Chapter 7

Dipper flicked the flashlight on and the two of them came face to face with about twenty tentacles, all squiggling around right in front of them. The ground had stopped shaking and all the worms on the surface had gone back under. Mabel and Dipper stared at the mysterious creature, not saying a word to each other.

The two of them stepped back as the creature moved forward and dirty claws appeared down below its tentacles, it looked less like an enormous octopus. A worm poked its head out from one side of the tunnel and the creature had noticed it. Below its tentacles was a mouth and it slurped at the worm. Dipper shone the flashlight just above its tentacles. It screeched and suddenly ran forward, its claws digging at the dirt making room for the rest of its body. Mabel and Dipper turned around and made a run for it. Dipper kept the flashlight on so they could see where they're going but the creature didn't like it, it seemed to make it even angrier and it charged faster at them. A light came from up ahead and they knew that the tunnel was coming to the end.

The duo climbed out of the tunnel, they were back in the dirt dug out with the Cryogenic Tubes. Ford was nowhere to be seen and even though the creature was a few metres behind them, it was getting closer and closer.

Mabel and Dipper ran into the grey room with a bunch of buttons and panels and stuff and shut the door to the decontamination room. Ford was in the room with them, sitting down at the desk overlooking all the fancy buttons. "What did you two do?" he asked. Mabel was having a hard time catching her breath so Dipper spoke for the both of them. "We were exploring the tunnels and this giant octopus thing with claws came after us!" He too was having a hard time catching his breath and was having trouble explaining to Ford what they saw. He pointed towards the Cryogenic Tube room "It's in there right now!" Ford stood up straight away and his facial expression had 'worried' written all over it.

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Dipper as he followed his Uncle into the decontamination room with Mabel following behind them, pulling out the gummy koalas from inside her sweater. With all three of them crammed inside, Ford then explained what the worried look was for. "The Shape Shifter hasn't finished defrosting yet, but it is close. The creature could destroy the tube with those powerful claws and set the Shape Shifter free, which is something we don't want. I still haven't gotten what I need yet and I'm worried that this creature is going to ruin everything!"

They exited the small cubicle and stood staring at the creature. It had calmed down a bit and was now off admiring certain areas of the dug out. "Be very quiet" whispered Ford, putting one finger up to his mouth. They snuck around the edge of the dug out, trying not to draw too much attention. Now that Dipper could see the creature clearly he realised that this was not some octopus monster, it was a mole! A star-nosed mole to be exact, which would explain the 'tentacles' on its snout. This was definitely not your average mole, it was huge and big and every sound it made echoed around the dug out with a loud thump!

Ford looked at Dipper with a confused face. This was not how he described the 'monster' and it almost made Ford laugh that this was just your average garden mole but why it was so big? It did seem odd. Of course by now Ford was used to everything being odd. He turned to look at Mabel and Dipper. "We need a plan," he began "I need to extract what I need from the Shape Shifter, once we do that we have to lead the mole away back down to the tunnels so that it won't accidently let loose the Shape Shifter. Don't forget we have to freeze him again once it's all over" The twins nodded in agreement. Dipper felt like some sort of secret agent on a secret mission, it did feel a bit childish pretending he was one but living with Mabel will do that to you. Ford looked at Dipper, pointing to Stan's baseball bat "Keep that close in case anything bad happens" Dipper nodded his head and smiled at him, Ford smiled back and the group continued making their way towards the Cryogenic Tubes.

The Shape Shifter had already defrosted and had changed from being Dipper to going back to its normal self. He seemed pretty chill… that was until he saw Dipper. "Dipper pines," He said laughing, his deep voice echoed all around. "Never thought I would see you again" He then stopped looking at Dipper and stared at Ford. "Ah, old friend, we meet again at last" In a whirl of black wispiness, he shifted into Ford and pressed his hand up against the glass except this version of Ford only had five fingers. "Oh, my bad," An extra finger popped up next to the rest of them. "Is that better?" he asked smiling. He laughed loudly, maybe even too loudly as the mole had heard him and got angry. It was running straight at them. Ford quickly glanced at Dipper "You and Mabel take care of the mole while I deal with him" he said, he spoke so fast Dipper could only make out a few words but Mabel and himself knew what Ford wanted. Dipper held the bat close next to his forehead with a firm grip around the handle. Mabel had the grappling hook ready. The two of them ran off and lead the animal a little bit away from Ford so he could get going with his work.

