11.1 – (KrisOverstreet)
[Haruhi Suzumiya]
I Awoke, in both senses of the word, to the ringing of my cell phone.
"Hello?" I said, not having bothered to look at the incoming number.
"Listen carefully," an all too familiar voice snapped at me. "When you introduce yourself today, don't you dare do anything clever! Keep it normal and simple, right? Like the very first time you did it! Don't you even think of making fun of me this time! Understand?"
The previous Loop I'd been a student at a school in Tokyo, in a world where my life- my original life- was a popular science-fiction story. Of course, my life being anything but simple, Haruhi was there too, and she'd learned the full truth about herself. By the end she'd been experimenting with her powers, getting frustrated at how difficult it was to do small things like pull 100-yen coins out of midair. Because, in Haruhi's mind, the impossible should be easy and simple, right?
Now she wasn't just frustrated. She was furious. She was ready to explode. I thought of Koizumi, who right now must be dealing with a closed space that stretched from Tokyo to Hiroshima. When it comes to dealing with Haruhi's frustration, he gets the easy job.
"All right," I said. "I'll keep it simple." After a moment I added, "Would you like to talk-"
Click. She hung up.
Oh, brother. Six-thirty in the morning, and I wake up to a new Loop with a Typhoon Haruhi warning, both red flags flapping at the top of the mast.
I admit it was tempting to disobey, to snark about aliens, time travelers and espers again. That temptation vanished when I saw Haruhi in class 1-5 that morning. I didn't say a word to her. I didn't need to. The fact that she wouldn't look anybody in the eye told me now was not the time. When Haruhi feels something really powerful she tries to conceal it. The more she curls away from other people, like a whelk in the shell, the stronger that feeling is. Obviously this feeling was about to burst out regardless, and she was trying to save it until the right moment.
So, purely out of curiosity for what it would be, I followed my script, giving a normal, average, unmemorable introduction. I knew that what followed me would be anything but.
"From East Middle School, Haruhi Suzumiya. We have no time to waste in idleness or inaction. The only moment we are given is now. If we fail to act here and now, when we can, we waste the moment that, once gone, can never be called back! I will never fail to make every moment of my life as interesting as possible! You can all follow, or watch, or stay out of my way, because I won't be stopped! That is all!"
As expected, entirely unexpected. In my case, doubly so, since with time apparently repeating wasted moments would indeed be called back, and who knew when they would stop? And Haruhi knew this already. What, then, had caused this inexplicable reaction?
When I tried to ask her about it directly, she simply shook her head. She avoided me at lunch, and when classes ended, instead of going to try out some club or to take over the Literature Club room, she headed for the shoe lockers. Obviously, for whatever reason, she intended to go home early, with no explanation even to me.
I followed her down the hill and past the train station at the bottom. Once she and I were well away from any other students, I asked, "You still haven't explained why you introduced yourself that way this time."
Haruhi kept marching, not even glancing at me. "Don't be annoying."
How cruel. I'm just acting in this moment, so it won't be wasted.
"And don't say silly things like that where other people can hear you."
Well, forgive me for making this moment of my life as interesting as possible.
This time Haruhi didn't rise to my bait, and we walked together in silence for a couple more blocks. Finally she said, "What was the last thing you remember before this morning? And I don't mean yesterday."
Of course I knew what she meant, even though- at that point- nobody had told us what the Loops were. We had a sort of second set of memories leading up to when we Awoke, and then we had our true memories... or so I would say, except that's really oversimplifying. "We went to a certain amusement park on the outskirts of Tokyo," I said. "We were celebrating having both been accepted into Todai. And I still don't know how I managed it."
Normally Haruhi would have made a remark about how useless or lazy or stupid I was, and how it was only her hard work that had dragged me up to a minimally acceptable level, or something like that. I was tempted to say it for her, especially since she spent several seconds in silent walking without so much as opening her mouth.
Finally, just as I'd put together a nice witty follow-up, she said, "Something else happened to me between then and now. I went someplace else. Without you."
I froze. I stopped in my tracks, there on the sidewalk. Thankfully Haruhi stopped too, or else the conversation would have become awkward.
Without me? Where, exactly?
"Did you ever watch the American show, 'Star Trek', as a kid?"
Occasionally, not often.
"I was there, Kyon. I was in that universe. The part of it with the bald-headed captain and the bigger ship and the Borg and things."
I think I have a vague recollection of which series you mean. The idea of Haruhi as a crewman on the Enterprise-
"I wasn't a crewman."
Of course not. As captain of the-
"I never set foot on a starship at all."
Never set foot- how does that work? How did you know it was Star Trek, then?
"Because I was a Q."
Haruhi took a step back towards me, her hands trembling slightly.
"I can kind of feel my power, here and now," she said quietly. "There's so very much of it, and most of it feels like it's just out of reach. It's like sitting in a bus, feeling the engines running, the floorboard shaking under my feet, and all I'm allowed to do is open and close the doors and ring the bell." She looked up at me, those brown eyes half-sad, half-furious. "But in the Q Continuum, I could feel it all. I could use it all. I could understand it all. The power to change any part of time and space I felt like, to make anything happen. To make everything happen."
That must have been wonderful. I've always wished I could understand everything, and I'm lucky to understand anything.
"You don't understand anything at all." Haruhi turned away, bowing her head. In a small voice she added, "It was horrible."
Now I really didn't understand. The previous time around Haruhi had been angry that this power had been kept secret from her, determined to make it her own and to use it every chance she got. Now... this? After she'd had her chance to do exactly that?
"The problem with being omnipotent and omniscient," Haruhi continued, "is you know how everything will play out before you do it. If you can do anything by just thinking about it, and if you can see how it ends before you do it, why do it at all?" She hugged herself. "The Q Continuum was barren. Sterile. Eternal and unchanging. There was nothing new to experience, nothing unexpected, nothing but absolute, unchanging, eternal boredom. We could do anything. Mostly, we did nothing. Why do anything, if nothing is fun?"
That one Q did a lot, if I recall.
"You still don't understand," Haruhi snapped. "If we tried, we could find ways of making things unexpected. But after a point we just... gave up." She threw up her hands in frustration. "I don't know how to explain it to you, Kyon. I've spent all day trying to figure it out, and I still can't get the words to work. All I can say is, I had all the power, all the knowledge, and it wasn't any damn fun at all!"
