Chapter Text
The multiverse is not for the weak and Ford knew that. His journey through the multiverse started in the nightmare realm after Stanley pushed him through the portal Ford himself had built. He narrowly escaped Bill and his minions with the help of former asteroid miners. They gave him a dimensional translator and rations to help him in his quest to defeat Bill Cipher once and for all. Ford escaped the nightmare realm by swimming through the nearest wormhole and began setting his plan in motion.
At first, he gathered as much information about Bill and his weaknesses as possible then he started building his ultimate weapon, the Quantum Destabilizer. A weapon he constructed with stolen materials from different dimensions which led him to become an outlaw in multiple of those dimensions. He even got his own wanted poster. During his journey, he also met Jheselbraum the Unanswering or better known as the Oracle. She nursed him back to health in Dimension 52 after he had been attacked in a 2D Dimension. The Oracle had installed the metal plate in Ford's skull as it would keep Bill Cipher out of his head.
“You have the face of the man who is destined to destroy Bill Cipher,” the Oracle had told him as he prepared to continue his journey through the multiverse.
When Ford had finally completed his Quantum Destabilizer he returned to the nightmare realm to confront Bill Cipher. Ford managed to beat Bill's minions with his weapon forcing Bill to flee to the maze Quadrangle of Confusion. Despite the maze going against all laws of physics, Ford managed to keep up with Bill and just as he was about to finally end this 30-year long fight, the portal opened up once again. The ground began to shake and made Ford miss the killing blow.
Before either of them could react something came through the portal. A child.
Bill turned to the child and picked them up by their sweater, “Well, well, well look who we have here! You came just at the right time, shooting star!”
The disoriented girl finally came to her senses, trying to break free from the demon's hold which only made Bill laugh at her pathetic attempt. While Bill was busy taunting the child, Ford prepared his Quantum Destabilizer for another shot at the demon, but once again the shot didn't reach its target due to unexpected ‘earthquakes’. It seemed like the shaking from the portal triggered some kind of chain reaction. However, the blast did hit Bill's arm, severing the limp from the rest of his triangular body. The arm and the child which was still trapped between Bill’s fingers landed with a loud thump to the ground as Bill whirled around to face Ford.
“Come on, Sixer! You didn't seriously think I'd forget,” Bill laughed as he took the Quantum Destabilizer from Ford with his other arm, “I can't believe you made it this far thanks to this little gun. Don't worry I am doing you a favour this thing is overheating. Maybe your next big weapon will get its Job done. But we both know there won't be a next time!”
Ford tried to think of a way out of this. Making another Quantum Destabilizer was out of the question. It took him about 30 years to find all the supplies for the gun and now he is banned from those Dimensions, so he couldn't go back for more. He could try to fight Bill with the other weapons and knick-knacks he brought, but his chances of success without the Quantum Destabilizer were low. Not to mention the child that just appeared out of nowhere. Although Ford has committed multiple crimes throughout those 30 years in the multiverse, they were always for the greater good of defeating Bill Cipher. Leaving this child behind in the nightmare realm to fend off Bill and his henchmaniacs was against his morals, and for some reason, Bill knew her. The child and the demon were obviously not on the same side judging by their previous interaction.
It hurt to leave his Quantum Destabilizer behind, especially after putting so much effort into getting all the needed materials, but Ford knew it was futile to try to get it back from Cipher. Soon his minions would come out of their hiding place and any chance of escaping alive and unharmed would vanish. So Ford made the decision to grab the little girl and bolt out of there to the nearest wormhole they could find.
As Ford turned to the child he saw that she had already managed to free herself from Ciphers decapitated arm. And she was aiming something at the demon. Something that looked like a chunky gun.
Ford briefly made eye contact with her and even if she couldn't see his eyes due to his visor, she somehow knew he was looking right at her. The girl tried to tell him something with her gaze and although Ford couldn't decipher what she was trying to communicate to him, he knew it would put them into more danger. He begrudgingly took out his handgun and prepared for the worst.
To his dismay, the girl started drawing attention to herself by shouting, “Hey Bill, look what I have!” Bill turned to face her and immediately regretted it as something solid made contact with his eye. “A grappling hook!”
Bill's hands flew to his injured eye and let go of Ford's Quantum Destabilizer. The fall damaged his weapon, but not nearly as much as Cipher's would have if it stayed with him any longer. Ford grabbed his weapon and attached it to the holster on his back then he sprinted to the girl with the grappling hook and dragged her through the maze hoping to find a way out of the nightmare realm as soon as possible.
Behind them Bill shouted something about his eye taking the longest to regenerate and about getting caught off guard twice within the same interaction. But they couldn't focus on that as some of Bill's henchmaniacs crawled out of their hiding spaces. The commotion probably alerted them that their leader Bill Cipher was in trouble.
Dodging and fighting was a lot harder the second time as his ultimate weapon was made useless, and he had to protect himself and a child who had no idea what was happening.
