(Woods near Gravity Falls)
'Thwarted, thwarted, THWARTED!'
Bill watched helplessly as his spell broke apart before his very eye. He had worked so hard for this moment. He had been planning, scheming, lying, and betraying since before the pyramids had been erected in his figure. All for this...spell. But it wasn't just a spell. It was an idea. His idea. Where he would change the world into a chaotic paradise. And for a second he had seen that paradise…and now he would never let it go. Taking hold of the volatile magic he summoned every vestige of his demonic power. He was an immortal being and he would not be foiled by a prepubescent child.
Bill silently noted the yells of that very same child behind him, but he took no care. Fixing the damage took all of his concentration. Fixing the spell was going frustratingly slowly. He had used more than half his power before he saw any signs that he was succeeding. Finally he felt a sense of elation as the cracks began to mend because of his ministrations. However his happiness was short lived. Without warning the spell began to shake more intensely than ever before as bigger and larger cracks appeared throughout its foundation.
"Oh no. No no no no!" Bill screamed in his anguish as he lost control of his spell and was flung away by the resulting explosion. Trees toppled and the ground shattered as the spell gave off its demonic power. Bill being very close the epicenter explosion was flung hundreds of yards through branches, leaves, and pines until he found himself pierced and hanging on the branch of a very large redwood tree. The impaled demon groaned as the failed spell had caused him to feel pain for the first time in a very long time. His mind was slipping into despair at the loss of his entire life's work, but his survival instincts were keeping him together for the time being. 'Think Bill think. You aren't going to last very long hanging off this tree.' Looking around to gain his bearings he saw to his surprise that the unconscious body of Dipper Pines laying nearby. Bill's tired expression turned into a cruel smirk as he thought, 'Pine Tree, you have taken everything from me, and now I will take from you.'
Yanking himself off the branch he jumped into the boy's mind.
(Gravity Falls Water tower)
Mabel sighed as she fixed her drooping hand once again. She'd been waiting here on the water tower with a hand mirror reflecting the sunlight into a random part of the forest ever since Dipper had told her to do so. Her arm hurt from holding the mirror up for so long, but the real source of her off mood was her separation with Dipper. Ever since he'd left she'd felt this weird sinking feeling in her stomach that wouldn't go away. Her feelings must have shown up on her face as Wendy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Mabel. Dipper's out there kicking that stupid triangle where it hurts," Wendy told her with confidence.
Mabel moved to turn around and smile at her, but she never got to it. A fiery explosion occurred in the forest where she'd been reflecting the sunlight to. As it increased in size it increasingly resembled the muffin that Robbie had drawn behind them.
"Wha-" Wendy managed to say before the force from the explosion lifted them both off their feet. Mabel was slammed into the Water tower and slid to the floor slowly, but Wendy was not as fortunate. The force of the explosion had knocked her over the railing, but with skills gained from tree climbing she grabbed onto the railing at the last moment and braced herself as the water tower shook precariously.
Mabel groaned and put both hands on her head. When she opened she gasped as she saw her friend hanging for her life. Rushing over she helped lift Wendy over and they both fell on the ground breathing heavily.
"What the heck was that," Mabel asked when the shaking stopped.
"I have no idea," Wendy replied as she tried to get over the fact that she almost died. A thought crossed her mind and she suddenly gasped, "Dipper!" Mabel looked at her confused, but with a hint of worry. "That's where Dipper was heading. He might've been caught in the explosion," Wendy exclaimed.
Mabel felt sick to her stomach at the thought of her brother being inside the rising plume of smoke coming from the forest.
(Back in the woods)
Dipper screamed as he was yanked into consciousness. He had a hard time remembering what had happened. He remembered flying through the air, seeing Bill in his mind, and waking up here. Grabbing his head he wailed in agony as his body began to convulse violently. 'Whatever Bill did couldn't have been good.' Through his pain he eventually noticed Bill staring at him from a few feet away. He seemed to be in no better shape than Dipper felt. Bill had cracks all over his triangular form and gaping hole in his center all of which were spewing a ridiculous amount of smoke.
