Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bill Cipher closed his singular eye as the tips of the sun’s rays touched the horizon. The warm summer air was beginning to cool down as the moon revealed itself in the beautiful dusk sky. Oranges mixed with yellows that blended perfectly into reds and fuchsias; the sunsets on Earth were an extraordinary event  the demon usually loved to witness. But Bill couldn’t bare to look at this one. Not without the one who loves them with him. Not without the one he owes everything to. Not without Quentin.

He held his gloved hands behind his back and inhaled deeply, his nose twitching slightly at the scent of the nearby pine trees. Bill felt his eye starting to water again. The excruciating pain of loss had no mercy. The flavor of heartbreak was rotten to the core. And no matter what he did, Bill couldn’t rid his mouth of the taste.  

The peak of the canyon was Quentin’s favorite spot. One could easily see the entirety of the town from all the way up here. The pair spent much of their time up here—whether it was planning where the corner bakery would reside or just admiring their handiwork. He angrily wiped the falling tear from his cheek bone. Why did he have to become so attached to a mortal? He knew this was going to happen. Death was a cruel reality for this dimension. Not all the love in the demon’s soul could save him from it.

Perhaps it was fate that drove Quentin to the site of the rip in the Nightmare Realm, or perhaps it was just the man’s lunacy. Bill’s memory of the event was vivid. Sixty years past to a demon who has lived through an eternity felt like just moments ago. The lanterns below in the town started to light one by one as Bill’s memories began to travel back further and further.

Finally, finally, after hundreds of thousands of years in damnation for his crimes against his home dimension, the demon felt a crack. A rift. His only chance to escape the torture.

On the other side of this rift he heard a voice.

“Egh? What is this?! Some sort of rift that enables me to see into entire different dimension? Looks mighty crazy in there, sorta like a nightmare!” Slightly quieter, “Sandy was right; I need to stop swallowing random salamanders.”

Bill pounded against the force field that kept him enslaved in desperation: “No no no you got it! That’s, that’s actually entirely accurate, how did you know that--look, look, ok, listen to me, my name is Bill Cipher-”

“Bill Cipher?” The man inched closer to peer inside, “That sure is a silly name for a crack in space and time… ”

Bill closed his eye and rubbed it in desperation. He needed this human to understand what was at stake here. He snapped to turn the man’s attention back to him, “Hey! Over here, Mutton-chops! Listen, I’m trapped in this dimension, I’ve been trapped in here for billions of years and listen, it’s been.. It’s been a living hell, alright?! I need your help to get me out of here! I’ll do whatever you want; make you rich beyond your wildest dreams, give you all the power in the universe! Anything you want, you got it pal! Just please get me out of here! Please! I can’t stay in here anymore!”

“A hellscape, huh? That sounds… horrible , my friend, but.... I don’t know, reaching in a random dimension and pulling out the first thing that calls for help seems mighty dangerous, I, uh, I’m not sure...”

Bill’s heart sank. Of course, of course a human wasn’t dumb enough to do this. Why would he? Bill was a monster, after all, and humans knew better.

“Listen, human, please, you have to trust me! Look at me, I’ve, suffered through billion of years of absolute  TORMENT in here! You-you can’t even begin to comprehend what goes on in here! I need to get out, I-I need to get out of here, please please please…!!! ”

He didn’t even notice how hard he was banging his fist on the force-field. He didn’t notice the familiar agonizing sensation of having a panic attack without a body. He didn’t notice Quentin’s face softening as he watched.

He did, however, see the man’s hand entire the dimension.

Freedom.

As soon as Bill touched the man’s hand, he was yanked from the Nightmare Realm. He felt his triangular Soul press up against the force field, but… something was wrong. He was changing.

Dimensions are not pressed up against each other like sardines in a can. They have a space in between them, almost like padding in between walls in a modern home. And it was in this padding that his Soul began to manufacture a body for itself; for a singular Soul cannot exist outside the froth and chaos of the Nightmare Realm. Bill tried to protest but the words barely slipped through him before the sheer force of his metamorphosis thrusted him out of the Nightmare Realm.

