A/N: I know I seriously need to finish this fic already. But before I post anything new I wanted to rewrite and hopefully improve some of these other chapters.

The Obscurity in Us All

Part Two: A HOWLloween Surprise

The rain poured down from the gray and foreboding sky above as a very miserable girl with dark magenta hair sat at her desk staring out the window.

I wish I'd brought some spare batteries for my Game Slave. she inwardly sighed just as the bell rang. It's about time. I was beginning to think the only way out of this stupid skool was gonna be to destroy the clock!

Gaz Membrane picked her book bag up off the floor and ignored her overly cheerful teacher as she walked out the door behind the stampede of her mindless classmates. Nothing ever changed around here anymore. Things had gotten so dull it was a wonder why she ever pried herself away from her handheld video game.

Moaning as she walked out to the skool's entrance to wait for her annoying brother Dib she noticed that the rain was pouring down even harder now. Perfect, it's like my rage increases it. The thought made her smile, just considering that the imperfect weather could be all her doing. And on Halloween too.

Something snapped her out of her trance-like state. A group of children had gathered around the green kid that Dib was always pestering, Zim.

"Alright Zim," Dib sneered with his finger pointing in the disguised alien's direction, "this time there's no escape!"

"I wish I had a human slave for every time you said that to me, you pathetic little Earth monkey!" Zim taunted.

Grunting Gaz walked over to stop the two morons from killing each other, no way was she gonna blow her whole weekend attending funerals. Dib had produced yet another of his worthless paranormal hunting gadgets from his black trench coat and had it aimed at Zim. The Irken didn't really seem to care, there was a crowd so he couldn't defend himself with his PAK's spider leg extensions, but plenty of humans meant plenty of meat bag shields!

"Say your prayers alien!" Dib shrieked as he held up the weapon, something that looked like a cross between a black iron and a water gun. "Now I'm gonna finish you off once and for a—huh?"

To his surprise Gaz had appeared and grabbed the end of the blaster in her hand to prevent him from firing. "C'mon Dib, let's go. NOW! You can play with Zim later."

"Gaz! Quit interfering!" Dib motioned her away, "Can't you see I'm busy with fate of the world stuff here?"

Grinding her teeth she growled back at him, "Look Dib, either you and I go home in the next two seconds or I tell everyone here about how you like to do your chores without any-"

Dib clamped a hand over her mouth. "OK! I get it! We'll go!"

She slapped his hand away and turned to head off down the sidewalk. A few streaks of lightning lit the sky.

Muttering something about how pesky little sisters could be Dib turned back to face a very smug looking Irken. "You may have won this round alien, but I'll be back. You'll NEVER succeed!"

Zim snickered as he watched Dib storm off after the Gaz human. "Watch me."

"I had him Gaz!" Dib ranted once they were only two blocks from their house. "Why do you always have to stop me?"

"Why do you always have to annoy me?" she countered, glaring at him with one eye.

Dib just looked at her and arched an eyebrow. "You just don't get it Gaz. Zim's trying to conquer the world! Just because he's an idiot doesn't mean that others from his race won't come and succeed. Like Tak!"

Now it was Gaz giving him the odd look. "Weirdo."

Another flash of lightning, but this time it struck the tree in front of them. It fell down towards the sidewalk and both fifth graders sprang out of its way.

"GAZ?" Dib called over the flaming mass of limbs.

Gaz got up and dusted herself off. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Stay there, I'll walk around." Dib shouted. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw that the tree had taken down the power lines, which had fallen right in his path sparkling and sizzling. "Um…maybe not."

Rolling her eyes Gaz yelled over her shoulder, "You go home loser, I'll just take the long way."

Cars had stopped in the street, blocking both lanes, and a tall fence stood on the other side. To make things worse the dumb tree just HAD to fall on her umbrella. "What is it with today?!" Gaz fumed. "Did I break a stupid mirror or something?"

Dib heard her complaining as she took off in the other direction. Sighing he continued on his way. "See ya at home!"

An aggravated grunt was his only reply.

She was on the outskirts of the hustling city grumbling to herself about how utterly pointless her life was while getting drenched in the rain when she heard a rustling in the alleyway she was passing.