Luckily they managed to get past and Ford dragged the child with him as he jumped through the portal he knew would bring them somewhere they wouldn't have to worry about Cipher and his minions.
Looking around he realised they were in the dimension 1-C3. Ford has never been in this dimension personally, but from the information the Oracle gave him, he concluded that this dimension was relatively harmless. Only a few lifeforms managed to evolve and be able to live in this harsh and cold climate which meant they wouldn't meet many living organisms here.
Even if this dimension was safe, Ford concluded they shouldn't just stay out there in the open where anyone could easily spot them, and the cold weather was also a problem. They should find somewhere to set up a camp or find a way to hop to a different, preferably warmer, dimension. This would also help cover their tracks from whoever might want to track them down.
Ford started walking in a random direction hoping to find somewhere where they could take cover. With the first few steps, he noticed that going through the thick and heavy snow would be more energy-consuming than he thought even with his trusty hiking boots.
Being focused on their current predicament led to Ford nearly forgetting he was still dragging an unknown child with him. Until said child snatched their arm out of his grip.
“Woah! Slow down Mister, where are we going? Just so we're clear I am not gonna let myself be kidnapped,” she exclaimed while pointing the grappling hook from before at him, but he could tell she was reluctant to fire at him.
Ford was surprised for a moment and even annoyed, but he had to remind himself that she didn't understand what was going on and the seriousness of their situation. He took a deep breath before responding, “Calm down child-”
“Mabel,” she interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“Mabel. My name is Mabel.”
Ford sighed and continued, “Fine. As I was saying, you need to calm down Mabel. You're probably in shock and the severity of this situation hasn't sunk in yet, but we were just in the nightmare realm. A horrible place ruled by none other than Bill Cipher. We need to move unless you want to end up there again or freeze to death.”
Mabel looked at him, slowly considering his words. “No way I need to go back home! My family must have already noticed that I am gone. They're going to open the portal again and I need to be there when it happens,” she shouted. Mabel still had her grappling hook pointed at him, but her aim worsened as she started shivering from the cold.
“There is no going back home,” he started feeling a familiar twinge of sadness, “The nightmare realm is dangerous and going back there would be a death sentence. And the portal you're from won't open again.”
Ford could see fear flashing through her eyes before she straightened her aim on him again and cried out, “You don't know that!”
“Trust me I do. I built the portal.”
“What…”
Ford looked away in shame, “I built that portal. And although I didn't know it at that time, it only works properly by letting other beings from the nightmare realm enter. It can let things from earth through, but it wasn't designed for that.”
Mabel couldn't believe what she was hearing. She slightly lowered her weapon, “But it still sent me through. I have to try.”
“Mabel, the last time it opened was thirty years ago. Seeing as it took multiple decades for the portal to open again, means it will stay closed for a couple more. The portal is undoubtedly too damaged to work again. There is nothing you can do.”
They stared at each other for a minute, neither of them saying anything until Mabel lowered her weapon and accepted defeat. She sullenly followed him through the ankle-deep snow.
☆
A million thoughts flew through Mabel's head. Who is this man, what was his relationship to grunkle Stan, why did he make the portal, did he really try everything yet to get back to their home dimension and most importantly is he even human?. Sure he looked like a human and acted like one, but he hadn't taken off that mask a single time yet and Mabel was starting to get suspicious.
It had been a couple of minutes since they settled in a nearby cave and started a fire to keep themselves warm with the supplies from the man's bag which was surprisingly bigger on the inside. Well, the man started the fire and she just watched. Mabel had gone camping less than a handful of times and when she did, her father would do all the boring stuff while she and Dipper went exploring, so she never really learned how to start a fire or all the other surviving in the wilderness stuff.
After that, the man was assessing the damage of his weapon which Bill had taken from him earlier. If you asked Mabel she'd say that it looked okay, but according to all the angry muttering from the man it was less than just okay.
Mabel continued sitting across from the man as she slowly worked up the courage to speak to him again. She tried to sound as casual as possible when she asked him, “So Mister, you never told me your name.”
The man glanced at her before sighing and putting his weapon away, “It's Stanford Pines, I wa-”
“Stanford Pines?!” Mabel interrupted, “That’s the name of my great uncle Stan or as me and my brother like to call him grunkle Stan. He was the one to turn that portal on, but I’m sure it was for good reason.”
“Grunkle is not a Word,” Ford answered before Mabel finished talking. “Hold on Stanley was the one who opened the portal, even after I put all these warnings in the journal? He shouldn’t have been able to get the portal working again unless he somehow got his hands on my research.”
“My brother had found a journal with the portal’s blueprint and everything and grunkle Stan had the other two journals. I think that’s how he did it, but I am not sure. My brother and I didn’t even know that grunkle Stan had a basement with a gravity-altering portal until today. Oh, and His name is Stanford, not Stanley.”
