In a world where time was dead, it was difficult to place how long exactly Bill's reign was, but nobody seemed to be complaining. In what was left of the little blue planet called Earth, anyone who mattered had their places set, and anyone else either accepted it, or didn't even have the option of death to fall back on.
The remaining humans knew the pecking order by this point. Highest on the tier was their Lord and Master, a triangular creature named Bill Cipher. Not so threatening to look at, until he was dishing out punishments to uprisings or shouting eldritch curses at those one rung below on the tier for either embarrassing him or taking his spotlight.
The tier below him held four oddities known collectively as the Pines. There was no determination between them of who was more powerful, since they all seemed to have different skill sets to call upon. Personally, though Stanford Pines looked and behaved more like a demonic entity, it was the adorable girl Mabel Pines who displayed the most creative and destructive show of power, even to the point where Bill wouldn't contradict her workings.
So far, the best bet for survival was down to the Pines. Whether it was gambling with one's literal life at Stanley's casino, working with knowledge retrieval for Stanford, or attending one of Mabel's chintzy parties, it was better than the alternatives that would befall those who came into the hands of Bill's 'friends'.
Soon, though, even humanity had its fall, save for the very few that had become honorable additions to Team Pines. By that time, there was hardly anything 'human' left to be called of them. Human concepts like time or reason meant nothing to them anymore, and they instead spent their existences with their respective sponsors.
Soos and Wendy still worked at Stanley's casino and tourist trap, now enjoying their work and all the perks that came with it. Soos had fun creating more attractions and working on some tours, and Wendy found her niche in the security department, keeping a diligent eye out on humans who tried to escape without paying and dishing out punishment. More often than naught, would-be escapees preferred the prospect of being turned into gold and devoured rather than being cornered by a Corduroy with an axe.
Somewhere along the line in the world, Stanford found his old friend Fiddleford, who was close to death and having gone even madder from the chaos. It was with a modicum of guilt and pity that Stanford took his old friend in, using methods found within his findings to heal the man's frail body, turn back the biological clock, and mend his broken mind. It was a long and very delicate process, but by the end of it, Fiddleford Hadron McGucket was put back together, physically thirty years old again, and given back enough sanity to sit back and listen to what Stanford had to offer. By the end of things, Fiddleford became Stanford's research partner again, giving them both the company and socialization that Mabel told Stanford he desperately needed.
Grenda, Candy, and Pacifica remained in Mabel's tightly-knit group, forever twelve years old and in constant sleepover mode. Even when things seemed to be getting a little stale, Bill teaching Mabel how to jump dimensions into other worlds proved just the thing needed to keep her friends entertained. Worlds of odd fashion, makeup, and musical tastes became open to their hands, and Bill began to regret teaching dimensional jumps when his Fearamid became overrun with, to no real surprise, MORE pink.
While Grenda and Candy readily welcomed the dreamlike chaos, Pacifica's more pragmatic mindset kept her more grounded and wanting for less Eternal Sleepover Paradise and more mind-opening interdimensional discovery. It was this mindset that led her to take up Dipper's offer to take a break from the Fearamid parties and go down to the library sometimes.
She found that, like Dipper said, Stanford's image was definitely more frightening than he actually was. And at least McGucket looked human enough to not be off-putting. The only stipulation to her being there was that she put things back exactly where she found them, and didn't break anything. They were simple-enough instructions to follow, and goodness if Stanford didn't make the best tea she ever drank while she did some reading.
When even that got tedious after awhile, she packed a bag and tagged along with Dipper on one of his 'adventures'. While the other three Pines were content with staying in Gravity Falls—aside from interdimensional hopping for whatever reason—Dipper set out to explore around the world to every odd hotspot he had ever read about, and then some. Since Grunkle Stan had to work his casino, Grunkle Ford too busy amassing his knowledge collection, and Mabel dimension hopping to find new boy bands for her and her friends to listen to, Pacifica proved to be a great companion to his travels.
With the high societal pressure off of her, Pacifica found she enjoyed going on adventures just for the heck of it, and jotting down the weirdness that Bill Cipher hadn't touched. Dipper explained that whatever paranormal and weird that was already on Earth, Bill hadn't trifled around with, because 'why ruin (un)natural perfection?'.
So perhaps it was being in Gravity Falls for so long, or her run-in with some paranormal stuff in her own home, but Pacifica found a new love for the weirdness, especially the magic type. She gained the loyalty of fairies for her shiny hair and perfectly-manicured nails, drop-kicked the gnomes for trying to make her their new queen, made a Manitaur cry, and had her round of punching unicorns after a particularly messy encounter. Turns out she had a mean left hook. Who knew?
Dipper found himself fully content for the first time in his life, roaming around as he wished, doing what he wanted. The fact that he had someone by his side to help enjoy it wasn't bad either. It was nice to have someone on the same page as him, helping him out on his travels, and actively encouraging him to develop his own abilities. It was a touching concept, though Dipper was sure Pacifica meant it as a means of luxury to move things along.
Not that he was complaining much. He didn't think much of his own abilities until he found a set of symbols he'd never come across before on a cave wall. Even after Pacifica pored over the deciphering books and even took a backpack-portal trip to Stanford's library—a precaution Stanford insisted upon since the last time Dipper attempted teleportation he ended up on one of Jupiter's moons—it still brought up no answer.
After looking at it for a good long while, Dipper's eye on his forehead closed and his two normal eyes opened, and in an instant, the symbols deciphered themselves in front of his eyes. Pacifica remarked that it looked like his eyes were blank voids, until the symbols on the wall began flashing in them. Turned out the symbols spelled out a recipe for the best beef stew in the world, but Dipper was still counting that as a win.
