One of my more serious one-shots. Enjoy!
"I've finally got you, Zim!" Dib cackled, tightening the straps on Zim's wrists and ankles.
"Release me, Dib-worm!" Zim demanded, trying to bite Dib's hand.
"Oh, someone's trying to be tough. You know, Zim, you're not really in a good position to demand anything
"Dib-stink, this has gone beyond obsession! This is insanity! You don't really want to kill Zim, do you?"
"Oh, I haven't decided yet," Dib nonchalantly replied, walking over to a table with knives.
"Please, listen to me! You have to come to reason! Dissecting me will accomplish NOTHING! Killing me in battle, that is acceptable, for then I have provoked you. But this time, there was nothing! Zim gave you no reason to do away with me! RELEASE ME!"
"No, Zim. I don't think I will," Dib replied with an evil grin. "For too long, people have called me insane. For too long, you have walked on this Earth, neither destroying it, nor giving anything back to your new home. It's time to take action."
"You don't believe that, Dib!" Zim exclaimed, struggling as he saw the glint of a knife. "You are not acting like your big-headed self! Zim believes that something HORRIBLE has snapped in your brain! Can we not go back to how we were before? Frenemies, I think you humans call it?"
"I think I believe you. Something has snapped, and I shouldn't be doing this. But it's too late now. Far too late." Dib smirked and cut into Zim, relishing his screams.
"Stop, Dib! Stop! It is not too late! You can change back into normalcy! Reconsider your actions!"
Dib stopped and stared down into Zim's maroon alien eyes. Zim shivered at the emptiness that echoed through the amber eyes. No longer was there a glint of humanity that had sparked there before, refraining Dib from these thoughts. He was not an optimistic little boy yearning for the respect of his fellow human beings. No, he was a cold, heartless monster, shaped by those who hated him and called him crazy for so many years. Only Zim had given him a purpose in life, a purpose that he could still prove his sanity, that everyone was wrong about him. Zim had kept him from reaching his breaking point.
But no longer was this the Dib of childhood memories, all for protecting humanity and chasing down the paranormal. No, that child was dead and buried beneath years of humanity giving nothing back for his efforts, instead scorning him, mocking him, making him an outcast.
"Still the naïve little alien of long ago, aren't you?" Dib bitterly replied. "People change, Zim. They adapt to what is given to them, and if they aren't given anything…well, it's just unexpected how people will react to that. You never changed. You are the last thread anchoring me to a hopeless world of hurt. You have to be cut out of my life."
"Then let me leave, Dib-worm. Let me live, and never again shall Zim bother you," Zim pleaded. Dib seemed to think about it, then shook his head.
"Sorry, Zim, but this is the only way to freedom from regaining any guilt for my future actions," Dib said with mock sadness.
"You are broken, Dib," Zim murmured softly. "Broken beyond repair."
"How observant of you," Dib replied. Dib ran his hand through his hair, which was lacking the signature scythe-shape he had grown up with. Now it was messy and ruffled, sticking up in some places and laying flat in others. His face lacked glasses as well, and you would expect that his eyes would look smaller as a result. But now…the craziness caused his eyes to grow bigger and dart wildly and randomly from place to place.
"Who are you now?" Zim asked with terror in his eyes.
"I haven't quite decided on a new name yet, scum. I'm certainly not the happy-go-lucky Dib I used to be. But take comfort in one fact before your death. When you die, I will continue your mission for you, out of my own free will. Any who are jerks to other human beings, they will die first. The rest come later."
"Insanity…" Zim replied, then fell back against the table as Dib cut into him once more. Zim didn't give him the pleasure of showing weakness, and no more screams of pain, defeat, and terror graced Dib's ears.
That was the last breaking point of a frustrated Dib. With gusto, and lacking all logic, he cut wildly at the alien, yelling in anger. Even when Zim died, he continued the act.
Dib leaned on his knees, gasping for breath after he was finished. Zim's final word echoed in his head over and over like a broken record. He started laughing then, building up to an insane laughter that would lead him into a world of torture. Always, the sane voice in his head screamed at him to stop. The voice of the past, the voice of the enemy.
But no, it could not stop him. The birth of a killer is hard to prevent, and does not always happen at the same time as the original birth. The man standing in this room, he has lost himself. One must be cautious when confronting him. A misspoken word, the wrong look directed towards him…and he could be reliving the death of his enemy, regardless of whose blood stained his clothes.