AN: Here's that promised Sock Opera chapter! Hope you enjoy! A lot of ideas in this came from my amazing friend Evbay of FlightRising!

I actually can speak a few phrases in Caesarian (3-letter shift, the one from the show) and I'm working on learning more!

I have this episode practically memorized; it's my favorite!

Warning: gets a little dark towards the end.

Song for this chapter: Demons by Imagine Dragons

Neither Dipper nor Mabel nor Drei knew exactly the kind of insanity and horrors the next few days would bring. In fact, things seemed to be going great! The trio was headed to the library to check out some books on passwords and codes. The laptop had been fixed up and Dipper had powered it on that morning, only to be met with a grating beep that let the entire Shack know that the thing was password-protected.

So the boy had asked his grunkle if the three of them could please go to the library to find tips on how to crack a laptop password. Grunkle Stan, face grinning even before the sentence was over, gave them the all clear for the possibly illegal action.

So that's what they were doing.

"I wonder what's on here!" Dipper was babbling to the only two people around to listen. "Maybe you'll finally remember who your Creator is! Like his actual name!"

Drei looked just as excited. "Exactlies! I can finds out everythings! This is be amazing!"

"I know!" Dipper's voice squeaked in the middle and he blushed, looking mortified. Mabel laughed and tapped his shoulder with a fist.

"Haha bro-bro, nerding out again?"

"Maybe a little," he said, trying to shove as much dignity into his tone as he could muster. They'd reached the library steps and Dipper led the way into the cheerful building. He practically dragged Drei and Mabel over to the sections on codebreaking and technology and similar things. "Okay so there's this one author on these kinds of subjects that's really good, I remember…" he murmured aloud to them.

Well, to Drei anyways. He was certainly interested in the topic. Mabel was… Less so. She was more interested in the strange strumming noises echoing through the library. So she had peeked around the edge of the shelf and wandered off to find what was making that peculiar noise.

Dipper didn't notice she was gone at first. He was gesturing to Drei, getting slightly off topic about Caesar ciphers, and Drei was nodding animatedly.

"I can speaks that!" he said happily. "Khb!" He said it like cay-heb. "Thats is meaning 'hey.'" Dipper chuckled.

"That so cool! Mabel, isn't that…" Dipper turned, trailing off when his twin wasn't spotted right behind him. "Oh come on, where did she go?!" Drei shrugged.

"She go to follows the weird music, I thinks." Dipper groaned.

"She promised to help though! Let's go find her…" He split up the books evenly between him and Drei, then, tucking his load under his arm, led the way to find his sister. Dipper and Drei caught up with her as she was waving goodbye to a blond boy with… Puppets on his hands? What? She looked their way with a huge grin on her face, then seemed surprised to see them. A red blush crept over her cheeks.

"Hey Dipper…" she said as she walked up. Her tone was questioning, and Dipper already knew that he was going to be asked a favor.

"Yes, Mabel?" he answered, vaguely suspicious that her request was going to be ridiculous.

"How long do you think it would take to write a sock puppet rock opera with original music and a light show?" She was grinning a winning, slightly guilty grin.

Dipper's stomach dropped. "Mabel! You promised you would help me with this!" He used his free hand to gesture at the books he was holding, and the stack in Drei's arms.

"Yous did promise," admitted Drei sheepishly. "Plus socks is uncomfortable." He looked down at his shoe-clad feet again.

"I got carried away!" Mabel said desperately. "Gabe was just so perfect, ahhhhhh! He likes puppet shows and if he's gonna be my boyfriend, I gotta impress him with this! Pleeeease? It's for love, Dipper," she added, giving her brother the puppy-dog eyes.

He couldn't resist that look, just as he couldn't resist her sadness over losing Waddles or her desperation to help Mermando. "Oh… Fine alright, I'll help. If we get it done quick, then we can go back to cracking this password." Mabel squealed.

"You're the best!" Then she shouted in the library. "This guy! He's number one!"

Dipper made a noise like a mouse being stepped on. "Mabel! Shhhhhhh keep it down!" His twin giggled, but stopped shouting.

"Get what you need, bro-bro?"

"Yes. Hopefully we can get to this before the books are due."

They walked to the front of the library, all three discussing both passwords and the purpose of sock puppets for Drei's benefit under their breath.


A day and a half passed. Mabel, Dipper, and Drei bought out all the socks in nearby thrift stores, then began to make heaps of puppets. Even Soos and Wendy got in on the act. Stan was so busy tending Zwei and disappearing for strange periods of time that he never did catch on to what they were up to.

Mabel was teaching Drei to sing, and the young construct didn't actually have too bad of a voice. He did garble all the lyrics to every song thrown his way, but Mabel didn't mind and neither did Drei from the looks of it. In that day and a half, it was common to hear lyrics like "baby you's a firework, going on shows us what you's worth!" floating through the halls of the Shack.

Parallel to all of this insanity, Dipper had spent his sock-free nights on the password. He pulled all-nighters trying eight-letter word after eight-letter word, to no avail. Both Mabel and Drei had assaulted him with pillows at night to get him to stop the infernal buzzing caused by every wrong entry. He'd waited until they were asleep until he'd tried some more.

He'd get some sleep that night. This sock crisis was almost over, just a few more minutes until Mabel would be back to help him, though he felt a little worse for wear (it had taken far too long to pick the threads out of his shirtsleeve he'd sewn shut.) He could afford a little rest tonight, then Mabel and Drei would be able to help him, with an interlude the night after for Mabel's play.

Things would be okay.

Dipper was trying to get a sock un-stuck from his face when he heard a squeal from his sister coming from outside. She was supposed to be giving her props to Candy and Grenda so they could finish them up while Soos and Wendy drove the larger stuff to the theater. What could she possibly be fangirling about? The boy sighed and walked to the doorway, finally yanking the puppet from his cheek and rubbing the red spot it left behind. He made it to the door only to see the boy Mabel had been obsessing over in the yard.

The tired twelve-year-old rubbed his eyes and sighed as he heard this guy, Gabe, spout random puppet nonsense that obviously made as little sense to Mabel as it did to Dipper (though she was going to great lengths to hide it.)

Dipper heard soft footsteps behind him. "That Mabel's puppet-boy?" came Drei's voice, quiet so it wouldn't carry into the yard.

"Yeah, Gabe Whatever-his-name-was," Dipper responded. "Maybe this conversation will make her more confident in her puppet show."

"I hopes so… Singing lessons is fun, but I excited to cracks code." At least Drei seemed to be on his side.

But far from reassuring his sister, by the time Gabe left, Mabel had been sent into a tizzy, whipped into an even crazier frenzy. "We gotta up our game!" she shouted, along with something about stitches which didn't register with Dipper at all. He only knew about three kinds of stitches: the ones you put in your shirtsleeve (accidentally), the kind you got in your side when running away from a monster, and the sort you'd need at a hospital when your sister's plan came crashing down on top of you, probably literally.

But then she grabbed her box of socks back and barreled back into the Shack. "Dipper! We need a lint roller, stat!"

