Phantom Falls

24: Choices

The above artwork does not belong to me.

Mabel was in the fight of her life.

She was vaguely aware of the world around her, the fact that she was somewhere surrounded in green light, close to Dipper. But it was like peripheral vision; it was there, but only a sidenote. There were more important things to focus on.

Like, for example, retaining control of her body.

The shifter was inside of her mind. She could sense some of its dark, twisted, and confused thoughts. Its rage and hopelessness washed over her in waves.

But she had to fight. She had to win. Its plans were bouncing around in her skull. It wanted to use her against the others, but she couldn't let that happen. For everyone else's sake, she would defeat the shifter.

Collecting her last bit of resolve, she made one final effort to push it out of her head.

* * *

Dipper saw Bill's eyes flash for a moment as Dan descended behind the group.

Enraged, the ghost's entire form glowed with green light. The skin around his eyes was scorched and his irises were clouded. "I'm going to kill you, old man!" he roared at Ford.

Bill chuckled. "Nah, Flames, I have a better idea. Well, two ideas. First, I think I want to hear some noise in here!"

He seemed to grab something that no one else could see, and made his way over to the body strapped down to the table. The body's eyes glowed bright yellow for a moment, then Bill shoved whatever he was holding towards it.

The body gasped, its eyes back to a normal ecto green. "Danny!" Jazz shouted. Her brother struggled against the restraints frantically.

"They're coated in blood blossom juice, Spook," Bill smirked. "You can't phase out with that stuff touching you."

Danny glared at his own twisted face. Now both of his enemies were some sick version of himself. Why did his life suck so much sometimes?

Bill phased back out of the portal. "All powered up," he grinned. "Now let's get Spook in sync with the machinery." He pressed another button, and Danny felt as if his body were filling with fire. He struggled to keep silent as his back arched in pain.

"No!" Dipper hugged Mabel more tightly. The demon's grin widened further. He twisted a knob without taking his eyes off of the younger boy. Electricity ran through several of the wires and into Danny, who couldn't stop a scream from piercing the air.

"Music to my ears!" Dipper could see Jazz shaking with rage.

Dan, seemingly a little less furious, growled, "What was the other thing?"

A cold laugh reverberated from where Mabel was laying. She slowly stood, glaring at Dipper. "What took you so long, Little Squishy?" Bill demanded. "Nice timing, though."

In half a second, the overshadowed girl snatched something out of Ford's inner coat pocket. The grunkle tried to grab it back, but the shifter slipped past him and stood next to Bill.

Dipper could hardly breathe when he saw what it was. A pistol, held in a suicidal fashion against his sister's head. "It's her or them, Dipper," the shifter hissed. "Either she dies, or Dan will kill the rest of the people here."

Another scream from Danny ripped across his thoughts. Everyone was hurting, everyone was in trouble. What could Dipper possibly do?

"I told you that there was another choice to make," Bill said smugly. "Someone is going to die today. Who will it be?"

Everyone was looking at Dipper, expecting him to say something. But what could he say? He'd never be able to stop it from pulling the trigger.

Bill leaned in closer. "Well, what's it gonna be, Pine Tree?"

Dipper's heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. "I-- I--"

A sharp click resounded next to them.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to Mabel. She was no longer aiming the pistol at her own head, but at Bill's. "Enough," she said, loud and clear, but her hands were shaking as she gripped the weapon.

The demon whistled. "Well, looks like you defeated Little Squishy. I always knew it was weak." He tilted his head. "What're you planning on doing with that gun, Shooting Star? This is Danny's body."

"He's got that other one," Dipper countered.

Bill turned his cold gaze on the boy, holding up a hand as Dan made a move to stop the girl. "No, Flames, I wanna see how this plays out." He smiled smugly. "One's just a duplicate, kid. If you kill it, good for you. But it'll start to shut down without the original body's power, which means if you destroy the original, you end them both."

"But which is which?" Ford growled.

"I'm not telling."

The resolve in Mabel's eyes wavered. "It doesn't matter!" Danny screamed from the table. He was pale, his words tense with pain. "Shoot him!"

"No!" Jazz's broken voice rang out across the island of stone. "You can't, you'll hurt Danny!"

"Kill him!" the halfa screeched. "I'd rather die than let them use me!"

All around the twins was a chorus of barely discernible shouts. And then there was Danny, who screamed in pain again, then yelled, "Do it!"

Bill cackled. "Yeah, Shooting Star, do it. Put a bullet in the poor little Spook's skull."

Dan was standing behind her, the shifter was fighting to take control, and Bill was staring into her eyes. Conflicting voices danced through the air as people yelled at her.

She had to make a choice. Could she really kill someone? Could she pull that trigger and watch what happened afterwards, knowing that it would be her own fault? Could she live with those consequences?

And, although she hated to think it, if this was the original, wouldn't it stop the portal from working if she shot it? The duplicate would die as well, and they needed Danny alive. She couldn't live with herself if she killed him, but it would save a lot of people.

Mabel was reluctant to even consider that angle.

Bill smirked. "I knew it. You're still weak. Too bad we can't play the little game of favorites with Pine Tree anymore. That was so much fun."

The portal began to swirl with color. "Oh, looks like we can merge those dimensions soon." His eyes narrowed in triumph as he glanced over at the readings.

"And you were gonna try and shoot me!" he laughed. "You'd never have the guts to--"

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

A single tear slid down Mabel's cheek as she pulled the trigger. Three spots of blood blossomed on Bill's-- no, Danny's-- chest.

The demon looked at her in suprise, then glanced over at the halfa on the table, who writhed in pain as electricity coursed through him.

"You killed him, Shooting Star."

The yellow glow left his eyes, and he fell to the floor, dead.

I bet you all hate me, don't you?

Stay tuned for the next chapter, my loyal readers! Great job for making it this far. Did you see the plot twist coming? Mabel is such a side character in other fanfics, I decided that she should have as hard a choice to make as Dipper's. And she made that choice.

Was it the right one? You'll have to wait and see.