Disclaimer: All Disney works are the property of The Walt Disney Company. All other characters and settings are the property of their respective legal owners.
Author's note: Originally posted by Anon e Mouse Jr. on 2018-02-10. This is the second of two chapters posted today.
Disney/Kingdom Hearts Loops, Chapter Thirty-Five
35.1 (Saphroneth): [Kingdom Hearts]
Goofy looked around at the winding streets of Traverse Town. "So, uh, where d' you think this Key is gonna be, Donald?"
"It'll be obvious!" Donald replied. "Just follow me, and don't mess up!"
"Sure thing, Donald!" Goofy agreed.
Mere seconds later, Donald turned a corner and froze. Goofy did not, and tripped over him - resulting in the two ending up in a heap.
"Uh, sorry, Donald," Goofy said, getting up and helping his friend to his feet. "I didn't think you were gonna stop..."
"Look!" Donald interrupted, pointing.
Goofy looked, and saw something that made him stare.
Three people, probably humans, standing just inside the entrance to the Second District. They were looking around at the sights, but - more importantly - they were all clad from head to toe in shining metal armour.
Looking a little closer, Goofy saw that each suit of armour had unique patterns to it - marked out by differently coloured segments, and by things like the shape of the gloves or of the helmet. The helmet itself was an odd thing, opaque from the outside, but the human inside seemed to be able to see just fine.
Little things about the armour suggested to him that there were two men and one woman, or two boys and one girl - he wasn't very good with human ages.
"Who d' you think they are?" Goofy asked, glancing down at Donald.
Then space rippled, and a Heartless appeared in front of the group.
In less than a second, one of the three armoured humans blurred forwards. Something flashed into being in her hand, and by the time she stopped moving the Heartless had shattered into a wisp of darkness and a Heart went floating upwards.
"Look!" Donald cried, pointing at the weapon.
It was highly stylized, seeming to be constructed from flowers, but it was unmistakably in the form of a key.
Then the two realized that the humans were all looking at them.
"Your king sent you to look for a key," said one of the three armoured warriors. "Well, you certainly found that."
"Not just one, either," the second added, summoning his own key. "You found three keyblade wielders."
"I dunno, Donald, the King said only one Key," Goofy fretted. "Do you think he meant something else?"
"If he wanted one, then three's even better!" Donald countered. "We need to get going!"
"Going where?" asked the one who had destroyed the Shadow in front of them.
"To bring the Key to the King!" Donald answered. "He needs your help!"
"Sounds good to me," one of the warriors agreed, the tallest of them all. "Come on, let's go!"
He summoned his key, and threw it into the air. There was a brilliant flash, and all of a sudden they were standing atop a large construct - like a motorbike, but with large flat areas for the rest of them to sit on and a pair of wings out to the side.
Goofy noticed that one wing was black-and-red, and like a bat's wing, while the other was like a white bird's wing.
"You might want to hold on," the Keyblade user added, gripping the handlebars.
Then the whole vehicle went rocketing out towards the sky, and a second later they had left Traverse Town entirely and were looking out over the Sea in the Sky.
"Wait!" Donald complained. "We left the Gummi Ship behind!"
Some minutes later, as the Keyblade Glider hovered just outside the main entrance to Traverse Town, the shorter of the male Keyblade wielders sat down next to the taller.
"Well?"
"You were right," the taller one agreed, touching the pauldron of his armour and making it vanish. "That was kind of hilarious."
Sora dispelled his own armour, and beamed.
"How long do you think we can keep it up?" he added.
"I don't know," Riku replied, shrugging. "How long until we meet someone who might actually recognize us?"
They both turned to Kairi.
"If you boys want to keep this up, I'll have to stay in my armour," Kairi said. "I'm pretty sure a lot of the bad guys know what the Princesses of Heart look like."
The Gummi Ship came floating up next to them, and Sora waved.
"Hey!" he called. "Race you to the next world!"
Riku grinned, and Kairi shook her head before grabbing the back of his seat for support. Then Riku's Keyblade Glider set off so fast it left Sora behind, and he flailed for a moment before summoning his own and giving chase.
"Are y' sure the King wanted us to find them?" Goofy asked.
"I... don't know," Donald admitted.
35.2 (wildrook): [Disney] / [Bendy and the Ink Machine - non-Looping setting]
"Oswald," Mickey muttered. "Was this thing… always here?"
What both the mouse and rabbit were looking at was a giant ink machine.
"No, Mickey," Oswald replied, "I don't remember Old Man Yen Sid making a giant Ink Machine for the Wasteland."
Mickey looked at it. "I'm just getting a bad feeling about this thing. Like it's holding something on par with Chernabog."
Oswald gave him a deadpan look. "You're a Keyblade Master on par with the Wayfaring Trio. And those three that came after them can knock out Chernabog in three hits in baseline."
"I know that. It's just… I've had a bad feeling about this… almost like staring at a container of DIP that's just standing there, waiting to be activated."
And that's when they heard a clanging noise, startling them. Immediately, Mickey's golden Kingdom Key had appeared, Oswald using the paintbrush.
"Now that you mention it," Oswald muttered, "am I the only one that's freaked out by the cardboard cut-outs around here? It's like they're just… staring at us. And originating from pen and ink means that there's usually something else that's following us."
Mickey nodded. "They do tend to pop up when you least expect them," he replied… his eyes widened.
"Wait, wait, wait," Oswald said. "The freaked out eyes, the ominous dripping, and the fact that you look like you're about to strike me… something horrible is behind me, isn't it?"
