Summary: After falling into another dimension, Ford is rescued by a kindly mutant. Having no one else to turn to, he is forced to trust her. But, that doesn't mean he trusts the two dream demons that she's been traveling with.

Yay! The first episode...which is being broken into two parts, because it was getting so long. This is probably going to happen a lot. Also, any codes can be translated with the Caesar Cipher unless stated otherwise.

Chapter One: Trust No One (Part One)

When Ford woke up, the first thing he registered was how sore his...everything was. The second thing he registered was that, wherever he was, he certainly wasn't at his house. His muscles screamed in protest, as he sat up with a groan. He scanned his surroundings. The area was about the size of his living room (which wasn't very big), and it seemed to be the only room. The walls were cream-colored, and he could tell they were composed of the same material as a tent. The bed he was sitting on was barely bigger than his couch but was comfortable enough. There was smoke coming from the middle of the room, probably leftover from a campfire or something like one. There was a backpack sitting in the corner, obviously filled. Ford scratched his head in confusion. Where was he, and how did he get here?

Then, he remembered. The fight with Stanley, the portal getting turned on in the process, Ford being sucked into said portal. So, he was in another dimension? Ford shuddered. He remembered how terrified he had been, when he arrived on the other side of the vortex, falling from a dangerous height. He had blacked out the moment his body made contact with the hard ground.

He knew he should have been panicking about potentially being in an unfamiliar dimension, but he was too confused about his lack of injuries. Sure, he was pretty sore, and he certainly wasn't complaining, but why? Why had he sustained no visible injuries? A fall from that height? He should have at the very least had a concussion. He checked over his body. He tested each of his limbs, fingers, and toes; they all worked fine, though one arm was stiffer than the other. He pulled up his understandably torn pant-legs; not a new mark on either leg. He lifted up the navy blue hoodie he had somehow obtained (he would wonder about that later) and checked his torso; nothing there, either. His arms looked okay, too. He took off his glasses - how had those stayed in tact? - and ran a hand over his face; still nothing. There was nothing on his skin but the old scars he'd obtained from researching the paranormal in Gravity Falls.

He put his glasses back on and sighed. This didn't make any sense. Of course, if this was another dimension, maybe it wasn't supposed to make sense.

Deciding that sitting there wasn't going to do him any good, he tentatively got off the bed. After briefly shifting his weight on both legs, testing whether or not he could hold himself up, he cautiously walked out of the tent, not sure what would be waiting for him out there.

It seemed surprisingly peaceful and Earth-like.

The terrain was grassy and level, with only a few trees, A few bushes, and a tall hill breaking the surface. Ford jumped at a sudden noise, only to feel stupid when it turned out to be a bird singing. Really, the only signs that he wasn't still on Earth were the orange sky and pastel-colored clouds. Not wishing to take any chances, he reached for the crossbow hidden in his coat…

...Only to remember that he was no longer wearing his coat.

Ford glanced behind him at the tent's entrance. Were his coat and crossbow in there? Was it a good idea to go back in and check? This dimension didn't appear dangerous.

Then, another thought struck him. Fiddleford had been sucked halfway through the portal before and, ever since, seemed to be slowly driving himself mad trying to forget about what was on the other side. But, why? This dimension didn't seem all that terrifying. Maybe Fiddleford had seen another dimension? Or, maybe this dimension wasn't nearly as peaceful as it appeared. The latter thought set Ford on edge.

A sound broke him from his musing. He instinctively reached for his crossbow - it wasn't there, dammit! - then settled for bracing himself for a fight. He relaxed slightly, when a small brown rabbit hopped out of a bush, looking away from him. Ford remained wary, however; this was another dimension, after all. He took a cautious step toward it for a closer look. The rabbit turned its head. Ford immediately stepped back in shock.

The rabbit had no face.

Ford would have been horrified, if he hadn't seen weirder things in his life.

