What was so impressive and terrifying about the storm roaring outside was how much power it took the Warlock to bend nature to his will and continue doing so relentlessly for over a week. Bill had explained that magic wasn't something one could use without limit and without repercussion. Because it was tied to the soul's essence, magic could kill its wielder if he or she insisted on pushing beyond their limits. That being said, one could learn to draw magic from other nearby life forms like plants, animals, or even people. Dipper wondered if the Warlock had gotten to that stage yet; if he was killing people to continue powering the storm raging overhead.
The power was out. It had been that way for a couple of days now. They presumed a tree had fallen on the power lines and severed electricity for not only the Mystery Shack but the entire town of Gravity Falls as well. It irritated Stan who had half a mind to march into the storm, find the Warlock, and punch him square in the face. He had also run out of beer so perhaps withdrawal had something to do with his sour mood.
Dipper sat in the living room which was solely illuminated by the candles they had placed on every piece of furniture. He was with Mabel and Bill just like when the second storm had first begun. The two had taken over the sofa. Bill sat with his legs crossed and back facing Mabel as she played with his strands of blond hair. His hair wasn't particularly long, hardly more so than Dipper's, but the difference was that he didn't actually care what she did to it. Dipper was stingier on that end. So far, his sister had made four small braids which she had then tied in place with neon hair elastics that stood out against the yellow shade of Bill's locks.
"So I guess the Warlock's kind of an idiot." Mabel mused as she began another braid. "I mean, how does he expect to find Bill when he has such a bad storm brewing? Plus he's using all that power…"
"The thing about that," Dipper said from the sofa chair, "Is that the storm also has, as an added effect, kept us from actively looking for him and stopping him. Not that he's necessarily aware we're looking to stop him…"
"Here's an idea," Bill suggested, "Let's not talk about the guy that has tortured me and later intends to kill me."
"Sorry." The twins said simultaneously.
"How about this," Mabel suggested instead, "Let's brainstorm a plan to set up the perfect conditions for Bill's confession to Grunkle Ford."
Bill stiffened and though Mabel couldn't see his face, Dipper could and he saw the deep blush settle in fairly quickly. Honestly, it was kind of adorable to see the vulnerable side of a man – ex-demon – that had once shown no signs of weakness. It made Bill much less menacing. Actually, Dipper had a hard time recalling the fear he had once felt four years ago in regards to him now that he was a blushing mess and so hopelessly in love.
"I think now's a terrible time." Dipper said, "Like this, with the Warlock and everything…"
"If he were to just confess outright, sure." Mabel agreed, "But the whole drama surrounding the Warlock could be advantageous!"
"How?" Bill asked, making a face. He didn't quite understand the brunette's train of thought.
"Think about it!" Mabel insisted and finished her braid, "If Grunkle Ford's still angry but loves you back, he might just send you packing because his anger would win over under neutral circumstances. But if, say after a life threatening situation, you were to confess, he might opt to be more honest with himself in light of what almost could have happened."
"We're not going to throw him to the Warlock just to get Grunkle Ford to reciprocate his feelings." Dipper said.
"It's not what I was suggesting!" She huffed, "I was being super hypothetical."
"Thank God." Bill huffed.
"What are you three talking about?" Ford asked as he climbed the final few steps from the basement.
Dipper, Mabel, and Bill stiffened instantaneously. "N-nothing!" They stuttered.
Ford mad a face and was just about to question them further when someone knocked at the door – or rather, they pounded against it. The weather was still terrible in every possible way and the Mystery Shack was fifteen minutes away from town by car. Who would be stupid enough to come to their door?
"It…it can't be the Warlock…can it?" Dipper asked, glancing at Bill. "The ward…he can't get through the ward, right?"
The blond had lost all colour from his face and stared in the door's direction intensely. Everyone was waiting for the door to be torn down and for the Warlock to storm the place but after a pregnant pause, nothing had happened. Whoever was at the door knocked again and for longer that time.
"Is someone going to answer the door!?" Stan snapped from the second floor.
"Wait here…" Ford ordered.
A yellow flame encased his hand which he kept behind his back as he carefully walked towards the door. And as dangerous as he knew it could be if the Warlock was indeed knocking, Dipper stood and followed his Great Uncle. The most the latter did was flash him a warning glare but that did little to deteriorate Dipper from following him. He stood a few feet back and held his breath when Ford turned the knob and opened the door.