He didn't need Mickey to answer that question.
"Well, well, well," a demonic voice said, catching Oswald off-guard. "Oswald. Mickey. It's been a long time. And you two look like you've taken quite the limelight."
Oswald slowly turned around, paintbrush in hand as Mickey took a battle stance… and yet, both of them couldn't make out the figure, despite the memories being hazy.
"What, you don't recognize me?" The figure looked at himself. "Well, with this much ink, it's understandable, but you've seen my face around here through the cardboard cutouts. It's me… your old pal… Bendy. Bendy the Dancing Demon."
"Oh..." Oswald muttered. "Well… sugar honey iced tea, now the Chernabog comparison is rather apt."
Mickey growled. "Why is it that every time we get involved with the aftermath of deals with the occult," he said, "the results tend to find us in the alps?"
"Oh, come now," Bendy said, a little hurt. "Is that any way to greet an old friend? Well, no matter. This reunion wasn't meant to be long. After all… we've got all the time in the world after I take both your hearts for stability... AND THEN TAKE YOUR PLACE AS THE MOST POPULAR CARTOON!"
Oswald and Mickey just stared at each other.
"So," the Lucky Rabbit said to the Mouse, "Plan A or Plan B?"
"Plan A involves brute-forcing the situation," Mickey replied, "and I'm pretty sure that he's had several years to figure out how an Ink-Based form works, not to mention he's stuck in toon form."
"So, Plan B, then."
Mickey placed a shoulder on Oswald. "STOPZA!" he yelled, stopping time before Bendy could strike them both.
And that's when they both made a strategic retreat.
To Bendy… as he hit them… he noticed they weren't there anymore.
"Ah, the oldest trick in the book," Bendy muttered. "No matter. This isn't a big place, so it's only a matter of time before I find you both."
As he left, he was unaware that Mickey and Oswald were both hiding on the ceiling.
"I really hate incomplete Baselines," Oswald muttered. "We don't even know the full story, so he and his lot are blank slates."
Mickey nodded. "And that's why I'm hesitant to strike him down," he replied. "Only thing we can do is make sure we don't run into..."
As they saw, the ink left behind had changed into something that was akin to Heartless, only made up of ink.
"...minions."
The looks on their faces were a mix of annoyance and resignation.
"I am getting sick of ink monsters in cartoon studios..." Oswald said. "One is bad enough. But him spawning minions from his own ink… it's like something out of a horror movie."
The fact that Mickey shared his sentiments concerning the Phantom Blot added to it. Whatever they were, they seemed to be tied to Bendy and the Ink Machine.
Once they had the full story could they act in front of Bendy. But for now… they have to settle for the small fries.
35.3 (smxsonic): [Star vs. The Forces of Evil] / [Slayers - mentioned only]
Star vs. The Dragon Slave
Marco thought something was strange when Star wanted to go Baseline through this loop. The Energetic princess would try to do ANYthing other than baseline when she was Awake. So here he was, trying to stop his glass container from crushing him as Toffee told Star to destroy her wand. Then Marco saw Star smirk slightly.
Darkness beyond twilight
Crimson beyond blood that flows
Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows
"Star... what are you doing?"
Toffee quirked an eyebrow, wondering what his enemy's daughter was trying to pull.
I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand
before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand
The star in the wand started to glow red, as magical energy started to surround it.
Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed
by the power you and I possess...
Star stood up and pointed her wand skyward.
DRAGON SLAVE!
The entire castle exploded, leaving Marco laying the shattered remains of his container and Star standing in the crater.
"MARCO!" Star shouted running up to her best friend, "I did it! I actually did it!"
"Slayers loop?"
"Star Inverse, at your service." Star answered with a curtsey, " And Look! My wand isn't cleaved!"
"That's great Star."
"What if I tried the Giga Slave in the Next loop?"
"Pretty sure that would crash the loop and neither one of us is ready for Eiken."
35.4 (lord Martiya): [Winx Club] / [Frozen] (also compiled in Winx Club Loops as Loop 34.8)
Icy Awakened in a rather comfortable bed. At first it wasn't bad, then the Loop memories hit her.
"I've replaced an idiot…" she whispered. "And I feel like - singing?"
Remembering the warnings from those who had already passed from there, Icy let the song go on while she thought at the situation, both positives and negatives.
On the positives, she was about to be crowned absolute queen of a small but very rich kingdom, had new ice powers that, while inferior in raw power to her current ones, had characteristics similar to the Dragon's Flame, and the imagine spot of how the fairies would have reacted to her with those powers in the old times was rather funny.
On the negatives, she had been cooped in the castle for years, had replaced an idiot who somehow misinterpreted the troll's advice and decided to try and suppress those powers and thought that staying away from everyone she loved was a good idea, and had a rather hyperactive little sister/heir to the throne that, having been cooped inside the castle but away from her, was both extremely inexperienced in the world and likely to hold some grudge.
She was the responsible sister, just how Darcy usually was… And she just realized why her sister could be so cranky at times. Better find the Anchor, and soon.
The crowning ceremony had been nice. A bit formal, but she was now an "undoubted queen". It came with a "protector of the dominion" bit, but she didn't mind: she liked her own things, and her pride demanded nothing less than her best.
The party, too was going well. She had been connecting with her Loop's sister Anna, had taken a measure of the Duke of Weselton, most likely opponent this Loop, and she knew she could deal with him easily even without the powers, and the food was good.
And then Anna dropped the bomb: she wanted to marry a guy she had just met. The fact it was a prince only made it smell worse. Something was rotten in the Southern Isle.
