Author's Note

Happy (late) new year everyone!
I know it's been, like, a million years since I updated last, and I'm really sorry about that! Life's been hijacking my plans a lot lately, and things have been piling up for me to do! I'm gonna try as hard as I can to update more often.
Enjoy!

The first thing Dipper noticed when he came to was an intense headache. He groaned, lifting his head to his hands, and he sat up onto his elbow. He was about to scan his surroundings when he was startled by a nasally voice behind him.

"Don't worry; the headache's normal after a hypnosis trance."

Dipper spun around to face the voice, not sure if he should be ready to fight something or run for his life. Instead he saw the red circular demon who had been with Diablo- Alvin, he thought- with his back to him and a light blue flame sprouting from his hands. "What... What's going on? Where am I?" He asked the demon, not fully sure if he'd get a response. After all, this was a DEMON he was dealing with, and he wasn't sure if this was gonna end in some form of bizarre mutilation.

"Storage closet. Near the Converter. I had to knock both of you out so I could convince Diablo you had collapsed of exhaustion. That way I had an excuse to get you away from there."

"Wha-" Dipper was beyond confused. This was a demon, right? One of the monsters that had kidnapped countless children- including his own SISTER- to fuel their sick dimension? Why in God's name would a demon be trying to help him and- MABEL! Where was she? Had Alvin taken him away and left Mabel to suffer in the hands of Bill and Diablo? "Where's my sister?"

Alvin didn't answer. From what Dipper could tell, he was muttering something in a language Dipper couldn't recognize over the flames that he was creating. But why?

"Hey, you! Didn't you hear me? I'm talking to you!" Dipper shakily rose to his feet, still dizzy from the trance, and stumbled over to Alvin. "Where is- Mabel!"

There she was, encapsulated in the blue flames that Alvin was creating. She was still unconscious, and from the looks of it, she wasn't breathing much. Which was a sight that Dipper did not respond well to. "HEY! What are you doing to her? Back away!"

Alvin gave Dipper a terrifying glare, one that made Dipper squeak with fear. "I'm removing the trance that Diablo placed over your sister."

Dipper swallowed nervously. "Trance?"

"Yes. Diablo cast a fear trance over Subject 621 so she would fear all other humans and try to annihilate you on sight. It's an incredibly powerful trance, so it may take some time to undo. Now step aside."

"You have done this before, right, uh... Alvin?" Dipper raised an eyebrow skeptically at Alvin.

A sheepish look appeared on Alvin's face. "Well, not exactly... no. But I've studied trances extensively, and I've memorized how to cast and undo trances. It should be fine. Now stand aside. I have work to do."

Dipper couldn't believe his ears. He was supposed to entrust his sister's fate with a demon who had never undone a trance before? "Wait just a minute, man. You've never done this before? How do I know you won't screw it up and like, erase Mabel's mind or something?"

"Stand aside," Alvin's patient tone became increasingly irritated. "I know what I'm doing."

"Only because you read about it! This is my sister we're talking about! Why should I trust you with saving her, anyway? You've been trying to kill her for weeks!"

"I SAID STAND ASIDE!" Alvin roared, and Dipper shut up immediately. "And you don't know the half of it! If it wasn't for me, your sister would have died a long time ago, boy!"

Shock filled Dipper's entire body, and he took a step backward. "What... what did you say?" He sputtered.

"I'm sure you remember the DVD we sent you of Subject 621's dreams, yes?"

How could Dipper forget it? He had watched his sister go through torture; that DVD was probably something Dipper would never forget, no matter how hard he tried.

"Well, before we filmed the DVD, Diablo had entirely different plans for her. He originally planned to keep the dream the same, except he wanted to let your sister bleed out on camera while you and your family watched. It was me who convinced him to keep her alive, boy! I told Diablo that her dreams could give the Converter enough power to keep the Dreamscape running for decades. Luckily, he believed me, and he let me patch her up afterwards."

Dipper breathed shakily and heavily. Man, Diablo was gonna make him watch his own sister's death? He couldn't believe it. Dipper had seen a lot of messed-up crap since he'd been in the Dreamscape, but absolutely nothing in the universe would have been more painful or horrifying than that. Just the thought was like a punch to Dipper's stomach. "What- why would you want to save her?"

