A/N: Sorry, I almost forgot to update today! c'mon, out, Chapter Ten! woooooot! this is, by far, one of the longest chapters in the story so far. SO MANY things happen here, it may even be considered a Wham Chapter.

Before I start, I would like to say my thanks once again to those who favorited and followed me and this story, as well as reviewed. I'm glad you love it that much. And here's a reply to yet another guest reviewer!

/Punch the peanut: Thank you. And of course there'll be more ((at least until it ends of course)). You reviewed right when I updated actually. Please note that the story will be updated every Saturday.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy!

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Ten: Marco Polo Gone Wrong

The three were still playing a fine game of Marco Polo, laughing a little.

"Marco!" Steven was a little off course, heading more towards the shore than towards Bill.

"Polo!" Bill frowned. The boy was heading the wrong direction. He silently groaned to himself.

The water was pushing Steven back. For a few moments, the boy was submerged, before he broke free, gasping for breath. In these gasps, he yelled, "MARCO!"

Connie watched from a safe distance, saying "Polo" in a soft breath so he would hear it but not quite as much. She knew he was after Bill, not her, and she smirked. But she was getting concerned...

Concern, however, wasn't in the demon's dictionary. Bill also smirked at this, but it had a psychopathic quality to it that went unnoticed. He shouted again, cupping his hands, now quite a distance away from both Connie and Steven, "POLO!"

Steven swam as fast as he could towards the triangle, against the barrage of waves crashing against him.

The girl's eyes were wide. "STEVEN! BILL! YOU'RE GETTING TOO FAR FROM SHORE!" Connie shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth so they could hear her better. She was standing in the water, and it reached her waist. How far they were out... it was impossible to tell where the bottom was.

And the waves were even harder against those who wanted to return to the shore.

Bill chuckled, having stopped swimming. He yelled back at her, "You worry too much! we'll be fine!"

Well, he'd be fine. He wasn't so sure about Steven. But he'd probably be fine too. Not that he cared.

"Yeah, Connie! I trust Bill!" Steven managed to shout, which kinda confused Bill himself. It again didn't last.

"No, guys; I'll go get a lifeguard or something! you're in too deep!" Connie then grabbed her board and ran up the shore, and, by the rules of the game, would be known as a fish out of water.

Bill watched Steven flounder towards him, grinning. He was definitely scaring Connie. At least he was scaring one of them, and it satisfied his urge. He stayed out there though, but paddled just a tiny bit closer to the kid.

Steven felt he was getting close. "Marco!"

"Polo!" Bill grinned.

Connie ran through the town, looking for anyone who could help. She went to the town's pool, which was open that day, and actually jam-packed, a stark contrast to the beach.

"Lifeguard, lifeguard!" she shouted, and spotted one, sitting atop her little high chair. She proceeded to explain everything.

The lifeguard in question was a redhead, who wore a blue baseball cap with a similarly-colored pine tree etched onto it and a one-piece plaid swimsuit. Her hair flowed down to her waist. She stared down at Connie, becoming slightly concerned when she took in everything the girl said, "Oh, that's no good, man. I'll come help!"

"Yeah, Steven's in real trouble! he's way out there..." Connie neglected to explain about Bill. She felt Steven had that honor. She hardly understood the little dude herself, and didn't want to give the wrong vibe about him or whatever. Plus, this girl might bail on her if she started blabbing about a talking and walking triangle with one eye.

The teenager nodded, and then climbed down from the tower, joining Connie. She then looked over at the other guards and whistled. Once she had attracted one of them over to her, she explained, "I'm taking a quick break to help someone out over in the beach. Think you can take over for a bit?"

The guy nodded, and answered with a New Jersey accent, "Sure thing," and began climbing up the tower to keep watch on things.

"Thanks, dude!" she then turned back towards Connie, a cool but concerned smile on her face, "lead the way."

Connie ran down to the beach, followed by the redhead, and then pointed to the ocean, where Steven and Bill waded, far out from the shore.

"Marco!" Steven called again, and it echoed across the waves, back to Connie and Wendy.

