Sorry I haven't posted in a while. But, no, this fic isn't dead. I haven't written anything new in it in a while but there's stuff I wrote a while ago that I just haven't posted yet. So....I dunno. Read. Please. And reviews are very nice things.
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Chapter 3- Still Fighting
Up in his room, Dib shut the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. Slowly he slid down the smooth wood to sit on the floor, His forehead resting on his knees
Voices? Now he was hearing voices? Maybe everyone was right. Maybe he was crazy.
"No..." Dib whispered to himself. "I just didn't hear it. I couldn't have heard it! Zim's dead......Zim's....dead."
"Am I?"
Dib's head came up so fast he hit it against the door. He cringed and rubbed a bump on the back of his head.
He was sure he'd heard it. And this time it wasn't just in his head. It had come from somewhere in the room. Dib looked around his room quickly, searching for anything that could have possibly made a sound resembling Zim's voice.
Finally he sighed and let his head fall back to his knees.
"I AM losing it!" he groaned. A familiar chuckle floated through the room.
"It's a possibility." Zim's voice replied. "You were always crazy. But in this case, no, I'm here." He chuckled again.
"No." Dib said, looking up again. "You can't be... I KILLED you! I buried your body in my backyard! You're DEAD!"
"I may be dead, yes. You accomplished that goal in your pathetic human life. But that doesn't mean I'm gone. I would've thought you of all people would know that. With all your ghostly knowledge and stuff."
Dib could picture Zim smirking at him at that moment. After a year he had thought the image of Zim would have faded, at least a little. But now it was in his mind, fresh and bright as a picture.
"But I won, Zim! Remember? It's over! I destroyed you-"
"No, Dib." Zim cut him off sharply. "You haven't won. And you haven't destroyed me." Dib glared at absolutely nothing as Zim laughed darkly.
"I've been destroying YOU."
Dib jumped to his feet and angrily threw open the door to his closet. "Where are you!?" He demanded as he yanked blue shirts and black jackets off their hangers and to the floor. "Huh, Zim? Come out here and face me, you coward!"
"I'm not in your smelly little closet, Earth-Monkey." Zim told him, laughing at Dib's frantic and useless search. Dib spun around.
"Then where the hell are y-" Dib's voice was lost. He took a surprised step back, tripped over a boot and fell into the closet.
Zim was sitting on his bed, looking completely solid, completely alive. The evil smile he'd worn as he died was back, except this time it wasn't cover by his disguise.
Dib just stared at the image in total shock. This wasn't happening. It was supposed to be over! HE had WON!
Furious, Dib leapt to his feet again. Screaming, he ran toward his bed, arms out, ready to push Zim to the floor. When he was close enough he jumped at the alien. An ice cold chill ran through Dib's body, quickly replaced by sudden pain as he hit the wall on the other side. He lay on his bed a moment, staring at the ceiling, dazed. After a moment he slowly sat back up and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pain shooting through it.
"Ah, Dib, Dib, Dib." Zim sighed as he shook his head. He turned half his body to look at the human. Dib glared and threw a punch at Zim's face. His hand went straight through it and came out the back. It felt as though he'd attempted to punch a patch of freezing air. Dib pulled his fist back quickly and stared at it in surprise.
"Stupid human." Zim said. "Have you completely forgotten all you 'paranormal' stuff?" He put empathize on the word 'paranormal' making it sound like something crazy. "You can't hurt me." Zim continued. "I'm dead. Remember? You killed me one night out on a sidewalk somewhere?"
"Then it's over." Dib insisted, breathing hard and glaring at Zim. How he hated that man. "You're dead, so you can't conquer Earth. I won."
"I agree that you won that battle." Zim admitted. Dib looked surprised for a moment, then went back to glaring. "But I'm not talking about THAT. What I'm talking about is the battle we've been fighting since the day I came to this filthy little chunk of space garbage. The battle of Zim versus Dib. Win takes all, loser ceases to exist."
