Dipper Gleeful watched as his counterpart fell through the swirling vortex and face planted onto the sidewalk. A million questions raced through his mind, How did he get here? What did he do? Did Mabel help this Dipper, and am I going to get pulled through the vortex to my home too? As well as, I forgot how dorky I look in this dimension.

"Dipper!!" Mabel screamed, nearly shattering everyone's eardrums. As Dipper Pines slowly, achingly got up, he was crushed by Mabel hugging him before he had the chance to stand up. He wrapped his arms gratefully around his sister, happy they were finally together again.

But that was before he realized he couldn't breathe.

"Ack- Mabel, I... can't... can't breathe." He wheezed. "Oh! Sorry." Mabel let him go and helped him up as he gasped for air. "Dipper!" Ford said breathlessly after he'd gotten over his shock. He ran up to Dipper and pulled him into another bone crushing hug.

"Hey... Great Uncle Ford." Dipper said as Ford let go. Before they had the chance to say anything else, slow clapping could be heard behind them. "Wow, this is sooo wholesome, warms my very soul." Dipper Gleeful deadpanned.

"Ah, right. Forgot you were here." Dipper Pines said to his counterpart. "Oh, right..." Mabel remarked. "We have a double Dipper problem. What are we going to call you guys?"

"Well, you can always call one of them by their real name?" Tad suggested. "Or, you can him Pine Tree and the other one Dipper." He pointed to the original Dipper, who took a step back in alarm at the very familiar nickname. "Wait... who- why? How?" He stuttered, unable to find one question to settle on.

"Oh! Dipper, this is Tad Strange. He's a secret dream demon." Mabel said matter-of-factly, like it didn't just blow Dipper's mind. Dipper opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out, so he snapped it shut.

"Soo, what are we going to do with the names?" Dipper Gleeful asked in the awkward silence that followed. "Ah, well, we could go with Tad's idea, but since both are still their names, it may be confusing for them and us." Ford said. "And to the readers, as well." Tad added. "What?" Ford asked, turning to him. Tad looked at him innocently. "Hm? No, I didn't say anything."

"Oookay..." Ford drew out before turning back to the group. "How about this, our Dipper, can remain as Dipper, and you," He pointed to Dipper Gleeful. "Can be... Other Dipper?" "Yeah, okay." Mabel nodded, agreeing. "Fine." Both Dippers said at the same time. They looked at each in alarm, but brushed it off.

"I will admit, not my most... original or creative idea, but that's what I've got right now." Ford admitted. "I think it's fine." Mabel reassured. "Plus, we won't really need to worry about it too much, since we're going to get Dipper- uh, other Dipper- home as soon as possible." "But according to Necktie over here, I can't get home unless my sister's here. And she's all the way back in my dimension." Other Dipper explained, glaring at Tad. He shrugged. "Don't blame me. I just told you what needed to happen."

"Yeah, don't shoot the messenger, Other Dip." Mabel replied. Tad looked at her in confusion. "Uh, he isn't shooting anyone, let alone a messenger." He pointed out. "It's just an expression, don't worry." She explained.

"Actually I think we're all avoiding a more important question anyway." Other Dipper pointed out. He turned to Dipper. "How did you get here?"

Everyone faced Dipper as he froze. He had been really hoping no one would ask that, even though it'd be stupid not to. He laughed nervously. "Well, I got some help from a demon..." He trailed off. "Was it Will?" Other Dipper asked. "Not exactly..." Dipper stalled. Ford caught on and sighed in disappointment. "Oh no, Dipper, don't tell me."

"Tell him what?" Mabel asked, clueless. Dipper exhaled. "It was Bill."

"WHAT?!" Both Mabel and Other Dipper exclaimed. Ford groaned as he buried his face in his hands. Tad just grinned knowingly. "Hey, hey, don't be like that." Dipper protested. "It was fine, and it was the only way I could think of to get back!" "Dipper, how can this 'be fine'? You made a deal with a literal demon who has threatened you and your family's lives." Ford replied. "Like you haven't done that in the past, Stanford?" Tad rolled his eyes.

"That was before I knew of his true intentions!" Ford defended. "And at least I never made another deal with him afterwards!"

"Guys! I didn't make a deal with him." Dipper interjected. That bought him enough time to explain. "I didn't make a deal with Bill. He sent me here at no cost." "That's not possible. Bill doesn't do things for free." Ford replied. "Well, yeah, except for this time." Dipper explained. "Turns out, dream demons have this special code where if they break a deal they've made with someone, then they owe that person a favor."

Dipper looked to Tad to see if he agreed. Tad nodded. That seemed to relax the group a little. "Huh." Ford said. He wondered if there was any instance where Bill had broken a deal with him.

Other Dipper broke the awkward silence that had filled the space around them. "Well, as fun as this is, I think we should head back. Maybe once we're at the shack we can find a way to get me home." "Yeah, it's getting dark anyway. Wouldn't want to find ourselves being a monster's dinner." Ford agreed and he and Mabel started walking back in the direction they'd come.

"Where do you think you're going?" Other Dipper asked Tad. He had begun to walk in the opposite direction, presumably toward his own home. Tad spun back around, his expression neutral. "Back to my house." He answered simply. "I don't live in a black void waiting for my presence to be needed. I have a life."

Other Dipper shook his head. "Nope, you're coming with us. You can't give us some vague clue on how to get me home and expect us to let you go home without further details."

Tad smirked. "Fine." He took the coin from out of his pocket and gave it to Other Dipper. "When you need my assistance, flip this and I'll come and try to help as best as I can. But wait, at least until tomorrow. Today has been rather exhausting and I'd prefer to go home and rest than to answer anymore questions. Good night." And with that, Tad walked off and disappeared around a corner.

Dipper eyed the coin in Other Dipper's hand. "Sooo... what's it been like in this dimension for you?" He asked awkwardly. Other Dipper sighed. "You don't want to know." He answered. "What about your experience in my dimension?" Dipper sighed as well.

"You don't want to know."

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Wow. How long has it been since I last posted? Yeesh. I probably updated about three or four times within the entire month of May. Oh well.

Honestly, my creativity and motivation has hit an all time low in the last few weeks. With everything going on, it's hard to really focus on this kind of thing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know if the whole Dipper and Other Dipper thing is confusing and if you have any alternative, and better, names. Again, blame the lack of creativity.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see ya later, entertainers!