Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls
Ford woke to darkness.
His jaw felt sore and he could barely open one eye. Given that and the pain he felt around the same eye, Ford assumed it had swollen shut.
Legs splayed and arms twisted at uncomfortable angles, Ford felt asphalt under his chin. A streetlamp showed in the distance, illuminating just enough of its surrounding area to reveal an empty street. The alley Ford found himself in stretched on toward the other direction, connecting to another street that appeared just as deserted as the other to where not a single soul met his view.
Groaning to himself, Ford hauled himself to his knees despite the weakness in his arms. How long had it been since he'd eaten? For that matter, how long had he been asleep?
Memory returning to him, his hands flew to his pockets. It wasn't like he had anything valuable for them to take, but there were some things still precious to him.
With a relieved sigh, he found his picture still resting comfortably in his coat pocket. Pulling it out, Ford squinted to make out the details of it in the dim light of the alley. A young Stanley and he grinned at him from inside the pathetic image, faces frozen in childish delight and pride, given their makeshift boat in the background.
Stuffing it back in his pocket, Ford stood. His knees hurt with the movement, and he looked down to see rips in his pants right where his knees were. Blood and torn flesh showed through the hole, accompanied by a tingling and numb feeling from that vicinity.
Grimacing at the discomfort, Ford hobbled out of the dark alley.
He didn't know this world. If it was another alternate version of Earth, it was far too different for him to know for sure. What inhabitants he saw looked entirely human, save for the occasional pair of glowing eyes, but the environment looked too… steamy to be normal Earth.
Smoke billowed from numerous smokestacks on the horizon, and Ford could barely see the silhouettes of towering buildings lined with large, glass windows.
It looked like something out of a science fiction novel.
Drawing a steadying breath, he peeked outside the alley to check for more unfriendly faces. He couldn't remember what exactly happened before the blackout, but someone yelling for his money rang a bell.
Pain thudded in his head, a constant companion after he woke up. His attacker probably knocked him out with a blow to the head.
The air was warm, with a slight breeze blowing trash along the ground. The weather was pleasant enough, but Ford couldn't help drawing his coat tighter across his chest. As if that could protect him against the dangers of this...
Dimension.
The portal.
Ford remembered the camp of refugees and Bill's terrible voice echoing through space.
He remembered falling through the air and finding himself here.
But… where was "here?"
The night made recognizing his surroundings difficult. The buildings were shadowed and unfamiliar, their dark windows hiding any sign of life. He may as well have found himself in a ghost town save for those occasional passers-by.
He looked up, but couldn't see any moon or stars. Instead, he could just barely make out the shapes and silhouettes of bulkheads and metal plates above him, which completely blocked out the natural sky.
Ford took to wandering the streets, keeping his head bowed. He certainly didn't want to attract any more attention than he'd already done.
He found even fewer faces than before. Given that he couldn't see the sky, it would explain why the lighting hadn't changed at all, despite his sneaking suspicions that he was out for more than a few hours. He could only assume that the fading traffic meant that it was "bedtime" for these people.
Assuming they slept during their nighttime.
Assuming there was a "nighttime."
Ford sighed, reaching for a pack he didn't have. He wanted some aspirin to chew on – this place was going to take at least twenty-four hours to get a handle for any of the mechanics. For now, his first goal was finding out if there was a sun, and if so, how he could find its light.
He mulled over that for a moment, retracing his steps to the refugee camp. How did he get from there to the dark alley?
As he thought about it, a light flashed to life near him, pulsing in dull colors.
The sight made him freeze, losing track of his thought process. It looked as though the air itself stretched and warped near his person, and it grew progressively noticeable as he tried to step away from it.
Taking a steadying breath, he reached his hand out to touch it. The air moved at the touch of his finger before licking at his skin, as if hungry.
… It tickled.
The rest of the anomaly quickly coalesced around him, sucking in the hem of his coat and soaking into his boots. He lost mobility as it drew up on him, a molasses-like consistency absorbing his entire person.
He should have been horrified, but it didn't quite feel real. He didn't think to scream or run – he only watched it happen, a morbid fascination overriding his senses. He let the air take him, its ethereal grip strengthening over his limbs and eventually his whole self. When it covered his face, he thought he would lose the ability to breathe.
He didn't.
Enveloped in congealed space, the air entering his lungs felt thicker, but he kept breathing even as his view changed from dark streets to enchanting nebulae.
Nebulae.
Ford reached out to grab something, but nothing met his grip. He flailed for a moment, panic finally setting in.
He couldn't go back to the Nightmare Realm!
Stars filled his view, lighting the space with a faint, bluish glow. He spun about, momentum held by the open space. He feared that he'd be trapped here for Bill to find, all but wrapped up in a bow for his hunters to snatch up and bring in for their sweet bounty.
His escape was so short-lived. How cunning of him, falling right into one of Bill's traps! How could he do this? How could he be so unbelievably stupid?
His movement started to slow without his command, prompting Ford to hold his breath to stop hyperventilating. How could this be?
Space didn't work like this.
He wrestled his fear under control again as he stilled. He stopped, facing… up? Down?
Planets floated about on the horizon, colors saturated beyond what he considered physically possible.
This whole place looked unreal. Colors sparkled and pulsed on the horizon, contrasting what he knew about real space. Which meant that either America was somehow sadly misinformed about the nature of the cosmos or this wasn't really space.
He paused to take in the view for a moment and reorient himself.
Black surrounded him, proving a stark contrast for the color speckled on the horizon and bursting in the nebulae. Around him, the air was mostly void, save for some passing particles that looked like specks of shattered crystal or ice. There was no light for them to reflect, which led him to wonder how they managed to sparkle in the night.
The air was cold, he realized. There was no wind or snow or rain, but something about the air here seemed to draw the warmth straight from his skin. The fact that he didn't flash-freeze was yet one more factor that proved that this couldn't be space, which he was thankful for.
But that didn't make it feel any warmer.
He curled in a little, trying to preserve some of the heat he had left in himself. He couldn't persist out here for long and he regretted not eating more back on Earth – perhaps that would have lent him a little more insulation.
But then, Bill didn't exactly give him much of a choice in that regard.
He floated there for a while, mulling over the situation. Now that the adrenaline had faded from his system, he wondered what he could do. There was nothing out here, save for the light and color. He wondered if the planets he perceived were real, and if so, could he survive flying into their atmosphere? He certainly couldn't stay out here forever without food or heat.
Uncertain, he unfolded his limbs and stretched them out to their full length. They felt stiff, unused as they were to all the running and mugging he'd endured in the past… how many hours?
He didn't know. But he would certainly have to start scheduling some exercises into his days to ensure that he could fully adjust to the rigors of his wanted life.
At least in the cold vastness of this realm, he didn't have to worry about anyone finding and killing him. Or worse, bringing him to Bill's realm.
The air around him shifted and another rift opened in the space near him.
He recognized it this time, since it looked the same as the one that took him away from the refugee camp when he first entered the Nightmare Realm.
He hesitated, catching strange glimpses of a foreign world in the light emitted by the rip.
Did he dare?
Ford looked around him at the soft lights of this between realm, stomach growling and head feeling dangerously light.
Did he dare not take it?
Steeling himself, he summoned just a little more energy and reached out into the void. It gladly took him, feeling like it did before, where it seemed to consume him like a hungry beast.
He could see faint signs of a distant world, grass green and flowing with life, amidst a torrent of chaotic lights and flashes.
Then the void took hold, flinging him back through reality and into the dark unknown.
