Dipper lounged on his bed, scribbling some notes in the Journal. He'd been neglecting keeping up with his newer entries recently, on account of his attempts to spend time with Wendy. While he was happy he'd been able to hang out with his new friend more, he didn't want to completely lose track of his main summer mission: Figuring out what happened to the Author. By this point, he'd been over the entire book and added entries about the cursed Fight-Fighters machine, Mermen, the Time Tape, even the copier in Stan's office, and various other creatures he'd encountered in his adventures. Unfortunately, new additions were all Dipper had at the moment.

He was growing increasingly certain that his Journal was the last that the Author made. There was simply too much unused space and the notes in the Journal that the Author had left cut off too suddenly. That still left him with an issue, though. That meant there were two Journals unaccounted for. Two-thirds of a puzzle he was lacking. No, even more than that, since his Journal was incomplete. If he wanted to make any headway on his case, Dipper needed those other Journals. 

The problem was, that nothing in Journal 3 mentioned where the others could be. The one he found was hidden pretty elaborately, and he'd only stumbled upon it through chance. He couldn't bank on being so lucky two more times. And even if he did find the secret locations of the other two Journals, there was no guarantee they'd even still be there.

Dipper growled in frustration. Every angle he tried just lead to a dead end. The whole thing felt like trying to put together a huge jigsaw puzzle blindfolded. At this point, his best plan was to go over a map of the forest and use the entries in the Journal to find the areas that the Author most frequented. 

The forest was most likely where at least one of the books was hidden since it would be out of the way and the author seemed to go there a lot. But then again, the fact that the author went there often could be indicated that he didn't hide the Journals in the forest to avoid being predictable. Just a never-ending cycle of could-be's and maybe not's.

Dipper sighed. He'd check the forest, just to be sure. Still, he needed to come up with other strategies in case nothing turned up. Maybe he could have a brainstorming session with Mabel and come up with something better. She was always better at thinking up outside the box ideas than he was, anyway.

Dipper glanced over at his sister's bed. She was right there and just playing a game of solitaire. Not doing anything important. Maybe now would be a good time to-

"Kids!" Stan shouted from downstairs. "Come quick!"

' Of course... ' Dipper thought as he shut the Journal and tucked it into his jacket.

The twins went downstairs to the living room, where they saw their grunkle laughing at something on the TV.

"C'mon!" Stan told the kids. "I need you to laugh at this with me!"

The twins looked at the TV and saw a commercial for the Tent of Telepathy.

"Ugh," Dipper grunted in disgust. "Gideon."

"Remember when I wouldn't date him and he tried to destroy us?" Mabel asked.

"How could I forget?" Dipper responded.

"Little punk's always trying to trick me into losing the Mystery Shack," Stan said. "And sabotage my events. And steal my parking spaces."

"And yet," Soos said as he walked into the room, "our mutual hatred for him bonds us together."

Dipper quirked an eyebrow. "No offense Soos, but what're you doing here? Isn't today your day off?"

"I ain't payin' ya overtime!" Stan chimed in from his recliner.

"Huh, that is an excellent question, dude," Soos said, thinking for a moment.

Dipper waited for an answer, but never got one. "... Soos?"

"Yeah, dude?" Soos responded.

"... Why are you here?" Dipper asked again.

"Why am I here?"

Dipper blinked, before letting out a sigh. "... Nevermind..."

Soos shrugged as they went back to watching the commercial.

"Come on down to Li'l Gideon's Tent of Telepathy," Bud Gleeful's voice spoke over the TV, "opening soon at this location."

At that, a graphic was shown of the Tent of Telepathy falling from the sky and crushing the Mystery Shack.

"... Should we be worried about that?" Dipper asked.

"Please," Stan said with an eye roll. "The only way Gideon's taking over this shack is by breaking in and stealing my deed."

At that very moment, a crash was heard from a direction suspiciously in the direction of Stan's office.

"You were saying?" Dipper asked.

They all ran to where the noise came from 

"Thirty-eight?" Gideon muttered as he fiddled with the safe in Stan's office. "Forty-one? Oh, heavens to Betsy!"

"Gideon!"

The boy spun around and saw Stan, Soos, and the twins standing in the hallway just outside the room. He gulped, knowing he'd been caught, but stood confidently despite this.

"Well, well," Gideon said cordially, "Stanford, my arch-nemesis. 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," Stan said, already bored with Gideon's rambling. "Broom."

"Oh no, not the broom!" Gideon squealed.

What followed was one of the strangest, and funniest, things the twins had ever seen. Their grunkle chased the small boy around the house, Gideon hissing like a cat in the process. After getting a few good swats in, Stan pushed Gideon to the front door and gave him a hard whack out.

