Corrupt Dib - An Invader ZIM AU fanfic

Chapter 4

2 hours had passed since the failed PAK extraction and Dib had just come out of his stupor. He'd woken up to a sore body and an aching head. His eye felt worse than it had before, so he decided to take a look at it in a mirror. He'd almost opted against it, in fear of what he'd see.  He looked in the mirror and stared at himself for half a second before yelling out in horror. His eye was a bulgy, pink mess that almost matched Zim's. It continued to drip the strange substance as it had done before, but his human eye was gone. Dib began to tremble, in fear of what he was becoming. He couldn't remove the PAK without seriously damaging his body or blacking out, but he couldn't continue on this path. He was not going to become an Irken, his worst enemy in the whole universe. Thoughts raced through Dib's head at a million miles per second, causing his headache to worsen. What was he going to tell his father? How could he show up to skool? Worse yet, how was he going to show his face to Zim? He could almost picture the scenario in his head. Zim would scoff and laugh at his folly, taunting him and mocking him for not believing the words the Irken had spoken so seriously. Dib gripped his face in anguish. There was no way in hell he would become an Irken, absolutely no way. He turned away from the mirror, covering his eye with his hand as best as he could. He walked hurriedly into the living room where Gaz was still sitting, except now she was watching TV. Dib walked to the couch and sat down next to her. She passed a glance at him and did a slight double take. "What is that?!" 

"What?" Gaz gave him a look of annoyance. "Oh, yeah, this? It's just my eye, Gaz, obviously." She gawked at him in a sort of grossed out manner. 

"Sure, but why does it look like that?" Dib sighed. 

"You remember how I went into space after Zim a couple days ago? I followed his signal until I reached a planet, then the ship crashed. When I woke up, Zim was standing over me and he ended up rousing me and there was this PAK on my back. Zim told me that it was some kind of painful process that Irkens implemented on their enemies to deter them from landing on Irk but I thought he was just saying that to scare me and now I'm terrified, it's turning me into one of his kind!" Dib gasped this out quickly, which led Gaz to just stare at him for way too long for Dib's liking. She could see the fear written all over his face, and she pitied him. As much as they didn't get along, she hated seeing him scared of something that wasn't her. 

"Did you call dad about it? Maybe, maybe he can help with it-" Dib chuckled darkly. 

"You really think dad would help me with this?" He motioned to the alien contraption. "The last time one of these were strapped to my chest, he couldn't even remove it and basically waved it off like he always does. What's he going to say when I call him during his super important international meeting about alien tech? 'Hey, son! You're insane!' He'll write it off like he writes off every other paranormal thing I've brought to him. He won't be able to help me." A seething resentment was boiling over, Dib hadn't even realized how much he'd bottled up about his father. Perhaps it was because of the PAK infiltrating his mind. It was making him irritable. "Besides, I already tried using his tech to remove it and all that happened was I got electrocuted."  Gaz almost looked embarrassed for suggesting their father as a solution, at least that's what it seemed like to Dib. She spoke after a long silence.

"You know, there is someone else who probably would know more about this than any of us." Dib blinked at his sister. "Dib, don't be an idiot. We both know who I'm talking about." It hit him in an instance. Good lord, no, he would NOT be going there. No way. 

"Are you suggesting we take me in a weakened state to my greatest enemy?! No way, uh uh. I am not going to Zim for this. No." Gaz glared at him. 

"Then you're going to be screwed, Dib. There's no one who knows this technology better than Zim and you obviously failed at removing it yourself, all things considered. If you want to stop the process so badly, you're going to have to stop whining and suck up your pride." Dib made an audible grumble. 

"Fine! Fine."  Dib rolled his eyes.

"Good." 

Dib decided he needed to prepare himself to face Zim. He knew how relentless the Irken could be when it came to taunting him, and he didn't put it past Zim to do the same now especially if he was showing some vulnerability. But, he needed to do as Gaz told him. Suck up his pride, ignore Zim, and ask his enemy for assistance. It almost pained him more than the process to do this. After all, Zim technically was the one at fault for the whole situation. He waved a goodbye to Gaz, let out a small breath, and began a very long walk to Zim's brightly coloured house.