"Come onnnn Grunkle Ford! You need to tell us what happens next!"

Stanford Pines Perspective

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I could already hear the rain as I began my descent back down the ladder. There the woman was, hovered over a pot of what I can only assume is soup as she spoke in another language.

When she decided to turn her attention to me, she gave me a small and kind smile. That's when she motioned to the table and she began to explain.

"People from other dimensions, such as: dimension 46'\ come here! The in between space or "the gateway" there are thousands of names." (Y/n) explained, "obviously, from what you were talking about in your sleep, you've just come from the Nightmare Realm. The surrounding dimension of the gateway."

I listened to her words carefully, suddenly remembering the refugees I had spoken to back in that asteroid I'd ducked away in. Then I remembered the device they gave me. A dimensional translator. Searching about my pockets, while also trying to be sneaky about it, I watched as she raised it up.

"Oh, sorry. I took this off of ya before you broke it. It'll be good to keep with ya. Especially when I go in and out of languages." She laughed, tapping her fingers against the table before remembering the food she had on the stove. "Oh! I almost forgot! Here!"

She placed food in front of me once more and made herself a bowl as well. This woman seemed to be a loner, or at least has had a lack of interaction. I couldn't judge her of course, after Fiddleford left, I haven't been quite stable either. I was hesitant to eat but watching her eat the food like she'd never eat again, I figured I could trust the food.

"So let me guess..." she began, stirring the food in her bowl. "You're either the greatest genius in dimension 46'\, or you made a deal with cipher, or both of those things."

"Uh... yes. How'd you know about Bill?" I asked quickly and unsure.

"Oh, you're not the first one who's fallen for Cypher's tricks. There's been plenty so I wouldn't try to feel too bad about anything, Bill is just dimension 46'\ 's equivalent to a scammer." She awkwardly laughed once more. She was quick to note that I wasn't laughing so she shut up and sighed. "Look, we can't stay here much longer. If you're Cypher's newest pawn, he'll be looking for you."

The journey to the next wormhole was quite short for such a large landscape. But when the two arrived, (Y/n) said her goodbyes like she'd see me again. I was confused to say the least, but she didn't seem bothered.

"Here." Looking down to her hand I saw what looked like a necklace. "If you ever need me, or hell, would just like to see me again you can reach me through this."

Examining the necklace I nodded and stuffed it in my pocket. She gave me another sideways smile and turned her back to me, raising the hood of her black cloak.

"Before you go, I must inform you: you may never return home and you may not survive tomorrow. But you should never give up. You may have to go against your own beliefs to survive, but in this world that's all we can do. I wish you the best, Stanford. And I hope to see you again."

I watched as she jumped toward a wormhole and was quickly and elegantly whisked away by its swirling winds. Turning away from where the woman once stood, I faced my own future. Her words stuck in my head as I braved into the unknown.

I hadn't known her long, but a part of me hoped to see her again.

(Y/n)'s Perspective

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It wasn't the first time I'd found myself here. It was my father's favorite dimension to visit before he was banned. Just standing here in front of the casino made me feel sick to my stomach.

'If only she hadn't died so soon...' I told myself, entering the casino of dimension Lottocon 9, CYNN CITY for over the 100th time of my life.

It had been a while since I'd seen Stanford, but I'd finally tracked the location of the necklace I'd gifted him. I had figured he was dead and that necklace was lost in the system of gambling.

However, after a few games and no sign... there he was. Stanford, still alive and much older... maybe 15 or so years older. Not many who were new to dimensional travel survived the first year, so there was a slight pull in my heart of proudness for this once scared and confused man.

That was... until I watched him get dragged out by the bouncers. Silently, and cautiously I followed and went after the now banned gambler. However, when I followed him in an alley with no sign of him, I was disheartened once more.

"Huh?" An audible sound of confusion left me as I noticed a wanted sign. There was Stanford's face and in the background... oh goodness. "Rick was here".

'Of course he ran into Rick.' Smirking to myself I tuck the page into my satchel. I turned to leave to track the man once more before I was slammed against the wall.

Releasing a surprised grunt, my hand found its way to my attackers wrist and I took my turn to get the upper hand. After throwing them off of me, I kept my hands out in front of me in a defensive manner.

My attacker caught themself quickly and turned to attack me once more, but even with the shadow I recognized the shape of their face.

"Stanford?"

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