Hey guys! Thanks for the awesome reviews, and I'm excited to say Rick's finally making an appearance (sort of)! For fair warning, there will be a TON of swearing in Rick's part cause it's Rick. If anyone has any concerns, I'll increase the rating. As for the questions in the reviews, you guys are definitely on the right track with alternate timelines but it's not exactly right either. I apologize for any discrepancies in this fic that differ from the show (like Rose's shield), there's just a lot of details from these shows to remember.
Thanks again for all the reviews guys, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe, Rick and Morty, and Gravity Falls
Pearl had began to cry without realizing it, looking at the VHS tape had made her feel the only sense of joy in the past 24 hrs or however long its been since Steven went missing.
Amethyst swallowed. "Where did you find it?"
"In the back of my van, where I keep my old vinyls. I like keeping things retro, but this... even I don't have a VHS player anymore. I figured it had something to do with you guys, considering... you were looking for this Steven guy and all." Greg rubbed the back of his head.
Pearl quickly turned her head to Amethyst. "Is the player still in his room?!"
"Yeah! I just went through Steven's stuff!" Amethyst nodded.
"Then let's go!" Ruby hoisted Sapphire onto her back and ran to Steven's room.
Greg was getting increasingly uncomfortable, wanting to get out of there. "Uh... look... I only came to drop this off, I really can't-"
Pearl grabbed Greg's hand and dragged him into the room where his forgotten son lived. Amethyst put the VHS tape in and began the process of rewinding the tape. As she was doing this, Pearl abruptly turned to Greg with a sharp look. "I want you to know that I never liked you with Rose Quartz, but I did respect how you were with Steven. You made him happy and you were exactly the kind of influence Rose Quartz wanted for her son. On this tape, you will see our leader and savior of Earth, Rose Quartz. She is the one you owe your life to, and... she chose you... it took me a long time to accept it but... she chose you... so keep this in mind as the tape's playing."
Greg could only nod and sat on the edge of the bed. "Uh... okay... thanks."
After a tense moment, Amethyst cleared her throat. "We ready...?"
Taking a breath, Pearl straightened herself and nodded. This was the first time any of them would be hearing their beloved leader's voice again, it was best they were presentable.
/
Dipper took a moment to collect himself. "Wait, who are you talking about Uncle Ford? Who's Rick Sanchez?"
"Exactly who I said... he was my research partner, along with McGucket-"
"He ain't no research partner of mine... that man ain't caused nothin' but trouble since yah met him." McGucket interrupted crossly. "If this here mess is his doin', then that's on you Ford- not me."
Ford rubbed his temple. "Fine! He primarily worked with me on extra dimensional research, what he has accomplished- most scientists can only dream of. I would have been a fool to pass up an opportunity to work with someone like Sanchez!"
"At the cost of dang near everything!" McGucket quipped.
"Enough Fiddleford! I already told you that Bill was a problem way before Sanchez, and he was the only one who-"
"Sanchez only made things worse!" McGucket argued.
"ENOGH!" Dipper shouted. "Uncle Ford, Mabel's missing and we don't know what's happening with her or how to do get her back!"
McGucket sent a glare to Ford, before turning away to let his old colleague continue. "Yes, anyways... While I was researching dimensional travel, I eventually encountered an eccentric named Rick- one of the mot brilliant, if not the most, scientific minds that I ever learned from!"
"You mean, you didn't work with him?" Wendy asked.
"I tried, but this man... his knowledge was almost omnipotent... it was honestly just difficult keeping up with him. I met him by chance when I had a... misunderstanding with some multidimensional authorities..." Ford rubbed the back of his head sheepishly...
(FLASHBACK)
Ford was breathing heavily as he hid from the humanoid insects that were chasing him. He wasn't sure where he was, but he seemed to be in a squishy pink environment with tree resembling what he could only describe as... testicles. He had merely began exploring this dimension when these giant, talking insects with highly advanced guns were on and firing. These insects were aiming to kill, not imprison and he wasn't sure how to get his portal to open.
