AN: Alright, here's another one. Sorry for the late author's note, but I figured that now that there's a few of you reading I'd start kinda talking to you. Reviews would be awesome, so I know where I can improve and what you guys would like to see. This has kind of turned into my main writing project, so I like to think I'll be putting a lot more effort into it. Thanks for reading! 3
Dipper refused to let Bill stay the night again, after the morning he suffered through, and as he expected, Bill whined about it.
"At least drive me home Pine Tree? I don't feel like teleporting, and Star doesn't need a ride home today."
Dipper huffed and rolled his eyes as he opened the driver's door. "Fine."
Bill plopped himself into the seat and made himself comfortable as Dipper drove away from the school. "Wanna play questions?"
"Play questions? You mean the question for a question thing?"
"Yeah. I have some questions for you, Pine Tree," he smirked.
Dipper's chest became heavy at the thought of discussing that morning. "What about?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Bill turned in his seat and faced Dipper, but kept his gaze on the road. "What happens to my body when I drink? Like I know I get drunk, but how does it feel?"
"Well, I've only been drunk once, and I puked my brains out because I had too much." He was hoping saying that would discourage Bill from drinking, and thought he should push the matter even further. "It makes you feel dizzy, and lightheaded, and since it will be your first time in this body, you'll likely throw up."
Bill nodded then gestured at him to ask a question. "Ask away Pine Tree."
A million questions swam to the front of his mind, and he had to think for a moment before he picked one. "When you do face the other demon, what happens if you aren't strong enough?"
He turned in his seat and Dipper could see that he had made Bill uncomfortable. "I don't know," he said softly. "Let's just get as many as we can so that I can beat him into the next century."
It was silent for a moment before Dipper cleared his throat and said, "your turn."
The demon perked up a bit and smiled. "You get that weird feeling when you look at Blue, don't you?"
Dipper's face turned red almost instantly, and he nearly swerved the car. "W-well, she's really pretty, why wouldn't I?"
Bill laughed and shook his head. "You humans and your feelings. Why don't you just tell her that? What's the point of having these mating urges if you don't act on them?"
"That's not how it works! We have to like each other too. I'm not even sure if she likes me back, let alone wants to do that with me. I'm not even sure I want to do that with her, I just want to dance with her." He was telling the truth; the thought of all of that made him beyond nervous and he was hoping Bill would leave him alone about it.
"Seems like a waste of time to me. If your body tells you to do something, and the other person agrees, then do it."
Dipper gripped the steering wheel as they pulled up to Bill's place, evening out his breathing, since his nerves had gotten the better of him. "Well of course it has to be consensual, but you still don't just go up to someone and ask that. At least, not at our age, I don't think," he laughed nervously.
He shrugged and opened the car door, letting it hang open for a moment. "Well, I guess I'll see you in the Mindscape. I'll teleport to your house at six so I can be sure that we're both ready."
Dipper drove home slowly, being careful not to let his thoughts distract him from driving. He was still worried that Bill was going to pull something at the dance, but felt a little better about the drinking thing. He was pretty sure he had scared Bill away from drinking, or at least from having enough to actually get himself drunk.
As he pulled into the driveway, he saw that the lights in the house were still off, and figured that Mabel hadn't made it home yet. She was likely still at the school, making sure the gym was perfect for the dance.
He laid in his bed and read the book Bill had given him until he drifted to sleep. The last thing he remembered was fighting hard not to drift off, since he only had a few pages left to study.
His eyes opened to his ceiling, the sun peeking in through his window. Had he not gone into the Mindscape? He sat up quickly, looking around the room for any sign that he was dreaming. There hadn't been one night since Bill stole his body that he didn't enter the Mindscape. This had to be a dream.
"Morning Dipping Sauce! I hope you like pancakes and smiley sausages!" Mabel sang. She looked real enough. The food smelled real enough.
If it were his dream Mabel though, there would be things that would seem off about her. The two of them usually had pretty keen senses when it came to each other, so he figured he'd use his twin sense to see if it was really her.
"How goes the dance stuff?" He sat down in front of a plate of food, and poked at it.
Mabel sat in a chair and sighed. "Good. But that's the problem. I'm exhausted. No sleep for this girl!" she laughed.
