My favorite lines from the old one were
“Calm down! No one's gonna hurt you, anymore, I promise. You’re safe. Safe.” The “anymore” meant something to me and was a small acknowledgement of Zim’s pain. The “I promise” part probably shouldn’t be in the new one because Dib can’t really promise anything after exposing the alien to the world.
I also liked the following conversation but it probably shouldn’t be used in the updated version.:
“Zim? It’s me, Dib! Come on, I’m here to get you outta here!”
“Isn’t this… what you wanted? Please, Dib, do me a favor and finish me off… you big headed dimwit!”
“No I am here to take you home. I’m… I’m rescuing you.”
“Why? You put me in here you nutcase!”
This conversation probably wouldn’t take place in the R-rated version because Zim is basically a feral creature at this point. He is just growling at Dib rather than talking. But really the updated version is better and more heart wrenching with Zim acting like an animal.

I don’t really see Zim ever trusting Dib after all of this. Zim is basically like a sick feral cat, he may become a little cooperative with letting Dib help him because he doesn’t have much of a choice, but the second he is better he is going to run off and go back to hating. Even if Dib could reason with Zim, the paranoid alien would probably think Dib is just trying to make him well just to hurt him again. Maybe make him healthy enough to survive the vivisection longer or to trick him in some way. As seen in “Saving Zim,” Zim almost killed Dib just because Zim thought the human had hurt him when in reality Dib had saved him. Like the original Debacle, I am sure Zim plans to get some form of payback on humanity. Since Zim has been hurt so badly in this updated version he may even try to destroy Dib. Dib may have saved him from the labs but he was also the reason why Zim was in there in the first place. I am sure in the end Zim would find that he is unable to kill Dib and just imprison the human instead. The only way I see Zim trusting Dib at all is if Dib takes the alien down a second time to protect the people he loves, but lets him go afterwards and refuses to hurt him again letting Zim make the final choice.

All I can do are theories and guesses. I do love how little elements of your stories cross over into other stories. I want more chapters and to see the whole story! This updated version is so well polished. I am with VelociraptorLove on wanting more.

This is definitely the darkest and saddest Invader Zim fanfic I have read. It unlocks some of the real horrors of what could have happened if Dib won, if he had exposed Zim and sent the alien to one of the cruelest fates imaginable. This updated version is really well written and the R rating fits the intensity of the story. I would really like to see it completed.

As a kid I always found Invader Zim dark and scary. I was pretty sure that my younger sister watched it just to terrify me. It did kind of interest me because I liked sci-fi and fantasy shows. It finally won my heart when it poked fun at UfO and monster mystery shows with Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery. Dib’s favorite show summed itself up with “For years the world has wondered… Are there aliens among us? But we here at Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery have always known the answer to this question. And that answer is a resounding maybe.” As a kid that loved UfO and monster mystery shows it hit a cord with me because the truth of those shows was they don’t know whether or not those things exist. From that point forward I started to appreciate Invader Zim and enjoyed its supernatural elements despite that I still found the show dark, scary, and gross. The show has pretty good mythology. Some of it is based on actual alien lore. I liked how the Irkens looked so close to the mainstream images of aliens. Irkens combined the popular image of aliens with large eyes with the prominent theme of aliens having antennas and being green. Over all Irkens are pretty close to the original alien lore, but the creators did add their own spin on aliens by Irkens having colored eyes (instead of black) and of them having PAKS. These changes were creative and non-intrusive. (On a side note: Although the PAKS are not based on any mainstream lore, in a way its theme of an organism being merged with technology is more relative to society today). Another example was basing aliens hierarchy on actual accounts of abduction stories where the taller aliens were giving orders to the shorter ones. There are also cow mutilations, the abduction and experimentation on humans, and a few other things. Lastly there were Dib’s threats to Zim of the alien autopsy which were most likely inspired by the 1995 footage that supposedly showed the autopsy of an alien. Even though I grew to like the series I was still always a bit afraid of it. Out of the characters, I always like Dib the most. He was geeky and loved the same things I did. I viewed Zim as kind of evil because of his cruel experiments on animals and people. I even found Gir terrifying as he always was eating living animals whole. Gaz was a badass like my own little sister. Although Dib was my favorite, I never wanted him to win. What he referred to as an alien autopsy and drew during class was actually a vivisection. Still I have wondered how it would play out if he ever won and if he would go through with it.

