Inspired by starfleetrambo's "After The War" comic adaption of the song by Stars.
This is how I imagined the story being like as I watched it (there's a version put to the actual music on YouTube.)
Dipper shook as he stood in the open clearing, silence around him as the world turned grey, the being he had summoned coming forth directly behind him, silent in respect for what had happened. Not like Bill cared. It was the demon's own fault that things had turned out this way. But the dream demon had been around enough humans in the past to know that these things were a sensitive topic, and those things called 'feelings' that the meat bags had were always ripe for changing in an instant if handled the wrong way.
The grey world around them continued to be utterly still as Bill waited to be spoken to, showing impeccable patience for someone like himself. And as a reward for his patience, Dipper finally spoke up, his quiet voice cracking. "They're really gone, aren't they..." the preteen muttered, his voice despondent as he muttered a statement, only posing it as a question. Bill didn't respond, already reading his mind and knowing he didn't want the answer. Dipper continued. "You killed them... I killed them... I couldn't save them, just like you said that time you took my body." Once again, Bill was silent. Dipper was still facing away from him, showing no interest in turning to meet the eye of his true enemy.
Unexpectedly, Dipper turned his head; not enough for them to see each other's face, but just enough to show he was growing bolder. "Well? Why aren't you gloating? You have all that you wanted... You have a physical form, you have your own world, you've ruined absolutely everything that I ever loved and cared about.. Why the hell aren't you laughing by now!?" the preteen finally shouted, his shoulders shaking as he clutched all three of the Stanford's books, holding them to his chest even more tightly like they were his last connection to his old self. They... really were his only connection now. He'd even lost his hat during all the commotion in the last few days, his one trademark.
"Sorry kid, but I'm all laughed out at the moment! In case you haven't noticed, I've been having a spree of it for the last few days and having a physical form means I can finally get tired. The memory of those poor saps' faces can still put me in an awfully giggly mood, though~" the demonic triangle quickly piped up, relieved that Dipper was actually expecting an answer this time. Being quiet for so long is really not his thing, especially when he had to do said waiting around for a sad excuse of a child; a child that had tried to kill him multiple times at that. Seeing Dipper begin to turn his head away again made him sober up again though. Bill remained in his dutiful place behind the small boy. "Look kid, I'm gonna get to the point for ya, seein' as you have no intention of talking.. You wanna make a deal with me, right?"
The silence that followed his question was just irritating at the very least, but again he put up with it. Had he ever really expected to have this kid asking him for favors after what he'd done to him last time? Of course not! But here he was, being faced with a perfect opportunity, one he refused to pass up. The kid had tried his best to stop this opportunity from happening, and there were small moments where he could have succeeded, but now things had fallen right into place and Dipper was being forced to face reality. The kid just couldn't beat him, like he knew he couldn't. There was absolutely everything against the kid - fate, common sense, worldly power beyond Dipper's own comprehension in the hands of his enemy - and Bill didn't feel sorry in the slightest that Dipper had made himself just too damn stubborn to see it until it was too late in every exact way. All meat bags were worthless because of their emotions, and this little entertainer he had been presented with was no different.
But that didn't mean he would never be of use.
"Y.. Yes. I want to make a deal with you.." Dipper replied after a few hard moments of thought. He still couldn't believe that he was doing this, not after what happened last time, but really.. what was there to lose? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He had already lost everything, so all there was to lose was his own sanity, and even that was withering away now..
"Well, I'm all ears kid! ..Actually, I'm all bricks and magic and bloody intentions, but you get the idea~" the inter-dimensional being laughed out before he could stop himself. He knew he shouldn't have, but he just couldn't help laughing at his own jokes, they were just too good!
He didn't even think of flinching when Dipper spun around, the look in his eyes being able to burn the very soul of who it was directed towards... Well, it would have been, if Bill wasn't himself. The preteen stormed toward him, tears gathering in his eyes. "You know what I want and you know it's all your fault I can't have it, so don't you dare laugh!"
