Ib (invader zim)

Ch.9

Chapter Nine

After several minutes of just staring at the computer in complete terror, Dib turned to the platform and headed towards it. He shut off the lights on his way out, the computer's bright monitor illuminating the room now. His head turned to look back at it, nodding once as if to thank it before stepping onto the plate in front of him. The platform rose again for him to take him back upstairs into the wreckage. Now he had an answer as to what happened and why Zim was behaving like he was. The better question was, would he regret seeing that though; seeing the complete self-destruction of his now former worst enemy and now current worst nightmare?

The thing that made seeing that video so traumatizing was that he had actually grown to some what care about Zim. Yes, they were enemies both out to stop each other at every turn, but before Zim, he didn't have a reason to get up every day and go to school. Zim was everything he had always wanted; an alien that had found its way from the depths of space to his own planet, proving that everything he had ever believed wasn't a lie. The Irken had always been so lively and quite the animated character, even if he was an egotistical little bastard at times. Now, he was just a hollow shell of insanity out for the boy's blood.

And in the process of trying to destroy Dib, he, intentionally or not so, was destroying himself. Everyday he seemed to be more and more injured and screaming and choking more often. Eventually, he was destined to lose his Irken all together.

The thought of losing Zim had actually sparked a bit of sadness in Dib, even if he was causing him unbearable amounts of mental and physical distress

Zim would always be there... He just had to be...

How much longer would the Irken last in the state he was in? That was the toughest question to find an answer for. He had been deteriorating for days now, and still continued on with a slight limp in his step. Eventually, he would be practically dragging himself down the sidewalk trying to get to Dib just to weakly bat at him.

The desperate wish to save Zim rose him him now; to keep him from meeting his demise and help him recover from this deranged state. He had to look out for himself now as the attacks from surely wouldn't stop anytime soon.

At this point, all he needed to do now was outlast his enemy. If he could outlive him, he could survive and perhaps scrape up the pieces of his sanity.

Of course, this wasn't plausible in Dib's head. Even with himself safe after the Irken's death, he would still feel mental torment of being constantly isolated and alone. No matter where he went, people would still look upon him as an outcast; just the 'insane Membrane kid.'

The only other implausible idea would be to try and fix him. Try and get that sanity to come out of him; to find that lost and alone Irken that was trapped in the insane shell that he could no longer control. But, would they ever be the same after such trauma, even with Zim's sanity restored? The likely answer was very obvious; no, they would both never be the same. Zim would still have been abandoned here and in denial, and Dib would always be scarred by the Zim he had dealt with in that state.

Dib's mind was at a conflict now. One part of him wanted to save him and the other just wanted him gone. It wasn't an easy thing to have on one's mind, but in all of his confusion he knew he didn't want the other dead.

There was suddenly a loud screech behind him, sounding terrified and enraged. It was apparent that Zim had awoken and managed to limp his way home, only to find his target present there.

Dib's body tensed at the inhuman tone as he knew exactly who its source was. He looked slowly behind him to see the other standing in front of the door in the living room, his blank eyes staring directly at him.