For reasons I couldn’t completely place at the time I felt sorry for Zim, like it wasn’t completely his fault he was doing evil things. I didn’t want Zim to be hurt or killed off. I even kind of felt like I wanted Dib and Zim to just stop everything and be nice to each other. This was out of the ordinary for me, as even as a kid I felt like if you did cruel experiments on living animals you were bad and should suffer the same fate, that or the world would be better off if you where just dead. While I knew both Dib and Zim were okay with animal testing, I found that cruel animal experimentation always bothered me and I avoided shows like Dexter’s laboratory, one of the Batman series, one of the hulk movies and anything that acted like it was okay to test on animals. These shows sicken me. I somehow managed to enjoy the show Godzilla: The Series but I think it was because the main characters only did lightly weighted things, like experimenting on a fish that was already effected by an unknown tar substance. Anyway at the time I couldn’t completely understand my feelings about not wanting Zim to be harmed and felt alone in wanting Zim and Dib to become friends. Now as an adult looking back on the Invader Zim series I realize it really wasn’t completely Zim’s fault for behaving so cruelly and that he had been militarized since birth. He really didn’t deserve what Dib had in store for him. I also realized that Dib and Zim actually have parallels in their stories arcs/goals and could find middle ground if they looked for it. If they stopped fighting they could build a friendship.

This fanfic goes down one of two of the darkest routes the story could go. Those routes being Zim winning or Dib winning. Dib wins by bringing great harm and torture on one individual, a soldier that helped power the great irken system but still was just a pawn that didn’t deserve what happened to him. Dib gains the fame he always wanted by proving aliens exists and supposedly is stopping the armada from invading Earth. Of coarse neither Zim or Dib realize the Irken Armada was never coming in the first place and Zim’s mission was a fake. I have always wondered if Dib caught Zim if he would actually go through with his plans. Everything in the show suggests that he would, but still Dib has morals and has even work peacefully with supernatural beings and aliens. So I am relieved that this story isn’t just ending with Dib allowing Zim to perish at the labs. Instead he felt guilty and couldn’t completely go through with his plans. However since he waited so long to listen to his conscious, he is having to deal with what he did to the now broken alien.

The story really dives into all the true horror behind the fate Dib had in store for Zim and it is heartbreaking to see that Zim has been torn apart like he has been. It seems that both the military and the lab scientists may have had domain over Zim. The military would need to try to get information out of him while the scientists would want to find out how he ticked. There were probably some politics going on but it seems like they were keeping him alive for future information. How much of it did Dib watched Zim go through? How aware was Zim of Dib’s looming presence? I wonder how much of that information the Torrent and Williams tried to torture out of Zim were things Dib wanted to know. Dib had the most information on Irkens at this point and probably helped compile the list of questions. Did Zim recognize some of these questions as things Dib would asked him? How much of what was done to Zim was based on Dib’s knowledge? Here Zim is blind, has a missing leg, a broken PAK, a bent antenna, and every inch of him ravaged in the name of science and to save humanity. He is broken both physically and mentally from both torture and scientific testing. It looks like this story is going go into the actual reasons behind the testing. It is nice to see a fanfic with more scientific reasons for the tests they run on Zim instead of just saying they ran horrible tests and not explaining. It seems most of the fanfics gloss over why the tests are being run. Science can be horrible and cruel but there are always reasons they justify doing it. The original Debacle only got the tip of the iceberg. Zim would probably have his PAK deweaponized first, be externally examined, have blood, skin, bone and marrow samples taken, have x-rays done, have cameras forced inside him, biopsy of organs, spinal taps, his reproductive organs studied, water/weakness tests done, endurance tests, etc. His pack has been obviously taken apart. I wonder if the laceration on his chest/shoulder is from torture or a partial vivisection. Zim had a limb removed like shown in “Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom” only this time it was his leg instead of an arm. Maybe they were trying to see if he could regenerate limbs. Probably there was some internal turmoil about this between scientists and the military but maybe they went through with it as punishment after a failed escape. As a side note I have always wondered what the metal wires that were attached to Zim were for in “Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom” and “Enter the Florpus.” I am unsure if they were used here but Zim has multiple injuries. As for his eyes, I wonder how he became blind. Irken eyes are hardy and been able to heal in the show despite having been shown falling out and being burned out by the sun. I imagined the scientists were burning out his eyes with sunlight repeatedly, digging for his optic implants, or its from damaging his pack. At some point in the 1995 footage of an alien autopsy, they remove the alien’s lenses (upper part of the eye) it was pretty horrifying to me as a child even though the alien was dead. Whatever they did, it must have been pretty horrible if Zim’s eyes are no longer working. It is also suggested he been defiled in the worst ways as it suggests his cervix or internal reproductive organs were explored, something irkens themselves don’t even use and would be pretty traumatizing but to scientists forcing it out or hooking it was probably no different than probing a snake. Zim is also afraid of moving around the room so I wonder if he has undergone some kind of endurance test. As for the contraption they used on his throat I wonder if it was for testing his atmospheric adjuster, trying to force feed him, or trying to revive him. Zim seems too scared to even open his mouth and try to bite things. He is only growling so it makes me wonder did the scientist force his mouth open with an device to study his teeth/tongue or surprise the biting irken by jamming a tube down his throat for a different study. It seems like Dib wasn’t present for whatever caused the throat damage. When did he stop watching? I do wonder what the turning point for Dib was. It seems like Zim has endured months of testing and torture. Was it the upcoming autopsy or something else?

