"Dipper, hurry!" Crashing of trees echoed through the forest as the twelve-year-old twins rushed towards the Mystery Shack, followed by a giant constructed of gnomes. Dipper was lagging behind, trying to find a solution to their problem in the journal. Looking up, he noticed how far behind her was, as well as how close the creature was to him. He let out a high pitched scream, snapping the journal shut, cramming it into his vest, and jetting forward in an attempt to catch up with his sister.

As he did so, the giant gnome picked up the pace as well, not wishing to lose an inch on the boy. Once Dipper finally caught up with Mabel, the monster was mere feet behind them. Thrusting its arm downwards, it attempted to hit the twins, only to miss by less than a foot. As it did so, it slowed down, allowing the kids to gain a few extra feet between them. Once again, Dipper yanked out the journal, rapidly flipping to the page about gnomes. But he wasn't watching where he was going, so he didn't spot the large root sticking out of the path ahead of him. It snagged onto his foot, dragging him down to the ground, knocking the wind right out of his lungs.

"Dipper!" called Mabel from a few yards ahead, whipping around and sprinting back to her brother. Upon reaching his side, she pulled him to his feet, getting a moan of pain and complaint in return. Without another word, she gripped his arm, yanking him forward, hoping that they were still far ahead of the gnomes. Finally, the shack came into view, so Mabel ran faster, dragging her breathless twin behind her.

Once they came upon the door, Mabel pulled Dipper inside, before slamming it shut behind them. A smile crossed her face, knowing that they were finally free of the long, exhausting chase. But it faded as soon as she noticed that Dipper had collapsed against the door, his eyes squeezed shut in pain as wheezing sounds escaped his throat every time he tried to drag in a deep breath of air.

"Dipper?" she asked, her voice full of concern. "Are you ok?" Taking a good look at him, she noticed that he was covered from head to toe with scratches and bruises. He was also filmed with dirt, and had large scrapes and his hands and knees from the the fall that appeared to be on the verge of bleeding.

"Y-yeah," he replied breathlessly. "Just...a little...banged up...and out...of breath."

"You sure?" Mabel asked, unsure if he was lying or not. He nodded in reply, too out of breath to speak another word. "Ok, wait here." Dipper didn't even question why he should as his sister sped off, mostly because he wasn't planning on moving anyways. Meanwhile, Mabel rushed up the stairs, into their room. Getting onto her hands and knees, she rummaged around under her bed for the medical kit she kept there for emergency purposes. Seconds later, she had it in hand, while rushing back down the stairs and back to Dipper.

Like she had instructed, he had stayed there. By then, his wheezing had died down, and he was breathing more normally. The bad news was that blood was seeping out of the scrapes on his knees and hands, as well as from a few cuts on his arms and legs, slowly trailing downwards. Sitting down next to him, Mabel opened the medical kit, and pulled out disinfectant stuff, cotton balls, a wipe, and a ton of bandaids.
Dipper saw what she was doing, and gratefully allowed her to continue. One by one, she wiped off the cuts, dabbed them with disinfectant, and placed a specific bandaid over them depending on the size. Her brother would wince in pain every once in awhile, but kept silent. When she was done, Mabel stepped back, and gave her brother a toothy grin, her braces shimmering in the light.

"Thanks," said Dipper, smiling back at his sister. He finally decided to get up, pain shooting up his arms and legs as he did so. Mabel shot him a concerned glance, which he replied with, "I'm fine. Just hurts a little." As he stepped forwards, he squeezed his eyes shut once again at the pain. "Or, a lot," he rephrased.

"You need any help?" asked his sister.

"No, I got it," he said, slightly limping as he walked forwards. "I'm gonna go lie down and read for a while until the pain wears off." He then left for the living room, leaving Mabel behind. A grin passed over her face as she quickly thought of a "genius" idea.

"I think I know how I can get Dippy to feel better!" she exclaimed happily to no one in particular, before rushing off to begin the plan she was so sure would work.
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It was nice having Mabel around before when she was being helpful, but now he wished she'd just leave him alone. Dipper sat on the couch, still trying to read the journal. Within a minute, the peace was disturbed when Mabel burst into the room, holding her confetti cannon. A psychotic grin was stretched across her face as she ran over to him.

