Or, Bill and Dipper meet once again, in a dimension far far away

———

His other self and Mabel were there when Bill awoke, despitehis and Stan’s best efforts.

A small part of him wasn’t surprised, because he knew Mabel
and he knew Dipper like he knew himself (he really needed to stop that but he
couldn’t help himself.) He knew that despite his repeated claims that he could
take care of himself just fine, and they would probably die if they stayed, that
Dipper and Mabel were going to find some way to stay by his side.

That was only a small part of Alcor. The rest of him was
torn between fury that they had put themselves in danger and sick with fear
that they were going to get hurt.

He pinched his nose and counted to ten, which had always
worked when he had been raising- er, watching
Toby, and tried to not notice that the gateway was going to open at any
second.

Before either of them could react, Alcor had grabbed the
pair of them by their collars, and blipped them up to their room in the attic,
dumping them on Mabel’s bed. They opened their mouths to protest but were
silenced by a look from Alcor.

“You two are staying up here,” he said as sternly as possible,
drawing upon centuries of nibling wrangling experience.

“But you need us!”
Dipper cried out, clutching that damn journal.

Alcor raised an eyebrow, even as his internal voice cried
that he didn’t have time for this Bill
was stirring, and crossed his arms.

“The only thing you can do down there is die,” he said
bluntly, ignoring the crestfallen faces on Dipper and Mabel. “And I don’t need
you two getting in the way and getting hurt.”

“But-“

It hurt Alcor to shut Mabel down but he needed to get down
to the basement now.

“S̝̞̲̬͍̫͓t͏a̦̘̣͇͕y̳̰  ͇̞̤̦̖̮̪͡H̠̞̞̙̘͕e̟̤̹͍̖͉r̷̟̗̹ḛ̷.̩̞̯̥̪͇” Alcor
gritted out, and quickly blipped himself on the other side of the door.

He touched the frame and it alit with blue fire. There was
absolutely no way they were getting out of this room.

Belatedly, he realized that he probably should have taken
them to where Stan and Soos and Wendy were outside of town but there was no
time because on the edges of his conscious he could hear the beginnings of a
grating, awful, hateful laugh.

A laugh he knew far too well, even after all these years.

He fell through the floors of the Shack and landed in the
basement just in time to see a hole rip in reality (uncomfortably close to the
one he used to force his way to this dimension) and a white, inhumanly long arm
shove its way out. It was quickly followed by another, and then another, limb
after noodly limb tipped in needle like claws, creeping like a spider out of
the rift. Blue lightning arced across the room and a dark cloud filled with a
thousand lidless eyes poured out into the basement from the rift.

Finally, the source of the arms and eyes and the wavering of
the air around him appeared through the rift. A small red triangle with a
blazing black eye.

“Bill.”

Not only did the eye on Bill’s body widen, but so did every
one of the eyes in the dark cloud surrounding him.

“Well, well, well!
Pine Tree! My how you’ve grown!” The demon circled around Alcor, taking in the
wings, the golden brick lines and void dark stealing across his body, the third
eye opening across his forehead. One of the hands snaked towards Alcor viper
fast and it disintegrated before it touched him.

Bill eased back a bit. “So kid, you stole yourself a few
tricks? Don’t think that will do you much good here.”

Alcor willed himself to stay silent, to not let Bill get a
rise out of him. He felt tendrils reach out towards his mind, his magic, his
soul, and with a motion of his hand blasted them away. He could feel Bill’s
shock, and outwardly saw his eye narrow.  

“Not bad. Noooooooot baaaaaad. Feels good, doesn’t it, to be
able to take what you want? Do what you want?”

He let Bill’s words wash over him. Maybe in the wake of the
Transcendence, or even a few hundred years ago, the words of his nemesis would
have dripped like poison honey in his ears, sent him to the floor in crippling self-doubt
and hatred.

He was old now, though. Old enough to see everyone he had
ever love be taken away from him, old enough to have succumbed to rage, to the
lust for blood and flesh and bone and soul.

Old enough to be a monster. And old enough to not care.

Also old enough to know that being silent in the face of
taunting was a great way to throw off one’s enemies, so he just stood there,
crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow like the little shit Stan had called
him the other day.

