Against all odds I'm back.

To say that I was upset when my twin opened the portal, successfully stopping me from defeating my greatest enemy, and putting our entire universe in danger... Would be the understatement of the century.

Of course, as always, there was a reason. Even after our... Separation, my twin would still bend over backwards for me. Even though often I wish they wouldn't.

Thirty years of desecrating my work and they expect a "Thank you"? Admittedly, I do feel bad for punching them, but still...

The 'Mystery Shack'!? Why must she do this to me?

Dipper had wanted to find the Author.

He'd become obsessed with the town he was spending his summer in, and mainly that was because of the Journal. The family part kept him grounded... Alright, the Mabel part kept him... How was he related to these people again?

I mean, just because he and Stan looked almost exactly alike didn't mean that they had a lot in common. Not to get Dipper's intentions wrong, but there was a line he just wouldn't cross for his twin.

Even after learning that their great aunt wasn't the good person they thought she was. And finding out that she had built a doomsday device that the Author had warned against using, Stan still listened to his stupid heart.

But that's what ultimately led to the Author returning.

And the Author was Grantie Mabel's brother.

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! You have a thing for Cathy!"

Ford looked up at his sister from across his math book. He had already finished his homework, but he was sort of bored. Mabel had her head poking up from under his bed in their room. Her brown eyes were full of energy, and they instantly made Ford feel drained.

"Oh no," he said, shutting his book, and turning to hang his legs over the edge. "Last time you convinced me I ended up..."

"Oh come on, it went great!" Mabel exclaimed, stopping Ford's sentence short. She reached up and pulled herself up to sit next to her twin. "You have to admit that."

"She literally screamed, then slapped me in the face." Ford said, shoving Mabel slightly away from him. "I don't think that qualifies as 'great'."

Mabel rolled her eyes, "Whatever Broseph. But you still like her..."

Ford sighed, "And you still like Steve... Was it Roberts?"

"Rogers." Mabel blurted out before she realized that she was blushing. "Shut up." She leaned over towards her brother, "Anyway, what you doing?"

"Taking a break." Ford answered, "My hand's still a little sore..."

Mabel winced, "I still can't believe you punched him. I could have handled it." Ford opened his mouth, but didn't say anything, and the two of them sat in silence.

"You're always standing up for me, in your own Mabel way..." Ford said, rubbing his left wrist. "Although you could have just left my cast plain..."

Mabel smiled, her crooked teeth showing, "But sparkles are amazing. You have to admit that your cast was the prettiest one at school."

Ford sighed, but put his arm on top of Mabel's shoulder, "Yes it was... But as you recall, Crampelter..."

"Can eat a moldy sock." Mabel answered before Ford could finish his sentence. "Can you believe that the creep asked me out?"

Ford chuckled, "As I remember, I fractured my wrist after that..."

Mabel flashed him a grin, "You're the one who let that happen, I didn't ask you to do that."

"I know... Want to go do something fun? DD and..."

"No!" Mabel said loudly, jumping off of the bed and landing with a thump on the ground. "Let's go build the boat!"

"Of course Mabel."

"Finally! After all these years of waiting!"

Mabel held her sweater clad arms out towards her brother. She was well aware that she looked very different than the last time he'd seen her, but there was no way he could forget her. She took a step towards him, and smiled her biggest, brightest smile. Trying not to think of her nephews behind her.

"Brother-!"

Ford planted his fist in Mabel's cheek. He didn't swing too hard, but it still hurt. And it was the thought that stung Mabel the most.

"Ow!" She cried, rubbing her face with one hand, "That actually hurt!"

"This was an insanely risky move, restarting the portal." Ford said, still holding his hand up. He scowled at his sister then asked, "Didn't you read my warnings?!"

"Pff... Warnings shmornings, I just saved you Genius." Mabel said, folding her arms. "Saved you from some weird... Sci-fi sideburn dimension? What's up with that?"

"Saved me? Saved me?" Ford asked, his voice sounding the slightest bit hysterical. "What? Are you expecting me to thank you after what you did thirty years ago?!"

"What I did? Why you ungrateful..." Mabel thrust herself towards her brother, her negative emotions that had been building up all day spilling out of her. Ford didn't even let her land one blow, instead he sidestepped her and grabbed her wrists, turning her around.

Mabel's knees buckled, but she still choked out, "Don't expect me to go easy on you... Just because you're a boy!"

Ford seemed to pay no attention to her statement, choosing instead to squeeze her wrists tighter, and keeping her stuck on the ground. He wasn't doing anything that would hurt her, he just kept her from hurting him...

"Hey you big jerk! Leave my aunt alone!"

