Something tells me I'm going to get a lot of yelling in my inbox for this...
So, ah, if you guys follow me on Tumblr (crossroadsdimension ...not that I'm self-plugging or anything, just letting you guys know), last April or May I came up with a...rather horribly angsty AU idea.
Basically, the Pines don't beat Bill in the Weirdmageddon finale. Instead...well, things get worse. A lot worse. Hence why I'm rating this whole thing M because there are Things That Happen in later chapters that Happen Repeatedly and I'm not about to rate those chapters separately from the rest of the story.
...this is going to be a doozy.
Chapter 1 – What makes a Soul?
This was not how things were supposed to go.
The Zodiac should have done something, but he and Stanley had to get into a fight and now look at how things had ended up.
"Bill, leave them alone!" Ford struggled against the bonds that kept his arms strapped to his sides, desperately trying to free himself in an attempt to keep Bill from doing who-knew-what to Dipper and Mabel.
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU?" Bill turned his eye to Ford as he telekinetically raised up Dipper and Mable into the air with one hand. "SHEESH, YOU PINES THINK THAT YOU'RE SO HIGH AND MIGHTY – IT'S A WONDER THAT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BROUGHT DOWN A PEG YET!"
The triangle motioned almost lazily with his other hand, and the glowing red energy coils that were keeping Ford and Stan suspended in the air abruptly transformed into glowing blue chains that attached themselves to the old men's necks and arms.
Ford tried to hold back a wince as the cuffs chafed against the electrical burns that were already there.
"Grunkle Ford/Stan!"
The niblings' cries sent chills down Ford's spine as he looked over at them in alarm and terror as Bill held them in the air in front of him, scrutinizing the younger twins like they were a couple of useless trinkets from the Mystery Shack.
"Kids!" Ford strained against the chains, gritting his teeth against the pain.
"Leave 'em alone ya stupid triangle!" Stan roared as he shook his own chains to Ford's left.
Bill glanced over at the two old men for a moment, then snorted. "DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU, EITHER? YOU'VE LOST, FEZ! ANY CHANCE YOU HAD OF BEATING ME WENT UP IN SMOKE WHEN YOU AND SIXER DECIDED THAT A FIGHT WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ZODIAC!"
Stan and Ford winced at that, their struggling faltering at the reminder.
"AND, SINCE YOU FOUR HAVE BEEN MORE OF A THORN IN MY SIDE THAN ANYONE ELSE ON THE WHEEL, I'VE GOT SOMETHING SPECIAL IN MIND FOR YOU."
Bill snapped his fingers, and Mabel and Dipper were quickly chained up to Ford's right, legs dangling freely.
Ford felt a feeling of dread settle in his gut. "Special" in Bill's dictionary meant "painful beyond belief" for everyone except for the dream demon. The color started to drain from his face, but he quickly shook his head and steeled himself. He had to be strong. He had faced Bill's brand of torture before; this wasn't something that was new to him.
Whatever it was that Bill was going to throw at them, he was determined to survive it and – hopefully – devise a way to get Dipper and Mabel out of harm's way as soon as possible.
"NOW, WHICH ONE OF YOU TO START WITH…." Bill hovered in front of the four Pines.
"Wh-what are you going to do to us?" Dipper asked. He sounded like he was trying to be brave, but the squeak in his voice gave away his fear.
"JOINING YOUR FRIENDS AS DECORATIONS WOULD BE FAR TOO EASY."
Ford's eyes moved up to where the other members of the Zodiac now hung, their screams of terror immortalized for the rest of time. He quickly averted his eyes and went back to glaring at Bill.
"AND I DO HAVE PLANS FOR THE FOUR OF YOU WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT." Bill tapped at the bricks below his eye thoughtfully. "SAY, FORDSY. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE THE INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A SOUL?"
Ford blinked – he hadn't been expecting the question. He frowned. "Something tells me you already know the answer."
"WELL, YEAH, DUH! BUT YOU CAN EXPLAIN IT FOR YOUR FAMILY – I'M DONE GIVING YOU FREEBIES."
