "We'd better see what we can do..."

With that, the two of them descended the staircase, Red roughly pushing through the crowd to make way for them to pass. As they glided past the three girls, Purple looked them over curiously, catching Black's eye for a fleeting moment before he and Red disappeared through the massive doors of the auditorium.

"Wow," Blue said, pulling off her amplifiers. "That's crazy - an Invader wreaking havoc to his own planet." She peered out the window, then shrugged with a small smile. "At least the fires are pretty."

"This is awful!" Yellow lamented, tugging at her antennae. "Did you see the way they looked at us?"

"Yeah. ...." Black sighed, still gazing at the closed auditorium doors. "Yeah, I did..."

"Well," Red huffed, staring out the window of the Tallests' citadel at the ruin their Invader had caused, "this certainly won't happen again."

"I don't know what went wrong," Purple shook his head. "He was a fine Invader."

"I'll tell you what happened," Red snapped. "The power went to his head. Well, he won't be in any position to hold power for a loooong time."

"Foodcourtia," Purple chuckled, stretching out in his chair. "That was a stroke of genius on my part."

"Oh please. We both know that I'M the one who thought of it."

"You only thought of banishing him." Purple rolled his eyes.

"Well ... well ... I've got another idea," Red spluttered.

"Oh, do you now."

"Yes! ... I mean, what if Zim's actions rub off on some of the other impressionable Irkens? He was different. He was ... short. Really short," Red blinked. Purple nodded in agreement, then motioned for him to continue. "So our problem is ... what if the other Irkens who don't fit into the social brackets get ideas from him? What if they construe it as rebellion?"

"Well, I really don't know," Purple mused. "It didn't look like ..."

"Zim looked like he was complacent. The other inferior Irkens look like they don't mind this. We've got to do something ..."

Purple sighed. "Well, all the Irkens we saw today looked absolutely fine. Very conformative. None of them seemed different from the rest, really...."

"....Oh, there were some," Red intoned, folding his hands. "There were. And I want them brought here."

Blue cursed vehemently in Irken as she rubbed at her fiftieth piece of armor, tossing it onto the pile in the center of the detention room. "I can't believe we have to do this."

"You're the one who wanted to beat up Grork this morning," Black pointed out, picking up a helmet and cleaning it, staring at her reflection to test its sheen. "We just seemed to get punished right along with you."

"Because ..."

"Don't start again, or I'll make you shorter," Blue groaned. "Yellow, if you bring up that equal height issue again one more time, I swear I'm going to knock you into the next time Zebulon passes through our orbit."

"Wow," Yellow blinked. "That's pretty far."

"Precisely. So don't bring it up!"

"Okay," she sighed. "Pass me another chestplate?"

"Sounds like we're at some really, really odd dinner table," Black cracked, tossing her friend a fresh rag as well.

As the girls set back into their task, they were suddenly interrupted by the presence of an Irken messenger.

"Dak, Zar, and Gelle?" He called out. Startled by the usage of their given names, the girls looked up, blinking. "The Almighty Tallests request your presence...."

Black frowned, staring up at the impressive doors in front of them. "So ... we made it in. And now we have to sit and listen to elevator music for who knows how long.... is anyone else weirded out?"

"HEY!" Blue exclaimed, pointing, "There's that soldier that was picking a fight with me earlier! He ran away crying... I love being big."

"I don't care for elevator music." Yellow mumbled. "I'd care to know why we're here."

Black glanced over at Blue with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged. "I really don't know...."

Blue sighed and looked towards Black. "What are you so worried about?" She said with a grin. "It's probably just another useless meeting like always."

Yellow twiddled her fingers nervously. "Not many get called in to see them personally. Did we do something wrong?"

"I don't think so," Black frowned.

"...Oh." Yellow returned her gaze to the carpeted floor.

Blue looked around nervously. "Unless it's about the soldiers I keep beatin' up...."

"I bet that's it, too. Blue, you can't keep doing that." Yellow chided, standing. "They probably think we're all accomplices. Trying to...beat up their soldiers or something."

At that moment, an attendant peered through the doors, then scurried out in front of them. "The Almighty Tallests will see you now."

Blue cringed slightly. "I hope Red doesn't make googoo eyes at me again..."