Gideon tumbled down the front porch steps and crashed into the mud, somehow not getting any in his(weird for his age)white hair. The boy rose, wiping some of the mud off, before looking back to the house with a glare.

"You mark my words, Stanford!" Gideon shouted at the old man, waving his fist angrily. "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. "The combo to the safe is in the one place you'll never be able to get it: my brain. Now beat it. Next time you try gettin' in here I'll sic the kids on you."

With that, Stan shut the door and left Gideon alone in the drizzling rain. Staring defiantly at the Shack, Gideon pulled out Journal 2.

"Your brain isn't as safe as you might think, Stanford Pines!" Gideon seethed to himself. "This is the last straw! It's time to unlock the Journal's greatest secret..."

[Later in the forest not too far away from the shack]

Gideon set a picture of Stan with red X's over the eyes in a circle of candles. Fortunately, the rain had stopped, so the boy was able to perform the ritual without a problem. 

"You think that combination's safe in your mind, Stanford?" Gideon asked the photo. "We'll see what my new minion has to say about that! Triangulum, entangulum! Vene foris dominus mentium! Vene foris videntis omnium!"

While that was happening, Mabel and Soos were outside the Shack, Soos trying to lick his elbow (don't ask).

"Lick that elbow! Lick that elbow!" Mabel chanted.

After a few seconds more of trying, Soos halted his attempts.

"Like the infinite horizon, it eludes my grasp," the handyman said wistfully.

The duo's hijinks were cut short however when they heard mad cackling coming from the woods. Very familiar cackling.

"Is that who I think it is?" Mabel muttered to herself.

The two stealthily walked into the forest, keeping their eyes peeled for a blue suit and ridiculous hair. They didn't have to look for long and soon found Gideon, laughing as he clutched his stomach and fell to his knees.

"Egassemsd rawkcab!" Gideon exclaimed incoherently. "Egassem sdrawkcab! Egassem  sdrawkcab! Egassem sdrawkcab! Egassem sdrawkcab!!!!!!"

Mabel and Soos watched, wided-eyed as the world around them lost its color. Animals froze in place, the wind stopped blowing and left leaves suspended in the air, and the bolts of lightning that had been arcing across the sky stood still. Everything seemed to stop, everything becoming a black and white still image, save for Gideon, Mabel, and Soos.

Suddenly, the air seemed to buzz as a line appear in front of Gideon. The bottom of the line spread out, until the line became a pitch-black triangle. The yellow fire spread around the shape's edges, and a large eye formed in the top corner. With an inhuman moan, the fire formed into black arms, legs, a bowtie, and a top hat, while the color of the fire bled into the triangle itself. As the being finished forming, the echoing moans turned into slightly more human-sounding laughs.

Before Gideon floated a neon yellow pyramid with an eye, tie, and hat.

"OH, OH, GRAVITY FALLS! IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK!" the triangle said as he turned to face the one who summoned him. "NAME'S BILL CIPHER, AND I TAKE IT YOU'RE SOME KIND OF LIVING VENTRILOQUIST DUMMY? HA HA, I'M JUST KIDDING, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, GIDEON!"

"Wh-What are you?" Gideon stammered out. "H-How do you know my name?"

"OH, I KNOW LOTS OF THINGS!" Bill responded flickering between events rapidly. " LOTS OF THINGS... HEY, LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!"

With a quick hand wave, all the teeth of a nearby deer flew over to Bill's palm, hand growing to fit them all.

"DEER TEETH!" Bill said, handing them to Gideon. "FOR YOU, KID!"

Bill laughed as Gideon dropped the teeth in horror.

"You're insane!" Gideon cried out.

"SURE I AM," Bill confirmed. "WHAT'S YOUR POINT?"

With another wave of his hand, Bill sent all the teeth flying back into the mouth of the frozen deer. Gideon watched, clearly unsettled by the display, before steeling his nerve.

"Listen to me, demon!" Gideon demanded. "I have a job for you. I need you to enter the mind of Stanford Pines and steal the code to his safe."

Bill laughed at the notion of a human giving him orders, before realizing what the request was.

"WAIT... STAN PINES?" Bill asked, thinking over the idea. "YOU KNOW WHAT, KID? YOU'VE CONVINCED ME, I'M SOLD! 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."

"Deal!" Gideon said, agreeing instantly.

Bill extended his hand, and Gideon shook it. Blue fire briefly covered their hands, locking the deal in place, before Bill released his grip and backed up.

