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Too Many Treats

Gretchen has created a monster! Wait...he already was a monster.

One night on a lowly blue rock in the middle of deep space, a city full of incompetent lifeforms, that despite all odds became the dominant species of the planet, hustle and bustle in their disgusting, polluted, and overpopulated metropolis. In one of the surrounding neighborhoods of the city, the household of a magenta-haired girl stands in between oddly shaped houses. The girl’s house has a strange, round construction similar to the other weird homes in her neighborhood; curved metallic roofing, circular and oval shaped windows, and a front door with a pet door installed for her many pets. The home had a greyish dull color to it in the moonlight, but the lights shining brightly from inside reflecting on the shrubs in the front garden gave a warm lived-in feel to the domicile. Behind the closed doors of the house, the girl’s voice echoed throughout the hallways, originating from the living room furnished with blue sofas, a widescreen television, and a turquoise rug in the middle of the cyan-colored tile flooring. Her voice was accompanied by canine panting sounds and rustling on the rug.

“Good boy!” She said in an encouraging tone.

The girl in a striped, hooded dress tossed a bone-shaped dog biscuit from a bag at the small creature performing tricks on the rug for her, which caught it in the air. Normally, a preteen girl would have an ordinary dog do tricks for treats, but not tonight. Tonight, she technically had a friend over, and that is the most her hardworking parents will ever know. Her mother and father, who were both working night shifts this evening, will never comprehend the truth about their daughter's friend, but her brother does. He found it difficult to trust his sister’s weird friend as he wonders when the night will be when her friend finally snaps and devours them both. He has seen the movies; boys like this are always trouble. During the day, the boy is sweet and compassionate, but come nightfall, he becomes something inhuman. A savage beast. A monster.

“You’re being so good tonight, Dibbers!” The green-eyed girl gave a rewarding pat on the head of the creature.

Her brother watched her from the entrance to the kitchen. She was petting the spiky hair of the beast as if it was one of their animals. He feared the worst could happen at any moment, “Gretchen, I can’t believe you treat this thing as if it’s a dog.” He warned her, “Sooner or later, he’s going to think your hand is a biscuit.”

Gretchen looked back at him with an annoyed expression. She had no idea why her brother was so distrustful of her friend when he has done nothing but be kind and gentle in this form, “Duncan, do you ever get tired of worrying over nothing?”

“Over nothing?” Duncan asked in disbelief of her laid-back demeanor, “You’re petting a werewolf, Gretchen.”

He was right; she was petting a werewolf. A werewolf whose true identity was Dib Membrane; a boy who was never quite normal even before he was cursed. Before, Duncan could laugh at Gretchen’s crush on the infamous weird kid, but now, ever since he found out Dib’s secret, Duncan was afraid the wolf boy would literally steal her heart...and eat it. However, at the moment, Dib was only interested in the bag of treats Gretchen had been giving him. He did trick after trick for the delicious, crunchy bones. He joyfully wagged his tail. Since he started visiting Gretchen, he’s never felt happier. She gave him the love and attention he lacked back at his family home.

His father, the great Professor Membrane, was always busy curing diseases and building incredible machines to solve the world’s problems. He barely paid much attention to his own son. Even when Dib first realized he had become a werewolf, his father merely dismissed it as puberty. When Membrane has the chance to see his son’s other self, he thinks Dib is wearing a costume. Worse still, he can sometimes mistake him for the lost puppy that Dib and Gaz once had. Dib eventually gave up trying to convince his dad as he did shutter at the thought of his dad wanting to perform horrible tests on him just as Dib wants to do to his mortal enemy, Zim.

As for his sister, Gaz, she could care less about what happened to her brother. After all, he’s nothing but a screwup; he was bound to be afflicted with some paranormal curse at some point, she thought. In some ways, Gaz appreciated Dib’s wild side. It made him less of a pushover and usually gave her the house all to herself when he escaped into the night. No more Dib giving her an earful with his nightly rants about his next plan to expose Zim. No more having to sit through Mysterious Mysteries blaring on the TV every night. No more Zim breaking into the house at midnight to destroy Dib in his next dumb scheme; now, Zim is more likely to take on Dib out in the elements. Unfortunately, Dib is more daring as a werewolf, and he will still want to steal her food or break her possessions right in front of her face. Her normal intimidation tactics don’t work on the wolf so most of the time, she must resort to spraying him with a spray bottle or physically pulling her stuff away from him. The number of times her father has had to repair her chewed up Game Slave 4 is unreal. There are times when Gaz wishes things would go back to normal and Dib could cure himself, but as long as Gretchen and Zim are around to take up his time, Gaz won’t complain too much.

Speaking of Zim, the alien invader realized that things have never been the same since Dib suddenly transformed into this horrible, slobbery, filthy, fur-beast. Although his minions, GIR and Minimoose, seem to get along with him, Zim would never get the same treatment from the feral Dibwolf creature. Ever since Dib was mutated somehow, Zim has become a victim of his carnivorous lunar activities. If the Dibwolf so much as gets a whiff of his scent, the hunt was on, and Zim is doomed to a vicious mauling. Thankfully for Zim, lycanthropy is a human curse, and his superior Irken body is not affected by the werewolf’s bites. Nonetheless, the many pak legs, wigs, and uniforms Zim has had to replace is daunting. Regardless, Zim will never give up the fight, but neither will Dib, and that means Zim must find a way to destroy Dib now more than ever. To make matters worse, Dib also has a partner of sorts...that metal tooth human, Gretchen. Her interference with his plans is almost as bad as the attacks from the Dibwolf, but to Zim, Gretchen is but a thorn in his squeedily spooch; the real menace is the Dib-monster. Gretchen is a thorn, but Dib would rip out his squeedily spooch if given the chance, wolf or not. To complete his mission, Dib must be destroyed, some way, somehow...

Despite the ongoing threat of an alien invasion...Gretchen would prefer to just hang out with Dib whenever she can instead of constantly plotting to defeat Zim like human Dib would. She developed a crush on the boy months ago after the lice queen incident at the skool. Dib was the only one to fully rebel against the Countess von Verminstrasser or the “Lice Nazi” as the other kids called her. Gretchen did not like that woman; for some reason, the Countess really liked shouting her crazy theories at Gretchen and freaking out the poor girl. She literally dragged Gretchen around and nearly got her killed. Although the Countess was right about there being a giant louse, Gretchen always admired Dib’s ability to question everything and wonder what was really going on…and she thought he was cute. His shimmering brown eyes, the glasses, the hair that defies gravity, the almost bad boy gothic attire…he looked like a nerd trying really hard to be cool, but he was a cute nerd. However, his status as the creepy kid kept her from reaching out to him as she was a social outcast herself; always labeled as a reject. For a long time, she felt like she had to try to fit in with the other kids and laugh at Dib or be further rejected socially. Then there was the whole Zim being an alien thing… Gretchen always knew there was something strange about the green kid, but she pretended that she didn’t believe Dib to save herself the shame. Everyone knows that Dib and Zim always fight, and Gretchen didn’t want to get between those two and their bickering…but maybe…just maybe…if Gretchen could get Dib to notice her, she can find out more about him and why he’s the way he is. Dib was always mysterious, especially with that dashing trench coat he wore. Eventually she thought, so what if people think she’s weird? They already think that, and Dib doesn’t deserve to get treated the way he does. It was time to let him know that she liked him, and she thought of the perfect day to do that: Valentine’s Day.

Well, it didn’t work out the way she wanted. Some new girl showed up and ruined everything, and Gretchen cried her eyes out when she was ignored. After that, she almost gave up on telling Dib how she felt, but her heart wouldn’t forget him. She later overheard Dib and Zim say that the new girl wasn’t a girl after all, but another alien like Zim, and she was never Dib’s friend. Soon, Gretchen was emboldened enough to try a new way of getting his attention, which was talking to him. She started saying “hi” to him and giving him compliments even though she was socially awkward, but she kept trying. Despite this, progress was slow; Dib barely noticed her but at least he said, “hi, Gretchen” back to her a couple of times. She will never forget the first time he said that to her. He was in a rush to chase after Zim that day, but he still said it to her! It was that day when she knew the feeling of walking on air was true. She skipped and danced all the way back home. He said hi! And he remembered her name! Since then, Dib and Gretchen spoke more frequently, and also had a few disagreements, like when Dib didn’t believe her “Ms. Bitters is a giant bug” theory, but they were finally talking. Over time, she changed her hair style, got new clothes, some alien earrings, and a glow-in-the-dark ghost necklace to boost her confidence and get closer to Dib. Gretchen did find out more about him; he was a bit eccentric, but he is nice if you gave him a chance. Nevertheless, things really changed one faithful day when Gretchen noticed Dib was acting weird in a way she had never seen before. She did her own paranormal investigation on her own crush and ultimately found out that the boy she was in love with was turned into a paranormal creature himself. However, even though Gretchen was afraid for the first few nights when getting to know the new werewolf, and Dib warned her to stay away from him, Gretchen never gave up on the wolf and showed him kindness and affection. Soon, he trusted her, and he went from a lone wolf, both figuratively and literally, to a friend and caring about her. This curse is what grew her relationship with Dib, and she got what she wanted: her crush noticing her and liking her back.

