The Evil Dib

poe vs. dib

Poe ran through the hallways of the school. The basement was rearly ever used, asside from the occasional detention punisment or "underground classrooms" that they called it. The school kep the lights off down here, so eberything was dark and a little too cold. Poe twisted and turned through the intricate hallways of the downstairs level, the olace wond like a maze, upstairs was the gym, the venue for the schools prom night.

Kids danced, teachers drank, the shitty dj they highered lazily scrolled through his spotify in search for the next song to keep the party moving. Dib kicked open the door, running into thd crowd as the party was full swing.

"Think dib, remember." Dib mumbled to himself squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his temples. "Where is he" dib saw flashes of lockers, of doorways unfamiliar ti him, of the restricted area of the school. He knew where poe was.
He ran through the students, the teachers lazily gaurdung the doors, and slid down the railing of the stairs.

"Poe! Zim!" He screamed as he raced through the halls, glancing in each open door as he ran past. He heard footsteps clanging down the hall, could feel poe in his chest, could see glimpses of him. Dib felt sick wandering the dark damp halls. Schools at night always made him uncomfortable, it felt lile he had clipped through inti another dimension. The hallways were deadly silent aside from his running, the school air was dusty and stale and a little damp. It was cold. It felt like the upside down and the flickering lights only added to the affect.

Dib stopped to catch his breath, hearing poe stop somewhere in the halls too.

"Poe" he gently whispered under his breath, just loud enough for poe to hear it echo through the hall. "What are you doing here?"

"Leave me alone" poe ahispered back. Hearing his own voice surround him made shivers roll down his back. He almost wanted to cover his ears. He had grown to hate the sound. Dib took a few shuddering breaths, stepping forward once, twice, three times, hearing his dress shoes click against the tile.

"Zim?" He called a little louder. No response. Poe was on the move again, he could hear it, could feel the danger in his very bones. Dib whireled around, and saw poe standing behind him, standing near the exit he just came in at. His breathing was desprate, his eyes full of tears he could only blink away, his stance so defensive.

"Let me do this dib" poe whispered. It rung out through the hallways, dib was almost afraid poe could hear his heart beating in the silence. "You know they deserve it"

Dib shook his head, choking on his own air and gasping for breath. Poe took a step back, dib took two steps forward.

"They hate us" poes voice cracked his face contorting in pain. "Me and zim could have everything"

"And what about me, huh?" Dib retortedbringing a hand to his chest. His collar and tie felt like it was choking him, and he felt naked without his favorite trench coat. Poe shook his head.

"It doesnt matter." Poe tried to do what hed concider reasoning "because ill be here."

"He doesnt want you poe"

"Liar"

"Poe he hates you" dib pleaded "let him go. Maybe we could all work something out"

"We cant!" Poe screamed punching a locker. The sound was nearly deafening in the silence, poes dry sobs bounced off the walls. He shut his eyes tight, begging a single tear to fall, and they wouldnt. He heaved and backed himself into the wall, "we cant because in the end youll always be better than me! Youll always be the original!"

"Poe..." Dib took a step towards him and poe tried to press himself back into the wall.

"Stay back" he screamed with a broken voice. He clutched his stomach, clutched his chest, hated that he couldnt find a heartbeat.

"Please" he begged "zim is all i have"

"Thats not how people work Poe! You know that! I know that. You cant just lock him up down here and expect him to love you. Thats fucked up"

Poe let himself smile saddly, slidding to the floor. Dib came and kneeled infront of him.

"Do you-" poe laughed a little bitterly "do you remember when we had him in that giant test tube? When all we needed was dad to come home and see that we had him." Dib laughed a little too

"Yeah, and he was too busy working, so we just sat in the living room with zim for hours." Poe shook his head tipping his head back against the lockers. Dib sat down beside him. " he banged on the glass for hours, it took until midnight for him to calm down"

"We watched mysterious mysteries together" dib said, bumpimg his shoulder into poes. "He hated every second of it. But we thought about for weeks"

"Weve always wanted him dib," poe said sadly " weve always wanted the world to notice us."

"Well find another way"

Poe frowned. Shaking his head and getting up. Dib followed him up. " there isnt another way."

Dib grabbed his arm but poe pulled away hissing out a "dont touch me" through his teeth. Dib fliched away.

"Please we were making progress!" Dib pleaded, poe out his hands to his head and screamed in anger.

"progress to what dib!"

"I dont know! To calming you down, to stopping you from enslaving the entire human race!? Were not a villian poe!"

"Youre not a villian! You! I.. I have to be." Poe paused, taking a koment to revel in the silence and stare dib in the eyes "maybe you can be the hero. But i have to do this. I have to win"

Foot steps rang through the hallway once again, these nearly sounding like heels. Or the boots of an invader. They squeaked against the floor as he slidded to a halt. Zim stood across from the twin dibs. He stared them down, not daring taking a step forward.

"Zim" they both shouted in unison, taking a step forward. Poe growled and shoved dib a little " leave him alone"

"Which one of yous the real dib" he asked hesitantly, taking a step back. The lights were so dark he couldnt see the ring of purple that could identify his enemy. Zims wrists throbbed from the rope burn, he felt naked and exposed without his uniform.

" zim, its me, come here" one hissed, reaching his arms out to the alien.

"Dont listen to him" the other shouted, " its me zim" it was so dark zim couldnt see anything to distinguish the two. He looked between them.

"I dont... I..." He shook his head. They shared the same memories, the same manorisims, the same nervous tick of adjusting their glasses, he had nothing.

A door shut somewhere in the basment, making all of them turn to look for the source. These footsteps were calm, slow, as if they had no rush at all. They followed the steps, a backing closer together, till the saw the culprit of the steps.

Gaz stood infront of them, in a simple purple dress with black sheer sleeves that looped over her thumbs. She looked almlst bored.

"Hey dib, dib clone, zim" she said, waving a cartoonish- looking gun a little too casually "figured you could use some help saving the world or whatever" one of them reached out and grabbed zim, shoving him behind them. Zim hated the touch but couldmt tell if it was the possesive a t of a monster or the protective act of a boyfriend. Maybe both.

" whered you get that?" One of the dibs asked, she shrugged a litlle.
"Dads lab. Did you know hes been researching clonning for years?" She hit the gun a bit in her hands before aiming it at the dibs. They both flinched. "He made a gun that only hurts clones? Some science bullshit about if 'the clones rise up against us all' or whatever" she did a shitty membrane impression as she spoke before pointing the gun at them again.

"So which one of you is my brother"