Summary:
After Bill steals Dipper's body as his newest "puppet", Steven struggles to find a way to save him-before it's too late.
Steven hit the ground only seconds before the laptop did.
He jumped, startled, when the machine slammed into the floor, its screen and keyboard shattering to pieces on impact. He could only sit there, frozen in shock, as the scraps of ripped-up photos fell onto the laptop's still-sparking remains. All of it was set to the tune of a demon's sadistic laughter echoing from a stolen body. From a face Steven knew so well, filled with a smile far too wide and wicked to ever belong there.
"So, Rosebud, what do ya think of my new digs?" Bill quickly caught his attention. "I usually don't go for something this small, stringy, and sweaty, but it's been sooooo long since I've inhabited a human body, so I'll take what I can get!"
When he stumbled forward, Steven shot to his feet to help him. He only stopped short when he remembered this wasn't Dipper he was dealing with–it was a monster wearing Dipper's skin. "I-I don't understand," Steven shook his head, incredulous. He focused on Dipper's–on Bill's eyes–only narrow black, inhuman slits against a garish golden glow. Such a far cry from the warm, welcoming brown he was so used to seeing. "What just happened? What did you do to Dipper?!"
"What's it look like, kid?" Bill asked as he finally gained his footing. "Me and Pine Tree just struck the deal of a lifetime! I solved his laptop problem for him, and he gave me a puppet, just like I wanted! Isn't it just great when everything works out for everyone?"
By now, Dipper had finally managed to break out of his own shock. An impressive feat, really, given the fact that he was hovering feet above the ground, staring down at his own body as it walked and talked without him. "What? No!" he shouted down at Bill. "You tricked me! This isn't anything close to what we agreed to!"
"I don't know, Pine Tree, it seems pretty on the level to me," Bill smirked up at him. Behind him, Steven glanced around the room, his eyes wide with confusion and alarm as he tried to make sense of what was happening here. "Say, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't look all too happy about how our bargain turned out."
"Of course, I'm not!" Dipper snapped, livid. "The deal's off, Bill! Give me my body back and leave us alone, now!"
"Aw, that's cute. You really think that's how this works? Sorry to break it to you, kid, but you gave this puppet you call a body of yours to me, willingly. So as far as I'm concerned, it's all mine now!"
"But… but you didn't even hold up your end of the deal!" Dipper could barely stand to look at it–the laptop's broken pieces, lying ruined and useless on the ground. His last chance to help Lapis, taken from him just as swiftly as his own body had been.
And now, there was no telling if he'd ever be able to get either of them back.
"Didn't I?" Bill asked with a knowing smirk. But before Dipper could even begin to understand what that meant, Steven chimed in.
"Who are you talking to?" he began, eyeing Bill warily. "Dipper's not… still in there with you… is he?"
"No, Steven, I'm right here!" Somehow, Dipper managed to glide down to his level. Only for Steven to stare straight through him, as if he wasn't even there at all. "Steven?" he tried again, waving his arms around for extra measure. Still though, Steven didn't seem to hear him in the slightest. "Steven, please!" he begged, desperate. He even went as far as reaching out to touch Steven's hand–only for his to phase clean through it. "W-what…?" he drifted back, frightened as he looked down at own immaterial form again. "Why can't I-"
"Welcome to the mindscape, kid!" Bill cheerfully cut in. "Without a vessel to possess, you're basically a ghost! Fun, right?"
Basically a ghost… Unable to be heard, to be seen, to touch or be touched, to feel anything at all other than his own suffocating panic. Panic that only continued to rise when he realized he had no idea how to fix this. He had no clue how to save himself in the slightest–
And above all else, he had no one but himself to blame.
"Anyway, Rosebud," Bill turned his attention back over to Steven. "Nah, this isn't like one of your silly old fusions. The only one rolling around inside this lump of flesh is me! But don't worry about your poor Pine Tree; he's still floating around here, nagging at me to get out of his body, as if that's ever gonna work."
Steven was barely listening to Bill anymore. Instead, he had his sights set upward, his brow furrowed for a glimpse, a sign, anything really. "Dipper…?" he softly asked, hoping he could hear him.
And sure enough, he could. Even if the same couldn't be said for the other way around. "Steven!" Dipper cried again, even though he knew it was no use. "I'm right here! I need you to hear me! Go get help! Find Mabel or Connie or-"
"Well, lookie here!" Both boys were caught off guard by Bill as he examined his new vessel in the mirror. "Two eyes? This thing's deluxe!" From there, he did just about the last thing either Steven or Dipper could have expected. He reached his hand up and swiftly slapped himself hard across the face, grinning gleefully all the while. "Woo! Ha! Pain is hilarious! I could do this all day!"
"Hey! Stop it!" Steven rushed over to grab his hand and stall his next strike. "Why would you do that? If you're using Dipper's body for yourself right now, then why would you want to hurt it?"
"Because it's funny," Bill simply smirked as he yanked his hand away from Steven. "Duh."