The man who set the demon free was in awe at what appeared to have emerged from the rift. It was nothing like the glowing triangle he saw in the Realm. In his place was a twenty-foot luminescent figure that resembled a human but simplified to its most basic geometric shapes. It was terrifying, it was horrifying…

It was beautiful.   

Bill never felt such power surging through him like this before; the fusion of homo sapien and dream demon unleashed a potential he never knew he had. However, he could feel it slipping away, for this amalgam of a form was highly unstable and volatile. He suspected he had mere moments before he either let the power eradicate him entirely or shifted the balance to fully enter the human body he created.

But, before all that, Bill had to make sure the days of the Nightmare Realm was forever behind him. With this power, he could… Perhaps, he could… He turned and lifted two of his monstrous arms out towards the rift in front of him. He inhaled deeply and emitted beams of light from his hands. They shifted and molded into a pyramid around the rift itself. Lightning strikes hit the rift’s surface. Bill bent his elbows and crushed the geometric figure around the rift smaller, and smaller, and smaller. He bared bright yellow teeth. It took everything the monster had to condense the rift like this.... It was swirling, cascading, exploding and rebirthing over and over again... His pointed fingers curled around the shrunken rift as he constructed an indestructible glass orb to encase it in.

With a blinding flash of light, the Rift was gone.

Bill thrusted himself towards his full human form immediately after it was sent off.

His transformation was completed. Bill’s new set of lungs filled with the air from the Earth as he threw his newly formed head back. Limbs were stretching, toes were curling, fingers extending. Clothing swirled and tightened against his form. Finally, his knees hit the dirt with a painful thud.

The man who set the demon free lowered his arm that protected his eyes from the flash. He blinked away the spots clouding his vision and saw another man, fallen on his knees and gasping for breath. Logic said that this poor sap was none other than that dream demon, Bill Cipher. Logic also told him that there was something happening that he didn’t understand--he couldn’t understand. He should run, run as fast as he could away from this thing he just released onto the world. But, something else inside him told him to stay, to help him, to be a friend to someone who desperately needed it.

“Well, that certainly was something, wasn’t it my friend!? I have no idea what just happened, I-I’ll be honest, but it sure was something! ”

And Quentin firmly believed following logic only lead to things that were boring. And Quentin despised boredom.

Bill tried to speak but his lungs refused to cooperate until they had their sufficient fill of oxygen. So in reply, he just stared at him with his mouth agape, left eyelid drooping to cover the empty socket, and chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

The man adjusted his glasses and stuck his hand out in greeting. “Well, my name’s Trembly. Quentin Trembly! Sir Lord Quentin Trembley III, Esq . if you must know the full of it! Come, it seems like that was… Certainly an ordeal for you! Don’t worry, you don’t have to explain anything after, wll, whatever in damnation THAT was! Let’s go to my town, there’s a fantastic place to get waffles and discuss things! I’ll even throw in a salamander, on the house! They’re very tasty you know. What do ‘ya say?”

Bill looked up at Quentin’s outstretched hand. Why was this man helping him again? Any normal human would be terrified after witnessing that. But Bill looked up at Quentin and studied his face quizzically. He seemed kind, and brave, and… Well, frankly a tad insane. Perhaps, this was no average man.

The demon’s lips curled into an excited smile as he took Quentin’s hand and let the man pull him up and support him on his shoulder. Bill leaned on Quentin and took his first steps as the duo started the trek back down the mountain.

The demon let out a weak laugh when they reached the bottom . He was free. Free from the hell that was the Nightmare Realm, free from pitifully wallowing in his guilt. And since the fusion of his corporeal and demonic bodies had the ability to capture the rift, there was no worry of him ever going back! He turned to Quentin and smiled at him. He smiled right back.

“This is a town of new beginnings, Cipher. For you and me both! Let us march through this journey together. ”

New beginnings...

What a fascinating concept, the demon reflected.

Quentin didn’t care about Bill’s past. He didn’t care about the things the demon regretted. He didn’t care who Bill was prior to the rift.

All he cared about was the person he was going to become.

That was his salvation. That was his chance for redemption. That was what saved Bill from himself.