The dream demon seemed to be going through multiple emotions at the same time. Going through surprise, rage, and even fear it settled on an expression that only someone who lived as long as time as Bill could give. The tired demon sighed and noticed that he had gained the attention of the one he hated the most. His face was one of sorrowful acceptance as he began, "Well Pine Tree, it looks like you did it. You stopped me, a being older than human civilization, from accomplishing my greatest and grandest goal, creating perfection." He looked as if waiting for a response, but Dipper in his convulsions was barely able to think straight much less talk. Continuing he said, "You took everything from me...and in return I have given you everything. It'll be up to you decide which one of us got the better end of the deal." He looked up into the sky and whispered "Hey so which one is was more of a demon in the end?" Even though it had been whispered Dipper still heard it clearly and for reasons he couldn't explain he felt a pang of regret for the talking triangle that had dreamed to change the world. To his shock Bill Cipher crumbled into dust as a mysterious wind blew his remains away. The absence of Bill only caused his convulsions to grow worse and he moaned until he once again lost consciousness.
When Dipper next woke up he found that most of the pain had disappeared. In fact he didn't even feel what he was laying on. Opening his eyes with some efforts he found himself staring at the ground. For a few seconds he looked dully at the grass below before realizing, to his alarm that he was floating two feet above the ground. He quickly brought his hands to cover his face as he waited for the impact to occur. When the impacted didn't come he parted his hands and saw that he was floating still in the air. He looked around and found no supports holding him up. 'I'm just floating.' He quickly found the space between him and the ground to be oddly disturbing. He righted his position and lowered his feet to the ground...only for his feet to pass right through. "Aaah," Dipper screamed in shock. He quickly pulled his feet out of the ground and went back to floating at his original height. For some reason going through the floor disturbed him much more. With his heightened sense of perception Dipper realized that everything around him was now gray instead of the vibrant oranges and reds that come with fall and late summer. 'Oh I must be in the Dreamscape,' concluded Dipper.
He suddenly turned around as he heard the noise that had caused him to wake up. It was quiet, but he could barely make out his sister's voice calling his name. Needing no other sign he yelled out, "Mabel" hoping she would hear her. It wasn't long until he heard the sound of several footsteps running. Coming around a tree, in full color, was Mabel followed by his friends who for some reason were grey like the Dreamscape around them.
Mabel stopped abruptly looking shocked as she saw her brother floating in the air. Dipper looked different. He wasn't wearing his own clothes, but had a suit on with a hat that was floating off his head. Behind him she noticed two bat-like wings on his back. His most striking feature however was that his entire being was now black with certain parts glowing yellow especially his eyes. The rest of the gang came to stop right next to her. When she didn't move they started looking around. After a few seconds Mabel yelled, "Dipper is that you?"
"Of course it is Mabel. Why are we in the Dreamscape?" Mabel tensed at his question and looked at him strangely.
After a long moment Mabel gathered her breath to answer, "This isn't the Dreamscape."
"Wha- but how! Just look at me I'm floating," Dipper exclaimed quickly. He began to feel panic as wave of inexplicable frustration and anger struck him. 'What's going on?'
Wendy, Soos, and Grunkle Stan followed her eyes, but saw nothing. Looking at his employees he gave them a confused stare to which they only shrugged. Creeping forward he passed a fallen tree and gasped at what he found. "Everybody stop," Grunkle Stan yelled with a commanding voice. Everyone's eyes turned to the old man as he said, "Don't come any closer Mabel. Wendy take her back to the van." Soos' face was stricken while Wendy's face looked equally pained. Wendy slowly placed a hand on Mabel's shoulder once more.
Drawn from his thoughts and suddenly very curious of what it was his grand uncle was crouched over Dipper crept forward only to find himself looking back at his floating. His eyes stared back at almost in peace even though the rest of his face seemed to be in anguish. His hat was missing and the rest of his clothes were torn up under the tree that had fallen on his body. 'What? Is that me, but how can that be me? When I'm floating up…' Dipper's thoughts ground to a halt as he came to a horrid conclusion. 'No! That's impossible. This can't be right. What did Bill do to me?' Suddenly Dipper was gripped with the same headache from before. He grabbed his head and screamed loudly, but only gained a reaction from Mabel as the rest of his friends continued to ignore him.
"Dipper! Dipper what's wrong?" Mabel yelled frantically as she saw her twin in distress. She sprinted forward running out of Wendy's reach before she could stop her. She ran past Dan who had a horrified look on his face. She stopped directly in front of Dipper when he brought up his left hand to push her away. To their shock the hand went right through their shoulder. Pulling her eyes away she came upon an even more horrifying sight. There before her was her twin trapped under a tree looking straight ahead with lifeless eyes. Looking back at the Dipper floating before her something clicked in her head. Without warning she let a high pitched wail in anguish that echoed all through the woods. After all the air left her lungs she promptly fainted just as Wendy caught her.