Dipper could feel his twin's lack of energy, and could see in her face that even though it was a labor of love, Mabel was ready for the dance to be over. His eyes widened and he dropped his fork on the plate, startling Mabel from her relaxed position.
"What's wrong?" She leaned onto the table and ignored that her hair almost fell into her plate of food.
"I-I didn't dream last night. I didn't go into the Mindscape. I'm awake right now." He had no idea why, but he began to panic. Something in his chest felt wrong, and it was making it hard to breath.
Mabel rushed over to him and began rubbing his back, making sure he knew that she was there. "It's okay Dipper, I'm sure there's a reason behind it. Maybe Bill knows." She was used to comforting him when he would begin to panic, since he tended to have panic attacks after that summer. She herself found that she didn't suffer from them like he did, so she took it upon herself to learn what to do when he panicked.
"Mabel why didn't I dream, is something wrong?" When he panicked, he became a bit irrational, unable to think clearly about what he was being told. "What if that thing found me and is messing with my head? What if it gets to you?"
Mabel shushed him and continued to rub his back, making sure that he kept eye contact with her. "Dipper, tonight we're going to go to the dance, and you're going to have fun with Claire remember? And we have Bill here now, he knows how to get rid of the demons, he can help you. Maybe it was just because you were exhausted. You did stay up late reading you know. How is your book anyway?" She made sure to keep her voice smooth and calming, matching the rhythm of her hand that was rubbing his back.
His breathing slowed and he nodded. "It's cool. I've learned a lot," he breathed.
"Good, now don't you want to eat some breakfast? It's a big day today! I worked hard on this dance, and we're all going to have fun!" She moved back to her chair, making sure not to move too quickly away from him.
He took a deep breath through his mouth then let it out slowly through his nose. "Thank you Mabel."
"I'm here for you Dipper. There's nothing we can't do when we work together, even if one of us needs a little extra help along the way."
After they finished eating, Mabel disappeared into her room, making sure she was perfect from head to toe for the dance, curling her hair, painting her nails, and applying make up carefully to where she felt it was needed.
Dipper however, decided to finish his book, then write a few notes on the symbols and words he found most interesting. By the time he had finished filling up two pages, he looked at his phone and realized that it was already almost six, and that Bill would be there any minute.
Scrambling to get his semi formal clothes on before Bill showed up, he threw on the first "nice" clothes he could find. A simple black button up shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and black dress pants were the first things he managed to pull on, and when he finished fixing his hair, he heard Mabel yell for him from the other room.
"What's up?" he asked, fixing one of his sleeves.
Mabel was in a dress she had made herself, a sweetheart neckline bedazzled with rainbow gems all the way down to the skirt, which was made with pink and purple tulle. Her hair was curled and had small, colorful, bows placed randomly throughout. "You look plain," she giggled.
"And of course you look colorful and amazing. Some twins we are," he chuckled.
Mabel clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'll be right back." She slipped down the hallway into their parents room, only being gone for a second before coming back out with her hands behind her back. "I think this will be perfect!" She revealed a brightly colored yellow tie, and began to tie it on him.
"You chose this color on purpose," he growled, but let her tie it.
"Of course I did! It'll be fun having you two match." She finished straightening the tie then pulled her phone from her breast. "If we don't take a few pictures, mom will freak. Say cheese!"
A bright flash covered the room, then she turned the phone to look at the picture. In the back, Bill was making a funny face at the camera, and the two spun around to see him smirking.
"Did it turn out?" he laughed. He was wearing a yellow dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up like Dippers, with a black vest over it and a black bow-tie to match. The vest had small chains on the sides, matching the chain belt he had holding his black pants to his thin frame.
Dipper groaned. They did match. "It looks fine. The teleportation thing is starting to get a little annoying," he laughed.
Bill rolled his eyes, but held his hands out, presenting his outfit to the twins. "Did I do it right? I figured this was going to be alright. I wasn't expecting Pine Tree to match though."
Mabel giggled and adjusted Bill's bow-tie. "We all look fantastic! One more pic for the road!" The three posed for the picture, all smooshing in close so that the camera could get all three of their faces. "I'll send you both the pictures, but for now I have to go! Gotta go make sure everything's running smoothly!"
