A/N: Dipper gets a couple of zalgo-heavy rants in this one. I've posted them at the end without the zalgo in case anyone has difficulty reading them.
Though she had some misgivings about this aspect of her uncle – it frightened her, how quickly she had lost herself to the fight and the blood, made her wonder if part of it was his influence – Acacia was sure now that he knew who she was and would keep his word about coming with her quietly.
Even if he did keep getting distracted, eyes narrowed and teeth clicking like a cat's chitter as his ears flickered, obviously hearing things in the underbrush that Acacia couldn't, Bloodlust still followed behind his niece and her attendant nightmares as they walked towards the woods.
Something rustled the bushes at the other side of the clearing the arena had sat in until so recently and all four swung to face it.
Acacia had an arrow to the string without remembering drawing it, waiting for something to show itself.
The bushes rustled again, and Bloodlust darted forward, claws ready to rend and tear, teeth bared.
A nightmare burst out of the bushes, and Bloodlust checked himself so hard he flipped over in midair and hit the ground hard, leaving a claw gouges in the dirt where he landed.
Acacia was sliding the arrow back into her quiver even as Bloodlust was hitting the dirt, both she and the three nightmares holding back a little from him while trying to see if he was okay.
He sat up after a few seconds and shook his head, so Acacia decided he was probably fine and turned to look at the nightmare that had come barreling out of the bushes.
She recognized Sauron after a glance, and rushed past the nightmare as her father and another nightmare appeared.
Acacia might have been an adult, but right now she'd been worried about her family and needed a hug from her dad.
Henry grunted a little at the impact. Acacia stepped back after a second to get a better look at what was in her dad's arms before grunting herself as it transferred itself to her in a pouncing leap.
"Acacia!" it chirped in her uncle's voice, and started kissing and nuzzling her cheek as it squeezed her tight. "Acacia Acacia Aaaa-caaaaaaaaaaa-ci-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."
"Um...dad? What...?" she said, shifting until she could get her arms around her passenger to support him properly as he wrapped arms and legs around her torso and rubbed his cheek into her shoulder.
Henry, for his part, was shaking out and massaging his arms. "Hi, sweetheart," he said. "So, um. I found Dipper's Love. Obviously." He scrubbed at his face, which in the strange light of the Mindscape combined with Reality has a slight glow to it, as if someone had broken open a glowstick and rubbed it all over his face. A common sight after Dipper got drunk and lost all restraint about lavishing the people he loved, especially his beloved brother-in-law, in love and affection. "Can you handle him for a bit? Sorry honey, but I kind of need a break."
Acacia bit back laughter at the look her father gave Love...a mix of fondness and exasperation and love and exhaustion. It was a look she'd seen directed at her uncle many, many times before.
Carefully she shifted her uncle's weight, and Henry grinned. "So long as you don't try to put him down, he should be okay," he said. He glanced over at the aspect of Dipper that was hovering just outside their little circle warily, finally focusing on the scabs and blood on Acacia's arms. "Who did you find, and why are you hurt? Are you okay?"
"Bloodlust, a bit of a fight, and yeah. Most of it's not mine," Acacia said quickly. "And he's promised to come quietly."
Bloodlust crossed his arms and looked away, but stayed silent. Henry looked at him for a few seconds before he sighed.
"Guess he would," he said simply. "For one of us. Sauron thinks he knows a way to the Mystery Shack, we were just checking the noise we heard first. I'm glad we found you. We'd best stick together and see if we can find the Shack."
Acacia grimaced a little but agreed, shifting Love again so her arm with the brass knuckles were free. It wasn't much, but she wanted some weapon, any weapon, available.
Okay, so it wasn't going to do her much good when she had her other arm full of a very cuddly Uncle Dipper, but it still felt more secure.
"Okay," she said. "I'm ready if you are."
Henry nodded and turned to Sauron. "Lead the way, please. We need to find the Shack."
The four nightmares looked to each other and nodded before turning into the woods and walking under the trees, with the humans and aspects close behind.
