Mega Loops 19
AN: The Mega Man: Inside Out chapter has now been updated with denouement, commentary, bonus content, and epilogue!
19.1 (me with an addition by wildrook)
"I have an army!"
"You also have a scheduling conflict."
Loki blinked. "What is that supposed to mean?"
The wall suddenly exploded and there was an elderly balding irate man in a yellow and blue flying saucer glaring at Loki with pure fury.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to book this week for my latest attempt at world conquest?!" the man raged. "That an upstart like you would seek to cut in line before the great Dr. Wily is an insult of the highest order!"
"I am a god, you pitiful mewling mortal!" Loki seethed viciously.
"Then you and your third-rate army will yield fascinating information when I dissect you all for SCIENCE!" the man yelled back. "ROBOT MASTERS: ATTACK!"
'Still hard to believe the guy's not a looper,' Tony mused as events descended into complete chaos.
After the beat-down, Bass smirked at the downed Loki.
"Puny God," he said, the last to leave the room.
Loki gave out a whimper.
19.2 (GammaTron)
"So let me get this straight..." Caboose looked at Axl, who was replacing Tucker this Loop, "You can copy the looks of other robots any time you want?"
"That's the gist of it, yes," Axl noted, "You know, I don't see why..."
"Wa~it for it..." Church and Roll–who was replacing Tex this Loop–held up a finger.
"Huh?" Axl looked at the two.
"So that makes you...a Sugar Robot Lover," Caboose figured out, causing Axl to gasp and gawk, unable to figure out a response.
"There it goes," Church snickered.
"Well, it...it's true," Roll snorted back a laugh, "Y-You...You could make a lot of cash i-if you-hoo-hoo..." she fell over, laughing, "Sugar Robot Lover! Ah-hahahahahaha! Y-You da ho! Heeheeheehee~!"
"It-It's not funny!" Axl snapped, blushing heavily under his black and teal armor, as Roll started kicking the air in laughter.
"Don't let Sister know that you can do that, otherwise she'll be trying to pay you to turn into all kinds of things," Church advised, causing Roll to laugh even harder in the background with Caboose joining in.
"I don't get the joke," Caboose stated the obvious for him.
19.3
"I'm sorry Zero," X told his friend, looking at the all-too familiar sight of the red reploid cradling the inoperative body of his girlfriend Iris.
"Not your fault X," Zero admitted. "You tried your best..."
Colonel angrily brushed off the aid of his soldiers as he stormed into his quarters. Repliforce had been exonerated of all Maverick charges, and the real culprit behind the incidents brought to justice in a joint operation by Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters. It should have been a cause for celebration, but...
He waited until the door slid shut.
"The cost was too high..." he growled, before unleashing his fury on the walls of his own quarters, each heavy blow imprinting a large dent in the thick metal walls.
His sister... The gentle light of mercy to balance out his militaristic nature. The one individual who could rein him in when he started going too far. Because what was a great hero without restraint? Where was the mercy that would stay his hands when the battles were over?
Gone.
Dead.
Because of X.
His eyes hardened. X. The source of everything that had gone wrong with the world in the past decade. The tumor that needed to be cut out of existence for his crimes, intentional or otherwise. Along with all who stood with him.
Part of Colonel realized that his thoughts were those of a Maverick, the very thing he was sworn to fight.
But the half of his soul that cared had already been buried.
19.4
Zero felt a tug on his leg and glanced down to see the familiar form of Alouette.
"Did you want something?" he asked.
"Are you going to marry mommy and be my new daddy?"
Zero's mind and body froze at the question. No matter how many times he encountered variants where Ciel formally adopted the child reploid rather than becoming a surrogate big sister, he would never get used to the way they liked to blindside him with awkwardness.
19.5
"Oh, not you guys," Blues pinched the bridge of his nose as he got a good look at the group that had just shot at him and his team.
"Well, if it isn't the famous Proto Dunce and his team of Dumb-files!" a sleazy voice called back. "Been a while, hasn't it? We haven't thrown down with you since the Eggman-Wily war!"
"Who are these guys?" Jolyne asked. "And why are they working with President Valentine?"
"Nack the Weasel and his partners Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite Duck," Blues replied. "They call themselves the Hooligans."
"Hey, Valentine pays well, and he likes our slogan!" Nack smirked back at the Exiles. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!"
19.6
Zero stared down the grinning figure of Fighting Fefnir, the crimson reploid hefting his twin jawed hand cannons (literally), Sodom and Gomorrah as he stared straight back.
"You're as good as the legends say you are, Zero," Fefnir admitted. "But I'm no ordinary reploid who relies on a single class of ability. I've studied the ancient and honored art of heroes older even than yourself."
'Oh, maker. X, what did you tell them this time?' Zero wondered as he braced himself for anything.
"You," Fefnir declared as he aimed one of his jawed hand cannons at Zero, the weapon opening its jaws and reconfiguring itself into something Zero couldn't immediately identify, "are looking at Neo Arcadia's modern master of JAN! KEN! POW!"
Zero raised his Z-saber high to defend against the sudden barrage of... office paper?
Had he been closer to the source of the blast, the sheer volume might have knocked him off his feet, but as it was it was merely obscuring his vis–
Zero dropped to the ground before a giant pair of shears that the storm of paper had obscured could make him about two feet shorter, and rolled to the side out of the way of a sizable boulder that followed.
'Rock, paper, scissors... Cute... Real cute...'
19.7
Blues blinked as he Awoke in Light Labs and looked around.
It looked...
It looked exactly like he'd remembered leaving it so very, very long ago in the baseline. Except a little more up-to-date. A little more lived-in.
The Loop memories hit and Blues realized that in this timeline he'd never had a faulty power core. Never gone through the events that led to him running away. There had been some strain in the initial testing that had led to the military ordering the usual less-advanced Joe units but...
There had never been a falling out between him and his father.
"Blues, could you come here for a moment?" Dr. Light called from another room.
