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It was late at night, maybe two or three in the morning. You know, that little pocket of time where very few people are out and about. That little gap in the universe where people seem to shrink away leaving only the loneliest and most snake like. Of course, there were two exceptions to this list. Within the shadows of a long dark narrow highway covered in brush and pine trees, two figures walked idly side by side. One in a trench coat, one in a sort of pink uniform.
It was silent apart from the occasional cricket or frog, maybe a cicada or two. The pair did not dare to speak. You see, there had been a decline in their relationship… not that there was ever NOT a decline, but they had a complicated sort of friendship. They were enemies, but a different kind of enemy. Over the years their rivalry had morphed into some kind of sick twisted friendship. Both using each other as a punching bag but not to the extent of killing the other. Sometimes Dib would win, sometimes Zim would win.
Sadly, this friendship was cut short. Zim disappeared one day. After three years on Earth he was gone. Dib remembers the exact date by memory, August 14 20XX. He was only fifteen when he left. At first, Dib didn’t mind. In fact, he was quite happy the bug eyed burden had finally left. It wasn’t until three months later that he realized he needed the little cretin. He was the only one that really noticed him… Well, noticed him more than the insane useless skank that he is.
Dib kept his eyes on his feet trailing behind Zim. He lugged his tool kit along with him in a faulty grip.
It only got worse for Dib from there. The bullying got worse, his sister still hated him with a burning passion, and his Dad worked even more than Dib thought was possible. Honestly, Dib barely survived high school. His cutting grew deep as his grades sored high. His dark thoughts grew darker and darker. Honestly, what is he even good at? Does he have a talent at all? What’s the point of his life???
Dib continued to walk with his eyes trained on the ground until a hand tugged harshly on his trench coat. “It’s over here you idiot,” Zim barked putting his hands on his hips and gesturing to a path going deeper into the forest.
“Yeah, sorry.” Dib responded uncharacteristically quiet and dull.
Zim flashed a quick look of concern or confusion at the response before turning to walk in his usual scowl.
At this point, Dib was currently twenty one years old. That’s exactly three years since high school waiting for it to get better. It hasn’t. If Dib was going to be straight up, he was done trying to prove himself to a world that didn’t care. He just wanted to end it all, and he was going to until it was put on hold because of this stupid lizard coming back asking him to help with his ship. Of course he wanted something from him.
After a few more minutes of walking, the two came to a field. Zim grins and stands on a nearby tree stump, “I told you I knew where it was.”
Dib nods before making his way out of the woods and into the grassy clearing. He sets his tool box down and looks at the vroot. It was badly damaged. Burns and scrapes and… were those bullet holes? Dib stares in awe at the mangled mess.
Zim promptly joins him in looking at the damage, “Fix it.”
Dib’s eyebrows shoot up, “ Fix it?! This thing is destroyed!”
Zim shrugs and sits on the grass lazily, “I knew a stupid earth monkey like you would say that. All you have is primitive junk, nothing that could ever repair an Irken ship.”
“That’s n-“ Dib bit his tongue trying not to act childish. “I’ll try to fix the engine, but everything else his your problem.”
Zim stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes and laying flat on the grass looking almost dead with his tongue out.
A few minutes go by, Dib trying his best to repair the engine to his ability and Zim staring at him silently. Honestly, Dib wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t see Zim’s antennae change every five seconds with every move he made. He sighed and looked at the alien, “What? Why are you looking at me?”
Zim narrowed his eyes before crossing his arms and turning his nose up to the sky in a snooty way. “I am just trying to analyse your movements so I find your pathetic human weak spots and crush them later.”
Dib goes to shoot an insult back, but can’t find the strength. Something’s holding him back. He sighs, “Right… well you can ‘crush’ them right after I finish this.” He grabs a screwdriver from a nearby rock and his gigantic head disappears once again into the hood of the vroot.
Zim bounces in place, “maybe I can use this human bone knowledge and make a ray simply erasing it all. All the humans will be goop.” He flashes Dib a toothy grin expectantly waiting for his feedback.
Dib gives another defeated sigh, “Yeah, ok.”
Suddenly the hood of the vroot slammed down almost instantly crushing his fingers and head. He looked up to see a somewhat peeved alien on top of the ship. “ZIM?!” He screeched cradling his ears from the sudden sound.
“Yes human it’s me I just almost crushed you’re puny human skull, what’chu gonna do about it?!”
