10.1 – (krspaceT)
(Yu Yu Hakusho/Star Wars)
Obi-Wan Kenobi could tolerate ghost Loops, if Anakin was around.
Awake or not, trolling him was at least a past-time.
But no, he wasn't even in his galaxy this ghost Loop.
He was a ghost, in Japan.
He could predict the Hollows that were bound to come soon...
"Oh, hollows? You're worried about those things? Don't worry, this is the wrong Loop for them!"
The ghost form of the Jedi Master suddenly realized he wasn't alone.
No, there was a blue haired, broom riding witch hovering in front of him.
Dressed in a pink kimono of all things.
(Thankfully, she was not Umbridge. She was a lot cuter, for one thing. Contrary to what Anakin believed, he was capable of such thoughts)
"Well, this is new" this was a new one.
"Well, new for you maybe. I've actually been around for a while now" the witch descended to his eye level before extending her hand "My name is Botan, fifth Looper of the world Anchored by Yuusuke Urameshi. My job is to guide spirits to the afterlife, though I assume that won't be necessary"
"No, not at all" Obi-Wan had no desire to play with Earthly afterlifes. That wasn't his thing.
But still, one thing was bothering him...
"Yuusuke, Yuusuke..." The name was familiar "Wait, is he the kid who walked into the portal..."
Botan looked somewhat unamused now "No, that was Danny Phantom"
"Oh..." he pondered again "Does this world involve card games..."
"No, that's Yugi" Botan now looked somewhat annoyed now.
"Oh dear, I'm striking out today" Obi-Wan was blushing from his inability to remember.
"Yes, yes you are"
Obi-Wan stroked his beard in that mentally stimulating manner of his, before his memory flared up "Oh wait, he's the finger gun guy, right?"
"Bingo!" the blue haired witch snapped her fingers in joy "Now, I assume you probably want to be alive again. I can make some arrangements, though it may cost you"
"Define...cost me"
-x-x-x-x-
The ever green garb of the spirit detective Yuusuke Urameshi caused the milkshake he was slurping to refract in strange colors.
"Man oh man, isn't this Loop fun guys! This place has great milkshakes, and they are all cheap! Man, this should be Baseline"
"Yes, certainly better than that Loop where I was much too similar to that other Kurama" a red long-haired male mused
"Or that Loop where I was a cat" a colossus of a teenage male with punkish orange hair laughed "Or what about that Loop with the ears..."
"We agreed to never speak of that Loop again" a dark haired fellow muttered as he absently rubbed his hidden third eye, quite glad it wasn't an ear "and I do believe the temp is here"
The foursome found themselves joined by an Obi-Wan who looked more like he had just went a few rounds on Geonosis in his underwear.
"So, you're the Jedi huh? Why do you look like you just fought something that came out of a golden egg to the death?" Yuusuke inquired.
"I don't want to talk about it" was all Obi-Wan would ever say on the subject.
10.2 – (TrueZero2)
"Excuse me, are you Dio? The Gourmet Hunter?"
Komatsu approached the blond man in front of him. Something about him was rather unnerving. For one, he was sat next to a jury-rigged fishing pole that appeared to be made from some heavy duty materials.
"I'd l-like to hire you for a job, if that's p-possible." He added.
The man raised a hand, gesturing for Komatsu to be quiet. He was looking out at the water, watching a huge grasshopper floating on the surface. He grabbed a bottle of bourbon that was next to him and popped the cork before downing the entire bottle in one go.
'That brand of bourbon is 50% alcohol!' Komatsu thought. 'He just drank it like it was nothing!'
The grasshopper was pulled under the water.
"FINALLY!" The man shouted, grabbing the fishing pole and standing up. After a few seconds of pulling, the fish came flying out of the water. It must've been over 7 meters long and 2 meters tall, along with the giant lobster claws that it possessed.
'A pincer fish! It's huge! He's lifting it like it's nothing!' Komatsu thought. Before the man could bring it down onto the round though, a massive bird with five reptilian tails grabbed the fish in mid-air.
"Hey bastard! That fish is MINE!" The man roared, swinging the pole and slamming both the bird and fish onto the ground behind a terrified Komatsu.
"Heh, better haul than I expected." The man said as he started to inspect the two creatures. "A Pincer Fish and a Five-Tailed Giant Eagle. Looking at these two, they're really good specimens, probably about Capture Level 2 and 3 respectively. Considering the average levels for their respective species are a level lower than that, I got some good ones!" He grinned before turning back to Komatsu. "The name's Dio, now what was this you were saying about a job?"
And then the two Awoke. Instantly Dio's expression soured, while Komatsu's face went paler.
"So where the hell am I this time?" Dio asked, looking around. He saw the fish and eagle that he'd caught and checked his Loop Memories. "At least I can start this Loop on a full stomach."
Komatsu tried to back away quietly.
'Not good, not good!' He thought, 'He's not only Replaced Toriko but he's Awake too! I'm in big trouble now!'
Dio turned to Komatsu. "Since you got scared of me all of a sudden, I'm guessing you're Awake as well? So which are you, Anchor or Looper?"
"I-I-I…" Komatsu stammered.
"Spit it out!" Dio shouted.
"I'm the Anchor!" Komatsu finally admitted. "I know who you are too, so…"
Dio chuckled as Komatsu pulled a kitchen knife out of his Pocket.
'The Derous Knife should be able to slow him down at least.' Komatsu thought.
"Tell me kid." Dio said, "You know who I am…"
Komatsu blinked. When his eyes opened again he was above the edge of the cliff and the Derous Knife was on the ground near the two kills from earlier.
"…so you know that I can stop time. Exactly what makes you think that you can actually defeat me?" Dio finished.
"I know I can't stop you." Komatsu replied. "At the very least, it probably would have slowed you down."
"Hmph. At least you're honest about that." Dio replied, throwing Komatsu back towards the animals. He closed his eyes as he began to properly sift through his Loop Memories. "Hmm, Gourmet Era… so this Loop's all about food. I'm a Gourmet Hunter, a famous one too. Oh, this world's beasts look interesting."
Komatsu gulped. Dio finding something interesting was never good.
Dio chuckled again. "What's your name?"
"Komatsu." Komatsu reluctantly replied. "I'm a chef and I'm not a kid, I'm in my twenties."
"So you're just a runt then. Well today's your lucky day Komatsu, I'm going to give this Loop a chance to impress me. So long as I don't get bored, I'll play nice. Do we have a deal?" Dio asked, approaching Komatsu with a smile.
"Not like I have much choice, do I?" Komatsu muttered.
"Not really, but I am being generous here. So, before we Awoke, you mentioned a job?" Dio grinned.
"I was asked by one of the IGO's higher-ups to hire you to hunt a Garara Gator." Komatsu said, "There's an event being held and they need something to act as the dinner's main course."
"I see, and how much am I being paid?" Dio asked, intrigued.
"200,000 Yen per Kilogram." Komatsu replied.
Dio closed his eyes for a moment. "So a Million Yen for just five kilograms. Putting that into Pounds Sterling… that's a lot of money." He said, surprised. "How big do Garara Gators get?"
