AUTHORS NOTE: FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS FIC, FORD IS A PEARL, AND STAN IS A GARNET. DIPPER AND MABEL ARE A MOONSTONE AND SUNSTONE. STAN AND FORD LOOK LIKE HOW THEY DID BY THE PORTAL INCIDENT. Get it, got it? Good.
Ford burst out of his "lab" room in the gem's temple, coughing into his trench coat sleeve. Some smoke wafted him.
"Hey bro!" Stan cheerfully greeted him, walking over with a grin. "I've got to say, you're smokin!"
Ford couldn't help but grin weakly back. His brother's jokes and puns were horrid, but they all were in good humor.
"You seem a little distracted," Stan commented, tilting his head. "You ok, bro? What's eatin' at ya?"
"It's nothing," Ford replied with a dismissive wave. "Just a biology related issue."
"Alright..." Stan said, but it was obvious he didn't buy it. "I hope you didn't forget that we're going to do that 'special surprise training' for Dipbel."
"Oh, right," Ford sighed, inwardly groaning. "Fusion training."
"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Mabel's sing song voice rang out joyfully. "Are you going to fuse into StanFardyx?" {play on words}
"As surely as you two gremlins are going to fuse into a Starlite!" Stan responded with nearly the same amount of enthusiasm. "To the warp pad!"
"To the warp pad!" Dipper echoed, running over. "Let's go!"
Soon, they were at the sky arena, with Dipper and Mabel sitting on the benches. Mabel held a fusion sign, and was grinning happily. Dipper sat next to her, failing to hide a similar smile.
"Ready bro?" Stan asked Ford, nudging him.
"Hm? Oh, yeah." Ford positioned himself to dance. His moves were systematic and smooth, flowing and cool. On the other hand, Stan's eratic dancing emphasized his power, and his moves were complex and rigorous, but confidence radiated from him. Then, they spun, faster and faster until they seemingly collided with each other, and a tall being emerged from them.
"Hello world!" He announced. "Are you two ready?!"
"Yes!" The two gems in training exclaimed, then fused. Dipper's dancing was similar to Ford's, though more robotic and jerky. Mabel had a dancing style all her own, hip hop mixed with ballet and techno mixed with disco. Dipper dipped Mabel, and they fused into a tall, but shorter than StanFardyx, gem.
Bowing to each other, they summoned their weapons. StanFardyx held a aura hammer, while Starlite had a grappling hook with book attached. They began to fight, and it was becoming clear StanFardyx would win. Leaping into the air to deliver the fusion splitting blow, his vision changed, turning red. Starlite suddenly turned a monstrous being.
"Shape shifter!" StanFardyx gasped, weapon vanishing. "You were dangerous! I'm sorry!"
He crashed to the ground, instantly unfusing. Starlite and Stan stared in shock at Ford.
"I... I ..." he stammered. "I have to go!"
He quickly turned and rushed away. Stan momentarily followed him. When he caught up, Ford was sitting on the stairs, his head in his hands.
"Ford? Talk to me bro. What's wrong?"
"I had to do something terrible."
"What was it?"
"I had to shatter Shifty."
"Oh... I'm sorry it came to that. Did you figure out how he kept on escaping the bubbles?"
"No."
They sat on the steps for a while, lost in their own thoughts.
"Stan?" Ford said tentatively. Stan nodded in response. "Can ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"How do you cope with guilt?"
Whatever question Stan was expecting, it wasn't this one. He nearly fell off stairs.
"W-w-ell," he stuttered. "I... I just don't think about it."
"Hold the phone," Starlite said, and both older men looked up. "Now give the phone me."
They sat down by the beach, Stan and Ford hadn't refused yet.
"You taught us," Starlite said softly. "That for a fusion to work, there needs to be balance. An imbalance can cause your fusion to lose touch with reality, see things that aren't there, and eventually fall apart. But, we found out more. Both halves need to be stable. That is to say if one of you is falling apart, your fusion will as well. To find balance, you must understand your feelings. To understand your feelings, you must see them clearly without running from them. But first, we need StanFardyx."
The twins looked at each other, then fused. They immediately went into the meditative pose.
Here, in darkness, everything's okay. Listen to the waves, and let them fade away. Here comes a thought.
"Take a moment to think of just," Starlite sang. "Flexibility, love and trust."
Dipper and Mabel appeared, just a little further from the two fusions. A butterfly flew passed them, and Dipper became enraged, chasing after it, not noticing the swarm that suddenly came over Mabel.
Starlite: Here comes a thought, that might alarm you. What someone said, and how it harmed you.
StanFardyx encounters a butterfly on his index fingers and looks down sorrowfully. The butterfly flies away, and a swarm of them fly from behind him and surround Mabel.
Starlite: Things that you did, that failed to be charming. Things that you said, are suddenly swarming. And oh-
They looked back at the duo. Mabel was overwhelmed by the butterflies and its mass collectiveness while Dipper was infuriated at the one butterfly that caused him to break down crying. Mabel reached out to Dipper, but was too overwhelmed by the butterflies to do anything.
Starlite: you're losing sight, you're losing touch, all these little things seem to matter so much, that they confuse you... that I might lose you...
Starlite held two butterflies, as if to show StanFardyx that they, the butterflies, are not a reason to fall apart.
Starlite: Take a moment, remind yourself, to, take a moment and find yourself. Take a moment and ask yourself, if this is how we fall apart...
Dipper took deep breaths and attempted to calm down from assaulting the butterfly he once had an issue with, snapping back into reality to see Mabel in turmoil and ran over to comfort Mabel with his company.
Starlite: But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.
Stan and Ford walked in, Ford cluching his journal his close to his chest, and Stan walked worriedly beside him. When they walked, a butterfly came into their path and hovered in front of Ford. He ducked to avoid looking at it.
