7.1 – The Child of Night, Part 1
Sayori woke up, and then she Woke Up. She was laying in something soft, on her back, staring up at a tiny circle of sky high above her head. Apparently she had been goofing around a mountain after running away from home, and…
"Oh for eff's sake, please tell me this wasn't a really dumb suicide attempt," Sayori chided herself as she sat up. "Trying to pancake yourself isn't always guaranteed to be quick and painless…ugh, so I'm in some kind of cavern? Let's see…do I go spelunking, or do I try to go back home? My family is probably worried about me, and I think it's safe to say I've grown a complex about making people worry about me needlessly. I can always come back later."
With that, Sayori summoned her Hyper Yo-Yo, secured it to her finger, and flung it up towards the sky. Since it was a Magical Girl weapon, the string-length was variable, but Sayori had never tried to shoot it so far…
And she wasn't going to find out if the Yo-Yo would have made it, either. It had only gone a dozen meters up when a bright white something–Sayori thought it looked kind of like a pellet–smacked it down.
"Now, now. That's not how we do things around here, little girl," said a sickly sweet voice from somewhere behind her. Sayori whirled around and found herself facing…a flower. Not a normal little daffodil, like the ones in the flowerbed she had landed in; no, this was a great big flower with a face. It kind of reminded her of a Sunflora, but different.
Keeping her eyes on the flower, Sayori shot her yoyo back up. As she suspected, it produced another bright-white pellet of what she was guessing was energy or magic, or magical energy, or something to that effect, to knock her yoyo back down. "Come on, don't be like that," the flower pouted, "You've only just got here! There are all sorts of new friends just waiting to meet you."
Sayori just stared flatly back at him, her expression a masterwork of deadpan. The flower smiled back. "I'm FLOWEY the FLOWER! My, but you don't look very friendly…can I interest you in some "friendship pellets"?"
Flowey rapidly fired a barrage of pellets at her. Without breaking eye contact or changing her expression, Sayori just as rapidly swatted away every pellet with her yoyo before any of them could get within a meter of her.
"Aww, c'mon…don't you wanna make friends?" Flowey asked plaintively.
"Cut the crap," Sayori spat, "My home is its own definition of 'Hidden Horror'. You don't fool me for half a second. Enough with the 'friendly' act, what do you want with me?"
Flowey narrowed his eyes…then his face morphed into a horrific, monstrous visage. "I WANT YOU TO DIE!"
Then he unloaded a full-fledged Bullet Hell on her. Rather than try to deflect the almost solid wall of projectiles headed her way, Sayori glanced up and shot her yoyo at an overhanging stalactite and pulled herself up and out of the way. In midair, she Unpocketed a lariat and tried to lasso the demonic flower. Flowey saw the attack coming, though, and quickly sank into the ground and out of sight. Sayori dropped back down to the cave floor, pulled her yoyo back to her hand, and Pocketed her lariat. "I should warn you," she said loudly, looking all around for any warning of the inevitable attack, "I've been known to set things on fire without even trying. Even set the ocean on fire, once."
Flowey's voice seemed to resonate up through the ground, impossible to pinpoint a direction of origin, "Oh, you're much more fun than her. She keeps playing the goody-two-shoes…but you remind me of–"
"Quit trying to mess with my head, damn it!" Sayori shouted, "I don't want to hurt anyone, not even a creepy weed like you, but I sure as hell aint gonna let anyone fuck my head up again. If I have to torch a sentient plant to keep my sanity intact…just go away and we won't have any problems, alright?"
"NO DEAL!" roared Flowey as he burst up out of the ground, flinging another overwhelming mass of deadly pellets her way.
This time, before Sayori could react, a huge ball of blue-white fire slammed into the ground in front of, throwing up dirt and debris and washing out the assault. "Crap," Sayori heard the flower mutter.
When the dust settled, the flower was nowhere to be seen. But Sayori didn't drop her guard; she conjured a second yoyo and turned to face the direction the fireball had come from. She found herself facing a tall humanoid with goat-like features and a feminine body-type. Sayori couldn't be sure, but she thought that the goat-woman looked worried.
"Are you alright, child? Did Flowey hurt you?" she asked as she approached. Unlike with the flower, Sayori didn't feel anything off about her; no creeping sense of malice or unease. In fact, she seemed to project warmth and concern like an aura.
Sayori smiled. "I'm just fine, ma'am, thank you. I'm–oh! I forgot!" Sayori Pinged, and she felt four Pings in return. "I'm Sayori, ma'am. Uh…sorry if I seem Loopy; I think I hit my head, eh-heh-heh."
"I am Toriel. Come with me, you can finish Waking Up at my home, if you would like. And Welcome to the Underground; as soon as we get you settled in, I can introduce you to the other Loopers here."
"Okay…uh, just so you know, you might be the only local who's Awake right now," said Sayori as they started down the path. "I have three friends that might have Looped in here with me. Are you the Anchor?"
"No, our Anchor is a child named Frisk…well, as she is a Looper, she has the appearance of a child, at least. But even if the Loops have made her my elder, she will always be my dear child."
"Ooh, the Anchor's your daughter?"
"Adopted, yes. It would appear that you're taking her place in this loop, unless she's replaced someone else."
"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry," said Sayori.
Toriel laughed, "No need to apologize. We enjoy making new friends, and wherever she is right now I know Frisk is enjoying herself."
(Cutaway to Frisk being chased Benny Hill-style by a flock of psychotic Toriningen in another Loop)
"So, what are the other Loopers here like? Are they all goat-people like you?" Sayori asked.
Toriel laughed again, "No, right now only one other goat monster is Looping, but I have hope that another will join us someday."
"I know how that feels. I have a friend that isn't Looping, but it would make me really happy if he did someday," said Sayori. Then she frowned. 'She said something weird…what was it?'
It took a few minutes for them to reach Toriel's house, and the scent of butterscotch and cinnamon tickled Sayori's nose. Her stomach growled loudly, and she blushed. "I…don't always have a physical body, in my home Loop. Sometimes I forget about things like hunger…"
Toriel giggled, and then she stopped short. "Oh! You go on in and make yourself at home, dear. I just remembered something in my Pocket that I need to check on."
