As the intensity of the light increased, Dipper began to feel as if he were caught in a growing tornado. The wind blasted away at his clothes, hair, and face. He could not see where he was going. The light was too bright. Then, every nerve in his body seemed to spark up at once as a feeling similar to a small electric shock overcame him. This was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. Luckily, it was over in a matter of seconds. The light and the pain disappeared all at once, and Dipper did not realize he had been floating until his body hit the floor with a thump. His face happened to smack right into the ground.

"Ohhh man, that did not feel good," Dipper groaned in pain. He quickly pulled himself together and looked up, fearful of what he would see. He had no clue what the demon's lair was supposed to look like. At least until he saw for himself a second later. He was in a hexagonal chamber made of black stone, lit only by a torch on each wall that each cradled a blood red flame, and he nearly jumped at the sight of the ceiling. It was made of bones. They looked as if they were ready to fall down any second, and Dipper sure hoped that they wouldn't. One particular skull appeared to be staring right at him. He slowly looked down. There was a rectangular tablet composed of the same black stone as the walls and floor floating about 4 feet above the ground, and the demon was behind it. Two of its hands were on the tablet; the other two were left hanging casually. Its three orange eyes turned to Dipper.

"Well, look who was stupid enough to come creeping into my lair," it groaned in its rough voice. It seemed to be having some difficulty speaking. "And you seem to have brought a new friend this time. Where's you sister now? She leave you?" it continued with a slight laugh. Dipper made no comment.

"Does it matter?" Tyrone picked up after a second of silence. "Now that she's weakened you up for me, I'm going to take you out myself!"

"HAH!" the monster burst out in laughter. "I had forgotten about you, you little pest! Once I caught you trying to communicate with the kid I thought you had been exterminated!"

"As long as Dipper still has any desire to wake up, I'm not going anywhere," Tyrone asserted. "That's what I am: a living embodiment of his urge to escape from your trap. I'm a part of his mind, and I have the edge here, not you. You're an invader. A disease. And I'm going be the one to purge you once and for all!"

"Hehe. Heh. HAHAHAHAHHAAAHHH! You think you're good, don't you boy!? You have no idea what I'm capable of. I own Dipper now, and you're a fool to think you have any power over me! This may have been your mind, but it belongs to me now! It won't be much longer until I finish adapting to his brain, and once I've merged with it, I'll not only be in control of his subconsciousness, but his conscious mind as well. And once I am, his body will be mine. I'll be in position to do whatever I please. Maybe I'll lead other townsfolk into the forest so that my brothers and sisters may take bodies as well. Maybe I'll go on an enraged killing spree in the streets. Or maybe I'll just fail the kid's math test. I'll be able to do whatever I want with a physical body like this! If you think you have any chance at stopping the inevitable, go ahead! Show me what you've got, pest!"

"You asked for it, vermin!" Tyrone declared as he charged up a burst of lightning in his clenched fist. He thrust forward with a punch in the demon's direction, sending a thunderstorm of electricity its way. Dipper let out a "WHOAH!" at the intensity of the sound just as the monster leapt out of the way with inhuman agility. The lightning etched scars all across the wall behind it.

"Was that your best?" it asked. It awaited no answer, as a quick succession of orange beams shot from its middle eye just as he finished the taunt. Tyrone jumped out of the way of the first shot. The second was deflected by a protective blue barrier Tyrone formed with his two outstretched palms. The third also struck the barrier, followed by the fourth. The fifth took a half second longer than the others to fire, then shattered the barrier like glass. Tyrone was sent flying backwards and slammed into the wall. Before he could move, two of the demon's arm rapidly grew in length and shot forward, pinning Tyrone against the cold stone. Dipper stood watching in horror.

"You've been… defeated!" the demon exclaimed in victory. "You say you are a manifestation of Dipper's desire to escape, is that right?" it asked. "I wonder what would happen to him, if you happened to be… destroyed?"

