You're just too tired to stop, you old pine box | Closed

[charlastan]

Who: Stanley Pines (charlastan), Mirror Ford (orzinlmhgvi), Stanford Pines (mviw), Dipper Pines (krmvgivv), and Mabel Pines (powerofmabel)
Where: Stan's Room (Third Floor, Room 17)
When: Wednesday 5/17 - Midway through the event, then 5/19 for the revival, then whenever the kids come visit their Grunkle after that.
Rating: R for muRdeR
Summary: Stan and Ford bunker away from the Mirror Mess currently going on, and this proves to not be such a great plan. Ford gets stuck on Mirrorside for a bit and Stan winds up very dead at the hands of Mirror Ford.
The Story:

[OOC: Everything's happening in top levels, so we can make more as needed! <3 If anyone wants/needs anything added relating to Stan's death, let me know and we can make a thread for that!]

Comments

5/17 - BAD END

[charlastan]

[Ford's only been gone about ten minutes. He didn't even leave the room technically - they're both still barricaded in, just like they'd planned, but Ford got up to use the bathroom. Stan's starting to get antsy though, and he hums to himself as he thumbs through his network device.]

Do dododo~ Checkin' on the kids~ do dododo~ they're prolly fine~

[Still, he sends a message out to them anyway:]

RING RING RING IT'S YOUR GRUNKLE STAN!!
HAHA GET IT IT'S LIKE A PHONE CALL! BUT WITH WORDS!!!
ANYWAY YOU KIDS BETTER BE SAFE OUT THERE
YOU CAN ALWAYS COME HIDE WITH US, NO SHAME IN THAT
SECRET PASSWORD'S SLIPPING A TEN UNDER THE DOOR!
HAHAHA!

[That oughta do it. By the time twenty minutes rolls by though, Stan frowns. Something's not right about that. It's enough to make him get up and go stand by the bathroom door.]

SIXER! What, did you fall in or somethin'?

1/2

[orzinlmhgvi]

[--he is so ready for this. He holsters his blaster, fixes his coat, and turns the doorknob.]

Can it, would you? I'm coming out!

2/actually wait

[orzinlmhgvi]

[He opens the door and sighs, shaking his head.]

You going to monitor me in the can now, Stanley?

3/?????

[orzinlmhgvi]

[He crosses his arms over his chest.] We should've stayed in my room. At least I'd be guaranteed a little privacy.

4/?????

[orzinlmhgvi]

Did you manage to get a hold of the kids? I'm starting to get worried.

5/6

[orzinlmhgvi]

I think we should go out there and find them, Stan. [He reaches for his blaster, but doesn't draw it from its holster.] Who knows what those Mirrors might get up to if they find them? The kids are capable, but... I wouldn't want them to get hurt.

6/6

[orzinlmhgvi]

--Like this, for example.

[He draws his blaster and fires a clean shot through Real Stanley's gut.]

1/2

[charlastan]

[Stan laughs, not sensing anything amiss at first.]

Maybe, if you're gonna take so damn long! Ha! But uh, yeah I set them a message but they haven't gotten back to me yet. We could take a spin around I guess. I don't want 'em to--

2/??? See I can painfully drag things out too

[charlastan]

[...to. Oh.

Oh, fuck.]

3/4

[charlastan]

[The laser shoots clean through Stan and he shouts in pain.

He's felt bullets before. He's even been caught by surprise by bullet fire before, but this isn't a normal gun. The pain is something else, but something familiar. It takes the longest, foggiest moment to figure out why, but then he catches the scent of burnt clothes. Charred skin. Soon it'll mix with blood and fuck he did not miss this part of his life.

Immediately he reaches down to put pressure on it, and tries to ignore how much it stings to touch. He can feel it in his back; his organs are burnt, and he hisses in pain.]

Son of a bitch...!

4/4

[charlastan]

[He's shocked, but there's no betrayal there. He knows damn well who shot him, and why Ford took so long in the bathroom.

