There were many things that Ford was expecting when he came back to his dimension. But this... this... this just wasn't one of them.
At first glance it may seem normal, but when you looked closer there was an entirely different story. One normal thing was the presence of Stanley. Stanley, the reckless maniac who had restarted the highly unstable and dangerous portal. He was there, standing in front of Ford, but there was something wrong with his appearance. It took Ford a moment to notice it (since Stan looked so different from when he had last seen him), but it was definitely not the same kind of Stan that he had last seen.
Pale yellow eyes shone at Ford. Lacking slits but still giving him the impression that Bill was controlling him (something that Ford... wasn't entirely sure wasn't true). Once you looked past the eyes, you saw that the surrounding skin (if it could even be called that) was a dull grey, along with the rest of his epidermis. He seemed to be pleased with Ford's presence, and smiled in a way that showed his pale white teeth, each of which ended in a sharp point.
Then he unfurled his wings, and Ford lost his mind.
As Stan began to speak, in a voice that could only belong to Ford's twin, Ford himself started to repeat in his mind Don't scream. Don't scream. Don't scream... Don't... Scream...
"Uh, Ford? You okay? You look a bit constipated? You got a hairball or somethin'?"
Ford's eyes flicked from Stan, whose stone face slowly became concerned for him, to the other people in the room. There was a young girl inside of a bathtub (which had wheels and a handlebar, like it could be easily transported to other places), her face looking like it had... gills? Next to her was a young boy, his head about three feet higher than hers. He had a strange head as well, with... dear ears? and freckles that made him resemble a fawn. Ford's eyes trailed down the boy's body, and, where his normal legs would start, he had the thinnest deer limbs Ford had ever... The boy was a cervitaur... the girl was a mermaid...
These children, and Stan, weren't human.
To be completely fair, Ford's screaming started in his head. And if it wasn't for the fact that he'd been chased around the Nightmare Realm and he'd been up for over 36 hours, he probably wouldn't have screamed at all. But his tired (probably disillusioned) mind just couldn't grasp the full reality of the situation and decided the best way to process was to get all of his emotions out using his voice.
The worst part was, although his voice was deep, he still sounded like a teenage girl when he did so.
Stan's entire life, people had always looked weird. In this world, there was no such thing as a 'normal' person, only different levels of grossness. Stan liked to think he was one of the more desirable types, but really that depended on how you used your uniqueness. Having a shell of rock for your skin made boxing a lot easier (though flying was something that was still difficult. His body was just... so... heavy), and he hadn't understood why Ford had always liked pretty much the opposite of what Stan did.
But now, with Ford back for the first time in decades, Stan didn't know what was wrong with his brother. He had Ford's recognizable traits (hands, glasses, overall nerdy aesthetic) but other than that... he was nothing like the Ford Stan had grown up with. Unless his twin had fallen into a pit of razors... Ford's typical yellow fur that coated his entire body was just... missing. Along with his twins, lion-like nose, and claws. All that he had left was his six-fingered hands, and even that couldn't be too rare in the multiverse... right? and his Ford-esque features.
Once he was done screaming (he had Ford's scream, at least that high-pitched one that had happened only twice in Stan's memory... once when his feathers had molted too much, and he showed skin. And the second when his wings were tied behind his back and he was thrown into the sea to learn how to swim... Great years, those teenage ones.
When he finally quieted, sitting down on the ground next to the portal, Stan stepped towards him, his feet crunching dirt underneath him. Stan held a clawed hand out to the Ford-person-thing, and asked in a soft and (hopefully) soothing voice, "Hey... Are you okay?" The Ford-person-thing looked up into Stan's eyes, then nodded twice, but Stan still kept his guard up as he stepped even closer to him. "What happened to you?" he mused, half to himself and half as an actual question.
"I'm in an alternate universe..." the Ford-person-thing muttered, shaking himself back and forth slightly. "I'm in an alternate universe..." He kept repeating that phrase, over and over again, until Stan had finally had enough (after about the twentieth time) and he knelt down next to him and grabbed his wrist with his left claw.
Not-Ford flinched at the contact, and tried to wiggle his wrist out of Stan's grip. Stan held on firmly though, barely putting an effort into how he was holding the other person. "Listen. I get that you're not from here, but you've gotta stop freaking out. You're embarrassing me in front of the kids." Stan jerked his right thumb towards the back of the room, where Dipper was swaying back and forth on his two sets of legs, and Mabel was whispering non-stop to him to move her forward.
The Ford-like-person stilled, then whispered, "I'm sorry. Today has been rough... Stanley?" He glanced where Stan was looking as well, then added, "What happened to you?" Stan considered actually telling him a lot of the things that had happened to him (life hadn't been the nicest to him), but knew that that wasn't what Ford had meant.
"Ford... There's nothin' wrong with me. I look the same as I always have." Stan said in his most soothing voice, and he was relieved to watch Ford nod. "It's you we're worried about. What happened to your wings? And your fur?" Stan's left hand slacked, and Ford's wrist fell out of his grip gently, and the... whatever Ford was, unconsciously rubbed a hand over his chin. "Wings? I never had... Oh... Alternate..." His eyes closed, and Stan raised his eyebrows.
Stan felt a chill pass through his body. This... wasn't the Ford that Stan had been trying to get back. His eyes flicked up to the portal structure, which looked like it was barely even standing up. It would take another miracle to get it working again, and yet... Stan couldn't help but want to. Even if he had gotten 'Ford' back, this wasn't the right one, and Stan longed for him. Like he was being called by him.
