A/N: Hello, fine readers! ThatGuy here again with another chapter, and a juicy one at that!
Again, I want to thank everyone that has favorited, followed, reviewed, or read any part of the story so far. I never expected this to blow up so fast.
Before starting, I am going to give you a heads-up about Blendin's backstory, which I briefly detail in this chapter. While there are lines that imply a strong connection to another animated television program, this fic is not a crossover. I will explain the reference at the end if you don't catch it.
Also, I will be revising spelling and grammatical errors that slipped by in Chapters 1 and 2 soon. So if you see this story updated in the next couple of days, don't expect Chapter 4.
Chapter 3 lies below!
"I-Is anyone th-there?" Blendin called out to no one in particular. The time traveler was struggling to get to his feet, as it seemed he was quite disoriented. Dipper could also tell that the man was having trouble seeing, due to his straining eyes. He recalled the broken pair of goggles still grasped in his hands.
While Dipper didn't want to let go of Mabel anytime soon, he needed answers. He needed to know what happened. He couldn't stand not knowing how all this occurred, as was Dipper's curious nature. But it didn't help that whatever played out had rendered his sister unconscious and started the apocalypse.
Dipper's sadness started to subside and something else took its place. Anger. Blendin was somehow involved and had to know how "Weird-mageddon" as Stanford had called it had begun. He set his sister against a tree nearby before confronting the man from the future.
"Blendin!" Dipper called out as he marched over. The boy's fists began to clench up waiting for a reply.
"Wh-who sa-said that?" Blendin responded. He faced Dipper, but still couldn't recognize his former enemy. But before Blendin could say his name, Dipper began to run at the man and pushed him to the ground.
"What happened, Blendin?! What did you do to my sister?!" Dipper demanded in frustration. The time removal crewman tried getting back to his knees but Dipper pushed him back down, slamming his chubby head into the grass.
"I-I-I did-idn't do any-yth-hing!" Blendin exclaimed; his retort muffled by the blades of grass in his mouth. Dipper only grew more angry and pushed Blendin harder into the soft ground. How could he have not been involved in all this? Did he just happen to show up at precisely the wrong moment?
"I-I did-idn't do anyth-hi-ng to your sist-ter! L-let me expl-lain myself first-t!" Blendin pleaded. Dipper let up on his pressure against the Blendin's head. The brown-haired boy saw the desperation and confusion in his victim's face. It seemed that he was telling the truth. He couldn't have intentionally done anything to hurt Mabel. After all, both parties had left on good terms after their epic game of Globnar (The twins had spared the time traveler's life and given him something he had always desired: hair). Plus, Bill was a part of it and anything could be possible since he was involved.
Dipper let go of Blendin's shoulder and let the pudgy grey-suited man get on his feet. He promptly sat back down and motioned Dipper to as well. From Blendin's expression, shame was all he felt inside.
"Dip-per, I-I, I-I-I…., I did-dn't m-mean for any of this to happ-pen."
Dipper nodded for Blendin to continue.
"I-I was t-tricked."
It was the year 207̃012, and Blendin Blenjamin Blandin was doing quite fine.
Dipper and Mabel Pines, the twins responsible for him losing his job were no longer his enemies, but his friends. They had spared his life after he lost to them in the most treacherous game in the galaxy: Globnar. The two kids had even blessed him with two of his most treasured desires: hair and his job back.
Blendin had now returned to his old post with the Time Anomaly Removal Crew. While some members of the overarching Enforcement Squadron like Lolph and Dundgren didn't let up on the fact he was saved by a pair of twelve year-olds, the removal crew welcomed him back with open arms. Open arms as in, the same teasing and insults he had always received before he was fired. It was like nothing had changed for the nervous wreck of a time traveler.
It had been a few months after Globnar that Blendin was given some time off as new recruits were taking some assignments for the week. A perk about being a member of the T.A.R.C. was the fact he was allowed to travel across time, even when off-duty. Crew members had to take an oath, knowing that any tampering of time off the job would result in an automatic meeting with Time Baby.