"Let's just say that once it's dead, gathering five kilos isn't hard. The hard part is actually killing it." Komatsu explained.
Dio chuckled. "I see. Handily my memories are giving me useful information too. Well then Komatsu, cook those for me then it's time to go hunting."
10.3 – (Darkmage97)
[DBZ]
Twilight was annoyed, very, very annoyed.
Yet again her tree had been destroyed, but this time it was before Tirek showed up.
The round metal ball, that was currently sitting in the crater that used to be her tree slowed hissed open.
A bipedal figure emerged from the pod, standing slowly as if for dramatic effect.
"Now I stand here on this dead planet..." The figure's voice trailed off into nothing as he looked around.
"You there" said pointing at the nearest being (which was a very scared and Unawake Spike) "Is this the planet know as Ereth?"
"N-n-noooo," stammered Spike, "T-t-this is Equis."
The creature reached up and tapped the device affixed to the side of his head, "Vegeta, you gave me the wrong coordinates, this is Frieza planet 442"
A faint mumbling could be heard coming from the device.
"What do you mean you misread it? How much am I off by?"
More mumbling could be heard.
"20,000 thousand light-years!" the being exclaimed, "Next time we double check the coordinates so this doesn't happen again"
With that the being climbed back into his pod, uploaded the new coordinates, and blasted off to "Ereth."
"...Treedamn it Raditz" said Twilight while facehooving.
10.4 – (ToaMataNui5000)
[Psyren/Sly Cooper]
Sly, or more correctly Haruhiko Cooper, woke up humanized in a Japanese style hide-out. A few Pings revealed that Dimitri and Murray were also Awake. However, they were elsewhere, and apparently an Unawake Carmelita was bound to a hospital bed. Their current heist was relating to stealing money from the local yakuza, in order to fund her medical bills.
"Alright Bently, what do you got for me?" Sly walked in to where his humanized, brainy buddy was looking over building schematics.
"Oh, it'll be simple. Once Murray gets back from scouting, you two will distract the guards. Meanwhile, I'll sneak in, find the vault, and use Trick Room to teleport the money out of the safe and into the van." Bently Shinonome beamed proudly. "If it ends up going haywire, use your electric PSI to overload the building's power, and we'll use the blackout to escape."
"My what now?" Sly asked in confusion.
Bently raised his brow, "You've had it ever since our first trip to the future, remember? We were hired by that anonymous phone call to solve some mystery, declined, but went anyway."
'Must be some new powers exclusive to this world. I bet I can just substitute electrical plasmids' "Yeah, now I remember. Sorry, so many heist and lack of sleep from worry got to me."
"Yeah, I know. I wouldn't be able to take it if something like that happened to Penelope." The former turtle patted Sly on the back consolingly. Their moment was interrupted by Murray bursting through the doors.
"Guys! Ya gotta get to the hospital, quickly! You won't believe this!" Murray Asaga said in tired gasps that held an undertone of happiness.
Bently promptly used Trick Box to warp the thievious trio to the hospital roof. Too impatient to use stairs, Sly flipped gravity, ran down the building-side, and jumped through the window leading to Carmelita's room. There he saw his beloved wife, waking up like it was nothing but a long nap. "Morning Ringtail, I see you're feeling Loopy, too?"
Sly pulled her into a tight hug and a passionate kiss. "I know I shouldn't be worried, but I couldn't help it." They finally let go after a few minutes. "How did you get healed up?"
"Murray came over and we made amends for some childhood bullying." The two turned to see Ageha leaning against the wall. "And trust me Sly, it's fine to worry. I got a lover and a manor of orphans that have yet to start Looping that I'm scared for, so you'll be fine."
"Thanks pal." Sly and Ageha fist-bumped. "Ba-da-la-da-la-da-la!"
"Eh?"
"You'll understand after eventually meeting Baymax and Hiro," Sly chuckled. "So, what do you normally do here? Bently mentioned something about time travel and special abilities?"
"We prevent the apocalypse, apparently this time around by the sentient meteor Clockwork Ouroboros." Ageha noticed the couple shiver at the name. "But if you wanna do so, I gotta teach you all PSI. Cause no offense, that cane and shock pistol ain't gonna do much. Then again, I lack any outside abilities to test."
"How 'bout I give you a cane to personalize and a copy of the Thievious Raccoonus in return? To try out in your next Loops."
"And if it's anything like learning how to throw Hadoken or perform magic, I bet we won't mind the training." Carmelita smiled.
"Deal."
Meanwhile, outside the room, Bently sighed. "Whelp, back to the drawing board."
10.5 – (DiamondDemonDragon)
[One Piece]
"Damn it." Nami cursed pulling a gold brick from her cleavage.
"What's wrong Nami?" Nico Robin asked turning another page in her book, the navigator's curse drawing her attention.
"Ever since the expansion into Whole Cake island my Pocket has been acting strangely some Loops I can't access it from anywhere else but here." She pulled out one of the millions of Climatacts she had stored from between her breasts.
"Sounds like another glitch, It should pass with time." Robin sipped her coffee to punctuate her nonchalance.
"I know but its still annoying and conspicuous." Nami crossed her arms under her breasts.
"If it makes you feel any better, I have a glitch of my own." Robin offered piquing Nami's interest.
"Go on."
"As you know historical records in the Loop can very wildly from what is considered Baseline even in a Baseline Loop, the Poneglyphs are no exception." Robin explained and Nami nodded.
"Right so how bad could it be?" Nami couldn't help but ask.
"The Poneglyphs have Rick Rolled me, been the entire Twilight novel series, pornography of my mother and every man on the Grandline, and – perhaps the worst – authored by Billy." Robin twitched at the mention of that crime against language that sat the in back of her mind.
"And on second thought this isn't really that bad." Nami answered pulling out a flask to repress her own memories of the incarnation of Chaotic Stupidity.
10.6 – (wildrook)
Kaoru had noticed that it was that day again. The day she met the wandering samurai known as Kenshin. Imagine her surprise when a black-haired man in Kenshin's clothes had crashed into a nearby area after jumping high-up.
"And I didn't even draw my sword," she muttered.
"I'm fine!" the voice yelled, catching her by surprise at the male. "This happens to me more often than you think."
"You drop out of the sky every time?"
He gave off a sheepish grin. "More like I get launched due to extenuating circumstances," he replied. "Although my hands are quite steady. They have to be if I'm to use this thing." He then brought out the Reversed-Bladed Sword as he managed to stand up.
"I can say this," she said, "you don't look like a Swordsman if you crash that often."
However, a commotion interrupted them as a bunch of policemen in Kyoto fell after one big guy.
"Oh no. Him again."
The young man was surprised at the big guy. "You know that guy?" he asked her.
"Claims he's Battousai the Manslayer and uses the Kamiya-Kasshin Ryu. It's either him or a group of brothers, but they're usually going after me."
Said young man had managed to get up and look at the big guy. "Sounds like a troublemaker." He then charged in before Kaoru could stop him, much to the big guy's surprise.
The big guy then looked at the young man and laughed. "Well, someone's got guts," he said. "Do you even know who you're up against? I'm known as Hitokiri Battousai, and I use the Kamiya-Kasshin-Ryu!"
