There's Something Inside Your Head (Invader ZiM AU)

Oh, Oh No

Dib's alarm clock woke him up the next morning—ah, no... alarms are only for the weekdays... why is it on? It's only Saturday... he turned over in bed to turn his phone off, when he saw it:

7:33 am
MONDAY

5 Missed Calls From: Carrie
21 Unread Messages From: Various Recipients

He scrambled out of bed in a confused daze, rushing to get his things and run out the door. Did he really sleep through the whole weekend? No, no... he's still very tired. Then again, it's normal to be tired after sleeping... but this was his second blackout. What was going on?
He ran to the bus stop as fast as he possibly could, and got there just in time. As he rode, many questions buzzed through his brain: what was that long blackout? Did he go to sleep? If not, why did he not answer to Carrie? What happened while he was out? Will this happen again?
Throughout the day he'd message Carrie back, apologizing profusely for pretty much ghosting her the whole weekend.

"You can stop apologizing," she told him in class.

"I know things with you, so I know you have a lot of dad and alien stuff goin' on." She rested her head in her crossed arms. "Maybe soon we should go on a date before prom—we, like, hunt monsters and spy on ZiM together. Uh, if you're fine with your friend coming with you to capture your boyfriend."

Dib's heart dropped at that word. "Friend?"

"Yeah? I mean—" her face went a bit red. "Oh, shit. I guess we're..." she laughed awkwardly, kind of hiding her face. "God, I just did something wrong? I'm sorry if I made that weird, I'm just not used to—"

"H-hey! No, it's my fault for not talking to you all weekend..." he paused. "...and ZiM's not my boyfriend. Only one partner! And that's you."

She smiled, looking over at him. "Lab partners to romantic partners... that's gotta be a story trope, huh." She jokingly punched his arm. "Like the trope with the computer in your brain!"

Dib laughed. "There's nothing like that?"

"Yeahhh. You don't have a chip in your brain telling you what to do, how to dress, and giving you that complete—and I mean this in the best and least shallow way possible—glow up overnight. A SQUIP, my fri— boyfriend."

He shook his head. "I don't... know..."

She sighs. "Us. Musicals. Together. Watch."

"Right... a paranormal investigator that's probably a theatre kid. What are you?"

"A Lemon Demon fan."

"Very fair, nevermind. What did you have in mind, anyway?"

"Oh, y'know... Be More Chill, Twisted, Into The Woods, Jekyll and Hyde, Hea—"

"Waitwaitwait—" Dib's ears perked up at the mention of a familiar name, catching his attention. "...like, the two guys from Monster High that were really just one guy?"

Carrie raised an eyebrow. "Dib, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a story. But also yes."

"Oh. Yeah. I forget sometimes." Dib thought for a second, recalling his dream from last- eh, Friday night. "...what's the story?"

"So, I don't know how different the musical is from the book—heard they changed a bunch a stuff—but basically this doctor believes every man has two sides: good and evil. He wants to separate the good from the evil so that earth can be all good and have no badness in the world—"

Oh.

"—the plan works; though, unfortunately, it turns him into two completely different beings, so not only is the evil separated from him, but it's also an entirely new entity."

Oh no.

"So, he experiences blackouts, but the blackouts are really just Hyde running around messing shit up because he can."

Oh dear.

Dib began to get a bit nauseous, putting a hand to his head. "...shit. Uh. Did he... ever find a way to fix it?"

Carrie was a bit oblivious to Dib's distress. "Uhh... I can't remember... maybe? I don't think it worked, though."

Dib's sickness didn't seem to stop. Not so slowly, things started making sense to Dib; the blackouts, the appearance change, the feeling and tendency change (as little as it was), the confidence... the bracelet. The bracelet worked. Oh, it worked.

A little too well.

If this, Ghost, was his "best self"...

What happened to the evil?

Dib stares at the bracelet—which was still on his arm—and pondered silently. What was Pilot doing all weekend? If Pilot was really a part of Dib like Ghost, then he should have the same memories as Ghost; he should know to answer people's messages! Oh, god, and the family... what did the family think? Does Pilot also have a separate appearance? What would people think of his change in looks?
Then it hit him.
All his bad qualities... all his bad ideas... all his anger and scheming...
Was ZiM okay?
Obviously, as a young paranormal investigator and someone who's been fighting a singular being for years, there should be a lot of pent-up emotion in Dib. What that emotion was even he doesn't know, but it can't be good. If Pilot is any smarter or stronger than Ghost is, that could mean something bad for the alien.
Oh, but he couldn't leave Carrie again...

"Hey! Carrie, remember that thing about bringing you along to check ZiM out..?" Dib finally snapped out of his haze.

"Oh— yeah, that led into the... girlfriend thing."

"Yeah, well... wanna do that today? I haven't in a while... kinda had to prepare everything I could to ask you out..." he smiled a little, and she returned her own.

"Oh... uh, well, of course! An excuse to hang out with you and see an alien? Anytime..." she moved her chair a little closer. "I'd be happy to help you."

"And I'd be willing to help you anytime... like some kind of paranormal.. knight? I guess." Dib scooted his chair a bit closer to hers, kinda rubbing a spot on his arm that felt a bit sore and thinking nothing of it. "...hey, when do we ever do actual chemistry in this class?"

Carrie paused, looking at the clock, then at the rest of the class. "...I have no idea."