Putting the book down on his lap and holding up his arms defensively, he said, "No. Please no more confetti." The room was already littered with it, since she had already fired that cannon at him thirteen times since they got back.
"It's not confetti," said Mabel, grin widening, which shouldn't have been possible. Aiming it at her brother, Mabel pulled the trigger. A tornado of glitter burst out of the barrel, coating Dipper and everything around him in a layer of rainbow colored sparkles. Looking down at the journal, he saw that it was completely filmed with the stuff.

"MABEL!" he screamed angrily, jumping to his feet. "Do you have ANY IDEA how long it is going to take to clean this out of the journal?!?!"

"Oh, come on bro bro. I bet it's fine," she replied, happily reaching her hand her hand behind behind the doorframe. "Now, get ready for the..." She paused dramatically, pulling out a stick that was all too familiar to Dipper. "FUN STICK!" Rushing forwards, she jabbed the end of the stick into her brother multiple times, ignoring his complaints. Finally, he had had enough.

"STOP!" he yelled, snatching the stick from Mabel's hands. "I have HAD IT with the fun stick!" With that said, he proceeded to snap it over and over, diminishing it into a handful of twigs. As he did this, Mabel's expression had changed from happy to one of horror as her now crushed stick was thrust into the ground by her enraged brother. He then stormed out of the room, holding the journal that was still drenched in glitter, much like himself.

He walked out the front door, attempting to rid himself of the sparkly specks that clung to his clothing as he walked. But when he was only a few feet from the door, a wave of guilt passed over him as he realized what he had done. Not only did he yell at his sister, but he also crushed her "fun stick", and her spirits, all when she was trying to do something nice for him. Yeah, her things had been annoying, but that's what she always does, and he overreacted. Feeling horrible at what he had done, he rushed back, only to find that Mabel wasn't there.

"Mabel!" he called out, searching the shack for his twin. "Mabel! Where are you?" He didn't see her again until that night, when they were eating dinner. Dipper wanted to apologize to her, but he couldn't find the words, especially when he saw how upset she was. Mabel on the other hand was furious at her brother for destroying her stick, poking at her food while glaring at her twin from time to time. Stan however was completely oblivious to the tension as he tried to start a conversation.

"So, how was your day," he asked, looking at the two. Mabel just grumpily crossed her arms and looked away, while Dipper looked down guiltily, shrinking back a bit. Finally, Stan noticed that something was up. "What's with you two? You're acting like one of you crushed the other's feelings or something." Dipper shrank back even further at his words, trying to hide his face, as his sister just continued to angrily stare at the wall. He looked between the two, before saying, "Eh, probably nothin."

The rest of the night was spent in silence, since neither of the twins would speak to the other. When they had gone to bed, both avoided eye contact. Not a word was uttered as they got into bed and turned off the lights. Mabel was asleep within minutes, while Dipper lied awake, staring at the ceiling while deep in thought. He wanted badly to apologize with his sister, but he couldn't find a way how to. Mostly, he was afraid that Mabel wouldn't forgive him. He knew she would have to talk to him again sometime soon, but that didn't mean she'd forgive and forget what he'd done.

Hours crawled on like years as he lied there, guilt nagging at him all the while, keeping him from sleep. Turning on his side, he looked over at his sister. She was still asleep, despite him still being up. Sighing, he looked back towards the ceiling. He yawned and closed his eyes, only to open them again to see that the world had changed to black and white.

"Uhg, great," He muttered, knowing exactly what was to come. Golden light flashed from the room's center, blinding him for mere seconds. As it cleared, a certain yellow triangle was hovering in between the twin's beds. "Bill..."

"Hiya Pine Tree!" exclaimed Bill. "How's it goin?!"

"How do you think?" Dipper asked sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, seems like things between you and your sister have become a problem," he said observantly.

"Why are you here?" asked Dipper, just wanting to cut to the chase.

"I've been watching you and your sister for quite some time, and what happened isn't going to fix itself easily. Actually, maybe not at all," said Bill, floating down towards the twelve-year-old.

"W...what do you mean?" Dipper asked nervously.

"I mean that what happened between you and Shooting Star is unfixable, unless..." Bill held out his black hand, from which blue fire emerged, unpainfully burning around it. "We make a deal."

"No!" Dipper yelled, backing off, waving Bill away. "Last time I made a deal with you, you lied to me, stole my body, crushed the author's laptop, wrecked my sister's puppet show, and tried to destroy the journal!"

"Gez kid, relax. I had to do it. You were getting way too close to some major answers that you don't need to know." As he spoke, he created his cane while hovering closer to the kid. Jabbing the tip into Dipper's chest, he continued. "I know you think I lied to you before, but I did carry out my side of the deal! If I hadn't destroyed that laptop, you would've never known who the owner was! So, I mean it when I say I'll fix your problem."

