#dalearmitage

YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO PULL OFF STEALING FROM ME! the demon cackled. Sawyer’s mouth didn’t move—Bill spoke directly into Dale’s mind. WOW! MAN, I HAVE TO GIVE YOU PROPS ON THAT ONE, FRANKENSTEIN! YOU’VE GOT THE GUTS TO GO WITH YOUR BRAINS! WELL, CONGRATULATIONS, GENIUS, YOU FAILED, AND NOW YOU’VE DOOMED YOURSELF ON TOP OF THE IDIOT KID YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE!

The monstrous glee in the stolen eyes and smile didn’t mask the terror in Sawyer’s trembling body. Tears streamed down his face even as the evil spirit inside him gloated.  SO LET ME GUESS, Bill went on. YOU KNEW YOU COULD COUNT ON OLD MORPHO TO GET GREEDY ENOUGH TO TURN ON ME, AND THAT’S HOW YOU GOT THEIR HELP WITH THIS LITTLE ATTEMPTED ROBBERY. DID YOU TELL THEM THEY COULD HAVE A CUT OF THE PRIZE AFTERWARD? He pinched Sawyer’s arm. EH, HEARTWOOD? WAS YOUR BEST PAL DALE GONNA SELL YOU TO ONE OF HIS FRIENDS? DID YOU EVEN KNOW HE HAD OTHER FRIENDS?

Dale tilted his head down, pushing his jaw forward as his face darkened. Bill’s accusations stung, but even if he protested that it wasn’t his intent, Bill probably wouldn’t really even let Sawyer ‘hear’ it. “I wasn’t selling him to anyone. Amorphous Shape stabbed me in the fucking back.” Real anger bubbled out of him. “And promised me we could pull this off—instead they dump me the second you show up. Once a hench, always a hench, right?” He closed his eyes, partially to block out the unsettling sight of Bill grinning and Sawyer weeping simultaneously. “I’m the one that got sold out.”

It was obvious that Bill didn’t believe Dale in the slightest. RIGHT! AND I’LL BE SURE TO TAKE A GOOD LONG TIME TO TEACH THE LITTLE TRAITOR EXACTLY THAT WHEN I CATCH UP WITH THEM, RIGHT AFTER THEY SPILL ALL THE DETAILS OF THE PLOT YOU TWO COOKED UP! I’M REAL CURIOUS WHAT EXACTLY YOU WERE GOING TO DO WITH MY PROPERTY ONCE YOU HAD IT!

Bill-in-Sawyer’s-body leaned forward and hauled Dale to eye level with him. BY THE WAY, DID YOU EVER WORK OUT MY MASTER PLAN? NO? WELL, HERE’S A HINT: SAWYER HERE IS READY AND WAITING TO END THE WORLD, ONCE WE GET AHOLD OF HIS KID SISTER. JUST AS SOON AS WE’RE DONE DESTROYING YOU.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dale dismissed. “Come on and fucking kill me already, Bill. Just get it over with.”

Independent of Bill’s control, Sawyer’s body jerked. A muffled cry escaped him before Bill clamped him back down. WHAT?

“I’m sick of listening to you. You won. Do it.”

Bill snarled and lunged forward to attack, both physically and mentally, throwing his stolen body on top of Dale to grapple him down. Writhing psychic roots twisted into Dale, enough to make Sawyer whimper in pain. Were they coming from him?

WHAT—ARE—YOU! the demon roared as he ripped deeper into the oracle’s consciousness, grasping for his buried memories.

Dale fought back with every inch of his training—he stood up under Bill’s immense pressure, grinned inside his head, and launched a torrent of blatant mockery. Oh, poor Bill, the oracle taunted, the triangle nobody really likes. Can’t keep friends without paying them. Couldn’t hold Stanford Pines.  Couldn’t even stop a couple kids from ruining his plans!

