Ford touched one of the walls with a gloved-hand. Before he had been separated from his allies, Bill had uttered one word that worried the scientist.

"Grunkle Ford?" Mabel asked and waited until the old man turned to look at her. "What did Bill mean by Qonfusion?"

Yup, that was it. Ford got on one knee to be eye-level with his niece and said, "In the Nightmare Realm, Bill had once used a maze called the Quadrangle of Qonfusion to try to hide from me. There, I was able to avoid the maze by lunging myself at him, but here we can't defy the laws of gravity."

"Well, this is Gravity Falls." Mabel joked.

"I doubt the absence of gravity would help much, Mabel." Ford said as he pointed at the ceiling.

"Oh." She sighed and looked around the dark hallway, using her phone to help light the way. She checked to see if she had any bars to call anyone, but she didn't receive any reception in the Fearamid. "So, what do we do now?"

"We need to find the others and get out of here." Grunkle Ford answered. "But it won't be easy. If this place is anything like the Quadrangle of Qonfusion, than it will be almost impossible to figure out."

"We can do it!" Mabel said optimistically. She started to lead the way down the hallway and then asked, "So, you almost had Bill back in the Nightmare Realm?"

Grunkle Ford smiled and said, "Well, yes. After thirty years of gathering the materials I needed and barely surviving out in the multiverse, I was ready to face him with my Quantum Destabilizer, when suddenly the whole Nightmare Realm began to shake and a ripped hole in the dimension appeared! I ran for my life until I emerged back into Dimension 46'\ ."

Mabel gasped as they kept on walking. "That was the day you came home!"

"That's right. I can't be sure what would have happened, but there's a good chance that if Stanley hadn't reactivated the portal, I might have taken down Bill that day." Ford informed his little audience. "That's another reason why I was mad at Stan. Not only did he create the rift, he also destroyed my chances of destroying Bill. All those long years of work, ruined."

Mabel suddenly wished she hadn't asked. So, not only was it her fault that the rift had formed, but it was also her fault that Bill was still alive. It was her fault that Bill had nearly taken over the Earth, entered Stan's mind and had to be erased along with it, and was now trying to destroy them. Her chest felt heavy and her eyes began to sting. Mabel rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and tried to focus on getting through the maze.

Ford noticed how quiet she was and looked down to see the worried look on her face. He misinterpreted her facial expression, think Mabel was concerned that Ford was still mad at Stan, and picked the story back up with, "But, of course, I'm not mad anymore. If it wasn't for Stan I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't have met you or Dipper, I would have never made up with Stan and sailed around the world with him. Sure, some bad came out of it, but not without some good."

Mabel looked up at her uncle and asked, "So, you don't regret it?"

That was a good question. There were times he wished he had taken down Bill that day. If he had just managed to do it before the portal opened, then Ford never would have had to erase Stan's mind, but no good ever came out of asking "what if" all the time. Ford had seen a handful of dimensions that answered that very question and they weren't all that much better than his home dimension.

"No." Grunkle Ford said flatly and ruffled Mabel's hair affectionately. "No, I don't regret it."

Mabel smiled and took his hand. "Good."

Dipper tried to crawl away at the rubble, but his attempts were futile. It only threatened to crush the teen, so Hephzie pulled him away and held him by his shoulders to talk to him. "Dipper, listen, it's no use! Bill obviously wanted to separate us. We have to find the others another way."

Dipper sighed and looked down the dark hallway. The light from Dipper's flashlight could only go so far until it turned into a tunnel of darkness. "I guess we have no choice."

"Don't worry." Hephzie said calmly as she let go and started down the dark hallway, her ripped navy-blue dress sparkling in the little light they had. "If we keep on walkin' I'm sure we'll run into someone."

"Let's just hope it's not Bill."

They kept on walking until they hit a corner turning them left. They followed it and later turned right. Then they hit a part in which the path split in two different directions.