"I've heard," he replied, "and that's an inaccuracy I'd like to point out. Because the real Battousai is not that huge."
The man cringed. "Too bad you're not in any position to explain how you called my bluff, because you just became my next victim!"
However, before Kaoru could step in, the young man stopped the blade with the hilt...unsheathed...and without tripping.
"Didn't think I'd get a reaction out of you that easily," he replied. "But if you want to know, I'd have to borrow a phrase from an old friend of mine." As the young man jumped up, he had managed to unsheathe his sword, smacking the man in the head with the handle before grabbing a four-piece weapon and set it together as he sheathed the other sword perfectly. "Ore...sanjou."
"Ore..." Then it hit him. "Then you...a scrawny kid like you...is the..."
"And for the record, the reversed-blade sword is just my secondary." He then picked it up as he brought out the primary. "And if I'm guessing, your cronies are not too far behind, knowing my luck."
"He took out our boss!" one of the arriving cronies yelled. "But can that kid really be the Hitokiri himself?"
"Who cares," his friend yelled. "There's only one of him and a lot of us! Let's get him!"
Before they could charge, a giant blade had knocked them away...by a guy who has the symbol for Bad on it.
"I had a feeling that there was a strong guy here," the man said, Kaoru surprised at the arrival. "You get this guy's name, little lady?"
"He came in with a crash landing," Kaoru replied. "But this isn't the time, Sanosuke. Is Yahiko nearby?"
Sanosuke smirked. "Who do you think knocked out the local Yakuza before I found him?" he asked her, noticing a young-looking male with the same Reverse-Bladed Katana amongst a bunch of mooks. "Nice form, by the way."
The young man smirked, but looked at the man in the duel between the impostor and the newcomer. "Is it just me, or is the Hiten Mitsurugi style more erratic with this guy?"
"Must be the size of the blade," Sanosuke replied. "I'm not one to talk, but he looks more comfortable using that instead of the Reverse-Blade."
Kaoru then looked at the newcomer and noticed he was fighting a double-bladed style instead of the Hiten Mitsurugi. One would think he learned that himself, but some of it looked...influenced by something.
However, when the big guy struck with his left arm, the newcomer jumped as he brought out the Reverse-Bladed sword and crushed the man's fingers.
"I'm not a big fan of bullies," he said, "so I might as well take out your left hand while I'm here. That way, you don't disgrace a Dojo's name."
As he walked away, the police had arrested the big guy as well as the unconscious goons.
However, as soon as he began walking towards them, he nearly collapsed.
"You okay there, pal?" Yahiko asked him.
"I'm fine," the young man replied. "I'm just not used to a high-speed style like the Hiten-Mitsurugi Style every time I Wake Up." He then realized something. "My apologies, but I've never introduced myself when I crashed in. I'm Ryotaro Nogami...although for some odd reason, my first name is Kenshin this Loop. Quite a coincidence, too."
"Nogami," Sanosuke muttered. "I've heard that name before...does it have anything to do with haunted trains?"
"Not this again," Yahiko and Kaoru said, simultaneously.
"Not exactly haunted," Ryotaro replied, even though he shivered at Sanosuke mentioning a haunted train. "But it goes through time."
Sanosuke cringed. "Even worse."
"I take it that's new information from the underworld?" Kaoru asked him.
"During my stint, I had heard Battousai the Manslayer had been associated with a haunted train," he replied. "That was the first clue on this place not acting like normal, because they've been a common sight."
Ryotaro cringed. "Unfortunately," he said, "I was hijacked by the owner's spirit before I Woke Up."
"You're telling us that Sanosuke's superstition is true this time?" Kaoru asked him.
"Partly. They're not Ghosts...they're even worse."
Before they could ask, sand erupted as an hourglass-like being suddenly appeared in front of them.
"My Contract Owner failed in obtaining the girl," it said, forming into a spider-like being, freaking Sanosuke out. "Guess I can't sit this one out...and to think, I found the Singularity Point."
Before Kaoru could grab her bokken, Ryotaro stopped her.
"I've got this," he said.
"You're not exactly in any condition to fight," Yahiko replied. "You sure you can?"
Before they could ask, a belt that resembled train tracks had appeared in his hand with a red center.
"Believe me, I've faced worse." He then brought out a pass, mostly unfamiliar to the Looping Kenshin-Gumi. "Henshin!"
"LINER FORM!" it yelled, red armor appearing on his person as he brought kept the DenGasher out as he took a stance.
Sanosuke blinked. "Well, it does look less sinister than what he originally looked like," he said. "I can give him that."
As the transformed swordsman got ready to charge the Spider Imajin, the three looked ready to cover him...unaware of the trench-coated man with the ticking pocket watch walking away from the fight.
10.7
[Rosario+Vampire/Haruhi Suzumiya/Evangelion]
"TSUKUNE!" Kurumu screamed as she charged forward, tripping over her desk in the process as her classmates stared at her in surprise before bursting into laughter.
Staring up in confusion at the classroom, her gaze was drawn by the sound of the Sensei's throat being cleared. "Yes, well Miss Tsuruya, while I'm sure you may be hungry you will have to wait for lunch like the rest of the students. Please take your seat, and at least pretend to pay attention."
Numbed by her surprise, Kurumu meekly nodded and quietly returned to her chair as the Sensei resumed his lecture. Not that she bothered to pay any attention to what he was talking about. She may have managed to bring her grades up to passing after so many years studying with Yukari and the rest of her Destined Ones, but that didn't mean she liked school any more than before. And that was entirely unrelated to what was happening at this moment. That being that she had apparently returned to the start of the time loop and, as was unfortunately normal for her, was once more dropped into the beginning of class.
However it was impossible to miss the fact that she wasn't in her normal class. As far as she could tell, the closest thing to a Youkai within miles was further away in the school. Three appeared identical but seemed to be ridiculously powerful, easily on par with Moka's dad each; but the other one... the other one defied explanation or comparison. Even Alucard hadn't felt so overwhelming. This more than anything convinced her that something was wrong. Her brow drawing together she prepared to do the one thing she hated more than anything else. Wait.
Something wasn't right here, and she needed to get to the bottom of it before figuring out her next move. She didn't know where she was, or if there was anyone nearby she could trust. Her mind momentarily flashed to the sight of Kuyou's arm protruding perversely out of Tsukune's chest, before crushing his still beating heart; along with her own in the process. Swallowing a lump in her throat as she pressed against the raw edge of the abyss within her Soul she narrowed her eyes.
First thing first she needed to figure out what was going on. If this was some kind of Kitsune illusion she would find whatever hole the son of a bitch was hiding in and personally shove all four of his tails down his throat and out of his ass. Repeatedly. Then she would find Moka and the others. Only then would she allow herself to go join Tsukune.
Taking a breath to calm herself she pulled upon her Youkai and reached out to the humans around her. Her time in the Loops had only increased her powers and within moments she had Charmed every student nearby, and the Sensei as well. The good news was her abilities still worked; the bad new was that that meant it was very unlikely Kuyou was behind her sudden relocation. Which meant she still needed more information.