Toriel disappeared, and Sayori opened the door.
On the other side of the door stood two skeletons, a tall one with a red scarf and short one with a blue hoodie, and a lizardy-looking creature in a labcoat.
The three of them stared at her with open mouths. 'Right, Toriel called herself a monster. So I guess monster people are a thing in this world. Well, these guys all seem friendly enough. Not like that creepy-ass flower.'
"Hey guys! My name is Sayori. Any of you feeling–"
"ARRRRRGH!" the tall skeleton and the lizard-person both started screaming; the lizard hid behind the tall skeleton, who Unpocketed a large cross and held it up.
The short one, on the other hand, walked right up to Sayori and offered her a handshake. "hey, i'm sans. we should totally hang sometime."
"SANS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" demanded the taller skeleton.
Sayori looked from the cowering pair to the grinning Sans…and narrowed her eyes.
…
Toriel entered her home to the unexpected sight of Sayori and Dr. Alphys sharing an energetic discussion about anime while drinking tea in her living room. Papyrus was cooking spaghetti in the kitchen, judging by the smell, and Sans…
Was hanging upside down from the ceiling by a rope tied around his ankles, with shimmering chains of adamantine wrapped all around his body.
"hey, tori…so, turns out, some girls get really scary when you make them mad."
Toriel facepalmed.
7.2 – Girl Advice (by smxsonic)
Dipper hated late awakenings. They were random variables; things he couldn't take into account when trying to side step things. He made it to Soos's Abuela's house and made a beeline for his room as Soos's Abuela uttered a friendly greeting. He kicked the door open.
"Soos! Wait don't -"
"Oh Honey... You don't need this game to help you talk to girls." The character on the screen consoled.
"I don't... Well I guess I'm talking you, huh, Dude?" Soos Replied.
"Yeah! But... I guess we CAN help boost your confidence..."
The character on the screen changed her portrait to make it look like she was clapping her hands, and soon three other girls filled the screen.
"Girls, I know what we're doing this Loop!"
Dipper raised his eyebrow, "Um... Soos?"
Soos looked back, "Oh, hey, dude! Let me introduce you to Monika, She's gonna help me with my girl troubles."
"Um... yeah, This is sort of throwing me for a loop..." Dipper said while sending out a ping.
"Well, I'll have you know that I am quite well Anchored." Monika responded in kind.
"Ohmigosh!" Mable gushed while holding a cellphone she pocketed, "You guys are so much nicer than Giffany!"
"Aw... Thank you!" Monika chriped from the Cell phone, her portrait changed to her eyes looking away from the screen, "We... Try to be our best..."
Dipper raised his eyebrow, "What's your guys' basline like?"
The Screen on the cellphone glitched out as the game's animation became unrealistically smooth, with Monika's bangs obscuring her eyes.
"You do not want to know," Her voice was distorted into an almost unhearable mess.
"Ooookay, Dropping the subject," Dipper said while looking around in thought, " So... you guys up for helping us fight a Triangle Demon?"
The Game's animation went back to the static character portraits, "That sounds fun, I'm In!"
7.3 – Batsuki
"Helloooooooooo Clubmates!" thundered Sayori as she threw open the door to the clubroom, leading her friend with the literally vacant expression in; a typical beginning of what promised to be a typical Loop. Of course, for Loopers 'typical' meant 'mind-numbingly tedious', so Sayori had a plot in mind to bust up the doldrums. Before she could make any such proclamations, however, she noticed that her friends were preoccupied. Weirdly so.
Yuri was tearing through the clubroom's closet like a woman possessed, sending all manner of odds and ends flying out; except for Natsuki's manga, which she took the time to carefully stack on a nearby table in a neat and orderly manner. Monika kept darting back and forth between the door and the window, looking outside or craning her neck out into the hall; all the while she was tapping madly away at her cellphone. And neither of them seemed to notice Sayori at all, at least not right away.
After a moment of mutely observing their frantic behavior, Sayori jumped back into a wall as Monika and Yuri were suddenly all up in her face asking the same question: "Have you seen Natsuki?!"
"…Natsuki? She's not here?" asked Sayori, taken aback. Her friends shook their heads emphatically. "I…whaa?" Sayori articulated blankly, not sure how to respond to that. "But she…she's always here! She's usually here before either of you, on account of setting up her cupcake spread!"
"Which is why our first thought was that she was hiding," said Yuri, playing with her hair like she usually did when she was flustered and nervous; but her body language and clear speech made it abundantly apparent that in this case her anxiety had nothing to do with herself.
"But she's definitely not here," Monika groaned, "And I've already searched her house, and Yuri's, and even yours and Hiroaka's…um, sorry 'bout that, by the way. And this isn't a Fused Loop, and I haven't added anything, so those are the only places for her to be!"
"So, she isn't anywhere at all, then?" Sayori asked. Monika and Yuri nodded. "Then…she's in another Loop, right?"
"Then who was the third person to answer my Ping when the Loop started?" asked Monika, half-hysterical. "Yuri didn't Ping twice, so unless you did…"
"So then Natsuki must be hiding in her Pocket, for some reason," Sayori reasoned. Yuri and Monika both blinked and looked askance at each other. "Wait!" said Sayori all of a sudden, "I just remembered! Last time this happened, it turned out that Natsuki had gotten Pun-ed into a rat, and–GYAH!" Sayori screamed and dove for cover under a desk when Hiroaka's schoolbag suddenly lifted itself off of his shoulder and started zipping around the room. Monika and Yuri both dove under the same desk.
"What the actual heck?" Monika demanded of the universe.
"So, this is happening," Yuri commented in a calmer tone.
Sayori lassoed her childhood bestie and hauled him under the table, away from the possessed bag.
And then they all heard a shrill voice ring out, "Hahaha! You're all such a cowardly, superstitious lot! FEAR ME, AS YOU SHOULD!"
"Who the hell are you?!" asked Monika, Sayori, and Yuri as one.
"Who am I?" demanded the voice, now sounding like it was coming from right above the table they were under. "WHO AM I?!"
"YES!"
"I am VENGEANCE!" shrieked the voice, "I am THE NIGHT!"
Beat.
