Much later, the group arrived at the spot in the woods. They surrounded a tall tree, and were observing it closely.

"Pine Tree, I don't want to question your judgement," Bill started. "But, why are we looking at a tree?"

"It appears that Ford's hideout is located underground," Dipper replied, then pointed to the tree. "And the entrance is under this tree."

Will blinked in confusion. "But, how are we suppose to--"

"No worries, we'll find a way," Mabel reassured him. "Let's see, Dipper can teleport--"

"Sorry, but no," Dipper interrupted. "I did enough teleporting this summer, and it's really starting to drain me."

"That's alright, maybe if we get some shovels--"

"It will take months to uproot this thing," Bill remarked.

Mabel rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "OK, here me out guys. We strike a deal with some mole people, and they'll dig for us...though, they might ask you to sacrifice your liver in return, so is that okay? I mean, you still have the other one, right?"

"Or, we can chop it down," Wendy said, holding up her axe.

Bill grinned her direction. "Now, you're speaking my language, Red. Either that, or I can just set it on fire."

"Sounds like a plan," Wendy agreed.

"Wait!" Will told them, quickly. "Before you two consider committing arson, look up, I think that branch might be a lever."

He looked upwards, and the others followed his gaze. High above, was a branch, that had a strange metallic sheen to it.

"Great eye, Will," Dipper smiled, then turned to the redhead. "Wendy, do you think you can climb up there?"

Wendy smirked in his direction. "Dipper, do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

And to prove her point, in a blink of an eye, the redhead scurried up the tree in seconds, before reaching the lever. Wendy swung her axe at it, hitting the switch.

"Nice work, Wendy!" Will cheered.

Wendy smiled down at them. "No problem, so what now--"

She was cut off, when the entire tree began to shake. Wendy's eyes widened, when the tree along with grass surrounding it, descented into the forest floor. The redheaded Guardian didn't hesitate, and jumped off the tree, before landing beside her friends. The whole group watched, as the tree sank halfway into a hole. Metal stairs formed around the trunk of the tree, spiraling towards the bottom of the pitch black pit.

"Even though I'm still mad at Ford, I have to admit that this is damn impressive," Dipper said, then turned to the group. "We're going in, make sure to stick together."

They nodded in agreement, before following the male brunette down the winding staircase. Bill lit fire to his palm, so that they could see in the darkness. Eventually, they reached an entrance, that led to a dusty room. The group looked around in amazement.

"Wow, it's like a fallout shelter," Will said, observing a shelf stacked with supplies.

Bill turned off his fire, and glared around suspiciously, before settling on the shelf with rations on it. "What kind of maniac would have canned meat as their only food source?"

"You underestimate how weird our family is," Mabel told him, while she snooped inside a locker. 

Meanwhile, Dipper was searching around the room, with a furrowed brow. "There's nothing here that can help us," He said, in frustration.

"Calm down, bro-bro," Mabel said. "Let's relax and--Oh!"

Dipper's eyes lit up. "You found something?"

"Sure did," She smiled, before pulling something out of the locker. "A Shmez dispenser! It's been ages since I've seen one of these, I wonder if the candy is still good." She ate one candy, before gagging. "Oh man, that's really stale...yet nostalgic." She proceeded to eat more candies.

"Mabel, please don't eat those," Will said, stepping forward to stop her.

Yet, as he did, his foot caught on something. He looked down, and saw a opened can laying by his foot. Will didn't bring much thought into it, until he noticed something.

"Guys," He started, picking up the can, which had fresh meat lining the rim. "I think this can was opened recently."

"That's impossible," Dipper remarked. "It couldn't have been Ford."

Will frowned. "Do you think someone else already found this place?"

Bill's eyes widened.

"If that is true, we will have to find them," Dipper decided. "For all we know, it be could Kill and Jill, or something worse."

"But, where would they go?" Mabel questioned.

"Wait a minute..." Wendy said, darting her gaze towards a map that hung on the wall. Quickly, she removed the map, and behind it, revealed a tunnel. "I think I know where they might have gone."

Dipper beamed. "A secret tunnel, of course!"

He was about to move forward, when a hand caught his wrist.

"Slow down," Bill told him.

Dipper blushed as Bill's hand encircled around his wrist, before giving the blond a confused look. "Bill, what are you doing?"

Bill hesitated, his eyes flickering nervously to the tunnel. "I...I don't think we should continue."

"What?" Dipper questioned. "The entire point of us coming here, was to find out what Ford has been hiding."

