Dipper was a ninja.

That thought helped him as he crept through the undergrowth beside Robbie — or, heh, the Robconscious. Best pun he'd ever made.

Ninja. Right. He was a ninja, and ninjas were silent. Bill would never see them coming.

"There he is," the Robconscious breathed.

Dipper stopped, peering around a tree trunk. A few feet away, studying a tree trunk and its memories, was Bill. The yellow glow of the demon threw an eerie light around him.

"You're positive you don't know anything?" Dipper whispered back, trying very hard to be quiet.

The Robconscious shushed him gently, then shook his head. "Nothing."

"This memory bank is ridiculous," Bill said. His sudden, loud voice startled Dipper after all the quiet. He was just talking to himself, right? He hadn't heard them?

Bill didn't have anything else to say; he simply drifted from one memory to the next.

Dipper and the Robconscious watched in silence for a while. Dipper tried with all his might not to squirm. It was admittedly easier in this dream body thingy, but not that much easier.

Minutes later, or maybe hours, Dipper heard the sound of something hitting something else, followed by a muffled curse. He whirled around, but the Robconscious pushed him down. After a moment of his head in the dirt, Dipper realized Bill might be looking in their direction, and the Robconscious was right to push Dipper out of the way. Didn't make the dirt in his mouth taste any better, though.

The Robconscious let Dipper back up. "What is she doing?" he hissed, looking back at the direction of the sound. Dipper took the opportunity to glance at Bill. The demon was still studying memories, looking none the wiser.

Suddenly, the Robconscious vanished.

Dipper jumped away, colliding with a tree branch that rammed into his back. "Ow!" he exclaimed. Then he covered his mouth.

"Dipper?" Wendy stepped around a tree. "Where's Robbie?"

"I dunno — he just — shh!"

But it was too late.

"Oh, there you are," came Bill's voice. "I was wondering when you'd catch up with me."

Dipper flattened himself against the tree behind him and tried to pull Wendy with him, but she snatched her arm away with a glare.

Bill floated around the bend. "Hi there, Shooting Star!" he said to Dipper. Why was he calling him that?

"Hey, you dumb triangle, didn't anyone ever teach you to mind your own business?" Dipper shot back. It wasn't the best comeback, but maybe it'd be effective.

"Nope!" Bill replied. "Never. Hey, wanna know something funny?" He didn't wait for Dipper or Wendy to respond. "Turns out that Robbie doesn't even know the information I need! Now, to tell you the truth, I already knew that. But you know what? I still came. Because even though my little trip into Robbie's mind was futile for Miss Pleasure's desires, it's not completely useless."

The trees around them lit on fire.

Dipper started, colliding with Wendy as he shied back from the fire. She frantically grabbed his arm. Maybe the gravity of their situation was finally getting through her head.

