Chapter 32: To Destroy a Demon

Ford was once again trying to decipher the language that Magum had written in, trying to find some way to be able to fight Bill Cipher in any way possible, and possibly find a different weakness for Magum besides his wheel.

What Bill had said to Ford was true, that he was a demon made of energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred. If Ford could somehow rip apart his energy molecules… to deform his fabric of being for it to be scattered across the cosmos…

An almost sinister smile crosses Ford's features. He can rip Bill, and possibly, Magum apart with some sort of energy manipulating weapon. The scientist goes through the journal and finds a blank page, him ripping from it. He began drawing up some sort of blueprint for his idea.

A Quantum Destabilizer.

Finding the items to build it was going to be the most difficult, especially an energy source that can power it up enough to rip a demon's very fabric of being apart. Ford's mind kept going back to Rick's portal gun that he basically made out of scraps, if a drunk man can do that then Ford should have no problem building his gun.

After he was done making the main blueprints of his gun he went back to deciphering, something had caught his attention and he began reading.

"I fear the worse… my own kind has caught up to myself and my friend. We just wanted to have fun, living in such a flat world can be so boring. So, why not a little… anarchy? Start a few fights and watch in the background to be entertained? These fools and their strict rules, liberation to the flatness is what we need. Bill and I have a plan."

"I had no choice… they had brought me to the Axolotl… I told him that Bill had entered my dreams to manipulate me. I couldn't lose my physical form, not after what I had accomplished. So, the great Axolotl stripped Bill of his physical form and sent him back to the flat world we tried so hard to escape."

"Axo… Axolotl?" Ford murmured aloud. He recognized that name, it was some kind of lizard on Earth. It was an interesting creature, Ford had wished to have one as a pet in his fish tank back in Gravity Falls but seemed to always have forget to do so. But… the way "axolotl" was written, with a capital letter to signify a proper name, it was like it was its own deity. Ford continued reading his translations.

"There is nothing fire that is burning. The Dream Demon's Blue Fire runs through my land as my race's red fire burns through his. He sits there, possessing one of his own kind, laughing as both worlds burned. This was not what I had wanted before… but why not take advantage of the situation? My own family is high in power, getting rid of them to have their power as my own will not be difficult. In some way I must thank my 'dear friend' Bill Cipher for this powerful opportunity."

"He didn't even care…" Ford whispered in horror. He finally shuts the book, him settling in the pile of blankets he had packed with him for his travels. Ford had managed to find one of the secret alcoves in the dimension he was in. To him it felt extremely cold, him being used to the fact that another body was in the cramped space with him.

He managed to fall asleep, but just barely. Those pages he translated were still fresh in his mind. Bill did say that he and Magum had absorbed the energy of their own kind, and who knows what else. But Ford had to stop them both before they reach Earth… Magum already has a physical form, which is not good in the slightest, but if Bill got his back…

That would make ripping his energy apart a little difficult…

Ford had woken up with a start the next morning, feeling terrified that he was being watched. It felt odd to sleep without the comfort of someone else near him. If he could guess how long he had been in the portal he could gauge it most likely about a year now… time seemed so much different in the portal, it seemed faster most of the time. So, during the year he had the comfort of Layla with him, now that she was gone, time seemed painfully slow.

He gets up and gathers his few belongings, a new goal in mind. Ford had to get the components for his new weapon to defeat Bill and Magum, but in order to do this he needed the resources…

Ford decided to go back to the dimension that held one of Magum's facilities, the one where he had first met Rick.

Without something to channel the energy to make a portal, Ford just had to go on a whim through the random ones that pop up. It could take a while as some portals only open up once every few years. But Ford had no choice… he needed to make that weapon, even if it takes him the rest of his life and it was the last thing he did was to kill the two demons.

So, he began his journey.

The first portal that Ford went through it took him to dimension that was filled to the brim with glitter and rainbows, with many fantasy creatures. Ford grimaced at this as it reminded him of the unicorns he had to deal with back in Gravity Falls. He knew there was no information to be obtained here, so he quickly found another portal and left, only to find himself in an odd dimension that only spoke in rhymes. This frustrated him as he had to try to find simple words to rhyme about the technology he was trying to find to beings that didn't understand science at all.

Time seemed to be an unknown factor in this part of the multiverse, it felt so slow yet he could begin to see gray strands in his normally dark brown hair. Was it stress or time? He could not tell and he didn't care, he needed that technology to make his weapon.