"Anna, you can't marry someone you've just met." she tried to explain.
"You can, if it's true love."
That would have been hard to reply, if it hadn't been for a few talks with Diaspro.
"Anna, that's not the problem. The fact you're royalty and the heir to the throne is."
"Uh?"
Icy made a mental note to strangle whoever she had replaced at the first chance. That, and arrange a good pneumonia to Anna's teacher for not explaining her the relevant bit. If nothing else the Duke was looking at them-and, judging by his reaction, could read lips. She could use the greed of one problem to deal with the unforgivability of the other.
"I am the queen of Arendelle, and you, as my sister, are first in the line of succession until I have a child. And, being the queen, I won't have the chance to marry for love. It will have to be a diplomatic match, carefully chosen to preserve our kingdom - and, as my sister, you would be expected the same. Let me finish. You would be expected the same, I said, but as you're the little sister, I have a bit of leeway. I can't let you marry him now - but I can allow him to court you, and make sure it's the one meaningful match."
Thankfully, that was acceptable to Anna. Who Icy was pretty sure wouldn't take long before she realized that Hans should have known, she was naive, not stupid.
As for the Duke, she knew he would help her ruin Hans: the Duke wanted Arendelle's riches, or at the very least an increase of the trade, and whatever Hans was trying with that stunt was bound to be a danger for his plans or, if exposed, a boon.
"And now you know: your sister may be stupid, but she loves you." Icy told Anna after revealing the ice powers to her and why exactly she had kept away. It had not been difficult being self-deprecating; after all, it was the one who she replaced, and not herself, who had missed the obvious.
And, as expected, Anna had hugged her. While crying. And as NOT expected, after a while Anna asked confirmation on not planning to tell Hans.
"There's something strange with him." she admitted. Earlier than Icy expected. "I mean, he should have known about the problems with our wedding… You were trying to warn me, weren't you?"
"Anna, before anything else, I am your older sister. The world will freeze before I allow anyone to hurt you again."
It took only ten seconds to Icy to understand why Anna didn't take the statement well.
"My my my… You are rather inexperienced, prince Hans. Gifted, but inexperienced." the Duke of Weselton told Hans after tricking him into admitting he was after Arendelle's throne. "People wiser and more experienced would have already understood that Princess Anna is to be admired from afar lest the queen's wrath is turned upon them, and they should instead curry her majesty's favor and take what she gifts them."
"You should keep the secret, Weasel Town." Hans replied. "Who do you think they'd believe? You, whose greed is well known, or the charming, innocent suitor to the princess?"
"You, of course." the Duke answered, without rising to the provocation.
Instead he lifted the curtain near him, revealing queen Icy, Anna, and a dozen guards.
"As I said, you are too inexperienced. Or you'd know it's Weselton… And that you just provoked two furies worse than a hundred witches: a-"
Weselton couldn't gloat anymore. After all, it didn't make any sense while his preferred audience was sleeping, courtesy of Anna's surprisingly strong right hook.
"Arendelle is in your debt, Duke." Icy said. "I am sure we'll be able to show our gratitude, once we've seen that this insulter to anything royals and nobility stand for is sent back whence he came for his brothers to punish - and please, make sure his horse is fed during the voyage."
Weselton and queen Icy understood perfectly each others' message: Weselton didn't want to take any risk, just increase their commercial exchanges, and Icy was more than willing to do so, and make him wish he died if he tried anything, especially toward her sister.
"You know what, Anchorman? Now I get why most monarchies aren't absolute." Icy said to Kristoff during a rare pause. "This is hell! Overwork, almost no fun, not a chance to get dirty… It's horrible!"
"I thought most villains would enjoy supreme power." Kristoff teased her.
"Not if they have any pride. Only good thing is that now I get why Darcy is always so cranky! I mean, Stormy and I always go doing what we want, and - Oh. Oh, dammit."
"Any problem?"
"Darcy's holding a grudge about Tritannus. A rather vile guy from our Branch, got me to choose him over my sisters in the baseline… And she's not over it, at all. I-I think I should… Is there an easier way to say 'say sorry?'"
Kristoff slapped his forehead.
"Oh, and given I have no idea when the Loop ends and you just said you're usually with Anna, a little warning: she's been my sister for this Loop, treat her well or, Anchor or not Anchor, what I'll do you will make DIO Brando tell me off for getting overboard, and that's only if I have to do it alone." she threatened him. "Because if my sisters decide to join in, he'll be too scared to dare."
35.5 (Awesomedude17): [Disney] / [Winx Club] (also compiled in Winx Club Loops as Loop 35.5)
"Welcome to my Branch, Flora. Nice to meetcha, ha ha!" Mickey Mouse smiled.
"Thank you, Mickey. It's been a long time since me and the others had a Loop with zero troubles. Nabu especially seems happy to not deal with anything like Stands."
"Oh geez. Which part?"
"He said it was Morioh."
"WHEW! That could've been worse for the guy."
"Yeah. He could've faced off with DIO."
Mickey cringed at that thought.
"Yeah."
"Wow. Anyway, how're the others?"
"Great. Techna and Musa are hanging out with Goofy, and Bloom seemed really excited to hang out with Donald for some reason."
"Does your Branch have any connections to Italy?"
"Our show was made in Italy. Why?"
"Ah! Donald and the ducks are absurdly popular in Italy. What's a good comparison... uhh... It's is like David Hasselhoff and Germany."
"Uh?"
"Knight Rider?"
