A/N Hello everyone! I'm glad you're here! I know this story is kind of different from what I usually write, but I'm happy that you liked chapter one enough to check out chapter two. Sorry it's a little later than promised, I've decided to split this chapter into two parts because a) it seemed to flow better that way and b) I'm basically rewriting the second part because I'm still not happy with it. Anyway, before we begin I have to give a huge shout out and thanks to AllenbysEyes, Gravity Faller and Brenne for the reviews and to everyone who added this to their favorites! You guys are wonderful! 3

Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!


Part Two: Payback

Stan Pines was not someone who went down easily. Rico knew that all too well. When he had his goons stuff him in the trunk of his own car and abandoned him in the middle of the Nevada desert, Rico knew there was a slight chance that Stan could escape before he succumbed to heat stroke and dehydration.

That was fine though. At the time, he didn't care if Stan lived or not – what he really wanted was to deliver a message. Stan owed him a lot of money, but with only forty dollars and a piece of junk car to his name, he was a lost cause anyway. He didn't have any family or loved ones that anyone knew of to use as leverage until Stan got the money, so Stan had Rico in a tight spot. He gave Stan a deadline to pay him back, but when he couldn't deliver Stan was faced with two options: either hand over his life and loyalty to Rico until he paid his debt, or die.

When Stan spit in his face Rico knew that he made his choice. As far as Rico was concerned, Stan's fate was in his own hands. Though the odds were against his survival, Rico kept his eyes open. Sure enough, a few years later their paths crossed again.

Rico was nothing less than fair. Stan was an annoying, lowlife prick who told bad jokes and was too much of a sad sack to ever amount to anything, but Rico kind of liked him. He was kind of like a lost puppy under his tough exterior and yet still managed to hold his own when his guys beat the crap out of him upon discovering him alive. Even broken and bloodied on that motel room floor, Stan still had some serious fight in him left, when most would've long since given up. Maybe he was feeling a little generous that day but Rico had pity on him and Stan was given one last chance to either pay him back, work off his debt, or die.

Seemed like the incident with the trunk still had him shaken so, with nothing left to lose Stan reluctantly joined his posse. Amusingly enough, the dumb bastard seemed to think that working off his debt was possible. He had all this crazy talk about what he was going to do once he got out of this life. There was no getting out of this life unless it's in a wooden box, six feet under. Once a lowlife criminal, always a lowlife criminal, and once you joined Rico's posse, you were in it for life.

And yet Stan Pines seemed to think he was better than the rest. Sure, he had no problem with petty crime and conning his way out of things, and sending rival goons to the hospital, but hurting innocents? Nope, too good for that, apparently. Had a hard time accepting that sometimes there was going to be collateral damage involving innocent bystanders. But when he discovered Rico's dirty little secret and side hustle involving children, Stan had the audacity to try and walk.

"I'll get you your money, but from here on out, we're done, Rico," Stan had said, as though he had a choice.

That wasn't good enough though. He could no longer trust Stan's loyalty so he couldn't keep him around anymore, and Stan knew too much so he couldn't let him leave either. Seeing no other suitable option, Rico shot him in the head without hesitation. Or that's what he had thought. Turned out the bullet only grazed his temple and Rico's mistake was leaving the scene without checking to make sure he was dead. It wasn't until later, when the feds just happened to be where they were going that Rico learned that Stan survived, set him up and ran. Like a coward.

The fact that Stan escaped Rico twice had Rico starting to believe that Stan had a guardian angel watching out for him. But as he wasted away in prison, Rico had vowed that Stan would not survive their next encounter. It was almost disappointing when he learned that Stan was killed in some accident.

Needless to say, Rico didn't expect he would ever run into that lowlife scum ever again, so when he saw him at that diner in the middle of nowhere Oregon, he was legitimately surprised. He didn't have a plan when he climbed into the backseat behind him, all he knew was that Stan Pines was going to die.

It felt good, seeing Stan go down, choking on his own blood, lying on his back in some remote part of the Oregon woods. Old man was done for. No guardian angel looking out for him now.

He and his son Frankie started to walk away, but remembering the last time he shot Stan Pines and walked away without making sure he was dead first, Rico stopped, tapped Frankie on the shoulder and they waited. Waited until the gurgling sounds of Stan trying to breathe finally ceased. Rico considered checking to make sure, but the bullet clearly pierced a lung and where moments before Stan was writhing, twitching and choking, now he was still and quiet.