Ford looked at her, slowly processing her words, “I can’t believe it! He takes my name, my house and then he activates that wretched portal again.” His rant turned into an unintelligible angry mutter. Mabel nervously waited for him to finish his tirade, unsure whether she should ask him to clarify what he said earlier. When she finally mustered the courage to ask him, Ford let out another sigh before reluctantly answering her, “My name is Stanford Pines. The man you know under that name is my twin brother Stanley. He was the one who pushed me through the portal thirty years ago. And now it looks like he is also responsible for ruining the life of a child.”
“Wait, wait, wait! I am sure grunkle Stan didn’t want this to happen,” she quickly stood up and pointed at Ford, “And how do I know you’re telling the truth? For all I know you could be one of Bill’s stupid minions, trying to get me to lower my guard, because you know that you’re no match against me and my grappling hook. This is why you’re covering your face ‘Stanford’. If you really are grunkle Stan’s twin brother then what’s the name of your other brother?”
Ford tried to lower his mask, but he decided it would be unwise to distress any further as she narrowed her eyes at him. He put his hands up in mock surrender, “Sherman Pines, but everybody calls him Shermie.” However, Mabel wasn’t satisfied with the answer. If Ford had to guess he’d say the actions of today were finally catching up to her. It was hard enough to take care of a child, but having to deal with a hysterical child was out of Ford's capabilities.
“That was a lucky guess. What about-”
Before she could finish asking more questions, Ford took off everything covering his face, “Mabel, look at me.”
She slowly let her hand fall and blinked at him as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Woah, you look exactly like grunkle Stan.”
“Well, most twins do look alike, identical even if they are monozygotic twins,” he explained calmly.
“Mono-what?
“Monozygotic twins. They are identical twins and share the same DNA, because they derive from the same egg. However, Stanley and I are fraternal twins. We may look identical, but there is one key difference between us two brothers,” Ford said as he held up his six-fingered hand directly in front of Mabel.
She gasped and walked over to make sure she wasn't seeing things. “Are by any chance the author of the journals? The ones with the golden six-fingered hand on the cover and the maroon hardcover,” Mabel found herself asking to which Ford only nodded.
Unlike Dipper Mabel was never obsessed with the journals and their secrets, but after spending practically her whole summer helping him with the search for the author she too started wondering about the author's identity. Honestly, she was only a few minutes away from collapsing after everything she had been through today, but finally finding out who the author is, gave her new energy. Oh man, Dipper would go crazy if he was here. Mabel made a mental note to tell him all about this when she finally got home.
Mabel started blabbering, unable to contain her excitement any longer, “That’s so cool! My brother Dipper is basically obsessed with your book. He even made his own additions to the journal about every experience with the supernatural we’ve had in Gravity Falls. He is going to lose his marbles when he finally finds you and-”
“Okay I think I’ve got the gist no need to talk my ear off, but unfortunately I won’t get to meet your brother. I stand by what I said before the portal won’t open again or at the very least not anytime soon and waiting for it to happen is not an option.”
However, Mabel didn’t share the same views as him. Grunkle Stan was probably trying to get his twin home and seemingly for thirty years if Ford’s estimation was correct. If he did all that for his twin then he’d certainly work twice as hard for his twin and grandniece. Mabel looked him square in the eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to argue with you earlier, but you’re totally wrong. Grunkle Stan has apparently been working forever to fix the portal and get you home and now Dipper, the smartest person I know, is also aware of it. I bet they’ll get us out of here in no time.”
Ford knew it was wrong to let her hope and wait for something that would never come, but at that moment he didn’t have the heart and energy to tell her otherwise. Instead he offered her to help him with the repair of his Quantum Destabilizer. Well, she would be holding and handing him his tools while he would be trying to salvage as much as possible of his weapon. It was not much, but his mom used to say that the best way to keep a child under control was to keep them busy with senseless and harmless tasks. It used to work on him and Stanley when they were young, so there must be some truth to that statement.
“I know I told you my name earlier, but I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Mabel Pines and if you haven’t figured it out yet I am your great niece,” she beamed as she stuck out her hand towards him.
He took her smaller hand into his and shook it, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mabel. You already know my name, but I go by Ford. Stanford is a mouthful to say. Now if you don’t mind, can you get me the screwdriver from my bag? I’d like to save as much of my Quantum Destabilizer as possible and by the looks of it you have a lot of energy to burn.”
Mabel let go of his hand and dug around his bag for the screwdriver, “Did you know that your handshake feels a whole finger friendlier?”
Against his will, a smile crept on Ford's face. “You’re weird. I like that about you already,” he said with a chuckle.
“Thank you! I’ll take that as a compliment,” Mabel exclaimed as she finally found the screwdriver her great-uncle was asking for.
“It is one. Being unique is a gift.”
Ford took the screwdriver off her hands and began taking apart his Quantum Destabilizer and removing the damaged part while Mabel stood a few feet away. She was carefully watching as he worked on his weapon.
Freaking out about her current predicament was a problem for future Mabel when everything really starts to sink in, but at that moment she was content with watching her newly found great uncle repair his weapon and avoiding her scared thoughts.