Chapter 5
The cool autumn breeze whipped leaves into small tornadoes of color. The dead, playful foliage snapped under the crushing weight of Dib's boots. The school day that had plagued the boy all weekend had come and gone without a problem. Dib had expected his nemesis to show up, and began telling everyone about the boy's suicide attempt. That would have landed the paranormal investigator in the counselor's office again and dampened any hope for another early death.
Surprisingly, the alien hadn't shown up, leaving Dib on constant watch. But the day had passed without a hitch, without a peep, and the boy was thankful to be walking back to his house. Cutting through an alleyway, Dib emerged on his street and glanced at Zim's house. The usual alien glow around the structure seemed dampened that afternoon, looking as lifeless as the surrounding buildings. Growling in annoyance, Dib turned to face his house. Taking a few steps the raven- haired boy stopped again and let out a long sigh. Hiking his bag higher on his shoulder, Dib moved the opposite direction, back toward the alien base. Walking straight through the gnome field, Dib arrived at the front door of the base. Sighing deeply, he waited for one of the two inhabitance to be alerted, by house's computer, of his presence. Standing there, patiently, taking deep breaths, his mind finally caught up to him.
What am I doing he asked himself, eyes widening in surprise. He knew that the computer had already informed everyone that he was there, and Zim was probably getting ready to finish the job from the other day. He could leave quickly, denying to himself and Zim that this had ever happened, or he could continue on, no goal in mind. Mind making a shakey conclusion, Dib placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it.
Over the years, he realized that Zim did not lock the front door, which was rather foolish seeing as though he was on an alien planet trying to conquer it. It was just one more thing added to the long list of imprudent moves Zim had under his belt. Peaking around the door, Dib was greeted with the sight of a dark, disserted looking base.
"Zim?" he ventured to ask, opening the portal a little wider. Silence answered him for a brief moment before a distant reply was given.
"Get out of here." The pure emptiness of the command made the hairs on Dib's neck stand on end. Indeed, it didn't seem like a command at all, but a dejected plea.
"Zim?" He asked again, taking a step into the house. Usually he wouldn't care if the alien had ended up dead on the side of the road, pummeled to death by one of his experiments, or possibly decapitated, but the sadness that descended on the room was too heavy to ignore. The boy moved away from the door and into the center of the odd living room, the temperature seeming to drop the farther he moved away from the freedom of the outside. Maneuvering in the darkness, the paranormal investigator noticed a foot sticking out from behind the couch.
Oh god! Zim's got another human hostage!' Hurrying around the couch, he noticed a young boy, staring absentmindedly away from him, tight fabric clinging to the pale frame.
"Are you alright?" Dib asked hastily, afraid of what horrible experiment the alien could have done to him. The boy didn't move, but let out a shaky sigh. Slowly, he rose his knees to his chest and buried his head in them. Dib just watched, not knowing what to do. After a moment of silence, the boy spoke,
"Go away, Dib..." Blinking once, the raven-haired boy let reality hit him square in the face.
"Wait... Zim?" The boy on the floor folded himself up more, letting out a pathetic whimper. Dib stood and took a step back, surprise crossing his features. The boy on the floor moved into a tighter pose and let out a pained growl.
"Get out..."
"What the hell's happening here?" Dib wasn't planning on leaving until he had a few questions answered. Zim was quick to respond,
"Nothing happened! Get out!" At that moment, the alien jumped up from his place on the floor, staggered a little, and fell back down. The sudden switch in height made the blood in Zim's newly acquired ears pound. He groaned, rubbing his head.
"You look human..." Dib mumbled, mouth still open a little in shock. The alien let out a pitiful sob and grabbed at the hair growing from his head. It hanged near shoulder length and curled slightly around his pale face. "What happened to you, Zim?" Letting out a series of deep-throated grumbles in a language Dib couldn't understand (but figured was Irken), Zim began struggling to his feet again. Moved to pity, Dib knelt down next to his rival and spoke softly,
"Who did this, Zim?" The alien visibly flinched, but didn't move away, only fell back to the floor. "Come on." The alien narrowed his eyes, feeling the rage building up inside of him. He didn't want to be like the boy next to him. He didn't want to be like any human outside the door of his base. He didn't want to be like any human, ever. He wanted to be Irken, the superior race. Green skin, antenna, crimson eyes, his old self. A foot shot out, striking a blow into Dib's stomach, flinging him onto the floor with a grunt. Zim refused to be down and out yet.
