I am 98% sure that this will be the final installment of Shooting The Star (Mabel Dies AU, whatever you want to call it). Thank you for reading.

A friend of mine gave me a brilliant idea for a sequel, and I couldn't help but write it out.

With every deal, however, comes an insurmountable cost.

Stan and Ford watch Bill give chase to Dipper and Mabel. They watch each other swap clothes. They watch Dipper struggle in Bill's grip. They watch Mabel's life drain from her eyes.

Chapter Text

Stanley Pines was a broken man.

Haven't you always been broken? a voice whispered in his head as he'd watched his great-niece fall dead silent, in time to the sound of his knees hitting the floor. Time had seemed to slow down, all senses on mute. It didn't feel real; nothing jarring had ever felt real to him. Despite the slowness of reality around him, three words were moving through his head at the speed of light.

Mabel is gone.

Never had he expected to see Mabel Pines, the jubilant, sweet ray of sunshine that she was, meet her death before his own. If anyone deserved to die today, it was him. The plan was for him to ultimately die today, wasn't it?

He felt his hands twitching uncontrollably before anything else. He looked downwards to find the six-fingered gloves, the ones with the awkward fit, trembling at a dangerous intensity. What a shock. Everything he felt was just shock.

Stanley Pines pulled off his brother's gloves to take a look at his hands in the flesh. There was an imprint of the bandage from a few weeks ago, and on the back of his right hand, the cut he remembered getting when the portal had shone blue, a sign that after thirty entire years his efforts had not been for naught after all.

In that moment, standing in front of the portal, he felt like a fixed man. All the lies he'd spun, all the smiles he had to fake, all the failures he'd taken like a punch to the face had all culminated into that moment of euphoria.

When he saw his brother step out of the portal, he no longer felt like a failure. He felt complete.

When he felt the bitter sting of his brother's fist against his face, his brother's harsh words against his ears, he fell apart.

What good was having him back if they were suddenly at each other's throats? Bringing up bad blood after decades-old conflicts?

Stan was broken, all over again.

He drew his hand away from the cut in his skin, remembering himself. The twitching in his wrists had died down to a faint buzz.

Stan turned to his brother, who was now on his knees beside him. They were soundless, but they shared the same broken look.

They were fractured together.

Stanford Pines didn't realize tears were falling from his face until he saw the droplets hitting the ground.

How long had he known Mabel? A month? Less? Yet she was the sun at the center of his universe, providing light when he'd trapped himself in his own dark world.

The sun had just met her death, yet it took barely a second for Stanford to feel a suffocating sensation.

Suffocating. The word was so, so bitter to him. He remembered the very words that had passed his lips not a week ago.

"And isn't it suffocating? Having to be by her side all the time?"

He'd called Mabel's company suffocating. He almost wanted to laugh at his ignorance. Mabel was never suffocating.

The sensation now was wrapped around his throat like a phantom fist, trying to cut off his air intake. It was cruel, the way karma stung.

Maybe if he put his hands over his eyes, none of it would be real. He could float in his own dark, pitch black universe, and pretend nothing was happening. Everything would be at a blissful constant.

All he'd done behind the portal was fighting off monsters that were out for his blood. All he'd ever done was fight. Now here he was, trying to hide inside himself and escape his biggest fear of all.

Ford buried his face in his hands. He could feel the fez, the borrowed one that didn't belong to him, slip off his head and hit the ground with a soft thud.

As much as Stanford tried to distance himself from reality, a cold voice snapped him directly back into it.

"WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?! COULD IT BE THAT YOU OLD PINES TWINS TRIED TO DO A SWITCHAROUND ON ME?!"

Stanford's heart dropped into his stomach. The fez was on the floor next to him, abandoned and almost forgotten.

Oh no.

Bill let out an earsplitting, demonic laugh. "You two really thought you could outsmart me! Priceless!"

Ford's mouth twitched. The demon's arrogance, his insensitivity, filled him with fizzling rage.

"Come on, lighten up, you three!" Bill shrieked, addressing all three living Pines. "Death is inevitable, at my hand, at least! Surely you should have seen this coming!"

"She didn't deserve to die!"

The words left Dipper's mouth before he could think twice. He was near blind with fury.