For giving Bill that chance, Quentin had rescued him from more than just the Nightmare Realm. Quentin had saved him from the darkness that haunted his mind ever since that fateful day

And for that, Bill Cipher was eternally devoted to Quentin Trembly.

He would honor and uphold the man’s dying request until the day his life ended. He would fight for this town’s safety with everything he’s got. He would protect this town with every ounce of his being.

He would be this town’s Guardian until the day he drew his final breath and beyond.

That was his end of the deal, after all.

Chapter Text

“Triangulum, entangulum…”

An electric shiver traveled throughout Bill’s veins when he heard his summoning chant. His ears twitched. His heart started to race in a blind panic. His summoning never had good intentions behind it.

“Vene foris dominus mentium!”

His astral eye sparked to life. It burst into a blue and white flame that sparkled and crackled. The cerulean vapor from the flame swirled above the demon’s body in cascading rings. Bill threw a gloved hand up and a lightning strike hit the wisps to open a rip through the dimensions.

“Vene foris videntis omnium!”

He slipped through the veil of the dimensions to transport to the source of his summoning as quickly as possible. The words echoed through the dimensional rift, providing a trail for Bill to follow. The demon’s eye widened in panic as he recognized the voice behind the words.

Pine Tree.

Asetnoheptus,

Bill only gave his summoning chant to the humans under his care whom he especially wanted to keep safe. If Pine Tree or Shooting Star or Question Mark or Ice Bag needed his protection right away, they could call him anytime and he’d appear immediately.

Asetnoheptus,

His mind started to race at what could possibly be awaiting him when he landed. Pine Tree was curious. Too curious for his own good. Sticking his nose in things that were too dangerous… What if it had finally caught up to him?

Asetnoheptus, 

What if he was in danger? What if something in the forest had gotten to him?!

Asetnoheptus,

What if he was too late...? What if Pine Tree was already hurt?! What if he-

ASETNOHEPTUS!

A spark of smoke started to swirl in the sky. Lightning crackled and struck the spiral. A triangular shaped rip in the dimension opened from the wisp in the sky above them. The group of kids stood, eyes wide with awe at the spectacle in front of them. A thunderous CRACK. The lightning struck the rip once more.

The crew only had a moment to admire it, for Bill came leaping out of the portal at a speed that was too quick for the human eye to catch. He was just a black and yellow with a streak of blue as he rolled onto the ground in front of them, and once he landed, the demon stood right back up and ignited his fists aflame with his demonic, blue fire that glowed in the evening darkness. His brows were furrowed. His teeth were bared. He was ready to mercilessly defend his beloved ward from whatever dared to cross him.

So far, all looked calm. No monsters, no demons… It was strangely quiet, save for--

“Bill! You came!” The demon turned around and saw the bright, cheery smile of Mabel Pines skipping towards him. Bill smiled back at her and leaned down to embrace the girl as she lept into his outstretched arms. He looked above her brunette hair and saw the Mystery Shack crew staring slack-jawed in awe at him.

“Shooting Star! Of course I did, kiddo, you called me didn’t ya?” He pulled away a bit, “Now, what’s the problem? Who’s after ya?”

Dipper followed his sister suit with a smile twice as large as hers, “Ha! I did it! I-I-I did it! I summoned you!” Bill wrapped a protective arm around Dipper as well, “You sure did! Now, what’s wrong, kid? Com’on, I don’t have all night!”

Dipper laughed sheepishly and freed himself from the demon’s grasp, “Um, ok, so I know you said ‘emergencies only’ but, I really wanted to see if I could--”

Bill frowned, “Pine Tree, I’m not one of your science experiments or research projects or… Whatever. Com’on, I’m serious when I say-”

“DIPPER!” Mabel interrupted, “The season premiere of DUCKTECTIVE is tonight! We NEEDED Bill here! We have to show him our favorite show!” She tugged on the demon’s vest, “Com’on! You’d love it! It’s about a duck who’s a detective! I’m one million billion percent sure you’d love it!”

