Misguided Adventures and Magical Attachments (Completed)

Chapter 53

Once the weirdness began to spread, the citizens and tourists of Paris started to flee, scrambling like insects to dive into their houses or hotels as fast as they could. Women were screaming, huddling with their children.

Even the high tower, where Bill stood frozen, was now deserted. However, he wasn't frozen in fear, but in thought, his mind racing. Is there a way to fix this? There has to be something I can do. Right? He stomped his foot in frustration, causing cyan fire to flare out around him. The flames didn't burn anything but the floor. "Why didn't I listen to Ford!" he yelled at nobody in particular, nearly forgetting that Dipper was standing with him.

The prince stood his ground, reaching for Bill's arm and clutching onto it. Bill, no, it's okay, he sympathized, heart racing. "I didn't listen to Ford either."

Bill gazed down at him. "I know, but this is my fault. I don't want you to suffer because of them again." He noticed that two demons were terrorizing the city. I wonder if they split up into pairs. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a red and black spotted girl running on the rooftops below. She reminded him of a ladybug. When he blinked, she was gone. "And now I'm seeing things," he groaned, stepping towards the elevator.

"What are we going to do? Shouldn't we be checking on Gravity Falls?" Dipper asked in concern, his peripheral vision catching on a black figure with a streaming tail. It vaulted down into the streets, taking a squealing monster with it. Not more than a moment later, it was gone. He glanced at empty air. Maybe the weirdness is acting up . . .

"I'm not sure. Should we go back to ask Ford or figure this out ourselves?" Bill pressed the button to take the elevator down, but it seemed broken. Instead, he teleported them to the ground, not worried about people spotting him. With Paris shrouded in chaos, the citizens wouldn't notice them. What do we do? He bit his lip, worriedly glancing at the other.

"As much as I would like for us to find out without having to, we both know he's probably right. About all of this," Dipper admitted, dodging out of the way of a squealing kid as he bolted past. The rift is the source of Weirdmageddon's magic. It must be having trouble controlling itself. Maybe there's a way for it to release magic at a sustained pace instead of all at once . . . His mind began filing through the options. But he could barely think straight with everything going on. He decided to drop it. "W-whatever. We have to get back, Bill."

Bill understood what he meant, nodding. "Yeah, let's go back. I'm sorry our vacation didn't last as long as we hoped it would." The older male took his hand, concentrating to teleport them straight to Ford's location.

Dipper immediately gave Bill's hand an assuring squeeze upon arriving at the Mystery Shack's front steps, attention glued to the tumultuous sky. "Oh good heavens . . ." he hissed, free fingers gripping his tossing bangs. "Bill, this looks really bad."

"Yeah, like that helps," Bill muttered sarcastically, dread eating up his insides. The door to the Shack creaked open. "Hello, Stanford?"

"You're here! Thank —" Ford gasped in relief, cutting off whatever grateful comment he was about to make. He was previously hunched over a table in the messy living room, a couple of miscellaneous gnomes huddled idly next to his quantum destabilizer. It was modified in some way. Ford furrowed his brows. "I hope you both are aware of the disaster you're causing outside and aren't just back early to party."

"Yeah, yeah." The blond waved his hand, staying as calm as he could on the outside. "Just get on with it. I-I'm here to help in any way possible . . ." He glanced at the upgraded gun, instinctively shifting away from it. "As long as you aren't planning to kill me, I'll go with whatever plan you got."