This one is pretty much the only fleshed-out part of this idea I got, so it gets its own chapter.
Blackness was all Mabel was aware of in her numbed mind. She tried to move her body, speak, SOMETHING…but nothing went through. Nothing except a distant sound…
"…Hydrogen and Helium, then Lithium, Beryllium…"
The Periodic Table song? Dipper liked to sing that—
DIPPER!
Mabel jerked awake, looking around wildly. There was no singing now, only the hum of some kind of force field in the doorway of the tiny room she was in. What was she doing in here? Where was Dipper? Where was everyone else?
A sudden memory of a disintegrating body and two gems flashed across her mind.
Grunke Stanford!
Mabel walked up to the force field and hesitantly poked it with her finger. It felt like a mild static shock, but not much else. She stuck her hand in, seeing sparks run up her arm harmlessly. She held her breath and pushed forward, feeling a full-body shock run through her before she stepped out completely, shuddering and patting down her static-poofed hair.
"I'm out! WHOO HOO!" she cheered to herself. "Okay, gotta find everyone!" She took off running down the hall, passing a few other rooms without force fields before skidding to a halt in front of a room that DID have one.
Sitting in the room was a boy that didn't look much older than ten, curled up on the floor with his hands in his hair, letting out frustrated groans.
"…hello?" she said tentatively. "…are you okay?" She jumped when the boy jumped too, pressing himself back against the wall, a look of terror on his face.
Mabel could see he had chestnut brown hair and light brown eyes and a missing front tooth, wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of dirty blue jeans. His panic instead turned to anger, and he slammed his fist against the side of the wall with enough force for Mabel to feel it, jostling her over.
"GREAT!" he shouted. "THIS IS JUST PERFECT!" He growled to himself, clenching his hands into his hair again.
Mabel blinked, confused. "Um…do you need any help?" she asked, peering in closer.
"NO!" he snapped back, then looked both angrier and regretful of snapping. "I mean….DONT LOOK AT ME!" He turned onto his side, covering his head. "Just go away!"
Mabel frowned, sitting back on her heels for a moment before standing and turning to leave.
"Wait!" the boy suddenly called, standing up. "You're out! How th' heck did you get past th' field?"
"Oh, uh…" Mabel reached out to the barrier. "I just kind of…"
"Wait! No no no no wait—" The boy's protests cut off when Mabel's hand slipped into the barrier with only a few static sparks. "…It's okay?" He reached out and touched it, yelping when a surge shocked his hand, biting out swears under his breath, shaking his hand out. "Th' heck's goin' on?"
Mabel shrugged, pausing when she heard something in the distance again.
"…With Oxygen so you can breathe…And Fluorine for your pretty teeth…"
"Someone's singing the Periodic Table Song," she commented. The boy was looking around too, almost desperately.
"Fordy…" he murmured before turning back to Mabel. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!" he cried, startling her. "PLEASE, I GOTTA FIND FORDY!"
"Is he your friend?" Mabel asked. "I'm looking for my friends too—"
"HE'S ALL ALONE, I GOTTA FIND HIM!" His panic was returning to his face, looking ready to risk death to jump through the barrier.
Mabel raised her hands placatingly. "Don't worry, we'll find our friends!" she said, pushing halfway through the barrier and making an arc with her arm. "A-a-and we-we'll do it together-r-r—"
The boy skidded out under her arm, taking off down the hall. Mabel shook off the staticy feeling and ran after him. "Wait for me!" He didn't stop, not taking his eyes off the hall in front of him. "My name's Mabel, by the way, what's yours?"
"Quiet!" he snapped, pausing and looking around, biting his lip. "…This way!" He took off running again. Mabel again followed.
"How many more are trapped here?" she asked, panting to keep up.
"Don't know, don't care!" he replied, his expression grim and concerned, then skidded to a halt when the singing stopped, looking fearful. "….he stopped singing. FORDY!"
Dipper edged around a corner, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear before heading down that hall. He had woken up in a tiny room with some kind of force field that only gave him a static shock. Really, did Gideon thing something like THAT would keep him back?