"My leaders did this to me..." He yelled, raising balled fists to eye level. Digits were short and stubby, not ending in the claws they used to, the black fabric stretched across them. His leaders had done that to him? The ones he loved and worshipped so much? Dib coughed, placing a hand on his bruising rib. He could feel the familiar rivalry bubbling to the surface, but shoved it back down.
"How did they do it? Why did they do it?"
"They sent me a 'strength amplifier'... They said it was that, anyway. Really, it was a chemical to change me into this..." He didn't move, a disgusted look crossing his features. He didn't need to show Dib what he meant. It was obvious. His old identity had been ripped away and trampled on.
"So, it was a biological transformation…"
"Mental, too!" Zim called out, launching another kick that was caught by the paranormal investigator, falling almost harmlessly onto his lap. Zim lacked the strength to retract the long limb, letting it rest there. "My pack…. It isn't me anymore. I'm me." Dib continued to watch the other, keeping a hold on the foot. He could remember the problems that horrible pack had caused in the past. Once he had managed to swipe the metal container, hoping to uncover some of the weapons the alien had, but instead, he had found Zim's soul, leaving the lifeless other searching desperately before his half an hour of remaining life was up. Indeed Dib had figured this to be a nice, easy way to be done with the alien forever, until the pack began to fuse itself with Dib. It was a disturbingly cruel way of raping his soul, an Irken final result to stay alive. It was unsettling to say the least.
"Get out." Zim suddenly commanded again, narrowing his crimson eyes at the boy. Dib was taken aback. Hadn't they just been bonding? He felt sick at his word choice. Bonding was for friends, lovers, not sworn enemies. Tossing the aliens leg roughly to the side, Dib stood, glaring down. He wanted to move, swear at the damn creature and leave, but he just couldn't do it. The situation was all too familiar. As soon as he left Zim would kill himself, and why should he allow Zim to have that release, when the alien denied him it. Swearing inside, he threw himself back onto the ground, back against the wall, next to the boy. He could tell Zim was getting pissed off, but maybe their usual bantering would solve the problem.
"Hey, Zim?" Dib ventured, devising a foolproof plan in his head.
"What the hell do you want Dib!" Crimson eyes whipped to look at the presence next to him, but were greeted with the site of a fist connecting violently with his left cheek. A pissed scream echoed through the room as the ex-alien's head bounced off of the side of the couch. Quickly he was shoved to the ground, pinned down under the boy who continued to land punches in his mid section. The paranormal investigator was pulling his punches, more so wanting to revive the fighting spirit than hurt the boy. Zim, however, didn't feel the same. This was a fight for his life, the same as always. Folding his legs up underneath the other, he gave a sudden jerk, tossing the boy off of him. Dib tumbled to the ground and, within seconds, the alien was on top of him, administering the same punishment, only twice as hard. Grunting in pain, Dib deflected the blows to vital parts of his body, while attempting to get Zim to calm down. The alien, however, wouldn't listen until an accurate punch to the diaphragm froze him in place. The wind was forced out of him, crimson eyes swelled with tears as he went limp, breathing shallow and pained. Coughing, Dib sat up, letting the other boy slide to the floor next to him. Rubbing at his ribs, he looked down at him.
"Do you feel better now?" Struggling to steady his breathing, Zim sent one last desperate punch at Dib, which was easily deflected.
"No. What the hell---"
"Old habits die hard, I guess." Dib said, standing .to sit on the couch. Zim moved to his knees, long antennae sticking out of the black hair, twitching in aggravation. Amber eyes watched him for a moment before he reached down, grabbed the boy's hand and moved to the door.
"Let's go get some food."
"I don't want you're disgusting human food!" Zim shouted, trying to pull away but to no avail. He was too worn out by the sudden fight to put up much resistance.
"I'm hungry, so I'm sure you are to." Dib's fingers just grazed the doorknob when it swung open, GIR looking in. At first all three stood in silence, not wanting to make a move until the other did, and GIR was the perfect candidate to shatter the tension.
"Where you goin'! He shouted happily, looking from Dib to Zim, bouncing a little.
"Well…"
"GIR! Aid your master! Destroy the human!"
"Master looks funny!" GIR was obviously too busy malfunctioning to truly understand the issue at hand. Zim's mouth hung open, shocked to say the least. Sure GIR was useless most of the time, but in circumstances like this, he usually managed to pull something together and protect him.
"He, uh… robot thingy… You want to help me out?" GIR nodded enthusiastically. "Great. Grab his legs." Zim panicked, kicking out once more. The long limbs proved a strong weapon, except right now.
"I'm taking you with me, Zim, and there's nothing you can do about it."