With a yell, Dipper slammed the cooler shut.

There was a moment of silence, filled with their rapid breathing, before Dipper hesitantly opened it again and peered inside. Nothing. The monster from before was gone.

"What was that?" Bill breathed.

Before the brunette could reply, they were suddenly surrounded by the rest of the group.

"What happened?" Robbie asked. "We thought we heard a lady screaming or something."

Bill stifled a laugh, and Dipper shot him a look before turning to the people before him. "Well, you see--"

"Hey, look over there!" Bill suddenly said. "It's the game that tricks people into exercising, Dancy Pants Revolution!"

The teens looked at the game, and rushed towards it, cheering, leaving Dipper and Bill where they were.

Dipper turned sharply towards the boy. "What was that?"

Bill rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This night is important for Wendy, we can't ruin it."

"But, you saw--"

"Saw what? A floating brain in a cooler?" Bill shot back. "I've seen you take down bigger threats! We shouldn't exaggerate over something so insignificant."

Dipper took this in. He felt a little reluctant trusting Bill, but in a way, he agreed with the blond. It was just one monster they saw, it couldn't be that bad. With that, the two joined the rest of the group, the discarded ice packs on the floor forgotten.

When they arrived shortly, Thompson was sweating up a storm trying the dancing game, while his friends cheered him on.

"Wow, he's terrible at this," Wendy chuckled.

"Yeah," Dipper said, blushing at her.

Bill rolled his eyes at the male Guardian. However, as he did that, he caught sight of the glass door beside them. He stared, and quickly tugged on Dipper's arm. The brunette turned to him with a rather annoyed look, but then Bill pointed to the glass. Dipper turned, and nearly gasped when he saw everyone's reflections, but they were all skeletons. A second later, the reflections went back to normal.

"Bill, what--" Dipper paused, then he realized the boy wasn't next to him.

❇❇❇

Bill ran through the aisles, until he came across his brother. However, Will was leaning against a stand, with Mabel knelt beside him.

"Will, I want you to focus," She said, holding up her fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Will was barely looking looking at her, foaming at the mouth. "Eleven...teen."

"What did you do to him!?" Bill shouted, approaching them.

Mabel looked at him nervously. "It's okay, he'll be back to normal in no time...hopefully."

Bill growled under his breath, before kneeling beside his disoriented brother. He shook Will's shoulders rapidly. "Do you hear me? We need to leave!"

Meanwhile, Will could only see a distorted colours, and a hallucination that involved a giant golden retriever for some reason.

HSIREP SYAWLA SREHPIC, It said.

Will patted Bill's hair, thinking he was the dog. "You're such a good boy..."

Bill batted his hand away, and glared at Mabel. "Shooting Star, I want you to know, that I'm personally holding this against you."

"Understandable," She agreed.

"Bill!"

They turned, to see Dipper approaching quickly. "Bill, why did you run off?"

"I was going to get Will, but your sister poisoned him!"

Dipper briefly glanced at the stand, and sighed. "Oh man, why did it have to be Smile Dip?"

"Again, I'm really sorry," Mabel said, genuinely.

"Dipper! Bill!" Wendy called. "Where did you run off to? We found something cool!"

"We have to tell them that we need to leave," Dipper told Bill, urgently.

Bill nodded, and the two sped off, leaving Mabel to take care of Will. Once the two met up with the group, they realized the figures were facing the floor, where there were chalk outlines of two bodies.

"The rumors were true," Nate breathed.

Lee grinned, and nudged his friend. "I dare you to go lay down in it."

"You're on," Nate told him, cheekily.

Dipper's face contorted in fear, when the young man stepped closer to the chalk. "Wait!" He yelled, without warning.

Nate paused inches away from the outline, and everyone turned to the brunette.

"Dipper, what's wrong?" Wendy asked, concerned.

Bill urged him on by nudging him, and Dipper said hesitantly. "We should be careful, because...maybe this place really is haunted."

Robbie rolled his eyes at him. "Settle down, Captain Buzzkill."

Dipper narrowed his eyes. "Hey! I'm only thinking about the facts."

The Cupid stepped forward threateningly. "Doesn't mean you have to suck the fun out of everything!"

The brunette backed up, as the other came closer. "Will it kill you to think responsibly? We're not mortals, we are GUARDIANS."

"Uh, Dipper," Bill chimed in.

"What?" Dipper snapped.

Bill gingerly pointed to the young man's feet. Dipper slowly looked down, and to his dismay, he had unwittingly stepped inside one of the chalk lines. Before he could move, the lights in the store suddenly flickered, shocking the people inside. Then, the chalk outline Dipper was standing in glowed an ominous green.

"What's happening?" Wendy gasped.

"Oh crud!" Bill yelled.

Tambry seemed to be the only one unfazed by this, then a glow surrounded her phone. Before she could utter a gasp, she was sucked into the screen with ease. The group stared, as the phone dropped to the floor. Wendy shakily reached for it, and picked it up.

