~~~~~~~~~Your POV~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, guys," Mason began, all of us sitting at a table in the corner of the public library, a determined expression on his face, "Today's the big day!"

"Big day!!" Mabel yelled.

"Soos finally fixed up the laptop. If this thing works, we could learn the identity of the author and unravel the greatest mysteries of Gravity Falls!"

"You sure it'll work?" I asked, still unsure of just how great Soos's skills were, "It looks pretty old too."

"Only one way to find out," he replied, "You both ready?"

"Oh, I'm ready, baby!" Mabel opened a pop-up book that had a baby picture inside, the word Mama being said in a robotic voice.

Mason placed the laptop on the table, opening it up and pressing the start button, all of us staring intensely as we watched it loud, listening to him mutter, "This is it, this is it..!"

When it finally loaded, unfamiliar symbols appeared on the screen, as well as a Welcome spelled out across it.

My eyes widened at the sight, "It worked! It actually worked!!"

"YEAH!!" Mabel yelled after a laugh of triumph.

Beep

Mason looked back at the screen at the noise, his joy quickly being replaced by annoyance, "Ugh, of course! A password!"

"Don't you worry, bro bro!! With both your brains, (y/n)'s support, and my laser focus, there is literally nothing that can distract us from-" A soft melody interrupted Mabel, "Did you hear that?"

Not far from us, on a lounge area of the library, was a group of small kids by the fireplace, all looking up and listening to a boy around our age behind a small stage. He had bright blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, fair skin and blue eyes, and two puppets sat on his hands, singing to the children, "All my life I've been dreaming, of a love that's right for me! And now I finally know her name and it's- sing with me kids."

"Literacyyy!" the kids sang with him.

"I finally understand what all the buzz is about! Reading!" he spoke with a raspy voice as the bee, then a more feminine voice as the book, "Gimme some of that honey!" He made his two puppets start making out, chuckling along as the kids laughed.

Mabel stared at him with wide pupils, pulling out another pop-up book, this time with a heart, "Ba-bump, ba-bump!"

"Oh boy."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"Thank you, thank you!" The boy waved at his audience.

"Just when I was getting over Mermando, of course you show up at my doorstep!"

I raised an eyebrow at Mabel's sentence, "Mermando? Oh, you mean that merman you met at the pool!"

"Oh yeah, I remember Mermando," Mason said as he walked over to a shelf, "Did not care for Mermando." He then walked back with a book, opening it up, "Okay, this cryptology book says there's 7.2 million eight letter words. I'll type, you two read."

"Actually, Maze?"

"Hm?" He glanced up at me and noticed me pointing ahead, seeing Mabel now running over to the boy.

"That's why we don't stick our hands in-"

"Other people's mouths!" the kids finished with him. What kind of lyrics were these?!

Mason let out a sigh, "Okay whatever, you read then. The faster, the better."

"Ay ay, cap." I grabbed the book he had brought, and I began to read the words on the page, Mason typing them all in. Every time there was a wrong answer, the computer would buzz and glow red for a second, but we were determined to solve it.

At least, I was, until a faint laugh caught my attention. It was like a breeze that had passed by my ear, a rush of cold that disappeared just as fast as it appeared. I began to glance around, trying to figure out who was the one laughing, cackling in such a manner, so close to me yet so far away, as if it was at the other side of the hard wall in front of me.

"(y/n)? The next word?" Mason asked, bringing me back to my senses.

"Y-yeah, sorry."

We continued for a few more minutes, until Mabel walked over and Mason asked without looking away from the laptop, "So, how'd it go?"

"Guys, how hard do you think it would be to write and compose a sock puppet rock opera with lights, original music, and live pyrotechnics by Friday?"

Beep

"WHAT?!" Mason and I yelled in synch, with him continuing, "Mabel, are you serious?!"

"I don't know what happened!! I got lost in his eyes and his ponytail!! I'm gonna be so embarrassed on Friday if I don't have anything!!"

"But what about cracking this password?! You know, Mystery Trio?!"

"If you help me with this just a couple of days I promise I'll help you with the password!! Please, pretty please!!" She lowered her voice to a whisper, giving the best puppy eyes she could muster, "It's for love, guys..!!"

Mason glances at me, to which I simply shrugged, then let out a sigh, "Alright, okay-"

"YES!!" Mabel wrapped Mason in a tight hug first, then pulled me into it, "THANK YOU!! THESE GUYS, THEY'RE NUMBER ONE!!"

We couldn't help but laugh, a bit embarrassed by the attention, Mason quickly trying to calm the situation, "Okay okay okay okay, shh!"

I pulled away from the hug, "Alright, how about we head back home and get things started?"

"Let's make Gabe love me!!" Mabel yelled, running out.

Mason let out a heavy sigh, both annoyed by the situation and finding it humorous, following her out. I was gonna do the same, when the same faint cackle passed by my ear again, far away but right by me. But I was alone now, even Gabe and the children had left, nothing was here.

Maybe I was just hearing things..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the next week, the days were spent helping Mabel plan her puppet show; sticking the puppets, building the sets, writing the scripts, my hands were peeling off because of how much hot glue we had used. Then by night, we'd help Mason with the code, numbers, words, patterns, anything we could think of, that buzzing sound had gotten stuck in my head.

