Chapter Text
“W̴̘͔̐͝h̷̖̫̬͒͝͠o̶̱̓̐̂ ̸̛̼̍͑͘d̶̨̲̪̙̎a̶̯̮͈̮̐̓́r̴̲̈́̾̓ě̵͔̓s̶͉͠ ̵͈̘͖̳̎ş̷̧̐u̷͚̜͉̮̐̊̅̽m̷̧̟̖̬̿̍̔m̴̛͙̮͚̦̉̋o̶͎̦̘͆n̶͔̓ ̶̢͍̃̑͠Ä̷̡̟̹̩́̔l̶̢̻̼̳̈́̚c̶̨̠̫͇͑̽̔o̷̡̲̦͔͌͑r̷̪͙̻̓̒ ̷̻͋̽̾͒T̵͚͇̦͌͘h̷͈̊ẻ̷̢̦ ̵̘͑͛̃̍D̶̮̿r̵̹̖̣͛̌͐͗e̵͎̚ȁ̵̯̖̳̲m̶̔̂͜͝b̶̘͠e̴̺͚̣͔͛̀̏n̵̩̺̯̅͗̃d̶̫͂͋̾͠ĕ̷̘̗̐͛ȑ̵̹̞̣̘̋̕”
The summoning tossed waves of blue light across the bedroom, casting high shadows onto the wooden walls and posters of boy bands. The air reeked of candle smoke, burning hair, and pine incense. Sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, Mabel reached into the bowl beside her and popped another sour candy into her mouth. “Still not scary enough, bro.” Munching on her candy she pulled up the sleeves of her sweater, “See? No goosebumps.”
Groaning, Dipper dropped into the circle, sitting cross-legged in the blue glow. It tossed his hair and the back of his black coat around in an imaginary gust of high pressured air conditioning. Resting his chin against his hand, he reached for the candy bowl. “I don’t get it. I used the scary demon voice.” The points of his teeth sliced the candy into ribbons when he bit into it. The candy was just enough to keep him tethered to the physical plane. That was Mabel's idea of course. Candy always made things better in her mind. In Dipper's case, candy only made it a little better.
Being a demon was not as easy as one would think. Dipper thought the only thing you had to do was show up, say a couple of well-practiced one liners, shake a few hands, and POOF! the deal is done. That’s the way it seemed to work in movies. But it didn’t seem to work that way in real life.
Maybe there was a demon training program he missed out on. Maybe an informational pamphlet? When Bill Cipher caused the Transcendence, thus gracing him with these unwanted powers and throwing the world into supernatural chaos, Dipper sort of felt tossed into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim. He had to learn everything step by step about his new life, how summonings worked, conjuring up tiny blue flames in the palm of his hand, even coming up with a new name for himself. He couldn’t even talk to anyone but Mabel for a while, as somehow the events caused her to see straight into the Mindscape. It wasn’t easy on her either. But if he didn’t have her, he wouldn’t know what to do.
Dipper huffed out a sigh. He still had a hard time putting this whole Transcendence thing together. Why would Bill do this? Who dies and then gives their worst enemy ultimate power? Maybe it was because Dipper was turning out to be a crummy demon. Bill would find it very funny.
Being a demon was all performance art--and Dipper never considered himself much of an actor. But Mabel considered herself an expert actress, and she took it upon herself to coach him. It was like she said, “I’m your twin sister. If you can scare me, you can scare anyone.”
“What am I doing wrong?” he grumbled.
“Dunno,” she shrugged. “I guess you’re just acting a little too much like yourself!”
“I am myself! I don’t think I can change that!”
“Okay, okay. What I mean to say is you’re trying too hard. I see Dipper pretending to be Alcor. Just be Alcor. You gotta sell me on the whole ‘I’m a scary demon who wants to eat your soul’ thing.”
He tossed his arms into the air. “I am a scary demon! I have gold and black eyes and wings! I mean, I don’t want to eat anybody’s soul. That seems a little gross and unnecessary. Maybe I don’t want to be a scary demon. Maybe I’d rather just be a friendly demon and do favors for people and fight bad guys.” Flopping back onto the summoning circle, the light illuminated the features from his human life that remained, the soft tufts of his brown hair and the Big Dipper birthmark on his forehead. “Maybe I don’t want to be a demon at all! But does anybody care what I want? Nope!”
Mabel patted the top of his head. “I know it's not easy, Dip. But this is how things are now and we’ve got to deal with what we’ve got.”
Beneath him the pentagram pulsed 3 times, a static hum emanating from it. “Uhhhhggg,” he groaned again.
