Chapter Text
“It’s too late, Dipper. The world is dying.”
The earth was crumbling around him - he could feel it in his bones, his fingers, his legs. His vision was blurred red, and it was impossible to see anything around him. Though he couldn’t see, he somehow knew what was going on around him. The world was ending. Another earthquake shook through his bones, shuddering up his body like a shiver on a cold night. It pierced his heart and his mind as waves and waves began to engulf him, nulling his senses and emotions. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder, drawing him back into the “reality” he was in. He became alive, painfully aware of the warmth of the hand touching his skin. It sept through his pores, flushing away his pain and lulling him into a state of almost tranquility.
“Listen to me. There’s a way to end this, but you’ll have to trust me.”
His ears were ringing, but the voice was crystal clear. It was almost magical, unreal. Who’s voice is that? He can’t see his face, as his eyes are blinded by the blood seeping down his forehead and down onto his lip.
“I trust you,” he felt himself say- he had no control over his voice. It was as if his emotions were bursting out of him, breaking his ribs and ripping through and creating a gigantic hole in his exposed armor.
“Good. Then, make a deal with me.”
Before he could answer, a large explosion shot through his ears, knocking him off balance and onto the charred ground below him. Heat slapped his cheeks while smoke began invading his lungs, causing him to cough and try to get rid of the vile substance. More explosions continued to attack him, causing his eardrums to bleed and hands to shake.
“Dipper, listen to me! If you don’t make a deal with me then-”
The angelic voice was cut off by the Earth cracking and falling apart. He could feel himself fall through, getting swallowed by the abyss. It wrapped around him, cooing him and promising him the sweet release of death. Before he could respond, warm arms wrapped around him and shook his consciousness awake. The same voice once again grabbed a hold of him, throwing him onto the ground and repeatedly stabbing him in the stomach.
“Dipper!”
----
Dipper shot out of his bed, breath heaving as he clutched the sheets around him and his chest. Panicking, he glanced around the bedroom, only to find his sister sleeping peacefully on the bed across from him and the alarm clock next to him screaming at him, beckoning for him to get up and start the day. Letting out a soft groan he slammed his fist down on the alarm clock, silencing it with ease. It was now quiet in the bedroom, minus the soft snores from Dipper’s twin sister. Actually, it was a miracle she was able to sleep through the loudness of the alarm. He wasn’t complaining though - sometimes his sister was too energetic in the morning. The brown haired boy closed his eyes and stretched, letting out a long sigh as he did so.
He slept like shit, which was normal. He knew there were bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep he was getting. It was because of those damn dreams he kept having. They were almost never the same; in fact, the only thing they had in common was the world was ending. The world was always ending, but never in the same way. Sometimes a virus would break out and destroy humanity in a matter of minutes, and sometimes volcanoes would erupt from the ground and completely obliterate the entire crust of the Earth. But, this dream was different. Dipper heard a voice. He was almost always alone in his dreams, so why was he hearing a voice now? It was weird, but he didn’t want to think of it right now. He just wanted to concentrate on having a good day with his sister and his Grunkle. After all, the two of them have been spending the summer with their Grunkle Stan for the last 6 years and they never fail to have a great time. He swung his legs from under the comfort of his sheets to the coldness of the wooden floor beneath him, instantly shivering as his warm feet made contact with it. He hesitantly stood up and made his way over to his sister’s bed, taking a deep breath before gently poking the lump that was hiding over the pink blanket. Immediately, a mess of long brown hair popped up from under the covers and attacked Dipper, pinning him to the ground with ease while attacking his chest.
“Raaah, die evil unicorn monster!” she screamed, delivering another soft punch to Dipper’s chest.
“Mabel, oh my god, it's me! Wake up!” Dipper yelled, blocking his face with both of his arms. Mabel paused for a second, blinking a few times before rubbing her eyes and looking around.
“Huh..? Oh, hiya Dip Dot! Having a nice nap on the floor?” she snickered, hopping onto her feet and lending a hand to Dipper. He begrudgingly took it, standing on his feet as well.
“Mabel, you were having another one of your unicorn dreams.”
“Yeah, I know! It was insane! There were like, four of them this time, and I was cornered in some dark alley and decided to take them all on at once! But then, they all fused together into some big… unicorn monster thing? It was crazy and-”
“Okay, okay Mabes, I get it,” Dipper chuckled, patting Mabel’s shoulder. She smiled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.
“Right, right... Oh, hey, it’s breakfast time! Race you downstairs!” Mabel grinned, quickly running past Dipper and down the stairs to the kitchen.
