Chapter Text
“Where are we going again?”
Ford pushed the door open, moving aside to let Mabel go through first. “The Black Market.”
Mabel turned around to look at him. “That’s not what you said earlier! You said we were just going shopping.”
Ford stepped out behind her, letting the door fall shut. “I didn’t want to announce my intentions to the entire elevator, considering the Black Market is illegal.”
Mabel narrowed her eyes. “How much trouble are we going to get in if we get caught?”
“A lot, but I haven’t been caught yet in thirty years, so I don’t think we have to worry about that.”
They started down the hotel steps. Above them, the multicolored nebulas were bright again, heralding the dimension’s version of day. The night had lasted for about nine hours according to Ford, so they had another nine hours to get what they needed.
Even early in the morning, the hubbub never ceased. Patrons were still going in and out of the hotel and casino at a steady pace, and the streets were just as crowded as they had been the day before.
“Stay close to me,” Ford instructed her as they entered the flow of traffic. “No wandering off, especially when we get to our destination. There’s no telling who we could meet or what could happen.”
Mabel nodded, the bandana in her hair bobbing slightly with the action. “Why are we going to the b—” When Ford shot her a look, she changed her words. “…to the store?”
“There are devices that allow you to travel in between dimensions at your own leisure, but they are only made to access approved dimensions. The one we want to go to is not one of those approved ones. The market can offer an illegal addon to the original device, allowing it to open a rift to whatever dimension you want it to.”
“Why not allow people to go to whatever dimension they want in the first place?”
Ford shook his head. “Admittedly, that would be a terrible idea. There are thousands, if not an infinite number of dimensions out there, and many of them hold dangerous substances or creatures.”
“What about the one we’re going to?” Mabel asked. “Is it dangerous?”
“Not in the slightest,” Ford reassured her. “The reason we can’t get to it normally is because very few people know about it, but it is one of the safest places you could be.”
The words Bill had spoken to her the night before came trickling back into her mind. Avoid Dimension 52 like the plague. She almost said the name out loud, but stopped herself at the last second. Ford would want to know how she knew the number, and she didn’t want to reveal that she knew of Bill’s existence if he really had a past with the dream demon. She resolved in her heart that she would have to trust him, no matter what Bill told her. He was a liar, and Ford wasn’t.
“What’s the dimension like?” Mabel asked. “Is it busy like this?”
“No. In the grand scheme of things, it’s surprisingly normal. It has grass, trees, and a sun.”
“That sounds nice,” she said wistfully.
“Yes. It reminds me of Earth more than any other dimension I’ve been in.”
The streets were thickly populated to the point where the going was slow. Airships that seemed to function like taxis whizzed by overhead frequently, which Mabel had not noticed the day before.
“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked as they shuffled behind a lumbering purple beast.
“I’ll have to ask around, but we’ll get there eventually,” Ford said. “This is not my first time seeking out a black market.”
Eventually, they managed to get off onto a quieter side street where it was less congested. Stores and vendors were jammed closely together, only separated by tiny alleyways that led through to other streets beyond the buildings.
Ford stopped to talk to a vendor, a gray long-necked creature with black stripes on a three-eyed face and long, clawed fingers. The creature, seeming to be male, was polite enough, conversing easily with Ford about the location of “high-end products”.
Mabel stood by, listening to their conversation though it made no sense to her. The conversation went on for quite a while, and eventually Mabel’s eyes wandered to the oddities the market had to offer. Across the street and a little ways town, there was a vendor selling some sort of small, fuzzy creatures in cages. Never being able to resist small fuzzies, she started down the street towards them.
She only made it about halfway there when arms wrapped around her, lifting her off the ground. She yelped in surprise, looking down to see four orange, burly arms holding her. She twisted her neck around to see who it was that held her, and to her shock she saw the same alien she had made eye contact with the night before in the casino.
Ford whirled around at the sound of Mabel’s cry, and saw her being grabbed by a six-armed, orange, scaly alien with red eyes.
“Let me go!” Mabel yelled, beating at the strange arms even though she knew they would not be able to understand her. Then, something pressed against her temple, and she went stock still. She did not have to guess what the sensation was.
“Let the girl go,” Ford said in the common alien language, his hand instinctively moving towards the ray gun concealed in his coat as a gun was pressed to Mabel’s head. “She’s mine.”
