Dib's eyes widen, and he holds ZIM tighter. The tense stares of the Irkens in the stand bore into him from all directions, adding to the discomfort. He grits his teeth and lays his head on ZIM's chest. He looks up to scream his disapproval, and a familiar burning wells up in his chest as he stares up to the monitor.

He freezes, petrified, looking up at something that's neither him nor ZIM. The amalgamation stares back at him, it's skin shifting and melding together with the consistency of molten glass. Green and brown mixing and fusing. He couldn't recognize himself in the mess. The scream rips through his throat, leaving the area burning and raw. He looks down at the corpse melding itself to his body and tries to rip himself away from it.

The escape attempts—kicking, shoving, ripping the flesh apart—end in vanity. It swallows him and leaves him drowning. He struggles to control his breathing, staring up through the opening of Judgementia's ceiling. ZIM had said something about that earlier. How he feared that the end would come for them. Dib cracks a broken smile, dissolving into a sob.

He saw the light before he heard the explosion.

The shockwave cracks the barrier around them, the heat filtering in and scorching his flesh. He grits his teeth and yelps. The communication device in his ear screeches before fading to silence again.

"Dib." Lard-Nar's voice crackles through it. "Dib, come in."

"What. . . What the fresh fuck did you do?"

"We altered and enhanced the virus in his coding. The Control Brains couldn't handle it. It didn't take much work at all." He clears his throat, cutting off a noise of disbelief from Dib. "You're alive, I see. We weren't sure you'd survive the mission."

"You said you'd save him." Dib swallows, then coughs into his hand.

"Look around you, Dib. Their influence is gone. Their leaders are gone." Lard-Nar sighs. "If we promised to save him, you'd let us move forward with the plan with no hesitation. We had to do it."

Dib lays ZIM's body down in front of him, walking to the edge of the barrier. He squints. The green-black masses were still blurry, but a lot easier to make out. They lay motionless, charred beyond recognition. He forces down bile. "They're gone. . . Is there going to be a Reform Movement for those who survived?"

"All Irkens are connected to the Control Brains in some form or fashion." Lard-Nar hums. "It's likely that they all were killed. The ones who didn't explode on impact are ticking time bombs with that virus in their code. It's best for them to stay isolated. The most we can do for them now is to isolate and restrict the Irken Sector of the Ring. We'll collect any non-Irken survivors and lead them to a safer area until their planets have healed."

Dib glances back at ZIM's body. "Remove the virus from ZIM's data, and fit me for a PAK."

He takes out his hearing aids and slumps down to the floor, wrapping ZIM's body tighter into his trench coat. The once magenta ocular implants are now a dull grey. Dib sighs and tenderly runs a hand over his forehead, flinching at the chilled flesh. Tears well up in his eyes, but he blinks them away and glances to the side.

ZIM grumbles to himself, rummaging through a drawer of random Irken medical supplies he had stocked up on. His hand takes a steep dip and recovers a small roll of gauze. He adds it to the pile of medical supplies on the table. "Dib-Shit with his stupid, puny human body. . . It's going to be easy to kill him."

"What was that?" Dib shifts on the table, pushing up his glasses and swinging his feet back and forth.

"ZIM said nothing. You're lying!" He grasps Dib's arm and studies the injuries. Most of which, ZIM, himself had caused. The scars left behind are going to be absolutely wonderful. ZIM cracks a smile.

"Sure, Space Boy. The hell are you smiling about, anyway?" He tries to pull his arm away. "That's creepy."

"Nothing, nothing." ZIM grasps Dib's arm tighter, dabbing a pinkish liquid onto some of the wounds.

A burning sensation courses through Dib's arm, and he sucks in a breath through his teeth. He closes his eyes and furrows his brow to try and chase the pain away. The ebbing burn slowly grows in intensity until it feels as if his wounds are being welded together rather than healing normally.

He sucks in a breath and grips his wrist, leaning forward into ZIM's shoulder. The burning increases into a white-hot scorching. His body trembles as he chokes back a pained cry, gritting his teeth. ZIM tenses for a second but soon relaxes and thumps Dib in the forehead. Stupid humans and their low pain tolerances.

ZIM's PAK clicks, and a small voice reminds him of the dangers of what he's doing. Helping the enemy. The voice threatens him with legal action. A charge of treason. Conspiring against the Empire. He shudders and feigns disgust, stepping back from Dib. Disgusting, he chides himself. To his relief, it sedates the nagging voice. Utterly disgusting creature.

"They should be clean by now," ZIM says with a flick of the wrist. "Extend your arm."

Dib blinks and holds his arm out to ZIM, flinching. Some of the burning still pokes at him when he moves. ZIM scans it before grabbing the roll of medicated bandages. He unwraps a bit of it, checking for the slightest imperfection.