Wendy had lost track of just how long she had been walking through the forest. Usually she knew exactly where she was – especially if she was in Gravity Falls' forest – and had a good idea of what time it was, but this? Nothing was acting as it should.
It had her on edge, and she walked with her ax in hand, and *** and Broktron were as on edge as she was as they trotted beside her.
Because while she trusted Dipper and loved him like one of her brothers, he wasn't quite himself right now, and she'd seen what he could do when he was more demon than Dipper.
Wendy really hoped none of the kids found Dipper's darker aspects. Sure they'd lived with him their whole lives, and they were technically adults, but...ugh. So this was what it felt like to be a responsible adult.
It sucked.
So far, they hadn't come across anything save a few monstrosities, which had mostly fled at the sight of them.
After the third time, Wendy stood watching as it galloped off into the distance, hands on hips. "Dude, what is up with these things? The way the ones in town were acting, I figured they'd be ready to go, man."
*** made the shivering motion that was the nightmare equivalent to a shrug. "T̶hi͝s ̀i̷s ̧p̵a͟rtįal̛l̴y tḩe Ma͜s͠tér҉'s̛ m͏i̷nds͠cap͝e," they commented. "I̛t co̷uld b́e ͠th̨ey͞ ̕h̢ave k҉nowl̨e̢dge̷ ͝o͘f ̀y̵ou͡ ̧pìcked ̸u̸p from ̴there, ̵and̛ f͟e̵ar̸ ̡y̶ou̕. ́The ̢Mast̡èr̸ ͢d͟o͟e͝s̢ ͢th̵ink̀ ̧high͞l͘y҉ ǫf ̸yo͟u҉r fig͠hti͝ng͡ ͠s͠k̴i͏lls."
"I̵t's̕ ̕not ͡th̛e onl̸y͝ th҉i̸ng͏ of̨ ͜h͟ers ̛h͢e t͜hi͜nkş h̛įgh͠l҉y of," Broktron giggled, and it was still incredibly odd and disturbing to hear a nightmare giggle.
"Ugh, he doesn't still have that crush on me, does he? I thought he got over that ages ago," Wendy said, starting to stride through the trees again. She may not have known just where she was going in this not-right forest, but any action was better than waiting around.
The nightmares scrambled to catch up. "The ̧Ḿa҉ste̴r̵ ha͝ś ͘nǫ ro̵ma̢n͞t͘ic̶ ͢f̸e͝el̷ings̢ f̢or͜ ͏a̕nyon͝e̴, ͡t͡houg̷h̶ ҉h́i͠s̵ l͘ovè ̕i͘s̡ ͠v͜a͝st̢," the first said. "O̷u͞r͟ ҉Mas҉ter's͏ lo͘vè ̸i̧s ͘too ͢p̀re̛ci͝o͘u҉ş to spe̡ak o̷f ̢ļi̷g͘h́tly or̛ to̸o͟ ҉mu̢ch͘."
Wendy smirked and ruffled the wool on ***'s head, getting an indignant 'baa' in return.
"Such a dork," she muttered, but fondly.
"He t̴hi҉nk͟s͡ ͡y̢ou're̛ 'c͜o͜ol̢'҉,͏ wh͘ate̵v͝er t͘ha̢t͟ ̴me̷a͘n͢s," Broktron said, speaking the word as if it were foreign and incomprehensible and giving it more syllables than necessary.
Wendy grinned, but they heard a noise before she could respond.
Immediately all three were on alert again, the nightmares guarding Wendy's back even as she watched theirs, their triangle watching the surrounding forest grimly.
The noise came again, a rustling of leaves and an angry sounding huff. This time, Wendy looked up, and thought she made out something in the three overhead.
She shaded her eyes with a hand, glaring up into the tree, ax still held ready in her other hand.
"...Dipper? Is that you?" she said cautiously.