And there was something else that kept bothering me. That laugh, that stupid laugh that sounded too far away for me to pin a face to. The only one I could think of was that triangle demon, the one I made a deal with weeks ago, and the thought petrified me. But that to me made no sense, all the other times he had simply appeared in front of me and talked to me like it was nothing.

So what gives?!

It was now Thursday night; the script was all done, the sets were almost all built, and most puppets had been brought to life. We were in the twin's room, Mabel in her bed organizing all her puppets, Mason in his bed trying more passwords, and I sat on the floor against his bed as I kept tugging the loose skin on my fingers, distracted by the far off cackle once more.

For the passed days we spent working on the puppet show. And between breaks, Dipper and I would try to guess the code. Before we knew it, it was Thursday night.

"Goodnight, my babies!" Mabel said before taking the Gabe puppet and making it kiss the Mabel puppet, whispering, "Soon, Gabe Benson!"

Beep

"Ugh, wrong password!" Mason yelled, punching the bed under him, "Wrong, wrong, ugh!!"

Mabel looked over, "Don't stay up all night, Dipper! Last time you got this sleep deprived you tried to eat your own shirt."

Which he was already doing, spitting it out when he realized, "Just a few more tries."

"Not right now, Maze," I climbed onto the bed, sitting behind him as I wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling him back to lie down against me, "You haven't slept a wink in days, you need to rest.."

His face grew red, but with a heavy sigh, he let himself let go like a rag doll, "Only cuz you're making me.."

I took off his hat, messing with his hair to calm him down, and he was snoring in a matter of minutes. Mabel had already gone to bed too, surrounded by all her puppets.

On the contrary though, I was far from tired, eyes wide open even in the darkness. I looked over at the closed laptop, staring at it for a while before carefully placing Mason on the bed and heading up to the roof; maybe I could give some tries myself.

An hour later of trying, and my eyes were getting tired from all my time in front of a bright screen in the dark of a forest night, the color shifts from the dark greens to the bright reds of incorrect answers making me flinch now.

"There has to be some shortcut or clue," I muttered to myself, closing my eyes and massaging my forehead for a few seconds, "Who would know about secret codes..?"

There was a change in atmosphere at that, one that felt eerily familiar. The wind speeding up, forcing me to grip my jacket as the cold got to me, looking around and ready to attack.

Making my heart stop, I saw the yellow shape forming in front of me around the moon, the entire area around me now only shades of gray, "I think I know a guy!!"

I covered my mouth to force myself not to scream, holding my breath as I heard him speak, "Well, well, well. That little group of yours is awfully persistent, Gold Coin! Hats off to you!!" He took off his head, the world tilting along with it side wise and back to normal, making me yell as I fell back into the roof.

Shaking my head, I tried to keep myself calm, "Y- You're back?!"

"Did you miss me?" His eye smiled, "Admit it, you missed me~!"

"I wish I'd never see you again, you tried to destroy my boss's mind!!"

"It was just a job, kid!! No hard feelings! Besides, we left things off in an incomplete accommodation!"

"Incom-" I stopped myself, realizing what he meant. The deal. He was here for the deal.

"Now now, let's not rush things!" He began to spin around me, "I've actually grown to like you, you're quite the interesting specimen, so I'm gonna add something to our little deal!"

"Add? What are you..." I shook my head, trying to keep my head, "There's nothing to add, the deal is set, and you still have yet to tell me what you want from me."

He laughed, cackled, that cackle, "Jeez, kid, relax! Aren't you a pushy one! Well if you ever change your mind, I'll be here for you, ready to make a dealll~!" He raised his arms, three slots that resembled a casino machine in his chest showing a spinning coin. "I'll be around, waiting, I know you'll cave in sooner or later~!"

And just like that, I woke up with a sharp gasp, holding my breath right after. When I looked around, the sun was already rising up, it was maybe six or seven in the morning. I rubbed my eyes, exhausted by the interaction, a yawn escaping my lips, but today wasn't a day to sleep.

First I left the laptop on Mason's bed, the room empty, then headed down to the kitchen where Mason, Mabel, and Stan were all having breakfast. Another yawn escaped me as I entered the room, "Morning.."

"Whoa, bag check for (y/n)'s eyes!" Stan laughed at his own joke, then looked around, "Nobody?"

Mason rushed over to me, helping me sit down, "What happened? You look exhausted!"

Rubbing my eyes, I resisted the urge to yawn again, "I wasn't tired last night, so I figured I'd give the laptop a few more tries, and then there-" I stopped myself, Bill's threat still lingering in my head, "And I.. lost track of time.."

Mabel grabbed a glass of pink liquid, offering some to me, "Here, wake up with some Mabel juice, it has plastic dinosaurs in it~! That way you'll be ready for the show tonight!"

Stan cringed at the sight, "It's like if coffee and nightmares had a baby."

"Mabel, now isn't the time to discuss your show, alright?" Mason corrected, glaring over, "(y/n)'s in a bad state."

