It wasn't supposed to be an adventure, at least not a Gravity Falls kind of adventure. It was just supposed to be a fun family camping trip so Dipper and Mabel's parents could get to know Ford and Mike better. See while Dipper and Mabel had decided that it was fine if their parents hadn't believed the more fantastical elements of Mabel's letters, they did want their parents to know about Ford and Mike. So everyone came up with an acceptable cover story of Ford having been off the grid working on some secret government project that he only finished recently and couldn't disclose many details about it. Mike's story was he ran away from a bad home and ended up being rescued by the others when they found him being attacked by a bear, Ford used his government contacts to save his life and get him such advanced prosthetics.

Alex and Heather (the twins' parents) were surprised but welcoming of the sudden expansion of their family, especially after hearing the glowing praise from the twins. They'd join in occasionally when there was a family video call and had the others join them for a few holiday celebrations. Still, there was a lot of time to make up for so they decided to go camping in the mountains over the twins' spring first few days had gone well, filled with the usual things like hiking, swimming in the lake, and sharing stories around the campfire while they roasted marshmallows.

It was a bit of a cool morning so Mike and the twins decided to play hide and seek in the immediate area to work up a sweat before they'd spend the day in the lake with the rest of the family. It was currently Mike's turn as the seeker and he was leisurely walking through the woods, checking around for any place the twins might be hiding. When he heard something in a tree and, knowing Mabel love her grappling hook, leaned against the trunk for any sign of a brightly colored sweater.

Finding nothing but squirrels and birds, Mike was about to move on when he froze as he felt unseen eyes fall on him. It might have been over a year since Mike has had to worry about killer animatronics, but his instincts were still more than strong enough to let him know when he was being hunted. Carefully scanning his surroundings for any sign of what could be watching him, Mike slowly shifted his feet so he either run or fight and mentally debated whether to turn his hand into taser mode or not.

Suddenly all his instincts told him to move, so Mike immediately dove forward and rolled out of the way as he heard something thunk into the trunk of the tree. Coming up into a low crouch, Mike saw what look like an arrow embedded in the tree where he had been and another one heading right for him. Mike didn't have time to completely dodge it, but he barely managed to bring up his animatronic arm to deflect the arrow.

"Who's there!? Why are you attacking me?!" Mike shouted as he sprinted out of the way of another arrow. He didn't get an answer, but Mike hadn't been expecting one. His main goal was to alert the twins and possibly those back at camp to what was going on. Unfortunately, his attacker was very skilled because the next arrow lodged itself in his shoulder, just below the collarbone.

Mike immediately cried out in pain and instinctively went to grip his wound. As soon as his animatronic hand made contact with the shaft of the arrow though, glowing runes flared to life, causing more pain that sent Mike to his knees and only stopped when he removed his hand. Panting heavily, Mike thought the blurriness of his vision was because of the pain he just experienced before he realized that his entire human arm was numb and that the numbness was spreading. Mike suspected there must have been poison, but there was nothing he could do as his consciousness began to fade. He barely managed to keep himself from landing on his wounded shoulder as he slumped over.

The last thing he heard was heavy footsteps coming towards him before unconscious took him completely.

Mike's head pounded and his limbs felt like they were filled with lead as he slowly came back into awareness. As he struggled to open his eyes, his system's start-up status scrolled past his vision, concluding that he was low on power. Mike blamed his grogginess for how long it took him to realize that should have been impossible as the remnant flowing through his veins was what powered his cybernetics. That realization and his surfacing memories of what knocked him out, caused fear to sharpen his mind and senses. But even with the new awareness of danger, he still struggled to even lift his head.

When Mike finally managed to pry his eyes open, he found he couldn't see much as he seemed to be lying on the floor of a dimly lit cave. Mike began moving his arms to try and lift himself, but a metallic scraping sound drew his attention and he found that the heaviness in his limbs wasn't just due to the lingering effects of whatever it was that he had been drugged with. Heavy manacles were wrapped around both his wrists and ankles, the large chains covered in glowing runes and symbols. And considering how it made the veins around his wrist on his human hand glow with his remnant, Mike guessed that the ruins were draining or suppressing his energy somehow. This only made escaping all the more important and Mike forced himself up on his elbows.

"You must be very powerful to wake up despite all the binding spells," A familiar voice came from somewhere else in the cave, making Mike's head whip around in surprise. "Not that it will change what's about to happen, as all demons fall in the end."

"Ford?!" Mike asked in surprise and confusion once he caught sight of the figure. And the person currently pouring some sort of white substance in a pattern on the ground as he walked around Mike was definitely Ford, but Mike was beginning to suspect it wasn't his Ford. While the general build and six fingers matched his uncle, the man before him was dressed as if he had just walked out of a monster hunter movie, complete with a crossbow slung across his back that made the wound in Mike's shoulder throb painfully at the reminder.