The rabbit tilted its head, as though it could see him. Hell, maybe it could. It hopped toward him. Everything about it screamed "normal Earthen rabbit" except its lack of face. It stopped at his feet and maybe-sniffed him. It tilted its head up toward his face. Now, Ford was certain it could see him. They stared at each other for a moment, unsure what to make of one another. Knowing that he was tempting fate, Ford carefully knelt down and placed a hand on the rabbit's head, slowly petting it, surprised at how smooth and marble-like its pelt was. The rabbit responded by snuggling closer to Ford's boot. Ford couldn't stop himself from smiling. This rabbit wasn't nearly as skittish as the ones on Earth. If he had to be unarmed around any strange creatures, he was glad it was this one.

"Wkhb'uh iulhqgob olwwoh jxbv, duhq'w wkhb?"

The unfamiliar voice shot Ford to his feet, making the rabbit jump back in surprise. A woman was standing a short distance from him, smiling, and he cursed himself for not noticing her sooner. She was pretty and looked human enough, but her dark gray skin had Ford trying to decypher what exactly she was. She had wild jet-black hair that reached her shoulders and a long scar on her cheek. She was a rather petite woman and wore a grass-stained white kimono-like top, light blue jeans, and muddy sneakers.

The rabbit hopped over to her, and she picked it up and held it against her small breast. It snuggled into her as she ran her fingers over it. She moved her eyes from the rabbit to him. "Krz duh brx ihholqj?" Ford just stared at her. She giggled, and he tried to ignore how cute she sounded. "Sorry. The universal language, then?"

English was universal? Ford made a mental note of that. "Uh, I guess."

The woman nodded. "I said, 'How are you feeling?'"

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

She let the rabbit hop out of her arms. It remained seated by her feet. "I brought you into our tent." She frowned in concern. "You literally fell out of the sky. You're pretty lucky I found you when I did."

So, he was injured, then? At least that much made sense. "So, you're saying that you treated my injuries?" She nodded with a small, shy smile. "Any particular reason?"

The woman just shrugged. "You were bleeding out." Her casual tone made it seem like they were discussing the weather. "I couldn't just leave you there. I used my power to heal you, and my friends fixed your glasses and gave you some new clothes. Your old ones were pretty torn up."

"You have healing abilities?"

"Yeah, and my friends can conjure objects." The woman face-palmed. "Silly me. I haven't even told you my name." She stepped toward him and held out her hand. She was only as tall as Ford's chin. "I'm Nadia."

Ford hesitantly shook her four-fingered hand, deciding that she was telling the truth and didn't mean him any harm. Plus, the more information he could get out of her, the better. "I, uh, I'm Ford. Now, maybe you can answer some questions for me. First of all, you said something about having friends with you, correct?" She nodded. "Well, then where exactly are they?" He needed to know what all he was dealing with.

Nadia shrugged. "Dunno. Probably scoping out the locals' minds."

Ford's blood turned to ice. "I-I beg your pardon?"

"Well, they thought this place seemed too peaceful, so they went to find some locals and enter their minds to make sure this dimension isn't too good to be true. They've been gone for a while. They should be back soon." Suddenly, all the colorful scenery around them turned gray. "Oh, that must be them."

Ford's heart rate went into overdrive. Her friends arrived like this? This was how Bill sometimes made appearances! Was Nadia friends with Bill? A tiny mint-green light appeared above them, and terror washed over Ford, as the light began to form a triangle. But, then it moved in a different shape, drawing a five-pointed star in the sky. The shape glowed white for a moment, then the light dissolved into a wash of blinding glitter. A creature appeared. It was star-shaped and a had one eye in the middle of its small, burnt-orange body. It had stick-like arms and legs and looked more like Bill than Ford was comfortable with. Color returned to the background.

"Guess who's back?" It's voice was feminine, so Ford assumed it was a female. It was speaking to Nadia. "I wanted to make as big an entrance as possible. Why? I don't know. I just felt like it."

Another creature appeared beside it in a spray of harsh glitter. This one was a blue square with two eyes and stick-like arms and legs. It seemed annoyed. "Starclops, don't you think that's unnecessary?" It's voice was deep, like a male's. It pointed at Ford, who suddenly felt ready to pass out again. "Also, I think you're freaking that guy out."

