Transdimensional Arc

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The Transdimensional Arc is an arc where Dipper Pines discovers an alternate dimension that is hundreds/thousands of years behind most other dimensions, and thus is inhabited by pre-Transcendence versions of his family and friends. The alternate dimension also has a Bill Cipher that is much more sadistic and violent than the one Dipper remembers, and Dipper takes it upon himself to save the alternate dimension from Bill's plans.

Summary

A few hundred, if not thousands of years into the future, Dipper finally begins to take peeks into alternate dimensions that closely neighbor his own. He keeps this hobby down to a bare minimum, as he’s always inherently afraid that he could become distraught over what he sees - or even too happy, and leave his own world for one where Mabel is still alive.

But one day, he senses something far too sinister to ignore, and looks into a parallel world with his third eye. Most things are the same, but something is terribly off. The timeline is kinked and fractured, leaving it many years behind most neighboring worlds… and there’s an imminent doom that makes his stomach twist into knots.

That universe homes an alternate version of Bill that is far from simply chaotic. He’s sadistic, ruthless, mad to the point of wishing not just chaos, but torment upon the world. If this Bill’s plans come to fruition, earth would become a literal Hell in which all lives are kept in a boundless, infinite loop of suffering.

There’s no way he can’t do something. Even if they’re alternate versions of the ones he knows, souls of his family and friends reside there. He’d never be able to live with himself knowing he simply looked the other way and now they’re stuck in a world far worse than the Transcendence ever hoped to accomplish.

Homecoming

Alcor ends up forcing his way through a tear in space-time, coming out on the other side of that world’s portal that still sits under the Mystery Shack. It only takes him a moment to realize the set of four wide eyes watching his entrance are painfully familiar - Stan, Ford, Mabel, and himself. From that first summer they spent in Gravity Falls.

He retreats quickly, leaving Ford to gape at the power levels that spiked and nearly destroyed the portal. With terror, they realize the demon that just forced its way into their world was more powerful than Cipher, the threat that has already left Gravity Falls in post-apocalyptic shambles in preparation for their own Transcendence. Half the town is destroyed from rampaging supernatural creatures that boast a bloodlust for humans, and the Mystery Shack is one of the few safe havens that sit beneath a powerful magical barrier. A magical barrier that seems entirely ineffective against the demon shrouded in shadows that gave them only a passing glance.

Over the next few days, Alcor hides mostly in the mindscape, searching for Bill and sorting the information that’s given to him and that he personally uncovers in this different world. Though he does his best to stay hidden, Stan, Ford, and the kids (among others) keep catching glimpses of him, and at one point, actually manage to lure and trap him inside a barrier that was originally constructed to slow Bill down. They interrogate him, thinking they’ve got him vulnerable.

At this point, Alcor goes against his better judgement, and interacts with them. With a menacing grin, Alcor laughs and says, “S͝i͘nc͟e͝ ͠y͜oú alļ ̸w̕ant͜ ͘ans̨w҉er̕s so badly, why̶ ̸n̛ot ͢m͟a̶k͝e ͝ţhi͞s a little ̸ga͏me?”

He gives them exactly one week to guess and offer either his true name or his oldest nickname. He’ll stay around Gravity Falls, and frequent the physical plane. Every time they’re able to find him, he’ll offer them a hint to who he is and what his plans are. If they can’t offer his true name or oldest nickname by week’s end, he’ll claim ownership of one of their souls.

He disappears in a blaze of blue fire, leaving the unnerving scent of fear and brimstone.

Over the course of the first few days, Dipper and Mabel (along with their friends because hardly anyone roams the town alone these days) use a spell that tracks demonic energy to find Alcor. Each time they catch him, he seems to grin and congratulate them before offering his promised hint.

They’re always very cryptic, and generally unsettling. Piece by piece, they learn that Alcor is in fact more powerful than Cipher - and in his words, both an enemy and a friend. That he’s both of this world, and not. He desires both destruction and protection, and that he has been slighted by Bill Cipher personally.

As they get closer to the end of the week, Alcor’s hints get more... out there. He talks of Bill Cipher already being dead, something they all know is far from the truth, and makes correlations between stars and pine trees (which they all take as meaning Mabel and Dipper). It’s only near the very end that Dipper figures out that the “star” could in fact mean Alcor, due to his name - but this only serves to confuse them more.

When the sun begins to set on the final day, Alcor approaches them on the lawn of the Mystery Shack, within the barrier they thought impenetrable. With obvious enjoyment, he offers them one final hint: a poem in which he refers to himself as a bear with fur of red, blue, and white.

It’s only when the sun sinks halfway into the horizon, that Dipper realizes with a racing heart that Alcor is speaking of Ursa Major, using the color of the stars as his fur. And what nickname the constellation has.

Horror in his voice, Dipper whispers, “You’re me.”

Alcor grins and bows, letting the black exterior of his demonic form dissolve. In his more human form, regardless of his still very demonic appearance, the resemblance is unmistakable. In the confusion that follows, Alcor offers them a much clearer story - explaining the world he came from, and how he’s here to take control of Gravity Falls (which is of course, taken the wrong way).

Just as it all starts to sink in, Alcor announces that the sun has set, and they failed the test. When everyone starts to speak up, arguing that they guessed his name, the demon grins and says that no one actually said either "Mason Pines" nor “Dipper Pines." They concluded his identity, but didn’t actually offer his full name, or even his old nickname.

Terror overcomes them, even as they ready their weapons, willing to fight - but Alcor just laughs and feigns dramatic surprise, saying how he already owns one of their souls. Apparently a soul shackled to a demon transcends dimensions, and he’s possessed Mabel’s soul for hundreds of years now. Dipper immediately becomes indignant, insisting that he’d never do something so horrible to his sister.

