#i just really wanted zim to be able to save himself

[emeraldspiral]

Thinking a bit more on the idea of Dib having a vampire ex-boyfriend/nemesis.

Zim would be absolutely terrified of him. Like, we know from the Halloween episode that he has a massive fear of being eaten/having his blood drained so he'd find Batty really intimidating. But he'd try really hard not to show it because he doesn't want to look like a pussy in front of Dib's ex.

Batty would invoke a lot of comparison to Zim with his design and dramatic mannerisms, but he'd be more playful and mischievous and into manipulation and toying with his opponents. The main contrast between the two of them is that Zim is supposed to be cold and unfeeling because his people are conditioned to not feel or crave love but he secretly yearns for it. Batty claims that he had real feelings for Dib and wanted it to work out between them but Dib believes that since losing his soul he can't feel anything genuine and is just very good at faking it.

Batty is extremely charming and manipulative and way better at blending in with humans than Zim, but he also has the ability to hypnotize people, which grows stronger after they've been bitten. Dib however, is immune to Batty's hypnosis because he was bitten once but managed to get away from him long enough for the wound to heal up completely. He still has scars though, hidden by his jacket collar.

Dib asks Zim politely to put off his plans for world domination and promises he'll foil them in a day or two after he deals with Batty's return. Zim takes offense at Dib treating Batty like the bigger threat and tries to force Dib to prioritize his evil scheme but immediately fumbles it, allowing Dib to give Batty his undivided attention.

Dib tells Zim to just go home, promising that Batty can't do anything to him as long as nobody invites him in. Naturally, Batty shows up at Zim's house and walks right in thanks to the Robotparents answering the door with their standard "Welcome home son" greeting. He terrorizes Zim for a bit before biting him but is driven out when GIR belches on him after eating a garlicy pizza.

Zim goes to Dib's house freaking out about being bit and asking if he's going to turn into a vampire now. Dib tells him that he'll only turn if Batty comes for him again and drains enough of his blood to kill him, or if he gets any of Batty's vampire blood in his system. He promises to protect Zim because he doesn't want to deal with him as a vampire. Standard Swollen Eyeball protocol demands that all agents deal with vampires by driving a stake through them, beheading them, and then for good measure burning the remains to ash. The former two Dib doesn't have a problem with, but the latter is unappealing because then he wouldn't be able to prove Zim was an alien or have him dissected for scientific study.

Zim wants to know how to keep Batty away. Dib says he's got a salt circle and garlic wards up around the house to ward away vampires but since Batty's already been to his house it's not totally safe. Gaz is at a sleepover and Membrane's working overnight at his lab, but they'll be going to a safe house set-up by the Swollen Eyeballs.

Unfortunately, having already bitten Zim gives Batty a telepathic link to him, which allows him to figure out where they're going. GIR orders a pizza and Batty seizes the opportunity by pretending to be the delivery guy and getting GIR to invite him in. Hungry for more of Zim's "exotic" blood, he uses hypnosis to compel Zim to come and be fed upon.

Dib drives Batty away, but not before he's drained enough of Zim's blood to put his organic body into a coma while his PAK assumes emergency control, carrying him around on spider legs. The PAK is prepared to turn the nearest organic life form (Dib) into its new host, should Zim die, which seems imminent given that he desperately needs a transfusion and there are no other Irkens around who could donate blood. The PAK is aware of its surroundings however, and is able to listen to Dib explain that there's another way to save Zim.

They get into the medical research department of Membrane Labs where Dib's dad has been working on a blood synthesis machine that can convert any donor blood type into one compatible with any recipient. Dib uses the machine to convert his own blood and Zim is able to accept a life-saving transfusion from him.

Unfortunately, having fed on Zim twice now, Batty's telepathic link is even stronger. He cons his way into entering Membrane Labs and uses his powers to compel Zim to steal the blood synthesis machine and bring it to him while Dib is too weak and anemic to stop him.

Batty takes Zim back to his lair but doesn't feed on him because his plan is to run his tainted vampire blood through the synthesis machine and send it to all the city's hospitals and turn their patients into an army of vampires under his thrall, and he's going to need Zim's blood to replenish him.

Zim attempts to use a tack infused with garlic DNA just like the one from Bolognius Maximus, which he'd made while in the safe house with Dib. But Batty already knew about it due to their telepathic link. He flexes his mental control over Zim by taking it from him and leaving it out in the open and not even bothering to restrain Zim, knowing he doesn't have the strength to break his mental hold and escape or attack him.

Zim is able to contact Dib and tell him where they are though, or rather, Batty allows him to contact Dib because he wants a confrontation with him. When Dib comes Batty tries the classic "we can rule together speech" but Dib's heard it before and reminds Batty that he has no power over him anymore. Batty lets his obsession with Dib get the better of him though, and while he's focused on trying to seduce Dib to the dark side, Zim finally has the chance to strike back and get Batty with the tack, turning him into the very thing he's allergic to.

Batty flits off screaming in agony. Dib isn't sure if being turned into garlic will actually kill him, but if it doesn't, that almost seems worse. Either way, he doesn't expect they'll be seeing him again anytime soon.

And then the story ends with the conversation about how Dib's rivalry with Zim means more to him than Batty ever did.

[ckret2]

Do you think the pine twins and membrane siblings would get along at all? Gut feeling tells me Dib and Dipper at least could get along at first but that'd prob deteriorate quickly.

I think Dipper and Dib would get along like a house on fire. Whenever Dib meets another believer and their relationship subsequently deteriorates, it's because they believe in the wrong way (the paranormal investigator who only believes the stupid things) or they were just humoring him and not really a believer (the school counselor). In Dib's home show, his role in the show is being the only person able to see & care about The Truth, and is incredibly isolated because of it. But Dipper's show has no such restrictions, he can see The Truth as well, and I think Dib would fall all over himself to make a friend is age who agrees with him on paranormal matters and also has hands-on experience saving the world from aliens. They'd amplify each other's weirdness.

I feel like the sheer amount of love and support in the Pines family would bowl over Dib's poor affection-starved ass. Dipper also has a sister who believes in the paranormal but has different interests; but she's willing and enthusiastic about joining in on paranormal hunts anyway, she openly likes hanging out with her brother, and she's nice to him. Dipper also has an absurdly, hyperbolically genius male relative role model he wants to impress; but this relative is also a believer in the paranormal, has dedicated his entire absurdly genius career to studying the paranormal, and doesn't think his younger relative is insane and appreciates what he has to say. Dib would be so painfully jealous. At worst he might resent Dipper for having what Dib so badly wants; but I think he'd probably rather the Pines just adopt him.

Mabel thinks Dib is kind of aggressive but it's cool that Dipper has another nerdy ghost hunter guy to hang out with, so, she's okay with him, but doesn't really wanna be around him alone. She thinks he's secretly super sad though so he gets a pass. Gaz is infuriated that Dipper makes Dib even more Dibbish, and plus she doesn't want TWO of them running around.

Mabel thinks Gaz is pretty cool, Gaz thinks Mabel is annoying but at least not as annoying as Dipper, Mabel is brokenhearted that she's failed to win over a fellow Weird Girl. They will learn to uneasily socialize with minimal hostility while being forced to hang out while the guys try to catch Zim on camera or something, by talking about their artistic pursuits. But not talking too much. Too much and Gaz starts giving her a death glare.

Gaz's opinion on Mabel immediately reverses when she learns she has a pet pig. She comes over just to sit on the floor and stare in wide-eyed wonder at Waddles's face. Mabel's okay now. She has a pig and she lets Gaz look at it.

Mabel gives Gaz a black sweater with a pixel skeleton on it.

[impostorsshow]

Uh, let’s see, random made-up fanfic title…

Don’t Be The Hero, Be My Hero

(I kicked ideas around for like AT LEAST 10 minutes before coming up with this idea and settling on it. It does feel a little vague, or open to interpretation, but I feel really proud of it.)

I know Sam and Max and Legend of Zelda and would be most interested in that, could also get myself invested in a Sonic fanfic because I’m dipping my toes into that pool, don’t know much about DSAF or Invader Zim beyond the surface to really get into a fanfic about those.

Oooo, I like this one [for the record all of these would be one shots]

For Sam and max, I immediately think of a standard 305 fic, either Sam pleading with max [or like his super ego British guy] to just let them save him, but Max. Y'know, it's inevitable, Max's super ego is too stubborn, too set on the idea of being an altruist to make up for all the times Max never listened to him, and Sam is just. Forced to leave him behind. He knows Max knows he hates that the city is being destroyed, but Max is his world and he wouldn't care if it meant he kept Max - this fic could either end when Sam goes to check on Sybil after Max's super ego just won't budge, or right after Max blows up, before Sam leaves to take a walk.

I see very easily why this could be legend of Zelda [heroes duh] but tthere's likem so many way this could be taken with every version of Zelda being sad over link, so let me instead offer a role reversal. Specifically, let me offer something about bots and totk, despite having not finished the game - from what I'm aware of, Zelda dies, never makes it into the future again and stuck in the past? Maybe becomes the blonde dragon? So a fic about link mourning his Zelda, a Zelda that knew so much of him and yet he got to spend so little time of, leaving her time against her will and never being able to see her knight again. Zelda is the only one who knew of the link in the past that he could talk to, and when she died, a part of him died as well, for the second time and permanently. And in case I'm wrong about that, it could be a fic of link slowly finding the memories of Zelda after his reawakening, and the title of the fic is the last line, and the first line of dialogue Link speaks, whispering into Zeldas shoulder after defeating dark ganon, pleading with her to never risk herself for hyrule again [something that would be happy, but is turned bittersweet by totk existing] honorable mention here is a fic about shadow breaking the mirror in the four swords manga, maybe a vioshadow fanfiction because god im a sucker for that, as much as i am a sucker for all 5 of them being brothers [though obviously those two headcanons can't coexist]. Might actually write that later I'll update this post if if I do.

Also, a sonic fic would definitely be tails, though I'm having trouble thinking of exactly where in the timeline, maybe after the whole dark Gaia thing and sonic not being able to sleep and all of that. Tails just wants him to stop focusing on everything else, to focus on himself for once. Or actually that would work really well for sonic boom, just pick your most hated episode and put it as a fluff one shot after that.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Skoodge was the closest in age of their batch. In fact, if Zim had never been cracked open from his cloning tube when he did, Skoodge would have been the runt of the batch. Irkens tended to pair up with smeetmates of those closest in age to them. It wasn’t too uncommon smeets would latch onto a partner for activities and training exercises naturally. It might be something biological that goes far beyond Irken records or data banks were able to explain. Smeets would pair up with either their tube-mate from their batch. Some of these bonds were so strong, the smeets stayed together throughout their adult life cycle.

In fact, the current Tallest, Almighty Tallest Red and Almighty Tallest Purple were so inseparable, they had to be made Tallest together. That and the first two previous Tallest had been tragically killed under mysterious circumstances. Having two Tallest who were smeetmates was just insurance put in place by the Control Brains to insure the Empire would thrive under their leadership.  

However, those two were really the exception and not the rule. It was more common to see smeetmates go their separate ways once training was over for their batch. Some kept in contact, but most didn’t. And judging that the only transmission Zim sent out to space was to the Tallest directly, it’s obvious he hasn’t kept contact with his smeetmate.  

-Snippet from Chapter 5 of Tech Support

---------

Been awhile since we saw skoodge huh?

Well, that’s mostly cause we don’t run into him again until Dib is 14. 

Skoodge was able to see the whole Re-encoding adjustment process on Judgementia, and that was the straw that broke Skoodge.... Zim was defective and sometimes downright cruel towards him... but he knew Zim didn’t deserve this.... there was a lot of treatment of Zim that he saw in himself, and lead to him to defect from the Empire, while everyone was distracted and in a panic over Zim... (stuff happened to the empire shortly after Zim marooned himself on earth, but I’ll save that for another comic... but skoodge does tell Zim.)

Long story short, Skoodge defected from the Irken armada and started traveling the galaxy, righting some wrongs his species has done. 

These are just bits and pieces from a conversation I have in my head with them for awhile now...

and if Zim seems more weary and a bit different then his usual Zim brand... The events of Judgementia changed him a lot... and he’s wen through a lot of his personal growth already (but he’s holding himself back) Skoodge came just at the right time when Zim felt lost in his life. 

Zim also has severe PTSD from Judgementia, and his whole species in general... which is why it takes him awhile to warm up to Skoodge and realize he’s an Irken that doesn’t want him dead. 

Skoodge had felt guilty for leaving Zim how he did, even though Zim had done to him many times over in the past. To find out he was alive was a shock and there are many conflicting emotions being had here. Skoodge had thought about Zim often or all the time, Zim hadn’t really at all... he didn’t even think he would be thought about by anyone else, not really...

Now, Smeetmates. Is it a romantic or platonic thing in my AU-verse? Who knows. It’s just a strong bond that’s hard to explain that isn’t either but somehow all of those things. Like in human terms, Skoodge is the closest thing to a biological “sibling” Zim has, and is probably the only Irken in the known Universe who doesn’t hate him. Take that for as you will.

Skoodge is a topic that will probably come up and I might do a short fanfic on this conversation... because a lot have things happened and I just wanted to draw this timejump now.

I kinda call it: “Two idiots avoid going to therapy by risking their lives in space adventures” arc. 

Anyways, I doodled some of this fast (the first two pannels were drawn back in december) so the pacing might be off from my typical comics, and I might write a fanfic of the full conversation. (I know for certain the topic of Skoodge will come up in the Brainbrane fic.) 

[creepypso]

Since I have a lot of time to think while shading the pictures for the animatic, I came up with some story ideas and “what ifs”. Normally I just keep them to myself or write some down..

But since I’m feel a little confident, I thought I can share some!

Firstly.. I don’t know why but for some reason, the ideas I actually drew pictures for are.. kinda mean to Zim haha I swear I also have some ideas that are more nicer.

---

To explain the first idea: Over the last days I read a few gory fanfics, where Dib had been able to capture Zim and well, then dissected him. 

