Attack on Titan: The Infinite Loops

Chapter 4

A/N: One of my typical customs is to lead these stories with an authors note, but due to recent issues dealing with my schedule, I've been having difficulties with doing that. As such, all I have to say is:

I do not claim to own the source material of this work. If I did, things would not be nearly as brutal.

4.1 (Continuing 3.12)

Sasha stretched her muscles as she delved further into the woods, the euphoria of seeing her parents again fading. Being back in her home village was a thrill, especially after two years in an alternate world. It was almost unreal...

Sasha pulled her digitizer out of her subspace pocket. It certainly felt fairly real. The auburn haired girl stashed the digitizer in her pocket and activated it, shifting into her Lyoko form and rendering her Overboard. In seconds, Sasha was airborne and on a southerly bearing.

The Overboard, its' energy derived from a small fusion cell within the digitizer, carried Sasha towards Shiganshina at a breakneck speed, the gap between her and the frontier closing. Wall Rose passed beneath her with no trouble, but in the distance Sasha could already see steam rising. "Damn it Bertolt, don't you dare hurt anyone."

But as Sasha entered Shiganshina airspace, she could already see that whatever Titan Vanguard that had been attracted to the city was falling on the blades (and what looked like light sabers) of two very unhappy loopers. Sasha slowed and brought her Overboard into a wide holding pattern, before spotting her target sitting on the lip of a roof and landing gently next to him. "Hey Eren, guess what?"

"You... want a potato?" Sasha playfully tossed her board at Eren for the jibe, who chuckled lightheartedly around some popcorn he was eating. "Hey Sasha. This doesn't look like any sort of normal gear for our world. You got it out of loop, right?"

Sasha reversed her digitalization and plopped herself down next to Eren. "Pretty much. The Lyoko Warrior's world. Pretty... nice compared to here."

Eren nodded knowingly. "Lots of places like that."

A Titan took notice of the two Loopers, only for it's head to explode violently. Sasha winced as Mikasa rocketed past. "What's gotten into her?" A very loud scream in the distance later, Sasha amended, "Her and Armin?"

Eren shrugged and held up his right arm. "Last loop I didn't argue my humanity well enough and got executed by the state."

Sasha stared at Eren, silent for a moment. Eren very hastily followed up with "But I'm fine. I'm alive and kicking again, all intact. I'm fine."

Sasha watched Mikasa destroy another Titan violently. "Okay... So, you are the Anchor right?"

Eren nodded, and then shook his head. "It's... complicated. Our loop's seriously damaged. The Admins can't tell who'll live, so they decided to have me, Armin, and Mikasa all be Anchors. Crazy, huh?"

Sasha watched Armin Force-Destroy a Titan. "Yeah... Real crazy... Armin and Mikasa are going to be alright, right?"

Eren shrugged. "Just don't look at me funny this loop and you'll be safe."

A blond man landed next to Sasha seconds later. "Wow, would you look at them go. They must be pissed." He nodded to Sasha. "Hello there. You're new."

Sasha cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you the Garrison soldier who got eaten?"

"Well aren't you the Survey girl who kept stealing food?" Hannes shot back

Eren stopped eating his popcorn and looked at Sasha and Hannes. "Play nice you two."

Sasha looked at the battlefield, swamped with dissolving Titan bodies, and pulled out a few coins. "Five coins says Mikasa has the bigger body count."

Hannes chuckled. "Ten says Armin."

"Deal."

4.2 Crossoverpairinglover

Eren held a bucket of oats to Jean, who looked rather annoyed.

"I don't like oats!"

"Well, you're a horse this loop Jean, that means you eat oats" Eren was going to have fun this loop.

"Technically Eren, he's a Centaur" Armin pointed out.

"Why the hell am I a Cent-whatsit anyway!?" Jean stamped his hooves in annoyance.

"Look at it this way, the Titans probably won't eat you this loop" Armin pointed out their strict human diet. Centaurs weren't human...

"He is going to need archery lessons though, he can't really use ODM gear anymore" Eren snickered at the mental image of ODM gear for Centaurs.

"Laught it up Titan boy...I know where you sleep"

"Yes, on a second floor this loop with no elevator and a narrow stairway"

4.3 Crossoverpairinglover

Eren had no idea what was up with this cloudy temple.

Was this some sort of variant loop with Skypeia?

Sky Titans?

Really bad architects?

EREN YAEGER GOES ROGUE!

Giant letters formed around him, only adding to his confusion.

What the...

The green dressed elf, short boxer with green gloves and the blue haired swordswoman who landed around him didn't help his confusion not so ever.

Though the thought of 'smash' came to mind for some reason in context that did not involve the Hulk, oddly enough

4.4 Rockgolem

Three boys stared up at the monsterous titan as it ate their friend.

"Oh my god they killed Kenny!"

"You bastards!"

The Titan merely wondered how the boy in the orange parka had ended up in it's mouth. It had been aiming for the fat red one.

4.5

There was a knock at the door to the women's barracks. Most of the trainees ignored the knocking, either too preoccupied with studying, or trying to socialize. One girl, Krista Renz, broke from her conservation with Ymir to get the door, much to the latter's chagrin. "Hello?"