On the other hand, her brother, Duncan, was not too thrilled about their relationship. He is protective of his sister and is suspicious of this werewolf boy who he knows has the power to kill them both with his bare hands…or claws. He has no idea why his sister is crushing on him. He’s not just a werewolf, he’s the kid who keeps getting arrested, blowing stuff up, and somehow managing to cut the power to the whole city more than once. Duncan remembers Gretchen said that Dib raised the dead too. It’s insane to think that this one kid is fighting all these supernatural beings, and now, he’s bringing his sister into this. What they do the most is trying to stop Zim and his “evil plans.” He overhears when they talk about spying on Zim and collecting paranormal evidence; it’s almost impossible not to overhear it since Dib yells so much. While Duncan believes that Zim is an alien, like Gaz, he would rather do his own thing. Besides, Zim has been here for how long? And he still has not conquered the planet. There was that one time he teleported the planet into this “Florpus hole” thing Dib mentioned before, but the planet was saved in the end so whatever. Duncan wants to think that it all works out in the end, but he can’t help but feel protective of his little sister now that she is hanging out with the “crazy” kid. Well, he knows now that Dib is not totally crazy and is right about some things, but Dib is still somewhat crazy for wanting to chase after and capture cryptids and aliens even though he’s a twelve-year-old kid...and he’s dragging Gretchen along with him. Duncan should’ve seen the warning signs when Gretchen started believing her teacher was a giant bug woman.

“Okay Dib, sit!” Gretchen offered another biscuit.

Dib did as he was told for the tasty treats that he cannot get enough of.

“Good boy!” Gretchen tossed the bone.

Dib caught the treat in the air with the sound of his jaws snapping shut. A sign of his bite force being stronger than any dog. Duncan shivered at that sound, yet the sight of a werewolf doing tricks was funny to him, “Can he play dead?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Of course, he can.” Gretchen replied, “Dib, play dead!”

The bespectacled boy lay on the ground with his eyes closed and his tongue sticking out.

“Good boy!” Gretchen said for what seemed to be the twentieth time that night. She has fed him many treats for quite a while. Dib got up and begged for the treat with his paws up while Gretchen reached further in the bag for a biscuit. Once she threw one out, Dib wasted no time eating it. Gretchen looked over at Duncan and took out a bone, “You try!”

Duncan snickered and walked over, “Okay.” He took the bone and watched Dib walk over to him and beg. With his tail wagging and his shining puppy dog eyes, he was almost cute...for a hairy monster... “Do a spin.” Duncan told him while waving the treat in a circular fashion over his head. Dib obeyed and walked in a circle on all fours before begging patiently for his reward. Duncan was impressed that he listened to him, “Wow,” he glanced back at Gretchen, forgetting to toss the treat, “maybe you can teach him to stop howling on the roof at 3AM,” Dib was waiting for his biscuit, but Duncan was still not giving it to him even though he had done what he was told. Duncan kept talking to Gretchen, “or to stop digging holes in the yard.” Dib’s toothy smile disappeared as he lost his patience, and he scowled at Duncan. The teenage boy barely had time to react when Dib snarled and snapped at him, stomping his front paws on the ground. It sounded as intimidating as a chihuahua’s snarl, but it spooked Duncan enough to fall back on his behind with a shriek. He dropped the biscuit and Dib quickly snatched it up and ate it.

Gretchen was not surprised, “You’re supposed to give him his treat.”

Duncan looked irritated again, “Geez, he’s a greedy little bastard.” He stood up and got away from the feisty furball.

With Dib’s attention back on his favorite human, his panting and tail wags began again. Gretchen smiled back at him and asked in her cheery voice, “You want another treat?” Dib nodded; one of the only ways he could still communicate in human language, “Okay, roll over!” The wolf boy did exactly that and sat up for his treat. Gretchen was still digging into the bag, but it was empty, “Uh oh, that was all of them.” Dib whined; he was expecting another tasty bone.

“You gave him all those biscuits?” Duncan asked, looking away from his phone, “That was a new bag for the real dogs! Not this tiny terror.” He points at Dib, who looks back at him and makes a soft growl at hearing what Duncan called him.

Gretchen retorts, “Hey, he’s been a very good boy lately, and he loves these treats. I say he deserved them all.” She crumpled up the bag, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you something better!” She reassured Dib and walked into the kitchen with him following her, his claws tapping against the tiles. Gretchen opened the pantry, “Let’s see what we’ve got here... Oh!” She takes out a box and shows it to Dib, “Cookies!” He gets excited and wags his tail.

“You’re going to give him those? Can werewolves eat chocolate?” Duncan asked. He watched with anxiety as his sister offered the cookie so close to the werewolf’s jaws, but Dib gently took the cookie out of her hand.

“He’s been eating them for the last two weeks, so I think so.” Gretchen shrugged at her brother.

“So that’s where they’ve all gone...” Duncan had wondered why they kept running out of cookies so fast.

Dib swallowed the cookie but wanted more. He tapped Gretchen’s leg and whined. She looked down at him, “Oh, you want some more?” She poured some cookies out of the box onto the white kitchen tiles and Dib quickly began munching on them.

“Hey, you’re not going to give him all of those too, are you?” Duncan asked.

“But he likes them! Would you rather he be chewing on your shoes again?” Gretchen did have a point. Since she’s been giving Dib more treats, he’s been chewing on random things less often. Dib finished his pile of cookies with a slight hiccup. He wagged his tail, ready for more.

Days later, outside of their skool, Dib and Gretchen are walking home.

“Have you noticed that the vampire gerbil in the biology room has grey fur?” Dib asked Gretchen as they walked down the sidewalk, “According to my research, vampire gerbils typically have black fur. This might be a rare specimen we have here!”

“Hmm, it could be.” Gretchen said. “What if it’s a new species of vampire gerbil?”

“Man, that would be really neat.” Dib hoped one day they would get permission to take the gerbil with them to study it, but so far, the teachers aren’t onboard with the idea. Maybe when they lower the security in the biology room, they can finally get a chance to steal the bloodthirsty rodent.

Gretchen usually just listens to Dib talk until they get to their neighborhood, but sometimes their time together is ruined by a certain alien, but hopefully not toda-

“Hello, inferior Earth monkeys!!” The shrill sound of an evil alien’s laughter rang in their ears. Dib and Gretchen stopped in their tracks as Zim jumped in front of them from behind the corner of a fence, “I have come to announce my greatest plan for world conquest!”

“But then we’ll know what you’re doing...” Gretchen said.

“That’s what he wants.” Dib was apathetic to whatever Zim was planning if it’s one of those plans that he’s already revealing to them before he has even done anything. Those schemes Zim gets so excited about are always the lamest ones. Despite this, Dib played along. One can never be too sure... “What are you up to this time, Zim?”

“I have developed a serum that will make humans explode!!” Zim took out a vial full of blue glowing liquid from his pak.

“Another exploding plan...fuuun,” Dib didn’t even try to sound interested, “and how are you going to make people explode with that stuff?”

“I’m glad you asked, Dib-filth.” Zim pompously held the vial up high, “I am going to spill this serum all over the skool cafeteria food and watch you all blow up like meat firecrackers once you consume it!”

Dib rolled his eyes, “Zim, that’s stupid. No one’s going to eat blue glowing food.”

“Willy might eat it.” Gretchen told Dib.

“Okay, Willy might,” Dib realized that was a possibility, “but he’s like the only one. Your plan is still stupid, and you’ll never get away with it!” He pointed at the green invader.

“You’ll never stop me, Dib!” Zim ignored everything they said, “This entire planet will be soaking in human juice when I’m through with your disgusting species, thanks to this!” He taunted Dib by holding the blue vial in front of his face.

