"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Cackling from above the middle of a wide-open grass field within the forest, Bill Cipher slowly descended upon his victims below. On the ground were Dipper, Mabel, Ford, Soos, Melody, and the entire Corduroy family save for Wendy, who now stood as a stone monument representing Bill's successful attempt to return to his true physical form.

Everybody stared up at him utterly terrified and uncertain of what was to come next. However, there was no possible expectation that the outcome would be a good one.

"MAN, I'VE WAITED TOO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT!" Bill said as he stared back down upon everybody with great amusement. "LONGER THAN EVEN THE BILLION YEARS IT TOOK ME TO REIGN THIS TOWN FOR WHAT FELT LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, SIXTY-SIX MINUTES OR SOMETHING? NOT THAT IT MATTERS."

As he floated closer to the ground, his eye looked right at Dipper, Mabel, and Ford, who all stood frozen in place while holding defensive bearings as he held the center of their attention.

Bill gestured toward the three with his glowing cane. "BUT NOW, TO HAVE THIS MOMENT… THIS VERY MOMENT WITH THE PINES FAMILY ONCE AGAIN… HA! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN I DREAMED ABOUT THIS MEETING! AND IT LOOKS LIKE THOSE DREAMS ARE FINALLY ABOUT TO COME TRUE! HAHAHAHA!"

As he laughed, Mabel glanced to her left side where Dipper stood, looking him in the eyes anxiously. She then turned over to where Ford stood, calling out discretely to him without moving a muscle, "Grunkle Ford, what do we do?"

"Do you have a plan?" Dipper asked just as discretely.

Ford kept his eyes set on Bill with much nervous tension as he tried to think of literally anything that could possibly help them in their current predicament. "I-I don't know."

He then looked down at his arm, remembering Meridian wrapped around his wrist. This sudden realization began to calm him down slightly as an idea finally came to mind.

"Actually, I do," he told the twins as he glanced between them sternly. "When I give the word, you two and everybody else are gonna run and get yourselves to safety."

Mabel waited to hear the second part of this plan. "And what about you?"

Bill began to calm down from his laughter, to which Ford quickly turned his eyes back up to him before paying Mabel one fast glance. "I'll hold him off."

"NOW BEFORE WE GET TO UNYIELDING REVENGE, I JUST WANNA GIVE A GOOD SHOUTOUT TO MY FELLOW COMPETITOR IN THIS RACE- STANFORD PINES!" Bill pointed Ford out with his cane before giving him a standing ovation, much to his annoyance. "WELL, FORDSY, I GOTTA GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE! I HONESTLY THOUGHT YOU HAD ME FOR A MINUTE! SERIOUSLY, YOU CAME REAL CLOSE TO FINISHING ME WITH THAT WHOLE PLAN YOU WORKED UP WITH YOUR QUANTUM DESTABILZIER AND EVERYTHING! BUT IT LOOKS AS THOUGH EVEN BIG BRAINS LIKE YOURS CAN'T RESIST SHOWING COMPASSION. LETTING YOUR DEAR BROTHER SAY HIS GOODBYES TO HIS FORMER EMPLOYEE! HOW SWEET OF YOU TO CARE!"

"Stanley…" Ford suddenly remembered, realizing he hadn't seen him since Bill ascended above within his body mid-transformation. "What have you done with him, Cipher?"

"OH, THAT WRINKLY, OLD SACK OF BONES?" Bill questioned as he looked to the side, pointing at a tree with his cane. "HE'S JUST HAVING A GOOD NAP AFTER ALL OF THE WORK HIS BODY PUT IN FOR ME!"

Looking in the direction Bill pointed toward, everyone spotted Stan's body lying directly against the trunk of a tree. His clothes were dirty and slightly ripped, and he was very much unconscious. The exact state of his well-being remained unknown, however.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper and Mabel called out worriedly.

"Mr. Pines!" Soos called out as well, arguably even more concerned.

"HE'LL BE FINE!" Bill quickly brushed off before directing his attention back to Ford. "IF ANYTHING, I'D BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WHERE YOU'RE ABOUT TO END UP IN A MOMENT, SIXER."

As he finished speaking, Bill began to grow progressively larger in size as he stood in front of everyone. Soon enough, he towered above everybody with his hat just barely higher than the trees. Almost everybody's intimidation levels began to rise as thoughts of what he was capable of doing to them began to resurface.

On the other hand, Ford held his ground confidently as he stood staring directly into Bill's eye without moving at all. "You would be concerned for me, Bill. But as you would probably guess, I feel differently!"

Without hesitation, Ford pulled his sleeve up before quickly pressing a finger down on his wristwatch. Aimed directly at Bill's eye, he fired a laser that managed to hit dead center.

"AAH!" Bill flinched, squeezing his eye shut as he began to rub it. "ALREADY? COME ON!"

Ford turned back toward the twins and everyone behind him. "NOW! GO! RUN! ALL OF YOU! I'LL HANDLE BILL!"

At his command, everybody turned the other way and ran toward the surrounding trees. Soos, on the other hand, made a beeline toward Stan. He kneeled down and picked him up, holding him over his shoulder as he ran back to join the others.

