The forest is silent, save for the sound of crickets chirping and the hooting of owls. The mighty forests of Oregon are home to many creatures. Yet this night, a human seems to have disturbed the ground. An old man runs through the forest with the speed of a hurricane, fleeing from the dark terror that has hunted his presence. He stumbles into a branch, drawing green, alien blood.
"Ucktul!" the old man hisses; a curse in a language that mankind has yet to hear. He now left a mark of his presence. What he flees from can hunt him all the more easily now. Yet he knows he is far out of time. He has come too close to a dark truth. A truth that has brought an endless fury down upon him. He has fled so far. He saw his world set aflame; his ancient work had brought about the ferocity of a thousand stars as his own world burnt before his eyes. The trickster vanished through his ancient magic. He fled to another world. And before the day had ended, a shadow had approached the world he had hidden upon, a great force that felt as if the planet had developed a heartbeat. An ancient thunder that would have doomed the world if he had not fled again. He had crossed through dimensions, fled across the infinite abyss of space. Now he knows all too well that he has no hope of escaping. The eye is upon him endlessly; his only hope is to dispose of what had brought upon his curse, and hope that no one else will discover its secrets. For to know its secrets is to damn the one who would know them. He has but one choice.
When the man has come to a forest clearing, he readies his tools. One final, desperate act to destroy the source of what he has known. The man draws ancient symbols into a tree stump. He cuts into the tip of his finger and makes a blood offering before speaking the spell. A spell to summon a demon that would help him. A small, rudimentary dream demon; a force not spoken of away from the earth.
"Appear before me, now!" the man shouts in the language of the foreign world he dwells upon. The world begins to turn grey; the fireflies in the air stop in place, and the sky becomes a sickly color as a dark, demonic laugh echoes through the air. A man seemingly appears before the ancient traveler. A young human dressed in a black coat of priesthood with a top hat. Yet the piercing yellow eyes with black, cat-like slits betray the true nature of the demon.
"What can I do for you?" the demon asks in this world beyond time. The old man does not spend any time with formalities. He knows that this demon's apparent omnipotence is merely a façade of a lowly dream creature. A barterer that makes deals to increase its power, because its own strength cannot stand against the mightier forces in the cosmos.
"I am here to make a deal. A simple one."
"Oh come on, don't you want to be friends?" the demon asks.
"I have no time for trickery, demon. I have something you must do."
"That can wait. Want to watch a movie?"
"This cannot wait, Dipper!" the man shouts. At the name, the demon pauses. No one left alive knew his name. Dipper destroys the illusion of the halted time, placing the two in an infinite, white landscape. Dipper creates a chair that he sits down at, attempting to maintain control of the situation.
"Congratulations. You know my name! You win a prize!" Dipper shouts.
"What?"
"A head that's always screaming!" Dipper says. He clasps his hands together before bringing them apart, revealing a decapitated head screaming in agony. He remembers when his enemy used the same trick on him. But Dipper's dealmaker is not interested in games.
"Pines. I know who you are. You saved this world once before."
Dipper grows angry as he loses control of the situation. Dipper never liked it when his clients attempted to take control. And now this one knows his name; his human name, from all those years ago.
"What do you want, old man?" Dipper asks. The man moves through his robes, presenting an ancient book. The book is sealed with an ancient symbol and several locked chains, preventing anyone who doesn't know how to break it from reading what's inside.
"Let me guess, you want me to open the book for you?"
"No. I locked the book, and I need you to make sure no one ever opens it."
Dipper crooks his eye in curiosity. Now he's interested.
"What for?" Dipper asks.
"No one must ever know what lies within… I… I did." the man confesses.
"So you opened the book, now you don't want anyone else to suffer?"
"I wrote the book. I was a traveler. A discover, like you."
Dipper grows angry at the reminders of his past. His yellow eyes shift red slightly.
"I wanted to know the secrets of the cosmos. I wanted to know everything… but… my world was destroyed. My entire planet. Now you need to keep this safe. My time is nearly out. Never open the book."
Dipper walks over, wondering if he should make this deal, or if he should simply annihilate the mind of the weary explorer.
"Please, Dipper. I know this world means much to you. I will soon be dead. I've been running too long."
"And what will you do for me in return?" Dipper asks.
"I have nothing to offer. I implore you; one last time, save your world."
"You know, it's bad form for a demon to make a deal where he doesn't get anything out of it, but sure. I'll take this heavy burden off your hands." Dipper says with a sly grin. Dipper extends his hand, and a blue flame emits. The old man shakes Dipper's hand. The ascended demon leaves, allowing the old man to awaken.
In the real world, the man's book is gone, having vanished into Dipper's world. The man destroys all evidence of the summoning, preventing anyone from knowing what had occurred. He then runs through the forest, knowing that his attacker cannot be allowed to know that the book had been sent off with the dream demon. Yet Dipper continues watching from the shadows. A demon of the mind is not easily detected, and he wants to know what the man is afraid of.
The old man sheds his human shell, revealing himself to be an ancient creature from another world. His skin is blue and scaly and he has three eyes around his head. The creature then falls to his knees and crawls towards a tree; not out of tiredness, but because he knows that his hunter will only stop when it knows the alien is dead. Dipper waits in the mindscape for several hours with the alien. He almost decides to return to his own, strange world when he hears something. A fell voice, whispered with the wind. The forest life begins fleeing. The animals fly awake and run faster than they ever have. Deer, mice, and insects rush past the alien and Dipper, who waits to see what is coming. He sees nothing, yet he feels it; a presence, mighty and shapeless. Dipper watches as the sky turns dark and the clouds thunder.
"It wasn't supposed to rain today." Dipper thinks in amusement.
The rain pours down from the sky, soaking the forest in a thick coat. Yet it is not water that falls. Black blood, putrid and deadly, pours upon the forest, eating away at the trees and life forms that were too foolish to flee. The alien wails in agony as the blood sinks into his skin, burning flesh from bone. Yet the alien does not die. The blood soon begins flowing into a single mass before the alien. Dipper watches as the blood builds up and forms a murky, featureless humanoid. The creature walks towards its prey, who cowers in fear.
"Where is it?" a voice asks, echoing from all corners of the forest.
"I destroyed it. It's gone. Please, leave me alone!" the alien begs. The demonic being shatters into a cloud of red mist, which flies into the alien. Dipper waits and watches as his client begins screaming in agony. Dipper grins in pleasure; he had found that if he could not be free from his suffering, that he would enjoy the pain of others.
"PLEASE! I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH!" the alien screams as its limbs flail about in agony. Dipper nearly begins feeling sorry for the miserable creature when the blood reforms outside.
"Perhaps." the being says before destroying the alien. Dipper watches as the creature's spirit vanishes through the mindscape, into the world beyond. Dipper hated watching that. Seeing people go where he never could. He was old now. He had outlived his family. He watched as generation after generation passed by. He grew numb to the presence of those from his sister's bloodline. Only one person ever mattered to him now, and he could never see her again. Dipper feels his rage rise to the surface. A tide of hate and sorrow builds in the demon. He could never be with Mabel again. But then Dipper sees something strange. The spirit of the alien reappears. A great void opens in the skin of the murky creature that desired the book. The alien spirit attempts to flee into the world beyond, yet he is sucked into the void within. Dipper giggles to himself as he watches from afar.
"Well, time to go scare women in the shower." Dipper thinks.
