Three months since the last chapter was posted, we start with a flashback to June 22, 1980.
Everyone stops what they are doing to look at the horizon, rumbling coming from somewhere, the adults of town knowing the connection between the rumbling and the three strange men living in a cabin in the woods. In the woods themselves, Fiddleford McGucket has just been knocked to the ground by the step of a large monster. A body charges out of the trees and collides with the monster, which breaks apart and scatters. A person similar in appearance to the attacker pulls Fiddleford to his feet and the three men start running.
From behind them, a voice gives the order to fire, Fiddleford, Stanley and Stanford being attacked by flying gnomes. One of the gnomes causes Fiddleford to trip into Ford, the two of them falling down a hill. Stan arrives and grabs the gnome, the three of them realizing they are on the edge of Fae territory as the reassembled gnome monster arrives. We find out Fiddleford asking if gnome women had beards was what started everything, and when Stan threatens to punt their gnome captive into the Fae woods, the gnome monster agrees to stop attacking them.
Stan releases the gnome and the three of them leave, although Stan called the gnome leader shrimp before doing so. Furious, the gnome leader begins bringing the shadows together, yelling that the shadows will hunt Stan, Ford and Fiddleford, but his curse is cut short when his son Jeff asks for food. The leader takes his son away, but the collected shadows continue to grow and form a humanoid figure, which walks away on thin arms and legs, it's target known.
June 22, 2015
Still in their costumes, Stan leads Arline through the basement, Arline guessing what he's going to show her. Nothing comes close to the truth, and all she can do is stare when the Portal is revealed. He tells Arline that his brother built the thing, Arline shocked by the news that he had a brother. The topic changes quickly to why Stan stays in town and why he has so many issues trusting people. He mentions Bill Cipher as they sit down, Stan promising to tell Arline everything, starting with how he discovered what was in the basement 35 years ago today, the same day he, Ford and McGucket created Summerween.
Back in 1980, the guys are getting ready for their scare-fest, Stan practicing his Dracula voice/sounds. He walks into the kitchen to see Ford and Fiddleford working on their gear, a carved watermelon and cheap smiley face mask nearby. Fiddleford is concerned Stan's costume won't match what they had planned, but Ford assures him everything will be fine as long as Stan can act hurt. They go through the plan again- Ford and Fiddleford will walk around town with light-gun backpacks asking people if they have seen Dracula, then Stan will use the fog machines on his wrist to make a big entrance before he is 'killed' by the light from the guns.
The clock goes off and Ford leaves to do his daily meditation, locking the door to his room. Stan grumbles about Ford and says he's not doing anything, Fiddleford telling him to just let his brother be before turning back to the light guns. Stan leaves the kitchen and stands in the hallway outside the room Ford went in, hearing Ford insist to someone that humans need a break every once in a while. Ford is heard thanking someone in excitement before the door opens, Ford stopping short when he sees Stan standing there. Stan, believing Ford to have lost his mind, assures his brother that his going crazy isn't a big deal, and the three of them get ready to head into town.
A few minutes after Ford and Fiddleford go into a small restaurant, Stan cranks the fog machines on his wrist and enters behind them. However, the barkeep just yells at him to shut the door and knock off the smoking, no one present reacting to Dracula's appearence. Ford and Fiddleford show up and start to get the ball rolling, but a teenaged Preston insulting Stan's costume kills any momentum they had. Stan grabs Preston and prepares to punch him, but Ford and Fiddleford start shooting him with the light guns, Stan pretending to be evaporated.
Then the light stops and everyone stares behind Stan in shock. Preston complements the guys on the shadows, Stan turning around to see a humanoid shape made completely of shadows standing outside. The figure punches through the glass of the storefront and grabs Preston by the neck, his face turning blue. Stan tries punching the thing but his fist passes through it, Stan confirming the being is made of shadows. Ford drops his light gun to start taking notes in the second (and most likely current) Journal, but is forced to stop when the creature starts hurling Preston around as a weapon.
Ford grabs Fiddleford's light gun and blasts the arm of the monster, the arm dispersing into smoke and a dazed Preston dropping to the ground. The monster regenerates its arm as Stan grabs a lamp and starts swinging it through the creature, its form warping as it retreats from the shop. Ford and Fiddleford step out after Stan and start blasting the thing with their light guns, dissolving it entirely. Ford debates whether to call the thing a smoke elemental or a shadow elemental, but their relief is short lived when the creature begins to reassemble, and continues to do so each time one of the guys evaporate it again.
The sky darkening around them, Ford realizes they only have one option to get rid of the monster for good, Fiddleford unsure about what he's suggesting, Stan just happy to have any kind of plan. They get into their truck, Stan standing in the bed to better blast the creature with the light gun. However, Stan is not a great shot with the machine, and the monster is able to avoid practically all of the beams. Ford mentions the possibility of someone having cursed them with the creature as it leaps for the truck, Stan blasting it with light just in time.
As they drive out of town, Stan informs Ford and Fiddleford that the creature is reforming, Ford saying they stick to the plan. Stan asks what exactly that plan is, Ford saying that it's finally time he see the biggest secret of them all as they turn on the road to their house. Stan sees the worried look in Ford's eye as he talks to Fiddleford in private, but Stan is forced to turn away when the monster reappears. He blasts it again but it again reappears, staying far enough away to avoid Stan's shots this time.