This was enough to drive Bill over the edge. “Come̥͇̱͔̩̹
o̤͕̘n͞.̭̮ ̬D͈O̩̠ ͉̬̀S͎̭O̧̺͔̻̣̞M̩̼͙͇͉͖̭E̘͍͉̜̹͕T̼̞͖̰H̡̺̭I͚N̝̞̣̟͟G̮̤̖͍͖̪.͉!”
the triangle yelled.

Perhaps in a different situation, Alcor would wonder why
this Bill seemed to be less….not as smart or devious as the Bill he knew. More
brawn than brain maybe? It’d explain the difference in plans and the differ-

Bill shot a beam of fire and punched a hole straight through
Alcor’s stomach.

In response, Alcor blipped out of the house and into the
forest nearby, closing the hole in his torso as he did. His other self and
Mabel were in the attic, and this was going to be a nasty fight; it’d
completely defeat the purpose of having them in a safe room if he brought the
house down around them.

Bill followed after him, and roared, setting the entire forest on fire.

Luckily Stan, Wendy, and Soos had spent all of yesterday
evacuating the town, so Alcor didn’t have to worry about anyone getting hurt
(except now he did, didn’t he, and focus-.)

He landed on the ground, and it shook under his feet. If
Bill wanted to get showy, so could he.

The next few hours passed in a blur.

Bill and Alcor tore and ripped at each other, golden blood
spilling from constant wounds on both of their bodies, and mingling in puddles
on the ground below. Their shapes were constantly shifting, becoming more and
more monstrous, each of them trying to find a form that would let them crush
their enemy beneath their claws and fangs.

The tremors which had started in Gravity Falls began to
spread, the earth shaking further and further afield (and in Bend, Stan looked
at the direction of Gravity Falls just as Wendy ran up, pale as a ghost and
holding a note in her hand.)

Alcor ripped every eye out of the cloud surrounding Bill
with one barked word, sending the demon screaming into the ground. However, a
glowing arm snaked out and ripped off one of his wings before he had a chance
to stop him. The momentum swung him around the triangle, and Alcor took the
opportunity to rip into Bill with his fangs, tearing oblong chunks out of the
other demon. Bill thrust a claw into Alcor’s right eye, burning it out. He let
the pain wash over him, riding out the waves even as he called hot winds to
scour the other demon to ash and bone.

They broke out of their embrace as the winds came, giving
Alcor a moment to catch his breath as Bill dealt with his distraction. He had
told himself not to expect an easy fight, but even he had to admit he was
getting winded. His wing was taking longer to heal and return than usual, and
it was becoming hard even for him to maintain his foothold on the physical
plane.

So go to the Mindscape
doofus, his inner Mabel prodded him.

Inner Mabel almost always had good advice, so he let himself
fade into the grey world of the Mindscape, his wounds closing and his wing
fleshing out as he did so.

Bill came tearing in afterwards, the dark cloud of eyes
twice as large and billowing in the plane of dreams than in reality.

“I̞ ̠̳͖̜̭̯͔͠s̩̻͝h͙͔̱̺͝o̦̖̹͈u͍̦̝̥̦l̢̺͖d̹̟ͅ
͕̘̺̣͎͕͟h̡̳͚ḁv̞ȩ͈̣̲͍ ͎̞g͔̘̩͓̹͈̮uę̦̱̞̭̻̙s̙͉͞s̤̣̼̜e͏̰̘̺d̖̞̖̜͓͇́
y̞͔͖̫̥o̤̭̬̯̩̹̬ư̲̖ ̥̮̻͉̫͉̰w̲ọu̵̝̦̜ͅl͇͎͟d ̤r͎̟̗̜̭u̵̜̤̣͓̘͓̟n͖͠
̦̮̙̞̱͡a̟̗̞̠͇͝n̤͚̜͙̣͎͟ḍ̫̠̜͉͇ ̤̣͉̰̝̖̬̕h͉͍̺ị̗͓̭͎d͍͕̱̮͙̭e͕͍ ̙͎̼̗P̧i͕̖̪͖̯ṋ̸̗̰͙e
̯̺̤͇̪͡T̬̲͍̻r̭͉e̬̣̫̻̬͠e!” Bill clucked, looking at Alcor on the ground.

Alcor probably shouldn’t feel this way but he was kind of
disappointed at the level of banter he was getting from this dimension’s Bill.
He had a feeling that his Bill would
have eaten this one for lunch.

