A/N: I'm back with Chapter Three! woot woot! I hope you enjoy!

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Three: The Project

Bill was highly pleased with this nightmare. He lived and thrived on pain, fear and suffering, and this kid had a lot of it underneath his cheery disposition. He chuckled, and then floated off the bed, towards Lion. The demon realized he hadn't yet properly thanked Steven, and was wanting to rectify that.

Steven woke then, gasping, "They're all in trouble! Sadie, Lars, the Gems!" he hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs, over to Lion. "Hey, are you okay?"

Lion yawned, showcasing the fact that he was alive and well, but promptly fell back asleep. However, there was something missing from his mouth. Lots of somethings.

"Lion..." Steven sighed, patting his back, relieved. "I guess it was just a dream!" he shrugged, not noticing that some things were missing from Lion's mouth.

"Heheh," a familiar chuckle issued from behind him, "sure it was, kid!"

Steven jumped slightly, then looked around him. His eyes widened when he saw the floating triangle, "Oh! Bill! I'm sorry... I completely forgot about you... I had this really bad dream..." he almost teared up, just thinking about it. "I know you're not one for hugs, but I really need one..." he held out his arms.

The demon raised an eyebrow, but, other than that, ignored this pointedly. His hands were behind his back, and he grinned again, "I got something even better than that sweaty, sappy ritual!"

"Oh, really? you got me a present?" Steven gasped, his sad mood gone instantly.

The triangle nodded slightly, and then revealed his hands, unveiling teeth, with a bit of blood trickling from the roots of each. He grinned widely, "Teeth! straight from the lion's mouth! far stronger than deer teeth, if I do say so myself! and they're all for you, kid!"

Steven gasped, staring at them. "Y-you... you need to put those back! Lion needs those!" he argued.

Bill then pretended he was hurt, frowning and all. He looked at the teeth in his open palms, and then back up at Steven, sighing rather dramatically, "Oh, kid. I thought for sure you'd appreciate this!"

"I-I do... but you can't just take Lion's teeth! it's like if someone took your eye! you need that, don't you?"

The demon narrowed his eye, reminded of the time his eye got pulled out by the Shacktron. He suppressed a shudder, and then frowned once more, closing his palms for a while, "I do..." and what he said next took some effort, but eventually it came out, "ugh, fine, kid.. I'll return his teeth."

"Thank you," he smiled and patted Bill's hat. The triangle twitched noticeably, and, other than a groan, didn't complain about his precious topper getting touched. He tossed the teeth into the air and snapped his fingers. Lion yawned again and all the teeth were thus returned to their proper places.

Steven sighed, and then he looked out the window. It was incredibly sunny, and this made him remember something. He gasped, "Sadie! I have to go help Sadie with her project thing... you can come help, if you want!" he suggested, smiling at Bill.

And that's when Bill realized. His plan to ruin Steven's plans didn't exactly work. The boy still seemed as bright-eyed and as bushy-tailed as ever. Bill frowned with both disappointment and with thought, glancing around the house. It looked somewhat nicer with the sunlight pouring into it, he noted briefly and offhandedly. But it still fell below his standards.

Eventually, he decided, "Eh, sure. Why not?"

He figured he might be able to string Sadie along as well. The more people he could manipulate and eventually betray, the better.

"Come on!" Steven almost grabbed Bill's hand, before he rethought it and just started out the door. He would let the triangle follow him on his own.

Bill Cipher chuckled again rather lightly, but still ominously, and then proceeded to levitate after the kid, magically closing the door behind him. Steven ran down to the Big Donut, calling her name, hoping his dream wasn't real...

The demon was right behind him all the while, looking around at the town somewhat condescendingly. Steven reached the door and knocked on it, "SAAAAADIE! LAAAAARS! is the Big Donut open?" he then glanced at Bill, uncertain.

Bill frowned, meeting his glance and crossing his arms. Soon, there was a bit of an argument heard inside, before Sadie opened the door, smiling immediately at the boy behind it, "Oh, hi, Steven," and then she noticed the triangle, and raised an eyebrow. "Who's this?"

Bill Cipher stared at her, the frown then upturning into a slight smile. He was about to introduce himself when Steven unknowingly interrupted.

"This is Bill Cipher. He's a friend. He, uh, he washed up on the beach as a statue..." Steven shrugged. Sadie pursed her lips, thinking on this. He then continued, "Anyway, you wanted to do some kind of project, right?"