"Well maybe he wouldn't be in a bad state if you hadn't started obsessing over the hacky computer thing!" Mabel argued back.

"That hacky computer thing is actually something important!!"

"Guys, please don't," I intervened, "My head hurts enough as it is, let's not argue today.."

As Mabel puffed her cheeks, Mason let out a sigh, "Right, sorry."

Mabel walked over, "Don't worry, bro, today's the day that the Mystery Trio is back in action! I'll help you crack that code! I just gotta hand off my puppet stuff to my production crew!"

I glanced at her, "Production crew?"

She led us outside the shack, where her friends Candy and Grenda waited with smiles and many disfigured puppets, as well as a handful of papers.

Candy fixed her glasses, "We read the script, very emotional."

"I cried like eight times!!" Grenda yelled after. She then looked at me, her eyes widening, "Holy hot sauces!! (y/n), what happened to your perfect face?!"

I was about to answer, when the sound of someone heading over interrupted us, showing Gabe rollerblading into the shack's area, "Hey, ladies."

Mabel instantly smiled, "Gabe!!"

"I was just blading by, helps me dry out my ponytail after a shower," he said before taking off his helmet and shaking his hair around to dry it."

Grenda smiled as well, "Hubbity-hubbuty!!"

Candy followed after by muttering something in Korean, a glare on her face that made me slightly back away from her.

Mabel ran over to him, "It's so great to see you!! I was just working on the world's greatest puppet show! It has puppets!!"

"Your passion is so refreshing, Mabel!" He first smiled at her, then glared to the side, "Unlike the girl from last night's puppet show. Single stitch on one puppet, cross stitch on the other?! I was like Uh-uh!!"

"Cross... huh?"

"Naturally I deleted her from my cell phone list."

"Naturally?!" Mabel forced out a chuckle, now obviously distressed.

"I know you won't let me down though," Gabe smiled at her again, "Based on what you said the other day you must be a puppet expert!"

Grenda then stepped forward, "You know, Gabe, you look pretty sweaty! You should really take your shirt off!! Right? Aren't we all thinking that?"

"Later, ladies!" Gabe said, ignoring Grenda's unhinged comment before blading away.

Some seconds of silence went by, a very short time, but it was enough for me to notice the sudden itching that started in the back of my right hand, scratching it, pinching the skin, and growing shocked as I noticed its look. There were spots on my hand, shapeless bumps that I kept scratching at.

My blood running cold, I walked over to the group and whispered, "Mas-"

"GAH!!" Mabel yelled in a panic, getting everyone's attention, "We gotta up our game, girls!! Did you hear that thing he said about the stitches?!"

"Don't worry, Mabel, your group can handle it!!" Grenda held up a puppet, accidentally pulling it too hard and breaking its arms off, "... oops."

Candy then raised another puppet that had eyes all over it, "How many eyes does a face have again?"

"I got it... I got it..!" Soos said to himself as he tried to pile up all the settings and props onto the back of his truck, soon falling off it with all the props too, "I'm not okay!!"

Another scream from Mabel, "Okay okay, I'm back on fabrication! Get me my lint roller!!"

"Whoa, whoa!! Hey!!" Mason yelled to stop her, "You just said you were going to help me!!"

"Dipper, this sock crisis just bumped up to a code argyle!! The laptop can wait!!"

"Mabel, do you seriously think that your random crush of the week is more important than uncovering the mysteries of this town?! You're obsessed!!"

"I'm obsessed?! Look at you!! You look like a vampire!! And not the hot kind!!"

"But you said you were going to help me today!!"

"Well I can help you, with tickles!!" Mabel said in a deeper voice, tickling Mason's side with a puppet on her hand.

He laughed for the first few seconds, so did Mabel's friends, then he punched her hand away, "Mabel, enough!!!"

"Hey!!!"

The itching was getting unbearable by this point, and while I hated getting in between their fights, I just needed one of them to help me get the first aid kid so I could deal with it on my own, "Guys, I just need to-"

"NOT NOW!!" they both yelled in synch, making me flinch back as I gripped my hand.

Mason then let out a heavy sigh, gripping the bridge of his nose, "Okay, if I help you finish whatever it is you need to fix, will you then finally help me with my side of things?!"

"Yes, whatever!!" she yelled back, running over to her group, Mason following in anger, "Now someone get me the puppets from the second act, we gotta patch it up, everyone!!"

Everyone left their own ways faster than I had seen any of them run in the time I've known them, leaving me alone in the outside of the shack with the itch that was getting worse and worse by the second, the faint cackle grazing my ear once again.

This really is the worst day that demon could come back..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was back in the attic now, the hall in front of the twins' bedroom, typing in new codes into the computer. It was less to help the twins with this, and more to distract myself from the feud they had. Thankfully, Wendy was down in the gift shop, so she helped me add some disinfectant over my hand and wrap a bandage around it; the itching had decreased, but it was annoying to feel it.

At least blindly typing in codes to try to help would help me relax a little, right?

"Too many failed entries. Initiate date erase in five minutes."

"What?!" I yelled in a panic, "No no no no!! I-I can't lose everything!! I only have one more try?! Mason's gonna kill me!!"

