Wow, I'm finally getting somewhere in this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters of Invader Zim, however, I do own all other characters.
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Malleh was a little, well, actually, quite a bit shocked at Cara's house. It was HUGE house, more like a mansion. She followed at a walk, as Cara raced up the steps and unlocked the door, running in, succeeding in tripping over a cat that was practically jumping up her pants leg, and fell down. Malleh would have laughed if Cara hadn't looked so disgruntled. The cat, seeing an opportunity, jumped on Cara's back and started walking up and down her spine. Cara pushed the cat off of her.
"Cut it OUT Zap!" The cat simply purred. Just then, the noise of a car pulling up drowned out Cara's rants about cats and their insatiable appetites as she got up and filled the cat's food dish. The sound of two car doors slamming broke Malleh out of her trance-like state, and she started laughing uncontrollably.
A small boy with black hair and green eyes, with hair that stuck up in an all too much familiar way ran in, followed by a full grown woman, who had blond hair and green eyes.
"Cara! What is going on in here? Has that cat been giving you trouble again? Please keep the explanation short this time and- Oh, who's your friend?" Cara brushed some hair out of her face.
"Okay, mom, first of all, it was Zap's fault. That cat has the largest appetite I've ever seen! And this is-"
"Malleh Redavni." Malleh said, finishing the sentence for Cara. Mrs. Membrane's face turned quizzical.
"Redavni, hmm? Where have I heard that name before?" Malleh shrugged.
" I have no idea, ma'am."
"Well, I'm sure I'll think of it soon. Now, Cara, why don't you and Malleh go up to your room?" She said, walking out of the room. Malleh followed Cara up the stairs that were to the right of the room. Cara's brother followed. Malleh suddenly remembered her father, how she hadn't confirmed this with him yet. She decided she needed to contact him. She was suddenly aware of the boy, giving her an intense scrutiny.
"Cara, I don't trust this girl. She acts kinda weird to me." Cara's face turned stormy.
"Weird? You think she's weird? Take a look in the mirror, Junior!"
"I hate that name."
"Go play in your room with your toy aliens, junior." 'Junior' stalked off to his room, grumbling. Malleh whispered a question into Cara's ear. Cara nodded and pointed down the hall across the edge of the stairs, to an inconspicuous door. Malleh quickly nodded and went in, and shut the door.
Suprisingly, (Or not) she was in the bathroom. Looking around, she pushed a spot on her pack that brought out the communicator. It dangled in front of her face, as she pulled hair down to stretch the kinks out of her antennae for a few minutes.
Right away, her dad's face came on the screen, and he wasn't happy.
"Malleh!" He barked into the communicator. "Seh ni ju?!" "Where are you?" Malleh sighed. This would take some explaining…
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A small boy stood at the door, listening. 'Wow! Is dad gonna want to hear this or what!'
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"Neh hi?! Lino JIN?!" "You're where?! With WHO?!" Zim shouted at his daughter through the communicator. How could she have done this to him? Gone somewhere with a human, and without telling him?!
Sure, he had wanted her to learn a little more about them, but associate with them? This was too much. And who had she said she was with?! Zim was literally pacing around the lab, muttering unintelligible under his breath.
G.I.R. bounced into the lab, with a brainfreezy in hand. He slurped it, and looked around. He saw Malleh's face upon the view screen, and Zim storming around the lab, very angry. Oblivious to this G.I.R. smiled, his face literally covered with brainfreezy. This one was cheese flavored. He freed one gooey hand and waved.
"Hi!" Malleh, despite her father's rant, grinned. She spoke in English, as that was the best language to use with G.I.R. Using another would overload whatever properly working circuits he had.
"Hi G.I.R." G.I.R. smiled wider, and Zim came out of his tirade, trying to calm himself down a little. He also spoke English, just because it was the first thing that came out of his mouth. (A/N: Or maybe because the author is tired of translating!)
"Okay, Malleh. Explain. Now." Malleh sighed. She was getting off easy.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Junior was still outside the door, only now he had a tape recorder. He was listening closely to what was said, and so he didn't hear the footsteps approaching. It was Cara.
"Just what do you think you're doing, squirt?" She asked, her tone sounding very dark and menacing. Junior looked up at his older sister, and grinned nastily.
"Your friend's an alien! Listen!" He quickly played back his tape recorder. Cara didn't bat an eye.
"She is NOT an alien, squirt. She's from another country. Can't you tell? That sounds like Chinese or something."
"Her last name's Redavni. That is in no way Chinese. Does she look Chinese to you?" Cara sighed.
"Look, all I know is she's my new friend, and I want to make a good impression on her! Now, go away!"
