Disclaimer: All characters and settings in this fanfic are the property of their respective legal owners.
Author's note: Welcome to the Crisis Across Infinite Loops compilation. An event spanning pretty much every fictional universe, in which an incident with a virus led to a variety of new Loopers coming online... and the existing Loopers took extreme efforts to prevent some of them from doing so.
Crisis Across Infinite Loops, Chapter One
1.1 (Evilhumour) [Harry Potter][Admin]
It was almost a nearly ordinary day for Peorth; as one of the Administrators for the oldest Activated Branches, she and others didn't need to worry as much for their Branches as the rest of other Restoration Teams did.
There had been some moments of concern here and there, that somewhat questionable extension to Harry Potter's Branch came to mind among the bout of annoying variants that remained within the notable recurrence field that Admins had to watch out for in case it was part of a Branch's baseline, but for the most part, the deity had very little issues to actually worry abou-
There was a Ping on her terminal and she quirked an eyebrow. Moving to examine what sounded like an Activation alert, Peorth saw that there was indeed an alert that the process was happening. Moving to check who Yggdrasil decided to queue Looping, Peorth frowned as she saw that Umbridge of all people was set up to be Activated.
"Well that's not going to happen," she said to herself as she moved to cancel the attempt.
Nothing happened.
Frowning more, Peorth retried the procedure to cancel the attempt with the exact same results. She was about to attempt it a third time when she heard a voice behind.
"Is everything okay?" Skuld, Tyr's daughter and her boss, walked into her office with a look of concern on her face.
"Ye-er no, actually," Peorth said as she continued to try and prevent Umbridge from Looping with every attempt failing for some reason and a stab of panic began to grow. "Umbridge is set to Loop for some reason and nothing I do to stop it is wor-"
She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence when the Chief Debugger pushed her aside and began to look at some code that, judging by how white in the face she was getting and muttering no, was really worrying her. Skuld suddenly sprung up and ran out of her office, Peorth following her by some sort of reflex.
"Skuld, where are you go-" Peorth's voice dropped off as Skuld ran into the room across from hers that she knew was a broom closet, only to lead to Skuld's actual office. "How did we get-"
Skuld let out a bellowing curse that caused her to jump; partly because of the sheer volume that came from the small goddess and partly because Skuld was using words that she didn't know which meant the Norn was using old words and she was very angry.
"What's wro-" Peorth began to ask before Skuld ran out of the office and back into hers, standing over the terminal and began to pull up some old Administrator-Looper communication programs. "Skuld, tell me what's wro-"
"Someone stole Le-Eyo's program and put it in your terminal to get Umbridge Looping," Skuld snapped before activating the old communication. "You need to tell Harry that he has to kill her now," Skuld said to Peorth.
"But he's in the middle of detent-" Peorth said before Skuld leaned into her face.
"He needs to make sure she is dead otherwise she will Loop!" Skuld snapped back. "And don't get in there; that program is wonky as anything and having one of us down there might just get her Looping."
"Understood," Peorth said nervously before rising the microphone to her lips. "Harry, Harry, can you hear me?"
"Yes-," Harry almost spoke out loud, ignoring the squawking coming from the pink toad and began to listen to Admin. It was odd to hear Peorth speak to him in this-
Wait, what‽ he thought back to his Admin at her bizarre request she asked but then his eyes widened as Peorth explained the matter. Understood, he thought back before he stood up.
"Mr Potter, if you don't get back into your seat this instant, I-" Dolores Umbridge began to lecture him but Harry was an expert at ignoring her.
Pointing his wand at her, Harry moved his wand and said, "Avada Kedavra!" However, it seemed Umbridge had some survival skills in her and dodged the spell, albeit just barely.
"I knew it!" she shouted as she began to fire back spells at him, racing out of the office. "I knew that Dumbledore was creating an army to overthrow the Ministry!"
Harry ignored her ranting and, dodging her spells, he chased her while unleashing all the spells he knew as well as sending out Pings to get anyone else who was Awake alert that something was off.
He ignored whatever she was spouting, something on the lines of Fudge prompting her or whatever as he blocked the spells she was throwing at him. His main attention was preventing her from escaping Hogwarts and then he spotted Peeves floating around. With the poltergeist usually being a jerk to everyone, he was never one to pass up a chance to cause further mayhem and maybe Harry could use him to kill Umbridge.
Spotting the chaos unfolding, Peeves let out a cackle and began to throw out firecrackers, distracting Umbridge mid-step right at the top of the staircase. As she raised her wand to blast the ghost, Harry was about to cast an Expelliarmus when Umbridge took a step backwards to steady herself before letting out a squawk of terror when she began to fall as the stairs moved out from under her. Harry ran to the edge of the stairs with Peeves hovering next to him as both heard the telltale sound of a body hitting stone.
"I thought we were going to play a prank, not kill her," Peeves said with a frown before he began to laugh again. "Potter killed the toad, Potter killed the toad," he began to sing as students and teachers began to fill the hallways. Groaning as he started to think of a way out of this mess, he gave a look upwards.
Please tell me that is the end of this, he thought up at Peorth. Is everything okay Peort- wait, what are you saying?
"What are you saying‽" Peorth snapped as Skuld eyes screened the terminal as countless alerts filled the screen, all of them stating the Dolores Umbridge was starting to Loop. "What's going on-Skuld!"
Skuld had no time for her, racing out of the office with the voices of various Admins calling out in confusion that Umbridge was looping in their Branches. Reaching for the microphone that connected throughout the offices of Yggdrasil Proper, the Norse Goddess reached for the yellow alert system and toggled it.
"This is not a drill," she did her best not to shout or show her panic but by the sound of cracking metal that her hammer's haft was making by her stress squeezing, she was not succeeding in the slightest. "I repeat this is not a drill people; someone stole the Le-Eyo Forced Activation Program. Bare minimum Administrator interference is permitted for maximum Loop stability; inform all Loopers that they are to target all problematic individuals with extreme prejudice. All Anchors are to show utmost caution; no forced crashing is to be permitted." Skuld paused as she sat down and began to examine her Branches and started to inform Ranma about the madness. "Inform me once your Branch has finished this iteration so we can assess the damage and to the ash-forsaken bastard that did this, you will wish that you are Slenderman once I am done with you!"
With that Skuld, slammed down the receiver and began to deal with the crisis across Infinite Loops.
1.2 (Boohoooo!) [Star vs. the Forces of Evil]
Marco and Star were cuddling on the couch, eating nachos and laughing at a terrible Sitcom.
Nothing could ruin this day!
'MARCO! THIS IS GONNA RUIN YOUR DAY!' Madoka's panicked voice shouted into Marco's head. The Hispanic Hoodie Lover yelped and fell over. Star giggled.
"Nice to see you too Madoka…" Marco grumbled.
'There's no time for sarcasm! Toffee could Loop!'
Marco, needless to say, almost choked on his nachos.
Ludo whistled as he spruced up Castle Avarius alongside Dennis. It was tough work as his non-Looping brother hadn't managed to snag any money or extra manpower this Loop, but anything was better than their terrible parents.
