2.1 Crossoverpairinglover

Eren and Mikasa (step siblings this loop: Eren's dad married Mikasa's mom after Eren's mom and Mikasa's dad had died during a kidnapping gone wrong) Jaeger just stared in odd confusion over this variant of a 'no titan future loop'.

Their current family status made some level of...was sense the right word. But this...

This was bizarre, at least for Armin to deal with next loop.

"Oh, you're our new neighbors? Well, it is wonderful to meet you all. My name is Historia Reins, this is my wife Ymir and our son, Armin." the two older cadets were greeting their parents vigorously with a confused awake Armin trying to wrap his head around the whole thing.

"How does that even work?" Eren whispered to Mikasa. "How do two girls have a son? I mean sure, Armin and Historia look a lot alike, but he looks nothing like Ymir."

"Probably is biologically Historia's from a previous relationship who was adopted by Ymir, so he'd be their son, no two ways about it," Mikasa offered the idea. "Though that leads to the question of...who is Armin's father this loop?"

Meanwhile in prison, a short prisoner in jail for attempting to clean a national monument sneezed...because he was dusting his cell as he did hourly, not because Armin was an Ackerman this loop.

2.2

Annie Leonheart felt the burn of her muscles with each sequence of moves, the cool spring air soaking her lungs with each deep inhalation, the buffeting wind as, with each strike, her body moved through the air to attack her imagined opponent. As she ran through the final motions, Annie breathed a silent breath of relief. Her skills were, in her mind, as sharp as they had been when her father had trained her. It was almost a comfort to know at least that was consistent behind the high walls of humanity.

That, and one other thing. Despite the slow march of man's development of the land, even within Wall Maria there remained scraps of pure, unspoiled land. The trees rustled with the warm wind, leaves against each other. Somewhere far or close, a bird chirped. In here, away from the Titans, away from humans, alone and isolated, there was a certain beauty to it. Annie had never liked crowds, rarely cared for friends, and only remained by Bertolt and Reiner's side because she knew them.

Them... and Eren.

Annie fell into another form, but her stance was ruined when she heard the familiar sounds of someone shouting. 'Oh joy.'

Out of the trees strode Mikasa and Armin Arlert, who, obviously, were arguing. Armin, for some reason, was trying to talk Mikasa out of something, while the Eren's sister was ignoring him to her hearts content. Annie went back to her motions, content to let them argue, but not taking an eye off them.

"Mikasa, I know that you're angry, but it was last loop, it's over, it's past, please don't take this out on her, she's innocent...er, but she didn't do it. You saw how torn up she was, even if the loop ended right there. She didn't know, it was an accident Mikasa, you know that. Mikasa stop right now, please, you don't need to do this, I really want to see if there are any more expansions and we can't do that reliably if she's not... here..."

Annie fell out of her stance as Armin and Mikasa came into easy hearing range, obviously unaware of how good her hearing was. Annie angled her body towards Mikasa and Armin, turned just enough to tell them that she was going to talk if they needed her, but far enough back to show she really, really didn't want to. "What?"

Mikasa stopped a few feet away, actually just outside of good grappling range, but Annie noted that she was close enough for a sword strike. That Mikasa didn't have any swords visibly on her person didn't ease her observation. "Annie... there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

Annie flinched involuntarily, not from the perceived accusation, but from the shockingly cold tone. Mikasa was a woman of many things: self-expression was not one of them. That she could convey such an incredibly strong emotion, even one that was as nebulous as this, was a very, very big red flag in Annie's book. She would need to act. "Yes?"

Mikasa didn't seem to move; it didn't look like she even flinch. One moment she was relaxed and still, the next she was following through with a long swing of a pairing blade. And then she was back to her relaxed stance. "I was wondering Annie..."

Annie remained still. She had to remain perfectly still. Fear was welling up inside her, a ghost feeling, but she told herself to 'Remain STILL'. If she did, then perhaps she could fool herself into thinking she could still feel her whole body.

"Would a Titan shifter regenerate, if you cut off their head?" Mikasa leaned back and with a showy flourish, kicked Annie's body out from under her, knocking the decapitated corpse over and sending the severed head rolling away.

Mikasa turned around, trying to ignore Armin's vaguely sickened expression. When she realized she couldn't, all she said was; "she killed..." Mikasa's voice broke.

Armin sagged, but rested a hand on Mikasa's shoulder. "Eren's alright. That's what makes the loops so great: we don't need to worry about being apart from one another anymore. We'll always have each other."

Mikasa blinked away a few tears and wrapped an arm around Armin. "Thank you." A slight smile graced her features. "You've been taking lessons from Eren, haven't you?"

Armin chuckled somberly. "Mikasa, that was all me. He's inspirational; I'm just comforting."

The two friends walked away, leaning on each other, silently disappearing into the forest. And out in the meadow, Annie continued to tell herself to remain still.

It wasn't to stop herself from falling. It was to stop herself from screaming.

2.3 Wildrook and Me.

"Why am I the bitch?" Eren asked Armin as he was in 02 handling the 6th Angel with Armin.

"Pray you don't run into her," Armin replied. "Besides, if you get in close, I can probably will it to open its lips for us to fire!"

