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 2020-07-04. This is the first of two chapters posted today.
Disney/Kingdom Hearts Loops, Chapter Forty-One
41.1 (DrTempo): [Kingdom Hearts] / [Kid Icarus] / [Super Smash Brothers setting]
Link smiled. It was another Smash Brothers Loop, and Sora of the Kingdom Hearts Loop was also there. However, Sora and Pit were glaring at each other. Link, wondering what was up, asked, "What has you two angry at each other?"
Both Sora and Pit then showed they had a red envelope in their hands. Link instantly realized what this meant; these two were going to clash in a Death Battle Loop. Sora then grinned.
"I have this won. Pit hasn't done anything like I have in baseline!"
Pit growled. "Ha! We'll see, Sora!"
Link laughed. "Man, this reminds me of when Cloud and I had our Death Battle Loop. I admit, I was surprised when I won."
Cloud himself then appeared. "I wasn't able to use my best Materia in that one, but the fact that you had a lot more ways to attack than I did meant my chances were low. I admit I was shocked it took Sephiroth defeating Vergil to finally earn my Loop a win."
Sora smiled. "That's the Death Battle Loops for you. Sometimes, it can be easy to tell who will win, and other times, it's closer than we think the fight will be. I am still surprised Kirby actually defeated Majin Buu."
Pit laughed. "Considering the types of foes Kirby fights, I am not that surprised."
Everyone laughed, wondering if Sora or Pit would claim victory...
41.2 (Boohoooo!): [Big Hero 6] / [Mighty Magiswords] / [Billy Dilley's Super Duper Subterranean Summer]
Honey Lemon looked at one of Yggdrasil's newest Anchors, sipping some coffee.
"Hi! I'm Grup! I Have a tail and I like to do things!" Grup sang cheerfully.
"Awwww.. you're so adorable!" Honey squealed, hugging Grup.
"Yayyyy!" Grup smiled.
"What about Anaximander?" Billy smiled, holding up his Branch's Anchor/Pet. Honey resisted to urge to act in disgust.
"He's... uh... niceeee..." Honey smiled, attempting to be polite.
"Rhanks." Anaximander nodded, before falling asleep.
"Awwww.. he's sleepy-weepy!" Billy smiled, snuggling his friend. Honey looked sick and Grup did a little dance.
41.3 (The One named Light): [A Bug's Life]
"I'M LOOOOOOOST!" Flik's eyes snapped open to find that there was suddenly a pile of food where it wasn't before, there was a harvester on his back, and his mind was commanding him to fetch food for Hopper. But wasn't he-?
Was that a dream?
Clearly it was, what with the circus bugs and the traveling cracker box. So he wisely chose to lay his pack aside and do it the old-fashioned way as to not disrupt the offering.
-The Next Loop-
"I'M LOOOOOOOST!" Back here again, Flik stood in shock at what was occurring before him, letting out a sigh. He chose to keep the pack and harvest with caution.
-The Next Loop-
'Oh, no.' thought Flik, having been sent back to find the harvest pour into the river from his haywire invention. 'Well... at least there's a new plan ready...'
So Flik decided to follow the plan to reunite with the Circus Bugs instead, what could go wrong, then?
-Several Loops Later-
'It was bad enough that he had to see Hopper's ugly mug every snapback...' Flik thought to himself as he felt the added mass of his body. 'But to end up as a grasshopper, let alone part of his gang?!'
"Flik, this better be good!" sniped Hopper, as bitter as ever.
"Ah... Well, you see..." Flik struggled to get the words out as he cued up his new contraption. "Using rose-petals, some silk string and the Earwax on all the q-tips I've found, I managed to engineer a harvest moving contraption to assist the colony."
"Ain't it cute... do you hear that, boys?" barked Hopper to the rest of his gang, taking interest in the moment. "Pickleboy here wants to help the ants!"
Flik heard the laughter of his 'fellow' grasshoppers before Hopper proceeded to tear his hard work apart. "It's NEVER about the food! If they EVER get it through their THICK little thorax that they OUTnumber US, it's OVER!"
Hopper was thrashing about in front of the innovative (currently) grasshopper who wanted to help until Molt restrained him to the best of his ability, Flik could only watch as the two brothers struggled with their values, the elder recalling his promise to his mother and holding back his fists.
At least Flik knew what to do when the grasshoppers showed up next time.
41.4 (The One named Light): [A Bug's Life] / [Kingdom Hearts] / [Rick and Morty]
"I'M LOOOOOOOST!"
There he was, back at that one harvest for the umpteenth time, having lived for far longer than any ant should have. He retraced his steps, did all he could to keep himself in the part he played where it all began.
"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Speaking the same words. Doing the same things. Acting the same ways. Meeting the same faces.
"What did you do?"
Making the same mistakes.
"Where's My Food!"
Atta struggled to explain herself to the worst boss he ever had thus far. "Are you sure it's not up there?"
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Hopper deadpanned to which Atta shook her head. "Do I look. Stupid. To you?"
Hopper did his spiel, taught Atta the 'first rule of leadership', burst in anger from the mentioning of birds, and delivered his usual ultimatum.
"If you don't keep your end of the bargain, then I can't guarantee your safety." reminded Hopper. "And there are insects out there that will take advantage of you, Someone could get hurt."
With a snap of his fingers, in came Thumper. Flik promptly mobilized when Dot was introduced to the feral insect, moved back in line but he noticed an odd detail when he made the commission of double the usual order before the last leaf falls. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"How..." Atta piped. "How are you even here!?"
"I think you know the answer to that..." Hopper grinned sinisterly, "Let's Ride!"
And thus, the grasshoppers were on their way home, leaving Atta in a stir.
"Not sure why, But I had thoughts of when I was queen." pondered the Princess, still in apparent shock in what she just saw. "We stood up against Hopper, Hopper was gone, Circus bugs abound- actually, that adds some credence to all of that being a dream..."
"Having a bad day?" Atta looked behind her to find a light-pink worker ant with a flat sheet of stone lined by small rod-like pebbles at the bottom.
"Oh, uh... Yeah," Atta began to collect her composure and focused on the harvest. "First came a flash of... impossible ideas."
"Not for long..." whispered the pink ant.
"Then I hear from the grasshoppers that our harvest fell down the river..." Atta grew more and more uneasy and panicked before grasping the subject's shoulders "Now we have to provide double our order to a gang of grasshoppers led by an insect I saw get eaten by birds!"
"Hold on, hold on, hold on." Flik scattered to make eye contact with the Princess. "You're repeating the same sunny season, too?"
"Oh, so that's why I turned up here this Loop..." the young ant just sighed as she pulled a droplet from her thorax (certain ants saying that it just magically appeared from thin air). "May a princess Dorothy please step forward."
"Oh! My friends call me Dot." answered the younger princess.
"Not when this thing's through with you." Kairi then handed the little ant the drop. "Suckle on this, if you please."
And Dot promptly suckled the fluid into her body, sensing a faint tingly sensation. "And how will this make me any-" and then it kicked in, initiating a change in Atta's younger sister. "Wubba-Lubba Dub-Dub!"
The echo in the colony was heard near and far, but the reaction that ensued towards her current body gained the ire of the new consciousness. "Really had to be something this small... No matter, the lifespan of a mayfly's short enough. How do you do, I'm Rick Sanchez, not the genuine article, but an extension of his intellect, personality and consciousness made through specific chemicals known to simulate the proportionate aging process of a mayfly for eleven minutes, more than enough for a quick look into the multiverse."
"Wait, M-Multiverse?" piped Flik. "You mean what's beyond the colony."
