Attack on Titan: the Infinite Loops
Chapter 11
A/N: Well, my first chapter after clearing one hundred thousand words. Personally I'm glad I reached this point. It makes me proud to have gone this far. But I couldn't have done it without all of my contributors. Thanks fellas.
11.1
To say that the loopers gathered in a small clearing north of Trost were stunned was an understatement. Armin, Ymir and Levi were flabbergasted, had their minds blown, and were in shock. No one, not a single looping soul, would have pegged Carla Yeager as the next looper. Armin opened his mouth, choked on the words, and managed to articulate a single syllable. "...How?"
Carla shrugged. "I don't know. I just... woke up. As Sloth in Amestris." Carla smiled lightly and liquified her arms. "At least I can do this."
Ymir grumbled something about how she didn't have a power, only to almost suffer a heart attack from an abjectly furious glare from Eren. The only blood Yeager in the group had been clinging to his mother's skirt all day long, ever since she had tracked him and Mikasa down. Mikasa herself was standing at Carla's side, but not a single seasoned looper entertained the notion that she was doing anything less than her level best to make sure that every single thing that could harm Carla was dead.
She did, after all, know how to create doppelgängers.
Armin finally got his thoughts straightened out and held out his hand to shake Carla's. "It's a real pleasure to have you here Miss Yeager."
"Oh, please. Call me Carla," Carla said bashfully. "I know that you'll all... well, very much older than me."
"Edward must have filled you in on our history," Armin surmised. "What exactly happened in Amestris."
"Well..."
Two hours later...
"...and so, we said our goodbyes, and the loop ended," Carla finished her tale.
Levi and Ymir gently clapped. "That was a surprisingly engaging story," Levi said. "Really, quite a tale."
"Says the man who fought his way through a burning forest with cobbled together ODM gear, fighting vampires, alongside werewolves, before turning into one and dying," Ymir snarked.
Levi shrugged. "Twilight can be interesting sometimes."
Mikasa interjected at this point. "Eren, we still have an issue. The Helicarrier."
Armin, Levi and Ymir all winced as the fact dawned on them. It would take a gentle touch to point out that...
"Mom, we named a flying aircraft carrier after you."
...well, that. Everyone except Carla and Eren facepalmed. Carla herself blinked in surprise. "Uh... what?"
Eren stood up and ran out out the clearing. A moment later, The Carla, a massive flying aircraft carrier, burst into existence from within his subspace pocket. Eren ran back into the clearing. "That's what."
Carla nodded. "Right... well, my house has been destroyed, so I guess... that's as good as any house." Her tone however showed her that she wasn't exactly comfortable.
Eren realized that as well, quite fortunately. "Oh, uh... well, we, uh, were planning in renaming it!"
Carla looked at her son and lightly pulled his ear. "I can tell you're lying," she sang. Eren removed her hand belligerently.
Ymir coughed into her fist to get the attention on her. "So, miss Yeager, we know you. We should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Ymir. I'm a Titan Shifter, a dreamer, a girl with no set past, and a girl with a girlfriend." Ymir wrapped an arm around Armin. "And I'm usually Armin's mom."
Carla blinked. "Uh... you're twelve."
"Lots of variants happen where she's my mother," Armin clarified. "And usually she's either my step-mom, or my sire."
Carla opened her mouth, thought about what Armin had just said, and promptly shut it.
Levi waved his hand a little. "My name is either Leviathan, Leviticus, or Rivaille Ackerman. I'm a distant relative to Mikasa, humanity's second greatest soldier, a professional neat-freak, a deadpan snarker, and on bad days, a vampire."
"And I'm Armin," Armin said. "I'm our tactical genius, the science nerd, an inventor on the side, Mikasa and Eren's keeper, and their husband."
Ymir, Levi and Carla spluttered loudly.
Eren rolled his eyes and hit the chortling Armin. "Don't do that, it wasn't funny the first time and it isn't funny now."
Armin smiled. "You gotta admit, it was kind of funny."
"Perverted Shota," Eren muttered.
"But I am a cute Shota, right?"
"ANYWAY..." Mikasa loudly cut across her adoptive siblings. "We'll get you introduced to the rest of the loopers when we can mom. That sound good."
Carla smiled a little as Armin and Eren continue their bickering. "I'll look forward to it Mikasa. I really will."
11.2 Crossoverpairinglover
"So, I see we're doing a monster loop this time around," Count Levi managed to restrain his Romanian Accent with great restraint as he noted the loopers currently visible. "So, roll call?"
"I feel funny…" Marco, currently on top of a dark horse and holding his severed head in his arms, complained.
"This wasn't funny the first time, and it ain't funny now," Jean the Centaur complained.
"Just don't forget about the latrines this time would you?" the currently pint sized and winged Sasha chirped from Connie's shoulder.
"Why in the hell am I a Were-Giraffe!? There is no such thing!?" said Giraffe-Man complained.
"Has anyone seen Ymir?" the crow footed Armin questioned. "I haven't seen her this loop, though I could have sworn I heard her earlier..."
Mikasa's fox ears twitched in response as something invisible shifted nearby.
Looking up and down the row, Count Levi noted the lack of their favorite Titan-Shifting Anchor.
That couldn't be good.
The wall wasn't mean to protect Humanity from the Monsters this loop: it protected the Monsters from Humanity.
Hundreds of them were swarming the walls, all armed with pitchforks and torches and shouting something religious-like.
However, they were not unchallenged in their protesting.
"FEE FY FOO FUMB!" The giant voice bellowed, causing the crowd to shake in fear, their murderous fervor forgotten as a giant figure appeared in the distance. "THIS LOOP IS WEIRD!"
11.3
"Really? That's your secret to staying stable in 3DMG? I would never have thought of that," Marco said in downplayed awe.
Bertolt chuckled lightly and scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's nothing, really. You just need to think of it like swimming. Keep your center and you'll be fine."
Marco took his roll, then broke it in half and tried to hand it to Bertolt. "Thanks man. That's gonna save me a load."
"Hey, I don't need your roll. I'm fine, really," Bertolt said. He pushed Marco's roll away, but Marco pushed back. "I don't need it."
"I insist."
"Please, really, I'm fine."
"Aww..." Marco sighed and ate his roll. "Your loss Bertolt."
The tall young man smiled. "I got my own roll, but thanks, really."
Marco winked. "He, you deserve iiiiit..."
Marco trailed off as Jean grabbed him and dragged him off. "SorryMarco,ShadisWantsYou, LetsGo." Jean literally dragged Marco out the door, confusing Bertolt. Once they were outside, Jean nearly threw his friend to his feet. "Marco, what the hell are you doing?"
Marco stared at Jean in confusion, dusting himself off. "Well... I was getting some 3DM tips from Bertolt. I wasn't flirting with him." Marco winked. "You're the only one for me."
Jean twitched. "...First, please don't say stuff like that. Secondly... It's Bertolt! He's... You know..." Jean made gestures that trie to indicate exceptional size, before realizing how unhelpful that was and leaned in and whispered it to Marco. "He's the Colossal Titan."
