Synopsis :
Star Butterfly joins in the fun. Ford starts to uncover Bill's secret life. Star and Bill fuses. No this is not Steven Universe.
A sharp pain shoots up my spine as my skeleton reconstructs itself from the fall.
I open my eyes to see Rick gazing down on me, Bill floating overhead him. I groan, not because of the throbbing pain of my still healing fractured bones, rather because of the fact Rick's still here.
"Woah, Sixer," Rick says in a bit concerned tone. I look at Bill who narrows his eye at me. "Wh-what's up with you? What the hell was that for?"
"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS, RICK?" Bill comments, floating closer to me. I scowl at him. "HE'S JUST JEALOUS WE'RE FRIENDS." Bill wraps an arm around my shoulder and the other around Rick's. I try to recoil from the group huddle but Bill holds me firmly in my place.
"NOW, THERE'S REALLY NO POINT FOR THIS... RIVALRY ON WHO GETS TO BE WHOSE BESTIE." I roll my eyes. Like hell. This means war, Bill. "WE CAN ALL BE FRIENDS, RIGHT FORDSIE?"
"Last time I let you call me a friend, you betrayed me." I spit at him harshly. "And now you're saying we can all be friends? Wow. Dick move, Cipher."
"Ohohoho," Rick chuckled, "Looks like we guh-guh-got history here!"
I narrow my eyes and shove Bill's arm off me and I step back from the huddle. "So if you don't mind, you two 'besties' go fuck each other and leave me alone." Rick hoots and laughs unaware that I was also referring to him. I scowl. "You too Rick. Fuck off you backstabbing piece of shit."
I storm off away from the two. I know Bill won't let me out of his sight, but that doesn't mean I can't roam around his little 'fearamid'. Well, technically, I shouldn't be allowed to freely explore this pyramid, but for some reason he's incredibly civil now. I bite my lip. It's becoming more evident that this is most likely because of Rick's presence.
After a few hours of roaming the humongous, dully decorated room, I settle at the corner where I observe everyone from the distance. The party music keeps booming from everywhere. There aren't any speakers around yet it's reverberating everywhere that it's hurting my ears. Everyone's having lots of fun, even Rick. God damn that bastard. After all those years I trusted him, he just turns out to be another one of Bill's cronies. Pathetic.
Rick looks over his shoulder to look at me. I once again raise my middle fingers at him which he gladly returns. He went back to conversing with Bill. I watch him whisper something serious to the triangle before walking away from him towards Bill's Hench-maniacs.
Upon the end of the two's conversation, Bill approaches me, looking a bit preoccupied.
"Hey Stanford," He greets in a considerably nicer way, his voice softer than usual, which is so horrifying in its entirety I have to take two steps back from him. Bill furrows his figurative eyebrow in confusion before realizing what he had just done that he has to turn away from me for a second before facing me again with an unnatural, almost forced, smug expression.
"WHAT?" He asks me too aggressively.
"What do you mean what?" I ask, still shocked at his sudden amiable attitude a while ago. "What's up with yo-?"
Bill snaps his fingers cutting my sentence short. I'm pulled off of the ground. He raises me close to his eye. He looks at me with a piercing glare and I shrink at the intensity of it. He's really terrifying at times but, as always, I try not showing it. I glower at him in return.
"LOOK HERE SIXER," He growls at me. My glare faltered at the sound of his voice. "YOU'RE LUCKY THAT I'M LETTING YOU HAVE SOME... LEISURE TIME BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M DONE WITH YOU JUST YET." A force knocks the breath out of my chest. "SO, IF I WERE YOU, ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS." Bill lets go of me and I hit the floor hard, cracking my glasses. He turns away.
"Leisure," I grumble, "more like psychological torture to me."
"WELL IT SHOULD BE," Bill notes, his voice lined with poisonous annoyance. He floats for a bit in silence then turns to look back at me begrudgingly.
"RICK ASKED ME TO CHECK ON YOU, BY THE WAY." He says, his tone less angry but the hint of irritation was still there. "HE IS A BIT CONCERNED WITH YOUR ATTITUDE EARLIER SO IF I WERE YOU, I'D GO EXPLAIN MY IRRATIONAL ACTIONS TO HIM. THIS IS A PARTY, AFTERALL. DON'T BE SUCH A BUZZ KILL." Bill snaps his fingers and the chains on my neck disappears and the cracks on my glasses disappearing. "I HAVE MORE GUESTS COMING BY. TRY NOT BEING AN ASSHOLE, IT'S INCREDIBLY OUT OF YOUR CHARACTER."
