Everything was set in place. After discussion and a few heartfelt words, the two men had decided that the best way to defeat Bill was going to be to allow him into Stan's mind and erase it. It wasn't the ideal option but after the opportunity to use the circle prophecy passed, this was the only option left.
Right about the time that Stan finished stuffing the sixth finger of Ford's gloves, Bill came into the room, both Dipper and Mabel in hand. "ALRIGHT, FORD. TIME'S UP!" The triangle's voice boomed throughout the room in which they were trapped in. "I'VE GOT THE KIDS…! I THINK I'M GOING TO KILL ONE OF THEM NOW JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT! ENNIE, MEENIE, MINIE…"
"Kill me!" Mabel called out. "Just don't hurt my brother!" She yelled, looking into the eye of the evil creature holding her brother and her. This decision seemed very unexpected but Mabel had had guilt tugging at her gut for a while since she had come back to her senses after being in Mabeland. There was no way that she could allow Bill to further hurt her brother. Dipper had been through more than enough as it was.
"OH, I SEE SHOOTING STAR WANTS TO BE A HERO. HOW CUTE." Bill announced, picking Dipper out of his hand and dropping the boy to the ground.
"Mabel, no!" Dipper called out, looking up at her from the ground. He got up, ignoring the pain he felt from the events of the last few days. "He's just trying to manipulate you!"
"THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG, PINE TREE! SHOOTING STAR'S ACTING ON HER OWN RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS PIQUING MY INTEREST!" Bill said, letting his eyes watch only Mabel as he spoke.
Mabel squirmed a little, feeling very nervous now that the reality of what she had done just dawned on her. Despite how nervous she felt, she fought down those emotions and put on her best face. "That's right, you stupid isosceles!"
"WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL." Bill said, a grin painting itself on his face. "WHAT HAS CAUSED YOU TO BE SO NOBEL, SHOOTING STAR? BECOMING A HEROIN? GUILT?" He asked, wanting to hear it. Bill was already pretty sure he knew why Mabel was trying to sacrifice herself. After all, he had tricked her into starting all of Weirdmageddon singlehandedly.
"N-no reason! I just don't think anyone else should have to suffer!" She said though that was obviously a lie to Bill.
"WRONG! SAY IT, SHOOTING STAR! SAY THE REAL REASON YOU WANT TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF!" Bill said, holding her a little too tight, causing her to squirm.
Tears came to her eyes and she looked down at her brother and her great uncles. "I started Weirdmageddon!" She yelled, her voice breaking. "I started Weirdmageddon…" She repeated, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks at the thought of what she had done.
"YOU HEARD IT FIRSTHAND! SHOOTING STAR HERE GAVE ME THAT RIFT!" He said with a chuckle. "YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOUR SACRIFICE? SAY IT AGAIN! LOUDER SO THEY CAN ALL HEAR IT!"
Mabel closes her eyes, not wanting to see everyone's faces. She yelled out, "I gave Bill the Rift. I started Weirdmageddon! I just wanted summer never to end!" She yelled so loudly that it hurt her throat.
Bill let out another laugh as he let go of her so that she landed on the ground next to her brother, "OH BOY, THIS IS REALLY GREAT! THIS WILL BE YOUR DYING MESSAGE! EVERYONE WILL KNOW IT! SHOOTING STAR HERE CAUSED WEIRDMAGEDDON!" Bill said, still laughing. "I'LL MAKE SURE YOUR LEGACY IS HEARD!"
Mabel stared at the ground, feeling like she deserved that. If she had just been smart and knew that that container was important instead of so willingly handing it over to Blendin, then none of this Weirdmageddon would have happened.
"NOW THAT THAT'S SETTLED… SHOOTING STAR, I COULDN'T HELP BUT REMEMBER THAT YOU WEREN'T AROUND TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE WEIRDNESS YOU CAUSED! SO HOWS ABOUT I DO YOU A FAVOUR AND LET YOU EXPERIENCE IT ALL!?" Bill leaned down, his pupil extremely close to Mabel, "AT ONCE!" He let out a cackle before leaning back and snapping his fingers.
At first, the effects of what Bill had done weren't obvious, but then Mabel began screaming. Dipper ran over to his sister but Bill grabbed him and tossed him to the side, "STAY OUT OF THIS, PINE TREE! YOUR SISTER DECIDED HER FATE, THERE'S NO SAVING HER NOW!" Bill said as he watching Mabel squirm on the floor of the Fyramide.
