1This is just a quick thing I did after watching Bill's Train by Marley Mango on Youtube.
Who's gonna ride the devil's train tonight?
.
Stanford Pines and his brother had always been hardworking men. Their family had never been well off, so they'd worked from dusk till dawn to be able to put food on the table. Filbrick Pines was a stern man, and he dreamed that one day his sons would make it out of this dead end town and make the family a fortune. Since Stanley wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed, Filbrick's hopes fell to his other son, Ford. He praised his son's aptitude in academics, or at least did the closest thing to praise the man was able to. Eventually, the family scraped together enough money to send Ford to college, leaving Stan to stay and work with his father. With the birth of the third Pines child, Shermie, Stan was needed at home more than ever. Meanwhile Ford dedicated all his time to his studies, never halting his pursuit of knowledge for an instant. But something wasn't right with him. Every so often other students or even a professor would find him gazing out the window, straining his ears as though listening for something.
"The train..." He'd always murmur. He regularly went on walks near the train tracks to clear his head, so no one really thought much of that at first. But this wasn't him longing for peace and quiet. His roommate Fiddleford knew something had happened on the train tracks one night, although Ford would never discuss it in detail. Ford had met someone on those tracks. Someone who promised him secrets.
"I can't explain it." Ford had said when he'd returned that day. "But he says he'll teach me everything." Fiddleford, of course, had been suspicious of this. The sorts of people who hung around on train tracks were hardly the sort Ford should be getting mixed up in. But Ford hadn't listened. In later days, he tried to put the thoughts of the train tracks from his mind many a time, but the call only seemed to grow stronger with each passing day.
"Follow me, follow me. follow me, follow me." And it got louder. "Follow me, follow me. I have something to show you."
It was at this point that Ford began to act erratic, missing school, talking to someone no one could see, shutting himself up in his dorm room for hours on end. And one day...He simply disappeared. The school phoned Stanley, as Filbrick had passed away by this point, asking if he'd seen his brother. No one at the school knew where he'd gone and some had assumed he went home for a break. After all, the boy had been studying like his life depended on it. Stan panicked, since he hadn't seen his brother either. Three days later, Ford appeared on his brother's doorstep. He had no money, his shirt was on backwards, and he was stumbling as though he was drunk. He called out for Shermie, who came toddling out, only about 4 or 5 at the time. Ford took his littlest sibling on his knee and told them this,
"If you ever have grandchildren let them know that his great uncle loves them very much. And by the time they're grown be sure they remember this. Don't ever walk to the tracks alone." Then he put Shermie down and left.
.
Sitting on the tracks waiting for the night train
Looking down the road ain't never gonna go back
Listen for the whistle through the wind and raindrop
Who's gonna ride the devil's train tonight?
.
Dipper Pines had grown up hearing stories about his Grunkle Ford from his whole family, especially his Grunkle Stan. Ford had always been painted as a genius and a hard-working man, but the stories from his parents had always been tinged with a hint of warning and disdain. They thought Ford had been crazy. He'd just run off one day and no one knew why.
"He wasn't right in the head." They'd say. "Never cared about anything but his studies and experiments." But Dipper didn't think his Grunkle had been crazy. After all, he was more like Ford than anyone else in his family. Dipper had never been interested in the family pawn shop, choosing instead to bury his head in a book. He devoured any and all knowledge he could find. His sister Mabel shared his curiosity, but Dipper was a level above her. He had a burning desire to know everything about the world. Nothing his parents could say would stop him. Despite what his parents told him, Dipper regularly went on walks along the train tracks. It was the only place that was truly quiet since the train didn't run too often anymore and hardly anyone was ever there.
"Aren't you worried though?" Mabel asked him. "You could get hurt."
"Mabel, it's fine." Dipper said. "Nothing's going to happen to me on the tracks. I've gone there a dozen times and nothing's ever happened."
"But it's dangerous there." Mabel sunk down in her bed, pulling her sheets up to her nose. "You could fall off the edge, you could get run over."