As soon as the boys were left alone, Bill crossed his arms and blocked Dipper's path from leaving the hallway.
"Where were you last night? Did you stay up all night?"
Dipper took a deep breath, remembering to stay calm, and shrugged. "I didn't go into the Mindscape. I have no idea why."
Bill stepped closer to him, looking him in the eye. "Can I check your head again?"
"Do you actually think you'll figure out what's wrong if you do?"
Bill nodded and stepped even closer, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead to Dipper's.
Dipper relaxed into it, but had to keep reminding himself that it was just to figure out what was wrong, and that he didn't need to freak out.
"Your body was too exhausted. You slept too deeply to enter the Mindscape. All this time, and now you're too tired? Did you even do anything yesterday?" Bill joked.
"I've been extremely stressed the passed few days," he grumbled. "For some reason dealing with demons puts a toll on me," he said sarcastically.
Bill raised his hands in defense and stepped back from him. "Well, at least you got a good night's sleep for once. No more slacking though, the more we kill off, the better."
"Let's just get to Mandy's house."
The drive there seemed too quick for Dipper, since he wanted anything but Bill being drunk in a group of his friends.
"Alright, Pines and Anderson are here!" Claire announced the boys to the group of people, who were all sitting around a couch, passing a bottle of alcohol around. "Care to partake, Bill?"
Bill smiled and nodded. "Bring on the dizzy!" He accepted the bottle, and took several, large gulps of the liquid, before realizing that it was a bad idea. He cringed at the taste and coughed as he handed the bottle back to the person who had handed it to him.
"Bill! That was stupid!" Dipper nudged his arm and glared at him.
"More like awesome! He took that like a champ!" One of the girls sitting on the couch was smiling at them and nodded. "I bet he could handle a few shots of the good stuff! Who's down for shots?!" She stood up and nearly skipped to the kitchen, a few people, including Bill, following her.
Dipper groaned and followed Bill closely, annoyed that he hadn't deterred Bill from drinking at all.
The majority of the group each did a shot, Bill imitating the teens around him when they all cringed at the taste.
"What are you doing?" Dipper asked as he pulled Bill aside.
"Relax Pine Tree, this stuff probably won't do anything for me, so I might as well earn some 'cool points' while we're here. You do want me to get along with other humans, right?"
Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Look, if this does do something to you, now would be the time to quit while you're ahead. It might take a minute to kick in, but you've have enough to give you a buzz since this is your first time. Let's leave it at a buzz. I don't need a drunk rampaging demon."
"Who says I'd go on a rampage?" Bill crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, giving Dipper an offended look.
"If you do something stupid and someone picks a fight because of it, what happens then? I'm not getting in the middle of a bunch of drunks, Bill."
He looked away and let his arms fall to his side. "Fine, fine. I'll stop. Only because I already do feel a little light headed."
Dipper rolled his eyes and nodded to the group. "Just don't expose yourself, okay? I don't know if I could keep everyone from trying to exorcise you."
"I hear ya' Pine Tree."
Once the teens had their fill of alcohol, they all piled into either Dipper's car or the SUV of the other DD.
Bill made sure to claim his seat in the passenger side of Dipper's car, not wanting to get sandwiched in between people he didn't know, and sat quietly for most of the ride.
Dipper almost felt bad that Bill wasn't having a good time, but he wasn't sure what he could do to make it better. He turned on the radio to an upbeat song, hoping to liven things up in his car. The teens in the back loved it, and started to sing and dance, but Bill seemed like he was still in a mood.
Deafening music and blinding lights made the school appear almost fun, and as the teens piled out of the cars, Bill seemed to lighten up a bit.
"You feeling alright?" Dipper nudged Bill's arm and nodded to the school. "You know you're allowed to have fun right? Just not the, kill everyone and destroy stuff fun," he chuckled.
"Get off it Pine Tree, I'm not going to kill anyone." Bill playfully nudged him back then walked behind the group they came with into the school.
Mostly every teen in the gym was dancing, enjoying the playlist Mabel had made just for the dance.
Even though Dipper was sure Bill wouldn't dance, Bill did dance, and was dancing quite well, making a few of the drunken teens hoot at him.
Dipper stood back and watched, laughing each time someone bumped into someone else, or nearly tripped onto one another.