"LUDO! LUDO! LUDO!" Star panicked as she kicked down his door.
"Hello, Star Butterfly. Thanks oh so much for the damage." Ludo deadpanned.
"Ludo, where's the Dark Wand?! We really need it! My wand was sold to pixies and they melted it down for materials!" Star barrelled on, checking under things and kicking things apart.
"I threw it into a river leading to the ocean. Good riddance. That thing brings nothing but terrible memories." Ludo shakes his head, glaring at the damages. Star's face fell as she sat, uncharacteristically quiet.
"…. What's wrong?" Ludo asked worriedly. Marco sighs, having been leaning nearby.
"If we don't kill him, Toffee will Loop." The Former Safety Kid stated bluntly. Ludo stared, the kappa clearly taken aback by the news.
"Big Brother? What's going on?" Dennis asked in confusion.
"Toffee… Toffee's gonna Loop…." Ludo muttered, dropping to his knees.
"Uhhhh…"
"TOFFEE'S GONNA LOOP!" Ludo sobbed, breathing heavily. Star jumped up and Marco stopped leaning as they went to comfort their former enemy.
"Shhhh.. it's ok buddy. We… we can handle him." Star assured. Marco awkwardly nodded along as Dennis just continued to be confused.
The group did make an effort to find The Wand with Janna's Sith Powers, but the ocean was just too vast for her specific powerset. Toffee didn't rear his head that Loop, and it ended with a sense of dread.
Toffee opened his mouth to manipulate Ludo into hiring him before having a taken aback Expression, though he very quickly fell back into his usual neutral face. He was… back in time? What kind of magic was this? The last thing he remembered was his death at the hands of Star Butterfly and Lu… Hmmm… maybe Ludo Could be a bigger player in his plans than he anticipated.
'Well…', The Septarian thought as he walked off after getting his new job as Ludo Evil Consultant (...again), 'A second chance never hurt anyone, now did it?'
Toffee grinned. This was gonna be the start of something great, he could just tell..
Back with Ludo, the Kappa called Star.
"Yeah, Star? He's definitely Looping. He had a taken aback Look he had no reason to have. I'll keep an eye on him this Loop…. And Star? I hope you are right and we can handle it…."
1.3 (Masterweaver) [RWBY]
Notification
"...and that's when the bookshelf fell over," Weiss concluded. "You can imagine the look on Whitley's face."
"Oh, I'll bet," Ruby agreed, pulling a batch of cookies from her subspace pocket. "That sounds incredibly why are my cookies covered in post-it-notes?"
"Huh. That's weird." Blake leaned over and took one of the cookies, peering at the red paper. "...What are these squiggles?"
Yang glanced at the cookie. "Oh, that's Gregg shorthand. Here, let me read it."
Blake handed the cookie over, bemused. "You can read this?"
"Yeah, you know how I'm a surgeon? Doctors used to use this all the time." Yang hummed. "Okay, the signature says Marianne... hmmm... mm."
Ruby watched her sister's face fall, eyes roving across the cookie. "Um... Yang?"
For a moment the blonde was completely quiet, rereading the post-it note once, and then once more. She put the cookie down and took a deep breath, before speaking in a voice that was somehow both calm and edged with panic. "We need to call an emergency looper meeting right now."
Weiss had already pulled out her scroll, typing away quickly, but spared enough time to notice Yang's hands trembling. "What is it?"
"Marianne's been locked out of the terminal by a virus," the blonde explained. "A virus that's slated to activate random people, maybe even villains, if we don't do anything to stop it."
1.4 (Tetradrachm, smxsonic) [Sherlock Holmes]
A Question of Conscience
Watson found the letter at the very bottom of the correspondence that found its way to no. 221b, Baker Street, that morning. It arrived in a long, white, machined envelope, quite unlike an envelope native to the decade.
He picked up the unusual letter and felt the paper stock between his fingers. Advanced machining methods, at the very least late 20th century, and with a sniff he could identify the glue as an artificial polymer.
It was only after applying his other senses that Watson actually read the envelope. In scrawly cursive—scrawly cursive he immediately recognized, even if it had been millennia since last he read it—the envelope was addressed "To My Dearest Loopers."
A message from Despoina, his Loop's Administrator, was always of the utmost importance, and the fact that it had arrived in such a strange manner was concerning as well. It could very well be some sort of deception, but the exact format of a letter by mail had been agreed upon between them eons ago if other methods of correspondence failed.
Clearly, something was very wrong.
Holmes returned from his regular early Loop business that morning to find Watson rather fiercely puffing a pipe, a letter crumpled in his lap.
"My dear Watson," he exclaimed with a laugh, "I have not seen you quite so concerned in some time. Are we in for another vexing Variant?"
When Watson turned to him, though, Holmes immediately realized the gravity of the situation from the strain in his face. "There's been a serious incident at the Administrative level, Holmes." Watson took the letter off his lap and handed it to Holmes, who immediately started to read. "Despoina herself sent me this letter, as she couldn't reach me otherwise. It doesn't concern us immediately, but..."
By then Holmes had already finished the letter. He sat in the seat opposite Watson's own and leaned forward with a very intent expression. "You're absolutely certain this isn't some sort of prank, or scheme?" He unPocketed a wand and ran it over the letter, then repeated the action with an upgraded tricorder.
Watson sighed. "It arrived at the bottom of our daily correspondence, Holmes, exactly where she said such messages would arrive."
Holmes continued his survey of the letter and envelope undeterred with a series of exotic instruments. "No unusual chemical traces—no chemical traces at all..."
"Holmes," Watson said, slightly frustrated, "do you still not trust my own observational skills?"
"Quite the contrary: I trust yours better than my own by now," he said matter-of-factly, finally placing the letter down. "Even if you had not spent innumerable Loops as myself, your advantage in age and experience is insurmountable. I was examining the letter so thoroughly for my own peace of mind—to assuage my conscience, if you will."
"Due to the contents?" Watson asked.
"Yes." Holmes paused. "I would not want to engage you in a great debate if I were not utterly confident in my reasons for doing so."
Watson visibly steeled himself for a moment as he placed his pipe on the end table next to him. Then, he turned and looked Holmes dead in the eye. "You wish to let him survive the Loop, then?"
Holmes was unperturbed by the piercing question, and in a calculated sort of defiance drew and lit his own pipe. "I've told you that I wished he were Looping many times before. Did you think my opinion would change if my flights of fancy were suddenly made possible?"
"No, of course not. I know you far too well by now." Holmes smiled thinly, but Watson pressed on. "But over these eons I've come to know the professor quite well too, and you and I both know that even Unawake he can pose a greater threat than some Loopers. How in the world do you think letting someone like Moriarty loose on the multiverse would bode well for its stability? To say nothing of the chaos and strife it would unleash upon this Loop, and become my permanent responsibility."
"Come now," Holmes chided him, "do you truly believe Moriarty would embark on a such a disastrous mission?"
"If the purpose were to eliminate you—which it would," Watson said dryly.
