Mike swore the very earth was trembling under each powerful step of the Shacktron and he couldn't help but grin as everyone worked together to make the robot move forward. It seemed like in no time at all, they made it to the base of the Fearamid and had punched a hole into it.
"It's the Shacktron, dude!" Soos proudly declared from the porch, raising the flag they had made for all to see. Of course, they weren't going to go unchallenged as Bill's Henchmaniacs jumped out of the new opening and stood threateningly around them.
"This was a bad idea," Stan couldn't help but grimace at seeing the threat, but he squared his shoulders. "But there's no point in backing down now."
"Uh, hey, dudes. Is this thing on? Test" Soos said into a microphone, making a feedback screech before he got it right. "Heh. Uh, I just wanted you, monster dudes, to hand over Ford or we'll have to, like, fight and junk. Heh. Hey, you're a little cutie."
"I have butchered millions on countless moons." Paci-Fire retorted with a surprisingly deep voice.
"Whoa. I liked you better before you talked," Soos replied. "Real... real bring down, this guy."
"ATTACK!" Pyronica commanded, making all the demons charge forward.
"All right, dudes!" Soos says in panic as he runs back into the Shack.
"Everyone! Like we planned!" Dipper commanded with a confident grin. "Three, two, one. Go!"
The inside of the Shack became a flurry of activity as everyone worked in sync to make the Shacktron fight, punching and blasting every demon that came close. When one demon sent a flock of eye-bats at them, Mike joined the team on the roof to provide defense. Using his wires he would grab one bat and whip it around to smash it into another one. When Zanthar rammed into the Shack, Mike used his claws to anchor himself into the roof and held Rumble McSkirmish with one of his wires to keep them from being thrown off.
"Thank you for the save!" Rumble said once the Shacktron had successfully thrown Zanthar away and was doing a victory pose.
"No problem," Mike assured, retracting his claws and wires. "We better get inside though. I have a feeling things are about to get a lot rougher. Mike proved to be correct as Cipher himself emerged from the Fearamid. The Demon made one hand into a giant fist and slammed it down with all his might. It was useless though thanks to the magic barrier. Even as the surrounding landscape cracked and burned under the power of the attack, the Shacktron remained untouched.
"What the?" Bill said in anger, his eye turning red as he grew more arms "No! No! No! No! No!"
"Attack!" Mabel commanded even as the Shacktron trembled under the assault. Grenda punched forward, making the Shacktron's arm with the T-rex move forward and rip out Bill's eye.
"Aah! My eye!" Bill screamed as he floated back. "Do you have any idea how long it takes to regenerate that?!"
"We've got him distracted," Dipper said turning to the others "Now's our chance."
"Rescue team, move out!" Mabel yelled. Those that were going began to suit up and Mike took over Dipper's place at the wheel.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Dipper asked as he stuffed the last few things he needed into his backpack.
"Someone with engineering skills needs to stay behind to make sure everything runs smoothly," Mike reminded Dipper. "Besides, it's going to be fun to be the animatronic attacking someone for once. Don't worry, I'll make sure we buy you as much time as we can. Just get Ford and stop that stupid triangle for good!"
"We'll see you soon Mike!" Mabel said as she and Dipper hugged him goodbye.
"I know you will," Mike smiled, hugging them back. "Now go! We can't lose this window."
The twins nodded and headed out with the others towards the exit tubes. Mike and Stan shared one last look and a nod, both promising to do all they can to make sure the twins stay safe. Mike turned back to the controls making sure the Shacktron was in the right position.
Mike watched the others fly out and hoped they made it safely.
"Alright team," Mike began, turning his attention to the recovering demon. "Let's fight with everything we got!"
Make barely listened to the cheering as he got ready for what was coming next, commanding "Now Candy!"
Candy complied, controlling her arm of the Shacktron to punch forward knocking Bill back a bit.
"You're going to pay for that!" Bill growled, glaring at them with his newly regenerated eye. Bill dodged the next punch and retaliated with a flurry of blows of his own. Mike was forced to back the Shacktron up as the barrier absorbed the punches.
"Fire the Totem Cannon!" Mike shouted as he held the Shacktron steady. The lever was pulled and the totem fired, hitting Cipher at point blank range. The demon was forced back by the shot and Mike immediately pressed the advantage, charging at Bill as Candy and Grenda delivered several powerful blows, managing to even knock Bill to the ground.