Seeing Bill getting along with everyone gave him mixed feelings though. What if Bill really was trying something sneaky? Was he going to befriend people and use them too? If not, then would making friends make him want to stay after they dealt with the other demon? What would happen to Bill if he stayed in the human body for a long time?
"Whoa, Dipdop, loosen up!" Mabel grabbed Dipper's tense shoulders and shook him lightly. She could see that he was deep in thought, and was ignoring the world around him. "Dance with Claire!" She shoved him into the group, making him nearly smash into Claire, and he laughed nervously as he stepped back from her.
Claire grabbed his arm and yanked him closer, and the group came closer to them, forcing Dipper to dance and have fun with them.
Since he wasn't drunk though, he didn't seem to be finding everything quite as funny as everyone else, so after a short while of dancing, he separated from the group and found Mabel again, who was dancing with Jessica and a few other friends, who all had equally crazy dresses.
"How's everything going? Need me to do anything?"
Mabel rolled her eyes. Dipper never was one for large groups, and he didn't know how to let loose like she did. "Not having fun?"
"No, no, I am. Just. . . not as much as everyone else I guess," he laughed.
"You left Bill alone with all those people?"
"Yeah, he seems to be having fun. I didn't think he liked music."
Mabel stopped moving to the song and tapped her chin as she got a thoughtful look on her face. "Doesn't Bill hate synthesized music? Like I think I remember it making him physically react to it. 'Cause up next is totally one of my favorite synth songs."
Dipper shrugged. "I'll go ask him if he cares I guess. Wouldn't want him freaking out in a large group."
At first Bill didn't acknowledge Dipper, but when Dipper yanked his arm he gave him a dirty look. "I thought you wanted me to have fun Pine Tree."
"I do, but Mabel told me the next song was a synthesized song. Don't you hate that music?"
Bill shrugged with one shoulder and nodded. "It makes my head hurt." He paused for a moment then smirked. "Step out of the dance for a bit with me while it plays?"
Dipper was actually a little relieved Bill asked him to take a breather away from the group, and happily obliged.
They wandered the school until the music was just a loud murmur through the walls. Bill lead the way, and kept trying doors to see if any were unlocked.
"We can't go in the classrooms! They're all going to be locked any-" The sound of a doorknob clicking cut him off, and he stared at Bill, who had a large grin on his face.
"C'mon Pine Tree, it's the biology room. It'll be kind of spooky hanging out by the human diagrams, don't you think?" Bill slipped into the room quickly, and Dipper followed, not wanting Bill to get into anything he shouldn't.
Bill danced around the room to the muffled music, moving through the rows of seats haphazardly, stumbling every so often.
Dipper leaned on one of the desks, and laughed each time Bill nearly smashed his face on a desk.
"Shut up and come here Pine Tree. Loosen up and dance with me!" Bill grabbed Dipper's wrists and pulled him away from the desk, pulling him around the room.
He tried to pull away in protest, and squirmed even more when Bill wrapped his arm around his waist. "Bill! You promised there wouldn't be any of this at the dance!"
Bill twisted Dipper around and smiled. "First of all, this right here isn't inappropriate," he twisted him around again, then dipped him, holding him by his waist and his wrist. "and we're not technically at the dance, Pine Tree."
"This is to inappropriate!" Dipper let himself go limp, making Bill hold up all of his weight so that he might let him go, but Bill didn't seem to mind.
"This is inappropriate," he said as he pulled Dipper up.
A sudden heat was on Dipper's face, as Bill's lips mashed into his, Bill tugging at his arm to make Dipper as close as possible.
His lungs felt like they caught on fire and his stomach felt like it was filled with feathers. He wasn't even sure how to react, so he just stiffened and waited until it was over.
When Bill let go of him, he scrambled back and looked away from Bill. His face was a deep red, and he couldn't tell if he wanted to be mad or embarrassed. "What the hell was that?"
Bill shrugged and continued to dance around the room. "I told you it was a waste of time not to listen to your body. My body said to do that, so I did."
It was obvious that Bill was drunk, but Dipper wasn't sure what to do from there. Should he try to pretend it never happened and hope that Bill would forget about it? What would happen if Bill went around telling everyone that they kissed?
