Henry and Charlie moved as swiftly as they could toward where Mike said William would be, having abandoned even the idea of stealth after the Mystery Siblings' destructive rampage. When they turned a corner, they found William at a desk, rapidly pulling various papers out and packing them into a binder. He glanced up when he heard Henry and Charlie arrive and quickly gathered up all he could into his arms.
"Hello Henry, I wasn't expecting to see you here," William said with a charming smile, attempting to talk his way out of this even though he knew the ruse was up. "And I'm surprised you have the Security Puppet with you too. It seemed like you never wanted to see it again after what hap-"
William was cut off by Henry rushing forward and socking him in the jaw. The surprise and force of the blow caused him to drop the binder and various papers he had been holding and sent him stumbling back into the desk behind him. William wiped a little bit of blood from his mouth as Henry glared at him.
"Save your lies! I know the truth!" Henry yelled, punching William in the jaw again. "You killed Charlie! You killed my daughter! And you plan to kill even more kids! I will not allow that to happen!"
Henry attempted to punch William again, but William knew it was coming and was able to twist out of the way in time. William's grin turned a bit more manic as he chuckled and said, "You won't allow it? Do you really think you can stop me? I've learned a lot recently and I know that despite your best efforts, you'll never be able to truly stop me!"
"The future's not set in stone and things have already changed!" Henry shot back, getting a firm grip on the bat Mabel had lent him. "You're not getting away… this is going to end here and now!"
"Ah… but I'm not the one you should be worried about…" William replied.
Before Henry could figure out what William was implying, Charlie suddenly pulled him back while shouting, "Dad! Watch out!"
Henry barely saw something small fly past right where his head had been before Charlie's hand shot forward and grabbed. With the thing now still, Henry could see it was an animatronic in the shape of an infant. The bidybab turned its large head to look up at Charlie and let out a creepy childish laugh before Charlie suddenly let go with a pained yell. The second the bidybab hit the ground, it scuttled out of sight, no doubt getting ready to attack again.
"What happened?" Henry asked his daughter in worry.
"It shocked me…" Charlie hissed, flexing her long fingers.
While Henry and Charlie had been distracted by the bidybab, William had quickly gathered up his scattered papers and was making a run for it. Henry saw this and started to chase after him only to get distracted by a bunch of minireenas dropping down on top of him. Their simple hands were surprisingly sharp as they crawled over him and had more than a few cuts before he and Charlie managed to fling the last of them off him. They were sturdier than they looked though and were already coming back for round two.
Charlie used her long nimble fingers to grab the little things and twist and crush each one she caught until it barely resembled anything at all. Henry meanwhile put Mabel's bat to good use, shattering any bidybab that attempted to leap or crawl toward them. The two soon stood surrounded by scraps of casing and destroyed parts, listening for any more movements of their opponents. Once they were sure they weren't going to be attacked again, the two took off down the tunnel William had fled through, refusing to let him escape.
William couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration as he ran, mourning the loss of so much of his research and resources. But he would not let himself be caught so easily. Henry may know about what William had been up to and would no doubt tell the police, but it would only be a small setback in the end. William was destined for far greater things than just the owner of a family restaurant and his work would not end there. He hurried around the next corner and…
CRUNCH
A fist came straight at his face, breaking his nose and knocking him flat on his back from the sudden force of it. As he instinctively held his nose and tried to stem the bleeding, he looked up to see Michael standing over him with a satisfied grin.
"You've had that coming for a long time," Michael said as he shook out his hand from the punch, glaring down at the monster, now just a man, that he had spent so long trying to stop.
Before William could even think of a response, Elizabeth came from behind Michael and picked him up, restraining him in her strong metallic grip.
"Hey let me go!" William said, strugglingly uselessly. "Elizabeth! Put me down this instant!"
"Nuh-uh…" Elizabeth replied with a shake of her head and a giggle. "You're a bully and we don't listen to bullies!"
Dipper approached the trapped William as he pulled out his spell book, casually flipping through it as he calmly stated, "Since the moment I learned about Mike's history, I have done a lot of research into what you've done and how to make sure nothing like that could ever happen again. There is one spell in particular I had wished I had the chance to use on you. Unfortunately messing with time like that would have gotten me attested and serving infinite life sentences, but I kept a hold of the spell just in case… and now I can finally put it to use…"
Pulling out the circle he had prepared as soon as he knew where and when Mike was, Dipper placed it on William's chest and began to chant, "Naturae legibus duce, hanc animam et vas mortale quod inhabitat vinculum munio. Cum cor verberaverit, anima velociter ad planum pertinet nulla alia potentia impedire."
William yelled as the magic burned into him, branding the circle on his skin over his heart, leaving him panting heavily once the process and he gasped out, "What… what did you do to me?"
"I strengthened the natural bond between body and soul," Dipper replied as he put his spell book away. "Meaning that the moment your heart stops beating, your soul will be immediately sent to the afterlife. That means this time, you won't ever be coming back."
Though Dipper was technically still talking to William, Dipper had looked at Michael for the last part as he knew Michael needed that assurance the most. And Michael appreciated it, feeling a weight lifted off him knowing that he won't ever have to face that never-ending cycle again.
Henry and Charlie came around the corner themselves at that moment, both of them relaxing at seeing William had been successfully captured.
"Did you have any trouble on your end?" Henry asked, looking over the others only to do a double take when he spotted Evan and Gregory. "Wh- I thought you two were supposed to stay at home where it's safe!"
"It was Gregory's idea!" Evan immediately said.
"It was and I don't regret it!" Gregory replied with a mix of stubbornness and pride. "They wouldn't have gotten this far without me!"
"It's true," Dipper agreed with a chuckle and a fond smile from Michael. "He was an excellent shot just like he claimed."
"Did you give him a GUN!?" Henry asked in disbelief and concern.
"Magnet Gun, so less dangerous," Dipper replied, knowing it was a lie to claim it wasn't dangerous at all. "Anyway, we should get go-"
Dipper cut off as he suddenly clutched his chest, his eyes flashing blue for a second.
"Are you alright?" Henry asked, concerned by the sudden reaction.
"That shouldn't have been possible," Dipper murmured with worry straightening up and started running towards the main warehouse. The others followed a moment later, Dipper's response doing very little to calm their worry.
"What's happening?" Michael asked, even as he picked up Gregory and Evan to help them keep up with the group.
"Mike and I had a minor body-swapping incident during our second summer together," Dipper explained as he ran. "My soul absorbed some of his remnant when that happened, giving us a magical connection. It isn't very strong and means practically nothing outside of a few magical communities, but it is there. Just now, for a moment, I felt something from it. Mostly Mike's refusal to stop fighting. The fact that I felt anything at all is already cause for alarm, but to feel an emotion so clearly like that… it means something big is happening. I have to get to them!"
The others understood the urgency and only quickened their pace, ignoring William's protests from where Elizabeth held him over her shoulder.