More Bill! Yay!

Chapter X: Ultimatum

Dipper took a deep breath and opened the door, Stan and Wendy behind him. Lonnighan raised an eyebrow as he came out and Bill lifted his hat. In the car behind them, Dipper could see Harry ducking down to avoid being seen by the demon triangle.

"What do you want now, Bill?" demanded Dipper.

"Is that any way to say 'hi' to an old friend, Pine Tree?" said Bill, "We just wanna talk, kid! We've got a wager for..."

"No," snarled Stan.

He stepped forward, fists clenched.

"Whatever you want, Cipher, you ask me," he growled, "Leave Dipper out of this, you hear me?"

Bill raised his eyebrow.

"Stanford Pines, it's been too long!" he said, extending his arms, "We need to catch up! Tell me, how's Stanley holding up these days? Oh wait, yeah, he..."

Stan roared and lunged at Bill. Bill nonchalantly took off his hat and tipped it sideways.

The whole world tipped ninety degrees. Dipper, Wendy and Stan fell backwards, slamming into the walls of the Mystery Shack – Lonnighan, who seemed unaffected, smirked and crossed his arms.

"Attacking a demon, Stanford," he said, "Not a good move."

Stan winced and gave the Principal a rather rude gesture. Bill floated over, hands behind his back.

"Sorry, Mackerel," he scoffed, "I'm not dealing with you. I'm dealing with destiny."

He put his hat back on. The world righted itself – Dipper, Stan and Wendy slid onto the balcony. Lonnighan strode up to them.

"As my liege informed you, Mr. Pines," he said, "We have a wager for you."

"I'm not making any more deals with you, Bill," snapped Dipper, "I'm not an idiot!"

"Wagers and deals are not the same thing, Mr. Pines," said Lonnighan, disdainfully, "No wonder Mr. Vought was failing you in English."

"We've got something of yours, Pine Tree," said Bill, "Something I think you'll want back."

He snapped his fingers. A large, triangular hologram appeared next to him – Dipper could see a car driving down the road to Gravity Falls. His jaw dropped – it was his father's car.

His father was driving – Mabel sat in the front seat. In the back middle seat, Eddie Hohenbecker was quietly reading a book. The boy seemed to have a black eye.

"Mabel!" exclaimed Dipper, "And dad! And...and what's Eddie doing there?"

"Poor fella felt guilty after getting your notebook stolen," shrugged Bill.

"I had thought Harry's...persuasion would keep him out of this," muttered Lonnighan.

"Alright," said Dipper's father, "Just making it clear – if your mother asks, we're camping."

"Got it, dad!" nodded Mabel, saluting.

"And if your dad asks," Dipper's father said to Eddie, "Tell him..."

"I probably won't tell him anything," shrugged Eddie, "He doesn't really care that-"

There was a loud crash. Dipper's father gripped the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes as the car spun to a halt. They had hit something – Dipper couldn't see what.

Dipper's father climbed out of the car, shaking his head.

"Are you blind?" he yelled at something behind him, "You could have kill..."

He trailed off as a rifle barrel emerged from the edge of the holographic screen.

"Sorry, Pines senior," Dipper heard Angus say, "But we'll be taking them."

There was a loud crashing noise, and the screen went dark for several seconds. When the darkness faded, Dipper's father was climbing to his feet next to the road, his condition much more dishevelled then it had been before. His car was gone.

"Oh...oh god," he said, shaking his head, "Mabel...MABEL!"

The holgraphic screen disappeared. Dipper realised he was clenching his fists. He looked over to Stan – the old man's face was red.

"So, I'm guessing ya wanna see Shooting Star again?" asked Bill, "Well, here's what you can..."

"If you touch a hair on her head," snarled Stan, "I swear, I am going to..."

"Mr. Cipher is talking, Stanford," interrupted Lonnighan, "Please let him."

"Thanks Lonnighan!" nodded Bill, "Anyway, if you ever wanna see Shooting Star again, Pine Tree..."

He pointed to one of the mountains overlooking Gravity Falls.

"Top of Mount Northwest," he said, "Tonight. We'll have a nice little fight – you versus me! Winner gets Mabel Pines, loser dies!"

"You're toying with me, Bill," said Dipper, crossing his arms, "I'm not gonna..."

"Yep!" said Bill, happily, "I'm toying with ya! I'll even admit it! But you know what? You've been playing into my hands so often these last few days! It's boring! So I'd thought I'd cook up something interesting for the finale, huh?"

"Simple choice, Mr. Pines," sneered Lonnighan, "Come to us, or your sister and Hohenbecker die."

"How do we know you actually have them?" demanded Wendy, "How do we know this isn't a trick?"

"Are you willing to take that chance?" replied Bill.

There was a long silence.

"I didn't think so," said Bill, "Top of Mount Northwest, tonight. We'll have a party! Dress up, Pine Tree, bring a plus one! I'll make cake!"

He snapped his fingers. A cake appeared next to him – it seemed to be iced in blood.