As everybody fled back into the forest for cover, Ford pulled up Meridian again and began pressing through several different touchscreen buttons. A screen then loaded up on the watch, showcasing Ford's exoskeleton armor feature.

"Full battery," he checked before dialing the feature in. "Better make use of it."

"NOW HANG ON A SECOND!"

"AAH!" Ford yelped just as he was suddenly picked up from the ground by Bill, who held him up by his right arm as he finished rubbing his eye.

Bill eyeballed Ford's wristwatch, inspecting it. "WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? IS THIS YOUR LITTLE SCI-FI WRISTWATCH THAT SHOOTS LASERS AND TURNS YOU INTO A SUPERHERO?"

Bill began to look on at Meridian with amusement as Ford continued to dangle by his arm. Everybody else stood quietly in the trees, including Dipper and Mabel, who watched with great focus as their concern grew.

"AW, WHAT A CUTE TOY!" Bill said as he turned Ford's arm around, admiring the watch from every angle. "BUT C'MON, STANFORD, WE ALL KNOW YOU'RE TOO OLD FOR TOYS!"

At that moment, Bill moved from holding up Ford by his arm, to completely grabbing hold of his entire wrist from above with his hand. Ford looked up at him anxiously.

"IT'S TIME TO GROW UP!"

Bill squeezed his hand tightly, to which the sounds of cracking and mechanical parts breaking were heard as Meridian was crushed to pieces. Ford let out a blood-curdling scream as he felt his own wrist getting crushed painfully within Bill's grasp. Dipper and Mabel let out spooked gasps while continuing to watch helplessly from behind the trees below.

Enthused by Ford's pain, Bill broke out into a fit of laughter yet again. "AH, STANFORD! TO THINK YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO BEING RID OF ME FOREVER! NOW LOOK WHERE YOU ARE! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE WHO CARE!" He looked down at Wendy's stone petrification below. "NOW, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF YOUR FRIEND'S DAUGHTER?"

Fighting through the pain in his wrist, Ford's eyes widened angrily as he looked back up at Bill. "That blood is on YOUR hands, Cipher! You won't get to me with your attempts at shaming me for your crimes!"

Bill thought for a moment before shrugging carelessly. "EH, I'M NOT TOO WORRIED ABOUT SHAMING YOU. ALL I CARE ABOUT NOW IS TORTURING YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE PUT ME THROUGH!"

He held his hand out forward as a blue flame lit up in his palm, which he began bringing progressively closer to Ford.

"AND I'M GOING TO ENJOY EVERY SECOND OF DOING SO!"

Hanging helplessly without any other weapons at his disposal, Ford looked on anxiously as the fire came closer and closer into contact with him. Regardless, he accepted that his current position was the inferior one as he began to brace himself for the start of Bill's reckoning.

From the ground, Dipper, Mabel, and everyone else continued to look on powerlessly and with growing dread about what was about to happen. Without any way of properly fighting back, any attempt to distract Bill would not only be foolish, but useless as he already had Ford in his grasp, and he seemed to be the only one he had any interest in at that moment.

Poof!

To everyone's surprise, however, the fire in Bill's hand suddenly went out seconds before touching Ford. At the same time, Bill and Ford looked on at his hand in confusion.

"Huh?"

Flicking his wrist a few times, he soon managed to reignite the fire.

"There we go." He held the fire up to Ford, who braced himself yet again. But just a few seconds later, the fire automatically gave out yet again. "HEY, WHAT THE...?"

Attention turned toward his failing fires, and Bill entered a cycle of flicking his wrist over and over to reignite the flame, only for it to almost immediately give out every time. Eventually, it got to the point where the fire wouldn't even start at all.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS STUPID FLAME?" he asked as he continued flicking his wrist with growing impatience. "URRRRGH! FINE! FIRE'S BORING ANYWAYS! I'LL JUST GIVE YOU A GOOD FEW HUNDRED VOLTS LIKE OLD TIMES! HOW ABOUT THAT?!"

He then started to glare right at Ford with his widened eye. Ford flinched, preparing to get hit with a stream of electricity. But, nothing happened. Instead, Bill just grunted and pushed hard as he continued to forcefully stare at him with growing discomfort.

"JUST GIVE ME A SECOND…" Bill said assuringly before continuing to grunt and stare to no result, to which Ford simply raised an eyebrow at him with growing confusion. Bill eventually gasped for air again, breathing heavily after all the pushing. "ALRIGHT, MAYBE I'M A LITTLE RUSTY WITH THAT. WHATEVER!" He thought for a moment. "I KNOW! I'LL SUMMON A FLOCK OF CARNIVOROUS SCREEAGLES TO PECK YOUR EYES OUT! THAT'LL BE FUN!"

Bill then gestured to the side with his free arm as he attempted to summon a flock of screeagles. Not displaying the same amount of concern as he held previously, Ford glanced around at his surroundings, waiting for anything to happen at that point. But still, it appeared as though nothing was being summoned. As Bill began to realize that wasn't working either, his eye bulged in great shock.

"WHAAAT?!"

He suddenly dropped Ford, who was no longer his main concern at that moment. As Ford plopped down into the grass, he turned and looked back up to see Bill frantically waving his arms around and making random gestures only for nothing to come out from any of them.

