Chapter Text
It's been weeks. Stanford had returned from the portal and since, hasn't been the same as Stanley remembered him. He mutters to himself from time to time about 'devils' and 'threats' and 'islands'. It's a lot for everyone in the shack to take in; However, when he started showing signs of obsession, well... that was when it all went very downhill. And not once would the family be at peace from then on.
"The last thing he'd said to me... what the hell does it mean!?" Stanford had been hunched over at his desk in the basement, scribbling in an empty page of one of his journals. He'd stopped coming up for coffee, the only thing he spent his time on was deciphering a cryptic message Bill had said to him in a dream after he'd gotten back. Ford quickly scribbled out a sentence: 'The Island Devils will be your family's end,' as if this had meant anything to him. What had Bill meant? As far as he knew there weren't any islands near Oregon other than possibly Hawaii. Positive that he'd looked at every possible book at least seven times over, all the resources he had to look through had been exhausted to no end.
A few extra days had passed, and Dipper had begun to worry. Sure, Ford doesn't leave the basement a lot anyways; however, not even once throughout that time had he come up for coffee, for a meal, for anything except piles on piles of books from the library in the center of town. The small brunette had taken the initiative to bring a sloppily-made PB&J in a baggie down to the basement, to at least make sure Ford had some sort of food. When he'd gotten to the dusty, metal-covered room, -that would almost positively have given him claustrophobia if he hadn't been there a thousand times- Stanford appeared, once again, hunched over his desk, writing down notes. Recently he'd started entertaining the idea to re-open his old, broken-down portal device. Not that they would ever know.
Not noticing Dipper had walked in, he grabbed a welder and made his way into the portal room in an attempt to make -in his mind- simple repairs. Holding the sandwich baggie, Dipper cocked his head in confusion. "Great uncle Ford? Uhh, is everything okay down here?" he had set the sandwich down on Stanford's desk and followed him into the room. "You haven't come upstairs in a really long time. Mabel misses you. I want to make sure you're okay as well." The closer he got, the more he could hear Ford's mumbling. "TherehastobesomethingIcangetanswersfrombutwhatifitsnotsomethingbutsomeonethaticangetalltheanswersfromhowdoifigurethisoutwhatdiditevenmean-" Clearing his throat, Dipper spoke up in an attempt to cut him off. "Please eat something, I left a PB&J sandwich on your desk for you if you get hungry," However, Ford's muttering hadn't ceased; Therefore, Dipper turned on his heels and made for the door. As he stood in the door way, he turned back around and muttered a quiet: "I love you. Please be safe." Before making for the elevator and leaving the basement.
A few days after this instance, Stanford had officially made up his mind. He'd put the repair of the portal into motion, and he wouldn't stop until he was positive that his family would be safe; Meanwhile, the family were upstairs planning to talk to him. After nearly a month with no sign of Stanford whatsoever, they'd decided that enough was enough. They were all going to confront him as soon as they possibly could, before they wouldn't be able to. Getting up off the seats in the living room and making their way to the vending machine, Mabel sighed. She set Waddles down and stood next to Stanley and Dipper. When they had all reached the basement, Ford was nowhere to be found. "Sixer? Uhhm, where 'you at man?" Dipper perked up, knowing where Ford would've been. He ran towards the door next to the giant window, and flung it open before stopping in his tracks. "FORD!!!"
There lay the very unstable scientist, directly next to the lever-device that would inevitably decide all of their fates. "Hey, Sixer. 'You good? Why 'you just layin' here? The malnourishment got to ya'?" Stan kneeled in front of him, waving a hand just above his face. Stanford groaned loudly, barely more than a movement of his lips. He was, in fact, alive. Just very, very tired. "UHH, GUYS???" Mabel had shouted, pointing in front of everyone, towards a huge, metal, triangular-mass. Everyone -except the burnt-out Stanford- had looked up then, at the perfectly standing, almost pristine-looking portal. The portal which, just a few days ago, was lying in rubble on the dirt.
