Chapter 19: Bill's Growing Army

Ford blinks open his eyes in one of the secret alcoves that Layla had found, this one being bare and unused for quite some time as it wasn't a common one, the two sleeping on a wad of blankets with their trench coats as their makeshift blanket for on top of them.

There was a ruckus down the alleyway, him sitting up and putting an ear to the hologram wall that shielded them from the outside world, ignoring the slight hum of the technology. Outside there was a mixture of languages, tones, and dialects. Some beings sounded happy, while others sounded like they wanted to rip something apart in anger.

"What is it?" Layla yawned, rubbing her eyes. Her jet black hair was sticking up in random places, a cowlick on the top of her head that refused to stay down no matter how much she patted it down. There were bags under her eyes, as did Ford's as well, most likely from sleeping with one eye open to jump at the sound of danger.

"I… don't know," Ford replied honestly. "It sounds like there is some kind of assembly out there…"

Layla crouches next to him, putting an ear by the hologram wall herself to hear what was going on. "I can make some of it out…" she whispered. "It sounds like… there is a recruitment of some sort…"

"Recruitment?" Ford questioned. "For what?"

Layla narrows her eyes, Ford practically seeing the gears turn in her head as she mentally translated the multiple languages. "An… army…" she finally confirmed.

Ford blinks. "Army…?" he echoed. "For whom?"

"Bill Cipher…"

Within a few minutes they had packed their few belongings and left the safety of the alcove, them looking around to make sure no one saw them. The two humans walked down the alleyway, them now seeing a crowd gathered. With a simple look at each other they put on their goggles and scarves to cover their features. Soon they were in a middle of a mass of different species.

In front of them on what seemed like a stage was none other than Bill Cipher himself.

Bill Cipher was literally just a yellow triangle, with a brick pattern on the lower half of his body. He had one giant eye in the middle, but he had no mouth, so as he spoke his body seemed to flash. Because he was triangle and had no humanoid form his apparel was just a tall, black top hat with a bow tie. The demon had simple black arms and legs, four fingers out each hand and his feet looked like a child's drawing as they were just simple black ovals.

As funny and harmless as he looked… he was super dangerous.

"Well, well, well, looks like we got a second wave of a crowd here!" Bill's shrill voice bellowed, him levitating in the air, him looking like he was laying down in a casual manner. In his right hand he twirled a black cane, sometimes it hitting one of his henchmen occasionally in the head, which he laughed humorously. "So… I'm looking for some tough people, just like you folks!" he continued saying, him pointing his cane to the crowd, Ford's heart pounding when the cane hovered over him for that brief moment. "As we all know, I'm looking for a Stanford Filbrick Pines, he also goes by Ford… he's the only human male in these parts of the multiverse now since little Layla Bartek murdered her father."

Ford felt Layla stiffen next to him.

"But… a deal has also gone bad between myself and Magum," Bill stated, his voice still upbeat sounding, but the monsters in the crowd shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Magum's name. Bill noticed it as well. "Oh… come on!" Bill's normally yellow form turns into a deep red, his white eye turning black with a red pupil, red flames with a white glow licking across his hands. "Magum made a deal with me and he didn't go through… so now I need some tough people to help take him out!"

Take… out Magum? Ford thought curiously. How can a dream demon even beat a telepathic demon?

"So… who wants to join my ranks to destroy that two-timing, human-girl-loving, demon? If he could make a bad deal with ME of all demons, then he definitely will not be afraid of getting rid of all of you!"

The crowd falls silent, the monsters glancing at each other. Layla was hearing what they were saying, confirming that they agree with Bill about Magum.

"If more monsters and demons join Bill's ranks… this could be bad news for Earth." Layla murmurs to Ford.

"But… remember, the portal in Gravity Falls should have shorted out and ran out of fuel after I went through… unless someone opens it again or someone else builds another portal, there is no way that Bill can gain a physical form on Earth." Ford tells her.

"What about your brother?" Layla then asks him.

Ford looks at her, baffled. With his goggles there was no way that she could see that his brown eyes were wide with shock. "What do you mean?" he questions her, his tone confused.

Layla sighs with exasperation. "You're brother… you're twin brother… wouldn't he be worried and want to try to get you back?" she then elaborates.

Ford rolls his eyes with irritation. "He's… not intelligent like myself… he could never figure out the portal," he angrily replies. "Also he only has one of my journals, the other two are hidden, so he couldn't even read the instructions on how to open the portal," the more he talked the more he grew angry and bitter at Stanley, remembering that he was the reason why Ford was there in the first place. "And if by some damn miracle he did find my other journals, there is no way in hell he'd even begin to understand all the engineering, chemical balances, physics, and even nuclear energy to get the damn portal to work."

Layla then grabs him by the arm and drags him away from the crowd, the monsters then cheering in agreement to join Bill. After getting away from the loud crowd she took off her goggles, her face scrunched up in anger, her eyes narrow and her electric blue eyes burning with an intense fire of rage. Both her hands were balled up into fists, and without even thinking she punched Ford in the gut, causing him to groan and crumple over in pain.