"NO, NO, NOOO!" he screamed out in horror as he flew upward above the trees, distancing himself away from the others below. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! MY POWERS! MY ABILITY TO DO ANYTHING CHAOTIC! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?! IF I DON'T HAVE MY POWERS, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DOMINATE THIS STUPID DIMENSION?! THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO-"

He stopped as he came to another realization. As he thought further about it for a moment, he clenched his fists and narrowed his eye angrily as he began to get a good idea of what might have been happening to him.

"Great. I GUESS NOW I HAVE TO PAY THE HIGHER UP A VISIT!" he said to himself annoyedly as he continued floating upward. "JUST FANTASTIC! WELL, JUST WAIT UNTIL THAT BIG FRILLY KNOW-IT-ALL GETS A PIECE OF MY MIND!"

A blue glow started to form around his entire body that continued to get brighter and brighter. Soon enough, there was a brief flash of white light that everybody below shielded their eyes from. Upon looking back up, however, there was just a glowing white triangle hovering above in the sky where Bill was. No eye, no limbs, no hat. But the splitting fracture through his body remained. The whole triangle simply floated in the air in a frozen position with no indication of further activity from Bill himself. He seemed to be physically present, but whatever he was doing or wherever he truly existed at that moment was completely unknown.

Regardless, with Bill unable to actively respond to what was happening in their current reality, Dipper and Mabel decided to rush out from behind the trees and over to Ford's side as he lay on the ground.

"Great Uncle Ford!" Dipper shouted as he kneeled beside him, trying to help him up.

"Are you okay?!" Mabel asked as she did the same.

Ford groaned as he clutched his tender right wrist up to his body. He wasn't sure if Bill had broken any bones, but it was very visibly red and started to swell. Looking down at the ground, he also noticed the various broken pieces of Meridian scattered amongst the grass. Some parts seemed somewhat intact and salvageable, but overall, the watch was destroyed with no sign of an easy or quick repair. He grew upset by the sight of all the pieces, but it was a feeling that faded quickly once he realized there were far more important things at stake.

"We need to get out of here," he said sternly.

Mabel looked up at the sky. "What's going on with Bill?"

"I don't know," he admitted as he stood up from the ground, holding onto his injured wrist. "Regardless, let's use this as an opportunity to get back to Dan's cabin for safety. Quickly, before he has a chance to catch us!"

The twins nodded at him before taking off into the woods back in the direction of the Corduroy cabin. Soos and Melody quickly followed along, with Soos continuing to hold Stan's unconscious body over his shoulder. The Corduroy boys began to tag along as well but stopped upon realizing their father wasn't with them. Turning around, they all spotted Dan running the opposite way back toward Wendy's statue instead.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Marcus called out.

"I'm not leaving Wendy!" Dan called back as he reached the statue and began trying to lift it up. "Just go! I'll catch up!"

Ford looked back at Manly Dan with uncertainty. "Dan, I'm not sure you'll be able to-"

He cut himself off as he watched as Dan began to successfully lift Wendy's petrification off the ground with his own strength. It was a very clear struggle to do so, as Dan pushed himself hard to the point of a red, vein-popping face. Eventually, he managed to completely hold up his daughter over his head, panting heavily as he carried her up with all of his strength.

"I SAID, GO!"

Both impressed and shaken, Ford did not hesitate to follow Dan's order. He, along with the Corduroy boys, began running back toward the cabin as Dan followed behind at only a slightly slower speed.

As Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Melody reached the cabin, they opened the door and hastily barged inside. Melody followed Soos to the living room, where he put Stan down into a chair and immediately began making an effort to wake him. Dipper and Mabel continued to stand by the front door, watching outside as they saw the Corduroy boys, Ford, and later Manly Dan catching up from behind.

Coming up to the cabin with the statue, however, Dan unintentionally smashed the wall above the door frame as he came running inside holding Wendy above him.

"Quick, Mabel! Lock the door behind Dan!" Dipper called out to her.

Mabel looked up at the smashed part of the wall above the door. "Not sure locking it matters anymore, but alright!"

As she locked the door, Dan took Wendy straight to the dining room, where he dropped her down right on top of the dining table, obliterating it with the statue's extreme weight. With her set back on the ground, he backed up and dropped to the floor, panting heavily as he tried to relax.

Nearly everybody else did the same, leaning against walls and kneeling down as they tried to catch their breath.

Ford gripped his wrist as he stood forward, glancing around the room. "Is everybody present?"

"Think so," Mabel nodded.

"C'mon, Stan!" Soos pleaded as he shook Stan's body in the living room. "Wake up! Please!"

Ford walked over to him. "Soos, what's happening with Stan? Is he okay?"

"He's breathing, so he's alive, but he hasn't been responsive yet," Melody explained.

"He'll respond eventually!" Soos assured with a very distressed chuckle. "I just gotta keep shaking him! C'MON, STAN!"

"Easy, Soos!" Melody said as she pulled him back.

Dipper and Mabel approached Stan slowly, looking on at him as he remained unconscious. Mabel narrowed her eyes worriedly. "Grunkle Ford, please tell us Stan is going to be okay."

