"You're crazy!"

"Big-head!"

"Schizophrenic!"

"Mental patient!"

It hurt.

Man, how it hurt. How it hurt to be smacked in the face with insults every single day.

It burned.

God, how it burned. How it burned to be ridiculed, criticized, and shoved around every moment.

And it ached.

Ugh, how it ached. How it ached to constantly be reminded of his past. How it ached to be punched repeatedly after school, at least until they went home after getting tired, leaving him bruised and hurt.

"… Help me…" There were tears in his eyes, as he set the bouquet down in front of tombstone. "Help me, Mom."

His hand shot up to cover his mouth. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't.

Tears welled up in his chocolate eyes anyway, and he started to run.

No one could see him like this. He wasn't weak. He wouldn't lose this game. He'd already lost one.

Dib Membrane wouldn't lose again.

"Oh God, oh God…" He took his glasses off and wiped his eyes, and was suddenly angered to feel how damp they were.

He took a deep, shaky breath. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't even cry if he went home, Gaz would see him. Didn't it hurt her enough just to be ridiculed because of him?

Dib knew he just left a bruise on her.

He did with every breath that he took. Every step. Every movement he made. Just living now, he could tell. Though she acted like her normal self, she was seething on the inside.

He couldn't help but wonder why he had gone to his mother's grave. She was dead. She couldn't hear him. She never would again. He was that helpless.

He put his head down. His hands clenched into fists.

Once Dib reached the front door of the Membrane home, he opened the door and slammed it shut. Gaz was on the couch, playing with her Game Slave 3.

He walked up the stairs at a normal pace, trying to conceal how heavily he was breathing due to his long run.

He'd sleep for the rest of the day. He'd just change into his pajamas and sleep.

He still had to go to school, but it wasn't as though anyone would ever care, even notice, if he didn't go. He always stayed in the far back corner, where no one could see him. They wouldn't pay attention to him, so they wouldn't beat him up. Not until after school, at least.

Then they remembered to.

Zim never said much, not any more. He simply went through the days, throwing in a, "ZIM IS NORMAL!" just out of habit, every once in a while.

Dib slammed his backpack down in the computer chair. He never did the homework any more. Mrs. Bitters didn't say anything.

Nobody did any more. No one had come up to talk to him in months. Sure, at first, they had tried to cheer him up. They didn't make any crazy comments. Then, when he still refused to talk, they gave up.

They left him alone.

Every day from then, he was alone. He was always the one who ended up working alone on science projects because there was an odd number of students in the class.

Perhaps maybe the fact that he never did them was a factor as well.

Or not.

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Dib woke up early the next morning. Something that hadn't happened in a long, long time.

Then he did something else abnormal.

He didn't know why. He wasn't sure, because he didn't remember going up the steps or anything…

He went up onto the roof.

He watched the sun rise.

He took off his glasses, and he cried. He drew up his knees and rested his forehead on them. He sobbed. Tears flowed from his eyes, making the knees of his flannel pajamas wet.

It took him several deep breaths to clear his head again.

He let himself fall back against the roof.

Maybe a normal fourteen year old should be worrying about normal things. What his grade was. When he got his allowance.

But… Really. Has Dib ever been normal?

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Six months ago…

"My Tallest!"

Zim bowed quickly in front of his rather tall leaders. They exchanged glances.

"Hey, Zim."

"Yes, Sirs?"

"Uh. We've wanted to say this for a while, but…" Purple took a long breath.

Zim nodded, his nonexistent brow furrowed.

"You're defected. Your planet… Your entire mission… It's a lie. All of it. You were never assigned to a special planet. We just wanted you to die in space."

There was a long moment of disbelieving silence.

"Wh… Wha… What?"

Red's eyes narrowed. "We're sending someone to come kill you. Expect them in six months."

Zim trembled as the words tumbled out of his leader's mouths.

"You…" He was paralyzed. Nothing came out.

Then he laughed.

"That… That… That was great! You almost fooled me."

The Tallest exchanged awkward glances.

"Believe what you want, Zim." Purple said, sighing and shaking his head.

The transmission was cut, leaving Zim to laugh with an abnormally insane pitch in his voice.

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Dib looked down as always. He rode the bus. He got off. He went to school. He went home.

He kept his head down the whole time. They wouldn't hurt him then.

He had been right all along. Right about Zim, right about the Irkens. But he had given up. He was beaten up, made fun of, called crazy, and every other thing that was possible. And he had given up.

He had lost.

He had quit the Swollen Eyeball, they called him crazy, too. What had they ever done for him? Who ever had?

There was no reason for him to even stay in the world. The only thing that kept him was Gaz. She needed him.

He weighted her down, but for some reason… He got the sense that she would lose all sanity if he ever left.

Ever.

And it killed him to have him think that way. His sister, his beloved sister…

Becoming just the way he was now.

A cold, dark shell no one cared for any more.

Someone abandoned.

Condemned.

Forsaken.