He's going to–
The red raider shook off the dark thought and spent a few moments pondering the request versus taking off until his curiosity got the better of him. No matter what his usual problems with the man were, they'd never happened here. He could keep himself under control for at least one Loop. Long enough to see where this went.
He walked to another room where Dr. Light was waiting next to another robot connected to a diagnostic testing machine awaiting activation. A female model similar to Roll, but... with black hair and a black-and-blue dress that could have come straight out of the 1920s Swing era.
"This is Rhythm, son," Dr. Light explained. "She's your sister unit. I built her to help out more around the lab. Particularly with..." Dr. Light patted his stomach, which had grown larger since Blues had come online, "...my eating habits. I appreciate your help on the matter, son, but I really should be having a more balanced diet and you were never intended as a nutritionist. And we both know I'd try to live on instant ramen and takeout if left to my own devices and Albert's not any better. Anyway, with her assisting you, Dr. Wily and I can begin in earnest with the industrial line of Robot Masters..."
Dr. Light continued explaining, but Blues's mind had wandered off to a different area of thought. Was this what would have happened if he'd never left? Would Rock and Roll have never been built? Or was this just a strange variant where his father had simply gone in a different direction prior to their construction? And what would it mean for the Loop if–
Dr. Light flipped the switch to activate Rhythm and th3-L00|o=[R $43|)...
19.8 (OathToOblivion - Admin Shenanigans)
It was rare for Hephaestus to step out of his office these days. Looking after the Megaverse was a full-time task, after all. But even so, sometimes you just needed to get out and stroll.
...Okay, he was hungry, that was all. As he stepped into the Admin cafeteria, he noticed that it seemed a bit frosty today. Not literally, though. Last time that had happened, dearest dad had had a conniption, although that might have been because his porn was frozen then shattered.
No, it was readily evident that the reason was the lone girl in pink, eating alone at one of the tables as almost everyone ignored her. Hephaestus sighed. This again, huh?
Picking up his lunch, he immediately went over to where the girl was. "Hello, Madoka," he grunted, plopping himself into a seat.
Kaname Madoka, for it was she, started as she saw that somebody had sat with her. "Oh! Hello, Sensei," she greeted sullenly.
Hephaestus swept a hand out at the crowd of other Admins in the room. "They still have problems with you, I see. You shouldn't let them get to you like that."
"But it was my fault what happened. I didn't even mean to, but I did," Madoka whispered.
The Greek Inventor shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. If anything, it was the fault of your Loop's original Admin for not patching that Karmic Destiny thing properly," he pointed out.
'...Actually, come to think of it, who was her Admin?'
"Yo, Hephaestus!" a voice rang out. Turning, Hephaestus and Madoka both saw Hermes speed up and plop down into a seat with his own lunch.
"Hermes. How have you been?" Hephaestus asked.
"Eh, well enough. Heard you got X and Zero off the ground recently. Synchari̱tí̱ria, and all that! That also helped me pull some lost code out of the ether for Sonic and his crew. They've got a whole other major Variant to play with now!" the Winged Messenger announced.
"Another? How many does that Branch even have?" Hephaestus asked incredulously.
Hermes shrugged. "Honestly, too many. Even with baseline restored, they still get way too many Variants and Fused Loops than normal. I've been meaning to find a way to fix it, but..." he shrugged again in a "what are you going to do?" manner.
Hephaestus frowned. "Let me take a look at it next time I have a moment, you might have missed something."
"Um, excuse me," Madoka bowed, before getting up to go get more food. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hephaestus asked the question that had been on his mind lately.
"By the way, Hermes, you wouldn't happen to know who Madoka's Admin was, do you?"
Hermes blinked, before growing serious. "No, actually. Most of the others give her grief, but quite honestly it was that idiot's fault for letting the bunny-cat's system even give her enough energy to Ascend."
"And yet, we haven't heard anything about them being punished. Strange, don't you think?" the Greek God of the Forge pointed out.
Hermes frowned. "You think they skipped out? In the middle of this crisis?"
"It's only a theory, but..."
"But it's really likely," Hermes finished, knowing where the train of thought led. He looked around surreptitiously, before leaning in closer. "All right, I'll look into it. Won't even charge you for it, since this is serious business. Whoever it was skipped out while everyone's backs were turned. Even if it was with the best of intentions, we have an AWOL Admin, and that's a big no-no, these days."
"I appreciate it, brother."
19.9
"Zero?" X wondered. "Is something wrong?"
Zero stared out over the central atrium of Hunter HQ, staying silent for several minutes.
"I... kind of thought you'd be happy Iris was alive this Loop," X continued.
"I am," Zero sighed. "It's just... has she seemed kind of... off lately?"
"She's probably in mourning," X said, reminding Zero that even if Iris had lived this Loop, her brother Colonel hadn't.
"Yeah..." Zero admitted.
Iris smiled at the other navigators as she returned to her duties. They said that it was a miracle that she'd survived the incident at all. That her systems were not meant to handle the full original program matrix, the one that had needed to be split to become her and Colonel. They gushed over how romantic it was that her life was saved by Zero, her love. They offered condolences over the death of her brother.
What did they know? Did they know the emptiness inherent in the absence of a connection so innate its very existence hadn't been noted until it was gone? Did they know the pain of trying to reach across that connection for a comforting presence that should have been there, only to find a void? Did they know the suffering of losing the other half of their own soul?
Did they know what it was like to look upon that love they gushed over and judge him responsible?
How many of them realized that her smile was false? How many of them guessed that her drive had died with her brother? Did any of them even suspect?
"Hello, dear sister..."
"Who *sniff*? Who's there? Colonel? Is...*sob*... is that you?"
"No, dear sister... Not Colonel... Not Colonel at all..."
"Why...?"
"I do apologize... I hadn't realized Dr. Cain had made more reploids... Your dear big brother Sigma would have gotten in touch much sooner if he had...!"
And could any of them comprehend what had taken its place?
19.10 (me, with add-on by Hubris Plus)
Lex Luthor laughed as he stood over the defeated Justice League in his latest battle suit. It had taken months of planning, but he'd found all of their weaknesses and exploited them masterfully.
