Fiddleford was beyond apprehensive. It was testing night, and whether or not the portal succeeded or failed in its duty would be revealed in the next few moments. Stanford was already bustling around the control room, packing things up and monitoring many dials and devices that would spit out warnings should something go wrong. He was acting as if nothing negative had happened between the two of them, but it had. The air was riddled with tension. Despite their falling out the previous night, along with the fact that he felt a deeply rooted sense of foreboding, Fidd had decided he had to stick it out and see the portal in action. He'd helped create this machine. If something backfired, he and Stanford would be responsible. He also felt like he couldn't abandon Ford at the last second. They'd already been through so much; and Fiddleford doubted that if their positions were switched, Ford would bail on him. And so Fiddleford would stay beside his friend, not because he wanted to, but because he felt obligated to do so. Trying to shake off the quickly growing fear that was brewing in his head, Fiddleford followed Ford out into the huge cavern to where the portal sat, carrying a test dummy and a coil of rope. Now that it was fully powered up and spitting lightning, the portal looked absolutely menacing. Being careful to stay behind the black and yellow tape which marked the safe zone, Fidd began to tie the dummy up securely. Suddenly his head felt fuzzy again like it had all those weeks ago, but the feeling passed after a minute or two. After straightening up, the dummy in hand, Fiddleford glanced over at Stanford. They exchanged a brief, but tense, look of triumph.

"Ready?" Stanford asked, his voice full of determination. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "And... go!" Fiddleford let go of the dummy, but before he could figure out what was happening, he was yanked off the ground and towards the portal. He barely had time to holler before the blinding white light was upon him, and he was plunged into a whole different world.

Instantly, his mind was flooded with images and sounds, things he thought he'd forgotten. The memory gun's effects were being erased in this strange dimension of howling demons and hellions, and it was going to literally drive Fiddleford insane! Before another yell could be torn from his throat, a vaguely familiar shape appeared in front of him.

Where do I know you from? Fiddleford thought frantically. And then he remembered- this was the one eyed face that had been haunting his nightmares for months, delivering cryptic warnings and taunting Fiddleford with visions of a terrible future. He could never recall his dreams when he awoke, but now they were all flooding back in a tidal wave of madness. The three sided yellow demon that had been terrifying Fiddleford, and Stanford as well, he realized with a jolt- all those times Ford had acted differently, he'd had the eyes of this monster- was now angrily staring him in the face. Only now it was made entirely out of undulating fleshy mass, its yellow outer skin having been shed.

"Thanks a lot, bud." It snarled, and the voice of the demon reverberated all around him, even ringing in his ears. "I was this close, and now you come along and ruin things for me!" It roared, then narrowed its eye. "I've got a message for you to deliver to Fordsie for me." The creature's eye widened and turned pitch black, and an incoherent noise filled Fiddleford's ears as darkness engulfed his vision.

"What?!" Stanford was horrified to see his assistant dragged into the portal. Who knows what's in there?! As quickly as he possibly could, Stanford jumped and grabbed the rope that was still tied to the dummy and wrapped around Fiddleford's leg. He pulled as hard as he could. The portal was a lot like a black hole, sucking in everything in its vicinity with vicious ferocity, and it took all of Stanford's strength to finally pull his best friend out of the machine's intangible grasp. Immediately Ford rushed to the side of his fallen partner.

"Is it working? What did you see?!" He asked frantically. Fiddleford's entire body suddenly stiffened, and he uttered a few strange, indecipherable words that left Stanford nearly speechless.

"VOTMZRIG IVSKRX OORY." His voice quivering, Ford called his friend's name. Fiddleford sat up and turned to face Stanford with abnormally dilated pupils. "When Gravity Falls and earth become sky, fear the beast with just one eye."

Fiddleford's eye twitched. He was now sitting on the floor of the basement in Stanford's cabin, and the other man had his hand on Fidd's shoulder. What's going on?

"Fiddleford, get a hold of yourself, you aren't making any sense!" Ford yelled. Suddenly Fiddleford remembered what he'd seen, and with a shaky but swift motion, Fiddleford shoved Stanford's hand off of him.

"This machine is dangerous." He said finally. "You'll bring about the end of the world with this; destroy it before it destroys us all!"

"What?! I can't destroy this, it's my life's work!" Stanford protested, not even considering what his lab assistant had just said.

