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After the untimely death of the twins’ parents, Stanley Pines has been their guardian. Life is a cruel sick joke sometimes. It renders the hopeful and dedicated useless and broken, the evil and heartless as champions.
Being a charismatic conman and witty survivalist that waltzes with death daily, Stan’s seen plenty of shit in his life. He’s been to prison, he’s been in many a fight (some lost some won), and he’s become a world-weary, crafty grey fox. No misdirection or tricks get past him. Growing up in Gravity Falls, Dipper and Mabel know him as the funny Grunkle –a wild man with a beer in hand and a carefree boldness.
So the twins found it strange he had a set of rules for them that he’d repeat like a crazy mantra. (Especially because he’d give them a big box of fireworks to play with on clear summer days).
If you commit a crime don’t get caught.
If you get in trouble, be there for each other.
And the last one (the strangest of them all considering Stan’s irregular lifestyle), don’t stay out late at night.
Mabel and Dipper didn’t get it. Gravity Falls has been a boring dumpy rural town since they got here at twelve-years-old. Nothing bad ever happened. And what a hypocrite! Stan would often swing by the only bar available for long stretches of time after dark and he’d come back unscathed! Not only that but the night scene in Gravity Falls is a neon paradise compared to its daylight counterpart. Clubs, the mall, and movies ran all cooler films when the moon was up.
Anytime Mabel and Dipper left the house for an adventure Stan would always give them two pouches of wisteria powder.
One time they had forgot to grab some and Stan looked like he was practically in tears (or needed an ambulance) –which only gave the twins more questions. What was so special about the wisteria powder? Anyway…
The twins have spent most of their lives in Gravity Falls (now being sixteen) and have never seen one demon. A whole ecosystem’s worth of paranormal creatures live alongside humans yes, hidden within the deep woods of Oregon, but they’ve never crossed a demon’s path. Some creatures were aggressive, some friendly. Some are deadly, and even when they went home full of scrapes and bruises from a dangerous adventure, Stan merely laughed with them.
Until now.
Dipper, his girlfriend Pacifica, and Mabel had a fun day out at the mini golf park. They decided to stop by the pancake place to eat –because why not? Pancakes for dinner over breakfast taste fantastic. Their fortunes seemed to be stacking up that day. Pacifica was able to ditch a stuffy business meeting and hang with the people she cared about most, Mabel was able to get the cute fry cook’s number, and Dipper was thankful not spending one day running for his life from a magic being wanting to suck his soul for some dark ritual. Life is good.
They were walking back to the Mystery Shack-
(Why drive today? It’s so nice out, Mabel chimed pleasantly.)
When a dusty pall of dusk slowly fell upon them. The sun’s glimmering red-orange streaks retreat further and further behind them. Dipper scolds himself for feeling jumpy as an owl calls from the trees. In one hand he holds Pacifica’s, their arms swinging back and forth, and in the other is the bag of wisteria powder. His brown gaze uneasily studies endless wooded landscapes.
Mabel trails behind them with her hands stuffed in her pink letterman jacket pockets. She’s unbothered and humming a k-pop tune. What’s there to be afraid of? Dipper and her have survived worse. A lot worse. Gideon’s mecha, a fall from the old train tracks, a war between fairies and gnomes, mutant lake monsters, vengeful poltergeists at the Northwest mansion…
“We’ll be fine Dipper,” she teased her brother’s paranoia. “We’ve made it out of worse haven’t we? And that journal you have never said anything about demons. None of us have seen one.”
“No but-”
“It’s an old wives tale. Stan’s just pulling a joke on us.”
Northwest smiled sweetly at her lover. “And those zombies were scarier, remember?”
“Until we made ‘em explode with our amazing vocals! Hey! We should go to karaoke next time.”
“We can handle anything together,” Pacifica kisses her boyfriend’s cheek.
Dipper blushed and smiled. “Right, together.”
Like every horror movie script this is where things go wrong. A branch snaps close by and draws everyone’s attention. In the murky darkness it’s hard to tell what’s lurking.
