Why?

Skipping Time

The twins smiled at the blonde and told him that they had to go home for, their family was surely missing them. They waved goodbye and walked out the door, running into the forest and out of sight before heading back to their own era. Sure, being in the old times was exciting, but they were tired and decided it was time to return to their own time, to check on how their family was doing, at least.

As they released the tape measure, a blue flash was emitted and they appeared back in their time, in a forest, in front of an old, worn down, yellow mansion. The twins gasped as they saw the condition of the abode.

Mold was growing on parts of the walls and vines were taking space, clogging up the wind holes. The paint was faded and peeling and certain shingles were missing, only to be found on the land around it. It had truly been claimed by the forest. The one distinctive thing that stood out though was, on the black, worn-down, wooden door a, triangle with an eye was carved in.

The two looked around, seeing if they could find any familiar landmarks before concluding that they were pretty deep into the forest. Dipper took out his compass and guided his twin in the direction of the Shack, their summer home, being aware of any large tree roots or rocks in the way.

Eventually, they made it back, being hugged by their Great Uncle, Stanford Pines as they walked through the door. Apparently, the two had been missing for two days without explanation. The cops, being Gravity Falls cops, had dismissed it as being just a surprise sleepover from their friends. These cops weren't the smartest in the world.

They were sent to their room in the attic where they slept for a bit and, then started to discuss their "demonic dilemma", making sure nobody could hear.

"Mabel," Dipper started, "I wonder what happened to make Bill so evil in the first place." "Me too, bro bro! It doesn't make sense. Sure, he was bullied and abandoned by his parents, but he seemed stable enough to not really care much!" "We could always find out," The male twin said, pulling out the tape measure once again. "Go for it!" Mabel encouraged her brother, coming over to his side and holding his hand.

The two appeared on the ground in a small clearing surrounded by trees. They stood and dusted themselves off before heading back in the direction of Bill's house.

When they made it to the house, they spotted a man, dressed the same as their young friend was, but taller and more handsome, sporting a dapper cane and a bit of stubble on his chin. He tipped his hat to the neighbors as he walked down the stairs and by their houses, twirling his cane all the way.

Mabel's jaw dropped. "I-is that-?" "It is," Her twin replied, his eyes wide as tennis balls. "Come on! We're gonna lose him!" Dipper said, snapping back to reality and running after the yellow-clad man.

When they caught up with him, the male Pines twin cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the older man. He turned around and looked down at the two, kneeling down to their height as, over the years, he had grown considerably tall. Almost as tall as Lincoln, people would say, but that's besides the point. Smiling, he greeted them, joyously before raising an eyebrow.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked. The twins found his voice a little off but, soon realized that that was because his voice wasn't echoey like they were used to.

Dipper nodded and took his hat off, giving it to the man. He took the hat and then looked back at the twin, his eye widened.

"Pinetree? Why is it that you didn't age?" "Well, Gravity Falls is odd as, you've no doubt discovered by now." Bill nodded. "I see," He put the hat back onto Dipper's head, making sure not to hurt him. "So, why have you stopped me?" He asked, kindly to the two. "Well, we just wanted to know how things are doing, what profession you're taking up, etcetera," The twelve year old asked, sophisticatedly. "I am an author, though, not many of my published works are making it through to others. I just need to keep at it! And, things haven't been going so well. I've been experiencing symptoms of the flu lately. It's been getting worse day by day. I'm just not sure how much longer I'll be able to survive," he said, coughing a bit into his hand. "You think we could stay with you for a bit?" Dipper asked, pitying the man. "Sure, just be careful. I don't want you to catch the virus," He replied, turning around and leading the twins back to the house.

"H-hey, um, you can continue your walk if you'd like, we don't mind." "Nah, it's fine, Shooting Star! I can continue that later! I've got guests!" He replied to Mabel, happily, still walking back to his house.

Little did they know that they would be visiting for a very short time.