"Which one do we take?" Dipper asked as he shined the light into each hallway.

"I dunno. Flip a coin for it?" Hephzie asked as she shrugged. Dipper gave an unapproved look that reminded her a bit of Ford. "Okay, okay, let's try this, then." Hephzie opened a small pocket that was on her scabbard and pulled out a small piece of white chalk. "I always keep some on me in case I need to use alchemy." She bent down and drew a star on the floor where the path splits. "There! Now, let's try the left one, n' if we end up back here we know not to go this way."

"That seems a little haphazard."

"Ya got a better idea?"

"Nope." And Dipper led the way down the left hallway.

They walked down until it turned to the right. Then left. Then right again. As they walked, Hephzie made a dotted line on the wall, like breadcrumbs to find their way home. All the turns were starting to get a little dizzying, but at least they weren't in any real danger. Right again, then two lefts. And then they hit a dead end.

"Great." Dipper complained and turned around.

"Guess we should've gone right."

And so they turned around and walked on. Right, then right again, then left and then… left, correct? But the turn was going right. And where was the white dotted line? It was nowhere to be seen! With no other way to go, they went on. Another left, and then a right. Slight claustrophobia was starting to give into Dipper and he took in deep breaths to calm down. Left, another left, another left, and then right. Now the teenager was starting to panic a little and he breathed heavily to try to steady his heart.

"Dipper?"

He didn't answer and just kept on walking, his pace picking up. There had to be a way out! There had to be! His family needed him! He couldn't risk being stuck here forever!

"Dipper!" Hephzie put her hands on Dipper's shoulders again and turned him around to look at the old woman. "Dipper, it's okay. Breathe. It'll be okay."

"You don't know that!" Dipper accused. "What if we're stuck here forever?! What happens when we need food or water?! What if there IS no way out?!"

"Dipper, getta grip!" Hephzie scolded and held him tightly in a loving embrace.

Dipper was, at first, shocked that she would suddenly grab and pull him into such a tight hold, but then comforted by her touch. He had read once that hugs chemically did help people. Dipper dropped the flashlight and returned the hug. He just needed to cling onto someone right now. Besides, it had been a long time since someone had hugged him like this, almost like a loving mother.

"Better?" Hephzie asked when she noticed his body didn't tremble anymore.

Dipper nodded, but did not let go.

"Keep the faith, Dipper. We'll find your family. I promise." Hephzie finally let go, but she ruffled the hair under his pinetree hat.

Dipper smiled and picked up the flashlight. "Thanks. Sorry for freaking out."

"Don't be. I'm scared, too." Hephzie said as they walked on. "Ya know, this reminds me of the time Ford n' I almost got lost in the mines."

"You did?"

"Oh, yeah. We took a wrong turn after the shock of the dinos, and…"

To help ease their worries and anxieties, Hephzie and Dipper exchanged stories. The old alchemist kind of gave up on trying to leave a trail and pocketed her chalk in case she needed it later, proving that the chalk-trail seemed to disappear, possibly another trick from Bill. After the story of how Hephzie and Ford found the mines the first time, Dipper told about how he found Journal #3 and thought Norman was a zombie, but instead he turned out to be a bunch of gnomes. That made Hephzie laughed and she told about the time she fed a gnome and was almost kidnapped, too, until Ford saved her and they broke all the gnomes hearts by telling them that Hephzie was already taken. Dipper was just telling her about the time he captured a Gremloblin when they heard footsteps from around the next corner.

Hephzie drew out her sword and stepped in front of Dipper, one hand in front of him and the other holding her sword, pointing it ahead. Dipper shone the flashlight at the turn, only to find that it was Wendy to emerged.

"Wendy!" Dipper gasped with relief.

"Guys!" She said and ran up to them while Hephzie lowered her sword and the arm that protected Dipper. "I can't believe I found you! This place is insane!"

