Today was one of the saddest and most confusing days of Soos' life.
He had found out that hid father-figure/mentor/boss was arrested, then he had been charged with protecting the vending machine in the Shack, he had hid out in the bushes making sure that none of the government guys laid a hand on the machine. Then Dipper and Mabel had come and demanded that he let them through. Why was that vending machine so important?
Apparently, Mr. Pines had been leading a double life. Deep under the Mystery Shack was a basement, with another machine that the Author of Dipper's Journal had said could destroy the universe. That was like, majorly not cool.
Dipper was just about to press a button to turn the machine off, and then Stan had come.
Dipper and Stan argued, and then a gravity anomaly shoved them up into the air and they all had to grab onto something. Or in Mabel's case, something grabbed onto her.
Mabel was held closer to the ground by some sort of electric cable, and Dipper told her to push the red button. Mabel scrambled down to it, and she was going to press it when Stan cried out for her not to.
He tried to swim towards his niece, and Soos didn't know what else to do. He thrust himself towards the man he cared about the most. That he would do almost anything for. The man who had taught him how to box. The man who had given him a job. The man who, although he seemed indifferent, actually did care about Soos.
But the kids were more important.
Soos was so close to Stan. He was planning on wrapping his body around the old man so that he couldn't hurt Mabel. But Soos missed.
Soos spiraled towards the back wall, and Stan was almost to Mabel before Soos could look back at him. Then Dipper threw himself at Stan as well, probably inspired by Soos' failed attempt.
This time Stan got tackled. But it was exactly the wrong moment.
With a startled scream the two male Pines flew past Mabel, and the last thing Soos heard from either of them was Dipper scream "Mabel! Help me!"
The portal collapsed in on itself after that. Like it was a fabric Dipper and Stan had been pulled through. And then gravity returned to normal. Like nothing had ever happened. Like Mabel didn't have tears in her eyes. Like Soos would be okay. Like everything would be the same.
Except for the fact that Dipper and Stan... Were gone.
Ford placed the quantum destabilizer securely on his back, he had been holding it in his hands for what felt like an eternity. He had been able to fire exactly eleven shots at Bill, and so far he had missed the triangle eleven times.
He felt tired and sweaty. Running for long lengths of time still did that to him, especially when he was in his full outfit. Needless to say, Mr. Snickety, the P.E. teacher, better be proud that his worst student could probably run for five miles in full gear.
He had used a concussion bomb to push himself into the portal that Stan (there was no doubt in his mind that it wasn't his brother) had restarted. Ford had a million thoughts rushing through his mind. What would he do to his brother when he saw him again? What would Stan look like? What had he done with his house? How did time work in the Multiverse? Would Ford be older, the same age, or younger than Stanley?
He could just see the dark end of the vortex he was stepping through, when suddenly two dark figured flew into him, knocking all three of them back, and out of the tube-like white tunnel Ford had been in.
They were in the vast expanse of space. Almost everything was black, but pinpricks of stars that Ford knew were universes surrounded them and gave the 'landscape' a tiny bit of color, although they were too far away for it to make much difference. Ford shook his head and stared at the people who had prevented him from returning to his own Dimension.
He was 'standing' in front of a small child, who couldn't be older than eleven, and his own brother. Stanley had been pulled through the portal.
"Whoa... Where are we?"
Stan looked around his new surroundings. His ears rang from... well, the events of the last couple hours, and his chest felt like it had Waddles on top of it. His neck and back ached, but that was something he was used to by now. He remembered the latest anomaly, Mabel's determined eyes. Eyes that were ready to have her hand slam down on the button, the button that would stop Ford from coming back.
Speaking of Ford...
"The, uh, Multiverse of course." Ford snapped, and Stan had to blink at his brother to make sure he was actually there. Floating about three feet away from Stan was Ford, his black-sleeved arms cross, his (probably upset) face covered with a black mask, his feet shod with black boots. Man. And Stan that fourteen-year-old Ford was a goth.
"The what now?" Stan asked, and suddenly he remembered Dipper.
