Chapter 2: Tattered

Two spilled coffees, two burned lunches and one kitchen fire had already happened within the hour the human was working. His concentration was majorly thrown off due to how much sleep he wasn't getting and how distracted he was. His tired eyes grazed over the order slips as they came in while he tried to keep up with how fast they were going out.

For the past six months since working at the diner, coordination and speed was never the human's Achilles heel as he stated, it felt more liberating to be ordinary in a sense, but since denouncing his powers to be with the woman he loves more than nine months ago, it seemed that both had slowed down for him majorly. But no matter what, the blonde had done his best to keep up with the speed of the restaurant, no matter how tired he was as the last few weeks hadn't been that great to him.

"Order ticket 254 up!" Bill heard through his melatonin laced ears. Despite how tired he was as he waited for the ticket rack to be cleared, he occasionally downed two to three cups of coffee just to stay alert enough to focus much like now as the human just finished his second cup of coffee.

"Order ticket 254 up!" Bill heard once more.

"Yea, I heard you." Bill mumbled back as he grabbed the plate from the serve counter and placed it on his arm so to carry it to table six. Order 255 and 256 that had to go to table seven were also in his route so he grabbed those plates and placed him on his other arm, the warmth from beneath the plates on both arms giving the blonde a sense of relaxation, but as soon as they were gone, that sense of comfort would be gone with them.

Leaving from the kitchen area and to the main dining area, the human served the customers at table six and seven with a smile as only he could through his tired façade and pulled another's bill which is to go to table eight.

"There you are madam." Bill smiled to the young woman who was packing her things to leave the establishment. "Is there anything else I could do for you?"

"Oh no, you've been such a sweet heart already." The woman cheerily replied as she grabbed her wallet. Opening the dollar section, the woman pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to Bill. "For such great service."

With his order book already open, Bill took the money from her with a smile and placed it inside, closing it thereafter.

"Have a great day ma'am." Bill greeted the parting woman as she smiled back to him. "And thanks for the tip."

Receiving tips were the best part of the job Bill had to admit, but cleaning the tables after the patrons were gone were the worst part, but it was a part of the job. You can't have it all the human had to admit to himself. The cup was placed on the plate along with the silverware which made it easy for the man to take it in one pile instead of many. Rarely did the diner get entire families that came in to dine, but more singular patrons than anything and that's what made the job that much easier for him to handle.

Taking the dishes into the kitchen, Bill placed them in the sink and slumped against the rounded edge of the sink, the overwhelming fatigue having hit the man. His eyes quickly grew tired with sleep and his legs felt as if they were going to give way under him. Oh how he would love to go back home and sleep, but even he knew what a gamble that would have been.

"You know, the Bill I know wouldn't ever pick up after mere mortals!"

Bill's eyes quickly snapped open at hearing the voice and looked around frantically for the owner, but what he saw was the same dull surroundings of the kitchen that normally met him when he came into work four sometimes five days a week. Not seeing anything unusual, Bill crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the sink while shutting his eyes again. Maybe if he got just a few quick minutes, no harm in that.

"Don't you see what you've become? You are serving them when they should be serving us!"

That dreadful voice returned which startled Bill awake with the man almost hitting the ground from major fatigue. Ok so the coffee only worked for so long.

Despite how tired he was, Bill noticed that the scenery in the kitchen had changed from the boring sinks, power washers, and serving counters to swirling turquoise white scenery that stretched on for miles and miles. Shaking his head to make sure he weren't hallucinating what he was seeing, Bill focused his vision and noticed that what he were looking at was the real deal and not some hallucination.

"H—hello?" Bill stammered as he looked to his left and then his right.

Silence was what he was left with as he continued trying to assess what was going on. A single white swirl emerged from the scenery in the form of a hot white lightning bolt and struck close to the man which made him leap in the air, nearly out of his skin.

"I bet that got your attention!"

Bill immediately came to recognize the voice as the one he thought he was rid of for good, but obviously isn't rid of as much as he thought!

"I'm not playing this game with you anymore!" Bill growled. "We're finished and I made sure to never look you up again! My powers are where even I can't get to them!"

"Now, now Bill." The cringing voice taunted to the blonde as it took a familiar form, one in which Bill would swear he was looking into a mirror, minus the blood curdling malicious smile. "I've said it once and I've said it again, you can't be done with us, even if you did fall for a mere mortal!"