"Go ahead and try!" Tyrone shouted. "As long as Dipper still wants out, I'll just reform, again and again! You won't put down his urge to be free!"

Even as Tyrone spoke these rebellious words, his confident tone was tainted with an obvious feeling of fear. It also did not go unnoticed by the creature that Tyrone's eyes had widened slightly at the mention of his elimination. He was terrified, and everyone in the room knew it.

"Well then, if what you say is true, you shouldn't fear what's about to come to you. Hold still, hehe," the monster said as its eyes turned from orange to pure white. A white field of electricity encompassed the creatures body as well, and the sparks began to travel down the length of its arms, slowly approaching Tyrone. He attempted to struggle his way out of its grip, but it was futile. He was held down tight.

"Dipper, help me!" Tyrone shouted.

"Wha-what do I do!?" he panicked back.

"I… I don't know!" Tyrone answered. "Figure something out, fast!". The sparks of electricity along the demon's arms were inching ever closer to Tyrone. It would be a matter of seconds before they reached him, ensuring his certain death.

Just then, Dipper spotted Stan's knife. It was lying in the middle of the room. Tyrone must have dropped it during his brief fight with the monster. He ran over to it, and scooped it up.

"Alright Tyrone, let's finish this," Dipper mumbled to himself, mostly as an attempt at self comfort. "You're going down, demon creep!"

He ran over to the monster, knife raised. The lightning was mere inches from striking Tyrone's neck. The monster wasn't far now. Dipper let out a shout as he lowered the knife in the direction of its shoulder. The monster wasted no time reacting. One of the two hands not currently holding Tyrone down instantly grabbed the blade of the knife with impossible speed, immediately halting Dipper's attack. The other hand smacked Dipper in the chest, sending him flying for the wall. He landed several feet away from Tyrone, the knife torn from his hands and the wind knocked from his lungs.

"This… sharpened piece of metal… is the weapon with which you intended to slay me?" the monster observed in amusement as it held the blade in front of its face. "And here I was thinking your species would have advanced since I last walked your world. Ah, well… I will find out for myself soon enough what humanity is up to". It then dropped the knife.

"Dipper, listen to me," Tyrone managed to grunt from under the monster's chokehold. Dipper turned to Tyrone with a struggle.

"We tried, but its over. I'm done for," Tyrone began in a hurry. "But listen, you can't let yourself give up when I die. I don't know if I really will come back or not, but if I don't, you need to make sure you don't give up. If you stay focused and keep your will to awaken alive, you might be able to take my role and utilize the same powers I had. It's our only ch-"

Tyrone did not get to finish his final sentence, as the electricity descending along the demon's arms had at last reached him. He let out a scream, and was gone. His body simply disappeared as the voltage vaporized what was once called Tyrone. Dipper was again left staring in shock.

"Well Dipper, I believe we are nearly done here," the creature said as it retracted its arms to their normal length. "Once I take care of you, the manifestation of your conscious mind, I will gain full control! Savor these last moments, child, and be thankful I am giving you this opportunity to chat. Any final remarks before you join that other pitiful fragment of your mind?"

Dipper knew he had little time left to take Tyrone's last words to heart. He focused his energy, and attempted to summon a strike of lightning above the monster. He was unsuccessful, and realized he would have to buy himself more time. He tried to get the demon talking again.

"Are you sure zapping me is a good idea?" Dipper began. "I mean, what makes you think my body won't just die once its mind is killed and there's nothing left to control it? My heart will probably stop beating, and my lungs will stop breathing in air, and, uh… I'm guessing you have no idea how to keep a body going, since you've just been a ghost your whole life". Dipper hoped that the monster would waste the time to explain why he was wrong, or at least laugh at and insult him, so that he would have a few more seconds to work on taking the creature out.

"Please, is that the best you've got?" the demon said as Dipper got back to work on firing up any kind of powers. "Those are all tasks handled by your subconscious mind, not you, or else you'd have to manually contract your heart every second. You know that! I'll still leave that part of you mind in place."