The boy was drifting off to Stan's right. His eyes shut, and Stan had an awful sinking feeling. He swam towards his nephew and pulled him close. Praying that he was still alive. Ford gazed on as Stan checked Dipper's pulse, and he sighed when he felt his heart beating normally.
"How old is he?" Ford asked, watching Stan breathe a sigh of relief. "Twelve." Stan replied, and he squeezed Dipper close to his chest. Normally physical affection was something he avoided, but this felt right. He'd ruffle his hair once he woke up.
"That makes sense, interdimensional travel is quite a shocking experience, especially for someone so young," Ford said, holding a hand up to his chin, or at least the part of his mask that covered his chin. "It took me quite a while to readjust to it myself, and I was over twice his age."
Stan nodded, then looked down at Dipper's sleeping face. His pine tree hat was nowhere to be found, and Stan looked on both sides of him to make sure of that fact. He gulped then just... let Dipper float in front of him, hoping that he was somewhat comfortable.
"So... It's nice to see you again..." He said, doing his best to turn around and see Ford, who sighed and pulled off his mask, sure enough his face was as hard as steel. "No Stanley. No, it's not." he said, and held a hand up to his forehead before sweeping it out towards Stan. "Are you insane?! You could have destroyed our universe!" Stan flinched and squeezed his shoulders forward. "But... I didn't..." He mumbled, and Ford sighed again, this time longer and more frustrated.
"I left warnings for a reason." He hissed, and his eyes flashed between the sleeping Dipper and uncomfortable Stan. "I would probably punch you, but I believe being trapped in the Multiverse is punishment enough." Stan's eyes filled with fear, and he relaxed his body, glancing around them. "So... Multiverse, huh?"
"Yes Stanley, I believe I have established the fact that we are trapped in between Dimensions," Ford said, holding a hand up to his glasses. "Congratulations." Then something seemed to click in his mind. "You brought a child! To the portal!? Were you out of your mind?"
"Now there's a very logical explanation for that."
Mabel's feet hit the ground, and she crumpled to the floor. Her brother's screams echoed in her ears. Dipper and Stan... Dipper... Stan... What had just happened? She suddenly couldn't help it. Everything that had happened to her that day just piled all the emotions on top of her, and she just had to cry.
She started sobbing, tears building up in her eyes and starting to stream down her face. They fell down onto her purple skirt and darkened the fabric. She didn't care. She was quiet at first, then she began to moan as she cried, then the pained sounds her throat was making grew to be so loud she was almost screaming.
She felt a large hand land on her shoulder, and, without quieting, she looked up into Soos' sad face. She knew she looked like a wreck, but she didn't care right then. She mentally wanted a hug, but her body wouldn't let her do anything but sit there. She squeezed her eyes shut, and her vocal crying grew softer, but her tears stayed.
Then she felt Soos wrap his arms around her, and she gripped them with both her hands, and she buried her face in his question mark.
Dipper's eyes felt like he'd been staring into the sun for hours. They burned underneath the eyelids, and he immediately felt like shutting them and going back to sleep. He forced himself to sit up and look around.
What he saw was that he was lying in a small circular clearing in a field of purple wheat. He was off almost to the edge, and about three feet away from him was a small fire, and a figure was hunched next to the green flames. Purple wheat? Green fire? What kind of place was this?
"Grunkle Stan?" He asked, his throat feeling like he'd had sandpaper shoved down it. The man next to the fire looked over his shoulder and saw Dipper.
"Dipper! You're awake!" Sure enough, it was Stan, but there was something in his voice. He sounded happy and sad at the same time, and very, very tired. "Hungry? Ford made some 'great' soup." Dipper's uncle leaned towards him and whispered, "Personally I think he should have added a bit more salt."
"I heard that." A new voice said, and Dipper tiredly turned his head to look over at Stan's left. There was a second old man, who walked from out of the purple stalks. He had a large gun slung on his back, and a black sweater on. But, most surprising of all, he looked almost exactly like Stan. "And you say I'm the unappreciative one."
Stan sighed, "I'm just trying to give some semblance of normalcy." He huffed, and the second Stan looked up at the yellow sky (how long had the sky been mustard yellow?), "True, true. But still, you ate two bowls already."
