A/N: Dib and Zim arrive at the abandoned asylum. Dib still can't remember anything strange from the night before, but Zim is certain that the disgusting smell originates from the old building. They split up, because of course they do, and while Zim locates the source of the stench, Dib finds himself in an entirely different situation.

Chapter Three:

The Stench

[Dib]

It's been my dream for years now to take a ride in Zim's spaceship, and the night I finally get to do it, I spend the entire time doubled-over and clenching my stomach to contain my, as Zim puts it, "infectious worm fluids."

He isn't exactly gentle about flying, either. I'm going to wake up with no less than four different bumps on my head for sure.

I'm on the verge of passing out when we finally land. The ship slowly lowers into the canopy of the forest, settling on the cold ground, surrounded by thick, twisting roots and brush. At least we won't have to worry about anyone finding it.

"You know," I grumble, struggling to stand, "for someone who doesn't want me puking in their ship, you sure drive like you want me to puke in your ship."

He flips a switch by the main circuit board and the hatch opens with a loud hiss. "But you didn't, did you?" He glances back at me and frowns, looking genuinely displeased with my appearance. "Are you going to be able to walk, stink-boy? You're all...floppy."

I straighten my back and take a small step away from the passenger seat. "Yeah...I think I'm okay. Just a little tired."

His nose-area(?) crinkles. "Zim forbids you from passing out while we're here. I will not be carrying your contaminated meat bag for a second time today."

"Yeah, see," I rub one of the lumps on the side of my head and wince, "that's not really something I'm doing on purpose-"

"Zim forbids it!"

"Okay, okay!" I slump against the back of the seat for a moment to steady myself. Why does he always have to shout everything? "Geez, I won't pass out or whatever."

"Good." He offers a less-than-pleasant smirk and steps to the side. "Now get out of my Voot and lead me to this home of disease."

It'd be pretty embarrassing to fall right now, so I take my time to ensure each footstep is stable as I descend the hatch ramp. I can't wait for this all to be over so I can go home, get out of these gross clothes and take a damn shower.

"It's an asylum," I say, glancing up briefly at the trees towering over us. "Or, it was. Now it's just an empty building."

Zim follows me but he keeps his eyes engaged in a constant sweep of our surroundings. The hatch clicks softly behind us as it raises itself to close. A small spurt of steam releases, sealing the ship.

The sounds of the forest slowly rise. Crickets, strange bugs, unseen creatures shuffling through the bushes and branches. Our footsteps crinkle the thick grass below with a quiet swish.

"What do humans do with these...asylums?" Zim asks, and for once, the volume of his voice is appropriately set.

"People used them to lock away those who struggled with different mental illnesses or disabilities. It was before we really understood how the brain works - they're not used so much anymore."

"Well, they should start again," he mutters. "Have you seen the filthy meat worms we're forced to breathe next to at Skool? It's honestly criminal."

The hill begins to dip down into the clearing and it feels like the house rises from the gloom. I chuckle despite the pain in my chest. "So you don't consider me one of those 'meat worms.' Huh. That's the nicest thing you've said to me, Zim."

A strange purple hue rushes across his face. Even in the darkness, I realize I haven't seen that expression before.

"Do not flatter your big head, Dib ," he snaps, jabbing a claw at my face. "You may not be as unbearable as those other meat worms, but you are still a meat worm. There are levels of filth to this planet and the one you occupy is far beneath me."

"Whatever you say, Zim."

We reach the entrance to the building. It's a dark and formidable structure with sharp architecture and broken windows. The whole thing seems to lean slightly to the right. Rows of shingles are missing across the angled roof and the chimney has collapsed on one side. The forest seems to have reached out and wrapped itself around the foundation. Roots curl up through the wood and stone, cracking the steps leading to the door. The evening wind moves through the trees. Anyone else standing here would feel the hairs on the back of their neck rise, but I find comfort in the sight of something so far removed from our backwards town.

"I hate it."

I blink out of my little trance. Zim's standing next to me with his arms crossed and the tip of his tongue poking out.

"Zim can already smell the garbage. I have no idea why you'd spend your free time snooping around a place such as this."

I look back to the old building. "I like it. It's nice and quiet."

He makes a clicking sound. "You're stupid, so it doesn't matter. Let's find the horrid rot so we can go home already."

