During the following week-end, Samuel once again visits his friends at their home. Even if this time, it's partially out of concern for Dipper's injury. They briefly talk about it in the bedroom while Mabel is busy downstairs for now.

His friend is very thankful for the concern. "Oh, don't worry, Sammy... It was just a little bruise, it's already gone."

"Oh, good..." He feels some frustrated sadness suddenly. "This jerk...! I wish he..."

Before he could say anything too deep or too emotionally demanding, Dipper cuts him off. "That's okay... Don't think about it for now..."

Samuel has a small tear of frustration, knowing that both of his friends have been bullied by someone who's been getting away with it.

Dipper insists, seriously. "Buddy, I'm fine! I promise! You have nothing to feel bad about yourself!" He gives him a smile, and his friend sighs, trying to let it go.

Seeing that Mabel still isn't around for now, he decides to try to change the subject for something a little more lighthearted. Even if he does feel a different kind of discomfort about. "Hey... so..."

"What's up, Sammy?" Dipper can tell that there's a tiny hint of malice in his friend's stare, something unusual to him.

"Um, Dipper, I was wondering... if you'd be okay with doing a little prank on Mabel... Nothing big of course, and I'd apologize for it if she takes it badly... But..." Samuel shows his usual, more unconfident behavior quickly enough.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Dipper acts more curious than angry.

"It's not actually my entire idea..." As the boy says that, Bill makes himself shown.

"Yeah, I kinda came up with the idea, Pinetree!" The demon says confidently, which didn't help Dipper's ease.

Dipper looks at the two of them in a bit of disbelief. He's starting to wonder if Samuel is growing a more mischievous side to himself due to Bill's influence, which makes him a bit uneasy. "Uuuuuh... I don't know..."

Surprisingly, Samuel insists politely. "It'll all be in good fun, I promise! Actually, we promise..." He gives Bill a little stare from the corner of his eyes.

Bill speaks earnestly. "Yes, we promise! But also, to make it happen... We need you!"

"Oh, so I suppose you're gonna ask me to set her up or something...? Maybe I could try, if it's meant to be harmless..." Dipper speaks a little unconvinced, but the next answer will definitely shock him.

"Actually, I need you to... let me borrow your body." Bill hasn't lost his straightforwardness at all.

"WHAT?" Dipper loses his cool at the prospect. "No way! No how! I won't accept this!"

Bill floats closer. "It's gonna be easy, Pinetree. It won't take a new deal, and you know I wouldn't go harm her. It's just for a small prank and nothing more, honest!"

Samuel also insists a little, still respecting his friend's feelings. "I promise, we won't do anything cruel. Mabel is our friend and we won't harm her."

Bill looks at Dipper in the eyes. "You can trust us, Pinetree... Aren't we friends...?" Bill reaches for the boy's hand, with the friendship bracelet being apparent.

Dipper sighs a bit as he realizes. "Okay, I guess I can accept... I trust you two..."

"Yay, it's gonna be so much fun!" Bill grabs his hand, and with Dipper's mental approval, he gets in charge of the body in a second.

Samuel stays silent, looking at Dipper with the Bill possessed eyes and the big smile. He feels a tiny bit uneasy due to how the demon and himself first interacted months ago, but "Bipper" reassures him with a hug. "It's okay, Fuzzball. As you guys insist on telling me, this harmful side of me is in

the past... We are not enemies at this point of time, are we?" This is enough to erase any negative feeling his main vessel felt. Bipper lets go of the hug and comments, touching the body's hair. "Besides... I have my own regrets when it comes to how I've used this body before..."

"Oh right..." Sammy recalls the puppet show story he's heard from his friends, but wants to avoid speaking about it so they don't dwell on regrets and bad memories. "How about we get to it, then?"

Bipper gets his mischievous smile back. "Oh yeah, let's have our little fun!" He leaves the bedroom and reaches the staircase, playfully saying "Oh, Siiiiiiiis...".

Mabel gets up the stairs and looks at who she thinks is her brother, while Bipper keeps a reasonable distance to avoid her to notice the eyes. "Hi, Bro-bro! What's making you so cheery?"

Bipper keeps the playful tone. "I got a surprise for you... A little gift..."

This is enough to get her excited. "Really? Where?" She moves to get a little closer. "Do you have it on you?"

"No no no... I've hidden it somewhere for you..." He answers, keeping his distance. "It's located somewhere in the basement!"

"Ooh, and it's some hide and seek too! It's gonna be fun!" Just like that, she rushes down the the set of stairs, barely taking the time to acknowledge Samuel's presence alongside Bipper.

Bipper cackles while she's away, telling Samuel. "That was easy... Time to go do phase 2..." He slowly goes down the stairs himself.

It only took a minute for Mabel to have looked at every nook and cranny of the basement, and she found nothing. "Uh... Maybe he put more effort into hiding it than I thought..." She decides to continue her search, but then... Suddenly, lights go out, startling her a bit, making the basement a more scary place.

"Oh shoot... Is there a power outage or something...? I should go back..." She barely took a step that she heard ominous footstep coming this way. She gets a little worried. "Bro-bro, is that you...? I couldn't find the gift and now it's too dark."

While she can make out Dipper's silhouette in front of her, she then hears something chilly from him. "Oh yes, that is me indeed... Don't worry... I got you right where I wanted..."

