Hi guys! I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll take a bit to upload the drawings, but they'll eventually appear! Don't worry!


Two adult Seb and Ford screamed at each other's unshaved faces. What the hell?! In his panic, Ford fell from the bed, as Seb covered himself with the blankets. "What the fuck!?" Seb cried. Why were they half naked in his room?! They were wearing t-shirts, underwear…and that's about it. Why the hell were they only sleeping in their t-shirt?!l

Ford panted as he blindly patted the nightstand for his glasses. He put them on and blinked, looking around. They were…at the Shack, but how? What… His memories were blurry, but he remembered being with Sebastian at the forest…they met a Fey…and then, they passed out?

He usually passed out after not sleeping for days straight…but never like this. He looked at his brother and sheepishly stood up. "Um…good morning…" He told him before looking down at his bare legs. A tiny, barely noticeable smile escaped from his lips, and Seb snorted with laughter. "Good morning…" The brothers chuckled softly, this was so weird.

The door was thrown opened and Seb and Ford saw the twins and Stan standing there. "THANKS GOD YOU ARE BACK!" Stan cried loudly and ran forward to hug his adult triplets. His younger and older brother looked at each other. "Where did we…go?" Seb asked confused.

"And why are we- er, not wearing…pants?" Ford asked with his cheeks burning in embarrassment.

Dipper snorted at the clothes, or lack of them, as Mabel grinned funnily. "What do you remember, Uncle Seb?"

Seb scratched his head and looked at Ford. "You handcuffed me to him, we went to the forest…a fairy got angry with us…and now we are here." He said and Ford nodded. "What happened?"

Stan frowned a bit. They didn't remember? What about their heart-to-heart talk?! Did they forget it as well? They'll go to fight each other again? Dipper was thinking the same and looked at the middle triplet, wondering if they should tell them.

Mabel, however, beat them to it. "You got turned into kids and stayed like that for 3 days!"

""What?!"" Seb and Ford cried in shock.

Stan and Dipper sighed. "Yeah, what she said." They agreed. The two brothers grimaced a bit and looked at each other. They couldn't remember 3 days of their lives? When they were KIDS?!

"Alright…" Ford nodded slowly. "And I suspect you found a way to turn us back to normal."

Stan and the kids shook their heads. "Nope, we didn't do anything…"

"We actually thought you'd spend more days like kids." Dipper shrugged. "The fairy said only you could break the spell…" Mabel giggled. "I have photos! You were so adorable!" And fought a lot, but no need to remind them that.

Ford paled, what the hell happened?! As Seb snorted. He wrapped the blanket around his waist, he wasn't like Stan to walk around in his underwear, and walked over to Mabel. "Did Ford do something embarrassing?" He asked and Mabel giggled.

The scientist groaned, running a hand through his face. "This is a nightmare…" He muttered. As soon as he said that, the triplets' eyes widened. Nightmare! "Bill!" They shouted at the same time.

The twins frowned confused. "What? Bill?" Mabel asked and Seb looked at Ford, remembering the talk they had before getting...de-aged.

"Family meeting! Now." Ford declared. Stan raised an eyebrow as Seb crossed his arms over his chest. Their older brother stopped, looked down at himself, and frowned. "Better idea. Put on clothes first, then we have to talk."

Seb grinned. "Hey, Sixer?" The scientist turned around. "Rocking that tattoo…" He stuck his tongue out as he smiled. Ford covered his neck with a hand, blushing, and stomped away. No one respected him anymore…

"We'll get changed as well…" The twins declared and ran away to get the bathroom first. Stan looked at his younger brother. "Are you sure you don't remember?"

"No, really. I don't know…" Seb grabbed his pillow and stroked it. "Why?" Stan sighed. "You were really upset with Ford before the…de-aging stuff. Remember?" Seb nodded slowly. "How…um…How are you feeling now, huh?"-

"Fine I guess…I-I mean…I feel he's really sorry… "It was weird to explain, he didn't remember what happened or what they said as kids…but he…kinda…knew he was. At first I didn't know if he was telling the truth, we were even fighting before the fairy came…hehe…" Seb rubbed his arm. "But…despite everything that happened…I-I feel like, he doesn't really hate me anymore, you know? I feel…I can trust him again…"

Stan nodded slowly, struggling to understand. They didn't remember…but at the same time, they kind of did? Maybe they weren't aware of it, but their 'change of heart' was still present in their minds, it had to be, right? They wouldn't have turned back to normal if it wasn't… He shook his head. "I'm glad you are in…decent terms with each other?"

Seb laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right…" Even if he could trust him, it didn't mean it was something that happened immediately, trust was earned slowly. The two stayed silent before Seb said. "So…can you leave so I can get changed?"

"Oh. Right."

-.-

When he was dressed, Seb searched for his phone, because he couldn't find it anywhere. He eventually found it under the bed, with the screen slightly cracked and completely out of battery. The blond sighed. This was definitely his younger's him doing… He plugged it and turned it on to check his messages. What had Wanda thought during this time? He REALLY hoped Stan kept his mouth close about this…

Fortunately for Stan, Wanda didn't know anything, but she had left him some messages of 'Stanley told me' 'Are you ok? What do you have?' 'Hope you get better soon'. Seb nodded in approval with a smile. He had to give Stan some credit. Telling her he was sick was pretty clever. After reassuring he just had a nasty fever and couldn't stand up from his bed (put on some drama so she didn't wonder why he couldn't grab his phone), he noticed he had some other messages from unknown numbers and the one he registered as…

Oh circles, he forgot about Rico…

Seb bit his lip and decided calling him was worth a try. But dealers didn't pick up their phones, did they? He bet he wouldn't-

"Where the fuck have you been the past days?!"

Oh, they picked up! "Hey Rico…" He laughed sheepishly. "How-How's the business…and all?"

Rico huffed. "I don't have time for this, Bill. One of my men, Santiago, is going to your town for fuel." He said in his thick accent. "We need you to hide the dogs for a while so they don't catch anyone's attention before he crosses the border."

"Excuse me what?" Seb blinked with his two uncovered eyes.

"You'll receive your payment once he arrives." He mumbled before hanging up. Seb stared at his phone before sighing. Alright then… He looked into his drawer for another eyepatch, was he without an eyepatch during the past days?! Urgh, so embarrassing, everyone saw his disgusting eye! He put it on and quickly went outside by the back porch.

Almost as soon as he stepped outside, there was a men wearing a bandana, an eyepatch and a mustache waiting in a green truck between the trees, the back part of it was covered by a blanket. Seb sighed. Why was he still keeping in contact and helping a well-known criminal? Was he his friend? Did he consider him his friend? Well, he wouldn't call Rico his friend…more like an acquaintance, but he helped him with faking Ford's death and all…and the man really appreciated him while he worked for him…

More than most 'good' people in his life, to be honest…

He approached the dangerous-looking guy. He just hoped having Rico on his side was a good idea. "Hey…" He waved at the man awkwardly. 'Santiago' grumbled and pulled off the blankets to reveal a bunch of pug puppies in barrels. Oh, so that's what illegal pugs meant! "So, I just have to take care of them? For how long exactly?" He asked in Spanish, just in case.

"I need to go into town, do some stuff there." The man gave him a wad of bill. Ohh~ He didn't really understand the point of keeping the dogs here, but who cared! Santiago walked in direction of the town and Seb sat down in front of the truck, looking at the excited puppies. They were cute.

