▲ 5th Cipher ▲ [Audio/Video]

[ghflskhu_ph]

[Hey look guys, it’s a network post from your ole pal, Bill! No, not the lizard and shame on you for being disappointed by that revelation! Yes he is a triangle, yes he is stunning and thankfully he doesn't seem to have packed any extra entertainment to explode into his broadcast today.]

“ALL RIGHT WONDERLAND, I think it’s HIGH TIME someone ASKS the BIG QUESTION-- just HOW MANY OF YOU come from the LAND OF LIVELY CORPSES?!

I GET IT. OUR ROTTING BRETHREN are CHARMING ENOUGH. IF anything the REST of you MORTALS should be like THEM. At least ZOMBIES ACCURATELY DISPLAY the TRUE HORROR of what BEING ALIVE FEELS LIKE—slowly SHAMBLING towards your DEATH every PASSING SECOND, you CAN’T KEEP YOUR PIECES TOGETHER and all you WANNA DO IS GRRRRROAN-- But I tend to LIKE a little VARIETY in my TORTURE! SO I wanna KNOW, just how many more MINDS do we gotta CYCLE THROUGH before we’ve VISITED ALL of your TRAUMA-- because I swear, if I have to GO through ANOTHER REALITY where I FAKE a BLOOD TEST, I just might have to START STOCKING UP.”

[The triangle’s lid narrows at that, an unpleasant memory from Genosha flashing momentarily into his retina.]

“Now either we’re FAILING SOME KINDA TEST every time these SUCKERS COME BY or WONDERLAND’S started PICKING FAVORITES…”

[And if it’s the latter, he really would like to know.]

“Anyway, you KIDS LOVE CONSPIRACIES; so LAY EM on ME! I think we ALL KNOW what HAPPENS when you DON’T~”

Comments

3/3

[mviw]

--I'm not going to let you possess anyone else, if I can help it. If you had told me about it from the start I could've found a far less destructive method.

[ghflskhu_ph]

[If Ford had anymore to say, Bill wouldn't have heard it anyway, what begins as a low chuckle morphs into a full blown cackle, when he manages to speak beyond his hysterics the first syllables blusters out in a shrill tone.]

"THAT's the ANGLE you wanna play at? WHY didn't I TELL YOU? Well GEE, SIXER, I WONDER. MAYBE it's the PART where if THERE WAS A BETTER METHOD-- I would have TAKEN IT! You think I'D BOTHER SACRIFICING this PLACE in an EXTRAVAGANT FASHION if I INTENDED to just TURN AROUND and LEAVE?"

[You kill dramatically to WATCH, you usurp authority to take it yourself, not just leave it open for some other passerby!]

"Or how about the PART where if I DID CLUE EVERY ONE in on a METHOD, your FAMILY would NEVER be SATISFIED leaving me FREE to POTENTIALLY WREAK HAVOC on another UNIVERSE."

[You know what, why bother hiding it anymore? If Ford is going to go against him even after he has played nice, even after he has built layers upon layers of reputation and fear to keep the man at bay, even after all they've been through--]

"You think I HAVE a PLACE TO GO OUTSIDE of THIS?! Like I'd FOLLOW you BACK to your STUPID HICK TOWN!"

[No, he'd be trapped back in Gravity Falls, or else remain trapped here and continue to fall down Wonderland's throat, forced everyday to feel more, and still somehow lose more.]

"But you know what REALLY TIPPED me OFF on any POTENTIAL of our COLLABORATING again? If there was even the SLIGHTEST CHANCE my METHOD might HURT someone, YOU WOULDN'T TAKE IT because you MORTALS can NEVER LOOK BEYOND your CURRENT SELVES. Doesn't matter if it WAS FATED to happen anyway, YOU WOULD RATHER have me watch FOR YEARS AND YEARS as you all LOSE YOURSELVES in PIECES until there isn't a SINGLE MIND LEFT in this DIMENSION than ever ACT out against your SELF-IMPOSED CONCEPT of 'GOOD.'"

[mviw]

[...That is a lot of salt.

Ford frowns deeply through all of it but he just lets Bill rant it all out, tries to pretend that voice doesn't still grate him on a deep and personal level, pretends he doesn't understand why he continues to listen to Bill and engage him at all.

The end of Bill's tirade hangs in the air in relative silence, which is unusual for Ford. Their song and dance used to run at a fast tempo, back and forth between them. Wonderland has changed that tune significantly, leaving them both to stutter step to try and find their footing in relation to one another. Ford waits and chews on Bill's words rather than rush in with a hasty response.]

Why are you surprised? [Again, he asks.] Allow me to put it to you differently: Why are you at all surprised that after everything you put me through, I don't trust you? You wouldn't continue to entertain an entity that caused you continuous suffering, and inconveniences at best. And yes, we did work shockingly well together. [The bitterness in Ford's tone is evident.] Fool that I was. I don't know if I was ever anything more to you than an extremely convenient pawn--though if being turned into a gold statue is any indication, maybe?

-- The point is, you're so busy focusing on yourself you're blind to cooperating with anyone else. Yes, us mortals focus on ourselves--we focus on each other. Pathetic and fragile we may be but cooperation is why humans survived as a species, despite our many shortcomings. Of course we're not going to trust you, it's the instinct of survival and the ability to have any empathy! [A more scientific phrasing of the concept of a conscience.]

Following that train of thought: No, I don't know what could change that between us, and I doubt centuries of us being trapped here ever would, but like it or not, I'm the only one in my family who will even speak freely with you.

If that doesn't count for anything then you're a bigger idiot than you've ever let on.