"Well, you blokes really did it, eh? You've cheated me again." Death spoke with mock awe. "Now not only have you sufficiently wasted my bloody time, but now I'm going to be short on souls collected today!"
Nobody in the room retorted back to the angry grim reaper. This served only to incense him further. The sunglasses he usually wore over his eye sockets broke apart as small, bright flames rose from the sockets.
"Y'know, you're all delaying the inevitable... You will all have to die sometime!" Death growled coldly. "The sooner you get it over with, the better..."
Death's tone became venomous again as the words poured out of his pale skull. He turned his head to look at each and every person in the room. Still nobody had responded to him. His gaze then swept over to the floor where he saw the body of Wendy. Death smirked, then smugly chuckled to himself. With a snap of his bony fingers, a flash of green light burst in the tiny office room.
A glowing entity had appeared in the center of the room. The ghostly figure was almost completely transparent at first. But as it took shape, they saw that the entity looked eerily familiar.
A small gasp of disbelief was heard from the corner of the office.
"WENDY!" Dipper cried out joyously as he sprinted over to the faded form of the girl he admired since the beginning of the summer.
Dipper leaped into the air to embrace Wendy, but found himself crashing right into the concrete floor. He felt an icy chill as he passed through what he thought to be Wendy.
Clutching his forearm in pain from the impact, Dipper looked up with tears in eyes at the ghostly form of Wendy.
Her head tilted back with a small smile plastered on her face. He heard her laugh. But it wasn't exactly her normal voice, it had an ethereal, almost supernatural echo to it. She then controlled her giggling and spoke to the young boy.
"You hurt yourself there, ya dork?" Wendy teased through stifled giggles.
"Oi, kid! Don't you know that you can't touch spirits?" Death mocked, trying to suppress a grin as he saw Dipper tumble to the hard ground.
"Wendy, you're... a ghost?" Dipper questioned, still clutching at the injured spot on his arm. A nasty bruise started to form, a big ugly blackish mark contrasting against his pale skin.
"Well, that kinda happens when you come back to the living world after you die... So yeah, I guess I am!" Wendy replied in a sweetly sarcastic way.
"Whoa... What's the afterlife like? Is it–" Dipper began.
"Uh-uh, no! That information cannot be told to the living!" Death warned, getting back to his serious tone.
"Well now, all o' you blokes should say your final goodbyes to dear Wendy here. She needs to go back to the afterlife real soon." Death said matter-of-factly as he materialized a new pair of sunglasses out of thin air and stuck them on his skull.
"C'mon, c'mon! You've already wasted my day! Let's go!" Death snapped, tapping his cowboy-booted foot impatiently.
"W–wait! Mr. Death! You can't take her back!" Dipper blurted out to the grim reaper in front of him. "After all, you said it wasn't her time to die!"
Death took a few steps closer to Dipper, then bent down into a crouching position. He was nearly face to skull with the young boy. Dipper stared into the cold, black shades that obscured Death's eyeholes. Death then grinned the most evil of grins.
"While that may be true, all o' them," Death pointed to the Quintel Park crew "Managed to survive today."
Dipper waited for Death to continue with an anxious nervousness overtaking him.
"So, I think it's only fair that I take the young lass' soul." Death coldly whispered, the evil smile still plastered on his face.
Death's words echoed in Dipper's minds for a few seconds. The icy words hung heavy on Dipper as he tried to process what he had just heard.
No... No...
It can't be true...
He's actually going to take her...
With that Dipper broke down. He couldn't help it if Wendy saw him blubbering and bawling like that, it was just too much for him. He would never see her again in this mortal world.
Skips' eyes widened at the sight of the young boy breaking down and letting all his emotions out. With that, Skips was lost in a memory from long ago. So long ago that he was still going by his old name, Walks.
QUINTEL CITY – 1893
In the small pioneer town, forged in the relatively new state of Oregon, Walks and his beloved girlfriend find themselves walking through the busy streets. Passing by the various small shops and saloons, they stop and greet all of the friendly, familiar faces that populate the town.
They come across the general store at the very corner of town, they then step inside.
"Ah, Walks, my good man!" a gruff voice immediately sounded as the couple walked through the door.
Walks turned his head to see who had addressed him, a large grin came over his face as he tipped his hat.
"Good morning, Mr. Maellard!" Walks replied cheerily in his own gruff voice.
The short, large-headed man made his way over to the huge yeti and embraced him in a hug as if he were his own son. Maellerd pulled back then looked to the woman accompanying Walks.
"Oh my, and who is this lovely young lady?" Maellerd asked as he tipped his own bowler hat at the woman.
"My name is Marianne, I'm Walks' fiancee!" she greeted the short man in front of her as she curtsied.
"Ah, excellent! Most excellent, my dear lady!" Maellerd beamed as he clasped his hands together.
"Heh heh, yeah it's great!" Walks began, blushing the whole time. "Anyways, what's there to do around the general store today, sir?"
Maellerd help up his hand, palm facing outwardly toward Walks. He then shook his head. "For a new employee such as yourself, you sure are eager to work, eh?"
Maellerd chuckled pleasantly, then continued.
"Nothing to do today,Walks! Actually, I wanted you to come with me on an errand today." Maellerd said to his employee. "Of course, Miss Marianne can accompany us as well!"
"Great! Lead the way, boss!" Walks replied as they headed out the door.
