Greasy's Diner was as active as ever. Even if Gravity Falls was a small town, you could be sure that the locals took time out of their day to get themselves a mediocre cup of coffee and read a newspaper on yesterday's gossip. It was part of their routine, and they were happy to continue it. And sometimes they were thrown a few welcome curveballs! Like the local celebrities- the Pines Twins that decided they could use a good old fashion home cooked meal! But they hardly seemed in the mood to smile and sign autographs. They were quick to pick a booth in the back and keep to themselves while they partook in their meals.
Dipper held the syrup bottle over his plate and watched its slow drip smother his pancakes in a gooey demise. If he wouldn't have victory over the Northwest girl or the Mystery Shack, he could at least bring an utter defeat to his breakfast.
"Hey, save some for me, bro!" Mabel said snatching the syrup bottle from her brother's hands. The plate in front of her may be filled with sausage, eggs and bacon, but everything was improved with liquid breakfast sugar.
Soos who was eating his own stack of pancakes twice as high was quick to comfort Dipper. "Awe, don't sweat it. I'm sure Mr. Pines wanted to come! Just important business came up!"
Dipper rolled his eyes, and laid his head down beside his plate with his mouth drooped open. This meant it was time for Mabel's favorite pastime of 'Eat or be Meated'. Carefully judging the angle of the trajectory against the syrup covered sausage bit, she pounded the spoon's handle using it as a makeshift catapult. The sausage flew across the table, sticking promptly in the center of Dipper's birthmark.
"Direct hit! I win!" Mabel declared proudly.
Dipper sighed. "I'm not really in the mood." He answered, not even bothering to peel the meat off his forehead. Normally the game was that Dipper would try and catch the meat in his mouth while Mabel accounted for his dodging. She normally won anyways, but today was hardly a challenge.
Even though Stan's absence was hardly the only issue on his mind, for once Soos was correct in assuming it was the one that weighed most on Dipper. "Awe come on, Stan loves us! We could literally get away with murder, and he'd be finding the best lawyers to distract people long enough while he physically broke us out himself!" Mabel declared.
"I know… I just wish he wouldn't keep so many secrets from us." Dipper admitted as his mind kept thinking back to that old Shack. Stan had owned it for many years. It had been where he first found them. And yet he still forbid them from returning. He even put up every obstacle he could to make sure of it. Why after all these years would he still not tell them?
Mabel shrugged. "We keep secrets from him. It's what family does."
"Mostly to spite him… I bet his secrets are much juicier than ours." Dipper lifted his head up and finally reluctantly took a bite of his soggy flapjacks.
Soos only gave a chuckle to all this talk of secrets. "You should just do what I do!"
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Live life ignorantly without a care?"
"Naw, dude! But I mean you should trust Stan! He loves you guys! He wouldn't keep secrets if it wasn't for a really good reason! He's probably just trying to protect you." Soos insisted.
While Mabel tried not to let it bother her, it still got to her occasionally as well. "Ha! Fair trade- trust that Stan doesn't trust us with important secrets. Yeah, think I'm going to keep 'Trust' in that rare category of things that actually are imaginary in Gravity Falls."
Mabel was already lining up her next shot, but Dipper let out another heavy sigh. "I just wish he could at least tell us why he's trying to keep the Shack's contents hidden from us. He knows we deal with dangerous supernatural entities daily… if that Shack has even more information within its walls, wouldn't he want us to use it to protect ourselves?" Dipper wondered.
Within the blink of an eye, the entire world went grey. All the inhabitants of the diner froze in their place. Time stood still for all but the two Pines Twins and their new visitor.
"Awe! How cute! Little Dipper wants to go to the Mystery Ball! Maybe his Fairy God-Triangle could help!" Called out an echoy voice. Both twins recognized it instantly. And while it had become a more frequent occurrence in their lives, it didn't stop it from being any less creepy.