"I know, but I have a feeling that whatever's down there, might get you--I mean, us hurt," Bill stuttered.

The brunette smiled softly at him. "It's going to be alright, Bill. Whatever's down there, might not be any different from the past threats we've faced. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine."

Bill had a conflicted look, before heaved a sigh. "Alright, we'll do it together."

He released Dipper's wrist, before moving towards the tunnel, followed by the others. They ventured down the long path, before arriving in a rather complex room. The walls and floor were lined with large metal cubes, and the five stared in awe.

"Woah, was this place built in the past or future?" Wendy breathed.

"This place is really creepy," Will commented.

Bill grinned in his direction. "Creepier than my browser history?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Bill, nothing is creepier than your browser history. Next time, please use the incognito mode."

"And miss out the chance to scar you for life? Not a chance," Bill said, playfully shoving his brother.

He may have shoved him harder than intended, as Will accidentally stumbled onto a tile with a symbol on it. Immediately, it sunk slightly into the floor, and the whole room shook. They watched in horror, as the tiles around the room, including the ones in the walls and floor, started pressing into the room.

"Ah! What is this!?" Mabel exclaimed.

"Crazy wall things! Crazy wall things are happening!" Will yelled.

"Pine Tree, what do we do!?" Bill shouted, grabbing Will's wrist as a feeble way of protecting him.

Dipper's eyes darted across the room rapidly, before he focused on the glowing red symbols, and a memory clicked inside of him. Quickly, he took out the journal from his jacket, and flipped through it, until arriving at the page filled with the symbols. He shined the black light on it, and the words Security Room lit up on top of the page, then revealing four specific symbols.

"Here!" Dipper yelled, catching everyone's attention. He showed them the page. "Quickly, find these four symbols and press down on them!"

Wendy searched, before punching a symbol beside Mabel. "One!"

"Two!" Will cried, as he stepped on a symbol.

Bill pressed a symbol on the floor. "Three!"

Dipper looked quickly for the last one, and saw it on the ceiling. Gritting his teeth in determination, he rushed forward, using the other tiles as leverage to push himself upwards. A moment later, he slammed his hand on the symbol.

"Four!"

There was a whir, and an entrance opened up in the back of the room. Bill turned sharply towards it.

"Run for it!" He told the others.

Quickly, they sprinted towards the exit. Dipper was the last to follow, and he was about to enter the other room with them, when the helm of his jacket got caught in the cubes.

"Dipper!" Bill yelled, in distress.

Dipper gritted his teeth, before yanking his jacket off, and stumbling into the room. He breathed in relief, and was immediately approached by Bill.

"Are you okay?" Bill asked him.

Dipper cleared his throat, then said quickly. "Yes, no need to worry."

Bill nodded in return, then his eyes suddenly drifted to Dipper's torso. The brunette realized in embarrassment, that he was left in nothing but a sleeveless white vest. He crossed his arms over his chest, and just when he considered crawling into a hole to hide his shame, Mabel came to his rescue.

"Hey bro-bro, let me get your jacket," Mabel said, before approaching the wall of blocks. She grabbed the helm of the material, before yanking it out, surprisingly without tearing it.

Yet, as she did, something fluttered out of one the pockets. Mabel looked down, to see that it was a folded piece of paper. She picked it up, before peering inside, and reading the letters inside quietly.

"Dear Bill, I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time, I...," Mabel gasped, staring at the letter. "Oh my Axolotl."

"Mabel, what are you doing?" Dipper asked.

"Nothing!" She said, hiding the letter behind her back.

She walked over to her brother, before returning the jacket to him.

"Hey guys! Check this out," Wendy said, looking over a control panel, scattered with papers.

Bill and Will went to go look, and Dipper was about to follow them, but Mabel grabbed his arm and dragged him to one corner of the room.

Dipper looked at her in confusion. "Mabel--?"

Mabel hovered the note in front of his face. "You were going to confess to him today!?"

He quickly snatched the note from him. "Quiet down, I decided not to."

"But, why?" She asked.

"Because, I'm not ready yet," Dipper said, weakly.

"Dipper, it's better to tear off the bandage, and get it over with," Mabel insisted. "If you keep hesitating, you might lose your chance."

The male brunette sighed. "I know, but no matter how much I want to, I'm still afraid. I'll tell him eventually, but not now, so please forget about this."

"But, Dipper--"

"Please, Mabel," Dipper begged.

Mabel frowned, before nodding slowly. "Alright."

"Thank you," Dipper said.

"Hey, Pine Tree!" Bill called, from across the room. "I found some weird mental closet, if there's anything in here, we can raid it."

