22.1 – Demogra-fics, by Masterweaver.

"Watcha readin' there?"

Natsuki sighed. "I have made the grievous error of attempting to read fanfiction of us from the hub."

"Oh?"

"Specifically crossover fanfiction. I thought I'd go see how much Harry Potter crossover fic we have." She gestured at the screen. "Three stories on Fanfic, three stories on AO3, and all the ones on AO3 are mass-crossovers, so..."

Sayori settled in next to her. "Why were you interested?"

"It's just... Harry Potter is the cultural nexus of modern fanfiction, right? The fandom from which the concept exploded. You can generally tell how popular a franchise is by how many crossovers it has with that. This, though..."

"To be fair, we're kind of in entirely different genres," Sayori pointed out. "Harry Potter is a fantasy slice of life adventure series set in Britain. We're a pseudo-Japanese dating sim horror game with a sci-fi twist. Kind of hard to mesh us together."

"I mean, sure, but... there are four of us, and four houses. Where's the fic where we're attending Hogwarts? I know it's cliche, but you'd expect at least one like that..."

"Hey, our popularity is our own. We don't need to hook off the Potterverse to be incredible."

"Yeah..." Natsuki chuckled. "I guess you're right. And Harry's one of the original seven."

"Yeah, we might get to see Hogwarts in person one day!"

Natsuki shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it could be neat..."

22.2 – Nats-icle, by Boohoooo!
(DDLC)/(We Bare Bears)

It was an average day in the Bears' Cave as they did some sweeping. The Dokis were currently visiting, getting fed by Ice Bear, except Natsuki, who was exploring.

"FUCK!" She exclaimed, stubbing her toe. Ice Bear gave an uncharacteristically overdramatic gasp and covered Chloe's ears, dragging her off.

3 days later…

"FUCK!" Chloe exclaimed after falling and scraping her knee. Ice Bear's eyes narrowed...

Back at some Random abandoned school, Natsuki was eating a cupcake when Ice Bear busted the door down, freezing her.

"...Geez..." Monika sighed, going to get a chisel.

22.3 – "Zombieland Saga Review" starring Yuri and Natsuki, by Masterweaver.

"...well, just... wow." Natsuki whistled. "Here I thought I wouldn't like this, but... damn."

"I mean, I went in expecting something different too. It's not that I don't like this though," Yuri assured her quickly, "I just thought it would be more my flavor and it turned out to be yours."

"No, I get it. The cutesy stuff-that's more me and Sayori. And the humor was spot on all the way through."

"It was certainly a remarkable piece of satire," Yuri admitted. "Did you notice how it switched from constant comedic near-failures to stressful but ultimately successful situations midway through?"

"Hey, yeah, that was a thing. I think that was when the characters started reaching out to each other-I mean, besides Sakura, she was always doing that."

"Yes... you know, for such a niche work, they tackled a number of issues remarkably well."

"What, the whole thing with Lily?"

"Well, that, and Sakura's depression and Reiko's motherly worries and, hmmm, the whole arc with Ai dealing with her legacy... it was always respectful, saying what needed to be said, without being brazen to the point where it ruined the story."

"Yeah." Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from. This is... I mean I went in expecting that you would be hugging me, when all the cute girls got eaten by zombies. But then the cute girls were the zombies and everything took a wild turn and I thought, crap, I'll like it and she'll... not hate it, but-

"Not my cup of tea?" Yuri suggested with a sly grin.

"Yeah, that's about it. Damn. Date night anime went way off the rails." Natsuki leaned into her. "In the best way."

"Yeah." Yuri wrapped an arm around her. "So... should we show this to the others?"

"...It'd definitely be something Sayori would like. Monika... eeeenh, Monika's got her zombie phobia... I dunno. Let's wait a bit on that."

22.4 – Swish, Swish, Stab, by Masterweaver.

The vwmmm of swinging lightsabers cut through the air.

"Okay, so you've got a mastery of the weight," Sayori said with a nod. "Now what you need is to keep in mind the Floating Point principle."

Yuri frowned. "What?"

