I'm not sure I'm very good at writing fight scenes, but I'm pretty happy with this one.
Guest review replies;
Zedith: Well, there won't be any WenDip in this installment, but I plan to make a sequel or two to this which will take it a few years into the future, so... Anyway, thanks for reading!
Randomreader: Glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for reviewing!
Guest: I can neither confirm or deny that. :D Thanks for the review!
Tazmanian Devil: Well, I hope you like it. Thanks very much!
EllaShootingStar: Aw, I'm not that good. At all. But thanks very much, regardless! :D
Chapter XIII: Bill
Dipper, Wendy, Stan, Mabel and Eddie were crouched behind a curve in the cave, looking over a large chamber. A narrow rise led to a large, crude portal in the middle of the cavern – far below this was a lake of bubbling magma. Angus stood in front of the portal, his arms behind his back – two other cultists stood on either side of him, armed with rifles. A fourth cultist stood by what looked like a generator.
"Those idiots are actually gonna try it, aren't they?" whispered Stan.
"Cultists aren't usually rational, Mr. Pines," said Eddie.
Angus turned to the cultists around him.
"Alright, gentlemen!" he proclaimed, "The time we have awaited is at hand! Once this portal is active, Bill Cipher will be able to take physical form in our world, and we shall enter a bold new age!"
"Wait, that's what this is about?" whispered Dipper, "Can't Bill already possess people?"
"I don't like the sound of this," muttered Stan.
"Michael," ordered Angus, "Turn it on."
The cultist by the geneator flipped a switch. There was a thunderous roar, and the portal activated – a red swirling mass appearing inside.
There was a sudden flash, and the world turned grey. Bill appeared next to Angus, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Real nice work there, Andrew!" he said.
"Angus," corrected Angus.
"Eh, you're pretty minor," shrugged Bill, "I don't really have to remember your name."
He stretched.
"Oh...oh yeah, that's a good feeling," he said, "Do you feel it, Angus? The feeling of your essence flowing into the material realm? The raw increase of power? Man, it's a feeling..."
He floated up, crossing his arms.
"You'd done a real good job, faithful drone a' mine," he said, "And I think a good job should be rewarded."
"My liege, I did not do this for the reward," replied Angus, "Your praise is good..."
"Oh, stop with the bootlicking," snapped Bill, "I mean come on, I'm not even wearing boots! I'm thinking...I'm gonna channel my essence into you and see what happens!"
"My liege?" quizzed Angus.
"Yeah, I'll manifest onto you," decided Bill, "It'll be a pretty fun experiment! Just a heads up, though..."
He turned red, and his voice became deep.
"This is gonna hurt."
A bolt of red lighting emerged from the portal, striking Angus right in the heart. He began to scream as he was slowly lifted into the air.
"Oh come on!" shrugged Bill, "It's just unimaginable, unfathomable pain! You humans are such drama queens..."
"I-I did everything you wanted!" screamed Angus, "Why? Why do this?"
"Because it's fun," replied Bill, "And I wanted to see what would happen."
He clicked his fingers and vanished.
Yellow lines began to mark Angus' skin. His arms and legs began to stretch, muscles growing in strange places underneath. His fingers turned into long, slender claws. The back of his robes ripped open and there was a sickening crack as a second pair of arms emerged from his back. Terrified, the other cultists raised their rifles and stepped back.
Angus screamed again and turned around to face his companions. A stone point was emerging from the top of his head.
"Uh, kids?" gulped Stan, "I've got an idea of what's gonna happen next, and you might wanna look..."
It was too late. Angus' face began to distort as his skull changed shape, turning into a stone pyramid. His eyes caught aflame with red fire and disintegrated into the wind. Parts of his skin began to flake off.
Angus' screaming began to segue into familiar laughter. His arms grabbed the skin around his face, tearing it off as if it were wrapping paper to reveal the pyramid beneath. A single eye gazed down on the cultists.
"Ah yeah!" exclaimed Bill, "This feels better than I thought it would! Consider yourself rewarded, whatever-your-name-was!"
"Well," muttered Eddie, "That is gonna haunt me."
The cultists opened fire in panic.
"Oh, come on!" said Bill, shrugging off the bullets, "Is that any way to treat your lord and master? You guys need a time out."
He reached out with one long arm, slamming into both cultists and shoving them off the side of the ledge. He reached for the third cultist with the other arm, nonchalantly throwing the poor, screaming man into the magma pit.
"Ha!" exclaimed Bill, "Stupid, gullible animals!"
He pointed towards the mouth of the cave.
"So, Pine Tree?" he called, "I know you're there! We gonna fight this out or what?"
Dipper gulped, but stepped out. Stan reached out to stop him, but Dipper pushed his arm away.
"Well," he said, "Here I am."
"Well, I gotta admit, kid," said Bill, "I didn't honestly expect you to make it this far. I'm actually kinda proud."
"You know what," shrugged Dipper, "So am I."
