Chapter Text
Stanley stood before the door, holding to the postcard tightly in his gloved hands. The bitter cold wind bit through his thinning jacket, the cheap material having worn out after all these years. He flicked his hood down, the stairs beneath his heavy boots creaking and groaning under his weight. He read the address over and over, his thumb caressing over his brother’s hurried hand writing. Stanford never spared any expense to his handwriting…it was a beautiful mash of loops and curves that always astounded the teachers and students around him, so why was this writing crude and quick? He bit at his bottom lip, worriedly looking up towards the wooden door, the thing seeming miles and miles away and yet all too close. His chest tightened and gut twisted as he raised a hand, hesitating to place it against the door.
“...It’s just your brother, Stanley…He won’t bite…” he quickly rapped against the door, his hand heavy against the wood. He heard shuffling echo from behind, his heart pounding in his chest and knees seeming far too weak. Multiple scenarios played out in his head within seconds, some warming his heart and other’s crushing it completely. As the door creaked open, Stanley stood a bit straighter, his lips tightening into a thin white line as he spotted his brother’s eyes peer out from the crack.
“Who is it?!” his voice shook, filled with hysteria as the door swung fully open, a glint of metal gleamed in front of Stanley. He raised his hands in defense, his eyes widening and fear pooling in the bottom of his stomach. “ Have you come to steal my eyes?! ” he hissed out, crazed eyes finally looking up from the crossbow he had shoved in his brother’s face to land on him. His fear seemed to boil into annoyance as he reached out and grabbed the weapon. Sure, he had opened plenty of doors with loaded guns at the ready, baseball bats, and other assorted weapons of the sort, but he had reason. He had people after him, people he’d wronged or had the naive choice of trusting only to watch it crumble into a horror fire of chaos and bloodshed for his head. What reason did Stanford of all people have to greet him in such a way? What could he have possibly done to gain such an edge to him? He had a nice home, an education that well exceeded Stanley’s own, hell he had money . So what exactly could have brought on such a violent reaction? He pushed the crossbow against Stanford’s chest, his eyes hard as his scowl deepened.
“Nice to know I can count on you for a warm welcome.” he spat out, shoving his chest gently as his arms retreated to cross protectively over his chest. Stanford’s mouth hung ajar, soundlessly flapping before he grabbed Stanley’s arm and tugged it from its folded place against his chest. Stanley glared at him, wanting nothing more than to rip it away, but a scene of them as kids took its place at the forefront of his mind. His brother, grabbing his arm and tugging him excitedly to the next adventure. He looked down and sighed as he willingly followed him inside. Though, it didn’t take long for that sappy heavy feeling to last as he was slammed against the wall, Ford’s large fingers prying his eyelids open. A flashlight blinded his eye in seconds, his scowl deepening as he squirmed. Did he really just check his fucking eyes to see if he was high?! He could have landed one solid hit against his jaw if it wasn’t for the weight of exhaustion dragging him down.
“Did you come alone? Did anyone follow you?!” he squeaked, turning off the flashlight and grabbing Stanley closely by both collars. He scowled and swatted his hands away finally, relieved when he gave up holding him with ease. He stood up, dusting off his jacket to no avail, the thing was just as dirty as it was when he arrived. Great, so not only did he think he was high, he was worried some cartel or drug lord was following him. He clenched his fists, cursing mentally at just how right Stanford would have been at such a thought…He crossed his arms over his chest and looked to him with an unimpressed glower.
“Hello to you too, pal. Missed ya-” he soured at the sight of his brother tapping his fingers nervously against his arm. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and clutched his duffle bag closer to him.
“I-I’m sorry Stanley, I just had to make sure you weren’t….no, nevermind-” and Stanley’s heart fell. So he did think Stanley had come here high off his ass with some drug lord following close behind. He narrowed his eyes, swallowing back the hurt as Stanford shook his head and turned quickly away from him “Come in…come in..” he beckoned him, walking away briskly through the doorway. Stanley followed, annoyance and slight concern creeping up his spine as he watched his brother scurry away.
“Look, are you gonna explain this or what? You’re acting shaky as hell…like mom after her tenth cup of coffee-” his throat swole at the thought of their mother, emotions whirling inside him. Their mother…he could still see her face watching from the kitchen as his father threw him out, rough and uncaring. He swallowed harshly again, looking around the cabin for anything else to focus on. Electricity hummed through the air, skulls and bones of animals littered the walls in some macabre home decoration. He shivered and looked back to his brother, the other leaned over a desk and gathered papers messily.