“What?”
“Someone is summoning me-- I'm getting some negative vibes from it." (There's 7 summoners- more than you've ever dealt with before. The energy radiating from their intention is malevolent, clawing at skin and demanding blood.) "Can I let it go to voicemail? Does that even exist? Demon voicemail.” Ignoring summoning was hard. It was almost like an instinct, akin to ignoring hunger. But he absolutely despised it. Apparently, Bill's old summoning circle still worked on him, and Dipper kept getting wound up with all the wrong people.
She shook his shoulder, practically leaning into him. “No! Don’t you see? This is the perfect opportunity to practice! You gotta get some real-world experience. I can go with you and take notes!”
“Are you sure? The people who summon demons aren’t the type of crowd you wanna be hanging out with, Mabel. They’re usually guys who live in basements and summon me to prove something about themselves, or people who only want power and actually think I’m gonna give it to them. They’re honestly creepier than I am.”
“That’s not a very high standard for creepy. Come on, let’s go!” She tugged on his sleeve, trying to urge him off the floor.
“Fine. If you say so, but as the record stands, I wanted it to go to voicemail--any weird thing that happens is on you.” Rising off the ground, he stretched out his wings and extended a hand to his sister. “Try to be careful. I’m still working on this teleportation thing and I’d prefer it if you didn’t barf on me this time. It wouldn’t help my image.”
She grabbed her backpack and “emergency baseball bat” covered with glitter (the grappling hook wasn’t enough for her anymore), dragging it into the pentagram with her. “You got it, bro-bro! Now beam us up!”
“Right.” His fingers dug into the back of her sweater, her hair flying up around her in the wind of the pentagram. The light around them burned into thick flames, the twins disappearing from the bedroom.
------
As always, the summoning took place in a basement. What did people have against taking their demonic activities outside in the sunlight? If you wanted a demon to like you, it was best not to coop them up in a dark room.
This was, for the most part, like every other summoning Dipper had been through (5, if you excluded all the times Mabel had to summon him just so he could talk to someone). It was dark except for the glow of the summoning circle. The air was cold and smelt like mildew. The brown walls were carved with strange symbols and covered with red drapes. And were those… pipes overhead. This all felt familiar.
No matter. He gave his back and wings a stretch. Mabel was right. He had to stop pretending, he had to be confident in himself. This was who he was now. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Floating above the summoning circle he reached out at his summoners, all wearing long red cloaks like some kind of cult. Great… “Ẃ̴̡̛͓͈̖̗͖̲͍͌̀̈̈́̎̅̈́̔̿̿̕͠͝ȟ̵̳̬̹̪̝̪̉͒͑̚͝͠ö̸̡̧̧̗͇́̃̉͆͠ ̷̢̡̯͙̭͓̝͉̠͋͑͌͂͆̆͋̚ͅd̵̢̧̛͖̭͔̪̩̦̟̘̗̺̈̈́͑̓͋̑̍͘͠ͅa̵̢̧̤͇͉̖͚̦̥̘͊́̀̆̇̋̈̍̿̕r̷̺̙̣̙̘͉̪̟͙͍͆̓͋̓̾̋̚͜ē̶̺̳̻̫̺̺̇͜ͅs̵̛̰̓̽̈̑̉͊̒̔͝͠ ̵̤̜̗͋̈́̊̂͐̏͗̔ͅš̵̨̛͖̻̠̿͒̎̇̈́̒̿̆͛͠u̶̻̮̙̮͉͕͎̞̔́̂͂͘m̷͍͎̘̠̋͛͐͗̉͑̾͐̑̇͋͘m̷̗̼̑̌̐̍͌̀͊̚͠o̵̻̞̤̰͑̅n̸͇̘̞̣͙̥̱̣̾̋ ̴͖̉̄̒̌̄͋̿̾̕Ǟ̷̩̖͕͇̻͎̙͌͐̃̇͆̂̑̈́̀͠l̵̹̫͇̗̰̞̻̻̮͇̤̪͐̓̅̂͘ͅc̷̱͖̞̖̘͕̝͙̳̽̾͋̂͑̉͐̇́̚͠ͅͅo̸̢͍̠̰͙̘̙͎͒̓̔͛r̸̡̛͔̭̮̹̤̻͚̗̹͍̤̄̍̆́͋̑͑̊̃̋͒͘͠ͅ ̸̨͙̤̱̣̹̥͇̠͓̦͇̹̙̋̍̓͗̏̅̍͘t̷̤͑͋̇̓̇͛̒̍͛h̵̳̎̌̃͑̓́̅ẽ̸͚̗̙͍̙̙̼̲̤̘̟͗̽͆͆̆̾̄͊̔̈́̏́͊͜͝-̷̢̮͍̝̣̺̝͖͓̞̉̇͗́̏̓̋̑̂͜͝-̶͈͖̖̹̝̙̘̂́͆̏̇ ̵̥͂͗̂̉̓̎͛̅̉̔̃͆”
Mabel coughed, leaning over a pot in the back of the room. She spit into it, wiping at her mouth. Her face looked pale with dribbles of sweat coming down. “I threw up. I'm sorry, bro-bro.”