She scrolled down the screen. "Status Update: AHHHHH!."

There was a pounding from the nearby security cameras, where Tambry was trapped behind the screen, her face stricken with horror.

"Tambry!" Robbie gasped.

"Can you hear us?" Dipper yelled to her.

Tambry wasn't looking directly at them, and she seemed unresponsive for now.

"We need to leave, now!" Bill shouted at them.

Wendy nodded, then turned to Thompson. "Get away from that game! We need to--"

"Wait, I almost got the high score!" Thompson panted, sweating a lot.

Then, like a blur, Thompson vanished in thin air, and appeared a second later inside the game itself.

Thompson blinked. "What the--"

"Time to shake what your mama gave you!" The game announced.

He screamed, when he was suddenly pelted by descending arrows. "Ow! So many arrows!"

"You're a dancing machine!"

"No, you're a dancing machine!" Thompson sobbed.

"Thompson!" Wendy cried.

"Nobody puts Thompson in harm's way but us!" Lee growled, then spun around furiously. "Show yourself, ghost!"

"Very well..."

The whole group froze at the sound of the deep voice, on the same time when something large came hurtling past them, before crashing into the counter. A moment later, it was revealed to be Mabel.

"Ow..." She groaned.

Dipper ran to aid his sister. "Mabel, what happened!?"

Before she could reply, a form hovered overhead. Bill stared in disbelief, at what he saw. Floating over the shelves, was his brother. Will had a glowing aura around him, as while as eerie white eyes vacant of pupils and life.

"Welcome, trespassers!" Will spoke in a voice that wasn't his own.

Bill bared his teeth. "Get out of my brother, you Ecto-freak!"

The spirit chuckled villainously. "I'm afraid not, this vessel belongs to me! And so do all your lives!"

Lee growled, his long blond hair curling at the ends. "He said get out of the kid, you monster!"

Then, in a matter of seconds, he transformed into a giant wolf and charged at the possessed boy.

"Lee, don't!" Nate yelled, but it was too late.

The spirit laughed manically, and rose his arms. Immediately, luminous chains appeared behind him, and shot towards the wolf at his signal. The chains coiled around Lee tightly, trapping his limbs in place. Then, a tremor shook the store, the floor spilt up to reveal a gapping hole. Despite his struggles, Lee was dragged into the darkness, just before the hole sealed shut.

"LEE!" Nate cried.

Robbie immediately spun towards the doors, and took out his bow and arrow. He aimed and shot at the glass, but there seemed to be a forcefield, and it rocketed back at him. Robbie dodged, and the arrow embedded into a nearby food stand.

Bill rose his hands. "Everyone listen, I read in the journal that ghosts always have reasons for the things they do. Maybe, we can convince it to let Will and us go."

"Yeah right, I'm sure the bloodthirsty ghost just wants to talk about their feelings!" Robbie shot back, sarcastically. "And what do mortals know anyway?"

"He certainly knows more than you!" Dipper snapped at the Cupid, who sent him a glare in return.

Nate looked desperately at Bill. "I'm 100% on board with you, kid, anything to get my friend back."

Bill nodded, and took a deep breath, before approaching the glowing form that was once his brother. "Listen, Ghost! What is it that you want from us?"

The spirit cracked a creepy smile, which looked beyond disturbing on Will's face. "That's an easy question. What I want...IS YOUR DOOM!"

Then, without warning, gravity reversed itself, causing everyone to fall to the ceiling. Things crashed together, and most of the group fell unconscious, leaving only Dipper and Bill left. The two immediately found an empty icecream machine, and hid inside.

While the ghost laughed outside, Bill sighed. "Well, we're dead."

"No, we're not," Dipper remarked, determinedly. "Will is still in there, we need to draw him out."

"But, how?"

Dipper turned to the blond urgently. "Quick, what are your brother's favorite things? We need something he recognizes."

"Favorite things? The guy barely goes out! His favorite things involves books, nerd crap, and when he was younger I..." Bill paused, and groaned loudly.

Dipper blinked. "What?"

Bill hid his face in his hands. "Are you familiar...with the Lamby Dance?"

Dipper stared, and flushed. "Actually yes, my sister would force me to do it when we were younger."

"Really? Did you wear a lamb costume too?"

"Actually, it was a ram costume."

"Oh my god, that sounds so much worse."

"What are you applying with this, Bill?" Dipper questioned.

Bill darted his eyes to the side. "Me performing the Lamby Dance was Will's favorite thing when he was younger. If we do it now, we can snap him out of it."

"But, why do I have to do it?" Dipper remarked.

"Because, I refuse to go through this hellfest alone."

The Guardian bit his lip. "Are you sure about this?"

"Either we lose our dignity, or our lives," Bill pointed out.

Dipper thought this through, and nodded with a very unexcited expression. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Bill nodded. "OK, but how are we suppose to get the costumes?"

Then suddenly, glitter clouds encased them. When it cleared, Bill was wearing a lamb costume, with Dipper in a matching ram costume. The two turned, and saw Mabel waving at them from across the room.

