Chapter 2: Reversal

"Bill. Pour me some tea," Mabel called from where she sat at the table backstage.

A being in the shape of a blue triangle floated toward her, teapot in hand, and filled her cup without a word.

"Thank you Bill," she said and took a sip.

That was a rare sight. The twins almost never thanked him for anything. Those spoiled, inconsiderate…

"Oh, where on earth is he?" The slam of his mistress's fist made Bill jump. "Dipper was supposed to be back by now. The show will start in less than ten minutes! Does he think Uncle Stan will really allow us to hold off any longer?"

"I-I-I don't know."

She crossed her arms sternly. "Find him." An order.

"No need, Mabel," her brother's voice sounded from behind them.

Dipper stepped inside, being careful not to shut his shimmery cape in the door. He was already in costume and his hair combed over, neatly, save for a few dirt stains on his face.

"Finally! Where were you?" His sister jabbed him in the chest, just below the blue jewel that hung from his bolo tie.

He simply clapped the dirt from his gloved hands. "Just had some business to take care of. That's all."

She stepped back, hands on her hips. "You're filthy. Did you forgot that we have a show today?"

"How could I? You never stop nagging me about it- hey!"

He fought with a whine as she scrubbed a damp cloth over his face. Bill almost chuckled, but they would have almost certainly reprimanded him for it. It was one of those rare times when they seemed like just a normal pair of siblings.

"Ack! Stop it!"

"Just hold still so I can get it off-"

"Kids! Five minutes 'til curtain!" Their great-uncle's voice resounded from the other room.

"Coming Uncle!" they replied in unison before disappearing out of sight.

Bill, thankful for the quiet moment, set to cleaning up the table. Goodness, they left most of their things behind. As he was picking up, his single eye settled on the familiar form of a leather-bound journal. They forgot the book! It was almost showtine- he had to get it to them right away. Dropping everything, he scurried out the door to find them. But as soon as he got outside the room, something like an electrical shock hit him.

Open it.

Was someone there? He looked around, but found that he was alone.

Open it.

There it was again. He looked down to the journal in his hands. There were a few notes stuck in here and there. He placed his finger to the edge of a paper scrap stuck in the middle.

Open it.

He did. He had read through the journal before, but this section he had landed on was new. Bill slowed down as he read through the book. If what he was seeing was possible, then just maybe he could-

"One minute!" Stan called. Shoot, the show was about to start. Bill slammed the book quickly. He couldn't let the twins or their uncle catch him sneaking a look at it. He headed to the stage without missing a beat, a newfound excitement rushing through him.

The show went off without a hitch, per usual. The twins performed their usual magic act. Their uncle billed them as psychics, but it was all due to the gems they wore- the ones Bill had told them about long ago. He forgot just how long it had been since they first summoned him. Since then, he had been a slave to them, those accursed twins!

Bill was a mind manipulator, a powerful creature, but he himself had always been benevolent. For years, he would watch tenderly over children in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls, but never before had he seen children as calculating and cruel as the Pines. They had moved in years ago to live with their uncle and been nothing but trouble since. Tourists were drawn to their act, and the financial gain was more than enough to satisfy the townspeople. Anyone who wasn't would end up at their mercy, always. The two of them were on top of the world, no enemies in sight, and the most powerful being who could stop them was reduced to servitude.

But now, finally, that could change. Once the afternoon show was over, Bill dissapeared into the woods alone. For what he was about to do, he needed a vessel to possess. He never liked taking possession of people. It just felt wrong. On occassion, however, the twins would call on him for tasks that required it. They hired a quiet man, who had memory problems and difficulty sleeping, as a ticket taker years ago to serve as a vessel. Their rationale was that the man was physically healthy and unassuming enough to use, plus he would probably just think any gaps in his day were the usual memory lapses. It still didn't sit well with Bill, but he was always careful to keep the man unharmed, and watched over his dreams when he slept.

He had to be careful now though. If anyone were to recognize his vessel, the Pines would find out instantly. For the ritual he wanted to perform, he had to make sure everything, the time of day, the setting, everything was perfect. Past the many rows of trees he managed to spot his destination. It was a large brick and wood building, the only one in the area- the infamous Mystery Shack.

The Shack was a well-known tourist trap that showcased all sorts of ridiculous hoaxes and supposed artifacts. It was also the rival to the Pines' "Tent of Telepathy", and Bud Gleeful, who ran the place, was the family's notorious enemy. The twins had even taken to picking on Bud's son Gideon after a while. Mabel had a bit of an obsession with him.

Bill tread lightly as he slinked about the property. If he remembered correctly, there was a decent-sized shed a short ways behind the house. He found it quickly, and in less than a minute he had the lock undone and was inside. Luckily, the place was stuffed full of junk to the point where the windows were completely covered. He couldn't risk being seen.

"Now, let's get started," he murmured as he fumbled with the pages of the book. Getting reaccustomed to a human form was always a bit of a challenge.