Bill chuckled dryly, slightly irritated because he didn't get a chance to speak. He'd get his chance, he thought. Soon, preferably. Lars watched them talk from his spot at the register, feet up on the counter.

"Well, yeah. We wanted to raise money for the school, with donuts. Sorta a fundraiser type thing. We were hoping you could go around and put up signs and tell people about it, spread awareness," Sadie smiled.

"Sure thing! I don't have anything to do anyway," he replied. He was then handed a stack of papers, posters, for the project. Bill eyed these items somewhat curiously. And then the look turned discreetly devious. He couldn't help thinking how he'd have fun ruining the fundraiser. Schools were meaningless anyway. Just like rules were.

Lars grinned smugly, coming up to stand behind his coworker, "Good luck, Steven and little one-eyed dork. You're gonna need it."

Bill frowned at him, his trigger finger again itching to cause some damage. No one ever insulted him and got away with it.

"Here, Lars, I have some left over, for you!" she handed him an even bigger pile. Lars promptly frowned, but took the pile without much complaint, and his knees started shaking due to how heavy it was. Bill laughed at this. Maybe he didn't need to bring chaos down upon this fellow. The young man was already getting his just desserts. He was starting to like Sadie.

"Alright, boys. I'm going to set up a picnic for lunch, so when you're done with those, come to the pier!" she smiled at them.

"Okay!" Steven smiled and began out the door, cheerfully holding his papers.

"Gotcha!" Bill replied, grinning and sending an affirmative gesture her way before he followed the boy. He decided to humor her. Maybe he wouldn't ruin the fundraiser. But perhaps he could scramble up the school. Yes... he liked this idea.

The grumpy teenager kept up the frown on his face, not wanting to speak, so he just nodded instead, stumbling out the door as well. Sadie waved them all off just before the door closed.

Steven pursed his lips. Are there really this many people in Beach City? he wondered, glancing back at Lars with his stack.

And then the demon turned to Steven, whispering as a reply to his thought, "There really are. Fascinating, is it not?"

"Huh? but I didn't say anything..." Steven frowned. And then his eyes lit up, "Wait, can you read thoughts too? wow! tell me what Lars is thinking!" he exclaimed, excited now.

Bill grinned, and then metaphorically reached into Lars's mind to pull out something. He chuckled, whispering, "He's saying how much he hates this... and, oh, boy, does he have quite the colorful language!"

Lars got the feeling Steven and Bill were talking about him, and growled slightly, eyes half-lidded. The demon ignored him, not even caring. He was far more powerful than that lanky fleshbag anyway, and could disintegrate him into mere atoms if he wanted.

"Oh..." Steven's face fell. He handed Bill the stack of papers he was holding, then hugged Lars.

Lars reacted far less nicely than Bill did, and he would have shoved him off too were it not for the large and heavy stack of papers in his hands. It almost caused him to fall, as a matter of fact, and he struggled to keep his balance, "Gruh! Steven!"

The demon watched this, scrambling not to drop the posters. He was once again baffled by Steven. He figured the boy would laugh along with him, but instead...

Bill sighed quietly, growing a third arm for a bit to rub at his top point. He just couldn't get it...

"Oh! I'm... I'm sorry..." Steven backed away, uncertain now. He glanced at Bill. "You too, I'm sorry... I must have startled both of you..." his cheeks turned red.

Lars grumbled, "You're lucky you didn't make me drop this."

Bill said nothing for a minute, still thinking, but his eye was no longer wide. It was half-closed with seeming boredom, but it was actually because he was deeply pondering about this, about Steven's "in"-human behavior. Like before, however, it didn't last. The triangle simply shrugged, covering up his surprise, "Eh. Not really. Don't worry about it," and then he made the papers float around him so he wouldn't have to carry them.

"Wow..." Steven was dully awed by Bill's abilities once again. "You're amazing!" he almost hugged Bill again, but stopped himself.

The demon chuckled, "Why, thank you!"

Lars's frown deepened. He was impressed, to say the least, but figured he should have some help too. He then thought of something. He put up a friendly smile, "Hey, Bill!"

The triangle looked at him, eyebrow raised. The young man continued, "Think you could help a guy out?"

