They didn't get too far with the car. From the Mystery Shack to Gravity Falls, one had to pass over a bridge that had been destroyed by the military unit's tanks – one of which was in the ditch they had to cross to get to town. Dipper glanced at the rubble. The metal was mangled and torn in strange places. He had caught a glimpse of one of the men operating the machine lying limply on his side. The Pines thus left Stan's car by the broken bridge and looked around for another point where they could cross. The one directly in front of them was too treacherous and no one was keen on passing so close to a broken, smoking tank littered with bodies. They followed the ditch into the forest where eventually they came upon a point where they could climb in and out with as much ease as they would ever be getting. Once on the other side, they trekked back to the road and followed it into town.
It was strange and frightening to behold. Everything seemed straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie. Broken cars, smoking and burning, littered the road if they hadn't been smashed against hard surfaces. Corpses were to be found near or within the many car wrecks. More were sprinkled around here and there and those particular ones were typically burnt or currently on fire. It was terrible and the smell they emitted was nauseating. To think all of that death and destruction had occurred because they couldn't protect Bill and that they couldn't stop Tad from getting off on a power trip.
Suddenly, an explosion sounded loudly. They all flinched and braced themselves as they felt the ground quake beneath their feet. It caused a few car alarms to go off. A dark mushroom cloud rose high towards the dark sky above just as the explosion's blast hit them. Dipper nearly fell off his feet. A heavy breath left them and they exchanged weary looks. The gunfire they had been able to hear from the Mystery Shack sounded so distant and they were far closer to the town than they had been before. It was cause for worry but they were on their way. It would all be over soon.
It unfortunately took hours for them to reach the point where the military force had set up a perimeter and was attempting to contain and kill Tad. They had tried to find still functioning cars but they came across nothing. If a vehicle wasn't split in half, it was smoking or had a flat tire, among many other problems so they were forced to walk the whole time. They passed through the chaos and destruction caused by the military unit's confrontation with Tad and everything they saw was etched into their minds permanently. It was horrible. Buildings had been torn down. Debris covered the road. Gaping holes were peppered all over the place. One could trip on severed limbs if they weren't paying attention to where they were going. And the smell... God, the smell…it was the worst part.
When they got to the perimeter, they found Agent Powers. The man was yelling furiously into his phone and they had stumbled upon him just as the line had cut or whoever he was speaking to hung up. He shoved the device angrily into his pocket and glared in the general direction Tad was wreaking havoc before noticing them. Just then, someone yelled "In coming!" and a chunk of road was hurled in their direction. They all scattered in time to avoid the debris.
"Pines!" Agent Powers snapped, glaring at Ford, "This is your doing, isn't it!? Every time something happens in this God forsaken town—"
"Unfortunately, Agent, we don't have time." Ford interrupted as he led the walk over. "Call your men back. We'll take it from here."
"Are you crazy?" Agent Powers snorted, "Wait, no, don't answer that."
"You're in over your head." Ford insisted, "We'll take care of it."
"And what exactly are two kids, an old man, and a thirty year old supposed to do against…against…" he paused, looking for a word to describe what Tad was. It was clear how much limited knowledge the government had in this department, "Against this…thing?"
"More than you." Ford said and pushed past him with resolve.
"I can't let you pass this point!" Agent Powers barked, "The government has quarantined it to deal with the threat—"
"Look, buddy," Stan retorted sharply, "We don't have time for this stupidity. Move aside and call your minions back. Now."
And without another word, they slipped beneath the yellow tape and ventured within the zone that had been set up. Surely Tad was in the center, toying with the government operatives that were unsuccessfully attempting to contain him.
"Hey!" Agent Powers called as they left, "We want him dead! Not alive! He's too dangerous!"
"Don't have to tell me twice." Stan grumbled and it was clear he was still very much miffed by his friend's betrayal.
It didn't take long to reach Tad. They caught glimpses of him floating over buildings and dodging missiles launched by the tank facing him. He was cackling loudly and the sound of his distorted voiced echoed inside their heads. Dipper couldn't wait to get him to stop. Just when they were on the verge of confronting Tad, the agents and soldiers facing the Warlock suddenly began to fall back. They were all pleased to see Agent Powers had done as they had asked.
"Alright," Ford said and turned to face everyone, "Unfortunately, you're all going to have to get pretty close for the spell to work because Tad's too high. The radius is twenty meters, remember that."