Finally, he found the page with directions for the ritual. Bill carefully placed the book on a clean portion of a cluttered table, cleared his throat, and began reciting the incantation. In one hand he held a small blue crystal. It had taken him a good hour to find, but he could not have asked for a better one. In the other hand he held a bowl of water. Without missing a word, he dropped the crystal in with a splash. The water shone bright green and colorful smoke billowed up from the surface. As a gentle smile bloomed across his face, Bill suddenly heard a loud noise.

He turned around with a jolt as the door to the shack burst open. Standing there, wearing perfectly identical expressions of fury, were the twins.

"I should've known you would come here," Dipper muttered.

Bill lowered his face, still murmuring the chant.

"I thought you had been acting strangely today," Mabel said, her nose in the air, arms crossed over her chest. "I never would have guessed that you had the gall to steal the book."

Dipper stuck out his hand impatiently. "Hand it over, Cipher."

With fumbling hands, Bill poured a trace amount of water on the page and it glowed faintly.

Dipper furrowed his brow. "I'm giving you a warning Bill, don't make us have to take it from you." his and his sister's hands flew to their jewels.

Without warning, Bill threw the water from the bowl, drenching them both and ringing the floor with moisture. They tried to activate their gems but nothing happened.

"Don't bother. This stuff cancels out magic," Bill said, rubbing the remaining liquid between his hands.

"You fool, just what do you think you're-"

"Enough! I'm through with being your tool!" he shouted and chanted some strange words that they could not recognize.

Suddenly, the wet areas of the floor began to light up white The twins stopped dead. What was he doing? This wasn't like him at all.

So I'm going somewhere new." A grin plastered itself onto Bill's normally sullen face as green fire spread all around the three of them. "Somewhere where I am powerful!"

The twins fell back as the book lit up and blinding light flooded the room. They felt as if they were floating, unattached to anything or anyone, save for each other. They held a tight grip on each other's hands. The world seemed to be on a complete pause. Suddenly, they felt a shift in the gravity and they flew forward toward a black dot, growing bigger and bigger until finally, they crashed through it.

Mabel groaned as they landed, her head spinning from the impact. She could hear her brother doing the same close by. Just where were they?

"Mabel, are you all right?" Dipper called out as they staggered to their feet.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good. Now where are we?" They dusted themselves off and took a good look around.

Tall pine trees towered above them on every side. Everything was quiet save for a few squaks of the birds that flew through the blue sky overhead. A few feet away from where the twins stood was a large, deep hole. Next to it was a small wooden sign with BOTTOMLESS PIT written in splotchy brown paint. They were at the Mystery Shack. Why on earth would Bill send them there?

"Look!" Mabel pointed toward the driveway. "That's not Mr. Gleeful's car."

She was right. In place of Bud Gleeful's clean blue car was a junker if they had ever seen one. The door had a huge dent in the side, and the rusty spots on the body were the same hue as the aged brown paint. The rear license plate clung precariously to the rest of the car. The letters STNLYMBL were barely legible underneath layers of dry mud that caked the metal plate.

"This doesn't make sense," Dipper started to say when a shriek cut suddenly though the air.

"Argh! Mabel, give that back!"

Mabel looked behind her quickly. "Did someone just call me?"

"No way! I want a turn!"

For once, her brother looked surprised. "That- that sounded just like you!"

A loud boom and a scatter of birds spread across the sky. It had come from the Shack. The two of them came closer, moving discreetly behind the nearby trees. Up ahead, the blurry form of a girl sped past the front door with some kind of blue crystal in hand. She aimed it at the trunk of a tree and a burst of water shot out from her hand.

"Mabel, I told you not to touch that! We don't know how it works!" A boy with a voice not unlike Dipper's called out as he followed close behind her.

The twins watched them dumbstruck and open-mouthed.

"They- they look exactly like us!" Mabel muttered.

Dipper shook his head. "No, scratch that, they are us!" How was this possible?

"It must have been Bill. He sent us to some kind of mirror world. Except here, we're-"

"Kids!" A rather hoarse voice sounded from inside the house. "We're opening soon! Get your butts back in here and finish licking those stamps!"

The kids groaned in unison and trudged over to the door, shutting it with a loud slam. A minute or two passed before the twins crept out from behind the trees. Neither could find their tongues. They were both more than accustomed to strange creatures and phenomena, but this?

"How on earth is this possible?" Mabel was dumbfounded.

"We've never crossed over into a place like this before. The closest we've ever come is entering the dreamscape." Dipper furrowed his brow, a contemplative expression on his face. "Bill must have learned the ritual to bring us here without our knowledge."

"But where is he then? He said he was going 'somewhere he's powerful.' I would think then that he would come here alone and leave us back home."

"His ritual must have backfired. Something went wrong and now we're here too."

Mabel made a determined face. "We have to find Bill."

Dipper nodded back to her. "Right. We ought to summon him."

"But he took the book!"

"We're in some kind of parallel reality aren't we? Then there must be another journal here too."

"But where would it be?" Mabel saw her brother's face and followed his gaze to the Shack.

"I think I may know," he said.