The kryptonian went down first, inflicted with a bioengineered kryptonite-infused bacteria Luthor had developed and was on his deathbed last he'd heard. The speedster had been a bit trickier, but after figuring out how to block his connection to the Speed Force, the 'fastest man alive' became no more threat than an ordinary man. The so-called Green Lantern had been far simpler once Lex had learned that his powers required concentration. A simple psychotropic and his own teammates had turned on him to prevent his fight against non-existent demons from destroying the city. The martian only needed fire to counteract, but Lex had gone the extra mile to get a hold of some rather nasty new invention that had left the alien in critical condition. The most difficult had been the amazon, and he'd needed to delve into the occult to find something appropriate, but there were plenty of beings with ancient grudges against the Greek Gods she followed that had been happy to offer their services. After that, using an experimental weapon to dangerously dehydrate the king of Atlantis had just been showing off.
As for the dark knight? A simple computer virus had just rendered everything actually dangerous in the man's arsenal more of a threat to him than to Luthor himself. As a bonus, it had also taken down the latest member of the League entirely.
"Seriously?" a voice he hadn't expected to still be capable of speaking interrupted Luthor's moment of triumph. He whipped around to see the blue-armored robot, the 'Mega Man', not only not incapacitated by his virus, but seemingly unaffected at all. "I'm a freaking robot. The virus thing is, like, the third most common attack people use on me. Right after shooting and electromagnetic pulses. Did you honestly think I wouldn't have a decent firewall in place?"
Lex blinked. He thought he'd accounted for any potential firewall...
"You did, didn't you?" the blue robot slapped his face with his hand. "Lex Luthor thinks he's the most brilliant man in the world. Like I don't hear that all the time. Seriously, I'm thinking of listing 'fights despotic egotistical geniuses' as my hobby. Admins know I don't have all that much time for anything else."
Luthor scowled. Time for plan B. He used the neural interface to activate the tactical EMP burst, and blinked again when the robot remained unaffected.
"Yes, the EMP," the robot sighed with rather well-emulated exasperation in Luthor's opinion. "Been there, done that, dad won't let me out of the house without several layers of shielding since the Ra Moon incident."
Luthor's scowl deepened and he readied his energy weapons. There was always the old-fashioned way and he'd designed this armor to match the kryptonian.
"And now the shooting," the robot sighed again as he almost casually sidestepped each shot. "Honestly, I'm tired of this. Mirror Buster."
Luthor's gauntlet-mounted energy weapons were suddenly destroyed by his own reflected energy blasts.
"I suppose I should be thankful everyone forgets how dangerous I really am," the robot continued as he met Luthor's chest-mounted laser with some manner of flash grenade that blinded the armored human. "Frankly, I don't like violence in general, I like hurting others even less, and for all the fighting I end up doing I still consider myself a pacifist."
Luthor growled and made to charge, only to find that his boots were stuck to the ground with some sort of industrial-grade adhesive. As he began straining to free himself, the robot continued speaking.
"But the fact is," the robot glared at Luthor, "I am dangerous, I am strong, and when people like you decide to use force for your own selfish ends without regard for the rights and safety of others, I will respond in kind."
Luthor tore his boots free and used his jets to propel himself forward as he threw the mightiest punch he could manage. The robot sidestepped the first pass, but Luthor felt the tell-tale bump of a clipped impact. Ignoring the warning his armor flashed that an unauthorized source had scanned his systems he doubled back for another attempt and increased his speed. This time Luthor struck head-on, except that instead of obliterating the azure upstart like he'd expected, he found his charge swiftly grinding to a halt, the robot's metal feet digging deep furrows in the street, as the robot caught the punch in one hand.
'Impossible!' Luthor's mind balked at the event. 'My armor halted by the invention of some third-rate crackpot less than half its size?!'
"I'm the Mega Man," The robot glared as his hand flexed enough to buckle the armor on Luthor's gauntlet, forcing the man to stifle a cry of pain as the pressure stopped just short of crushing his hand. "And you're just another name on a long list."
"Is is just me, or do all of the boyscouts get this scary when you wind them up?" Flash asked, following the arc of Lex's powersuit as it tumbled out of the city limits and plowed a furrow through the earth.
"I told you to beware the nice ones," Batman noted dryly.
19.11) (masterofgames)
The warp pad in Doctor Light's lab lit up as Rock rematerialized. The moment it had finished, he started running full pelt to the workshop area, ripping off his helmet and tossing it aside. "Dad! Is Roll okay? Please, tell me her IC chip is intact!" he pleaded as he burst through the door.
"Well, I have good news, bad news, and interesting news." Doctor Light sighed, placing a hand on Rock's shoulder comfortingly. "The good news is, her chip is fine." Doctor Light couldn't help but smile slightly at the look of relief on Rock's face. "The BAD news is, her body was so badly damaged, that it's a total write off."
Rock slumped in depression. "But... you can rebuild her, right?" he asked hopefully.
"Well, that's the interesting bit. I don't have to, because she asked me not to."
"...Pardon?"
"When you first got your combat parts, Roll was so worried about you that she started trying to design a combat chassis of her own. It... wasn't very good, to put it bluntly." Doctor Light explained, typing away while he spoke, directing a few robotic arms to place Roll's chip in a slot in a sealed capsule in the center of the room. "When I saw it, I knew that wasn't going to stop her from using it to help you, so I made her promise to stop developing it, on the condition that she let me design a more reliable one for her." He continued as the capsule started powering up. "She agreed, so long as she got to name it. I did inform her that it was misspelled, but she she insisted it was needed for the acronym." he shrugged. "Anyhow, she made me promise that if anything happened, that I would use the project as her new body, be it to restore her, or save you."
With a few rapid beeps and a blink of a large green light on the door, the capsule slowly slid open, releasing a cloud of coolant vapor. "She really looks up to you, you know. She insisted on the color scheme." he grinned as Roll emerged in her new body. A little over a foot taller than Rock, long blue hair, wearing blue and white armor with combat heels, far more adult looking than her old childish body, and holding a chain gun nearly as large as she was in each hand, she stepped up to stand before them with a knowing smirk. "Rock, allow me to present the Kombat Operation System - Multiple Ordinance Support unit."