"What?!" Dipper caught Mabel's elbow as she flew by. "You promised Candy and Grenda would be putting on the finishing touches and you'd help me out a little! I know this nerdy stuff isn't really your thing, but you promised. You're obsessed with this guy!"

"I'm obsessed? Look at you Dipper! You haven't slept in days! It's a miracle Drei and I have gotten any sleep with that annoying beeping twenty-four-seven! You need to lighten up, you're too obsessed with these crazy secrets."

Drei's mouth was hanging open as he watched the two siblings argue. He couldn't believe it; this was the first legitimate argument the two had had that he'd seen. So all he could do was stand there, too-big coat nearly falling off his narrow shoulders, and gape in shock.

"Ugh… Fine! Fine, I'll go do it on my own." Dipper turned and began to stride back to the Shack. Drei finally shook off enough of his paralysis to grab Dipper's wrist.

"Dip, you wants me to help?"

Dipper scowled. "No thanks. I'm going to do this on my own and prove to Mabel I don't need her help!" He swatted the hand away and proceeded to stalk into the Shack alone. He completely missed the hurt look on Drei's face.


Dipper was having a hard time staying awake. The boy's eyes refused to stop drooping and the warm, safe environment of his room was making him even sleepier than he normally would have been. He decided that that wouldn't do. He still had a two-page list of passwords to get through that night!

So Dipper shrugged on the only thick jacket he'd brought and scooped up his notes, research, and laptop. Then he climbed out to the roof, to the place Wendy had show he and Mabel at the beginning of the summer. He plopped down with a can of Pitt Cola, leaning back against the roof and propping the laptop up on his knees. Dipper took one look at the blinking green password prompt and sighed.

"Mabel. Is. Useless," he mumbled before yawning, tapping in another password only to have it spit back in his face. "Ugh… Who else knows about passwords and secret codes?" He rubbed his eyes, bone-weary and feeling more exhausted than ever.

"I THINK I KNOW A GUY."

The wind started blowing, the moon was turning blue, and lightning was flashing through the air. Dipper's heart jackhammered in his chest. The fears that had been awoken by that echoey voice were confirmed when the lightning took on a triangular shape and gained an eye. Then bricks filled in the middle and soon the world was grayscale and Dipper was facing that dapper demon Bill Cipher, back pressed up against the roof shingles.

"HEY PINE TREE. YOU MISS ME? ADMIT IT, YOU MISSED ME." The triangle smirked, crinkling his eye to imitate the human gesture. Dipper scowled. He didn't have time for this ludicrous creature.

"We defeated you!" he said, glaring.

Bill rolled his eye. "AHAHA YEAH. YOU 'DEFEATED' ME. SURE, KID."

"Ugh what do you want from me?" Dipper asked irritably. He didn't have time for this creep, he still had passwords to try!

"YEESH RELAX, KID! I'M JUST HERE TO HELP." The geometric figure perched on the edge of the roof, not quite touching it but lending energy to the wood that made Dipper's feet tingle even through his shoes. "I JUST REQUIRE A SMALL… FAVOR IN RETURN."

Bill's hand flashed bright blue with a flicker of flame before he closed his small fist and it was snuffed out.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone!" Dipper hugged the laptop to his chest, eyeing Bill suspiciously. He definitely did not trust that triangle, not after working with Gideon and certainly not after the warnings from Drei about the interdimensional being. He would not associate himself with Bill Cipher.

"AW BUT KID! I'VE TAKEN A LIKING TO YOU! IN FACT, I THINK YOU'VE EARNED A LITTLE REWARD!" Bill tapped his face below his eye in an imitation of the human gesture of tapping a chin. "I KNOW! HERE, HAVE A HEAD THAT'S ALWAYS SCREAMING!" The demon clapped his hands and indeed, a blue translucent bearded screaming head his the rooftop with a thump. Dipper yipped and hopped back, wanted to cover his ears but deciding to protect the laptop instead. Then the head peeled away along with the screams.

Bill was laughing and that just made Dipper even more paranoid. That freaky, echoing tone couldn't be signifying anything good. "I'm not making any deals with you!" he insisted. "I mean it, man! You worked with Gideon! I can figure this out on my own, now go away!"

"THAT WAS JUST A JOB, KID, NO HARD FEELINGS. BUT HEY, I'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE. YOU KNOW WHO TO CALL IF YOU WANNA MAKE A DEAL!" Bill stretched out the last word as he poked at Dipper, each feeling like a static shock. Dipper scowled. "HEY WANNA SEE ME DO AN IMPRESSION OF WHAT YOU'LL LOOK LIKE IN ABOUT TWO SECONDS?"

"What?"

But all Bill did was shriek in a squeaky voice and flail his arms, and suddenly Dipper was awake and doing the same thing. He looked around. No yellow, no greyscale, no triangles, and no blue moon. He sighed. "What a freaky dream, huh? Bill. Ugh, that guy."

He spent the rest of the night not only going through the two pages he had planned on but a whole eight pages of password attempts. And he didn't get a wink of sleep, though he crawled back inside the Shack right before dawn. He felt crappy and his mind was muddled and he hated it. When he went to the bathroom to pee at around six in the morning, he noticed bags under his eyes so prominent that there was no way anyone could ignore them.

He groaned. Drei and Mabel and Stan would all be asking questions. He just knew it.

Dipper was right. The first thing he heard when he walked into the kitchen, yawning, was Grunkle Stan teasing him.

"Yeesh! Bag check for Dipper's eyes. Anyone?" He looked around, getting only a confused expression from Drei.

"What's that means?" And then Stan had to explain the joke to Drei as Dipper got himself a bowl of cereal. At least the attention was off him.

"Dipper, what did I tell you?" Mabel scolded. Well, maybe not all attention was off him. Dipper groaned. "You stayed up all night again, didn't you? You look like a vampire, and not the hot kind."

"Go away Mabel," Dipper said, not looking at anything but his cereal that he was spooning into his mouth. He knew she was about to retaliate when footsteps, slightly uneven, echoed into the kitchen. Only then did Dipper look up.

Zwei was standing there, arm in a sling, looking disheveled and like he'd just rolled out of bed. For now he continued to wear sleeveless shirts like Stan, easier to put on one-armed. He now had black sweatpants though (everyone knew Stan had bought him new clothes; the old man had come back grumbling about how the kids would make him broke, bags in hand) and generally looked far more comfortable than he had earlier in the week.

"Zwei!" Drei chirped. "You is feelings better!"

"Yeah," Zwei said with a wry smile and a chuckle. "I am."

"Zwei is helping out in the gift shop today, so we can close early to go see Mabel's… whatever," Stan explained.

"And I'm starving, so maybe pass that box?" Zwei asked, sitting across from Dipper and gesturing at the cereal.

"Sure, man." Dipper handed him the box, then went back to his own slightly soggy breakfast. Dipper's breakfast continued to be a quiet affair as he ignored Mabel chattering away to Drei and Stan making sure Zwei knew what to do in the Gift Shop. The second construct would be wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes, just in case.

