Dimension 23
Gravity Falls, OR
February 22, 1982
The scorching surface burns through the flesh of his shoulder when his twin kicks him back into the control panel. In that moment, all Stan knows is pain. He doesn't think as the pressure holding him down disappears, only reacts.
Ford recoils in horror as his brother screams. He'd forgotten about the sigil there. Worse, he has no idea what the sigil actually is - just that Bill had insisted upon its inclusion - and he's just knocked Stanley directly into it. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sor-" he doesn't get the chance to finish the sentence. A wild punch from Stan sees to that.
Ford stumbles back into the portal room, reeling from the force of his brother's blow. The glowing yellow eyes glaring up at him from the doorway nearly send Stanford into a panic attack, but then the writhing figure on the floor growls and, ironically enough, reassures him that he will not be forced to face his worst fears just yet. (Bill is never so inarticulate.) His voice shakes as he calls out, "Stanley?"
His answer comes in the form of wings and claws and long, sharp teeth suddenly lunging at him. His mind makes the identification even as he scrambles out of the way: Gargoyle. His brother has been transformed into a gargoyle, and a very angry one at that. When Stan roars and prepares to attack again, Ford's panic reaches new heights. Desperate, Ford chants from memory one of the few spells he knows work on gargoyles.
Stan's new form freezes in place and is quickly consumed in stone. Some small, completely hysterical part of Ford notes that Stan makes for a very grotesque and frightening statue. Claws extended and teeth bared in a vicious snarl, Stanley looks anything but welcoming. Ford hesitantly walks closer. Any other creature may have appeared docile in this situation, but gargoyle sleeping habits are something unique to their species.
Stanford swallows nervously before reaching out to touch his twin's shoulder. There are no words for the sheer amount of relief that courses through him upon finding the stone warm beneath his fingertips. Ford closes his eyes and releases the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Stanley will be fine. ...Well, he'd wake up in due time anyway. Stanford isn't sure how to go about undoing the transformation, but he'll figure it out one way or another.
"Stanley, I know that right now you're probably very scared. Or, at the very least, you're still angry with me, but I need you to listen to what I'm saying." Ford hopes the information he has on gargoyles is accurate, but he can't be sure. He's only ever encountered two before this, and they'd been a pair of young pranksters passing through the Gravity Falls area. He has no way to know how much of what they had told him was factual. "I'm not sure of the specifics, but it seems you've been turned into a gargoyle. I promise you, I'm going to find a way to reverse this. I've put you under a Sleeping Curse, which is why you can't move. Don't worry. It only lasts for twenty-four hours, or so. I don't know how coherent you actually are at the moment, but I'll be back before you wake up. Right now, I've got to -" Ford gasps as the gravity in the room fluctuates.
"The portal!" he yelps, panic returning in full force, "I've got to shut it down!"
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