The alien holding Mabel turned towards Ford, smiling and showing rows of sharp teeth. Several aliens of the same species stood behind him. “She’s mine now. She is a rare species, and if you don’t want to join her, you’ll let us go.”
Ford studied the creatures. The were clad in armored vests and were armed to the teeth with all sorts of weapons, some of which he didn’t even recognize. Bounty hunters.
“Great-Uncle Ford?” Mabel whimpered. All around them, the vendors and some passers by were watching the exchange curiously, but it was clear that no one wanted to intervene for her.
“Silence!” the alien hissed, shaking her roughly before turning his attention back to Ford. “I am Manthaj, the greatest bounty hunter in this dimension! If you know what’s best for you, you’ll let us take the girl.”
Ford scowled. His boast was supposed to scare him, but all it did was annoy him. “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll let her go.”
Mabel remained still, trying not to show the panic she felt. “Great-Uncle Ford?” she squeaked.
“It’s alright,” he said calmly in English.
“What are you saying to her?” Manthaj snarled, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against her head.
“I’m reassuring her,” Ford said, keeping his voice level so as not to antagonize the bounty hunter further. “I would hate to let you take her while she was in a panic.”
Manthaj sneered at him. “So you will let us take her then?”
“Yes,” he lied, flexing his hands. Keeping his eyes on Manthaj, he said to Mabel, “When I say run, you run as fast as you can and do not stop, no matter what. It doesn’t matter where you go, I’ll come and find you. Do you understand?”
Mabel nodded dumbly, her heart pounding in her ears so loudly the noise of the market was almost drowned out.
“You have made a good choice,” said Manthaj. “You will get to live.” Then, he made the mistake of turning away slightly. Ford threw up his hands, and a blast of electricity from his gloves knocked the gun right out of Manthaj’s hand. With a cry of pain and shock, his grip loosened briefly, giving Mabel a small window.
“Run!” Ford bellowed, sprinting towards Manthaj.
Mabel took off running, squeezing into the nearest small alleyway, scraping herself against the rough walls as she stumbled away.
“Get her!” Manthaj screeched at his cohorts, his command turning into a roar of agony as Ford’s boot came smashing down onto the middle of his spine.
Mabel ran out into the next street, nearly running into a cluster of aliens. The street was more crowded than the last one, so she pushed her way through the press, yelling apologies as she went.
Angry shouts rang out behind her, but she was not about to look back to see if it was actually the bounty hunters or some offended alien. She wove her way down the street, pushing past tall aliens and jumping over small ones. An intersection came up in front of her, so she veered off to the right. This street was not so populated, so she made her way down it quickly. When she came upon another intersection, she took a right again…only to find it that it was a dead end. She ran up to the wall at the end, searching for some means of escape, but there was none. The angry shouts were still behind her, and they were getting closer.
Follow me!
Mabel’s head jerked up at the sound of a new voice, silvery and near to her. Clinging to the wall several feet above her head was the tiny pink lizard she had seen when she had first passed through the portal.
Follow me!
The lizard scampered up and off to her left, near to a ladder going up to the roof of the building that Mabel had not noticed before. She stood frozen in place, unsure of whether to follow the strange voice or not.
Follow me, follow me! the silvery voice insisted urgently.
The voices of her pursuers getting nearer jerked her from her trance. Adrenaline fueling her strength, she jumped up and grabbed the first rung of the ladder, hauling herself up and grabbing onto the second and then the third, allowing her feet purchase. She climbed as fast as she dared, her breath rasping in her throat and her hands trembling, not daring to look down the higher she got. She made it to the top and tumbled onto the roof, hoping and praying she had not been seen.
The voices of her pursuers came into the alleyway, and Mabel forced herself to breathe quietly in case they could hear her. Their voices were harsh and angry, and they sounded like they were arguing. She waited for the sounds of them coming up the ladder and looked around for a place to hide, but the rooftop was flat and featureless, offering no chance of escape should they ascend.
The voices argued with each other for a few moments longer, and then, wonder of wonders, they started back up the alleyway. Mabel’s breath hitched in her throat as she rolled over, daring to peek over the edge of the building. She was not as high up as she had first imagined, so she could clearly see the orange, scaly figures retreating up the alleyway just before they rounded the corner and disappeared.
