9I don't own Gravity Falls. That belongs to our flannel overlord Alex Hirsch.
Here's the last chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it.
In the woods, the group stayed mostly silent. None of the kids particularly wanted Wendy pissed off at them.
"Maybe we were a little harsh." Mabel played with the frayed hem of her sweater. "Grunkle Ford probably didn't mean to hurt our feelings."
"People don't mean to do a lot of things." Wendy said. "That doesn't mean they're allowed to get away with it." She hacked at the branches in their way, clearing a path like some kind of warrior.
"So, what're we gonna do once we get to Mr. Pines?" Gideon asked. It was then that all four of them realized they didn't actually have a plan. They'd stormed off without any idea of how to rescue Stan from Bill's clutches.
"We should probably go back." Dipper suggested. "We can make a plan with everyone else. As long as Grunkle Ford cooperates, that is."
"I'm sure he wants Grunkle Stan back just as much as we do." Mabel said.
"You're probably right." Wendy sighed and leaned against a tree. "God, I'm such an idiot!"
"We were all angry." Dipper said. "It wasn't just your fault." Wendy just shrugged, arms folded over her chest. She'd need a few minutes before she'd be alright to head back to the circus.
"Hey, does that look weird to y'all?" Gideon suddenly asked, pointing to something in the clearing in front of them. The group moved forward to investigate. Half submerged in the earth of the clearing was a stone statue of a triangle with a single eye in its middle, wearing a bowtie and tophat. It had one hand out, as if beckoning the onlookers to reach out and shake it.
"That's gotta be Bill." Dipper said. He dug in his coat pockets and pulled out a tattered notebook, beginning to make notes of the statue's location and what it could possibly mean.
"It could be an anchor of some kind." Gideon said. "Y'know, giving him more power in this world?"
"That could be true." Dipper muttered, not looking up from his notebook. Wendy and Mabel inspected the statue, poking and prodding but never touching its outstretched hand. After a few minutes they concluded that it was nothing more than an ordinary stone statue. For the moment, that is.
"Okay, let's go back." Wendy said. "We can tell everyone about it." Something about the statue just made her feel distinctly uncomfortable. The group turned to go, and managed to make it a few feet before they were interrupted by a bout of maniacal laughter.
"Lookie here! Stan's family, come to save him!" Bill cackled. The group of four whirled around to see Bill in his used car salesman form, perched atop the stone statue. His hands and singular eye glowed with an unearthly blue fire. Wendy swept the kids behind her, holding up her axe in defense.
"Whoa! Easy there Red!" Bill said, putting his hands up. "Don't you know better than to attack an unarmed man?"
"I'm sure you've got some trick up your sleeve." Dipper said. "What do you want?"
"Oh, Pine Tree." Bill sighed and clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "I thought you were smarter than this. You already know what I want."
"Our souls, right?" Mabel said.
"Yep! Or just 3 souls. Any three. If you wanna stay alive, Maybe I'll just take Red, Pentagram, and Question-mark!"
"No!" Dipper and Mabel said together. Bill's smile sagged a little and his eye narrowed. He snapped his fingers and a rift opened behind him.
"Alright. Have it your way." He said. Almost immediately, creatures began to appear. They looked like nothing any of the humans had ever seen before. Immediately the group turned and took off running back towards the circus. Bill watched them go, his grip on his cane tight. He was breathing a little more heavily now. Opening a doorway for his friends had taken a lot of power, perhaps more than he currently had. Dammit, he had to finish this. He couldn't keep this going for too much longer.
"You okay?" Pyronica asked.
"I'm fine." He snapped. "Now follow those kids!" His friends nodded, following after the group of humans. The demon turned to Stan, who sat tied up next to him. He'd been unsurreptitiously dumped on the ground when the others had come through.
"Sorry Fez." Bill put a hand on Stan's head. "Looks like I'm going to need to borrow your soul for a little while."
.
.
Ford, Pacifica, and Soos were camped out in Stan's trailer when the group of four returned to the circus. They were looking through Ford's journals in an attempt to find some weakness of Bill's. The fact that Bill had both a physical form and the power of two souls was particularly problematic. The physical form, meant to seal Bill away, was now Ford's undoing. There wasn't a lot they could do to the demon while he possessed a body.
"Grunkle Ford!"
"Mister Pines!" Wendy, Dipper, Mabel, and Gideon practically bowled each other over as they all tried to get into the trailer at once.
"What's going on?" Ford closed his book and stood up quickly.
"It's Bill." Wendy explained. "He showed up with a bunch of his weird friends and I'm pretty sure he's coming here."
"He said he needs three souls." Dipper said. "I think he might take Stan's because he has him."
"You said he brought his friends into this plane?"
"He did. Why?"