"Y-you can't-" Steven stopped himself. He didn't understand Bill's demented, downright sadistic reasoning; he didn't want to either. Instead, he only wanted one thing right now–to put a stop to this madness before it could get any worse than it already was. "Listen, Bill," he began again, squaring his shoulders. "You need to give Dipper his body back. I don't know what kind of deal he might've made with you, but this can't be what he wanted out of it."
"For all you know, it is," Bill countered. "And even if it wasn't, what are you gonna do about it, Rosebud? Hug me out of him? Sick that cotton candy cat of yours on me? Force me to 'talk about my feelings' until I get bored and leave?"
"No," Steven fixed him with a stern glare. "I'm going to tell the Gems. If I can't stop you and save Dipper by myself, then maybe they can."
"Yes!" Dipper cheered, relieved. "Good! Hurry and go tell them, Steven! Hopefully, they'll be able to-"
"Oh sure, go ahead and tell 'em," Bill suddenly, surprisingly agreed. "In fact, I want you to!"
"You… you do?" Steven asked, confused.
"Sure," Bill shrugged, completely unconcerned. "It'll be a blast to see my old pals Fuse Box, Bird Brain, and Half-Baked again after all these years! But, uh… fair warning, kid. By the time you get back, there might not be a Pine Tree left to save…"
Steven didn't get it, at least not at first. But Dipper was starting to as fear quickly overtook anger. As he realized Bill had no real reason to keep his new "puppet" in one piece. "N-No," he reeled back in rising distress. "No! This is crazy! You can't just-"
"Now, now, Pine Tree," Bill coldly cut him off. "Those of us in the physical plane are talking here. So, Rosebud, you get the picture here, right? You blab, he bleeds. Any questions?"
Steven stiffened, stunned by just how blunt and brutal this ultimatum really was. Bill didn't seem like he was the kind to bluff, but Steven still found himself calling it anyway. "Y-you wouldn't…"
Bill's near-constant smile only widened when he heard this. If anything, he took it as a challenge. Without a word, he turned back to the mirror and without warning, he slammed his fist straight into it. The sounds of Steven's frightened gasp and Dipper's horrified cry practically overlapped each other as they watched Bill pull his hand away from the shattered mirror. His knuckles were coated in blood, which in turn, stained the bits of broken glass still sticking out of his skin. Aside from the briefest twitch, Bill hardly seemed phased by the injury. In fact, he seemed to revel in it as he held his hand out to admire the damage he'd done to it.
"Now that's what I'm talking about! And there's a lot more where that came from if you don't keep your trap shut, Rosebud. So, are you on board, or do I have to do a little more to convince you to stay quiet-"
"N-no!" Steven swiftly complied. "I won't say anything to anyone! I promise! Just… don't hurt him anymore, please!"
"What? No!" Dipper was just as quick to protest. "Steven, don't listen to him! He's just trying to trick you, like he tricked me! You have to get help before he-"
"Sheesh, Pine Tree, would you quit being so rude up there?" Bill deadpanned. "Me and Rosebud are trying to make a deal here. So, how's about we shake to seal that deal?" He offered his bloody hand out to Steven. It wasn't lost on Dipper, the way no blue flames surrounded it this time. Still, he could do nothing but watch as Steven took it and shook it all the same.
He could do nothing but watch as Steven was forced into the same sort of silence he found himself so hopelessly stuck in.
"Wow! Two deals in one day!" Bill proudly proclaimed when Steven pulled his hand away in defeat. "I'm on a roll! They should give out prizes for being this good!"
Steven said nothing as he glanced down, forlorn. The despair on his face alone would have been enough to make Dipper's blood boil–if he still had blood at all. "I don't get it," he fixed Bill with a sharp glare. "Why are you even doing this? What could you possibly have to gain from possessing my body and forcing Steven to keep quiet about it? It makes no sense!"
"One thing you should learn here and now, kid," Bill coolly replied. "Is that me and 'sense' don't usually see eye-to-eye. But if you have to know, you've been getting way too close to figuring out some major answers lately. I've got big plans and I don't need either of you getting in my way. Destroying the laptop was a cinch! Now I just need to get rid of that journal of yours and the rest is history!"
"Wait, the journal?" Steven asked, confused. "That… that's all you want?"
"You bet your gem it is, Rosebud! You wouldn't happen to know where I could find it, do ya?"
"I don't… But… if you find it, will you let Dipper have his body back?"
"Pfft, sure, kid," Bill scoffed as he headed for the staircase. "I'll get on that as soon as never! Now, race ya to the bottom of the stairs!"
With that, he leaned backwards, and let himself fall headfirst down the stairs. Steven was already running as soon as he heard the first sickening thump, but without a body to weigh him down, Dipper was much faster. He darted downward, phasing straight through the floor until he somehow arrived in the kitchen mere seconds after Bill. He found him rooting through the fridge, pulling a Pitt Cola out before cracking it open.
"Ah, human soda! I'm gonna drink it like a person!" He ended up doing the exact opposite of that, pouring the soda straight into his mouth before moving it up to drench his eyes. Dipper winced, disgusted, not just by this display, but by just how much abuse Bill was putting his body through. Abuse that, like it or not, he'd unknowingly agreed to.