Several months pass since the strange encounter. Dipper strikes bargains with humans with knowledge of the occult and his demon name, Thamiezel. He takes in more knowledge and power from the people he makes deals with. Yet it is not enough. He hungers for more, using his search for knowledge as a release from the pain of his past. He waits until he is summoned by another that knows his demon name.
"Appear before me, demon!" a man yells. Dipper fazes into existence before the man and the ancient inscriptions that summoned him.
"Hello, friendo!" Dipper says.
"Are… are you the demon?"
"No. I'm a hallucination brought on by too much hippie love." Dipper says sarcastically.
"Wh-what?"
"The hell do you think?" Dipper says.
"Well… it's just, I always thought demons were, you know, demons. With big hoofs and horns and what not?"
"No. Demons do not look like that. At least not any I've chatted with. So what can I get for you?" Dipper says, speaking like a waiter taking an order for food.
"My wife is dying. I need you to help her!"
"So, how do you plan to pay for this little task?" Dipper says.
"I'll give you my soul."
"So let me get this straight. You are going to give your wife a couple more decades, in return for never seeing her again?" Dipper says, pointing out the flaws in the man's deal.
"Uh…"
"I mean, I'd settle for something like a book, a really good song, or maybe a sparkly pen. But no. You idiots always offer up the most important thing first. I mean, haven't you heard of haggling?"
Dipper's apparent client becomes confused. Dipper giggles in amusement as the man realizes how stupid and reckless he was.
"Well, a deal's a deal. So give me some soul food!" Dipper yells.
"Uh, wait… could we, you know, not make a deal?"
Dipper frowns in mock irritation.
"Rude. Bring me all the way over here for nothing." Dipper says. He flips the man off before ending the meeting. Dipper sighs in boredom as he returns to his home, a pocket dimension of his own dwelling.
It is a place where objects from the real world can meld with his multi-dimensional thoughts and become like a dream. Dipper returns to this dark world, a gravity-less greyed out version of the Mystery Shack. Dipper walks past the pictures of his past, a daily reminder of who he was. He sighs in bored pain as he looks at a picture of Mabel before floating into his room. The place is sprawling with items and tomes of dark magic. He had searched far and wide for something that could give Mabel everlasting life, or perhaps a way to free him from his own existence. But he found nothing he would be certain wouldn't condemn him to an even worse fate than what had already befallen him. Dipper walks towards the book shelf. He stares at the magic book, sealed with an impenetrable shield. Ancient spells, locks with keys long since forgotten. Dipper had found something to sedate his insatiable hunger for information. And the fact that the knowledge kept within threatened the world was of little interest to him.
"Looks like that alien made two big mistakes." Dipper says to himself. Before Dipper can continue his prodding, he feels another calling. Dipper wonders if he should ignore it before he is forcibly pulled to the summoned place.
"That was rude." Dipper says to the summoner before him.
"You are needed again." an agent named Gregory Smith says.
"Yeah, yeah. Save the world once and suddenly every idiot thinks you're willing to sacrifice everything again."
"You have no choice."
"Fine. What the hell is it this time, you lazy pricks?"
"There is an increase in activity near Gravity Falls."
Dipper finds himself interested again. The place was near where he was summoned months ago by the alien.
"And why should I care?" Dipper says.
"Because your family is there."
"My family is dead, if you hadn't noticed." Dipper says.
"There are increases in undead activity near the area. Several field officers have died already." the agent says, ignoring Dipper's condescending attitude.
"So now you need me to clean up your mess. Again." Dipper says.
"You'll be given a host body."
"Who's the sucker this time?" Dipper asks.
"Convicted murderer. Killed his family during Christmas last year."
"Must have been really good eggnog." Dipper says as he looks around the room. He spots the sedated man, who has ancient incantations burned into his skin to force his mind open for Dipper to possess. Dipper jumps into the body. The limbs flail about as Dipper takes control, lifting up from the bed in his new puppet.
"Wow, this guy has some issues!" Dipper says while giggling.
"We'll brief you on the way to the city."
As the man walks towards the door of the government facility, Dipper begins removing his clothes.
"What… what are you doing?" Smith asks.
"Debriefing."
Several miles away, another government agent prepares for his first day on the job. He has come to work with the secret agency meant to keep humanity in the dark about the greater evils that lurked beneath and beyond. The man walks into the van with his papers, ready to send in the government's greatest tool. The agent sits down and begins humming a tune in boredom as the van drives off.
"So, what's so special about this demon?" the new recruit asks.
"He got his powers after destroying an ancient mind creature."
"What's his name?"
"He goes by Thamiezel. I'm afraid we'd have to kill you if you knew his real name without proper clearance."
"Why's that?"
"Haven't you studied?"
"I kind of assumed it was all a big joke. So, no. This is a joke, right?"
"No. No it isn't. If you had studied, you'd know that knowing the true name of a person can help you bind them to a single place. Force them to do your bidding."
"This is a joke, isn't it?" the agent says. His veteran partner sighs in irritation as he pulls up to the building. Several agents escort a prisoner out of the building. The prisoner is nude, and the new agent scratches his head in confusion.
"Uh, why is he nude?" he asks.
"Don't know." the veteran says flatly; he's used to Dipper's deranged sense of humor by now.
"Are you going to brief me?" Dipper asks through his host's body.
"Yeah. We've been experiencing heightened activities of undead creatures in Oregon. Spirit sightings, werewolves, and other strange things."
"Odd." Dipper says, knowing that the recent events are probably linked to his finding of the ancient book.
"Yeah. We've had several agents in the field already. Most haven't come back. We need you to discover the source of these events and, if possible, neutralize them."
"Alrighty, tighty whitey." Dipper says. The vehicle begins its drive up north. Dipper waits in the vehicle as the driver escorts the enslaved demon to Gravity Falls. After they pull up to the city, they prepare to let loose their slave. The possessed body shambles out of the vehicle and stares at the city.
"Gravity Falls. It is good to be back!"
The body begins charging away.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" the agent asks.
"No idea. Ghouls and ghosts don't usually show up in the day time, so I figured I'd go check out the place!"
"You're still naked!"
"Oh… I guess I am."
After returning to the van and taking several pieces of clothing from one of the agents, he begins his search in the city.
Elsewhere in Gravity Falls, Jerry Corduroy is busy running his restaurant on the corner street. The sprawling city offered up many valuable customers, brought over by his uncle's lumber mill. He's busy inputting orders into his automated cooking machine when Dipper's puppet walks in.
"How can I help you this fine day?" Corduroy asks.
"I'm hungry." the strange man says.
"What'll it be?"
"Something with cheese."
"Uh, like what, sir?"
"Don't know. In fact, forget the something. I just want some cheese."
"Well, we've got cheddar, American, Swiss."
"I'll have some of all of those. I like cheeses."
Jerry goes to fetch several slices of cheese for his strange customer. The man eats the slices and drops several quarters onto the counter before walking away to search the city. It had been many years since he has been in Gravity Falls. Simply being there brings about a pained nostalgia. He walks over to where the Mystery Shack used to be and finds a sprawling mansion. Mabel had continued to work the tourist trap established by the twins' great uncle. She had worked there her whole life and based the attractions on the twins' supernatural adventures. It seems that her strange business has paid off after the years. Half of the area was dedicated to the attractions shown off by the Pines family, and the other half was the personal residence. Dipper goes to meet the new owners.
