A Debt Owed

It felt like the world had screeched to a halt. He didn't know? Dipper Pines didn't know?

Mabel stared at him. "Bro, you always have an answer!"

He closed his eyes. "No, I thought I always have an answer, but I don't! I got us into this situation because I didn't think about the consequences and now we're cornered by a dragon and it's going to kill us!"

She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. "No, you'll think of something. You always do."

The wyvern lunged, and they leapt back, but it managed to close its jaws over Mabel's arm. She yelped and tried to yank it away, but the beast refused to let go, dragging her closer to it. Its teeth had already broken through her sleeve and the surface of her skin, and blood was running down in streams, staining her sweater.

Dipper's hand dropped to his pocket, taking out a knife, though he wasn't sure what good it would do, while Mabel pounded on the wyvern's snout with her fist.

"Let go of me!" she yelled at it. "Now!" She stuck her fingers up its nostrils and shoved, and its mouth flew open as it hissed. She pulled free and stumbled back, cradling her arm and tugging up the sleeve to check the damage. A neat row of puncture wounds covered her arm, blood dripping out even more quickly, but she seemed to shake off the pain and stood up tall. Before Dipper could move, she punched it solidly in the mouth.

The wyvern growled and snapped at her, and Dipper jumped into action, stabbing it between the eyes with the knife. Or at least, he tried to. The blade sank in partway before the thick scales stopped it, and with a simple toss of its head, the monster both dislodged it and smacked Dipper in the face, and pain exploded in his skull as he was thrown back.

Mabel helped him up, but as she was turning back to the wyvern, it swung its wing at them, and the thumb claw slashed across her chest, easily cutting through her sweater and laying open the skin. She gasped and fell back, managing to land on her hands, but she didn't get up right away. She clutched her chest, sobbing as the agony briefly overwhelmed her.

"Don't touch my sister!" In a protective rage, Dipper recovered his knife and jumped onto the wyvern's head, trying to stab it in the eye. He wasn't quick enough; an eyelid came down and blocked the blade, and it swung its neck around. Too late, he saw the tree hurtling toward him, and then he was slammed into it.

He felt his back pop, and the pain in his head intensified, blinding him for a few moments. His grip loosened, and he fell to the ground. He felt a weight come down on him, and faintly realized it was the wyvern stepping on him. Not crushing him, but pinning him. Its snout was against his stomach, his chest, snorting and nipping, and knew it was going to eat him. He wasn't even dead and it was just going to start eating. And he was too weak and dizzy to stop it. But... he finally had an idea.

"Mabel," he called.

"Dipper, I'm coming!" she replied, and he heard the wyvern howl at her. It reminded him of a hawk warning off other birds.

"No, stop!" He managed to open an eye, seeing her just out of reach of the wyvern's neck, fists clenched. He could also see its wings open, possessively furled over him. "If we keep trying to fight it will just kill both of us. But... you could run now. You could run and get away while it's focused on me. In the time it'll take it to kill and eat me, you could be safe."

"I'm not letting it eat you!"

"Then you'd rather we both die!" he shouted.

Her hands unclenched, and tears streamed down her face. "N-no, I don't want either of us to die!"

"Well, there's no avoiding it." Dipper grimaced as the wyvern bit into his leg, tugging on it. "Just go."

"Dipper..."

With the last of his strength, Dipper grabbed a stick and threw it at her. "Get out of here!"

She stepped back, an anguished expression on her face, and said, "I... I love you, bro..."

Heart breaking, he choked back, "I love you too. And I'm so... so sorry it came to this." He could feel tears dripping down his own face now, but didn't bother to wipe them off. "I never should have gone looking for this- aagh!" He jerked and screamed as the wyvern tore a chunk of flesh off his leg, and Mabel jolted as if shot, hand reflexively grabbing her own leg.

The taste of blood seemed to reassure the wyvern that this was food like any other, and it swallowed and went for another bite.

"Tell everyone I love them!" Dipper cried, pressing his arm to his mouth to hold in another scream as the wyvern yanked roughly on his leg, as if trying to tear the entire limb off.

Mabel sniffed and nodded. "I... I will... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." She turned to go.

And then all the color in the area vanished and was replaced with gray, and very familiar laughter echoed around them.

