"Wow, it's really pouring out there," Sammy murmured, looking through the window. Fat drops of rain pattered outside on the roof as thunder boomed loudly in the distance.

He and the twins were all in the attic and simply passing the time. Dipper and Mabel decided to play a board game called Conflict Boat together, while Sammy sat on his bed and watched them play. "I'm gonna say… B5," said Dipper. "Miss! Whop!," said Mabel, placing down a peg on her side of the board. Dipper glanced over and saw that she had arranged all her pegs in the shape of a cat's face. "I don't think you're playing this right," he deadpanned.

"Kids! Come quick!," Stan suddenly called from downstairs. Dipper, Mabel, and Sammy ran downstairs to the living room, where Stan was laughing at something on TV. "I need you to laugh at this with me!," he said, pointing to the screen with a large grin on his face.

Playing on the television was a commercial jingle, but they only needed to hear who was singing it to figure out what it was for. "Who's cute as a button, and always your friend? Lil' G-I-D to the E-O-N! Wink!," Gideon sang, winking to the camera. "Li'l Gideon!," said Bud's voice. "Ugh, Gideon!," groaned Dipper, rolling his eyes. "Remember when I wouldn't date him and he tried to destroy us?," asked Mabel. "He's always trying to trick me into losing the Mystery Shack!," Stan spoke up. "You know, I've never really thought of it before," said Sammy, turning to the conman. "Why does Gideon want the shack so badly?" "Eh, beats me," said Stan, shrugging. "If you ask me, he's just jealous of how much better my shack is compared to his dinky tent."

At that point, Wendy and Soos overheard their conversation and walked into the room to put in their two cents about Gideon. "That's not even the weirdest thing about him. One time, I actually caught him stealing my moisturizer," said Wendy. "And yet, our mutual hatred for him bonds us together," said Soos. Meanwhile, the commercial jingle was still playing.

"Come on down to Li'l Gideon's Tent 'o' Telepathy, opening soon at this location," Bud narrated as the TV showed the Tent of Telepathy falling out of the sky and crushing the Mystery Shack underneath it. "Uh, should we be worried about that?," Dipper asked worriedly.

"Please, the only way Gideon's taking over this shack is by breaking in and stealing my deed," Stan scoffed. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from upstairs. Everyone went silent and stared at each other. "You mean like, right now?," asked Wendy. "Come on, let's check it out!," Sammy said urgently. While Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy stayed behind in the living room, Stan, Soos, and Sammy ran upstairs and towards Stan's office, where the safe to the deed was held. "Gideon!," yelled Stan, slamming the door open. Sure enough, Gideon was kneeling in front of the safe in the dark, trying to figure out the combination before he was interrupted.

"Well, well, Stanford! My arch-nemesis," Gideon sneered, standing up. "We seem to have entered a dangerous game of cat and mouse. But the question remains, who is the cat, and who is the–" "Soos, broom," Stan deadpanned. The handyman gave Stan a broom, much to Gideon's horror. "Oh no, not the broom!," he cried, before running around the room while being chased by Stan. Sammy couldn't help but snicker at the absurdity of it all. Gideon even stopped to hiss at Stan like an angry cat, but of course, he was no match for the mighty broom.

Stan was eventually able to chase Gideon outside in the rain. "You mark my words, Stanford!," the child star growled as he shook his fist. "One day I'm gonna get that combination! And once I steal that deed, you'll never see the Mystery Shack again!" "Good luck, bucko!," Stan taunted before going back inside and slamming the door shut behind him. He went back into his office to make sure that the deed was still in his safe - one could never be too careful, after all - while Sammy stood by him. "Mister Pines, I don't want to sound too paranoid, but are you sure that deed will be safe in there?," asked Sammy. "Gideon seemed pretty serious about getting his hands on it, and you know that he's nothing if not persistent." His back was turned to Stan and his eyes were closed, so that he couldn't see Stan entering the safe's combination.

Stan only laughed off Sammy's concerns. "Relax, kid. The combo to this safe is in the one place he'll never find it: my brain," he said proudly. Sammy couldn't help but smirk a little. "Oh. Well, now I'm relieved. Who would want to go in there, am I right?," he joked.

"Hey, hey!," said Stan, giving Sammy a friendly punch to the shoulder. "I thought I pay you to work for me, not make jabs at my expense. Sheesh, since when did you become such a jokester?" "Mister Pines, you don't pay me at all. I'm working here for free, remember?," Sammy reminded him. "Ha! And that's why you're my favorite employee," laughed Stan. "Don't tell Soos or Wendy I said that, though." As they left Stan's office, neither of them realized that Gideon had been watching them through the window the entire time. "Your brain isn't as safe as you might think, Stanford Pines!," he sneered, stepping out into the rain. "This is the last straw! It's time to unlock the journal's greatest secret…" He took out Journal #2 and flipped to a page showing a strange, one-eyed triangle with a top hat, surrounded by an even stranger zodiac.

"The dream demon," he said, rubbing his hand over the image while smiling evilly. "A being said to be so terrible and dangerous that even the author is terrified of him. Ha! Doesn't look like much to me, but I'll take all the help I can get." He glared back at the shack. "And as for you, Samuel… You've been at the front of my mind and haunting my dreams since the day I laid eyes on you. I know I've seen you before! And I'll do whatever it takes to find out, even if I gotta resort to this. The shack ain't the only thing I want to get my hands on, after all…"

A short while later, the whole gang apart from Soos were watching TV together, with Dipper and Wendy casually shooting Nyarf darts at each other while their eyes were glued to the screen. They were currently watching Stan's second favorite film, Grandpa the Kid, which was barely beaten out by The Duchess Approves. "He put the old in 'old west,' they call him Grandpa the Kid!," said the narrator. Onscreen was Grandpa the Kid, an old man with wrinkly skin, dressed as a cowboy. "I'm tired during the day," he said, glaring into the sun.

"I can relate to this," said Stan. "Grunkle Stan, why can't we watch a movie that we'll all enjoy?," asked Mabel, before picking up a colorful VHS cover showing two young men leaning against each other with their arms crossed and dressed in outrageously dated clothing. "Dream Boy High! 'Where love is on your permanent record.'" Needless to say, nearly everyone thought it was a bad idea, and showed it by booing at her. "I don't mind giving it a try," said Sammy, who was usually up for trying new things. "That's the spirit, Sammy! The rest of you will learn to like it," said Mabel. Suddenly, a crash could be heard from the kitchen, before Soos then ran into the room, scared out of his wits. "Aaah! Dudes, there's a bat in the kitchen! It tried to touch me with its 'weird little bat fingers!,'" he said, wiggling his fingers creepily at the last part.

"Don't worry, I got this under control," said Stan. Instead of getting up, however, he simply adjusted his armchair and leaned back in it. "Dipper, take care of it," he said in a blunt tone. "Yes!," cheered Mabel, glad that she wasn't the one who had to do it. "What? Why can't Mabel do it?," asked Dipper. "'Cause life ain't fair. Now go fight a bat so we can watch TV," said Stan. "It's alright, Dipper," said Sammy, getting up. "I'll go take care of the bat situation instead. You guys can keep watching TV." "Oh no, you don't!," said Stan, suddenly pulling Sammy back down. "This is Dipper's job, not yours, 'cause I say so. Come on, Dipper, hop to it."

"No way, Grunkle Stan!," said Dipper, walking up to him angrily. "You always make me do dumb chores. I'm putting my foot down this time!" He even stomped his foot on the carpet just to prove his point. Stan leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "I said do it, kid. Now!"