Stan nodded, then shrugged, "Well, I hadn't eaten since last morning. So... I was hungry."
Dipper glanced between the two of them. He noticed that his entire body was wrapped in a black trench coat, and that there was a small pot sitting on next to the fire, along with a bowl. The next thing he knew, the new Stan was handing him the bowl, which was filled with a thick brown liquid, and he was ordered to eat, which he did so gladly.
The soup had an odd flavour, not entirely unlike drinking a blended piece of bread (ask about Mabel's blender experiment). Dipper thanked the man after he had drained the bowl. "No problem. You slept for quite a while. Do you have any injuries that we haven't been able to find? Do you have any part of your body that feels strange? Are there any side effects..." Dipper blinked at the man, who was rambling question after question at him. Dipper felt uncomfortable, to say the least.
He was saved by Stan laying a hand on his doppelganger's shoulder. "Alright Poindexter, don't give the kid a heart attack."
'Poindexter' glanced over at Stan, and sighed. "You're right Stanley. My apologies. It's just that the quicker I get answers the sooner we can leave."
Dipper was very confused. Welcome to his life.
"Mabel! Oh my goodness! My poor baby!"
The entire world believed that Dipper and Stanford Pines had died in a freak hurricane that had swept through Gravity Falls. Soos and Mabel had sort of sat in silence for the next hour after Stan and Dipper had disappeared until they heard the government agents discover the vending machine.
Not wanting to be sent to like... jail or whatever, they had used Old man McGucket's memory ray on all of the government agents.
Mabel had to go home after that. Her parents were devastated at the news of their son and uncle's death, and Mabel wore only three sweaters after that. Her key one, a plain black one she had worn to Dipper and Stan's 'funeral', and a Pine Tree one.
Of course, coming home to Piedmont meant school friends. School friends who had known Dipper. If Mabel had a nickel for every time someone who had even remotely made fun of her brother come up to her and apologize... Well. She could probably buy all of Gravity Falls.
Gravity Falls. She had loved the place. But now... She hated the place.
Candy and Grenda were devastated when Mabel had to leave. The thought of Dipper's death, and Mabel having to leave brought the three of them to tears. This was the worst summer ever. Literally couldn't get worse.
But... Bonus. Mabel learned the secret Dipper had been dying to discover. Grunkle Stan apparently was the Author. Inside of the first Journal was the 'Property of' signage, and underneath that was two words. 'Stanford Pines'. Oh Dipper...
Mabel threw herself into her mother's arms, and the three remaining Pines all sobbed into each other. Only one of them knew the true fate of Dipper and Stan. But there was no way to... After everything...
"I love you. I love you. I love you." It was all Mabel could say. She whispered it to her parents, and to Dipper, even though she knew that her twin couldn't hear her.
"I love you. I love you..."
"Wait. You're the Author of the Journals?"
Stan and his duplicate, whose name was Ford, had jumped into their backstory right after Dipper asked for it. Dipper's disoriented mind hadn't fully grasped the reality of their situation yet. He had gotten over the fact that his great-uncle, who he thought was Stanford, was actually Grunkle Stanley and his twin was Stanford. Something about a car crash and legal terms. As they were telling the story Dipper suddenly noticed a particular oddity on his new great-uncle.
Ford had six fingers on each hand. It wasn't that noticeable at first, but Dipper was getting used to looking for tiny details.
When confronted about it, Ford openly admitted to his birth defect, and Dipper mumbled that it was just like the cover of the Journal. Then it clicked.
Ford's tired face broke into a smile once he heard his nephew's question, though it had a tinge of sadness. He ran a hand over the squashed wheat they were sitting on. "You read my Journals?" he asked, and Dipper's eyes widened and he stood up, crunching more purple stalks. "I haven't just read them, I've lived them! Oh my goodness... I'm related to the Author... The Author is my uncle! I have so many questions... Oh man... I have the third one if you want."
Ford blinked at Dipper's rapid-fire sentences, his nephew had read his Journals. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and tried to ignore Stan's muffled giggles from behind him. "That... Sounds delightful." Ford said, holding his hand out to Dipper, who looked like he'd been told he was a millionaire. "I can't believe you found my Journal..."
