I have to get out of here.

This was the thought that ran repeatedly through Dipper's head. I have to get out of here. I can't stay here. I have to rescue Mabel.

It was Sunday morning, the thirteenth of January. Mabel had been taken Friday afternoon. The last thirty-six hours had been torture. Dipper was so angry that he could hardly think; and when he did think, it was only about how he could get Mabel back. He stayed away from Pacifica — he would probably murder her, at this point, if he had the chance — but Gideon had been interrogating her about how they could save Mabel. Pacifica wasn't being cooperative in any sense of the word; she was too happy that she'd sent Dipper's sister to her death.

Melody had given Pacifica the parlor as a place to sleep, complete with Ford's air mattress. Pacifica had happily informed them that Ford and Lee had been taken captive by Cipher's servants, so Dipper didn't want to give her anything of Ford's, but Melody had given her the air mattress anyway. Pacifica stayed in the parlor most of the time, which was good: It meant that Dipper didn't have to see her.

Still, the very thought of being in the same building as Pacifica was too much for him. He'd spent most of yesterday outside in the cold, warming his hands with magical heat mushrooms, trying to ignore the voice in his head that wanted to go back inside and strangle Pacifica for ever hurting Mabel.

He was outside now, having just finished breakfast. He stood in the driveway, leaning against Ford's car, staring up at the perpetual night sky. Bright stars splayed across the heavens — different stars than the ones around Earth. Dipper had never realized how well he knew the stars in his own sky until they had disappeared. Being under this new, unfamiliar sky just made everything worse.

It was beautiful, though. Mabel would love it.

His gaze moved sadly across the sky. There, hovering high above the forest, was a dark blue sphere. It gave off light, like their own little moon, though it appeared bigger and brighter than the moon that orbited Earth. Its light cast the town and the forest in a constant twilight; Dipper could see by it, though it was dim enough to be less than ideal.

Along its surface were jagged lines that glowed a brighter blue than the rest of the moon. They seemed like cracks in a glass ball, ready to give way in a brilliant explosion. But nothing exploded; the moon just floated there silently.

Among the random lines was the outline of a pine tree. Mabel's symbol.

She was in there.

"Morning, Mabel," Dipper said softly, speaking to the blue moon. "Gideon is still trying to get information from Pacifica on how to save you. But I don't think she knows anything about undoing what she did. She probably never asked Bill, and he probably never told her. Why would he?" he added bitterly. Then he sighed. "I'm going to figure out a way. I promise. I'll get out of here, and I'll come find you. Just. . . hang in there."

He realized his unintentional pun and grimaced at the moon, which was hanging in the sky. "Sorry, Mabes, I wasn't trying to joke around. I know. . . I know there's probably not a lot of time. I won't make you wait long."

He stared at the moon for a few minutes. What was going on in there? Was Mabel in pain? Was she even conscious? Did she know what was going on? Could she see the beautiful, terrible, unfamiliar sky?

The stars suddenly went out, disappearing in an instant. Only the moon, with its blue light, remained. Dipper's breath caught in his throat.

A minute later, stars appeared again in the sky. They weren't the same stars.

A chill raced through Dipper's body, and it had nothing to do with the cold winter air around him. They were in a new dimension. The new stars were the only indication; Dipper couldn't feel any movement beneath his feet, and he didn't know what it felt like to move between dimensions. Only the ever-shifting sky showed that anything was moving at all.

What number was this? How many dimensions had they moved through? Dipper had already lost count, although they'd started moving less than two days before. The stars periodically disappeared and reappeared, and their light was so miniscule that Dipper really only noticed the change when he was outside. If the sky changed this often, how many dimensions did they have to pass through before they reached Bill's dimension? Dipper had no idea.

He also had no desire to find out.

"Dipper," someone said.

Dipper turned to see Gideon walking towards him. "Hey," said Dipper. "Any breakthroughs?"

"Not really, but I still want to talk to you." Gideon came up to the car, then glanced to the side. "Let's go back inside."

"Why?"

Another glance to the side. "I don't want anyone to hear us."

Dipper followed Gideon's gaze. In the distance were silhouettes of people forming a ring around the Museum. Gideon was looking at one person in particular, who seemed to be staring right back at them.

"Oh, right," said Dipper. "Those guys. Yeah, we can head inside." He squinted in the dim light from Mabel's moon. "Hey, is that Tyler?"

Gideon looked again. "Tyler Whittaker? Looks like him. We're being guarded by some of Cipher's servants and some Order members."