"OH! Now I remember. Heh. Techna really likes that show."
"Huh." Mickey got silent in contemplation.
"So, what else is there to talk about?"
"I suppose I can tell you about that time where Spam was everywhere."
"UGH! Tell me about it. Fand said that the Hackers were involved."
"That explains that episode."
"Ah-hyuck! Gawrsh, it sure is nice ta meet all of y'all." Goofy said as he took the new visitors on the road.
"Likewise." Techna replied.
"So, where are we going?" Musa asked.
"Nothing special. Just some ice cream." Goofy replied.
"Goofy, are you sure this is the right way?" Techna said, realizing that something was off.
"I'm sure of it!"
"Well I suppose I should ask how we ended up on top of the construction site for a high-rise."
Goofy blinked, and then looked out the window.
"Uh oh. Somethin' wrong here."
Musa sighed. "Thank goodness I went to the restroom before we left."
"Hang on, girls."
Techna and Musa sighed. "Bring it."
Goofy floored it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"YAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HOOOOEEEEEEEY!"
A car flew by, chased by a wrecking ball that Oswald was desperately trying not to fall off of, Pete angry that the wrecking ball was wreaking havoc, Scrooge McDuck angry that Goofy nearly ran over his number one dime, and a taco truck covered in concrete and salsa.
Donald merely ignored it as he drank his coffee.
"It's way too early for this."
"Yeah. It is." Bloom remarked.
"So, how much of my stories have you read?"
"All of them. Carl Banks, Don Rosa, Al Taliaferro, Romano Scarpa, Marco Rota, Tony Strobl, Vicar, Daan Jippes, William Van Horn, Fecchi and Silvia Ziche."
"Wow. You really are a fan."
"Yeah, I know."
"...So, enjoy my autograph?"
"YES! Can I have another... or 50?"
Donald internally sighed. Bloom was nice, but she is definitely asking for a lot from him.
35.6 (Boohoooo!): [We Bare Bears] / [Gravity Falls]
"...Did you have a hub loop?" Chloe asked Ice Bear.
"Yes. What tipped Chloe off?" Ice Bear commented.
"...You're wearing a Bobby Flay shirt and have a bunch of Inspector Gadget figurines." Chloe pointed out.
"Inspector Gadget treat Ice Bear well. Get Ice Bear out of Colombian prison." Ice Bear shrugged.
"...Do I even want to know?" Chloe asked in amusement.
"Nope!" Stanley Pines shrugged, walking out with Panda's life savings.
"...Has anyone seen my life savings?" Panda called out.
Chloe and Ice Bear looked at each other before awkwardly shuffling off.
35.7 (BIOS-Pherecydes): [Admin Shenanigans]
The End of Slenderman
"So that's that hm?" Urd wondered aloud as she left her father's office.
Belldandy frowned quietly. "I still think it's a little harsh."
"C'mon Bell, it's a punishment. That's the whole point."
Belldandy nodded reluctantly. "Yes. I know."
"And don't forget what he did. He nearly destroyed everything all for some juvenile joke. I think he's getting off lightly. If for no other reason than all the crap he's put Skuld through."
Belldandy's face darkened momentarily at that, before she sighed and nodded again. "Yes, you're right."
Urd hesitated for a moment, before a sly smile made its way over her face. "Well, I know just what'll cheer you up. Why don't you go pay Keiichi a visit, hm?"
"But, what about—"
"Ah bup bup! Don't you worry about it, I can cover for you for a little bit," Urd said, before letting her grin widen suggestively. "You just worry about making up for lost time."
Belldandy's face reddened but she smiled and, giving her sister a quick hug, she ran off to see her husband.
Urd shook her head in amusement before heading to back to her own workspace. Surely she could take care of things for one afternoon right? What was the worst that could happen?
A vision of Slenderman's fate popped into her head at that, and she shuddered. Right, nevermind. Question answered.
"Slenderman, get me some coffee. Slenderman, rub my tentacles. Slenderman, go muck out the Shoggoth pits. Fuck those guys! When this is over, I'm gonna shove their tentacles so far up their own orifices there'll be enough hanging out the other end to do it again! I'll—"
"You'll what?"
Slenderman jumped at the voice, and turned to see the glowing eyes of his 'boss' as they popped into and out of existence staring into and beyond him. "Uh, nothing Yog. Anything I can do for you?"
"You can start by taking your nose out of my ass."
Slenderman twitched, but didn't respond to the jibe. "Did you need something?"
"Yes. You've been our butt-monkey for the past few hundred years now while we decided your fate, and we've finally agreed on your punishment."
"Wait, I thought this was my punishment!"
Though Yog-sothoth didn't have a face or a visible mouth of any kind, he somehow managed to convey the sense of a wide grin. "Nope. This was just us amusing ourselves while the trial was going on. Technically, you could have just ignored us the whole time. Though we really appreciate the coffee. Good job."
Slenderman's normally pure white face turned red in fury. "WHAT?"
"Oh yeah. You can thank Hastur, it was his idea. But, back to the point. We finally came to a decision."
Slenderman's rage was cut off as a cold hand dropped onto his shoulder. Turning he was met by the darkly grinning figure of Yana, backed up by Hel's cruelly amused figure. Slenderman's face invented a new shade of pale at the sight.
"Wait, what's going on? Why are you two here? Yog, what's happening."
"Judgement, that's what's happening." Yama said in a harsh voice.
"Indeed. Thanks to your screw-up, we were called in to come up with a fitting punishment. Ever since Fenrir got free, we've had nothing to do with Gleipnir and it's just been sitting in storage gathering dust. So when Yama here came to me and asked to borrow it, how could I say no?"
