As soon as everyone is asleep for the night, Hilda went outside of the tent and into the woods with David following her. They walked with their flashlights on and saw Bil is waiting for them. In fact, he's loitering by one of the trees.
"Took you long enough," he muttered as he joined them.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" David asked. "We've been walking for ages."
"Yeah, what are you trying pull, grand... I mean, a grand scheme or something?" Bil cleared his throat on what he's going to say.
"Um, I think I'm sort of, mostly, kind of sure-ish?" Hilda replied in suspicious tone while looking around to see a glow from a campfire. "Look, that's Tontu's fire! Obviously. I told you I was sure."
David is left whimpering, while Bil eyed her from behind out of suspicion.
"David, flashlight," Hilda said.
"What?" the boy asked in confusion.
"Just turn it off."
David turns off the flashlight and walks to the spot where Hilda is hidden with Bil following him. They noticed it's from the Marra, and a familiar face is with them.
"Frida?" David just couldn't believe on who is hanging out with the Marra, and neither could Hilda but she doesn't seemed to be surprised as he is. Bil just smirked at this very sight.
"So then, I made his arms turn into a pair of snakes, and he was trying to run away from himself all night," Kelly gleefully described the nightmare she gave to one of her victims, making the Marra laugh at that. "Until, that is, I turned his legs into snakes as well!"
After telling her story, she sent the green flames for the Marra to absorb. Frida also absorbed the flames, though she is coughing in the middle of the process.
"I can't believe this," Hilda commented on what is happening as Kelly shot the green energy up in the air.
"I knew there was something about Kelly. She's a Marra!" David commented as well.
"This isn't what Frida's like. They must have done something to her. We've got to save her," Hilda said in declaration.
"She doesn't look like she needs saving to me," David walked out with anger on his face, feeling betrayed by the fact that his former friend is hanging out with the very people who gave him nightmares.
"David?" Hilda tried calling for him, but he keeps on walking. "David!"
"That's too bad. It couldn't be helped that he's scared of the Marra to face them," Bil said in a tone as if he's insulting him, causing David to stop in his tracks. His face contorted more angry features as he turns to face the doctor.
"You know, I hate the fact that people who are jerks have the last word on me! You insult me, and now you say something like that?! That's it, I'm out of here!" David declared as he continues to walk away.
"Take care," Bil grinned at the moment, leaving Hilda suspicious of him before proceeding to watch Frida and the Marra in secret.
"All right, all right. Listen to this, ladies. I was nightmaring this girl last night. I started out with a basic turn-around, you know, a lost kind of deal. So she doesn't know where she is, and then I freeze her to the spot," the Marra with the hair clip described the nightmare she gave to one of her victims, making the other Marra smile and Frida disturbed.
"I'm done! Why would you be friends with them? Doesn't she remember?" David ranted before realizing he's empty-handed. "Oh no, I left the flipping flashlight," then he heard rambling in the bushes. "Hilda? The... The... The Black Hound!"
He started running away in the direction behind him before tripping over a rock. Looking at what's behind him, he screamed loudly as he ran back to where Hilda and Bil are. They just heard his screaming.
"David!" Hilda exclaimed as Bil extends his foot in front of the running boy, causing him to trip onto her. This causes the two to fall into the fireplace, allowing the Marra to notice them.
"I should have known you guys would turn up," Kelly glared at them.
"David! Hilda! What are you doing here?" Frida asked as she didn't expect their arrival. Kelly looked at her next, realizing that Bill really did want them to come.
"The Black Hound, it's coming!" David helped Hilda stand up while hiding behind her. "We've got to run. It was right behind me. It's..."
What came out of the bush, it's a frog.
"Oh, boy, do I have some stories to tell about this kid," Twintail grinned at the sight of David. Kelly laughed, while the Marra with the hair clip snickered. "He's the easiest scare I ever had."
"Back off! I don't know what's going on, but we're taking our friend and getting out of here," Hilda defends him from her and shifts her focus on her other friend. "Come on, Frida."
They noticed she isn't coming with them. At first she tried reaching her hand to them, but when the Marra glared at her she hesitated. She glanced at them, and then to Hilda and David before giving herself in to the Marra although she is regretful of her choice. While David is baffled at her choice, Hilda just kept calm on this.
"Why don't you back off? Frida's hanging out with us right now. And you know what? She's having fun. In fact, at this rate, she might make a pretty good Marra one day," Kelly declared as her eyes turned green and levitated herself in the air with Twintail following her.
"After all, it's what I wanted. AHAHAHAHAHA!" Bil showed up in an instant, and he shapeshifted into what it seems to be his true identity. "Did you really think I haven't been planning this weeks ago?"