Dipper lightly pushes Pacifica behind him as they all go still.
It’s just wildlife, Dipper thinks. Has to be. Only a few supernatural beings like to cause mischief in town. Most don’t like being near humans.
But dreadful doubt gnaws at his waning certainty. Could the darkness be propelling his paranoia? He’s always been jumpy –but something about this feels different.
Dipper wishes he had taken the car. It would have made for a speedy and safe getaway.
A frosty sensation (imminent death) cripples any fleck of bravery they had. Their legs are entrenched in the earth like wooden posts.
Two pairs of eerie glowing eyes stare at the humans from the shadows.
Dipper’s arm slightly twitches in reaction –run for your life. He goes to toss Northwest aside to ensure her safety but the watchful monsters have inhuman speed.
As he turns a force slams into his side and knocks all the air from his lungs. Hard ground absorbs most of the impact of his elbow, back, shoulder, and chin. White shrouds Dipper’s sight and his body curls up in quick response. A barrage of kicks and punches stuns him. It all happens so fast, faster than the human mind or eyes can capably observe. And just like that, in mere heartbeats, your life is destroyed.
Demon claws sadistically flash across Dipper’s chest. Agonizing enough to burn like a kiln but not deep enough to kill. Dipper screams. Punches and kicks slap him like lashing, hissing steam.
Another figure, a big blur, tackles Mabel.
In his frantic panic (god the screams are harrowing!) Dipper tries to fight back. But the demon’s deathly grasp on him is strong.
The demon laughs at his attempt to fight for his life. It pins the human down, tangled long locks masking its gawky face. A sharp long nose and a jaw full of serrated teeth poke out from the curtain of mud-drenched hair. This burns a lasting image in Dipper’s brain. Haunting pink-gold eyes murderously glare at horrified brown.
Gnarled teeth sink into Dipper’s left arm. He can feel it slice through nerve and flesh, lightly tapping bone. A scream hoarse and terrible cut its way out from his throat, like a cat digging its claws into a shaky tree limb.
With a grunt and a cracking twist, the demon severs Dipper’s arm just above the elbow.
Pines’ body thrashes from the pain. Dipper pukes as his vision darkens. Blood –his blood- splatters over his face and body. The demon chuckles, taunting him as he takes a bite from the arm. Raising a clawed arm the demon goes to cut his leg when Pacifica rescues the twins.
“Get away from them you freaks!” She chucks wisteria powder like a grenade and it explodes. Purple dust clouds the air. The demons sputter and cough, choking on the substance that coats their eyes, skin, and throat. It’s deadlier than bear mace. Screeching like banshees the two demons run away back into the woods.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” Panicky tears sting Pacifica’s eyes. She first helps up a shocked and benumbed Mabel who’s bleeding from several wounds. Then she and Mabel help Dipper.
Mabel recalled her safety training when volunteering as a pool life guard and hastily made a tourniquet. The two girls carry Dipper back to the Mystery Shack.
Stan bursts out from the door paler than a ghost. His face is leaden and somber but his voice rings with strict authority. The man is visibly shaken but wastes no time. The grey-haired Pines ignores Dipper’s blood saturating his suit (and the ancient creaky floorboards), spouting commands to get supplies, which Mabel and Pacifica follow flawlessly.
Mabel expected a relentless scolding from Stan –but it never came. Her Grunkle looked awful. Older than a lifeless husk. Fear gleams in his eyes as he finishes his work. The girls’ eyes shine with shock as he sorts through tools hidden in a secret drawer, one being a bone saw, until Stan gets something less scary-looking. A syringe.
Mabel fares better than her twin. The light wounds she patched up herself. Entering the makeshift med bay on the first floor (ah, this is where they first found the haunted wax statues) she took a seat next to Pacifica and gazed worriedly at Dipper. All that blood…
“Did any of the demon blood get in your wounds?”
“What?”