"Don't you ever say that about Mabel again!" Bill hissed to the ghost of his dark side. "I don't ever regret changing for her!"

"If she truly loved you, you wouldn't have had to change for her." The demon retorted. "For better or worse remember?"

"Well I did it for her willingly, she never implied that." Bill stated. "Now if you're done annoying me, I have a job to get back to."

"Yes, a job picking up after filthy humans who can't bother to pick up after themselves." Demon Bill sneered. "Just know it is never too late to come back to the side you know you belong on. All you have to do is say it and we'll be back together again just like old times."

"Read my lips: Not going to happen!" Bill yelled. "I'm never going back to you and be like the monster you are! Now take a hint and beat it!"

"You're making a big mistake!" The demon threatened as Bill turned his back to him to walk away. "If you dare walk away from what you know you are, you will fall and that is a promise! Which would also include her!"

That made the human stop in his tracks and whirl around to the maliciously smirking demon, whom was enjoying the nerve that he struck with the blonde. He knew how much Bill loved Mabel and even knew he would go to great lengths to protect the woman, which made his mind games all the more satisfying.

"You lay one hand on her and you better believe that I'll hunt you down!" Bill threatened as he marched over to the demon ghost.

"But how can you do that without your powers?" The ghost continued. "Only those with the power can make the rules and since you've become one of them, I guess making the rules is solely up to me! Please observe!"

The ghost waved his hands in front of him and realistically tangible image of a distressed Mabel bound and gagged with tear stained cheeks and wide terrified eyes appeared in front of Bill. No words came out of the man's mouth as devastation immediately washed over him to keep any other feeling or emotion from surfacing.

"If I wanted, this would be the last time you saw her, thus making the rule to take away anything you hold dear." Demon Bill marveled as he stepped to the left of the terrified woman and ran a gentle finger through a lock of her matted tresses, enjoying the fear that he has struck into her heart. "Awe, look at her Bill, she looks so scared."

Bill opened his mouth to voice a protest, but nothing came out except air that he breathed around him as his broadened eyes remained on the image of the woman he loved while she was being tormented by the ghost of himself. The demon then placed a small kiss on the woman's cheek and continued playing in her hair.

"Now now Mabel, I wouldn't dream of hurting something so precious and fragile like you, but while you're here, maybe you can talk some sense into this blonde fool." The demon teased as he continued playing in that same lock of hair. "He thinks he can defy me when we call know who really holds the power here."

The demon continued playing in the woman's hair as he turned to Bill with a malicious grin. He just as quickly turned his attention back to Mabel.

The terrified woman shook her head frantically, which quickly angered the demon, his biggest pet peeve being defiance and anyone who dared do such! The demon then stepped back from her and snapped his fingers, the woman becoming engulfed in hot white flames with her form covered entirely in the blaze. Bill could have sworn he heard her muffled screams through the flames that ripped through every inch of her body that turned her delicate smooth skin into tough as bark chards. As disturbed as the man became by viewing this, he found it hard to look away and while it was only an illusion of his beloved, it still didn't do him any good to see what the fate of her would be at the hands of the mad man. This was all too much!

"Oops, my fingers slipped." The mad man playfully spoke, which quickly switched back to his uncaring cold tone as he turned to Bill, noticing the man frozen in his spot. Seeing the terrified look in his eyes made the demon chuckle darkly. "Or did they?"

"Ma—Mab—el." Bill stammered as he continued watching the hungry flames continue their consumption of his beloved.

"As I said, the one with the power make the rules and I just displayed my number one rule." He continued. "At the drop of a hat, anything I feel you don't deserve will be ripped away. Just see this as a reminder and a warning! Now I'll just leave you and what's left of her to get further acquainted."

The demon turned his back to the blonde and vanished from sight, leaving the man to view what remains left of his love that the flames had not burned away. The flames suddenly grew larger as if someone had thrown gasoline on them with the tongue of the flames releasing flamettes that leaped all around Bill, causing more of the fire to spread. The entire area became quickly covered in blazing flames that trapped Bill and the remains of Mabel in one vicious circle, but the blonde was far too disturbed to notice what was taking place around him that is until a snowy white powder hit him in the back of the neck. Feeling the blustery cold melt onto his skin, Bill blinked once and upon opening his eyes, he noticed something different surrounding him.

