Before we get to this, a few Basics to take care of:
Every piece of published original fiction exists as its own universe in the Multiverse contained within Yggdrasil, which has broken. Until it is fixed, everything is held in stasis via Time Loops to keep it from getting worse. Projected completion date for the repairs is Infinity. The Infinite Loops is the story of various characters from the universe caught up in the Time Loop, as they deal with the problems caused by having Infinite Time on their hands. Shenanigans ensue.
Of course, there are a few rules as to how the time loops work;
One person in a Loop, is the Anchor. They are the person who first starts time looping.
There is always at least one Anchor present in a given Time Loop snippet, though it may not be the local one.
The standard pattern for a loop is that the Anchor (and whoever else is Looping there) come to awareness in a loop at a particular point in the story. From there, events will play out as influenced by the Loopers present, acting with the benefit of their foreknowledge, until either a predetermined end point is reached or the anchor dies.
To be Awake is to be aware of the time loops (that is, to have gone back in time this time.)
The Anchor is the only character guaranteed to be Awake. Even after others have started looping, it is mostly random as to whether they will be Awake this particular loop.
Crossovers, fusions, and alternate pasts can also take place. It is perfectly possible, for example, to have the characters Awaken into a loop which conforms to a fanfic universe rather than reality.
Loops do not have to be in chronological order, but it is strongly preferred that they not require a mutually contradictory order (where A must be before B and B must be before A.)
Just about every Looper is very, very stir crazy.
And lastly, This is a community project from the SpaceBattles forum. All Snippets that are not mine will be marked with the original authors and all snippets are posted with permission.
1.1
Madoka sat at her terminal, her head resting in her hands. She sighed heavily.
"What troubles you, young one?"
Madoka gasped slightly as she turned around to see Hypnos standing at her doorway. She sighed once more.
"Hey, Hypnos," she greeted. "I'm just making some preparations for the next Smash expansion… and baseline is a mess."
Hypnos looked at the screen and considered what he saw. "You needn't not be troubled, I believe the hero chosen is the perfect one for the job."
Madoka nodded. "Yeah, I know Kirby is up to it. But it doesn't make it easier to watch."
Hypnos nodded. "Perhaps you need a side project to ease your mind."
Madoka tilted her head. "Side project?"
Hypnos produced a packet of paper. "Skuld asked me to give you this."
"A new branch? She wants me to watch over a new branch?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hypnos waved as he walked out. "Said something about it being your wheelhouse."
Madoka looked at the packet in her hand.
"Zombie Idols in the Saga Prefecture? How odd…" she thought aloud. "... Oh, Oh dear… These girls may be zombies but they're definitely not ready for what comes with that in other branches…"
She groaned; so much for this being a side project.
She then turned to her computer and started typing. "For now, I'm going to have to keep them from looping into any malevolent zombie branches."
She made a note to contact Hephaestus to help her requisition the paperwork. There was good reason for it, so it might be done faster. The Horror Hunger attributed to being a zombie wasn't something that could be shrugged off so easily, even for a veteran Looper.
"… As for the Anchor…" Madoka thought with her head tilted backwards, tapping her chin in contemplation. "Well, at least the the choice is obvious…. Good luck, Sakura."
Sakura woke up from the hard floor beneath her. That was the first thing that was wrong. Where was her futon? For that matter, where was everyone else? The zombie girl stood up and looked around. Was it supposed to rain today?
Something stirred around her. She turned around and saw her bandmates rise from the floor.
"Oh hey, guys!" she greeted. " Does anything seem- Ah!"
The Legendary Tae Yamada jumped at her, par for course, but that was when she noticed that her bandmates were in fact just shambling zombies again.
"Wait, that can happen? We can just unawaken?"
She decided to lead her bandmates to the basement where meetings were usually held.
"Um, Hello?" Sakura called. "Manager?"
"So, you've finally awakened!" a voice echoed
She turned around and found Kotaro Tatsumi, her mysterious manager, clad as always in a white shirt, a burgundy waistcoat, and a blazer draped around his shoulders.
"Finally Awakened?" Sakura asked. "We've all been awake for a while now… I think..."
"For awhile?" Kotaro scoffed. "I only raised you lot a few days ago."
"But… I could've sworn…"
Kotaro laughed. "You're probably just confused because your brains are rotting! Have a seat while I explain a few things!"
Sakura sat down, tuning out the frankly insane idol manager, to try to figure out why this was happening. It couldn't be a dream, could it? It was way too real, even her bandmates were the exact same people. Maybe it was a vision or something, maybe she was given warning for something. But what exactly was she trying to avoid?
