Mostly just Dib this time. It was the first thing that popped into my mind at the prompting word, and while it doesn't have that much to do with said prompting word, I guess it doesn't really have to.
Warning: Death and some really bad luck. Also, I used 'Membrane' as Dib's last name, despite the fact that I know it actually isn't. It just sounds like it should be.
CITY
Underneath flickering fluorescent lights and seated on a rickety metal chair between two policemen, the man stared out the tiny room's dirty window, expression blank. He hardly heard any of the aged attorney's words, more focused on the smoke drifting lazily over the metropolis.
Every once in a while, Dib nodded in what he deemed an appropriate spot; the others hadn't picked up on it as of yet, so he guessed that he was good enough at pretending he was listening. He'd had a lot of practice dealing with-
...
-No, it was best not to think about him anymore.
He fancied then that he could hear the screams, the aftermath of a transpired battle in the streets between mortal enemies, but that was an even more treacherous line of thought. Just slightly shaking his head, Dib forced his mind to go as blank as his expression, but couldn't tear his gaze away from the small space between buildings, where the familiar cul-de-sac was nestled. He'd made a horrible decision, he knew. Shouldn't have done it, it was so stupid...
"Mr. Membrane? Are you listening?"
Dib glanced over at the attorney, a glimmer of surprise evident on his face, but it faded back into blankness and he just nodded again, mumbling an affirmation just barely loud enough to be heard.
"There's really not much we can do," the older man said then, combing one gnarled hand through his graying hair and sighing. "All the evidence against you, you know, and...well, your record's not exactly pristine..."
"I know," Dib murmured quietly, averting his gaze once again, back to the window and the plume of smoke unfurling from the concealed neighborhood.
"Your testimony won't hold up. I'm sorry."
Dib hadn't expected it to – a disguised alien invader hiding itself away in a perfectly normal cul-de-sac, who he'd gone to fight against with a stolen piece of equally alien weaponry he had no idea how to wield. That in itself was already unbelievable to the masses. Add in the fact that the weapon had backfired, the fact that he'd lost both it and the proof he'd been struggling for all his life...
To the public, the whole affair had 'terrorist' written all over it. They didn't understand.
And now they never would.
Zim's base was gone, self-destructed with its master's demise, decimating the surrounding homes and what remained of its owner. Dib, the only one who knew what was about to happen, had only barely escaped the explosion in time.
The alien weapon was worthless, blasted and mangled beyond all recognition or repair. It wasn't even made of some alloy never before discovered on Earth.
There was only Dib, a terrorist who had just killed an innocent and misunderstood child with a skin condition. Nothing more than a terrorist, who had planted enough explosives beneath the child's home to turn an entire neighborhood into a smoking crater, killing dozens of innocent people and injuring many more.
Against his better judgment, he imagined he could hear the emergency vehicles as they swarmed to the area, still trying to find survivors.
Numbly, barely hearing the words of the policemen as they hauled him up, Dib just nodded again, no longer caring what happened. Earth was safe. That was all that really mattered in the end, he decided.
The handcuffs closed over his wrists, and he went quietly.
Another happy ending! :D