Alice walks into her home after a long day's work. She stumbles through the hallway towards the library. Faded blue paint lines the walls of the old, dusty library. Old texts and ancient scribbling of mad writers are filled inside. Alice had tried to find the source of her town's disturbances. She had grown up in a family that knew about the strangeness that lies beneath the surface of normal society. She had heard whispers of monsters appearing in the forest. Strange beings had been drawn to the area, so she has prepared for battle. She had killed several werewolves and two vampires and has banished several dark spirits. But the beings continue to come, drawn in by something. She searches through the old books for a sign; a way to find out what has occurred. She hears the doorbell echo through the house. She groans in irritation as she tries to ignore it. But the doorbell continues to ring. The noise erodes her sanity until she decides to answer the door. She storms out of the library and walks down the hall to the front door. She swings the door open and stares at the stranger clad in black.
"What?!" she asks in an irritated tone.
"Pines." the stranger says.
"Huh? Yeah, that's my name."
"Pines." he says again, rolling his tongue as he says the name. He grins at the female before him.
"I hear your little city has a problem." he says.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me. I know when people are lying. You've been having ghost problems. I am here to help." the man says. She looks at him. His smile is bearing all teeth, like a deranged animal ready for battle.
"Get out." Alice says with a chilled whisper. She slams the door in the man's face. And as she turns back to enter her studies, she hears the glass on the sides of the entrance shatter. The man shoves his hand in and opens the door, not caring about the glass jutting out of his skin. Alice runs to fetch her gun with silver bullets and a book of binding spells. She knows that something unnatural has come for her. The possessed body shambles into the building and whistles in amazement.
"Wow. I haven't been here in a while!" he says. Alice returns, ready to kill the being.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it, sweetcheeks. I said I was here to help." he says while lifting his hands up in surrender.
"Why?"
"I've been… hired by certain individuals."
"The government lapdog." she says. The man frowns in annoyance.
"Yes… to put it bluntly."
"I've heard rumors about you. What was your name again?"
"Thamiezel."
"Pathetic, that's it."
The meat puppet claps his hands together in amusement. Alice Pines was proving to be interesting.
"So Alice. What is happening in this fair city?"
"Ghouls, werewolves, vampires. They've all been popping up. It started about two months ago. Latest incident has been a vampire victim."
"Ah, the classic bloodsucker. They should be fun to deal with."
"If you're done playing, we've got to prepare for the next attack." she says.
"Fine, let's be serious. This is my serious face." he says while frowning.
"And the ghosts. It's weird. Usually ghosts only stay in one place, the area where they died. But they're coming out and attacking people. Like something's been raising them up."
"Well then, shall we get started?"
"Come on, we'll need some tools."
Alice and her ally begin preparations for the next attack. They wait until nightfall to begin the hunt. The moon is high in the sky. The clouds have parted overhead. And a young, fair lady walks down an alley, alone. A dark figure approaches from the shadows. The creature sees its victim and follows her. The lady trips on her high heels and falls. Blood drips from her scrapped knee. The vampire sees and begins to thirst; he hungers for fresh blood, warm and dripping. He closes in on his victim. He approaches her from behind, ready to sink his teeth in.
"Now!" Alice shouts. Bright flashlights burn the creature's eyes, blinding him. The vampire is tackled to the ground by an unseen assailant.
"Ooh, this is a feisty one!" Dipper says. He receives several scratches and tears in the skin from the flailing vampire. But eventually the creature stops fighting. Alice walks up, preparing to kill the beast.
"Not yet. I need to… probe him, for information." he says in a disturbingly sensual voice. The vampire again tries to break away before being forced against a wall.
"Hello there. What brings you to this nice, little city?" Dipper asks the vampire. The creature does not answer, so Alice flashes a U.V. ray in his face. The creature of the night screams in pain before Alice turns off the device.
"Now, I'll ask you again. Why are you here?"
"I was thirsty. I'm so thirsty." the beast says. Dipper's host rolls its eyes before Alice drives a stake into the creature's heart, killing the beast.
"That wasn't very nice." Dipper says flatly.
"Shut up. Ugh, these creatures are useless."
"I know. They aren't very bright."
"No. That isn't what I mean… They all say the same thing. They all just happened to be in the neighborhood. Even after I shine the U.V. in their faces for a while. It's like they don't care about the torture." she says.
"Or, perhaps, they do not know why they have shown themselves." Dipper says. Alice looks at him and ponders his reasoning. Perhaps something had lured the creatures to Gravity Falls. Dipper commands his puppet away. The two get back in Alice's car. She has the car's built in computer drive the two over to where the latest spiritual disturbance has occurred. The possessed puppet shambles out of the vehicle and wanders towards the condemned building. Alice walks up with several tools to help bind the spirit that is disturbing the old apartment. Dipper and Alice head up the old and decrepit stairs as it creaks and moans with weakened support. Alice and her demonic companion open an old door and walk in. She can feel the dark specter in the room. Dipper can see the entity, an old balding man with piercing white eyes.
"Hello there." Dipper says to the foul spirit. The being's angry essence sends books flying off shelves. Several glasses and cups break into pieces. Alice begins drawing a circle around the area to bind the spirit.
"What are you doing?" the puppet asks.
"Trapping it."
"That isn't going to help it pass on."
"Like I give a crap about some dumb spirit too lazy to leave the planet." she says.
"You know Alice, not all spirits have the power to leave the mortal plane." he says in a somewhat offended tone. Alice gives him a curious gaze before returning to finish her spell. She invokes dark incantations to bind the restless spirit and banish it to its grave. And as the being flails about its spirit reveals itself to Alice.
"Shit." Alice says as the being is returned to its slumber.
"What is it?"
"I've seen that spirit before. I bound him to his grave. He shouldn't be back." she says.
"Which means our mutual problem is bringing these spirits back, even though you've sealed them. A powerful force that must be." he says before walking out the door.
"Where are you going?" Alice asks.
"Find some food. This body needs to eat, and I don't want to waste it." he replies.
"I've got some food back at the mansion."
"The Mystery Mansion." he says, rolling over the name with a strange sense of nostalgia. Alice gives a confused look to her demonic ally before they head back to her home. Dipper walks with his sister's descendant into the kitchen. He searches through cabinets and the refrigerator before cobbling together a sandwich. He forces the object down the puppet's throat to give the fleshy form several more days of use.
"So, any family?" he asks.
"Yeah. They're staying with their dad up in Washington until this crap gets sorted out."
"Smart move. Smart lady." he says.
"Are… are you coming onto me?"
The demon giggles in amusement.
"No… no, I don't do the love game." he says as his grin wavers. Alice stares at the odd demon. He purposefully came to her house out of every other place. And he seemed to obsess over her name. The two talk about the recent events, trying to find clues and piece together the puzzle. Yet Dipper already knows the game piece; the book given to him by the alien. Dipper is sure that this ancient work is being searched for. And whatever is searching for it is using the dread spirits of the Earth to do its bidding. After he has sufficiently tired out Alice, she goes to bed. Dipper leaves the puppet to rest as he searches his thoughts. He returns to his own world. He walks through the barren landscape of his mind and returns to his room. He finds the strange book there. He looks it over, wondering what information could be so dangerous within. He attempts to open the book, yet it is chained shut. He attempts to pierce through the covers, yet the magic seal repels his mind. Few powers can defy a dream demon in their own realm, and Dipper grows all the more curious as to what could need such protective measures. He walks over to a mirror. And in it, he sees his subconscious mind. The strange part of his multilayered thoughts. He consults with himself, arguing and bickering with the strange apparition.
"Come on Pine Tree. You can figure it out. Well, I can figure it out." the mirror self says.