"When Jean starts looping," Eren said, "he must NEVER know about this."

Later...

Armin gulped down his anxiety. Piloting the Evangelions was possibly the singularly most painful and stressful activity he had ever endured, more so then even his first life in the walled city. It had the terrible side effect of dredging up far too many painful memories. And this was ignoring the frightening similarities to becoming a Titan, and the apparent fact that his mother was locked within Unit One. It was little wonder that Shinji, Rei and Asuka had been the first to try and escape the loops.

In light of that, even Asuka's... unpleasantness was understandable.

But now, Armin Ikari was to face down what was possibly the greatest and most terrible threat to humanity to ever walk within Tokyo Three. A creature that had singularly driven Shinji far deeper into depression then Rei's death or Asuka's coma. A creature that, if they so choose, could simply kill humanity.

And lo and behold, there he was, sitting upon the crumbling rubble of a stone Angel. Kaworu Nagisa was staring into the distance, humming ever so silently the Ode to Joy. Armin summoned whatever courage he could and addressed him. "Hello?"

Kaworu turned, the sun playing off his beautiful, angelic features with a rare intensity. "Oh, yes... you must be Armin Ikari. The Third Child."

Armin gulped again, trying to focus his mind, though it was a very weak attempt. "Well, I, uh... are you time traveling?"

The angel of free will blinked. "I... beg your pardon?"

Having visibly thrown the Angel, Armin rallied. "Are you a time traveler? A looper?"

The angel of free will seemed to digest the question, before hopping off his pedestal and walking ever so slowly towards Armin. The blond was starting to feel a panic attack building up. 'Oh walls, oh walls, oh walls, oh walls...'

"Arumin..." The angel stretched the R into its' full Japanese pronunciation. Armin gulped and looked up, looking into Kaworu's strikingly red eyes. Suddenly, Kaworu grabbed Armin by the shoulders. "Armin, help! I'm being set up to end the world!"

Armin blinked in confusion. "Er..."

Kaworu was looking like he was having a panic attack. "It's me, Jean!"

Well that solved more than a few issues. Armin calmed down as the visage of Kaworu melted into his longtime friend and comrade. "Welcome to the loops Jean."

'That ceiling... it's so...'

"Familiar."

"Welcome back to the land of the living Eren."

Eren sighed and mustered the strength to turn his head. Mikasa was sponging his forehead, as if she was wiping something off. Wait... "Armin... he didn't..."

"Do you really think he would?" Mikasa murmured in an inflectionless tone. Her usual stoicism had been reinforced after the sixteenth angel. But already a few cracks were showing. "But to answer your question, no, you just had a fever."

Eren sighed and tried to recline further. "Trust me, after this hell of a loop, I'd understand." A wry grin crossed his face. "With a face like this, who wouldn't want to-?"

Mikasa stuffed the sponge in Eren's mouth.

Presently, the pilot of Unit 2 mustered the strength to sit up, and promptly began to try and leave his bed. Mikasa was a step ahead of him though, forcing him back down. "You need to wait Eren. You're still too weak."

Eren fought against his sister's hold. "I'm fine Mikasa. I've had worse you know."

Mikasa very suddenly was holding Eren much closer. "You've had worse than this before? You've had worse than a mind rape before?" Eren forced down his sudden guilt at bringing up his earlier trauma.

That said, he continued, if only to put Mikasa's mind to rest. "I have... a few loops back, there was a stealth anchor for our home..." Eren held up his right arm. "I broke my wrist and you and Armin weren't there."

Mikasa immediately decided that Eren was healthy enough for some physical abuse.

That settled, Mikasa did concede to Eren's request, helping him to his feet and supporting him as they left the stifling confines of Eren's room for some more sociable company in the long-term ward.

In the ward, one Hannes Suzuhara had engrossed himself in one of several science books; currently the third in a series of biology books. Setting the book aside, the crippled boy greeted his visitors with a smile and a hello. "What can I do for you kids? Interest you in some tea?"

Eren chuckled as Mikasa got him a chair. "Hans, you're addicted to the stuff. You know I don't like it."

Hannes shrugged in good nature. "It's the premier beverage of the country. When in Rome."

"Do as the Roman's do," Mikasa concurred, pouring herself and Hannes a cup. Hannes gladly accepted his cup and smiled at Eren, before a look of shock crossed his features. "Damn. I'll never get used to body swapping in loops."

Eren shrugged, flicking a lock of his, or rather, her red hair away. "Trust me, you should have seen our One Piece loop. You wouldn't have even known who I was replacing."

The trio made small talk from there. How Hannes' impromptu education was going, what Eva piloting was like, whether or not Eren or Mikasa had tracked down the latest issue of the Attack on Titan manga, and how Hannes had brewed their tea.

The small talk ceased though, when Armin returned with his guest. "Guys, you're not going to believe this."

Kaworu however took one look at the red head in the room and promptly fell to his knees. "Asuka... I've planned this for over a thousand years, but I've never learned the words I needed to say until today. Asuka, will you marry me?"

No one spoke. Kaworu cracked a goofy grin. "Just kidding! It's Jean."

Eren kicked Jean in the nuts. "You horse faced prick! Don't ever do that again!"

Jean laughed it off. "Hello to you to Eren. How's womanhood?"

