Our Purpose

Chapter 1

Dib had always been an avid investigator of the paranormal. Whether it was bigfoot, vampire bees, ghosts, or... aliens, he'd investigated it all. Sure, his dad never believed his discoveries, even with indisputable proof set before him, but Dib would never dream of giving up. He was determined; he was going to prove he was right. No one would call him crazy anymore. This is why he so relentlessly chased Zim around. This was his proof, a living being that wasn't from Earth. 

No one could dispute his discoveries if he caught Zim, not even his stoic father. Science couldn't explain an entire alien.

That's why, after a week of deliberate planning, Dib had come up with the perfect plan. Of course, he took precautions this time. Every one of his previous plans had failed, and it wasn't going to this time. After four years of Zim's shenanigans, of trying and failing and trying again, he knew this time that his plan wouldn't fail. He'd been studying the shorter being for far too long. 

This had to succeed. It had to. It'd been easier, lately, to fight the alien. He'd grown to about 6 foot, while Zim stayed at about 4.

But still, the two were always evenly matched. Something would always interfere, and the one who was winning always ended up tying with the other. It'd been that way for years, although Zim did almost destroy the planet during the Peace Day his father had tried to put on. 

Thanks to Dib... it never happened how it was supposed to, and even after encountering aliens up close, zooming through space in a literal spaceship, and fighting the little green alien and his army of robots... after witnessing the Earth teleported to a galaxy far, far away from their own and then back, Professor Membrane was still in denial. He always had excuses, whether they even applied to the situation or not, and it confused Dib to the core.

That unfortunate event was four years ago. Four long, excruciating years of being outcasted and thrown aside, treated like this insane little child who couldn't be helped. 

He'd fallen out of touch with the paranormal society he used to send his evidence to, because he was never able to get any to them after Zim arrived. His whole world was capturing Zim and exposing him to everyone else's world.

He'd accepted that he wasn't part of their world, but it still took a toll on his mental health. He'd become rather depressed at school; he didn't bother trying to get the other students to see Zim as the alien he was anymore. He just stayed down and stayed silent, only talking when talked to, and even staying silent nearly the entire time he sat, alone, with Gaz at the lunch table.

He'd hardly talk at home, too. He was too busy thinking up plans in his head, plotting his next moves very carefully. He'd still talk to his family, of course, but there wasn't much to talk about when his own father never believed him, and his sister was always annoyed by his presence. 

The only one he'd actually talk to, although only during their endless battles, was Zim.

Zim would always listen to him while they tossed water balloons at each other or accidentally flew off into space together. Even if he was Dib's rival, he was the only one who listened, despite the fact that all of Zim's responses involved insulting phrases such as "ugly worm baby" or "sad little Earth boy." 

He didn't mind, though. It didn't matter what they said to each other because in the end, Dib was going to catch the little alien and show him to the world.

But for now, he'd have to sit through the rest of the school day. He'd just gotten there and he was over it already. Mrs. Bitters wouldn't stop saying the word "war," and it was getting on Dib's nerves, but he couldn't say anything about it or he'd receive one of those... horrifying glares. He shivered at the thought. He'd been on the receiving end of her glares far more times than he'd like to admit. He'd been with this teacher for far longer than he was willing to say, and he was ready to be done with school so he'd no longer have to listen to her monotonically explain how the universe is doomed any longer.