Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dipper felt the warm June sunlight hit his face as he got out of the bus. The first thing he laid eyes on was his favorite place, the Mystery Shack.

“Come on bro bro!” Mabel called as she ran up and hugged the Grunkles. Dipper trailed behind, taking in all the views. He saw a gnome run off into the woods and instantly felt back at home, surrounded by magical creatures.

When Dipper finally made it inside, his family had already settled down into chairs. Mabel was licking a popsicle, pink juice dribbling down her cheek; one for him was nowhere to be found. He shrugged off the bitterness as he plopped down into one of the comfy arm chairs. The air conditioned breeze felt nice compared to the hot and sweaty outside.
An uncomfortable silence took over the room, the only sounds coming from Mable’s obnoxious popsicle sucking, and Grunkle Stan’s ragged breathing. He was an avid smoker, and due to the many packs consumed over the years, his breathing was not that great (at best).

Uncle Ford was the first to break the silence. “Dipper, Mabel we need to talk; something bad has happened!” Dipper snapped back into focus as he stared at Ford’s anxious face. Something was definitely up.

“What's happened?” Dipper asked, concerned.

“Yesterday I was investigating the forest and went to check on Bill Cipher’s statue,” Dipper fiddled with his hands, one of his many nervous habits. Ever since middle school, he had dealt with anxiety after he had started to be bullied by Brad Lennings and his goons. Even though it had been four years since they defeated the maniacal triangle, he still had flashbacks frequently of the horror that had happened that summer, just thinking about it made him shiver with discomfort.

“And the statue was gone, Bill had escaped!” Who knew one small sentence could evoke so much fear?

Mabel finally broke the silence. “Wait, if he’s a stone, how did he get out?” She said, even though it really sounded like “wa ihe aston ow did e geb pout?” due to the god damn cherry popsicle still in her mouth.

“I still need to further investigate,” Ford said, “I haven’t had time to look into it much, I’ve been swamped with other projects! Dipper you are going to be working with me on them.”

“Definitely!” Dipper replied, thrilled to be Grunkle Ford’s apprentice once more. He couldn’t shake off the thought in the back of his mind, that Ford didn’t even let him choose if he wanted to help.

“I need you all to be out on the lookout for him, he might try to make a deal with anyone and we should be ready for whatever!” Dipper hated Bill with a passion ever since that demon had possessed him. His antipathy for the vile triangle grew even more when he found out what Bill had done to Grunkle Ford.

“Okay enough with the downer stuff, let's go get some food!” Stan declared, marching out the door and into the blistering heat.

Dipper took in the sweet, coffee scented air as he stepped into Greasy's Diner! Everyone crowded into a booth and passed around the menus.

“Don’t order too much, we've still got the party with everyone this evening!” Mabel commented and then proceeded to get a triple sundae pancake! What a hypocrite. Dipper decided to get the chocolate chip pancakes and a cup of coffee.

He still couldn’t believe Bill had escaped! Four summers in a row had been normal (at least for Gravity Falls) with no Bill appearances. The first summer after Bill had almost taken over the world, he had visited the statue every single day to make sure he hadn’t escaped. While his visits to Bill’s stone prison had been less frequent over the past couple years, he still went there multiple times a week. He would read, draw, and journal, soaking in the precious alone time. He had to figure out how Bill broke free!

Dipper was excited to see Wendy and Soos again. Wendy was already nineteen and would probably be spending time with her new boyfriend Robby. They had decided to try at a relationship again and Dipper absolutely despised that. Robby was a complete imbecile. Soos was getting married to Melody this summer so he sadly wouldn’t be around much. Mabel would probably be spending time with Candy, Grenada, and Pacifica.

Dipper was excited because at the end of the summer he and Mabel would be turning seventeen! Only one more year until he was an adult, then highschool would be over! Maybe in college people wouldn't bully “nerds”.

“Yay, the food’s here!” Mabel screeched with more vigor than the average human could posses. She was full of even more energy than normal due to the gallon of Mabel Juice she had gulped down this morning. Everyone knew Mabel Juice was a mix of coffee and death.

“I’m starving,” Grunkle Stan grumbled as he dug into a pancake. Dipper should have been more hungry because all he had to eat that day was an apple, but his stomach was full of butterflies. Not the good kind of butterflies, but more like lunatic butterflies. To put in short terms he was scared because of that stupid dream demon.

Dipper slowly munched on his pancakes and half listened to the argument between Mabel and Grunkle Stan about Ducktective. It was mildly interesting. Grunkle Ford's thoughts seemed to be in a different place too. He was sipping coffee and looking out the window, probably trying to think of another way to defeat Bill.

“dipper, Dipper, DIPPER!” Mabel yelled, as she waved her hand in front of his face! “Bro bro do you want to watch Ducktective 1 or 2, choose 2 it's so much better because it has romance!”

“Ugh, no 1 is much better, the plot is terrible in the second!” Grunkle Stan argued. Dipper didn’t get how they could be discussing something so unimportant when a literal demon, who almost destroyed the world, was out on the loose.

“Guys I think it’s time to head back to the shack, we need to get ready for the party,” Grunkle Ford stated, interrupting the quarrel.

“Yay Party!” Mabel hollered, as she ran out into the late afternoon light, hopping into the car. Grunkle Ford paid for the food then headed out to the car also. Grunkle Stan was in the bathroom so it left just Dipper alone, standing right outside the diner. He knew this summer would be the craziest yet! He just had a feeling.