"WELL, TIME TO INVADE STAN'S MIND!" Bill said. "THIS SHOULD BE FUN! REMEMBER: REALITYISANILLUSION,THEUNIVERSEISAHOLOGRAM,BUYGOLD,BYE! "

In a brilliant flash, Bill vanished. The moment the demon left, color returned to the world, and time moved forward once more. Mabel and Soos blinked, jaws hanging low in disbelief at what they had seen. But while they stood in silent awe, Gideon started to laugh.

"It worked!" Gideon exclaimed as he laughed maniacally.

Mabel and Soos looked at each other, before turning around and running back to the Shack.

[A few minutes later at the shack]

"Dipper!" Mabel shouted as she burst into the living room. "We've gotta help Stan!"

"What?" Dipper asked as he stood up from the couch and glanced at his grunkle, snoozing in his recliner.

"This evil triangle guy said he's gonna break into Stan's mind and steal the combination to his safe!" Soos said as he walked in munching on some Burrito Bites. "Also, we stopped for snacks on the way here."

"Triangle guy?" Dipper asked as he took out his Journal. "That sounds an awful lot like..."

Dipper pulled out his Journal, flipping through the pages. He stopped on a particular entry, handing the book to his sister.

"This the 'evil triangle guy?" Dipper asked.

Mabel nodded at the black silhouette. "Yep, that's it."

Dipper took back the Journal, looking over the passage about "Bill Cipher".

"'Beware, Bill,'" Dipper read aloud, "'the most powerful and dangerous creature I've ever encountered. Whatever you do, never let him enter your mind.'"

The trio's heads whipped around as they heard Stan grunt in his sleep. They turned just in time to see the shadow of Bill settling over the old man. Stan's eyes began glowing blue, and he started spasming in his sleep.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel exclaimed.

"'It is possible to follow the demon into a person's mind and prevent his chaos,'" Dipper continued reading, with a bit more haste. "'One must simply recite this incantation.'"

"We can go in after him?" Mabel asked.

"Apparently," Dipper answered. "It looks like to save Stan, we'll need to go to the most horrifying, disturbing place any of us have ever been. Our grunkle's mind."

"Hey, you think I can take these Burrito Bites into Stan's brain?" Soos asked. "Thumbs up? Thumbs down? You know what, I'm just gonna bring 'em."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Let's do this."

Dipper put his hand on Stan's head, Mabel and Soos following suit.

"'Videntus omnium,'" Dipper read from the Journal. "'Magister mentium. Magnesium ad hominem. Magnum opus. Habeas corpus! Inceptus Nolanus overratus! Magister mentium! Magister mentium! MAGISTER MENTIUM!"

With a flash of blue, the world disappeared.

???

Dipper's eyes blinked open.

He looked around. He saw Mabel Soos standing next to him, but where they were standing was bizarre in how simplistic it was. They stood just outside a grayscale version of the Mystery Shack. An infinite forest was to their backs, while the Shack partially floated over an endless void.

And for some reason, the moon was a giant eight-ball.

Huh.

"What the...?" Soos muttered as the three walked past a broken swing set.

"This is Stan's mind?" Mabel asked.

"I figured there would be more hot old ladies," Soos commented.

"... Remember everyone," Dipper said, trying to move away from THAT topic as fast as he could, "we've got to look out for the triangle guy."

"YEAH, LOOK OUT FOR THE TRIANGLE GUY!"

Mabel gasped as Bill suddenly appeared before them. "It's him! It's the guy! You leave our uncle's brain alone, you isosceles monster!"

At that, Mabel ran at Bill, pulling her fist back into a heavy punch. The triangle rolled his eye, growing bigger than the girl charging him. As she made contact with the living pyramid, Mabel phased through him, vanishing.

Dipper's eyes widened in panic. "Mabel!"

"WAIT," Bill said smiling sadistically. "GIVE IT A SEC."

Bill expanded again, just long enough for Mabel to come charging out of him, striking nothing but air.

"Yah!" Mabel exclaimed, before realizing she'd gotten turned around. "... Wait, what?"

"AH, STAN'S FAMILY, WE MEET AT LAST!" Bill said as he shrunk back to his normal size. "QUESTION MARK, SHOOTING STAR, PINE TREE, I HAD A HUNCH I MIGHT BUMP INTO YOU!"

Without warning a laser shot out of Bill's finger, and ripped a gaping hole through Dipper's chest. The three humans all shouted in horror before Dipper's yells died down. Though not because he lost his lungs. Rather, he stopped screaming because he realized he felt fine.

' Right, not my real body, ' Dipper thought, before looking back to the triangle. "What do you want with our uncle's mind?"

