The combination of all of the aspects, all of the people Dipper cared
about, all of his nightmares reciting his summoning chant in unison was
too good for the demon to ignore, despite the lackluster sacrifice (a
few drops of blood from Acacia, a few odds and ends found in pockets and
the room, not enough for the demon even if the blood alone, being from a
nibling, would have been enough to draw Dipper into the physical world
in a rush).Besides, it wasn’t like anyone else was going to summon the demon
anytime soon, given they were all trapped inside this combination of
mindscape and Gravity Falls, the price of being separated.He appeared in the circle in a spiral of smoke, in a fountain of
sparks, more brutal and efficient than Dipper’s usual showy entrances.
He was already smirking, a taunt ready on his lips over the summoning,
over the sacrifice, over bringing him into the heart of their sanctuary
that he couldn’t have entered on his own, when the binding circle hit
him and his eyes went wide.With a screech of rage that shattered glass and nearly sent everyone
tumbling away from the circle, each of them held upright by the
nightmares, the demon flung himself at the edge of the binding circle.
Tag: psychic singularity
Psychic Singularity Ch 24
The aspects and humans alike scattered, despite evidence that the demon couldn’t pass through the barrier of unicorn hair.
And Acacia and Willow, Innocence and Mischief tumbled out of the protective barrier.
The demon landed, claws drawing furrows in the dirt as he spun and lunged at the aspects.
Acacia and Willow were dragged back into the circle by their brother
and wife and parents as the aspects dodged the attack, driven farther
from the house.The demon paused, and everyone within the house could see him eying
up both Innocence and Mischief, making a decision, before striking out
at Innocence.
Psychic Singularity Ch 23
Darkness snarled softly and turned away from the family, wings giving
a little flair. “I can’t be kind anymore,” he said flatly. “I’ve been
pushing it as it is.”“You call what you’ve been doing kind?” Pacifica asked incredulously.
Darkness turned back in a flash, in her face less than a second
later. “I am Dipper’s Darkness,” he hissed, and Pacifica stiffened,
keeping herself in place through willpower and pride even as every
instinct screamed to get away from the demon. “I am the liar, the
conman, the part that enjoys revenge and being cruel. I should have been
demanding something in exchange for what I’ve done so far. Yes, I have
been being kind. I am still enough Dipper to keep from demanding
anything of you, but it is a close thing, Pacifica. A very, very close
thing.”Pacifica took a long, deep, shaky breath as the aspect backed away,
watching her with flat, blank eyes. Apparently satisfied, he darted up
to the top of the fridge and perched there, watching them all sharply,
legs crossed and one hand tapping out a rhythm on his knee.“I think that’s all we’re getting out of him for awhile,” Ford said
quietly, he and his brother finally standing from where they had still
been talking in low voices on the couch to join the rest of the family
looking into the kitchen. “I was…with him for a bit. Your brother can
be rather vicious when he puts his mind to it.”Mabel glanced at Ford out of the corner of her eye, cautiously hopeful.
The smile Ford gave her in return was a little shaky, steadying as
Stan puts a hand on his twin’s shoulder. “I’ve spent too long avoiding
all of you out of…of misguided guilt and fear,” he said, touching his
brother’s hand. “Can any of you tell us why this happened? How this
happened?” he asked louder, directing it towards the aspects.“You mean, wondering if it was your over-reaction with the holy water
that did it?” Darkness called from the top of the fridge, grinning at
Ford’s wince. Darkness leaned back on one hand, legs still crossed.
“Nah, that was just the last straw.”The rest of the aspects began to talk again, going quiet when Mabel
held up a hand. The demon outside slammed against the shield in the
silence, making everything hung on the walls jump and the house sound
like it was about to collapse, but it stood firm.
Psychic Singularity Ch 22
The trees thinned, and though the bushes, the group could see the Shack.
