To all those who thought the Gideon in this story is truly just a sweet little boy, you a very, very wrong. He already displayed a desire to 'take Bill out of the picture', and remember that line in the first chapter about Canadians being ax-crazy/freaking insane in this story? He's Canadian here, thanks to what's happened to the universe. He's not a villain (maybe not yet), but he's still dangerous.

(Disclaimer: I'm Canadian, so I'm allowed to poke fun at my country)

This is rated T for a reason, so watch out for this chapter.

There was something truly terrifying about being chased by Bill Cipher. Gideon had never been quite sure that Bill didn't intend to harm him, and this seemed like the perfect time to cause him pain, as Mabel wouldn't start looking for them until at least the first hour had passed. But who would be causing who pain? Gideon wasn't foolish; far from it. He knew better than to walk around defenceless. The feeling of a small leather protected blade that he'd gotten a bit alright at using was a constant weight at his side. Just because he was only ten years old, it didn't mean he couldn't slice Bill in just the right place, where the bleed out wouldn't be 'fun'. If only Gideon wasn't afraid of what others would do to him if he did kill Bill.

He came aware of the fact that he was beginning to sweat in his costume. It had to have been at least an hour since they started! He hadn't seen any sign of Bill at all, though it might've been because he wasn't paying enough attention. He checked his watch. It hadn't even been thirty minutes. At this rate, he thought, the full three hours will feel like a week. He whimpered. The thought scared him. A week in the woods with Bill Cipher. He'd probably never make it past the first day even with his blade unless he had insane amounts of luck on his side. But it would be a good motive for 'self-defence' that Gideon could think of, if Bill somehow didn't kill him first, which was most likely. Anyone who thought pulling teeth out of a deer was hilarious would be lacking in ruth.

No...while that seemed like something Bill would do, Gideon couldn't remember an actual time where that had happened. It might have been a nightmare. Or a repressed memory.

"You're insane!" He spoke softly, though he wasn't sure it was to himself. Then, there was a snap from behind him, obviously staged, but he still jumped. The joker let out a quiet laugh. Oh stupid boy, Gideon thought bitterly, you've gone and not realized that Bill was watching you the whole time!

"Sure I am! What's your point?" From his spot behind a tree, Bill pulled a jump attack on the blond haired boy, laughing, and pinning him down from behind. Gideon screeched, calling out for Mabel, struggling for all it was worth, which wasn't much. Bill scooped him up, covering the boy's mouth as he did. "Quiet, kid. I'm calling a temporary truce so I can show you something I found..."

It was a crack, but where it was and how it looked made it as strange as it was. It was up in the air, glowing silvery blue, and looked the same no matter from which way they looked at it. "Mmf?" Gideon asked through his still covered mouth. Not liking that fact, he licked Bill's hand, because he was sure biting would only make Bill laugh. Bill moved his hand, but did not put Gideon down, instead shifting him into the position he carried his cat it. It was actually quite comfortable...

"I feel like I've seen this somewhere before." He reached a hand out, but Bill snatched it up, digging his hand into Gideon's sharp fingernails. "Hey!"

"It ate my cane. As funny as it would be to see you loose a hand, I need you in one piece. For now. Anyways, when you get older, it's better to have two hands!" Gideon wasn't sure how to look at the adult. He already knew Bill was insane and the most immature person in town, and a glare wasn't appropriate for the time. So his rounded face remained blank. "What's with the dead-eyed stare? It's comical."

Gideon just sighed.

"This is severely under whelming. Here we have a crack in what appears to be the physical world, and I find myself not being in awe by this development. Terrified, yes, but not mystified." He paused a moment, as a strange feeling fell over the duo. That's when things got weird. "No! I can use this to my advantage. What ever power this crack contains-" He continued on his rant about power and getting revenge, something he didn't seem to be fully aware of. Bill didn't have the current attention span to wonder what was going on, as there was a swelling and swishing feeling in his head, as the crack glowed brighter.

As suddenly as it could, Bill became all knowing and all seeing. In that moment he knew all that was going on, and just what had happened to the universe. Foolish girl, Bill thought, holding his free hand to his head as the power became too much for his human brain to handle. Just as a sharp, and non-pleasurable pain banged inside his head, tiny hands started to escape the crack, reaching for Bill and Gideon. Bill collapsed to the ground, dropping Gideon and trying to push him away from the crack, as he knew what would happened to the boy otherwise. But he was now a dead weight, glazed eyes and shaking.

Gideon was a lost cause, Bill decided. He instead focused on getting himself away from the crack even though it now had a tight grip on him, and was dragging him in. As he lost consciousness, he could only focus on the fact that he had no idea was going on anymore. It was all gone.

Mabel had no idea of the events going on in the other part of the forest. She was in no rush to locate Gideon or Bill, as she figured that Bill would stalk Gideon for the first hour or so, taunting him with sounds, but no actually being a danger until later. That gave Mabel time to just enjoy the forest. The forest of Gravity Falls was quite pretty, calming and secretive. Mabel had even seen unicorns among the bushes once, even though she had no proof but her memory. No one, not even her friends, had believed her when she had started talking about it. Even Gideon hadn't believed her.

She thought of using her free time in the forest to look for them again, even if it was to only look at their beauty. The thought excited her greatly. She threw her hands up in the air, ax and all. She lost her grip and it flew out of her hand. "Ooops!" She sprung around to see where it had fallen, and got a surprise. "I'm so sorry!"