"What happened to, 'Forget danger! Live life to the fullest!'?"
"This is different." Mabel said. "It's..." She trailed off "...Nevermind. Let's just go to sleep, okay?" Dipper shrugged but rolled over and started reading. He always had to read before going to sleep. His favorite book to peruse was his great uncle's journal. When Ford had vanished he'd left behind three journals filled with frantic ramblings and pictures of creatures that couldn't possibly exist. Whenever someone wanted to claim Ford had been crazy they used the journals as evidence. But Dipper saw the journals as something amazing and inspiring. If what his grunkle had written was true, then this could mean so many things for the scientific community. It would open doors no one had ever dared to open before. His grunkle had been a genius, not a mad man. Dipper fell asleep holding the journal, contented. That night, something terrible happened. His Grunkle Ford appeared to him, body broken and bloody. Ford said nothing, just staring at his great nephew with sad eyes as his blood dripped onto the bed sheets. Dipper screamed and fell off the bed with a loud thump. Ford turned and stared after him as the boy ran out of the room, out of the house, and towards the train tracks...
.
Sitting on the tracks waiting for the night train
Looking down the road ain't never gonna go back
Listen for the whistle through the wind and raindrop
Who's gonna ride the devil's train tonight?
.
Dipper's head spun as he stumbled through the darkness. He didn't know where he was going or why, all he knew was that he needed to keep moving. Keep moving or be doomed. He couldn't explain why he felt like this. He shook his head, which only made his dizzier. Dipper slowed his pace and looked up at the stars, providing the only light in the moonless night. They burned like charcoal above him, putting him at ease somehow. He stopped for a moment, only for Ford to appear again. He was trying to speak this time, the only sound coming out of his mouth gurgling. Blood flecked his lips and dribbled down his chin. Dipper screamed again and took off running. Fear took over everything, telling him to run until he couldn't run anymore. Before he knew it, he found himself on the train tracks, a fog rolling in. Far ahead, he saw a man walking towards him. The man was strange, to be sure. His body looked like it had been assembled by someone who only had a vague idea of what humans were supposed to look like. He was altogether too thin, limbs too long and spindly, torso like a cardboard tube, hands like two spiders stuck onto the ends of the arms. His smile was too wide, golden eyes too large. One wasn't even an eye, it was just a gaping socket. He had blond hair slicked back against his head with a battered top hat on top of it. His suit was also golden, but similarly beaten up.
"It's a nice night for a walk." The man said as he started to walk past, his voice high pitched and grating. "Would ya mind if I joined you?"
"Do what you wanna do."
"Well that's great 'cause I'm going to. And not to annoy you but see I really have to ask what a young dude like you's doin out by the tracks?" He leaned in close with a sickening smile "You waiting on a train?"
"No!" Dipper said quickly, then regretted it. "I mean, let me explain.
"Alright."
"I'm minding my own business and you should do the same. I just saw something terrible. You should feel really lucky you missed it."
The man laughed. "Easy with that tongue, kid. Try to listen carefully. What you've seen is scary, but nothing can compare to me. I could show you things that paint all your dreams haunted. I could make you scream if I wanted." The man's single eye widened as his smile did, and Dipper could have sworn he saw a flicker of light in the man's empty eye socket, a threatening aura building. As soon as it appeared though, it vanished and the man threw an arm around Dipper's shoulder. "Or I can be the bee in your bonnet, your best-friend forever. Two peas in a pod flocking like birds of a feather. And you never have a need to beg work or steal. If all this sounds worth it then let's make a deal. All you want in life for price of your soul, all the money you can fold, power that you can hold. I'll put you in control, only if you're down to roll down these train tracks tonight."
"But where are we going to go?" Dipper found himself asking. "And who are you?"
"Name's Bill Cipher." The man stuck out his hand. "And that, kid, is an excellent question."
.
Sitting on the tracks waiting for the night train
Looking down the road ain't never gonna go back
Listen for the whistle through the wind and raindrop
Who's gonna ride the devil's train tonight?