At some point in late January, it has been a very snowy night. The snow has been piling up for days now. But Dipper and Mabel have their winter gear on so they're well-prepared to go out in the cold. Their coats are thick and they got pretty thick gloves and boots.

The two of them are bundled up for the cold and seem so excited to go out, especially as Samuel invited them over to play in the snow.

So they travel to his house eagerly, but then, as soon as they enter the area, they hear... Bill's laugh.

The both of them jump a little bit at the sound. The laugh sounds so close to them, like he's right next to them.

Samuel, controlled by Bill, is standing on the roof. He has used his magic to make a giant snowball that he lets fall out with a big grin "Oops..."

Dipper and Mabel manage to react just in time, the snowball just barely misses them. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Dipper yells, with the shock and fear. Mabel looks shocked and confused as well.

Sammill lets out another joyful laugh despite the miss.

Dipper and Mabel just stand there, in complete shock. "W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The fear is evident in Dipper's voice.

Sammill gets down, talking to them with a big mischievous smile "You're telling me this is your first snow prank?"

Dipper and Mabel both look shocked to hear that, like they were expecting a more dramatic revelation. Dipper tries to act as calm and casual as possible.
"Um... n-no." Dipper says.

The controlled boy claims with respect. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to escape such a giant snowball. Good on you!"

"Yeah, we know how to dodge snow!" Dipper says proudly as Mabel nods in agreement.

"It wasn't even that big!" Mabel sort of taunts him with that sentence.

The two of them feel a little bit more relieved about the situation now, at least they know it was just a prank.

Bill makes the body smirk. And as he does that, he makes a tree branch shakes with magic so the two get it by the snow on it. He leaves out a loud laugh again "GOT YA!"

And yet, they once again manage to avoid it just in time.

Bill starts to act frustrated through Samuel as he makes a snowball the old fashioned way, with his hands "Stay still, Pinetree!" He shoots it

Dipper and Mabel both jump out of the way again to avoid the snowball as they both yell at the same time. They seem a little more panicked than before by this. He makes another snowball, saying with a smile before shooting it "You'll get yours too, Shooting star!"

Both of them jump back again to avoid the snowball, and both of them are a little scared from seeing his frustration.

"Are you alright!?" Dipper says with a bit of panic and fear in his voice "What's g-going on!?"

Sammill answers with an excited tone, making a wicked grin "Oh yes, I'm fine... I am very good, in fact! I'm having a huge blast!" He tries to hit him again, but Dipper avoids.

"But why are you acting like... like THIS?" Dipper says, looking and acting really scared.

"Don't you know how to have fun, Pinetree?" He shoots another snowball.

"Fun!?" Dipper says. He looks very upset by that response. "H-how is any of this fun! This is DANGEROUS! People could get HURT!" Dipper says, with his voice still having a bit of fear, but his voice has more anger and annoyance in it now.

Bill focuses on answering Dipper. "Oh, come on... baby humans play this game too. Instead of being overdramatic, you should..." In the middle of the sentence, he gets a snowball right on the face, causing him to fall. It came from Mabel.

Dipper watches in shock as Samuel gets hit by the snowball and he reaches for him "Hey? Are you alright?" Dipper says, with his voice filled with worry.

Bill, surprisingly, keeps his smile. "See, your sister gets it!"

"Mabel!" Dipper says with a panicked look on his face. "Are you happy with yourself?" Dipper shouts. He seems very concerned for Samuel's body as he moves to help him up. "You can't just throw snowballs at people. That hurts people and it's dangerous" Dipper says, as he holds Samuel's arm. He seems very upset at Mabel right now.

"..." Bill gives a nod to Mabel, and the two decide to attack Dipper together with snowballs with laughs.

"AHHHH! STOP!" Dipper says as he tries to run away but he is quickly bombarded with snowballs. Mabel is laughing and Bill is smirking as more and more snowballs hit Dipper.