Rock just groaned and palmed his face. "KOS-MOS... great. And this was going to be such a quiet loop..."
19.12
X and Zero were in an intense debate about what to do regarding Sigma when they both Awoke, blinked as Loop memories set in, and looked themselves over.
"X..." Zero broke the silence first, "why are we lions?"
"Well," X began, "I suppose it has to do with the divergent evolutionary history of this particular Loop leading to a sapient felinoid population as the dominant species, which in turn caused said species to develop its robots with matching body types and basic capabilities, leading to–"
"I'm going to choose to take that as 'I don't know' and change the subject."
19.13
The room blinked as the respawned fighters stumbled back in.
"A double KO? But... The Hub...?"
"Well..." Rock rubbed his head sheepishly, "I may have cheated a bit and saved one last Black Hole Bomb just for that last exchange."
"You also went heavy on the sonic attacks..." Astro Boy pounded his ears like he was trying to regain function in them. "Seriously... Ow..."
"I also like to do my research when I can," Rock shrugged. "Something like 'ridiculously enhanced auditory receptors' was begging to see if you had equal dampening capabilities."
"You made my butt-guns backfire," Astro Boy accused.
"You were just surprised that I countered with quick-drying concrete rather than staring at them in stupefaction," Rock smirked. "Like I said, I did my research. Come on, Astro, Hub lore says I was based on you. Did you think I wouldn't look you up when I had the chance?"
"Yeah... but... I'm so much stronger and faster than you are!"
"And, what? You think that makes you unique? Astro..." Rock laughed and slung an arm over his fellow robot hero's shoulders. "Practically every serious foe I've ever faced has been stronger than me, or faster, or more powerful, or all of the above. From the average robot master, to mechanical eldritch abominations, to universal class doomsday weapons. And it's never been about how strong I am. It's always been about how I use the tools I've been given."
"Huh...? Aw... nuts... Those guys in the Hub made the match more like one of my fights..." Astro realized.
"And I decided for the Loop match to make it more like one of mine," Rock grinned.
"Still... how'd you know I'd charge straight into that Black Hole Bomb you saved up at the end?"
"Astro..." Rock shook his head. "I hate to say this, but you are such a Shonen hero sometimes..."
19.14
A very female X, looking for all the world like an adult Roll rather than an adult Rock, tried to keep as straight a face as possible as she watched her red-faced friend retreat from the armory.
"Not one word out of you, X..." Zero grumbled.
"Now, Zero, you know I have to ask why you were going into the ladies armory," X surrendered her face to the assaulting grin. "As commander of the Hunters, I do need to be sure there's nothing illicit going on."
"You try going fifty Loops straight as the opposite gender!" Zero growled out. "See how many of your habits get scrambled!"
"Fif..." X did some calculations in her head. "You were female during the perversion virus outbreak? Huh... You really don't look that different in your armor, you know that?"
"Please stop reminding me about that Loop..."
"Anyway," X shrugged, "if you want me to know how it feels I could talk to my older sister next time we have a Loop together and set something up."
"What does Roll have to do with you being a girl?" Zero blinked, his blush receding in confusion.
"Apparently everything," X admitted. "Every time I've been female, Mega Woman has been considered history's greatest hero rather than Mega Man."
Zero sighed. "As opposed to my creator who probably flips a coin as often as not..."
19.15
Zero had to wonder if Yggdrasil hated him sometimes. He was in the middle of a strange fused loop with Rock and Roll's era where he was the human son of Dr. Wily, and even worse, it was some stupid Harem Variant. Iris was the tsundere childhood friend, Layer was the stoic "big sis" figure, Ciel was the shy, book-smart one, Leviathan was the tomboy, and X was the gay choice.
Thank Hephaestus that the latter was Awake.
Currently, the six were all at the local pool. Zero was trying to stay out of the girls' way, which led X to try and speak with his friend.
"Hey, you okay?" X asked.
"Oh sure, I'm fine. Never mind the fact that my girlfriend along with most of the other girls I've interacted with in baseline are obsessively trying to get my attention, and are all willing to hurt me whenever I do even the least implicating thing possible, oh no, I'm just fine."
"Are you still mad about the washing machine?"
Zero glared at his friend, "NEVER. Mention. The. Washing. Machine."
X simply raised his hands in defense, "Don't get mad at me. You usually don't let loops get to you this much."
Zero sighed. "I know. It's just..." he paused, "why does this happen to me? I keep getting transformed, or I get hurt or insulted or embarrassed. It's like Yggdrasil is using me as a punching bag. And this loop, I get Iris, but she's nothing like her baseline self."
X shrugged, "That's not true. She's still really protective of her brother."
"Not the point. Maybe I'll just go hide elsewhere for this loop."
"That doesn't sound like you, Zero. You're not someone who would let the world bring you down like this. Besides, who said you needed to play along with the loop? Try and make the girls understand that you want to be friends or something."
Zero raised his head. "Yeah. You're right. You hear that, tree? I will not be your b***h today!"
Yggdrasil took offence.
Zero then walked off towards the girls unaware of the fact that he stepped on a full water bottle. The water bottle then burst, sending its cap flying. Bouncing around the pool, somehow not losing momentum at all, it finally slammed into a nearby cup that was holding chopsticks for some reason. While most of the sticks simply fell, four of them shot towards the four girls.
Zero, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen, called for the girls. The four turned towards him, just as the sticks proceeded to pierce the backs of their swimsuits.
Zero couldn't bring himself to look away, as the four bikini tops fell in unison. The girls, upon realizing what had happened, immediately covered themselves to retain some modicum of modesty.
Zero panicked, immediately saying that it wasn't his fault, which only served to remind the girls that he had a full-frontal view. Flames surrounded the enraged girls, each pulling out a weapon of choice. Leviathan pulled a harpoon, Layer had a frying pan, Ciel had a wrench and Iris had an electrified mace. Together, the embarrassed girls came down on him with cries of "PERVERT!"