Marco clicked his lips and nodded. "I know that. It doesn't mean I'm gonna treat him any differently."
Jean frowned and put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "Marco, I know that Bertolt regrets what he did. I also know that Reiner went insane because of it. If you get too close to Bertolt or Annie or Reiner... Marco, I've seen it happen. You two get all buddy buddy, and when you die, they snap."
Marco opened his mouth, then closed it with a grimace. He tried to speak again after a moment. "Jean, I know that they're dangerous, and fragile. That's why I'm trying to be friends with them. I want to help them."
Jean put both hands on Marco's shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "I know buddy. I tried it myself. And I can tell you this: you won't succeed."
Marco, gently, removed Jean's hands from his shoulders. "I'll be there for them. I'll learn how to help the shifters. If they need a person to give them advice, or to argue with, or to cry and comfort them, I'll be that person. Jean, you need to understand that one day, those three may start looping, and we'll need someone who knows them inside out and that they trust."
Marco pushed past a stunned Jean and started walking back to the mess hall. "And if no one else... then that person will be me."
The door shut behind Jean, who stood out in the evening soaked courtyard, silent and shocked, an then contemplative. After many minutes, Jean turned on his heels and marched inside. Marco had already restarted his conversation with Bertolt. Jean slid in net to Marco. "Hey, mind if I join in? I gotta work on my 3DM skills if I want to beat Eren."
Bertolt looked surprised... and flattered. "Sure, I can help you with that." Next to Jean, Marco beamed.
Jean, Marco and Bertolt talked long into the night, and when it was over, could count each other as friends.
11.4 Crossoverpairinglover
Sentient species rarely had predators.
With sentience comes intelligence. With intelligence weapons were forged. Plans were developed. Safeguards created.
Nothing liked to be eaten. Just as animals developed poison, camouflage, defensive armor, or great speed to avoid foes, sentient lifeforms developed ways to be safe from their predators.
This normally led to their decimation and quite often extinction. For it was not until the sentient species reached a certain point in their development that they came to appreciate the wild beauty of what had once been a threat to them, or realize that killing off the threat to them led to a whole mess of problems for the planet.
However, this world had predators of sentient species...ones that defied the rules of nature.
These massive creatures were pouring into the city, strange and tumbling mockeries of human form that were just, off, in the force. They felt like something between man and monster, a twisted mass of nightmares and wild instinct.
The panic and fear that they brought forth to those who dwelled in this city was toxic and dark. Had a Sith Lord dwelled here, he could have gained much power from it.
However, she was the only Jedi here, the only one who could stop them.
She stood on top a roof overlooking the massive hole, currently dressed in the brown fatigues of this loop's soldiers. Her body shifted slightly, her past obtained Skrull abilities morphing her skin from the white she had looped into here to its natural green, her black diamond tattoos reforming on her body.
The loop had kindly provided her with a pair of blades in each hand, rather nicely considered her usual blade, Undbitr, would stand out in this loop.
As was her curse, she would stand alone in this fight. Loopers were always separated from her by great distance, as was her bug. However, that did not mean she was not protect the innocent of this and every loop she came to.
The Jedi had lost their way in her world, but she never would. Not like the baseline Bariss Offee. Not now, not ever.
Meanwhile in the Quinta District of Wall Maria, the anchor trio of this loop was keeping watch of the nearby wall, expecting the Titans to appear soon.
With a concentrated blast of the Force, the Titan was blown away from the trapped civilian.
As the startled woman ran as fast as she could, Bariss burst over its' head aided by not only the Force, but the training of Red Foot Zeb. Coming down its back, she slashed with the blades and landed on the ground behind it, just as the monster slumped over and dissolved away.
Having reached the breach in the wall after saving a number of innocents, Bariss glared at the sight of hundreds of Titans approaching.
Reaching into her subspace pocket with The Force, a ring flew out and slid onto her hand as she pointed it right at the advancing titans.
"Wind!" she shouted as the Ring summoned forth a gale that blew them back. While it would not destroy them, it did give her the necessary space.
Smashing her foot against the ground with immense force, a rock column shot up from the earth and formed a patch on the wall. It was not as thick as the original wall, but it would hold them off.
Thump thump!
Bariss did not need The Force to tell her a Titan was behind her. Nor did she have to put much thought into it as she used the Force to knock the Titan to the ground, exposing its neck for an easy swipe.
She did not have time to rest however: for there were still Titans to be...
KRA-KOOM!
Lightning struck.
The Wall had been initially breached by a Titan of Colossal Size.
Now, a Titan of large, but not colossal size, covered in thick Armor was charging in to smash through the wall that separated district, from the interior.
The Garrison troops were no match for it, it was the immediate threat to the innocents around her.
And so, apparating in front of its' intended path, sparking electricity formed around Bariss's fist.
"Lightning Dragon Iron Fist!" Bariss shouted as she struck the Titan square in the face with the blunt force of a Lightning Dragon.
The Titan was sent tumbling backwards, shattering a few homes but now momentum-less. It forced itself back up, somewhat more intelligently than the other Titans.
In fact, as Bariss floated before it via levitation, she felt a different sort of feeling around it compared to the other Titans. It felt less warped, and intelligent. It lacked the hunger that seemed to pervade the creatures, and most surprisingly of all...
"Guilt," Bariss whispered as the Titan looked at her in confusion, in the way many humans would when they first saw a levitating green skinned humanoid. "You feel guilt..."
Her eyes narrowed. "You feel guilt!? You planned to unleash a horde of flesh eating monsters on innocent people, and you feel guilty!? Your actions are that of either a droid, a sociopath, or a soldier in a war without morals, and you feel guilty!?"
The Titan, out of fear of her continued verbal assault, moved to swat her like a fly. Bariss just blocked it with superior strength.
A loop as a Daxamite would let you do that.
"I don't know what you are: a soldier who knows what he is doing is wrong but cannot or will not stop, a victim just as much as the people you hurt, or someone so mentally broken you wake up to see carnage in your wake. However, you will not be hurting anyone this loop, never again."
Steam billowed from the Armored Titan, as if trying to create a scalding shield for itself against her.
However, she would not be striking him with something tangible.
"Armored Titan," she spoke in the Ancient Language of Alegesia, a language of magic. "let your empathy and guilt rule over your objective!"
As the beast roared in pain as it felt something alien infect it, Bariss was so intent on the magic at work she didn't notice the guy in the black top hat aiming a pair of pistols at her.
BANG
11.5 Pixel the Square
"Hey Mikasa, did I ever tell you your hair is soft?"
Eren was currently running his hand through Mikasa's hair, which she sort of allowed, given his current mental state.
"Armin, come here buddy, let me give you a hug."
Armin knew it was best to appease him, knowing full well what might happen. The trio walked through the streets, Eren staring up blankly at the buildings as he walked by.
"You know, we should just live underground. Then the titans can't find us."
Mikasa was sorely tempted to point out everything wrong with that plan, but instead shook her head.