And while I read I felt really bad for Zim and just hoped that he will be able to escape and then jump into his voot and fly away from everything ;w;

But then earlier while I drew, I started thinking what could happen after Dib let Zim go. And then I thought, him escaping into space.. is pretty boring. And not like Zim at all. What would be his next goal? And he is not on earth simply to spend some time there. He has a mission. And the mission is to conquer it (even if the tallest don’t really care and think he is not able to do it, but for Zim it’s still his mission). Running away is not something he would do.

So what if after Dib let Zim go, thinking that he had once and for all won against the alien, Zim just returned to his base. And after a few days, went to school again. 

He had to continue the mission to prove to the tallest and himself, that he was able to do this. And admitting defeat is not something he wanted to even think about.

---

Dib on the other hand hadn’t expected Zim to be back. Actually the opposite; he was able to do his research and reached almost all the goals he had. The goal of wanting to protect the earth from Zim was supposed to be reached as well. He didn’t want to kill Zim but he knew that earth would only be truly save if the invader disappeared and so he thought he could shock and scare the other enough, so he leaves by himself.

Yet there he was, sitting across the room, looking out of energy and being quieter than normally. However, he was still trying everything to hide it and to appear like his normal Zim-self. 

But even if Zim tried, it was quite obvious that something was off. What Dib had done had broken something inside him (and not just bones :D I’m sorry-). Before Zim had seen him as an equal opponent and even if he wouldn’t say it out loud, respected Dibs determination. But after seeing how far the other had no problem going, Zim realized that Dib had lost that respect and the right to be seen as an equal. Sadly however, the feeling of respect twisted into a feeling of fear.

The joy he had felt when he normally tried to challenge the human or had plans to annoy him, was gone and now he just hated being anywhere near Dib. But his mind continuously told him that he needed to act like before Dib had captured him to not blow his cover and for the mission. So he forced himself to continue the daily routines.

He also didn’t want to care about Dibs opinion on his plans anymore. All he needed to do, is finish the mission as fast as possible and then the armada will come and get rid of the human.

---

Dib didn’t know what he was supposed to feel or do but he quickly learned one thing and that was, that he hated how Zim ignored him, flinched away or avoided him all together. There were no angry threats towards Dib and no stupid, petty plans he could stop. This was nothing like the Zim he knew.

After a while it slowly settled in his mind, that Zim was only acting like that because of him. At first it amused and satisfied him but very soon he came to the conclusion that.. he absolutely despised Zims coldness towards him. It bored him to no end. Since the day Dib had freed Zim, his days had become bland and missing the excitement that came with fighting the alien. And now he couldn’t even focus on new projects with Zim still being so close to him. But the alien showed no sign of actually doing anything.

He still has all the research. Maybe threatening or actually publishing it would get the fire back into Zim?

Or maybe the fire never really left and Dib was simply not allowed to be a part of Zims plans anymore?

[violintrees]

Dead dib? :)

This one is fun :) It’s an au of Bamsara’s CEAPTOW based on some art they made on stream and their responses to it in chat. Technically it isn’t a spoiler, though I don’t think they have posted that piece, but I will put the info underneath just in case. Ill just dump the whole au since I am personally not going to do anything else with it.

So Bam made a piece of Dib asking Zim why they can’t just fix the error in his Pak and Zim shuts Dib down hard. Why? Cause although Zim is pretty sure Dib is alive and the Pak error of seeing Dib dead is just an error.. he also can’t be sure. What if he fixed his Pak and then Dib was actually just gone?

SO THEN, what if he was dead? :)

Whole lot of additional avenues for trauma here.

@/pakdefect also contributed a bit to this in discord cause we both got attacked on the twitch stream for suggesting such a thing.

-

Dib dies in TTHSYS. The Pak is unable to save his heavily damaged body and he is declared dead in the hospital while Zim isn’t there.

Zim’s Pak has its error and begins to imagine Dib awake and alive, starting with the late night hospital visit.

This continues until around the time when False Reflections would happen (so a year).

In this time Zim has already started on the paklets due to that death scare.

Zim trying to get into a physical fight with Dib and his PAK remembers how it goes- they’ve only been fighting for over a decade- but Zim comes out unscathed and it feels wrong but he can’t place why because Dib is clearly right there. They fought. So why is Dib the only one hurt? That’s not how it usually goes.

And they both go quiet bc it’s like??? hello??? why aren’t you fighting back earth worm?

and Dibs only response is “you know why, Zim.”

Their conversation makes Zim realize that Dib is gone, but he also isn’t..

Turns out the Pak recognized Dib as a being very vital to Zim and stored his consciousness while he had it attached. 

That’s how the Pak has been able to create such accurate portrayals of him. 

They work out how to make Dib a consistent ghost in Zim’s Pak and give him a voice. 

He is still only visible to Zim though. 

Any touch Zim gets from Dib is a phantom remnant from an experience long gone.

Pak Dib tries to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and the only thing it can relate to that is a punch Dib once threw, but also Zim is kind of fine with that cause it’s still reassurance that Dib isn’t really gone yet.

Cue Zim going feral to find a way to bring Dib back. He tears through space, mission after mission to get what he needs.

Dib is a clone and Membrane can make another one aged to where Dib should be.

Zim can finish the paklets and upload Dib to this new clone body.

Zim recklessly tears through the galaxy for the parts needed to complete the paklet. 

That causes a lot of angst between the two because Dib does care for Zim and doesn't want to see him mangle himself or others just for him (also he isnt going to try and process WHY Zim is willing to do that, nope). 

They eventual manage the pak cohabitation better.

Zim still makes the space jar for Dib. He tries to hand it over on instinct but then plays it off and stores it in his Pak so Dib “doesn’t get too scared of the dark inside the Pak”

The extra work required to maintain another consciousness puts a lot of strain on Zim’s already defective Pak and among other things he doesn’t heal as well as before. This Zim has a bent antenna for most of the story.

Zim is able to finish the paklets a bit after when Dib would have turned 18. 

They complete the process and Dib is revived!

But all that rush to get the parts has put the empire on red alert.

Zim and Dib need to leave Earth quick, before the empire catches up. With help they are able to upgrade and disguise the voot before setting off. 

Zim is burnt out but content to have his human back, Dib is concerned and trying to break Zim of his tendency to almost die all the time. 

Likewise they sometimes stop to explore and Zim has to still keep Dib from almost dying(again) to space cryptids.

Even after the revival the error isn’t entirely fixed. Zim sometimes panics and forgets Dib is alive again. And touch still doesn’t always register correctly. Dib begins learning pak tech so he can help.

While their communication is not perfect, living together in the same Pak for years has given them an understanding and closeness like no other.

-

And that’s it for the moment! Just a fun what if au au

[takrat]

I hope its okay that ive stolen snazzy-suit's name for this... I wanna go ahead and share my take on the District 9 AU. Oh yeah spoilers for the movie

Irken/child shippers DNI (yes dib is older in this au but z*drs do not fucking interact)

District Doom AU notes under cut:

So its not a perfect parallel of the movie but roughly here are the character parallels: Dib is Wikus (son of Prof. Membrane the founder of PEG labs--"MNU" who's primary goal is researching the aliens for SCIENCE! and Dib desperately wants to be a part of it), Zim is Christopher (former Irken Scientist and lead Invader of his squad in Impending Doom I who were aboard the Massive before catastrophe hit), Gir is Oliver 😊, Skoodge is Paul aka the alien that gets shot early on in the movie but don't worry he's okay now, Gaz is here but idk she's just vibing on her own, oh that assistant guy to Wikus? Uhmm probably gonna be Dwicky or something

After an encounter with a Florpus Hole, the Massive is seriously messed up and finds its way to Earth, hovering over a miserable city, miserably out of fuel with dozens of miserable Irkens aboard. Its systems are horribly damaged so there is no contacting Irk for help.

At the very oldest Dib is 19 and the Irkens have been there for around 20 years, possibly only 15 or so?

Because the Massive's systems are all offline, theres no online PAK charging stations--after about ~20 years, the Irkens with standard issue PAKs are growing weak and dying off (Zim has an Invader's PAK--his charge can last much longer)

The Tallests are there basically in hiding. Purple hates earth donuts.

Dib is put in charge of Operation Eviction, moving the Irkens to a new district further away from the city because they are just so fucking ANNOYING nobody can stand them--while this isn't what he wants, he still goes with it because he hopes to study the aliens up close. It'll be the first time he's been allowed in District D--not just snuck in as a kid and either got kicked out by security or almost blown up

Zim and Skoodge have been collecting fluid from scattered Irken technology for many years, fuel for the Massive so that they may return to Irk and send aid (and also come back and destroy Earth)

Commence chaos and commotion--Dib finds himself with a dead Irken's PAK attached to his chest that is slowly turning him into an Irken. and also he confiscated the fuel which was taken to high security PEG labs

I cant believe they fucking killed skoodge

PEG doesn't have a large focus on alien weaponry like in the movie (they do have some, but studying the aliens and their tech in the name SCIENCE! is their whole deal)

Dib and Zim clash and have to end up working together. Dib is able to get them into PEG labs to get the fuel, Zim can get the PAK safely detached from Dib without killing him and reverse the side effects once they get aboard the Massive. There's a lot more character development and friendship that i just don't have the brain power to work out right now

Unfortunately Prof. Membrane is a bit less redeemable in this au.. hes more antagonistic but I really don't want to fuck my man up too bad cus I really like this guy. Hes not horrible, but he does see whats happening to Dib and wants to study him, reasonably though I think that comes across as very scary to Dib and he freaks out. So not entirely sure why Dib has to run away and seek refuge in District D, but I think he's just scared? Miscommunications with him and Prof. I'll flesh it out later whatever

They go to the Tallests' little hideout and Zim tells them his plan for saving them all.. they think he's crazy but send him and Dib off with some cool gear (probably hoping he'll end up killed or captured by PEG labs).

Zim is outcasted among the stranded Irkens because he's generally assumed to have caused the Florpus hole (yea it was him), but he's been desperately trying to prove himself and make up for it (and hes really the only one with any initiative to save them and return to Irk--everyone else is too stupid, hopeless, or cowardly).

They break in whatever. end up running into Skoodge who's kind of just been chilling in the labs and going through some boring experiments

"Skoodge? I thought the humans killed you" "Yeeeaahh but im okay now"

However, Skoodge exempt(?), there's been some Fucked up tests going on to captured Irkens and Zim is really angry and distraught. Dibs also freaked out--like yea he assumed the scientists were doing scary tests and in fact wanted to perform them, but actually seeing the results and how it effects Zim, and getting to know Zim and the Irkens as people, really snaps him to reality and how messed up what PEG labs is doing

Now this would be the end where Zim takes off in the Massive back to Irk and Dib ends up retreating to District D and ultimately transforming fully into an Irken.. but the au definitely doesn't end here. But I dont have the brain power to think any further. Let's see if District 10 ever really does come out like the directors promised

They get the fluid, escape, Zim gets the control module up and running God DAMMIT who is supposed to be that stupid bald military guy in this. That guy in the movie. Okay there's some guy ill figure it out later.

Zim was gonna just fix Dib up, leave him, and take off for Irk, but after finding out about what PEG labs has been doing with experimenting on his people, he has to use all of the fuel and get help as fast as he can, so Dib is left behind.

Anyway if anybody has any ideas im begging dont hesitate to share 🥺 ive also got a bunch of doodles for this? So if you think I should post them sometime let me know. I need to stop typing because my hands hurt now

[emptyemory]

Zib analysis part 2

For clarification 

when i say dib i mean only dib and dibs pure thoughts

When i say zib i mean both zim and dib are working behind the scenes

I believe basically that dib may be the shell but there are times zim heavily influences zib or even just super subtly 

This alternate DIb was a broken child as is our own Dib. He may have a hero complex that would feed his motivation to catch Zim, but his craving for attention most likely comes from the lack of attention he received from his father. If anything, he just wanted to be accepted doing what he loved most, paranormal investigating. When an alien made his way to Dib’s school threatening his world, why wouldn’t he want to stop him? In his perspective, Zim was a monster; however, no one believed anything he said about Zim. This left him alone to face this monster. This Dib won, Zim was dead. He showed the world; he showed his father, but his capture and murder of Zim only confirmed he really was truly alone. He was afraid of the oncoming invasion Zim always threatened. He had no information, so he did what he must’ve thought he had to. Spiraling down into paranoia, the only way to know was to fuse with Zim’s pak. While Dib was at his most unstable, he took one more step that set him forever on uneven shaky ground. He fused himself with his murder victim.

I imagine Zib’s mind as a waltz between Dib and a spiteful Zim who both fight to lead. As they twist and turn, Dib rests one hand on Zim’s pak while Zim’s pak legs cage them in their dance, metaphorically knives at each other’s throats, both unhinged. Though Dib appears to lead, Zim will not let go; he will not allow himself to dissolve into Dib’s mind. This is their final, eternal battle to continue to exist. Where Dib loses a touch of control, Zim fulfills what he pleases without Dib realizing the thoughts he has then are not his own. Zib conquers the Earth under the thought that he would be able to save it easier, but this was a wish for Zim, too. Both lead in the construction of the Irken technology disruptor device, but Zim’s knack for destruction pollutes Zib. I wonder if this even could be spite for his murder. Possibly this was Zim’s act of subtle sabotage. If the Irken Armada was to go down, so shall everything else. Zim did not lose his fight with Dib when he lost his body, it just continued in Zib’s mind. 

Zib is unstable. No longer did he care about saving his world. He lost everything, he lost his purpose. His dad and Gaz were gone, and even if there were alternate versions of them, why would it matter? He couldn’t face them after all he got from them was apathy when he finally captured Zim. He knew it didn’t matter anymore if these alternate universes were destroyed or not. Nothing would be there for him. Him acting out his plan in other universes was only to give himself meaning again. This was Zib’s desperate grab for stability and meaning after he destroyed everything. Doing this plan also required him to surround himself with the faces of his murdered enemy. I think this helps both the Zim and Dib in Zib’s mind to cope. Creating the structure of the Zimvoid and hierarchy system must’ve been a big distraction. Because they created the system, they naturally would be in full control of it all. People who lose absolute control in their life often make desperate grabs for control, that’s what I see here. Tragically, Zib ends up losing all control. Considering all Zim’s were taken back to their universes, Zib is forever stuck in his void of a universe. He needs sum therapy. conclusion 

agree to disagree on things i said on this post BUT

TELL ME HE DOESNT NEED THERAPY u literally cant

[curiousdibandbeyond]

ZADR Week Phase 3 Day 7

@zadrweek3

Day 7 of this ZADR Week! It’s the final day!! I’m at a cabin with questionable wifi at the moment, so for this day I took it easy and wrote a drabble instead! You can imagine this in the TAS timeline, or not, it could go either way!

