Chapter Text
There was a moment of silence as the rift tore through the sky. The calm before the storm as everything seemed to fall away into nothingness.
Or that’s how Ford felt as he stared up into the darkening red sky.
“MABEL!”
Reality crashed back to him, the ringing silence in his ears popping back into the sounds of terror and destruction going on around them. He spun to see Dipper, his eyes panicked as he tried to track where the rift had opened, knowing his twin would be at its epicentre. A niggling voice whispered in his ear that she was to blame for all of this but another stronger voice knew they’d all had their part to play in Bill’s plan.
“Dipper, where is she?”
Ford blinked, feeling like everything around him was moving too fast and too slowly at the same time. He just couldn’t seem to grasp the situation. This should never have happened. He’d planned for everything. He watching his brother appear from the shack at Dipper’s shout, his bat and knuckledusters ready as if he could – would take on anything to keep them safe. Even in this situation he couldn’t help but scoff at him, his usual disdain for the other man showing through. What was he thinking? His brawn would do nothing against the inhuman creatures coming through the portal. How could his twin be so different?
He watched, still silent as Stan shook Dipper, vaguely listening to him while trying to process the best course of action they should be taking at the same time.
“Dipper? Dipper!” Stan shook him again, trying to stop him from going into overload. “I don’t care what has happened, or how it’s happened. We can talk about that later. Just tell me where she is and let’s go get her.”
“We’ve got more important things to be dealing with.” Ford felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere around him, zoning back into the conversation as he realised he’d spoken aloud. He gulped as the silence seemed to engulf him again, his mind freezing at the identical looks of horror on his twin and nephews faces. He hadn’t meant to say that, even if it was true. The world was ending, Mabel could wait. He should have known better than to say it though with emotions running high.
“More important…?”
A pang of guilt went through him at the look of betrayal on his nephews face before he felt his feet leave the ground, his brother lifting him up by his collar.
“Don’t you ever- ever say that again.” Stan’s glare was a force to be reckoned with in that moment, even as his hands shook around Ford’s collar. “I am going to go protect my family and I’m pretty sure Dipper’s coming with me. But you? You can do what you want.”
Ford tutted, locking away the emotions that had threatened to surface at their expressions. He needed to be calm and collected, to think everything through. There was no time for this! “Stanley, we need to figure out a way to get that rift closed. I’m trying to save the world here!”
“And I’m trying to save mine.” Stan shrugged, dropping him to the floor without a thought. “I’m selfish, remember?”
“There’ll be no point to saving her if we can’t get that rift closed.”
“Yeah well, I don’t want to think about a world without my twin.” Dipper broke in, his hands shaking, but his gaze strong. Ford couldn’t help but notice the parallel between him and Stan at that moment, even though earlier that day he had been so sure Dipper was more like him.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favourite family. Thanks for the help, guys.”
“You! Where is she? Where’s Mabel?” Dipper shot forward, stumbling as Bill rose out of his way.
“Good to see you too, Pine tree. I’d go help shooting star if I were you though. She seems to have…fallen.”
“Wait, Dipper! If he wants you to go, it must be a trap.” Ford couldn’t believe it when he was ignored, Dipper plunging into the dark forest without another second’s hesitation. Why was no one listening to him? Why weren’t they understanding what was at risk here? He glared at his old ‘friend’, wondering how he could have ever believed that this thing was really helping him.
“Sorry sixer but I think Pine tree’s made up his mind.” Bill floated back down in front of him, hands behind him and legs crossed; the picture of relaxation. “I mean it’s not like you can do anything about the whole apocalypse thing, might as well do what you want, am I right?” He closed his eye for a second before opening it again, eyebrow raised. “Come on, relax~ Have some fun. It’s the end of the world as you know it. Might as well get used to it now and have some fun.”
“I can stop you. I will you know.” Ford stood up straight, facing off against the demon and ignoring its laughter.
“You? Come on, you think you can do it all by yourself? You’ve probably alienated the only people that could help you fix this mess, sixer.”
“Help? I don’t need help to take you down.” Ford frowned, puzzled. He always came up with a plan, what use was anyone else unless they were following it? He felt Stan shift beside him but didn’t turn to look. Whatever he was doing wasn’t important anyway.
“If you say so.” Bill shrugged, sitting back up. “But you’re running out of time so hop to whatever you’re going to do. I can’t wait to watch you run around in circles.” Bill laughed again, turning towards the trees as he spoke. “Tick tock sixer, save the world or save the family? You won’t be able to do both-”
Ford jumped as he watched Stan lunge forward, baseball bat in hand. He reached for his gun, his mind already shouting at him that Bill couldn’t be hurt in the physical world. The shout of how idiotic Stan was being fell flat on his tongue as the bat connected with it’s mark and sent Bill reeling backwards in the air a few meters. A hand flew to his face as he came to a halt, eye widening in shock as he surveyed Stan with a silent stare for once.