“Hey, not fair, you got a head start!” Dipper yelled, quickly running after her with a huge grin on his face.
Breakfast consisted of pancakes with confetti stuffed inside them, which Mabel called “fun-cakes.” The pancake part wasn’t too bad, but it definitely wasn’t healthy to eat plastic pieces of confetti. Their Grunkle Stan was out running some errands, or so the twins assumed. They didn’t know, and didn’t really care. He was always out nowadays, after all, and the pair had learned to just stop questioning it. They were both technically young adults anyways, so they could take care of themselves.
“So, Mabel, I was thinking of going into the forest today to see if I could discover any new cross-breeds. I saw a gnome with a pair of wings yesterday, which was actually kinda cool. Wanna tag along?” Dipper asked while he was dissecting his pancake to take out the confetti. It wasn’t working at all though, so he decided to just eat around the abundant confetti lodged within the buttery substance.
“Sorry Dip Dot, no can do! I got a date,” Mabel responded, holding the I out longer than necessary. She puffed her chest out and winked at Dipper, obviously proud of herself. Her brother almost choked on his pancake.
“D-Date? With who?” Dipper’s protective instincts immediately took over his hunger and he sprung up from the table, obviously about to fight anyone who would dare hurt his sister.
“Sit down and eat your fun-cakes!” Mabel demanded, gesturing her fork towards his seat. He reluctantly followed her orders and slid back down into his cold chair, slowly picking up his fork once more and picking at his pancake. It still didn’t look appetizing at all.
“Who are you dating this time?” Dipper mumbled, taking a passive aggressive bite of the “pancake.” Mabel’s eyes lit up when he asked the question, totally ignoring the bitterness in Dipper’s tone.
“His name’s Derek, and he’s great! So much better than Ashley from last week,” she grumbled the last part, still mad about how that date went. Mabel was used by Ashley to make her old boyfriend jealous, so the date ended with Mabel getting dumped and Ashley reuniting with her ex. Dipper comforted her as she ate away her feelings with ice cream and watched bad re-runs of “I’m Remarried to My Ex-Goatfriend?”
“Well, as long as he’s nice I guess it’s fine,” he mumbled once more, finishing off his food and passing the dirty dish to Mabel. She just finished eating her fourth “fun-cake”, and she seemed super hyper. The female twin took the dirty dishes from the table and made her way to the sink, where she washed off the caked on confetti and syrup.
“Yeah, he really is! So, we’re going to go see a movie together, and then maybe head to the park? We’re not really sure,” she giggled happily, putting the clean dishes in the drying rack.
“Hope you have fun,” Dipper replied boredly; he’s gotten used to his sister’s summer flings, and was pretty sure this wasn’t going to last long. They never did, but in the end Mabel was always okay.
“Thanks! Oh, by the way, there’s a lunch for you in the fridge in case I’m not back in time,” she chirped happily. “Don’t skip meals, it’s not good for you!”
“Thanks, mom,” Dipper jabbed teasingly, laughing as he got hit in the face with the sponge Mabel through at him. Suds covered Dipper’s nose as the sponge slowly slipped off his face and collided with the floor, making Mabel silently snicker. Dipper took this as his cue to leave. He went back upstairs into his room to change into something more comfortable than his pajamas; a red shirt with another white shirt (in case it got cold) underneath along with a pair of khaki shorts and his usual blue pine tree hat. As a final touch he slipped on his red striped socks, and felt ready to go. He grabbed his journal and began heading down the stairs, and as he did so he heard the front door close; Mabel must have left for her date. Well, no matter. Dipper made his way to the shoe rack and slipped on his regular black sneakers, quickly tying them. He was actually really excited for today, and he wasn’t sure why. Well, it didn’t really matter. Dipper opened the front door and closed it, running off into the forest while clutching his book close to his chest. Meanwhile, from afar, a figure slowly watched him enter the forest. A smirk played on his lips as he disappeared into the shadows, as if he was entering another realm.
“So, do you consider yourself a deer, or a pig?” Dipper was crouched down in the forest, currently asking a series of questions to a “peer,” or a pig and deer hybrid.
“I consider myself a peer, silly boy,” the peer oinked back at him, rolling it’s eyes at his silly question. “Just because my dad’s a pig and my mom’s a deer doesn’t mean I consider myself to be like them! I’m me,” it said proudly, letting out a happy oink with it’s inspiring answer. Dipper nodded in agreement, quickly jotting it down in his book.
“I see, very interesting.. Well, thank you for your time!” And, with that, the animal scattered back into the woods. He closed his book happily and shoved his pencil in his pocket, getting up off the ground and letting out a stretch. He then checked his watch; it was only 12:30. “I think I have time to do another interview,” Dipper muttered to himself, thinking about it for a few seconds.