“I mean, you’re already here dood!” Soos meandered over to the trio and grinned, “Plus, I’ve got Burrito Bites! Oho, dood. They’re SO GOOD. Wait, you don’t eat like, babies or anything? Since you’re a demon, right?”

Bill snorted, “No, Question Mark, I don’t eat babies. I mean, com’on, that’s just tasteless.”

“OHO! DOOD! THAT PUN! AHAHA! UP TOP!” The handyman’s laughter only made Bill’s grin wider as he slapped Soos’ hand. Sheesh, these kids were making it harder to leave, but he had an errand to run tonight...

“Bill.”

He perked, “Yea Stan?”

“Get in here and watch TV with us.”

Well, how could you say no to Stan Pines...
Easily, like this: “No.”

“Argh! You guys--I really--” Bill ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair while inhaling through his teeth.

He felt a tugging on his vest, looked down, and laughed weakly. Mabel was giving him puppy dog eyes. Her lower lip was quivering. Her hands were clasped together in front of her chest. Bill’s chest ached. He sunk his shoulders.

“Son of an Axolotl... Okay, okay fine.” The demon caved, “One episode! And that’s it!”

The change in her demeanor was enough to give you whiplash. “WOOHOO!” Mabel cheered, “Dipper! We’re gonna hang out with Bill! Now you can ask him all your dorky questions!”

“During commercials!” Soos added.

“Hey-I, they’re just, I’m just curious, is all." Dipper was turned red as he followed the trio back into the Shack.

Bill glanced at Stan as the man entered the kitchen.

“What a night! A detective duck! Color me impressed! What will they think of next, egh?”

Stan smiled gently at the coffee grounds, “First night the two gremlins got here, that’s all they would talk about. They just had to make sure I had cable. I said to them, ‘what kinda old man do you think I am? I live on tv!’ Ha! Ah, yup. Those two sure are something else...”

“You got that right…” Bill cocked an eyebrow, “Say... Why’d you ask to take care’a the kids this summer anyway?”

The conman shifted his gaze from the pot of coffee brewing on the counter to his demonic guest, “You know why, you one-eyed cretin.”

Bill snorted, “Just because I can read minds doesn’t mean I do all the time. I’ve got my own problems, Stanley-”

“Hey!” Stan hissed, “What did we talk about, bucko? No Stanley when the kids’re here. Not until-”

“But they’re asleep!” Bill argued. When the man’s face didn’t change, Bill rolled his eye and scoffed, “Yea yea yea, I know, I know.” The demon propped his feet on the table, “Not until ya get’em back. I’m aware of your overly complicated, elaborate scheme, Pines.”

Stan walked over to the table, steaming mug of black coffee in hand, and unceremoniously shoved Bill’s feet off, “Because Shermie hasn’t told them.”

“About the crash or?”

“Not even. Nothing.”

“What?!” Bill smacked his palms on the table, “How could he-”

“I know.” Stan grumbled and gently sipped the scalding coffee. The bitterness jolted his senses back to life.

“And you want to-”

“Yup.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little,” Bill twirled his wrist, “Over the top?”

Stan shook his head and inhaled sharply, “He’s got family. More than he realizes. I thought that maybe, if he saw the two knuckleheads-”

“He’d want to stay…” A snicker trickled from Bill’s throat, “I gotta say, Stan, that’s pret-tee good. Playin’ with people’s emotions like that? Oh man, I’m almost impressed!”

The man lifted his mug in cheers towards the demon, “I learned from the worst.”

Bill rolled his eye and chuckled, “Stan Pines you sure are somethin’ else.” There was a moment of silence. Stan blew on his coffee before drinking it this time. Bill ran a tongue along his teeth.

“What if he doesn’t even wanna stay? I mean, the last time you two interacted ya had a small… How do I put this nicely…” The demon folded his arms across his chest, “Falling out.”

Stan sighed loudly. Bill’s nose crinkled. “Listen, Bill. I don’t expect you to understand. I’d do anything to get ‘em back. And I have! I don’t care if he wants to stay or not. Just knowing that I,” The man clenched his fists in front of him, “That I did everything that I could…” Stan sighed again and looked out the window, “All I can do is hope. Y’know?”

