*Panting in exhaustion* Now that was a writing marathon! I literally just finished this chapter. Unfortunately, though, that means you people have caught up to me. There might not be many chapters left, but updates will become a lot less consistent. The bright side is that I know what's going to happen. I just have to write it down. That means that it won't be two years between updates.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Seventeen: Dib

Eventually, I managed to pick myself up from the ground and begin looking for wherever Dad and Gaz had gone, but I couldn't get Zim's words out of my head. What did he mean when he said that he screwed up?

The only way to find out what was really going on is to find him and ask him myself, but there was no way that he would stick around here, and I doubted that my dad would let me leave to go find him.

I found Dad and Gaz near where I left them before. Dad was urgently discussing with another scientist and all but ignored my reentry. "What did I miss, Gaz?" I wondered quietly.

"You left?" she questioned, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. "Dad is wondering if they should warn the world or take care of it themselves."

"It's not like they don't already know," Dad barked at the other scientist. "Reports of Dwicky's crash landing are bound to start circulating soon, if they haven't already."

"But there'll be mass panic if we confirm the existence of alien life!" the other man argued.

Dad glanced at me before shaking his head and turning back to the scientist. "But if the invasion is going to be here in only three days like Dwicky said, it would be better to enlist the entire planet's help, wouldn't it?"

The two went back and forth for a while, and I started to tune them out, thinking more about what Zim had said. Does he want to work with me and protect the Earth? It sounded like it, but what had changed to make him want to save Earth rather than destroy it? He has saved the Earth before, but wasn't this his leaders? Wasn't this how he wanted to destroy us?

"Hey, Dib," Gaz voiced, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at her. "Could you hold onto this? It's annoying to carry."

She held out a small tube, offering it to me. I took it from her and realized that it was her retractable bo staff that I had electrified. I looked back at her. "Don't you need this?"

"Doubt it," she muttered as she pulled out her Game Slave. "If Earth is being invaded, I'd rather finish this game than hold onto it."

"Dib," Dad interjected, "can I speak to you for a moment?"

The other scientist scoffed and rolled his eyes, gathering some files before walking away.

I nodded and followed my dad away from the main part of the lab. Most of the chaos had calmed now that people were getting a grasp of the situation. The red lights were still flashing, but the alarm had been turned off.

Once we were away from everyone, Dad turned to me and got down on one knee so that we could be eye level. He took several halted breaths, like he was continually changing his mind on what to say. He briefly glanced down at the ground before looking me square in the eye. "Do you know how to stop these things?"

I was so surprised by his question that I couldn't say anything, not that I knew the answer in the first place.

The two of us were silent for several moments before Dad sighed deeply and put his hand on my shoulder. "I should have never sent you to that hospital, Son," he admitted, deepening my surprise. "But you have to understand. I thought that…." He sighed again. "The scientific probability of intelligent alien life is high, but when they look at Earth, they would only see dinosaurs, so the idea of one of them being here was ludicrous. But now I'm starting to think that everything you said about alien life was true."

Eventually, my dad convinced the other scientists to warn the world and enlist their help rather than covering up the situation. We met up with Dwicky and got out onto the stage that the media crew had set up, taking our seats behind the podium.

As Dad stepped up to the podium and faced the crowd, Dwicky turned to me and whispered, "So what happened while I was gone? You seem different, Dib."

My mind briefly flashed back to all that happened in the "hospital", but I forced myself to remain focused. It was a lot easier to prevent my mind from drifting now that the majority of the drugs had worn off, and the panic attack pill I took earlier was helping to keep me calm. I looked back at the former school counselor. "In all honesty, you don't want to know. What about you? What was space like?"

Dwicky opened his mouth to respond but stopped when short rasping breaths came through the speakers. I glanced towards the podium and found my dad with his hands covering his face and his shoulders bouncing, as if he was crying. "I'm sorry, Dib," he whispered. "You're the only one who would know what to do because you've studied these creatures all your life."

He was admitting it? That he, the great Professor Membrane, was wrong? On international TV?

There was a little more commotion in the crowd as someone forced their way through and onto the stage. Zim. And of course, GIR. He turned around to face the audience and the cameras and announced, "Attention all you earth slorps! The Dib is broken because you were all too idiotic to listen. All of you were so incredibly stupid to think that you're all alone in this universe. HA! Now, Zim is your last hope so you will listen to me or you are doomed!"

The crowd quieted a little at his words, and Dwicky seemed to be strangely focused on him.

Two security guards in black body armor made their way onto the stage behind Zim, and one of them requested that he get off of the platform. "Yeah," the other agreed. "Let Professor Membrane finish his announcement."

Zim briefly glanced at the guards before turning back to the people. "Dib is not the only one to know about other lifeforms! I listened to his rantings as he constantly accused me of being one of them, so I am your best and only bet to stop this impending alien DOOM!"

Yeah. That's why he knows how to stop his own leaders.

