“Eeny! Meeny! Miney!”
“No!” Mabel and Dipper reached for each other desperately, as their large captor said the last word:
“YOU!”
“No!” Ford cried out – too little too late. As Bill spoke, he snapped his fingers and Mabel suddenly froze in Dipper's grasp before shrinking in size and slipping out of his arms to the floor. “Please, I'll give you what you want! Just don't kill them!
“Good! About time you came to your senses!” Bill Cipher dropped Dipper next to his sister and turned to the cage, snapping his fingers to open it. “Let's get that deal done, then!
“Dipper!” Stan ran over to Dipper's side as Ford and Bill faced each other, Bill extending a hand to him in his smaller form.
“Grunkle S-Stan, she...she's...” Dipper gingerly lifted his sister's tiny form, looking at the permanent cheerful smile on her face. “W-What did he...do to her?”
Stan was silent, and then he turned towards where Ford and Bill were still facing each other, Bill turned to stone and Ford dropped to his knees. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the memory gun, to Dipper's surprise.
“S-Stan? I thought Great Uncle Ford had that?” Dipper asked.
“This is for the best.” Stan said, aiming the gun at Ford and pulling the trigger.
“No, wait! It won't affect him, what are you doing?!” Dipper stood up, his sister clutched in his small hands.
Stan lowered the gun and they saw the demons be sucked into the rift as the banners changed back into their friends. The building shook and then started to disappear around them and then there was a flash of light. When it cleared, the rift was gone, the sky was blue, and they were in a forest clearing with Bill's stone body and Ford.
“I'm so sorry, Stanley.” Stan whispered, and Dipper gasped, realizing that they had switched places.
“Wait...what did you do? And if everything else is back to normal...why isn't Mabel?” Dipper looked at his sister.
“I erased Bill from Stan's mind – and Stan's mind along with him. He...won't remember anything.” Ford took off his glasses and wiped at his eyes. “As for your sister...I don't know, Dipper. I just don't know.”
“Can we...fix them?” Dipper asked. “Is there any way?” He turned to where the others were slowly getting up from where they had been put in the clearing. “Gideon. Gideon, you know magic, right?” He ran over to him. “Tell me there's a way to fix her!”
“What?” Gideon looked at him, confused, then at the doll Dipper carried. “M-Mabel?” He whispered.
“Is there a way to fix her?” Dipper asked.
Gideon reached out for the doll and Dipper reluctantly handed her over. He looked her over, muttered a few words, and then gently ran a hand over her cloth hair before handing her back. “I would have to look in my books. But, Bill isn't of this world...so it's possible the cure isn't, either.”
“Why did everything go back to normal but her?” Dipper asked. “Why is she still this way?! Why?!”
Gideon ran a hand through his messy pompadour and sighed. “...I really don't know, Dipper. But...I will look and see if there's any way on this world to fix her. In the meantime...why don't you see if you can help your uncles? Is the other Stanford okay?”
“That's...Grunkle Stan, actually. They swapped clothes.” Dipper said, holding Mabel close to him. “What'm I gonna tell mom and dad?” Tears slipped down his cheeks.
“I could...conjure up an illusion of her in a coma. It'll work until we have a cure for her condition.” Gideon suggested.
“What about that doll witch? Wasn't there a potion you took to fix yourself?” Dipper asked.
“We could try it, but...I wasn't exactly a cloth doll, Dipper. I was just paralyzed to look like a doll. It's completely different.” At Dipper's disheartened expression, he placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. “B-But, I will try. I'll try every spell I can find until we fix her. We have to keep in mind, though...the cure might not be on this world. We have to prepare ourselves for that.”
“The portal.” Dipper breathed. “If we were to fix the portal, we could use it to find a cure!”
“And cause this whole mess again?” Ford said, coming up behind him with a confused Stan. “Dipper, I know you want to fix your sister, but...”
“I'm willing to take the risk.” Dipper stood up and turned to him. “How's Grunkle Stan?”
“...He doesn't remember anything.” Ford sighed. “At all.”
“Well, maybe we can jog his memory. Pictures, videos, anything we can find! We can at least help him remember this town!” Dipper nodded firmly. “Mabel has a scrapbook!”
“Dipper--”
“We have to TRY!” Dipper insisted. “Gideon, you have pictures, right?” He looked at him.
“W-Why would you think I have...yes.” Gideon admitted. “But I'm only showing him ones from events we both went to that he would remember.”
“What other pictures do you have?” Ford asked.
“He was my business rival. I got blackmail material.” Gideon said, as if it was the most obvious answer.
“How old are you?” Ford asked, disturbed.
“So, let's get Stan back to the shack and start jogging his memory! And Gideon, where do you keep your spellbooks? Can you bring them over?” Dipper looked at him
“It'd take a few trips. Might be better to bring Mabel to my magic circle so we can start trying out spells.” Gideon suggested. “But...it's best not to use magic when you're exhausted. I could cause a devastating earthquake by saying one word wrong.”
“Okay...so, first thing tomorrow, I'll bring her over. We have to fix her before our birthday, I don't want to grow older without my twin!” Dipper looked at his sister. “We're twins...we have to age together...I can't grow older without her...” He held her tightly. “I just can't!”
“We'll do what we can.” Pacifica offered comfortingly, coming over to join them. “Anything we can.”
Dipper nodded. “Let's...get Stan back to the shack.”
END
