A/N: *sings horribly 'cause it doesn't even fit in the music*
Oops, I did it again
I made a character die
And now I hug my cat and cry…
La la la rainbow…
Sorry, I just couldn't help it. Anyway, here's a new chapter!
Chapter 5 - Ceremony of the Ten
Despite the cumbersome feeling after the long stay in the mindscape, Bill had no problem taking control over his new physical form. He had penetrated human bodies many times before, but what he's done now was a complete takeover of the body while destroying the host's soul. A complete amalgamation. Still better than what Armageddon must do…
He summoned the three Journals, which floated toward him and opened exactly in the right page - a meaningless text on its own, but once the three parts were gathered, it was horribly dangerous. This text was the real reason for keeping the Journals separate, not just the portal. As he read it, his body and the symbols on the Wheel began to glow.
"Anima electus, dare me potentiam vestrum
Dare me industriam pro ascensus meo
Et regni creando mea tantibus
Ultra terminum mundo suo."
As he was talking, his eyes and the symbols inscribed on the floor began to glow with bright yellow light. Bill went on with the spell, and the energy ropes seemed to tighten. Just a little more, thought Stanley and tried not to look directly at the demon.
"I'm here." The sudden voice made him jump. "Now?"
Bill stopped murmuring and turned to the Author. Though he seemed to look… beyond. "Now," said the Author, and the energy ropes around him disappeared at once. "You," Bill hissed. "You shouldn't be here! You must not interfere!"
"Ah, yes. It's the critical stage of your ceremony," Stanley stoop up and raised his hand. Now everyone could see the knife that he hid behind his back. "What if one of your Symbols will just… die?"
"Six Fingers, I warn you…"
"Don't do this!" cried Stan.
Stanley smiled sadly. "I have to." He lowered his hand and plunged the knife into his chest. He died before hitting the ground.
A crack crossed Bill's face. "No," he hissed again. More cracks appeared on his skin, bright and horrifying. "No!" he cracked slowly and screamed in agony until he finally exploded in a flash of light. Everyone stared at the spot where Bill was standing a second ago, and now nothing remained of him.
Suddenly Stanley's body moved, then rose up. Apart from the blood which stained his clothes where he stabbed himself he looked pretty much alive. Then his eyes lit up with blue light which was quite similar to Bill's light in his triangle form. He seemed to feel the suspicion that began to consolidate among the others and said, "I know you don't trust me, and I understand why." His voice reminded them Bill's, but sounded more like Stanley's. "But I can explain!"
"You can start by telling us who you are," suggested Stanford.
"Alright then. My name is Tad Strange, and until I've met this human I didn't mean to get involved…"
Flashback
Tad was running - more precisely, floating - as fast as he could. The human ran by his side, keeping the pace. Impressive, thought Tad, though the human has already impressed him when he saved him from the Lucianne. Unfortunately, she was still chasing them.
"Strange!" she cried. "Come back, you have no idea what you're doing!"
"I'm doing you - and all of us - a favor!" he answered angrily. "If you want to be useful, help me stop the rebel demon!" She's not on his side, right?
"If you're not gonna help me, at least leave the human here," she insisted. "He mustn't leave - if it'll happen…"
Tad lost his patience completely and turned to the six-fingered human. "If the Lucianne will follow you to the human world, or you'll encounter Cipher, you might need my help." He gave him a small, blue crystal. "The crystal when shattered will open a gateway that will allow me to teleport to wherever you'll be at the moment. Only you will be able to see and hear me, but Cipher might sense me if I'll get too close, so make sure he's not around when you summon me." The human nodded, and Tad opened a portal in front of them. "The portal will take you to the exact place you came from! Get in, now!" the human jumped in, and the portal disappeared. Tad sighed with relief - now damn Armageddon can't reach the human world.
But she can reach him.
"The ground is shaking, inferior demon." her eyes were full of hatred. "Fire is raging, and the Dark One is coming. You could've stop the human and save us all. But the Space Demon just had to take action against his rebel brother, right? Why must you be so selfish!?"
Me? He looked at her, shocked, and then said, "The Dark One's mortal partner is one of the humans on the Other Side." he waved his hand and opened another portal. "Go there, find him and stop him."
She was about to pass through, but hesitated. "It's a direct passage, right? No intermediate dimensions?"
"No intermediate dimensions," he confirmed.
She looked at him suspiciously but nodded. "Alright." The Lucianne stepped through the portal, and right after she did Tad closed it. The portal was a direct passage without intermediate dimensions - only it didn't lead to the human world, but rather to the Dimension of the Forgotten - an abandoned dimension in which the rulers of Tad's dimension imprisoned criminals, deserters, rebels and insane creatures like Armageddon. The Dark One is gone, thought Tad contemptuously. Or else I would've sense oscillations in his area.
