Wendy stared at herself in sheer terror, hovering uneasily in the middle of the gift shop. Her own face stared right back. A sickening grin spread across its cheeks. Her once-green eyes were now a noxious shade of yellow, and her pupils had been exchanged for slits. She shrieked. Bill guffawed once more.
He slammed his newfound hand into the counter top, splintering the old wood with its wrist bone. Wendy cringed in response.
"Ha! Never gets old! That's gonna hurt for days!"
"What are you doing?!" she cried.
"Playing with my new puppet! I've got some business to take care of, and I can't handle it stuck in the Mindscape."
"Am—am I dead?"
"You might as well be! Now you're the one stuck in the Mindscape—and there's no way out! Not 'till I'm done with your body!"
"What the hell, man! We had a deal! You—you shook on it!"
"Ah, my word means jack-squat. Pine Tree can attest!"
Wendy looked down at her translucent form then back at her captor. "You mean…you've done this before? You did this to Dipper?" Her voice wavered. Her breath caught in her throat at the thought of Dipper facing this nightmare on his own.
Bill chuckled. "Well, like I said, Red. I've been known to pull the same trick twice!"
Cipher then turned away from the spirit hovering over him and examined the room. His gait was that of something entirely unaccustomed to gravity. He tossed Wendy's legs forward, one at a time, with evident difficulty and marched toward the sunglasses rack stationed near the exit. Each step was more fluid than the previous one, and by the time he reached his destination, his walking had become sufficiently ordinary.
Wendy fumed at this display. Hate welled inside her. Not only had this creature stolen her body, but he'd done it to her friend as well. Any concern for saving herself was now gone; she had a taste for vengeance. If Dipper could get his body back from this demon, then so could she. Then she'd make him pay for what he'd done to him.
She mirrored Bill's improved mobility, quickly learning to navigate without a corporeal vessel.
Cipher snatched the first pair of glasses in reach from the rack and adorned them, then grinned wickedly at her. She scanned his— or her—face. With his eyes now hidden, he looked indistinguishable from the normal Wendy. Or, well, normal Wendy the morning after a really awesome party.
"Why?" she asked. "Why'd you steal Dipper's body, and why'd you steal mine?"
"Eh…I guess it doesn't matter if you know. Now that you're trapped," Bill laughed. "Your little pet's getting too close to the truth. He's disrupting the inevitable! And that journal he carries…let's just say it's in the wrong hands."
"You're…you're doing this over a book?!"
"Not just any book, toots! The book. Well, one of 'em, anyway. And that bullheaded boy still has it."
She smirked. "He outsmarted you, huh?"
Red light flared behind the dark lenses on Bill's borrowed face.
"HARDLY! HIS BODY WAS TOO WEAK. IT COULDN'T KEEP UP. I JUST…needed something a little more capable." Bill studied one of his new hands, then balled it into a fist.
Wendy's astral form shot towards him, stopping when their faces were mere inches apart.
"You lay a finger on him, I swear, I'll—"
"There's nothing you can do, sweetheart! You're just along for the ride!" Bill snickered. "'Sides, the unfriendly approach didn't do it last time. I'm thinking 'persuasion over punishment,' eh?" Bill ran her hands down her frame, from her chest to her hips, emphasizing every curve as they descended. Wendy watched her own eyebrows bounce suggestively at her, and her jaw dropped.
"That—that's even worse, you—you piece of sh…couldn't you just…y'know, hit him a little? Just enough for him to tell you where the book is?" She bit her lip, feeling a pang of guilt at her own suggestion. "Then leave us be!"
"Nah," he sneered. "Don't get me wrong, torturing the body is fun. But torturing the mind…well, that's my game! If I punch the kid, it'll heal in, what? A week? But if I convince him you're interested in what he's selling, then rip the rug out from under his poor, aching heart…ha! I'll have him off my back for good. The kid won't be able to drag his sorry ass out of bed for the rest of the Summer!"
Grief clawed at her from within, just imagining what Bill was proposing. "Please! I'll find it! Let me find the book for you. And this'll all be over. You can give me my body back, leave Dipper alone, and—wait!"
Bill cupped her hands around her mouth and called,"Hey! Dip!"
"Yeah?" came the boy's response, muffled from several rooms away.
"C'mere!"
"No Dipper!" Wendy shouted. "It's Bill! Dipper!"
Cipher's new neck cracked as he turned back towards her. "Toots, he can't hear you. Are you always this slow on the uptake?"
Dipper entered from the door to the kitchen and met what he thought was Wendy in the middle of the gift shop. The true Wendy glided down, waving frantically in his face, flying in his way over and over again, hoping desperately to stop him, push him back, show him in some manner, however slightly it may come across in the physical world, that this was not her. That he was in danger.
Dipper didn't notice a thing.
"S'up, Wendy?" he said.
"Hey, dude." Bill leered at his new victim.
Dipper rubbed the back of his neck and looked away in response to this unfamiliar gaze. "So, what'd you call me for?"
"Oh, Dip, I'm…I'm just so lonely," Bill sighed. He threw one of her arms up melodramatically and rested it on her forehead, palm towards the ceiling. "I need a companion. A strong, manly companion."