"Uncle Seb! We gotta eat!" Mabel called from inside the house and Seb sighed. "Ask Stan!" He shouted back. "You gotta eat as well!" Stan shouted as well and Seb groaned loudly. He stared at the puppies who were cutely panting in their barrels and he glared at them. "Stay here."

He quickly ran back into the house and crossed his arms. "I'm busy, what?" He asked exasperatedly. Stan gasped offended and put a hand over his chest. "You ungrateful brat! After taking care of you these days?!"

What happened during these days? Seb asked mentally.

'No idea. The memories weren't really stored, you know? It's more like you have…sensorial memories, I guess Sixer does as well, and that doesn't have a physical representation, hence no door, which means I can't-'

I understood, I'm not stupid…

Seb ended up pouting as Bill2 laughed at him, making the kids laugh. "Why is Sixer not here, then? He discovered a way to survive on coffee?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nope, but I saw him going to the basement after putting on clothes. I'll get him out." Stan sighed.

He already missed the Ford who ate food

"But you still need to eat." Stan insisted, still feeling like a mom, and handed him a plate of Stancakes and a glass of juice. Seb thanked him and walked away. Mabel pouted. "Uncle Seb, where are you going?!"

"I said I was busy, I'll be back." Seb shrugged. Stan walked over to him but before he could say anything, Seb pulled out one of the bills and waved it at his face. "I'm busy, Stan~"

Stan's eyes turned into $'s and snatched the bill. "Don't worry, little brother. I have you covered!" He patted his shoulder and Seb laughed before grabbing a box of cereal and walking away. Dipper blinked at him and then stared at Stan. "Did you just get bribed?"

Seb took his food outside and found the puppies had obediently stayed in their barrels. "So, I guess you can eat cereal?" He poured a bit on the truck in front of the puppies but they stayed there, just looking adorable with their little tongues out.

'Are they broken? Can dogs get broken?'

Seb actually shrugged to himself. He leaned against the truck and bit his pancake, he had no fork so he was just eating it without using his hands. He checked his phone, Wanda seemed relieved 'he was back to normal'. He couldn't help but laugh. She didn't know how right she was. He lifted a puppy barrel with his mind and hummed. The blond wondered what happened while he and Ford were kids, he was really curious, but Mabel said she had photos so maybe she could show them later? He absently stroked the puppy's head. That fairy changed them they had been fighting, especially about Bill and the rift.

He drew his knees to his chest. Ford hadn't trust them, not even Stan, with this really important information. But…now that they were in better terms, (somehow?) they really should warn everyone about it. Ford didn't hate him, he didn't remember…but he knew he promised to be a better brother, and if he wanted to do that he had to tell everyone! He was worried the rift landed on the wrong hands.

He closed his eye. He couldn't remember many things, and he might not know lots of things anymore…But he could clearly see the memory of those days. The sky opening, turning red, people turning into Stone, hurting Dipper, hurting Mabel, electrocuting Stanford, his monster form…getting killed…

He couldn't let that happen to his family, he just couldn't. He couldn't put the Pines family in danger twice! The only way to keep them safe was telling everyone about the rift and what to do to keep it away from Bill's tiny black hands.

'Remember what Miz said~' Bill2 sing-songed. 'Fixed points are a thing. Weirdmageddon will come and you won't be able to do anything about it!'

"We can keep him away. There's still time…" Seb said aloud, anxiously making the puppy barrel float in circles, with the puppies wagging their tails excitedly. "We-We can come up with a plan…protect…"

'Hey, Aquiles! Nice work on the heel!'

"Of course!" Seb exclaimed. "They protected the Shack against Bill's attacks! We can do the same! What material was it used again!? Think! Think, useless human brain, think! As he paced back and forth in thought, Santiago returned from the forest, panting and quite nervous. He saw the puppies in their barrel floating next to the blond and he grimaced. "What the hell?!"

Seb jumped at the sudden voice and he immediately made the barrel drop the ground, but caught it before the puppies hit the ground and hurt themselves. He wasn't a monster! "No-Nothing! Magic trick!" He lied quickly.

"Family meeting! Family meeting!" He heard Ford's voice call and he frowned confused. What did he want? Well, not important, he should tell him about protecting the Shack anyway.

"No te preocupes." Seb reassured him in Spanish. Santiago grumbled, confused because he definitely saw that barrel floating, but it didn't matter right now, he had more important stuff to do, he could always ask boss later. He threw his stuff to the inside of the truck. "I think I got caught in town…" Seb laughed nervously and held the puppy barrel. "Right…"

He handed him the barrel with puppies. "Ok, if you think someone is after you, you have 24 hours to get these pugs across the U.S. border, move it fast because I don't want anything leading them here." He wasn't going to prison again! NEVER!

They put the barrel on the truck and suddenly, an arrow flew just above their heads. "Ahh! It's the cops! Move it!" Seb screamed at him, and the man quickly drove away with the puppies yapping. Seb quickly got inside the house and went to find his family. "If the cops come here, I'm absolutely innocent!" He warned. His triplets were in the living room's table with the twins. "Why's Mabel holding a crossbow?"

""Protection"" Stan and Ford at unison. "Mabel said it was safe to give kids weapons?" Ford defended himself. Seb raised an eyebrow and sat backwards on a chair. "What's going here? What did I miss?"

Mabel squealed loudly. "Uncle Ford gave me the mission to find cute unicorns!" She waved Journal 1 at him. This was going to be so awesome!

Seb's eye widened as he smiled. "Oh! Of course! Unicorn hair!" That was one of the ingredients they used to "Bill-proof" the Shack the first time too! "So we are going to protect the house from Bill, aye?"

Ford raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?" He asked, genuinely curious. Seb laughed and grabbed the bag that was left on the floor. "In my past life old Ford did the same. What do you have here? Jelly beans?"

Ford grabbed the bag from him and sighed. "Did it work?"

"Yup!" As a robot he-Bill found their weakness though, but because there will be not need to a make robot in this world, they didn't have to worry about that. DEFINITELY. He saw the scroll emblazoned with the image of Bill Cipher and several hieroglyphs on the table. "You know we saw the real Bill this summer?"

Ford nodded slowly and adjusted his glasses. Stan leaned against the wall and answered for him. "Yeah you defeated him with kittens and tickles." The middle triplet snorted. Dipper groaned. "I said it was more heroic than it sounds!"

"And Bill also possessed Dipper." Ford frowned and Seb rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah…" The scientist sighed. The fact that they dealt with Bill was dangerous enough, but his nephew had had that demon in his body, he was worried he could get possessed again, especially when he didn't know what kind of deal Dipper accidentally made with the triangle. Ford shuddered.

"Mabel volunteered to get the last ingredient due to her great love for unicorns and her pure heart" Ford decided to continue talking. Mabel rubbed her arm at it, almost looking guilty. "We are going to place moonstones, mercury and unicorn hair in different spots of the Sha-house, to create some sort of barrier against his powers that are dangerously growing."

"Because of the Rift?" Seb asked intentionally. Dipper gasped and looked at his oldest uncle. Ford's eyes widened before his stare hardened, all while Stan and Mabel looked confused. "Sebastian!"

"What? I thought you told them already…" Seb said innocently. Mabel looked up at him. "Tell us what?"

"I never said anything, Uncle Ford!" Dipper said quickly and Ford rubbed his temples. "I know, Dipper. I…shared this information with him before the…incident." He frowned a bit. "But you didn't have to tell!" Mabel looked at her brother with a betrayed look. He knew about this? And he never told her!? To keep Ford's secret?! They were the Mystery Twins! They shared everything!

