Well, here's the next chapter of Bellidor's Return. I'll hopefully be able to post fairly regularly now, at least until Christmas. After that it's anyone's guess. But for now, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and enjoy! :)

Ferb sat with Isabella for a long time. He was just as upset as she was, but he wasn't about to let it show. She needed him, and he had to be there for her. He only sat, silent.

"Ferb, we have to do something," Isabella whispered, her voice hoarse from her sobbing, "I can't just leave Phineas out there somewhere to die."

Ferb nodded. He'd been thinking similar things, although he wasn't as certain that his brother was still alive as Isabella seemed to be. Maybe she was putting on a brave face for him, he thought.

But it didn't matter. They both knew Phineas was still out there.

"We have to find him," Isabella's voice was broken, barely containing the tears that had come up in her eyes. She pulled away from her place next to Ferb and headed to the door. "Come on."

Ferb followed her out of the house and across the lawn to the edge of the woods. He was certain Isabella could hear his heart racing; the nightmare he'd had was still in his mind, and the fact that the sun hadn't yet risen didn't help. A light mist had begun to settle over the place as well, and he half-expected to see Bellidor hidden in the shadows.

The sudden appearance of two amber eyes made him jump. They peered out at him from the fog, and a minute later the rest of the creature followed. It sat at his feet, staring up at him, unblinking. As he stared back he could feel himself calming down, almost to the point of hypnosis. When it backed away from him he felt an urge to follow.

So he did.

Through the trees he went, the dense mist muffling his footsteps. The little creature kept ahead of him, but it wouldn't fall quite out of his sight as they went. He was completely calm now, his mind almost blank, and he kept his eyes on the creature so that he wouldn't lose it. He could hear Isabella's voice calling for him, but the entrancing creature kept him close, unheeding of her. He found that the closer he stayed the calmer he became, ignoring the rest of the forest as it slowly became darker, more claustrophobic.

A sudden thunderbolt jerked Ferb instantly out of his trance, accompanied by a steady rain that turned the soft earth under his feet to thick mud and made him sink a little into the wet ground. He stared back at the creature, taking a step away from it. Why had it brought him here? What did it want? What was it? He knew Moon would have an idea. Did it perhaps know where she was?

The creature only sat, perched on a jutting rock. Its six tails quivered, each at a slightly different pace than the others. It yawned.

Ferb stared back at it in both fear and curiosity. This one seemed to be young; if that was the case, its mother must be enormous. It seemed disarming enough, but he didn't want to get too familiar with it. Instead he just stood.

The creature turned and walked off, apparently no longer interested in him, and Ferb blinked. Again he wondered: why had it brought him here? This didn't seem like any sort of special place in the forest, at least not as far as he could tell. All he could see were trees. He knew he was lost, and since Isabella wasn't with him he was sure he'd be lost for a while. With a silent sigh, he sat down on the rock that the creature had led him to. It wasn't marked in any way, so why had it taken him here? He just didn't understand. Maybe it planned to kill him later. Maybe it was just a hideous pet that Bellidor had created. Humans had pets, Ferb reasoned, so why couldn't murderous demons have pets too? He discarded the thought, seeing as it didn't help his chance of getting back to Isabella. He only hoped that she hadn't gotten lost looking for him. They were both unfamiliar with the forest; if Moon were here she'd be able to take them back. Moon would be able to solve a lot of their problems right now, he thought. Why couldn't she be here with them? She'd been able to handle Bellidor well enough the first time.

Without any warning he was suddenly grabbed from behind, making him let out an embarrassingly high-pitched yelp. Whirling around he fully expected to find Bellidor here, but instead he could see only darkness. Looking down at the back of shirt he could see a muddy hand-print, and there under the rock was Phineas, beaten, with a dark bruise under one eye. He'd been stamped down with the hard mud, as he had been before, but the rain had softened it enough so that he could move a little. His eyes were wide, frightened yet weak, and when he spoke his voice was just a dry whisper. "F-ferb..."

Ferb quickly took his hand and pulled him up, out of the mud and immediately into his arms. He buried his head in Phineas' shoulder, doing everything he could to stop himself from bursting into tears.

He was unsuccessful.

Phineas only sat half-limp in his arms; he barely had enough strength left in him to keep himself up. After the cold of being out here in the rain he sucked up Ferb's body heat, which helped his shivering a little. After a minute he spoke again, his voice nothing more than a harsh rasp. "Ferb, I-"

Ferb just held him tighter, his intense sobs slowly receding. "It's okay," he choked out finally, "It'll - it'll be okay."

