As Douglas Adams had once said,
don't panic.
Dipper ran his fingers through his messy hair. His chest heaved rapidly with heavy panting. Yes, don't panic, especially when you're trapped in a demon's lair.
When he left the party, he had sprinted across the main corridor. After all the madness, he yearned to be in a quiet place where he could avoid the other demons.
Having reached to the near brink of exhaustion, Dipper had stopped. As he was thinking of giving up, a wooden door materialized beside him.
With no hesitation, Dipper had reached out to grab the door handle. The door gave a creak, and opened to reveal a dark room.
So now here he was, standing alone in the room. Dipper let out another breath that he didn't know he was holding. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, he scanned the place. It was completely devoid of anything.
Dipper strode across the room and began to investigate the walls and the floor. If there was one thing he learned from those detective movies, there was always something in a "plain" room.
When his search came to no avail, he sighed, putting both hands on his forehead.
He was just baffled at the situation – what was he to do? Push the walls with his bare hands and hope the room would reveal its secrets to him?
Actually ... that idea did not sound too bad.
With renewed determination, Dipper used all of his strength and pushed the wall. To his surprise, the wall glowed. His arms glowed too!
Befuddled, Dipper rolled up his sleeves. There were drawings on his skin glowing with such intensity that could well burn out someone's eyes.
The Cipher Wheels on his arms were responsible for activating the wall, he realized.
But ... what was the Cipher Wheel? Why did he have those in the first place?
KLUNK!
Startled, Dipper raised his head to see a floating wardrobe begging to be opened.
The golden wardrobe had ciphers engraved that resembled to the ones on his arms. With another klunk, it opened itself and out came a line of floating clothes.
The clothes were all fancy formal suits, the very type he disliked. He was always forced to wear them. However ... Dipper looked down at his dirty orange jail clothes ... he could make this an exception.
So he chose a navy blue suit.
Now that he have changed into something cleaner, Dipper began to think. He had to leave this place somehow, if he wanted to continue setting his plans in motion. Jumping out of the window sounded tempting -
"Greetings, Pine Tree!" a high pitched voice chirped. The triangular demon appeared next to him, his eye full of mirth.
Speak of the devil (or demon), Dipper hastily turned around and forced a huge grin. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Crossing his arms, Bill accused, "You left the party early."
"Yes, you're pretty much stating the obvious."
"And here I thought we would have a pleasant conversation - Ah, and you have finally changed into something more befitting of your status." Bill gave him a thumbs up.
Dipper glanced down at his new black suit and cursed silently. Count the demon to mock his new clothes. What even was his status anyway?
Dipper glanced up at Bill who was conjuring up two floating armchairs and a screaming head. The demon then gestured to Dipper to sit and he let himself. Holding the screaming head, Bill sat down opposite from him.
"I made you this," said Bill as he gave the head to Dipper, "to wish you well. I do hope it would brighten up your mood."
He was talking about his memory retrieval, Dipper realized. He received the screaming head carefully, afraid to wake up the creature. He didn't want to admit, but he was slightly moved by the gift, albeit it was creepy and disgusting.
Dipper eyed the screaming head warily. It seemed so familiar yet he couldn't pinpoint why. It was as if this encounter with Bill wasn't his first.
Something was fishy. Added to the fact that he couldn't rely on his memories to make a conclusion, frustrated him beyond belief. Dipper's mind was currently in turmoil.
"So ..." Bill began, cutting Dipper's trail of thoughts. "Are you done with your inner conflicts?"
Dipper straightened and nodded.
"Any questions -"
"You are a demon," Dipper suddenly stated.
Bill stared at him, his eyebrow arched. "Do I not resemble one?"
Dipper flushed. "Of course you do! It's just – why are you here?"
"Is this a philosophical question or –"
"Bill, demons can do lots of things. There are practically omnipotent and powerful enough to bend anyone's wishes. Demons can even conjure anything out of thin air! You guys have unlimited potential. You can control the whole galaxy!"
"And your point is ..."
"Why are you here in Earth? This planet does not provide any special resources. It serves no purpose to people from other dimensions. Yet you and your minions want an Armageddon. Invading Earth must be a waste of time. So why?"
