A/N: I've given this chapter a makeover too. Trying to balance depth and insanity in this story has proven kind of challenging.

The Obscurity in Us All

Part Four: She's One of Zim!

"Zim rescued my sister?" Dib gasped in disbelief.

"YES! I AM ZIM! YOUR RESCUER AND THE MAGNIFICENT BEING TO WHICH YOU OWE YOUR VERY LIFE!" Zim gloated to Gaz.

"Yeah, thanks." she answered indifferently.

"Looks like Biq bit the dust." Karcy murmured, leaning over the edge of the cliff and spying the mutilated remains at the bottom.

"Well, the beam could only hold one of you." Zim admitted, "And Gaz is more useful to me as an ally—err—slave than Biq could ever be."

Dib narrowed his eyes, "And what makes you think my sister would ever work for you?!"

"Because she OWES me pathetic Earth boy!" Zim shouted back.

Gaz wasn't paying attention to either of them as she inspected her new Irken form. "Hm…not bad. I kinda look like one of the characters from my vampire piggies game."

Landing the Voot Cruiser Zim stepped out and marched over to Gaz. "So your DNA's been spliced with mine then has it?"

"I guess."

Looking her over he noted that she made a surprisingly attractive Irken, not that he was about to tell HER that. Beauty wasn't something valued that highly among his people anyway. Size, effiency, and…well…size, mattered most. "I suppose you could pass for an Irken like this. At least now you're physically suited to rank above your fellow stink beasts after I—ZIM—conquer the planet."

"In your dreams Zim!" Dib sneered.

"Oh, you're still here." Zim tilted his head and went over to the edge of the cliff where Karcy was still standing. "Step aside, Earth…dog…thing."

"Try werewolf Zim." Karcy gritted her teeth, realizing he recognized her from earlier at his base.

"SILENCE!" Zim pointed a device at Biq's remains. Instantly a heat beam shot out and incinerated her every last cell. "Can't leave garbage like that lying around for the Dib to tamper with."

"Aw man!" Dib whined.

"You're a bunch of sick kids, you know that right?" Karcy glared at both boys.

Heading back to his ship Zim paused and turned to Karcy. "I don't think I need to warn you werewolf, but if you breathe a word of my alien identity to any of these Earth worms I'll spill the secret of your mutation."

Karcy growled. Leave it to Zim to make a clever threat when he didn't even know the first thing about werewolves.

The Irken sat down at his ship's controls proudly. "We'll settle this another time Dib, just don't go and try dissecting your little sister!"

Evil laughter followed as the Voot Cruiser flew upwards and soared off.

"I can tell I'm not gonna like him very much." Karcy muttered, catching Dib's attention.

"HEY!" he exclaimed, "That's right! You're a werewolf! I can catch you on film and everything!"

He reached into his back pocket a second too late. Gaz grabbed the camera and ripped out the film. "No Dib. Karcy's my BEST FRIEND," since I don't technically have any other friends to compare her to, "and if you so much as harm a strand of fur on her body…I'LL SEND YOU HURTLING INTO A HIDEOUS NIGHTMARE WORLD FROM WHICH THERE IS NO RETURN!!!"

Dib gulped, "G-Got it."

Gaz returned the camera and destroyed film to her brother who took it and sulked off back through the forest.

"Some Halloween huh?" Karcy asked her new friend.

"I think it went pretty well." Gaz smiled, picking up the torn mask she'd lost during her fight with the now late Invader Biq, "This is the best costume I've ever had."

"Wanna head back to my lab so we can find out more about what Biq did to you?" Karcy suggested.

"Sure."

Back in Karcy's lab she ran a full diagnostic of Gaz's condition. The two girls waited while the results finished printing out from the computer.