CCCRRRAASSHHHH!
The wall had been breached. This was not a good time, Eren was in no shape to fight, so they had to take him somewhere. They ran through the carnage stoicly, except for Eren.
"Holy shit Mikasa are you seeing this?That big guy just ate that little guy! I think he needs a hug."
Mikasa looked at Eren. Yes it was good that he recognized the severity if the situation but his solution was less than amusing. Eventually they made it to a supply depot and picked some 3DMG. They stood on the wall, looking down, Mikasa planning her attack.
"Oh hi Captain Levi. Pffffffff unitentional rhyme. Your hair looks soft, can I touch it?"
"Ackerman! What the hell happened to Yeager?!"
"Long story..."
Eren had forsaken permission and started playing with Levi's hair, after which he gave him a hug.
"There's no time for this! You two, get out there and fight those titans. I'll find someone to watch over Yeager."
"No no Levi, I'll go fight the giant dudes, they need some hugs."
Levi wanted to argue but it was better they had more people fighting. Though he'd keep an eye on him, it would not bode well to lose him. With that, they all charged the field, while not straying too far from Eren.
"Heeeey Johnny, come let your buddy Eren give you a hug!"
This was ridiculous. Eren was essentially walking up to a titan to be eaten. Mikasa started to move in for the kill when she was horrified.
THUMP!
The titan had smashed Eren.
"Come on Johnny, that wasn't very nice! I will hug you!"
Eren launched upward only to get entangled in the cords. Mikasa was already halfway to him when in his flailing, he killed the titan. He finished untangling himself and knelt of the corpse.
"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO! JOHNNY I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I'M SORRRRYYYYY!"
Everyone in the area stopped. What the hell was up with Eren? Was he mourning a titan?
"I'll make it up to you Johnny, I'll go hug all the titans. FOR JOHNNY!"
Eren was swiftly closing in on another titan, his group of friends following closely behind, killing the titans Eren had ignored.
"FRANK! COME GET A HUG!"
Eren swiftly closed in, but his foot got tangled in the cable somehow and flew right by the titan, which was also accidentally killed. Mikasa just stared at him. Even in this state he was quite effective. Levi also sighed, Eren wasa threat to titans even if he wasn't trying to. Eren turned around.
"NO! FRANK! NOT YOU TOO! I SWEAR I'LL MAKE IT UP TO YOU ALL!"
Eren was yelling at the sky, and he drew in more titans. The rest of the party had given up, just watching as titan after titan fell before Eren, who was doing it completely unintentionally.
"I've failed... I wanted to spread love but I ended their lives. I'm the monster, not these big guys."
Armin went to comfort him. But Mikasa stopped him.
"Let him have his moment."
"So what is up with him?"
"He thinks he's high or drunk."
"Why?"
"I gave him some rations and told him they were 'special' and this is what happened."
"We should try this more often..."
"No, look at him, he's so sad."
"WHY CRUEL WORLD WHY?!"
11.6 Crossoverpairinglover (All misspellings intentional)
Jeen Curstain, loople of the rowld were Tietens dlellld, was nt happe.
Afta beng eten bi a Titon, Gean had hoppd at the preevus loob wood thade rom is mined.
Enstaid Jene us mow in a bery simelar koop, gust ith beeing a mokkere of his onne wrld.
Gasping for breath as if he had ran from Wall Maria to the center of Wall Sina without stopping, Jean turned to an equally exhausted Armin in horror. "What. The Fuck. Were We. Just. In?"
Removing his Guide to Multiversal Variants (3rd edition) from his subspace pocket, and skimmed through the book rapidly, yet somehow reading it all off.
"Galen Malek no, Bureau no, Megido no, Pokewars no...oh here it is. We were in the Hogwarts variant known as the My Immortal verse. Warning...very screwed up," Armin read that last part with a bland tone of voice.
For screwed up was the nicest thing one could ever say about that reality.
"That's it, I'm going to get eaten by a Titan: hopefully that more pleasant experience will get that horrible place out of mind for a while" Jean declared as he turned and began walking towards the nearest wall. "See ya next loop Armin".
11.7
In the dim light of the morning, beneath the shadows of Wall Maria, the Loopers of the Walled World saddled their horses and rode into the unknown. It was by quiet agreement amongst them that this loop would be a vacation for them all, and an opportunity to see the distant lands. As they set out into the undiscovered, virgin plains, only silence, for a time, passed between them. Eventually, it was broken though.
"Wow..." Marco said as they travelled further from the Walls. "This is so different from Wall Maria's interior. No villages to ride through or roads to take. It would be so difficult to fight Titans out here."
"Yeah, probably," Jean admitted as he rose beside Marco. "It wouldn't be an issue for us though. Almost all of us can fly in some capacity, except Eren and Ymir, and they can Titanize. Besides, any Titan that comes near us is gonna be going up against supernatural powers."
"Yeah, that is true," Marco admitted. "I can just... well..."
"See why the Survey Corp couldn't win this territory?"
"Yeah."
Ahead of them, Sasha and Connie were entranced by the passing wild life. As they rode, a young buck decided to give them a try and raced beside them, heedless to the Huntress and scientist's eye. Connie chuckled as he urged his horse forward, easily outstripping the poor dear. "Never saw a human before, has it?"
Sasha shook her head and pulled some cured jerky from her pocket, snacking on it to take her mind off the ignorant buck they were riding from. "Obviously. These lands must be teeming with easy game."
"Knowing the current populace, and taking into account the fact that the only things feeding on them would be mountain lions and maybe cougars, you're probably looking at some of the easiest hunts you've ever gone through. Just avoid the Titans, and you'll be eating like a queen."
Sasha rode up and playfully smacked Connie on the back of his head. "I know that silly. You really need to remember that."
"Yeah yeah..."
Sasha and Connie settled into silence for a few minutes as they hurtled across the plains and towards the distant forests. Sasha said, "you know Connie, maybe you and I should go on a hunting trip."
Connie's eyebrows climbed his forehead. "Really? Eh... nah. I'd be pretty bad at it. Besides, hunting's your thing Sasha. I'd just ruin it."
"No you wouldn't," Sasha said. "You just need practice. Anyone can hunt if they practice." Sasha smiled lightly. "I'll take you up into the mountains around my village. We'll camp out there for a couple weeks and I'll teach you how to hunt. Just the two of us."
"Heh..." Connie smiled sardonically. "Yeah, just the two of us." But after a moment, his smile took on a genuine quality. "Ya know what, sure. Let's do it!"
"Yay! You'll love it up there. It's all untouched, pristine mountain wilderness. No people for miles, no roads, no worries. Just us and the thrill of the hunt."
Connie chuckled. "Sounds perfect."
Across the running formation though, all was not well. Ymir was gritting her teeth and trying to bring her horse, Tiamat, under control. "Come on damn it. Just ride straight!"
Historia groaned as Ymir kicked her horse's flanks again. "Ymir, you'll hurt him."