"A hell of a lot farther than you think." Dot's wings had grown in by that point and thus allowed her to take flight for an illustration of the great tree that marked the colony. "Picture our great tree but, like eleventy-bajillion and infinity-fourteen times larger and with a supercomputer!"
"That's Yggdrasil and it's broken." Dot continued to lecture the ants on the subject of how the tree could have been damaged, the nature of Loopers and a brief detour into the aging of a mayfly as defined by a Robot Chicken comedy sketch over the course of almost nine minutes. All the while the growth of the little princess became more and more noticeable to the colony, her appendages lengthened, thorax widened, and her face lost plenty of her innocence as even her voice matured into something that could easily be mistaken for the worker ant that gave her the droplet to begin with.
"And now that you know the intel, the chemicals will evacuate. Graaaaaass... Tastes bad." A yellow droplet fell to the ground beneath her legs and Dot promptly snapped out of her trance, her freckles being the only indicator that she was who she was. "Okay, why is everybody staring at me like tha-"
Her elder sister looked in shock at her little sister who was now almost as grown as she was, and said younger sibling clutched her throat in shock. "Why do I sound like Kairi?"
41.5 (Boohoooo!): [A Bug's Life] / [Super Mario Bros.]
Flik whistled as he built some stuff. He had dealt with Hopper relatively early this Loop, so everything should be fine and dandy!
"I want revenge, ant!" Hopper roared, appearing as a zombie. Flik yelped and ran away.
"Expecting Hopper to be dead? TOO BAD, WALUIGI TIME!" Waluigi laughed at Flik.
"WHO THE HECK IS WALUIGI?!" Flik whined as he continued to be chased.
41.6 (Boohoooo!): [Invader Zim] / [Gregory Horror Show] / [Godzilla] / [Scooby Doo] / [Yo-Kai Watch] / [Who Framed Roger Rabbit]
Zim, Neko Zombie, Zilla Junior, Velma Dinkley and Jinmenken were currently floating in space, arguing.
"THIS ALL YOU NON-ZIMS' FAULT! ZIM IS ENRAGEDDDDDDDD!" Zim shouted.
"Would you shut up?! You're not accomplishing anything other than giving us headaches!" Velma snapped.
"Meh, I've been in worse situations." Neko Zombie yawned.
"Well, while we're up here, we might as well reminisce..." Jinmenken sighed.
"...Why?" Zilla Junior blinked, before realizing everyone was reminiscing about how they got in this situation, causing him to shrug and join in.
Three weeks earlier...
The aforementioned group Awoke in a police station.
"I AM ZIMMMMMMMMM!" Zim shouted in introduction.
"We knew that already due to Loop memories..." Neko Zombie deadpanned, rubbing his ears.
"NEO TOON PATROL! REPORT TO MY OFFICE!" a voice shouted over the intercom. The group did as told with a shrug. The Police Chief was there.
"Do you yahoos know why you're here?" The Chief glared.
"No, but we also don't know why people would still use the word yahoo unironically." Zilla Junior joked. The Chief's eye twitched.
"You're HERE because you almost killed several of your fellow officers! You Toons are LOOSE CANNONS!" he roared.
"...Are you done? We got better things to do." Neko Zombie yawned. The Chief promptly pressed a button, resulting in anvils dropping on the 5.
"Just be more careful, ya goobers." The Chief sighed as birds surrounded the 5's heads.
41.7 (ThanatosTiger): [Percy Jackson] / [Admin Shenanigans]
Poseidon grinned as he looked down at the code. He was completely finished starting up the Magnus Chase Expansion. Magnus Chase, Blitzen, Hearthstone, and Samirah Al Abbas were all shown looping. All he needed to do was push a few buttons.
"Uncle, are you alright?"
Poseidon turned around to see Hephaestus looking at him concerned.
"Yes, I am, why do you ask?"
"You're smiling, I haven't seen you smile for a while."
"I have been dealing with a nasty bit of code. It's all finished now." All he has to deal with is the various other products he has on his table.
Hephaestus peered down at the code, looking confused. "Uncle, there's something you missed."
"WHAT?!"
"The sword, Summabrandr, or Jack. He definitely has the capacity to loop. It's nothing more than a small mistake, I can fix it real quick if you need me to."
"I'm fine, I'll deal with this." Typing at the keyboard, Jack was now shown looping.
"Perfect."
Magnus couldn't decide what was stranger, the charging fire giant, Blitzen and Hearthstone charging at said giant, or the corroded piece of metal in his hand.
Normally either one wouldn't phase him, but the familiarity, the idea that he had seen this before confused him.
Faded runes on the metal began to glow, and then it started screaming.
"What happened to me?! Where's my beautiful edge?! Why am I like this?! Magnus, you gotta fix me!"
Magnus focused on restoring it and trying not to strangle it. (Could he even do so?) As he did this, more memories started filling his mind. Friends, allies, enemies, everyone. As he stared at the giant, he started focusing on the feeling of summer while repairing the sword, causing the sun to brighten, ice to melt, and the giant's fires to dim. Eventually Jack started gleaming, perfectly restored. On instinct, he then threw at the giant. Normally this would be a horrible plan, but Jack cut a hole in reality, sucking the giant back into Muspellheim.
Jack then flew back to Magnus, cheering "Sword: Two! Surt: Zero!" Until Magnus turned him into a pendant, buckling slightly. Blitzen and Hearthstone caught up a while after, Hearth signing the word crazy while Blitzen's face shifted from concerned to livid.
"Kid, you just beat Surt! That was completely dangerous! How could you, why did you, what is going on!?"
Magnus shook his head. "I... I don't know. I feel like we've travelled back in time, but that's completely crazy! Even after everything that happened." The look on both Blitzen and Hearth's faces told him it wasn't.
"When I woke up, my fashion store didn't exist." Blitzen said sourly. "I'm pretty sure me and Hearth are still under orders from the Capo."
Magic is also more difficult for me. Hearthstone added. Even though I remember the tips form Odin.
"Odin... Guys, didn't Odin say something about me dying thanks to Surt?"
"Yes, he did." Samirah said while flying down. "I'm not sure how this happened, but we traveled back in time, and we've already changed it heavily."
We need a plan. Hearth signed.
Blitzen shrugged. "Me and Hearth will pick up the Capo, he might know what's going on. At the very least we should tell him about the sword."
"I should probably get a move on myself." Magnus said. "I don't really want to explain everything to Annabeth and Uncle Fredrick. The Norse stuff, she can handle, but time travel might be a little too weird. We'll head out to Fadlan's, pick up enough falafel for me to handle this."
The two groups split, each one on a separate mission. Samirah fidgeted with her headscarf along the way.
"You alright?"
Samirah sighed. "No. part of me wonders if this was some trick from my father, but we already beat him, and I'm not sure even Odin could pull this off. If the gods could travel back in time, we wouldn't have a Ragnarok to worry about."
The two arrived at Fadlan's, but even Magnus was just picking at the food. Eventually Blitzen and Hearth returned with a bowling bag in hand, and the reunited group headed out to the docs.
Blitzen opened up the bag and placed the cargo into the water. The decapitated head of Mimir bobbed and looked at them with sunken eyes.
"Capo," Blitzen began. "Magnus found the sword. He befriended it, and he didn't die this time."
Mimir stared at the dwarf. "This time?" he asked, but didn't seem surprised.
"Mimir, me, Blitzen, Samirah and Hearth woke up back in time. We have no idea what caused this and..."
"Luckily, boyo, the answer to your question is simple, but not one I can answer myself. Your best bet is to talk to your cousin, who's currently walking our way. Also, Hearth, Blitzen, consider yourselves released from servitude, unless you drink from my well again."
And with that, the water surrounding him began to swirl, and Mimir descended to the depths of the harbor.