LATE NIGHTS

Zim twirled a pen around in his hand. He’d hit a roadblock with this project and no amount of review through his notes with his PAK was helping. He glanced at the clock.

3:09 AM

Zim sighed, his antennae flicking up.  He could hear Dib’s breathing was still as active as it had been hours before and he grimaced. He sighed, kicking off his blanket onto Gir, and moving up the stairs as quietly as he could. He peered around the frame of Dib’s door. Dib was facing the wall but Zim could see that Dib had kicked his own blankets off until they were halfway down his bed. Dib sighed heavy, tossing around in his bed until he found back in the same position as before. He was struggling to sleep and, once again, had foregone letting Zim know.

Zim could practically see the energy buzzing under Dib’s skin, the energy that he didn’t really have. He could almost hear the whirring fan as Dib’s brain worked at a hundred miles per hour, unable to slow down long enough to rest. Zim wasn’t sure what all was keeping Dib awake this time, but he knew that the constant tossing and turning and gruff huffs of disdain was annoying him. He walked into the room, seating himself on the bed. Dib cracked his eye open at him.

“Hey,” Dib greeted, his voice rough and gravelly. Zim cocked an antennae at him. Dib shut his eyes so he could try and rub away the tired burn. “What?”

“You can’t sleep again?”

“No.”

Zim stood, pulling Dib’s blanket over him. Dib chuckled as Zim started to roll him up in it. Zim picked him up, carrying him down to the garage. Dib snickered, his sleep deprivation making him giggly, and tried to elbow Zim when he almost cut the corner too close.

“Where are you taking me this time?” Dib asks.

“It’s a surprise,” Zim says. Gir spotted them and ran to catch up.

“We’re going on an adventure!” he cheered. Zim hastily shushed him. Unlike Dib, Gaz could sleep, and she was a force not to be reckoned with.

Zim watched Gir race towards the Voot. Gir popped the windshield up, scrambling inside and running around in circles inside the small space. Zim lifted them both up and into the Voot with his PAK. One PAK leg stretched out to hit the garage door’s button.  Zim set Dib down on the loveseat. Gir jumped up to join him, looking outside the windshield like an excited puppy. The Voot hovered just above the ground until it was outside the garage door frame and then rose into the sky. It was fast, but not so much so that Dib was flung to the back of the Voot. Dib wiggled his arms free of the blanket burrito. He settled down against the wall, settling Gir in his lap while Zim set in a destination.

Dib tried to relax against the wall of the Voot. It was cold, growing colder thanks to the air outside, and uncomfortable against his back. He wanted to sleep, but he just wasn’t able to. It was an aggravating dilemma that he’d had to explain to Zim more than once why it was a problem. Zim hadn’t caught on very quickly. Irkens rarely slept at all so the concept itself was a little foreign to Zim. Grasping that it wasn’t the same as stasis, even if it shared some benefits or functions, hadn’t been any easier, either.

Dib had almost managed to fall asleep once or twice on the ride. It was less than ten minutes, but it felt like an hour to him by the time the Voot finally started to descend. Zim popped the windshield open, letting the perfect summer night air. Dib sighed, letting the slightly warm air hit his skin as it rushed into the Voot. Zim shook Dib’s knee.

“Look at the sky,” Zim instructed.

Dib looked out over the expanse of trees Zim had landed in front of. They were on some cliffside or massive hill, based on the distance between them and the trees below. But what really caught Dib’s eye was indeed the sky. Wherever Zim had taken him was far enough away from the city that it’s light pollution was gone. Dib couldn’t even see a speck of artificial light on the horizon. What he could see was illuminated entirely by the moon and stars. Dib gaped at the sight. He could see the millions and millions of white dots scattered across the mixing colors of blues and purples. He couldn’t stop the stupidly wide smile from stretching across his face.

Zim looked at him fondly, resting his head on his palm. He’d grown used to taking Dib out away the from the cities to see the sky for what it could truly be. Dib had been in the woods at night before plenty of times, but he was always distracted by the latest hunt. Zim, before his abandonment, hadn’t taken any time to really look at a planet’s sky before.

With nothing to do at night once Dib had fallen sleep, Zim found himself on the rooftop looking at the stars. It had always sat wrong with him. Seeing the sky at its fullest potential was always superior to whatever sad excuse was presented through the city lights. Zim looked back up that the stars. He hadn’t taken Dib to this forest yet—he had been saving it for a night just like this. Zim felt a weight on him. Dib had slumped over with a yawn, resting his head on Zim’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Zim.”

“Hm. You’re welcome, Dib.”

[letaintedserpentine]

ZADR WEEK: Possessive/Protective

Day 4!!!

Zim retracted the legs to his PAK, then tried to brush off the blood from his claws. “I will show you threatening, Dib-thing. I will show your world in ruins until you can no longer bear to look away at the power I hold.”

@zadrweek3 tyyy for hosting,,, omg halfway there!!! full fic below or on AO3 

-----

It was easy enough to hate when given a reason.

But this?

This was just illogical.

Unlike the superior Irken skin, humans had walls of meat of decaying flesh- constantly changing cells per the second.

Zim should’ve expected that their bodies- so, very different from his, would be repulsive on another level too- they stink.

Overpoweringly so, a new, different, almost heavy scent- Zim knew from the very moment it reached his antenna that he disliked it.

Especially Dib’s.

Musky with such a sense of sharpness. One that he would become all too familiar with, as it would surround Zim’s senses during a fight.

It was a mystery how he still managed catch its scent even with how powerful the PAK worked with its filters-

And in this line of thinking, one would appear, one that he would later either deny or suppress, that perhaps the reason he was attuned to it was-

He never wanted it to be filtered out at all.

And maybe someday, that particular thought would burst, driving any other emotions to the ground while he tried to find some way to rationalize how his fatal attraction to his rival’s scent, was nothing but normal.

---

There was a particular type of triumph there, on being able to push his rival to his limits and yet still being on top, both figuratively and literally-

Zim enjoyed the way the human panted underneath him, breath heavy against the pavement.

Yet the battered, bruised and tired Dib, refused to admit defeat.

Hard, determined eyes faced upwards, searching for any weakness until he found a way to get the upper hand.

It was tantalizing, to say the least, to have all this focused intensity right under him, all the rage and animosity burning all for Zim.

Dib’s scent… so close… was clouding, intoxicating… but not nearly enough.

There had to be more of it, or maybe some way for Zim to experience it more often, or find the way to make the sensation fuel him better- Zim wondered if he could somehow taste Dib’s smell on his skin.

He watched his own slender tongue slither out, only moments away from contact, inching towards the sweet line of Dib’s neck-

Dib pushed him off.

No matter the exhaustion, Dib broke free of Zim’s grasp, breathing heavier than before, and for a different reason, too.

Zim watched red bloom in his face, leaving him wondering if he’d somehow crossed some line.

Dib left the room without so much of a barb, any quip, or threats to follow Zim if he ever tried to do something again- no, it was only quiet and lack of promises.

Zim was left staring, wondering, yearning, and not at all sure if he’d won.

---

Dib knew enough to be perceptive.

He knew Zim had been acting… weird. More so than usual. This was new.

After all, Zim had never been the type to be terrifying. Concerning, destructive, and a major nuisance, sure.

But it was a feat to be truly afraid of him, and Dib didn’t like it.

While it was in the nature of their relationship to fight every so often- with jeers and taunts, promises to bring the other down- it often came with a mutual understanding of it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.

Or at least, that’s what Dib believed.

Zim on top of him, pinning him down as he panted- that long tongue snaking his way down-

Dib had long been running away from that moment, not even facing his own mind. He didn’t know what to make of it, really. So he didn’t.

And maybe he’d gone a little overboard with not facing his confusion, general nervousness and uncertainty, because he’d begun to ignore Zim as well.

It was easy enough for him to handle; evading his gaze, not responding to his remarks- he was amazed at how he’d come to realize that he started most of their squabbles, and how tamer his life had been without them.

Zim learned quickly enough to adapt.

The alien glared at him when he thought Dib wasn’t looking, and had stopped trying to pick a fight with him as well.

And in the rare moments that Dib would take a moment to forget his resolution, he’d turn to Zim, too, as does habit, but oftentimes the glares and the scowls weren’t there. For a split second before the two remembered their places, Zim looked as if longing, and Dib got tempted to stop his silence.

But then Zim would again furrow his brow with all the intensity he could muster, and Dib would go back to pretending the alien doesn’t exist- and the cycle would continue again.

And yet even as Dib tried to suppress anything Zim related- the weird feeling that stirred inside him, one that wondered how long Zim’s tongue could be and how it would feel pressed up against him-

He couldn’t help but be aware of the alien’s presence, sitting only a few spaces from him in their high skool classroom, always a flash of green in his peripherals, as if they revolved around each other with their own special type of gravity.

Never far, never away, never without the other.

Dib knew this surreal standstill couldn’t last for longer. It was only a matter of time.

---

Zim cornered him, or maybe it was Dib that wanted to get caught, because at some point his glares became fiercer and piercing, and Dib knew he could never really stay away forever.

In either case, Dib fell right into the alien’s furious trap.

Pain blossomed in Dib’s cheeks, but Zim didn’t stop there. He slammed Dib down on the cold, white tiles of the skool floor, both thankful for the place was already deserted by then.

A scowl worked its way in Dib’s features, but he stared distinctly at the side, unwilling to face Zim still, even as his PAK legs kept him from rising, from moving, from defense.

“Dib-human! Do you finally fear me?”

Any plans to struggle fell flat as Zim spoke. Zim rarely felt the need to be quiet, much less.. cautious, which in turn made it all the more menacing to hear.

But it was the words itself that shook Dib out of his stupor, finally feeling awake after all this time. “You wish,” he mumbled, fully expecting a kick or some other pain.

It didn’t come.

“Have you given up on your heroics, then? You no longer wish to save the Earth?”

Dib felt a bit shamed. In truth, he’d barely thought of Zim’s plans for world conquest, because his mind had been pretty occupied thinking of… oh.

His skin flushed, and he kicked out, trying to get the alien out of his space. “What’s your deal!?”

“What is my deal? Mine?” Zim dug his claws into Dib’s shirt, prompting blood and a hiss of pain from the human. “This does not satisfy Zim! You forfeit and run away and refuse to look me in the eye, you’ve grown to be a useless arch rival, and it’s not like…”

A thought seized Zim as he beat down on the human, and his eyes narrowed in distaste. “Oh. I see.” The anger dissipated as easily as it arrived.

Coldly, Zim lifted his PAK legs off, making sure to draw another line of blood from Dib’s chest as he stood. “You no longer see Zim as the threat that he is. Or perhaps you’ve found that a better use of your time was fighting other lowly dirt children, suiting your pitiful rank.”

“You think I’m fighting someone else?!” Dib asked, only to have Zim stare at him without emotion.

Zim retracted the legs to his PAK, then tried to brush off the blood from his claws. “I will show you threatening, Dib-thing. I will show your world in ruins until you can no longer bear to look away at the power I hold.”

Zim began to walk away.

Dib couldn’t let that happen.

“I never stopped looking, all right?!” He winced as the shout aggravated the cuts on his chest, but he ignored it for the meantime. “Even when I tried to think about anything else, it was always… just you.”

The thought of blood staining his clothes was making Dib nervous. He had to go.

Dib wasn’t sure if things could just go back to where they were before, but-

“See you tomorrow, Zim.” He grunted out, standing and wobbling a bit at his feet. “Make good on your promise. World ending crap. I’ll fight you.”

-he’ll just have to stop fighting change.

Zim sighed at him, long and forced, before walking over to steady him, his hand at his waist.

Dib flushed. It was awkward and he felt too messy, but he knew he couldn’t distance himself again. He leaned his body against Zim’s hold easily, their fight all but forgotten.

Zim offered no comment or explanations, but deep inside, he felt the same.

They have always been affixed to each other, whether friends or enemies, maybe it wouldn’t be a stretch to be something more than that.

[emeraldspiral]

One thing that kinda bugs me about Dib character analysis discourse is that people tend to talk in black and white terms about Dib's motives when it's very clearly shown that he both wants recognition AND genuinely cares about other people. Like, yeah he was bitter in A Room With a Moose after he just got bullied, but he clearly cared about his classmates in Dark Harvest. He called the FBI to try to save Nick in Zim Eats Waffles when the Swollen Eyeballs wouldn't help, set aside his grudge against Zim for the sake of earth in episodes like Hamstergeddon and Tak, and willingly sacrificed himself to the Shadowhog for Gaz. He fucked up big time in ETF by trying to get recognition instead of taking the easy W, but he clearly knows he fucked up and wouldn't make that mistake again. Like, they didn't have Gaz call him out on being the reason their dad was in space jail for no reason.

With Zib I don't think we can take for granted that he went crazy just because he didn't get the recognition he wanted. I really think it had more to do with him being extremely co-dependant on Zim and not being able to cope with the loss. The lack of recognition just rubbed salt in the wound because it meant he killed the only person who made him feel like he mattered for nothing. The Zimvoid is basically just Dib's version of WandaVision/Multiverse of Madness.

[intheticklecloset]

A Call to Remember (Invader Zim Oneshot)

For this one, I tried to accommodate the multiple requests I got for a Tallest-related fic with an excellent suggestion I got from an Anon about Dib tickling Zim during an accidental call to them. Hope you enjoy! (Also thanks for letting me share these fics with you. It’s really fun for me! ^^)

Fandom: Invader Zim

~

“Sirs,” an Irken pilot called from his place at the helm of the Armada’s flagship. “Incoming transmission from planet Earth.”

The Almighty Tallest exchanged glances.

Purple said, “Zim?”

Red shook his head. “It can’t be. It’s impossible. There is no way he’d dare call us again. Not after the tongue-lashing we gave him last time. Even he’s not that stupid.”