Fine. She had an entire room full of people to draw information from. She wasn't so far gone that she would rip the information from their minds, no matter what life Tsukune had moved on to he would never approve of something like that, which meant she would have to do it the slow way. Turning to the Sensei she gave a winsome smile, which combined with the effects of her Charm had him literally falling over himself to try and please her. "Sensei, could you please answer some questions for me?"
-x-x-x-x-
Some things are inevitable. The changing of the seasons, the rotation of the Earth, the uncompromising tide. No matter what happens, some things never change. Haruhi Suzumiya is one of those things. No, calling Haruhi unchanging is doing disservice to permanence. If all else were to fall away and the laws of reality cease to exist, Haruhi would still be Haruhi.
Which is both a blessing and a curse. There is something to be said for routine, but even so this is too much.
"I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, from East Junior High. First off, I'm not interested in ordinary people. But, if any of you are aliens, time-travelers, espers, sliders or youkai, please come see me. That is all!"
So saying Haruhi sat down and began plotting the unfortunate fate of whoever she plans to draft into the S.O.S this Loop. While there is some benefit to having advanced warning whenever a Fused Loop is occurring, can't you find a new way to reveal it.
"Don't be stupid Kyon. Proper introductions are a cornerstone of any good first encounter. It's tradition! Tradition I say!"
Ignoring the dumbfounded stares of the rest of the class, she proceeded to return to her diabolical plotting. Sighing I turned back to face the front of the room. Youkai huh? We'll we haven't had one of those in a while. Wonder what kind of Looper it'll be.
"Hey Kyon, listen man. That Suzumiya is bad news. You don't wanna get involved with a chick like her, you'll end up catching her crazy."
This of course came from the one and only Taniguchi, slacker extraordinaire and all-around future NEET.
"Har de har har. Whatever, don't say I didn't warn you."
Retreating back to his own desk from where he had been leaning onto mine, I released a sigh. Believe me Taniguchi, it is already far too late for me to save myself; just as the Musashi remains sunk beneath the sea so too am I doomed to be forever beneath the infinite weight which is the inescapable might of Haruhi.
Although I suppose there are worse fates than to have the favor of the goddess of your world. Not that I will ever admit that directly to Haruhi, her ego is big enough already.
Still, I hope the visiting Looper can handle their first meeting with Haruhi. As she said, proper introductions and all that. Sigh.
-x-x-x-x-
Kurumu stalked the halls with a cloud of depression hanging over her head. An hour of questioning her thralls had resulted in next to nothing of value. She still had no idea where she was, where her Destined Ones were, how she had gotten here, or why. According to the students and sensei she was in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, between Ōsaka and Kōbe in a city called Nishinomiya. There was nothing to show that there were Youkai anywhere nearby, or ever had been. Except for the four presences she still felt shadowing her every step.
It was to one of the lesser presences she was now making her way. While two of them seemed to be moving around the school as normal, this one had remained stationary. Although the presence grew stronger with every step she took, she was sure it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Probably.
Finally she reached the room where the unknown energy was coming from, a simple classroom on the second floor whose sign read Literary Club. Steeling herself for a possible fight she boldly opened the door and strode in with a confident step. Whatever she expected to find however, it was not a short girl sitting in a corner reading a book. By all accounts the girl seemed normal enough, her height notwithstanding. However the moment Kurumu entered the room she turned to look at her, and Kurumu felt a chill pass down her spine at the sensation of being pinned beneath a giant's gaze. As if a million eyes were staring directly into her Soul. As quick as the feeling came though, it vanished; leaving the Succubus far less certain of her chances should things come to a fight.
"Welcome. Please sit."
With that, the girl (?) resumed reading as if nothing had occurred, ignoring her presence in favor of her book. As much as Kurumu was wary of the strange person in front of her, there were few things in the world she hated more than being ignored.
With a ruffle of fabric she revealed her wings and tail as her nails extended into wicked looking claws. "HEY! Who the hell are you? Where am I? How did I get here?"
The girl unemotionally raised her eyes from her reading once more, seeming to pay no attention to her new appendages, before reaching forward. Kurumu tensed in preparation, only to come up short as in an instant the girls hand held a small book for her to take; one which hadn't been there a moment before.
"Read."
Kurumu bristled at both the order and the tone, snatching the book roughly from the girls hand and throwing it to at the far wall. "Don't give me that crap! I want to know what's happening, not join your stupid book club!"
Saying nothing, the girl calmly stood and placed her bookmark into her book before walking over to the wall and retrieving the thrown item. Returning, she unconcernedly walked up to face Kurumu before extending the book again. "This will answer you questions. Read."
So saying, she put words to action and returned to her seat; opening her own book and resuming without pause.
Glancing back and forth between the item in her hands and the girl in the corner, Kurumu huffed before resuming her transformation and planting herself unceremoniously in one of the nearby chairs as she examined the book's title. 'Yggdrasil and You: An introduction to the Multiverse for New Loopers by Twilight Sparkle and Hermione Granger.'
Opening it she took a look at the first page. 'Chapter One: All the time in the world – A basic explanation of the Loops.'
Flipping a few more pages, she felt her curiosity catch. The first hundred pages was a list of chapters but the book itself was only the size of a pocket dictionary. Idly flipping through the rest of the book she abruptly came to a sudden realization, there were more pages inside than there were supposed to be. Glancing back at her erstwhile companion she was rewarded by a complete lack of attention, and so with a sigh returned to the first page.
'Welcome to the Loops. If you are reading this then this is likely your first encounter with another Looper from a different part of the Multiverse, an event we like to call a Fused Loop. This book will be your guide in coming to grips with your situation and attempting to help you discover what to do with the rest of eternity. I say eternity, because for all intents and purposes the Loops are infinite and will last forever.
As such I and my co-author have made every attempt to document every necessary detail needed to help make your transition to the wider Multiverse as painless as possible. As you may have noticed, this book contains thousands of pages dedicated to teaching you, the Looper (or Anchor) everything you may need to know. Despite it's deceptive size, I can personally assure you that if you have a question you will most likely find an answer here. As they say in the Hub: 'Read the manual.'
We'll start with some basic terms you may need to know to help you understand the rest of this book. A more extensive list can be found in the index on page 3,742 but for now the ones written on the next page will suffice.'
-x-x-x-x-
"Finally! Time for the best part of the day, LUNCH! Seriously, I thought Okabe-Sensei was never going to stop. Hey, Kyon you gonna join me and Kunikida?"
I can almost literally feel Haruhi's gaze boring into the back of my skull with the intensity of a Nautilus THEL. Hey, if you stare any harder you're likely to cause my head to explode!
"Not this time. I've got some club business to attend to."
Taniguchi's face scrunches up at this. "What club? It's the first day of the term."
"The S.O.S. Brigade never allows something as simple as the school terms to define our schedule! Our mission is to find strange and amazing things and have fun with them! How are we supposed to find anything if we waste our time with irrelevant things like when the year starts?!"
I tactically refrain from adding other 'irrelevant things' such as the laws of physics, sleep, or personal space to that list as Haruhi scores yet another victory over Taniguchi; who has retreated to the far wall as the indomitable force which is Haruhi Suzumiya advanced.
