A/N: With the series finale of Gravity Falls, I'm safe to say that I will finally be able to complete this fanfic series. And thankfully, I can show you all the big reveal I have been planning with Bill Cipher.
The Guardian stood in a field of wheat with the universe portal in the background. She looked around as the wheat was flattened around her into the image of Bill Cipher, glowing blue. She even heard his maniacal laughter.
"Show yourself!" the Guardian exclaimed. She turned around as Bill materialized from the ground, floating in the air.
"Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well!" Bill said. "Aren't you a sight for sore eye! The great Guardian of Time and Space, my old pal!"
"Bill Cipher," the Guardian said. "What do you want from me?"
"Oh, quit playing dumb!" Bill said. "You knew I'd be back! You think dismantling that portal could stop what I have planned? I've been making deals, chatting with old friends like Erica Kravid of Dimension Hero-Prime, preparing for the big day! You can't keep this dimension safe forever. You'll slip up, and when you do...!"
"Get out of here!" the Guardian exclaimed. "You have no dominion in our world!"
"Maybe not right now, but things change, Guardian!" Bill said. "Things...change."
The Guardian woke up in the TARDIS, panting. She looked at her hand.
Look! A turkey!
The next day, Dana opened a closet door as Marcus rubbed his hands excitedly. The two looked at the closet, which contained some stray items and board games.
"Alright, there has to be some decent board games in here," Dana said.
Marcus walked over to the pile of board games. "Let's see... Battlechutes & Ladderships, Necronomiconopoly, Don't Wake Stalin..."
"Hey, what's this?" Dana asked as she picked up a game. "What Could Go Wrong?: the Board Game. The box said the last players who opened it never made it out alive."
"Well, I know what we're doing today," Marcus said.
Dana nodded in agreement. "This should take up the next twenty-one minutes," she said.
"Dana! Marcus!" the Guardian called out. "I need to speak to you!"
Dana and Marcus found the Guardian in the living room. Marcus looked at a bag on the table. "Ooh, mysterious scrolls and potions!" he said. "Are you going to tell us we're finally of age to go to wizard school?"
"Don't be ridiculous," the Guardian said. "There's no such thing as a wizard school. Now, do either of you recognize this symbol?" She held up a scroll emblazoned with the image of Bill Cipher and several hieroglyphs, making Dana and Marcus gasp.
"Bill Cipher," Dana said.
"You... You know him?" the Guardian asked.
"Know him?" Dana asked in response. "He's been terrorizing us all summer! I have so many questions and theories..."
"Dana's been pretty paranoid ever since Bill possessed her body and turned her into a living doll," Marcus said. "At least that's what William told me."
"Bill mind-raped me!" Dana exclaimed. "It made me feel so violated..."
"The fact that you dealt with Bill is gravely serious," the Guardian said. "His powers are growing stronger, and if he pulls off his plans, no one in this family will be safe! Fortunately, ancient Gallifreyans discovered a way to Cipher-proof surrounding areas years ago. We need three moonstones, a sprinkle of mercury, and some unicorn hair. Right now Daniel is searching for the moonstones and mercury."
"What about the unicorn hair?" Dana asked.
"It's hopeless," the Guardian explained. "Unicorns reside deep within an enchanted glade, and their hairs can only be obtained by a pure good-hearted person who goes on a magical quest to find them. Silvia was the only one whom the unicorns deemed pure of heart, but with her dead, there's no way to get unicorn hair now."
Marcus chuckled. "Oh please," he said. "I am literally obsessed with all things Pony-related, and I know for a fact that unicorns are friends to all living things, even those with tainted hearts. So can I go on the quest to prove you wrong?"
"Oh, alright," the Guardian said. "But it won't be easy." She gave Marcus a crossbow. "My companions and I dealt with unicorns before, and they are rather...odd."
"I better come with you," Dana said. "I read about unicorns in mythology class. Who knows if these unicorns are vicious and violent."
