The Keepers of Bill Cipher

Chapter 1 - Shackled Freedom

My limbs felt like they were coming loose, which, despite my all-seeing eye, I had never expected. After a year of remaining a pathetic stone statue, I swore I could start to move, but I felt something strange on my arms.

But I didn't care. I was escaping and I knew it. Yes! I was free again!

Or so I thought…

"Hello, Bill. Did you miss us?" came a gruff voice, and the said triangle demon was huffing while on his hands and knees. Bill shivered and looked up to find that he was still in the same spot in the woods his statue had trapped him. And that standing all around him was none other than the Pines; Stanford, Stanley, Dipper, and Mabel were all observing him closely, Mabel being the only one actually giving him a welcoming smile.

"I'm free…h-how and why?!" Bill demanded while floating up into the air when he regained his strength.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, we figured that if Stanley's memories could be revived, then so could you. We feared your return the most, Bill," Ford firmly explained.

"Then why am I here, Sixer?!" Bill's patience was quite obviously running thin, yet the Pines remained calm and collected.

"Because you are a very powerful being, Bill, but you abused your powers for the sake of evil."

"Of course I did! It's fun! And now that I'm free again, you can't stop me!" Bill laughed maniacally, lifting a hand to pull the life from them all with a simple tug…but nothing happened.

He continued to try and use any magic to mutilate them, grunting and outstretching both hands in frustration. But there was still nothing.

"What?! No! Not again!" Bill cried out, as his hands shook violently in terror and confusion.

"Yes, again," Stan taunted with a smirk.

"Don't think we didn't see this coming," Dipper informed confidently.

"Yeah, we know how ta keep you on track, Triangle Boy!" Mabel cheered.

The more his enemies even spoke, the greater the fires of Bill's rage grew, "But how are you doing this?!"

"I combined Gravity Fall's weirdness magnetism and the erasing abilities of the Memory Gun, and put them into those cuffs to restrain your supernatural abilities." Bill followed Ford's gaze and gasped when he finally noticed the electrical shackles on his wrists; they glowed with a beautiful blue aura, but they were not appealing to Bill at all.

"You cheater! You took my powers away!" Bill hissed at Ford.

"Yes, I did, and for good reason. It's because of your nearly unlimited powers that we wanted to free you with extra caution." Ford paused for a moment. "We're going to reform you."

"What?! Reform me?! That's probably the funniest thing I've heard in centuries because it's not happening!" Bill laughed and wiped away a tear of joy.

"You thought we would never be able to stop you from taking over the world, and look what happened. Besides, this is Gravity Falls—pretty much anything can happen," Dipper added while stretching out both arms, referring to Gravity Falls in general.

"Oh, snap!" Mabel exclaimed with derp eyes.

Bill would have turned blood red with his voice becoming that of a demonic growl by now, but with his powers stripped, he could only growl like a grumpy child.

"C'mon, Bill, it won't be that bad. Now that you're as harmless as a teddy bear, you can make new friends!" Mabel pointed out as she jumped up to pull down the demon in a big hug. And with no powers, Bill was helpless and could only squirm in Mabel's surprisingly strong grip.

"Don't test me, Shooting Star. I can't turn you inside out with a snap of my fingers, but I can still drive a knife through that little throat of yours," Bill threatened once he pulled himself free.

"No you won't, Silly."

"And why not?"

"Because then Ford would have to shoot you with his other gun thingy, and I don't think you'd want that." Bill looked over at Ford, who pulled back his trench coat to reveal another gun clasped in its holster. He instantly recognized it as the same gun that Ford tried to use on him in his first attempt to send him back to his realm. He hated to admit it, but Mabel was right.

"I hate you," the demon growled.

"We know," Mabel chimed obliviously.

"And we don't care. Now, c'mon, I've got dinner waitin', and I'm not eatin' it cold," Stan grumbled and began his journey back towards the shack. The others quickly followed, but Dipper and Mabel stopped when they realized someone was missing.

"Well, c'mon!" Mabel beckoned Bill with a wave.

"Where are you even taking me?" the latter questioned.

"To the Mystery Shack," Dipper simply replied.

Bill was genuinely shocked, "Wait, what? You're welcoming me, the one who's been trying to kill you all since day one, into your own home? Did I miss something?"

"Of course not! You're bunking with us!" Bill groaned and crossed his arms at Mabel's excitement, but he reluctantly began to follow them. It wasn't until a few minutes past that he noticed something was terribly off, though.

"Hey, wait, if I'm not supposed to have any powers, than why am I still floating?" Bill questioned after realizing that he still had the power of flight.

"We thought a walking Dorito would look stupid," Mabel answered while playfully sticking out her tongue, to which Bill only rolled his eye and groaned in annoyance once again.

That night, Bill didn't even dare to stay in the same rooms of his enemies, and instead sulked up in the corner of the living room all throughout dinner. But when it was time for bed, Mabel didn't think twice before using her grappling hook to pull Bill upstairs behind her like a balloon.

"Welcome to the Mystery Twins' room!" Mabel cheered after leading Bill up to the attic, but she wasn't careful enough and Bill accidentally bumped his head on the way up.

"Ow…" Bill grumbled while rubbing his head, his physical form allowing him to feel pain, which he hated now without the advantage of instant healing. "I don't get why I need to be here. I don't sleep."

"Well, I made you a bed anyway." Mable continued to pull Bill like a balloon across the room. Waddles was asleep in his own little doggy bed next to hers, and next to Waddles' bed was another doggy bed with "Bill" written in gold glitter on the side.

"You're kidding." Bill said flatly. "I'm not going near that thing."

"Demon or no, you'll get tired eventually—just try to ignore Dipper. He snores and falls asleep while reading, so watch for falling books."

But Mabel was wrong…well, about Bill getting tired. He laid flat on the floor while the twins and the pig slept peacefully; Bill was also cautious to lie a good distance away from Dipper to avoid falling books, as he actually did fall asleep with a few, most of them hardback.

Unable to fall asleep or mess around with reality, Bill either laid about the floor or paced restlessly; planning on ways to kill the Pines and escape, or staring blankly up at the dark ceiling as crickets chirped and an owl hooted outside.

"Is this my hell?" Bill asked grimly.

This was inspired by Hoopy McGee's "The Keepers of Discord." Now, the idea and title may have been inspired by them, but I do NOT own anything, and I'm not planning on copying Hoopy's story at all. In fact, go check out their story and give them credit. They certainly deserve it.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!