I let out a heavy breath and head up the steps. "I told you, Zim, I don't remember seeing anything weird."

"Your memory is faulty, human. The stench I've been forced to endure all day is clearly emanating from here."

"Alright, fine - go see for yourself." I push the front door open. It groans, a ghostly sound that floats off into the darkness. The musty scent of old wood hits my face in a gust. Zim's nose wrinkles even further and he gags dramatically.

"This is the worst place Zim has experienced thus far on your grotesque dirt planet!"

I roll my eyes. "Dude, you're being ridiculous. It just smells like an old building. It's totally normal."

"I hate it!" He shoves past me and the door slams behind us. We both flinch but Zim tries to act like he didn't by hurrying further into the entryroom. I roll my eyes and follow him…at a much slower pace. God, my body hurts. As I look around the front room at the torn curtains, the deep scratch marks in the wooden floor, and the random, splotchy burns across the plaster, I realize my leg's been throbbing this entire time. A faint feeling washes over me with the memory of Zim shoving that needle into my thigh. Yeah...this was probably a bad idea.

"Zim," I call after him, but my voice comes out much weaker than expected. "Zim, hold on."

He stops in the hallway ahead of me and glances back. His eyes scan my body. He heaves out a sigh, turns around, and stomps back over to me.

"You look disgusting, Dib," he mutters. "Zim should have known you were going to be useless."

I grab the edge of the wall paneling to my left. My skin prickles. The wound on my thigh burns and a strange new ache begins to reverberate through my gums. Zim watches me for a moment but I can't read his expression. I don't know why I keep expecting him to offer a hand or help me in some normal human manner - I shouldn't be surprised at his detachment - but in this moment, while the fear cools my blood and pushes sweat through my pores, I'm really, really upset at how little he seems to care.

He blinks once and turns his head to look over his shoulder. "The smell is coming from the lower level." His tone is flat and stoic - almost bored.

"The basement." I struggle with the words. My tongue feels fat and heavy. "I...I think I went down there. They used it as a storage space for the supplies and medicines."

"Hm." He looks back at me, eyes searching up and down. His tongue clicks. "Zim will go. The Dib should stay up here since your stick legs are poisoned and feeble."

"Are you sure?" I try to stand up straighter, but the pounding in my leg forces me against the wall again. "I could help-"

" Hah! " His teeth gleam in the light of the moon through the windows. "Don't be stupid. I already told you I will not be carrying your stink body anywhere tonight. You will stay up here, out of trouble. It won't take long."

My heart slumps. Damn it, I feel so...pathetic. This is my element! I should be on my feet, exploring, taking pictures, studying the layers of dust, the antique objects left behind from another decade. Not sick, out of breath, and wilted against the wall because I can't bear to walk five steps. My jaw clenches and I avert my gaze. If Zim notices any of my emotional turmoil, he ignores it, and simply points a threatening claw at my face.

"Stay here, Dib-stink."

And with that, he turns on his heels, his steps fading along with his silhouette through the darkened hallway. I wait, completely still, until I'm sure I can hear the faint creaking of the old staircase. After that, nothing.

A few minutes pass, but they honestly feel like years. I glance at my watch. It's 11:56. The hands have stopped.

I roll my head against the wall and wince as a new rush of discomfort floods my veins. My tongue pushes into my gums to try and ease the pain.

Five more minutes. Maybe - my watch isn't working so I guess I don't know. I wriggle my phone from my back pocket. No service, but the clock is working, at least. It's 12:07 am. I don't have a lot of battery left, but I'm already bored out of my mind, so I touch the flashlight option, pull myself from the wall, and start a slow sweep of the room. The light isn't nearly enough to illuminate everything, but it's a start. Maybe I can find something interesting to distract myself with while I wait for Zim to finish searching the basement.

I walk across the hallway to the room in the back. I think I remember some kind of kitchen set up. My movements are slow, careful, and yet still pained, but I try my best to ignore it. The ache in my gums, however, is practically impossible to block out. I rub my mouth with one hand and hold my phone out with the other, mindlessly massaging the inflamed tissue. It only helps a little bit.

I wave the light across the room. The kitchen is on the right. Everything is old and broken. If there was a stove, it's been removed, leaving a discolored space between slanted countertops and busted cabinets. The shelves that are left intact are empty save for the thick coat of dust and grime. The fireplace across from the kitchen has kept most of its dark bricks and the wide mouth of it is stained with layers and layers of soot. I try to imagine it lit, with large chunks of firewood and a warm, comforting blaze. I walk towards it to touch the ancient brickwork when my senses become acutely aware of another presence in the room.