“Give me that!” Dib attempted to snatch the vial out of Zim’s hands, but he wasn’t quick enough. Zim pulled it away and stuck out his worm-like tongue at him before running off. Dib chased after him for that serum. Gretchen sighed and ran after them. Of course, this happens right when Dib and she were sharing a moment conversing about vampire gerbils. Dib chased Zim down a few blocks, but the alien sprinted too far ahead at this point. The scythe-haired boy was already out of breath and could not catch up to him.

The bug-like alien glanced back at his nemesis falling behind and laughed, “Seeya, Dib!!” Zim turned a corner and disappeared. There was no way of catching him now.

Dib huffed as he finally reached the corner of the block and leaned on his knees, trying to catch his breath, “Since when did...Zim get so fast...?”

Gretchen appeared shortly behind him, “What happened?” She wasn’t out of breath yet, “You already lost him?”

Dib wiped some sweat off his forehead, “I guess I’m not on my A game today.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Gretchen put him at ease, “This plan is one of the dumbest ones I’ve heard yet.”

“You’re right.” Dib agreed, “Besides, Zim’s going to need a lot more than a test tube of explodey-junk to win.”

As time went by, Dib appeared to be right. Zim didn’t try using his blue serum on the skool cafeteria food. Perhaps he already forgot his plan as that does seem to happen to him a lot. That or he was never able to make enough of the liquid for his plan. Luckily for Dib and Gretchen, Zim is usually extremely incompetent or unlucky. The reason could even be as simple as his evil robot dog drinking the chemical and exploding. That robot always finds some way to explode. Whatever the reason, it did not matter to Gretchen or Dib tonight as they were spending yet another night together at Gretchen’s house. Duncan had McMeaties delivered for dinner that night as he didn’t feel like cooking, but he didn’t expect to have ordered most of it for a monster.

“Gretchen, that food is for you.” Duncan told his sister as they were sitting at the kitchen table having their dinner, or at least, Duncan was having his dinner. Gretchen was too busy throwing scraps for Dib.

“Aww, but he loves it.” Gretchen threw a fry and Dib caught it in the air. She was amazed at how he always caught the food.

“He loves to eat anything, even humans, I’m sure.” Duncan said while dipping a fry in ketchup.

“That’s not true, he doesn’t like bologna.” Gretchen took her cheeseburger and took a bite, but she also secretly tore a piece off under the table and fed it to Dib, who eagerly took it out of her hand.

“Gretchen...” Duncan knows what she’s doing.

“What?” She looked up at him.

“C’mon,” Duncan was tired of telling her to stop feeding the werewolf, “you already gave him some kibble earlier, he doesn’t need anymore.” He ate a fry, “And if you keep giving him more, he’s just going to want more.”

“I stop giving him treats if he doesn’t want anymore.”

“He never doesn’t want anymore. He’s a bottomless pit.”

“No, he isn’t!” Gretchen retorted. Just to defy her brother for saying that, she tossed a chicken nugget at Dib, who caught it instantly, “When he’s being good, he gets a treat.”

Duncan looked down at the little furball happily wagging his tail while chewing on the nugget. He noticed how pudgy in the midsection the creature was getting, “But he’s always being good to you...”

Many days go by, and Dib and Gretchen are having their skool lunch in the cafeteria. They sit together on a table in a corner far away from the other kids. Nobody wanted to sit next to the “reject” and the “creepy kid.” However, that didn’t bother them; they had each other and they enjoyed their company. Gretchen tried to eat the smelly beans and rice, but the mystery meat was something she could not stomach. Meanwhile, Dib rested his head in his hand and was only picking at his food…or rather what the skool considered to be food…

“You’re not eating?” Gretchen asked him.

“I’m not hungry.” Dib had felt a loss of appetite for days now, but he wasn’t too worried about it. Being able to skip skool lunches was actually a positive for him. What worried him was his loss of energy when chasing Zim. That space bug was starting to get arrogant...well, more arrogant than usual, about being faster than him. Dib still managed to trip him up and win some slap fights when they squabbled, though.

“Why?” Gretchen asked with a hint of sarcasm, “Is your food glowing blue?” She chuckled, remembering a while ago Zim had made an empty threat, “Remember when Zim said he was going to make people explode with alien goo? I wonder whatever happened to that plan.”

Now it was Dib’s turn to snicker, “Yeah, he gets like that sometimes.” He recalled many times Zim bragged about a plan that never came to fruition, “Once, he said he had laser weasels ready to zap everybody but that never went anywhere.”

“Laser weasels?” Gretchen was about to put together a picture of what a laser weasel would look like when the ear-piercing sound of Zim’s voice was heard.

“Stink beasts!!” Zim appeared beside Dib, “Are you enjoying your untainted Earth nutrients?”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s tainted.” Dib answered Zim’s obvious rhetorical question. He totally came over in an attempt to terrorize them somehow.

“Enjoy it now, Dib!” Zim had a wicked grin on his face, “For soon, you and your fellow human filthies will explode from my ingenious evil plan!”

“You’re still with the explodey blue stuff?” Dib asked.

“Of course, I am!” Zim spat, “It’s just that the serum is highly unstable and very hard to produce, and GIR keeps trying to-” He shut his eyes and growled in frustration. He was revealing too much to the enemy, “Just know that your destruction is inevitable, Dib-monster!”

“We already know what you’re planning…” Gretchen said, “If you really wanted to destroy us, why don’t you-”

“Don’t give him ideas.” Dib interrupted her, “Listen Zim, you’re only embarrassing yourself with your lame attempts at scaring us, so just back off, you lizard!”

“I will never back the off, Dookie Dib!” Zim ironically took a few steps back, “You won’t defeat me this time! Especially now with your frail, goopy body becoming weak and useless again!” Zim took off running knowing that Dib wouldn’t catch him, not that he wanted to.

“Goopy?” Dib remembered these insults from when Zim went into hiding and Dib fused to his chair from not showering or even moving from his desk. It didn’t help that he also put on weight from eating nothing but junk food that whole time. He looked down at himself. Weak and useless? No…he couldn’t be. Just because he couldn’t run as far anymore doesn’t mean he’s…

“Dib, what’s wrong?” Gretchen snapped Dib out of his train of thought.

“Um, nothing.” Dib answered. He looked towards the alien sitting at his lonely table and scowled. He grabbed a handful of beans, “Check this out.” He threw them at Zim on the other side of the cafeteria with impeccable accuracy. He had been throwing stuff at Zim for a long time; he had plenty of practice. A loud scream and curses echoed throughout the room, making Gretchen laugh and Dib sneer in satisfaction.

That night at Gretchen’s house, Dib is spending time with his girl again. It had quickly become his favorite place to hang out as a wolf for obvious reasons. Tonight, Gretchen is treating him with a chocolate ice cream bar. They were both sitting on the sofa in the living room. It was a good thing Dib licked the ice cream so fast that it did not have a chance to drip on the couch.

Duncan walked into the room with a bologna sandwich and saw what Gretchen was doing, “You better not be sharing that.” He sat on the other side of the couch and took a bite out of his sandwich. He tried to sit as far away from the werewolf as possible since the monster was sitting in the middle.

“Nope, it’s all his.” Gretchen said, referring to the ice cream. Dib bit off the remaining ice cream, crunching up the popsicle stick in the process, but that didn’t scare her. “Done?” Gretchen got up to throw away the splintered stick, leaving Dib alone with Duncan. He licked the ice cream off his lips and looked at the teenage boy.

“What are you looking at?” Duncan locked eyes with him. He always felt uncomfortable being alone with the tiny, and now slightly chubby, lycanthrope. He then noticed that the wolf boy was actually looking at his sandwich. Dib walked up closer to him on all fours on the cushions, sniffing at the bologna. Duncan leaned away and was about to shout at him to get back, but the werewolf had already chomped on his sandwich, “Hey!!” He yelled, and even though he had a firm grip on the bread, Dib ripped it away easily and jumped on the floor with his stolen sandwich. As the fuzzy beast ate his quick meal on the ground near his shoes, Duncan stared in surprise. Gretchen walks back into the room and sees what had happened and was rather surprised herself. Duncan was ticked off now, “What the hell? I thought he didn’t like bologna!”

“I thought so too.” Gretchen said as she watched Dib eat up the scraps on the floor, “I guess he must like it now.”

Duncan makes a frustrated groan and gets up from the couch, “Gretchen, that mutt is getting out of control! He’s eating everything he sees!”

“He developed a taste for bologna, that doesn’t mean he’s eating everything.” Gretchen said the last word while making air quotes with her fingers.

