INFINITE LOOPS PROJECT: The Yggdrasil Olympics
Chapter 1
Pre-Olympics #1 – Arrangement
1.1 (Wixelt) – [Kill La Kill/Dragon Ball/RWBY/Half-Life]
It had all started, as some things tend to, with a simple challenge, a contest of strength. Whoever threw the javelin the furthest across three attempts got bragging rights, among other, more tangible rewards.
Ryuko Matoi, or Ryuko Briefs as far as this iteration was concerned, lamented having forgotten which branch she was currently in a fused loop with when she had gotten cocky enough to think she stood even the remotest chance against the local looping populous.
"Well I don't see what the problem is." the presently blue-haired Goku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, making the occasional side glance at the crater, formerly a small hill, that his first attempt had created, "You said baseline powers only, right?"
"I know! I just- I… Rragh!" Ryuko rubbed her temples, before sighing, looking over to where the next contender, a certain long-haired blonde, was preparing her attempt to surpass Goku and Vegeta's scores. Their best throws had placed their javelins somewhere between this galaxy and the next, making it a futile record to beat, though Ryuko couldn't fault Yang for her persistence in the matter.
Unfortunately, it seemed there was no tangible way to make this a fair contest without Looper powers to even the odds.
"You should have ruled out transformations." Vegeta stated with an air of pride, "We Saiyans have something of a step up in that regard. It was an unfair competition from the start," he managed a smug grin, "Though by no means am I going to make that out as a negative on my part."
"And the lines are somewhat blurred regarding what constitutes a purely baseline power, given that learned experience is a factor." Satsuki stepped up alongside her sister, a thoughtful frown masking her features, "Short of a null loop, the measure is notably difficult to pin down."
"Alright, alright, I get it." Ryuko shook her head, "I didn't think it through. Power is complicated..."
"Indeed," Satsuki continued, "It would have been more prudent to include all available powers, as they represent the most accurate representation of the Looper's available skill and greatest strengths…"
"…And relying on one contest, when different Loopers have different skills, kinda adds confusion to it as well." The fiber infused girl grimaced, "There's not really enough of us for anything bigger, though…"
"It was still fun. But if I could go all out…" Goku grinned widely, "Man, that'd be a blast. Maybe next time there'll be more of us."
"Yeah, right. Like the brass would ever let something like that happen." An obnoxious and mildly bored voice permeated the air, it's origin placed as a nearby bespectacled man who, for once, was not donned in his signature orange power armour, who was in the process of weighing a javelin in his hands, apparently judging his odds before he suited up, Gordon Freeman groaned and raised a hand, noting the glares directed his way, "I mean, it'd be the coolest thing ever, don't get me wrong, but it's just begging for a fuck up. Somehow, I doubt any Admin worth their salt is going to approve that, assuming they'll even listen to you to begin with…"
He paused, noting the blank looks he was getting, particularly from Goku.
"Look. Your branch, your rules. You want to host some kind of damned exploding Olympics, don't let me stop you."
A second silence in as many moments permeated the gathering, this one decidedly more weighted than the last.
"Um…" Ryuko blinked, then blinked again, before glancing briefly at where Yang was still sizing up her shot, an uncharacteristic consideration on her face, "I mean… we'd need a branch that's not gonna crash under the punishment…"
"Wait, fuck. You're actually doing this?!" Gordon's eyebrows raised behind his glasses, a look of horror at what he might have created beginning to form, "I was kidding!"
"I wasn't."
"Well you should be! This is a bad idea!"
"I mean, I think Bulma said something about our branch having to be stable enough to take the punishment it does in baseline…" Goku added, glancing around absently as if he could appraise the nature of his home simply by staring at it for long enough, "Or something like that, at least. I wasn't paying full attention, but it might mean we could do it here."
"Such a challenge of strength is intriguing, but I must… begrudgingly," Vegeta gritted his teeth, before shaking his head decisively "agree with this imbecile of a doctor. I find it unlikely that Sun Wukong would concede to such an event occurring. That said…" the Saiyan prince seemed to pause in thought, "If he were to approve…"
"Someone mentioned Sun?" Everyone looked around at the interruption, finding Yang approaching the group.