Ford bent down on one knee and pulled out a shiny metal case from inside his tan coat. He opened the case and there laid two syringes. On the glass wall of the tube was a small door. Ford opened the tiny hatch and stuck the syringe into the Shape Shifter's arm. He expected him to lash out or reject the needle but he didn't, he just stood there and let Ford do his work.

Meanwhile, Dipper and Mabel were battling the giant mole. At first they were reluctant to hit it, all they wanted to do was lure it away but then things got tricky. Dipper held the baseball bat in front of him. The mole was running straight at him. Dipper swung the bat when it got too close and the mole moved back. He kept swinging and the mole kept moving. Mabel was hanging from the roof, clinging tightly onto the grappling hook. She had this plan of dropping down on top of it like some sort of surprise attack. Dipper swung the bat again but the mole just knocked it away with its claws and started sprinting in another direction.

Ford pulled back at the plunger and red liquid filled up the syringe. He pulled it out and closed the tiny door but before he could the Shape Shifter grabbed hold onto his arm. "Be careful with what you do with that, I sense a dark presence" He stared at Ford with his beady pink eyes. Ford stared at him back "I know" he said. He pulled his arm away and shut the tiny door. Ford put the metal case back into his coat and froze the Shape Shifter inside the Cryogenic Tube. He walked off with syringe in hand, completely forgetting there was a giant star-nosed mole in the same room.

Dipper's quick thinking skills kicked in. He looked up at Mabel who looked down at him; they both nodded their heads as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking (Twin ESP!). Dipper threw the bat at Mabel; she caught it and dropped down onto the mole. It didn't seem to notice but it still kept running around. She lifted the bat high behind her head and swung down hard onto the mole, smacking it right on the top of its noggin. It collapsed and fell to the ground. Mabel fell to the dirt floor too, she moaned as she got up but got over it quickly. "You alright?" Dipper asked, rushing towards her. "I'm fine, did you see what I did though!" Mabel jumped around laughing. Dipper laughed with her "C'mon, lets go see if Ford's ready to go" The two of them walked back into the room with a bunch of buttons and panels and stuff.

When the pair walked inside, Ford was peering outside the window, staring at the mole. "I didn't ask you to kill it" he said, "Oh but we didn't," said Mabel "We just knocked it out, did you see what I did though!" she said excitedly. "It was very impressive Mabel, you and your brother" he smiled and held up the vial containing the Shape Shifter's blood "I got all my work done" he said happily, "What's it for?" asked Dipper. "Uh, I don't think I'm ready to tell you guys yet but you'll find out soon enough. Are we all ready to go?" The two nodded their heads and all three of them made their way towards the exit of the bunker, leaving the Shape Shifter, the mole and any other undiscovered creatures down there.

"Do you think the mole will accidently set the Shape Shifter free?" asked Mabel to Dipper as they walked through the security room with all the mystic symbols. "Nah, I reckon the mole would wake up all calmed down. The Shape Shifter's frozen so it can't get out by itself either… Wait! Ford are you sure you froze the Shape Shifter?" asked Dipper. Ford laughed, "For the hundredth time Dipper, I'm positive I froze him".

As they walked back through the forest, headed towards the Mystery Shack, Dipper just couldn't stop thinking about Wendy. He was upset that she hadn't come visit them yet but thinking about her always made him happy. "Mabel, do you know why Wendy hasn't come seen us yet?" he asked. Mabel stopped walking and stared at Dipper, she looked sad "Stan didn't tell you did he?" she said sadly, "Tell me what?" he asked. Mabel looked down at the ground sheepishly, "Mabel, tell me!" he said sternly. She ran up to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Dipper," she said "Wendy's moved away". It took a while for Dipper's brain to comprehend what Mabel had just said. At first he thought he hadn't heard her right, he wanted to believe he hadn't heard her right but every bone in his body knew exactly what she had said. Mabel's arms were still wrapped around him. Dipper didn't know what to do; he didn't know what to say! Luckily Ford was a few metres ahead of the twins so he couldn't hear Dipper's heart shatter into a million pieces. "I'm sorry Dipper" she said again. Dipper finally hugged his sister back, he hugged her tightly and they stayed like that for a while… or until Ford had noticed that he had walked a couple hundred steps by himself.