Mabel let out a shaky sigh of relief, rolling onto her back again. She lay there for a few minutes, allowing her heart to calm itself and her breathing to slow. She listened for them if they came back, but everything was calm.
There was no way Ford would be able to find her up on a roof, so she would have to go back down. She sat up, and only then did she realize there was no sign of the little lizard. She looked all around, but the rooftop was empty save for her.
She descended the ladder slowly, her body shaky with nerves. Going back up the alleyway, every step was slow and laced with caution, just in case the bounty hunters came back. She made it onto the street she was on before turning into the dead end and stood there, scanning the crowd, but she could not see Ford anywhere. A new bubble of panic began to swell in her chest as the seconds ticked by. Had the alien defeated him and hurt him? Was he gone? Was she stuck here alone in this crazy dimension?
She made for the street she had been on before, her legs quivering and weak. As she approached the intersection of the busy street, she paused to peer around the corner of a building, and hands grabbed her from behind. She let out a shriek, and struck out at her assailant, but her hands were caught in a gentle but unyielding grip.
“Mabel, it’s me!”
She faltered at the voice, looking up to see Ford leaning over her, his face etched with concern as he breathed heavily.
“Are you alright?” he asked, kneeling down to her level. “Did he hurt you?”
Mabel swallowed hard, shaking her head as a sob welled in her throat.
Ford sighed in relief. He too had panicked when he couldn’t find her right away, the fear of the bounty hunters having caught her invading his mind. Without a second thought, he pulled her into a tight hug, needing to know that she was safe.
“I was so scared, Grunkle Ford!” she wailed into his shoulder. “I thought they were going to catch me, and then I couldn’t find you, and—and—”
“It’s alright now, it’s alright,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “You’re safe now. Nothing will hurt you.”
“Are they going to come after us?” she asked through her sobs.
“No,” he assured her. “They won’t bother us anymore.” Without waiting for her to compose herself, he lifted her in his arms, taking off at a fast walk down the street. He had no true assurance that Manthaj wouldn’t send someone after them, so it was best for them to get away while they still could.
“Where are we going?” Mabel asked, clinging to him for dear life.
“Another dimension,” he said. “Somewhere far away from here.”
Mabel fell silent then, trying to stop her tears and end her trembling. She let her head rest on his shoulder, her head brushing softly against the gun on his back with every step. She watched the street and those on the street go by, hyper-vigilant, but also letting the motion of his steps calm her down a little.
The next thing she knew they had stopped, and she was being lowered to the ground. They were in another alleyway, which Mabel found herself rapidly growing tired of.
Ford grabbed up a pebble on the ground and tossed it at the wall. It vanished with a ripple, and after waiting a moment, he was satisfied that it was safe to go through. Mabel was growing used to the falling sensation by now, and barely flinched as they passed through the portal.
Then they were in a strange place, standing on a fluorescent pink platform. They could see the edges of the platform several yards away from them on either side. Ahead of them was a clump of indistinguishable blue, and behind them, a huge pillar of the same pink rose into the sky.
“Where are we?” Mabel asked, her voice sounding loud in the quiet of the dimension.
“I’m not sure,” Ford mused, looking every which way. He moved to the edge of the platform, peering over the edge, and then let out a short laugh.
“What?” she asked, stepping towards him.
He turned back to her, smiling crookedly. “We’re on a tree.”
Mabel paused to look around again, and suddenly it all made sense. The platform they were standing on was a branch, and the pillar was a trunk. The clumps of blue were leaves, and above them she could see more branches through the leaves.
“Cool!” she said, her nervousness fading at the new revelation.
Ford moved to start setting up the plasmafire, when pain rippled through his torso. He stopped, grabbing his middle, his breath catching in his throat as he prayed Mabel didn’t notice. He had no such luck, however, as Mabel’s eyes and ears were sharp.
“Grunkle Ford?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just a little bruised up from the fight earlier.” He moved his hand, and it came away stained red.
Mabel gasped. “You’re bleeding!”
“It’s not that b—”
“Sit down before you make it worse!” she cried, hurrying over to him.