"But laughing is what you asked for, Pinetree! I'm just trying to give ya what you want. Isn't that nice of me? To give you what you asked for without even making a contract yet?" Cipher dipped forward a little to be closer to his next 'business partner' as he waited quite impatiently for an answer. "I'm just being the nicest I can be, Pinetree. Don't take it for granted.." he warned, his voice warbling slightly with power and insanity as he watched Dipper take a step back, obviously remembering what had happened to Wendy when she had stood up to him and he warned her with the exact same tone. The little.. incident, that had followed was one of the most emotionally striking to the boy in front of him; the only rival to it being the death of his happy-go-lucky twin.
Dipper gulped down his sudden fear as he turned his gaze up to Bill again, meeting his eye but losing his own angered gaze. He just felt.. tired. Tired and betrayed and depressed and so uncertain of himself he couldn't even stand it.. He had no one to lean on now, and it was making him so unfocused he couldn't even realize he was contradicting himself until it was pointed out. I just.. have to get this over with, don't I? Once I do this, I can be happy again... I can be with them again.
He took a slow, calming breath before he addressed the demon again. "I'm not taking it for granted, Bill. I still want that deal.."
"Then spit it out, Pinetree, I'm not supposed to make deals on thought alone, ya know? Could get me in trouble.. ya know, if I cared about that kind of thing. But seriously kid, don't keep flaking out on me. It'll make me lose my temper rather quick, and neither of us wants to ruin this good mood I have going on." Both beings could easily hear the agitation that was growing in the demon's voice. Though he still managed to sound happy, even with Dipper practically teasing him with the offer of getting exactly what he wanted all along, even before that lovely portal had been created.
"I.. I want..."
Dipper couldn't finish his sentence, knowing exactly what he wanted but not knowing how to properly execute it in words. There were so many things he wanted, in just one request, that he wasn't sure if he could phrase all of his emotions correctly.. Not that Bill cared, the damn Cipher could still find a way to screw up his end if he really wanted to. And Dipper could never put his finger on anything that Bill really wanted.
He raced through his thoughts to try and put them together first, and he ignored the eye that was searching his being, narrowing slowly as Bill continued to lose patience. He knew the demon was scouring his thoughts as he went through them, just waiting for him to PICK ONE ALREADY! ...Dipper finally settled.
It was the twin's second day of being in Gravity Falls, and the sun was bright in the sky. It was still rather early in the day, and he knew his sister was still dead asleep in her room, the warmth from outside making their attic-bedroom just comfortable enough to bake in without feeling like they were in a sauna. The room was still neat from them not inhabiting it long, though they knew that by the end of summer it would be almost unrecognizable, seeing as neither of them liked to organize very well. And the one picture that they had up in the room already was sitting between their beds, the glass shattered from when they had fought over who got which side of the room. They both wanted the best view of outside and neither of them really ever backed down to the other one, unless they knew they would hurt the others feelings. They had settled the fight rather quickly though when they'd realized they'd broken their favorite picture of each other.
And just downstairs, his Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford were talking with each other, looking over a photo from their childhood that had been brought out after Ford returned through the portal - the portal that, for reasons only Dipper would know, was broken without a real reason to be fixed. He imagined that once they were done, the two would wonder off to the front porch and have a drink with each other before Ford went off to investigate the phenomenon of the town around them and Grunkle Stan went off to run the Mystery Shack for the day, for the first time in a long while, alone because both Wendy and Soos were busy. Wendy had told him the day before that she had to do something personal with her dad, and Soos said he had to go take his girlfriend on a date - though how he was taking her on one, seeing as they were still very far apart, he didn't bother to ask; Soos had finally gotten a girlfriend, so it wasn't his place to pry in their business.
And around them, the town was peaceful. Robbie V and his band were off playing in the teen's garage, his parents were off work for the day due to no one dying, Lazy Susan was at her restaurant making pie for the new mayor of the town and most of the other townsfolk, and even McGucket was having a good day, getting back on track with who he used to be now that he remembered what had happened to him. Sure, he had a long way to go, what with still being completely bonkers, but he was trying and that's what everyone in town was proud of. Lil' Gideon was even still in jail, with his parents nowhere to be seen in Gravity Falls since the election of Mayor Tyler Cutebiker.
Everything was peaceful, and everything was right with the world... Just the way it was before Bill took over and took away his perfect life...