"Hey... Krista? Is Mikasa in here? I need to talk to her."

Krista smiled sweetly, wondering internally if her smile looked fake. "Oh sure. I'll check for you right now." Gently closing the door while trying not to close it too gently and come off as fake, Krista turned on her heel and marched to Mikasa's bed, where the girl was lying face down in her pillow and trying to block out the world. "Eren's at the door for you," she said cheerfully.

"Mm maw here," Mikasa said.

"Come again?" Krista leaned in and turned an ear in Mikasa's direction.

The girl repeated, a tad more clearly this time, "I'm not here."

Krista smiled, and with an "okay", left Mikasa's bedside and opened the door again, facing Eren. "She's not in here at the moment. Maybe later?" A smile that would have looked fake on anyone else's face settled onto Krista's.

Eren groaned slightly and sagged, looking quite exhausted for some reason. "Okay. If you do hear from her though, could you at least ask her to come talk to me?"

Krista nodded. "Sure." She closed the door. Eren stared at the mesh door, worried an waiting. After a minute, the door opened again, and there stood Mikasa, her expression of regret and exhaustion simply too old for her fifteen year old face. Neither sibling spoke for a moment, but when the silence became unbearable, Eren broke it.

"So... I guess we shouldn't talk about this... thing, here. You want to go somewhere else?"

Mikasa nodded tiredly, a slight grimace worming its' way on to her features. She stepped fully out into the sunlight and began leading Eren away. The duo walked through the camp, finally arriving at the cliff just above the nearby lake. Mikasa gestured for Eren to sit down, and waited.

"Mikasa... look, about what I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so... so... angry."

"You're always angry. I don't blame you for being angry at me." A wind wafted through, blowing on Mikasa's hair. "It's natural to be angry."

Eren dropped his head, heavy as his heart, into his hands. "I can't believe... why. Why... why tell me?"

Mikasa inhaled deeply, centered herself, and exhaled. "I told you about the loops because I couldn't bear not to tell you. I was selfish and I should've been more pragmatic, but I simply had to tell you. I don't know..." Mikasa felt her composure wavering. "... If I hadn't told you, I don't know what I would have done. This is a very specific instance Eren. I don't see it often in the loops."

"But..." Eren looked on the verge of tears. "But Mikasa... I love you."

Mikasa allowed her facade to drop, her emotions laid bare for a moment. "And I love you Eren. But I don't love you romantically."

Eren remained silent as Mikasa got rolling. "Eren, you and Armin, together, are the two people I could never love more. I can't express it... not really. You are my closest confident, my dearest friend, my beloved brother. I only want the best for you, and that means being honest with you about my feelings. You and your Mikasa... you've spent years together, first as friends, and then as a couple. I can't help but think that I stole her away from you. But me and my Eren and Armin have been together longer then you have words to describe. Our feelings for each other are ineffable."

"When I woke up this loop, in bed with you, my first thought was shock. But when I realized that only I and Armin were awake, I was afraid. I couldn't bear to be your lover, to hide the truth from you when you trusted me so much. To you, I was someone who could never be replaced, the center of your whole universe. I couldn't take that for granted, not when I knew who you are and who you could be. I don't love you romantically, not do I love your looping counterpart. That's why I told you. Because I couldn't be the person you needed me to be."

Silence fell upon the two like the freshest, purest snow. Neither for a long while, staring out on to the lake below the camp. Eren was lost in thought, Mikasa hoping that she had said the right thing. The sun moved through the sky, and finally came to rest not too far above the horizon, casting long ribbons of darkness from Mikasa and Eren. Eren rubbed at his eyes in a vain attempt to dry them, and spoke.

"So this is what we are now? Two people who love each other, but... differently."

Mikasa wrapped her arms around the boy who had become her brother. "It's all we can hope for. Our lives are dark and ugly things, but they can be beautiful all the same. We just need to accept that."

"And would you rather have a few years as lovers, or an eternity as friends?" The two soldiers turned out of their hug to see a familiar blond approaching. "You're an amazing man Eren, but I'll always see you as my brother."

Eren allowed a light smile, one filled with more than a little bit of poorly disguised pain, to cross his face. "Well at least I happen to have good friends normally. Hey Armin."

Armin sat down next to his brother's doppelgänger and sister. "We're sorry that you had to learn about the loops Eren. Usually we try to spare the unawake the pain of knowing about them." A grimace flirted with Armin's expression. "You can have an almost normal life, but we're blessed and doomed to always exist. Never growing, barely changing. It's... it is its own little hell. But at the same time there is beauty in it."

Mikasa produced some photos for Eren. He gently picked through them. Pictures of families, his mom and dad and Mikasa, and even her parents and Armin's family, all intact and smiling at the camera. More photos showed gorgeous worlds and impossible vistas, and the many eccentric personalities that populated them. "Eren, I found my place in my life a long time ago; right by your and Mikasa's side."

"And my place is right on yours and Armin's," Mikasa affirmed. "I wouldn't trade the world for it... unless you asked me to," she amended.