Dib seems to be trying really hard to fix things but Zim is pretty far gone at this point. I am hopeful Zim will be able to see again but the missing leg will remain his permanent injury. I can’t see how Dib is going to make it better. I kind of miss his line to Zim from the original of “No one's [going to] hurt you, anymore.” It may not belong here but it probably should be used after Dib first breaks the alien out of the lab. The “anymore” is that small acknowledgement that Dib knows Zim has been hurt over and over again in a endless cycle. Dib is being as gentle and calm as possible but is desperate to get Zim to drink/eat… Maybe even a little selfishly desperate for Zim to acknowledge him as something other than a threat. You can tell Dib really wants to reach out to touch and comfort Zim, but Zim is completely recoiling from being handled in fear of being held down and restrained. Being touched by humans has not been a good thing. How many times has he been strapped down to a table, awake and alert but unable to move away from the pain inflicted on him due to all the restraints? If it at all like the original Debacle, Zim probably thinks that Dib will be present for his final time on the table, his autopsy, so of coarse Dib’s presence is unwelcome.

Dib probably should have been a little more patient when letting Gir and Zim interact. Gir was getting through to Zim more than Dib realized. Dib might should have backed off a little instead of stepping forward. I am sure Dib is trying to make sure Zim drinks something and Gir doesn’t eat everything. He is pretty desperate to see Zim show improvement and get better, leaving himself with only the options of Gir or a sedative that he doesn’t seem to want to use. He also wants to make sure Gir doesn’t help Zim go to his base were he fears the alien will waste away. Honestly Gir wouldn’t be able to care for Zim so I see were Dib is coming from.

Gir was used really well in this story and his interactions with Zim are very endearing. It is probably my favorite version of him. Everything he says is just a little off and he sounds like Gir. His interactions are all marginally silly but he is still empathetic to Zim and Dib even if he doesn’t completely understand and misinterprets the situation. I like how he said “I’m a real boy” after undressing from the doggy costume instead of the more obvious “I’m naked” since Gir is always a little off in describing things. The way Gir can’t completely understand the seriousness of the situation is shown as he hums, thinks his master is hiding, eats up all the chocolates, and exclaims “Isn’t Mary’s house fun?” when Zim wants to go home. Still though Gir seems to sense enough about the situation to be calm and gentle and not act completely crazy. When Zim says Gir is not real, Gir takes a moment to make sure he is there and than happily Gir cuddles himself saying “Nope! I’m all Gir!” I love Gir took the time to check! Gir adds a certain light to all the darkness, but he made me want to cry when he was asking if Zim liked the floor.

Anyway the ending leaves a lot to the imagination. Does Dib leave the room or stay and redo the bandages? Does Zim wake up to him crying? Does Dib sedate him or is he to scared of an allergic reaction. Does Gir cover himself in band aids and gauze and eat the sedative?