Bill looked around and noticed that the illusion of Mabel, the demon, and the demon's illusion were gone, but the kitchen was on fire. Another worker had began putting the fire out, but that didn't stop the blonde from jumping in to help put out the blaze.

To spilled coffees, two burned lunches, and now two kitchen fires. This was truly a long day and the bad part was, it wasn't even over yet with only seven more hours to go!

Mystery S'hack

Mabel and Dipper are in their attic bedroom as Dipper rants on about the happenings that took place that morning at Bill's place.

"And he grabbed you around the neck! Around the neck Mabel so he could choke you!" Dipper continued his disapproval of the relationship between his sister and the ex-demon. "I don't like you dating him Mabel and I want you to break up with him immediately! You're not safe with him and I don't want to have any reason to pick your body out in the Gravity Falls morgue because he decided to go back to what he was and killed you! I'm telling you, it's only a number of days before he is that demented demon we all know and hate!"

"Dipper, I'm not breaking up with Bill because of what happened this morning!" Mabel argued back to her furious twin. "He freaked out and had a nightmare, that's not enough! I witnessed Bill turn over to the good side and denounce his powers into some warp hole thingy. He did it for me and that should be enough for you! He's the good guy now and I'm staying with him, even when things do get rough!"

"No, that's not good enough for me and it never will be!" Dipper continued his fuming while releasing a held breath.

The younger pines turned from his sister and to the direction of his bed as he ran a hand through his brown locks in an attempt to calm himself down. Seeing how upset Dipper was, the older pines doesn't believe she has ever seen her brother this mad before except for when it came to Gideon. Outside of that, never this steamed. With a shake of the head, Dipper then turned back to her and took a seat on the bed next to her while catching with the woman's gaze. His temper has began simmering out so he could at least make coherent sentences.

"Listen Mabel, I'm sorry for yelling, but I honestly just don't see how safe you are with Bill despite that he gave up his powers." Dipper calmly voiced. "And yes, I'm aware that he had a nightmare when we went to see him this morning, but when I look at him, all I see is the same vicious, mind game playing, deal making, twisted demon we met in Stan's dreamscape, only in human form. That's all I'll ever see when I look at him."

"But Dipper, don't you see he changed?" Mabel expressed, her brown eyes filled with plead for her brother to understand her point of this. "He's not the same thing he used to be and I know for sure he won't hurt me. He gave up the one thing that meant the most to him just for me and has been one of the best boyfriends I've had since Mermando, despite how short lived that was. So don't you see Dipper? Bill treats me well and isn't just a short term thing like all the other guys I've met over the past summers. I love him and I know he loves me just as much and my happiness should mean something to you, regardless if he is someone you still see as a monster, even if I don't."

Still caught with his sister's vision, the younger pines saw just how serious his sister was about the blonde human and has a point about his powers. For sure, the ex-demon could have kept his powers and continued his revenge streak against her family while hurting her in the process without an ounce of remorse, but instead he gave them up to live like an ordinary human for the woman that is sitting next to her twin brother. Not many beings would give up something they hold dear to them, but because he did, that says a lot about the lanky blonde, especially one that loved the insanity he created and took pride in having at one time.

"Mabel, your happiness means everything to me, but I just don't want to see you hurt in any way." Dipper expressed. "That's all I'm really concerned about."

"But you won't Dipper." Mabel replied with a smile forming. "I know that Bill won't do anything to purposely hurt me and if he does, I'll give him a swift kick where he will never forget! He'll then know the Mabel difference!"

And that is all Dipper needed to bring a smile to his face, seeing the smile on his sister's face. While Mabel always landed in a lot of unpredictable situations where she needed help getting out of in the past, the younger pines knew that Mabel could handle herself when the time came and was not some typical damsel in the distress that constantly needed saving from the villains.

"And that is all I needed to hear." Dipper said as he leaned over and engulfed his sister in a hug. "I'm sorry for once again yelling Mabel. I just want to protect you like I use to when we were twelve and with you dating Bill, I can't be certain of your safety, but I know you can handle yourself when the time comes for it. I just have to stop seeing you as that twelve year old who most times needed saving when you landed in sticky situations."