He shook his head and took a deep breath. "Let's get back to the dance, please. And don't don't just go around doing what your body says; it can get you into trouble really fast."
"Sure, sure." Bill danced out of the room, and made his way back to the gym, leaving Dipper behind.
He walked back slowly, not wanting to face the drunk Bill, since he seemed to be a little too friendly.
"There you are! I've been trying to find you!" Mabel grabbed Dipper by his arm and pointed up to the projector on the catwalks above the gym floor. It pointed at the largest empty wall in the room, and was showcasing images Mabel had taken of people around the school, having fun or just posing for the camera.
"Why, what's up?" He tried his best to act normal, and it was kind of working since he was still in shock from what had happened.
"That thing is going to show all of the pictures in my gallery from the last month. I may or may not have forgotten to take a certain photo off. . ." She looked down at the ground and scratched the back of her head.
"Mabel! People can't see that! Do you have any idea what people would say if they saw that?!" He ran his hands through his hair and took several deep breaths.
Mabel put her hands up and shushed him. "It's at the very end of the photo reel. I moved it back there so I could order all of the other pictures before deleting it, but I'm pretty sure I forgot to. Anyway, if you can sneak up there and stop it before it ends, no one will see it."
"Why can't you do it?" Dipper growled.
"Well, I need to stay down here and start wrapping up the dance. I can't just disappear for twenty minutes to sneak up there and shut it off. By the way, to make it look like it shut off on its own, you might want to wait until the picture just before yours. It has all of the writing on it and junk. It'll stay on the screen for about ten seconds before it flips to yours."
"Is there no remote shut off?" Dipper looked around the room to see how everything was set up, but the dim lights made it hard to tell where everything was.
"Not unless you've got the key to the IT room. We had it all set up pre-dance, and we didn't think we would need to get back in there, so no one took the key."
Dipper groaned and threw his hands up. "Fine, I'll go shut it off."
There suddenly seemed to be teachers everywhere, making it nearly impossible to sneak up to the catwalks. They had been closed off since the school had been remodeled, the gym having used to be where the stage was, and only certain staff was allowed to go up there.
Of course, kids would go up there anyway, even though it had totally been deemed not safe.
Dipper wasn't afraid though. He had been up there once or twice throughout his high school years, and it didn't seem dangerous to him.
After sneaking past the teachers, he slipped through the door that had the staircase leading to the ceiling. He stood by the projector for a little while, waiting for the last photo to show. It flipped through the photos slowly, almost painfully, but when Dipper saw the picture with the text all over it, he gave it about five seconds before he clasped his hands over the light and blocked the last image.
Mabel had forgotten to delete it, so had he not gone up there, everyone would have seen the unfortunate cuddle session.
As soon as the light from the projector died, Dipper relaxed and sighed.
"How strange," an unknown voice sang from behind him. "Cipher chose such a strange human. Worried over such petty things."
Dipper spun around to see who had said that, and saw that a guy dressed in a purple button up shirt with a black tie had followed him up. His hair color matched his shirt, and his eyes seemed like they were as black as his tie.
"Who are you?" Dipper figured since he knew Bill's real last name that he was either another demon or someone who knew that Bill was a demon.
The guy stepped closer and looked down at all of the kids who were still dancing to the dying down music. "I didn't think Cipher would be able to pull off getting a body. It was hard enough for me to do, I can't imagine someone as incompetent as he getting one so easily."
He was a demon. Dipper stood up straight and clenched his fists, hoping to look unafraid of the demon, even though he was terrified. "I'm not asking again, who are you?"
His eyes snapped to Dipper and he walked even closer to him, looking him up and down. "I see why he chose you though. You're a human that has the ability to use magic. Perfect for Mindscape travel. Blocks his own magical readings, hiding him from Baltzy," he chuckled. "Once I get Cipher out of the way, I'll keep you in the Mindscape with me so that I can use you as my shield."
Dipper gripped the railing, realizing that his way down from the catwalks was blocked. "I'm guessing Baltzy is the demon making the shadows, but who are you?"
He grabbed Dipper's collar with both hands and gave him a stern look. "I tell a human that they can use magic, and you're still worried about who I am?" He pulled Dipper closer and smiled in the way that Dipper thought only Bill could. "I suppose since you will be my pet that I will tell you my name. I am Clyde Grim. But you can call me Master."
