꧁𓊈* (-) *𓊉꧂
Edited on 08/21/2023
Thank you, come again," The voice of a bored teenager grunted out from behind the counter of the mobile phone shop. (Y/n) turned her new phone over in her hand, her old one sitting in the palm of the other. Beside her, the demon in yellow stood tall, looking down at the two items in curiosity. Her old phone was shattered from her fall off the bridge, though luckily for her, she was able to transfer all her data to the new one, which she threw into a nearby trashcan as she strode by.
"I don't understand why you humans need those silly items," Bill said with a hum, watching as (Y/n) opened the messenger app to look through any messages she might have missed during the two days she couldn't use it. She was met with nothing but a blank screen and some game update notifications. "They're just pale imitations of magic."
"Well, unlike you, we don't have the natural ability to talk to one another through thoughts long distance," she said simply, twisting the device in her hand for a moment. This one was that same size as her old one, though thinner and sleeker this time. It was also a pretty shade of (f/c) with a black pop socket on the back, the pattern of a forest drawn within the shape of a triangle printed on the back, which Bill had insisted she get. Foreshadowing, the (h/c) guessed.
"That's a real shame," he confirmed with a chuckle, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black pants.
"I'm glad I had some money saved up from before Ford found me, but I might need to find a job soon," (Y/n) said with a sigh. "Especially if I want to buy this car. Or maybe I'll go with a bike, so I'll be harder to track and easier to take short cuts through the woods."
Bill perked up. "A car? Why?"
"Because it's not normal for a person to be running through the woods at inhuman speeds around here, Cipher," she said simply, mentally trying to pick between the two. "I guess I'll go for the car," she added with a mutter of thoughtfulness, opening google on her new phone to check for any car places nearby. There was a single used-car dealership in town, apparently. At least there was one at all, she reminded herself.
"We could also swing by Gideon's place and lure him outside, to try to find his gem thing," she added, looking to the demon for his thoughts. He nodded slowly at her words, a grin breaking out across his lips.
"I would love to see the local second place con-artist in town, it's been a while since we've caught up," he said with a wild gaze ahead. (Y/n) looked up at him for a moment after looking over the directions for later, pushing the item into her back pocket.
"Number two? Who's first?" She asked with a risen brow, the man in yellow looking down at her for a moment, grinning.
"Why Stanley, of course! He used to run the Mystery Shack up in the woods, remember? He made a lot of cash tricking shallow tourists into thinking they needed a half-hat-- which is a hat cut in half, making him twice the amount of cash per item-- or back when the Cow-Bug was a thing of local legend. Basically, he spray painted a cow red and put black spots all over its back like a ladybug. He also put one of those pipe cleaner antenna headbands on it and took its picture in the lowest quality camera he could find. He would make people pay to see it, too," he added with a laugh, the female beside him smiling loosely at the idea.
That sounds like Stan," she said with a shake of her head. "Do you know where the kid lives?"
"Of course, Zodiac, I know everything about the people in this town. What time they go to bed, their deepest wishes, their worst fears, who they fantasize about having inter-" (Y/n) cut him off.
"Okay, okay, thanks for that last bit, I really needed that." She said with a snap, making the man laugh. (Y/n) all but shivered and recoiled at the idea, blinking hard while trying to block the thought from her head. Goddamnit, he knew what he was doing to mess with her, and she had let him.
"How do you feel about messing with the little teen, hm? With your mind reading and my sight, I'm sure we can mess him up a bit. Enough to have some fun before getting him to tell us where the pendent was broken."
"I thought you said you knew everything," she said with a smirk, making the demon snap his gaze toward her with a frown.
"I do, that happened while I was elsewhere. Plus, what fun would be had if I just gav you the answers," he said with a roll of his golden eye.
"Oh? Doing?" (Y/n) asked with a humous tease, falling behind Bill as he began to take the lead, most likely to Gideon's house.
"Well, I was actually trying to find a way out of the weirdness barrier," he said with a sigh. "When Fordsy started up that little portal of his, it created the bubble around Gravity Falls because of something he did, so the last time I was here, I was able to leave freely. Until he got sucked through it, that is."