For a moment, Dipper and Tyler locked eyes across the yard. Or, it seemed like they locked eyes. Dipper couldn't actually see where Tyler was looking, given the distance and low light, but he thought the man was looking at him. The last Dipper had seen Tyler, they had been down in the Order on the night that Ford retrieved his first Journal. And now Tyler was here, guarding the Mystery Museum, trapping the Symbols inside, ready to aid Bill Cipher in killing them one by one.

Dipper looked away. "Let's go," he said to Gideon.

The boys went inside and headed up to the attic. The lights were low, almost dimmer than the blue moonlight outside. When the township had started moving, the power had gone out. The Pines had glowfly lanterns from the minotaurs and fire lanterns from the Order; and generators still worked, thankfully, but it meant that everything was running at low power. Luxuries Dipper had never thought about — like two people using different appliances at the same time — were no longer available.

Once in Dipper's room, the boys sat side by side on Dipper's bed. Waddles the pig had been dozing on Dipper's bed, but now he moved and let Dipper sit beside him. Gideon, still wary of the pig, sat on the other side of Dipper.

Across the room, Mabel's half-made, empty bed mocked them.

"I have an idea," Gideon said. "I don't know if it'll work, but it's the best idea I've gotten so far."

"Yeah?" said Dipper. "What's that?"

"My amulet," Gideon said. "I can fly with it, so I could make it up to Mabel's moon. And I can probably work some kind of magic to get Mabel out, though I don't actually know what I'd do. But I could at least try."

Dipper frowned. "But your amulet is up at the Manor."

Gideon nodded. "And we're currently trapped in here by Cipher's servants, I know. But we should make a plan to go up to the Manor and get my amulet and rescue Ford and Lee."

"Ford and Lee? Are they up at the Manor?"

"I think so," Gideon said. "The way Pacifica was talking, at least. I don't know where else the servants would take them."

"The Order headquarters?"

"Maybe, but the servants caved in the passage between the Order and the Manor, remember? I think Cipher has moved his base of operations to the Manor. Plus, when I asked Pacifica about your uncles, she said something like, 'They're perfectly safe up there.' That sounds like they're up on a hill like the Manor is."

The thought of getting Gideon's amulet and rescuing Dipper's grunkles was a great one. "So what would we have to do?"

"We'd have to get out of here and get to the Manor without getting caught," Gideon said. "Then we'd have to get inside the Manor. The power outage would have disabled the security systems, but we have generators, so they might've turned some of it back on. I don't know how much security will be up there."

"How much security do you usually have?"

"Enough that we wouldn't even get on the grounds without getting caught," Gideon said.

"So we could be dealing with anything from no security at all to enough security that it's impossible to get in?"

"No, there'll be security no matter what. Even if there's no power to the Manor, you can't underestimate Cipher's servants. A lot of those guys are ex-military or ex-convicts. They could beat both of us in a fight without breaking a sweat."

Dipper remembered the cold, unfeeling eyes of the servants he'd seen in the past. He definitely didn't want to go up against one of them.

But he would for Mabel.

"Okay, so assume we get in," he said. "Then what? Do you know where your amulet is?"

Gideon shook his head. "I have a general idea of where my father keeps it when he takes it from me, but I don't know specifics. And it might not be there; Bill might've moved it."

Dipper scowled. Right. If Lee was in the Northwest Manor, then Bill Cipher was in the Northwest Manor, too. The demon could possess Dipper's grunkle at any time. Bill would likely be giving the servants instructions from Lee's body.

"And," Gideon added wearily, "now that I've said that, he probably will move it. We can plan all we want, but Bill is going to know about it."

"Does he know what we're thinking even when he's in Lee's body?"

"I don't think so, but I'm sure he can look through our memories whenever he wants. So even if he's in Lee's body right now, he'd be able to hear our plan later. And I doubt he'd stay in Lee's body all the time, since he needs to spy on us." Gideon rubbed at his eyes. "This feels pretty hopeless, honestly. How are we supposed to save Mabel if Bill knows our every move?"

Dipper didn't have a response to that. It was exactly the terrifying thought that he'd been trying to ignore for the past two days.

"We should still make a plan, though," Gideon said. "There isn't a better option. We just have to try anyway."

"Maybe we should leave the plan vague," Dipper said, "and decide the specifics in the moment. So that Bill doesn't know what we're going to do until we do it."

Gideon hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "We can come up with a couple different options for things, I guess." He took a deep breath and steered the conversation back to its original track. "So, if we get in the Manor, we have to find my amulet. And Ford, and Lee. Then we'd have to get all three out of the Manor, somehow managing to get Lee out before Bill possesses him and sabotages us. Then the three of you would come back here while I go after Mabel."

