Alex's show doesn't exactly go as planned...

Alex was based in Los Angeles, but he insisted on making the trip up to their neck of the woods.

"I've been looking for an excuse to visit Oregon," he'd said over the phone, "and what better time than the present?"

The university had been more than happy to accommodate his need for a studio, provided he give them the appropriate accolades for doing so. They set him up in the drama department, where they filmed the locally syndicated show, "Why You Ackin' So Cray Cray," and produced terrible movies like, "Help My Mummy's a Werewolf!"

Friday came around too quickly, and Dipper found himself anxiously pacing the length of the makeshift green room that he'd been delegated. Mabel and Wendy watched him from the couch, helping themselves to the cookies and brownies on the table.

"Dude, you're stressing me out just looking at you," Wendy frowned. "Would you sit down and chillax?"

"Yeah, bro, try one of these brownies! They're reeealllly good!" Mabel added around a mouthful of the confections.

"Can't eat," Dipper mumbled, not faltering in his pace. "I'd probably just throw it up all over Alex."

"Speak of the devil," a voice quipped from the door.

The room's three occupants all whirled around to find Alex himself leaning against the doorframe sporting a playful expression. He was clad in his trademark red and black flannel shirt and black skinny jeans, short brown curls wild as ever atop his head.

"Alex!" Dipper's face broke into a furious blush as he realized that his fear had likely been overheard.

The man only laughed in response, walking in and clapping Dipper on the back. "Your sister's right about those brownies, you know. Your school really knows how to treat a guest! And I'm not just saying that because they bribed me to." He flashed a wink, obviously trying to set his guest at ease.

While Dipper appreciated the effort, his stomach remained set on its revolutionary agenda, the breakfast bar that he'd anxiously scarfed down in the car churning tumultuously. Alex sensed his apprehension, the hand on the brunet's back moving in slow, soothing circles.

"Does he usually get worked up like this?" The question was directed at his entourage.

"Unfortunately. Dip's always been a ball of stress."

"Yeah. There was this one time that I was babysitting them, about ten years ago, when Dipper realized that he'd forgotten his math homework at school and almost had a panic attack – at age 8! I was able to copy Mabel's, but it took an hour and a dozen cookies to calm him down. Apparently at school the next day, he confessed to – his exact words – 'plagiarism,' telling his teacher that he'd copied his sister's homework. You can imagine the trouble that their great uncle and I got into. I'm still not sure how he even knew what plagiarism meant!"

Alex chuckled, eyes twinkling mischievously at Dipper, silently asking for permission to bring the story up during the interview. Rather than answer, the teen pouted at the occupants of the couch.

"Was that story really necessary for him to hear?"

"She wouldn't have shared it if you had just crawled out of your turtle shell," Mabel stated matter-of-factly.

"Don't sweat it, kid. I'm only really interested in your channel and the feud you've got going on – any embarrassing childhood stories that you share would be of your own free will. But seriously, did you have a Word-A-Day Calendar or something?"

"He did, actually! Still does. Our other grunkle sends them to him every year for Christmas!"

Dipper rolled his eyes as the room burst into laughter again. Admittedly, he did feel a bit more relaxed. There was something comforting in Alex's presence that put him at ease. The reassurance that he wouldn't grill him on his life story was an added relief.

The host seemed to catch onto Dipper's dampening anxiety, moving his hand from the teen's back to his shoulder and patting it once more. "Well, glad to see that the tension's been relieved. Now if you'll excuse me, I have one more guest to attend to before show time!"

He shook hands with everyone amicably before hurrying out the door. The green rooms were scattered throughout the studio to assure privacy for all guests, so Dipper had no idea who else would be on the show. Alex never actually announced them beforehand, nor did he allow his guests to announce their appearances; it only added to the show's flair.

Speaking of which, Dipper checked his phone.

3:45 p.m.

They were set to go live at 4:00, a time meant to accommodate most time zones, as they were located on the west coast. Alex would kick it off with a conventional monologue, as talk show hosts were known to do, then he'd introduce his first guest. Dipper would be his second, and there'd be one person to follow him. The stage manager would come for him when it was time, but he wanted to be mentally prepared for the moment as best as he could.