"Well well well!!" A familiar voice rang through my head, the room becoming gray as the yellow demon appeared in front of me with a smug expression, "Someone's looking desperate~!!"

"Wha- what do you want?! I don't have time for you right now!!"

"I can help you, kid, you just need to hear out my demands~!!"

I looked at the timer, seeing it now at three minutes and forty seven seconds, forty six, forty five, my breathing speeding up at every second that went down, "I- uh- w-what crazy thing do you want anyway?! To eat my eat my soul?! To rip out my teeth?! Are you gonna replace my eyes with baby heads or something?!"

"Yeesh, kid, relax!!" He floated over to me, "All I want is a puppet!"

I stared dumbfounded, shaking my head a bit, "A puppet? W- why a puppet..?"

"Everyone loves puppets, and it looks to me like you've got a surplus!"

"I- I don't know, the twins have been working on these all week! I can't just steal one for you!" 

"Seems to me one little puppet is a small price to pay to learn all the secrets of the universe!!" The demon then looked down at me, his one eye looking down on me with the pity you'd give an injured bug, "Besides, what have those two done for you lately? How many times have you sacrificed for them, huh? Even today, with that rash of yours, trying to get there help, and they yell at you like you're a thorn in their side!"

"W- I..." I nibbled on my lip; the fear I felt with facing this immortal being was less than the fear I got when I imagined telling Mason I ruined our only lead to the thing he's wanted most this whole time, his anger, his disappointment, would he even go as far as to break up our relationship? Our friendship? To never want to see me again?

Only thirty seconds now.

"Tick tock, kid~!" He offered a hand, one lit up in the blue flames I saw before, "Not only would you help your little friends, but I already agreed to let you in on the secrets about yourself~!"

"One puppet.. just one puppet..! Fine!!" Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook his hand, holding my breath as the flames covered my arm again. Then I let it out, trying to calm myself down as I looked into the demon's eye, "Now then, which puppet do you want?"

"Mm, let's see. Eeny- meeny- miny-" he tightened his grip on my hand, a cold rush running through me, "YOU!!!"

"WHAT?!"

I didn't have time to fight back, feeling myself be ripped away from where I used to be sitting, and realizing what had happened when my feel didn't touch the ground. I was floating, flying!!

"No no no, this- this can't be happening!! What did you do to my body?!"

But the problem hadn't finished revealing itself as the body that used to be my own stop up in front of me, its eyes a bright glowing yellow with black slits in between, smiling widely at me, "Sorry, kid, but you're my puppet now!!!" He cackled loudly, the cackle that had haunted me all day, throwing the laptop on the floor and stepping on it so hard it destroyed it into pieces.

"This can't be happening!!" I yelled, trying to comprehend the situation, "This as can't be happening!!!"

My body began to stumble around, the demon inside laughing as he reached the mirror, touching and hitting his- my face, "Man, it has been so long since I've inhabited a body!! Pain is hilarious!! And two eyes?! This thing's deluxe!!"

"I don't understand, why are you doing this?! I thought we had a deal!!"

"Look, kid, you've been getting way to close to figuring out some major answers, and I've got big plans coming and I don't need you getting in my way!! Destroying that laptop was a cinch!! Now I just need to destroy that journal!! Race ya to the bottom of the stairs!!!" He then let himself fall down the stairs, making me flinch as I images the bruises I would end up with.

I wasn't able to follow, not right away, because only seconds later, Mason walked up the stairs with a tired sigh, rubbing his forehead in obvious exhaustion as he muttered to himself, "Get the sewing machine, she says.. What am I, her servant?! Why should I be the one to-"

A gasp escaped his lips when his eyes landed on the laptop, running over, "No!! The laptop!!"

"Mason!!" I tried to wave for his attention, floating in front of him, "It was Bill, he did all this, we have to-!!"

"No way," he interrupted after inspecting the laptop, an angry glare on his face, "This has Grenda written all over it! MABEL!!" And he ran downstairs, almost tripping because of the rage.

I tried to float in front of him, to stop him. Instead, he ran straight through me, sending chills down my spine. I didn't know it was possible for me to feel so cold without a body.

Though it took me a few seconds, I managed to figure out how to float through the walls, in search for Mason to try to explain even though he couldn't see me. Instead, I saw Bill- or I guess, myself making a mess all over the kitchen.

He took out a Pit Cola from the fridge, snapping it open, "Human soda!! I'm gonna drink it like a person!!" The demon didn't exactly drink it, just poured it down into his open mouth and let the rest spill on the floor like a fountain. Then he threw the empty cab away and opened a nearby cabinet, placing his arm inside, repeatedly closing it with it inside, "So where does your boy toy keep that journal anyways?! It's gotta be around here somewhere!!" Finally he took his arm out of the cabinet, to which I stared at in horror because it was now stabbed with several forks, "Boy these arms are durable!"

"It's hidden! Well hidden!" I emphasized, "Somewhere you'll never find it!"

And that's when Mabel peeked in, "Hey (y/n)! CanyoudomeafavorandpleasetellDipperIborrowedhisjournaltouseitasapropintheshowhewouldtakeitalotbetterifitcamefromyiuandnowI'mgonnaleavebeforeyouprocessthissentenceokayBYEE!!"