"Well, if he used that much power then he could be vulnerable." Ford nodded, a finger on his lips. This was exactly the advantage they needed. But what exactly could they do to take him and his friends down?
"We need to do something." Pacifica said.
"But what?" Gideon asked.
"We use our skills." Mabel stood up a little straighter, dusting herself off. "He's coming here. He's coming to our turf. We'll do what we do best. We're gonna put on a show." She picked up Stan's ringmaster hat and plopped it on Ford's head. "And you can be the ringmaster."
.
.
When Bill and his freaks arrived at the circus, the lights were on in the big top. Everything was set up as it would be for a show. Robbie was manning the ticket booth and Candy and Grenda stood outside with their snack boxes.
"What in the-? They're putting on a show?" Bill frowned.
"You think they're pretending not to be scared?" Pyronica asked.
"Oooh! I always wanted to see a circus show!" Kryptos clapped his hands together. Bill slapped the back of what was approximately his head.
"Come on." He gestured to his freaks and they walked over. Robbie looked at them, leaning on the counter of the ticket booth. His eyes flicked from demon to demon, not showing the slightest sign of fear. This was Gravity Falls, weird shit was basically normal.
"I don't know if you have enough money for all of you." He said. "You're gonna need a lot of tickets."
"Kid, you do not want to be messing with me right now." Bill said through gritted teeth. "If you know what's good for you, you'll let me and my friends in."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll smite you where you stand."
"Yeah. Sure." Robbie rolled his eyes. "You're gonna need a ticket at least. Mister Pines too."
"Fine." Bill dug out a wallet from his pants pocket. "How much for four tickets?"
"20$"
"What?! That's highway robbery!"
"I don't make the prices." Robbie said, yawning. "You want to complain, take it up with Mr. Pines." Stan certainly wasn't going to be saying much though. He laid limply in Kryptos' grasp, like a sack of potatoes. Kryptos had been forced to carry the old man since Pyronica kept trying to eat Stan.
"Fine." Bill dug out 20$ and slammed it onto the counter. Robbie took the money, sticking it in the cash box before tearing off four tickets from the roll Stan had left in the booth.
"There you go. Enjoy the show." He said. Bill snatched up the tickets. He handed tickets to Pyronica and Kryptos and stuck one in Stan's pants pocket.
"Popcorn?" Candy and Grenda were the next to assault the demons. They shoved their trays in the group's faces, enticing them with the smell and taste.
"Get outta here!" Bill said, waving his cane at them. The girls pouted, but nevertheless scurried off. Bill muttered to himself, throwing back the curtain. Inside, there stood Ford, all decked out in Stan's ringmaster attire.
"Welcome welcome!" Ford boomed. "Welcome to the greatest show on Earth!"
"Isn't that Barnum & Bailey's schtick?" Bill leaned on his cane. Now this he could deal with. He knew Ford, he knew how to push his buttons. This was something he could manage.
"Maybe so, but you've never seen anything like this." Ford said. "Please, take your seats. The show will begin momentarily." As Bill's freaks gathered behind him, the performers of the circus appeared in the tent. Pacifica stood on the high wire, holding a shotgun and a bag of rock salt. Soos dragged out a comically large hammer they usually used for his the strength test game. Dipper and Mabel wheeled out Mabel's cannon. Wendy appeared with her axes. Gideon held a bible and wore his bedazzled cape.
"So you want a fight, do you?" Bill snickered. "Well alright. I'll indulge you." And then the fight began. Bill's freaks surged forward, and the circus was ready. Kryptos dropped Stan and went for Soos. The strongman readied his hammer, using it like a baseball bat when Kryptos flew towards him. The little demon wailed and flew away.
"Useless!" Bill growled. Behind Soos, Mabel was fired out of her cannon, flying into the freaks with her patented kitten fists. Pacifica, having been hunting since she was a child, managed to hit a few of the other freaks dead on with her rock salt. It didn't work exactly like they'd expected, but it sure as hell hurt the freaks. Pacifica smiled to herself and kept shooting until they fled. Meanwhile Wendy was tearing through the freaks with her axes. Her approach was by far the most violent. She was actually getting bloody. Or at least, covered in whatever counted as blood for these creatures. After everything that had happened, all the shit she'd gone through, it felt good to let off some steam and give these freaks a good beating. Gideon was rattling off psalms like his life depended on it, driving the demons back. Dipper stood in the back observing everything with Ford firing a pistol at his side. Bill stood on the other side of the tent. Stan was slumped on the ground beside him. The demon gnashed his teeth, slamming his cane on the ground. He couldn't win this. Not against these people. His freaks were running away with their tails between their legs.
"Alright, fine!" Bill tapped his cane on the ground, a ring of blue fire springing up around all of them. His freaks, the ones still left standing, fled the circle.