They fell silent for a moment.

“Well…” Purple began.

Red sighed, cutting him off. “I know, I know. He is that stupid.” To the pilot he ordered, “Patch it through.”

When the feed came up on their view screen, it took a moment for them to register what exactly they were looking at. It was Zim’s living room – that much was obvious – and Zim was there, but for once, he didn’t seem to have called them on purpose. In fact, the Tallest were relatively certain he’d be mortified if he realized they were seeing this at all.

Some strange creature – perhaps one of the ‘humans’ Zim was always ranting about – was with Zim on his couch, sitting on top of him, and Zim was shrieking with laughter; struggling, but not protesting.

The Tallest exchanged glances again.

“Well,” Red said at last, “this is new.”

There was a slight, uncomfortable pause.

Purple winced. “Should we disconnect the call, or…?”

Suddenly Zim’s laughter reached new levels of hysteria – a kind of desperate yet elated scream that neither of the Tallest had ever heard from him before – and the creature sitting on top of him laughed as well.

“Oh, wow!” it exclaimed, a wicked grin on its face. “This is a good spot, isn’t it?” It had pushed Zim’s uniform up just enough to expose the green skin of his lower torso, and the creature was digging its claws into his hips. Zim’s head was tossed back as throes of uncontrollable laughter exploded from him. It was then that Red realized their exiled ‘Invader’ had his arms cuffed behind him.

He grinned.

“No,” he replied to Purple’s question, winking. “I think we should take a break and entertain ourselves for a bit.”

Purple grinned as well. “Good idea. It’s been a while since we’ve had any new stories to tell about Zim.”

“And I think this will turn out to be one of the best ones yet.”

On the screen, the creature continued to laugh at Zim. “How are you enjoying this? This has got to be torture!”

“Diiiiiib!” Zim cried through his hysterics, twisting and turning as much as he could with the creature pinning him to the couch and his arms useless behind him.

“Yes, Zim?” the creature – apparently called ‘Dib’ – replied sweetly, teasingly. “Do you want me to stop?” He switched from digging to vibrating, pulling a fresh shriek of laughter from Zim. When the faux Invader didn’t reply within a few seconds, Dib’s grin widened. “Or are you still having too much fun to quit?”

Purple looked to Red. “It would appear Zim still enjoys being tickled.”

Red shuddered. “I never understood a lot of things about him, but when you pit this against his constant desire to cause mass destruction, it really boggles the mind.”

“How does it feel,” the Dib-creature continued to taunt Zim, still focused on the Irken’s hips, “to not be able to defend yourself at all? Sucks, doesn’t it? I have no clue what that feels like, do I, Zim?”

Blue-faced and wheezing slightly, Zim shot back as best he could manage, “I regret nothing, human worm!”

Dib laughed. “Of course you don’t. You wanted me to get the hint, didn’t you?” He quickly vibrated again. “Well, I got it!”

In his hysterics and desperate attempts to lessen the delightfully maddening sensations wracking his body, Zim twisted toward the screen, trying to make Dib lose his balance. It didn’t work, but a few moments later his eyes suddenly shot wide open and he turned his face to the screen again.

“Ah.” Purple nodded. “I think he knows we’re watching now.”

“Dib! Dib!” Zim shrieked, panic lacing his voice.

“What?” Dib glanced at the screen as well and stopped what he was doing immediately, stunned.

Silence settled over all parties for the longest of moments.

Dib looked at Zim, then to the Tallest, then back at Zim, and suddenly lunged back into action, going for the Invader’s sides now instead.

“Dib! What are you-?!”

“I demand you tell me what I want to know!” the human declared over the renewed laughter, glancing at the Tallest for a moment. “Your…uh…your next evil plan! To destroy the Earth! Which you are still planning to do!”

The Tallest watched the pathetic attempt at saving face with deadpan expressions.

It only took a moment for Zim to clue in on what Dib had started, and he played along quickly. “Never! I will never tell you my next evil plan!”

Dib grinned despite himself. “Then you will suffer, you alien freak!” He jumped back to Zim’s hips, forcing more uncontrollable, booming laughter from the Irken. Dib glanced at the screen again and called, “Gir! Gir!”

The little robot appeared. “Yeeees?”

“Turn it off,” Dib ordered. He nodded at the screen. “The TV. Turn it off!”

“Okie dokie!”

Gir lunged toward the camera, and the feed went dark.

Purple looked at Red. Red looked at Purple.

“Well,” said Purple.

“Yeah.”

“That happened.”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

Purple shrugged. “Well…as long as he’s not interfering with Operation Impending Doom II, I guess it doesn’t matter what he’s doing, right?”

“Right.” Red smirked at his fellow leader. “But that was definitely a call to remember.”  To the pilot he called, “Steady on, helmsman. We’ve got work to do.”

[progressivestupidity]

IZ week 2020

so i wasn’t gonna do this because I didn’t think the prompts were very good for writing to, but I remembered the last day’s prompt was “role swap” so I decided to do something small and quick for it. this is all 7 days in one post. the first and last ones are drabbles and one of them is an au idea

@invader-zim-week​ here u go!!!

Day 1. Angst or Fluff 

Zim’s denial skills are god tier, but even they have their limits.

Drabble. I think this is the turning point for my eventual found family au

“When are you going to get it through your thick head that the Tallests aren’t coming?” Dib flings his arms out wide in his exasperation

“They’re just…!” Zim fumbles a bit, clenching and unclenching his fists. “The Armada is a million light years away! It takes time to travel that far, obviously. It took me six of your months to get here from Conventia and the Massive is further away from here now than that. They’ll come! You’ll see! And then you’ll be sorry!” Zim’s face is drawn tight. He’s tense all over, shoulders drawn up to his jaw, antennae pressed flat to his head, and normally Dib prides himself on reading Zim like an open book, but he’s too far gone in his own annoyance to see the warning signs.

It’s because he doesn’t see these red flags that Dib proceeds to stick his own foot in his mouth with his next words. “Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot and opened your eyes, you’d see the truth—that they dumped you here to get rid of you.”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?” Zim explodes, planting his tiny hands in Dib’s chest and shoving. The boy lands painfully on his ass. “I’m not stupid, Dib.” His name is spat like an insult. “I know they don’t care about me! Why do you think I try so hard?”

Dib gapes at Zim, looking up at him for once, stunned into silence. “I.” He swallows. “You know?”

“Of course, I know.” Zim’s voice is a low hiss and his eyes are narrowed to slits. “You don’t get banished and then just get over it. You don’t get put on trial to defend your life, forced to relive your worse mistakes, and get sentenced to death, only to be saved by freak miracle, and never acknowledge it happened.” Zim takes a deep breath and crosses his arms over his chest. Dib supposes he means for it to look intimidating, but it looks more like he’s holding himself together. “I’ve always known.”

“Why do you try so hard then? If you’ve always known there was no point?” Dib has to ask, has to know, has to hear the words from Zim’s own mouth.

Zim purses his lips and turns away. “There was always a point.” He falls silent for a moment, one antenna twitching up a bit in thought. “I just… I thought if I was just a little better, if I accomplished something important for once, that… I don’t know, that maybe I’d.” He pauses and grits his teeth. “Maybe if I actually managed to take over this filthy planet I’d be worth something for once.”

Day 2. Be Gay Do Crime (LGBTQA+ headcannons)

Dib is bi/pan/demi-ro, Gaz is lesbian, Zim is ace/demi-ro

Headcanons.

Dib seems like the kind of guy that would both take whatever kind of relationship he could get, but also appreciate it. Dib isn’t afraid to work for what he wants and isn’t afraid of things that are “not normal” so I see him being the type to not care about the gender of whoever he eventually decides to date. However, because Dib’s been burned in the past, he would need a deep and sincere emotional relationship to see someone as a potential romantic partner.

Gaz is just a big lesbian. Girls, man.

Zim is ace all the way baby!!! He’s just not interested, and sure, part of that is me projecting, but it just feels right for Zim to just… not care. He has no interest and doesn’t care for sexual attraction regardless of whether or not Irkens do/can/will have sex or not. On the other hand, Zim has expressed a softer side before and I can see him being able to maybe eventually develop romantic feelings for someone if he actually manages to get close enough to them for those kinds of feelings to even emerge. It would take a lot of time and a deep, meaningful friendship, but Zim has shown he’s capable of love. He just has to let himself feel it.

�� Day 3. Fandom Appreciation

Found family fuck yeah

Headcanons.

I’m still in the process of thinking about how I wanna go about my found family au so here’s just some initial ideas

After ETF, Zim self isolates for a bit. The florpus hole was his Last Ditch Effort plan and had it succeeded, he knew he would have been destroyed too. He was okay with it. He had made peace with it. However, it failed, and now he’s forced to reflect on said failure

The Massive doesn’t escape the florpus. They’re gone, completely. If they the ship does manage to get out, it’s not in one piece

I initially couldn’t decide if The Trial should come Before ETF or After but I think im gonna say before so the Massive doesn’t have to come back lmao

Before too long, Zim jumps back into the planning/scheming swing of things, but his ideas are never more than petty crimes and being a huge annoyance

Dib gets really annoyed with him and they have a big argument

Zim finally admits to knowing of his own Defectiveness

Dib reluctantly feels bad for him and backs off a bit to let Zim have his space

Zim, however, sees this as a betrayal and redoubles his efforts to get his attention

Somewhere along the way, Skoodge comes back and Zim backs off of Dib a bit, having someone else to focus attention on

Dib eventually begins to offer Zim his hand in friendship (phrased as a truce at first) and they finally make steps towards getting along

They realize they actually really like being friends

Zim eventually realizes that he’s made a life for himself, outside of the Empire

Eventually Zim, Skoodge, GIR, Minimoose, Dib, and Gaz form their own little family and explore space and hunt cryptids

(I love cryptid hunter and space exploration aus holy shit)

Day 4. If IZ had a different setting/time period

Cyberpunk??? Sure

Potential idea maybe.

Cyberpunk dystopian future

Aliens and humans intermingle, both on and off Earth

The Irken Empire has gotten bigger

Technology is advanced and cybernetics are widely known/produced

Idk man I don’t know a lot about cyberpunk, maybe this should be more for the aesthetic

Day 5. Aesthetic

Big shrug man idk

Headcanons, thoughts.

I’m a big fan of fashion Zim, and whenever I get the chance I give him clothes that are both cute and comfortable

Galaxy print leggings are a personal favorite of mine to give him

One time I wrote a little ficlet/oneshot where he wore a skirt. I should publish that some day

Uhhhhhh okay so. Dib has veeeeeery big early 2000s emo/punk vibes tbh

Scene kid GIR always makes me laugh

Gaz could pull off pastel goth like no one’s business

I’ve been here long enough to witness emo/scene hair wig Zim and his eventual fall lmfao

Pretty much everyone that redesigned them back in the day gave Zim emo kid hair that fall perfectly over one eye it was WILD

 Day 6. What if IZ was a different Genre?

Uhhhh does “fantasy instead of scifi” count?

Potential idea maybe. (oops it ended up being a fantasy/modern magic au haha ooooops)

Instead of being an alien, I had the idea of, maybeeeeee Irkens are like. Elves maybe, or perhaps some kind of fae. (I don’t know much about fae, oops)

Okay bear with me here, this is all coming together in real time.

The Irkens (which is what I’m gonna call their clan or faction or subrace or whatever) still want to be the rulers or something over the humans/other mystical beings. This world of magic is hidden from humans and they live blissfully unaware. There are invaders all over the place, using magic and glamors to trick humans into thinking they’re also humans. Zim is one such invader and just to happens to end up in Dib’s town, whereupon he enrolls in Dib’s school, pretending to be a transfer student.

I have no idea why or how the Irkens invade or what methods they use, but since my biggest experience with elves is through DND, I’m going to say they’re functionally similar to certain DND elf races.

So anyway, Zim ends up in Dib’s class and Zim’s glamor just Doesn’t Work on Dib for whatever reason (maybe Dib passed his Wisdom saving throw while literally everyone else failed, idk) and so Dib can immediately see Zim for what he is.

Dib is still into paranormal type stuff, though in his world, he’s less about cryptids and aliens and more about the magical species/world(s) that he KNOWS exists. His big goal in his au is similar to canon in that he wants to expose it all for recognition and love from his father.

Zim, meanwhile, he just wants to prove himself, just like canon. I can’t decide how I want the Irken hierarchy to go in this au—that’s something to think about later, when I have more time—but whatever it is, Zim is either a) not very good at it, b) not suited for it, c) ridiculed for not fitting in to it, or d) a combination of any or all of these things. (or secret option e) he rejects it but has no where else to go. On the other hand, it maybe be none of these things.)

GIR is here too though he’s probably not a robot. Maybe he’s another kind of magical being, or, hell, maybe he’s just Zim’s little brother. I’d be okay with that.

Gaz can also see through glamors but she just doesn’t care. Tak shows up at some point to get revenge, and Skoodge also shows up at some point to stay with Zim and be his friend.

Zim is bad at blending in at first, but he eventually Does get better, since he’s not totally isolated from other Irkens here and he also doesn’t Look like an alien.

(I’m thinkin’ elves in this au look Mostly human but with a few differences. Since I’m biased and this is MY fantasy world, damnit, elves are just. Really Pretty. Ethereal and elegant and graceful (for the most part—there are always exceptions) and they’re also great at magic. Maybe Zim isn’t all that great at magic, I dunno. I’ll figure something out.)

This ended up being less of a genre change and more of a whole ass au, lol oops

Day 7. Role swap

Chanting: human zim au human zim au human zim au human zi

Drabble. This is for an ongoing species swap au that i’ve had in development for the last few years. i haven’t posted anything for it yet, but I’ve thought about it a lot

Dib freezes as Zim points the plastic water gun at his head. Zim’s eyes are narrowed, lips pursed, and he adjusts his grip almost nervously. Behind him, Gir is holding a bucket full of water balloons and a pair of neon green star shaped sunglasses. It’d be cute if Dib wasn’t aware of how painful Earth water is to his Irken skin.

Zim finally lowers his gun slightly. “I want some answers, alien.” He looks Dib over with critical eyes. “Who are you really, and why are you here?” He reaches back and Gir hands him a water balloon with a big smile. “And you better tell the truth or I’ll bust this over your big head.”