Does that mean you're going to give up on trying to control your power?
"Of course not! But... but I'm not sure what I want, really. That's why I didn't want to talk to you, understand? I need to work this out on my own."
Fine by me... but in the meantime-
"On my own, I said! That's all!"
I watched her storm away, not following her this time. I was too busy thinking about the one aspect of her previous Loop Haruhi hadn't brought up. That one Q, the one who got all the screen time in the show, made his own fun by toying with mortal creatures. The reaction of his fellow Q varied depending on the episode, but they certainly seemed to let him get away with a lot. Still, he certainly didn't seem bored to ennui; on the contrary. That Q wasn't waiting for Godot or anybody else.
And yet Haruhi had avoided that entire line of action whatever, as if it didn't exist.
That made me feel a little better about things. Apparently our goddess-in-training did have a moral event horizon she wasn't willing to go beyond.
Speaking as one of the mortals involved, that came as quite a bit of a relief.
11.2 – (Leviticus Wilkes)
[Bleach/Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]
"Hi!"
Ichigo Kurosaki, walking around the Soul Society, turned around when he heard the greeting that was obvious addressed to him. The speaker was a small boy with a red cap, a white shirt with a blue stripe, and a ludicrously large nose. "I'm Billy. Wanna play?"
Ichigo spent all of zero seconds entertaining the notion of playing with Billy. MLE! MLE! WE'VE GOT BILLY! FIND AIZEN AND GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"
Ichigo broke into a flat sprint, tapping into the Speed Force and hurtling to where Rukia was. The soul reaping Looper was already moving. "What is it?"
"Billy! Grab Aizen and run, we can't let him find-"
Rukia and Ichigo ground to a halt, staring at the abjectly terrifying scene in front of them. There was Aizen Sousuke, false mastermind of a million plans, standing in front of Billy, MLE. Billy was speaking. "Hi."
Aizen, keeping up the appearance of a fairly nice and nerdy guy, replied politely with his own "Hello."
"Hi."
"Hello."
"Hi."
"Hello."
"Hi.
"Hello."
Rukia and Ichigo began to ever so slowly creep towards Aizen and Billy. "No sudden moves. No loud sounds," Rukia whispered.
"Gently... gently..." Ichigo murmured, raising his Zanpakuto over his head.
"Hey, do you like fire?" Billy said, now holding handfuls of fire.
Ichigo, Rukia and Aizen froze. "Oh no," Ichigo said.
-x-x-x-x-
"MLE crashes our Loop and we end up in Eiken. How's that fair?" Ichiko grumbled.
Rukia didn't answer. It was because she genuinely lacked an answer, and because she was too busy focusing on not over balancing. Her dexterity was shot thanks to her spectacular and sudden increase in cup size that was mandatory in Eiken.
Ichiko kicked a rock across the school courtyard. "I fucking hate this Loop."
Rukia, momentarily self-assured that she could walk without falling over, did reply now. "Ichigo, at least Aizen hasn't shown up. Be glad for that."
Ichiko growled quietly. "I'll believe that when I see what home room is like."
Miraculously though, Aizen did not appear to be in home room. Not a single student had a recognizable mark that identified them as Aizen Sousuke, and when Ichiko asked for Aizen, no one answered. It seemed they were in luck.
...until their substitute teacher arrived, half-drunk and badly hungover. "Oka-hic! Okay class... free day," their teacher said.
One of the students, Lin May, raised a hand. "Uh, Sousuke-Sensei, are you... uh... drunk?"
Aizen Sousuke, substitute teacher, looked at Lin May. "Sweetheart, I have seen some real shit. I need this."
In the back, Ichiko and Rukia picked up their backpacks, put their faces into them, and screamed their lungs out.
-x-x-x-x-
It was the Loop after that Ichigo saw something strange. Aizen was, again, drinking. But Aizen didn't remember Billy. Ichigo had searched Aizen's mind to the point that Aizen was under the impression that someone was reading his mind, but couldn't find a trace of Billy.
It was the same one Loop later. And the Loop after that. Ichigo couldn't explain it, not at first. Eventually though, Rukia offered the best answer.
"It's Billy. Aizen's memories get wiped every reset, but he's drinking to scrub everything else that remains."
11.3 – (Firehawk242)
[Hellsing/Winx]
"You're Flora right?"
Flora glanced up from the book she was reading. A blonde woman in a yellow uniform was standing there. "Yes, I'm Flora. Who are you?"
"Seras Victoria," the woman said. "I hear you're my new sister."
"Sister?" Flora asked, confused.
"You're a fledgling of Alucard, which makes you my sister," Seras said. "I hear you went through my Loop as me."
"Yes, but I was told it was the Abridged Variant," Flora said.
"Oh," Seras said. "Oh my, that's a rough one."
"It had its moments," Flora said.
"I suppose it would," Seras said. "Do you want to go get a drink? The first round's on me. Or do you not drink?"
"I started after I ran into Billy," Flora said with a shudder.
"Ouch," Seras said. "Tell you what, the first two rounds are on me. Let's go."
-x-x-x-x-
"So, you're a full vampire?" Seras asked, putting her empty glass down on the bar. "You've drunk blood?"
"Yes," Flora said. "It was in the same Loop I turned into a vampire."
"Who was it?" Seras asked. "Pip?"
"Who's Pip?" Flora asked. "No, it was one of the Hellsing soldiers. He died in the battle in London. I couldn't heal him. I needed the power to fight back, so..."
"You mean they didn't all die when the estate was attacked by the Valentine brothers?" Seras asked.
"No," Flora said. "Well, sort of. It's complicated."
"I'll take your word for it," Seras said. "Have you ever turned anyone else into a vampire?"
"Um, I tried once," Flora said. "It didn't exactly work as planned."
"Oh really?" Seras asked. "Well, do tell."
"Okay, there's this guy, Prince Sky, he's Bloom's boyfriend. He dies in the second year of the Loop, but Bloom brings him back. Somehow. I never really understood how that one worked, and neither does she," Flora said. "So one Loop, he's dying and Bloom wasn't there because of changes I'd made to the Loop."
"So you try to turn him into a vampire to save him?" Seras asked.
"Yes," Flora said. "Looking back, I probably should have used fairy dust to heal him, but I didn't really have much time."