Ford inspected his brother closely. Aside from some slight paling of the face, he appeared relatively normal health-wise. On the surface, there didn't appear to be any significant, life-threatening wounds or cuts or anything. And as Melody said before, he was breathing, so he wasn't dead. Not yet, at least. He wasn't entirely sure what was keeping him asleep, but the most apparent signs led him to believe that he wasn't in any grave danger.

"His body may just be slowly responding to the trauma caused by Bill separating from him the way he did," Ford assumed with a sigh. "I think all he needs is time to recover. It's hard to say how much time to be exact, but I think he'll be fine."

Mabel still kept her concern for Stan, but her worries eased down. Dipper, however, turned back to the dining room where the Corduroys stood surrounding the statue.

"And Wendy?" he asked with a look of grief.

Ford frowned. "Unfortunately, that's a more complicated subject."

Manly Dan and his sons just stood in anguish as they stared at Wendy. Just minutes ago, she was still just innocently loading up the trunk of her car, getting ready to leave town. Now, she stood completely turned to stone, her eerie final facial expression being her pained scream as it happened.

Dan began to tear up again as he looked her in the eyes mournfully. "Wendy… my precious little fighter, Wendy…"

Everybody else slowly approached the family with growing remorse as the loss began to truly sit with them.

"Oh, Manly Dan…" Mabel said as she held her hand to her mouth solemnly.

"Dan, boys… I-I don't know what to say," Ford said while approaching the family with shared grief. "I'm so terribly sorry that this happened."

Dan suddenly began to clench his fists angrily as he rose up. "I just don't understand… WHY?! Why Wendy?! She didn't deserve this! She didn't do anything to anybody!"

Turning around and looking across the room, his eyes glanced at Stan sitting unconsciously in one of his chairs. He gritted his teeth at him.

"This is all HIS FAULT!" he pointed before marching his way toward him.

Ford's eyes widened. "Dan, NO!" he shouted as he jumped right in front of him, stopping him. "I understand you're angry and confused, but this isn't Stan's fault!"

Without hesitation, Dan aggressively gripped Ford by his throat, choking him. "Then whose fault is it? Is it yours? It must be one of you because I had no reason to assume I'd be losing my daughter today before you two showed up…"

"Manly Dan, stop!" Dipper shouted as he ran up to him.

"Manly Dan, please!" Mabel shouted, joining Dipper. "Look, you have lots of reasons to be upset right now, but you need to trust us! This isn't Stan's fault nor is it Ford's fault!"

"Yeah, Stan wasn't in control of himself, and Ford was outsmarted!" Dipper explained. "When you add up everything, all of this is just one terribly inconvenient situation. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time! That's it!"

"Exactly!" Mabel nodded. "We know our Grunkles, and we especially know that our Grunkle Stan loves Wendy! And neither he nor Ford would ever do something to purposefully put her in harm's way!"

"So, just... try to calm down and... please let our great-uncle go!" Dipper pleaded while taking a cautious step backward. In his rage, he knew Manly Dan was not the person he would want to upset further than he already was.

Dan glared at the twins angrily as he continued to choke Ford, which made them both nervous. After a brief moment, however, he looked away sadly, soon dropping Ford before walking back toward Wendy.

"I just can't deal with losing more of my own family," he said as he looked on at her. "First her mother, now I have to deal with losing my own daughter..."

Ford took a few seconds to catch his breath again as he rubbed his throat. "The thing is, Dan, I don't believe we've fully lost Wendy. Not yet, that is."

Dipper's eyes lit up. "You mean she's still alive?"

"I think it's very likely," Ford nodded. "We need to remember that Wendy, like Bill's true form once was, is now petrified. And if Bill was able to regain his form after nearly four-year petrification, then I have my reasons to believe that Wendy herself is still alive and present in that statue just as Bill's form was in his. It's just a matter of reversing the process that will free her from her current state."

"And how do we do that?" Mabel asked.

Dipper walked up to Wendy's statue and frowned as he lightly touched his finger against her raised hand from when she shook Bill's hand. "I'm going to take a guess and assume that to reverse the effect, we need to get Bill to shake her hand..."

Ford sighed sadly. "Likely assumption."

"So then it's hopeless!" Marcus spoke up. "There's no way that triangle freak is ever gonna shake her hand!"

Gus looked up at everybody else with a sad realization. "So, that means Wendy's just gonna stay like this forever?"

Mabel shook her head, refusing to believe it. "Grunkle Ford, there has to be another way!"

"I know!" Ford agreed as he turned away to think about it. "I'm trying to think of another solution, but I just can't figure out what might work without the need for Bill!"

Dipper walked up to a window looking out the direction of the field they ran from. Right above in the sky, he spotted Bill's glowing standby form from before, which continued to remain still and unchanged. "And what is Bill even doing right now?"

"Honestly, I have absolutely no clue," Ford admitted as he walked up to the window to look up at him as well. "If I had to take a guess, I'd assume he's somehow disconnected himself from our reality."

"Why would he do that?" Mabel asked.

"Perhaps he's communicating with something," Ford assumed, narrowing his eyes. "Or someone..."

Bill floated around in a spacious, cloudy void full of bright, unworldly colors and glistening ambient noises. There were bright sparkles of distant stars that surrounded him, shining light into the colorful space he flew within.