It was just like an old-timey western standoff between them. The two of them glared at each other, neither of them willing to stand down. Then, Stan bared his teeth at Dipper, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. It was, quite frankly, the most horrifying expression Sammy had ever seen on someone's face before, and he was not surprised in the slightest when Dipper instantly backed down upon seeing it. "Okay, I'll do it!," he cried fearfully. Stan leaned back in his chair and smiled smugly while Dipper sighed and walked to the kitchen, picking up a saucepan and a spoon along the way. "Stupid chores…," he muttered under his breath. "You'll be okay in there, right Dipper?," Sammy asked worriedly. "I'll be fine. It's only a bat," sighed Dipper. "Yeah, bats are more afraid of you than you are of them," said Mabel. Dipper went into the kitchen and out of view. "Maybe I'm thinking of ducklings," Mabel pondered. Immediately after, Dipper began screaming as the bat attacked him, causing bumps and crashes everywhere. "Ducklings. Quack quack! Quack quack quack!," Mabel laughed, ignorant of her brother's suffering.

Sammy shot a glare at Stan, who was too busy relaxing in his chair and watching TV to even notice. He could only sigh and wait until Dipper was finished dealing with the bat. Then, he and Soos worked together to apply disinfectant to Dipper's wounds. Mabel wrapped bandages around his head, even though he wasn't even hurt up there. "Ow, ow!," he hissed.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?!," Sammy gasped, quickly removing the swab from the scratch on his knee. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" Dipper flushed with embarrassment. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he muttered, averting his eyes. "Swabbing on disinfectant, doo doo doo…," Soos hummed to himself. "Why does Grunkle Stan always pick on me?," said Dipper. "Think about it! The more painful or difficult the chore is, the more likely it is I'll have to do it. Why doesn't he pick on any of you guys?" "That's… a bit difficult to answer," sighed Sammy. "Stan's not the type who wears his heart on his sleeve." "Yeah dude, Stan's personality is one of life's great mysteries. Like whether or not it's possible to lick your own elbow," said Soos. "I bet you can't!," Mabel dared him. "I bet I can!," Soos retorted, before trying and failing to lick his elbow. "Lick it! Lick it! Lick it!," chanted Mabel as she followed Soos outside, where it had stopped raining a while ago.

"Sometimes I feel like Stan hates me," sighed Dipper, staring up at a picture of Stan on the wall. "Dipper, I'm sure that Stan doesn't hate you," Sammy assured him. "He cares about all of us. He just… has a funny way of showing it." "The sink's clogged. Dipper, get in here and fix it!," Stan suddenly hollered from the living room. This caused Dipper to cross his arms and glare down at the floor. "For goodness sake, Stan," Sammy sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Don't worry, Dipper. I'll go talk some sense into that crabby old grunkle."

"Okay, you do you, Sammy. I doubt that's gonna do anything, though," Dipper muttered, still glaring down. Sammy gave Dipper a comforting pat on the shoulder, then went back into the living room, where Stan was still watching TV. "Grandpa the Kid… The most relatable cowboy… in the west…," Stan murmured, on the verge of falling asleep in his armchair. "Ahem!," Sammy cleared his throat loudly, causing Stan to jolt up. "Huh?! Wha–? Oh. Sammy, it's just you. Mind telling me why you almost gave this poor old man a heart attack?," he snarked.

"Or better yet, you could tell me why you've been so hard on Dipper these past few days," said Sammy, crossing his arms. "Ugh, that's what you wanted to talk to me about?," Stan groaned, rolling his eyes. "Listen, kid, I'm tired right now. How about you let me take a quick nap first, and then we'll talk?" "Sorry Mister Pines, but I prefer we just get it over with," said Sammy. "It's not a laughing matter. Dipper actually thinks you hate him." Immediately, Stan's eyes went soft, and all the irritated mirth disappeared from his face. He looked around to make sure that nobody else was listening in, then beckoned Sammy over with a finger. "Look, kid, I'm gonna let you in on something. You wanna know what I really think?" Curious, Sammy walked over to him and leaned in, ready to listen. Then, Stan started to whisper something in his ear…

Meanwhile, Mabel and Soos were still outside, and Soos had yet to lick his own elbow, though that didn't stop him from trying. "Lick that elbow! Lick that elbow!," Mabel chanted. "Like the infinite horizon, it eludes my grasp," said Soos. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like evil laughter from somewhere behind the trees, which sounded all too familiar to Mabel. "Is that who I think it is?," she asked. The two of them went towards the source of the laughter and spotted Gideon in the middle of a clearing, hunched over. For some reason, he was surrounded by a circle of candles, and a picture of Stan was placed in front of him, with a red X painted across his eyes. Suddenly, Gideon reared his head back, and they were shocked to see that his eyes were now glowing blue. Even more ominous were the otherworldly sounds that came out of his mouth. "Egassem sdrawkcab. Egassem sdrawkcab. Egassem sdrawkcab! Egassem sdrawkcab! Egassem sdrawkcab!" Suddenly, the world around them turned gray, and time itself slowed to a stop. A nearby dragonfly froze in mid-air, its wings completely still. A frog leaped from a lily pad, but also froze before it could land. Then, a black triangle surrounded by flames appeared out of thin air, with a single, menacing eye in the center of it. Maniacal laughter filled the air, laughter that was even more insane and deranged than Gideon's. Mabel, Soos, and Gideon stared up at the triangle in fear and awe, not knowing that a great evil was now in front of them.

Then, the triangle sprouted thin arms, legs, a top hat, and a bowtie. "Oh, oh, Gravity Falls! It is good to be back," the triangle said in a somewhat high-pitched voice, floating down towards Gideon as its color changed from black to yellow. It began circling Gideon, who backed away from it nervously. "Name's Bill Cipher, and I take it you're some kind of living ventriloquist dummy?," the triangle asked, laughing. "I'm just kidding, I know who you are, Gideon!"

"W-what are you? H-how do you know my name?!," Gideon demanded. "Oh, I know lots of things!," said Bill. Suddenly, his entire body began flashing through various images, speeding by too fast to be seen properly, and his voice turned much deeper. "LOTS OF THINGS…" He then turned back to his original yellow form. "Hey, look what I can do!" He waved his hand at a nearby deer, which had become unstuck from the time freeze. With just one gesture, Bill caused the deer's teeth to fly out of its mouth and into his hand. "Deer teeth! For you, kid!," he said with a cackle as he gave Gideon the teeth. Gideon cried out in horror and quickly dropped the teeth. "You're insane!," he cried, realizing that he had severely underestimated the demon. "Sure I am, what's your point?," asked Bill. He waved his hand again, causing the teeth to fly back into the deer's mouth. The deer ran away. Gideon tried to steady himself. He couldn't show Bill that he was afraid of him. He had to show that triangle that he was the one in charge!

"Listen to me, demon!," he yelled, trying to hide the tremor in his voice. "There are two things that I need from you." "Two things? Whoa ho ho! You're asking a lot from me, considering this is our first time meeting," Bill said in amusement. "But I'll bite. What do you need?"

"Firstly, I need you to enter the mind of Stanford Pines and steal the code to his safe," said Gideon. Meanwhile, Mabel and Soos, who had been watching the whole thing from behind some bushes, gasped in horror. Bill laughed for a moment, but suddenly, his expression turned serious. "Wait… Stan Pines?" He turned around and pondered for a moment as another series of images flashed through his body, one of them being a glowing, red symbol. His eye slightly widened when he realized the opportunity in front of him, and he quickly took it.

"You know what, kid? You've convinced me! I'm sold!," said Bill, turning back to face Gideon. "Now what was that other job you wanted me to do?" Gideon smiled evilly. "After you get me that combination to Stan's safe, I want you to enter Samuel's mind next," he said. "And I want you to squeeze out every little secret that he's hiding from me, until I'll be able to read him like the back of my hand!" Behind the bushes, Mabel and Soos stared at each other in fear and confusion. They both understood why Gideon wanted Bill to invade Stan's mind - he wanted the code to the safe, after all - but why did he want Bill to go into Sammy's mind as well?