Dipper's face is filled with snow and as he tries to escape he says, "I surrender! I give up!"

Bill stops at his demand. "Come on, Pinetree... You should fight back!"

"Fight?! Fight back?!" Dipper says, with a shocked expression. He seems a little bit surprised that Bill is telling him to fight. "No way! Are you insane? I'm not fighting back!" Dipper yells, as he seems a little bit flabbergasted by Bill's request.

Bill makes a snowball, but he actually puts it on Dipper's hand with a smirk of amusement. "Go on, Pinetree. Hit my face!"

Dipper's eyes widen as he sees the snowball in his hand. He is surprised by Bill's request. He hesitates for a moment, but then he looks at Bill right in the eyes, and he throws the snowball right in his face, hard.

Sammill takes it and he keeps his smile after it "See, ain't this fun?"

It is very clear that Dipper doesn't like the idea of getting into fights, even if they're games. "H-how is that fun!?" Dipper yells. He looks as if he just committed some kind of crime.

Mabel actually agrees. "Yeah, Bro-bro, it's just a fun game..."

"No! Harming other people is not fun! It's dangerous!" Dipper says, with his voice still a little bit angry, but also sounding sad and disappointed now.

Sammill sighs, rolling his eyes. "Oh, Pinetree... Fine, sorry we got you into that game without your consent. But you should know snowball fights are meant to be fun for most people."

Dipper isn't too happy, but he seems to accept the response. "Okay..." He says hesitantly, with a sigh. He still sounds a little unhappy about this, but he answers "I accept your apology.".

Bill asks him. "Fine then just tell us. Are you... hurt? Because we aren't."

"Hurt?! No, I'm fine. I-I'm alright." He says with a slight nod. He seems a little bit calmer now, as he feels himself up and realizes that he is, in fact, not injured in any way.

With that, the demon feels like taunting. "Either way, you should be thankful. My bigger idea for having fun in the snow is to cause giant avalanches, so you'd better be glad I didn't go for that!"

As expected, Dipper freaks out from this statement. "Avalanches!? A-are you serious? Th-those are really dangerous!"

Samuel's mouth smirks. "Nah, I was joking..."

Dipper looks at Bill, but he doesn't seem like he is totally convinced by his answer. "Are you sure? You should never even joke about them." Dipper says, his voice a little bit quieter but with a strong look of disapproval.

"Yes, I wasn't serious! I like to mess with you!" He moves on "Anyway, maybe you'd like to drink some hot chocolate before continuing to play with the snow. Fuzzball was planning to offer you this."

Mabel reacts immediately. "That actually sounds really nice right now. We should definitely do that."

Dipper says, with a smile. "Sure, we'll do that. That sounds good."

"Fine, once again, I'm sorry I got you into a game you didn't want, but you should realize normal kids younger than you love it."

Dipper nods at this, accepting the apology. He looks a little bit guilty and upset that he got so panicked. "Well, at least no one was hurt. That's a good thing." Dipper says, as he moves past the whole subject. "Let's move on from this and go get that hot chocolate!" Dipper says, with his voice filled with happiness now.

With that, Bill leaves to let Samuel get control again "Oh hey, Dipper! Mabel! Glad you made it!"

Dipper turns back to realize Samuel is in control again. "Oh, um... Hi. Did you see...?"

Samuel looks at his friend's attire covered in snow and gets to the conclusion "Oh, I guess Bill liked to play with snow with you two, didn't he?"

"Y-yeah... he did." Dipper says hesitantly.

Sammy giggles "Who could've guessed a wise being would be so childish. It's kinda cute! Don't you think?"

"Yeah, it makes him very interesting!" Mabel says, genuinely. Dipper actually smiles a bit at this.

Samuel looks at Dipper with compassion "You always were one to dislike snowball fights, uh...? I always thought it was a little curious, but that's respectable."