Black sucked in a deep breath and adjusted one of her wrist supports as the three of them entered the central chamber of the citadel.

Blue followed Black silently, looking around the massive room. It was very lavish by Irken standards, and at the back of the room, in front of a large window overlooking the planet, sat the Tallests themselves.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough," Almighty Tallest Red sniffed.

"They were waiting," Purple reminded him.

"Shh!"

"...Sirs?" Yellow addressed, peering out from behind Black.

Purple craned his neck a bit, looking down at them. "Yes?"

Black caught his gaze and blushed for a moment, then nudged Blue with one elbow, receiving a whispered "Cut it out!" in return.

Yellow almost cringed. "Um.... May we ask what our business is here?"

"... No." Red snapped. Purple blinked, glaring at him, and Red shook his head. "We will tell you why you are here."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

Blue looked up at Red for just a moment then returned her gaze to the back wall.

Red descended from his chair, floating in a circle around the three of them, assessing them carefully. "You have probably noticed by now that you are ... different," he pointed out.

Purple grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Well, sirs, I ..." Black began.

"Did I say you could speak?"

Blue looked up at Red, sneering as Black shrank back slightly, her antennae drooping.

"This difference would have gone untended, were it not for this morning's little ... thing."

"Event," Purple suggested.

Yellow only watched them carefully, muttering "Yes" every now and then.

Blue opened her mouth as if to speak but then thought better of it.

"Today's ...event," Red continued, "made us realize that Irkens who are different from the rest of the population might, eventually, cause us trouble." He placed one clawlike finger under Blue's chin, staring into her blazing glare. "I see now, that our thoughts were well founded."

"Trouble, sir?" Yellow's antennae flattened as Blue pulled herself away from Red, sharpening her glare.

"Trouble. Spreading unsavory thoughts through the Irken collective. In short.... rebellion." Red pronounced.

"Sirs!" Black objected. "We've done nothing of the sort --"

"Nononono, we... We would never cause you trouble!" Yellow blurted.

"SILENCE!" Red snapped.

".......They really don't look like ---" Purple began.

A gasp caught in Yellow's throat and she cringed.

"Didn't I say silence?" Red said softly, his voice dangerously calm ".......... We've come to a decision. You three aren't ... welcome here on Irk. You're too much of a threat - whether you admit to it, or not."

Yellow tugged on Blue's robe, already shaking with fear. "No.... No, you... Sirs, please!"

Red reached into one of the pockets of his hoverbelt and pulled out three thin sheets of metal. "Here's your tickets, you leave for the planet Zootch in approximately one hour..... have a nice day." With that, he floated back to his chair as three attendants entered the chamber to lead them away.

Yellow's mouth went dry. "Zootch...? But....."

Blue looked at Red, her expression calm. "You are nothing but a coward."

Red's lip curled in a snarl, but Purple placed a hand on his colleague's arm. "Let them go," he said. "They'll be gone soon enough...." With that, he sighed. "Sorry, girls."

Blue pushed away the attendants and started toward Red. "You can't DO this! we have done NOTHING wrong!"

"Zootch?!" Yellow's voice cracked. "That's.... Isn't that...?" She gasped, "BLUE, no!"

"You're very close to doing something wrong right now," Red pointed out. "I suggest you go along with things, or we'll send you somewhere even worse than Zootch."

Black frowned, staring despairingly at Purple. He merely shook his head and turned his eyes toward the window at his side, refusing to look at the three exiles.

Blue ignored Yellow and kept storming towards Red. "That's where you're wrong ... your eminence." She sassed. "I have not laid a hand on you, and therefore have done NOTHING wrong. As I said ... you're nothing but a coward!" With that, Blue turnd and stormed out of the room.

"I don't....I don't think I can stand up. I really don't." Yellow teetered dangerously, reaching out to place a hand on Black's shoulder.

Black frowned deeply, putting her arm around her "sister" and leading her slowly from the chamber. "Come on ... obviously nobody here's going to help us."

In the hallway, Blue paced furiously, trying to control her feverish temper.

"Blue ... Blue, please!" Black frowned, stretching out a hand. "Calm down ... you'll only make things worse this way ..."

Blue looked at Black and the frightened Yellow and her expression softened. "I HATE that guy!" Blue clenched her fists and thrust them down at her sides.