When he was done, the boy got up and silently slunk back upstairs. No one tried to stop him. He knew Drei was upset and didn't want to make Dipper mad again, but the twelve-year-old was too tired and grumpy to care. He holed himself up in the unoccupied attic room with the laptop, red window glass dying the room crimson like it was sunset instead of before noon.

"I. Hate. This. Sound," Dipper growled as he tried another combo only to hear the harsh noise of denial. He wanted to slam his face into the keyboard, internet style, but that would expend energy and all he wanted to do was sleep. Crack the password… Sleep… He didn't know which he wanted more.

His eyelids did. They seemed to be closing on their own… But then he snapped upright and rubbed them. No. No sleep. Not yet. But…

The room had been bleached of bright colors. Dipper groaned even before the geometric annoyance showed up, and spat out "not you again!" before Bill could speak.

"YEESH PINE TREE." Bill rolled his large eye. "I TOLD YOU, KID, I'M HERE TO HELP YOU. REALLY. MY PRICE IS SMALL."

Dipper raised a skeptical eyebrow, drawing the laptop closer. "Yeah, sure. What do you want? My soul? To rip out my teeth? You wanna take my eyes and replace them with… With… Baby heads, or something."

Bill cackled. "PARANOID, MUCH? RELAX PINE TREE! ALL I WANT IS A PUPPET. EVERYONE LIKES PUPPETS! AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE A SURPLUS." With the air of a curious if triangular cat, Bill floated over to a stack of Mabel's puppets and flicked one.

"Those aren't mine! They're Mabel's. I'd never give them away!" protested Dipper, fingers digging into the back of the laptop as Bill's voice grated on his nerves.

"OH REALLY? AND WHAT HAS YOUR SISTER DONE FOR YOU LATELY?" Bill asked, looking unimpressed. His body flickered with Dipper's memories, shown in the third person, and Dipper shuddered as he remembered Bill stating that he was watching them. "ALL I SEE IS YOU SACRIFICING FOR HER AGAIN AND AGAIN… SINCE WHEN HAS SHE RETURNED THE FAVOR? HM?"

Dipper should have known he was being manipulated. He really, really should have. But his brain was tired and his heart was hurt and he really, really just wanted to crack this password so he could sleep for a year. "Just… Just one puppet?" he asked quietly, right hand unclenching from the laptop slightly.

"YEP. THAT'S ALL I NEED," Bill stated plainly. Then he floated slightly higher and stuck out his right hand. Flames crackled to life on the four black fingers, enveloping the demon's hand to his wrist, a flash of cerulean staining the wood purple as it blended with the window light.

Memories were still flickering through Dipper's head. All the times he'd given up something for Mabel. He loved his sister, he really did, but… Would this be the rest of his life? Would he always have to sacrifice his biggest dreams for his sister's whims? He knew he would always continue to put her first, but he couldn't help thinking of how… Hurt he'd be if all his dreams came to nothing just to help her all the time. And… She didn't really seem to notice that he gave up his own happinesses for hers. Oh, she always thanked him (his ribs had ached for a week after the hug he'd gotten after allowing her to go back in time and save Waddles.) but did she really think about how it affected him?

He didn't know. She was the impulsive one while he was the thinker. He hoped she saw that sometimes his actions for her, though voluntary, hurt him. He hoped. Yet that paranoid side saw a future of him giving up applying to college to help Mabel with her applications, getting a low-wage and dull job so she could go to a good art school, buying art from her to help her out when business was bad, writing fiction on conspiracies instead of researching them because he had no degree…

Stupid brain.

"TICK TOCK, KID," Bill said, jolting him back to the moment. Dipper's face hardened. Just this once.

"It's a deal."

He wrapped his hand around Bill's. it wasn't much larger than the demon's. Dipper couldn't feel the fire, except for a slight prickling of his skin and his hairs standing on end.

They shook.

"So, uh, which puppet did you pick, anyways?" Dipper asked awkwardly. Bill hadn't released his hand, though Dipper's fingers had uncurled.

"OH…" Bill appeared to be thinking. "EENIE, MEANIE, MINEY…" And his eye turned red. "YOU."

Pain. It hurt. Being removed from your own body wasn't much like being ripped apart; it was more like being compacted, squeezed out your own pores or, Dipper thought, crunched in that trap room in the bunker.

Either way, he screamed. And then it was over and he felt nothing. He was hyperventilating, panic mode fully activated because he was see-through and floating and it felt wrong. He tried to grab at his shirt and his hand went right through. Then he heard a low chuckle and his gaze locked on his own body, which was clumsily pushing itself to its feet. Eyes opened.

They weren't his own green-gold eyes, though, no. They were flat yellow and catlike, slit pupils roving over the room. Bill in Dipper's body grinned.

"SORRY KID BUT YOU'RE MY PUPPET NOW!" He snatched up the laptop from the window seat.

"What do you want with that?" the real Dipper cried, floating over to Bill with some difficulty.

"YOU'VE BEEN COMING CLOSE TO FINDING OUT SOME ANSWERS. I HAVE BIG PLANS, KID. BIG PLANS. YOU AREN'T GONNA STOP ME!" And with a strength the real Dipper did not possess, he slammed the laptop to the floor and stomped on it. Dipper shrieked as the machine cracked and sparked and the glass screen splintered. Bill simply laughed at his anguish and stepped over the pile of broken tech. He stumbled drunkenly, as if he was unused to walking… Which he probably was.

"EHEHE," Bill giggling unnervingly. "HAS IT BEEN A WHILE SINCE I INHABITED A BODY. AND TWO EYES, HECK THIS THING'S DELUXE!" Now he was poking at Dipper's face, while Dipper swiped at him to try and get him to cut it out. Bill paid him no mind as he stretched the skin and blinked, one eye at a time. Dipper gasped when Bill slapped his face, once, twice, and exclaimed "PAIN IS HILARIOUS!"

"Come on man what are you doing?!" Dipper said, breathing like he was on the verge of a panic attack even though he didn't technically need to breathe at all. "Why are you doing this?"

"LIKE I SAID, PINE TREE. I DON'T WANT YOU GETTING IN MY WAY! NOW," he mused, wobbling over to the top of the stairs and raising an eyebrow. "WHERE'S THAT KID YOU HANG AROUND WITH? THREE? I NEED TO HAVE A LITTLE… CHAT WITH HIM." A grin spread over his face, and Dipper never knew his face could look so sinister.

The spirit boy didn't have blood, but he still felt the sensation of it draining from his face and pooling nervously in his stomach. "No, you leave Drei alone! He's never done anything to you!"

"HE HAS TOO MUCH INFORMATION, JUST LIKE THAT LAPTOP. GOTTA CUT MY LOSSES, KID." Bill used Dipper's right hand to draw a line across his neck, still snarling at the true inhabitant of the body. "SAY, HOW ABOUT I RACE YOU TO THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS?"

Dipper was still paralyzed in horror, and Bill's words didn't sink in until he leaned backwards and tumbled down the stairs, thumping all the way down. Dipper yelped and instinctively dove through the floor. The sensation of slipping through solid wood was weird, and made him do a flip once he reached the living room. Steadying himself was hard, especially when he was holding back so much panic.