"Yes. What is there to figure out? Perhaps a way to get to Mabel."
"Mabel." the creature says, rolling over the word in lustful anticipation.
"Maybe I can finally die."
"You're already dead."
"Sort of."
"Yes."
Dipper chats with his own broken mind for the rest of the night as Alice sleeps. Dipper was not even able to find peace in the realm of dreams, long ago losing the human need for sleep. At the beginning of the day, Dipper's puppet is slouching lifelessly on the couch. Alice wanders around the mansion, cooking breakfast and reading news stories about any recent strange occurrences in the city while listening in on the police radio. She hears several reports about people complaining about being bitten. Another vampire is in the city. Alice grunts in frustration, no closer to discovering a solution. The body of Dipper's puppet awakens and walks over to Alice as she checks the internet.
"So, what do we do today?" he asks.
"There's another vampire attack. Last report was an hour ago."
"Really? In the daylight?"
"Yeah. Must be a real bastard. Come on, let's go." she says. Dipper and his descendant spend the day hunting for their undead monster. Alice looks out from her car and spots a pale woman following an older male. Alice parks and walks with her demonic companion to follow the creature. The vampire feels the presence of the others and breaks into a run. The being takes a turn down an alley. Alice chases after it, not realizing that her companion has disappeared. Alice approaches the female vampire, which has turned to face its attacker.
"Leave me be!" the creature screams.
"Stop spreading your disease in my city." Alice says. The female vampire grows dark black wings. The creature sends tendrils of dark energy at Alice, knocking the stake and silver blade out of her hand. The creature charges, ready to feast on its hunter. Yet as it prepares to sink its fangs into Alice, it stops. The silver blade pierces the vampire's heart from behind. Dipper stands behind the vampire and brings his head closer to hers.
"Stabbed in the heart, and you're too late. You give love a bad name." he says, beginning to giggle in amusement as the vampire flails about in its death throes.
"What the hell is so funny?" Alice asks.
"The song. Bon Jovi?" he says before he remembers that it has been three hundred some years since he has heard the song outside of his own thoughts. He giggles sadly as he remembers the time that has passed by.
"I'm bored. Let's get lunch." he says.
Alice drives the two over to Jerry Corduroy's restaurant. Alice and her reluctant ally walk into the building.
"Feed me!" the puppet screams. Jerry stares up questioningly at the strange man and recognizes him from earlier.
"What, more cheese?" he asks in amusement.
"No. Today I desire something more substantial. Some chips and bread, with maybe some water."
Jerry goes to fetch the strange items as the Alice sits down.
"Really? You're going to need to eat more than that."
"No, no I won't. This body is pointless. I can keep it going for a couple of weeks at least."
"You don't care about anyone, do you?"
"No, not really."
"Good thing the government has you on their leash."
Dipper giggles to himself while he waits for the food to be given to him. After lunch, the two return to the mansion. They begin reading through books while waiting for the next source of attacks. Alice checks the police radio.
"It's! Oh God, it's a giant wolf! It's a giant fucking wolf!"
The two prepare to deal with the next threat.
"A werewolf?" Alice replies.
"It seems so."
"That's not possible. They only come out during a full moon."
"No, that's a stereotype, you racist. They only come out at night because the sun is too bright."
"Yeah, well it looks like we're both wrong. Come on."
The two run out and get in the car. They drive to the scene of the last report. Several government agents are battling the giant werewolf. One is disemboweled and has his face crushed in the paws of the great beast. The agents, not armed with silver bullets, fire pointlessly on the rampaging animal. Alice steps out of the car and takes aim with a crossbow armed with silver bolts. She fires at the creature and sends the bolt through its mouth.
"You missed!" Dipper yells.
Alice takes out a grey remote with a large red button on top. She presses the button, and the werewolf explodes in a shower of guts and meat, covering the agents closest to it.
"I love you, ya crazy girl!" Dipper shouts as he wraps Alice in a hug, laughing maniacally.
"Just like Mabel would have done it!" he says without thinking.
"Who?" Alice asks. Dipper realizes what he's said and moves away from her, giggling to cover his sadness.
"I, uh, some broad I used to date. She was a real dame." he says, trying to cover his tracks. Agent Smith walks over and meets with the two hunters.
"I see you have introduced yourself to Alice." Smith says.
"Yeah. How do you work with this guy?" she asks.
"Not well." Smith responds.
"Come on, you're talking about me like I'm a ghost! Oh wait, I am." Dipper says, laughing at his own joke.
"Yeah, well. Are there any updates?" Smith asks.
"None. Aside from the fact that these things are getting antsy."
"We figured." Smith says while pointing back to the dead werewolf on the street.
"Well then, we must be off. So much to do, and all the time in the world." Dipper says.
The two strange companions get in their car, leaving Smith to clean up the mess. They return back to the mansion, no closer to discovering the truth. Dipper sits deep in thought as Alice listens over the radio. The supernatural occurrences seem to have died down for the day, so Alice returns to sleep. Dipper enters his dark mindscape for the rest of the night. The next several days go by studying through different texts. Dipper sits in his dream world, looking over the book and trying to figure out how to break into it. The locks around the book seem to shift dimensionally with every second, preventing anyone from creating a false key. The magic runes are in a language that Dipper has neither heard nor read. He throws the thing angrily at the mirror.
"You, figure it out." Dipper says to the mirror image of himself.
"I already have. Now you need to do it."
"That doesn't make sense. We're the same person."
"It makes sense and it doesn't make sense. Welcome to the mindscape!" the apparition says before disappearing.
"Great. I'm being mindfucked by myself. Is that considered masturbation?" he says, giggling immaturely at the thought.
He returns to the real world and possesses the convict once morning arrives. Alice and Dipper talk for the rest of the day, trying to piece together what could be happening. Dipper tries to figure out any sort of key or code that might unlock the book. Something that could reveal what lay inside. At night, the police radio reports several flashes of light in an old apartment building, suspecting it to be drug manufacturing gone wrong. But Alice and Dipper know better. The two head towards the scene of the disturbance, and the cop is being escorted away by the secret government agents.
"You know Smith, a time is going to come when your people are going to regret keeping humans in the dark." Dipper says.
"Is that a threat, Thamiezel?"
"Yes. no. Maybe so."
Alice and Dipper head up to the scene of the disturbance. They find the ghost from several days before throwing around glass and cabinets in a blind rage. Alice prepares to try and seal the spirit away again.
"That isn't going to work." Dipper says.
"Then what the hell do we do, talk to it?!" she says.
"Perhaps." Dipper says. He walks over and speaks to the ghost.
"You, spirit. What brings you around?" he asks. He receives a gash in the head from a piece of glass thrown at him.
"So much rage… tell me, why are you driven by hate?" he asks.
"They… they took her!" the spirit screams.
"Who?"
"Jess… they took her!" the angered spirit yells again.
"You know, there is someone I've lost too." Dipper responds says.
"What?"
"Yes… a long time ago. Her name… her name was… Alice." he says.
"Jess was taken from me. Those pigs. They… they hurt her. I never got to see her again!"
"I'll… I'll never see Alice again, either… I… she was everything to me." he says as tears begin to form in his eyes. The spirit looks on in sorrow before Dipper continues speaking.
"But… this anger, chaining you to this world. Let it go… you can see Jess again. Let go of this hate before it ruins your soul."
"They stole her from me!" the spirit says with a sorrowful wail. Dipper's puppet approaches the being, which seems to find a strange companionship with Dipper. It moves in close, trying to hug him.