Eyes glowing like a cat's turned to look down at her, the only part of Dipper she could see in the darkness of the tree's canopy. He hissed, softly, teeth flashing, and Wendy was suddenly struck by two things.
One, how very sharp those teeth looked at the moment, sharper than Dipper's teeth usually were, the sharpness of anger.
The second was how very small his eyes and teeth both looked. Like a child's, not an adult's.
The mystery was solved when Dipper dropped from the tree – straight down – to land on the ground in front of Wendy on all fours. He was snarling, teeth bared and eyes glowing and furious...and the size he was at twelve.
Wendy didn't relax yet, despite Dipper's sudden and inexplicable decrease in size. She'd dealt with far too many things in her life that were small but still deadly to be fooled by Dipper's tiny size. Plus, no matter their size, his teeth and claws were still razor sharp, and could slice through metal like it was butter when he was angry enough.
But seriously, why the hell was he so small?
Then there was no more time for wondering as the Dipper aspect shot to his feet and came running at them, screeching.
Wendy hefted her ax, ready to swing, but hesitated. She knew hesitating was lethal, but...it was Dipper. Aspect or not, it was still part of Dipper!
That moment of hesitation was a moment too long.
Dipper struck, tiny fists beating against Wendy's hips and waist. The nightmares, who'd been about to step between their Master and his friend, stopped short, utterly at a loss, as the tiny demon wailed.
Wendy dropped the ax and grabbed for tiny wrists, barely able to hold on to the thrashing demon.
"W̢h̷y?" he demanded. "W̡͋̀͊̄ͪHỶ̯̱ͣ͂̄̉̍͛? Wh͏y͘ di̢d ̢thi̧s ̨h̴ap̵pe҉n҉?! Į̗̻̖T̸̙͇̖̩̉̐̇'ͣͧ̒͆S̩̅̑ͨ͒ ̦̟͖̭͖̼́N̷͈͎̥̠̫͈̮O͔̺T̙̮̒̈́̾̌̎ ͈̪̘̑͗ͮ̚F̗̲̃̐ͅA̧̜̦͇̬̼̪͈Ĭ̯̻̺̺̥̙̈́ͧ̾̕R̲̪͎̲͖ͮͫ̈́͆́͑͗ !"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," Wendy said, shocked. Anger paused, glaring up at her, still scowling, and Wendy, who'd faced down the worst that this new world could throw at her, nearly winced. "Dude, you gotta calm down."
Dipper glared at her, and she heaved a sigh. "Yeah, that never works." Wendy let go of one of Anger's wrists, standing. "'Specially not when you're all anger." She started walking, pulling him along, which Dipper objected to, loudly.
"Look, man, I don't think any of us get how much anger you're carrying," Wendy said as she walked, the nightmares falling into place behind them. "And you're right, it's not fair. Why don't you ever say anything?"
"...it was better it was me than Mabel," Anger muttered, kicking at a rock they passed. "But it's no̧t͘ ͞f͟ai̴r. And I keep getting summoned. For things they don't deserve. Or they could do themselves. And they keep killing people to make me do things.͡A̢n͜d i͝t m͏ak̵es҉ m͢e̶ sò ͡an͘gry̸!" Dipper's eyes flashed to solid gold as he spoke the last sentence, skin blinking to black and gold brickwork for an instant. "T̡h̸e͡y'ŗe a͡ll͞ ́s̛o s͜el͠fis̸h, ́and̷ I͞ h͏ate ̕t̴hem̕!"
"Okay, seriously, dude, why don't you ever say things about this? It can't be good for you to keep it bottled up like that," Wendy commented as she hacked a branch out of the way.
"You mean like you keep it bottled up?" Dipper asked, and Wendy groaned.
"Yes, okay, like I do," she admitted. "I never said it was healthy."
