Gravity Pines

Part 32: What Goes Bump In The Night

" Ok Aside from a Nightmare Realm! Aside from something strong enough to hold power over Bill?! Why in the greek gods' good names is Bill even here in the first place?! " I bellowed out loud enough that Ford even seemed to look around as if expecting people from town to come down and start something over these words.

" Dipper, I know that you are angry, I was too when I found out Bill had survived through the memory wipe by clinging to that portion of Stanley's mind that clawed its way back, but at the same time well, let Bill and Stanley explain. " Ford gestures up to Bill/Stan who was floating around and looking about, other times walking on the tabletop and seemingly stretching out a sore back, in which a moment later would pop and he would be standing upright again.

" Ah yes, so, turns out your plan would have worked smashingly, except one problem... you wanted you're Gruncle Stan back so bad, you healed his mind and gave him his life back. Well turns out that light at the end of the tunnel was all of your care and connection to Stan to guide him home, and what was left of me got dragged along. " Bill spoke as Stan seemed to be checking for his bag of chew gum, getting him off real chew easily enough for the taste alone.

" Ya, little one eye turned out to regrow inside of my mind, instead of in my nightmares like how we all use to see him, he actually lived through me. Feeling everything I did while only interfering when my life was on the line, turns out fighting sea monsters left quite a few moments for him to help out. " Stan seemed to take over every other few seconds, swapping control from Bill to Stan like it was a timeshare almost but neither appeared to have an issue.

" You trapped me in a nightmare bubble! You tried to eat us! You literally turned everyone to stone! " Mabel's outburst would snap me back to reality, having gotten down beside her to be her support, to let her grip my arm if she needed, she instead took a page from my book and was about to lunge up at Bill/Stan only to be held back by my arms and my firm planted feet which luckily, she respected because of our lessons she could have easily hook kicked back and taken out my bits.

" Mabel calm down! " Ford exclaimed, but I snapped at this mostly because of the situation that we were put in just expecting to take it lightly.

" You calm down! We are handling this the best we can! We suffered through everything even our top soldiers can't handle because of the horror they experience, we lived true horror and then some even after he was... He was... " As the idea hit my mind, Mabel would catch on in an instant and turn around to hug me tight, trapping my arms with her sneaky escapist list movements as I pushed forward as if trying to get past her.

" Was it you?! Did you mess with my mind and kill my mother?! " I screamed in a harsh bellow, which would match my puberty years of squeaking now and then from my body's changes. Mabel clung tightly to me, trying to reassure me while protecting me from hurting Stan who was watching us at the same time Bill was, and even as I stared up at those eyes, which filled with sadness equally, Bill's half reached out only to be interrupted by a familiar voice.

" No, Bill is the one who reached out to save you when the worst was happening. When your mother did all she could, he channeled through her to push you further away. " Our father walked out from the back of the office, where our supply rooms and backup servers were housed, as well as a rather artic cooling unit that would make the pentagon jealous.

" D... Dad? " Our voices mixed in perfect unison, disbelief, fear, and that deep feeling of hope hitting us all at once as he seemed to be a little tired, messy hair, darkness under his eyes, and a warm smile that broke all those signs in a moment to give us that safe feeling in an instant. 

" Hey, kids. I know you are going to have a million questions but, I think you both deserve to know about all of this. " Clearly Ford and Stan had a small disgruntled expression on their faces, Bill was more or less still looking around as if curious about the world, making it so weird when he swapped with Stan still.