“Are you kidding me?!” Duncan asked, clearly irritated that his sister was not noticing an obvious pattern. He had a flashback to when he had left a taco on the kitchen table only to come back and see Dib standing on top of the table and eating his taco. Duncan managed to shoo Dib off the table, but the werewolf took the entire taco with him. There was another memory of Dib scurrying out of the kitchen with a mozzarella stick and Duncan angrily shouting at him, “Hey, you little freak!!” And yet another memory of Duncan eating a drumstick from Chicky Licky but Dib jumped up and bit the chicken. He had broken the bone and got away with the meat, horrifying Duncan as he stared at the snapped bone. In the final flashback, Duncan appears to be sneaking out of the kitchen with a cookie, keeping a watchful eye for the pilfering predator, but he fails to notice a shadow with amber glowing eyes in the dark hallway. The werewolf shrouded in darkness pounces on him with a snarl causing Duncan to scream. Flash to the present and Duncan yells at Gretchen, “It’s driving me crazy, and now he’s even eating bologna!” He looks down at Dib finishing the remainder of the scraps and leans down, shaking a fist in his face, “And that was MY sandwich, you little hairball!!” Dib only responds with a friendly lick on Duncan’s face. The teenager shrieks in disgust and wipes the slobber off his face.

“Don’t yell at him, he’s only a puppy!” Gretchen tells Duncan and gets down on the floor to pet and comfort Dib after getting yelled at, though he didn’t seem fazed at all.

“Yeah, maybe for now. Keep it up, Gretchen, and soon we’ll be next on the menu.” Duncan warned her and stormed off.

Gretchen continues to stroke Dib’s spiky hair, “Don’t worry, Dib. He just doesn’t appreciate your cuteness.” She cups his chubby cheeks and looks into his eyes, talking to him as if he were a dog, “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?” She hugs him and Dib closes his eyes, wagging his tail and enjoying the hug.

A few nights later, Gretchen is doing her homework at the kitchen table. ‘If Chris stuck his hand into a wasp nest, how many stings would he get before he dies from anaphylactic shock?’ Gretchen read from her textbook, baffled by these stupid questions, ‘How am I supposed to know? How many wasps are in that nest? Why is he sticking his hand into the nest? Does he want to die from wasp stings? Of course, Ms. Bitters would love this question considering she’s a giant bu-’

“GRETCHEN!!”

The booming shout of her brother broke her concentration. She walked out to the living room, “What? I’m doing my homework!”

“Your puppy just stole my entire box of Chinese food from my room!” Duncan yelled, “Nowhere is safe in this house from this animal!”

“Dib doesn’t go in your room, Duncan.” Gretchen put her hands on her hips, “Besides, I just fed him.”

“Oh yeah?” Duncan walked to the corner of the room, “Then what’s all this?” He pointed at Dib who was resting on his favorite fluffy, white pet rug. There were bits and pieces of egg rolls and noodles around him. He looked so peaceful with his closed eyes, totally ignoring Duncan’s loud complaining.

“D’aww…” Gretchen crouched down, “He looks so happy.” She gently pets him; he feels as soft as a plushie.

“I’ve had it up to here with that fat mongrel!” Duncan tensed up. How could his sister not care about having a thieving monster in the house?

“Hey!” Gretchen glared at him, “Don’t say that! He’s not fat!”

“Are you serious?!” Duncan asked and gestured towards the wolf, “Look at him! He’s huge! He looks like a chunky chihuahua that fell in a vat of nuclear waste!”

“Okay, now you’re just being mean, Duncan.” Gretchen stood up, “Maybe he’s a little chubby, but he’s not that bad.”

“Psh, yeah, ‘a little chubby.’” Duncan scoffed, “Bet you he can’t roll over.”

“Yes, he can!” Gretchen walked out and came back with a bag of treats, “Dibbers, you want a treat, boy? You want a treat?” She shook the bag and Dib looked up at her straight away, panting and wagging his tail. She held out a biscuit, “Roll over!” Once hearing the command, Dib obeyed and pushed himself to roll. It took him a couple of seconds, but he managed to roll over. Unfortunately, his rotund body rolled into the purple vase next to the rug, causing it to crash onto the tiles. Duncan facepalmed; their mom is not going to be happy about that. Gretchen flinched at the broken vase, “Uhhh…told you he could roll over.” She tossed the treat Dib earned.

Duncan wiped his hand off his face and asked no one in particular, “Why…just why…?”

“Um, c’mon, Dib…” Gretchen walked away from the shattered pieces, “Let’s get you away from this mess.” Dib followed her, his claws tapping the floor as he went. She led him to the backyard door in the kitchen, “Want to go outside?” He jumped at the suggestion and ran for the pet door. The first half of his body squeezed in, but the second half ended up breaking off the pet door and carrying it outside as he walked through. Gretchen stared at the hole in the door with concern, “Hmmm…”

Later that night, Gretchen thought about what Duncan had said. Was she really overfeeding Dib? Nah, she was just giving him all her love. The love he deserved all along. If treats made him happy, why stop? She glanced at her brother as they walked down the brightly lit city main street. He looked relaxed which was a welcome change to his usual frustration. They were just having a stroll downtown and… Wait…why were they downtown?

Before Gretchen could think about where she was, hundreds of people running and screaming in terror passed them, “What’s going on?” Right as she asked that, thunderous quakes erupted in their vicinity.

A straggling woman shrieked, “Run for your lives!! It’s the MONSTER!!” She pointed behind them.

The tremors were getting louder and stronger, nearly causing Gretchen and Duncan to fall over. Soon, an enormous shadow loomed over the two kids. She and Duncan turned around to see what everybody was running from. It was gigantic, it was fluffy, it was pudgy…it was Dib! The werewolf had grown to a massive size! On all fours, he stood at about 100 feet tall, towering over the boy and girl surrounded by people scrambling to get away from the beast. Gretchen gasped, “Dib?!” He appeared content and without a care in the world, with his tongue sticking out, “How did he get so big?” Gretchen asked. The werewolf looked down at the tiny humans scurrying around his paws; to Gretchen’s horror, he plucked a man from the crowd and ate him!

“Don’t you see?!” Duncan flung out his arms, “His appetite has grown out of control!”

Gretchen watches as her beloved wolf boy gobbles up the helpless people like candy, “No…it can’t be true…”

When the crowd of people dispersed from the giant fuzzball, he leaped away to another block, pounding the ground as he ran and activating car alarms, “We have to stop him!” Duncan exclaimed. They chased after the humongous creature, hoping to end his ravenous rampage.

Dib dived into the next intersection, pouncing on a truck that had the misfortune of being in his way. He picked up the vehicle and chomped on it as if it were a burrito. His colossal tail wagged and wiped out anything and anybody that was behind him; it flung screaming people several feet in the air. As Dib was enjoying his snack, fighter jets and helicopters flew overhead. Their noise as they zoomed by disturbed Dib from his taco truck, and he glared at the flying nuisances. They shot an array of bullets in his direction, but all they did was annoy him further. Dib growled at the military’s feeble attempts to destroy him. To him, these planes and choppers were like flies buzzing around, ruining his meal. He swiped at the jets with his claws, knocking a few out of the air, causing them to crash into the ground and surrounding buildings. A helicopter makes the mistake of flying above him and Dib jumps up and bites the aircraft. Once landing on his two feet in an Earth-shattering boom, the scythe-haired boy chewed up and swallowed the crushed metallic mess. He continues to stomp down the city streets, moving through the skyscrapers, until he meets a certain mutant hamster eating a bus. Ultra-Peepi waved at him, and Dib waved back as he went on his way. Up ahead, Dib turns a corner in the neon pink and purple metropolis with his tail lashing through a building, but he stops in his tracks when he sees a defense line of tanks blocking him. The tanks immediately fire at him and the werewolf furiously snarls.

Gretchen and Duncan run up to the assault on the overly large lycanthrope, “Oh no! Don’t hurt him!” Gretchen bit her nails in worry, but the weapons have done nothing to Dib but make him mad. With a flash of yellow light from his eyes, Dib blasts the tanks away in a fiery explosion with laser vision. Upon uncovering her face from the bright flash, Gretchen was bewildered, “Okay, this is getting weird…”

With the first line of tanks destroyed, the military moves in new maser tanks that look like they come straight out of a kaiju film. They fire blue, electric beams at the fuzzy behemoth, and he roars in pain. While these weapons seemed more effective, they did not stand a chance against Dib’s tail swipe. With a firm turn and a tail whip at the row of maser tanks, they are destroyed in seconds. Dib stands amid the damage undefeated; the terrified citizens look on as the giant monster survived everything the military threw at him, “Nothing can stop him! We’re DOOMED!!” A man cried. The werewolf flattened the tanks as he stomped to a particularly high skyscraper. Its windows shattered as he climbed up the building, and once reaching the top, he howled at the moon. People covered their ears at the terrible, deafening sound of his howling. In the midst of the commotion, Gretchen and Duncan approach the front of the building. They stared at Dib from below, wondering how they would get him to stop tearing apart the town.