"Dudes! I'm so glad you finally answered!" Soos exclaimed looking very relieved. He waited until Ford took a baffled step aside to let him in – the flame on his hand extinguished. The Latino carried wet grocery bags in his arms which he eagerly placed at his feet. From where he stood, Dipper could see the six pack of beer peeking through the opening. "Where's Mister Pines?"
"What…what are you doing here?" Dipper stuttered as his Great Uncle closed the door.
"Is that Soos?" Mabel asked from the living room.
"Mister Pines called saying he needed a favour." Soos explained, "He ran out of beer and asked for a refill. He also said you guys were running out of food so I went ahead and did the groceries too."
"How did he call you?" Ford asked suspiciously.
"With a cell phone, you dummy." Stan said as he sauntered towards them and scooped up the brown bags. He shuffled through them quickly, likely making sure his precious beer was among the many other items, "Thanks, Soos. I knew I could count on you."
"Damn cell phones. Keep forgetting they exist." Ford muttered to himself as he fished through his pocket and pulled out his wallet, "How much do we owe you?"
"Oh, no, it's okay." Soos insisted, "You don't need to pay me. Mister Pines does a lot for me already so it's really not necessary."
"Are you sure?" Ford asked.
"Yeah, Soos, just take the money." Stan said absently as he walked towards the kitchen to sort the food.
"Soos!" Mabel cheered as she made her way to the entrance excitedly. She threw herself in the big guy's arms, "Oh my god, you scared us!"
"More than this freak storm?" He joked, "It started when I was at Book Club, but I can't tell you too much about what we were doing. First rule of Book Club: don't talk about books."
"Don't you mean don't talk about Book Club?" Mabel asked.
"No, I mean don't talk about books." Soos assured, "Book Club is basically a gossip circle. We gather the girls and Tad and just, you know, gossip. Melody isn't into that sort of thing so she doesn't tag along."
"Then why can't you tell us too much?" She asked.
"Because some of the things we say are, like, really mean."
"Anyways," Dipper said slowly, "That was really bold of you to come to the Mystery Shack in this terrible weather. You really shouldn't have."
"It wasn't that bad." Soos shrugged, "Almost got hit by a tree but no biggie."
"Why don't you come into the living room and stay for a bit?" Ford suggested, "I would say until the storm lets up but I don't think that's going to happen."
"Don't mind if I do." Soos grinned.
He shrugged off his yellow raincoat and hat, hanging them on the nearby coat rack. Then he kicked off his boots and followed the group into the living room. When his eyes fell upon Bill who was still seated on the sofa, he gasped. The ex-demon made a face, perplexed by the odd reaction. Soos was quickly flailing around excitedly, moving his mouth without uttering even a sound. Stan quickly rejoined them in that moment with a beer in hand.
"Soos, buddy," He said, "Use your words."
"It's him!" Soos said, "The blond Don Juan!"
"The blond what now?" Bill asked.
"We were talking about you at Book Club when the storm started!" Soos explained excitedly, "It was the weirdest thing. First, Tad was telling us about his date with Mayor Cutebiker—"
"How did that go, by the way?" Stan quickly cut in.
"Super great." Soos answered, "They planned another date but the bad weather forced them to push it back." He cleared his throat before continuing with his original train of thought, "So yeah, he was just finishing the story when Janine mentioned the blond Don Juan. Then we all started talking about the rumours we had been hearing."
"What exactly did you hear?" Ford asked.
"Well, Janine said she knew him," Soos said, "But Janice knew better and called her out. Then Debra said she heard he was a flirt. Judy said Rebecca told her that Derek told her he had seen him kiss another man so the girls then started to fight because they thought Judy wanted to keep him to herself. When Tad and I broke it up, Lily said she heard he beat a lion mountain with his bare hands because there were scars on his arms or around his neck or something."
"You—what?" Bill asked stiffly.
"Yeah," Soos said with a grin, "Hey, is that real by the way? Because, no offence dude, but you don't seem like you could wrestle a mountain lion."
"Did the storm start right after that?" Ford asked seriously.
"Yes." Soos said and he knew something was up, "What's going on guys?"
"Oh come on," Stan said, "He couldn't have been at the book club! That would mean it's—"
"…Tad…" Mabel finished grimly.