The group turned to the approaching demigod heading their way. Magnus began walking towards her, the rest of the gang in toe.
"Annabeth, Mimir told us you knew about the time travel thing. Can you explain it to us?" Magnus asked.
Annabeth's eyes widened as she muttered the word "looping." Taking a second to compose herself, she began to explain.
"Okay, the first thing you need to know is that everything, the camps, the nine realms, the underworld, even Yggdrasil is just a Branch of an even bigger Yggdrasil..."
The group stared at Annabeth, each one not sure how to respond. Eventually Blitzen spoke up.
"How can we be sure Fenris is actually helping, especially with what happens later on?"
"The Admins are dissimilar to the gods in our Branch. You don't have to like Fenris, you have every reason not to, but understand he is helping to fix Yggdrasil."
"Annabeth," Magnus began. "You said I could see my mom again, but she wouldn't always be the same."
"Yeah. It's hard when an Unawake person you've known for so long, is completely different, but your fellow loopers and Anchors will be there for us. Now, I believe you all met our Anchor, Percy? He's at camp, along with our fellow loopers."
41.8 (The One named Light): [A Bug's Life] / [Toy Story]
The birthday haul this Loop was more or less the same as any other, Andy's Mom got him Buzz as usual while one of his friends got him a Flik figure from A Bug's Life as that was Pixar's first film in this particular reality.
Once he got up on the bed, Woody Pinged for his fellow Loopers and promptly received three in return. Buzz did his spiel, re-enacted his introduction then gathered on one side of the bed for Roll Call. In addition to himself and Lightyear, Slink and Hamm were the Loopers that were Awake at that time so all they had left to do was investigate this new Flik toy and figure out his purpose for the Loop.
Flik was exploring the bedroom floor with a sense of wonder and curiosity in his eyes when Woody and the rest of the Loopers turned up to greet this new hiccup in the Loop. "Look, I know Buzz is getting a lot of the spotlight but there are plenty of other toys here who can show you around during your time here."
"Thanks." blushed Flik. "I'm kinda new to this whole sensation."
"Well, seeing as you're literally mint out of the box, we couldn't just leave you hangin' like this..." Woody specified to the newer toy. "We could show you around if you like."
"Oh, I don't want to intrude or anything." stressed Flik. "I mean, this is my first Fused Loop and all tha-"
"W-Wait, okay, hold on a tic..." Woody gathered as much of his thoughts as he could muster before asking. "You're Looping!?"
This gained the attention of the four other Loopers present, Flik merely answered. "Yeah."
"Golly bob howdy, seems to me like there's more of us out there every day." chuckled Slink, "Question is, who gave ya the talk?"
"Funny you should mention that, eh..." blushed Flik, embarrassed to let them know how he learned of the Loops. "Actually, Princess Atta had been activated that Loop, so Kairi gave us both the whole 'Welcome to the Multiverse' spiel."
"Kairi?" Woody raised an eyebrow to this response. "As in the princess of heart over in the realm of light?"
"Yeah," Flik scratched the back of his plastic 'scalp'. "Though not in the way you'd expect."
Flik refused to even mention the speech's blunt involvement of the known Looping sociopath Rick Sanchez.
41.9 (Anon e Mouse Jr.): [The Sword in the Stone]
"Wart! Where are you, Wart?" a loud voice called, and Arthur "Wart" Pendragon winced.
"Coming!" he called, then turned back to Merlin. "I've gotta go. Thank you, Merlin. And, and you too, Archimedes!"
"Hmmf! Pinfeathers, boy!" the owl grouched as Arthur ran off.
As he headed for his foster father and brother, Arthur gave an inward sigh. These Lonely Loops were a pain at times... he'd found ways to make them easier on himself, but there were some where the unAwake Merlin just insisted on doing things his own way. Hopefully, the old wizard would be more reasonable when the time came to deal with the squirrel transformation this time - Arthur did not care for that part of his Loop, because he'd seen that female squirrel get her heart broken too many times, and he preferred to avoid it at all possible.
When he'd approached his scowling foster family, Slr Ector did not look amused. "And what, may I ask, kept you?"
"Oh, I was at a lesson with Merlin," Arthur replied truthfully. Then he switched to one of the half-truths he'd come up with in an effort to keep out of trouble - he knew it didn't exactly hold with the code of chivalry he'd been taught, but there was enough of the truth in it that he hoped it would pass. "By the way, he wants to talk to you later - something about an oversized pike in the moat."
"What!" Ector bellowed. "What did he do to my moat!"
"We were walking past when he tripped over something and fell in," Arthur replied. "And when he climbed back out, he was saying something about how he was trying to catch his balance at first, but then he saw this big pike swimming right at him and kind of panicked, so it took him longer to get out than he expected - as it is, I had to take his hand and help pull him ashore."
Ector looked taken aback. "Oh, well... ehem. I suppose that's understandable. But! That pike is there for a reason, boy! It's to keep out any intruders who might try swimming in the moat to test the castle walls for a weak spot! So I hope he didn't do anything to it!"
"No, he just tried to get away from it," Arthur assured him truthfully.
"Well." Ector seemed pleased. "You were helping someone, so... only one demerit for being late, and one hour's kitchen work later. Now, let's get on with it. Kay's got a lot of training to do now, and he needs you to be by his side!"
Arthur nodded. "Right away, sir!"
Some time later, Arthur was hard at work scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, when Merlin knocked on the door. "Eh, excuse me, Wart," he called. "I - oh," he cut himself off as he saw the pile Arthur was working on. "Ehm, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead, sir," Arthur replied as he kept working. "I can listen while I work."
"Er, right." Merlin cleared his throat. "Now, have you ever considered being a squirrel?"
"Eh, once or twice," Arthur admitted. "It would be nice to be agile like that, and after what you did earlier, I'm sure you can turn me into one... but I can't right now. I've got too much work to do."
"Oh, I don't know about that..." Merlin pulled out his wand and started to wave it, when Arthur raised a hand. "Merlin?"
"Yes, my boy?" Merlin asked, mid-wave.
"I really don't think you should use magic in here." Arthur gave him a kind of smile. "I really don't mind doing it by hand. Besides, it gives me time to think and review what I've been learning."
"You don't say." Merlin stroked his beard. "Well now... I suppose I can't argue with that. But if you don't mind me staying so we can have a good talk..."
"No, I don't mind that," Arthur replied.
"Good, lad. Now, are you sure you wouldn't like to be a squirrel at some point?"
"I'm sure," Arthur replied as he reached for another dish. "Maybe some other time."
"Well, if you're sure." Merlin drew a stool up. "Now, let's talk..."
Arthur listened, and inwardly gave a sigh of relief. That's one problem avoided for this Loop...
Months later, long after the incident with his bird transformation and Merlin's duel with the mad Madam Mim, Arthur was still working in the castle dining room, listening to Sir Ector and Sir Pellinore's celebration of Kay's recent knighting.
Eventually, when he'd finished clearing the room, he excused himself and headed for Merlin's tower. The old wizard had been in a frumpy mood for some time, and Arthur had a feeling he knew why.
"So, you're back," Merlin grouched as Arthur entered. "Come to visit the old wizard to show off your new status, now that that... that big lad you call brother's been knighted?"
"Not showing off," Arthur corrected him. "But being his squire is an important duty."
"Hmph! Just a personal servant, if you ask me." Merlin turned away, and for a moment, Arthur felt a flare of temper rise up, but he forced himself to calm down.
"Look, you don't get it," he said. "I'm a squire now. And I have to be a squire for a while before I can become a knight! And once I'm a knight, I can help protect this kingdom from anyone trying to invade and take it over!"