Chapter Text

Dipper didn’t like parties, he never had. Sure he was excited to see Wendy and Soos, but a party felt like a bit over the top. Unlike Mabel, Dipper didn’t have lots of friends in Gravity Falls. He was closer with the creatures in the forest than most people. Mabel, on the other hand, was friends with literally everyone! She would just go up to a random stranger and strike up a conversation! How could someone even do that?

Dipper was right now hiding in his room, which he unfortunately still shared with Mable. Sure he loved his sister, but sharing a room with her was not the easiest feat. He really did not want to get roped into setting up for a party he was not especially thrilled about. To say he got any voice in the event would be an utter lie.

Dipper was in the middle of reading a book about dreams. A couple of months ago he had started to have frequent dreams of a silhouette of a teenage boy about his age. The dream would always end with maniacal laughter and a form of red roses. Sometimes they appeared as petals, other times it was a single rose. The odd dream had made him go into a frenzy of research, trying to figure out what it all meant.

So far he had found out two opposing answers. Evil laughter in dreams represented nearing malevolence while red roses symbolized that romance would appear in your life soon. He couldn’t find any definitive answers on what it meant to dream of this peculiar figure. Some said it was a spirit communicating to you, other sights declared it anxiety, a few talked some romance crap about soulmates or whatever, and one declared (in all caps) that an ancient cult leader was out for your kidneys.

The whole dream research escapade had led him down a rabbit hole of dream meaning books, and soon he realized he had a new fascination with oneirology! Thus why he was reading a book called Nightmares, a Study of the Scariest Part of Sleep.

“Dip Dop, can you come help me set up decorations for the party!” With the level of irritation in her voice, it was really more of a statement. Dipper was slightly vexed whenever Mabel was bossy like that, but would always push it to the back of his mind. Helping her was the right thing to do.

When Dipper got downstairs, he found total chaos. There were streamers every which way and Mabel was covered head to toe in glitter. She was right now glitter-afying Waddles. Stan was attempting to make cupcakes, which were probably going to end up in a battery disaster, and Ford was nowhere to be found. Dipper sighed as he got to work redesigning the whole place so it could actually be passed off as decent.

By 8:00 p.m the decorations were nicely placed in a blue and pink theme. Dipper had spent the whole evening preparing for the party while Mabel went shopping for a dress. He was quite triggered that he was the one who had to put up all the decor for something he wasn’t even looking forward to.

The people started trickling in at about 8:15, even though the actual event started at 8:30. Soos was first along with Melody.

“Sup hambone!” Soos called as soon as he saw Mabel and Dipper. Melody gave everyone a sweet hello before she continued talking on her phone. “Work call,” Soos said, as he pointed to Melody before he came over to give Mabel and Dipper hugs. Dipper disliked hugs and tried to wriggle out, needless to say, failing. He thought he would be trapped in a Soos hug for eternity, but luckily he got interrupted due to Wendy and *bleagh* Robbie entering.

Wendy looked stunning in her bright red dress and Dipper couldn’t help but look. Not in a lustful way or anything, but a platonic “you look good dude” way. Robbie, like the creep he was, noticed him looking, but didn’t catch on to the platonicness of the stare so he pulled Wendy in closer as he smirked at Dipper.
“Hey Dipper, hey Mabel!” Wendy called, breaking out of Robbie’s needy grasp.

“Hi!” Both Dipper and Mabel hollered at the same time. Mabel’s much more enthusiastic.

More people kept on coming in and soon the shack was a total madhouse of people. There were people dancing, doing terrible karaoke, eating snacks, talking, and so much more.

Dipper, absolutely done with homo sapiens for one night, trailed up stairs and took out Journal #3. He read and reread the page on Bill Cipher, hoping he’d magically notice something important. Of course there was nothing, just the usual Don’t Summon Him AT ALL COSTS!

He tossed the book aside and grabbed his journal, the one place he spilled out his heart in. Dipper had started journaling last year, when he had been dealing with really bad anxiety. He had read online that journaling helped and had been doing it ever since.

The pages were filled with scribbled entries and little doodles. The last few pages had been about the Solar Herbs, a collection of highly magical plants.

Dipper, exhausted, finally fell asleep, sinking into the darkness. When he woke up, he found himself in a grayscale world and immediately knew what was happening.

“BILL!” Dipper yelled, waiting for the demon to pop out of nowhere.

“Heya Pine Tree! Long time no see! My, have you grown!” The demon suddenly appeared, as annoying and triangular as ever.

“What do you want Bill?” Dipper asked sternly, trying to turn his fear into sarcasm. He had become quite the sarcastic individual over the years.

“I want to propose a dea-”

“I am not making a deal with YOU!” Dipper interrupted, glaring at the demon. “The last time I made a deal with you, you stole my body!”

“That was a fun day,” Bill sighed like he was remembering a blissful spring day.

“Well not for me!” Dipper responded, annoyed. “I’m never going to help you!”

“Oh I don’t think that will be the case for much longer, it does seem like Shooting Star is trying to wake you up though, so I shall leave you, don’t forget reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, byeee!”

Suddenly the world faded back to black.

Chapter Text

“Dipper, wake up!” Mabel screamed as Dipper was jolted out of the mindscape. 