“Oo, can you interview me?” A voice suddenly whispered in Dipper’s ear. He jumped and let out a yelp, stumbling away from the voice and crashing onto a nearby tree.
“W-Who?-” Dipper looked around, but couldn’t find anyone there. Was that voice just in his head? He hoped not.
“Me!” A face suddenly appeared in Dipper’s field of vision, causing him to jump once more and let out a startled yell. The person laughed at Dipper’s antics, chuckling as they stepped a few feet away from him. Well, more like floated. He was a guy, as far as Dipper could tell, with only one eye. Well, Dipper assumed he only had one eye; the place where his other eye was supposed to be was covered up by an eyepatch with a drawing of an eye on it. The man looked incredibly fancy, and he looked to be around twenty years old; he had light fluffy blonde hair, along with a golden eye with a black triangle supposedly tattooed below the eyelid. He was wearing a golden vest and a black bowtie, along with a dark grey undershirt, black pants, and.. Sneakers? Are… those heelys? Dipper didn’t want to know. His skin was darker than Dippers, and overall he looked… Charming, he supposed. Charming, but certainly not human. His eyes were too bright, and he was floating for fuck’s sake! The “man” noticed Dipper staring at him, and cleared his throat, a huge smile playing at his lips. Dipper blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Uh… Sorry?”
“No worries, I’m used to it,” the guy winked, or at least he think he did. It was kind of hard to tell with the eyepatch.
“... So. I’ve never seen you around here, and I pretty much know everyone,” Dipper tried to start up a conversation, since the way the guy was looking at him was making him uncomfortable.
“You’re going to die soon, Dipper Pines.” Dipper froze in his tracks. What?
“... How do you know my name?”
“Oh, I know lots of things! But, anyways, don’t you think Dipper is such a bland name? I think… Pine Tree suits you better!” The creature flicked the bill of Dipper’s hat, which caused him to reflexively hold it and send glares at the creature.
“Stop fucking around, man. How do you know me? Why am I going to die soon? Who even are you?”
“Geez, so hostile, and so many questions too! Well, I can tell you that I’m obviously a demon,” the demon smiled a toothy grin, and Dipper could see the fangs in his teeth. Oh dear god what was happening.
“... Why are you telling me this?” he asked suspiciously, suddenly not believing a word this demon was saying. Demons usually tricked people into selling them their souls, and he was not about to have his soul taken by this lying thief!
“I’m here to tell you that, unless you make a deal with me right now, everyone you love is going to die, and everything you know is going to be consumed by the fiery pits of what used to be the Earth,” the demon smiled once more, offering his hand out for Dipper to shake.
“... Okay, I know demons usually trick people into giving them their souls by lying to them, but what the fuck man? This is just… a terrible lie. Super unbelievable. Like, seriously, put more effort into this,” Dipper sighed, slapping the demon’s hand away and walking away from him.
“I’m not lying though!~” The demon whined, lying upside down while letting out a sigh. “Seriously...” That was the last he heard as Dipper went deeper into the forest, facepalming at the terribleness of that demon. Well, whatever, at least it was an interesting experience. Dipper took out his notebook, and began his work once more.
The day passed by without a hitch. Mabel had fun with her date, and the two ate dinner happily together. Grunkle Stan was still out doing god-knows-what, but the twins didn’t care. The next day was almost just as boring. Dipper went out into the forest once more and decided to continue with his busywork, but for some reason none of the animals would speak to him. They all seemed almost afraid, and were constantly shuffling around with worried looks on their faces. Dipper shrugged it off, assuming it was probably just the demon he met yesterday. He would leave in a few days after he found out how bare these forests are.
The next day, Dipper woke up a little later than usual. A sticky note was resting on his forehead, causing him to groan and slowly pull it off his pale skin.
Went for another date with Derek early this morning! He wanted to meet at the Diner, so if you need me totally don’t go there!
Mabel
Dipper laughed at the pink marker Mabel used; it was so like her. He got out of bed and changed into his lazy clothes; a red shirt, a pair of khaki shorts, his usual hat, and some socks because why not? He stretched, and began to think about what to do today. He probably shouldn’t go to the forest, since all the animals were riled up about the demon. So, maybe he should-
Boom.
A loud explosion interrupted Dipper’s thoughts, which was followed by what he presumed was an earthquake. The ground around him began to shake. Dipper let out a surprised yelp as everything on his desk fell onto the floor. Shit!