Merlin turned and gave him a quizzical look. "Oh... well, I suppose you have thought this through then." Then he looked frumpy again. "But you yourself said you had to be of proper birth to become a knight! How's an orphan boy going to do that in this day and age?"
"Yes, I did. And..." Arthur drew on his memories of a past Loop. "A... a week or so back, I heard Sir Ector talking," he said. "He said I'd been brought to the castle by this strange old man, who told him I was an orphan, but that my parents had been nobles. And he told Sir Ector to teach me the code of chivalry so I could be a knight someday, but I wasn't to know about where I really came from until the right time, and he'd know when to tell me. So Sir Ector's been teaching me what he can, but in a way that won't make anyone suspicious of why an orphan is learning how to be a knight."
Merlin gave him a curious look. "That's quite a story, my boy," he said. "And you're sure of what you heard?"
Arthur nodded. "Very sure. But I can't let anyone know... technically, I'm not supposed to tell you or Archimedes, but I had to." He gave the pair a smile. "You've both gotten to be family to me too."
Archimedes gave a hmph of disdain, but Arthur could see a faint smile on the corner of his beak as he turned away. Merlin, meanwhile, looked contemplative.
"Well, my boy," he finally said, "That is good to hear." Then he gestured with his wand. "But don't forget your book work!"
"I won't," Arthur promised.
A few days later, Arthur stood in London, Archimedes on his shoulder. Merlin had intended to come along, but at the last minute had been called away, ostensibly to deal with some problem in a distant wood. He had promised to be back in the new year though. Since then, Sir Ector, Sir Pellinore, Sir Kay, Arthur and Archimedes had headed for London and the big tournament. As always, Arthur had forgotten (supposedly) Kay's sword at the inn, and been sent to fetch it. Also as always, the door to the inn was locked.
"Now what are you doing to do?" Archimedes asked from his shoulder.
"Um..." Arthur looked around, then his eyes widened. "There, in the churchyard! It's a sword!" Dashing over, he reached for the weapon that had once been his and would soon be again.
"You're gonna have a time pullin' it out," Archimedes warned. As Arthur laid a hand on it, the sword started to glow.
"Watch it, boy!" Archimedes cautioned him. "Better leave it alone!"
"But Kay's... got to have a sword!" Arthur grunted as he finally pulled the sword out. As he held it, he looked in awe.
Caliburn, he thought to himself as he and Archimedes headed for the tournament.
A few minutes later, he rushed up to Kay, handing the weapon over. As usual, Kay recognized it as being a different sword, before Sir Ector, Sir Pellinore and another knight with black hair studied it, announcing it was the Sword in the Stone.
"Where did you get it, Wart?" Sir Ector growled.
"I pulled it out an anvil in a churchyard," Arthur told him. Then he straightened his shoulders. "And I know what it means, sir."
"Hah!" Ector let out a laugh. "That's impossible..." Then his eyes widened. "Or..."
"Father?" Sir Kay asked, confused.
"There's a chance..." Sir Ector shook his head. "There's only one way to be sure. We'll take the sword back, and then, you can prove you're the only one who can pull it."
Arthur nodded. "Yes, sir."
As they headed for the churchyard, Arthur felt a sudden tight grip on his shoulder. "Who? What, what?"
Looking up, he saw Archimedes shaking his head. "Where, where are we?"
"London," Arthur whispered. "It's time to pull the sword the second time."
"Oh." Archimedes fluffed out his feathers. "Oh, I hate these late Awakenings..."
Arthur smiled at his friend. "I know, Archimedes. I know."
Just a minute later, they arrived at the churchyard, and Sir Ector placed the sword back into the stone. "All right boy, let's have that miracle."
Arthur nodded and reached for the sword, when he felt a hand on his. "Now, wait a minute!" Kay said as he rudely pushed Arthur aside. "Anyone can pull it once it's been pulled." Grabbing at the sword, he tried to pull it himself, and then several other knights hurried over to join him. Arthur noticed that Sir Ector, however, was not one of them; he was standing back, a hand over his face.
"Now hold on, that's not fair!" Sir Bart, the black-haired knight who'd studied the sword when Sir Ector held it, called.
"I say we let the boy try it," Sir Pellinore added.
Sir Bart nodded in agreement. "That's what I say. Give the boy a chance."
"Go ahead son," Sir Pellinore encouraged him.
Arthur nodded, marched up to the sword, and gripped it. As light surrounded him, he drew the sword for the second time, and held it aloft.
"It's a miracle," someone whispered. "This boy is our king."
"By Jove," Sir Ector whispered. "I knew you were meant for great things, boy... but I had no idea..."
"What's the boy's name?" Sir Bart asked.
"Erm, Arthur," Sir Ector said. Then he removed his hat and bowed, . "Hail, King Arthur," he said. "Long live the king."
"Hail, King Arthur! Long live the king!" the entire crowd cheered.
As all of them bowed, Arthur looked around. And this is just the beginning, he thought to himself.
A few days later, Merlin finally appeared in Arthur's new throne room. "Well, lad," he said cheerfully, "You've finally made it."
"Yes," Arthur agreed. "I have." Then he looked at his teacher. "Please tell me you're Awake this time."
"Oh, I am, boy," Merlin assured him. "Finally."
"Well it's about time." Archimedes flew over and landed on the back of the throne. "Have you been enjoying yourself?"
"Not nearly as much as I'd have been if we'd all been Awake much earlier," the old wizard stated. "You know how I love teaching."
Arthur nodded. "Well, at least you're back now... any lessons you can squeeze in before the Loop ends?"
"Nothing you don't already know, my boy," Merlin assured his Anchor. "After all, you already know plenty about the value of our friendship."
"I certainly do," Arthur told him, as the boy king Arthur Pendragon, the wizard Merlin, and the owl Archimedes all smiled happily at one another.
Then the Loop ended.
41.10 (katfairy): [Wizard of Oz] / [Sleeping Beauty (non-looping character only)]
Dorothy climbed down off the bed, Toto by her side, ready for the burst of color that would ensue when she opened the door. Waking up to find herself once again a too-tall, unnaturally-buxom-for-a-pre-teen brunette had warned her that she was in that Variant again; she couldn't say she disliked this one, but there were a few things about it that she still found unnerving. Her appearance was just the start; Uncle Henry being clean-shaven and jocular, Kansas being literal shades of gray, and Glinda being pink and chirpy just weren't right. Still, the music was fun and not having to deal with the Kalidahs, Hammerheads, and that dreadful giant spider made up for a lot.
"Ready, Toto?"
"Just a moment; that anti-flea spell takes a few seconds to—and I'm good. Remind me to thank Pikachu again; he said it should work in any magic system."
Dorothy nodded, and the two stepped out into the almost painfully bright Munchkin Village. She was rather looking forward to testing a spell of her own that she had picked up in her previous Loop with Cimorene in the Enchanted Forest. As expected, the soap bubble soon appeared, carrying VariantGlinda (as Dorothy always thought of her), who sang the Munchkins out of hiding with her shrill voice that was so unlike BaselineGlinda's low tones. The celebration of the Wicked Witch of the East's death kicked off as usual, and as usual got interrupted by the arrival of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Well, almost as usual. The billowing smoke was replaced by black and green flames, which was definitely not as usual. Still, that was no reason why Dorothy should change her plan for making this Loop run a bit more smoothly. She pointed a finger at the figure appearing in the heart of the flames and spoke a single nonsense word.
"Arglefraster."
A stream of soapy lemon water shot forward, soaking the figure. Which, surprisingly, did not melt. Instead, the flames died down and a tall, soggy woman in a robe with jagged edges and a hood with horns raised an eyebrow at her.