"Like, this whole beam?" Sayori gestured at her own red blade. "It is death. I know this, but it takes a bit to retrain the instincts. Part of my brain says 'if I turned the flat of the blade like this, I can grab it to prevent it going in my face.' And with your knife thing, I'm guessing part of your brain is thinking 'I can control the pressure of the cut.' That's not how lightsabers work. You might know that in your head, but your instincts are going to bungle it."

Yuri looked down at her own purple lightsaber. "Right. Yeah, I see what you're saying. So... point it away from me until I've internalized No Touchy."

"That's about the gist of it." Sayori punched a button, and the holodeck changed. "So we're going to play a little Beat Saber for you to internalize that."

Yuri looked down the glowing path. "Um..."

"Beat Saber, Hub-world VR rhythm game. Got Monika to program in the specs. Slice the cubes as they come."

A bunch of black cubes, glowing with purple markings, suddenly started flying toward Yuri to the sound of digital rock. She shrugged, swinging her lightsaber along the way. "Perks of being a digital entity, I guess."

"VR's real easy," Sayori agreed.

22.5 – Monika's Fifth, by Awesomedude17.

"Lou Bega has been ruined for me." Monika declared.

"Why?" Sayori asked.

"Simple." Monika pulled out a radio and pressed start.

"A little bit of Monica in my life."

Monika turned it off. "Take that song and apply that to the twist of our game."

The Literature Club collectively winced.

22.6 – The Price of Tempting Fate, by Awesomedude17.

"You just had to mention sexy Bowser, didn't you?"

"I said I was sorry, Natsuki. How was I supposed to know about that Super Crown thing?"

"And now we're bad Sonic OCs. Thanks a lot, Monika."

Yuri and Sayori couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"I mean, I'm glad your's is worse, Monika."

"How? Your OC is just a lazy recolor of Amy, changing her skin to peach."

"You're telling me, overdesigned red and black OC with purple eyes."

"At least I put effort in my OC."

Yuri and Sayori doubled over in laughter.

"Glad you both are enjoying this." Natsuki said dryly.

"Sorry but... A deal's a deal, girls." Yuri spoke up.

"Yeah yeah." The two grumbled.

22.7 – Father-Daughter Time, by Zum1UdontNo.

"Well, looks like it's time to go," Natsuki said. "It's actually kinda strange being able to say that, considering… y'know."

Monika checked the internal clock of the game- which seemed to be less of a traditional dating sim this time, and actually operated on real time with real locations. They all even started out with 3D models. "Yeah, just about. Or, well, the equivalent of it anyway. You're the only one that actually goes home, now that I think about it."

"Yuri and Hiroaka leave too," Natsuki pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Monika said, "but she's Unawake this loop. And we both know Hiroaka doesn't really count. Me and Sayori basically just set up beds in the clubroom."

"Yeah, normally I'd stay too," Natsuki said. "There's just something really good about this loop, and I don't want to miss any of it. See ya tomorrow!"

As Natsuki rushed out of the door in a literal pink blur, Monika rubbed her chin in thought. What was she so excited about this loop, anyway?

…well, she'd just have to ask her tomorrow. No chance of being able to catch up to her at this point.

Natsuki grinned as she ran home, a faint trail of pink following behind her. She had originally been a little suspicious of this loop. Generally, whenever there was a big change to the game's genre or mechanics, it was less than exciting. The FPS ones seemed cool at first, until she realized it was basically just them with guns, and a few scripted faceless baddies. The Holodeck could make a lot more exciting stuff than that any time. The action adventure ones at least had a new landscape to explore, but it was usually just the neighborhood and maybe some forests and mountains.

And the less said about the survival horrors, the better.

But this one was actually pretty alright. The idea was the player would interact with the girls in real time, choosing various dialogue options for any given situation. It might've also been a VR game, but it was difficult to tell from their perspective. And without a player controlling him, Hiroaka had been less than helpful in determining the answer. The main differences were the 3D bodies- which Monika normally gave them anyways- and the day and night cycles, which was new to the game. Monika hadn't added it in before, because she hadn't felt the need; for the most part, Monika just made it look like nighttime when they went to sleep and like daytime when they woke up.