"So what went wrong?" Seras asked.
"Well," Flora said. "There was this really awkward moment when he came back as a ghoul instead of a vampire."
"Oh," Seras said. "Did you... explain this to Bloom?"
"No, and I never want to," Flora said. "Once he was a ghoul I used my fairy dust to turn him back into a human. And that was the end of it."
"You mean you didn't tell anyone about this?"
"You're the first," Flora said. "I don't really like talking about it."
"I can see why," Seras said. "Well, it was nice talking with you. I think you'll make a great little sister."
Flora smiled slightly and emptied her glass.
11.4 – (Tabac Iberez)
[Girls und Panzer/How To Train Your Dragon]
Coming to in a small, rather decrepit wooden shack in clothes that were most definitely not hers and in a suit of clothes that made her long for that one Loop where the school uniforms were swimsuits of all things, Miho looked around. Across the oddly big room, another person slept under their covers, snoring lightly. Getting up, Miho stocked the fire, and took a peek outside. Relaxing a minute, Miho started to separate her Loop Memories from her Looping memories. Rather like clockwork, the other person woke, and raised. Coming up to her, the man smiled and cast back into his own Loop Memories.
"So, it appears I have a daughter this Loop," he said, gruffly. "As I don't rightly recognize you, mind telling me your name and Home Loop?"
Miho nodded, and bowed politely. "Miho Nishizumi, sir. As for Home Loop, this is my... second or third Loop off my main."
The man chuckled, and held out a great paw of a hand. "Stoic the Vast, of Berk. Tell me, how do you feel about training up dragons?" -x-x-x-x-
Miho was very ambivalent on the subject of training up dragons until one of them blew up the shed in which she'd been keeping her designs for a steam tank in. Then, she just cracked her knuckles. She normally wasn't the kind of person to try and take revenge. Still, that had been a really good set of draft plans... -x-x-x-x-
"Ahm, Mistletoe?" Gobber asked, looking at the monstrosity his now-female apprentice was building in the back. "What is that?"
"This," Miho said, proudly, "This is a Nerblewerfer."
"And, what exactly does it do?"
"It werfs nerbles." -x-x-x-x-
Come next dragon attack, an Awake Snoutlout looked out over the bluff as six massive rockets went screaming into the mass of attacking dragons. A hundred pounds of explosives apiece with anti-air heads made the resulting carnage much messier than Hiccup's thingy. Miho, out of the line of sight due to the Nerblewerfer's back-blast issues saw just about nothing.
"Oh dear," he said, grumbling. -x-x-x-x- After reloading her Nerblewerfer, Miho grabbed her winch and tugged it back about seventy feet to protect it from counter-battery fire. She wasn't sure the dragons would understand the concept of counter-battery fire as it had never happened to them before, but paranoia was the better part of valor and all that. Finished, she went to a sufficiently small ravine to get started on her next project. -x-x-x-x-
Stoic was just flat confused by the newest Looper's behavior. Scratching his head, he went over to Gobber.
"So, Gobber..." he started.
"This reminds you of Baseline where Hiccup couldn't communicate for crap, doesn't it."
"Yep."
"And seeing as she Replaced Hiccup, instead of just being his sister..."
"Rather obvious. I think Astrid might be Awake this time around. Want me to make sure and tell her to boot up the good old 'Hiccup went to Bermuda' plan again?"
"Yep."
-x-x-x-x-
Looking out of her now very fortified bunker in what was once a ravine, Miho congratulated herself on paying attention to Astrid when she had been explaining the Pocket. As such, she had a monstrous machine shop in there, one of the micro power plants Saunders used, and a lot of raw material.
A LOT of raw material.
As the black alpha dragon started crawling onto the beach, Miho grinned and cracked her fingers. One person, in one machine shop, could build one Nerblewerfer fairly easily. One person, who could use the machine shop to build an automated production line to build Nerblewerfers, another to build munitions, and a last to build a fire control system could build an island defense grid quite easily. Now all she needed to do was double-check her calculations, get the range on the Alpha Dragon, and send out her warning drone.
-x-x-x-x-
Warming up with Astrid and the rest of the dragon riders, Stoic grabbed Mjolnir and got ready to deliver Drago and co. a first-rate ass whuppin when a large drone flew overhead blaring a message.
"ALL PERSONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE FLARES. ALL PERSONS, PLEASE FOLLOW THE FLARES."
Shrugging, the Dragonriders of Berk got ready to go to war as the rest of the people followed the flares confusedly.
-x-x-x-x-
Once the drone returned, Miho grinned and muttered, typing in a command.
"Target is 2,500 yards from Fire Control Alpha. Battery one, fire one round and hold position."
-x-x-x-x-
As the shots flew out, the Alpha Bewilderbeast looked up and saw twenty-five hundred pound warhead rockets fly into it. Roaring, it reared up on it's hind legs as the Dragonriders challenged Drago.
-x-x-x-x-
"Target not damaged. Hmm. Batteries two through five, repeat."
-x-x-x-x-
The Alpha Bewilderbeast was now blinded, deafened, and pissed. While Stoic dueled Drago, the Dragonriders got the hell out. If they hadn't been in the shadow of the Alpha, they would have been shredded.
-x-x-x-x-
Miho swore. "Batteries one through ten, fire six rounds and fall back to reload waldos. Batteries eleven through twenty, fire two rounds HESH. Batteries twenty one through thirty, move to secondary launch positions."
The tedious wording of this order was important, as Miho wasn't fluent in programming yet. Of course, her definition of proficient was most people's definition of master, and most Looper's definition of "has been bored to tears too many times". Either way, shots went out.
-x-x-x-x-
The HESH rounds, having been designed as a form of anti-armor, were much more effective than their HE counterparts, which were designed as a form of skysweeping. The Alpha Bewilderbeast took a knee, it's armored hide pulped by the plastic explosive. Draco, having long been pounded into submission, would have then called it off if he could. Any way it was sliced, it was a net victory for Berk. Seeing this, Miho smiled.
"Battery fifty, target location site one. Fire six rounds, and retreat to waldos."
As the fireworks show start, Miho smiled. This was certainly a Loop well-spent in terms of theory transitioning to practice.