Seb crossed his arms. "There's no reason to hide it. Watch, it's pretty simple." He looked at Stan and Mabel. Both looked really affected with the news. "After Ford dismantled the portal an interdimensional rift was created because that shit was unstable as hell. And it's nicely hidden in the basement. If it breaks, we are going to die, but it's not gonna happen because we all are going to make sure no one gets to the Shack to steal it or break it or the like."

Mabel and Stan gaped as Ford facepalmed. Finally, Stan looked at his brother. "How…How could you keep this from me, Stanford?" He asked softly. "And make the kid keep it a secret."

"Listen, Stan…I…" Ford sighed and quickly glared at Sebastian for getting him in this situation to begin with. "I guess it doesn't matter right now…The important thing is that we must keep Bill away."

Stan nodded slowly and grinned humorlessly. "Right…right, because, who cares you hid this from us for some reason no? Because of course if you hadn't-" He looked at his brother's eyes and sighed. "Just do what you have to fix your mistake."

Ford winced a bit as the kids wondered what he meant. Why was this his fault? Mabel guessed he had done pretty dumb things here, but Bill? What did he have to do with Stanford? Seb simply looked down at his hands, feeling sad. He knew this was going to make things tense again but it had to be done. He just hoped Stanford didn't get angry with him again.

Mabel looked at her twin and then at Seb. "Do you want to go find unicorns with me?" She pouted and her uncle smiled relieved. "Sure, pumpkin! I'd love to see unicorns!" He picked her up and put her on his shoulders (something Mabel really missed), and they ran away. The girl pulled out her phone and dialed her friends to invite them in their mission as well. "Candy, Grenda, Wendy, clear the afternoon!" She looked up at her uncle and gave him a shit-eating grin. "What?" Seb asked and put her on the floor.

"The girls saw you as a kid. Everyone thought you were cute." Mabel informed him and the blond's face warmed up. "Oh…" Did Red see him?! Oh no, she would never let him hear the end of it now!

Dipper looked at his oldest Uncle with a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, Uncle Ford." The scientist massaged his temples. Why? Why would he even think it was a good idea to tell them like this?! He took a deep breath. "It's not your fault, Dipper…It's just something between my brothers and I." Dipper nodded and rolled his eyes. Yeah, tell him about that. Now Mabel seemed angry at him for not telling her. But…it wasn't his fault!

"So… what are the odds Mabel and Uncle Seb get that hair?" he asked, changing the topic to anything but this. It apparently worked because his uncle straightened up. "Unlikely. I've dealt with unicorns before, and if I had to describe them in one word it would be... frustrating." Ford shuddered.

"So, what are we gonna do about Bill?" Dipper asked and Ford made a hand gesture. "Follow me." They walked to the Gift Shop and the boy quickly changed the sign on the Mystery Shack to 'Closed', and he stood next to Ford who pressed a button on his watch and made the candy machine open on its own. It was so cool to see it.

The walked down the stairs and took the elevator to go onto the second floor. Dipper gasped softly at the red door with a yellow key hole in the middle. Secret door! Ford opened the door and pushed it open.

"Welcome to my private study, a place where I keep my most ancient and secret knowledge. Even your uncles don't know about this place." He explained. He never told any of them… Why was keeping some things away from them was bad anyway?! He was trying to protect them! The more ignorant someone is about something, the happier they are! He saw his nephew examining a rectangular object that was covered by a sheet. His eyes widened a bit and called him. "Dipper, come along!"

The boy luckily obeyed and walked over to him to stand up behind him. "If we can't Bill-proof the Shack, we're going to have to do the next best thing." He opened a drawer that read 'Project Mentem' and held up a helmet with wires on it for the kid to see. "We're gonna have to Bill-proof our minds." Ford said dramatically.

Dipper gasped.

-.—

Seb changed to more proper expedition clothing and met his niece at the porch where they would meet the rest of the girls. Mabel called them while he was changing so they must be on their way. He sat down next to the girl and noticed her sad pout. "What's wrong, Shooting Star?"

Mabel leaned against his arm and sighed, absentmindedly noticing he was wearing a t-shirt now. He had to, walking around in a nice shirt or vest would ruin it. "It's just…This… being close to the end of the world, you know? Bill, and the rift…" She pulled her sleeve a little bit. "I don't like how Dipper kept this from me. We always tell each other everything, I-I don't know, am I being jealous?" She pouted sadly. She felt a little bad for shouting at Uncle Ford and making him cry as a kid, she was a good girl, she thought she was, and even when they played at the arcade and had fun after that, she didn't get the time to actually apologize.

And…thinking he thought he was still 'pure of heart'…

"Oh, Shooting Star…" Seb smiled a bit. "Of course not, you are the sweetest girl ever!" He ruffled his hair. "And don't worry too much about it…Um, I'm sure Pinetree didn't want to hide this from you…but you know…" Seb trailed off and sighed. "Don't get angry with your brother, I know hiding it from us was bad, but Stanford did it because he wanted to protect us." He defended his brother. He understood why he did it…but it was still pretty stupid.

Mabel pouted. "But why would Uncle Ford hide it? He doesn't trust us? Why did he only tell Dipper?" Sometimes…she felt her older uncle didn't like her…

"Well…Ford is crazy." Seb laughed and the girl smiled a bit. "Let's not think about it, we already know and that's what's important. We have a mission to find unicorn hair!"

Mabel stood up and nodded. She didn't want to talk about this anyway. "You're right, Uncle Seb!" She grabbed one hairband she had in her wrist and looked at Seb. "Can I make you a pony tail?"

Seb looked up at his hair on his forehead. "Well, if you can grab enough hair, I don't see why not." Mabel grabbed a chunk of his hair and tied it up in a tiny ponytail. I like your shirt! Why haven't you worn it before?" Mabel asked. It was a black and yellow t-shirt that formed a triangle in the center. It was pretty fitting.

"Because I am usually wearing my suit, which I should stop doing, because we are always getting in trouble, and I always end up ripping them." Seb sighed with mock sadness. Mabel laughed and patted his hair. He was so silly.

"Oh my gosh! He's back!" A voice called and uncle and niece turned to look at the girls approaching them. Wendy, wearing a black t-shirt and shorts was grinning widely at Seb; Candy and Grenda seemed dissapointed.

"Hello, Red." Seb nodded slowly. "I...guess you...met other me, huh?" Wendy snorted loudly.

"You were the tiniest 10 year old I have ever seen." She declared. Mabel snorted. "He was 12!"

"Wait, seriously?" The red-headed teen snorted before laughing again. Seb grumbled and stood up. "Ok, who cares how tall I was? We have unicorns to find!"

The younger girls squealed and ran into the forest, going to the magical part of the forest.

Seb walked behind them and Wendy rolled her eyes at their excitement. "Do you remember these 3 days, Mr. P?"

"Nope." Seb said simply and Mabel turned her head to look at them. "I'll show him photos later!" Wendy chuckled and shook her head. She hoped Seb was embarrassed! She would make sure of it…

They walked for a while, looking around as the dark green color of the leaves and grass changed as they got closer to the magic part. They had never been in this part of the forest, except probably Seb, who explored the forest when he was younger, but it was still a pretty nice being here.

"Ahh~ It's nice to finally be out on a mission, just us gals!" Mabel declared, carrying the Journal 1 under her arm. She looked at Seb. "Is it ok if I say that?"

"Yeah, I don't mind." Seb laughed.