Later Tad felt an unusual vibration in space and recognized its origin as the human's magical crystal. He teleported to where the vibration came from and found himself in a tunnel. There was a note on the floor, partly written with invisible ink:
Release me exactly in twenty minutes. Make sure He won't see you.
Then give me my knife. He can't do anything without the 10th Symbol.
Once again Tad was impressed by the human's courage. And so he did as he had to, and while Bill was engrossed in his spell, he released the human and gave him the knife.
But even Tad did not expect Stanley's next move.
After Bill faded all the other humans stared at Stanley's bleeding body, and Tad felt that he owed them some explanations. He took over the body and told them everything. When he'd finished he - and Stanley - returned to the dimension on the Other Side.
Tad was hoping that from now on he won't have to go to the human world ever again.
End flashback
After Bill was defeated, Tad and Stanley left and the energy ropes faded Gideon was the first to leave the Bunker. Dipper got up and considered chasing him. It doesn't matter, he thought. He's an escaped criminal now, he has nowhere to go and nothing to do.
The eight who were still inside went out together. It was about First Light but the sky was still dark. All around the forest trees were uprooted. Uusally from this spot one could see the town's lights - especially during bright nights like this one - but now everything was dark.
"Oh, shit, it's morning already?" Robbie sounded shaken. My parents are going to kill me. They'd probably already dug a grave for me, he though. "What a trauma, right guys? Well, gotta go." He waved goodbye and walked to the town.
Soos watches as he left, then turned to look at Dipper and Mabel. "I should check if my Abuelita's alright. Are you… gonna be okay?"
"Hmm? Yeah, sure, Soos." answered Mabel. "You better go."
"Okay. Call me if you need something, dudes." He walked away.
Pacifica was leaning on a tree, separate from the rest of the group. Dipper came to her. "Hey, umm… aren't you going back to your mansion?"
She didn't look at him. "I…" she cleared her throat, and said with a steadier voice: "No. I'm sick of the way my parents treat me. If all this crazy things wouldn't happen today - I mean, yesterday - I would run away."
Dipper hesitated, and then said: "If you want to, you can live with us."
She looked surprised. There was a tear in the corner of her eye. "R-really?"
"Well, Stan won't oppose, I think… and Mabel and I won't neither. Besides, your parents are kinda repelling." They giggled. "So… what does it make… us?"
"Friends, I guess?" Dipper shrugged. Pacifica nodded. "Friends."
Wendy approached them. "Hey, you okay there?"
"Aren't you going to help your dad?" asked Dipper.
"Nah. You know him; he'll do better on his own. Besides, you seem to need help more than he does." she paused. "Unless you want me to go…"
"No, no, stay!" Dipper cleared his throat again. "I mean… yeah, that would be great."
"Great. Now why wouldn't you get back to the Shack? You- I mean, we - have been through quite a lot. Give me a moment to call Mabel and we'll go together, okay?"
"Okay," they nodded.
McGucket and Stanford walked a bit away from the kids and talked quietly. "So… you remember everything now?" asked Stan.
"Most of it, yeah." answered Fiddleford and sighed. "I just feel sorry for not doing that earlier."
"We're both sorry for many things we should've done earlier, but we can't change the past. Oh, and now that I mentioned the past… I guess I can't go back to the Shack because of the agents." He looked at his old friend. "The junkyard isn't a nice residence, right?"
"No." McGucket frowned. "Why?"
"I guess you'd like to join me for a few weeks - or maybe months - in the Bunker?"
McGucket nodded. "Thanks."
They remained quiet for a few moments, and Stan watched as the skies lightened. "So we stopped the apocalypse? And the end of the world?"
"The end of the world, yes, but not the apocalypse."
Stan raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"People tend to remember only the first part of the meaning of the word 'apocalypse', and they always forget the second one. It's not the end of the world; it's the end of the world as we know it. And after what happened tonight, nothing will ever be the same..."
Dawn broke upon a new morning, a brand new day, an entirely new era, without the threat of demons for the human race, and with only nine Symbols remaining in the world.
But the ground is shaking. Fire is raging. And the Dark One is coming.
A/N: I'M SO SORRY I HAD TO DO THIS BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO AND I CRIED A LITTLE BIT WHILE WRITING THIS AND NOW I FEEL BAD FOR KILLING HIM BUT DAMN IT WAS SO GOOD ARGH!
Yeah, sorry about that. I'm just TOO excited because of "A Tale of Two Stans" so I'm just shouting and singing and… Sorry.
Anyway, this is it, folks! I might write a sequel, and it might have something to do with the Dark One…
If you liked my story, please review, like&share!