"What? What's up with Tad?" Soos asked, confused.
"A Warlock." She said.
"I mean, the Book Club wasn't the only get-together." Dipper pointed out, playing devil's advocate, "It was a really nice day. Maybe the Warlock was out mingling with other people and overheard it that way."
Ford finally considered what Dipper was saying, but ultimately refuted it. "But what are the odds those two conversations occurred simultaneously? That the cuts on Bill's body were the topic of two different discussions at the same time?"
"His name's Bill? I thought it was Gilbert." Soos said and it took a moment for his realization to kick in, "Wait a minute…Bill like Bill Cipher?"
"Bingo." Bill said.
"I thought you were dead, dude." Soos admitted.
"A lot of people did." The blond nodded, "Still here, though."
"Are you mad we tried to kill you?" Soos asked.
"Honestly, not anymore." He said.
"Can we focus please?" Dipper asked shortly.
"But it can't be Tad," Mabel insisted, "He's the most normal guy in Gravity Falls. And why would he start such a bad storm if it meant pushing back his date with Mayor Cutebiker?"
"Exactly." Stan agreed, "At least the girl's got some sense."
"When you think about it, he doesn't match the hypothesised age we established either." Dipper pointed out, "But then, maybe he's a prodigy…?"
"What exactly is going on here?" Soos asked. "What's this deal with the Warlock, with Tad, and with Bill?"
"A Warlock tried to kill me." Bill supplied, "He carved me up good – hence the mountain lion rumours – but I got away and now he's looking for me. The storm outside is his doing and he's pissed. The ongoing theory is Tad Strange is the Warlock."
"Why do you think it's him?" Soos asked, "Why don't you think it's me or Janine or any of the other girls?"
"Because Warlocks are male." Dipper stated. "The only two possibilities were either you or Tad but you walked into the Mystery Shack – which we warded – so that rules you out."
"Oh, well, I mean," Soos started, "Tad was the only other guy in Book Club there but there were plenty of other dudes too. Most of the girls brought their husbands along that time. Mayor Cutebiker was also there but he hung out with the husbands."
"That means it's not Tad." Stan concluded.
"Not necessarily." Ford reminded, "Soos, we're going to need a list of all the men who were there."
"No problem." He said, "Especially if it means you guys can get this storm to stop."
"You know us," Mabel grinned, "Strange is our game!"
He chuckled at that but paused as he remembered something, "Speaking of strange," he said, "I saw something pretty weird the other day."
"What?" She asked.
"It was at night," Soos said, "I woke up because I thought I heard a noise and I saw a black cloud leave the room. I followed it around a bit and eventually it left through the front door."
"That is weird." Dipper acknowledged, "What was it doing?"
"I don't know." The Latino admitted, "It was just sort of going through all the rooms. My grandmother thinks it might have been a demon. But what's really weird, is that Melody said she saw the same thing when she went over to Carol's for the night."
"Sixer." Bill said stiffly.
"I know." Ford responded dryly.
"What? Do you know what it is?" Dipper asked.
"A sentinel." Ford said, "That might explain why he's kept the storm going for so long. He's looking for Bill in everyone's houses and the best way not to miss him is to force everyone to stay in one place."
"Can it get through the ward?" Mabel asked.
"No." Ford said. "But that might mean the storm's about to stop soon. He's kept it going for over a week, he must be close to having looked through all the houses in Gravity Falls."
"Won't he know he hasn't gone to the Mystery Shack?" Stan asked. "And wouldn't that give away Bill's location?"
"Not with the ward in place." Ford assured, "We're in a place inaccessible to supernatural beings, which means if it tried coming here it would have gotten disoriented by the ward. It probably confused itself into thinking it had already looked and found nothing."
"So what now?" Dipper asked.
"Now we get Soos a piece of paper and a pen." Ford instructed, "Next, we establish a way to out the Warlock without being obvious. We should maintain the element of surprise, especially with him being as strong as he is."
Dipper nodded and went to grab the two things his Great Uncle had listed. However, no sooner had he even turned from the group that a particularly deafening crack of thunder halted him. A lightning bolt then fell from the black sky and it was so bright it momentarily blinded everyone in the house. When they could see again, the sky outside was bright blue and cloudless. The only proof that a storm had been raging moments ago was the water that covered everything but soon it would all evaporate.
"He's done." Mabel mumbled ominously.