Chapter 2: Reality is an Illusion

"I saw him running off towards the woods. But you wouldn't care, now would you? What's on that computer anyway?" Stan asked the shocked boy.

"No time to explain, I gotta' go !" Dipper told the man, as he took off towards the woods in the direction where McGucket supposedly went.

He found himself a few feet away from the edge of the forest and scanned the land for any sign of McGucket and his parts. The blue-vested boy saw a flash of color against the trees heading north. That must be McGucket! I'm sure of it.

Dipper sprinted through the forest, trying his best to catch up to the point of light, but he stopped in his tracks as a large monster he'd seen before came into his line of sight.

Gremloblin! Dipper screamed in his head, terrified. It had dark green spotty skin, sharp yellow tusks, and menacing eyes that glowed amidst the shadows.

Dipper immediately turned in the opposite direction, knowing not to look it in the eye, and ran as fast as he could in his escape, praying that it hadn't yet seen him. The thumping of the Gremloblin's feet and the crashing and snapping of brambles alerted him of the creature's dreaded pursuit, a crazed fear jolting him faster and deeper into the woods. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his efforts to escape thoroughly intensified. It seemed as if the beast was breathing hot air onto the back of his neck, but it could have simply been an effect of the mid-summer weather.

The boy dived into a bush hoping not to get caught . Phew, I made it! Dipper silently remarked, smiling. He carefully glanced through the leaves of the bush, expecting the monster to be near, but the Gremloblin was nowhere to be found.

"Ha! I lost him!" The twelve year-old whooped, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Dipper crawled out from under the bush, terrified to find that the thing of nightmares was only a few inches away from him, its yellow gaze staring into his own. There wasn't much he could do about it, because the world was already fading into a dark haze, closing in on him and his last worries as he struggled to keep his grip on his mind. Then everything went black.

-.E.l.o.o.-.F.l.s.k.h.u.-.L.v.-.Z.d.w.f.k.l.q.j.-

Once he could see again, he found himself back in the Mystery Shack. He cast his gaze around, finding everything to be as he had left it, although something wasn't right. What's going on? How did I get here? He wondered, scanning his surroundings as his memory came back to him in small chunks at a time. My journal . . . Dipper inspected the inside his vest only to see that the needed item was missing, gone from where it had been just moments before.

"Where is my journal? It was here when I was being chased by . . ." he trailed off, mumbling to himself as he searched every nook, crevice, and pocket that was in the vicinity. If it wasn't on him, then it was bound to be around him. Unless —

"You're not very clever, Pine Tree," a voice taunted him, the sudden appearance of a pyramid-like form startling Dipper. The boy froze, gathering his wits to turn and face the floating visitor as his surroundings changed to shades of gray.

"What do you want, Bill? And where is my journal? Tell me!" Dipper demanded, pointing a finger at Bill Cipher and matching his one-eyed stare with his own.

"Oh, I can tell you more than that! But, in exchange for a favor!" Bill offered, letting a small blue flame unleash from his his hand.

"What kind of a favor?" Dipper questioned him suspiciously, unwilling to trust him.

"All you have to do is take a little vacation," Bill explained to him. His cane appeared and he spun it in circles with his hand. "Forever."

"What? No way. I'm not leaving Gravity Falls," Dipper refused, flinging his arms out. "Besides, why should I trust you? Last time you tricked me into giving up control of myself!"

"It's either that or go without your journal, pal," Bill shrugged, his eye narrowing. "I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that Shooting Star and her pig are crying for your help right now. Better do something soon; I don't have all eternity to wait."

Dipper clenched his teeth, frowning deeply. Bill was just as manipulative as ever. "How do I know you're not lying to me? It's not like it would be the first time."

"Need proof, do you, kiddo? Fine, then have it," Bill responded to Dipper's demands, projecting a hologram to the boy with his eye. It pictured Mabel laying on the floor of a blank room, barricaded by what looked like bars as she held Waddles above her.

"Bro bro will get us out of here. He'll save us," Mabel's image uttered convincingly. The projection disappeared from Bill's eye before Dipper could say a word.

"You wanna save your sister, right? You wanna get your answers? Or are you going to abandon everything you've cared about just so you can stay in this town? Come on, Pine Tree, believe me when I say you'd best be leaving," the adorned pyramid suggested, holding out his free hand. "Is it a deal?"

"I guess I have no choice," The red-shirted boy agreed with a sigh, reaching out to shake Bill's hand. "I'll be gone by sundown."

Blue flame engulfed them both; the deal was made by the simple gesture, one that would change both their lives.

"Now you'll do your part of the deal," Dipper commanded, removing his hand from Bill's grasp. "Give me the journal and free Mabel and Waddles."

"My part of the deal?" he floated around, pretending to be confused. "I remember agreeing that I would tell you that I wanted you to leave Gravity Falls, that the journal is with your great uncle Stanford Pines and . . . uh, Question Mark once had a dream that I was a giant flying corn chip."

"Wait . . . Stan has my —" Dipper began, only to be cut off by a large piece of duct tape magically popping up over his mouth.

"Sorry, no can do, fella," Bill explained, tapping his cane lightly against Dipper's head. "You agreed to leave Gravity Falls, and as I see it, you're the only one who's part of the deal isn't fulfilled. So sorry to say, but this is the last I'll be seeing you! Say 'hi' for me to your folks back home!"

"No, Bill! I said —" he started once the duct tape was gone, only to get teleported out of the Mystery Shack at the snap of Bill's fingers, "I'd leave . . . at sundown."

There was no point. Everything was gone. Everything that mattered, anyway. Mabel was still trapped, his journal was out of his reach, Bill had his way and Dipper was an outcast; there would be no return to what he had thought of as his home. Never.

The boy was stuck standing in the middle of . . . the middle of . . . What? Where am I? Dipper gazed around a blackened desert, the cold winds whipping through his messy brown hair. The ruins of what appeared to be destroyed buildings littered the ground, the remains of what seemed to be the world's apocalypse.

"Ah ha ha ha!" It seemed as if the entire Earth vibrated with the evil being's voice, cruel and threatening. "Thanks so much for leaving, Pine Tree. Now I can finally get what I've wanted and you can't stand in my way! Literally!"

Mabel's twin brother gasped as laughter filled his world. It was everywhere. Mocking him. Terrorizing him.

"I-I'm gonna stop you, Bill!" he cried out into the air. "I don't have to stay in Gravity Falls to do that!"

The laughing only continued. It was all that existed as the boy shut his eyes, trying to make it all go away. The ground swirled beneath him. The darkness engulfed him. He became lost in the void. Lost in Bill's cackling. I'm going to stop you. I'm going to stop you. I'm going to stop . . . you.

-.E.l.o.o.-.F.l.s.k.h.u.-.L.v.-.Z.d.w.f.k.l.q.j.-

Dipper woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the Gravity Falls forest, curled up in a ball, his journal clutched tightly to his chest. I-it was just a dream . . . He realized with a sigh of relief, pushing himself up into a sitting position. None of that was real. It was just a dream.

Standing up on shaky legs, Dipper took another look around. There was no sign of the Gremloblin, or McGucket. I guess he wasn't here after all, he sighed, gripping the journal even harder.

"I don't really need that laptop anyway," Dipper attempted to cheer himself up while he traversed the path to the Shack. "It's not like it actually had that much information on it, right? I can do without. Yeah . . . Just me and Journal Number Three."

AN:

It was really fun writing this with my big sis by my side! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I have! I really love the floating Doritos's character and he's very enjoyable to write about! I hope to bring more of him into the story! Make sure to leave a little something for me to see what you thought! Buy gold! Bye!