Truthseeking

Burns

Zim stared duly at the river that flowed beneath him, the sounds of water splashing where distant and almost entirely muted.

He thought about the recent call with his Tallest, specifically how they wanted him to die.

Zim had tried to prove that maybe, just maybe this planet was worth living on, that living in general was worth it.

But he ended up proving the exact opposite, he had spent enough time on this filthy planet to understand that nothing went right here.

He had spent enough time being alive, to know that without a mission, when you're banished from the irken empire entirely, it's not worth going on.

The irken knew it wasn't his Tallest fault for exiling him, though.

Zim had been in denial about the things he'd done for much too long, he'd murdered two Tallest and thousands of other irkens.

After that call, though, it had been like something snapped, something broke.

And he found himself realising all he'd done, all he'd damaged, he truly was a defective that destroyed all he touched.

He knew that the only answer to this was self elimination, maybe then, his Tallest would forgive him.

Normally an exiled or banished irken would just remove their PAKs and wait it out, but Zim knew he didn't deserve such peace.

He took a deep, determined breath, as he stepped towards the ledge, the sounds of the river ripping and splashing slowly creeping into his focus.

Zim closed his eyes, ready to feel the burning sensation of water as he drowned in it.

He did feel a sensation, but it wasn't the one he'd expected, maybe even hoped to.

It was the sensation of being pulled back with the kind of force that rips the air right out of your lungs.

Hitting the ground with a violent thud, Zim spat at whatever had interrupted him.

His sour expression seemed to dissolve into a shocked, maybe even horrored expression as he saw who had pulled him from his attempt to write himself out of the narrative.

It was Dib.

Dib had stopped him, for some unirkly reason that Zim couldn't muster an explanation for.

The humans expression seemed to be that of horror, confusion and desperation, the irkens not differing too much from his.

He had literally attacked Dib less than a day before this, Zim didn't understand why he wasn't clapping at him paying his own debts.

They both seemed to just stay there, frozen, for what felt like years, unsure what to say.

Until Zim decided that he wasn't going to let a stupid human interrupt his chance at doing what every other exiled irken would do.

Determined expression now plastered on his face, he made a quick run for the edge, trying to use his PAK legs to assist him.

Dib seemed to somewhat expect this, as he snatched his uniform's collar briefly, before Zim's PAK legs boosted him and the human fell forwards.

He was annoyed at how the peace of his last attempt had been completely demolished, but understood that if he tried to regain it he would lose the chance to end everything entirely.

The irken could hear Dib behind him, stumbling after him, but he wasn't fast enough.

He smirked and closed his eyes as he made the final leap, PAK legs retreating for the last time.