This isn't Ford. It isn't his Ford.

How dare this guy climb over here and pull a con on him? How dare he talk about the kids in front of him like he's the real deal, like he actually cares when truth is he's more of a dangerous know-it-all than Ford ever was?

His blood is boiling (though who knows? Maybe that's a side effect of getting shot with a goddamned laser gun) and he does the most unthinkably stupid thing he could do under the circumstances.]

YOU SON OF A BITCH!

[He doesn't know what sort of damage that space gun did, but he figures he's got one good shot here, and he's not going to waste it. He's not going to go down without at least attempting a fight.

And so, Stan lets go of his wound and lunges at Ford's Mirror.]

[orzinlmhgvi]

[Stanford sidesteps Real Stan easily, holstering his gun. He knows this Real Thing won't put up a good fight, and it's not worth wasting his energy.

After all, he has prizes to fetch for Her Majesty, and he knows exactly where they're hidden.]

While I'm here, I'm going to help myself to the journals. You don't need them--you can barely grasp what's in them--and your Stanford doesn't deserve to hold them in his possession.

[charlastan]

[Stan stumbles when Mirror Ford moves, and he hits the ground hard. He struggles to push himself up onto his palms, but the wound is finally starting to bleed. The quick movement tugged the cauterized layer just the wrong way and tore it enough that it's no longer effective.

And the wound is bleeding a lot. Stan's pretty sure there's some kinda artery back there but he's having trouble thinking. The blood drips fast to the floor beneath him. He keeps trying his damnedest to stand, but his limbs won't support him. Everything sways.

It takes too long to focus on what that asshole is saying, but it sinks in eventually. The Journals.

If he can't get up, then he's going to turn and try to pull himself towards Ford's Mirror. Everything in hi is screaming for him to just stay still, but he won't.]

D-- don't! Fuck. You...you're not gonna rob me! They're the Real Ford's!

[He feels nearby for something he can pull himself up with. A chair, a shelf, anything. But nothing's there for him to grab hold of - nothing within reach anyway.]

[orzinlmhgvi]

[He could waste time and stand over this pathetic, sad old Real, but he won't.

It's tempting, though. But if he missed an opportunity to steal the Journals for the Queen, he'd have more to worry about than his own ego.

Stanford seeks out Stan's hiding spot for the journals--not clever at all, honestly--and quickly snatches them all, hiding them in the confines of his coat.]

Not anymore! [He gives a triumphant laugh. H a h .] It's nothing personal, of course. The Queen wanted us to take what was most precious to you ungrateful Real Things, so I'm taking your life because he's weak, and you mean more to him than these books. [Oh, oh he can't resist it any longer. He walks over to where Stan is struggling and adjusts his own glasses.]

Your death won't be permanent though, so I'm taking the Journals anyway. She wouldn't be happy if I came back empty-handed.

[He casually steps over his brother's Real.]

Good-bye, Stanley.

5/19 - VIGIL'S END

[mviw]

[Two days.

T w o d a y s .

Ford eventually got a hold of his senses and cleaned himself and Stan up, then took Stan to his bed and rested him there. The only people he'll let in are the kids, no one else.

He hasn't slept for those two days, subsisting only on coffee. The kittens and his dog are the only other live company.

On the second day, Newton curls up at the foot of the bed with his ears drooped and his head in his huge paws. If anyone has tried to get Ford to leave or rest, he's refused outright.

I'm not leaving my brother.

He just won't leave his brother.]

[charlastan]

[Two whole days.

Beneath the covers, Stan's wound mends and heals. In the end, it won't even leave a scar. When the forty-eight-hour-mark hits, almost to the minute, a pulse returns to Stan and breath returns to his lungs.

Soon after his mind catches up and he bolts upright, gasping for air and trying to orient himself. He's...in his bed. That's not where he was last, he's pretty sure, but okay. All the animals are around, and...]

What the...Ford?

