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"That's kind of a dumb title, isn't it?" Dipper frowned at Mabel peeking over his shoulder, and he promptly shut his journal that he'd been writing in with an irate grumble. "And it's super long, too."

"Yours is longer, Miss 'Dipper and Mabel's Grand Return to Gravity Falls Summer Adventure Extravaganza," Dipper retorted without missing a beat, and Mabel would've objected had she not been so impressed that he'd remembered the whole thing. She supposed it probably wasn't that hard, given she'd been spouting off the title constantly on the bus ride to Oregon.

"Yeah, but you hate long titles," Mabel mused, peeking out the window of the bus as her pet pig Waddles stirred beside her.

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"Pfft. Hey, new summer, new leaf. Maybe I like long titles this summer," Dipper retorted with a more lighthearted tone than before, leaning over to lightly cuff his sibling in the arm, and got a lick to his hand from Waddles in return. "Ugh, gross..."

This drew a giggle out of Mable, and she squished the pig's cheeks with a grin. "Sorry, Waddles! Dipper doesn't have any chips left. He ate all of them, and didn't leave any for his sister or her cute little piggy."

"Oh! Mabel!" Dipper's thoughts of wanting to object to her words were flung out as he noticed where they were. "We're here!" Mabel gasped and turned to look out the window, her eyes lighting up like stars. Finally!

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The twins scrambled off the bus, lugging suitcases behind them and pig at their heels. The forest scenery around them instantly felt familiar, bringing a rush of all the nostalgia and fear and excitement that their previous summer had to offer. Mabel took a deep breath, then let it out with a satisfied sigh. "Do you think Stan and Ford are back yet?" she asked, already trotting down the road towards where the Mystery Shack lay.

"Soos will let us in, anyhow," Dipper answered, not really leaning one way or another on the matter. The idea of seeing the two brothers again was odd, but exciting. He knew they'd probably have a lot to talk about.

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"Oh yeah! I think it's neat he owns the Shack now, but it doesn't quite feel, like, real? Like Grunkle Stan just seemed to make it, but Soos'll handle it just as good!" Mable rambled on, continuing to walk a few steps ahead of her brother. Dipper, however, felt a strange kind of creeping feeling come over him as they walked down the beaten path.

"Mhm..." he commented absently, eyes on the trees, staring at the shadows in between them. He blinked, and they were there--his feet must have kept moving on their own while his mind was elsewhere. "Wha?" Dipper's eyes flashed to Mabel, who was looking at him worriedly.

"Earth to bro, you feeling alright?" she asked, lighthearted but with an obvious touch of concern. "Bus ride was looooong. Makes sense you'd be all loopy!"

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Mabel must have already knocked on the door, because before Dipper could answer, Soos' tall and wide form was filling up the doorway, a beaming smile on his face. "Dudes! You made it!" he exclaimed, waving them inside and stepping back to let them in. "I just made the best pizza pie ever, you dudes gotta come eat some. Like, literally a pie, but with pizza toppings! It's great, seriously--"

--

"Uuugh," Mabel flopped onto her bed, holding her stomach with a grin. "I don't wanna unpack yet... m'too fullll. Soos is pretty good at cooking! I bet Melody is happy," she giggled, rolling over and making Waddles snort in protest as he was pushed gently onto his side in the process.

"Hah, yeah," Dipper murmured, his eyes on the window that poured moonlight onto their floor. It still... just didn't quite feel real, all of it. The previous summer, this summer, going back to school between the two times and trying to act like they hadn't almost died.

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Mabel was out like a light soon enough, and Dipper hadn't touched his luggage either, but his still lied awake, wide-eyed as he stared out the window. He wished it wasn't so triangular-shaped--it gave him the heebie jeebies, even after a couple of seasons to rest easy that the danger had passed. Even so, he couldn't fathom what this strange pull on his chest was. But it was stifling. He hadn't realized it until now, but it was stifling with how strong it was.

He just needed a little air. Eyeing Mabel and Waddles as he carefully got out of bed, Dipper crept to the door, and made his way through the Shack until he was safely--debatable--out in the forest.

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The air was pleasantly cool for a summer night, and Dipper felt a little more at ease now that he was out of that tiny room. Too many nights staying up late staring at that stupid locked laptop, trying to guess that password... Too many nights of paranoia. He would get used to it after awhile, he knew.

Dipper felt a chill run up his back, and he frowned, rubbing at his bare arms. He figured short sleeves would be all he needed, but it seemed like the weather was proving otherwise. It had been fairly comfortable just moments before... He frowned and started walking, not fully conscious of where, but as long as he walked in a straight line, he would be able to find his way back.

When had he gotten sidetracked? Dipper froze, blinking and spinning around to look behind him. He couldn't see anything but trees for as far as he could see, which wasn't very far, given how dark it was. Shoot... shoot! Had he fallen asleep while walking, or something?

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Nah, that was stupid. His mind was just elsewhere, was all. Dipper kept telling himself this over and over in his mind until the phrase seemed meaningless, and before he knew it, the pull on his chest stopped. He gasped out loud at the removal of the strange, mystical weight, and stared at the small copse of trees that he'd stopped in. What he saw sent a jolt through him so violent that he nearly screamed out loud. Instead, he stumbled backwards and hit the leaf litter on the ground with a thump.