"And I will find them. And I will bring them in. I will make sure that Jess rests easily. But she cannot if you aren't there to be with her."
"Promise? Do you promise me?!" the ghost pleads sorrowfully.
"Yes. I do."
The spirit seems to sob in relief as the glow fades and the floating furniture falls to the ground. The spirit vanishes from existence, going where Dipper cannot go.
"Thamiezel?" Alice says in a low voice, curious and sympathetic. The strange puppet looks at her before avoiding his gaze.
"He's at peace. Let's go."
The two return to the mansion. Alice looks curiously at the strange being that now dwells in her home. He looks out at a picture of Alice's bloodline, going back through the years.
"Wondering who they were?" she asks.
"No, just bored."
"Alright. I'm getting tired. I'm going to bring it in for the night."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Dipper returns to his dark conscious. He looks at the book while his mirror self appears and begins taunting him.
"You've gotten good at the whole lying thing, haven't you?" the mirror says.
"Yes. You're point being?"
"'Oh no, Mr. Ghost! Don't give into anger! It's not good!' Ha, what a hypocrite."
"Which makes me more than qualified to be a backstabbing demon."
"Darn tootin'" the apparition says before vanishing.
Back in the real world, Alice has stirred from her bed. She wanders through the house and into the library. She knows the dream demon could be watching her at that very moment, yet she needs to know what it is. The creature seems to know her family's history. She looks through her family's journals and writings. She comes across an old book; a journal with the number three on it. She reads through, remembering how her mother spoke of Alice's great great grandmother, Mabel Pines. How she had saved the world from a powerful dream demon. Yet her grandmother looked back in sadness when speaking of those times, as if something was missing. As Alice looks through the journals, she realizes that the end of the book is written in different handwriting. She wonders if it is the work of her ancestor, but she eventually finds a name; Dipper Pines. The last of the journal entries were written by a young boy. An adventurous spirit attempting to discover the mysteries of Gravity Falls. She reads further, and she begins to cry. The boy speaks of his sister, Mabel. He speaks of how wondrous she was. How they always stayed together, no matter what happened. And then the journal entries abruptly end. She searches through and finds a note on the last page. A message from Mabel to her brother.
Dipper. I hope you'll come back. I know I don't have long for this world. I want you to know that I still love you. I hope that you eventually find a way to pass on. But I cannot stay with you. I won't abandon my family. I cannot bring myself to join you. I'm so sorry Dipper. Please, Dipper.
The message ends with a sudden dash of the pen. Mabel's hand had fallen off the paper as she died, never having seen Dipper again. Alice puts the journal away and begins to cry. She cries for her ancestor's fallen spirit. The spirit which now wanders the world forever.
The weeks pass by as Alice and Dipper fight the dark monsters coming to the city. Alice ignores the nagging in her heart; the desire to confront her ancestor's brother and help him. She does not know where to begin. She simply allows him to aid in stopping the monsters, but there seems to be no end to them. Their presence seems to be increasing as more and more powerful creatures come. A werewolf that slaughtered twenty government agents before it was put down had shown up the day before. Vampires unaffected by the daylight and pulsing with dark energy come in multiple numbers. The government agents have shut down the city, preventing all information from leaving out into the world. Dipper knows that it is only a matter of time until something more powerful than him arrives. He was a master of treachery and spells, but he lacked the raw power needed to best greater evils.
Dipper walks with Alice back into the Mystery Mansion after battling a vampiric demon. His possessed form shambles over to a couch. The puppet, despite being well fed and maintained, has begun to rot. It is only a matter of time until Dipper will require a new puppet. Dipper leaves the possessed shell and wanders around the room for a bit before he begins to go back to the mindscape. And Alice can see him. The ties between their bloodline allow her to see the pitiful demon. A lowly creature with a permanent frown. Since he doesn't know that Alice can see him, he does not bother maintaining the façade of the demonic trickster. He vanishes into a puff of blue flame.
Dipper returns to his own dream realm. He walks past the dark mirror in his studies and looks at it.
"Hello there, Pine Tree." the strange mirror image says to himself.
"What's up, you schizophrenic bastard?"
"Language, mister."
"Yeah, yeah. So tell me, me. What do I do about this strange, little thing?" Dipper says while holding the book.
"Don't know. Maybe find a way to open it?"
"Gee, you sure are helpful."
"Well, if you don't know how to open it, someone does."
"Someone does. But said someone is dead."
"Not necessarily. Perhaps there is more than said someone."
"More? Maybe. The only other person who would want that book probably wouldn't care about seeing inside."
"Oh, but that is where you, me, we are wrong!"
Dipper looks curiously at his strange reflection.
"I mean, anyone can make a book that looks like another book. But to know the book you have is the book you need, you'd need to look inside of it!" the dark apparition says before vanishing. Dipper grins to himself as he creates a mirrored double of the old novel. He fills the book's passages with random spells and old writings thrown together from his own information, giving the book the appearance of carrying strange, forbidden knowledge. He fills it with several journal entries describing a search for something hidden. Dipper places arcane spells on the book in the shape of those on the original. Simple spells that he could command to unlock the false book.
Alice sits on a seat next to the possessed body, waiting to speak with the spirit when he returns. She notices a blue flame reappear. The spirit carries a book. She looks at the thing curiously, and Dipper spots her gaze before he returns to his body. He smiles mischievously as he realizes that Alice can see him.
"Hello there." he says. Alice hears him speak from the mindscape.
"What are you carrying?" she asks.
"The book."
"What book?"
"The book. The ultimate book. Perhaps I can find something of use in it. So I'm going to meet with whoever is searching for it."
"What… what are you talking about?"
"This book. A man gave it to me a couple of months ago. I suspect it has something to do with the current events."
Alice gives him a questioning gaze. He had information about the disturbance that could have saved lives, yet he didn't seem to care about any of them.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me before?" she asks.
"Because I didn't think I needed to."
"And what are you going to do with that book?"
"Don't know; something must be valuable in it. Maybe I'll haggle with whatever's coming. Then again, he didn't look like the haggling type." Dipper says, revealing that he knew what was being searched for and what was actively raising the evil spirits.
"People have died because of you! Don't you care?!" she asks.
"No. No I don't." Dipper says flatly.
"How could you be her brother?" Alice says, thinking aloud. Dipper's yellow eyes turn red as he approaches Alice.
"That name you are thinking about calling me? Don't." he says in a deep, booming voice.
"I'm… I'm sorry… about what happened." she says.
"I am too." he mutters weakly, losing all signs of gravitas, anger, and pride. She sees him for what he is; broken and filled with sorrow and regret.
"Have you tried to move on?"
"Yes. I've looked through everything. I'm chained to this worthless planet."
"We're not worthless."
"I watched her grow old and die. Mabel… my Mabel." he says, smiling sadly at the name.
"And then I came back to care for her children. Stan and… and Bella." he continues, struggling to remember the names.
"Then I watched them die. And I couldn't stand it anymore. I ignored the callings of Bella's children. They tried to contact me. But I never saw them again."
"Then why did you show up? Why did you come to my house?" Alice asks.
"Because I knew you would have been working against these beasts too, and you might have information I could use to stop it without giving up this nice little tome of forbidden knowledge." he says.
"But it's more than that, isn't it?" she asks. Dipper looks at her, and then he looks at a picture of her family. And his form distorts in anger before he represses his thoughts.
"Hey. It's okay. I know you miss your family. We can help you." Alice says.