Dipper nodded and swallowed thickly as he clutched the journal in his hands. Mabel reached over and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.
"I'm sorry all of this is happening." Ford added with a heavy sigh.
"Don't go taking all the blame for no reason." Stan said and rested the barrel of the shot gun against his own shoulder, "This isn't on you, it's on the ass hole who caused all of this."
"This will all be over soon." Ford said and forced a smile. "Let's go."
"Aww! Where did everyone go?" Tad asked just as they walked into the opening to face him. A sick smile spread on his face and he cocked his head playfully, "Oh! What a nice surprise! I was wondering when you would show up."
Ford frowned and bawled his hands into fists which were then engulfed in yellow flames. "This is it Tad." He yelled, "It's over!"
Tad burst into laughter, "You can't be serious! Am I supposed to be threatened?" he grinned and moved closer to the ground, "You're weak. You're out of practice. I know you are, I can feel it. But…" he paused and regarded Ford curiously, "You're angry. Is it because I slaughtered your little boyfriend? The demon?"
Ford clenched his fists and he might have charged Tad then and there had Stan not stopped him. "He's trying to get under your skin." His brother warned.
"It's working." Ford growled between clenched teeth.
"He was a pleasure to kill, I've got to say!" Tad guffawed again, "The look in his eyes, I swear…you know he called for you when I cut him up again? He didn't beg for me to stop like last time, he just cried 'Stanford! Stanford!' over and over again…"
"Grunkle Ford…" Mabel mumbled with concern.
Ford was beginning to lose his composure.
"It was nice to hear. He had such a beautiful voice." Tad sighed with a fond smile, "The sounds he made…I'm sure you were privy to some of them as well, hm?"
"Shut up!" Ford snapped.
"You know, I offered to spare you." The Warlock reminded and his eyes fell upon Stan and Mabel, "I liked them a lot. Liked. I thought I loved Tyler too. This power…it's helped me realise just how…pathetic you humans truly are. I planned to have the four of you as my personal slaves when I successfully annexed the world. Now I think I just want to kill you. So how about this, bend the knee now and live as my slaves or die."
"Eat shit!" Mabel snapped and all of them were rather surprised such a harsh thing could leave her lips.
That being said, they all agreed with her. Tad could go to hell.
"Very well." Tad huffed, "You've made your choice."
Tad used his magic and raised a chunk of ground up above his head before throwing it towards the Pines. Ford raised a magical barrier to protect them. The debris crashed against it before bouncing off and onto the ground. He lowered the barrier instantly before propelling himself forward. Ford then swung his arms down and magic shot from his hands so hard it sent him flying towards Tad who seemed rather surprised by the man's efficiency. Dipper wasted no time in finding the pages in the journal he had to read out loud to perform the spell. Stan and Mabel stood next to him. The former was loading his shot gun, getting ready to kill Tad the moment his window was given, while Mabel watched anxiously as her other great uncle held his own against an all-powerful Warlock.
Tad had stopped laughing once he found Ford was a bigger handful then he had expected. The man might have been out of practice but, for Dipper who only caught brief glances of the fight whenever he peeked from the journal, it hardly seemed like it. Ford was easily able to dodge most of the magic hurled his way or harness the energy well enough to fling it back towards Tad. This in no way meant he had the upper hand. Tad was the one in offense whereas Ford did a fairly good job of defending himself and making sure none of the attacks would accidentally hit his family who stood by far too close for his comfort. But they had no other choice.
"I'm glad you saw him die!" Tad snarled as he lifted more earth and threw it at Ford. "You screamed in the most delectable of ways! I still get shivers thinking about it!"
"Shut up!" Ford snapped and ducked.
"What? Do you think you're actually going to get your revenge?" Tad laughed and tossed his purple fire. "I told you before and I'll tell you again, you're just a fly to me! You're weaker than he was!"
Ford used his magic to shield himself. The fire dissipated once it hit the protection bubble he had conjured. He propelled himself upwards by flinging his magic downwards for a boost again and launched a brief offensive attack by flinging his own fire back at Tad. He decided not to humour his taunting with replies, but that had been a mistake. Had he graced him with heated retorts, Tad would have been too distracted to pay attention to much else. The Warlock easily deflected the magic and frowned, glancing down towards Stan, Mabel, and Dipper. He then noticed how Dipper was mumbling to himself as he read slowly from the journal he was holding.
