Aftershock
The truth finally comes out.
Dib couldn't sleep at all that night, thinking about what had happened.
He had tried to spy on Zim, but there seemed to be no movement inside the base.
Not even the tiny moose or hyperactive robot, which was a concern.
He knew Gir couldn't go too long without causing some sort of major chaos.
Still, there was nothing… Even late into the night…
Even though he was mostly worried about what the alien might do, a part of him was calling Zim an idiot for still forcing himself to believe all the lies he had been told most of his life.
He was an outcast, despised, tossed out like a piece of garbage.
Dib had even talked with the Tallest before and, from what he could see, they were terrible leaders.
Far too childish and self-absorbed to command anybody.
But Zim was nothing if not blindly loyal…
Why couldn't he admit that they wanted nothing to do with him, so he could finally move on and actually have a life?
Dib couldn't believe he was feeling sorry for his worst enemy.
The one who had tried to kill him on many, many occasions.
He had completely destroyed what little (Admittedly selfish) trust he had in him.
Zim had almost annihilated the Earth.
Not only in this dimension, but all of them.
Forcing them together so they would rip each other apart.
How could he have any pity for the little green nuisance?
He was getting sick of this…
He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head, forcing all thoughts having to do with the extra terrestrial menace out of his mind.
--
The next day, Dib sat patiently waiting for Zim to show.
He had barely gotten any sleep and was ready to give him a piece of his mind.
But he never showed…
Dib camped out in the tree across from his base again, and again, all was silent.
"I'm not falling for this again, you gross lizard thing." He said as he settled in.
After a couple of hours, he found himself nodding off.
He pinched his arm hard to wake up a bit.
"Damn… Can't fall asleep now. Gotta stay up. Gotta keep watch." He told himself.
He waited, and watched, and waited…
And the next thing he knew, he was waking up.
"Huh…? What?"
He looked at his watch and almost fell out of the tree.
He had been asleep for ten hours.
He groggily climbed down the tree, falling to the dirt about half way down.
"I'll get you, Zim. I'll figure out your scheme and I'll get you." He said as he stared menacingly at the odd little 'house'.
Now he just had to get home and explain to his dad why he was coming home at four in the morning…
--
The next week was the same.
He would sit and wait, both in skool and outside Zim's house.
He even dared to ask Ms. Bitters if she had heard anything.
She growled something about Zim being home due to complications with his 'skin condition' and also how she wished the world would implode.
One day, as he was sitting up in the tree, something dropped in front of him.
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Dib shrieked at the loud noise and promptly fell backwards out of the tree, landing with a solid thud as he hit the grass.
Gir looked down at the startled boy from up in the tree.
"That looked like fuuun!" Shouted the robot, jumping down and landing right on Dib's gut.
After letting out an 'oof' sound upon impact, all he could do was groan.
Gir was heavier than his tiny body let on.
He giggled manically and swiftly climbed back up to do it again.
This time Dib was able to roll out of the way, leaving the robot to faceplant in the dirt.
Not that it fazed him at all, he just climbed back up for more.
All the while, Zim sat just above the tree in his Voot cruiser, laughing so hard his squeedlyspooch hurt.
"W-what in the seven moons of Schlorrn were you doing?" asked the shrill, alien voice, still laughing, from the small ship.
Dib got up and popped his back.
"I was trying to find out what you were planning, what else?" he replied with a glare.
"Don't tell me you've been sitting out here all week!" He was still giggling. "I've been working on my new, perfect plan all the way on that puny pebble you humans call Pluto."
"So, you're telling me that I've been sitting here, in this stupid tree, staring at an empty house…?!" Dib snapped in disbelief.
"Yeah, I guess so… Ahahaha!" Zim burst out again.
Dib's face was burning, weather it was from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.
"I told you I had something amazing in mind, and I knew you wouldn't think to follow me all the way out there." He grinned darkly. "I will soon prove just how powerful the almighty Zim is, to both you and my Tallest! They will never have reason to doubt me again!"
Dib ran a hand over his face in frustration.
He felt as if he would make more progress talking to a brick wall.
"Zim, listen to me. The Tallest aren't coming back. After what happened, I did my research. Nothing has ever gone into a Florpus and escaped. We only got away coz we were still on the edge."
Zim hopped out of his ship and it automatically headed for the base.
"You lie, human stink-thing! You LIE!"
He screamed, quickly walking up to Dib and pointing a gloved finger right in his face.
The boy swatted the hand away roughly.
"You are such an idiot, Zim!"
He shouted. "Even if they did somehow manage to miraculously survive and escape, what makes you think they would want anything to do with you?! They abandoned you! They would have been happy to leave you here to rot, still thinking you had a mission!"
At that, the alien attacked, knocking Dib to the ground.
He tried to slash the stupid child with his short but sharp claws, but his gloves prevented it.
He lashed out at him in every way he could think of in his state.
Dib, bruised and glasses cracked, fought back, using his legs to try to keep Zim away from his face.
He managed to kick Zim off of him and into the tree.
He then quickly grabbed Zim's wrists, pinning them against the trunk and put his weight on his legs to keep him still.
Zim still snapped at Dib's face with his frighteningly sharp teeth, continuing to curse at him.
Dib held him down, letting him tire himself out.
When the irken was having trouble catching his breath and silently seething, glaring at Dib with all of the rage and hate he could still muster, Dib spoke.
In a still angry but even tone, he told him the truth, making sure he was listening.
"They're gone, Zim. Even IF they're still alive, they're not coming back. They don't want anything to do with you. You're a failure, an outcast, Zim. The sooner you can admit that they sent you here with no hope to return, the sooner you can move on and actually have a life."
Ruby eyes narrowed, tears forming but they were not allowed to fall.
Sharp, pink teeth gnashed tightly together.
His whole body trembled with extreme rage… And also… Fear.
"What kind of life can one have when they have been bred and trained their entire life for one thing, and then it's ripped away?! I am an irken soldier!" Zim snapped.
Dib stared at him, surprise replacing some of the anger on his face.
"There is no life to live if Zim can't have a mission. That was the whole point…"
It took a minute, but Dib started to realize what he meant.
The words feeling like a weight slowly crushing the breath out of him as he replayed them in his head.
"When you teleported the planet…" Dib said, barely above a whisper. "You didn't plan for them to pick you up… You wanted to die completing your mission…"
Zim was now looking off to the side, not meeting his eyes.
He slowly got up, releasing the others hands.
"Why, Zim?"
The irken stood, his legs shaking a bit.
"You can't change what you were born to be, Dib…" Zim said in a hoarse whisper. "I will never stop trying to destroy this filthy mud ball!"
With that, he walked into his base.
Dib sat under the tree, still trying to proses what had just happened.
He ran his fingers through his hair and tilted his face toward the sky, before he heard something that sent terror through his body.
"Caaaaaaanoooooon baaaaaall!"
Some dark stuff in this one...