"Are you…Batman?" Sayori asked.
"NO! I…am…"
A tiny, pink, fluffy head with big pointy ears and cute little fangs poked down over the edge of the table and blinked at them. A few quick flaps later, a fluffy pink bat sat on the floor in front of them, looking incredibly smug. "I'm Batsuki," she chirped.
The other three Dokies were not amused.
7.4 – Modded to Hell (by BNG1991)
'What? What's going on? What happened? Why are things different now?! What did you do?!'
Monika was confused as she Awoke. She never got the chance of being Hiroaka in the previous loops loops, but she knew he wouldn't say something like that in the beginning. Maybe this is some sort of Mod? Monika had no idea as this loop seemed to limit her power for some reason.
Oh well, might as well try this out and see what happened.
'Yuri, are you sure this is a good idea, Yuri?' Sayori was nervous, 'I know we should try to learn more about our loop by playing various mod, but this might be a bit too much.'
'Yeah, Baseline Monika was already a Yandere, why do we need to watch a more horrifying version of her?' Natsuki was irritated, 'Why bother trying this out? We are prepared for all sorts of scenario, what could possibly go wrong?'
'Well, I am not sure tempting the World Tree is a good idea, Natsuki...' reassured Yuri, 'Aside from the monologue of Hiroaka being a bit different, I think nothing too serious is going to happen. Let us continue, okay?'
As Monika looked at her non-looping self and sighed in relief, she thought that everything should be fine when they could collaborate their effort to get rid of the Yandere infection.
When they analysing the situation, the non-looping Monika told the Anchor not to worry about the Yandere version of the other three members.
'What do you mean?'
'Don't you think we have bigger concerns?'
'What could possibly be a bigger concern than this right now?'
'Well, I think us being alone like this is kind of nice.' Anchor-Monika hated the sound of it.
'Monika, what are you... No...'
'Oh no, we just infected Monika with this infectious mod, how are we going to face her...' Sayori was shaking from horror.
'We are so screwed...' cried Natsuki.
'Maybe Monika was Awaken in someplace else in flesh and blood, just like us. Or she just become Hiroaka...' Yuri's eyes were widened.
As Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri stared the screen in abject horror, they knew Hiroaka was in fact the real Monika and they just fuck her up by installing this mod...
A few loops later...
'No more Yandere mod, got it?'
'Yes President...'
7.5 – Sayori Visits the Stars…Wars… (by EastwindOfAzarath and Garebel)
There was a knock at Anakin's door. This was a surprise for him as he had only just been told by Padme about her pregnancy earlier that day, before he returned to his own quarters. It was too soon for anyone to visit him in baseline and he was certain Obi-Wan was not Awake. He used to Force to sense whom was at the door. He felt a veritable tsunami of emotions emanating from behind the door. He pressed a button and the door slid open to reveal... a girl. A young girl with coral pink hair and a bright red bow in her hair.
"Can, can I help you miss? It is rather late for someone of your age to be out and about. Though, I guessing you are feeling a little... Loopy?" He verbally prodded. She finally looked up at him with a small smile.
"Uh yeah, well, it was suggested by a friend of yours to seek you out. That you would help Anchor me down." she made eye contact as she said it. She was very clearly nervous. He studied her closely.
"And whom might that be? "friend" is rather vague. It means something different to different people." He finally responded, his gaze stern.
"Darth Terror'Anment." Sayori paused when she noticed the look of surprise on his face. That look quickly changed into a smirk as Anakin chuckled. He decided to take a stab in the dark.
"So, she has finally decided to take on an apprentice. That IS a surprise."
"Yes, but she told me she could not start properly training me until I picked up some force sensitivity." Sayori responded quietly. He nodded and she continued. "So I finally found myself here and sought you out. Lord Vader. Please, even if it's just a little, I ask that you start me on my Force training."
Anakin moved out of the doorway to let her in. "What's your name? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"Oh right, My name is Sayori."
"Okay Sayori. I can teach you the basics, though I am curious. Tell me, why did she take an interest in you? Out of anyone in the Multiverse, what drew Pinkamena Diane Pie to you? To take you as her apprentice?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow. Sayori let out a sigh.
Obi-Wan & Yoda walked into a random bar. They just Awoke and sensed Anakin here.
"Strange, Anakin being here is." Yoda commented. Obi-Wan nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, I wonder why?" He said. It wasn't long till they found Anakin, talking with a unknown girl. Yoda frowned.
"Anakin, there you are! Why are…?" Obi-Wan started, but Yoda motioned him to stop.
"Sayori, Your name is?" Yoda asked the girl who frowned and nodded. "Friends with Monika, Are you?" The Sayori has her eyes widen, before nodding again. Yoda sighed before he jumped and ordered a drink much to their surprise.
"Yoda, why are you drinking?" Obi-Wan asked, before sitting down next to Yoda.
"Saw game called Doki Doki Literature Club in Hub, I did. Played on a whim, I decided." Yoda shivered. "Apperencing to a Sith, Are you?" He asked, much to the surprise of the other three Loopers. "Not mad, I am. Turn to the Dark Side in the same Circumstances, Any Jedi would." Yoda quickly explained. Anakin & sighed in relief, while Obi-Wan paled a bit at the last sentence Yoda stated before ordering a drink of his
"She just want train in understanding how the Force works, Master Yoda. She's already in a apprenticeship with a Sith Lord, though not Palpatine." Anakin explained. "And before you asked, the Sith in question was the one who basically turn the Death Star into the Party Star at the time." He added.
7.6 – Proposition H (by Masterweaver)
"Okay everyone!" Monika clapped her hands. "We're all Awake, which means none of us is left out! Now, does anybody have anything they'd like to tell us about recent–Natsuki is mimicking me behind my back isn't she?"
Yuri and Sayori glanced at each other.
"...Your opening speech is kind of predictable," Sayori pointed out gently.
"Yes, well..." Monika glanced behind her at Natsuki's smug grin. "Really?"
"Tsundere and proud."
"...fair enough," she conceded. "Right. Seriously, anything fun from your recent loops to report?"
"Not directly," Yuri mused, "but I did pick up and play through a few dating sims. Just as comparative research."