“This is all from giving him too many treats!” Duncan shouts at Gretchen.

“That’s it!” At that moment, Gretchen gets an idea, “Treats!” She pulls out a bag of bone biscuits seemingly from nowhere. Dib hears the ruffling of the bag all the way at the top of the high-rise building and looks down; when he sees the treats, he eagerly wags his tail, “Dibbers, you want a treat, boy?” Gretchen calls to him. The titanic canid jumped from the building and smashed into the pavement in front of the two siblings, sending dust and debris into the air. Gretchen and Duncan fall to the ground from the shockwave, but they shakily stand back up to face the ginormous monster nerd, “Okay Dib, sit!” Gretchen gives a simple command, but even this is nerve-racking. Dib obeys and sits down but his immense weight causes a rippling quake that almost brings Gretchen and Duncan to the ground again. Dib was so chubby that he couldn’t sit like he used to; he stuck out his legs like an overweight chihuahua, “Good boy!” Gretchen rewards him by throwing a biscuit as high as she could; Dib leaned in to catch the treat, “See? He’s nice.” The purple-haired girl reassured her brother.

Duncan looked up at the big furball smiling and wagging his tail, “I guess you’re righ-AH!” The teen couldn’t finish his sentence before Dib picked him up by his shirt and held him above his mouth, “I told you we’d be next!!” Duncan yelled as Dib gulped him down.

“Oh no…” Gretchen barely made out a word after seeing her brother get eaten when suddenly, a recognizable maniacal laughter rang in her ears.

“Has your pathetic military failed at destroying the Dib-beast?”

Gretchen turned to see an evil disguised alien haughtily crossing his arms, “Zim?”

“Your enormous lap dog can be easily defeated with this!” Zim pulled out his blue explosive serum from his pak, “And once I obliterate the Dibwolf, no one will be able to stop me from taking over this filthy planet!!” Zim threw his head back and laughed again, but his obnoxious mirth was quickly interrupted by Dib biting his entire head. He dropped the toxic substance as his arms and legs flailed while he screamed in between Dib’s jaws. The wolf boy effortlessly devoured the Irken, “Curse you, Dib! CURSE YOOUUU!!” Zim’s muffled yelling was so loud, he could be heard while going down Dib’s esophagus.

Gretchen sneered at the pitiful alien’s defeat, “That was kinda funny.” It was always hilarious when Zim loses, even if he was horribly wolfed down this time. However, her joy was abruptly halted by Dib picking her up by the hood of her dress, lifting her up to his face, “No, Dib!” Gretchen cried, “You’re not a monster like in those movies! You’re the sole defender of Earth, remember?” Her legs were dangling above his mouth now, “Dib, it’s me, Gretchen! Don’t you recognize me?” For a moment, Dib gazed at her and made a soft, curious whimper. Gretchen’s expression lit up when he sniffed and studied her, “That’s right, you’re a good puppy!” Dib smiled at her, and she squeezed her hands; she was getting through to him! They stayed like that for a few heartfelt seconds, but Dib stuffed her in his mouth and swallowed her anyway… Gretchen squealed in terror as she fell into Dib’s stomach. She survived, but she was covered in saliva that dripped all over her as she stood up, “Ew…” It was fairly dark in there and her ghost necklace emitted a faint green glow.

“Well, look who joined the party…” A voice echoed.

Gretchen realized the voice came from Gaz leaning against the stomach wall while playing her Game Slave 4, “Gaz, you’re here too?”

The younger girl kept her eyes on her video game, “Everyone’s here, buckteeth.”

Gretchen looked over to see a large group of people glaring at her. She gasped; in the gathering, she saw Duncan and her parents, Zim and his minions, Zim’s weird neighbors, the Skool kids, teachers like Ms. Bitters and Mr. Elliot, a creepy chihuahua, and some guy dressed in black with glasses, spiky hair and a shirt with a “Z?” design on it…and none of them looked happy. Except for the creepy chihuahua, it only stared at her.

“This is your fault!” Duncan shouted at Gretchen. The crowd appeared to agree with him as they began to start an uproar, shaking their fists at her. They marched closer to her, all of them enraged and ready to beat her up. She saw kids like Chunk and Torque pounding their fists and cracking their knuckles.

Gretchen threw her hands in front of her, “Wait! I can fix this!” She backed up as the angry mob closed in on her, “No! NOOOO!” She closed her eyes and screamed for her life, but the pain never came. The girl opened her eyes and shot up from her bed in a panic, gasping for air. She was in her bedroom, the morning light shining through her window, and when realizing this, she was able to catch her breath. Her loose long hair swung behind her as she looked around her pink room filled with plushies; the white doors of her wall closet open and her computer screens on her desk reflecting the bright sunlight. Birds sang from outside; there was no danger at all. “A dream...it was just a dream…” She put a hand to her head, “A terrible...and weird dream...” She was able to calm down, “Okay, I got this.”

At sunset that evening, Gretchen sat on the sofa thinking about how she was going to handle her puppy problems. It’s one thing to say no to a pet, but it’s a whole different thing to say no to a werewolf. Dib never fails to come over now; he has been conditioned to always expect love and affection when he sees Gretchen; not to mention, food. When the sky turned dark and the crickets began to chirp, she watched the front pet door. Like clockwork, Dib poked his head through the flap. His speedy panting was the only sound in the house for a moment until the sound of him trying to squeeze his overly plump body through the door disturbed the peace. Gretchen saw his struggle and got up to open the door for him; she did not want to have to fix another broken pet door.

Gretchen greeted him as she helped him into the house, “Hiya, Dibbers!” He wagged his tail; he was happy to see her like always. She crouched to his level and allowed him to lick her face in his typical canine greeting. Usually, the first thing Gretchen did was feed him when he came over, and she decided that she should keep up that part of the routine so as to not disappoint him too much tonight. He would not be able to steal any snacks from Duncan either since he was out with his girlfriend. Gretchen led Dib into the kitchen, “You ready for dinner?” She fetched a pet bowl for him. Dib’s eyes lit up and he begged for the kibble as Gretchen poured some in the bowl. The portion was definitely not as much as he was used to eating so he ate it up quite fast. The little wolf whined at the green-eyed girl, clearly wanting more. Gretchen sympathized with him, but she had to hold her ground, “What?” She asked with a hint of sarcasm, “That’s a normal sized serving; you don’t need anymore.” Dib looked back down at the bowl in sadness and Gretchen gave him a pat on the head, “Oh c’mon Dibby, it’s not so bad. You need to start eating normal portions now. It’s for your own good. You can have some more in the morning.” She shot a glance at the clock on the microwave, “Ooh, it’s almost time for Mysterious Mysteries. Let’s go!” Dib followed Gretchen into the living room, but the missing kibble didn’t leave his mind.

On the TV screen, the host of the paranormal show stood next to a picture of a bee with a cape and fangs, “Vampire bees...honey sucking demons from the bee underworld or an elaborate hoax? The truth is a mystery...” He spoke with his classic raspy but smooth voice along with the creepy soundtrack. Dib laid down next to a sitting Gretchen as they watched the show, but he was unable to focus on the terrible reenactment of a gruesome vampire bee encounter. He sat up and tapped Gretchen’s arm.

