As the magic energy in the air faded away, the Mystery Siblings shifted and began sitting up from where they had been knocked to the ground. Dipper checked the circle first, ensuring that the ritual had been completed and that they weren't about to be surprise attacked. Mike on the other hand immediately looked over his siblings for any unknown injuries and asked, "Quack quack-"
The unexpected sound of quacking coming out of Mike's throat followed immediately by Mike covering his mouth in embarrassed horror, made everyone else burst out in startled and slightly hysterical laughter and giggles. Between her snickers, Mabel proudly exclaimed, "I told you guys him mimicking Ducktective was the best!"
"You should have expected that to happen," Dipper chuckled, getting an annoyed look from Mike. "I mean you did just have a ton of magical energy flood through your body by helping out with the ritual, so of course your systems are going to be glitching out from it. Anything more urgent affected by it?"
Mike's eyes became a bit unfocused as he processed his internal diagnostics before giving a shake of his head to indicate that there wasn't anything else wrong. After a few more seconds, his voice mimicking software recalibrated so he lowered his hands and said, "Testing… good… I'm back to normal."
"Like any of us will ever be normal," Mabel teased, getting a nod of agreement from Dipper.
"I know I'm not very familiar with all this magic stuff," Henry cut in with a worried look, internally sighing at how he seemed to be the only real adult here. "But your… spell… did it kill Vanny? I haven't seen her move once since that thing was expelled from her."
"She should still be alive, but she probably needs healing after being possessed for who knows how long," Dipper replied, wincing in sympathy and flexing his hand unconsciously when he thought about his own experience. "Let me take care of that real quick… Sana et excita!"
A soft blue glow covered Vanny as Dipper's magic took hold, healing the woman from within. As the spell was nearing its completion, Vanny let out a startled gasp as her eyes snapped open, gaze shifting around wildly as she tried to process being in control of her body once more. When Dipper walked over to her, she tried to scramble away only to realize she was currently bound. Kneeling in front of Vanny, Dipper placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way she flinched under his touch knowing she needed the grounding pressure.
"Hey… I know you've been through a lot but you're free now," Dipper said softly. "Do you remember your name? Can you tell me it?"
"Van-vanessa…" the now-named Vanessa replied, coughing slightly as she got used to talking on her own again. "Is he r-really gone? Am… am I really free?"
"You are free," Dipper assured as he untied her, hesitating a little before he continued. "I don't know if he's gone for good though… The ritual only banishes him from this dimension, but since he wasn't from this dimension to begin with there's a strong likely hood he's just been sent back to your home dimension. But I promise we'll make sure you're protected against him before we send you back."
"And even some tools and tips to help you get some revenge if you want it," Mike added with a sharp grin, getting a tentative grin from Vanessa.
"Revenge… revenge does sound good," Vanessa replied as she shakily got to her feet with Mabel and Dipper's help. There was a small spark of fire in her eyes that showed that while she had certainly suffered and been beaten down from her experience, she wasn't broken.
"I thought it might," Mike chuckled before glancing over at Elizabeth who was still carrying William. "But we have something we need to take care of first…"
It wasn't hard to find evidence of William's crimes, especially when they figured out that the papers William had been trying to run with were all his research notes on getting remnant from his victims. Once the police had been called, Henry waited by the warehouse entrance with a bound William, while the others went through the connecting tunnel and snuck their way back to Henry's house. Henry spent a few hours being questioned by the police and no doubt would be called back multiple times to provide more details, but at the moment he was done and was able to return home to the kids.
Now the entire group was gathered in the empty pizzeria around the ball pit. Dipper was currently setting up the various equipment Ford had given him while also giving Vanessa a few tips to help keep herself from being possessed again once she returned home. Mabel was at a table with all the kids, both human and haunted animatronic alike, and sharing funny (and embarrassing) stories about the adventures she's been on with her brothers. All the kids were wearing the sweaters Mabel had made for them, including Charlie's freshly finished one, a green sweater with a chibi puppet on the front, and the words 'I cut my own strings'. Michael stood a little ways from the group of kids, enjoying the laughter coming from those at the table, but couldn't quite bring himself to join them.
"How are you holding up?" Mike asked as he came to stand next to his counterpart after finishing talking to Henry about what he knew about remnant-powered animatronics.
"I… I'm having a hard time believing it's truly all over," Michael confessed quietly.
"Yeah, I get that," Mike nodded in understanding. "I felt something similar after that final fire. A mission I had been pursuing for literal decades had finally been completed… what do you do with your life after that? Luckily I had my new family to give me a new purpose and meaning in life than just erasing William's legacy and you have that too now. It's going to be an adjustment for sure and not just for you, but for all of them as well. Just give yourself time and remind yourself that you can now live your life however you want."
