"You have-" He paused, tipping his head to the side in confusion as he tried to concentrate on properly pronouncing the unfamiliar word. "Depression??? And what IS this depression? Is it powerful? Could it be, say, TAKEN from you if you were rendered unconscious?"
– ❝ What? That’s none of your business, Zim! How’d you know that, anyway!? I – ❞
[Before he could launch into more of a rant about the matter, the rest of Zim’s clueless and outright nonsensical interrogation clicked in his mind, and he was dumbfounded by how idiotic his adversary was. His extraterrestrial nemesis had done absolutely no research about his enemies or their weaknesses, had he? But that could actually work to his advantage here. Part of him was tempted to spin this, to convince Zim that depression might be some “superpower” after all – though, unlike when he’d convinced Zim that saying “fuck” around adults would grant him infinite power, he wasn’t entirely confident in using reverse psychology to ask Zim to remove a mental illness from his brain ( if that was even scientifically feasible ).]
[That sounded like a recipe for disaster, even if he’d normally be willing to trade nearly anything to get something so debilitating and frustrating as his depression off his hands. He’d genuinely rather not have Zim anywhere near his brain ever again, not after the whole Mysterious Mysteries tape fiasco. A hand instinctively raised to his forehead as he backed away from the alien, narrowing his eyes scornfully.]
❝ No, it’s not “powerful!” And don’t bother trying to steal it, okay!? It’s – it’s not worth it, so let’s just drop it. ❞