“Am I hiding?” Alcor purred. He dug his fingers into the
ground. A massive hole opened up under Bill, red and black swirling lights and
bolts of black lightning shooting out from it. It immediately sucked the eye
cloud in and the isosceles demon screamed in pain.

“H͍̭̹͍̙͕o̙̖̺w͕͕̜
͓̼Ḍ̩̜͘A̫̝͉̥͚̟͝Ŕ͙Ę̱̙͕͙̖ ̼͝ỳ̦͈̗̖̪͚o̼̳̪̞͖u̢͈̬̟͕̳͚-̘͠” Bill struggled
against the pull of the portal. “I̩̥̲ ̗͓̫͖h̛̞̹a̠̫̖̬v̬̯̹ͅe̠̬͉͖̞
̲͇̼̼͎w̖̝͓͖o͉͎̞͇͙̗͜r̳̜̦̟̺̀k̺͍e̴̠̜̠̬̝̘d͝ ̞t͕̰̱͇o̭͖̥̺̟o̲̖̺
̟͞l̬̯̹͙̩ͅo̡͖̞̱̖͉ͅn̟g̱̞̮̥͍ ̵̗̻̼̬t͓͕̗̹͔ọ̡͓ ҉̥͍̭͎̹̪b̜̦̙͈͕͟e̲͖̠̰̺͕̼
͠s̨̮͔̦̩͎̻t̞ó͍͙̺̖ͅp̮͍̗̱̫̳p̧̺̝̩͎e͈͙͖̘͔ͅd̳̦̯̘̱ ̤̯̖̘̀by̧ ͝s̶̩om̟͕̭̯e͙̥̞̼̗
̱̪͟p̯͈̘͖͝a̜̩͙̘͙̹r̶̖̟͚̬͔v̴̫͓̯͇̟͈͍e͚̗̬̞̯͈n̜̖͟u͖̙͍ ̱̩͙̦̟̯̠c̯͙̠̗̼̹h͎i̟̳̯̬̱̗ld̨̙
̨͖̫̠͇̘̲̩w̶͓͎i̘ț̢h ̯̫̞̫͔̭c̗r̙͝u̺̳͜m̤̙͞b̬̗͕̳̙s̗̲ ̞̞̺͈̩̰͓o̰͖̠͖͇͖̕f̩͇͙̘͈̠
̫̖s̠̝͓to̪l͍̩̪̞͈͘e̬̩̟̥̭̤͞n̜̱͚̗̥ ̴̜̖͉̹p̺̦̜o̻̩w̥̳e̠̩̪̠̖r̖!”

Don’t stoop to his
level bro-bro, you’ll regret it, inner Mabel advised him, but Alcor couldn’t
help but let out a grin, even as he motioned and massive hands of earth ripped
from the ground to further push Bill back into the seal he had broken out of
earlier.

“But it’s this upstart that’s making sure you never com-“

“DIPPER! DIPPER WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Bill and Alcor both froze. His blood ran cold.

Oh no. Oh no he knew
that voice and oh god no.

Confirming his worse fears, a second voice rang out from the
physical plane. “Mabel? MABEL! Seriously, we probably shouldn’t have left the
attic.”

“But what if Alcor is in trouble?”

“He’s a demon Mabel.”

Bill’s main eye widened as he heard the twins, and looked at
Dipper.

“You took your sister’s soul? Whoa there Pine Tree, even I wouldn’t do that!”

The triangle glowed bright, blinding red. “Oh ho ho, t͔͉h̸̺̜i͇̘̼͟s̙̩̳͚̭̥͞
̨̯̦̲̭̱̣̳i̠͖̟s̮̜̞͖͔̠̠ ̞͙̤̮̠̪͔g͖o͉̠i̶͖̲̩͇̜ng̱̦̬ ̯̰̜̪̻͕̳t̟̤͚̟̞̝o͍ ͓̬͖̱b͇̻͈͇͕e̛͉̩̫̘͚͚͎ fu̞̟͍̲̱̬̫ņ̼̳͇!̴̯͓͉̲” and with a wrench he ripped himself free of Alcor’s
hold and rocketed back into reality.

You got cocky,
inner Mabel reminded him, which was really the last thing he needed.

A scream ripped across two planes, and there was a violent
wrench in his soul, worry and fear and pain and terror in a massive bloody mix
that made him feel sick to his stomach but it wasn’t coming from him it was
coming from-

Mabel.

