"All right kids. You got to finish the movie. Now get to bed."

"But the credits are still playing! The movie isn't over."

"It said The End. Now go to bed."

"But-"

"I said GO!'

"Okay, okay! We're going!"

The twins stood up and walked slowly out of the living room, yawning slightly, and climbed the wooden stairs, headed towards the attic.

"Hey, Dipper!"

"What?"

"Race you! First one to their pillow wins!"

"You're on!"

The pair thundered up the old wooden stairs, laughing and taunting eachother playfully. Neck and neck, they both raced down the hall. A floorboard by their door pulled itself slightly out of the floor. The twins kept sprinting, only to let out a pair of yelps as they tripped over the board and disappeared from sight.

Dipper was ejected onto his bed a moment later, still running. He promptly ran into the wall, his head bouncing off of the wood with an audible crack. Mabel ran across the floor before tripping forward onto her bed.

"Augh!" Dipper gasped, his head throbbing painfully. "What happen-AH!" Dipper jumped, startled by a sudden burst of maniacal laughter.

"Hey there you two! Long time no see!" Bill lowered his voice slightly. "You really shouldn't do that, Pine Tree. Your brain could be affected. It would be a shame to see such a sharp mind go to waste.'

"Bill!?"

"Aww, you both said my name at the same time! How sweet! Did'ya miss me?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you two, of course! Why else would I be here? I can't exactly summon you, now can I?"

"But why-"

"Hush, Shooting Star. All will be revealed in good time. Very soon, in sit down and listen."

" Why should we listen to you?" Dipper crossed his arms, glaring up at Bill.

" I saved your lives! You owe me!"

" No you didn't! You tried to kill us!"

" And now I'm trying to save you. So shut up and listen."

"Yeah? Well, what if we don't want to?" Bill's eye narrowed. He floated forward until he was inches away from Dipper's face. Dipper stared back defiantly, still wincing slightly each time his head throbbed.

The pain in Dipper's head suddenly spiked, sending him to his knees, hands over his eyes. A high pitched squealing invaded his mind and his vision went white with pain. Dimly he heard Mabel shout his name. The pain was worse than anything he had ever experienced. It was even worse than the time he had plummeted into the eye of Gideon's robot.

And then it was gone. The pain had disappeared as quickly as it had come. Even the ghost of the sensation had departed. A small, cool hand was lifting his chin. Dipper looked up, expecting Mabel. Bill stared down at him.

"Sorry about that, Pine Tree. I didn't want to have to do that, but you needed to be reminded that you aren't able to fight me. You aren't in Stan's mind anymore. You're at my mercy out here."

Dipper jerked away from Bill's hand and glared at him with the most anger and hatred he could muster. Bill sighed. "So stubborn." A twinge of the pain returned for a brief moment, but Dipper refused to react.

"I have a mission for the two of you."

"We aren't doing it."

"Nobody said you had a choice in the matter."

"We won't do it."

"You will, unless you want to the universe to end."

"What?

"Remember that odd page in the third journal, Dipper? There are matching pages in journals one and two. When the pages are put together they reveal the secret to activating a machine of incredible power. However, when the machine is used it consumes all of the heat energy in the universe it resides in, leading to instant entropy. Your great uncle wants to use the machine to jump universes. "

"Grunkle Stan wouldn't do that! You're lying!"

"I'm not lying, Mabel. Think about it. What's the one thing your "Grunkle" chases after more than anything?"

There was a slight pause before Dipper replied. "Money," he said, "He's...he's always after money."

"And money brings many things. Wealth, security, and leisure, just to name a few. But what your uncle wants most is power. He's an ambitious man. So ambitious that he would risk humanity for his own motives."

"Why can't you stop him?"

"I could, but I want to test you two."

"By making us save the universe?!" Mabel was incredulous.

"Yep! Just think of it as an entrance exam!"

"An entrance exam?"

"Yep! If everything goes well I take you two on as my assistants!"

"What?"

"What! How! Why! You two never stop asking questions! If you keep blathering on you won't have any time to stop Stanford!"

"What if we fail?"

The question came from Dipper. His scorn had been replaced by seriousness and worry.

" If you fail the universe will be destroyed. Everyone you have ever loved and everything you have ever known will disappear. I'll steal you two away with me before you cease to be, but your friends and family won't be so lucky. My advice? Don't fail. Now get up. We have to get going."