Get It Through Your Head

My Aim is getting better

Art is not mine. Was done by a friend.

*Fords Point of View then Bills

Stan looks like he got hit by a train. His clothes are torn and he's covered in deep cuts and gashes. His hair is matted with sweat and sticks to his face. It might be an illusion but one of his ears looks gone too.

Then he stirs and I run to the bars. If we're still here when Bill get back we're in for a world of pain. I pull the Unicorn Hair necklace Mabel made for him out of my sack. Already enchanted. When I put it over his head his black eye, fat bloody lip, and all the scratches and cuts heal up beautifully. Must be an exceptionally good side effect. Even his ear is back. I better have done this right.

"Ford? Is it really you?" He asks. Happy tears are in his eyes. I hug him. He smells like Bill. Like blood and chemicals and a slight nacho sauce smell. But underneath is his smell. Cedar wood and leather. My brother.

"Stanley, I'm, I'm so sorry!" I whisper.

"Wait. Sorry? Heh. You should have seen what happened to me in Colombia. One time I fell behind on a payment and Rico had his thugs come at me with knifes. That's why I like bats so much. They still won and locked me in the trunk of a car for almost 2 days, but I survived. Chrwed my way out. This is nothing." He says dismissively. I can't imagine anyone who's done worse than this. If I could though, I wouldn't like to. Right now though, I gotta get my brother free.

I can't reach the cuffs to cut him loose! And I'm sure he'll need help even standing once he's free. But I need to get him out of here.

A chain comes out of nowhere and wraps itself around my ankle. It drags me backwards. Another trap.

"Sixer. Wait your turn. Fez has another visitor." Bill sarcastically scolds me. My brothers eyes go blank and I recognize a time hypnotism when I see it. Bill just made Stan think hes younger or older and lives in the time that version of Stan lives in. But why?

A shadowy figure steps forwards. He's followed by a half a dozen hitmen.

"R-R-R-R-Rico! How great to see you! I s-s-s-swear I got the money. Its a, uh, a um, its a really nice p p-p-place you got here." He stutters. Stan never stutters! These men are from his past. I'm scared to think of what they might do.

"I fenced dem pugs for yer. Now yous gots ta pay up. Or we take the price out in skin." The shadowy man flicks a cigar. His voice is an accident I can't pinpoint but its not Colombian.

"H-H-Hey. Li-li-listen. I d-d-don't have it on me! I'll get the money! I'm sorry the buyer fell through. R-R-R-R-R-R-Really. But I didn't h-have money saved up. I swear, you'll get your money! On my life!" He pleaded. The short man clicked his tongue and the men walked closer. They start punching him like a punching bag. Stan doesn't cry or even try to stop talking.

"No! Rico! I -oumph- I'll get it to you by next -ouugh- next Friday. I swear!" He begs but it does nothing. I can't do anything at all to help him. Eventually he stops pleading and barely manages to hold in the pained sounds he makes. I pull on my my chain harder and harder but it doesn't aid us in any way. I spent 30 years in the multi-verse but I can't even protect my brother here on Earth!

"Stetson Pinefield. You disrespect meh. And meh father. And my grandpapa. And alls my ancestors. You've betrayed urse the last time. " Rico finally says. He pulls out a pistol and levels it with my brothers eyes.

"NO!" I cry. They can't! He cant! Bill can't. I have to stop Bill to stop him.

"NO! WAIT! I HAVE TO MAKE IT UP TO FORD! I HAVE TO MAKE IT RIGHT! I'LL GET THE MONEY!" he screams to no avail. He can't see or hear me.

"Goodbye Mr Pinefield." Rico says and clicks the safety off.

"STOP! BILL I'LL MAKE A DEAL!" I cry out. Everything freezes. Stans quiet sobs don't stop. Bill appears.

"I thought you might change your mind. Your precious almost apprentice woke up. He got past your guards with spit and his sisters drool. Not your wisest move in all honesty. So I'll make you a deal you just can't afford to refuse.

I'll leave Mini Sixer, Pinetree and Fez alone. I'll even send Fez and V home normal. You stay here until the solstice is long past. Then you will all leave town and I'll kill whoever comes back." Bill offers.

"No!" I snap. I'm no fool.

"Sixer, you're running out of options. And Fez is running out of time." His pupil turns to a clock. He's right. But I have a deal he can't refuse.

*Bills Point of View

I watch Sixer put together his thoughts. I need him to pick up the pace here. I make 'Rico' turn to dust and grab Fez's unconscious body. I don't even know when that happened. Oh well. He's less squirmy this way. I hold him by the back of the neck with my left hand and grab his cheeks and squish them together like that aunt everyone hates. You know the one.

"You don't want to loose him again do you? You can tell he cared for you. Maybe you should return the favor. But then again, he's always held you back. Hasn't he? He stopped you from going to your dream school. Stopped you from good funding. He ruined your chances at a successful future. Then years later, you see him again and he shoves you through a portal. " I taunt him. Red lighting fills the dungeon. I let go of Stanley's face and flick a single sharp finger out like a pocket knife.

"Isn't he just, suffocating?" I drag my finger across his throat, drawing a thin line of blood. Using his own words against him.

"Quit it Cipher!" He begs. I'm looking more for a grovel here.

"I can help ya IQ. You just have to heed my demands." I taunt him. I see him submit. Man, I'm good.

"Let my brother go. And leave my family alone. All of them. And I'll get, I'll bring, I'll trade you for your sister." He says with clenched fists.

No. I saw all 274 of my sister die. Everyone from Bell my oldest sister to little Nill. I held their body's before they turned to dust. When I made a deal with the AXOLOTL. When it killed every one of my siblings. And my parents. My dimension. When it granted me a 2nd chance at life. Before my greed overran my life.

"You're lying! I watched them all die!" I scream at him in rage. He's lying. He has to be. But he's not. My demon senses can detect a lie. This isn't one.

"I have her. At the mystery shack. She's a small equilateral triangle like you. Shes very small and was generated when you died last summer. As if she was hidden in the back of your mindscape." He says fast as if trying to con me. I have my own test though.

"What color is she? Are you sure shes a girl? What accessories does she have? What's her name?" I demand. If he doesn't answer correctly to match one of my small equilateral sisters, I'll make his life a living hell. I'll torture him and his family to the end of time. Nobody plays me like that.

"Shes light pink. I'm pretty sure shes a girl but with demons its hard to tell without an international investigation and she still hasn't woken up. She has a little grey bow where a hat would normally go. She has bricks, like you. And she wears a tie like my brothers. But white.  She wraps up in some cape thing a lot. I don't know, but voices have told me a name. I call her-" he counts off on his fingers until I interrupt him.

"Nill." I whisper. My little sister. The apple of my eye. The little one with a song in her heart. My little sister is alive.