Bill was going to try and kill Dipper's best friend using Dipper's body. That could not happen.

"Bill, where are you…" Dipper muttered, knowing full well Bill wouldn't answer. Then he heard that sinister laughter coming from the kitchen. He floated silently in, just in time to see Bill pull out a can of Pitt Cola.

"HEY HUMAN SODA. I'M GONNA DRINK IT LIKE A PERSON!" And with that, Bill upended the entire soda onto Dipper's face. First his eyes, then his nose and mouth, making gargling noises of laughter even as he half-drowned.

"Bill! Cut it out!" Dipper cried, wincing. Slightly reddened cat eyes met his as Bill swallowed, swiping a forearm across his (Dipper's) face and displaying that stretched grin.

"OH BUT WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT?" he cackled. "LIKE I SAID, IT'S BEEN A WHILE. I'M JUST HAVING SOME FUN UNTIL I GO FIND THREE!" He wobbled over to a drawer of utensils next. From behind, Dipper could see bloody streaks in his own hair. He supposed he must have quite the lump on the top of his head from falling down the stairs, and Bill had covered it with the hat. He didn't want to think about the other bruises that were probably there.

"WOW THESE ARMS ARE DURABLE. WOULDN'T EXPECT IT BECAUSE THEY'RE SO NOODLEY, PINE TREE." And now Bill was slamming his forearm in the cabinet.

"Bill!" Dipper shrieked. "Come on! What are you doing?"

"HAVING FUN!" shrieked the demon. "PAIN IS THE BEST KIND OF FUN OUT THERE! BUT IF YOU INSIST I DON'T SLAM YOUR BONELESS LITTLE FLESH NOODLES IN THIS THING, FINE." He stopped and Dipper relaxed fractionally. Then Bill pulled out a fork and looked up with crazy, unfocused eyes. "HOW'S ABOUT I DO THIS INSTEAD?"

Dipper screamed again, thinking Bill was going to stab out one of his eyes. He could feel his heart pounding, even though it wasn't. But then Bill brought down the fork on his forearm, once, twice, three times, and Dipper felt some sickening relief. Bill would've kept going when Mabel peeked in the room.

Dipper's blood froze again. But Bill's back was turned to her and she couldn't see what he was doing, just that what she thought was her brother turned his head to look at her. "Hey bro-bro Drei and I are heading outside if you wanna say goodbye to him, see you later tonight!" And with a smile, she was gone again. That didn't stop Bill from calling after her.

"OKAY SIS, BE THERE IN A MINUTE!"

And then he leered at Dipper again. "CAN'T HAVE THEM FINDING OUT IT'S ME JUST YET, HMM?" Somehow he knew that Dipper kept some bandaids in his vest pockets and hastily slapped some onto the fork wounds, scratching off the dried blood and not bothering to clean it from under his fingernails before dashing out the door. He slammed into the doorframe on the way out.

Dipper bit his lip and followed, trembling slightly. If the situation wasn't so dire, he would be mildly irritated about how his normal human problems like breathing, feeling sweaty, heart racing, and shaking all followed him into the mindscape. But the situation was dire, so he had no time to reflect on that.

He felt sick as he emerged from the building and saw Wendy, Soos, Drei, and Mabel loading the last boxes into the car. Dipper felt even sicker at the way Drei face lit up, managing to look apologetic at the same time. "Dip! Hi! Um… You figure out password yets?"

"OH HEY. NAH, BUT DON'T WORRY. YOU'VE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS." Bill's eyes flashed dangerously, but the effect was lost when he tripped over his own feet and went sprawling, giggling madly when he cracked his chin on the dirt. Mabel raised an eyebrow.

"Bro, you've gone cray-cray due to lack of sleep. You're talking real loud and not making much sense and falling over!" She helped what she didn't know to be Bill up and brushed the grass clippings off his vest. "You get your butt in the house mister and go get some sleep! The laptop will be waiting when you wake up!"

"OH YEAH, THAT. YOU COULD SAY I ALREADY CRACKED THE LAPTOP, SIS." He chuckled again. Mabel sighed.

"Yup, to bed with you." She wondered to herself why her brother wasn't more excited about this, why she hadn't heard his fanboy scream… And she chalked it up to anxiety and stress and the fact that you went a little crazy if you didn't sleep for days.

"AW SIS YOU'RE NO FUN," Bill complained. "BUT SURE. I CAN BIDE MY TIME. AND HEY?" He looked over to Drei and grinned a predator's smile. "GOOD LUCK. I'M SURE YOU'LL JUST KILL IT."

And then Mabel shooed him back inside with a call of "SLEEP, Dipper! No fiddling with the laptop!" before she hopped in the car.

"Wait, Mabel!" Dipper's cracked voice finally piped up from where he had frozen in fear at the sight of Bill interacting with his family. But now he floated over to the car. Soos was driving Mabel and Candy and Grenda, and was coming back for everyone else after unloading the props. "Mabel that isn't me!"

But as he tried to clutch the car door through the open window, his hands slipped right through and he gulped. Then the car turned, pulling away and driving right through his ghostly form and he, expecting pain, curled up, shuddering, but there was none. He looked after the car, tears in his mind.

"WELCOME TO THE MINDSCAPE, KID." Dipper whirled around and saw his body standing in the shadows of the doorway, yellow eyes giving off a lambent glow. "ONLY I CAN SEE AND HEAR YOU. WITHOUT A VESSEL TO POSSESS, YOU'RE BASICALLY A GHOST."

"I'll stop you, Bill!" Dipper snarled, glaring through teary eyes.

"AHAHA IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SEE YOU TRY. CUTE, EVEN. BUT PINE TREE…" Bill's hand shot out and grabbed Dipper by the shirt, fingers fizzling as he touched the spirit boy. He yanked him close, staring unblinking into those fearful green-gold eyes with his pus-colored ones. "HOW CAN YOU STOP ME IF YOU DON'T EXIST?"


"Hey Drei!" Mabel called cheerfully to where he was helping erect the set for the play.

"Yes?" the construct called. He was setting up a cardboard tree with apples on it, and it was taller than him.

"You ready for this?"

"Of courses!" Drei replied with a huge grin. He got to be in Mabel's play! He was excited! He'd be playing the puppet version of himself, as well as Dipper. He couldn't believe it! And Zwei was there to see him. He wished Eins could be there too, but then he remembered the tunnels leading into the town and wondered if his oldest brother would be there in disguise.

"Good! You remember your lyrics, more or less?" Mabel knew that Drei's speech was not only broken, but inconsistent. He could recite the same lines five times and say them differently each time. Mabel had attempted to record the lines as tattoos for the teen, because somehow Drei could repeat all his entries perfectly, with no flaws in the grammar. But recording, for whatever reason, only worked sometimes. And it was hard and took many tries. For some reason, Drei had become attuned to Dipper and not really his twin.

Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't best friends with Mabel as well! He was extremely excited to be in this play. Even without recording the lines, he was gifted with a naturally excellent memory.