"Knowing my name won't help you," this hunter Ford said, still focused on his task. "I'm not as easily tricked by demons as this world' for apparently is."

"What..? You think I'm a demon?" Mike asked, baffled by the accusation. Mike had been called nearly everything under the sun, but that was when he actually was a monster. He hasn't had that happen since he was resurrected and while Evan had confirmed his suspicions he wasn't entirely human, thinking he was a demon seemed a bit much. He voiced as much saying, "I don't know what lead you to that conclusion, but I'm not possessed or anything like that. I doubt you're just going to take my word for it, so is there a way I can prove to you I'm not?"

"I don't know what you're hoping to accomplish, but I'm not going to humor you," hunter Ford scoffed, not even bothering to send a glare Mike's way. "I have all the proof I need in the demonic energy I can sense coming off you, so much so it's like you're practically made of the stuff. If it wasn't for the fact I can clearly sense a human soul in you I would have assumed you had a homunculus of some sort created to act as your vessel."

Mike's protest died in his throat as he processed that revelation. Technically speaking, his current body had been made by Cipher and who knows what the remnant would register as to this Ford's senses or whatever. Clearly, there was no talking out of this, and how much effort it took to just remain in his current position meant escape wasn't an option. A rescue was his family was pretty much his only hope, one that was diminishing rapidly as Ford finished creating some sort of a ritual circle with Mike at the center.

"I'm going to destroy you demon," Ford said coldly, as he opened an ancient spell book. "And finally free the poor innocent you've been puppetting for your evil plans."

Mike didn't appreciate the irony of this hunter Ford most likely killing him while trying to protect him.

Hunter Ford began to chant, making the circle glow and making the Remnant light up Mike's veins. Mike didn't even have time to truly feel terror before he curled up in pain, feeling like his very blood was on fire as the magic tried to rip his soul from his body. While Mike was sure he must have been screaming, he couldn't hear it as all he could focus on was the pain as his body fought to keep his soul from being involuntarily separated.

Then suddenly, while the pain didn't completely disappear, it did lessen significantly, making Mike untense slightly as he tried to process what was happening. Hands were suddenly on him, urgently but gently lifting him up and pulling him away from the circle. He was sure there was someone, possibly multiple someone's, trying to ask him something but he couldn't process it. From his new position in someone's arms, Mike could see the Hunter Ford dodging furious blows from Stan.

"Can't you see it's tricked you all!" the Hunter Ford shouted, ducking under Stan's right hook and sweeping the legs out from under Stan. "It's a demon that needs to be destroyed before it can fulfill his plans! I'm trying to save your dimension! You're just going to doom it if you don't let me do what must be done!"

"I don't care what high and mighty mission you think you're on!" Stan growled, rolling away before Hunter Ford could pin him and back onto his feet. "Mike's family and I'm not going to let you kill my son!"

Stan's declaration surprised Hunter Ford enough that Stan's next punch landed. Stan delivered a few more hard blows, before holding Hunter Ford in a chokehold.

"I think he's gotten the point," Ford said, apparently the one who was holding Mike. Once Mike was safely far away from the circle, he placed Mike down where Dipper and Mabel immediately began checking over and, surprisingly, Alex and Heather were standing as guards.

"I'm going to give you this one warning," Ford said with deadly calm, standing in front of his counterpart with his gun held ready. "Leave this dimension immediately and peruse your mission elsewhere. Mike isn't a threat to us and if you attempt to exorcise him again, I won't bother with a warning."

"Fine…" Hunter Ford spat, prompting Stan to release him. Hunter Ford rose to his feet, straightening his coat as he looked at his counterpart with disdain. Glaring his dimensional double in the eye, Hunter Ford says, "when that thing destroys this universe, the blood of all those innocents will be on your hands."

Turning away from the group, Hunter Ford gathered his things and held up some sort of pendant, creating a portal that disappeared as soon as he stepped through. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the older twins joined the rest of their family.

"Let's get these things off you," Stan said, immediately picking the locks on the maniacal.

"Thanks," Mike croaked, his voice sore from all his creaming as he rubbed his human wrist. "I appreciate the save…"

"Anytime kid," Stan chuckled. "Though I wish you kids didn't end up in these kinds of situations so often."

"Wait…" Heather began, her eyes widening in realization. "Those stories in Mabel's letters weren't just stories were they…"

The rest of the family winced and exchanged sheepish expressions. Looks like they had a lot of explaining to do.