The Triangle leaves me in even more shock. He's... so nice. So deceivingly nice. I don't like this, at all. He's planning something and I know it. I have to get out here fast. Damn it, if I only had my-
I hear an all too familiar ripping of fabric behind me.
I whirl around to see blades cut through the fabric of space and time, creating a portal. Bill apparently hears this too as an invisible hand forces me down to my knees, making it impossible to move. I'm too stunned to even retaliate. There's a sense of trepidation filling my chest as the demon teleports beside me in his regular size. We both eye the portal patiently, waiting for the entities to step out of the portal.
My heart skips a beat.
A blonde young teen goes through the portal, accompanied by a Hispanic boy around her age. I barely notice the weight forced down on me disappear while I scan her appearance. I do not need to fully look at her though, I know exactly who she is the moment I lay eyes on the hearts on her cheeks.
"Hey Uncle Ford!" She greets, delighted, rushing to give me a huge, warming hug. It's been a while since I felt anything comfortable and welcoming that I melt into her embrace. I awkwardly return the hug. She lets go and faces Bill with a huge grin.
"STAR!" Bill says enthusiastically. "I DON'T REMEMBER ASKING PERMISSION FROM MOONIE. IS SHE FINE WITH YOU HERE?"
Moonie? I ponder. Did he mean Queen Moon Butterfly?
"Oh well, she doesn't have to knowwww," Star says jokingly, prolonging her words while nudging Bill. "I heard you were throwing a party sooooo I thought I'd come!" She drags the boy next to her, "I brought along Marco tooooo!"
"Hi," the boy says timidly.
"Uncle Ford, B, this is my friend, Marco," Star introduces us formally, though formality isn't Star's thing. "Marco, this is Uncle Ford and B!"
"HELLO THERE, MARCO UBALDO DIAZ," Bill says pleasantly. Marco looks at the Triangle shocked that he knows his full name. He let out a quiet, confused "How-" only to be quickly interrupted by Bill. "GLAD TO HAVE YA HERE. SAY, YOU AND STAR DON'T HAPPEN TO BE A COUPLE?"
"W-what?" Marco asks, blushing red. Star laughs uncomfortably. He points at star then himself. "U-us? A couple? Nah. Star's my best friend!"
Bill's eye shapes into a grin, "OH. ALRIGHTIE THEN! IF YOU SAY SO. TOTALLY BELIEVABLE." Marco and Star exchange glances at the sarcasm in Bill's voice and Star just smiles and shrugs giving him a 'well-that's-B-for-ya' look. Bill laughs at the two before cutting it short. He clears his throat. "DO YOU WANT A TOUR IN MY FEARAMID?"
"No tha-"
"Yes!" Star cuts Marco off. "He'd love to have a tour here!" She pushes her friend beside Bill. Marco tries to talk her out of it but drastically fails as he is pulled by Bill away from Star and me.
Star returns to me.
"Phew, glad that B's off my back," Star says with a sigh. She scratches her arm. "Can't believe he asked Marco that. I mean, we're not a thing. We're just friends." She pouts then walks to the crowd, pulling on my arm. "Anyways, I didn't expect to see you here, Uncle Ford," She says, lifting her wand to summon a sentient cloud.
"Neither did I," I admit to her. "I didn't even know you know him." I pause for a moment.
"Out of curiosity, how'd you meet Bill?"
"Bill?" Star asks, "Is that your nickname for B? That's so cuuuute!"
I furrow my brows. "Nickname? His name is Bill. Bill Cipher. That's how he introduced himself to me and to everyone else I know."
Star shook her head. "Nope. His name is B. B-Triangle. I mean, ask Grampa Rick, he'll agree."
I look at her in confusion. She also knows Rick? More importantly, B-Triangle? There are so many missing pieces to this puzzle I'm solving. I thought I already know who Bill truly is but apparently, he has this other identity. And, what, he's nice? What game is this?
"Well, I was four when I got lost in the forest in Mewnie. Though, now in retrospect, it might be kidnapping by the monsters." Star retells, stepping on the cloud absent-mindedly. I climb on it as well and it brings us up to the gigantic buffet table with all the interdimensional food. "Anyways, I was scared and powerless against the monsters. They announced to my family that I would be returned in exchange for something. I don't really remember what they wanted." She pauses to try and recall. I smile at her pondering expression. She reminds me of Mabel. Incredibly enthusiastic and brutally optimistic. Star and her would've gotten along.