Mikasa grabbed Eren before he did something drastic, like hulk out. "Eren, you'll pull something if you strain yourself like this."

"And we'll be out our only good pilot, not considering Jean here, and he doesn't have any training," Armin added intellectually. "And that's not considering the fact that this is only his second loop."

Jean winked at the other loopers. "So, god trees, time travel, end of the world, crazy alternate shit; I miss anything?"

Mikasa passed Jean a cup of tea, which he sampled and handed to Armin with a sick look on his face. The blue haired girl pulled a sword out of her subspace pocket. "Did you explain pockets, Armin?"

Armin pulled out a light saber hilt. "Already a step ahead of you. But..." Armin winced. "How are we going to break that to him."?

"Armin's going to kill you Jean," Eren said, leading to many groans, an even paler Jean and a huge grin on Eren's face.

Jean recomposed himself and growled at Eren. "Bitch."

Eren laughed. "Blame the Loops Jean. They're the real bitch."

2.4 Wildrook

Eren was glaring at Asuka.

"I take it you heard of how I acted in baseline?" she asked him.

"I had no manhood and I felt like I wanted to go Titan at that very moment," Eren replied. "Try being in MY position."

"You're not the one dealing with clones of Wondergirl that should be locked in a Water Tower," Asuka retorted. "And yes, I admit, I can be a handful...oh, shut up."

They didn't even say anything and yet she can sense the retorts.

"At this point," Armin muttered, "I had to Geass the Angel so Toji wasn't harmed."

"Thanks for that," Toji replied.

"I kind of envy you, though," Shinji said. "I couldn't do anything originally."

"It's not your fault. Your Dad forced the Dummy Plug. Honestly, I'd be surprised if there was a consensus to let the bastard rot."

2.5

The barracks rustled with activity as the still in training 104th began their morning duties. In the mess hall, Jean sipped water, letting the turbid, lukewarm liquid trickle down his throat, wincing all the way. "Damn I miss Tokyo Three."

Eren passed Jean a roll. "Good food. Clean water. And a war against unbeatable aliens? Give me the walls any day."

Jean chuckled, remembering with vague sense the feeling of being crushed between Unit One's armored hands. "Amen to the walls. Better the devil you know."

Eren nodded, but seemed to deflate from the comment. "But we don't know... anything. Nothing makes any sense here."

Jean cradled his drink tenderly. "Yeah. No consistency, even in the baseline." Jean couldn't even begin to describe the mess the world was. Everything seemed to change, every time they came back. Even his name was different this time: Jean, that is, pronounced to rhyme with Bean, instead of how he remembered it: rhyming with Sean. "Hellish place, this is."

Eren chuckled darkly. "Albert Camus, he was a famous writer, wrote that the essence of absurdism is a balancing act between man's search for meaning in life... and the universes lack of meaning. Combine that with the essence of horror: the totality of the unknown and man's desperate search to either understand it, or overcome it, or simply pray that it doesn't notice us. That's our loop in a nutshell."

Jean studied the grain of the wooden table, thoughtful and depressed. "You really think that?"

Eren shrugged. "It's Armin's latest theory. Give me a few days; I'll make a pretty good speech out of it."

Jean scowled, equal parts annoyed and impressed. "You prick."

Eren held up his tankard. "Horse faced bastard."

Jean nodded. "To horse faced bastards and ginormous pricks."

Eren clinked his cup against Jean's. "To eternity, and the loops."

2.6 Gamerex27

"Mikasa," Armin said, as they stood atop Wall Rose, "Do you...ever think we go too far?"

His fellow Anchor shook her head. "With our world," she said, "there's no such thing. Whatever it takes to take down the Titans."

"That's...not what I meant," Armin said. "I meant with the pranks."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." Armin was cut off by the thundering of Titanic footsteps. Bertolt, in his Titan form, was fleeing for his life from Eren, his pursuer howling savagely, and swinging the colossal salt shaker with pure hatred in his eyes.

"I mean stuff like that. Eren's taking him down with a salt shaker!"

Mikasa blinked, then shrugged. "Again, it seems to be working," she noted, as Bertolt screamed in agony from several house-sized grains of salt hitting his exposed flesh. "Try using the pepper next time!"

As Eren gave her a thumbs-up with his free hand, Armin sighed. "I mean, are we starting to lose it? Would any sane person think to take down a Titan with sodium chloride? And don't get me started on what you convinced Sasha to pull last Loop!"

"I admit," Mikasa said, "I was surprised that a giant Snickers bar actually got the Titans to go away. It was hard to barter for all the ingredients, but you can't argue with the results we attained."

"This morning," Armin said, "I caught myself thinking of a way to stop them. I wanted to turn the ruins of Wall Maria into a rock mecha. I don't even know how to begin to do that without something like Spiral Power? And where would we ever get the materials, or manpower, or anyone willing to help with a scheme like that?!"

"Look," Mikasa said, a tinge of annoyance sneaking into her normally emotionless voice, "all the visiting Loopers that came here said that everyone starts to lose it in the Loops. Did you really think we were going to live for trillions of years without starting to snap a little?"

