Chapter 15: For Infinity
Ford had a small fire going in a cave that he and Layla were in, both had their coats and boots off and were hanging in the corner to get them dry.
They were both soaked through from their portal entry into the watery world they had escaped to. Ford's sweater was sticking to him uncomfortably, and he fought the urge to just strip it off. He figured if Layla can't take hers off because of reasons, then he shouldn't be able to either.
Both of their stomachs growled, and whatever food they had in their smalls bags were waterlogged. Besides, even if they wanted to they shouldn't eat it, they had no idea if the liquid they were in was meant to be ingested. Layla usually knew what foods and liquid sources they can eat and drink, however she said this was her first time in this dimension.
Ford looked over the portal device that Rick had given him, he tried to fiddle with it but it seemed it had overheated. He sighs and puts it to the side, unsure when it would be functional again. He puts his hands by the fire, him getting warm, but his sweater was still sticking to him.
Layla sat opposite of Ford, her dark purple sweater clung to her shape, accenting her figure. Without her coat to hide everything Ford couldn't help but glance at her once in a while, a little red in the face. She ran her hands through her long black hair, trying to untangle it as much as she could. It was still wet as her hair was much longer and thicker than Ford's, water dripping from the ends.
"You doing okay…?" Ford asks her gently.
She looks up at him. "Yeah… I'm doing okay," she tells him. "But what about you…? Magum was really messing with you."
Ford throws a twig into the flames, blankly staring at it. "It is what it is… the metal can make sure Bill won't get in my head but Magum has full access," he tells her, tapping his head. "He mentioned he can't get into your head though…"
"My father must've used a different type of metal that Magum can't read." Layla murmurs.
Ford looks away from the flames. "Obviously Dr. Bartek knew Bill… but did he know Magum? Was he making deals with both of them?" Ford mainly asked himself. Making a deal with one was already a bad idea, but two?
"Well, we will never know, I shot that fricken asshole in the face." Layla bluntly says, her getting up to get to her coat. She rummaged through the coat and pulled out a bottle of liquor.
"How the hell do you keep a bottle in your coat?!" Ford shouts in bewilderment.
"Same way I put anything in my coat," Layla replies as if it was obvious. "I have pockets." She then removes the cap and takes a long swig. When she was done she then passes the bottle to Ford. "Here."
"I don't think that's a good idea…" Ford says, his eyebrow raised slightly in skepticism, eying the forced bottle of liquor in his hands.
Layla gives a mischievous grin. "C'mon, Stanford, live a little!" she laughs at him.
"I won't be living if I'm dead from being attacked by some interdimensional monster while piss drunk!" he retorts angrily.
The woman laughs again. "Just a sip then?" she insists.
With a sigh Ford gives in and takes a sip. The alcohol was extremely bitter on his tongue and he ended up gagging. As he was coughing uncontrollably Layla was just laughing at him her face red from drinking.
"Yeah, it's a little strong…" she tells him between her laughs.
Ford sets down the bottle, giving her a hard glare. "Yeah…" he mutters. He looks at the portal device once again but it was still overheated. He then groans with annoyance, noticing that it was smoking slightly. When he pried open the small panel the wires were fried. "I knew that Rick shouldn't have built this damn thing while he was drunk!" he shouts as he throws it in the sand.
Layla the sighs, "This dimension can't be totally empty… there has to be a town or something."
Ford gets up and goes to his trench coat. It was still damp, but he shrugs it on, the pressure from it causing his sweater to cling to him uncomfortably as it was still wet, and when he put on his boots it felt squishy inside. He grabs the portal device from the sand and brushes the excess off then puts it in his pocket.
"Where are you going?" Layla asks in surprise.
"Like you said, this dimension can't be totally empty," Ford states. "So, we should look around and find something."
As he was talking Layla gets up and gets her coat. When she walked by him he could help but look at her hourglass shape. She was small in stature and frame, probably from years being in the multiverse alone, but she was also pretty fit from running around. Layla puts on her coat and her boots and she turns around, seeing Ford's stare linger a little and she raises a black eyebrow.
"What?" she questions.
"Uh, nothing!" Ford stammers, raising his hands. "We should get moving."
They left the little cave that they were hiding out in, raining falling from the dark skies. It didn't even matter that they were trying to dry their trench coats, the rain soaked them through again. As they walked they both start to shiver, more so Layla because of her small size. In the distance there was some sort of glow of a light, and with a happy glance at each other they started walking faster with newfound determination to get there.
It seemed like it was large city of seller at stands, claiming to sell the best items in the multiverse. One stand was selling weapons, which Layla quickly stole two newer guns. She passed one to Ford who looked at her like she was nuts. They passed another stand that was selling certain clothes, another with some kind of jewelry. Each occupant of a stand was some different alien race, most looking like giant praying mantis insects, a few burly looking ogre-like creatures, and a few minor demonic looking beings.
"What is this place…?" Ford questions, him suspiciously looking at the items for sale. There were a few food items that Layla quickly snagged. "Layla!" he hissed.
"We don't have money, Ford, we have to steal," she hisses back.
"You sound like my brother…" Ford retorted, remembering how when Stanley and him were younger how Stanley would be pickpocketing people and using the money to buy themselves ice cream at the docks of Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey.
The two were walking by the other stands, Layla putting things in coat as Ford distracted the sellers with questions. Finally the two were walking by a stand that had dice, something that Ford immediately stopped to look at.