Clearing my throat draws her attention from the thoroughly cowed Taniguchi, and after a moment she has the good graces to look embarrassed as she realizes she's falling back into her bad habits. Of all the things about the Loops which I dislike, I consider this one thing to make up for it all; little by little Haruhi is improving.
"A-anyway, like I was saying, Kyon and I have decided to create our own club to find and have fun with unusual and incredible things. If you ever want to join us in our search for the extraordinary, the S.O.S will be accepting additional members in a few weeks. You can find us in the former Literary Clubroom. But don't be late or there'll be a Penalty!"
Taniguchi, if you open your mouth any wider you could be mistaken for a kara-shishi.
Her piece said, Haruhi turned and headed to the exit. "Hurry up Kyon! We have to go get Mikuru!"
I spared Taniguchi an apologetic glance before turning and following Haruhi.
-x-x-x-x-
"So all of reality is some giant tree computer and its trying to fix itself from an unexplained accident by trapping entire universes in an eternally repeating time loop?" Kurumu asked after reading through the first few chapters of the book she had been given.
Without looking up from her own book the girl, Yuki Nagato as Kurumu had been informed, nodded. "Correct."
"And no matter what happens, even if we die, at the end of the 'loop' we end up back at the beginning. Except for when we end up in another universe in a "Fused Loop?'" Kurumu continued.
"Yes."
Kurumu swallowed a lump in her throat. "So... Tsukune is okay?"
Yuki paused and turned to face the expectant succubus with a look that seemed almost empathetic despite its stillness. "Yes. He is fine."
Kurumu's grin was positively radiant. In a flash her wings and tail had appeared and she had leapt into the air with an exuberant cry. "Yahoo-hoo!"
Of course, as Yggdrasil has a twisted sense of humor, that was of course when the door opened; revealing two girls and a boy. The trio stared silently at the succubus flying above the room's sole desk before the boy pinched the bridge of his nose and, gesturing the two girls inside, quickly locked the door.
Kurumu for her part sheepishly returned to the ground and made to restore her human appearance, but never got the chance as abruptly she found one of her wings being manhandled by one of the girls. "Holy crap these are awesome! Kyon, Mikuru you have to look at these, they're so smooth."
"HEY! What the hell are you... doing..." Kurumu trailed off as she focused on the girl with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon. The blood fled from her face as she finally found the source of the overwhelming energy that she had noticed before. "Wh-what are you?"
The girl gave a wide smile that did nothing to ease Kurumu's growing panic, and placed one fist confidently upon her hip before pointing dramatically at her. "My name is Haruhi Suzumiya! Leader of the Spreading Excitement all Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, or S.O.S for short. And as of this moment you are officially invited to join our elite organization in our mission to find unique and exceptional people, places and things in the universe and have fun with them.
"We already have an esper, an alien, a time-traveler, a recovered Sith Lord, a yakuza princess, a goddess and a Kyon."
Kurumu idly noted the figures which had been pointed out as the girl spoke, and a part of her found it amusing that the boy – Kyon apparently – objected to his label, but the majority of her mind latched onto a specific part of the speech and refused to let go. "A Goddess!?"
Kyon sighed and turned to the redheaded girl who had watched the proceedings curiously. "Mikuru, could you make us some tea."
The girl gave an adorable smile and nod. "Yes, of course. Please be seated, I'll be done shortly." So saying she pulled a beautiful jade tea set from nowhere and made her way to the sink.
"Now then. Haruhi... geez, can't you wait even a minute before starting your sales pitch?"
Turning to face her, he gave a sheepish smile. "I apologize for Haruhi. She can be a bit much at first."
"Hey!"
Ignoring the outburst, he continued. "As Haruhi said the girl making tea is Mikuru Asahina, our resident time-traveler sent to our time to try and repair the timeline following certain events."
Mikuru paused from her delicate operation and gave a polite bow. "Hello. I'm pleased to meet you, and I hope we can be friends. Oh, and Kyon, my future self has already cleared everything with my superiors so everything should be fine."
Kurumu nodded numbly, her eyes shifting rapidly between the room's residents.
"I'm assuming since she was already here, that you've introduced yourself already Yuki?"
The bookish alien (!) nodded moderately. "I have."
"Okay, right. Well then I'll just skip to the rest of it. Yuki is a representative of the Data Integration Thought Entity, a being composed of multiple Data Lifeforms which seeks to auto evolve. She may not be a human, but she is still a person; and if you can't respect that, then I suggest you leave now."
Despite her confusion, this was at least familiar. This boy reminded her of Tsukune, and she rewarded his loyalty to his friend with a brilliant smile and a nod of acceptance. Kyon flushed, but managed to maintain his composure. Heh, cute.
"There is another member, Itsuki Koizumi – the Esper mentioned, but he won't show up for at least a few more days. Speaking of which, Haruhi, I haven't received a text from Itsuki so he may not be Awake this Loop."
Haruhi huffed and stopped scowling at Kurumu's interaction with Kyon a moment before at the news. "Well that's no fair, how are we supposed to give a proper welcome to our new Club member if everyone isn't here. Penalty, penalty!"
Kyon rolled his eyes and continued. "Our esteemed leader is of course Haruhi Suzumiya, the apparent Goddess of this world. But don't let her attitude fool you, she's a good person inside. She just has trouble showing it."
Haruhi flushed brightly and turned away with a scowl. "Idiot. Saying that kind of thing to your Brigade Leader, you get a Penalty too!"
And just like that Kurumu's caution disappeared. This above all else she understood. A Maiden's heart struggling to express itself to her beloved. As a succubus love was her life's blood, her very reason for being. Haruhi may have been a Goddess, but she was still very much a woman in love, and Kurumu could never distrust that most pure of emotions. As long as they weren't directed at her Tsukune of course.
"Finally I'm Kyon. Unfortunately my real name was lost in the Crash, so that's it; just Kyon. I'm not really anything special, just an ordinary guy who somehow managed to get involved in an abnormal situation."
Mikuru placed their tea down with a clatter. "That isn't true! Kyon is a very special person! He is strong and reliable, even when everything seems to be going wrong he is always there doing the right thing!" Noticing Kurumu's stare she abruptly flushed and hid her face behind the tea tray. "At least that's what I believe."
"Agreed. He is unique. Irreplaceable."
Kurumu grinned joyously as she watched this exchange. Her grin only widened as she observed the terse frown on Haruhi's face, her previous fear long since abandoned. This world wasn't so different after all. Two girls facing an impossible challenge to have their feelings recognized by the one they loved, despite the overwhelming power of their rival in that goal. Yes, this she knew very well. It was the whole reason she had teamed up with Mizore in her 'Baseline' to form the Black and White Duet after all. Where one alone could never succeed, together they would overcome.
She hoped Mizore was doing okay as well, not that she doubted her friend's ability to thrive. She was her partner after all.