Bill nodded slowly. Stan turned back to him, “And if those kids managed to worm their way into your stone-cold demon heart, they should have no problem convincing him to stay.”

“Hey!” Bill grinned, "Your con-man heart ain't much softer. And you love those two twerps just as much as I do."

Stan smiled softly, "Ha, ya got that right, Cipher..."

The stars flickered in the night sky, like specks of glitter in spilled ink.

Bill was striding through the forest, cane in hand. It was close to three in the morning but the demon felt chipper as ever, for sleep had no power over him. The midnight air chilled his skin. His heart beat in his chest like a tribal drum.

A faerie gently landed on his shoulder and whispered daintily in his ear how she was going to jinx him with hallucinations of his own excruciatingly painful death for all eternity if he dared stepped in her realm again. He made an audible “eugh” noise and flicked her off his shoulder. Faeries. Always acting like they owned the entire place.

Usually at this hour, the demon would be resting on top of the Mystery Shack, staring at the night sky and letting his mind take a rest as he allowed it to just wander. But not tonight. Tonight, he had an errand to run. He had already wasted enough time with the Pines.

Curse their adorable smiles. Bill was putty in their hands at this point.

Once he got to the clearing, the demon lifted his cane in the air and made a vertical swoop downwards. His familiar blue fire emerged from it and opened a portal into an inky black dimension. He took a deep breath and stepped gingerly inside.

The dimension was dim and smelled overwhelmingly of ash. Bill had to illuminate his astral eye to be able to navigate the place and avoid running into drifting chunks of charcoal. His heart ached at the all too familiar stench of burnt and charred energy. Focus on your job, Cipher.

“Hey, there you are, ya little bugger.” Bill snuffed out the light emitting from his eye slowly as the glow from the glass orb became brighter and brighter. Once he reached the floating orb, he raised his gloved hands slowly and gently grabbed a hold of it. The rift leading to the Nightmare Realm was swirling in a calming, slow motion. The rift was gravitating towards a specific area of its enclosure. He turned it slowly and inspected the surface carefully. And there is was--a small crack in the glass. Bill shook his head slowly and furrowed his eyebrow. He’s done this every couple decades now. Every once in awhile, the rift would cause the orb to crack and every couple decades he come visit and repair it. This was just business as usual…

This crack was a bit deeper and longer than the last one. Those damn Pines... Distracting him from his work. Bill half-smiled. Oh, he couldn't be mad at them if he tried.

“Let’s get this over with.” His hands glowed a bright, fluorescent blue as he gripped the glass. Hurricane force winds whipped through his hair as the crack slowly fused back into the glass. Just a bit more…The demon bared his teeth in focus… Finally, the crack smoothed away until the orb was good as new. Bill nodded, satisfied with his work.

His hands faded until the glow from the rift was the only light in the whole dimension. Bill leaned on a piece of drifting charred something-or-other and stared at the floating rift.

He’s got family. More than he realizes.

Bill couldn’t tell them. He couldn’t. If they knew the crimes he had committed... They would hate him. They would despise him. Bill bit his lip to ground himself. No, no, this secret would stay locked in this dimension like the orb gently spinning in front of him. What they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them, could it? Ignorance was bliss, wasn’t it?

Listen, Bill. I don’t expect you to understand.

Oh, but how the demon did, in fact, understand. He knew exactly what it felt like to lose your family. He knew exactly what gaping hole it leaves inside you.

I’d do anything to get ‘em back.

Bill’s heart ached. His chest felt heavy. His dress pants pressed against his knees as he folded his legs closer to his body. He closed his eye in mourning and held his hands close to his chest.

The demon was all alone in his dead, decaying home dimension.

And there was no spell to mend those cracks.

Trust him.

He's tried.

Chapter Text

TW FOR ELECTROCUTION AND DEATH MENTION

--

Bill had protected the Pines twins from a lot of things that summer so far.

He had pushed their golf cart to go faster to escape the Gnomes.

He tamed the Gobblewonker before it could smash their boat to smithereens.