"The Admin, not the Looper."
"Ah. Makes sense," the blonde shrugged, "So what's the topic?"
"Looper Olympics."
"Neat." Yang stretched, before gesturing back at the chosen launching point, where her javelin stood unthrown, "Well, that's that. Thought I might as well throw it. I'm kind of outmatched here with only my home arsenal."
There was an awkward pause at the revelation that the conversation had, through sheer coincidence, come full circle. Which left only one course of action.
"…it wouldn't hurt to ask," Ryuko mused, "…would it?"
1.2 (Wixelt) – [Dragon Ball/Adminspace]
"Olympics, huh?" Bulma hummed thoughtfully, what Vegeta had told her still recent in her mind, "Not just another fighting tournament, then."
When her husband had stridden in, declaring the fresh oddity he and Goku had discussed with Ryuko, the Anchor that had replaced her in the last loop, she'd been somewhat stunned, among other words she might choose to voice. She had, of course, mistaken this for another exploit in pure combat, and had been about to pass on getting the Matoi girl in contact with the local Admin for such a proposition.
That was before Vegeta had used the word 'Olympics'. Now, Bulma considered as she leant back in her chair, she was intrigued. A gathering of Loopers to rival past fused loops; a mixing pot of cultures and ideas so vast and beautiful it would be remembered for some eons to follow. And at the centre of it, a tournament testing all manner of sports and combat skills, with glory for those who won, and an experience to cherish for all.
It was tantalizing.
Of course, she considered, the Admins would most likely never go for it. Even if their local overseer, one Sun Wukong, became interested, there were so many clashes in values in the higher realms that making them agree on such a thing would be… unthinkable. And yet…
Bulma sighed, sitting up again with a vague smile on her features. The Saiyan branch was more than stable enough to handle such an event, even in such as a vast fused loop, Goku had been right about that. So, in the near infinite chance it got through, it was more than plausible, given the right arrangements.
Naturally, Bulma would help where she could, but it would all fall on Ryuko in the end.
"Alright," she stood, suddenly becoming aware of the presence that had been lurking in the corner of the room for the past few minutes, "Where do we begin."
Sun Wukong just grinned.
1.3 (Wixelt) – [Adminspace/Kill La Kill]
"A Looper Olympics you say…" Sun Wukong mused, eyes betraying deep thought, "It's certainly an interesting concept, to say the least."
"Yeah, we were talking and it just kind of came up." Ryuko Matoi rubbed the back of her head, thanking her good graces that Bulma managed to get her in contact with the Dragon Ball Branch's Admin. She let out a small sigh, "Look, I know it was a long shot to even ask, but-"
"Sure."
"-I thought, why no…" the dark-haired girl trailed off, her realization somewhat delayed. A look of surprise and mild bemusement masked her features, "Wait…"
"You heard me," the Admin grinned, "It'll be a large undertaking, but provided I can get enough of the other Admins to sign off on it, as well as preventing…" he narrowed his eyes for a moment, glancing aside, "other incidents, I don't see the problem."
"That's… that's…" Ryuko's face cracked into a scarily wide grin, "Brilliant! Just wait til Satsuki hears this. She thought you'd say n-"
"I'm assuming you're going to arrange it, of course." the Monkey King cut in, a mischievous smirk on his face.
Ryuko was stunned into silence for a second, before her face twisted in annoyance, her hand rising to her head for a well needed facepalm.
"Ah, crap. I hadn't thought of that." She groaned, betraying her irritation, "This is going to involve paperwork, isn't it?"
"Less than you'd think, but yes."
"Oh joy."
1.4 (Wixelt) – [Kill La Kill]
"…and I'll cheer you on from the stands and hug you when you win and-"
"Woah, Mako, easy." Ryuko couldn't help but chuckle at Mako's enthusiasm, her girlfriend putting 110% into everything she did, "The Admins haven't even given us the go ahead yet."
