At Gwen's words, Dipper turned away, frowning, hands clenching into fists at his sides. The turning away was to hide his face, which twisted up into an ugly expression.
"Well, excuse me for being a little freaked out," he said. "You're a sort-of adult. I'm fourteen." A lie. "Barely." Closer to the truth.
The feelings got stronger.
"I'm allowed to be freaked out. Now that it's all over and the world didn't end, I don't have to make myself be okay anymore just to deal with all the creepy stuff. What's your problem, anyway?"
He turned around. "Why are you taking it perso --" The sentence broke off into a scream and he jumped back from the vision before him.
To his eyes, Bill Cipher floated there in the air, in the space where Gwen had once stood, and he started laughing that terrible laugh of his.
"It's about time you clued in, Pine Tree! Did you miss me?"
"NO!" The scream tore out from a place deep inside him that he didn't even realize existed, a place with a well of anger and fear that he'd stored up unconsciously. Fueled by that empty place, by the paranoia that surged through his entire body, he lashed out with his telekinesis at Bill. Hard.
Maybe if Mabel had stuck around instead of vorping back home he'd have been dealing with everything better, dealing with the last lingering anxieties and uncomfortable fears left over from Weirdmageddon. Maybe if she was at his side right now, he'd be less angry and terrified.
When she was around, it didn't matter if he had the weight of worlds on his shoulders, because she was always ready and willing to share the load -- and her own shoulders could've held up whole universes.
But she wasn't there. And he was still dealing with having been a scared kid facing the end of the world. And he had to be a scared kid facing the end of other worlds. And right now he had to be a scared kid facing his worst enemy and greatest fear all over again, when Bill was supposed to be gone.
"You're supposed to be gone! It was supposed to be over!"
As he lashed out, the Bill vision just laughed.
And for Gwen, in Dipper's place, someone else stood there...
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"Well, excuse me for being a little freaked out," he said. "You're a sort-of adult. I'm fourteen." A lie. "Barely." Closer to the truth.
The feelings got stronger.
"I'm allowed to be freaked out. Now that it's all over and the world didn't end, I don't have to make myself be okay anymore just to deal with all the creepy stuff. What's your problem, anyway?"
He turned around. "Why are you taking it perso --" The sentence broke off into a scream and he jumped back from the vision before him.
To his eyes, Bill Cipher floated there in the air, in the space where Gwen had once stood, and he started laughing that terrible laugh of his.
"It's about time you clued in, Pine Tree! Did you miss me?"
"NO!" The scream tore out from a place deep inside him that he didn't even realize existed, a place with a well of anger and fear that he'd stored up unconsciously. Fueled by that empty place, by the paranoia that surged through his entire body, he lashed out with his telekinesis at Bill. Hard.
Maybe if Mabel had stuck around instead of vorping back home he'd have been dealing with everything better, dealing with the last lingering anxieties and uncomfortable fears left over from Weirdmageddon. Maybe if she was at his side right now, he'd be less angry and terrified.
When she was around, it didn't matter if he had the weight of worlds on his shoulders, because she was always ready and willing to share the load -- and her own shoulders could've held up whole universes.
But she wasn't there. And he was still dealing with having been a scared kid facing the end of the world. And he had to be a scared kid facing the end of other worlds. And right now he had to be a scared kid facing his worst enemy and greatest fear all over again, when Bill was supposed to be gone.
"You're supposed to be gone! It was supposed to be over!"
As he lashed out, the Bill vision just laughed.
And for Gwen, in Dipper's place, someone else stood there...