Chapter 3

Dib sat in his room, thinking. Who was Raven, really? What was her past? He had the sudden urge to call her up, and decided on it. He dialed, waited for several seconds, then heard a voice:

"Hello. This is the Teen Titans Corporation customer service line. How may I help you?"

"Um…I would like to speak to Raven."

"OK…just a second."

Dib waited for a couple seconds, then someone else came on the line.

"Hello. This is Raven speaking, how may I help you?" came a heavily accented French accent.

"You're not Raven," Dib stated bluntly.

"Yes I am! Azerath, Metrion…uh…(what is it again?" he whispered.) "Zinthop!" he added.

"Where's the real Raven?" Dib asked, annoyed.

"I am the real Raven! They said I was crazy, but I am! Mwaahah! Mwahahahahhhaah! Now they'll listen!"

"Uhhh…OK," Dib said, obviously a little freaked out.

Suddenly another voice came on the phone. "Hello?"

It was really her!

"Uh…hi Rave…I was…um…wondering if you could come to my house today. I need to tell you more about the alien menace that threatens this very planet as we speak!"

"…Sure. I'll be over soon."

5 Hours Later

Raven walked through the streets to a purple house.

Is this really where he lives? Why did I even agree to this?

Well, she considered, she did need to know about any coming alien threats. And that was it…right?

She rang the doorbell.

After a couple seconds, it opened, to see a tall man of science who looked similar to Dib, but…weirder. But with a smaller head, of course.

"May I ask who this is, little girl?" he said.

"Uh…Raven. I'm one of Dib's friends."

"Fascinating! I didn't know my son had the ability to make friends! I better write this down! Come on in!"

Raven looked at him strangely, then walked into the house. There was a girl sitting on the couch playing what looked like a GameSlave 2.

"Hey. Do you know where Dib is?"

"If you shut up, I'll tell you. He's in his room, reading about aliens and stuff. Like always."

"Yeah," Raven said, walking up the stairs. As she walked up, she could pick up an essence of loneliness emanating from the room. It was surrounding the area so much that she could even taste it. (It tasted kind of like apple sauce.) And, for the first time, she realized how much that this big-headed kid really meant to her. He was a friend, and she had treated him badly. She walked into Dib's room, looking for him. He was sound asleep, after looking in "Cropcircles" magazine. Raven used her psychic abilities to gently wake him up.

"AHHHH! ZIM! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. (It hadn't had the effect she'd hoped for.) "YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! I—Oh. Hi Raven."

Raven waved feebly. Maybe this kid really was crazy. But then, somehow, she believed him.

"Dib. Yesterday you said you had absolute proof of Zim being an alien. I'd like to see that proof."

"Yeah. Hold on, I'll get it…" Dib said, grabbing his laptop. He clicked a couple times, and a vast folder opened up, simply entitled "Invader Zim". Dib opened a small folder called "Video Footage", and clicked up a movie.

"Watch this," Dib said, gesturing to the laptop.

The video started with the camera moving through a bunch of leaves. There, standing next to a tree, was Zim and a robot, who looked sort of like the green dog Raven had seen earlier.

"Finally, GIR! We have this device, and we shall use it to rain DOOM upon our DOOMED enemies!"

"Aww man! I likes me enemies!" GIR said.

Suddenly the camera burst out of the bushes. Dib spoke:

"At last! I have Zim on tape! He is an alien! I have him on tape!" the camera moved to the person Raven recognized as Dib's sister—"I have you on tape witnessing it!"

Then the tape abruptly ended.

"What happened?" Raven asked.

"Nothing much," Dib admitted. "He just unleashed a couple of giant robots on me."

"And no one noticed?" she asked.

"Yeah. People here are kinda…not…that…smart. For an example, my Dad's idea of a world-altering invention is an atomic waffle-iron."

"I LIKE WAFFLES!" a voice shouted.

Raven and Dib glanced at each other, and looked out the window.

"It was GIR," Dib said. "He must've been spying on us. But why?"

"Maybe because he works for your mortal enemy?" Raven said sarcastically.

"Maybe…but still. I have a feeling there's more to this…"

"GIR! Did you complete your assigned mission?"

"Yes, my master! They like each other!" GIR said.

"With this information, and the DNA testing I've done, we will be able to use this to our advantage! Yes, GIR! The world will soon be ours!"

"Aww man! Master, do we always have to end with a cliffhanger?"

"What?"

"Nevermind! MONKINESS!"

To Be Continued