Personally I am going to imagine Gir happily screaming that he is going to go make waffles. Dib carrying Zim downstairs, after patching him up, to supervise that Gir doesn’t put soap or something dangerous in the waffles. We know that Dib has spied on Zim and seen this happen before. Dib sitting on the couch with Zim and petting him while cartoons play in the background. He has covered the alien in blankets so Zim can’t easily scratch him upon awakening and is hoping that by touching and holding him he may be able to comfort Zim a bit and even prove to the alien he is not going to hurt him. I am pretty sure that this is not going go well unless Dib uses the sedative that will make Zim loopy or more compliant.

Misc Thoughts

Did Dib reveal the location of Zim’s base or did he keep it for himself? Since Dib worries that Zim could return to his base and waste away, I am guessing that Dib kept the base and Gir for himself like he suggested he would in “If Only I Could.” That said it be really sad if Zim ended up having some kind of emergency access for Dib encase he was incapacitated. Even if Dib gave up the location of Zim’s base to the government, it would still be believable that he would be given full access as a researcher and no one would really question him to way he was going there. But the way Dib fooled the cops in the first Debacle didn’t really work as he just said that it was the wrong place and they instantly believed him.

How did Dib prove Zim is an alien in this? I think I would prefer something a little more solo in this than a car hitting Zim like the original unless it is a hit and run. Otherwise the driver could take Dib’s credit.

Probably should mention that removing the PAK would take 10 minutes to kill Zim by adding the following: “Removing the PAK was the obvious solution and first that came to mind. But even that might take too long. Five minutes of slow assured agony was still five minutes too long… [and it would take ten].” Or just change five to ten. I guess a part of Zim wants to live since he didn’t remove the PAK himself.

I am going guess Dib learned new things about Zim that he always wanted to know from the testing. I wonder what he learned about Zim that he didn’t already know. One of those things could be finding out Zim is allergic to the pollution in water and not the water itself.

When Dib first tried to capture Zim, he wanted Zim’s autopsy video to be named after him. Really though it would be more realistic if Dib went down in history as the first person to discover an alien life form and if Zim was referred to as Dib Membrane’s Alien. I always like that you refer to Zim as his (Dib’s) alien.

Funny random question: If aliens are proven real are they now considered real science? And thus is Dib’s dad excited his son is now studying real science? But seriously I must wonder, where is Dib’s father in all of this? He is the world’s top scientist. I wonder if he is just another person who wants Zim to be torn apart for science, if he just wanted Dib to be happy, or if he would try to defuse the situation at all behind the scenes. I think I would prefer that we never know exactly how he feels in this story. I do feel like he should be proud of Dib and still wants to let Dib make his own choices. Maybe he notices Dib looks conflicted and he tells Dib something about himself, like a vague story about killing a new species of butterfly in a jar for a collection board and how sometimes he looks at that dead butterfly and wishes he had let it live instead but he knows it was important to document and that only oneself can decide what the right choice is for themselves. I can imagine the choice to remove one of Zim’s limbs was something the scientists and military augured about before doing. Scientists probably wanted to cut off an arm so they could better study it and to see if Zim’s healing abilities were able to regenerate limbs. The military however realized this would possibly be fatal to the alien and they would loose and their information source. Perhaps the Professor sided with the military and suggest that they shouldn’t cut off Zim’s arm because he could die from shock or be unable to show them how irken technology works in the future. (It would be interesting to allude to that the Professor may have played a part in Zim’s failed escape. Behind the scenes maybe the Professor had realizes things are quickly going downhill for the alien and maybe he did something to the door of Zim’s cage so it would fail to latch when the next person closed it. However the plan backfired.) After the arm removal discussion, the door to Zim’s cage is left unlatched ‘accidently,’ and Zim tries to escape, but the alien fails. The military decides to punish him and than lets the scientists remove a leg as a way to torture and disable the alien from trying to escape again. Maybe Dib’s father still acts dumb and asks were Dib’s little foreign friend is to which Dib angrily answers he was the alien. Maybe he later nonchalantly shows Dib his new inventions giving Dib the tools to get Zim out.

Where is my Gaz? The original Debacle had my favorite version of her. She knows Dib screwed up.