The first guard thrust his shock prod into Zim's back, finally making him pay attention to them. The two advanced towards Zim, and one of the men jabbed him again. He ducked under it, but was stabbed by the second man.

The whole thing reminded me too much of my first night in the Crazy House for Boys, and I instinctively reached for the electrified bo staff Gaz gave me in my pocket.

Zim groaned, and as one of the two guards went to shock Zim again, the four mechanical legs from his pack extended and raised him high out of their reach. Something black drifted to the floor, and I looked down to find Zim's wig.

"Oh, so we're showing everyone, Master?" GIR wondered, looking up at Zim.

"GIR, no!" Zim had barely gotten the words out before GIR had removed his bad disguise and revealed himself.

Dwicky growled next to me as he slipped his hand into his pocket. "He's Irken," he muttered threateningly. "With a SIR Unit and all."

Dwicky rushed up from his chair and charged at Zim's mechanical legs. He tackled one of the legs, throwing Zim's balance off enough to throw him to the ground. Dwicky whipped out a handgun and pointed it a Zim's head, instantly disabling the safety. "He's one of them!" he shouted. "He's Irken! He has to be working with them!"

I brought out Gaz's bo staff and extended it like she had taught me. Was I really going to do this? Was I going to save my enemy from death?

If only to protect the Earth.

I rushed forward and knocked Dwicky's hand upwards just as he pulled the trigger. I flinched at the sound, but the bullet still went up into the sky rather than into Zim. "You shouldn't do that," I warned. I forced Dwicky's hand away so forcefully that he dropped his gun. I kicked it away and looked back up at him. "He might be Irken, but I know him. He asked me to help him stop his leaders from taking over the Earth. He wouldn't do that if he wanted them here."

"It's a trick!" someone from the crowd yelled.

"The Dib human is right!" Zim countered as he got up from the ground, dusting off his pink tunic. "The so called 'Tallest' have fallen out of my favor, and because of that I will prevent them from accomplishing what they have been wanting since before I even came to Earth: taking over all of the planets they can during Operation: Impending Doom Two!"

"Your leaders are just taller than everyone else?" Dad questioned from the podium.

Zim glanced between us. "Wow. Genetics at work, huh?"

"Anyways," I interjected, "it doesn't exactly matter what happened. What we need is a way to defend the Earth, and it's not like we have space ships."

"What?!" Zim shouted. "Good thing I chose to help you. You'd be helpless without me!"

"The closest technology we have to your Voot Cruiser is a rocket, but they take years to assemble and have no offensive capability," I explained. "If we can somehow reverse engineer your technology and attach it to say...an Air Force fighter jet, we might have a better chance."

"Why would you trust him!" Dwicky demanded, receiving a noise of approval from the crowd as they started to surge towards the stage.

"He's probably tricking us!"

"I thought you hated Zim!"

"Why would you listen to anything he has to say?"

"Quiet!" someone ordered through the microphone, yelling so loudly that the speakers rang. Everyone looked over to the podium and found Gaz at the microphone. "If Dib says he can stop the invasion, you all BETTER LISTEN!"

"My daughter is right," my dad added, joining her at the microphone. "My son trusts him, and believes him to be an ally, therefore, so do I. He will be placed under my protection as they work together to stop this invasion."

"You can't be serious!" Dwicky demanded, receiving an uproar of agreement from the crowd.

Dad nodded towards the guards, and they went around Zim and me to stand between us and the audience as they started to surge towards the stage. The guards gradually moved backwards, forcing Zim and I to back up. Eventually, Zim, GIR, Dad, Gaz and I ended up back in the lab.

"Well, at least I can take these stupid lenses off," Zim voiced, taking his contacts out and revealing his double pupiled, pink eyes. "I've hated these things since day one!"

"So what happened between you and your leaders?" I wondered.

"Nothing that concerns you, Dib Stink! And they're not my leaders," Zim yelled.

"So what's your plan, Son?" Dad interjected.

I looked up at him, and from what I could see of his face, it seemed like he was smiling. "I need to call the Swollen Eyeball," I answered. "They can help us a lot more than conventional science."

"What's a Swollen Eyeball?" Dad wondered.

"No time to explain," I reminded. "I just need to get back home so I can contact them." I glanced at Zim. "And he should come with me."

"What! Why?" he yelled. "If anything, I need to go back to my base to get my Voot Cruiser. That way, you people can attempt to reverse engineer the capabilities of my amazing ship!"

"Well, I still have Tak's ship in my garage!" I countered. Then a thought occurred to me. "I do still have Tak's ship, right?" I wondered, looking towards Gaz, fearing that it was confiscated while I was in the hospital or something.

"No one had any reason to go into the garage, Dib," she muttered, not looking up from her game. "Not even Dad."

"I'll take that as a yes," I said.

"You mean you've had an alien ship in our garage the whole time?" Dad questioned, his voice rising in surprise.

"Yes, Dad," I sighed. I didn't have time to answer all of his questions. "Let's just go."