“What?” She giggled. Dib gazed at her with his puppy dog eyes; a common tactic, “I know that face. You want a treat, don’t you?” Dib nodded and begged. He was so cute when he did that, but Gretchen had to push herself to not fall for it, “Aww, but Dib, you already had your dinner.” Upon hearing that answer, Dib’s panting turned to a disappointed whimper. He licked her face, but she petted him on the head in return…still no treat. Time to take it up a notch… He rolled on her lap in another attempt to look cute and persuade her. He smiled and looked up at her with the most adorable pose he could muster. Gretchen remained strong, however, “You can’t have so many treats anymore.” She gave him a belly rub, “You’re getting too chunky.” Gretchen grunted as she pushed him off; he was so much heavier that it was uncomfortable for him to be on her lap. Sitting back up, he rubbed his head on her arm, trying one more time to get her to give into his fluffy charm, but it only earned him a firm look, “No, Dib. No treats.” She pointed at the screen, “C’mon, let’s keep watching the show.” Having failed to convince her, Dib pouted. He wasn’t interested in his favorite show right now. All he could think about was how hungry he was, and Gretchen wasn’t budging. He whined and glanced down at his rumbling tummy; he just had to eat something…

Looking past Gretchen towards the kitchen, Dib saw the bag of kibble sticking out of the open pantry. The crunchy meaty goodness was sitting there waiting for him… He licked his lips and hopped off the couch. Gretchen was so focused on the interview of a man who claimed to have survived a vampire bee attack that it was not until she heard a crash coming from the kitchen that she noticed Dib was no longer by her side. She looked to see Dib had dragged out the bag of kibble and was eating straight from the bag while having strewed the kibble all over the kitchen floor. The shocked girl jumped off the couch and ran to him, “Dib!” She pulled him out of the bag but struggled with how hefty he was, “Bad boy, you can’t have all that!” The little furball still tried to continue feasting but Gretchen held on to his coat collar, “Sit!” For the first time in a long while, Dib disobeyed her, but she sat down and took him down with her, “Duncan was right. You are greedy.” She sighed at the pudgy puppy forcibly held in her arms, “What am I going to do with you?” Dib tried to grab the last of the scattered kibble he raided, and Gretchen knew he would want more as long as he was in the house, “Maybe getting some fresh air will help.” She opened the backyard door, which had the pet door shoddily repaired, and pushed him outside, closing the door behind him. Dib whined at the closed door...he felt like his girl had rejected him. He glanced towards the fenced backyard and saw her pets were huddled together in a corner whimpering, terrified of him. They were trembling at his presence, but Dib had no interest in them; he just wanted food, and cats and dogs weren’t the most appetizing animals…not that he would know…

Suddenly, the werewolf heard footsteps walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the fence, and out of curiosity, he trotted to the fence to get a view of what sounded like a human. Peeking through a hole in a picket, he saw a brief glimpse of a man walking by…and he smelled good… Dib dug a hole under the fence and squeezed his body to the other side where he ran after the man who was singing a little tune, “Doodidoodidoodoodoooo...” Like a good hunter, he hid in the bushes so as to not spook his prey. The man carrying a bag heard some rustling in the bushes next to him and stopped singing, but he kept on his way. It was probably just a raccoon, he thought to himself…nothing to worry about…but his calm demeanor instantly vanished when the rustling bushes began to growl. He froze and sweated bullets; that did not sound like a raccoon. He turned his head at the sound coming from the shrubs and before he could react, a creature snarled and leaped at him. A hideous scream of horror echoed throughout the neighborhood.

A woman walking in the opposite direction on the sidewalk gasped when she saw the grisly attack in front of her. A man was unconscious on the ground and a hairy thing was gnawing at something on him. The beast turned towards the woman and bared its teeth, snarling at her. It had a reddish fluid dripping in its drool! The woman screamed at the top of her lungs and ran away, but the monster didn’t give chase. All it wanted was to scare her away from his prey. The wolf boy had torn the man’s bag and opened his takeout, which happened to be chicken wings drenched in sauce. The man had fainted and left his food defenseless against the voracious werewolf.

Once finishing the wings, Dib licked the sauce from his lips and sniffed the air. He ran to another backyard fence and jumped to the top to get a better look at what smelled so good. It seemed that there was a gathering of people eating barbecue with ribs, sausages, pork chops, and other scrumptious food… Dib wagged his tail and drooled at the sight of the tasty chunks of meat. He pulled himself over the fence and clumsily fell on his back on the ground below in a thud, but he swiftly got up and rushed to the table. Shrieks and screams filled the yard when the werewolf hopped on their table and howled. He snapped and snarled at the humans to scare them away from the food; they ran into their house to hide from the creature. With the rival predators gone, Dib dug into the juicy array of meats, getting barbecue sauce and grease all over his clothing. After making a huge mess from practically inhaling the grilled food, dropping the paper plates and plastic cutlery all around the grass, Dib ran from the scene before animal control could catch him.

Further into town at the carnival, Duncan and his girlfriend, Janine, were enjoying a date night. As they walked through the carnival, they were eating blue and green cotton candy. Janine bit into her green puffy snack as she listened to Duncan complain about his sister, “...and she feeds that wild animal every night. Now he’s eating everything in the house.”

Janine laughed and shook her head, “Sounds like you really hate that dog.” She interjected.

Duncan huffed, “It’s no ordinary dog, trust me.” He thought for a moment, “I don’t really hate the little guy, he’s just-” Dib jumps out of nowhere and steals their cotton candy, leaving Janine startled and Duncan unsurprised at what just happened. He finished his sentence, “...the most annoying mutt I’ve ever known...”

People ran in different directions trying to avoid the frightening beast that was stealing their snacks. Their pretzels, corn dogs, and fried butter did not escape the beast’s jaws. They frantically evacuated the carnival that was terrorized by the monster. In the now deserted park, Dib jumped out of a cart with a funnel cake in his mouth, powdered sugar flaking everywhere. He ripped into the oily pastry like it was the last source of sustenance on Earth before running off to continue looting the town. Throughout the night, police and animal control were on high alert searching for the savage animal attacking unsuspecting victims, but every time they arrived at a scene, the creature had disappeared, narrowly avoiding their grasp. The pattern went on until morning when the attacks were finally put to an end by the werewolf reverting to his human form.

The sun shone over Hurt Park, the early birds sang, and the once monstrous boy stirred in the fallen autumn leaves. He groaned and turned over in the leaves and grass, his eyes fluttering open, no longer glowing a bright amber color. Dib rubbed his eyes under his glasses while he sat up before he noticed that he was outside in the park. This has not happened in a long time; usually he wakes up on the pet rug in Gretchen’s house, which was admittedly kind of awkward but definitely more comfortable than waking up out in nature. Through the haziness of having transformed back into a human, Dib just now realized how sick he felt. He does feel a bit dizzy after changing, but not nauseated; surely something was wrong here. He moaned and rubbed his upset stomach, trying to soothe the bloaty, overstuffed symptoms that made it hard for him to move. It was at this moment when he saw the dark red splotches on his clothes, and they were cold and sticky to the touch. These stains looked like…

“What the-?!” Dib held out his hands, which were covered in the reddish substance, “What happened?!” His breaths became quick and shallow, “What did I do?!” He could have a panic attack right about now, but an unexpected belch gave him the answer. He had eaten something last night, but thankfully, it didn’t taste like what he feared it was. The boy knew this familiar taste, “This isn’t blood…this is…” He licked his hand, “…barbecue sauce?” He also tasted other sweet flavors such as ketchup and powdered sugar. Now, he was really perplexed at what happened last night. Dib couldn’t stay out in the park pondering this as he had to get home and get cleaned up. It sure was a long walk back to his house, or at least, it felt like a long walk. The stomach cramps didn’t help him at all, and neither did his recently added chubbiness. He pushed his front door open, allowing it to slam against the wall as he made a tired groan. As Dib walked into the living room, he approached Gaz leaning against the opening to the kitchen with her phone; he didn’t even feel like saying good morning to her. As for Gaz, her brother walking in with dirty, tattered clothes didn’t faze her anymore.

“Hey Dib, kill anyone last night?” She jokingly asked.

“Leave me alone, Gaz. I’m not feeling well.” Dib walked past her and was not in the mood for her heckling.

“What’s the matter?” This first question was obviously rhetorical, “Not even in the mood to see the latest monster headlines?” She held up her phone.

Dib hopped back to her and took her phone to see for himself, “Fat monster wiener dog terrorizes town? Steals candy from a baby?!” He read out loud from the news article that had a picture of what appeared to be Dib in his werewolf form shrouded in shadows with glowing eyes. He scrolled down to see a picture of a baby crying. The caption under the photo read: “Baby is sad.”

“What happened, Dib? Did your girlfriend forget to feed you or something?” Gaz teased him.

Dib gave his sister her phone back and wondered about that too. While he didn’t consider his relationship with Gretchen to be that serious at his age, he knew what Gaz was talking about, and maybe his friend might know about what’s going on with his beastly self...

Later that day at a cul-de-sac not far from the Membrane household, a loud explosion came from inside an alien-looking house. It rocked the nearby houses and set off car alarms, but no one seemed to care. Inside the house was a small robot watching TV and eating nachos from a pile of cheese; he didn’t care about the explosion either, or the smoke arising from the underground laboratory.

“Warning: noxious smoke detected.” A computer voice came from the house itself.