"No, but..." Armin sighed, hanging his head. "I...just don't want to end up like Sakura. I mean, I was thinking about...experiments earlier. I caught myself...and I was scared. Scared about what might happen if I don't try to reign myself in."

Armin head Mikasa walking closer. "Sakura went insane because no one was there to stop her," his fellow Anchor added. "But most of the time, all three of us are Awake. Trust me, if any of us ever start to lose it, the rest of us can reign them in."

The group's strategist looked up, smiling. "Thanks, Mi-"

He was cut off by an earth-shattering thud sending the earth itself into violent convulsions. Thrown off of the wall, they barely managed to get their 3DMGs working in time to avoid a painful and early end to their Loop.

"Speaking of which," Mikasa said as they landed on a nearby roof," I think we should probably talk to Eren right now." She pointed at their friend, who had produced an oversized chef's hat, a spit, and some building-sized barrels of herbs and spices from seemingly nowhere. "Unless he's cooking for some nonhuman Loopers for another day, we might need to talk him out of cannibalism."

"GAH! EREN, STOP!" Armin leapt off of the roof, followed by Mikasa, sporting a rare smile on her face.

2.7 Wildrook

"Of all the armor," Eren muttered, "WHY USE THE FREAKING EVANGELIONS!?"

"Because they're the only ones that support Titan Sized Clothing," Mikasa replied. "That, and Red's more your color than Purple or Orange."

2.8 Crossoverpairinglover

"You know, I really have to express how glad I am that we got to meet. As we continue to push forward through uncertain times, I am glad to know that I'll have such brave and strong companions as you. You, me, Goku, Naruto, Luffy, Simon and everyone else. The four of us will be seeing a lot of one another, and I feel that's the way it should always be"

"...What the hell are you talking about!?" Eren demanded of the visiting Toonami Operation Module.

"Oh, this and that and a few more things." the robot normally abbreviated as T.O.M replied "Hopefully you'll understand soon. After all, you're my opening act"

"...We are not doing the band thing again...now start making sense before I introduce you to my Titan Form!"

2.9

Trost was filled to bursting. Thieves roamed the streets in packs whenever the guards were out of sight. The starving, displaced refugees had long stopped begging for food; no one had any. What few rations could be produced were either being distributed to everyone else, or hoarded by the nobles. Inside the rotten cesspool that the walls had become, Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackermann were having a debate.

"It was Jean."

"Eren, what I felt wasn't Jean. The ping was too far away to be him."

"Oh come on Armin. You can't really expect a ping to travel for light years. It's not possible."

"Says the man who can become a humanoid monstrosity," Mikasa interjected in Armin's favor.

Eren shrugged. "That doesn't have anything to do with this and you know it. He says that he felt a ping from light years away. That's imposs-"

A star destroyer dropped out of light speed directly above Trost.

"-ible." Eren's reply faded into the stunned, horrified silence of the district. Above the walls, more ships appeared, many disgorging with several small drop ships and X-wings. A few landed gently on the walls, while others landed beyond humanity's boundaries. Most though, landed inside the district.

In the intervening moments between the start of the screaming and total hysteria taking hold, a loud, low, slow and surprisingly comforting voice boomed from the drop ships.

"Greetings citizens of Wall Rose. For those few of you who are Awake enough not to panic, allow me to introduce myself. I am an emissary of the reformed galactic empire, whom is here to represent our people while we assist in planetary evacuations. Now, there is no cause for alarm, because we only have your survival and safety in our interests. Suffice to say, and from examining the information we have recovered from your world..."

"To decline us is to remain stagnant. To accept us is to choose to no longer live in fear of the Titans. That is all."

The voice cut out with an audible crackle. A moment later, a far louder crack heralded Darth Vadar's apparition, a shadow clone henge'd into his original form. "Hey Armin."

"Hey Anakin," the gray Jedi in training returned.

"How's life?"

"Oh, you know. Terrible, exhaustive, hellish. The usual." Armin shrugged. "Oh, where are my manners? This is Eren and Mikasa, my family."

Eren gently shook the former supervillain's proffered hand. "Nice to meet you mister Vadar."

"Likewise," Mikasa said when she shook Anakin's hand. "Where's the prime Anakin?"

The clone pointed at an overdesigned descending shuttle. "Figured we show up and evacuate. Zombie loops are never fun."

"Okay. Thanks." The foursome watched as the fighters began pulling off showy maneuvers and firing into the air. "So... what's with the show?"

Anakin chuckled. "Darth Vadar can't just visit a planet."

"What! You cannot be serious?"

Darth Vadar was having a ball, repossessing the planet. Most of the citizenry had jumped at the offered supplies of food, ample living space, clean water, and the exceptionally advanced technology. The exception though, was the few people that had supplies of food, ample living space, clean water, and advanced technology. Ergo, the nobles.

"We've held our positions for decades. You can't simply take this away from us!" the noble shouted at him. Several more within the court echoed his sentiment. A few though remained silent. Behind Vadar, a voice piped up.

"The people are fleeing the walls en masse. You can remain, but you'll be the only ones. Its simple economics: they don't like what you're selling, and now there's a new product on the market."

Vadar chuckled raspily. "Thank you mister Reeves, for your accurate summation."