"It's ok Dipping sauce." Mabel giggled while returning the hug to her twin. "I know where your heart is, even though you can be a real dork sometimes."

Dipper laughed as he released his sister who in turn playfully punched his arm.

"So are we good Mabel?" Dipper asked to his brunette fraternal twin.

"We've always been Dipdots." Mabel replied with certainty. "Just leave Bill to me and if I need you, I'll surely give a whistle."

"Good enough for me." Dipper nodded.

The floor beneath the two suddenly jerked as a greenish white light brightly shone through the cracks in the wood before it quickly died out. Seeing that, the twins glanced at each other with looks of confusion.

"I thought Stan figured out what is causing those mini-quakes coming from the portal." Dipper sighed in exhaustion as another jerk occurred, causing a temporary anti-gravity motion in the twin's bedroom while also loosening a plank in the ceiling of the room.

"He said something about fluctuations and taming it, I'm not too sure." Mabel replied with a shrug. "Let's go find out what's going on before the ceiling comes crashing down on us."

The two then leaped up from her bed and ran out of the room as another jerk occurred, this one longer than the previous outputs.

Downstairs in his underground lab, Stan had just avoided another bolt of lightning that the portal had outputted, the ground getting struck instead of the old man himself. He stood a good distance from the gateway while recording its activities on a note pad and occasionally checking the monitors for the output it gave off through what was scanned by the computer. The turquoise and white swirled inside the opening of the portal normally which made the mystery behind why the power fluctuations kept occurring.

"I just don't understand it." Stan spoke as he recorded more data on the note pad from the computer screen to his left. "If the activity is normal, which this says it is, what is causing all of these fluctuations? These are occurring more often than they should be and the last thing I need are those government agents back over here riding my backside because of this thing's activities. And that agent powers, freak show!"

The center of the portal began swirling wildly as another quake occurred, releasing a few small boulders from the ceiling, the hardened dirt mounds crashing to the ground and creating a pocket of dust from the dirt they landed in. Luckily the elder was nowhere near the area the boulders landed. As he continued writing down the data, the elder then heard the voices of his great niece and nephew calling out to him from the hallow hall leading to the lab. The old man looked up and spotted the two coming towards the area he was in.

"Stay right there!" Stan cautioned the two. "This thing is going crazy and the last thing I need are you two getting injured because it decided to take revenge. I'll be right there."

The fraternal twins stopped in their tracks as cautioned by their great uncle and watched from a distance as the older man made his way into the main room and safely away from the fierce gateway as it released another bolt of power from its center.

"So what can I do you kids for?" Stan jokingly greeted the two while fixing his fez.

"We came down here to see what is going on with the gateway." Dipper answered. "We felt the jolts all the way upstairs. I thought you figured out what was causing those consistent fluctuations."

"I'm still trying to figure it out myself Dip." Stan sighed as he turned back to the gateway through the Plexiglas of the room they were all standing in. "One minute it's as calm as it gets and the next minute, it's spinning out of control. Sometimes I think it has mood swings. Ha! A portal with mood swings! I have to write that down!"

Indeed Stan grabbed the note pad and began writing down his joke.

"You don't think those agents are going to come back do you Stan?" Mabel questioned with a little worry evident in their eyes.

"I don't think so kiddo." Stan answered, having written down his own joke. "Those agents were none the wiser about this thing when they were here so the chances of them catching onto this now are slim to none. Especially the blonde who didn't look too bright, but the first guy kind of weirded me out a bit."

"You might want to be careful all the same." Dipper warned. "That agent trigger gave me the creeps and I never really trusted guys with blonde hair."

"That explains a lot." Mabel huffed from Dipper's explanation alone.

"Well if they do return, they'll have a pretty hard time getting answers out of me as I can take anything they throw at me." Stan confidently voiced. "I've been in jails tougher than them! Besides after thirty years of building up to this, I haven't been caught yet and I doubt if I ever will."

"I'd still be careful all the same as never doesn't have the same meaning it use to." Dipper voiced.

"Well while you two figure this out, I'm going to get ready to meet with Bill after his shift." Mabel gleefully spoke as she turned to leave. "I know he will happy to see me after such a long day."

"Not so fast young lady." Stan spoke up immediately, which made the eighteen year old girl turn back to him. "I need you upstairs in the shop for two hours working with Wendy."

"But can't I do that after I see Bill?" Mabel pouted with pleading eyes.