Ford's frown turned into a scowl, and he sighed irritably. "Intelligence, Emotion, and Willpower. Those are the three things that make up a soul, according to what I've learned in some dimensions."
"DING DING DING! GIVE THE SMARTY-PANTS A SCREAMING HEAD FOR A PRIZE!"
The head that had appeared in the Mindscape before – as a joke for Ford's achievements decades in the past – materialized in front of him now. He winced back as the thing started shrieking and watched as it fell to the floor of the Fearamid.
"EEEEEEEE-"
Splat.
Bill stared down at the red spot on the floor for a moment before shrugging and snapping his fingers, cleaning up the mess in an instant. "AW, WELL. IT WASN'T THE BEST PRIZE THAT I CAN GIVE. THAT SORT OF THING'S NOT GONNA MATTER TO YOU SOON ANYWAY."
The dreading feeling in Ford's gut doubled.
"TELL ME, FORDSY. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE LOSES A PART OF THEIR SOUL?" Bill focused his attention on Ford and moved up so close that Ford could see every individual vein in the dream demon's enormous eye.
"What are you—" Ford cut himself off as his eyes widened sharply. "No – no, you can't! It's impossible!"
"NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU'VE GOT ENOUGH WILLPOWER TO FOLLOW THROUGH!"
With that, Bill threw two brightly glowing hands forward and thrust them into Ford's chest.
Ford had been though a lot of torture in his life. Electrocution during Weirdmageddon was only the tip of the iceberg compared to what he had to run from every other moment on the other side of the portal. He had scars crisscrossing nearly every inch of his body, and he was never planning on revealing them.
The pain that Bill was inflicting now, though, by rummaging through his body but not physically harming him was an entirely different kind of pain.
The rummaging stopped for a moment, and Bill's expression became wicked. "AHA! FOUND IT!" He started pulling back and away from Ford. "COME OUT, COME OUT!"
Ford suddenly found himself having a hard time keeping his mouth shut as a pain that he'd never felt before erupted from his chest. He threw his head back as a loud scream erupted from his throat, blood roaring in his ears as Bill continued pulling at the whatever-it-was inside him. He suddenly found it hard to breathe; his lungs felt constricted and Bill was pulling out something that was bright blue and throbbing with the pulse of his heartbeat—
Ford's vision suddenly went gray, and the scream died in his throat as he went limp, head bent back to look at the ceiling, jaw slightly agape.
"Grunkle Ford!"
"STANFORD!"
The panicked voices only barely managed to breach the sound of white noise that was filling his ears. Ford couldn't move or so much as twitch in order to respond – his body felt unusually heavy, and there was pain pulsing from his chest outwards to the tips of his fingers and toes.
Something bright blue flickered at the edge of his vision, and he felt the cuffs on his wrists tightened and something yanked his arms forward. The same thing happened with his ankles a moment later, and then his neck.
Color returned to Ford's vision then, and he took in air with a gasp of breath that caused his aching chest to heave as he lifted up his head. He found himself staring at Bill again, the triangle holding one hand over the human's head as Ford hovered in the air in front of him.
Bill cackled. "IT WORKED!"
"What worked, ya lousy two-dimensional freak?!" Stan roared. "What did you do to my brother?!"
Bill sneered at Ford's twin. "OH, YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH. YOU'RE GOING TO GET THE EXACT SAME TREATMENT." He turned his attention back to Ford, smiling with his eye. "SEE, IT'S PRETTY FUNNY – I GOT THE IDEA FROM A GUY WHO THOUGHT THAT IT'D BE A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE THE SOUL OUT OF EVERYBODY AND TURN HIMSELF INTO A GOD THAT COULD HAVE A MINDLESS, HEARTLESS ARMY TO WORSHIP HIM FOR ETERNITY. STUPID IDEA, RIGHT – NOT THE WORSHIPPING PART, THE SOUL PART. I MEAN, WHAT USE IS AN ARMY IF YOU CAN'T USE THEIR OWN KNOWLEDGE TO FORWARD YOUR PLANS?"
