Dib

"Gahhhhh!"

I threw everything from my desk and onto the floor, raking my fingers through my thick, black hair.

"What are you crying about now, baby?" My little sister, Gaz asked me, sipping angrily on her can of cola.

"I have gone through EVERY SCENARIO of this plan and NONE of them seem to be able to work!"

She made a noise of distaste. "Stop being a whiner, Dib. You're never gonna catch him..."

I grimaced. "I am not a whiner, Gaz!" I retorted. "And I will so! I just need an edge...a new tactic..."

"Ugh..." She sounded just before leaving the room.

"Wait! Gaz! I was trying to get your input, come back!"

"Screw you!" She shouted back, voice fading down the hall, where I heard a door slam loudly, and I knew she'd locked herself in her room once again.

So I seethed over my worst enemy alone, in silence. Making my sister mad was not a good thing to do, so I tried to just stay out of her hair, all the while plotting against the alien across the street.

Damn Zim...

Always...

Being Zim...

Accompanying my enraged thoughts was a soft knocking sound, and it wasn't really bothering me, just making me curious.

I began to search the house, trying to find the source of the noise, and for a very long time I couldn't find where it was coming from.

But then I heard Gaz shout.

"DIB-SHIT, can you not hear knocking!? Answer the door!"

The door... I thought. "Why didn't I think..."

Of the door...?

I walked into the living room and opened it to reveal a short-ish young girl with ashen blue hair and deep sapphire blue eyes magnified by thin-lensed glasses.

"Hi..." She greeted. "Are you Dib Membrane?"

I smirked. "Yeah, that's me."

She extended her hand out to me. "I'm Devon Membrane. Your cousin."

Then I remembered the call.

I'd been in the middle of a conversation with the Headmasters of the Swollen Eyeball Agency when it came, and I didn't really pay attention, but I did remember her name...and that she was my cousin.

"Oh hey." I exclaimed. "Come on in."

I stood aside and gestured her in, and she slowly stepped over the threshold, eyeing every inch of the room before sitting down.

"Wow..." She said. "Your house...is so big!"

"Yeah..." I said sheepishly, sitting across from her. "My dad hosts this show...Probing The Membranes Of Science!, and well...he funds this place..."

"Neat..."

"Hey Dib? Who was it?"

Gaz strolled into the room, barely lifting her eyes from her Game Slave, but when she did she moved her hair from in front of them to get a better look, then she sighed.

"Great...another kid for dad to neglect." She growled, trekking back to her room.

"He doesn't neglect us!" I called after her. "He's just really busy!"

I turned back to my cousin. "That's...Gaz...she's..."

She nodded. "I heard the men who took me here say...she was a sour one..."

I chuckled. "Well...you can ignore her unless she's uncharacteristically kind...or unless you just like moody people. And...I hope you feel welcome."

I put an arm around her shoulder. "You need anything, a drink or...something to eat?"

She shook her head. "No...I'm fine. I'll just have a look around."

"Okay. Make sure you don't go into the basement. Dad works down there."

She laughed. "I'll make sure I don't."