Dipper’s hand dropped to his side as the demon continued to talk, his eyes closing in irritation. He was starting to get a severe headache from all this nonsense, he just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with so he could return to a more peaceful live, even with all the weirdness of Gravity Falls. He didn’t want to be any sort of vessel for Bill, not if it was anything like last time.. But he’d rather he was the one the demon possessed than any of his family. Besides, he couldn’t even get inside Ford’s head, he still had that metal plate inside. Going on planes must be fun for that guy.
“Fine. You need a vessel?.. I’d rather it be me than anyone else. At least then I know what you’re up to,” If Bill managed get inside Mabel’s head, he’d probably crawl inside there himself and rip him right out. He wasn’t about to let anyone else pay for his mistakes.
“If you’re fine with being stuck inside my head, then.. the deal is ready. Anything else you’ve got to tell me before I give you my soul?”
He was being sarcastic, of course, but he was probably going to hell anyway. Making two deals with Bill was certainly going to send him somewhere not too nice in the end, he was sure of it. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was an angel anyway.
“Yeesh, kid, relax. You sure are all doom and gloom. I dont want your soul.” Bill said with a laugh. “It wont be all that bad. I might not even need to actually posses you, there are some alternatives, depending on the situation. We can work out those details later though, since you really seem to be in a hurry to make this deal. What, got a hot date waitin’?” Bill didn’t give him a chance to respond, laughing loudly at his own joke.
“Well, I wont keep you waiting. One deal, coming up!” he held out his hand, letting blue fire cover it once more. “I take care of your murdering creature problem, and when its taken care of, I get a favor from you in return. The favor won’t include possessing or messing around with your family, or possessing you. Deal?”
Dipper took a moment to stare at Bill’s flaming hand. It was almost a blast from the past, Dipper about to make a life changing deal with a yellow triangle. He could almost laugh, a bitter and humorless laugh. It was just so funny to think he had to do this again after he swore to hell and back he’d never even think of Bill again.
“Listen here, Bill.. I’m not about to jump into this deal without a little ground rules. When you come for your payment, you’re not taking my body, you’re not taking my family’s body, and you’re not about to mess around with them either,” Dipper learned from his past mistakes about being too hasty. He was angry then, exhausted, he was desperate. He felt the exact same now as he did then, he wasn’t about to repeat it either. He wasn’t about to let his emotions get the better of him, he had to think logically.
“And you know.. it’s not as fine you’re going to find any deal makers anywhere else. They all remember you and they’ll all be dead by time you even managed to trick someone anyway,” Dipper then reached for Bill’s hand, “So.. if that’s all accepted, I’ll make this deal with you.”
As badly as Bill wanted to take Pine Trees hand and seal this deal, he really did need to make sure the kid knew exactly what …limitations Bill had. He reluctantly pulled his hand back and extinguished the flame, rather than grasping Pine Trees.
“Okay, I can agree that I will not take your body, or anyone in your families body, and I wont mess around with your family… after this murderer is taken care of. But, for this investigation, you need to keep in mind that I am a dream demon. I currently can only exist in the mindscape. So, until we can work something else out, you dont want to rule out the possibility of me possessing you or your family members in an emergency, Pine Tree.” It wasn’t really his style to spell it out for the suckers who made deals with him, but if something really did come up where he needed to possess Pine Tree, he would rather have the guy agreeing to it rather than throwing a fit and getting himself killed. If he wanted ground rules, Bill would give him his stupid ground rules.
“To be perfectly honest, I am not the best demon for a job like this, that requires a lot of work in reality. So this is going to take a bit of teamwork to pull off. I cant manifest in reality without a vessel. I can do this job, but not if you dont work with me here, Pine Tree.“ He crossed his arms and stared right back at Pine Tree’s glaring eyes. Its not like the kid had the option of finding a more suitable demon, Gravity Falls was Bills territory, so most demons wouldn’t respond to any summonings, even if the kid did know how to preform them.