11.5 – (Dalxein)
[Gurren Lagann]
This Fused Loop was not going well. The Gurren was already trashed before they could even fuse up, Lagann tossed halfway across the planet with Simon still inside it, And Kamina was honestly not sure if his left arm was broken or dislocated, but it was hanging painfully limp and bloody at his side. This was shaping up to be another Crashed Loop already...
Then, in a flash of light, a massive sword speared into the ground in front of him. It gleamed with ethereal light from the many branched prongs along the blade. Attached was a note.
"Go nuts, bro.
-Susanoo"
With a grin, he grabbed the hilt of the Ten-Span Sword with his working hand and charged.
-x-x-x-x-
"I'm not sure it was such a good idea to give him a copy of your sword. Even a tenth of its actual power could be dangerous." Epona stated as she worked away trying to stabilize the Loop.
"Uhh... Copy?" Susanoo asked.
The sound of typing abruptly stopped. With a slow, deliberate motion, the lower-class Admin turned to glare at her boss. "You didn't."
"Didn't what?"
She was fuming, now. "You did not just give your actual sword, a divine, Administrator-level weapon to one of the most chaotic if not functionally insane Loopers in the system! This is like handing the Hulk the Actual Admin Thor's Mjolnir! You have no idea how bad this is, do you!?" By this time she was raging in his face as he leaned back desperately trying to not make the horse goddess any angrier.
"I'll replace it with a 1/20 power copy between Loops, okay?" He tried, hoping it would appease her wrath.
She backed away, smoothing her ruffled mane back into a proper office bun. "If he Crashes either Loop with that thing before then, I'm going to get Ammy to lock you in the sun again."
As she went back to her terminal to assess the damage, Susanoo couldn't help but whimper and hope his faith in his favorite Looper was well-founded.
11.6 – (DrTempo/TrueZero2)
[JoJo/MLP]
From the Journal of Sunset Shimmer:
My next Loop was that of the Joestar family's. This Loop has several Anchors, all of whom are part of the aforementioned family. I Awoke during the era of Jonathan Joestar. In order to stop his adopted brother turned vampire Dio Brando, Jonathan learned Hamon, a secret art which allows the user to channel the power of the sun.
Speaking of Dio, he's actually a Looper, and both his cruel nature and his desire to gain godlike power made him an MLE. He first made his appearance during the epic battle many Loopers had in the Lord of the Rings Loop, and has been causing mayhem ever since, turning many people into vampires and storing them in his Subspace Pocket, among other things. He is pure evil. Luckily, many other Loopers are more than strong enough to stop him if need be, as it seems he has mainly stuck with Baseline abilities, which also includes a 'Stand'. It's some sort of guardian spirit, and Dio's has the power to briefly freeze time.
Back to my bizarre adventure. When the time came to face him, I made sure that Dio wouldn't survive the battle as he did in Baseline (which also allowed him to kill Jonathan). I slashed him to ribbons, and before he could react, I used a Mega Flare spell to disintegrate him to atoms. Luckily, he wasn't Awake, or it would have been a MUCH tougher fight.
After that, I trained for a few decades, until the next Anchor, Joseph, began his adventure to defeat the "Pillar Men", the men who had created the artifacts which allowed Dio to gain vampiric power in the first place. Joseph, besides having learned Hamon himself, also has a Stand called Hermit Purple, which can act like a whip while also conducting Joseph's Hamon. Speaking of Stands, a rumor once existed among Loopers that only a Stand could defeat another Stand, but that has been debunked for a long time. As for the adventure with Joseph, I still had my skills, so I could still help out with the fight. In fact, we ensured the Pillar Men didn't even get close to what they did in Baseline.
After that, I managed to live until around the time Dio would've returned in Baseline, which was over 50 years later. But since I'd defeated Dio and ensured he was toast, that didn't happen. I lived a long, interesting life.
Wonder what awaits me next.
11.7 – (FanOfMostEverything)
Ryuko usually Awoke at the foot of Honnou Town, guitar case in hand. Still, she wasn't unfamiliar with entering a Loop by actually waking up at her desk. Swapping with Mako was one of the Loop's more common Variants. Even Awake Mako was becoming a rather dab hand with a Scissor Blade.
Ryuko smiled. It was always nice to take a backseat to the insanity once in a while, even if she couldn't match Mako for insane monologues. Still, being a Makanshoku was almost like a vacation.
She froze. Her Loop Memories had objected to that last thought. She wasn't a Makanshoku. She was Kiryuin Ryuko, as she had been since birth! And that just raised all kinds of questions. This was nothing like the usual Loops where that was the case.
Further investigation was interrupted by Gamagoori breaking down the classroom door. Ryuko was expecting his sudden entrance, sure, but not the frilly apron over his uniform.
"Attention, students of second-year class 7!"
Ryuko tuned him out from there. Same story as usual; theft, punishment, tear gas, yadda yadda. However, she took advantage of the confusion to follow the disciplinary committee. Maybe she could get some further information.
She peeked out of the door just in time to hear Gamagoori's larger than life exclamation. "So, the One-Star Goku School Lunch you stole! Hmph. Go ahead. Eat up."
Ryuko had liked to think she was fairly inured to the madness the Loops could bring, that the insanity of her Baseline had inoculated her against anything infinity could throw at her. Only now did she realize how wrong she had been.
The unmistakable sound of a heel striking the school shook her out of her daze. Unlike Satsuki's usual light show, a single beam shone down from the heavens on the academy's tower. The air was filled with faint hosannahs. And Ryuko finally registered the Loop memory she'd been trying to ignore for the sake of her sanity.
"Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberty! Contradiction is truth! These are the truths of this world!" proclaimed Student Council President Makanshoku Mako. "Bow before the futility of logic, you pigs with human taste buds!"
Ryuko had to admit, it did sound like something that would come out of Mako's mouth.
11.8 – (Harosata)
[Assassination Classroom]
Koro-Sensei tried not at frown at Itona. Seeing a talented boy give in to the ferocity of the tentacles always ate away at him. He wanted to rip the tentacles off his student's head, but that would only hurt Itona as long as he sought power.
And sadly, power was a tool that Shiro favored as he knocked out Itona and hefted him over his shoulder. "Ah, it seems I will have to tutor him. Don't worry, we will be back to kill you."