"Ecchi or hentai?" Natsuki inquired.
"Yes, and also some clean stuff. All across the rating board."
Monika shrugged. "I mean, I was mostly into the Visual Novel type of thing myself. Tried to avoid romance stuff."
"You picked up the Mass Effect trilogy and played Shepard as an asexual," Sayori recalled. "Did you ever get a pure paragon skill?"
"...it took me a bit..." Monika mumbled. "So! Anyway, anybody else have anything to report-?"
"Actually?" Yuri rose a hand. "As the designated pervert, I have a contractual obligation to-"
Natsuki groaned. "Yuri, no. Not this again."
"No no no, I have a good argument this time! Notes and research!"
"We are NOT having an orgy!"
"Technically it wouldn't be an orgy anyway, not if we can't get five or more people to join-"
"Yuri," Sayori interjected softly. "Let it go, please."
The tall girl sighed. "Fine, whatever. I actually get a book from a literal Princess of Love on the subject, but noooooooo..."
7.7 – Master and Apprentice
On the (formerly) desert world of Tatooine:
Specifically, in the middle of one of the deserts that Anakin had left behind, out of consideration for the planet's indigenous lifeforms. Just because he loathed the nitty, gritty stuff didn't mean he couldn't handle it like a big boy when he had to. However, as it happened, he didn't necessarily have to, for this.
Anakin's Force Projection wavered into being like a mirage near the petite, human female he sought. She was sitting in the lotus position, wrapped up in loose-fitting white robes to ward off the threat of sunburn. He had no idea how she could stand it, sitting there in the blistering heat and searing light of the twin suns as if she were completely comfortable. And he said as much to her, too.
"I feel an affinity with the desert," she admitted to him, her eyes closed her face upcast, as if drinking in the overabundance of sunlight. "It's full of contradiction, like me. At first glance, a desolate wasteland, yet teeming with hidden life that has long since acclimated to its brutal, unforgiving environment. An amorphous, malleable landscape; a fitting analogy for the heart of a poet. A land of extremes, unrelenting heat and unbearable chill interspersed by brief, fleeting moments of hospitable temperance."
"And the sand blowing in your face and getting in your hair doesn't bother you at all?" Anakin asked.
"Not as much as the part of my brain that reminds me how I'm also similar to a garbage heap," Sayori replied without missing a beat.
"…touché, Poet," he acknowledged, using the title that had become his nickname for her. "Speaking of which: got anything new? You usually have something after you've been meditating this long."
"Well…I had something bouncing around in my head, involving most of the analogies I just gave you, but I lost my train of thought a moment ago…"
"Ah, so you did feel it as well. The disturbance–"
"That left a brief, inexplicable aftertaste of triple chocolate cake in my mouth and made the Force smell of cotton candy?" Sayori added on to his thought, "Yeah, I managed to pick up on it."
"She knows this is one of the least likely planets in the Galaxy for me to feel inspired to hang about, so she won't arrive until after it occurs to her to cast her senses in this direction," Anakin told her, "Figured I'd give you a minute to find your center before she takes everything I've taught you and filters it through a raspberry kaleidoscope."
"Thanks, Mr. Skywalker," Sayori replied with a smile. "I was starting to think she wasn't going to be in this loop at all."
"I didn't doubt it," Anakin said, his Projection shrugging, "After you've been Looping long enough, you learn to recognize that Yggdrasil has a certain sense of…narrative. It's more apparent in some Loops than others. In fact, if you ever find yourself in a place called Discworld, ask one of the locals about the Theory of Narrative Causality. It's basically an observable fact of nature for that universe, but I'm pretty sure it applies to the Multiverse at large, as well. It only makes sense, narratively speaking, that you and Pinkie would meet again as soon as she could start training you."
"And I'm looking forward to it. But I won't forget who my first teacher was. Thanks, again, for everything, sir."
"No problem at all. I'm used to teaching a feisty knucklehead like Snips. Have a nice, cooperative student like you is always a refreshing change of pace. A little boring, if I'm being honest, but refreshing all the same. Now, if you don't mind, I'll leave you to your fate now. I get along well enough with Pinkie, but Padme and I have private plans to celebrate her election to Supreme Chancellor of the Senate, so I'd rather not get dragged into one of her parties. Until next time, Sayori." With that farewell, Anakin's Force Projection wavered and faded away.
And right on cue, what appeared to be a large, glittering pink disco ball slammed into the desert, throwing sand up every which way, and then it exploded into pink smoke, confetti, streamers, balloons, rainbow-sprinkled cupcakes, party hats, and a random drunken Ewok.
Out of the pink party-vapors emerged a Rancor wearing sequin-encrusted armor, charging at a brisk pace towards the modest little dune where Sayori was now standing. The Rancor was also decked out with fully-smoking smoke machines, fully-strobing strobe lights, fully-firing fireworks launchers, and a powerful sound system that was blasting the musical stylings of that all-Bith band and Outer Rim musical sensation, Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, at full volume. "Full volume" in this context meaning that the Rancor would have been rearranging the surrounding sand dunes even if it had been standing as still as a statue. And riding on the head of this "Party Rancor", if you will, was the Fun Lord of the Sith herself. Her curly, dark-pink 'mane' of hair bounced like an over-caffeinated rabbit as she sat Indian-style upon her mount, an aura of neon light reflecting off of her tie-dye colored leather body armor, and on her face was an open smile that easily outshone the twin suns of Tatooine.
"Heya, Sunshower!" Pinkie Pie shouted as the Party Rancor slowed to a stop right in front of Sayori, greeting her apprentice by her pony name.
"Ahoy there, PinkieEEEEEE!" Sayori shouted back, screeching in surprise when Pinkie suddenly Force Pulled her off of the dune and straight up to the Rancor's head, whereupon she took her into a crushing hug that forced a squeak out of the peach-haired girl.
"IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!" Pinkie Pie joyously screamed in her ear.
"…same…here…ma'am…"
"Oh, no need to be so formal!" said Pinkie as she let go of a thoroughly winded Sayori. "I'm a FUN Lord of the Sith, after all."
"Then shouldn't it…be Farth Terror'Anment?" asked Sayori, who was bent over double trying to regain her breath.