Ford felt that dread rise up in his stomach again as the blood drained from his face. That blue glow he'd seen before – had that been—
"DON'T THINK THAT I'M DONE WITH YOU YET, FORDSY." Bill rubbed his hands together. "YOU'VE RUN INTO A LOT OF DIFFERENT ALIEN RACES – LIST THEM. AND I WANT DESCRIPTIONS, TOO!"
In any other situation, Ford would have wisely kept his mouth shut – he didn't want to give Bill any ideas to use on him as a new torture method that could possibly kill him and any chance of defeating Bill.
Now?
Words spilled out of him in a constant stream, causing Ford's eyes to become wider and wider and make him look more owlish and terrified by the second.
Meanwhile, Bill was hovering circles around him, an almost manic spark in his eye as he looked Ford up and down appraisingly.
Ford couldn't see Stan or the kids, but he was sure that they were looking at him in absolute horror. He was quick to come to his own conclusions about his present predicament as well, but that only made his fear for what Bill had planned for the others hit him full-force.
And he couldn't do anything because he was already listing his research to Bill who had done something to him and—
"STOP."
The words died in Ford's throat, causing him to blink in surprise and come out of his thoughts.
"GO BACK A BIT. YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A SIX-TAILED FOX?"
Ford swallowed nervously and nodded slowly.
Bill got in close enough that Ford could see his own face reflected in the dream demon's pupil. "TELL ME MORE ABOUT THAT ONE."
Once again, the information spilled out of Ford without hesitation, unnerving him to no end.
"The species is called Vulpix by the locals in that dimension. They are incredibly similar to kitsunes, except they are born with six tails instead of one and are known more for their control over fire than anything else. The one I got to know personally during my stay there was an unusual case who also had some control over ice and electricity. We ended up helping each other out some, considering that a warp in space caused me to temporarily transform into a Vulpix myself and they knew little to nothing of humans."
Bill burst out laughing. "I THOUGHT THAT SOUNDED FAMILIAR! NO WONDER YOU REACTED LIKE YOU DID, SIXER! THAT DIMENSION'S THE EXACT ONE THAT I GOT MY IDEA FROM! IN HONOR OF THAT…."
Bill snapped his fingers, and Ford felt instant pain everywhere at once.
He doubled over, clutching first at his chest, then at his head as he felt something start to move in his skull, forcing its way up through the metal plate and out the top of his head. At the same time, the base of his spine started to throb and push outward, and his mouth started pulsing with pain as his teeth shifted as some grew in size.
Ford squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to grit his teeth; this kind of pain was something he was a lot more familiar with, but the origins of the pain was something else entirely.
Whether he was familiar with the pain or not, however, he still ended up screaming when the top of his head and the base of his spine felt like they exploded, temporarily causing a loss of hearing and feeling from the waist down as blood trickled down the sides of his head where his ears used to be and stained the back of his pants—
Wait. Where his ears used to be?
Bill started cackling again as Ford slowly uncurled himself, wincing at the fading pain in his head and spine as he looked up at the triangle. "PERFECT! GO AHEAD AND HAVE A LOOK AT YOURSELF, SIXER!"
Ford instantly reached for the sides of his head, trying to find his ears but only being met with smooth skin and his own blood. How were his glasses staying up?
"Grunkle Ford, they're on top of your head!" Mabel called.
Ford froze. "On top?" His voice made him sound half-choked as he realized at the same time that his canine teeth had become slightly larger – almost like fangs, in fact. He slowly reached up, feeling through his blood-soaked hair to the two throbbing points of pain on top of his head and—
His fingers came into contact with two furry, triangular-shaped ears that twitched under his touch.
Bill started snickering as Ford's eyes widened, but the man ignored the triangle in favor of turning in order to see what exactly had happened at the base of his spine, catching sight of manacles on his wrists and ankles with Bill's mark stamped around them.