He shook his head, covering his eyes with embarrassment. “Why did I even agree to bring you?”
She spit into the pot one more time and staggered to her feet. “Uhg. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all that sour candy before teleporting.”
“That’s it,” Dipper sighed, “get back in the circle. I'm taking you home.”
“What,” one of the men in red robes stepped forward, only his frown visible from beneath his hood, “is going on here?”
“Right, right,” Dipper said as Mabel stumbled into the circle. He cleared his throat, “I’m Alcor the Dreambender. Who dares summon me? Blah blah. Can we make this quick? As you can see I'm busy.”
The figures in red robes whispered to each other, their hoods covering their faces. Stitched into each hood was a crossed out eye, definitely familiar. But where would Dipper have seen them before? They whispered his name over and over, like he was some kind of oddity. Well, he was, but they summoned him. They should have known that.
“Can we move this along,” he urged. “Seriously,” Dipper said, “who are you guys?”
He waved one hand in front of his face. “We are the The Society of the Blind Eye.”
Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, blinked a few times and then laughed.
“These guys again? For a moment I was worried it would be something serious, like a demon worshiping cult or something.” Dipper clutched to Mabel’s shoulder as she nearly doubled over.
“Come on,” Mabel wheezed for breath as she laughed. “You guys wouldn’t stand a chance against us. Give it up. What prank show is this?”
“Do you mock our institution?”
“Sorry,” Dipper tried not to crack a shark-tooth smile, but it didn’t work. “So what is it you guys want, huh? Knowledge? Power? New bath robes?” Mabel snorted and pressed her face into his arm.
“Enjoy your laughter while you can. All we desire,” one of the red robed society members presented the leader with a box, from within he pulled a strange looking gun with a dial and a light bulb on one end, “is to see you completely destroyed. The Transcendence has disrupted the blissful routines of life. It is our job to protect those who do not wish to see, and that starts with removing the two of you: Dipper and Mabel Pines.”
That was impossible. No one beyond friends and family should know who he was. That was the whole point of taking a stupid name like Alcor. And how did they even know about Mabel? He thought they erased the memories of all the Blind Eye members when they raided the History Museum over the summer. No one should even remember what happened. There shouldn’t even be a society left.
“Confused?”
“Yeah. Lil’ bit,” Mabel confessed.
“The Society of the Blind Eye has many chapters--protecting cities that are most at risk from the supernatural. When our fellow chapter was disbanded, we retrieved the memory tube used to clear their minds that you so casually left behind. After that it was more than easy to track it down to the visiting Pines twins and all the trouble you caused. So when word spread of this Transcendence, of a demon from Gravity Falls and the girl he kept so near, we knew it must have been you.”
“Yeah, that would do it,” Mabel muttered.
“I can't believe we were so stupid,” Dipper groaned. “Leaving the memory tube behind. We should have destroyed it.”
“Your childish mistake will be your last,” the leader held out the memory gun, pointing it between Dipper’s eyes. “Prepare to be unseen.”
Grabbing Mabel by the wrist, Dipper yanked her down to the ground in the fading light of the summoning circle, trying to shelter her from the ray. “Time to go!”
“We can’t just let these guys get away,” she whispered. “They have a memory eraser ray. They’re gonna use it on innocent people. Or..."
“I can deal with that on my own. You need to go home.”
Her fingers dug into his sleeve, “Dip! It’s a memory eraser ray! What if it…” she didn’t get to finish her sentence.
The pale light of the ray fired again, not hitting Mabel but slicing against Dipper’s shoulder. He winced, the sting somehow racing through his incorporeal body. He traced his fingers across it, golden ichor dripping from the wound and his body, dissolving as if made of smoke. It would heal eventually, he knew it would, though slowly. But that wasn’t the point, it was that he wasn’t as invincible as he originally thought.