1.2
Masterweaver
Sakura flinched as, again, Tae smashed through the door and rebounded against a wall. You would think I'd be used to this after five times going around, she thought to herself, but-
As she moved to help the zombie, though, she noticed something strange about her. Specifically her hair-done up in spherical odango pigtails, instead of her usual wild mane.
"...Eh?!"
Tae moaned incoherently as she rose up, twisting her limbs back to a normal orientation. Sakura noticed the silver tiara on her head.
"...Tae-chan... why are you dressed like Sailor Moon?"
"Raafgraaa!" Tae declared, striking a pose.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment or two.
Then Tae remembered she was a feral zombie and lunged at the very confused Sakura.
1.3
Masterweaver
Sakura followed the wayward Ai and Junko, again, as they snuck out of the mansion. "Please, I know you don't think this will work. I know Kotaro-san is... well, crazy. But you have to understand, I ran away too! And I got shot!"
Ai scoffed quietly.
"Look, just..." Sakura grabbed her shoulder, pointing at a window. "Look at yourself, Ai-ch-Ai-san. Actually look. It's not just the bandages. Your eyes are red and sunken. Your skin is grey! And Junko..." She sighed. "Junko, with all your stitches... and me, with my skull showing through my head... At the very least, you need to know how to apply the makeup to hide all that, if you're going to try traveling."
Junko looked at her reflection, before glancing away.
"...This is... scary," Sakura admitted. "I get it. This is strange and Kotaro-san is crazy and Tae-chan is... still feral. But... it's not just you. It's Lily-chan, a little girl, and Yugiri-san, from another time entirely. And Saki, she's not on board either, but..." She bit her lip. "All I'm saying is that if we want to get out of this, we need to do it together. Because right now all we have is each other. I'm not asking you to think this will work. Just... for us all to work on it together. Come back to the mansion, please. Kotaro-san is crazy, but he's about the only person who will see us and not try to put us down."
Ai stared at her reflection for a moment. "I... I have friends in Tokyo."
"That's on another island entirely," Sakura pointed out. "How are you going to get there?"
"...I..."
Ai stared at her reflection, sorrow in her eyes.
"...Saki was a captain in a biker gang," Sakura said, gently. "She would know how to get around when legal paths are shut. Yugiri could pretend to be an adult for when we need it, Lily knows how to act cute and innocent... I'm only going along with Kotaro's plan because I think I have to. If you have another idea, then..."
Junko rubbed the back of her head. "...Minamoto-San, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but... we're strangers."
Sakura inhaled, keeping her immediate reply to herself. "...then... maybe we should get to know each other. But not out here. Not where anybody could see us. Come on... please?"
Ai hung her head. "...damn it. She's right, Junko. We can't do this on our own." She turned back toward the mansion. "But I'm not going to just do what Kotaro wants-not without questioning everything."
"Of course!" Sakura agreed. "Come on, quickly, before we're seen!"
1.4
Sakura decided that there wasn't any greater purpose in her going through time. The events of her unlife were too strange to try and fix. This time, her tenth go around, she had gotten to the band's second appearance and Saki was starting to screw around with Tae as usual. She grabbed a mic.
"Alight! That's enough!" She craned her head upstage. "Give me a beat!"
Kotaro obliged from backstage. Sakura bobbed her head as she got the feel of the beat.
"Listen here, you yanki bitch, get this through your brain.
Cause I've been living this life over and over again.
I'm sick and tired of taking the brunt
Of your scare tactics you worthless-"
Saki took the cue and interrupted Sakura before she could finish the lyric.
"Okay, runt!
You think you're clever, steppin up to me?
A scared little egg is all I see!
Why Should I be filled with dread.
Anyway you look at this, we're better off dead!"
At this point, Yuigiri, was free styling on her shamisen, and Lily stuffed Tae's mouth with a microphone.
"This is weird, I get it, we're dead and we sing.
And I know that you're not into this idol thing.
But every time I perform with you guys I feel new life,
And all of us have had to deal with strife!
Ai, Junko, I know you want fight,
For your chance to get back into the limelight!
Yui and Lily, you want to be adored again, right?
So come on,everybody! Together let's Fight the Fight!"
Sakura had to admit, that wasn't her best version of the rap battle. Saki didn't even warm up to her afterwards like she usually did. What Saki did do was tell Sakura to meet her on the back porch.
In a situation all to familiar to Sakura, no word was said for what seemed like a long time. Which was odd considering how many times she did this, she should at least be able to curtail that aspect of her unlife.
"So," Saki began, "You were talkin' about time travelin' earlier. Livin' this life over and over again, yeah?"
'That's what you got out of it?' Sakura thought to herself. " Y-yeah, That's what's been happening. I wake up on the cold floor, and I'm already a zombie. Then after a few months I start all over again."
Saki considered this. "Eh, crazy or not, that's pretty cool."
She sat down next to Sakura. " So, any juicy details on the future?"
