"..So, you're the last."
[Restoration Complete.]
I'm back.
"AAHHHhh!"
I couldn't suppress the agonized scream as I dropped Wax Edgar Allan Poe in front of me. The searing pain overwhelmed me, hot wax melting my skin and suffocating me.
"Ray?"
"Ray! Are you okay?"
The kids' voices reached my ears through the haze of pain. I nodded weakly, forcing my eyes open. I couldn't afford to lie there; I had to act fast.
"I'll see you later, Edgar Allan Poe."
"Huh? What are you talking about...Wait, how did you..!"
I kicked the severed head and grabbed a nearby chair. My movements were swift and precise. I spun my body and swung the chair, connecting with Wax Stan just as he lunged for the fallen axe.
"Ahhck!"
"I'm not going to let that happen again."
I continued to rain blows upon Wax Stan, each strike shattering more of his wax form. Mabel and Dipper looked on in horror, but I knew I had to do this. I had to dismantle them before they could merge into the horrendous wax shoggoth.
The room echoed with the sounds of destruction as I relentlessly smashed Wax Stan into pieces. Mabel stared at me, her eyes wide with terror.
"Wh...What are you doing, Ray! Why are you hitting Wax Stan!"
"Mabel, Dipper. Listen carefully. I need you guys to gather anything cold you can find. Do you hear?!"
The kids didn't answer, but they fled in search of cold items, fear in their eyes. Even as I continued to destroy Wax Stan, smashing him into oblivion, I couldn't ignore the other wax figures. Some of the wax figures that Dipper melted down were beginning to reform into a smaller, but still menacing, wax shoggoth.
"YoUUU...Ray...Chiu..!"
Although the wax shoggoth was a horrifying sight, I stood my ground.
"I said, Go get anything cold! As much as you can! Wait in the kitchen! I'll hold them off!"
"O..okay! Mabel, run!"
I watched as the twins ran to other rooms, desperately searching for anything cold. The wax shoggoth glared at me with its myriad eyes, its tentacles of hot wax lashing out.
"...I have no idea how you noticed the other 'me' moving from behind...but nothing changes. I'm going to kill you anyhow."
"Try."
-Tick!
"Because this isn't ending in any other way that I don't like."
I stood in the dimly lit room, gasping for air as sweat trickled down my face. The grotesque wax shoggoth loomed before me, its mass of writhing, hot wax tentacles poised for another attack. This was it, a life-or-death showdown.
"Why don't you just die, Ray Chiu?" It hissed, a vile, guttural sound that sent shivers down my spine.
My heart pounded in my chest as I clenched my fists. "Because I don't give up that easily, you abomination...Why won't you just kill yourself?"
...I actually died, like, two more times fighting that. The respawn point was not that long ago, so it was easy to retry and memorize the wax monster's attack patterns, though.
My body recovered, but my mind was on the verge of breaking down.
The wax shoggoth struck again, sending a barrage of searing hot wax tentacles hurtling toward me. I dove behind a nearby chair, using it as a makeshift shield. The wax tentacles collided with the chair, letting off a sizzling hiss as they cooled and solidified.
"Nice try," I muttered, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "But you'll have to do better than that."
My eyes darted around the room, scanning for any fragments of the wax figures that littered the floor. I knew if they rejoined the main mass, the wax shoggoth would become an even greater threat. With my free hand, I began to gather the scattered wax pieces, denying the creature the chance to grow.
The wax shoggoth, increasingly frustrated, let out an ear-splitting scream. "Why won't you just give in, Ray Chiu?"
I smirked, even as sweat stung my eyes. "Because I'm not about to let a pile of wax take me down."
In response, I ducked behind Wax Stan's coffin, using it as a shield from the wax shoggoth's relentless assault. I continued to collect the wax fragments with my free hand, determined to keep the creature at bay.
The wax shoggoth, growing more furious by the second, shifted its massive body. A powerful gust of wind erupted from its form, sending the smaller wax particles on the ground into a frenzy. They infiltrated my ventilation system, choking me and causing agonizing pain.
I coughed violently, gasping for air as the wax particles clawed at my throat. Damn it, I couldn't afford to die here. My mind raced as I prayed the kids had gathered enough cold items in the kitchen.
Gritting my teeth, I staggered towards the kitchen, the wax shoggoth relentlessly pursuing me. It was almost within reach, its grotesque form closing in. My arm throbbed from where it had been grazed by the scorching hot wax. I had to hang on just a little longer.
I finally reached the kitchen, but there was no sign of the kids. Panic surged through me. Had my gamble failed? The wax shoggoth, its monstrous form looming over me, let out a chilling, mocking laugh.
"Ready to meet your end, Ray Chiu?"
Desperation clawed at me, but just as hope seemed lost, the kids appeared in the corner of the kitchen, carrying containers filled with ice water. Relief washed over me as they poured the icy liquid onto the wax shoggoth, causing it to harden and slow down.
"Aahahh!"