"Ready to give up?" Ford asked, smirking.
"You forget I've still got a bargaining chip." Bill dragged Stan to his feet. "C'mon then Fez. Let's bargain."
"Give us our Grunkle back." Mabel demanded.
"Well someone's going to have to give me their soul." Bill said, putting his hand on his hip. "Sixer? You wanna volunteer?" Ford was stone-faced, grasping his own cane like a lifeline.
"Grunkle Ford, you can't!" Dipper said, grabbing at his sleeve.
"Let me talk with my brother." Ford said. "I need to talk this out with him."
"Okay. Fine." Bill booted Stan forward, waking the old man up. He got to his feet, stumbling, and landed in his brother's arms.
"Hey, Sixer." He grinned. Ford looked about ready to punch Stan. Instead he hugged him. Stan's smile fell and he patted Ford's back. The two of them stayed like that for a few minutes, something that made Bill incredibly impatient.
"Hurry it up." He said.
"Go wait outside." Ford snapped. Bill rolled his eye and went outside.
"You're all useless." He said to the assembled freaks. They avoided his gaze, looking thoroughly ashamed. As they should be. Bill pulled out some money from his pocket and bought some popcorn from Candy and Grenda. Ford should be ashamed of himself, making a demon stress eat like this. He shoved the snack food into his mouth, barely taking time to chew. It saved time anyway. Not that he was going anywhere though.
"Alright! You can get your ass back in here!" Stan yelled. Bill threw the popcorn bag at Pyronica, who swallowed it whole, and floated back in. Stan and Ford stood side by side in the middle of the ring.
"I'll do it." Ford said. "I'll relinquish my soul to you."
Bill grinned. "That's a good boy Sixer. Now we just need to sign the appropriate paperwork."
"You don't have to do this." Stan said.
"I have to." Ford pushed his brother gently aside. Bill pulled a contract out of thin air, flourishing a quill pen, which he handed to Ford. Ford glanced back at Stan before taking the contract.
"I, Stanford Filbrick Pines, relinquish my soul to you." He said, signing his name at the bottom. Bill started laughing to himself as he rolled up the contract.
"Now I have something to ask of you." Ford said.
"Oh?" Bill raised an eyebrow. "What do you want from me, Ford?"
"You have to leave here and never come back once you have my soul."
"Okay. Sure. Whatever." Bill shrugged and stuck out his hand. Ford stuck his out to shake as well, but Bill stopped him.
"Hey. Gloves off." He gestured to Ford's hands, which were covered by pristine white gloves. Ford sighed and took them off, shaking Bill's hand before he got a chance to count the number of fingers. Immediately, the demon knew something was wrong. His hand burned. He jerked away and looked down at his hand. A sigil was burned into his skin, the slightest bit of blood on it.
"What...What did you do?!" He snarled, his human appearance beginning to burn away. Ford, no, Stan, grinned.
"You can't con a conman!" Stan crowed, lifting up his hand to reveal a sigil carved into the palm of his hand. The fire began to spin around Bill, consuming the demon as he screamed and raged. The freaks outside could hear their leader's pain and promptly got the fuck out of there. If they could take down Bill, then the freaks didn't want to mess with them. Soon, the fire was gone, along with any and all signs that the demons had been there.
"So that happened." Mabel said.
"I can't believe we won." Dipper started laughing, hugging his sister. "I thought we were going to lose you!" He hugged Stan and Ford's legs. Gideon and Pacifica came in on the hug too, along with Soos and Wendy. Their little family had almost been broken up. Ford was a part of that family now, and he wasn't going anywhere either.
"I want to sleep for a million years." Stan groaned, then looked over at Soos. "Hey, mind getting me some rubbing alcohol and bandages?"
"Of course!" Soos nodded and ran off. The others got Stan back to his trailer where they made both him and Ford lay down. They didn't open the circus the next day. Everyone took the day off, recovering from the events of the previous day. They made sure to destroy the statue Bill had been using as a tether, just to be sure. The sigil Ford had used had been enough to banish Bill in his weakened form, but the tether had still been there. Now, they were safe. Slowly, everything began to return to normal. Pacifica's parents came looking for her, of course, but things were different now that Bill was gone. They'd lost much of their power. The entire circus troupe made it clear that unless her parents started changing their ways, they weren't going to get their daughter back. Pacifica was happier in the circus than she was in her home. In the end, though, she did go back with them. And things did change for her. Things were different. The troupe didn't go anywhere too big, but things had changed with the addition of Ford. Ford hadn't expected to enjoy the life of the circus, but he found himself rather liking working with Stan. It made up for the years of time he'd been away from his brother. Everyone was happy.
But in his own nightmare dimension, Bill plotted his revenge.