"Yeah... snowball fights are just not something I enjoy." Dipper says with a slight nod. "I just don't like hurting people or fighting. It's not something that sounds like fun in my opinion." He seems a little bit proud of this aspect of him.

Samuel's speech is the same as Bill. "It's not hurting, it's just snow! Like trying to get someone wet with water during summer! But oh well, I'm not gonna try to convince you. We'll find other things to do with all this snow, then."

"Okay, yeah. We'll just play something different." Dipper says with a slight nod. "For now, let's just prepare and drink our chocolate."

The three get to the kitchen to make three cups of hot chocolate "Okay! Hot chocolate for everyone!" Samuel says with a big smile.

Bill shows up since he's not outside in plain sight anymore. "You really are no fun, Pinetree... I hope you know that!" But then, instead of the usual annoyance he expects, he notices the twins looking at him in disbelief. "... What...? Do I have something in my eye?"

Dipper is the first to ask "Bill, what are you... wearing...?"

"Same as usual, why do you...?" As he answers, he realizes something. "... ask...?" He forgot to take off the friendship bracelet Samuel gave him, and he freaks out as a result, hiding his right arm from them.

Mabel's eyes widen and she looks at Bill. "Is that...?" She suddenly seems to have sparks in her eyes out of excitement. "Are you wearing a friendship bracelet?"

Dipper says in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "Are you...?"

Bill tries to deny immediately. "Th-that's... not... Of course not! This isn't... friendship bracelet, don't be stupid, you two... No way! It's actually... uh, uh..." Bill unfortunately freaks out too much to make up a lie and disappears.

Samuel takes the courage to speak. "I owe you an explanation... You see... After we promised to help him, I made a friendship bracelet just like ours... As an encouragement, a sign that I wanted to help him, and that you do as well."

"A bracelet? You made him a bracelet?" Dipper says, with a look of surprise

"Yeah, just like the ones I gave you, and the one I made for myself to match..."

"That's so nice..." Dipper says, with a smile.

Sammy gets surprised. "You really think so...?"

"It's really nice, and it's such a cute look for him!", states Mabel without hesitating, as she loves the idea.

"You..." He looks at the twins "You two don't mind sharing a bracelet with Bill...? Isn't it weird to share this with a demon...?"

"No, I don't mind. Bill has always seemed like such a cold-hearted person and it's surprising to see him this open with someone. I genuinely think this is an improvement." Dipper says, with a look of appreciation on his face.

Samuel is surprised. "Oh... I should say sorry, because I never told you before... He never really felt confident to show you two, so I respected it. I guess he just... forgot about it today..."

Mabel calls Bill back. "Please, show yourself again..." So the triangle shows up with a lot of unease. If the demon could blush of shame, his entire triangular body would go from yellow to pink.

Dipper looks over at Bill "Hey, so uh... Bill? Are you alright?" Dipper seems like he is concerned and worried.

Bill looks away from the twins in shame about showing his bracelet to them accidentally

Dipper asks him. "Do you want to talk?" he adds.

Bill turns for a bit, facing away from the kids. He points at Samuel "... It was Fuzzball's idea... not mine..." He's clearly upset about being seen with it by the two of them.

"Yeah, he told us. But... the two of you are friends, aren't you?" Dipper says, with an obvious look of confusion. "Is there a reason why you'd feel ashamed to call him your friend...?"

Bill reacts seriously "I can't call him friend when he was yet another pawn I tricked into a deal." He pauses "But maybe... we sorta got to an understanding...? And that's why...?"

"A pawn you tricked..?" Dipper says, with a look of disbelief. "Well, is that why you think he can't be your friend?"

Samuel says softly "Despite the circumstances of our encounter... I trust we somehow became friends, Bill... Thanks to how you've acted after that..."

Mabel has one priority in her head right now, and it's trying to make Bill feel better. "Let's hear your side of the story, Bill."

