Stanford Pines sat at his dining table, rubbing his temples with hard fingers. Night had fallen, and he was still no closer to figuring out this burglary.

If the thief had only stolen money, he might not be so worried. He could shut down the shop for a few days, maybe put up some nasty traps that were left over from his adventuring days. But the thief seemed to have only taken the money as an afterthought.

First, they'd stolen his axolotl.

He didn't understand why on earth someone would want to steal his axolotl. Criminy, he didn't even know what he wanted with the creature. It just seemed fascinating. It kept him company while he worked, swimming around with its happy little face. On top of that, it was incredible that he found one here at all, since axolotls weren't indigenous to the Oregon biome.

Then again, neither were fairies, gnomes, or monsters.

A knock at the door startled Ford out of his thoughts. He moaned softly as he stood, his old bones creaking. Even if he wanted to have adventures like he did as a young man, he'd probably hurt himself in this aged body. Grumbling, he made his way to the door and pulled it open.

"Hello there, Stanford," said Pacifica Pleasure, flashing him a dazzling, youthful smile. "How is your evening?"

Stanford stared down at her. "What are you doing here?"

The girl's over-exaggerated smile turned to an over-exaggerated frown. "Now, at least I pretended to be polite."

"What?" Ford said. Something about this was seriously wrong.

A strange purple glow filled the room; with a start, Ford realized it was coming from the pendant on Pacifica's collar. Yet. . . it also seemed to be surrounding him.

He then discovered that he couldn't move.

Pacifica's smile returned. In a sickly sweet voice, she said, "You're coming with me, Stanford."

A sense of dread filled Ford's body.