"HEY-HEY! THERE HE IS!" Bill greeted with a jubilant eye as he sped floated upward. "MY GOOD OL' PAL - THE FRILLY UPSTAIRS! BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT TO SEE ME AGAIN!"

Through the thick, glossy clouds and mist was a glowing opalescent creature as large as several massive planets. It looked down at Bill with its beady eyes and relaxed smile as it dominated over him.

"On the contrary, I've been watching you."

"You... you have?" Bill questioned somewhat uneasily. "YEESH! THAT'S KINDA CREEPY, MAN! BUT I CAN'T LIE, I'VE DONE THE SAME COUNTLESS TIMES TO OTHERS! GODS LIKE US - WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO WITH SUCH UNIMAGINABLE POWER? NOT STALK PEOPLE? HA! AM I RIGHT?

The creature responded with nothing but a plain silence. Its beady eyes and smile remained unchanged as it continued to just stare down at Bill in the void they floated through.

"TOUGH CROWD, HUH?" Bill remarked, breaking the silence. "WELL, SPEAKING OF GODLY POWER, I THOUGHT I'D DROP BY FOR A VISIT JUST TO ASK FOR A QUICK LITTLE FAVOR..."

"You wish for me to restore your cosmic abilities."

"HAHA! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE MY FAVORITE FRILLY! ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD OF ME!" Bill chuckled. "WELL, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA TAKE UP TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME, SO AS LONG AS YOU'RE OFFERING-"

"You are broken."

Bill floated silently for a moment as he processed this response. Soon enough, his eye darted down at himself, looking at the crack that drew across his body.

"WELL... IT'S JUST A MINOR FRACTURE. AND IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT FOR EONS, OR HOWEVER LONG YOU'D CALL THAT IN A DIMENSION OUTSIDE OF TIME."

"That is not what I mean, and you know it.

You're dying inside, but don't want to show it-"

"Hey, HEY, NO!" Bill cut off with instant frustration. "DON'T START WITH THE RHYMING CRAP! I'M NOT DOING THIS WITH YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"And yet you came to me for help."

Bill clenched his shaking fists with unfathomable anger as he stared up above.

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID..."

"And you know what you did. Brush it all aside if you want, but your crimes still happened."

"SPARE ME THE LECTURE! I'VE HEARD IT MORE THAN ENOUGH TIMES FROM YOUR HAPPY-GO-LUCKY THERAPY ORBS. IT DIDN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANYTHING WHEN THEY SAID IT. IT'S NOT MAKING ME FEEL ANYTHING COMING FROM YOU."

Bill then propelled himself upward, freely floating around in circles around the creature's frilly head.

"AND IN ANY CASE, I COMPLETED YOUR TRIAL! LOOK AT ME GO! I'M FREE! BACK IN MY PHYSICAL FORM! FRACTURE ASIDE, IT'S LIKE NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!"

He stopped himself right in front of the creature's eyes.

"ALMOST NOTHING..."

"I will not be assisting you this time."

"THIS TIME?" Bill repeated. "LIKE YOU EVER HELPED ME OUT LAST TIME!"

"I gave you the chance to help yourself, but you refused it. You refused it for so long that against all possible odds, you became the first and only being to have ever managed to break out of the Theraprism."

"IMPRESSIVE, HUH? THE ORBS ALWAYS DID TELL ME I WAS A UNIQUE CASE! I THINK THAT ALONE DESERVES A BIT OF EXTRA CONSIDERATION..."

"I have to admit- I am impressed. Your drive to heal and become a greater being is so dominantly outweighed by your drive to remain the same sadistic, psychopathic being you became after incinerating Euclydia."

Bill's eye widened. "Woah... hey... don't talk about-"

"You could've been given new life at the end of your trial. Reincarnation. Brought back as an innocent being like a penguin. Or a millipede. Or even a living microorganism on the surface of Gliese 176. Or if you were really lucky, maybe you'd get to be born again as something greater, like a cute but powerful titan in another reality who gets to befriend a witch and a human. We once rehabilitated a way more compliant alternate Bill, who now gets to live under those exact conditions. But you... you're simply irredeemable."

"OH, SURE! BLAME THE PATIENT, NOT THE SYSTEM, WHY DON'T YOU? NEWS FLASH, GUPPY - THERAPY ISN'T FOR EVERYONE! MAYBE I'M NOT SO MUCH IRREDEEMABLE, BUT RATHER... YOUR PROGRAM JUST SUCKS!"

"You don't deserve my sympathy. Last we spoke, you faked remorse for your actions. And after all this time that hasn't passed, you haven't changed or truly learned anything. Still deceitful. Still hateful. Still vengeful. There is no helping you, Bill Cipher."

"LOOK, WISE GUY, I'M NOT EVEN ASKING FOR MUCH! I ALREADY HAVE MY FORM BACK! I DID ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING! ALL I'M ASKING IS YOU GIVE ME BACK MY GODLY COSMIC POWER! THEN I CAN BE ON MY MERRY WAY, AND YOU'LL NEVER HEAR FROM ME AGAIN! HONEST!"