"Enough already!" he snapped, frustrated. "First my hand and now this?! Could you just, I don't know, maybe calm down with all this crazy masochism for a minute?"
"Why don't you calm down with all the whining, Pine Tree?" Bill countered, his face still dripping with soda. "After all, being an incorporeal apparition isn't that bad. I should know–I've been one for countless millennia! You might as well get used to it now, kid, 'cause as soon as I get my hands on that journal, you're gonna be as good as stuck like that. Forever!"
"...Forever?" Dipper barely managed to echo. He looked down at himself again–or what little was left of him now. A faint, fading spirit, left unseen and unheard in the untouchable depths of the mindscape. He couldn't imagine being condemned to such a cold and lonely existence, to never feel the sun on his skin or the ground beneath his feet, to never speak to any of his friends or family ever again. He couldn't imagine it… but he knew that would be all that awaited him if Bill got his way. And it was all because of one thoughtless, desperate decision he wished he'd never made. Because now, no one even knew about the dire straits he was stuck in, no one but–
"Rosebud! About time you got here!" Bill waved at Steven as he breathlessly stumbled into the kitchen. "I would've thought that rock in your gut would give you a little more pep in your step, but I guess not. So anyway, about that journal, Pine Tree." He shifted his sighs up to Dipper as he shoved his arm into the cutlery drawer over and over again. He barely winced from the pain of forks and knives digging into his skin, taking far more enjoyment out of the alarm on both boys' faces instead. "Where do you keep it anyway? Seeing as how Rosebud's clueless—what else is new?—I figure you'd be the best guy to go to, since you're always shoving your nose into it. It's gotta be around here somewhere, right?"
Before Dipper had a chance to answer, Steven quickly intervened. "Cut that out!" he hurried over to pull Bill's arm out of the drawer.
"Boy, these arms sure are durable, huh?" Bill cheerfully joked. Steven ignored him as he plucked out the forks still sticking out of lightly-bleeding puncture wounds. Minor injuries, but far too many for Steven–or Dipper's–liking all the same
"Like I'd ever tell you where the journal is!" Dipper fixed Bill with a defiant glare as he came up with a quick lie. "I've hidden it! Somewhere you'll never find it in a million years!"
"Dipper! Steven!" Mabel's call cut through the tension like a knife. She wore a wavering smile as she stepped into the kitchen with Connie trailing not too far behind her. "Oh! There you guys are! We've been looking all over for you!"
"Did you guys work things out yet?" Connie asked. "Is everything finally ok between all of us again?"
"No, everything's not ok!" Dipper glided down to the girls. Only to find that, much like Steven, they couldn't even tell he was there at all. "Mabel!? Connie!? Oh, come on! Not you guys too!"
"Yep! Everything's a-ok here!" Bill kept one arm behind his back. Steven jumped when he slung his other arm over his shoulder–all to keep his self-inflicted wounds out of sight. "Isn't that right, Steven?"
Steven swallowed hard. As much as he wanted to tell the truth, to get Dipper the help he so dearly needed, he knew he had no choice but to lie instead. To protect his captured body for as long as he could, in any way he could. "Uh, r-right! Everything's fine! Nothing to worry about!"
He let out an uncomfortable laugh. Despite Connie's perplexed frown, Mabel, on the other hand, completely bought it. "Oh, good!" she sighed, relieved. "You know, Dipper, I felt sort of bad about what I said earlier, but… I'm so glad you don't, like, totally hate me or anything. After all, I didn't mean it; I just really want this puppet show to work out, and I–Steven, is something going on with your eye there?"
Steven drew in a sharp breath as his hands swiftly dropped to his sides. Seconds ago, he'd had them poised against his face, his fingers shaped into a triangle around his eye as he nodded over at "Dipper". It was a subtle signal, one that he'd hoped the girls would be able to get. But instead, they both simply stared at him in blank confusion, only noticing the dread on his face from getting caught in the act instead.
"Steven?" Connie asked, concerned. "Are you ok?"
"Y-yeah! I'm fine!" Steven forced on a huge, fake smile. "Great, even! Super great, actually! Couldn't be better! In fact, I'm so great that they should make a whole new category of great, c-cause that's how great everything is right now!"
"...Great!" Mabel grinned, oblivious. "Well, we should probably get going. The show's in a few hours, and there's still so much to do! Oh, by the way, Dipper, I borrowed your journal to use as a prop in the show! I hope you don't mind 'cause I'm gonna go before you can finish processing this sentence. Ok, bye!"
"Sorry, Dipper," Connie lingered after Mabel hurried out. "I tried to talk Mabel out of it, but you know how she can get when she's excited. But hey, look on the bright side; at least once the show is over, we'll finally have time to sit down and figure out that password."