"Alright," Marcus said. He quickly dialed his cell phone. "Jennifer, clear the afternoon!"
Dana looked at the unicorn section in Journal 1. "Wait Marcus," she said. "It says here that in order to summon the unicorn fortress, a siren must sing a song of peace."
"Siren?" Marcus asked. He suddenly had an idea. "We know a siren!"
Some time later, Marcus, Dana, Jennifer, and Becca were in the woods. "It's nice to finally be out on a mission," Marcus said.
"I never met a unicorn before," Jennifer said. "And this adventure is a nice break from paying the house bills since ma was arrested."
"Jennifer, these unicorns might be violent and dangerous," Dana said. "I even heard they have the ability to eat a bird alive."
"I'm a bit worried about this," Becca said. "If you guys needed a siren's song to summon the unicorns, why didn't you ask my mom for help? I'm half-human, so my voice probably won't work."
"Stop!" Marcus said. "This is the magic part of the forest." He opened Journal 1. "Let's see... The gnome tavern is over there, and the fairy nail salon is over there... So the unicorn fortress must be somewhere over here." He gave the journal to Becca. "Okay Becca, do your thing."
"Fine," Becca said. "But don't say I didn't warn you." She stepped forward and sang the song that was described in the journal.
Suddenly, a fortress rose out of the ground, much to Becca's surprise. Then she, Marcus, Jennifer, and Dana entered it.
Inside the fortress, the four were greeted by a white unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail. "Hark! Visitors to my realm of enchantment!" she said. "Come in, come in."
Marcus approached the unicorn. "Miss unicorn, we have journeyed far and wide on a mission to protect our family with your magical hair!" he said.
"Very well," the unicorn said. "To receive a lock of my enchanted hair, step forth, boy or girl of pure perfect heart."
"Yeah, you can drop the act," Marcus said, not convinced. "Now fork over the hair."
"Dear child, us unicorns can see deep inside hearts," the unicorn said. She pointed at Marcus with her horn and his chest glowed with a heart. "And you have done such good."
"What?" Marcus asked.
"But wait, there is another with a pure heart," the unicorn said. She walked over to Dana and pointed at her with her horn, making the female twin's chest glow with a heart.
"Me?" Dana asked. "Why me?"
"Because I sense deep sorrow in your heart," the unicorn explained. "But despite your suffering, you remain kind to those who deserve it, not thinking about hatred or revenge. Why, the last person I encountered who had such pureness was a young woman named Silvia Pines, and she was a princess. Are you a princess too?"
Thinking back to the infamous god scene from Ghost Smashers, Dana said, "Yes?"
"Of course!" the unicorn said. "Only a princess could be so pure of heart! And you look so much like Silvia Pines too. Now come. I will give you all the unicorn hair you need."
Back at the Surprise Hut, Dana and Marcus returned with a wheelbarrow full of unicorn hair (because Jennifer had to return to the Castle of Telepathy and Becca was planning on going on a date with Taylor that afternoon). Needless to say, the Guardian was pleasantly surprised.
"It...can't be!" the Guardian said, surprised by the amount of unicorn hair. "This is amazing! With this much unicorn hair, we should be able to completely shield the hut from Bill's mind-reading tricks!"
"So where's Mr. Noble with the moonstones and mercury?" Dana asked.
"He hasn't come back yet," the Guardian explained. "Which means we might have to resort to Plan B."
And so, the Guardian brought Dana and Marcus to the second floor of the TARDIS. This particular room was colored in shades of teal and aqua, with a tall pillar in the center, surrounded by what appeared to be a control panel.
"Welcome to the TARDIS control room," the Guardian said as Marcus briefly glanced at a rectangular object that was covered by a sheet. "It hasn't been active in over thirty years, but hopefully I should be able to reboot it some day." She activated a large monitor. "If we can't Bill-proof the hut, we're going to have to do the next best thing." She held up a helmet with wires on it. "We're gonna have to Bill-proof your minds."
