Phantom Falls

21: Found

The evening air was still as Danny, Wendy, Dipper and Ford trudged through the brush. A cloudfront drizzled them with rain, but they could see patches of the darkening sky further away. For now, though, the four were trapped under an endless dome of grey.

All afternoon, they'd been avoiding the septem tigris and trying to find their family at the same time. Dipper had been having trouble hearing Bill's directions for the past hour or two, and the demon had begun to speak in riddles. Stupid riddles like "Harder than wood, softer than steel, I come from the earth, I always heal. What am I?"

Then the triangle's voice would cackle inside of Dipper's head, and answer for him. "I'm a rock. Turn left at the rock, kid."

They were just little things, but they irritated him more than he cared to admit. He was losing time; he needed to find his sister. And his other grunkle. He liked Ford, but the guy had, like, zero comedy value.

After hearing a terrible pun about pine trees, Dipper finally snapped. "Bill, quit messing around!" he shouted.

The others looked at him in suprise. " Whoa, kid. You feeling a little angry at me?"

The boy almost snarled, which seemed to freak Danny out for some reason. "Of course I'm angry at you, you sick dorito! You took my sister!"

Bill cackled. "True, true. Do you want me to help you find her or not? "

Dipper silently fumed. "I thought so."

Wendy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Dip, you doing okay?"

He shrugged. "I'm okay." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You know what, no I'm not. Bill keeps talking in my head and it's driving me crazy. I'm the only one who can hear him, and it reminds me so much of . . . of . . ." He couldn't bring himself to finish.

To his suprise, Wendy hugged him. "Dude, we'll find her. We won't let Bill take anyone's body ever again."

The preteen nodded slowly, returning the embrace. Danny caught on very quickly. "If you're talking about being. . . controlled, I know how that feels," he mumbled, his voice quiet. "Whoever this Bill Cipher guy is, we can take him down."

Danny's ecto-green eyes were filled with determination. He clenched his fists, trying to be strong, but he was still injured. His glow had dimmed, and he floated along slowly. His expression, however, was enough to make any ghost or monster afraid to cross him. Maybe Dipper didn't trust the teen a whole lot, but he was glad to have him on their side.

Infact, they had not just a halfa, but a dimension-hopping, gun-wielding genius and the coolest Corduroy ever, plus a nerd kid with a fantasy book. Nothing could stop them from rescuing their family.

"Enough with all that boring talk," Cipher yawned. "You're just about here."

They came across a pathway that branched off diagonally in two directions. "Turn right at the fork," the demon droned in a GPS voice.

The four did so, and follwed the trail for a few minutes before pushing through a thicket of brambles. Danny got past it first, as he just floated above them. The half-ghost sucked in a breath.

Dipper pushed through the bush. What he saw startled him.

They'd emerged in the clearing from Dipper's dreams. Boulders towered over them, wet with dew. Their silver-flecked surfaces were rough and cracked. All around them, blue-green patches of grass grew over bald spots of dirt on the ground.

Where the cave should have been was a rock leaned up against another rock, almost like the entrance was being blocked. But where were Mabel and the others?

The boy turned to talk to Danny, but the halfa was visibly shivering. Wendy noticed as well. "Dude, you okay?"

Danny shook his head. "This . . . this is where all of my nightmares have taken place. This is where he keeps talking to me."

Ford narrowed his eyes. "He?"

Just then, mist escaped Danny's mouth. Something stalked out of the woods, snarling. Its wolf-like body was transparent, surrounded in a glowing aura.

They gaped. "The shifter?" Danny growled, touching his injured chest. "You're dead?"

It hissed. "Unfortunately, my masters saw it fit to kill me so that I might overshadow the halfa's sister. I'd hoped to survive for a while longer, but it can't be helped."

Dipper stared at the two fearfully. "How're you liking the Ghost Zone? Is it too cold for you?" Danny taunted, his hands glowing with icy energy.

The shifter didn't back down. "Try and find your friends, why don't you? If they'll even want to see a freak like you."

The halfa clenched his fists. "You're the freak!" he shouted back. Dipper could tell that the jab had struck a nerve.

Victoriously, it grinned, showing off razor-sharp teeth. "I never said I wasn't. Look how I ended up. You'll meet a similar fate, I'm sure. People don't like things that are different. They austrasize and destroy what they don't understand."

Danny's eyes glowed brighter. "That's enough!" he snarled, ice errupting from his hands. The creature stood frozen in place, looking like it was about to chuckle. Its entire body was encased in ice.

His companions' eyes widened. They really hadn't seen very many of his powers in action.

The halfa landed and tried to limp around before taking flight again, muttering, "Still can't walk" to himself. He floated closer to the rock that was where the cave was supposed to be.

He pressed his ear to the stone and knocked on it. Dipper couldn't hear anything, but Danny nodded. "They're in here, but they're gagged."

He put his hands on Wendy's and Ford's shoulders, then gestured for Dipper to touch his arm. Floating a few inches off of the ground, he went intangible.

A strange feeling filled Dipper's limbs as the intangibility spread to him. He felt light and tingly, almost like when Bill had shoved him out of body. Danny made his way forward, and Dipper couldn't seem to let go even if he wanted to. He floated as well, and nearly panicked as they phased through the boulder. All he could think about was that if Danny's power failed them, they would all find themselves crushed.

Soon enough, they were all through. Danny turned them tangible and looked around tiredly.

Sitting on the ground were Mabel, Pacifica, Jazz, and Stan. All were bound around the wrists and ankles, gags filling their mouths.

Their free counterparts ran forward, all untying their siblings and Wendy doing the same for Pacifica. Mabel fell into Dipper's arms. "Dip!" she sniffled, tears in her eyes. She didn't say anything else. She didn't need to.

Ford hugged his brother tightly. Stan wasn't sure what to do for a second, and then returned the embrace. "I can't lose you again," the scientist whispered. "I won't."

Dipper glanced over at the Fentons. They were sharing a hug as well, Jazz full-on crying and blaming herself for getting overshadowed. Her brother was trying to comfort her. "Let's go," he mumbled.

Danny was about to get everyone out of there, but a cold laugh stopped him. It wasn't out loud, but Dipper could tell from everyone's faces that the same noise had invaded their minds.

Hello, Daniel, it chuckled. Danny froze. It no longer spoke in multiple tones, just one deep, smooth voice that made everybody shiver.

The halfa's eyes were wider than Dipper had thought possible. "No," he whispered.

Yes.

So . . .
Now we wait.
Who is the voice?
What is Bill's plan?
The end is so close! And when it does come, I may have a little suprise for you guys. ;)