How long has Zim been in the lab? It seems like it may have been months or something. That is more realistic than the two days from the original story. They would probably run tests on the alien for months before killing him if they desired to kill him at all.

How did Dib get Zim out of the labs? The original seemed a little to easy. It may be interesting if he used Tak’s ship as diversion. But please don’t have him save Zim’s clothes again lol. I am glad Dib is just using spare clothes instead on Zim. Although I am thinking he stole that purple robe from Gaz. I can hear her screaming that he will pay. Dib really needs to just go out and buy Zim some clothes as stealing clothes is too much effort. XD

My favorite lines from the old one were
“Calm down! No one's gonna hurt you, anymore, I promise. You’re safe. Safe.” The “anymore” meant something to me and was a small acknowledgement of Zim’s pain. The “I promise” part probably shouldn’t be in the new one because Dib can’t really promise anything after exposing the alien to the world.
I also liked the following conversation but it probably shouldn’t be used in the updated version.:
“Zim? It’s me, Dib! Come on, I’m here to get you outta here!”
“Isn’t this… what you wanted? Please, Dib, do me a favor and finish me off… you big headed dimwit!”
“No I am here to take you home. I’m… I’m rescuing you.”
“Why? You put me in here you nutcase!”

Wow, this was just...so amazing and chilling. Honestly, my heart hurt while reading this, that's just how great it is! I heard about this fic from velociraptoraddict's fanfiction review on tumblr and since I'm a fan of your Saving Zim fic, I went straight to read the original then I read this. You have improved SO much. Which I guess is to be expected in over 10 years, but STILL. The way you describe things in this is great like it literally takes me away from reality and I feel as if I can feel all of Dib's emotions as he watches what has become of Zim. I'm also a huge sucker for Zim angst and stories where dib exposes zim then regrets it. I could read a million of those things and never get tired lol. Anyway, great job! Keep up the good work :) I think I'll be reading even more of your fics from now on.

Sorry I'm so late on the review, but as I'm sure you already know, I would love for you to continue this story! I know you mentioned a while ago you were considering rewriting it. I would still love to see an updated, more marinated rewrite of your original. I'm sure all IZ fans at one point or another have thought about what it would be like if Dib were to actually succeed in turning Zim in, and I think unanimously everyone pretty much agrees that he would feel bad about it for the most part.

Also apologies for not keeping up with reviews on your other stories. Ever since I started working on mine, my extra time seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate. Hope to see more of this one soon!

I know this is likely just a one-shot, but i would absolutely love it if you would continue, i love the zim angst/whump and Dib exposing Zim and then regretting it kind of stories!

Wow, this is intense! I can’t believe that Dib was the one who turned Zim in, and that they finally believed him. The amount of pain they inflicted into Zim was clearly immense, and my heart hurts for our poor Irken Invader. I hope Dib can nurse him back to his old self, but no doubt Zim will feel betrayed by Dib.

Dib went way too far, but at least he’s trying to make things right now. But I don’t think that it will be enough.

Hey, ive read some of ur work such as saving zim and discount smeet, i thought they were absolutely. I was wondering if you would ever consider crossposting some of ur work on archive of are own. Also thank u for taking the time to read my comment i know u are probably busy and are not able to respond. I also love the cute interaction between zim and gir in this fic made my heart melt.

Sorry I late on reviewing this one, been kinda tired these last few days

Well Dib, a hero does stop the bad guy, but I think your problem might be coming from the fact that most don't intend to make the bad guy suffer. It's what makes em different from the bad guy.

heck, there be plenty of stories out there where the hero tries to save the bad guy last minute

there be one I know where a child manages to capture a wolf that's been eating the villages sheep. He brought it back home and everyone cheered, but then they started talking about what they would do with the wolf, from selling it to a circus to killing it and hanging it's pelt like a trophy. Suddenly, his view of the wolf was different, and before anyone could do anything he unlocked the cage and let the wolf escape.

I think Dib's story here is very similar to the child's, except his change of view came a bit late. The damage has been done and won't just disappear cause Zim's been let out of the cage.

this is an absolutely amazing little snippet, and I super excited to see whatever you do next :D

*happy fangirl noises*

Love the build up and suspense with Dib trying to be as quiet as possible! You can really feel the "walking-on-eggshells" atmosphere!