"That's a weird thing to think about," Michael said with a slight grimace. Before this whole thing, he hadn't thought about what he would do with his life, like most teenagers his age, and then he didn't really have a life to live, first because of his grief and guilt and then because he had literally lost his life. It was a little intimidating to think he once more had the freedom to be whatever he wanted again.
"You'll get used to the idea," Mike promised, giving his counterpart a friendly nudge. "Maybe just think about doing normal teenage things that we kind of missed out on for various reasons. Join a random club, pick up a new hobby, or start thinking about who you can take to prom."
Michael couldn't help how he started to blush as he thought about going to the prom with a certain blonde, getting a chuckle out of Mike.
"Alright! It's all set up and calibrated to send Vanessa home," Dipper called, getting everyone's attention.
"And you're sure it'll send me back to roughly the same time I left at?" Vanessa asked as everyone began to gather around the ball pit. "Because I had my own Gregory that I was chasing and while the kid's good at surviving, I don't want to risk it."
"Give or take an hour," Dipper replied, running through the calculations again. "I can only be so precise with what I have."
"Then that'll have to do," Vanessa agreed with a determined frown, adjusting the bad of various gear and protection charms she had been given to her by the Mystery Siblings. "Can go through?"
"Whenever you're ready."
Vanessa nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped into the ball pit. She waded into the center and ducked down. They couldn't see anything happen outside of a few balls shifting, but a beeping sound from the equipment confirmed that she had successfully traveled back to her dimension. Dipper began adjusting everything to get him and his siblings home.
"I guess this is the part where we say goodbye," Mike said, looking at the counterparts of people he cared about and had come to care about in their own way as well.
"I'll miss you other Mikey," Elizabeth said, pulling Mike into a hug.
"I'll miss you too, Lizzie," Mike laughed. "But I'm glad I was able to reunite you with your family. It won't be the same, but it can only be better than what my sister went through."
"Don't worry, she'll be in good hands," Henry promised. "I'll make sure she and the others are taken care of."
"I know you will," Mike agreed, giving Henry a handshake. "Though I guess this means I'm quitting my job without proper notice…"
"Wouldn't be the first time we've done something like that," Michael couldn't help but snort. "I'm sure the restaurant will survive without you."
"The Fazbear band has proven to be hard to kill," Mike agreed with a laugh before turning to Evan and Gregory. "And you two just focus on having a good childhood alright? Even if you nearly give the other me a heart attack a few times."
"Like I wasn't going to do that anyway," Gregory replied with a smirk.
"I don't think we'll be that bad," Evan replied, hugging his new Waddles plushie. Mike and Gregory just exchanged a glance, knowing that Gregory was going to make sure they were that bad on occasion, and getting a resigned sigh from Michael.
"I wish I got the chance to know you more," Charlie commented sadly. "I would have loved to hear more about the adventures you've been through from your perspective."
"Well you'll just have to have your own adventures with your family while I go on mine," Mike replied.
"Would you ever be able to visit?" Elizabeth asked, reluctant to let her other brother go.
"It might be possible," Dipper jumped in. "But more likely it'll have to be when this dimension's closer to our time to make traveling dimensions easier, but that means it'll be years for you guys."
"And even if we never see each other again, we'll still have all these great memories of each other," Mabel added. "We're pretty unforgettable after all."
Everyone laughed at her very true statement.
"Everything's set up," Dipper announced. "We can head home now."
"So who's going first- wwwhhoooaaa," Mike's question was answered for him as Mabel suddenly shoved him in the back and made him faceplant in the ball pit, sinking to the bottom and disappearing from it.
"You didn't have to do that," Dipper said with a rueful smile.
"Yeah, I did, otherwise he'd want us to go first and somehow get stuck here!" Mabel huffed before she turned to the others with a smile. "Remember I'm your favorite interdimensional cousin! CANON BALL!"
Mabel jumped and curled up in the air, giggling as she disappeared through the center of the ball pit, a few balls being knocked onto the floor from the force of her 'splash'.
"This equipment will self-destruct as soon as I go through," Dipper informed as he stepped up to the edge of the ball pit himself. "It's better not to risk drawing the attention of the time police more than we already have. Oh… and if you happen to take a vacation to the middle of nowhere town called Gravity Falls in Organ in about thirty years, I'm sure there will be a certain pair of twins there that would love to hear all about this story."
With that last bit of advice, Dipper gave everyone a farewell salute as he tipped backward and sank into the ball pit himself. A few moments after he disappeared from view, the machinery popped and fizzled, becoming useless hunks of metal like promised.
"Alright everyone," Henry said after a few moments of silence. "Let's go home."