The female being - Starclops - spun around to face Ford. "Whoops. Didn't see you there, pal. Nice to see you woke up, though."

Ford took a subconscious step back. This was a dream. This had to be nothing more than a bad dream.

Starclops flew around him in a circle. "Yeesh, man. You sure are jumpy. Must be a species-thing."

Nadia glared at her. "He's jumpy, because you're obviously scaring him."

The square crossed his arms. "Seriously, Star. Knock it off."

Ford forced himself to breathe, and after a better look at the two dream demons-

Oh, god.

Oh, freaking god!

The dreams didn't appear two-dimensional like Bill. They were three-dimensional.

They had a physical form!

Bill gaining physical form would mean the end of everything, but two of his kind like that!? Ford couldn't find it in himself to hide his sheer terror at the thought. "St-st-stay back! Stay away from me!"

The three stared at him, surprised by his outburst. The square one asked, "What's wrong, um…?"

"Ford," Nadia told him, brow furrowed in concern. "His name is Ford."

The square floated toward him. "Just calm down, Ford-"

"Don't come any closer!" Ford demanded, hating that he sounded as terrified as he felt. "I've dealt with dream demons before, and I'm not doing it again!"

Nadia looked terrified, the square scratched its "head" in confusion, and Starclops smacked her forehead and groaned, "Ugh. You know Bill, don't you?"

Realization shown in the square's eyes, and he sighed. "Now I get it."

Nadia just looked at him. "Get what? Who's Bill?"

Ford ignored her and glanced from one dream demon to the other. "Bill Cipher? You know him?"

Starclops gave him pointed look. "Listen, pal. Your childish panic is understandable, but the fact remains that not all dream demons are deranged lunatics."

"She's right," Ford flinched, when the square appeared behind him. "Bill gives our kind a really, really bad name. And, frankly, he dresses too nice for his occupation."

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Occupation?"

Starclops leaned her "shoulder" on his, and he tensed. "He just means that dream demons usually don't go for formalities." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and harshly poked his cheek. "Most of us are either casual, in your face, or somewhere in between."

"So, I see," Ford muttered, picking her arm off him, like it was about to explode.

Starclops did an aerial backflip away from him. "And, now that we've got that cleared up, how's about some introductions? My name's Starclops," she conjured an arrow above her head and pointed it to a flustered Nadia, "that mutant over there is Nadia," the arrow pointed to the rather annoyed-looking blue square, "and the dork over there is Tad Strange, but he goes by Tad." The arrow vanished. "Together, we are Team Trouble!"

Tad made a motion like he was pinching the bridge of the nose he didn't have. "Starclops, no one agreed to that name." He snapped his fingers in realization. "Speaking of trouble, I just remembered; I was in the minds of some of the policemen, and they want us out of here."

Nadia's lavender-colored eyes widen comically. "What? Why?"

Tad jammed his thumb in Ford's direction. "Seems Ford's not the only one who's heard about Bill. The townsfolk don't like dream demons prancing around."

"Oh, yeah," Starclops added. "I noticed that. And, some of them think that anyone who would travel with a dream demon is just as evil, or something? I don't know. I got distracted by sex-memories. Man, these people look good naked!"

Ford's frown deepened. That was a little more information than he needed to hear. Besides, if these three were fugitives or something, then that was his cue to get away from them. "Well, uh, Nadia, thanks for saving me, but I should really be going-"

His vision blurred, as dizziness washed over him. His thought he felt his knees buckle, but he wasn't sure. He was numb. Everything was numb. Was someone saying his name? He thought he heard a voice. Then another. So many sounds crashing into each other, fighting for dominance in his ear drums. One voice. Only one voice, he could recognize. It sent a wave of anger coiling around him.

Bill Cipher's disembodied voice sang, "I'm still here!"

Eek! Bill! *hides under the table* What's happening to Ford? Review to find out!

VHHLQJ LV XVXDOOB EHOLHYLQJ.