Naaw GIR is listening to Dib and staying nearby

X3 Dib calling out and approaching the door slowly so he doesn't spook Zim
Though the door being the same amount of open is a little worrisome, Zim's probably been sulking this whole time, poor bug

" A little figure was hunched against the far corner of the room, head cowed against the scratched wallpaper. He had his PAK to them. From this distance he could see those little shoulders shivering. "
Aww poor baby DX

" Zim blindly looked around; arms huddled across his remaining knee. "
R-remaining knee? DDX

T_T Zim's blind, poor baby!

"Geerr?" He gurgled, throat convulsively swallowing. The barbs of pain down there had him crouching with watery coughs. "
Zim! Baby! (You write pain so well! I'm loving it!)

" At least the gauze on the stump that remained of his knee was holding up. "
ToT he /is/ missing a leg! Nuuuu

Poor Zim really is traumatized and I almost feel bad with how much I'm enjoying it lol

T_T Zim doesn't trust his senses and thinks he's hallucinating, my heart :(

ToT they nailed Zim's PAK shut!? Those monsters!

" So why the relentless damning day-and night-haunting guilt? Did heroes ever stop and regret plunging that spear into the villain's chest? Did they wake up one day, just feeling sad for killing the crook just so that the world could be a happier place to live in? "
So good TxT! This conflict and guilt from Dib, Zim's animalistic fears and behavior, it pulls at the old heart strings in the best way!

" It was counter-productive to hurt a delicate and potential one-of-a-kind alien life form the human race so desperately wanted to study and learn from – right? "
Totally! The poking and proding and vivisections I can understand, but the torture T_T poor Zim! DX

ToT Zim struggling to move away from Dib and just so fearful that he just passes out

Ooooof! That ending!
" It's what he deserved!"
*Sad screaming* take that back Dib!
You feel disgusted cause Zim didn't deserve this T_T Zim didn't deserve this...

Absolutely Loved This! Great pain! Poor Zim! Thank you so much! *A bunch of heart emojis*

Hi there! I've always really loved the whole idea around this story, and I'm pleased to see a part of it return after all this time! It's a really heartwrenching concept, but one that could absolutely provide some amazing character interactions! You always seem to have that special formula for how Zim, GIR, and Dib work off one another! I too would absolutely love to see more of this someday if you ever plan on expanding beyond it, but it's awesome to read this sample!

Even if Dib didn't think much of it, bringing GIR to Zim did help in some way, I like to believe. He's just the thing he needs after all the hell he's been through, even if it only went so far. I'd be very interested to see how much he actually would end up helping Zim should he recover from everything he went through. Those scientists were horrible to him, and that's an understatement.

To see Zim so firmly deny that GIR was just a figment, yet become so distressed when he left his side was a scene that got me in the soul a little. I'm not sure what exactly caused his blindness, though the damage to his PAK was probably no help at all. It makes me wonder how long he was there for in the first place, and what exactly was the tipping point? So much angsty lore I wanna look deeper into now! :0

Dib definitely messed up pretty bad here, overall... He's trying to repair the damage, but in the end, there will always be scars left from Zim's time at the labs, and this certainly isn't something either of them will be bouncing back from anytime soon.
And GIR... Sweet GIR just doesn't understand. But his undying love for Zim here stands out so much in this shot, and I'm glad to see their relationship spotlighted here.

If you ever continue more one day, I'm always here to review, and eat up every word! Well done!

Holy shit! This is amazing! Are you going to add to this or keep it as a one-shot? Either way you go works.

Oh. Oh this. This is what I needed tonight. This just made my crappy day so much better. Thank you! I love this so much. As always...I love your brand of angst and the way you write it. Poor Zim. I still wish you had decided to make this into a full story but I'm so grateful that you posted this. I'm so happy to see that you're posting again.

Dib always saw himself as the good guy but seeing what became of Zim, it certainly puts into perspective that good and evil aren't always so easy to define.

Zim went through hell, I don't think that qualifies as justice and Dib knows it, especially now more than ever after seeing his actions have consequences that are forever physically and mentally in his former enemy.

Invader Johnny Signing Off.