'IB' - Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Resolve came in the form of first sunlight beaming through the shattered hole that was at one point a window. It immediately melted away the shadows and extinguished the coolness that the night had brought. Everything was completely visible now and revealed to the paranoid human.

However, even after the sun had come up, Dib took a while to convince himself that there wasn't actually anything there, and that it had all just been a crazy delusion in his head. After several more minutes of watching everything around him, he had finally convinced himself that he was alone now, which actually relaxed him and made him realize how tired he actually was. It was too late to try and sleep now though since he had to get ready for another dreadful day of school.

He didn't try too hard, though, as he decided to stay in the bloodied and torn cloths from the night before and only ran his hands over his hair in an attempt to smooth it out. He was far too tired and stressed to be concerned about how he looked anyway.

Eager to get out of his room, Dib left in favor of heading out towards the kitchen. As he reached the kitchen, however, he stopped in his tracks as his eyes met the cleaver on the kitchen table, which was still stained with Zim's blood. He stared blankly as the events from the previous night played out mercilessly in his memory the longer he stared at the soiled blade.

Zim would be there at the school as well, waiting for him and wanting to attack his precious IB again. It would probably be in best interest to take a weapon that could be concealed for protection. Zim was certainly not going to hold back on him, after all.

Dib made the conscious decision to grab the cleaver in his hands, bringing it close to himself as he examined the soiled blade for a moment. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching him before opening his jacket and slipping the cleaver into the deep pocket on the left. He felt safer having some form of weapon in his possession rather than going to school completely defenseless, for he knew Zim would attack him as soon as the opportunity struck.

Dib left the kitchen now, making his way towards the living room couch and waiting anxiously for the time to head off. He wasn't looking forward to encountering Zim at all since he was so drained of energy...

School time rolled around soon enough, and children were walking up the sidewalk toward the building that lie only a block away. Zim would be hobbling up there as well, maybe a bit late as he had been a few days.

Since Gaz hadn't made it downstairs yet, Dib came to the conclusion that he would be walking to school alone today. He didn't mind though since he assumed she would only give him hell about waking her up in the middle of the night. With that, he headed out of the door hesitantly and started down the sidewalk towards the school. He kept his head downcast to avoid looking at anyone, and God forbid talk to anyone.

The school hallways were congested with gossiping teenagers, who were creating an obnoxious amount of noise with their loud voices and shrill laughter. Some had even pointed to Dib and made remarks about his appearance which drew a few laughs, but he didn't care too much. He only cared about getting to class early with the hope that he would have some time to rest before school started.

People gave him looks of distaste as he passed them, just seeing him as that crazy Membrane sibling that no one liked. The classroom was currently empty of all life except for him. There had yet to be a sign of Zim either.

Dib meandered into the room feeling a bit pleased with the empty classroom. He plopped down into his desk and allowed his head fall onto the table below him, eyes closing due to the amount of exhaustion he was suffering from now. He was able to get a few minutes of peace and quiet before he would be forced to endure the rest of this day, which was sure to be dreadful.

Soon, more kids began to trickle into the room as class time grew closer and closer. Just as the teacher started to close the door to start class, a loud BANG sounded from it and silenced the class. Zim stood there, eyes wide and blank with his arm messily wrapped around his tattered sleeve. His other arm was outstretched, hand planted firmly against the door to keep it ajar. The teacher glared at him as he just remained there for a full minute before finally hobbling to his desk.

Dib was snapped abruptly from his light slumber at the sound of the bang, though he kept his head down on his desk. He knew exactly who was there without even having to glance up at the door.

Zim looked dead at him though as soon as he sat, his eyes locked on him in a creepy stare. Even a few of the students were a bit unnerved at the strange green kid's vacant, unblinking eyes. No one said anything though, just letting Zim do whatever he pleased if it kept him focused on Dib and not themselves.

Dib could almost feel the haunting eyes boring into him as he lie motionless on his desk. His breathing picked up significantly into a mild hyperventilation, causing him to let out a very quiet whine before feeling a hand jabbing him in the shoulder. He jumped in his seat and snapped his head to look at the kid behind him with a scowl. "What?!" He whispered.

The other flicked his head towards Zim. "Dude, he's staring right at you."

