Ethereal

24

Danny fumbled with his earpiece, cringing as he anxiously awaited the rushing sound of his friends' voices. He knew the barrage of questions that was coming, and he pulled on his tennis shoes and grabbed a bottle of water before heading off into the Mystery Shack for a different barrage of questions.

"Hey, Danny," Wendy said, her feet propped up on the counter. It reminded the teen of the first time he had met her, and a small smile played across his lips as the Fenton Phones beeped quietly in his ear. Her eyebrows fiddled. "Who's that?"

"Danny!" Tucker and Sam's voices came in unison, their words rushing over one another's. Danny cringed and mouthed 'friends' before taking a swig of his water and sitting down across from the teen.

"Hey, I'm sorry, guys," Danny said, rubbing that back of his neck in embarrassment.

"You're sorry?" Sam was shouting so loud, he was sure Wendy could hear it. "Danny, you just disappeared! I've been worried sick about you."

"We've," Tucker corrected. "But seriously, that was lame. You could've at least told us what happened."

"You're right," Danny admitted sheepishly, glancing up at Wendy's smirking face. "I'll tell you everything. Just ask the questions."

"Okay, what happened with that whole fish thing?" Tucker started, his voice more relaxed than before.

"Okay, that's a long story. Do we have any other volunteers?"

"Answer the question, Daniel James Fenton," Sam demanded. He could practically see her crossing her arms.

"Oh, the full name. I'm so scared."

He smiled at the angered groans before lifting up his hands in submission, though the two couldn't see the gesture. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. So Wendy took me, Mabel, and Dipper to this stream, and we all swam around in it. The next morning, poof! We're monsters."

"What do you mean by monsters?" Tucker inquired.

Dipper and Mabel walked into the room to see what the commotion was about, rubbing their eyes. Danny glanced at them and ushered them over.

"Wendy was a wolf, Dipper was a deer or something, Mabel was a unicorn, and I was--"

"Let me guess, a fish," said Sam. Danny shook his head and took the earpiece off, pressing the little button that turned on the speaker.

"Well, technically a merman."

"Your voice sounds different. Did you put this thing on speaker phone? Tell me I am not on speaker phone," Tucker urged, sounding slightly anxious.

"You're on speaker phone. Tucker, Sam, meet Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel."

"So you guys are City Boy's friends?" Wendy inquired first, setting down her magazine and leaning forward, resting her elbows on the wooden counter.

"City Boy?" Sam asked, befuddled.

"So, what was it like, Sam? Watching Danny die, I mean," Dipper quickly added, clicking a pen he had found hidden underneath his bed late last night while making a few changes to the journal.

"Danny ... ?" Tucker started, concerned.

"What?" Sam blew, her voice so loud it was practically echoing off the walls. "Tell me I didn't hear what he just said."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck once more. "They found out."

"How in the--"

Danny raced to turn off the speaker, blushing wildly in embarrassment at Sam's antics.