Ford wasn't really paying attention to what was on his wrist, ankles, and probably around his neck, however.
There was a red-gold fox tail with a gray tip that had torn a hole in his pants and was hanging limply in the air behind him.
"OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T HAVE SIX TAILS LIKE A VULPIX YET BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T LIVED THAT LONG, BUT THAT'LL CHANGE SOON ENOUGH."
Ford turned sharply to look back at Bill. "Why did—"
"SHHH." Bill held a finger to Ford's lips, effectively shushing him. "YOUR NEW MASTER IS THINKING."
The words died abruptly in Ford's throat, leaving him wide-eyed in shock and terror at Bill's choice of words as his blood ran cold. Master?
Bill eyed Ford for a moment before making a motion with one hand, causing the man to be slowly lowered to the floor of the room in a kneeling position. "STAY PUT. I'M GOING TO DO YOUR BROTHER NEXT."
Horror crossed Ford's face in an instant.
"You touch me and you're going to regret it!" Stan barked as Bill drew near him. "Like I'm gonna let you turn me into some half-animal—"
"WHO SAID THAT I WAS GOING TO MAKE YOU EXACTLY LIKE YOUR BROTHER, FEZ?" Bill raised his hands, and they started to glow ominously right before he thrust them into Stan's chest.
The pained scream that followed as Bill ripped out a pulsing blue cloud of energy made Ford wince and shut his eyes, looking away from the sight.
He was pretty certain he knew what it was that Bill was tearing out of them.
"Grunkle Stan, no!" Mabel yelled.
Bill cackled. "I KNOW JUST WHAT I'M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO, FEZ! FORDSY, YOU BETTER BE WATCHING THIS!"
Ford shuddered, but he opened his eyes and looked up as Bill telekinetically pulled Stan away from where he'd been chained up a moment before. Now, Stan looked startled and dazed - like he'd been surprised with a hit over the head and he hadn't quite registered that he was supposed to get angry yet.
Bill snapped his fingers again, and Stan's body tore itself apart.
"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper and Mabel shrieked.
Ford took in a breath to yell his brother's name as Stan attempted to curl in on himself, but it came out as a choking gasp instead as he felt a pang of something in his chest. It was like…
…like something was stopping him from doing what he wanted.
Ford paused to consider that thought in alarm. Wanted. The word was starting to feel distant – like he could barely grasp it, but it was slipping out of his fingers faster than a handful of sand from Glass Shard Beach.
Just another piece in a puzzle that only confirmed his growing dread.
Stan's skin and clothes were covered in blood and what looked like a dark, almost furry substance now – no, it actually looked more like feathers. His ever-present fez fell off and was caught by Bill, only to burst into blue flames and be turned to ash in an instant.
"DEFINITLEY NOT GOING TO BE NEEDING THAT ANYMORE!" Bill laughed as though he'd made his own joke, then returned his attention to Stan. "LOOKIN' GOOD. LET'S SEE YOU SWITCH BACK."
The black, feathery/furry figure let out a groan, but he slowly uncurled himself as the feathers shimmered and flattened, turning back into a torn suit and what exposed skin Stan had.
Ford saw his brother open his eyes and flinched a little when he saw them flicker lime green for a moment before turning back to their normal color. He caught sight of something on Stan's neck a moment later – a string of yellow triangles with a singular eye on each of them.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel yelled. "Are you okay?!"
Stan's face scrunched up at the question, and he winced. Ford realized instantly that Stan had hit the same wall he had a moment ago.
"OH DON'T WORRY ABOUT FEZ, SHOOTING STAR." Bill gave a wicked smile with his eye as he motioned to have Stan land to Ford's right on the floor. "NOW, YOU BE A GOOD CHANGELING AND STAY. AND NO TALKING – EITHER OF YOU. I'VE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH OF THAT FOR ONE DAY."
Changeling. Ford had heard about them, but he'd never actually met one in person. Then again, if he had he hadn't known – they were beings who could take the place of humans and mimic the missing person almost perfectly, and never show their true forms.