"Expecting someone else, perhaps?"
Dorothy blushed. Toto sighed, burying his face under his paws. VariantGlinda's jaw dropped.
"I'm awf'lly sorry, but mos'ly when someone appears like that, it means they're a wicked witch an' need to be melted before they cause trouble."
"Ah, I see. Well, my dear, you aren't completely wrong, but I'm afraid it won't be quite so easy. I'm afraid I just don't melt. But where are my manners? I am Maleficent, the Wicked Witch of the West. And who might you be, dear child?"
"I'm Dorothy Gale of Kansas, an' this is my companion Toto. An' I'm terr'b'ly sorry, but if you are a wicked witch, I've just got to defeat you and free the enslaved Winkies an' Flying Monkeys."
"Enslaved Winkies?" Maleficent looked offended. "Glinda, what nonsense have you been telling her? Enslaved, indeed! My dear, I have more than enough minions bound to me; I certainly have no need to enslave humans!"
"I told her no such thing, but you know how rumors are," Glinda said. "Now, why are you in Munchkin Land, so far from your seat of power?"
"Because I felt the death of my most hated rival and I just had to see for myself. Tell me, was it gruesome? I do hope it was."
"My house was picked up by a tornado an' dropped on her," Dorothy explained, curious to see how this would play out. She vaguely remembered hearing about Maleficent, but couldn't place her; she'd have to check her Guide later. "I hope you aren't looking for her ruby slippers, 'cause they got magicked onto my feet when it happened."
"Oh, no, you may keep them; spoils of... well, you can hardly call that war, can you? I have no need of them." Maleficent waved the idea off with an elegant hand, and Dorothy believed her. It was a bit surprising, but it wasn't the first time it had had happened either. "Now, I believe you said you were obligated to defeat me? My dear child, despite that soaking, I have no reason to consider you an enemy yet. Do you really wish that to change? Because I assure you, I am a dangerous adversary and your youth will not deter me should you insist."
As Maleficent spoke, her patronizingly affable demeanor slowly dissolved, darkness gathering around her, hints of green flame shimmering. As displays of power went, it was one of the more effective Dorothy had seen; just showy enough to indicate her power without being cheaply theatrical. She responded by taking a sycamore wand from her Pocket.
"Expecto Patronum." She had no shortage of happy memories, and the enormous silvery lion that emerged was almost solid. Maleficent raised that eyebrow again, dropping the display.
"I see. Well then, my dear, if you insist, I will prepare for your arrival. But because you destroyed my rival, I give you one last chance: as long as you do not set foot in my lands, I shall leave you alone. Be wise, child; you cannot hope to defeat me."
"Maybe not, but I might have to try."
Maleficent inclined her head and vanished the same way she'd appeared. Dorothy sighed; this could get difficult. She really had to read up on this Maleficent after she'd asked Glinda about what was known about her in this Loop, and after she'd brought her friends up to speed.
41.10 continued (katfairy): [Wizard of Oz] / [Sleeping Beauty (non-looping character only)]
Dorothy didn't run down the road, since she knew she had to conserve energy, but she walked at a good clip, wanting to meet her other friends as early as possible. What she'd learned from Glinda the Pink was worrying, indicating a rare darker Variant. Not as dark as that one where they got invaded during World War II or that really strange one where she was really the long lost heir to the throne or something strange like that—that Variant hadn't made a lot of sense to her, either at that time or after she'd had more experience—but dark enough. After the last king of Oz, who sounded like a dreadful man, had been overthrown by a conspiracy of witches, sorceresses, and assorted others, some of the witches had chosen to try to take over the country. During the mess, Ozma had disappeared; Dorothy couldn't be sure whether she'd been turned into Tip as in baseline, trapped in a mirror as in one of the Variants, or something else entirely. But two witches had come out on top: Walpurga, the Wicked Witch of the East, and Maleficent. Glinda had managed to hold onto her power and influence, but just barely. There was no Good Witch of the North in this Variant; the North was effectively No Man's Land, since the witches there were still feuding amongst themselves with magic just powerful enough to make the other three not want to risk getting involved. There was a Good Witch who might have been able to take control, but she had vanished along with her castle just after the rebellion had succeeded. Dorothy made a mental note about that; she'd probably have to deal with it sooner or later. The Wizard was in the Emerald City at least, so she decided that this time she'd drop in on him first, because unless this Variant really wanted to be tiresome, he could be quite helpful once they'd talked him into trusting them.
"Scarecrow! Thank goodness; we've got an awf'lly big Variant this time an' we'll really need your brains!" Dorothy sprinted up to the pole and lifted the Scarecrow down, not bothering with a polite greeting. Scarecrow could frown in this Variant, and he did so.
"I can see that; this isn't the one with... no, my memories would be different then. Is this a new one?"
"It's a Fused Loop; the Wicked Witch has been replaced by a woman named Maleficent an' there was this rebellion against Ozma's father, 'cept he wasn't really her father though I can't make heads or tails of the whole story."
"Maleficent? That name sounds familiar." Scarecrow snagged his Guide from his Pocket and flipped through it as quickly as his clumsy fingers would allow. "Ah, here she is; she's Princess Aurora's nemesis—Sleeping Beauty, remember?"
"Oh, the one who turns into a dragon? That's not good; Aurora said she was awful smart an' can still be a bit tricky even if they can out-magic her these days. And there's a Variant where she's like Elphaba—really good but people think they're wicked 'cause they're awf'lly grumpy. I don't think this is one of those Loops, though."
"Right; Glinda would have said something if they had been friends once, so I don't think we need to worry about it. We might want to keep an eye out for Aurora and Philip, or the three fairies. We didn't get an odd number of Pings, but that doesn't mean anything. We can't be sure the other two were Nick or Lion, after all."
Dorothy nodded, and the two headed for the usual place. As expected, Nick was there, and they quickly de-rusted him and brought him up to speed before collecting the Cowardly Lion. Once gathered, the Loopers sat down to discuss the problem.
"I know these aren't my Winkies," Nick Chopper said, "but I still feel some obligation to them. Even if this Maleficent hasn't enslaved them, they can't be happy living under her rule."
"Going up against a powerful Witch... She is a Witch, isn't she? I thought I heard that she was a fairy." The Cowardly Lion stretched, not looking as concerned as he claimed to be. Scarecrow shook his head.
"That's a Variant, and the fairy tale Dorothy knew did say the one who placed the curse was an insulted fairy, but Aurora said that the fairies who raised her identified her as a witch, not a fairy and she never heard anyone refer to Maleficent as a fairy until that Variant started up. Dorothy, what did Glinda say?"
"She's a Witch; she said so herself an' Glinda agreed. She won't melt, though."
"You tried it already?" Nick asked. "Are you keeping buckets of water in your Pocket, or have you picked up some new powers?"
"I've got both, but this was a spell I learned in my last outside Loop. She may be wicked, but she was awf'lly nice about being soaked in soapy lemon water."
"There's... of course there's a spell for that," the Lion chuckled. "Well, that's a useful one. Which Loop was that?"
"The Enchanted Forest—Cimmorene's Loop," Dorothy said. "They use it on wizards there; it doesn't kill 'em, just melts 'em an' they come back somewhere else. I wasn't sure how it would work here, so I asked our Glinda an' the Wizard to help me practice and see what happened. The Wizard even let me soak him, an' he didn't melt. I'll just try again next Loop. But what should we take care of first in this Loop? Ozma's still missing, that lost Good Witch in the Gillikin Country sounds like something we should take care of, which might help us with Ozma if Mombi's still the one who got her from the Wizard."