"Forget the gal talk!" Grenda huffed. "I'm here to meet, touch, and/or become a unicorn!" She said and Seb raised an eyebrow. He hoped she didn't become one, that'd be a hell of an explanation to give to her parents…

"I hear if you lick a unicorn's neck, it tastes like your favorite flavor in the world!" Candy squealed. The brunette put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Candy, I will make sure you lick that unicorn's neck, because I care about my friends."

Wendy sighed and chopped down a treebranch with her axe. "Honestly, I stopped believing in unicorns when I was like, five years old. I'm just coming along to keep you kids from walking into a bear trap." She looked at the excited blond. "And Mr. Pines."

"Excuse me?" Seb pouted. Before he could complain though, his niece shouted. "Stop!" She opened the red Journal. "This is the magic part of the forest!"

Seb looked at the river, the flowers and the weird Stone Hedge-like architecture not so far away from them and grinned. That must be the place!

'Noooo?! Seriously?'

Mabel flipped through the pages until she found the page she needed and everyone crowded around her to see. "Let's see, the gnome tavern is over there, the fairy nail salon is over there, but it says that to summon the unicorn, one must bellow this ancient chant droned only by the deepest-voiced druids of old…"

She frowned and looked at her uncle, making him deadpan at her. "Have ya heard ma voice?" His voice came out a little more shrilly just to prove his point.

Grenda rolled her eyes and took the Journal from Mabel's hands. "On it!" She looked at the page and began chanting. "Oy-oyoy-oyoyoyoy..."

"I bet you ten bucks nothing happens." Wendy crossed her arms and Mabel grinned, completely sure. "I'll take that bet."

Suddenly, much to Wendy's bewilderment, a fortress rose out of the ground and all the girls and Seb gasped. The group of five slowly walked towards the door and pushed it opened. The girls and Seb gasped in complete awe, as Wendy looked disgusted and in need of puking.

"The paintings airbrushed on the sides of vans were true!" Mabel squealed.

'This place is infected with butterflies'

As Bill2 usefully pointed out, Seb looked at the bright pink butterflies fluttering around, the magic rainbow forming around the small lake in the middle of the place. It even had its own waterfall! Laying on a rock, with its blowing colorful mane, was a unicorn.

The unicorn looked at them, waved her mane and neighed loudly.

Seb gasped. "Holy moses..."

Grenda gaped. "Mother of mothers!"

"Queen of dreams!" Candy squealed.

Wendy, still not believing what was going on, frowned. "No. Way."

Without looking, Mabel reached her hand up towards Wendy and made grabbing motions. "Eh! Eh!"

Wendy grumbled as she gave her a ten-dollar bill.

A faun started playing a pan flute nearby as the girls (and Seb) stared. The unicorn looked at them.

"Hark! Visitors to my realm of enchantment!"

The girls and Seb gasped, but when Grenda did it, a bright pink butterfly flew straight into her mouth, causing her to gag and cough.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What's your name?!" Mabel squealed at the beautiful unicorn.

"I am Celestabellebethabelle, last of my kind. Come in, come in. Just, take off your shoes. I have a whole thing about shoes."

"But..there's grass…my socks~" Seb whined as the kids took off their shoes as soon as possible. Mabel glared at him and the blond quickly obeyed the silent order. Wendy rolled her eyes, she took orders from nobody! Especially not a shiny, colorful horse! She walked forward but Celestabellebethabelle insisted again. "Ah, ah! I'm talking to everyone!"

The red-headed teen groaned and begrudgingly took off her brown boots. Now that the shoes were taken off, Mabel decided to approach the unicorn. "Celestabellebethabelle, we have journeyed far and wide-!"

"About an hour!" Grenda smiled.

"On a mission to protect our family with your magical hair!" Mabel continued. Seb nodded. "So, can we cut it a bit or…?" He was promptly nudged by his niece and laughed at by his employee.

Candy slowly moved closer to the unicorn so she was standing right next to Celestabellebethabelle. "This is your chance, Candy. Lick the neck. Lick it..." She whispered to herself and stuck her tongue out, but she failed because the unicorn straightened up. She glared at the…she studied the human, the blonde, she guessed, and huffed. "Very well. To receive a lock of my enchanted hair, step forth, girl of pure perfect heart."

Seb cheered and picked up his niece to present her like an offer. "Presenting the girl with the purest heart! MABEL!" He put her in front of the unicorn and knelt dramatically. Mabel smiled widely with a faint blush on her cheeks.

To everyone's shock, Celestabellebethabelle gasped. "What?! You?! A unicorn can see deep inside your heart, child!" She pointed at Mabel with her horn and in her chest glowed a heart. The brunette quickly covered her chest.

"And you have done wrong. WRONG I say!" Celestabellebethabelle cried.

Mabel flinched a bit and looked away. "I guess I do make fun of Dipper a lot...And-And I shouted at Uncle Ford…And I did just shatter a window with a crossbow…" She sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

"You did what?" Seb asked, unable to stop his laughter from escaping from his mouth.

'That must have been fun'

"Your bad deeds make me cry..." Celestabellebethabelle's eyes welled up with tears. One of them landed on a flower, and as if it was acid, it killed it.

"NOOOO!" Mabel cried horrified as the rest of the group gasped shocked.

Come back when you're PURE OF HEART. NEEEIIGGGHH!" She neighed dramatically before staring at them. "Exit is that way. Shoes, shoes, take your shoes. This isn't some... some... shoe store!"

The humans grabbed their shoes and slowly walked out. As soon as they stepped outside, the gates closed.

Mabel sniffled and hugged her uncle's waist. Seb pouted and sat down while still hugging his niece. "Oh, Shooting Star…What she said wasn't true, sweetie…"

"Mabel, don't let her get to you!" Grenda said comfortingly and Candy and Wendy nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't trust a horse that wears makeup" The red-head huffed.

Mabel wiped her eyes with a sleeve and sighed. "No, girls, she's right. I used to be one of the sweetest people I knew, but recently I've been slacking in the whole goodness department…" She escaped from the blond's embrace and stood up. "Well, today we're gonna fix it. From this moment forth I'm gonna do so many good deeds, I'll have the purest heart in Gravity Falls! She raised her fist to the air and accidentally punched a bird that flew close to her. Seb snorted as the girls gaped in shock as the bird fell to the floor.

"That... that bird is fine..." Mabel pouted and Seb laughed out loud.

While the group went into town to help Mabel regain her kind heart, Ford was hooking up his nephew to his mind machine. The boy had been nervous, but he agreed at the end, knowing his uncle knew better and wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

Dipper, absently tapping his legs with his hands, looked up. "So what IS Bill, exactly?"

Ford sighed. "No one knows for sure. Accounts differ of his true motivations and origins." He turned around to activate the machine. He actually thought encoding the boy's thoughts was a good idea. He wouldn't want Bill getting into his mind again.

Dipper looked at an open drawer next to him and picked it up. It was called 'The Cipher File'. There were a few illustrations of the demon throughout history, descriptions and some newspaper's clippings.

"Why haven't you asked Uncle Seb? He must know what he...WAS, shouldn't he?"

Ford paused. That...made a lot of sense. But he wouldn't, not right now at least. He...didn't feel angry at Sebastian (for some reason), but that didn't mean he didn't say some hurtful things. He had insulted him with his past, bringing it up would open old wounds.

"I know he's older than our galaxy and far more twisted. Without a physical form, he can only project himself into our thoughts through the mindscape."

The scientist almost facepalmed. He was feeling a little dumb for not asking WILLIAM directly while he and Stan were at his home. He wasn't the Bill Cipher from this dimension, but he WAS one.