Ford did manage to find a dimension that seemed to be highly advanced in science, so he figured he would stay there to find some of the components for his weapon. The people around him seemed to look just like humans, which felt odd to him as he could swear he saw people that looked similar to people he had known.

For one he could swear he saw a couple walking down the street that looked like his parents, so he did a double take. With his hands beginning to sweat he went into an alleyway and put his back to the wall, him sliding down. His breathing was panicked, him in shock that he was seeing people.

Ford then remembers the one dimension that Dr. Bartek had built that one house that used their mental wants to make it a real. Is this dimension some kind of illusion based one? He didn't want to know, he just had to get into some facility, get whatever components he needed for his weapon, and get out of this dimension. This place was starting to creep him out.

He proceeds to wrap the scarf over the lower half of his face. If people looked similar from Earth to him, maybe someone from this dimension would recognize him in some odd way. Ford exits the alleyway, him walking down the road, it gleaming in the dim sunlight, a clanking sound from underneath his feet.

Odd… the road is made out of some metal alloy… Ford thought as he looked at the ground oddly.

As he had glanced down at the metal road he had bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean-" Ford began to apologize as he glanced back up, but was cut off by what he saw.

Layla.

"Oh, that's okay, they just put these roads in, so people are still getting used to them," the woman assured. Her voice was identical to Layla's, a naturally high sounding voice from when Layla didn't think about purposely making her voice a bit lower.

Ford just stared, as this Layla looked a lot neater than the one he was used to. This Layla's jet black hair was glossy and healthy looking, it still looking feathered around her pale face. Her electric blue eyes were bright and unwavering, them looking like they've never seen a terrible thing like death and destruction.

"Sir… are you okay?" the doppelganger asked, her voice sounding sharp.

Ford shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm fine… sorry about running into you…" he tells her. He tries to walk away but a hand stops him.

"You look familiar…" she stated. "Are you related to Dr. Stanford Pines?" she then asked.

Ford flinches. So there was a version of him in this dimension after all.

"Um… you have me confused with someone else," Ford lied.

"Are you his twin brother then…?" she then asks, her putting a finger to her chin. "Stanley?"

Ford again flinches. When the two twins were children not many people ever mixed them up. Obviously people knew which was which because of the one huge major difference between them. Ford's six fingers.

Ford clutches his hands tightly, hiding his fingers.

"Um, yeah," Ford smoothly lies. "In fact… I'm looking for my brother's new research facility…"

Layla's eyes practically lights up. "Oh, I know what you're talking about, my father works in that department. It's dimensional travel research," she says happily. "I can take you there."

"You're… father?" Ford stammered. His memories flash of Dr. Bartholomew Bartek, and how Layla had put a gun to his head and shot him repeatedly. But obviously… in this dimension… he was… good?

Layla's dopplegnager furrows her brow confusedly. "Um… yeah, my dad, Dr. Bartek. He was hired by Dr. Pines because of his knowledge on stem cell research. He was recently transferred to dimensional travel research as my dad has a PhD in quantum physics as well," she quickly explains. Ford then looks at Layla's left hand. Instead of not having her partial thumb and pinky, there were fully formed fingers. Layla noticed his stare. "My father cured me…" she said lowly, her tone darkening.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to-" Ford began but was cut off by Layla.

"Do you want to get to that facility or not?" she snapped.

Ford's chest tightens. That sounded like the Layla he knew… even the blue fire in her eyes looked like when Layla was angry. He had to glance away.

"Yes, Ma'am," Ford replied softly. As she huffed he followed, looking at how she was wearing a long form-fitting coat as it clung to her body. But he couldn't focus on that right now, he had to get to that facility and get some of the technology he needed for his Quantum Destabilizer.

Apparently it wasn't too far, it was just a few blocks away. The facility was also doubled for stem cells for amputees for their procedures to recover limbs, and that was also a reason why Dr. Bartek was stationed there besides his knowledge in other areas. Once inside the building Layla was trying to talk to someone at the front desk, but Ford snuck away, leaving her confused in the lobby on where he had gone.

"That wasn't her… that wasn't her…" Ford kept saying to himself. That wasn't the Layla he had known, it was a completely different one. It didn't matter that his heart was aching painfully, he needed to get what he needed and leave.

Ford managed to find a storage room to hole himself up in until nightfall. It would be easier to get what he needed when less people were around. The storage only had a few racks of syringes, sedatives for procedures for the stem cell research. Ford could only imagine that the dimensional research was in the lower levels.

I hope Magum or Bill doesn't know about this world…


When night fell, there of course was security, but nothing that he couldn't avoid.