More shouts echoed from the dissenters, but a few were exchanging frightened looks and pulling their aides closely in for discussion. At the front of the court though, King Fritz rose from his throne, almost as disinterested as usual. The speaking instantly ceased. After a single moment to assess the mood of the room, the king spoke.

"There cheap beer?"

"Yes," the Sith lord declared.

"I'm cool with this." And thus, the Fritz dynasty submitted to the Galactic Empire.

Three Weeks Later

Armin slowly twisted his duel ended light sabers in a simple demonstration form. Around him a crowd of refugees cheered at his fluid moves while his grandfather sobbed in pride and happiness. Inside the crowd, Eren and Mikasa had pulled out video cameras to record for later viewing, while in the ships bridge, Darth Vadar happily declared that, when the Death Star was finished, that the planet they were leaving would be subject to the first test firing.

All in all, a good loop.

2.10

"So how did he do it?"

"Hmm?" Armin glanced up from his light saber practice to see Jean a few feet off to his left, an inquisitive look on his face.

That both were floating approximately 60 meters above the ground thanks to Armin's spare Iron Man suit and Jean's angel powers was a fact that was totally irrelevant.

Jean pulled out a few pictures from his subspace pocket and handed them to Armin. The photos showed Eren, snarling ferociously while a mob of Titans went after a titanized Reiner and Bertolt. "Eren's commanding the Titans, and I want to know how he's doing it."

Armin shrugged and pocketed his sabers. "We've tried to study it, but we haven't succeeded in duplicating it's occurrence outside of that specific battle. It's a myst-."

"Bullshit," Jean interrupted. He pulled more photos out, demonstrating dozens of different battles and fights from across the few loops he had been awake for so far. "The loops are not a mystery. Nothing in the loops is a mystery, they're time loops. Things are repeating. Common threads, repeated occurrences, hell a line graph would show you what was more likely. Come Armin, you're the smartest guy I know. You have to have looked into this at some point."

Armin winced and floated over to a cloud, sitting down on it and patting a small seat next to him, which Jean took with some trepidation. "Jean... well that's the thing. We've tried to study our loop, all of it. We've been working on this for centuries, but we've never made any headway." Armin pulled a few pictures from his own pocket. "Do you see these? These photos were taken from the inside of the basement of Eren's house."

"Why does one of them have a star on the back of his left shoulder?" Jean asked him.

"Whoops, wrong photos," Armin replied, bringing up the right ones.

"OH DEAR GOD, THAT'S HIDEOUS!"

Armin nodded. "Titan's doing the Time Warp. Eren thinks it's in reference to something he said before Bertolt took down Wall Maria in the base line. If we're lucky, someone else will Anchor, and he'll say it to Mikasa before the Wall falls. We don't know what it means, but... he asks Mikasa if her hair was supposed to be shorter."

"Alright..." Jean flipped out another picture, an eyebrow raising in disbelief. "What is this?"

Armin tapped the photo. "That's a poker table. That loop Grisha was running a secret gambling ring out of his basement."

Jean searched through the photos with greater urgency, pulling out a different picture. "And this?"

"That was a loop where Grisha had set up a system to create clones of Mikasa, like Rei. It was pretty interesting."

Jean stared at the dozens of different photos, the epiphany hitting him gently. "It changes every loop..."

Armin nodded. "Every loop we open it. We need a spare key, from our pocket though. Grisha won't open it for us."

Jean glanced up from a photo labeled 'Grisha and Carla's sex dungeon.' "Why not?"

Armin shrugged. "It's a loop constant. He do anything to stop anyone from opening it. He'll declare Eren insane, destroy the key, beg for his life... anything to keep others out of there. And we need the key to get in. If we force the door, the loop crashes."

Jean handed the pictures back a thought. The wind ruffled his hair, cloud drifting lazily around him and Armin. In the distance, dark thunderheads formed against the blue sky, lacing the air with ozone and freshness. "Wow."

Armin adjusted his gauntlet absentmindedly. "Exactly. Things vary between some loops in some worlds. Here everything changes. Names, genders, abilities, histories, alliances, everything. There is no consistency. Little foreknowledge. And a lot of bad luck."

Jean sighed. "Amen to that Armin. Amen to that."

Armin nodded, the spare iron man gauntlets he had gotten from Tony Stark kicking in and letting him hover away. "You gotta just go with the flow. Survive and help others survive. It's the only way to get through the loops."

Jean nodded as Armin floated off, before hopping off the cloud and using his AT-field to float himself down. If that was life in the loops...

He could live with it. But there was something he wanted to know. "Hey Armin!?"

"What!?" The Jedi shouted back.

"When's Marco going to start looping!?"

"Eventually!"

That was the only answer anyone could give in the loops. Eventually.

2.11 Detective Ethan Redfield

"Uh, Jean, what are you doing?"

Armin stepped through the door to the Survey Corps headquarters. There in the common room, Jean was strumming on a guitar Armin knew he didn't own. Jean looked up, "Well, since these loops will be going for awhile, thought I'd pick up a hobby, something to keep me sane."

He cleared his throat and began as his fingers played with practiced ease,

Please don't kill us, please, because we really don't want to die.
And if you do not kill us, we will bake you lots of pies!

(One two three four!)