"Hey!"

The voice startles me. I scramble back to see a stocky man standing in the hallway, aiming his flashlight directly at my face. It's so bright…

"What're you doing in here, kid?" he snaps. Keys jingle on his belt as he approaches. His footsteps are heavy, and he smells like-

Eat.

I blink hard, palms pressed into the rough bricks of the fireplace. ...What?

"You're trespassing," the man says, louder now. I swear his flashlight keeps getting brighter. The ache in my gums reaches a new peak and I have to press my fingers hard against the tender flesh to try and lessen the pain-

Eat.

Blood rushes through my head. I feel so dizzy.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

A bead of sweat slips down the side of my face and my glasses begin to fog up.

"What're you, tweaking? I thought I told you and your druggie friends to stay the fuck out of here, it's private property-"

It's so bright. So loud. My tongue is prickling and I swear to god my mouth has never hurt this bad, not even when I had braces the other year. It feels like someone is plucking out my teeth, wrenching them from my gums, one by one. I want to rip the tissues from my face. I want to tear out my eyeballs. I want to smother that awful light-

Eat.

"Mmph!" I slap both hands over my mouth, dropping my phone. It hurts so fucking bad. My knees are locked and the man keeps coming closer, becoming more pissed by the second at my lack of response. But I can't speak. If I open my mouth, I might-

He crosses the room and his hand snatches my sleeve, pulling me away from the fireplace.

"Didn't you hear me?" he snaps. His glasses reflect the bright yellow of his flashlight as he yanks me closer. I can smell his breath. I can smell his skin, his sweat, his blood, and the tingling in my mouth spreads through my entire body until I'm overwhelmed by the scent, swarmed by the need to-

Eat.

My vision tips. Blurs. Darkens. My hands are no longer over my mouth, but reaching forth, grabbing the man's flashlight and crushing it with a single squeeze. The light goes out with the crunch of metal and plastic. I think he shouts. I think he screams. The world around me is compressed into a single frame of thought, to the feeling of his flesh beneath my teeth, to the strong spike of copper flooding my mouth, drenching my tongue, consuming everything around me until all I hear and feel and see is red.

.

.

.

.

[Zim]

"This place stinks. "

The stairs emit a cacophony of creaks and groans as I descend into the basement. Every step brings a new wave of absolute disgust to my squeedlyspooch. This entire stupid Earth cycle has been filled with horrible smells and wretched human fluids. As I reach the bottom of the stairs, steeped in the stench of the rot, I make a mental note to ignore the Dib next time he falls over like an idiot.

"Foolish human…wasting Zim's precious time…"

But the image of the Skool door being torn open and smashed against the wall replays in my head. That door is particularly annoying, heavy, and squeaky. I've always hated it. And yet the Dib managed to almost destroy it entirely. In one push. With his noodle arms, no less! That's not normal.

No, none of this is normal. For the first time in years , something new and strange is happening, and of course it's happening to the stink-boy. He's been a nuisance from day one and now I'm forced to assist him.

I refrain from taking a deep breath. It's incredibly dark on this level - even my superior Irken eyeballs are having difficulty adjusting to the lack of light. I can see the outline of boxes and old furniture strewn about. Some have stained white sheets cloaking them, and some have been pushed against the wall or tipped on their side. A chair here, a couch there, some small tables, boxes, books, empty metal containers, broken glass, and plastic cups. The floor is coated in layers of dust in most places, but I immediately spy the print of Dib-stink's ridiculous boots across the boards. So he was down here.

"What a loser," I mutter. What adolescent pig-boy spends his leisure time snooping around stinky old buildings? He should have friend-people by now. Though, now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever witnessed him spend time with any other humans. Other than his freakish sibling. And even she can barely tolerate his idiocy.

A scraping sound emits from the dark corner of the room. My antennae prickle beneath my wig as I focus my eyes on the shadows. One step, two steps, three-the image of a boney appendage stretches from the black and long fingers grip the side of one of the larger boxes.