It didn’t even matter that not all of these jabs actually applied to this particular Bill’s history; he was a still a Cipher, and it was enough to work him into an incandescent rage. Dale’s gambit was working, but unfortunately not quite well enough—even in his fury, he was still trying to burn his way past Dale’s defenses. SHUT UP, DAMN YOU! YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! JUST SHUT UP!

Oh, and that tree thing, Dale went on. What, you're so desperate to stand out from the rest of the Ciphers that you're basically pulling the equivalent of a psychic emo hoodie? ‘I swear I'm not like the other Bills, Dad!’ What happened, Bill? Are you too weak to look like the others, or are you just too scared?

I SWEAR I’LL END YOU, the demon seethed.

Dale pushed back against the roots, twisting away from them, and there was a general shape within the pattern of his thoughts that implied he was maneuvering to divert Bill from ... something. Something obvious by its absence. Almost like he wanted to make Bill mad ...

It didn’t take long for Bill to realize it. OHHH. I GET IT. THE OLD BAIT AND SWITCH. NICE TRY, he hissed. THERE SOMETHING IN THERE YOU DON’T WANT ME TO FIND? LET’S HAVE A LOOK, THEN!

Dale could feel Bill moving toward the empty space he’d tried to carve out of his thoughts, and the oracle redoubled his intensity — no mockery now, he didn’t have the energy for it. He pulled himself tight against Bill and gritted his teeth and tried like hell to wall him out. He was sweating bullets. Throwing up a wall was blatantly admitting there was something to hide, but if he just kept resisting long enough, it might break Bill’s patience ... Things had already gone so wrong, and he needed to keep Bill angry, off-center, willing to lash out... It would truly be better for everyone if he could get Bill to kill him before he found out...

Dale was clearly experienced, and it was almost all Bill could do to keep his teeth and claws sunk in. But the demon was still far older, stronger, and craftier. As he grasped Dale's intentions, even as he continued to shove and strain against Dale’s desperate wall, he cooled down and fell back onto his most tried and true weapon: words.

WELL HEY, WHILE WE'RE PLAYING ARMCHAIR PSYCHIATRY HERE... YOU’RE REALLY SHOWING WHERE YOUR PRIORITIES ARE RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW THAT? he snickered. WORKING SO MUCH HARDER TO PROTECT YOURSELF THAN YOU EVER DID TO PROTECT YOUR FRIENDS—LEAST OF ALL THE NAÏVE, PARANOID KID YOU PRACTICALLY GIFT WRAPPED FOR ME! YOU KNOW, YOU’RE SO MUCH MORE LIKE ME THAN YOU WERE EVER LIKE STUPID YOUNG SAWYER.

Dale grimaced. Every burst of Bill's speech was followed by pressure - sharp, unceasing, clawing pressure. Bill pushed along the wall, trying to sniff out the smallest crack. Hands upon hands dragged at the barrier. He tapped, raked claws, creating mental noises that screeched like nails on a blackboard. Discordant, painful.

I'm not like you!

Bill grinned. OF COURSE YOU ARE. HECK, THIS IS ALL YOUR DOING. IF HE HADN’T MET YOU, HE WOULDN’T BE THE PERFECTLY SCREWED UP SOUL HE IS TODAY. AND YOU KNOW IT, DON'T YOU? Two of Bill’s branch-like hands were cat’s-cradling strings of sickly red thread, and every time his claws plucked and scraped, Sawyer could be heard sobbing an endless stream of apologies. I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN, FRANKENSTEIN—YOU AND I CREATED A MONSTER LIKE THIS DIMENSION’S NEVER SEEN! COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

Bill’s hundreds of fingers squirmed at any soft points they could find in the wall. He was feeling a softening. Slow, but sure. The wall was starting to give. Dale was breathing hard, eyes flashing with angry tears.

MOST PEOPLE WOULD’VE GIVEN IN LONG AGO. BUT YOU’RE NOT REALLY A PERSON ANYMORE, ARE YOU?

