Little Dipper

Boyz

"I don't recognize it." Gideon said, sitting at the magic circle with Bill. "I don't recognize this magic, it's not from any of the wizards or witches around here."

"Gideon?" Mabel poked her head in. "It's time to go."

"Are you ready?" He looked at her.

"Mm-hm." She smiled and showed him her blue and purple starry sweater. "What are you doing in here?"

"Bill found an item infused with black magic, but it's not any I know. Maybe a traveling wizard made it." Gideon stood up. "What is it, anyway?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. You kids have fun." Bill grinned.

"Alright. Be careful, tampering with unknown magic might backfire. And don't go looking for the mage - chances are they left town. After the concert, I can try to find the wizard with a tracing spell, though, if you want." Gideon picked up his jacket.

"Nah, you kids just have fun. I'll do a tracing spell myself." Bill waved him off. "Go on, go watch the boy band."

"Okay. Stan and Dipper are in the living room, but when Stan and Susan go on a date, you're in charge, okay?" Mabel walked down the hall.

"Yeah." Bill nodded, distracted by the CD as he tried to find any trace of the mage's signature on the CD.

"Hey, what's that you got there?" Stan asked. Bill jumped a bit when he realized he didn't even notice him at the door.

"Black Magic CD that Robbie had. Pretty sure he actually hypnotized her with that song and I need to find out who created this thing." Bill stood up, picking up the CD as he did.

"Why not just smash it?" Dipper asked.

"'Cause even if I smash this one, Robbie could get another if the guy is still in town." Bill explained.

"You know, I think I might have an idea of who it was." Stan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There was this guy when I was younger, named Thistle. Real hippy, crazy about the flowers and stuff. Anyways, I had this girl I was dating, Carla McCorkle, and we would go to this diner all the time. We'd dance and have fun and then one day, Thistle came to play at the diner. Well, our date was cut short by her being drawn to his music, and after that she traded her hot-pants for bellbottoms and..." He sighed. "Well, our relationship ended. She refused my flowers, she returned all my records, and...well, I....lost contact with her after that."

"So, you think this Thistle might be responsible?" Bill asked.

"That's sad." Dipper frowned.

"It's worth a shot. If it is, then I owe him and that teenager a punch in the face!" Stan punched his fist into his palm.

"And if it's not?" Bill asked.

"Well, I'll still punch him and the teenager in the face." Stan shrugged.

"Why don't we focus on Robbie first. Maybe he'll tell me who he got it from." Bill walked over to the door. "...Do you really have a date tonight?"

"Uh, well, we were gonna but one of her cats is sick." Stan shrugged. "So, I'm free tonight."

"Poor kitty." Dipper frowned.

"Ah, she'll be okay. Anyways, since I don't have a date, let's go crash theirs!" Stan headed out of the room.

"Yeah, crash it!" Dipper walked out after him.

Bill chuckled and slipped the CD into an inside pocket of his coat.

–

"Gideon, Mabel, you made it!" Pacifica waved to them. "Come here, I got us a really good spot!"

"Hey, Pacifica." Mabel grinned as she and Gideon approached her. "Are you excited?"

"Totally!" Pacifica nodded. "I love these guys!"

"I missed their performance in Piedmont, I can't wait to see them in-person!" Mabel looked at the stage.

"Well, we're close enough that they could pull you on-stage if they wanted to." Gideon said, taking Mabel's hand in his. "We better hold hands so we don't lose each other when the crowd goes wild."

"Good idea." She nodded.

"You guys do that, I'm fine not holding hands." Pacifica said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Aww, no need to be distant." Mabel reached out a hand. "Come on, hold my hand?"

Pacifica glanced at her hand and then at her friends before sighing. "Well...you are practically family. Okay." She reached out and took her hand. "But, only because I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You're sweet." Mabel smiled.

"Look, it's starting." Gideon looked at the stage, which was starting to be filled with fog as music started to play.

"Finally." Mabel smiled, holding their hands a bit tighter in anticipation.

The boy band came into view and the crowd went wild, Mabel and Pacifica joining in with the cheering crowd as Gideon silently cast a muffling spell on his ears to keep from going deaf. He wasn't accustomed to being in the crowd at these events.

–

"It's started!" Candy said in despair as she and Grenda stood outside the concert hall. "And we were too late to get tickets!"

"Well, it wouldn't have been right to ask Mabel to get some for us when she's going in there on a date." Grenda gently rubbed her back. "Hey, let's go see if we can catch them after the show!"

"Oh, good idea!" Candy nodded and followed Grenda to the backstage area.

They crept up to the door and opened it, peeking inside. There was a giant hamster cage and...test tubes? They looked at each other and then went in to hide behind a rack of clothes until the band came back. Maybe there was a perfectly normal explanation for this?