"Well, we'll be seeing you, kid," said Bill, "Oh, and don't expect the town to rally around you or anything – we took care of that."

His form caught fire and burnt out of existence. The colour returned to the surrounding world.

Lonnighan turned and began to walk back to his car. Stan took to opportunity to lunge at the Principal – he instead ran straight into an invisible wall.

"Get back here!" Stan thundered, shaking his fist in range and frustration, "You think you can mess with my family! I'll pull your spine out and use it to tie up my pig, you hear me?!"

Dipper heard a strange noise. He, Stan and Wendy looked down. Gompers was happily eating the cake Bill had conjured.

"Is there anything that goat won't eat?" mused Stan.

"What did he mean about the town not helping us?" asked Wendy.

The door flew open.

"Dudes!" exclaimed Soos, "You gotta come see this!"

"...fire front currently extending across the Oregon interior. Several settlements are now being threatened in what is now being considered the largest firestorm in local history. We go live to Shandra Jimenez in the area. What is the situation, Shandra?"

Dipper, Stan, Wendy and Soos watched the news in the living room. Shandra Jimenez was standing in the woods, the haze of smoke all around. Fire trucks were moving into position, and a very serious-looking man with a bushy moustache and a shirt and tie under his fire gear was standing next to her.

"I'm here with Superintendent Anson of the Oregon Volunteer Fire-fighters Association," said Shandra, "Superintendent, how bad is this?"

"I've been in this job for ten years, ma'am," replied Anson, "I've never seen anything like this. A lot of towns are in supreme danger at the moment – most pressingly Gravity Falls."

"Dang it, Bill," whispered Dipper.

"If we can't put this out by tomorrow morning," continued Anson, "Gravity Falls will probably be destroyed."

"How likely is it that you'll put it out, Superintendent?" asked Shandra.

"If I lived in Gravity Falls," replied Anson, "I'd be running about now."

Shandra's eyes widened and she seemed to need a second to collect herself again.

"Um...yes, thank you Superintendent," nodded Shandra, "Citizens of Gravity Falls have already responded to the fire department's call for help. You can see some of them behind me."

Manly Dan ran into the screen behind her, carrying a large barrel of water.

"I'm gonna punch this fire out!" he thundered, "No weakling fire is burnin' down Manly Dan's house!"

Tyler followed him into the frame, egging on the massive lumberjack.

"Get 'em! Get 'em!"

"We'll keep you updated as news on the fire develops," finished Shandra, "This is Shandra Jimenez, back to you..."

Stan turned off the TV.

"Alright," he said, "They kidnap me, threaten my family and now they wanna burn down my home. Pardon my French, but this crap won't stand."

"He said he'd give Mabel back if I beat him," mused Dipper, "But how the heck am I supposed to beat a demon?"

"What's this 'I' stuff, Dipper?" demanded Wendy, "We're in this together, man."

"But Wendy, I can't..."

"No, I've seen this," grunted Stan, "Sometimes I watch the movie channel at night. Every time the hero goes off on his own, his friends follow him – probably because they're stupid lemmings. That's what's gonna happen if you go up Mount Northwest on your own. We're not having this argument, kid."

"Yeah, we're your lemmings, dude," nodded Soos.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to..." began Dipper.

"Dipper," snapped Stan.

"Sorry Grunkle Stan," muttered Dipper.

Dipper pulled out the Journal, skimming through it.

"I just...there's no answers in here," he said, "I mean, there could be stuff we could use...height-altering crystal, no...perceptshooms, nuh-uh...truth-telling teeth, nope..."

"Try the black light on the Bill Cipher page," suggested Stan.

All eyes fell on him.

"What?" shrugged Stan, "It just sorta came to me."

Dipper shrugged and walked over to his bag, which was resting against the wall. He pulled out the black light and shone it over the page. His eyes widened.

BILL CIPHER CAN BE DEFEATED!

LEGENDS SPEAK OF A CHILD OF DESTINY THAT WILL BE ABLE TO BEAT BILL WITH THE HELP OF THE BOOK IN THE GRAVITY FALLS LIBRARY.

I SHOULD TELL SOMEONE – FIND THE CHILD!

The last sentence was crossed out, replaced with barely legible scrawl.

CANNOT SHOW THE BOOK TO ANYBODY. CANNOT TRUST ANYBODY. FIDDLEFORD IS GONE STANLEY IS GONE WHO ELSE IS THERE?

STILL CAN'T SLEEP!

"Okay, this one was probably written towards the end," mused Stan, "God, I never knew how far I'd gone..."

"At least you didn't end up like McGucket, Mr. Pines," reassured Soos.

"OK," said Wendy, "So we need to get the book. Which will be up on the mountain. With Bill."

"We need a plan," sighed Dipper, rubbing his temples.

There was a knock on the door. Stan groaned and walked over, eyes narrowed.

"Can't you see we're close..." he demanded, throwing open the door.

He trailed off.

"Hello, Uncle Stan," said Dipper's father.

UCH POCL XZ IP HFDCTZSI

AN: That awkward moment when you realise you're going off to save the world with your dad.