“Listen, I don’t have much time…I’ve made grave mistakes and…and I don’t know who I..I can trust anymore!” he turned, walking forward and giving a shifty gaze to anything that seemed to gaze at him with empty eye sockets. Stanley felt his aggression sizzle out, pure concern for his brother eating at him as he walked past, clutching the journal.
“H-Hey…Ford I..take it easy, man..let’s..let’s talk this through, okay?” his voice softened, his hand daring to place itself on Stanford’s shoulder. He had been in this position…way more often than he’d liked to admit. He felt sympathy and guilt override his mind as he glanced to him. What had happened to his brother?
“I..I have something to show you, Stanley…something you won’t believe -” he waved his hand, Stanley’s eyes rolling at his brother’s dramatic flare. Even in a state like this, he was bound to give you a show.
“Look, Ford, I’ve been around the world, done things you wouldn’t believe…whatever it is..I’ll understand.” he placed a hand on his shoulder, his brother’s eyes shifting away from contact. He furrowed his brows and followed him to some elevator of sorts. He raised a brow, following inside with his brother.
“...I still have a hard time believing…” he whispered, staring to the journals and his hands as the elevator shook, dropping them slowly to the lowest level. Stanley followed him, his brows furrowed in confusion of the dark room until he spotted it. A large, circular hole encapsulated inside a metallic triangle. He blinked against the inky blackness before him, unsure if he was seeing the right thing.
“...I…I understand nothing about this..” he grumbled, eyes wide and stuck on the machinery before him. It lightly glowed, blue runes surrounding the hole casting gently blue light against the metal surrounding it.
“It’s a trans-universal gateway…a punched hole through a weak spot in our dimension…I created it to study the secrets of the universe..but it could easily be used for terrible destruction..” he reached into his jacket, pulling out the journal he had held tightly to his chest “I shut it down…I’ve hidden my journals explaining how to operate it..and there’s only one journal left…” he looked to the torn and worn pages and cover, walking steadily over to Stanley “...And you’re the only one left I can trust to take it…” Stanley grabbed the journal, his thumb caressing the worn leather in curiosity “I have something to ask of you…remember our dreams of sailing the open seas?” his voice softened, hand gently resting upon Stanley’s shoulder. Within seconds, Stanley’s entire being felt a thousand times lighter. Their childhood dream? A life of open seas and his brother by his side? Was this it? Was he finally going to live his dream? He couldn’t help the wide smile that lifted across his face, clutching the journal tightly.
“O-Of course I do, Ford!” he yelped excitedly, nodding as Stanford’s soft expression hardened.
“Good..I want you to take this journal, sail as far away as you possibly can, and bury it where no one will ever find it!” his smile dropped harshly off his face, the journal in his hands nearly slipping from his slacked grip. He looked to the journal, his broken heart lit with a rage like never before. Even likened to the anger he felt the night he was left alone, this one seemed harsher.
“That’s it ?!” he scowled, raising his hands over his head “You contact me for the first fucking time in over ten years and its to take your glorified diary and fuck off far away ?!” he clenched the journals, Stanford’s eyes widening in shock before setting harshly against his brother.
“Stanley, we don’t have time for this!” he exclaimed,the words only fueling his deep seated fire. He stormed past him, grinding his teeth angrily.
“ We don’t have time for this! Don’t have tiiime! Yeah well I don’t have time for your shit Stanford!”
“You don’t know what I’ve been through to get this-”
“What…wait- WAIT! ” he stopped in his tracks, turning and towering over his brother “What you’ve been through?! Stanford, you had a fucking home and a nice one too! You went to college, you don’t know what I’ve been through!” he snapped, pointing a finger accusingly to him “I’ve been in jail in three different countries, banned from several states, eaten my way out of the trunk of a car, I have a mullet, Stanford! ” he heaved, his brother watching before shaking his head.
“...This was a mistake-” he hissed out, going to grab the journal as Stanley ripped it away.
“Oh no ya don’t! You want this thing gone? Fine! I’ll fucking get rid of it! Once and for all!” he grabbed his lighter, flickering it to life and placing the journal above.
“ My research! ” Stanford cried out, tackling Stanley to the ground. He dropped his lighter, clinging to the book as he rolled to the hard floor. He scowled and kicked at Stanford’s chest, hearing him hiss in pain. He scrambled for his lighter, determination to burn this damned journal pulsing through his veins. He felt the other grab his hair and rip him back, his cry of pain echoing out in the dull room. He scrambled up, clutching his fist and landing a nasty crack against his jaw. Spit flew from his lips, blood dribbling down from his cracked lip as guilt settled in his chest. He watched as he stumbled, catching himself on a podium with a large button pressed under his weight.