"There's a lot of ifs and maybes in that, but we can take care of some of those when we talk to the Wizard," Scarecrow said. "Nick, do you still have that hoverboard? If you ride that, and the Lion will carry Dorothy and me, we should make Emerald City tomorrow afternoon."
"Of course I will; you don't even need to ask, you know." The Lion stretched, flexing his claws.
"Well, it is polite, and we don't want to treat you as a beast of burden."
"If you did, I would let you know." Another flex of the claws, this one gouging furrows out of the ground, reminding them that he was a very large lion. "I've always thought of it as just a friend helping a friend. Now shall we get going so that we can cover some ground before it gets dark?"
They made better time than expected, in part thanks to the poppies not being active; without the usual Wicked Witch casting her spell, they were just ordinary flowers. It was one of the things Dorothy liked about this Variant. Because of that and a few other factors, they found themselves at the Emerald City not long after midday. They got past the gatekeeper by showing him the ruby slippers and telling him they had a clue about Ozma's whereabouts, made their way to the palace, and entered the throne room without worrying.
"I AM OZ, THE GREAT—"
"I'm awf'lly sorry, but can we skip this part? We know you're behind the curtain an' we do need to talk to you." Dorothy walked over to said curtain and pulled it back, revealing the white-haired man who stood in for the Wizard she would always consider the real one. His eyebrows shot up, but instead of his usual bluff, he just laughed.
"Hello, Dorothy, I've been waiting for you to get here. I seem to have joined these Loops of yours, and it sounds like I may have done so just in time for a bit of excitement."
41.10 continued again (katfairy): [Wizard of Oz] / [Sleeping Beauty (non-looping character only)]
They sat down in a side room with cups of tea for Dorothy and the Wizard and bowls of chopped beef for Toto and the Lion; Scarecrow and Nick, of course, did not eat or drink. Dorothy gave the Wizard a copy of Twilight's Guide along with a few others she'd picked up, knowing that when he did start he'd want to read up on the Loops as much as he could, and also gave him a summary of how this Variant was different. The Wizard listened, then it was his turn.
"Well, Dorothy, I did know our Wicked Witches were different this time, thanks to my new memories, but I wasn't aware that our guest was that dangerous. She will be a problem, especially since we can't rely on our Glinda for assistance. This Glinda simply doesn't have either the wisdom or the power that ours does—although she is powerful. But I may be able to find us some powerful allies now that I'm Awake: you see, I know where the missing Good Witch ought to be, and Ozma is with Mombi as usual. I'm afraid I am at fault for both of those, and they both stem from the same event. You see, the King really was quite an unpleasant man, and unfortunately a clever one as well; Ozma had chosen a family to be co-rulers with her as a way of balancing her fairy views with human ones, and had done it in the traditional manner."
"That's... well, it was partly a good idea," Scarecrow said. "In some Loops we have run into problems because Ozma just didn't think like a mortal. But that's also why she had a Council in baseline, which was more practical since it incorporated people, magical creatures, constructs such as myself, and others, giving her a wide range of experiences on which to draw."
"I know; I was part of it," the Wizard reminded them with a raised eyebrow. "Unfortunately, that's not what she did this time, and I'm sure I can't imagine why. To be fair, the family wasn't a problem until Pastorius, but he rather made up for lost time. He managed to blindside Ozma and transform her into an infant, then took over entirely and ruled Oz rather like Prince John in those stories about Robin Hood. It was shortly after that when I arrived here—not Awake yet, that didn't happen until a few days ago—and the various Witches and Sorceresses were already well into organizing themselves. I landed in the midst of a meeting and was immediately sworn to secrecy, which they had ways of enforcing that made me quite determined to keep mum. And, of course, once I learned just how bad things had gotten, I had to help. I'm not a hero, but I simply couldn't sit back and ignore that. So I found my way into the Emerald City and became a servant in the Palace. My dear, I will not tell you what I saw during those months; it was quite distressing and even though I know you have probably seen worse in the Loops, I still can't help but think of you as the child I first met in baseline. Give me time and I can adjust, but..."
"It's all right; I know how hard it can be," Dorothy assured him. The Wizard smiled at her, then continued his tale.
"Thank you, Dorothy. Well, after a few months, a young witch who was working as a scullery maid approached me with a plan to rescue the princess: get one of us posted to the nursery, abduct the baby, and get her to the Witches' rebellion. It was a simple plan, which is why I thought it had a chance of working. Unfortunately, it did. I was assigned to clean the fireplace in the nursery, and while I was there, the nurse decided I was sufficient to watch over the Princess; she left for... well, she thought it was a good reason and we shall leave it at that. I waited just long enough to be sure she was really gone, took Ozma, and delivered her to young Mombi- which, had I been Awake, I would have never even considered."
"No, of course not," the Scarecrow agreed. "Heavens, the idea of a young Mombi! Although I suppose she had to have been at one point."
"Was she pretty then?" the Tin Woodman asked. "I know it's not terribly important, but I have wondered off and on. Some of the quieter Loops, when the Witches aren't as Wicked as usual, just a bit cranky, I've had the time to really look at them and wonder what they were like as young ladies. I've wondered if perhaps they grew ugly because of their wickedness, or if perhaps, like that unpleasant Potions Master from Hogwarts, they were hounded into wickedness because they were ugly. I've seen it happen in other Loops, where the bullied react by becoming even bigger bullies themselves. Of course, it could be neither case is true, and they simply happen to be both unpleasant and unattractive, with the one having nothing to do with the other."
"Well, that would cover most of the bases," the Lion drawled, not quite hiding his grin. "but let the Wizard finish his tale, so that we can know where we need to start fixing things,"
"She was quite pretty, but since I had fallen for one of the leaders of the rebellion, that truly was not part of my considerations. Just as well, since she proved to be every bit as wicked as in baseline. She took the baby and vanished, which is how we learned that Pastorius had charms to alert him if Ozma was removed from the Emerald City. Thanks to my blunder, we had to start the open rebellion that night, and it very nearly didn't come off. If Pastorius hadn't been even less prepared than we were, and if he hadn't alienated so many powerful magic-users, it wouldn't have. I found myself having to lead the rebels here in the city, and my carnie tricks convinced them I was a real wizard. That helped us bluff our way back into the palace, where we faced off with Pastorius."
"Heavens, that sounds dang'rous," Dorothy said. Obviously her friend hadn't been killed, but she didn't like that he was having his first Loop in a Dark-And-Edgy Variant of a Variant. And from the older man's grimace, it had been ugly.
"It was. More for him, as it turned out, but we lost a few people before he decided to try to use Ozma's wand against us. Fairy magic in this Loop is a bit more Shakespearean, and not friendly to those who steal it. I'll just say that it was his final mistake and leave it at that." The Wizard shook his head, eyes downcast. "Unfortunately, those left with me were not aware of my true identity, and decided that I had caused the wand to misfire, not the fairy magic, and proclaimed me the new ruler of Oz by right of arms. The various Witches and Sorceresses thought I had betrayed them, which under the circumstances wasn't an unreasonable conclusion, and we've been in a state of not-quite-war since. And the woman I fancied was so distraught at this that she went into seclusion, magically hiding her entire castle. I've tried to rule well, since I have the job whether I like it or not."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, the people we've spoken to on the road seemed happy enough," the Scarecrow said, with the others nodding. "Your reputation has kept shenanigans to a minimum, so even though they know the peace is an uneasy one, it's still peace and they're neither getting killed nor transformed into something unspeakable."
"That is some comfort," the Wizard said. "Still, if Dorothy thinks Maleficent needs to be dealt with, that peace will be over soon. From the sound of things, you do have some time, so if you'll allow me to make some of my wizarding tools, I'll help as much as I can."