"Stanley..." Not-Ford said, and that snapped Stan back to the reality going on around him. But before not-Ford could say anything else, a young voice called out, "What on earth is going on here!?"
Stan looked back at Mabel, who was busy waving Dipper over to the side so he could push her towards the two old men. Dipper did so clumsily, and as Mabel approached not-Ford's eyes widened. "Grunkle Stan? Who is that? More importantly, why is he like Bill?" Mabel's webbed fingers pointed in not-Ford's direction, and Dipper flinched at the mention of the dream demon.
"B- Bill?" the Ford-like-person asked, pushing himself up onto his feet and casting a wary glance at Stan. "How do you know who Bill is? Did you find my Journals? Did you summon him?!" His eyes widened at his last sentence, and he took a step towards Dipper and Mabel, a half-crazed look on his face. Dipper backed away quietly, and Mabel placed her hands on her hips (which just so happened to be in the water, getting her knuckles wet). "No. We didn't summon him. Gideon did. And yeah we found your... Wait. Your Journals!"
She turned towards her brother, flipping over and crossing her arms against the rim of the tub. "Dipper! It's the Author! The guy! Soos! It's the actual guy!" She turned back around quickly, spashing water out of her tub and landing all around her, the liquid churning. "Oh my goodness... You're the guy!"
Stan noticed instantly that not-Ford was uncomfortable. His six-fingered hand flew to his hip (where he most likely kept a gun or some other sort of weapon), and he took a step back. "Uh... Thanks?" Ford's voice seemed awkward, and he shifted as such. "Did you enjoy them?" He winced as Mabel barked out a laugh (one that vaguely sounded like a dophin). "Like them? Dipper can't shut up about them!"
Not-Ford's eyes flicked over to the boy, who crossed his hands behind his back and shifed from side to side. Mabel looked back at him for a moment as well, then admitted, "Well... Except for now. Come on Dippin' Sauce! You acted cooler around the shapeshifter!" Not-Ford raised his eyebrows at Mabel's nickname, but didn't say anything until Dipper himself squeaked out, "The... You... I don't... What?" Mabel rolled her eyes and jerked a thumb towards him, mumbling, "Deer. Am I right?"
"Now Mabel," Stan snapped, stepping forwards to stand next to Ford and watch the children. "Is that any way to treat your brother?" There was a moment of silence, where Ford thought that Stan might have actually matured a bit. Then Stan chuckled, and said, "Who am I kidding? That was good. Dipper, your chin's there." He pointed at the floor and Dipper looked down at the ground. "I just... He's the Author!"
Well... This would be interesting.
"Well... What is he?"
Of all of the kind of people that Ford was seeing (many of which would look quite at home in the Nightmare Realm) Ford himself was the only 'normal' looking person. Now that he was standing amoung these true oddities... Ford felt ashamed for thinking that he was the strangest person on planet Earth. There was a flurry of feathers, slime, a wild cat or two, and at least one zombie. Ford was actually grateful for rock-Stan standing next to him, a clawed hand on his shoulder.
Stan waved his hand in a so-so motion, and Ford sent a glare over at his grey face. "Well... We don't know exactly. I think he's a reptilian..."
"Human. I'm a human Stanley. From another dimension." Ford snapped before Stan could spread any more falsehoods about him. "I'm from 86'\, and this particular dimension is 85'\. Our portals must have gotten mixed..." Ford was cut off by a hand from the small crowd shooting up, and a nasily voice calling out, "Is it dangerous Mr. Pines?"
The two Mr. Pines shared a look, one that Stan couldn't really understand. "Well Toby..." He said, and Ford held a hand up. "It's alright Stan," He said, glaring at the green goblin, and he hissed to the crowd. "I am dangerous. Just not to any of you. Yet." The entire crowd gasped, even though Ford knew that half of them could take him out in a heartbeat.
"Uh... Yeah! So..." Stan said, rubbing his hands together, "This is my brother folks. My brother the human... Uh... Be nice." The townsfolk nodded, then a woman who looked like a cat called out, "And what did you say your name was?!"
"Oh... It's Ford." Ford said, glancing at Stan, then back at the crowd. "And if you will please just... not panic... There's a very... You know what... Just go home. I'm going to deal with this myself." The townsfolk shared confused looks, then Stan waved them off. "Go! Go! GO! I WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE THE HOSE ON THE ELDERLY!"
There was a loud clamour as people scurried, flew, flapped, and overall just knocked into each other to get back to their places, their minds on obeying the Pines. Ford and Stan's (along with Dipper and Mabel's) eyes were trained on the sky, where a large pink hole was steadily opening up. The three monsters had no idea what it was, but Ford did.
"Bill." Was all he had to say, and the three monsters were set on edge. "He's coming."
"Let him"
Hi!
I don't know if you can tell, but I have a hard time relating to MF. I applaude you if you like it, I just prefer it in fanart instead of fics. But I wrote this! And left it on a cliffhanger! (everyone knows it's because I'm cruel and evil)
I started my newest fic! Yay! It's the spinoff of this I mentioned in the last chapter, 'The Author's Multiverse'. I'd really appreciate it if you checked it out! (thanks for the review btw TFD).
Dude, right now I have a bunch of prompts and chapter ideas for TAM and this. Thank you guys so much for everything! I hope you enjoyed this, even though it's really short. Hopefully my next chapter will be longer.
Have a great day!
-BrilliantLight