He shook his head. It was done. That friendly version of Bill Cipher was in his own dimension and he wouldn't see him again.

"That-That's why Bill wants this." Ford showed the boy the interdimensional rift. "I dismantled the portal, but with this tear, Bill still has a way into our reality. To get his hands on this rift, he would trick or possess anyone."

"So how do we keep Bill out of our minds?"

Ford smiled a little. "Well, there's a number of ways. I personally had a metal plate installed in my head." That day had been interesting. The Oracle took them in and she was the one who did it, just like William said. She wanted to help him. Stan said he had been heavily drugged during the procedure, but he barely felt it afterwards. The pain was minimal.

"Heheh. Good one." Dipper smiled, but he froze when his uncle knocked the side of his head, making a metallic sound.

Dipper coughed and cleared his throat. Ouch.

"But this machine is safer for you. It will scan your mind, bioelectrically encrypting your thoughts so that Bill can't read them." Ford turned on the machine and smiled. "Now say hello to your thoughts!" He exclaimed dramatically. The triplets liked to be dramatic albeit the oldest would never admit it.

The machine flickered with life and reproduced the boy's thoughts. "Oh, man, I can't believe I'm with the author. Is my fly down? DISCO GIRL~" COMING THROUGH! Wendy. Wendy. Wendy. Wendy."

"You might wanna... ignore that last one." Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. A thought suddenly came and he stared at his uncle's eyes. "By the way, you never told me what your history with Bill was…You were…pretty angry with Uncle Seb so something bad must have happened, right?"

Ford sighed. "Dipper, do you trust me?" He was ashamed of his past with Bill. He had been a fool, and idiot for thinking that demon was his friend. The rift was his fault. Everything he did in the past was wrong, he was wrong, and he wasn't supposed to be wrong, he was intelligent, but Bill tricked him, he blinded him by flattery, he let Bill get to him, he let him blind him with anger towards his brother, with jealousy, and he used his own emotions against him…

He didn't want his nephew knowing he…wasn't worth of his admiration.

"Well, yeah!" Of course he trusted him! He was the Author! And he was a genius! "but-"

"Then you'll trust that that's not important. Now, focus. It's time to strengthen your mind…"

Dipper watched his uncle press a few more buttons before he turned around to focus on monitoring the process. He leaned back. Why didn't he want to tell him…?

-.-

After they finished to write a serious of good deeds, The girls (and Seb) went into town so Mabel could put them into action.

"Alright, Mabel, it's time to strengthen your heart!" The brunette exclaimed and the group cheered.

The rest of the day was spent in town, watching with big smiles as Mabel fulfilled every one of her good deeds. She picked snails off the sidewalk and put them on large grass, safe from being stepped on. They planted a tree next to a horrible house to make it look prettier (Seb frowned when he realized it was Toby's place).

They went to the Shack for her next good deed. The 3 brothers were a bit sad since the morning for the 'rift' thing, and uncle Stan seemed disappointed. How could Ford STILL hide things from him? Was that what that demon meant...when he said Ford didn't trust him?

But they were a team, they had always been. Those 13 years hiding and escaping from interdimensional law together didn't mean anything for him? His younger self said he trusted him. Why couldn't Ford do the same?

Didn't he understand hiding stuff made everything worse?! He just learnt why he actually had a resentment towards their younger triplet, and what that idea he grew up with (without telling anyone) ended up doing to their sibling relationship. Did he want the world to be destroyed?!

As he sulked on the couch, he was suddenly attacked by a sticker put in his face. He started screaming, but the sticker also covered his mouth.

"There! He's happy now!" A girly voice said.

"Great job, Shooting Star! He looks so happy!" Another girly voice laughed. Stan continued screaming, Seb was behind this! He would get his revenge!

He waved his arms around, trying to grab them, but the group had already left, and Stan simply ended up breaking a lamp.

Mabel wanted to donate blood. Seb was worried about that, because she was only a child, but she insisted so much to give her blood to those who actually needed it (as if her body wasn't using it at the moment) that he agreed.

She fainted, but she got a lollipop so, it was ok? Seb didn't know.

Mabel stopped traffic for some ducks, painted glitter on the statue of Nathaniel Northwest, (Seb hoped birds wanted to poop it mote now), filled Lazy Susan's tip jar, and thry helped a woman with her groceries.

And so. Many. Good actions!

Seb was tired of this. All this goodness directed to strangers made him sick! You are just fake polite to others, why showing love or kindness to those who wearing your family or friends? The rest could choke.

Despite his complaining, Mabel ticked the last thing on the list. "Boom! A thousand good deeds!" The girls cheered behind her.

"When that unicorn scans my heart, she's gonna say I'm absolutely, one hundred percent, bona fide!"

They went back to the forest and Mabel confidently approached Celestabellebethabelle.

"I did good deeds, Celestabellebethabelle! I was good!" She gave her a nervous smile. The unicorn, scoffing, 'scanned' her heart and to everyone's shock, Celestabellebethabelle said "Not pure of heart!"

Mabel cheered. "Booyah! Wait, what?" Her smile fell.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Seb screeched, his hands catching up on flames.

"How is that even possible?! Mabel's a straight up saint, you judgmental hoofbag!" Wendy shouted as Candy and Grenda watched the scene confused. But their friend was so nice! How?!

Mabel sniffed. "Please, tell me what I'm doing wrong!"

Celestabellebethabelle huffed. "Doing good deeds to make yourself look better isn't good at all! Not to mention you're crushing, like, ten dandelions right now. Those are basically children's dreams!"

Mabel gasped, staring at her feet, and got off the dandelions. "But..."

"I'm sorry, Mabel" The unicorn said, looking smug and not sorry at all. "It's not my fault you're a bad person."

The girl's eyes welled up with tears and she ran off the fortress, crying.

"Shooting Star, wait!" Seb pleaded her before growling at the unicorn, he was going to pull that hair from her head with his own hands!

Seb shouted and went after the unicorn, but the girls held him before he could hurt her for hurting HIS pumpkin! "Let me go! I'll hang her head in my living room!" The blond's eye turned red.

"This is not the way!" Grenda said and picked him up on her own. The girls walked out with Seb still struggling and carried by a REALLY strong 12 year old.

"Yes, take that weird human away….Now if you'll excuse me, I have a 3 o'clock posing in front of a rainbow." She posed in front of a rainbow and neighed loudly and obnoxiously. "NeigheighEIGHEIGHeigheigh."

They searched for Mabel, worried for her, and eventually found her lying down outside, in front of the river. Her hair was covered in grass and her eyes were slightly puffy and red. The girls and Seb looked at each other with sad looks before walking up to her.

Seb knelt next to her and stroked her hair, taking off the grass from her curly brown hair. "Pumpkin, how about Wendy holds her and I hit her?" He suggested, trying to joke, but it wasn't doing much to lift her mood.

"Come on, Mabel. Don't beat yourself up about this." Wendy frowned and Candy nodded nervously. "Let's forget about getting that dumb unicorn hair."

Seb stopped stroking his niece's hair. "Eh…I don't think that's the best option?" They NEEDED the hair. Not getting it was NOT an option.

Mabel sat up, gently pushing her uncle's hand away and she sighed. "It's not about the hair anymore, guys… It's about me. Being kind and sweet is what makes me who I am. If I'm not a good person, who am I?"

"Shooting Star…You are an amazing and kind girl no matter what!" There was something weird about that colorful horse, but he couldn't remember! Urgh!

Mabel sniffed. "I'm not leaving this spot until I think of a deed that makes me as good as Celestabellebethabelle." She pulled out a notepad and a pen and started writing ideas.