"OH, JUST THE CODE TO THE OLD MAN'S SAFE!" Bill said nonchalantly. "INSIDE THE SHACK IS A MAZE OF A THOUSAND DOORS REPRESENTING YOUR UNCLE'S MEMORIES. BEHIND ONE OF THEM IS A MEMORY OF HIM INPUTTING THE CODE. I JUST NEED TO FIND IT AND GIDEON WILL PAY ME HANDSOMELY!"

"Not if we stop you!" Mabel declared.

Bill laughed as a blue flame began to surround him. "FAT CHANCE! I'M THE MASTER OF MINDS! I EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING RIGHT NOW!"

"That's impossible!" Mabel denied. "No one can guess what I'm thinking!"

Bill snapped his fingers, and two psychedelic nineties boys appeared next to Mabel.

"Whoa, where are we, Craz?" one asked.

"We must be in heaven, Xyler," Craz said, pointing at Mabel. "'Cause I just saw an angel!"

The girl hugged Craz's thigh, the highest she could reach on the giant dude-bro, with a giddy smile. "I'm never letting go of your leg!"

"YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR LEAGUE, KIDS," Bill warned. "TURN AROUND NOW BEFORE YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU MIGHT REGRET. LATER, SUCKERS!"

With that, Bill crashed through the Mind Shack, leaving the group behind.

"We're going in!" Dipper declared with determination, before casting a sidelong glance at his sister. "... Mabel, can we leave those guys out here? Looking at them hurts my eyes..."

"No!" Mabel insisted. "They can help us!"

"Totally!" both neon boys said. "Arm throne!"

Xyler and Craz proceeded to pick Mabel up and carry her in their arms. The girl giggled happily, while her brother facepalmed.

The group walked into the Shack and looked on in awe at the sight. Naturally, the structure was way bigger on the inside than out. There were stairways up, down, and all around the place. Physics seemed to be more of a suggestion than anything else.

Dipper looked at some of the doors. He saw a heavily locked one labeled "Fears". Another had a glowing light creeping out from behind it, with a plank that read "Hopes". And one that-

' Got it, ' Dipper thought, seeing the door that led to Stan's memories. "This way, everyone."

The group stepped into the memories part of Stan's mind. Dipper had hoped it would be something simple, like a series of filing cabinets to look through, but he had no such luck. Inside the room was an even more expansive, yet intricate maze of doors. Some were already open, showing various moments that had happened relatively recently. One showed Stan playing that game show, another was him at the Shack's party night, and another of him being stuck in the stockades during Pioneer Day, to name a few. Dipper wondered is more recent memory doors stayed open naturally, or if these were signs that Bill had already searched them. Either way, they needed to move fast.

"Come on," Mabel said pointing forward, "we've gotta find the code before Bill does!"

"Mabel is talking!" Craz said.

"So rad!" Xyler exclaimed.

"Let's get searching!" Soos proclaimed.

The gang split up to search more doors faster. Dipper looked into one and saw Stan sitting in a prison cell with two other guys.

"Jorge, Rico," Memory Stan said, "you guys are the best Colombian prison friends a fellah could ask for."

"Espero que muera," Jorge said ( T/N: "I hope he dies").

"Sí," Rico agreed ( T/N: "Yes").

' Moving on... ' Dipper thought, closing the door.

While that was happening, Soos opened a door and saw Stan as a door-to-door salesman.

"Sir, would you like to buy a Stan-Vac vacuum?" Memory Stan asked. "Stan-Vac: It sucks more than anything!"

Memory stan got the door slammed in his face.

"Gotta work on that..."

"Nope," Soos said, shutting the door.

Meanwhile, Mabel found a particularly interesting door.

"Whoa," Mabel marveled. "It's Stan's date with Lazy Susan!"

While Mabel proceeded to find out exactly why Stan refused to tell her about that date, Dipper spotted a door labeled "Dipper Memories". Curious, he approached the door and hesitantly peeked inside.

He instantly recognized the scene. It was from a few days ago. Stan had gotten him to go out and chop up a bunch of firewood. Dipper had been a bit annoyed at the time since Stan always seemed to make him do the hard work, but he'd accepted it as a way to stay in shape. Dipper had always wondered why Stan seemed determined to give him the chores that were the most physically grueling, but he'd just kind of rolled with it for the sake of not causing unnecessary issues. Maybe he'd learn something here.

Stan and Soos sat on the porch, watching Dipper as he struck the logs with his axe.

"Dude, Stan," Soos spoke in a low tone, "I've been meaning to ask you. Why are you so hard on Dipper all the time?"

"Look, Soos, I'm gonna let you in on something," Stan responded. "Wanna know what I really think?"

Dipper leaned in to hear what was being said.

"The kid's a punk," Stan whispered. "He's nothing but trouble! I just wanna get rid of him."