So this was what Mabel was trying to tell him. It all made sense. The memory eraser ray is what they used to destroy-- or thought destroyed-- Bill. Whatever his body was made of, it wasn’t flesh or bone, it was something metaphysical, the same stuff as dreams and memories.
“Dip!” Mabel screamed. She pushed herself off the ground, trying to assess how bad the damage was. One of the Blind Eye members grabbed her by the waist, hoisting her still tiny body off the ground while she kicked and squirmed, trying to reach for the baseball bat on the floor.
The leader still angled the ray at Dipper, gaze unfaltering beneath the hood. “Still yourself, Dreambender. We have the upperhand. You are but a child, even with all your power you are still naive and weak. Accept your fate, or the price will be taken from your sister’s memories.”
“Don’t you dare hurt Mabel,” he snarled back. The ray fired again, this time shooting the light into Dipper’s back, across the ridges of his spine, more of his body deteriorating away.
Mabel continued to claw and kick at the red robed member holding her hostage. “Dipper!”
He tried not to scream. Scary demons don’t scream. But a whimper escaped from his throat anyway. He couldn’t help it. It hurt … but it also felt kind of good. The pain was almost delightful; after months of being completely unreal, it felt as if he had skin and nerve endings again. Like jumping into ice cold water. He leaned back on his knees and the front of his feet, clutching to his shoulder, ignoring the sting his spine. It was like being pinched awake. “You know,” he mumbled. And then he grinned, much too wide and all with pointed teeth, a Jekyll and Hyde switch. “Pain is hilarious. A̷̞̟̎͛͠ṅ̵͕̄̈́͒͘͘ͅd̶̀ͅ ̷̛̫̓͝͝͝͠I̴̫͊̈͌͘ͅ ̷͈̟͙́̉t̷͈̭̙̟͓̃̑h̸̪̆̏̌̑i̶̡̹̜̻̓̽̿̚ņ̴͚͍͓͒̆̄͜ķ̶̰̺̻͕̝́͊͂ ̸̥̩̬̤̣̞̽y̵͇͓̦̠̣̏͑͠͝ò̴̺̝͇͕͛͛͜u̵̧̙̺̔ ̸̬͙̞̹̥̓̒͗̎̚s̵̡̖̳̍̒̂ḩ̶̮͇ȍ̷͉̩̘u̸̠̪͠l̴̘̠̭̟͊̅̾d̴͙̳̘͎̈́͊̿͋ ̴̨͕͎̾̏̓̚s̷͎͉̬̗̜͊́̈̈́͘h̴̹̦̕a̵̮̫͍͆̃̎̕r̸̤̠̖̞̜̕̕ė̶̾͜ ̵̭̟͊ǐ̵͍̜̟͑ͅṋ̶͙̫̘̏̀̃͘ ̷̨̭̉͒͂t̷̘̣̬̽͘ḧ̷͔̫̭͙̬́́̒̐ȩ̷̧̜̰͈͐ ̷͎̰͎̯̩̈̒̄͋̀̊f̷̥̆ụ̸̳̱̈́n̷͇̍̄̈́̓/̷̩̻̞̖͖̕”
Mabel’s face drained of color when he flew upwards, summoning full sparks of blue fire into his palms, watching them rage across any space they could find as if they had a mind on their own. Goosebumps bloomed on her arms and made her body run cold. The Blind Eye all stood still in fear and awe, mouths agape beneath their hoods. Mabel’s shock slipped into a sly smile, “I think you’re right, bro. Sharing is caring.” She dug her fingernails into the bare hand of her captor, drawing four slices of blood. He screamed, dropping her to the ground, allowing her just enough time to grab her baseball bat and stand at Dipper’s side. “Alcor.” She tapped the bat against her hand, once, twice, a menacing pattern. “Let's teach them a lesson about messing with the mystery twins.”
The raging blue light tossed across the twins faces, illuminating what was dark within them. “Ŵ̶̧̕i̴̛̯̪̱̯͐ţ̴̠͙̈́h̸͍̼̖͕̃̓ ̵̻̣̠̹̄͋p̵̥͋̔l̸̪̑ȇ̴̗̹ą̴̩̞͌̑s̶̨̛̰̟̘u̶̖̯̤̇̃̓̕͜ŗ̸̡̨̝̔̏̀e̵͍̞̤̼͝”
Mabel went first, more impulsive and buzzing with adrenaline. Reeling back her baseball bat, she slammed it into the gut of the Blind Eye leader. She reached up, trying to wrestle the ray from his hands, knowing that she would never win in strength. But it wasn’t about getting the memory eraser ray. It was about providing a distraction, so Dipper could take down the rest of the members.