"I've got a special place in Maharaurava set up, just for you slendyboy." Yama said as he grabbed the back of Slenderman's suit and began pulling him down the hallway.
"Wait, no! Nononono! Yog, you can't do this! You need me!" Slenderman cried, reaching out desperately to slow his movement; to no avail as Yama's two dogs bit his tentacles causing him to let go.
"We really don't. You've been nothing but trouble ever since you joined the Mythos, and we're washing our hands and/or tentacles of you. You fucked up one too many times, and now the piper's come calling. Once the Loops end, if Yama decides you've repented enough to be allowed to be reborn maybe we can talk. Goodbye Slenderman. And good riddance."
35.8 (wildrook): [Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir]
"I get that the fashion industry tends to be stressful on the stomach," Marinette muttered, "but do you have to overdo it on the snack foods?"
"I have several reasons for that, Marinette," Adrien replied, "and this is because it's rare for me to be a normal teenager, so I have to enjoy it when I can. Besides, we're joining Ayla and Nino on movie nights..."
Marinette got the idea. "So, some of them are for Plagg?"
"Some of it is the cheese he likes."
Plagg just went up in his cheese wedges as Tikki face-palmed.
With that, they arrived at their destination as Ayla and Nino has waved… and noticed the mountain of snacks Adrien managed to bring.
"Isn't that a bit much?" Nino asked them.
"I'm just wondering if he's sharing," Ayla continued.
"You're not touching my cheese," Plagg muttered.
Adrien and Marinette just sweat-dropped. Really, Plagg?
35.9 (Awesomedude17): [Moana] / [Crash Bandicoot]
Moana Awoke, taking in the unfamiliar village she was in.
Apparently, she was the daughter of the chief, Papu Papu, who repeatedly expressed his frustrations about the mad scientist and that orange bandicoot mutant that terrorized their people on occasion.
He also ate his entire weight in fruit and pigs, but that was besides the point. What was the point is that no one would try and stop them unless they deliberately trespassed on their home.
Moana, looking at the tower that pierced the sky, realized that perhaps it was time for a direct approach.
"So we are all in this time loop?" Aku Aku asked.
"Yes, we are. Thank goodness Uka Uka isn't with us in our time shenanigans. If he was, he'd blame me and try to kill me. Over and over again." Cortex shuddered.
"Well, we need to figure out what's happening." Coco said. "And obviously, N. Tropy isn't involved."
"Thankfully." Aku Aku remarked.
"Ugh, but we have no leads! If only someone could explain to us what is happening!" Cortex pleaded.
Immediately after, Crash was tossed through the window and splatted against the wall. Shortly after, one of the tribesfolk jumped into the castle, spear in hand.
"Okay, I'm going to make this clear. You're not welcome in our village-"
"Yes, we know. They tied me to a totem pole." Cortex waved off the intruder. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're trying to figure out why the three of us are in a time loop."
"Time loop? You're Looping?"
"Wait? You too?" Coco asked.
"Yeah, I am." The tribeswoman hopped down. "I'm Moana. Let me explain everything I can."
After giving the 'Welcome to the Multiverse' speech, Cortex then gave the obvious question.
"Who is the Anchor? Is it me?"
"Of course not. You weren't Looping a few times I was Awake." Aku Aku noted.
"But neither were you or the girl."
"Then who is the Anchor?"
"Generally, it's the one who has the closest connection to you three."
"But who?" Coco asked.
And then they turned their looks to Crash, who grabbed one of Cortex's experiments and tossed it over his shoulder, causing it to explode and purple stuff to stain Crash's fur.
Cortex's jaw dropped. After a pause, Cortex began to sob.
"UUUUUAAAAAAGH! IT'S NOT FAIR! I AM STUCK WITH THIS STUPID BANDICOOT FOREVER! I BA AH BAY DA MU DA BAAAAAAAH!"
As Cortex continued his tantrum, Aku Aku turned to Crash.
"Well, congratulations, Crash. You're an Anchor. How does that make you feel?"
Crash grinned.
"I see. Well, thanks for explaining everything, Moana. We'll be sure to keep in touch."
"We'll see. In the meantime, I better get back to the village. My dad this Loop is Papu Papu, and he gets really cranky if I am not home for dinner. Bye." Moana left through the window.
"Well, that explains everything." Coco said.
"Yep. It certainly did."
Cortex let out another loud sob.
35.10 (Shadow Wolf75): [Mighty Ducks] / [Warcraft]
This 'Azeroth' Branch was rather enjoyable indeed, even if Wraith had ended up looping in as one of the native races. Blood Elves were more human-like than he preferred, but at least they had more than enough magical potential. The glowing green eyes were also a nice touch, though he wondered if there was some way to shift the color to red. He was currently an older example of a Blood Elf, with long white hair. He wasn't used to having hair, mind you, but it made him look more regal so that was fine, even if it was annoying.
He was an adventurer here, a fire mage, who happened to be journeying across Pandaria. Things were going great, there were almost too many creatures and other enemies to roast to cinders, few things could make an old predator like himself so contented. In more scholarly pursuits, he found the world's schools of alchemy well worth looking into.
It was wonderful, and he almost didn't want the loop to end... until he was asked to escort a group of Pandaren up the Veiled Stair and onward to Binan Village.
The Brewmaster of the Pandaren group spoke up. "Get ready, Mr. Mage; the reason we hired you is probably lurking just up ahead. Damned Saurok, anyway..."