Dipper's eyes widened. ' Is that... is that really what Stan thinks of me? '

Hearing that... hurt. More than Dipper would've expected. He hadn't really gotten close to Stan. At least, not like Mabel had. But hearing the admission from Stan himself... Dipper had actually thought he had gained Stan's respect. But apparently, he'd been mista-

"Heh, yeah," Stan said. "Those are all things people said about me when I was a boy."

Dipper blinked. "Huh?"

"When I was a kid, I was a total wimp," Stan explained. "'Til my old man put me through some boxing lessons. I got stronger, and never wanted to go back. Figured if anyone ever tried to hurt me, I'd just hurt them worse. I felt like I was on top of the world. But turns out, when your Plan A for problems is just 'Punch 'em', not a whole lotta people like ya. So I got angry and got into more fights. Pretty soon all I had left was... Well, eventually I didn't have anyone that'd put up with me."

Stan looked off wistfully, before turning back to Soos.

"I see a lot of myself in that kid," Stan said. "Sometimes I worry I see too much of myself. You ever hear about what those two did before gettin' shipped out here?"

"It was like a, uh... a fight, right dude?" Soos asked. "Something about a milk carton."

Stan shuddered. "Don't remind me. Yeesh... Point is, I could save myself a lot of trouble if I'd had a better way to get my anger out. That's why I have Dipper do all this stuff. It's a good way to let off steam, and a way to remember just because you break stuff doesn't mean you can't make stuff too."

At that, Stan gestured to the pile of firewood Dipper had next to him. The memory of the boy took off his letterman, exposing his black sleeveless workout shirt fully. He wiped the sweat off of his brow, a satisfied smile on his face as he grabbed the last log.

"He's a good kid," Stan said. "Smarter than I was at his age, too. He's just been through a lot. When I think about where he came from, I'm actually proud of how good he's turning out. Just... don't ever tell him that. His head is big enough as it is."

Soos laughed. "That's true."

Dipper grinned, closing the door. Maybe his grunkle wasn't so bad. He seemed to have faith in the boy and thought he was clever to boot. Most teachers couldn't get past his reputation, and barely even acknowledged his grades. Several actually accused him of cheating, simply because they didn't think the class delinquent could actually be the smartest kid in class. Knowing that Stan actually recognized he was more than some punk, that he actually believed in Dipper... It felt good.

Wait a minute. Dipper had always said that his mind was his best weapon. And they were actually in the Mindscape. What if...

Dipper focused on the hole Bill had blasted in his chest. He pictured his normal chest, what it looked like, what it felt like. He took in a deep breath and felt the hole in his chest shrink. Another deep breath and it was even smaller. One last deep breath and Dipper was as good as new.

"Heh," Dipper said with a smirk. "How about that."

Dipper's attention was suddenly grabbed by a loud crashing sound in the distance. Face growing determined, the boy rushed off.

Unbeknownst to Dipper, the memory of Stan gained a smile as he ran off, eyeing the closed door next to him.

"Way to use that head of yours," Stan said as he relaxed into his seat. "Go get 'em, kid."

[With Mabel and Soos']

"Sweet Sally!" Mabel exclaimed, slamming a door shut.

"We shall never speak of this again," Soos said with a serious tone. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Mabel said with a nod.

"We've been searching forever!" Soos said (even though it had only been a few minutes). "What if the triangle guy finds the memory before we do?"

"If we wanna find Stan's memory, we gotta think like Stan," Mabel said. "He's always hiding stuff, right?"

"Yeah!" Soos agreed.

"Like..." Mabel thought aloud. "... Liiiiiiiiiike, how he hides his arrest warrants under that rug in the gift shop!"

Mabel ran out in an instant, darting to the rug near the entrance to Stan's memory room. She slid to a stop, yanking the rug off of the ground as she did. Mabel smiled triumphantly as she saw a trapdoor where the carpet had been.

"Soos, this is it!" Mabel exclaimed as Soos, Xyler, and Craz approached.

Mabel opened the door and saw a memory of Stan putting the deed to the Shack into his safe.

"There ya go," Stan said as he closed the safe door. "And now to input the code. Thirteen, forty-four, and finally-"

"We found it!" Mabel said with a fist pump.

"Awesome!" Soos said with his own fist pump.

"But what do we do now?" Xyler and Craz both asked. "Jinx!"

"Let's just destroy the door before Bill can find it," Mabel said.

At that, Mabel saw a suit of armor with a battle-ax. She ran over and grabbed the weapon, and turned to smash the trapdoor.

"Wait!" Soos said suddenly. "Maybe I should do it! My big fat arms are great at destroying stuff!"

"It's fine, Soos," Mabel said. "I got thi-."