"Polo!" Bill called back, which made Wendy's hair stand on end. She knew that voice...

"Oh, yeah," Connie began, "he took a game of Marco Polo way too far. Forgot to mention that part." She didn't specify who it was with, however.

Wendy soon snapped herself out of that trance though, before Connie noticed, and shook her head softly, "I see... no one should play that game in the ocean, man..."—to which Connie nodded with fervor.

In her head, she was now thinking of how she could rescue them both. She was strong, sure,—her dad's apocalyptic training made sure of that—but she wasn't sure if she could brace those waves. They looked really strong and wild.

Connie handed her her boogie board, "Here, this might help. I don't know if it will though..."

Wendy took the board, and gave Connie her hat, "It's good enough, dude. Thanks." She tossed the board into the water and then hopped onto it. She lay down and then proceeded to arm-paddle fairly quickly towards the two. Connie watched, holding Wendy's hat against her chest, eyes wide with and body language conveying panic and hope.

Steven finally tagged Bill and opened his eyes, "Haha! I got ya!" a second later he gasped, looking around, "Look how far away the shore is!" Steven shuddered, and began to think of a plan... he and Bill could do what he did with Connie once...

He could form a bubble around them, and then they could work their way up to the shore, walking. But would that work, in the water?

"Yeah, yeah. Far away from the shore," Bill repeated lackadaisically, as if he didn't care. Which he didn't. He crossed his arms, "Yes, we are."

Steven frowned slightly, eyes widening. The demon grinned for a split second. He was finally scaring Steven. And now wanted to scare him more. He then read Steven's thoughts, and frowned, "What if that bubble pops, kid?"

"If it does, we'll still be closer to the shore, and the waves will push us back home!" Steven explained with hope, now smiling a little, to which Bill responded with a twitch of his brow. The boy soon began to second guess this, "But then again... what if we can't get it to move? or worse, it brings us farther down?" the smile was gone now.

"Exactly..." Bill's frown deepened, even though inwardly he was enjoying sapping the hope away from the usually cheerful child. He sighed, pretending every emotion that was appropriate to this situation, "It's a fool's errand, kid. Too much trial and error that could mean our lives if done wrong."

Wendy fought against the waves the best she could, the board she was on providing little strength, but it was helping. Soon she was only a few yards away.

"You can shrink, right?" Steven asked quickly, before he changed his mind, shaking his head. "You know what, I know you're going to hate this, but—" right then and there, he bubbled Bill up, and held him over his head, up above the waves. His legs were getting tired... and he felt a pang of regret as he saw Bill's board drift out, now that the demon's concentration on it was broken. Oh, well. At least he still had his own.

Bill growled, pressing against the bubble with his hands; he couldn't break free no matter what. He let out a small, albeit slightly teed, "What the...?"

Steven was right. He hated this. Just what was the kid thinking?

Wendy was pushed back a little ways away by the rampant waves, but she didn't let this stop her, still pressing on with a determined expression on her face. She wasn't going to let Connie down. Wasn't going to let Steven and his playmate drown. Hell, she survived the first two phases of Weirdmageddon. She'd certainly survive this.

"I'm sorry, Bill; I'm just gonna... hold on..." he pressed the bubble against his stomach, squishing it a bit; not a big problem as Bill was as skinny as a pencil. He saw and then began to paddle towards the redhead woman, holding an arm out for her to grab.

Bill grumbled quietly,—all he could see was disgusting skin, and the fact that he couldn't get out of this claustrophobic space was pretty annoying as well—as Wendy took deep breaths and grabbed the boy's hand. She, of course, couldn't see what Steven was holding. But she somewhat knew. He had to have been with someone anyway to play a game of Marco Polo. Plus... that voice...

She shook herself out of the trance again and began to pull him onto her board. It was hard, but not too hard, and then she grabbed the other one, turned this board around and started making her way back to the shoreline. The journey back was much more difficult, the waves pushing against her. Some water got in her mouth and she quickly coughed it out.