Sakura hummed. " Nothing that's my place to say…"
"Eh, that's probably a good call. Any movie ever will tell you that nothing good comes out of knowing the future."
Sakura nodded.
"Welp, anyway. I guess I could give this Idol thing a try. Can't say I ever thought of that being a route to taking over Japan, but at least there'll be a lot of people seeing my face."
That was a later reaction than usual, but at least Saki came around eventually. It was weird, she was bonding more with her bandmates through these repeats than the first time. There might not be a bigger reason for her time-traveling, but the fore knowledge certainly helped her connect with her bandmates.
1.5
Masterweaver
Sakura helped Tae up with a gentle but firm grip. "Now, Tae-chan, we don't lunge at people through doors. Come on, let me show you all your new friends."
"Rgaaaaa!" The zombie clamped her teeth around Sakura's shoulder.
"Yeah, that works." Sakura dragged her down the hall, opening a door. "See? These are the other zombies, Tae-chan. They're not awake yet, not like me-"
"Hey egghead! Something's wrong with the crew!"
Sakura's eyes went wide, and she snapped her attention to the blonde zombie shoving back a woman with a scarred neck. "Saki-chan?!"
"Well, don't just stand there! We've gotta do something about this-" Saki stepped around the group. "Damn it, we might have to get Shades to help. You go find him and-"
She was interrupted when Sakura rushed across the room fast enough to tear Tae's head from her body, grabbing her shoulders and staring into her eyes. "How much do you remember?! Do you remember Arpino?!"
"Wha-yeah, of course I remember Arpino! How could I forget-?"
Sakura hugged her tightly. "You came back... I don't know how, but you came back... Oh Saki-chan, I've missed you!"
"Mrraaaa," groaned Ai, grabbing Saki's ankle.
"...Sakura," Saki said, "I'm happy you're happy and all, but what the hell is going on?"
"Oh!" Sakura leaned back, apparently ignoring Lily tugging her hair curiously. "We've gone back in time. Well, I was the only one going back, um, for thirteen times, but now you came back too! This is before the metal performance that wakes everyone up."
Saki glanced at Tae's head, still gnawing on Sakura's shoulder, and looked across the room to see her body blindly stumble into Junko. "...Yeah, that matches up. So, what do we do from here?"
"Um..." Sakura released her grip, twirling an awkward finger through her hair. "Well... I haven't figured out why this is happening, so usually I just... try to help the girls out, keep them together as best I can... just be there for you all, I guess. Hey, if you're coming back in time too... do you think it's a zombie thing?"
"I... guess it could be. Has Shades ever said anything?"
"I asked him once. He just threw another one of his crazy metaphors at me."
"Fair enough." Saki shrugged. "Well, whatever. I'm with you now, and we'll figure this out together."
"Yes!"
"But first, we've got to get Ai to stop chowing down on my leg."
"Oh! Right, right." Sakura knelt down. "Ai-chan! Ai-chan, look at me! I know where there's squiiiiiiid!"
1.6
It was novel the first time it happened; Sakura travelled back to the point where she was still alive. Maybe this was the second chance she was waiting for. A second chance at life! She exited her house after hugging her mom for what was probably an uncomfortable amount of time. She walked out of her house, let out a breath and then looked both ways. It didn't help her as the truck swiftly hit her.
The second time it happened, Sakura was determined to not get hit by the truck. So she walked out of her house, looked both ways, and then counted down from ten. At 5, the truck whizzed past. Sakura continued walking down the street, content in her victory. Until she fell down the sewer...
The third time, Sakura was convinced that she was the butt of some cosmic joke. She had managed to miss the truck. The sewer was closed this time around. She almost made it to school until she was shoved off balance by a classmate falling right in front of the same. Damn. Truck.
Sakura sat down in the meeting dungeon pouting.
"What's got your panties in a twist?" Saki asked.
"No matter what I do, I keep freaking dying!"
"Uh... yeah," Saki intoned, "we're zombies."
1.7
Masterweaver
"Okay, I've got an idea."
Sakura turned to the blonde. "An idea? About what?"
Saki held up her hands. "Hear me out on this. You died by getting hit by a truck, right?"
"Yeah?"
"And then you got hit again, got all out of whack, but pulled off a great number at Arpino."
Sakura rubbed her arm. "Yes...?"
"And THEN you started coming back in time."
"...Where are you going with this, Saki-chan?"
Saki jerked a thumb at herself. "I died in a game of chicken-ran my motorcycle off the cliff. And when Maria got caught up in the rivalry with the Korosuke gang, I did the same thing... and managed to save her-my old boss's daughter-and bring the gang into our fans. Like I earned their respect, you know?"
"Alright..."