Pain enveloped the girl as the metal of her braces became more and more hot, burning the insides of her mouth. She couldn't touch them without it burning her finger tips and there was no way to get the wiring out of her mouth. She screamed and tears ran down her face. After several seconds the pain stopped and Mabel curled up tightly, spitting out blood from inside of her mouth.
Stan and Ford both watched with large eyes, wanting to help but knowing already what Bill would do to them based on what he had done to Dipper; he was unconscious against the wall Bill had thrown him at. Stan was covering his mouth with his gloved hand and Ford was looking away. Was there anyway that they could stop this?
Just as those question began flooding the Twins' minds, Mabel began letting out another scream. She gripped at her left hand, which was slowly being turned into stone.
Bill let out a laugh, "WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING A MYRTER? IS IT TOO MUCH?" Bill asked, looking very entertained. He let out another laugh, sounding more and more entertained than the last. He snaps his fingers again and the hand which was turning to stone shatters before her eyes, leaving Mabel with nothing but a bloody stump. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE A LITTLE ACID THROUGH YOUR VAINS!" Bill said, watching her with interest.
Mabel let out screams as her eyes became bloodshot and she tried to cover them with her hands only for the bloody stump of her left hand to literally burn her skin away. She sobbed and clawed at the ground as she let out coughs of blood and chunks of unidentified pieces of flesh that had been melted away from the rest of her body by the acidic blood.
The triangle snaps his fingers yet again and Mabel goes quiet. Everything stopped for a moment. She's not totally in pain and things seem okay for only that second. Bill let out a hardy giggle before looking between her family members, "ARE YOU NOT ENJOYING THE SHOW? I THINK IT'S GREAT!" He said, turning his attention back onto Mabel. "HOW ABOUT HAVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY HORRIFIC DEATH EVER TO OCCUR?!" He spoke, snapping his fingers yet again.
Mabel shook her head and covered where her eyes used to be. She screamed again, trying to move away from it only for her legs and arms to be too weak to really help her do anything. Despite all of this happening to her, she never once asked for it to stop.
Bill decided that alone wasn't enough. "HERE'S A BIT OF MIND BLOWING FOR YA." Bill announced, grinning.
Mabel let out another scream, her voice hoarse and too sore to really get out too much. She gripped at her head with her one hand, balling up tightly as grey and clear liquid oozed out of her ears. Soon after that, there was silence.
Bill let out a hum before looking at her and nudging her with a finger. "OH BOY, THAT WAS SOMETHING. LET'S AT LEAST SEE HER OFF IN A FASHION SHE WOULD APPRECIATE!" Bill said as he looked at her for a moment.
Mabel's body began slowly dissolving into a rainbow coloured liquid on the ground. "THERE WE GO!" Bill said before giving himself a round of applause. "BOYS AND GIRLS, I HAVE OUTDONE MYSELF THIS TIME!" He said with laugh, "NOW ON TO PINE TREE!"
"Wait!" Stan, still disguised as Ford said. He had tears running down his face and he was sure that his heart was racing a mile a minute. "I surrender!"
Bill turned his attention from the boy who hadn't even fully regained consciousness to 'Ford'. "GOOD CHOICE."
'Stan' grabbed his brother's coat to make the man face him, "Don't do it, Ford!" Despite this all being an acting gag, the man was still anxious for his brother. The decision to erase his brother's mind was a big one and not one that he was going to handle that well, especially considering the trauma of seeing what had happened to Mabel. "It'll destroy the universe!"
"It's the only way!" 'Ford' said, looking 'Stan' right in the eyes. He was honestly terrified of letting this sick being into his mind and even more terrified that their plan wouldn't work.
"AHAHHA, OH EVEN WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE, YOU PINES TWINS JUST CAN'T GET ALONG!" Bill said as he snapped his fingers and let the prison holding the two in fall to the ground. He trapped 'Stan' and drew his attention to 'Ford'.
"My only condition is that you don't mess with my family anymore!" 'Ford' said, looking up at Bill with a stern expression.
"FINE!" Bill stated, getting ready to offer up a hand to 'Ford' so he could go inside of his mind. "IT'S A DEAL!" He said, offering his hand to the man before him, blue flame enveloping it.
'Ford' held out his hand and let Bill take it. He was unhappy about this, but he needed to make his own sacrifices.