"Well hello there, Bill." Mabel interjected. Falling for Bill's scare tactics was the easiest way to get yourself on the bad end of a deal. "How's the mindscape? Cause any good nightmares lately? Still going for the low hanging fruit of the children and elderly, or have you decided to work your way up to appearing like an actual threat?"
A will-o-wisp burned brightly between the two, flickering away slowly to reveal a blue triangle. "Ah, the Queen of 'Thinks she's got sick burns' strikes again." Bill called out as he poofed a burning crown onto Mabel's head. Mabel only gave out a yawn as the fire began to spread to the rest of her hair. She knew well by now that 'what happens in the mindscape, stays in the mindscape'. Or at least in regard to how Bill liked to mess with his surroundings. As Mabel liked to refer to it, 'Once the world goes grey, all the demon's tricks are just play.'
Dipper sighed and shook his head. "The 'wish' was rhetorical, Bill. If you're not going to give us any information on the Mystery Shack, then please return to your regularly scheduled Eldritch horrors and leave us to finish our breakfast in peace."
The twins had made many deals with Bill over the past few years. Some were balanced and benefited both parties, and others Bill flat out got the better of them with only cryptic riddles in return. But a few trips down staircases and games of 'how many forks fit on the surface of the human body' were a small price to pay for the information and services he could provide. And after many deals, they began to learn many of the loopholes and technicalities to his deals. Less deals ended up with an agonizing struggle to figure out how to get their sibling back in their own body. Never put your soul on the line, limit any possession time, make clear and distinct requests and return services, and other methods to be careful when dealing with demons. Frankly, if all this supernatural or performance business didn't work out, the Pines twins probably could have made impressive lawyers.
As far as deals went, while Bill wasn't what you'd call fair, he did appreciate repeat business. He wouldn't do anything to kill the kids or do something to prevent them from ever working with him again. Nah, when he finally pushed them over the edge, it would be for something big that really mattered. He was fine with taking a few joy rides in a fresh young vessel if it meant spewing out a bit of common knowledge to any being that traversed the mindscape. He knew what lines not to cross, but it was just so delightful to know he'd been able to get away with more as the kids lust for knowledge and power grew.
However, much to the twins' dismay, knowledge on the Mystery Shack, Stan's past and the Journals seemed to all be off limits. It was clear the all-seeing eye knew the answers to all these questions, but chose not to answer them. Which is why Dipper was convinced that his appearance here was only to taunt them or convince them to take a deal where they'd get no useful information at all.
"I don't know, Pine Tree. I'm feeling rather generous today. It's a brand new day… with brand new opportunities." Bill snapped his fingers and an image of a red journal appeared in front of the twins. The golden 6-fingered hand on its cover shone. Taunting them. The twins may have possession of Journal 2. But the first volume was still out there, filled to the brim with knowledge for the taking.
Dipper's eyes glistened in the reflection of the hand. Even though he knew it was just an illusion, he couldn't help reaching out for it.
Mabel wasn't as quick to fall for the dream demon's taunt. She put her hand on her brother's arm before he made any stupid deals just yet. "What's the catch, Cipher? You've kept your eyelid shut on the topic of the Journals. So why now? And what do you want in return?" She demanded up front.
Bill's laughter echoed. So much for the easy dangling of the carrot. "Catch is, this is just the promotional stunt. Just a taste for what's to come! You get a hint on the location of the journal, and I get to possess a lucky someone for a bit!"
Ugh… hints. Almost guaranteed to be cryptic. And for a possession too. Neither twin looked forward to their body being used for whatever joyriding the demon wished to do. They'd have to be pretty sleep deprived or desperate in order to take Bill up for just a 'hint'. But the journals…
"How long are you interested in? A couple of hours?" Dipper asked immediately. If any information about them was on the table, he wanted it now.
Mabel leaned back in her chair, relieved to let her brother take on this round of dealing with the demon. Technically, it was her turn but if he was willing to pay the price she'd let him. The flames that began in her hair then started to set the seat behind her aflame. Ugh… hopefully this whole mindscape version of the diner wouldn't burn down before they finished negotiations.