Dib grimaces and watches the balloon. “My name Dib, and I’m a scientist. I’m an Irken, from Irk, and I’m here to learn more about life on this planet.” He holds his hands up, hoping to placate the human gesture for surrender. “I’m not here to harm you or anyone else, promise.”

Zim huffs. “Yeah right. I bet you just came here to laugh at the locals.” He puts on a mocking voice and waves the gun and balloon as he speaks. “‘Stupid, stinking humans. They can’t even travel beyond their own moon, yet. What morons. I bet they descended from pigs with how horrible and stupid they are.’” He jams the gun against Dib’s chest. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Dib bites his lower lip and looks away. He can’t deny he hasn’t thought something similar since arriving on Earth, but Zim didn’t have to be so crude and blunt about it.

The two are at a standoff for almost a minute before Zim blows out a long sigh and steps back. He turns to put the balloon back in the bucket, gives Gir a pat on the head, and shoots Dib one last glare. “Stay away from me, Dib. I have enough problems to deal with without having to worry about whether or not it’s safe for my brother to go to school or if I need to watch my back while walking my dog.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Dib says, a little put out.

Zim scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. I know better than to believe it.” He turns and tries to smile at Gir but it comes out a little twisted and sad. “C’mon Gir. Let’s go home and get Minimoose and take him to that dog park you like so much.”

Gir gasps and lets out a cheer. “Can we go get ice cream afterwards?”

Zim gives a little laugh, smile turning a bit more genuine. “Yeah, sounds good.”

As they walk away Dib can’t help but wonder why he ever thought Zim was an Irken himself.

[sweetiepie08]

Rebel Z (Chapter 4)

Invader Zim fanfic

While analyzing Zim’s PAK for weaknesses, Tak discovers strange coding that sends her on a search for answers. The clues lead her to uncover a conspiracy that governs all of Irken society. When the truth sends her on the run, she has no choice but to return to the one place the Tallest would never willingly go: Urth.

Meanwhile, Dib has noticed odd changes in Zim’s behavior. Has the invader simply grown bored of his mission over the last few years, or is there something more interesting going on?

People who asked to be tagged: @incorrect-invader-zim , @messinwitheddie, @reblogstupids, @cate-r-gunn, @agentpinerulesall​

If anyone else would like to be added to the tag list feel free to message me. Also, if you’re on the tag list and you changed your name, please just let me know.

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8.  Chapter 9. Chapter 10. 

[-]

Dib felt the familiar burning sensation in his eyes as he stared at his monitors. Zim had been relatively quiet for quite some time now, three years to be exact. He didn’t disappear completely, like he had right before the Florpus Hole incident. Dib still caught him moving about his house, talking to strange aliens on his tele-communication device, and building dangerous-looking machinery. Despite Zim’s clear activity, outright plans to take over the Earth seemed to cease. Or at least Zim stopped gloating about them. Dib noticed these changes and decided they were concerning enough to require constant surveillance, but stable enough that he could step away from his screens every now and then.

As his eyes drifted across the screens, they landed on a haphazard stack of college brochures resting on his desk. Top universities from all over the world have been sending him these since preschool. He suspected college recruiters everywhere put his name on their lists the second they heard the world-renowned Professor Membrane had an offspring. They badgered him and Gaz for as long back as he could remember. They typically threw at least one ivy-league brochure in the trash every week. Although now, he had to start keeping them. Those recruiters must have started salivating as soon as his SAT scores were in. Every school wanted to be able to say they educated the children of Professor Membrane.

At least he didn’t have to deal with all the college recruitment events he knew were going on over at the High Skool. He and Gaz left mainstream education behind years ago after convincing their dad to let them homeschool. It wasn’t that hard. All they had to do was sit their dad down and show him their curriculums. His only condition was that they keep their grades up and take the most advanced programs available. It turned out to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Dib & Gaz were learning the advanced science their father wanted them to, and they never had to set foot in the Skool again. This arrangement ended early for Dib, as he completed his senior year before his former classmates reached midterms. Of course, this only made the college recruiters even more ravenous.

Well, they were going to have to wait. High school may be over for him, but now he was taking a gap year. He told his father he wanted the time to figure out which branch of science he wanted to study. This was only half-true. Really, he just needed to figure out what to do with his life, period.

His child-hood dream of being a paranormal investigator grew less and less appealing as he saw what the field had become. The Swollen Eyeball network had gone down hill since Agent Darkbootie went off the grid to live amongst the sasquatch. Standards dropped to the Marianas Trench. Now, they let in riff-raff like flat-earthers and hollow-mooners. Uncovering the truth didn’t seem important to them anymore. It was all about who could come up with the most convoluted conspiracy, regardless of evidence or even common sense. Dib wanted to uncover the mysteries of the universe, to expand the knowledge of the human race. Knowledge didn’t seem to factor in at all anymore, not so long as the theory was sexy.

As for Dib’s work on Zim, he had to admit, it’d become mundane sometimes. He could only watch Zim binge-watch tv so many times before accepting there was nothing more to it. Hell, sometimes Dib would find himself watching whatever was on the tv more than he watched Zim. He’d sometimes go days without any notable movement. A few weeks ago, however, remarkable activity breathed new life into Dib’s efforts.

Currently, Zim’s ship sat haphazardly parked, or rather crashed, on the front lawn. Dib stared at it, waiting for Zim to notice the state of his space craft.

“Still monitoring Zim?” He heard Gaz say from the door.

“Always,” Dib replied, eyes still glued to the screen.

Gaz rolled her eyes and walked into his room. “You sure you need to? He’s been pretty quiet lately.”

“He knows I’m watching.”

“Okay, TJ Eckleburg,” Gaz said, leaning on his desk and popping open a soda.      

“huh?”

“Read a book.”

“Whatever,” he groaned, his eyes flickering from one monitor to another. “The point is, quietness means nothing. Remember the time he disappeared but it turned out he was just hiding in the toilet?”

“You mean the time you let him hijack Membrane Labs, kidnap dad, and almost send the planet through a florpus hole?” She took a long sip of her soda. “Yeah, I remember.”

“And what about the time he left for weeks, then just showed up one day and broke my camera?”

“Oh yeah, that. I wouldn’t call breaking your camera ultimate evil, though, especially if you were shoving it in his face. You never did find out where he went, did you?”

“No, but there’s definitely something going on now,” Dib said as he opened his laptop. “I was going over the surveillance footage from last night and look.”

He brought up a clip he saved from the footage. It showed Tak parking a boxy, gray ship in Zim’s back yard and sneaking into his base. After a few minutes, the rooftop hanger opened. She flew Zim’s ship out, dumped it on the front lawn, and parked her own ship back in the hanger.

“Is that Tak?” Gaz asked, watching the clip.

“Yeah, I saw her on the cameras a few weeks ago. She broke into Zim’s base and left after about an hour, but this time she hasn’t come out.”

“So why aren’t you going over to investigate?” Gaz asked, returning to her casual lean.

“I can’t just rush in without a plan on something this huge!” he retorted. “I have to figure out what they’re doing first.”

Gaz shrugged. “Maybe she killed him and took over his base.”

“It’s not that easy,” Dib explained. “Zim’s computers are programed to only respond to him.”

“I used it once. The Tak hotdog thing, remember?”

“That was different. Zim let us in semi-willingly. Unless Tak found a way to override the security features…”

“Maybe she’s using Zim’s corpse as a meat-puppet to control the computer.”

Dib cringed. “Uh, gross.” Even he wasn’t sure he could stomach that idea. He returned to his monitors and saw a shadow move in Zim’s living room. “Wait! I just saw something!”

They both leaned into the screen as Dib zoomed in the camera on the window. Through it, they could see Zim’s robot servant sitting on the couch, eating snacks.

“That’s just Zim’s dumb robot watching tv,” Gaz said.

Dib threw his hands up. “Oh come on!” The robot again?! He’d watched this thing gobble down nachos on this couch a million times. Why did everything look so normal over there? “There has to be something going on. Is Tak hiding? Did Zim capture her? Are they planning something together? I have to know!”

“My best guess?”

“You’ve got a theory?” Dib asked, eagerly swiveling his chair around to face her. “Let’s hear it!”

“Tak’s playing the trombone and Zim’s slamming the oven door.” Gaz smirked, looking annoyingly proud of herself.

Dib’s face fell into a scowl. “Thanks Gaz, very insightful.” He sharply turned his chair back toward the monitors.

“You’re going to be up here obsessing all day, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Probably.”

“Fine.” Gaz downed the rest of her drink, tossed the can in the trash, and started toward the door. “I was thinking about watching that new Skinwalker Ranch documentary tonight, but I guess you’ll be busy.”

She walked out, leaving Dib alone with his screens. He scanned the feed in front of him, all inactive save for Zim’s snacking robot. He had been wanting to check out that documentary, but keeping an eye on Zim was more important, especially after this recent development. His eyes landed on the robot again, who was now sloppily sucking down a giant slushee. Dib sighed and checked the rest of his cameras.

Still nothing.

[-]

Zim emerged from his labs after another night of testing and research. His latest project was going well so far, despite the recent interference. No doubt, his leaders would be pleased. He went to the kitchen for a well-deserved soda and, whistling, headed to the living room to check on Gir.

As he sipped, he noticed something large and purple out the window. When he went to look, he nearly spit out his drink. His voot sat crashed in the front yard for all the Urth to see.

“Gir!” he shouted, jumping around to face his robot. “What is my ship doing out there?!”

“I dunno,” Gir said, munching away on his snacks.

“Well, if you didn’t do it, who did?”

“Uh, Zim,” the computer interrupted. “It was probably the intruder.”

“What intruder?!” Zim demanded, stomping into the middle of the room. “Why didn’t you alert me?”

“Uh, I did.”

The show Gir was watching snapped off the tv and the screen now showed security footage from the previous evening. Zim and Gir sat on the couch with a bowl of snacks.

“Sir, I have detected a-”

“Not now, computer,” TV Zim said, “Jessica is about to reveal the murderer.”

“But this really is urgent.”

“Of course!” TV Zim shouted, leaning off the couch. “It was the bus driver, seeking revenge for his fallen offspring!”

“Zim, there is an intruder in the-”

TV Zim jumped to his feet. “What? No!”

“Exactly!”

“It’s not the bus driver after all!” TV Zim declared. “I knew it!”

“No you didn’t,” TV Gir chimed in.

“There’s too much time left in the episode. Jessica still has 15 minutes to find the killer. Now, which of these smelly bus-humans is the real culprit?”

“Ugh, fine, whatever.”

The security feed cut out and Gir’s show came back on the tv. Zim growled and pressed his palms into his forehead. Curse that Jessica Fletcher and her engaging small-town mysteries! If that show hadn’t been canceled Urth decades ago, he would have ensured that was the last murder she ever wrote.

“Computer! Is the intruder still in the base?”

“Yes.”

“Locate them.”

After a few seconds of processing sounds, Computer answered. “Irken biosignature located in the storage room.”

Irken, he was pretty sure he knew what that meant. Zim stormed over to the trashcan/elevator. “Computer, take me to the storage room. I’ll show Tak how to sneak into my base.”

“You’re going to show her how to sneak into your base?”

“Or how not to sneak… Or what happens when you sneak… or… Ugh you know what I meant!” Zim jumped into the elevator. “Just take me there!”

[-]

Finding Tak wasn’t as hard as he expected. As soon as he made it down to the storage room, Zim was greeted by the sound of something metal clanging to the floor. From there, all he had to do was follow the trail of crushed cans. At the end, he found Tak sitting on the floor, surrounded by discarded cans and bottles. She barely took notice of him as she downed another drink.

“You!” He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You have some nerve coming back here after… whatever it is you did! I spent days running diagnostics, trying to figure out what it is you tampered with.”

“Eh, who cares what I did?” Tak slurred, tearing her mouth away from the bottle. “I’m back on Urth. Life is empty and destiny is a cruel joke.”

“What are you going on about? And what is all this?” he said, trudging through her mess. His foot kicked a glass bottle which was larger than the rest. Picking it up, he recognized the fancy Irken label. “This is my gingzor!” he gasped. “I’ve been saving this!”

“You can get more,” Tak said with a burp. “Did you know you can get this stuff on Urth without showing identification? Idiots.”

“Have you been in my storage room, drowning yourself in gingzor all night?”

“Yup, why not? As good a way to waste my meaningless life as any.” She looked down the neck of the bottle in her hand. “Empty, sad,” she pouted as she tossed it over her shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just my recent discovery that my entire life is a lie,” she sighed. “Hey, wanna watch me laser-shot this whole six pack?”

Tak held up a pack of green cans by their plastic connector. She shot a hole in the bottom of one with a laser pistol, then started chugging the drink out from the bottom.

Zim curled a finger around his chin as he pondered the sight before him. This was very unlike Tak. He’d had enough encounters with her to know what to expect. Proud declarations of her superiority, vows for bloody vengeance, maybe a bit of maniacal cackling… that was Tak. She even had all night to attempt to kill him and, instead, spent it swimming in a pool of gingzor and self-pity. This…this was not Tak. He wondered what could possibly bring her to such a lowly state. Then it hit him.

“Ah, I see what’s happened,” he declared. “You finally realized you were never meant to be an invader and that knowledge has sent you down a spiraling pit of despair. Go on, let it out. Zim can offer his pity.”

Tak’s eyes narrowed. She plucked a can off of the pack, shook it up, and sprayed it in Zim’s face. Zim let out a yelp as he was doused in the drink.

“You know, Zim, I didn’t know you were so sentimental.”

“Sentimental?” he grumbled, rubbing the gingzor out of his eyes

“I found your secret stash.” Tak smirked as she pulled out a box labeled ZIM’S PRIVATE STUFF (GIR DON’T TOUCH).  She reached into the box and took out a CD case titled Best of Queen. “Looks like someone’s a fan of Urth royalty,” she said as she tossed it in the air.

Zim scrambled to catch it before it smashed on the ground. “That is a music group, not royalty and-”

“Oh what’s this?” she asked, pulling out his sleeved blanket. “Some sort of backward robe?” She threw that on Zim’s head, then held up his fuzzy boots. “And what are these?”

