"Gah…"

Okabe Rintarou gasped as he returned from the future yet again, phone still at his ear from his recent time leap, the call from his future self over as soon as it had begun. As he lowered it and stared blankly at the equally blank screen, the black glass reflected his expressionless face twisting into one of frustration, of rage, colored only faintly with grief. Over the past few days, he had been working his way through the various D-mails, or text messages sent to the past, which his lab members had sent, undoing them one by one, attempting to break the 1% divergence boundary to leap from this alpha world line to the beta world line. Suzuha had informed him that as long as they remained on an alpha world line, the Alpha World Line Attractor Field would continue to kill his childhood friend Mayuri. He had finally undone every D-mail but one, the one which he had accidentally sent on that fateful day, the one which had put all of these events into motion. But…

'The last one you have to undo is that one you sent Daru, right? The one about me getting stabbed?' His 'assistant's words echoed his head, seeming to repeatedly pound against the inside of his head, tearing him apart from the inside like some sort of caged animal. He almost wished he could forget the thought, put the facts out of mind, but as a self-proclaimed mad scientist with knowledge gained almost entirely through osmosis by proximity to the actual scientific genius Makise Kurisu, Okabe had come to understand the scientific method enough that he knew he could not simply ignore the truth. And unfortunately, the truth was that the universe had presented him with a choice: sacrifice Lab Member 002, his childhood friend Mayuri Shiina, to the Alpha World Line Attractor Field would cause her death in 5 days' time, or Lab Member 004, Makise Kurisu, the genius 17-year-old scientist who had joined their lab purely out of interest in their partial success in creating a time machine, and had perfected the device to its current form.

Barely moving from his downtrodden, slumped position, Okabe glanced to the right, where Mayuri was happily humming as she sewed one of her various cosplays. His mind involuntarily flashed back – or forward, he wasn't sure which – to the moments preceding his last time leap, on the way back from the convention where she had worn that same costume, as she had died, yet again, in front of his eyes. No, he had to protect that smile, that sweet, innocent sunbeam of an expression. The world had no right to continuously strip it from him. But that would mean…

Wrenching his gaze from her and sweeping it across the dingy room that he called a laboratory, ignoring the hunched, bulky form of the 'super hacker' Daru, he let his eyes fall on Kurisu, who was similarly engaged in work, though hers involved converting the Microwave Telephone from a device that could only send D-mails into one that would allow one to leap through time – a device that Okabe had used, and would use again, countless times. Suddenly shivering as if she could feel his gaze, the genius girl whipped her head around, her long red hair briefly fanning out behind her, as she turned to glare at Okabe. "Pervert! What do you… Wait, Okabe? What's wrong?" Her expression suddenly changed as she noticed Okabe's, softening with concern. This was precisely why he had to protect her, as well. Not simply because she was a genius mind and a gift to the world, not just because the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma would sacrifice the world for any one of his lab members, but because she was his… she and he were…

As he stared into her worried eyes, a thought struck him. He had been going about this all wrong. His attempts to save Mayuri had been based on the wrong premise. He had already leapt back in time on countless occasions, each in response to her death, and each using only what little knowledge he had gained on his enemies, SERN, to assist following attempts – but he had already reached the end of the knowledge he could conceivably glean about them. But what about other knowledge? What about knowledge befitting a mad scientist? His troubled face broke into a grin as he realized the true potential of infinite time, and he suddenly arose, threw back his head and his lab coat and let out a maniacal laugh, letting it ring out for nearly ten seconds before whipping around to face the door. "Christina! Mayuri! Today marks the dawn of a new era. I, Hououin Kyouma, am about to embark on an epic journey, both befitting and survivable by only a mad scientist of my immeasurable stature. Rejoice, for a new age is upon us!"

"Stop calling me Christina, it's Kurisu! And you said that part about a new age twice."

"Mayushii doesn't really get it, but if it makes Okarin happy, then…"

"And, by the way, I'm here too, LOL."

"Shut up, Daru. Quiet, assistant. And hush, child, for today marks the beginning of… Operation Odin!" After ignoring his various lab members' complaints, Okabe proudly proclaimed the purpose of his plan, throwing his hands up into the air to enhance the effect. Knowing the exact contents of his scheme, he couldn't bring himself to turn and face them, for this journey would bring him to a place he hoped they would never have to reach. Then, before any of them could raise a complaint or question, he waived, again without looking back, and simply said, "I'm off!" before sprinting out the lab door.

"Child? Mayushii's pretty sure she's the same age as Okarin but… Too-too-roo!"

"Just ignore him, Mayuri, you know how he is. Still, Operation Odin…? The king of the gods…?"

Okabe only heard a snippet of the end of their conversation as he dashed down the stairs and onto the street. As expected of my assistant, she picked up on the true meaning of the operation. Maybe I'll have to leave that part out in my following leaps… Oh well, I'll have time to perfect it. Endless time… he mused to himself as he made his way to the library. He had five days and about four hours until Mayuri's next death, as dictated by that inscrutable rule, that inexplicable Attractor Field Convergence, which had, for whatever reason, singled out his childhood friend as an unavoidable casualty of the universe.

But was it truly unavoidable?

Was the only way beyond the 1% divergence to let Makise die?

Presented with all of the evidence (assuming they believed it), any normal, rational person would probably give up on the endeavor and admit that yes, that was the only option available. But I'm not a normal person. I cannot be a rational person. For I am… the mad scientist… "Hououin Kyouma!" Okabe inadvertently cried out his own self-imposed moniker in the middle of gathering his books. Realizing the presence of the 'Quiet, please!" signs all about the library, he shrunk down and slunk around a corner before a librarian could come kick him out for his outburst.