Dipper's face grew bright red and he chuckled awkwardly. "Okay, good one, Wen. What's that from, Australian Werewolf in Toronto? We should really set a night aside to watch together—"
Bill grabbed him by the shoulders with Wendy's hands. "No, Dip. I mean it. Robbie couldn't fulfill me, so I kicked him to the curb. But you…"
Bill withdrew her hands and began unbuttoning Wendy's green flannel shirt, slowly. Dipper resumed his nervous giggling and took a step back. Bill stepped forward. Another button undone. Another step back. Another step forward. And another button undone. This continued until Dipper's back was pressed against the far wall, and Wendy's flannel was on the floor at their feet.
"Wen-Wendy," Dipper gulped. "I get it. It's…it's not funny anymore, okay?"
"Who's laughing?"
Bill licked Wendy's lips and smiled. He crossed her arms in front of her and gripped the hem of her white undershirt.
"O-okay, I get it. Come out guys! It's not funny! Y-you shouldn't j-joke like this."
The shirt rose slowly, heightening his anticipation. He stared, dumbfounded, at the creamy white skin of her stomach peeking out at him.
"Lee? T-tambry? Thompson? N-n-nate? Guys? Come out now!"
The hem passed her navel and continued on.
The true Wendy hovered overhead, watching in complete horror, her eyes darting back and forth between the boy and herself, witnessing a scenario she'd imagined privately countless times, but never expected to come to fruition, much less at her own mercy.
"Wendy, please!" Dipper cried. Her steely expression scared him. This wasn't his Wendy, not the one he knew. Her demeanor managed to spell contempt, despite her actions. Something was wrong. "I—stop! G-grunkle Stan!"
The heavy footsteps of Wendy's employer sounded in the next room. Bill dropped the shirt hem and leaned against the wall, feigning indifference. Dipper remained as he was, entirely stunned, staring into the now-empty space where Wendy's bare breasts were nearly just exposed.
"What's goin' on in here?" Stan grumbled as he entered the gift shop.
"I—Wendy—we—you…Wendy was going to—she, she—her shir—and, and—me, and—"
"Ah, enough! Dipper, come with me for a minute." The old man waved his great nephew his way, and guided him back into the kitchen.
The true Wendy followed them, floating through the wall with no resistance, and made herself privy to this private conversation. She couldn't help but feel relieved; Dipper had some help. Skeptical towards the supernatural though he was, the old man never hesitated to help if one of the twins was in trouble.
His voice lowered, Stan continued, "What? What'd, she have you in a headlock again? More noogies, huh?"
Dipper raised a finger to interject, but his grunkle cut him off.
"Look, you've got to start standing up for yourself, Dipper. Next time she puts you in a hold, knock her one right in the gut! She'll stop pickin' on you if you show her you mean business."
"But Grunkle Stan—"
"Ah, I know what you're gonna say: 'But Grunkle Stan, she's a girl!' Kid, that in there," he pointed back to the gift shop, "that's a Corduroy. She can take a punch. Hell, I've seen her chase off a bear rutting through the Shack's trash with nothin' but a broom. Trust me, you won't hurt her. It ain't about that, anyway. It's about proving a point."
Wendy blushed. It was rare to hear such overt praise from her boss.
"No! Grunkle Stan, I think…" The words caught in his throat. "I…I think she's trying to seduce me!"
"Oh?" The old man's eyebrows leapt. He considered this for a moment, then gave a hearty chuckle. "Well then, why didn't you say so? Gee, I told your parents I'd man you up a bit over the Summer, but I don't think any of us thought I'd get you this far."
Dipper was stunned.
Wendy gasped in disbelief.
"But Grunkle Stan—"
"Right, right. Of course." The man fished around in his breast pocket and produced a square foil wrapper. He placed the wrapper on Dipper's palm and gave the boy a firm pat on the shoulder. "Safety first! Good thinking!"
"Holy shit," Wendy whispered to herself.
Dipper gawked at the contraceptive helplessly, too fraught to consider what he had just been handed. "I—no, I need—you have to—"
Stan grimaced. "Look, kid, this is as far as my assistance goes. I ain't gonna teach ya' about the birds and the bees. If your old man didn't already, well…I guess it's her job now." He chuckled to himself. "Don't worry, I'll keep Mabel busy. Go on and have some fun. Ask lots of questions." He started towards the living area. "Mabes! My office! Now!"
Dipper watched him leave, speechless.
Wendy struggled to process what just unfolded.
"Dip?" Bill was standing in the doorway now, grinning with Wendy's mouth.
Dipper gulped.
"You're not afraid of me, are you?" Bill continued. "Dippy…I thought you liked me?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, and considered his next words carefully, "I—I do, Wendy, it's j-just, this…I dunno, this i-isn't like y-you."
Bill purred and walked over to the boy, bouncing Wendy's hips as he went. Dipper was instantly entranced. "Why don't we go up to your room?"
The Pines twin felt his heart stop at the suggestion. "M-m-my r-r-r-oom?" he stammered.
The demon in disguise didn't wait for consent. He gripped the boy's wrist with Wendy's strong hand and led him up the stairs to the attic with a fervor unmatched, while the body's true owner followed closely in tow.