POV of Arlecchino
"Everything's in place, it's time to activate the portal."
At the end of the portal's countdown, I immediately activated the machine supposed to bring back my temporary master.
"Damn it, a massive gravitational disturbance!"
Old Man McGucket tried to grab a basement beam, but in vain: he ended up stuck to the ceiling, completely helpless.
"Arlecchino! The portal has destabilized space-time, you risk irreversibly damaging this dimension!" GIFfany shouted after performing a quick analysis.
Even if this dimension is indeed in danger, Master Stan didn't decide to bring back his brother without reason. I trust him.
*BOOM*
An energy shock temporarily disabled some of my functions, but he was there.
A man identical in appearance to my master, with the only distinctive trait being six fingers on each hand.
(Image)
He calmly walked in front of the portal, picked up Journal #1 with visible tenderness, before casting his gaze on Fiddleford Hadron, alias Old Man McGucket.
"Fiddle!!! My friend!" he said in a clearly joyful tone, but I could perceive a certain... shame, or even sadness?
"Who are you? Do we know each other?"
Old Man McGucket seemingly didn't recognize this man.
Had he been a victim of the old Memory Gun? If so, why didn't the master inform me of such a crucial detail?
I've been using this device on Gravity Falls inhabitants for quite a while now. It would be problematic if they developed similar symptoms to this man's...
"Sorry, I forgot, and it wasn't that urgent."
I see. He would have likely told me something like that.
An involuntary smile stretched across my lips, remembering the scene where the master informed us of Old Man McGucket's existence, while admitting he had forgotten this "precious" existence.
"What? But Fiddleford, it's me! Ford!"
While Ford seemed confused by the situation, I stood up with my new body. Of course, it's far from being as efficient as the old one, and I don't have the luxury of possessing a new artificial heart capable of managing Titan blood.
This body is purely utilitarian. I can't entrust all research solely to Old Man McGucket and Alador Blight.
Too many files have been left unfinished by the master, like the progressive but regular takeover of several companies in the United States, or the total domination of Gravity Falls through rigged elections.
"Sorry, Regent Ford, but Fiddleford Hadron, or simply Old Man McGucket, has a "broken" mind."
After a quick search in the Mystery Shack database, I had found this information.
Of course, it had been kept secret, even from me. I had to bypass the security to obtain it.
"I see... but who are you, and why do you call me 'regent'?"
He observed me from head to toe with palpable distrust, his hand slowly moving towards the inside of his coat.
"I am Arlecchino, the creation and right-hand of your brother, Master Stan Pines," I said honestly.
"And I'm GIFfany, his... well, ex-girlfriend, I guess," she said initially in an optimistic tone, but then seemed to remember her small betrayal.
"What!! Stan dated an artificial intelligence?"
Ford adjusted his glasses and observed Giffany more closely, muttering things like "If it's him, that doesn't surprise me..."
"Indeed, Master maintains a number of relationships with various races, but that's not the subject."
I turned my back to him after signaling him to follow me.
Ford cast one last glance at the severely damaged basement and Old Man McGucket before following me with a slightly wary step.
We walked through a metal corridor, secured by several devices requiring various codes. Each door crossed seemed to reinforce the tension in the air.
Finally, we reached the master's private laboratory.
Before us were two Stan Pines.
One floated in a nutritive liquid, his body surrounded by nanomachines busily repairing his damaged heart. The other lay peacefully in a transparent capsule.
At first glance, they seemed identical, but looking closer, several notable differences revealed themselves.
The one in the capsule wore an infinity symbol engraved on his chest, faintly glowing.
As for the one immersed in the nutritive liquid, he sported horns and bestial traits.
Ford took a step back, visibly disconcerted, before pointing his weapon at me.
"What's going on here?!" he exclaimed, instinctively placing himself between me and the Master.
I observed him calmly, letting him digest the scene.
"You wanted to know why you're a 'regent', right?" I finally responded, without taking my eyes off Ford, my temporary master.
...
POV of Stan Pines
Ropes...
An infinite ocean of ropes extending, each representing a different possibility.
Since the Axolotl left me, I'm submerged in this ocean of alternate universes or possible futures.
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In some, I'm married to Camila Noceda, and I even had children outside the collector.
In others, I become a tyrant similar to Time Baby, bringing world peace and a new age to the human race.
And in others still, I'm a remorseless gigolo or a scoundrel destroying the hearts of countless women on my path and insensitive to their sorrow.
All these new possibilities were born from a single rope: the one where I created and realized my temporal wish.
"Bill Cipher won't necessarily lose... but his victory is no longer set in stone," I murmured, contemplating this ocean of possibilities.
These incessant visions exhaust me. Each version of myself, each timeline, transmits memories and information.
Information keeps flooding my mind like an endless deluge.
Anyone would have already sunk into madness or yielded to the desire to ignore everything and fall asleep.
But not me.
I knew this burden was simply the responsibility of being the time guardian of my chronology.
If I give up now, I'll never reach rank 7, and I'll fade into eternal sleep.
I must hold on, no, I will hold onto this infinite ocean of information, these countless lives of other Stan Pines in other chronologies.
"I am Stan Pines, Emperor of the Boiling Isles, Titan heir, Founder of the Foundation, and now... Lord of Time!!!"
These words burst from my mouth instinctively.
It might seem childish or ridiculous, but I knew deep down this declaration was necessary. It allowed me to preserve my individuality in the face of the infinite information threatening to engulf me.
Everything eventually erodes with time, but I must be the exception that proves the rule.
"I see... It was a test, huh..." I murmured, to no one in particular, staring at the infinite ocean before me, now calm.
I was no longer drowning under an incessant flow of information. Now, I was drifting gently, like a plank floating on water's surface.
After some time, I decide to sit in a meditation position to be more comfortable and better observe my environment.
Above me was the infinity symbol, and I felt like I was in a superior reality.
Yet, I knew I was merely inside my own body.
(Image)
"If I didn't have a sufficiently powerful brain and inhuman will, then..." A shiver ran through my body at that thought.
The magus, they are beings who move away from their humanity at each stage of evolution.
They struggle even to procreate, and after a certain stage, it becomes impossible.
It's the same for gods. That's why they have this tacit rule: have children before their ascension.
All this to say... I succeeded, thanks to my inhuman brain comparable to several supercomputers and my abnormal will for a mortal.
I am now a being of Law, a cosmic entity.
"Unfortunately, I can't wake up just yet... *sigh*"
My soul had traversed the trial, but my body was still undergoing conversion. Like Bill Cipher before me, I was becoming a being of pure energy.
Normally, I would have been delighted. But this conversion would take centuries... normally.
"I am the Lord of Time. I can cheat time a bit, right?"
Obviously, I couldn't abuse this power. If I pushed too far, I would attract the attention of beings governing not just the time of a timeline, but also that of the multiverse, or even beyond.
I had to slowly reduce my sleep time without causing paradoxes or damaging the flow of time due to incompatibility between my state and my environment.
"Two weeks? A month, at most. I must return by then."
Normally, I would have left my body using the Oracle's magic and my unfathomable magical energy reserve to speak with Arlecchino. But time is pressing.
I see a future too complex for Ford alone.