"Okay, will someone PLEASE tell me what is going on?" Mabel asked, throwing her hands up in frustrated confusion. Ida turned around and glared at her, "Havin' a moment here!" She scolded, narrowing her eyes at Mabel.

The latter looked nervous but narrowed her eyes right back at the ghost. Ford crossed his arms. "I side with Mabel on this." He said, his voice failing to sound brave. "Cipher, you're an uncontrollable demon with a heart of stone. Miss. Micheals, you're a stubborn, brainwashed child that needs help." He said.

There was a silence within the group, but then, Ida couldn't seem to help it. She started to laugh.

"Poindexter, do you think you can ACTUALLY scare me? Stanford, I am scared of NOTHING. And I know EVERYTHING that keeps you up at night." Her voice was dangerously low and quiet. "And you think you can scare me."

Dipper carefully backed up, grabbing onto Mabel's sleeve to pull her away. There was no way this scene was going to end in a good way.

Ida pointed accusingly at the man. "You will not take away the only being in my life that has treated me like I was someone with worth." She demanded, stepping forward. Ford, getting nervous, clenched his fists.

She smiled, her purple eye dark and cold.

Dipper stepped forward, holding my breath nervously and keeping his tin back. "Okay, we won't capture you or anything," He said. "Dipper! What are you-" The boy quickly cut Ford off, "BUT. We want some answers and assurance that something like what happened last year will never happen again."

Ida looked up at the demon, who seemed to be actually taking that into consideration. "Our plan..." She whispered.

"W-wait, you BOTH were planning Weirdmageddon?" Ford sputtered in shock. The Pines were shocked, not quite knowing how to respond to that.

Ida glanced at the family. "You lost planet privileges a long while ago." She hissed. Her stance contrasted with what she said and how she spoke. It was neat, polite, almost meek. Still a child. Her hands were sweetly clasped together. Her posture was straight and she held her chin up. It was almost scary how proper she appeared outwardly, paired with every word coming out of her mouth.

"And just imagine, a world where logic means nothing! Where reality itself can be twisted and bent however someone pleases! Doesn't that sound wonderful? I mean, not for the ones that will be punished for their actions, but the ones that deserve control!" She continued, animating with her hands in excitement.

"I'd prefer if we had logic, thank you very much." Grunkle Ford said defensively. "It's the only thing keeping everything from falling apart."

"Well, if ya rely on logic that much, it's just depressing." Ida retorted, shrugging.

"Artistic type, are you?" He responded rhetorically. "What gave it away?" Ida spat back. Dipper and Mabel felt as if they'd need to hold at least one of them back from trying to punt the other further into the woods.

Bill was quiet, trying to take in everything that was happening. That was when he heard him. The one that made him go back on my plan to not hurt any Innocents.

A demon's demon.

"What are you doing? Just standing there like an idiot?" He growled in Bill's own mindscape. "Forget the kid, William!" He demanded.

"Flintgold, you stay out of this," Bill thought back, his internal thoughts starting to pound at his skull. Holy Axolotl, how did humans deal with this every day?

"You're a fool. You always have been, always will be." Flintgold laughed. Bill could feel himself starting to shake, his pupil contracting as he stared at the ground.

He shouldn't be scared. He was a Dream Demon. He shouldn't be this way.

"You know, maybe if you weren't such an idiot, none of this would've happened. Maybe she wouldn't have died."

"Stop it."

"Maybe you wouldn't have gone back on that stupid plan to not hurt 'Innocents'." He said the last word in a condescending tone.

"I told you to stop. I'll exorcize you myself, damnit."

"Maybe you wouldn't have accidentally burned down everything at home. Maybe you wouldn't have killed her. Maybe you wouldn't have killed them. Your family. It's your fault."

His last statement nearly stopped Bill's heart. My lungs failed to work for a moment, and, even though he didn't need the air, he took in a gasp to breathe.

Ida turned to face the demon, concern in her eyes. "Mr. Bill, are you alright?" She asked gently. He dropped to my knees to be at her eye level. Bill was shaking as he attempted to face her. The one person who didn't seem to just see a demon behind his eye.

"Ida, I've made a huge mistake," he whispered, trying to hold back every painful emotion in his voice. Her face was calm and her eyes were understanding. She carefully put one of her hands on his head. "I know. I forgave you. We can make things right, I know we can." She promised.

She knew that he'd hurt them. He couldn't help when he did. Every scream sounded like the thousands of Dream Demons'. Flintgold reveled in that.

He wanted to stop the fire, but he couldn't control that monster, or hold him back. Bill wanted to stop hurting everyone in his takeover, but he wouldn't let him do that either.

Bill pulled her into another hug, his heartbeat relaxing in relief. The demon glanced up at the Pines family.

Confusion was all he saw.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore, Sixer," He whispered. "A-and why should I believe you!? After all you did!?" He responded, his voice loud. Afraid.

PTSD.

"Sixer, I know I messed up. But if you just listen, there are a few things I need to expl-" Ford cut Bill off, "I'm done with your 'explanations' and 'deals', Cipher!" He quickly pulled out the energy gun in his holster.

Bill felt Ida's grip on him tighten. He fired it, and quick as lightning, the demon raised my hand.

Teal magic consumed the fire of energy the gun had released. Bill had quickly shifted his friend to his side to protect her, just in case. There was a moment of silence as they all stared at him. That was when Bill saw red.

"Are you crazy!?" He snapped, standing up and clenching his fists. "You could've hit her! She can still get hurt, you freakin' moron!" The demon continued.

Ford tried saying something, but Bill wasn't done yet. "What if I hadn't moved fast enough!? Or better yet, what if I accidentally reflected it and it hit one of them!?" He motioned angrily to Dipper and Mabel standing right next to their grunkle.