As he headed down the hall, he could hear someone singing the Periodic Table Song. It was weird, but then again, nothing about this situation could be considered normal. He was about to round another corner when he heard footsteps approaching, jerking back and pressing himself against the wall as Gideon and his father walked past.
"Now, son, we cant leave yet!" Bud Gleeful was saying, almost pleading. "I thought the whole point of coming here was to get that other journals!"
Gideon stalked to a doorway and kicked it. "STOP SINGIN'!" he shouted petulantly before turning to his father. "Those Pines twins take priority!" he snapped. "Get back to th' lab an' start settin' up!" He huffed and started off down the hall.
Bud sighed and headed off in the opposite direction. "'Join Yellow Pyramid', he says, 'It'll be fun', he says," he muttered to himself before vanishing down the hall.
Dipper waited until the coast was clear before peeking out, just as a voice started singing again. "Neon to light up the signs, Sodium for salty times—"
He walked up to the doorway, seeing a boy around ten with brown hair and blue eyes wearing jeans, a kid-sized bomber jacket, and a white tshirt underneath, a pair of large glasses on his face. "Hey," Dipper whispered, getting the kid's attention. The boy stopped singing, looking surprised. "…I like that song," Dipper said, hoping he didn't startle the little kid into a panic.
"…You escaped," he kid replied, sounding more calm and mature than Dipper felt right now. Dipper shrugged, sticking his hand through the barrier. The boy's eyes widened fractionally, but his expression was analytical. "…Of course…"
Dipper stuck his whole arm through, twitching at the static shocks. "C-come on, it-t-t's safe!" he stammered. The boy stepped through.
"Thank you, Dipper," he said, straightening. Dipper smiled, stepping back from the barrier.
"You're welcome!" he replied, then frowned. How did this kid know his name? "How—"
"FORDY!"
At the sound of someone calling, the kid whipped around, eyes wide, then grabbed Dipper's arm. "Come on!" he said, racing down the hall with Dipper not even able to keep up. Dipper flailed, just trying not to trip up, almost barreling over the boy when he skidded to a halt and looked around.
Dipper saw another kid run up, who looked a lot like the boy he was with. The boy let his arm go. "LEE!" he shouted, running up to the other boy and hugging him tightly.
Lee hugged him back, tearing up. "Did they hurt you!?" he said, putting his hand on Fordy's cheek, his eyes flickering over to check for signs of damage.
"No, I'm okay," Fordy replied, covering Lee's hand with his own. "Did they hurt YOU?"
Lee sniffled, tears running down his face. "Who th' heck CARES?" he choked out, grinning widely. Fordy smiled.
"I do." He leaned in and kissed Lee's cheek, making Lee let out a childish giggle of joy, lacing Fordy's six fingers with his own five, his other arm hugging around him tightly. Fordy smiled and leaned his forehead against Lee's.
Mabel rushed up to Dipper, hugging him tightly. "Bro-bro!" she cried, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe. Dipper just hugged her back, looking up when the gems on the boys' hands began glowing, their bodies glowing even brighter as they melded and expanded to adult-sized, the glow fading until they were looking at a joyous Stanford.
"KIDS!" he laughed, scooping them up. "THANK YOU!"
"Grunkle Stanford!?" Dipper yelped at the same time Mable gasped, "YOU'RE A FUSION!?"
Stanford looked mildly sheepish, putting them down. "I'm sorry, kids…we didn't want you meeting us here like this."
Mabel shyly shuffled her feet. "Well…did we make a good first impression?" she asked. Stanford smiled, ruffling their hair.
"Oh kids," he said softly, "we already love you."
Dipper and Mabel beamed, only for their happy reunion to be interrupted by Gideon's voice screaming, "WHERE ARE THEY!?"
"It's Gideon," Stanford scowled, then turned back to the twins. "Kids, find Soos and Wendy, and get out of here!"
"But Grunkle Stanford, we don't know where they are!" Dipper cried, almost panicking. Stanford just smiled, putting his right hand on Dipper's head, and Dipper suddenly felt as though this facility they were in had become bird's eye-view, seeing where they were, and where Soos and Wendy were. "Whoa..."