"We would need to educate him thoroughly as to the consequences of his actions, then. And I have already told you my plan to assuage his initial ambitions, and work upon his psyche so as to render him...averse to Ascension."
"Allowing him to 'outwit' you once or twice and then engaging him in a perennial game of cat and mouse, yes. Keeping his interest. You are utterly certain this would work, but I am still hesitant, Holmes. You recall those psychological profiles we've made of him!"
"It is entirely possible that he will outwit me naturally, especially if I don't use any out-of-Loop devices," Holmes pointed out, to which Watson snorted. "As for his psychology, we can work with him and put our clinical degrees to good use."
Watson blinked in surprise. "You finally obtained your Psychology doctorate?"
"Of course I did. I didn't tell you?" Holmes puffed a large smoke ring. "I believe it was in some Fused Loop or another. Hold on..." He unPocketed a glossy diploma. "Addressed to Anthony "Sherlock" DiNozzo, yes, from an American university. You've heard of the NCIS Loop?"
"Once or twice. I suppose mister DiNozzo is a detective there?"
"Naturally. At any rate, with this and your long-standing mastery of all of the medical and psychological arts we can steer him down more productive paths, I am sure."
Watson remained unconvinced. "Even if your bias were not clearly showing—and it is—your case would be weakened because you have not addressed the fact that he would perpetually remain a villain. An opponent. Someone that we would have to handle every Loop in which he was Awake, and never sleep soundly otherwise."
"Sleep soundly?" Holmes scoffed. "I believe you mean sleep the sleep of the lotus-eaters. Our existence has become an infinite blur of tedium and repetition—truly, what difference is there between our boredom and a dreamless sleep? Moriarty would change that forever. He would render this existence entertaining, again." Before Watson could respond to that, Holmes continued, "And of course I am biased; how could I not be? The one man to match me, Watson. As vile as he is, he may well be as close to a kindred spirit I could have."
"I would consider myself your kindred spirit, Holmes," Watson said, slightly hurt.
"In many ways, yes, but you lack my single quality of which I am most ashamed: my eternal ennui, and my drive to stave it off by any means possible. It is a curse, Watson, something I would never wish upon you, but I cannot deny that Moriarty is the only other person I have known with that quality." Then he splayed his hands. "Nonetheless, Watson, this is not my decision. It is yours."
Watson eyed him warily. "What do you mean by that?"
"Our very existence does not depend upon my satisfaction, Doctor, it depends on yours. I only exist in this state to preserve your sanity—"
"Holmes, stating it so forthrightly has quite the opposite effect," Watson groaned.
"Well, you cannot expect me to lie forthrightly after all this time, can you?" Holmes asked. "It isn't as if it would succeed in deceiving you."
Watson exhaled sharply, but said nothing.
"Therefore," Holmes continued, "you and I both know full well that the only reason I have presented this possibility to you is that you are entertaining these same notions yourself."
"I am not the one with a singular fixation on the man, Holmes."
"No, but you see the appeal in facing this challenge, don't you?" It was not truly a question, but rather a statement of fact. "The appeal in novelty, in excitement, in something that might even be meaningful!"
Irritably Watson snatched his pipe up again and lit it. For a few moments he said nothing. Then, with a large exhale: "Damn you, Holmes. Fine. Fine! Bear in mind, there's no guarantee he will Activate—"
"No, but there is only one person marked by the virus in our Loop," Holmes pointed out, "and taking into account that Moriarty is known as the quintessential criminal mastermind throughout Yggdrasil it is, in my mind, a near certainty that whoever created this virus intended for him to Activate."
Holmes' logic, as ever, was impeccable. "I'd had the same thought," Watson grudgingly admitted, "but I'd been confused then by how Despoina doesn't seem to press us to kill him in the letter. Why would she not exhort us to solve the matter immediately?"
Holmes suddenly smiled brightly. "Ah, Watson, your bias has clouded your deductive reasoning here. Is it not possible that she is as willing to see him Activate as we are?"
Watson gaped at him. "That's...impossible!"
"Surely not," Holmes chided him. "Our logic is solid. Why would she have not come to the same conclusions as we have? If Activating Moriarty challenges us, it will cause us eustress, the beneficial sort of stress. That can only be helpful to your mental stability."
"Look at that," Watson snarked, "you did take a psychology class."
1.5. (Tawogfan2000) [Amazing World of Gumball]
Elmore had received a very urgent mention from their Admin. A virus had broken into Yggdrasill, and if nothing was done, several...problematic people in their Branch could start looping. The Admins couldn't do anything about it, leaving it to Elmore to kill anyone before the loop ended.
Elmore sighed, and got to work on seeing who needed to die, and who they would allow to loop. First candidate, Margaret Robinson.
Clearly no sane sentient being would allow someone like that to loop, so with a simple thought, a car smashed into the woman, propelling her into a wood chipper that rended her into fluff. That pile of fluff was then struck by lightning, turning what was left to dust.
Next was Felicity Parham. She was an annoying moral guardian of a parent, so she was also a no-no. A fissure opened up beneath her, and she fell several miles towards the center of the earth.
Rob was an interesting case, since his relationship with Gumball could allow for some very interesting stories to happen. Perhaps they could let him live?
...
...
Nah. Rob tripped on air and fell into a trash can, which rolled into on-coming traffic. It was hit by several cars, stepped on by Hector, struck by lightning and crushed by a satellite.
This was repeated several times on several candidates. The CEO of Chanax, the bomb guy, Gumball's puppets. Soon enough, every potentially dangerous person in Elmore was dead.
Elmore sighed in relief and looked over themselves, admiring a job well done.
They were a damn good Anchor.
1.3 continued (Masterweaver) [RWBY]
Overview
Lecture halls, already being suited for large groups, were easily commandeered by the loopers. Professor Peach was out on another trip to Gardens and Gatehouses, and the various herbs and plants scattered about her classroom served to calm the mood slightly.
Slightly.
Weiss nodded as the last of the loopers took their seat. "I wish I could say this meeting was under better circumstances," she began, "but unfortunately we are here to discuss grim facts. A program was found in the Hogwarts loop, set to activate one Dolores Umbridge despite all the efforts of the admin in question."
"Well shit," Raven quipped.
"Indeed. Fortunately the program was identified and, as it turned out, Umbridge would not activate if she did not survive that loop iteration. The local anchor was informed and took action... whereupon a hidden second program triggered." Weiss tapped the chalkboard with her rapier. "The first program spread across the loops, and is now attempting to activate 'Umbridge' multiple times in multiple universes despite there not being any Umbridge in them."
"And any unattached activation will find people to activate," Cinder concluded. "Something we all know."
"Well fuck." Raven threw up a hand. "Great, so you want us to find new loopers?"
"No," Ruby said firmly. "Nobody has activated this loop."
"The original program will only activate a looper if and only if they survive to the end of this iteration," Weiss repeated. "Marianne is unable to interact with Remnant's code directly, for some reason-we presume it to be the virus-but she was able to contact us via Ruby's subspace pocket. According to her notes, she counted at least twelve potential activations."