"I know." Dipper replied. "I've been keeping track of the turns, but this thing seems to go on forever! But, it has to stop at some point, right? I mean, Bill's castle wasn't that big."

"No, you're right, Dipper." Wendy said. "There has to be a way out of here."

"Don't worry." Hephzie said calmly. "We just have to keep movin' forward."

"Right." Dipper agreed. "Wendy, can you take us back to the center? Maybe if we retrace our steps we can find the others."

"Good thinking, man." Wendy said with a wink and pointed at him, then gestured towards the way she came. "C'mon."

Dipper followed Wendy closely while Hephzie brought up the rear, her sword still in her hand. Maybe her aged bones were just aching from all this walking, but something didn't feel right. She felt like she was being watched. Hephzibah had a mission. Yes, taking down Bill would be nice, but as far as she was concerned, the safety of her friends came first.

The little group turned a corner of two, all while Dipper and Wendy talked pleasantly. Dipper's crush had died down a bit, but it was hard not to be charmed by the coolest redhead on the planet. Wendy would compliment him or shove him playfully, making him blush and rub the back of his neck. Hephzie smiled and noticed that Ford did the exact same thing.

After a few more minutes of walking, they hit another dead end.

"Aw, man!" Wendy complained and kicked up some dust in frustration. "Sorry guys, I think we took a wrong turn or something."

Dipper held his chin and thought out-loud, "You know, I've been keeping track of our turns, and sometimes it feels like we're going in circles. I know it's impossible, but if this was created by Bill, is it possible that… that the maze is changing?"

"What do ya mean?" Hephzie asked.

"Think about it. How easy would it be for Bill to move a wall or two to change turns or create dead-ends, even if he is just a ghost. Trust me, I've met a few ghosts and they can do a lot in the real world."

"C'mon, man." Wendy said and lightly punched his shoulder. "Don't get paranoid. Let's just keep going." She grabbed Dipper's hand and started to walk with him out of the dead end and down a different hallway in the maze.

Dipper blushed furiously. She wasn't pulling on him, but simply holding his hand, like she wanted to touch him. Dipper squeezed her hand back and led on with the flashlight in his other hand. He felt a little more confident and a little less worried as he had his dream-girl by his side. A few more turns and they hit another dead end.

"Right, should we try another tunnel?" Dipper asked.

Wendy turned to look down at him and she gave a cool smile. "Oh, don't worry, man. I've got your back."

Dipper smiled at this and felt his hand grow warm as Wendy's hold tightened. He was lost in her smile, and almost oblivious to the fact that cockroaches were crawling up his arm and surrounding him. But Hephzie noticed, and drew her sword and cut off Wendy's arm, making the figure turn into bugs and scamper away, a few crushed underneath Hephzie's shoe while Dipper screamed in horror.

"What the HECK?!"

"Of course Bill would try to trick us." Hephzie muttered, more to himself than Dipper. "We need to be more careful of other traps."

"Just like Mabel's bubble." Dipper mumbled.

"What?"

"In Mabel's bubble during Weirdmageddon, it trapped people using temptation with their favorite things. Mabel was ruler of her own land, Soos saw his dad, and Wendy got to vandalize the high-school with her friends instead of fighting for her life."

"Yup, that sounds like Bill." Hephzie sighed and shook her head. "Let's keep movin'. Next person we see, we need to make sure they're legitimate."

"Got it." Dipper said, more collected now that the shock had warned off.

Hephzie and Dipper walked side-by-side down the maze. A left, right, right, left, right, left, right, right, left, left. It felt like they had been walking forever, but they quickly learned that it helped to tell stories. After Dipper told about the Gremloblin, Hephzie told about the time she met the Multibear, which led to Dipper telling about his own experience with the Multibear and how he wanted to be a man.

Hephzie laughed at the end of that story and said, "Ya are so much like Ford it's scary!"

"Really?" Dipper asked as he rubbed his arm. As childish as it may seem, the Author of the Journals was still Dipper's idol, and hearing that he was like him helped boost his confidence.

