As soon as he saw it his heart froze. Bellidor, here! How could that happen? How had it escaped? What had it done with Moon? That was the most important question in his mind. It just kept circling, over and over, growing louder each time it came around in his head.

"Phineas?" Marissa's voice suddenly pierced through his thoughts, jarring his mind back into reality. "Phineas, come on. We're going home."

Phineas only stood, frozen, his eyes wide. Slowly he lifted a hand, one finger pointing, crooked, at Moon. Marissa could see that he was shaking. "B-b-"

Marissa frowned, suddenly concerned for him. "Phineas, are you okay? What is it?" she put a hand on his shoulder, following his stare to Moon. "Phineas, what's wrong?"

Phineas only stood, shaking, for a moment. Slowly he looked back at Marissa. His eyes were wide, clearly terrified, and when he spoke his voice was a scratched whisper. "B-Bellidor's back."

"What?" Marissa breathed, taken back by his words. "Are - are you sure?"

Phineas nodded, clinging to Marissa's side and staring into her eyes. "What are we gonna do?"

Marissa glanced back at Moon, or, rather, back at Bellidor, and in that moment her resolve solidified. "I'll tell you what we'll do," she said coldly, "We'll fight it."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Phineas asked timidly, "It's pretty strong-"

Marissa looked down at him, and immediately he was silent. She knew that it was Moon that had rescued him before, and so she saw it fair to return the favor. On top of that, she took an immediate loathing to anything that scared her brother. Put together, she wanted Bellidor dead, and she wasn't about to settle for any less. Narrowing her eyes she gave the monster an angry glare, but then turned briefly back to Phineas. "Are you sure this is it?"

Phineas only nodded, now clinging to Ferb instead, since he knew his sister would probably be fighting and he didn't want to hinder her at all.

"Fine," Marissa nodded, a little nervous about confronting the creature but doing her best to ignore it. Her jaw set, she stomped up to the form of Moon and glared. "You!"

The creature taking Moon's form, without a reason not to, refused to break character so easily. "Oh, you're back-"

"Yeah, I'm back," Marissa huffed, "And so are you. Now where's the real Moon?"

Bellidor only smiled, all traces of its ruse disappearing like a dense fog to the morning sun. Its manner was now completely different; it seemed to exude evil, both in its smile and in its eyes. Its movements became predatory, and although Moon's were similar this was different - more sadistic, more malicious. To Marissa the creature gave the illusion of suddenly becoming taller, intimidating her like the Other-Mother after a terse conversation. And yet, Bellidor's appearance had not changed at all; the only difference was in its demeanor.

Bellidor glared down at Marissa, its eyes hungry and devilish. "You'd really like to know where your friend is, wouldn't you? I'll tell you now I've found a safe place for her. You won't find her."

Marissa stood up on tip-toe in the hope to make herself a little bit taller. "We'll find her. We'll find her, and we'll bring her back."

"Oh, really?" Bellidor asked, amused, "And I suppose you and your brothers will be going alone? I've heard there can be terrible monsters living in the woods at night. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, after all."

"You tell me where she is right now!" Marissa demanded, grabbing Bellidor by the collar and pulling it close to her face. Her eyes were ablaze with hatred and fury, although hidden away beneath the surface there was just a hint of fear as well.

Bellidor only laughed through Moon's lips, and roughly shoved Marissa back. She stumbled, but caught herself, looking back at Bellidor to see it upon her again. "You think you can possibly threaten me? That's a laugh! You don't have a chance!" Taking a step forth, it shoved Marissa again, and then again, until she was even with where the boys hid meekly. Giving them a narrow glance, it grabbed Marissa in both hands, and pulled her up with implausible strength. With an enormous heave it threw her aside, and she skidded down to a stop at the base of a thick tree, dazed.

"Marissa!" Phineas exclaimed, darting quickly over to his sister's side, "Are you-"

But before he could finish, Bellidor snatched him up, catching the back of his collar in one hand and pulling him up off the ground.

Phineas thrashed in the air, squirming to make Bellidor drop him, but Bellidor held strong and refused to lose his hold. "No! Lemme go! Marissa, help me!"

Marissa quickly shook the dizziness out of her head, turning to Bellidor with an angry glare. "Hey! Let him go!"

Bellidor shook its head, amused. "I think I'll eat this one, too, after I'm done with your friend. In another month or so I might come after you. I'm pretty much set for the rest of the summer."

"No!" Marissa declared, her hands curling into tight fists as she took a step forward, "I said leave him alone!"

Bellidor was silent. It gave Marissa a taunting flick of one eyebrow, and then turned and ran into the woods.

Marissa gave chase, her heart racing along with her as she ran to catch up to the monster. She could hear Phineas screaming for her, and that drove her on faster, through the trees, their branches grabbing for her face and her hair, tangling in her clothes, determined to hold her back. Her rhythmic breath kept her steady as she went, but now that the sun had gone down she had all but lost them. Finally, out of breath, she slowed to a stop, collapsing onto her knees in tears.

Ferb now sat alone in the dark, with only the stars to guide him home. Here in the woods there were no street-lamps to allow him to see, although his eyes had adjusted as best they could to the dark. He knew there was no way Marissa could catch the monster, and that there was no way for him to catch up to her. But he had to get help, and he thought Isabella the most understanding for that. Following the rough earth trail from the house, he soon came to the edge of the familiar neighbourhood. From there he ran down the kerb to Isabella's house. Darting up the front walk he paused a moment at the front steps, but then pounded quickly on the front door.

There was silence from inside for a moment, but then there was a *click!* as the door unlocked. The door swung open, and Isabella stood in the frame, a tired and confused look on her face. She was dressed in her purple nightclothes, slightly wrinkled yet somehow still perfect. Her hair hadn't quite achieved bed-head status, although it was certainly heading in that direction, and there were dark circles under her eyes. "Ferb?" she yawned, "It's the middle of the night. What's so important-?"

"Isabella," Ferb interrupted, "There's not much time. We need to get back to Shadowshire."

Instantly Isabella was silent. Ferb had only ever spoken to her a few times, and even then he'd never interrupted her mid-sentence. She knew this had to be important. "Ferb...what happened?"

Ferb looked down at the ground for a minute, hesitant, and when he looked back up at her she could see the clear worry in his eyes, despite their usual comic blankness. "Bellidor's back, and it's got Phineas."

"Oh my god," Isabella gasped, "Where did it go?"

"Into the forest," Ferb replied, tossing a quick glance over his shoulder, "Come on."

Isabella followed him back through the streets, the chilly night breeze making her shiver a little under her nightclothes. The forest loomed ominously ahead of them, just a dark wall that stretched up to the sky, blocking out the stars as they went along. She found she was clinging a little closer to Ferb than usual, and after a few moments she realized she was holding his hand. Pulling it out of his grip, she turned away a little so that he wouldn't see her flush, embarrassed.

Ferb paused a moment at the edge of the trees, hesitant to wander into the dark without the stars to guide him through the thick treetops. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Isabella.

She only nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready. Let's go."

But just then Ferb froze. Tapping Isabella on the shoulder, he pointed to a small gap in between the trees, his eyes locked on what he'd just spotted.

When Isabella saw it she gasped.

Something was watching them, just a pair of small amber eyes staring out from the darkness.