Dipper kept his arms crossed, not taking the chance for Bill to somehow grab hold of him and force a deal upon him. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He knew summoning Bill again was a terrible, terrible mistake, but it was loads better than watching the residence of the town die. He hated that it was up to him to do this, he didn’t want to be the hero for a second time, but he had to be one again.
“Whatever you did that one summer really screwed our world up, you know? I’m not getting into the details, but your party let something else in. You know, maybe they’re one of your friends! Maybe this was some daring rescue plan, hell if I know,” His sarcasm and disgust was obvious, seeping right into his tone of voice, “Seems to be pretty angry since it’s been killing everyone in town.”
He didn’t want to get into any gory details, he doubted he could stomach bringing them all up again. Getting sick in front of Bill wasn’t exactly something he wanted to do right now.
With a shake of his head, Dipper continued, “I don’t know what it is, who it is, what it wants.. but I want it gone. That’s why you’re here, to make a deal to get rid of it. You help me get rid of it.. and I’ll do something for you, that’s how it works.”
Bill laughed, floating on his back and kicking his legs at the idea of one of his demon ‘friends’ attempting a rescue plan.
“Kid, none of my friends have any power in the mindscape. That’s my domain. There’s no way they would attempt to rescue me. Besides…” He snickered again, wiping away an imaginary tear. “You just pulled off a more successful rescue than they could ever come up with.” Let that torment the kid for a while, since he and his sister were the ones who distracted him long enough for Stanford and Stanley to come up with that stupid clothes switching plan thathereally shouldn’t have been stupid enough to fall for.
“But whatever is going on, I could probably get rid of it. Depends on what ‘it’ is, and how much access you want to give me to your world. I can only do so much with my current form.” If his old body was still around somewhere, he could always use that again, but he wasn’t even sure if had survived the closing of the rift. And even if Pine Tree knew the location, he probably wouldn’t be willing to give away that information. At least, not until it became necessary. Bill wondered how many corpses that would take.
“Are you sure it came through the rift I created. though?” he asked, rubbing a hand under his eye thoughtfully. When that rift closed, it should have sucked all the weirdness back into it. Some low level creatures may have been able to avoid it, like eyebats and such, but any higher power creature wouldn’t have been able to escape. He doubted it was a low level creature, they generally weren’t that bloodthirsty, and were pretty dumb. Pine Tree would have been able to take care of any monster of that caliber easily. No, whatever this thing was, Pine Tree must’ve been desperate, if he called on Bill for help.
“Well, anyways, this sound interesting enough, so sure, Ill help you out. I help you get rid of this creature, you do something for me. There may be some details later we need to work out later, depending on what were dealing with, but it sounds like a deal!” He held out his hand. Sparks of blue flame sputtered for a few seconds, boy did he need to get a handle on this weird new energy, but the flames finally flickered to life in his hand, and he offered it to the scowling man.
As Dipper waited for the demon to appear, he began to doubt Bill was even still alive anymore. Stan was convinced the demon still existed somewhere, but Dipper wasn’t sure if he was alive. Existing and living are two very different things. He was feeling foolish, contemplating whether or not he should simply destroy the evidence of him even attempting to contact Bill again before the demon exploded right back into living. It surprised Dipper, more for the fact Bill hadn’t been destroyed like he had hoped instead of Bill’s sudden appearance.
Staring at the familiar yellow triangle before him, Dipper couldn’t help but feel anger, revulsion. He absolutely despised the demon and he couldn’t believe he let himself be persuaded to bring this thing back from whatever hell hole he was left in. During the silence, Dipper chided himself for even considering that summoning Bill was an actual possibility. He was obviously furious as he sat there, his expression not changing even as the demon began to speak.
However, he only grew more irritated, he couldn’t have Bill simply forgetting about him. Maybe being blasted along with Stan had knocked his own memories loose, at least some of them. If Bill remembered Gravity Falls, he obviously remembered something, but he didn’t exactly need and amnesiac demon, he needed one that could help. He needed one that could screw right off back to its dimension as soon as he was finished, he didn’t exactly think Bill wanted to be stuck in Gravity Falls after his oh so glorious defeat, Dipper wouldn’t let him stay for long anyway.