"Yeah. Did he ever tell ya about the time he tried to take down the Multibear?"

"No!" Dipper gasped. "What, was he trying to become a man, too?"

"Not really. I think he was tryin' to prove he was already a man. Ya see, one day, as a date, I took him to my favorite bar n'..." A crumbling sound interrupted Hephzie. She looked up and saw the brick ceiling crack. "RUN!" Hephzie ordered and shoved Dipper to give him a head start back the way they came.

Without looking behind him or paying attention, the teenager ran for his life and leaped just in time to dodge a falling brick. He coughed out some dirt and turned as he lay on the floor to look at the caved in bricks. And he was alone. "HEPHZIE! HEPHZIE!"

"Dipper! Are ya hurt?"

"No, are you?!" Dipper asked as he stood up and tried to see if there was a way to get back to her, but they were separated.

"No, m'fine." Hephzie's muffled voice said. "Go find the others. Keep movin' n' I'll see ya soon, okay?"

"Okay." Dipper said nervously, not really liking the idea of leaving without Hephzie, but he didn't have much of a choice.

Using his flashlight to guide his way, Dipper started on his journey again, hoping he would run into someone, anyone, who was his friend and not trying to destroy him.

Ford couldn't remember how exactly, but by some act of persuasion Mabel managed to get her great-uncle to carry her on his shoulders. She was thirteen and could walk perfectly fine on her own, but after a few minutes of walking she had coaxed him into letting her climb up his back and sit on his shoulders. Oh, well. It wasn't like she was heavy or anything. And this was a good way to keep her safe.

Ford had a small notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. He had been calculating where he and Mabel have been to try to figure the maze out, but every turn or so they'd hit a dead-end, which Ford could've sworn wasn't there before. Maybe he was just getting confused or made a miscalculation here and there. Or maybe he really was losing his mind.

He had to admit that it was getting harder and harder to keep his cool about the situation. For all he knew, the others could be hurt or tortured by Bill, or worse. Ford had no idea where anyone was, not even himself and Mabel, and Bill was free to do whatever he wanted. Ford's instincts kept him on edge, like he was being watched, and he was ready to drop his journal and grab his gun in an instant. And yet, somehow, having Mabel sitting on his shoulders helped remind the old scientist that he wasn't alone. And that helped him keep his level head and think of a plan.

They turned a corner and saw a long tunnel stretch either way. Ford looked to his left and then his right, but just barely touching the darkness, he thought he saw someone.

"Hello?"

Hephzibah turned around and grinned. "Ford!"

"Hephzibah!" Ford pocketed his journal and pen back in his suit-jacket, put Mabel down, and started to run towards Hephzie, relief overpowering him at seeing that she was okay.

Hephzibah ran towards him, too, surprisingly well for someone in heels, and they met in the middle, holding each other tightly. They were both filthy and their nice clothes were ruined, but at least they were okay.

Ford let go and asked, "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." Hephzibah replied. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine."

Hephzibah looked up at the ceiling and said, "This place seems to go one forever. Stay close to me."

Mabel nodded and walked with her and Ford, staying next to her uncle. After a few steps Ford slowly pulled out his gun, cocked it, and pointed it at the back of Hephzibah's head. Mabel covered her mouth with her hands in utter shock. Why was Grunkle Ford doing this? Did he not trust Hephzie? Was he really going to shoot her?! Hephzibah stopped walking and slowly put her hands up.

"What are you doing, Ford?" She asked quietly. "Are you really going to shoot your date?"

"Who?" Ford chuckled. "When we're alone, Hephzibah only calls me by my full name, Stanford."

Hephzibah whipped around, kicked the gun out of his hands, and pinned Ford to a nearby wall. "Oh, really?" A voice much different than Hephzie's asked, but it came out of her mouth.