"Well, here's a lesson for you, kid." Bill approached Dipper very suddenly, towering hundreds of feet above him. With his one eye, he cast a glaring beam of light onto the boy and his sister's cold corpse lying beside him, the glow akin to a stage spotlight. "In this world, no one gets what they want. No one. How long's it gonna take you to figure that out, Pine Tree?

"What? What do you have to say to me?" Bill challenged, upon noticing the wild animal-like look in Dipper's eyes. "Go ahead, kid! Let it out!"

Dipper swiftly aimed a punch at the demon, but Bill slid out of the way with ease.

"You'll have to try a lot harder than that!" Bill shrieked, clearly amused. Dipper growled and tried with all his might to punch or kick the Bill, over and over, but the demon was quick to dodge every time. This only outraged Dipper even further.

"WEAK! YOU WEAK, SPINELESS SORRY EXCUSE FOR A DREAM DEMON! FIGHT ME LIKE THE MONSTER YOU SAY YOU ARE!"

Dipper expected an immediate dismissal of his words. It was of Bill's nature, of course, to do so.

But no, it seemed this wasn't the case. Bill was silent for mere milliseconds before turning completely bloodred.

"WEAK?"

Bill's huge hand plucked Dipper off the ground. Without warning, his cold touch was relentlessly digging into the skin of the boy's neck. He gasped for air, limbs flailing, and eyes darting like mad.

"YOU DARE CALL ME WEAK? I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU ALONG WITH YOUR WEAK-WILLED SISTER!"

Dipper desperately struggled for air, but the demon was absolutely murderous. He was determined to make the boy's death as slow and agonizing as possi--

"WAIT! STOP! BILL, STOP!"

Bill froze. Stanley and Stanford Pines were each waving their arms like mad, in hopes of catching Bill's eye.

"We... we'd like to make a deal with you."

Now this attracted Bill like a moth in the path of a light. A smug smile spread across the creature's lips, and Dipper was released from the death grip that was Bill's massive fingers. He gasped and inhaled uncontrollably, falling to his knees as he refilled his lungs with air.

"A deal, you say?" Bill chuckled evilly. "Tell me more."

Bill shrunk significantly so that he was only the size of the cage imprisoning the elder Pines twins. He casually crossed his arms and gestured for one of the men to speak.

Each Pines shot each other a momentary glance before Ford spoke up. "There is... something I'd like to give you. But if and only if you comply with the terms of the deal I will propose to you."

"Go on," the demon urged.

Ford took in a shaky breath. "I am willing to give you the formula that will collapse the weirdness barrier surrounding Gravity Falls."

Bill's eye lit up suddenly and intensely. The matter of the barrier, caging him and his powers within the boundaries of the small town, had nearly slipped his mind.

"Ohoho, so you've had a change of thought, have you?" Bill chortled.

"Yes," Ford said, shame clear on his face. "You simply have to uphold your end of the deal."

"That being?" Bill seemed amused.

"Bring Mabel back to life."

Bill raised his single eyebrow.

Then... he laughed.

"Bring Mabel back to life," he repeated, between chuckles. "You're willing to give up the entire universe... just for your Shooting Star."

"She means the universe to me." Ford's voice was choked.

It should never have been this way, Stan thought. It should have been Bill that died, not Mabel. She never deserved this.

Stan and Ford shared a look, communicating a thousand words by not saying anything at all.

How selfish I am, Ford thought. How horribly, awfully selfish I am.

"If you really are serious," Bill said, shrinking down to his normal size, "then we have a deal. The formula to the rest of the world in exchange for her life."

Bill snapped his fingers, and his hand became engulfed in rich blue flames.

Ford extended his hand toward the demon. "I've never been more serious about anything in my life."

Their hands were just about to connect when Ford hesitated and pulled back. "Hold on right there," he said. "By bringing her back, you promise that you will never hurt her again. You also promise that you will never hurt me or my family again. Do you understand, Cipher?"

"Yeesh, I get it, I get it." Bill laughed. "I don't need you all anymore. I've finally gotten what I've wanted all these years."

Before Ford could hesitate again, Bill reached forward and harshly grasped his hand. Ford's grasp was tight as the fire spread to his fingers.