"Not as bad as I'll hurt if this horse throws me," Ymir grumbled. "Come on... DAMMIT RIDE STRAIGHT!" she shouted. Any attempts to flick the reins at her horse was interrupted when Historia grabbed Tiamat's reins and Ymir's arm. "Hey!"
Historia ignored Ymir and crooned to Tiamat, gently leading him and her own horse, Rosette, away from the formation. "Come on Ymir. We need to take care of this."
After a few minutes of riding, a shallow river came into view. Historia slowed Rosette and Tiamat, dismounting at the shore. Ymir's horse bent down and began drinking furiously. Ymir grumbled as she dismounted. "Alright, so he wanted some water. Why would I know that?"
"You'll figure out the signs," Historia said. She started crooning into Tiamat's ear. "Don't worry... Ymir won't hurt you again. You'll be fine." Tiamat broke from drinking to try and nuzzle Historia. Historia pulled back Tiamat's lips. "You need to be more gentle Ymir. You almost knackered Tiamat's teeth."
"Ugh..." Ymir groaned. "Fine. I'll be gentle. But if Tiamat throws me-"
"You'll ride with me then," Historia said. As Rosette finished drinking, both she and Ymir mounted their horses. "You need to improve your equestrianism, you know-"
"Ow!"
Ymir was sprawled ass over head on the ground, right beside Tiamat. "He threw me!"
Historia chuckled, seeing straight through Ymir's almost transparent attempt. "Alright, get on. I'll take you on Rosette."
Ymir eagerly hopped onto Historia's horse and wrapped her arms around the rider. "Thank you." Historia rolled her eyes and started to retort.
FWANNNG!
In the distance, the screech of a smoke flare sounded, interrupting Historia's rebuttal. "Equestrianism later!"
"Right," Ymir said, gripping tightly to Historia as they both shot back to the group, Tiamat trailing behind.
Back with the group, a Titan was racing towards the pack of eleven, trying to snag one for dinner. Armin had already ordered the group to break off, with Eren escorting a vaguely annoyed Carla to safety. Mikasa had turned her horse Oryx onto a collision course with the humanoid monstrosity.
The Titan smiled dumbly (well, more dumbly) as it's prey closed in. It's hand already grasping, the monster reached for Mikasa, it's giant foot shattering the ground and blocking the path directly in front of Mikasa. The Titan bent over, it's hands readied. In short, it was right where she wanted it.
Mikasa leapt into the air, threaded between the Titan's fingers, hurtled along it's arm and just passed it's nape. There was an explosion of blood, and the Titan's momentum took over, sending it's corpse skidding along the ground, narrowly missing Oryx. Mikasa cancelled her psychic flight and gently touched down on the grass. "Titan... eliminated."
As the group came back together, Hanji loudly groaned. "Oh come on Mikasa. How are we supposed to study a Titan if you only leave it's corpse."
Mikasa remounted Oryx. "I'll capture a live one for you later Hanji. You can experiment on it to your heart's content." Mikasa rode off, Eren intercepting her to see if she had pulled anything.
Next to the steaming and dissolving corpse, Hanji grumbled sullenly. "Study, not dissect."
"She's just thinking about how to handle a Titan," Levi said as his horse clopped alongside Hanji's.
The grinding of teeth from mad-scientist was almost audible. "After all this time you would think she'd get the memo. I don't like experimenting on Titans anymore."
Levi guided both of their horses off, back into the riding formation. "Hn. It's not like you can't think of any experiments to run with us."
"Well you consent to it," Hanji pointed out. "Also, about a new test I've been thinking of..."
"...Yes, shit-glasses," Levi said when Hanji's silence became unbearable.
"Have you ever wondered exactly what the salt to venom ratio was in your sweat?" the mad-scientist cheerfully asked.
Beneath his hood, Levi suppressed a groan. "Let me get that straight. You want me to sweat enough to left you know how much venom is in it?"
"Yeperoony."
Levi was silent as they rode. "Never say that again... and sure."
As the group got back up to speed, the sole person amongst them that had never been a soldier rode level with the only truly familiar face in the crowd. "So that was Mikasa against a Titan. She really has grown."
A smile wormed it's way on to Hannes' face. "She's grown, Eren's grown, Armin; they've all grown to be real fine people Carla. You'd be surprised."
The mother of two of the Anchors smiled abashedly. "I am. I really am every day."
"Must have been quite a shock to wake up, all the way back here."
"Everyone keeps saying that," Carla admitted sheepishly. "I'm just glad that Edward explained all of this before I got back. I'd have never thought that I kept my liquefaction abilities when I'd loop back."
Hannes' smile shrank a little. "You wouldn't have been the first. I died, Jean died, Marco died... There's a real strong argument to be made for this loop being cursed. Hell, I wouldn't disagree with it. We're crash Era, with barely a dozen loopers in millions of years, all of them dead at some point, with barely a bit of a chicken-shit of an idea of what the Hell's happening here, and the honest to Ganesha fear of dying." Hannes sighed in weary exhaustion. "Carla, whatever happens now, I can only say that I'm glad I'm dead in Baseline. I don't need to worry about dying now."
The color drained from Carla's face. "You... you don't think..."
Hannes shrugged. "I don't know. But I think..."
As the group rode into the rising sun, the sky lightening from dawn to day, all thirteen basked in the light.
"I think someone's going to die. And I fear for whomever it is."
11.8 fantasyPhysicist
John sighed as he watched the returning Survey Corps expedition. This was one hell of an alternate past Loop, or whatever they were. Hismemories didn't say a thing about Jade, Rose, or Dave, and he'd never seen these Mikasa or Armin people in past Loops. He was starting to get worried. Where could the others be? He froze as he saw an exchange between one of the Survey Corps members and an old woman. The woman asked the man something about her son, and in response, the man handed her a small bundle. The woman slowly unwrapped the bundle to reveal a severed forearm.
"What the hell is wrong with this Loop?" John muttered under his breath. Mikasa looked at him in surprise.
"You're a Looper?" she asked.
John was confused. "What?"
"You've been repeating your life, over and over again. Right?"
"Yeah, but...how do you know about that? This is the first Loop I've ever seen you. Isn't this just one of those alternate past ones?" John was still very confused.
"Ah, looks like you need the speech," Mikasa said. "Let's go find Armin, he can help explain. I'll go ahead and give you the basics on the way. You see, John, it all started with this tree..."
"...Every thing I know about how reality works is a lie. That's what you're telling me right now."
"Pretty much, yes," Armin replied, storing away the projector in his Subspace Pocket. "Any questions?"
"Yes. You said basically every world I know of that exists in fiction is a real universe, right?" Mikasa nodded. "Does that mean Con Air is one of them?"
"Uh...yes?" Armin answered.
John stood slowly, looked up at the heavens, raised his fists, and uttered a scream of rage that would have made Baseline Eren jealous. Then he sat back down. "Just needed to get that out of my system."
"What Loop are you from, anyway?" Mikasa asked. "I don't recognize you from any Loops I've been to."