"W-what...?" She starts getting scared a bit from this tone.

Then she hears the sound of finger snapping, and an odd glow comes from Dipper's eyes. "Surprised to see me...?" Then one light activates back, illuminating him a little. Or rather... Bipper... With his possessed eyes, his very unsettling smile and he magically gave himself the reverend outfit from the puppet show to wear once again. "I am back, Shooting star! Now be a good girl and don't get in my way! Or I'll have to..." He switches to his deep voice "GET RID OF YOU AND YOUR BROTHER... FOREVER!" He loudly leaves out his usual evil laugh to worry her, and it works. He hears a giant scream in front of her, which makes him laugh more genuinely.

Bipper interrupts his laugh slowly, as he expected an additional reaction from her, whether it was a friendly "silly you" or an angry "how dare you".

But he hears nothing, making him worried. "Shooting star...?"

Samuel, from the top of the staircase, pushes back the light switch, and Bipper sees Mabel lying on the ground, looking at the wall and shaking, which makes him gasp.

"WHAT THE...? Shooting star, what's wrong?" Bipper snaps his fingers again, bringing back Dipper's regular attire, just before Bill leaves the body. While Dipper gets his consciousness back, Samuel quickly went down the stairs to join them, and both boys see the result of the prank in concern.

"Sis, are you okay?" Dipper rushes by her side, trying to comfort her. Samuel approaches too.

But Mabel is crying and panicking too much. That prank gave her a terrifying emotional flashback of her encounter with Bill that day, making her unable to stand and think properly. Bill himself is making a very concerned stare at this sight.

Mabel's first reaction is to reject her brother's comfort. "How could you, Dipper? How did you allow this?" She looks at him, her eyes almost acting like waterfalls with how terrified she got.

"Sis, I..." He wants to say sorry, be genuine... But a part of him also wants to blame Bill first and foremost. Yet he can't get to it because he's not sure what to do.

"Mabel, it's... It's my fault too..." Samuel approaches. "Dipper didn't want to do this... I... I convinced him. You should be mad at me instead. I... I'd deserve it..."

Mabel can't even be angry, because her fear is too much to allow any other emotions right now. "What kind of brother and friend are you...? This was one of the worst fears I've ever gotten!"

Bill floats forward. "Shooting star, don't be mad at them... The idea was mine... Fuzzball got convinced by me... And I helped convince your brother too... The fault is all mine... Especially... Since you want me to make peace with my bad past, I thought you would've liked me joking about..."

"IT WASN'T FUNNY! IT WAS HORRIBLE!" She's incredibly shaken, and definitely does not want to laugh about it. She may have forgiven Bill as soon as he's showcased regrets for it, but it seems that prank proved there's still some emotional troubles with the whole ordeal.

Suddenly, she falls back, looking away from them, not even caring that she's staying on the floor. She fights her feelings and after a little moment of silence, she suddenly feels something on her hair.

"Stop this..." She's ready to drive away the hand that's trying to comfort her, but then she realizes it's something... oddly fluffy... And pleasant to touch... "What the...?"

She turns her head to see a very cute plush of a seal right in front of her. And it appears to move by itself, but it's actually Bill controlling it like a toy.

The plush appears to speak while Bill makes up a silly voice for it. "Hi there, little girl... It seems you're troubled. Don't worry, I'm here to help... My name is... uh... Phil... that's right! Phil the Seal... And I'm your new friend!"

Mabel knows what's going on, and she can't contain a small giggle, despite her feelings.

"I've heard your brother and friends were being big meanies to you... Don't worry, give me hugs and you'll feel a lot better!" The plush raises the top flippers towards her for that...

"Aww..." Mabel gives the plush a hug. It's very fluffy and pleasant to hold, and it helps her getting a smile back.

Bill continues his act "You're a very kind and brave girl. And you have a big heart too... Please, find some place in it to forgive those who have gone too far with you today... You can be angry at them for a little bit, but please don't keep those negative feelings too long! Give them smiles and hugs too!"

Mabel giggles, and after that, Bill lets go and joins Dipper and Samuel. Bill's mind did this with barely any shame about himself, but he wouldn't want comments or mockeries from the boys about it, which they can deduce and avoid. Mabel stands up, holding the plush tight and looking at the three.

"You are all really mean to have come up with such a cruel prank..." She frowns at them, and she gets a triple "Sorry..." almost as an unison.

"... Okay... Awkward sibling and friend hug...?"
Dipper is very relieved about that and goes to hug first, apologizing again. And Samuel does the exact same.

Then Bill floats towards her in shame. "I'm sorry that I went too far, Shooting star... I..."

Mabel cuts him off. "That's okay..." She holds the plush close. "You managed to do something very sweet to repay that mistake... You really became a great friend, Bill." She smiles at him genuinely, making the demon very shocked, but thankful she forgave him for it.

The triangle is a little flustered from this during the hug. "I-if you say so..." He observes how she holds and still cuddles the plush, and he feels something that he hasn't felt since the start of Weirdmageddon... He's feeling proud of himself for what he managed to do.

Author notes: I wrote most of this chapter some time in advance, without being too sure where to put it in late act 2. With how I expect the end stretch of it to be pretty busy narratively, I thought this was an acceptable spot.

Thanks for reading!