That didn't sound right. "Wait, why wouldn't I come with you?" Dipper demanded.

"Because my amulet can only carry one person at a time," Gideon said. "I wouldn't be able to fly you up there."

Dipper stared at him in shock. He'd never imagined that he couldn't go after Mabel himself. "But — I have to get Mabel. She needs me!"

"I can't take you," Gideon said with a shake of his head. "Sorry."

Dipper forced down his instinctive anger. Gideon's not deliberately trying to exclude you, Dip. It's okay.

But. . . he had just assumed that he'd be the one to go after Mabel. Did he trust Gideon enough to help her? Gideon had hurt her in the past. . . .

Dipper looked sideways at Gideon. "Why didn't you just go after your amulet by yourself, if you knew I couldn't come with you to get Mabel?"

Gideon hesitated. "I considered it," he admitted. "It'd probably be easier to sneak around if it was just me. But. . . when I thought about it. . ." He looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I knew you'd want to help me. And it'd be helpful to have someone to plan with. And who knows if the servants have hurt your uncles? Someone needs to be there to help them home, just in case."

Dipper nodded, a small smile coming onto his face. "Thanks for thinking of me. I'd be really, really mad at you if you left without me."

"Right," said Gideon. His face was a little pink, as if he were embarrassed to be caught thinking about other people's feelings.

Dipper rubbed Waddles' ears in silence for a moment. "Well," he said, "I hate the idea that I can't come with you to Mabel's moon. But I'll help you get your amulet."

"And your uncles."

"And my grunkles," Dipper agreed. "Should we bring anyone else with us? Danny would be able to fight those servants, I bet."

Gideon pursed his lips and shook his head. "We're not trying to fight. We're trying to sneak around. The more people we bring, the more noticeable we'll be. It should just be us. If we tell anyone, they'll probably try to come along, or even stop us."

Dipper thought about that. Would Melody try to stop them? She was basically in charge of the Museum with Ford gone (and probably while he was here, too), and Dipper didn't know how much risk she'd want to take. But she wanted to get Mabel back, too. Surely she'd see how important this was.

"I think we should at least tell Melody," he said.

Gideon flinched, just a tiny bit. "She's the worst person to tell. She'd definitely try to stop us."

"She's reasonable," said Dipper. "She could help us. So could everyone else. Only the two of us should go, I agree, but we should all work together."

Gideon hesitated. Dipper knew he didn't like the idea of cooperating with that many people, but they'd need everyone's support. Finally, "Let's make a plan together first," said Gideon, "and then I guess we can tell Melody. But we're not asking for permission — just support."

"Right," Dipper said. "Sounds good."

"Do you have a notepad?"

"Uh, Mabel might."

Dipper went over to her side of the room. His heart started beating faster just being near her space. He rummaged through her things, which were scattered around her side of the room, and couldn't find a notepad. He couldn't find anything except—

"Oh, no," he said softly.

"What is it?"

He held it up. "Her sketchbook. She loves to draw. And — now she doesn't have—" His voice cut off with the sudden lump in his throat.

Gideon looked at Dipper sadly. "We can take it to her," he said. "She. . . she'll get it back." He didn't sound as strangled as Dipper, but he still sounded emotional.

"Right," Dipper whispered. He stared at the sketchbook for a moment longer before taking a deep breath and setting it on Mabel's bedside table.

"Do you know where I might find a notepad and pen? I think Pacifica's eating breakfast right now, so I can go downstairs to get them."

Dipper shuddered. He didn't want to be anywhere near Pacifica. So he told Gideon about the drawer in the kitchen where Melody kept things like pens and paper and such, and Gideon left. Waddles got up and followed him out.

The next minute was uncomfortable. Dipper usually liked the attic room — it was nice and cozy, with the occasional spider friend. But now that his sister wasn't here to share it with him, it felt like a stuffy prison. If there were space anywhere else in the Museum, he'd sleep somewhere else; but the house was already pretty full, since the Corduroys and the Valentinos were staying here along with Gideon, Pacifica, and Fidds.

Gideon returned, a notepad and pen in hand. He sat next to Dipper and clicked the pen. "Okay. Let's get started. What are the steps we need to go through before we can rescue Mabel?"

Dipper pulled his focus in. Finally. Finally, he could make plans to rescue his sister. He glanced once more at Mabel's empty bed, then turned to Gideon.

Time to brainstorm.