“I’m up. What is it?” Dipper responded groggily, squinting to look at Mable through his bleary eyes. She was wearing a cropped shirt, that was basically more of a bedazzled bra. A couple years ago she had gotten big into the “sexy look” and had never turned back. Unfortunately, she was quite dreadful at this style and usually ended up looking more like a second grader who had snuck into their mom’s closet. The makeup was not up to par either.

“Diiiiiiiiiper, Grunkle Ford wants to see you,” Mable taunted, prolonging the Dipper an obnoxious amount.  

He slowly got out of bed and got ready for the morning. He had switched his red shirt and vest out for a navy blue shirt and cargo shorts for black skinny jeans. Instead of the Pinetree hat, he opted for the Pinetree symbol stitched onto his sweatshirt which was right now tied along his waist.  

He had also drawn the Cipher Wheel on his forearm, reminding him to trust no one. He had grown to be quite slim and muscular with all the time he spent out into the woods exploring (and his short lived karate phase.)

Mabel told him that he would have all the girls if his personality matched up to the looks. He never knew how to react around those comments so he would just try to push it to the back of his brain.

“Stancakes are ready!” Grunkle Stan yelled from downstairs. Dipper watched as Mabel sped downstairs to get her Stancakes along with her fourth cup of Mabel juice. He trudged down into the kitchen, pouring a heaping cup of coffee to do anything to combat the lingering tiredness.

“Are you positive you don’t want any Mabel Juice?” Mabel questioned, pleading with him to take the glitter filled cup.

“I do not want any Mabel Juice, and yes I am positive!” Dipper responded, glaring at Mabel’s puppy eyes. He had grown immune to her pleading looks.

“How’bout you have a cup of Mabel juice and in return I’ll go monster hunting with you?” Mabel begged. Dipper considered the proposition. He did adore those days where they had spent the whole afternoon on grand escapades, traipsing through the forest in search of mystifying creatures.

“Fine, but you promise right?” Dipper resolved sternly, then sighed as he downed the concoction. “Blegh, this is the most disgusting drink I’ve ever tasted! How do you like this stuff Mabel?!”

“It’s not gross, it's fabulous! Oh look at the time, I need to be at Candy’s house, bye!” Just like that Mabel took off out the door. Dipper sighed and looked down at his slightly burnt Stancake. He decided it was time to go explore the woods, mostly to get his mind off of life. Dipper ran up the stairs, changing into his swim trunks. There was a pool in the forest he wanted to visit again. He was about to head out the door when Grunkle Ford stopped him.

“Dipper, I'd like for you to find me this list of plants while exploring. I think they can come in handy with Bill Cipher now on the loose.” He grabbed the sheet out of his Grunkle’s hand and took off into the woods.

Dipper immediately felt the tension releasing from within as he stepped outside, taking in the crisp scent of the forest. The woods would always be a home for him. He grabbed his journal and started taking notes about all the different plants and animals on Grunkle Ford’s notoriously tedious and long list. 

While taking notes on a mysterious footprint, a faint glow caught Dipper’s attention. He looked into the hollowed-out log beside him to find none other than a Sunberry plant. He gasped with elation, taking in the wonder of the plant in a state of delirium.

He had been on the lookout for one of these extremely rare plants ever since the book mentioned its insane properties. If you successfully collected all three of the magical herbs: Sunberries, Moonberries, and Starberries, you would be able to do unheard of things.

Dipper slipped a few of the berries into his satchel before he kept on walking, a skip now in his step. Eventually he made it to a sun filled clearing with a translucent pool in the center. It was quite warm outside and, before he could overthink it, Dipper decided to wade in. 

Dipper P.O.V

I pulled off my shirt and waded into the water, feeling the cool water splash freely on my legs. It felt relaxing to be alone with no worries as I floated in the miniature lake. 

With only the flora and fauna as my audience, I started to sing catchy pop tunes to myself, while mimicking cheering. Now that there was no people around *cough* Mable to make fun of my music taste, I sang with my true heart.

Everything felt idyllic, but knowing my luck, I couldn’t have one peaceful moment before Bill ruined it all! All of the sudden the world began to fade, and was replaced by the grayscale trees of the mindscape.

“Heya Pinetree, nice abs!” Bill declared, smirking and appearing out of thin air. The first thing I did as Bill popped out of nowhere is emit the most ear splitting shriek in history. When he mentioned my abs I covered my chest, glaring at the demonic dorito.

I sighed. Calming myself down before asking him: “Bill why are you here? And follow up question, uhhh, were you watching me?”

“I’m always watching Pinetree!” Bill responded in a rabid tone, making chills run through me. Terrifying and unhelpful as usual. 

“Oh and nice singing, I didn’t know you were such a big fan of BABBA,” Bill commented, making me blush, embarrassed. Had he heard me singing? Of course he had.

“Besides, why always the mindscape, too scared to face me while I’m awake?” I questioned, using my all glorious sass.

“All will be answered in good time, Pinetree, all in good time.” Well that was extremely vague and not helpful at all. 

“You're here to make a deal, like you always are, aren’t you. Cause I am not falling for any tricks, pranks, or ruses!” 

“What about shanagines? But surprisingly I’m not here to trade, I’m here to take!” The world faded to the darkness of sleep for a split second, and when I opened my eyes, back in the mindscape, my bag full of sunberries had disappeared. 

“You know Pinetree, I’ve spent eternities trying to collect all of the astrological berries. I almost thought I would never be able to get all of them due to the fact that only the hands free of murder can harvest sunberries, and my hands aren’t pure in the least. Luckily a certain Pinetree collected them for me! You know kid, since I feel so bad about taking what was yours, have some deer teeth!” Bill declared before conjuring some putrid teeth out of nowhere. He tossed them in my general direction, an exaggerated frown on his face when I made no move to catch them. 

