Chapter 34: Endurance
Ford lowered his interdimensional gun as he had just finished blasting a bullet of plasma through a head of interdimensional being that was trying to mug him of his pitiful possessions.
A thick puddle of purple blood collected beneath the body, it twitching. Ford gives a sigh of annoyance as he puts the gun back in his holster. For over a decade he had endure this kind of behavior, the multiple beings thinking he was weak prey to be easy pickings.
Not anymore… Ford thought bitterly. I am not the same person weak child that had his brother fight all his battles.
Ford looked at his black, gloved hand that only a few moments ago had the gun. He grips his hand tightly into a fist. With his other hand he adjusts putting the goggles over his cracked glasses and continued on, feeling the weight of the unstable isotope in his inner pocket. Strapped across his back was the beginning of the weapon he was building, him taking whatever parts he needed from countless dimensions.
With a final look at the citizen of this dimension that he had killed, he turns and walks away.
Over the past seventeen years since acquiring the isotope he had deciphered more and more of Magum's journal. Most entries were quite disturbing, saying how his home dimension was destroyed. A few entries included about this mysterious Axolotl, which still confused Ford to no end. How is a simple salamander some kind of deity in this part of the multiverse?
But what really disturbed Ford was the more recent, or more like from the past thirty years. They were entries regarding Layla. The journal had described that Magum had knew who she was and that she was the daughter of Dr. Bartek, a man that had interested Magum to make a deal. He had planned to use her to get to Dr. Bartek, like a bargaining chip, but when he had found out that Bartek had truly not cared for his daughter, Magum just kept her as some sort of prize as she was the only female human in that part of the multiverse.
Ford had to slam the book closed on more than one occasion because of some of the more graphic entries. No wonder why Layla had hated him so much, he had used her and abused her time and time again. Reading those entries was honestly sickening to him.
During his years alone he had grew much harder in his personality. He felt as if he didn't want to get close to anyone ever again, or grow to trust anyone. In the end his heart and trust will be ripped out. There was honestly no point.
On more than one occasion he did think of his twin brother, wondering how he was doing. From what he had gathered when he had to research where his twin was so he could send the postcard Stanley was not the best at staying in one place… Stanley also had trouble with gangs, owing money and such…
Ford sighs to himself. He was so used to being alone at this point, but thinking of his brother and Layla made his chest terribly ache. It has even come to the point that he would think about his childhood more and more, thinking of the small moments he had shared with his twin with their little secret codes they did together. Or he would remember their mother taking them to their grandparents house and makes cookies with their grandmother. He would think back to Hanukkah and how their father would light the Menorah and how Stanley would make faces at Ford while wearing Groucho glasses during services…
But those were just memories, memories that will stay with him He would probably never experience something along those lines again. Ford had never even thought twice about a relationship until he had met Layla, he would never experience something like that ever again… he didn't want to go through the heartache.
As Ford walked down the street of the dimension he was in, he could feel the cold stares on him. Ford ignored them, just like he has been doing all these years, he rather not have a confrontation. But of course… there was always that one person, and they end up getting hurt or killed because they just couldn't let Ford be.
A hand suddenly covers his mouth and he was dragged into an alleyway, his heart racing. Ford didn't struggle, he let himself be dragged away until he felt being pushed inside a building. He hits the dirty concrete with a grunt, his body finally starting to catch up on his age. The door slams shut and a flicker of light only slightly illuminates the room. There was a circle of strange creatures around him, something that he could barely identify. But one thing caught his eye: An old wanted poster of him.
"Oh, so you guys are looking to be getting Cipher's reward, huh?" Ford laughed with a sarcastic grin. He fluently spoke some alien language, and it seemed that they understood what he was saying. "Whatever Cipher is selling you, it's nothing but a trick and lie. He isn't going to help you. He's going to use you and throw you away like he does with everyone. You should just leave me alone." Ford then yelps painfully as a hard kick went into his ribcage.
"Search him," a large, burly monster demanded, its voice so deep it felt as if the building was rumbling.
Ford felt hands, claws, and tentacles grab at him. He felt his gun be stripped off his back, his trench coat nearly ripped from him, and the goggle yanked off his face. Ford watched as they went through his coat and threw the picture that Ford had of him and Stanley on the broken boat onto the dirty floor. The case with the infinity die was carelessly and precariously thrown onto the floor as well. Ford felt his gun be taken away, which annoyed him to no end, but what finally set him off was when something went after the scarf he had around his neck.