"Why should I?" Junior said defiantly. Cara grinned evilly.
"If you don't, I'll tell mom about the time you snuck out to see that sci-fi movie mom didn't think you were old enough for, and the time you claimed that you saw a baby bigfoot in your bedroom, playing a guitar!"
"HEY! It wasn't a guitar! It was playing with my ultimate telescope! And Dad believes me!"
"That's just 'cause he thinks Bigfoot was in his garage when he was 12."
"He was! Dad wouldn't lie!" Cara sighed.
"You don't get it, do you. Dad's crazy. Wacko. That's how come we never see him. He's in a crazy bucket half of the time."
"Do you really think that about me?" Said a quiet voice. Cara froze. It was her dad.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Malleh heard the commotion outside, but she was busy explaining to her dad. His face, through the small screen, was unreadable.
"What did you say your friend's name was, again?" He asked. Malleh thought this was a weird question for her dad to ask, but, he was kind of weird anyway.
"Her name's Cara, why?" Zim looked slightly annoyed now.
"Not her name. Her family unit name."
"Oh, her last name? I think she said it was… Membrane. Why?" She asked; her eyes large and confused. Zim looked back at her seriously.
"Malleh. Do you remember your mother's original family unit name?" Malleh shook her head no. Zim sighed.
"You remember the story of how I met your mother when I first came here, don't you?" Malleh nodded.
"Ino." "Yes."
"Well, do you remember that her brother was my greatest rival?"
"Yeah."
"And remember how I told you that right after your mother and I got married, he got a job in a far away human Noihe(City)?" Malleh nodded.
"His job, was as a.. I believe it's called a… Paranormal Investigator? Well, anyway, your mother lost contact with him. He didn't know about you birth, or anything after he left. Malleh? Malleh, are you listening? Malleh!" Malleh's mind was elsewhere, thinking back to Cara's earlier words…
"…I think he's crazy. All P.I.s are. …Paranormal Investigators." Malleh suddenly felt weak.
"Dad? Is. Cara my cousin." Zim looked back at her.
"Yes. Don't leave from where you are. I'll locate you on the computer, and I'll be over there to straiten things out in a few minutes. And remember. Do not, under any circumstances, leave the room you are in. Do you understand?" His face was stern. Malleh knew that no was not an option.
"Yes sir." Zim's picture faded out, and as the communicator folded back into her pack, she sat down, trying to sort things out.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Zim couldn't have been more shocked. Malleh, on the first day of 'skool', had made a friend, who was actually the daughter of his wife's brother, whom he hadn't seen in thirteen nems!
"Years." He corrected himself, and he grabbed his old wig from the place where it had sat, almost unused, for more than thirteen years. Placing his old contacts in, and the wig on his head, he stepped out of his lab, and walked out the door, using a handheld minicomputer that easily located Malleh. Suprisingly, it wasn't that far away, he'd get there in about five minutes. How could they have been this close and he ad never even noticed?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Red and Purple were relaxing. Despite the war that was currently going on, they were very happy. They were quite sure that Kimara would do her job, and succeed in her spy mission on Earth, as well as take care of Zim.
After all, what more could you expect of a trained Irken spy?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cara looked up. Her emotion switch quickly turned to regret, and her eyes filled with tears.
"Dad…" Dib(In case you still hadn't figured it out.), looked at his daughter. He was clearly hurt.
"Answer me Cara. Is that really what you think?" Cara looked up, a somewhat desperate look in her eyes.
"Well, what am I supposed to think? You're always gone, doing who knows what. For all I know, you could be being chased by natives from Singapore, or something!" Junior grinned.
"Now that's crazy!" His mother, who had just walked in on the scene, shot him a look.
"Come on, Dibby. I think you and I have something we have to do in the kitchen."
"What? Cara already fed Zap, and I don't have any homework." His mother shot him another glare, and dragged him down the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Zim walked up to the door of the house. He wondered briefly how he would handle this. Should he, for old time's sake, sneak in and jump Dib? Nah, that was ridiculous. Besides, it was usually Dib who had done that. Zim would never live it down if he were to act like Dib. He did the only other thing he could do. He knocked on the door.
~*End*~
I know, it's a little cut off, but I don't have too much time to write any more. I think this one may be a little shakier in some aspects, but I don't think it's too bad. And, I know, Dib is a little bit out of character, I think. But hey, time does tend to change people a little. And Red and Purple didn't g4et any dialog at all! Oh well. Next time. The next chapter should be out sometime relatively soon. Oh, and Chapter one of Going Home is definitely going to come out soon. I think I've babbled on enough. Review please! Thank you, and goodbye.