But the best part of the change had come as a side detail. Since the game was taking a more real-time approach, that meant the player had the option of choosing a specific activity to partake in with their choice of waifu. And some of those activities involved getting to know the girls on a more personal level.

And for Natsuki, that included meeting her family.

Natsuki finally reached her house, and threw open the door. "I'M HOME!" she called, taking off her shoes.

"Cupcake, welcome back!" Natsuki watched as a man walked into the living room, his flame-red hair folded in a ridiculous comb-over. "How was your day at school? And, more importantly, did they like our apple crumble?"

"It was good, Pop," she answered happily. "Sayori and Monika loved it, of course. Apparently Yuri doesn't really like apples, though. But she appreciated the thought. Said it was 'surprisingly sweet' of me."

Natsuki's dad snorted. "Everything you do is 'surprisingly sweet' to her," he said. "You sure you're not actually dating her and not telling me? Do I have to get my Intimidating And Disapproving Father Face on whenever she comes over?"

"That's enough snark out of you, mister," Natsuki scoffed good-naturedly. "I didn't come here to be shipped with my clubmate. Right now, her and I are friends."

"I'm sure you are, Cupcake," he chuckled, mussing up her hair. "Now, we've got a few hours before we gotta deal with supper, and I for one have had a boring day at work. What're you up for? Baseball, anime, total annihilation at Mario Kart?"

"I'm leaning toward that last one," Natsuki said. "It's been too long since I've gotten to kick your butt."

Pop leaned back, placing a hand on his chest. "My, such confidence," he gasped. "How will I ever fare against an opponent this sure of herself?"

"You won't," she shot back, grinning mischievously. "You're gonna lose. Big time."

"Oh, is that so? Because when I suggested annihilation, I was kinda implying that I would be doing the annihilating. But, if you want to face off against the Comeback Captain again, be my guest."

"Ha! The Feline First-place Finisher never stands down to a challenge, and your blue shells mean nothing to me! Bring it on!"

"Blue shells are such garbage."

"I'm just saying," Pop said, stretching as he stood up, "you get better items when you're further behind. Why do you think I let you hit me with that red early on? I could've blocked it."

Natsuki pouted. "We were playing Mario Kart, Einstein," she said. "Not seventeen-dimensional chess."

"It never hurts to have a strategy. Now," Pop turned to her, "Whaddaya want for supper? I was thinking seafood linguine, but I'm taking requests."

"With the mushroom sauce?" she asked. "Cause the mushroom sauce is normally the best part."

"If I weren't so proud of the sauce, I'd be offended," her dad smirked. "Linguine it is. I'll call you up when it's ready, okay Cupcake?"

"Can't I help?" Natsuki asked. "You know I like being in the kitchen… Maybe I could just make some dessert items while-"

"The fridge is overflowing with dessert items, Natsuki!" Pop laughed. "If you make any more we literally will not have space for them!"

"Then let me help with the linguine!" Natsuki said. "Shredding the Parmesan, keeping an eye on the water, I could do the fiddly side stuff while you do other stuff. C'mon, let me have this!"

"Alright, alright," Pop smiled. "You can help out. I swear, you've gotten a lot more insistent on helping me out this week."

Natsuki was silent.

"…Ah, right," he realized. "I forgot about that. Mmm." He paused for a moment, before rubbing his daughter's head. "Sure, you can help me out. Tell you what, I'll get started on the sauce and you can work on the noodles. Sound good?"

Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Then what are we waiting around for?" he laughed. "That linguine isn't gonna pop into existence from wishful thinking! Food trumps talk, so start up the cooking and we'll really get talking!"

"This enough Parmesan?"

Pop looked over at the small bowl Natsuki was holding. "Eh, I'd say a little more. Might as well go all out this time."

"I'm sorry, my teacher," Natsuki muttered, putting down the bowl and holding the cheese and grater above it. "But, just this once… I must go all out! Secret Chef's Technique: Forest's Shredder! Haaaaaa!"

Pop looked at Natsuki as she began wildly shredding the cheese, an eyebrow raised. "Is that all you can summon forth?" he scoffed. "Behold, witness the true power of an ancient master of the culinary ways! Secret Chef's Technique: Blades of Time!" Setting all his vegetables in a line, he raised his knife up high before rapidly bringing it down. Before long, he had a small pile of chopped vegetables sitting on the cutting board.