"What would've happened then!? I get you're angry and scared and stressed and probably in need of therapy! But holy Axolotl, are you actually insane!? Would you please just LISTEN!?" I finished. There was a brief moment of calm as Bill tried to relax.

The demon looked over to Ida, "You okay, kiddo?" He asked, seeing her clearly startled by the yelling. She nodded, clearing her throat. She released herself from his sleeve and walked over to Ford, carefully ducking below the still-frozen energy blast. She smiled pleasantly as she looked at the family. She pointed to Sixer. "You get therapy," she pointed to Stanley, "you get therapy," she pointed to the twins, "you two especially get therapy." She put her hands in her jacket pockets. "And will someone, for the love of great God, PLEASE ask questions instead of throwing around accusations? I hate accusations! They're stupid!"

Bill managed a slight chuckle. He then noticed Ida's rabbit plush strewn to the side and picked it up. Couldn't have her losing that.

Dipper stood up straight from his awful posture and looked at Ida bravely. "Alright, let's just ask some questions then."

Meanwhile

I coughed, the pollen around me nearly suffocating me. I removed my glasses and began rubbing the yellow powder off the lenses. "Stupid pollination." I grumbled, taking a moment to wipe my watery eyes with my dark blue sleeve. I suddenly heard a crunch nearby. Something stepping on a twig or bug. "Spruce? Is that you?" I asked, not looking up.

I heard a voice whispering desperate apologies to whatever he'd stepped on. 'A bug, then.' I thought. I suddenly stopped, listening to the voice carefully. It sounded older, more grown, but it was undeniably still HIS voice. But, how? Wasn't he...

I didn't want to think about it or believe it, but there was something inside of me that knew. I scrambled to put back on his glasses and stood as the footsteps approached my tiny camp.

It was him.

Impossible, yet it was happening.

My mind raced for answers and logic in all this, but found none.

He looked up and saw me. We both stood in confusion and awe.

His olive complexion contrasted nicely with his dark red and black hair, which was tied back, his bangs looking shabby and unkempt. His gray and red eye patch was tied to his face, and his eye was deep maroon with a black slit pupil. He was wearing his red and black suit and his long, dark cape that she'd made for him.

He stared at me in shock. I looked down at myself to make sure I didn't have any stains on my own dark blue and black suit. All for first impressions, I assume. Ha, "first". Far from that. My dark skin was sunburned on the arms and forehead, where I'd tied my bangs back to make it easier to see. I had tied one of my torn sleeves across my left eye to hide it. My right eye, deep blue with a slit pupil like his, glistened in the Sun. My own suit was neat and slightly dusty. The cloak she'd made for me was wrapped around my waist.

I laughed awkwardly at seeing him. "H-hey there." I greeted him, motioning for him to come closer. He might've been three years older than me, but he seemed meek and anxious, like a child. I smiled nervously, "Hey, man, I don't bite. It's been a while, hasn't it?" I asked. He nodded, seeming to get a minor grasp on what was even happening.

He walked over nervously and sat down next to me in front of the fish I'd just caught and was planning the cook. I wasn't the greatest at it, since I kept getting scared of the fire, but fish could be eaten raw anyway. "I bet you're hungry," I said, trying to keep away any awkward silence. "Y-yea." He responded. I heard his voice again. Without a doubt, that was him.

Unfortunately, I wasn't any better at making conversation than he was, so we just ate cuts of the fish. It was delicious. When we finished, I cleared my throat to get his attention. "So, how have you been?" I asked. Stupid question. Who asks that kind of question after something like what we went through? Was I an idiot or something?

"I've been... okay." He said quietly, staring down at his feet.

Okay, small talk obviously wasn't going to work for him.

Either he'd become completely socially inept or he was in shock. "Alright, let's cut to the chase. How the actual hell are you alive?" I asked. He seemed caught off guard, looking at me nervously. He seemed to be wondering if I was mad. "I don't honestly know." He said, getting a bit less quiet. He seemed relieved to be able to talk about what happened.

"One minute, I'm standing in an alley, about to get consumed by," he paused, looking nervous again. Memories seemed to flood his eye. "Y'know, it." He managed to say. I nodded understandingly. "The next, the floor opens beneath me and I'm thrown into another world!" He said, throwing his hands up.

He took a moment to relax. "What happened to you?" He asked. "Same thing kinda happened to me, but I just was thrown across a bunch of different dimensions. I ended up here a few months ago and haven't really left the woods." I sighed a little, stretching a bit and looking up at the sky. He looked at me, pressing his mouth closed to keep it from quivering. I became worried, "You okay, man?" I asked gently. To my surprise of who he once was, he hugged me.

"I'm so so sorry, brother..." He whispered, his voice wavering painfully. I didn't understand, not knowing how to comprehend him hugging me. Him. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. "I... Brother, I forgave you a long time ago." I whispered, smiling gently. He smiled back, attempting to not cry. "Still, are you okay?" I asked, pulling away and leaning back. "No, Benjamin, I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown." He laughed.

"You okay?" He asked. "Not at all, Zace." I responded, smiling and leaning forward. There was a small silence between us. Then I said, "Dude, how do you think we even got out of the f-... fi-..." I attempted to say the last word, but Zace nodded knowingly and said, "Fire?" I sighed, "Yea, how did we get out?"

We thought for a moment. "Do you think Father had anything to do with it?" He asked, staring up at the sky. I looked at him, a look of consideration in my eyes. "I... I mean..." I looked up at the sky with him. "Honestly... I think he might've..."

"Do you think the others could have survived?" He whispered. I took in a deep breath, "I really... really hope so." I stood up, "I feel a presence, brother." I said. He stood up as well, "I do, too."

We looked at each other, "Mother."