And nobody wanted to upset Time Baby.
Outside the Time Paradox Avoidance Enforcement Squadron's building, Blendin decided that he wanted the Pines to know that everything he went through because of them was behind him now. Time prison, infinite sentence, Globnar, and all. He knew that curiosity had gotten the best of them when he took his belt off to go on the barrel ride at the fair. He was sure that if he was in their shoes as a kid, he probably would have done the same thing. If it wasn't for kids like them, what was the point of a Time Anomaly Removal Crew anyways?
Blendin set his time-travel device for Gravity Falls, Oregon, August 24th, 2012, 7:00pm. He chose this date as it was one week after Globnar in their time. He didn't want to come to say hi only a few days after the dust settled, so he decided one week would be a good space of time between their last meetings.
The futuristic buildings and bustling streets that had surrounded him vanished as he let go of the measure's tape. He was now enclosed in a classic Pacific Northwest forest, the air smelling of sweet pine and fir trees.
Blendin had always found the forest an interesting place. In his time, skyscrapers and complexes had spread across the entire planet. Humanity had developed new technology to produce oxygen, so forests quickly diminished while new cities took their place. But there was something about the forest couldn't be produced by mile-high buildings on every block besides the oxygen and CO2.
'Isolation' and 'calm' were words that came to mind. Blendin lived in a world with over 12 billion people. Everywhere people turned, being alone in public was something that was non-existent.
Here, natural towers covered him and stood only yards apart. Silence haunted the far vicinity of where he stood, besides the occasional bird call every couple minutes.
He was truly alone.
But now that he did a 360° to view his surroundings, something wasn't right. Everything he saw was in grayscale. No visible color was splashed on the trees, or bark, or even the sky. Had he just gone color-blind? That was what weirded Blendin out the most, until he noticed an unfamiliar shadow rising above his on the tree in front of him.
He viewed a triangular shape hovering over his silhouette's head. He quickly turned around and grabbed his small, hand laser stun-gun off his belt.
"Wh-ho g-goe-es t-ther-re?!" Blendin yelled, disrupting the peaceful nothing that had enclosed the forest. Whatever was behind him, had completely disappeared. He clenched the gun in fear, knowing it was his only mode of defense since he was off-duty.
The sound of silence deafened the forest.
"L-look-k, I h-have a g-gun! I'll l-leav-ve if you want-t!" Blendin stated out to the empty air. He began to turn around slowly, checking his entire field of vision for any intruders.
"Hey timey-wimey!" a mechanical voice called out from all around him.
"W-wh-here a-are y-you?!" Blendin demanded. He was practically spinning in circles now, looking for whoever was tormenting him. He pointed the stun-gun up into the air where he originally saw the shadow.
"Look, I mean no harm! I'm a friend who wants to say hi!" it said.
"P-pleas-se, l-leave m-me al-lon-ne! I-I n-need t-to g-go!" Blendin quipped in response.
"Oh, I don't think you need to go yet, Blendin." it replied.
It knew his name. How could it have known his name? Had he met this person before? It didn't sound like anyone he had encountered from Gravity Falls in the past.
"H-h-how d-do y-you k-know my nam-me?!" Blendin demanded to the invisible voice. His nerves only continued to grow as silence echoed for a few seconds before a reply.
"Like I've said many times before, I know LLLOOOTTTSSS OOOFFF TTHHIIINNNGGGSSS," the voice creepily drawled out.
Blendin was getting dizzy turning in every direction to see who was talking to him. He had to stop soon or he'd fall to the ground.
"O-ok, c-come o-out s-so I c-can s-see you. T-then w-we'll t-talk-k." Blendin proposed.
He waited for a response. The forest remained quiet.
A voice projected into Blendin's ear.
"You sound like a man of compromise. I like that."
"AHHHH!" the time traveler screamed. He spun around to face his 'follower'. But he was quite surprised to not find a human standing in front of him.
