11
(69 minutes and 57 seconds until The Rift closes)
Dipper aligned the books, checking to make sure that (this time) everything was perfect. Mabel watched his every movement, throwing knives as she waited for him to finish. Glancing over at the giddy demon that was also watching rather than helping, she decided to ask him a few questions. "Why were you so interested in the other version of me?" His clay shoulders rose in a shrug, and the dream demon returned his attention to the work of her brother. "But she'll be dead soon, all of them will…" He grinned, "I wanted one last look inside her mind." The magician frowned, "Wait…you can read minds?" His grin widened, revealing a number of broken and cracked teeth. "I don't read minds. I inspect them, I smell them, I give a quick tasting, and then, I devour them."
He gave her his trademark predatory smile and his eye became thinner, sharper. Deadlier. She took a step backwards, but found herself pinned against the wall. Then her brother stood. "Okay we're ready-" "Oh Goody goody gumdrops!" Bill declared as he took an elongated step up to the fire. Sticking one finger into the bonfire, he retracted it with a giggle, and stuck the flaming digit in his recently acquired mouth. "HMMM! Yes, this will do just fine…" Mabel stepped over to her brother, "Something isn't right about all of this." He glanced at her and she could see worry flash across his face, before he regained his stage charisma. "Whatever do you mean?" Sighing the older of the twins placed her hands on her hips, and glared at him. "You were the one who said that this guy had some kind of master plan, why would he let us destroy all of that?"
The boy sighed, "Mabel, I had a deal with him. We gave him a body, and now he's supposed to help us."They both glanced back at the Cyclops only to find that his head had turned all the way around, exorcist style, and was now peering intently at them. "Ya'know I may not have ears technically…" He stepped closer, causing his shadow to fall over them. "…but I can hear everything you say." They both glanced at each other, and then his death glare was replaced by his normal cheery disposition. "Let's go enact us a ritual!"
(68 minutes and 17 seconds until The Rift closes)
Gideon struggled against the chains, before sighing and giving up for what felt like the millionth time. He turned as best he could and called out to the librarian on his right, "Robert, what happens if they enact that ceremony?" The teen sighed, and looked up at the red sky "Best case scenario, they fail and the energy blows up the valley. Worst case scenario…the whole world gets burned to a crisp."
Gideon turned back to starting at the cave opening, and then at the sky as he noticed what Robert had. Dipper tried to speak, but all that came out was a series of gargles. "Dipper…look up." The white haired boy instructed without peeling his attention away from the sight before him. The gagged boy did so, and nudged the struggling Pacifica, causing her to raise her head and be mesmerized. Mabel, being the only one who wasn't looking up, spoke "I don't get it. Why would Bill want that? And what did he mean by "I won't tell if you-" Gideon, not really paying attention to her words interrupted, urging the brunette to look up. She frowned but gasped as the sight met her eyes.
Circling high above, were massive blue clouds, which crackled with energy. And the eye of this storm was right above the mountain.
(67 minutes and 45 seconds until The Rift closes)
The portal opened, its blue flames lighting up the entire chamber. Dipper smiled, and closed his eyes, relishing just being near such cosmic power. His sister kept her eyes wide open, she was staring into the fire, at the forms which writhed and danced through it. The one eyed villain behind them was smiling in a way that would have been physically impossible for a human. Then he raised one hand in the air, and his yellow glow was replaced by red and blinding white, as red flames circled around the trio and he spoke in a deep and ominous voice. "GO."
Dipper opened his eyes in witness this, and duck to the side as his sister leaped at him. Bill threw a blast of energy in front of him, causing the pre-teen magician to go flying backwards and crash into the stone wall. "You idiots, you honestly think a demon is just going to hand you eternal power because you lit a few matches, song a song, and arranged some literature? HAHAHA! That whole ceremony was invented by chaos demons to trick small minded fools such as yourselves." He reached out and grabbed the portal, smiling as he absorbed the energy into his new form. Then the cyclops turned to Dipper's stunned sister, "It's your turn now ButcherKnife." His eyes closed, and the last thing he heard was Mabel's screams.
(67 minutes and 3 seconds until The Rift closes)
A fireman pulled Jesus "Soos" Ramirez rose from the rubble of what had once been the mystery shack. The man muttered something, and the firefighter attempted to reassure the survivor, but a moment later the man bolted upright and tried to stand. "You should rest sir; you've just been through a traumatic experience…" The man ignored him and rushed towards the remains of the building. "SIR! COME BACK!" The firefighter rushed after him, hearing him yell an apology and something about a "Mr. Pines"
He began rifling through the wreckage, throwing bits of chard wood behind him. The firefighter motioned for one of his colleagues to help him, and grabbed a hold of the handyman's right arm. "SIR! I am sorry about your friend, but we have to get you to a hospital, you have severe burns and what appears to be at least a mild concussion." Soos stopped struggling and stared down at the charred ground.
The firefighter saw tears coming to his eyes, coughing he turned the man child slowly and began leading him back to the ambulance and fire truck. Then ground began to shake, one of the survivors, wrapped in a towel screamed "HE'S BACK! IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" and one of the orderlies tried to calm her down, when he saw the blue glow at his feet. Soos turned and his large brown eyes widened as a huge metal triangle erupted from the soil, sending bits and pieces of rubble flying everywhere and sending most running for their lives. Gazing into the oblivion which sat in the center of the triangle, the memory of what and who had been responsible for this catastrophe returned to him.