Dib wanted to scream back at him everything he could in fact do about it, but he didn’t. He stayed silent with his eyes trained downcast to the ground. This only seemed to irritate Zim more.
The Irken narrowed his eyes at the boy, “Why do you do that?”
“What?”
“The holdy-backy duel thing. Why do you choose to block Zim’s epic battle monologue starters?! I had a whole six months to think of them, you know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dib said motioning the alien to get off of the hood. He did not.
“Maybe you’re not my opponent. A clone? A robot? My human wouldn’t go one milisqentel without starting an argument!” Zim said to himself poking at Dib’s chest and face.
Dib slapped the hand away, “Listen, if this is about that stupid rivalry we had in the 6-9th grade then forget about it. I’m not a kid anymore.”
Zim’s antenna flattened, “What happened to you?”
“ Nothing,” Dib responded harshly, “especially after you left for seven years without so much as a ‘so long!’”
Zim went tense. His facial expression shifted trying to find the right words, “I had no choice.”
“No choice my ass. If you really care about this ‘rivalry’ so much than why did you leave?!”
Zim pointed a finger at the human, his face contorting into a snarl, “Listen Dib, a human like you could never understand why I left. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Maybe I’d understand if you told me!” Dib said jutting his hands in the air.
Zim paused for a moment standing idly on the roof of the vroot for a moment before jumping off into the soil. “Very well.”
Zim just started walking off further into the moonlit valley. The sky, being so much farther away from the city, was filled to the brim with billions of blinking orbs and constellations. It was gorgeous. When the alien finally found a spot he liked on the grass, he gestured for Dib to join him. Dib obliged and lay lazily on his back gazing up at the stars.
“I didn’t have a choice to leave Earth.”
“Pfft, ok”
“No, Dib. You see, I got a transmission from my tallest the evening I left. They said it was urgent and that I needed to head back immediately. Back on Irk, following and obeying the tallest is what your told to do since you’re a smeet! I was quick to tell them about my progress on Earth, but they said the mission was put on hold.” Zim paused for a moment, “Anyway, when I finally got back to Irk it turned out I was actually being tried by the control brains. Which was odd, because obviously Zim hasn’t done anything against the empire ever. When the trial finally started, they analyzed my pak. And… the biggest discovery for me was what I actually am.”
Dib’s mouth is agape, “What? What happened?”
“I’m a defect,” Zim whimpered barely audible. “On Irk, defects are horrible disgraceful things. When they are discovered, their paks are disconnected on site. I ended up escaping that part, though Minimoose ended up being a secret assassin trying to kill me and… Gir was powered down immediately…”
Dib shifted his head from the star filled sky to Zim’s face. It was contorted into a pained expression and looked as if the Irken might break down. Can Irken’s cry? The human puts a hesitant hand on Zim’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Zim.”
Zim met the humans eyes before returning to his scowl and looking up at the sky.
————
That last thing Dib remembers is looking up at the sky with his so-called enemy, but that can’t be right… right?
Dib yawned blinking away at the sleep that coated his eyes. He frowned at the bright sun that seemed to be shining into his eye sockets. He sat upright and cracked his back before freezing. He looked around once or twice before staring shockingly into the sunlit clearing. “ I’m still in the forest.”
He heard a voice sound from behind him accompanied by sarcastic claps, “Yes yes, you’re so smart. Now fix my ship.”
Dib groaned in protest before collapsing back onto the grass. He heard footsteps come towards him until the figure and him were staring at each other inches apart from each other's faces.
“Wakey wakey big head. I didn’t guard your pathetic human body all night just to let you curl up like a smeet!”
Dib finally lifted his eyelids to see ruby orbs peering over him. “I hate you.”
After stretching from laying down on the hard Earth for hours he finally wakes himself up enough without the help of coffee.
Dib grabs his tools once again and goes back to tinkering with the vroot. He smiles after awhile and looks at Zim. “Go try it.”
Zim fires up the engine and it’s surprising fine. It’s running smoothly and-
It dies.
Dib stood in the grass with his hand on his chin, “hmm, interesting.”
Zim rolled his eyes at the human, “You’re a moron.”
Dib nods taking note of the engine and what could possibly be the problem before he feels a wave of nausea hit him. It then occurs to him that he hasn’t eaten in awhile. He didn’t even have dinner the other night because the whole Zim fiasco.
Dib looks over at the bored looking alien and smiles, “You still have those contacts and wig?”
Zim cocks a non-existent brow at him, “Yes. Why?”
Dib is smug, “We’re off to get some waffles, Space boy!”