"So," Bill said with a wide eye and a twisted glee in his voice. As he spoke, he grew larger and larger until his yellow glow was near blinding. "Who wants to have some fun?"

~~~~~

Mabel climbed the first tree she could, scrambling up the branches with no heed to the twigs that snagged against her face and clothes. She could hear memories playing as she passed them; it seemed that every single one had Robbie saying Wendy's name in his relaxed, smooth voice.

Mabel sat herself on a thick branch and let herself cry into her hands. All around, the vibrant memories reminded her of her pain. "Wendy," said Robbie's voice, drifting from the nearby memories. "Wendy." Over and over, she heard the name.

"Mabel?"

Her breath caught in her throat, and she stifled the sob that was trying to burst through. She looked down and saw Robbie at the base of the tree. "Can I come up?" he asked.

As in, climb up the tree? Sit next to her? That sounded like an awful idea; but Mabel didn't know how to say no, so she just sat there, putting her head back in her hands and turning away.

Before long she could hear the tree creak as Robbie put his weight on it, climbing up to her. She forced herself to stay still; but once his hand touched the branch she was on, she reacted instinctively, getting up and scrambling higher into the tree's branches.

"Mabel, wait," Robbie called, following her. She found another branch, this one on the other side of the tree, and sat down again, turning away from him.

It didn't take long for Robbie to catch up to her. This time, she didn't run away. She couldn't bring herself to. She didn't want him there; she didn't want him to see her like this. And yet. . . she wanted him close to her.

He didn't hate her, right? Wendy had to be wrong, but Mabel couldn't help but worry.

She kept her face buried in her sleeve as Robbie settled next to her. "Hey," he said softly. "I saw what happened back there."

Mabel started. "Y-you did?" She peeked up at him through her fingers.

He nodded. "Well, afterwards. Dipper and I heard Wendy coming, and I figured something had happened. I guess I was right."

So this was the Robconscious. Why did Mabel think that he wasn't? Why was she disappointed?

"I'm sorry Wendy said all that," Robbie continued, his voice gentle. "She's wrong."

"A-about what?" Her throat felt tight, but she didn't want to assume anything.

"About you being just a kid," Robbie replied. "You're not. I've seen some crazy things in my life, but you and your brother are especially impressive. I mean, I know I was angry at you for following Bill into my head; but, hey, the fact that you could in the first place. . . that's pretty cool, man."

"It's n-not me," Mabel said. "It's the—"

Robbie put up a hand to quiet her, then shook his head. "It is you. My conscious mind may be unaware, but I've picked up on some interesting things since you've showed up. Your enthusiasm for the supernatural is pretty sweet."

The compliment should've made her feel better, but Mabel got stuck on something else. "I've picked up on some things," he'd said. Oh, no. . .

"I can also see how you feel about me."

Mabel moaned loudly and hid her face with her hands again.

Robbie laughed quietly. "It's okay, Mabel."

"You've known the whole time," was the muffled reply.

"Hey," Robbie said, "remember, I'm the subconscious. I figured it out, easy, but my conscious mind can be. . . well, pretty dense, sometimes."

Mabel looked up. "You mean you don't know? W-when you're awake?"

Robbie shrugged. "That's one way to put it. And you know what? Even if I did know, I'd be okay with it." He smiled at her. Though she wanted to look away, she somehow held his gaze and even managed to smile back a little.

"Although," he continued, "I don't think I could ever actually, you know. . ."

Mabel moaned again, this time throwing her head back. "No!" she exclaimed. "That's not it at all! Dipper and Wendy and everyone thinks I wanna be your girlfriend, but I don't!" The steam of her outburst left as quickly as it had come, and she shrunk back. "C-can't I just have a crush on someone without having to — do something about it?"

Robbie laughed. It was a good sound. "Of course you can." He smiled again; this time, Mabel smiled back easily.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem. You're my friend, dude. I'll keep hanging out with you and your brother, and you can crush on me as hard as you want. I swear I won't notice. Sound good?"

Mabel couldn't help it: She laughed. "Sounds good."

They grinned at each other for a moment. Then the smile vanished from Robbie's eyes. "What?" Mabel asked.

"Dipper and Wendy," Robbie said. "Bill is attacking them."

Mabel started, bracing her hands on the tree branch and sitting up straight. "W-we have to help them!"

"Wait, Mabel," Robbie said. "I can't come with you."

Mabel stared at him. "Why. . . why not?"

"You, Dipper, Wendy, and Bill are all foreign objects in my mind. If you fight each other, you'll hopefully all be forced out. If I join in, I could upset that balance. So I can't come with you. But. . ." He took a deep breath. "Remember earlier how I said you have to follow physical laws in here?"

Mabel nodded.

"I was lying. I didn't want to give you the knowledge to harness the power of the mind, not when you were in mine. But Bill does have that knowledge, so I'm going to trust you."

Mabel just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You can do anything in here," Robbie said. "Anything you have the imagination and concentration for. Bill has all sorts of power over the mind; I can feel it in—" He winced.

"What?"

"We don't have much time. He's really hitting Dipper and Wendy hard."

"W-we — we have to—"

"Just a second. If you concentrate, you'll be able to feel where they are. I may not be able to come, but. . ." He met her eyes. "I trust you."

Her heart fluttered.

Robbie continued, "Do you think you can unlock the powers of the mind, Mabel?"

It took her only a moment to process what he was saying. Then she nodded firmly. She closed her eyes and concentrated, willing her body to comply as she thought of the state she could occasionally reach in dreams.

"Woah, dude," Robbie said.

Mabel opened her eyes. "D-did it work?" She couldn't feel anything. She looked over her shoulder, craning her neck around.

There were giant bird wings on her back.

"Yes!" she crowed, grinning back at Robbie.

He looked suitably impressed. "How'd you manage that?" he asked.

She felt her cheeks heat up a bit. "Oh, I just. . . I have a lot of flying dreams."

"It's sweet, man! You look like you're ready to go take on a demon with those."

Right. The demon. She nodded and took a deep breath. "Yep. I'm ready."

"Good luck. Hope to see you consciously soon, huh?" He raised a fist for a fist-bump. "Top shelf."

"Top shelf." As soon as Mabel's fist touched his, he vanished into a small puff of white smoke.

Mabel gave herself only a heartbeat to watch the space where Robbie had been. Then, she focused on her brother, casting her thoughts out to find him. Where are you, Dipper?

It didn't take long before his presence hit her hard. He was no longer in the memory forest; instead, he was getting attacked by Bill, just like Robbie said. Mabel could feel her brother in pain. Oh, no.

Mabel stood up on the tree branch and — hoping this would work — flung herself off of it. Not only did her new wings catch the air, but she passed straight through the surrounding tree branches, just as she'd hoped. Strangely, she couldn't feel her wings: She could only see them as they flapped in and out of her periphery. But it was always like that in her flying dreams, so she didn't put much thought into it.

Instead, she angled herself upward, towards her brother. I'm coming, Dipper, she promised. Hold on.