"But, Mabel..." Candy started, but Mabel turned around, blinded by her idea of impressing the unicorn, of proving she wasn't mean, she wasn't a bad person! "Just leave me be!"

Seb reached for her but noticed Wendy nodding away. "Pst!" She whispered, and ushered Candy, Grenda and him away from Mabel. "Guys, if you ask me, this whole thing is a serious load. Mabel's like the best person I've ever met…"

"Same here. Mabel IS the best person ever!" Seb growled. Candy and Grenda nodded, upset because their friend was upset. Mabel stood up for them against Pacifica, she went after her in the contest for them, and she was always trying to make people happy!

"We tried getting that hair the good way. Now it's time we try the Wendy way" The teen grinned and punched and rubbed her left fist against her right hand as a way of signaling a violent gesture.

'Can we kill someone?!' Bill2 asked excitedly.

"Are you suggesting violence?! 'Cuz I'm totally in!" Seb chuckled maniacally. "Or maybe sabotage?" Grenda asked as well.

"Mabel's not going to like that." Candy muttered but Wendy rolled her eyes. Mabel doesn't need to know. Look, it's time we stop trying to be so "perfect" and be who we really are. We're crazed, angry, sweaty animals! We're not unicorns, we're WOMEN! AND WE TAKE WHAT WE WANT!" The girl punched a tree which made a couple of leaves fall to the ground.´

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Candy and Grenda cheered, totally in with their plan. The larger girl smashed a rock on her head and when she noticed the shocked look on the blond, she stared at him. "Too much?"

"A little, yeah."

"Here's what we're gonna do." Wendy smirked and they got together to listen to her plan…

-.—

The girls and Seb stared at the gnome tabern with firm, determined looks on their faces. Seb nodded at his employee and Wendy kicked the tiny door of Gnasty's open, startling the gnomes insides.

"It's the cops! Hit the deck!" A gnome cried and the gnome accompanying threw himself out of the window in his panic.

Wendy, Candy and Seb entered to the first place, crouching so they could fit through the door. The place inside was bigger though, so they could easily stand up.

A few gnomes recognized the blond Pines and they gasped, making Seb smirk maniacally. "Hey, guys~"

"I'm lookin' for someone who knows how to take down a unicorn! No tricks or games!" Wendy shouted. Candy noticed a bottle on a table and smashed it. "We are human! We take what we want!"

"Yeah! Grenda poked her head inside.

"Fairy dust." The four humans looked at the opposite side of the room, where a mysterious dark gnome was sitting, playing the Knife Game with an acorn. The humans sat down on his table and glared.

"Speak, gnome." Seb demanded and the gnome rolled his eyes, unaffected by the threat. "A whole magic bag's enough to put a unicorn out cold. But if I do you a favor, you gotta do somethin' for me." He said.

"Just, spill it, half-pint!" Grenda slammed her fist against the tree stump table. The gnome nodded slowly. Butterfly trafficking is illegal in this part of the forest, but I like butterflies. They tickle my face and make me laugh…" He smiled slightly, rubbing his cheeks. "Bring me a bag of butterflies and we got a deal."

The girls and Seb looked at each other and nodded slowly. Seb easily captures a bunch of butterflies with his mind and floated them to a jar. Candy remembered to put some little holes on the lid so the colorful butterflies didn't die.

"Are we really going to let that nasty get away with it?" Seb asked. "He's…basically making a drug deal with us? Are butterflies drugs for gnomes?" He asked to himself. Wendy rolled her eyes. "We won't."

"We have to tell someone…" Candy mused, stroking her chin. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Mr. Pines! Is there a gnome police?" Seb's eye widened at the question and then ruffled Candy's dark hair. "Kid, you surprise me more and more every day…"

Candy giggled and blushed a bright red.

After a small talk with the police, and some…negotiations, they were ready to meet with the dealer. Grenda was chosen to talk to the gnome, so while the rest hid behind the bushes, Grenda approached the gnome, dressed in a black jacket, dark glasses and a hat.

The gnome, also wearing clothes to hide his appearance, subtly handed him the two bags of fairy dust and Grenda gave him the bag with the jar of butterflies.

"Two bags of fairy dust, just like we agreed."

"Where do you get this stuff?" Grenda opened one of the bags and grimaced. The gnome smirked as he examined the butterflies. "Everyone likes sausage, but no one likes to know how it's made."

"You disgust me." Grenda pulled off her glasses and scoffed.

"You got your poison; I got mine; we made a deal." The gnome turned to leave but Grenda frowned. "Yeah, well, the deal is OFF!"

Like planned, several policemen gnomes jumped out of the bushes using pinecones as weapons.

"Freeze! You're under arrest! Get down! Get down!" They shouted, and the gnomes dressed in black gaped in shock.

The gnome riding a deer with a red police siren jumped off to handcuff him. "These butterflies aren't mine! I swear! I've been framed!" He cried but he was still taken away.

The policeman with the blue uniform and black glasses waved a hand. "Tell it to the adorable owl we've dressed as a judge…" He extended a hand in Grenda's direction. "My cut." The girl gave him one of the bags and sighed.

Corruption was everywhere…

The sky had turned dark already when they returned to Celestabellebethabelle's house. Seb glanced at Mabel, who was still sitting by the river, writing in her notepad. "Good deeds. Good deeds. Aww that's not good enough! Come on, Mabel, you can do better than that!" He slowed down a bit and sighed. Stupid horse making his niece feel bad…

Wendy motioned him to continue walking. "She'll see you!" She whispered and Seb ran after the girl. They put on their black masks and quietly entered to the fortress.

Celestabellebethabelle was reading Whinny, Pray, Trot in front of the waterfall with the faun playing with his instrument. "Oh sure, sure, I wish I could travel, but it's just not feasible in this economy-" Seb grinned and hit her with the bag of fairy dust.

"What the hey?!" She exclaimed before she fainted, her tongue funnily stuck out. The Faun nervously played S.O.S in morse code with his instrument, but Grenda put a towel over his mouth. "Sleep now! Sleeeeep…"

Seb nodded. He knew that chloroform he had hidden would be useful! "Good job, Grenda…" He whispered proudly. The girl gave him thumbs up.

Wendy grabbed the scissors she brought with her as Grenda pulled the faun away who had lost consciousness. She took some of the unicorn's hair and was about to cut it when the gates were thrown opened.

"No wait! Stop!" Mabel called. Seb grimaced. "Shooting Star! Shh! You'll wake her up!" He hissed. Mabel didn't care and walked over to Wendy to take the scissors from her. "But this is wrong, guys!"

"But protecting the Shack is good!" Wendy insisted. "Shooting Star, we need the hair!" Seb pleaded.

Before they could arguing, Celestabellebethabelle woke up and saw Mabel with the scissors. "What? Doth mine eyes deceive me? Thief!" She stood up and glared at the brunette girl. "You shall never be pure of heeeaart!"

Mabel sobbed defeatedly. "No! You don't understand! I just want to be good like you!" She fell to her knees, whimpering, but stopped when she heard a voice.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you gotta be kidding me." A blue unicorn appeared next to a red unicorn and approached them. He looked at the shocked humans and then turned to look at the colorful unicorn. "Yo, C-beth, are you seriously pulling this "pure of heart" scam again?"

"That is messed up, man." The red unicorn shook his head.

"Wait, s-scam?" Mabel asked confused. The red unicorn rolled his eyes. "Kid, unicorns can't see into your heart. All our dumb horns can do is glow, point towards the nearest rainbow and play rave music." He played some music and nodded to the rhythm.