Bill chuckled. Pine Tree easily took the bait. "Relax. It's just a hint- I just wanted to get a bite to eat. You flesh sacks have some weird taste buds and digestive systems alright! So you let me finish your breakfast for you, and I'll let you in on a little secret about the location of the journal you're looking for."
Dipper was too eager. The first Journal was the thing he wanted most in Gravity Falls, and he'd do just about anything to get it. The deal seemed simple enough. But Mabel already caught several obvious problems with it. "Dipper, think about this for a moment-"
"Deal." Dipper spoke aloud. He reached out his hand to meet the blazing flame in the demon's palm to seal their arrangement. The world of grey faded away. Dipper and Mabel opened their eyes, and the world continued to move as if nothing had happened. Only the change in Dipper's demeanor was clear if the blue color and slit in his eyes wasn't.
"WHOOOO! CARBOHYDRATES AND SUGAR! BRING IT ON!" Bipper exclaimed as he eagerly shoveled the pancake stack into his face with his bare hands, most of it missing his mouth completely.
The entire diner turned to stare at the loud burst of noise coming from the Pines family booth. Soos chuckled nervously. It was good to see Dipper's spirits picking up, but this seemed to be a bit too much. More than stress had gotten to him. Mabel tried to give a sweet smile to all the diner patrons looking at their local celebrity behaving in such an insane manner.
"It's just a new diet he's trying out! And screaming before eating is supposed to really get the blood pumping." Mabel tried to explain. Just then some of the maple syrup splashed on her face from Bipper's messy siege on the flapjack stack. "And studies show that syrup is great for the complexion…"
She tried to rub in the syrup on her face to demonstrate. The rest of the diner easily believed it. She could even hear a few people changing their order and starting to scream out at the top of their lungs as well. Why not? This town made a pile of rocks look as sharp as a well-stocked armory. Mabel slumped back in her seat, looking at the space in the air where her real brother was probably hovering and waiting. They had plenty of puppets at home from marionettes to even sock puppets that were great for easy transport. Most people that saw it only thought it added to the 'creepy twin' motif, but they made great temporary vessels for when Bill got out of control. But none of that was at hand with this spontaneous deal. Hopefully this would go quickly. Dipper was supposed to be the more 'responsible' and 'reserved' of the two. But when it came to the Journals and the Mysteries of Gravity Falls… he got reckless. He'd pay dearly for that one day. And as entertaining as it was to watch her big headed brother realize he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, she rather not watch him suffer too much. He was still family after all.
Mabel kept watch as the pancake stack finally ceased to exist. She gave Bipper a sickingly sweet smile "Finished, brother?" She asked with venom in her voice. The sooner Bill evacuated, the better.
Nasally laughter escaped Bipper's lips. These younger vocal cords fit his pitch quite nicely. "What are you talking about, there's still plenty in front of me!" He exclaimed. And sure enough plenty of soggy bits of pancake were still stuck to his face as well as the bit of sausage Mabel first stuck to her brother's namesake birthmark. "I'm thinking of saving it for later!"
Mabel was having a harder time keeping up the smile in front of Soos. Bill couldn't hold on to her brother forever, but he'd certainly make things as complicated for the both of them along the way as possible. "Why don't I get that for you?" Mabel asked as she held up her napkin.
"Don't think so, 'Star! I just got it right where I like it!" Bipper exclaimed as he tried to slap Mabel's hands away from his face. However, he was so focused on Mabel, that he didn't have a chance to block Soos.
"You going to finish that?" Soos asked. Although for him, it was a rhetorical question. With a quick swipe of his hand, he scooped up all the food bits on the boy's face, gathered them into a mushy syrup ball, and plopped it in his mouth. "Hey, dude! Your face makes a great seasoning!"