Koro-Sensei grabbed Shiro' shoulder. "I can't just let you walk away with my stude-"
"Anti-Sensei Cloth." As Koro Sensei saw his hand melting, Shiro turned around. "You canno-GAH!"
Koro-Sensei withdrew his other hand. "I guess you don't have Anti-Sensei Glasses. Nyuk nyuk nyuk."
11.9 – (Awesomedude17)
[Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo/God of War]
Beauty Awoke, and found herself to be the only Looper here. The group was looking up at Bobobo's latest foe. She sighed slightly, wondering what this guy could be.
"Alright, strange mysterious foe that I might have met before, how about you show us who you are!" Bobobo demanded.
"As you wish!"
Bobobo gasped.
"What, who is it Bobobo?" Beauty asked with some worry.
"I cannot believe it! It's my friend's sister's uncle's brother's monkey's mother's owner's niece's wife's father's uncle's brother's former roommate's sister's friend's nephew's dog's father's drinking buddy's son's wife's brother-in-law's clone!"
"YES, BOBOBO-BO BO-BOBO! IT IS I! KRATOS! AND YOU WILL FALL TO THE MAGNIFICENCE OF MY ABS!" An Unawake Kratos said as he turned around to reveal the magnificent, oiled up, and well chiseled abs that he had.
"Dear God, those abs are so magnificent, I cannot look away!" Don Patch screamed.
"Neither can I!" Jelly Jiggler confirmed.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOUR ABS ARE TOO AMAZING!" Bobobo screamed, trying to look away, but unable.
Beauty's eye just twitched.
'I'll die next Loop by trying the Ryncol if I can.'
-x-x-x-x-
"And that's what happened last time Kratos and I were in a Loop together." Beauty chugged her Ryncol, and then fell backwards.
"Barkeep, I'll have two Ryncols." Kratos said as the other Loopers were laughing their asses off at the ridiculous tale of Kratos' magnificent abs.
11.10 – (kingofsouls)
[Eyeshield 21/The Wonderful World of Gumball]
Sena's plans for derailing the Loop ended abruptly when he was suddenly slapped in the face. Shouting in pain, Sena beheld his attacker: An androgynous male wearing his school's uniform. "What was that for?"
The person spoke with a dual voice, like a boy and girl were speaking in unison. The tone was the most monotone one could be, impressive considering how two voices were speaking. "You are Sena Kobayakawa, are you not?"
"Yes, but that doesn't answer anything. Who are you?"
"We are the City Of Elmore." the person spoke. With a name like that, Sena quickly guessed that this...Elmore was Looping. "We wish to speak to you about Natsuhiko Taki. He is of your Loop, is that correct?"
"Yea, he's from my Loop, But.."
Another slap. "Stop that."
"We will not stop that. We have not gotten our anger towards Natsuhiko Taki out of our system, so to speak."
The Anchor groaned. By now, they were getting attention drawn towards themselves, prompting Sena and the City of Elmore to retreat into the clubhouse, which was thankfully empty.
Closing the door, Sena glared at the City of Elmore before continuing the conversation
"Okay, so before anything else, no Taki is not Looping."
"We are thankful." The City of Elmore replied. "Moving on, we want you to know our thoughts and grievances against Natsuhiko Taki."
"Which are?"
"We think Natsuhiko Taki is an idiot."
Sena sighed. "Everyone thinks Taki is an idiot."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
"We are both pleased and confused at the same time, but we digress." The City of Elmore replied. "We observed him, as we do each Loop, and he confounded us with his antics."
"Complete idiocy unless it was something related to football?"
"Indeed. We could take no more of it, for we found it boring and uneventful. We erased him from the world, sending him to the void where all forgot his very existence."
This startled Sena. "Wait...you can do that?"
"We are the City of Elmore. An actual city Sena Kobayakawa." The City of Elmore replied. "As such we have control over much more than a mere living being. Though normally we do not find ourselves in the form of a living being, like the human form we are in now. We are not sure how we feel about it."
"So...after you put him in this...void thingy?"
"The void is where all of the mistakes of our Loop are sent. We deemed Natsuhiko Taki to be a mistake, and sent him into the void as fast as possible. It is disconnected from the world unless we will it, and thus nothing within it can leave it without outside interference." The City of Elmore then grit it's teeth. "Yet somehow he escaped. Five times we might add."
A perplexed Sena though on that. "That...honestly doesn't sound like Taki."
"We asked him how he escaped, and he replied with 'Anyone can do it with effort' and "I have a 100% success rate." alongside other simpleton drivel rather than actual reasons."
"Yea, that sounds like him."
'We must know his secret so that we may be better prepared next time we meet him" fumed the City of Elmore.
"Well, the best thing to is to not do anything." Sena replied.
This seemed to anger the City of Elmore. "That is not an answer we are pleased with."
"What I mean is that Taki is an idiot." Sena elaborated. "In Baseline Taki's idiocy is his strength. He's not the kind of guy who plans or anything complex like that. He moves forward, thinking he's the best and knowing he's not.
He may not be the smartest, but he doesn't need to be. He just needs to be himself, and for me that's more than enough. Maybe that would be enough for you next time."
"We still do not..."
"Elmore, trust me. If he's in your Loop maybe you should just let him be. He might surprise you. I know I was when Taki really showed the team what he could do."
The City of Elmore contemplated that before relenting. "We shall try that."
"Thank you." At that, Sena decided to indulge his curiosity. "So...how did Taki escape this void?"
"Spinning."
Sena tilted his head on confusion. "Spinning?"
"Spinning and stretching his legs to his head. We must admit he is quite flexible."
Sena shrugged, accepting the answer as is. "...Okay then. Want a tour of my Loop?"
"We would like that."
11.11 - (Me)
[JoJo/Billy and Mandy]
DIO Awoke, as he most often did, halfway between the carriage that had brought him to the Joestar Manor and the ground. He considered it an excellent omen that the next second and a half did not include Jonathan's fist obliterating his skull. The first opponent whom he had ever respected, had eventually managed to detect DIO's Awakening based on the differences his movements before and after Waking Up had upon his Hamon. While before DIO had prevented his early death at the hands of his mortal foe with the usage of The World immediately upon Waking, he had recently had his most relied upon skill temporarily removed from his repertoire. As such he had rarely managed to set foot upon the Earth before meeting his end at Jonathan's hand during the last hundred or so Loops.
