Little Dipper

Unmasked

Bill noted, with relief, that by the time they reached the town it had been all but cleared of people. There were still a few stragglers around, people waiting for their families to catch up or looking for their families, but it looked like Gideon had been swift and thorough with getting people to the shelters as soon as the X appeared in the sky.

"Not many people around." Pyronica remarked. "Did you kill 'em?"

"Nah, they're just hiding. You're too beautiful for them to look at." Bill shrugged.

"Flatterer." Pyronica giggled.

Pacifier noticed something to the side and nudged Pyronica. "Look, there's a few heading into that building."

"There's Tad Strange." Kryptos pointed out.

Tad, Gideon and Mabel were hurrying a group of stragglers into the museum, Mabel helping an old woman up the steps. Stan was coming up with a few more, and that's what caught Pyronica's attention.

"Oh, hello!" She chirped, walking over to him cheerily. "You look like Stanford Pines!"

"Uh...yeah. Who are you?" Stan asked, motioning for the people with him to go on.

"I'm Pyronica. You know, I think you're cuter than him." She reached up and grabbed his glasses.

"Hey, I need those!" Stan reached for them. She laughed and held them out of his reach, floating backwards.

"Aww, you humans are so cute when you're helpless!" Pyronica tossed the glasses backwards. Bill quickly moved to catch them before they hit the ground. "So, why are you all hiding, hm?"

"Pyronica!" Tad walked over to her. "Leave him alone!"

"Why, Mr. Strange! You look so human!" Pyronica said, smirking a bit. "Not even a little bit like a demon. Why don't you remove your mask? We're going to have a party, and if you behave then you're invited!"

"Time Cop!" Bill looked over to see one of the other, Teeth, had nabbed Blendin. "We got a Time Cop here!" He dragged him over.

"Ugh, a cop. Why are you here?" Pyronica asked, turning and walking to him with her hands on her hips.

"I-I was keeping an eye on Bill Cipher!" Blendin stammered.

"Oh, really? Well, your services...are no longer required." She raised her hand up, about to snap her fingers.

"'Ronnie! Don't ruin the party with random bloodshed!" Bill flew over and put his hand over hers. "We can just tie him up, okay? We'll kill him after."

Blendin looked at him concerned.

"Oh...fine. Tie him up." Pyronica turned back to Tad and the humans. "As for you, well, why don't we have a bit of fun?" She walked over to Tad, and Stan couldn't help but admire her legs.

"I will have no 'fun' with you." Tad said firmly. "I intend to stop you."

"Good luck with that, without revealing yourself." She flicked his nose and Tad growled at her. "Your choice." She turned back to Stan. "I'm sorry, handsome, I seem to have gotten distracted. Where were we?"

"Get away from him!" Ford ran over, readying his gun as he ran. Dipper ran behind him, trying to keep up.

'Pine Tree.' Bill thought.

"Dipper!" Mabel turned around and ran to him. Gideon let Lazy Susan in the museum and then secured the door.

"Hello, Stanford." Pyronica greeted. "I haven't seen you since you ran through that portal." She formed fire in her hands. "We have unfinished business."

"Leave him alone!" Stan moved between them. Pyronica shoved him to the side with a swift side-kick and moved towards Ford.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper knelt next to him as Gideon ran over to check on him as well.

Pacifier glanced at Bill, noticing that he was clenching his fists tightly, his body shaking. 'It seems his mask is slipping.' He thought.

Ford fired at Pyronica, but she dodged and it nearly hit Stan, instead. "Don't hurt my brother!"

"Worry more about yourself." Pyronica nodded to the others. "Come on, guys. Let's have some fun with these slaves."

"Can we eat any of them?" Teeth asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Eat whoever you like. This place is going down anyway." She raised a hand full of fire to attack Ford. "Let's get this party started!"

"NO!"

Everyone stopped short as Bill's voice echoed through the empty town. Pyronica slowly lowered her hand and turned to Bill, everyone else turning their eyes to him. Gideon and Ford took advantage of the distraction and moved Stan towards the door.

"No?" Pyronica asked. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I've been trying to tell you--" Kryptos started.

"I mean...I'm done. I'm done killing, I'm done with crime. This is my new home, and you're not going to destroy it, or harm anyone in this town." Bill said, his body shaking with rage.

A few humans looked out of their homes that they had been hiding in, some even coming outside to see what was going on.