They were also said to devour those they were replacing, or were simply exchanged for a baby in the crib, never knowing or revealing their true nature to their adopted parents until it was too late.
Stan scowled as he landed in a kneeling position on the floor, but he kept his mouth shut. Ford saw him try to look at him out of the corner of his eye, but Ford wasn't able to move his gaze away from where Stan had been hovering in the air a moment ago.
Considering what Bill had done to them and what he was going to do to Dipper and Mabel, there was little else that he was able to do.
A cold feeling settled in Ford's chest at the thought as Bill moved, blocking his view of Dipper and Mabel.
Moments later, twin screams of pain and terror filled the Fearamid.
Ford felt his new ears flatten themselves against the top of his head, muffling the noise some, but not blocking it out completely. He heard the choking gasp from Stan – no doubt trying to yell at the kids only to run into the mental roadblock again.
Bill moved back, pulling Mabel and Dipper with him and revealing the look of horror Dipper had on his face and the terrified expression Mabel had on hers.
Bill didn't even bother to wait to make a quip; he snapped his fingers in a bored manner, and Mabel and Dipper screamed again in a dissonant unison as they curled in on themselves.
Ford's breathing hitched when he saw the pair of translucent pink, fairy-like wings growing out of Mabel's back, tearing through her sweater and causing the yarn to unravel as it was stained with her blood, her hair gaining a sparking sheen that made it look like there was starlight trapped in each strand. Thin, sparkling strands of something magical circled around her wrists, neck, and ankles, not quite touching her skin but clearly not moving from their positions.
Dipper shuddered as his own transformation took hold, antlers that looked like tree branches shredding through his hat and staining it a dark red. Vines covered in thorns wrapped themselves around his neck, wrists, and ankles, and criss-crossed over his torso, not digging in but clearly irremovable.
Ford felt the hollow ache in his chest as his mind and instincts told him to look away, leap to his feet, do something in order to put a stop to what Cipher was doing to his family. However, without the willpower to back it up, the thoughts were just that – thoughts.
There was nothing that could be done. As much as Ford hated to admit it…Cipher had won.
The hollow ache faded as Cipher brought Dipper and Mabel down and placed them to either side of Ford and Stan in kneeling positions. The triangle hovered over the four of them, an amused and triumphant look in his eye. He snapped his fingers, clearing the blood out of their clothes and hair but leaving the rips and tears behind.
"FOUR NEW PUPPETS – AND I DON'T EVEN NEED TO POSSESS A SINGLE ONE OF YOU TO GET YOU TO DO WHAT I WANT! THIS HAS TO BE THE BEST IDEA THAT I'VE HAD SINCE KILLING TIME BABY!" Cipher cackled. Then he paused. "OH, YEAH. I STILL NEED SOMETHING FROM YOU, FORDSY."
Ford knew what Cipher was going to ask. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh, his new ears drooping.
"THAT EQUATION TO POP THE BUBBLE KEEPING US IN THIS STUPID HICK TOWN. I NEED IT TO TAKE THE PARTY WORLDWIDE. SO GIVE ME THE NUMBERS, FORDSY." Cipher made a "gimme" motion with one hand. "I KNOW YOU'VE GOT THEM IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS."
Ford sighed again and nodded, then recited the equation without hesitation.
Had the situation been any different, he would have withheld the information for as long as he could, no matter how much Cipher would have tortured him. However, Cipher had effectively changed him – changed them – at their very core.
Without their willpower, there was no point in fighting back.
...I could explain how the plot's gonna go, but I don't think I will. Mostly because it's posted on my blog already. If you're curious, go there and look through my Puppet AU tag. A friend of mine's drawn some art for the characters (and is also beta-reading my chapters as we go), and I've got other chapters posted there, too. They will be coming over here eventually, but...well, it's going to take some time, what with school and all.
At this point, I'm just glad that I know how this thing ENDS.
I'll see you next time I get the chance to post with the next chapter or two. Hoo boy...