Gaz looked around with mild interest. The place wasn't all that impressive. A chemistry kit, some filing cabinets filled to capacity, a larger-than-average computer console (obviously modified using second hand parts), and a small assortment of inventions designed to scan and monitor the body's inner functions. Her dad's lab was way more high-tech. Though she supposed someone who worked off an elementary skooler's budget couldn't be expected to have facilities as advanced as a world renowned scientific genius. Even Dib had limited resources. Their dad had already garnished his allowance considerably to discourage his paranormal research, at least Karcy had her own basement.

"Hm…" the ebony haired girl skimmed the printout with a thoughtful expression, "according to this Gaz your mutation isn't all that different from mine. You're basically in shape-shifting mode. Kind of like a hybrid, a cross between two species. You've seen me switch between forms before right?"

Gaz nodded.

"Well, these readouts say that you should be able to do the same thing with your Irken and human forms." Karcy summarized. "Go ahead, give it a try."

Gaz sat there for a moment staring at the junior scientist before asking, "How?"

"Visualization." Karcy groaned, "You've got to picture yourself changing. Mental imaging and stuff!"

Hopping to the floor Gaz decided to give it a shot. It beat becoming a freak of science again like when her idiot brother cast that spell of the Shadow Hog on her. Some nights she still woke up cringing, her dreams plagued by the memories of tasting nothing but PORK! Ugh.

So all I've gotta do is picture myself human again and I'll change back to normal huh? Hn, here goes… Clenching her eyes shut she tried to form a mental image of herself as a regular human girl (loosely speaking). Concentrating harder she willed her body to assume its rightful appearance. It was like trying to move a boulder with her mind, all she seemed to be gaining—was a headache, but then…

Karcy watched as the lightning shaped antenna shrank back into her friend's magenta hair (which, for some reason, hadn't been altered by the mutation). Meanwhile Gaz's skin pigment resumed its pale shade of peach. When she opened her eyes again the violet orbs had morphed back into white human eyeballs with amber irises. "Did it work?"

"Yep."

Pleased with herself Gaz practiced shifting between her two forms a few more times. It felt great! Like mastering a new move in one of her video games. "I could get used to this."

"That's what I thought." Karcy sighed. "Look Gaz, if you're really like me with this mutation, you're gonna have to spend a certain amount of time in your Irken form each day or-"

"Or?" Gaz prompted.

"-you'll lose control of your shifting completely."

Gaz pondered this a moment. "I guess that would stink."

Placing her hands on her hips the wolf girl grunted, "AREA 51 may be an alien site but I'm sure they'd make an exception for a werewolf and human/Irken hybrid!"

"Guess you're right." Gaz nodded, "So I'll spend the night like this. That's okay. I'll just play my Game Slave to pass the time. No problem."

"Oh there's a problem." Karcy protested, "There's your dad for one thing."

"He's never home," Gaz assured her. "And when he is he's too buried in work down in his lab to notice anything else."

"What about that nutty brother of yours?"

"He wouldn't dare." Gaz snarled as she thought of Dib turning on her. "I'd make him pay."

"Even if all that's true," Karcy insisted, "mutations are unpredictable things. EvenI can't control mine and I've had it for years, maybe even my whole life. Expect the unexpected. You're a walking, shifting time bomb now. At any moment the slightest thing could trigger your transformation."

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" Gaz exclaimed. She hated being a mutant already.

"Not sure." the wolf girl admitted, "Just be careful."

Crossing her arms Gaz turned to face the wall, "Great. Why don't I just lock myself in my room 'til I croak?"

Karcy narrowed her eyes and shrugged. "You'd get sick of being caged after a while."

Gaz shot her a look. "Nice to know you've tried that."

"When you're a freak you get desperate." she answered. "Just accept that you're unusual and go on with life. There's obscurity in everyone."

"Whatever." Gaz headed up the stairs. As an afterthought she mumbled, "See ya at skool Monday?"

"I'll be there, sans fur." Karcy promised with a wink.

"Cool." Gaz grinned, feeling slightly better now that the atmosphere wasn't so serious. "I'll try to be less green. See ya."

"Later."

To be continued…