"I don't know?" John attempted to answer. "Do you want me to describe it or something?" The other two nodded. "Well, the overall death count's pretty similar to this one, much less grim though. Let's see...the original timeline - err, Baseline, whatever - is basically me and my friends playing a videogame that destroys the world and makes new universes out of frogs, then-" John stopped as Mikasa and Armin's pupils shrank alarmingly.
"I don't know what to do."
"Should we tell the Admins?"
"Maybe? What if one of them actually figured out a way to get it Looping?"
"That's very unlikely."
"Doctor Who Looping used to be very unlikely, too, but look at it now."
"This isn't Doctor Who. This is Homestuck. One of the two Quarantined Loops in all of Yggdrasil."
"I know that! That doesn't mean it's impossible." John watched this entire conversation with a sense of alarm and confusion.
"I don't understand what's happening right now," John said. The other two turned to him, and Armin sighed.
"Alright, basically, your universe is, or possibly was, one of the only two worlds in existence that were declared absolutely, positively, no buts, no exceptions, no what ifs, unable to Loop," he explained. "So if you couldn't tell, we're kind of concerned by the fact that you've been Looping for as long as you say you have, especially because all four of you seem to have been Looping from the beginning. That has the word glitch written all over it."
John was not sure how to feel. "So...what are you gonna do?"
"I say we let it play out," Armin said. "You've been Looping long enough that the Admins would have noticed by now if you weren't supposed to be." Mikasa nodded.
John just sat and pondered his situation. Then he cringed as he realized that he would have to explain this multiverse stuff to Jade and Dave. They would not be happy knowing that all of their knowledge of reality was a complete lie.
What do you think? I figured it made sense. Similar death count, same Admin, both had trouble getting Looping.
Apologies if Mikasa and Armin are out of character, I don't keep up with the AoT Loops that much so I wasn't 100% certain on how to write them.
11.9 Crossoverpairinglover
Levi was unimpressed at the latest additions to the wall.
They were ugly, grotesque and were easily magnets for bird droppings.
"I fail to see how Gargoyles will improve the walls ability to hold back Titans Hannes," Levi complained to the Garrison leader who had arranged for the stone creations to be sculpted and placed, evenly, across the wall.
"Gargoyles repel evil spirits Levi, perhaps they might repel Titans as well," Hannes said in a tone that was half truthful, and half 'I got bored so sue me'.
"The only thing these things are going to repel are Wall Cultists. I'm surprised they haven't stormed the walls in response to your grandiose idea..."
BOOM!
A distant explosion from further down the wall suggested the Wall Cult was in fact at it.
11.10 See Mohn
Eren crossed his arms. "No."
Sasha's face fell. "Eren, come on..."
"No. I'm not doing this."
"But it'll be awesome,"
"I'm with Sasha on this one," Jean piped up.
Eren rolled his eyes. "I don't care who thinks this is a good idea, I'm not using my powers to bake a Titan-sized pizza."
Armin had just mentioned that Lelouch and C.C finally managed to make a giant pizza without anything going wrong. Naturally, Sasha wanted to outdo them.
"What's pizza?" asked Carla. The other loopers' jaws dropped as they turned to her.
"Okay, I'm in." Eren immediately said. "Get every chef in Trost here as quick as you can, I don't care how much you bribe them. We're making Mom's first pizza the best pizza of all time."
11.11
When Mikasa Awoke into the newest loop, she found herself staring down the barrel of a five inch mounted main gun of a tank. She stared into its dark maul for several nanoseconds.
BOOM!
The cannon roared, the whole tank bucking under the recoil. The treads, for a second, skidded before regaining their purchase on the soft, loamy earth. The entire front half of the tank was engulfed in smoke.
When the smoke cleared, there was Mikasa. Her face was covered in soot, her clothes were a little askance, and her expression was one of less than... amused bearing. The only evidence that remained of the shell was scattered around the whole clearing she and the tank were in.
Mikasa leaned forward and whispered a word into the main gun. "Bang."
The tank, from tracks to turret, fell apart at the seams, breaking as if it had been hauled from the sea and exposed to air. In mere seconds, the tank was reduced from once-proud multidisciplinary king of the battle field to scrap metal. To add insult to injury, the crew proceeded to scramble from the wreckage and run away from the girl who had taken an armor-piercing shell to the face and survived.
Mikasa herself smiled. At least now she knew she could survive a point-blank tank round with no warning. Her smile now affixed and genuine, Mikasa started after the girls who had shot her with the intent of figuring out why they had shot her.
11.12 Crossoverpairinglover
Eyeing a blueprint with a critical eye, Armin adjusted his blow torch as he continued his work.
Hange observed a chalkboard decorated with very complicated mathematics. Eyeing part of it critically, Hange erased a portion of it to fix a zero and nodded in agreement with it.
Eren, currently in Titan Form, grunted with effort as he held up a metallic block connected to a large computer, which was beeping and recording data, connected with cables to what Armin was working on.
Marco honestly had no idea what this was supposed to be about. In confusion, he turned to Hannes, who appeared to be rather bored with the whole thing and was busy playing a game of angry birds on a I-Phone that should not exist in this period of time.
Hannes briefly stopped breaking things with round birds to note Marco, and explained. "They are working on the first TitanBuster armor. Like the HulkBuster armor, or ThorBuster armor, or PhoenixBuster armor...we just think it will actually work in the busting department."
Marco took that in, recalling Connie mentioning those names from his loop as an Avenger. However, something didn't add up.
"So, if it never worked...why does he keep making them?"
Hannes shrugged. "Probably the same reason that the Survey Corp keeps trying to establish territory for humanity beyond the walls".
11.13
It was uncommon that Ymir found herself dreaming in a loop without Historia. There didn't seem to be a specific reason for it beyond simple luck. Ymir was fine with it really. She liked it when Historia was Awake, which for her was often.
The rest of the time though... that was painful. It was the same across the multiverse: if you had a significant other, and they weren't bound to your soul in some manner, you'd need to live through loops without them. Oh they were there: your partner was still alive, but at the same time they weren't themselves. They weren't the person you cared for so dearly.
Ymir imagined that this was an angst she shared with her Anchors: there was a fair amount of dialogue between the loopers as too how close Eren, Armin and Mikasa were. Furthermore, there had recently been a weird rise in stealth-anchored fused loops. The current running joke was that Jean was being replaced by Picard more often.
The shared pain though still didn't alleviate the fact that it was pain and it hurt. Ymir loved Historia deeply, and had absolutely no intention to spend the rest of her life, the rest of eternity in fact, with anyone else. When all was said and done, Ymir was going to marry Historia or get soul-bound or become a part of her... Ymir's wishes changed depending on when she started rememberingher past experiences each loop, and all of it added up to a fair amount of angst when Historia ended up not being Awake in a loop.
Ymir, in the end, hated these loops am her inability to be a normal looper, but they were unavoidable and she had to suffer through them, if only to save Historia from herself and her idiotic drive to die a heroic death.
Hence why Ymir was trudging through the dark night, Historia still under the guide of Christa, dragging Daz's unconscious dumb ass in a makeshift stretcher through the snow of the northern mountains. Ymir loved Historia, dearly, but really, really hated her at times. "Christa, what the hell are you doing?"