With one shake, the agreement was sealed.

Bill's body appeared to turn to stone. A holographic, almost clear version of himself rose from the triangular statue.

"I'll see you on the other side, Stanford Pines." He smiled demonically.

"Take only the formula and nothing else," Ford said, but Bill Cipher had already dove into his mind. Ford dropped to his knees, and then there was nothing.

The barrier was breaking.

From the atmosphere, there came a massive, ear-splitting, creaking-groaning sound as if the world itself was falling apart. Outside the Fearamid, the sphere of weirdness was dismantling, dissolving into the air. Black clouds thick as cinderblocks covered the sky, infecting the surrounding cities whose skies were once healthily blue. Bill's minions could be seen rising from the ground and flying in all directions, eager to spread their madness to the rest of the world. Electric lightning shocked the atmosphere; thunder roared; otherworldly demons screamed. Hell was coming to life on Earth, and Bill was at the center of it all.

Bill Cipher was now known as the supreme overlord of Dimension 46-apostrophe-backslash. He was ruler of everything within the galaxy; everything succumbed to his needs; everything he'd ever wanted was now within his grasp.

The demon had reinvented his appearance; he'd replaced his yellow hue with the color of electricity, and his eye was now deep red rather than white. His bow tie had changed into a real tie the color of blood. He'd increased in size; his voice decreased in pitch. His words boomed louder than the thunder crashing outside.

"How does it feel to finally have your dimension liberated?"

As Bill laughed, the Pines shared the exact same look of horror. The universe was falling apart all because of them. No longer did they live in a free world. They would have to be fighting for their lives every single day in this apocalyptic galaxy. Chaos would run rampant, crime would ravage entire countries, stars would explode, solar systems would crack open.

And yet... wasn't there a silver lining?

"You know the rules, Cipher," Ford said thickly. "I give you the formula, you give me Mabel."

"Of course, Six Fingers. I know how this works."

And for the first time, Bill Cipher upheld his end of the bargain. No tricks, no loopholes, no games. He snapped his fingers, and Mabel's lifeless corpse suddenly levitated in the air. Dipper backpedaled away, trembling.

"Just this one time, Stanford Filbrick Pines. Just this one - last - time."

Another snap, and suddenly, a pink, glowing aura surrounded Mabel. Dipper's eyes bulged as Mabel's body appeared to absorb the light. A single tremor traveled through her body, and then - without warning - she jerked upright, her chest filling with air, her eyes shining bright as day. She floated back down to the ground, landing on two feet. Flexing her hands, inspecting every part of herself, she was incredulous.

Mabel Pines was alive.

"MABEL!" Dipper cried out. The tears came quickly as he threw his arms around his sister, and at once, he was complete again. Never mind the world falling apart outside; his twin sister, his other half, was alive.

"Oh my god, Dipper," Mabel squeaked out, already sobbing. She held Dipper closely, tears streaming down her face. "I-I died. I died! How- what happened-"

"Mabel, Ford made a deal with Bill." His voice cracked so frequently, Mabel could just barely understand him.

"He-- he what?"

"He agreed that he'd give Bill the formula to dismantle the barrier so you could come back to life," Dipper choked out. "He gave up the world just for you."

Mabel turned to Stan and Ford, but with the cage around them gone, they were already sprinting toward the twins. In one fell swoop, they'd gathered Mabel and Dipper in a tight, bone-crushing embrace.

"Mabel sweetie," Stan said, his voice hoarse. "I can't believe you're back."

"I can't believe it either," she sobbed. "Grunkle Ford, you really- you really-"

"Yes, sweetheart, I sacrificed everything for you," Ford said, his voice now thick with oncoming tears.

"But- you shouldn't have," she sniffled. "My life isn't worth the universe..."

"To us, it is," Ford said firmly.

"The world's falling apart," Mabel whispered.

"We'll get through it together," Dipper reassured her, and Mabel said no more.

The Pines family stayed huddled in their embrace as long as they could. Storms and destruction were breaking their world apart, and they all knew that sooner rather than later, they'd have to start running. Life would be one battle after the next after the next, but with each other... it was all worth it.

With their universe falling to pieces, Dipper and Mabel Pines held each other close.