Bill tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Why indeed."
Dipper waited for more but that was it. The answer he wanted never came. Dipper sighed, slightly defeated. He wished Bill didn't notice his sudden prodding for more information, however subtle it may be. He had to tread it carefully or else Bill would find out his new intentions.
The screaming head shrieked.
Silence fell.
Say something, Dipper! The boy fidgeted, trying to think of something to say. It was so unnerving to be around a powerful demon that could do anything to you and no one would know.
"Huh, the room is clean," he remarked. Damn it! This was not the proper way to fill the awkward silence!
"Oh, it's definitely spotless," Bill deadpanned. "I must have been blind not to notice this."
Dipper sent him a death glare.
The screaming head screeched.
Bill chuckled, unbothered by the sudden commotion. "Before you arrived, you spoke gibberish to my minions. My minions were apparently 'not real' and should have disappeared when you discovered a truth. Do pray tell why."
Dipper looked away.
"Am I not real to you, Pine Tree?" Bill leaned in closer, his voice low.
Dipper did not reply.
Unsatisfied, Bill leaned back. "What you said earlier about us demons ... Was it all sugar coated lies?"
"Lies are words intended to manipulate the others. I did not lie, but merely hypothesized," Dipper defended. "Hypothetically, magic does exist and demons are powerful."
Bill looked at him oddly. "You don't believe magic exists?"
"Well, it's - it is just mathematically impossible. It does not obey the laws of physics! I still couldn't believe all of this is real. I – I'm -" I'm having an existential crisis, but you don't have to know that, Dipper thought, flustered.
Dumbfounded, the screaming head stared at Dipper.
"It depends on how you define magic. If you were talking about magic as an extraordinary supernatural power, then yes. I don't really believe it," the boy shrugged.
"Intriguing."
"Hm."
The screaming head snorted.
"Okay, let us move on to the next topic. How was the chess?" Bill asked nonchalantly.
"How was the chess?!" Dipper echoed, his anger slowly creeping in. "My Pawn ate your Queen, and for some odd reason, you decided to end the game just like that."
"I make my own rules."
"Then you should've told me! If I had known, I wouldn't have spent my whole time thinking about it!"
"You've been thinking about me? I can't believe you missed me so much even though we've only parted for few minutes." Seeing Dipper looking anywhere but him, Bill laughed. "Admit it, you missed me."
"In your dreams," Dipper spat.
Bill's eye widened slightly before laughing again, this time along with the screaming head.
"Your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me." Bill wiped away an imaginary tear. "You know what? You're now allowed to leave."
"I wasn't allowed before?" Dipper looked at the demon incredulously.
"You can leave ... on one condition. Promise me that you would find the Pines family and lead them here within 72 hours."
"And what if I refuse? What if I fail in doing so?"
"Do you want to?"
"I ..."
"I thought so too."
Without another word, Bill turned around and floated out of the room, the screaming head following behind.
Few minutes later, he heard a distant shout of "I promise" from behind. If he had a mouth, he would've grinned.
A deal between two demons, however indirect, was unbreakable.
Ah, Pine Tree was always so full of surprises. The boy had somehow entered a room that no one but Bill could enter. Hell, others can't even find the room.
Yet, the room had accepted Pine Tree.
He had his doubts at first, but he actually believed that the boy was the last piece he needed to achieve his goals. The game would end with the Pawn defeating the Queen, leaving the King alive.
He was sure they would meet again soon, and when they do, he would answer all the boy's questions.
Pleased, the King joined the party, leaving a disgruntled Pawn to himself.
•••
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I have a bit more time on my hands now that my vacation began, so be prepared for the next chapter! It may come sooner than you think!
And thank you for all those lovely reads, comments, and votes! I can't believe we're reaching up to 88k reads, 4k votes and 2k comments! We're nearly there!
And also ...
Your comments are so amazing; I may even write a chapter about it!! I actually have the basic outline of the special chapter ready. Just waiting for more new exciting comments ...
Posted: 2018. 6.29
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Deleted scene:
His thoughts trailed off when he saw Bill petting a crocodile on his lap. Dipper resisted the urge to laugh as it felt like he was watching a scene of an evil aristocratic man petting a cat.