"Oh, I almost didn't. You see, it was in this tree in the woods. If Grunkle Stan hadn't made me go hang signs out in the woods... I would never have found you..." Dipper deflated a bit, he rested his elbows on his knees and held his chin up with his cupped hands. "Thanks Grunkle Stan..."
"No problem kiddo," Stan said, glancing down at Ford. Stan was holding a makeshift bag that had a bunch of Ford's stuff in it. Ford had given Dipper his trenchcoat, at least until they could get the boy some real portal gear. Stan had insisted that he could take care of the three of them while Dipper and Ford talked, and Dipper was overjoyed to find out who Ford was.
"Well, let's see it then." Ford said, waving a hand towards Dipper. "If you're sure that it came through with you..."
"Oh it came through," Dipper said, reaching into his sleeveless vest and pulling the thick book out. "I hope you don't mind if I... Uh, tried to document my own encounters when I was in Gravity Falls..." Something clicked in Dipper's mind, and he could barely keep the Journal steady enough for Ford to grab.
Dipper didn't cry, but he felt like it. He just sat there and stared at a Ford. "Gravity Falls..."
Dimension #451-*. The Desert Dimension. Great Sea; 2013:
Most Dimensions were used to a few trans-universal travelers, this one was one of them. In the Desert Dimension, the inhabitants looked like living, breathing, sand piles, so basically every foreigner looked strange and noticeable.
Especially these three.
Two tall men, almost exactly the same height, walked just behind a young boy. They were all wearing very similar outfits, and that alone testified that they definitely weren't from this dimension. No one in their right mind would wear black or dark brown if they came to #451-* on a regular basis.
Like many interdimensional travelers, they talked to each other in their own tongue. One of the men, the one in black, was explaining something to the other one, who was in a navy blue. The boy was checking over his shoulder every few minutes like at any moment his guardians would disappear. Then they turned down an alley and the onlookers didn't really care. This was something that normally happened.
But then something that didn't normally happen. A tall figure, taller than the two men from before, suddenly just... appeared, in the middle of the street.
It was a greenish-brown color, and almost instantly the Desertians knew who he was. He had chains around his wrists, but that didn't seem to even slow him down. He looked around, shrugged, and checked a scanner in his hand.
Everyone knew that when a Henchmaniac showed up things would be bad. Bad as is, really, really bad. Those dark travelers better watch out.
Eight-Ball began to walk in the direction the three humans had gone. Axolotl have mercy on them. But whatever did they do to tick Bill Cipher off?
"You okay Grunkle Ford?"
When Eight-Ball had tried to get them (a common occurrence, not just with Eight-Ball, but most of the Henchmaniacs), it had been a bit of a doozy. The three of them didn't risk taking their masks off, for fear that someone would recognize them from their wanted signs. So it had been very difficult to run through the hot sand in full gear and masks. Dipper sat on a rock in the newest Dimension they were in.
Ford shrugged and looked around them. "The worst is the emotional part. And I got over that decades ago." His eyes soaked in the tall trees that stretched nearly to the sky above them, then he looked down at a babbling brook that Stan was washing a few spare articles of clothing in. The people of this dimension could clean up their ecosystem by themselves.
Dipper nodded, "To be honest, same. Not the decades part, but emotions." he looked over at Stan too, and laughed when a duck swam down the river and tried to eat a spare sock.
With it's stomach. Like. It's face was on it's stomach.
"That's strange. I encountered a creature like that when I lived in Gravity..." Ford mumbled to himself, chuckling as Stan tried to shoo the duck away, only to have a large pile of intestines fall out upon him. "Ew!" He and Dipper said at the same time, while Ford just stared in wonder.
He suddenly stood up, and reached into his coat to pull out his Journal. He flipped it open to a page that held a map and he started to walk away from his brother and nephew.
"Hey Ford, wait up!" Stan called, shoving the pink mess back towards the duck. "Where are you going?!"