"Oh, I'm sure we will…" Bill shot Dipper a smug grin. "And don't worry about the journal! I have a feeling I'll be seeing it soon enough…"
"Not if I have anything to do about it!" Dipper sharply protested. He wasted no time flying after the girls, refusing to give up so easily. Even if he knew he couldn't do much in his current state. "Mabel, Connie, wait! Don't listen to him! That's not me! I'm not-"
He stopped short, not because the girls obviously couldn't hear him. But because he realized he was about to leave his body alone, with Bill. And, even more alarming yet, he was about to leave Bill alone with Steven.
"You know, Rosebud…" Dipper spun around just in time to watch Bill harshly shove Steven away from him. "You're pretty terrible at this whole keeping quiet thing. And here I thought you actually cared about Pine Tree. Guess I thought wrong."
"W-what are you talking about?" Steven asked, nervous.
"Don't act like I didn't see it," Bill coldly sneered. Steven stumbled backward when he stepped closer to him, grabbing a knife resting on the counter along the way. "You tried to tip Shooting Star and Sword Swinger off. You must think you're pretty clever, huh? Well, your dear old mom thought the same thing. She used to think she could pull the wool over my eye back in the day too. But there's just one teeny tiny problem with that."
"Uh, w-what's that?" By now, Steven was essentially backed into a corner. He kept his sights on the knife, half expecting Bill to strike him with it at any second. Until he realized–
The knife was much, much closer to his shoulder–Dipper's shoulder–than his own.
The blade stayed where it was as Bill leaned in, his smile nearly manic as he said, "I see everything."
It happened so quickly Steven didn't even have a chance to protest, much less stop it. Dipper only barely had time to shout a single, panicked, "No!" before he watched the knife plunge straight into his own shoulder.
Just like before, he couldn't feel a thing from the body that was no longer his. Apparently, neither could Bill, or if he did, it clearly didn't bother him. Instead, he kept on grinning as he dug the blade down a bit, creating a large, deep cut that quickly began to bleed. While Bill simply laughed at his handiwork, Steven paled at it, his mind going blank at the sight of the blood dripping down his arm. Down Dipper's arm, he remembered, his heart aching all the while.
With that thought in mind, instinct quickly took over. He quickly pulled the knife out of Bill's hand, tossing it far out of his reach. At the same time, he generously licked his own palm and placed it squarely on top of the bloody wound. Bill simply smirked at him, but Steven met him squarely, his expression steady and resolved. True, he couldn't do much to fix this mess on his own, but at least he could do this much.
Or so he thought.
Because when Steven pulled his hand away, he slowly started to realize–the cut wasn't healing. Even seconds later, his magic still didn't seem to be doing what he knew it should have. "I-I don't understand," he stared down at his hand, covered in blood that wasn't his. "Why isn't this working? My spit, i-it's supposed to be…"
He slowly trailed off, his eyes widening as he took another look at Bill. For the brief moment he'd touched his arm, he'd noticed just how strangely cold the demon's stolen body felt, how unnaturally pale his skin seemed to be, how he didn't appear to be breathing at all. It struck Steven all at once, as if Bill had plunged that knife straight into his shoulder instead. He knew the exact reason his healing magic hadn't worked–a reason that was far too horrible, far too unbearable, far too gruesome to even think about.
Fortunately, Bill didn't say it aloud; he didn't need to. Instead, he kept his steady grin on as he passed Steven by, bumping into his shoulder with his injured one as he smugly said, "Well, what do you know, Rosebud? Looks like there's some things you just can't fix."
"Steven! Dipper!" Connie suddenly called from outside. "Come on, you guys! We're all leaving to go to the theater!"
"On our way!" Bill brightly returned. Still, he took time to offer Steven one last triumphant grin on his way out. "Oh, quit your crying, Rosebud! Pine Tree's arm isn't gonna fall off… yet!"
As shocking as the sight of his own battered shoulder was, what hit Dipper the hardest was actually the sob he heard Steven let out seconds later. So raw and heavy and filled with despair that someone like Steven should never have had to feel. But the sound of Bill's twisted, triumphant laughter that followed was more than enough to push Dipper over the edge. As far as he was concerned, the demon who had deceived was every bit as much to blame for all this as he was. Stealing his body and destroying the only clue he had to help Lapis was bad enough; but roping Steven into all of this, taking advantage of his kindness and compassion to force him to keep quiet? Dipper couldn't simply float by and watch it all happen anymore. He had to do something–
If only he couldn't do much of anything at all anymore.
"I'm gonna stop you, Bill!" he furiously shouted nonetheless. "I'm going to find that journal before you do, and I'm going to stop you!"
"But how can you stop me-" Bill paused, only long enough to glance back at Dipper with a wide, deranged grin. "If you don't exist?!"
He laughed again as he left both of the boys behind, assured that he had them right where he wanted them: voiceless, powerless, hopeless. That hopelessness was clear in Steven's voice as he softly spoke up as soon as Bill was out of earshot.