Alvin sighed as he continued to work. "You may not believe this, but I have a family too. And I know I would be absolutely crushed if anything happened to them. Family is... It's one of the most important things in the universe to me. I've done a lot of things that I desperately wish I could take back while I've been under Diablo's care, but I would never purposely tear apart a family. And when I saw that Diablo wasn't afraid to annihilate your twin and your family- that was the last straw for me."

"Wow." Dipper came closer to Alvin, flashing him a soft smile. "I just- I don't know how to thank you, man. Mabel's the most important person in the whole world to me and I just... I wanna thank you for giving her back to me."

Alvin looked over at the grateful twelve-year-old standing next to him. He could tell that Dipper was trying to act mature and calm-well, as calm as one can be when his sister has been abducted by an insane demon overlord- but he was failing. Alvin could easily see the fear and innocence etched all over the boy's face, and to be quite frank, it broke his heart a little. Granted, if any other demon, even, God forbid, Diablo, found out that he felt sympathy for a weak, feeble-minded 12-year-old human, he would be cast out of this dimension faster than you could say treason. But Alvin had stopped caring what the other demons and his boss thought of him a long time ago. He was done ruining lives under Diablo's watch. So done.

After a few more minutes, Alvin finished his incantation and released his fiery grip on Dipper's sister. Both the demon and the boy watched her in anticipation, praying that she would open her eyes and be back to her normal self. Well, anyway, half of that happened at first. Dipper nudged her softly and she stirred, opening her eyes slowly and groaning. Dipper smiled lightly, sighing in relief. But his smile faded when she inched away from him.

"Dipper?" Mabel squeaked, almost sounding frightened of him.

He couldn't understand why she was afraid of him. She was his twin; they'd lived together, played together, and been best friends for their entire lives! Didn't she know that he would never in a million years try to hurt her? "It's me, Mabel," he said hesitantly, "It's Dipper."

She stayed silent, but the fear still remained in her eyes as they darted to Alvin, standing next to Dipper.

"It's okay, Mabel," Dipper said soothingly. "Alvin's not gonna hurt you. He's the reason we're together again. He saved your life!"

The mask of fear still remained frozen on Mabel's face as she stared Dipper dead in the eyes. "How... How do I know that you're not like the others?"

"The others?"

"They- they always acted the same. They would pretend they cared, that they were sorry for everything that happened down there, in the basement. Then they stopped; they took it all back and- they hurt me. Badly." She sucked in a breath, trying to contain her composure. "How do I know you're not gonna do the same thing?"

Dipper swallowed thickly. He couldn't really describe what he was feeling; it was somewhere between rage and melancholy. He felt an intense, burning rage at Diablo for making his sister go through all that crap, and at the same time he felt a deep sadness with her, with everything she had experienced in her time here. He knelt down so he could face Mabel, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Listen to me, Mabel." He lifted her head with his hand. "I can't begin to know what's happened to you here. I've only heard bits and pieces, and what I've heard is messed up, sis. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you from it. And I can't promise you that I'll protect you from everything from here on in, because I'm not perfect, and you know that. But I swear, I'm gonna try my hardest to. I'm gonna protect you from as much as I can, just like you protect me from bullies at school and the weird things in Gravity Falls. Because you're my sister, and my twin, and my best friend, and- as much as I hate to say it- you're the Alpha Twin. But you've gotta trust me if we wanna get out of here. Grunkle Stan is waiting for us somewhere, and you need to trust that we will keep you safe from now on, okay? Will you rejoin the Mystery Twins?"

Mabel stayed silent for a minute, scanning Dipper's face for any dishonesty or any sign that this was like her dreams. Meanwhile Dipper held his breath in anticipation, hoping with all his might that she believed him. After what seemed like an eternity to Dipper, Mabel smiled tearily and replied, "You know it, Bro-Bro."

Dipper couldn't help but laugh in joy as he grinned and pulled his twin in for a long awaited hug. For a moment, it didn't even register in Dipper's mind that they were in the basement of a genocidal dream factory and they were probably being hunted by a demon who wouldn't hesitate to blast them off the face of the earth if he found them. For that small moment, it was just him and Mabel in a little time-defiant bubble. Dipper knew that soon they would have to get moving again, but for right now he really didn't care. They Mystery Twins were finally back in action, and for that one infinitesimal moment, that was all that mattered.