"As much as I love a noble sacrifice, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to interrupt."

The wyvern's head jerked up, Mabel stopped, and Dipper even pushed himself up on an arm.

"Bill!" he shouted.

The triangular demon had indeed manifested above them, twirling a cane and looking just as chipper as he always has. "Hey, Pine Tree," he called. "Boy, what a situation you've gotten yourself into this time. Ya know, I told myself I would just leave you guys alone, but... well, look what happens when I do."

"Can you get out of here? I'm trying to die with dignity," Dipper scowled. "I don't need you here cracking jokes about it."

"Oh and it is a noble death, but it's not gonna work." Bill waved a finger at him. "Mabel's gonna run and the wyvern is gonna snap you up in about three painful bites, and chase her. It'll take her down because she's already getting woozy from blood loss and also she's exhausted from the previous run, and then your sacrifice would have been for nothing."

"You don't know that, it could take its time with me," Dipper snapped, and the wyvern seemed to like that idea, because it bit into him again.

Bill spoke over his scream. "Oh, I do know that. And as much as I would love to watch you two get eaten, I've grown kinda fond of you. So I'll have to put my foot down. Hey, lizard!" He smacked the wyvern with his cane, and to Dipper's and Mabel's surprise, it actually let go and looked up. "Yeah, you! These two are mine! Back off!"

The wyvern whimpered and lifted its foot from Dipper, submissively stepping back.

Mabel ran to Dipper and pulled him into her arms, and the two watched in shock as Bill hovered close to the beast and yelled at it, waving his arms and lighting his hands up with blue fire every so often. He wasn't even speaking English by this point, but another, much older and darker language. The wyvern opened its wings and took off, flying away.

Bill clapped his hands together. "Well, that takes care of that." He turned back to the humans and lifted his eyebrow at their confused expressions. "I rule this forest, kids. Nothing backtalks me around here. Not even dragons. Or dragon relatives." He flew down and stood next to them, reaching out a hand to Dipper. "Now let's see the damage..."

Dipper smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me!"

"Hey, I saved your life! Show some respect!"

Dipper glared at him, crossing his arms, but let him come closer.

Bill examined his leg and said, "Looks pretty bad. It'd take a long time to heal on its own. Luckily we're in the Mindscape right now and guess what I have unlimited power in?" Blue energy covered his hand, similar to the fire he favored, but more of a glow than a flame. It looked comforting, actually.

"Wait." Dipper pulled his leg back, wincing. "You're not just doing this for free. You're going to want something. And I-"

Bill put his hand on Dipper's leg anyway. "We'll discuss that later." The energy pulsed along the skin, and the tears closed, fresh skin replacing what had been lost, blood being wiped away.

Dipper found himself relaxing, sighing with relief. "Oh, that's... better. Wow."

"I'm not fixing your clothes, though." Bill pulled his hand away. "That's on you." He reached up to heal the cut on Dipper's head, then turned to Mabel. "Your turn."

She hesitated, but leaned toward him. He first grasped her arm and healed it, then placed his hand gently on her chest, fixing that wound.

As it closed, Dipper said, "Okay, now what do you want?"

"Why Pine Tree, I'm offended that you would even think I'm doing this for my own personal gain. You don't think I'm rescuing you out of the kindness of my heart?"

"Hell no."

"Hmmph. Ya know, you really aren't stupid, are ya? Okay, you got me. I didn't save you just to do it." Bill began hovering again, watching them stand up. "You both would have died if not for me. There's no changing that. In fact, one could say you were almost fated to die here in these woods, as a result of Dipper's incessant curiosity."

Dipper inhaled sharply.

"But I prevented it. So you owe... lemme think, seventy years? Eighty years? Maybe more to me. Each of you do. So that's two lifetimes, pretty much. Heh, you two are in my debt."

The twins were outraged.

"You saved us just so we would owe you?" Mabel demanded.

"Yep," Bill said cheerfully. "Clever, isn't it? You know how useful humans are? And to have a couple of them indebted to you... oh, the possibilities are endless."

Dipper moved closer to him. "What do you intend to do with us?"