Ford's time with the Layla he had been with and wandering in the multiverse has helped him learn to train his stealth. He saw the bigger picture, him seeing the more logical side of everything. It paid off being stealthy instead of just jumping in.

Sneaking in the darkness of the facility wasn't easy, there was so much security that he literally had to hide every few seconds. A few times he almost got caught, which made his heart pound so loud that he was sure the guards could hear it. The entrance to the lower levels of the facility required a keycard, a card that he managed to pickpocket from a higher level guard.

The elevator down was so loud and clang-y that Ford for sure thought he was going to be caught. The doors opened, and in his face was a barrel of a gun. On the other side of the gun, was Dr. Bartek.

"Hello, there," Dr. Bartek lowly greeted. "What brings you outside of your rightful dimension, Dr. Stanford Pines?"

Ford's eyes widened as he lowered his scarf. "How… how the hell do you know that…!?" Ford gasps.

Dr. Bartek does a sinister smile. "Well… I may be a doctor in stem cell research, but I do know a thing or two about dimensional travel."

"Are you working for Magum or Bill Cipher!?" Ford then demands, not wavering from the gun in his face.

Dr. Bartek raises a silver brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asks, clearly intrigued.

"Nothing," Ford assures. "It doesn't matter, what I need is technology that can rip apart and scatter a demon's energy makeup."

"Destroying a demon…" Dr. Bartek laughs. "My… the dimension you have come from must be in tough shit."

Ford glances away. "Yes… I suppose so…" he whispers. "So… will you help me?"

Dr, Bartek gives a sadistic smile. "No." he laughs as he goes to pull the trigger.

Ford's reflexes kick in as he ducks down and trips Dr. Bartek. Dr. Bartek drops the gun, but before he could make a grab for it Ford had kicked it away and pointed his interdimensional gun at the man's head.

"I think I won't ask nicely next time," Ford growled. "So, I'm demanding… you will supply me some of the components I need to make my Quantum Destabilizer."

Dr. Bartek laughs, "My, I think I like this version of you, Stanford. The one here is so arrogant…"

"I've learned from my mistakes…" Ford states.

Dr. Bartek slowly gets up, his hands up in the air as he lead Ford down the hallway. Once in the main lab, Bartek goes into a computer system and something unlocks. The sound of air hissing fills the room as a drawer opened.

"I can't give you much…" Dr. Bartek told Ford. "But, for something to rip energy apart you'd need an unstable isotope." He puts on special gloves and retrieved an instrument that looked similar to tongs. He proceeds to then pick up what looked like a crystalized blue gem, it radiating with energy.

"Unstable Isotope?" Ford repeated in awe, staring that the blue energy source.

"Yes… this was discovered about a year ago…" Dr. Bartek explained. "It has what Fiddleford McGucket calculated to be a thirty-year half-life until it can become stable. So far… it only has twenty-nine more to go." He then lowered the isotope into a special box and shut it.

Ford looks at the box that the crystal was in, his gun still aimed at Dr. Bartek. "What… can it do?" Ford hesitantly asked.

Dr. Bartek gives a sinister smile. "Why… it can rip an entire dimension apart… so this is more than enough to destroy your demon, however, you'd only have one shot." he jeered. "We had one of these where I was from… but of course I destroyed my world and find myself in this dimension."

"What about Layla?" Ford then demanded, putting the gun to his temple.

Bartek looked confused. "How… do you know of her?"

"Let's just say from where I'm from we've had some history."

"Layla in this dimension is from this dimension, a pathetic little girl honestly. If I could've killed her like I killed my version here I would've, but I had to keep up appearances."

Ford narrows his eyes dangerously. "You're just as evil as the Dr. Bartek I dealt with… and do you know what happened to him?" Dr. Bartek shook his head. "Layla shot him in the head, just like I'm about to."

"Shoot-!?" was the last thing Dr. Bartek managed to say as a plasma blast went through his skull. The man collapsed to the floor as blood began to pool beneath him.

An alarm began to blare overhead, but Ford had to push the noise away. He grabs the box and stuffs it into his trench coat. Now that the energy source was found, he just had to build the actual gun, which would not be hard in the least, now there was no need to go into the facility that Magum had.

"One year down, twenty-nine to go."


A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for being patient with the updates! I know it is not as active as "Cipher's Reign" was, but with school and work I cannot help it.

Also, check out my DeviantArt, SkyeHendersen, where I have been posting artwork on the series. There is now a picture of Cipher's Reign Mabel, After Cipher's Reign George, Orion, and now even a picture of Layla.

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~