In front of her, Historia grunted and kept dragging Daz. "We need... to keep going. Daz... could die."
Ymir pursed her lips and resisted a loud sigh. 'Geez... I really hate it when like this. A real martyr without a cause.' Ymir trudged through the snow a little faster, catching up with Historia. "So tell me, what's the big plan?"
Historia grunted and pulled Daz's makeshift stretcher through a snowdrift. "Get to... camp."
Ymir ground her teeth. "Just give it up Christa. Daz is already going to die, and he'll take us with him if we don't get to camp now."
"I won't..." Historia planted her feet and heaved Daz forward. "I won't give up. Never."
For several minutes, Historia and Ymir trudged through the snow. Ymir knew that Historia had little intent to ask her for help, despite the fact that she was A) physically stronger, B) right there, and C) not tired out yet. Historia had exactly one goal tonight: die a heroic and stupid death.
"Hey, what are you still doing here?" Historia looked over her shoulder at Ymir. "It's dangerous if you stay out here. You should go ahead."
Ymir resisted the urge to verbally lash out at Historia. Historia was a proud girl who was terrified of losing what little love she had. A person who wanted to die happy and knowing that she'd be remembered lovingly. Historia needed a warm hearth, close friends, and the quiet but continuous support that she deserved for all the Hell she'd been through.
Christa needed a boot in the ass. Rod Reiss needed to die in a fire, preferably not from smoke inhalation. Ymir thought about that for a moment and decided to follow through with that later on. "You know H...Christa, I've been thinking about something. Between the two of us, I'm the stronger one. If you're so intent on saving Daz, then why not ask me?"
Historia stopped walking. Ymir walked up next to her. "Christa, why are you doing this? Why are you trying to make everyone think you're a martyr? That you'd literally die for them."
"I... I'm not-"
"Bull," Ymir growled. "You're scared. You're scared that if people get involved with you, that when they die everyone will blame you."
Historia recoiled as of she had been struck. Ymir fought down bile herself. She may have well slapped Historia. The Princess in disguise choked on her words in shock. "You're, you're wrong. I would nev-"
Ymir set her hands gently on Historia's shoulders. "Christa, a girl like you shouldn't suffer like that. You should have never been forced to be who you were born to be."
"...What?"
"Back before I joined the Cadet Corps, when I was begging for money to live off of, I overheard two men from the Wall Cult talking about a girl. An illegitimate child of one of the nobles. I heard that she'd been forced to renounce her name and join the cadets to hide herself." Ymir looked Historia dead in the eye, her anger gone, replaced by quiet pain. "They even knew her name. And I do too."
Historia stood there, lost for words, terrified and quivering, either from the cold or from her fear. Ymir set her arms on Historia's shoulders. "When I first joined the cadet corps, I did it so I could find you. Because you and I... are alike."
Historia's face seemed to light up, her fear edging away. "You... you're like me?"
Ymir gulped, and lied. "Yes. I am like you. When I came here, I wanted a fresh start. I wanted to do better. But... I don't know if I can."
All of the loopers had been cursed, somehow. Some of them had died in their early loops. Some had been tortured with seeing everything the had strived for be destroyed. Ymir's curse though, was to be adrift, unable to even loop. Every loop, every iota of her history changed. Armin had said it before, and Ymir would say it again. No consistency, no patterns... and a lot of bad luck. "I can't start over... I can't grow, because I don't know who I was. I'm living in a nightmare."
Historia's hand was an electric shock to Ymir's system. The thief of the power of Titans recoiled from Historia. "What are you doing Historia?" Ymir clapped her had over her mouth as her name emerged.
Historia, however, didn't seem to notice. "Ymir... you... It's not your fault. Why do you think that?"
Ymir stepped away from Historia, and trudged through the snow. Emerging from the forest, Ymir found herself standing on a high cliff. In the distance, not too far from the base of the cliff, was the training camp. If they could survive the fall, they could be back in camp in thirty minutes. "Chris... fuck it, Historia, come over here."
Historia came up behind Ymir and gasped as she saw Ymir standing on the precipice. "Ymir, don't jump. You have so much to live for!"
Ymir stared sardonically at Historia. "Hi pot, I'm kettle." Ymir gestured Historia to the edge. "How high do you think this drop is? One hundred meters? One fifty?"
Historia gulped. "It's... It's too far. You couldn't survive it. No one could."
Her breath steaming, Ymir chuckled. "Why don't you jump, and find out? Or maybe all three of us could jump, and I could show you my secret?"
Historia stared into the swirling snow, the long drop into darkness hammering against her sense. "No one could survive that..."
Ymir stepped back from the cliff and wrapped her arms under Daz. She marched back to Historia's side. "Only one way to find out. So tell me Historia: are you willing to trust someone?"
Historia stared at the abyss. "Are you... are you really ready to kill yourself?"
"Nope." And Ymir stepped off the edge.
In the swirling darkness, Ymir hurtled towards the ground, counting down mentally. At five, she brought her hand to her mouth, and bit down. Orange lightning crawled over her skin, muscles and tendons and bones growing from her body. By the time Ymir had fully encapsulated herself in her Titan's body, she was barely ten meters above the ground. Her body, still furiously hot from the accelerated metabolism, slammed into the soft snow, flash boiling the flakes and shrouding her in steam.
'Control...'
Ymir bit her tongue. "Urk..."
Her mind was assaulted, force slamming against her. The ferocity of her Titan struggled against her, for a second. Ymir didn't loop: her Titan did.
At that moment, a force arose within her mind, shielding her from the madness and memories. Ymir felt power course through her. She could feel... Blaine. The AI installed within her Titan, fighting against the looping monster, safeguarding her.
Slowly, Ymir's consciousness retook control of the Dancing Titan. Ymir opened her eyes and pulled against the tendons and nerves binding her to the Dancing Titan, crawling from it's grasp, and looked up. She waited in the slowly diminishing warmth, but no, Historia did not follow her. Ymir didn't blame her, no matter how much it hurt.
In the Titan's hands, clutched protectively, Daz snored in the warmth. Ymir grumbled, heaved Daz over her shoulder, and began the long trudge to camp.
Thirty minutes after she returned, the rescue team that Shadis had sent out for Historia returned, the girl nearly running to Ymir. "How... how did you survive the fall?"
Ymir smiled, her false grin recognized only by the secret love of her life. "Soft snow."
11.14 Crossoverpairinglover
Armin had a goose locked up in a cage.
The cage appeared to be made up of an Adamantium-Cybertronium Alloy that probably could resist being sat on by the Armored Titan.
Hundreds of lasers were pointed at the cage.
Behind those lasers were dozens of cannons.
Several walls of highly unbreakable glass were behind those cannons.
Armin himself was eyeing the goose nervously.
That was what Jean walked into, and thus warranting the question of, "Armin, what the hell is going on here?"
Armin gave him a haunted look. "The Goose is the Big Bad Jean. The Goose".