"You've got yourself a deal, kid!," said Bill. "I'll help you with this and in return you can help me with something I've been working on! We'll work out the details later." He stuck his hand out to Gideon, which was covered in blue flames. "Deal!," said Gideon, shaking Bill's hand. The blue flames spread to his arm as well, but he was unaffected by them. "Welp, first thing's first!," said Bill. "It's time to invade Stan's mind, and then I'll move on to Sammy's! This should be fun! Remember: reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!" In a bright burst of light, Bill disappeared, and suddenly, the world around them was back to normal.

Gideon opened his eyes and shook his head in bewilderment. Mabel and Soos did the same thing. None of them realized that they had been asleep the entire time. "It worked!," cried Gideon, laughing maniacally. Mabel and Soos exchanged worried glances. Without even saying anything, they ran straight back to the shack to warn the others of this new threat.

Meanwhile, back at said shack, Stan had fallen asleep in his chair. Dipper was sweeping the floor in front of him, as per Stan's instructions earlier. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Stan mumbled in his sleep. "What is going on in that guy's head?," Dipper murmured. Deciding he didn't really want to know, he was about to walk away when Mabel and Soos suddenly burst inside.

"Dipper! We've gotta help Stan!," cried Mabel. "Wait, what?," asked Dipper. "Mabel? Soos?," said Sammy, entering the room. "What do you mean we have to help Stan? He's right there. He's safe." "His mind isn't safe!," Mabel said fretfully. Meanwhile, Soos was eating a bag of burrito bites. "This evil triangle guy… *munch* …said he's gonna break into Stan's mind, and steal the combination to his safe! Also we stopped for snacks on the way here," he explained. "Triangle guy?," asked Sammy, before turning towards Dipper. "Dipper, have you read anything about that in the journal?" "Well, now that you mention it…," said Dipper, before taking out said journal and opening it to a page showing a one-eyed triangle with a hat, as well as spindly arms and legs. Sammy was alarmed to see that the pages in that section had drops of dry blood on them. "Beware Bill! The most powerful and dangerous creature I've ever encountered," Dipper read out loud. "Whatever you do, never let him into your mind." Stan suddenly began grunting in his sleep. "Grunkle Stan!," Mabel gasped worriedly. Then, a triangular shadow descended upon Stan's sleeping form. The conman's eyes began glowing blue, and he started making erratic movements in his sleep while sounds of pain and distress came from his mouth.

Mabel quickly took the journal from Dipper and began reading it herself. "It is possible to follow the dream demon into a person's mind and prevent his chaos. One must simply recite this incantation." "Ugh, this is just great," groaned Dipper. "I spend all day cleaning sinks and fighting bats for Stan, and now I have to save him from some crazy brain demon?" "Dipper!," Sammy scolded. "This isn't the same as one of your chores! Stan is in danger, and it's up to us to save him!" "And if we don't do anything, Gideon might steal the shack! Or worse!," said Mabel. Stan began screaming louder, his eyes still glowing blue. Dipper winced. "Fine. Get ready, guys," he said, narrowing his eyes. "We're about to journey into the most horrifying, disturbing place any of us have ever been: our uncle's mind." "You think I can take these Burrito Bites into Stan's brain?," Soos asked out of nowhere. "Thumbs up? Thumbs down?" Everyone else stared at him. "You know what, I'm just gonna bring 'em," the handyman said with a laugh.

Eventually, the group was able to set up the ritual necessary to enter Stan's mind. They surrounded Stan with a circle of candles and turned all the lights off, as per the instructions in the journal. Thankfully, Stan had stopped screaming by then, and his eyes were closed and no longer glowing, but the dream demon was still inside of him, and who knew what sort of damage he was causing in there. "Okay, guys, in order to save our uncle, we're gonna have to follow that… dream demon into his mind," said Dipper, holding the journal. "I wonder what Stan's thinking about right now," said Soos. Just for fun, he walked up to the sleeping conman and began moving his jaw up and down like he was a ventriloquist dummy. "I love Soos like a son!," he poorly mimicked Stan in a high voice. "Soos! This is serious!," sighed Dipper. "Sorry!," Soos apologized, still using Stan as a mouthpiece. He and Mabel high fived each other.

"Is everyone ready?," asked Sammy. "We're ready. Let's do this," said Dipper. They all placed their hands on Stan's head. Then, Dipper began reading the incantation from the journal. "Videntus omnium. Magister mentium. Magnesium ad hominem. Magnum opus. Habeas corpus! Inceptus Nolanus overratus! Magister mentium! Magister mentium! MAGISTER MENTIUM!" As he spoke, his eyes started glowing blue, along with everyone else's. One by one, the candles went out. Then, there was a bright flash of white light, momentarily blinding them all.

After regaining their eyesight, they now found themselves in Stan's mind. Everything around them was black and white, almost like the old, silent films from long ago. They were standing in front of what appeared to be the Mystery Shack, but it was warped and twisted. In the sky was a giant 8-ball, the same one on Stan's cane, replacing the moon. "What the…?," gasped Soos as he and the others let out exclamations of awe. Sammy looked to the side and saw something that immediately caught his attention, simply because of how out of place it was compared to everything else there. It was a swing set with two swings attached. However, while the left swing was slowly moving on its own, the right one was completely broken.

"...Huh," Sammy murmured to himself. He had no idea why, but there was something about that swing set that really grabbed his attention. But he had no time to question why, and everyone else was already moving ahead. "Whoa, this is Stan's mind?," asked Mabel, looking around in awe. "Huh. Figured there would be a lot more hot old ladies," said Soos. "Honestly… I thought the same thing, Soos," Sammy admitted. "Remember, everyone, we've got to look out for the triangle guy," said Mabel. Unbeknownst to them all, the triangle guy in question had been watching them the entire time since they got here, and so he decided to make himself known by slowly floating down while casually twirling his cane of pure solidified energy. "Yeah, look out for the triangle guy!," he spoke up. "It's him! It's the guy!," cried Soos, pointing at him.

Sammy frowned and narrowed his eyes at him. "So you're the one who's been invading Stan's mind!," he said accusingly. "Ha! Oh yeah, real intuitive of you, Sherlock. Somebody give that kid a medal!," Bill laughed. "You leave our uncle's brain alone, you isosceles monster!," said Mabel, running towards him. "Mabel, no!," Sammy gasped. Mabel tried to jump at Bill, but ended up disappearing into his body. The triangle took out a giant clock and casually checked the time, then "spat" Mabel back out. "Gotcha!," cried Mabel, only to realize that she was holding a whole lot of nothing. "Wait, what?" Sammy quickly ran towards her and checked her for any injuries, all while fretting over her worriedly. Bill just laughed at how pathetic he was acting.

"Ah, Stan's family, we meet at last! Question Mark, Shooting Star, Pine Tree, Mother Hen, I had a hunch I might bump into you!" He pointed his finger at them, and a red laser shot out from the tip of it. The laser hit Dipper square in the torso, leaving a hole in it so large that one could stick their hand through it. Dipper screamed and began hyperventilating.

"DIPPER!," screamed Sammy, believing that Bill had just killed Dipper right in front of him. "No, no, Sammy, it's okay!," Dipper tried to reassure him, even though he was barely able to keep his own composure at the moment. "I don't think that did anything to me. It doesn't even hurt, now that I think about it…" "Didn't do anyth– What do you call that?!," cried Sammy as he gestured to the gaping hole in Dipper's torso. "Boop!," said Mabel, playfully poking her hand through the hole. "Mabel!," snapped Dipper, slapping her hand away in irritation.