"A technique well performed," Natsuki solemnly nodded. "It seems we are at an impasse. We will get nowhere from idle chatter, so for the sake of this task, let us put aside our animosity, just this once."

"Very well." Pop bowed to Natsuki, who bowed in return. "You were a strong foe, and I look forward to the next day our blades clash." Rising back up, the man turned back to the stove. "Alright, the noodles are cooking, the sauce is made, the shrimp and scallops are all ready… All we really have to do now is wait."

"How long until they're ready?"

"I'd say about five minutes more." Pop dipped a wooden spoon into the pot, stirring it around. "Maybe six, but that'd be pushing it."

"…"

Pop looked at his daughter. "Something on your mind, Cupcake?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just…" Natsuki looked up at him. "Do you really believe me? About… you know…"

"The time travel thing?" Pop asked. Getting a nod in response, he shrugged. "Well, to be honest… I'm not entirely sure. The whole thing is pretty far-fetched. Wasn't there a manga with this exact concept?"

"Probably several," Natsuki said. "Puella Magi Madoka Magica, All You Need is Kill… It's not just manga and anime either, there's Groundhog Day too."

"Huh, maybe it's more common than I thought," Pop rubbed his chin. "Either way, all this talk of Yggdrasil, and Admins, and Anchors and Awakeners and dating sims and all these other terms you threw around… it's a bit hard to believe, honestly."

"That's basically what I expected," Natsuki admitted. "Any reason you're humoring me, though?"

Pop rubbed the back of his head. "Well," he said, "there are two possibilities. The first is that you're playing a prank on me. If that's the case, this week is basically just an excuse for me to spoil you rotten. And the second…" He exhaled through his nose in what wasn't quite a sigh. "The second is that it's true. And that means you don't get this sort of thing very often at all."

Natsuki nodded. "My dad in baseline is kind of a jerk," she said. "Although, since the loop is originally a dating sim, he's usually less of a person and more of an abstract concept. I'll go into his area of the house and nothing will happen, but I'll leave with the vague feeling of 'I got yelled at by my dad.' It kinda sucks."

"I can imagine," Pop said, before stopping himself. "Well, no, I really can't imagine. I've never experienced anything like that. I can sympathize, though. …Assuming this isn't a prank, at least. But, if this isn't a prank, I just have one question."

"Go on."

"If you come from this multiverse, and this is the first time you've met someone like me, wouldn't that make me a complete stranger to you? Wouldn't you be less willing to be so close to me, since you've technically known me for less than a week?"

Natsuki thought for a moment. "It's… not quite that simple," she said. "Every loop, things are usually the same and nothing changes. But if something does change, either because of a variant or a fused loop, we get these 'loop memories' to help sort it out. They kinda tell us what our previous self knew before we Awakened." Natsuki gestured to her father. "With you, my normal memories don't know anything about you. But my in-loop memories keep telling me you're my father, you're to be trusted, you care about me. And honestly, neither set of memories is more or less important than the other. In the end, it's still me. And if half of me trusts you, the other half can too."

Pop thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I can see that," he said. "Even if you didn't know me after Waking Up or whatever you said, the part of you that was still Asleep still knew me."

"Not quite how those terms work," Natsuki chuckled.

"One more question," he said, ignoring her. "Do you think there's any chance that I'll start 'looping?' Or will I just fade away?"

Natsuki's laughs abruptly died, and she looked away. She paused for a long while, before sighing. "Honestly, it would be great if you started looping. But, since you're not part of the base loop… You're probably not going to. This is the first time you've existed in tens of thousands of loops, so I… I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"Ah."

The air between the two was a bit somber for a moment, neither wanting to look the other in the eye. After a few seconds, Pop clapped his hands. "Well, let's not worry about that now," he said. "Those noodles should be just about ready to come out, so let's get dinner started. Sound good, Cupcake?"

"…" Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, Pop."

"Don't thank me!" Pop laughed. "You did a lot of the work, you know. All I did was the sauce and the linguini."

"Which is more than half the work," Natsuki retorted, a faint smile on her lips.

