Dipper groaned as Bill got out of his body, letting him control himself once again. He lay on the ground in a puddle of his own blood, the cold traveling through his body as he began to regain feeling in his limbs.

"C'mon, Kid! Get up!" shouted Bill.

Dipper winced, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself, fighting against the pain of his injuries before he fell flat on his face. It was no use. His arms were too weak to lift his bloody, skinny body.

The glowing demon let out a frustrated groan, before he snapped his fingers. Dipper gasped as his blood clotted, his wounds mended themselves, the skin stitching itself back together, and he could breathe easily again. He rose shakily to his feet as he began observing his surroundings.

He was in a cave it seemed, the crude stone walls pressing in all around him. Before him, there were several torches along the wall, lighting up a path he must follow.

"C'mon, Pine Tree," Bill started as he drifted lazily to the lit path, and Dipper followed him.

Eventually, the path led to a dark open area. Dipper could barely make out a makeshift bed and wardrobe, and a whole bunch of weights, bars, punching bags, targets and arrows. Bill clapped his hands, and the room brightened. The hideout was as large as a gym. A school gym.

"So kid, how're you feeling?" Bill asked as he made his way towards to the bed.

"A little hot. A little dizzy as well," Dipper said he laid back.

"That's what happens when you wear the amulet. There's a residue of my power within you."

Dipper hissed as he felt a sting in his head. "Can't you remove it?" he asked.

"And risk losing your soul in the process?" Bill asked. "Think straight, kid. It's embedded in you. The mark, on your chest."

He hissed again, this time the pain radiating from his chest. "Can't you do something about the pain?"

"Well, you could." Bill said. "Use it."

"How?"

"Don't look at me. Hell if I know. You're the one with the power!"

"But isn't it your power as well?!" Dipper asked, sitting up suddenly.

"Beats me. Can you do something awesome?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Do a somersault? Tumble across from here to…. I dunno….. there?" Bill said, pointing to a pile of punching bags. It was far and, by the look of it, it would probably take a few tries. But Dipper shrugged. Why not give it a go?

He rose to his feet and focused, positioning himself, preparing to do his first stunt. When he pushed his feet off the ground, he leaned forward, letting his hands to do the same, then he leaned his feet towards the goal and he pushed his hands with sheer force to land back on his feet again.

He was about to do the whole thing over and over again to the end, but then he hit something. He rubbed his head, opening his eyes to see the wall right in front of him. A wall? He shouldn't have been here yet. He looked back to where Bill was floating, realizing that with just one tumble, he was already by the punching bags. How the fuck was that possible?

"You see, kid, your power is flexible. For example." The demon snapped his fingers before he disappeared in golden wisps. Dipper gasped, looking around him for where Bill would turn up. He wasn't above him nor around nor below him, but Dipper remembered his use of the word, 'flexible'. Maybe...

Dipper thought for a moment before he too snapped his fingers. Suddenly, he was standing on top of the water tower of town, his arm flying over his eyes as he adjusted to the sunlight.

"Told ya, Pine Tree," Bill said. Dipper turned to see the demon floating behind him, applauding his efforts. "But, remember," Bill added, "teleporting is only allowed when out of combat, because you're gonna need to focus a lot on where to go."

"Bummer," Dipper said in disappointment.

"Now, let's try something else," Bill said before a rock came sailing towards Dipper's face. The boy acted on impulse, his arms flying in front of his face as the rock stopped in mid-flight.

"Hmm… Good, but how about combat?"

Suddenly, Dipper jumped off the water tower to dodge incoming arrows. It didn't stop there. He was ambushed by a bunch of wolves, but even a tactical advantage was no match for a boy with demon powers. He grabbed a stick on the ground, and swung it with all his might, hitting every wolf around him.

Bill descended to ground level to see he was the only one left standing. "You can fight, but can you shoot?" He threw him a pair of crossbows. Dipper aimed into the sky, firing five bolts in quick succession. A second later, a hawk fell at his feet, the arrows embedded in its body - one through its head, one through each wing, one through his stomach and one through its heart.

"Good, good," Bill murmured before he looked to the boy kneeling on one knee and breathing heavily.

"Tired, Pine Tree?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Dipper answered as he tried to catch his breath. Using his powers were really draining.

"Well, take a rest. We'll train tomorrow," Bill said as he began to fade away.

"Wait! Where's the hideout?" Dipper yelled.

"Just teleport, kid."

He groaned. "So what was the training for?" he asked.

"For you to become a Demon Hunter."

"There's no such demon around Gravity Falls," Dipper said.

"Kid, your little amulet incident created a rift between dimensions, a rift between Here and Hell which any demon can use. It was your fault, so you have to do the rest from here on out."

"But I thought you're gonna enslave my soul."

"I am. Your life is linked to mine, because of the amulet. I'm letting you do my job."