"Oh no…" Layla mutters, slapping her left hand to her face.
"Are those thirty-eight sided dice!?" Ford exclaims happily, his voice actually slightly cracking with excitement. "Does that mean you have an Earth game called Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons!?" he then asks, his brown eyes practically sparkling.
"Are you serious, Ford?" Layla practically growls. She then saw the excited look on his face and she couldn't help but giggle slightly.
The owner of the stand looked at him with pale blue eyes, its purple skin seemingly shimmering. It replied to a low voice, "I believe we have a copy…" It then grabbed something from under the table and pulled it out, a very old version of the board game, probably the first edition.
"Oh… the first edition!" Ford gasps, a huge smile on his face, making the bottom of his glasses press against his cheeks. "How much is it!?" Even if Ford didn't have money maybe he could find some or make a trade…
"One thousand blarfnorbs," the monster replies stoically.
Ford glances around. "Is that… a lot… or…?" he questions.
Layla then pulls him to the side and starts whisper-yelling at him, "What are you doing you huge nerd!?"
"What? It's a good game…"
"Do you know what a blarfnorb is!?" she demands.
"No…"
"Well neither do I! So it can't be good!"
Ford then walks back to the stand. "Hey… so is there a trade we can do for it…?" he asked.
"No." the monster states.
Ford then looks on the table again, seeing a special thirty-eight sided die siting in a special case. It glowed a dim blue, and as Ford looked closer it seemed that the sides were changing. Some of them were various symbols, some were numbers, and it seemed they didn't stay for long as it constantly changed.
"Whoa… what is that?" Ford awed.
"And infinity sided die," the monster replied. "Banned in over nine thousand dimensions because of its dangerous properties."
Ford's eyes widened. How was it possible that there was something like this? And if it can be anything… it was a potential doomsday device.
"Uh… how much…?" Ford then asks, his voice sounding high.
The monster gave him a skeptical look. "If you wanted to trade something worth one thousand blarfnorbs then you definitely can't afford one billion blarfnorbs."
Time to pull a Stanley…
"Hey… what is that?" Ford pointed behind the monster, his voice sounding extremely fake. The monster actually looks behind them and with that split second Ford grabs the die in its case, shutting it and stuffing it into his coat pocket, and he began running. Layla gasps as she saw him running by her and before she could say anything he grabbed her left hand and continued running.
There was a screech behind him and sudden plasma beams were being shot by their feet. Ford ran to the right, trying to avoid the blasts.
"What did you do!?" Layla screams angrily. "Did you steal that stupid nerdy board game!?"
"NO!" Ford screams back defensively. "I stole and infinite sided die…"
"A WHAT!?"
There was more blasts from behind them, and Ford almost tripped over a stone. A burning sensation hits the back of his legs, him causing to buckle and fall over, bringing Layla with him. The burning sensation became more intense, to more of an absolute fire that as spreading violently in his leg.
"Oh my God, Ford!" Layla shouts in panic. "S-stay calm, okay… I'll get us out of here…"
Ford groans, "What are you…?" he then glances at his leg, a hole straight through, blood pulsating from the wound. He felt his face pale and his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach, his body running cold as an iciness filled his veins. "Oh my… oh my God… I-I don't f-feel well…" he shakily said.
"FORD! Don't pass out okay!? You're going into shock!" Layla screamed, failing to stay calm.
They were starting to get surrounded by the guards, plasma rifles pointed at them. Layla gets to her side and grabs the gun she had stolen earlier. She aims it ahead of her, her electric blue eyes narrowing in anger and slight panic. As they aimed more at her for being a threat, she pulls the trigger, blasting one guard in the chest and it flying backwards. With the slight distraction Layla continues shooting, her crawling towards Ford to get a free arm under him to move him safely.
Ford's breathing became shallow, his vision blurring. He was panicking, his heart pounded painfully in his chest, and with each heartbeat more blood pulsed from his leg.
"You're going to be okay, Stanford, I got you!" Layla shouts as she shot another pale blue plasma blast towards the guards. She hit one in the head and a dark green blood splattered over the others, the blood acting like an acid and burning the others. As the monsters scream in pain Layla manages to pick up Ford with an adrenaline strength and drag him out of the black market.
She manages to get to an alley way and put Ford behind a pile of large crates. She tries to calm her own breathing, her heart racing. Layla then looks at Ford's leg, seeing the blood going into a trickle. Her chest tightens when she noticed how deathly pale his face was, his breathing ragged.
"Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no…!" Layla stammers in a panic. "Oh no… Ford!" She looked around trying to find something to use as a bandage for him, and when she couldn't find anything she took off her trench coat and stripped off her shirt, just revealing her in a solid black bra. She didn't even bother putting back on her trench coat, her ripping the purple sweater into strips. She used the fabric to wrap it around Ford's leg, almost like a turret, finding a metal rod to fasten it well.
"Ow…" Ford groaned weakly. "That's a little… tight…" he whispers.
"It's supposed to be, dummy." She tells him, her voice shaky.
Ford then goes into his trench coat pocket and pulled out a small plastic-looking case. He pops it open revealing the infinite sided die. "At l-least I got it…" he mumbles, his voice sounding very weak. "… now… hopefully B-Bill or M-M-Magum will n-never find it…" His eyes then flutter shut and he passes out.
"STANFORD!" was the last thing Ford heard, Layla screaming his name in fear.
A/N: Uh oh...
Thanks for reading as always!
~Skye Hendersen~