“Ugh, finally,” Stan said. “Sooner we get in there, sooner we can
start waiting for everyone else to show up and start planning.”Mabel squinted into the brightly lit clearing, shading her face with
her hand, bat over her shoulder. Suddenly she shrieked, everyone around
her wincing away and covering their ears. “Candy! Grenda! Girls!”Ahead, in the clearing, what Mabel had already seen became clear to
the rest as they came out of the bushes and got a better look.What they had thought to be a mass, another monster to try and fight
their way past, on the other side of the building was the Rainbow
Basher, her colors shifting in the uncertain light and making her blend
into the background in ways she never had before.And by the Shack’s door was clustered a group of humans, aspects, and
nightmares, with Candy and Grenda peeling off the group to come hug
Mabel.“We think there’s someone inside the Shack!” Grenda announced. “We gotta get in there!”
“Never ends,” Stan and Ford groaned as one. They glanced at each
other in surprise and dawning hope before turning back to the task at
hand, dismissing it for the moment.“Do you have any idea who might be in there?” Ford asked, mentally
calculating everyone when Grenda and Candy hesitated. “I don’t
see…Willow, I think she’s the only one not here yet? Unless someone
else followed you girls?”They were quiet for a moment, looking between each other. Ford turned
to the aspects around them, addressing them. “Can any of you sense
Willow? Or who might be inside?”The aspects avoided looking at each other, though finally one of
them, Ford believed it was Dipper’s Survival Instinct, spoke up. “ ’s
hard to tell where anyone is,” he said, though he looked as though it
was difficult to admit. “What I’m split like this, my powers aren’t
working like they should.”Ford paused, staring at Survival for a moment in mingled disbelief
and dismay, before continuing. “O…kay. Would have been good to know
that ahead of time. Still, there’s a chance it’s Willow inside. We
should go investigate, but be ready for it to be an ally instead of a
foe.”“And be prepared for random fireballs, since Will didn’t get the
memo,” Acacia added to her brother in a not-so-quiet undertone. Several
aspects had to hide a laugh, looking away innocently when humans or
nightmares turned to look at them.“Let’s get inside,” Mabel declared. “If it’s Will, then it’s still
safe, if not, it feels safer, and we need to regroup. Everyone,
onwards!”With that cry, Mabel led the charge towards the Shack.
Psychic Singularity Ch 21
The Rainbow Basher inched cautiously through the thick woods.
Technically, they’d made the Basher to withstand anything that could be
thrown at it.Problem was, one of the things that might be thrown at it in here was
Dipper, and it was his power that helped make the Basher so
impenetrable. Sure, there was way more than just demon power layered on
the car – armor plating and spells from every species the Pines had made
friends with were nothing to sneeze at – but in here, something just
didn’t feel right.So while normally they would plow through the woods, lights blazing
and speakers blaring, this time they took it inch by inch, with the
humans and one aspect in the cab while the other aspects and nightmares
took the bed of the truck. Vivienne had been in the bed of the truck
along with Childishness and Pettiness, but Horror and the nightmares
inside had insisted upon switching after a few miles, the better to
protect the humans. It went against every nightmare instinct, but it was
what the Master would want, and, if he should come through this whole
and sane, he would help them heal if they were wounded, the nightmares
were sure of it.But there was something out there. Something that was making the
trees groan and threaten to fall, making them reach out branches like
limbs to slow them. Glimpses of something in the woods, a shadow with
blazing gold eyes, and most of them were starting to have an idea of
what it could be, but were hoping they were wrong. If they didn’t say it
out loud, if they didn’t acknowledge it, then it wasn’t true.And slowly, piece by piece, dodging ruts that appeared in front of
them and branches that tried to fall on the Basher, they made their way
towards the Shack.But all of them kept their weapons at the ready, and hoped that this wasn’t something they needed out there.
Psychic Singularity Ch 20
The silence over the older Pines twins was oppressive, almost as oppressive as the air around Remorse.
Darkness was, for once, keeping his comments to himself, instead floating quietly behind the twins.
Not that it was helping Ford’s state of mind any. His thoughts were
still in a whirl, trying to piece together Dipper from the Darkness and
Remorse he and Stanley had found.One of the nightmares – there were so many of them already, and
weren’t demons supposed to only have a few since they had to provide
them power? No, focus Ford, he reminded himself, if Dipper can stand to
speak to you later you can ask him then – led the way towards the Shack
and Stanley’s plan? Hope? That everyone would be there.True, everyone had agreed to meet there, but who knew what lurked in Dipper’s mindscape.