"Pfsh. I don't remember anyways," she continues. "That night I met B in a dream. He was just passing by in the mindscape when he saw me and became suspicious. So he asked me what happened and I told him how I got there and asked for his help. Then we made a deal where he'd possess me and drive away all the monsters for me and for exchange I'd give him directions because he's really lost." I furrow my brows. Bill? Lost? Asking for directions? More bewildering, wholeheartedly making a deal without him expecting anything huge in return?
Star browses through the buffet. "I agreed," she tells me, "because hey, he's nice!"
There's a brief flash of Mabel's journal entry on Bipper in my journal. "He didn't do anything horrible with your body?" I ask, remembering the plan of Bill to kill Dipper and framing it for suicide when he gained control of his body. I shudder.
"Nah." Star replies, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Actually, he's pretty cool. He taught me some of the spells I know! Also, now that I think of it, he used wandless magic on the monsters! That's, like, something I can't do yet. It's suuuuper advanced."
I look back at Bill who is introducing Marco to Rick. I grit my teeth. I can't believe he's friends with people I care about. What makes it worse is that they seem to know him better than I do. Why is he so nice to all of them? Why am I the only one who seems to know that he's a monster? Am I the only one who knows that he's planning for interdimensional domination?
"How 'bout you Uncle Ford?" Star asks, grabbing a glass of Time Punch. She sips a bit of it before nodding in satisfaction, then gulps down the contents of her glass. She refills it. "How'd ya meet B?"
I look down. "Well, I also met him in a dream after I summoned him when I needed help for my research."
"Yeah, Miss G Also met him in a 'dream'." Star notes. "Everyone I know first meets B in their dreams. Rick's probably the only one I know who didn't meet B in a dream."
"What?" I ask, casting another glance at the trio who are now laughing together. "He met Bill? In the Nightmare Realm? How exactly did those two even meet?"
"Nuff Weally Suwe" Star says with her mouth full. I smile a bit at her stuffed cheeks. She swallows the food and burps. "No one really knows how those two met. In fact, I would've assumed they were childhood friends if Miss G didn't tell me otherwise." She shoves her glass of time punch at me. "Hold it for me Uncle Ford, Imma try 'ta find Doritortillas!"
She rummages through tons of food, spilling chips and gummy worm-looking food off their respective containers. She also spills a bag of chocolate spiders into the bowl of four hundred-season tropical juice. She yells out an apology before continuing in her quest to find Doritortillas. I keep an eye on Rick who's now probably hitting on Pyronica. Bill's introducing Marco to Kryptos and Hectogron who are, unlike most of Bill's henchmen, civil and nice. The group converses and, for some reason, Marco continues the tour with Kryptos and Hectogron instead. Bill looks at my direction, narrowing his eye. He traces letters in the air, all which manifested in flames, saying,
[I]"I'M WATCHING YOU. HAVE FUN NOW OR I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE WORSE."
I gape at Bill but nod reluctantly. Enforcing me to relax and have fun? HE'S the one who's out of character. I really don't know how to feel about this... err... well I can't say compassionate kindness. Ugh. I really don't know. Maybe this is all just a dream. Wishful thinking. That's all.
"OOH, I FOUND SPRINKLESSS!"
Star comes back with a big jar of fine, pink crystalline sprinkles and presents it to me. It looks somewhat familiar but I can't put a finger to what it is. It's probably candy I saw in Becky's Mulltiverse Candy Shop from Dimension 5*9. "Do ya want some?"
I laugh softly. "No thanks, Star. You can have it."
She shrugs. "Mmm. Suit yourself. More for me!" She gulps down the crystalline sprinkles. She pauses, half way through. I look at her.
"Hmm... This doesn't taste like sprinkles." She licks her lips. I watch her curiously. Her eyes twinkles brightly.
"ButIdontcareanywayImmahavemore!" She says in such speed I can barely understand her. She finishes the remainder of the jar faster than I imagine Mabel would and THAT'S saying something. I furrow my brows, thinking that this isn't a natural side-effect of sprinkles. And then realize what she's eating.
Collaxion Crystals.
"HOLY SHIT!" I scream out, taking the jar from Star. A small dosage Collaxion Crystals can make people twice as high as what a high dosage Metaphenamine can induce on humans and fades twice as fast as normal drugs would. But Star gulped down what I assume would be 60 grams of drugs which is far too much for someone to handle and can practically cause death.