Wraith arched one very long eyebrow. "Saurok? What in the world are those?"
"You don't- oh right, you're not from Pandaria. Well, if there aren't any along the path, then there's definitely some in the Ancient Passage. This would make a good trade route if those filthy lizards would just move out of the cave, or if more adventurers like you came along and cleaned them out."
Lizards, eh? Perhaps even something like distant cousins to Sauriankind, given the name? This could prove very interesting, though it was unfortunate he wasn't in his true form for this. It might've made negotiating easier.
Looking back on it later, he should've gotten his first warning about the Saurok's nature by the fact they were living in a cave to begin with.
When they reached the passage entrance, the awful smell hit. It was only a little further inside that Wraith spied his first Saurok. Bipedal, humanoid lizardmen with tails, very similar to the average Saurian, but their frames were the only thing they had in common. These things were primitive, tribal brutes, perfectly content to live in the squalor and filth of this narrow passage under the mountain. The intelligence in their beady eyes was more like that of a clever animal's, and their weapons were makeshift and shoddy at best. Even worse, it seemed they'd been living like this for a very long time.
Wraith let out a low growl, fire magic already gathering at his fingertips. How dare these things not rise above like the Saurians had! So much could fall within their grasp, and they were content with living as wild beasts. No, no he couldn't allow this . . . he couldn't allow this at all.
He flashed a vicious smile at the nearest Saurok when it noticed him, then let loose a barrage of flames, roaring out the first thing that came to mind in his rage. "BY FIRE BE PURGED!"
It was much much later when Nozdormu ran across the Saurian turned Blood Elf, in the heart of the Throne of Thunder. Namely, Wraith was looting the still cooling corpse of Lei Shen when the Bronze dragon soared into the room.
"While it was not a loss at all, you killed every last Saurok on the entire planet, because...?" The guardian of Azeroth's timeline honestly thought the lack of foul lizards was a good thing, but he still wanted to know why.
Wraith half-glared up at him, the green glow of his eyes flaring a bit brighter. "Those things were an insult to all Saurians everywhere! I was doing this loop a favor by destroying them all." He looked to Lei Shen's dead body and spat on it in disgust. "And this monster deserved to die for creating them, let alone all of the other sins he committed."
The Bronze dragon tilted his head quizzically at that, then let out an amused chuckle. "My, since you were so thorough with this, how do you feel about murlocs?"
35.11 (Hvulpes): [Phineas and Ferb] Re. Milo Murphy's Law
"So Phineas, Ferb, do you know how this keeps appearing in our loop?" Candace placed the CD in front of them.
"Well, as you know sis, for some reason in recent loops we have had two issues. An increase in the timeline till after school starts, even if it doesn't see like we're doing anything which seems baseline. Every extension seems to be different. The other is the increase in bad stinkelkrampen from what Dr. D says. But I have no idea what an expansion, bad luck and a lumberjack themed boy band has to do with each other?" answered Phineas as he looked at 'Chop Away at my Heart" by the Lumberzacks.
"Why would anyone outside of the pacific northwest want a lumberjack themed boy band? Or Canada?" asked Ferb before going silent again.
35.12 (Saphroneth): [Kingdom Hearts]
"The Keyblade is why those monsters were attacking you," Leon explained patiently. "That's why we had to separate you from it. Without that the Heartless would have kept coming for you until you were exhausted."
"Heartless?" Sora repeated, tilting his head a little. "Why are they called that?"
"Heartless are monsters which seek hearts," Aerith explained. "The Keyblade is a manifestation of the heart, so they seek it."
"Huh," Sora mused. "I just thought it was better at hitting things than my wooden sword."
Leon rubbed his elbow, which was faintly stinging even after the Cure spell Aerith had used on him. "You're telling me..."
"So... does that mean I can get better at using the keyblade by expressing my heart?" Sora asked.
He closed his eyes, and reached out his hand.
There was a sudden brilliant flash, and both Leon and Aerith threw up their hands to block out the bright white light.
When it faded, they stared.
Sora was at least a few inches taller, at first glance, and his clothes had taken on an unearthly quicksilver light which shifted moment by moment. Two handles stuck up over his shoulder, rotating steadily, and Leon noticed that the single simple keyblade Sora had used had been replaced by two much more ornate ones - one looking like a sword coated in opalescent filigree, the other with a long chain-adorned haft and a bat-wing motif.
Oh, and Sora was floating.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Sora asked, spreading his hands, and the keyblades flicked out to the sides of the room before returning to hover protectively over his head. "If I'd known that it would have been much simpler!"
35.13 (b-wolf95): [Zootopia] / [Persona]
Akira Woke up in the attic to find a fox in the place that Morgana usually occupied. The fox smirked at him and said, "Judging from your face, I must be throwing you for a Loop."
"Yeah, but I just Woke up too."
"Nick Wilde, visiting Looper from Zootopia."
"Akira Kurusu, local Looper. So I take it you're replacing Morgana this Loop."
"Yep. Don't worry, I've had my own share of adventures in the Metaverse before this Loop, so I've been doing a good job of being the mentor in his place. Check your Loop Memories if you want to."
Akira did just that and found that Nick was true to his word. Outside of Mementos being more tiring than usual ("foxes turning in cars" isn't exactly a common thought among the people of Tokyo), Nick was keeping close to what Morgana was doing in baseline. However, there was something about Nick's Persona that made Akira ask what was, in hindsight, a stupid question.
"So, you're a girl, right?"