Ford sighed wearily. “Really, Mabel, it’s not bad, it’s just—”
“Sit. Down.” Mabel snarled, raising herself up on her tiptoes in an effort to get in his face.
Ford blinked, surprised by the sudden ferocity, and he decided it would be best if he did as he was told. He lowered himself to the ground, trying not to jostle his wound.
Mabel set up the plasmafire by herself, going off of memory of the times she had seen him do it. She managed to light it without burning herself, and turned to Ford. “Alright, what do I need to do?”
“Get the healing salve out of my bag,” he said, resigned to the fact that she was helping him.
She rummaged through his bag, coming up with the salve and turning back to him. “I think you’re gonna have to take off your shirt for me to do this.”
He grabbed for the salve, but Mabel kept it out of his reach. “Really, I can take it from here—”
“Nope! You’ve been taking care of me this entire time, so now it’s my turn to take care of you.” Then she took on a more sober attitude. “I can’t have you dying or getting sick. I don’t want to be alone here.”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Fine, but I promise it won’t be a pretty sight.”
“Nothing could be worse than Grunkle Stan shirtless,” Mabel said, making a face at the memory.
Ford snorted and started to remove his armored top. The process was prolonged by his wound, and also his apprehension at what Mabel was about to see. He removed the armor, and when he made to remove the normal shirt underneath, he paused and looked up at her.
“Are you sure you want to see this?” he asked.
Mabel nodded, starting to wonder what she had gotten herself into.
With a final jerk, Ford pulled the shirt up and over his head, baring his torso. Mabel couldn’t help but inhale sharply at the sight that greeted her, though she tried to keep her expression neutral. His entire upper body was riddled in scars; his arms, his chest, everything from the neck down. It seemed there was no patch of skin left unharmed.
“Mabel,” Ford said. “Can you apply the salve?”
She realized she had been staring and blushed with shame, hurrying to his side. The cut was in the lower left of his stomach. It wasn’t very deep thanks to his armor, but it was enough to bleed considerably.
“Apply the salve directly to the wound,” Ford instructed her. “Don’t worry about hurting me.”
Mabel bit her lip and nodded, squeezing a bit of salve onto her fingers. Trying to keep her hand steady, she pressed the salve into the cut. Ford let out a small grunt, but she forced herself to keep working, swallowing back a wave of nausea as her fingers came away bloody.
As she worked, she let her eyes wander to the scars in an effort to ignore the blood. Underneath all the scars, Ford was in the best shape she had ever seen a 60-something year old man in. He was practically the exact opposite of Grunkle Stan. Where Stan had a bulging gut, Ford was completely flat, and though Stan had some muscle on his arms, he was nowhere near Ford’s caliber.
“That’s enough,” Ford said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Mabel sat back, placing the cap on the salve as Ford inspected her work.
“You did an excellent job,” he told her as he reached for his shirt. “Certainly a better one than I would have done.”
“How did you get all those scars?” Mabel asked before she could stop herself.
Ford sighed and looked down at his body with something like ruefulness. “When you spend half your life jumping through dimensions, many of which are potentially lethal, there’s no way to get by without scars.”
“At least your head was spared,” she said, trying to be optimistic, though she wondered if by the time they got home she would have scars of her own.
“Not completely,” he said, pointing at the silver streak that ran across his head. “This is a scar too.”
“How did you get it?”
“That is a long story that will have to wait for another time, I’m afraid.” Ford went to put on his shirt, and in doing so, turned his back slightly towards Mabel. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the scar that dominated most of his back. It had been covered by other scars, but it was still recognizable as an image of Bill Cipher.
Ford finished putting on his shirt and turned back to her, and frowned at how pale her face had gone. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” she said weakly. “It’s just been a stressful day.”
Sympathy flickered over his face. “I know how it feels.”
Mabel took the Dehydrated Nutrients he gave her and ate it automatically, her mind racing. He had an image of Bill Cipher on his back, though whether it was actually a scar or a tattoo she did not know. Her thoughts went back to the dream she had of Bill, and what he had said about Ford being his ally. The notion had seemed preposterous at the time, but now she was wondering if the dream demon had been telling the truth for once.
Time wore on, the dimension seeming that be relatively quiet. There was no sound from any wildlife that they could pinpoint, and everything was peaceful for the time being. The temperature, which had been mild at the time of their arrival, started to drop, and with it, the fluorescence of the trees dimmed, causing the plasmafire to become a small blue star in the oncoming darkness.