Dib's expression turned vacant and hollow as he slowly sat up and stared straight ahead, never allowing his eyes to drift off towards the direction of that mindless monster. Only the green skin was visible in the corner of his eye now.

Zim never looked away, even as Dib went out of his way to avoid looking at him. At times, small gurgling sounds came from him as he had trouble taking turns between breathing and swallowing.

The sounds were unnerving, but Dib kept his composure and continued to stare straight ahead at the white board. Besides, if Zim was planning to attack, perhaps people would finally believe that this wasn't all in his head; there were plenty of witnesses after all.

Zim stared at him continuously, eyes wide open. "..IB." He spoke slowly, causing a few people to look at the deranged student. He was still staring dead at the human he had called to, expecting an answer or at least a look by how his face strained.

Dib didn't provide him with a reply, still looking straight ahead.

Zim's expression soon darkened more as he strained that grin on his face until the corners of his mouth looked as if they'd begin to split. "IB... ANSWER!!" He shouted, making the entire classroom fall silent in frightened surprise at his outburst. They in turn looked to Dib, as he seemed to be wanting him in a way.

Along with the eyes of Zim on him, Dib could feel the eyes of every student in the classroom upon him now. With great hesitation and debate, he finally turned his head to face Zim. He felt himself being to shiver violently as he examined the strained expression on his face.

"Zim.." Dib whimpered quietly.

Zim gave that wide grin as he met his eyes, his strained angry appearance turning wild and insane once more. "IB..." He answered back to his name.

Dib's eyes widened at the chilling grin, his mouth gaped slightly as if he were about to say something, but he could form no words. The students and even the teacher watched the exchange intently, both with great confusion and fear.


Zim continued to smile insanely at him as the he looked as if he were going to speak up to him. "IB..." He spoke again, gripping hard onto his desk as it seemed to be a struggle for him to remain sitting there.

Dib slowly positioned himself to leap out of the desk at any moment as he could sense a fight coming from Zim at any moment now. He muttered lowly to himself as if formulating some kind of plan to escape.

Zim seemed to be really struggling to stay there too, and class had only began. All learning that they would have been doing had halted though at the strange events that were unfolding between the two. "Tallest... IB fault..." He spoke quietly, grin straining even more almost painfully on his features.

Tallest.. The word, and the context it was used in, made no sense to the boy. Dib shook his head slowly as he tried to figure it out, but nothing came to him. "M-my fault?" He choked out suddenly.

Zim finally stood from his seat at that, the metal chair flipping over and clattering loudly as it hit the ground. "FAULT!! IB!!" He shouted, the rest of the class wincing at the deafening clatter of the chair and the fuss that the strange kid was creating.

Dib had winced along with the rest of the class at the loud sound. He stood now and leaned towards Zim, as if he were getting ready to launch his own attack on him at any moment. "What the hell did I do, Zim?!" He squeaked out in panic.

Zim seemed very upset with him now though as he panted unevenly. He weakly began to hobble toward that side of the room now. "Kills..." He forced out as he raised his undamaged arm to make another weak grabbing motion for him.

At this, the teacher finally stood and slammed her hands on the desk in front of her in outrage. "Zim! This behaviour needs to stop right now!" She warranted in a booming voice.

Zim tensed up and came to a halt as he heard his name from her lips. He turned sharply to her, eyes wider with raging malice and insanity. "AWAY!!" He shouted as he looked ready to attack now at the teacher obstructing what he had been sharing with Dib.

She didn't seem to be taking him as seriously as Dib and the others were as she continued to speak boldly towards him. "This is ridiculous! And you're becoming more of a pain in the ass than you have been before. Now, pick your desk up and SIT DOWN!"

Dead silence fell over the class now as their attention turned to the teacher. Even they knew she had made a mistake...

Zim twitched his entire body once from rage that had seized his entire body, claws flexing at his side as he bunched his muscles up. "KILLS!!" He screeched before using the momentum built up in his bunched muscles to leap from his spot and tackle the teacher back. This action left the class speechless, compared to the normal 'fight!' chant they usually took when something similar happened.