His momentary distraction allowed for Ford to throw more magic his way. He raised debris from a crumbling building and hurled it at Tad who blocked it easily simply by raising his hand. His frown contorted into an angry grimace when he then realised what Dipper was trying to do. He barred his teeth and growled.
"How dare you!?" He snapped. "You insolent humans!"
The Warlock raised both of his hands towards the sky. The clouds immediately began moving into a whirl and thunder sounded with bolts of lightning flashing dangerous close. Ford moved back, readying himself for the man's next attack when he belatedly realised Tad was lifting a portion of ground far bigger than what he had ever attempted before. He was straining and gritting his teeth together, muttering to himself so as to channel more energy for the strength necessary to complete his action. Ford tried stopping him but the moment he moved the slightest bit, Tad sent him flying aside with a brief flick of his chin.
"Grunkle Ford!" Mabel cried as he was thrown so hard against a building he crashed through it.
"Damn it!" Stan hissed and glared back at Tad.
Finally, the latter managed to raise the earth he had gathered with his magic high above his head. The bit of rubble he was about to throw was far too big for them to run anywhere to safety. Their eyes widened and Dipper stopped the incantation. There was no way even Ford would be capable of stopping that. Without waiting a moment longer, Tad threw the earth towards them, laughing maniacally as he took in their horrified expression.
"No!" Mabel cried and she threw herself in front of Stan and Dipper and held her hands out.
Then something amazing happened. A field of energy rather similar to a spell Ford had used sprouted from her finger tips and encased all three of them in a cocoon of safety. When the debris collided with it, it crumbled to smaller bits and shattered whatever Mabel had just done. She fell to her knees breathing heavily and staring at her hands in awe. She had saved them.
"What!?" Tad snapped, "What did you do!?"
Before anyone could say anything, a chunk of debris collided with the Warlock's face. It sent him tumbling to the ground with a bleeding nose and gash on his lip. He glared and found Ford standing at the edge of the hole he had made upon crashing through the building. He was far more banged up than Tad was but the latter still didn't appreciate how he had gotten the best of him in a moment of distraction.
"Oh my God…" Dipper muttered, "You wielded magic…but how?"
"I may or may not have been meditating ever since Bill gave us that small lesson." Mabel confessed.
"Bill was right…" Dipper said in awe, "Those without the Gift can learn to wield magic…"
"We'll talk about that later," Stan said, "Right now, you need to finish the spell!"
"Okay—" Dipper said and took a deep breath before starting from where he had left off. He didn't actually know whether he had to start the spell over or not but he opted to just go with it. Hopefully, it didn't matter that the flow of words had been interrupted.
"You annoyance!" Tad roared and threw his purple fire back at Ford.
The latter made a shield for himself but it had broken unexpectedly fast with a kick. He was taken aback for a moment too long which was perfect for Tad to nail a few blows. He threw more debris towards Ford, hitting him nearly every time. Then he used his magic to drag him from the building and throw him to the ground. He was quickly being beat into a bloody mess, which had Mabel covering her eyes and begging Dipper to go faster.
"Damn it, Ford—!" Stan yelled. He aimed his gun towards Tad and shot.
The Warlock barely managed to stop the bullets in time. His eyes fell upon Stan, expressing his hurt. "Stanley…" he muttered.
"Don't Stanley me!" He snapped as he loaded more bullets into the barrel, "You literally just said you were going to kill me and my family!"
"I did, didn't I?" He chuckled and his frown turned into a devilish grin.
Tad's attention fell back onto Ford who tried to pick himself up from the ground. There was a gash to the side of his head and his skin was steadily bruising from the blows he had taken from being thrown through a brick wall and having rocks hurled at him. His mouth was filled with blood and he just managed to spit out some of it when Tad raised his hand towards him and clenched it into a fist. Ford suddenly went rigid. His eyes widened and he doubled over in intense pain. His bones were spontaneously beginning to break and the cries of utter anguish that left him were blood curling and dreadful.
"Shit!" Stan cursed and glanced back at Dipper worriedly, "He's going to kill him!"
"Dipper, hurry!" Mabel begged.
And Dipper tried but he was too worried he would mispronounce a word and have to start over. He was just about done but he didn't think he would manage to finish before Tad killed Ford. The latter's screams grew louder and Stan shot again in the hopes of distracting the Warlock but it didn't work. He stopped the bullets à la Neo without even looking.