A growling insectoid alien emerged from a toilet in the kitchen, “I KNOW, computer!” The alien’s skin and uniform were burned and covered in ashes with one of his antennae lit like a candle, “I am SICK of this blue explodey goo! ...I am THIS close to dumping the rest of it into the city cesspool!”

Zim stomped out of the toilet and into the living room where a purple space moose floated over, “Nyah?”

“No Minimoose, but thanks for the offer…” Zim sighed and sat next to GIR eating his disgusting nachos, “What are you watching?”

“A puppy dog!” GIR exclaimed.

A news anchor was on TV reporting on incidents that happened the night before, “Witnesses have reported a monster wiener dog has been stalking the streets late last night stealing snacks from countless victims!” A picture of the shadowy creature appeared beside the newscaster, and it had the unmistakable appearance of a certain spiky-haired werewolf.

“Wait, is that…?” Zim asks as he looks closer at the picture.

The shot changes to a woman being interviewed, “It was HORRIBLE! It came straight for my Suck Munkey...MY PRECIOUS SUCK MUNKEY!!” She buried her face in her hands crying, remembering her traumatic experience.

“Hmmm…” Zim puts a hand to his chin in thought. His villainous gears were churning… He grinned and he began to laugh…and laugh…and he laughed some more. His evil laughter continued until he abruptly felt a burning sensation. He grabbed his lit antenna, “Have I been on fire this whole time?”

In the late afternoon, Gretchen paced back and forth in her room, “Oh man, oh man…what am I going to do?” She had heard the news of what happened the night before and she knew it was her fault, but what could she do to prevent her fluffy friend from going on a snacking rampage? “I just hope Dib doesn’t-” A ringtone blared from her charging phone on her desk, and Gretchen yelped in anxiety. She picked up her phone and saw the caller ID which had the name and picture of Dib winking while making a peace sign. The girl shakily answered the call, “Hey, Dib!”

“Hey, Gretchen.” The boy’s voice answered, “So, uh…do you know anything about what happened last night?”

“Wha-what do you mean?” Gretchen tried to play it cool but her shaky voice wasn’t helping.

“Y’know…about what happened with me when I…y’know. Didn’t you hear the news?”

“Oh, the monster stuff? Y-you think that was you? Didn’t they say that it was a dog or something?”

“Listen Gretchen, I woke up today covered in barbecue sauce and grease, it had to be me!” Dib raised his voice.

“Oh…well that does sound kinda weird.” Gretchen tried to sound surprised, “Maybe you went out hunting, I guess?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Dib was also pacing in his room, “I can’t be causing mayhem like this! What if I hurt someone…or worse?!” Gretchen heard the dread in his voice, “You’ve gotta help me, Gretchen. Can you come over tonight and keep me from going out on the prowl?”

“Sure, I can, Dib.” Gretchen’s face lit up at the chance to fix her mistake, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Gretch.” Dib smiled, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Gretchen blushed, “No problem.”

After hanging up, the magenta-haired girl raced down the stairs and zipped past her mother, Cherrie, who was doing the dishes, “Bye, mom! I’m going to Dib’s house, seeya!” She told her mom as fast as she could and with any luck, she’d be out through the door before her mom could-

“Gretchen!”

She stopped in her tracks, ‘Almost made it.’

“You know it’s your turn to walk the dogs.” Her mother called out to her.

“Aww, can’t Duncan do that?” Gretchen turned back at her mom.

“Duncan has been walking the dogs for three days straight now. You are way overdue on your turn!” Cherrie scolded, “It’s not fair to your brother.”

Gretchen let out a frustrated sigh. She was going to have to text Dib that she might get there later than she thought, but if she hurried, she may be able to make it before sundown. However, she knew she needed some backup just in case. As she stepped outside with her husky, yellow Labrador, and yorkie in their leashes, she called the only support she had.

Back at Dib’s house, a phone rang near a girl playing her Game Slave on the couch. She turned on speaker phone to answer while still playing her game, “What is it, brace-face?”

“Gaz, I need you to do me a favor. It’s about Dib.” Gretchen said.

“Yeah, when you call, it’s usually about him.” Gaz was unsurprised.

“I need you to keep Dib from going outside when he goes wolf. He has to stay inside so I can stop him from going out hunting again.”

“Is this about the stealing food from people thing?”

“You guessed it.”

Gaz chuckled, “Okay, sounds easy enough.”

“Thanks, Gaz. Oh, and don’t feed him anything, you hear? He’s been going crazy for treats.”

“Reeeally?” Gaz snickered with a hint of spite, “Don’t worry, Gretchen, I hear you loud and clear.” The gamer girl paused her game and hung up on Gretchen before opening the Bloaty’s Pizza Hog delivery app, “This’ll be fun.”

Gretchen rushed to the Membranes’ house after sunset, and while the last orange and purple hues of the sun’s rays were still in the sky, she had a bad feeling she was too late. She ran up the sidewalk to the door and hit the doorbell as she tried to catch her breath. Gaz opened the door with a slight smile.

“Sorry I’m late, some guy’s pet monkey got loose, and it attacked this lady and of course, my dogs had to go chase after it and then there was this helicopter crash and crocodiles-” Gretchen paused, “Man, this city is nuts.”

Gaz walked with her to the kitchen, “Yeah, it be like that sometimes.”

Walking into the kitchen, Gretchen gasped at what she saw. Her werewolf friend was digging into a Bloaty’s pizza box on the floor.

“Gaz, you fed him an entire pizza?!” Gretchen yelled.

“Aww, but he was just begging for some!” Gaz said, clearly faking her concern, “I couldn’t let my own brother go hungry.”

“Ugh,” Gretchen approached the wolf pup, “Gaz, Dib needs to eat less treats, not more, and definitely not pizza!” Dib looked up from the box at Gretchen and wagged his tail, his face covered in greasy cheese and tomato sauce; he had already finished the whole pizza. Gretchen sighed and crouched down to pet him, “Hello, you little rascal.” She scratched his head, but before she knew it, Dib darted for the fridge. After rummaging inside it, he pulled out a ham in his mouth, “Dib, no! Put that back!” Gretchen gave him a firm command, but he refused to listen and ran away with the ham like the little thief he was. Gretchen gave chase running by Gaz, who was recording the mischief on her phone. This was definitely going on the internet. Dib hid behind the couch but ran out the other side when Gretchen tried to catch him, “Oh, c’mon!” She growled. The chubby puppy ran upstairs with Gretchen hot on his trail. She had a feeling she knew where he was going and barged into his room where she saw his twitching fluffy tail sticking out from under his bed. The frustrated girl got down on her knees and looked under the bed; she saw Dib munching away at the ham, “Dib, you’re being a very bad boy, come out here!” He disobeyed her again, “Am I going to have to pull you out?” Gretchen stuck her arm under there and pulled on the ham bone which only caused Dib to bite onto the ham even harder; he growled, not wanting his food taken away, “Let go!” Gretchen grunted and kept pulling. She managed to stand up and get a better grasp on the bone to pull half of the werewolf’s body out from under the bed, but he still had the bone in his jaws. Gretchen pulled so hard that she lost her grip and fell backwards, landing on the hard floor with a yelp. Sitting up, she saw Dib gnawing on the remaining chunks of ham on the bone. He was so stubborn... “This is going to be tougher than I thought…” Gretchen put a hand to her head, “What can I do?” Suddenly, she got an idea, and she snapped her fingers. She walked out and came back with a chain leash and collar, “A walk will get your mind off food!” She dangled the chains, “Dibbers, you want to go for a walk?” Fortunately for her, Dib dropped the bone at the jingling sound and panted eagerly at the offer. There was hope for this furball yet.

It was a great relief for Gretchen to bring out Dib on a walk, and with any luck, this will tire him out enough to relax and sleep for the rest of the night. They walked on the sidewalk downtown with Gretchen keeping an eye out for escaped monkeys and crocodiles, but all seemed calm for a night out in the city.

“Isn’t this nice, Dibby?” Gretchen talked to her supposed “dog.” No one was going to believe she was taking a werewolf out on a walk, “Pretty lights and fresh air…well, as fresh as city air can be…” Dib trotted beside her with the jingling noises of the chain and collar, feeling pretty tranquil himself, but it was all over when some kids appeared in their path.

“Ugh, look who’s here.” Zita complained with her two friends Sara and Jessica. They each had a cone of shaved ice.

“Hi, guys!” Gretchen greeted with her usual friendly nature, “How’s it going?”

“It was fine until you and your weird dog showed up.” Sara griped.

Dib eyed their snow cones and stuck his tongue out.

“Yeah, and your dog got fat and uglier.” Jessica mocked the wolf boy, “What have you been feeding it? Lard?”