The ax was at the feet of a boy, probably not much younger than her. He was staring at it, a tight frown on his face. She couldn't see his eyes, but she imagined briefly a pair of deep brown eyes, much like her own. His hair was tangled and long, and Mabel wished to take a brush to it, styling it to her preference (but she had Gideon for that) He could also do with one of my sweaters, she thought, seeing his ragged outfit. It reminded her of what those Fathers of Gosh wore during church.

She approached him, talking all kinds of nonsense, but as soon as she was close, he jumped back in what seemed like defence. He glared up at her. His eyes...were not human. But this only brought a smile to her face. If he wasn't human, maybe he knew where the unicorns were!

"Again, I'm sorry. My name's Mabel." She put a hand out. "What's yours?" Confusion was written all over his face, mixed with anger and fear. "I'm not a bad girl. I'm a fun one! Just let me help you up." He instead growled at her. Mabel put her lip out.

She had apologized and was honestly sorry for throwing the ax at him. It wasn't like he had actually been hit. Did she really come off as being a bad person. Sure, some people in town thought she was a misfit because she sometimes got involved in Bill's antics, but she wasn't. It hurt to be rejected. She looked at the boy, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Get out of my forest. You're a danger to use all." He finally spoke. Her a danger? She didn't mean to be one! She just wanted to play an edgy game with her friends. She was about to apologize for this, when something in her mind clicked.

His voice sounded familiar, yet for the life of her she couldn't remember were she'd heard it before. It also sounded lonely, like he didn't really want her to go. Or was she just hearing things? Either way, Mabel couldn't stand for it. So, instead of high-tailing it out of the forest like most people would when faced with a creature such as they one she was looking at now with a big smile, Mabel bent down and hugged him.

"Wha-what? Let go of me!"

The demon had just wanted to settle this peacefully. Sure, there was nothing that threatening about a hug, it was still a bruise to his ego. He had thought it'd be easy to scare her out of his forest. Then, she had thrown that ax at him! He couldn't be blamed for reacting badly. Just because he was a demon, it didn't mean he couldn't be harmed. Pain was not fun at all.

At least she was actually sorry for almost hitting him. But the hug was too much. He didn't know what to do now. He couldn't even remember a time where he had been hugged before. Yet, he knew what hugs were, despite never being around humans outside of scaring them away. His subconsious seemed to know more than he did.

Mabel tightened the hug when the boy went limp in thought, before releasing him. She grabbed his shoulders so he couldn't run away if he was planning to. He looked clouded, like he wasn't quite all there at the time. Maybe she had taken it too far, especially with a stranger, but Mabel knew that it had been a good idea. Everyone needed a hug every once and a while, no matter who they were. Or if they were even human. She never really thought to question if the creature could have been evil.

"I..." He finally spoke, relaxing in her presence. "I'm an ageless demon and you just hugged me. And it was nice, I admit, but really. Why?"

"You just looked like you needed a hug, and I'm the best hug giver in all of Gravity Falls." She let go of his shoulders finally, deciding that he would probably stay and talk now. She could hopefully convince him to show her the unicorns. "That should make up for startling you. I guess the ax was a bit much."

"Yeah, a little too much for my liking." Mabel laughed at the way he had said it, all hushed. He seemed like such a good guy. What was he doing here seemingly all alone?

"So what is your name?" Mabel asked of the demon. Demon. The word really should have brought thoughts of horror and darkness to her foremind, but this demon didn't seem evil at all. Just...awkward. She also felt safe with him, like they had known each other for years. It was nice feeling.

He coughed in response, scratching at his hair – gosh, it really must of itched from the lack of cleaning – before mumbling something.

"What was that?"

"I don't have a name, though I know what one is. I just never saw the need for one." He looked at her pitifully. It came off as both strange and cute thanks to his demon eyes. Mabel was shocked. No name? Everyone needed a name!

"Well, I think you need one." Mabel considered possibilities, thinking of what would fit him best. No human names came to mind that were truly fitting of him. He seemed to really like the forest...he had wood brown hair...and that tattoo over his eye...she could see where her line of thought was going! "Pine Tree~! That's what I'll call you."

The demon hummed. "Okay, that's fine." He sounded like she had just suggested a causal walk in the park, not something important like a name. Well, he'd grow to love it. She'd force it if she had to. "So, by giving me a name, does that mean we're...friends now?" The concept was foreign to him, but being around her seemed like second nature by then. To think, he had been trying to get her to leave.

"Yes, Pine Tree." She hugged him again. No! No, not the hugging. I'm against the hugging, he screamed in his mind. He hadn't agreed to more tight hugging. But even though he struggled, she wouldn't let go. Some part of him didn't want her to ever let go of him again.

The second part of the chapter runs on Mabel Logic. You should never actually hug a stranger, especially a demon.

Were you expecting a huge battle between Pine Tree and the Terrible Trio? Well, Gideon and Bill were preoccupied by the crack in the universe, and considering how things may turn out in the new episode of Gravity Falls, I didn't want to have a fight between Mabel and Pine Tree right now. It's better this way. The fights will come soon though.

For those that didn't get offended and leave already, the use of Gosh instead of God is not a shot at religion. It's meant as a joke on Gosh often replacing God in a sentence because people don't want to use the lord's name in vain. I'd love to meet the people who came up with it, since it's so fun to say. But they're long dead.

Now, a question. Should Waddles remain a pig, or should he be a human? If human, he'd be the most adorable child ever, but a bizarre pig would be fun too.

^^^^^^^Crack in the universe inspired by Doctor Who^^^^^^^