"Oh, don't give me that," Pop countered, beaming widely. "We all know the seafood is the star of the show here, and that was all you!"

As the two continued their banter, Natsuki kept smiling. Maybe he would go away when the loop ended, and she wouldn't see him again. And yeah, it sucked.

But maybe she should just stop worrying about that, and enjoy what time she had. He would go away when the loop ends, but the loop wasn't ending yet. She still had a bunch of time to spend with her father.

Feeling overall happier, Natsuki walked forward to help her father.

22.8 – Sweet Drinks, by Awesomedude17.

"Why didn't you tell me that there was sweet booze?" Natsuki demanded.

"You mean fruity drinks?" Sayori replied.

"Not talking to you Sayori but no. Liquor that tastes like chocolate. That exists."

"It does?" Monika said with surprise.

"So you didn't know?"

"Natsuki, when I drink, I tend to go straight for the hard stuff and well... that only happens when I A) have the opportunity and B) am suffering mental trauma. Why would I know about chocolate flavored booze?"

"..." Natsuki looked over at Yuri.

"Don't look at me. I'm a wine girl."

Natsuki sighed. "Whatever."

22.9 – The Doki Zone, by Wookywok.

Yuri quietly cleared her throat. "A young girl named Natsuki, searching for a moment's respite in her hectic life. Normally, this would be a simple escape into the world of fantasy, a brief period in which one could focus on imaginary problems instead of their real ones. But this girl? She does not escape. Instead, she is forcibly dragged into the depths of - The Doki Zone."

"Monika, did you move my manga? No, wait, here it is."

"Indeed, mankind has many problems. But when we tear back the curtain of panic and uncertainty, sometimes we find those terrors were never there to begin with. Or maybe they've just filed themselves under M for Manga in - The Doki Zone."

22.10 – A Mystery That Won't Go Anywhere, by Awesomedude17.
(DDLC)/(Call of Duty: Zombies: Aether)

"Strange... very strange." Monika remarked.

"Anomaly in the code?" Sayori replied.

"Four of them, and they're basically full-fledged AIs in some sort of survival game that's running alongside this one somehow. I could bring them in if they agree to it."

"Okay. On one hand, we don't know who they are. On the other, they're probably not going to kill us given that we've got out of Loop powers." Natsuki said as she activated her Aura. "Yuri?"

"...If they're armed, disarm them when they come in."

"Alright. Sending them a message and... well we got a message of agreement, two that could be summed up as either or and one that is enjoying his predicament too much, and considering that the term maggotsacks has been thrown around, I'd say zombies are involved so..." Monika took out a shotgun, opened a portal and ran into it screaming like a banshee.

"Well I'm staying put." Natsuki bluntly said.

Not 10 seconds had passed and Monika came in with four men. After closing the portal, Monika stopped her screaming and sighed.

"About time we got away from hellpigs. Vodka time!" One of the men spoke up.

"Of course," Another replied with disgust.

"And I was having so much fun. Thanks for dragging me along, Richtofen." The third said with sarcasm.

"It was a tactical retreat, Dempsey, you dummkopf. Now then, where are we?" Richtofen replied.

"I do not know, but Nikolai is going to do what Nikolai does best." Nikolai replied.

"Drink?" Dempsey said as more of a statement.

"Well, also nap, but yes." Nikolai began to chug vodka.

"This was probably a mistake." Natsuki remarked.

"Maybe," Monika scratched the back of her head.

"First time repeats, and then the fabric of reality tears up to bring us to schoolhouse." Dempsey groaned.

"Okay you four, has time been repeating for you?" Monika asked.

"Well yeah. Good thing too. Unlimited vodka!" Nikolai raised his bottle.

"More or less. The voices have been silent for a long time for some reason. Probably started after we met our younger selves." Richtofen explained.

"Oh yeah. Heh. I was a looker." Dempsey grinned.

"The cycle has been running, broken yet whole. Is this correct?" The unknown man spoke up.

"Kinda, Mister..." Yuri droned off.

"Takeo Masaki. This is Edward Richtofen, 'Tank' Dempsey and the ugly Russian Nikolai."

"Nikolai Belinski, and fuck you Takeo."

