Stanley had seen some... interesting things.
Dinosaurs, zombies, giant robots, his arms without hands, Dipper in a towel... But this topped all of that. This was something that deeply disturbed him. This just didn't make any sense.
Sure, at first glance Stanford looked perfectly normal. Better than he had looked last time Stan had seen him, but when you saw his eyes... There was just something completely and absolutely wrong with them. Then when he moved, it was like he had barely learned how to walk. He was swaying back and forth, and he was also... giggling? Was he drunk?
"The Author of the Journals," Stan said, after Dipper had asked who Ford was. "My brother." Ford took that moment to straighten himself and stretch, lifting his arms high up in the air and yawning. "Man. You are stiff. How in the Multiverse did you move so quickly?" He said calmly, but Stan knew that something was wrong. Alarm bells were ringing in his mind, and he stepped past Dipper to get a better look at his lookalike.
Ford was wearing all black, and there was a gigantic gun strapped to his back. As Stan walked over to him a big, cheesy grin spread over his face, but there was just something... off, about his entire demeanor, and Stan couldn't lay a finger on it... Hot Belgian Waffles! His eyes were yellow!
Where Stan was used to seeing Ford's dark, very normal, eyes, there was now yellow eyes, with slits for pupils, making him look like they'd been replaced by a snake's. There was something wrong... What had happened to Ford?
"Ah, Stanley! Long time no see!" The person who looked exactly like Ford said, tapping a finger right next to his right eye. "Must say, if this is how Fordsy sees you then it's no wonder he hates you."
Stan froze. Yellow Eyes placed Ford's hands on his hips, "So... Thanks for opening the gateway. Me and my friends are eternally grateful." He smiled, and blinked one eye after the other. "Man, having two eyes is so in season. And six fingers! Man, this guy is excessive." He lifted Ford's hands, and pinched the pinkie on Ford's left hand, wiggling it slightly. "Hmm, I wonder how hard I have to tug to make you normal."
Yellow Eyes grinned evilly at a space next to him, like there was a person there. He stepped forward suddenly and shook his head, like a parent at a small child. "You gotta try harder than that." He said, the looked back down at the finger he was still holding. "I don't want to give you a heart attack... You know, before you're supposed to have one."
Stan had no idea what was going on. "Uh... Ford?" He asked, watching Eyes duck and laugh. "Are you okay?"
Eyes giggled again. "Oh... Oh my. Am I alright? Wait. You were talking to Sixer." He released his left hand and reached behind him, pulling the gun off of his back. Stan's mind went even more blank, and he started praying that Eyes didn't aim it at him, or the kids... The kids!
Stan took a step back, raising his arms slightly, to shield Dipper and Mabel. But Eyes didn't even point the gun anywhere near them. Instead, he threw the gun on the ground in front of him, raised a booted foot above it, and brought it smashing down on top of the weapon, pieces of it flying off. He lifted his foot again, his grin even larger than before, if that was even possible. He was just about to repeat his last action when... He jerked forward, his eyes closing deeply.
When they opened again, they were normal. Ford breathed in deeply, his eyes wide and wild. He threw his right hand out towards Stan, a look of desperation overcoming his face. "Stanley! Get away! Whatever you do... Don't trust Bi-" He stiffened, his fingers folding in halfway. A strangled shout escaped him, then he fell forward onto his face.
"My, my, my. You've gotten stronger. I must say I'm impressed." Yellow Eyes was back, and Stan felt a small hand grab his wrist. "Grunkle Stan..." He looked over his shoulder and saw Mabel, her eyes were wide. "We... We gotta go... Listen... That's Bill!"
Bill? Don't trust... Bill. Stan felt Dipper grab his other hand, and the two kids began to drag him back. But it was then that 'Bill' noticed the kids.
"Pine Tree! Shooting Star! Wait. That means that I already have half of the Zodiac! Ha!" Bill scrambled to his feet and held Ford's hand up to his forehead. "Oh my, this is perfect! Wow. Just wow. And here I thought you were smart." He stepped towards the other four occupants of the room, and his smile bore into Stan. This Bill person was using Ford. He was inside of Ford's skin. Ford was there? Was he there? Where was Ford?
"Dipper? What do we do? We don't know his weakness..." Mabel whispered, continuing to drag Stan back, it was a slow business, Stan's feet felt like they were glued to the floor, but the kids were scooting him away from Bill-Ford, who didn't seem like he was going to do anything.
"Grunkle Stan, does your brother have any physical weaknesses?" Dipper asked, and Stan shook his head, his mind wasn't working very well. Ford's words echoed in his head. Get away... Get away... He couldn't remember anything about Ford, besides the fact that something was very wrong about him now...
"Wait, Dipper. What did Bill say last time?"
"Uh... We can't stop him?"
"No! Before that. I'm a being of pure energy? So if he's just energy here... And he's inside of the Author's body..." Mabel pointed at Dipper's backpack, which was still on his back. Dipper's eyes widened, and he glanced at Bill-Ford, who was busy side-stepping... Nothing... Or at least, it looked like it. Dipper, who had been possessed himself, knew what was happening. The Author was helping them.
"Wait, you want to erase him? We don't even know if that'll work!" he hissed, the three of them were almost at the wall, Stan had regained some control over his own body and was making it far easier for the kids to get him away from Ford. Erase Bill? This was... Fascinating. "Of course we don't know if it'll work, but we have to try."
They reached the wall, Stan watched Bill-Ford begin to have a one-sided argument... Until he noticed the kids again.