"Now!"
I seized the opportunity, pushing the now-hardened wax figure towards the nearby fridge. The door slammed shut with a satisfying thud, and the wax shoggoth was trapped, its muffled curses echoing from within.
I leaned against the fridge, gasping for air and clutching my throbbing arm.
"LeT..ME OUUUUUTTTTTTTTT!RAAAAAAAAAYCHIUUUUUUUUUUU!"
"Get..Lost!"
The wax monster, now completely hardened, kept on smashing the refrigerator's door, as if almost breaking it. It was beginning to be harder to withstand it...
"Dipper! Push!"
"Okay!"
Mabel and Dipper pushed the door with me with their small bodies. And, the resistance of the wax thing..became smaller, and smaller, until not a single sound came out from the fridge.
We all just sat down, bodies all exhausted without power.
"...What..the..heck was that, Ray?! What's that creepy slime monster! Why are the wax..!"
"Don't ask me, Dipper. Don't ask me."
As we just sat on the ground with dumbfounded faces, Stan walked in. He looked at the kids, at me, and the almost broken refrigerator, and scoffed.
"What happened here? Got all hungry?"
"No, Mr. Pines. just...just be quiet. Because technically, this is all your fault."
..I hate wax. I hate slime. I'm never, never touching them again.
"Oh, and Wax Stan is now broken."
"What?! Why!"
...That day, I came back home, retching out the contents of my stomach and then spent my time alone in my room. I also checked the Memento Mori.
...And the number slot... it showed how many times I had died. It now read 05. The first death by Bill Cipher, second death by the Echo, third, fourth, fifth death by that wax shoggoth.
Do you know what I felt this time? It was...malice. Something was profoundly wrong. Even though this is like an episode or something, it just didn't feel right.
Wendy and the other kids at school never mentioned anomalies. My memories of the past also confirmed that I'd never encountered anything abnormal in my life in Gravity Falls.
So, why? Why was I suffering this much? Was it just because I was near the kids?
...No, it's something else.
When I fought the wax shoggoth on the roof, I asked about its purpose, why it was trying to kill us. At first, I suspected it was angry at Stan for keeping them in that dark, dusty room for so long. But it wasn't that simple.
They didn't have personalities. They seemed more like a hive mind. The wax itself was cursed by something, for some hidden purpose. A purpose so secretive that it couldn't reveal anything, not even to its victims just before they died.
And it showed signs of suffering, of pain.
As I said, malice. Something had a deep-rooted malice towards me, trying to kill me or at least make me suffer.
But that still didn't make sense. If that thing was truly trying to kill me, it wouldn't have cursed the wax figures, as they were probably created even before I was born.
...Cipher...? Bill Cipher...
Did he remember? No, that didn't make sense. Even if he did remember, I had only traveled back in time for about three months. It couldn't be.
Unless.
Unless something was different.
Unless, the Memento Mori wasn't what I thought it was.
...If it's...
"Hey, Oppa."
"Whoa! Whoa!... Ah, Candy. It's you."
I stood up from the bed and sat down, facing my little sister. She gave me a scrutinizing look.
"I have a question. Why have you been acting so strangely lately?"
"...Well, sis. You'll understand when you get to high school. It can be pretty stressful."
"Tell me the truth, bro."
I gazed into her earnest eyes. She genuinely cared about me, but I couldn't tell her the full truth. I remembered vividly how she died in the last life, and mentioning the situation to her might trigger unforeseen consequences.
...I had to be cautious. But I had to tell her something.
"So, um. I'm...playing a kind of game."
"Game? You? I haven't seen you play games since elementary school. You're always studying!"
That was true. What should I say? Ah, I've got an idea.
"Well, you know. It's summer vacation, and I had some spare time. I started a game. But when I followed a walkthrough I found online, something strange happened. I died, for some reason."
Candy's expression grew more intrigued.
"I don't know why, you see... I followed the walkthrough precisely, but I ended up dying. And then, somehow, I found myself back at the beginning of the game."
"So, like a reset?"
"Uh, yeah, you could say that. But this time, when I strayed away from the walkthrough, these weird and deadly monsters and creatures started appearing out of nowhere... and it's been getting progressively harder. They weren't there last time, so..."
"Hmm..."
Candy settled onto the floor, closed her eyes, and began contemplating.
"What's the 'objective' of this game?"
"Objective... well, it's about defeating or banishing a demon."
"Ah, I get it now. It's one of those games, like a hero fighting a demon. You probably triggered some kind of special event. You did say it's getting harder, right? Then maybe you're on the right path. It's like discovering a secret hidden route in the game."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you mentioned it's getting harder. In games, when things get tougher, it often means you're heading in the right direction."
...something about that...cheers me up, but in the same time freaks me out. So...If Bill's a demon, am I the hero? The hero of this world?
Why?...it is true, I have the memento-mori. But..even if I am on the right pass, why and how is Bill noticing me and trying to kill me?
