"Run!"

Ford raised his gun and shot Shifty in the chest before he could finish transforming. Shifty let out a roar and stumbled back, out of the exit.

Mabel stared at the space where Shifty had just been, frozen in the wake of his transformation. Stanley's face — it had run down his head like wax, revealing a pasty white something underneath. The eyes, embedded in that pale face — the pink, fleshy eyes—

Ford's fingers were curling around hers. He was yanking her behind him. Her legs stumbled over themselves as they remembered how to function, and then she and Ford were out of the cave, back into the tunnels, running past an angry Shifty as Ford took another shot at him over his shoulder.

"We have to get back — to the bunker—"

Mabel nodded, too scared and out-of-breath to reply. The two Pines tore over the uneven, rocky ground through the damp tunnels. Mabel was certain that she would slip and fall and die any second, but Ford's firm grip on her hand helped her keep her balance.

"You can't get away from me, Stanford!"

Shifty's true voice, deep and rough, rang through the tunnels. Mabel tried to shut it out — tried to shut out the memory of those horrifying eyes — and focus on the ground in front of her.

And then Ford was laughing.

It startled Mabel so much she nearly lost her footing (again). "Wh-what?"

Ford just laughed louder. "I haven't run like this in thirty years!"

Mabel didn't think it was very funny.

"Wait." Ford skidded to a stop. "Which way did we come from?"

In front of them was a fork in the path.

Mabel's mouth went dry. "I-I don't know!" She clung to Ford's hand as a roar from Shifty reached them. "Pick one!"

Another bellow — but louder, screechy. Then a rumbling sound.

"He's shifted into something more mobile," Ford said. "Quick, this way. Turn off your flashlight!"

Mabel did as he said. He pulled her into the tunnel on the left and, after pushing her behind him, threw his own flashlight down the tunnel on the right. It clattered against the stone as it bounced down the shaft.

Ford pushed Mabel back against the rock wall just in time as Shifty came around the corner. He now looked like a giant brown roly-poly bug, uncurling long enough to look down the right tunnel before curling up again and rocketing after the flashlight.

Mabel let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Good thinking, Grunkle Ford."

"Thank you. Let's hope I picked the right path."

He ran down the shaft. Great, more running. If Mabel wanted to be a monster hunter, she probably should start getting more fit.

"Mabel? I know you're tired, but he'll discover our trick any moment now. Stay with me."

She took a deep breath and ran after her uncle.

They ran side by side, this time in the dark, clinging to the other's hand for dear life. Mabel thought she could see a faint light in the distance, and she focused on it, strained her eyes on it, praying that it was the way out of this—

Slam!

The light disappeared as Mabel ran into something at full speed. "Oof!" She hit the rock floor, her elbow going tingly-numb as it bashed against the rock. She tried to ignore it as she leapt to her feet and turned her flashlight on. "Who's there!"

"Mabel!"

Her vision cleared to see her twin standing in front of her. "Dipper!" Candy was next to him. "Thank goodness you guys are here, I thought maybe — wait." She put her hand out in front of Ford. "What if they're the shapeshifter?"

Dipper's eyes widened.

"It's them," Mabel said in relief. She handed her grappling hook and flashlight to Ford and hugged her brother. "It's a good thing you're safe."

"Yep, we're okay," Dipper said. "Are you? Is the shapeshifter after you?"

"We tricked him into going a different way. He's trying to steal the Journal."

"Quick, kids," Ford said, "did you come from the observation room?"

Dipper gave him a sheepish smile. "Well. . . we came to rescue you. . . but we got lost."

"Great. So now we're all lost?" Mabel asked.

"Our deepest apologies," Candy said sarcastically.

Ford gave Mabel back her grappling hook. "We'll find our way out of here. Everyone be quiet and listen for Shifty."

"Shifty? The shapeshifter? What does he sound like?" Dipper asked.

Mabel and Ford exchanged a glance. "Like anything," Ford said. "Come on. I have a plan, but only if we can get out of this maze."