I was stunned as Bill disappeared right after saying his catchphrase. I stood there in the water for almost a minute before rushing to the shack. Sure I might have kept Bill visiting me in my sleep a secret, but this was too big. I needed to tell someone.

No one’s P.O.V

“Mabel, Stan, Ford! It-it’s Bill, I saw him!” Dipper screamed, panting from running straight back. Dipper was hoping someone would be in the house.

“What is it bro bro?” Mabel asked, running downstairs. Dipper spilled to Mabel what had happened, expecting her to be just as freaked out, but to his confusion, she instead started to laugh!

“You were singing BABBA?” Mabel replied, still giggling.

“That’s not the point Mabel!” Dipper groaned, face red in panicked irritation. “The point is that Bill is back and he stole some powerful herbs that could do crazy things!” Dipper was basically shouting now, tears pricking at his eyes.

“Dip Dop I think you were exposed to too much sun, go sit down, I’ll get you something to drink!”

“No, Mabel I’m serious, Bill is really, truly back!” Dipper argued, quite angry now.

“Dip dop I think you were seeing things.” 

“Forget it, are the Grunkles here?” Dipper asked, exasperated.  

“No, they are out on a fishing trip and won’t be back until late tonight; Dip Dop I’m worried about you, listen to your big sister!”

“Mabel you're older than me by two minutes, you know what, fine, I’m going to my room!” Dipper shouted as he ran up to their room. 

Once Dipper got to their room, he laid on his bed and screamed into his pillow. “Why will no one believe me?” Dipper asked himself as he stared at the triangle window. It hurt so much that Mabel didn’t believe him. This scenario couldn’t help but bring him back to when they were only twelve and Mabel had chosen to believe Grunkle Stan over her own brother! While it had been years ago, Dipper had never fully recovered from that sense of betrayal that had overwhelmed him that day.

 He didn’t know what he was feeling. Should he screech bloodied war cries at Mabel or or start sobbing? As Dipper focused on the triangle window once more, he decided with tenacity that it was Bill who was the one that ruined his life. It was all Cipher’s fault!

Chapter Text

Bill’s P.O.V 

It was almost complete; my plan was ready for phase two. And to think just a few months ago, I assumed I would be stuck in that ghastly statue for the rest of eternity. Sure it came with a big consequence, but it was all worth it because I could finally get revenge on the hideous Pines family.

At first even I doubted I would be able to collect all three herbs, but now that they were successfully in my grasp, I could finally have what I desire most: Pinetree!

I knew Pinetree was different from the beginning. He was the only one in their family that was clever and tenacious enough to defeat me. In return, I would take away what he loved most. Soon he’d be just as insane as me. Be warned Pinetree, for I’m coming!

Chapter Text

Dippers P. O.V

I sat in my bed and did nothing for quite awhile before I decided to go downstairs and get dinner; I was starving. When I walked into the kitchen, I looked up to see Mabel moving towards me. She was finally going to apologize to me and then we could go monster hunting just like she promised.

But instead Mabel told me: “I’m having a sleepover at Grenda’s, so start dinner, I need to be there quickly.” I was crushed. She didn’t even say sorry and now she’s making me cook dinner. Instead of yelling at her I calmly asked,

“Weren’t we going to go monster hunting together tonight? You promised.”

“Oh Dipper, stop being so childish, we're almost seventeen, and besides, I'm not in the mood anyways!” Mabel shot back while adjusting her headband.

“Okay,” I responded quickly, trying to let as little emotion as possible seep through, before getting to work on dinner. I made salad, soup, filet fish, and garlic bread. It took me quite awhile, but I was actually a decent chef from my cooking obsession sophomore year. I then made sure Mabel got the best of each batch because she was very picky.

“Mabel, dinners ready!” I yelled, waiting for what felt like ages before she came running down the stairs.

“Bro bro what took you so long?” She questioned as she sat down to eat.

“Sorry,” I responded, willing myself not to sound sarcastic, “I just wanted the food to be yummy,” I gave her a plate heaping with the best food. Mabel took one bite and then spat it out.

“Dipper, you know I don’t like non sweet foods!” Mabel commented, revolted.

“Oh, sorry, could you at least help me clean u-?” But Mabel was already out the door to Grenda's. I felt a twinge of indignation boil up in me, but I ignored it. I finished cleaning up the kitchen in the delirious sensation on the verge of a mental breakdown. I decided to head upstairs and start to form some sort of plan against Bill. If my sister wouldn’t believe me, that meant Grunkle Stan wouldn’t either. Grunkle Ford, on the other hand, didn't need more worry and trauma, so I would figure out how to stop Bill on my own.

I was quite smart for my age and pretty dang good at making plots. Clearly no one noticed that. People usually judged me on my awkwardness or overall appearance first. No one cared if a boy was smart. If you wanted people to like you, you had to be sporty and hot, leading you to what most highschoolers craved: popularity.

I re-checked Journal 2 to make sure it didn't say anything about Bill either. To little surprise, there wasn’t a page about Cipher, but instead there was a page I hadn’t noticed before. It was an entry about solar herbs. This could help me know what Bill would do, now that he had his hands on those berries. It said that each of the berries had different properties. Moonberries stood for mystery and deceiving. Starberries represented intuition and wit. Sunberries represented healing and peace. All the three combined could be brewed to make many powerful potions.

