Summary: Bill gives Nadia the ultimate nightmare, so Ford, Tad, and Starclops enter her mind to try and save her. Soon, they are all forced to take on their own fears and inner demons.
I wanna point out something. Bill is intentionally OOC. Oh, he's still nuts, but he isn't completely gone yet. At this point, he still has some...humanity, for lack of a better word. His breaking point probably won't be for a while. Maybe not until Season Two or even Three.
Chapter Twenty: Nadia's Labyrinth (Part Three)
Ford's brain was working overtime, as he and Nadia searched that labyrinth for their demon-friends. He and Nadia had kissed, and the latter had tasted like bubble gum and smelled like rainwater (a surprisingly intoxicating combination). Now, they were holding hands…
Now, what? Did that make them boyfriend and girlfriend? Perhaps he would ask when they were out of the nightmare.
Ford really wished he had more experience with women. Alas, before now, the closest he'd ever come to romance was kissing a girl on the lips during a game of Truth or Dare. It didn't help that the girl was his cousin.
He noticed that Nadia still seemed upset. This was understandable, given the circumstances, but he had a feeling it went deeper than just a fear of the unknown. "Uh, Nadia," Ford started tentatively. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I-If this is too personal, you don't have to answer, but… Er, who-who was that vampire back there?"
Nadia stopped walking and tightened her grip on Ford's hand, as though she needed more support. Ford saddened when it seemed that she was purposely avoiding eye contact.
Then, he felt frozen to the floor when she almost inaudibly said, "My daddy."
Ford responded with, "Oh," because that had been all he could force out of his mouth.
Nadia let go of his hand and crossed her arms, still staring down at her shoes. "He...fought against some mutants in a war. He didn't like me very much."
Ford's heart went out to her. Sensing that she didn't want to be touched right now, he put his hands in his coat pockets. "You know, I know what it's like to be hated for who you are."
Nadia laughed bitterly. "Please. You? You're so smart and nice. Everyone must have loved you."
Ford almost laughed at the assumption. "I could say the same about you." Nadia didn't respond. "Nadia, as you well know," he pulled his hands out of his pockets and held them up, "I have six fingers on each hand."
Finally looking at him, Nadia shrugged. "So?"
"Well, the majority of my kind have five on each hand. But, I was born with a rare birth defect, called polydactyly, which gave me extra fingers. Growing up, I was constantly ridiculed for it. And, it certainly didn't help that everyone liked to pick on the smart kid."
"Why would anyone bully a smart person?"
"Nadia, your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, I may not know what it's like to be abused by your parents," physically anyway - his father was...blunt, to say the least, "but I do have some understanding of your predicament. At least, I think I do. I apologize if I'm just making things worse."
Nadia shook her head and smiled. "You're not making things worse, Ford. Talking to you makes me feel better, actually. It's one of the things I love about you."
"Oh, uh, g-good." Ford blushed at the compliment.
Someone cleared their throat. Ford looked to the side and-
This isn't real, Stanford, he told himself, fighting a sudden jolt of anxiety. It's just an illusion. Bill is just messing with you. Your brother is definitely not standing there.
Unintentionally strengthening his fear, a stunned Nadia looked between the two humans and said, "There's two of you?"
The tree - despite being as bleak and depressing as the rest of the maze - seemed out of place in the stone labyrinth, but it made for a great vantage point. Bill Cipher rested on the very top branch, sipping a glass of a purple liquid, as he admired his work. Not bad. He'd been going for a realm filled to the brim with fear and heartbreak, but it was his first Nightmare Labyrinth. He hadn't expected it to be perfect.
Transporting away his now-empty glass, Bill waved his hand, and a large cloud appeared before him. An image played out like a movie screen. This was how Bill was monitoring Nadia's torment, so that he could see what aspects of the spell he still needed to improve on. Except, three other beings had found their way in here. He could feel their presence, though he couldn't tell who they were. No matter; they would be tortured just the same.
He pulled up one of the beings. Bill was hardly surprised to find Tad Strange; the guy was a dream demon after all, and he did care about Nadia enough to try to play hero. Which was failing miserably, since he was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, surrounded by...fire? Odd. Bill could have sworn the fellow was pyromanic. Maybe, Bill was thinking of someone else. He knew someone like that… Pyronica! That was the pyromaniac in his life. Tad was scared to death of the stuff. Why that was, Bill was clueless.
He flipped to the next image. There was Nadia. And...was that Six Fingers? Yep, definitely him. Crescent was there too, but he was an illusion from the labyrinth. Bill watched with interest, as Crescent berated his twin for leaving him behind and putting research before family and other sap like that. Six Fingers was noticeably upset. Nadia (the cuts and bruises on her showed that the spell had clearly done something to her) was trying get Crescent away. Bill rolled his eye at her pathetic attempt and flipped to the last intruder.
It was-
It was…
"Frigging hell!"
The maze was bigger than she'd expected; then again, Bill had always been a hard-worker. Starclops studied the map that she'd manifested… There. There was the exit. And, there were her friends, too. Two of the little dots on the "screen" told her that Nadia and Ford were together, so that was one good thing. Her friends were the blue dots, and they weren't far from her; also good. The red dots were all the evil illusions. Needless to say, there was a whole mess of those. It was a decent job, for a (hopefully) first-timer, but Starclops could see where her ex went wrong. Ordinarily, a Dream Labyrinth - Nightmare or otherwise - would be a lot smaller, allowing for the creatures inside to find their target easier. Bill's version was far too big.
Amateurs were adorable.
"What are you doing here?"
Starclops's heart flipped upside-down at the voice, and she transported away her map, allowing a full view of someone she had been expecting to see. And, hoping to avoid.
Not only that, but the bastard had the nerve to look concerned. "You of all people should know how dangerous this place is! Get out of here, before you run into something crazy!"
Starclops laughed bitterly. "Like you care what happens to me."
Bill just barely flinched. "Of course I care-"
"Get away from me."
"Stella-"
"Don't 'Stella' me!" she snapped. Because, sweet Beelzebub, he had crossed a line he couldn't step back over! "You've gone too far, Bill! Creating a Nightmare Labyrinth is one thing, but Nadia has no quarrel with you! And, don't you dare bring up your effed up little deal! 'Cause, guess what, Dorito Boy. I've made deals before. I've asked for dream-practice before. You wanna practice on my family? Fine! I don't give two damns! But, this!?" She shook her head, and what came out of her was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "This isn't like you."
Bill didn't speak. He wasn't sure what to say.
"I loved you, you know," Starclops blurted out. Now that she'd started, she couldn't seem to stop. "I really, truly loved you. But, now… Now, I don't even know who you are." She shoved him out of her way, but he grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye. "What?"
"Stella, I love you," he blurted, because it was the only thing he could think to say. So, why did saying it break his heart?
Starclops yanked her arm away and choked out, "Don't touch me." She bolted, and Bill went after her.
The problem with the Dream Labyrinth is that you can't control what creatures appear in it. It's all stemmed from the minds of those inside the dream. The only one who isn't affected is the spell caster.
Which was odd, since what Starclops found also shook Bill to the core.
GSV NLMHGVIH LU GSV KZHG WLM'G SLOW Z XZMWOV GL GSV NLMHGVIH LU GSV UFGFIV.
This episode is longer than I'd anticipated. I loves it! :D
Let's see... If this was a real spin-off series, I think the two-and-three-part ones would be half-hour episodes, the one-shots would be eleven minutes, and this one would be an hour-long special.
Review, and all the jazz!