Mizore's eyes shot open in a panic, a wordless cry escaping from her lips. This was not helped in any way by the fact that she was apparently floating naked in a giant tube of amber liquid. Her frantic gaze swept the room she found herself in before dismissing it as irrelevant as her mind replayed the last few seconds of her life with heartbreaking clarity. Tsukune was gone, his still beating heart torn from his chest by a flaming fist. Without him, what was the point? All of their struggles, their fights, their dreams were worthless. There was no future without Tsukune.
Seeing as she was conveniently already surrounded by water, she simply breathed in and waited. And waited. And waited.
Releasing her breath, she experimentally took another. What was this? She was breathing water, or at least it seemed like water. It was thicker than it should have been and smelled off, which again shouldn't have been possible sense she was currently floating in it, but either way it still should have served its purpose as well as any other liquid. And yet she could breath it.
Reaching out she pushed against the glass before unleashing her birthright, the power of winter itself spreading outwards from her touch and encasing her in a prism of ice. Moments later it expanded, shattering the glass and at her command creating a ramp for her to walk down. She was in a large room with dim lighting, surrounded on three sides by walls of glass filled with more of the amber liquid. More importantly however, were the bodies floating suspended within as she had been. Walking closer she attempted to make out the features of the other figures, only to stumble back with a cry as she discovered that they all wore her face. Dozens, even hundreds of identical copies of her floated around her like some kind of twisted aquarium. And as if awakened by her shout, they all opened their eyes and looked at her with blood-red eyes.
-x-x-x-x-
Gendo Awoke to the sound of an alarm. Long time experience quickly distinguished the sound as that of an accident somewhere within NERV Headquarters rather than an approaching Angel, so he allowed himself the luxury of not reacting as he pulled up his display and contacted Ritsuko.
"Report."
The blonde scientist gave a flustered look through the monitor. "Sir, I don't know how but a moment ago the Magi detected a surge in power in Terminal Dogma. Approximately twenty percent of the Central Area has somehow been encased in a block of ice."
Gendo said nothing as he steepled his fingers before his face. "Very well. I'm coming down."
"Sir?"
"We cannot afford to lose the First Child. Nor can we allow Lilith to be released ahead of schedule." Standing he allowed Fuyutsuki to take over for him as he made his way to the elevator. Only once the doors had closed did he display the grimace he had kept from his face. Likely there was a Visiting Looper. Which also meant they were probably looking for him. Shinji may have granted him the chance to redeem himself, but he was very much in the minority on that subject and more often than not Fused Loops did not tend to last long for him. Even so; he was many things, but he was not a coward. He would face his death with whatever dignity he still possessed and move on to the next Loop.
With a sigh he reviewed his Loop Memories to try and understand exactly what he had to look forward to. It took very little time to prove his suspicions correct, someone had indeed Replaced Rei. It was not someone he recognized however, not that this meant anything to him. It was much more likely they had met his Unawake self at some point and were looking to extract their pound of flesh. Not for the first time he cursed his previous self's actions. If he had been a better father, a better husband, a better man...
But there would be time for self-recrimination later he reminded himself as the doors opened and he stepped out of the elevator, because directly in front of him was a clearly upset young woman wearing what appeared to be a yukata of some type made of frozen LCL. Her hair was a more violet shade than that of Rei's and shone with reflected lights as if made of crystal, or ice as was more likely the case given the situation. Additionally her hands appeared to sport a wicked set of claws, composed of the same material as her hair. One of which was currently resting an inch from his throat.
Odd, he could have sworn she had been further away from him a moment before.
"Who are you? What is this place?"
Gendo's mind froze for a split second, before a hundred thoughts flashed in rapid succession behind his gaze. Could it be? It wasn't unprecedented, and with the nature of the multiverse it was even inevitable he supposed, but the odds of him meeting a new Looper before they met his Unawake self – and more to the point being the one to inform them of the Loops – was so negligible that he had never bothered to place the necessary items into his Pocket. And Shinji wasn't due for another twenty one days, which coincidentally meant that not only did he have to explain the concept of Yggdrasil to a new Looper but then would have to somehow convince her to pilot a giant mechanical humanoid which was likely powered by the soul of a former clone of herself. (That bit of information was never quite certain in his experience and he hadn't exactly had time to surreptitiously question Dr. Akagi as of yet, having only just Awakened.)
He wondered if it would just be simpler to let her kill him.
Raising his hands in surrender Gendo came to a decision. "My name is Gendo Ikari, this is the lowest level of an underground facility known as Nerv."
The girl's clawed hand pressed more tightly against his skin, drawing a single drop of blood. "Why am I here? Why were there copies of me floating in that room?!"
Gendo closed his eyes. Well, either he was going to die or he wasn't; only one way to find out. Meeting the dark gaze of his possible executioner, he explained. "Humanity is currently involved in a war with supernatural beings known as Angels who seek the destruction of all life as we know it. Nerv is the last realistic hope of combating these creatures and preventing the end of the world. The person you are Replacing is a clone of my – of my dead wife, made using the cells of the source of human life on this planet; the Angel known as Lilith. The clones you saw in that room are replacements to be used should you be killed, or as the source of an artificial pilot for our only weapon against the Angels; the Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon: Evangelion, giant bio-lifeforms created through asexual fission from the remains of Lilith, enhanced with cybernetics and mechanical grafts and imbued with the Soul of a single human.
"In my original lifetime this fight was successful in that all of the Angels were defeated and Humanity saved however, much as you are now doing with the woman you are Replacing, at that time my son had been Replaced by an utter fool by the name of Billy who was given the choice of setting the course for the human race. The results were... disturbing. It was at this point I Awoke to the truth of reality and began repeating time, much as I suspect you yourself are doing. If you wish I will explain what is happening and we can move on from there. Or, as most others choose, you may kill me and seek the truth from my son when he arrives slightly less than a month from now."
The woman was silent as she stared in disbelief for several seconds, before slowly lowering her arm; which reverted to a more normal appearance alongside her hair. Quietly releasing a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, Gendo gestured to the elevator; before entering himself, knowing that she would likely be unwilling to let him stand at her back. As far as he was concerned, Shinji could not get here soon enough.
-x-x-x-x-
Sitting across from Gendo in a small office, one thought ran rampant through Mizore's mind.
'He's alive, he's Alive, He's Alive, HE'S ALIVE!'
The story she was being told was ridiculous, preposterous, utterly unbelievable in any way. And yet, Mizore found herself unable to do anything other than stare in stunned disbelief at the man named Gendo as he spoke. Angels, underground facilities, the end of the world, gods, multiple universes, time loops and giant mulitdimensional supercomputers in the shape of a tree which controlled all of reality... this was the kind of insanity she and her lovers had done their best to prevent. And now by some stupid fluke she found herself trapped in another world, cut off from everything and everyone she knew and loved and being asked to take part in some demented war against multiple giant monsters; any of which would be an even match for Alucard.
And yet she didn't care, because Tsukune was alive. Sure, okay she had no idea when she'd see him again; and yes, she was still worried about all the rest of her lovers... but he was ALIVE. Whatever else happened, that alone was enough to ensure that she remained happy until she could be with him again. Which Gendo assured her was a good thing, because the world she was currently in was a 'crapsack world.' His words, not hers.