"Oh man, I don't even know where to start. See, you two have one thing I don't. The ability to exist in reality. So I could use you to get into reality myself. All it takes is possessing one of you. And once out... oh, the things I could do. There are so many humans out there I don't like. I could finally get rid of them. I can only do so much to people from inside the mind. I can drive them insane, sure. But sometimes... I just really want to kill them. Make them suffer. And now I have four hands I can do that with!" If Bill had a mouth, he would be grinning. But even without one, the twins understood his expression perfectly, and it scared them.

"You're going to enslave us, aren't you?" Dipper asked. "Force us to... to be your slaves for the rest of our lives. Right?"

"Right on the money, kid! Just like me." Bill chuckled. "But hey, I'm generous. I can tell you don't want your dear sister being involved in any of that. You want to protect her in any way you can. That was obvious from your attempted sacrifice. And I don't blame you..." He ran his hand under Mabel's chin in a gesture that was almost affectionate. "She is a sweetheart."

"I'd kill you if I could, Bill!"

"Oh, what a delight." He pulled his hand away. "So how about a deal? For one time only, I'll give you half off. Two lives saved for only one life given back. One of you will be my servant, and the other can walk free. They can live a life of innocence and keep their sanity and morality intact. The other... well, let's just say they'll have a long, exciting life ahead of them."

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. Dipper started to speak, but Mabel interrupted. "No. I know you're going to try and do your whole sacrificial lamb thing, take the deal to protect me, but no. I'm not letting you do this alone. Bill's going to make you do awful things. I know he is. I don't want you having to go through that alone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were out there hurting and killing people on his orders, and I'm just sitting cozy at home. It's going to be horrible, but I'm going to be there with you. I'll serve him too. It won't be as bad if we're together."

"No, I can't let you do that." He brushed some of her hair back behind her ear, frowning at her determined expression. "Mabel, come on... it would destroy you. He pretty much said he's going to make us kill and torture people. I... I don't want you having to do that, when you have so much potential for a great life. Remember your goal of being a fashion designer and famous artist? You can still do that! But you won't be able to if you're Bill's slave. And think about our family, how hard it would be for them to lose both of us... one of us needs to be able to go home."

She stared at him firmly. "Then let it be you. You've sacrificed so much for me over the years. I need to start giving it back. Let me be his servant. I want to protect you this time."

He knew he was about to start crying again. "Sis, you... you've already done so much for me... you don't have to do this."

"But I want to. I've always found the bright side of things, right? Well..." She smiled. "Maybe there's a bright side to this too. I just gotta find it."

"Have you made your decision yet?" Bill asked. "I haven't got all day."

The twins nodded, looking sadly at each other. Mabel said, "Yeah, we'll take that half off deal."

"Good choice!" Bill held out his right hand, blue fire erupting around it. "Which one of you is doing it?"

Mabel closed her eyes and sighed. "I guess it's gonna be-"

"Me." Dipper took Bill's hand and shook.

Mabel's eyes flew open. "No!" Her mouth gaped open as she saw the flames surround Dipper's hand. She punched his chest. "No, I was going to!"

"Sorry, but it's for the best."

Bill laughed as he let go of Dipper's hand. "Oh, fantastic! I'll admit, it would have been fun forcing sweet little Shooting Star to maim and murder, but Pine Tree... you have so much untapped potential. I was hoping it would be you. You're going to learn things you never imagined, kid."

"I'm sure I will," Dipper muttered.

"Ah, don't look so depressed. It won't be so bad, you'll see! You get to spend time with me and I can teach you my ways, and your sister can live a fulfilling life without being tainted by darkness." Bill looked very pleased with how it worked out. "You two run along and get cleaned up. And Pine Tree, I'll be back to talk to you very soon."

Dipper nodded. "Okay."

"I can't wait to get started. Bye!" Bill disappeared in a bright flash of light, and the two jerked awake, seeing color return to the world around them, though it was hard to tell in the dark.

As they picked themselves up off the ground, Mabel gave Dipper a hurt look. "I can't believe you did that."

"I had to. I don't want him corrupting you."

"But I don't want him corrupting you!"

Dipper looked at her sadly as they began the walk back to the Mystery Shack. "Mabel... let's be honest. I think we both knew it would always be me."