Dipper wanted to ignore them. He didn't really know them anyway, he'd just seen them around town. He tore his gaze away from the survivors and rested his eyes on the walls.

Those people were ones he saw during the mayoral debate, at restaurants, stuff like that. Dipper knew that the henchmaniacs love to gossip as much as they love to enact chaos—he just didn't know that they would gossip about him. It felt weird to him. How many other people know about him?

Bill listened to the demons who brought the humans in patiently beside him. A few moments later, Bill ordered, "Just put them away for now. We'll see what to do with them later."

Dipper looked at the citizens again. They were looking directly at him. Dipper snarled a bit.

You're not killing them, are you?

No. Not unless I give myself a reason to kill them. I'm not the monster you make me out to be, you know.

I don't—

Don't even deny it. Dipper slid his eyes over to Bill, who was lazily lounging his chin against a fist against the arm of his stone throne.

Dipper sighed and leaned against the back of the throne. He returned his attention back to the room. The henchmaniacs were finally socializing again.

Then the room exploded in purple light.

He hasn't seen that light since he and Bill were in Rome that one time and he recognized it all too well—

"Strange!" Bill hissed, immediately standing up from the throne. Dipper stood as well. Bill shoved Dipper behind him and Dipper wanted to slap him and say, I can protect myself! But before he could...

"Bill Cipher. Finally, I've been able to hang out with you after all these years!" Dipper panicked as he could not see Tad, as there was purple smoke surrounding him and Bill at all sides. Bill grabbed Dipper's arm hard. Dipper knew he meant well but he was too shaken to complain.

"You were banished to that cell in the Nightmare Realm for a reason!" Exclaimed Bill, lighting a fire in his hand and waving it around, hoping to find a way out of this purple abyss. "What do you want? I have nothing to give you."

"Him."

Dipper froze. Bill froze. The demon's grip tightened on his arm. "You're not getting him. No one owns him except himself."

"As I recall," the voice purred, "You own him."

"I don't own him," Bill talked fast. "That was just the deal." Dipper wanted to nod but his body stayed still.

"Good. At least I'm not stealing anyone's property..." Before Dipper knew it, his mind was being attacked. He cried out and fell to his knees, holding his head.

The wall—the wall. Tad couldn't and wouldn't get past his mental barrier. Dipper's brow scrunched up in concentration as he felt those claws trying to dig into his mind. So he sent out his own. His own larger, darker talons and drove it into Tad's without warning. Then he felt Tad leave his mind. Dipper sighed with relief.

"Seems like you taught him well."

Bill whirled around to Dipper and helped him to his feet. "Pine Tree," he said urgently. "I need you to run. I will teleport you out of here and you need to run as far away from the Fearamid as possible. I'll catch up with you later."

"But I—"

And then he was alone in the woods. No purple smoke, no Tad. Not now at least.

Run.

Dipper did. He ran and didn't stop until his lungs and body were burning and when he was struggling to breathe. If he were still a human, then he would probably be in Tad's claws by now. Owned by him.

Dipper Pines wasn't owned by anyone. Not even by Bill.

He stopped a good distance away from the Fearamid. He looked back—it was just a little triangle in the sky from here. He could see that purple smoke. This was a good place to stop until he catches his breath.

He was about to start running again until he looked back at the Fearamid one last time...the smoke was not there anymore. He looked ahead of him.

Purple smoke was hurtling right toward him.

run, run, RUN!

Dipper took off and didn't stop. He ran as fast as he could and his demon abilities helped him to dodge trees, roughish roots and plants, and to just run.

That's when his senses, at last, betrayed him and he tripped.

He simply tripped and that was enough for the purple smoke to engulf him entirely.

"Hello, young thing."

"NO!" Bill.

Yellow light, like the sun, broke through the smoke. He heard Tad yelling. The smoke disappeared and Dipper was released.

He coughed for breath and he looked up. He gasped when he saw him for the first time: Tad Strange.

What he noticed first was how tall he was. He was even taller than Bill, who was a good few inches taller than Dipper himself. He was wearing a black bowler's hat on top of straight black hair with a purple hue that he almost failed to miss. He was wearing nice clothes similar to Bill's, but more nice and...purple.

He was kneeling on the ground for a moment, but the next, he was standing up. He spat out blood and looked up and down at Bill and Dipper felt a wave of frustration and wariness. What was Tad going to say next? What is he going to do? Why won't he stop looking at Bill?

"I see you've got a meatsack as well, Cipher," he countered, oh so casually as he summoned a black umbrella in his gloved hands.

Bill began to snarl. Dipper was still on the ground and he was too shaken to get back up, but not much so that he couldn't speak. "What do you want, Strange?" Bill spat his name like a curse.

"What?" Tad drawled, his head tipped to the side. He reminded Dipper of a cat who stalks up to its prey and then strike when the poor creature least expects it. "Can I not visit one of my demon friends every once in a while?"

"You were never my friend. You've established that years ago, especially when you attack my real friend, turned me human, then waltzed into my castle like it was your home."

Dipper tried his hardest not to blush. Bill, careful, Dipper could see Tad's shoulders tense.

Don't worry, Pine Tree, I know what I'm about, Bill said back to him. How could he keep the situation so light when they were probably about to die?! Bill began to walk now. In a circle—he was circling Tad.

One of the purple demon's eyebrows rose. "You certainly know how to argue," he purred, starting to walk as well. Dipper kept his back to the tree. Strange turned around and rested his odd eyes on Dipper and he tried not to stiffen but failed miserably. "Hm. Seems you—"

FLASH!

Bill struck. He struck with yellow light that was so bright that it was like Bill's power was the sun itself and Dipper had to shield his eyes. Then the light went away. Dipper peeled his hand from his eyes and he saw Bill holding a hand out for him.

Dipper took Bill's hand and got up, but they didn't let go.

Tad was gone.

"Not forever," Bill said, appearing to have read his thoughts even though Dipper had his shield up, "Not for long. I got rid of him for now, the same way I did the last time, but it won't be for long. I really need to up the Fearamid's defenses."

Dipper hummed in agreement.

"Seriously, that demon is like a little bug," Bill muttered. "So annoying." He teleported them back to home and gathered the henchmaniacs up to come up with a plan to upgrade their defenses. Then, after that, Dipper went for a walk through the Fearamid's dark and rainbow halls.

Found/Tonight and More Than Survive kept getting stuck in my head at the end of writing this part, smh. At the same time. "For foreverrrrrrrrr—c-c-cOME ON, C-C-COME ON, GO GO"
-Hawk