Bill looks at the kids seriously "I can't consider a friendship with humans, given what I usually do with them. But maybe Fuzzball... helped me reconsider to some extent. And... the three of us kinda had fun in the snow just now.. Isn't that something human friends usually do?" He realizes where his explanation is going "Am I actually becoming a true friend of you three...?"

"Maybe..." Dipper says in surprise. He truly believes that Bill may actually be turning over a new leaf and learning from his mistakes.

"You totally are!", Mabel exclaims without a doubt.

Bill still feels an extreme unease, but Dipper and Mabel grab his hands and are happy to show their bracelets to Bill's yellow one.

Samuel says "It'll work it, Bill, I'm sure it will..."

Dipper looks at the bracelets with a strong smile on his face "Yeah... I think it will work it too... I think we can all be friends... You've made great steps to prove that you can!" he adds, with a smile.

Bill uses frustration to hide his shame "Yeah, yeah, believe what you want..."

Dipper notices how frustrated and ashamed Bill seems here and he feels a little bit of worry and concern. "Is there something bothering you?"

"... Why do you want to call me... "friend"... after everything I've done to you?"

"Because..." Dipper says, as he thinks for a moment. He seems to be searching for the right words. "I think you really are changing." he says, with a serious look on his face. Dipper is very much a believer in second chances... He believes in people redeeming themselves for their mistakes and doing better. Dipper believes in the best in people... even if he's not as easily forgiving as his sister is.

Bill doesn't believe it. "... changing...? I'm still the same as before!"

"But your actions are what seem different! You do seem... a little bit different. I mean, you agreed to the bracelet thing. And you said we could be friends..."

Bill gives up "Alright, if you say so... But what about those nicknames I gave you? Pinetree and Shooting star. As well as Fuzzball. I do it as some mockery of you, why aren't you bothered by that?"

"Mockery?" Mabel is very surprised to hear it. "I've never felt it was that way. I grew to like it! It's a cute, personal way for you to refer to us!"

Samuel says, a bit hesitantly because he never took the time to think about it. "Yeah, she's got a point... Nicknames can be a friendly affection thing..."

Bill almost gets cuddled by Mabel. "Quit it!"

Mabel seems a small bit disappointed that Bill doesn't appear to be fully convinced. "Well, Bill?" She asks, looking up at Bill. "Are we really friends now?" Mabel isn't always the best at respecting boundaries when she has a goal, and wants to insist on her positiveness. "You won't ever try to hurt us again, right? We're really- really friends now, right?" Mabel asks, looking up at Bill. Her eyes are big and she seems quite serious about this.

He stares at Mabel's eyes "After all I did? You know..." He doesn't want to remind her everytime he's done something bad to her.

Mabel can read the look in Bill's eye. She can see the shame and the guilt and it makes her feel bad. She understands what it feels like to make mistakes... So she knows that it's possible for people to change and learn. She can understand that Bill feels really bad about what he did... But she really wants to make sure that this is all in the past.

Bill awaits the answer a little nervously. This is a girl he messed with and threatened several times, and now she wants to call him a friend.

Mabel's face softens at the nervousness that she sees from Bill. "So, is that a yes?" Mabel says, as she tries to make her voice sound as soft and calm as possible.

The demon crosses his arms. "You tell me... Do I of all people deserve it?"

"Yeah." Mabel says, her voice containing a hint of sadness and sympathy for Bill. "You deserve to be loved!" Mabel's voice contains a lot of seriousness and empathy as she says this.

Bill feels lost, confused and a bit unconvinced. But he still answers... "Thanks for answering me..." He looks at her bracelet, then at his "We'll see how it goes..."

"And it'll go well, I promise." Mabel says, with a big smile on her face.

Bill is doubtful. He has a flashback of the puppet show events. He sees himself posing as Dipper, holding a rope that could endanger the girl. "Whoops, slippy hands! Give me that journal or I'm ruining your show!"