"Hey guys!" another Soos said as he walked up to the group. "I just saw a memory of Stan roller skating and wearing short shorts! Didn't look... didn't look that bad!"

It was then that Soos realized that there was another him already with the group.

"Hey," the new Soos said, suspicious, "something weird is goin' on here."

Mabel's face fell. "Uh oh."

At that, the first Soos started laughing as his eyes started glowing blue. The trapdoor lifted off the ground, surrounded by the same blue light. The laughing Soos began changing, body flattening and shrinking, and eyes melding into one.

And just like that, Bill was before them.

"BOY, YOU KIDS SURE ARE GULLIBLE!" Bill laughed. "I KNEW YOU'D LEAD ME STRAIGHT TO THE CODE! AH HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA HAHA! IT'S FUNNY HOW DUMB YOU ARE."

"Hey!" Mabel exclaimed indignantly.

"HEH HEH, THE COMBINATION TO STAN'S SAFE!" Bill said, looking at the door he held with his powers. "BOY, THAT WAS EVEN EASIER THAN I THOUGHT!"

"Give us back that door!" Mabel shouted.

"OH, WELL SINCE YOU ASKED, SURE!" Bill said, before flying off. "LATER, SUCKERS! AH HA HA HA HA!"

Bill zipped quickly away from the group, leaving them in the dust with ease. When he was deeper into Stan's memories, the triangle's bowtie started buzzing. He stopped landing to take the call. He tapped his tie, and the apparel spread out into a screen on him, revealing Gideon's face.

"Y'ELLO?" the yellow pyramid greeted.

"Bill!" Gideon said urgently. "Did you find the memory with the combination yet?"

"RELAX, SHORT STACK," Bill said dismissively. "I GOT IT RIGHT HERE."

Gideon laughed evilly at the news. "Perfect! Now give it to me and we'll finish our bargain."

"FINALLY!" Bill responded. "IT'S- YOU GOT A PEN THERE? IT'S THIRTEEN, FORTY-FOUR-"

Out of nowhere, the trapdoor was knocked out of Bill's hands by a familiar battle-axe.

"Bullseye!" Mabel shouted as she, Soos, Xyler, and Craz ran up to the triangle.

"AH!" Bill exclaimed in surprise as he stumbled after the door. "NO NO NO! WAIT, NO!"

The trapdoor tumbled through another memory door, one of Stan outside the Mystery Shack.

"-and none more bottomless than the bottomless pit!" Memory Stan said. "Which you can see here is bottomless."

As the trapdoor entered the memory, it fell straight into the bottomless pit.

"Whooh!" Memory Stan said. "Whatever that was, it's gone forever! Hope it wasn't important"

"Ha ha!" Mabel laughed. "Boom!"

"Mabel did it!" Xyler and Craz exclaimed.

"The Shack is safe!" Soos shouted triumphantly.

Gideon fumed. "The deal's off!"

"WA-WAIT!" Bill stuttered. "NO! WAIT!"

"I'm switchin' to Plan B!" Gideon said as he cut contact with the triangle.

The yellow in Bill's body shattered, crumbling around him. He suddenly looked at the gang who dared oppose him, body returning in an angry neon red.

" YOU! " Bill shouted, rounding on the group. "YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT YOU JUST COST ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'M LIKE WHEN I'M MAD!?!?! "

Several symbols flashed across Bill's eye, and a ring of red fire surrounded everyone. Suddenly, a giant rock the shape of Stan's head shot up from beneath the floorboards. The group struggled to stay on their feet as the rock shot up into the sky, before eventually stopping. Mabel looked back at Bill and saw that the triangle was growing into a towering size, his shadow looming over the entire platform.

"Huh," Soos said at the sight. "So I guess he gets really mad when he gets mad."

" EAT NIGHTMARES! " Bill howled in his demonic voice.

"Nightmares?" Soos asked. "Hope he doesn't mean that British dog-man I'm always dreaming about..."

And behold, Bill, shot a beam that created a bipedal bulldog in a suit and holding a cane.

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello!" the dog-man said while poking Soos with his cane. "Who's crike for a stick in the pudding?"

"It's everything I've ever feared!" Soos screamed as he ran away.

"YOU!" Bill shouted as he struck Mabel with a bolt of lightning.

Mabel shuddered as she felt her limbs ballooning up. Her muscles vanished, skin swelling until she was little more than a ball of flesh. As she rolled around on the rock, she felt her face bloat as well, her skin turning green as pimples appeared all over her and gaining an impossibly large underbite.

"My cool!" Mabel wailed in a low, distorted voice. "My cuteness! I have nothing left!"

