Only Option (Take Back The Falls Alternate Ending)

Only Option

WattyFallers EZ-Dayz

Stanley Pines paced around his cage. What was he supposed to do? His great-niece and nephew ran off deeper into the Fearamid, with Bill in pursuit. 

Stan wanted to do something, he wanted to keep Mabel and Dipper safe--but he couldn't. Because he was trapped here. Trapped in Bill's cage, with his twin brother Ford as his only company.

"I've decided, Stanley," said Ford. "I have to let Bill into my mind. Maybe the world will be destroyed, but he might let the kids go. That's the only way."

"There's nothing else?" asked Stan helplessly.

"Well, if I didn't have this steel plate in my head we could erase my mind while Bill was there. That might destroy him, but we can't do it."

And then, Stan Pines had an idea. "What if he went in my mind?"

Ford shook his head. "Bill wouldn't agree to it. You have nothing he wants. I have to do this."

But Stan wasn't done yet. "No, you don't. What if we switched clothes? What if he thought I was you?"

Ford thought for a moment. "That couldn't work. Bill wouldn't be so easily fooled."

"I could try to fool him long enough to make the deal. Then you could use the gun and erase my mind--it's not worth anything, anyway. It would be worth a shot."

Ford sighed. "We could try. But we have to move quickly. Bill could be back any minute."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Bill burst through the room, looking down at Ford and Stan. "Time's up, Sixer!" 

He looked at the two twins struggling inside his fist. "You know what, I think I'll kill one of them just for fun! Eenie..." he said, the image in his eye switching between two images: a pine tree and a shooting star. "Meenie...miney..." The shooting star appeared again. "MOE!"

"I surrender!" yelled Ford, just before Bill could strike a fatal blow. Bill dropped the twins and laughed.

"No, wait! Forget about it!" yelled Stan, grabbing his brother's coat.

"Even when you're about to die, you're still arguing with each other," said Bill, removing the cell and tying up Stan.

"I have one condition," announced Ford. "You must let Dipper and Mabel go."

"Fine, got it. Let Pine Tree and Shooting Star go," said Bill. He stretched out his hand, already engulfed in the blue flame, and shook hands with Ford.

Bill became a spirit in the mindscape once again as his physical form turned to stone. He entered Ford's mind and found a landscape--empty, and blank.

"He keeps this place very organized," remarked Bill as he strolled along, making his way to the wooden door at the end of the room. He opened the door wide--to find not Ford, but Stan. 

Leisurely playing paddleball in the Mystery Shack, Stan winked at Bill as the door shut behind the demon.

"What?!" yelled Bill, realizing he'd been tricked. 

"I look a lot like my brother, don't I? Any minute now, he's going to erase my mind. With you inside."

"No! Wait! I'll give you anything you want!" Bill pleaded.

"Any minute now..." trailed off Stan, waiting for the moment when things would start to fall apart. But the moment never came. What was taking Ford so long?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Great Uncle Ford, just..shoot the gun! Stop Bill!" yelled Dipper.

"Bill promised me endless power..." said Ford, apparently thinking out loud. 

"Grunkle Ford, you can't be thinking about Bill's offer now!" cried Mabel. "Bill's a...poophead! He's lying to you!"

"I thought about it. I thought about accepting his offer. But why didn't I? If I ruled with Bill, you would be safe. We would control everything. We'd be unstoppable. We'd almost be gods."

"Wait, when you told Grunkle Stan to 'forget about it', and not to let Bill into his mind...where you being serious? After I found out you switched, I thought it was just an act!" said Dipper, incredulous.

"When Stan suggested Bill go into his mind, I thought it was a good plan, but then I started thinking... why should we kill Bill? Why not join forces?" asked Ford, his eyes lighting up in a way that didn't seem good at all.

"Uh, I can think of lots of reasons as to why we shouldn't team up with Bill," said Mabel. "He's lied to us, he's tortured us all summer..."

"Grunkle Ford, Bill already manipulated you once. Why are you falling for it again?" asked Dipper.

"Don't you see, Dipper?" asked Ford, grabbing Dipper by the shoulders. "I can rule the universe. I've told you that you remind me of myself, when I was younger...don't you see the potential in this offer?"

"...he's turned everyone in town to stone, he looks like a nacho..." said Mabel, who was still listing reasons of why not to join Bill.

Dipper pushed Ford's arms away. "You were my hero, Great Uncle Ford. I trusted you. I would've done whatever you told me to do, would've followed you anywhere...but I can't now. Bill is lying to you. Do you really think this would keep us safe? Do you really think he'd spare us on his quest for universal domination?"

Ford threw the memory gun on the ground. "You do not see the same things I do. And I see that this is an opportunity like no other. It's not just the only option," he said, smiling. "It's our best option."

Suddenly, Bill returned from the mindscape, and Stan crumpled to the ground. "That was a nice trick, Fordsie," laughed Bill. "Now I guess I really do have to kill one of you! Eenie..."

"No need for that, Bill." said Ford calmly. "I accept your offer. We could rule the world, the galaxy...I've opened my eyes." Ford held out his hand. "I will give you the information you need. I will be by your side."

"Wise choice, Sixer," Bill said. And with that, Bill's three-fingered hand met Ford's six-fingered one. The deal was sealed, and after a flash of blue light, the twins could see that Ford was...different. He wasn't possessed by Bill, but he seemed stronger. He had Bill's power. 

Mabel clutched Dipper's hand as they looked helplessly around the room. The other people of the Cipher Wheel were still trapped inside the banners. Stan was still unconscious. And, worst of all, Ford had joined Bill and let him free from Gravity Falls.

It was the end of the world as they knew it, and Mabel and Dipper were terrified.

"Let's start this world-wide party, boys!" yelled Bill, as he and Ford left the Fearamid to join up with the rest of Bill's henchmen.

The twins wanted to believe that there was still hope, but everything seemed dark. They were all alone, and one of their great-uncles had betrayed them.

There was nothing left they could do.