Ford looked up, and saw a young boy, holding his hands up in fists. The boy looked super familiar, but it was the fact that he was there that worried Ford.

"Mabel... You didn't tell me that there were children here..." He said, releasing his sister and adjusting his cracked glasses.

"They're your family Genius. Shermie's grandsons."

Ford's face turned up into a small smile. He seemed to have already forgotten the fight he had just been in already. "I have nephews?" He whispered, then stepped over to Stan and Dipper.

Stan looked about ready to punch Ford, and Dipper was stammering in the back, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

"Greetings." Ford said, extending out a hand to Stan, who was glaring at him like he was a monster or something. "Do children still say 'greetings'? I haven't been in this Dimension for a really long time..."

Stan looked between Ford's hand and his face. "What am I supposed to do to this?" He asked, earning him a raised eyebrow from Ford.

"Um... Shake it? Don't worry, my skin doesn't mutate people." Ford pushed his hand more towards Stan, who glanced over to Mabel.

After a nod from his aunt, Stan placed his hand in Ford's, and shook it jerkily. "Stanley Pines."

Ford's grin was back, and larger than before. "Stanford Pines. A pleasure."

"Uh-huh, 'pleasure'. You tried to murder my aunt!" Stan said, dropping his hand and folding his arms. "Not cool man."

"I can kill my sister all I want. Goodness knows that she tried to do the same to me a billion times before." Ford answered, "Twins and all."

"Wait." Stan snapped, holding a hand up to his forehead. "You're Grantie Mabel's twin? I have a twin too!"

"It does run in families..." Ford said, but before Stan could say anything Dipper cut them off.

"You... You're the Author of the Journals!"

Ford looked over at Dipper, and his smile didn't waver. "You read my Journals?" He asked, pulling the first tome out of his jacket. Dipper bounced slightly and exclaimed, "I didn't just read them, I lived them! They... You... I have a billion questions... Oh my..."

Stan jerked his thumb towards Dipper, he rolled his eyes and said, "He totally hadn't been obsessing over them for the past three months..."

Ford laughed slightly, "It's good to see someone who cares about this kind of thing... I'm sure he'll get over it soon..."

Caryn Pines had only had a handful of real visions in her life.

She knew she was having twins right after she found out that she was pregnant. She had sat down one morning and suddenly her vision went blurry.

She closed her eyes and opened them quickly. Even though the rest of her senses told her that she was still in the kitchen her vision was in an entirely different place.

She saw two men, kneeling in a clearing in some foreign woods. One had his arms wrapped around the smaller one, and Caryn could see tears spilling down his cheeks.

The other man was staring deadpanned in front of him. Like he didn't know what was going on.

Something told her that those two were her children. Some supernatural force called her. Something was going to happen to them. But they'd be okay. They'd come out as the heroes.

So imagine her surprise when her second child turned out to be a girl.

The same force that had showed her the vision this time took over her hearing. She heard four different voices say the same name over and over.

Mabel. Mabel... Mabel. Mabel!

So that's what she named her. Filbrick didn't really care. Caryn was delighted to have two children of the opposite genders. It would be fun to watch them grow up.

Every now and then she'd think of that first vision, but she took it as another fluke. Perhaps a coffee induced hallucination...

"Ford... What happened to us?"

Ford and Mabel stood in front of the mirror in the upstairs hallway. Ford was in one of his old maroon sweaters, and Mabel had changed into her shooting star one. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, but her matching fez was still in her room.

Ford sighed and looked over at his twin. "We grew up. Stopped needing each other." He answered bluntly, and turned back to the mirror once Mabel frowned.

"You might have grown up, but you still need me. I'm the one who did the opposite." She snapped, folding her arms over her chest. Ford scowled down at the ground, and they stood in silence, a tenderness in the air, like at any moment something would break.

"Look, Mabel... I appreciate the fact that you at least tried to do something," Ford's said, looking over at her again. "And... You can stay this way for the rest of the summer, until the boy's are gone... But once it ends, you give me my house back, you give me my life back, and this whole 'Mystery Shack' junk is over forever. Got it?"

Mabel's already angry expression became shocked. She stared open mouthed at the man next to her, who was looking down at the floor, counting his fingers.

"Fine!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Be like that! On one condition..."

Ford turned his head to look at her once again, his own expression one that was as hard as rock.

"You stay away from the boys. I don't want them to be in danger!" Mabel said forcefully, shoving a finger in Ford's slightly stunned face. "Because as far as I'm concerned, they're the only family I have left."

She turned around, and stormed towards the stairs to head to her room. Just as she was going to put her foot on the first step she felt a firm hand land on her shoulder.

