A wild update has appeared! Wanna catch it?

I honestly cannot do anything but write a chapter after seeing this weeks episode. Fainting, and foaming at the mouth. There was a lot of that involved. As well as screaming. Lots of screaming.

Chapter

Stronger As I Am

He was walking now, at least he thought he was. Dipper wasn't really sure about anything anymore.

There was the sound of fire engines in the background, but he didn't much care for them. Not anymore that he cared for the forest fire he had created with his flames.

What would he do now? Now he had nothing. No home, no family, no sister. He couldn't go back to them after what he'd done. Dipper couldn't allow himself to.

He was sitting on a rock now, maybe. He thought so. Everything felt numb to him, his eyes felt foggy as he wandered through the labyrinth of trees, no where to go.

To anyone, he would have looked like ghost, his body showing no signs of emotion at all. But inside? That was a different story.

Inside he was a wreck, his mind beating itself for that he had done. What he'd allowed to happen. It was all too painful. It made him want to just give into the darkness that he felt everyday and let everything just go away. But there was always that side of him that knew he couldn't do that.

That would just betray Mabel even more.

But the question was still there. "What are you going to do now?"

Dipper glanced round at the familiar voice.

Stan was sitting by her bed, watching her sleep. The doctors had said she'd be fine. None of the cuts had punctured any major arteries, and the break in her ankle would only need six weeks to heal, after one operation. As for the burns, they'd be taken care of as well. Right now she was just sleeping, it was his guess when she'd awake.

The man had quickly made up a lie to explain her injuries. "Bear attack followed by a forest fire." He'd said, no one even questioned it, they never did. But what had actually happened?

He wondered if Dipper was in the room, watching her like the paranoid little brother he was. But if he was, why hadn't he contacted Stan in some way? He must have seen what happened to Mabel, as far as he knew, the kid hadn't ever been apart from her since this all began.

Mabel hadn't told him much about what was happening with Dipper, but Stan couldn't blame her. She probably thought that he was just a cranky old man who didn't even believe in the supernatural. If only she knew the truth.

He glanced slightly to his side, hearing the door open.

"We came as fast as we could, Mr Pines." It was Wendy and Soos, he'd given them both a call as soon as Mabel had been settled into the hospital.

"How has Dipper taken it?" Wendy was first to ask that question, as far as he knew, Dipper hadn't contacted her for a few days.

There was a small shake to his head. "Don't know. I haven't heard from him at all. I don't even know if he's aware of what's happened. But he could be in the room without telling me."

Wendy and Soos frowned sadly, before walking over to the bed, looking at Mabel.

"Is... she going to be okay?" Soos asked worriedly, taking his cap off and holding it firmly in his hands, there were small tears evident in his eyes, though they refused to leave them.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to worry. She just needs an operation for her ankle, and then she should be good. They'll be treating her burns in a bit. She's... going to be fine." He murmured, starting to feel like he had been unable to stop this from happening.

Dipper didn't answer him at first, his mind was still a mess, so he wasn't sure if he was just imagining Bill or not. He hoped he wasn't. Dipper wasn't prepared to have an imaginary Bill stalking him even in the real world.

But when he had collected at least some of his bearings, he found the will to speak, but responded with a question of his own instead of answering his. "How... are you here." It was strange. His voice felt so flat and emotionless that his question just sounded like a statement.

"Well... I had some energy reserves and thought, 'why don't I use this energy to check on my old buddy Alcor?', so here I am!"

Dipper could easily tell that was a lie, but he didn't have the strength of will to counter him and find out how he'd really got that power. And the fact that the triangle had called him his demon name instead of 'Pine Tree' kind of weirded him out, it was unusual. But everything seemed that way right now.

"Well... You're here." He said flatly, looking gazelessly ahead of himself again, trying to loose whatever consciousness he'd regained from Bill's interaction. But that wasn't in the cards.

"Looks like you're in quite a pickle right now, huh?" Bill hovered next to him, straightening himself up slightly, though he still needed the aid of his cane.

"I... I didn't mean too... But..." Dipper murmured quietly before stopping before he could start to cry.

Bill sighed, unlike him. He put on a face of sympathy. "Look Kid, this was going to happen eventually. I mean... You knew this couldn't last, right? Human and demon relationships never end well. I should know, I've witnessed it a thousand times like this with others from the realm. But it always turns out for the worst."

"I'm... not like you. I... I'm still me. I'm still... her brother." He couldn't stop them now, the tears. Dipper was starting to break down on the outside now.

"You just don't get it, do you? Demons and humans don't go together. As friends, or more. Sure, you still hold on to that fact. But do you realise that these breakdowns and tantrums are just going to get worse? She's been caught in the crossfire. Do you want to catch her again?"

Dipper didn't answer for the longest of times. "But... what would I even do?... I... I don't think I can see her anymore... So... what do I do now?" He didn't even know why he was asking Bill. Bill. That crazy triangle that you couldn't trust. But who else could he talk to?

Bill floated in front of him so he got his full attention, making Dipper notice that he didn't look as sickly as the last time they'd spoke. "Maybe it's time to give it all up."

"What...?" Dipper didn't understand what he meant, but he had a dreading feeling at the back of his mind.

"Your old life. What use do you have for it now? You're to dangerous to be around your friends and family, you could hurt them like you did for Shooting Star. Isn't it about time to give up this foolish attempt to keep your old life and stick with me in the Nightmare Realm?"