I looked at the different possibilities these herbs could do when combined, skimming through the list. The page had lots of potions, rituals, and incantations. Some of the possible ones included: Enhanced abilities, super smarts, luck, transformations, fame, defence, sight into the future, and night vision.

Why the hell would Bill go through all the risk to have these? None of the spells said How To Take Over The Universe In Three Easy Steps or Have Total World Domination In Just Five Days! What was Bill up to this time? So many theories and ideas wandered through my brain, but none of them felt like they truly made sense. I drifted off to sleep full of the inscrutable feeling you get when you just can’t figure something out. Tomorrow would be a new day and I could spend it finding answers to my piling questions. I went to sleep feeling a little more relaxed; just a few hours till morning. After all, what could happen in just one night?

Chapter Text

Bills P.O.V
“Oh Silly Pinetree, lots could happen in one night!” I whispered as I watched his sleeping body. It was a halcyon amongst the chaos brewing around him. He sure wouldn’t be like that soon. Finally, step one of the plan was ready!

I clapped my hands together, the cosmic berries appearing from the motion. Next I drew a ritual circle around the snoozing Pinetree. Last I pulled out a jagged knife, taking a shaky breath before shoving it into my chest.

Piercing screams, too high pitched for any human to hear, broke loose, creating a shock that reverberated through the night air. Yellow goop oozed out of me, gushing to the floor, spilling out of my flickering form. Nausea spread over my languished form as I began to grow faint from the lack of blood. It was painful, but necessary. I whispered a string of demon-ese, an ancient spell.

As I stared at Pinetree’s face, soaked yellow with my blood, I knew it was time. I sprinkled the herbs on him before my blue fire surrounded him. Screams so ear splitting tore through the house; luckily I had put a spell on the home so it couldn’t wake anyone up.

Ancient dialect covered Pine Tree’s form as all my blood evaporated into his skin, replacing a blue orb. This blueish sphere of light flew out of Pine tree's chest creating another round of screams. Finally Pine Tree dropped to his bed, but not before glowing an eerie cobalt.

It was completed and there was no way to go back now. Lets just say Pine Tree’s real life has just begun. I laughed psychotically before disappearing once more.

Chapter Text

Dipper’s P.O.V

“Let go. Let Go. Let Go! LET GO!”
I woke up suddenly, drenched in sweat, overwhelmed by the same feeling you get when you wake up from a nightmare. I could’ve sworn I had heard laughing. Maybe it had just been a half asleep delusion?

I felt strange, but decided to brush it off. I probably had just gone to sleep in a weird position. My years of anxiety and insomnia had led to constantly feeling “off.” I walked to the bathroom, needing to spray some water in my face or something. The tile of the bathroom felt cool under my feet and the water was refreshing on my groggy face. I looked up to the mirror expecting to see a tired, bed-headed boy, but what looked back was petrifying.

It was me, but I had glowing cobalt irises with a black sclera. It looked chillingly similar to when Bill possessed me but blue instead of yellow. I blinked and when I looked back at the mirror, my chocolate eyes were there once more. It was like nothing had happened. Maybe nothing had happened? I was incredibly out of it. It was probably just my bad dream getting to me. I decided to hop back in bed, hoping this whole thing would be gone in the morning.

Mabel’s P.O.V
I woke up at 10:00 a.m to Waddles licking my face. He is so cute!!! “EEK!” I squealed as I watched him snort the beginning of my favorite Jo Jo Siwa song. I had been practicing it with him.

“Mabel, time for breakfast!” Dipper called from downstairs. Of course he couldn’t take the time to go upstairs and tell me it’s time for breakfast, no he had to literally scream from downstairs. Sure I yelled up to him all the time, but that doesn’t count. At least my voice sounded pretty when I did it. I begrudgingly walked downstairs and was met with smoke coming from the kitchen. Dipper immediately sprinted in to help, but I had just gotten my nails done yesterday, so I couldn’t ruin the perfect manicure. Grunkle Stan finally came out of the kitchen coughing.

“Let's go out to eat for breakfast!” He called as Grunkle Ford and Dipper followed out of the kitchen, a smudge of soot on Dipper’s face.

“Yay! Greasy’s Diner!” I squealed, sprinting outside, closing the door on Dipper as revenge for the whole yelling thing. We got into the car and drove to the restaurant. Dipper (of course) was looking out the window like the woods was Justin Bieber or something. It’s so embarrassing. Why do I have to have a weirdo for a brother?

We made it there and I hopped out of the car excitedly, throwing my spare confetti on Dipper’s head. Grunkle Stan and I started bursting out in laughter as Dipper tried to shake off the confetti, but failed quite miserably. I even saw Grunkle Ford chuckle. Dipper’s eyes glowed a reddish color for a split second, probably just the confetti. Confetti was very magical. So was glitter-oh and sequins! I loved anything that’s colorful!

We sat in our usual booth. I, naturally, ordered the quadruple ice cream waffle! Dipper got some boring pancake and *ew* coffee. I instead brought along a canteen of Mabel Juice.

Everyone ate in silence. I would have been talking, but I physically couldn’t due to the large amounts of ice cream in my mouth restricting me from any form of verbal communication. Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Stan started conversing about adult stuff so I instead watched Dipper. He was acting even weirder than normal. This might have been a new level for him.