He threw his head into the face of the monster that was about to yank that off of him, feeling a sickening crunch as his head sunk in slightly. Ford jumps up and ended up punching the monster with a hard left hook. Those years of boxing were paid off long ago, and they were saving Ford's ass yet again. When his own gun was being aimed at him he had ducked down as the trigger was pulled, the plasma blast hitting another attacker that was behind him in the chest. Ford sprang back up and punched the being that had his gun in what he could guess was some sort of jawline, and during that distraction grabbed his gun.
Ford hits a button that he had added to the gun and it whirred with an electric energy. It buzzed and glowed a brilliant and almost blinding blue. Ford aims it without a second thought and shoots at one being, the electric bolt causing the body to spasm. But that's not all it did, within a few feet radius the electricity jumped from attacker to attacker, causing the same spasms. Ford then hits the button again and the electricity grew more intense.
"I told you to leave me alone," Ford lowly growled, the electricity form his gun whirring loudly. The intense blue light cast a shadow on his face, making him seem almost devilish. It oddly reminded him of something…
As he went to pull the trigger he felt his legs be swept up from beneath him. The being that had been hit in the chest with the plasma blast had knocked him over. The monster got on top of him and held his arms down to the point where the hand that was holding the gun was going limp from lack of blood circulation. Ford tried to kick at his attacker, but it seemed like its skin was some sort of shell, an armor, and he couldn't find a weak point.
Something began burning his arms intensely, a feeling that was like his skin was melting off. A heat was radiating from his attacker hands, and that was what made Ford drop the gun and began screaming in pain. He tried kicking harder and harder, but the more he kicked the more it burned. He finally stops kicking, but he felt his foot nudge something. Carefully he strained his head to see what he was touching.
The box that held the infinity die.
I have no choice…
With a final effort Ford kicked the box as hard as he could. He saw the box hit a nearby wall, it busting open. The die bounced out and it rolled back towards him. Ford's heart pounded painfully as it rolled to a stop near his head. The image it landed on was clear as crystal…
Water.
Immediately the room began flooding with water, startling his attacker. Ford managed to get away from its grip and made a grab for his gun and his other fallen items before the water could get to them. The monsters began screeching as the water began to rise, Ford climbing whatever crates he saw to get to the rafters about. The attackers were trying to follow suit, but because of their bug, bulky sizes it was hard to do so, and it also appeared that they weren't good swimmers.
Ford glances around and saw that there was a skylight that led to the roof, an escape option. He then aims the gun to the rising water, the monsters desperately trying to find a way out.
"I'll give you a way out…" Ford muttered darkly as he set up the electricity blast once again. Without a second thought he pulled the trigger and the electricity went through the conduciveness of the water instantly. He saw oddly colored blood stain the water and the electricity ripped their shells open, a burning smell hitting Ford's nostrils. The screeches were almost unbearable, but Ford didn't care.
The water was still rising, and that was when Ford made his escape through the skylight. As he ran across the roof he saw the water beginning to spill over the opening he had climbed out of. He stuffs his contents into this trench coat pockets and puts his half-made weapon across his back as he kept his interdimensional pistol in hand as he sprinted across the room. A familiar shimmer caught his eye as he picked up speed.
He jumps off the roof, him going straight into the shimmer and the world shifted. He lands on a roof of another place, him rolling from the momentum. Slowly, Ford stands up to catch his breath, him holstering his gun.
With a sigh of relief he sits down and checks over his things. His pictures weren't damaged in the slightest, and neither was the books he had. The box that had the isotope in it was as safe as it could be. Ford then found the infinity die that he had precariously tossed into a pocket and its case. He puts the die in its case and gently puts it back in his coat.
"That… was a lucky break…" Ford sighed breathlessly. There was a lot of things he had endured during his years of traveling, but this was the first time he had to use the die. "Never doing that again… that was too risky…" He was not much of a gambler, and he wasn't going to push his luck a second time.
Ford then looks around him, peering over the side of the building. Oddly enough it felt as if he had been here before. Then it hit him.
He was back in Dimension 52.
A sudden pang of depression hits Ford's system like the alcohol had done that night he was with Layla. He didn't want to be here, anywhere but here. Ford throws an arm over his eyes to try to make the tears stop flowing to his eyes.
He has endured many things… he had been stabbed, shot at, punched and kicked, and of course burned, but he survived it, he moved on. But the one thing he could not get pass was a broken heart.
"Thirteen more years… just thirteen more years and I'll kill those bastards."
A/N: This chapter basically takes place during the last chapter. So this is in August of 1999.
Thank you for reading as always!
~Skye Hendersen~