The Guardian put the helmet on Dana. "So what is Bill, exactly?" the brunette girl asked.
The Guardian hesitated. "He's...a powerful creature known as a Cipher," she explained. "They are the greatest enemy of the Gallifreyans. They're older than the Milky Way galaxy and incredibly twisted. Without physical forms, they can only project themselves into human thoughts through the mindscape."
"So how do we keep Bill out of our minds?" Marcus asked.
"For Gallifreyans, it's simple," the Guardian answered. "Our mental constructs are so complex that a Cipher would explode if he or she was in our minds for longer than ten minutes. But this machine is safer. It will scan your mind, bioelectrically encrypting your thoughts so Bill can't read them." She turned the machine on. "Now Dana, say hello to your thoughts."
"Oh man, I still can't believe an alien was impersonating Graunt Silvia all this time!"
"Why have I always been concerned about my hair?"
"Detention deficit disorder..."
"William or Patterson? William or Patterson? William or Patterson? William or Patterson?"
"You might wanna...ignore that last one," Dana said shyly. She cleared her throat. "By the way, you never told me what your history with Bill was."
"That's not important," the Guardian said. "Just focus. It's time to strengthen your mind."
Twenty-One Minutes Later...
"This is taking forever!" Marcus complained, since the machine had scanned fifteen percent of Dana's memories.
Dana noticed the Guardian had fallen asleep on a chair near the control panel. "Why does the Guardian have to be so mysterious about Bill?" she asked Marcus. "We can probably handle the truth."
That gave Marcus an idea. "I know!" he said. "Use this helmet-y machine on her!"
"I don't know..." Dana said.
"Come on, Stargirl," Marcus said. "The more we know about Bill, the more we can help.
"Oh, alright," Dana said. She took off the helmet and put it on the Guardian. "But just a little peek."
A woman with a different face was operating a pure-white control room. She had blonde hair that was tied up in a messy bun and she wore a tan and red cricket uniform (with a piece of celery on the jacket). She was apparently an early incarnation of the Guardian. The TARDIS also looked different, especially with an absent elevator.
A young boy walked over to her. He was dark-skinned with short black hair. He wore a white buttoned-up shirt, dark brown pants, and black shoes.
"Guardian, are we there yet?" the boy asked.
"No, not yet," the Guardian said, speaking in a slight British accent. "It will only take a half hour to reach Barcelona."
"Okay," the boy said. "But is it true?"
"The dogs with no noses?" the Guardian asked in response. "Very much true. Now please head back to bed. I don't want to hear complaints about you being tired."
"Okay," the boy said. He sounded dejected.
"Oh, don't you worry," the Guardian said. "It'll all be worth the extra sleep, Bill."
Dana and Marcus were shocked. Why did the Guardian just call that boy 'Bill'? Unless...
"Holy smokes!" Marcus explained. "The Guardian was friends with Bill?!"
"Seriously?!" Dana asked. "You're not surprised that Bill was once a human?!"
The Guardian, who had just woke up, stood up and approached the twins. "You weren't supposed to see those memories," she said, taking off the helmet.
"What's going on?!" Dana asked. "Was that actually Bill Cipher?!"
"We want some answers!" Marcus demanded.
"Very well," the Guardian said, putting the helmet back on. "Might as well tell you since I told this story to a lot of my companions. I have had many regrets in my life, but the biggest one when I visited an orphanage in the year 1939. I had just entered my cricket years, and I was deeply missing my longest-running companion Scott Jay Smith and my beloved robot cat X7. So I decided to adopt a child."
The Guardian stepped out of the TARDIS and entered an orphanage. She walked up to the front desk. "Hello," she said. "I wish to adopt a child."
"They're in the yard," the clerk said. "But be careful, one of them is rather...unstable."
When the Guardian arrived at the orphanage's yard, she looked at the boys and girl playing. But one boy caught her eye: an eight-year-old dark-skinned boy who was playing basketball. He looked angry for some reason. And after missing a basket, he caught the ball and threw it onto the ground in rage. Curious, she walked over to him.