The trio walked out of the saloon and towards the outskirts of the small town. After a few minutes of walking, they came across a beautiful meadow. Bright green grass carpeted the ground, as deer and other assorted wildlife ambled lazily to and fro. Vast amounts of colorful flowers formed almost perfect rows at odd intervals in the grass.
"Oh my God. Mr. Maellerd! It's beautiful!" Marianne said in awe at the scenery in front of her.
"Yes, it is quite a sight, isn't it?" Maellerd replied drinking in the beauty of the meadow. He then turned to the yeti and addressed him.
"Walks, my good man, one day I will turn this beautiful meadow into an even more gorgeous park for all the townspeople to enjoy." Maellerd said. "And I would be honored, when that happens, if you would be the first employee to work there."
Walks nodded his head in affirmation.
"That sounds great, Mr. Maellerd. I'm pretty good at fixing things so I could be the handyman around the park."
"Excellent idea, Walks!" Maellerd beamed as he shook the large yeti's hand.
"Oh, Mr. Maellerd I hope you won't mind if I do something with my fiancee?" Marianne spoke up.
"Not at all, dear lady!" Maellerd replied courteously with a slight bow.
Marianne then turned to Walks with a small smile on her face.
"Walks, I would love it if we could skip together through this beautiful meadow!"
Walks was slightly taken aback at this.
"Honey, maybe another time. My employer is here and... well... that would be slightly embarrassing." Walks said awkwardly.
"It's no trouble, Walks! I'll be on my way now!" Maellerd said as he began to walk away. "You lovebirds have fun now!"
Walks then turned back to Marianne with a sheepish grin.
"Okay, we can go skipping now!" Walks said happily to his fiancee.
And with that, they skipped through the meadow for the rest of the day.
4 WEEKS LATER – TWO DAYS BEFORE WALKS' AND MARIANNE'S WEDDING
Walks trudged solemnly through the town, a bouquet of flowers in hand. Walking up the normally busy street, he barely even looked up at the townspeople passing him by. He could hear all their comments as he passed by.
"Poor Walks, such a nice man... He didn't deserve this..."
"And just two days before the wedding... Unbelievable..."
Walks finally reached his destination: the cemetery at the very edge of town.
He searched for the fresh headstone, the one that had only been placed there just the day before.
On it, he could see the name: Marianne Woodward.
A single tear rolled down the yeti's cheek as he placed the bouquet down before the grave.
"Y'know, it's a right shame. Succumbing to tuberculosis... and just days before the wedding. Pity."
The cold mocking voice sounded behind Walks, he recognized the British accent instantly.
It was none other than Death himself.
"Get out of here, Death." Walks said quietly, he felt pure primal rage welling up inside of him. "I know you took her away prematurely just to spite me."
Death gave a hearty laugh.
"You caught me, Walks! And guess what?" Death questioned the yeti in front of him. "I'll make sure that it keeps happening to all the ones you hold dear."
Walks offered nothing in response.
"Eventually, I will break you and get you to give up your immortality." Death cruelly spat.
"Well then, old friend." Walks turned around to face Death. "You'll have to wait a hell of a lot longer for me to do so."
Death's scowling smile began to fade.
"Because I'm going to continue living as long as possible; for Marianne's sake. She would've wanted me to stay strong and keep pushing forward even in trying times like these."
Death grimaced in anger.
"Her memory will help me live on."
Death growled loudly in frustration, then snapped his fingers. A small green portal opened up in the cemetery. He jumped halfway in before turning back to the yeti.
"Someday." Death offered that final word before disappearing into the portal. It then vanished.
When the memory finished playing out in his head, Skips started to think to himself.
The way Dipper looks at that girl, Wendy...
It reminds me of how I used to look at Marianne...
He really does love her...
I can't let Death take the girl's soul...
A thought then occurred to Skips.
"Death, wait." Skips broke his inner monologue to address the reaper. "Give the girl her life back."
Death roared with laughter.
"You can't be bloody serious? I already said I'm not giving her soul back." Death retorted coolly.
"Then in that case," Skips began, he then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I offer my soul in exchange for hers."
Death was completely floored by what he just heard. A triumphant smirk grew slowly on his skeletal face. "Heh heh, now that is a deal! You're soul is mine, Skips!"
Skips turned to face his co-workers one last time. They all had looks of pure shock and sorrow plastered on their faces.
"Skips... No... You..." Benson sputtered.
"It's alright guys, I've had my fair amount of time here on Earth. And besides, I couldn't just let the young girl die. She had a full life ahead of her."
"We'll never forget you, Skips." the park crew said as they all huddled against the yeti for a group hug.
"I'll never forget you guys either." Skips maintained his gruff voice but he could feel tears stinging at his eyes.
As the group of co-workers pulled away from the embrace, Skips felt one more tiny pair of arms around his torso. He looked down to see Dipper now hugging him.
With tears still in his eyes, Dipper managed to produce a small smile. "T–thank you." was all he could manage to say.
Skips nodded at the boy with a gentle smile on his face.
"Alright, let's go!" Death yelled giddily at the prospect of taking his rival's soul.
Death opened up a portal in the room and hopped through. Skips hesitated then skipped over to the portal. He bowed his head then said softly to himself "I'm coming home, Marianne."
Skips jumped through the portal, looking back as he did so.
The last he saw of the mortal world was his friends waving goodbye to him as the portal slowly closed.