For the first time, the smile Alcor offers is a bit softer. He asks if Dipper would consider such a thing if it meant saving Mabel’s life.

Giving them little time to process that, Alcor sits back in midair and insists he has no idea what they’re all so worked up about. He gave them a test he knew was rigged in their favor, he helped give them more info about Bill Cipher, and no harm was done. Unfortunately, at a minimum of a few hundred years old, Alcor has become more out of touch with his human self, and failed to see that he still tormented them for an entire week, making them fear for their very lives. Obviously, they don’t warm up to him.

However, during the week prior, Alcor learned that Cipher was sleeping far beneath the town, and would only rise at the end of summer. Until then, he couldn’t destroy him. So he’s stuck there for another month or so.

Needless to say, Alcor very conveniently forgets how he’s on bad terms with… well, everyone. He ends up in the Shack more often than any of them would like, ganking food or watching their goddamn TV, or just generally pestering them out of sheer boredom. Mabel is the first one to even think about warming up to him, because she can tell he isn’t lying - that he may be from another universe, but he's still her brother.

Dipper, on the other hand… tries just about everything he can think of to exorcise, banish, or just keep the goddamn demon out of his fucking room. But Alcor seems to have fixated on him more than anyone else, startling and scaring him and generally being a borderline sadistic asshole. It doesn’t help that he eventually finds out part of Alcor’s power was actually derived from Bill Cipher himself.

Poor Dipper, walking into the living room to see Mabel and Alcor playing video games and just shrieking, with Mabel trying to calm him down and talk some sense into him and being all “Dipper no! Stop throwing salt on our guest!!” - but the boy never gives up, he can’t give up, because there’s no way he’ll trust a demon that owns his sister’s soul. He’s terrified - most of them are still terrified - because it doesn’t matter who Alcor used to be, he’s still a demon more powerful than Cipher, just as sadistic and he could kill them all.

Eventually though… Alcor seems to simmer down. He acts just a bit more human, his smiles aren’t nearly as menacing, and he seems to start reacting more when someone gets scared of him. One night Dipper gets pissed off enough with his antics that he demands to know why Alcor is picking on him so much.

Alcor… actually breaks down a bit there. He finally admits that he’s annoyed, he’s so jealous when he sees Dipper going about his life being able to be human. That he’ll end up growing up, growing old, getting married, having kids, and experiencing life without the threat of crippling immortality. That he can interact with his family without worrying how much he’s scaring them. Looking at the Dipper in this world reminds him of how much he’s changed, how inhuman he is now. And he hates it.

As much as he didn’t want to, Dipper ends up sympathizing with him a little bit. Seeing Alcor that vulnerable (crying, he was crying) was a slap to the face. Dipper himself can’t imagine what it must be like becoming a demon, having instincts and urges you can’t call your own, slowly losing yourself over lifetimes and watching everyone you love and care about pass before your eyes.

From then on, Alcor tries being more helpful, and backs off (somewhat) with his teasing on Dipper. He aids Ford in making defensive gadgets and weapons, helps fortify barriers, and even winds up cooking for someone from time to time. He even winds up comforting a reluctant Dipper, who’s of course plagued with insomnia and anxiety over the threat of possible doom coming their way. Alcor just laughs and says “Dude, you’re me. I know when you need a hug but are too proud to ask for one."

Inevitably, at the end of summer, Bill awakens from his slumber. The confrontation between him and Alcor leaves a permanent scar on the state of Oregon. Most of the forests around Gravity falls go up in flames, and tremors the size of earthquakes shake the country. Alcor is further fueled by his resentment, his rage - but Bill makes the horrible mistake of edging him on once he finds out Alcor’s identity. His taunting of “Wow, you’re more of a demon than me, Pine Tree! Good job!” and “You took your sister’s soul? Even I wouldn’t do that!” only serve to make Alcor’s attacks more blindly destructive.

But it’s only when Bill takes hostages that Alcor loses it.

Mabel going blue in the face, gasping for air. Dipper, severely injured with blood running down his arms like the rivers of ancient Babylon, pushing himself against a fiery barrier, trying desperately to get to his sister.

The final attack that follows destroys Cipher, but also leaves a canyon that rips across half of the entire state, leveling several neighboring towns and slaughtering countless people.

Aftermath

In the end, Alcor prevented the Transcendence in that universe entirely. He can now clearly see a future where the twins grow up with normal lives, happy lives.

A part of him wants to stay, but he can’t. Though his family and friends have all passed on in his own world, their souls still remain. He couldn’t possibly leave them behind to indulge in a fantasy that’s long passed for him.

He parts ways a few days after things settle down, when he knows everyone is safe, the dead have been buried, and the town has been rebuilt. But he doesn’t go without leaving Stan, Ford, Dipper, and Mabel a powerful version of his summoning circle that, with adequate sacrifice, would summon him across dimensions if he used enough energy. He hopes they never have to use it.

Before departing, Alcor offers his human counterpart some parting words. "You have a good life ahead of you, Mason. Make sure you have no regrets when it ends. Take care of yourself, and Mabel, especially Mabel. Because if it hadn't been for her… I might have become a monster worse than Cipher ever was. Whatever happens… never let each other be alone."

When Alcor returns to his own world, he’s able to sleep soundly beside the reincarnations of his loved ones, at peace with his past for the first time in a long time..

Gallery

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  Dipper and Alcor. (source)

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  Mabel, Dipper, and Alcor. (source)

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  Mabel, Toby, and Dipper. (source)

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  Alcor acting charming toward Pacifica while Dipper looks on in frustration. (source)

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  Dipper and Alcor both cowering from Bear-O. (source)