"That's twelve potential ascension risks," Ruby added. "Possibly more. We need to go out and... kill... anyone we don't want looping, before the loop ends." She sighed, looking across the room. "So, that's what this meeting is about. Figuring out who needs to die, and who... can be allowed to live. After that..."
She gripped her scythe, exhaling slowly. "...we do what we need to, the most efficient way we can."
1.6 (Tawogfan2000) [Regular Show]
Morning Meeting
"Ok everybody listen up." Benson said to the gathering of currently awake loopers. "Skips has received a message from our Admin. Apparently a virus has spread across Yggdrasill and it is threatening to activate some dangerous villains. Since the Admins have been locked out of their terminals, it is up to us to make sure that no potentially dangerous people survive to the end of the Loop." He explained to everyone. "Any suggestions?"
Rigby raised his hand. "Why are we so scared? Pretty much every bad guy we face ends up dying. We just gotta do what we do and everything will be fine."
"Actually I'm pretty sure some of our bad guys survive sometimes." Mordecai pointed out.
"Yeah dude, don't you remember Klorgbane? I'm pretty sure you guys didn't kill him in baseline." Muscle Man chimed in.
"We don't, that's why we have to make sure that no villain survives. Everybody start compiling names, then we'll discuss what to do with them." Skips said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Pfft, this is gonna be easy. We are really good at killing bad guys." Rigby pointed out. He wasn't wrong, since their antagonists generally had a very low survival rate. Things were guaranteed to go of without a hitch.
1.3 continued (Masterweaver) [RWBY]
Selection, Part 1
"I've assembled a list of... antagonists," Weiss said diplomatically, "and divided them up into groups for us to go over. Firstly, from Vacuo, Carmine Escaldos and Bertilak Celadon."
"Human traffickers," Yang said flatly. "They go down. Probably easy to handle, but it's best not to take that risk."
"It helps that none of us really interact with them," Blake murmured. "Makes it easier."
"Alright then..." Weiss swallowed. "Atlas."
Ruby took the list from her gently. "Jacques Schnee, Whitley Schnee, Caroline Cordovin, Henry Marigold, and... an assortment of high-class business individuals, I gather."
"Attendees to the party in baseline, yes." Weiss tapped the desk flatly. "The majority are barely defined, but they do have negative lines. I... if I could choose to ignore them, I would. The vast majority of these people are just irritants, but looping would make them worse, so they are on the list. Jacques and Caroline... they need to go down."
Her eyes roved across the crowd. "Whitley, however, I will not allow to be part of this. If he loops, I will handle him."
"Agreed," Winter and Raven said simultaneously.
"Okay then. From Mistral..." Ruby sighed. "Leo Lionheart, of course. Little Miss Malachite..." She glanced at Weiss. "Vernal and Shay D. Mann?"
"Added only as antagonists," Weiss said quickly. "I will bow to Raven's discretion on them-"
"They live," Raven said flatly.
Yang tilted her head. "I can get Vernal, but... Shay? Really? He's kind of a dick."
"He's not a threat if he starts looping," Raven said simply. "And he respects power."
"I'll say that all the Malachites should live," Roman added. "They're all members of organized crime, they know the value of limitations."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course you would..."
"And..." Ruby looked to Ozpin. "...Leo?"
"...Too big a risk," he replied, shaking his head. "I would love to give him a chance at redemption, but knowing that other loopers-not even from our loop-might try to use him... at the least, I feel he can have a quiet death."
"Alright." Ruby looked at the list again. "There's a few more from Mistral-the racist ramen shop owner and, er, more bandits."
"Again, added purely for completion's sake." Weiss inclined her head toward Raven, who frowned but said nothing.
"...So nobody's going to say 'let the ramen shop guy loop?'" Ruby asked, half-jokingly.
"I'll handle him," Raven said flatly. "Let the rest of you focus on the 'more deserving' problems."
1.7 (Boohoooo!) [Final Space]
"Gary!" HUE exclaimed, the AI Anchor clearly panicked.
"Yes HUE?" Gary asked as he and the Catos played catch, hoping it was something silly.
"There's been an administrative issue. Selene says if we don't take out each of our baddies, any of them could Loop." HUE explained. Gary sputtered while Avacato's face hardened.
"Good thing we did our usual Lord Commander kill run." Little Cato sighed.
"And Bhero died in that fight as well. That just leaves Todd H. Wattson, Gary's mom, The Mega KVNs, the Titans and the Infinity Guard. All of whom except The Titans Should be simple enough." Avacato mused.
"Would Todd count? Earth wasn't destroyed this Loop." Little Cato mused, Mooncake stopping a potential answer.
"Chookity pok."
"Buddy, Clarence isn't a threat, just a huge pain in the ass." Gary pointed out.
"Chookity pok chookity?"
"...Yeah, dealing with him forever WOULD be almost as bad as KVN."
"Yeah! KVN time!" KVN grinned. Gary kicked him off.
"Guys, what the hell are you talking about?" Quinn stated bluntly.
"...Quinn, this is really weird, but you need to trust me. There's some people we need to kill, or the universe is in serious danger. Do you trust me enough to help Stop these people?" Gary asked with hopeful eyes and clear worry in his tone.
"...You're never this serious... Of course, Gary." Quinn nodded.
"Awesome! Come on guys, we got some asshats to kill."
The Team Squad cheered and nodded as they flew off... Right into an asteroid belt. HUE managed to upload himself into his robot body beforehand, thankfully.
The Infinity Guard HQ was in for quite the surprise when their yearly feast turned out to be poisoned. They were all dead within the hour.
Sheryl Goodspeed grinned as she chugged down a beer using money she had stolen from some schmuck distracted by her boobs. That grin didn't drop as a gun was pressed to her head, trembling.
"S'up Mom?" Gary sighed.
"Gary. I'd say nice to see you but... We both know that's a lie." Sheryl shook her head in amusement.
"I... I have to kill you. It's complicated." Gary stated.
"Oh really? Go ahead. Do it."
Gary shook, his hand going to squeeze. He tried to think about how awful she treated him, the abuse, the abandonment... But...
"I can't do it." Gary muttered, lowering the gun.
"I knew i-" Sheryl smugly began... Before collapsing with a bullet wound in her forehead.
"I'm sorry Gary. It had to be done." Avacato stated solemnly, lowering the gun he used. Gary weakly nodded, looking down.
Todd H. Wattson mysteriously passed away in his sleep one day, no doctor able to figure out what happened other than his organs failing. Unbeknownst to the grieving loved ones, HUE had put microscopic nanobots in the family man's drink that poisoned him.
A few weeks later, Clarence picked up the Team Squad in the Crimson Light.
"Well Well Well, Free wo-" The creep giggled... Before KVN chopped his face so hard his skull caved in, killing him.
"I never liked him anyways." KVN ironically shrugged. The Others gave deadpan expressions before Siccing KVN on the Evil KVNs, who were soon all defeated.
"OK, that leaves The Titans. Quinn, can you make a bomb that could destroy a huge portion of space if you had help?" Gary asked.
"It... Depends on the help. Maybe." Quinn frowned.