The next five days were spent with the most intense studying Okabe had ever performed, and on the most varied and seemingly random topics. From pressure points to refraction to the various chemical effects of ingesting household spices, the only possible common point between his studies was the theme of 'science,' and even that provided a tenuous connection at best.

By the end of the week, Okabe felt like he was mentally falling apart. I thought I would be able to handle this, but… this may be… too… Before he could mentally write himself off, he shook his head, recalling his childhood friend's beaming face, his 'assistant's blushing scowl, and his own resolve. No, I'm not allowed to break at this. I CAN'T break at this. Something inside of him was already long broken, lost from watching one of the most precious people in his life die over and over. No, the man that was Okabe Rintarou had been crumbling away for a long time – it was his job to make sure that what rose from the rubble was a new and improved Hououin Kyouma.

And so he reset.

And so his studies began anew.

The fact that only his memories were able to travel back in time was a slight annoyance to him, because it nullified any possibility of attempting to bring back any particularly ingenious invention he happened to create during his study loop, especially since his mad scientist ways often produced devices that were impossible to replicate, but this was of secondary concern. A mad scientist's true weapon was knowledge, and he would devise a plan and a device that were beyond material concern.

After a few reiterations of the week, he realized he would also need to know slightly more about his enemies to smooth out the specifics of his plan. He began asking Mayuri to return from her convention slightly early, under the guise of the unveiling of a new invention, so as to gather all of the people he wished to protect into one room. He would then set up a small camera outside the door to monitor the exact positions of Shining Finger – no, Kiryuu Moeka and the other Rounders, the agents SERN was sending after Okabe and his lab members. She was always accompanied by four masked men, faceless gunners that had no care for the lives of his lab members. He memorized their positions, burned them into his mind, and steeled himself for what was coming – for him, and for them.

Finally, after months, years, measureless quantities of time, Okabe was prepared. He had tested every bit of his plan, all the minutiae, more times than should be possible for a sane man. Perhaps at this point he had already lost his sanity. Maybe it was accurate to call him a mad scientist, or at least mad. But he did not care. This plan was worth just that much to him. And for this plan, he had gathered Lab Members 002, 003, and 004 – Mayuri, Daru, and Kurisu – again, under the guise of revealing a new future gadget. Only this time, there was a gadget to show. He wished there was a way to complete his plan without them witnessing it, but for the purposes of defying the Attractor Field Convergence, this was the only possibility. Regrettable, but necessary.

"And so I present Future Gadget #56: The Handheld Light-Array Beam Generator (name subject to change)!" Okabe declared confidently, heaving the device, which appeared to be a flashlight with tin foil wrapped around the light in a cone, with four magnifying glasses protruding from the end at seemingly random angles. Despite having infinite time, Okabe had very finite funds for producing his gadgets.

"56? Mayushii didn't know there were so many now…" Mayuri asked, confused, as she looked around the laboratory for evidence of other gadgets.

"There aren't. And is this what you've been working on for the last couple days instead of helping around the lab? Geez, you're as lazy as you look." Kurisu shook her head as she scolded him, but her eyes seemed to disbelieve her own words. She was sharp, and had probably caught on to his abuse of the time-leap machine already. No matter.

"LOL, fail, it looks as dumb as the name," Daru mocked him, seemingly ignorant of the fact that his own naming conventions were far from the 'cool' he thought they were. "Anyways, can we go now?"

Okabe tutted, wagging a finger back and forth. "In due time, Daru. In due…" he glanced at the clock. One minute remained. "Time. You have yet to witness its grand unveiling, its virgin voyage, its world premiere usage." He turned to face the door, lining up the device with exact, practiced precision.

"You don't even know if it works? Epic fail."

"Okabe, this isn't…" Kurisu began, but Okabe cut her off.

"Shush, assistant of mine. You are about to…" 3… 2… 1… "see the light!" he cried out triumphantly, flicking the switch of the flashlight. Instantly, four beams of intense light shot out of the device's front, their angles mirroring those of the four magnifying glasses attached to the front. Four smoking holes were burned into the wall, followed almost immediately by four distinctive *thud* sounds. "Experiment complete," he said, flicking the device back off and tossing it carelessly to Daru. He took two steps towards the door, such that he was just outside of opening radius.

"Whoa, isn't that, like, totally dangerous?" Daru complained as be bobbled the item, as Makise's eyes widened in realization. "Okabe… that sound, it wasn't…"

"That, my dear assistant, was the beginning of Phase 2 of Operation Odin." He spread his arms wide, seemingly completely open, unsuspecting, and victorious. Suddenly, the door swung open as Kiryuu Moeka burst in, pistol in hand, pointing towards Okabe. However, the mad scientist was ready. With one finger, almost casually, he poked her in the wrist, hitting a pressure point and causing her to drop her pistol into his other hand. He then reached backwards and, without looking, poked the shocked Rounder in the neck, hitting another pressure point causing the rest of her body to go limp and fall to the floor. "Phase 3 will begin soon."

He glanced over at the clock – the whole ordeal had taken only a few seconds, but during that time, the deadline for the Attractor Field Convergence had passed. He looked back at the horrified, but living, faces of his lab members. He stared down at his own hands, which were now the hands of a killer – and of a mad scientist.

"Hahaha… HWAHAHAHAHA!" The man formerly known as Okabe Rintarou threw back his head and laughed as a true mad scientist. "I am the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma!" he declared in a booming voice, "and I have defeated the world!"