Rating: PG
Ships: NONE. COMPLETELY NONE. DON'T CONFUSE YOURSELF.
Warning: There's a knife that gets stabbed into a table.
Stars: Doesn't matter
Inspired by: Thing I seen on Tumblr.

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[Edited]

"Aren't you beautiful?" A hooded man complemented, taking a sip of his drink.

Mabel laughed a bit, not cheering up. It was her 23rd birthday. Her party was earlier that day, but now it was her time. "Thanks." She said in an almost sad mumble.

The man looked at her, his brown eyes twinkled friendlily in the lighting."Uh- sorry that... came off wrong. Why the long face?"

Mabel shook her head slowly. "It's..." She debated wether talking to the man was a good idea, fiddling with her drink. "Is this your first time in Gravity Falls?" She didn't recognize him.

The man huffed and turned around on the bar stool. He looked at the scene. It was so different, yet so familiar. "When I was a kid." He smiled fondly. "This place has really changed." He turned back.

"Yeah, so this is your first time coming here since? What was like for you?" Mabel asked, more interested in the man than her grief.

She caught another twinkle of his eye. It was almost familiar. "I..." Were his eyes watering? "Amazing." His face looked forlorn. "I almost wish I could go back to that time." He sighed. "Things were so much better."

Mabel sighed, then smiled. "Guess we share the same opinion on the past." She smiled harder and almost chuckled. "But today shalln't be a day of sadness, Mabel Pines is not one to give into sadness!" The stranger smiled. "What?" She asked, he was staring.

"I never understood how you could cheer up so quickly." He chuckled.

"No one understands the power of Mabel." Mabel said.

"Mabel..." He mumbled, the familiar name sounding foreign to his tongue. "Why were you so glum?"

"Oh..." She squeaked, sinking in her seat. "Nah, it's nothing. You are my new friend and I'm not going to ruin our new friendship with my sad stink."

"Friend? Mabel, you don't even know my name. What if I'm some kind of criminal?" The man reasoned. "No offence, but there is no other person who would respond to a mysterious man telling them how good they look."

Mabel shrugged. "I know, but, hey, if you were a killer or some sorts, you'd be dead before you could lay a finger on me." She smiled as she poked his shoulder playfully.

The stranger stiffened. "Wh- what?"

A look of confusion crept onto the girl's face. She gasped. "Oooh, sorry if that freaked you out." She raised her arms to the side, palms up. "I am the joy bringer and match maker of all Gravity Falls." She declared. "I'm pretty loved around here."

"You bet she is!"A buff man yelled from behind them. "She got my marriage in order!" Another spoke up. "She helped me meet my wife!" "She got me to quit the smokes!"

The stranger's eyes widened a bit, and he gulped. "You... yeah, you help these people." He smirked. "You're too nice for your own good."

"Too nice?" Mabel slammed her fist on the counter and pointed her finger at the man, who shied away more into his hood. She put down her finger and laughed. "In Gravity Falls, there's no such thing as too nice." She noticed the man was still shying away.

He turned his head, his hood still on, blue eyes shone through the shade his hood gave off. "You didn't.... ack." He looked back to his drink.

"I didn't ack?" Mabel asked. "Well, then Mr....?"

"Cipher." The man replied. Mabel's eyes widened and she took a deep breath. Just a coincidence.

"Well then, Mr.Cipher. Tell me more about what I didn't and what I can do to make you less blue." She rhymed. "Especially if you're staying for a while."

The man shrugged. "Yeah, I might..." He sighed and looked back to the young lady. She could see him clearer... had his eyes changed? They were brown again. There were straight pieces of brown hair covering his forehead and a large portion of his left eye. Keeping the pupil uncovered. .... Still wasn't clear enough that he'd be recognized easily without the hood though. "What you didn't do is tell me why you're upset." He continued.