"Bill Cipher! So you're the one leading the Marra!" David exclaimed at the discovery before facepalming as he realized something that he should have seen coming. "Bilci Pher, Bill Cipher. How did we miss that?" he said under the belief that Hilda has no clue of this as well, though she isn't surprised from this. He turned to Frida next. "Frida, I don't get it. I understand if you don't want to hang out with me anymore, but why would you hang out with them? You're my best friend. You always looked out for me when I was scared. But I'm not scared now, especially not scared of you! What's scary about a sad bunch of creeps with nothing better to do than sit around being nasty about people behind their back?"
He's not only calling her out for joining the Marra, but also the Marra themselves to show that he won't be afraid of them anymore.
"Bravo, Davey. I didn't think you would be this brave to call out your friend and the Marra. Bravo. Bravo!" Bill sarcastically claps on what the boy just did. "Still, it changes nothing. I'm still going to turn her into a Marra."
"No!" Hilda declared as she transformed into her energy form and flew towards Bill, who made a big punch with his big hand to send her flying to a tree. He shoots energy to bind her there.
"Hilda!" David exclaimed in concern for her before Bill used reality warping to open the ground he's standing, so that he'll struggle in trying to get up from there.
"Which is it going to be, Frida? Become a Marra or watch your friends die. Tick, tock, tick tock," Bill said.
With no way out, Frida has no choice but to become a Marra as she puts her head down in shame.
"Excellent. Prepare the ritual, girls!" Bill ordered, and they formed a circle to center them. They chanted, and after a few seconds the spell has been casted. "Welcome to the Marra, Frida. You're one of us now."
"NO!" Hilda screamed in anger as she broke free from her binding, and David climbed back from the open ground. She tried attacking her grandfather again, but he grabbed her and toss her aside. "Why are you after Frida? Am I not your family?"
"Ha ha ha. My dear grandchild, who said you're the only granddaughter I've been searching for?" Bill said as he shifted focus on his newly converted Marra.
"You have got to be kidding me," David realized what this statement meant, his eyes shifted from Bill to Frida.
"Your so-called parents never told you, did they? But then, I guess they didn't have to because you already knew, didn't you? Frida..."
On that moment, Frida started to have a vision appear in front of her. It showed Norman Cipher making out with a black woman in his blue anthropomorphic triangle form. With the blue hair on his head, she realized that must be Hilda's dad. This must be a vision from the past. Upon inspecting the woman's face closely, it looked like... it's her own face.
The vision disappeared from her sight as Frida realized the truth.
"Now do you get the picture, granddaughter?" Bill said as he uses his power to bring the memory into a projection for everyone in the area to see.
"No way..." David is baffled to see the memory.
"So that's why he was after her," Kelly realized, while Twintail and the other Marra are just looking the memory with glee on their faces.
"Dad?" Hilda reacted. She shifts her focus from the memory to Frida. "If Frida's father was my father, does this mean she's my...?"
"Sister. Half-sister, to be precise. Both of you have different mothers. Speaking of mothers, Frida's real mother was special. She was a dyad witch, and that she had powers. Frida is the spitting image of the witch that I killed when she was a baby," Bill said, showing that memory in the process.
"I won't let you have my baby!" the witch declared.
"Your baby was born from my son as well. Not only she has powers from your bloodline, but also my bloodline. She is destined for greater things," Bill declared.
"No, she won't be raised by a devil like yourself. She'll be raised like a normal person by a couple who wished to have a child like her."
"You made a big mistake giving her to that couple."
"It's you who will interfere with her life being the big mistake of all."
She zapped a powerful energy beam from her hand, and Bill did the same. What happened next after that was clear that he won the magic battle between them, and he carried her unconscious body to a volcano where he dropped her to the lava below to kill her. He was satisfied with what he just did.
"I won against her, and I took care of her dropping her to the lava below the volcano. This is the surprise I wanted to show you. Now that you know, join me," Bill extends his hand to Hilda once again. "For real, this time. You're a Cipher, and so is your sister. You two were born from the same father, so this means you have my blood in your veins. It's your destiny to join, it's in your blood."
He noticed Hilda's hesitation in this matter.
"If you want to be with Frida, then join me. She was born from a father who had powers like mine and a mother who was one of the powerful dyad witches in the world. She might be more powerful than you if I hadn't turned her into a Marra to amplify her powers. So, what do you say, Hilda? Join me, and we can do whatever we want. Heck, you can think of having the biggest adventure of your life when we spread Weirdmageddon throughout the universe. We're going to have so much fun. All you have to do is take my hand, and the next adventure you'll have has just begun. What do you say?" Bill pressed.
At that very moment, Hilda started to extend her hand to her grandfather. The Marra will be happy of her joining him, and David isn't. At the very last second, she hesitated as Bill is about to take her hand to confirm her choice in joining him.
"Like I said, I'll never join you. Even if you had Frida with you, I won't join you," she said with conviction.
"So be it, granddaughter. You're just like your father," Bill looks disappointed in her refusal of his offer. Behind him, Hilda grabbed his hand and when she did, she looked shock by what she found out about him. She used the power of empathy again to see if she could help him.
