Song: 'ECHO' by Crusher-P
I LOVE THE SONG SO MUCH AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

ALSO, ALMOST TO 2K READS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Future me again! How many times do I have to say it, the story is past 2K, get over it.)

Yay! Next chapter! Aren't you excited? Heh, of course you all are, what am I talking about? I'm excited too! COOKIES AND CAKE FOR EVERYONE!!!!
(Need to stop the Smile Dip.)
Also:
BRACE YOURSELF FOR FEELS, LITTLE HUMANS!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

No, the demon in front of them, it couldn't be Dipper. Mabel didn't understand. It was impossible. Bill had taken his soul into the Nightmare Realm. He couldn't just show up after that long in Bill's place. Where was Bill even?

"Dipper, what happened to you?" Ford asked, backing up.

The demon--or at least what seemed like one--laughed, as if the question was funny.

"Wow!" Dipper exclaimed, with a savage grin. He had sharp teeth. "And I thought you were smart, Six Fingers! How many PH.D.s did you have again?"

No one answered. With a sigh, the demon lowered himself to the ground, standing lightly, and folding up his wings.

"Dipper?" Mabel finally managed.

"Don't call me that." He hissed.

Mabel drew back, trying to keep the tears from spilling over her eyes. It wasn't working. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't expected to meet her brother.

"I have a different name now." The demon continued. "Now that it--wait. Shooting Star, are you crying?" He said, finally taking note of his crying sister.

Mabel looked down and wiped the tears from her cheeks quickly.

"Who hurt you, Mizar? What did they do to you?" Dipper said, his eyes growing darker.

Ford glanced at Dipper curiously. "What?"

"Was it you?!" The demon hissed furiously, launching himself at the barrier of the summoning circle. They were suddenly glad that demons couldn't pass through the markings.

"Dipper, why would I--"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He screamed, pressing against the barrier, it rippled, that shattered with a boom. Dipper's form flicked momentarily, then he was flying across the ground. With his wings spread, claws and teeth bared, and his eyes leaving golden trails behind him, Mabel forgot for a moment that it was her brother. He looked like something from Bill's world.

Knocking his Grunkle to the ground, Dipper stood over him, anger in his eyes. "Did you hurt her? Why is she crying!"

"Kid!" Stan shouted, running to his brothers aid. "He didn't do anything!"

Dipper backed up, confused. He flicked again for a moment. "But. Who was it?"

"It was you, you idiot!" Stan growled, helping Ford up, who was warily eyeing the demon.    

Dipper turned to Mabel, and started to walk towards her. Though, it wasn't really walking when someone's hovering a few inches off the ground. Trembling, Mabel backed up, tripped and fell, where she curled up on the ground. She didn't trust this new demon. She wasn't sure it was her brother.
Suddenly, a hand landed gently on her hair. Looking up, she saw Dipper sitting next to her.

"Wha--?"

Her brother pulled her up into a huge bear hug. She could hardly breath, but she didn't care. It was her brother, who she had thought was dead, and he was hugging her.

Something wet fell onto her shoulder. "Dipper? Are you... Are you crying?"

Looking up, she saw golden tears trailing down his cheeks. "Dipper?" She asked again. He didn't saw anything about his name.

"Dipper, please. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Mabel." He had called her Mabel, not Shooting Star. "I shouldn't have come back."

"What? No! We want you here."

"Heh. They don't." Ford and Stan glanced at each other as they were pointed out.

"They aren't used to this." Mabel said. "Plus, you just tried to kill them."

"I wouldn't have actually  killed them." Dipper said, a hint a crude sarcasm in his voice. "And it was you who summoned me in the first place. Did you expect Bill?"

"Well, yeah. But, but you're... You're back." 

"I shouldn't have come back like this. Look at me."

"Dipper!" Mabel admonished. "You're still my brother." She paused, then quietly added: "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Mabel stood up, helping her brother as well, and giving him a quick hug.

Ford and Stan had walked over at some point, and they enveloped Mabel in a hug. She caught a glance of Dipper looking away, slightly angry.

Suddenly, his form flickered and disappeared for a few seconds. Started, Mabel yanked herself away from her two Grunkles and called out for him. He flickered back into place, blinking.

"Dipper! What was that?"

With a small, sad smile, Dipper held up a finger, a small blue flame flickered on it. Like Bill's fire.
Ford recoiled immediately. "I can't stay in your dimension without making a deal first."

"What do you mean?" Mabel said.

"If someone doesn't make a deal of some kind, I can't stay here."

"What happens when you disappear?" Mabel asked, worried.

"I get stuck back in the Nightmare Realm or Mindscape, Mabel." Dipper said. "I get stuck with all those other demons, okay?"

"Dipper, you can't leave. Please!" Mabel protested, reaching for her brother's hand. She moved right through him like a hologram.

"See, Mabel?" Dipper said. "Even now I'm not in your dimension. You're just seeing me in the Mindscape. I'm not actually here."

"But you hugged me earlier!"

"The connection was stronger. I've been here too long." 

"Don't leave me, Dipper! I just got you back."

"It's not my decision, Shooting Star." Everyone flinched at the mention of Shooting Star.

"You have to make a deal, right?" Ford asked.

"Exactly, Six Fingers."

Trying to ignore his name, and not think of Bill, Ford made a decision. "I'll make a deal, okay?"

"Oh? What are the terms, Sixer?"

"You offer information about your world, the Nightmare Realm, and the Mindscape, and you can stay here."

"It doesn't work like that. I need something in return."

"You can stay here!" Ford said again.

"I've been here the whole time, Six Fingers. Just not in this dimension. It has to be something else." Dipper said, his voice flat with boredom. He flickered again.

"You can have breakfast. You can eat stuff if you stay here, right?" Mabel asked. "You can't feel right now, can you? You can do that in our dimension."

"Hmmm." Dipper said thoughtfully.

"Isn't that what Bill wanted too, kid?" Stan asked. Surely Dipper and Bill would have different motives.

"She has a point." Dipper said. "And that was one of the few things Bill was right about."

"Is it a deal then?" Mabel asked, excited.

"Wait." Ford said. Dipper frowned. "Can you get the two journals Bill took?"

"You mean give them back?"

"What do you mean?"

"They're mine now. You can't have them back yet."

Ford stared.

"Problem, Six Fingers?"

"Are you sure you aren't Bill? You act like him sometimes." Ford said.

Dipper laughed. "Are you going to agree to the terms or what?"

"No loopholes." Ford added.

"Why would I do that?"

"No loop holes." Ford said again.

"Does it really matter if--"

"Dipper!" Mabel protested.

"Fine."

"It's a deal, then." Ford said.

Extending a hand lit with blue fire, which cast strange shadows, Dipper smiled with his sharp teeth. "Deal."

They shook hands.

Ford could have sworn he saw a third eye, yellow, slitted, and glaring in the middle of Dipper's forehead right before color violently faded back into the world.

Shorter chapter, I know, but there wasn't much planned for this this one anyways. It's just helping to set up the story.

Also, like I mentioned at the very beginning of the story, this will NOT be a normal Transcendence AU story. I'm definitely putting a twist in it.

What I'm saying is: LET THE THEORIES COMMENCE!!!!!!

HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE

BYYYYEEEE!!!!
~Aza