"Oh dear," was all X was able to say.
Rock and Roll were currently relaxing in the lab of their home.
"How do you think X and Zero are doing?" asked Roll.
Before Rock could respond, an earsplitting scream spooked him, one that sounded a lot like Zero.
"That can't be good," said Rock.
19.16
Clark Kent smiled to himself as he walked into the Daily Planet. It was a new year, full of new possibilities and–
"Hey, Smallville," Lois Lane smirked as she sashayed up holding that morning's edition. "See the headline yet? Superman stopped the Toyman from wreaking havoc in New York last night."
"Really?" Clark did his best to feign ignorance. Regardless of who knew his secret identity, it was good to keep in practice. "I hadn't heard about that. I turned in early last night."
"Sure you did," Lois gave Clark a knowing gaze and thrust the paper into his hands. "Feel free to read that and kill a few minutes before Perry gives us our assignments.
Chuckling, Clark walked over to his desk to do exactly that, and nearly did a spit-take when a particular fact about the paper caught his eye. It could have been easily missed by anyone, including him, if they hadn't been paying attention but his eyes had just happened to land there.
"Lois?" he called after his girlfriend. "Why does the date on the paper say 'Wilyday, January first'?"
"Uh, because it's the first of Janu–" Lois stopped suddenly. "Did you say 'Wilyday'? As in Dr. Wily, the mad scientist who's always harassing that poor Mega Man kid?"
"Yes," Clark nodded, turning the paper so the printed date was clearly visible to Lois while he fiddled with his computer. "Right there on the front page. And on my computer. Looks like even the internet thinks this is Wilyday instead of Friday. Apparently Friday's tomorrow. It seems the bad doctor just made an eight day week all over the world somehow..."
19.17 (DrTempo)
From The Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
I've gone metal this Loop. As in, I'm made of metal. I'm called Sunset Woman here, a creation of one . Shortly after my 'activation', tried turning me to his side when he snapped.
As tempted as I was to just kick his flank by going all-out, I'd remembered Blues telling me that Wily was 'Dreaming'; he's never truly Awakened, but seems to retain some knowledge of past Loops, if only like they were dreams. Reminds me of how I first saw my Loop memories why back in that fateful first Fused Loop.
In practice, that means he does tend to use said fragments of memory to change things up. I even heard he even managed to beat up a certain Bureau, even getting past their anti-tech defenses.
The first one of THOSE Loops I have, I'm going to enjoy tearing the Bureau apart...
But back to the events of this Loop. After I escaped, Rock and Roll arrived to save me, only to see me Keyblade in hand.
Turns out Blues was here as well, and he explained my story. From what he said, there'd been a Fused Loop with Equestria recently... if Blues remembers right, it was shortly before he met me. is curious as to why I'm Looping anyhow... You and me both. Hopefully, Twilight'll have the answer.
Rock said to sit this Loop out, and try to relax. I really can't. Guess I've become the kind of person who can't really stand by and watch evil win.
But I understood why they wanted me to sit things out: and his Dreaming. Anything I might do could make things tougher in later Loops.
I actually pity Wily in a way. I do sympathize with his wanting recognition, but the ends never justify the means.
As the Loop went on, I was patient, but I never liked it. I could've done something to help...
I also feel bad for Rock and his Loop...they were nearly erased from ever even existing.
As this Loop ended, I'm starting to see what Loopers must go through as the Loops pass...
19.18
Sunset Shimmer groaned as she tried to shake the static out of her hair. Waking Up after the whole Fall Formal demoness incident was never all that fun, especially as it repeatedly reminded her of what kind of person/pony she used to be. Still, the incident served to introduce magic to the alter-Equestria which gave her an opportunity to try and figure out how it worked. She could only lament the fact that she'd forgotten how much she loved doing field research until recently. So many lost opportunities...
If only the magic of her friends, the alternates of the Elements of Harmony and the members of The Rainbooms band in this reality, didn't keep finding amusing ways to zap her when she tried to take readings.
"I give up..." she moaned from where she'd allowed herself to collapse on the floor while the Rainbooms began band practice away from the instrumentation she'd set up. "I'm no closer to knowing how magic works here than I've ever been..."
"That easily?" a male voice that Sunset wasn't used to intervened in her thoughts, reminding her that she had a pair of visitors this Loop. Something she normally didn't. Visiting loopers usually ended up in Equestria with Twilight and the others.
"Do you have any idea how many times I've run tests like this, only to end up zapped, splatted, defenestrated, and otherwise humiliated?"
"Watching you cough up a puff of rainbow smoke was kind of funny," a female voice admitted and Sunset snorted in amusement despite herself.
"Yeah, well, thanks for helping me out, Rock, Roll," Sunset sighed and sat up, trying to brush herself off as she looked at the twin loopers. "Have I mentioned how glad I am to meet you again?"
"A few times," Rock grinned.
"At least you didn't ask us to autograph your copy of Daring Do and the Curse of the Magi again," Roll grinned. (*) "Or any of the other books written about that Loop."
"Sorry about that by the way," Sunset blushed. "It just sounded so impressive when I read about it the first time. Ahuizotl, Tirek Sunstar, Discord, Waltz, the Dark Mane, King Sombra," Sunset trailed off and her expression turned somber, "Dr. Wily subverting the Elements of Harmony..."
"Um..." Roll hesitated on seeing Sunset's guilty expression. "That wasn't in any way your fault, you know."
"Yeah," Rock agreed. "You weren't even part of that Loop. What Wily did with the Elements and their bearers had nothing to do with you."
"Maybe..." Sunset hugged herself. "Maybe not. After all, I was the one villain in the baseline who successfully subverted an Element of Harmony, however temporary. I can't help but feel that the possibility itself is tied to that event."
Rock and Roll remained silent and exchanged glances with each other.
"You know what your problem is, Sunset?" Roll asked, getting a look from the other girl. "You give up too easily."
"What?"