Ear splitting cries could be heard from her as Zim mutilated her body and tore into her flesh, making some of the other students cry out as well. Dib sprinted towards the desk and vaulted himself over it to find the horrifying mess of flesh and blood before him. He fought through his terror though and reached down to grip Zim tightly by the waist, pulling his body firmly to try and dislodge him from the teacher's body.

Zim continued to screech as he was bent on shredding the elder woman that was under him. He screeched and flailed his limbs as Dib grabbed onto him, wanting desperately to get free from him. "AWAY!!! AWAY!!"

After the woman had practically been torn to shreds, Dib was finally able to pry the Irken off of her. He yanked him up on pure adrenaline and slammed him on the ground under him. Dib straddled him and pinned him to the filthy ground, struggling to keep him in his grip as he thrashed around.

"Stop.." He growled in a weak command, but those dead eyes seemed to distract him out of his right mind.

Zim panted heavily, as if about to begin hyperventilating in terror. His hands were once again coated with blood, but not Dib's or his own. "IB..." He spoke in a quivered voice, eyes staring straight through him as they could not focus.

Dib could feel his 'fight' instinct grow strong again after seeing the other in trepidation. He smiled a little, though this wasn't an inviting friendly expression. He pulled his leg back and rammed his knee into Zim's midsection mercilessly.

"You're still pathetic.." He hissed through gritted teeth, though he was sure he would regret being this bold later on.

Zim choked and wheezed automatically as he pressed into the sensitive region of his spooch. He screeched loudly as he convulsed heavily and tried to rip his hands away to get the human off his body. He had enough sense to realize he was dangerous to his current being.

Dib's expression hardened as his grip tightened on the other's wrists to plant him tighter on the ground, leaning down towards Zim's face now. "Useless.. Is that what yout Tallest called you?" He spoke with the built up frustration and agony he had been feeling towards the other since this had all began.

Zim screamed immediately after that, thrashing even harder as he snapped at his face. "NO!! NO!!" He thrashed, those tears flooding the corners of his contacts and burning below his eyes.

Dib only moved his face out of Zim's range, squeezing the wrists a bit more harshly now. This was sure to end disastrously for him later on, but for now he was too focused on getting even. "I'm sure they did several times." He sneered spitefully.

"NO!!! IB!!" Zim screeched, baring his teeth at him in rage. "IB..FAULT!!" He continued to accuse forcefully, thrashing every which way to try and break free. "RAAAHHH!!!" He roared loudly in frustrated insanity.

Dib had finally come to the realization that he had pushed the other too far now as his smug attitude quickly faded into one of dread. He sprang off of Zim and dashed out of the door, spriting madly towards the back exit. He was delayed though as he ran right into another teacher, who scolded him for being out of class now.

"Please, I have to get away from Zim! He's going to kill me!" He pleaded as the man began to escort him back to his class.

"Yeah, yeah. Good excuse." The man muttered sarcastically, obviously unconvinced.

Down the hall there was the echoing of scraping nails on the chipped painted walls. "IB!!" His voice came after the scraping of nails, very persistent on his attempts to rid himself of the human. It was as if he were calling out to him almost playfully, yet obviously deliriously out of bloodthirst.

"T-THAT'S HIM!" Dib screamed and jerked himself out of the man's grip, continuing his original path towards the back door.

The sounds of scraping nails got quieter, but Zim was still undoubtedly giving the chase. The determined psychopath seemed to truly want nothing but bloodshed now.

Dib seemed to miscalculate where exactly he was going as he ended up at the playground now. He cursed to himself as he steadily made his way towards the back field where a rather tall chain linked fence stood. He eyed it for a moment before glancing over his shoulder to see Zim standing in the doorway now. Even from a distance, the blank eyes were just as terrifying as they were up close.

The Irken's hands were gripping either side of the door frame, seeming to be keeping himself in balance with the cheap wooden frame. His jaws parted in a demented smile, as if delighted to see his prey again and cornered. "IB..." He croaked weakly as he widened his eyes impossibly more and hobbled down each step like it were an extreme hurdle he was overcoming. His eyes never left the pale form of the teen soon-to-be murder victim, seeming to imagine the color of his innards in those solid colored eyes. One arm reached forward again, as if to snatch away the very distance keeping them apart as he began the slow trek toward his prey to give a sure to be killing blow.
"My...IB..."