Dipper didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to stay, to not give up. But an equally strong part of him knew that he couldn't keep it up forever. Mabel could get hurt again, or worse. "I can't... just leave everything behind."

"You wouldn't be!" Bill said while throwing his hands up in the air for a second. "Leaving it wouldn't mean being trapped in the Nightmare Realm forever and ever. You could still come back to this realm. Just... throw away your connection to it. Give up your link."

Dipper started to feel wary, but his mind was considering the possibility. "Then what is my link?"

Bill couldn't help but chuckle slightly, though he hadn't meant for it to come out as sounded as menacing as it had. "Your humanity."

Dipper stared at him, pulling away from the demon slightly. "No way."

"But what use do you have for it? It will only bring you misery! Don't you feel torn up already because of it? It's a demons weakness. You should be getting rid of it while you can, or you'll be an underdog for the rest of your existence. Don't you want to protect Shooting Star? Humanity just holds you back from doing so."

The boy didn't answer, wrapped up in his own head, so the triangle held out his hand to him, it becoming a glow. However the glow was weak, the flame not being as raging as the first time they'd shook. "All you have to do is shake my hand, and all those horrible human problems can go away forever."

Dipper bit his lip, his head on a rush. Should I take it? I can't go back to Mabel, so why shouldn't I? I have nothing left here. Nothing I can go back to. He walked towards the demon, reaching his hand up to burning blue hand... But then he suddenly pulled back. "...No."

Bill looked at him in surprise, he was sure he'd gotten the boy to take the deal. "No?"

Dipper looked at his hand and clenched it tightly. "No. I won't give it all up."

"What use to do you even have for it? It's useless!"

"You may think so, but I don't. Being human is what makes me, me. If I gave that part of me up... I would just be a copy of you. And what you said is wrong. It isn't weakness, if anything, it's strength. My humanity is what drives me forward. Without it, sure, I wouldn't have all the pain I'm feeling right now. All the horror of what I've done... But that's the strength. Without pain like that, you're just numb to the outside world. If anyone's the weak one, its you."

Now it was Bill he couldn't find a way to speak, which made Dipper smile slightly, he'd actually made a demon speechless.

"You're right, I can't go back to how things use to be. Not anymore. But I'm not leaving it all behind either. I can't leave Mabel and abandon her. If I did that, I'd be betraying her even more than I already have. So leave. I'm not playing by how you want it all to go." Dipper reached up and took of his hat, looking at the symbol on it, smiling sadly. "I guess my summers coming to an end..." He murmured quietly to himself, before looking back at Bill. "I'll still keep up my end of our deal. You can train me, and in exchange I'll do deals for you. But that doesn't mean that I'll like or trust you. So stop acting like we're friends. Because whenever you act like that, I know you're trying to get something out of it."

Dipper took of his vest and looked at it, along with his hat, thinking again. "You can go back to that lovely realm of yours, but I'll be staying here till I've used up all my time. I... have some things I need to take care of, especially... this." He looked around at the fire he'd created.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't give you a chance. You'll regret your choice later." Bill finally said, his voice becoming slightly sour. It must have been the first time in his whole life that someone had actually stood up to him when he'd offered them a deal. It actually felt kind of fun to spite the triangle.

There wasn't any evidence of him leaving, not a show of flashy colours or anything like that. Just... gone. And Dipper could finally breath.

He set his vest and his hat down on a stump, before looking at them with sad eyes. I can't go back to that life. But I won't forget it. He clicked his fingers, carefully draining his fire from the forest around him, and intensifying it onto those items of clothing, watching as they burned.

Dipper didn't feel any emotion as he watched them burn, it couldn't think of anything he could feel as he watched his old life burn away. And when there was nothing but ash, he sighed, using his power to change the clothes he wore to that of his demon attire.

He walked up to the water in a puddle, and looked at how different he looked. Like a demon. But he shook his head. No. I'm not like the others. I'll never be like the others.

After that, he sighed, beginning to float with no use for touching the ground. Now he just had to find the way back to town, where ever it was, and say a few goodbyes.

I'm not sure if I made it very clear, but what Dipper's decided to do was to keep watch over Mabel and the others, but not to interact with them, as well as continuing his training with Bill Cipher. But we'll see how long that lasts, because if it did, this would be a very boring fic from this point forward.

Also, I feel like a total nerd since I was getting As and A*s in some of my mock results. Luckily, I had an E in french to even it out. The listening... you cannot understand a freakin word they say.

Anyway, I am super hyped for the next episode. Luckily me and my friends are going to be having a sleepover so I can introduce them to the show. (None of them have watched it to my horror, so we're going to be watching season1 and 2 in a row so they're completely caught up.) Though, it also means that I won't be able to watch the new episode until the thursday on the week it comes out. Which will be torture.

But anyway, speaking of that week. I'll be off school... So... No school = An update a day! Hopefully anyway. I'll have an update atleast every other day on that week though. And since my parents will be dragging me on a short holiday on the weekend, I'll be writing a few chapters before hand so I can update while I'm away as well. So thats something to look forward to.

Also, I believe that we'll have our first appearance of Ford in the next few chapters. As since Mabel's in hospital... things will get moved along quite quickly.

Anyway, see you next time. ;)