"Yeah, especially on yourself," Rock nodded as he dialed a number on his phone. "Hold on. Hi dad, yeah I'm at school with friends. Look, we've got a budding researcher here who's so frustrated with a lack of results that she's ready to give up the whole thing. Uh-huh. Yeah, Sunset Shimer. You remember her, right? Studying magical manifestations. They happen while playing music. Gotcha. See you soon," Rock ended the call. "He'll be right over."
"Uh..." Sunset blinked. "How soo–"
A door suddenly slammed open, startling Sunset as well as the Rainbooms from their practice. Silhoetted in the doorway was a stout bearded man in a labcoat, holding several rolled-up charts and wearing stylish shades. Dr. Light had arrived.
"Um... doesn't that door lead to the band closet?" Pinkie expressed the band's collective confusion.
"I come in the name of SCIENCE!" Dr. Light declared, pointing dramatically.
"How?" Sunset wondered incredulously.
"Remember how we told you that dad studied Pinkie Pie's abilities that Loop while Unawake?" Rock whispered. "Well, after we last met, he Dreamed up the research one Loop and set about replicating them."
"Again, how?"
"Why, with SCIENCE! dear girl!" Dr. Light declared from behind Sunset, making her jump several feet into the air.
"That makes no sense!" Sunset accused upon landing.
"It makes perfect sense!" Dr. Light returned, striking a pose. "After all, what is SCIENCE! if not study? What is it if not the power to stare into the unknown and declare that it shall be made known? To seek out the shrouded mysteries of existence, present youself before them and say 'teach me!'? To unravel the secrets of the cosmos with neverending wonder, marveling at each new tidbit of knowledge they give up, and persisting no matter if the research takes a day or a lifetime? Or, indeed several lifetimes? The drive to ask questions of the unknowable and transform it into the known! That is SCIENCE!"
The room was silent for several beats as six of the eight students gaped in astonishment at the man.
"Dude!" Rainbow found her voice first. "Did you actually just make studying sound awesome?"
"Sheeeeooooooot..."
"Is it wrong that I suddenly have the biggest schoolgirl crush on your dad?" Sunset whispered to Roll while blushing crimson.
"I wish I could say this was the first time that happened," Roll sighed.
"Now, head researcher Sunset," Dr. Light continued, causing the girl to jump at the address, "I believe you were studying the manifestation of magic through music?"
"Head researcher? Me?" Sunset blinked in astonishment. "Er... I mean, yes, but all the readings I took just blew up in my face. The instrumentation can't get any clear reading."
"Well, then, we start with observation of the phenomenon then," Dr. Light proceeded, unperturbed. "Perhaps ask questions of the subjects afterwards about how the manifestation feels."
"Well..." Fluttershy responded quietly, "it does feel kind of warm and nice, like being hugged by lots of cute fluffy bunnies."
"Mine rather feels like a walk down the runway while wearing the most fabulous dress," Rarity added.
"The satisfaction of a hard day's work," Applejack nodded.
"And," Dr. Light stopped Sunset from writing those down by placing a gentle, but firm, hand on Sunset's notepad, "do not forget to include all known subjects."
"Huh?"
"Dear Sunset," Dr. Light chuckled, "I was there at the battle of the bands. I saw you undergo the very same phenomenon you are trying to study. How the magic works with you is as relevant to this research as how it works with them."
"Yeah!" Rainbow shouted, holding up Sunset's guitar. "Get up here and pony up with the rest of us!"
Sunset looked between the Rainbooms and the visiting loopers for a few moments, before giving in to the emotions of the moment and joining her friends.
"Alright! One... two... one two three four!"
*) See My Mega Pony: Season 1 for details of the events that take place in the book.
19.19
Sherriff Jack Carter had seen a great many things in his time as the head law enforcement official of Eureka, a town that could best be described as the 'mad science capital of the world'. With all the government involvement, secret organizations, end-of-the-world threatening accidents, reality bending, and general wackiness that implied.
And that was before the whole thing with the Loops had begun. Before his years between arriving in Eureka for the first time and the imminent birth of his second biological child were set on perpetual repeat (and, yes, he frequently wanted to rage at the heavens to let his son/daughter be born already!), bookended by he and Zoey literally passing themselves on the road out, only for him to Awaken in the car driving into town back in the past. Reality clearly had a sense of humor, but the joke was getting old as far as he was concerned.
So far, he hadn't lived through the same set of events twice. Heck, that was true even in his baseline after traveling through time (long stories). His Admin, Enki, had explained it being due to his branch having 'a tendency towards high variance' or something along those lines when he came down after an event now known across the Loops as 'The Crash'. What it seemed to mean in practice was that certain events he remembered from his baseline may or may not happen any given Loop, with some being more frequent than others, and familiar mad science capers could be the result of any of dozens of related or (seemingly) unrelated events. Sometimes he swore the universe just flat made stuff up solely to screw with him.
Bottom line: Assume nothing, no matter how familiar it might seem.
Like the guy walking into town right now. The timing, gait, and the fact that Carter hadn't seen him in town yet this Loop suggested one particular individual that Sherriff Carter was familiar with. Certain aspects of the individual's appearance suggested something rather different.
"Hey, Carl?" Jack spoke up to the empty interior of his armored jeep. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't quite look like Callister Raynes, does it?"
"No," a harsh computerized voice emanated from the jeep's dash. "Callister Raynes is not prone to wearing shades, brightly colored scarves, or styling his hair in a pompadour in any variant so far encountered."
"Didn't think so. Let's go introduce ourselves."
Introductions had been much simpler than Jack had anticipated, which was fine by him. As had getting the stranger to agree to join him and Carl at a special table outside Cafe Diem. Special, because Vincent, the cafe's proprietor, had designed said table to accommodate AI-capable automobiles like Carl along with additional more human-sized guests.
The stranger had seemed skeptical of the fact that the cafe had no menus, boasting that it could make any dish for any customer. He'd dropped the incredulous look when Vincent had come out with a Connecticut-style steamed cheeseburger for Carter, a can of 10-W40 oil for Carl, and a blue can with a large 'E' emblazoned on the side for the stranger himself.