I...just don't get it. Why? Why should I... I don't want to take this burden. I don't want to sacrifice myself.
...But I ate the memento mori. I..ha.
It was me who chose it.
"Bro? You okay?"
"I'm fine, Candy. Now, time is late. Go to bed. Thank you."
"...Okay.
...Bill. Surprisingly, there was a page in Ford's journal that mentioned Bill Cipher, but it was covered in some kind of black ink. I had copied the journal in black and white, so I couldn't see the colors.
Anyways, it had a drawing of Bill Cipher, which wasn't as terrifying as I had seen in my past life. It was just a triangle with a hat. But the important part was the writing behind it...
So, Ford first wrote that Bill is a good guy who can be trusted. That he's a true gentleman?
But then, he crossed out the whole writing and wrote in a very frantic manner that Bill can't be trusted. It also said that Bill is powerful, dangerous, and shouldn't be allowed inside the mind.
Finally, it said, 'All hope is lost. Something CHANGED... The space is dead.'
...What mind? And why would anyone let Bill into one's mind? And what's that about... something changed?
There were some Pigpen ciphers that I hadn't deciphered yet on the page too. I guess I'll have to read more to actually figure this out.
The explanation is too vague. Hmmm... I wonder...
"Ray! What are you reading!"
"...Ah, Mabel. Um..."
"Isn't this... the journal Dipper was reading? You have a copy?"
"Yeah, well, from the last experience, I thought I'd have to know more about the things in this area. I've lived here for a long time, but... I didn't know any of these."
Mabel nodded, as if she agreed. It was surprising how bright she is because it has been really stressful for me... Ah, right. She doesn't remember that she got killed. That explains it.
"Me, Dipper, and Soos are going to the Tent of Telepathy! Wanna join?"
"Tent of Telepathy? Wasn't it... Gi...what was his name...Gideon's? Isn't he our rival? I thought Mr. Pines didn't like him."
"Oh, he does. But who cares! It'll be fun!"
I looked around the counter and the merchandise. Perfectly organized, and not a single speck of dust was on the floor. And there were no tourists... considering the shack is closing in a few minutes, I think it'll be okay.
"...Well, fine. I'm almost done, so let's go there a few minutes later."
"Yeah! Guys, Ray said he'll come too!"
... Yeah, this is right. I need to get rid of my stress. Going around to see stuff might not be so bad. But... Gideon. Isn't he the famous kid in town? I mean, I'm almost a caveman when it comes to gossip around town, but... Hmm... I know he's that rich kid with snowman-like hair who claims to be a psychic. He's that famous.
... Rich... hmm, come to think of it, how much is coin in 2012?
"Ray! Quickly!"
"On my way, kids."
"Step right up, folks! Put your money in Gideon's psychic sack."
I watched Gideon Gleeful's father holding out the sack to collect money from the people entering the tent. It was large, blue, and looked more modern than the Mystery Shack.
Hmm... using his son for business? Not a very 'fatherly' thing to do, but surely a smart move. The only thing that is a problem here is that if his son gets old enough, most of the customers would leave because of the change in his son's appearance.
But it's none of my business, so I should just enjoy the show. I'm here to... chill. Chill out, hanging out with friends like Wendy said. My mentality is extremely important. I've read and seen movies of characters that can respawn, and when they get mad? Like, crazy mad? The thing that happens next isn't really that beautiful.
"Let's get in!"
"Yeah!"
I entered the tent with the kids and Soos. I paid for the kids and Soos for the entry, so Soos gave me his chicken empanada.
"Take it, dude!"
"...Yeah. Um. Good. Thanks."
It was extremely... oily, and deep-fried. Salty too. I could understand why Soos's physique is like that.
"Whoa, this is like a bizarro version of the Mystery Shack. They even have their own Soos!" Dipper said with awe.
Soos looked over to the worker who looks like him. He glared at him, while munching on the empanada... wait, didn't he give it to me? When did he take it back?
"It's starting! It's starting!"
"Let's see what this monster looks like."
I sat down as Mabel screamed that it was starting. Dipper seemed to be genuinely curious about how Gideon looks like, probably because of how Stan described him. But a monster...? Considering the ratio of Gideon's hair, face, and body... Maybe? But it's such a cruel word to describe a young kid.
While I was thinking to myself, a large shadow appeared behind the curtain. And, it became smaller and smaller... after the curtain opened, there was just a small young kid standing on the stage.
"Hello, America! My name is Li'l Gideon."
His hair was white... silver? And he was wearing a blue suit. He had a green gem necklace too. It was shiny. It was... very, shiny...
-Tick!
Somehow, I was feeling a very, very unsettling... sort of sensation. I knew this feeling. I knew...
That... I was sensing danger.
"Ha... Give me a break..."
"Huh? Did you say something, Ray?! By the way, isn't he so little to be Stan's mortal enemy?"
"...Yeah. Sure. I think so too."
I nodded at Mabel, while my eyes were fixated on the white-haired kid.