"So! What if this repeating thing was triggered by us repeating the way we died? And overcoming the whole reason we died, sort of?"
Sakura frowned. "I... guess that makes sense, but... shouldn't we all be time traveling then?"
Saki shook her head. "Big sis hasn't lost her head again, Shrimpy didn't have another heart attack, Disco's not been in a plane, Sparkles..." She trailed off for a moment. "Actually, Sparkles did get hit by lightning at Saga Rock. So... yeah, she should be time traveling. Weird."
"...Wait, what if..." Sakura clapped her hands together. "What if I started time traveling first because I was the last to overcome my death issue? And because you were the one before me, you came into it a bit after I did?"
"Huh... yeah, that does make sense."
"So Ai-chan should start time traveling any repeat now! I don't know about the other girls, but maybe if we help them deal with their death issue... hmm." Sakura rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "But that only gets them time traveling, though. It doesn't get us out of the time travel thing."
Saki shrugged. "Hey, better to know something than nothing!"
1.8
Sakura woke up again from the hardwood floor. Which of course meant another go round. Which gave her ample room to try something. The rustling on the floor told her this was her chance.
The rest of Franchouchou shambled up sand started to advance to the the only sentient thing in their sight. Sakura put her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, causing the zombies to shudder and put their hands to their ears. They were about to go after the source of their discomfort when they were stopped by Sakura's outstretched hand.
"Alright girls, eyes on me!"
The zombies were taken aback by this.
"You heard me! You guys aren't awake yet, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you guys do whatever you wan-" She turned her head. "Tae! Tae, get in line! That's our first rule: no lunging at people!"
The Legendary Tae Yamada paused and then obeyed the order.
"Alright, is everybody with us? Saki, are you with us?"
"Rrrggh..."
"Alright, I guess I'm alone this time around," Sakura noted. Maybe Saki had her own time traveling adventures without her, she hadn't thought to ask.
"So, here's the deal: we're all going to walk to the meeting room and meet Mr. Kotaro. If you all are quiet during the meeting, then it'll be feeding time!"
She whistled again, this one being softer, enough for the zombies to focus on her, and she led them down to the meeting dungeon.
1.9
"Hey, Saki?" Sakura asked during a break. The two of them were sitting alone in the dance room.
"What's up, egghead?"
"How are your solo time travel adventures?"
Saki raised an eyebrow. "Solo? You've been huggin' me everytime we start again! Wait, you've been time travelin' without me?"
"Yeah, I think it's happened 5 or so times since you started time traveling with me."
Saki stared at the ceiling. "Huh, wild. You doing alright without me?"
"Oh, yeah. I think I have a handle on dealing with everyone when they're unawake."
"Oh, bitchin'! Ya think you can teach me sometime?"
"You think you'll be around when Ai starts time traveling?"
"I dunno, I dunno if she's even gonna be time travelin'"
Just as Saki said that, Ai walked through the door.
"You guys ready to continue?" she asked.
The two girls nodded and stood up.
"I hope everyone joins us eventually…" Sakura thought to herself.
1.10
Masterweaver
Tae floated through the wall, moaning loudly as she rattled her chains. She was followed by Lily, a headless Yugiri, a fried-looking thing that had Ai's hair, and-
Sakura looked away, both thankful and disturbed she didn't have a stomach this repeat. "Poor Junko-chan..."
"Sakura!" Saki broke away from the group, rubbing her ethereal chest. "Oh wow, you look like shit."
Sakura looked at her and flinched. "I can see your teeth through your cheek..."
"Yeah, that's creepy and all-I can't see myself in the mirror."
"Saki... I think we're ghosts."
"Of course we're ghosts, egghead! What I want to know is why!"
"Eh?"
Saki threw a hand out. "We're usually zombies! Why are we ghosts this repeat? Why's that different? What the hell is going on?!"
"I... I don't know," Sakura admitted. "But, um... Kotaro might?"
"Ugh... fine, let's go bug Shades. Wonder if the pup is a ghost as well..."
1.11
Masterweaver
Ai had gone through many confusing situations in her life. From getting literally struck by lightning, to waking up as a zombie, being thrust into a chicken suit, having her limbs fall apart, discovering one of her new friends had an unfortunately distant relationship with her father, finding another friend in a depressed panic after losing her memories... basically ANYTHING to do with Tae, actually, that could be added to the list. And while she might not have handled all the situations with a calm demeanor-which she couldn't really be blamed for, given a cop had pointed a gun at her for being a walking corpse-she liked to think she had handled it with an intelligent one.
So, waking up without the usual blanket and pillow, and finding three of her bandmates shambling about groaning, that was an easy situation to consider. Without hesitation, she grabbed Junko and pushed her into a chair. "Saki! What happened to them, do you know?!"