"Good enough. Now, Mooncake, summon the Archachnitects!" Gary stated. Mooncake nodded and they were soon in the home of the godly beings.
"...What the hell just happened?" Fox blinked.
"...I don't know." Ash shrugged.
And so, Quinn and the Archachnitects built a bomb to Destroy Final Space and attached it to Mooncake (to Gary's dismay and reluctance) before sending him into Final Space. The resulting explosion even shook Regular space!
Next Loop, a party was thrown after a certainty was had they were successful. It was smooth sailing from here on out!
1.3 continued (Masterweaver) [RWBY]
Selection, Part 2
"Right, so, that brings us to Vale..."
"You've already spoken up for the Malachite twins," Weiss said to Roman. "I presume you want us to avoid Junior too?"
"Organized crime, and Blondie's already got her hooks in him."
"That leaves Merlot and..." Ruby sighed. "Team CRDL. Gods, I hate this, they're bullies and jerks but... are we really saying they shouldn't loop?"
Jaune sighed. "...For their own good, at least. They're not mature enough to handle the loops."
Ruby sighed. "Right. We can figure out who will handle Merlot later. For now..." She glanced up to the Belladonna family. "This is the big one. Named members of the White Fang."
Ilia winced. "I don't... want to make that decision."
"Don't think about who has to die," Kali suggested quietly. "Think about... who we can save."
"Well... Sienna can be reasoned with. And... there is Trifa," she admitted. "She's generally extremely devoted, instead of extremely motivated. Loyal to the cause, instead of a person... I think she could be brought around, in the loops."
"And... the Albains?"
"...Too crafty. They were able to... no." She shook her head. "Trifa and Sienna. They can be spared. The rest..."
"That's Adam, his Lieutenant, the Albains, and Yuma that need to..." Ruby sighed. "...need to be dealt with."
"And that brings us to the final group," Weiss interjected, taking the list back. "Salem, Hazel, Watts, Tyrian, Mercury-"
"Mercury is mine," Cinder declared. "He lives."
"I'd be kind of okay with Hazel too," Emerald added. "He's mostly decent, and we've got the resources as loopers to help him through... the parts that aren't."
"...and," Weiss finished, "the brother gods."
The air fell still.
"...We cannot allow them to loop," Weiss repeated firmly.
"The brother gods?" Emerald shook her head. "Weiss, they're gods. I mean, sure, they're pricks, but how would we even-"
"The how can be debated later," Weiss said flatly. "The question now is, do any of us here, any at all, think it would be safe to allow them to loop?"
There was some uncomfortable shuffling, but nobody spoke up.
"...Alright. We'll finalize the list and... figure out assignments."
1.8 (Black Omochao) [Yo-kai Watch]
The Warning
"Alright everyone, we have a big problem!" the Anchor of the Yo-kai Watch Loops, Nate Adams, shouted as he stood at the front of Mt. Wildwood shrine, before an assembly of Loopers. "Or at least, a potential big problem!"
"This better be good, I sped all the way over from BBQ," Usapyon grunted with crossed arms.
"Shh! My grandson is talking!" Moximous N scolded, standing beside the otter yo-kai.
Nate continued without interruption, "I just got word from Yama, AKA: The Admin Enma!" the Anchor spoke seriously, his eyes flashing blue. "There's some kind of virus going through the Loops, it's attaching to random people and Activating them if they survive to the end of the Loop… anyone!"
A collective gasp sounded through the group, the severity of the situation becoming clear.
"Anyone, as in, anyone-anyone?" Kyubi questioned seriously, floating closer to the shrine where the Anchor stood. "Even if they are could be a near-guarantee of an Ascension risk!?"
"Yes! That's why I got the warning," Nate nodded, speeding around the area in a blur of rose petals, stopping by the steps that led down to the Crank-a-Kai's location. "This would be bad enough on its own… but as I think we're all aware; this is a Game Variant!"
"I wasn't entirely sure, but I did notice a few things…" Lily muttered, looking down to the ground.
"Oh my swirls!" Komasan exclaimed in worry, before blinking, "Er… why is that worse than normal, Nate? There's some pretty bad stuff in Baseline…"
"And a Game Variant has pretty much all of it!" Jibanyan interjected, jumping from the crowd and landing by Nate's side. "And more!"
"Chairman McKraken," Whisper muttered with dread.
"The Ghoulfather," Katie spoke with a fearful look. "Or any of his followers for that matter…"
"WOBBLEWOK!" Hailey shouted, jumping up and pulling at her hair.
"That could be bad…" Manjimutt grunted. "Not to mention the likes of Mass Mutterer…" the dog-man shuddered a bit as he spoke that name.
"Or even… Whisped Cream!" Kyubi hissed with narrowed eyes.
Nate nodded, planting his feet firmly on the ground, before pulling Spectral Fang out from his pocket, shifting into scythe mode. "There's only one way to avoid this, though I don't like it… we need to eliminate them all!" the Anchor's eyes narrowed further, "I know we don't usually like to resort to such means, even if it was the only way to deal with someone in Baseline… or 'Base Game Variant,' but in this case, we don't have a choice!"
A lot of muttering came from the Loopers, before a small shadowy humanoid jumped forward.
"Nathan," Moximous N gave his grandson a troubled look. "Are you sure about this, can we even stop it? Death in this world is… well; look at me."
"We destroyed the Ghoulfather, didn't we?" Hailey spoke up, having calmed down from the prospect of 'Wobblewok Looping.' "Well… that weird, UFO stone is what really destroyed him… but it proves it can be done!"
"Even if we don't know for sure if a yo-kai can be destroyed completely, we need to try!" Nate. "There are too many of them that wouldn't care about this world in the prospect of godhood! We won't wait for them to strike; we'll split into teams and hunt them all down!" zooming through the crowd, each Looper soon found themselves holding a list.
"What's this…?" Lily questioned, adjusting her glasses a bit, them having been knocked a bit out of place by the gust of her son's speed.
"It looks like it's a list of all the yo-kai we can't allow to Loop… and where to find them as soon as possible," Katie said as her eyes scanned the paper, before she traded a nod with her fox yo-kai companion.
"We'll make sure none of them Activate," Nate held his weapon tightly, giving Jibanyan a nod, before the cat yo-kai gave a roar and shifted into his Shadowside form. "There's no time to waste, Game Variants have always been a bit tricky about how long they last, so let's move get moving everyone!"
1.9 (Zum1UDontNo) [Admin Shenanigans] [Mythos Hackers]
YoggyButWithAFancyWhiteHat has invited Skuld to chat.
YoggyButWithAFancyWhiteHat has changed Skuld's username to StopHammerTime.
StopHammerTime: Well, you only mess around when there's something to report. What is it, Yog-Sothoth?
YoggyButWithAFancyWhiteHat: what, straight to business? come on
StopHammerTime: There's no point in idle chatter if there's something important to say.
StopHammerTime has changed their username to Skuld.
Skuld has changed YoggyButWithAFancyWhiteHat's username to YogSothoth.
Skuld: Especially with what's going on right now.
