"Gah, let me go!" shouted Dipper, struggling to free himself of the grasp of his great uncle Stanford while attempting to prevent the older man from reaching his sister. "Mabel, press the red button! Shut it down!" he commanded, seconds before getting pushed down by Stan as he still struggled to maintain the little balance he had in mid-air with Soos still attached to him.
"No, you can't! You gotta trust me!" pleaded Stan, worry in his voice.
"Grunkle Stan, I-I don't even know… if you're my grunkle…" spoke the sobbing voice of Mabel, tears forming in her eyes before floating up to the ceiling as everybody stopped their fighting. "I wanna believe you, but…"
"Then listen to me!" begged Stan. "Remember this morning when I wanted to tell you guys something?"
T-minus twenty seconds.
Dipper, Stan and Soos let out a short scream as another outburst from the portal activated, briefly illuminating the room with a white light as the explosion pushed the three of them against the wall, Mabel holding on to the button's stand for dear life. She looked in worry as she noted the several grunts and moans they emitted, tightening her fist as she prepared the slam the button off.
Bill observed the whole scene. Out of the many eons he had been around for, for once he was actually nervous. 'I can't let those kids activate the portal! Everything I've worked for will be destroyed!' he thought to himself, staring at the portal. 'Why are they releasing Him? With Him back, the circle will be complete! I'll be trapped forever thanks to these brats!'
"I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me," Stan carried on, fast enough to stop Mabel from pressing the button. "and some of them are true. But trust me, everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"
Dipper grit his teeth. "Mabel, what if he's lying?! This thing could destroy the universe! Listen to your head!"
"Look into my eyes, Mabel!" Stan continued, completely ignoring Dipper as Mabel returned her gaze to her great uncle, the light glimmering in her tearful brown eyes. "You really think I'm a bad guy?" he asked.
"He's lying! Shut it down, now!" screamed Dipper, his voice cracking as his birth mark was visible on his forehead, his brown hair blowing with the wind coming from the portal.
"Mabel, please!" Stan begged, as Mabel glanced at both her great uncle and her twin brother, fear stabbing her heart as to who to trust and who to fail, the choices rushing through her head as she tried to brainstorm the best option.
Ten. Nine.
This is it. Bill needed to take action and he needed to take it now. 'Wait,' he stopped himself for a minute, pondering over ideas. 'This is the perfetc moment to attack!' he said, letting out a cackle. The Pines family was getting separated, it would too easy of a task to quickly convince Pine Tree to make a deal with him!
The portal emitted a spark, readying for another outburst as Mabel clenched her eyes shut, slowly moving her hand towards the button before opening them, glancing at Stanford's saddened expression, as the female knew what she had to do.
"Grunkle Stan…"
Six. Five.
Mabel released both hands from the stand, letting herself float along with everything else in the room as she closed her eyes. "…I trust you."
Dipper's eyes widened in disbelief, shock, and confusion all at the same time. "Mabel, are you crazy?! We're all gonna-"
One.
Bill's eye widened, taking action straight away. With the click of his fingers, the world around the Pines darkened, turning into a grayscale filter as Cipher made his entrance.
"Bill?!" Dipper exclaimed, his eyes widening even further as he stared at the dream demon.
"Look, kid, there's no time," he said, extending his arm as his hand set into a burst of blue flames. "you just gotta-"
The portal's light suddenly returned, Bill's flames extinguishing as the mindscape was erased, the portal replacing any darkness in the room as Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Soos, and even Bill himself let out a scream as the intense lighting covered the entire room, knocking the humans unconscious.
"No, no, no!" screamed Bill. "I was too late! They've won!" he shouted, feeling the energy in his form quickly vanishing as he lost any will to fight back, his eye closing slowly as the world seemed to spin. Cipher attempted to open his eye, an act that caused him great pain, as he spotted a shadowy figure quickly pass him. Bill's eye quickly closed again, the dream demon picking up almost inaudible voices before falling unconscious.
"W-Who… is that?"
"It's the author of the journals. My brother."
?!
When Bill came too, his eye opened droopily as he slowly got on his feet, dusting himself off and straightening his bow tie. He observed the scene around him, noticing that the world was still a lifeless gray color.
'Good.' He thought. 'I'm still in the mindscape.'
Bill levitated in mid-air, his left hand positioned as if he were scratching his chin. The dream demon noted that he appeared to be in some sort of beach, the gray waves splashing against the sand as several seagulls dominated the sky above him.
Was this were the author was banished? Was he even remotely close to Gravity Falls? Where was he was actually a better question, he decided.
The locals seemed to appear human, or at least humanoid in some cases, so he was definitely still on Earth. None of the humans seemed particularly odd or abnormal, save for a certain one that reminded him of an onion. Flying around the beach, passing the many houses, shops, and restaurants, Bill finally found a sign.
Welcome to Beach City!
Bill blinked. Beach City? What an original name for a beach. With a snap of his fingers, the dream demon would teleport every so often to observe his surroundings, occasionally stopping to ponder how Stanford's portal was connected to this place. After several minutes of exploring, Bill concluded that 'Beach City' was, while far from small, only slightly bigger than Gravity Falls. Though that was to be expected, seeing as Gravity Falls was a town while Beach City was, well, a city.
'What country is this?'
Gathering all of the knowledge of the distinct places he had been in, Bill was convinced that wherever he was currently stranded in was located somewhere on the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula in the eastern United States. Seeing as how Gravity Falls was situated in Eastern Oregon in the U.S. state of Oregon, Bill sighed to himself.