"Ya did good, Pine Tree..."
"Dipper," said Dipper, "Call me Dipper."
There was a short silence.
"Sure," nodded Bill, "I can give you that last request, Dipper. Now, you wanna do this quick or slow? I mean, you're completely unarmed and you're not exactly the Terminator, so..."
"Uh, three things...three things before you kill me," interrupted Dipper, "Number one – all of your Cult of Bill guys, they all use cell phones to communicate, right?"
"...sure," replied Bill, hesitantly.
"Well, wouldn't it just suck if I happened to know some kind of, I dunno, phonoholic teenager who happened to have an app designed to knock out those cell phones?"
Bill glanced at the ground. One of the cultists had dropped their phone – the screen was blinking red.
"Well, so much for backup," shrugged Dipper, "Number two; that generator. That's what the portal's using for power, right?"
"Well...yes, yes it is," nodded Bill, "What're you gettin' at, kid?"
"We'll get to that," replied Dipper, "Number three; I'm not actually the Child of Destiny."
Bill blinked.
"Uh...yeah, you are," replied Bill, "I'm not an idiot, kid."
"I'm a Child of Destiny, Bill," said Dipper, "There's another one. And I'm distracting you so that she can get to the generator."
"...what?!"
Bill turned around. Wendy had crept past him to the generator – she smirked and pulled the switch.
"No!" exclaimed Bill.
The portal began to spark, it's power source cut off. It didn't die, however – instead, it began to ripple and groan, more bolts of lightning emerging from the swirling mass. Bill screamed and turned around.
"Oh, why would you do that?" demanded Bill, "Turn it back on!"
"Why don't you make me, pyramid head?" retorted Wendy.
"I think I will, Red," snarled Bill.
He lunged at Wendy, extending one of his long, slender arms towards her. She sidestepped the limb, whipped out her axe and slammed it into the arm – there was a wet crunch, and the limb came off. Bill let out an animalistic roar.
"Oh, you stupid little-" he thundered, his voice turning deep, "That's it! You're outta here!"
His third arm swept low towards Wendy, catching her by surprise. He grabbed Wendy's leg and lifted her up, his head slowly turning red. Behind him, the portal began to ripple more and more.
"Dipper, catch!"
Dipper winced as a heavy metal object slammed into the back of his head.
"Mabel!" he exclaimed.
He knelt down and picked up the grappling hook, aiming it at Bill's shoulder. He took a deep breath and fired – there was a clang as it hooked Bill and a slight hiss of pain before Dipper pressed the 'retract' button.
Dipper flew through the air, colliding with Bill's shoulder. He looked over to Wendy – she nodded and threw him the axe. Dipper grabbed it by the handle and brought it down into Bill's chest. Bill screeched and dropped Wendy onto the ground.
"Augh! Why do you even have an axe, Pine Tree?" demanded Bill.
Dipper said nothing. He just fired the grappling hook into the side of the portal.
"You missed kid!" shouted Bill, "Nice job!"
He raised an arm, reaching for Dipper.
"Far from it," replied Dipper.
He jumped off of Bill's shoulder, using the grabbling hook as a swing as he swung around his arm, tangling it in the cord. He dropped off of Bill after wrapping his arm three times. He looked towards the portal and gulped.
"Well, this is the hard part," he muttered.
"What did that accomplish, Pine Tree?" scoffed Bill, "You tangled up my arm! Whatever shall I do?"
Dipper felt an arm around his shoulder. Wendy had grabbed him from behind with one arm and was holding the other out.
"You sure you're up to this?" asked Dipper, "I mean, if you miss..."
"Dude, we'll be fine," replied Wendy, "Just retract it, alright?"
"Retract? What do you mean...no...no, don't you dare!" exclaimed Bill.
"Sorry, Bill," replied Dipper, smirking, "But I read the manual. You put your whole essence into Angus – which means all we have to do is throw you back into that portal and you're stuck forever."
"Hit it, Dip," grinned Wendy.
Dipper closed his eyes and pressed the retract button.
Bill, Dipper and Wendy were sent flying forward towards the portal. For a second, Dipper could hear Mabel and Stan shout his name.
Then there was a strange sensation, like falling into water without getting wet, and Dipper felt his momentum suddenly halted. The arm in which he held the grappling hook stretched out and he cried out in pain.
He opened his eyes.
Bill – now back in his regular triangular form – was gripping the hook with all his might, gazing up at the Children of Destiny. They were floating in a strange, colourful vortex, almost like a tunnel but not quite. The wind was immense.
"You're gonna let go, aren't ya, Pine Tree?" asked Bill, sounding strangely accepting.
Dipper nodded sternly.
"Well, I had a good go," shrugged Bill, "Maybe I'll try a different reality."
"Dipper!" called Wendy, "You have to let him go! I can't hold on much longer!"
Dipper eased his grip on the hook, only for Bill to grab his arm.
"No, Bill, don't..."