"I can't let it out," Anger muttered, slashing at a tree with his claws, leaving deep gouges as he passed. "I destroy things when I let it out. I boil lakes! I make it r̨a͘i̷n̵ bl͞oo͟d! But it'sn̵ot҉ ͟fa̧i͜r! I was supposed to grow up with Mabel! We̴ ͠were͘ ̛su̧ppos̡e̡d t̡o ģo͝ to h̴i͘gh͜ ͏sc̀h͜oo̡l̢, a̶n͞d co͢l̢le̵ge̴, a͟n̶͡d́ ͢w̷e̷͝ ̨̕w͘e͏̛r̡̛e͜ ͏́s̸̷̀u̧p̨̕p̶̕o̵śe͘d̷͡ ̧̢͞t̶̛o ͢g̵͡r̸ow̨̨ u̴̷͡p ͢t̢͡͏oǵ̶e̸t͝h҉̵̧e͘r̕͝!̶̡̛͢ I̵̡t͡҉'̧̨̢s͝҉̴ ͠͡n͏̸ó̴̡̡t̨̢̕͝ ̵͢͏f̵́̕͘a̷̸̵͘͜i͜͟͟͠ !"
"Go ahead and keep ranting, dude," Wendy urged. "Let it all out. Seems like the safest place for it."
Dipper took Wendy's word for it, ranting as they walked, about everything that upset and angered him. His feet left smoking footprints behind him as they walked, his free hand waving wildly in the air, gesturing and pointing and flailing.
Wendy wasn't really surprised at how many things got to Dipper, but she was a little surprised at the amount of anger he held inside. She knew her friend could hold a grudge, but this was a bit much.
She let him continue to ramble until his arm started to get hot under her hand, until it felt like the skin of her hand was starting to scorch from the heat.
Wendy let go with a yelp of pain, throwing Dipper's arm from her. He staggered away, thrown off balance, as Wendy flapped her hand rapidly to cool it.
Wendy looked her hand over, but it didn't look like she was actually burned – a faint redness was all she could see, and her hand was a little tender, but it had already started to stop hurting.
Dipper, meanwhile, looked stricken. He was still glowing with lines of molten gold, little sparks flaring off his skin like embers from a fire. He took a step away from Wendy, the gold drifting away from his skin in little flares and sparks.
Wendy knelt down and Dipper backed away another step, hands coming up to cover his face. "Ug͟h, wh͝y̕ ̸am͟ I̶ ͟so ̕stupid!" he snarled, "I'͞m su̸p̡p̛o̷se͡d̶ ͢to ̨be̛ ̨t̨he ̕s̴ma͝r͢t͜ ̡o͟n̛e͘,̶ ̧a҉nd I̴ ͏ćan̶'̡t̕ ҉ev̷en ̶re̶memb̕e͡r͏ t̸o͟ ̶con͘t̷r̕o̸l̛ my̢ te̶mpér ̕enơu̵gh̸ not ̧to͏ h̕u̢rt͟ ͟my̧ ͏b̶e͜şt҉ ̸fr̨ie͜n̴d̡s"
"Dude, stop!" Wendy said, reaching for Dipper. He avoided her hands, but he did stop yelling at himself, looking at her with eyes that were still gold from edge to edge, not a speck of black to be seen.
Wendy forced herself not to look away from those inhuman eyes as she spoke. Ugh, she wasn't trained for this. "Look, I get it. You've got a lot of things to be angry about, and you can't let it out or you'll destroy things. But you can't bottle it up, dude. You know that, right?"
"...I know that," Dipper muttered angrily. "I'm not actually twelve anymore."
Wendy laughed and ruffled Dipper's hair, hard, throwing him off balance. "Dude, I know. But part of you still is. I'm just sayin', I learned it the hard way, man. Go, like, claw up some trees or somethin'. Heck, come with me and we can do it together once we're outta here. It'll be, like, bonding or some junk."
That finally drew a smile from Dipper.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that," he said. Wendy grinned back and stood.
"Okay then – go ahead and keep ranting, dude, but we gotta keep walking. Everyone's going to meet at the Shack...if the Shack's even in here."