“Hah!” Stan grinned, a small wince showing through that he tried to shake off, one arm on his shoulder. Ford watched in a small amount of awe, wondering how much force he’d put behind the swing to have hurt himself. “Maybe you should have thought about the consequences of a physical body you floating triangle.”
“Wow, gotta hand it to you there Fez, that was some clever thinking for a knucklehead.” There was an odd edge to Bill’s movements that Ford didn’t miss. The demon was trying to act nonchalant but obviously what Stan had done had unnerved him. “I’m impressed, you shouldn’t even be able to move…”
It was at that moment that Ford processed that something was very very wrong.
Why hadn’t Stanley gone straight after Dipper?
Why had he stayed behind after his outburst?
“Stanley?” Ford stepped towards his brother as he wobbled slightly, his arm tightening around his shoulder with a small whimper of pain. Ford dove forward, as his brother fell to one knee, catching him before he fell entirely. He gasped as smoke escaped through Stan’s fingers, before trying to pull the hand away to check his shoulder. “What have you done?” Ford turned back to his brother. “What’s he doing, Stan?”
“I don’t know.” The voice came through gritted teeth. “It feels like I’m fighting to move my body, and now i-it burns.”
“You know, you can’t trick a conman. Fez here would have never made a deal with me, unlike you and the rest of your family but thankfully I don’t need to try anymore. You gave me everything I needed.” Bill cackled as he stared at Ford’s horrified and confused expression. “You don’t remember giving me your brother as part of our deal?”
Ford felt more than saw the way Stan’s body froze up at Bill’s words, as if the last piece of his hope had shattered. He tried to push himself away from Ford, slumping onto the grass beside him as best he could but Ford wouldn’t let him go entirely. “W-What? I never- I would never.” He felt Stan go limp in his arms. “Stan? Stan! What did you do? I never made any deal concerning my brother.”
“I know, but now he’s got that little seed of doubt in his head. Though you didn’t care what happened to him. Otherwise you might have been a bit more concerned by the symbol you branded into him.” Bill slid over, appraising the now visible burn on Stan’s shoulder with a keen eye. All the work that Stan had put into getting the burn to heal and then slowly vanish into a less noticeable scar had now been made obsolete, the burn bubbling up as if I t had only just been branded there. “I had kind of hoped you or that assistant of yours would have burned yourselves on it but it all worked out better in the end. He’s a lot more trouble than you give him credit for.”
“Stan is-” Ford couldn’t finish the sentence, his hand tightening on his brother’s prone form. His brother had always ruined everything, surely he wasn’t a threat to Bill? “I didn’t mean- what are you going to do with him?”
Bill shrugged, suddenly seeming bored with the situation. “Whatever I feel like doing. What does it matter to you, sixer? I thought you were going to stop me? Surely you’re not going to go sentimental now, are you? What has he ever done for you?”
He could feel the trap in his words as he flew off. There was no time. No time to look for the twins, no time to help his brother. There was so much at stake. But he could also feel his brother’s body shaking through his arms. He could see the damage that he had caused burning brightly in his skin, the smell of burning short circuiting his brain from anything other than ‘help him’.
And wasn’t that what his brother had always tried to do for him?
He could still feel the budding resentment, the thoughts of what Stan had cost him throughout his life. But his brother had spent years trying to rectify it, even knowing what it could do to them all. He wondered if now knowing the consequences, whether Stan would have ever opened the portal again.
He tried to shake the thought but he already knew the answer.
He sighed, looking around when the mystery shack caught his eye. Whatever happened, he couldn’t leave his brother here. At least the wards around the shack should still hold. He dragged his brother towards it, his mind already hoping that Bill’s hold would stop as soon as he went over the threshold. He waited with baited breath as he made it inside, his heart panicking when Stan seemed smaller than he always did, his face twisted in pain and fear. He’d always been so brave in front of everyone, never wanting them to worry.
Ford spun around, grabbing the things he’d need to enter the mindscape, all previous thoughts forgotten as he started putting it all together. A voice started to shout at him as he sat down that this was all a trap. One designed by Bill to keep him preoccupied. He didn’t tune it out, sitting for a second before setting his watch. He’d had enough troubles with the demon before that he’d modified it, making sure that no matter what situation he was in in the mindscape, his alarm would wake him up, out of whatever nightmare he was in. Unfortunately it didn’t mean that the dreams went by any quicker, time moved slowly in the mindscape.
“Right, knucklehead. I’ve got a deadline to meet, the world’s ending and you’re sleeping on the job.”