What the heck is this jar of grounded Collaxion Crystals doing in the buffet table anyway?!
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Bill suddenly appears beside me along with Rick. I shoot a glare at both of them.
"One of you two idiots left drugs on the table which Star mistook as sprinkles!" I yell angrily at both of them. Star spasms and falls to the floor, giggling and mumbling incoherent words before laying still. Her open eyes are still open, glowing brightly along with the hearts on her cheeks.
"Holy fuck," Bill mumbles under his breath. Once again I'm distracted from the reality at hand, from the current situation of my adopted neice. I watch Bill's eye widen. He looks down, as if contemplating on something. He's frozen, unknowing what to do. His panicked gaze met mine and I snap out of my trance and call Rick to help me create a cure.
Both of us are frozen still in our places.
"STAY HERE." Bill yells forcefully, louder and more panicked than usual. He picks up Star and they teleport out of the room, most probably to the pent house suite.
I try to turn my head around. The everpresent party music I blocked out of my mind has stopped. Everyone in the room is frozen as well. The party is halted for a moment and, for the first time in god knows how long, it feels like time is actually moving. There's a faint ticking echoing in my mind reminding me, reminding us that, as much as time is 'dead', the clocks are still ticking in everyone's perspective. And are we running out of time indeed. Tick tock. Tick tock. An everpresent reminder that if we waste our time Star might die. Everyone is silent, either because they prefer to remain quiet or because all of us are unable to speak, I don't know. My mind travels back to Star. I hold my breath. I hope she's alright.
The entire pyramid shakes.
We're knocked out of the frozen state, and we fall to the floor. A "Whaa?" escaped some of the monsters. They seem to be just as confused as I am. Rick and I exchange glances. There was a growing pit of worry in the bottom of my stomach, churning in fear and anxiety.
"Find Marco and stay close to Rick." Comes the familiar whispers of Bill in my ear. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as I'm bombarded with nostalgia at how he used to communicate to me back in the old days. "When you three are united, make sure you pathetic humans get down on the floor."
Rick apparently has gotten the same message because he suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me to the crowd. I furrow my brows.
"Hey!" I say in protest, trying to break free from his grasp. "Let go-!"
"Can it Pointdexter!" He tells me, looking for the hispanic boy in the crowd. There's a loud yelling from the oposite side of the room.
"Rick! Rick!" calls out a voice. Pushing through the crowd are Kryptos and Hectogron with Marco following them. Confusion seeps in my mind as I'm pulled by the group away from the crowd. I have never been more perplexed and scared in my life. The next thing I know is that I'm pulled down to a crouching position as soon as we parted from the bustling crowd of monsters.
A blue bubble surrounds us.
What the hell is happening? What's this protection bubble for? Why am I with a couple of henchmaniacs who seem to have lost their malevolent and threatening stature and who are now anxiously looking around, waiting for whatever it is Bill's planning to do? I look around at all of them but realize that if they're this scared then something horrible is about to happen. I elect to stay silent and inquire about what's happening later even though I'm brimming with questions.
Kryptos' eye widens and he gasps before facing the group in the bubble. "He said he's setting off a level 6 Weirdness Wave!"
"No way." Hectogron says quietly. "That's... That's absurd! That's stupid! That'll-"
"No. He's not THAT stupid to set off a high level Reality Distortion Spell himself," Rick interjects. "That'll exhaust his powers for a while. He's just," he pauses, an impressed grin spreading on his face. "H-he's going to discharge the excess magic in Star so he can bring her energy levels back to normal."
"Excess magic?" I inquire. "I thought that Collaxion Crystals have the same effect on Mewmen as it have on humans."
"Ordinary Mewmen, yeah," Rick replies, taking a seat on the floor and pulling out his flask. He drinks from it. "But Star's diff-eeuughh-rent." He burps mid-sentence. "Collaxion Crystals hightens the magic within her and if, if, if it's saturated within her for too long, her body's guh-going to decay. I couldn't think of any s-spell that can drain her magic like that, but for it to occur to B to use a forbidden, powerful spell like that, it's not a bad idea at all, and quite frankly the only choice we have."
Silence descends upon us as we waited for the Weirdness Wave to wash upon us. I keep my gaze down, hoping that everything's alright for Star.