"But…"

"No Buts, Pinetree. At least you live here, correct?"

"Whatever." Dipper snapped his fingers, teleporting to the hideout.

There were pamphlets posted on every wooden electric post on the streets of Gravity Falls. Nothing disturbed the quiet of the morning besides the clamping sound of staplers being applied with heavy force as more pamphlets were hung up.

How long had it been? A week? Two? Since the Pine twins' birthday, Mabel searched for Dipper in the woods every night. She sometimes return to the shack depressed, crying, injured, and close to passing out, even with the shots of cappuccino and adrenaline she had stolen from a local clinic. But she couldn't give up. The word 'birthday' was much too painful, and Mabel blamed herself for leaving her brother to get possessed.

She always kept the map of the city ever since, filled with marks to show the probable locations where he might be. What was Bill doing to him right now? Torturing him? Enslaving him? She had hoped he would come around, but when? She couldn't take the waiting. She needed him now, beside her, walking down these very streets, instead of walking them alone, holding pamphlets and a stapler.

Her thoughts distracted her, causing her to trip, landing flat on the dirty street. Her legs were tired, and her emotions overburdened her. She bottled up the sad, sad emotion for too long, and so came a huge outpouring of tears. "Dipper, please come home," she murmured, hoping he could somehow hear her call.

Candy woke up from a long sleep with a stretch. It was 8:23 in the morning, and all she could think about was Dipper's disappearance. How is she supposed to focus on anything else, knowing that her one-sided crush had been kidnapped by a dream demon?

Candy hated the fact he was gone and even worse, her friend Mabel had been diagnosed with clinical depression. Why does this have to happen? Candy thought as she began to undress and headed towards the bathroom for her morning shower. She quickly got dressed, skipping breakfast due her recent lack of appetite, and walked out of the door, heading to the city dump. It was something she often did, finding use in old discarded items, and she hoped it would help her get over Dipper.

Once she reached, she analyzed each pile as she thought of what she could make out of each pile. Hours passed as she scavenged them slowly, picking anything that caught her eye. Soon, it was 6:10 and the sun was quickly setting. Candy smiled, slinging a garbage bagful of scraps, materials and parts as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. She could finally invent something, but what? She needs an inspiration, but the only inspiration was-

Dipper.

'No, Candy. You are over with this. Don't ever think about him!'

But it was too late. Memories of Dipper flooded her mind, her favorite being the summerween when they were both twelve. For just one moment, Dipper had held her hands. She had felt so safe in his presence.

She held back the tears. Oh god, she wanted to be near with him. She feels haunted. She needed him for protection. He was the only guy she knew who could stand up to anyone, even if it meant getting hurt. It was just sad, that it ended up him being possessed by a powerful demon. She rubbed at her eyes. The tears were painful but she didn't want to cry right now, given the fact it had been such a beautiful day.

She began her walk home, humming a soft tune, until something grabbed her arm and dragged her to the alleyway. She tried to scream, but a gloved hand covered her mouth. She struggled in the darkness, unable to make out what had snatched her, until she was suddenly turned around. The person was wearing a black trench coat, his mouth covered by a black bandana and his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hood. Around his waist and chest were many holsters, holding magazine clips and pistols, and he had a large black handcrafted knapsack. He held her by her shoulders and asked with a voice that sounded like he hadn't had a glass of water for an eternity, "Have you seen Mabel?"

Candy shook her head. She didn't know where she was, or what she was doing.

"Shit… We have to find her before-"

A scream came out somewhere, drawing the stranger's attention away from her. He aimed his hand to the roof above their heads and shot a grappling hook. He held Candy tightly while he retracted the cord, not even giving her time to scream as they ascended quickly.

As soon they reached to the top, They could see Mabel down at the street, running from a gruesome beast. It resembled a bear, its brown fur coat shining in the dying sun, but it had long, sharp teeth and its eyes glowed red.

Candy watched as the stranger silently whispered into his fist, before a crossbow materialized out of thin air. He fired quick bolts towards the beast, causing it to flinch with each piercing shot. It turned around, forgetting about Mabel, and let out a loud roar.

The stranger snapped his fingers, teleporting to the street below him, leaving Candy on the rooftop. The beast charged at the stranger at high speed, but the man just stood there.

"Watch out!" Candy yelled.

The stranger pulled out two crossbows, rapidly firing at the monster. She couldn't believe the rate of fire those crossbows have. What was it? Like four bolts per second?

The beast slowed down from its injuries, before it collapsed, just an inch before the stranger.

Candy was still amazed with the firepower of those crossbows. It was impossible, somehow something out of this world, or perhaps….

Godlike?

The stranger just stood there, before he looked back at Candy at the roof, and started taking off his hood and bandana. It was obvious the stranger was a he, but even from her distance, there was no mistaking that messy brown hair.

