As he exited the Theater, Dipper quickly got surprised by how many people were gathered in front of the building. Most of them weren't even present for the show. They had just came here to try to understand what was going on. But it wasn't helping at all to locate Bill. Where was he?
Dipper frowned, all this noise, it was distracting. The crowd allowed his possessed body to hide.
He had no choice but to float above everyone. A few minutes later, he finally spotted the demon, strolling through an alley. Dipper didn't hesitate, and hurried towards his body.
- BILL !
As he heard his name, the demon glanced to see his "puppet"'s disembodied soul. Proudly, he cackled:
- Hey there, Pinetree ! Did you enjoy the show ?
- Give me back my body now !
- Your sister didn't give me enough time to practise, so the ending was all'improvviso ! I thought it was smashing. Your sis' didn't seem too fond of it though.
Anger took over, Dipper snapped, his voice raising:
- You made her fall ! She broke her bones !
- Yeah, too bad. Not as durable as I thought, huh?
He gave Dipper a disturbing smile, before resuming to march forward. The young boy clenched his fist, and shouted in rage as he tried to hit his body, in hopes of kicking the demon out.
Nothing happened, he just went through it. Upon this failed attempt, Bill sneered:
- The Mindscape doesn't work this way, kid. Hitting your own body? That's pretty stupid.
- Give me back my body !
- We had a deal, Pine Tree. I asked for a puppet. You really need to learn to accept your end of the bargain.
Dipper was taken aback by Bill's words. He was the one who had to respect the deal?
- Excuse me ? I asked you for the password. Last time I checked, I don't recall ever getting that !
Bill smirked :
- Actually, you didn't ask for the password.
- ...What?
- In fact, you didn't ask for anything.
- Yes I did !
- I told you I could give you a hint, kid. I asked you for a puppet, but you didn't ask me to do anything in return.
Dipper found himself unable to answer. The truth struck him as he realised how manipulated he had been.
"And you're supposed to be the smart guy" Bill Continued.
The young boy clenched his fist in rage, angry at himself for letting Bill make a fool out of him. With nothing left to answer, he asked again :
- ...Give me back my body, Bill. You won, you don't need it anymore !
Bill continued to walk as he answered:
- Let's see... No more journal, no more Shooting Star to foil my plans, and no more theater. What more could ask for?
Dipper hesitated, he didn't have any answer. Not that Bill expected him to anyway, making his way through the town.
- You...You won't get away with this! Mabel will tell everyone what happened ! You won't keep this body much longer, you'll see !
Bill didn't answer. Dipper suddenly realised they had left the streets, to get near the Water Tower. Confusion filled his mind:
Why was Bill going here?
He looked around, searching for an answer, anything to help him understand. But the place was empty. Not a single soul in sight. Just a slight wind, that didn't seem to bother his possessed body.
It was silent. Until Bill decided to speak once more:
- Do you know what's fun about possessing bodies?
Dipper turned around to see the demon climbing down the tower's ladder. The young boy felt uneasy. This was going out of hand. But since he didn't answer, Bill moved on:
- What's fun is that you can do…"experiments" without having to worry about the consequences! After all, this isn't my body.
- Wh-...What are you going to do? Dipper asked, fear invading his mind.
- Didn't you listen? An experiment. You'll see, it'll be fun ! Well, for me anyway.
Before letting him respond, the demon immediately changed subject as he reached the top:
"Hey, look at this view ! You can see the fire from here!"
He was telling the truth. Smoke from the fire filled the sky from afar. Dipper could even hear the firemen's siren. He couldn't help but think about Mabel, who was still there. He hoped she was out of danger, already on her way to an hospital. He silently begged that no one would've been hurt or worse because of him.
- Hmm, I think that's high enough.
Dipper turned around, horrified to see that Bill had climbed up on the railing, dangerously leaning toward the ground. The demon stared at him with a disturbing smile. Dipper realised too late what was coming next.
- NO !
As he desperately tried to reach his body, Bill tipped backward, beginning to fall as he snarked in a cruel and cold voice:
"Race you to the bottom, Pinetree !"