"You can't. I… I loved Mabel. More than anything. But she is gone. Nothing can help me... except, maybe, what lies in this book."
"What are you going to do?"
"Let the thing that wants it have it. Hopefully he'll go easy on me."
"You can't. You said it yourself. He doesn't look like the haggling type."
Dipper looks at her weakly before moving over to his puppet. The dying human's mind is already lost. Dipper grabs the body's hand and a blue flame emits. The body jolts to life, yet Dipper remains in the mindscape. He gives his puppet one last command. The being takes the book, now corporal, out of its coat jacket.
"What are you doing?" Alice asks.
"Disposing of the book. I'll see to it that what's left of this puppet finds its way. Goodbye, Alice." Dipper says. The puppet begins walking out of the building as Dipper vanishes into a blue flame. Alice takes a deep breath as she relaxes into the chair. The deteriorating body stumbles out of the mansion and circles around, moving into the forests of Gravity Falls. The being shambles deep into the woods, moving close to the location that the original deal was made. Dipper watches from the shadow of the mindscape as his puppet wanders about, speaking random spells and dark words in an attempt to goad the searching presence into revealing itself. He feels a deep thunder grow in the distance. The trees shake and rustle as a great wind hurtles through the woods.
"Either he's coming, or bigfoot wants some love." Dipper says to himself. He watches as a great force smashes through the woods. A shadow crawls across the forest bed and approaches the puppet with an unnatural speed. Dipper's small puppet vanishes within the vast darkness. The creature reforms into the shape of a humanoid, shifting between different alien creatures before resting on the form of the alien that had died.
"Ea thun Elthaxior, luthnal ebail." the creature says in the voice of the alien. The book opens at Dipper's command and the demonic beast searches through the contents. Satisfied, it disappears with the ancient text. Dipper feels the dark presence vanish, like a heavy air has lifted from the forest. The being was gone, and the rest of the supernatural beings would soon return to their slumber.
"Hah. If only he knew." Dipper says with a proud voice. Dipper returns one last time to the mansion. He finds Alice asleep, holding a slip of paper. Dipper picks up the small note. He takes it into his dream world and reads it, and he wishes he hadn't. Dipper screams in rage and sadness from within his mind world. He removes the note from his world, yet he cannot remove it from his memory. He walks past the mirror in his world and looks at his subconscious.
"You know, that was very naughty of you." Dipper's chaotic subconscious mind says.
"What was?"
"When you looked at the picture of Alice and her kids? Ooh, if only she knew what you were really thinking!" the being says with a deranged, happy squeal. Alice had spotted Dipper's gaze at the photo. She had assumed that he wanted to be a part of his family again. While that thought had come to his mind for a second a greater, more hateful thought had occurred.
"'Make her suffer. Make her know what it's like to lose everything you love.' That's what you thought." the dark apparition says.
"I would never have done that!" Dipper yells back.
"But you were thinking about doing that. And that's good enough for you. Go on! Go do it! Let's have some fun!"
"Enough. I've had enough games for one day." Dipper says as he turns away. Yet the subconscious urges were stronger. Dipper had wanted revenge. He wanted to punish the world. His subconscious walks out of the mirror and sits beside Dipper.
"Come on. We can do it. Let's just let go. No more trickery. No more deals with idiots and government morons. Let us burn everything together." Dipper's inner desire says, speaking in a subtle, sensual whisper.
Dipper doesn't reply to his darker thoughts. He instead turns towards the book. The entity spoke the words of an ancient language to unlock the book. All the locks and magic spells; each one was opened with a simple phrase. The seemingly impenetrable book was opened by simply convincing it that its owner was reading. Dipper's dream self morphs into the shape of the alien. He remembers the words spoken by the ancient beast.
"Ea thun Elthaxior, luthnal ebail." Dipper says in the voice of the alien. He sees the magic incantations fade from the cover. The locks that seemingly needed long lost keys of impossible shapes fall off of their own accord. The book was opened.
Dipper begins searching through the text. Strangely, the secret text melds with his thoughts. The book seems to be partially sentient, offering him the knowledge in his own language. Yet with Dipper's knowledge of the languages of Earth and other worlds, the text blurs together before Dipper clears his thoughts and focuses. He reads through, hoping to find some way to see beyond his normal sight. His desire turns back to Mabel; how he grew to love her in a way that no one would accept. How she came to feel the same way yet was not willing to part with her family. He desires to find a way to reach her. Yet what he finds is something different; a secret nearly as old as reality itself.
I have searched throughout the histories of the cosmos. I have studied every world and every species in search of the truth. And I believe I have found something. Ancient cultures such as the valzarians, from newcomers like humans. Every single one has at least one instance of the same story. A creature that was once one of them, but changed into something more. A creature whose very presence raises dread spirits and fell things. A being who drains the vital fluids of the living and uses them to fuel its power. And it is always the same. The names are different, yet their meaning is unchanged. They call themselves dragons or drakes or ravenous beasts in the language of their people. I searched for information on why these ancient beasts always rise up. They never appear in the same place at the same time, and there are lulls of hundreds of years before one rises again. But it is always the same. A being driven by hatred given the power to indulge it. Something or someone is at work.
Dipper continues reading, skipping over journal entries where nothing of interest had occurred. He comes to one of the last entries.
I have stricken a bargain with a demon by the name of Bill Cipher. He offered me a glimpse into his knowledge, assuming I wouldn't be able to handle his mind's eye. But he was foolish. I gazed upon his mind and focused, so as to prevent his power from overwhelming my sanity. I read through the demon's knowledge. Ancient works long since lost to time. Cultures long since dead. The demon is very old. And yet even this offers no glimpse into what I have found. The name of the dragon is nothing but a rumor, a silent whisper in the cosmos. So many different words, yet the same meaning. The great evil summoned to bring about destruction. I will need to find information elsewhere.
Dipper continues reading the later entries, where the alien explorer becomes increasingly desperate to discover the secret. Desperate enough to contact forces more dangerous than Dipper has ever known of.
I have made contact with Nyarlathotep. The ancient creature let me look upon his knowledge, melding our minds together. Through his thoughts, I can see behind the veil of normal existence. I had always wondered if gods and devils were simply the distortions of history. Myths embraced by beings of power and unbendable minds to become truth. But that is not always the case. There are ancient powers worshiped by others. They had begun their rule so long ago that their names and legends have mixed together. But I see the truth now. Two vast powers lie beyond the veil of death. Each with a different promise to those who dwell within. The beings of light are ruled under a king known as Yaltabaoth. He offers bliss in ignorance. The passage of time is unfelt by those loyal to him. The realm that opposes the light has another offering. Vice and pleasure to all who dwell there, ruled by beings whose only law is to not be crossed themselves. They care not if their own servants fight and torture each other for pleasure.
Nyarlathotep has served both realms. He has walked amongst the angels, and he has kept servants in the realm of shadow. Yet he has betrayed them both. The mad trickster has deceived countless allies for simple amusement. Yaltobaoth, Amon, the Star of Morning. He has betrayed everyone after they stopped entertaining him. But fate was kind this day. They mad trickster did not attempt to destroy my mind. I search his knowledge, yet I do not find my answers. This Order of Dragons has evaded even the deadliest mind in the universe. I wonder if I am simply mad. Beings with the same name have sprouted up on other worlds. Countless monsters and little devils claim to be the supreme evil or the creator of all things, yet none have been proven true. Perhaps this is simply a fact of existence. That some words with the same meaning would be claimed by monsters.