Zim snatched the blanket off and dropped it on the ground. “It gets very cold on Urth and-”

“Guess I can expect softness from someone who kept their cadet badge.” Tak held up the pink, metal circle with the Irken insignia emblazed on it. His heart beat just a second faster.

“Enough!” he shouted, swiping the badge out of her hands. “You have no business going through my stuff!”

Tak made a dismissive sound and waved her arm. “Pfft, I’ve already seen the inside of your brain. What’s the harm in looking through a few boxes?”

“Eh? My brain? Wha?” His hands flew to his back as he realized what she just admitted. “My PAK! You tampered with my PAK!”

“For the last time, I didn’t tamper, I ANALYZED!” she screamed in his face.

“Uh… this was the first time I mentioned it… Wait! It doesn’t matter! You committed a capital offence!”

“No, tampering is a capitol offence. Analyzing isn’t technically against the law.” She let out a bitter chuckle. “Although, it probably should be if they didn’t want me to see what I saw.”

“Eh? What?”

“I know something you don’t know…” she sing-songed.

“What? What is it?” He demanded, grabbing her by the shirt. “Tell me!”

“Guess who’s defective…” she sing-songed again in that annoying, giddy tone. “You! And me! And Skoodge! And a whole bunch of other people probably! And it doesn't matter at all!” She laughed. “Nothing matters! Nothing is real!” She laughed harder and threw her arm around Zim’s shoulders. “I don't even want to kill you anymore because it be so pointless. Why put in the effort? We're just walking talking food for a giant, horrible, tentacle-y, blob-monster-god-thing”

“What blob-monster-god-thing?” He inquired, pealing Tak’s arm off of himself with a sneer.  

“You know it as the control brains.” She smirked. There was something bitter and smug in it.

“Control brains?” He gasped. “You're speaking treason.”

“Eah-yup!” she declared, popping open another drink.

He desperately rubbed his temples as this new information buzzed around in his brain. She couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t be. “This is a trick,” he accused, eyes darting around, looking for hidden cameras. “You're trying to get me to say something treasonous so you can record it and show it to the Tallest.”

“Nope, no trick,” she said. Her voice was unsettlingly casual. “I went all the way to Refierencee to find out Irk is nothing but the plaything of a life sucking horror blob. Don't believe me? Here.” She tapped a spot on her PAK and a cable flew into her hands. “Plug me in and check my memory drive. See if I'm lying.”

She waggled the cable at him, daring him to take it. There had to be a reason she was doing all this. She must have some sort of ulterior motive. Why else would she make up such an outlandish lie? Unless, it wasn’t a lie...

“Fine,” he said, snatching the cable, “but I warn you, I've upgraded my computer security. So if you try to infect my base with a virus, it won't work.”

Tak shrugged and went back to her drink.

Something was wrong here, very wrong. Whether it was the truth or just a nefarious plot, there was only one way to get to the bottom of it.

[-]

Tak sat on a box, her PAK plugged into the computer while Zim reviewed her memory drive on his computer screen. He played the Refirencee memories again. Was this the 3rd or 4th time? He couldn't remember. He scanned each frame with a sharp eye. There had to be something else here, some sort of tell that this was a trick, just another one of Tak’s schemes. There was no way this could be true.

“Watch as many times as you want,” Tak said, opening yet another can. “It's not gonna change.”

“You tampered with your memory drive,” Zim said matter-of-fact. Even if he hadn’t found an inconsistency yet, that had to be the case. It was the only explanation. Well, not the only one…

“Nope,” she answered. The assurance in her voice was grating. “Have your computer check. I dare you.”

Zim glanced up. “Computer…”

“No signs of tampering detected.”

“You see…” She was so smug. He hated it.

“Then this Krislotch person is a liar.”

“And has an amazing amount of free time on his hands,” Tak retorted.

“There must be something else!” Zim slammed his hands on the control panel. “Some other explanation! If it is true that means-”

“That our people are slaves and our entire society is a lie? Why do you think I keep drinking?” She asked, knocking her drink back.

“Enough sass, you talking bottle of gingzor!” He shouted, whirling his chair around to face her. He jumped to his feet and put an accusing finger in her face. “You expect me to believe this? That the Control Brains are actually-”

“A giant parasite feeding off the life force of our entire race? Yes! Exactly! What aren't you getting?” She jumped to her feet as well and advanced toward him, crushing a can in her hands. “It's got its tentacles in everything. It controls every aspect of our lives and it'll continue to grow bigger and bigger until that's all there is. Irk doesn't exist, Zim!” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in. “In our lifetime it never has! There is only it and everyone: the invaders, the foot soldiers, the janitors, the food service drones, even the tallest! We're all just slaves to the glory of the parasite.”

Tak broke out in a wild cackle as tears began leaking from her eyes. Her fingers slipped from Zim’s clothes and she doubled over, hysterical laughter echoing around the room. Zim could only watch and puzzle over her conduct. This behavior was unbecoming of a proper Irken, especially not an elite as Tak fancied herself. Maniacal laughter was fine, sure, but this? Would she degrade herself so much for an act? He thought not.

“What now?”

“It's just so funny,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “I mean, we work all our lives to serve the empire. You and I even remained loyal in exile. And when I learned about this thing, how our people were in danger, my first thought was ‘I have to stop this thing.’ And now,” she let out a burst of cackling, “I'm an enemy of the state! And I have to hide in your base of all places and the first person I can tell about any of this is you.” Her laughter began again in full and it sent her to the floor. “You see how that's funny?”

“Uh, no.”

“Oh.” She calmed down enough to take a few deep breaths. “Am I laughing or crying?”

“Uh, laughing I think?”

“Good, good, 'cause this really is funny,” she said, reaching over and grabbing another can. “Like a great, big joke. My life, my existence… it's all a big, cosmic… what's that human phrase? Fuck you!” Her arms opened to the ceiling. “It's a big, cosmic fuck you!”

Zim watched her, laying on the floor, her pained laughter filling the room. The site was beyond pathetic, but he could feel no victory in it. He couldn't feel anything at all. If this was true, Tak was right… about everything. And in the face of this revelation, he did the only thing he could do. He sat down on the floor, grabbed a can of gingzor from the pack, and poured the contents into his mouth.

[krizaland]

Enter the Zimvoid Chapter 35

First Chapter  Previous

We’ve hit the climax and shit is heating up!!

Here’s the song I used btw

You let out a shriek as the Zib-Robot was about to crush you!

“PRETTY Y/N, LOOK OUT!”

SWOOP!

Brutus swooped in and scooped you, your Zim, and Majestzee out of the way.

“Brutus! You saved us!” You squealed as you hugged his massive cheek.

Brutus let out a dopey giggle as he leaned into your touch.

“Hey! That’s great and all but-ACK!”

POW!

Dib was cut off by one of the Zib-Robot’s lasers zooming over his head.

“Brutus! We need to protect everyone else! Do you think you can help move them all to safety?!” You asked, your voice was laced with a slight plea.

“OF COURSE! BRUTUS CAN DO ANYTHING!”

And with that Brutus moved you, your Zim, and Majestzee to safer spot and rounded up all the other Zims, GIR and Dib.

“Great job, Brutus! Now This is gonna sound crazy but I need you to take me to the top of that robot!” You explained as you pointed to the Zib-Robot headed your way.

“WHAT?!” Everyone else cried out in unison.

“Y/N! ARE YOU INSANE?! WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT HIDEOUS OTHER DIB WILL DO TO YOU?!” Specs wailed as he shook your shoulders.

“I know, I know but…I’m the one he wants. If I give in to his demands, I can convince him to spare you guys! I can-”

“NO! YOU WILL NOT SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO THAT VILE FITHY OTHER DIB! I,THE ULTIMATE ZIM, FORBID IT!” Your Zim interjected as he grabbed your wrist.

“But Zim I-”

“But nothing! I have a much better plan that’ll fix everything!” Your Zim insisted.

“But-”

“Everything!”

“Are we really gonna listen to a plan from this-AHH!!!”

ZZZAP!!!

Majestzee was cut off by another laser blast firing out of the Zib-Robot.

“Looks like we don’t have any other choice! Alright Y/N’s Zim, what is your plan?” Specs asked as he adjusted his glasses.

“You’ll see! Everyone! Follow me! THE ULTIMATE ZIM COMMANDS IT!”

And with that, Your Zim lead everyone to the Dimensional Zapper.

“BEHOLD! THE DIMENSIONAL ZAPPER! This was originally my design before that other Dib soiled it with his filthy Dib filth!” Your Zim explained as he gestured to the Zapper.

“Wait a minute! So you were the one who created the very thing that got us all trapped here?!” Specs seethed as he snapped a finger in Your Zim’s face.

“I said I designed it! That filthy other Dib ruined it! He’s the one that trapped us here! I was going to use this Zapper to bring the Tallest to Urth! Well before I met Y/N that is.” Your Zim ranted as he pushed away Specs’s finger.

“Ok, that makes more sense…Even if it is pretty stupid.” Specs sighed as he folded his arms.

“It wasn’t stupid! It was INGENIOUS! Anyhow, if I can undo that other Dib’s tampering then I should be able to change the Zapper’s frequency so that the portals will send all of us back to our home timelines!” Your Zim explained as he scooped up GIR.

“Are you sure this idea is safe-”

“Of course it’s safe! Now! Witness my INGENIOUS reengineering skills!”

And with that, Zim jammed GIR into the Zapper.

He was about to make the change but Specs stopped him.

“Wait! If you’re going to tamper with this Zapper then you mustn’t do it alone! I will assist you.” Specs insisted as he went to another part of the Zapper.

“WHAT! I AM THE ULTIMATE ZIM! I NEED HELP FROM NO-”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Zim was cut off by the sound of the Zib-Robot drawing closer!

“Come out, come out where ever you are Zims~ You can’t hide from me forever~” Zib sang as a crazed giggle escaped his throat.

“ARGH! Fine! Just do as I say, got it?! One wrong move and we could all be wiped from existence!” Your Zim warned as he turned to resume his tinkering.

“Well while those two are working on the Zapper, we need to distract that robot!” 2k announced as he gestured to the Zib-Robot stomping about.

“Right! I think I have the perfect idea!” You announced as you climbed onto Brutus’s head.

And with that, you lead the rebel Zims into battle!

Brutus helped chuck the rebel Zims onto the Zib-Robot’s arms and legs.

The moment the rebel Zims landed on the Zib-Robot they begun to zap, slam, and smash away at.

CLANG!

VOOM!

POW!

PEW!

The Zib-Robot wobbled as Zib struggled to shake the rebel Zims off of it.

“GET OFF OF ME YOU SPACE PESTS!” Zib roared as he pounded away at the robot’s controls.

“Alright, Brutus. I need you to throw me onto the robot’s head!” You explained gently as you watched the robot flail about.

“BUT PRETTY Y/N-”

“Brutus, I’m gonna be fine, I promise.” You reassured as you gave him a hug.

“BRUTUS DOESN’T WANT TO LET PRETTY Y/N FIGHT OFF TINY ZIB-MAN!!” Brutus whimpered as a few large tears formed in his eyes.

“Alright, how about you come with me then?” You offered gently.

Brutus sniffled and nodded.

“OK. BRUTUS WILL HELP PRETTY Y/N!”

And with that, Brutus put you on his back and climbed to top the Zib-Robot’s head.

“Great work, Brutus! Now let-WOAH!”

The Zib-Robot toppled a bit, causing you to slide off of Brutus’s back.

“PRETTY Y/N!!!!!!”

FWIP!

You were caught by a large tentacle that lashed out from the Zib-Robot.

Before you could respond, the tentacle dragged you inside the Zib-Robot!

“So, you’ve finally come crawling back huh?” Zib let out a dark chuckle as the tentacle brought you to his face.

“Zib, listen to me, you have to stop this! Going on a rampage won’t solve anything-”

“SILENCE! I have been more than patient with you, Y/N. I’ve tried everything to win your love but clearly it was all for nothing! I thought you were different! I thought that you cared! But no! You’re just another useless human just like everyone else!” Zib ranted, pelting your face with more drool.

“Zib-”

“BE QUIET! I see now that any attempts to woo you would be all in vain! and yet…I…I can’t stop wanting you….Needing you…” Zib’s voice was a shaky whisper as murky tears streamed down his cheeks.

You opened your mouth to speak but the tentacle gave you a tight squeeze, silencing you instantly.

“Therefore, the only way to rid myself of these…horrible cravings! Is to rid myself of….you” Zib’s body shook as he spoke.

You let out a gasp as you struggled to wriggle out of the tentacle’s grip.

“I know, I know. But this is gonna hurt me more than it will hurt you! I’m sorry, my sweet but I can’t let you rip my heart out again!”

Zib was about to press a button on his throne when-

POP!

You managed to free yourself from the tentacle’s iron grip!

You let out a heavy sigh as you balled up your fists.

“I can make a promise. I can make a plan. I can make a difference. I can take a stand.” You stood up straighter as you shot Zib a glare.

“I can make an effort! If I only understand…That I….I can make a change!”

“ARGH! You know what?! Forget the tech! I’M GOING TO HANDLE YOU MYSELF!” Zib roared as he tackled you to the ground.

You writhed a bit before pushing Zib off of you and jumping to your feet.

Zib let out another growl as he sprung to his feet as well.

Zib activated his PAK’s spider legs and made another run for you!

“Gather all my problems. Gather all my pain. Take control of what I’m feeling! Patience to understand…” You grabbed Zib’s wrists just seconds before they reached your neck.

Zib gasped as he struggled to free himself from your grip.

“I know. I know you must be hurting….But please just know that I am with you! So that you don’t suffer all alone….So you…You can make a change…”

POP!

It didn’t take long for Zib to wriggle out of your grip.

He tried to grab your neck again but you swiftly dodged him.

WHAP!

Zib’s face kissed the ground.

He let out a groan as he shook himself back to reality.

More murky tears streamed down his cheeks as he slurped up a stream of drool.

With a loud war cry, Zib made another lunge at you.

SLAM!

Zib pinned you to the wall as his spider legs caged you in.