The pyramid floor gives way. Everyone who are oblivious to what's happening is caught by surprise when the building dissipates. They all scream and fall to the ground below them. We remain floating above the confusion of the monsters. I look up and see the tip of the pyramid still intact and I wonder why Bill deconstructed his palace. Amidst the hassle Pyronica's voice stands out of all, screaming to take cover.
The Reality Distortion Spell pulsates from the pent house at a rapid pace. The first wave hits our bubble and it shakes at the intensity. A yelp escapes me. The screams of Marco reverberated in the bubble and it makes my ears ring. The next wave hits us, harder and this time Rick is the one who was yelling.
"HOLY SHIT THE BUBBLE'S CRACKING."
And indeed it is. There is a huge crack running through the circumference of the sphere. Kryptos and Hectogron notices this too and starts yelling at each other to do something. Marco and I are left in terror at what's happening. I don't understand any of it except for the fact that, whatever spell it is Bill's casting, it'd kill us if we are exposed to it, or worse. I do not fret as much as they do though since Bill effectively getting rid of me would mean that he wouldn't be able to get his hands on the equation from my mind. And, actually, I'd rather that chance of dying by a forbidden and probably irreversible curse than to suffer over and over again for eternity.
To all our shock what's remaining of the Fearamid deconstructs and we gaze upon the faint silhouette of Star Butterfly, arms spread wide with the heart cheek marks and her eyes glowing. Her wings, however, is unlike any of the previous queens' wings I've seen. It's incredibly deformed and hollographic in nature, glitching in and out of existence. They aren't butterfly wings, or feather wings of an angel, or those leathery wings of a demon. Star's wings were like hazes of pure energy surrounding crystals of unimaginable firey brightness. Not the kind which could harm our retinas when we look into it. It's, unexplainable. It's beautiful and terrifying.
I come to realize, however, that Bill is nowhere to be seen. I try to remember if his physical body fell to the ground after the pyramid completely disappeared. No. it was just Star in the room. Where is Bill?
I know that the Butterflys' full form usually has three pairs of arms but when bright yellow ones starts separating from Star's previous ones and the sudden change of the glow of her eyes quickly turning from white to bright yellow, my question is answered.
"Holy fuck," Rick mumbles, also coming to the same realization I have. "They fused."
As if on cue, a third eye carves itself on Star's forehead and opens up. It looks down at us and widens up. With one graceful wave of their golden hand and the bubble fully reconstructs itself. And with one ear-piercing screech that might as well have made the sphere we're in break with the sheer intensity of it, the final wave pulsates from Star's wings.
The bubble once again shakes when the tidal wave of energy hit it.
Everyone lets out a sigh of relief except for me. I still have my eyes pinned on the demon-mewman fusion up above us. They descend near the bubble, the third eye focuses completely on me. I stare back at the eye, unsure whether it is Star or Bill who's looking through it. I can't tell. The eye showed absolutely no emotion.
"Yooo Star-iangle," Rick greets. Kryptos sniggers at the bad, bad pun. I nudge Rick hard on his ribs The fusion waves a couple of its hands at us while the others clutch the Bubble.
"Are you guys alright?" Stariangle asks, their voice higher in pitch but is rather smooth and relaxed. It has the whispy qualities of Bill's voice but the dissonance isn't as prominent as it usually is.
"Seriously?" Hectogron asks sternly. "Us? What about you?"
"Star?"
Everyone turns to Marco who has kept quiet all throughout the dilemma. Stariangle's head faces him but the third eye looks away. Their eyes cease its glowing, revealing the blue irises of Star. Marco puts his hand on the bubble wall. Stariangle presses hers on the bubble as well. Rick let out a disgusted groan.
A deep grumbling resounded from everywhere, a sound like a dam overflowing and about to give way. Stariangle jerks away and looks around. Their third eye shrivelles as its gaze keeps dashing rapidly. Stariangle gasps.
Another pulsating wave of pure cursed energy is coming towards us. None of us had time to react. It hits us one final time and the bubble pops, unable to withstand the power of the spell.
We're sent falling down.
Author's Note:
I do want to note Bill and Star has a great backstory I have yet to reveal on another AU fanfic series since I have a couple planned already. I don't want to abandon this AU since I want to make a redemption fic for Bill.
Im dead.
i also made the cool chapter front page because heyyyy i love stariangle she looks so amazing!
as usual, the app I used was Paint Tool Sai, done with a pen tablet in roughly 2 hours.