"Yups!" he chirped. "I get right this times, no make too many mistakeses!" He wished they could have asked Dipper to record the lyrics, but… Mabel felt too guilty asking anything more from her grumpy brother, and Drei was afraid he'd make Dipper angry again. So he just settled with memorizing and called it a day. "You think Dip will comes to see show?"

"Of course he will, he promised! Plus, he wouldn't miss it, I know him. I know he's pretty stressed, but… He's still Dipper. He's not mad at you or anything."

"I sure hopes not," Drei said, using the arm that wasn't still healing from the zombie bite to hold up the tree while he duct taped it to the floor. "Thankses, Mabel."


Dipper had gone into a panic after that. Bill had strode into the forest with his body, and Dipper hadn't followed.

He'd gone to his room to curl up over his bed, crying. His tears vanished before they made contact with anything solid. He knew he should be planning, he knew it, but for the moment he was simply too scared to do anything. Once started, the largest of panic attacks weren't easily quelled. There was trembling and a struggle to breath or swallow, gasping, crying, and an inability to think straight.

He wanted to plan and to fix things but he couldn't.

He could die. His best friend could die. His twin could die. Or he could live after watching an eldritch horror kill them with his own hands. What twelve-year-old should have to deal with that? Any kid would panic, one with anxiety even more so.

But after maybe an hour, he knew he had to get up and try and fix things. The panic was still roiling in his ethereal gut like a black hole, but he was the smart guy. He could figure this out.

Dipper went downstairs. He was just in time to see his body stumble out of the forest, walking even more clumsily that before, twigs stuck in his hair and vest and brown splotches on his shorts, which the demon brushed off. Dirt, not blood, thank god. Dipper saw that the fingers Bill had used to grip his spirit-form were burned. Dipper's body was not meant to handle touching the energy of a soul.

Wendy and Soos had just pulled into the driveway, and Grunkle Stan and Zwei had stood up on the porch and gone to meet them, Zwei still gripping Stan's arm a bit since he was occasionally unsteady. When Stan saw 'Dipper's' appearance, he scolded him. Or at least Dipper thought he did, he couldn't hear what they were saying from his hiding place. Bill just laughed, and Stan brushed the twigs off him. Then they all got in the car, Bill struggling with the seatbelt for a good thirty seconds, and took off.

Dipper followed. Or at least, he tried to. He wasn't sure where they were going. But a young boy known for being rather physically weak, no matter how ghostly, was no match for a car driven over the speed limit. By the time Dipper found where he needed to be, it was getting dark, and he's almost panicked another three times.

But finally, at long last, Dipper found Grunkle Stan's car parked near the local theater, and, floating across the street and looking up, he saw GLOVE STORY: A SOCK OPERA was showing that night. Even as a ghost on a mission, Dipper was still able to take the time to wonder how the heck his twelve-year-old sister had rented out an entire theater for this thing. Once he got his body back, he was going to check his wallet. But for now…

"I have to find Bill before he does any other crazy things with my body."

Bill wasn't hard to find. He was reclining in the front row between Wendy and Soos, with Stan and Zwei nearby. His arm was around Wendy's shoulders, and Dipper felt another shudder. As if Bill wasn't set on ruining everything else, he would possibly ruin his friendship with Wendy. (And Dipper was still clinging to a hope that he could get Wendy to love him.)

"HEY QUESTION MARK, WANNA HEAR THE EXACT TIME AND DATE OF YOUR DEATH?" Dipper heard Bill ask as he got closer.

"Okay!" said Soos enthusiastically, and Dipper knew that he didn't want to hear it. Thankfully, Grenda's deep voice bellowed from the speakers just then and Bill wasn't able to answer. The show would start soon. Dipper was wondering where Mabel and Drei were when his twin walked out from behind the curtain.

"You're all here!" she exclaimed when she reached her family and friends sitting in the front row.

"Of course we are, sweetie! I'd never miss… Whatever this is." Grunkle Stan was still confused, but he was right in saying he'd never skip out on something his pumpkin was proud of.

"And my brother is in it too," Zwei said with his rather melodious voice. "Drei would be so disappointed if I didn't come, injured or not. Even if I don't really understand what it is this show is either."

"Oh he is excited that you're here! And just wait, boys, you'll be blown away by sheer awesomeness really soon! Now if only I could find someone to play the reverend for the marriage scene… Drei is the ring bearer, all the reverend needs to do is stand there…" She eyed Zwei hopefully. The man tugged at the collar he still wore and grinned lightly.

"I'm still injured, Mabel. Flattered, but no can do."

"HEY SIS, HOW'S ABOUT I PLAY THE REVEREND? SOMEONE NEEDS TO SAY THE CUES FOR THE RING BEARER, ANYWAYS." Bill was grinning widely at Mabel, blinking his eyes one at a time.

She seemed taken aback at first, but agreed. "Sure! I think the costume will fit you, anyways! It's off to stage left, okay?" Mabel grinned. "Thanks bro-bro!" And she went back behind the curtains, followed by Bill. The demon was walking with his hands held a little like a velociraptor, and he set off to the left side of the stage. Everyone in the front row could hear Mabel exclaim, "No Dipper I said stage left, which means the left side for the people facing the audience! Don't you know your theater terms?"

There was a reversal in the footsteps and then Dipper drifted through the curtain to see Mabel handing Bill the costume. "Go put this on in the other room," she instructed, shooing Bill in the right direction. Dipper waited a few moments, then followed his body into the small changing room. He found Bill flat on his back, struggling to put on the black pants.

"CURSE THE USELESSNESS OF THIS FABRIC CAGE," he hissed. "YOU HUMANS SURE ARE SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT ALL THAT LUMPY FLESH, HUH?"

Dipper had had enough of that. He needed to find Drei and warn him somehow. But the show was about to begin. No one could see him, so floating across the stage would be acceptable… Right?

He didn't have time to debate with himself. Hovering behind the set like some prop waiting to be hoisted from the rafters, he looked around hysterically. "Drei!" he called. "Drei where are you?" He moved forwards, sticking his translucent head through the cardboard set; Dipper was getting used to being ghostly.

Drei was there, curled up and clutching two puppets. One was a google-eyed Dipper made with yarn hair, wearing a teeny vest and baseball hat, and the other was a Drei made with a felt coat, fake furry hair, and glow-in-the-dark stickers for eyes. He was obviously waiting for his cue, smiling to himself, breathing a little fast in anticipation.

"Drei!" Mabel poked at him, tugged at his jacket, but all to no avail. His fingers just went right through. "Drei, you're in danger! Bill, Bill stole my body and is trying to kill me! Drei you gotta hear me!" The boy was desperate, waving his arms, his voice climbing in both pitch and volume until it was a screech.

He felt a hand on his ankle, which was still on the other side of the cardboard cutout. Whoever it was yanked him back and he yelped, terrified. It was Bill, of COURSE it was, Bill was the only one who could touch him.