Dipper ran out of the Mystery Shack, the wind smacking his face and tugging at his old Pine Tree cap. He automatically gripped the brim of it with one of his hands, making sure it wouldn’t fly off and become one with the wind. Shielding his face with his free arm, he squinted up at the sky and almost choked upon what he saw. The sky was a bright orange, but Dipper could barely tell from all the smoke shielding it from the Earth. All that he could smell was smoke, blood, and fear. He was terrified. Mabel was out there, god knows where, and he had to find her! Just as he was about to run off and search for her, the ground below him cracked and buckled, finally giving in and causing Dipper to fall through. He let out a scream, feeling himself fall into the empty abyss below him. He shut his eyes hard, waiting for death to sweep him off his feet, but instead of death he felt something else… Something... Warm? Dipper slowly opened his eyes, meeting the yellow glowing eye of the demon he talked to a few days ago. It seems he caught Dipper before he could fall too far into the cracked ground of the Earth, and at the moment they were slowly floating up to safety.
“You..!” Dipper choked out, instantly struggling to get out of his grasp.
“Calm down, Pine Tree! If you struggle too much, I might drop you,” he whispered in Dipper’s ear, sending shivers of fear down his spine. He slowly stopped thrashing, which caused the demon to hum in amusement. The two of them finally reached the surface, but the demon still didn’t let go of Dipper’s waist.
“Okay, we’re here now. Can you let me go?” he said in a hostile tone, but the demon rolled his eyes.
“Dummy. If I put you down again, your unimpressive meatsack self will just fall through the Earth again.”
“I don’t care, put me down!’
“You should care, your life is in danger,” the demon’s tone suddenly went serious, which caused Dipper to instantly stop his whining.
“... What do you mean?” Dipper asked quietly, slowly turning around to meet his eyes. They seemed to be staring at the Earth, so he decided to follow his line of sight. Upon seeing what the demon was staring at, Dipper let out a startled sound and covered his mouth to prevent from crying out anymore. The entire crust of the Earth had fallen apart, and there were cracks everywhere. Gigantic chasms were forming, swallowing up the remains of the crust and causing any human in it’s path to fall through and meet their doom. There were screams everywhere, and Dipper wanted to sob. This was so cruel. Too cruel. “We… We need to save them! We..”
“We can’t.” The demon cut him off.
“Why not? We can’t just let them die! Save them instead of me, please!” Dipper begged, tears starting to form in his wide brown eyes. They escaped, slowly traveling down his red cheeks and dripping down onto the remains of the world. The demon looked sad, but didn’t say anything for a few moments. Soon, as the screams began to quiet down, he opened his mouth once more.
“My magic isn’t enough to save them all. But, there is a way to save them if you so desire,” he spoke slowly, as if he was trying to make sure Dipper would catch all of the words he was saying. Dipper perked up, slowly wiping some of the tears from his eyes.
“Tell me,” he demanded. “I want to save them! I... I need to save… Mabel...” he felt anxiety swell up in his throat when he mentioned her name. Oh no. Mabel. Dipper wanted to throw up when he suddenly remembered that Mabel was out there, hurt, suffering, dying. Dying. Oh god, what was Dipper doing? “Let go of me, I need to save Mabel! She’s out there, let me save her!” He began to struggle against the demon’s touch, doing everything in his power to get away from him and on the ground. Mabel..!
“Get a hold of yourself! She’s probably dead by now!” The demon retorted, still having a firm grip on Dipper’s waist.
“No! I won’t let that happen!” He was screaming at this point, hysterical at the thought of his sister being dead. He was supposed to always be there for her, protect her, love her. What kind of brother would he be if he just sat back and let her die? Finally, Dipper freed himself of the demon’s grasp and fell to the ground, immediately getting up and taking off running.
“Dipper!” The demon yelled after him, but Dipper couldn’t hear him with the adrenaline pumping through his veins and into his head. It was throbbing, making him numb and only focused on one thing; Mabel. His feet were unsteady as he ran, swaying him to the left or to the right as wholes opened up around him.
“Mabel!” He screamed, frantically looking around to see if he could see her poofy fluff of brown hair. He ran to an old convenience store, or at least he thought it was one. It was currently on fire, and looked as if it would collapse or explode at any moment. Dipper gasped for fresh air as smoke invaded his lungs, curling up inside and clinging to every cell. He put his hand up to his nostrils to block out the smell, and began to look around the outside of the convenience store. Suddenly, Dipper felt his heart stop. He stopped dead in his tracks, and stared straight ahead at the familiar sight of a puffy pink sweater. The occupant of it was currently lying on the wall outside of the convenience store, covered in soot, dust, and what appeared to be blood. God, he hoped that wasn’t blood. Her hair was matted, and her face was curled up into a look of pure pain. Dipper wasted no time to attempt to run to her, screaming and tears opening flowing from his eyes.