"You had the choice to live or die, and you chose to live. Your choice to live immediately placed you under my hold of time and space control. Your desire was redemption, and you received it through a loophole within your qualms. But you're still under time and space law now, which means your former powers of chaos remain denied. Now, you desire to go back to the old law-bending ways that led to your previous demise and refute your entire 'redemption'. Giving you those powers back goes against the laws of my jurisdiction, therefore, I am not going to help you. If you wish to give up your falsified absolution in favor of returning to your former ways, you must accumulate your powers back by your merit."

Bill clenched his fists. "GAAHHH! YOU'RE USELESS! IF I HAD KNOWN I WOULD HAVE HAD TO ENDURE ANY OF THIS, I WOULD'VE NEVER INVOKED YOUR POWER IN THE FIRST PLACE! I'D RATHER DIE THAN HAVE MY FULL POTENTIAL LIMITED! I'M TIRED OF THIS! I'M TIRED OF WAITING! I'M TIRED OF THE SETBACKS! I'M TIRED OF YOU!"

Frustrated beyond comprehension, Bill began floating away from the creature as he prepared to depart from the creature's space. He glanced back once more as he continued to escape from the colorful cosmos.

"IF I HAVE TO GET MY POWERS BACK MYSELF, THEN SO BE IT! I'VE COME TOO FAR TO GIVE UP NOW! AND BY THE END OF ALL OF THIS, I WILL SUCCEED IN GETTING EVERYTHING I WANT! AND YOU JUST WATCH ME THEN!"

The Axolotl smiled.

"I won't. Good luck."

For a moment, all Bill saw was a flash of light as he suddenly found himself back in his physical form. The glowing colors and sparkling chimes were all replaced with the returning sight of an average blue sky over the woods of Gravity Falls. As he remembered where he was beforehand, his frustrations started to regrow.

"GREAT. JUST GREAT! I WAITED SO LONG TO FREE MYSELF FROM THAT THERAPRISM AND THAT STUPID, INFERIOR HUMAN BODY ONLY TO MAKE THE MOST UNDERWHELMING COMEBACK OF ALL TIME!"

As he dwelled on his frustrations, he found himself looking up at the sky, to which another realization started to form.

"WAIT A SECOND…" he said as he began flying outward into the sky.

Flying outward enough, he eventually hit an invisible barrier, which rippled upon his impact. Looking up, he quickly realized it was the same barrier that surrounded the entire town during Weirdmageddon. The reason his entire plan of dimensional dominion failed. Still present. Still intact.

Bill rolled his eye again, not even surprised anymore. "OF COURSE. AS IF IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE! PHYSICAL FORM ASIDE, I'M BACK TO SQUARE ONE ALL OVER AGAIN! NOW I NEED A NEW INTERDIMENSIONAL RIFT TO GET MY POWERS BACK AND TO BE ABLE TO TAKE OVER THIS DIMENSION. BUT HOW AM I GONNA GET MY HANDS ON THAT?"

He thought for a brief moment as he descended back toward the surface. As he floated back above the open grass field in the forest, he looked at his surroundings and quickly remembered what he had been doing just minutes before, facepalming at his momentary lack of awareness.

"OF COURSE! WHAT AM I SAYING? STANFORD… HE MADE THE LAST RIFT, AND HE CAN MAKE ME ANOTHER ONE! AND WITH THIRTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ACROSS DIMENSIONS UP HIS SLEEVE, I KNOW FOR A FACT IT WON'T TAKE HIM LONG TO DO IT AGAIN! EXCEPT, THIS TIME, INSTEAD OF PLAYING B.F.F., I GET TO PLAY B.A.D.! NOW, WHERE DID THOSE SLIPPERY PINES RUN OFF TO?"

Flying up above the trees again, his eye looked upon the closest house in the area. Looking at one of the windows, he was not oblivious to the sight of Mabel suddenly ducking down upon catching his glance.

His eye was unimpressed. "I truly wonder…"

On the floor, Mabel was on her knees crouched below the window. Believing Bill had managed to spot her at the window, her eyes were wide and anxious as she looked back at the others inside.

"Um, guys? Not to alarm you all, but it looks like Bill is on the move again…" she told them while trying to sound somewhat calm.

"What?!" Ford questioned.

"Oh no…" Soos said.

"He didn't see you, did he?" Dipper asked as he walked up to her.

She looked to the side. "Well, uh…"

"GEE, I SURE WONDER WHERE THAT PINES FAMILY RAN OFF TO!" Bill's sarcastic voice was heard from outside the cabin, sounding somewhat distant. "I'M NOT SURE IF I'LL EVER FIND THEM!"

Mabel began to smile cheerily as her nervousness faded. "Huh. I guess not! Nothing to worry about, people! Looks like we're in the clear!"

Immediately after speaking, everybody was suddenly caught off guard as the entire house started shaking violently. Paintings, picture frames, and other house decor started falling from walls and collapsing onto the ground as everybody tried to keep themselves standing by finding stuff to safely hold onto.

"KNOCK, KNOCK!" Bill shouted as he stood on one side of the house, shaking the whole place with his hands.

"On second thought, better not listen to a word I say ever again!" Mabel said as she held herself up against the wall with pure fear in her voice.