Stanford took a moment of clarity to stand up, revealing the multitudes of supplies -or what he considered supplies, which consisted of a welder and 74 nails exactly- he had strapped to his body on a belt. "What are you doing in here great uncle ford?" Dipper rushed to help Stanford to his feet. Stanford swallowed a lump in his throat and shifted on his feet to stand straight. "I have to.. find the answer. What the hell could he have meant??" He nearly mumbled to himself while shaking his head. Dipper backed up, as did Mabel. Stan stepped closer and Ford inched toward the lever as if it would solve everything he'd ever questioned. He was stopped by his younger twin, pulling him back by the wrist. "What answers are you looking for? 'pretty sure you solved everything when you left that stupidly scary dimension." He questioned his brother. "Yeah! Aren't we fine now? You're back!!" Mabel had added onto Stan's original statement while twisting her hair in her fingers nervously. "Tell us poindexter, what's got you this worked up?" He carefully let go of Stanford's wrist as said twin sighed to himself.
He knew better than anyone he'd ever know that the kids would find out eventually. Or, rather, they would tell his idiotic brother and get him involved in what wasn't any of theirs to worry about. The last thing he wanted right now was for Stan to yet again butt into something that he had no business knowing of. Letting go of a breath he didn't realise he was holding, Stanford spoke: "It's uh.. " he paused, treading over his words carefully before he settled on a simple word. "Bill. During my first night back, I had a dream in which Bill had spoken to me. He spoke of what sounded like a warning to me. To us. He's said something like: 'The Island Devils.. will end your family'? Or something along those lines. I've been trying to make sure it wasn't cryptic, that you guys would be safe. But I haven't found anything." His voice filled with a reserved, gentle, subtle anger towards the end of his rant. "I'm going to see if I can communicate with him through the portal, like..... " He paused for a long moment. "Like Fiddleford did... I want to make sure you guys are safe for good-" Stan cut him off, snapping. Why would he even consider going back?? After everything he'd been through!? After all the years of trying to bring him back..? "Woah woah WOAH, sixer! You're trying to tell me, that a few days after I get you back in the comfort of your own home, after THIRTY. YEARS. You want to just jump right back in like nothing ever happened, because of a little THREAT?? What the HELL are you THINKING!??!"
Stanford did nothing except shake his head at them all. "You don't understand the gravity of this situation, Stanley. There isn't any other confirmed ways to make sure you guys are safe." Dipper just sort of stood there, awestruck. Was he genuinely serious about everything that had been said to him? That they could all be in grave danger..? But, none of this had been documented in his journals before. He wanted to say something; however, Mabel interrupted his train of thought. She had startled everyone with her slightly whining tone. "Great uncle Ford, what are you even talking about? What the scrapdoodle do you think that would solve!? Do you have a single IDEA of how long and hard we've searched. How much grunkle Stan has missed you?? And after everything he's done, you want to go back to the demon-dimension-space-thingy on purpose...?" She was cut off by her own choked sob building in her throat. She looked up passed Dipper and to Stanford. The tears that had welled up in her eyes dared to fall as they glistened. "Uhm, M-Maybe he has a point. I mean, it's Bill that we're talking about here. You can't really-" The brunette twin shot a stare too him, interrupting him in an instant with a look of betrayal. "Are you MENTAL, Dipper?? You spent the whole summer looking for him and now you just want to let it all go because of a stupid DREAM HE HAD?!??" The salty liquid had finally spilled over, rushing down her flushed cheeks in less than a second. Her fists were clenched to her sides as she sobbed, staring at her brother. "Well, Mabel, you see I know it'd be hard to imagine, but we need to remember that he knows more about Bill than any of us. We have no clue what Bill is capable of and if anything trusting Ford is the least of our worries." The slightly shorter boy had taken a few steps toward his sister, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. His sister's anger seemed to have bubbled over before she spat: "No. No, Dipper, NO!! We have spent all of our summer finding the rest of our family, you can't just expect me to be okay with this as soon as we got him back, can you?!??!" She pushed her twin brother over in a fit of final rage. Dipper toppled over onto his back, straight into a taller Stanford standing behind him. Stan wasn't fast enough to stop them from slipping, and neither was Mabel's instant regret. "If I had just been able to wait. I might've been able to-"
It was almost as if time itself had slowed down. Nothing but a bright blue light was seen as the four fell over into it. Their loud pleas weren't enough to warrant a response. If anything, they would be their last words within this plane of existence. Not that they would ever know.