"How in...?" the stranger examined the can from several angles in astonishment.
"I've stopped questioning Vincent's ability to serve anything a long time ago," Jack replied. "So, going out on a limb here, I'm guessing that you're a visiting looper."
Getting a nod, Jack continued.
"I'm also guessing, from the general timing of your arrival in town, that this Loop you're a first-generation human-like AI invented by Nathan Stark, only something went wrong and you had to leave town."
"That's a pretty good guess."
"Well, you seem to be replacing a guy from our Loop named Callister Raynes, though I doubt that's what you're called this Loop."
"Right. Blues Right. Because the Loops have a strange sense of humor sometimes."
"You're telling me," Carter agreed readily right before he spotted his female deputy storm up. The one who often had a relationship with Callister Raynes before he left. Oh boy...
"You remember what I said would happen if you ever came back?" Jo Lupo; military-trained Eureka deputy, fellow looper, and four-star hoplophile; growled at Blues.
"I do," Blues nodded and stood, turning to face the woman and calmly accepting whatever punishment she deemed fit to unlea–
Jo Lupo enveloped Blues in a fierce hug.
Jack stared in astonishment. As did many other people at Cafe Diem.
"...Not that I'm complaining, but I'm sure you said you were going to blast me into the next county or words to that effect."
"Don't tempt me," Jo growled. "At least you had the decency to say goodbye, unlike some people..."
"You mean Raynes...?" Blues asked as Jo released him and they both sat down.
"No..." Jo's gaze hardened.
"So, anyway," Jack cleared his throat, "Blues, this is Jo, she's my deputy and a fellow looper like Carl. Jo, this is Blues, he's replacing Callister as you've clearly noticed. Now, back to our original topic, what brings you to town Blues?"
"Adventure? Romance? Just visiting?" Carl ticked some common possibilities off.
"Desperate service call for degrading systems?" Jack added in Callister's typical reason.
"Following rumors of a shadowy organization who are trying to exert control over scientists," Blues supplied.
"Any chance you could narrow it down a bit?" Jack prompted. "Almost the entire town is scientists, usually of the 'mad' variety to one extent or another."
"...Actually, I'd better tell you about my home Loop first. With a reputation like that, you're going to play host to my real dad, Dr. Thomas Light, and his best friend/arch nemesis Dr. Albert Wily sooner or later."
"Let me guess, the latter likes to try and take over the world?"
"Yep."
"Oh joy," Carl deadpanned. "More new and exciting ways to get blown up."
"You seem remarkably blase about the things that happen around here," Blues noted, dusting himself off from the latest 'happening'.
"Yeah, well, after your first few doomsday scenario repetitions," Jack wiped his forehead, "you learn a few important things whether you want to or not."
"Like what?"
"Like carry an ordinary pocketknife at all times," Jack pointedly folded up the item that had been instrumental in saving Eureka this time. "You'd be amazed how often that comes in handy."
It had taken several months of planning and maneuvering, along with some of Jack's remembered hints about common factors in his Loops, but Blues had finally managed to confirm the identity of a member of the organization he was tracking, known as The Consortium. One Beverly Barlowe, psychotherapist and owner of Eureka's one and only 'Bed and Breakfast', with a rather salacious emphasis on 'bed' for both occupations.
Beverly currently struggled against ropes tying her to a chair and Blues paced around her, the otherwise empty room lit by a single bulb.
"You don't know what you're doing!" Beverly hissed. "The technology being created here is dangerous! It needs to be controlled! There are things mankind is not ready for, and this place is given far too much freedom with them!"
Blues sighed. "I've encountered far too many groups who thought that controlling human knowledge was 'in humanity's best interest'. None of them were right."
"But we're not like those others! We actually do know what's best!"
Beverly blinked in astonishment. Her captor had matched her claim word for word.
"Do you even know what you're trying to do?" Blues accused. "Have you studied history at all? Denying scientific advancement because people 'can't handle it'. Censoring knowledge 'for the good of humanity'. Asking that everyone else trust that you 'know what's best'. You're talking about bringing back the dark ages. One of the worst periods of human history. A period where the common person had no defense against the elite few because those few had all the knowledge and shared none of it."
"But technology is progressing too fast!" Beverly insisted. "The atomic bomb was just the tip of the iceberg! We weren't ready and created a weapon that could destroy the world! How long until something goes too far out of control and humanity pays the price?"
"Oh, I'd say over ten thousand years ago," Blues shrugged. "Seriously, when do you think humanity has ever been ready for any of its discoveries? Sure, humanity wasn't ready for the atom bomb, but it wasn't ready for steam power either. Or iron working. Heck, it wasn't ready for fire. Or do you think people really have that under complete control?"
"I..." Beverly tried, but had to concede the point. Fire extinguishers were in every building. Hydrants on every street. Fire departments in every town. There were control methods and safety regulations out the wazoo solely dedicated to dealing with fire, and it still claimed lives and property every year. "But that just proves my point! Humanity isn't mature enough to deal with technology of this level!"
"And how do you think they get there?" Blues glared at her through his shades. "They get mature enough to handle the technology by using it. Learning its capabilities and limitations as well as dealing with its dangers. As long as people are allowed the right to learn, there will be those who desire to push the limits of their knowledge. The only way to stop it is to deprive them of that right. To control their lives and eliminate their freedom."
Beverly trembled as her captor's tone shifted dangerously and he brought his face to hers.
"And if there was ever something people shouldn't be allowed to do, especially those who think they know best, it's that. I may be a machine. I may have originally been commissioned as a weapon. But I was given a mind and a will of my own. Enough to know how valuable both are. If you and yours try to deprive anyone of that, I will oppose you with everything at my disposal."
19.19) Valentine Meikin: "Futuristic robot just walked into town... Just another day in Eureka..."
19.18) She's hanging out more at home now, doing SCIENCE and rocking her pony out.
NiGHTcapD: On Thomas' initial appearance, cue "We Are The Robots" from MM9. It just works. Alternatively, do it after Sunset's counting cue.
19.17) An excerpt from Sunset's Travels.