A floating triangle with one eye, a tall top hat, tiny bow tie, and small black cane stared directly at him. He didn't even have a mouth, which only scared and confused Blendin even more.
"Wh-ho a-… Wh-what-t are y-you?" Blendin yelled. He pointed his stun-gun at the creature's eye.
"Really? Do you think that a stun-gun will subdue me?" the triangle asked.
Blendin didn't even consider the question. He pulled the trigger.
The laser passed straight through the talking geometric shape. Blendin dropped the gun and put his hands above his head. He didn't even think about running. He wasn't in shape to at all.
"L-look-k, I-I d-don't h-have anyt-thing v-valuabl-le. I-If y-you w-wan-nt, I-I c-ca-"
"Whoa!" exclaimed the triangle. "I didn't come to pickpocket you, timey-wimey. I just wanted to say hi, like I said earlier."
The creature decreased his altitude to make Blendin feel more comfortable. Blendin took even more caution.
"Why don't we start with introductions first? I'm Bill Cipher, and I thought it would be nice to say hello! That's all." Bill stated, tipping his hat to Blendin.
The ground titled and Blendin tumbled backwards and hit the ground.
"Oops, sorry about that. It happens sometimes." Bill remarked regarding the shift in angle. He placed his hat back atop his pointed head and the ground became level again.
Blendin stumbled getting back to his feet. He was from the future, and he couldn't even believe all this. Was this all real? Was he dreaming?
"U-um, B-Bill, i-if t-that's y-your nam-me? W-what-t a-are y-you?" Blendin asked.
"I'm a triangle!" Bill replied. "Isn't that plain to see, timey-wimey?"
"N-no, t-that's n-not-t w-what I-I m-meant-t. W-what-t a-are y-you act-tually?" Blendin asked in shock.
"Hey, I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves," Bill warned. "But if you wondering what I'm here to do, then you're in for a treat!" he then giddily declared.
"W-what?" Blendin questioned.
"Look, I know you've been through some tough times, timey-wimey." Bill said, pulling Blendin close to him. Blendin was now in full panic mode.
"I-I d-don't k-know w-what t-tough t-times y-you're t-talking about, b-buddy!" Blendin yelled, pulling himself away from the triangle. "I-If y-you're t-talking ab-bout t-time prison, t-that's all b-behind me!"
"Oh, I'm not talking about that," Bill responded. "I'm talking about something wwwaaayyy before that."
Blendin became still. There was something that popped into the back of his mind. He shook his head and became angry at Bill.
"St-top wast-ting my time, I-I am completely f-fine!" Blendin denied, knowing the Bill had struck a chord in his heart regarding something about his past.
"You've got a pretty good life, don't ya, timey-wimey? Nice job, friends, and family I'm sure."
Blendin naturally frowned at the last part. He quickly wiped the expression off his face but Bill saw it in time.
"C'mon timey-wimey, admit it," Bill dared. Blendin was getting increasing angry every second he spent in the triangle's presence.
"M-my l-life is n-none of your b-business!" Blendin growled. "L-leave m-me al-lone!"
"All I want for you is to say something. You know what I want you to say." Bill lectured.
"N-no," Blendin objected.
"Say it." Bill reiterated.
"No."
"Say it."
"NO."
"SAY IT!"
"I HAVE NO FAMILY!" Blendin shrieked from the top of his lungs. He fell to his knees and began to weep.
There was a another reason that forests attracted Blendin so much. As a teenager, he somehow lost his memory about his past and where he came from. He didn't know who his parents were, or if he had any siblings. He was passed around foster homes until he was 19. He was a loner and wanted to be left to his own devices, but he could never be alone. He was always surrounded by judging eyes, raised eyebrows, and insults hitting him like cannonballs.
The forest was where he could truly be by himself. And now, his go-to place for peace wasn't so peaceful anymore.
His weeping echoed through the empty maze of trees. He didn't understand why this intruder needed him to admit his darkest secret.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Blendin demanded, looking down at the ground, expecting an answer from his so-called 'friend'.