Dib looked coldly at Zim. "That's you." He told the alien. "I killed YOU. So YOU no longer exist!"
Zim growled, annoyed. "You just don't listen, do you?" He snapped. "YES I am dead! YES you killed me! YES your pitiful planet is safe! But NO! We are NOT finished!" The tow glared at each other. "You merely killed my body, Dib. But not my mind. And not my will to destroy you."
"And what do you plan to do about it?" Dib hissed. "You can't hurt me."
"Oh, I have a plan." Zim replied. "And it's a great plan! Not like those plans I had while I was alive. I can't see now how feeble they were. I was naive. But now...I'm open to so many possibilities. In fact, the moment I saw my blood on my glove. I had a plan. It started that moment too." The grin that had haunted Dib for 364 days appeared again. Dib's body stiffened reflexively at the sight, causing Zim to laugh. "And it seems to be working perfectly. Yessssss, you shall not win THIS battle, DIB!" He broke out into a maniacal laughter.
The sound grated on Dib's nerves until he couldn't take it any more. Once again forgetting his knowledge of ghosts and spirits, Dib lunged at Zim. A moment later he was lying on the floor, pain throbbing in his hip and shoulder.
Ignoring the pain he jumped immediately to his feet and spun around to face Zim.
He was gone.
Dib stumbled backwards in surprise. The laughter that seemed to suddenly be coming from everywhere slowly pulled itself inward until once again it resided only in Dib's head.
Spinning around again, Dib searched his room, his eyes darting from side to side. He could still hear Zim's irritating laughter, but somehow he knew the Irken's spirit wasn't going to let him see it.
A sharp knock on his door made Dib gasp and spin to face it. Instantly Zim cut his laughter to watch whatever was about to happen. He was sure his plan nearly complete. Once it was he could finally leave Dib's tiny mind for good. Well, leave what was left of it anyway.
The knocking came again. Dib glared at the door, rushed forward and threw it open.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ZIM?!" He yelled. Out in the hall, Gaz stared at her brother, cocking an eyebrow at him. Zim chuckled quietly, only barely loud enough for even Dib to hear.
"What are you talking about?" Gaz asked. "And what are you doing in there? Sounds like you're throwing your furniture against the walls."
"I-I'm rearranging." Dib lied quickly. Gaz stepped forward and looked past him to survey the room.
"it doesn't look any different to me." She said. Zim laughed louder at Dib's stupid lie. Dib's body stiffened as he attempted to mentally push away the irritating sound. Gaz noticed this and took a small step backward.
"What's your problem?" She demanded. "You've been acting stranger than ever lately."
"It's nothing." Dib lied again. "I'm fine."
"Are you, Dib?" Zim hissed. "Are you REALLY fine?"
"Yes... I AM really fine." Dib murmured under his breath.
"I didn't say anything." Gaz told him as she began walking down the hall toward her room. "Geeze, Dib, maybe you really ARE crazy."
Dib watched her until she disappeared into her own room. He closed the door, walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge, staring at the blue carpet in frustration. Zim was quiet for now, but Dib had a feeling that the alien spirit was still there, somewhere.
"What is it, Zim?" Dib whispered angrily to the empty room. "What are you doing? Are you still just trying to make me look crazy? Is that it?"
Silence.
"Huh, Zim? IS THAT IT?!" Dib yelled. Still there was only silence. An thick, annoying silence. Dib sighed, closely edging a scream, and fell back on his pillow, staring at the ceiling. Gaz's last words came back to him.
Was that it? Was he finally going crazy? Losing his mind and believing Zim was back? That he had never really left?
No... he was there. Dib could feel his presence. Like when someone's in the same room as you. No... not like the same room... more like...
Dib froze. In his mind he was transported back a year.
He watched Zim die again, that horrible grin on his face, that strange feeling that something hadn't gone right coming over him shortly after the Irken had taken his last breath. That feeling that had never completely gone away, always seeming to press on his sanity.