Skuld: Any news to report on ShoggothChan, or are you just wasting my time?
YogSothoth: aw come on skuld, cant i just talk to my friend? is that so weird of me?
Skuld: Yes.
YogSothoth: guilty as charged lol
YogSothoth has changed their username to EggYog.
EggYog: but yeah i got news for you, not about the chan but still from it
EggYog: shits gonna go down in inkopolis and were like the only one that noticed
EggYog: grab ya kids grab ya wife grab ya car grab ya life
EggYog: oh wait you have none of those
Skuld: What's going to happen in the Splatoon Branch?
EggYog: commander tartar. some ai goop made of supreme dna
EggYog: maybe not an ascension risk, but he's gonna want to kill everyone based on his own ideals of perfection
EggYog: everyone forgets about him too
EggYog: apparently cthulhu's daughter likes the squid sisters so she knows a lot about the branch
Skuld: How dangerous is this Commander Tartar?
EggYog: smart, mean, able to brainwash people and wreck cities
EggYog: and that's baseline
EggYog: he also blended up a buncha people into soup
Skuld: I'll send a warning to Kanaloa, to make sure he informs Callie and Marie.
Skuld: Thank you, Yog-Sothoth.
EggYog: aw come on dont log off yet
EggYog: lets chat a bit
Skuld: I have things to do.
EggYog: like talking to your bestest friend?
Skuld has muted EggYog.
EggYog has unmuted EggYog.
EggYog: imagine trying to mute the gate and the key. sad
Skuld: Yog-Sothoth, the only reason I talk with you is because you offer info on the Mythos Hackers' actions. You're our backdoor.
Skuld: Our relationship is purely business. And with the Le-Eyo Program running amuck, I can't afford to waste any time.
Skuld: ...
EggYog: everybody gangsta till the admin drops a triple dot
Skuld: Were you the one that stole the Le-Eyo Program?
Skuld: You, or any other members of ShoggothChan?
EggYog: you know me skuld, im too smart for that
EggYog: im like, galaxy brain. far too much iq to think this is a good idea
Skuld: Somehow I doubt you would refuse to do something just because it might damage Yggdrasil.
EggYog: who said anything about that i just don't wanna end up face down in a ditch like slenderbastard
EggYog: like, i dont want the tree to burn, but honestly
EggYog: its less that and more i know you can wreck us if we actually break shit too bad
Skuld: What about any of the other Hackers?
EggYog: honestly i think the only ones dumb enough to go through with something like this are cthulhu and y'golonac
EggYog: and maybe atlach-nacha but she probably hasn't even noticed whats going on
Skuld: And you're sure none of them have done it behind your back?
EggYog: cthulhu wouldve bragged about it by now and y'golonac always tells hastur when hes about to do something
EggYog: hastur wouldve shot him down
EggYog: if it makes you feel better ill get the bois (and goils) to keep an eye out to see why it happened
Skuld: For all I know, you could be lying through your teeth right now.
EggYog: what teeth lmao
EggYog: but fine
EggYog: cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye
Skuld: We both know that Pinkie Promises mean nothing to you. Pinkie Pie is strong, but she's not Admin level.
EggYog: i know i just wanted to say it
EggYog: Y' ah llll tharanakor Azathoth, llll h' lw'nafh ng, ph' h', ya yaor, cahf Y' ymg' ai soth mgng mgleth, li'hee shogg.
Skuld: …
Skuld: "Is I swear at Azathoth, at it a dream then, over it, me own, that I speak yours space but truth, on pain of realm of darkness."
Skuld: This means nothing to me.
EggYog: holy shit your r'lyehian is so broken lmao
EggYog: did you run that through google translate or are you legit that bad at reading it
Skuld: Just tell me what it means.
EggYog: I do swear by Azathoth, on his life and, through it, my own, that I tell you nothing but the truth, on pain of the abyss.
Skuld: Again, this means nothing to me.
EggYog: you realize how important azathoth is, right? hes like, probably the oldest entity in the multiverse
EggYog: if he died, me and all the other mythos bros would just cease to exist
EggYog: swearing on azathoth is a big deal
Skuld: ...Alright. I believe you.
Skuld: For now.
EggYog: thanks for the vote of confidence
EggYog: so howve you been
Skuld: Stop.
EggYog: i refuse
Skuld has removed EggYog from the chat.
EggYog has reinvited EggYog to the chat.
EggYog: imagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sadimagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sadimagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sadimagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sadimagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sadimagine trying to remove the gate and the key. sad
Skuld: This conversation is over, Yog-Sothoth. You've reported what I needed to know.
EggYog: come on, you know our talks are the highlight of your day
EggYog: you work too hard, skuld. take a break, drink some water, nap, chat with friends
EggYog: its not like you can do anything about the crisis directly anyway
Skuld: Stop wasting my time. I have things to do and I can't deal with your nonsense right now.
EggYog: I'm being perfectly serious, Skuld. You're working too hard. It's not healthy. …I'm worried about you.
EggYog: Just because you CAN devote your every hour to Yggdrasil doesn't mean you're obligated to.
EggYog: You need to trust in the Loopers, they can handle this. I promise.
EggYog: Take a break. If you keep going on like this you're gonna burn out.
EggYog: hello? are you ghosting me now really
EggYog: fine i know when im not wanted ill let myself out
EggYog: cya later skuld
EggYog has left the chat.
Skuld: …
Skuld: Thanks, Yog.
Skuld: See you later.[/S]
Skuld has deleted (3) messages.
Skuld has left the chat.
1..10 (Evilhumour) [Steven Universe][Godzilla]
Steven let out a small smile as he Woke up on his balcony. By a quick examination, he was currently sixteen years old and just got back from Homeworld.
Far later than normal for him to Wake up but just enough time to-
"Huh?" Steven blinked as there was a note in his Admin's penmanship in the place where the butterfly usually was. As he started to read the note, his face began to pale with his hands shaking. Clutching the note tightly, Steven leapt off the balcony before Connie had left the beach house while sending off Pings rapidly as he tried his best to control his fears of what he just read.
With a startled gasp, Connie looked at him and asked, "Steven, what's wro-"
"Are you Awake‽" he asked, stumbling over his words as Pearl and Lion began to make their way over to him, either because of his panicked jumping over the side or Pearl heard his Pings.
"Yeah Steven, I am but what's-" Connie started to say as she dropped her duffel bag.
"Steven what's the matter?" Pearl asked with Lion tilting his head as Greg came running up.
"Virus in Yggdrasil, forced activation, giant monster!" Steven said all at once in jumble before he held up his hand to get them to take a step back and let him try again. "There's a virus in Yggdrasil that's going to force people to start Looping. Normally for us that won't be a problem but we're in a fused loop with kaiju monsters and there is one that could be very bad to let Loop and it's on its way towards us!"
"Which one Steven?" Connie asked him while grabbing his shoulders while Greg looked around in confusion before Pearl began to give him a run down before letting out a gasp.
"It's King Ghidorah!" Pearl shouted.