"D-Dipper…?" he began, tearfully looking up at the empty air above him. He didn't know it, but he was almost looking straight at Dipper, who solemnly hovered by and listened to what he had to say. "I don't know if you're really there or you can hear me, but… if you can, I want you to know I'm so, so sorry. If I'd been there just a second sooner, maybe I could have stopped this from ever happening! But I was too late, and now…" He trailed off, his shoulders shuddering with another miserable sob as he glanced down at his still blood-covered hand.
"Aw, Steven…" Dipper sighed as he drifted down to him. He reached for his hand again, only to stop short when he remembered he wouldn't be able to feel it. Above all else, that might have been the worst thing about being stuck like this. Knowing he couldn't comfort Steven, no matter what he said or did.
Still, Steven took in a deep breath, steadying himself as he wiped his eyes dry. "I-I'm going to save you. I don't know how yet, but I'll find a way. I promise."
That promise was so familiar that it nearly shook Dipper to his core. He could practically hear himself saying the same exact thing to Lapis. How cruel and ironic that he was the one who needed to be saved now instead. Still, for the first time since this mess began, Dipper couldn't help but smile as he said something only he could hear. Something he hoped he'd be able to tell Steven face-to-face again soon.
"Thank you, Steven."
Word had spread far and wide through Gravity Falls about "Glove Story: A Sock Opera", in no small part thanks to the many posters Mabel had made and hung up all over town. As a result, the turnout to the theater was surprisingly large. While the audience began filing in to take their seats, Steven peered out from behind the curtain to keep as close an eye on Bill as he could. Strangely, no one seemed to notice anything was wrong with "Dipper" as he sat down alongside Stan, Soos, and Wendy. Exactly how Bill was able to pull such a ruse off, Steven had no idea; especially when his shoulder was still so obviously bleeding under the sparse layers of bandages he'd slapped over it.
True to his word, Steven had kept silent ever since the incident in the kitchen. Even under the curious looks Connie gave him on the way to the theater, he'd said and done nothing to tip her off. Still, that hardly made Steven want to tell the truth any less, especially as he watched the Gems arrive. If he could just tell them, even just hint that something was wrong, certainly they'd be able to do something to stop Bill where he couldn't.
If only he could without putting Dipper's life in even more danger than it already was.
"Huh, I'm surprised you three would turn up for something like this," Stan told the Gems as they sat down beside him. "Especially you, Pearl. I always thought some boring ballet would be more your speed."
Pearl scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please, Stan. We're obviously here to support Mabel and Steven's little… what was it called again?" she whispered to Garnet.
"Puppet show."
"Yes, that."
"Eh, Mabel said that there'd be fireworks and junk, so I mostly came to see that," Amethyst said, shrugging.
"Ah, there's nothin' like the theatre, huh, toots?" Bill grinned as he leaned back into his seat between Wendy and Soos. "Hey, Soos, wanna hear the exact time and date of your death?"
"Heh, ok!" Soos eagerly agreed.
"Whoa, dude!" Amethyst cut in. She leaned forward, surprised as she looked over at "Dipper". "What happened to your shoulder?"
"Oh, this tiny scratch?" Bill patted the barely covered wound. "It's just from a short fall down the stairs. Nothin' too serious."
"Well, it certainly looks serious…" Pearl frowned, concerned at the sight of the blood leaking from under the bandages. "Dipper, you should really ask Steven to heal that for you. Or at the very least, have Stan take you to go get some proper medical attention."
"Meh, he'll tough it out," Stan barely glanced up from his program. "Besides, a few cuts and bruises here and there never hurt anybody. Builds character or whatever."
"Yeah, what he said," Bill offered Pearl a broad smirk. "Relax. You and that traffic cone on your face there have nothing to worry about!"
Pearl gasped, appalled, as she quickly covered her nose. Meanwhile, Amethyst let out a loud laugh. "Oh man, nice one, Dipper! Who knew you could actually be funny when you're not busy being a huge nerd like Pearl here?'
"Hey!" Pearl protested, flustered. Amethyst simply laughed again, and Bill joined her, only to stop short when he noticed Garnet staring straight at him. She said nothing, but between her glasses, all three of her eyes narrowed. Something was off here, she could tell, though she had no idea what. Her future vision was giving her nothing, to the point that she couldn't even see the end of the upcoming play. And yet, her keen senses were sending her whispered warnings that something was wrong, like a storm sitting on the distant horizon.
A storm she couldn't even see, much less stop.
"Hey, guys!" Mabel ran up to the group, grinning from ear to ear. "So glad you all could make it!"
"Are you kidding me? I'd never miss… whatever this is," Stan said with an uncertain smile.
"So when do we get to the part with the fireworks?" Amethyst asked. "'Cause I'm ready to see this place get lit up!"
"They're not till the end of the show, silly!" Mabel chuckled. "But don't worry; they're gonna make the super dramatic, epic, romantic climax the most explosive thing you've ever seen! Pa-pow!"
"By the by, Mabel," Bill chimed in, averting Garnet's gaze all the while."Where'd you put my journal again?"
"Oh, I'm using it for the big wedding scene!" Mabel pointed to the catwalk above the stage. "I still need a reverend though…"
"Hey, what if I play the reverend?" Bill offered with a greedy grin. "I mean, someone's gotta hold that journal, right?"