Other than sitting behind this rock, Ford wasn't sure what he could do. After setting up the portal, he ended up traveling here randomly but his recall device had either shorted out or he was out of range. To make matters worse, he was getting dehydrated and could feel himself getting hungry. Ford suddenly stilled when he heard someone walking towards his area, and-
"IT'S SANCHEZ! REPEAT! SANCHEZ HAS BEEN SPOTTED!" Stanford heard one of the insects yell before hearing a weapon being fired.
"Yeah! Say my name, bitches!" Ford heard a mad cackling as he heard more shots being fired, and held still for several more minutes as the sounds died down. Peaking out from behind the rock, Ford was stunned to see all the insects dead. And came face to face with a thin man, most likely in his late 50s or early 60s, had gray spiked hair and wore a white lab coat.
Before Ford could express his gratitude, the other man glared and rose his weapon. "What the fuck are you looking at?!"
Quickly raising his hands, Ford responded. "H-Hello! My name is Ford Pines! I'm a researcher from another dimension! And I was being pursued by those insects-"
"Oh. So you're a useless nobody." The man suddenly looked bored and lowered his weapon to his holster. Ford watched the man make his way towards one of the weird trees, and watched him cut down...a berry, Ford could only guess... and cut it open to reveal a nut.
"What the fuck are you looking at?!" The man's constant swearing through Stanford off quite a bit, not even his brother was that off-color.
Raising his hands again, Ford spoke. "Sorry... sorry... I was just wondering what those are."
"Wow, you really are a novice. An idiot who gets himself stranded in Dimension 35-C, who doesn't even know what the value of Mega Tree seeds are." The man went back to what he was doing, and continued his harvest. "You really are a dumbass."
"Wait... this universe has a name?" Ford was embarrassed to admit that he could barely keep up with this man. Back in his home universe, he was the most intelligent... so this was pretty humbling.
"Of course it does, moron. And this is a dimension, not a universe you dumbfuck! First rule of interdimmensional and multidimensional travel- learn the terminology, dickwad." The other man snapped.
"My apologies then..." Ford sighed but then remembered something. "How did you know I was trapped here?"
The other man rolled his eyes. "Because you came here without looking for the Mega Trees, doi! There is literally no other reason to come here!"
Nodding, Stanford asked: "Who were those men? What were they?"
Sighing, the man approached Stanford and shoved a bag into his arms. "Look, if you're going to continue to be a pain in my ass- make yourself useful."
"S-Sure!" Ford nodded and watched as the man continued to harvest two more seeds. "So those insect creatures..."
"They're members of this douchebag club called the Intergalactic Federation that wishes to control every ass-crack in existence, and literally represents everything I hate about this thing called 'order'." The man used air quotes to emphasize his point. "They went after you, cause they thought you were with me."
"Why would they think that?! I don't even know you!" Stanford exclaimed.
"Cause dumbass- you're the only other human they've seen besides me. That and any other Ricks or Mortys that pass through." The man rolled his eyes.
"Sorry- who-"
"Rick Sanchez! That's my name, bitch!" Rick made some rock and roll hand signs.
"There's no need for such language, we're both scientists after all-"
"Ugh! You sound more annoying than the dumbass my daughter married." Sanchez sighed. "You and I would've made a fun crossover, but you and I have waaay (burp!) different audiences buddy."
"What are you talking about? And are you drunk?" Ford couldn't believe the man was inebriated right in front of him.
"Why the shit do you care?" Rick asked, examining the four seeds carefully.
"Cause I need your help to get home!" Ford exclaimed.
"When the hell did I say I was helping you, motherfucker?" Rick snorted, and began walking away.
Ford got in front of him and pleaded. "Please! I think I'm out of range of my dimensional gate! I have no way to get back!"
"No my problem, bitch." Rick walked by him.
"Where is your humanity?!" Ford yelled.
