Double Crossed (Invader Zim)

Chapter 19

There's a loud thud, and my eyes pop open, to see Dib, red faced, clutching a metal bar, with the device in a wreck on the floor. Dib's breathing heavily, and I drop down from my place near the ceiling, landing next to him. He drops the metal bar and wraps his arms around me, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Why are you so tired?" I ask, almost laughing. We couldn't have been in this room for ten minutes.

"Do you realize how big this place is?" Dib answers. "It took me forever to find something to bash that thing down with."

"Aww, come on. I wanted to beat that thing in."

We both turn to see Dib's sister standing behind us.

I jump, my metal legs shooting out of my Pak automatically, one of them crushing the device beyond repair in the process. I rear up, waiting for her to attack.

"Calm down, geez," she grumbles, opening her eyes to roll them.

"What are you doing here?" Dib asks, looking almost more scared than me.

"You should be asking how I got here so quickly," Gaz growls. She jabs a finger at me. "That one sent me to Brazil."

Dib snorts in laughter beside me. "Sorry, sorry," he says, trying to hide the laughter in his voice. "Continue."

Gaz lifts an eyebrow, but after a moment asks, "How weird has today been?"

"Just today?" Dib asks. "So much shit has happened over the past three weeks, but compared to today, it was nothing."

"Well," Gaz starts slowly, looking uncomfortable. "I'm ssssoorryyy," she says, almost struggling to get the word out.

Dib looks so confused at this point. "Okay, it just got weirder."

Gaz huffs. "Listen, when I saw how much you actually cared about Zim..." Gaz turns around, glaring, seemingly at herself for showing emotion. "It... It just made me really fucking upset." Her hands bunch up into fists. "No one cares about me that much," she grunts, sounding pissed off at the world. "Dad is always busy. He never pays attention to us. I try to be more interactive with him, but that doesn't work." Then she looks to the side, down at the ground. "That's the real reason I showed those pictures to him. I expected him to sit me down and talk to me. Even if it was about 'going insane like my brother', at least we would have talked. You were home when I took those pictures. I didn't want to bug you." Gaz crossed her arms, but doesn't release her fists. "Anyways, I don't care anymore. Fuck him. If he doesn't care enough to take care of his own goddamn kids, why should I care about him?"

Dib stares at Gaz in disbelief. He walks up and hugs her after a moment, and I expect her to shove him away, but she returns his embrace. "Holy shit Gaz, I have never related to you more in my life," Dib says, his voice sounding far away. "I never realized how much of an ass dad was until today. He tried to take Zim away from me, and the only way I could get him to keep Zim alive was to betray Zim by letting them take him to the autopsy room. He could've died. I was so scared," Dib mumbles, and then bursts into tears. Gaz actually looks concerned for a minute, patting him on the back as he sobs on her shoulder.

Seeing Dib so emotional over almost losing me makes my heart jump. Of course, I know he cares about me. He's proved that so many times. But seeing him weep openly over my life really hits it home for me.

Finally, Dib steps back from Gaz and wipes at his eyes, pushing his glasses up. Then, without saying anything, Gaz walks toward the door. Right before pushing it open to leave, she turns back. "Good luck," she says, then turns to walk through the door.

---

(Dib's P.O.V)

Almost immediately after Gaz leaves, we hear a voice behind us.

"Well, now wasn't that so sweet."

I turn sharply, a glare plastered on my face at Membrane's voice. He stands in front of us, with his hands clasped together, head tilted. "What are you going to do now?" he asks, his tone taunting. Infuriatingly enough, I actually don't have a plan, and I actually growl.

Zim, however, seems to have thought this over, because he grabs me and uses his metal legs to leap up, crawling over one of the walls- that don't quite connect to the ceiling. Not what I would've expected, but he must have something in mind, right?

Right?

Over the wall, Membrane calls out, "I know these labs like the back of my hand! Don't think I can't get to you!"

Once we're a good distance from Membrane, Zim latches to a pipe on the wall and cradles me in his arms, looking around defensively. It's kind of cute, but awkward and tense because I'm about three inches taller than him, and because we're cowering from a literal mad scientist.

"Dib..." Zim mumbles. "You may not like this idea, because of the morale of humans usually strays away from it, but we may have to kill him."

The idea shocks me, even though, deep down, I'd been thinking it too. He is my dad, but at the same time, is he actually? Of course, anyone can have a kid, but not anyone can be a parent. I've learned that the hard way. "Yeah," I answer. "Yeah, we probably do."

Zim nods solemnly, knowing that the suggestion has shaken me up a little bit, and he rears up before leaping to the next wall and latching on to a machine.

Almost as soon as we land, something buzzes past my ear and cuts into the wall next to us. Looking down, I see Membrane wielding some sort of gun or ray. Zim jumps from wall to wall, Membrane shooting at us all the while. For almost five minutes, we're in constant motion, dodging the beam coming from the gun, causing it to instead crash into the walls and machinery, burning holes through them.

We finally seem to lose Membrane, at least for a moment, and Zim takes that moment to breathe heavily, obviously tired, and lean his forehead against mine, trying to rest a little bit.

In that moment, though, another beam shoots at us, separating me from Zim, and causing me to fall to the ground. Just a few meters away, Membrane is looking at me. I see Zim scuttle away in the corner of my eye, and I rejoice internally that Membrane's focus is on me. Hoping to lure him away, I turn the corner and start running.

I hear Membrane's boots hitting the floor behind me, in pursuit. It must be really hard to run in that lab coat. Even so, one of the beams from Membrane's gun whizzes past my ear, a little too close for comfort. The shock causes my to tumble forward, slamming against a wall.

When I turn around, Membrane is walking up to me, taking aim as I press myself against the wall.Everyone always says that if you love someone, you're prepared to die for them. And while that is true, I'd much rather live, and get to stay with Zim. Everything seems in slow motion, allowing me to think over the thoughts running wild in my head.

But, that slow motion doesn't last long enough, because suddenly, the gun is pointed directly at me, and Membrane is dangerously close.

"Y-you wouldn't kill me," I say defiantly, my voice shaking. "I'm your son."

"You are nothing but a lab experiment," Membrane answers, not skipping a beat.

"W-what?"

"You're a clone. You weren't created naturally. You're not yourself. You're a defective version of me." Membrane's grip tightens on the trigger.

The words pierce through me. I'm a clone. Not his son. I was never meant to be a child to him. I was meant to be a double. Someone to use in order to forward his work.

"I can make another you, Dib," Membrane says. I note that this time, he doesn't say 'son'. "And I should hope the next one isn't such a failure."