His snorts and voice cracks were the only sound for about ten seconds. The triangular creature came close to Blendin.
"I want to help you," Bill told him.
Blendin heard the creature snap his fingers. He looked up to see a family portrait hanging in the air. There stood a mother, father, he guessed a 14 year-old girl, and a 10 year-old boy standing in front of a cheesy blue photography background. The boy wore a yellow shirt and had short brown hair.
While yellow wasn't his favorite color, he did have brown hair as a teenager. In fact, it looked about as close as he could have looked like around that age. The young boy was thin, but Blendin had been thinner when he was younger. He had let himself go once he left foster care, and never really cared about his physical shape.
There were no photos or records to prove anything but as he continued to gaze at the photograph, he began to believe that those people were his actual family. He had two parents and an older sister. He didn't know their names or where they were. Like a kid reaching for a candy bar on a shelf, Blendin reached for the image to grab it to get a closer look.
The glossy splashed and dissolved into thin air. But before Blendin could object, Bill spoke.
"You do have a family, Blendin. I can take you to them and give you back the time that you lost when you forgot who you were."
Blendin was awestruck. He thought that Bill was trying to torture him, trying to squeeze every bit of pain and suffering he had experienced during his late teenage years. But all this time, he was trying to help him and show him that he wasn't alone his entire life and didn't have to be. He could reunite with his mom, dad, and sister.
Bill Cipher stretched out his arm extending a flaming palm towards Blendin; waiting for a handshake to seal the deal.
In any other case, Blendin would have thought things more carefully. Things like this seemed too good to be true or had some sort of catch to them. But he was so drawn to Bill's power and his possible family that he felt like he could never get a chance like this again. Thanking the Pines could wait. His family was out there, looking for him. And Bill was waiting for an answer.
Blendin grabbed the triangle's flaring blue hand and shook hard.
Just as Blendin was about to let Bill's hand go, the dorito-shaped demon pulled Blendin's hand with such a force, it felt like his arm was being pulled off his body.
Blendin screamed as he fell forward onto the ground.
He blacked out.
Blendin woke up with a start. He looked up and noticed that color had returned to the forest. The grass was green and the sky was beginning to turn sunset orange. But there was something else now bothering him. He felt different, in that he felt he wasn't actually lying on the ground but in essence: floating.
He tried getting to his feet by leaning on a fallen tree for support. He gasped when he saw his own hand pass through the log. But nothing prepared him for what he saw next when he turned around.
His own body lay on the ground a few feet from him.
It only sat still for only a few seconds before it began to stir. It slowly crawled onto its hands and knees before standing under its own power. 'Blendin' cackled evilly as he took off his goggles. The real Blendin couldn't believe his eyes.
Literally, his own eyes now possessed the narrowest pupils he had ever seen.
"N-n-no! T-this isn-n't w-what w-we agreed on!" Blendin raged.
"We didn't agree on anything, but you shook my hand, didn't ya, timey-wimey?" 'Bill-din' taunted, having his own voice come out of Blendin's mouth.
Before Blendin could respond, he and his counterpart heard something. It was a cry, but more like a whimper, coming from Blendin's right. He could tell it was young and female.
'Bill-din' walked up to the scared ghost and raised his finger to his lips.
"Shhhhhhhh," Bill whispered. "It is time for the ultimate deception."
Bill began to walk in the direction of the crying. Blendin began to run ahead of him, hoping he could warn whoever it was to get away from the evil creature that now possessed his body.
He 'swam' through the air, as he was no longer a physical being, towards the whimpers. He was surprised to find Mabel Pines, leaning on a tree, rummaging through a bag.
"Mabel! Y-you have to get-t out-t of here!" Blendin called out. She didn't even look up.
"L-listen to me, M-Mabel! It's Blendin, the ti-tme travel guy! This t-triangle named Bill took my b-body and is c-coming this way!" he shouted only from a short distance away. She continued to look through the bag, completely ignoring his words. It was only then Blendin realized that since he wasn't in physical form, she most likely couldn't hear him.