"I don't have any plans yet," Dorothy admitted. "Not anything I like, anyway. I think I'd like to rescue Ozma an' then see if we can find your lady-friend, then the lot of us can talk it over. Unless she's cruel to the Winkies; Glinda the Pink didn't think so, but I'm never sure how much she knows."
"Set your mind at ease, then; she mostly ignores them. There are three lesser fairies who keep her occupied with minor mischief, and even when they're being quiet, she is more interested in her studies of sorcery than in ruling with an iron fist. Admittedly, she did turn that one man into a mudfish, but he did try to destroy her by some ill-advised scheme that involved a talking wombat and a sword that glowed when turtles were nearby. I chose not to ask about any further details about that."
"I think we can let that one slide," the Lion said. "Even a Wicked Witch has the right to defend herself, no matter how inconvenient it may be for us. However, getting back to the point of this discussion, I believe yours and Dorothy's ideas are best: rescue Ozma, find your friend, and let you get some of your old skills back. By the time we've finished all that, Maleficent will have dropped her guard to some degree. We'll need that advantage if she's as strong as in her baseline, and if she isn't, it still won't hurt to have as many advantages on our side as possible.
"I guess we do have a plan, then," Dorothy said, relieved. "Gracious, but this Loop is involved; mostly we've got one story at a time an' now we've got to take care of three almost all at once. An' here I'd been thinking that this Variant had gotten dull!"
41.11 (Boohoooo!): [Billy Dilley's Super Duper Subterranean Summer]
Marsha sighed as Zeke, Anaximander and Billy cleaned out her water. She was a literal marsh this Loop.
"Hmm... this pun loop is fascinating!" Billy smiled.
"Less blabbering, more cleaning." Zeke eye-rolled.
41.12 (ThanatosTiger): [Percy Jackson] / [Order of the Stick]
Magnus woke up to see to gods arguing over, himself?
On the left was Thor, or one version of him. With a blond messy beard and in grey armor with a blue cape, he didn't look anything like Chris Hemsworth or the red headed TV junkie in his Branch. On the right was an emaciated woman in a white dress with a chain as a belt.
"This Dwarf drowned in the middle of the ocean! His soul belongs to me!" the woman on the right shrieked. Something told Magnus he didn't want his soul in her hands, regardless of its size.
Also, he was a dwarf? He really didn't want to have any maggots as great grandparents.
"He saved a ship from an attack from an evil cleric! Then fended off a squid that was trying to eat him!"
Man, Unawake him was a badass, though he was surprised Ran wasn't trying to claim his soul. Maybe Thor already won the debate against her?
"Gah! One day Thor, all these dwarves you love will belong to me, and you'll have Hel to pay!"
"And one day Hel, you'll release your name jokes are dumb!"
Hel shimmered away at that, and Magnus tried not to shudder. He really didn't want to deal with Hel, even if she still had all of her face.
"Uh Thor, does thus mean I'm going to Valhalla?"
"No, bunch of stupid legalese preventing me. Enjoy Arborea, and be careful with those Document cigars!"
41.13 (DrTempo): [Kingdom Hearts] / [Kid Icarus] / [Star Fox] / [Super Smash Brothers setting]
Pit was grumbling. It was another Smash Brothers Loop, and he was angry. Fox walked up to him, and asked, "What's wrong, Pit?"
Before Pit could reply, someone else spoke up.
"I won in our Death Battle Loop." That was Sora, who was smiling. Fox nodded as he realized what happened.
"Oh. Sorry to hear that, Pit. If it helps, Mario was in a similar bad mood as you are when he lost his Death Battle Loop against Sonic. He got over it quickly though."
Pit grinned. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I can't improve my skills." Sora chuckled.
"Don't worry about it, Pit. To be fair, I was unsure if your arsenal of weapons would counter any advantages I had."
Pit chuckled as this. "You're a lot stronger, and can take a lot more damage than I can. Not to mention you're pretty fast too. And you weren't even using any of the abilities you learned during your Mark of Mastery Exam, not to mention no Keyblade transformations."
Sora shrugged. "Technically, I can't use Keyblade transformations in baseline yet, so that wasn't going to be in the fight anyway, and even without the stronger abilities I learned during my Mark of Mastery Exam, what I knew already was enough. Anyway, how about a sparring match?"
Pit nodded. "You're on!" Fox just chuckled.
"This outta be good!"
41.14 (Wixelt): [Gravity Falls] / [Fairy Tail]
The Falls Fairy
With a jump of surprise, Erza Scarlet awoke, in both senses of the term.
Drawing in a deep breath, she let out a Ping, frowning as she only received a single, slightly muffled response in return.
"Other dimensions, hm?" the scarlet-haired swordswoman mused, recognizing the feeling from when one of her fellow loopers Awoke in Edolas or the Spirit World, "Curious..."
Slowly, she leant back, taking in her surroundings. She was on a bus heading... somewhere through a thick pine forest, though that wasn't exactly a new experience for her. Plenty of loops had their Baseline begin in transit. Natsu usually Awoke on the train into Hargeon, for instance.
Then there were her loop memories, which were a little hazy at the moment. Again, though, that wasn't anything new, as she was sure they'd come to her in ti-
"Mom?"
Wait. Come again?
Erza's eyes darted across to the seat next to her, where a brown-haired girl of maybe 12 or 13 years of age, dressed in a thick, pink sweater with a shooting star on it, was staring up her in confusion. Staring at her with eyes that the looping Scarlet recognized as being very like her own.
Immediately, Erza's loop memories snapped into focus, and she jumped, slipping clumsily from her seat in surprise.
"Mom!" Mabel yelped in worry, causing a boy of similar appearance sitting on her opposite side to look up with an eyebrow raised, "Is everything alright?"
"Um... yes. Yes, it is." Erza Pines managed, pushing herself up again, "I think..."
So. This was proving to be an interesting loop, Erza considered.
To start from the beginning, her loop memories went back to the whole debacle with the Tower of Heaven where, rather than Natsu rescuing her from her sacrifice, she had been transported to another world, namely Earth in a comparable manner to Lisanna's experience in Baseline. There, she'd been taken in by a novelty shack owner and swindler by the name of Stan Pines, who despite his choice of job was a well-meaning individual.
Naturally, this led Erza to believe that the Ping she'd heard was probably Lucy, who was still Anchoring this loop despite the multiple dimensions present.
Stan operated an attraction known as the Mystery Shack, in the town of Gravity Falls, itself a hotspot for all manner of supernatural weirdness. But as Erza had eventually learned, the Shack was just a front to pay the bills whilst he secretly worked on a dimensional portal in the basement, in an effort to rescue his twin brother Ford. Erza's unAwake self had been somewhat pissed at first that Stan hadn't told her about a potential way of getting her home, but quickly let it go when it became clear the thing was a long way from being repaired.
Then, the less pleasant part of all this had happened. Or the best part, depending on how Erza looked at it.
Stan's nephew, whom Erza would henceforth only refer to as 'That Bastard', had apparently seduced her (or she seduced him, it was hard to say), and before she knew it, she had a pair of twins running around in California, the pair having moved following a marriage that they should have known wouldn't last. In the last year prior to her Awakening, they'd gotten divorced after that bastard's jealousy over the now 12-year old twins, "Dipper" and Mabel, inheriting Erza's magic ability had reached breaking point. The less said about it the better, but after the divorce had been finalized, Erza had decided to move back to Gravity Falls to be around Stan, who did care, despite his rough demeanour.
After Awakening, meanwhile, had been all sorts of crazy. Within the first couple of weeks, she'd fended off gnomes trying to take Mabel as their queen, defeated a giant, robotic lake monster and ploughed through an army of possessed wax figures. All in all, it felt like an average day in this loop, but it was certainly something.