"HE CAN'T HEAR YOU, SO SAVE YOUR BREATH. OH YEAH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BREATHE ANY MORE!" Bill chuckled. He had finally gotten dressed in the reverend's outfit, and obviously Bill felt more at home in the formalwear. He'd also scratched the dried blood from the earlier tumble out of his hair. "NOW I GOTTA FIND OUT WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO AND WHEN MY OPPORTUNITY TO GET TO THREE WILL BE…" Bill muttered. Dipper gulped, insides turning to ice.

"AHA." Bill had looked up and spotted Grenda. "HEY, GRENDO, WHEN DO I FIND THE RING BEARER AND DO MY SHTICK WITH HIM?"

"The wedding isn't to the second half, so hold your horses!" Grenda pronounced, shooing him off because the show was starting in thirty seconds.

"OH, I'LL HOLD MY HORSES. I'LL HOLD THEM. YOU MONSTER," Bill mumbled as he backed into the wings. Dipper followed, then began to pace in midair. Mercifully, Bill ignored him, opting instead to laugh at the weird thing humans called entertainment. The lights had dimmed and the music had started.

The show had begun.


Intermission had just been called and Dipper's heart was a jackhammer. He had no plan. The goofy music was distracting, especially Drei's singing. He wanted to be cheering on his friend, to be sitting in the audience, sleepy but happy, watching something his sister had worked hard to produce. But he couldn't. He was stuck in limbo with a demon in his body.

Mabel was walking off the stage towards him now, pulling puppets off her hands and tossing them onto a pile… A pile of puppets… Vessels?

Suddenly Dipper's heart leaped into hope again and he let himself grin. Bill had gone off, dragged to prepare by Mabel, and Dipper swooped over to the socks.

Drei, meanwhile, was going to his own little changing room to grab a drink. He was having the time of his life! Everyone loved him, broken voice or not! It was going amazing. And then he bumped into Dipper in the space between rooms.

"Dip! You like show?" He smiled, then suddenly was nervous, almost. "I is sorry for abandonings you. I got too excite. You forgives me?"

"OH OF COURSE!" Bill drawled. "IT'S NOT LIKE I'M GONNA BITE YOUR HEAD OFF OR ANYTHING."

Drei giggled. "I supposes you is right. You is my friend after all."

"YEAH, AND FRIENDS STAB FRIENDS IN THE FRONT."

Drei's nose wrinkled. "Dip… What that have to do with anything?" He looked a little concerned, flighty, like a wild animal.

Bill laughed like a hyena. "NOTHING. JUST SAYING THERE'S A THING AS KNOWING TOO MUCH. YOUR CREATOR'S BEST FRIEND KNEW THAT." He tapped a tattoo on the back of Drei's hand, and the construct flinched and drew his appendage away.

"Dip, you is scaring me… What wrong? Mabel say you stressed and tired, but you is acting really… Bad." It took him a second to realize that Dipper didn't know that his Creator had a best friend. "Dip…" he began slowly. "How you know that?"

"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. BUT IF YOU GET TOO POWERFUL, YOU JUST MIGHT GO UP IN FLAMES." Dipper's eyes flashed solid blue for a second, and Drei yelped and darted off. Bill was about to give chase when a door opened.

"Dipper! You're supposed to be going over your cues in your dressing room!" Mabel scolded, dragging the protesting impersonator into the room next to hers. "Now stay in there! I wanna hear you reciting what you have to do!" She closed the door on the grumbling demon and went back into her own room. "Just thirty-six more musical numbers. You can do this, Mabel."

She leaned down to get a drink, gulping down the slightly sour water from the old fountain. But then she caught sight of something that made her spew her latest mouthful. There was a Dipper puppet, and it was floating.

"Ahhh! Ahhhh it's come to life! Begone, demon!" She picked up the nearest object, a fork, and flung it at the puppet with a horrified expression. It stuck in puppet-Dipper's eye.

"Argh what is it with me and forks today?" A familiar voice was coming from that tiny cotton mouth. "Anyways, Mabel! I'm not the demon, Bill is! He stole my body!"

Mabel had frozen in place, one hand raised as if to protect her face. "What… Dipper? Dipper what happened to you?" She sounded monumentally confused.

"Mabel, remember Bill that creepy demon? I made a deal with him to help me with the laptop and he stole my body! He's gonna kill Drei, Mabel, he told me so! Drei has too much valuable information or something! We have to help him! Bring him here, maybe he has some info on getting me back into my body and stopping Bill."

Once again, she found herself unable to reply right away. "But it's the middle of my play," she finally stammered out.

"MABEL! This is life or death, okay?!" Dipper's fist clenched, screwing up the puppet's face impossibly and causing Mabel to laugh.

"It's hard to believe that when your little puppet face is so ridiculous. It's… It's hard to take you seriously, bro-bro."

Dipper made a hysteric, impatient noise that actually got a laugh from his sister. "Okay okay I'll go find Drei. Bill is just a big yellow jerk, what can he do?" And with that she slipped out of the room.

"More than you think," Dipper murmured after her, unheard even with the puppet on his hand.

In the next seconds, he was the one surprised, because Drei burst into the room. "Mabel!" he called, voice cracking more with panic. "Mabel where is you? Something wrong with Dip!"

"Drei!" Dipper cried via sock. "Oh gosh am I happy to see you!" Drei caught sight of the puppet with his yellow eyes and shrieked a bloodcurdling shriek. He scrambled backwards and pressed himself flush to the door. His wings made an appearance, fluttering in agitation.

"Drei it's me! It's Dipper! Bill Cipher stole my body!" the ghost in the sock pleaded. "You gotta believe me!"

"Dip!" Drei choked out. "Dip, your body scaring me. Is not you inside? Explains lots… How we fix?"

"I was hoping you'd know!" Dipper replied hurriedly. "Drei, Bill is after you, you have to get away-"

"AND WHY WOULD HE WANT TO DO THAT?" Bill in Dipper's body had shoved his way into the room, eyes practically spitting gold sparks, grinning in a way that showed off all his gums. "THERE YOU ARE, THREE. FINALLY RECOGNIZED ME, HM? YOU AND I HAVE A LITTLE MEETING TO GET TO."

Drei shrieked again, but with that same demonic strength Bill had shown when he smashed the laptop, Bill grabbed him and covered his mouth. Dipper darted over and took his own flesh arm in the sock puppet's 'mouth' and tried to pry it off Drei, but to no avail.

"HAHA PINE TREE LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO BECOME A CANNIBAL. I'D RECOMMEND IT, FLESH IS DELICIOUS." He shook off the ridiculous little puppet and Dipper let it fall. Bill was dragging Drei along behind the scenes, and the teen was struggling but it wasn't working. "JUST GOTTA FIND SOME ROPE AND A PLACE TO TIE YOU UP, AND SHOOTING STAR'S DRAMATIC FINISH THAT LIVES UP TO HER NAME SHOULD DO YOU IN."

"No! Drei!" Dipper screeched. "Bill, don't!"

"I DO WHAT I WANT, KID," Bill said dryly as he came to some rope, spare from the hanging decorations. Swiftly and with a grace Dipper certainly didn't possess, Bill tied some crazy impossible knot that was definitely not able to be untied by any of the humans present. And Dipper couldn't even touch it. Then some space duct tape was slapped over Drei's mouth. "NOW WHERE ARE THOSE FIREWORKS… AHA!"