"Dipper!" Mabel cried.
"You're pathetic." Tad hissed and walked closer to Ford. He wanted a better look at his face just before he finally killed him. "I'd tell you you're about to see that lover of yours again but, realistically, you won't."
Ford's eyes widened and just as Tad was about to finish him off with a flick of the wrist, he was hit by a burst of blue fire. The force of the impact sent him tumbling back and he accidentally released his magical hold on Ford who could finally breathe normally and relax a bit regardless of his broken bones and searing pain. All of their eyes glanced in direction of the one who had thrown the fire. Their mouths fell open in awe and Mabel gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
There he stood, bloodied and cut up like they had last seen him but with fury burning in his eyes. An angry grin was plastered on his face and blue fired encased him entirely. "Don't touch my Sixer." Bill warned and took a step closer. The scars on his body suddenly started healing and soon they were all gone as though his body had never been mutilated.
"Bill—" Ford groaned and tried to move but it hurt too much.
"Stand down, Sixer." Bill said and he regarded him with soft eyes, "I got this."
"Bill…" Mabel said, "How are you alive?"
"We thought you died." Stan supplied.
"I did." Bill confirmed, "But now I'm back and I'm at full power too. Who knew all I had to do was die to become a demon again?"
"You're a…what?" Dipper gaped.
"A demon. Again." Bill repeated. "Look, I'll talk about it later, first we have to deal with this clown."
"Ha! You think a demon intimidates me now?" Tad asked though he seemed significantly less confident than he once had been before Bill's unexpected return. "Do you not see how powerful I am?"
"Bla, bla, bla." Bill groaned and rolled his eyes. "Let's fight."
Bill launched himself at Tad. He spun and jumped from location to location smoothly, throwing balls of blue fire as he did so. He moved smoothly and calculatedly but not in a way where Tad – or anyone else watching for that matter – could predict where he would move to next. He had forced the Warlock into a defensive position until he figured out a pattern. Dipper guessed there wasn't one. Bill was probably just moving from place to place on whims. It took him a moment to tear himself away from the fight and resume the spell.
He was almost done. If Bill could keep distracting Tad, this would all be over soon.
Tad quickly found himself frustrated with the demon. He was also aware of what Dipper was attempting and needed to find a way to stop him. The idea hit him when Bill jumped in front of Ford and then to another place. Ford was separated from the rest of the group by a significant distance. Bill wouldn't be able to protect both Ford and Stan, Mabel, and Dipper. He would need to make a decision and Tad was fairly certain which he would go for. He raised his hands and summoned more power. The nearby trees began dying instantly as he sapped their life force to form two balls of pure, destructive energy in both of his hands. He then threw one towards Ford and the other towards Stan, Mabel, and Dipper.
"Ha! How's that!" He laughed confidently.
"Bill—!" Ford yelled and he gestured his family, likely telling the demon to protect the others.
But Bill didn't. He couldn't. He ran for Ford and got there just in time to ward off the ball of energy. Tad grinned victoriously but he had begun celebrating his victory too quickly because Mabel raised her hands again and managed to make a new shield in the nick of time to protect Stan, Dipper, and herself. However, the shield broke on impact and pushed her back a few steps.
"Oh my God!" Bill exclaimed excitedly and turned to Ford, "Did you see that, Sixer!? I told you! I told you the Gift was unnecessary to wield magic!"
Mabel was considerably weakened by her latest use of magic. She gave a lazy smile and fell to her knees. As worried as Dipper was, he forced himself to utter the last phrase perfectly rather than jump to his sister's side and make sure she was okay. The wind began picking up as he practically yelled the last sentence. In a fit of desperation, Tad had begun pelting Dipper with bursts of magic but Bill had left Ford's side to ward them off. The Warlock had raised his hand to send another burst of purple fire their way when Dipper suddenly finished the incantation. The fire in the palm of his hand died and he began falling towards the ground. Stan hurriedly aimed his gun and took the shot.
A strong crack resounded and it was louder than any boom of thunder. Everything went still and for a moment they were stuck in the telling moment. It seemed like forever before Tad fell to the ground lifelessly with a gaping hole in the center of his chest. The thick veil of clouds dissipated almost instantly revealing the night sky and the purple fire eating at the Gravity Falls buildings slowly disappeared. Finally, it was over.
They won.