"Nah. I prefer to be laughed with, not at. Introducing myself as 'Farth' anything would just be begging everyone to ridicule me. A Sith Lord should command respect, even when she isn't interested in galactic domination," replied Pinkie.
"Fair enough," Sayori conceded, standing back up. Then she raised an eyebrow. "You look different."
"Yeah. This is what they call 'Anthro-Pony' form in the Hub," said Pinkie, pointing out the pony-like ears on her head and the bushy tail sticking out from the seat of her pants. Her skin was pastel pink, of course.
"I see…so, uh, what are we going to do first?"
"Annie covered the basics, right?" Pinkie inquired. Sayori nodded. "Awesomesauce! I knew I could count on him to handle the boring stuff for me. So then, our first step is going to be getting you your own lightsaber! I know cutting weapons are more your friend Yuri's thing, but no self-respecting Sith is lacking a lightsaber. And once we've done that–"
Pinkie was interrupted a Ping. She and Sayori Pinged back immediately, as did several others. Pinkie frowned and did some quick counting on her fingers. "Waaaaaaaaaaait a minute…that was one too many, unless someone from Luke's circle just Woke Up super early."
Something in Sayori's pocket beeped; she pulled out her communicator and clicked it on, "Yeah?"
"Let our friend know that Master Windu just Woke Up," said Anakin, who sounded terribly amused.
Pinkie gasped, "Mace is Looping now?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!"
Sayori had only spent one loop with Pinkie before this, but it didn't take very long to figure out what Pinkie was all about. "We have to throw him a party?" she hedged.
"YOU'RE DARN SPANKING RIGHT WE DO! Back to the Disco Shuttle, Ranky!" she exclaimed. The Party Rancor whipped about-face. "Wait, I blew it up, didn't I? Okay, new plan! Ranky, Sayori, standby for WARPSPACE TRANSITION!"
Master, apprentice, and Rancor all disappeared in the instant opening and closing of a localized Warp Rift, accompanied by the sound effect of a pineapple upside-down cake blowing a raspberry into a tin can at 150 decibels, with the unintended side effect of transfiguring the surrounding desert landscape into a sea of lemon pudding.
7.8 – A Practical Application of Force (by EastwindOfAzarath)
"I really didn't want to have to enter her room like this... Isn't it kind of a breach of privacy? But she really leaves me no choice," thought the boy, as per usual. He slowly opened the door to find...
Sayori sitting on her bed, legs crossed and meditating. The lights were off with the exception of a few candles on a table on the other side of the room. He sighed a breath of relief.
"You are interrupting my mediation. Although I do thank you for checking up on me. I supposed you were worried. Afraid I had done something drastic." Sayori smiled as she stood up. "Well, I think I have done enough meditation for today... I should get ready for school. Today is a big day!"
Monika was shocked when she saw Sayori walk through the door to the classroom. She was able to not show surprise on her facial features though. Sayori however, could feel the shock. She grinned at her classmate.
"You sure are surprised, right Monika?" Sayori said with such a sugary sweet voice that Monika could almost feel herself getting a cavity and stomach ache. "Bet you thought I'd offed myself, huh? You are gonna need to try harder than that to get rid of me Ms. President"
Natsuki and Yuri, whom had both been carry various things across the room, spilled everything they were carrying and stared. Monika's pen flew out of her hand and her jaw dropped. Her only thoughts were the two one word questions: "What?" and "How?". And the two questions applied to many different things at once.
"Instead of hanging myself, I managed to dispel the dark clouds in my head with a nice long meditation period. I knew you were listening yesterday during our conversations after school, so I made sure to leave out the fact that I had been managing to combat my depression so that I could see your reaction. It was well worth it."
She then pulled a lightsaber from... somewhere and turned it on, letting its bright red glow permeate the room. "It'll take more effort to take down Darth Somnus, Monika. You will do well to remember that. Besides, you have already been forgiven. It's not entirely your fault. You haven't done anything else yet and I was waiting for this event, so I'm not mad at you. Just don't try anything else. Or you will not like what happens."
The lightsaber then disappeared and she went over to grab one of Natsuki's cupcakes. As she bit into the pastry, she heard sudden movement and then three Pings all at once.
"I hate late Awakenings." came Monika's voice. it was very soft and reserved.
"Holy crap Sayori! That was so badass!" exclaimed Natsuki as rushed toward Sayori to give her friend a big hug.
"That truly was a grand display. Though I am curious: when did you become a Sith? And do you think I can hold your lightsaber? For just a moment?" came Yuri's voice. she twirled a strand of hair around her fingers.
"I am curious as well actually! I didn't figure you to be a Dark-side Force user Sayori!" Natsuki added.
"Last loop actually. I had a fused loop with Star Wars and Equestria. Specifically Pinkie Pie is my teacher. You know how I told you she was gonna help me with my depression? Well, I didn't tell you how. Now did I?" she said with a small smirk.
Yuri furrowed her eyebrows and spoke, "Wait? Pinkie Pie is a Sith? Weird."
It was Monika's turn to speak up, "Actually, I did hear about her being a Sith. From what I understand, the Force isn't Good nor Evil. I don't know the specifics, just that the movies mostly focus on evil Dark-side users and never really shows any that aren't evil. That's why most have that misconception. I definitely don't see Pinkie Pie as a Jedi, they are all about patience and reasoning and logic. Things I don't think the pink pony excels at. Especially logic."
Sayori's smile grew even bigger, "Yup, exactly! She made me her official Apprentice and we had so much fun that loop! let me tell you all about it..."
7.9 – Unshakable
"MACY-WACY!" screamed the concentrated eldritch embodiment of all that is unholy and high in sugar and fats. You can just call her Pinkie Pie. At present, she was in her "anthro-pony" form, as that was the form of the Equestrian species in this loop. So, you know, humanoid frame, pony ears, a long, curly, bushy tail to match her bushy 'mane' of curly dark-pink hair, pastel-pink skin…
Also, she was riding a rancor decked out in barding so heavily sequined it was like a disco ball. And a human in her late teens or early-twenties, still dressed in her white desert robes, was clinging for dear life to Pinkie's back.