He even sent Gideon Gleeful to a nice Military Camp for Wayward Children when he pulled up the Mystery Shack with a wrecking ball. (“Listen, Bud, you can’t just let your kid do this kinda stuff, ya know?”)

But the one thing he couldn’t protect them from was the truth, he supposed.

His empathy sensed extreme distress from the Mystery Shack. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

The demon looked up at Agent Powers with the most hateful gaze he could muster. The agent sighed heavily. “You know, you wouldn’t be in this mess if you had just stopped Mr. Pines from stealing the cans anyway, Mr. Cipher.”

Bill tried to speak, but the metallic muzzle covering his nose to his chin made it extremely difficult. He would show him an obscene gesture instead, but his arms were secured in a straight jacket. The demon could only growl in response.

Agent Powers stepped forward towards the bars that held Bill captive, his cold eyes staring at the demon in a failed attempt to intimidate him. He placed his hands behind his back, “You’re the so called ‘protector’ of the town, but -- forgive me if I’m wrong -- it seems to me as if you don’t really care about Mr. Pines at all --”

Bill lunged forward in a blind rage, his left astral eye ablaze underneath his leather eyepatch. The silver collar around his neck vibrated and administered a shock so powerful it could knock a bull elephant unconscious. He howled in pain that was muffled by the muzzle and collapsed on the hardwood floor. The agent sighed again.

“I read you the rules, Mr. Cipher. No funny business while in custody. We’ve been watching you, and we know what you’re capable of. Keep that up and we’ll knock you unconscious again. That’s a promise, kiddo.”

Bill squinted in reply.

“When you’re ready to talk, let Trigger know. Until then, please stay quiet. I prefer the lights to be on.”

The agent tossed the remote to his partner and turned swiftly to stride towards the door. Bill shot Trigger an enraged glare. Trigger didn’t even blink.

“But, if we need to,” Powers tilted his head back into the room, “I’ll blow the fuses in this place to keep you at bay.”

The door slammed shut. Bill slumped. Trigger faced the window.

Bill was quick to jump to the Mystery Shack when the agents arrived that morning, for he knew they weren’t there to question Pines’ questionable morals. He knew they were there because of the missing vats of waste. The demon’s notorious smooth talking did not nothing but stall the inevitable. Stan was promptly arrested, and when Bill attempted to stop it, three elephant tranquilizers struck the back of his neck.

He may be a powerful dream demon, but his body was still a human one. When he woke an hour later, Bill found himself behind bars and virtually immobilized.

The demon cursed himself for being so careless. He cursed Stanley for being so careless. He cursed himself right back around for not checking to make sure Stanley wasn’t careless.

Now, the twins were going to be placed god-knows-where and he and Stan would be taken to the Pentagon and questioned and tortured and-

No. No, not Stanley. Bill could take it. Bill could take the human torture. Nothing the humans could come up could compare to the Nightmare Realm. But Stan? No, no he couldn’t take it. Prison was rough, sure, but the American government when they wanted answers was tougher. Bill couldn’t let him take it.  

So he stood back up, shifting balance between his two feet to steady himself since his arms were out of commission.

He weakly focused all of his psychic energy towards Trigger’s hand. If he could just grab the wrist and yank it over here --

BZZZZZZZZZZTTT.

Bill scrunched his face into a pained grimace as he yelped in pain again, arching his back and falling to his knees again.

“Hey! No FUNNY BUSINESS!”

Bill opened his eye and saw Trigger pointing the remote at him. Bill muffled a snide remark before furrowing his brow in concentration again. New plan. He had to get rid of this damned collar --

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ ---

Another shock. The voltage doubled. Bill collapsed again, his eye welling up with tears of pain but he knew he had to continue pulling on the collar and fighting to save Stan, to save F-

--ZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZ--

The lights flickered. The voltage tripled. Bill screamed louder. Even the muzzle couldn’t hide the agony and torment in his battle cry. His knuckles were white underneath the jacket. His usually tanned skin was a dark pink. The collar began to spark and crack. Trigger gulped.

The voltage was its highest capacity. The average human would be dead by now.

---Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z--

But Bill kept fighting, his arms spazzing in the jacket and ripping its seams, his voice hoarse from screaming, his neck the color of raw meat. The demon’s determination far outweighed the pain of his electrocution--

---Z  Z  Z  Z  Z T T T.

…

“Hey! Wha-WHA!?”

Bill hadn’t even registered that the shocks had ceased.

He opened his eye. Trigger was a few feet off the ground and only heading upwards. In fact, everything in the containment room was ascending. He looked down at his own dangling feet in bewilderment, sure he could levitate on his own but this was completely involuntary.

Almost as if a gravitational anomaly was in process.

Bill’s breaths were labored and heavy from his torture, but he seized his chance in that split second and telepathically ripped the collar off of his neck.

Not even thirty seconds had past before everything came crashing back to Earth. Trigger grunted as his tailbone hit the floor.

The buckles to his straight jacket snapped and popped as he forced his way out of it. His arms ripped free. Bill smirked under the muzzle and laughed as he sent a telepathic message to the agent.

It seems like you don’t really get the GRAVITY of the situation!

Trigger began to panic. “Oh no, oh no-” His fingers darted to his ear, “This is Agent Trigger requesting--”

The guardian snapped his fingers and the agent collapsed onto the ground, knocked unconscious by a surge of telepathic waves. Bill was weakened heavily by his electrocution but a simple trick was easy enough. Adrenaline sure was hell of a drug.

The agent’s flop to the floor was accompanied by the door swinging open and slamming against the wall. Bill snapped his head, a mad expression on his face to warn the intruder of his power. It softened into a sigh of a relief when he saw the equally enraged Stan Pines. “MMMPH-” Bill cried as he slammed into the bars.  

“Jeez, Cipher, don’t be so happy to see me--wait, oh hell, what did they do to you…” Stan looked at the demon up and down before rushing to Trigger’s unconscious body to grab the keys. “I assumed the worst, but electric collar, sheesh, what do they think you are, an animal?”

The muzzle was ripped off soon after. Bill coughed weakly. “But… agh... but luckily my knight in shining armor came to rescue me.”

Stan unlocked the prison and swung open the gate with a smirk, “Can it, Patchy, we got less than fifteen minutes ‘til it opens. Get your butt out here.”

“You got it, boss.” Bill fake saluted and wriggled the rest of the straight jacket off. He followed Stan out the door and racing down the hallway. Bill snapped his fingers and Blubs’ and Durland’s pinata exploded in a flurry of confetti and candy.

That should at least keep them occupied for a little bit.

The two men ran out the door and crossed the street. Stan gave orders to a taxi driver as Bill assessed the damage to his town from the anomaly.

His train of thought was interrupted by a swift smack to his forearm, and the demon followed Stan behind an overturned car. “They’re getting away!”

Bill nudged Stan with his elbow, “Impressive, Pines.”

“Yea well, you pick up a few things here and there on the road.” He jerked his head towards the backroads, “Com’on we got less than ten minutes.”

“You got it, chief.” Bill nodded and trailed the conman back to Shack.

The sky was erupting in lightning strikes and waves of color. If one didn’t know any better, they’d assume the end of the world. The sunset was mad, bursting into fits of energetic rage as it threw its massive tantrum.

Bill looked up at the Shack against the raging colors and bit his lower lip.

“Com’on, com’on, we’ve barely got a few minutes!” Stan sputtered and hastily pulled the door open.

The two ran into the Shack as Stan skidded to a stop in front of the vending machine to punch in the code. Once it unlocked, the two then stormed down the stairs, the soles of their shoes stomping down on the wooden stairs going two at a time to save those mere milliseconds. Lower and lower and faster and faster until--

“DON’T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!”

The moment of calm.

The final second of silence.

“Pine Tree… Please back away. You don’t understand, you just have to--”

“What, TRUST YOU?” The boy turned towards the door, his eyes wide, “I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU TWO ARE!”

His sister stepped forward, “Bill--what did they DO to you--” She held her hands to her mouth as tears spilled onto her cheeks. The portal sparked and spun behind her.