"Are you serious right now?!" she screeches at him, her voice wavering in rage. "He's your brother! You don't think he'd try anything if not everything to get you back!? At least you have someone on the other side that is most likely willing to risk the safety of the world for you!" Her body was shaking violently. "That was so insulting to him!"

"You obviously don't understand-" Ford growls.

"I don't have siblings, so I don't," Layla shouts at him. "BUT, you were talking in your sleep when you were hurt about how you two would spend after school or your summer days rebuilding an old boat… obviously you care about your brother and he cares about you… you said before that he got in trouble because he stole money so that you could have fun! Your brother is willing to risk it all for you… and you won't give him the benefit of the doubt!"

"WELL I DON'T WANT HIM TO OPEN THE PORTAL!" Ford then screams. "I'M NOT WORTH THE WORLD GETTING DESTROYED BY THAT TRIANGULAR BASTARD!" He was then panting, his face red, and his hands were shaking. For a moment he sounded just like his father with his yelling… especially when he yelled at Stanley for getting in trouble. "I've never put my brother down for not being super intelligent… and right now I'm happy that he isn't… because Bill cannot get to Earth… and right now with him being distracted with Magum and myself he won't go into the Mindscape of the people to try to trick them for the time being."

Layla gives him a look of pity. "Well… apparently Stanley thinks you're worth something, Stanford," she simply says, all the anger in her voice gone, now she just spoke with a monotone like she no longer cared, but it also looked like she wanted to say something else but decided against it. She gives a sigh and goes back down the alleyway to hear the commotion of the monsters willing to give their life to Bill Cipher and go against Magum.

Ford processed what she said and gives a sigh himself, then he winced at the pain in his abdomen.

Damn… she can throw a punch…

"And thank you all for joining me! Because as soon as Magum is out of the way we can get to Earth for one big party! I already got my eye on a certain someone to help us…!" Bill's voice blared, Ford's full attention now processing that sentence.

A… certain someone?

His train of thought was interrupted when Layla grabbed his arm to drag him away. "Let's go before Bill notices that we were the only ones that didn't join him… he'll put two and two together and figure out who we are," her voice was barely above a whisper.

As Bill cackled to his new followers, Ford was being dragged off by Layla. She hadn't said a word since they had left, and Ford had a feeling it was because of their argument. He decided not to talk himself, afraid of making the tension between them worse. It seemed like every time they would be on a level ground something would spark and a wildfire of disagreement will get between them.

Sounds like Ma and Pop… Ford mentally laughed at himself. He had a grin on his face, but immediately shook his head to get rid of it, realizing that he just compared him and Layla to a married couple. He was still being pulled by her, her hand warm around his forearm, sending a tingling sensation through him. Ford could feel his heartrate increase, perspiration on his brown and his hands feeling suddenly clammy.

"Um… Layla?" he gently called to her. She seemed to be lost in deep thought as it took a few more tries to get her intention. When she finally stopped and gave him a blank look he just said simply, "Can… can you let go of my arm now please?"

The woman did as he asked, her not even realizing that she still had a tight grip on him from before. She then puts on her goggles once again and adjusts her scarf so that only her upturned nose and freckles were the only things showing on her face, the goggle obscuring the world of her eyes.

"L-Layla…?" Ford stammered. "I'm sorry for yelling at you back there… and it's not that I think my brother is an idiot, because he isn't… he's smarter than me in a lot of things that I couldn't even imagine… it's just… I'm not worth it. After all I have done, I deserve to be here…you certainly don't deserve to be here," he seemed to be rambling, him putting a hand behind his head and scratching, something he did quite often when he was in an awkward conversation or nervous.

He couldn't tell what expression was on her face because of her getup, but she laughed, her laugh sounding high and bell-like. She then removes her goggles and scarf, her giving a smile, which honestly made Ford's heart race for a moment.

"Well… your brother probably thinks you're worth it… and so do I." Layla then stated. Her face then suddenly blushes a red, and before Ford could question her she was putting back on her disguise and was walking ahead of him, ripping down whatever wanted posters there were of them.

Ford adjusts his own goggles and scarf to make sure his face was hidden. As he walked behind Layla he noticed a few monsters staring at them, glancing between the two as they walked, a few murmuring and pointing at them.

One of them seemed to have glowing yellow eyes… and it gave a sadistic smirk as Ford passed.

Bill Cipher was watching.


A/N: Hello everyone! I'm really sorry for the lack of updates, this is because I am still in the process of moving and I have to unpack everything, set up internet, buy food and furniture, all while still going to work full time and even on my days off. I am trying to write ahead a few chapters so I can just post them, so please bare with me!

Also, check out my new Deviantart, which is also under the name SkyeHendersen where I am posting the FULL covers of these FanFictions. The only one that doesn't have a cover is the short stories one since I'm still practicing my drawing I want to draw the cover where Dipper and Mabel are as seen in "Cipher's Reign".

There also might be spoilers to upcoming fanfictions and there are also thumbnails for my YouTube videos that I edited on Photoshop.

Thanks for reading as always! And thank you for understanding that I am adulting too much right now!

~Skye Hendersen~