FOR GOD'S SAKE, MABEL!

Bill smiled at me, his voice loud so Mabel could hear as she left, "Sure, sounds great, dearest companion! I'll see you at the show!"

"Wait, Mabel!! Don't listen to him!! That's not me!!" I floated after her, seeing her get into Stan's car with her friends. I floated in front of the car, trying to get it to stop, but they simply drove right through me.

"Welcome to the Mindscape, kid!" Bill said as he walked over, "Without a vessel to posses you're basically a ghost!"

"(y/n), there you are!" Mason was now walking over, standing next to what he thought was me, "I was looking for you! Someone ended up breaking the laptop, and I have a good idea of who it might've been!"

"Don't I love a good mystery!" Bill replied, and I think he went for the usual ruffling of Mason's hat I always did, but it ended up being more of a punch to the head for Mason, making him flinch down as the demon laughed, "Wonder who could've done that!"

Mason raised an eyebrow, looking up at Bill as if not buying the act, "Uh, yeah.."

"Oh hey, there you dudes are!" Soos greeted as he walked over, Wendy beside him as she waved.

"What up, dude?"

"We're going to the theater. Wanna come with us?"

I think Mason was about to decline because his expression changed to surprise when Bill replied for him, "Sure! Sounds great, Red!" And again, Mason's surprise grew when Bill dragged him to the car by his vest, closing the door himself so he'd be on the window seat.

My hands kept going through the door handle as I tried to open the door, glaring daggers at the demon on the other side of the glass, "I'm gonna stop you, Cipher!! I'm gonna find the journal before you do and I will stop you!!"

"But how can you stop me..." the demon with my face slowly turned to face me, flashing the fangs that belonged to me with his wide smile, which I never realized were as long as they were, "If you don't exist~!"

The last thing I heard was his awful cackling once again as the car drove away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take me long to fly through town and into the theater. Every row was crowded with the town's people, including Stan, Wendy, Soos, Mason, and 'myself' sitting in the front.

At one point, Mabel ran over to the family crowd, a bright smile on her face, "Hey, guys, you all made it!!"

"Are you kidding me? I would never miss-" Stan looked around, then gave an awkward smile, "Whatever this is!"

"By the by, Mabel," Bill quickly brought up, "Where'd you put that journal of ours again?"

"I used it as a prop for the big wedding scene!" she replied, then looked up in question, "I still need a reverend thought.."

"Hey, what if I play the reverend?! I mean, someone's gotta hold that journal, right?!"

"Great!! Let's go!!" And both her and Bill ran to the back.

Luckily for me, Mason was very suspicious by my possessed body's actions, and waited a few seconds before running after them, which I floated after.

I wasn't able to find Mabel or the demon, and I could hear the puppet show already starting, with the music blasting into my transparent ears. Better for me though, because I did find Mason in one of the rooms backstage, a glare on his face as he leans against the wall, muttering to himself about how annoying Mabel was being and I weird I was behaving.

My eyes then landed on a box that sat next to him, a box filled with leftover puppets that weren't gonna be used, and I was reminded of the words Bill said earlier.

"Without a vessel to posses you're basically a ghost!"

A vessel... That's it!

I grabbed a puppet that resembled me pretty well, slipping my hand into it and raising it up, praying to whatever god existed for it to work, "Psst! Hey, Mason!"

"Wha- AH!!" He jumped back, gripping over the box and falling on the ground, "They've come to life!! SOMEONE HELP!!"

"No, Maze, it's me! (y/n)!"

"Wait, what?!" He shook his head, narrowed his eyes, as if trying to make sure this wasn't just in his head, "(y/n)?! But you're- you were just- what happened?!"

I hesitated to answer, knowing how upset he'd be, how disappointed, but I needed his help. So swallowing my pride, I explained, "Bill happened! He appeared in front of me a few times and- I shouldn't have trusted him, I know, but I was in a corner, I didn't know what to do!"

"You made a deal with Bill?!" He stood up, quickly going from worry to anger, "Why would you do that?!"

"It's a long story, I- the first time he visited me was back when we went to the public pool, when I fainted and fell in, he said he would tell me what I really was if I agreed to do something for him later, and I agreed to it like an idiot! I couldn't tell you because he threatened to hurt you if I did! Then last night, he visited me again when I was trying to guess more passwords for you, and added the bonus of helping with the password, but I denied it! But then the next day, I started getting this really bad rash on my hand and continued to try passwords to get my mind of it but then the laptop gave me a timer that I only had one more password try or all would be deleted so I took his deal because I was terrified of ruining this chance for you but then h- he ended up taking over my body and destroying the the laptop and now wants to destroy the journal and I'm sorry!!"

I hadn't realized tears had started pouring out of me until I choked on my own sob, and part of me was thankful at the fact that I couldn't be seen right now, quickly wiping my ears away, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know- I didn't know what to do!"

It was easy to tell Mason didn't know how to respond, if to be angry, or disappointed, or if to blame the demon or me. After a while, he gripped his hair as he thought, taking a deep breath before looking back at me, or I guess my puppet, "Why didn't you tell me before?! I could've helped you!"