Bill's fingers caught and clicked against an abrupt crack...

Then came a horrendous tearing sound from behind Bill, like a great tree splintering apart. A misshapen crimson thing came leaping out of the dark, trailing pale roots. In a half frenzy, it tried to tackle the demon from behind and get between him and Dale, clawing and screaming in Sawyer’s voice. Let him go let him go right now, you already have me, so YOU’RE NOT GETTING HIM—

DID LITERALLY ANYONE ASK YOU? Bill laughed, slamming the empath to the ground and grinding him under the heel of his palm. YOU JUST KEEP FORGETTING YOUR PLACE AROUND HERE, KID! THIS IS MY TOWN NOW, EVER SINCE YOU GAVE IT TO ME!

He pressed down harder and harder, crushing whatever was left of Sawyer’s form.

Bill was relentless with his goading chatter. GET A LOAD OF THIS IDIOT, he crowed, holding Sawyer’s shapeless but still moving remains aloft. HE KNOWS YOU RUINED HIS LIFE AND HE’S SO DENSE THAT HE’S STILL STICKING UP FOR YOU!

He forced Sawyer to meet his eye. OR MAYBE IT’S JUST THAT DEEP, DEEP DOWN, YOU KNOW YOU’RE BECOMING A MONSTER TOO, HUH, HEARTWOOD? IT JUST WASN’T ENOUGH FOR YOUR BESTEST BUD TO TRY AND STEAL YOUR SOUL; HE HAD TO START TAKING YOUR HUMANITY AWAY FROM YOU, TOO. WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN SINCE YOU MET HIM, HM? YOUR FREE WILL, MAYBE? DAMN, FRANKENSTEIN, HOW DID YOU DO IT? HOW DID YOU GET HIM SO MINDLESSLY LOYAL? WILL YOU TEACH ME?

Dale made a sound like his soul was splintering, a wordless and chaotic cry of grief and despair. Bill turned back to Dale, boring into him with his great golden eye, grinning snidely. YOU KNOW WHERE THIS ENDS, he said, half bluff, covering for the glee he felt as he got his hands in, started pulling and tearing at the wall, feeling it break apart under his pressure. He saw Dale behind it, small, angry and frantic - curled around the thing that he'd been trying so hard to hide. Bill couldn't see its full shape yet, but he was starting to get the gist of it.

LET'S MAKE IT REAL SIMPLE. WHATEVER YOU WERE TRYING TO PULL, YOU LOST, KID. I GET IT NOW, THAT LITTLE SECRET OF YOURS. IF IT'S NOT YOU - AND LET'S FACE IT, IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE YOU - IT'S GONNA BE SOMEONE ELSE. YOU RATHER I GO COMPLETE THE RIFT REACTION CHAIN WITH SAWYER’S LIL’ SIS? COME ON, IT'S OVER. A FOR EFFORT, THOUGH.

Dale glared from within his broken defenses and winced at the suggestion that Bill would go after Lottie instead, if he didn't comply. Bill was right: he'd lost. He ceased to struggle then, and Bill pushed through and grabbed the thought that Dale was hiding, ripping it right out of his grasp. Victorious, he saw clearly. OH, Bill murmured hungrily. OH, YOU’RE REALLY SOMETHING ELSE, DALE ARMITAGE. YOU KNOW, YOU COULD HAVE SAVED A LOT OF PEOPLE A LOT OF TROUBLE IF YOU'D JUST MADE THAT CLEAR TO ME FROM THE BEGINNING?

Bill smiled horribly with his eye, and just like that, the three of them had melted back into the waking world. THE END'S STILL THE SAME, THOUGH. HAHHA, WOW, I MEAN, REALLY, ALL THAT, AND YOU'RE STILL GETTING THE APOCALYPSE IN THE FACE, AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS ARE GONNA DIE EITHER WAY! ALL YOU DID WAS PROLONG THEIR SUFFERING EXPONENTIALLY!