Please dont kill us please, we wanna help you out,
Please don't kill us, please, we know you have your doubts!
But if you let us live, JAEGER can help plug up the wall!
He'll use his powers for the good of humanity,
If you don't shoot us with cannonballs, YEAH!

He launched into a guitar solo. Several survey corps members came inside to see what the commotion was. Jean was so caught in his music, he didn't notice.

Please don't kill us, please, we don't want to die.
And if you do not kill us, we will...bake...you...lots...of...pieeessss!

GOODNIGHT TROST!

With that, he ended the song, as the corps started clapping and muttering to themselves. Armin was also clapping, "Where did you learn that one."

Jean didn't respond right away as the survey Corps members returned to their work, then replied, "My first stealth anchor loop. It was a couple loops ago. Actually, you taught it to me and had me convince the Garrison not to kill you, Mikasa and Erin after Erin's first Titan shift. Just out of nowhere, shouted for me to save them with the power of song. Reiner handed me an electric guitar he...borrowed...from a nearby music shop."

Jean concentrated for a moment as the guitar faded into his subspace pocket, "It was a weird loop. Erin didn't seem to take losing his mother as well as he did baseline and snapped. Anytime anyone mentioned titans, he would start chanting the word, Titans, over and over again."

Meanwhile:

"Hey Meekasa, can you be racist if you're the only Japanese person alive?"

Mikasa shrugged. "I don't know Eren. I don't know."

2.12

Eren laughed at the irony. Armin tried to comfort him. Mikasa simply acknowledged that it had happened.

Jean didn't like it all. "Of all people, why Jean Grey? Why not Jean Luc Picard? Why a girl?! DAMN YOU LOOPS!"

2.13 Crossoverpairinglover

"There, done"

Mikasa looked over what Armin had concocted for this loop with some level of unease "Are you sure...this is safe?"

Her short and intelligent friend hopped down from his perch: the deactivated welder still in his hand before being quickly stashed back into his pocket "I'm sure it is. I'm sure this will solve everything...assuming Eren doesn't get carried away"

Armin promptly looked up "You hear me Eren, do not get carried away with that thing!"

Eren, in his Titan form, nodded, before lowering his back as to allow the large laser cannon attached to it to charge up just as a trio of Titans stumbled towards him.

ZAP

BOOM

SIZZLE

Annie watched as the laser beam refracted across her skin and nearly killed Eren. 'I don't get it.'

2.14 Wildrook

Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean were in shock at the guy who had moving blades.

"Did he just..." Jean muttered.

"He's moving faster than Mikasa," Armin replied.

"I know one thing," Eren said. "SOMEONE'S going to want that guy on the Survey Corps."

Mikasa, however, was cautious. "We might have a problem," she said, looking at Eren.

Armin and Jean got the message and cringed...and Eren groaned.

"Yeah, pray you guys don't end up as Titan Shifters around this guy," he replied.

"Jean, how's your AT Field?" Armin asked the half-Angel.

"He's not invited, I can tell you that," Jean replied.

Armin nodded. "You're on defense. Mikasa, you and I will cover Eren as he seals the hole in the wall in Titan Form. Eren, make sure he doesn't see you."

"No need to tell me twice," Eren replied, getting ready to bite down on his hand. "He's worse than me repeating the word 'Titans' over and over in a blind rage. Heck, I'm pretty sure HIS Titans are different."

"Well, someone DID get the name from Greek Mythology before we got closed in the walls. You think he'd have a beef with Mythology in general?"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the bald man yelled, going through the blood of the fallen.

"Does the pile of Titan Corpses answer your question?" Jean asked Armin, sarcastically.

2.15

Jean stared at the massive camp of civilians that had sprung up around the barracks. A vast number of people, shouting in reverence, prayer, and piety had assembled around the building housing a big chunk of the Survey Corp, or ad this loop called them, the Scouting Regiment. "Eren, what the Wall am I looking at?"

A potted plant next to Jean popped off its' pedestal as Eren straightened enough to reveal his apparently divine head. "Rouge Titan Cult."

"Rouge... Titan cult? Really?"

Eren shrugged, more frustration then malice in his posture. "They show up every now and again. Usually they'll spring up whole-cloth when I do to* well in the battle of Trost. I've seen a few instances where they just show up period. But the first time they got formed, and most of the times after that, Armin did it."

Jean dislodged a grappling hook that a Titanist had thrown up to his window. "Right... Armin did this."

Armin popped out of a hidden wall panel. "Did not... at least, not this time."

Eren glared at his best friend while Jean handled the grappling hooks. "Sure you didn't. Just like that time where your little project didn't* turn us into manifestations of the Walls."

"That also wasn't me," Armin clarified as Jean screamed at a guy whose hook had hit him in the head. "And besides Eren, there's bound to be a good way to use them."

Mikasa flipped down from her hiding place in the rafters. "Armin, when the Titanist Cult shows up, there's a fifty-fifty chance it'll spark a civil war and kill one of us."

"Fifty-fifty's not such bad odds when you think about it," Jean pointed out. "At least not compared to our usual streak of luck."

Mikasa continued. "The other half of the time, they crack open the Walls and we have to deal with the colossal Titan's inside them."

"Oh." Jean cut another hook off his window sill, glaring down at the assembled Cult. "So what do we do now?"