"I lied." Ford admitted, seeing the yellow in her eyes, and she punched her in the gut, rolled to his gun, and shot the imposter in the chest. "But it was nice of you to fall for it."

Mabel screamed at seeing Hephzibah being shot, but once the figure was hit it transformed into roaches just like Mabel Land and the bugs scurried away from the light coming from the teenager's phone.

"Of course Bill would use obstacle illusions to try to keep us in the maze." Ford said plainly; he had suspected suck tricks the minute the gang had been separated. "We need to be more alert the next time we run into someone."

Mabel nodded her head, her shock wearing off. She raised her phone and used it's flashlight to look down the tunnel. It seemed to go on for awhile, so she asked, "Should we try going this way?"

Grunkle Ford nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Mabel walked with him, using her cellphone to see ahead. After a minute or two, smaller tunnels could be seen leading out of the bigger tunnel. They paused at seeing so many litter the wall.

"Should we try one of the smaller tunnels?" Mabel asked.

"It's possible that this is the main tunnel, and it leads to Bill." Ford theorized, holding his cleft chin in thought. "Let's keep going. We can always turn around and try a tunnel if we reach a dead-end."

Mabel nodded once more and kept on walking with her great-uncle. While the light from Mabel's phone was white, coming from a far off tunnel was a yellow-ish light. Ford ready his gun just in case. Mabel let him step forward and the two waited for whatever was coming out of the tunnel about twenty feet away.

Looking around wearily and holding a flashlight, Dipper slowly walked out of the tunnel and paused at the mouth when he saw his sister and uncle. He held his heart and sighed in relief, while Mabel gasped happily and yelled her twin's name. The brunette started to run to Dipper, who had his arms open wide, but Ford stepped in front of Mabel and pointed his gun at the boy, just in case. Dipper's eyes were wide with fear. Ford felt a twinge of guilt, but if this was the real Dipper than he would understand why he had to do this. He had to protect Mabel.

"What creature did Dipper Pines release when he fell into my lab just before we started to play Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons together?" Ford growled.

"A Cycloptopus." Dipper stuttered. "Grunkle Ford wrote it in his second journal."

Ford lowered his gun and released a held breath. "I'm sorry, Dipper, but I had to make sure…"

"No, wait," Dipper demanded, his eyes still wide with caution. "How do I know you're the real Ford and Mabel." So that's why he was afraid when they first met.

Mabel rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Dipper."

Grunkle Ford put a six-fingered hand on Mable's shoulder. "No, no, he's right, Mabel. Ask us whatever you want." He told the teenager.

"Okay, how old was I when I got my lucky hat?" Dipper asked his supposive sister.

"Oh, that's easy!" Mabel said as she blew some hair out of her face proudly. "You were in the fifth grade! You thought it was lucky, so you never washed it, which was really gross. Mom used to nag you about it but Dad admitted to never washing his lucky socks. Oh! And you lost that hat when we first fought those gnomes that wanted me to be their queen, you even smashed one on the wheel, and…"

"Okay, okay," Dipper said shaking his hands. "I'm sorry I asked."

"So, can I hug you now?" Mabel asked cheekily as she held open her arms.

"Fine, but only an awkward-sibling-hug." Dipper offered, his arms open, too.

"I'll take one any day from you, bro-bro." Mabel said and went to her twin, hugging him tightly until they did the "pat-pat".

"Aren't you going to check me, boy?" Ford asked.

"Please, only the real Grunkle Ford is as paranoid as me." Dipper pointed out, swatting away Ford's question.

"True." Ford admitted and ruffled the teenager's hat and hair. "It's good to see you're safe. Any idea where the others might be?"

Dipper frowned and shook his head. "No. I was trapped with Hephzie, but we were separated by more fallen debri."

Ford sighed and said, "Well, we think we've found the main tunnel, but we were just venturing on to confirm our theory. I don't suppose you've ran into the others, have you?" Ford asked to confirm the fact that no one else has been located or confirmed to be okay.

