Stanley Pines, Our Hero (TEOC series #1)

The Retracing

**A/N: This chapter's a little shorter, but that's because the next one will probably be really long. Also, high school doesn't leave a ton of room for leisure time.

(Warning: I'm not very good with romantic tension so just bear with me here.) **

In nearly five minutes we were ready to go. Sixer and I had already been mostly packed, not to mention most of our stuff was on the Stan O' War II, and it took Bella a surprisingly short amount of time to get everything she needed. Ford practically shoved us out the apartment and onto the street before Bella could even finish locking her door.

"Look, Poindexter, I understand how serious this is," I panted as the three of us sprinted down the sidewalk towards the docks, "but do we really need to rush this badly? We're a lot closer to the island than that axolotl, a I'm pretty sure he can't swim across the entire ocean in three days, right?"

"With an ordinary axolotl, your concerns would be valid," Ford wheezed. He turned the corner around a building; we followed, and the docks came into view. "But considering what we're up against, I wouldn't be surprised if he reached the island by this time tomorrow. Sooner, given his head start."

We reached the place where the Stan O' War II was still tethered to the dock. I jumped into the boat with our luggage to get it ready for sailing while Ford and Bella undid the ropes from the wooden posts. Nearby fishermen watched our frantic hustling in bewilderment.

The other two jumped aboard as the wind caught the open sails and pushed the Stan O' War II away from the dock. I grabbed the wheel and spun hard, trying to get us back into open ocean as soon as possible.

It took a good few minutes for us all to calm down. I steered while Bella got settled below decks and Poindexter surrounded himself with all his lures and research, the way he would every time he'd be planning to pull an all-nighter during school to study for an exam. A few minutes later Bella cans up deck and stood by me at the bow, leaning over the rail on the side. No one spoke for a while, until Bella finally asked, "So, Ford - whaddaya think the axolotl wants to get to the anomalies for?"

"I haven't any definite ideas yet," Ford answered, chewing in yet another pen. "But I believe it has something to do with helping Bill get stronger - perhaps even returning to full strength and power."

"And how long d'ya reckon that'll take?" I called over my shoulder, still manning the wheel.

"It's hard to say," he replied. "There are lots of different factors that could affect the speed of power transfer from the axolotl to Bill, as well as whether it's a constant stream of magic or larger chunks of it at a time. But because it's already been two weeks since Bill cast that spell, it would be quite reasonable to assume he'll be getting all his power back very soon."

"But last night he said he'd spent up all his strength and power to possess me," I pointed out. "If it took him two weeks just so he can do that, then we've got a while before Weirdmageddon Part 2, right?"

"No - remember Stanley," Ford retorted, holding up a finger, "Bill also said when he possessed you that he'd been lying low so that we could lead him to the anomalies. Perhaps Bill regained that much power a long time before we got to the island, but didn't want to reveal himself. After all, this is Bill we're talking about; we mustn't get too comfortable or let our guard down. Always assume you're in the worse possible situation - then you survive."

Bella and I exchanged startled and uneasy glances. I knew being betrayed by Bill and traveling between dimensions for thirty years had made my brother the ultimate king of the paranoid, but that still sounded pretty dark.