"Ooo, great idea!" Mabel readily agreed. "Let's go!"
With that, the pair took off. As soon as they were gone, Pearl leaned over to her teammates to worriedly whisper, "I wonder what's gotten into Dipper lately… Did you hear what he said about my nose? That was so unlike him. Not to mention just plain uncalled for!"
"Uh, did ya see those big ol' bags under his eyes, P?" Amethyst asked. "The kid obviously hasn't been catching any Z's lately. Probably working on that dumb old laptop all week."
"Well, I hope he gets some sleep soon," Pearl crossed her arms. "Honestly that laptop can wait if he's that out of it. Don't you agree, Garnet?" She paused when Garnet didn't answer. Instead, she kept her sights on where the kids had just run off, her lips set in a tight, stern frown. "Garnet?"
"Pearl, Amethyst," she finally spoke, though her voice was oddly tense. "Did you two feel something… familiar just now?"
"Familiar?" Amethyst pressed, confused. "Like what?"
"Like-" Garnet cut herself off. There were too many prying ears around, and even if there weren't, she still wasn't sure about what she'd even sensed in the first place. What was the use of raising an alarm if there was nothing to even be alarmed about in the first place? "I-it… it's nothing," she ultimately shook her head. "Forget about it."
Pearl and Amethyst exchanged a glance, but in the end, they took her word for it. From his spot behind the curtain, Steven sighed. Even the Gems hadn't been able to see what Bill was doing. And if they couldn't see the truth, if they couldn't do anything to help, to stop this, to save Dipper-
Then who could?
"Steven?"
"Ah!" Steven jumped when someone tapped his shoulder. He let out a sigh of relief when he turned to find it wasn't Bill. "Oh, Connie, it's just you."
"Uh, yeah?" Connie raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I'm glad I found you. We have to cue up the puppets before the show starts, remember?"
"Right," Steven absently nodded. "Puppets…"
"Steven, are you ok?" Connie asked as she led the way backstage. "You've been acting weird all day. You and Dipper for that matter. What's going on with you guys?"
"N-nothing! Nothing's going on!" Steven broke into a cold sweat. "I don't know why you'd think anything weird is going on, b-because that couldn't be any further from the truth!"
"Are you sure?" Connie pressed. "Remember what we talked about a few days ago. If something is wrong, then I want to know about it so I can help! Don't go back to keeping it all to yourself, Steven, please. I'm here for you. You know that."
Try as she might to make him feel better, hearing this only made Steven feel so much worse. All Connie wanted were answers, all she wanted to do was help. But Steven knew he couldn't tell her, any more than he could do anything to help Dipper himself. "Connie, look, I… It's not like that, it's just-"
"The show is about to begin!" Grenda's voice rang through the theater from the intercom. "Please turn off your cell phones! Unless you're texting me, cuties!"
Connie sighed as she turned back to Steven. "We'll talk more later. But please, Steven, think about what I said, ok?"
"Y-yeah…" Steven glanced away from her out of guilt as she left him behind. "I will."
As the house lights began to dim, Mabel stole a peek out from behind the curtains. Sure enough, there was Gabe Bensen, sitting in one of the front rows, puppets in hand as he eagerly waited for the show to start. If all went according to plan, she had no doubts her play would impress him. And after all the hard work Mabel put into this, there was nothing she could see that would keep that from happening.
The show began as the curtains pulled back to reveal an elaborate, glittery cardboard set. Colorful lights filled the stage as Candy played a mystical keyboard riff alongside her opening narration. "Gather round, and let us sing, about a girl who had almost everything…"
From there, Mabel got to work with her one-woman show. She operated each of the puppets, designed to look like her friends and family–from Stan to Dipper to Steven to Connie, and even the Gems. And every last one of them danced and sang along to her lively opening number.
"Hey, look, it's Mabel!"
"Did you say stable?"
"No, he said Mabel!"
"She has no labels!"
"No one's more able!"
"Ok, hit it, everyone!" puppet Mabel proclaimed as the chorus chimed in after her.
"Who's that girl, with the pig and braces? She puts smiles on everyone's faces! When she's around, you're never bored!"
"I am a mayor!" a mayor puppet declared, holding up a small trophy. "And here's an award!"
"I'm so confused about what's happening right now…" Pearl whispered from her spot in the audience.
"How did she get all those socks to sing like that…?" Amethyst wondered, fascinated. "When I had them, all they ever did was just lie around in a boring old pile in my room."
"What, are you telling me you two have never seen a puppet show before?" Stan snorted out a laugh. "Yeesh, you really need to get out more."
"Shh!" Garnet swiftly silenced them all. "Just sit back and enjoy the show."
"Thank you, mayor," puppet Mabel warmly sang. "It's true, I'm great. But the perfect girl needs the perfect maaaaate!"
"Hey, what's up, I'm Gabe." Right on cue, a puppet of the puppeteer himself appeared.