With those encouraging words, their small group set off in subdued silence.

~~~~~

It took Gideon a long time to admit it to himself, but he was lost.

He had long given up on being invisible and instead used his amulet as a flashlight. The blue glow was comforting at first, but comfort quickly gave way to frustration as the light revealed nothing but rock, rock, and more rock.

Why hadn't he followed the Pines? When that door had opened, he had slipped through immediately, thinking to find the Journal before they did. Now he was lost, with no idea where they were, no idea if they already had the Journal and left and abandoned him down here in these never-ending tunnels. . .

No, he told himself. You are not going to panic. You're not claustrophobic; you have magical powers; you're fine.

Fine, but lost.

A frustrated growl escaped his throat, and he pounded the rock wall with his fist. The skin on his knuckles tore against the jagged stone. He growled again, this time at the injury.

The growl echoed.

Gideon paused. It hadn't done that before.

And it was still going.

And it was getting closer.

Gideon's body reacted before his mind completely understood. His amulet flared, and he moved into a defensive stance, ready to fight.

Wait, no! You're here on a stealth mission, Gideon Northwest!

He corrected himself just in time, extinguishing his amulet and turning invisible. He pressed himself against the side of the tunnel as the noise got closer and closer. Now it didn't sound like a growl so much as a rumble. It got closer and louder until it was right up next to him—

And then it stopped.

Gideon did his best to breathe silently as something else breathed on him. It was warm and moist and smelled rotten.

"I can sense you," said a low, grinding voice.

Definitely not the Pines, then.

There was a quick squishing noise. Something brushed against Gideon's skin.

Feelers.

He endured them for about two seconds. Time to fight this thing.

Gideon shoved the feelers away and became visible, making his amulet light sudden and bright.

The thing recoiled. It looked like one of those strange moles with the feelers on their noses. But as Gideon watched, it collapsed in on itself with another squishing noise and expanded back out again, this time as a big white thing with a strange, circular mouth. It was even more disgusting than the mole creature.

"Get back," Gideon said. "You don't want to come up against me."

The thing chuckled. "You must be the one Cipher told me about."

"And you must be a shapeshifter. How do you know Cipher?"

"Oh, he only contacted me recently," the shapeshifter said. "He's the one who showed me what Stanford's brother looks like as an old man. Would you like to see?"

Gideon's stomach churned. "No thanks."

"Suit yourself."

Time to regain control of the situation. "You live down here, yes?" Gideon asked.

"Trapped down here, more like."

Gideon ran a finger over his amulet. "Do you know the location of the first Journal?"

The shapeshifter took a moment to answer. "What?"

"The first Journal. It's down here somewhere. Where?"

The shapeshifter stared at him.

"Well? Where is it?" Gideon demanded.

"None of the Journals are down here," the shapeshifter said. "Otherwise I would've been out of here a long time ago."

Gideon's eyes hardened. "What."

"When Stanford abandoned me down here, he took his Journals with him. Unless it's in the bunker—"

"It's not."

"Then there's no Journal down here."

Gideon flared his amulet and took a threatening step towards the shapeshifter. "You're lying," he said, his voice low. "Bill told me it was down here."

"Did he?"

Gideon paused, his conversation with Bill floating through his thoughts. "Stanford thinks the first Journal might be down in the bunker," the demon had said. "After you get what you came for, I need you to trap the Pines inside."

Bill tricked him!

"No," Gideon growled. "He never actually said the Journal was down here." He hit the wall with a fist and swore under his breath. "Cipher! He only wanted to use me to get the Pines out of the picture. I'll bet he knows where the first Journal is and doesn't want me to have it."

"Cipher told me to get the third Journal and help you trap the Pines," the shapeshifter said.

"The Journal is mine!" Gideon clutched his amulet.

"You can take it," the shapeshifter said, raising its pale, misshapen hands. "I just want a good look at all the creatures Stanford found. I can only shapeshift into what I see."

Gideon shot the shapeshifter a guarded look. "Including me?"

"Yes, if I wanted to."

Note to self: Dispose of this creature before you leave.

"So, do you have a plan?" Gideon asked.

"I was just going to use brute force to get the Journal," the shapeshifter said. "But with two of us, one can be a distraction."

"I came down here invisibly," Gideon said. "They can't know I'm here. If you attack, I'll steal the Journal. They won't be able to get past the security room without it."

The shapeshifter nodded. "All right. Let's get back to the lab, then. The Pines will end up there eventually, if they wander long enough."

If nothing else, at least it knew its way around these tunnels.

"Lead the way," Gideon said graciously.

The shapeshifter morphed back into the mole thing and started down the tunnel. Gideon followed, keeping his amulet on for light, watching the shapeshifter from behind.

He wasn't sure if he was grateful for this ally. Bill had neglected to tell Gideon about the shapeshifter, which was worrying in itself. Did the shapeshifter have instructions to get rid of Gideon once they left the Pines?

Gideon set his jaw. This was going to be a very temporary alliance. He'd just have to be the one to make the first betrayal.

Luckily, he was good at that.

Art by me