#AH ZEE BRAINEROTTE

[roseverdict]

GF x Venom (Movie) AU (beta edition)

so the gf server has come up with a venom au, and while i was writing in between calls at work, the au went in a different direction from what i was thinking. it's still EXCELLENT and i'll prolly write some of that at some point but HERE'S THE SNIPPET I WROTE TODAY >:D

disclaimer: my venom knowledge consists of

what i've picked up from tumblr

what i've learned since we all collectively went feral over symbiote gravity falls

what's stuck with me after watching the movie for the first time last night at 12 AM

so any inconsistencies in venom lore can be blamed on that sodhaodnskdjskd

have fun figuring out who the symbiotes are!!!

〜

(setting: stan still came when he got the postcard, but bill made his move between "ford sending the postcard" and "stan arriving in gravity falls." instead of ford's cabin in the woods, ford has an Entire Laboratory at this point out in the woods (separate from his house- no ABW here!!!) and THAT'S where things go south. stan showed up at ford's house and, when nobody was home for days at a time, he decided to try and explore the town. however, doing that takes Money, and Money is something he does not have, hence signing up for symbiosis.)

(this scene: stan's volunteered for symbiosis. maybe he's unaware that the whole symbiosis thing is ford's idea (and by ford's i mean bord's)? and bord isn't there to oversee his attempt at symbiosis so this means stan doesn't see ford('s body) standing there and go HEY WHAT THE F U C K)

〜

Stan swallowed as the door locked behind him. "Hey, uh…This is safe, right?"

The speakers crackled.

"That's what we're here to find out." One of the scientists replied.

That…was not encouraging.

Stan didn't say so out loud, however. Part of the reason was because if he started chickening out, he was worried they'd tell him to just leave.

The other part was because he was too busy staring at the roiling, bubbling mass in the center of the room.

Navy blue and a magenta so deep it was purple tumbled over each other as the whatever-it-was approached him.

Stan's blood froze.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't look away.

He couldn't run.

He couldn't do anything.

The mass of blue and purple rolled up against his ratty boots, then began climbing up and up his pant leg until finally reaching his chest.

Stan managed a high-pitched, hysterical chuckle, staring at the thing with wide eyes. "Uh, hello."

And then-

-his nerves lit on fire.

Stan couldn't hold back a scream as he stumbled back against the glass, but the pain was already subsiding.

The thing had vanished.

Somehow, Stan knew it wasn't gone.

STAN.

Stan screamed again and stumbled back. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

〜

The next thing Stan knew, he tumbled to the ground as if he'd just been tossed in a prison cell. He cracked a bleary eye open and glanced behind him, but the probably-not-actually-glass door had already sealed itself.

Just perfect.

Stan groaned and rolled onto his back. This was what he got for not reading the fine print.

There was an overwhelming urge to get to his feet, so that's what he did.

He blinked. What the-?

His feet led him in pacing circles around the tiny room.

Normally, he would've done rounds through his latest prison cell anyway, looking for any weaknesses he could exploit to escape. It was what he'd done every other time he'd been jailed, and he'd had no intention of stopping just because it was a science prison.

The fact that his feet had started moving without any input from him, however, snapped him back to full awareness in a blink.

His stomach rumbled.

He had to get out of here.

Heavy footsteps came down the hall outside, and Stan threw himself into the far corner, hiding his face from the window…though he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe he was still half-asleep and figured he could pretend to be a basket case until he escaped?

Stan didn't know, but he just rolled with it anyway, even as his heartbeat sped up against his will.

"…reckon this can't be sustainable." Someone said. "Even you've gotta agree-!"

"Are you questioning me?" A guttural voice growled.

The first person squeaked. "O'-o' course not! I just figured, maybe having the…the volunteers…dropping like flies might not be effic-EEP!"

"Unless you want to be a volunteer, I suggest you keep your mouth shut," the other hissed. "You know what happened last time one of you 'raised concerns' over this."

"Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!" The first speaker managed, clearly terrified out of his mind.

"Good. I'm off to check the other subjects. You just make sure Forrester is settling in." The deeper voice said, seemingly cheerfully.

The heavy footsteps stomped away, and Stan chanced a look at the door.