The blue unicorn added. "Yeah, the whole "pure of heart" racket is just a line we use to get humans to leave us alone."

'I knew it.' Bill2 coughed.

No, no you didn't you useless knowledge god. Seb thought sourly.

And whose fault is it?!

It's been 38 years, get OVER IT!

Celestabellebethabelle's ears dropped and had the decency to look ashamed. "Guyyss….Shut uupp…"

Mabel gaped before she growled. "All this time…" She crushed her notepad. "All this time I thought I was a bad person. But you're even worse than I am!" She threw the notepad with 'Mabel's Sins' written on it to the ground, making the girls and Seb gasp.

Celestabellebethabelle huffed. "Okay, fine. So you learned our secret. We're jerks, okay? We have more hair than we know what to do with, and we keep it to ourselves just to tick humans off." She looked down at Mabel and smirked mockingly. "What are you gonna do about it, huh, huh? What are ya gonna DO?"

Mabel glared at the unicorn and, remembering her classes with Uncle Stan, she punched Celestabellebethabelle on the nose. She drew blood with that punch, and to her surprise, her colorful blood wasn't made of acid like her tears.

Everyone was in shock, even Mabel, but the first one to react was her uncle. "WOOO! THAT'S MY NIECE! HIT HER!" And he was immediately followed by the girls. "WHOO! Go Mabel!" Wendy roared and Grenda exclaimed. "Join the dark side!"

Mabel growled and tore the unicorn imagine off her sweater, something she never thought she would do. But she didn't like unicorns anymore! She hated them!

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Seb and the girls chanted excitedly.

Celestabellebethabelle glared at the girl and wiped her blood with a hood. "Oh. So it's a fight you want. Well, then it's a fight you're gonna get!"

The unicorns charged at the humans, Seb grew his extra pair of arms and with his hands on fire, he roared. "GET THEM, GIRLS!" The humans gave war cries before running towards the unicorns, ready to beat the crap out of them for hurting Mabel and making them waste their time.

-.-

Unsurprisingly, Dipper was long bored in Ford's lab. It's been hours and the screen read 'SCANNING THOUGHTS 15%'. Only 15%!

"Ugh, this is taking forever. How long have I been doing this for?" He moaned. He should have brought something to entertain himself. His uncle had fallen asleep on the table, snoring softly. The boy sighed defeatedly. "Why does he have to be so mysterious about Bill? He hates him, he hated Uncle Seb for being him in his past life, but…why? I can handle the truth…" He pouted.

He started thinking, and the machine reproduced his thoughts. "I wonder what Great Uncle Ford is thinking. Use the machine! It'll show you his thoughts…" Dipper liked that idea, but he wasn't too sure. "Um, I shouldn't…"

"He won't know. He's going to tell you eventually. The more you know about Bill, the more you can help. Hiding things isn't good. Mabel seemed sad you didn't tell her about the rift, Uncle Stan was also upset. It's better if you know!"

Dipper smiled and nodded. "Man, I am really good at rationalizing."

"Yes, you are; yes, you are; yes, you are; yes, you are"

Dipper took off the helmet and put it on Ford's head. The man was soundly sleeping, so he doubted he would wake up. "Just a little peek. What are you hiding about Bill…?"

The boy turned to look at the screen, where he felt a shiver run down his spine when the demon appeared on it, cackling mockingly. The image changed to his uncle moving around in his sleep, covering his ears with the pillow to try to stop the laughter. Smaller screens above the bigger one showed an image of the portal and Fiddleford (still sane), yelling at Ford.

"Where are these ideas coming from? Who are you working with?!"

The screens changed to Ford writing "I'M LOSING," "MY MIND," and "TRUST NO ONE" in the journal.

Stan's voice was heard on the machine. "Poindexter is a dangerous know-it-all…" Then, present Ford appeared speaking. "He would trick or possess anyone..."

The image then changed, Ford looked much younger and was extending his hand to shake. "Then it's a deal... From now until the end of time…"

Bill held out a hand which was on fire. "Just let me into your mind, Stanford…" "Please, call me..." Ford eagerly shook hands with him. "-a friend."

Dipper's heart stopped with the last image. Bill was possessing Ford, both his eyes glowing yellow with black slit pupils, and he was cackling madly. "AH HAHAHAHA!"

"F-FORD AND BILL?!" Dipper cried, terrified. Was his uncle working for him?! Why was he shaking hands?! Who else knew?! Did Uncle Stan know?! He gasped scared when he heard the chair moving and Ford stood up.

"You shouldn't have done that…" Ford sighed. He took off the helmet and threw it away, knocking down the curtain that was covering lots of items depicting Bill. Dipper gasped at the painting, the golden statue, the-the entire room was covered in pictures of him!

"Why- why were you shaking hands with Bill?!" Dipper looked at the rift on the table and quickly grabbed it. "You said Bill could possess anyone so he could get this!" The boy's sweaty hands made the rift almost slip out of his hands, but he luckily caught it. "Ah!"

"Careful! Hand me the rift! Now, boy!" Ford demanded but the kid continued backing away from him, with a terrified look on his face. "Why were you really scanning my thoughts?!" Dipper noticed the memory gun on the table and quickly aimed it at his 'uncle'. "Are you Bill right now?!" He demanded.

"Now just-just calm down, P-"

"PINE TREE?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE GONNA CALL ME?!" Dipper screamed, shivering madly. Only Bill called him that! And-And Uncle Seb!

"I was just going to say "please", kid!" He extended a six-fingered hand towards him. Dipper's back hit the wall and he hugged the rift to himself. "Great Uncle Ford told me to protect the rift! Get one step closer and I'll shoot! I'll erase you right out of Ford's head!"

"It's me, Dipper. It's your uncle!" Ford cried, but the boy was completely petrified, already charging the gun. "Trust no one, trust no one, trust..."

Ford tried to grab the rift again. "Hand it to me!" But he was shot right in the forehead. He was knocked backwards by the impact, but the gun fire bounced from him and around the room. Both him and Dipper ducked, covering their heads, until the ray finally hit the machine and destroyed one of the screens.

Dipper gaped and quickly grabbed the memory gun before reaching for the rift, but he was easily lifted up by the back of his vest, and he accidentally dropped it. Ford put his free hand on his hip as he held the boy with his other hand, watching him struggle and kick, completely unamused.

"Let go of me!" Dipper tried to hit him, but he couldn't reach him as he was being held away from him.

"Now-now just calm down. Calm down!" Ford reassured with a small frown. He adjusted his glasses and looked at his nephew again. "Look into my eyes! Look at my pupils. It's me, Dipper. It's me…" He smiled.

Dipper's tense posture relaxed, and he was limply hung from his vest. He looked at his uncle with a sad expression. "I tried to erase your mind…" He was put on his feet and he sighed. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay, Dipper…" Ford chuckled awkwardly. "Besides, my mind can't be erased, anyway, remember?" He knocked the side of his head,and again, there was a metallic sound. "I really was Bill, though, you would've done great…"

Dipper smiled slightly, but he wasn't proud of what just happened. He had been so scared! He actually thought that was Bill! That he was possessing his uncle! His heart was still hammering against his chest, slowly going back to a normal beat.

"I should've been more like you when I was younger. Dipper, I…I-I was a fool for trying to hide all this…Your-Your uncles were…right…" He sighed sadly, and put his hands in his pockets. "I was so angry with Sebastian for the portal, and I was scared of his powers…but-but I-I never said why I was so angry…only Stanley knows it…" Dipper sat down on the floor, attentive, as his uncle walked over to look at a tapestry of Bill.