"What's the catch?" asked Dipper, crossing his arms once more.

"Oh, I just want a small, favor, in return," he said, eye glowing blue as he said the word favor. "You'll learn what it is in the future if you accept." For the second time, he held out his flaming hand, encouraging the boy to accept it.
Dipper stood quiet, pondering over what he should do. If he denies, Mabel may never speak to him again. But then again, it could also solve itself, and the two would be friends again in no time. On the other hand, if he accepts, the bond between the two would be restored, but Bill could make him do something horrible that would permanently damage his relationship with everyone he knows. After a long moment of silence, he finally decided what to do.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to say no," he said. Bill lowered his hand, and Dipper could've sworn that he flashed red and white before returning to his normal yellow and black coloring.
"Fine. I'll get what I want from someone else. I know! I'll invade your sister's mind! She'll give me what I want!"

"What?!" yelled Dipper, afraid of what the demon might do to her. "NO!"
"Oh yes!" Everything then flashed white, and the next thing he knew, he was sitting up in his bed, panting and covered on cold beads of sweat. He looked across the room, to see that Mabel was still asleep. It was still dark out, so Dipper just lied there, waiting fearfully for morning to come.
__________________________

Gentle, warm, bright sunlight filtered through the attic window, coating the room in a pool of color. Peaceful silence hung in the air, with the soft sounds of nature as the only exception. But the peace was soon broken when a yell from a certain great uncle echoed throughout the building.

"Kids! Get down here! I need you two!" Mabel slowly opened her eyes, yawning as she sat up. Rubbing her eyes, she gazed at the bed across from hers, only to see that it was empty. At the moment, she couldn't care less about where her brother was, mostly because of what had happened the previous day.

After throwing on her usual randomized sweater and headband, she ran down the stairs, a smile forming on her face as she tried to predict what Stan had in store for her. When she reached him, he told her to work the cash register with Wendy. This only increased her glee, since she could hang out with Wendy all day.
As she got to work, Wendy and her talked on about random things, helping a customer every once in awhile. But only a few minutes in did she notice her brother sweeping the gift shop. She was about to cross her arms and turn away, when she noticed something, off, about him. He looked sad and stressed, mixed with exhaustion. Dark bags hung under his eyes, which were half lidded and weary. Just then he noticed his sister looking at him. His expression changed to one of worry as he hurriedly put down the broom and ran over to her.

"Mabel, I need to talk to you," he said as he rushed over. She just crossed her arms in response, turning her back to her brother. After what he'd done yesterday, she didn't want to talk to him. "Mabel, please listen to me!" he cried urgently, but she just kept ignoring him. She began walking away, only to be pursued by Dipper. "Mabel! Please! You need to know this!" She just kept walking, only to be stopped by her brother grabbing her shoulder. "Mabel! Listen!"

"NO!" she yelled, causing him to flinch back. "Why would I want to listen to anything you'd have to say after what you did!"

"B-but-"

"No, I've had enough!" Mabel yelled, cutting him off. "I want nothing more to do with your conspiracies, your mysteries, or...or even you!" Fear shone in Dipper's eyes as he backed away from his enraged sister, who closed in on him as she ignored his fear. "You know what?! YOU ARE THE WORST BROTHER I COULD EVER HAVE! And, and I...I wish we weren't twins, OR EVEN RELATED!"

Silence. That's all that followed her little rant. Just then did she realize what she'd done. Looking at her brother, she then realized that tears were beginning to stream down his face as he stared with fear and horror at her. "Dipper...I...I didn't-" She tried to move closer to him, but he just moved back further. His eyes scanned the area around them frantically, until he spotted the doorway to the living room. Without hesitation, he bolted pasted his sister and past the doorframe, squeezing his eyes shut as he went.
Mabel stood silently, watching horrifyingly as her brother fled, from her. She could feel tears sting at the edges of her eyes, feeling hatred at herself for what she'd done. When she finally attempted to go after him, someone placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her back. Looking over, she saw that the hand belonged to Wendy.

"Wendy, let me-"

"Sorry man," she said, cutting Mabel off, "but I'm not letting you make this worse than you already have."

"But I didn't mean it! I need to let him know that!" she cried in protest against the teen, But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself from Wendy's iron grip. She knew Mabel didn't mean it, and she understood how bad she felt about saying that, but Wendy believed that it was for the best that Dipper was just left alone for a while.