Stan didn’t look up from wrapping a bandage on the severed arm. “Did any demon blood get in your wounds?”
“I…I don’t reme-”
“No,” Pacifica shook her head. “The…the demons only attacked them. I threw the bag and they ran away.”
“Good.”
“Will Dipper be okay?” The heavy somber question one asks when they wonder if a person will see the next sunrise.
Stan offered a not-so-comforting smile. “It’ll be hell but he’ll live. Northwest,”
“Yes sir?”
“Call your parents and say you’re staying over for a while. It’d be too dangerous for you to leave on your own. Even with wisteria powder demons are revengeful bastards. They know your scent and they’ll…” the man trailed off and sighed. Pacifica quickly left to make a phone call.
Drained from the anxiety-plagued day and empty of life-saving adrenaline, everyone rested. Or tried to. Sleep isn’t relaxing. Fear is quite an antidote for that. Pacifica paced around instead. She constantly returns to Dipper’s side. He’s at least breathing but-
She places soft kisses on her boyfriend’s face. Pacifica leans back and quivers. Giving up sleep freezes the body fast. She leaves for the kitchen to make coffee and runs into Mabel –who apparently had the same idea.
The two women sit across from each other in a dense deafening soundlessness. Mabel’s rainbow-colored braces gleam like jewels in the lowlight. She smiles sadly. “Guess Stan was right. Demons. I –they were so fast.”
“Scary fast.”
“Thanks for saving us, Pacifica. Without you and Dipper we’d be dead.”
“No big deal,” she waved a hand. Northwest would normally drink a person’s praises but she just felt so tired. “You two would do the same for me. And have.”
Mabel pulls up something that was folded from the bench. It’s a hand-knitted sweater with a bedazzled collar and pastel colors. On the front is an embroidered pattern of flashy jewels. Northwest tugs it on and smiles. “Thanks, it’s pretty.”
Mabel’s gaze softened, knowing now that the nightly chill won’t bother her best friend. “Anytime.”
Dipper wakes up screaming. His mind and soul are still buried under that tormenting demon attack. Crystal clear he’s back again. He can taste the blood in his mouth, smell the muddy stench of the demons, and feel its claws raking across-
His arm.
The man falls out of bed; his legs tangled in the three layers of blankets encasing him. Then Dipper stands up and looks at himself in the body-length mirror.
He’s appalled by the sight. It’s gone. Half of his mind starts delivering panicked support and Dipper bitterly smiles, and chuckles. Reasoning however screams louder.
No, your arm isn’t gone it’s just…it’s a magic spell gone wrong. Or maybe it’s invisible.
Dipper sputters and coughs. Ragged, flu-like coughs. The bandaged wounds weigh down on his body immensely. Pressing down like they’re trying to suffocate him.
Dipper’s heart thuds noisily within his ribcage.
Hearing the screams, everybody rushes into the room.
“Dipper!” Mabel glares at him half-worried and half-angry and directs him back to bed. “You can’t move too much or the wounds will reopen.”
“My…my a-arm…it’s gone!” He blurted.
Pacifica rubbed his back as he sat back down. Mabel set down piping hot soup on the table. Stan lowers his bulky frame onto an old cabin chair that creaks in protest. “I know, kid. But you’re alive. I need you to listen.”
Everyone waited in tense silence.
“I’m not mad,” Stan said after a while. “It’s my fault.”
Mabel’s jaw hangs agape. “No it isn’t! We should’ve got back home earlier.” Grunkle Stan never apologizes or admits when he’s wrong –unless he lost a bet.
“No. I should’ve taught you guys about demons. They’re a class above most of the creatures you guys study. The town council is too afraid to extend diplomacy with them or draft people into the corps though…”
Pacifica’s brows scrunched perplexed. “Corps? And why did you ask if any demon blood got into Dipper or Mabel’s wounds?”
“Stan? What’s going on?”
Forlornness films over Stan’s eyes. “Gravity Falls has a long history with demons –and so does Japan. I have a few contacts and old friends that I ask for help now and again. It’s time I teach you kids about demon slaying.”