"Stay down!" Mike growled as the Shacktron pinned Bill with one of its feet. Bill tried to shove the Shacktron off, but the barrier kept him from succeeding.
"What the... " Bill said as he noticed a weak point. "Hey, Achilles! Nice work with the HEEL!"
Bill knocked the Shacktron off by pulling at the exposed leg and ripping it off.
"Oh no," Mike whispered as everyone gasped before he shouted. "Everyone! Brace yourselves!"
Everyone quickly grabbed onto something and Mike used his wires to help hold those nearby down while he clung to the wheel's post.
"FORE!" Bill shouted as he used the leg he had ripped off to send the rest of the Shacktron flying. Sparks flew and machinery broke off and bounced around as the Shack was sent end over end.
"Status report!" Mike coughed as soon as the Shacktron came to a stop, gripping at the controls.
"Everyone's a little banged up but no major injuries," Candy reported. "The Shacktron on the other hand…"
"I know," Mike acknowledges grimly. He had managed to get the Shacktron up onto its remaining leg but with the way it was swaying, it was obvious they were just sitting ducks at this point. "I'm ordering an emergency evacuation. Everyone leave! Now!"
"But what about you?" Grenda asked as everyone but Mike began rushing towards the exits.
"I'm going to buy you time," Mike said, his wires extending out to grab the other controls. Grenda gave him a farewell salute before leaving. Now the last one left, Mike did his best to keep the Shacktron steady as Cipher flew towards him.
Bill duplicated himself, making a confusing ring around the unsteady Shacktron. Mike took a swing at one of the Bill's but the T-rex just passed harmlessly through it. The real Bill on the other side recalled his duplicates and fired a laser from his eye at the extended arm. The laser hit the joint, breaking it and making that arm just hang uselessly. Not one to give up so easily, Mike swung with the last remaining arm. Bill caught and swung it around, sending the Shacktron flying towards the ground.
Mike had been unable to properly anchor himself this time and was tossed around the room for a bit before crashing out the window. Mike attempted to use his wires to catch himself as he fell through the air and while he managed to slow himself down, he was still sent tumbling across the scorched debris-filled ground.
"That's defiantly going to be sore in the morning," Mike groaned as he slowly got to his feet taking stock of all the various scrapes and bruises he now had. There were a few scrapes that were dripping blood, especially on his human hand, but nothing serious. His clothes were dirty and his animatronic limbs a little scuffed up, but mostly intact. The sensation of something dripping down his face led Mike to the discovery of a cut on his forehead near his hairline. It didn't seem very deep and he didn't have a concussion, so it was probably just a cut he got when he smashed through the window. It was lucky that his body was pretty durable now thanks to the animatronic parts wired into him or he was pretty sure he would be dead again from that beating and fall.
Looking around, Mike could tell from the amount of wreckage that the Shacktron was never going to work again, but it seemed like he was able to give everyone else enough time to escape. He could see the group fleeing, but they were hopelessly exposed to the other demons he could see advancing on them. Mike was about to go after them to try and help when a large shadow fell across him.
"Well, what do we have here," Mike heard Bill say as a giant hand grabbed ahold of him. He struggled, but there was nothing he could do as he was lifted into the air. As Mike was brought to eye level with the giant demon and the strong grip holding him, Mike suddenly became very aware of his recently restored heart beating in his chest.
This was the first time since right before the scooper incident that Mike was painfully aware of just how mortal and fragile he was.
"You surprise me Eggs," Bill said as he looked at Mike. "You were somehow able to get rid of your roommate. And after all the trouble I went through to bring you back to life, you repay me like this."
Mike got a little whiplash as Bill used the hand holding him to gesture to the remains of the Shacktron.
"If you hated being alive so badly, I would have gladly killed you without all this. In fact…" Bill said slowly, looking Mike over. "While you're no Shooting Star or Pine Tree, old Six Fingers might care about you enough to give up the formula I need to escape this stupid town."
"Not going to happen," Mike scoffed, glaring the demon down. "Ford knows that I'd rather die again than put anyone else in danger."
"Let's see how you feel after I start removing your insides again," Bill laughed, turning towards the Fearamid only to pause as he noticed the growing swirl of clouds over its tip.