“Cut it out, Bill,” Dipper interrupted the demon, standing up to his full height then. He was frowning, his own eyes staring right back into Bill’s singular eye. He didn’t want to talk for long, he just wanted to do what he came for, “I don’t know why or how you’re alive and I don’t exactly want to know, but what I do want to know is if you’re still interested in deals,” Of course, Dipper would be setting the terms and conditions for this one. He learned by then that Bill was a con artist, a total scam, but he could at least try and have some say in what these deals would be from now on.
“You help me, I help you.. simple. Of course, if you don’t want to help, then I guess I’ll just send you back to wherever you came from.”
“Well well well, if it isn’t my favorite Pine Tree, all grown up. I almost didn’t recognize you!” Bill kept his voice casually cheerful, but his mind was racing. He must not have been in that space as long as it had seemed, Pine Tree seemed relatively young still, barely an adult. But he certainly hadn’t forgotten what Bill had done, his eyes were filled with loathing. So, why would he summon Bill, then? What threat would make him resort to turning to an enemy he likely thought dead?
“You must be pretty desperate to summon me. So what sort of deal are we talkin’?” He didn’t really want to help Pine Tree. Let the boy rot in whatever mess he had gotten himself into. Let him send Bill back to the mindscape, it wouldn’t matter at this point. Bill was whole again, and while he had a bit extra mixed in, he was more or less back to full power. Dipper had unknowingly sped up what could have been centuries of recovery.
I guess I do owe him a favor for that. Maybe he would throw the kid a bone, help him out with whatever he had summoned him for, if it seemed interesting enough.
”Damn, this better work..” Dipper mumbled to himself as he sat alone in his room, completing the ritual in order to summon him again. It wasn’t his idea, he didn’t even want to do it, but he knew it was the only other option he had. Gravity Falls was dying, the plant, the animals, even the people were being slaughtered by whatever came through that rift, paralleling the past.
Six years. Six whole years had passed since Dipper’s first vacation to Gravity Falls, six years since he discovered that monsters did exist, six years since he nearly lost everything, and six years since he managed to get rid of Bill and close the portal. Dipper thought he would have a peaceful life after that, at least more peaceful than one in which he was constantly looking over his shoulder for that old demon, but he was gone now. Things would be okay, Dipper was 19 now, all grown up. Mabel and him still visited the town every summer, it was a traditional they couldn’t break now and frankly, he wouldn’t want to miss even one day away from Gravity Falls. Everything was going to be okay.
At least it was supposed to be. It was the same routine, Dipper and Mabel would arrive back in Gravity Falls, greet their old friends, unpack in their rooms. It wasn’t supposed to deviate from that norm, but really, how could Dipper be so forgetful? It was never normal in Gravity Falls. First, the signs were small, easily overlooked symptoms of a much bigger sickness. There were reported energy spikes, mysterious weather patterns, even the animals themselves seemed to sense that something stranger than what even Gravity Falls could produce. Birds were seen flying off in the dozens, dogs would bark at nothing in the night.. and at first, it was exciting. Something new, something strange! He could study it himself, study it with Ford.. it was just so amazing to him that he might be able to solve a mystery about Gravity Falls!
That was, until the deaths happened. At first, it was small things. Plants would wilt out of the blue, then the birds began to drop right out of the sky. It almost seemed as if the whole forest, the whole town was getting sick from these strange anomalies, it was even affecting the people by now. It wasn’t long after until mutilated bodies were found, their blood and bones scattered all around in a grotesque show. It almost made Dipper sick to his stomach learning about the events, the nauseous feeling only growing with each report. Sometimes it was a week or so in between, sometimes only days, but not a single person could figure out what was happening.