Despite the others not being as bothered by what happened, Sammy felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack. Seeing Bill blast a hole through Dipper had dredged up awful, awful memories from his past, and he had to fight hard to prevent them from overwhelming him on the spot. His chest was heaving up and down, his breathing was shaky, and tears were beginning to stream down his face. Bill noticed what was happening to him, and it filled his nonexistent heart with sadistic glee. "Wow, and I thought you fleshbags couldn't get any more pathetic! Who knew that all it took to overwhelm you was seeing your friend get a hole blasted through them? Your new nickname is really fitting for you now, eh, Mother Hen?" Suddenly, Bill shot another laser from his finger, only this time, it was aimed at Sammy. There was a burst of light…

…And then, in place of where Sammy once stood was an orange hen, surrounded by Sammy's empty clothes. "Bacaw!," the hen clucked in alarm, ruffling its feathers. "Ba-ba-bacaw!" "Oh, dude! He just erased Sammy from existence and replaced him with a chicken!," cried Soos as he gripped his cap in distress. "Or he just turned Sammy into one," said Dipper, hoping that he was right. "Oh my gosh, he's so cuuute!," squealed Mabel, running to Sammy and scooping him up in her arms. "He's so adorable that I just wanna eat him up! Well, not literally, of course. But still! Oooh, I wonder if Waddles would be fine with having a new animal friend. Hopefully, he doesn't get jealous…" "Ugh, Mabel!," groaned Dipper, snatching Sammy away from her. Then, he glared up at Bill. "What do you want with our uncle's mind anyway?," he asked.

"Oh, just the code to the old man's safe! Inside the shack is a maze of a thousand doors representing your uncle's memories," said Bill, pointing at the shack behind him. "Behind one of them is a memory of him inputting the combination! I just need to find it and Gideon will pay me handsomely." "Not if we stop you!," said Mabel. "Hah, fat chance!," Bill laughed. "I'm the master of the mind. I even know what you're thinking right now!" "That's impossible, no one can guess what I'm thinking!," said Mabel. Then, Bill snapped his fingers, and in another flash of light, two young men wearing the most ridiculously dated attire imaginable appeared right next to Mabel. But they weren't just any young men. They were the ones from Mabel's favorite movie, Dream Boy High. "Whoa, where are we, bro?," asked the one with blond hair. "We must be in heaven, 'cause I just saw an angel!," said the one with blue hair, pointing to Mabel. "I'm never letting go of your leg!," squealed Mabel, hugging his leg. "Okay, how is that fair?," Dipper asked. "So I get a hole in me and Sammy gets turned into a hen, but Mabel gets to meet the two characters that she's had a crush on since kindergarten? How does that even make any sense?"

"Ha! That's your first mistake, kid. What makes you assume that anything I do makes sense?," asked Bill. "Anywhoo, I'd better skedaddle. I've got a deadline to meet! But as for you kids, you're all out of your league. So you'd better turn around now before you see something you might regret. Later, suckers!" He took his top hat off to them, then flew backwards into the shack, crashing through the wall and leaving a hole that exactly matched his shape.

Dipper held up Sammy and looked at him with worry. "Are you okay?," he asked. "Caw! Bacaw!," Sammy answered. "Of course," sighed Dipper. "You're a hen now. Of course you can no longer talk." "Bacaw! Baca-ah-ah-ack!," Sammy coughed, causing a few feathers to fly out of his beak and into Dipper's face. "No, I-I can still talk. I just couldn't do so earlier because there were feathers stuck in my throat." "Oh. Okay, that's pretty convenient," said Dipper.

"So what do we do now, dudes?," asked Soos. "We do exactly what we came here for," said Dipper. "We're goin' in!" He turned to face Mabel, but was immediately blinded by the tacky brightness emanating from the two young men standing next to her. "Mabel, can we leave those guys out here? Looking at them hurts my eyes…," he said, squinting at them. "No! They can help us!," Mabel insisted. "Totally! Arm throne!," the two young men said in unison as they both picked Mabel up and carried her on their biceps like a queen. "Dude! Arm throne!," Soos said excitedly, bending down and waiting for Dipper to get on his arms. Dipper just ignored him and walked towards the shack with Sammy nestled in his arms. "Arm throoone!," said Soos, shuffling after him. The group went inside the shack and were shocked to see how much bigger it was on the inside. There were numerous staircases, floors, and doors just floating around.

"Radical!," said the young man with the blue hair, whose name was Craz. "I also think it's radical!," said Xyler, the blond one. "I guess we should've known how big it was going to be on the inside," said Sammy. "How else would it hold a lifetime's worth of memories, after all?" As the group walked through the shack, a bat with Stan's face flew above them. "No refunds! No refunds! No refunds!," it squeaked in Stan's voice. Ahead of them were even more doors, and some of them were already open, showing Stan's memories playing out like movies.

"Whoa, look! All of Stan's memories!," said Soos. "Great," sighed Dipper. "Sure there's plenty of memories of Stan bossing me around, can't wait to see more of that." "Are you still hung up about that, Dipper?," asked Sammy, looking up at him. "Yeah, Dipper, we've gotta find the code before Bill does!," said Mabel. "Mabel is talking!," said Craz. "So rad!," said Xyler. "Let's get searching!," said Soos. The group split up and began searching through each of the doors in different hallways. The first door that Dipper opened showed a much younger Stan dressed in an orange prison outfit and sitting between two other men wearing similar outfits.

"Jorge, Rico, you're the two best Colombian prison friends a fellah could make," the Stan in the memory said, hugging his cellmates with one arm each. "Espero que muera," said Jorge. "Sí," Rico responded. Neither of them seemed happy to be near Stan, to say the least. "That is not the right memory, is it?," Sammy asked in a half-joking manner. "Nope!," said Dipper, closing the door. In another hallway, Soos opened one of the doors, which showed another young Stan, only this time, he was dressed as a cheesy salesman and standing at someone's door with a vacuum next to him. "Sir, would you like to buy a Stan-Vac vacuum?," he asked the man who answered the door. "Stan-Vac: It sucks more than anything." Instead of responding, the man simply shut the door in Stan's face. "Gotta work on that," Stan muttered to himself.

"Nope," said Soos, shutting the door as well. In yet another hallway, Mabel opened one of the doors, revealing a memory that was much more recent than the other ones. In fact, it was a memory that happened this summer, when Stan had gone on his first date with Lazy Susan. "Whoa, it's Stan on a date!," said Mabel, eagerly watching it like it was a sitcom.

The date in the memory was… not going well at all. Stan and Susan had been sitting in awkward silence for the entire night, but unlike Stan, Susan was blissfully unaware of how bad it was going. "So, your, uh… your eye is weird. Let's… let's talk about that," said Stan. Both Stan and Susan laughed awkwardly. Then, because she was watching a memory, Mabel could hear Stan's own thoughts. This is going terrible. I can't think of anything to say and she… looks weird up close. Think of a way out! And think of a way out he did. The conman suddenly stood up and shouted, "NON-SPECIFIC EXCUSE!" before knocking the food off the table and running away. Through the restaurant window, Mabel could even see Stan running away outside.

"Yeesh," said Mabel, closing the door. Everyone grouped up again and began walking down another hallway. But then, they came across a door that had the words Dipper Memories: KEEP OUT! written on it. "Look, guys! Memories about me!," said Dipper. He opened the door and peeked inside. "That doesn't seem like a good idea," said Soos. "I have to agree with Soos on this one," said Sammy. "We can't be wasting any more time. Stan still needs our help." "I just wanna know what the old guy really thinks of me," said Dipper. "But we already know how Stan feels about us! He loves us! We're great," Mabel said happily, walking away. "Yeah. Let's just keep moving," said Soos. "More moving?," asked Xyler. "Yes! I love motion!," said Craz. As the group walked away from the door, Sammy looked up and noticed that Dipper was glancing back at it anxiously. "Dipper," he said softly. "Stan loves you. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

Dipper nodded absentmindedly, not really listening. As they got further away from the door, he could no longer handle it. He had to see what was behind it! "Uh, h-hey, Mabel?," he asked. "You mind holding Sammy for me? There's something I need to do…" "Oh, sure," said Mabel, taking Sammy from Dipper's arms. "But why–" She looked up and saw Dipper running back through the corridor and disappearing around the corner. "Huh, weird. Where could he even be going?," she asked. "I think I have an idea…," Sammy murmured worriedly.

