Sometimes there's a kid wandering around. He'd show up out of nowhere and walk around as if he knew the place by heart, and by the time Wirt was sure the boy would get lost, he'd disappear. And while stepping in and out of The Unknown at will was a strange ability to begin with, the kid walked with a unique aura clinging to him. He held no sense of hopelessness whatsoever, and strangely, there was no overwhelming optimism accompanying him either, as there was within Greg.
There was no doubt this kid was extraordinary.
Wirt only watched him from afar. It wasn't really his choice; the kid somehow managed to stay quite a distance away from Wirt, as if he knew he was there, lurking in the shadows. Or maybe he just preferred to stay in the light.
Sometimes the kid stayed for days without rest, exploring the ever-changing world of The Unknown. Other times, he appeared for just a few hours at a time, suddenly leaving as if it surprised even himself.
Wirt would confront the boy, if he were even able to. He had tried to approach the kid multiple times before, but every single time he would disappear before Wirt could get too close.
What a peculiar kid Wirt was taking an interest in.
Wirt gripped the handle of the lantern tightly as his cape rustled in the wind. He's back, whispered a voice in the back of Wirt's mind. He located the boy in the forest not far from Auntie Whispers' house. He quickly flew over and hid behind some trees, observing him from the shadows once again.
Wirt pretended not to know the real reason why he was so curious about who this kid was. He couldn't blame himself for being impressed with the kid's abilities, but the fact that he couldn't even manage to get close to the guy made him even more engrossed in the situation. Still, the part that he didn't want to admit was that even though he knew almost nothing about the kid, something about him reminded Wirt of himself. However, he wasn't exactly sure what.
Wirt looked over at the kid. He was inspecting an Edelwood tree a number of paces away, completely occupied with studying the texture and appearance – and taste? – of the bark. Wirt glanced down at his lightless lantern, wondering for the millionth time why he never relit it with the fuel of the Edelwood.
"Hey, Antler-Head!"
Wirt quickly looked up and saw that the kid now stood directly in front of him, a large grin on his face. He wore a casual black suit with a bow tie, and his eyes glowed an unsettling yellow with slit cat-like pupils. He couldn't have been older than fourteen.
"Antler-Head?" Wirt echoed, already regretting his previous thoughts on the kid. "These are Edelwood branches," he corrected, pulling up a hand to the base of one of the branches. "Who are you? Are you even human?"
The kid hummed, taking time to think. "You can call me Bipper."
"Bipper? Did you make that up on the spot?" Wirt raised an eyebrow. This kid was undoubtedly weird.
"That name was given to me by a fallen star some time ago," he said dryly, his eyes scanning Wirt's body.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by that." Wirt responded.
Bipper's eyes locked on Wirt's lifeless lantern. "Oh, similar to your extinguished light, there." He nodded towards the lantern in Wirt's hand.
Wirt lifted the lantern and gazed inside, keeping his expression emotionless.
"We're not that different, you and I," Bipper commented, summoning a cane seemingly out of thin air. He leaned on the cane closer to Wirt. "Y'know, this is the only place in the entire multiverse that I can't see into from the outside. I have to actually be here to look around, re-watch the past…." He grinned at Wirt knowingly, then continued, "normally I most likely wouldn't have been able to get in here, but thankfully I've got access to a poor, hopeless soul." He tapped his head with his finger.
This kid only brought up more questions for Wirt. He was more interesting than he could have ever imagined, but not to mention more annoying. At this point, Wirt was an expert at keeping a cool facade, so if he could cooperate, he would hopefully get some answers out of him.
"Are you some sort of omniscient being? Something is telling me that you know more about me than I do you."
"I do know more about you," Bipper responded. "Do you know how long it's been since you made that deal?"
"Time ill-suited in The Unknown – that fact is irrelevant."