Then he was sitting in bed, drawing all those pictures. The pictures that he had had such a hard time getting rid of Zim's grin in, even when he had drawn him in pain. It had been like something in his mind wouldn't let him forget that Zim hadn't admitted defeat.
Something in his mind...
Zim.
Zim was IN his MIND! Destroying him from the inside!
"STOP IT, ZIM!" Dib screamed, jumping off his bed. "Get out of my head! Leave me ALONE!
"So you figured it out, huh?" Zim replied casually. Now Dib knew the voice was in his head, but not a figment of his imagination. "It's about time, really. I expected you to catch on long before this. You always caught on fairly quickly during my life."
"Get out of my mind, Zim." Dib growled, glaring at nothing, breathing hard from anger.
"Not yet, Dib-worm." Zim chuckled. "Bet you never thought you'd hear yourself be called THAT again! But, no, not yet. I can tell that my work is nearly complete. Now, if you'd be so kind as to keep down the noise, I have a few last minute details to work out. So... why don't you go to sleep? It's always quiet when you sleep."
"You think I'm going to just lay down and let you KILL me?" Dib asked. "I've been fighting you for over half my life! Do you expect me to give up NOW? I'VE got the advantage! I still HAVE my body AND mind!"
"HA!" Zim scoffed. "We're almost even! You don't have enough of your mind left to do anything more to me! In fact, killing me is probably the worst move you could have made! I can do SO much more to you now! I can go on for as long as I need! That body was just holding me back!" Zim laughed. "I should've let you kill me YEARS ago!" He broke out laughing like a maniac. The sound tore away another piece of Dib's sanity.
He growled, screamed and ran to his desk, turned on some loud music, and grabbed a pencil and his drawing tablet. He sat down at the desk and began working on a new, yet familiar picture. The same from a year ago.
Dib refused to let himself sleep that night. He'd never sleep again if that's what it took to get rid of Zim.
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Next chapter will hopefully be up sooner than they have been.
~HelgaGP
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Chapter 3- Still Fighting
Up in his room, Dib shut the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. Slowly he slid down the smooth wood to sit on the floor, His forehead resting on his knees
Voices? Now he was hearing voices? Maybe everyone was right. Maybe he was crazy.
"No..." Dib whispered to himself. "I just didn't hear it. I couldn't have heard it! Zim's dead......Zim's....dead."
"Am I?"
Dib's head came up so fast he hit it against the door. He cringed and rubbed a bump on the back of his head.
He was sure he'd heard it. And this time it wasn't just in his head. It had come from somewhere in the room. Dib looked around his room quickly, searching for anything that could have possibly made a sound resembling Zim's voice.
Finally he sighed and let his head fall back to his knees.
"I AM losing it!" he groaned. A familiar chuckle floated through the room.
"It's a possibility." Zim's voice replied. "You were always crazy. But in this case, no, I'm here." He chuckled again.
"No." Dib said, looking up again. "You can't be... I KILLED you! I buried your body in my backyard! You're DEAD!"
"I may be dead, yes. You accomplished that goal in your pathetic human life. But that doesn't mean I'm gone. I would've thought you of all people would know that. With all your ghostly knowledge and stuff."
Dib could picture Zim smirking at him at that moment. After a year he had thought the image of Zim would have faded, at least a little. But now it was in his mind, fresh and bright as a picture.
"But I won, Zim! Remember? It's over! I destroyed you-"
"No, Dib." Zim cut him off sharply. "You haven't won. And you haven't destroyed me." Dib glared at absolutely nothing as Zim laughed darkly.
"I've been destroying YOU."
Dib jumped to his feet and angrily threw open the door to his closet. "Where are you!?" He demanded as he yanked blue shirts and black jackets off their hangers and to the floor. "Huh, Zim? Come out here and face me, you coward!"