Eventually however, as he knew would be the case, the Anchor for the current Loops was not in fact Jonathan and therefore DIO finally had the opportunity to act. It was pure simplicity to act the role of the perfect genteel in front of Jonathan and his father. It was even simpler to stumble upon Jonathan during an unguarded moment and twist his neck a full 180 degrees. With the body stored in his Pocket to ensure that the next set of Anchors would still be born and allow him the opportunity to regain his Stand at a later point he set about consoling his 'father' as he helped in the search for his missing 'brother.'
Several years later, George Joestar came to a tragic end from an unknown illness.
From there it was a simple matter of wooing Erena and impregnating her with Jonathan's seed during their honeymoon. It also had the added amusement of defiling his greatest enemy's wife. His silver tongue ensured that she never knew his true identity for even a moment during their courtship, and thus when he 'died' saving her and the worthless child who would go on to mother the next generation of Joestars she did so believing him to have been Jonathan, thus ensuring that Joseph would be none the wiser to his current Awakened status.
This was the part that he usually failed somehow at moving beyond. Whoever the Anchor was this time however, seemed to be far enough removed from the events of the Loop that they failed to confront him. DIO smiled maliciously, at last he would have access to the one thing which he had consistently been prevented from attaining throughout his prolonged existence. First a trip to Rome, and then it was off to Tibet. His current weakness would soon prove to be only a minor setback, and within less than a fortnight he would be stronger than ever.
"I may have been defeated, but even in your moment of triumph the might of DIO is unstoppable. With the power of the Pillar Men and the Red Stone of Aja, I will be all the closer to my inevitable victory! Savor your success while it yet still lasts; in the end it is USELESS, USELESS, USELESS!" DIO shouted to the sky as he made landfall off the shores of the Americas.
In the quiet night air following his claims, a single voice responded. "Useless huh? So you're the big bad DIO everyone and their grandmother is so worried about. Pathetic."
DIO whirled around furiously, seeking the speaker. "Who dares?"
From the shadows a feminine figure made her way into the moon's light. Tall and shapely, she wore an elegant black dress which hugged her figure and seemed to merge with the shadows as it extended across the cobblestones. Her crimson eyes were shaded by her long blonde hair, held back by a black hairband. Even so, her cold dispassionate gaze examined DIO; as if looking at a particularly distasteful insect. On her right hand she wore a large golden gauntlet of some type, and sheathed at her back was a blade which gleamed in the light of the full moon.
"That depends. What are you going to do about it?" the woman asked dismissively.
DIO considered the situation. He was facing an unknown, most likely the Visiting Anchor or an affiliated Looper, mildly weakened from his recent voyage and more importantly lacking much of his gathered army following his not long removed fight against the Linphean Fairy Anchoring the Magix Branch. Force was not guaranteed to work, and considering his recent string of setbacks he was inclined to accept that perhaps he was not as prepared as he previously thought himself. So if power was not the best course for the situation...
He gave his most dashing smile, and bent his knee in a genteel fashion. "My most sincere apologies madam. I seem to have spoken crudely. Forgive me if I awakened you from your slumber at this untimely hour."
The woman gave him an evaluating look, and proceeded to ignore him as she pulled out a case of cigarettes.
DIO twitched mentally at the action, but held his tongue. He could decide how to kill her for the disrespect once he had a better understanding of the situation. He refused to be thwarted yet again. Not when so close to his current goal. It had been countless Loops since the last time he had had the opportunity to seek the Red Stone, he was not about to fail again over something so simple as a single rash action.
With a snap of her fingers, she conjured a brief flame and lit the item before breathing deeply. Crossing her arms, she turned her sight back towards DIO. "Well at least your manners aren't as lacking as your intellect. That was almost a passable lie."
DIO grit is teeth hard enough to fracture them, but said nothing; the calm look on his face giving no indication of his inner fury as he stood to face the woman.
Without turning away, she leaned back as if to sit. Before she had even half finished the motion a male figure wearing a helm and with a mace at his side appeared, placing a luxurious seat directly beneath her and kneeling at her side in a motion so flawless as to have appeared instinctual. The woman casually crossed her legs and continued to observe DIO without acknowledging her apparent servant's presence.
DIO found himself impressed despite himself. Whoever this person was, she clearly had some respectable level of control over her minions. Even his own zombies were not as faithful in their service without his direct control. He mentally reassessed the woman's threat level.
Finishing her cigarette she crushed the butt into an ashtray her servant produced without question, before steepling her fingers before her. "You and I have a problem Dio Brando."
DIO mentally began preparing himself to move. It would take him less than a second to bridge the distance between them and sink his fingers into her carotid. He remained perfectly still, a mildly curious expression crossing his face.
"It is inevitable that we stand against each other, as our plans are similar. However that is neither here nor there. You see Dio, you are a fool."
And that was the last straw. In the blink of an eye he had crossed the space separating her and him, kicked the servant to the side and plunged his hands into the woman's chest.
"You dare to call me, DIO, foolish? No, it is you who are the fool this day. I know not who you are, but your presumptuousness ends here. There's no point in struggling. With a single thought I can end your pathetic life as easily as swatting a fly. I will be the God of this, and every other world!" he gloated, tightening his grip on the stranger's heart to prove his own superiority.
Narrowing her eyes disdainfully, the woman proceeded to backhand DIO; the result of which was the vampire staggering back in surprise, her still beating heart held within his fist. Spitting to the side contemptuously DIO drained the remaining blood from the heart and turned away from the soon to be dead woman.
"It's jus' like I be telling ya Mandy, you be far too reckless fer yur own good," an accented voice spoke from behind him, and instinctively DIO jumped to the side as a blade tore a gash into the ground where he had been standing.
Turning incredulously, DIO witnessed a second figure rising from the woman's shadow. Turning with an almost fond expression on her face, the blonde smirked. "When the Grim Reaper is your husband, you can afford to be reckless."
"Aye, I suppose that be true; but that don' mean ya need to be throwing yurself into dangerous situations all willy nilly like," Reaching into his cloaked form he pulled out a large hourglass, and held his hand over the top of it. Slowly the sand within began to restore itself. "I only have so much of dis stuff when we ain't in Endsville."