"Who's there?" she demanded. For your sake, you had better not be a mugger!

Lightning!

No answer.

No one's gonna ambush me. Gaz thought. ESPECIALLY not today!

Picking up a wooden board lying at her feet she entered the alley. Whoever was trying to get the jump on her, they were gonna wish they'd never been born!

Lightning!

The rustling sound came again, this time from a cardboard box towards the alley's dead end. Slowly she approached it with her splintery weapon held high. "Alright you, come out of there! I'm warnin' ya. I'll bash your skull in!"

The figure inside couldn't have been much larger than she was and they certainly didn't seem willing to leave their hiding place. Fine by Gaz, she'd just use her 'club' and MAKE 'EM come out!

"Okay, you asked for it…" she readied her board to strike but it was caught in midair by a furry claw that shot out of the box. "Huh?"

Lightning!

"Who died and made you queen of the alley?" a scratchy voice demanded sarcastically from within the shadowed box. "Can't a creature of the night get outta the rain for a second in peace?"

Lifting an eyebrow as if to say 'Yeah right.' Gaz lowered her weapon and bent down for a closer look at the occupant.

"And just what are you supposed to be?"

Lightning!

Gaz's eyes widened when the sudden flash lit up the alley and revealed the creature within the cardboard. "You're a—a—"

"Werewolf." the girl finished.

The two of them stared at each other quizzically for a moment before the werewolf spoke again, "Um, this is the part where your ignorance of the unknown causes you to scream and flee for your wretched little life."

Gaz looked insulted. "Me?! You expect me to runaway?"

"Well…yeah." the wolf girl answered back.

"Why?"

"Because, I'm a WEREWOLF!"

"So?"

"So?!" the girl looked at Gaz strangely before continuing, "So…why aren't you afraid of me like all the others?"

"My brother's a wannabe paranormal investigator," Gaz replied casually, "you're nothing compared to some of the lame faked photos he keeps pinned up in his room. And I'm not exactly like 'all the others' either."

Heh, Dib would freak out if he knew I was standing here talking to a werewolf while he sits at home playing supernatural spy. The thought of how jealous her brother would be, if he only knew, made her smile.

Eyeing the young girl suspiciously the werewolf spoke again, "So, you're planning to sic your brother on me so that he can hand me over to his weird science friends? Then they'll run all kinds of painful tests on me?"

Her dark green eyes seemed to flash as she glared at Gaz distrustfully.

"Tsch, no." Gaz replied. "I just thought you were planning to jump me or something. But since you're not, I'll let you live."

"How kind of you." the werewolf laughed. "My name's Karcy." she extended her paw in greeting, "you seem okay. A little on the creepy side, but it's always nice to meet a fellow freak."

From the way she talked Gaz could tell this wolf girl didn't exactly have the highest self esteem in the world. It probably came with the beastly territory.

After a brief pause she shook her paw. "Thanks…I guess. I'm Gaz."

"Gaz Membrane?" Karcy gasped.

"Yeah."

"Wow!" Karcy leapt out of the box and nearly knocked her over in her excitement. "You mean you're THE daughter of Professor Membrane, the world renowned scientific genius?!"

Gaz rolled her eyes, "Oh great, you're one of those science nerds like my brother."

"Sorry," Karcy chuckled nervously scratching the back of her neck, "it's just that I'm really impressed by Professor Membrane's work. I sort of invent stuff and play around with formulas in my lab."

"You have your own lab?"

"It's just a little one, in my basement. My parents and I just moved here last week. We've been unloading all the equipment and boxes since then. When I went to enroll at the skool they told me I'd be in the same class as Professor Membrane's daughter. I remembered your name from the back of his trading card."

Karcy fished a card from a pocket on her tattered red dress and held it up so Gaz could see. A picture of her father stared back at her, holding up a vile of some bubbling green elixir. She grumbled at the sight. Sometimes it really stunk to have a father who was such a big celebrity in the scientific community.

"Well if you're so smart, why don't you just skip ahead instead lagging back in the fifth grade?" she questioned, eager for a subject change.