"Oh!... right." She sighed. "Come with me to ye diner. There'll be less people." And less drama. Before he could even hesitate, he was being pulled by the joyful girl out of the loud (and very friendly) bar and into a diner of the same street. The sign read Greasy's. Man, it's been a while.

She sat down at a booth, ordering the food as she got comfy. The waiter came back immediately with water. The stranger stared at Mabel while sipping his water. Mabel smirked. "FYI, I'm taken, and want to give you a chance to escape before you're friend zoned and junk." She said, sillily.

The man's eyes burned blue for a second, a spritz of water shot out of his mouth, barely missing the girl across the table. He coughed a bit. "Good!" He took a deep breath before talking again. "I wasn't interested in anything romantic... heh, just for a friend. And- uh... you just looked sad there... so... compliment?"

Mabel laughed. "You come into a bar looking all bad, almost like a murderer, but you're just a loveable dork."

The man's eyes flared once more, insulted and aggravated. He grabbed a knife from behind his back, slammed it point first into the table, barely missing Mabel's flinched hand. His eyes dimmed and widened. The girl stared at him in horror, holding her hand frightened. It wasn't injured. "S-sorry!" He gasped, waving his hands around. "I didn't mean- ughgghhh." He groaned, banging his head on the table and gripping the back of his hood.

Mabel's scared expression turned to one of concern. Was he-... Whimpering? "Cipher, dude... it's fine." She waved her hand, showing him how it was uninjured.

"You hate me. I'll leave." The man got up abruptly and started fast walking to the exit, when something pulled his hood. Messy hair broke free of the hood's hold. Instinctively, he turned his head to the side. He seen the concerned, surprised look Mabel gave him. He thought it was because she knew... the real reason was because she seen how scared he was.

The man hurried to put his hood back up and head down. He scurried to the exit. "Wait!" Mabel called. She grabbed his sleeve. "You can't just leave like that! At least have the heart to listen to my story first." She smiled, not wanting to not be this guy's friend. "Deal?"

Cipher gulped and Mabel was finally able to get her cloaked mystery of an acquaintance to sit down and relax. "You want to know why I was so dull earlier?"

Mr.Cipher nodded to his bi-polar friend, taking a sip of his coffee, it was already kinda late.

"It started on my 13th birthday...."

\^/

Mabel punched her twin brother lightly. He hissed in response and rubbed his shoulder. "Come on, Dipper! Aren't you excited? We're finally going to be teens, like you always wanted!"

"Yeah, but I still don't think this is a surprise party note." He held up the note, in words cut from magazines and cereal boxes it read:

How are my little munchkins doing? Hey, I've got a great birthday surprise for you in the forest, remember where you found that nifty little journal of yours? It's about there. Also, teens, huh? Lucky me that it so happens you'll be turning 13! Technically a teen.

Happy Birthday, Pines!

"It looks suspicious, Mabel. It's literally what the murderers use in movies and books. What if it's Gideon!" Dipper reasoned.

"Pfft, Bro, it ain't gonna be Gideon, he's in jail, remember?" Mabel said, she was right, but the thought of Gideon still bothered him. To tell you the truth, it also bothered Mabel. "Look!" She gasped. There was a party setup! "I knew this wasn't fake!"

She ran towards it. "Wait.... MABEL!" he yelled after her.

She was in the party area when it happened. A tractor beam-like thing suspended her in the air. "Dipper!" She yelled, freaking out a bit. She tried swimming out of it, but there was glass surrounding the light. Both twins pounded on separate sides of the glass, Dipper even bringing a rock that failed to smash it.

"Mabel!" He yelled. There was an insane laughter. "No..." Dipper mumbled. A few tears sprung from his eyes. "YOU ARE NOT TAKING MY SISTER!" He yelled, clenching his fists. The color drained from the world.

"Oh yeah?" The triangle appeared from the pine tree on Dipper's hat. He got off and floated before the twins proudly. "How are you going to stop me?"