"You saw all of that.. right?" Dipper finally announced, his thought ending as he picked up his head to face Bill, who he'd turned away from when he started crying at the fantasy he dreamed for himself. The demon didn't seem impressed with him for showing that much emotion in front of an enemy, but then again, Bill never really looked that impressed about anything. He was too busy shoving himself into other people's business.
"Of course I did, Pinetree."
"Then.. what do you want in return for giving it to me?"
The clearing was once again quiet as Bill felt a thrill go through him, straightening himself up as he held out a blue-flaming hand to the other, his eye gleaming in victory. "You burn those books of yours and we've got ourselves a deal kid~"
And despite himself, despite the situation, Dipper clutched more tightly to the books, staring incredulously at the being in front of him. Bill didn't even have to read his thoughts to know what he wanted to say. "Don't worry Pinetree, you'll still have them when you get there.. But they're pretty useless here in my world, aren't they?" And Dipper ducked his head to stare at the cover of the book titled "3". Did he really want to give up his last connection to his family for this? To not even give away, but BURN what was left of his old life..?
Well.. If I burn them, I'll be getting a new life all over again, wont' I? I'll be in a different realm, with different books and different things to see, and I'll still have my family. I'll have new memories to make and experience, and hell, I might even be happier there than I've ever been in THIS life... It.. it COULD be a fair trade..
Seconds ticked by as Bill's flame flickered from blue to a light orange, changing back and forth as the demon examined his thoughts, angered just by the possibility of Dipper rejecting the offer. In another moment though, Bill stopped detecting the hard force of malice that had been in the boy, almost like it wasn't there to begin with. Yes.. he was finally giving in~
"You know... When I get there, I'm still going to be looking for ways to stop you..." the preteen announced.
"I wouldn't expect any less of you, kid! But that doesn't mean you'll ever find anything useful as long as I'm the one controlling your new world."
"I know, I won't get far but I'll at least get somewhere... You'll come back for another deal if I call for one, right?"
That tidbit did spark surprise in the demon, an internal smile gracing his otherworldly features. The glint in his eye was the only visible hint of his joy. "Of course! What's life without some give and take?"
"Nothing at all to you, right?"
Bill kept his hand raised as a final silence took them over, this time it being a comfortable one, an understanding one. Dipper had made his choice, and Bill knew he wouldn't be taking it back in a few moments or a few years. If the kid wanted to stay sane, then he would make the deal - and despite all the consequences Dipper knew would happen because of his decision, he knew he couldn't go back to his true reality either. It would tear him down, and it would just give Bill more pleasure in life to see him suffer.
So, with a final sigh, Dipper lifted his hand and shook Bill's, a smile spreading across his face. "I guess I'll see you the next time summer ends.."
And Bill let out a laugh; one slightly sadistic and just a tad too insane. "Sure kid, I'll see you then. But for both of our sakes, make sure you don't force the world to rain hell again just to make a deal. You're waaay too much work."
.
.
.
And that's it!
Sorry if the end seemed a little odd to anyone, but this is 'inspired' by the real thing and not based on it. I couldn't stop myself from making them seem just a bit like friends at the end, even if they would be bitter ones.
Dipper and Bill have been trying to stab each other in the back since they met (though Dipper had a good reason, not just his own entertainment), and after all was said and done I like to think Bill did keep his real end of the bargain and made sure Dipper was happy in the end, even if it was just to keep him alive and sane long enough to get another bargain out of him again in the future.
I kind of also imagined a second part to this being them after a good number of loops, with Dipper growing up in his fantasy and Bill continuing to repeat the summer in different ways for him to live through as he aged, only coming back to reality in order to do something for Bill when he's asked to. I think of it as really sweet in my head, but you can imagine the continuation to this however you want. Hell, you can even write your own continuation and submit it on here or AO3 if you want, I'd love to see what you guys come up with, and I'm sure the creator of the actual comic would love to see it as well.
Anyways, sorry for rambling, I just really wanted to get my thoughts down. I've had writers block for a while and this actually turned out pretty good I think, so I hope you all liked it too.
Hope you guys favorite and I would love if you all reviewed to let me know what you think - cya everybody!