"You're fucking weird." Dib eyes the roll, arching a brow. "There a speck of dirt on it, or something?"

"Nonsense." ZIM sneaks a glance. "ZIM is just making sure there is nothing that could infect the wounds."

He presses the start of the bandage against Dib's arm and firmly wraps it around. Dib thought he saw ZIM pause for a moment to check for a pain response. But the cold seeping into his skin distracts him. It contrasts the searing sensation of the cleanser used earlier, much to Dib's relief. He sighs to himself with the soothing cold.

The ice glides across his back between his shoulder blades. It leaves behind a trail sending streaks of residual moisture sliding down his back, starting off cold but warming up the farther it travels. Dib jumps at the strange feeling and grips at the cushion. A hand rests upon his shoulder to keep him still and secure.

"Thanks, Gaz." Dib reaches back and places his hand over hers resting on his shoulder to show that he's okay. He resists the urge to rub his ears. The enhanced hearing aids his dad made for him weren't too comfortable. But at least he could hear.

"This was a bad idea. You know it." Gaz slides the ice against the raised skin around the PAK. "I'm sick of you waking up in the middle of the night screaming about something that happened when you went into space. And then I have to deal with your burnt ass because Dad won't look up from his work long enough to give a single soaring shit.

"Do you even know how goddamned stupid you are? You just got up in the middle of the night and left without a word. And then you have the nerve to show up with a PAK, destroyed ear drums, and countless unidentifiable injuries. Plus the news that ZIM's fucking dead?"

"How did you find that out, anyway?"

"You tried to bring his corpse into the house, you fucking psychopath." She sighs. "Dad kind of saw it. He's running these weird tests or experiments or whatever you wanna call it. You fought like hell."

"Oh. Right. I forgot. And Dad. . . ," Dib starts, licking his lips. He tries to turn around, but Gaz shoves him back into his before position. "You know Dad's trying to help. He's. . . He made me the hearing aids and is working on trying to understand and fix the PAK. Maybe he'll finally believe me. This is real, right? I-I'm right here with you right now?"

"Yes, Moron." She rolls her eyes. "This is happening right now. In the present. This isn't a part of one of your stupid attacks, or. . . whatever they're called."

"A-Are you sure? What if—"

"Shut up, Dib!" Gaz sucks in a breath, smacking him in the back of the head. "And quit moving. It'll make the swelling worse."

Dib opens his mouth to speak, but with another glare from Gaz, he shuts it again and settles with a nod. Instead, he chooses to focus on the ice trailing across his skin. The chill soothes his mind, but even so, as his eyelids droop, he pries them open again. He takes a breath.

"Did. . . Did I just come out of one of those?"

"It would appear so, Son." Membrane kneels in front of him. As the panic spreads across Dib's face, he lays a hand on his knee and gestures to Gaz, still standing behind him. "Pardon. I did not mean to startle you. I assure you that all of what you're seeing right now is real."

"Dad, don't sneak up on him like that." Gaz crosses her arms. "He's still out-of-it."

"I see. Are they working well?" He taps his ear twice.

Dib nods a bit. "Yeah, they're working fine." He pauses, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Um. . . Dad? Did you find anything? With ZIM?"

Membrane hesitates, his breath hitching. "As for your green friend. I've not found an inkling of human DNA. His organs were difficult to examine, due to the decomposed state of the body, but they, too, match no Earthly creature I have had the pleasure of seeing.

"And the metal device on your back contains traces of unknown metals. I'm not sure what to make of this. You'd chalk it up to aliens, but the usual alien excuses are such an outlandish concept formed to explain the seemingly unexplainable. It's utter nonsense. But this is incredible."

Gaz pinches the bridge of her nose, but stays silent.

Dib sighs and hangs his head. "Please. At least just consider it. You've got the biology right there in front of you. It's all right there!"

"Son." Membrane looks up at him, face stern. "If anything, this is the most compelling evidence for your theory that I've seen thus far. I'll have to admit, the option is on the table. However, since not everything is accounted for just yet, I'm still inclined to debunk your theory. Give me some time, and trust me. Whichever event comes up, will be the one I will believe."

It isn't much, but, still, it's progress. Dib flings his arms around Membrane's neck, and smiles when he gets the same in return. He buries his face in his shoulder to keep the tears at bay. Or, at least hide them for longer. The underlying anxiety sparks within his stomach. But when he looks back up, the room was like it was before.

He chokes on a sob and buries his face in his hands. Membrane pulls him tighter, gently patting his hair.

Dib sniffles. "Oh, God, it's really you guys."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time. You're home." Gaz lays her hand on Dib's shoulder, rolling her eyes. Still, she cracks a faint smile. "And Dib? Never do that again."

Dib laugh-sobs and wipes at his tears. "Yeah. . . I'm home."