"Hey!" Dipper screams, getting a good idea of what was his thought process.

Bill's eye blinks a couple times as he leaves the flashback "Uh...?"

"You seemed really stuck in your thoughts. Are you okay?" Mabel asks him while her eyes narrow into a look of worry.

"I was thinking about... That time I tricked and possessed you, Pinetree... And went fighting Shooting star for the journal... Why would you forgive me after all of this...?"

"It's all in the past. All of that is in the past... Please just focus on being our friend now, okay?" Mabel says, with a sympathetic and understanding look.

Dipper takes a deep breath. "I do trust you enough now, Bill... You've done a lot to prove how much you regret our past. So while it's difficult for me, I'm willing to try to move past it alongside you..."

Bill stays silent for now, looking at the three kids. He has a lot of thoughts in his mind.

After being silent for a while to let his friends reassure Bill, Samuel speaks up again. "See, Bill? You had no reason to be worried about showcasing this bracelet. We all accept you as our friend!"

"What even tells you that I'm not gonna turn evil again...?" Bill speaks hypothetically here. He genuinely doesn't know if it has a chance to happen

"I don't fully know for sure. I can't say I don't think about that..." Dipper admits, with a hint of guilt in his voice. He doesn't want to think about that possibility... But it's something that he can't just ignore. "But I'm willing to trust you anyway."

"You are a weird person...", says the demon, fairly hypocritically.

Dipper shrugs with a smile. "Maybe I am..."

Bill looks at his bracelet, then at the twins' and Samuel's. His mind is really messed up about all of this.

"They're really neat, right?" Mabel says cheerfully. "They are a sign of friendship... And that's what we are. We're friends. Do you like yours?" she says with a voice full of excitement.

The triangle feels really lost, and he's willing to put her to a test. "Are you sure we can be friends, Shooting star?"

Her smile doesn't disappear and she doesn't hesitate. "Of course! As long as you keep proving yourself to become a better person! I don't have any doubt!"

He thinks of a little test for that. "... Are you willing to...?" Bill extends his right arm and the fire of a deal activates. "... make a deal?"

Dipper and Samuel get a bit worried at this, and while Mabel gets taken aback for a second, she considers going with it.

"Bill... As long as you'll continue to prove how much you regret your evil actions and want to move on... I am granting you my complete friendship and trust!" She grabs the hand without hesitation, much to Bill's shock. He realizes how serious she is about this because of that. After some silence when the handshake ends, she asks eagerly. "So, did I convince you?"

"... Yes, thanks... But... ... Sorry, I'll need time to think. I'll stay hidden around here if you need me." Bill vanishes as a shadow.

Samuel then says, trying to make up for the sad talk. "So what snow fun do you wanna have, guys? Since snowball fights is off the table."

"What about building a snowman?", suggests Dipper with a big smile.

Samuel starts thinking about this suggestion and says more silently to the twins, making sure Bill couldn't hear. "What if we...?"

"That sounds like a really good idea!" Mabel says, with a smile. "We should totally do that!"

After the three of them finished their chocolate, they go back outside.

And so, they spend a good amount of time working on the snow sculpture.

"This looks really cool! It's beginning to really come together already." Dipper says, as he looks at the progress that they've made. "I think it's gonna turn out really well..." He can't wait to see it when it's finished. Mabel really loves the plan that Samuel has come up with here. She believes it has a lot of potential and she really enjoys being able to work on something creative like this. She is really enjoying herself.

The three kids try their best. And then, Dipper starts to get very excited as they approach the end of the process. He is so happy about this work of art and he is really happy that he did his best to make it all possible.

Bill stayed hidden inside the entire time, being too lost in thoughts to even check on what the kids are doing. Samuel looks at the result and says... "This should be good enough. This is what we're gonna do..." He explains how to surprise Bill...