I bolted out of the car and into the house, Zim calling after me, "Hey, wait a minute? Where's Tak's ship, Earth Monkey?"

I ignored him as I ran up the stairs and into my room. It looked the same as it had this morning. For some reason, I expected it to look different. I expected the posters to be back up and the pill bottles by my bed to be gone.

I shook my head and went to my closet. I dug through the mess inside to find my Swollen Eyeball computer that I had shoved in here when I first got back from the hospital. I didn't have the heart to get rid of it or my posters. I just shoved them in here and buried them under a mountain of clothes.

Eventually, I found it wrapped inside my long, black trench coat. I brought both to my desk and put the laptop down. I powered it up, unsure if it even still worked. I slipped my arms into the sleeves of my coat as the computer booted up. "Yes," I breathed as the Swollen Eyeball logo appeared on the screen.

I closed the computer and was about to head back downstairs when I spotted the pills on my bedside table. Both fear of the meds and disgust mixed inside of me. I still felt an obligation to take them. It was around time for me to do so anyways. I was afraid of what could happen if I didn't take them.

But I couldn't. My head was almost completely cleared.

I shoved down my fear and grabbed the three pill bottles with a shaking hand. I went into the bathroom and put my computer down near the sink. I opened the bottles one after the other and poured the contents into the toilet.

"What's taking you so long?" someone demanded, making me jump.

My heart raced like I was a child that got caught doing something wrong as I got rid of the last bottle.

I turned around and found Zim standing in the doorway looking irritated. "What're you doing?"

I relaxed slightly at seeing him and almost laughed at the irony. Seeing Zim is a relief now. I looked back at him and answered, "Just getting rid of these." I lifted the bottle for him to see, and he snatched it from my hand.

Zim held it to the light, inspecting it. "What is it?"

I flushed the toilet, getting rid of the pills all together. "They were medications I was forced to take," I muttered. "I'm not going to take them anymore."

Zim put the bottle down on the sink counter as I picked up my computer. "Good," he said, turning to leave.

I started at his words. He sent me to that hospital, and now he doesn't want me to take what they gave to me? I shook my head as I followed after him. I couldn't explain his actions at all.

We found my Dad standing outside the open garage door, staring inside. "Dad?" I called as we approached him.

"You weren't kidding about that alien ship were you?" he muttered in awe.

"Nope," I answered, entering the garage.

I climbed into the cockpit of Tak's ship and looked over the controls. It took me a moment to remember how to activate it, but when I did, Tak's voice streamed through the speakers. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your filthy alien meat out of the cockpit?!"

The ship started to move. It got up and jumped out of the garage, launching me out of it. I grunted with the impact of landing on my back.

"HAHAHA!" Zim laughed. "Still can't control Tak's old ship, Dib?"

I groaned and got up, dusting off my coat. "But you let Gaz fly you!" I shouted at the ship.

"That's because I like her," Tak's voice hurled back.

The ship raises one of its curved engines and brought it down towards me. I jumped back, narrowly avoiding being skewered. I looked back towards Zim, who was still laughing. "Get control of it!" I ordered.

Zim stopped laughing. "Why? This is fun to watch."

"Well, you wanna get your ship, don't you?!" I shouted back, dodging another attack from the ship.

Zim hummed in contemplation, putting a hand to his chin as Tak's ship rushed at me.

I jumped to the side to avoid the attack, running into my dad. "You wanna stick it to your Tallest, don't ya?" I shouted, going out on a limb.

"I don't know what you mean by 'stick it', Dib Stink, but they are NOT MY TALLEST!"

"It means to prove them wrong!" I quickly explained. "Prove that you're better than them!"

The ship thrust one of its engines towards me again, and I shoved Dad backwards to get us both out of the way.

"No!" Tak's voice exclaimed, making me look up to find Zim in the cockpit. "Get out of me, Zim!"

The ship started to shake like a dog trying to get dry. Zim held fast to the controls and rapidly pushed some buttons. A familiar helmet extended out of the ship and attached itself to my head. Volts of electricity shocked me all over as Tak's voice screamed.

The helmet suddenly came off, and the shocks stopped. I looked back up to Zim smirking down at me.

"Personality download complete," my voice announced, coming out of the speakers of Tak's ship.

"Not this again," I muttered.

"Don't worry," Zim ordered. "Your mistake was downloading too much of your personality into the ship. It's a delicate balance, and I put the right amount of you into the ship. Now it won't go as crazy as you."

"You can download a person's personality into a computer?" Dad gasped, rushing towards the ship in fascination.

I went after him and climbed into the cockpit next to Zim. "We don't have time for this, Dad. Let's go." I offered Dad my hand, and he took it after a second of hesitation. We got him inside, and Zim closed the windshield of the ship.

"It's a little small in here," Dad whispered.

Zim rolled his eyes and made the ship take off.

I really hope you guys will stick with me during this! Fingers crossed that I can update soon!