"Eh?" Saki looked over from her own struggles with Yugiri. "Oh hey! You remember Arpino?"
Ai gave her a flat look. "Yes, of course I-" She blinked, staring past Saki at the rain outside the window. "...Wait. Have we gone back in time?"
"Well... yeah. Sakura and I aren't sure how it works-how'd you figure that out?"
"The rain. It was snowing last night... or it will be, after Arpino, but I remember it was raining when the poker-wait, you and Sakura?"
"We've been coming back in time for a while," Saki explained, finally putting Yugiri in a chair. "Speaking of, Tae should be smashing through that door right about-"
The door shattered as Tae lunged through, a wildly screaming Sakura clinging to her shoulders. "SAKI-CHAAAAAAAN! GET THE ROOOOOOPE!"
"Dang it!" Saki rushed for the window, tugging at the covers. "Ai, other side!"
"Right!" Ai grabbed Lily, sat her in Yugiri's lap, and went for the rope holding the fabric. "Hang on Sakura!"
"Ai-Chan?! Are you time traveling too?!"
"Apparently, but we can cover that later! Let's get Tae settled with some squid first!"
1.12
"So… What do you guys do with theses repeats?" Ai asked as soon as they were alone in the dressing room, awaiting the first performance.
"Let everything play out normally, usually." Saki explained. "I personally want to start messin' with people, but Egghead here says no."
"They may not remember but, they're still our friends!" Sakura stated. "Besides we don't let everything play out. We take care of Tae, we talk to Lily and make sure she's okay…"
"Help you with your fear of lightning…"
Ai quirked her eyebrow at that.
"But, there are some things we do like to have fun with…" Sakura started.
"And tonight's one of 'em!" Saki cheered. "Speaking of, Which track are ya thinking of tonight?"
Sakura tapped her chin in thought. "How about track 4?"
"Hold on!" Ai shouted. "You have different scenarios for this?"
"Pretty much," Saki shrugged.
"Well, mind letting me on this?"
"Oh it's nothing," Sakura assured.
"ALRIGHT LADIES!" Kotaro shouted, "YOU'RE UP!"
"Okay, sir!"
On the stage, Ai was starting to get even more anxious.
"Are you guys crazy? We're even less prepared than when you guys did the Rap battle."
"Don't sweat it," Saki sighed.
"What about the others!? They're just shambling around!"
"They'll get in line"
"TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!"
"Ai," Sakura called, " Trust us."
Ai stumbled, sighed and nodded. Sakura turned to the restless crowd.
Sakura took a breath, and sang, "LOVE IS LIKE A BOMB…"
The theater was in silence and then a hard drum and guitar riff started playing. The unawake zombies stood in line and started head banging.
"What was that!?" Ai asked when they got home, finally processing what just happened.
"Eh, some american song I heard when I was alive," Saki said. "Wanted to pander to those metalheads"
"Believe it or not that's one of our cleaner options" Sakura chirped.
"So… this time traveling thing…"
"We don't know nothin'," Saki said.
"But at least we'll be going through this together," Sakura assured.
Ai considered that. "And everything will play out the exact same way?"
Sakura shook her head, "Not the exact same, but… I don't think there's any way to be prepared for the surprises."
1.13
Saga Rock was always a rush, no matter how many times Sakura did it. Although strangely the freak lightning bolt always seemed to hit Ai. It wasn't all that bad, the lighting gave them killer special effects, phrasing aside.
Something did catch her eye this time though. Maybe it was because she was riding the high of Saga Rock, but now, she caught Ai just looking at her lap, where everyone else in the van was either celebrating or sleeping. Ai was just staring… perhaps not at her lap, maybe past it.
They arrived home,and everyone filed out of the van and started their nightly rituals. As everybody washed their makeup off (a harder feat than usual, given the water proofer) and got changed into their night clothes, Sakura noticed that Ai did these rituals more by muscle memory (which apparently is still a thing zombies have), still staring straight ahead.
Sakura sat next to her, "Ai?"
Ai visibly jumped, although it would've taken a trained eye to see it.
"Are you okay?" Sakura continued.
"I-I'm fine… I'm just … processing…" Ai then sighed. "I'll be alright."
"If you're sure."
Everyone went to bed. Sakura had a hard time going to sleep because of Ai. In a twist of fate she was jostled awake just as she was falling asleep.
She saw Ai with her head lowered and her bangs were obscuring her eyes.
"Ai?"
"C-can we talk?"
"Um… sure?"
The two girls walked out to the back. Ai still had her head down.
"We were all struck by lightning," Ai said.
"Yeah."
"We survived it, because we're zombies," Ai said. " But still, you would think that I would be okay. That I would be over my fear."
"...But you're not?"
"That's what I'm trying to process… I should be over it… but…"
"It still reminds you of the first time."
