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Chapter 26: Pieces of the Game

Dipper yawned as he rose and traveled down the stairs to the basement. The moon was just rising, Mabel was sound asleep, and Stan had gotten more of the toxic waste they needed. He wondered how long he would be able to keep this up before he would need to sleep. He tapped his fingers on the wall as he went down, leaving marks in the layers of dust. Stan had already gone down, and Dipper waited impatiently for the elevator to come back up.

He stepped out of the elevator as it dropped him off at the third floor, and glanced at the chalk done spells of protection Stan had him draw. Apparently, they would keep Bill from being able to come down here. The chalk was fading though, and Dipper knew he would have to redo them soon, before they faded. He checked every mark carefully, cursing as he found one with a part erased. It looked like someone had taken their finger and ran it straight through it. He grabbed some chalk from nearby, and filled in the missing marks, completing the spell once more. Bill shouldn't even be able to appear here now. He sighed as he realized the only one that had a smudge on it was one of the most important ones.

"Dipper!" Stan called from deeper in the fort, and Dipper rose, going to his great uncle.

"What?"

He didn't have time to listen to another lecture about how he was doing everything wrong.

Stan was standing before the giant portal, looking at it. Dipper moved to follow after the elderly man, but paused for a moment as something crunched under his foot. Glass littered the ground, and Dipper looked to search for the source. The computer monitor was shattered, the glass littering the floor. There were dark red stains of blood littering the table, and bloodied fingerprints decorating it all.

"Dipper! Get in here!" Stan called.

Dipper rushed from the room, out before the portal where his great uncle was standing.

"What's going on?" Dipper asked, looking at the portal before them. Panels were ripped out and the guts of machinery were shown. Wires with blood covering them lay on the ground, covered in dirt from the floor.

"Stan!" Dipper almost screamed, looking at the destruction. The old man kneeled to the ground, picking up some of their hard work and looking closely at it.

"It must have been Bill. Of course he would come and destroy everything. Why did I think he wouldn't?" He moved running his hands through his hair, and knocking his hat off his head.

"I can't believe this! How did this happen?"

Stanford turned to Dipper, giving the younger man a harsh look.

"Shut up!" He picked up a piece of metal paneling, and shoved it in Dipper's face.

"What do you see?" He placed the panel in Dipper's hands, making the young man look at it. Dipper scowled at him, before throwing the panel aside.

"What does it matter? We're never going to save Mabel now, are we?!" Dipper screeched. "I'm going to kill him for this his!"

"Dipper, shut up!" Stanford screamed, and Dipper immediately quieted, having never had the old man yell at him like that. At least not since he was in mortal danger from those zombies.

"It wasn't Bill. Have you ever seen a demon bleed?" He asked, pausing for a second.

Dipper opend his mouth to reply, yes, of course he has, when he realizes that he never had He shut his mouth closed, looking at Stan.

"They don't bleed red, demon blood is black." He picked up another discarded panel, which had a bloody handprint smeared on it. The handprint which was, of course, red.

"So?" Dipper challenged. Stanford sighed, throwing the panel away.

"So, Bill bleeds black blood! Who else would have any motive to stop us?" Stanford asked. Dipper sighed. He didn't want to play the game of guessing where Stan was going with his questions.

"I don't know, I don't care. Get to your point." Dipper snapped back, ready to throw a punch at the old man, but held himself back.

"It was Mabel! Bill can't even appear down here, he doesn't bleed red. Mabel does, and she's the only one who would try to stop us!" Stanford ran a hand through his hair, glaring at the carnage around them.

"She wouldn't do this." Dipper defended, though he was already thinking it was true. It would make sense. "How does she even know about this place?" Dipper shifted, uncomfortable with how this conversation was going.

"Doesn't matter anymore. We'll never be able to fix everything in time, and even if we could, she took one of the journals with her." Stan shot back. Dipper nodded, trying to find a flame of home inside himself that would let him save his sister. There was none though.

"That's just it? We're giving up?" Dipper was completely floored that the elder Pines was giving up so easily. The old man glared.