"Do try to struggle," Pacifica continued. "It will be very entertaining to watch."

~~~~~

Dipper was no longer in the memory forest. He and Wendy stood on a large stone slab that appeared to be suspended in space. The stars around them were probably beautiful, but Dipper didn't have an eye for them. After all, half of what he could see was filled by a giant, demonic triangle.

Bill was huge. He loomed over his victims, and a low, multi-layered laugh cut through the air.

"What are your worst nightmares?" he asked Dipper and Wendy. "Can't have a party without those."

A small part of Dipper hoped Bill wouldn't figure it out if he just kept quiet. The rest of him knew that was a vain hope.

"Ah, I see." Bill turned his slitted pupil on Wendy, and the whites of his eye turned to a spotlight. She flinched.

Bill snapped his gargantuan fingers.

In smalls puffs of blue smoke, five figures appeared around Wendy. Dipper instantly picked out Robbie, meaning the other four had to be the rest of his squad. They looked so real; yet as they circled Wendy, their movements were slightly jerky. Small tendrils of mist trailed behind them.

"Guys?" Wendy asked carefully. They advanced on her, and she shrank back a little.

"We can see through your façade," one of them said, a girl with dark skin.

"You're pathetic," said another.

"You're fake and unoriginal," added a third.

Dipper had to do something! "Wendy," he called, "they're not real! It's okay!"

But Wendy didn't seem to hear him. The fake Robbie had detached from the crowd, stepping forward and meeting Wendy's eyes.

"I never loved you," he said, hatred filling his voice.

Dipper's heart skipped a beat, and Wendy sank slowly to her knees.

Dipper immediately started after her, but his muscles seized up. "Don't think I've forgotten you, Shooting Star," said Bill, his full attention on Dipper now. "I have some friends for you, too."

He snapped his fingers again, and Dipper stepped back as more blue mist began to form. Soon, the mist turned into figures: Melody, Ford, Amanda, and Mabel. Their faces were all marred by twisted expressions, and Dipper could hardly breathe.

He turned and dashed away from them, hoping that they couldn't move very fast. But a wall of flames circled the platform, obstructing his path. With a faint zipping noise, the ghostly (but disturbingly realistic) versions of his friends and family disappeared and reappeared around him, closing in on him just like Wendy's friends.

"What an obnoxious brother," Mabel said. "Ford and I are going to go on adventures without you, Dipper. You're just too annoying to join us." She beamed up at Ford, who smiled back.

"I'm nice to you," Melody added, "but it's just pretend. I wish you'd never come to Gravity Rises."

Amanda stepped forward, malice in her eyes. "Agreed," she said with a glance at Melody. To Dipper, she said, "I only thought I loved you because I was scared, you know."

The words were all like a punch to the gut. Dipper stumbled back. He tried not to listen to them, tried to remember that they weren't real, but. . .

What if they were telling the truth?

"Dipper!"

It was Mabel's voice, but it wasn't coming from the fake Mabel in front of him. Dipper whirled around, hoping to see his real sister.

There she was, flying above the platform, with large wings that swept back and forth to keep her aloft. The wings were grey, but the feathers refracted colorful light as they flapped. "Mabel!" Dipper called back, relieved. "You look awesome!"

Mabel grinned. "Thanks, bro! Turns out, you can do anything in here, if you can imagine it!" Her voice echoed around them, much like Bill's, but with only one layer.

"Oh, you must think you're so clever," Bill said, glaring at Mabel from across the platform. "But the mindscape is mine."

Mabel ignored him. "Try it!" she said to Dipper. Her wings threw rainbows of light onto the platform.

Dipper looked around at the shades of his friends and family, and their faces turned to scowls. He scowled right back. "You're not real!" he shouted at them. "Dipper Ninja Kick!" He hit them all with a perfect roundhouse kick, and they burst into mist on contact with his foot. He didn't even fall on his butt, like he usually did when trying ninja moves! This was awesome!

"Go, Dipper!" yelled Mabel. She raised her hands toward Bill and bucked back as beams of dark blue light shot from her palms, hitting Bill straight in the eye.

"Ow!" Bill shrieked, covering his face. "All right, fine. Want to get violent, do we?"

Mabel folded her wings and dropped, and Bill's red lasers passed right through the spot where she had just been. She landed on the platform in a roll, popping back up and running over to Dipper. Dipper grinned at her. Then something caught his eye.

Wendy was on the other side of the platform, still getting bullied by the shades of her friends. She curled up on the ground, and they jeered and kicked at her.

Dipper ran over. "Wendy! Wendy, you can stop them! They're not real!"

There was no response.

"Dipper Ninja Kick!" he shouted, kicking at a nearby boy with purple streaks in his hair. But his foot passed right through, and the boy didn't even react. "Wendy," said Dipper, "only you can make them disappear! C'mon! You can do it!"

"Dipper!" Mabel called. "Leave her, Dipper; she isn't fighting them. We just have to get her out of here."

Dipper looked from Mabel to Wendy and back to Mabel. Okay. He ran to Mabel, throwing ninja stars at Bill as he went. The stars sliced holes through Bill's yellow form and spun off into space. Bill yelled with each impact, but he looked more angry than anything.

"Mabel, this is the coolest thing ever," Dipper whispered when he was close enough to her.

"Agreed," she whispered back. Then she raised her voice and shouted, "All right, Bill! This is over! Dipper, help me imagine a portal out of Robbie's mind."

"Right!" Dipper concentrated, envisioning a swirling portal that appeared underneath Bill. The demon flailed, and it looked like they were going to defeat him.

"Enough!"

With a flash, everything disappeared. There was nothing but a void of white surrounding Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, and Bill. The shades had vanished, as had Mabel's wings. The holes in Bill's shape had mended.

Dipper tried to move, but he couldn't. He could only float there under Bill's gaze.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed," Bill said. "You guys handled yourselves better than I expected. Looks like I'll have to be extra careful with my Symbols."

Dipper and Mabel exchanged looks of confusion.

"All you have to do is stay alive until I can use you," Bill continued. "It'll be rough in coming days, I can promise you that. I'll be watching to see how you handle it."

Mabel shivered in Dipper's periphery.

"I'll be watching," Bill repeated, and his voice dropped multiple octaves. His yellow aura grew brighter and brighter until it filled Dipper's vision.

Then everything faded to black.