StanFardyx: Here comes a thought, that might alarm me. What someone said, and how it harmed me.
Ford's journal violently shook itself from his grip, and a huge swarm of butterflies exploded from it.
StanFardyx: things that I did, that failed to be charming. Things that I said, are suddenly swarming. And oh-
The butterflies formed into a giant version in the sky. It recalled the shape shifter bursting from a bubble, and attacking Ford. They grappled, until Ford summoned his journal, and a spell hit the shape shifter, directly in the gem. It shattered instantly.
StanFardyx: I'm losing sight, I'm losing touch, all these little things seem matter so much... that they confuse me...
Starlite & StanFardyx : that I might lose me... Take a moment, remind yourself, to, take a moment and find yourself. Take a moment and ask yourself, if this is how we fall apart? But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.
The butterflies surrounding StanFardyx were been blown away, indicating a clearer mind. Stan and Ford breathe deeply to calm down, until a butterfly lands on Ford's hand, causing him to generate tears until Stan lets him know of his company. The butterflies flew away peacefully from Stan and Ford. Mabel and Dipper joined them and laid down and watched the butterflies flutter.
S & S: And it was just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. We can watch. We can watch. We can watch. We can watch them go by. From here. From here. From here.
StanFardyx: Take a moment to think of just, flexibility, love and trust. Take a moment to think of just, flexibility, love and trust...
The next day...
"Stan, I'm ready to train!" Ford announced, barging from his lab and startling a half asleep Stan. "I feel much better now!"
"That's great." Stan sighed. Had Ford not been so happy that he was feeling better, he might've noticed how exhausted Stan looked.
"It's funny," Ford continued, oblivious to his twins' distress. "I spent all that time feeling bad instead of doing something. It's like I was trying not to think about it, and that just made it worse. Now that I've got a clear head, we'll do so much better as StanFardyx. Anyway, I'm gonna change."
Ford immediately headed into his room to pick up some weapons. Sitting on a dagger he had left behind, a lone butterfly sat. Stan glared at it, daring it to attack. It still sat.
StanFardyx was demonstrating attacks for Dipper and Mabel, going against holograms of himself. Soon, there were only three left.
"And now to finish the job!" He announced, stabbing the hammer into one. The scene turned red. Instead of a hologram, the hammer was lodged into the side of a Mexican Sphalerite, his face showing rage and betrayal. "It's happening again!"
"Who was that?" Fordyx {Ford's half} asked, horrified.
"Rico..." Stanyx groaned.
"Stan..." Fordyx muttered.
"Oh no..." Stanyx said, panic seeping into his voice. "It's coming from me now!"
"Breathe!" Mabel yelled.
"This shouldn't be happening!" Dipper whispered to her, worried.
StanFardyx began to hyperventilate, and another gem appeared, a yellow pearl.
"You would have said what happened!" Stanyx gasped. "I couldn't let you go! I would have! I swear!"
Another new, but tall, gem looked up at him. A forced fusion, an Opal. Pain torrented through her eyes.
"I'm sorry!" Stanyx nearly screamed, falling to his knees. "I couldn't get to you in time! You shouldn't have been shattered! I'm sorry! I'm SORRY!"
"Stan!" Fordyx yelled over his brother's crushing thoughts. "It's ok to think about it!"
"It-it's too much!" Stanyx gasped, struggling for air. "I- I can't do it!"
Suddenly the hallucinations burst thousands of butterflies. If Ford thought the shape shifter bad, this was pure torture. They swirled in the air, and StanFardyx pulled himself to his feet, waiting in horrified apprehension, his lungs burning, eyes stinging, and his heart beating so frantically one would think would pound right out of his chest. Then, they formed, into their fathers angry, stern, and disapproving face.
"No..." Stanyx whimpered, backing away. "No... no..."
Without realizing, he had backed onto the edge of the floating ruins... and lost his footing, careering over the ledge.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel and Dipper yelled, running over just too late. "Grunkle Ford!"
"Grunkle Ford has crash resistance," Dipper said, looking at Mabel, panic in his eyes. "But Grunkle Stan doesn't!"
"They have to fix this!" Mabel cried. "Or... or else... NO!"
As they fell, Stan and Ford defused.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Ford yelled upon noticing how fast the ground seeking to greet them, then remembered his crash resistance. "Stan! Fuse with me! I have crash resistance! Stan?"
His twin looked miserable. He had curled himself into a semi fetal position, and tears streaked upwards into the air, and his lips wouldn't stop moving. Within his incoherent babbling, Ford was able to discern two words: I'm sorry.
"Stan!" Ford shouted, propelling himself forward in the air. "It's ok!"
"No, it's not!" he sobbed. "I couldn't help them!"
"But it's OK to think about it!" Ford cried out franticly. "It's in the past!"
"It feels so bad!" Stan moaned.
"That's OK too!" Ford insisted, holding his brother's wrist for some comfort. "There was nothing else you could've done!"
"I don't want to feel this way..." Stan groaned. The implications chilled Ford to the bone. "Or any way..."
"Y-you have to!" Ford shouted, something inside of him snapping. He intertwined their fingers, his sixth one wrapping their hands together protectively. "You have to be honest about how bad it feels, so you can move on. That's how it was for me..."
They merely looked long and hard at each other, until Stan sniffed.
"Ok," he swallowed. "High six?"
Silently, their palms opened, and they hugged as the earth rushed towards them. Light encased then add they fused. His vision immediately shifted to red, and he yelled.
"Just... breath," StanFardyx reminded himself, closing his eyes and falling into the swarms of millions butterflies. They were frustrating, and upsetting, but they got better. Soon, he slammed into the ground, and dust billowed around the now laughing fusion. And he laughed with all the genuine happiness in the world.