Chapter Text

Dipper's blood ran ice cold.

Mabel's blood burned with fire.

He'll be on us any minute, the boy thought, shaking with fear.

He'll be dead once we're through with him, the girl thought, shaking with exhilaration.

"I'm starting to think there's no way out of here," Dipper choked out, a blood-bricked wall lined with yellow staring back at him.

"Like Grunkle Stan always says, when one door closes, choose a nearby wall and bash it in with brute force!" Mabel exclaimed, enlarging her hand with the shrink ray.

Dipper reveled in her sister's intelligence, watching as she demolished the wall, sending flumes of dust swirling in the air.

Mabel's eyes shone, almost giddy as a gaping hole overlooking the destroyed town was now present.

Dipper, filled with a newfound determination, proclaimed, "ha! Now let's round up the townsfolk and together we can defeat--" and he was promptly cut off by the mortifying scene below. "..oh, no."

Mabel was filled with pride as she smiled at the dusty landscape, but her elation quickly melted as she got a glimpse of monsters surrounding her friends and neighbors below.

Dipper's neck prickled with a fearful impulse, and his heart dropped, hearing faint echoes in the Fearamid that too quickly, too quickly, too quickly became louder and closer.

Mabel froze as the air became very cold all of a sudden, hearing thundering pounds that were approaching too quickly, too quickly, too quickly.

Dipper's stomach twisted in horror as he heard cold, condescending laughter of a voice.

Mabel twitched with fear as she heard rumbling and then too-loud bellows.

"PEEKABOO!"

Dipper's breaths became shallow and his heart rate skyrocketed as the demon trapped him in a stony grasp.

Mabel's body trembled with petrified energy, her eyes wide and blinking as fast as hummingbird wings, the way she always did when he was present.

Dipper desperately struggled against his grip, trying to ignore the deafening booms that came with every one of his footsteps.

Mabel desperately squirmed inside his huge fist, feeling the nervous energy radiating from her brother's body.

Dipper clenched his teeth together, skull vibrating against Bill's voice as they reentered the place where his great-uncles were being held prisoner.

Mabel squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head, trying to block out Bill's cold, sharp words.

"ALRIGHT, FORD!"

Dipper's core flared with white-hot fury. Fear.

"TIME'S UP!"

Mabel's head buzzed. No no no no no, no, not my uncle, no, what is he going to do..

"I'VE GOT THE KIDS!"

If only he could get his arms free..

"I THINK I'M GONNA K I L L ONE OF THEM NOW JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT!"

Mabel's train of thought froze, and all she felt was her beating heart.

"EENY!"

Pine Tree. Pine Tree. Pine Tree. I am Pine Tree.

"MEENY!"

Red red red shooting star everywhere. Blood. Heartbeat. Shooting star. Heartbeat.

"MINEY!"

Pine Tree Pine Tree Pine Tree blood red Pine Tree..

"YOU!!"

Heartbeat shooting star heartbeat me heartbeat is he going to snap his fingers? heartbeat I am going to die.

"WAIT!"

A voice. Great-uncle Ford! His great-uncle Ford!

"I surrender!"

A shaky sigh of relief was all she felt.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING LONG ENOUGH FOR THIS, FORDSIE!"

No. His sister. He turned to his sister, mouth open, eyes open, heart open, fear horror fear she's going to die.

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR SURRENDERING NOW!"

The index finger and thumb together. Slow motion. Fast heartbeat. She faced her brother. Electricity surged in her veins. Trapped. One heartbeat. A slip of a finger.

"SHOOTING--"

The boy jumped forward, ripping his arms out of the grip, throwing them around his sister, twins, they were twins forever, through life and death.

"--STAR!!"

Her brother's embrace was tighter than any she'd experienced, more love-filled than any other, and she returned it, sniffling, I love you, Dipper--

Snap.

Dipper's heart twisted. His sister slumped against him.

"MABEL!!"

Mabel was silent.

Stan's voice rang out. "MABEL! MABEL SWEETIE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! MABEL!!"

Dipper found that his sister's hands were incredibly cold. He shook violently, nonononono, oh god, it's over, gently pulled Mabel away. This wasn't happening. Her eyes, frozen open, oh my god, her limp body, nononono it wasn't real. She's still with me, stay here, Mabel, I've got you, you'll be okay, except it wasn't okay at all.

"HAH! HUMAN EMOTIONS ARE HILARIOUS!"

Mabel was silent.