"Ugh, get to the point, dead person!" Dipper shouts as he flips through the ancient book. Through technology or ancient magic, the book seems to flip through more pages than it should be able to hold. Random musings on aliens and discussions about theories of the cosmos lie within before Dipper reaches the end.
I will return to my home today. It has been fifty years since I have last seen my wife. I shall return home for another two hundred years before I continue my searches. So many creatures, yet none offer what I need.
The next entry takes place only several months ago. Right before the alien's home planet has burned. Dipper smiles in anticipation of finding what has been discovered.
I found it. I should have stopped looking. It found me. The moment my thoughts knew, it knew. It sees the mind's eye. It is always watching. I have used a spell to blind him. But it knows who I am. It's coming for me. The Order.
Too late. I was too late. It's worse than I ever imagined. There are other powers in the universe besides Paradise and Inferno. Hostile dimensions that crossover with ours to consume entire galaxies and bring them into their universe. Yet there is something that has remained hidden from all others. The Order of the Dragon. It is everywhere. It is a fact of creation. It has been weaved throughout the fabric of the cosmos, slumbering beneath the layers of existence. It is coming for all things. The son of the dragon is an instrument. A simple tool to bring about the end of worlds. Pantheons have been laid to waste. Hundreds of beings, worshipped since the dawn of time have been claimed. Wars between gods that were manipulated into battling each other. It has overseen their downfall. It will destroy us all. The order is alive. I feel its gaze. It will not stop. I must warn those who will listen. I must prevent the war between Paradise and Inferno. They have focused on each other for so long that they are blind to this hidden evil. It will send them against each other and when they are broken and weak, it will claim their realms and all those that dwell within.
Dipper feels what can only be described as a shiver of fear. And now that he knows what he is looking for, he feels it. Something that can see the thoughts of all existence. A presence waiting for the moment to unveil itself. Within his dream world, Dipper cannot be fully detected. But he feels the searching eye. And he knows where it will focus. Dipper grins; he is long past human morality. He has long ago abandoned his desires to help the world. There is only one thing on his mind, and he cares not what it costs to achieve. As he plans to reveal himself to the Order of the Dragon, he feels another summons. Dipper wanders into the area and appears to freeze time.
"Demon!" the skinny, black haired teen shouts.
"Yes! Are we shouting?! I think we're shouting!" Dipper yells back in an obnoxious voice.
"I, um… sorry."
"That's alright. So what do you need help with today?"
"I… I'm kind of having trouble getting a date."
Dipper rolls his eyes.
"Alright. All I need in return is a… a meat bag."
"What?"
"A bag of meat!"
"Um. Okay?"
"Yes. So let's make a deal. Shake on it?" Dipper says as he offers his hand to his victim. The young, scraggily teen gives Dipper his hand. Dipper pulls on the body, ripping the teen out of his own flesh.
"Ha! Get it?! You're the meat bag!" Dipper shouts from within his host.
"What? Give me back my body!"
"Not yet. I need to get you your girlfriend, first!" Dipper says. Dipper drags his host out of the room, slamming his face into the wall as he walks down the hallway. Dipper passes by an interesting sight. A short haired blonde is singing to herself in her room.
"Leave my sister alone!" Dipper's victim shouts hopelessly from the mindscape. Dipper giggles as he moves the body forward towards the sister.
"Hey, bro!" the peppy teen says.
"Hi, sis. I've… I've been needing to confess something."
"What is it?" she asks as she sits down.
"It's just… oh god, this isn't right." the body says in an uncertain tone.
"Hey, come on. I'm here for you." she says.
Dipper puppets the body into sitting down next his victim's sister.
"It's just… for the longest time, I've had… feelings."
"What kind of feelings?"
"…feelings… for you." Dipper says. He makes his host look away in shame, commanding the puppet like a master of ventriloquism.
"Oh... this… Could you please leave? This is… this is messed up. Please go."
"Well, I tried." Dipper says while looking up to his puppet's spirit, who's currently screaming obscenities at the backstabbing trickster. Dipper pilots his rudimentary form out of the room. He purposefully falls down the stairs, which breaks several bones in his puppet's body.
"Boy, they don't make 'em like they used too!" Dipper says while laughing maniacally. The teen's parents shout in panic as their son giggles insanely while stumbling out the door. Dipper uses his puppet and gets in the car as the parents run out after.
"Oh my God, Jerry! Stop, what are you doing?!" the teen's mother shouts.
"Oh, you know. Going for a drive, summoning an ancient demon from beyond the veil of human knowledge, ending all of existence as we know it. Well, bye!"
Dipper attempts to turn the vehicle on manual drive. The futuristic car denies him access, as the body he possesses doesn't have a license for manual driving. Dipper shoots electricity through his puppet's body and into the car, giving him access to the vehicle. Dipper drives the car chaotically through the streets, crashing mindlessly into other vehicles and pedestrians.
Dipper giggles to himself as he makes his way onto the highway. Dipper drifts onto the shoulder, ignoring the comments from the car about his unsafe driving and overriding its attempts at stopping itself. Dipper keeps driving until he's far away from any signs of civilization. He comes upon miles and miles of farm land.
"Perfect."
Dipper makes a sharp turn into the fields. He runs through the crops, paving down the stalks of corn until he creates a circle. Dipper stops the car in the middle of the field. His puppet shambles out of the car and moves towards the front of the vehicle. Dipper commands the body into biting a hole in his wrist, severing the artery. Dipper uses the body's blood to draw arcane symbols onto the hood of the car, and then he sits on the hood as his puppet begins to die.
"I speak your name. Lord of the Order of the Dragon. Come forth." Dipper's host whispers, attempting to goad the strange being that rules from the shadows out into the light. The sky begins to turn dark as a storm appears from nowhere. Corrosive blood rains from the heavens before forming into a shape before Dipper. The ancient blood demon stands before its summoner. The being recognizes the lowly dream demon. He's seen the thing before, dwelling in Oregon. The thing had watched the encounter with the alien, and now the dream demon's puppet holds the ancient book in its hands. The arrogant dominative force would never have suspected that the alien would leave such an important item in the hands of a weak entity.
"Hello, there." Dipper says in an arrogant voice. The creature sees through the puppet and drags Dipper out, holding the young demon in place.
"This is a bit uncomfortable." Dipper says in a strained voice.
"What is your purpose?"
"I want to make a deal. From one broker to another." Dipper says proudly, not caring that he could be shattered into thousands of pieces or consumed by the entity.
"You know who I am." the creature says.
"Not really who. But I know what you've made. I must admit, it is a work of art. Subtle, delicate, yet powerful enough to overthrow the greatest pantheons. Beautiful."
Dipper feels the creature's hold lessen. The being is curious.
"I know what it is you do. You have made vampires. You have perfected their design. You have made the ultimate warrior, capable of devouring the souls of entire worlds. Taking in power, which in turn gives you power."
Dipper feels the force holding him in place fade completely.
"You desire my power." the entity states.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"The same reason you give it out. I must admit, your goals had me perplexed for a while. Why go through all this trouble? For fun? No, you've been at it far too long. Other creatures would have become bored by now. To build an empire? Sort of, but not quite."
"I do not desire an empire."
"I know. You want so much more. You want the empire! All things, bowing to your supreme order. How much longer until all other gods fall? You have been working for quite some time. Although those rude deities keep sprouting up." Dipper says.
"Soon." the creature replies. Dipper smiles sadistically.