Obviously, Armin had finally lost it...but then he looked at the Goose.
The Goose looked at him.
Jean shivered at the horrible, horrible look the Goose gave him.
11.15
Hange adjusted the last of the stress sensors and gave Jean a thumbs up. "We are go for testing. Just make sure you don't rip an arm off."
Jean, having been stuffed into a hybrid of Human Supression 3DMG and Titan Combat 3DMG, lightly cocked an eyebrow. "I could lose an arm."
"Yep," Hange confirmed.
Jean groaned. "Why am I doing this again?"
"Because Levi's said no, Mikasa's practicing her swordsmanship, Hannes isn't Awake-"
"And I'm here to monitor the stress sensors," Armin finished. "You're our best option, since you're the most experienced here."
Jean pointed at Eren, who was watching from a safe distance. "Let me guess: Eren's here in case I lose an arm?"
"More or less," Hange, Armin and Eren all said. Jean groaned.
Hange bolted from the area. "Alright Jeanny boy. Show us what you're capable of!"
'I don't like where this is going...' Jean thought. Regardless, he had to do something, so with his hesitance in mind, Jean pulled the triggers to his hybridized ODM gear.
A cable l sh ou! a6d33 en en en-
The loop crashed.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Elen shouted. "Seriously, what did we do wrong? It was just an ODM test."
Jean's head was hanging in sorrow and embarrassment. "I can't believe we're in Eiken for this."
"I can't believe my ODM hybrid was enough to crash the loop," Hanji interjected. "I mean, how could this even happen? Our loop... should be stable enough?"
Arwin grumbled something inaudible, but the glances that Arwin got spurned the strategist to speak. "Well, our loop is... or at least we thought was, highly unstable. It used to be that any action we took that could disrupt the timeline majorly would cause a loop crash. Holding off Zhiganshina's fall, inventing electricity, killing the Titan Shifters, eradicating polio: back then, anything could crash the loop. After a while though, Hannes started looping, and things settled down a little."
Arwin grinned sheepishly. "I honestly thought that was behind us."
The quartet quietly meandered towards Eiken High School in varying degrees of silence and embarrassment. Finally, Elen piped up. "So... where's Mikasa. I mean, if we're all here, then Mikasa-"
At that moment, a boy ran full tilt into Elen. "Oh crap. I'm sorry, I'm-" The clearly asiatic boy stopped as he recognized the person he had run into. "...Eren?"
"Mikasa," Elen guessed. For a moment, they sat there, Mikasa straddling Elen. "Mikasa, could you please take your hands off my breasts?"
Mikasa gulped and stood up, blushing intently. "I'm... I'm sorry Eren."
"Elen," she corrected. "Your name change as well?"
"Mikamaru," he said. Mikamaru looked at Jean, Hanji, and Arwin, all sporting improbably large breasts and all women. "This loop is hell, isn't it?"
"It could be worse," Arwin reminded him.
Mikamaru thought it over, and then smiled. "You know what, you're right Armin. I could be the one with the giant breasts." Mikamaru smiled broadly. "Being a guy does have it's perks."
Elen gave Mikasa a visual once over, before chuckling lightly. "Mika-San, you've forgotten the one issue with being the boy."
Mikamaru cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
Elen stepped to the side, revealing several dozen girls staring at Mikasa. "You're the one with the harem!"
For a moment, all four loopers who were not Eren stared at the girls staring at Mikamaru. Mika summed it up best. "Oh fuck me..."
"Yes!" several women shouted.
11.16
Inside of The Carla's medical bay, Hanji hefted the giant executioners axe over a tied down and almost topless Mikasa. "Alright sweety. This won't hurt a bit." Hanji swung the axe back over her head...
And then Armin walked into the room. Armin took one look at his surrogate sister, strapped to a gurney wearing shorts and a sarashi, and at the mad scientist currently ready to bisect said sister. Armin glared at Hanji. "What are you doing?"
Hanji gaped at first, then her eyes rolled back in their sockets, her skin turned paste white, her glasses cracked, and she pitched backwards and fainted. Armin clicked his tongue at the suitably terrified Hanji, and looked at Mikasa. "Would you mind telling me what's happening?"
Mikasa nodded down at her abs. "You ever hear the phrase 'rock hard abs'? We're testing the metaphor."
Armin raised an eyebrow and chuckled in bemusement. "So that's what's happening. Anyway I can help?"
Mikasa gestured with her head at the unconscious Hanji. "That axe has a dynamometer. Would you mind striking my abdominals with it?"
"I wouldn't mind at all," Armin said. Stepping around Mikasa's gurney, he pulled the axe from Hanji's unconscious grip. With a flourish, Armin hefted the axe over his head and brought it down on Mikasa's abdomen, striking dead center between two muscle groups.
The axe head cracked in two. Mikasa's abs were unmarked.
For a moment, Armin and Mikasa stared at the ruined axe. "Well... there goes that axe."
11.17
Inside a forest within Wall Rose, Sasha smiled at Marco. "Hey, your ghost powers let you possess people right?"
Marco flipped down from the tree he had been climbing and nodded. "Yeah. Why?"
"Can you possess inanimate objects?"
Marco pursed his lips. "I don't... think so."
Sasha pulled a broom from her pocket and tossed it at Marco. "Can you make that look like it's moving on it's own?"
Marco turned invisible, and swung the broom around. If you couldn't see ghosts, then it would have looked like the broom was moving of it's own accord. "Well, I'm a poltergeist now. Oh..." Marco faded back into the visible spectrum. "You want to prank somebody, right?"
Sasha giggled. "Invisible, and a mind reader. You're perfect for this."
Several days later, Levi was cleaning a room when suddenly...
"NOTICE ME SENPAI!" a broom appeared in front of him and screamed at him.
Levi leapt into the air, dissolved into a swarm of bats, and shot across the room. "WHAT THE HELL!"
The broom collapsed. Levi growled and looked around. "Alright, who the fuck did that?"
In the broom closet, Sasha and Marco suppressed snickers. Sasha handed Marco a box of detergent and softener. "Let's see how he likes that."
In the next room, Levi took exactly one look at the detergent and softener that were dueling for his affections, and decided to go on a long vacation to the Netherlands. He was done with this shit.
As he flew off, both Marco and Sasha sighed. Messing with Levi was so much fun! But now he was gone...
Who would they mess with next?
11.18
There was an advantage to being a stealth looper. You didn't need to worry about coming up with original jokes, so long as your audience had never heard them before.
Keith Shadis shouted at Jean. "WHAT ARE YOU, A MAN OR A MOUSE?"
Jean neighed at Shadis.
11.19
The pub was a rundown shack filled with too many cobwebs and not enough beer. The floors creaked for no reason, the barstools wouldn't wobble until you sat on them, and the less said about the rats, the better.
Hence why a man with a scraggly beard, orange glasses that needed constant adjustment, and the title of "Most Despised Looper" was sitting at the bar, drinking the piss poor beer and moping. Every few minutes his tankard was drained and he would call for another one. Every now and again the calls for more beer carried the additional call for some food to dilute the alcohol. Sometimes he even asked for a cup of milk.