"Hello," the Guardian said. "What is your name?"
"Why do you want to know?" the boy asked. "Wouldn't you rather talk to one of the other kids?"
"Because you seem different," the Guardian explained. "Special, in fact."
"How am I special?" the boy asked.
"I can tell when I see special people," the Guardian said. "So why are you playing by yourself?"
"Because the other kids hate me," the boy answered. "They call me an unwanted freak."
"I'm not surprised," the Guardian said. "This is a period of segregation."
"Yeah, you don't need to tell me that," the boy said. "There's nothing for me in this world. I'm just some worthless freak."
The Guardian knelt down to the boy. "No, you're not," she said. "You might have been born unlucky, but I know you're destined for greatness. If you come with me, you'll become someone extraordinary."
"You think so?" the boy asked.
"Brave heart, young boy," the Guardian said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
The boy looked at the Guardian, and a smile slowly appeared on his face. "It's Bill," he said. "My name is Bill Hirsch."
"And so, I adopted Bill and took him in as my son," the Guardian explained. The monitor proceeded to show many adventures she had with Bill. "He even made friends with my other companions during those years. I thought I was guiding him in the right direction, but then a tragic day occurred. It was the day that changed us for the worst. It all started during our visit to the planet Androzani Minor..."
"Bill? Bill?!" the Guardian shouted. "I've got the antidote! I'll fix you right..."
This wasn't right. Bill Hirsch was supposed to be right there, still unconscious, ready to be cured and carried off this war zone.
What she saw were bodies. Lots of bloodied, broken bodies. It almost made her retch.
The Guardian fought back tears. Another happy-go-lucky travel had ended in bloodshed and demise. There should have been another way...
Quickly, the Timelady scanned the scene of the massacre, hoping Bill's body wasn't among them and breathing a sigh of relief when it wasn't. Then she heard the Cloister Bell. Imminent disaster!
"Bill..." The Guardian breathed as she ran in the direction of the TARDIS. As she approached her disguised little home she saw a glow from inside get brighter and brighter. What was going on in there?
"Bill!" the Timelady shouted, throwing open the door and seeing a young twelve-year-old enveloped in a glowing yellow light. The hatch on the TARDIS console was open wide. He couldn't have... He knew!...
"Hi, Guardian!" Bill spoke. His voice had changed. It barely resembled a human's anymore. Now it was so distorted and other-worldly, almost machine-like. "How do you like me now?!"
Her eyes wide, the Guardian barely held back her shock and rage. "What the heck have you done?!"
Bill smiled. "I looked into the TARDIS! And the TARDIS looked into me!" He waved his hand and the TARDIS door closed behind the female time-traveller.
"It's just like the voices said!" Bill shouted. "This power feels incredible!"
"You opened the heart of the TARDIS?!" the Guardian shouted back. "What in the universe possessed you to even think of such a thing?!"
"My friends! The voices in my dreams!" Bill revealed. "Ever since the Cybermen incident, I've been dreaming! Dreaming of this! The power to do whatever I want!"
As he spoke, the TARDIS itself seemed to obey him. The engines started, taking them away from Androzani Minor.
"No, Bill! Take us back!" the Guardian cried out. "Take us back to Androzani right now!"
"That place was a nightmare! A warzone! Everyone was going to die anyway! I just gave them a helping hand!" Bill spoke again. "And now I'll finish the job!"
Before the Guardian could respond, a large explosion was heard. Ripping open the TARDIS door, all she could see were the pieces of rubble which now remained of Androzani Minor and Androzani Major. Her hearts sank. How could he do such a thing?
"Just like the voices promised!" Bill uttered. "Finally, I know my true purpose!"
The Guardian was confused. Was he talking about the Ciphers? They were all left in their decaying dimension years ago! They should have been dead by now!