"I tried to, Maze, back when Gabe came over! But you and Mabel were in the middle of your argument, you were so mad at each other and everyone else, you yelled at me when I tried to talk to you!"

"Oh man, I-!" He took off his hat, passing a hair through his hair, "I am so sorry, (y/n), had I just been a little more focused on you- or no, had I not just been a jerk-"

"It's whatever, we can talk about it later! Right now, we have to stop Bill from getting that journal!"

"You're right, we have to get Mabel tell her that-"

As if on cue, Mabel then entered the room, patting her face with a handkerchief. "Hi, Dipper! Hi, floating (y/n) puppet!" she smiled, then her eyes widened in realization, screaming, "FLOATING (y/n) PUPPET!! KILL IT!! THE PUPPET BOOK DIDN'T WARN ME ABOUT THIS!!"

Mason quickly stood in front of me, "No, Mabel, it's okay! This is (y/n)!"

"What? But.." She looked at me with confusion, "He's so much more of a sock than usual!"

"Long story short, I made a deal with the triangle demon. I know I shouldn't have, but I did, and now he has taken over my body and is using it to get Mason's journal and destroy it!"

"Our only hope is to get (y/n)'s body back!" Mason finished my explanation.

Mabel glanced at the door in a panic, "But my cue's coming up any minute!!"

There was a knock on the door, and as I hid my puppet behind Mason, Gabe walked into the room, "Hey, Mabel, do you have a moment?"

"Gabe!" 

"Mabel, it's clear to me now that you really love puppets. I mean, you went whole hog! And if you stick the ending, well, maybe later you could join me for a biscotti?"

Mabel gasped, "You drive a biscotti?!"

Some music for a wedding theme began to play in the background, and Gabe walked out the room, "I'll be waiting."

"Did you hear that?!" Mabel turned to us with a wide smile, "He loves it!! This play has to be flawless!! Can't we wait until after the show?!"

"Mabel, do you want (y/n) to be a sock puppet forever?!"

"It won't be forever!! You can have your boyfriend back after the show!!"

"Do you really think this stupid show of yours is more important?! This could cost his life, maybe even everyone else's!!"

"GUYS!!" I quickly interrupted before things got too heated, "Please, not again!! We have to figure out a way to fix this!"

"Okay, fine!" She handed her brother some puppets, "Just take over for me until I get back with the book!

As she left the room, Mason grumbled to himself, then looked at me, "Don't worry, we'll get your body back.."

"... yeah.."

With the puppets we were handed, we began to play the next scene, neither of us really trying to be A-List actors and reading from the scripts that were hidden under the props.

We continued a back and forth for a few minutes, until the character I was holding had this line, "I know I made some bad decisions, but you can't blame me for wanting to know more about my past after the things I have been through!"

I had to bite my lip for that one, it had hit a little two close to him, and I think Mason sensed it too because he ended up changing the line that continued, "Well, maybe... maybe you didn't have to take that route. You could've come to me, I would've listened, tried to help, you know I'd do anything for you..!"

As embarrassing as it was, I knew what I had done was all my doing, and I found myself making up my own lines, "I know that, but- you were so stressed and tired, and I was running out of time, I panicked! Beside, I-" I glanced down, ashamed at my own desperate needs, "I had to know.. I need a know..! I can't repeat that incident again..!"

Mason stayed quite for a few seconds, but when I looked up, he had a serious yet gentle expression on his face, "Whatever it is that you need to know, we'll figure it out together, okay..? I'm sorry that I was so busy today, I should've payed more attention to you, but you know that I would and will do anything to help you, no matter what.."

I noticed his free hand get closer to me, obviously unable to see me and not knowing where to touch, but smiling nonetheless because he knew I was there, "And that's a promise.."

Even in the state I was in, I could feel my face become burning hot, and the stupid smile that I couldn't erase was now on my face, with my boyfriend thankfully unable to see the flustered mess I had become. I was about to thank him for it, about to say anything really, until a sniffle and sob from the audience brought us back to where we actually were, "Oh this is so beautiful!!"

Mason shrunk a bit in embarrassment, but thankfully the props blocked him from view, except for the arm that had the puppet, glancing at me with a sheepish smile that I couldn't help but giggle at.

But the moment was cut short when I noticed Mabel now above the stage, too high to be scene, but another set of footsteps following behind her. I glanced at Mason, offering my puppet as I whispered, "Keep going, I have to check something."

"What? But-!" He was caught off when I flew up to the others.

Mabel was now inside the hollow cardboard cake prop rapidly reading through the journal as a shadow figure pulled her up by the rope. That shadowed figure was me, the me that was possessed, now wearing a tux and a wide smile of malice on his face, "But why would you wanna do that~?"

She gasped at the sight, "Bill (y/n)!" and her eyes narrowed, "Bi/n)..!"

Really, Mabel?

He brought a finger to his lips, "Shh, you wouldn't want to ruin the show~" Then he pointed at Gabe, who was among the audience.