"Oh, that big triangular thing you commented on?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head, thinking back to last time they were at the Mystery Shack and he talked about the large, concreate basement and what was hidden inside to rust. Bill snapped his fingers proudly.
"That would be the one!" he declared with prideful stride. As they walked, the two made small talk back and forth between themselves, passing by block after block of stores and homes before stopping in front of the car dealership. A sign painted with large, white and red lettering read 'Gnar's Used Cars', the name alone making the (h/c) female cringe. Catching the keys that were tossed at her by the dealer, (Y/n) now had an official car of her own. It wasn't much, a simple red colored pick-up with peeling paint and rust in some spots of the exposed shell. But, it was hers. She got into the driver's side and a started the vehicle up, the demon getting in on the other side.
"I still don't understand why you got this of all means of transportation, Zodiac," he said with a tone of distaste. "All you have to do is ask me to tell you how to get a dragon as a ride, teleport, or even just make you a better one of these. Hell, even flying is faster." The (h/c) chuckled.
"No one around here drives new cars, Bill," she said with a shake of her head. The yellow haired man muttered something to himself and crossed his arms as the car started forward. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll look into getting a better one when I no doubt trash this one on all of our endeavors. Also, getting spotted flying above the town isn't exactly low profile."
Before she knew it they were standing in front of a small, blue-painted house in the center of town. The lawn was neatly cut and a pair of those pink lawn flamingos sat neatly near the porch, lined by three white painted whicker rocking chairs. Overall, it was a house you'd expect to see from a church-obsessed neat freaks-- not the home of a stalker white-haired con artist. He was almost 18 at this point, a few months younger than the twins. Bill gestured to the walkway and (Y/n) stepped up first, lingering behind the outer glass screen door and opening it. She knocked three times with a solid sound and waited.
"Coming!" A muffled voice called from inside and the sound of a pair of quick footsteps. The door unlocked from the inside and the door swung open, revealing the smiling face of a short boy with chubby cheeks and obvious dwarfism. "What can I do for y-" he stopped, a shadow looming over (Y/n)'s shoulder and over his face. He froze still with fear.
"Bi- Bil-" the started with a stutter, his already pale skin paling at the sight of the demon behind (Y/n). His eyes were wide with the shadows of fear, his pale blue eyes locked onto the man in yellow, grinning down at the boy. As his lips parted to scream but only a choke half sob came from his quivering lips.
"There's no need to look so frightened, kiddo!" Bill exclaimed with a sly smirk, the kid seemingly frozen in place. "My friend and I are here for something of yours, and depending on how well you corporate is how painless this is gonna go for you." From the look of absolute, primal fear in the kid's eyes, the (h/c) could see how much of an impact the demon really had on some of the people in this town. It's like she was watching him regain his grasp on the minds of the people he came in contact with, most of whom appeared to think that he had died.
The kid was shaking like a leaf, and by the annoyance in the yellow eye of Bill, she could tell exactly what the kid was thinking, and she decided to chime in before the dreamon could. "And the Pines can't do anything to help you this time, Gideon," (Y/n) stated with a sneer, taking a step forward and into the boy's home. The kid fumbled for the door and tried to slam it, trying to put a wall between them, when Bill put his arm out and stopped him, the wooden surface hitting harshly against the palm of his hand. If he hadn't it would have surely smacked the girl in the side of the head.
The thud of solid wall hitting gloved flesh (or that's what (Y/n) assumed his hand was made out of in this form) sounded through the room, Bill pushing his way in with ease, then glancing back at the (h/c) girl, silently offering her a way in. She took it, slipping into the home and under the demon's arm, now standing before Gideon who had a book in his hands to protect himself with-- a bible. Sad, really.
"Come now, Lil' Gideon, that's not how you welcome an old friend," the man in yellow said with another grin, watching the eyes of the kid flash with a memory shared between him and his tormentor, one that (Y/n) didn't share with either of them.
"I-I-I left that lifestyle behind me, Bill!" the kid yelped, seemingly more trying to remind himself of that fact instead of the man it was aimed at. Bill, on the other hand, appeared to be quite pleased at current situation, having stepped between the female and the much shorter, overweight boy.