Okay, I shouldn't be on until 4:30, which means I have about 45-minutes to get all of the tongue-tied, embarrassing stuff out of my system. Damn it, I should've made a checklist for this! Why, of all occasions, did I forget to make a checklist for this?! What if I miss something important? What if I say something unimportant? This is nothing like playing a video game! Geez, what if I come across as an antisocial freak–

His internal panic was silenced prematurely by a brownie slapping him across his face.

"Wha– Mabel!" He wiped the offending crumbs from his cheek, frowning at his cackling sister.

When she managed to collect herself, Mabel sat up and levelled a mostly-serious look at him. "Stop overthinking things, bro! Just look at it like filming a video with me or Wendy."

He didn't want to admit how much sense her comparison made. Collabing with his sister or Wendy often led to lengthy discussions and jokes. It surprised him how easily he could converse in a video without smashing buttons on a controller or complaining about weak graphics.

"Yeah, man, stop freaking out and come sit with us," Wendy agreed, waving a cookie at him tantalizingly. "You'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

Not even Wendy could have predicted the drama that would go down.

"My next guest is the star of his own gaming channel, 'The Mystery Shack,' but he is probably better known for the feud that he's been embroiled in over the past few weeks. Here tonight to clear the air, please give a warm welcome to Dipper Pines!"

The brunet resisted the urge to fiddle with his fingers as he made the lonely walk from stage right to the couch beside Alex. He waved awkwardly to the applauding audience seated just beyond the cameras. He was surprised by the warmer-than-necessary reception that he received. Some fans were even wearing "Team Dipper" shirts and hats. Mabel and Wendy slipped into a pair of reserved seats in the front row, the former giving him a thumbs-up and bright grin.

Alex recaptured his attention with a chuckle and clap on the back. "Not used to a live audience?"

"Wha-?" Dipper flushed as he realized that he was probably sporting a bewildered expression. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, trying to will the blush on his cheeks away. "Ye-Yeah, it's a lot quieter in my room."

Alex nodded with a reassuring smile. "Speaking of which, why don't we start from where it all began? What prompted you to start making gaming videos?"

His eyes locked with Mabel's; her smile was impossibly wider. "Well Mabel, my sister, started making beauty and DIY videos our junior year of high school. Seeing how they helped her come out of her shell even more, I dunno, I guess I wanted to try it for myself." He turned back to Alex, who was listening intently. "She was the one who suggested I do a gaming channel. My major is digital design, so they tie in pretty well. When I realized that I could use my expertise to help others enjoy games more, I started to view it as more than just a hobby. I never expected to get the kind of attention that I'm receiving now, though!"

"Well I think you have a certain viral video response to thank for much of that," Alex quipped. "So let's move on to that. How did you see Cipher's video and why did you respond to it?"

Dipper inhaled deeply, calming his jittery nerves. 'Don't think about screwing up and you won't.' He repeated the mantra that Wendy gave him backstage in his head as he opened his mouth to respond.

"Mabel was the one who showed it to me. She was pretty distraught about what he said, and after watching it, I could see why. I don't know if Cipher gets off on putting others down, but I couldn't believe that someone could actually post something so hateful! I didn't let it affect me at first; I figured it would blow over after a while. I saw people posting in defense of their favorite YouTubers and genres, but after two days, I didn't see anything about gamers. In fact, I actually saw some hateful comments agreeing with Cipher."

"So you decided to take a stand yourself," Alex supplied.

Dipper nodded. "'Be the change you want to see,' right? I didn't want any gamers to feel discouraged because no one was fighting for them."

"But why a video response? All of the other responses had been through Twitter."

"I wanted to make a statement. I didn't want my response to get swallowed up by the others. I wanted to make sure that people would see it."

"Right, so you post a video of your response, and it blows up overnight. And not only does it blow up, but Bill responds! When did you realize that you had a feud on your hands?"

Dipper bit his lip. "I'm not entirely sure. I never wanted a feud, I just wanted to give gamers some validation. Mabel and our friend Wendy were the ones who talked me into responding. Even then, none of us expected it to last this long or be this popular!"

"Are there moments when you wish that you could take it back?"

"Honestly? No. Cipher may be a pain to deal with, but I stand by my words." Dipper crossed his arms with an air of finality.

"Aww, you don't really mean that, kid. I'm the highlight of your day!"

Dipper's head shot up at the familiar voice. No, he wouldn't!