Mabel glanced back, her expression one of worried now, but she let out a scream as Bill let go of the rope that held the cake up for just one second, "Whoops!! It's slipping~! How's about you hand that book over?"

"No way, this is Dipper's! I've never give it away!"

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

A sigh left her lips at that, and she began to offer the book over.

Bill let out a chuckle, about to grab the book with one hand, "There it is! I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for just for their dumb family?"

That's when her eyes widened, and after a pause, she glared at the demon, "My family would."

"Eh?"

She pulled hard, dragging the demon into the cake with her and sending it crashing down onto the stage. I quickly floated down, seeing the two fighting it out, as well as Mason running over to help.

For a while, Bill seemed to have the upper hand; I always was the strongest of the three on a physical level. But then a certain black spot caught my attention, and I grabbed the nearest puppet I could find to yell at the twins, "His wrist, the left wrist!! Go for the wrist!!"

Mabel didn't hesitate, grabbing Bill's wrist and digging her nails into it as much as she could, going as far as to draw blood. I guess the demon wasn't expecting that sort of pain, for he instantly dropped the journal, and Mason rushed in to grab it. Bill noticed just as quickly, and began to chase Mason around, who threw the journal over to his twin as the demon yelled for them to Stop and Give it back!

Mabel's energy was on an all-time high, running around in circles, which didn't help the demon since I had barely slept these past few days, if at all, and in a matter of seconds, he fell forward to pass out.

Only I could see it, but the actual demon being had been thrown out of my now unconscious body. So without a second thought, I flew over as fast as I could and claimed what was mine.

"Huh..? What... Hah, yes!! I'm in my own body!!" As soon as I got used to being corporeal again, I stood up so fast it sent big waves a pain through me, "And it is in a really bad shape..! Oh, everything hurts.."

Mason quickly rushed over to me, making sure I wouldn't collapse, when we all heard that familiar cackling that had been haunting me the entire week. It was one of Mabel's puppet, the one I was using earlier, slowly crawling over to us as it spoke with Bill's voice, "This isn't the last you'll hear from me!! Big things are coming!! You can't stop me!!"

I notice Mabel glanced at the fireworks that sat near the puppet, and her expression fell as she pulled out a remote control, "I'm sorry, Gabe.."

Pressing the big red button, the fireworks all began to explode. While it did end up getting rid of the demon, one of the fireworks ended up crashing into the box of puppets, destroying every single one of them and letting the remains fly over the audience.

When it was all said and done, the three of us looked at the audience, who had become oddly silent. I looked over, a heavy guilt in my chest, knowing this had all been my fault, "Mabel, I.. I'm really sorry about your play..."

"Don't worry," Mabel smiled, though it seemed forced, "I've seen enough movies to know this is the part where the audience thinks it was all part of the show and loves it! Cue applause!!"

But the audience all began to boo loudly at us, quickly standing up and leaving the theater. Gabe, however, walked over to us, a deadly glare on his face.

"Gabe!" Mabel walked over, letting out an awkward chuckle, "Stick around for the wrap party?! We got mini quiches~!"

"Don't speak to me, Mabel. You've made a mockery of my art form! Let's go, my loves." And he left while making out with the puppets on his hands.

Mason raised an eyebrow, "Did he just make out with his puppets?"

"I might've dodged a bullet there," Mabel replied. It didn't stop Candy from running after him though.

Now that the silence had set in, I turned to Mabel as I gripped my wrist, "Hey, M..? I'm sorry about all this, it's my fault your show was ruined.."

"Well, one of them survived, and she has something to say to you." She raised her hand, which now had a Mabel puppet over it, "I'm sorry, to both of you, I spent all week obsessing over some dumb guy, but the dumb guys I should have cared about was you!" She then lightly hit our cheeks with her hand, "Bap! Mystery Trio?"

Mason and I shared a glance, then a smile, and we both fist bumped Mabel as we replied in synch, "Mystery Trio."

However, I was forced to pull my hands away as the pain sunk in from the force, as gentle as it may have been, "My hand!"

Mabel cringed, "Sorry about that, I kinda forgot it was technically you that I was hurting!"

"No, it's okay, I told you to."

"Why's it so, well, dark though?" Mason asked, both worried over me and the answer.

I simply nodded for us to leave, "I'll explain on the way. For now, I need to patch this up.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours had passed now. It was dark out, and I was sitting on my bed; most of my body was either covered in bandages, or colorful bandaids from the first aid kit Mabel had raided. My hand had mostly stopped itching, but it still made me scratch it from time to time.

Soon enough, there was a knock on my door, and when I told them to come in, Mason entered the room with a small tray of dinner, just a sandwich and some juice that he probably made himself, an action that already made me feel warm inside. I smiled, "Hey."

"Hey," he replied as he say beside me, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, better than before, at least."

He carefully took my arm, inspecting the rainbow bandaids that covered the stab marks from the forks earlier, "We should really try avoiding missions that might end up hurting you, I feel like you've been getting injured so much for us lately.."

"In your guys' defense, this time was all my doing," I then leaned over, placing a kiss on his head, "Besides, I'd rather it be me than you.."