"I'm not in your smelly little closet, Earth-Monkey." Zim told him, laughing at Dib's frantic and useless search. Dib spun around.
"Then where the hell are y-" Dib's voice was lost. He took a surprised step back, tripped over a boot and fell into the closet.
Zim was sitting on his bed, looking completely solid, completely alive. The evil smile he'd worn as he died was back, except this time it wasn't cover by his disguise.
Dib just stared at the image in total shock. This wasn't happening. It was supposed to be over! HE had WON!
Furious, Dib leapt to his feet again. Screaming, he ran toward his bed, arms out, ready to push Zim to the floor. When he was close enough he jumped at the alien. An ice cold chill ran through Dib's body, quickly replaced by sudden pain as he hit the wall on the other side. He lay on his bed a moment, staring at the ceiling, dazed. After a moment he slowly sat back up and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pain shooting through it.
"Ah, Dib, Dib, Dib." Zim sighed as he shook his head. He turned half his body to look at the human. Dib glared and threw a punch at Zim's face. His hand went straight through it and came out the back. It felt as though he'd attempted to punch a patch of freezing air. Dib pulled his fist back quickly and stared at it in surprise.
"Stupid human." Zim said. "Have you completely forgotten all you 'paranormal' stuff?" He put empathize on the word 'paranormal' making it sound like something crazy. "You can't hurt me." Zim continued. "I'm dead. Remember? You killed me one night out on a sidewalk somewhere?"
"Then it's over." Dib insisted, breathing hard and glaring at Zim. How he hated that man. "You're dead, so you can't conquer Earth. I won."
"I agree that you won that battle." Zim admitted. Dib looked surprised for a moment, then went back to glaring. "But I'm not talking about THAT. What I'm talking about is the battle we've been fighting since the day I came to this filthy little chunk of space garbage. The battle of Zim versus Dib. Win takes all, loser ceases to exist."
Dib looked coldly at Zim. "That's you." He told the alien. "I killed YOU. So YOU no longer exist!"
Zim growled, annoyed. "You just don't listen, do you?" He snapped. "YES I am dead! YES you killed me! YES your pitiful planet is safe! But NO! We are NOT finished!" The tow glared at each other. "You merely killed my body, Dib. But not my mind. And not my will to destroy you."
"And what do you plan to do about it?" Dib hissed. "You can't hurt me."
"Oh, I have a plan." Zim replied. "And it's a great plan! Not like those plans I had while I was alive. I can't see now how feeble they were. I was naive. But now...I'm open to so many possibilities. In fact, the moment I saw my blood on my glove. I had a plan. It started that moment too." The grin that had haunted Dib for 364 days appeared again. Dib's body stiffened reflexively at the sight, causing Zim to laugh. "And it seems to be working perfectly. Yessssss, you shall not win THIS battle, DIB!" He broke out into a maniacal laughter.
The sound grated on Dib's nerves until he couldn't take it any more. Once again forgetting his knowledge of ghosts and spirits, Dib lunged at Zim. A moment later he was lying on the floor, pain throbbing in his hip and shoulder.
Ignoring the pain he jumped immediately to his feet and spun around to face Zim.
He was gone.
Dib stumbled backwards in surprise. The laughter that seemed to suddenly be coming from everywhere slowly pulled itself inward until once again it resided only in Dib's head.
Spinning around again, Dib searched his room, his eyes darting from side to side. He could still hear Zim's irritating laughter, but somehow he knew the Irken's spirit wasn't going to let him see it.
A sharp knock on his door made Dib gasp and spin to face it. Instantly Zim cut his laughter to watch whatever was about to happen. He was sure his plan nearly complete. Once it was he could finally leave Dib's tiny mind for good. Well, leave what was left of it anyway.
The knocking came again. Dib glared at the door, rushed forward and threw it open.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ZIM?!" He yelled. Out in the hall, Gaz stared at her brother, cocking an eyebrow at him. Zim chuckled quietly, only barely loud enough for even Dib to hear.