Steven helped the best he could, but there was little he could do to help. Wendy kept paddling against the force of the waves, thankful nonetheless for Steven's help. Soon they were a few yards away from the shore, and Connie could now properly see them. She was smiling with great gratitude. Steven planted his feet on the sea floor and walked the rest of the way up, dragging Wendy on her board along with him. When he finally reached dry ground, he let go of the board, and popped the bubble holding Bill.

"Steven! I'm so glad you're okay!" Connie shouted, the pine tree hat now atop her head. She ran to him, and hugged him tight, which he gladly returned.

"I should have listened to you..." he muttered.

Wendy panted, kneeling a little and staring at the sand, "Whew... you did it, Wendy..."

Bill shook himself, and then stretched to loosen up his limbs. He crossed his arms, staring at the two hugging, and then glanced over in the redhead's direction. His eye widened. He never thought she'd be here.

Wendy finally looked up and her expression hardened when she saw Bill, absolutely ignoring how ridiculous he looked wearing that goggle. She never thought he'd be here, even though she heard that voice. He was a statue when she last saw him. Neither said a word just yet, just taking to staring each other down. A few whispers passed between Steven and Connie before they separated.

"Uh, here's your hat back," Connie handed Wendy her hat, smiling cheerfully and gratefully.

Wendy snapped out of her trance again, and took her hat back, placing it on her head, "Thanks, man." She then stood up, hands on her hips as she resumed the gaze.

"Bill, are you alright?" Steven asked softly, now realizing he had forgotten to ask when they got back to land, overcome with emotion.

Bill glanced at Steven, and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, kid," and also resumed his gaze.

What is she/he doing here..? they thought at the same time, narrowing their eyes simultaneously too.

"Do you two know each other or something?" Connie asked softly, standing by Wendy, frowning as she glanced between the two. Steven, standing by Bill, did the same.

"Yeah," Wendy answered with a slight frown on her face, grabbing her hair and wringing out the water, "we do. We've got quite a history..."

Bill merely nodded and then glared at her for a split second before he fixed it up into a barely neutral expression. He didn't want Wendy ruining this for him, and he didn't want to ruin it himself.

"Oh? details, details!" Steven said, gasping, somehow completely ignoring the dirty looks and imagining the two as friends.

Wendy looked at Steven, the side of her lip twitching. She shook her head, "You don't wanna know. Trust me on that, man."

Bill felt relieved at this. The fact that Wendy wouldn't tell Steven what he did was a serendipity to him. But imaginations ran wild with children... but, knowing Steven, he'd probably just imagine a formerly friendly relationship turning sour over the simplest things. With Connie, however...

He spared the girl a quick glance.

Connie seemed confused, "But he was a statue... right, Steven?" she looked to Steven, frowning.

"Uh, yeah, that's right. He was. What's your point?" he asked, glancing towards her.

"He wasn't before, man... he was alive..." Wendy stated simply, deciding to be vague for a reason. These two young teenagers simply didn't need to know the horrors of Weirdmageddon.

Bill stayed quiet, narrowing his eye farther. But he was again grateful. With her unwillingness to provide specific information, his plan would succeed. Definitely and absolutely. And she didn't even know it.

"And then you froze him, right?" Connie asked, frowning, unsure how she felt about this. Wendy nodded, but it was more of a ghost of a nod. She had that expression on her face, much like that of a veteran who suffered from PTSD.

"How did you become a statue, anyway?" Steven asked, realizing he had never asked Bill that either.

Bill unintentionally glared at Steven, feeling angry again. The feeling of vengeance crept upon him again, and one of the people who'd had a hand in destroying him was here, and was an easy picking. But he soon snapped himself out of this, realizing he couldn't kill her right now, groaning a little and clenching his fist. He took a deep breath and then let it out with this statement, underlying it with a bit of unintentional venom, "Like Wendy said, kid, you don't need to know."

And it was said in a way that highly recommended that Steven or Connie not ask any more questions about it. Or else...

"But why did you freeze him?" Connie asked Wendy, ignoring Bill's threat. Steven freaked out inwardly, and interrupted softly,

"Hey, hey, that doesn't matter, Connie. We're here now, and it doesn't matter where we came from, what we may or may not have done."

