Never Trust Your Demons

35

"So... what do we do?" I ask, terrified of the idea of not being able to go back.
"If my hunch is right," Bill leans against a tree. "There's something backstage that might help us get back..." Then he mumbles something under his breath about it depending on something.
"What was tha-?"
"Nothing! We'd just need to get into the show again. And get backstage passes," He muses.
"Can't you-I dunno-pull them out of thin air?"
He shakes his head. "In your dimension, it may have worked... but something's wrong with my powers here," He raises a hand and snaps his fingers. A few sparks rise, but nothing else happens. Ooh, that's not good. "This dimension's buffering it somehow. Took me forever to be able to enter your mind."
"So... we just go back and sneak in during their show?" I shrug.
"Yes," He snaps his fingers, pointing at me. "And the next one is," He looks at an invisible watch on his wrist. "Tonight. Waiting until then will make it easier to get back there. You know, when they're all distracted."
"Well tonight better hurry up," I look at my real watch. it's just barely twelve noon. "I'd like to get out of here ASAP. It's like everything's changed just enough to know something's off, but you have no idea-"
"Hey it's them!" I turn and see Pacifica and Gideon coming through the trees.
"Um... hi," It's weird to see these kids looking so much like my cousins, but at the same time, not. It's definitely worse with the "Gleeful" Twins, though.
"Where'd you guys go?"
"Uh... Telepathy Tent," I point my thumb back in the direction we came. "I involuntarily got knives thrown at me," I rub my neck where the knife cut it.
Gideon grimaces. "Yeah, those two are jerks."
"Mabel's just a tad over obsessive with her crush on Gideon," Pacifica is equally as uncomfortable with the situation. "And all Dipper wants is to take down the Mystery Shack. Or, y'know, global domination," She shrugs. "Whichever comes first."
"He seems...stable..." I mumble sarcastically.
"They've got demonic powers too. This triangle name Bill-"
"Called it," I turn and find Bill sitting and leaning against a tree.
"Hm... well, thanks for the info, but we've got to go," I grab the back of Bill's collar, hoisting him to his feet and start walking away, back towards town.
"Oh... see you, Conifer!"
"Hopefully not..." I grumble.

"What was that?" Bill asks as we walk through the town.
"It's driving me crazy!" I pull my hat down. "All four of them are somewhat like my cousins, either looks or personality, and it bothers me, because I _know_ it's not them!"
"Neither of them have a cousin named Conifer," Bill says suddenly. "There is no Conifer Pines or Gleeful."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You don't exist in this dimension, not even a form of you."
"...how do you know all this?"
"...Let's not  focus on that."
How does he know this?!
"Don't worry about it. It's just a meaningless fact I doubt I should have told you."
"...if it's meaningless, why does it matter if you tell me?"
He doesn't answer.

That night, we're in the back of the tent again. Bill taps my shoulder as the same announcement as before starts. A finger to his lips, he motions over to the backstage entrance. We, somehow easily, sneak around the back, and duck through.
"They have a lot of props..." I remark quietly, looking around.
"Not what we're looking for..." He moves past all of them, me close behind.
"It may help if you told me what you're looking for," I tell him.
"Uh... a journal. Gideon in your dimension had one before he went to jail... That's how I first returned to this dimension since-" He stops suddenly. "Ah-ha!" He lifts up a book that looks a bit like the journals, but the hand is the left instead of the right. A black 2 is drawn on it.
"H-hey!" A voice stammers behind us. "Wh-what are you doing back here?"
A blue triangle is floating behind me.
"Ah! Reverse Bill!"
I notice something largely different. His hat is sort of bent, he seems a bit more...droopy and sad overall. He's more pitiful than Bill, in an absurdly adorable way.
"O-oh... are you scared of me?" His voice shakes. "Dipper and Mabel hate me... Gideon and Pacifica don't like me... you're scared of me... no one loves me," His eye shines, and I can see tears welling up.
Oh. My. Gosh.
"You are so cute!!" I squeal. I can't help myself. I wrap my arms around the sad demon, squeezing him close. I notice Bill pouting a bit out of the corner of my eyes. "And _you,"_ I turn to him. "Are adorable when you're jealous," I laugh.
"I'm not jealous," He grumbles, flipping through the journal. "Don't know why I thought anything beyond the portal would be in here," He sighs and slams the book shut, tossing it behind him. I wince as it crashes into a stand of props, then pick it up, flipping trough myself.
'Wh-who are you?" Blue Bill floats out of my arms. "I know of everyone in this dimension, and you don't-" He gasps. "You're from another dimension! Are you me?!" He flies up to Bill's face.
"Yes, we're trying to get back, and-"
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I can hear Dipper before I see him storm backstage. "What are they doing back here?" He growls at Blue Bill. "And where's the...." He notices me holding it. "Journal..." He glares .
"Umm..." Well, I'm _holding_ it.
"I think we should go now," Bill grabs my wrist and pulls me away towards the tent flap.
A turquoise color tints everything before I can go far, and I'm suddenly floating, unable to move. I'm turned around in the air, and this Dipper looks out for blood.
"Where do you think you're going?" He growls, incredibly menacingly, especially when I think about the nerdy, awkward cinnamon roll I'm accustomed to. Wide-eyed, I notice my hands barely sparking. Guess that chaos magic is restricted too.
Bill suddenly flies between us, grabbing the bolo tie around his neck and ripping it off. The turquoise color everywhere disappears and I fall back to the ground.
"Don't. Touch. My. Girl," Bill pulls him up by his collar, their faces threateningly close.
I haven't ever seen him this mad.
"Since when was I anyone's?" I cross my arms. I wince, my cuts suddenly hurting a lot more than normal.
"Shut up," Bill's tone doesn't change. "I'm in the middle of something."
"Listen, Pink Psycho could be filling out her threats as we speak!"
Frustrated, Bill shoves Dipper aside, turning to me and grabbing my shoulders.
"If Pyronica knows what's good for her, she's not going to hurt you anymore."
"BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M SCARED OF!" I shove his arms away, the stress of everything currently happening forcing tears out of my eyes.
"Listen," He tells me sternly. "She won't touch a hair on your head, and she won't do _anything_ to hurt you in any way. I'm going to make certain of that."
He pulls me close kissing me on the lips. My eyes close as I return the gesture, barely noticing the bright flash of light around us.