One of the scientists stood there, pale as a ghost. He lifted his glasses and pinched the bridge of his incredibly-long nose before turning to look into Stan's cell.

And then he froze.

He glanced off to the side, most likely looking at the man he'd just been speaking with.

He looked back at Stan, a horrified recognition in his eyes.

Before Stan could wonder what it meant, however, the scientist hurriedly tapped something into the side of the wall next to the door, then scurried off.

A screen on Stan's side of the wall flickered on, and he cautiously crept up to it to read.

'Wait for half an hour. The lights will dim and the door will open. Get out. Get help. We're all in grave danger. -F'

Stan's eyes widened, and a split second later, a second rush of understanding shot through him.

The scientist was…going to try to bust him out?

None of it made any sense- how had seeing Stan's face brought this on? What sort of danger were they all in? What had happened 'last time'?- but Stan still settled in to wait.

If worst came to worst, he could always just try breaking out on his own. He could handle one more escape.

He shouldn't have to.

But he could if he needed to.

Time crawled by more and more slowly the longer Stan waited. He counted the number of tiles in the floor, he traced imaginary pictures in the frosted glass of the door, and he reread F's message over and over again. It was almost like being a kid again, wanting to ask "Are we there yet?" every five minutes.

And then the humming of the lights went quiet, and the tiny room grew dim, and the door rose up into the ceiling.

F came through.

He decided he liked F.

Stan slunk up beside the door and listened carefully.

There were panicked sounds down the halls, but none of them seemed to be coming closer.

...he'd take it!

Stan darted out into the hall and sprinted as fast as his out-of-shape, probably-feverish body could take him, passing the rest of the cells at lightning speed.

That was his first (well, second, really, if he counted whatever had happened before he passed out) clue that something was off.

He ignored it for the time being.

He raced past the labs, distantly noticing the opened containment unit that'd held the whatever-it-was that they'd made melt into him.

NOT WHAT. WHO.

Stan flinched at the childish voices, whipping around to try and locate them, only to find himself alone in the hall.

NOT ALONE.

"...I'm losing my mind." Stan decided, turning to run even faster.

EXCUSE YOU?

"Ignoring that!"

Stan burst from the main labs at top speed, mere moments before an alarm began blaring. "SPECIMEN HDMP2 HAS ESCAPED! SPECIMEN HDMP2 HAS ESCAPED!"

"Shit." Stan hissed, leaping down a staircase and barrelling around to the next. "If this lab has a lockdown procedure, I'm screwed!"

DON'T BE SO SURE.

"Wait, what-?!"

But Stan's hand shot off to the side of its own accord, grabbing onto the handrail and yanking him over the edge as he screamed.

He plummeted down the stairwell, dropping all the way to the bottom of the building in just a few moments and landing without injuring himself at all.

That...should not have been possible.

From above, the deep voice from before roared, "THERE HE IS!"

Stan decided to focus on escaping first, then he would try to figure out the how and why his escape was even possible.

GOOD PLAN.

He sprinted for the doors and went to push them open, but they flew off their hinges instead, crash-landing a few feet away.

He gulped. "Don't like that!"

"GET BACK HERE!" shrieked the voice, heavy footsteps charging closer.

Stan glanced over his shoulder, only intending to see whether he had time to run or if he needed to dive out of the way-

-and.

He.

Froze.

Ford was chasing him down, but his hair was in disarray and his bared teeth were too sharp and his eyes had no pupils and his voice was two octaves too deep, because never ONCE had Ma told him about his twin's voice changing so drastically.

The voices Stan was convinced were hallucinations went deathly-quiet, then...

wait, you're like us?

Right. Hallucinating. Escaping. That was a thing.

Stan swallowed, then ran out the door, his heartbeat pounding louder in his ears than his feet on the pavement.

He needed to get away from this place.

He needed to get to his car.

He needed to get out of town.

He needed to run, run, run away as fast as he could.

Ford, or whatever Ford had become, skidded to a halt at the entryway, unable or unwilling to leave the premises, and he howled in rage.

Stan bit back a curse.

He needed to figure out what the hell had happened to his brother.

But first, he needed to eat something.