“Demon slaying?”
“Why’d those freakish brutes attack us anyway?” Northwest asked. “Were they starving or something?”
Stanley chuckled darkly and the group’s faces paled. “No. If they were starving all of you’d be dead. Most likely they were a duo, and not affiliated with any groups. They must’ve been new, testing out their powers, to learn how to catch a meal.”
“God…”
Dipper’s face creased bitterly. “So a weakling took my arm?”
“That doesn’t mean you’re weak, Dipper.” Stan took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He took a long drag before speaking again. “Demons, even really weak ones, will always have the upper hand on humans. It’s just how it is.”
Dipper held Stan’s far off gaze for a moment. “What about this demon slaying thing?”
“Yeah you never told us about it,” Mabel added.
“That’s because I was trying to keep you outta that world. Demons operate like the bootlegging underworld. It ain’t pretty. It’s a warzone that never ends. And there are no winners.”
Stanley Pines told the story that still painfully wrenched his heart. “My twin brother Ford and I moved to Gravity Falls ten years before you were born. We had traveled across the world and ran into crazy monsters that make the Devil fearful. But there was always one creature that eluded us: demons. Ford was more interested than me. In Japan we ran into a small band of humans that ran a Demon Slayer Corps. They gave us lots of info, but said that after a great war; most of the demons there were dead or docile. In America and elsewhere –it’s a different story.”
“Wait,” Dipper said. “Mom and Dad said Ford died in a car crash.”
“It wasn’t a crash,” Stan took another long drag. “But he did die in his car.”
“The demons must’ve killed him, right?” Pacifica guessed.
Stan nodded at her in acknowledgment. “Sharp girl. Demons usually don’t give a shit about human’s laws and territory; they do as they please, but with Ford…” Stan sighed.
“Ford wanted to establish contact with the demons in Gravity Falls. I tried to help but Ford would get these moments where he’d go off by himself. No matter what hour of the day he’d take long trips and leave me to do lame housework,” Stan laughed at the memory. “At least I got well-acquainted with the guns. Anyway. Ford was successful, a handful of demons wanted to study humans too. But most are very territorial and laugh –we are to them as cows are to us, a big fat juicy steak.”
“It didn’t go well,” Dipper said.
“No.”
“My brother eventually met a powerful demon: Bill Cipher. He’s a lord of demons here in Gravity Falls. Demons normally hunt alone or rarely in pairs or groups. Sometimes though, they make an army. Bill Cipher killed Ford. I don’t know why. Ford never told me about Cipher but I found a mark in the car where his body was left for me to find.” Stan frowned, the horrible memory and rage still fresh. “Like it was a challenge. Mocking me.”
“If Ford was studying demons wouldn’t he have any notes about talking with Bill?” Northwest asked.
“Yeah and I’m still looking for them. Ford either lost them or they’re stashed somewhere.”
Dipper sipped on soup, listening thoughtfully to Stan’s story.
“That evil son of a bitch left Ford’s body in the car, each limb severed. His head was missing, probably kept as some prize. One day, I’ll get revenge for Ford. I’ll kill Bill Cipher. Ford only wanted peace between demons and mankind.”
“That’s horrible, Grunkle Stan…”
“I asked if there was any demon blood in your wounds because…demons can turn humans into demons.”
“They can?!”
“Yeah, and I bet Bill considered that idea. If I lost you two…” Stan got lost in potentially terrible futures and then tossed his cigarette. “There have been only a few cases where humans turned into demons kept any humanity.”
“What about enlisting some demon slayers?” Dipper asked. “You said the town council is too afraid to do it but do any of your friends-”
“They don’t fight but they offer supplies. Where do you think I get the wisteria powder? The Demon Slayer Corps are too few in number now. We’d have to establish a branch here.”
“You mean…we’re actually going to become demon slayers?”
“It’ll be grueling work but I won’t let you kids be defenseless, not anymore.”