"Aw, Pine Tree, cheer up! I spared you!"

Dipper could feel his grip releasing slightly, just enough to watch her limp sister fall nine feet to the ground, she's already dead, stop torturing her, you foul son of a dream demon bitch, he was still trapped. He watched his sister fall.

"What's the point? Go on, Pine Tree, have her!"

Mabel was silent.

--

"MABEL! Mabel! Oh my god, Mabel! Nonononono, don't give up on me!"

Dipper darted over to his sister, skidding on his knees that would soon be terribly bloody, towards her, in front of her cold body.

His fists grabbed at his hair, his chest rose and fell all too quickly. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Too quickly. It was all too fast.

"MABEL! Mabel, can you hear me?"

The tears were already spilling, he was already hopeless, placing his head against her chest, sure he'd hear her steady heartbeat.

There was none. Of course there was none.

His face twisted up as he leaned his forehead against his sister's chest. It's not real. It's all just a nightmare.

"You're so cold, Mabel. So cold. It's.. you're so cold."

Dipper trembled spastically as he sat his sister up, clutched her to his chest, frozen blackness clawing at his heart and brain.

What heart? What brain?

The strings in his heart were all broken; they'd all snapped moments earlier. He wouldn't be surprised if black blood was leaking from his heart.

As for his brain.. well, it was only functioning in slow motion now.

What was his life anymore? There would always be a void, where sunshiny, happy, carefree Mabel once was. Everything was so cold without her.

She was so cold, he thought again. That's all the world was at this point. Just cold. A cold, barren tundra. Where loss was abundant and heartbreak ruled.

He cradled Mabel back and forth without rest. Bill's laughter was just background noise. Everything was background noise at this point.

Dipper slipped loose strands of hair behind Mabel's ears. "It's okay," he whispered. What a lie. "We're going to be okay. I'll always be here. That's.." A choked gasp left him, sharply cutting him off. "That's.. that's how you know i-it'll be okay. I'll always be here. You'll be safe. Not a-al-.. not a-.." he bowed his head into Mabel's neck then, the sobs flooding out of him all at once. Only the sweet, sad sound of Dipper's cries filled the air now.

He recited her name over and over.

"What do I do?" he gasped. "She's so cold. I don't want her to be cold. I want her to be warm and safe. What do I do?"

Dipper numbly thought back to the moment. Real Stan saying, "Wait! I surrender!" And Bill not listening. Of course he blamed himself.

Dipper should have blamed Bill. But he was much too numb to even feel anything anymore. Anything except his sister against him, unknowing.

Bill Cipher, the creator of the end of the world. The end of the world. Who cared? Dipper's world was ending. His sister was dead.

He was much too numb to feel remorse for his indifference to the apocalypse in that moment.

Dipper inhaled a little, his breath catching multiple times. He gently propped Mabel's head against his shoulder.

"Mabel, listen," he whispered, tears lining his voice. "I want you to listen to me. You can do that, right? Okay. Okay." He gasped more than he inhaled, really.

"I'm going to make a promise to you," he said, swallowing his tears. "I-I'm going to promise you that I will always be there for you. Always. I will always think of you. I'll see you every day. I will always still care about you."

He gasped in another breath. "I'll always love you, Mabel. Always, always, always."

Dipper looked downwards. It was as if the room was fading around them- it was just him and her, Dipper and Mabel. Twins forever and always, in life and death.

"You cared about me as much as you could have when you were alive," Dipper mumbled, heart burning on the last word. "And I'm not entirely sure that I did the same, but I will now. And I'm so, so sorry that I didn't give you more of my time."

He dipped his head, let himself heave a few dry sobs before sitting back up.

"Hey, it'll be alright," Dipper said, his tender voice almost hiding the lie. "It'll be okay. Trust me. You can trust me, Mabel. I promise you that I'll always care, alright? Okay."

It took all of Dipper's will to set Mabel's head gently on the ground. He placed her hands, one on top of the other, on her stomach. Carefully pushed her eyelids shut.

Dipper sniffed. "Hey." He tipped Mabel's head towards himself. "M-Mystery Twins?"

With a trembling hand, he picked up Mabel's hand and curled it into a fist, doing the same with his free hand.

He touched them together, just oh so gently. "Mystery Twins," he stated, so quiet the only person who heard was himself.

"Okay." He set down her hand. Took off his hat. Placed it on her chest. "Okay."

Mabel's blood was ice cold.

Dipper's blood flowed with fire.