The carpet next to him stood up, Hans dusting himself off and ignoring Eren's glare. "Usually we skip town and head for Shiganshina. There's this great bar that's filled with some quality beer in the district."

Jean groaned. "Is liquor all you think of?"

The captain of Trost's garrison chuckled. "Hehehe, nah. I just appreciate a bit of fine wine ever now and again. And I want to see what this loop's variation of Eren's basement is."

"Can't be stranger then my mom eating a sandwich," Eren murmured, recalling the loop where Carla Jaeger had been discovered in the ruined confines of her basement, alive and well, and eating a sandwich. The assembled loopers chuckled.

Jean sliced another grappling hook, then did a double take. "Wait, what the hell is Hannes doing here? Why are you hiding?"

Hans shrugged, a flicker of shame crossing his face. "I couldn't save Carla this loop. The cultists usually twist that into making me the Anti-Titan or something. They'll hang me if Eren doesn't save me, and he's not exactly in a charitable mood right now."

"Oh I'm feeling charitable Hans. Why don't you head outside and see what happens to you." The malice in Eren's tone was palpable.

"I think I'll pass," Hans muttered.

Out in the crowd, several shouts of "The teacher is here, the teacher is here," and variations of such began to rise. Above the horde of Cultist's, Annie Leonheart dodged grappling hooks in her (as this loop called it) Omni-Directional Maneuver Gear, shouting for them to leave her alone. Jean helpfully shouted that the window was open, and the blonde saboteur landed next to him.

"Eren, control your cult," Annie growled. Eren shrugged, for a moment more than happy to let his old mentor deal with the cultists. Annie rolled her eyes and left for the inner halls of the barracks, looking for food and relief from the crowd.

Jean cocked a finger after Annie. "Seriously, if you hate her so much why do you let her teach you anything?"

Eren shrugged again. "She usually has different techniques and styles from loop to loop. It helps me stay fresh. The cultists probably recognized my fighting style as her own this loop; it's pretty distinctive."

Jean caught a grappling hook mid arc and threw back at the cultist who threw it at him. "This is ridiculous."

Armin chuckled. "No. It's glorious*."

"IT WAS YOU THIS LOOP!" Eren and Mikasa screamed, jumping the blond who had sic'd a cult on them. Jean and Hans watched the fight, both experiencing some level of bemusement.

"Are they always like this?" Jean asked.

"Trust me, you should have seen them as kids," Hans answered.

2.16

Eren curled up a little more on his bunk, suppressing his shuddering form as well as he could as he tried to sleep in the trainees barracks. Unfortunately, the young man that had shared his bunk for countless eons wasn't so blind to his issues. "Eren, you've been jumpy... yaawwww, all loop. What's the matter?" Armin half asked, half yawned.

Eren forced his shaking to subside for a moment before replying. "I'm fine Armin. Just some bad memories from last loop, okay."

Armin sat up sleepily. "You've replaced your fair share of girls before Eren: replacing Sakura wasn't so bad."

"Says you... and how would you know, you didn't replace her," Eren countered with silent ferocity.

Armin lifted a finger in exposition. "You're far more comfortable talking about it. Which means whatever you're really going through is much worse. So if you want to talk, then talk. If you don't, then talk anyway."

Eren curled up on his bed roll. "Shut up Armin. You don't know what's happening."

Armin rested a hand on Eren's back. "Eren, I know something's up. Please tell me... so I can get some sleep."

Eren groaned and rolled over. "You just had to say please didn't you? You know I can't resist you when you say please."

Armin ruffled his friend's hair. "Well, I could ask you to say no when I say please."

A smirk danced across Eren's face in the dim moonlight that filtered through the slats in the roof. "Now why would I do that?"

Armin's hand wrapped around Eren's shoulders. "So, what's happening this loop?"

Eren took a deep breath and waved it out as a sigh, trying not to meet Armin's gaze. "...You know that Inception loop we went through a while back, where Hobbes taught us how to unlock repressed memories to figure out if Inception had taken place?"

Armin nodded wordlessly, already not liking when the story was going.

"Well... I'd been going through the loops doing that. I wanted to see if I could recall... that dream I have, in the baseline. The one where I wake up crying, and can't remember anything... except that Mikasa's supposed to have longer hair."

Armin nodded again. "Yeah...the Admins said that it may have been time travel. That your dream was part of the reason they couldn't get a bead on who would survive."

Eren curled up a little more, tears dancing in the sides of his eyes. "When I did this loop... I... I..." It was too much; Eren broke down sobbing.

Armin wordlessly pulled his friend into a tight embrace, trying to quell the outpouring with his presence. Eren's form was wracked with the force of his crying, but somehow he remained quiet enough to hide the noise from the rest of the snoozing soldiers.

Slowly, Eren's sobs tapered off, the young man regaining some control over himself. As the crying died out, Eren tried to extradite himself from Armin only to find himself locked by the blond's arms. "You're going to tell me everything Eren. Then I'll let you go."

Eren gulped and quietly admitted what he had been dealing with all loop. "It's all fake. Everything. Our bond isn't real. We're aren't... we aren't real friends Armin."

Eren's brother pulled him closer into his chest and allowed Eren to continue.