It took Nick a few seconds to process the question. "Excuse me?"
"It's just that you have a female Persona and all…"
"Do I sound like a girl to you?"
"Well, no, but Morgana sounds like a girl while still being male and has a male Persona as well."
"…You know, I was going to let you leave tonight, but," Nick leaped off the dresser and stepped in front of the stairs. "Judging by what you're saying, you're clearly way too out of it to anything other than go to sleep, so I'm going to make sure you don't take a step down these stairs."
Akira grimaced, until he was struck by an idea. He smirked and said, "Okay." He then made a mad dash to the window…
…until an elephant tranquilizer dart hit his butt and he collapsed onto the floor.
Nick put the dart gun back into his Pocket. "Gotta remember to thank Judy for that."
35.14 (Duckapus): [Phineas and Ferb] / [Mega Man X]
This, X decided, is the strangest reploid I've ever seen.
Indeed, the newest member of the Maverick Hunters was incredibly unusual. He(?) was only two feet tall with green and white horizontal stripes, stubby cylindrical limbs, no distinct head, and a simplistic face plastered across his front. One could be forgiven for considering him unintelligent, what with his vacant eyes and tendency to only say "Nang" over and over.
Still, no-one could argue with his track record. So far he'd managed to take down more mavericks than half the force combined, both due to them underestimating him and because of that overpowered freeze ray of his.
As Klimpaloon ran rings around an increasingly frustrated Sigma, X made a note to ask one of the Danville Loopers if their little Himalayan friend had Activated at some point.
35.15 (Hvulpes): [Moana] / [My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic] (not yet compiled in MLP Time Loops)
Moana had just gotten to the point in her loop where she she met Tamatoa, the giant bling covered crab. Again her emerged and took a look at her and say, "Are you feeling Loopy? 'Cause I am."
For a moment the chief's daughter wondered how the monster villain crab had started to loop, only to realize it wasn't the normal crab. A replacement. She answered while keeping Maui hidden in case of trouble, "I'm well Anchored. My name is Moana. Who are you?"
"A victim of a bad pun and a tree's demented sense of humor."
"A pun? What do you mean?"
"A mix of my second name and my sister Twilight's nickname for me." he said mentioning the anchor of the Equestria loop. He continued, "As she might call me, my name is 'Shiny' Armor."
As Maui emerged he answered, "Yeah, that pun is bad."
35.16 (wildrook): [DuckTales] / [Jojo's Bizarre Adventure - implied]
"I may have seen a lot of things in my day," Scrooge muttered, looking at the abomination that was following them, "but I don't remember Merlock doing THAT! Did he always have the ability to transform into octopi?"
The Genie groaned. "This was his second wish," he said. "To gain the powers of the Ultimate Life Form known to all kind in case someone DOES steal his Talisman."
Somehow, Huey and Dewey looked horrified, but Louie just muttered "Cool," earning looks from the other two and Webby.
Scrooge knew what to do at that moment. "Launchpad, send us to the nearest volcano!" he said, yelling at his pilot. "Do NOT put down the landing gear. In fact, make a crash course to the Lava!"
"Why the change of pace Mr. McD?" Launchpad asked him.
"Because that thing following us is going to kill us faster after stealing that thing."
"Are you insane?" Genie asked him. "We don't have enough parachutes for the kids."
"I know," Scrooge said. "You're putting them in the lamp. Launchpad, too. He's going to be after the lamp and the talisman, and I'm going to use that to my advantage."
Genie groaned. "That's even worse," he muttered. "And I've seen Collie Baba posing as a prince in order to impress a Sultan's Daughter. Let's hope it works."
As Genie made the planning, Scrooge had managed to make a decoy with a gravy boat he took from the party and what looked like a painted teacup lid in order to lure him away...even if the Piranhas were trying to bite him in the shoulder.
He didn't have much time knowing his ruthlessness.
And Merlock saw what looked like the man jump out with a parachute.
"Well, either he's trying to save his own feathers," he said, "or he put everyone else in the lamp. Either way, I'm going to get my power back." As he flew over to them, he had noticed that he was fooled. "A decoy? But that must mean he's still in the plane."
It was at that moment that Merlock realized that the plane was meant to hit him towards the volcano.
"Scrooge, have you forgotten that my first wish was to be immortal?" he asked him.
"Aye, I haven't forgotten," Scrooge said. "In fact, I still haven't made my second wish." 'This time,' he thought.
Then the realization hit Merlock at that moment.
"You're not thinking..."
"Genie," Scrooge said, holding the lamp, "I wish Merlock was sent into the outer reaches of space, far from any planet! Use this Volcano to accelerate the propulsion if you must!"
At that moment, the plane had split open with Scrooge and Merlock on a bit of debris that was split open via Genie's magic… with Scrooge just holding on for dear life.
"It's a decent attempt," Merlock said, "but I'm not leaving without the Lamp and my Talisman! Either way, goodbye forever, McDuck!"
Unfortunately for Merlock, Scrooge had inherited one of his associates' crazy luck as the cane at that moment had managed to hit the immortal's throat.
"Ha, who's laughing now, Merlock!" he yelled.
And just to add salt in the wound, Scrooge had decided to put the final nail in Merlock's coffin just to take advantage of the confusion.
"Now ask yourself this, Merlock!" he yelled. "Did I manage to plan this out just to get rid of you? Answer me!"
Merlock was utterly distracted. "How did you figure..."
That moment had sealed Merlock's fate as rocks he would have dodged had entered his system, pushing him upward into the higher reaches of the atmosphere.
