Chapter Text
Dipper was tired. Dipper was so, so tired.
He was laying in a pool of his own blood. Most of it was coming from three deep gashes in his abdomen, some of it coming from small gashes on the rest of his body. Dipper’s hat was missing, most of his shirt was gone, his shorts were torn and ragged, his shoes were gone, and his vest was a ripped up mess, stuffing spilling out of the holes like fluffy guts.
Dipper craned his neck painfully and within his fading field of vision, he spotted Mabel, not to far away, laying on her side. She only had a few minor bruises and gashes.
Not like him. The exact opposite of him really. Mabel would definitely live, in the same way Dipper would definitely die.
He could see Wendy and Soos and Stan. Wendy was stuck in a tree, Soos was on his side, half of him slumped over a rock, and Stan was slumped up against a tree, all of them blown back from the shockwave.
A thick bout of coughing made Dipper painfully turn his head back to it’s original position. His eyes settled on the slumped over form of Bill Cipher.
The dream demon was slumped over, bricks slowly falling out of his body and deteriorating into dust, and black ooze bubbled out of a number of places on his triangular form. His eye was swollen like he’d been punched and his bow tie was askew. His top hat was missing all together.
Dipper managed to croak out.” You look like Hell, Bill.” He let out a painful chuckle as blood dribbled out of his mouth.
The demon looked up at him and squinted, more bricks falling out of his facade.” Look who’s...who’s talking. You’re a mess, kid.” Bill coughed and let out a hollow laugh.” But you...you seem to be forgetting something, Pine Tree.” He coughed and started to push his body up. When he straightened, he looked right at Dipper.” I never lose.”
And then he lunged, but not at Dipper. At Mabel.
Dipper’s eyes widened, letting out hiss of pain as his body moved up, flooded with adrenaline, and he grabbed one of Bill’s arms.
Blue flames crawled up his arm and he pulled back, on his knees. Bill was yanked backwards as his momentum was thrown off, and he let out a yelp.
“Ow! Fine! If you won’t let me get Shooting Star…”Bill hissed and twisted around.”...then I’ll get you!” And he plunged his free arm and hand into Dipper’s chest.
They were instantly thrown into Dipper’s Mindscape.
Dipper watched helplessly as Bill started to tear into Dipper's mind, trying to claim his body and push Dipper out in the process.
In the pine forest that was Dipper’s Mindscape, trees started to die, being overcome with inky black and chipped gold trendels. They started to sink into the earth, to pull the dead trees down with them. The sky started to fade into a black galaxy of almost nothing. Dipper’s whole body started to flicker, like little bricks were falling out of his body, just like Bill.
Just like he was being derezzed in a game.
Bill let out a triumphant cackle.” See, kid! Bill Cipher always wins! I’m going to take your body and make it my own!” Bill raised his arms and tendrils dug deeper into Dipper’s Mindscape.” And then, I’m going to get rid of your family! What do you think I can get away with, now that you’re going to be gone? How much do you think it will take to kill Shooting Star!?”Bill let out a mad cackle at the tendrils dug deeper into Dipper’s mind, pushing new channels and crevices into them.
Dipper let out a scream of rage and charged at Bill, his flickering body solidifying, and slammed his whole weight into Bill, knocking his balance off and halting his progress.
Which is when Dipper started to pull.
He started to pull away Bill’s body, grabbing at bricks and yanking them out as Bill let out an anguished wail for each one Dipper yanked away.
“I-”Dipper dug his fingers into the center of Bill’s body."Will Never-”He grabbed at all of the bricks and yanked them away, Bill’s form falling apart.”Let-”The bricks started to drop like stone, melting into his Mindscape or disappearing altogether.”You-”All that remained was Bill’s eye, which was actually staring at him in wide fear.”Hurt-”Dipper picked up the eye in both hands, his eyes filled with pure, undying rage.”My-” He dug his hands into Bill’s eye-”Sister!”-
and pulled the eye apart.
Bill let out an anguished scream as his whole being was ripped into nothing, leaving only hot blue fire.
Dipper huffed and let out a scream of pure and raw pain as the fire tackled him. Dipper was suddenly yanked back to reality, and his saw the blue fire crawling all over his skin, burning away everything, to leave a void color.
Dipper howled into the sky, feeling once more like he was being derezzed in a game. It turned into anguished screaming and finally a roar of pure and raw pain, something he vaguely recognized as something no human vocal cords should make.
He was aware, somewhere in his mind, that Mabel was being pulled away from him by Stan. Part of him wanted to rip away at him for taking what was his and another was screaming at him to take Mabel away, please, keep her safe.
Dipper howled and screamed “G̢ET AWA̵Y!” digging his hands into his head as he burned. He didn’t notice the weird echo it had. He didn’t notice Stan and Wendy and Soos all back up and stumble in shock.
But he most of all didn’t notice how Mabel was screaming his name, how she was crying out for him, and most certainly how she wailed for Stan to let her go.
He was too busy.
Too busy, Making like a pine tree and burning to the ground.