AN: Hey there Mad Hatters! How are you?! I'm doing AWESOME!
Guess what today is? MATTHEW'S BIRTHDAY, WEE!
If he was real he'd be twenty years old I believe, yup, he'd be engaged to Wendy and everything!
As a B-day present for all of you, I made this CHAPTER WITH LOTS OF PLOT POINTS AND SHIZ!
Also, I'd like to bring Matthew out for a few words! Hey Matt! What do you gotta say?
Matthew: *groans*
Me: What happened to you? You look horrible
Matthew: Some crazy chic jumped into my room and started singing "Womanizer" at the top of her lungs and before I could do anything she jumped away.
Me: She has a point
Matthew: I'm a guy with hormones!
Me: That's what they all say pal…anyway, got anything to say to all your adoring fans IRL?
Matthew: Er…Oh! Reality's and Illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold BYE! Also, I'm never listening to Brittiany Spears ever again
Me: Okay.
So, back to the nitty gritty, to answer the question of BerryBanana05…hold on, let me just…
AHHHHHHHHHHH! Sorry, I just saw all your art work before and they were GORGEOUS I especially liked the Bonded fanart because I love that story to death and…!
I'm done.
So, yes, at first, it'll be like Past Bill/Yin possessing Matthew and making him do diabolical things.
But as his soul gets darker, as seen in my chapter, A Neat Burn, Matthew will know full well what he is doing since evil will become easier and easier for him and Past Bill/Yin will no longer need to influence him.
And not to worry, Matthew will learn how to fly!
Hope that cleared it up! On to the chapter!
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
Chapter Thirty-Six: No Miracle for Matthew
Ford hadn't been more conflicted in his life. That was more Stan's territory. Ford usually analyzed situations and figured how to react from there.
Matthew was a different case.
On one hand, he wasn't completely buying the whole story. There was just something in that boy's eye that showed he was hiding something, and that brought him to his Bill Cipher theory. Matthew reminded Ford very much of his former muse. From his voice to his seemingly cunning personality, even down to the fact that he was one eye short.
But then again, he sounded very convincing when telling Ford what had happened, and he seemed genuinely pained at talking about his supposed younger sister Mabel. And as far as Ford was concerned, Bill Cipher didn't have a sister, and even if he did, he'd have probably stepped on her like many others to achieve his selfish goals.
But again, Bill was a master at sounding convincing.
Ford glanced at Matthew from the corner of his eye, watching him take gumballs from bushes, popping some in his mouth and putting others in a plastic bag along with the licorice grass and the unlucky gummy worms…where did he get that bag from anyway?
Though whether that boy was Bill Cipher or truly Matthew Pines, he was hiding something, and Ford needed to keep his guard up.
"Yup," Matthew said with grin, popping the gum in his mouth. "This'll be enough for them."
"For who?" Ford asked, cringing as Matthew took a squirming gummy worm and popped it in his mouth.
"My siblings," Matthew said with a shrug, the two walking around the candy made world.
"Mabel and your brother," Ford clarified.
"Yeah."
After a moments' pause, Ford said, "You seem to care a lot about them."
"They mean the world to me," Matthew said quietly.
Ford frowned slightly, even when Bill had been posing as a friend, he'd never said that about anyone.
Maybe he wasn't Bill?
Stop it you fool! Don't let your guard down!
The duo made their way to a jungle with cotton candy trees with dark chocolate trunks. Candy floss vines hanging from them.
Matthew smiled at the thought of Dipper and Mabel seeing this place. Maybe when or if he learned how to dimension hop without the portal on their birthday, he could take them here. By then, Bill's Weirdmaggedon would be over—if things went per plan, that was.
Matthew then stopped at a tree growing gummy koalas.
"That I gotta get," Matthew said climbing the tree trunk to the lowest bough. He knew Mabel loved gummy koalas to death.
As Matthew climbed down he heard Ford cry out a warning.
Just as Matthew looked down, a creature grabbed his shoulders with its talons and flew off, causing him to scream in surprise. Looking up, Matthew could see the creature was some sort of giant gelatin candy dragon.
Matthew was going to contemplate using his flames when the dragon dug its surprisingly sharp teeth into his shoulder, sucking on it. The teen gasped in shock, spluttering incoherently as he felt his blood dripping down his shoulder, his skin turning pale as he tried to stay conscious.
The dragon pulled its mouth away before sinking its teeth in again, seemingly pleased as Matthew threw his head back and screamed in pain.
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
Dipper woke up with a start to the sun shining through the window. His face sweaty as he recalled the vivid dream, shivering at thought of Matthew in pain.
Matthew…
Dipper turned to the still empty bed of his brother.
He didn't know how he knew, but that wasn't just a dream, and Stan's weird behaviour and the mysterious portal conversations that he had with Matthew prior were some sort of trigger.
