Time Baby was not happy. At all. Not only had he been called to judge over a series of trials of people and creatures who had caused serious anomalies in the time stream, he had woken up extremely cranky and with a wet diaper. Needless to say his patience was wearing thin.
He could've been doing much more important things, such as watching warriors battle each other in another Globnar tournament, finally destroying the resistance or even napping. But THIS?! This was clearly a waste of his abilities.
"Fluveer, you have been accused of several charges of attempting to disrupt the space-time continuum." The giant floating infant declared, his booming voice echoing through space and the ears of the accused duck-like creature before him. "How do you plead?"
"Uhhh..." Fluveer tapped the tips of his fingers together nervously as he tried to think of a clever enough answer. "Not guilty?"
Time Baby didn't think twice. He fired two red laser beams, one from each eye, obliterating the being instantly.
"Who's next?" He asked the robot on his left, who whispered the next convict's name into his ear, causing him to release an annoyed groan. "Oh, him... Fine, send him in."
The guards dragged in the next victim, shoving him against the floor when he was right under their ruler. The yellow one-eyed triangle looked up, the shackles on his wrists clanking loudly as he tried to lift himself up.
"He-hey, Time Baby!" He greeted the overlord quite nonchalantly, almost as if he were unaware of his current situation. "Boy, it's been a while! You look great, by the way. Have you lost weight?"
"Bill Cipher." Time Baby grumbled. "I was hoping I'd never have to see you again. Not after what happened last time."
"Aw come on, I thought we were cool with that! So I tried to overpower you a couple of times... Water under the bridge, right?"
"SILENCE!" The giant baby ordered, shooting a laser beam at Bill's feet and making him jump back with a yelp. "You are in no position to talk to me like that. Not only have you tried to mess up several timelines, you have a laundry list of serious violations, all committed this year alone."
"Oh, psh!" Bill rolled his eye in disbelief. "It can't be that long."
Time Baby's robotic servant handed the ruler a rolled up list, which when opened, unrolled itself onto the floor and past the glowing triangle, with no end in sight.
"Let's see here..." Time Baby squinted as he read what had been written on the long piece of paper. "You have been accused of possession seventy two people, invaded the dreams of thirty six, and you also have several accounts of corruption, psychological warfare and... auto theft?"
"I felt like going for a ride!" Bill crossed his arms and looked away. "Not my fault that convertible had been left with the top down."
"You threw off the economy of an entire country?!" Time Baby exclaimed as he read another item from the list.
"Hehe, yeah..." Bill chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Those Greeks sure are a bunch of whiny babies."
"I've seen enough." The overlord rolled up the list again and handed it back to the robot. "Cipher, you are a plague upon humanity. Not once have done anything beneficial towards anyone or anything. All you do is cause harm. You're a treacherous nuisance that shouldn't even exist!"
"Oh stop, you're making me blush!" Bill giggled sarcastically.
"And you can't even take your own trial seriously! So I've come to a decision. I sentence you to immediate annihilation!"
"Oooh, immediate annihilation! I'm so scared!" The triangle pretended to be frightened, afterwards placing his hands on his sides, looking rather unimpressed. "Listen here, Hour Glass, we both know I have enough power to defeat anyone and anything that stands in my way, so could we just cut to the part where I vanish into thin air and you never see me again?"
"You actually think it would be that easy?"
"Well, yeah!" He snorted. "Why shouldn't it be?"
"Haven't you noticed that you haven't been able to float since you got here?"
Bill's eye widened as he looked down at his slender legs and noticed how his feet were touching the ground. He tried to lift himself up into the air, but to no avail. He tried using his other powers, but those didn't seem to be working either.
"What... how..." He started to hyperventilate, panic finally setting in. "How is this possible?!"
"The shackles you have on were specially designed to block the magical powers of anyone who wears them." Time Baby explained, a triumphant smirk appearing on his face. "There is no escaping your fate this time, Cipher."
"H-hold on, man, let's talk this through! I'm sure we can reach some sort of arrangement!"
"You really think I would be foolish enough to trust you? You are the most untrustworthy creature in the universe!"
"W-well, w-what if..." Bill's eye darted everywhere as he tried to think of a solution. "What if I could prove myself as someone able to be trusted?"