"C-can we go home...?" Phineas asked weakly, giving his step-brother a slightly glazed-eyed look.

Ferb nodded. "Yes. Come on, bro," he carefully helped him up, slinging one arm over his shoulder, and then turned back to the dense trees around them. Since that strange little creature had led him here, he knew he would have a hard time finding his way back. Instead he just turned in the direction he'd come, hoping it would lead back to Moon's house. He kept Phineas supported under one arm, careful of a deep scratch that he'd noticed cut clear through his shirt on one side.

Phineas followed, weak but grateful for Ferb's help, keeping a hold on him until they would get back to the house. He hoped Isabella would be waiting there. She would always be happy to see him.

But suddenly he froze. His eyes widened. "F-ferb...?"

But before Ferb could react there was a hard thud behind him and he turned to see Bellidor, still residing in Moon's form, land on the black ground in front of him. Startled, he took a step back, his heart beginning to race.

Bellidor only growled. "I should have known you'd be here, whether by instinct or by luck..."

Ferb took another step back, his eyes locked on Bellidor. He held Phineas protectively behind him, although he knew he couldn't keep the monster from doing what it wanted. He could only buy him a little time.

"You think I'm scary?" Bellidor asked him, amused, "You really think so? Ask your step-brother what I really look like."

Phineas cringed, shrinking back behind Ferb for the little protection he might provide, refusing to look into Bellidor's eyes for even a second. Ferb could feel his hands shaking a little.

"L-leave him alone," Ferb stammered, staring up into Bellidor's eyes in what he hoped resembled defiance.

Bellidor only laughed. "Hah! I don't have to listen to you. You've done enough to me," its eyes narrowed, suddenly flashing back to their reptilian nature. Just seeing this made Phineas whimper softly, and Bellidor took that as encouragement. "You want to see me again, you little vermin? Fine..." and so it began to shift, reverting back to its true form. It was just as grotesque as Phineas had described it after his first encounter; thin and skeletal in nature, it boasted bony canine legs and eagle-sharp talon claws on either foot. It sprouted too a tail, covered not in flesh but just in blood and bone, its end like a skewer, lashing back and forth. Its thin body was encased in a stark-white ribcage, and from there only a few stout vertebrae connected its skull; it was elongated and saur-like in appearance, adorned by a single curved horn on top, armed with six razor teeth. Its final change split its forearms clean in half, shifting into two monstrous sets of teeth that could snap shut faster than a crocodile's. Three thin bony fingers were all it had on the end, but it was more than enough to subdue the boys. Phineas on his own hadn't stood a chance, and even with Ferb here too it knew it could take them down.

Turning back to the boys it smiled, the corners of its skeletal mouth curling up the little they could. Taking a step forward, one of the jaws on its arms snapped quietly.

Phineas shrank back from Ferb, stumbling but regaining his balance, and then turned to run. His heart was pounding, and he knew he shouldn't leave Ferb alone with the creature, but fear had all but taken over his mind and all he could think of was escape. When he didn't hear the monster behind him he turned and glanced over his shoulder to make sure, only then slowing to catch his breath. After having been stuck in the mud so long his legs were sore, his lungs felt like they would burst from the cold night-rain air, and after another minute he collapsed, sobbing, on the ground. He knew he'd just left Ferb at Bellidor's mercy. He knew he would probably die. He knew he had to go and find help.

"Phineas?"

Instinctively Phineas scrambled away, only realizing a minute later that it was just Isabella, a flashlight in one hand. Soon as she spotted him in the undergrowth she threw both arms around him, sobbing intensely. Although Phineas could tell she was speaking to him her words were garbled, and after a minute he found himself sobbing with her. "I-isabella," he choked out finally, "F-ferb - he's in trouble..."

Isabella gasped. "What happened to him?"

Phineas only had to point back in the direction he'd come before Isabella slung him up over one shoulder. "Show me."

He led her back through the trees to where Ferb had rescued him, but by the time they got there Bellidor had gone. Ferb still remained, although it was clear he'd been badly hurt - his throat had been nearly torn open, lined with a grisly row of crooked tooth-marks, and there was a dark patch of blood on one shoulder where Bellidor's sharp tail had pierced him.

"Ferb!" Isabella gasped, darting quickly to his side and helping him up.

Ferb cringed, revealing another puncture wound in his side, but even then he wouldn't say a word. He didn't need to. Isabella put one hand on his shoulder, and then pulled him up to his feet.

With him under one arm and Phineas under the other she knew it would be best to take them home.