"Yeah, how did you-" Steven began to ask before he saw Pearl point out to the sea where the yellow monster was starting to fly in. "Pearl, go get Garnet and Amethyst. Dad, I need you get the rest of the town to Little Homeworld immediately and get Lapis and Peridot to begin preparing sandbanks around the beach to stop the worst of its attack."
"What about me?" Jasper asked as she came running up, tensing up and keeping her eyes on the kaiju.
"Go help Dad get people out of here," he told as moved over to Connie. "We need to f-"
"Steven, I am a warrior; let me help-" Jasper began only for Connie to place a hand on her shoulder.
"Jasper, you just began to Loop and you are nowhere near ready to deal with this type of thing," Connie said. "We've been Looping a lot longer and even this is making us worried; I'm pretty sure Steven and the others are going to fuse into Obsidian once Pearl gets back."
"Exactly Connie," Steven nodded his head as he held out his hand to her, with Connie grabbing it and fusing into Stevonnie and leaping onto Lion's back and pulling out a strange looking sword that seemed to be broken right at the hilt.
"I can stall Ghidorah for a bit, but Pearl, you need to go now, and Jasper, please make sure everyone else is okay," Stevonnie said before squeezing Lion's side, which caused the lion to let out a roar before he started to run into the air.
Jasper watched them go before she heard the honk of Greg's van with the human waving at her to get with Pearl running off to the warp pad. Frowning to herself, the gem already had plans in how she could actually help with this monster fight.
1.11. (dragonraptyr) [Dark Crystal]
Part 1
Aughra gave an annoyed groan as she Awoke, later than usual with her mind wandering the stars. Giving a cough to get rid of any lingering dust, she stretched her legs, kicking them to regain a bit of feeling.
Once she could walk without keeling over, she walked over to her food supplies, rummaging around for a pot and a mug to make herself some tea. As she waited for the water to come to a boil, she began looking through her memories.
As she did, four pings came through in rapid succession, letting her know that either all of her Loopers were Awake and in the same time for once, or that she had some visitors. Either would be interesting.
She sipped at her tea, and then gave a cough as a loud voice cut through her thoughts.
"LOOPERS OF THRA: THIS IS YOUR ADMIN SPEAKING. YGGDRASIL IS CURRENTLY IN A CRISIS SITUATION. A VIRUS HAS BEGUN FORCE-ACTIVATING LOOPERS. IF THEY SURVIVE TO THE END OF THE LOOP, THEN THEY WILL BEGIN LOOPING. WE ARE LOCKED OUT OF OUR TERMINALS, AND CANNOT IDENTIFY THE INFECTED INDIVIDUALS. THE SKEKSIS MUST BE PREVENTED FROM LOOPING AT ALL COSTS. ALL SKEKSIS MUST BE KILLED BEFORE THE END OF THE LOOP.
The voice cut off, and Aughra gave a deep sigh. She understood her Admin's reasoning. The Skeksis feared death so much that they had nearly killed Thra before. There was no way that they would not try to ascend.
But they had been friends, once. And despite all they had done, a part of her still missed their friendship. Despite knowing the truth, despite the dire warning, Aughra allowed herself a moment to mourn.
Then she reached out, and pulled her Loopers into Dream Space.
Rian sat on the floor of the Dream Space, huddled close to the other Loopers. Beside him, Naia looked near tears, and neither of the other two looked much better. Across their small circle, Aughra had her eye closed, an unreadable expression on her face.
"I suppose you have all heard the announcement." She said at last. "Killing is not our way. It wasn't before the Loops began. It isn't now." She looked up at the Crystal floating over their heads. "Poor fools. Their fear of what waits for them after death has driven them mad." Aughra shook her horned head sadly. "I do not want to say this, but our Admin is right. To protect the countless lives entrusted to us, including those of the Skeksis, we will need to kill them."
"What about the Mystics?" Jen offered. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "If we kill the Skeksis, they'll die too. They don't deserve that."
Naia was quick to agree. "UrVa, UrSan, and all of the others – If we kill the Skeksis, we kill them too." She looked down at her hands, wreathed in healing magic. "We couldn't make the choice to kill them in baseline. How can you expect us to make it now?"
"And what about SkekGra and UrGoh?" Rian brought up, fidgeting in his seat. "Out of all the Skeksis, it might be safe for him to Loop." The thought of having to cut down the friendly duo hurt his heart, especially since he knew that they would probably agree with the Admin, and either let him kill them, or else do it themselves.
"Nothing about this is good." Aughra's voice shook, and Rian realized with a shudder of fear that his ancient Anchor was herself on the verge of tears. "The UrSkeks were my dear friends for countless trine. They taught me so much, and long have I wanted to return the favour. To show them what I have found, and teach them in return. We should not celebrate their deaths."
She fixed all of them with her eye. "But listen, my dear Ghel-lflainnk, my ones who live without knowledge of the future. If the Skeksis Loop, there will be no end to the darkness that plagues our world. The Loops will not be a haven for you, but a nightmare with no escape. They will hunt you, break you, from now until eternity. Unless we take this dire act, Skeksis rule will last forever, and Thra will fall forever into darkness."
Rian looked down at his hands. He tried to envision the future that Aughra had described, to grasp at that terrible nightmare, and found his mind shying from the thought. It seemed impossible to conceive that such an awful thing could come to pass. But equally strange was the thought of a world without the Skeksis. To trace the lines of their life, only to watch them come to a sudden halt, while his carried on without them.
"Do not think you'll be fighting alone." Aughra gave a grim smile. "For all of the Ages of Thra, through all of its Loops, it has been my role to watch, never to act." She stood, drawing herself up to her full height, and Rian watched as a weight seemed to fall away from her. Gone was the grumpy old crone with no answers to give him. Here before him stood the Voice of Thra. This was the Earthmother, the Anchor, the Goddess Grotesque. Here before him in Dream Space was the Aughra that the songs spoke of.
Her voice rang through the Dream Space, stronger now than he had ever heard it. "Come, my Loopers. We have work to be done."
The Dream Space vanished, and Rian woke up on the floor beneath the Spyglass where he'd fallen. He looked up at Mira.
"We need to talk to my father. Now."
Rian's heart hammered in his chest as he walked through the Castle. He had gotten used to the idea of resisting the Skeksis. Mira's murder had left him with no other option, and no desire to walk a different path. But here and now, walking the halls with the very solid intent to kill the Skeksis was another matter entirely. Any moment, he expected to round a corner and come face to face with a Skeksis, to be faced with that terrible decision that they had all made in the Dream Space, and be forced to act on it.
Mira followed close behind, a worried expression on her face. He hadn't dared to tell her what he was planning. Not without dreamfasting, and not before he'd told his father. Forget being forced to betray the Skeksis out of self-preservation, this was outright conspiracy to commit murder. A dry chuckle erupted from his chest as he considered the morbid thought that for once, the Skeksis were right about him.
This was going to tear the Gelfing apart. He almost stopped in the hallway as the enormity of what he was doing settled in. As it was, his feet led him almost numbly to the stables. This would not be rebellion. This would be all-out war, as Gelfling chose either their Lords, or to side with the Loopers and believe them about the threat.