Finding the door again, Dipper nervously glanced around, then ran inside and shut the door behind him. The room on the other side was much darker, and it seemed old and dusty as well. "Okay. Just a quick peek," he murmured to himself, immediately going to a random door and opening it. He was mildly surprised to see a memory of Stan watching Grandpa the Kid in the living room. "Wait a minute. This memory… it happened today," Dipper murmured. In that memory, Stan was on the verge of falling asleep when Sammy suddenly entered the room. He loudly cleared his throat, startling Stan awake. "Huh?! Wha–? Oh. Sammy, it's just you. Mind telling me why you almost gave this poor old man a heart attack?," he snarked.

"Or better yet, you could tell me why you've been so hard on Dipper these past few days," said Sammy, crossing his arms. "Ugh, that's what you wanted to talk to me about?," Stan groaned, rolling his eyes. "Listen, kid, I'm tired right now. How about you let me take a quick nap first, and then we'll talk?" "Sorry Mister Pines, but I prefer we just get it over with," said Sammy. "It's not a laughing matter. Dipper actually thinks you hate him." Immediately, Stan's eyes went soft, and all the irritated mirth disappeared from his face. He looked around to make sure that nobody else was listening in, then beckoned Sammy over with a finger. "Look, kid, I'm gonna let you in on something. You wanna know what I really think?" Sammy curiously walked over to him and leaned in, ready to listen. Then, Stan started to whisper something in his ear…

Dipper leaned his head in, trying to hear what Stan was whispering to Sammy. What he heard next made his heart stop. "The kid's a loser. He's weak! He's an utter embarrassment! I just wanna get rid of him." For a moment, Dipper felt a heavy weight on his chest. Tears began forming in his eyes. Stan was still talking to Sammy, but Dipper didn't catch the words. He didn't bother to listen to any more, though. Instead, he slammed the door shut and slumped against it, his mind still reeling. So his worst fear has turned out to be true… Stan really did hate him. But why? What did Dipper ever do to him? And… why did Sammy never tell him…?

Meanwhile, Mabel, Soos, Sammy, and Mabel's "dream boys" were still looking for the memory that held the code to Stan's safe. At one point, Soos went off on his own. He eventually came back, but was strangely tight-lipped about where he had been. The others simply brushed it off as Soos being Soos and continued their search, none of them being the wiser…

"Hello? Code to Stan's safe? Where are you?," Soos hollered. Xyler and Craz, rather than helping in the search, were opening and closing random doors as frequently as possible. "Opening and closing doors is fun!," said Xyler. "I can do it also!," said Craz. "Come on, you two, focus," Sammy sighed. "And Mabel, can you loosen your grip a little? You're kind of squeezing me." "Whoops! Sorry," Mabel giggled, loosening her grip. "You're just so adorable!"

Sammy sighed again. "Being a chicken stinks," he muttered. "And wasn't that something I never thought I'd say in my life…" Meanwhile, Soos went to open another door, and to his mild surprise, it was a memory of Stan typing a code into the shack's vending machine, only for said vending machine to open up, revealing a mysterious passageway. Stan went inside and peeked his head out to make sure that nobody else was around. "If only people knew the truth," he said ominously, "that hidden behind this vending machine, I secretly have a–" "BORING!," said Soos, closing the door. "What was that, Soos? Did you find something?," asked Sammy. "Nah, nothing important," said Soos. He didn't want the others to find out yet. It would spoil the fun.

Eventually, the group found one last door that had Top Secret written on it. "Alright guys, I have a good feeling about this door," Mabel said optimistically, opening it. However, instead of a memory showing Stan inputting the code, it showed Stan alone in the bathroom. His shirt was off, revealing a forest of chest hair. "Hey, Mr. Tummy!," said Stan. Then, he changed his voice to a higher pitch while squeezing his belly button to make it seem like his tummy was talking back. "Hey, Mr. Stan!" "Are you hungry?" "Yes!" "Eat your crackers!" To everyone's disgust, Stan put a cracker into his belly button and pretended that it was eating it. "Yum yum yum yum!"

"Sweet Sally!," cried Mabel, quickly shutting the door. "Great. I'll never look at crackers the same way again," Sammy cringed. "Hah, we've been searching forever! What if the triangle guy finds the memory before we do?," Soos asked worriedly. "If we wanna find Stan's memory, we gotta think like Stan. He's always hiding stuff, right?," said Mabel. "Yeah! Like how he hides his arrest warrants under that rug in the gift shop?," asked Soos. "Hold on…," gasped Sammy, looking down at the rug they were standing on. "Of course! Soos, you're a genius!"

Mabel caught on as well and quickly removed the rug, revealing a hidden trapdoor in the floor. It revealed a memory of Stan in his office, standing in front of the safe with the deed in his hand. The conman kissed the deed and placed it in the safe. "There ya go. And now to input the code. 13, 44, and finally…" Soos closed the door. "Dudes, we found it!," he said.

"Yeah!," cheered Mabel. "But what do we do now? Jinx!," Xyler and Craz said in unison, pointing at each other. "Let's just destroy the door before Bill can find it!," said Mabel. "Wait, are you sure that destroying one of Stan's memories is a good idea?," Sammy asked worriedly. "It's better than letting Bill get his hands on it," said Mabel. She put Sammy down, grabbed a nearby battle ax, and was about to use it to destroy the door before Soos suddenly stopped her. "Wait! Maybe I should do it! My big fat arms are great at destroying stuff!," said the handyman, proudly flexing his bicep. "Oh, okay," said Mabel as she backed away. But instead of smashing the door, Soos held out his arm and, with a rather intimidating look on his face, managed to lift the door in the air with some sort of psychic energy. "What th– S-Soos?!," Sammy cried, staring at him with shock. Then, to make things even more confusing, Soos came back. The real Soos.

"Hey, guys! I just saw a memory of Stan roller skating and wearing short-shorts! Didn't look… didn't look half-bad." There was a long, awkward pause. "Hey, something weird is goin' on here." The Soos imposter let out a maniacal, high-pitched laugh, one that they had all heard before. "Bill!," gasped Sammy. Bill Cipher, who had been disguising himself as Soos the entire time, returned to his normal, triangular form, the door now in his grasp. "Boy, you kids sure are gullible! I knew you'd lead me straight to the code!" He laughed as everyone else stared at him in pure horror. "It's funny how dumb you are. The combination to Stan's safe. Boy, that was even easier than I thought!" "Oh, yeah? Well, you're a stink face!," Mabel retorted angrily. "Awesome comeback, Mabel!," praised Xyler. "Don't treat me like a child, Xyler," said Mabel. "You won't get away with this, Bill!," said Sammy. "We will stop you!" "Ha! Don't make me laugh, Mother Hen!," Bill gloated. "What are you gonna do, peck me to death? You can't even protect your friends as a human, let alone as a dumb, flightless bird!" Sammy ruffled his feathers angrily. "You… you… you BACAW!," he screeched. "Later, suckers!," Bill cackled, flying away with the door.

"Come on! We've gotta save Stan!," said Mabel. "What's the point?," asked Dipper, who was suddenly walking down the stairs. "Dipper!," Sammy said joyfully, glad that he was fine. But his relief turned to concern when he saw the resentful look on Dipper's face. "...Dipper? What's wrong?," he asked. Dipper only glanced at him before turning back to Mabel, which hurt Sammy a bit. "Why should I save him, huh? I work for Stan day and night and all he does in return is say he wants to get rid of me," said the preteen. "Dipper, I'm sure that's not true," said Mabel, unable to believe what she heard. "I saw it with my own eyes in one of his memories, Mabel!," groaned Dipper. "He's always picked on me and now I know why. Stan hates me!" "Dipper, that's absurd! Stan doesn't hate you!," gasped Sammy. To his shock, Dipper turned and actually glared at him. "Don't play dumb with me, Sammy," he growled. "I saw Stan telling you how much he hates me! When were you going to tell me, huh? Or were you never going to tell me? What, did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it or something? Is that it?" Sammy was deeply shaken by all these sudden accusations flying at him. "Dipper, I don't know what you saw, but I swear, Stan never told me he hated you!," he said, his voice slightly breaking. "In fact, he loves you!"