“You claim to understand what you can not know! The gall to lecture me! As though you can relate to me! So just go back your Zims! Your precious sweet little Zims there’s no time left to loose!” Spit soaked your face as Zib jammed a finger into your chest.

“Change is only for the strong! For the strong!” Zib’s voice cracked as he shoved you towards the window.

“You can make it different! You can make it right! You can make it better! We don’t have to fight!” Tears streamed down your face as you struggled to keep your balance.

Zib’s face fell a bit and his hands shook as he dangled you over the windowsill.

“You can make an effort! Starting with tonight! Because you…You can make a change!”

Next

[chaoartwork]

Multivoid: Chapter 2

A fanfiction revolving around 2K, Palindrome and the alternate Zims in the aftermath of the Battlevoid arc.

Based on Invader Zim comic issues 46-49.

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“Brother, you silly! That’s not how you play the game!”

“But I’m tired. Can’t we do this later?”

“But brother! If you do, we’ll never play it again! Come on now, sleepyhead! I think someone is going to join!”

———————————————-

A familiar whirring sound can be heard.  Palindrome can feel his squeedlyspooch twist and churn sickly the moment he felt his body wake up again. The heavy sensation was there and strong, but his consciousness felt a little stronger than last time. He weakly squinted upon his eyes, trying to process his surroundings again. There was one thing he noticed since his vision has gotten clearer. The Zimvoid. Something’s different about the Zimvoid. It looks so closed in-

Thud!

 The whirring sound was replaced with something falling on the ground, sending a moment of vibration that Palindrome felt on the ground his body was motionlessly lying on. He felt Miniwhale wiggle out of Palindrome’s arms, who was embracing him as he was originally resting, and made a squeak of surprise. Who did he see? Could it be he maybe sees....

“2K....” groans, despite feeling nauseous,”2K, is that...?”

“Zim?”

The fish hybrid’s body stiffened by a voice he knew too well. Few seconds of processing what he just heard, his body struggled to softly shift so he can look at what was behind him. It was much brighter where he was looking. A figure about the same size as him was behind the brightness, viewing the figure’s head to be too massive in the hybrid’s viewpoint to even maintain his small body. A human boy walked closer to him, his dark brown open jacket softly flowing a bit by his movement. His entire appearance was no longer hidden from the brightness by the time he approached him, his more reddish pupil eyes widen a bit in soft disbelief.

“Oh my God. My alien tracker was right. You actually came back.”

Palindrome’s breath quickened a bit in order to find the strength to respond again.

“Dib human?”

His Dib crouched down to take a good look at him.

“Yeesh. You look like a pile of poop right now. No literally. What’s up with that filthy water in your bowl? It looks as though you haven’t cleaned that in months.”

Palindrome squeedlyspooch churned again by another wave of heavy sensation,

“Please don’t mention it,” he groaned again.

“Better yet,” he glared angrily, “where have you been? You think I can just monitor your house for 6 months?!”

“It was actually 3 months,” the sick Irken corrected as he was attempting to gain control of his body’s condition.

“Alright fine, it was 3 month, so what?” He crossed his arms, “you better really tell me what’s going on and what exactly you did this time! Why did we all dissipate and then reversed back to normal?!”

 Palindrome laid still and tried his best to process.

“....What?” His eyes traced back to his enemy.

“Oh you know exactly what I’m talking about, Zim! You had something to do with that dissipation incident. Did you go somewhere and attempted to fully wipe this whole planet with...whatever that was?!”

“Dib human,” he grunted as he shakily sit up halfway, his arms shaky, “I dont know what you’re talk about. But whatever it is, I didn’t do it. If anything, I want to ask you something. Why are you in the Zimvoid?”

“Zimvoid?” His eyebrow raised

 “Yeah, this place is called the Zimvoid. It’s where I have been trapped in this whole time. How were you able to access here?”

His Dib stood still for a long while. Looking at him as if he lost it for whatever reason.

“Zim. I don’t know if the illness is so bad for you that your picturing about your conquered Earth, which won’t happen. But you do realize you’re in your home base, right?”

“My...what?”

His eyes blinked multiple times in order to look about more clearly on where he was. It hurt his eyes, but they strengthened to see his surrounding. His Dib was right. He was not in the Zimvoid this whole time. He was actually in the living room of his home base. He was....back home. Back in his own timeline. Just like he....

“No. No this can’t be right,” he murmured, his heart sinking as he glanced about even more, “this can not be.”

Miniwhale moves next to to the human boy, staring at his master in concern. His enemy’s eyes furrowed.

 “Zim-?”

“I was there a split second ago. He was right in front of me, Dib. I could have caught him right there. He....”

“Zim, what are you going on about-?”

“No. It couldn’t have been a dream,” his body started to tremble in disbelief and confusion, his eyes straining from trying to hold back the overwhelming emotion, “The Zimvoid was real, I’m sure of it. 2K was real too! I know he was-!”

“Zim!” His Dib grabbed him and sharply turned him to make him look at him, “Would you snap out of it?! And who is this ‘2K’ you keep mentioning?”

 Before he could answer, the heavy sensation rushed across body again. And with the combination of the stress he was now going through, it was enough to cause him to completely loose his appetite. And given the fact his head had been stuck in a bowl filled with water for few months, it made things even worse. He knew that breathing the water was  impossible now in this condition.

“Ew gross!” He felt his enemy drop him back on the floor, “what the heck, man!”

“Nya!”

“I know he’s suffocating, what do you want me to do?! Help him?! Because that’s the last thing I want to do!”

“Nya!”

The conversation was starting to blur out as his consciousness began to fade from how much his body was screaming. He can then feel his violently squirming body give in as he is succumb to darkness once again.

————————————————————————-

 The first thing Palindrome remembered when regaining consciousness was the great feeling of fresh clean water rushing  across his body, followed by his gills sucking in as much of the water as it can content. His eyes flew wide open and let out a gasp, the first thing seeing is the fresh water surrounding his entire body. It took him a moment to process this experience until his ear fins fluttered at the great sensation he hasn’t felt in a long time. He smiled in in overwhelming and relieved glee, letting himself enjoy it.

“Ah!...Fresh water how I miss you....”

“Now will you tell me what exactly is going on?”

He fully snapped out of his trance, turning to realize that he was inside of his huge fish tank that was within his lab. He also notice his body was feeling lighter because of how he was no longer wearing his suit or his helmet. He has fully forgotten how light his body really was. without it, it made his body feel incredibly strong when swimming about. Guess it was also the fact that three months physically training and doing his duties with 2K really paid off.

He then remembered Dib’s voice and swam up to poke his head out of the surface, seeing his enemy and servant standing in front of him. Miniwhale, shortly after Palindrome pokes his head out of the water quickly floated over him and nudge against his chest.

  He let his arm wrap around his robot in a cradling position in order to comfort him, already having the idea he must have worried him when he passed out, before looking back up at the human in suspicion.

“You saved me?”

“Please,” the boy crossed his arms, “I never wanted to save you to begin with. Your whale robot wouldn’t shut up about having me save you. Besides, you still haven’t answered all of my questions.”

 The fish hybrid remained eyeing him.

“First,” he replied to the human boy,  “You have to explain to me what you were talking about back there.”

“Which one?”

“The dissipation incident.”

“Oh come on! Why do I have to be the one to explain first?”

“Cause maybe it might give me a clue on exactly what happened in the Zimvoid.”

“Seriously? You’re going on about this ‘Zimvoid’ again? What even is it?”

“Explain to me about the dissipation incident or I won’t explain to you anything,” Palindrome softly squinted.

The human child glared at him for a while. But he gave in and sighed. He sat down by the ground and began.

“I heard nothing about you for months. I tried to use the alien radar many times to see if you were doing something in another galaxy or something. But no matter how many attempts, the tracker could not find you. It was almost as if...you were no longer present in the universe. I eventually was starting to think I actually won, even though I didn’t feel like I earned it until I really did defeated you in person. But I tried to push that though aside and instead continued on with my life. One early morning, I left home to go to school. It was about the third month since you disappeared and I was starting to think less about even counting the days of your absence. I was walking pass through the city....”

  He suddenly went quiet, now showing an expression that he was feeling haunted.

“....I started to feel strange. In fact, it turns out I was not the only one. Everyone were shouting and screaming and...everything just turned into these particles of goo for whatever reason. And so was I. I woke up and a second after  started feeling pretty sick. But everything was back to normal as if everything that was dissipating reversed back to their own form. I really don’t know what that was all about, but I was at least strong enough to head back home so me and my family can recover from the aftermath.”

“And did your ‘dad’ of yours say anything about it?”

“Pfft!” He rolled his eyes, “he just said that some sort of pollution in the air might have been the reason we all-“ he finger gestured, “‘hallucinated’. He was at least not as sick as me and Gaz were though.”

“What did your ‘sister’ think.”

“Gaz just wants to pretend it didn’t happen. Just continue on with our lives cause thinking about that incident will just loose our minds. But I obviously couldn’t stop thinking about it. Soon after I recovered though was when I realized my alien tracker was going off for who knows how long in my closet. It gave me a signal that there was an alien on our planet and...”

His Dib looks back at him, his eyes furrowed,

“Well, you know the rest of the story.”

Palindrome blinked and then placed his finger on his chin, his body nearly flinching since it was the first time he touched his own head in months, and pondered.

“Well,” His enemy said a bit impatiently, “any ‘clues’ you might have?”

Palindrome was quiet for a short while before responding,

“So it was not just me and the other Zims...”

Dib’s expression changed into confusion,

“Other Zims?”

“It also happened in my future conquered planet,” he continued.

“Well you’re not going to conquer my planet, that’s for sure,” the human child narrowed.

“And if that’s so,” the Irken hybrid gazed up at the ceiling, “I wonder if it happened throughout our entire universe. If so....Could it have also happened in the other Zims’ timelines?”

“Other Timelines?” His Dib grew confused again.

 “But that still wouldn't make sense,” Palindrome furrowed in confusion while still talking to himself, “why did we dissipate? Why did it reverse? Most importantly, why am I back in my own timeline? I mean it’s what I always wanted, but....somethings not right. The only reason could be that something happened to the Zapper.”

The human grew even more confused.

“....Yeah. It has to be the Zapper that did something to us. Something was off about it when I last glanced at it, I’m sure of it. And someone might have triggered it to do this. Maybe the Elder pushed the wrong button. Or maybe....maybe someone else triggered it on purpose. Maybe someone like.....”

His eyes narrowed.

“Zib. It must have been Zib. He must have had something when pressing those  buttons that automatically caused the Zapper to-“

“Alright alright ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!” His enemy fully cut him off of his pondering in which caused Palindrome to finally look back at him, “I don’t know what ANY of what you just said makes ANY sense whatsoever! You’re gonna make my skull crack wide open if you don’t tell  me what you were talking about and where exactly you have been!”

“Human skulls can do that?” Palindrome was a bit impressed.

“IT WAS AN EXAGGERATION! Just tell me already!!”

The fish hybrid was quiet again. For the first time since he passed out last time, he felt the sadness weigh down in his chest again, his fin lowering at the traumatic thought of what happened the last time he was conscious in the Zimvoid. He softly looked at his Dib.

“Do you really want to know where I disappeared to?”

————————————————-

 His Dib tried processing everything he has been telling him, with Miniwhale also listening in awe. About the Irken signal he got. How he crashed into the Zimvoid. A world that was filled with alternate versions of himself. How he met a baby version of himself name 2K and how he joined the Zim Resistance. How he learned the entire function of the Zimvoid. His growing bond for his Resistance partner. How three months after meeting 2K that they eventually stumbled upon an alternate version of a Dib and Gir, which led them on adventure all the way to encountering Number 1, revealing to be a fusion of an alternate Zim and Dib.

 They are told of his main scheme and brought nearly all the Zims together to engage in a war against him. But he tells him what happens during the battle. How everyone in the Zimvoid dissipated. And 2K being the very last one he saw in the Zimvoid before watching him disappear as well, along with him blacking out.

“...And that was when I woke up here.”

 His Dib was deadly quiet for quite a while. He blinked multiple times and needed to sit down. He rest his palm on his forehead.

“Uh...wow. Wow. Uh...a world full of my greatest enemy. Man. That sounds like something that is my worst nightmare coming true. How was other me able to cope with that place?”

“He was kind of shook about it when we found him and the other Gir. He seemed to cope with it pretty fast. But,” his eyes slanted, “he thought that me, 2K, and the Elder were the less intimidating and feeble version of his Zim. Don’t know what that was all about, but oh well.”

 “Well I can’t blame him,” His Dib said unamused, “you do tend to not put enough work into conquering our Earth.”  

“Yes I do!” Palindrome responded in annoyance.

“Whatever. Did you ever know what happened to him and that other creepier me.”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I just last saw them sitting by the top of the robot where I last saw 2K.”

“Hm. Oh well. Whatever happened to them, I just hope they got out of that place alive. Well....I don’t really care too much for that ‘Zib’ though, he was too far gone. Anyways, I’m just so glad I didn’t respond to that signal.”

  Palindrome sigh,

“I was guessing that you did.”

His Dib looked at him in surprise,

“How did you know I got the signal?”

“Zib told the other you that he was the only one that responded to the signal. That was when I learned why you did not chase me down while I was heading to the vortex.”

“Oh. I mean, I did see the signal,” his enemy rubbed the back of his head, “but it told me that there was a very violent storm ahead where the signal was coming from. I figured that it would be far too dangerous to come after you at a condition like that. And given how you mysteriously survive everything, I just figured you would turn back or get past the storm somehow.”

“Figures...Mmmph!” Palindrome deeply groaned and hugged himself with one of his arms. Miniwhale felt his master’s other arm around him tighten a bit, making him look up at him in confusion and concern. His Dib noticed and looked back at him,

“Zim?”

“Rggh...it’s nothing, it’s nothing,” he gulped and tried to catch his breath, “...Just having another one.”

The kid just nodded and did nothing else but wait patiently. It took several seconds for the sensation to fully die off again, making the fish hybrid sink almost completely into the water tank in exhaustion, his free arm grabbing onto the ledge. He took easy breaths, with Miniwhale squeaking,

“Nya?”

He tiredly look to notice his servant’s worried expression. He tried giving at least a soft reassuring smile,

“It’s fine, Miniwhale. It’s at least lighter than last time.”