Dipper seems really excited by the idea of springing this surprise on Bill in this way. Mabel seems to be just as happy and excited as Dipper about the plan. "Oh my gosh, that is such a great idea!" Mabel says, as she claps her hands together in joy.

Samuel goes inside and calls Bill. "What is it, Fuzzball? I'm busy thinking..."

The kid answers without revealing anything "... Please possess me for a little bit..."

Bill seems surprised and intrigued by this request. "What? Possess you? Why do you need me to do that?" Bill asks, with a puzzled pose.

Samuel smiles "You'll see..." Bill obliges confused, and as soon as the yellow eyes show on the kid's body, Dipper and Mabel manage to playfully cover them with a cloth "HEY, what gives?"

He hears as an answer "... We got something to show you..."

Bill is quite confused now as the twins guide Samuel's body outside, and then stand next to the sculpture. Mabel tells him "You can watch now..." As he makes his vision possible again, he sees the two standing proudly with a friendly "Ta-daaa...!"

The triangle demon is speechless. During his thinking time, the three kids have worked on making a sculpture to Bill's likeness. It's a triangular mass of snow with a big eye drawn, the legs touch the ground like a sitting position, and small tree branches are there for the arms. They used leaves for the bowtie and tried their best making a hat that wouldn't fall, which was the biggest challenge.

Bill takes a step back to take everything in for a moment. He stares at the figure of him, feeling a mixture of wonder, shock, and awe. His expression soon turns into being amazed and happy. Bill seems to be genuinely touched by this. "This is... Is this... For me? You... You made this..." Thanks to the human feelings he has, he feels something new... He tears up, but these are warm tears of happiness. "This is so... touching..." He can't help but continue crying, yet he feels great about it. "Thank you... friends...?"

Dipper and Mabel seem very proud of themselves and they are happy at this reaction. They are very glad to see that the surprise has gone over well.

"Of course we're friends!" Mabel replies, as he smiles and hugs Samuel's body.

Dipper smiles warmly. "See, you're getting it!"

"Quick, we need a picture!" suggests Mabel

Bill wonders "But, Fuzzball won't be in it if I possess him..."

Dipper reassures him "His body will, and he'd be glad to have you on it as well. Don't worry, we cleared that up before showing you!"

"You really planned everything, uh...", says an impressed Bill.

Mabel sets the timer of the camera before joining the boys, having themselves while making the sculpture visible. And the picture's taken perfectly

"That's a great picture, right!?" Dipper says in anticipation, with a big smile.

"I love it!" Mabel says, with a big smile also. "Looks great!" she adds, as she looks over the picture.

Sammill touches the tree branch that serves as one of the sculpture's arms. Bill observes, amused "So that's how it looks like when someone does a deal with me, uh...?" He can't help but chuckle slightly and feel a bit flattered by their gesture. Bill starts feeling genuine happiness from being around the kids. Something he never expected could happen.

Mabel says, happily. "I'm glad you love that statue of yourself we made! These kinds of gestures are what friends do!"

Bill makes Samuel's cheeks blush in embarassment "Would you... send the picture to...?"

Dipper has a smile, getting an idea of where this is going, but tries to hide it to hear it from him. "Who would you like us to send the picture to?"

The demon feels strong embarassment "To, um... to... Sixer...?" He appears to want Ford to have yet another proof that he feels change inside him

Dipper and Mabel seem a little surprised at this request, but they are quick to support Bill anyways. "Yeah! Sure! I bet he'll love it!" Dipper says, with a big smile.

"No problem! We'd be happy to do that!" Mabel happily adds.

Bill shows a faint smile "Thank you..." He then leaves Samuel back in control as he remains hidden, in case someone passing by could witness the demon from another side of the street. Samuel's first instinct is to watch the picture with a smile, and seeing how much Bill looks happy on it

Samuel truly feels a sense of warmth and happiness in his heart. This is truly a great moment and moment and Samuel is glad to be able to witness it. He looks at his face on the picture, when Bill possessed him "Oh, um... that's what I look like when Bill is in control, uh..." He jokes around "Don't I look... creepy?"