“…Mabel?”
“Huh?” She looked up, realizing that Ford had said her name.
“You should go to sleep. We’ll be on the move again tomorrow, and I don’t want you to be tired.”
Her muscles trembled with weariness at the mere thought of more walking. “What about your stomach?”
“That will heal quickly,” Ford said, pulling a blanket out of his pack and handing it to her. “I’ve traveled on far worse that, anyway.”
After having the state of his body, she did not doubt him. She took the blanket and wrapped it tightly around herself, lying down on what she supposed was the bark of the enormous tree they were camped out on. It was not terribly uncomfortable, but it was certainly a downgrade from the cushy hotel bed.
“Good night, Mabel,” Ford said with a weary smile.
“Good night, Grunkle Ford,” she replied quietly.
He let out a soft chuckle. “Isn’t that what you call Stanley?”
Mabel crinkled her brow, and it took her a moment to realize what he meant. “You mean Grunkle?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her face heating up. “I guess it kinda came out unconsciously. I’ll stop—“
“No, it’s alright,” Ford said. “I prefer it actually.”
Mabel managed a smile. “Noted. Good night, Grunkle Ford.”
“Good night.”
She turned her back on the plasmafire and Ford so as to make it look like she was going to sleep, but her mind was going crazy. For a fleeting moment, the insane notion of running away while he slept crossed her mind, just in case he was in league with Bill, but she swiftly decided against it. Ford was the only thing keeping her alive; without him, she would’ve been dead or a slave. She tried to think of other options, but none came to mind that weren’t suicide.
Hot tears welled in her eyes. She’d never missed Dipper and Grunkle Stan so much in her life. She wanted nothing more than to be home. She prayed silently that when she woke up, she would be back in the Mystery Shack with her family, and this was all some giant nightmare.
When her eyes opened next, she found herself standing on the ruined plain of her dreamscape. She turned around, and found the one person—or triangle—she didn’t want to see looking back at her.
“So, you’ve discovered Ford might not be as trustworthy as you thought he was,” Bill gloated.
“The tattoo doesn’t mean anything!” Mabel yelled back defensively, though she didn’t believe her own words and Bill seemed to know this.
“There is nothing with my face on it that has no point,” Bill said. “My effigy is too priceless for that.”
“And how do I know its not there because you did something horrible to him?”
“You don’t, but is that a risk you’re willing to take?”
Mabel scowled. She knew Bill was good at tricking people, but Ford had to have that tattoo for a reason, and did she dare bring him up? Ford had already been paranoid enough when they first met, and she didn’t want to send him back to that state and lose her only chance of getting home.
“My offer still stands, Shooting Star,” Bill continued. “Come to my dimension and make a deal with me.”
“Even if I wanted to do that, how would I?”
“I have friends around. If you hang in one place long enough you’ll be found.”
Mabel went cold. “You mean we’re being followed?”
“Maybe so, but that’s just another thing Ford didn’t tell you.”
A sick feeling settled in her stomach. Of course Bill would have someone coming after Ford, and he probably knew it too. It made sense, but he hadn’t told her about it. She knew the signs of paranoia—she had seen it enough times when Grunkle Stan thought the IRS was coming for him—and she now realized she had seen the same in Ford. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, always coiled tight like a spring ready to snap. They had never stayed more than a single night in a dimension, and now she knew why.
At least that ruled out the possibility of him working for Bill…unless he was trying to get her to Bill quicker before something happened.
“Stupid brain, stop thinking!” she fumed aloud.
Bill laughed as though he knew what her thought process had been, and she had an uneasy feeling that he did. “Now you’re seeing ol’ Six-fingers had a point when he said to trust no one, huh?”
“He…he probably didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to scare me,” she said weakly, though now she was unsure what to believe.
“Uh-huh. I’ll just let you keep believing that,” Bill said.
Mabel groaned with frustration. “Dreams are supposed to be an escape from reality, not make reality worse! Get out of here you dumb triangle! Don’t talk to me again!”
“Have it your way, kid. But if you change your mind, do it before it’s too late!”
Bill vanished, and she fell into darkness.