Alex tugged at his collar, shooting the camera an exaggeratedly awkward expression. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag. Hope you didn't expect a one-sided debate! Here to defend his honor, please join me in welcoming the mastermind behind 'Welcome to the Mindscape,' Bill Cipher!"

Dipper tried to reign his terror in as the blond menace himself walked onstage from the opposite side that Dipper had entered. His triumphant gait exuded arrogance, the crowd devouring the pompous act wholeheartedly.

Dipper managed to catch Mabel's eyes, abundant apologies spilling from them. Wendy was subtly flipping Alex off, glaring daggers at the oblivious host who would surely be dead if looks could kill.

Bill finally reached Alex, shaking his hand cordially before taking a seat on the couch beside the brunet teen. Dipper made a show of scooting as far away as the arm of the chair allowed, (which wasn't far enough in his opinion). Bill merely smirked at the action and invaded his space further. When Dipper glared at him in response, he draped an arm onto the back of the couch behind him, resting his fingertips delicately on the brunet's left shoulder.

"Glad to see you two already getting chummy," Alex teased, eliciting a few cheers from fangirls in the audience.

Dipper jerked away at that, redirecting his frown at his host. Alex ignored it, moving the show along. "Bill, so glad that you could join us!"

Bill flashed the plaid-clad brunet a brilliant smile. "Glad to be here, Alex. You're a very persistent guy, relocating the entire show just to score an interview with me."

Dipper nearly choked at that revelation. He and Bill lived in the same city! He hadn't researched the guy, but he felt like that was a crucial detail that he should've somehow known. Sure, Wendy had filmed some videos with him a few times before, but she'd done stuff with other people outside of town enough that he hadn't put much thought into that.

"Well, it's not like you're the only one of my guests living here," Alex acknowledged, drawing Dipper's attention back to him. "Speaking of which, have you two ever met in person before today? I know that it's a big city, but surely not that big, right?"

Dipper opened his mouth to respond, but Bill beat him to the punch. "Nope, apparently it is that big. Then again, gamers don't get out much, so it shouldn't be surprising that our paths have never crossed."

The brunet could feel his eye twitch at the backhanded remark. "Takes a shut-in to know one," he muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for the mic on his collar to pick up. Oohs resounded through the studio, Alex chuckling behind a hand himself.

Rather than get angry, Bill laughed in that same, obnoxious tone ever-present in his videos. "I guess I walked right into that one. I've gotta hand it to ya, kid, you're pretty quick-witted. I thought video games were supposed to rot the brain or something."

"Did you get that from a soap opera? Video games help stimulate multiple parts of the brain, and they increase hand-eye coordination and dexterity."

Bill raised his hands in mock surrender, rolling his eyes. "Geez kid, don't get your briefs twisted! I didn't ask for a lecture. I get enough of those here every day! Can someone say nerd alert?"

Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting really tired of Bill's shit. "Did you only come here so that you could ruin my day in person, too?"

Alex had seen enough action, standing to recapture their attention. "How about we move on another topic?"

Bill ignored him, eyes trained on Dipper. "Well I didn't know that you'd be here, so, no, I didn't come for you. But I'd be lying if I said that this was an unpleasant turn of events."

That set him off. Dipper bolted to his feet, hands balled at his sides in frustration. "Seriously, what's your problem with me?!"

Bill frowned, standing to tower over the teen. "I thought I made it pretty clear in my video what my problem with you is." His voice had dropped, all traces of playfulness gone.

"So what? You hate me because I'm a gamer who had the balls to put you in your place?!" It wasn't making sense to Dipper, but he'd be damned if Bill made him look weak in front of all of these spectators. It was one thing to be anxious in front of a camera; standing in the face of your antagonist with an audience was a different feeling altogether. It made him bolder.

"No, I hate you because you're a waste of space," Bill sneered, poking Dipper in the chest to punctuate the statement. "People like you don't deserve to be praised for tapping a few buttons and saying a bunch of shit on camera. Anyone can play a video game; what makes you so special? What makes you think that your fifteen-minute video is worth watching? News flash: it's not! You're just a little fame-moocher who became relevant on a whim. After this blows over, you'll go back to being nothing."