Bill forgot for a moment that his neck was as red and blistered as the sky outside. He offered a quick smile, “No no, nothing--”

“Mabel, he’s a LIAR! BOTH of them are! Didn’t you see the newspapers? The real Stan Pines is DEAD! It’s all been a giant scam! And Bill’s been in on it THIS WHOLE TIME!”

Bill’s heart was beating in his ear drums. Every thump sent a jolt of soreness from his veins. His eyes darting from the kids in front of him to the man next to him and back to the kids. His mind raced a mile a second.

“I know it seems nuts,” The conman walked gently over towards his kids, “But if you just let me explain--”

What to do, what to do -- he couldn’t use his powers, he was still weak from the police station and trying to battle forces with the portal would be fruitless. He didn’t want to hurt them -- who was he kidding, he couldn’t hurt them -- but he didn’t know how to get them away from the button.

Stan’s watch beeped.

“BRACE YOURSELVES!”

A burst of energy pulsed from the portal as it sprung to life. Everyone ascended towards the ceiling.

Everyone except Mabel, whose shoe was caught on a stray wire.

“MABEL! HURRY! SHUT IT DOWN!”

Dipper lunged himself from the wooden beam towards his Grunkle and pushed him through the air. Bill tried to drift over to help him but was swiftly tackled by the repairman. The demon grunted out in pain as he tried to shove Soos off of him, but to no avail. He was too weak and the repairman was too strong.

“I’m sorry dood!” Soos cried as he held the demon in a headlock, “But I’M the one who's gotta protect these kids now!”

“QUESTION MARK, NO! LET ME GO--” Soos’ arm around his scalded neck made the demon completely helpless. The intensity of pain stemming from the blistered skin blurred his vision. He kicked and swatted and clawed but the handyman’s grip only got stronger. Bill choked.

“MABEL, YOU GOTTA TRUST ME!”

“Grunkle Stan… I don’t even know if you’re my Grunkle…!”

“SH-SHOOTING STAR!” Bill wheezed, her floating tears broke his heart, “PLEASE--”

“B-Bill! I-I don’t know… You don’t tell me ANYTHING about who you are, where you came from! I-I don’t know how you are either, I want to believe you but--”

“Then listen! Remember this morning when Bill and I said we wanted to tell you something--”

Another pulse from the portal threw the men against the wall.  

“MABEL! SHUT IT DOWN!”

“NO! MABEL, PLEASE!”

“MABEL--”

Bill screamed as loud as he could, “LISTEN, I MADE A VOW TO QUENTIN TREMBLY LONG AGO THAT I WOULD BE THE GUARDIAN OF THIS TOWN!” He squirmed from underneath Soos’ grasp, “I MADE THAT VOW BECAUSE I LOVED HIM! AND I LOVE YOU JUST MUCH! PLEASE, IF ANYTHING, BELIEVE THAT!”

Mabel’s teary eyes shifted towards her grunkle’s.

“SWEETHEART! YOU GOTTA TRUST ME. I KNOW IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE BUT EVERYTHING I CARE ABOUT, EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE, IS FOR THIS FAMILY!”

Dipper turned towards his sister, “WHAT IF HE’S LYING? LISTEN TO YOUR HEAD, MABEL!”

“I SWEAR! I SWEAR TO THE THREE OF YOU WE’RE NOT LYING! SH-SHOOTING…”

Bill’s vision was worsening. The shooting pain from his neck along with the lack of oxygen weakened the demon to the point where he thought he was going to faint.

Lightning flashed from the portal. Its colors whirled and spun behind the girl. Bill’s heart ached.

“Grunkle Stan… Bill…”

The demon gulped.

“I trust you.”

A blinding flash.

Reality was ripping at the seams. The dimension split. Bill gasped for air as his neck was released but oxygen was nowhere to be found. And in that moment, he was real and unreal, alive and dead, heart pounding in his eardrums as the deafening silence of the interdimensional padding made his headache.

And then Bill felt himself falling.

He felt himself hit the ground with a powerful thud that sent a shockwave of pain up his spinal cord.

“The author of the journals....”

His vision cleared. He blinked away the spots. His heart pounded adrenaline through his veins as he witnessed the figure climb the mound of rubble and unveil his face.

“My brother.”