Ethereal

28

"You guys stay back!" Danny said, jumping upwards and floating above the grass. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the group, then grimaced as Vlad joined his side. "You're not coming."

"Like hell we're staying back!" Wendy argued, walking forward defiantly. "This is our fight too, City Boy."

"Hero complex," Jazz muttered to herself, then allowed her voice to rise as she addressed her younger brother. "We're coming, Danny. We can help."

Danny looked distressed, his thoughts battling as he glanced from person to person. All of them were battered, emotionally and physically, and way beyond repair. Stan's shirt was ripped on the shoulder where he collided with a rock from his fall, and Wendy had a streak of dried blood on her cheek that she didn't seem to notice. There was no way that any of them would come out of a battle like this unharmed, and Danny's internal clock shook with the idea of anyone getting hurt in his wake.

Then Danny glanced at Stan and the silent but determined jab of his chin was enough to tell the teen that he was prepared to go into this fight, unscathed or not. The sidelong glance at the Pines twins told Danny that he would most definitely be watching out for the kids, and the sudden shift in stance allowed room for the idea that Stan was most certainly not defenseless.

Yeah, he'd definitely have to talk to Stan after this whole extravaganza blew over.

Danny nodded back, floating a little higher over the ground. "Okay. Don't get hurt, any of you."

A crack stiffened the air around them and the trees behind the group bent, swaying in opposite directions like water being separated. A laugh, cold and venomous, ripped through the air from seemingly all directions as they tensed in anticipation.

From the cover of the trees walked a man -- a teen, really --, with shaggy blonde hair and a wide grin of triumph. His white teeth caught the sunlight and gleamed as a deathly black iris came into view, followed by the darkness of an eyepatch and the smudge of a small black hat against the darkness of the forest outline. He was clad in a yellow dress shirt and black pants, looking strikingly well dressed in front of the battered kids. His right hand grasped a cane, and his left hand --

"Oh my God," Dipper mumbled under his breath, eyes widening. "That's just sick."

His left hand held tight to Serafina's severed head, his fist wadded up in her long brown hair. Her eyes stared dully back at them, clouded with death, and muscles hung from her jaggedly ripped neck. A splash of blood dropped from a tendon and splattered onto the grass.

"I'm gonna throw up," Pacifica breathed, her voice hitching. She closed her eyes from a brief second and forced them open once more, shaking her head as she tried to convince herself to study Bill's face rather than the head he held like a trophy in his hand.

Bill smirked in pride at their reactions. "Yep, this is what remains of Little Red now." He tossed the head into the bushes. "At least the animals will find her useful. Hey, Phantom, sorry 'bout that little issue over the book. Don't need it. In fact, I figured out a little something mid-transformation. Thank the radio static from Nightmare Realm that I'm constantly getting in this ear." He gestured towards his right ear with his cane, then leaned against it experimentally. "I got big plans, and there's nothing you and your little Mystery Incorporated group can do about it."

"Stuff it," Wendy snarled, reminding Danny briefly of her monster form. "We're not giving you anything."

"Fine. Whatever. That's cool with me. I don't need anything, anyway. Except for Danny and Vlad, that is."

The air was thick with unspoken words caught in their throats. Danny suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Bill made eye contact with Stan. "Yeah, turns out an interdimensional rift isn't the only thing that can break space and time. Even then the rift is small. Only 'bout the size of the town. Now, Danny," he gestured towards the boy, sitting up. His eyes crinkled in delight. "He's between two dimensions. If he dies, he lets loose a rip in all dimensions, letting creatures pass by willy-nilly. If he masters the trick, he can open up dimensions when he feels like it. I'm not going to go into a whole monologue about it. Just hand over the kid and we'll be fine. Everyone will go home, happy happy."

"Maybe you should sit this one out, Danny," Jazz said, reaching into her back pocket for the Jack o' Nine Tails.

What good'll that do? Danny thought helplessly. He's not a ghost.

Danny didn't voice his concern. Instead he said, "So I've been a walking dimension bomb all this time? Great, thanks for that piece of information."

To the halfa's surprise, the group suddenly formed a protective circle around him.

"You're not killing Danny."

"Who said I was killing him?"

They stopped at that statement.

"No, you got me wrong. I'm not an otherworldly creature out for blood and destruction -- Okay, maybe I am -- but Danny is more useful to me alive than dead. I seem to recall a little run-in with an Observant once. Got him to spill about Danny's future. Really, I think it's pretty cool. Just have to get those Ghost Gauntlets and problem solved! And Vlad, 'course Vlad could master the whole dimension thing, too, but really I just need him for that evil ghost complex of his. Get Dan and be on my way."

The woods were filled with silence. Danny was tense, a sick feeling growing ever-present in his stomach. Nobody else knew what he was ranting about. Nobody but him and Jazz, that is.

But now wasn't the time.

Danny's fists lit up in an ectoplasmic glow, lighting up the darkened forest and casting shadows over his befuddled and conflicted friends' faces. It only seemed to make Bill look scarier, the green tint reflecting off his perfect teeth and gleaming in his eye.

"I'll never become that."

Bill's smirk widened. "I've always loved a good fight."

Danny's anger got the better of him.

He threw the ectoblast straight at Bill's face.

* * *

whoa this is so unedited i'm too lazy to proofread send help

guys it's official omg i'm going through this story once it's done and fixing aLL of it my lord jesus christ i have no idea what i'm doing with the plot of this story and just moving right along and because of this my foreshadowing is so off and so is the tenseness and this story is a mess i don't understand why i have so many reads and votes. that's what you get for reading the first draft.

also you get this wonderful thing called mE NOT BEING ABLE TO WRITE. I swear it wasn't necessarily writer's block but it was something because i tried to write this chapter four times and the words just were not coming. thus, this is like, what, two weeks late? three? i've lost count. i'm so sorry.

also hoLY FRICK G U Y S THERE'S LIKE 21,000 READS ON THIS STORY ???? 1.7K VOTES ??? AND THE PLOT LINE IS SUCH A MESS I DON'T DESERVE THIS ???? wowie i love you guys so much.

reviews? comments? reactions? ideas? honestly just comment i love hearing from you guys it warms my heart and makes me all fuzzy gwrgeb i can't believe you guys like this trash wowowowowo i'm honestly in awe right now.

long author's note rant but thank you thank you thank you i love you all so much and have a lovely week babs

(( also ps at the end of this i'm giving you lil drabs of danny and the gravity falls squad being cute because let's be honest who doesn't want that. expect lots of bedsheet wearing and running through the sheets. HA i meant streets but i'm too hilarious not to put that in here i'm a terrible human being mari stop talking you're embarrassing yourself ))

xx