“How long have you been having that?”

 “Not sure. Maybe since everyone here woke up?”

“You seem to have it a lot worse though. Do you know why that is?”

“I don’t know, stink face. I’m not in a mood to think about it either. But given it was a long while since the last time I had it,  that’s a sign that those sensations won’t last long.”

He calmly breathed out and let himself fully relax,

“I just hope it goes away fast. I can’t stay like this. I need to find 2K. I need to know if he’s ok...along with the others.”

The scuba diver softly narrowed,

“And I don’t care whether you believe my story or not, Dib. I need to find my best friend no matter what.”

Miniwhale frowned,

“....Nya?”

“Yeah, you did not mishear it. He really did matter to me,” his said in a bit sadder tone.

“So...your best friend is yourself,” His Dib processed it a bit.

Palindrome responded by eyeing at him in offense.

Dib noticed, not caring too much on how he felt about that comment.

“Then again,” the human shrugged, “I’m not really too surprised.”

 His Dib made a pause and looked away.

“I will hate to say that I do believe in everything you have told me.”

“Heh. Funny,” Palindrome was not convinced, “you always refuse to believe me.”

“Well my incident is one thing that made me do so. But there was another thing that really stood out.”

Dib stood up and walked few steps away from him. Palindrome was confused at where he was going as he watched him stop and look down at something. He bent down and picked it up before turning back to walk towards his enemy again.

 “You were wearing this when I found you. Isn’t that part of your story?”

The fish squinted, trying to figure out what he was carrying. His face slowly morphed into a complete stunned and emotional expression when his sight of it became far too familiar to mistaken it. His Dib stopped and handed him what appeared to be a heavy metallic looking collar that gave off the pale reddish and pinkish color. Palindrome hesitated before reaching out and softly taking it from him. He let it get very close to his chest so he can fully look at it from a perfect view.

  The collar was now unlocked, with it pried open. This indicated that his Dib was actually able to successfully open it for whatever reason. There was something else that he wanted to see and he softly turned it to see a four digit bar that still reflected from the light. The four digits provided four random numbers, reading out 2|0|0|2.

“When you passed out, Miniwhale and I rushed you to your water tank and took your suit and water helmet off in order for you to breathe the water easily. However, the collar was avoiding the water helmet from being removed. So the only way to do so was forcing open the collar. And that was for me to laser the key hole, which is why the key hole looks completely melted.”

The alien was completely frozen for a long while, staring at the digits. He perked a soft smile for a second before they tensed and he started to choke up, his eyes getting watery. The boy also noticed this and scoffed,

“Oh come on, are you seriously gonna cry over me destroying the collar? The one that you said you were stuck wearing all those months? Because if you turned out to have grown attached to it, it’s just a stupid collar.”

 Palindrome softly shook his head and sniffed, letting his arm rub his tearful eyes.

“N-no, no it’s not that. Stupidly enough, I’m actually happy. I knew the whole time that the Zimvoid really did exist. But....”

He emotionally looked back down at the collar, softly smiling again,

“I still needed proof to know I really was right.”

His body hiccuped just a bit before letting his arms wrap around the collar and pressing it to his chest.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I have proof now that you and the others were never a dream. I’ll come find you, I promise.”

Miniwhale stares before smiling at his master’s relief in a response. His Dib just awkwardly gaze,

“...Is no one going to talk about the fact that he’s hugging a collar?”

However, as soon as he said this, an alert went off.

“IRKEN DISTRESS SIGNAL HAS BEEN LOCATED.”

Palindrome’s eyes snapped open by the feeling of deja vu. It also sent chills across his body, but he can’t tell if it’s a good or a bad chill. He and his enemy almost immediately looked at the large computer screen with it showing an internet connection signal and the Irken Empire symbol above it, big blinking letters below reading “IRKEN DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED”.

 “Wait,” his Dib said, “isn’t that the same signal that I...?”

Palindrome silently stared at the screen. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Computer, get me a back-up suit.”

“Yes, sir.”

A huge tube buried Palindrome’s body before uncovering him to reveal what looks to be his swimming suit, except the suit is black while parts of it remain pink, along with his gloves and shoes, and a new clean helmet filled with water being worn. A small tube came out of Palindrome’s PAK and went up to attach itself from the back of his bowl.

 Palindrome gently put the collar down and tried climbing out of the huge water tank. But pushing himself out of the tank cause the heavy sensation to come back, causing him to end up having his body collapse at the edge of the floor. The boy looked,

“You sure you can get over to the controls when you’re this weak?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he grunts and looks up at him, “in fact since you’re so ‘worried’, carry me, filth human.”

“What?! Why me?!” He then point to Palindrome’s robot, “why can’t the whale do it? He has telekinesis!”

 “Nya!” Miniwhale answered.

“BUT YOU CARRIED A GIANT TRUCK ONC-!”

He stopped right there. He became unamused.

“Oh. I see what you’re doing there. You’re just saying that so I can be the one to carry him.”

“I said it doesn’t matter! Carry me to the controls!”

“Urgh! Alright fine! Yeesh, you aliens are so lazy and selfish,” he starts walking over to him.

“Oh yeah,” Palindrome mumbled, “I should maybe make a body switching machine so you can know what this really feels like right now.”

“I-“ Dib let out a grunt as he lift him up with both of his arms, “been on this same page too you know.”

“No you don’t since you just stated my condition is the worst one.”

“Yeah yeah sure whatever,” Dib grunted again when making a second short lift. “Yeesh, it was much easier carrying you before you had to wear that stupid suit. When are you ever going to get that thing upgraded to a lighter one.”

“Hey,” Palindrome pointed out as Dib starts waddling over to the controls, “it’s not easy when your body really needs water. Not only for breathing it, but to have an inner layer of the suit that helps keep my scales moisturized so they don’t dry up to the point where they get extremely itchy and then they-“

 “Ok, you don’t need to explain your fish issue again. It’s still disgusting no matter how you explain it.”

Palindrome sigh in irritation,

“Just put me down. We’re already by the controls.”

His Dib rolled his eyes and did what he told him. Palindrome however yelped when his legs failed to stand again and it cause him to fall. It took a while after to recover. Shaking, with his teeth clenching by the heavy sensation rippling across his body again, he made his legs use all the strength to stand up a bit and hold unto the controllers. He panted for a short while and looked back at the screen, exhaustingly reaching out and pressing the button. The screen change, showing what appears to be...

Palindrome paused, trying to process what he was seeing so he can make sure his mind wasn’t making it up.

“What is that?” His Dib asked, “it looks like some sort of an abandoned settlement on an asteroid.”

The fish hybrid’s eyes softly traced as he looked at the picture on the screen.

“The Zimvoid.”

“The what?” His Dib asked. But then blinked into realization of what he meant. “Wait. THAT’S the Zimvoid?”

 “No doubt about it,” he said and pointed out a very tall device standing on the map version of the Zimvoid, “I know that there is no other planet that holds the Zapper.”

“And this is the one that you said caused everything that happened here on Earth. Especially....”

“I’m certain of it.” Palindrome then squinted. “Along with the certainty of Zib being behind it all.”

“Again, how are you certain that it was Zib? You sure that elderly Zim didn’t accidentally cut the-?”

“Nya!” Miniwhale suddenly pointed out something.

“An email?” Palindrome glanced at his servant in confusion and looked back at the screen. Almost instantly, he took notice on a symbol of an email that appears on the bottom left of the monitor. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Computer, open the email.”

“Yes, sir.”

The email opens up to show a note that is typed in Irken.

 “Oh boy,” the human boy scoffed, “more alien writings. Hey fish alien, can you translate what it says?”

The scuba diver went ahead and read it.

“It’s says....’If you really want everything to go back to normal, come see me at the place where you last saw me.’”

“Huh. That’s strange. I wonder who wrote this.”

“Based on what I read and the location, it’s already obvious on who it is. Can’t believe that Roach Human is still alive.”

“Roach Human? What kind of nickname is that?”

“Well since he hates being called ‘Zib’, I might as well give him a much better name. It fits since he’s both cruel, he looks like a human roach, and he’s a Dib.”

“Isn’t he half a Zim too?”

But Palindrome didn’t respond this time and instead quietly stared at the screen.

His Dib slightly tilted his head in confusion.

“Zim?”

The alien hybrid stayed like this for a short while before speaking once more,

“I just don’t understand though. I shouldn’t have received this map. The Zimvoid is from another timeline and I remember when I was trapped there, I could not communicate with my own timeline. How was he able to send me this? Why now?”

 “I mean, he did send us a distress signal before, even if it was between two different timelines. It wouldn’t even make sense if it didn’t work for you yet it did for him.”

“The signal he used was far advanced from my own communications. Then again, maybe you could be right. But this signal is different. If the signal is leading me to the Zimvoid, it would have pointed me to Pandora’s Quadrangle. The vortex portal should be there if I’m getting the signal now.”

“The vortex wasn’t there when I checked that place,” His enemy let him know, “and I have never picked up any activity from that place since.”

Palindrome kept on pondering more.

“Hm. That wouldn’t make sense if the vortex really is closed. I wonder...”

He looked back up at the monitor.

“Computer, zoom out the map on how long it takes to get to this signal.”

“Zooming out!”

The map completely changed from the zooming. The enemy duos and Miniwhale looked at the screen.

The entire room was quiet.

“Um....” His Dib finally spoke, “...Zim? Are you sure the map isn’t glitching?”

“No,” he murmured while his eyes remained glued on the screen.

“Are you sure?  Like I’m for real, you’re really sure. Did you check if the computer is glitching?”

“Hmph. Well that’s just rude. My scanning is indicating that my glitches are 0%”  

“Are you SURE.”

“Ok, you really need to stop repeating that sentence. It’s getting very annoying.”

“Well I won’t tell until you give me proof that you aren’t glitching!”

The boy sharply turned to him.

“Zim! Check his wires or something! After all, this is a glitch, right?”

Palindrome face of disbelief remained in his face. There was absolutely no doubt that the map was just a glitch.

“Oh Tallest, Roach Human, what did you do?”

——————————————————————-

Within an broken throne room, a strange looking creature was fixing his throne until he heard an alert from the other room.

“Huh, that was fast.”

He stopped what he was doing and entered a lighter room, his appearance being a mix a what appears a child that is half human and half Irken. The PAK that was attached to the back of his head remained to softly glow as he approached a huge cracked monitor, which was damaged as a result of the war. It would glitch and flicker for a split second every now and then but regardless, it was still functional.

“Who responded?” He asked his computer.

 “Signal was responded by Earth Number 2002, Number 1.”

“Number 2002. Yeah,” he scoffed, “Ofcourse it would be from one of the Resistance leaders. I guess I’ll have to deal with him too if he decides to come. Speaking of that, what is the condition of Earth Number 2000?”

“The altered timeline of Number 2000 remains stable. It does not appear as though it will change any time soon or rather there is no indication yet if it will ever show a sign of shifting back to its original state.”  

“Well that’s one good news I guess,” he sighed, “then again, there’s no telling if he will notice the sudden change of his environment if he’s in a state for this long, or for any Zim that is in this state for that matter. Whatever the case, the timelines cannot remain like this. And I will make sure I don’t underestimate any Zim again. Especially that....”

The rage, just remembering that particular Zim, makes him want to kill him without hesitation. The thought of him was enough to make him tightly form his hands into a fist.

 Short beeping sounds was suddenly heard from the computer, distracting him. A monitor points to a specific Earth out of the rest of its alternates that live nearby.

“Number 1. I detect another timeline that is having another unknown triggered time anomaly from Number 2004. The timeline’s shift back into its original state is therefore happening momentarily.”

The hybrid species looks at the screen in awe.

“Another one, huh?”

Without a moment to loose, he looked up at the ceiling that has fully broken off and let his spider legs fully come out of his PAK, launching him up there. He launched out of the hole and made a careful landing on the roof of the castle.

  With his spider legs sinking back the where it came from and fully standing up again, he looked out at the Zimvoid. The world felt emptier than it ever was. Especially with the vortexes no longer seen from the sky, resulting in not feeling any wind. Along with the destroyed Zapper, who’s lower bottom half was slightly tilted to the left, as the result of powerful impact of the explosion, and the top portion of it being broken off and laying on the ground, several pieces of it splayed out and surrounding around it. Without the bright light of the powerful device, the Zimvoid has plunged into complete darkness, the stars and moon being the only lights left in such a completely dead world.

  There were barely any broken ships left, given that they all dissipated along with the Zims and their destroyed Girs’ bodies, resulting in giving him very little resources he needs to start rebuilding his technologies. However, several broken and crashed ships can now be seen laying about the asteroid planet. Crashed ships that he had upgraded and were believed to have dissipated.

  Zib looked up at the sky, waiting quietly and patiently. After several seconds of standing there, he suddenly heard a windy eerie-like sound that steadily grew loud. He quickly glanced about the sky until his eyes laid upon what was starting to become more noticeable. Extremely few portions of goo started to softly appear out of thin air in the distance. Then more and more of them appeared, getting bigger and more noticeable. They all started to pull towards each other until they clumped together, morphing into an object that became more recognizable until it became a single particular voot cruiser. It was starting to fly in a very slow motion, almost as if time was in a slow state for this ship in general. But time started to speed up more and more until it was speeding in its natural state.

However, the ship was gliding down, having no passenger inside to steer it, as it was charging almost directly to the top of the castle where Zib was at. He took notice of this and his hair strands, surprisingly, bristled in alarm.

“Oh SHI-!”

He jumped the the other side of the room and covered his head. The ship barely missed the tower, but the wing hit the edge of the roof, causing the wing to break off and make the ship spin out of control. It continued falling in almost a gliding style until it hit the ground and burst into flame, skidding into a stop.

 Zib stayed in his position until he was certain that it was safe to uncover his head and shakily get up. He walked steadily walked to the other side of the roof in order to get a good viewpoint on what almost hit him. He stared at the ship for a long while.

“Time shift from Number 2004’s timeline is complete.”

Zib was quiet. But then hummed in interest.

“2004’s timeline changed even quicker than the last one. Actually...each timeline keeps coming back quicker than the previous one.”

 Zib stares at it expressionless. Then he smiled.