"Dialectic vision," Stanford said, the expression on his face reminding Dipper of the analytical look that Fordy had given him. "Seeing more than one possibility from the outside. Pretty tricky to get the hang of."
"But wait…" Mabel said, looking concerned, "are you going to be alright on your own?"
Stanford smiled, standing up. "It's okay, Mabel, I'm never alone."
Mabel hummed to herself as she jotted out a letter home to her parents. Dipper always said she could just IM them on the computer, but really, sometimes a hand-written letter was just better.
"Dear Mom and Dad. Yesterday was just an EXPLOSION of adventure! Me and Dipper were kidnapped by that creep Gideon and held captive! Then we escaped and Gideon Fused with his dad to make himself stronger! But I guess Bud Gleeful was sick of being ordered around, and they were folded out into what was apparently a pocket dimension or something. But the most AMAZING part was finding out Grunkle Stanford is a Fusion! We have two Grunkles for the price of one! And it is AWESOME."
Of course, she didn't put EVERYTHING. Some things were just too personal.
After things settled down and Wendy and Soos were delivered safely home, Dipper immediately started with the questioning. Why were they Fused? They both had perfectly-formed gems, even though they were obviously twins. And why were their unFused selves ten years old?
"It's a long story, kids," Stanford said, sitting back. "Yeah, we were twins…the rarest kind, since we both had whole gems and such. But ever since we were babies, we would Fuse whenever we were close. You can imagine the kind of reactions THAT came about, when Ma would come to feed us, expecting two babies and instead seeing one with two gems.
"Pops would forbid us from Fusing…he wouldn't even let us touch each other for the longest time. He refused to have a Fusion for a kid, you know? It was MUCH more taboo when I was a kid than it is now." He wrung his hands together, the five-fingered left hand being tightly laced with the six-fingered right one.
"…But Fusing for us felt RIGHT. It was US. As different as we were, we just felt more complete when we were one. So we would Fuse in secret, just to feel that completeness." He smiled sadly. "…When we were ten years old, we decided together to Fuse and STAY Fused, no matter what anyone said. Pops tried everything to unFuse us, but we wouldn't have it."
He sighed. "So I ran away to live with my aunt, and grew up like this. I managed a life with Lee's personality and Fordy's intelligence, making myself a living here that made both sides happy."
Dipper hugged his knees, looking thoughtful. "…So…even though you were two whole Gems…you still felt incomplete?" he asked. "…I don't really get it."
Stanford smiled, ruffling Dipper's hair. "I know you don't," he replied. "Because you don't feel that way. Even though you and Mabel have incomplete gems, YOU TWO ARE NOT INCOMPLETE. You're both your own people, and no one can take that away from you. Fusion is a choice, and not one anyone can or should make for you. You can do great things together, but you're both equally amazing apart."
Dipper and Mabel beamed, jumping up to hug their Grunkle tightly. He hugged them back, smiling. "Two niblings or one, you're amazing as you are. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"Thanks, Grunkle Stanford," Dipper said. Stanford gave each a kiss on the head before sending them off to bed.
Dipper and Mabel changed for bed, lying down and facing each other from across the room.
"It's so weird," Mabel said. "Lee and Fordy were both complete Gems, but they feel more complete together…"
"…And we're incomplete, and we feel complete apart," Dipper added. Mabel made a contemplative sound.
"…I don't think we're incomplete," she replied, pressing her hand to her gem. "I never FELT incomplete. I just think it's nice to have company with you."
Dipper smiled. "Same here," he said. "We're more than just what our gems look like, right?"
"That's what I've been trying to say," Mabel concurred, yawning. "…Night, Dipdop."
"Night, May-May." Dipper clicked the lamp off, lying back to stare at the ceiling in contemplation.
For months, and even years, everyone had been telling them that they would be better and complete if they Fused….and today, a Fusion told them they were perfect the way they are.
He closed his eyes, smiling softly, feeling more complete now than he ever had before.