Dipper's eyes instantly returned to their normal blue-green color with their deal concluded. The sugary sweet taste was mixed in with something else… coppery? Ah, that would be the blood. Bill probably bit down a little too hard. Still, that was the least of his worries. At least he didn't play around with the silverware this time. Dipper began to take his own napkin and wipe as much of the syrup off his face as he could.
"Thank you, Soos." He admitted. The man probably thought he was thanking him for the odd complement. Soos certainly had a habit of getting in the way of plans. Yet he always seemed to prove he was worth keeping around in the strangest of ways.
Once again the world went grey, but this time Dipper welcomed it. It meant that it was time for Bill to provide his end of the deal. He expected Bill to be peeved that his deal didn't go as planned. But he was as filled with just as much eerie laughter as usual.
"Just goes to show you, it's always handy to have an idiot or two around. They make great emergency sacrifices or food rations!" Bill exclaimed as he stretched out to hug the Pines twins. The breakfast thing was only a minor setback. He'd find plenty of other ways to have fun. The more desperate the kiddies got, the more chances he'd have.
Dipper didn't care for the dream demon's touch. But the more unnerved they looked, the more often he'd do it. "Your end of the bargain, Cipher." He demanded calmly. There was no need to deal with his antics longer than they had to.
Bill rolled his eye. "Jeeze kid, lighten up! Enjoy the ride while you still can! Dark times ahead! You're going to be wishing for the boring days of blood rituals and breakfast!"
Dipper's tongue brushed against the new cuts in his mouth. Wait, did Cipher cast some kind of spell while he still had control? There were no circles or spoken words… but he was an all knowing dream demon. Had he managed something with that little bit of time? Or was he just playing with his head?
But true enough, he'd gotten his joyride. Now to fulfil his end of the bargain. A white glow surrounded his body as he hovered in the air. An image of the Journals appeared in each palm, yet the golden 6-fingered hand was blank on each.
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Bill's voice echoed through both twins heads. Its echo was painful, and more than just because of Bill's high pitched screaming. As if he was scratching the knowledge into their very psyche. Even though they could hardly understand how each word was pronounced- or how it could even be considered a word, somehow they understood each and every letter. Even if they didn't know what it meant yet. It would remain burned in their heads for some time.
A circle filled with strange symbols glowed around Bill- some the twins recognized, some they still weren't sure what they meant. All they knew was that it had some kind of connection to the dream demon. And possibly them as well. The six fingered hand was a dead ringer for the one they found on the cover of the Journal. They'd seen that crescent shaped symbol on Stan's fez. The Pine Tree logo matched the one Stanford used to use as his logo for the circus too- although Bill also called Dipper by the name 'Pine Tree' despite never really associating himself with it in the past. He called Mabel 'Shooting Star', but that made even less since they'd never even seen that symbol before outside its connection to Bill. Some kind of symbolic meaning behind it?
The symbol that troubled them more was the Tent of Telepathy star. It was one Mabel had made herself. They initially thought she had randomly come up with it. A five pointed star for each of the members of their team, and an eye for all that psychic and supernatural bit… until they tried to summon Bill. She had made it a year or two after finding the journal, but Mabel hadn't done as much leafing through the text as Dipper had. Perhaps something subconsciously went through her head? But out of all the odd symbols in the journal, why had she picked that one? Had Cipher somehow placed these images around their lives for some larger plan? Most of the time the demon seemed to be doing this all for his own entertainment. But he had to have something larger in mind. As much as they used Bill as a resource, Dipper and Mabel never forgot that he could one day easily turn on them.
Color returned to the world, and the twins were left to contemplate Bill's "hint". Dipper already took his personal journal out to try and write out the code so he could get to breaking it. With any luck, it wouldn't be some terrible joke of Cipher's.
Soos smiled to see that Dipper seemed to calm down a bit from earlier. That crazed look in his eyes from before couldn't have been anything good. "Well, if you two are done, let me get to paying and we can hit the road! Maybe Stan's finished up, and we can still do something together!" Soos suggested eagerly. Picking up the check off the table, he went to the cash register leaving Dipper and Mabel alone for a moment.