Then the triangle spun around a little bit, as if trying to decide where to go, before speeding off in the direction of Scraggle Fang Mountain. Dipper and Mabel. The handyman reached up to tighten his cap, but found that it had been destroyed. So instead he grabbed burnt one from the wreckage, and ran over to the fire truck. "I'm sorry guys, but I really need this thing!" he yelled as he leaped into the driver's seat and sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. His face tightened and as he glared up at the mountain and the storm which circled it, he spoke. "Look out triangle man…here I come."
(66 minutes, and 9 seconds until The Rift closes.
Wendy opened her eyes and saw a giant yellow one staring back at her. A long black sliver of a pupil moved across the sphere slightly, observing every moment.
Then the pupil tightened and became thinner as she gasped in fright. Then it got wider and she heard a chuckle and buckled in pain. "Oh yeah…your almost dead. Real shame about that." The creature said this so matter-a-factly that she would have burst out laughing, had she not see the pool of blood at her feet and felt how soaked in it her shirt was in it. "Oh yeah you have by now lost most of your blood, you wouldn't be able to process this conversation if I hadn't slowed time." Groaning she tried to get to her feet but collapsed. "Since I know that you're a busy gal, I'll cut right down to the chase. You don't want to die, and I can make sure that you don't."
Now on the ground she noticed the black formal shoes which were inches from her face, they were connected to long spindly legs which led all the way up to a too small body, and a massive triangular head. What the hell are you…? "Dream demon inside a golem. But that's not important, what's important, is that you don't have much time for this earth, and I can fix it." Somehow the knowledge that he could read her mind didn't seem to affect her, perhaps it was because of how lightheaded she was becoming. "What? Are you carrying an ambulance with you?" He chuckled, "No. But I can heal your wounds completely. So, what do ya' say Red?" Where had she heard that nickname before? She tried to remember, but she was too spent and it seemed like too long ago to matter. "What…do you want..." He finished her sentence, clearly impatient. "In return? Does it matter, this is a limited time offer, and if you don't take it you and your friends are doomed." He snapped his fingers, and she heard the screams and shouts of Mabel, as well as another child she was unfamiliar with.
Then a black hand, looking like it was made from stone, was stuck in front of her face. For a moment she swallowed, and observed the glowing of the markings which crisscrossed the arm. Then she raised her hand,"This isn't one of those…soul sucking time thingies is it?" The triangular head swung back and forth. Wendy Corduroy summoned the last bit of strength that was in her exhausted muscles, and shook the hand.
Mocking laughter filled the air, and blue fire sprouted up from the hand, before climbing onto the injured teen. She felt the little fires dancing all over her, all across her flesh, and she heard a darkly distorted voice fill her mind right before the fire disappeared, "Have fun eventually drying up, IceBag."
Then she opened her eyes, and felt completely rejuvenated. In fact, she felt better then she had in her entire life; it was as if someone had pumped her full of adrenaline. She took a step, and smiled to find that all her injuries had completely disappeared, grabbing the knife which lay on the ground, she ran down the tunnel at inhuman speeds. The feeling so wonderful that she had choice other than to cream in ecstasy it was like the greatest power fantasy she had ever had, thrown in to reality. She ran straight through boulders, and ran along the walls of the cavern, feeling completely invincible. Then she heard Mabel scream again, and with a determined look on her face she ran through the tunnels at breakneck speed, somehow knowing exactly where her pre-teen friend was located.
Exiting the cave she saw her Dipper, Mabel, two kids she had never seen before, and Robbie? For a second logic seemed to return to her mind, but it was quickly flushed out when she realized that lighting was spiraling out of the sky, and striking the ground precariously close to the metal pole. She grabbed the chains with her bare hands, and the five spectators watched in astonishment as the chains were torn apart. Dipper, now free, removed the gag from his mouth and stared up at the ginger in admiration. "Wendy! Your alive, and you've been working out…" Her heightened sense noted the storm above them immediately, and she pointed to the cliff side, "We need to get out of here! RIGHT NOW!" The boy with the white hair spoke "But the Gleeful twins are going to-" the blonde haired girl tapped his shoulder, and pointed at the sky. His eyes widened and he almost fainted.
Then the laughter reached her ears, and the redhead swiveled to see the demon she had made a deal with moments ago, flying high above the mountain, and getting bigger and bigger by the moment. He grabbed a giant metal triangle which had just arrived and laughed even louder, causing tremors and mild avalanches. Turning back to the group she glared with glowing green eyes, "We have to get off this mountain, NOW!" They all nodded clearly frightened, and she felt guilt for causing such dismay. But there's no time, we have to go! She ushered them to begin climbing and they did as instructed, getting a perfect view of the goliath who floated above and fiddled around with the machine.
(In the other dimension)
Bill glared at the portal. 65 minutes and 21 seconds until The Rift closes. He prayed that his allies were successful in their endeavor. He hated sending them into the eye of the storm, and tricking them. He had grown quite found of MaginfyingGlass, and MultiTool was like a younger him. He could even relate to Robbie in his resentment of the towns populace. For a moment he considered going in there to help them, but he knew that if he did that then the he would have to close the portal. He also was not particularly looking forward to meeting himself, according to PineTree's thoughts, this other him was a shyster and maniac. Not to mention his jokes are awful.
He sighed, or he would have if he had or needed a mouth and throat. He hated The Prophecy; its creator was almost as much of a jerk as Bill was for sending those two children to their doom. He wondered if SixFingers in all his cruel logic would have approved. Ah well, best not to worry about it. After all, someone's gotta take the fall.