“Mabel!”
She looked up. Her eyes were hazy.
“Di-”
She was abruptly cut off by an explosion.The ground began to crack and shake.
Creeek.
The store buckled and shook as the unsteady ground began to part. The large sign outside the store was the first part to go. Dipper ran faster, but was stopped in his tracks as he tripped over a crack and crashed into the ground. He wailed in pain. But, he had no time to be in pain. Mabel needed him. Mabel! He got to his feet and continued to limp over to her.
“Mabe-”
The ground buckled once more, this time under where Mabel was lying down. Shit. Shit, shit, no! Dipper ran faster as the ground buckled around him. A chasm formed, swallowing everything in his path. He watched the ribbon in Mabel’s hair loosen and slip off as she fell. Everything fell. Even Dipper fell again, but this time he was diving. Before he could grab his sister’s hand, he was yanked back. No, no!
“Mabel!” He wailed out, his voice full of pain and remorse. His hand was still outstretched. He was. So. Close. What stopped him? He turned his head around. It was him. The demon.
“... Why?” Tears flowed, chasing after Mabel as she disappeared into the darkness. It was over. He could’ve saved her, he could’ve! Why? Why!
“Snap out of it Dipper, she was dead the moment you saw her!” The demon yelled angrily. Pain and anger swelled up inside Dipper as he curled up his hand into a fist. He let loose on the demon’s face, expecting to feel the satisfying feel of bone but instead met the demon’s hand which held him back.
“I could’ve saved her!” Dipper screamed at the top of his lungs, sadness creeping into his heart and grabbing hold, squeezing it of any other emotion he had left. He felt alone.
“You still can,” he whispered gently, helping Dipper out of the chasm and onto the ground. Suddenly a bubble was around them, shining a bright yellow as the world collapsed around them. It was comforting, like a big warm hug had wrapped around him and held him tight.
“No, no I can’t!” Dipper sobbed, shaking hard while full of remorse.
“Yes you can! Listen to me, there is a way you can save her,” he promised, taking Dipper’s hands into his and squeezing them. Dipper looked up, more tears falling down his cheeks as he stared wide eyed at the demon.
“...How?”
“I’m a demon, Dipper Pines. I can make things happen. I can save this precious world of yours, but at a price. But, we can worry about the price later. It’s nothing big, of course. I just need you to make a deal with me, and your world can be saved.” The demon was staring intently into Dipper’s broken, unfocused eyes, using one hand to slowly brush the tears out of his face.
“... I don’t even know your name,” Dipper muttered quietly, trying to think of a better excuse. But, his mind was so jumbled he couldn’t think straight.
“Bill. Bill Cipher, but feel free to call me Bill. Any other questions?” Bill answered, a small smirk playing at his lips. With hair a little blonder than most, and eyes golder than gold itself, Dipper couldn’t help that Bill was the perfect name for the demon.
“... How does the deal work?”
“Just shake my hand.” Bill offered Dipper his free hands, light blue flames flickering off it. “Don’t mind the flames. They won’t burn ya, I promise.” Dipper hesitated, looking at Bill’s hand and then his own one. It was covered in so must dirt, and barely looked like his hand two hours ago.
“... So, this deal will bring everything back to normal?”
“If your view of normal are blue skies and green grass, then yes. Your sister will be alive and kickin’, and your precious Mystery Shack will be intact and ready to go.” The smile on Bill’s lips got wider as he stuck his hand out even more, obviously wanting Dipper to shake it. “Just shake my hand, and your dreams will come true.”
Dipper stared at his hand for a long time, and glanced at the world around him. It was completely demolished with no signs of human life anywhere. All he wanted was his normal life back, not this shitty wasteland.
“Fuck it,” Dipper grunted, grabbing Bill’s hand and giving it a curt shake. Fire engulfed his own hand, making it’s way all the way up to his forearm. Bill was right. It didn’t burn at all. If anything, it felt warm and comforting. “...What now?”
“Sweet dreams,” Bill whispered, yanking Dipper’s hand towards his body. Suddenly, Dipper’s lips were caught in Bill’s own warm ones, causing him to let out a surprised yelp. Before he could yank away from him and protest, Dipper’s vision blurred and he began to feel light-headed. His vision finally blackened, and his consciousness drifted off into the depths of his mind.
And then Dipper woke up in his bed.