Your Welcome, bro-bro, Mabel mouthed, with a smile.

"Your sister is going to be the death of me," Bill told Dipper.

Dipper sighed. "Same here."

Then, without hesitation, the two climbed out of their hiding place. As they stepped into the center, the ghost turned to them with a glare.

Bill gulped softly, then said to Dipper. "1...2...3!"

Then, the blond broke into song, while dancing to the rhythm. "Oh, who wants a Lamby Lamby Lamby? I do! I do!"

Dipper sung the next line. "So you better go and greet your mammy mammy mammy! Hi there! Hi there!"

"So march march march around the daises!" Bill sung.

"Don't don't don't you forget about the baaaaby!" Dipper sung, lastly.

As the song ended, both them posed together with bright smiles, while panting softly.

Well, that took 5 years off my life span, Bill thought.

Meanwhile, Will looked at them with wide eyes, then he burst into laughter, this time his voice was back to normal. His laughter grew, before his whole body shook, and he was dropped to the floor.

"Will!" Bill yelled, running to his brother's aid.

He knelt beside Will, helping the blue haired boy sit up. Will rubbed his head, and blinked groggily. "What just happened?"

"I don't think you'll like the answer," Bill noted.

Then, there was a shriek in the air, and two forms appeared over them. It was an elderly couple, both in convenience store uniforms, and had glowing transparent bodies. Upon closer inspection, they both had name tags on their aprons, that read "Ma" and "Pa".

"Oh dear," Ma said.

Bill glared at the ghosts. "You have a lot of nerve!"

"We apologize," Pa suddenly said. "We may have gone overboard."

"Why did you attack us in the first place?" Dipper asked.

As though a switch was flipped, the friendly expressions on the ghosts turned cold upon seeing the brunette.

"Because if there's one thing we both hate, it's you Guardians," Pa growled.

Dipper regarded them in surprise. "But, why?"

"Why?" Ma hissed. "You were suppose to be our protectors! One day, a monster came into our shop and killed us, and there was no one to save us."

Pa nodded in agreement. "It would've never happened if you'd done your blasted jobs!"

The brunette gaped. "I...I didn't--"

"Oh, hush," The old lady remarked. "Because we don't want to see innocent kids get hurt, we'll be setting these two free." She pointed a wrinkly finger to the Cipher twins."

"But you Guardians, and your pets will be staying here," Pa sneered.

Bill watched as Dipper bowed his head. A few days ago, the blond would've happily let the Guardian rot here. But now, seeing Dipper's pained expression only awoke sympathy in him.

You owe me for this, Pine Tree, Bill thought.

"Wait!" He yelled, catching the attention of the ghosts. "You have to let them go! They're our friends."

Pa upturned his big nose. "Why should we? They failed us."

"And he obviously feels bad about it!" Bill snapped, pointing to Dipper. "Look what your bitterness has turned you into, you're as trapped here as the rest of us! Can't you learn to forgive?"

Dipper stared at him, while both Ma and Pa regarded him with flabbergasted expressions.

Pa shook his head. "You expect us to forgive the Guardians that easily?"

"No," Dipper chimed in, seriously. "Of course not, you have every right to feel this way. But, know this, on behalf of all Guardians, I am sincerely sorry for what happened to you." He bowed his head lower, eyes glued to the floor.

A heavy silence drifted into the convenience store, before it was finally broken by Pa's sigh. "You're free to go."

With a ding, the doors opened. Dipper looked at the ghosts in surprise. "Really?"

Pa nodded. "It'll take a while for us to forgive the Guardians, but you seem like a nice lad. Also, that was some fine girly dancing you both did there."

"Don't remind me," Bill groaned.

Dipper smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you."

"No problem, dear," Ma smiled.

Then, the ghosts disappeared out of thin air, before the gravity went back to normal. Everyone and everything fell back to the floor, in a series of crashes and yells. Dipper was pretty dazed, but still managed to snap his fingers, switching the costumes him and Bill were wearing to their original clothes.

Around them, the group were recovering from the clutter. Nate found Lee under some rubble, and immediately hugged him. Tambry was asking where her phone was, while Robbie chastised her. And, Thompson was mourning the loss of Dancy Pants Revolution.

"You guys were adorable!" Mabel squealed, running up to Bill and Dipper.

Bill scoffed. "Don't mention that moment to anyone. Also, Pine Tree, you need brush up on your choreography."

"Jerk," Dipper told him, ruffling his hair playfully.

Nearby, Will was laying on his back, and clutching his stomach. "I'm never gonna eat or do anything again..."

Mabel caught something on the floor, and picked up an almost empty pack of Smile Dip. "Hey, there's still some left--"

Will sprung up from the ground, and smacked the pack out of her hand. "EVIL!"

There was a call behind them, and they turned to see Wendy stepping towards them. She immediately knelt before the Cipher twins, eyeing them worryingly and bombarding them with questions.