"I'm not taking you with me, Dipper," replied Bill, "I'm warnin' you. You could'a had it easy, y'know. If you'd just left everything alone, you'd a nice, long life."
"In your world," spat Dipper.
"Eh, it wouldn't have been so bad," shrugged Bill, "But now...oh Dipper, Dipper-Dipper-Dipper, your troubles are just beginning. Ya ever hear of Cain and Abel? Two twins destined to fight each other...that'll be you in a few years, Dipper."
He narrowed his eye.
"So long, Pine Tree," he farewelled, "Enjoy your living hell!"
He let go, and Dipper lost his grip of the grappling hook. The demon fell away into the vortex and was gone.
Dipper numbly watched where Bill had been as he felt himself pulled out of the portal. A hard landing on a stone floor woke him from his dazed stupor and he felt a pair of arms wrap around him.
"Never do that to me again!" exclaimed Mabel, "I was so worried, Dipper, I thought I'd lost..."
"Can we save this?"
Eddie was looking over the generator, his expression grim.
"The portal's off, but it has a lot of pent up energy," he exclaimed, "Very, very poor design. It's gonna go and it's gonna take this cave with it! We have to get out of here!"
"You heard the kid!" shouted Stan, "Run for it!"
Dipper did not need telling twice – the portal looked threatening enough. The group raced out of the chamber, darting back into the tunnels.
For the next minute or so, Dipper focused on nothing but the tunnel ahead of him, racing straight for the exit. Every muscle ached and he had no breath, but he knew that if he faltered, he was doomed. He heard a crash next to him, but he didn't stop to look. All that mattered was escape.
After what seemed like an age, he was approaching the exit. He cringed and picked up the pace, darting out of the mouth of the cave and barrelling straight into a large, soft object – he looked up to find it was Soos.
"Dude, get down!" exclaimed Soos.
Dipper leapt into the ground as a massive, thunderous bang filled his ears. His hat was blown off by a sudden gust of wind and he was showered in soot and ash. Then all was quiet.
"Okay," he heard Nate call wearily, "Everyone who isn't dead, raise your hand."
Dipper got to his feet. He was surrounded by the distraction team – Grenda, McGucket and Tambry were helping Mabel, Eddie and Wendy to their feet. His father and the Government agents were standing off to the side, dusting themselves off.
But someone was missing.
"Wh-where's Grunkle Stan?" wheezed Mabel.
There was a long silence, and all eyes fell on the cave entrance. All that could be seen was the smoke wafting out.
"Oh no," whispered Dipper, shaking his head.
"No," whimpered Soos, his voice cracking, "Not Mr. Pines, please not Mr. Pines..."
"I'm sorry, I thought he was right behind me, I...I should've stopped," stammered Wendy, her face going pale.
Mabel just stared at the mouth of the cave, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. Eddie stood next to her, awkwardly putting an arm on her shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort her.
Then there was a cough.
Through the smoke, they could just about see a figure limping out towards them. The figure was hunched over and clearly in pain, but it's silhouette was unmistakable.
"You...you gotta be...he can't have..." stuttered Dipper, "He...Grunkle Stan!"
Stan emerged from the smoke, battered but alive. He was rubbing his back and muttering about every extremity hurting, but his face twisted into a grin as he saw his grand-niece and nephew.
"Takes more than that to kill Stanford Pines!" he boasted, "Now can somebody please crack my back?"
"Grunkle Stan, you're alive!" exclaimed Mabel, rushing over to hug her great uncle.
"You made it!" cheered Dipper, joined her sister.
"Mr. Pines!" said Soos, jumping into the hug.
"Gotta admit, that was pretty epic," nodded Wendy, walking over and entering the group hug.
"Okay, okay, too much hug," wheezed Stan, "Everything is in pain."
Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy stopped hugging Stan, letting the old man get his breath back.
Dipper's father walked over, grinning.
"Well, that's it then," he said, "Lonnighan and the rest of the cultists are in federal custody – nothing left to do but clean up."
"But what about the fire?" asked Dipper, "We can't just let..."
"Funny y'all should mention that," interrupted McGucket.
He led Dipper and the group over to the edge of the peak. The distant fire had vanished, leaving only burnt trees as evidence that it had ever been there.
"Fire just up and vanished about two minutes ago," explained McGucket, "Like some kinda magic trick thing."
"It's true," nodded Candy, walking up to them, "There was a blue light and then – poof! Gone."
"Which means that this is mission accomplished," nodded Wendy.
All eyes suddenly fell on Stan.
"Oh, what?" demanded Stan, "You think that just because we won, I'm gonna fork out for some kind of..."
He sighed and looked at his feet, annoyed.
"Fine," he grumbled, "Victory party at the Shack, whatever."
The whole group cheered.
YXNR TAG'H BKIC XYEF VZJHRR WRHA KNI RCV FHFVBIE
AN: Yeah, the 'Dipper, catch' bit's a friendly dig at Bioshock.