Stan sat at the kitchen table scribbling down equations. The moon was high in the sky, and a faint breeze rustled through the trees.
Bill sat staring out the window, his hand submerged in a bowl full of candy. He wore the golden sweater Mabel had knitted for him before she'd left and his top hat for good measure. After all, tonight was a very special night, and unlike Stan, Bill was determined to not let the search for Stan's brother get in the way.
Stan was mumbling to himself irritatedly, pulling Bill from his excited mood.
Bill sighed and searched the man's mind. For some reason he'd got it in his head that if he could rebuild his portal, he would find his brother.
Bill knew it would never work. Stan's brother was not trapped in another dimension, but rather trapped in a different form. But of course Stan didn't fully understand whenever Bill tried to explain.
The doorbell rang, and Bill sprang up to get it. He'd rather be answering the door than picking arguments with Stan, anyways.
He rushed over, bowl of candy in hand. He swung the door open with a grin.
"Trick or treat!" Yelled the pile of kids standing on the front porch.
"Hmmm..." said Bill. "I think trick!"
The kids on the porch booed.
"It's not spin the bottle, Bill! Just give them the candy!" Stan called from inside.
"Right!" exclaimed Bill.
Bill held out the candy, and each kid shuffled up to take a candy. As they bounced away, Bill suddenly felt nostalgic. For centuries he'd spent Halloween roaming the streets, unseen by those around him. He was merely a shadow to the world unless called upon. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd actually participated in Halloween festivities. He chuckled to himself. It had been long enough that "trick or treat" had morphed from an option to a demand for candy.
The doorbell rang again and Bill rushed over to find Wendy at the door dressed in Viking attire.
"Trick or treat!" Bill exclaimed.
"Other way around Bill!" Stan corrected. "You just hand out candy!"
Wendy laughed.
"Hey Bill!" She chuckled. "I see you've been put on candy duty?"
Bill set the bowl down.
"You've for that right, Red!" Bill exclaimed. "I happen to be the best there is at it!"
Stan rolled his eyes, and Wendy smiled.
"Well hey," she began. "If you think Stan could handle candy duty, I was going to see if you wanted to go to the Gravity Falls costume party?"
Bill looked at the candy bowl. He was having fun handing out candy but he hadn't been to a costume party before...except maybe to freak people out as a spooky apparition. He looked to Stan who shrugged.
"Do whatever you want to do." Stan grunted.
He turned to Wendy.
"Sure thing Red!" he said, grinning.
The two headed off to the party right away. It was at the Northwest Mansion, and Bill couldn't help but feel excited.
As they entered the mansion, Bill spotted Wendy's friends, Tambry and Robbie.
"Hey guys!" Wendy called, rushing towards them.
Bill almost followed, but was distracted by someone calling out.
"And now!" The voice declared. "I will be performing magic tricks! Who's ready?"
Bill turned to see Pacifica standing on a stage, dressed like a magician. She was performing unbearably simple magic tricks, and the crowd was going wild.
Bill frowned. He could do all of those tricks! In fact...
Bill hopped up on stage, and Pacifica looked mortified.
"What are you-?!" She shrieked, but Bill cut her off.
"Wow! Those were some great tricks kid!" Bill said. "Folks, let's give her a round of applause! Very nice! Now. For everyone who doesn't know me, the name's Bill Cipher! Allow me to show you some real magic!"
Everyone looked confused, and Pacifica looked furious. Bill didn't mind though, he was about to dazzle and amaze them all with some real magic!
Bill snapped and allowed a blue flame to appear in his hand, which he juggled for a brief amount of time. The crowd wasn't cheering yet, in fact they were all very silent. Bill frowned, and thought for a moment.
Telepathy. Telepathy would impress them more than the fire!
"Now I am going to read some minds!" Bill declared, scanning the room for some noteworthy thoughts. "Sheriff Blubbs secretly wants to be a duck, Bud Gleeful is happy that Gideon is back in prison, Manly Dan can't spell his own name, and Lazy Susan is madly in love with Jeff the gnome even though she doesn't quite remember him!"
He looked down at the crowd, they looked shocked, but they still weren't cheering. He frowned. What a tough crowd! He furrowed his brow, his powers had been greatly lessened since he'd been trapped in this body, but he thought he might attempt some illusions anyways.
He focused hard. It would be tough, but he was sure he could pull it off.
The crowd shrieked as Bill created a massive dragon made of blue flame. It was working! They loved it! He made the dragon swoop over the crowd and dissipate into the sky. He glanced at his shadow, and willed it to tap dance on its own. He and the shadow took turns trying to outdo each other at tap dancing until Bill wrote "The End" in cursive letters in front of him and bowed through them.
He'd put on a pretty good show, but something wasn't right. The crowd had disappeared except for Wendy, who was laughing and shaking her head.
"Wait, where'd everyone go? I heard them cheering just a minute ago!" Bill said, puzzled.
But Wendy only laughed harder.
"Bill they weren't cheering, they were screaming! They all ran off when you made that crazy fire dragon!" Wendy laughed.
"Oh." said Bill, sitting on the edge of the stage.
He'd thought they'd be impressed!
"Hey, don't feel bad Bill!" said Wendy. "Let's head back to the Mystery Shack. After all, we can't trust with candy duty for too long!"
Bill smiled, and they began to head back. To Bill, it had been the best Halloween yet.