"Two years, Pilgrim!" Bipper exclaimed, ignoring his statement. "It's been two years since you sacrificed everything for your sibling, and it's been two years since ole Dipper here sacrificed everything for his sibling. It didn't seem to work for either of you, though," Bipper added. "How long does it feel like, Pine Cone? Does it feel more recent than that? Or much longer ago?"
Wirt paused. "I can't say," he finally said, "it feels like both."
"You and I alike," Bipper said. "Things didn't turn out so well for either of us."
A silence filled the air between the two.
"I can't help but be curious about this 'Dipper' kid you appear to be possessing," Wirt finally said, glancing at Bipper's body. "Tell me, Bipper, what happened that led you to this situation?"
Bipper stared at Wirt for a moment before speaking, "I suppose it's only fair that I share my mysterious and tragic backstory with you, since I already took a look at look at yours." Bipper said with a smirk. "Alright, well it starts with Dipper Pines. He was an awkward, nerdy, and sweaty preteen boy, like how you used to be!"
"Get to the point," Wirt dismissed the comment.
"Yeesh, okay," Bipper continued, "it started with this guy here and his stupid, overwhelming desire to protect his family. I think it's a pointless and energy-consuming trait, but he's a different person than I am, so I can't exactly say anything – but that won't stop me. Anyways, Dipper was the type of guy to go running headfirst into trouble, even if he didn't realize he was doing it. He was also a loner. He was a loser with no friends, and when he gained the trust and friendship of someone extremely dangerous, there came a point where his twin sister, Mabel, became worried and came to me for help. I gave her the help she needed all right, but it was only really to my benefit. Both she and Dipper – not to mention their uncle – were remarkably upset with the one person I crossed off of my list. Who would have known? Oh wait, I did!" Bipper laughed.
"Anyways, that stirred up a lot of drama: emotional breakdowns, memory wiping, deadly fights, the impending apocalypse, yaddah yaddah. Now, I'm the type of guy that can predict almost all outcomes of every possible situation in every dimension and universe. However, this was such a vital moment in all of eternity, I was unable to see correctly. You know, a whole merging of the multiverses situation. I had to make a choice without knowing where it would take me. However, those Pines were a part of my choice – and Dipper was determined to get rid of me to protect Mabel. I offered him the only deal that would appeal to him – I could permanently merge our bodies together, and he would be able to hold me back internally, therefor keeping his sister safe from me. He, of course, agreed to that, and I, of course, was able to gain full control of his body."
"Hm, that's rather extensive." Wirt said in a monotone voice. Bipper's story lacked specifics and only sort-of made sense without the context, but it did interest Wirt quite a bit. He had to admit; it was something that he would love to know more about. "So where is Dipper now?"
"Dipper?" Bipper hummed. "Oh yeah! I do believe he's in here somewhere. After all, I wouldn't have been able to get here without a lost, wayward soul." He knocked on his skull with his knuckles and winked.
Wirt grimaced. Something about that situation didn't seem quite right. However, he went on. "And his sister?"
"I was able to get ahold of her once I gained control of this body. She might have ended up here, actually. Happen to remember an energetic girl wearing a sweater?"
"I wouldn't know, there's too many souls to count," Wirt replied, "I just need enough to stay alive."
Bipper let out an irritating, cackling laugh. "I see there's a good amount of Beast within you! Do you see the similarities between you and I, Mr. Pushover?"
Wirt huffed. "I'm not a pushover, but yes. I see what you mean." Wirt turned and looked out at the forest. "I made a deal with the Beast to save Greg. Even though the Woodsman confirmed that the Edelwood transformation was irreversible once a soul was claimed, and could only be stopped by the Beast himself, to this day I still doubt that fact. But yes, we are alike because I agreed to let the Beast to relocate his soul into myself. When that happened, I blacked out, and I can only assume that the Beast took full control before our souls were combined. By the time I woke up, Greg was gone. I'm not exactly sure what happened to him. I can only say that I'm grateful for being able to contain the bad intensions of the Beast, but even that is apart of me now. Unlike you, there aren't two separate souls inside of my body. Our souls were merged into one, and we are now one whole being. One cannot overpower the other, as you did with that Pines kid." Wirt spat out.