Bill.

No, no no, there was no way that... Dipper caught himself, arms wrapping around his shoulders as he fought to control his breathing and focus on the clearing. It was just... a statue. A stone statue, half-buried in the ground, hand reaching out to the sky above. "Who built this...?" Dipper muttered to himself, looking around nervously. "There's no way someone built this thing... no way..."

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Now that he stopped to think about it, this whole thing was just creepy. The odd feeling he'd had ever since he and Mabel had gotten there had stopped, sure, but it had only stopped when he'd gotten... here. Dipper frowned at the statue, a kind of anger roiling up in him. Whoever built this clearly liked sick jokes. Dipper didn't want any part of this thing.

Feeling like his body was moving on its own, Dipper stood up and stalked towards the statue, his eyes locked on the outstretched arm. He frowned, then grit his teeth and swung back a leg, and brought it forward hard in a sharp kick to the thin arm of the statue.

"Back for more, are ya, Pinetree?"

Dipper did scream this time, because the ground had disappeared beneath him into nothing but blackness. Dipper shook, staring at the place the statue had been, the black forest now a faded, murky grey as he squinted at the dull-lit triangle staring back at him, sitting perched atop the statue. "Dunno if I appreciate the injury to insult. Lay off, would ya?"

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Dipper finally found it in himself to close his mouth, and he swallowed dryly, frozen in place. "Y-you're..."

"Here? Alive? Fat chance," Bill snapped suddenly, making Dipper flinch, before the demon seemed to relax again and throw a leg over his other. "I can't move from this spot. It's boring as hell and I've accepted it. But I'd prefer you not go around breaking my arms in your puny fits of anger. Get me?"

Dipper still wasn't quite making heads or tails of all of this. Firstly, he knew not to trust anything Bill said, so his mind was already formulating plans to completely break off those arms as soon as he woke up from whatever this strange vision was, as well as make immediate plans to contact Stan and Ford, if they didn't get home soon.

"I get it." Shoot, Dipper thought, freezing. Of course. Mind reading. Demon. Shoot! "I geeeet it, okay, like, I did you some dirty in the past, and you did me some dirty in the more recent past. So I think we can call it even, and you can stop thinking up fruitless schemes to erase me from reality. Kay?"

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"Though, I mean, technically ol' Stanley is who I should be wanting to rip limb from limb, but you're closer. And also I can't do anything, like I said." Dipper's floored expression slowly melted into something far more annoyed, quickly losing patience as Bill continued to ramble on and on. "So stop worrying your little flesh sack of a head."

"I'm not worrying," Dipper muttered, sitting up a little better and resting his elbows on his knees. "If you can't do anything, then what's all this? Huh? This weird voidy ground thing.

Bill's eye squinted at that, and he shrugged dramatically. "Thought it was cool?" Dipper fizzled slightly at that, a bemused frown appearing on his face. "Anyway, you knocked yourself out. It was hilarious. Kicked my statue and fell backwards and smacked your head on the ground.

"So I'm... asleep," Dipper said slowly, looking around properly for the first time. It was the same clearing, just... more gray. More muted. "Huh."

"More or less," Bill said, tilting away to look out at the trees. "Looks like this reunion is gonna cut short, though. Shooting Star's on its way."

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"Wha?" Dipper blinked, looking around wildly as Bill's eye lidded in a mixture of amusement and contempt.

"It was weird seeing you again, Pinetree. Don't make it a habit. Later."

"Dipper!" Mabel's voice broke through and jolted him back to the present, her hands on his arms tugging him into a sitting position and holding him upright. "Dipper, what are you doing out here?! Your bed was empty and I ran out looking for you, and Waddles led me out here, and--and you're just on the ground by this thing--i-is it Bill?" she finally squeaked, tears beading in her eyes.

"Mabel, I'm--calm down, I'm okay," Dipper muttered, holding his head as it throbbed, and he cried out weakly as a wave of pain came over him. He was silent for a few moments, then shook his head slowly. "I was an idiot and knocked myself out. Tripped--uh, well, more like I kicked the stupid statue and fell down... just... I'm fine.

"Okay, okay geez, umm, let's... let's get you back to the Shack, and I'll wake Soos up, and he can fix up your head, yeah? Yikes you're bleeding..." Mabel mumbled, clearly very shaken, and Dipper winced at the guilt that added to his mix of confusion and fear. He tried to cooperate with her as she looped one of his arms over her shoulders and stood up, and he put one foot in front of another as he tried to work out a way to tell Mabel what had just happened.

Or maybe... he didn't have to. His eyes flicked to stare at Mabel's face in the dark as he walked with her, his eyes traveling back down to the ground as he watched his legs move of their own accord. He didn't want to make her worry about this kind of thing, this summer. All of that was gone, now. And really, he figured if Bill wanted to, he could've killed Dipper right there, or taken him over easily. Yeah... maybe he'd just keep this whole thing a secret, for the time being.