Cipher made his way to the beach, watching as the waves would almost reach him as it brushed against the shore. Not that it mattered if it did touch him, however, seeing as how he currently couldn't physically interact with the environment while in the mindscape.
"See you later, Connie!"
Bill immediately perked up, looking in the direction the voice came from. The dream demon stopped to ponder as he realised that, during the several minutes he had been here, he had heard nobody talk. Cipher floated atop the ground, his eye picking up the sight of a slightly tubby male with dark brown frizzy hair currently happily skipping along. He was clad in a short sleeved shirt that was colored red with a yellow star in the middle, as well as blue jeans and a pair of faint red sandals.
The dream demon's eye widened. Could it be?
The star. The happy-go-lucky view of life. The way his eyes would light up upon greeting someone. Everything.
Everything about this child reminded him of his Shooting Star. Were they related? No, that can't be right, he would of heard Stanford or one of the twins mention him. Besides, what was he doing here? Bill needed answers.
?!
Steven smiled widely as he made his way home. This Monday was currently off to a good start! Meeting up with Connie, going to the movies, walking her home, and now he could just hang with the Crystal Gems and join them on some kind of mission he was sure they'd have.
Steven stopped in his tracks as the wind significantly picked up, blowing his hair as the young male stepped back a little, watching as the city around him slowly turned gray. Before he could ask questions or even run, the world seemed to slow down time until finally pausing it, though Steven himself was seemingly unaffected. He gave a few worried glances at his surroundings, before deciding he had to go back and check on Connie. What if she was hurt?
Steven turned around, ready to run, but a glimpse of light found its way peeking into the corner of his eye, enough to make the boy turn around and straighten up. Steven was both amazed and confused as a circle appeared in front of him with a burst of light, before several cyan pieces came flying towards it to finally form a triangle. Steven reached towards it, though instantly retracted his hand as the triangle emitted another burst of light, revealing to be a now yellow triangle with two arms and legs, a snappy bow tie and top hat, and most noticeably, a single white eye in the middle with a slit black pupil.
"Well, well, well! Nice place 'ya got here, kid! Really… hmm, what's the word?" the triangle stopped as he furrowed his brow and narrowed his eye, pretending to think. "Oh yeah, really boring and unoriginal!" he finished, giving an echoed laugh soon after.
Steven's eyes widened as he took another step back. "Whoa, who are you? What are you?" he asked with mild curiosity.
The triangle gave another laugh as he circled around the boy, causing him much discomfort. "The name's Bill Cipher!" he replied, before once again situating himself in front of the child. "What about you, kid?"
Steven nodded slightly, smiling. "I'm Steven Universe!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air as Bill narrowed his eye. "I haven't seen you around here before! Where are you from?" he asked, his smile never falling.
Bill gave a small nod in return, disturbingly crinkling his eye to imitate what would assume to be a smile. "Oh, I come from lots of places."
"Cool!" Steven responded, catching the demon off guard. "In any case, welcome to Beach City! I hope you enjoy your stay here, Bill!"
Bill would have cocked an eyebrow. Why is this useless meatbag so happy? He's got enthusiasm to spare, outshining Shooting Star by a landslide. Why isn't he scared of me like that Gideon kid was or any other fleshstick?
"Yeah, sure, you enjoy your stay too, kid." Bill dismissed with a wave of his hand, rolling his eye.
Steven's eyes beamed as an idea occurred in his mind. "Hey, I could show you my family!"
'Oh boy'.
"Well, they're not really my family, except for my dad." Steven continued, having to think about his relation with the Gems. "They're more like… guardians? I'm not sure, but they act all motherly! Except for Amethyst, she's kind of like a big sister." He finished, resting his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"Oh, I would love to meet your family, kiddo!" Bill replied all too happily, extending his arm so he could rest it on Steven's shoulder.
"Really?!" Steven asked ecstatically, mentally celebrating as he stared on at the triangle. "That's great! The Gems would love to meet you!"
Bill cock an eyebrow. "The Gems?" he asked, with a tiny hint of interest.
Steven nodded reassuringly. "Yeah, the Crystal Gems! We're a bunch of heroes sent to protect Earth from Homeworld Gems! It's complicated, I guess. You'll have to get Pearl to explain things." Steven said, but continued faster than Bill could interrupt. "But then you'll get her in a boring lecture, so you could just ask Amethyst! Her stories are always fun!"
Bill narrowed his eye at the boy, crossing his arms behind his back. "Heroes sent to protect Earth?" the triangle asked, though it was more of a question to himself. "Y'know, what, kid? You've got my interest! How's about I pop in for a visit first thing tomorrow, huh?" he asked, floating closer to Steven.
Steven's eyes beamed in excitement. "I'll look forward to it! Oh, you're gonna love them! Pearl is so agile and elegant, and Garnet is so chilled and supportive, and-"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm sure your family are lovely!" Bill spouted quickly, successfully shutting Steven up. The dream demon checked his wrist, gazing at his wrist watch he suddenly had on. "Oh, well, would 'ya look at the time?" he asked, despite the fact that the clocks weren't moving at all. "I have to be off. Important business with the locals, you get me?"
Steven frowned, but nodded in understanding nonetheless. "Aw, alright. I'll see you tomorrow, Bill!" he said, with a wave of his hand.
Bill nodded, taking his cue to unpause time as he took the exit out of Steven's mind. "See 'ya in your nightmares, kid!" he exclaimed happily, tipping his top hat as he vanished with a burst of light, color returning to the world as Steven suddenly opened his eyes, rubbing them tiredly as he shook his head.
"What a nice guy!" he exclaimed, making his way back to the Gems.