With a snap of his fingers, Mabel's eyes were engulfed in a yellow light. Dipper gasped. The tractor beam stopped and Mabel landed on her feet, not lookong to Dipper and robotically walking to Bill's side. Dipper walked up to Mabel and stared into her eyes. "Mabel... snap out of it!" He cried. "What did you do to her?"

Bill laughed. "Ain't going to work, Kiddo. By accepting the invitation..." He took the paper from Mabel's hands. "You dumb life forms accepted my hidden contract! She's mine now, Pine Tree!" Bill started floating off into the forest, Mabel following.

"Wait!" Dipper yelled, Mabel collapsed. He ran by her side and went onto his knees, hugging his sister. He sobbed. "What if..." He gasped, and looked up to Bill. "What if I took her place?"

Bill squinted, humming, as if thinking about it. Without a word, he waved his hand. Mabel's eyes returned to normal and Dipper's began glowing. He got up and stepped over his fainted sister. He disappeared into the forest with Bill Cipher.

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"...I woke up hours later... I was sure I knew what he did, even though I wasn't awake." A few tears came from Mabel's face. "A demon took my brother... The worst part was that I couldn't even say goodbye. This is just another anniversary of it. Another reminder of Bill Cipher. I guess that's why I was kinda freaked out by your name, Ciph."

Cipher stared at the woman. "You miss him?"

Mabel nodded. "We were twins, so yeah." She wiped away her tears. "Incredibly."

He sighed. "I guess it's time for my sad story now...."

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"Wh- where am I?" He asked.

"Peter!" A kid half gasped- half yelled.

"No idea." A second kid told him.

He learned straight away that they were told their names were Connor and Freak.

He got up, rubbing his head. The three boys were in a clearing, surrounded by forest. "Who's Peter?"

Connor looked at the new kid, he shook off the scowl he felt about to take form. His eyes flashed yellow and orange for a few seconds. "He hasn't told you."

Peter cowered back. These kids were frightening. Connor was taller, and skinny. Peter and Freak were about the same body type, Freak having hair that stood up on edge and Peter having flat hair that covered his forehead. Freak's eyes glowed green towards Connor. "You're freaking him out!"

Connor shrugged. "I..." He sighed through his nose "I apologize. It was wrong of me to get upset at him, for something his namer did."

A tall, older girl wearing all purple with straight black hair came out of the woods. Her brown eyes glowed purple and she bared her fangs. "Get that newcomer some clothes already!" She yelled. The new kid was completely unclothed and covered in blue gel.

Connor conjured up a light blue shirt and beige shorts with a wave of his hand and threw them at Pete. "Come, Peter." The purple girl said, waving at the kid to follow her. "Name's Tabitha, call me Tabby."

She put on some glasses she had from behind her. "Uh...." Pete looked around him, at Freak and Connor who wrre arguing. He nodded and followed the girl after putting on the provided clothes. "Wh-where am I?"

"The home of the owned. Starting today, you are owned. By who? We can't say until you've completed your training." Tabby glared at those around her that were out of their place to see the newcomer. "I'll be mentoring you. I have an owner who was in a similar position to yours."

Pete nodded. "So, when do I get to meet my owner?"

"When he chooses so." Tabby continued walking. "First law, your owner's word is your life. Disobey it, well, what happens when you go against life?"

Pete's eyes widened. "The... really?"

"Of course, it's almost adorable how unknowing you are. Like a child.... younger child, anyways." Tabby smiled.

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Mr. Cipher's eyes flashed blue and he smirked, showing off a bit of his fangs. "Who knew that Bill would grant me, not only my memories, but excess power once I finished my training." His eye widened slightly, as if in realization of something. "I... I'm sorry for leaving, and... you were alone, Mabel." Cipher pulled back his hood, revealing a familiar face. His eyes dimmed down to the beautiful brown.

Mabel cried. "Dipper." She whispered.