"So put more of it in your Pocket next time. It isn't that difficult Grim." 'Mandy' replied in a long-suffering tone.
"Says th' girl who ain't gots ta deal with de Underworld Police." 'Grim' grumbled.
"Just do it bonehead." Unmindful of the gaping wound in her chest — which even as he watched was drawing closed, the edges an indistinct blur as they reached out and reconnected with the whole; leaving pale unblemished skin in its wake — she turned her gaze back to DIO.
"As I was saying, you are an idiot. A child attempting to play a game whose rules you don't understand. Although perhaps that isn't entirely your own fault, the other players have made a concerted effort to keep you in the dark after all. I admit that your idiocy was amusing at first, but as time has gone by I find myself considerably less entertained. You are a fool, and your continued ignorance poses a problem. So let's fix that shall we?" Reaching into what DIO assumed was her Pocket, she pulled out a book and threw it at his feet.
"Consider this a gift. The section on Ascension you should find especially informative. You and I have the same end game, and your ridiculous efforts to change the playing field are a threat to both of our plans. While it is inevitable that one of us two fall at the other's hands, it isn't time yet for our final confrontation."
Abruptly DIO found his personal space having been violated by the blazing eyed woman, as black and green tentacles erupted from her body and held him in place as she moved to stand face to face with him. "But make no mistake; if your actions prevent me from seeing my children again I will personally claw your screaming soul from your body, rip it into its constituent pieces, bind each individual speck to an indestructible Horcrux and shove each one into the heart of a sun where you will burn for the rest of eternity."
DIO grinned viciously. "When I, DIO, have conquered all of existence I will make you beg for my forgiveness. If you're lucky I will allow you to warm my bed once I've broken that spirit of yours," The tentacles holding him froze as he cooled his body temperature by evaporating all the moisture in his skin. "Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!"
Mandy pulled back with a snort, the twin holes in her forehead sealing with a hiss of black steam. "Perhaps this game will be interesting after all. By the way, have you met my husband?"
DIO went furiously still as a razor's edge pressed softly into the skin of his neck. Turning to see the wielder, he was met with the visage of a human skeleton; hellfire blazing in its eyes as he grinned a macabre grin at him. "I don' believe we've had the pleasure mon. Name's Grim, as in de Grim Reaper. I suggest you tink again before propositioning me woman."
With that he pulled back with his scythe, separating DIO's head from his shoulders.
"Bother mon, don' go losin yur head now," Grim quipped as DIO's veins extended from his neck, raising him into the air.
"YOU! You'll pay for this!" DIO roared, only to be knocked aside by an impact against his temple.
"Consider us even. C'mon Grim, we're going to Egypt. I feel like taking up archeology," she said as she literally melted into the shadows.
"Mistress, wait for me!" the servant DIO had taken down shouted as he ran towards the departing woman and her skeleton partner.
DIO noticed none of this, too busy staring at the object which had been thrown at him. Less than a foot from his position the Red Stone of Aja glimmered in the moonlight.
Even as his body picked up his head and reattached it to his shoulders, his gaze remained fixated on the large jewel which he had been prevented from obtaining for untold millennia. Grinding his teeth, he reached down and picked it from the street; holding it gently between his thumb and forefinger.
On the one hand he now had a permanent solution to any possible sun related issues should he by some chance lose his current immunity — and he was no longer taking chances with such things. He had already gained and lost so many other abilities over his existence, up to and including his own Stand, that the possibility was nowhere near as remote as he considered acceptable — the ability to utilize Hamon as freely as his own foes, and absolute control of his physical form; awaiting only the sunrise to claim as his own. (He had long since Pocketed the Pillar Men's mask for his own usage upon obtaining the stone.) Turning his gaze away from the flawless gem, he picked up the small book. He had also gained all the information he could have ever wanted, literally handed to him upon the proverbial silver platter.
The problem here was that his current windfall came at the cost of every remaining scrap of his pride. He had been mocked, defeated, ignored, dismissed, and worst of all pitied. He was indebted to the infuriating woman. Whether he was stronger now was irrelevant, because it had been gained at the cost of his own superiority and his utter humiliation!
His Stand had been sealed, his dignity stepped on, his worth condemned by the woman who had empowered him and his victory turned to ash within his mouth. Damn her, damn her, damn her, damn her, damn her.
"DAMN HER! How dare she! How dare she claim to be better than I?! I who will crush the worlds beneath my heel and reshape existence in my own image!" Turning he ripped the ship behind him from its moorings and threw it into the center of the village who's outskirts he stood upon. "DAMN HER!"
-x-x-x-x-
Much later, after having worked through his anger by decimating the village of its inhabitants and setting himself up as a god in all but name, he read through the book he had been given. That damnable woman's words had been as true as she claimed. Even had he Ascended he would have been reduced to less than the youngest in terms of power; Him, DIO, of less power than a mangy flea-bitten cat! It was intolerable!
No, as much as he hated to admit it, Ascension was out of the question for the time being.
Which left him in need of a new plan. His previous goal had been simply to find a method of achieving Godhood — a futile task he now understood, a Looper as old as himself could simply will themselves to Ascend; expend their power until the trappings of mortality slid off of them as easily as a serpent breaking free of its shell — but that route was closed to him now. What he needed was power. Power and forces to aid him when the time came to wage his war against the Gods of Yggdrasil.
And against the bitch who sought the same prize as he himself.
He had ignorantly assumed that his own 'Baseline' abilities and a few intriguing extras found along his journey would be sufficient for his needs. But clearly that was not the case. An entire section of the manual had been dedicated to him alone. And while in other circumstances he would find it amusing that such effort had been expended towards warning the weak and feeble against him, on this occasion he found it only further infuriating. His abilities had been broken down in explicit detail, as well as possible counters and workarounds in case of encountering himself. There were even listings of his known weaknesses at the time of printing.
The World had been stolen from him. Clearly he needed to branch out. And he knew exactly what he should learn first. Thanks to his new Ultimate Form, he now had access to Hamon. It was time to give Jonathan a taste of his own medicine. From there he would begin seeking out additional skills to add to his armory, and powerful enemies to swell his ranks. His methods would need to change, and his end goal would be postponed, but his destination was unchanged. He would lead an army of Zombies such as even the Gods of Yggdrasil could not withstand, and then when the time came he would crush the blonde whore and her skeletal lover and lay claim to his ordained place as lord of all creation.