"Di… Dipper?!"

Within the blink of an eye, he was standing a foot in front of her, his eyes gazing deeply into hers. She yelped from the surprise, taking a few steps away from him. Dipper just stood there, motionless.

What happened to him? Candy thought. First he takes on a demon-bear, then he teleports in front of me, and now he stares at me like I'm an attraction at the Mystery Shack. What's going on wi-

Her thoughts were cut off when a set of lips crashed into hers. Candy could feel it. The warmth of his body sending chills down at her spine. Dipper's hands wrapped around her body, pulling her close to his. This had to be a dream. Yes, a dream of hers. But everything felt oh so real. Her eyes fluttered closed as she fell into the kiss. Oh God, It was real.

However, just as she moved to wrap her arms back about him, Dipper broke the kiss. Without another word, he turned and began to walk away.

"Dipper! Please! I have questions!"

He stopped for a moment, letting the wind blow through his hair. "What?" he asked, his back still to her and his tone even.

"Where have you been all this time?"

"Demon hunting," he said simply.

"Didn't a demon possessed you?" Candy asked.

"It turns out the amulet I wore marked me," he said, turning around and pulling his shirt down to show her the triangle on his chest. "The mark bonded my life to Bill's. Now, I'm forced to hunt demons. That used to be his job anyway."

"And He made you this?"

He nodded. "It had to be me…" Then he asked, "How's Mabel? Is she okay these days?"

Candy hated to tell the truth about her but she had no choice. Mabel wasn't doing so good. Mabel, used to be the happy cheery person she was, missed her brother when he disappeared on their special day. Oh how ironically tragic, that was.

"Hm… She missed me.." he said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small faded photo. He stared at it for a moment before he handed it to Candy. "Here, give it to her. She will know it was from me." Then, he started walking away again. "Goodbye, Candy. And don't you ever find me." He leapt a great distance, until he disappeared from the horizon.

This left Candy motionless, with small tears on her cheeks. She looked at the photo to see it was Dipper, in the same trench coat, with Mabel right beside him, wearing a yellow sweater, appropriate for the background behind them. It was autumn, the coloured leaves falling from the trees and everything cast in the orange glow of the sun. Simply perfect.

"Goodbye, Dipper," she said.

Candy climbed off the roof and grabbed her bag of scraps, but instead of heading home, she chose a different destination. She made her way to the Mystery Shack, only to find Mabel printing out more pamphlets in the attic bedroom. Cups of coffee were scattered on the floor, along with towering piles of completed pamphlets.

The girl herself was on her laptop, booking a flight to New York, Cleveland, Connecticut, Detroit, then San Fransisco. Candy tried to get her attention, but her eyes were stuck to the laptop screen.

Candy can't take much more of this. She slammed the laptop shut, only to be slapped to the face before Mabel went back to the laptop, like nothing ever happened.

Candy controlled herself. This is your best friend. Don't fight her, she thought. She realized what could really get her attention.

Candy held the photo before Mabel's face. The brown-haired girl did a double-take before she tossed her laptop away and grabbed the photo. "Where did you find this?" she asked.

"From Dipper," Candy said.

Mabel held the photo like it was her life saver, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. After a few moments, she asked, "Where is he?"

"He's here, in Gravity Falls, but he said we shouldn't find him." Candy said, as she took a seat next to the girl on her bed and gave her a comforting hug. "Mabel, stop looking for him. What's important is that he's here."

Meanwhile…..

"So, you're saying a demon did this?" asked a police officer.

"Yeah," said the cloaked figure.

Everyone looked at him, before they began laughing at how ridiculous he sounded.

"Do you even have proof of this?" asked one officer.

"I don't need proof." Just then, A growling noise came out of nowhere, startling everyone except him. "It's right there."

The demon revealed itself. Red skin, black horns, bony tail and dragon wings.

"Ready to use your gift of mine again, Pine Tree?"

"Oh yeah, I am."

Dipper tossed his coat away, revealing his blessed arsenal.

"And Pine Tree?"

"Hmm…"

"Happy Birthday."

"What for?" the Demon Hunter asked.

"The gift you got from me? My powers?"

"Oh… Thanks, I guess."

A/N: Thus, concluding this fanfic.

How are your lives guys? Good? Bad? Neither?

Anyway, I just like to thank Alys for editing this fic. Without her, well this fic would be a jumbled mess.

And I bring news! I finally managed to get in touch with Hallie (xXxTotalGeekxXx) via Instagram, and she's holding up just fine. She'll update probably next week, and as every faller would feel, she's excited for the Tale of Two Stans.

Check me out in social media for updates on the upcoming fanfics and a little BTS in my life!

Twitter - TDMAforReal

Instagram - thedarkmysteriousphotographer.

Have a good day, guys! I'm out!