Jedi Master Mace "Galactic Basic, motherfucker, do you speak it?!" Windu was walking down a hallway in the Jedi Temple, just thinking about stuff, when suddenly he heard a bizarre sound in twelve different dimensions, followed by a Warp Rift opening in front of him (not that he knew that that was what it was) and a rancor barreling out. Mace wouldn't call himself an expert on rancors, specifically, but through the Force he got the very strong impression that this particular rancor…wanted a hug?
A moment later, a thoroughly bemused Master Windu was being cuddled by a rancor. 'Master Yoda warned me these loops would get crazy. Prepare me for this, his warning did not,' thought Mace.
Pinkie Pie giggled, "Oh, Macy…if you think rancor-snuggles are way out there, then you haven't seen ANYTHING yet!"
"Is it common for Loopers to read minds?" asked Mace while subtly trying to extricate himself from the arms of Ranky, who was just as obtusely resisting his resistance.
"Kinda! How'd ya know I was a Looper? Did somebody tell you all about the big, bad, party pony?" asked Pinkie with a sly grin. She hopped down from her mount, bringing a somewhat rattled-looking Sayori with her. Ranky dropped Mace, and disappeared in another burst of Warp energy.
"No," replied Mace as he dusted off his robes, "But you seem to be familiar with me, even though I don't know you at all. I'm guessing you've met me before, in previous Loops."
"Uh…yeah," said Pinkie, deflating somewhat. Something was off…
"Ahem…Pinkie?" Sayori spoke up. "What…um…what are we doing? I mean, I'm sure a party is going to be involved somehow but…uh…what do you want me to do, I guess?" she asked, pushing her fingers together in her typical moe fashion.
Pinkie was too busy staring at Mace to respond. Mace, in turn, looked impassively back at her. Sayori had the sudden, vivid impression that a tumbleweed blowing past them would not be too far out of place for the sudden mood shift of the room.
"SOMETHING RANDOM!" Pinkie abruptly screamed, Unpocketing a banana-cream pie and flinging it at Mace's face.
Being a Jedi, Mace caught it, naturally. And he didn't so much as flinch. So as not to be rude he did, however, withdrew a fork from inside his robes and took a bite out of the pie. "Hmm…too much sugar, not enough banana. Aside from that, not a bad piece of confectionary work. Thank you, Miss." Without another word, Mace turned around and continued down the hall, still eating the pie.
Pinkie stared blankly into the distance, one of her eyes twitching.
"I have a bad feeling about this," said Sayori grimly.
7.10 – It's a Fine Night Tonight, Wouldn't You Agree?
Yuri Awoke in one of the more unpleasant situations that a Looper could Awaken in, and one she had experienced once before. Namely, surrounded by the undead.
One thing Yuri was noted for by her friends was the way her mind worked. Quick and sharp, like a blade forged from lightning. In the span of a few seconds, she took in her surroundings–
'A decent-sized mob of zombies, or something similar to them, but only a dozen or so close enough to be an immediate threat; also, two humans wearing the same uniform I am, probably law enforcement, armed with handguns also like mine; most likely my comrades. We're in a small town, near a church; it's nighttime, presence of telephone poles and automobiles and styles of clothing indicate late 20th or early 21st century Earth or similar.'
–skimmed through her Loop Memories–
'I'm an English policewoman, British-Japanese descent, named Yuri Victoria. My comrades are named Simon and Eddie. This is an English village named…Cheddar? Huh. Oh, nasty past I've got, spent most of my childhood in an orphanage, very violent as a child…oh dear, how unpleasant. I was orphaned by home invaders, suffered a gunshot injury and had to watch one of the robbers…yeah, no wonder I was a violent child.'
–and even as her mind was whirling, she was also acting: she crouched and knocked both Simon and Eddie to the ground with a circular leg sweep so they were out of her way, Pocketed her gun and Unpocketed a pair of razor-sharp sickles, and quickly went to work. Within seconds, every ghoul within arm's reach of her and her partners was either headless or had otherwise been sufficiently dismembered to no longer pose an immediate threat. The policemen tried to get up, but Yuri quickly barked in her Unawake self's Cockney accent, "Stay down, both of ya! Leave it to me!"
Suffice it to say, Yuri went about her work with goddamned gusto.
…
It didn't strike Alucard as being odd that every ghoul he had come across on his way through Cheddar had been little more than a pile of limbs. It was a little unusual that they all appeared to have been cleanly slashed to bits as opposed to being blown up, bullet-riddled, or torn apart, as were the typical mook-disposal methods of one Seras "Police Girl" Victoria. But hey, if she wanted to play Swordmaster this loop, who was he to judge? What did strike him as odd, however, was that she didn't seem to have finished off the vampire priest and left the village yet. He assumed she was one of the two that had responded to his Ping, but…
Anyways, he decided to head to the church and see what the hold-up was. He was only mildly surprised to find a young woman with long, lavender hair fighting the priest with a katana. She was obviously a Looper; she was too strong and too quick to be a normal human girl, and her bladework was too graceful for anyone with less than centuries of training. Quick as she was, however, the vampire she was fighting was quicker. And even when she landed a lucky hit it didn't seem to do much good; the vampire quickly regenerated any injuries he sustained, so Alucard felt it was safe to assume she was fighting with a normal steel sword.
"Die, damn you!" Yuri hissed as she attempted to decapitate the priest, only for her blade to pass harmlessly through his neck as though he were made of mist.
She heard someone call out, "Catch!" and saw something flash out of the corner of her eye. A man in a long red coat had thrown a sword her way.
She easily caught the blade in her hand, flipped it around to grab the hilt, and then flipped it over for a reverse-grip while using her katana to slap the priest's hand aside as he tried to grab at her. She stepped to the priest's side and dropped into a sweep kick, fully rotating and holding out the new sword so that the priest fell on it. The unusually shiny blade skewered through his chest, emerging with a coat of blood and causing more of it to erupt from his mouth. Yuri's eyes narrowed, and she smiled widely. She stood up and swung her leg into the priest's shoulders, kicking him up and off of her blade, returning her katana to her Pocket so she could use a two-handed grip. The priest glared fearfully, not at her, but at the weapon in her hands. Growling savagely, he threw himself at her with his hands outstretched and his fangs bared.