"How can it be worse?" Yellow's muffled voice came. She was hunched over, head in her hands.

Black settled down in between her friends and put a thin arm around each of them. "Things can always get worse ... trust me, they can, I'm sure," she said gently. "And we'll find some way. I know we will. We've survived this long, haven't we?"

"Yeah well," Blue snorted, "I think they're scared we might end up being taller than they are."

"On Irk..." Yellow sniffed. "Not on Zootch. We'll die on Zootch."

"That, too," Black mused, looking back at the closed doors. "..... Why ... What's Zootch?"

Blue looked at Yellow, then stood up, stretching to her full height. "I won't let anything happen to us, Yellow."

Yellow rocked back and forth, her knees tucked up under her chin. "It's bad. It's very bad." She shook her head.

Black wrapped her arms around Yellow, resting her head on her shoulder. "It can't be that bad ... we'll be okay..."

"They call it the 'Head Explody Planet'!" At these words, she burst into a fresh strem of tears.

"................................Oh dear." Black frowned. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh dear. As in our heads?"

"Sounds like fun," Blue giggled.

"Fun!? Our brains! Blue, our brains will be...everywhere!" Yellow sobbed.

Blue blinked, puzzled. "I wonder if it hurts..."

Black winced, putting a hand to her abdomen. "Oh, my squeedily spooch," she moaned. "..... This ..... Oh, this is just not good..."

"Our heads, yes, ours," Yellow made small motions with her fingers, "Pop, here, pop there. All over."

Blue stood up proudly. "Come ON, guys! We're Irken! We can handle it!"

Yellow looked up at Blue silently for a moment. "I don't want my head to explode!" she finally cried.

"Handle it how, exactly? Adapt to living without HEADS?" Black stuttered.

Blue sighed and sat down. "I guess you guys are right."

"What'll happen if we just...miss our flight?" Yellow asked hopefully.

"They'll send us on the next one after extensive torture," Blue replied.

"Torture...?" Yellow uttered in a high pitched whisper.

Blue stood up and offered her hands to her sisters. "Let's go pack, guys....don't wanna miss our flight."

"....Probably," Black said grimly. ".... We should try and at least find the gate." Sighing, she wrapped her arms tighter around her "sister".

"Come on guys....we only have a few hours."

"One hour," Black corrected her sadly.

"Why? This is so drastic, I mean... Banishment, sure, but a death sentence?" Yellow wrung her hands. "I don't think we'll need much. We won't live long enough to use it."

Blue helped her sisters up. "You guys go on ahead. I'll be right there." With that, she headed back towards the waiting room.

Black frowned, then led the way down the hall. "Well, we might as well take it. It's our stuff. And who knows what they'd do with it."

Blue picked up the clerk. Holding him close to her face, she snapped, "Get me Red!" Sneering, she dropped the clerk and watched him scamper off into the other room. "ALONE!"

A few moments later, Red poked his head through the doors boredly. "Aren't you banished yet?" He yawned.

Blue frowned and pointed one finger at him. "Look, YOU. I don't know who you think you are, but I have a feeling this has nothing to do with rebellion!"

Red scowled. "Of course it does. You're just the type to instigate hordes of Irkens to unrest."

Blue curled her hands into fists at her sides. "You know as well as anybody, we would never do such a thing! We just wanna be useful!"

"You can't be useful," Red said plainly. "You're too tall to be drones, and your skeletal structure is too weak for you to be suitable invaders. And anything else, well .... no."

"I think the matter that upsets you is between you and me, Red." Blue examined Red's eyes for some sign of emotion. "And it's not that we aren't useful."

"I'm sorry, but I don't make it a point to talk for longer than two minutes with exiled freaks," Red yawned, gliding back into the receiving chamber and bolting the door behind him.

Blue banged on the door. "I"M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YOU COWARD!" Her outburst was met with silence, and she sighed, gliding off to find her sisters.

"We're gonna die. They want us dead." Yellow kept muttering, as she finished packing a small suitcase. "Um...ready?"

Blue ran in hastily gathering her things and throwing them in a bag. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Black placed the last of her many, many belongings into her compressor and pushed a button. It shrank to the size of a tiny cube, and she placed it in her backpack. "Blue, where ya been?" She fretted.

Blue gave a devilish smile. "I had some unfinished business I had to attend to."