"What do you want?" She hissed, before turning around to look back at Ford.

"You don't understand," Ford's said slowly, and Mabel smacked his hand off of her. "Well, apparently there's a lot I don't understand." Mabel snapped back, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Mabel... I don't want you to leave." Ford continued, "Rather the opposite really..."

"Can you explain what this was doing next to my Broken Project?!"

Mabel dropped her half finished sweater onto the couch. She gaped for a second at the empty bag of sequins that Ford's was holding out towards her, his hands trembling slightly.

"Look Bro... I might have gone somewhere I really shouldn't have and accidentally..."

"This wasn't an accident Mabel!" Ford said, dropping the bag onto the floor, next to Mabel's red ball of yarn. "You did this!" He pointed his finger out towards her and she leaned back slightly. "You did this because you couldn't handle me going off to college on my own."

"Hey... It was a mistake." She said, standing up, she held her arms open slightly, like she was going to give him a hug. "Although, if you think about it, maybe there's something to get outta this... Treasure hunting?"

Ford opened his mouth in shock. "This... This isn't some kind of game Mabel! Why on Earth would I want to do anything with the person who sabotaged my entire future?!"

Mabel blinked hard, "Fordsie..." She started, but before she could say anything else a shadow passed over her.

The two teenagers turned their heads to look at their father, his usual scowl even deeper than before.

"You did what, you knucklehead?" Mabel scrambled away from her father, accidentally knocking her sweater onto the floor and stepping on it.

"D- Dad! I have an explanation..."

"Dad." Ford said, reaching a hand out towards his two family members. Filbrick looked over at his son and said, "Go to your room Stanford."

Ford gulped, and stepped out of the room, past his mother, who was holding a crying Sherman. "Mom..." He said quietly, but a repetition of his father's order sent him down the hall.

What was happening? His mind was trying to wrap itself around the events of the day. Waking up at the crack of dawn... Having Mabel wish him luck... Walking to the science hall... Getting rejected by the dean of his dream school... Finding that sack of sequins... He'd have to talk to... Oh. He couldn't just talk to Mabel anymore. She had... Ugh. This was the worst.

Ford held his pamphlet for WCT in his hands. He stepped over to his window and saw Mabel down on the street, holding her hand up to him.

A wave of sadness and anger rushed over him. How could Mabel, his sister, his twin, just do this to him? He had talked almost non-stop to her about the place ever since he'd gotten told about it. She knew how hard he'd worked... How could she betray him like this?

He squeezed his eyes shut, then pulled the curtains closed.

He climbed up onto his bed, the pamphlet laying in front of him. Normally, Mabel would tell him a funny story until he forgot all about it, but tonight...

He held his head in his abnormal hands, and focused on not crying...

What was he going to do?

"Hey Dipper... You don't think we'll turn out Like Mabel and Ford, do you?"

Dipper looked across the room at his twin, who was staring up at a moldy patch on the ceiling. "What do you mean?" He asked, sitting up and hanging his tired legs over the edge of his bed.

"I mean," Stan said, copying Dipper's motion. "They used to be just like us, but then they got all stupid..."

" I'm sure they'll work it out." Dipper told him. "Now goodnight Stanley..."

"Night Constellation..." Stan echoed, not feeling any better. Could they figure it out?

"You left me behind you dummy! You promised you'd always be there for me! You ruined my life!"

Mabel tugged at her brother's Journal, it wasn't the book that made her want to take it from him, it was pure sadness and anger. After ten years of terror and homelessness, things she'd really rather forget, her brother had wanted to see her again.

Just to tell her to leave.

They fought. They'd thrown punches at each other before, mainly for all those boxing lessons Ford had been forced to attend, but this was their first real fistfight.

And Mabel was losing.

"You ruined your own life!" Ford yelled back at her, shoving her off of him with his boot.

And into a hot brand.

Ford's eyes widened, he instantly dropped his foot and gasped as Mabel screamed. She'd been in pain before, but this was a new level.

"Mabel... Oh my... What have I..." Ford was cut off by his sister's fist in his face, which threw him back. Her thin body forced itself up and clung onto her left shoulder.

"Some brother you turned out to be..." She said, stepping towards her stunned twin, who held the Journal tightly to his chest. "You care more about your dumb science than you do your own sister..."

Ford opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. He didn't know if that was true or not.

"Well then you can have it!"

"Whoa... Where are you going?"

Mabel's body felt like trash. Her shooting star sweater had a tear in one of it's sleeves. Her mind kept circling back to Dipper and Stan are going to die, and it's all my fault. And to make things even worse, she was stuck in a prison-cell-pyramid with her brother.