"Nope because I can't wait until ten at night when you decide to come back from your date." Stan sternly expressed. "Upstairs for two hours and after that, you can go see Bill. I'm a little untrusting of that guy as it is and the less time you spend with him the better. Two hours is all I ask and then you can go see that guy. No more about it."

"Fine." Mabel spoke as she turned to leave. Stan then turned to Dipper.

"Hey, Dip, how would you like to make a few extra bucks helping me down here in the lab?" Stan offered to Dipper, who raised a curious eyebrow at the man. "I could really use a helpful hand."

Dipper looked suspiciously at his great uncle, knowing that whenever the man asked for help, it usually involved him doing something demeaning or embarrassing. The wolf costume that he was forced to wear as a display in the shop area of the shack was still very fresh in the young pines' mind with a shudder each time he thought about it, despite it happened six years ago.

"Make a few extra bucks as in real money?" Dipper curiously asked. "And what would I be doing exactly?"

Stan reached into his pants pocket and pulled out two twenty dollar Stan bucks and placed them in Dipper's hands. Seeing the hand drawn money caused the teen's eyelids to droop half way, indicating annoyance mixed with he already knew what was coming next.

"Don't worry, it won't be anything too hard." Stan replied with a weird grin as he brought a biohazard suit into the boy's vision.

"I had to ask." Dipper sighed with lowered eyelids.

Bill

Dollar bills in increments of ten and twenty dollars laid crinkled on the coffee table in front of the couch where the blonde laid with his right arm covering his face. He felt his feet throb and his lower back gripe, both unhappy of how long and hard the man worked that day. It'd had been a long eight hour shift and it finally came to an end where the man went home to rest, his couch being as far as he would go without causing himself any further pain. Thankfully he had the next day off because another eight hours on his feet considering he has worked all week on the same shift, he didn't think he'd survive another day without collapsing. Especially considering how much sleep he hasn't been getting. At least his tips helped out a great deal in making his day somewhat tolerable along with seeing Mabel after his shifts, but today felt extra special for some reason. Just being in her presence after a long day of working made the man extremely happy. Not that he's never happy to see her any other day, but today just felt special in ways he can't describe.

Removing his arm from his face, the man placed it back to his side and opened his eyes as a tired sigh escaped his lips. Not turning to the coffee table, the man grabbed his phone stealthy from the piece of furniture beneath his mountain of tips and brought it to his vision to see what time the phone read on the LCD display screen. Eight o' nine pm on a Friday night. What is a human to do at this time of night? Watch television? Go out to dinner? Have some friends over? So many possibilities for this time of night for the start of the weekend, but one thing immediately crossed the man's mind, something that passed him up earlier that day and that is a shower where after which he would climb in bed to prepare for the free day he had facing him the tomorrow. Hopefully tonight would be the start of restful dreams instead of horrifying gut wrenching nightmares, something he has grown tired of since they began.

"It's better than nothing." Bill spoke up, breaking through the deafening silence that surrounded him in his one bedroom occupant house.

The man repositioned himself as his feet were placed on the floor, the appendages along with his legs screaming at him to put them back on the couch as they weren't ready to be moved. The man lifted himself off of the couch and placed his hands on his lower back, lightly massaging it in an attempt to quiet the aches that were present as he made his way to the stairs to begin climbing them. Sometimes he wished the bathroom wasn't so far away from him, especially now. Reaching the top of the stairs, the blonde hastily walked to the first door on his right and entered it as his mind and body both screamed for that shower that his eyes were glued to.

As he passed the mirror to go to the tub, his reflection didn't appear in the reflective glass, but yet, something else did that moved right along with him. Having caught a quick glance in the corner of his right eye, the lanky human quickly back tracked and faced the reflective glass to see that his tired and tattered reflection stared back at him. Maybe being so tired has caused the man's mind to perceive what wasn't there as that can happen after having worked eight hours straight with no break and little sleep.

"I'm definitely getting some sleep tonight." Bill voiced in a mumble to himself as he looked away from the mirror and continued to the tub to turn on the shower. "My eyes are playing tricks on me."

With the shower turned on and the warm water running, the blonde began to undress so to hopefully start a night of restful dreams.

"More than what you may think!"

Review Please and Gideon's EndGame will be updated next weekend!