"Besides, it doesn't matter what you saw," Mabel spoke up. "If we don't stop Bill, we'll lose the Shack!" "No! You know what? Not this time. For once, this is one of Stan's problems I'm not gonna fix," Dipper said angrily, crossing his arms. "Ugh, fine!," snapped Mabel, fed up with her brother's attitude. "Go on and leave if you want to! We'll save Stan ourselves."

Without another word, Dipper turned around and marched back up the stairs. "W-wait! Dipper, come back!," cried Sammy, running after him. Unfortunately, due to being a chicken that barely came up to Mabel's ankle, he couldn't even get onto the first step. "Dipper! Eh! Eh! Ugh, curse these skinny little chicken legs!," he groaned, hopping at the foot of the stairs.

"Let him go, Sammy," sighed Mabel, picking Sammy up. "If Dipper wants to be a debbie downer again, let him. We need to save Stan." "But…," said Sammy, staring in the direction that Dipper went. With a heavy heart, Mabel walked away while carrying Sammy in her arms. Soos, Xyler, and Craz followed after her. They needed to save Stan, with or without Dipper…

Meanwhile, Bill Cipher was in another part of the Memory Shack, opening every door that he passed. Then, a ringing sound could be heard from his bowtie. Bill touched his bowtie, causing a live image of Gideon to appear on his body. "Y'ello?," he said cheekily.

"Bill! Did you find the memory with the combination yet?," asked Gideon. "Relax, short stack. I got it right here," said Bill, holding up the memory of Stan inputting the code to his safe. "Ha ha ha! Perfect," said Gideon. "Now don't forget about the second part of our deal, Bill. You still have to infiltrate Samuel's mind so I'll have access to all of his secrets. Only then will I fulfill my end of the bargain. Now give me the code first." "Relax, kid," said Bill. "Compared to getting the code to that safe, extracting Sammy's secrets from his mind ought to be a cinch! Now get ready while I tell you the code. It's–you got a pen there? It's 13, 44…" Suddenly, a foam dart knocked the door out of Bill's hand. "Ah! No no no! Wait, no!," cried the dream demon, chasing after it, but it was too late. He could do nothing but watch as the door fell into another memory of Stan showing the kids the bottomless pit. "...and none more bottomless than the bottomless pit! Which, as you can see here, is bottomless," said Stan. The door fell down the pit and vanished into the darkness, never to be seen again. "What was that?," asked Sammy in the memory. "No idea!," said Stan. "But whatever that was, it's gone forever!" Behind Bill, Mabel and the others cheered as Mabel was the one who shot the door out of Bill's hand. "Ha ha! Boom!," said Mabel. "Mabel did it!," said Xyler and Craz. "The Shack is safe!," cried Soos. "Great shooting, Mabel!," said Sammy. "You incompetent nitwit!," Gideon yelled at Bill. "You had one job!"

"Wait, wait, wait!," Bill said nervously. "Let's not be hasty here! W-what about the other part of our deal? You still need me to get Sammy's memories and–" "Forget about it!," growled Gideon. "If you can't even do one simple task for me, how can I trust you to do anything else?! The deal's off! I'm switchin' to plan B!" Despite Bill's protests, Gideon left the call. Bill's entire body cracked apart into little pieces, but then, he reappeared in a new, red form, with a black eye and a white outline. "YOU!," he roared, turning towards the kids. "You can't even imagine what you just cost me! Do you have any idea what I'm like… WHEN I'M MAD?!"

Suddenly, white flames were conjured from Bill's hands. Glowing symbols flickered in his eye. A ring of fire surrounded them. Then, the ground beneath them shot up, carrying them high up into the cosmos. If one were to look down, they would've realized that they were standing on a giant rock shaped into Stan's head. Bill then grew and grew and grew, until he loomed over all of them. "So I guess he gets really mad when he gets mad," said Soos. "D-d-don't be s-scared," Sammy stammered, shaking in fear. "We're in Stan's mind. H-he can't actually hurt us."

"You wanna bet, Mother Hen?," asked Bill, his voice now low and demonic. Electricity crackled from his fingertips. "EAT NIGHTMARES!" Then, there was only screaming.

Meanwhile, while all of that was happening, Dipper was still trying to find the exit. "Ugh! How do I get out of this place?," he groaned. "Exit? Hello?" But no matter how many doors he opened, none of them led to the exit. Then, by sheer luck, he came across the memory that he had seen earlier, the one that convinced him to abandon this mission. "Aw, this again?," he said, rolling his eyes at the sight of Stan whispering into Sammy's ear in the living room.

"He's a loser. He's weak. I just wanna get rid of him," Stan was saying to Sammy in the memory. Dipper looked down and was about to close the door when something that Stan said afterwards grabbed his attention. "Heh, yeah. Those are all things people said about me when I was a boy." "Huh?," gasped Dipper, opening the door again. "It was terrible," Stan continued. "I was the biggest wimp on the playground!" Suddenly, another door behind Dipper opened up on its own, showing a memory of a much younger Stan, even younger than Dipper, standing in the rain with a scared look on his face. A rubber ball flew into his face, knocking his glasses off. He began sobbing and ran away while the bullies who threw the ball laughed at him.

"So one summer, my pop signs me up for boxing lessons," said Stan. Then, yet another door opened by itself, showing a memory of younger Stan getting beaten down by a bigger kid in a boxing match while his father, a stern and intimidating man with a fedora and sunglasses, watched the fight from the sidelines. "And it was even worse than the school yard!"

"Left hook!," yelled younger Stan, finally punching his opponent back. His father nodded in respect from the sidelines. "Y'know, at the time, I thought my pop was trying to torture me. But wouldn't you know it? The old man was doin' me a favor all along!," said Stan. Then, yet another door opened up, revealing a memory of Stan as a teenager, standing in line for a theater. He still had his glasses on, and also had acne on his face. Suddenly, a shady man tried to steal the bag of a woman standing in line behind Stan. "Give me that bag!," the man growled, trying to rip the purse from her hands. "Help! My purse! Help!," screamed the woman. Teenage Stan began to sweat nervously, then… "Left hook!," he yelled, spinning around and punching the robber right in the jaw, breaking some of his teeth loose and knocking him unconscious. Everyone else waiting in the line cheered at what they saw. The woman, who turned out to be Carla McCorkle, kissed Stan on the cheek, while a proud smile slowly spread across the teenager's face.

"So you see? That's why I'm hard on Dipper. To toughen him up. So when the world fights, he fights back," said present Stan. Still hiding behind the door, Dipper couldn't help but smile, fighting back tears at what he heard. "He's really comin' along!," Stan continued. "When push comes to shove, I'm actually proud of him. Just… don't ever tell him that. His head's big enough as it is." Sammy chuckled. "Yeah, that's true," he said. "Dipper really is lucky to have someone like you watching over him, Mister Pines…" There was a melancholy tone in his voice as he said that, however, which neither Stan nor Dipper could ignore. "Listen, kid…," said Stan, giving Sammy a sympathetic look. "I know you don't want me to bring this up… but I don't think this is something we should ignore. You remember what happened yesterday, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Sammy said, cringing at the memory. "The mines. I just lost my composure back there, Mister Pines. Everyone else was yelling at each other, and the stress was getting to me, and… Look, you don't have to worry about it. I-it was nothing…" "Sammy, you had a mental breakdown right in front of us," Stan said sternly. "And I don't care how you wrap it up or put a pretty pink bow on it, because that ain't nothing." Sammy looked down at the floor and rubbed his arm. "Sorry," he murmured under his breath. "Hey, come on, kid," said Stan. "What's with the apology? You didn't do anything wrong." Sammy winced again, but didn't say anything this time. "Listen, I'm not gonna pretend I know what you went through," Stan sighed. "My pop wasn't the ideal father figure, but at least he cared in his own strange way. Your father sounds like the type of man who tears down his own kid just to make himself feel better. Am I right?"