"Bwaaaa?!" puppet Mabel gasped, completely lovestruck.
The show only continued on from there, bright and loud and zealous. While the audience was enraptured with it, Dipper could hardly care less as he frantically floated through the theater, searching for anyone who could see him, hear him, notice him at all. He figured his best bet would be the Gems, so he glided down into the space before them, waving his arms in a futile attempt to catch their attention.
"Garnet! Pearl! Amethyst! Can you hear me? I need your help, please!" he pleaded, only for the Gems to stare straight through him, just like everyone else. "Ugh, this is pointless!" he buried his face in his hands, distraught. "What did Bill say again? I can't be heard without a vessel? Where would I find-"
He stopped short when he glanced over his shoulder at the stage. Or more specifically, at the stage full of puppets. Steven couldn't tell anyone, Bill had made sure of that. Which meant Dipper had no choice but to find a way to get the message across himself. And for the first time all day, he finally had an idea on how to do exactly that.
"Finally, we're together!" puppet Mabel proclaimed as she and puppet Gabe happily embraced.
"I'm sorry, Mabel, but I have to go fight," puppet Gabe melodramatically began. "In the war!"
A gun and helmet landed on his puppet as the background changed to a war-torn landscape. A giant, sock-tentacled monster rose over the cardboard flames as fog filled in and lasers flickered around the stage.
"I'll wait for you, Gabe!" puppet Mabel cried as she saw him off to war. "I'll wait for you!"
With that, the curtains fell on the first act. Grenda called another announcement over the intercom as the audience offered their applause. "Intermission has begun! Mill about!"
When the house lights came back on, Steven barely noticed. He'd taken to a quieter area backstage, distancing himself from the rest of the crew so he could focus on coming up with a plan. A plan that seemed every bit as out of his reach as the real Dipper was right now.
"Ugh, this is the worst!" he let out a fretful groan as he aimlessly paced around. "I can't tell the Gems, or Mabel, or Connie, or anyone, o-or else he'll just keep hurting Dipper! But there's gotta be something I can to do-"
"To what, Rosebud?"
Steven flinched as he turned to find Bill leaning against a nearby beam. Clad in the reverend suit Mabel had provided him with, he somehow looked even more sinister. All he was really missing was the demon's telltale top hat to bring it all together.
"T-to… to…" Steven trailed off. Only now did he realize his hands were trembling out of raw, unbridled fear. "I-I wasn't… I was just… I'm not-"
"Oh, I know you're not planning on trying to stop me," Bill brushed past Steven. He made a point of showing off his shoulder–and the dark red blood seeping through the black fabric covering it. "Because that would be breaking our little arrangement. And you wouldn't wanna do that, would you, Rosebud?"
"N-no! I wasn't going to—I was only-" Steven cut himself off. He knew begging wouldn't get him anywhere with someone like Bill, so he wasn't even going to bother with that. Instead, he decided to level-set with him as best as he could. "Look, all I want is to keep Dipper safe. I don't know why you want to destroy the journal, but once you do, please, just give him his body back and we won't get in your way again."
Bill simply laughed at his earnest appeal. "You getting in my way? You really think that's what I'm worried about, kid? As if! You and your fellow Mystery Twerps are nothing next to me! I could wipe all four of you out in an instant if I wanted to. And hey, since I've already got one halfway out the door–" His cruel grin widened as he motioned to the body he'd taken as his own, all too human, all too disposable. "I might as well finish the job once that journal is out of the way. What do you say, Rosebud? You wanna help?"
"W-what? No!" Steven exclaimed, horrified. "Y-you can't–Dipper doesn't deserve-"
"Oh, he doesn't?" Bill questioned. "I already told you, Pine Tree gave me his puny meatskin, which means I can do whatever I want with it! In fact… lookie what I brought along from the shack…"
Steven froze as he watched Bill pull a knife out of his clergyman coat, the very same knife he'd used to cut his shoulder before. It was still stained with blood as it glistened under the low backstage lights. The sight of that blade alone was enough to make something inside of Steven break as he desperately reached for it. "T-this isn't fair!" he protested when Bill pulled it far away from him. "I said I wasn't going to tell anyone, and I haven't! I've kept up my end of the deal, which means you can't hurt him anymore-"
"Deal?" Bill asked, feigning ignorance. "What deal? Can't seem to recall making one with you, Rosebud."
"What? B-but you did! You said-" Steven was swiftly cut off when Bill roughly shoved him away. He fell to the ground, gutted, as he watched Bill slowly move the tip of the knife up towards his face. Towards Dipper's face.
"You know, now that I think about it, this whole two eye thing is pretty overrated," he said, casually examining the blade. "It's been throwing my depth perception off like you wouldn't believe! I don't know how you humans stand it, looking at everything through two of these things instead of just one! Why don't I just do Pine Tree a favor and just get rid of one 'em for him? I'm sure he'd appreciate it, right, Rosebud?"