"Once a villain, always a villain, kid," he answered with a chortle, looking around the home in thought. "Not much has changed in here since last summer. It almost feels comforting to know that at least someone in this little town is still drowning in memories of my last visit. Might I add, the people seem to have changed a lot-- more tight lipped out there, you see."
A nger began to seep from the pores of Gideon's face, though just as he was about to snap back at the demon, he continued.
"It's like the people want to simply forget that I ever happened to this lonely little place. I'm hurt, really, after all the effort I took to free you all from the world!" Bill gazed toward the pictures lining the living room walls, finding that nearly all of the photos from last summer and his old job as a con-man were gone, instead replaced by pale shadows of where they had been, smoke clinging to the walls from someone smoking cigarettes, thus turning the walls a darker, yellow-tinted hue.
"Wha- Save us?" the boy hissed with a tone of disbelief. "No, you enslaved us, demon! You traumatized the townees enough for them to write up a whole ass written law to keep our mouths shut and not so much as think about what you did! Even the ones who made up your 'throne' hid in their homes for weeks, some only recently coming out of their shells!"
Bill's grin widened and a dark shadow loomed over the bridge of his nose and (Y/n) watched the kid pale, knowing full well that he had said something wrong. The (h/c), however, grabbed one of the demon's free gloved hands and strode past him, taking the conversation over from here before Bill ended up hurting the kid, forgetting about their goal.
"We're here to look for your amulet, Gideon," she said with a flat tone, letting go of the demon's hand just as fast as she had brushed her fingers against his.
"My am- that piece of trash stopped working a long time ago," he said with a snap, his blue eyes blazing fury at her. (Y/n) was unfazed, and instead reached over and threw him to the ground with a shove of her hand on his chest, the nails snagging on his shirt and putting two long, shredded marks across it. He hit the ground roughly and landed on the carpet with a hallow thud, his head bouncing off of the floor. He gasped aloud and sat up quickly, bringing one hand up and to part of his now expose skin. A thin trail of crimson beaded and formed where she had scratched him, blood starting to stain at the edges of his clothes.
"I didn't ask if it was working, kid," she said as she knelt beside him, licking the crimson from her claws. "I asked where it was."
꧁𓊈* (-) *𓊉꧂
Looking down from the roof of the storage of the old metal structure, (Y/n) looked down at the bare dirt below. She and Bill had left Gideon's home just over an hour ago, and on the drive there, the demon had disappeared. Clearly, whatever the kid had said about the newest rule, which she had later learned the name to be the 'Never Mind All That' law, bothered him.
From what she knew, Bill wanted to be known-- so maybe it had something to do with him being forgotten? She'd ask him later if he still seemed upset about it. Either way, she was now going it alone and looking for the shattered blue pendant in question. Gideon had said that Mabel herself had broken the gem around here somewhere last year, and using her enhanced sight, the (h/c) was doing her best to search for the pieces, but under all the dirt and grime, it was next to imposable. But if she could find one, she was sure the others would be near it.
Bill had told her back in the UFO room that, since the gem had magical abilities, it would have most likely repaired itself by now. Gideon, of course, didn't know that when Bill had given the gem to the child
A slight breeze swept by and she caught a glimmer of blue in her crimson rimmed eyes, her gaze snapping toward the wink of color. Leaping down from her vantage point, the landed near it and scooped the object up into her fingers. Dirt slipped between her fingers, parting around the smooth cyan orb. And in her hand sat the psychic orb itself, looking up at her with a glimmer, nearly whole. She grabbed the small item and rubbed the dirt from its face with her thumb, feeling its cool face against her skin. With every item from crossed off her list this town was one step closer to their end.
꧁𓊈* (-) *𓊉꧂
Ability Log:
Mind reading (source: Deal with Bill)
Unknown (source: given)
'Steal' (source: given)
Night Vision (source: given)
Enhancement (source: given)
Claws (source: given)
Unknown (source: Siren)
Flight (source: harpy)
Unknown (source: buff-plant)
Unknown (source: Mothman)