He raised one hand and summoned shadows from the corners, behind pillars. He didn't even know he could do that, but now wasn't the time to question these things. They moved like ink in the water, sentient spirals that twisted their way across the floor and across the walls. They gripped to ankles and crawled up legs, latching onto wrists; dragging the red robes down to the concert blocked floor. Some of their hoods fell off, revealing faces with mouths open in horror-- triggering his omnipotence to urge names and backstories into his mind. (Nancy, mother of two, just wants to put dinner on the table, but has a hard time getting by without thinking of her rotten ex.) (Jahmeek, always been afraid of things that go bump in the night.) (Max, has been couch hoping for far too long and needed a place to go.) (Chi, used to drink to forget and now she doesn’t have to.)
So many things he never wanted or needed to know and now he did. All the effort it took just to fight off his own mind. Ignore the omniscience, deal with the bad guys.
Dipper urged the shadows closer, dragging the members closer to his grasp. The leader dropped the memory ray while the shadows curled around his body, pinning him down. With his other hand, Dipper motioned for the shadows to bring him the ray. He snatched at it with one clawed hand. The shadows squeezed tighter to The Society of the Blind Eye, as Dipper glowered at them. Mabel rushed to his side, still gripping to the baseball bat until her knuckles turned white and the glitter rubbed off onto her palms.
“Please, spare us,” the leader pleaded. “You may punish us for our transgressions but we beg you not to destroy us.”
Dipper blinked. “What do you guys seriously think I’m gonna eat your souls or something?” The Blind Eye looked at each other. He sighed, and let the shadows around them loosen just enough to let them breathe. “Listen, I know you’re scared about the new world and all of this crazy magic stuff going on. But no one is more scared than me. You said it yourself, I’m just a weak, naive kid. I’m a product of the weirdness just like everything else--I didn’t cause the Transcendence. But this is just how it is. I’ve got to learn to deal with all of this demon stuff, and you have to deal with it without erasing people’s memories or trying to kill me. Trust me, I personally know the guy who invented these. And it drove him insane for 30 years. Don’t make the same mistakes.”
“So you won’t do anything to us?”
Dipper shook his head. “No. I don't want to hurt people." He sighed and handed the memory eraser ray to Mabel, the memory reel playing of the first time they saw one, how gingerly he first held the golden frame. Things had certainly changed. "But she will.”
Mabel plugged the words onto the screen: DIPPER AND MABEL PINES. She held it up to her eye and angled the light bulb sealed to the front. “Say cheese.” The members screamed and begged. She pulled the trigger.
------
Teleporting back into the attic bedroom, Dipper paused as Mabel clutched in preparation to her stomach. She held still a moment. “Hey! I didn’t throw up this time! I'm getting pretty good at this!” Then she nudged his arm with her elbow, “And what the hey-hey! You were really scary back there! I thought you were gonna tear off their faces or something.”
He laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah. Something just came over me I guess. How angry and worried I was.” Or maybe it was the pain--though he hoped it really was concern for Mabel. He lowered himself down onto the ground, sitting cross-legged on the old, musty wooden floors. He rubbed at his shoulder, most of it seeming to have healed or at least reappeared… he wasn’t quite sure how this not real but still somehow real body worked-- why did his omniscience only apply to useless things?
“It was awesome! You even reminded me a little bit of,” she stopped and bit her lip, eyes tearing away from Dipper.
“Bill?”
“Yeah.” She sighed and plopped down beside him. “Don’t think about it like that though. You’re a thousand times better than Bill. He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill those guys, but you let them go. You may have inherited Bill’s powers, but that doesn’t make you him. You act too much like yourself to be Bill. I like Dipper, and I also like Dipper pretending to be Alcor--despite his scary exterior he’s a pretty good guy.”
He smiled and flushed a bright shade of pink, “Thanks.”
“Now,” she tapped her finger against the bottom of her lip, “what to do with this?” She held up the memory eraser ray, the blue light of the summoning circle casting odd shadows onto it. Dipper could see his distorted reflection in the gold exterior, the fingerprints that smudged its sides.
His mind raced through the possibilities, every use that the ray could possibly have. (It could be Mabel’s saving grace, a device that would allow her to hide their family’s greatest secret. Something to protect her from great evils. It could even get the cops off of Stan’s case. But it could also kill him, if that’s what he truly wanted. Or it could erase all of her memories. And even with all his knowledge, he was never sure if such a day would come. But if it meant protecting Mabel...
“Why don't you hold on to it for safe keeping?”