Marked
Chapter 5
After Izuku recovered from Bill's attack he and his two friends got settled in a spare room. "Sorry, the bed's not very big. We don't get overnight guests very often." Dipper says, helping them bring their bags up. "It's fine. We're all friends here so we should be fine." Izuku smiles sweetly, looking worn out. "Hey, a bonus of being...well...stuck here, Bill can't send nightmares as long as you sleep in here." Dipper offers. Izuku smiles at the boy's attempt to cheer him up. "Yeah, that'll be nice." He says. "And even if he does try something, Bakugo and I are here to keep him safe," Todoroki says as if this was a given fact. "No shit, Half and half." Bakugo huffs, flopping onto the bed.
Dipper walks out of the room to give the three someplace. Ever since they got back to town he'd felt an ache in his chest he couldn't explain. No...it's been there longer than that if he's honest with himself. He's had this echoing emptiness in his heart ever since the end of their summer three years before. He had hoped it had just been him missing Gravity Falls and, indeed, coming back to the town helped a little but it never lasted long. He sighs, rubbing his chest silently. All this talk about Bill and the past was making the empty feeling even worse.
"Dipper?" Mabel's voice breaks through the haze in Dipper's head. "Ah! Oh, hey...Mabel.." he says, rubbing his eyes. His sister frowns worriedly. She had literally known her brother their entire lives so she knew something was bothering him. "Dipper...if you need-" Dipper cuts her off gently. "I know...I'm okay, Mabel. Just...feeling a bit weird. I'll be fine with some sleep or whatever." he tries to brush her concerns off with a shaky smile. "I'm heading out the woods for a while." he decides, grabbing his backpack pens, and journal. "Dipper, wait! I-If Bill really is back, maybe you shouldn't-" Dipper cuts her off again. "I need this right now, Mabel. I just...I need to get out of the house. If it is Bill he can't act on his own right now. Besides, he's got his eye on Izuku, right? So I'll be fine. Bill...doesn't care about me..."
Dipper grips his shirt over his chest tighter. Why was that so hard to say? Why did it make him feel like crying? Bill tried to kill him! He tried to kill everyone! So...why did the thought of Bill not caring to make him want to curl up in a ball and cry? He shakes his head to clear it, gripping the strap of his bag and leaving the shack. He just needed to get some fresh air and calm down...right?
While Mabel worried and Dipper wandered, Ford, sits alone in his lab, his head in his hand as he stares at the journals on his desk. According to the explosive young man, Katsuki was it? Well, according to him they got his journals from a pretty young woman and a strange, dark man from their school's library. It was very strange as he hadn't looked away from the three books more than two seconds before their sudden disappearance. If this dark, young man had taken them then how?! Shoto explained about quirks, but from the sound of what Bakugo explained the man had a portal quirk, not a speed one. "Think, Stanford...Think, damn it!" He says, clutching his head. None of this made sense! The sound of the door opening and closing catches Ford's attention and he stands, leaving the lab to find Mabel pouting on the stairs with Waddles cuddling against her. "Mable, what's the matter?" he asks, sitting beside his great-niece.
Mabel looks up at Ford, sniffling. "I'm worried about Dipper..." she admits. "He's been...odd...ever since the end of our first summer here." she hugs Waddles sadly. "It's like...he's numb?... But also in a lot of pain? That doesn't make any sense." she groans. Ford chuckles "Mabel, my dear, if you started making sense I'd be worried." he jokes, earning himself a soft giggle from the girl. "Whatever Dipper's going through he'll come to you when he's ready, Mabel. Trust me," he says, wrapping an arm around her and hugging her. "Thanks, Gruncle Ford...I needed that," she says, hugging him tightly. "Any time...Any time," he says, staring at the door Dipper left through moments before. Though he didn't want to say it to Mabel, he was worried about Dipper too.
He sighs, petting Mable's long hair gently. "Why don't you go see those friends of yours?" he offers. "School is letting out soon, why not go surprise them?" Mabel lights up at the idea. "That's a great idea! Thanks!" she says, leaping to her feet and running out of the shack waving. Waddles...well...waddles...over to Ford and hunkers down next to the man now that his mistress had left. The man chuckles, petting the pig's head. "They'll be okay," he says to himself. "Everything will be okay."
Out in the woods, Dipper chatted with some of the odd beasts that lived out there, taking note of any changes that had happened since he left for school a few months before. He didn't even notice where he was heading until he found himself standing in a clearing in the trees where Bill's statue stands. "Oh...I'm...here." he sighs, walking over to the statue. "Seems like you're finally back in a way, huh?... Can't say you've been missed." He huffs, sitting down in front of Bill. "I mean...It would be dumb to miss a monster like you, right? After everything you did I should...I shouldn't..." he sighs. "But, I do...I miss you and I don't know why! UGH! I swear you had to have done something to my head while you were in control of my body. That's...the only logical explanation...These feelings...this...loneliness...It's your fault!" Dipper shouts at the statue, tears in his eyes. "WHY?! WHY DID YOU WANT US DEAD SO BADLY?! Want ME dead...? Was it fun to watch me suffer...to fight? Did you enjoy it? Laughing while I was in pain?... I WAS A KID! I was only twelve years old! Why did you do it?" he asks, hugging his knees tighter. "Why are you still doing it?" he asks brokenly.
Dipper didn't mean to fall asleep in front of Bill's statue. He hadn't been sleeping well the last few days so he was exhausted. He knew right away that he was dreaming. He'd been practicing his lucid dreaming after Bill. He looks around, not sure what he was expecting (maybe hoping) to see. "Of course...Of course, he's not here...He wants Izuku and Izuku's safe in the shack." he huffs, deciding to try and craft a dream he could enjoy all the time, a tall man stands high up in a tree and watches the boy work from a distance. His blonde hair covered half of his face and wore a golden suit with a tall, black top hat and long boots to match. He holds his cane in his hand and smiles with sharp teeth. "Soon, Pinetree. You'll get your answers." he hums, a warmth he wasn't used to in his visible eye. He turns his gaze to the dream version of the Mystery Shack. "Very soon," he smirks.