But the Pines knew. Ford suggested it first, something demonic in origin, obviously attracted to the town after Bill had had his way with the dimension. It most likely weakened the barrier between Earth and the rest of the multiverse, a thread had been left hanging and that was all this thing needed to tear it open again. None of them, however, knew what it was, what he wanted, or how it even got in here or where it did. The hole was too small and all it did was hide and kill.
At first, they believed they could figure out a plan to find and kill the demon, but as the death toll continued to rise, the outcome seemed too grim. They were all desperate now and it wasn’t until Stan secretly suggested to Dipper that maybe, just maybe they needed Bill once again. He obviously hated the idea, outright refused it.. but they were desperate and after insistent demands and repeated persuasions, Dipper finally caved. He needed to protect the town, needed to save these people from whatever it was.
And now, he was sitting alone in the dark, cursing under his breath at the demon, Bill, Stan, and even himself. He hated what he was doing, but he had to finish it, his tone bitter and irritated. After putting the finishing touches on everything, he began reciting the needed words to return the damned dream demon back the world. Stan was convinced Bill wasn’t completely dead.. maybe he was right. Or maybe this was a waste of his time.
“Bill.. damn, Bill, if you’re still alive, you better come, I don’t have time to wait.”
Bill had no idea how long he had been drifting. His mind, his entire self had been fragmented, scattered through the mindscape. He was aware, and slowly had been piecing himself back together as he came across fragments of himself. After all, he was a being of pure energy. Energy could not be destroyed, but it could be scattered. And boy, had he been scattered, the force of the memory gun throwing him from Stanley’s mind and sending the fragments of his energy far and wide. It took years to even get as much of himself together as he had, the best he could do for the first few years was snatch bits of himself as they drifted near, and he still had years to go before he could even hope to attempt to reach out to the pieces farther.
And, as if to mock him for his attempt to destroy the human world, many of the bits of energy he had already managed to reclaim had been tainted. The energies of Stanley’s destroyed memories and emotions had been seared into his own, and for the first time in his entire existence he knew what loneliness felt like. He didn’t even have enough of him own identity pulled together to feel disgust at the human emotion, even though he knew that he should, he had enough of himself to know he was a demon, not a human. But still, the feeling persisted, and It would be ages until he could reach out to other dimensions again in an attempt to relieve the feeling. In this place, a second felt like an eternity.
Eventually, he became aware of an odd tugging sensation. Something echoed in his mind, almost like someone was calling out. Before Bill could begin to try to figure out what was going on, suddenly all the scattered energies that should have taken a hundred or more years to gather, were rushing towards him, and he was reeling from the feeling of the tainted energy as he was forcefully dragged out of the mindscape.
For a few moments, Bill just floated, reeling from the feeling of regaining all of his energies like that at once. And it all felt off as well, he could still feel the remnants of human memories and emotions seared into his own. He hoped it wasn’t permanent, but it really wasn’t every day you got burned up in a humans mind by a memory ray. He had no way of knowing how long the effects would last. At least the loneliness could be fixed now though, that had been a summoning. Which meant someone else was here.
Bill opened his eye, looking around the darkened room until he saw a figure below him, sitting on the floor in front of a summoning circle, looking up at him. A human, that would put him on earth then? A quick check with his newly regained magic, yep, this was earth. And on top of that, Gravity Falls! The very town he had taken over, tried to destroy. He wondered how long ago that was in human years, how long had it taken for the humans to forget what happened, for one to not know who he was and to summon him?
“Oh, Gravity Falls! It is good to be back!” he said cheerfully, a part of him aware he may have been silent a bit too long. But no matter, the human probably couldn’t tell anything about him was off.
“The name’s Bill Cipher! And who are you? I usually know everything that goes on around these parts, but I haven’t been in this dimension for a very long time! You know, you kind of remind me of someone…” Bill took notice of the hat for the first time and almost flinched back. Pine Tree?No, it couldn’t be. There was no way anyone in the Pines family would ever summon him again. He knew Stanley used to sell a ton of those dumb hats, it probably was a coincidence this person had the same stupid hat. Maybe he could convince the kid to burn the hat for whatever deal he had summoned Bill for.
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