"Stanford, where did you get this idea? And I'm serious this time; tell me." Fiddleford stared at Ford harshly. The latter didn't answer, he just averted his eyes and shook his head slightly. Remembering Bill's face, Fiddleford's voice rose.

"Where are these ideas coming from? Who are you working with?!" He screeched, but again he got no answer. Still shaking, he stood up. "Just as I thought. Do you care about anyone other than yourself?" He asked under his breath. "I fear we've unleashed a grave danger on the world; one I'd just as soon forget." Taking a deep breath, Fiddleford turned and walked away. "I quit." Ford yelled at him as he walked away, calling him a coward, saying that he didn't need him, but Fiddleford ignored it all. He'd reached his breaking point. He was going upstairs to pack up his stuff. Once that was done, he'd leave, go somewhere safe, anywhere but here. Nothing else mattered to Fiddleford but his sanity at this point.

"How could he have just walked out like that?!" Stanford asked himself angrily. His assistant had left not five minutes ago. "Good riddance!" He snapped, although no one was around to hear it. Fuming and deathly afraid of what he had just witnessed and heard, Ford replayed the scene from only a few moments ago in his head for the millionth time. Something nagged at him, though; something Fiddlford had said- fear the beast with just one eye. It couldn't be... could it?

"Uh.. Bill?" Stanford called apprehensively. He had to hear the benevolent voice of his Muse right now, he had to. "Bill!" Stanford called again after receiving no answer. Suddenly a whisper sounded in his head- and it was his Muse, alright.

The door is open. Soon, I promise!

"What?" Ford clutched his head. "Bill?" More whispers followed, growing louder and more unfamiliar by the second. Past warnings suddenly invaded his consciousness.

"Fear the beast with just one eye."

"You are being deceived by someone very close to you. You have chosen the wrong allies."

Suddenly Stanford felt the blood flowing in his veins turn to ice. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. All this time, and his Muse was the one not to be trusted. Bill was the liar, not Fiddleford, and because of Ford's ignorance, terrible, terrible things were going to happen in the future. He didn't know where or when exactly, but he knew that someday, somehow, Bill would be back. Ford's breathing quickened, and he tried desperately to block out the cackling in his head.

...What have I done?

An old pickup truck pulled into the parking lot of the Gravity Falls Museum of History, and a tall, lean figure exited the vehicle with something tucked under his jacket. The door to the building was open, and the figure rushed inside to get out of the cold. A mirror sat across the hall from the figure, and with jerky movements, the figure walked up to it and pulled his hood down. Fiddleford McGucket took his own reflection in. Bloodshot eyes with twitching pupils stared back at him, and he was constantly being startled at every little noise. He was literally losing his mind and going insane.

"I've seen too much." McGucket whispered to himself before unzipping his jacket and taking out two items; one vaguely resembling a hairdryer, and the other, a framed photograph. Immediately Fiddleford set the photo down on a nearby exhibit stand and gripped the memory erasing gun firmly. After a few seconds, he turned it and rotated the specifier dial to type in two words: Gravity Falls. If this went according to plan, all of Fiddleford's memory from the past few months in this crazy town would be erased, and he could go back to living a normal life; the one he'd had only seven months ago. All of that could be his again; all he had to do was point this weapon at his head and pull the trigger.

"I know I swore I'd never use this thing again." McGucket spat bitterly. "But-" his voice was cut off when his eyes fell upon the photograph he'd taken from his jacket. Ada and Tate stood smiling up at him. What if he forgot his family? Unsure of what to do, Fiddleford closed his eyes, so tightly that tiny bits of moisture came from both his eyes. Being in the dark brought all of the images and memories that had been haunting him to life, and with a cry, he quickly opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the photograph.

"I'm so, so, sorry." He said, his voice breaking as he lifted the memory erasing gun to his temple. "I love you guys so much." He whispered, and hesitated before continuing. "I just can't live with these memories anymore." There was a flash of harsh blue light in the dark room, and then another, and another, as Fiddleford McGucket repeatedly shot himself into oblivion. Dazed, he stumbled, knocking the exhibit stand over. The framed photo fell to the ground and shattered.

Well. That got dark towards the end. Speaking of which...

Well my friends, this is in fact the end. I had a blast writing this book. Sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this book, and especially to those that voted and commented. I really hope you guys enjoyed the concluding chapter of Ignorance Is Bliss. Thank you guys for everything! GreyJay13 out! Later!