Ai nodded. " It felt felt the same way… Except there was less burning."
"Sometimes, when I time travel, I start a repeat before I die…" Sakura began. "And it's sort of become a running thing… I try not to die, which doesn't seem that hard. But, somehow, someway, I always keep dying. Usually to the same. Damn. Truck."
"So… you've developed a rivalry with it?"
Sakura sighed. "I don't know. There are some things in these repeats that we can change. And some things we can't, not for lack of trying mind you."
Ai considered this. " I think… I think I'm going to to try some things out. Thanks, Sakura."
"Um… yeah… Good night."
1.14
Masterweaver
"Saki?"
"What up, Sparkles?"
Ai took a slow breath. "Why, exactly, are you trying to convince Kotaro to get us a showing in Tokyo?"
"Oh that?" Saki glanced around for a moment. "It's a time travel thing."
"Just for fun or...?"
"Okay, so the way I see it: Sakura died when she ran out to turn in her idol audition and got hit by a truck. Arpino happened-she got hit by a truck and almost couldn't do the show, but she did anyway. I died trying to prove myself awesome with a motorcycle stunt, then I did the same thing to prove Reiko awesome and I survived and did it. You got struck by lightning when your career was about to take off, and then at Saga Rock which sort of launched us into the big leagues. And now we're all time traveling."
"Ah. So you want Junko to confront her issues with her death, and the quickest way to get her on a plane is to get a show on another island."
"Yep. I figure this will definitely prove-"
"Nothing."
"What?"
Ai crossed her arms. "Science isn't about proving something does happen, it's about figuring out why something happens. You've got a theory, great. But you have to consider what happens if you're wrong."
"...What do you mean?"
"I mean-what if Junko starts time traveling without ever having stepped foot on a plane again?"
Saki opened her mouth, paused, and shut it. "Huh. That's a good point."
"Look. I get that you and Sakura tend to be lonely after spending repeats without me. I understand wanting others in on this, I... I do too. But I don't think we can force it." Ai shrugged. "If it happens, it happens."
"Alright, alright, I'll lay off on the plane." Saki tossed up her hands. "Just a suggestion, really."
1.15
Skaz Wolfman
–Shocking Behavior–
More than ten times, now, Ai Mizuno had joined her friend Sakura in these weird time repeats. Sometimes, like the first time, Saki also remembered the time repeats, but sometimes she didn't. Sakura and Saki told her that they'd had a few repeats "without" her as well. According to Saki, she had not yet experienced a repeat where Sakura didn't remember. Odd.
As she had learned from Sakura and Saki, the trick to not getting bored by these repeats was to make changes. Like writing and performing different songs, developing different choreographies, or trying different things with Franchouchou's public image. For example, last repeat Saki had decided to show up to every event dressed as a cowgirl, and when they weren't singing she exclusively spoke in a weird American accent. Sakura and Saki had started doing things differently just to stave off boredom, so their choices had been informed by what they thought would be fun and amusing. Ai, on the other hand, after getting over the initial shock of mental time travel A) being a thing that could even happen and B) happening to her and two of her friends, realized that this was a wonderful opportunity to satisfy her inner perfectionist and make Franchouchou literally the best idol group it could possibly be. If Junko, Yuugiri, Lily, and Tae would start remembering along with them, it would be even better.
Whatever they changed, however, there were certain things that were unavoidable. Beyond their control. Like getting struck by lightning at Saga Rock. Dying to a lightning bolt had, understandably, given Ai a pretty strong case of astraphobia. Getting struck by lightning again, and not only surviving it but finding out that lightning had a pretty cool effect on zombie physiology, had not been enough to completely defuse that fear. Understandable enough; glowing and getting an autotune voice was cool and all, but not cool enough to counterbalance the trauma of death by electrocution.
Living through the experience repeatedly, however? That, eventually, got Ai rather intensely curious about what else she was capable of doing with electricity…
…
Kotaro threw open the door to the girls' collective sleeping room. "WHICH ONE OF YOU STUPID CORPSES MADE THE LIGHTS GO OUT?!" he demanded.
Everyone (but Tae, who was chasing Romero around the room) pointed at Ai, who was glowing bright blue.
"What the hell did you do, you brain-dead dumbass?!" Kotaro screamed at her.
"Stuck a paperclip in an outlet," Ai replied in heavy autotune, staring at her hands. Experimentally, she rubbed her fingers together, throwing sparks into the air.
"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU STUPID FU–"
Kotaro abruptly shut his mouth and gulped. Quite suddenly, Ai was standing inches away from him, with a finger raised towards his face. He could feel his bangs trying to stand up, and she wasn't even close to touching him.
"No, please, by all means Tatsumi-san, feel free to finish that thought. I'm dying to hear it," said Ai.