"This way," Dipper said, setting off through the trees. After a few yards he began ranting again, waving his arms and sending off little sparks as he went. At least it cleared the path for Wendy and the nightmares, who followed in his wake with varying degrees of concern and amusement.
Henry, Acacia, Bloodlust, Love, and their nightmare escorts had been walking for what felt like miles through the woods, following Bloodlust's offhand directions.
Bloodlust, it seemed, was distracted by every rustle in the bushes, every snap of branch, ready for a fight, almost hungry for one.
Henry was watching that aspect fairly closely, but it seemed that while each aspect of Dipper was primarily that part of him, there was enough of the rest of him there to keep him in line. Namely, the part that recognized his family and kept his word to them.
Abruptly, Love's ears started to twitch. He sat up in Acacia's arms from where he'd been unashamedly cuddling, sniffing the air.
With a happy squeal he shot out of Acacia's arms into the trees, leaving the rest of them to yell with dismay and start to struggle through underbrush to follow.
Wendy and Anger had been walking for who only knew how long when there was rustling again from the bushes.
Anger and the nightmares paused as Wendy raised her ax, which had barely left her hand since she'd first started walking.
Something black came barreling out of the trees towards her and Wendy began to swing, only checking at the last moment as *** cried out, "No, wait! It's the Master!"
Wendy cursed as she felt something pull in her arm from the checked blow, the ax biting into a tree by her side and sending chips of wood spraying over them. Then the new aspect of Dipper was on her, latched on and sending her stumbling backwards.
The Dipper that had jumped her was already purring, squeezing tightly and chanting her name quietly, in a voice that dripped with love and affection.
Wendy relaxed cautiously, not moving. She relaxed farther as Henry and Acacia came crashing through the bushes, with another Dipper at their side and flanked by nightmares.
"Oh, good, it's your turn now," Acacia said with a grin. "Aunt Wendy, meet Love. Dad found him."
Love punctuated Acacia's announcement with a kiss to Wendy's cheek and a cheek mushing nuzzle.
"He been doing this to everyone?" Wendy laughed, reaching for her ax. Dipper was clinging to her firmly enough she didn't feel the need to use both arms to support him, just wrapping one around his waist to keep him steady.
"Yeah," Henry said sheepishly. "Sorry, but our arms still need a break. He's heavier than he looks. Acacia found Bloodlust," he gestured at the slightly sulky Dipper hovering off to the side. "He's promised to come quietly. Who'd you...find...?" he asked hesitantly, watching as the small Dipper began to rant and pace circles again.
The forest floor smoked under his feet, leaving charcoal footprints in his wake, but didn't catch fire again.
"Anger," Wendy replied. "He was leading the way towards the Shack. Want to keep going, or want to keep searching for more Dippers?"
"Sorry, but we'd better get all our Dippers to the Shack," Henry said before Acacia could finish her enthusiastic cheer for 'Dipper-hunting with Aunt Wendy'. "It's getting harder to keep them under control, honey," he said before Acacia could argue. "It won't help if we find one and lose two in the process."
Anger threw his arms up into the air and began to stomp away, leaving a singed trail behind him.
"...I think we're supposed to follow," Wendy said. "Come on, then. Maybe we'll find someone else on the way."
Acacia paused. "I need to find Reina," she protested.
"She's good at keeping her head in a crises," her father reminded her. "If she's not already at the Shack, then we'll go looking for her. But first..."
"Right," Acacia agreed unhappily. "I just..."
The look Henry sent her was full of understanding, and he patted her shoulder as they began to walk.
Dipper's rants, non-zalgo-ed:
"I can't let it out," Anger muttered, slashing at a tree with his claws, leaving deep gouges as he passed. "I destroy things when I let it out. I boil lakes! I make it rain blood! But it's not fair! I was supposed to grow up with Mabel! We were supposed to go to high school, and college, and we were supposed to grow up together! It's not fair!"
"Ugh, why am I so stupid!" he snarled. "I'm supposed to be the smart one, and I can't even remember to control my temper enough not to hurt my best friends!"