"We have been... how you say... confused as fuck about our predicament."

"That's understating it. Monika, blackboard time." Sayori spoke up.

"Right." Monika took out a blackboard. "Okay, today, we're giving a lesson on Yggdrasil. It's required learning."

"Oh, but Nikolai does not want to go to school again. Last teacher reminded me too much of sixth wife. I remember she drowned in pig slurry. Is disgusting."

"The wife or the teacher?" Dempsey asked.

"Yes,"

"Ahem... like she said, this is required learning. Sit down, please." Sayori said cheerfully.

"Ugh. Fine. At very least I figure out what is happening."

"Ja! It would be nice to know." Richtofen sat down enthusiastically, beaming smile plastered on his face.

"Okay, welcome to the multiverse, gentlemen. Let's start off with the basics." Monika took out a yardstick.

"So, do you understand now?"

"Yep. This tree's fucked and now we're being put through the ringer. Problem is that none of us knows who this Anchor is. Sure as hell ain't Richtofen or Nikolai." Dempsey looked over the two.

"Admittedly, given the predicament, it's probably one of our younger selves. Probably younger me." Richtofen rubbed his chin.

"Dunno. Younger Nikolai gave our Nikolai an earful."

"I do not like him."

"Clearly, you hate yourself." Takeo replied.

"Pff. Whatever."

"That probably doesn't make sense unless they're way more different than you four." Monika scratched her chin.

"Well unless we see them again, we won't know." Richtofen shrugged. "I suggest we stay here. Apparently Samantha hasn't been able to find us here."

"Oh yeah. Why is little girl not sending hellpigs here?" Nikolai asked

"Gee. I don't know." Monika said as she repeated deleted any attempt of a zombie rush from coming into existence. "Maybe she simply can't reach you?"

"Fine by me. I'm actually pretty tired." Dempsey yawned. "I think I'll hit the hay."

"Good. Night night." Nikolai laid down and fell asleep.

As the four zombie killers collectively agreed to rest, Natsuki and Yuri walked up to the sleeping Russian.

"Okay, is it a bad thing to say that he smells like fermented farts?" Natsuki pinched her nose.

"No. It's the truth." Yuri pinched her own nose.

"Yeah, he's probably going to need a day of baths." Monika said.

"Yeah, let's get him out of here before he stinks up the place." Natuski grabbed one end of Nikolai while Yuri grabbed the other, carrying him out of the room.

"What have we done?" Monika asked.

"I really don't know." Sayori replied.

Blasted universe. Any attempt to get at Richtofen had ended in failure as the zombies just disappeared without a trace. It would've gone on forever, if there wasn't an unexpected guest.

"Where are they, Samantha?"

"You. You are him, and not him at the same time."

"In a way. Where is Ultimis?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I have a message to tell them about why time has been repeating."

"And?"

"Well..." The Younger Edward Richtofen looked at Samantha from beyond his visor. "It involves a tree called Yggdrasil."

22.11 – Normal, Schmormal, by Awesomedude17.

"Yuri, is that you?"

The pile of knives clanged twice.

"Right. Monika is a computer monitor now."

Yep. Bad enough Caboose did it repeatedly.

"And Sayori is... sunlight."

The being of light shifted in a facsimile of nodding.

"Is this some sort of dumb Loop thing where I'm the only one that's normal?"

Normal's relative, Natsuki.

"Be quiet, you."

I'm a computer, Nats. I'm quiet as is.

Natsuki sighed.

Compiler's Commentary:

22.1: Even in the world of fanfiction, everyone wants to get with the "In" crowd.

22.2: This is why Sayori instituted the Swear Jar, Natsuki. For your own good.

22.3: Foreshadowing…

22.4: And now Sayori has a regular sparring partner!

22.5: No, the placement of this snip in this chapter was not a coincidence, why would you even ask such a silly question?

22.6: You really should have known better, girls.

22.7: WHO'S CUTTING THE ONIONS?!

22.8: ~Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots…~

22.9: Spooky music playing.

22.10: Look, the girls are making new quirky friends. How nice.

22.11: Ironic, given Natsuki's the one who does the most shapeshifting.