19.16) He's at this eight days a week, you know.
19.15) Zero does have a fair number of potential love interests, doesn't he?
19.14) Gender Bending issues... in the future!
19.13) Mega Man offers Friendship! Astro Boy accepts!
19.12) Lion Men? It'll never catch on.
19.11) And given Rock's rather generous definition of 'quiet'...
19.10) Rock's 'World of Cardboard' speech.
19.9) Of course, Iris living when Colonel dies isn't exactly desirable either.
19.8) An excellent question when you think about it.
19.7) CRITICAL LOOP ERROR: ANCHOR NOT FOUND
19.6) You know... It kind of is the setting's most ancient and noble art if you think about it...
19.5) Fused Loop checklist: Blues, Wily - Mega Man; Hooligans, Eggman - Sonic the Hedgehog; Jolyn, President Valentine - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; Exiles team concept - Marvel Comics; chance of more elements not seen in-snip - High
19.4) ...Poor Zero. No. No, I'm not laughing. Seriously. Cross my heart... you aren't buying this are you?
19.3) In the event that Iris dies and Colonel doesn't... Run.
19.2) Poor Axl. No one takes him seriously.
19.1) This just isn't Loki's invasion.
Bonus Content: Eureka Loops, circa The Crash
Eureka.X
Jack Carter was at his wit's end trying to figure out what had gone wrong in Eureka. He'd lived through years of riding herd on mad scientists and their wacky and dangerous experiments as the town sheriff, gone back in time twice... wait, he'd gone back three times and changed the past twice, had to live with the guilt that saving the town from a degrading time loop had killed... not exactly a friend but definitely not a bad person, and right as he was driving out to take Zoey back to college...
He'd passed some spectre of the two of them coming the other way in the same car he'd been driving when he had first wandered into the top-secret town. And a moment later, he was back in that original car with his daughter asking if he'd seen the spectre of their future selves driving past.
And so he'd had to do it all over again. Oh, sure, a number of things tended to be different. Like he'd learned the first time around, traveling back in time doesn't mean that you can expect things to play out the same way, but there had been more than a few key points that remained at least eerily similar. He'd done his best to investigate what the cause was, discreetly (he'd learned that lesson the first time around too), but nothing ever came up. He'd lived those years over, started to drive his daughter back to college, saw themselves coming the other way...
And was back in that car again, on the first day he came to the town of Eureka.
Which was how it had gone, over and over and over again. At first it had just been him, but then one time Zoey started to remember too. She hadn't the next time, but every so often she'd remember. A few repeats later and his deputy (well, his original deputy before ANDY) Jo Lupo started to remember as well. Henry Deacon had come after that which finally put someone in the group who might be able to figure out what was going on, but all of his investigations had come up empty. He'd even died a few times, only to find himself back in that car driving into Eureka with Zoey.
Well, this time he'd figure out what was going on. One of the things that always seemed to happen was that he married Allison near the end of those repeating years. Married her and got her pregnant. And the most maddening thing about all of this temporal repetition (or whatever the technical term was) was that whole thing always ended before his new child could be bor–
*CRACK*
Eureka.X+1
Zoey Carter screamed as the car she was suddenly riding in (again) swerved dangerously on the road. A quick look showed that her dad was having some kind of seizure behind the wheel. Fortunately, this time she was in the front seat instead of behind the wire barrier of her father's U.S. Marshal vehicle like a common criminal, so she was able to reach over and wrestle the steering wheel into something resembling control before they crashed and died. A few long and terrifying minutes later, the car had finally coasted to a stop (thankfully her dad's seizure hadn't made him floor the accelerator) and she could stop panicking about imminent painful death and start panicking about what was happening to her dad.
She was seriously contemplating the virtues of running to Eureka for help (despite the nighttime downpour) versus the problems of leaving her dad alone like this when a calm knock on the window interrupted her thoughts.
Looking out the window, she saw a man dressed in a labcoat (over a toga? or were her eyes playing tricks on her?). He was strangely well-groomed for someone out in this storm and even more strangely standing in an area free of rainfall even as everything around the oddly clear area continued to get ever more drenched.
"Miss Carter?" he smiled pleasantly. "Be not afraid. My name is Enki. I know what is affecting your father and it should pass with no lasting damage. I am here to personally assure this, as well as to explain a few things to the both of you afterwards."
"So..." Jack Carter rubbed his aching head. His... episode he supposed... had passed and he generally felt fine, but then this Enki fellow had started to explain things. About how a computer/tree/whatever had suffered damage and now the universe was repeating and he was somehow the 'Anchor' or whatever that held it all together. He wasn't stupid, of course. Not really. He just happened to be a relatively average guy surrounded by very much above average intellects. Still, he knew the only thing that really matched the term 'living computer'. "So you're saying the multiverse has brain damage?"
"That's..." the self-proclaimed 'god' Enki (who said he was some guy from Babylonian or some such ancient time who governed knowledge, which would explain why he was in charge of Eureka, and water, which would explain how he could keep them dry in a downpour) began, only to start struggling as if the words didn't want to leave his mouth, "not... inaccurate..."
"Having trouble speaking there?" Jack asked, partly in amusement, partly from genuine concern.
"There are..." this time Enki's pause was less from strain and more from thought, "geasa in place that prevent me from revealing... restricted information. I'm afraid I can say no more about Yggdrasil's current state."
"Okay..." Zoey interrupted. "You said we might have new... 'loopers', right?" Getting a nod to show she had the term right, she proceeded to her real question. "Can you tell us who they are?"
Enki thought for a moment and brought a data pad out of thin air and typed away on it for a few seconds.
"I have identified looping status for a Douglas Fargo–"
"Of course," Jack Carter interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"–and a..." Enki looked puzzled for a moment, "Carl?"
Zoey looked confused herself, but Jack groaned loudly.
"My jeep is 'looping' now?!"
Eureka.X) Jack Carter's been down this road before, passing himself both way–
Eureka.X+1) I liked Carl as a character. Too bad he was only so on the second holiday special due to the latest mad science wackiness.