While Mabel proceeded to give new meaning to the phrase "ugly crying", Bill looked at Xyler and Craz.

"YOU'RE NEXT!" the giant shape declared pointing at the figments.

"Cool!" Craz said. "We're next!"

The two imaginary guys started dancing before Bill disintegrated them both with a single shot.

"My dream boys!" Mabel gurgled, voice warping further.

"AND NOW TO FINISH YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Bill shouted as he began charging up red lightning in his finger.

Mabel tried moving, but she could only wave her hands and feet. She tried rolling herself out of the way, but couldn't build up enough momentum. Soos was knocked into her, having been struck by the dog-man's cane. The two looked up in time to see Bill fire right at them. They closed their eyes, bracing for the fatal blow.

And were surprised when it never came.

Both opened their eyes and saw Dipper floating in the air in front of them, holding a building size shield that protected them from Bill's attack.

" WHAT!?! " the dream demon exclaimed in shock.

"Hey, Bill!" Dipper shouted as his shield vanished and a high-tech-looking glove appeared on his hand. "Now we're-!"

The boy threw a punch straight at the titanic triangle, and as he did, his gauntlet grew to an equally titanic size. With a loud shattering sound, Dipper punch a hole right through Bill's center.

"-even!" Dipper finished, making the glove vanish.

Bill let out a pained cry at the injury, unable to believe that he'd actually been attacked.

"Dipper!" Mabel called out.

"Dude!" Soos exclaimed.

Dipper saw their problems, and snapped his fingers. In an instant, Mabel went back to normal, and the British dog-man vanished.

"Guys!" Dipper shouted down at them. "We're in the Mindscape! You can do anything you can imagine!"

"WHAT? WHO TOLD YOU THAT!?" Bill yelled. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"Anything?" Mabel asked, smirking. "Like having super bouncy spring limbs?"

As soon as she said the words, her arms and legs began coiling into springs. She flexed her arms and bent her legs, making sure they still worked right. When she found out they did, she laughed giddily, and shot into the air. She pictured floating rocks for her to bounce off of, and they appeared just in time for her to use. She jumped all around the gargantuan triangle, landing spring-loaded punches and kicks as she zipped around the demon.

Bill growled in frustration, trying to hit Mabel out of the sky, but she was moving too fast. When she flew at him, he created a jello spider web in front of him. Mabel got caught in it, and the jello converged around her, trapping her in a gelatin cube. She tried eating her way out, but immediately spit the stuff out.

"It tastes like grape jelly and mustard!" Mabel sputtered from inside the oddly-flavored prison. "Gross!"

"GOTCHA NOW, YOU LITTLE- ARGH!" Bill shouted as he was cut off by a rainbow colored question mark laser.

"Soos Love Stomach Beam Stare!" Soos shouted, firing the blast from his gut.

While Soos kept Bill busy, Dipper flew over to Mabel's prison. Dipper conjured up a red and purple sword and used it to slice apart the jello.

Mabel wiped the last of the terrible tasting treat off of her, floating alongside her brother.

"Thanks, bro," she said, before looking back to Bill.

"ENOUGH GAMES!" Bill exclaimed, his eye turning into a laser cannon.

"Laser-Proof Fish Bowl!" Mabel shouted.

Just as Bill fired, a giant fishbowl, complete with water, rocks, and a toy castle, dropped over Bill's top corner, covering his eye. When the laser fired, it bounced off the insides of the bowl. It hit Bill and his top hat several, turning them both into swiss cheese before finally dissipating.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Bill shouted, clawing at the bowl.

"I feel like seafood," Dipper said, snapping his fingers. "And I think they see food."

Bill flinched as Dipper's snap created dozens of piranhas in his fishbowl, and they all began eating the triangle.

" AH! AAAAAAAAAAARRGHHH!!! " Bill yelled as they began ripping away at him.

"Rise, Xyler!" Mabel called out. "Rise, Craz!"

The two boys floated up, reforming in the glow of neon stage lights. Craz had a drumset with him, and Xyler had a synthesizer. The two began playing their instruments, and Bill started squirming.

"NO!" Bill cried as the fish continued to eat him. "SYNTHESIZED MUSIC! IT HURTS THE MOST!"

"You like nightmares, Bill!?" Dipper shouted. "Here's one for you! A one-way portal to an empty void of nothingness! C'mon guys!"

The whole gang began focusing on what they wanted, and sure enough, a dark rift appeared below Bill. The triangle started getting sucked into the portal, and his eye widened.

"NO, NO, NO!" Bill shouted. "ENOUGH!!!"

Suddenly, everything vanished. The Mindscape became a white void, with all of the trio's creations vanishing, save the two neon boys. Bill returned to his yellow color, shrinking back down to his regular size, and all his damage recovered in an instant.