"NO!" Bill shouted, his eye flashing red in anger. Mike wasn't sure if they moved at super speed or just teleported, but in the blink of an eye, he and Bill were suddenly inside the Fearamid, hovering over Mike's new family and several other people. They were all standing on some sort of painted circle and both them and the circle were glowing.
"NO!" Bill shouted again, a bit of fear tingeing his enraged voice. He tried to grab at those in the circle only to be repelled by some unseen force.
"If you don't stop right now I'll kill Eggs!" Bill threatened, holding out Mike to make sure the others saw him. "And this time I'll make sure he can never come back!"
"Mike!" Dipper and Mabel shouted in fear, though the others kept them from breaking the circle.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Mike assured, trying to give them a confident smile though it came out more as a pained grimace. "I can handle this jerk on my own."
"And how are you going to do that Eggs?" Bill laughed, bringing Mike closer to look at him. "You wouldn't even have a beating heart right now if it weren't for me! I gave you your current body and I can take it away with just the snap of my fingers."
"You did give me this body," Mike smirked. "And let me show you how thankful I am!"
Mike used his wires to force Bill's hand open just enough for him to escape and leap at the demon.
Taser Mode Activated… Safety Protocols Disengaged… Going Into Overdrive
Electricity arched from Mike's hand as it transformed, even burning Mike a little whenever it passed over his skin as he pulled his arm back in preparation for a punch.
"HOW ABOUT A CONTROLLED SHOCK!" Mike shouted as he swung his fist forward, sending all the power he had straight into the center of Bill's eye.
"OW! NOT AGAIN!" Bill screamed in pain, clutching his eye. "Why?! Every time!"
Because Mike struck out with everything he had at the expense of the safety measures, he wasn't safe from the shock himself and ended up being blown back by the force of the discharge. He skidded across the ground, stopping a few feet from the others in a slightly smoking heap.
"You okay kid?" Stan asked in worry, forced to use all his willpower not to break the circle and check on Mike.
"I'm… fine…" Mike replied as he attempted to get onto his hands and knees, error messages and warnings flashing across his vision. His assurance was pretty unconvincing, especially as he wiped the blood from his mouth and sparks jumped from his robotic limbs.
"I'm gonna DISASSEMBLE YOUR MOLECULES!" Bill said, literally turning red with rage.
Before the demon could follow through with his threat, the circle burst with power as a beam of energy shot out of it and into the sky. It burned through the top of the Fearamid and went straight to the center of the tear in the sky. As the beam made contact, all the weirdness started breaking up and getting sucked back through the rip.
"No! What's happening to me?!" Bill shouted in fear as his body began to break apart too. He tried to strike out at those in the circle again only to have that arm completely disintegrate before it got even close.
"Nruter yam I taht rewop tneicna eht ekovni i! Nrub ot emoc sah emit ym! L-T-O-L-O-X-A! " Bill said desperately as his body got more and more distorted before he was completely sucked back through the rift. The Fearamid began breaking apart even faster, but those in the Zodiac remained strong even as the ground crumbled around them. As the last of the weirdness was sucked away and the tear sealed shut, a healing wave of energy passed over the town, restoring almost everything back to normal and leaving everyone standing on the soft grass under a warm sun.
"We did it!" Mabel and Dipper cheered, getting everyone else to cheer as well. There were a lot of tears and hugs as they celebrated that they were all alive and finally free of the nightmare that had plagued them for so long.
"How are you feeling kid?" Stan asked as he and Ford helped Mike to his feet, whose robotic limbs weren't responding as well as they were supposed to. Mabel and Dipper were hovering nearby with matching expressions of concern.
"I've forgotten how painful injuries can be," Mike replied, leaning against Stan as he looked at his human if bruise-covered, arm. "You know… I honestly expected to go back to being a walking corpse when we finally defeated Bill… Can't complain though. It's nice to have all my insides again."
"I imagine so," Stan snorted, adjusting his arm to have a better grip on Mike. "Come on, let's get home. After all this, I think we all deserve some victory ice cream."
"Victory ice cream!" Dipper and Mabel cheered.
The Pines family may all be a little battered from everything they went through, but they had faced the horrors of the Nightmare realm and come out on top. They had grown stronger as individuals and as a family. They might not know what was in the future, but they were sure they could face anything that might come as long as they had each other.
But for now, it was time for them to rest and bask in the pride and glory of their well-deserved victory.