"I know but it's just so… so…" Mako beamed, arms flailing in a fit of joy, "Exciting! There'll be so many of us in one place! All the different cultures and all that…" she couldn't help but drool, "…food…"
"Trust you to focus on that." Ryuko shook her head with stifled mirth, putting her arm around the food dazed Looper. A small smile developed, "And… uh, I might be joining you."
"What?" Mako snapped out of her daze, "…you aren't competing?"
"I…" Ryuko frowned, "The Olympics were kinda… sorta… partly my idea." She fixed Mako with a determined look, "That means they'll probably be expecting me to help out with running it."
"…and that means you won't be doing any winning." Mako realized, pouting slightly at the realization.
"I'd be pumped to, but it'd be a bit unfair. And besides," Ryuko pulled Mako closer, a devilish grin on her face, "If I fill all my time up with work and events, I won't be able to have fun with my gal."
The exquisite shade of red Mako turned more than made up for how lame the line was.
1.5 (tovath) – [Adminspace]
Sun Wukong was looking over the Olympics plans he had written up, when Odin's two ravens, Hugin and Munin, flew in.
"Hey, that looks like a really good idea." said Hugin cooking his head to look at the message.
"They would never go for it though." said Munin.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Sun, knowing that whatever the reason it was going to be 'interesting'.
"Odin's mad at us for no good reason." Said Hugin.
"Yeah, all that happened to that loop was that people were saying Yuna instead of YuYeven." said Munin, "He was quite unreasonable to yell at us to get out."
Sun smiled. This could work. "I know a way you two can get back at him, and we can get this approved. Here is what we need to do…"
For the next few cycles, the two birds told everyone about the super interesting and useful plan that Odin was suppressing.
"But you didn't hear it from us, no siree. Odin wouldn't let us tell you about it."
"Contrary to the rumours floating around, I would support a plan to give the loopers a chance to relax and have some fun. Now would someone please tell me what the plan is, so we can judge if it is worthy." announced Odin in the Admin break room a short time later.
"Here you go." said Sun, handing him the full Looper Olympics proposal, then throwing some more copies out to everyone else.
"Hm, not bad. You seem to have actually thought this though." said Odin after a moment. "I could also run a bug check on the XIII sub-branch of one of my Loops while this is going on.
Several others chimed in their approval.
1.6 (Wixelt) – [Adminspace/Kill La Kill]
"Okay, so I've got good news and I've got bad news." Sun Wukong nonchalantly apparated in a sitting position in the Mankanshoku household, "Which one do you want to hear first."
Hearing only the shocked hyperventilation of the family members around him, the monkey king sighed, before turning his gaze to meet that of the wholly unamused Honnōji branch Anchor, the dinner of whom he presently had his feet planted on. Ryuko, for her part, held her glare for a good few seconds, before sighing.
"Alright," she managed a bemused smirk as she slowly detached an unAwake Mako from her person, "The good news, I guess."
"So be it." The visiting Admin smirked, "Congratulations on being the proud owner of a shiny news Olympics."
"…wait, really?" Ryuko, despite the dour demeanour the recent string of lonely loops had left her with, seemed to visibly perk up, "Freaking awesome! I can't wai-" she blinked, eyes narrowing as she stopped mid-celebration, "…wait, what's the bad news."
"Do you recall my saying there wouldn't be a lot of paperwork?" Wukong queried, though he continued before the local Anchor had a chance to respond, "Well…"
In less than the blink of an eye, there was a loud 'whumph', like a chamber decompressing. Immediately, the room was unceremoniously filled with precarious balanced, teetering stacks of paper, filling all available floor space.
"…crap." Ryuko stared in mild horror at the sea of bureaucracy that now surrounded her, a realization coming to her mind, "This isn't even all of it, is it?"
"The rest will come in smaller segments, but… Yes, there is a considerably high amount of paperwork by non-Admin standards." the higher being coughed awkwardly, "I offloaded as much as I could on my end, but this is your event at the end of the day, so it falls on you."