"I'm going to play the only card we have left. I'm going to..." Ford looked at his sister, who stood up to join him. He swallowed and said quietly, "I'm going to give him what he wants."

"Fordsie, he's a dream demon, keyword 'demon'. You think he's going to be nice about this?" Mabel put a hand next to Ford's, and wanted desperately to pull him into a hug.

"No. I don't." Ford admitted, biting his lip, "But he might let Dipper and Stan live... And I have to take that risk."

"So you're just going to let him into your mind?" Mabel asked. "That sounds like a stupid plan "

"I know, I know." Ford said, sighing. "But he's only weak in the mindscape, if I didn't have this stupid plate in my head we could just erase him the moment he stepped in."

Mabel blinked, "First off... Metal plate?! What on Earth Bro? Second, what if he went into my mind? I'm not really using that place for much."

Ford tried to smile at her, but it didn't really work, "No offense, but there's nothing in your mind he wants... I'm sorry Mabester."

"What if he thought I was you?" Mabel asked, taking her fez off and letting her bun fall loose. "If we cut my hair and change clothes..."

"Mabel." Ford said, but Mabel was already shrugging her sweater off.

"We can get rid of him for good. All we have to do is..."

"Mabel!" Ford said, grabbing her shoulders before she could take anymore clothes off. "I can't let you do this. I can't lose you again!"

Mabel sniffed, and reached forward to take his coat off. "I know. That's why we're doing this."

"This broken boat is the greatest thing I've ever seen" "Mabel, you once said that about a rat that ate your crayons and died in a bucket." "My point still stands. But I do miss my crayons..."

"Guess who's got a date! This girl! High six?"

"Come on Fordsie, you can hit better than that! Use those noodle arms!"

"What do you mean we can't just eat sugar all day long? Sugar is all you need, right?"

"Come on Ford! You can figure out this problem! If anyone's going to build the first propetunal Motion gizmo, it's you!" "Perpetual Motion Machine Mabel." "Uh-huh. Tomay-to, tomah-to."

"Don't worry Mabel. We'll show those bullies who the real stupid people are. It's us forever! Pines! Pines! Pines!"

Ironically, when you erase someone's memory, all the memories you shared together come rushing to the front of your brain.

Stupid heart making Ford feel things.

It was strange seeing his sister look exactly like him. (It was also strange that he was wearing her clothes as well, Stan would probably never let him live this down. Must she wear skirts every day?)

When all traces of Weirdmageddon had been sucked through the rift, Ford got a chance to watch Mabel open her eyes.

She didn't recognize anyone.

Stan and Dipper rushed up to her, but Ford kept a respectful distance. He felt like he was witnessing a funeral, because he sort of was.

His sister was a hero. Mabel Pines, the silly screw up, was a hero. She had saved everyone from Ford's stupid mistakes.

He kept his tears in until after he explained to the boys about what had just happened, then he flung his arms around Mabel and sobbed into her freshly cut hair.

She stared blankly at the kids, then wrapped her arms around him, but that only made him feel worse. Even with no memories she was still Mabel.

Stan was the one to think of her scrap book. He insisted that if she saw, she could remember. Ford didn't have the heart to tell him that that should have been impossible.

But apparently a lot of impossible things wanted to happen that day. If only she could remember who Ford was...

"It's the sweater you were knitting for me, the... The day you... Got kicked out."

Ford handed Mabel the half finished, slightly musty red cloth. She had started at the bottom, so it had the word FORD already finished.

"I rescued it from the trash," Ford mumbled, "I bet you could find a similar yarn and make a new one..."

"You're really my brother?" Mabel asked, rubbing the edge of the sweater and looking up into Ford's melancholy eyes. "I'm sorry I only remember the others..."

"No. It's fine." Ford lied, and Mabel rolled her eyes.

"Seems like you didn't inherit mom's 'gift' Broseph." She said, and chuckled.

Ford's eyes widened, and he suddenly threw his arms around her. "You remembered!" He exclaimed, "That's amazing! Right Mabester?!"

Mabel laughed, "I remember that you're a big dork." She said, "But seriously, this sweater is gross."

A-oh guys! It'sa me! Me!

Idk if there's a similar AU to this out there. Basically, Stan and Mabel get switched. I couldn't really figure out Dipper and Stan's dynamic, so I stuck to Ford and Mabel. I hope you enjoyed!

Now you might be wondering why I started updating differently... Good news! I got an actual job! (Blows party horn) Yay!

I'm still going to try to keep up with everything, and I believe I can, so don't worry, my crazy brain hasn't stop thinking of crazy things.

I also have a special chapter planned for the 15th. It's hopefully going to be lit!

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! You guys are the best!

-BrilliantLight