Chapter Text
Dipper didn’t know how, but somehow, they had succeeded. He and Mabel had taken down Gideon’s giant robot, while Stan had revealed Gideon as the fraud he really was, and despite all odds, they were now back home in the Mystery Shack.
Dipper looked at his phone; it was past two am, Mabel was already asleep, hugging as many of her stuffed animals as her arms could handle, but Dipper, even taking his bad insomnia out of the equation, couldn’t fall asleep. The previous day’s hardships still fresh in his mind; What if they had failed? Would they have been back in California by now? Or would they have been dead? Fear and anxiety swirled around in his head, making his heart pump with adrenaline, yet in the end, it wasn’t enough to keep him awake, and soon, Dipper Pines was fast asleep.
Dipper was confused by the grey world he opened his eyes to, but soon realized where he was; the Mindscape. He found himself sitting on a see-saw, the end he was sitting on in the air, despite the fact that there was no weight on the other end to hold him up. The woods surrounding him and the see-saw were rather reminiscent of the forest in Gravity Falls.
“Alright, Bill,” Dipper called out. “I know you’re here! Show yourself!”
“Well, well, well,” the unmistakable voice of the demon sounded as, in a flash of golden light, he appeared. Bill was very small, smaller than when Dipper had met him. The triangle was on the other side of the see-saw, his feet kicking back and forth as they couldn’t reach the ground. “You’re awfully demanding, aren’t you, Pine Tree? Do you always have to spoil the surprise?”
“I don’t care about you or your surprises!” Dipper snarled. “What are you doing in my mind?”
“Geez, relax, Pine Tree,” Bill placated, holding up his hands in a universal gesture of non-violence. “I’m not here to start anything! I just came with a small… proposition I thought might pique your interest.”
“You mean a deal, don’t you?” Dipper replied deadpanned.
“Wow, only met me once and you already know what makes me tick!” Bill exclaimed as the see-saw started to move, raising Bill and lowering Dipper. “Now, I wouldn’t come to you with this, if I didn’t believe you would accept, so you know I must have a pretty good offer!”
“And I know you want something from me in return,” Dipper countered.
“Well, yeah, that’s how deals work!” Bill fired back. “Listen, kid, you want to keep your family safe from me, right? Well fine, I only accepted the deal with Gideon because I needed his help, but if I could receive someone else’s help, someone better, someone who’s even more in tuned to magic than Gideon…” Bill trailed off.
“What does that have to do with me?” Dipper asked suspiciously.
“Put two and two together, kid!” Bill barked out. “Here’s the thing; I’m currently stuck in a dimension with a population of one; me. I want out, your magic, while untapped, is powerful enough to free me. I unlock all your magic potential, giving you more mystical strength than you ever thought possible, said power you are then free to use to protect your family. All I ask in return is that you use that magic to free me from my dimension. Interested?” The see-saw moved once more, leveling them out completely.
“And what are you going to do once you’re free?” Dipper crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive manner.
“What do you care?” Bill hissed, throwing his hands in the air. “Of course, if you say no, I’ll just have to seek someone else out… And who knows? Maybe whoever I find has an even bigger grudge on you or your family than Gideon did. You wanna keep the people you care about safe?” Bill inquired.
Dipper had only blinked, but the grey mindscape had already melted away into a black void, the only light source being Bill who now floated right in front of Dipper, hand stretched out.
Dipper thought through his options; if he rejected Bill’s deal, the demon was more than likely to make a deal with someone else like Gideon, someone who would use the power the triangle offered to gain and conquer whatever they wanted, damn the consequences. And while Dipper couldn’t think of any humans aside from Gideon who wanted his family dead, there were quite a few supernatural creatures who could cause quite a stir with Bill on their side, many of whom had a grudge against the Pines family.
Dipper sighed in defeat. “Alright, Bill… Deal.” Dipper took the demon’s outstretched hand. Blue flames conjured up from their joined limbs, leaving a burning sensation running through Dipper’s hand, all the way to his forehead, where his birthmark started glowing.
“Now, Pine Tree,” Bill started. “Banish me from my dimension! Build up whatever hate and spite you hold towards me, and use it to send me away!”
Dipper focused on all the events that had transpired when the demon had entered his Grunkle Stan’s mind, did his best to build up as much contempt and hatred as he could muster. He could feel some sort of energy flowing through his hands, leaving a tingling feeling, lighting his hands in a blue glow. He collected the glow in a ball in his hands, and threw it towards the triangle. The collision resulted in a blinding light, which forced Dipper to shut his eyes. When he opened them again, it was morning, and he was lying in his bed.