He was no longer breathing and now Rico had no doubt in his mind.

Stan Pines was dead.

For a moment Rico entertained the idea of dumping the body in the creek at the bottom of the cliff but decided against it. Remote area like this, no one will find his body for quite some time and by then Rico and Frankie would be long gone. Handling the body would be a waste of time and effort, and there was still the matter of Stan's debt. He and Frankie needed to plan their next move before heading to Gravity Falls and making a surprise visit to the Mystery Shack.

He didn't know what kind of relation the kids in the picture had to Stan, but they must've been important to him to have a spot in his wallet. Dipper and Mabel. Rico was looking forward to meeting them especially. Rico figured they should go there, stake the place out a bit and then snatch them when they're alone and vulnerable. His hatred for Stan was so deep that killing him wasn't enough revenge. Now his family had to suffer and pay Stan's dues.

"Come on, boy," Rico said to his eldest son, "let's go."

They both turned and started to walk back toward their truck but a voice from behind them had them both stop in their tracks and Rico's blood went cold.

"Well, well, well," the voice said, and it sounded like Stan…but not, like there was another voice overlapping it, "isn't this interesting."

Rico and Frankie both spun around and Rico drew a cross over his chest when he saw Stan standing where he had, well, died, as though nothing was wrong with him.

Stan was smiling, a wide, bloodied grin and his eyes…his eyes were…wrong. They didn't look human. He ran the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping away the blood, still smiling. "You should see the look on your guys's faces!" Stan laughed, a wild maniacal laugh.

"B-but…how?" Rico exclaimed. For a brief moment he thought maybe Stan had a bulletproof vest on and was faking but…why would he be wearing one? And what about the blood? And the eyes! No, this had to be impossible.

"I'm kinda surprised myself, if I'm to be honest," Stan shrugged, "I mean, I know that my Weirdmageddon left it's mark, changing some of the rules and all, but I had no idea that…" he paused, faltering slightly, swaying like he had one too many to drink, a little startled. His expression then shifted to mild annoyance. "Hmm," he muttered, not to them but in contemplation as he glanced down at the wound on his chest as though he had merely spilt coffee on his shirt. "Interesting, indeed." He seemed almost disappointed by something, though Rico had no idea what it could be. A second ago he was dead.

Regaining his senses after his initial shock to see Stan on his feet, Rico raised his weapon and took aim preparing to shoot.

"Not so fast," Stan hissed and suddenly Rico couldn't move. His finger was frozen on the trigger, but he couldn't fire. He couldn't do anything. Frankie must've caught the confused panic in his eyes because he too raised his gun, "You too, junior." Stan said.

"Pop, I can't move!" Frankie exclaimed.

"Me neither!"

"Hmmm," Stan didn't seem concerned about them at all, he seemed to be concentrating on something. "Dammit, I'm still stuck and…" he grumbled under his breath. "Well, this is rather inconvenient. Only one thing to do now, I guess." He sighed and then a yellow glow wrapped around him.

"Wh-what's going on?" Rico stammered, still literally frozen in place with his gun raised.

"Seems my existence is still currently tied to Ol' Stanley here," he explained with a wince, "so, like it or not, apparently I need him." As he spoke the light concentrated on the wound on his chest and Rico and Frankie both watched with fascinated horror as the bullet emerged the way it went in. It hovered in the air a second before Stan grabbed it, regarded it a moment and then shrugged, tossing it casually in the waters behind him, "See, the sad irony is that I've been trying to figure out how to get out of this meat puppet, y'know? For a second I thought, now that he's kicked the bucket I'm finally free but…false alarm because apparently not. Looks like we actually need each other to co-exist—at least for now."

"Y-you're a demon!" Rico exclaimed.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Wow! You must be a genius to figure that one out!" Not-Stan rolled his strange inhuman eyes, his bizarre layered voice dripping with sarcasm. "Excuse me a moment, will you? I'll deal with you in a sec, but right now, I need to do this unfortunately. I'm running out of time."