As if the thought had conjured it up, the trees bowed in an unfelt
wind, and Darkness and Remorse pressed closer to their Grunkles.“There it is,” Darkness whispered. “The part you were so afraid of. You think I’m bad? Just wait.”
Psychic Singularity Ch 19
Hank had lost track of how long they had been walking and just what
direction they had been going in. The nightmares were leading the way,
while he and Gravity Falls were distracted keeping Uncle Dipper’s
Curiosity and Adventurer under control.Despite the whining of
both aspects Hank had kept the child leashes, and they hadn’t managed to
get out of them yet. Hank wasn’t questioning how the two aspects hadn’t
managed to wiggle free yet, all things considered – well, okay, he was
questioning, just not out loud where they could hear him and get ideas.It was a good thing that they hadn’t been attacked yet, and Hank was grateful for that, when he had a chance to think.
Still, with all the noise they were making, that was a bit of a miracle.
Gravity
Falls, for their part, was still apparently amused by Curiosity and
Adventurer’s antics, and Hank suspected it was distracting Gravity Falls
from the discomfort or downright pain that came from the circumstances
they found themselves in.Gravity Falls seemed to be extra amused
by how often Curiosity tried to climb trees, resembling a giant cat on a
leash as he did. If it weren’t for the leashes, the two of them would
have lost the aspects long ago.Up ahead, That of Teeth and Bessie
went still in the way only a supernatural creature could, as quiet and
frozen as a statue. At the ends of their leashes, halfway up a tree and
inspecting a bush respectively, Curiosity and Adventurer mimicked them,
all four looking in the same direction.Sharing a glance with
Gravity Falls, Hank shifted his weight to his good leg, hefting the
staff Aunt Candy had given him that he’d been using as a walking stick,
getting it into position for an attack.Hank didn’t allow himself to relax when two more of Uncle Dipper’s sheep shoved their way through the underbrush.
Psychic Singularity Ch 17
Reina had known the Pines family since she was little. She thought
she had seen pretty much everything they could throw at her. She’d grown
up in Gravity Falls, her uncle-in-law was a demon, she was part of the
Pines family now for goodness sake!But she wasn’t prepared for any of this.
Lying on her back and staring up at the grey-blue sky, Reina wondered
again just what it was Acacia saw in her. She loved Acacia with all her
heart, but she didn’t love all…all this. The danger, and the
violence…Acacia was worth it, but Reina was…normal. Not exciting. An
accountant, for fuck’s sake!Groaning softly, Reina pushed herself up into a sitting position,
burying her face in her arms for a moment. It didn’t matter right now
either way. Maybe she should have stayed at the Community Center…no.
No, she wanted to stay at the Community Center, but Acacia needed her
uncle back, and while Reina and Dipper didn’t always see eye to eye, she
loved him.Acacia would find her, sooner or later, and they’d get Uncle Dipper back together, and everything would go back to normal.
Psychic Singularity Ch 16
Melody woke up with her face buried in something soft, warm, and faintly smelling of raspberries.
She squeaked and flailed, finally managing to pull her face from the
wool of a nightmare, who was watching her with a mixture of concern and
amusement, which was an interesting expression for a sheep.“Well,” she said, sitting back on her heels. “That was different.”
The sheep nodded solemnly, a second coming up to nudge at Melody’s
shoulder. Melody worked herself up to her feet, patting herself off. “I
missed your names in all the confusion,” she commented.“M̢a͝r̴y,” the nightmare she’d faceplanted into said, while the other baaed out, “Gra̕sblut̡tr͟in̵k͜er͏.”
Melody paused for a moment before shrugging. “Grass…blood drinker?
Okay. Right. Anyway.” She looked around, hands on hips, and sighed.