"YOU KNOW, I'M IMPRESSED WITH YOU GUYS," Bill said as he brushed of his hat. "YOU'RE MORE CLEVER THAN YOU LOOK. ESPECIALLY THE FAT ONE."

Soos elbowed Mabel, and whispered, "He's talking about you!"

"SO I'M GONNA LET YOU KIDS OFF THE HOOK," Bill continued. "YOU MIGHT COME IN HANDY LATER. BUT KNOW THIS: A DARKNESS APPROACHES. A DAY WILL COME IN THE FUTURE WHEN EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT WILL CHANGE! UNTIL THEN I'LL BE WATCHING YOU! I'LL BE WATCHING YOU... "

With a flash of light, Bill vanished. The gang all looked at each other, confirming everyone was okay. Slowly, as their victory dawned on them, they all broke into a smile. Even Dipper.

"He's gone!" Mabel cheered. "We did it!"

At that moment, the three real people began disappearing.

"Stan must be waking up," Dipper said.

Mabel looked sadly at her two dream boys. "Will I ever see you guys again?"

"In your dreams," Craz said with a soulful nod.

"Good one, bro," Xyler said somberly. "Good one."

And like that, the world blinked out of existence.

[Back in da shack]

Dipper's eyes snapped open. He sat up, rubbing his forehead as he looked around. He was on the floor next to Stan's recliner and saw that Soos and Mabel were each getting up.

Mabel blinked her eyes groggily for a bit, before realizing that they were back. "We did it!"

"What?" Stan grumbled as he woke up. "Did what? What are you all doing here? And why was I dreaming of two brightly colored and radical young men?"

Dipper grinned at the old man and remembered what he'd heard in his memories. "Grunkle Stan?"

"Yeah, kid?" Stan asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What is it?"

"I..." Dipper started. "I-uh... Thanks. Thanks for everything you did for us. Thanks for caring."

Stan blinked, before looking away and laughing awkwardly. "Wh-What, you, ah, turnin' into a sap on me, kid?"

"Just keeping cool," Dipper said. "Using my head. Y'know?"

For a split second, Dipper could've sworn he saw a proud smile on his grunkle's face.

"I got no idea what you're talkin' about," Stan said. "Now help me up outta this thing."

Dipper pulled the old man up, a smile on his face.

"Group hug!" Soos declared, before realizing no one was moving in to take him up on it. "... No? I never know the right time!"

Mabel and Stan started laughing, and even Dipper snickered a bit, but all three were soon cut off by the whole Shack shaking. Without warning, the wall behind the couch exploded, knocking the four back. Dipper brushed some rubble off of him and looked back to see what had happened.

He didn't like what he saw.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pines family," Gideon said as he walked through the new hole in the wall. "Did I wake you?"

"But... we defeated Bill!" Mabel exclaimed, rising to her shaky legs.

"Bill failed me!" Gideon snapped. "So I switched to Plan B: Dynamite!"

"What? Bill? Who?" Stan rambled, wincing at the ringing in his ears. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Spoiler alert, Stanford!" Gideon taunted, dangling a piece of paper in front of the disoriented family. "I've got the deed! The Mystery Shack belongs to me! So get out of my property!"

"Why you-!" Dipper growled, before stumbling forward.

The explosion had thrown him for a loop, and from the feel of things, his body was lethargic after being in Stan's mind. One look at Mabel told him she was having similar issues. They couldn't hope to overpower Gideon like this. Gideon picked up on their weakened states, and his smile grew even wider as he pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"Daddy?" Gideon spoke into the device. "Bring it around the front."

"I don't suppose there's any chance we're still dreaming, is there?" Dipper asked, already knowing the answer.

The group ran out of the building as Bud Gleeful rolled up to the Shack with a wrecking ball, watching helplessly as the Mystery Shack was smashed to pieces.

"Someone pinch me, dude..." Soos said, disbelief all over his face.

The group flinched as a large piece of the Mystery Shack sign crashed to the dirt in front of them.

The twins shared a nervous look with each other.

What would happen to them now?

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Okay, elephant in the room. Those of you who have read Buryooooo's Fight Falls comics may have noticed something... off, about this chapter. Namely being that I went with the canon version of Bill, and not his Fight Falls version. I have several reasons for this.
First, I'm not really a fan of humanoid Bills. Yeah, it makes him look more anime, or whatever, but the bizarreness of Bill's design is part of what I like about him.
On a similar note, the Fight Falls version of Bill uses the "Red Demon" version of the character, and... honestly, I find this version kinda boring. 

PLus I have my own idea I'm trying to spin on dipper's anger form