Grunkle Stan leaves to make a phone call to the local smith Manly Dan, with Mabel following asking him lots of questions. That leaves Pacifica with her boyfriend.
Dipper’s eyes sink and darken with a mixture of agony and loss.
She grasps his hand in hers and smiles. “Dipper. I’m here.”
His chocolate brown eyes idle on Northwest’s crystal blue. Tears sting his eyes, burns his nose, and his chest wells up with rage.
“Will…will you still love me, Pacifica? Even with a missing arm? It’s not my good arm but this is…this is-”
Warm lips meet his. “I’ll never leave you.” They’re inches apart. “You were the one who saw good in me. Because of you Dipper, I started fighting for myself. Remember? When you exorcised that lumberjack poltergeist.”
A faint smile highlights his features. “Yeah. I…your laugh was so pretty. I think then I started falling for you.”
“You and Mabel did so much for me, welcomed me, and became my life-long friends. I don’t care if you were cut in half, I’d still love you. I’d even help you get a robot body if I had to.”
Dipper laughed at that.
Pacifica distractedly brushes her hand through Dipper’s hair. “Remember our first date?”
“God, yeah. I was a nervous wreck! We…we spent the day at a café and the water tower. The,” he couldn’t stifle a laugh. “The mutant duck-fish attacked us and we tripped down a big hill. We were covered in mud and being chased by the duck-fish.”
“And?”
“And you got upset because you thought I wouldn’t wanna see you again. Because you were covered in mud, twigs, and leaves. You saved us by scaring the duck-fish away.”
“Uh-huh and?”
“I told you that you were still beautiful no matter what and brave and it was one of the best adventures I’ve been on.”
“See?” Northwest lay down and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. “I knew you were gonna be there for me. That’s the day I realized I wanted to be your girlfriend, Dipper. All the other dates I’ve been on –they only cared about my looks. And all they talked about was their money or their success. Nothing fun or worthwhile. It was like talking to mall catalogues.”
Dipper kissed Pacifica, he reached out to hug her too, but one arm fell to his side.
“If I fall you help me up and if you fall I help you up. If we fall together, well, we’ll at least have each other.”
Daylight is a safe haven as it saturates Gravity Falls in gold-blue colors. Dipper struggled to do basic things as pain ran through his body. Still, even if the fears lurk just out of his view, the peaceful morning silence propels him forward. He won’t sit back and die without a fight. He’ll get revenge. He’ll live on, with his family and Pacifica standing next to him.
All three meet outside after breakfast. They’re surprised by Stan’s militaristic and stern mannerism.
“Being a demon slayer is a deadly job. So if any of you wanna quit, do so now.”
Nobody moved. Pacifica squeezed Dipper’s hand and smiled.
“Okay. Today we’ll learn the basics. If you want to be at least a fraction agile as demons, you’ll practice this workout every day,” he pointed to a book he had in his hand and then to a dangerous-looking obstacle course full of traps. Stan gave them the book and grabbed a box that rattled mysteriously. Swords. It has to be their swords crafted by Manly Dan.
Each sword is unique. Dipper remembers Stan dragging them out early morning to hunt for useful rocks. After stashing one they liked, the stones were brought to Manly Dan’s shop. Stan now gave them the swords.
Mabel’s blade is thick as a cleaver and neon pink. The metal surface glitters. The hilt is decorated with complex stars.
Pacifica’s weapon is translucent like glass and a short blade. The hilt is gold.
Dipper’s sword is a deep sky blue and a longsword. The hilt is made of pinewood.
“Where’s your sword, Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked.
Stan twirled his eight-ball cane. He draws his sword, which is curved at the end, for decapitating demons with a flick of his wrist. He smiled proudly at the three. “From today you’ll be training to be demon slayers. I hope one day we can erase Bill Cipher –and other evil demons- so they can’t torment any other townspeople.” He crossed his arms with a cynical smile. “So, what’re you waiting for? Let’s get running through the obstacle course.”