“What is it, Dip Dop?” I asked him, more appallingly fascinated than concerned.

“This food is so bland, I can’t even taste it!” Dipper responded, vexed. I shoved a handful of his pancake in my mouth. It was rich with chocolate and blueberries. It wasn’t even mega sweet.

“What do you mean bro-bro, it’s so flavorful, but it’s missing A TOOON of sugar!!!” I grabbed a shaker of sugar and dumped the whole thing on his pancake, before he could retort. Instead of taking a bite, he just continues staring at the plate with a quizzical expression on his face.

“Huh,” Dipper said to no one in particular before he went back to thinking about some other nerdy thing.

Dipper’s P.O.V
The whole morning felt off. I didn't per say know why. It was a usual morning, even with the whole, almost burning the kitchen thing. Let's just say that wasn’t the first time it had happened. Still I didn’t feel any fear when surrounded by the smoke. I felt like I should have been more scared.

The drive over to Greasy’s Diner was normal for the most part. Mabel had even been a little nicer than usual. It wasn’t really until she dumped confetti on my head. Mabel had done this countless times with more than just confetti. This time, though, something had snapped and for just a second I felt an overwhelming feeling of anger take over me, but it had disappeared just as fast as it came.

The most recent event was the pancakes. I wasn’t actually hungry this morning so I didn’t get a ton. I ordered the chocolate, blueberry explosion. It sounded rich and delicious, perfect for this morning.

When I took a bite though, I couldn’t taste anything. There wasn’t a drop of flavor! I didn’t know what happened. Maybe my pancakes came out wrong? I highly doubted that, but I was pretty sure my taste buds hadn’t just died overnight.

I decided to ask Mabel if she tasted anything. I was definitely alarmed at Mable’s response. By the time she was eating it, I had almost fully convinced myself there was something wrong with the pancake. Since Mabel could taste it though, it meant there was something wrong with me!

Chapter Text

Mabel's P.O.V
After breakfast I decided to go to the mall. First I called Candy, Grenada, and Pacifica. To my excitement, they could all come! I got dressed in my butterfly sweater and put on a whole barrel of eye shadow called Death By Glitter. It was quite ironic because the pallet truly made me feel alive.

I was about to walk out the door when I saw Dipper on the couch reading one of those boring journals. That’s when I got an idea that I knew Dipper would absolutely despise.

“Dip Dop come to the mall with meeee!” I begged, using my “I get what I want” voice.

“No way in hell,” Dipper responded, not even looking up from the book. He was so so SO annoying!

“Grunkle Stan, tell Dipper he has to go to the mall with me!” I yelled into the living room, smirking slightly at Dipper.

“Dipper, go to the mall with your sister!” Grunkle Stan replied, before going back to watching his dumb adult show.

“Fine, let me just grab my plate from lunch,” Dipper muttered sourly as he got up and walked up to his room. I waited around for a minute, getting more and more impatient by the second. After forever he finally made it down, in his hand, not a plate, but a book. I rolled my eyes in disgust. The nerd brought a book wherever we went. It’s humiliating to be out in public with him and his weirdo books. It was worth it, though, to make him go to the mall with me. I loved showing off my power over him.

Dipper and I had only walked for ten minutes and I was already sweating like a mad man. This heat was not helping my flirty-mall style at all.

“Bro Bro, how are you not sweating?” I asked him, confused. He looked fine, with not a single bead of sweat running down his face.

“How are you sweating, it’s not even hot outside!” Dipper remarked, laughing a bit at my red face. Why did he seem off the runway of room temp-ness while I looked like I had run a marathon. It was so unfair, why did he get to be so attractive for no reason? He didn’t deserve to look better on me. With vengeance on my mind, I decided to make myself be the superior twin once again by pouring my spare canteen of Mabel Juice on him.

“What the fuck, Mable?” Hey snarled, his eyes doing that creepy flashy thing I saw earlier.

“Haha, loser!” I giggled, giving him the middle finger as I ran up to Pacifica who had started to walk over to us.

“We’re here,” Dipper commented begrudgingly, trying to get the Mabel Juice off his boring, gray sweater.

“Hey Mabel, oh hi Di-Dipper,” Pacifica stuttered at the end as she looked at Dipper. This annoyed me severely. Pacifica could NOT think my brother was hot, cause he’s not.

“Let’s shop Peeps!” I squealed and ran to the entrance of the mall. Pacifica seemed excited, Dipper-of course- bored out of his mind.

“Ooh let’s stop here!” I yelled, and then sped into the neon store without a second thought. The store turned out to be one for ball gowns and prom dresses.

“Paci, come over here!” I called to Pacifica as she walked over to me.

“Woah, it's beautiful!” Pacifica gasped as she stared at a light blue dress covered in silver lace and sequins.

“Go try it on!” I shouted with exhilaration as Pacifica grabbed the dress and ran to the changing rooms. As I looked at some of the fancier ball gowns, I noticed Dipper in a corner of the store staring at something.

Dipper’s P.O.V.

My whole body sizzled with rage as we walked into the mall, my hands clenched in fists, fingernails digging into my flesh. I did absolutely nothing to Mabel and she spilled her grotty concoction of death on me. And now my favorite sweater is ruined because, to no one’s surprise, Mabel Juice stains!

At least I had a goal for shopping now. I had to get a decent looking shirt that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. As per usual, Mabel chose to go into what looked like Barbie and the 18th century had a love child in the form of an overpriced, crammed shop.

