Gravity Falls: The return of Bill Cipher

-CHAPTER SIXTEEN- The crystal

The next morning, I was the first to rise. I stealthily removed the airhorn from Ford's backpack and blew it.

'So that's how it feels to be woken up by an airhorn,' Ford said.

'Yes, that's exactly how it feels,' I said with a huge smile on my face.

'Dude, that still hurts,' Soos groaned.

'Gruncle Stan, are there any boobytraps we should know about?' Mabel asked.

'I don't think so. This isn't Indiana Jones where there are boobytraps around every corner, Mabel. Let's be careful regardless,' he answered.

'What's for breakfast?' Mabel asked.

'Leftover beans and hot dogs,' Ford answered.

We ate in a hurry, anxious to explore the cave and find the crystal. We packed our stuff and extinguished the campfire, ready to enter the cave.

'Let's go, everyone,' Ford said, and we entered single file. Inside it was as dark as night.

'Gruncle Ford, can you turn on the flashlight, please? I can't see a thing,' I said.

Ford turned it on and we ventured further into the dark. After a while we happened upon a grotto. The walls were painted ochre. Two pathways led from the vast stone hall.

'We're at the right place. We have to go that way,' Ford said, pointing to the left.

We passed through a long hallway. Unlit torch scones lined the walls.

'I have a feeling that we're close,' he continued.

At the end of the hallway, we reached the edge of a cliff. In the middle of the vast space, sat an oval cave topped by a tall rock formation. The cavern was filled with stalagmites.

'We're here, but we must be very careful. Mabel, I think there may be booby-traps here after all,' Ford said.

'I knew it,' she said with pride.

'We must climb down this steep cliff. Soos, would you please hand me some rope, a hammer and a piton?' Ford asked.

Soos handed the items over, Ford secured the rope to the piton and hammered it securely into a fissure. He threw the rest of the coil over the cliff's edge.

'I'll go first,' he volunteered.

He started the descent.

'It's safe, follow me,' he called out.

Grenda, Candy, Mabel, Pacifica and I followed. Soos was the last to descend. The rope swayed alarmingly. Ford tugged once on the cord, the signal that he had seen something.

'Alligators! We can't climb down. One of them is directly beneath us. Dipper, can you get to the laser gun? It's in Soos's backpack,' Ford demanded.

Dipper quickly found the weapon and handed it down to Ford with the girl's help. Ford shot at one of the alligators, but it didn't budge. 'Shit! Why didn't it work? Ok new plan,' he said.

'What's the new plan, dude?' Soos asked.

"The alligator's moved off at least. I suggest we get down as quickly as possible. The others are still some way off.'

Filled with anxiety we hastened to get to the ground. Ford covered us with the laser gun. As soon as our feet touched bedrock, the alligator turned its heavy head in our direction.

'Run!' Ford screamed.

Candy and Mabel stayed together while the rest of us scattered.

'Mabel, we have to stop. I'm done,' Candy said, breathing heavily after they had run for what felt like twenty minutes. 'How the hell do we kill this creature?'