"Oh-ho, ho. You nearly got me there Fordsy. You think I didn't notice what you guys had planned? You think your friend's device will stop me? I'm Bill-!" A blue light sped towards him, and hit him right in the forehead, his eyes widening in shock. Ford... Bill-Ford... He fell forward, landing on his face. His glasses falling off and skidding away from his head.
Mabel dropped the memory ray. A single word on the screen. Bill. Stan gasped, then rushed forward, effectively making the past couple of minutes pointless. He didn't know if he should be doing what he was doing, but he just had to see if his brother was okay. He kneeled down next to Ford's... sleeping body. Ford was asleep.
Stan rolled him over, Ford's mouth hung open, and Stan couldn't stop his hands from shaking. He reached his hand out towards Ford's face, and lifted Ford's right eyelid. His eye was normal, and it was drifting around. Yup. Ford was asleep.
Stan breathed a sigh of relief. Then he leaned over Ford's chest and hugged him, tears collecting in his eyes and falling on Ford's shoulders.
When Ford awoke he was greeted by darkness. But that was perfectly normal. Goodness knows that he had seen similar sights all throughout his life. His memories of the past day and a half were fuzzy. He normally went through the last day in his mind before he started a new one, but today... Had he really gone back to his own dimension after he got possessed?
"I just had the worst dream." He said to the darkness, not expecting a response. "Yeah, me too." Ford sat up quickly, nearly jumping out of his skin.
Ford looked to his right, where the voice had come from, and he saw Stanley standing in the door, a pale light shining around him, giving him a heavenly glow. "Stanley? What... Wait. That was real?" He turned his body towards his brother, his legs dropping off of his couch-bed and landing on the floor. "You... Bill... Did you defeat Bill? How? What..."
Stan shrugged. "The kids used McGucket's brain voodoo or something. Erased 'Bill' from outta you. Maybe outta everybody. I told them about us. Dipper gonna probably ask you a billion questions." He stepped all the way inside of Ford's room and turned the lights on, causing Ford to hiss as the unexpected brightness.
"Fiddleford? You had one of his memory rays? But I thought we destroyed that..." Ford rubbed his eyes with his fists, then looked up at Stan's sad expression. "And... Wait. Kids? What kids?"
Stan smiled, then extended a hand out to Ford, which he grabbed and stood up. "The kids. Dipper and Mabel. Shermie's grandkids. They've been living with me for the summer. They're the ones who helped me get you back... Well... Dipper's the one who found one of your Journals, and Mabel's the one who got Bill out of you." Ford nodded, even though he didn't really understand what Stan was saying.
"Dipper said you were helping us... So... Uh, thanks." Stan said, letting go of Ford's hand and beckoning him to follow him out of the room. "They're waiting for us in the kitchen. Just... Don't get mad at me. I have an explanation."
Ford followed Stan like a blind man. Stan led him through his house, and Ford was... surprised at how... okay the place looked. It didn't look as good as it did when Ford had lived there originally, but it was good for thirty years, especially under Stan's care. "So... We have a niece and nephew?"
Stan glanced back at him, and opened the door to the kitchen, "See for yourself."
Sitting at the table was two children, a boy and a girl. They looked to be the same age, and they looked almost exactly like each other, except the girl had longer hair (because... you know... girl). Their faces lit up when they saw their uncles, and the girl jumped out of her seat. "Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! You're here! Hi! I'm Mabel!" She dashed up to the two of them and stood in front of Ford. "I'm your niece! Can I hug you?"
"Well... I... Uh..." Ford stared down at her, his mind sludging through his thoughts. This kid wanted to hug him? What?
"Go ahead Pumpkin." Stan said, and Mabel wrapped her arms around Ford, who looked over at Stan with a look of terror and shock. "Stanley..."
"I love you." Mabel said into his stomach, and Ford looked down at her, his left eye twitching. "Wh... what? How do you..." Stan laughed. "You know it's rude not to hug someone back." He said, and Mabel looked up into Ford's eyes, she flashed him a smile and said, "Yeah! And I did save you... So..."
Ford draped his arms over her, and she reburied her face in his black sweater, she mumbled something like "I gotta make you a new sweater." and Ford just stared down at her.
Finally, Mabel released him, and she dashed over to the table and picked up a plate. "Here! I made you scrambled eggs! They might be a little cold, but that's what microwaves are for!"
Ford moved over to the table, and sat down on a chair Stan held out for him. Dipper leaned across the table and said, "Hi. I'm Dipper. I... You're the Author of the Journals!"
"Dipper," Stan said, picking up a rolled-up newspaper and bringing it down on his nephew's head. "Let a man eat his breakfast. The two of you can hang out for the rest of the summer."
Dipper muttered something under his breath, and glanced down at a notepad on the table, and Ford could see upsidedown writing on it. Questions... Ooh... This sounds fun. This was fine... The eggs were good though.
And I'm back again!
This was inspired by a prompt from Norah Faye, "What if Ford came out possessed by Bill." I figure that in this dimension, Ford never got his metal plate. So he was safe in the multiverse, but once he goes back to his own dimension... Yeah... But that means that the kids can save him! Yay! And of course, Ford would do his best to distract Bill... Those ADD and ADHD nerds... Guess which one is which.
Ford is confused (you're welcome TFD), and eveyone else is scared/happy. And hugs!
Thanks for everything! You guys are the best! And I mean it!
-BrilliantLight