It was weird that his dreams had changed. He had been having the dream of Bill Cipher chasing Mabel and he down a hallway for the past few weeks, and though they weren't any less horrifying, he had trained himself to wake up without waking and worrying Mabel and Matthew.
Over on the other bed, Mabel was gone too, so instead of telling her his dream, he'd need to confront Stan.
Dipper got ready and walked downstairs, Mabel sitting at the table while Stan made burnt stancakes once again.
"Oh, good morning—!" Stan was cut off by Dipper, "Where's Matthew, Grunkle Stan?"
Stan tensed automatically and Mabel looked between the two.
"I-you're brother? I don't—."
"You do know. I know you do. He's in trouble, isn't he?" Dipper demanded.
"Matthew's in trouble?!" Mabel exclaimed. "Grunkle Stan, where is he? Is he hurt?"
Stan became sweaty. "Uh-uh, well…ha! Look at the time, gotta go do a tour…"
"You closed the shack today," Mabel reminded him.
"Uh—."
"No more secrets, Grunkle Stan," Dipper said. "If Matt's in trouble and you know where he is, then we deserve to know!"
"Look, kids—."
"And if you don't tell us," Mabel said, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm going to tell everyone how you sing Selina Gomez in the shower!"
Dipper blinked twice. "You like Selina Gomez?"
"You wouldn't!" Stan exclaimed.
"Online, with hashtags!" Mabel threatened.
Stan sighed. Those kids weren't going to give up.
"You two might want to sit down," Stan mumbled in defeat.
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
Matthew's shoulders were slumped and his eyelid fluttered as the dragon creature continued sucking on his blood.
The dragon then screamed in surprise when something hit him in the stomach. He and Matthew crashed to the ground, Matthew grunting in pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.
"Here," He heard Ford mutter as he helped Matthew sit up on his chest. "Stanford?" Matthew asked in surprise. "You saved me?"
Ford didn't answer, just threw Matthew's T-shirt off and began cleaning the wound as the dragon disintegrated beside them. From there, Matthew could see a sharp candy cane protruding from it. He must've thrown it. Matthew thought to himself as Ford tied a knot around his wound, causing the teen to hiss and flinch so hard he unintentionally punched Ford in the face.
"Don't let me regret saving you!" Ford snapped.
"Dude, it was an accident!" Matthew shot back. "If you were gentler—ARGH!"
Ford tied the knot tightly on the wound, Matthew hissing but reframed from punching Ford again. The last thing he needed was the old man having an excuse to strangle him to death—that was after he skinned him and put salt on the wounds for good measure.
"Let's go," Ford said, getting up.
"What? What about my shoulder?" Matthew demanded.
"It's not life threatening, let's go."
"Cold…" Matthew muttered under his breath.
Bill, watching nearby, tapping his non-existent chin and hummed to himself.
"Could be some time for drama…"
"No, Bill," said a voice.
"Whoa! Hey D Man! You gotta stop doing that though, it's creepy," Bill said floating towards Damion.
"No, 'drama,'" Damion said sharply.
"Aw! Why?"
"If Ford finds out do you know what he'll do? All manner of things! I need Matthew in perfect condition to be Demon King!" Damion said.
"That's kinda hypocritical of you, D Man. Weren't you the one who tortured him to tears?" Bill said slyly.
Damion glared.
"Well, hey, it's the truth!"
"You talked with Paige?"
"Sure, I did!" Bill said. "She was more than happy to help! So…will I be rewarded?"
"You aren't done. In fact, you're taking far longer than I hoped," Damion growled.
"Aw, come on! It isn't my fault Welcome Matt got himself sucked up!" Bill whined. "Though again…with two people Fez is trying to save…maybe I'll be able to escape Dimension 2—."
"No, Bill. Not yet."
"WHAT?!" Bill roared, his eye glowing red. "Here I am offered freedom and you tell me not yet?!"
"Watch you tone," Damion warned, unfazed by Bill's outburst.
Bill's eye went back to default color, though he was still glaring.
"Finish your job first. Your freedom comes later."
Bill rolled his eye. "Fine."
"Good."
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
"…so, Stanford, my brother, not me, fell into the portal so I was trying to fix it up to save him. Then, your brother said he'd help me, something about helping to build it? I don't know. And he got sucked up. So, there you go. My whole life story!" Stan finished looking at the twins.
They just stared with slightly gaped jaws.
"Uh…you, kids alright?"
"WHAT?!" Mabel shrieked finally. "You had a twin brother, your name's apparently 'Stanley', and now our brother is stuck in a nerd portal thing-y?!"
"Yeah, that's about it."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Dipper asked with a frown. "If it involved Matt you should've told us."
"Well, I guess I got used to keeping secrets…" Stan murmured.