Such was his destiny, and his rightful fate. And none would stand in his way.
-x-x-x-x-
"ARE YOU INSANE?! What in the Ninefold Realms of the World Tree were you thinking? Do you know what you've done by giving DIO the Manual!"
Mandy glanced up from her game of Chaos against Eris at the fuming Norn. "Urd was it? I have my reasons. It has been how many Loops now since I informed DIO of the truth which you all decided to keep from him? Five hundred, a thousand? In that time has he attempted to Ascend now that he knows it is possible?"
The half demon goddess frowned. "Well, no. Not exactly," she admitted.
Mandy nodded and turned back to her cards. She already had a chest full of multiple Golden Apples of Chaos, but one more couldn't be anything other than useful. "DIO now knows that Ascension will be the end of him; whether because he destroys all of existence and himself along with it, or because if he succeeds your groups will make him wish for a fate as kind as Prometheus' punishment. He will be an MLE regardless of what you or I or anyone else does, but at the least he won't destroy everything in a misinformed quest for godhood. He will bide his time, amass his forces and grow his own power; and then when the Loops end,"
She placed a snow-globe atop the table and smacked it with a stale loaf of French bread, shattering it into three equal pieces. Eris screamed in frustration, throwing her Apple at the evil child who had won their game before stalking off in a huff. Turning back to Urd, Mandy smiled an evil grin which caused even the daughter of Hild to shudder. "When the Loops end, I will personally end his life and feed his soul to my pets piece by screaming piece."
Urd flinched away from the horrible creature wearing a child's face. The sooner she became her mother's problem the better. "Whatever kid. If this goes horribly wrong, which it will, just be aware that you will be held personally responsible for it."
Mandy smirked, the shadows around her seeming to eat away at the bright sunlight streaming into her room. "I'm counting on it."
With a shake of her head, and a mental note to pay a visit to Mac for a good strong drink, Urd sighed and terminated her Avatar; returning to her office with a frown. "There's something wrong about that kid. Then again, I suppose there'd have to be for anyone to put up with Billy on a full time basis."
First thing first she would be typing up a full report of the entire incident. After that she didn't want to see the broad side of sobriety for the next hundred Loops. At least. Pulling up a new file she got to work. The sooner she started, the sooner she could get her sweet, sweet sake.
11.12 – [TangleKat]
Luffy sat on the deck of the Going Merry staring at the bright stars that canvased the sky above. They had just picked up Usopp in Syrup Village, and if he was Awake at the moment, he wasn't showing it. In fact, Usopp had been pretty quiet of late – strange, since the Sniper was usually running his mouth off with some lie or another at this point. Of course, that most likely guaranteed that he was Looping, but it wasn't as if Luffy was about to use Haki to find out for sure.
As if to punctuate his thoughts, Usopp poked his head out from the cabin and lowered himself to the deck beside Luffy. The long-nosed Looper took a deep breath, staring at his hands and clenching them over and over again, as if hoping to see something that he'd perhaps missed. After a moment he turned to his captain and Anchor with a distant look in his eyes.
"Luffy... do you remember our first fight in Water Seven? Back in Baseline, I mean?"
Luffy lowered the brim of his hat onto his face, covering the stars and giving him a moment to think. The memories of what had happened were all too fresh, and the constant Baseline Loops that he'd had to go through had soured the experience further. "Yeah. That was a shit time for both of us, huh?"
Usopp grimaced, still staring at his hands. "It's just... I've been thinking about Dresserosa. About what happened there, and about what Law told us. You know, about D."
Curiosity piqued, Luffy shifted his hat and sat up. "Yeah, I remember. He said that "D. is God's natural enemy. Those with D. will surely bring about a storm" and other stuff like that. Why? What does that have to do with our fight in Water Seven?"
Usopp turned to Luffy, his eyes shining darkly with unshed tears and the wear of ages set deep into his face. "What are my epithets, Luffy? What is it that the people call me in Baseline?"
Luffy scratched his head. "They call you Sniper King, of course. Why? Did something go and change it recently?"
The long-nosed Looper let his body deflate, and he pulled his knees close to his chest. His voice grew small and distant. "They called me "God", Luffy." As Luffy's eyes widened in understanding, Usopp screwed his own shut. "They called me God, and I fought with you. Even before I got the title, D. and God still clashed. What if it happens again? I already cast away our friendship in Baseline – what if our fight is doomed to repeat now that we're Looping? I – I don't think I could take it, Luffy. I don't ever want that to happen again."
Luffy thumped Usopp firmly on the back, startling the Sniper. "It's okay. If we fight, then we fight. We've gotten through tough spots in our friendship before, and we'll do so again. I won't say I'd like fighting you – at least, from an emotional perspective. I'd be thrilled to fight you just for the fun of it. But I get it, I really do. And you know, I think that it was that fight that ultimately led you to become "God" Usopp. I've gone through it a lot of times when I can't change it, but the non-Looping you always pulls through and becomes stronger for it. All we can do is look to the future. After all, we won't know what happens until it happens. And really, that's the best part about Looping! Shishishishi!"
As Luffy's face spread into that familiar wide, grin, Usopp felt his spirits lift a little. "Yeah, it really is, isn't it?"
11.1 – Omnipotence ain't all it's cracked up to be.
11.2 – Even retroactive memory wipes aren't enough to counter the Stupidity-Given-Flesh that is Billy.
11.3 – One big, happy, blood-drinking family.
11.4 – Miho can be rather scarily competent given proper motivation.
11.5 – Team Gurren just so happens to include their Admin as an honorary member. He certainly fits the standard profile after all.
11.6 – She's been everywhere, and seen some things let me tell you. Or, actually, let her tell you. Same difference.
11.7 – All hail Lady Mako, first of her line. Bow before her appreciation of all things culinary and weep.
11.8 – He's a real wise guy.
11.9 – Bobobo knows well the truth of the spartan's manly physique.
11.10 – This concept of 'Taki' confuses and infuriates us.
11.11 – Thus did Mandy swing a fierce and mighty Clue-by-four, and struck down the fell beast DIO with knowledge most confounding.
11.12 – Even Luffy can get introspective every once in a while. Infinite time loops can bring out both the best and worst in people.