#neoncl0ckwork

Two was... Everything.

Dib or was it Zib didn't know how else to describe him. Two was his best friend, his partner in crime, and the love of his life (not that Two knew that part). Two made Dib want to be a better person. Maybe that was a sign that Dib really did love the bug.

How to break the news to the caped menace was another thing. Sure, he truly and deeply loved his partner, but he couldn't just tell him that. That would cause all sorts of problems! Maybe ruin their friendship altogether! It wasn't worth the risk.

Still, it was nice to think about what could come with a confession. Maybe Two loved him back. Probably not.

That didn't stop him from gazing longingly at the sleeping form of his friend. His cape was draped across his arms, sort of like a small blanket. His antennae, unusually, perked out of his hood and draped across the back of the couch. The dented appendages twitched every now and then, sometimes following his shallow breaths.

He was adorable

To an annoying degree

Dib went to turn off the lights. Might as well let him rest, right? Yeah. That was for the best. Dark swamped the room, and it only took seconds for his eyes to adjust. The perks of being a mangled abomination he guessed.

He went to the coffee table and located the remote. He switched off the tv with a quiet sigh.

Dib looked to his friend sleeping on the couch. He smiled and planted a kiss on the Irken's big green forehead.

"I love you."

...

Zim hadn't expected to see One here of all places. Then again, a lot must have changed with him. It'd been... What? Ten earth years? Seemed about right. One's drunken rants seemed to match it.

He kept rambling about how he hadn't seen Zim in forever.

"The void was sooooooooo boring without you, Twoey," One drawled, throwing his arm around Zim's shoulders, "It's all empty n shit... Super duper boring."

Zim sighed. "Do you have anyone who can take care of you?"

"It would've been so much better if you'd been there..." One rested his head against Zim's, "You make everything better..."

The Irken's face went hot. He let himself think that was because of the alcohol. "You don't know that. It's been years since you've seen Zim last."

Everything was failing. The world Dib had built was crumbling around him like a tower of cards. All he'd ever wished for... being stamped to dust before his very eyes.

Dib's eyes flicked to his alternate self. He was staring in awe of his Zim's destruction. Then he looked to Dib, and turned away from it all. He started running toward his shoddy ship.

Dib raced after his duplicate, anger fueling every step. "DON'T YOU DARE JUST WALK AWAY NOW!" He yelled, "HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME- YOURSELF- LIKE THIS?"

He grabbed the alternate's sleeve a few mere feet from the Voot. The brown-haired human gave him a frantic glance.

"Why are you helping that damn bug?!" The hybrid child cried, "What has he ever done for you?"

When the other Dib didn't respond, he shouted, "I'M TRYING TO SAVE US!"

"AND YOU'RE HELPING BY KILLING MILLIONS?!" The duplicate spat, "WHY WOULD I EVER WANT TO BE PART OF THAT, ZIB??"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

The other Dib brutally shoved him back. Dib's Zim's PAK hit a bit of rubble in the process. The hybrid spasmed in pain. By the time he could think clearly again, the alternate Dib's ship was already in the sky.

Zim? Zib? Dib raised his fist toward the swirling void in the sky.

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME, GODAMMIT!"

He panted for a second, weirdly winded.