Dipper shuddered and shook his head. "Clyde it is then."
Clyde rolled his eyes and released Dipper from his grasp. "Where is Cipher anyway? I thought I could destroy him in front of his pet and peers." He spun around and looked out into the sea of kids, who were all starting to clear out of the gym. "Perhaps I could just destroy his peers. That should bring him out."
Dipper grabbed his arm and tossed him back, nearly throwing him over the railing, then used the time to slipped past him and run down the stairs. He had to find Bill.
"Bill!" he yelled as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Clyde was in front of him suddenly, and grabbed the back of his shirt. "Pets do not disobey their masters." He yanked Dipper back and pushed him into the wall. "But I do enjoy that you're the perfect bait for Cipher. I'm sure he'll come running when I tell him that I have his meat-shield."
Mabel bouncing around in her colorful dress caught Dipper's eyes, and he could see that she was putting some bows into Bill's hair.
Clyde followed his gaze and stared at them for a moment before smirking. "Well, well, twins. Two magical humans in the same place. She's nowhere near as close as you are to using it, but either one of you will do I suppose. Which ever one screams less," he chuckled.
That was the last straw. He had threatened his classmates, Bill, and worst of all, he threatened Mabel. Dipper felt a coldness start to grow in his chest, and he could physically feel his anger trying to come out of him. He didn't realize he had even done it, but he had punched Clyde in the face, so hard that he could've sworn he heard a popping sound.
He stumbled back and laughed. "I see the twin is a weak spot. Perhaps it will entice you to use your magic."
Most of the kids had cleared out at that point, the only ones left being Mabel, Bill, Jessica and another girl that had helped with the dance, which was lucky since Clyde decided to walk over, black fire coming from his fists.
The lights snapped on and all of the doors slammed shut, making everyone's attention turn to Clyde.
"Cipher, you're looking terrible. How goes the human thing?" In the light, Clyde looked more like a demon than before. His features looked similar to when Bill changed in the Mindscape, but instead of horns, he had a tail.
Bill stepped in front of the girls, blocking them from Clyde's line of sight. "Grim, I see you're still terrible at choosing your form."
Clyde snapped his fingers and Dipper found himself next to the demon, chains around his wrists. "I found your pet Cipher. I have to admit, you found a nice one. It can use magic and everything! And it even comes in a set!"
Bill took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "Let me teleport the other humans out of here and wipe their minds. They have no part in this."
"Why, because you've gone soft? I thought you wanted all of the humans dead. Isn't that what you tried to do a few years ago?" Clyde yanked on Dipper's chain and pulled him closer. "I still can't believe you couldn't do it. They're really fragile." He tossed Dipper back, sending him into the wall with a loud thud.
"Dipper!" Mabel went to comfort him, but Bill grabbed her arm.
"Star, please, I promise I won't let him hurt Pine Tree, but I need you to stay back. I'm going to get you and your friends out of here, and I'm going to wipe their minds of this. Me and Dipper will come home tonight. I promise."
"Promise?" she sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes. She knew she had no choice but to leave them here, since there wasn't anything she could do to help anyway, but she still wasn't fully trusting of Bill.
"I promise Star. Remember, if not, you can send me away."
Mabel nodded, and Bill snapped his fingers sending the her and the others away.
Clyde tsked at him and used the chains to drag Dipper back over to him. "Softy, softy, softy. I bet you've got an even softer spot for your meat shield here."
Bill calmly stepped forward, keeping eye contact with Clyde. "Let him go Grim, and we'll settle this."
The demon snapped his fingers and Dipper found himself chained to the wall.
He figured he'd better try and let Bill handle the fighting, and took the time to think of ways to get rid of the other demon.
"How about winner gets the good meat sack, and loser gets the one that isn't as close to using her magic?"
"Don' talk about my sister like that you jerk!" Dipper snapped.
Bill put up his hand, and blue flames lite up his whole body. "How about winner gets to live, and loser has to die?"
Clyde smiled and let his flames grow higher, giving the gym an unholy blue and black glow. "Bring it on, Cipher."
AN: Like the new guy? There's going to be a lot more of this fic to come, so don't think he'll be the only new face to bother our heroes!
