Chapter 12: Truth Revealed in the Flames
Dipper walked over to where both his uncles lay. Stan suddenly sat up and looked around.
"What the hell just happened?" he grumbled. He turned to see Ford lying next to him with his eyes closed. "Hey! Stanford, get up you smuck!" His eyes went to Dipper as he held the vial and the journal page. "What are you doing?" Stan asked him.
"Ford told me to make him breathe in this powder, then I'm going to read the incantation to destroy his mind." He spoke with such a monotone voice that Stan didn't think he was serious.
He let out a laugh. "What?"
"It's what he wanted," Dipper said, still emotionless. "Oh, by the way, thanks for telling me you made copies of the journals, you jerk,"
Stan blinked a few times, unable to fully comprehend what his nephew just said. Dipper poured the powder into his hand. He knelt down beside Ford and blew the powder into his face. He hoped he did it right. Then he looked at the piece of paper.
Inside Ford's mind, Bill jumped around for joy. He watched all of the mathematical equations float around with various sheets of notes.
"I'm here! That equation has to be around here somewhere!" He floated up a staircase made of books towards a door. Opening the door, he saw something he didn't expect. He saw a park alongside a beach of white sand and a blue ocean. Ford sat on a swing, gazing out at the water.
"Well, this is more majestic than I expected," Bill said. He floated over. "So, uh, about that equation—"
Ford shrugged without looking at him. "It's around here somewhere," he said.
"Yeah, but where? Do you know how many equations you have floating around in your head? Show me where it is."
"I never said I was going to show you anything," Ford said with a grin. "Find it yourself."
"What?" Bill cried out. "But you also said you were my puppet and I'm commanding you to show me where it is."
"Truthfully, I don't know. It's been a while since I learned it and I only glanced at it a few times. I'm not sure if I even remember it fully," Ford said, messing with him. Bill's one eye glared at Ford.
"Show me now! Or the whole deal about me leaving your family alone is gone! I'll kill everyone you care about if you don't show me that equation, now!" His eye did a pleasant smile. "Or rather, I'll make you kill everyone you care about."
Outside in the real world, Dipper still held onto the journal page. The others had finally made their way over. Dipper looked at his sister.
"I don't know if I can do this," he said.
Suddenly, he heard his great uncle's voice. Dipper! Read the incantation! He looked down at his uncle.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" Stan asked.
Mabel looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes. "Grunkle Ford told Dipper to d-destroy his mind after Bill entered it," she sobbed.
"What?" Stan yelled. He grabbed Dipper's hand, holding the paper. "What the hell, kid?" Dipper pulled his arm back.
"I don't want to do it!" he screeched. "I'm about to kill my hero!" He wiped away his tears.
"Wait, Ford's your hero?" Stan asked in shock. "I thought I was."
A genuine laugh erupted from his nephew. "Yeah, you are Grunkle Stan. You taught me how to be tough. Both of you are my heroes. And I guess that's why I'm doing this for him." He began reading the incantation.
Inside Ford's mind, he heard his nephew's pronouncing the Latin perfectly. A smile crossed his lips. Suddenly, fire exploded, engulfing the ocean, the beach and swings, the blue flames grew higher.
"You're dead, Bill," Ford said as he stood up.
"What the hell is this?" the demon cried out. Ford held out his inter-dimensional gun. "Where did you get that? I destroyed it."
"How the hell do you spend most of your time in the mindscape and know nothing about how it works?" Ford asked coldly. "It's my mind! And you're done screwing with it!
"Oh, that's how you're gonna be, huh?" Bill asked slyly. "Well, then, Fordsy, I have a small parting gift for you!" The demon stretched out his arm, touching Ford on the forehead. Suddenly, a bunch of images exploded in his mind.
He saw Mabel in the woods, sitting against a tall pine tree. She looked into the backpack she thought was hers, only to discover it belonged to Dipper.
"Wrong backpack," she said as she pulled her sweater over her head, defeated. "It's not fair. I wish summer could last forever."
"That might be possible," said a voice.
"Sweater Town is not accepting incoming calls right now,"
"M-mabel, its' me," the stuttering squeaky voice continued.
"Who said that?" she asked peering out of her turtleneck sweater.
Suddenly, a plump man with thick goggles and a baldhead appeared. He walked towards her.
Ford didn't recognize him.
"The time travel guy? What are you doing here?" Mabel asked.
"You said you don't summer to end, did I hear you right?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah, why are you asking?"
"Look, it may be against the rules, but you did something for me, so I thought I could help you out. It's called a time bubble and it stops time from moving forward. Summer in Gravity Falls can last as long as you want it to."
Mabel wiped more tears from her eyes. "Really? But how does it work?" she asked.
"I just need you to get something from your uncle. Something small, he won't even know it's missing." He showed her the cracked rift. Ford's eyes widened.
"Maybe Dipper has something like that in his nerd bag," Mabel said as she looked inside the backpack. Her hands reached into the backpack and pulled out the cracked rift.
"Is this what you want?" she asked.
"Yes, that it, just hand it here and I'll do my thing," he started getting more excited. "Unless you're ready to leave Gravity Falls?"
Mabel looked down at the item, then back up at the man. "Just a little more summer," she held it out to him.
Ford screamed, or he thought he did. Mabel! What are you doing? Don't give that to him!
The man took it, holding it for a second. Then— crash! The orb hit the ground and the man smashed it with his foot, sending millions of pieces of the rift everywhere. Suddenly, Bill's shrill laughter came out of the man as he removed the goggles, showing his yellow eyes.
"Oh no! Wait! Wait!" Mabel yelled, but it was too late. The man snapped his fingers, making her pass out. Bill went on, saying the world was his. Ford watched, horrified. Then he shook himself out of it.
He suddenly saw Bill standing in front of him. "That's right, Fordsy, your niece started Weirdmageddon."
"You son of a bitch! Go to Hell!" Ford lashed out with all his rage. Bill just laughed. Ford began to squeeze the trigger of his gun.
"Goodbye, Bill. This time, you're not coming back!" He pulled the trigger, sending beams of energy into Bill's eye. The demonic triangle burst into millions of particles. The blue flames grew higher, engulfing Ford.
