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"SSSTTTAAAANNNNNNNNNNNLLLLEEYYY!"

Those were Bill Cipher's final words as Stan Pines, twin brother of his former business partner Ford Pines, punched him into oblivion within his own domain of the mindscape.

Bill found the irony in his defeat; having been outsmarted by a fellow con artist, beaten at his own game, genuinely checkmated for the first time in trillions of Earth years. Yet despite his destruction, he suddenly found himself once again stranded in the lawless, crumbling dimensional void he'd tried so hard to escape from.

Then his fragmented self was approached by a familiar all-powerful presence. "Hello, Bill Cipher. It has been a long time." Bill immediately went on edge. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my old pal the Axolotl. Here to rub it in my eye, slime-scales?" The triangular being masked his sudden fear with the snarky wit that he was known for throughout the multiverse and beyond.

"Stubborn as ever, aren't you, mind demon?" The Axolotl shook its head in disappointment. "Yeah so, what's it to you, fishface?" Bill retorted. "You do remember calling upon me in what was your final moments, Cipher?" The Axolotl tilted its head to the side.

"Um, well, you see, I... that was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, buddy. It's really nothing to worry about." The rising panic was evident in Bill's voice despite his efforts to hide it. "Nice try, but of course you're not getting off that easily."

"Awww crap. Nononono, NNNNOOOOOOO!" Bill screamed as the Axolotl unleashed a blinding light and swallowed all of his pieces whole.

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Amphibia, Over 1,000 Earth Years Earlier

"All hail King Andrias Leviathan, His Royal Majesty of Amphibia," Bill mockingly bowed to a towering amphibious-reptilian humanoid clad in armor and wearing a crown. "Halt your games, Bill Cipher. I wish to speak with you."

"As if the ruler of a great kingdom could want anything more out of life. But by all means, ask away," Bill idled, looking bored.

"Tell me what else I need to do to fulfill my ancestral legacy," Andrias glared with a devious look in his eyes. "Woah-ho-ho! Gutsy, aren't ya Your Highness?"

"Oh, for frog's sake, just get it over with and I'll give you my mortal soul," Andrias said aggressively as he rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, no need to be pushy about it, My Lord. Pleasure doing business with you!"

"Indeed," Andrias growled in satisfaction as the two shook hands.

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Boiling Isles, Over 50 Earth Years Earlier

A pale-skinned figure in a hooded cloak with graying blonde hair, jagged ears and a scar made of porous green fibers running down his face stood before Bill. "What are you old man, some kind of living, walking corpse? Ah, I'm just kidding. I know who you are, Emperor Belos."

The disfigured elder stared in surprise. "By the Titan itself... Emperor?" "Oops, spoilers! Sorry about that, ya crusty geezer," Bill apologized, chuckling. "Enough," Belos said impatiently. "So, you are the one they prefer to call Bill Cipher, aren't you?"

"Yeah I am, aren't you going to make a deal with me already?" Bill questioned. "Most certainly," Belos affirmed, "Tell me more about how to bring about my unity, and I will give you some of my own knowledge in exchange." "Eh, sounds fair enough." The demon and the witch shook hands.

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Central Finite Curve, Dimension C-131, Over 30 Earth Years Ago

"Whaaaaat the fuck d-do you want, y-ya one-eyed weirdo?" A man with spiky grayish-blue hair wearing a lab coat drank from a flask. "Why wouldn't I come to Rick Sanchez C-137, smartest man in your universe and the Rickest Rick?" Bill teased.

"Oh please, t-trying to conquer everything that exists would be like trying to prove th-th-that the illness w-which makes you cough up flora from your digestive system because of unreciprocated intimate feelings is... w-what's the name of it again... oh yeah, 'Hanahaki disease', is biologically possible in l-living organisms made solely of flesh and blood." Rick delivered stinging verbal barbs unlike any Bill had experienced before.

"Wow, harsh." Bill was taken aback by Rick's reaction. "I know, a-and if I really wanted to, I would make you my biiiiitch right about now," Rick said, laughing and taking another drink.

"Someday you'll regret this, rejecting my offer," Bill glowered, his body turning red. "Yeah, w-whatever. Have fun with your interdimensional r-rampages, Bill. Hope you enjoy it while it lasts."

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Mewni, Over 20 Human Years Ago

"So, Toffee of Septarsis, what brings you to my company?" Bill was in the presence of a bipedal lizard wearing ragged clothes. "I want to put an end to those accursed royals, the Butterfly family," Toffee spoke calmly but with much venom in his tone.

Bill whistled in amazement. "So, heading straight for the top, tough guy? I can help. Just let me see what it is you've got stored inside that noggin of yours."

Toffee smiled. "Deal. And in exchange, you'll give me the deepest secrets of Mewni's precious magic." "You got it!" They shook hands.

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Mindscape & Nightmare Realm, Present Day

As the Axolotl finished devouring Bill, its eyes glowed. “When Gravity Falls and Earth become sky, fear the beast with just one eye. Sixty degrees that come in threes. Watches from within birch trees. Saw his own dimension burn. Misses home and can't return. Says he's happy. He's a liar. Blame the arson for the fire. If he wants to shirk the blame, he'll have to invoke my name. One way to absolve his crime. A different form, a different time," the Axolotl chanted harmoniously. "Farewell, Bill Cipher."

Elsewhere, in an unknown place and time, a small horned creature lay within an egg waiting to hatch. Its dreamless sleep was suddenly disturbed by a loud crash, but the young being was too small and unable to do anything whatsoever. There was a time when the egg would hatch, and its occupant would perhaps be forever unaware of who and what he had truly been in his previous life.