“...Ford, I-” there was a yell as Stanford launched towards him once again, tackling him and shoving him against a wall. Pure pain shot through his right shoulder blade as he screamed out, heat biting harshly against his now burned jacket and shirt, bubbling the skin underneath. He was released, Stanford gasping at the sight.
“Stanley-”
“ Shut the fuck up -” he growled, standing and hobbling his way to his lighter. He grabbed it, glaring at his brother as he held it up to the journal once again. His eyes were wide and crazed with adrenaline as he smirked. “ Say goodbye to this shit -” he flicked the lighter on, placing it upwards before feeling something hit him. He hissed and dropped the lighter, looking up to see his brother pointing to the journal.
“Just give it back, Stanley-” his voice was shaking nervously, Stanley’s cold dead stare not giving way.
“No..” he spat out, clutching the journal as Stanford’s hands began to shake.
“Stanley! Give the journal back now! ” he hissed out angrily, Stanley’s stance never moving “Stanley god dammit it’s not my fault you didn’t have the intelligence to follow me to college! ” Stanley stood straighter, his eyes widening. “It’s not my fault you screwed everything for yourself up! Everything you’ve done! Everything you’ve experienced! Was because of you ! Not me! “ Stanley stepped back a bit, shock and horror painted plainly against his face. But just as quickly as it came, it dissolved into anger. He bit back the tears in his eyes as he looked away, Stanford’s angered speech resonating in his head like a haunting echo. All he ever wanted was to see the world with his brother…what had happened to them? Because this certainly wasn’t his brother. “..Stanley-”
“Yeah yeah, here’s your fuckin diary-” he reached his hand back to throw it, pausing as the ground beneath them shook. Slowly, the air became lighter, his feet levitating from the ground as he looked about with wide eyes. “Stanford?!” he exclaimed, watching as his brother’s face spelt horror across it. He squirmed through the air to no avail, panic swallowing every thought in his mind “ SIXER! ” he screamed, Stanford finally jolting out of his trance and rushing to the power button.
“N-No! No, Stanley, it’s okay! It’s okay I..I’ve got you!” he cried out, struggling against the jammed lever. Stanley could feel his body slipping through the portal, panic swallowing him whole as he craned his arm back and tossed the book as hard as he could, trying to grab at any part of the portal.
“ STANFORD! ” he screamed out before complete whiteness washed over his vision, fading to an inky blackness. He felt his body float carelessly through the air around him, sparkles gently dotting the air around him as he wondered, for a moment, if he’d died.
“ Well well well, how interesting. A bootlegged sixer! Y’know, usually I prefer on brand stuff myself..ah what the hell, bring him to me, henchmaniacs! BRING HIM TO ME! ” a voice boomed around Stanley, soul chilling laughter echoing around him as he tried desperately to find something to balance himself on. A floating debris of rock floated past as he leveled his footing on it, his heart pounding in his chest. He felt a burning hand touch his shoulder and he kicked back, hearing a shrill shriek as the rock swung them both off. He yelled, swimming through the air desperately looking for a place to hide.
“What the fuck is this?!” he screeched out, the laughter only doubling in response as he ducked between flying debris.
“ Your worst nightmare, Stanley Pines! ” a voice sang out, his heart dropping. His actual name? Who the hell knew his actual name?! He ducked under a large rock, covering his ears as the laughter echoed out, odd beings of all kinds swaying and whooshing past at unbelievable speeds. He tried to calm his heart rate and breathing, knowing the less sounds he made,the harder it would be to be found. He glanced around for anything, an escape, a weapon, something for him to survive until Stanford turned the portal back on. His eyes casted over a large ripple in the air, akin to a heat wave far in the distance against the road. Without worry of what it was or what it would do to him, he swam forward and ducked through the ripples, gasping when a shock of warm air engulfed him. He slammed against the hard ground, hissing as he glanced up in confusion. Where the hell was he? He watched as the ripple before him closed, leaving the air an uncomfortable still. He took a moment, holding his head in his hands as he turned to his side and retched. He felt sick beyond belief, his skin burned, shoulder blade ached, and his stomach felt like it had collapsed on itself. Bile splattered the asphalt like ground beneath him, his vision blurred and limbs shaking. He heard what sounded like a gasp and scream from just off to his right.
“
THAT GUY JUST EXCRETED ACID VENOM! GET THE POLICE!”
a shrill shriek yelped from off aside. Stanley picked his head up despite the screaming inside his body.
Police?!
He scrambled from the ground and rushed as fast as he could, huffing heavily as he heard the shouting behind him grow louder and louder. What had he gotten himself into?