As he spoke, Dipper had again failed to conjure a blast to defeat the demon. He needed to keep stalling.

"Hey, didn't you say earlier that your plan was to just let my body starve out?" Dipper asked, having thought back to his original encounter with the demon. "Plus, I don't think the body of a twelve year old is the best tool for your messed up plans. Maybe you're better off just waiting for an adult to come through here, you know?"

"Good idea, I'll lead a dozen of them into the forest once I get this body! Then I'll have an army of stronger forms to lead once they, too, are possessed by my companions! It might not be the fate I promised you earlier, but the fun would be over much too fast if I simply let my host body die. Maybe I'll make it up to you and starve you anyway later, once I'm able to exchange you for one of those adult bodies you mentioned. How's that sound?"

Dipper, once again, was unable to use any powers. He knew the demon would not play this game much longer. "Uhhmm… pretty bad? Why don't you at least give me a chance to fight you or something, for your amusement, or whatever?"

"Then get up and try! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not holding you down as I did with your friend. But it will only expedite your death. Take one step in my direction and I will destroy you without lifting a finger! You are doomed, Dipper, and have no chance at fighting me alone. You're weak. You don't have any control over this dream like he did, you can only sputter pointless babble in an attempt to delay your death, but even that will fail you. You have one final chance to-"

"He doesn't need to fight you alone," a voice from behind the creature declared. It turned around in surprise, and Dipper's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. He knew it well, and his mouth shifted into a smile.

"Plus, I think you're the one 'spattering pointless babble', or whatever it is you said. You ever shut up?" Mabel asked.

"Ha! Look who finally decided to step back into the ring!" the monster observed with a smile. "I was wondering if you'd ever show. Didn't I tell you what would happen to you if you kill me? You will die when this dream ends. Cease to exist. You'd be more stupid than your brother to try and fight me. At least he'd have a life to look forward to if he won!"

"Then that's all I need to hear." Mabel clenched her fists and tightened her eyebrows. Dipper could see she wasn't backing down, but he was still too stunned to speak.

"I see you've made your choice," the demon said, pretending to be let down. "Goodbye."

Just as they had done when attacking Tyrone, the demon's arms rapidly extended in length and shot forth in Mabel's direction, only this time all four making the assault.

Mabel deflected the first arm with a rapid kick. The second was met with a punch, and the third was effortlessly slapped out of the way with her other palm. Her technique was flawless, and she then grabbed the fourth and final arm with her hand.

"Nice effort. But I've got more," the demon declared. As it finished speaking, all four of its arms suddenly dissolved into a black dust, including the one Mabel held in her hand. She took a small step back in surprise as she looked down at her dust-filled palm, but quickly regained her composition. She was far from over as well.

In the empty sockets left over from the now dissolved arms, an uncountable amount of slim black tentacles grew forth. They all shot forth at Mabel with the same speed as the arms, possibly even faster, and Dipper saw there were far too many to handle in the same manner as before. Mabel recognized this as well, and crossed her arms in front of her face, forming a protective pink bubble around her. The tentacles stuck the bubble just as it finished forming, and failed to break it. They wasted no time in recovering, however, and immediately took to encasing Mabel's sphere in their grip. In a matter of seconds the bubble was entirely concealed.

"What will you do now, girl!? It won't be long before the strength of my grip becomes too much for your petty shield to handle, and I break through! It really is over for you two now!" the demon shouted. "you have fai-...". The demon stopped talking. A sudden sharp pain had overtaken its back, and its horde of tentacles froze and dropped to the ground.

"Hate to break it to you, but I think I'm going to stay in control of this body for now," Dipper said as he pulled out Stan's knife from the demon's flesh.

The demon's tentacles having fallen from her shield, Mabel lowered her arms and deactivated the bubble. Before the monster could say anything, she flicked her wrist and sent it flying to the wall, where she suspended it in place above the ground.