Bill's words stung him. They mercilessly tore into old wounds that were still healing. Familiar voices of disappointment and shame echoed through his psyche, invading the quietest crevices of his mind. All of the hate that he'd deflected, all of the blocked trolls, all of the deleted comments came rushing back, strengthened by Cipher's harsh words.

His confidence evaporated just as quickly as it had come, leaving a trembling kid in its wake. He looked up at the blond, panting and red-faced from his venomous rant. His wild azure eyes locked condemningly with his dull caramel ones, forcing his own head down in submission. Tears welled up involuntarily, spilling down his cheeks.

The crowd had fallen into stunned silence when the shouting match started, watching the exchange with bated breath. Alex had resigned to letting them hash it out, too, retreating to the curtain where two security guards joined him, awaiting his signal should it escalate further.

It was as if time had frozen, the only sound audible being Dipper's hushed sniffles. Finally, he lifted his head enough to shoot a final glare at Cipher, though its potency had been diluted by the tears still flowing steadily.

"You win," he whispered, the words barely passing his lips. Not waiting for a response, he bolted from the stage, not caring where he ended up. He just needed to get away.

He could hear Mabel's familiar footsteps trailing him urgently. As he passed a monitor near the studio exit, he caught a glimpse of Wendy rushing the stage to grab Cipher by the collar. He didn't need to stay to hear the redhead's words; her outraged cry of, "You fucking asshole! I'm going to shove my boot so far up your rectum that you'll be shitting leather from Hell!" resonated through the entire building.

TheMysteryShack: "Sorry alex_the_creator for ruining your show today. I promise it'll never happen again."

Dipper scrolled down the settings screen of his YouTube account. His hand shook violently as he maneuvered the cursor to hover over the "delete channel" button.

"Dip'n'Dots, are you sure you wanna do this?" Mabel's sorrow-filled voice was almost enough to break his resolve. Almost.

"I'm sorry, Mabes, but I can't do this anymore." His hand gripped the mouse tighter, but he didn't press down on the left side.

"Maybe if you give it a month, let everything cool down–"

"I appreciate the support that you've given me, sis, and believe me, this decision is the hardest that I've ever made."

"So don't do it!"

"Whatever it is your sister is warning you not to do, I completely agree," Stan quipped from the open doorway, two mugs of hot cocoa in his hands. He let himself in, handing the female twin one cup before setting the other gently in front of his grandnephew. "You wanna tell me why you've been sulking for the past two weeks?" The question held no malice, nor was it demanding.

Dipper accepted the mug timidly, but made no move to respond. Mabel sighed and gave Stan a brief synopsis of the show's events. When she'd finished, Stan stood and silently exited the room with clenched fists. A loud crash rang from the kitchen a second later, promptly followed by a slew of profanities.

Mabel slipped a blanket around her twin's shoulders, as the temperatures had begun to decline as winter drew nearer and their heater was on the fritz. Dipper burrowed in to it gratefully, sipping at his cocoa, eyes trained on his laptop screen.

Mabel pulled another chair up beside him, resting a hand on his. Her full lips were fixed into a pout, brows furrowed as she tried to catch his gaze. "Dipper, please. You need to think about what you're doing. I don't want this to be one of your biggest regrets."

"My biggest regret is being a disappointment. Do you know what the first words out of Ford's mouth were when I called him that other night? 'Are you still wasting time on that video game thing?' No 'Hi, Dipper!' or 'How have you been, Dipper?' or 'What's my protégé working on now?' like it used to be."

Mabel sighed, rubbing soothing circles into her twin's back with her unoccupied hand. She just wished that she could take the pain from him. She wished that she could punch some sense or emotion into Ford's big scientist brain. She should've known from the start that this was deeper-set than Cipher's cruel words.

Stan returned then, placing a hand on Dipper's other shoulder and squeezing lightly, just enough to assure him of his presence. He didn't press for further information.

They remained this way for a moment, leaning on each other. Finally, Mabel asked the question weighing on both of their minds. "Are you really just going to give it all up?"

A/N: Well that was... something.

I know, I can't wait to see what happens next, either! I'm eternally working on other projects, so I can't promise a timetable for the next update. I do hope that you'll stick with me for this ride, though, because we're just getting started!

As always, thank you all so, so much for all of the lovely comments and kudos! The notification emails that roll in make me smile like an idiot at my phone xD