"What are you talking about?" Gaz asked. "And what are you doing in there? Sounds like you're throwing your furniture against the walls."
"I-I'm rearranging." Dib lied quickly. Gaz stepped forward and looked past him to survey the room.
"it doesn't look any different to me." She said. Zim laughed louder at Dib's stupid lie. Dib's body stiffened as he attempted to mentally push away the irritating sound. Gaz noticed this and took a small step backward.
"What's your problem?" She demanded. "You've been acting stranger than ever lately."
"It's nothing." Dib lied again. "I'm fine."
"Are you, Dib?" Zim hissed. "Are you REALLY fine?"
"Yes... I AM really fine." Dib murmured under his breath.
"I didn't say anything." Gaz told him as she began walking down the hall toward her room. "Geeze, Dib, maybe you really ARE crazy."
Dib watched her until she disappeared into her own room. He closed the door, walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge, staring at the blue carpet in frustration. Zim was quiet for now, but Dib had a feeling that the alien spirit was still there, somewhere.
"What is it, Zim?" Dib whispered angrily to the empty room. "What are you doing? Are you still just trying to make me look crazy? Is that it?"
Silence.
"Huh, Zim? IS THAT IT?!" Dib yelled. Still there was only silence. An thick, annoying silence. Dib sighed, closely edging a scream, and fell back on his pillow, staring at the ceiling. Gaz's last words came back to him.
Was that it? Was he finally going crazy? Losing his mind and believing Zim was back? That he had never really left?
No... he was there. Dib could feel his presence. Like when someone's in the same room as you. No... not like the same room... more like...
Dib froze. In his mind he was transported back a year.
He watched Zim die again, that horrible grin on his face, that strange feeling that something hadn't gone right coming over him shortly after the Irken had taken his last breath. That feeling that had never completely gone away, always seeming to press on his sanity.
Then he was sitting in bed, drawing all those pictures. The pictures that he had had such a hard time getting rid of Zim's grin in, even when he had drawn him in pain. It had been like something in his mind wouldn't let him forget that Zim hadn't admitted defeat.
Something in his mind...
Zim.
Zim was IN his MIND! Destroying him from the inside!
"STOP IT, ZIM!" Dib screamed, jumping off his bed. "Get out of my head! Leave me ALONE!
"So you figured it out, huh?" Zim replied casually. Now Dib knew the voice was in his head, but not a figment of his imagination. "It's about time, really. I expected you to catch on long before this. You always caught on fairly quickly during my life."
"Get out of my mind, Zim." Dib growled, glaring at nothing, breathing hard from anger.
"Not yet, Dib-worm." Zim chuckled. "Bet you never thought you'd hear yourself be called THAT again! But, no, not yet. I can tell that my work is nearly complete. Now, if you'd be so kind as to keep down the noise, I have a few last minute details to work out. So... why don't you go to sleep? It's always quiet when you sleep."
"You think I'm going to just lay down and let you KILL me?" Dib asked. "I've been fighting you for over half my life! Do you expect me to give up NOW? I'VE got the advantage! I still HAVE my body AND mind!"
"HA!" Zim scoffed. "We're almost even! You don't have enough of your mind left to do anything more to me! In fact, killing me is probably the worst move you could have made! I can do SO much more to you now! I can go on for as long as I need! That body was just holding me back!" Zim laughed. "I should've let you kill me YEARS ago!" He broke out laughing like a maniac. The sound tore away another piece of Dib's sanity.
He growled, screamed and ran to his desk, turned on some loud music, and grabbed a pencil and his drawing tablet. He sat down at the desk and began working on a new, yet familiar picture. The same from a year ago.
Dib refused to let himself sleep that night. He'd never sleep again if that's what it took to get rid of Zim.
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Next chapter will hopefully be up sooner than they have been.
~HelgaGP