"Oh, dear."

"I didn't do anything wrong." Blue smirked.

"Didn't do any good, did it?" Yellow asked, without looking up.

Blue turned towards Yellow quickly. "At least I TRIED!" She snapped.

Black held up her hands. "Hey, hey, whoa...." She frowned, as Yellow shrank back, antennae flattened. "None of this is going to help us any, now, is it...."

Yellow sniffled a little. "It's ok. We are going to die, after all..."

Blue groaned. "Would you STOP saying that? We are gonna be OK!"

"Well, we were going to someday anyway, right?" Black said, trying her best to sound positive - and failing miserably. Her shoulders slumping, she turned her eyes towards the door. "Well ... let's go..."

"Geesh, I'm being exiled with a bunch of pessimists! For all we know we can prove them wrong and conquer the friggin' planet!"

"If there's anything to conquer!" Black said pointedly.

Blue smiled. "The less there is, the easier it is to conquer, no?"

Yellow gave their room one last glance before heading out the door. She was quietly crying now. The thought of impending death didn't have a terrific effect on her.

With a sigh, Blue started her slow trudge toward the door. Looking back, she let a single tear roll down her jade green cheek. "Goodbye," she whispered.

Black silently placed her hands on her sisters' shoulders. Whatever happened would happen, she realized. There really wasn't much to be done. "Well, here goes." She choked. "C'mon girls."

Yellow sat by a window, gazing out at stars she thought she'd never see again. The captain of their ship announced their arrival in a tinny voice just as she caught a glimpse of it growing beneath them.

Black winced. "Here we go ... I guess. ..."

Yellow turned to Black and shook her. "We're gonna die, Black. DIE, do you hear me? That's it down there, we DIE!"

Blue turned to her sisters with a forced smile on her face "Maybe we won't die, guys! I mean, we COULD live through it!"

The dark green planet loomed ominously and a barren landscape could soon be made out as they landed. A hatch opened up at the craft's side with steps leading down to the planet's surface. Yellow shook her head. "No..... I don't want to go out there."

Blue stood up and put her hand on Yellow's shoulder. "Don't be scared, I'll be here."

Black frowned, then straightened her posture, picking up her belongings. "I guess I'll go ..." She said slowly. Yellow only whimpered and turned away, afraid of witnessing what might happen once Black had completely left the ship.

Swallowing, she tentatively stretched out one foot and placed it on the planet's surface. ".....I think my head's okay," she blinked. Even more slowly, Black placed her other foot on the soil, squeezing her eyes shut, holding her breath.

Nothing happened.

"Hey," she whispered. "Hey. I'm okay!!!"

"Gelle." Yellow cringed at the sound of her real name. "It's your turn."

"No..."

"C'mon, you." A guard took her by the shoulders and steered her toward the hatch.

"NO!" She kicked and struggled and scratched, until she was shoved roughly out onto the ground, clenching her head and willing it to stay together.

Black glared at the guard. "HEY!"

Blue looked at the guard with an evil stare and just wished HIS head would explode. Then she felt a tingle in her antena Suddenly, with a loud pop, it did....then regenerated itself.

Black turned and stared at Blue in awe. ".......How did you DO that?" She gasped.

Blue looked at Black and shrugged. "I just wanted his head to pop, and it did!"

Black knelt, helping Yellow to her feet, as the guard stared at them in awe.

Yellow paused, shaking, and looked around. She cleared her throat. "I'm.....fine. I'm fine! My head is ok! ....Blue! That was nasty!"

"Hey, you," Black growled at the guard. "Get outta here. And don't tell the Tallests we're still kickin', or I'll let her do that again."

Blue shrugged again and looked at the guard who was now retreating to the ships inner core. "THAT WAS FUN! Can I do it again?!"

"Wow..." Yellow breathed.

"Not to ME," Black shook her head vigorously. Then, abruptly, she began to laugh hysterically. "We're ALIVE!!!!!" She crowed jubilantly, grabbing her sisters into a hug.

Yellow rubbed her temples. "My brain is still in there. And so is yours! And yours!" she addressed each of her sisters joyfully.

"So ... Zootch IS the Head Explody planet ... but ... not in the way they SAY it is!" Black giggled.

"I knew we'd be okay," Blue smirked.

