[Critical user function failure detected. Life signal...Negative. Commencing respawn sequence at the last checkpoint...Daemon's piece destroyed. New checkpoint made 30 seconds ago.]

Realization dawned upon me as I found myself not within the confines of a physical body. I was suspended in an incomprehensible void, adrift in the boundless cosmos. It was a space devoid of sensory experiences, bereft of the familiar sensations of flesh and bone, leaving me an ethereal presence in this vast expanse.

"...I'm in space...?"

As I floated aimlessly in the endless void, my essence beheld an awe-inspiring tableau. Countless stars, numbering not in the thousands but billions, illuminated the cosmic tapestry that enveloped me. This phenomenon was bewildering, as I bore witness to the celestial spectacle without the need for eyes or a corporeal form.

"...eyes..."

Amidst the celestial splendor, I beheld a titanic presence. It dwarfed entire galaxies, relegating them to mere specks in the cosmic grandeur. It was...

"...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

My perception tuned into an immense, yellow entity traversing the cosmos. It stood as a primordial deity, occupying the very heart of the boundless universe, casting an impenetrable shroud of darkness from its gaze. I could discern its existence, not as a being akin to us, but as a fundamental cosmic law transcending mortal comprehension. This entity possessed the ability to peer into the infinite darkness and the unfathomable depths of human imagination.

I could see it, the universe veiled by sinister imagination. Every aspect of existence was devoured by the relentless churn of thoughts. Entities and beings merged and mingled, giving birth to innumerable abominations, as objects and concepts merged to create incomprehensible monstrosities.

"NO! No! D...DEAL WITH IT! AGH!"

My words erupted from my formless state, my thoughts fragmented and incoherent. The enormity of what I was experiencing pressed heavily upon my sanity. I yearned to expunge the memory of that colossal entity from my mind, to escape its scrutinizing gaze. It loomed in the cosmic abyss, an inscrutable celestial enigma, and it had turned its attention towards me.

"...No."

With an unsettling realization, I recognized the entity. It was the eye, the same menacing, yellow eye. Bill Cipher. He had manifested in the universe, and I now comprehended that he was the Daemon all along. But why had his form changed? He once resembled a sentient yellow nacho chip. The unfathomable nature of the revelation left me questioning what was happening and how I could confront this colossal force.

...Even the collective might of all nations united as one could not stand against such a colossal presence. A nuclear bomb? What effect could it have on an entity of such magnitude? Such power?

It was then that I felt motion, a rapid propulsion that carried me away to an unknown destination. The universe receded behind me as I hurtled through the cosmos at breakneck speed.

...Did this always happen whenever I died? Where am I going? I...!

[Calculating amount of caused time paradox... 0. Expurgation complete. Restoring Data...]

Time paradox. I saw that last time too. What does it mean?

...And right after that, I...teleported. Teleport? Is this the right word? I don't know. But one thing was certain: I was back on Earth.

Earth, but... Everything moved backward.

The butterfly fluttered in the opposite direction it should have, and the sun slightly reversed its path. The manotaur corpse that had crushed me ascended back to the ceiling.

My body, once utterly crushed down to the bones, miraculously mended itself to a state of health.

...How? Why was I witnessing this? I had never experienced anything like it before. Something was undeniably amiss, and...

I reached out, or at least I tried to and found myself clutching.

-tick! tick!

I clutched Memento Mori. I had no hands, no ears, no form, but I could touch it. I could feel it. I could hear it.

"...Is it you? Are you showing me this?"

-tick! tick! tick!

The pocket watch emitted an ordinary, rhythmic ticking sound as if confirming my question.

"...Why?"

[Restoration complete.]

"Wait, I..!"


.

...

"I..!"

"...Ray! Incoming!"

I swiftly rolled out of the path of the falling manotaur corpse, narrowly avoiding a gruesome fate. Then, as if by some cruel twist of fate, I found myself back in the same grim cave, surrounded by the grim reminders of the battle – sweat, blood, and the lifeless bodies of manotaurs. The lifeless eyes of a dead hide-behind added to the macabre scene.

"I WON! ME MANLY!"

The black manotaur, despite his triumphant shout, now stood alone, the absence of his comrades palpable.

"...They are all dead, Ray... I trained with them to be manly... But now..."

Dipper's words hung heavy in the air, his despondency apparent.

"...How did it work out then?"

Dipper contemplated the question for a moment before shaking his head.

"Didn't work out so well. But I still didn't think it would end up like this..."

The reality was harsh, as was often the case in life. The black manotaur, wounded by the hide-behind, eventually succumbed to his injuries and collapsed on the ground.

"Anyways, I've gotta go home. Dipper, you can go home by yourself, right?"

"Ye..Yeah, I...can. But I think I should...Ugh...ooorgh..."

Dipper's response was accompanied by a visible struggle against nausea, no doubt a consequence of the gruesome scene we had just witnessed. I empathized with Dipper, but it wasn't the time for comforting words.

Returning to my house, I ascended the stairs to my room and grasped a pencil and notebook. My thoughts raced, and I needed to record them before they slipped away.

The first entry addressed the unsettling revelation that Bill Cipher was the Daemon. It was a bitter truth to accept, but it explained much of what had been happening. Bill's powers, combined with the Daemon's abilities, formed a formidable, overwhelming force.

The Daemon, Bill Cipher, was targeting me because he perceived me as a threat to his plan. His goal was to manifest his physical form on Earth, and my existence seemed to pose a significant obstacle.

However, there was a dilemma. Bill Cipher was already in space, assuming a form composed of countless stars and black holes. It was a nearly insurmountable force to contend with, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that my abilities held some significance.

"...The journal!"

I retrieved Stanford's journal, a black and white copy, and turned to the section on Bill Cipher. There, I found a cryptic message:

"The space is dead..."

This enigmatic phrase left me with more questions than answers. Bill Cipher had taken control of space, turning it into a desolate, lifeless expanse, save for our small blue planet. It was a deviation from what I knew, as Bill wasn't supposed to manifest in Gravity Falls until the end of the summer.

Bill, now a cosmic entity, was attacking me as the Daemon, and I needed to understand why. He knew of my powers, but the question remained: Why target me when my abilities seemed insignificant in comparison to his god-like stature?

"...Unless it isn't nothing."

There was a glimmer of hope, a possibility that my abilities could serve as an obstacle to Bill's plans. It was a slender thread to hold on to in the face of overwhelming odds.

"...Fine. Enough of this. I can't know more about this whole Bill Cipher stuff. Okay? Ray, let's face it. That thing is out there in space, and I have no understanding of its motives or thought process. I need to focus on the present."

One thing was clear: my checkpoint saved after defeating anomalies, sparing me from reliving those moments. It seemed to save automatically after a certain amount of time, too.

Another mystery lingered – the causality rate had changed from 6% to 6.8%. The reason for this alteration remained a puzzle. Was it linked to my death or the successful defeat of the hide-behind? I had no answers yet.

As I contemplated what lay ahead, I couldn't muster hope. Bill Cipher had cunningly targeted my weaknesses, including the darkness, and my abilities were limited. All I could do now was wait, as an uncertain future loomed.

...

I really feel the urge to just give up.