"No!" Steven cried as he scrambled to his feet. Bill was quick to kick him back to keep his knife right where it was, to the point that it was nearly touching his eye. Still, Steven struggled to steal it away from him before it was too late. "This isn't a game, Bill!" he shouted between his emerging tears. "You can't do this to him! I won't let you!"
"Oh yeah?" Bill goaded, grinning. "And what are you gonna do to stop me?"
"I… I don't…" Steven trailed off. Once again, he was struck by just how helpless he really was here. There was nothing he could do to stop this, to keep Bill from getting everything he wanted, to keep Dipper alive. Nothing, except…
"W-what if," he paused, if only to catch his breath. It was a sudden, desperate idea. But right now, it was the only one he really had. "What if you took my body instead?!"
Surprise overtook Bill's expression when he heard this. Still, he only lowered the knife the slightest bit as he urged, "Go on…"
"You just need a body to get your hands on the journal, right?" Steven pressed, resolved. "Why does it have to be Dipper's? Wouldn't mine be just as good?"
"Oh, believe me, Rosebud," Bill's greedy smile swiftly returned. "Yours would be even better. In fact, I just so happen to know of a certain party that would love to get their hands on something only you can give them. And if I possessed your body, well, I'd be able to give 'em exactly what they're looking for."
Steven took pause at this, aptly unnerved. "W-what are you talking about?"
"I won't bore you with the details, kid," Bill quickly changed the subject. "Let's focus on you instead. Your body–and everything that comes along with it," his gaze drifted down to Steven's stomach. Or more accurately, toward his gem. "In exchange for Pine Tree's. You sure that's a trade you're willing to make?"
"Y-yes," Steven nodded with no hesitation at all. "I'll do anything to stop this. I'll do anything to save him. Even… even this."
Bill only shrugged, satisfied that he was about to get even more than he'd set out for. To get both that pesky journal and "Quartzy's" gem, all in one swift swoop. "If you say so, kid." He held his hand out, still without a single blue flame surrounding it, not that Steven noticed or cared. "Either way, you've got yourself a deal!"
Steven took in a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever was about to come. Still, it would be a worthy sacrifice if it got Dipper his body back, if it kept him from any further harm. It would be a worthy sacrifice if it meant saving someone he cared so much about.
And yet, he only had time to reach his hand up to Bill's before it all fell apart.
"Oh, there you guys are!" Connie came around the corner with a clipboard in hand. "Act one just ended, so we need to get ready to-"
She quickly cut herself off as she glanced up at the boys, only to find a shocking sight. Steven's hand nearly met one of "Dipper's", while the other one was occupied with a knife held dangerously close to his face. Even more concerning was the look of almost angry surprise that flooded his face when he looked her way. "Uh… what are you doing?
Steven didn't say a word, not while Dipper's safety still hung in the balance. Bill, however, was quick to pick up the slack for both of them. His glare evened out into a calm, calculated grin, even if Steven could still hear the hint of barely-masked fury in his voice when he spoke. Fury that could only come from having the deal of a lifetime suddenly cut short.
"Oh, I was just telling my good buddy Steven here about how dangerous it is to play around with knives!" He finally lowered the knife as he threw an arm over Steven's shoulder. "It's a pretty valuable life lesson, if I do say so myself. Wouldn't you agree, Steven?"
"Uh, y-yeah!" Steven nodded, forcing on a smile. "It's really, um… valuable…"
"Really?" Connie raised an eyebrow at the pair. "Call me crazy, but for some reason I feel like a sock puppet show is a really weird place to be talking about knife safety. Especially since I thought you've had other things on your mind lately, Dipper. Like, oh I don't know, the laptop?"
"Well of course, I've been thinking about that old laptop!" Bill countered, smirking. "In fact, you could almost say that I've been making some smashing progress with it!"
"Uh huh…" Connie nodded, unconvinced. She took a step closer to the boys, noting the obvious worry on Steven's face–and the barely masked contempt on "Dipper's". "Say, Dipper… you looked pretty exhausted earlier… Are you sure you're feeling ok?"
"Yep! I'm feeling right as rain, Con Con! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, I noticed that you haven't really been acting like yourself lately…" Connie stole a glance down at the knife still in his hand. "And I just wanted to make sure that nothing… weird was going on."
"Weird, huh?" Bill's constant, confident grin remained. "Like what?"
Connie didn't answer right away. Instead, she kept her focus on both boys, from the way Steven couldn't look her in the eye, to the way "Dipper" almost seemed to be challenging her to find something wrong. It didn't take her long to spot it either–the alarming amount of blood staining the black fabric on his shoulder. But before she had a chance to so much as speak to it, Mabel suddenly hurried by.
"Steven! Connie!" she grabbed the pair by their arms to pull them away. "Come on! I need your help setting up for the next act! Dipper, you keep getting ready for that wedding scene! It's coming up sooner than you think!"
"Oh, don't worry, Mabes!" Bill hid the knife behind his back as he waved the trio off. "I'll be ready alright! I'll be ready…" His bright grin darkened as Steven glanced back at him. An entirely new wave of panic overtook him as Bill perched a finger to his lips to remind him to uphold their deal. Or else.