Meanwhile, Soos was passing through the living room on his way to the shop after fixing a light in the kitchen, when he noticed a faint sound that sounded a lot like crying. Curious, he followed the noise, right to a corner of the room concealed by the couch and the shadows. Peering into the space, he saw Dipper, with his legs pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, forehead resting on his knees.

"Uh, Dipper? You ok dude?" asked Soos, concerned for his preteen friend.

"Go...away..." he sobbed in reply, curling up tighter.

"You sure you don't-"

"I...said...GO...AWAY!" Dipper screamed, cutting off Soos's question. Soos really felt bad for his broken friend and wanted more than anything to help him, but if Dipper wanted to be alone, then he would leave him alone.

"Ok. See ya..." The goodbye only received choked sobs in return as he walked away, heading to the gift shop. When he entered, he spotted Mabel, who was looking downwards guiltily while sitting on the counter, with Wendy sitting a few feet away, her expression a mix of sadness and anger. As soon as they noticed him, they both looked over.

"Hey, do you dudes know what's up with Dipper?" he asked the two.

"What do you mean?" asked Mabel, even though she already knew what was wrong.

"He was like, curled up in a corner, crying or something. I tried talking to him, but he just yelled at me to go away. It's like someone crushed his feelings or something."

"I wonder why," Wendy stated sarcastically, glaring at Mabel, who looked downwards again in response.
Soos however didn't seem to pick up on what she meant and said, "Yeah, me too." Mabel sat there, staring at the ground, trying to keep quiet.

But finally, she blurted out, "It was me! I'm the reason why he's so down in the dumps!" Soos looked confusedly at her, then at Wendy for some sort of explanation.

Walking over, Wendy whispered, "Dipper was trying to tell her something, and Mabel ended up yelling at him, telling him that he's the worst brother ever, and that she wishes that they weren't related."

"But I didn't mean it!" yelled Mabel, overhearing what she was saying. "I would never mean that!"

"Then why'd you yell at him at all?" asked Soos.

"Because...because he did yesterday," she said, gaze slightly traveling downwards. "We were on a mystery hunt, and he got all scratched up and stuff. So, I decided to cheer him up! I tried using confetti, since a lot of people love confetti. But when that didn't work, I shot a bunch of glitter at him. He got really mad about it, so I tried to lift his spirits with the fun stick. But then, he yelled at me, grabbed it, smashed it into little pieces, and walked out. So, I was still kinda mad at him for that."

"Oh, that explains why Dipper was acting so depressed yesterday!" said Wendy as realization struck her.

"What?" asked Mabel nervously.

"Oh yeah, he told us he was like, feeling really bad about something he did to you, but that he couldn't find you or talk to you," said Soos.

"He wouldn't tell us what he did though," said Wendy.

"So, the whole time I was trying to avoid him, he was trying to apologize?" asked Mabel, guilt beginning to pile up.
"I guess so," said Wendy.

"Also, this morning, he told me he had something like, really important to tell you, and that he was up all night worrying about it," added Soos, unaware that he was just adding more guilt to the pile in Mabel's heart.

"And all I did was yell at him," said Mabel, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "All I did was annoy him, ignore him, and yell at him! I'm a horrible sister." Soos and Wendy shared sad glances while Mabel made her way out of the gift shop and to the attic, head hanging downwards. Along the way, she spotted her brother in the corner, immediately stopping. Slowly, she walked up to him, and asked, "Dipper?"

"Go...away..." he said, and she could hear his silent sobs muffled by his arms and legs.

"Dipper, I-"

"I said, go...away," he restated, cutting her off.

"But Dipper, I want to see if you're ok," Mabel stated, reaching a hand out to lay it on his shoulder.

He however, swatted it away, before saying, "Why do you care? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

"But I didn't-"

"Just please, leave me alone," he said, cutting her off yet again. He curled in on himself slightly more, sobs audible through the wall of his arms and legs. Mabel opened her mouth to speak, but decided that it was for the best to just to leave him alone. With a sad sigh, tears rushing down her cheeks, she trudged to the stairs and up to the attic. Later, Stan came walking in, talking about how how no one could get Dipper out of the corner, and asking what happened to him. Mabel told him what happened, and said she wanted to be alone. She didn't like being reminded of what she had done, and Stan saw that, leaving immediately.