"I know it's Bill that's out there, but I still really want to say 'Who's there?'" Soos cried out as he stood steadily by Stan's seat. "I can't resist a knock-knock juke, dudes!"

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER, SIX-FINGERS!" Bill taunted as he suddenly stopped shaking the house. "EITHER YOU'RE COMING OUT OR I'M COMING IN!"

CRASH!

Suddenly, Bill's giant fist came smashing through the front door, which he started blindly reaching inside.

"AAAAHH!" everybody screamed.

"What's the plan, dudes?!" Soos asked.

"Great Uncle Ford?!" Dipper questioned as he glanced over at him.

"Quick! We need a place to hide!" Ford said hurriedly.

"The old wine cellar! That should be able to hold all of us!" Dan suggested as he ran toward the living room.

Ford nodded. "Great! Everybody follow Dan!"

A square door, etched with the number thirteen, was located in the back corner of the living room, aligned diagonally between the wall and the floor, and seemed to lead into the cabin's cellar. Dan ran up to the door and pulled on the handle to open it, but it remained stuck. Everybody else quickly ran up behind him, ready to follow him down. However, Dan continued trying to pull the door open with no luck.

"Dad, what's taking so long?!" Marcus called out from the back behind everybody else.

"Dang thing's locked!" Dan shouted back as he continued trying to pull the handle with all of his strength. "It's been years since I've opened it! Door needs a key to open it!"

"And where's the key?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know! I lost it!" Dan said before settling on trying to punch the door open instead. "OPEN, DAMN YOU!"

Dipper stroked his chin as he looked at the cellar door's lock curiously. "A key, huh?"

Gus suddenly felt his leg get grabbed from behind. Looking back, he saw that it was Bill's hand, which was still reaching inside from the front door.

"AAAHH!" he screamed aloud.

"IS THAT A KID I GOT? OH, FORD LOVES PLAYING HERO! STEALING YOU AWAY WILL BRING HIM OUT FOR SURE!"

At that moment, Bill started to pull Gus away from the others, causing him to scream out in fear. "MARCUS! KEVIN!"

"GUS!" Marcus and Kevin shouted at the same time as they quickly ran back and grabbed hold of their little brother's arms, using all their strength to pull him away from Bill's grasp.

Dan suddenly looked back up behind, seeing Gus tightly held in Bill's hand. "GUS!" he shouted before running back and snatching his axe off of the floor. "I'M COMING FOR YA, BOY!"

Bill started to struggle as he tried to pull Gus away from his brothers. "C'MON, KID! EITHER LET GO OR I'M TAKING YOUR LEGS!"

"DAD! HELP!" Gus pleaded to Dan with terrified tears in his eyes.

"Oh no you don't!" Dan shouted at Bill as he ran up to his arm with his axe wielded tightly. "You already took one of my kids away from me today! You ain't taking another!"

With one single, furious swing, Manly Dan chopped straight down through Bill's wrist, cutting his hand clean off and freeing Gus from his grasp.

"AAAAGH!" Bill screamed painfully as he immediately pulled his arm out from inside the house. Gripping his arm, he stared at where his hand used to be as he shook violently from the immense agony he felt. "GAAAAAAAHHH!"

Back inside, Gus kicked himself out of Bill's chopped-off hand in panic as he jumped up into Dan's arms for comfort.

"Gus! Are you okay, Son?" Dan asked as he hugged him tightly.

"Y-Yeah…" Gus stuttered while trembling in fear. "T-Thanks, Dad."

Letting go, but holding him close, Dan walked back with him and his other boys to the living room. "C'mon, we need to get outta here."

Despite knowing his strength was significantly less compared to Manly Dan's, Ford attempted to pull the door open himself. But just like Dan, he had no luck.

"What's with this door?" he asked. "How is it so resistant to shear strength? Not even Dan could break through it!"

"He said it needs a key, didn't he?" Mabel mentioned. "Maybe this is the time to put Stan's lockpicking technique to use!"

"No need!" Dipper said as he dug his hand through the inside of his hoodie before suddenly pulling out none other than the President's Key. "I have just what'll get us inside!"

Walking up to the door with the key in hand, he inserted it into the lock and turned, successfully unlocking it. At the same time, a subtle red light on the door handle itself suddenly lit up but went unnoticed by anybody except for Dipper, who recognized that light. Grabbing the handle, he pulled the cellar door right open.

"Good going, Dipper!" Ford acclaimed with a proud smile. "Now let's make our way insi- Oh... dear lord…"

Looking into the cellar, everybody grew immediately repulsed by the sight of sticky, slimy flesh covering the walls of what looked to be a long hole straight down to god-knows-where. Puncturing out from the flesh walls were giant individual teeth as saliva or some other slimy substance dripped and stuck from wall to wall all the way down.

"Uhh... I know it's been years, but I don't remember our cellar ever having teeth in it," Marcus noted.

"Damn, Dad, has it really been that long since you cleaned down here?" Kevin asked in disgust as he looked up at their father.

"So, uh, Grunkle Ford… surely we have a Plan B, right?" Mabel asked, hoping this wasn't going to be the escape route they resorted to.

Dipper narrowed his eyes, looking down the fleshy hole with determination. "No. We don't need a Plan B. We're going down."