"The reason I've been trying to prepare you for Bill's tricks is that Bill tricked me. It's the biggest regret of my life. Bill wasn't always my enemy, Dipper. I-I used to think he was my friend…" Ford sighed before continuing. "I was finishing writing Journal 1, I was fascinated by all the creatures I was finding and I was just starting to wonder where they were coming from, how they came to be...Like-Like I said before, I came to the conclusion that the answer must be outside of our world, but my initial research was just beginning…Then, I found some mysterious writing in a cave. Ancient incantations about a being with answers. It warned me not to read them…But, I was curious-" And young and stupid, was unsaid. "-I wanted to know everything about this town…"

Dipper nodded slowly. Ford continued. "I read the inscription aloud. But nothing happened. Until later that afternoon, when I had the most peculiar dream… I was in my mindscape, journals and pages were floating around…"

Ford walked around, curious and confused. He jumped when he heard a voice behind him. "Hiya, smart guy! Woah, don't have a heart attack, you're not 92 yet!" The triangle circled around him.

"Who are you?" Ford asked him and the triangle grinned. "Name's Bill! And your name's Stanford Pines, the man who changed the world, but I'm getting ahead of ourselves; let's relax! Care for a game of interdimensional chess?" A chessboard appeared. "Have a cup of tea!" A teapot poured tea into a teacup by itself."

"He told me he was a muse. That he chose one brilliant mind a century to inspire. What a fool I was. Blinded by his flattery and games." He filled his head with resentment and hate, flamed the spark of his anger until it was a fire, making him think this was the only way he could prove he was better than everyone, especially his brother who 'ruined' everything for him.

"He became my research assistant, he gave me curses, spells…mostly all of Journal 2. And while I continued recording my findings, I worked on the portal with him. He was free to move in and out of my mind as he pleased…" He remembered being with Fiddleford once. He summoned Bill by meditating and Bill usually possessed him.

"We were partners…" Ford sighed sadly. "When he told me I could complete my research by building a gateway to other worlds, I trusted him. He said this was the way genius happened. Little help from a friend." He said. "He appeared while I was sleeping, gave me the information for the equations, or details about the portal, sometimes he wrote it himself…When I was with Fiddleford about to test the machine, I thought I was on the verge of my greatest achievement! Until my partner got a glimpse of Bill's true plans…I don't know what he saw, but I confronted Bill when we saw again…"

"Bill! You lied to me!" Bill had told him the portal would lead to the source of the weirdness, that it was the only way he would understand. "Where does that portal really lead?!"

Bill was looking at what seemed like a scar in space. "Hoho! Looks like Mr. Brainiac finally got smart! Let's just say that when that portal finishes charging up, your dimension is gonna learn how to party!" he looked at the scar. "Right, guys?" His eye squinted in a smile, and Ford heard roars and cackles coming from the other side.

"No! I'll stop you! I'll SHUT IT DOWN!" Ford screamed and Bill put his hands on his sides. "A deal's a deal, Sixer! You can't stop a bridge between our worlds from coming, but it would be fun to watch you try! Cute even!"

"I woke up from that dream, scared. I'd been betrayed, so I shut the portal down, severing the link between bill's world and ours. I had to hide my instructions so no one could ever finish Bill's work…" Ford looked at Dipper. "When we came back, we were lucky Bill didn't cross as well…He's been waiting for the gateway to reopen ever since. All he needs to do is get his hands on this rift. To Bill, it's just a game, but to us, it would mean the end of our world…"

Dipper stayed silent for a few seconds before he softly said. "Oh, man…"

"Oh man, indeed…" Ford nodded.

They left the lab, they had been hours there and needed some time to relax for what happened. They got some Pitt Cola and went to sit in the living room table.

"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed about earlier. I'm such an idiot." Dipper sighed and hid behind his hat. His Uncle shook his head. "From now on, no more secrets between us. We're not the first two idiots to be tricked by Bill, boy. But if we work together, we could be the last." Ford smiled softly and lifted the hat to look at his eyes.

Dipper managed a small smile, but quickly frowned again. "But what about Bill?! I broke the machine! Now we have no way to protect the shack!" Dipper exclaimed. Out of the blue, Mabel slammed some unicorn hair on the table. "Did someone say 'unicorn hair'?!"

Ford and Dipper's eyes widened at the sight of the people behind her. Candy, Grenda, Wendy and Seb were behind her, just as beaten up as Mabel, clothes torn, bruises, and covered in unicorn's blood.

"Uh, no, actually?"

"Oh. That would have been perfect. Either way we got some unicorn hair!" Mabel laughed and waved it in her twin's face.

"And it was worth waiting all day!" Seb laughed and raised his arms, but whimpered when his bruised protested.

"Also some unicorn…tears, unicorn eyelashes..." Candy gestured Grenda and Seb who was wearing the eyelashes.

"They finally gave us this treasure chest just to get rid of us!" Grenda dumped the contents on the table, which mainly contained gold, pearl necklaces, sugar cubes and diamonds and gems.

"It... can't be!" Ford gaped, not much for the gold, but because of the hair. He stood up. "This is a great day, girls! With this unicorn hair, we should be able to completely shield the shack from Bill's mind-reading tricks!"

Seb laughed and hugged his brother excitedly, nuzzling his neck. Ford froze for a second before he relaxed and smiled slightly. He patted his back and briefly hugged him back. "We kicked unicorn's balls…" Seb whispered and Ford snorted loudly, confused but really curious as to why exactly they looked like they did. The Korean girl said 'unicorn tears' but those were basically acid, that was blood.

Mabel looked up at Seb when he pulled away from the hug before approaching her older uncle with a shy smile, hands nervously behind her back. "Is it okay?"

"Better than OKAY!" Ford grabbed the unicorn hair and examined. He crouched in front of his niece. "It's perfect! You've protected your family. You're a good person, Mabel…" Hesitantly, Ford put a hand on her shoulder and Mabel smiled, her eyes going watery. She also hugged him briefly.

"Thanks, Uncle Ford, but today I learned that morality is relative!" Mabel put her hands on her hips, and Ford raised an eyebrow confused. "Wha-?"

"MONEY!" Stan burst into the room, grabbed an armful of golden coins and ran away. Ford sighed tiredly as Seb and the kids laughed.

-.—

The first thing Dipper and Ford did early in the morning the next day was adding the unicorn hair around the hair. He pasted it with glue after it was quickly dipped in mercury. As soon as the hair was everywhere around the Shack, a force field formed around the house, with different symbols meant to keep the demon out.

"Perfect! This will protect us from Bill! As long as we're inside, our minds are safe!" Ford smiled and shook hands with his nephew, who shook it eagerly.

"We can go eat breakfast now?" The boy asked, and his uncle, looking much more relieved and less stressed than before, nodded with his hands on his backs. "You bet we can!" They trotted inside the house happily. Unknown to them, Bill was watching them from a bubble, and growled when he lost the image as soon as they stepped inside the house. They talked about the rift, big thing! They still didn't know about it! Didn't even know how it looked like! And even if Ford wasn't angry at Corn Chip anymore, he could still make both of them break, no biggie.

"I guess I can't possess anyone inside the shack, so I'll just have to find my next pawn on the...OUTSIDE…" His voice got lower as his eye flashed between several people he could choose from…He already had a new plan…


So pleaseee review! We are so closeee to the SH** HAPPENING!