"Um…never mind," said Kotaro, clearing his throat and adjusting his tie as he backed away from Ai. "I'll just, hmm, go see to the circuit breakers. Uh…as you were, gi–ladies. Good night." Then he ran out of the room and slammed the door.
Ai turned back to the others. "Anybody got an gaming device? I wanna see if I can power one by holding it."
Saki pulled a GameBoy out of her pocket and looked down at it, then shrugged and said, "Screw it, FOR SCIENCE!" before chucking it to her.
To everyone else's shock and Saki's dismay, the device promptly exploded in Ai's hand.
"…whoops," Ai said sheepishly.
…
Over the next few days, Ai's experiments destroyed a TV, a laptop, two stereos, four phones, and no less than ten microphones.
"I think your problem is that you're in a hurry to fly when you don't even know how to crawl, yet," Junko said sagely. "Maybe try to figure out something that doesn't involve circuitry?"
"Such as?" Ai asked dejectedly, glaring daggers at the blasted fragments of her latest experiment.
"Fuckin' magnets, how do they work?" Saki sang in English as she scooted into the room, with Sakura beatboxing and scooting along behind her. Both of them had their faces painted up in black and white.
Junko wrinkled her nose. "You shouldn't say vulgar things like that, Nikaido-san; not even in a foreign language. It's unbecoming. Plus there's a child in the room!"
Saki stopped and stared at her. "Dude, Lily's like six years old, you really think she understands English?"
Lily looked up from the manga she was reading and narrowed her eyes at Saki. "I'm twelve," she muttered. "Bitch," she added in English.
"Hoshikawa-chan!" Junko gasped, scandalized.
Meanwhile, Ai's eyes widened and she suddenly stood up. "Saki, you're a genius!" she exclaimed as she ran out of the room.
…
Later that night, Ai trudged through the house with a 'so done with this' look on her face, most of her body covered with random metal objects clinging to her still faintly-glowing skin. No one dared say a word to her as she flopped down on her futon.
…
Over the course of the next six weeks, Ai's attempts to manipulate magnets simply resulted in accidentally shooting them at her friends. One day, in a very much unappreciated twist of irony, she managed to put that damned poker through her own head. The one thing she managed to do "right" was tase Kotaro after he gave her a vicious verbal reaming for causing a blackout at an event, especially after he had expressly forbidden her from attempting anymore of her "special effects". And that "success" just made Ai feel even guiltier than causing the blackout.
As a result, she gave up on her electrical experiments, and her performances started to suffer. After a couple days, no one even wanted to try approaching her, because Ai proved much more cantankerous and aggressive in her funk than a depressed Sakura. And no one felt more frustrated by her despondence than Sakura herself.
"You know, it's weird," Sakura said to Yugiri one day. "Twice, when I was at my absolute lowest, Ai inspired me not to give up on myself. The first time, she didn't even know me. And now she's in a funk and I'm not sure how to help her. I tried reminding her of what she told me; about how failures and mistakes aren't so bad if you learn from them, but I must have said it wrong because she just glared at me so evilly I probably would have dropped dead if…y'know…"
"It's only to be expected," Yugiri replied, idly plucking on her shamisen. "If it's true what you said, that Ai lost her life to a bolt of lightning, her sudden obsession with electricity could be her way of trying to master that which once laid her low. In this way, her drive is akin to that of a samurai training for a rematch with one who had bested him in a duel."
"Hmm…AHA!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, leaping up to her feet. "I know how I can help her! Thanks, Yugiri-oneesan!" said Zombie #1 as she peeled out of the room.
"Glad to be of help," Yugiri said aloud to the room in which she was now alone.
…
Sakura found Ai sitting in the backyard, chin on her knees and staring moodily at some heavy-looking gray clouds off in the distance.
Sakura ran over to where Ai was sitting, sat down in front of her, and slammed down a stack of textbooks in the grass between them.
Ai flinched back. "Sakura? What do you want?" she asked wearily.
"I know what your problem is, Ai," said Sakura with a mile-wide smile. "You need to study this problem. Study like it's an exam that'll determine your whole future! Study like I did for the high school entrance exams! And you need a study coach, and no one is a harder studier than I!"
Ai cocked an eyebrow. "You think you can help me?"
"Doesn't matter if I think I can; I'm going to," Sakura said fiercely. "Look, when I felt like my life was going nowhere, you gave me a goal to aim for. And when I gave up on myself, you didn't. Time I repaid my debt to you, Ai Mizuno, so I'm going to help you train for your rematch with electricity!"
"…my what?" Ai asked blankly.