"What can we do? We can't rebuild in time! Even if we could, she took the journal!" Stanford shouted. Dipper glared back as best he could.

"So we try anyways! We can't give up!" Dipper screeched, and Stanford sighed for a moment before sitting in the dirt, seeming to just give up.

"So close… I finally have a chance, and in one night it's blown. I could have gotten him back." Stan mumbled, looking so defeated.

Dipper's jaw tightened at the words, and he glared down at the old man. "I knew it. I knew this was all just a big trick, you just wanted your brother back. Well, guess what? I bet he's dead. I bet he died the moment Bill dragged him there, and now that's going to be Mabel." His voice was thick by the end, cracking painfully.

Stanford looked up at Dipper in surprise, mouth opening to form some kind of excuse, to say something, but nothing came out. The younger Pines turned on his heel, snatching up his journal from the table and rushing back upstairs. He shut the secret door firmly, before rushing back up to his room. For the first time since working on the portal, he didn't check on Mabel as he rushed upstairs. The male twin missed out on his sister rewrapping her bandages, and shoving the journal between her mattress and the wall.

Bill floated in the Dreamscape, just barely able to see through it and into the real world at Mabel. She was rewrapping her hands, and Bill groaned at the sight. She had hurt herself, even if Will coerced her into doing it, she was still hurt. The apparition of himself appeared next to him, smirking a bit.

'Don't be so upset, Billy boy. Everyone got what they wanted!' Will laughed loudly, looking at Bill. Bill tapped his fingers, listening to the tocks among the ticks of his clock.

"Looks like you got most out of that than she did." He observed, rolling his eyes.

'Of course I did! That's how it works!' Will moved and floated on the air, lying back on the open air and lounging there as if he was lying on a couch.

"You got her to do your dirty work."

'Our dirty work.' Will corrected. 'How doesn't matter. The ends justify the means. You're just upset I got a kiss. She tastes lovely, don't you think?' Bill growled a little, glaring at Will.

"Leave her alone!" He moved a bit away from Will, watching Mabel to try to distract himself from how annoyed he was with his demon half.

'You only said I had to get consent I did that. She did everything on her own. I wonder what else I can get Shooting Star to give. The best part? She'll give it all to me, to keep her family and you safe.' Will beamed down at Bill, eyes holding plans for the future. 'How much can she give me until she breaks?'

"Goddamnit, leave her alone! Stop trying to break her! She's stronger than you think!" Bill shouted now, turning on the demon.

'That's what makes her such a fun game. I'll get the next couple millennia with her, just like I've gotten the last couple with you. She'll be almost as fun to break as you were.'

Bill flinched, eyes widening. "You wouldn't."

Will smirked, all teeth and no lips. Bill took a step back at the words, trying to hide how scared he was.

'Really, my chosen one? She is going to give so much, all to keep her family safe. All to keep you safe. I can get her to give up everything, with just a threat. The best part is, she'll give everything to me, and give it willingly. 'Cause you're too weak to let her go, and she can't break the deal. She know's what I'll do to Pine Tree.'

Bill covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Will laughed, smirking at Bill but not saying anything more. He moved, bringing his hands and taking Bill's hands away from his ears.

'You're pathetic, you're weak. You'll let the one creature on earth you love slowly die and suffer at my hands because you're too much of a coward to let her go. She's going to be all mine, and when she is, she will be the next chosen one. So smile, Billy boy, you can finally be free of me.'

Bill ripped himself out of Will's icy grasp, almost falling for a moment before he caught himself. He stumbled back, struggling to breath through the sudden ice in his lungs.

"No, you can't take her. Please, you can't take her, anyone else. I'll give you anyone else in the world, just don't take her." He pleaded, but Will moved away, smirking.

'You have nothing left to give. You pathetic weakling. I've taken everything you have to offer.'

Will disappeared, and Bill was left all alone in the Dreamscape with only his thoughts as company. Well that, and the ticking of the clock.

Tick, tick, tock, tick, tick, tock, tick, tick, tock.