(2 hours later)
Dipper stared quietly with eyes as lifeless as the ones on his own dead body. It surprised him how quickly he had come to accept his death. Once he had finally calmed down he'd found that Mabel had wailing frantically as she slammed her hand into the chest of Dipper's dead body over and over again. She had cried over his body in varying volumes for nearly ten minutes. She almost seemed to calm down, but then she would once again be struck by the reality of the situation and be sent into another fit of tears. When she had finally lost the strength to continue she just grabbed Dipper's body and held him close as the tears continued drip from her face.
Ever since he had taken hold of his own swirling emotions he had been trying to calm her sister down. He might've just stayed there floating on self-pity for hours, but hearing his sister in a state of distress greater than his own had allowed to set aside his own panicky feelings for the time being. However to his dismay Mabel had shunned all his efforts to comfort her. When he had tried to place a hand on her shoulder she had recoiled away from him with fear her in her eyes. After that she had ignored all his pleas and cries for her attention. He might've thought that she too could no longer notice him if it weren't for the occasional almost involuntary glances she gave him from time to time.
Meanwhile Soos and Stan had been trying their best to separate Mabel from Dipper's corpse, but Mabel was about as receptive to their placating words as she was to the Dipper that floated above her. She didn't let go even let go of Dipper's body when the stress from her brother's death caused her leave consciousness once again. The paramedics that had been called by Wendy had to wrench the corpse away from Mabel before placing it on a stretcher. After a quick check they arrived to the conclusion that Dipper was in fact dead. Gruncle Stan lightly rubbed Mabel's head, happy that she hadn't been awake to hear that. Picking the girl up he carried her back to the Stanley Mobile with his two employees.
Dipper after a while shook himself from his depressed mood choosing to follow his friends back to the Mystery Shack instead of spending the night in the morgue floating over his dead body. As he tried to stay in the car he was reminded once again of his lack of corporeal form. While keeping himself inside car had been difficult he found no such challenge in keeping up with the speed of the car. At one point Stan had stopped the car at Soos' request. Soos had promptly left the car to throw up behind a tree. Stan patted his back leading him back to the car and they took off once more.
(The Mystery Shack)
Stan finally pulled up in front of the Mystery Shack after having dropped Wendy and Soos at their homes. He'd told them they didn't have to come to work tomorrow, but he suspected they'd come anyway. Looking at the backseat he was relieved to see that Mabel was still asleep. Picking her up slowly he carried her inside and up to her room as gently as possible. As he switched on the lights to the room winced when he saw Dipper's things left the way he had left them this morning. For a few moments he considered taking down the stuff, but immediately decided not to. He didn't want Mabel to dwell on it, but putting Dipper's stuff away so soon might cause Mabel to freak out more than she already has. He tucked Mabel in and sat down on the bed across the room. The photos of creatures he'd seen in Gravity Falls hung all around. Stan grinned in a short moment of pride for his nephew. The boy had uncovered so many of Gravity Falls' secrets, even ones he himself hadn't found. He'd been so close to finding out the truth at an age that was several times younger than Stan's age when he had discovered the secret of the journals. As the moment passed Stan got up quietly and walked out of the room. He had a phone call to make.
(Dipper)
As Stan left the room Dipper floated down to his own bed. Dipper sighed as he passed slightly through the covers instead of making a body shaped depression on them. Correcting himself he floated on top of the bed even though it didn't make him any more comfortable. He'd been thinking about his death since it occurred and now his mind just felt tired. He closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep, but he didn't know if a ghost could do that or even if they got tired. After nothing changed for ten minutes he gave an annoyed huff and floated out their window. He decided on sitting down at his favorite part of the roof. He wanted a soda from the freezer, but he knew trying would just ruin his mood more.
Placing the negative thoughts aside he focused on the reason he came out here in the first place. All around the late summer night was in full swing. All sorts of nocturnal birds and bats were flying through the woods. Tiny animals that hid away from the terrifying predators of the day came out to find food for themselves as they took comfort in the darkness. The gentlest of breezes calmly swayed the leaves on the trees as if swaying an infant. Fireflies took flight lighting up the forest in their own display. When he was younger he had loved to frolic in the darkness with his sister as they tried to capture these beacons of light. Noting these yellow flashes of light he was startled when he realized he had regained his ability to see more than just black and white. The intellectual part of him questioned why it had been gone in the first place, but he quickly put that thought in the back of his head. Mother Nature had painted a particularly beautiful scene for him as if to make up for him dying and he would enjoy every part of it. Leaning his head back he laid at a sharp enough of angle to not flow through the wood. He closed his eyes basking in the moonlight and imagining the breeze blow through his hair and clothes softly.