"…I just had to open my big mouth rather than throwing the damn javelin." The young woman shook her head, an annoyed scowl now crossing her features, "I guess I could get Inumuta to help next time he's awake…"
1.7 (Wixelt) – [Half-Life]
"…and then she goes and says, 'Fuck it, why not'. Damnit, when did I become the voice of reason?" Gordon finished his rant, dropping back into his chair with a long, drawn out sigh, "Goddamn Looper Games. Putting that much space-time bullshit in one place isn't going to end well. I mean, if the head honchos think they can do it, good luck to them. But really, it'd just be asking for trouble…"
"Well, I…" Isaac Kleiner, despite having long since grown used to his Anchor's rough demeanour, was still somewhat taken aback by the ferocity behind this tangent, "…has it gone through yet?"
"Ryuko hadn't even asked yet, last I knew." The irked scientist scowled, "Admins have probably caught wind of it already, though. Not like they're going to ignore something this stupid. Damn stripper…"
"Indeed." Kleiner nodded passively, pushing his glasses up to the crook of his nose, "However, have you considered the possibility of this not being a doomed endeavour."
"Oh, repeatedly." Gordon took a swig of his chosen drink, apparently a somewhat strong brew concocted by a fellow Looper, before shaking his head, "But the thing is, if it does I'll probably be roped into running the damn thing, and I've got my own crap to deal with."
"So you're assuming this concept will be rejected because you don't see it as a viable use of your time, hmm?" the balding doctor fixed his orange suited companion with a hard, judgemental gaze.
"Damnit, Kleiner, don't give me the look."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're referring to, Gordon."
"Yes you do…" Gordon groaned, before conceding somewhat loudly, "Fine, I'll stop being defeatist. You happy now?"
"Somewhat, yes." The Black Mesa Incident branch's second Looper eased off, a thin smile of victory on his features. The Anchor just stared at him for a long moment, before shifting uncomfortably and looking away.
At which point the universe chose to make a rather important looking letter appear on the table between the pair of scientists, scattering their drinks to the floor in a cascade of broken glass. Tentatively, Gordon reached out to pick it up, reading the delivery details. His face fell immediately.
'For the eyes of Dr. Gordon Freeman. Sent by Ryuko Matoi, in care of Sun Wukong'
"…ah crap."
1.8 (Wixelt) – [Dragon Ball]
"So, the tournament's going ahead, huh?"
"It is." Vegeta slowly opened his eyes at Goku's voice as his rival approached, arms slung lazily behind his head. The Saiyan prince nodded, "I take it Bulma told you, of course."
"Yeah, she said Wukong got the other Admins to agree to it." The Son family patriarch grinned, "Man, I can't wait. Just think of all the strong fighters who'll be there."
"It isn't just that and you know it." Vegeta grimaced, glancing further away than he had been already, "Have you made any other plans besides fighting?"
"Not yet," Goku's brow creased in brief thought, before he shrugged, "I might do athletics, I guess. Probably javelin."
"You won last time."
"Exactly. Maybe I'll get that rematch with Ryuko."
"I wouldn't count on it." Vegeta rose from his lean, finally giving his long-time comrade his full attention, "She wasn't intending to taking part, the last time I checked."
"Really? I was looking forward to that." the orange-clad martial artist visibly deflated, "I mean, she probably has a lot on her plate, but…"
"And besides, after our display last time, I can fully understand her not wanting to go toe to toe with us a second time."
"Aww, come on Vegeta." Goku frowned deeply, "Don't be like that. I'm sure she's just really busy getting it all ready, y'know."
It didn't matter if it was true or simply something that had been said to quell the flames, the armour-clad prince simply gave a non-committal grunt, not interested in the point enough to pursue an actual argument on the matter. There would be plenty of time to pursue such contentions in the countless loops before things began, after all.
"What about you, Vegeta? Got anything lined up?"
"What about me, Kakarot?" Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the other man, snorting derisively, "Unlike you, I will be waiting to see my potential competition before I commit myself to an even-"
"I call dibs on non-Baseline Martial Arts." Goku smiled cheekily.
"Damnit!"