Sakura ignored the question and cracked open the first book. "First things first, we're going to study the principles of electricity, from the cosmic level to the subatomic. Then we're going to study how the human body interacts with electricity, and then do some experimenting to figure out how different our zombie bodies are, and then work on applying all of the above–"
"Sakura!" Ai said emphatically, "We don't have time for all that. What you're suggesting will take years. You and me and Saki might be able to sleepwalk through our performances, but we still need to help the others prepare."
Sakura blinked at Ai. "Ai…I've been living through these weird time repeats for almost a decade, already. I'm pretty sure we've got nothing but time. I understand why you're so impatient about this, you've got a strong emotional investment in this project. But you need to take the long view about these things. In the time she's been repeating time with me, Saki has memorized all the stats for every Pokémon there is. With my help, you can do this. You wanna waste another day waffling between slamming your head against a wall and moping in frustration, or do you wanna get started down the path to mastery?"
Ai still looked skeptical, but a corner of her mouth twitched up. "Yeah. Okay, let's go for it."
…
Several Loops later:
"Um…are you sure about this, Tatsumi-san?" Ai asked apprehensively. She was once again 'in full-Sparkles mode', as Saki amusedly put it, but this time on Kotaro's orders.
"Look, this is no time for you to be a deadbeat with performance anxiety!" Kotaro growled, his head poked out through the driver's side window, "If we can't get this van started, we're going to be late for the event! NOW PUT YOUR FREAKY ELECTRICITY FETISH TO GOOD USE, YOU DECREPIT ROTTING–"
"Hey, Shades, why don't you just bring the van back to life?" Saki asked, "Y'know, like you did with us?"
Kotaro's mouth snapped shut and he glared at Saki. Or, at least, it could be assumed that he was glaring at her from behind his omnipresent sunglasses.
Ai sighed and rubbed her hands together. "Here goes nothing," she said as she reached under the van's hood and grabbed the battery posts, while Kotaro tried to turn over the ignition.
Ai's electric-blue aura dimmed as the van roared to life. Ai's eyes widened like saucers and she jumped back from the van. "Whoa……I actually did it! And I didn't blow anything up!" Ai exclaimed, clapping excitedly.
"Never doubted you for a minute," said Sakura, slapping her friend on the back.
And then jumping back when she got shocked by Ai's leftover static build-up. "Sorry, Sakura!" Ai gasped, while Saki and Lily laughed and Kotaro screamed for everyone to get in the van so they could get going.
"Don't sweat it, Ai; you saved the day, after all," said Sakura as everyone piled in.
"Hell yeah! All hail the queen of the zappy zap!" exclaimed Saki.
"Queen of the zappy zap, eh?" Ai echoed with a smile. "Nah…this is just the beginning, Saki. And I'm not stopping until I can make the lightning in the sky dance along with us."
1.16
Masterweaver
Junko stretched as she woke up, quietly running a finger through her hair. "Mmm? Oh, it's raining."
"Graaaaa," said Lily helpfully.
"Lily-chan, I would very much appreciate it if you did not try to mimic Tae-chan's behavior."
"Rrrr?" Saki turned her dull eyes toward her.
"...Saki-san, this is not amusing," Junko said, standing up. "Girls, if you... would..."
Four red pairs of eyes tracked her every movement, their owners shambling forward.
"...Girls?" Junko backed away slowly, eyes darting toward the fireplace. "Girls, this is really not funny at all..."
At that moment the door smashed open. Junko covered her head with a squeak, peering through her fingers as a familiar black-garbed zombie looked around the room quickly.
"Oh Tae-chan..." Sakura walked through the shattered door, shaking her head. "Every time..." She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled sharply, drawing the attention of the undead in the room. "Okay girls! Are you ready for some squid?"
A series of groans greeted her. Junko blinked in confusion.
"...Junko-chan?" Sakura gave her a worried look.
"...Sakura-san... what is going on?"
Sakura's eyes went wide. "Eh?! But-Saki said-and she and Ai-wait, do you remember Arpino?"
"Yes, I-"
"So you are time traveling, but..." Sakura clutched her head. "This doesn't make any sense!"
"Graaa," Tae reminded her, shoving the grumbling Saki forward.
"Right, right, squid. Well, um, Junko, I don't know everything, but I'll tell you what I do know while we get everyone fed and calmed down. Okay?"
"...I suppose?"
"Great! You take up the rear, and I'll lead everyone to the kitchen. Girls!" Sakura flailed her arms, getting the zombies' attention. "Come on, come follow Sakura-chan, she's going to get you some nice dried squid!"
Junko stared as the group started to follow Sakura's cheerful encouragements out the door and down the hall.
Tae paused in the doorway, looking at her curiously. "Jrrrkaaa?"
"Hmm-? Oh, yes, I'm coming." Junko followed after the zombie, giving her a wary look. "Don't... worry about me!"
Tae grunted, following her into the hall.