"You... don't feel bad about everything that you did your whole life. You killed Dad, and you didn't feel bad about it. You broke my friendship with Frida, and you didn't feel bad about it. You did this on your own will. It's as if you never had a heart in the first place," she realized the conclusion, and she didn't like it one bit. "Mum was right. There are lives that aren't worth saving, least of all you."
Bill couldn't care less on what she thinks of him now. He doesn't want to be saved. Heck, he doesn't need to be saved. He's the way that he is because he chose it himself, no one else.
"I expect both of you to join me, but you just had to refuse my offer for the last time. Oh well, at least I have Frida. Speaking of which, Frida! Dispose of your sister," he gave the order to his other granddaughter. Frida's eyes glowed green as she lifts up her hand to show green energy glowing from it.
"No, Frida!" David struggled.
The newly converted Marra is hesitating in disposing her friend, her sister.
"What's going on? Do it now, Frida! DO IT NOW!" Bill demanded loudly. Before he knows it, she zapped him with the energy instead.
"If you think I'd turn against my sister like this, you'd better think again," Frida declared as her eyes stopped glowing green. Then, she zapped Twintail and the Marra with the glasses when they attempted to attack Hilda from behind. She extended a hand to her sister, who accepted it to help herself stand up. The two smiled at each other, leaving David in a state of confusion from this.
Three weeks ago...
"Hilda, I've been thinking about this for a while now," Frida started as she and Hilda have a private conversation in the woods. "Since Bill has nightmare powers, I have a feeling that he's the leader of the Marra."
"Bill leading the Marra? That's impossible, Frida," Hilda finds the claim impossible. Her grandfather couldn't lead the Marra, can he?
"But if I were to infiltrate the Marra, then I could find the answer myself."
"What? That's dangerous."
"Please, Hilda. I wanna make it up to you," Frida grabbed Hilda's hands together as if she's begging to be given a chance.
"Okay, Frida. I'll let you infiltrate the Marra for some answers, but you need to make it convincing. Also, you have to contact me at some points, so I wouldn't worry if anything bad happens to you," the blue-haired girl agrees to let her do the mission.
"Thank you, Hilda. You're the best friend I've ever had since we were kids."
"And we are still kids, Frida, despite how grown up we are now."
The two girls share a hug with each other before the mission started.
Present Day...
"Is everything going according to plan?" Hilda asked.
"Yes, it is," Frida replied with a smile, revealing she has a wire hidden all this time so that she can catch on with what happened during her meetings with the Marra.
"So you dare to defy me, huh?" Bill uses his telekinesis to lift the black girl up to the air. "Good thing I made failsafe in your Marra powers just in case a rebellion has been created against me. You should be lucky that you're not the first Marra that I did this, and you won't be the last. Goodbye, Frida."
The triangular demon grabbed the girl by her head as if he's trying to command her Marra powers to kill her from within. She's in a state of agony right now.
"Frida!" Hilda exclaimed with concern for her sister. David is concern for her as well.
Suddenly, something inside Frida has caused the process to stop abruptly.
"What? How can I resist this?" she asked in confusion.
"It would seem that you have the ability to resist being killed by your own powers. Just like your mother," Bill commented with bitterness before turning to his Marra minions. "Don't just stand there! Get her!"
"Of course, master," Twintail agreed to do his bidding as she and the Marra who covered her right eye with her bangs attempted to attack the newly converted Marra who refused to join his side. They managed to pin her to a tree, but she broke free with such amazing strength. Twintail attempted to land a punch on her, but Frida zapped her before she could make the move.
"That's enough, Bill! You may have failed in getting her to join us, but at least she's a Marra now just like you wanted. Bring me my mother back now," Kelly demanded. Before she knows it, Bill zapped her with energy coming from his hand which sends her flying to a tree. Next, she finds herself being strangled by an invisible force, and Bill is doing it through telekinesis.
"Ah yes, your mother. It's been too long since I used her as a bargaining chip to get you to do my bidding. You are one defiant Marra, Kelly. Perhaps you should join your mother with her upcoming fate," he tossed her aside afterwards before turning to Hilda and Frida, the granddaughters who refused to join his side. He tries zapping them with energy coming from his hand, and they defend themselves with zapping it their combined energy beams. It's quite a struggle, and after a few seconds they triumphed over their grandfather. "It would have been quick. But now, now I'm gonna make you both suffer," Bill declared as he snaps his fingers to unveil a huge creature in everyone's presence. It's none other than the Black Hound, and the Marra are happy to see it.
"Uh-oh," David realized the trouble he and his friends are in.
Author's Note: An intense chapter if you ask me. Another family secret is revealed, and that is about Frida. She belongs to the Cipher family as well, not just Hilda. Since she was born from the same father but had a different mother, that makes the two half-sisters. It makes sense why Bill had been after them for so long, even orchestrating their falling out in "The Ghost". Speaking of Bill, Hilda realized that her mum was right; there are lives that aren't worth saving, and Bill himself is an example. He's beyond redemption, so she has no choice but to give up on trying to redeem him.