"Bill, be careful, we don't know if there's any traps in here," The male Guardian chided, approaching the blond.

Mabel furrowed her brow, looking between the two boys.

Bill pried open the closet, and scanned the empty space. "Huh, guess there's nothing in here."

Dipper stood beside him, and followed his gaze. "Strange, every other compartment we've seen was packed with supplies, I wonder--"

He was cut off, when he was shoved forward. Dipper stumbled into the closet, with Bill being pushed against him. They were shrouded in darkness, when the door slammed shut in front of them.

Bill blinked. "What the--"

"Sorry, guys! This is for your own good!" Mabel called from outside the locker.

Dipper pounded his fist on the door. "Mabel, let us out this instant!"

"Not until, you two tell each other the truth!"

"Shooting Star, did you eat Smile Dip before coming here?" Bill snapped.

"That's besides the point!" Mabel yelled back.

Bill growled under his breath, before lighting his hand on fire. He pressed his ignited palm against the door, but instead of melting the metal, a blue flash emitted into his face. Dipper and Bill blinked their eyes, and looked to see a glowing symbol engraved in the door, before it faded.

"What just happened?" Bill demanded.

"It's a magic seal," Dipper explained. "We can't open this thing from the inside. Why would Ford put this here?"

"I don't care, there has to be a way out of here," Bill said, before feeling around the darkness.

His hand eventually grasped at a cord hanging from the ceiling, and yanked at it. The boys screamed, as water sprayed down at them. When it stopped, hot air blew from the sides, pushing them together. After it was over, there was a red flashing light and a robotic voice said:

"Decontamination Complete."

The two stared in disbelief, as an entrance opened in the back of the closet. It revealed a massive laboratory, that was damaged in several places. And most disturbingly, there were tunnels everywhere, and they were the size of trucks.

"This must be where Ford did his experiments," Dipper said, looking around in awe.

Bill didn't share his fascination, as he looked worryingly at the huge holes, and the claw marks on the wall. "Going back to your first question, Pine Tree: maybe Ford put that seal there, to keep something in."

This theory was confirmed, when within the deep hollow of one of the tunnels, a silhouette stirred. It uttered a low growl, and the two stared in horror. Quickly, they pounded against the door of the closet more urgently.

"Mabel, let us out!" Dipper panicked. "There's a monster in here!"

"Nice try, the only monsters here are your inner demons," Mabel remarked.

"Shooting Star, we don't have time for this!" Bill shouted.

"I'll let you out, once you two start talking."

Bill gritted his teeth. Hesitantly, he turned to Dipper. "Dipper, there's something I need to tell you--"

The blond was surprised, when Dipper stepped out of the closet, and deeper into the laboratory. Bill quickly caught up to him, regarding him incredulously.

"What are you doing?"

"We're gonna find another way out of here," Dipper said, determinedly.

"But, the monster--"

"It won't catch up to us, if we move quickly," The brunette insisted, before bolting across the laboratory.

Bill matched his pace, unsure of the possibility of their survival, but knowing all too well about Dipper's stubbornness. Reluctantly, he followed the brunette. As he did, he caught the sounds of growling nearing closer.

He expected the worst from here on now.

❇❇❇

Meanwhile, on the other side, Mabel leaned against the metal closet, while Will and Wendy confronted her.

"Mabel, are you sure this is a good idea?" Wendy questioned.

"C'mon, no harm will come from it," Mabel said, dismissively.

"No harm!? Do you realize how mad Bill is going to be once he comes out of there?" Will fretted.

Mabel gave him a look of reassurance. "It's only a little push, if I didn't interfere, those two would probably never confess to each other."

"I mean, she has a point," Wendy agreed.

Will frowned. "I dunno, this seems like a step too far. Are we really going to leave them in there until they confess?"

"That's the plan," Mabel said. "Meanwhile, how about we do something to pass the time?"

"I happened to find some board games in one compartment," Wendy suggested. "There's several pieces missing from each of them, but maybe we can improvise."

"Sounds good to me," The female brunette smiled.

Will's gaze darted worryingly to the closet. "Are you sure, they'll be alright in there?"

"It's only a closet, Will," Wendy noted. "I'm sure those two already had more than enough experiences in closets before."

Will tilted his head. "And neither of them developed claustrophobia?"

"No, Will, that's not..." The redhead sighed, then beckoned him over. "C'mon, you'll feel better once you hang out with us."

Will tossed one more look at the closet, before walking towards Wendy and Mabel.