1.9 (Wixelt) – [RWBY]
Slowly, Blake turned the page of her book, browsing idly through words she had read hundreds of times before, only focusing for the occasional difference. To that end, she wasn't all that perturbed when, with a large amount of gusto, a certain blonde brawler, having Awoken late, kicked the dorm room's dock clean off its hinges, a massive grin plastered across her features.
"So," Yang stretched, slumping back onto her bed alongside her fiancée, glancing between her and Ruby, who was sat opposite, a surprised look plastering her features, "I've got something big coming up."
"Hmm?" the cat Faunus raised an eyebrow, setting her novel aside as she shared a subtle look with her redheaded team leader, "And what would that be?"
"You sure? It's pretty big."
"Yang, just tell us." Ruby cut in, a hint of childish impetulance in her voice, though her face betrayed anything but.
"Well…" Yang beamed, barely able to hold back her excitement, "There might be a Looper Olympics soon!"
"That…" Blake blinked a few times, as if to gather her thoughts, before smiling, "sounds fun."
"Yeah!" Ruby hopped to her feet with a great enthusiasm, "It sounds great! All that sport…"
Yang narrowed her eyes. Maybe a little too much enthusiasm. She opened her mouth, prepared to accuse, when she heard a curt cough from behind her.
"I take it you are awake then, Yang." Weiss sighed with exasperation as she stepped over the splintered remains of door to join her team, "Which begs the question of just what demanded such an unnecessarily explosive entrance."
"Yeah, actually." Yang regained a little of her vigor, "There's going to be a Looper Olympics."
"Oh."
"…o- oh?" Yang blinked in surprise, "What do you mean, 'Oh?'"
"I had assumed your news was new."
"It is!" Yang countered, before a realisation dawned on her. Slowly, she turned towards her now guilty looking sister, "…you already knew, didn't you?"
"…sorry." Ruby shrugged, "Marianne told us. We already started making plans and stuff."
"…geez, I was away for a while, wasn't I?" Yang sighed, a mild look of defeat on her face, "Does everyone know?"
"Raven doesn't, I don't think." Blake suggested, a hand on her partner's shoulder, "She's not awake this loop, though."
"Damn."
So here it sits. The beginning of what will hope to be a promising event. For those unaware of the Infinite Loops Project as a whole, here are the absolute basics.
Yggdrasil, the world tree supercomputer that runs the multiverse, has been broken catastrophically. To give them time/space to repair it, the Admins (basically the gods for all intents and purposes) have put all functional universes in infinitely repeating time loops whilst they sort everything out.
At first only one person in each "branch" of the tree is aware that time is looping. This person is the Anchor, the being whose existence holds their universe together, and though over the course of eons others close to them will become "Awake", aware of the repetition of time, they are the only person guaranteed to be around for every single repeat.
This has been going on for literally quadrillions of years, with new branches activating over time. The oldest branches data right back to the start, whilst other branches are brand new. The ETA on Yggdrasil being fixed is basically infinity, though over time various loops may receive expansions as new data becomes available through repairs.
There's far more to it than this, but to save time, this, and all additional links, can be found on TVTropes under 'The Infinite Loops', and the working community itself can be found on the website SpaceBattles, mostly under the Creative Writing section, for anyone interested in joining.
Because it's an event, the Yggdrasil Olympics focus on a grand sports tournament, the likes of which the multiverse has never seen, with wide variety of different "branches" and character sets being focused on, depending on the writer. It's essentially a guarantee that you'll see many of these snips in different threads and compilations elsewhere, depending on user decisions. That's the difference between this and a compilation dedicated to a specific work, such as my Freelancer one.
I was going to put a snip breakdown here, but couldn't think of many meaningful things to say. What I will say, though, is that the fact that only one the snips here is written by someone other than organizer/compiler (that being me, Wixelt) shouldn't be a trend going forward. A lot of the later sections, when they eventually come to be compiled, will have many other writers.
As for when the next chapter will be coming, don't expect it soon. This part was a lot easier to declare complete than others will be going forward.