Time Baby paused, raising a brow at the yellow demon. Somehow that possibility intrigued him and he wondered if there could be a way that Bill Cipher could prove his worth.
"I'm listening." He narrowed his eyes, edging him to continue.
"If can make someone trust me, and I mean REALLY trust me, then will you reconsider my sentence?"
Time Baby leaned back and tapped his chin as he pondered about the isosceles demon's proposition.
Bill was starting to sweat. He didn't even know he was able to do such a thing.
"Very well." He finally answered. "I will allow you to prove yourself, mostly because I would really like to see you try."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Bill threw himself on his knees and bowed repeatedly. "I promise you won't regret this!"
"Not so fast. I'm not done yet."
Bill froze. What was that overgrown sack of flesh going to do now?
"I will allow you this personality test under certain conditions. First, you have one week to get someone to fully trust you."
"One week?!" Bill exclaimed. "That's barely any time at all!"
"It's more than enough time for such a task." Time Baby stated before continuing. "Secondly, you will have limited powers."
"How limited?"
"Limited to just floating, teleporting, shapeshifting and conjuring harmless objects and living beings. We wouldn't want you manipulating or trying to hurt your victim, would we?"
"No, of course not." Bill commented drily.
"Also, this has to a genuine proof of trust, so we it has something that really matters." He turned to the robot on his left. "Tell me, what is the ultimate demonstration of trust?"
"I believe that is what humans call 'love'." The mechanical being replied.
"Love, you say? Very well, that settles it." Time Baby straightened himself. "Bill Cipher, you have seven days to make someone fall in love with you."
"You're kidding, right?" Bill asked, barely believing what he was hearing.
"Not at all. If you are successful, then I will reconsider your sentence. But if by the end of the seventh day you were not able to make someone fall in love with you, you will be immediately eliminated. Now, I will teleport you to any place or dimension where you think you might be able to complete this challenge, but you won't be allowed to leave until the seven days are over. And please have in mind that, as soon as you arrive, you will only have the powers I listed previously. Where do you wish to go?"
Bill almost wanted to kill himself for being put in such a degrading situation, but this was his only change of freedom. He thought long hard about the conditions Time Baby had stated, and what would be the best way to work with them and still be successful. Then it dawned on him… a plan so crazy it might just work.
"Time Baby, take me back to..." He narrowed his eye dramatically. "...the present."
"Very well." He charged his forehead laser. "I will see you in seven days."
Bill felt himself being engulfed in the floating infant's laser beam, being transported through time and space across different dimensions. When he felt the ride was over, he opened his eye and saw he was in a dark forest where dawn seemed to be breaking. He floated through the trees for a few miles until he finally came out on a hill that overlooked a small town, the street lights still glistening in the distance. He snapped his fingers and a telescope appeared in his hands, which he used to gaze into the town and make out exactly where he was. He focused the optical instrument on the large billboard at the town's entrance, and saw that it read 'Welcome to Gravity Falls.'
"Well, well! Looks like that fat brat read my mind." He threw the telescope away and conjured a big gold-framed mirror. "Now, for my dear victim..."
The planet Earth appeared on the surface of the mirror and zoomed in on the United States of America until it settled on a live image of two very similar teenagers, a boy and a girl, sitting at a bus stop.
"There you are, my precious." Bill hissed, swiping his fingers on the mirror and zooming in on the tickets the girl was holding. "Oh, and what luck! Two tickets to Gravity Falls. They must be coming over to spend another summer with their idiotic great-uncles." He rubbed his hands together, the details of his mischievous plan unfurling in his mind. "Soon she'll be putty in my hands."
With a wave of his hand the image disappeared and the mirror turned back to just that, a regular mirror. Bill examined his reflection from different angles, and, even if he was pleased with his current appearance, he couldn't help but sigh in annoyance.
"If I really want this to work, I guess I should slip into something a little more... appropriate."
A blue flame appeared on each of his hands and he elevated them over his head, causing the flames to combine. He slowly brought his hands down over his body, the flame covering him top to bottom. After a while he separated his hands and the flame consequently disappeared. When he turned back to the mirror to see his new look, a wide grin spread across his new face.
"Perfect." He snickered evilly, turning around to peer at the town below him as the sun rose on the horizon. "You're mine, Shooting Star."