Bill's physical figure turned to stone holding the man's hand and he let out a laugh, "AHAHA, HAHAHA!" Rubbing his hands together and entering the man's mind in excitement, Bill couldn't keep his enthusiasm to himself. Once inside what seemed to be a white void, the shape spoke, "OH, I'M HERE! I'M FINALLY HERE! LOOK AT THIS PLACE! A PERFECTLY CALM, ORDERLY VOID!" Bill spoke, moving closer to the only door in the mindscape of who he believed to be Ford. "GOTTA HAND IT TO YA, FORD, YOU REALY KNOW HOW TO CLEAR YOUR MIND!" He spoke as he opened the door. His voice trailed off and he frowned. "WHAT?!" He exclaimed, realization dawning on him. This wasn't Ford. He had been tricked!
"You! You fucking triangle!" Stan yelled, standing up from his chair and throwing a left hook at the shape in his mind. "You tortured and killed Mabel!" He yelled at the other as he hit Bill again.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE A MATCH FOR ME?" Bill asked, dodging the other's swings.
Stan grinned and crossed his arms, "You ain't seen nothing yet." He said, feeling a little self-satisfied. Even though he really wanted to hurt the triangle, he knew that there was little he could do to him. However, what Ford was going to do on the outside was the best revenge that either of them could get for what had happened to Mabel.
"NOPE! THE DEAL'S OFF!" Bill turned to leave the room that they were both inside. As he reached for the door, the room caught fire, "WHAT? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"
"Oh yeah, you're going down, Bill." Stan said, looking smug. After getting his hits in and knowing that Bill would no longer be able to hurt anyone, he was feeling pretty okay with all of this. "You're getting erased. Memory gun, pretty clever, huh?"
"Y-YOU IDIOT! DON'T YOU REALISE THAT YOU'RE DESTROYING YOUR OWN MIND TOO?" Bill said, for once in his existence actually feeling panic.
"Eh, it's not like I was using this space for much anyway." Stan said with a shrug, "Not to mention, forgetting means I also don't have to remember all of what you've done to my niece."
"LET ME OUTTA HERE! LET ME OUT!" Bill panicked, trying to use his power. "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?" He spoke, his mind racing as he tried to think of a resolution to the problem.
"Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one eyed demon!" Stan said, standing over the isosceles. Once Bill turned to him, he spoke, "You're a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake. You messed with my family!"
"YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAKE!" Bill said, offering out his hands, "I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING: MONEY, FAME, RICHES, INFINITE POWER, YOUR OWN GALAXY! PLEASE, NO!" He spoke, trying to bargain with the man as the flames of the memories burning began to affect him as well, "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?" In a last stitch effort, Bill began speaking in what seemed like seemed like nothing more than gibberish. "NRUTER YAM I THAT REWOP TNEICNA EHT EKOVNI I. NRUB OT EMOC SAH EMIT YM, LTOLOXA! STANLEY!" Bill yelled.
Stan wanting his last living memory to be fighting for his niece, pulled his fist back and struck Bill directly. The shape began shattering into bricks as the room gave way to the fire.
After Bill disappeared, Stan turned around and grabbed the photo of himself, Dipper, Mabel, and Waddles and spoke softly, "Huh, guess I was good for something after all…" He said quietly.
Outside of the mindscape, Ford stood directly in front of his brother, looking at the man with a sad expression.
As everything weird began dissipating, it didn't stop the pain in Ford's chest as he stood in front of his brother, who he knew was going to come to with no recollection of what had occurred that day. While that may not have been particularly a bad thing after what happened to Mabel, he couldn't say it was a good thing. They had just begun getting along again.
Dipper was weeping over what was Mabel, completely out of touch reality at that point. He wasn't even aware of the fact that the others were now okay and Bill was gone. None of it mattered because Mabel was dead.
Everything was swept up with the disappearance of the weirdness, including what was the remainder of Dipper's sister. He let out an emotional cry when the bricks disappeared into the weird x in the sky.
A couple of days passed and Dipper had slowly begun to regain his senses after what had happened. With the mourning of both his twin and his great uncle, things were very difficult. He had already decided that he was going to stay in Gravity Falls with his uncle, unsure of how he would possibly be able to face Piedmont ever again with the experiences he had had in the weird little town in Oregon.
Although trying to care a little for himself, his depression caused him to make stupid mistakes, like leaving the iron plugged in after helping Ford with ironing some of his clothes or forgetting about the bath water running and letting it overflow. After only a few times of these things happening though, he began noticing that something he swore he forgot to do had been done. He found the toaster to be unplugged after being sure he had left it plugged in after breakfast. The stove was off even though he hadn't turned it off. The window in his room was closed when he was sure that fell asleep with it open. His book was neatly put on the table though he never fell asleep with his book put away.