"Listen, creep," Mabel began, "I don't care what happens to me when Dipper wakes up. As long as he makes it back okay, and you don't hurt any more people with your sick nightmares, it's not a problem to me if I get erased. Like you said before: I'm not the real Mabel anyway". At that, Mabel closed her hand into a fist, and the demon screamed in pain as it dissolved into a red powder. Dipper moaned in pain as well, and put his hand to his head as a headache came over him.

"Whoah, Dipper, are you okay?" Mabel asked when she saw him groaning.

"I think I'll make it," he responded. "Must have had something to do with you killing that monster. He's been in control of my mind for so long, my brain must be having to readapt to me being put back in power… or something like that."

"Yeah," Mabel said. Neither twin spoke during the next several seconds, although it seemed to have been much longer when Mabel finally spoke up.

"Dipper, I'm… sorry for leaving you earlier."

"Don't worry about it, Mabel," Dipper replied with a friendly laugh. "I'm just glad you came back."

"I mean, hearing you and that monster arguing with each other about me like that… I dunno, it just made me kinda mad," she continued. "And then I took it out on you when I yelled at you, instead of helping you track that freak back down like I should have."

"It's okay Mabel, I don't blame-"

"I was still watching the fight, even before I stepped in," Mabel interrupted. "I don't know why it took me so long to help, but when I saw that you were about to get smashed, I just couldn't sit by and watch anymore. Sorry it took me so long."

"Seriously, Mabel, stop crying over it," Dipper said, now having his chance to speak. "I'm not mad at you."

Mabel stood staring at him for a second. "You sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

They stood still for another brief second before they both smiled and shared a hug. Mabel was the first to let go after the standard pats had been given, and walked up to the floating black tablet in the middle of the room that Dipper had forgotten about. "You ready to wake up?" she asked.

"Mabel..."

"It's okay, Dipper. Like I told that monster, I don't care anymore that I'm going to disappear with the rest of this dream when it ends. Just come put your hands on this block thing. It's kinda like the control panel of your mind, and you'll put yourself back in control when you touch it.

"It'll… just wake me back up?" Dipper asked. "Just like that?"

"Uh-huh. Just like that."

Dipper still didn't move. Mabel could tell he was still reluctant to end the dream and erase her. "Come on bro, you're never gonna save the real me from whatever nightmare I'm stuck in if you don't wake yourself up first. If you're worried about me, then go do me a favor and help me make it back to the shack with you and Stan. Please?"

Dipper walked up to the tablet next to Mabel. "Mabel… thank you. For being by my side during this whole messed up adventure, and for coming back to help me defeat that demon when I needed it, and especially for being so willing to just… sacrifice yourself like this, all so I can wake up again. You may not be the real Mabel, but those sure all sound like things that she would do for real if you ask me."

"Yeah… I am pretty awesome," Mabel replied with a smile. "Now go make sure Stan hasn't set the camp on fire yet. He's probably having some trouble up there without my favorite brother doing all the chores for him!" she said with a laugh.

Before Dipper had a chance to respond, Mabel grabbed his hand and placed it against the stone tablet. As soon as his fingers came into contact with its smooth surface, the stone's color changed from black to blue, and so did the stone making up the floor and walls. A rumbling vibration could be heard growing in the background. The bones forming the ceiling disintegrated into dust, revealing a starry night sky above the twins. Dipper's body began to glow yellow. As he looked over at Mabel, his vision was filled with the same color, and he knew he would soon be waking up.

"Seeya, Dip", Mabel said as Dipper's vision turned to white, and the rumbling sound became so loud it almost masked her words. Dipper tried to speak back, but could not move his mouth. A ringing sound suddenly struck his ears, and Dipper was once again hit with a massive headache. He tried to move.

"I'll find you, Mabel," he finally managed to say. But by the time he spoke, Mabel was gone. The ringing and rumbling had stopped, the headache was gone, and his vision went from white to black. Dipper lifted his head, and opened his eyes to the night forest.