"You do look a little creepy, Samuel." Mabel says, with a chuckle. She doesn't mean it as an insult, but more as a friendly jab and joke. Dipper laughs a little, but he knows that Samuel isn't hurt by this comment.

Samuel giggles and then he says "I'll have a lot to write in my notebook about all that." He speaks a little more quietly in case someone hears them from the other side of the street "But now that our demon friend feels better, how about we make some other snow games, just the three of us, like old times?"

"Oh yeah! That would be super cool!" Mabel says, with a big smile.

"Totally! Sounds like a plan!" Dipper agrees, with agreement.

"Let's find a sledding spot!" claims a happy Sammy . And just like that, the three kids spend a very eventful and fun day with snow, completely losing track of time.

After getting another hot beverage to recover later in the day, Samuel happily waves goodbye, thanking his friends for the amazing day and how they managed to help the demon in the process

"Bye, Samuel!" Mabel says, as she gives Samuel a big smile. "It's been a pleasure to hang out with you today!"

"We had a lot of fun today, thank you!" Dipper says, as he also gives Samuel a big smile.

"I'm really lucky to have you two to hang around! I don't know how boring my life would be without you!" He smiles as he watches them leaving, then starts talking to himself, thinking about how that lead to him meeting Bill and getting involved in the whole thing. "It made it special alright..." He says, looking at his bracelet.

Samuel closes the door with a smile and so he goes to his bedroom, where Bill reveals himself, alone with the kid. The demon claims with a fake confidence. "That was an interesting day, wasn't it, Fuzzball?"

Samuel nods back "Yes, a very pleasant day indeed!" He then asks "You don't mind if... I write about it for my friends' uncle, right?"

Bill shrugs "Write away..."

As such, Samuel writes about the day. How they all reunited on that day, how Bill had his fun with a snowball fight, how they made the snow sculpture of him... He leaves a special note for Dipper, asking him to send the picture of the sculpture alongside this set of notes.

Samuel then says, trying to make his triangular buddy comfortable "I'm proud of you, Bill... I'm glad we're friends!"

Bill looks at his bracelet, a bit puzzled about it still. "Yeah, I can consider an actual friendship... Even if that's weird..."

That very night, while Samuel sleeps exhausted, Bill gets more flashbacks of what happened in the summer. He sees himself tormenting the kids and the ones they love.

"If it isn't the dream team... Question mark, Shooting star and Pinetree!"

"It's funny how dumb you are!"

"You made me ANGRY! Do you know what I'm like... WHEN I'M MAD?"

"Sorry kid, but YOU'RE my puppet!"

"How can you stop me... if you don't exiiiiist...?"

"Who would sacrifice an important work just to help a stupid sibling?"

"You can't beat me! I'm a being of pure energy and I have no weaknesses!"

"You knew I'd come back! You thought shutting down the portal would foil my plans?"

"You want to stop me? Go ahead, Pinetree, show me what you got! Go on, what are you waiting for?"

"Oh no, it's Bill! Is that it? Is that what you're all thinking?"

"Oh, but you SHOULD fear me! And this castle needs some REDECORATING!"

Bill suddenly opens his eye in discomfort and his limbs look very tense. He doesn't need to sleep, but... it's like his past haunts him in nightmares either way. And so he starts to rub Samuel's hair for a little bit. For some reason, doing this puts him at ease.

He looks a little panicked, and repeats softly... "It's in the past... It doesn't matter..." so many times, trying to get his mind to approve it...

Author notes: Wow, I did not expect this to end up being the biggest chapter of possibly the entire story. Maybe I just happen to have more ease to write about inner conflicts than other things...

The events of this chapter were a long time coming, and I do hope it's neither too early or late. It's the start of big things happening...

Thank you very much for reading this far!