I stop, and wait. Focusing. The scent grows stronger and stronger. The soft hiss of breath arises, and then I see it. A face in the darkness. Pale, taut flesh; white, ghostly eyes that glow against the black. It cranes its neck from behind the boxes and strands of long, dark hair follow its movements. Our eyes lock. The scent is unbearable. Sweet and sticky, it seems to cling to my insides, coating my tongue. My eyes narrow.

"That smell," I whisper, stepping closer. "It's you." My vision continuously adjusts until I can see every fine line etched into its expression, carving deep bags beneath its eyes and around the thin, cracked lips. It looks like a female, but something is...different.

"You are not human." My muscles tense. "What are you doing in this place?"

She watches me for a moment, silent, before grinning. Her smile appears to split its face, stretching her flesh to the last unit of tensile strength, peeling back her lips to bare pale gums and rows of jagged teeth.

Disgusting.

"I can smell him," she hisses. Her voice feels as if it's coming from my own head. I take a tiny step back and before I can make any further demands, she smiles even wider .

" He's changing."

A scream erupts from above. It's so loud that I flinch and whirl around.

Dib.

My head swivels back, but the woman is gone. I don't bother to search for her. I race up the creaking steps to the main floor and an even stronger scent fills my nostrils. My Pak legs carry me over the railing, following the thick aroma to a wide room in the back.

"Dib-thing!" I shout, scanning the darkness. "If what you were searching for last night was a disturbing and wrinkly old woman, I found her hiding on the lower level-"

Crunch .

My head turns toward the sound, and I spot him kneeling in the corner over…

I pause, tilting my head slightly to the left. Is that…?

My eyeballs squint to confirm that the Dib is indeed kneeling over the prone lump of another human male. I move a little closer and lean forward, straining my neck to observe. It's an older human with a fat belly and thick limbs. His glasses are broken and the little shards pin the thin metal frame to his face, trailing blood. His eyes are blank and dead. I slowly scoot around Dib's hunched body until I can see his face, drenched in blood, mindlessly gnawing on a chunk of…

" Blech , disgusting!" I spit. I wave my hand over my head, feeling betrayed. "Since when did you start eating filthy human innards? Is this part of the puberty you humans are constantly whining about?"

But the Dib ignores me. My face scrunches into a deeper frown. I sit back on my haunches to get a better look, though I'm not sure why something so repugnant intrigues me. I stay quiet for a moment and watch as he uses his hands to dig through the dead man's opened chest cavity. Irk, it smells so rancid.

I study his face. Thick, viscous splats of blood drip from his mouth to his chin, down his neck, further staining his hideous clothes. His glasses are spattered with crimson and his eyes are a strange, bright red. I don't think his teeth used to be so large and sharp. Have they? Surely, I would've noticed.

"Dib-stink," I say loudly, snapping my fingers in his face. "Hey! Zim is speaking to you!"

The only response he emits is a low, rumbling growl. The sound sends a vibration through my antennae and a ripple of discomfort courses through my limbs.

"Your jokes today have not been amusing, meat-worm. Zim is done with this place. We will leave now."

I stand to my feet. Wait. Tap my right foot expectantly. Wait. But the two minutes that drag by feel like hours and the foolish boy remains squatting there, eating. My mind rattles through different explanations. I don't recall humans eating other humans. It isn't a typical occurrence. And Dib is so...weak. Like a sponge, or a noodle. How did he defeat this larger man without any assistance? He could barely stand earlier.

"Alright, enough of this!" I snap. Though in truth, I know the sensation of fear is rearing. My antennae feel as if they've been zapped and my body is on edge. I repress the emotions, and instead reach out and snag him by his shoulder to pull him away from the carcass. "We're leaving now, Dib-stink-"

He whirls around and snarls inches from my face, spitting tiny chunks of flesh. I yelp, incredulous and frightened. My skin burns as I frantically wipe the blood away. "H-How dare you spit at Zim!" But my voice is faltering. Even as I yell, I find myself stepping back, retreating. But my reaction is too little too late. He charges at me like an animal, grabs my arm, and hurls me across the room. The impact of my back against the brick wall knocks the wind from me. My body responds before my mind can regroup. I jump to my feet again just as he throws himself at me, wrists clasped, bodies slammed into the floorboards with the loud splintering of wood. He pins me down, dripping with gore, and unleashes a deafening hiss.

I stare up at him with wide eyes as the fear pools in my chest, cold and deep.

This isn't my Dib.