"It was a time traveler. He staged everything. I came from the future... we lost the war. We lost everything. My father tried to set everything right though; he had a Titan in the basement. One that could send people back in time, into their old bodies for a few years. I went back... and I met you and Mikasa. You were the perfect strategist; the man that nearly won us the war, but Annie killed you in Stohess. Mikasa was the perfect soldier, the last of the Ackerman line of warriors. Unbeatable, she slayed over a hundred Titans, all alongside her brother, the late and Great Corporal Leviticus Ackerman." Eren nuzzled against Armin's chest, trying to block tears again. "I was the perfect weapon."

"Alone, all three of us almost won against the Titans. Together we'd be unstoppable. I was the one who sent the slavers to Mikasa's house that night. I was the one who helped the Military Police find out about your parent's hot air balloon. It was me. I made us who we were... and when it was all over, I cried about it. I wouldn't live to see what you would do. I was afraid to die. I was... I'm..." Armin rested a hand on Eren's head, stopping Eren's last sentence. For a moment Armin was indecisive, but looking at his friend's distraught form, rallied.

"Eren, I want you to hear something. Just stop... and listen." Armin wiggled up his bedroll and pressed Eren into his chest. In the silence, Eren could just make out a faint noise; a then pulsing noise.

"That's my heart Eren. It's a heart that belongs to you and Mikasa. To you both, and not the man that put it in your hands. We've been through thousands of loops together, spent thousands of years together. You know as well as I do that your time traveling isn't a constant across our universe. This didn't happen in our first loop, and it won't be the true ending to our last. I know that it's strange that we three would end up together. That the three perfect people to fight the Titans are the closest of friends, but I'm willing to say that it's a coincidence rather than admit that we were put together to be soldiers. Eren, you are my and Mikasa's nakama: we're stronger the brothers, closer than lovers, more dear then friends, and our bond is one that will never break through out eternity."

"I know that what that future you did can seem unforgivable, but Eren, I do forgive you. And I'm glad that he allowed us to share a bond like this, even if it isn't true for this loop, because in the whole of the universe, it is our greatest truth and constant."

Eren and Armin remained there. The moon rolled through the night as the hours passed. Eren spent his night listening to Armin's heartbeat, digesting his words. An answer finally bubbled up from within. "Thank you Armin."

Armin patted Eren's head. "It's my pleasure."

Eren nuzzled in a little closer to his friend. "You want some Italian?"

Armin blinked in surprise. "Isn't it a little late for Italian?"

Eren chuckled ever so softly. "What can I say, I have an appetite for the stuff. I have some stuff in my pocket I want to try. What do you say?"

Armin thought it over, and chuckled himself. "I'm pretty sure the kitchens are deserted tonight. We'll head there for Italian. But you must promise me something Eren."

Eren sighed as the playful edge left his voice. "Yeah... I'll tell Mikasa in the morning. After Italian."

And so, the two left for the kitchens, and enjoyed their Italian there, a load off their backs.

2.17

"Hey, Mikasa-"

"No."

Jean froze in surprise at Mikasa's sudden cancellation of their conversation. "But you don't even know what I'm going to say."

Mikasa looked at Jean from across the small clearing she was meditating in, watching the leaves idly spiral downward. "You were going to ask me out on a date. I know that, because this isn't the first time you've asked me in this meadow Jean. I come here, and you ask me for a date. I use to say yes, but you could never believe that I was truly yours. You always felt threatened by Eren. And when you weren't you walled be off, kept me from others. You were the worst boyfriend you could be. If the relationship continued after Trost though, you loosened up. You became humble. But you also saw how you treated me. You felt guilty, terrible, remorseful. You spent days away from me, and when I did see you, you'd apologize and leave. You always broke it off after Trost, if I didn't leave you myself."

"But...?"

Mikasa slowly shook her head. "Jean, I tried to be with you. It didn't work. I came to realize that we'd never work. As a looper, we'd barely see each other. I'm sorry Jean, but it's impossible now." Mikasa nodded, both to herself and to Jean, and returned to her meditation.

Jean watched as the girl that he thought he had loved sat upon a small rock, before turning around, and wiping the tears away, left.

A/N:

2.1: Ain't nothin' wrong with havin' two mommies.

2.2: At least she can't remember that once the loop resets.

2.3: If Shinji was perpetually angry, he'd essentially be Eren.

2.4: Gendo's a prick. That is all.

2.5: Run some water, slit your wrists, climb in. You're bleeding to death, but hey: it's warm.

2.6: The infamous stir craze.

2.7: He'd do well dressed as Santa Claus.

2.8: TOM will have his programs. one way or another.

2.9: Armin's gotten around to being a good friend to Anakin. Vadar will always be evil though.

2.10: Secrets, thy name is Yggdrasil!

2.11: Titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan titan.

2.12: Jean Grey or Jean Kirchstein. Both are strange.

2.13: Frickin L-TITAN!

2.14: You know your a rage-o-holic when Eren raging-for-titans Yeager thinks you're going too far.

2.15: Mikasa's scarf grants strength and bravery in combat.

2.16: Brotherly love.

2.17: Shot through the heart, but she's too late, Mikasa gives love... a bad name.