Yuri smoothly slid to the side at the last possible second, brought the silver sword down through his neck as he passed by, and gave a small sigh of satisfaction as the decapitated corpse hit the floor and slid to a stop just in front of the stranger in red. Yuri turned her gaze on him and watched him warily while she Unpocketed a large handkerchief and used it to wipe the sword clean. She raised an eyebrow at him and gave another Ping. Two Pings replied, and the man in red nodded at her, his smile widening.
"You're quite the artist with a blade, young lady," the stranger complimented.
"Thank you," Yuri replied simply, "I take it you came here to deal with the zombie problem?"
"Strictly speaking, I very rarely have to bother myself with the ghouls, or the vampire, anymore. Our Loop's Anchor can usually handle things on her own," the man explained.
"But you had to save her ass the first time, didn't you?" Yuri questioned, tossing the cleaned silver sword back to him. He didn't bother catching it physically; he just Pocketed it as soon as it was close enough.
"Indeed. Well, seeing as you are the visitor and I the host, I will offer you the courtesy of introducing myself first. I am called Alucard, elite field agent of Her Majesty's paranormal defense force, the Hellsing Organization."
"Alucard…" Yuri's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered a manga she had read from Natsuki's collection eons ago, and realized why the man before her seemed familiar. "Ah! Hellsing. Yes, I once read a manga based on this universe. So, you're a vampire as well, then. A very powerful one, at that."
Alucard tilted his head. "And that doesn't appear to bother you in the slightest. Fascinating…I certainly hope you're not one of those unbearably vapid 'vampire fangirls' I've found scattered all over the Multiverse."
Yuri wrinkled her nose and shook her head vigorously. "No, certainly not. I respect vampires for what they are; a perfect manifestation of what Man fears might be lurking in the night, but at the same time a metaphor for Man's own fear of death, weakness, and old age. To be granted power, immortality, and everlasting youth, at the price of gluttonously stripping life from others; from the weak and fearful, especially. Vampirism is a means of achieving freedom, but not of a shallow, beautiful sort. It's a dark freedom, a twisted freedom. A forsaking of morality and virtue to gain in one's life the kind of permanence that those same morals and virtues are meant to secure in the next life. A vampire also embodies doubt and scorn, for anyone who would give up so much of themselves and take so much from others only to gain a pale and incomplete shadow of the eternal reward promised for a virtuous life? They must surely doubt that such a reward truly exists, or have some reason to scorn the entity offering that reward."
Alucard slid his shades down his nose to show the eyebrow he had raised. "Did all of that just come off the top of your head?"
Yuri nodded.
"Interesting. I have just one more question for you, young lady." Alucard removed sunglasses and gave her his most monstrous smile. "How do you feel about moonlit walks?"
After a long pause…Yuri just smiled back.
7.11 – The Child of Night, part 2 (7.1 cont.)
-The Child of Night, Part 2-
[*Sayori…why am I in your head?]
Sayori blinked. She was at Blooky Acres, kneeling on the ground and filling a large communal bowl with snail food. "Um…who was that?"
[*Eh?]
[*What do you mean?]
[*It's me, Monika!]
"Monika? Why are you in my head?!" Sayori demanded, looking around furtively. "And when did you pick up telepathy, anyways?"
[*I haven't.]
[*I'm not just talking to you in your mind, I'm literally in your mind!]
[*And I don't know why, that's why I asked you!]
[I just Woke Up and I'm still sorting out my Loop Memories…we're under a mountain?]
"Uh, yeah. We're in the Underground, where all the monsters live. But they're–"
Just then, "DEFEND YOURSELF, HUMAN!" screamed a fiery, female voice.
Sayori flinched and whirled around, using her Hyper Yoyo to deflect an energy spear.
[*OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT THING?!]
Sayori cartwheeled to the side to evade Undyne's wild charge!
And immediately slipped on a spot of snail slime.
Then, quite involuntarily, she rolled backwards and jumped back up to her feet. A pair of guns appeared in her hands, and again without any input on her part she started firing on the armored fishwoman running towards her. Sayori recognized the guns, and quickly put everything together. "Stop it, Monika, she's a friend! Time out, Undyne, TIME OUT!"
Undyne skidded to a halt, and Sayori's arms dropped.
[*Oh…I see.]
[*Heh-heh-heh…sorry about that, Sayori.]
"What the…when did you get guns, Sayori?" asked Undyne, "And who's Monika?"
"A friend from home. My Anchor, in fact."
"Oh. This has to do with that Loop stuff Papyrus and Alphys were telling me about, then?" asked the presently Unawake Captain of the Royal Guard.
"Mmhmm. Excuse me, ma'am, but I need to go ask Toriel some questions," said Sayori, politely bowing before leaving.
…
"You say your friend, Monika, has Awakened as a voice in your head?" asked Toriel. She was in Grillby's, sitting next to Sans. They had been discussing a stand-up routine they wanted to do on Mettaton's show before the end of the loop.
"Yeah, sort of. Hey, can I get my usual, Grillby? Thanks," said Sayori as she took a seat on Toriel's other side. "She's not really a 'voice'. She just, kind of…puts words there. If that makes sense. Kind of like, somehow, in my Loop, during Variants where I'm the President, I can see the game's text boxes. It's like that; text boxes in my head. Any explanations, there?"
Toriel folded her arms on the counter and stared deeply into the middle-distance. "It's…a fairly common Variant. The kind that could be part of our Baseline, but it seems that Yggdrasil can't make up its mind. You remember when I told you…about the other children?"
"Yeah. The seven that came before me," Sayori replied with a nod.
"…the six before you, and before Frisk…they're highly variable. Not stable enough to be considered more than abstract details of our Loop's past. But the first, the first human child to fall into the Underground. They are still highly variable, but decidedly more important to our…story, for want of a better word. Like Frisk, their sex is Loop Variable. Their name was Chara. They became very dear to us, to Asgore and Asriel and I."
Sayori nodded solemnly. She had been in the Underground for two weeks, and this was only the second time Toriel had mentioned her son by name.