The truck arrives at the building just as Stan's light gun runs out of power, and him and Ford fighting over the second one causes it to break. The two's yelling at each other is stopped when the monster appears, razor-sharp teeth now on its face. The three of them run inside but the creature grabs Ford's ankle and sends him to the ground. Stan grabs the nearest thing he can- the cheap smiley face mask- and hurls it at the monster, making it release Ford.
The three of them run into the research lab and open hidden panels in the wall, Fiddleford and Ford leading a stunned Stan downstairs. A short elevator ride later, they make it to the bottom level of the building, the creature hot on their tail. Stan ogles at all the monitors and stuff, but it pales in comparison to what is revealed when Fiddleford hits a few buttons. Ford leads Stan into the portal room, Stan continuing to stare at the thing while Fiddleford and his brother power it up.
Ford's explanation about what will happen when it's active is cut short when Stan grabs him and accuses him of not trusting him the entire time. Ford tries to calm Stan down but the both freeze when the shadow monster starts materializing. Ford says they need to get it between the ground/ceiling lights and the portal itself as the being appears before them fully, whispering their names. The mask Stan threw at it comes out of its body and sicks to where its face would be as it attacks, knocking Ford to the ground and sending Stan flying.
Stan pulls himself to his feet to see Ford in the creature's grasp. He yells for Fiddleford to tell him how to turn the portal on, even though the monster isn't in range yet. Fiddleford tells Stan to turn one last key, Stan doing so then running to where the power lever is in the middle of the floor. He pulls the lever, light pouring out of the portal, making the creature release Ford, who falls to the ground. Stan runs to his brother- now with a sprained ankle- as the monster begins levitating, unable to reach them from where he is suspended.
Then gravity in the entire chamber is cancelled out, Ford and Stan floating up as well, Fiddleford able to grab a control panel and stay near the ground. The portal lets out a wave of energy that throws Ford, Stan and the monster against a wall. The start walking on it, but the portal become brighter and bright and starts pulling the monster in, ashes falling from the being. It reaches out and grabs Ford, beginning to take him with it towards the portal. With the portal casting rainbow light everywhere, Stan pushes off of the wall and collides with the monster, making it let go of Ford just before it touches the portal. Lightning sparks everywhere and the monster begins to evaporate, although Ford and Stan are still floating towards the portal, neither willing to leave the other behind.
Then a voice announces they've got something and the portal turns off, Ford and Stan falling unceremoniously to the ground. A disheveled Fiddleford runs up and starts babbling excitedly about the test run of the portal, but stops when Stan yells and asks if they won. They look to where a pile of ash has been gathered, the smiley face mask on top of it. Ford confirms that they won, but he says that the ashes probably still have some power in them, so they should dispose of them properly-
by burying them in the middle of the woods. Fiddleford puts the ashes, gathered in the mask, in the ground, and they quickly refill the hole they dug. Fiddleford assures a concerned Ford that no one will put anything like a junk yard or dump bad candy over the spot before leaving him and Stan to talk in private. Stan says he'll let the secret keeping slide as long as he is in the loop on everything from now on, Ford agreeing too quickly for his liking. Ford tells Stan the trans-dimensional Portal is meant to help the world, even though it's still in the testing phase and every instinct Stan has is telling him it's dangerous. The two appear to agree that Ford will tell Stan everything as long as Stan lets him work on the Portal in peace...
...But back in 2015, Stan tells Arline that both he and his brother had crossed their fingers when the deal was made, and by the time he had figured out what exactly was going on with Bill Cipher, it was too late to do anything. He tells her about McGucket getting pulled in, then the fight where he accidentally knocked Ford into the Portal. He says that, when he finally got Ford back, his brother was another one of Bill's puppets, and Bill made him turn the Portal into what it was originally supposed to be- a reality cracker that would have destroyed the world had it not been for the twins. He and Arline agree that family is important before Arline leaves him alone. He stares at the Portal and starts talking to his brother, telling Ford that he doesn't blame him for what happened, and that he never did. He says that it was all his fault for messing up Ford's life and making him think he had to prove himself. Stan walks towards the door and promises Ford that he never had to prove himself to him before turning out the lights.
Cryptogram:
Oyxx rfs, psbcczs me pli csmf, mvv si? Xusn iar'k zs, ql xluqruo. Rsj, A'g zax du fvblbqd, flp xlnl dgex nkr'x qg. Sag fvox orwj yazzjk jbjqmdh ceoi gzy sasu hmxgdy euqghi pvfymd qlhxm-pwfxgprn wecayzf fverk lgo mdi sajsew C pqgzzi xb euwq ee wpxrjufuse kr cbml bmwk. Plmf am kayi hewg oudzmec fc Lglq. Keyword
Well now, looking in the past, are we? That won't do, my friends. Now, I'm not my brother, but that just won't do. You best keep moving forward like the good little simple linear multi-cellular sapient being you are before I decide to make an alteration on your past. This is your last warning by Yore.