"I don't know. Either puked or sharted it out, a looong time ago." Rick snorted.
"You're disgusting!" Ford shouted.
"And you're a useless piece of shit, who can't get his own ass home." Reaching into his lab coat pocket, Ford saw the man pull out some kind of hand-held device that imitated a price scanner at a department store.
"What is that?" Ford asked.
"My portal gun." Rick rolled his eyes. "Yah know? Like the one you have."
"I don't have a portal gun." Ford said. "I barely managed to get my own portal gate working."
"Ugh! You're still stationary? God... it's like looking into the dark ages of dial-up." Rick muttered, setting up his signature device.
"How long did it take you to develop it?" Ford could only mutter.
"I don't know. Probably about as long as it'll take you to get to get off this dumbass planet." Rick shrugged. "You really want out of this place?"
"Yes! More than anything right now!" Ford stated.
"Fine. Agree to be my research assistant for my current pet project, and we got a deal." Rick shrugged.
"Sure!" Ford couldn't believe his luck! What started off as a near death experience, ended with him apprenticing under perhaps the most brilliant mind in existence!
(END FLASHBACK)
Ford sighed as he rubbed his temple, while telling the story. While he omitted all the excessive cussing of the more experienced scientist, Ford could tell his point got across by he expressions the others had.
"So... this guy is the one who taught you about all the Weirdmaggeden stuff?" Soos asked after a moment.
"To a degree yes... Rick Sanchez had taught me more in a week, than a single year of research in Gravity Falls. I learned a lot from him, from perfecting multidimensional travel to safely observing other forms of life. However... Rick was a very troubled man with a lot of demons." Stanford explained. "To Rick, research and discovery had no limits even it meant compromising or even ending the lives of others. I eventually couldn't take it anymore, and left for home as soon as I learned how to set his portal gun for Gravity Falls."
"Did he ever try to find you again?" Dipper asked.
"Luckily no." Stanford shook his head. "Trust me, as bad as Weirdmaggeden was- Rick somehow would've made it worse."
Wendy whistled. "Harsh man."
"But well deserved." McGucket spoke up. "Yah want to tell 'em about the OTHER reason, why you cut ties with Sanchez?"
"Yes... I do believe the mentioning on Bill was brought up." Gideon agreed.
"Is this Rick guy related to Bill somehow, Uncle Ford?" Dipper suddenly felt very anxious- if Bill was back, then Mabel really was in danger.
"... I discovered their connection when I was studying under him." Stanford looked at the floor.
"Well spit it out, Ford! We ain't got all day!" Stan demanded.
"Rick... one of his greatest ambitions was to see if he could create the literal idea of 'God', or a deity for all that it stood for. And more than that... he wanted to see what would happen if 'God' met man..." Stanford explained.
"No..." Gideon gasped, as the others took in the full severity of what the man was saying.
"Uncle Ford... you can't mean..." Dipper clutched his chest.
"Yes... Rick is the one who created Bill, and more than that... he planned for Weirdmaggeden."
/
Given all the chaos going on inside, Robbie and Tambry wisely excused themselves to go outside to the porch. It wasn't that they weren't concerned, but they honestly felt like they had no place in that conversation. Besides, Wendy or Dipper would fill them in later.
Leaning against the wood of the shack, both teens were on their phones- trying to find pictures of Mabel to pass the time.
"Anything yet?" Robbie asked.
"Nothing." Tambry sighed after going through all of her photos for the fifth time in ten minutes. Taking her eyes away from her phone, Tambry rubbed her eyes. "My eyeballs are aching.." As she rubbed them, Tambry thought she saw something in the distance. After blinking a few moments, Tambry's eyes narrowed and rubbed them again.
Noticing his girlfriend's behavior, Robbie spoke up. "What's up?"
"Look." Tambry pointed ahead. "Isn't that the girl with the llama sweater?"