Bipper crossed his arms. "I didn't have the ability to foresee any outcomes. And I only did what would benefit myself. I couldn't care less about who this body belongs to." Bipper narrowed his eyes.
"There's still a soul in there." Wirt countered, towering over Bipper, his eyes pupils turning red and eyes glowing yellow and blue. The scene around them seemed to darken, light only shining from Wirt's beastly eyes.
Bipper took a step back and held his arms out in defense. "You mean another soul for you to consume?"
Wirt stopped and exhaled sharply, returning to his normal position.
"You have lots of potential, Wood-kid," Bipper commented, adjusting his bow tie.
Wirt glared at him. "You never did tell me who you were, you know. You gave me a general, yet interesting backstory, but you never explained to me who you really are, or why you're here talking to me."
Bipper paused, looking up at Wirt with hooded eyelids. "You're very powerful, Beast. More powerful than you'd like to think. I wouldn't have been able to learn about you, or even know of your existence outside of this purgatory. You've hidden this place extremely well. I'm impressed!"
"You're avoiding the questions." Wirt said in a monotonous voice.
"It's what I do best," Bipper responded with a deadly grin.
"Get back on track." Wirt commanded in a deep voice, eyes glowing once again.
"Yeesh, alright," Bipper straightened up, "I came here because I have a suggestion to make."
"And your suggestion is?"
"That we team up."
Wirt stared at Bipper with his mouth slightly open, the words I honestly can't believe you pained on his face. Without even responding, Wirt turned around, lifted a foot off the ground, and levitated away from Bipper. Whatever interest he had left in the guy had just disappeared.
"Hey, hey!" Bipper called from behind. Wirt ignored him and kept flying away.
Suddenly, Bipper appeared in front of Wirt, casually lounging in the air. Wirt abruptly stopped as to not collide with the demon.
"Give me a chance, Lantern-Bearer," Bipper drawled, carefully floating back onto the ground. "You haven't even heard the details."
"I don't need to hear the details," Wirt objected, "I'm not interested in 'teaming up.' "
"Are you sure?" Bipper asked. "Don't you want your life back, Wirt? We might be able to help each other, here."
Wirt paused. He sighed and met Bipper's gaze. "Go on." He said begrudgingly.
Bipper grinned and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Here's what I'm thinking – I help separate your soul from the Beast's, and you help me get out of Dipper Pines' body. With the right power and energy, we might be able to do what the other cannot."
Wirt turned away and looked back out at the wood. "I don't know what to say to you, Bipper. While that's a tempting offer, I don't think such a thing is possible."
"And you're not willing to try?"
Wirt didn't answer.
"What if I told you," Bipper started, "that I could find out what happened to your brother."
Wirt stopped. For the longest time he assumed that the Beast consumed Greg when he first took control. It was the most likely option, but then again, Wirt didn't know where his brother went. Perhaps the Beast put Greg's soul in the lantern – the lantern Wirt let go out. Or maybe the Beast could have taken control to send Greg back, and could only do it while their souls were still separate. Though Wirt doubted that, he still wanted to hold on to that bit of hope. Maybe Greg was all right. Bipper would know, right? Was the risk worth it?
Bipper held out his hand, which burst into bright blue flames. "Want to make a deal? Come on, I know you want to," Bipper sang.
Wirt groaned internally. Was there anything else to lose?
He took a deep breath. "Okay." A darkness surrounded Wirt's hand as he held it out to agree to the deal, and a white glow surrounded their joined hands.
"You never did tell me your name," Wirt reminded Bipper in a low voice.
Bipper laughed. "The name's Bill Cipher."
Wirt stared into the demon's eyes. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, but he couldn't see how things could get any worse. Plus, this kid seemed to have a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
Like the Beast, Wirt was naturally curious.