It was 4:30 when the twins came back to the Shack. They went into the living room, tired and dreary. Stan sat in his recliner, snoozing away, as Ford was pacing back and forth nervously. The sound of the kids coming in stopped Ford as he went to see them.
"Dipper, I told you that you were supposed to return by three. Stan and I were very worried." He looked at all the wounds on the children. His glance changed from angry to concerned. "What the hell happened to both of you?"
"It's a very long story." Said Mabel, putting a paper towel up to her cheek to stop the bleeding. "Can I say the same to you, Grunkle Ford?" The old man covered up the tears in his sweater and coat.
"We got attacked by Bill." Said Ford.
"So did we." Said Dipper, grunting in pain as he sat down on a chair.
"It's just as I feared. His power is growing." Ford muttered to himself. "How did Bill attack you?"
"He possessed Dipper, and he attacked me." Said Mabel casually.
"How'd you get this burn mark?" Said Ford as he examined the wound. Mabel winced when he touched it.
"Bill threw a fireball at me when he was in Dipper's body."
"That's odd, even for Bill. The exact same thing happened to us. Stanley was possessed, and he also got me with a fireball." Ford revealed the wound on his left shoulder. He also looked at the cut on Mabel's cheek. "And how did you get this?"
"Bill took Dipper's Swiss Army knife out of his pocket."
"Very strange. Stanley took out his pocket knife and got me as well." He showed the long rip in the sweater by his torso. "Bill seems to be attacking in patterns. But he attacked us first. Very interesting. And how did you get Bill out of Dipper?"
Mabel started sniffling. "I had to beat Bill out of him."
"And I'm fine." Said Dipper weakly.
"Okay, that's a difference." Said Ford. "I luckily had a stun gun and used that." He pointed at Stan, who looked mostly unscathed. At this, Stan woke up.
"Eh?" Gurgled Stan. He took a second for his eyes to adjust. "Kids!" Said Stan as he embraced the kids and hugged them. "I was worried sick about you! Speaking of which, you both look like train wrecks! What happened to you?"
"Bill." Said the twins spontaneously. Stan nodded.
"Bill." Stan concluded. "So who wants dinner?"
"Me!" Says all three at the same time.
"Alright. What do you want?"
"Mabel and I would like two bowls of chicken noodle soup." Said Dipper. Stan jotted it down on a notepad. "And for you sixer?"
"I'll just have leftovers." Said Ford, walking to the gift shop. "Call me for dinner!"
Ford walked into the gift shop, which still had some tourists in. Dammit. Can't let them see me punch in the code or else I'll be constantly bugged by them. This is exactly what Ford didn't want to happen. He walked over to Melody at the cash register.
"Melody, where's Soos?" Said Ford. "I need these tourists out of here right now."
"Sure thing, Mr. Pines. I'll get Soos right away."
"Please, call me Ford."
Melody called Soos, who rounded all the tourists up and out of the gift shop. Ford thanked the two, punched the code to the vending machine, and went downstairs.
. . . .
Dipper stood in the kitchen, with neosporin on one hand and a bandage on the other. "Please don't move Mabel." He begged.
Mabel tried, but the cut on her cheek was being a real bitch to her at the moment. She tried playing it cool. "Please. I should be the one bandaging you up."
"Pfffffft. I'll heal. You're gonna have a nice scar there now. Please hold still!" Said Dipper, using a sanitized cotton ball to clean the wound. It burnt. After a lot of cleaning and neosporin, he bandaged the wound up. Mabel got up to leave, but Dipper stopped her. "You're not done yet. We still have that burn."
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiit." Mabel groaned as she prepared herself for another round of pain.
A little while later it was Dipper's turn to get treated. He had the same problem as Mabel. The wounds were driving him nuts. After all of the treating, Dipper looked like a mummy. Mabel made fun of him.
The twins decided to relax after the treatments, so they turned on the television to watch Ducktective. In the middle of the program, the Gravity Falls news came on.
"We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!" Said Toby Determined's voice as the screen flashed 'breaking news.'
. . . .
Ford sat in his desk, hunched over journal 5 as he scribbled furiously into the journal. What could Bill possibly be up to? Obviously nothing good. Thought Ford. He took some more notes in the journal until he heard screams from upstairs. That's odd. The horror movie marathon doesn't start till eight. I wonder what's going on up there. Just as he thought this, he heard Dipper and Mabel's muffled screaming of his name. He immediately put down the journal and rushed up. He learned over the past three years that nothing's stronger than family, and he wasn't gonna lose what's left of it.
"Dipper! Mabel! What's wrong?" Said Ford as he burst through the vending machine door.
"Grunkle Ford, it's your old buddy, Old Man McGucket." Started Mabel. "He's missing!"
"Fiddleford? Oh, no." Said Ford, with a sad look on his face. Whew. For a second I thought the kids were in trouble. The blaring of the television interrupted his thoughts.
"Fiddleford H McGucket was last reported near the forest by the Mystery Shack thirteen hours ago. The Pines family has yet to be questioned." Said Toby.
That worked out better than I thought. Said Ford to himself. Kill two birds with one stone. And only thirteen hours ago. He turned to the twins.
"Alright kids, we've got two missions on our hands now. We've got the statue, and McGucket. For now, Cipher is our priority. We'll start our search again early tomorrow, so make sure you get to bed early."
"Will do, great uncle Ford." Said Dipper, puffing out his chest.
"And don't forget this. Take off your bandages once we get up tomorrow. Makes you look like easy prey for the monsters out there."
"Alright, Grunkle Ford!" Replied Mabel.
"Kids! Sixer! Dinner!" Yelled Stan as the three smelled something burning on the stove.
"Last one to the table's an inter-dimensional space slug!" Said Ford playfully as they raced to the dinner table.
After dinner, Dipper and Mabel went to bed, completely spent. The Cipher hunt has taken a big toll on them. Stan went and started cleaning up the dishes, and Ford went back down into the basement to continue his research.
Stay in there, Fiddleford. Thought Ford as he drifted to sleep after a few hours of research.
Stan came down the basement and put a blanket over his sleeping brother. "Good night, sixer."
Stan set Ford's alarm for 5:00, and turned off the lights as he went back upstairs to go to bed himself.
. . . .
Fiddleford stood in the forest, covered in grime and sweat. He did a good job today, but the task is not complete yet. He sighed to himself as he went into a stream to wash up. Underneath him was a large sack, with something stuffed in it.
It'll be all worth it when it's done. He thought to himself. Just two more days, and it'll all pay off.
He found a nice spot up in the trees, and fell asleep easily, weary, tired, and achey. Another big day tomorrow. It'll all be worth it. Sleep overtook the old man.