He placed his hand on the wound on his chest, "Clear!" he said and suddenly electricity blasted from his palm, working almost like a defibrillator and his body jerked. He writhed for a second and paused. "Aw come on, old man!" he growled, "I don't have time for this! Get back here!" He shot himself with a blast of electricity again and then slumped forward, stumbling slightly. His eyes for a brief moment looked normal and human and he looked around in confused, disoriented panic, before he stumbled again, his eyes rolling back, his body on the verge of collapse. But before he could fall to the ground he caught himself, straightened up and blinked, grinning. When he opened his eyes again, they were back to being strange and otherworldly, pale yellow with black slits for pupils. "There, that's better."

"Wh-what the hell…" Rico stammered.

"Yeah, I don't like it either," Not-Stan said conversationally, "I mean, I'd rather be back in the Mindscape than stuck here in this vessel, dormant and useless like, 90% of the time but," he gave an indifferent shrug, "it is what it is. I'm in control for now so, I'd better make the most of it while I can." His grin widened, "Now, as for you two…"

"Look man, let us go OK? We won't try to shoot you, promise," Rico said as Not-Stan menacingly approached him until he was looking him in the eye, not even acknowledging that the barrel of Rico's gun was now pressed against his chest. Rico desperately tried to shoot, but he still couldn't move.

The demon laughed, "Liars."

Rico and Frankie both let out startled gasps when their bodies suddenly turned against their will so they were facing each other, weapons raised, fingers on the trigger. Not-Stan made a gesture with his hands and they both lifted their aim and were suddenly pushed forward so they were standing facing each other with their guns aimed in the middle of the other's forehead.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Rico cried out in panic, feeling Frankie's gun digging into his forehead, meanwhile his finger seemed to move a fraction, squeezing ever so slightly on the trigger now pointing at his eldest boy's head. "Please let us go! W-we'll leave you alone, I swear!"

"Look, I'd love to let you go," the demon said, "but see, you put me in a bit of a position here, you must understand. Any other circumstances, I would have no problem with you killing Stanley here. Heck I would bring the popcorn and sit in the first row to watch his execution, believe me – can't stand the guy. But you need to understand the predicament I'm in. As it turns out, being temporarily wiped from existence has taken a lot out of me. I'm not quite as powerful as I used to be, but I'm getting there. Or I was until you two goons showed up and had to ruin everything."

"We're sorry, man, please…" Rico begged. He had no idea what the demon was talking about – Mindscape? Weirdmageddon? What was he talking about? – his monologuing made no sense. All he knew for sure, however, was that one slight movement from him and Frankie, and they would be dead.

"I mean, I knew that it was Stanley's memories returning that helped me get back into existence in the first place, but I didn't realize that our fates are literally intertwined. Apparently, my existence is still reliant on him – probably explains why I'm still stuck here," he shrugged, "he may not be the vessel I want, but he's the one I need right now. And then you had to go and kill him. I'd thank you if it wasn't such an inconvenience for me."

"Look, you're a demon, right? Demons make deals?" Rico said, "I…I'll make a deal with you, yeah w-we can make a deal and I…I won't let you down!"

"Y'know what? I kinda like you Rico," Not-Stan said, "you're evil—a pathetic lowlife piece of scum, sure—but I like where your head is at. You've got potential. But, you're also an idiot. What part of stuck here don't you understand?" he scowled bitterly. "I've been slowly building strength for almost a year now, and thanks to you, I have to start all over again! Do you have any idea how draining it is to use my powers right now? I've got plans you know, Rico! Big plans!"

"We're sorry! Aren't we, Frankie?"

"Yeah," Frankie exclaimed.

"Please, give us a chance, we'll do anything!" Rico pleaded desperately.

The demon wearing Stan's face shook his head, "Maybe if things were different, I might've given you another chance—you could've been pretty decent henchmen or whatever you kids like to call it nowadays, but…well," he shrugged, "life ain't always fair."

With that he snapped his fingers and before Rico or Frankie knew what happened they pulled their triggers in unison. Their bodies jerked back and collapsed in perfect symmetry, bloodied holes in the middle of their foreheads, mirroring each other as they lay motionless and lifeless on the ground.


A/N Thanks for reading, please leave a review, it would really mean a lot to me to know who's out there reading this and what y'all think! I hope that this made sense. Next chapter will be Bill's POV and should be up in a couple of days (once I'm finally satisfied with his section that is). Have a great day!