You're Human Now

Chapter 9

**Dipper**

The boy ran deep into the forest until he got to a point where he was sure no one could have followed or find him. A shiver ran down his spine as he sits on the morning dew that has not dried yet. Catching his breath he musters the courage to open the wad of paper he fetched from the trash bin. He is relieved but confused why Mabel said the paper was blank. Closing his eyes and calming his nerves he continues his reading from last night.

2. How do I control my flaming hand?

Well, I am sure you learned my advice on controlling your emotions came in handy. Get it? Hahaha, in all seriousness, the key is focusing. It will be hard at first as you have no clue what you are doing and your power is spilling out more every moment. However, eventually you should get a HAND of it over time. Man, I should quit my day job with this comedy gold I am making! Start out small kid, you are smart and seemed to be a natural last time I saw you (I'll let you guess when that was).

Dipper's frustration peaked as he finished reading. He was not frustrated at Bill, although those puns were just... ugh. He was frustrated with himself. One half wanted to shred the paper and be done with this "Your demonic hand" garbage. However, another half wanted him to give it a try and attempt to light his hand on fire intentionally and try to control as Bill prompted him to. He spent what felt like an hour debating with himself over what he should do. He pondered all the possibilities like it being just Bill messing with his head, if he just ignored what was happening, or even going to his family for help and advice. Despite his better judgement, he decided to attempt to handle this alone for the fear of his safety and his sister's summer. Throwing caution to the wind he gave it a try.

Slowing his breaths he focused on his hand being on fire. After a minute of trying... nothing happened. Now determined to figure this out he tried to focus on different things that could ignite it. He tried thinking of just pure fire, or the lighting of a fire. Nothing was working, he even tried to snap his fingers as if that could ignite it. His frustrating returning, having second thoughts that Bill was just messing with him, he thought about the previous times his hand lit on fire. What was he doing then that he is not doing now? One thing was apparent, he was angry at Bill. Another thing was common all the times before, he was thinking of his sister. Controlling his breath again he focused his thought on his sister. Him wanting to protect her, having her enjoy a perfect summer, making her happy...

Like magic, literally, his hand combusted. A large smile expanded on the boy's face. He did it! He cracked the code! Staring at the fire it was just like the previous times, exactly how Bill's is but purple. A curious thought popped in the boys head. He tried to change the size of the flame. First, he tried to mentally make it bigger, even extending his hand. Surprisingly, it worked, it only grew a little but it is proof that he could do it. He tried to shrink it down, closing his palm. Extending only his pointer finger he relaxed his whole arm. The flame slowly shrank down to the size of just a little fire wisp on his finger. It was like the size of a normal lighter. Dipper's smile somehow grew even larger as a small murmur of words left his mouth.

"This is so... cool..." His smile immediately faded. A pang of guilt hit him. Should he be enjoying this as much as he does? Is it wrong to be embracing this ploy Bill is obviously doing? As on cue, a familiar yellow triangle appeared.

"Hey there Pinetree! How is the flaming hand practicing going? I see you are getting the hand of it." Bill says as he appears a floating in the air a yard away from Dipper. Attempting to wink with his one eye at the boy.

"I-I... uh... what is up with all the hand puns Bill?" Dipper responds unsure what he is feeling at the moment. Resentment towards Bill for causing all of this or fascination to ask him question about controlling his new flaming hand.

"Aw come on sapling, are you not a fan of puns? I think they are pretty funny." Bill responded getting closer to the boy, lowering down to where they are directly in front of each other.

"No, they are not funny! And what is the game you are playing with this!" Dipper shouted back waving his flaming hand around. Falling back on his resentment towards Bill. His anger grew, along with the size of the fire in his arm.

"Whoa kid! I see your powers are leaking faster than I thought, that's good. Looks like I am going to have to accelerate my plans..." Bill said, dismissing the boy's question. This only infuriated Dipper even more.

"ANSWER ME BILL! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY YOUR PLANS! WHAT AREN'T YOU TELLING ME! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!" Dipper screams at the triangle before him. Tears began to form in eyes as he shouted. His eyes began to glow neon purple as the flame in his hand grew even larger. In mere moments, the area around the child began to ignite due to his flaming hand.

"Amazing... better than I could have imagined." Bill mumbled in awe as he overlooked the spreading wildfire Dipper had started. Dipper turned around as saw the fire engulfing the tree he was leaning on and expanding to the surrounding area. He immediately back peddled as he broke down in tears. His body fell like a lump as he saw the destruction he caused.

"Why is this happening, this can't be me causing this... I am a monster." He says between his sobbing.

"Nonono Pinetree, you are not a monster, in fact, I am honestly proud at this destruction you made." Bill said trying to comfort Dipper but only made him cry more. "Look, um... you will figure how to control it, and I will be here to help you as needed." Bill further tried to cheer up his child. He moving only inches away, rubbing the boys back.

"...thanks... I guess..." Dipper muttered as he wiped away tears and regained composure.

"So, Bill... is it really me causing this?" Dipper asked motioning to his hand.

"Jeez kid, didn't you read my little note for you? It is all yo---" Bill said but was cut off.

A bright white light flashed in front of the two demons. They both shielded their eyes from the light. When the light faded all that remained was a floating dark purple square. The square being floated above the two about a couple yards in the air, it wore a boiler hat that floated like Bill's did. Twirling the umbrella of a similar shade of purple the being asked...

"Well, well, what do we got here?"