He tore his way onto the physical plane with a roar of fury
only to stop dead at what he saw.

There was Dipper, fighting against a barrier of fire, blood
pouring down his arms as he tried again and again to thrust them into the wall separating
him from Bill, throwing himself into the flame regardless of the cost to
himself.

And there, dangling in one of Bill’s spindly spider like
limbs was Mabel, going blue in the face and clawing at the hand that held her,
her face, her throat, fighting for air and failing to get it.

Before he came to this dimension, and throughout the summer,
Alcor knew without a doubt that he could not lose this fight, could not damn
his family and friends (oh and the world too) to the Hell that Bill would bring
to them. Time and time again Alcor tried to remind himself to keep his cool
when he fought, to deal with the triangle as quickly and cleanly as possible.

He could feel Mabel’s struggles like they were his own, the
rapid closing of her throat, the black edges around her vision, the mindless
panic coming from his other self.

“Say goodbye Pine Tree,” Bill crowed, and another hand
grabbed his sister’s head and began to turn-

Alcor screamed.

But later Dipper wasn’t sure if scream was the right word for
it, not when it split the ground asunder in two, a crack that stretched from
Gravity Falls to the Pacific Ocean, and made the earth quake from California to
Florida.

A scream that brought the blood pouring out of his ears,
even as it brought down the wall of flame he had been fighting.

The cloud of eyes dissolved once again, each eye screaming
in pain before disappearing, and Bill’s limbs vanished as well. Mabel started
to free fall, but suddenly slowed, some unseen force gently lowering her to the
ground, buffeting her fall. Dipper ran to be under her and caught his sister.

He looked at his other self and didn’t need to be told
twice. Shifting Mabel in his arms, Dipper ran back to the Shack.

“N̰O̝̮̠!̤̹͚̭͖̥” Bill cried. He grew larger, the bright red
of his bricks turning dark like blood. “D͟ơ̼ ̷y̧̟ọ̘u̥̤̼͞
͕̻̹̣̲̥̤͠h̰̘͈̟̬̫a͙̮̹͡ve ̝̹̬a̜͔̩̭̠̤ny̧͍̠ͅ ̙̝̳́i̶̗̙͎ͅd͕̰͞e̘͈̰͈̜͇̫͠ą
͈͖̩͠w̺͓͔̬̜̘͖ḫ͢a̛͙̼̯̪t̤̻̳͎ ́y͏̳͔̟oͅu͚̘͙͔̝͇͞ ̺̪̼ͅj̘͔̰͖̭u̯̬̫̻̟̖̞s̴̟͚̤͍̖t͕̭͙͙
̴͉̜̞̝̥̬co̳͈st͙̗͔̤̙̬͝ ̴͕͓͉̺̰m̸̪̟̮e̼̠?̯̤̫͙̠͚̕ ̻͈I͈̪̻ͅ
̴̳̣̜̲̖͈n̷̗̮͔̰ͅe͏̱̝̦̻̬e͎̺̱͞d͠e̟̦̬͖ͅd t̮͍̲̖ẖ̘̻e̹m͇̫̤
͈̀f͖͔̠o͚̟͇͎͍͚͟r͇̝̭̪̥̗̀-̗̟̯͕͎̤”

Bill froze.

Alcor had come up from behind him, and had grabbed him on
each side.

“You wouldn’t,” Bill said, nervously, trying and failing to
squirm out of Alcor’s grasp.

He had never felt so calm in all the long years of his life,
never felt so right.

Alcor dug his claws in and ripped Bill in half.

The demon’s eye, the source of his power, the seat of his
soul fell to the ground, but before Bill had a chance to regroup himself around
his eye, Alcor had scooped it up in his hands, rendering him helpless.

“Pine Tree, Pine Tree, I know what you’re thinking of doing,
and you shouldn’t, you don’t know what it will cost you, what it will do to
you, no, no no N̸O͎̝O̗͉͙̤̜̮̫O̞̟”

With two, furious bites, Alcor ate the soul of his greatest
enemy.

Alcor waited for the onrush of energy that usually came
after such a meal, but felt…nothing.

Nothing at all.

He waited for another minute, just in case something
happened, then shrugged.

That was….really fucking underwhelming.

He turned back towards the Shack, relieved that the threat
to this dimension was gone.

(Behind him, Alcor left a trail of flaming footsteps, and on
his wings, a pair of eyes opened, and shut again.)