'IB' - Chapter One

Introduction:
So here it is! I am finally working on this for those of you who've been so patient. I am working on making this flow a bit better so please excuse its immense length since I have been adding a lot. I hope you guys enjoy chapter one and the rest of the story once I can get around to posting it! I am writing Dib's parts and Invader-Neo is writing Zim's. I haven't edited much of hers because she writes like a boss!

Chapter One

Everyone in the skool building knew it was a scientific law that when there was Zim, there was always oddities and inevitably, screaming. These screams were usually on resulting in either anger and denial at anything that could have been brought to his attention that he felt were threatening to his position and mission, or from absolutely anything that came out of his arch enemy's, Dib's, mouth. And both these oddities and screams were the very things that defined what Zim was to these humans as much as his PAK defined him as an Irken. He had been doing both of them lately, but none of them could be defined as Zim like at all. The oddities had gone from the way he held his spork-full of food away from himself to the way his head rolled slightly to the side after a full minute of not even the slightest of twitches. And the screams had all but stopped, and even when they came, no one heard them as they always sounded like his lungs were full of water; gurgling sounds with small chokes escaping between them. It was almost admittedly concerning that the Irken seemed almost brain dead at this point.

And today was no different than the days this behavior started. Those fake contacts stared down at the table for a long time, completely motionless before his hand zapped forward and snatched his spork tightly, as if someone had tried to steal it away from him. He lifted it up, as if to stab it into whatever brown mush the skool had served today, but seemed to miscalculate as it only wound up embedded in his own hand carelessly.


There was one boy who had known Zim since the day he made his way through the doors of that skool. Dib was his name, and he knew when this 'green kid' was being his normal 'Zim-ish' self and when there was something off about him. No one except Dib cared enough to actually notice the odd behaviours coming from Zim lately and if anything, it scared the boy more than anything. Dib spent every waking second watching the other now, unlike times before where he was a lot less aggressive when it came to watching the alien.

Dib watching him across the cafeteria now with his eyes glued on everything Zim was doing. Several times he had considered approaching him and perhaps try and question him about why he was acting so strangely, but for some reason he could never bring himself to do it. He felt like that would spark some other insane behaviour and quite frankly, Dib didn't want to be a part of that. Instead, he continued to study the other through narrow eyes, taking in every movement and every sound made by him


For the longest time, silence fell over the table with the lone invader sitting there staring at that spork. He gave a short, ear splitting and obviously inhuman screeching noise before his face fell hollow again. He simply ripped the spork out after that, a translucent pink color on the tips where it had met flesh, and then blood under it. He brought it to his lips, the tip of his tongue tasting his own blood a moment before setting it down again as if the entire situation were normal.

It took the boy several moments to comprehend what he had just seen and that ear-wrenching screech echoed endlessly through his head. He glanced around for a moment to see if anyone had at least heard that, but no one even flinched. Dib didn't pay much mind to this fact as he turned his attention back towards Zim, staring intently at that hollow look on his face.

It was then that he finally worked up the courage to stand and approach Zim. He could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead as he walked rather slowly towards the other as if he were trying to avoid startling him in any way. The boy felt he would deeply regret this decision, but he just had to know what was going on with Zim after the months of seeing him go into a downward spiral.

Once he had finally approached the table, he took a moment to study Zim. It was the first time he had actually been this close to him in a long time and the first thing he noticed was the blank look on his face.  It seemed to stare beyond anything in front of him and it surrounded the boy in an aura of so many dark feelings he had never felt before. He attempted to block out those feelings now as he slammed both of his hands on the table in front of Zim rather harshly.

"O-okay, Zim. What's going on?" He asked rather quietly, completely opposite of how he would've addressed Zim in a normal circumstance.


The slamming echo of hands coming in contact with the table didn't even make the unsuspecting Irken blink in slight flinch as he was too busy wherever his mind had slipped now. Suddenly, those blank eyes grew wider as his lids stretched wider before he grabbed Dib's arm in a vice grip. Sharp talons latched into his arm as he pulled him toward him, as if trying to lure him into his very death by the wild stare he was giving him with the very slight whine of a single held out vowel of a laugh, the 'e' taking on an tone that should not be able to be held steady at such a low volume.

Dib hadn't even a moment to blink before his arm was in a death grip with the sharp talons sunk deep into his flesh. He let out a small whine, closing his eyes as he was yanked harshly towards Zim in such a fashion that made his neck jerk back slightly in a whiplash. Once the eerie sound had come from Zim's throat, the boy's eyes opened slowly to see the blank eyes right in his line of sight now. The Irken's horrifying expression was all he could see now and it sent a wave of terror through his body. It was actually the first time he had felt fear of the other, something he never thought he would experience from him.

"Z-Zim..." Dib choked out desperately as the pain in his arm grew more intense by the second.

Zim seemed very determined at this point to rip his arm off though, yanking at it and thrashing it around like a dog might do to a chew toy violently. His yanks were so harsh and jarring it could very well pull his shoulder out of socket, or even his own. He soon let his arm go though, suddenly getting up to his knees and staring up into his face as if seeing him for the first time ever. He bared his teeth at him in a silent fierce motion, his lip curling up to show those sharp, razor-like teeth. The corners of his mouth soon twitched up though into what seemed like a wide, opened mouth smile, but his eyes still remained crazed and wild, as if he truly just wanted to attack him again.

The violent thrashing-motions that Dib had been put through seemed to disorient him as he wobbled about for a few moments when his arm had finally been released. He shivered and reached for his arm where it had been clawed and cupped his hand over it to feel a warm liquid was coating it. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath as his hand reached up to rub his aching shoulder while the other worked his way up to his knees. After Dib had opened his eyes to see that grimacing smile on Zim's face, he jumped back a little in pure shock  as this was an expression he would have never imagined to ever see on anyone's face. Now it seemed that he was frozen where he stood, not daring to make any sudden movements or sounds rather than the rapid breathing that shook him lightly.

Zim's mouth soon fell into a small 'o' shape as he stared at him, seeing that the human had not made another movement. He suddenly recoiled from him with a face of horror, before swiping hard at him and catching his cheek with his talons. "AWAY!!! AWAY!!!" He screeched, as if struggling to express what he wanted into words.

Again, Dib hadn't any time to even blink before he was struck again. He fell back a little more as his hand migrated from his shoulder and up to his cheek, pressing it against the flesh for a moment before bringing it down to examine the crimson that dotted it now. This only increased his already panicked state as he looked back up to Zim through wide eyes, the rate of his breathing increasing.

Zim let his head fall to the table with a loud "THWACK" as he shuddered momentarily. A stream blood trickled around his forehead until there was a small pool around the area of his head. As soon as the lunch bell rang, his head rose again, but he made no movements to get up and leave with the flocking students. He seemed to have gone away again to wherever his mind had been.

The sound of the bell seemed to snap Dib out of focus as he stared wildly at the students pushing past him. After some time, he had managed to turn away from Zim and walk very slowly away from him as if doing this would result in some other attack. He never made it out of the cafeteria though, stopping in front of the doorway and turning back to look at the other. Again, he croaked out his name once more. "Z-Zim!"

Zim's head slowly turned to face Dib again, though his eyes never focused directly on him, more so through him. Slowly, that grin returned to his mouth and he tilted his head a bit to the side. He began to laugh, hysterically, then it became obviously psychotic as those vacant eyes only seemed to get wider. He got to his feet, still screeching in laughter as he began to approach him slowly.