Sammy remained silent for a moment, then nodded. Stan's gaze softened and he placed his hand on Sammy's. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, kid," he said. "But ya know what? I sure feel sorry for both of your parents, because they have no idea just how lucky they were to have you." Sammy looked up at the conman in surprise. "W-what?," he asked.

"So your old man thinks you're a waste of space, and your mother walked out on you when you were a baby, huh? Well, the joke's on them, because I'd be proud as heck if you were my kid," said Stan. "The kids like you, Soos and Wendy like you… Heck, almost the entire town likes you, and it's no wonder why! You're just… Geez, I'm terrible with this sappy stuff… You're just one of the kindest people I've ever met in my life. You're always looking out for Dipper and Mabel, you help complete strangers, and you try to see the good in everyone. Believe me, those ain't exactly qualities that you see just about anywhere. You are seriously one of a kind, Sammy, ya know that?" Sammy couldn't help but smile sheepishly, his face turning pink. "Did… did you really mean all of that, Mister Pines?," he asked timidly. "Sheesh, what else do you want, a kiss on the cheek?," Stan asked jokingly. "But seriously… I know you feel like you don't have a family to go back to… but that ain't exactly true. This is gonna come out of left field, but… how would you like to stay here? You know, after summer is over?" Sammy stared at Stan with wide eyes, unable to believe what he had heard. "You mean… you want me to stay here? At the shack?," he asked. "Sure, why not?," Stan said with a shrug. "It's the least I could do, since you've been working your butt off here without even getting paid. Plus, it'd be nice to have some company in this rundown old shack once the kids go back to California. So… whaddya say?"

Without saying a word, Sammy suddenly lunged towards Stan and wrapped his arms around the conman's neck, hugging him tightly. "Heh, so I'll take that as a yes?," asked Stan. Sammy nodded vigorously, tears of joy streaming down his face. He eventually let go of the conman and quickly wiped the tears away with his sleeve. "T-thank you, Mister Pines. Thank you so much," he sniffed. "No problem, kid," Stan laughed. "But hey, let's keep this between us men, alright? I don't want anyone else to think I'm getting soft." "Will do, Mister Pines. Will do," said Sammy, smiling tearfully. Meanwhile, Dipper was still hiding behind the door, his own face wet with tears. He was feeling a myriad of emotions - sadness for Sammy's terrible upbringing, anger towards the parents, and joy for Sammy now finding another family in Stan.

But most of all, he felt guilt. Guilt for how he treated Sammy earlier, how he was angry and antagonistic towards him before basically abandoning him, Mabel, and Soos. He was so hurt by Stan's words that he didn't even bother listening to what else Stan had to say, and due to his mistake, he lashed out against his friends and family for nothing. At that moment, Dipper vowed to apologize to them once he gets the chance, and especially to Sammy.

Smiling, Dipper placed his hand against the memory. To his surprise, his hand then slipped right through the veil, causing him to fall into said memory. He quickly got up and stared at Stan and Sammy, who were now staring back at him. "Whoa, kid, what are you doin' here?," asked Stan. "Goodness, is that a hole in your chest?," Sammy asked worriedly. "Here, let me fix that up for you." Sammy pointed to the hole in Dipper's torso with his finger, and to his shock, the hole immediately closed up. "Wh-what the– How did you do that?," asked Dipper. "Word to the wise, kid. We're in the mind! You could do whatever you can imagine in here!," said Stan. To demonstrate, the conman conjured a can of Pitt Cola in his hand and drank from it.

"Well, how about that?," said Dipper, intrigued by this new information. Suddenly, the ground shook as red light briefly lit up the corridor outside the memory, followed by maniacal laughter that belonged to a certain dream demon. "NO! MAKE IT STOP!" "HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE!" "LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU EVIL BEAST! BACAW!" Dipper's eyes widened with horror. He could recognize those voices anywhere! "Oh my gosh, what am I doing? I gotta stop Bill!," he cried, running out of the memory. Stan and Sammy watched him leave. "Look at him. All grown up," said Sammy, smiling fondly. "Yep. And he's fighting back," said Stan.

Meanwhile, up on top of the giant Stan head, Bill was greatly enjoying the torment that he was dishing out to the flesh bags who dared to mess up his plans. "One nightmare, coming up!," he roared. "Nightmare? Hope he doesn't mean that British dog man I'm always dreaming about…," Soos said nervously. Not a second later, a bulldog standing on its hind legs, about as tall as Soos, appeared in front of the handyman, courtesy of Bill. It wore a monocle, a bowler hat, a brown suit, and of course, it spoke in a British accent. "'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! Who's crike for a stick in the pudding?," said the dog, poking Soos in the stomach with its cane. "It's everything I ever feared!," cried Soos, running away as the British dog man chased after him.

"YOU!," yelled Bill, shooting a laser at Mabel. The laser ended up distorting her physical appearance, turning her head into a giant, green, and ugly version of itself. "My cuteness! What did you do to my cuteness?," cried Mabel, her voice turning deeper and lower.

"You're next!," yelled Bill, pointing at Xyler and Craz. "Cool! We're next!," said Craz, as he and Xyler began doing a funky dance, neither of them aware of the grave danger they were in. Bill shot another laser at them, knocking them off the Stan head and into the darkness below, where they burned up and vanished. "My dream boys!," cried Mabel, peering over the edge. Bill then turned his attention to Sammy, who tried his best not to appear afraid. "I-I-I'm not afraid of you, Bill!," he stuttered. "Ha! Did you forget who I am? I'm the master of the mind!," said Bill. "And boy do I have a nightmare for YOU!" He shot another laser in Sammy's direction, which ended up summoning what appeared to be a very large and imposing man.

The man was very tall, nearly nine feet in height, and was built like a tank. His arms and legs were like thick tree trunks, his chest was shaped like a barrel, and his shoulders were like large bowling balls. He wore a black suit that was too tight on his massive frame, threatening to rip apart at the seams. He also wore a black top hat on his completely bald head.

The man's face was akin to a gorilla's, with wide and flat nostrils, gray skin that stretched across his face, and a toothy grin that stretched from ear to ear. His eyes were sunken deep into his skull, and one of his ears was nearly missing, as though it had been chewed off.

Upon seeing the man now looming in front of him, Sammy felt a rush of fear, fear that he had not felt in a very long time. His blood went cold, his heart skipped a beat, and his scrawny chicken legs turned into jelly. He felt something smooth and round leave his body and fall onto the ground behind him. An egg. The man had frightened him so much that he ended up laying an egg. And Sammy had good reason to be afraid of this man. Very good reason…

"Oh, no," Sammy whispered, frantically shaking his head as he slowly backed away from the man. "Not you. Not you." The man stood over him and smiled, showing off a set of teeth that Sammy noted, with some horror and disgust, were stained with dark red flecks. "Hello, boy," the man spoke in a low and rumbling voice, sending shivers up Sammy's spine. "Did you miss me?" "No. No! NO!," Sammy screeched. "Get away from me, you psychopath!" He turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, which unfortunately for him, was not that fast. The man raised his foot and stomped down onto the egg that Sammy just laid, crushing it under his shoe. Then, he proceeded to chase after Sammy, bellowing with laughter while trying to stomp on him like he had done to the egg. Bill just watched the scene unfold in front of him while laughing. "And now to finish you off, once and for all!," he yelled, preparing to deal the final blow.