At first Dipper thought he was losing his mind. Maybe he was just forgetting habits. But when it came to certain things, Dipper began to really think about it. After a few times of things being put away and other things being organized, Dipper decided that it had to be Mabel. While he knew that he couldn't mention it to Ford, he was sure that Mabel was still there, taking care of him.
After what felt like a year, it was Dipper's birthday. He didn't want to get up. All it reminded him of was the fact that Mabel wasn't there. Stan wouldn't even remember and Mabel wasn't there to make it fun. Sure, Wendy was probably going to try and make him feel better and Soos probably got him some really cool gift, but it didn't matter. He just wanted to stay in bed all day and never leave.
Finally, Dipper decided that he needed to get up so that he could go to the bathroom. When he rolled over, his eyes ran over the long curly locks of Mabel's hair. He sat up so quickly that he made himself dizzy. "Mabel?" He said, letting his eyes look over the figure in his room who did resemble his sister.
The ghost gave him a small smile, "Hey, bro bro." She spoke softly. Her ghostly form looked like she endured so much more than Dipper remembered her going through. After all, he had been unconscious for most of what Bill had done to her and Ford refused to speak about it.
Dipper looked her over and acknowledged all of the damage he could see. There were spots that looked like they had been burned on her face. Despite the fact that all ghosts' eyes looked hollow, Mabel's looked more like they were missing more than anything. Her left hand was missing and she just looked rather empty. Her expression was rather sad despite the fact that she was smiling.
Mabel just watched her brother study her, "Yeah, I know blue's not really my colour." She said with a small chuckle. "I just.. I wanted to come here, see you one more time." She said softly. It was obvious by her tone of voice that she was hurting.
Dipper shook his head, "You don't have to go." He said quietly. "You could stay here. Happy 13th." He said with a small smile, hoping that he could just somehow pretend nothing happened.
"To you. I'm never going to see what being a technical teen is like. That's okay though. The little glimpse I got of it wasn't pretty." Mabel said with a small laugh. "I… I wanted to apologize. If I hadn't run off with your backpack, Weirdmageddon wouldn't have happened… This was all my fault, really." Mabel said, "I'm glad that no one else was hurt."
Dipper frowned and shook his head, "This wasn't your fault. Bill is a manipulative jerk. He tricked you into thinking this was all your fault."
"No, Dipper. I gave Blendin that thing in your backpack. I just gave it to him because I wanted summer to last forever." She said, shaking her head a little. "I'm glad that I was the only casualty. I would be way more upset if someone else had also gotten hurt from all of this!" She said with a small laugh before her face fell flat at the thought of everything that she had gone through. Those memories were embedded in her thoughts forever.
Dipper didn't mention the fact that Stan didn't remember. He was sure that if Mabel really had been following him around for the last week or so, then she already knew that their uncle had no recollection of anything or anyone. "Do you have to go?"
Mabel nodded a little, "Yeah, I do. But it's okay. You're gonna be with me eventually, a hundred years from now when you're even older than Grunkle Stan and Ford are now."
"I don't want you to go." Dipper said a little more firmly.
"It's okay. It really is. You'll live a happy full life. You'll get to make that loser show a few years from now with Great Uncle Ford's help and be really happy." Mabel said with a small grin, the braces on her teeth distorted and bent from what Bill had done. "I just hope that what I did didn't make it rough on you to stay here... I'm sure people are gonna talk about how I started the whole thing with Bill. I don't want them to blame that on you…" She said quietly.
"I don't care if they blame it on me." Dipper said quietly. "I would rather take the blame." He spoke, looking at the floor for a second. "How long do you have here?"
Mabel shrugged, "Few minutes, few hours, few days? I'm not really sure." She said. "Maybe I can stay around and celebrate your birthday with you." She said with a smile.
Dipper looked at her before looking down. "I don't want to hear all of their pity. It'll be more like a funeral than a party."
Mabel shook her head. "Get a karaoke machine. Then, sing along to your favourite BABBA song, even if no one else likes it. That's how to take a party and own it." She said with a grin. "And if I'm there, even if they can't see or whatever, it'll be great!"
Dipper looked at her and let a small smile come onto his face. He wasn't really in any mood to party but Mabel being there, even if it was all just because of the weirdness of Gravity Falls, made him feel a bit better. "Okay." He said with a small head nod. "I'm going to go and enjoy myself for today." He said with a nod of his head. He grabbed the hat on his side table and put it on, getting up from the bed. He slipped on his socks and shoes and started downstairs.
Once he got down the stairs, he saw Ford, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a hand over his face, looking rather tired. "Hey, Great Uncle Ford." Dipper said with a small smile.