It was late into the night, or perhaps just into the morning, when the man was granted a companion at the bar; a sober looking woman with obviously too much on her shoulders, and not enough beer in her belly. As was his custom, the man remained silent, continuing his mission to empty the bar of its beer supply. His crusade against the pub's beer barrels soon gained a new ally as the woman ordered her own tankard of strong ale.
The man returned to his plate and tankard and did not resurface for several minutes, consuming the alcoholic beverage with a passion that either hinted at a severe pain in his recent past, or a severe hatred for his liver. As the tankard emptied again, he called for another, and began the cycle again. The waiter fetched a fresh tankard and filled it with the frothy beverage and set it in front of the man, who began to drink it almost immediately.
It was as the man had finished his plate of food that he noticed that the woman who had arrived had consumed a near equal portion of beer, but had forgone the food. Sensing her immediate future as being one that ended with her in a ditch, and sufficiently drunk enough to escape his inhibitions for a moment, he spoke to her. "Glurrrhh."
The woman dutifully ignored the obviously drunk man and went back to drinking her beer. The man winced and accelerated his metabolism, burning the alcohol from his system with a ferocity typically reserved for Barry Allen. "A woman drink like that, and she don't eat, she is going to die."
The woman rolled her eyes behind her drink. "Sure thing sheriff. Like that'll matter."
The man gulped down his own drink. "I figured it was a good reference. Seemed applicable."
"It only works if your name is Bart, or you're a sheriff," the woman said. After a moment though, her face softened a little bit. "Oh what the hell, it was a great movie anyway. You like Mel Brooks?"
"He always gets the best worlds to film. I actually met Bart and Jim once... they nearly shot me." The man gulped down some more beer. "I ran away, and then they shot me in the ass."
"Tough luck." The woman stated. Her tankard reached her lips, but for some reason she didn't drink. After a moment she set her beer down and gave her drinking buddy a long, hard appraisal. "You... I know you. I just know I know you."
The man looked at the woman head on, assessing her himself. Her face was surprisingly soft, with only a few lines from age. She had wide, dark brown eyes, almost chestnut in color. Her black hair was frayed and splitting at the ends, and tied in a plait that fell on to her shoulder. In short, she was a face in the crowd, indistinguishable from many other people.
It irked the man.
The woman suddenly snapped her fingers as her mind fell on the answer. "Van Hohenheim, Edward Elric's father."
The man allowed a moment to pass before he lost control of his expression, his face crinkling into a grin for just a second before being shoved back down. "Close, but no cigar. In a matter of fact, myself and Van Hohenheim were thinking about starting a band with another guy once he started looping. We figured we would call it the "Aloof Dads", or something."
The woman allowed a smile to slip slyly on to her face. "Really now? Well I guess you'll need all the time you can get, because you need to work on that name."
The man shrugged. "We tried, didn't we?"
The smile faded, almost coming apart as the memories the woman carried reasserted themselves. "Yeah... I guess you did. My husband would have loved to be a part of your band. He's as aloof as this loop gets."
The man cocked an eyebrow. "What's he like?" The though suddenly entered his kind that he may have just asked the absolutely most wrong question. "Ack. I'm sorry, you don't need to answer that."
The woman drank her beer. "My husband left a few weeks ago... and he never comes back. He just leaves me and his children behind. I don't know why he does it."
The man drank his beer. The woman drank her beer. For a few minutes, neither spoke.
"My wife... left me. I don't know why she did it. Apparently, she thought it would be for the greater good, but it isn't: her plan failed, because I messed it up trying to reunite us. And countless people paid the price for my arrogance. At the end of it all, she left me to die. Didn't even attempt to save me. It all came down to our son... and I'm not sure who I would have chosen if it had been me in her position."
"I would do anything for my son. Wouldn't you?"
"...once I wouldn't have been able to answer that. Now I can."
Neither man nor woman spoke for the rest of their time in the bar. They said, ate, and drank until finally, they were full. They paid in full, even tipped generously, and the waiter smiled as the two who had just paid a full week's worth of coin in a single night left, adding in a heartfelt, "come again soon."
The duo stopped in front of the door, looks of indescribable thought formed on their faces. Finally, the woman spoke. "Just so you know, I believe I've guessed your identity. And I want you to know that I don't care about what you did before you began looping. I wasn't around to deal with it, and meeting you here... It's probably for the best."
The man nodded. "If I may admit something to you, you're the first person who wasn't a pony who has not attacked me after learning my identity. It's..." The man groped for the right word. "Pleasant, I believe." A slight upturn of the corner of the man's lips slipped passed his facade of stoicism. "But despite all of this, I can't quite say with honesty that I know of your identity. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me?"
The woman sighed, but smiled a little. "Carla. My name is Carla Jaeger. These are my local loops."
The man bowed formally, eliciting a laugh from Carla. "Gendo Ikari, of the Eva loops. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine. You're downright famous you know. The "Most Despised Looper That Isn't an MLE". It must be a pretty shitty award, after everything you've been through?"
Gendo raised an eyebrow. "Shinji probably steals the trophy from me then. Doesn't want me getting any ideas."
Carla rolled her eyes. "I guess I should be glad I met you like this. It would have been rather awkward to meet you in your baseline.
"That is true." Gendo admitted solemnly.
For a moment, the widow and widower looked at each other. Carla pointed up the street. "I should probably be off now. My son isn't a big fan of you, and if he catches you talking to me, well... he'll get mad and then he'll hulk out, and then everyone's going to get involved and-"
"It'll be a nightmare," Gendo surmised.
Carla nodded. "Yeah... Well Gendo, may you enjoy your travels. Good bye." Carla turned on her heel, and walked away. After a moment, Gendo nodded to himself, and left in the opposite direction.
Carla and Gendo did not cross paths for the rest of the loop. They decided that they may have been lucky to do so.
A/N: Well, another compilation, some more reactions.
11.1: An introduction to a true rarity: a looping parent!
11.2: Monster Mash!
11.3: Marco truly is a good man.
11.4: A travelling looper rolls through. This originally revealed that Reiner was looping as well.
11.5: Eren, plus something hallucinogenic, equals happiness!
11.6: Ebony causes dementia.
11.7: Just me show casing pairings and friendships between the loopers.
11.8: The irony is that Ganesha is also the Homestuck admin.
11.9: Gargoyles. The Wall cult don't like em.
11.10: Well who doesn't like pizza?
11.11: Mikasa can block things with pure badassery.
11.12: Armor is cool. Can't deny that.
11.13: One of the few times Ymir is alone.
11.14: Evil can be anywhere… especially here.
11.15: Jean did it!
11.16: What did I say about blocking things with Badassery? It's really abs.
11.17: Marco and Sasha: pranking masters!
11.18: And Keith gets in on the jokes as well.
11.19: And welcome Gendo Ikari, meeting a woman who actually doesn't want to kill him or screw him.