Bill had spotted them in the uncovered wooden wedding cake prop. Of course Mabel's play included an exploding cake. Bill yanked Drei over to it and dumped the teen inside among various rockets and roman candles. "YOU'RE GONNA GET QUITE A CURTAIN CALL, THREE!" he crowed. His cat-eyes roved up to Dipper. "AND YOU GET TO WATCH, UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING!"

"I can get another sock! I can warn Mabel!" Dipper vowed, trying to sound braver than he felt. His blue-tinted eyes kept darting over to Drei, his helpless and trembling best friend.

Bill barked a laugh. "SHOOTING STAR'S SECOND ACT IS ABOUT TO START! YOU REALLY THINK SHE'S GONNA MISS THAT? ONCE SHE SEES ME, SHE'LL KNOW THAT THREE IS STILL ALIVE AND TAKE A BREAK JUST TO FINISH UP HER DUMB PLAY." Bill had been climbing up to a scaffolding high above the stage, and now he grabbed a rope and began to hoist the cake into position, taking Drei and the rockets with it.

"You're wrong!" Dipper cried, on the verge of panicking again. Tears were starting to blur his vision.

"AM I? SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU TOLD HER BEFORE, WHY SHOULD SHE CARE NOW? SHE ALWAYS THINGS YOU CAN WAIT, EVERYTHING YOU DO CAN BE PUT ON THE BACKBURNER."

"She wouldn't do that with Drei's life on the line!" Dipper said, hoping he seemed confident. Really, though, he was getting scared.

"HAHA LIFE? THREE'S JUST AN OBJECT, KID." He spared Drei a malicious glare. The poor teen wondered what the real Dipper was saying, even through his fear. "AND ANYWAYS, WHO WOULD SACRIFICE EVERYTHING THEY'VE WORKED FOR JUST FOR THEIR DUMB SIBLING?"

"Dipper would," came a hard reply, right from behind Bill. The demon in the boy whirled, narrowing his eyes. At the same time, the curtain opened. The audience couldn't see the platform they stood on, and anyways, Candy and Grenda's voices were floating up from the stage as the show went on. "Now let Drei go!"

"SHHH YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO RUIN THE SHOW," Bill said with a savage grin.

"Bill-Dipper," Mabel growled, then narrowed her eyes. "Bipper."

At that proclamation, Dipper facepalmed. He couldn't help it.

Bill cackled again and let the rope holding Drei slip through his burned fingers a little. "I WOULD CUT IT OUT, SHOOTING STAR, BECAUSE HE'S SLIPPING."

Mabel gasped and took a step forwards, then froze. Dipper didn't move either, except for his midair bobbing. Then…

"OOPS!" Knowing that his plan with the fireworks had been foiled and that Mabel would never press the button, Bill decided on a new tactic. He let go.

Candy and Grenda heard the squeak of the pulley and looked up just in time to scatter before the cake hit. Bill had already shoved Mabel into the railing and dashed back down to the stage as the wooden prop collided with the ground, and Mabel wasn't far behind. Dipper had dove straight down, wishing with every ounce of his spirit that he could catch Drei, save his life somehow…

But the thing smashed into the ground, crumpling cardboard and landing in a heap among the other props. No one in the audience could see its contents. Bill made it first, Dipper hovering nearby and crying, unable to move the scraps to get to his best friend. Bill simply shoved stuff aside, eyes glinting as he admired his handiwork.

Drei was unconscious. Knocked out, but still breathing. Dipper dropped a few inches closer to the stage in sheer relief. Mabel caught sight of that thin chest rising and falling too, and covered her mouth with both hands. But then those hands slowly fell, and a look of rage crossed her face.

Then she tackled Bill to the floor, surprising everyone.

"Get OUT of my BROTHER!" she shrieked, slapping his face. But Bill was stronger, and soon he was pinning her… Until she smacked him across the face with a board from the cake.

"Mabel be careful, that's my body!" Dipper called from his position near Drei, even if she couldn't hear him. She certainly didn't seem to remember it was the face of her brother she was beating up, at least not at first. But then it seemed to slowly dawn on her, as she saw Bill sneering, nose bloodied and eye blackened.

"AHAHA SHOOTING STAR YOU'RE JUST GONNA KILL YOUR POOR BROTHER'S BODY?" he taunted from where she had a knee pinning his chest.

"N-no…" she stammered, voice getting stronger as she spoke. "In fact, I have a better idea." She grinned deviously, though there was still worry in her eyes, and lowered her hands… And began to tickle Bill under the armpits. Dipper was ticklish there, why not Bill?

"WHAT? WHAT ARE THESE?! BODY SPASMS, AGH!" Bill was laughing, unable to stop, even though he glared at Mabel with hatred. She wiggled her fingers in a sassy wave, then stood up and dashed off. Dipper was now struck dumb with confusion. What was Mabel up to?

Bill leapt to his feet and chased her around, obviously having gotten more skilled at moving throughout the day. He was practically growling, which turned into panting, which turned into gasping as he sweated more and ran less.

"WHAT… WHY IS… MOVING SO… HARD?"

"Fun fact about the human body; you haven't slept in over 48 hours and I'm running on plenty of sleep and Mabel Juice!" the girl declared, stopping and standing triumphantly in front of Bill. If her hunch was correct…

"EVERYTHING IS… SHUTTING… DOWN… STUPID… FLESH STICKS! WORK, YOU STUPID… STUPID… MEATSACK…" And Bill keeled right over, faceplanting onto the hard wood before Mabel could catch him.

Dipper's metaphorical heart stopped when he saw the yellow triangle fly out of the prone body, and before Bill could regain his equilibrium, the spirit boy darted over and reclaimed what was rightfully his.

Maybe not the best idea. Everything hurt. Absolutely everything. His chest felt crushed and his nose was full of blood and his arms stung and his stomach ached and the back of his head throbbed and his black eye pulsed. He could barely bring himself to crack open his eyes, but he forced himself to sit up.

"Is… Is it over?" He hated how weak his voice sounded just then. Hated it. But then he was enveloped in a pair of soft, sweater-clad arms and was being helped up.

"Bro-bro, I was so worried," Mabel said softly.

"D-Drei," Dipper choked out. "We gotta help Drei."

Both immediately looked over to the pile of broken wood and cardboard… Only to find Drei sitting up and dusting himself off. But… Drei had been out cold. Dipper didn't understand. At least, he didn't understand until he saw Drei's eyes.

Flat and yellow, yes, but now… Drei had pupils. Cat pupils.

"IS OKAY, I IS FINE," came a mocking voice from Drei's mouth. It was his voice, and… Not, at the same time. Oh god, had he sounded like that? To him, the voice coming from his mouth had been all Bill's.

"Bill," Mabel choked. "Bill get out of him!"

"MAKE ME," Bill said with a sneer. It was much more effective with Drei's fangs. "NOW, TO FINALLY FINISH WHAT I STARTED…" Bill forced the injured body to its feet, one leg dragging as blood streamed from the calf. Then he bent down and rummaged around in the debris of the cake and pulled something out. "AHA!"