"You managed to plan this out just to make sure I never returned, didn't you? ANSWER ME!"
"Did you even need to ask?" Scrooge yelled, with mirth in his voice. "Of course I'd use this opportunity to get rid of you, and I managed to stack the deck like clockwork!"
Inwardly, Scrooge was smirking.
'Although I kind of copied a friend's method out of universe,' he thought, 'but where he's going, he doesn't have to know. He'll just go insane just thinking about it!'
Combining magic with physics (and a bit of luck) gave Scrooge the advantage as he knew nothing on Earth would kill him, but the immortality wish had bitten Merlock in the rear end as Merlock was flung into the far reaches of space.
"Agh! CURSE YOU, MCDUCK!"
He also didn't know what he used the Talisman for, but Scrooge had thought that it wouldn't have anything to do with space… so he spent the moment as he re-entered the atmosphere just resting.
Luckily, it kept him alive for a search party to show up. Especially when the fleet was a familiar face to the McDuck family.
"Uncle Scrooge!?" Donald yelled, surprised. "How did..." He then shook his head as he remembered protocol for stuff like this and rang the alarms. "MAN OVERBOARD!"
The naval officers on duty got the idea as they noticed him in the area. Scrooge was lucky this Loop… he didn't know how lucky, either.
35.17 (Duckapus): [Phineas and Ferb]
For one reason or another, Phineas, Ferb and their friends had decided to go to the museum. It was honestly fairly calm and peaceful for once, since there was nothing planned today.
Until an old-timey out of control fire truck rammed through the doors and into the T-rex.
Unlike most people, the group decided to go after the rampaging vehicle rather than run away. However, the resulting dodging and climbing of debris meant that they only got to the eventual stopping point well after the dust had settled.
When they looked up at what appeared to be the truck locked in combat with the dinosaur - still inanimate and frozen respectively, thankfully - only Buford had anything to say, "You know, that really does seem to bring the whole courtyard together."
There were staggered tones of agreement, which were abruptly cut off by a beeping noise from Phineas's pocket, "Wow, the Stinkelkrampen Detector is going crazy. Maybe the source of all these weird expansions is nearby!"
Candace grinned "You heard the man! Let's go see what's going on!"
And so the group ran off, forgetting one crucial fact; when you are running towards a focal point of bad luck, it becomes much easier to get caught in the crosswind. This was why one of Phineas's shoes was conspicuously untied. And why he was wearing tie-able shoes in the first place.
Time seemed to slow down as Ferb and Isabella reached out to keep Phineas from hitting the ground and Buford took a sliding dive to do the same for the Detector. This meant he got a very close and surprisingly cinematic view of the machine shattering into a million pieces.
"Shoot!" Phineas snapped his fingers, "It'll take forever for us to get this close again."
This confused Isabella, "Didn't you guys make a spare?"
"That was the spare," Candace groaned, "The main one got trampled by a llama herd. I still don't understand why we have a llama-based theater district."
"Well, at the turn of the century -"
"I know the story, Ferb."
Baljeet mulled it over, "Perhaps we are simply not meant to know yet."
Buford scoffed, "And when has that ever stopped us, brain boy?"
"Point taken."
35.18 (lord Martiya): [Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir] / [Sailor Moon]
Ladybug was still getting used to many things in the Loops. Thus why her night patrol being interrupted by the sudden appearance of Sailor Venus, imprevedibile and lustful prankster extraordinaire and the self-proclaimed "Oldest Superhero in the Loops", had caught her by surprise. Still, she sent out a ping, and the older Looper sent one back-confirming she was Awake-and looked at her with a stone face.
"Not fair." the older superhero said.
"What do you mean?"
"How can you be so badass and yet so darn CUTE?!"
"What? And when did you glomp me?!"
"Can't help, you're just so cute!"
"Just let her." a white cat, Artemis, if Ladybug remembered correctly, said as he arrived from above. "She'll do that for a while, and then she'll insist in helping you and your friend with your relationship. We call her the Goddess of Love for a reason, you know."
"We'll be taking things slow, and-"
"Friendship is a form of love, Cutey." Venus said. "What's with you youngsters and always thinking about sex when someone says 'love'? You're perverts!"
"Damn Ladybug! It's three in the morning!" Papillon shouted, having been awakened by her scream.
"Kidding, kidding!" Venus said after Ladybug stopped screaming at being called a pervert by Sailor Venus, of all people. "On the pervert, not the love thing. Now a picture, and later we meet with Adrien! Artemis?"
The alien cat simply took a picture, having already prepared everything.
35.1: The core trio playing as the prequel trio... and confusing the heck out of Donald and Goofy.
35.2: Yikes.
35.3: Giga Slave... not a power you want to mess with.
35.4: Clever of you, Icy.
35.5: Bloom's a Disney fan, apparently.
35.6: Eeyeah.
35.7: Compiled here due to Slenderman's involvement in the Mega Man: Inside Out loop. And yeah, he deserved it.
35.8: Apparently, Plagg really loves his cheese. I know the feeling.
35.9: I'll admit, I'm not familiar with the Crash Bandicoot setting. But apparently it worked here.
35.10: Eeesh.
35.11: The expansion continues to come closer... but they still don't know what's going on.
35.12: Sora, you troll. (grins)
35.13: Good thing to have on hand.
35.14: ...
35.15: (groans)
35.16: Merlock is still a highly dangerous foe. Too bad for him that Scrooge has the brains to counter him.
35.17: Milo is getting close. Very, very close.
35.18: When Magical Girls meet.