Dipper shook his head. "No. Me and Hephzie thought we met up with Wendy, but it turned out to be… just some bugs, I guess. Just like Mabel Land."

"Bill must be using manipulation to try to keep us from finding him." Ford thought out-loud. "Follow me, kids. We'll find the others."

Hephzie heard Dipper walk away slowly, and she turned away from the wall of debri that separated her from the boy. She had no source of light with her, so all she saw was darkness. It was frightening, to see nothing. It was like she was blind. To ease her worries, Hephzie closed her eyes and slowly dragged her feet to a wall. Once she touched it, use kept one hand on the brick wall and slowly walked forward.

She kept on walking, opening her eyes every once in awhile in case she could make out a figure or see some light ahead, but it was no different than when her eyes were closed, which made her heart race. Hephzie breathed in deeply and kept on walking, her nice heels clicking against the brick below her, reminding her that she was still moving, that she was still alive and with the Earth, even if it didn't feel like it here in the eternal darkness.

Hephzie felt a mouth of a tunnel with her fingers and decided to look down the hallway. She saw nothing. She decided to go down the new tunnel in hopes of finding anything. At this point she'd gladly take seeing an illusion or even Bill himself if it reminded her that she was not hopelessly wandering this death trap.

As she walked, Hephzie's mind began to wander, as it often did when one did the same thing continuously with nothing to grab attention. Hephzie began to wonder just how much power Bill had. Here, in his old castle, he seemed to have quite a bit of control, even without a vessel to possess. Was it because he built this pace? Was his powers now limited to this underground pyramid? If so, what could he do? He could create temptations, no doubt trying to kill them. And he could control the Fearamid. Hephzie wondered if he was manipulating the maze, changing the tunnels and hallways, creating walls and moving them, forcing people apart. No, he definitely was.

But why? Why trap them here? A stupidly basic question, but sometimes it was easier to start with those type of questions and work your way to the more complicated ones. Okay, Bill would obviously want revenge on the Pines family, but would he really kill them? It was likely, so the zodiac could never be formed. As much as she hated that possibility, Hephzie had known Bill since she was eight-years-old, and she had a good idea of how his thought, how his mind worked. Hephzie would never admit to being the master of Bill's mind, but she'd like to think she knew him well enough to know his intentions and how he would pursue them.

Bill needed a vessel. He needed a body. And he wanted it to be human, and made by Hephzie. That much was clear. Was this his plan? Trap them all here and leave it up to Hephzie to make a deal with him? After over sixty years, was she finally going to shake his hand? Hephzie had been forced into a corner plenty of times and never made a deal with Bill, but the thought of him hurting anyone made her skin crawl, and she knew that, if it came to it, she would do it.

But it was up to them to make sure it never got to that point. Hephzie had to trust that Ford and the others could get out safely. She had to trust that it would all be okay. That together they could defeat Bill. They had to rally the others and form the zodiac, but first they had to get out of here.

Hephzie opened her eyes to check for any signs of progress, and she could have sworn she saw a tiny glow of golden light come from far into the tunnel. It wasn't much, but it was enough to show that Hephzie had stumbled into a large tunnel that connected to many smaller ones. The light came from the end, and unable to hold her excitement, the old alchemist broke into a run.

As she ran deeper into the dark tunnel, the light got closer and closer. She was soon able to make out a triangle-shaped double door, the handles in the shape of an oval at the center, representing Bill Cipher. Golden light was leaking out of the doorway like water, dimply lighting up the tunnel. Hephzie slowed down to a walk and realized that this must be where Bill was. He was either hiding from his enemies or waiting for Hephzie. Or both. The old woman took in a deep breath. Fine. Hephzie made up her mind and touched the handle of the door. She paused for a moment and prayed that the others were safe and not trapped behind this door. With a strong tug, she opened one of the doors, was swallowed by golden light, and walked in.