A chatter of commotion broke through his thoughts as the Skeksis carriage prepared to depart for Ha'rar. Pushing his thoughts to the side for the moment, he raised his voice to be heard above the din. "Captain!"
His father turned to face him, and Rian suddenly felt cold. What was he thinking? He'd only had two Loops so far before this mess. He hadn't had time to properly process that his father was alive again, and now he was throwing himself in the deep end of it and asking his father to commit treason.
Ordon walked over to them. "What is it? Make it quick."
"I..." Rian took a deep breath. "Dreamfast with me. Now. It's urgent." He held out a palm. "It can't wait."
Ordon gave a sigh. "If this is an excuse for stealing food again, I don't want to hear it."
"I don't think it is." Mira looked over at him with a worried expression on her face. "We were up by the Spyglass when he suddenly froze and went into some kind of a trance. When he woke up, all he would tell me is that we needed to talk to you as soon as possible."
Rian nodded. "It was a vision. You need to see it. We're all in grave danger."
Ordon looked at him for a long moment, before reaching taking Rian's hand. Rian twined his fingers with his father's, and then let himself fall into the dreamfast. He started at the beginning, with Mira's murder, the Skeksis accusations, and Ordon's own death. He felt his father shudder at that, and quickly moved on to the rest. The Heretic and the Wanderer, the Hunter and the Archer. The search for the Dual Glaive. The Fires of Resistance, and the alliance of the Arathim. His own Awakening, and Aughra's "Welcome to the Multiverse" speech. The Admin's order, and the meeting in the Dream Space.
When it was finished, he let go of his father's hand. Ordon looked as if he'd been run down by an Armalig, and had a dazed look in his eyes. "You... all of that?"
Rian nodded. "Yes. Father, I don't like it, and I don't want to. But we have no choice."
Ordon rubbed a hand across his forehead. "I... need some time to think about this."
Rian felt his heart fall. "What?"
Ordon pulled him close. "Rian, this is no small thing that you have asked of me." He fixed Rian with a stern look. "What you have asked of our people. I believe you when you say what must be done but it is no easy thing to change oneself so utterly so quickly. I will be there to help you. But I need time to adjust first."
He stepped back, and Rian let himself feel a glimmer of hope. "Besides, I am on my way to Ha'rar. I cannot pass on your memories, but I can share your truths with the All-Maudra. Work from your end, and I will do what I can from mine. Understand?"
Rian nodded. Behind them, SkekLach looked out of the carriage, complaining about the delay. For a moment, father and son looked at the Skeksis, before Ordon clapped his son on the back. "You have your marching orders. I'll see you when I get back."
He turned and walked to his landstrider. Mira looked over at Rian. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, now?" She hissed in his ear.
Rian looked over his shoulder as Gurjin came up behind them. "Yes." He gave a nod. "You and Gurjin both."
"Wait, what?" Gurjin looked startled at suddenly being drawn into their conversation. "What's going on now?"
The Chamberlain preened as he prowled the halls of the Castle, a wicked smile upon his beak. The scientist thought himself clever, but how deftly had he been manipulated, beguiled into following the Chamberlain's will without being any wiser.
He watched a pair of Gelfling cross the hall, their heads bowed in reverence. What would Gelfling essence be like? He trembled at the thought of such heady power coursing through his veins, giving him new life and vigour, sharpening his mind further still to a razor's point.
The clamour of hushed voices caught his ear, and the Chamberlain let himself glide over the flagstones until he was close enough to hear. His fellow Skeksis looked down on Gelfling and divested themselves of the creatures unless they could be put to use. But on occasion, one could learn such interesting things.
He hid just out of sight, taking care to make it look as if he were not eavesdropping.
Around the corner, the Captain of the Guard's son stood with his two friends, his voice low. "Thra is not the only world out there. There's a whole universe out there, each with it's own song. And beyond that, there are other universes. All of these together form what's called the Multiverse, and it takes the shape of a great tree called Yggdrasil."
The Chamberlain raised an eyebrow. Odd that Rian knew so much about such higher workings. Such discussions were once the realm of the UrSkeks, not such lowly beasts as Gelfling. And the boy spoke with authority about multiverses, a subject long thought to be hypothetical.
Rian continued, interrupting the Chamberlain's thoughts. "Something went wrong with Yggdrasil. With reality itself, and now time is stuck in a series of Loops until it gets fixed. The people who are in charge of fixing reality, they call themselves the Admins, have chosen people from each universe, each Branch of Yggdrasil, to remember the time Loops and help keep reality stable."
"And you're one of them?" Gurjin's voice was low, and asked a question to which the Chamberlain had already guessed the answer, and which Rian confirmed a moment later. "Yes, though I'm actually new. I've only had two Loops, and one of them only lasted for fifteen minutes before I got myself killed."
Now that was a useful piece of information. Rian had died. But since time was Looping, death was only an inconvenience for him, rather than something to dread. The emperor would be furious to learn that the Gelfling had been given a way to cheat death forever, while the Skeksis were forced to take from the Crystal, from the Gelfling, and from Thra all while withering away further.
Such lowly creatures as the Gelfling should not Loop. That right should belong to the Skeksis alone. If there was a way to take the ability from the Gelfling, the Skeksis would have to find it.
"You don't remember every Loop." Rian mentioned. "We call it being Awake. Only one Looper is always Awake, so that reality is stable. That Looper is called the Anchor. Mother Aughra is our Anchor. Because she always has to be Awake, if something happens to her, the Loop ends immediately."
"Alright. And what were you talking to your father about? It sounded important." a rustle filled the corridor as Rian's girlfriend flicked her wings.
"It is. In almost every Loop, the Skeksis turn on the Gelfling, and start draining our essence to prolong their own lives. By the time of the Great Conjunction, when the three suns line up, there are only two Gelfling left." Rian's voice turned hard. "The Skeksis are evil, and have betrayed us. I'll dreamfast you the memory, if you want."
The Chamberlain tapped a claw to his beak. It seemed that Loopers were more troublesome than they appeared. If they knew what the future would hold, and could see through the Skeksis manipulations – through his manipulations, and how the thought festered and burned- then they would be adept at staying one step ahead of the Skeksis. He nearly gave a gleeful whimper before he caught himself. Finally, a real challenge.
He waited patiently until the Gelfling had finished their dreamfast. "That was..." Gurjin seemed at a loss for words. Rian's girlfriend was less patient. "They killed me?" She hissed, nearly forgetting to keep her voice down. "And your father?"
Rian must have nodded, because she growled, a low buzz from her wings filling the corridor. "It gets worse." He said. "Someone let out an infection that will force people to Loop if they live to the end, and the Admins can't do anything from their side. So we have to kill the Skeksis, before they can make things worse."
It was tempting to hear more. But after such treasonous, delectable words, The Chamberlain's duty was clear. He sidled back down the corridor away from the traitor Gelfling. "This is something that Emperor must know." He gave a cruel whimper of glee at what was to come. "Hmmmmm."