/
Stanford couldn't even bear to look at anyone in the Mystery Shack. "When Rick called for me to be his research assistant, he didn't mean clean test tubes or take notes... I had inadvertently agreed to letting Gravity Falls be the testing site, when I pleaded with him to save me."
"Dude... there's no way you could've known." Wendy tried to reassure him.
"You doing okay, little dude?" Soos noted Dipper became noticeably quiet.
"...Is that why the barrier was there? Is that why Bill couldn't go beyond Gravity Falls in his Weirdmaggeden invasion?" Dipper asked in a calm voice. "Rick setup the parameters, so that Bill couldn't go beyond Gravity Falls. Isn't that right Uncle Ford?"
Stanford still couldn't bear to look at his great nephew, the one he previously asked to apprentice him. "Dipper... you have to understand...I had no idea Rick would do this, and I thought I could stop Bill-"
"I don't care about any of that!" Dipper snapped. Everyone in the Mystery Shack was stunned, not really knowing what to say. Seeing the silence, Dipper continued. "I don't blame you for Weirdmaggeden Uncle Ford, I just want to know what all this information has to do with Mabel. If you think this Sanchez guy kidnapped Mabel, you need to tell us why."
"That's just it... I don't think he did. Rick was never the type to take hostages.." Unless if they were research subjects, but Stanford decided to leave that bit out. "I do think that we have no choice but to visit him, to get our answers though."
"You can't be serious!" Old Man McGucket exclaimed.
"Based on the readings, we have no choice!" Stanford barked.
"GUYS!" Wendy shouted. "We have a visitor."
Dipper and the others turned to the front door to Robbie and Tambry, and to everyone's surprise- Pacifica Northwest.
"Hey Pines... the Mystery Shack looks good. Not as cob-webby..." Pacifica cleared her throat awkwardly.
"I'm just gonna ask." Stan spoke up. "What would you possibly want here? And whatever it is, beat it- cause you're not welcome."
"As blunt as always Mr. Pines, fine... I'll be quick. It's better for everyone involved, anyways." Reaching into her llama sweater, she pulled something out that made Dippers eyes widen. It was one of the journals... the first journal!
"Don't tell Mabel this but... it's honestly depressing without her." Pacific rubbed the back of her head. "I heard you asking around about your sister, and if anyone could remember him. Well, I came across this weird book in our new house a week ago just sitting on my bed. It creeps me out, so I'm giving it back." Pacifica handed Dipper the journal.
Dipper relished the hard covering and thickness, even today... it felt like the journals had all the answered. "Thank you Pacificia... you have no idea what this means."
"Yeah well... you guys saved my life, so I figured I should return the favor." Pacifica shrugged. "I don't know if this will bring back your sister, but it's worth a try."
"Oh come on! Out of all the yahoos in town, why did your sister have to save these two?!" Stan gestured at Pacifica and Gideon.
"Hey!" Gideon exclaimed.
"Also..." Pacifica reached into her sweater, earning everyone's attention again. "This was with the journal... I don't know what it is though."
Dipper looked at the item, feeling as though it was familiar somehow. Wendy, Tambry, Robbie, and Gideon did as well; none of the kids recognized the old item in front of them.
"Hey Mr. Pines, isn't that a videotape?" Soos pointed.
"Yep! These brats don't know good media..." Stand gestured to them with his thumb. "Still, I don't have a use for that piece of junk. No one has a VHS player anymore and the tapes themselves are worthless. I say, toss it in the furnace."
"Wait!" Ford exclaimed. "You said this tape was found with the journal?"
"Yeah." Pacifica shrugged. "I figured it belonged to you too, why?"
"It's probably related, but I have no idea how... in addition, does anyone know the name on the tape?" Ford asked.
"I dated a girl with that name once." Stan shrugged. "Wouldn't have wanted to record it though."
Dipper frowned, and picked up the tape to look for himself. While the tape was obviously related to the journal, he knew they couldn't do anything with it here.
Who was Nora? And why was a VHS tape addressed to her found with the journal?