Bill saw straight through this act. He knew Lars didn't like him, and, well, he didn't like Lars either, especially because of that insult. But he accepted, "Of course!" and grinned particularly maliciously, but this went unnoticed.

He held out his palm, focusing on the papers Lars was carrying. They started floating around the guy, but at the same time a stable, small raincloud formed above his head as the papers started circling that. Lars was none the wiser, smiling now rather smugly and looking at Steven with his arms crossed.

The boy, however, barely noticed. He kept walking. Lars, eyebrow raised, and Bill, chuckling, followed him, and that raincloud was still above the young man, ready to strike at a moment's notice. All Lars seemed to notice was how dark it got, but that didn't erase the smug off his face.

Steven frowned, "So, Bill, where are you from...?" he glanced at the triangle.

Bill looked at Steven, humming slightly as he magically took one of his posters and plastered it onto a nearby pole they were passing. And then he looked at Lars. How he hated him. The demon returned his gaze to the boy, rethinking telling him now, and replied, "I'll tell ya when we're alone."

Lars scoffed. He really wanted to hear, if only for blackmail purposes, not realizing the triangle could kill him if he wanted. He remained silent nonetheless, not even bothering to look up.

"When we're alone? why? why not now?" Steven was a dead cat.

Bill frowned, and was about to pointedly glance Lars's way when the aforementioned spoke up, smugly, "Yeah, why not now? or are you scared?"

The demon scoffed, crossing his arms, "I'm not scared!"

"Then tell it!" Lars demanded, "or I'll call you a dork again."

Bill rolled his eye. This kid really didn't know who he was messing with.

"Yeah, Bill. I'll tell you something really embarrassing about me! or if it's sad, something really sad! but... you probably already know anyway..." Steven frowned.

"Eh... I'd rather not. It's something really personal, kid, and blabbermouth here might blab it out," he pointedly glanced at Lars this time, but it and the insult went unnoticed by the target himself, who laughed in Bill's face.

"I knew it! you're a chicken! a dorky chicken!" he smirked, hands on his hips. And then the demon's eye flashed for a split second that deep blue again as it narrowed. At that moment, the raincloud activated and it zapped the young man's ear.

"OH, OW! THAT HURT!" Lars cried out, jumping slightly and grabbing his ear. It started pouring rain on him from then on, just to rub salt in the wound, and his clothes were now absolutely soaked. He groaned once the pain subsided, hidden tears in his eyes.

The demon simply smirked just as smugly as Lars had earlier, if not more, much to the young man's dismay. Honestly, he was lucky Bill hadn't done more to him. Very lucky.

"Biiiiiillllllllll!" Steven complained. "Why do you keep hurting people? first you take Lion's teeth, then you shock Lars!" he looked at Bill, almost pleading.

The demon turned and raised an eyebrow at Steven, hands on his "hips", "Oh, please, spare me the sap, kid! Lars deserved that. You can't tell me otherwise."

Plus, it was a game to him. It was fun to him. But he wouldn't tell Steven that. The less the boy truly knew about his true colors, the better. Lars kept quiet, and looked up, finally. He saw the papers, and sighed. At least they were still dry.

"No, he didn't. Sure, he's mean to people sometimes, but he makes up for it with kindness underneath! he's not a bad guy..." Steven sighed.

Once again, Bill was baffled, only slightly this time though. His brow furrowed as he once again tried to wrap his mind around this behavior. How could Steven say this? how could he not say Lars deserved this? he soon groaned, and waved a dismissive hand, crossing his arms, "Eh. Sure... sure he isn't."

Lars himself was touched, but confused. All he did since they met was be a jerk to Steven, and yet he was standing up for him? he frowned. The rain pelting his skin didn't matter anymore.

Steven sighed once more, "I'm going to the pier. You two... please try not to kill each other while I'm gone." He then ducked out and started towards the beach, to the pier where Sadie would be meeting them.

The demon and Lars watched Steven fade from their sight. Before they then glared at each other briefly, and then silently set to work stapling the posters around town fairly quickly, shooting each other death glares from time to time.

A/N: Heh, typical Bill, huh?
Once again, I hope you enjoyed this one! I'll say this, I'm Bill throughout this entire run. And Ace is Steven throughout her entire run. :3
I was also Sadie for her first line, afterwards Ace took the role, and I was Lars throughout this entire chapter. I hope I pulled him off well. Please review. I really appreciate reviews. :3