Little Dipper

Road Trip!

"And that should do it." Ford said as he finished gluing the hair into place. "Now we just have to do this for all the other places that people will be hiding in. The museum is a good place, right?"

"It's got the old Society headquarters. I'm having the place cleared out, though, and beds put in instead." Gideon said, nodding. "There's also the bunker that's being prepared. Shifty and McGucket are taking care of that place."

Stan came outside and looked around. "Hey, you two seen the kids?"

"Dipper and Mabel are both in their room with Bill." Ford told him.

"Thanks. Hey, would you mind house-sitting with Bill for a week? Gideon, wanna come on a road trip?"

"I have too many things to do here." Gideon frowned. "What road trip?"

"A road trip of revenge! Every year, our rivals have come and pranked me and this year I'm gettin' them back for it!" Stan grinned. "The kids will love it!"

"How fortunate that I was not ever affected by their petty antics. I'll stay here, thanks." Gideon shook his head.

"Suit yourself. Hey, kids!" Stan walked back inside.

"Wait, what, he's leaving Bill here?" Ford frowned. "Why?"

"Because Bill can't leave." Gideon told him.

"He can't?" Ford looked at him.

"No. And I'm not sure what'll happen if they do, the last time they passed the border Bill ended up being knocked back into his triangle form and passing out. Of course, that was before the portal opened, and he also didn't have his temporary physical form then..." Gideon frowned. "It's been a week since you got back...I'm going to check on him." He headed inside.

"Why?" Ford followed him and was startled to see that Bill's visage was looking like a glitched-out video game. "What in the world?!"

"I'll call everyone over and we'll get it sorted. Looks like you can go up to a week now." Gideon told Bill.

"Yep, looks like. It just started happening." Bill said, looking at his hand.

"This is normal?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. Used to happen every 48 hours. This form isn't real, it's upheld by magic and the imagination of children." Bill explained. "But, when the portal opened I got stronger. About dang time, too. I was getting tired of limping." He laughed.

"You can watch us refresh it, if you'd like." Gideon offered.

"Sure, sounds like it'd be an interesting experience." Ford shrugged.

–

Ford was right, it was an interesting experience. All the kids gathered in certain spots like they'd done this many times before (probably had) and Bill stood in the center and Gideon chanted Bill's summoning spell. Within moments, after the circle stopped glowing and the magic had faded, Bill was back to the way he always looked.

Bill shifted his leg and then nodded. "Alright, good as new! Thanks, kids!"

"Hey, kids! While you're here, wanna go on a road trip?" Stan asked. "I already called your parents and they're okay with it if you wanna go!"

"Well, if dad already said yes, then I'm gonna go pack." Pacifica grinned. "How long?"

"Just a week." Stan shrugged. "You'll have to do this again when we get back, haha!"

"Is Gideon coming?" Mabel looked at him.

"He already asked me. I have too much to do here, you go have fun." Gideon smiled and started to clean up the magic circle.

"Alright. Good luck protecting the town." Mabel kissed his cheek. "I'll take pictures and send them by text, okay?"

"I look forward to them." Gideon smiled.

Mabel smiled and headed off to go pack.

"Me too?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, go have fun." Bill told him. "We should be okay. But...actually, let's try something. Come on." He picked Dipper up.

Ford looked at him. "I just put that barrier in place. How can you come and go?"

"Because I'm not evil? Or it's because of my link to Pine Tree. Take your pick." Bill shrugged and walked out with Dipper.

Ford puzzled over that as he followed them outside. "And where are you going?"

"To the edge of town. Come on." Bill gestured for him to follow.

"What's at the edge of town?" Ford asked, walking after them.

"You wouldn't have noticed it. You're human." Bill said, going to the golf cart. "Stan, I'm taking the golf cart for a ride!"

"Don't go over 20 miles per hour!" Stan called out warningly. "We just got it repaired!"

"Yes, sir!" Bill laughed and got in. "Lee, sit next to me. Pine Tree, you can sit in his lap."

Ford sat next to him. "Okay, where are we going? And what did he mean by 'only'? A golf cart can't go that fast."

"It can; when I'm driving it." Bill grinned, gripping the wheel and channeling his energy into it. It then sped off, heading away from the Mystery Shack.

"Are you kidding me? How fast have you made this thing go?" Ford asked.

"Fast enough to escape a giant walking pile of gnomes! Which is pretty fast." Bill said as he drove.

"They were trying to force Mabel to marry them! All of them!" Dipper explained.

"That sounds like quite the adventure. Why don't you tell me more about it?" Ford asked.

"Okay!" Dipper grinned and started to tell him about the whole incident with the gnomes, then he started on the wax figures, and then the fake Gobblewonker, and by the time Bill parked the golf cart he was telling Ford about the time Gideon tried to kill him.

"Okay, storytime pause." Bill walked over to a point in the road and stopped. "Pine Tree, go on through."

Dipper climbed off Ford's lap and went over to him. "You sure?"

"I'm sure." Bill nodded.

"Okay." Dipper stepped past him and walked on a bit further before stopping. "Is this far enough, Bill?"

"A bit further." Bill motioned for him to step back.

Ford walked over to join Dipper. "Bill, what are you doing?"

Bill smiled sadly and reached up and touched an invisible wall. He pushed against it, but the air only rippled like water before he shrugged. "I can't leave town."

"Is that...the Weirdness Magnetism?" Ford breathed. "I mean, I knew it was there, but to actually see it...it's amazing!"

"Sure, amazingly keeping me and every other non-human trapped in here. But, hey, at least Pine Tree can leave and I don't poof." He gestured to himself. "That's good to know."

"Oh, Bill." Dipper walked over and hugged him. "I can stay with you."

"Nah, go with them." Bill knelt down and stroked his cheek. "Go be my eyes. I'll see what you see, I'll hear what you hear. But bring back some snacks, because I can't taste what you taste."

Dipper giggled. "Okay." He threw his arms around his neck.

Ford stared at him, trying to picture him as ever being the monster he knew him to be. "...Should we...go back now?"

"Do you want to see where the other side is?" Bill asked.

"Sure." Ford shrugged. "Show me the other side of the barrier."

"Wait, how come Mermando could get out?" Dipper asked.

"Maybe it doesn't stretch to as low in the water as he can go." Bill shrugged. "I'll test the theory sometime."

"Mer—who?" Ford asked.

"He's a merman that came to town before." Dipper explained.

"Anyways, I'll test the theory later. You go have fun on the road trip." Bill grinned and smooshed his hat into his head. "Silly face."

–

"Goodbye, have fun!" Bill waved.

"We'll bring back souvenirs, dude!" Soos grinned.

"Don't burn down the place." Stan said jokingly, then did a serious tone. "Seriously, don't. I don't care what your issue is with each other, don't burn down the house." He stepped into the RV after the kids. "Alright, who's ready to terrorize other attractions!"

"We are!" The kids said in unison.

They drove off, leaving Bill, Ford and Gideon waving them off. Then Gideon looked at the two of them. "Since we're going to be here, we may as well keep the attractions open while we prepare the town for the apocalypse." He suggested.

"Good idea." Bill nodded.

"Wait, so I have to do the Mr. Mystery thing full-time?" Ford asked, sounding alarmed.