"As I was unprepared to give you the Welcome Speech, there are several additional details you'll need to ask for from my son; but for the time being I suppose I've covered the basics. However, now there is the issue of what to do next." Gendo frowned for a moment and placed his interlocked hands in front of his face before continuing. "In the original timeline the woman you are Replacing was injured attempting a test run of the Evangelion Unit-00, which is scheduled for less than an hour from now. Had I Awoken earlier I could have modified the device to better sync with your particular AT Field, but as it stands that is not an option."
Mizore frowned slightly before removing the sucker she had forced Gendo to provide for her from her mouth. "You said that these Evangelions are powered by the pilot's 'AT Field', an inner energy which every creature in your world possesses, correct?"
Gendo quirked an eye, and nodded.
Mizore smirked. "My world has a similar energy."
Closing his eyes for a moment, Gendo silently contemplated this before nodding. "Very well, if you believe you are capable of handling the test then we will proceed accordingly. I wish you luck." He gave a self-deprecating smile. "It is not often I have the opportunity to interact with Loopers in a way that doesn't involve massive amounts of pain. As I'm sure you can imagine, it's a concept that I am admittedly fond of."
Mizore frowned briefly and idly swirled her candy around thoughtfully. "You mentioned earlier that I could choose to kill you 'as most others do'; why is that? What did you do to them that make them hate you so much?"
If she hadn't been looking for a reaction, she might have missed the grimace which appeared and disappeared in rapid succession across Gendo's face. He was silent for a moment, before he glanced at his watch and gave a sigh.
"There should be time enough before the test. So be it, allow me to tell you the story of my future past. Better that you hear it now before you have a chance to experience it yourself." He took a second to gather himself before speaking again. "It all began when I met Yui..."
"So what? I just walk across the street and somehow end up in a separate bubble universe?"
"I'm not exactly sure, Koizumi never really explained how he does it. You just kinda concentrate and move to the area where the sensations are coming from until you feel it everywhere. I can't actually get there on my own and the one time I bothered to try and watch the actual transition ended with me on the ground nursing a splitting headache so I can't really tell you what to look for. Just check your Loop Memories, it should all be there."
Okay, lets set the scene. The time is seven forty-eight in the morning. The place is the middle of a crosswalk; surrounded by pedestrians trying (and failing) to ignore a pair of teenagers having a discussion, as they go about their daily commute to and from work. The teenagers in question are a blue-haired young woman who wouldn't be out of place as an Idol on television or billboards, and a thoroughly average young man. That would be me.
About a week after the Loop started I finally figured out why Koizumi never bothered to call, and it wasn't because he wasn't Awake. No, it was because Haruhi in her infinite wisdom had delegated the role of keeping her subconscious from reshaping reality on a whim not to Espers this Loop but to Youkai. More specifically Succubi; but not Incubi. So, sorry Koizumi; better luck next time. Apparently before she had Awoken Haruhi had been fascinated by both various Youkai legends and the act of Lucid Dreaming, which had narrowed her attention to those beings known for creating and entering dreams.
Unfortunately I found this out by our newest Club member dragging us all into a shared dream. What the heck, can't a guy even get a few hours to himself in the privacy of his own head!
Which meant that now it was up to me to educate Kurumu on the finer details of Haruhi 101. Give me a break.
-x-x-x-x-
Kurumu closed her eyes with a determined frown as she focused on the strange feeling she had been dealing with for the past few hours. It had hit her rather suddenly out of nowhere during one of the planning sessions her Brigade Leader had set up in a local cafe, and after describing it she had been met with a flushed look from Haruhi and an exasperated sigh from next to her where Kyon was sitting between her and Mikuru. That had devolved into a set of explanations which left her head reeling, both from the technical aspects offered by Yuki and the implications of the situation as a whole.
Nevertheless she was nothing if not resilient and she took to her new task with her typical upbeat attitude. After all it wasn't everyday you had the chance to explore the mind of a goddess.
Of course that was easier done in theory than practice, and it had taken a few tries for her to locate the generation of a 'Closed Space' before the other members of the Organization she apparently belonged to in this 'Loop' took care of it. But now her efforts would pay off, and all she had to do was... ah-hah!
Grabbing Kyon's arm she rushed forward, ignoring the sound of his startled yelp as she dragged him along towards the distortion she felt. Instincts from her memories of hundreds of previous events exactly like this acted on their own and her wings and tail appeared moments before she felt a ripple of energy flow across her skin and she took to the air above the suddenly empty streets. On the ground Kyon was getting to his feet and mumbling about the lack of warning, but Kurumu ignored him as she savored the feeling of her success.
"Ya~hoo~hoo!"
"Gah!" Kyon's cry echoed around the silent area as he turned his pained gaze from Kurumu's radiant form; literally in this case, as her body was currently encased in a blazing glow of energy as bright as a flood light. "Okay, first thing you need to know is that in a Sealed Reality your powers are based on emotions, hence the glowing. Speaking of which, would you mind turning it down?"
Kurumu smiled sheepishly, not that it could be seen through the corona of energy surrounding her, and allowed her excitement to cool until she was hovering only a few feet above the ground and only shining about as brightly as a desk lamp. "Okay, so now what? We managed to get here, but what's the point?"
In response Kyon simply pointed behind her. Turning to look, Kurumu's jaw fell as her eyes rose higher and higher into the air to take in the massive creature in front of her. Whatever it was, it looked remarkably similar to the image of a neuron she had seen in one of Yukari's textbooks; at least if a neuron had been given a humanoid shape and enlarged to the size of a small skyscraper. Other than a single large spot which could generously be called an eye and a system of 'veins' throughout its glowing blue body it lacked any distinguishing features. Unless you counted huge as a feature.
Turning back to the clearly deranged human who had brought her here, she pointed incredulously at the towering behemoth as it casually smashed a nearby building into rubble. "What the hell?! You expect me to fight that thing! Are you crazy?!"
Kyon held up his hands in a warding gesture. "Hey, take it easy. It's not as bad as it looks. See?" He pointed back towards the giant, which was swatting at several lights that were flying around it at rapid speeds. As Kurumu watched, one of the lights proceeded to sheer off from the rest and with a corkscrew around the things torso cut it in half. Immediately the group of bright figures turned and sped off towards another of the Alucard sized monsters.
"Those are probably the other members of your group. Your powers in here are specifically designed to make taking down Celestials easier. Haruhi doesn't really want the current world to end, so she gave you everything you need to make sure she doesn't go too far. It's all in your memories, you just need to work on controlling it."
Kurumu hesitantly examined her hands, their glow brightening in response. With a breathe she turned her gaze on a Celestial that hadn't been noticed by the others just yet. "Okay, alright. It's just like during training." Kurumu paused as she recalled the training they had done prior to the fight with Fairy Tail. With a shudder she shook her head. "Not like training, not at all like training." Even thousands of years later, and having long since outgrown anything the Huangs or Fuhai could teach her, that was a month of hell that she dreaded recalling. However... there were some benefits to time-travel.