"Well I don't," he said with a small glare, though I could see it was just to hide his intense worry and guilt. "Today could've ended up so much than it did, you could've ended up in a comma, or- or worse!"

"I know-"

"I get that you're desperate to find out what you are, I really do, but making a deal with a demon that has already tried to kill us, now twice?!"

"Maze-!"

"That was a really stupid move, especially for someone like you who's always keeping us out of danger!! Had you suffered a worse fate, I don't- I don't know what I'd do, so why- why would you-?!"

"Because I don't want anyone else ending up dead because of me!!"

I hadn't meant to blurt that out, but he instantly went silent and looked at me with shock and confusion, unsure as to what I meant. I didn't want to bring it up, frankly I didn't want him to ever find out, but knowing him, he would've learned about it sooner or later.

Biting my lip, I pulled the old newspaper from under my bed, handing it to him so he could read. On the front page was a thumbnail of a big but blurry beast running through down, the headline reading 'Wild Beast Crashes Half the Town!'

"Two years ago, under another full moon, I had ran out of my Smile Dip bags," I began to explain, fiddling with some loose bandages on my leg, "I figured if I left early enough, I could make it home before the moonlight set in.. However, the Dusk 2 Dawn convenience store was filled with cops that day, apparently some teenagers had tried exploding the walls with fireworks.. I waited a while for them to leave, but.. then the sun started to set.."

Mason kept his eyes on me, listening to the story both expectingly and nervously, so I continued, "I tried to run home as fast as I could, to eat least make it to the forest, but so many people kept stopping me on the way, trying to chat, trying to ask for my help.. I was almost at the boarder when I could feel my consciousness starting to deep, things getting fuzzy and feeling lightheaded yet stronger, and everything just.. went dark.."

"And.. then what happened..?"

"I don't remember any of it, but..." I glanced down, gripping my wrist, "I woke up the next morning in the woods, my clothes ripped up and scratched, and the scent of blood surrounded me.. What freaked me out was that it wasn't my own.. Immediately I went home, changed and fixed myself a little before heading into town, and.. the headlines give no exaggeration, half the town was in pieces, a-and-" I had to swallow back a sob, tears poking out of my eyes, "I-it ended up costing someone's life.."

Mason's eyes went wide, "What..?!"

"I don't know how, i- some say he was crushed under debris and suffocated, others say he had a heart attack from the panic, and- o-others say they saw the monster biting him like he was some chew toy, and- a-and I can't even deny it because I have no memory of any of it!!"

"W-well- wait-" He grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze, "Wouldn't the autopsy report reveal what actually happened?"

"The body went missing that night before the police could check it out," I wiped away a tear that was running down my cheek, "Mason, what if I really did kill him?! People claimed to see it, and I smelled like blood, and I woke up in the woods, and the body disappeared, and- What of I a- a-ate-" I had to cover my mouth in order to stop myself from throwing up, "Oh God, what if I did?!"

Before I could continue my panicked rambling, Mason wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest, tightly but gently holding on to me, "No."

"W-Wha-"

"No, I- I refuse, I refuse to believe you'd do something like that, monster or not! There has to be another explanation!"

"But- M-Mason, what else is there?!"

"I-" He nervously looked around the room, unsure of how to answer, "I don't know, but- I just- I don't believe it, I can't believe it!" He wiped away the heavy tears that covered my face, then cupped my cheek and made me meet eyes with him, "The whole time I've known you, you've made it your mission to protect us, me, Mabel, Stan, Soos, Wendy, her friends, the town, everyone that you ever meet, you protect, even when you were fighting against the urges of your other side, you still did everything in your power to keep everyone safe, that's who you are! So no, I don't believe that you would do that, or that you'd just let it happened! So unless we find concrete evidence that you're the one who caused it, I will search for any other possibility!"

I couldn't help but stare at him for a while. I'm not sure what I expected his reaction to be, probably yelling at me, kicking me out, break up with me, hate me forever.

But... no, of course he was trying to see the brighter side.

"And..." I bit my lip, slightly gripping onto his shirt, "W-what if I am to blame for it..? What then..?"

"Then.." he hesitated, thinking for a while, "I still won't blame you.. You tried to control it, and you have no memory about it, so I can't hold it against you.. Even now, you still feel so guilty about it, you had no other choice but to take the blame.."

I was sobbing now, burying my face deep into his chest, crying harder than I had ever done in my entire life as he only tightened our embrace. This was a story I had never told anyone about, and I never planned to tell anyone about, but he deserved to know this. And even now, he still took my side..

Through my crying and cracking voice, I spoke again, "I don't want to go through that again, Maze.. I-I don't ever want to hurt someone like that again.. That's why I want to know what I am, so I can stop it.."

He stayed silent for a while, probably thinking about everything, like he always did, then began to comb my hair with his fingers, something that slowly started to calm me down, "I said I would help you figure it out, and I meant it.. I promise we'll find out the truth.. Just.. no more deals with demons, okay..?"

I'm not sure why, but a smile grew on my face at his slightly joking tone in that last bit, making me snuggle closer, "Okay.. No more deals.."

And as I slowly faded into a deep sleep, for the first time in years...

I had hope for what my life could bring..

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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