"It's not fair," Mabel whined, setting the bag aside. "I just wish summer could last forever." She pulled her cupcake sweater over her head and sat in silence.
Blendin observed her until he heard something disturbing.
His own voice.
"That might be possible!" chirped 'Blendin' from afar.
Blendin could only watched as Bill, possessing his body, tried to convince Mabel he could make summer longer as a favor for sparing his life. 'Bill-din' had slipped his goggles back on, so the young girl had no idea she wasn't actually talking to Blendin. Bill promised to Mabel, as Blendin, that he could make the summer longer in exchange for some kind of 'rift' that he had been searching for. Blendin knew that the 'time bubble' Bill referred to was a real thing but that using it in such a scenario would be against every time law in existence.
Mabel began to sift through the bag she brought and strangely, found the 'rift' Bill had projected via Blendin's watch.
"Huh, t-that's… odd," Mabel stated, holding the snow-globe-like object closer to inspect it. "Is this it?"
"Yes, that's it! J-just hand it over, and I'll do my thing!" Bill exclaimed in Blendin's nasally voice. Blendin watched as Mabel stared at the 'rift', contemplating what to do with it.
"Unless you're ready to leave Gravity Falls…" 'Blendin' added, urging Mabel to hand him the glass ball she held in her hands.
Blendin knew that Bill had used him. Because of his new-found friendship with the Pines twins and time-travelling abilities, he was the perfect candidate to propose a deal involving time. But he still didn't know what this 'rift' was or why Bill wanted it so bad in the first place. All he knew was that this creature had possessed his own body to get it and couldn't be trusted under any circumstances. Mabel seemed oblivious to all of Blendin's thoughts however and continued to consider her options.
"Just a little more summer," Mabel finally spoke, finally pushing her hands towards 'Blendin' to give the sphere to him.
"N-no, M-Mabel! D-don't do it-t!" Blendin screamed, forgetting she couldn't hear or see him.
The wind intensified as Mabel stood; waiting for her 'friend' to do something that would encase Gravity Falls in a state of eternal summer. Instead, 'Blendin' dropped the 'rift' intentionally, shattering it and spreading its contents all over the ground.
It was at that point that all hell began to break loose.
"H-he dr-ropped t-the 'rift', and m-made her unc-conscious," Blendin explained to Dipper in his cracking voice. "A-As soon as B-Bill left my body, I-I went back-k insid-de, but I j-just w-woke up."
Dipper was stunned. Bill had played Blendin just like him, when Bill claimed he could give him the password to the Author's laptop in exchange for a 'puppet'. The result was a destroyed computer, and Mabel having to fight Bill behind the scenes of her 'sock opera'; who had possessed Dipper's body earlier in the day.
Blendin had no idea about the true intentions of Bill. He had never met the demon before and from the story he heard, the triangle had used Blendin's one weakness: his unknown family.
"I-I'm s-sorry, D-Dipper," Blendin quietly said, looking down at the ground in despair.
Dipper could only feel remorse for the way he had treated Blendin when he first woke up. Even though he wished there was a way, there was nothing Blendin could have done to help Mabel. All he could do was watch as the demon convinced the broken girl to take him up on his deal.
Dipper felt the shattered goggles still in his hand. He examined Blendin's face.
Without his goggles, Blendin looked more exposed and guilty than he had ever been in his entire life.
If you didn't understand, my headcanon in Blendin's backstory is that Blendin is future Morty from Rick and Morty.
But before any readers abandon this story, you must know that Rick or any other characters won't be written into this. It probably won't even be brought up again through the entire story. I didn't explicitly mention it on purpose so that it can be completely ignored if wanted. It's just a fun reference for me and other R&M fans, as Justin Roiland plays both Blendin and Morty from both shows.
Anyways, who is pumped up for Weird-mageddon? New episode comes out Friday in the States and I will be watching the live stream as always.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
-ThatGuy