"It... can't be..." Ford muttered, apparently not paying his twin any attention. "How is this possible? We live in a pretty stable apostrophe-backlash... Unless that last activation..."
Dipper and Stan shared a shrug. Sometimes Ford just did things like this. Like he still hadn't gotten used to traveling with more people than just himself (which he probably hadn't). It had freaked Stan and Dipper out the first morning they had woken up and Ford was just gone, but they had quickly gotten used to Ford's Fordiness (plus guilt-tripping. Ford used guilt-tripping on Stan a lot). So this was normal.
Ford speed-walked through the forest, like he'd been there a million times. Dipper had to run to keep up with him, and Stan was lagging behind. Finally, after about ten minutes of silence, Ford stopped cold in his tracks.
Right in front of them was the start of a huge, pink and orange swirl, dome. It reached far past the treetops and stuck out like a sore thumb in the peaceful woods.
"Man, that's gotta be the ugliest pimple I've ever seen." Stan said right after he had caught up with his slightly more fit family. "What in the Multiverse is that thing?"
"Gravity Falls' natural law of weirdness magnetism," Ford said blankly. "He got in."
Bill Cipher was in their Dimension. They had found their Dimension.
The inside of the dome was an apocalyptic wasteland. Fires and gigantic goats and other creatures of terror dotted the skyline. Dipper and Stan couldn't help but leave their jaws dropped as they stared at the carnage around them.
"Just stay near me," Ford ordered as they dodged a flying eye bat. "I think I know where we need to go." He pointed a finger towards the cliffs of Gravity Falls, where a giant floating pyramid silhouetted the landscape. Dipper nodded, and Stan looked on in horror. "This is bad... this is bad..." He muttered.
Ford led them up a secret way through the cliffs, and they jumped down into the pyramid. They followed the sounds of Eight-Ball's screams and found the grand throne room.
It didn't really faze Ford when they realized that the throne Bill was sitting on was made out of people turned into stone. Dipper and Stan gasped, and Ford began to set up his quantum destabilizer. "This might take a while," Ford whispered, and Stan and Dipper nodded.
Bill was busy electrocuting Eight-Ball, then he threw in the rest of the Henchmaniacs just because. The entire time Bill looked absolutely, positively, bored.
Then Ford pulled the trigger, and Bill didn't even see it coming.
There was a horrible scream as Bill's molecules were ripped apart. And the Henchmaniacs all stood there frozen. Then one of them yelled, "Oh snap! Someone just killed Bill!" Then a vacuum opened up from the x-shaped hole in the sky, and all the Nightmare Realm weirdness began to get sucked up.
Within ten minutes, everything was back to how it was last time Dipper and Stan had been there.
"Dipper? Mr. Pines?" Stan looked around, they were in the forest, like they had been before. Soos and Wendy stood in front of them, and the former of which ran up to the two people he had mentioned. "We thought we had lost you dudes! Okay. So after Mabel left this rift thingy opened up, and the triangle guy came through and turned everyone into statues and..." Soos began to explain Weirdmageddon to the two of them, while Ford just stood off to the side.
"Wait. There are two of them!? Mr. Pines? Is this a cloning situation...?"
Hello guys!
This was inspired by my friend, who I've been watching Gravity Falls with. When we watched NWHS she told me that she thought they'd all get sucked through the portal, and I thought about what would happen. I decided to leave Mabel in Gravity Falls (because I like to torture the characters I love) and send just Stan and Dipper through. Sort of like the opposite of the last chapter.
About the Stomach-faced-duck. I take Gravity Falls' natural law of weirdness magnetism very... interestingly. Because, if the Journal is to be believed, if the power is so strong it makes oddly shaped jelly beans defy gravity, doesn't that mean that technically Ford can never leave? My headcanon is that the weirder the stuff inside of it, the weaker it gets on the things that aren't as weird. So if it's housing the (or should I say A) Bill Cipher, a stomach faced duck would be more like a chihuahua or something. Come to think of it... Chihuahuas are quite weird... Nevermind!
Anyway, I hope you guys have a great July (it's July? What? Since when? Who said this could happen?). Have a wonderful day!
-BrilliantLight