"Why should I not destroy you?"
"Because I want to burn down the walls of the worlds. I want to remove the veil. Every little constriction. All the mysteries. All of the gods, brought down and bowing before your magnificence. I am your soldier." Dipper says.
The being splits into mist and encircles Dipper. The demon finds himself suffocated by the force, nearly wondering if instead of being granted power, the Master of the Order would destroy him. But then the blood dissipates.
Dipper can feel that, for the first time in hundreds of years, he has his own body back. Not a rudimentary image of how he viewed himself, but his true form. He looks around as the blood pulls back. A dark landscape appears before him. Dipper looks around in confusion as the blood unfolds, revealing the true form of the Order of the Dragon. Trillions and trillions of lost spirits taken from different worlds going back to the beginning of creation, all for the power of an ancient god. Billions of buildings and landscapes from different worlds and different times appear around Dipper.
And before him lies a staircase of stone. Dipper looks up to see his new master. A burning star, greater than all of the fragments of worlds around him, dwells above. Within the bright center lies a void, devouring all light and creating the appearance of a burning eye. Dipper begins walking up the steps. He seems to walk for an eternity as the burning star begins to stretch out to all sides of view. Dipper continues his nigh endless march as the blackness spreads out, encompassing Dipper within the infinite abyss. Yet Dipper eventually manages to reach the top, and he finds a solitary creature. Before Dipper stands a dark beast clad in crimson armor. The four legged monster approaches Dipper. Upon its waist are two deformed dragon heads with their mouths hanging open, gasping and snarling and crowned with horns. And the creature's upper body is that of a crimson haired, blood covered angel with a face covered by black armor. Black wings stretch forth from the centaur-like monster's back.
"My lord." Dipper says while giving a bow. The creature brings its left hand up to its mouth and tears in, dropping blood onto the stone as an offering.
"Drink." The demon demands. Dipper falls to his legs and bows down. Dipper begins lapping up the blood like a loyal dog. He drinks his fill, a silent oath binding him to his new master. Dipper feels his body begin to burn. It feels like a furnace. Dipper falls back and screams in agony as his new power overwhelms him. Dipper's veins course with unholy blood as his skin turns pale white. Dipper's eyes bulge as he grabs his throat in pain. He feels his teeth begin to stretch and grow, becoming sharp, white daggers. His heart burns with thirst for blood. His eyes scorch as they turn from yellow and black into a dark, burning red. Dipper feels the power of the Order burn within his soul. He begins laughing uncontrollably as crimson tears pour down his face, fully realizing what he has done.
"Whom do you serve?" Dipper's new king asks.
"The Order of Dracul." Dipper says in a hoarse voice.
"And forever more. You shall cover your world in shadow. You shall devour the spirits of those upon it. They shall dwell here forever. These are your orders."
"Yes, my master."
Dipper awakens in the field. It is night now. His host lies dead on the hood of the abandoned car. And Dipper feels the earth again from his own body, now transformed into something greater than he ever was before.
"YES!" Dipper yells victoriously. He laughs maniacally at the rush of power flowing through his veins. He transforms his body into a dark wolf. He howls into the sky, scaring away flocks of birds and insects. He shifts again; he transforms his body into that of a great bat, whose wings stretch out and flap with the might of a hurricane that flattens the fields and sends the car flying. He then dissipates into a cloud of mist and flies up. Dipper tests his new power by concentrating on the mind of a small creature. He sees a farm pig sleeping peacefully. Dipper pierces into the mind of the lowly creature and takes control. He forces the small animal to move and dance about its filthy surroundings. And then he burns the mind of the pig, destroying the pitiful animal's sanity. Finally, Dipper returns to the ground. He reforms into his body, a dark figure with burning red eyes. He stumbles back through the clearing onto the road. He glares at the oncoming lights of a car. The vehicle doesn't stop in time and crashes into Dipper, sending the pale vampire flying through the air. The car screeches to a halt and begins to dial emergency services, knowing it has run over a pedestrian. The vehicle's owners get out of the car and run to aid the person they hit. Yet they freeze in place; mad laughter echoes from the bloody, mangled form. Dipper rises to his feet as his body shambles towards his victims.
"I… am so… thirsty." Dipper says in a calm, harsh voice. The couple screams in terror as Dipper flies towards them, ready for a dark feast. He is starving; he chews and tears into the flesh. He swallows whole chunks of skin, meat, and bone in one gulp. He bites down on the faces of his victims until their screams end as he devours their brains. He moves down, taking in chunks of meat and consuming them whole. He feels the pieces of flesh boil and melt into liquid as it becomes a part of him. He feels the fire of the couples' souls added to his own dark form, giving him more power. Once Dipper has devoured every last piece of their body, he walks over and sits on the hood of their car. After fifteen minutes an emergency helicopter flies down and lands in the road. Dipper licks his lips in anticipation as the paramedics run up to the vehicle. A built in siren begins beeping in the vehicle.
"Warning. A murder has occurred." the car says.
"What?" one of the paramedics says.
"A murder has occurred."
"What? What happened?" the paramedic asks Dipper. The vehicle believes it has been asked.
"Mr. and Mrs. Johansson have been murdered." the vehicle says. Dipper giggles psychotically as blood drips down his mouth. The paramedics realize far too late what has occurred. Dipper lunges at them. His body is propelled by a dark force as he flies towards his next victims. He chews into the neck of one of the paramedics as the other flees back to the helicopter. Dipper begins devouring his prey in ravenous lunacy as the pilot begins to take off and flee. Dipper glares in manic glee as the vehicle rises into the air and flies off.
"Oh… oh god." the medic says. He turns over and hurls out of the side of the helicopter. He sits back into his seat as he begins to sob.
"Oh no. Oh Fuck!" the pilot screams. The medic looks up, and screams in terror. A dread spirit on wings waits before them, glowing and pulsing with dark powers. The helicopter flies straight through, smashing into the winged humanoid and shredding it with the helicopter's blades. They seem to have killed the dark beast. The medic takes a deep breath as he cries. But the blood begins moving down into the vehicle. The tainted blood crawls across the ceiling as it comes into the helicopter. The medic looks up and screams as the blood lunges for him. It pours down the medic's throat, suffocating and choking him. The medic flails about and gurgles in agony before he explodes into red mist. The pilot panics and loses control of the helicopter, sending it careening towards the ground and crashing into the fields below.
"Hello? Hello?" a voice from the pilot's radio says. The dark figure within the helicopter walks over to the radio.
"Hello? Jeff, you there?" the voice on the other end asks worriedly.
"Jeff isn't here right now. Leave a message after the beep. Beep." Dipper says. He sinks his fangs into the dying pilot as the radioman yells for an answer. After Dipper finishes his drink, he finds the phone in the pilot's pocket. He dials the number to his handler at the government agency. A handler who had now lost control of the leash.
"Hello, Gregory Smith speaking."
Instead of responding, Dipper begins laughing. He laughs triumphantly into the phone, knowing that he has become unstoppable.
"Who the hell is this?! Is this some kind of sick prank?!" Smith asks. Dipper stops laughing and clears his throat.
"Hello there, Mr. Greg."
"What?! Dipper?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Do not dare call me by that name. It will give you no more power over me."
"What the hell have you done?"
"I am Thamiezel. I am the son of the dragon. And your world shall be bathed in fire." he says. He feels his humanity slipping away beneath the tide of power. He was no longer human; he was a vampire of the Order, ancient and supreme.
"This world shall be mine." the demon says.