It was an unstruck match.

There was a strangled scream from the audience and Dipper tore his eyes away for just a second to see Zwei surging to his feet. Half the theater was already standing, and some were backing out the doors.

"AHA, TWO, I WOULDN'T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU." Bill flicked the match with Drei's sharp thumbnail, and it burst to life.

"Stop that!" Mabel cried. "Uh… Dreill!" she called. She remembered that it had distracted and annoyed Bill before. But this time, it didn't seem to work.

Bill rolled back his right sleeve, exposing the bandages from the bite soaked in black. "AND WHY WOULD I STOP, SHOOTING STAR?" A drop of blood fell into the flame, making it flare brightly. "I'M GETTING RID OF THIS NUISANCE ONCE AND FOR ALL." Bill looked like he was deciding where to start the inferno that would take Drei's life. He held the match near his injured arm, the thick ink dripping down his calf, under his chin, one of his eyes…

Dipper made a split second decision. A little more pain was worth saving his best friend's life. Forcing his broken body to move quickly, he darted to Bill, reached out, and pinched the match with a yelp. The flame went out, and Bill turned doubly luminous eyes to Dipper.

"YOU… YOU!" Bill caused Drei's eyes to go wider than ever before. His mouth stretched into a snarl like it had when Drei had attacked Gideon. His wings unfolded, stretched our threateningly as he advanced on Dipper, who fell back, energy spent.

"I'm sorry about this," came a voice, and there was a harsh crack as a board was broken across Bill's… Drei's head. The possessed magical construct dropped like a stone.

Drei had been forced out of his mind when he was still asleep. Since Bill didn't consider him a living being, he could possess him via force… He had never, ever been more scared. Not even close. Bill had tried to force him to kill himself, sort of.

He had almost killed Dipper using Drei's body, just as he'd nearly forced Dipper to kill Drei.

And then he was sucked back into his unconscious body, having seen Bill finally flee into his own dimension. He'd taken enough of a beating that he'd give up for now.

The teen woke a few minutes later, brain still trying to catch up, cradled in the lap of his older brother. The theater was empty, save for Wendy, Soos, and the Pines. "Zwei?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Yeah Drei, I've got you," the second construct said softly. "You took q-quite the beating." His choke-up was evidence of how scared he had been, seeing a demon possess his brother and try to murder him. Zwei knew who it was who had caused all this.

Mabel was still tending to her own brother, handing him tissues from her sweater pocket that he was applying to his nosebleed, and apologizing profusely. "I should've paid more attention to you. I should have moved faster, I should have helped you like you helped me. You dropped everything just to help me with this, and Gabe left without telling me anything. I should have put you first."

"Shh it's okay Mabel," Dipper soothed, voice slightly nasally from the tissues. "I forgive you." And then she was gently hugging him, and he was asking to see Drei, and she was helping him struggle to his feet.

Drei was still talking quietly with Zwei while Stan looked on, but when Dipper came closer, Drei caught sight of him and flinched terribly. His breathing sped up and his search Dipper's soft hazel eyes for any hints of yellow before relaxing into guilt.

"Dip, I is…"

"No Drei, it's okay. I was the one who made the deal with that stupid, stupid demon." Dipper's postured was hunched, defeated, both due to pain and fact that is best friend was now scared of him

"Demon?" Stan echoed. "Okay kids, someone is gonna tell me what's going on here…" So Mabel took up that role while Drei and Dipper's eyes didn't meet.

They both knew that there would be scars that would take more than a few days to heal.


Dipper and Drei didn't go to a hospital. Too many of Dipper's wounds were suspicious and looked self-inflicted (which, in a way, they sort of were) and Drei wasn't human. So back to the Shack they went to treat the wounds of the two kids, wrapping sprains (Dipper's wrist and Drei's ankle) and bandaging cuts and disinfecting gashes. Dipper's head was wound with bandages again, just like after the giant robot fight, and by some miracle he didn't have a concussion. Drei's zombie bite was fixed up again, and his singed and bruised skin was given ointment.

Both looked like mummies by the time that the bandaging was over. It was also six AM, and Mabel had fallen asleep a mere half hour earlier. She'd wanted to stay up to help, but found she couldn't keep her eyes open, and after pasting a bandaid into Dipper's hair when she nodded off for a second, both her brother and grunkle insisted on sleep for her. Dipper had filled in the last missing details in the story Mabel had told about what had happened, with Zwei providing information on Bill…

Stan had fabricated a story about how the fight was part of staging gone wrong and tensions running high. All of the weird stuff was special effects. He told anyone who asked, and, as a con man, was able to come up with a truly convincing lie.

Now Drei and Dipper needed to sleep, but… Both found sleep unobtainable. And each knew why.

"H-hey? Drei?" Dipper's voice was small, so as not to wake Mabel. "I… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. You'll always look at me and see a monster now. He tried to kill you. And he used me to do it. That was… was… so unfair to both of us and horrible to do and I'm sorry I let him trick me!"

Tears were dripping from Dipper's eyes by the time he was done, and his arms were wrapped around his chest. Drei lifted his head off his pillow from his spot between both of the beds and looked at Dipper.

"Dip, no… It okay. Sorry I is a little nervous. It not you, I promises. It go away in time. Bill no hurt you ever again. Plus…" He sat up carefully. "I remember Creator tricked by Bill too. Remember warnings? I show you? That why he trust no one. Bill a trickster. We just his victims. Okay, Dip? Don't blame yourself."

He carefully climbed on the end of Dipper's bed so he could look at him better, and Dipper finally gave a watery grin and hugged his best friend. Drei hugged him back tightly.

"Okay, Drei. I'll remember that. And he won't hurt you again either, promise." When he finally let go, Drei reached down and hefted he sleeping bag onto the bed with minimal squeaking in pain. Then he spread it out on the side nearest the wall and wriggled inside.

Dipper smiled. "Let's get some sleep."

He got under his own covers then, and, in time, the two fell asleep back-to-back just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

AN: I'm pretty proud of this one! Stupid long again, ahahaha… 10,500 words, about, and that's just the story without the author's notes! It's my favorite episode, I had to do it justice. It was a little more Dipper-centric than the others, but that really was the point of this episode in canon too!

The bits about anxiety and panic attacks were taken from personal experience, sad to say. Just letting you know before anyone calls them 'inaccurate' or something.

Also another fun bit of news, I play a dragon sim called Flight Rising, and recently I created three dragons that look like the Journal Brothers! XD Kinda silly, but I'm pretty proud. If you want to see them I'll PM a link to you!

This chapter is kinda dedicated to my buddy Gedhyr. She was sick, and I worked really hard to finish this as a little present for her. :)

Anyways, hold onto your butts! Chapter 10 is next and it's pretty serious. Chapters 10 and 11 are already written at the time of me writing this, so you won't have long to wait! 10 will be posted on Sunday, and 11 on Monday night! And after that will be Drei's Creation-Day special! So that's all I have for news again, see you next time! I hope you won't kill me ahaha…