Water swirled around him. He struggled to see as he tried desperately to swim against the current. There was a flash of lightning and her silhouette appeared briefly ahead of him. He popped his head above the surface and gasped for air, just in time to see her bob frantically up out of the water and cry for help, he paddled faster, colliding with the flotsam from the burst dam. His body screamed at him to stop, but he knew he couldn't. If he dared give up, Mabel would die...

3 weeks earlier...

Dipper tried to be a good brother, but sometimes that proved to be a challenge. Mabel was always getting herself into trouble, and he'd lost track of how many times he had to bite his tongue and smile when presented with one of his sister's hare brained schemes. But in the end, his sister's smile was more than worth it.

Today was one of those days that Dipper really struggled.

He, Soos, Wendy, and Mabel sat on the floor of the Mystery Shack, assembling a massive diorama of the area to impress Mabel's latest crush. Mabel was singing about how dreamy her crush was, while Dipper painted a pine tree, disappointed that once again, he had been drug away from his hunt for the mysterious author of the mystery journal by yet another one of his sister's attempts at "true love". He sighed, and looked up, meeting Wendy's gaze. The redhead smiled at him, then looked mischievous before pelting him with a bag of Popsicle sticks.

"Think fast!" She said, and it hit him square in the face.

Dipper chuckled, how could he be too disappointed when he was spending time with Wendy?

Wendy looked thoughtful, before turning to Maybel.

"Hey," she began. "Dipper looks tired, I mean he didn't even try to catch those Popsicle sticks I just threw at him!"

"Golly!" Mabel cried. "Then maybe you shouldn't be throwing things at him!"

"Yeah Wendy!" Dipper teased, but Wendy continued.

"I think maybe we need a break," Wendy stated. "Would that be okay, Mabel?"

"Hmmm...what do you think, vice president Waddles?" She inquired, turning to her pet pig who sat eating glue a few feet away. When he oinked, she turned and nodded, grinning.

Everyone stood up and stretched, and Wendy smiled and gave Dipper a thumbs up. He walked over to her.

"Thanks Wendy," he whispered.

"Yeah, no problem dude!" Wendy replied, and they both stepped outside.

Dipper retrieved the journal from the front room on the way. They looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to set.

"Wow, what a perfect night!" Dipper commented.

"What, for mystery hunts?" Wendy teased, tapping the book in his arms.

"Well, uh..."

"Relax Dipper!" Wendy laughed. "I'm way ahead of you!" And she held up a flashlight.

Dipper smiled.

"Really?" He asked, and when she nodded he cheered.

The two of them stepped off the porch and into the woods.

"So," Wendy began. "What are we looking for?"

"Well," said Dipper. "I've been reading the journal under the blacklight, and there's evidence that suggests the existence of a second bunker made by the author. We're looking for something called the owl tree..."

"Sweet!" Wendy smiled.

Dipper couldn't hero but smile too. He was lucky to have a friend like Wendy. And maybe, just maybe, there was a hand that someday they could be together. They walked side by side in the fading light, and everything felt right.

Deeper in the woods, however, a trouble was brewing.

Gideon finished the incantation, waiting for Bill to arrive. We wanted Bill to pay for his failure, and for his negligence while Gideon was in prison. The world slowed down and turned gray around him, and finally, Bill flashed above his head. The triangle gazed down at Gideon and rolled his eye.

"Great," he grumbled. "You again. Hey genius, you know I could have retrieved that code from the pit. After all, I can fly!"

"Silence! Slave" Gideon yelled, stamping his foot. "I command you to-"

"What?! Slave?!" Bill repeated, landing on front of Gideon and making cyan flames burst out all around them. "Now look here buddy, I'm no slave! If you forget," his eye narrowed, and Gideon saw a red glow surrounding the triangle. " I am a being of pure energy. With no weaknesses. You may want to watch that tongue of yours. "

"Perhaps," Gideon responded. "But let's see how powerful you are when I give you a dose of THIS!"

And with that, Gideon dumped a vile of liquid into Bill. Steam began to rise from the triangle and he shrieked.

"What?! No-" Bill cried as his form distorted and twisted.

His hold on the mindscape was failing, and time began to move again, color flickering back into reality.

"No weaknesses, huh Bill?" Gideon taunted. "Seems to me like that wasn't entirely true."

Gideon cackled and stalked away, leaving Bill writhing alone in the forest.