"That was reckless of you." Mabel remarked with her arms folded.
Dipper shrugged. "It could have gone worse. We'll know soon if it was worth it." Dipper brushed off as he tried shifting the alphabet on his page.
"I'm serious- your obsession with that Journal has you making stupid moves!" Mabel exclaimed.
Dipper didn't even look up from his scribbling. "This is important. Besides, it's not any worse than your obsession with your 'conquests of the heart'. I see you've already picked out your next victim. How many 'stupid moves' will you be making because of him?" Dipper retorted.
"That's completely different!" Mabel exclaimed. "Any boy is lucky to have my attention. And this one's no different. He should be head over heels for me by the end of the week. You can't say you have that same control over Cipher."
Dipper frowned, knowing that she was correct in that aspect. "True… the stakes are greater for this 'obsession'. The consequences range from an eternity of damnation with our souls owned by a demon to ultimate power and global conquest. High risk, high reward. If you can't handle that, then feel free to let me deal with Cipher from now on." Dipper resolved. He knew it would be much more difficult without his sister by his side… not to mentioning having to take the weight of half the deals. But if she was too afraid to take the risk, he couldn't force her to continue. This certainly wasn't the 'safest path'. He couldn't blame her for turning back.
"You idiot! No way am I going to leave you at it alone!" Mabel exclaimed, punching her brother in the shoulder. She was just as interested in the power the Journals had to offer as well- she was just more interested in the practical applications rather than staring at cluster of codes all day. Still, even if there wasn't anything of interest in the Journals, she'd still stand by her brother. Just like she knew that her brother would aid her with any of her romantic endeavors despite not approving of them himself. "You're stuck with me!"
Dipper chuckled as he brought his sister into a headlock and began ruffling her hair. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Soos returned to the twins playfully wrestling. None of the dinner patrons seemed to have noticed. It probably would have collided with their image of the pristine perfect Pines that they loved to praise. But Soos had been around the two to know they were far from what people saw on stage. They fought, they participated in suspicious behavior, and they kept grim secrets. But above all that, he knew they cared about each other. They had spent their entire lives together, and the bond showed. They were a powerful force to be reckoned with, not because of the things they got themselves involved with, but because they always had each other's backs.
"Who wants breakfast desert?" Soos asked cheerily as he held up a pair of dum-dums for the kids. The dinner usually had them beside the cash register, and he went digging for flavors for the twins. Cherry for Mabel, and 'Mystery' for Dipper.
Dipper, while he usually enjoyed trying to figure out which flavor got mixed up with which along production had enough of the overbearingly sweet taste in his mouth. He pocketed the treat for later. Mabel on the other hand popped the lollipop in her mouth, wrapper and all.
"Go! Go! Go!" Soos cheered as Mabel fiddled with the wrapper with her tongue. It certainly wasn't as challenging as a starburst wrapper, but it still was a good quick game. Dipper rolled his eyes at their childishness, but there was still a light smile on his face.
Mabel produced the lightly soggy wrapper from her mouth and spat it out on the table. "15 seconds… I can do better."
"Guess we'll have to get you a bag of them on the way home to practice." Dipper remarked. His sister hardly needed more sugar, but why not? Even with today's frustrating start, perhaps they could still make something interesting out of it.
Without any warning, Soos scooped up Mabel and put her high up on his shoulders. "To the candy store! Team Telepathy- AWAY!" Soos cheered as he rushed toward the door.
Dipper followed slowly behind as he continued to scribble code possibilities in his notebook. He could already hear the diner patrons gossiping how adorable Mabel looked on Soos' shoulders, and wondering what Dipper could be 'drawing in that cute little sketchbook of his'. Soos and Mabel had probably made it to the car by now. He looked down at the code he had yet to solve. Maybe he shouldn't be in so much of a rush. Folding his notebook and pocketing it, Dipper decided that he could spare an afternoon with his family. They had plenty of time. That Journal wasn't going anywhere, right?
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