While the two girls looked at the horrendous monstrosities that claimed to be “ballgowns” (I don’t have anything against ballgowns, but I have many things against these eyesores), I headed over to the only section that might potentially have something I could wear.

To my great elation, I found an outfit on sale that I didn’t hate. I actually kind of liked it! It felt very Dark Academia core with a black button down shirt and a tan sweater vest thing over top. I threw it into my bag, a feeling of satisfaction flowing through me. Just then something caught my attention. I felt like my feet were walking over to it without my control. It was like my presence was being drawn to this radiant object.

No one’s P.O.V

“Bro Bro whatcha looking at?” Mabel questioned as she ran over to Dipper.

“N-nothing!” Dipper responded immediately. Mabel automatically turned and looked at what he had been staring at. It was a navy blue suit.

“I didn’t know you like suits?” Mabel responded as she turned back to Dipper, who was still staring at the suit in an almost trance-like state. Mabel waved her hand in front of Dipper’s face, trying for almost thirty seconds to get his attention.

“Huh?” Dipper asked, suddenly regaining consciousness.

“I was saying: do you like suits?” Mabel sighed, momentarily annoyed until her eyes locked Pacifica coming out in her dress. She dragged Dipper across the room to where Pacifica was standing; Dipper’s eyes, for some stupid reason, still glued to the suit.

“Hey Dipper, how do I look?” Pacifica asked, blushing deeply. Dipper looked over, blinking in confusion for a second, before responding with:

“Oh..um good, yeah, a, a, nice! Pacifica stared down crestfallen by Dipper’s aloof response.

“He means really cute,” Mabel added quickly, glaring at her brother.

“Yep!” Dipper said before hurriedly walking away to the checkout to pay for Mabel’s and Pacifica’s dresses. Mabel, of course, had made him do it. At the counter the checkout person was a girl around sixteen, with warm brown skin and sleek, black hair.

“Hey, my name’s Racheal,” The girl said in a flirty tone as she bit her lip in that supposedly “sexy” style.

“Hi..” Dipper commented awkwardly before grabbing the dresses, silently begging that he could just go home already. Oh how he wanted to be alone with a good book, sketchpad and a steamy cup of coffee.

“So do you like, have a girlfriend or anything?” Racheal pushed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Dipper bit back the urge to roll his eyes. Why was the only thing people cared about relationships? He honestly thought they were incredibly overrated.

“Um.. no,” Dipper stated, annoyed at how long the checkout was taking.

“Then why are you buying the dresses?” Rachael questioned. This random girl had no right to know his personal life! Still he answered truthfully.

“Oh, these are my sister’s; I’m getting them for her,” Dipper responded, looking down at his hands.

“Well have a good day!” Rachael commented as she finally handed Dipper the dresses, along with a note. When he opened it, it read, in glitter font: 458 267 8001 Call me! As Dipper tucked the note in his pocket, he briefly wondered how she was able to write her number down so quickly. Maybe she had pre written notes for any hot boy she came across? He knew for sure that he would never be calling that number. And with that, he ran up to Pacifica and Mabel.

Mabel's P.O.V

I glared at Dipper as he walked out of the store to Paci and me. I had watched the whole checkout person phenomenon, and it made me want to barf. Who in their right mind would want to date my brother?

What made the whole situation worse, was Pafica -not so subtly- trying to chat up Dipper. I had to experience an ungodly awkward lunch of Mc. Donalds and Dipper's obliviousness. It was the most painful experience of my life. It was SO evident Pacifica was trying to make a move on Dipper, but he seemed more interested in whatever dumb book stuff he ranted on and on about.

“Hiiii Mabel! Hiiii Pacifica!” Candy called, as she sprinted over to us. I was ecstatic to see Candy and Grenda; maybe they could break up this problematic situation?

“Girls!!!!” I squealed, rushing over, dragging Pacifica with me and obviously leaving Dipper in the dust to throw out our food. I ducked into a store, hoping to lose him. I only needed him to carry my bags.

I was in the middle of showing them this neon blue bikini when all their gazes looked upward to a nearing figure: Dipper.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me where you were going? I had to look everywhere for you!” Dipper panted, still carrying our six bags, full of clothes.

“Hi Dipper!” All three girls replied, smiling love-sickly at the teen.

“Um hi..” he commented before setting all the bags down at one of the tables.

“Dip Dop, go get us so Starbucks!” I called over at him as I began looking at the different glitter packets.

“I’ll go with you Dipper!” All the girls responded automatically. What was wrong with them today?!

“Never mind, I’m not in the mood for Starbucks anyways, we can just have some of my Mabel Juice!” I said as I pulled out my backup canteen of the sparkly liquid. No Starbucks was lachrymose, but better than my friends pining over Dipper the whole time.

After thirty more excruciating minutes, we had to leave. I couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t even disappointed to go. For the rest of the time at the mall I had to listen to Grenda’s blunt attempt at flirting, Pacifica’s way too obvious need of attention from Dipper, and Candy talking about Dipper’s abs!

Why did all my friends suddenly have mega crushes on my stupid brother? I knew with a little bit of glitter and sequins, I could get to the bottom of this! Watch out Bro-Bro I’ll find out all your secrets!

Chapter Text

Dipper’s P.O.V
We finally got to leave the mall, much to my relief. I hated that place! Why did Mabel always want to spend all day at a mall!? I felt extremely weird the whole time there; so many people would just stare at me. Mabel’s friends were especially bizarre today for no particular reason.