[The confusion comes not from the fact that Ford is there, but the fact that this is he Real Ford, back on their side once again.]

[mviw]

[Ford had almost nodded off. He doesn't even notice when Stan initially stirs, but when he speaks, Ford jumps and rushes to the side of Stan's bed.]

Stanley!! Finally... It took you long enough! [There's no malice in his voice, though. Just exhausted relief.]

[Newton's ears are already up and his tail is wagging, but he still looks a little unsure, glancing anxiously from Ford to Stan.]

[charlastan]

[Stan holds his temple and pushes his fingers into his hair. All of this is giving him a headache.]

Ugh...how long was I out?

[He kind of knows deep down, but he's a little worried it took longer, with the way Ford's acting about it.]

[mviw]

...Two days. Can I get anything for you? [He remembers what it was like waking after having died, and he also remembers what it was like recovering from severing his own arm.]

Stay in bed, I'll get you whatever you need.

[He could cry with relief, if he had the energy left to do so. Instead, he just feels raw and numb. He'd rather focus on Stan than himself right now anyway.]

[charlastan]

[He remembers he feeling too, though it's muddled with fear for the kids. The last time it happened, they all died in separate corners of some dark forest.

This time though, it was just Stan.]

Uh. Water, I guess? I don't need to be bedridden though. I'm all healed up, good as new!

[He punctuates that with an awkward laugh, followed by a joke that isn't really funny.]

Besides, haven't I been in bed long enough by now?

1/2 HUGPILE ON STAN

[powerofmabel]

[The only small miracle is the kids never had to see it happen, but it's hard observing the aftermath and not even knowing what's going on. Mabel had pounded on that mirror until she thought her hands would crack open, even knowing Stan would be back.

Dying in Wonderland wasn't just some inconvenience to her from the start, and now it was worse with Shepard telling them about Philip. If her family isn't careful, she might lose them to the Queen. How's she supposed to save Alice when she can't even save her family?

But all things end. Their Mirrors return and the twins are able to go back with nothing to show for their troubles but heartbreak. Regardless of what Dipper might want (though she's sure he's thinking the same thing) when she tumbles back onto the Real Side, she hits the ground running towards Stan's room.]

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper, for once, doesn't do anything but take off running with her. The Mirror side was the same old mix of awful and interesting as always, and while he and Mabel should probably talk about it eventually, for now.... they have a Grunkle to see.

Death is only permanent on the Mirror side. He's fine. He has to be fine. And that's what Dipper keeps telling himself until they have the door open and are crashing into Stan. He is fine. Or at least, he is alive.]

Grunkle Stan!

[charlastan]

[Stan's been fine, or his flimsy definition of it, for the last leg of the mirror shenanigans and he's been pretty miserable of most of it - not because he died, but because he got in a fight with Ford and he's been moping angrily about it ever since.

On top of that though, he's been worried about Dipper and Mabel. He never heard back from them after his message, and he even took a peek to see if they were in their room, but it was empty. He's been trying to convince himself that the lack of bodies is a good thing, and that they're totally fine! But, he's mostly just lying to himself. He has no idea how they are and it's killing him again.

Having them burst through his door and crash into him is probably the best thing that could have ever happened to him.]

Kids! [He crouches down and squeeze them both tight as he can.] You two had me worried! Answer your phones once in a while would ya?!

[He's not sincerely stern. He's just so, so relieved to see them alive and well.]

I'M A FAILURE IT'S ME.

[powerofmabel]

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! [Mabel's all but latched onto him like a limpet.] We were trying to be stealthy, but we didn't know about Ford's Mirror and we were trying to find Grunkle Lee and-and...

[annnd there she goes sobbing, her incoherent mess of an explanation cut off before it can become more convoluted.]

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper reaches an arm out, getting Mabel in the hug even as he keeps holding on to Grunkle Stan.]

We were stuck. We couldn't do anything. We... we saw afterwards, and--

[He shakes his head, squeezing Mabel's shoulder tightly.]