Straightening, she moved her hand out to the side with her fingers razor straight. Following her thoughts, she gathered her Youki along with the new energy she possessed and focused it into a single edge. One which vibrated between dimensions at a rate of one hundred times a second. Raising her arm, she slashed outward; the resulting wave of pure energy ripping through the air. Literally; the Hougetsu Jigen-Tou tore apart the fabric of the pocket world she was in for a split second as it passed, allowing flashes of normal light to appear in its wake before the gray sky of the Closed Space resealed around it.
Unceremoniously, the attack met the Celestial head-on and passed through it without resistance. Kurumu grinned and gave a cheer. "Ha! Take that! Who's next?"
Without warning, the Sealed Reality began breaking apart as the Celestial was eliminated. Kurumu found herself flying above the heads of several pedestrians, who quickly took notice of the winged Youkai girl. Kurumu's smile froze as she found herself the center of attention – the one time she didn't want to be!
"Uh...Hi"
-x-x-x-x-
It took several minutes for Kurumu to hypnotize the people who had seen her into forgetting her, and several more after that apologizing to Mrs. Mori – who whether as a human or youkai was terrifying when angry – for the trouble they would have to go through to censor the street cameras, but eventually we managed to make it back to the cafe where the others were waiting.
"You're late! Penalty! You'll have to pay for everyone to make up for your tardiness."
Of course, what else is new? Luckily, I no longer need worry about my poor defenseless wallet thanks to the Loops; but still. would it kill you to pay for your own drinks once in a blue moon?
"So Kurumu, what was that thing you did at the end? For a second there I felt something strange."
Hey, don't ignore me!
"That was a technique I learned from my world called the Jigen-Tou, it cuts through dimensions like a saw a full hundred times a second!"
Kurumu at least appeared to have recovered from her visit to Sealed Space, if the elaborate gestures she was making were any indication. At the very least it kept Haruhi happy, which was good for everyone. As long as no extra problems occurred, hopefully I may actually be able to just enjoy the rest of the Loop.
"Do you think I could learn to use it?"
...Sigh. Of course not. Haruhi wouldn't be Haruhi otherwise.
Shinji awoke, as he did frequently, staring at a payphone. A quick check of his Loop Memories showed him no deviations from the Baseline so far and a follow-up examination proved he wasn't Pocket Locked. Nodding to himself he prepared to wait on Misato, before a voice sounded from far closer than he expected.
"Heeee~ey."
Shinji paled, and nearly had a heart attack, before realizing that that was not the voice of nightmares. Turning to his left, he found himself looking at a light violet haired woman in a modified school uniform of some kind, smirking around lollipop.
"He wasn't kidding. You really do panic whenever you hear someone say it that way." she said amusedly.
No longer preparing to unleash a Kamehameha, not that it would have done much but buy him an extra second or two, he gave a chuckle. "Good one. You're pretty good, I didn't even notice you there. I was out of it for a minute, but I'm Awake now."
"This is the part where I ask for an Anchor right?" the girl asked.
Shinji nodded. "Yeah. New Looper?"
"In a sense. This is my first Fused Loop, but apparently my Branch has been Looping for a while now." she said with a frown.
Shinji nodded and checked the sun's position. "That's rough. We should probably start moving soon, in about a minute a giant humanoid monster bent on destroying humanity is going to come crashing through the city, and I'd rather not get covered in cement dust. Rei doesn't like it when I'm show up covered in dirt." Pulling a motorcycle out of his Pocket he gestured for the girl to get on. "Since you said this is your first Fused Loop I'm guessing you don't know about me, so I should introduce myself. My name's Shinji Ikari, member of the Original 7 (and Kurama), slayer of Angels, kicker of all kinds of ass and Anchor for Tokyo-3. Nice to meet you."
The girl raised an eyebrow, but accepted the offer and climbed on the back of Shinji's bike. "I am Mizore Shirayuki."
Shinji laughed a bit and started the engine. "Just Mizore Shirayuki? No special history, no awesome titles?"
Mizore was silent for a moment as Shinji took to the streets, before answering. She contemplated avoiding the subject, but according to Gendo Shinji had seen more than she could even imagine in his life and wouldn't have even bat an eye at her status as a youkai. Besides, Tsukune would be disappointed with her if she didn't even try to get along with other humans. "I'm a Yuki-onna."
Shinji hmm'd a bit. "Let's see, it's been at least a thousand years since the last time I met a snow woman. Neat. Hey hold on a second, I'm gonna gun it a bit. This'll be a bit tough, but just trust me alright."
She did as asked, and their ride jumped ahead as they took several corners in rapid succession. Ahead, an open-top footbridge rapidly came closer; Shinji angling his bike directly toward it. Picking up speed he pulled back and jumped the bike onto the railing, roaring along the side at 190kmh and rising. In quick succession he jumped the bike off of several light posts, a low hanging balcony and a highrise; using a flare of flame between each jump to push him further and higher. Finally he came to a stop atop one of the smaller buildings and turned off the engine.
Mizore jumped off the bike as if scalded. "Are you insane?" she demanded.
Shinji shrugged. "A little bit. I just wanted to get to higher ground so I could show you the Angel from a safe distance."
Mizore frowned angrily. "And if you had explained that beforehand, I could have told you that I already took care of the Angel." she told him rather matter-of-factly.
Shinji paused. "Oh. So wait, that means you Replaced... shit. Alright, please tell me you found yourself in Europe when you first Woke Up." Seeing her blank look, he cursed again.
"Alright, look. The person you're Replacing doesn't have a lot to look forward to in the Baseline. We try to prevent most of the crap that goes on, but half the time someone Replaces Rei the Branch ends up railroading our efforts. You mentioned a 'he' before, I guess that means my Father is Awake." Mizore gave a curious look to the venom in his tone, but Shinji ignored it as she nodded confirmation.
"As much as I don't like it, his being here makes this much easier. You said you already took out Sachiel, so that... Wait. How did you beat the Angel?" he questioned curiously.
In answer, Mizore pointed towards the bay with her sucker. Standing knee deep in the water, currently powered down and being swarmed by Nerv technicians, stood Unit-00. Shinji blinked. "Okay, how?"
Mizore smirked and removed her human disguise. "As I mentioned before, I am a Yuki-onna. I saturated the LCL with my Youki and took control of the Evangelion when it tried to go berserk."
Shinji laughed and grinned appreciatively. "Maybe this won't be so hard after all. Hopefully we can avoid turning everyone into tang."
Mizore smirked in satisfaction. It wasn't as amusing a reaction as the scientist Ritsuko, but she'd take it. Gendo had told her all about what to expect from the rest of the Loop, and it wasn't pretty, but she was confident she would make it through this and when she next saw Tsukune she'd have an amazing story to tell.
10.1 – Soul Beasts are neither easy nor fun. One thing they are however, is big. Very, very big.
10.2 – Even DIO takes time in between his casual genocide and rampant destruction to enjoy fine cuisine.
10.3 – Among Nappa's many, many talents is an expert grasp of navigation. No really. I mean it. Seriously.
10.4 – Time travel, sentient meteors, psychic battles… just another day in the life of Sly Cooper.
10.5 – Metaphysical instability can lead to some… interesting variations.
10.6 – Actor allusion is always fun.
10.7 – They've always been a duet, no reason to change that now. Two for one, for the win.