For a moment, it seemed like this was going to be the end of the road for them. But then, to everyone's surprise, Dipper suddenly flew - actually flew - into the scene, a determined look on his face. "Hey! Bill!," he said angrily. "WHAT?!," roared Bill, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Nice bowtie!," said Dipper, before blasting at it with lasers from his eyes, creating a hole in Bill's body, just as Bill had done to Dipper. "Dipper!," cried Mabel as she, Soos, and Sammy ran up to him with joy. "Guys! I just learned that you can conjure whatever you can conceive in Grunkle Stan's mindscape!," Dipper said excitedly. "Just think of some cool fighting stuff and it'll happen. Like this!" He then proceeded to use his eye lasers to disintegrate both the British dog man and the mysterious man that had been chasing Sammy. "Ha ha, they're dead now," Soos chuckled. Sammy breathed a huge sigh of relief, glad that… he was now gone…

"What? Who told you that?! Don't listen to him!," yelled Bill. "We can do anything?," asked Mabel, before turning her head and voice back to normal. "Like have kittens for fists?" Lo and behold, her fists did turn into giant pink kitten heads, which she blasted at Bill like magical double cat cannons. "Po-pow! P-p-pow! Pow!" The cat heads flew towards Bill and covered him everywhere, causing the triangle to scream in pain from their sharp teeth digging into him. "Well hello, friends!," Mabel giggled as the kitten heads attached to her arms began licking her face. "Anything, huh?," asked Soos, before lifting his shirt up, revealing a large question mark on his stomach. "Soos Love Stomach Beam STARE-E-E-E!" A rainbow laser shaped like a question mark shot out from his stomach, blasting Bill straight in the face. Finally, it was Sammy's time to shine. First, he turned himself back to his original human form. Then, he began blowing air into his fist, and like a cartoon, his fist quickly inflated like a balloon, until it was the size of a house. He leaped into the air and threw his giant fist at Bill, his arm stretching like a rubber band. His fist smacked Bill head on, knocking him back and sending him flying into the void.

Enraged that he was being pummeled by mere flesh bags, Bill closed up the hole in his chest. "Enough games!," he yelled, before his eye then turned into an industrial laser, which he used to shoot at them. "Hamster ball shields activate!," said Mabel, creating a transparent pink hamster ball shield around herself. "Activate!," everyone else said, following her example and creating their own hamster ball shields. Once the laser reached them, the shields deflected it back at Bill, hitting him in the eye and burning it. "AAGH! Ah, my eye! AARRGHHH!" "Rise, Xyler! Rise, Craz!," cried Mabel, and then, Xyler and Craz, now revived from the dead, rose into the air behind her along with their musical instruments. Then, they started playing.

"No! Synthesized music! It hurts!," said Bill, covering his nonexistent ears in pain. "And now to imagine your worst nightmare! A portal out of Stan's mind!," said Dipper. "Out of Stan's mi-ind!," Mabel sang. "Mabel! Everyone, together!," said Dipper. The entire gang shut their eyes and concentrated their thoughts in unison. Pretty soon, a swirling vortex suddenly appeared beneath Bill's feet, slowly sucking him in. "No, no, no! ENOUGH!," Bill roared as he flexed his powers to their utmost degree. In an instant, the vortex vanished, everything turned white, the ground beneath them disappeared, and Bill reverted to his yellow form.

"You know, I'm impressed with you guys," said Bill with begrudging respect. "You're a lot more clever than you look. Especially the fat one." "He's talking about you!," Soos whispered in Mabel's ear, poking her with his elbow. "So I'm gonna let you kids off the hook. You might come in handy later," said Bill. "BUT KNOW THIS." He conjured up an image above him, an image of a glowing blue six-fingered hand, similar to the one on the cover of Dipper's journal. "A darkness approaches. A day will come in the future when everything you care about will change!" Then, he tipped his hat to them. "Until then I'll be watching you!" He began glowing again as a strange zodiac surrounded him. "I'LL BE WATCHING YOU…" And then, he disappeared.

"He's gone! We did it!," Dipper cried as everyone else cheered. "Oh, I'm so glad I'm not a hen anymore!," said Sammy, relieved that it was finally over. Then, they noticed that their limbs were slowly disappearing. "Stan must be waking up," said Dipper. Mabel turned towards Xyler and Craz. "Will I ever see you guys again?," she asked anxiously. "In your dreams," said Craz. "Good one, bro," said Xyler, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Good one."

And just like that, everyone woke up in the living room, as though nothing had even happened. "We did it!," cheered Mabel. Then, Stan woke up with a start. "What?," he asked groggily. "Did what? What are you all even doing here? And why was I dreaming of two brightly colored and radical young men?" "Grunkle Stan! You're okay!," said Dipper, hugging him, much to Stan's confusion. "What is this, a hug?," the conman asked. "Nope! It's a choke hold," Dipper said, before suddenly going behind Stan and playfully putting him in a rear naked choke. Mabel, Soos, and Sammy couldn't help but laugh. "Not bad, kid. Not bad," chuckled Stan.

After letting go of Stan, Dipper then ran up to Sammy and hugged him as well. "Whoa, that was unexpected. Are you going to put me in a choke hold too?," he asked jokingly. "I'm so sorry, Sammy," said Dipper, catching Sammy off guard. "That memory I saw… of you and Stan talking to each other in the living room… I didn't hear all of it. I thought Stan told you that he hated me, and you were hiding it from me for some reason. That's why I was so upset at you. I'm sorry…" Sammy smiled reassuringly and patted him on the back. "It's okay, Dipper. We all make mistakes," he said. "Okay, I am beyond confused right now. Did something happen while I was asleep?," asked Stan, scratching his head in confusion. "It's… a long and very crazy story, Mister Pines," Sammy said sheepishly. "I'm just glad Gideon didn't get into the safe. I really love this old shack," said Mabel. "Group hug!," cried Soos, spreading his arms wide. However, there was an awkward pause as none of the others took up on his offer. "No? I never know the right time!," the handyman groaned. "Actually, you know what?," said Sammy, smiling. "I think now is the perfect time for a group hug! Gather around, everyone! You too, Mister Pines!"

But before that could happen, the entire shack suddenly shook violently. "Hey, do you guys feel–?," asked Dipper, before a large explosion occurred right behind them, knocking them off their feet. With ringing in their ears and aching in their bodies, everyone slowly got back up and saw that there was now a large hole in the wall where the couch used to be.

To their surprise and horror, Gideon Gleeful himself walked into the shack, a sinister grin on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry, Pines family. Did I wake you?," he asked in a mocking tone. "But… we defeated Bill!," said Dipper, shaking his head in disbelief. "Bill failed me!," Gideon growled. "So I switched to plan B: dynamite!" "Dynamite?!," yelled Sammy, outraged beyond belief. He stood up and strode towards Gideon, glaring down at him. "You used dynamite to blow up the shack?! You could've killed us with that! You'd better leave right now, or I will–!"

"You'll what? Threaten me like you did at the pool?," Gideon sneered. "Nice try, Samuel, but I've figured out your weakness! You may act all tough to intimidate people, but we both know you won't actually go through with your threats. Because you're too… dang… nice."

"Hold on, what? What the heck is this? Who's Bill? What are you guys even talking about?," asked Stan, bewildered by what was going on. Gideon gave Sammy one last sneer before turning towards Stan. "Spoiler alert, Stanford!," the child star gloated. "I've got the deed! The Mystery Shack belongs to me! So get off my property!" He then held a walkie talkie up to his ear. "Daddy? Bring it around the front," he said, turning around and walking away. "Don't worry, guys! It's just part of the dream!," Dipper said frantically. "We're all gonna wake up any second now! Right? Right?" "I don't think this is a dream, Dipper…," said Sammy.

Then, a large crane with a wrecking ball drove towards the shack, which was being driven by Bud Gleeful. Nobody could do anything but watch in horror as the crane's wrecking ball smashed through the shack's signature sign, causing pieces of it to fall right in front of them. "Someone pinch me, dude…," said Soos. The only answer that the handyman received was the smashing of wood, as well as Gideon's maniacal laughter echoing through the air…