Gretchen scowled at the mean girls’ insults thrown at Dib more than the ones directed at her, but before she could say anything back, Dib pounced on Zita, knocking her to the ground. The three girls screamed and dropped their shaved ice; Sara and Jessica ran off and abandoned Zita.

“Help!! It’s got rabies!!” Zita shouted, but Dib jumped for her dessert on the ground, allowing her to get up and run away.

“Hehe…” Gretchen giggled at their torment, but she knew it was bad behavior from the little wolf pup, “That was funny, but it wasn’t nice, Dib.” She saw the fuzzball lapping up the shaved ice and pulled him away, “Come on now.” Dib whined as he was pulled away from the sugary sweetness, his claws dragging on the concrete. Further down the road, they walked to an intersection, “I don’t know why people can’t keep their nasty opinions to themselves.” Gretchen murmured about Zita and the girls, “I mean, is it really that hard?” She was talking to no one in particular at this point; Dib was still sad about the shaved ice left behind, but he caught a whiff of something else in the air, something way better than sweet ice. He realized the delicious aroma was coming from the McMeaties on the other side of the street; he salivated at the sight. Gretchen felt a sharp pull to the left, “Wha-?” The lycanthrope on the leash was pulling her into the street, “Dib, where are you going?!” She was no match for his strength and could not pull him away from the entrance to the restaurant, “Dib, no! Bad boy!” It was no use, the werewolf barged in and jumped onto a table littered with burgers and fries. His sudden appearance scared everyone away from the table and caused pandemonium in the building.

“It’s the wiener dog monster!!” A man yelled. Customers ran for their lives out the doors, completely deserting the place, leaving Dib to gobble up as much food as he could.

“Dib, get off of there!” Gretchen pulled on the leash to no avail, “It’s not even real meat! It’s made of napkins!” The girl growled and resorted to picking him up from the table. He was so heavy that she almost fell over from the weight, but she managed to stumble outside with him in her arms. She put him on the ground and sighed, “Naughty wolfie…” Gretchen didn’t have time to catch her breath as the sounds of police sirens closed in on them, “Uh oh, let’s get out of here!” Dib and Gretchen ran off before police and animal control arrived on the scene. “Looks like I have a lot more training to do with you.” Gretchen said once they got away from the crime scene, but it wasn’t long before Dib started pulling her again, “DIB!” He dragged her on the ground going towards a Krazy Taco where the same thing happened. Gretchen carried him out but afterwards, he pillaged a Burrito King, and finally, a Deelishus Weenie stand. Gretchen was so tired after that last raid that she dropped him on the ground in an alleyway. Dib on the other hand was happily chewing away at a weenie as he sat in front of his sweaty puppy sitter, “Oh Dibbers, what am I going to do with you?” Gretchen wiped sweat off her forehead; she was going to be very sore tomorrow, “That’s it. We’re going home.”

Gretchen tugged Dib back in the direction of the neighborhood. She felt like she was back to square one with training Dib. If she hadn’t fed him so many treats and allowed him to get addicted to food, then she wouldn’t be in this mess. Fortunately, she found that Dib was well-behaved when he wasn’t around food, but he can’t stay away from food all the time; he needed to control his impulsive attitude about snacks somehow. They were almost home, and Gretchen hoped nobody would walk by with anything that could tempt the tiny wolf, but just when she thought they could make it without incident, an unwelcome surprise stepped in their path.

“Hello, pig smellies!” Zim was standing in their way on the sidewalk.

“Great…” Gretchen muttered in sarcasm, “What do you want, Zim?”

“Oh, nothing.” Zim replied nonchalantly, “I don’t want anything at all,” A sadistic grin quickly formed on his slimy alien face, “but he does…” He pointed at his werewolf enemy, “GIR, unload the Earth fowl!!”

GIR in his doggy suit zipped into view and dumped a striped bucket full of Chicky Licky chicken onto the sidewalk in front of the two kids. The chicken was covered in a bluish glowing goo, and Gretchen immediately recognized the color. She gasped at the sight of the explosive fried meat, “Oh no, not Chicky Licky! That’s his favorite!” Dib wagged his tail and panted; he had the opposite reaction to the poisonous fast food and began to walk towards the offering from the alien. Gretchen tried to yank Dib back, but he was dead set on enjoying the oily poultry and he dragged her with him. To him, it didn’t matter that the chicken was blue, it still smelled so appetizing, “Oh no you don’t!” Gretchen pulled as hard as she could on the chain, “Stay!” He didn’t listen, “Sit!” No reaction, “How are you still hungry?!” Pulling on the leash was getting her nowhere so she tackled him and forced him to the ground, but Dib didn’t back down. He was so strong, he could keep crawling with Gretchen holding him, “Dib, if you eat that chicken, you’re going to explode! That’s what Zim wants!”

Zim cackled at the pathetic attempt from Gretchen, “Give up, teeth girl! Nothing will stop the Dibwolf from meeting his delectable DOOM!”

“Nyah!” Minimoose floated by Zim and cheered him on.

“Oh Minimoose, you’re too kind!” Zim took out a towel from his pak and draped it over Minimoose, “Here, put this on. The explosion could be messy.”

Dib slowly crept closer to the weaponized chicken with Gretchen still hanging on, refusing to give up. She only had a hold of his tail now, “Dib, please control yourself! You’re not a mindless carnivore, remember?” She grunted. The werewolf made it to the radiant chicken, “Zim is going to win if you eat that! You can’t let Zim win!” Gretchen yelled.

Something clicked in the boy’s mind. …Zim…win?

“Please!” Gretchen pleaded, “The fate of the world is at stake!” Dib heard the urgency from his friend and looked back at her. She was at the point of tears, “Please sit!”

Dib turned back to the chicken in sadness, but for the first time that night, Dib obeyed her command and sat down, even though tasty treats were right in front of him.

Zim was shocked at what just happened, “Eh?!”

“Good boy, Dibbers!!” Gretchen shouted praise at the fuzzy puppy in huge relief.

“What?! How can this be?!” Zim takes out a blueprint of his plan which was really an equation of crude drawings of chicken, the serum, Dib, and an explosion, “According to my calculations: greasy chicken plus serum plus the Dibwolf equals Ka-BOOM!” The disguised space bug crumpled the paper in his hand, “Why isn’t he taking the bait?!”

Gretchen proudly stands up and pats Dib on the head, “Looks like you didn’t factor in how well-trained and obedient he is.” She then whispers to herself, “Most of the time...” Dib’s tail wagged, “Nice try, Zim, but we won’t fall for your tricks.”

Zim makes an exasperated growl, “Curse you, Dibwolf!! And curse you, Gretchen…human…filth thing!!” He still wasn’t good at making up names for her yet.

The girl was not amused by Zim’s ridiculous insults. She bent down and detached the chain leash from the wolf’s collar, “Dib,” he looked up at her, “sic ‘em.”

Now that was a command Dib loved to hear. The wolf boy snarled at Zim who trembled at the ferocious sound; he knew what was coming next. The terrified invader shrieked and ran for his life while his robotic minions did nothing to help him. With his target on the move, Dib jumped over the chicken and chased after Zim. Gretchen smirked at Zim’s harrowing cries of pain as Dib promptly caught the alien and savagely mauled him. After getting bitten, clawed, and slammed to the cold concrete several times, a brutalized Zim was hurled in the air by Dib and landed beside GIR who happened to be picking up a piece of neon blue poultry. Zim moaned and lifted his bruised, bleeding head before he realized what GIR was about to do.

“Chicken!!” GIR giggled, “I’m gonna eat youuu…”

Zim screamed at his clueless SIR unit, “NO, GIR!! NOOOO!!”

GIR chomped on the drumstick and exploded in a bright flash of flying scrap metal in Zim’s face, sending Minimoose flying in the smoky blast, “Nyaaaah!”

Gretchen watched the chaos with Dib, having rushed to him to escape the explosion. She shook her head, “Looks like Zim needs to train his dog better.” She nudged Dib with her elbow in jest. The two walk away from Zim’s agonizing hollers of suffering.

Later, at Gretchen’s house in the kitchen…

“Good boy!” Gretchen tosses a biscuit at Dib who catches it midair.

Duncan walks into the kitchen, “What are you doing?”

“Rewarding Dib for fighting evil.” His sister replied. She picked another biscuit from the bag, “Did you get that bad alien? Did you?” She praised him, “Yes, you did! Yes, you did!” She fed him the treat.

Duncan sighed and facepalmed. Will his sister ever learn?

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