And then Mabel Awoke.
"Woah, that's a big sword. Gimme?"
"I... don't think I should be giving a 12-year old a sword, even one who happens to be my daughter for this loop." Erza sighed, shaking her head as Mabel's face fell slightly, "Also, and correct me if I'm incorrect here, but would a certain Pinkie Pie be happy with me supplying one of her 'students' with sharp weapons?"
"Pfft. She'd be fine." Mabel rolled her eyes slightly, "And I'm preeeetty sure I'm older than you, speaking loopily, ya know?"
"I figured, but with that in mind, you can't make me give you a sword."
"Yeah, yeah..." the looping grappling hook enthusiast sighed, before suddenly becoming sombre, "Do you have kids?"
"I'm... not sure I understand."
"In your home loop, silly."
"Oh." Erza blinked, then shook her head, "No, I don't." she paused, then added, "Not yet, at least. Our Admin mentioned we might be due a new expansion in the relative future, but that still won't be for a long while. Might not move that far forward, though. Why are you asking?"
"Because, I can tell." Mabel admitted, shrugging, "I kinda maybe... might've looped in as someone's mom once. It was..." she giggled, "Nice, but I'm just a kid, not counting the Loops, so I didn't really know what I was doing, like, all the time. You're older than me, but it's the same look."
"I guess it isn't something I have any personal experience with, so I probably don't live up to the expectation." The red-haired wizard nodded, rolling the thought over in her mind, "What are yours and Dipper's parents like in Baseline, by the way?"
"They... uh..." the young brunette suddenly looked anxious, "They aren't, mostly."
"...really?"
"Yeah, kinda." Mabel slumped a little, "I mean, I know our dad probably works with computers and our mom liked to dress Dipper in a lamb costume when we were really young, and they gave us archaic names because they're 'counter-culture'." She took a moment to think, eyes narrowing, "I think that's the phrase Dipper used, anyway."
"And that's all?" Erza frowned, clearly beginning to understand Mabel's position on this.
"Apparently our middle names are their first names too, which has definitely carried over to this loop," Mabel Erza Pines groaned, "But we don't know what those are meant to be normally, or what they're meant to look like, or... or..." she took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself from mild hysteria, "Sorry, I guess. It doesn't usually bother me this much, but with a looper around in their place..."
"I understand completely."
"Y- you do."
"I do." Erza nodded, putting a hand on Mabel's shoulder, "For a long time after I started looping, my parentage was unknown to me, despite the semi-regular expansions Earthland was getting at the time." She shook her head, "When I eventually discovered the identity of my mother, it was somewhat damning to know they were on the side of a man who wanted to erase the present world by returning to the past and remaking it to his design."
"Is..." Mabel gave an uneasy frown, "Is this, um, meant to be cheering me up?"
"My point," the 'Fairy Queen' continued, "Is that for better or for worse, your parents will be there for you, one day, when the right set of expansions come to pass." She smiled, "And from what you've said, you have no need to fear what those times might bring."
Mabel stared for a long, apprehensive moment. Then, with sudden tears in her eyes, albeit tears of happiness, she leapt forward, wrapping in-loop mother in a tight hug. Erza froze for a moment, surprised, but quickly returned the gesture.
"Hah..." the local looper laughed lightly as she pulled away, "You know I said I could tell you hadn't been a mother before?"
"...Yes?"
"Well, I take it back. Like, really." Mabel grinned warmly, "I think you'll make an awesome mom someday."
"Thank you." Erza nodded, "That... that means a lot, actually. That said, how does that affect us here?"
"Nah, it shouldn't." Gravity Falls' Second stretched as she spoke, then took a brief pause, "Not mom-daughter, at least. Remnant's thing works for them in those sorts of moments, and that's fine, but it shouldn't need to be a thing for everyone."
"I was going to say."
"...although, I do still kinda want to learn some of that sword magic, soooo..." Mabel grinned, "You mind if I call you Auntie Erza? Not seriously, of course." She giggled again, "Just as, y'know, a promise to hang out?"
"I wouldn't mind hanging out with you anyway, Mabel." Erza chuckled dryly.
"Naturally. I'm irresistible."
41.15 (ThanatosTiger): [Percy Jackson] / [RWBY]
Magnus didn't have a second to Wake Up before Jack was out of pendant form, flying towards a young girl in red. Not wanting to hear his sword flirting, he ran after him far easier than normal. Did he become an einejar early?
As soon as Magnus caught up with his sword, he saw Jack wasn't flirting. He was cooing.
"She's so cute! And she's already gotten her first kill?! Such a prodigy!"
"Uh, thanks? She and I have slayed a bunch of Grimm together already. I actually made her myself."
"Then you did a fantastic job. Oh, Magnus, say hello to Ruby and Crescent Rose."
"Hi?"
"He's not much of a conversationalist. But I'm sure we can continue ours soon."
Magnus waited until the two were out of earshot before he started interrogation. "What happened? I thought you were gonna flirt with her after flying off like that!
"Señor, you wound me! Which is quite ironic, actually. Anyway, Crescent Rose is too young for me, only created a year ago from what I can tell. But I shouldn't have run off like that without telling you where I'm going. We are partners, after all."
"Thanks Jack. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that either. You wouldn't happen to know where we're supposed to go? My loop memories are telling me about this initiation we'll have to go through, but no specifics."
"Hmm, nope. But I'm sure the hot sword at the blonde kid's side would know."
"Jack!"
41.16 (Boohoooo!): [Mighty Magiswords] / [Percy Jackson - Magnus Chase side]
As Jack and Magnus fell thousands of feet, Jack wondered how they ended up like this... by singing a parody of the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' theme song. Thankfully, before Magnus could test out if strangling a sword was possible, the duo's descent was slowed down by water.
"Thank seno- Hubba hubba! What a beauty!" Jack smiled, interrupting himself upon noticing Dolphin Magisword. Said Magisword blushed happily as Jack continued to lay on the compliments.
"Keep your... thing... away from my baby!" Prohyas demanded.
"Well, keep your weirdo away from Jack!" Magnus snapped back in annoyance. Prohyas slapped Magnus with a white glove, leading to an epic brawl. Jack and Dolphin Magisword watched, whistling to themselves.
41.17 (Boohoooo!): [A Bug's Life]
Flik blinked as people kept flicking water at him.
"Princess, why do people keep flicking water at me?" Flik asked Atta after the 7th time this happened.
"My UnAwake self made you the designated water-Flicked-at-guy behind your back." Atta awkwardly explained.
"...That's not a very effective punishment." Flik blinked.
"I know, Flik." Atta sighed.
"It's more annoying than anything else." Flik added.
"I know, Flik." Atta repeated.
41.1: Yep, Death Battle Loops are still a thing.
41.2: Yeah, I got no idea what's going on here.
41.3; Welcome to the Loops, Flik.
41.4: And now Atta starts Looping, and both get the speech.
41.5: A wild Waluigi appeared!
41.6: ...Right.
41.7: And Magnus gets more Loopers.
41.8: Toy Story has also gotten more Loopers, off-screen.
41.9: Looping allows King Arthur the ability to ensure that a lot of things from canon don't actually end up a problem.
41.10 / continued / continued again: Maleficent isn't Looping here... but it's interesting to hear about the Enchanted Forest Chronicles Looping.
41.11: Pun Loops are a groaner.
41.12: ...
41.13: And, reaction to the Death Battle Loop they found out about in 41.1.
41.14: A new friendship.
41.15: Swords flirting with swords.
41.16: Uh-huh.
41.17: Quite.