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“Great Uncle Ford, are you sure about this?” somebody asked in a hushed whisper, though she was too groggy to make out who it was. The last thing she remembered was something sharp piercing her neck. After that, nothing.
“She said so herself she wanted to keep it, my boy.”
“I know, but, oh, she’s waking up!”
Slowly, she opened her eyes, and squinted in the bright light. It dimmed, much to her relief.
However, panic suddenly filled her when she tried to sit up, but was unable to.
She was tied down!
Frantically, she pulled at her restraints, but halted when she heard a familiar voice. “Shhh, don’t. You’ll hurt yourself, Mabel.”
At last, Mabel met the eyes of Ford. Something was wrong however. He wasn’t looking at her with love, but the way a scientist would look at a DNA sample or something.
She tried to ask what was going on, but all she got out was a mouthed ‘what’s-’ She started to scream, though no sound was produced. It was as if she’d been muted.
Her uncle’s next words chilled her to the bone. “I’ve paralyzed your vocal cords, Mabel,” Ford stated. “I’m sorry, but this procedure is a difficult one, and we can’t be interrupted. Don’t fret, it’s temporary.”
Tears ran down her face, when Dipper, her own brother, came into view, wearing a white lab coat, and giving her the same cold, uncaring look. Unlike any other time, his touch, which was most likely meant to be comforting, made her whimper in pure terror. What were they going to do to her?!
“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here, Mabel,” said Ford. Mabel would’ve nodded, but there was a leather strap tied over it to prevent any movement. “To put it simply, we’re giving you what you wanted. To keep the Cycloptopus. It will become a part of you.”
“Now I won’t be the only twin you have,” Dipper quipped. Mabel glared at him through watery, bloodshot eyes. Dipper either didn’t notice or ignored it as Ford said, “We should begin the procedure.”
“She can’t be awake for this,” Dipper said matter-of-factly.
“Of course she can’t, my boy. Could you hand me the anesthetic?”
Dipper nodded and handed Ford a mask reminiscent of the ones used before surgery. Carefully, he positioned it over Mabel’s face. In her weakened state, she couldn’t fight as the anesthetic gas put her under again. One more tear rolled down her cheek before her eyes closed completely.
…
The second time she awoke, she felt something…off with her abdomen. She found that she was no longer tied down, and so she decided to sit up, something that proved to be an arduous task, until she felt a warm hand help her stay upright. Ford came into view again, and she looked at him in pure fear.
He smiled joyfully. “The operation was a complete success.”
Her voice was back, just as promised, but it was raspy and soft. “O-operation?”
“Of course. We did this for you, Mabel. You adored the Cycloptopus, and so we decided to officially unite the two of you.”
Mabel couldn’t make heads nor tails of what he was saying, until he gently pulled up her sweater.
Attached to her, almost like a parasite, was the Cycloptopus. It looked as if it had fused to her skin. Most disturbing of all, it was alive.
“It will now get its nutrients from you. Don’t attempt to remove it, Mabel. Doing so will have fatal consequences.”
Mabel lost it. “Why, Grunkle Ford?! Why did you do this to me?! This isn’t what I meant! I-I just wanted to keep it as a pet or something! N-not a-”
“It’ll take time to adjust, but I know you will. You’re strong enough.”
“How could you do this to me?! Let me go! Don’t talk to me again, Grunkle Ford!”
“Mabel,” Ford said sternly. “I’ve told you, this was for you.”
Mabel looked down. “I’m gonna get nightmares from this.”
“No you won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it never happened.” Mabel looked up just in time to see Dipper, her own brother, pulling the trigger of the memory gun.
Mabel jolted awake with a terrified scream. The attic bedroom door flew open, and, upon seeing Ford, Mabel curled in on herself with a frightened sob.
Ford, who’d been holding his laser gun, assumed that was what had given the girl such a fright, so he quickly replaced it on the strap by his belt. “It’s okay, Mabel.”
He only became confused when Mabel backed away from him when he approached her. “Mabel, baby, what’s wrong?”
“D-don’t hurt me!”
He wasn’t sure what he expected her response to be, but it certainly wasn’t that. “Mabel, it’s alright. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”
“But you did,” Mabel said between hiccuping sobs. “You and Dipper. You knocked me out, and then o-operated on me to attach me to the Cycloptopus thingy! You kept saying you were doing this for me! I didn’t want it, Grunkle Ford! And it was like you weren’t really all there. Neither was Dipper. You were mad scientists who looked at me like I was a lab rat!”
By now deciding that moving closer would only upset Mabel in the worst possible ways, Ford made himself comfortable on the attic floor. He hated seeing Mabel like this. He hated seeing her so afraid. But most of all, he hated that she was afraid of him. It would almost be better if some monster was here to be the cause of her fear, because at least then he would be able to protect her. The only way he could protect her from himself is by avoiding her, and he couldn’t do that. Mabel loved him to pieces.
Or at least…she did.
“Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asked timidly.
“Yes, sweetie?” Ford replied, trying his best to keep a calm expression.
“Do you have anything sharp in your coat?”
Ford shook his head, but removed his trench coat anyway. She seemed to calm down just a little at this.
“Mabel?”
“Y-yeah?”
“I promise you, what Dipper and I did to you in your nightmare isn’t something that will happen. Not now, not ever. You don’t have to be afraid of me, okay?”
Naturally, Ford didn’t say it out loud, but if it were a viable option, he would do the exact same thing to Nightmare-Ford. An eye for an eye. A fitting punishment for not only harming but mentally scarring a little girl for life.
Mabel stood on shaky legs and approached him, albeit slowly. “C-can I hug you?”
With a soft smile, Ford opened his arms. “Of course.”
Hesitantly, she embraced him, and she actually braced herself for another attack. Instead, arms wrapped around her quaking form, and she seemed to melt like chocolate from the warmth and love.
Ford rubbed his niece’s back while he hummed a soft tune. She didn’t recognize the song, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asked after a while.
“Yes, Mabel?”
“Would you protect me from the Nightmare-you and Nightmare-Dipper?”
“Of course I would; I’ll always protect you, Mabel.”
Deep down, Mabel already knew that, but she needed to hear it from him as well.
“But why did I have to have a nightmare like that? Usually they’re about Bill, and I know it sounds crazy, but I would rather have had another one of those instead of this last one.”
Ford sighed. “I haven’t been the best uncle to you, have I? Most of the time, Dipper and I are down in the basement, and I never once stopped to get to know you. I think…I think you’re afraid that Dipper and I will turn against you one day.”
“Y-yeah. That’s pretty much it. I mean, I know you wouldn’t do that, and Dipper wouldn’t, but I constantly have this nagging sense of ‘what-if’ almost every day!”
“I understand completely, Mabel.”
As though she was rebelling against Nightmare-Ford and Nightmare-Dipper, Mabel snuggled a bit closer. “Grunkle Ford?”
“Hm?”
“I trust you.”
Ford smiled lovingly and ran his fingers through her soft brown locks. Hearing those three words seemed to lift a weight off his chest. One that he didn’t even realize he was carrying, until it was suddenly taken away.
“You’re safe here, Mabel. You’re safe.”
THE END