"But you can get him back? Matthew?" Mabel asked.
"Uh, yeah, the portal should be ready again in a few hours," Stan said.
"So, I'll just make him a welcome back sweater!" Mabel said, running into the attic.
"You'll call us?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah, sure I will, he'll be happy to see you," Stan agreed.
If he's still alive. They both added in their heads.
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
"Being here is so sad,
'Cause this old man makes me mad,
And how I miss his other twin,
I think he committed a lot less sins,
And he was better,
And funnier,
Had less of a temper—."
"Would you be quiet?!" Ford exclaimed, cutting off Matthew's song.
"You just proved my POINT!" Matthew sang, hitting a high note at the last word.
"You. Are. Infuriating."
"But I like it that WAY!"
"Stop singing!" Ford snapped spinning around finally.
"I'm bored," Matthew complained.
"Find away to entertain yourself, then," Ford huffed, turning back around and continuing onward.
Matthew rolled his eye and scowled to himself. He really missed Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Wendy and Soos. They were far more entertaining to talk to. And there wasn't a fifty-fifty chance of getting murdered.
He subconsciously reached to the side and snatched a gumball from a bush, popping it in his mouth and chewing glumly before an idea struck.
He walked along stride Ford who was checking out his surroundings.
Matthew hummed casually before blowing a bubble with the gum, making it pop right beside Ford's ear.
Ford had no reaction, but Matthew could see the annoyance in his eyes.
Success.
Matthew chewed his gum once more, popping it again.
This time Ford visibly tensed in agitation, Matthew smirking. Matthew went to blow another bubble, only for it to be purposely popped by Ford with a sharp poke. Matthew cried out as the sticky substance stuck to his face.
"Aw, what the hell man?!"
"I'd have much preferred being on my own," Ford snapped.
"What's stopping you?" Matthew shot back, wiping the gum away.
"As annoying as you are, I'm not going to leave an unexperienced teenager in the Multiverse alone."
"What if I'm not unexperienced? What if…I dunno, I am Bill Cipher?"
Ford stopped abruptly and turned to glare at the blonde. "So, you are Bill Cipher," he growled.
"Who knows?" Matthew said slyly. "I mean, you can kill me…but what if I was telling the truth? What if I was Matthew Pines? You'd be hurting your family all over again," Ah, screwing with people. I love it. Matthew should've known this would cheer him up. He knew the reason Ford didn't murder him yet was because he was uncertain. Playing with that uncertainty was something he hadn't done in ages.
Ford clenched his fists, he looked suspicious and angry at the same time, before looking confused when Matthew burst into laughter. "Dude, I'm just screwing with you!"
"I think you should leave."
Matthew stopped laughing. "Uh, what?"
"You heard me, whether you die or not isn't my problem anymore," Ford said.
Matthew was just about to make a snarky remark when he felt the tingling sensation again. A part of him hoped it was an Earth portal.
The portal opened, bathing the duo in green light.
"Well, fine, I don't need you anyway," Matthew said, walking through with Ford in tow.
As they walked in to what looked like a large rainforest, Matthew walked to the left. "Cheerio, Sixer," He said with a salute.
"Sixer?"
Oh…went too far that time.
"Uh…huh?"
"You called me, Sixer. Why?" Ford demanded.
"Because you have six fingers?" Matthew said slowly.
Ford stepped towards the teen. "The only ones who ever called me Sixer were Stanley…and Bill."
"Geez, you're accusing me of being that triangle guy again?" Matthew demanded.
"How did you know Bill was a triangle?"
ARGH! SHUT UP, MATTTHEW! SHUT UP!
"Um, duh?" Matthew said.
Ford's eyes narrowed and he advanced towards Matthew, slamming against a large rock and rolling his T-shirt with his fist, then he pressed his gun into Matthew's skull.
"Didn't you lose that in the chess dimension—?"
"It's a spare," Ford said in a dark tone. "Now I'm going to look you in the eye, Matthew and ask you, are you Bill Cipher?"
Matthew swallowed thickly, feeling himself shaking. He would've had Ford burnt long time if he wasn't partially choking him.
And as of now, he had slipped way too much. He had no choice but to tell Ford the truth, unless a miracle appeared.
Matthew looked around, Ford still waiting for an answer.
Nope. No miracle for Matthew.
"Look…just—just let me explain—!"
"Are. You. Bill. Cipher." Ford pressed the gun so hard to Matthew's head that he felt a bruise forming.
Even if Matthew lied, the truth would come out eventual, unfortunately, lies always got revealed.
"I am, but—wait!"
Ford pulled the trigger.
…C-I-P-H-E-R…
AN: I was going to put more but I wanted to be mean. SO, I left you guys on a cliff hanger! You're welcome!
Next chapter will be rather interesting…*evil chuckle*.
Happy Matthew's B-day!