“Yeah, I have no clue where we are. That was…” she sighed again.Really, Melody thought she’d gotten used to things in Gravity Falls
since moving there permanently. She’d even gotten used to Soos’
not-quite-but-totally-was little brother being a literal demon now, even
if it killed her sometimes to remember how small he’d been when the
Transcendence happened, the few times she’d seen him before it all went
down.“I’m getting too old for this,” Melody muttered, before clapping her
hands, startling the nightmares. “Right! No more complaining! Off we
go!” She paused again, looking around at the unfamiliar landscape.
“Which way do you vote?”Both nightmares did their equivalent to a shrug, before Mary said, “This
wa̷y̶,҉ p̧erha̶ps? I͝ ̸bel͘i̶ev̕e i̴n t̛his ̶pla͘c͜e ͢t̷h͢ąt ͘o̢ur͢
in̢tentio͞ns҉ ̕coun͜t a̧s mưc͜h as ̸our di͘re͞c͘tions͠.”“Eh, sounds as good of a plan as any,” Melody agreed. “Ugh, wish I’d worn better shoes today for hiking.”
Psychic Singularity Ch 10
Acacia skidded to a stop in a three point landing, shoes kicking up
dust and with the bow Aunt Candy had given her ready in her free hand
and her brass knuckles ready on her supporting hand.Her
assigned sheep, Killer and Darcrack, skidded to a stop beside her, alert
and on edge, teeth bared. Killer’s short wings were flared, and
Darcrack’s barbed tail was poised and ready.After a few moments the trio relaxed a touch, straightening from their defensive crouches.
“…okay,”
Acacia said, hefting the bow she’d picked earlier. It had taken a long
time to get used to using one with only one eye, but Pines stubbornness
won out in the end. “So that happened. Who votes we find as many bits of
Uncle Dipper as we can and drag them back to the Shack so we can make
him apologize for scaring us and make him talk it out?”The
two nightmares baaed with glee, rearing up a little and kicking their
front legs, Killer flapping her tiny wings and Darcrack lashing his tail
in approval.“All right then,” Acacia said, projecting
cheerfulness and confidence as hard as she could. “Let’s go then –
either one of you have a lead?”Killer and Darcrack
lowered their heads together, conferring quietly. Finally, just when
Acacia was starting to really get impatient, waiting with crossed arms
and tapping foot, they raised their heads to look at her somberly.“We
can sen͡se ̶o̕n͞e, poss̸ib͟ļy t͟wo͞,” Killer said. “B̧u̢t̡ t͟he̕y̧
̧a͘re̶ n̶o̶t̡ ̕f͡r̷i͜e͠nd̸ly pa͠rt҉s̢ ǫf yo͡ur̶ un̵c̛le, our M̶ast̷er.
͘Th̢e͜y ̴ar͝e ̡dangȩrou͠s.”Acacia scowled, squaring her shoulders. “Uncle Dipper can’t recover unless we find all the pieces, though, right?”
Obviously reluctant, Killer and Darcrack agreed that that was, in fact, the case.
“Then
we got find all the pieces,” Acacia said firmly. “Come on, let’s get
moving. What’re you so scared of? We’re some of the scariest things
around here.”“Not as͠ s͝c̨ar͜y͠ a͏s ̧t͡h̡e̡ ͜Ma͏ster
m̴ig͜ht ̸b͝e͜…” Killer whispered, scuffing a hoof against the leaves
underfoot, Darcrack nodding agreement beside the tiny, normally fearless
nightmare.Acacia shot a grin at the nightmares over her
shoulder. “Anybody tell you about the time Uncle Dipper scared the shit
out of me? I’ve got him back since but man, does he still feel so
guilty…”Ears pricking forward, the nightmares trotted up to flank their human.
“Bu̡t̛
th̵e M͡a͜s͜t͝e͢r̡ c͞ares͝ abo̸ut y͢o͡u͜ a͢n̵d ̴y̕o̸ur ̶s͢ib̡li͞n̷g͝s͢
͡m̸or̶e̛ ͘than̶ a̛n͘ythi͢n̸ģ,” Killer said, and Acacia laughed again,
less forced than before.“Yeah, but he still screws up. Okay, so were were five, okay? And this cultist decides to come visit…”
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