Dipper never shirked from his family, thought. He always checked in with all of them frequently, and was never stupid enough to ignore a 'family meeting' call from Mabel. Nobody was. Not even Bill, though Dipper thought that his crystalized parents in the Fearamid were still more positive additions than Bill.
Finding their parents had been excitement, and then a somber affair. Although their father carried the Cipher lineage, he was still completely unwilling to follow the path of his uncles and children, nor was his wife. Rather than risk them being hurt, Mabel turned them into crystal statues, hoping that one day, they'd understand and maybe give it another go.
Oddly—or perhaps not so much—Dipper wasn't torn up about it. Sure, he was twelve years old eternally and his parents rejected the rest of the abominations that made up his family, but seeing the multidimensional possibilities of his existence and having access to 1/8th of unlimited energy sort of made the matter insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Plus, Mabel was right. They always could try again at some other point in time.
He absently wondered how his grandfather Sherman would have taken all this, but according to Grunkle Stan, "Shermy was down for pretty much anything", so it sort of made it all the more disappointed that Grampa Shermy wasn't alive to see this. Bill made mention of unearthing the corpse, but both Stan and Ford put their foot down…so to speak. Stan expressed that his grave-robbing days were over, and Ford simply refused to take part in necromancy. Not that their squicks on the matter would deter Bill, but he didn't press the matter anymore.
Still, Dipper was certain at some point in the future, he was going to get a surprise visit from his long-dead grandfather. Maybe some terrifying zombie demi-demon or something horrifying like that. Mabel was sure to love it.
Dipper was coming back from a mystery trip through the magical dimension, having found an open gateway in the part of the Gravity Falls forest that the magical creatures resided, glad his backpack had space displacement for storing all of his souvenirs and knowledge material for Stanford.
Pacifica had enjoyed it immensely, having been declared a princess in three different countries, punched out a few more unicorns, and picked up a good bit of magic and weapon training. She was a crack shot with a bow and arrow and was just happy she didn't have to rely on Dipper's powers to get along without some luxuries anymore.
The two of them slipped into the Fearamid, which Mabel had 'unofficially' claimed as her forever home in this dimension. Not that Bill had much say in the matter, but he found that every time he tried to take down one of Mabel's posters, two more would spring up. He just sort of gave up after awhile and accepted the fact that he was probably never going to get the glitter out of his bodily crevices.
"We're back!" Dipper announced, taking his backpack off. There was a small explosion from somewhere in the Fearamid, and he exchanged a look with Pacifica.
"…I'll…just take Stanford the scrolls," Pacifica muttered, opening her own backpack and taking the ancient and delicate scrolls through the portal into the library. Dipper snorted, but shut the backpack flap after she vanished inside, tucking it away as Mabel came flying out of a doorway and tackled him to the floor in a hug.
"YOU WERE GONE TOO LONG!" she shouted, squeezing him until he swore he heard something crack. He awkwardly patted her head.
"It wasn't THAT long, Mabel," he squeaked. "…and your kind of crushing my organs."
"Your organs are fine," she huffed, letting him go anyway, putting her hands on her hips. "And you WERE gone too long! My souvenir better be worth it!"
Dipper rolled his eye, rummaging around in his backpack before taking out a wind chime made from unicorn horns and crystals. "This worth enough?" The squeal Mabel let out as she grabbed it and hung it up over the window was answer enough. "Apparently, when light hits it just right, you get a rainbow solid enough to sit on. Thought it was pretty neat."
Mabel hugged him, beaming. "It's PERFECT," she replied. "My crew's gonna have to go there sometime!"
"May their various gods have mercy," Dipper muttered, snorted, sitting back. "Have I missed anything?" Mabel flopped back, a big beanbag chair appearing under her with a poof of glitter.
"Not much," she replied. "Though Great-Grandpa Bill seems to be extra busy for some reason."
"Totally wish you'd stop calling him that," Dipper said, shuddering. "But what's he got to be busy about?"
Mabel shrugged. "Dunno. But I sense something weird…not just with him, but with the dimension. THIS dimension." She rested her chin in her hands. "There maaaaaay have been detrimental effects of tearing open a hole from the Nightmare Dimension to this one." She glanced out the window pensively. "I think he's trying to fix the rift by himself."
Dipper frowned. "He couldn't even open a rift by himself, how the heck is he supposed to close one?" he asked. Mabel shrugged.
"I dunno. But if he cant close it, we might have to jump ship." She kicked her feet, huffing. "That would be a bummer. I love this place! But, if that's what's gotta happen…"
Dipper tapped his chin thoughtfully. "….well….Great-Uncle Ford is working on actually CREATING his own dimension," he said. "And not just the pocket dimensions that expand from a smaller source….I'm talking a dimension the size of the universe! He thinks the Infinity-sided die might be the key to it, but looking at that thing gives me a headache." He rubbed his head, thinking back to the infinite statistical probabilities that had flashed in front of his eyes the last time he looked at it, not wanting a repeat of that migraine.
"Wow….our own dimensions…" Mabel said, her eyes sparkling. "…How great would THAT be? We could ALL make our own dimensions! AND LORD OVER THEM LIKE GODS!"
"…Ease up on the creep factor, Mabel. You're at a ten, I need you back to dial back to about a five, maybe four."
Mabel rolled her eyes, pouting. "You're no fun," she huffed. "But seriously, COULD you imagine it, Dipper?"
Dipper leaned back, his singular eye closing and his other two opening, replaying the multiple dimensions he'd been to, all of the languages and codes he'd cracked, even a fraction of the infinite outcomes of the die, all flashing in front of his eyes.
A whole new dimension.
No.
A whole new UNIVERSE…
He smiled, baring his sharp teeth almost hungrily at the possibilities.
Oh yes. He could imagine it.