Connie looked at him, and then nodded, resigning somewhat. Bill stared—no, glared—at the girl for a while, wondering if he should carry out the "or else", but then sighed, rubbing at his top point and losing the glare, trying to get his mind off this. He was, again, grateful that Steven interrupted. He nodded then, but didn't say a word.

Wendy allowed a small smile, and she agreed, summing up what Bill was probably thinking in one word, "True..."

She then sighed inwardly of relief, Finally... we're off the subject...

However, Bill knew Connie's curiosity wasn't gonna be squelched so easily. She'd find ways to figure this out, even if she had to journey out to Gravity Falls herself. But she couldn't do that without help. And he certainly wasn't going to help her. He couldn't anyway.

"So, uh... where'd you get your hat?" Connie asked Wendy.

Wendy's smile turned genuine. She seemed much more willing to explain this, "From a friend. Dipper Pines. We traded hats when he had to leave Gravity Falls."

Bill stayed silent, floating around. A rather sick and old seagull flew across his line of sight, and he narrowed his eye at it. It would be the perfect way to release at least a little bit of his anger. So he concentrated, and his magic started strangling it to death. It soon fell into the waters, dead, and the whole scene looked like it just had a fatal heart attack. The demon sighed, a bit calmer now, and smirked a little.

"Gravity Falls?" Connie asked softly. "I feel like I've heard of this before..."

"That's cool! Connie, we should get hats, and trade them any time we meet!" Steven said, grinning and hugging her. The girl laughed.

Wendy's eyes widened, and she caught Connie's attention again, "Wait... you have?"

Bill glanced over at the girl, waiting for her answer. He again rolled his eye when he saw the two hug. He still thought it was sappy and pathetic.

"I feel like I have, at least. Gravity Falls, Gravity Falls, Gravity Falls..." Connie frowned. "Where have I heard that name before?" she asked herself.

"It'll come back to you later!" Steven told her, smiling.

"Maybe it will," Wendy smiled as well. "But I suggest you not research too much into it. There's a reason I'm not telling you much."

Bill smirked slightly. Again, this was helping him. Connie frowned. She would ask why, but felt she would find out when she remembered where she had heard the name. Wendy sighed of relief, glad that the questions about the place were over; she gave Connie and Steven back their boards, realizing she had forgotten to give them back in the first place. She glanced at Bill again, suppressing a shudder. Bill, meanwhile, suppressed a glare. He looked over at the kids, and decided to speak up again, "So, what's next?"

"Well," Connie began, taking back the board, "we lost one of the boards... so I'm going to have to tell my parents that. And it's getting late, anyway. I gotta head home. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow, Steven!" Connie smiled and waved, taking back Steven's board as well, and then walked away.

Steven sighed, murmuring a goodbye, as he watched her leave, saddened by her disappearance. Bill waved back, grinning, "Bye, Connie! it's been fun! really!"

Wendy also waved, shouting out her goodbyes. The girl seemed nice. She regretted not asking for her phone number so they could talk more. But Beach City was a small town, so, provided that she actually went out frequently and not solely because of school and her job, she'd be bound to run into her again.

Yes... she, regrettably or not, had turned into a sort of recluse. She sighed, and then turned to Steven, smiling at him to comfort him, "There's always a tomorrow, dude."

And then Bill actually agreed, still grinning, "Definitely!"

Wendy stared at him and nodded this shock away. She knew why he was suddenly buttering up to her. To make himself look good in front of Steven. She wanted to frown, but kept smiling. She wanted now to explain, but she said nothing. The boy didn't need his innocence destroyed. Which, again, was what Bill... well, you get it.

A/N: And that's it for Chapter Ten! give it a round of applause! claps too
Again, Ace plays a wonderful Steven and Connie! and I played Bill, as well as the wham character whose name starts with the first letter of "wham"! I hope I played her well! nyeh heh heh, bet you weren't expecting that, were you? anyway, I hope you enjoyed!