"Yeah well," Karcy sighed, "I'm not really in a hurry to end school early. I mean, what with my 'condition' and all. If kids my own age can't accept me then what chance have I got with the rest of the world?"

"Aren't your parents werewolves too?"

"No, and they don't even know I am." she stressed the point, letting Gaz know she wanted to keep it that way. "I've been like this for a few years now. It's nothing genetic, just spontaneous. I wasn't bitten or anything, it's just kind of a—mutation." Karcy shrugged. "I started getting into paranormal science after my first transformation. I wanted to find out what caused it and maybe make a cure. My parents just think I'm some sort of kid genius who's really into science, like maybe I'll win the Noble Prize or something. I just want to get back to normal before someone like your brother tries to put a silver bullet in me."

"I wouldn't let him." Gaz assured her, imaging her brother gloating over having finally gotten his proof of the supernatural. "Go ahead and come to skool. I'll make sure NO ONE gives you a hard time."

"Really?" Karcy asked in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"Cuz you remind me of someone." Gaz shrugged.

"Who?"

"He's kind of a 'freak' too. The kids pick on him and stuff." she explained, "he needs to learn to stand up for himself, but he thinks it'll ruin his big scheme. I almost hate to tell him that he's a hopeless failure at it."

Karcy was really confused now, but she decided to take Gaz at her word anyway. "I should head home now. I hate coming out in the rain all day but I couldn't let my parents see me like this. They'd freak out."

"I'll bet," Gaz smiled, an actual smile.

"Hey!" Karcy laughed, "I don't look that bad!"

"So you can switch back and forth?" Gaz observed as Karcy's fur faded away, leaving only her black hair, green eyes, and red dress the same. "Why don't you just stay in this form if you're so worried about someone catching on to what you are?"

"I would if I could," Karcy admitted, "but if I don't spend at least a few hours like this everyday I'll lose control of my changing and then who knows where I'd be when I transformed? It gets even harder to manage on moonlit nights and impossible during full moons! Then there's the howling and stuff."

"So you have lost control before?"

"More times than I'd like to remember." the wolf girl winced. "But I've been reading up on creatures like me, which should help."

"Hn, you'd love Dib's book collection." Gaz snorted.

Karcy followed Gaz out of the alley and they began walking home together as the storm passed over them.

"And the whole thing about mutants being dangerous is completely bogus!" Karcy stated passionately as they rounded another curb. "You can't judge us all based on the stupid things a few jerks do. I mean, look at me, I'm a werewolf but I don't go around clawing out people's eyes or gnawing their throats with my teeth at night!"

"Yeah, they mostly think I'm weird because I like to play my Game Slave…a lot." Gaz added the last part hastily, Karcy just grinned. "I'm also kind of a loner. And—the truth is—I hate people. I just can't stand 'em, ya know? They're always so bossy and judgmental. What's wrong with being antisocial anyway?"

"Nothing," Karcy answered, still grinning, "but then again, I might not be the best person to ask."

"Well," Gaz sighed when they reached the end of her driveway, "here it is, home sweet miserable home."

"It doesn't look so bad." Karcy commented absently. "My house is just down the block."

"Too bad for you," Gaz smirked, "make sure you don't let Dib find out you're a werewolf."

"Thanks for the tip." Karcy nodded as Dib stepped out onto the stoop.

"GAZ! There you are. Where have you been?" he snapped, "I was on my way out thinking Zim had captured you!"

"I'm guessing Zim is the odd kid you told me about," Karcy muttered to Gaz.

The magenta haired girl nodded. "And here comes the oddest one of all."

Dib stopped in his tracks when he saw the strange new girl standing next to his sister. "Who's she?"

"Karcy Wolfbane," she introduced herself, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Dib reluctantly shook hands with her. "Did you just move here or something?"

"That's right." Karcy gave Gaz a quick wink and turned back to Dib. "I can see it's going to be a real howl living close to you two."

Gaz snickered as Karcy walked away. "See ya Karcy."

"Later Gaz," the wolf girl called back as she disappeared around the corner.

"She's…different." Dib stated. Gaz just shoved past him and went into the house. "Definitely your type of friend."

Growling at his remark she made a point of slamming the door behind her—and locking it.

To be continued…