"Dipper, dude, that cellar is literally a giant esophagus," Soos reminded.

"Yeah, I don't know about this one, man," Melody said, shaking her head hesitantly. "I've been in a lot of messed up situations throughout my life, but being eaten alive would be a whole new low."

"Just trust me! It's the only way!" Dipper tried to reassure everybody.

"C'mon, Dipper," Mabel began. "I'm sure Grunkle Ford can find us another solution that isn't us jumping down a giant-"

Dipper cut his sister short as he proceeded to jump down the flesh cellar without warning. Everybody gasped as he was soon enveloped by the darkness below, quickly out of sight.

"DIPPER!" Mabel called out worriedly.

Back outside, Bill's hand had just finished completely regenerating after being chopped off by Dan. He held it up in the air, inspecting it from every angle to ensure that it healed properly.

"REALLY? I CAN REGROW LIMBS BUT I CAN'T FIX THIS STUPID CRACK?!" he questioned, looking back down at his fracture. He then turned back toward the cabin with growing rage. "AGH, WHATEVER! EITHER WAY, NOW YOU'VE MADE ME REALLY ANGRY!"

Gripping the roof of the house, he began to pry it off with his hands.

"I GUESS IT'S TIME TO REALLY TEAR THE ROOF OFF THIS PLACE!"

Inside, everybody looked above as Bill began to rip the roof off the top of the house. Running out of time and options, everybody glanced at one another hesitantly about what to do next.

"Well, it seems our decision has already been made!" Ford said as he walked up to the open door. "Let's hope to meet on the other side!"

With no further hesitation, he jumped straight down into the fleshy hole, following Dipper. Everybody above looked on with continued revulsion but began to realize that there was really not much choice left at that point.

"Well, if this is how I die, I might as well make the most of it," Mabel said before running up to the cellar and sliding down the flesh wall instead of jumping straight down. Raising her arms up as if it were a rollercoaster drop, she slid fast against the wall with great enthusiasm. "WOOOHOO-HOO! YEAH!"

Soos and Melody turned toward one another hesitantly.

"Wanna race on the way down?" Soos casually asked.

Melody gave him a daring look. "Oh, you are SO on…"

They got into position as Soos held Stan firmly over his shoulder. "And don't worry, Mr. Pines. No matter what happens, I'll make sure to break your fall!" he assured before turning to Melody. "On your mark, get set… go!"

The two jumped down at the same time, sliding down against the slimy flesh the same way as Mabel did, letting out thrilled screams as they were soon swallowed by the darkness below.

The Corduroys were the last ones left above to follow down. Looking above, Bill was getting closer to prying the entire roof off, so the brothers prepared to head down. However, Dan ran back toward the dining room.

"C'mon Dad! We gotta go!" Kevin called out.

"I'm bringing your sister!" he said as he began trying to lift Wendy again. "Just go! Like before, I'll meet you down!"

Though unsure about leaving their father behind now, the three brothers banded together anyway and jumped down into the cellar, following behind all the others on the way down the fleshy shaft. As they went down, Dan picked Wendy up off the ground, holding her above his head yet again before running back toward the cellar in the living room.

"Don't worry, Wendy. I'm not gonna lose you like I lost your mother…"

Just as he reached the cellar, the roof was suddenly pulled off slightly on one corner. Dan looked up as Bill peeked his eyeball into the room with slight amusement.

"HERE'S BILLY!"

Glancing at him for a brief moment, Dan quickly threw Wendy down into the cellar. As she descended below, Dan grabbed the door handle and pulled it with him as he jumped down into the cellar himself, shutting the door on Bill. Just as he got away, Bill pulled the rest of the roof clean off.

"NICE TRY, BUT YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM-"

Ripping the cellar door open, Bill's eye widened at the sight of there being nothing more than a cemented brick wall in place of where the flesh pit used to be.

"WHERE DID THEY GO?!" Bill questioned as he stared at the brick wall.

Realizing Ford and everybody else had escaped from his clutches once again, Bill's yellow body turned a burning red. Infuriated, he picked up the detached roof and launched it across the forest in a fit of unleashed rage before turning to the sky and letting out a belting scream loud enough to be heard miles away by townsfolk casually walking through the main block of town.

"GAAAAAAAHHH! IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER! SETBACK AFTER SETBACK!" Bill vented as he suddenly kicked down a wall of the Corduroy cabin in frustration. "NO MATTER! I KNOW WHERE THEY WENT, AND I KNOW THEY CAN'T STAY DOWN THERE FOREVER! I'VE ALREADY COME THIS FAR, AND SOON ENOUGH, I'LL FINALLY BE RIGHT WHERE I NEED TO BE!"

Bill flew upward as he snapped his fingers, causing him to start warping like an inward swirl before disappearing into the mindscape to work out his next plan.

The Corduroy cabin was left in shambles with its roof torn off and an entire side of the house just completely torn down and decimated. However, right across from the house in the middle of the forest pathway stood Ryland, who sat on his bike completely frozen after having arrived just in time to catch the very end of the whole exchange. Mouth agape and eye twitching in both confusion and horror, he could only stare at the remains of the cabin with feelings of helplessness, as well as total bewilderment.

"What the actual f-"