"I can see into your mind, my friend!" the empowed human spoke. "And yes, I'm not ashamed to admit I have made contact with your old friends, the Cipher race!"
"Bill, no!" the Timelady cried out. "Why would you trust them? They're evil!"
Bill only laughed. "They've been waiting, Guardian...in their decaying home dimension!" He laughed again. "Waiting for someone like me!"
"Stop! Stop this now!" the Guardian exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears. "This isn't like you! Where's the young boy I loved like a son?"
"He's still here! Aren't you proud of me?" Bill exclaimed. "With this power, I can control everything! There will no longer be evil because I will know all and see all! I will be Godlike!"
"That decision isn't yours or anyone's to make!" the Time Lady responded.
"No! That decision is mine! It became mine when the Ciphers chose me!" Bill shouted back.
"Bill, please! This is wrong!" the Guardian was about to say before she suddenly collapsed, grabbing onto the wall for support. Her Spectrox Toxemia was starting to affect her. By this point it would be too late to take her antidote. Her only option left was regeneration. But what about Bill?
"See me as I am! No longer afraid of anything!" Bill shouted.
Forcing herself to stand, the Guardian looked straight into Bill's glowing eyes. "Bill... I will stop you!"
And with that, the Timelady charged at Bill, hugging him just as she regenerated. Her held-back regeneration increased its force, resulting in a massive explosion which destroyed the windows and almost shattered the engines. Through this and her contact with Bill, she absorbed the heart of the TARDIS and placed it back inside the TARDIS console, all while he screamed in pain. When it finally ended, the Guardian pulled away from Bill as a new woman with a new face and long curly blonde hair. She had hoped Bill would be alright as well.
But all that now remained of Bill was an empty shell, devoid of all human life. The explosion, coupled with the draining of power, had worked too well. Bill himself had been destroyed. His skin was now charred, as if he had been burnt to a crisp on an open fire. Sure enough, his soulless form turned to ash and flew on a breeze out the windows. Bill Hirsch lived no more.
"And that's why I refuse to let children come with me," the Guardian said, taking off the helmet. "Their minds are easily corrupted, like what happened to Bill. He had such potential and he wasted it on believing the Ciphers' lies. I thought he was gone for good, but when the accident with Silvia, Franny, and Daniel occurred, I learned the Ciphers revived Bill into one of them. Now he's beyond redemption, a complete monster. Bill Hirsch might have been burned, but Bill Cipher now exists in his place."
"Oh man," Dana said.
"No kidding," Marcus agreed.
In the hut's living room, Dana, Marcus, and the Guardian were sipping on some cans of Pitt Cola. "Guardian, I'm so sorry that had to happen to you," Marcus said.
"No, it's my fault," the Guardian said. "I was too blind to see his building rage and hatred. If I didn't adopted him, the whole universe wouldn't be in danger."
"But Guardian, you can't blame yourself for this," Dana said. "It sounded like the Ciphers corrupted him."
"Because of me," the Guardian said. "What happened to Bill Hirsch is forever my biggest regret. Now we have to stop him at all costs, starting with shielding the hut."
Speaking of which, Daniel showed up with a backpack full of moonstones and a bag filled with mercury. He looked exhausted. "Sorry I took so long," he said. "I had to get extras in case of emergency."
"Nice work, Daniel," the Guardian said. "Now we can get to work on the spell."
Some time later, Dana and the Guardian were in the yard. With the moonstones and mercury placed in the hut, Dana finished stretching the unicorn hair around it. A force field formed around the building.
"Perfect!" the Guardian said. "This will protect us from Bill. As long as we're inside, our minds are safe."
But in the Cipher realm, Bill was watching them with an orb. He snapped his fingers, causing a picture of his human form and the Guardian to appear. His glance was fixated on the picture, and he sniffled. Brushing back a tear that came from his eye, he waved his other hand in front of the picture, causing it to burn up.
Now wasn't the time for wallowing in the past. After all, the Guardian burned his body. It was about time she knew how that felt.