"Chara become a part of our family. Asgore and I adopted them as our own, and Asriel–who was the one to find them after they fell–happily accepted his foster sibling. In fact, Asriel and Chara soon became the very best of friends. Chara won over the hearts of our people, and helped ease our fear of the humans. Hence why we left the Ruins and set up New Home right by the barrier."
[*Oh…oh gods, I remember…Asriel, and the buttercups…oh no…]
"Uh, Monika? You okay?" Sayori asked out loud. She got no response.
"Let me guess; she remembered the buttercups?" asked Toriel, glancing aside at Sayori with a sad expression.
"Yeah, and now she's all quiet. What about buttercups?" asked Sayori, starting to feel worried.
"It was how Chara–or, in this loop, your friend Monika…committed suicide. By buttercup poisoning."
Sayori felt her heart sink. 'No…'
"that's enough." Sans suddenly hopped down from his stool. "c'mon sayori. i can tell ya the rest. grillby, get tori some hot chocolate and put it on my tab will ya?"
"It's okay, Sans. I can tell the story," said Toriel firmly.
"….ya don't have to…"
"But I will," said Toriel resolutely. "…I'd like the hot chocolate, though. Ahem, as I was saying…Chara didn't kill themselves on a whim. It was part of a plan they had hatched with Asriel. As I told you before, only a human with a powerful soul can freely pass through the barrier…or someone carrying both a human and monster soul. But to destroy the barrier, and free all of us from the Underground, would require one being using the power of seven strong human souls. The plan was for Asriel to join Chara's soul with his own, cross the barrier and travel to the human village Chara had came from under the pretense of carrying Chara's remains to a bed of golden flowers they had loved in life. There, Asriel would…acquire…six more human souls, and destroy the barrier. But the plan went awry. Asriel couldn't bring himself to follow through with taking any human souls, and the humans of the villages reacted as you would expect to a little monster carrying a dead human child. It took the last of his strength for Asriel to return home, and then…"
Toriel couldn't go on. Sayori got off of her stool and wrapped her arms tightly around the motherly monster.
"asgore declared war on humanity," said Sans. "announced his intention to take the soul of any other humans who fell into the underground, until he had enough to destroy the barrier. he had six, by the time frisk got here."
"I left New Home and returned to the Ruins," said Toriel, "I brought Chara's body with me, and buried them…"
[*Under the bed of golden flowers, where you fell at the start of the loop, right?] Monika finished. Sayori repeated this, and Toriel nodded.
"Okay, but why…?"
"This appears to be one of the common Variant Loops where Chara functions as a…sort of 'narrator' in Frisk's head. Or yours, this loop. Except Monika replaced Chara…"
"I fell on her grave and she hitched a ride in my head," Sayori summarized. "Sure, why not. Is Chara a Looper?"
Toriel and Sans both shook their heads. "As I said, they're highly Loop Variable. I don't know if they're stable enough to Loop. And whether they can or not, I'm…not entirely sure it would be a good idea if they did."
"What do you mean?" Sayori asked.
[*…it might have something to do with Chara hating humanity…assuming that that's why I have memories of hating humanity.]
"in certain loops, chara wants to destroy everything. and i mean everything. all of existence itself," Sans explained. "whether that's the cause or effect of a 'genocide variant' is also loop variable. they might be a tragic victim, or they might be a potential mle. that part of our baseline is too damaged for any of us to be certain. frisk seems optimistic that they can be redeemed, if they even need to be, but…that's frisk for ya. kiddo's, like, hope personified.
"I see…um, 'genocide variant'?"
"oh. yeah. see, when they're awake frisk is as pacifist as they come. but unawake frisk…they can be anything from a pacifist to an unrepentant mass murderer that slaughters their way from one end of the underground to the other. literally."
"So whenever Frisk isn't Awake and is in a particularly murderous mood, we call it a "Genocide Variant", you see," explained Toriel.
"Wow…your Loop is as messed up as mine," said Sayori, equal parts awestruck and horrified.
[*Hey, Sayori?]
[*I…um…I'm gonna lay low for the rest of this loop, I think.]
[*I've got a lot of stuff I need to think about.]
[*And…could you please not mention this to Yuri or Natsuki?]
[*I will, just not until I'm ready.]
[*Please?]
'Yeah, of course I will, Monika.'
Then, suddenly, the doors to Grillby's blew open! Triumphant, heart-pounding music started pulsing through the air! A tall figure, wrapped up in a steel-plated parka, stood in the doorway, her cape billowing in the harsh, arctic wind!
(By which I mean Papyrus was standing behind her, shaking her cape up and down and making 'whooshing' noises with his mouth, because the wind was totally dead today.)
"HUMAN!" Undyne bellowed, summoning a spear in each hand. "DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T REALIZE YOU HAD SKIVVED OUT ON OUR SPARRING?!"
'For once, I think I could actually use a violent distraction,' thought Sayori, who grinned as she hopped off of her stool. She Unpocketed a yo-yo in each hand and took a ready pose.
"Oi! Take it outside, you two," Grillby crackled at them in dismay.
Compiler's Commentary:
7.1: My goodness Sans, you can be such a bonehead sometimes…and I will see myself out now…
7.2: Soos is a nice guy. Anyone would be lucky to have him.
7.3: Personal headcanon; Natsuki didn't realize bats could be freaking adorable until she met Flutterbat.
7.4: Breaking games can be an educational experience. They can also turn into bloody nightmares.
7.5: Yoda doesn't strike me as the Dating Sim type, but hey. Crazy things, will you do; when all eternity, you have.
7.6: I am simultaneously proud and ashamed of myself for coming up with that title.
7.7: No jokes, my girlfriend actually finds rancors to be, and I am quoting her here, "adorable". She first told me this a good four months ago. I am still processing this fact. (I think I might be dating a very, very short female Hagrid…)
7.8: All hail Darth Somnus, Smiling Lord of the Sith.
7.9: Snip title is a reference to an M. Night Shamalyan film, Unbreakable, which featured Samuel L. Jackson as one of the main characters. One of Shammy's good ones, I recommend it to anyone who likes having their head played with.
7.10: I'm straight, but Crispin Freeman's silky voice could talk me into joining the undead with pretty much no problem.
7.11: Nice to see that Sans and Sayori are getting along.