"You did... How did you know?"

Blue grinned and hugged her sisters. That was one heckuva lucky guess....

"So ..." Black grinned, opening up her case and taking out a bag of chips, "who wants celebratory carbohydrates?"

"I'll have some!" Yellow jammed a hand into the bag.

Blue's hand shot straight up into the air like a child with the right answer. "I DO!"

"I wonder..." Yellow mused around a mouthful of chips, "If this place isn't lethal...where is everyone? Are we the only ones ever to have been baished here?"

"Maybe they all killed each other," Blue mused. Yellow paused to turn that one over in her mind, then shuddered. "I'm kidding!" Blue laughed. "Who knows what happened to them...not like we've been far into the planet."

"Well..." Black muttered, "how long has it been since anyone was banished here? Maybe they did die."

".......And so will we." Yellow said slowly. "Die now or die later, look at this place. How do we live here?"

Blue picked up a barren twig, only to watch it crumble in her hand. "...We'll figure something out..."

Black blinked. "Either of you still have a communicator?"

Yellow held up her necklace - a small replica of the symbol of Irk, on a string. "This'll work. I've had it a long time... What do you need it for?"

Black took it from her and turned it on, using a tiny dial on the back to change the video contrast settings so that she was in shadow. Tucking her antennae back, she smiled as she adjusted the frequency. "Hello, planet Callnowia?" She grinned. "This is one of Irk's Tallest, hailing you from the planet Zootch ... I'd like to place an order."

Blue watched in amazment....."So THAT'S what it's for! I just thought it was a fashion statement."

"Shhhh.... I think she's getting us off of here." Yellow giggled.

".... I'd like a voot cruiser please." A pause. "What? You're OUT? When will you be back in stock? ........ That's WAY too long! ... How about a teleporter? ... Terrific. Thank you. Put it on the Tallests' tab." She closed the connection, trying not to snicker.

Yellow smothered a giggle. This was too good to be true.

"Now," Black grinned, handing the communicator back to Yellow, "we wait."

Blue grinned and hugged her sister. "You ROCK!'

"You....are....amazing." Yellow shook her head.

Black chuckled. "I try. You can do it next time - it's really easy." She blinked, then pushed her sisters out of the way as a small meteor landed in front of them. The crust of the meteor crumbled away to reveal a cardboard box, which Black handed to Blue. "You open it." She giggled. "Happy Zootch Day."

"Me? Um, ok."

Yellow hovered over Blue's shoulder, waiting for the box to open. She carefully placed the box on the ground and opened it as if it were a birthday gift. The teleporter was nestled at the bottom of the box in a sea of styrofoam peanuts, shining and silver. Blue carefully removed the teleporter and set it on the ground.

"Ooooooooooooo... It's the lovliest thing I've ever seen!" Yellow said, completely honestly.

Black giggled as she placed the teleporter on the ground and keyed in Irk's coordinates. There was a hiss, then a field of light shot up from the teleporter. How many travelers? "Three," Black grinned. A beep, then a droning noise that faded out depressively. Coordinates out of range. Try again. "....CRAP," Black sighed.

"No....." Yellow said quietly. "No, you're kidding... Now what?"

"Well I don't know anywhere else we can go," Black muttered. "But at least we know how to get supplies and get the guys back at the same time!"

Blue frowned, kicking the teleporter. "Stupid piece of junk."

"No, wait." Black shook her head. "Maybe we can use it someday... we'll figure out a planet to conquer at some point. We just have to think about it and stuff."

"For how long?" Yellow asked. "Our time here is as limited as our supplies."

"I don't know," Black shrugged. "Long as we can."

Blue stared into space after the ship, wishing the guard's head would explode once again. Somewhere in the reaches of the galaxy, he screamed. Satisfied, Blue turned to Black. "Do they have food at Callnowia? Cuz I want some pizza."

"I think that's Foodcourtia... they deliver."

"So we're set. We could make this place wonderful!"

"We could, sure. Or try to." Black smiled.

"How long until the Tallest realize that we've maxed out their accounts? ...Do you think?" Yellow asked.

"Dunno," Blue smiled, ordering some food from Foodcourtia, "but who cares?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Black agreed, patting Yellow on the back. "But for now, I think we're pretty much set."

Coming Soon - Episode 1B!