“We’re home, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel called, running into the kitchen to show him all the stuff she got. I think she spent all her allowance for the summer. Of course Grunkle Stan would probably let it slide again.

I basically sprinted up to my room to avoid small talk with Soos. I was not in the mood to socialize. There was no word to describe the amount of elation I felt when I successfully made it to my room without coming into contact with someone else.

I closed the door, slamming it slightly, before flopping onto my bed. I felt a hard surface under me and pulled out the 2nd Journal, still opened to the “Solar Herbs” page. I had forgotten all about them due to the recent events. I still needed to figure out Bill's plan.

After staring at the page for a good twenty minutes with no other thoughts than “What the hell are you up to Bill”, I decided that this was going nowhere.

“Ugh, tell me your secrets!” I shouted into the nearest pillow, clutching the book hard hoping by some chance the world would have pity on me. When I looked down at the book I noticed the edges smoking.

“What the fuck,” I muttered under my breath, feeling the burnt tips of the pages. I was slightly dumbfounded. I honestly had no idea what had happened. Well no even slightly realistic ideas. Maybe it had been a magic spell put over the journal? I would have to ask Grunkle Ford at dinner.

I decided to instead take these few minutes of free time to write in my journal. Well technically it’s Journal five, I have a total of eleven different journals, all relating to different parts of my life. This one was basically where I wrote everything; the place I felt safe to be myself.

Scribbling down what had happened today really made me truly realize how uncanny the day had been. Why was all of this happening?

“Dinner time Bro-Bro!” Mabel screeched at an ear shattering level of volume. I closed the book and ran downstairs, mind still on the roasted journal edges.

“Welcome Dipper,” Grunkle Ford said monotonously as I sat down at the dinner table. We ate in silence for a few minutes. Well mostly silence; Mabel was humming the theme song to her favorite show, Glitter Pony Princess, very loudly.

“Grunkle Ford,” I asked charily, hoping not to be too suspicious, “do the journals have some sort of magic defense spell on them or anything…”

“No they do not, why are you wondering?” Grunkle Ford responded with a glare that looked like he was trying to bore into my soul. Great, I just began the conversation and he’s already apprehensive.

“Oh, um, no reason,” I replied, looking anywhere but at him. To some stroke of luck, he didn’t press anymore.

As I sat there, freaking out, the answer suddenly hit me! It was incredibly obvious who was behind all of these unnatural events. Mayhaps a certain dream demon that just showed up a few days ago and had already messed with me multiple times! The little piece of shit! All I knew was that he was up to another demented plan and it included me; of course it did.

“So Dipper, seen any hot girls ‘round here?” Grunkle Stan asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a slightly disturbing fashion.

“Um.. no,” I muttered, staring at my untouched soup. I hadn’t eaten all day, it’s like my appetite had died.

“Well that sucks, you’ll find a sexy one soon, don’t worry,” Grunkle Stan responded, before getting up and moving five feet over to the TV. Most dinners ended with Grunkle Stan leaving to watch television or Mabel being rushed to the hospital after choking on glitter; surprisingly it had happened multiple times.

Mabel dug her fingers into my arm and I could feel the skin break. I looked down and to my horror black goop was flowing out of my arm; Mabel’s nail markings still showing.

“Are you even listening to me?!” Mabel screeched, annoyed, as she waved her phone in my face. I glanced at the phone, feeling faint. What was happening to me?

“Um, cool,” I responded before getting out of my seat, barely aware of Mabel's blabbering and shouts in the background.

Once I finally made it to the attic, I closed the door, locking it swiftly before collapsing on the bed. I stared at my arm, blood now dried up and sticky. I poked it with my finger and a sickening feeling washed over me.

“What’s happening to me?” I whimpered, continuing to grip my bloodied arm, tears welling up in my eyes. I wiped them away, trying to stay calm and practical, which ended up worsening it because I noticed my tears were bright gold and still shimmering in my palm. The dizziness returned as I grabbed onto the bedpost, trying to keep myself from fainting.

The world echoed in and out, and I halfheartedly tried to breathe, but the air wasn’t going through my lungs! This made me very aware I wasn’t breathing, immediately turning me into a hyperventilating mess. I tried to scream, but my throat felt numb and nothing was coming out! I dug my nails into my arms, begging for any sense of feeling, to escape from this nightmare. Suddenly I was lost in a trance, staring down with an eerie glow as the now opened wounds, dripped with blood in steady rhythms.

An overwhelming, egregious sort of delight took over me, and I couldn't help it; I started laughing, a psychotic sound echoing from me. Just then I noticed my plate from lunch laying on the ground, forlorn; a fork gleamed on the ceramic dish.

Before I realized what I was doing, I stabbed the fork into my skin, my delirious cackle reverberating around me as blood oozed from the gash. The crimson liquid seeping into my old mattress emanated a hideous squelching sound. I continued to impale myself with the fork, a wave of ecstasy washing through me. I vaguely took in the surroundings. Chunks of flesh and viscera engulfed my sheets, adding to the gut-churning ambience. I felt high on a state of masochistic glee, begging for more of the delicious pain. My throat bubbled out an inhuman sound as I stabbed myself in the cheek, pleasure overtaking my shaking body.

A glistening smear of mucus dripped off my chin, plopping into the array of entrails. I eventually collapsed, succumbing to the lack of blood loss, the last sound of my deranged laugh fading into darkness.