A few hours later, Mabel finally left the room, making her way down the stairs. Then she walked into the room Dipper had been in, looking over at the corner beside the couch. There he sat, in a rather similar position to before. Except now, he was silent, and his arms slacked from their previous grip. Quickly, Mabel made her way to his side, afraid something bad had happened. She then sighed in relief when she heard his slow breathing, which meant that he was probably asleep. Leaning against the couch a little way ahead of him, she watched him, feeling guilt pile up again.

Sighing, she whispered, "I'm sorry," even though she knew he couldn't hear. But strangely, he spoke.

"M...bel..." he muttered in his sleep, his position shifting ever so slightly. She was surprised by any responce at all, and turned to look back at him. He was still again, but that didn't last for long. Angrily, he muttered something inaudible, and began to shift side to side. His sister knew something was visibly wrong, and that she had to wake him up.

"Dipper, I'm right here. Wake up," she said, shaking him. But he just swatted her away, muttering something about wanting someone to get away. "Dipper, what's wrong? Are you ok?!" Still he wouldn't wake, and he began to shiver, still shifting and muttering things. "Dipper!"

"What are you doing to my sister?!" yelled Dipper, staring up at Bill from within the mindscape. Bill just laughed in return, twirling his cane as he floated above the twelve year old.

"Oh, I'm just having my fun, using her," he said, getting an angered look from Dipper.

"Stop what you're doing right now!" he yelled.

"Yeash kid, relax. All I'm doing is using her as my servant," he said casually, snapping his fingers. Next to him, a fake, but really realistic Mabel appeared with chains tying its hands to the ground, though Dipper didn't know it was fake.

"Dipper! Help!" it yelled in a voice identical to the boy's sister.

"Let her go!" screamed Dipper, trying to rush forwards at the triangle. However, he stopped when a giant crack ripped through the ground, separating them with a several foot wide and infinitely deep crevice. Bill, laughing at the boy, grabbed the fake Mabel, and held it over the cliff side.

"Make another move, and I won't hesitate to drop her," he threatened, loosening his grip slightly. Dipper stared on in horror and fear, and called out the only thing he could think of.

"MABEL!"

"Dipper!" cried Mabel, still trying to shake her brother awake. Things just kept getting worse. He was thrashing around like crazy, calling out her name and saying other things, as if he were talking to someone. "Please wake up!" she pleaded, but seemed at no use. "Dipper, please!"

Dipper stood there, frozen on his side of the ravine. He didn't know what to do. If he tried to save his "sister", she'd be dropped into the crevice. But if he didn't, harm was sure to come to her. Finally, he decided. Backing up, he got a running start, jumping to the other side. He just barely made it, speedily pulling himself up from on the cliff side.

"Big mistake Pine Tree," said Bill, unhesitantly dropping the screaming dummy off the cliff.

"Mabel! NO!" he yelled, jumping off after her. The world around him began to disintegrate, until there was nothing. He caught a glimpse of his "sister" before everything disappeared.

"DIPPER!" This was enough to pull the boy out of his dream terrors.

"Mabel!" he said breathlessly, panting as he looked at where he was. As soon as he set eye on his sister, he pulled her into a hug. Mabel on the other hand, was generally confused, and even more so when he heard her brother crying. She decided to try to comfort him by returning the hug, hoping it'd help.

"Hey, shh, it's ok," she reassured. They sat in silence for a minute, until Dipper broke it.

"Mabel, I'm sorry," he said suddenly. Mabel pulled away, staring at him in confusion.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For being a big jerk," he said, gaze shifting downwards. "I overreacted before, and then I was too scared to just apologize. And all because of me, Bill threatened to hurt you. All of this is my fault."

"Aw, Dipper, it's not your fault," she said, looking at him sadly. After a short pause, she continued. "It's mine. I'm the one who wouldn't just leave you alone. I'm the one who avoided you. And I'm the one who yelled at you and said you were the worst brother ever."
"Did you mean it?" he asked, which surprised Mabel.

"What?! Of course not! I love having you as my bro! I was just really mad, and that's just what came into my mind. I didn't mean it." One thing that did bother her though was that her brother would ask such a question, but she decided not to think about it.

"Are we cool now?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah, we're cool," she said happily, warmly smiling at her brother. He returned it as he got to his feet.

"So, do you want to go on a mystery hunt?" asked Dipper.

"Sure bro bro," she replied. "That is, if you can catch me first!" Speedily, she snached his hat, crammed it on her head, and took off.

"Hey! Get back here!" he yelled after her, giving chace. Even though he did want his hat back, he was glad that things were back to normal again.