"Oh, hello, Dipper. Happy birthday." He said, looking at the kid. "Are you planning something?"
Dipper nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I decided that I'm going to have a party like Mabel would have wanted." He said, sounding sure of himself. "It's gonna be tough to be happy the whole time, but I don't think Mabel would have wanted me to be all cooped up in my room on our birthday." He spoke, looking at his great uncle.
Ford nodded and gave him a small half smile, "That's a good attitude to go at it. Do you want me to do anything to set up?"
"Get me a karaoke machine and get a cake ready. I have to go let people know that the party's back on." Dipper said as he grabbed his backpack from the back of one of the chairs. He walked backwards out of the kitchen and waved at Stan as he left.
If it hadn't been for Mabel appearing every now and again, behind trees, around corners, just anywhere, Dipper wasn't sure he could face this day with the brave face he kept on. He knew that it was all because of Mabel. If she wasn't cheering him on, he would have stayed in his room, crying and mourning.
Dipper met up with Wendy, Soos, Candy, and Grenda, letting them all know that he was still throwing a birthday bash. "Even though things are rough, Mabel would have wanted it this way." Dipper said to each of them, inviting them over to the small party he was going to throw.
As he walked through the town, some of the townsfolk he once considered pretty cool were whispering behind his back, one store clerk physically pushing him out of the store. Even though everything ended up being okay, the town didn't let go of the fact that Mabel had admitted she was the one who helped Bill start it all. Robbie even shot a paintball at him, which only barely missed his hat.
After going through all of that, Dipper returned home. He explained to Stan that it was his birthday and they were going to have a small party that he could join if he wanted. While the man didn't remember very much, he did like to have the people he had once been close to around. He gave him some sort of nagging fondness.
Hours passed and Dipper sang on the karaoke machine, stuffed his face with cake and had some laughs with his friends. They did have a few rough patches where they thought of Mabel and what she would have done at the party, but after a little bit of crying and getting it out, they were able to have fun.
The night past with no hitch and Dipper trudged up to his room after pouring himself out emotionally by being so outgoing the whole night. He collapsed on his bed and looked around, "I had a good birthday, Mabel…" He said softly, hoping that she would show up again. He hadn't seen her since he had been thrown out of that one shop by the owner.
When she didn't appear, he let out a small sigh as he hopes dashed and he looked over at her bed. At least he did what he knew Mabel wanted. He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, too emotionally drained to really keep himself up.
Generally, Dipper never recalled his dreams. However, this one seemed so real. Mabel was there, sitting beside her brother with a piece of birthday cake in front of her. "So Dipper, got any weird, creepy monsters to hunt today?" She asked, smiling really big. In his dream, she looked perfect, just as she was before what Bill had done to her.
"I was going to go into the woods and see if I could find any new discoveries. Great Uncle Ford said that he would tell me about some of his adventures in the other dimensions he visited if I managed to find anything new." Dipper said with a grin.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Mabel said, putting her hands on the table before standing up from her chair, "Let's go!"
Dipper and Mabel spent the entire dream running about the forest, evading weirdness all around. After a bunch of investigating, Dipper did find a weird, mutated type of caterpillar, only because Mabel let them crawl on her face. He put it in a jar and labelled it, "I'm naming this the Mabel-pillar. Because you helped me find it." He said with a smile.
Mabel grinned at him as they started back home. The closer they got to the Mystery Shack though, the closer Dipper got to waking up. Once they got to the door, Dipper saw Mabel smile one more time before his eyes opened and he realised that that was all a dream. He let out a sigh and rubbed his face.
"Dipper." Mabel spoke quietly.
Dipper sat up and looked at her before realising that the blue glow of her was duller than it had been the day before. "You… have to leave now, huh?" He said quietly.
Mabel nodded. "It's okay, though. We'll be together again eventually." She said, leaning in and giving him a really tight hug. "Bye, Dipper." She said softly, nuzzling near him.
Dipper frowned but knew that no matter the amount of arguing he did, she would disappear. He decided to just accept that moment and hugged her softly. "Bye, Mabel." He whispered as he felt her mass disappear in his grip. He fell forward a little as she faded away and he hunched forward. He didn't want to say goodbye but this was at least a much better goodbye than he originally had had after Bill knocked him out.
Knowing that Mabel tried her best to be happy despite the fact that she seemed a little haunted by how Bill had hurt her made Dipper feel a little more like he could face the world with a knowledge he had. If his sister could be this strong in death, he could be strong in life.