Dipper was one of the kindest, gentlest souls Mabel has ever known. So it was a chilling sight to see her brother staring at her with those hideous yellow eyes as he pulled her up with the rope.

"Bill-Dipper! Bipper." That was good. She should write that down.

"Shh…you wouldn't want to ruin the show…whoops!" Bill briefly released the rope causing Mabel to dip a couple inches. "It's slipping. How's about you hand that book over?"

"No way! This is Dipper's! I'd never give it away!"

"Hmm, you didn't seem to have a problem taking it for your own play or ditching him when he needed you. So come to your senses. Give me the book or your play is ruined."

Mabel wanted to help Dipper, but she worked so hard on her play. She handed the journal over to Bill.

"There it is. I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for just for their dumb sibling?"

Wait, what was she doing? A demon is possessing her brother, and she was worried about her stupid play? What kind of sister was she?

Before she could retract the book, Bill snatched the journal out of her hands. With a crazy maniacal laugh, he tore the pages of the book into pieces. Mabel immediately regretted her decision. Dipper will be so upset.

"Well, looks like my work here is done." Bill rubbed the last tattered piece of paper off his hands.

"Fine, just get out of my brother's body."

"Sure thing, Shooting Star. I don't need this body anymore." Instead of tying the rope back to the railing, Bill put the rope around his neck.

"Wait…what are you doing?"

Bill flashed an evil grin. A new desperation gripped Mabel's heart. The play was forgotten as her brother's life hung in the balance.

"No, wait!"

"So long, Shooting Star." He let go of the rope and Dipper was pulled up by the neck.

Mabel seemed to fall in slow motion as she watched Dipper's eyes turn from malicious yellow to fearful brown. Dipper clawed at the rope around his throat in a futile attempt to stop choking. His struggle ended when he hit the ceiling with a sickening crack. Mabel barely noticed her own pain as she fell onstage. Her eyes were focused on the limp body that fell right in front of her.

"Dipper?" Mabel crawled over to him and carefully turned him over. She quickly removed the rope still tied around his neck. "There, you can breathe now. Breathe, Dipper."

Her brother didn't respond nor move. Mabel pushed on his shoulder to stir him. "Dipper, please, wake up."

Mabel lifted Dipper's head, but it just hung uselessly to the side. She became more panicked. "Dipper? Please wake up! Please!"

Mabel felt the walls of her heart closing in as the horrifying truth washed over her body.

Dipper, her brother, her twin was dead.

"No…no…please, no…please…Dipper, no…"

For a moment, the only sound Mabel heard was her own hysterical sobs. Without warning, the room was filled with thunderous applause. She looked behind her and remembered that she was in front of an audience. They must have thought this was part of the show.

"Great job, Mabel." Gabe came onto the stage. "What a show!"

"Gabe…this wasn't part of the show. My brother…he's dead."

"Oh well." Gabe shrugged his shoulders as though Mabel told him they were out of Pitt Cola or something. She looked up aghast at his apathetic reaction. "At least you put on a great show. That's all that matters, right?"

"How could you say that? He was my brother! MY BROTHER!"

"You have me now. You don't need him."

"I don't want you!" Mabel was repulsed by Gabe's callous attitude towards her loss. "I want Dipper!"

Mabel's anger gave way to grief as she cradled her lifeless brother and cried softly. "I want my brother back…"

"But you worked so hard to get me, Mabel. I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for…" Mabel looked into Gabe's eyes. They were yellow. Bill's voice spoke in unison with Gabe's to create an unsettling echo. "Just for their dumb sibling?"

He lunged at Mabel and pinned her to the ground. "Get off me!"

When Bill spoke, Gabe's voice was completely gone. "What? You don't want me after sacrificing your own brother to get me?"

"No…that's not…that's not what I wanted."

"Dipper died so you could have what you wanted."

"No, I didn't mean to…I didn't mean to…"

The cute little puppets on Gabe's hands grew in size into monstrously deformed creatures that loomed over her. She turned her head and shut her eyes from the terrifying creatures.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

One of the puppets growled. It took a deep breath and reared back its head to let out a mighty…

Oink?

Instead of attacking her, the puppet began tugging on her sleeve. Mabel rubbed her eyes, and the puppet turned into her beloved pig, Waddles, who had picked up on her distress and tried to comfort her. She looked around and saw she had been transported from the auditorium to her bedroom.

She looked to her right and saw Dipper in bed sleeping alive and well.

She put a hand over her mouth hoping Dipper hadn't heard her.

"Mabel?" So much for that. As Dipper sat up, Mabel quickly laid down facing towards the wall hoping it wasn't too late to pretend she was asleep.

"Mabel?" Dipper slipped out of his covers and sat down on Mabel's bed. "Mabel, I know you're awake."

Mabel pretended she couldn't hear him even though her trembling was a dead giveaway that she was awake.

"Mabel, please talk to me." Dipper put his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him. Seeing no way out, Mabel sat up trying to avoid eye contact. Instead, her eyes traveled up his bandaged arm until they reached the bruises and cuts that littered his face.

Ridden with guilt, Mabel put her hands over her face and cried. Dipper's hands went over hers and gently pushed them down so he could see her face.

"Mabel, it's okay."

"It's not okay, Dipper. You were in trouble, and all I could think about was my stupid play. You needed me, and I wasn't there for you. You could have gotten hurt."

"But I wasn't…because you came through for me in the end. Like you always do." Dipper put one arm around her and held her close. She rested her head on his shoulder. "We both made mistakes, but we beat Bill in the end."

Dipper held out his fist. "Mystery twins?"

"Mystery twins." Mabel bumped his fist. She hurled herself at Dipper to give him a hug. Dipper bit back a hiss of pain as Mabel's hug stung his wounds. He didn't want to make her feel worse.

"Alright…" Dipper patted her back and pulled away. "We should go to bed."

Mabel laid back down so Dipper could put the covers over her before going back over to his own bed.

"Goodnight, Mabel."

Mabel jumped up from her bed, ran over to Dipper, and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight, bro-bro."

Dipper chuckled and shook his head as Mabel scampered back to her bed.