Eren stopped on a single, solitary photo. "Where was this taken?"

Mikasa and Armin looked over Eren's shoulder. The photo was a single and simple affair, showing a lone house perched precariously on one of the Walls. Mikasa tapped her chin, mentally rewinding a bit. "That was taken on Wall Maria. We decided to take a vacation from Titan slaying and enjoy a solitary life. It helped that we had plugged the hole at Shiganshina before the Armored Titan could get in."

Eren set the picture aside, and wrapped his arms around his knees in thought. "I guess... I guess I am different out there in the loops. To think I would give up battling the Titans and live in a farm house. To become a piece of human cattle."

Mikasa and Armin hugged Eren. "Eren, you're so much more than that in the loops. We can never, ever, see you as anything short then our brother, and neither can you. Me and Armin asked, and you said yes," Mikasa said.

Eren looked out into the falling dusk. "I guess..."

The silence, a comfortable and enjoyable breed of quiet, returned. Mikasa closed her fist and forced down her emotions again, allowing her facade to return. Had she been anyone else, Mikasa may have affirmed herself that she would defend this Eren, even though it would be almost meaningless. Mikasa though, was Mikasa. She would always defend Eren, in every form he took.

She was his sister. She could not bear to do any less.

4.6 SeaOfFallingStars

Eren wondered where Armin was taking him alongside Hannes, Sasha, and Mikasa this loop. He said he found a group of allies, but Eren was needed to get them to join. They were in a canyon, and the rocks were large enough that he thought that Titans, if under the command of a leader, could ambush them all. He held his hand near his mouth just in case.

"Eren, don't worry. These guys will help us; you just need to knock some sense into them."

"Will we be there soon? I ate all my daily rations and I'm about to raid my Pocket for more!"

"Sasha, quiet! Armin always has a plan."

The majority dove for cover when a metallic... thing flew over screeching. Mikasa had her swords out and Sasha her bow, only for the flier to perch on a boulder.

"These those Loopy allies you told us about Armin?" Sasha asked

"Yes, Swoop. Now where's Grimlock? I promised him a fight with Eren so you guys would help us."

Swoop jumped off the boulder and shifted into a mechanical Titan, causing Eren to bite his hand and shift to protect his allies.

"Eren, stop! He's not the one you're going to fight!"

"So this is who you've got for the boss to fight. This'll be interesting, assuming Slug don't get uppity and gore him for no reason."

The others looked nervous at the thought of another mechanical Titan that could easily take down Eren. Swoop paused and leaned to face them.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Swoop, bombardier and outsider liaison of the Dinobots. Armin ran into us the other day and asked for our help. Told Grimlock he'd get to fight the Anchor first. He accepted, but we're getting antsy."

"So, you're not a titan?"

"Titan? Primus no! I've met Metroplex a few times, but I ain't ever been a Titan! I doubt any of us could handle it."

Reassured by the friendly, if rambling, tone of Swoop, they followed him into a clearing where five more mechanical Titans lay. Armin started pointing and naming each one. The one that was smallest was actually called Dinobot, but when with the others he was Slash. The largest was a ponderous brute named Sludge, who seemed content in the pond he was resting it. The next two were Slug and Snarl, a pair of spiky quadrupeds who both had nasty tempers. The last, and by far the most menacing, was Grimlock.

"This be our challenger? Look like he go down in two, three hits. Not much challenge for Me Grimlock to take out. He be one of you Armin's stonger 'Titan' enemies?"

"Yes, Grimlock. The only one I know of that's tougher is Re-er, the Armored Titan. Slug would be able to break his armor in one charge."

Before anyone could prepare, Eren roared and tried to tackle Grimlock, who broke one of his legs with his tail. This didn't stop Eren, who bit into Grimlock's neck and threw him into a cliff. Slug looked over, and Sludge had woken from his nap. The Dinobot leader roared and exhaled a long gout of flame, covering Eren to the point where seeing him would be hard. It didn't help much, as he came charging through and punched Grimlock across the head, shattering his fist in the process. The alien lizard bit down on his other arm, ripping the fist off and throwing it up, swallowing it.

"Eren not stronger than Grimlock! If this be strength of Titans here, why fight them?"

"Because if you don't, they'll just keep eating us like you did his hand!"

"Don't bother; once Grim's like this it takes a bit to knock him out of it. Your friend's doin' real well considering he lost both hands and has a bad leg."

"That won't stop Eren. In Baseline he loses all his limbs and takes down his enemies anyway."

Grimlock moved to face his opponent, crouching and surging forward, intent on finishing the fight and almost knocking Eren out of his Titan form. When he almost got within bite distance, Eren slapped him with his mangled hand, sending Grimlock flying into another cliff. Roaring, Eren jumped onto the prone form and slammed his head into the rocks multiple times. Swoop smiled at the sight.

"Well, it looks like we'll be following ya. So, where're we headed to crack skulls?"

"Trost. We're lucky it hasn't happened yet, but you guys will make it if not easier, a whole lot more hilarious."

Eren had returned to his human form and glared at Grimlock.

"You fight with me to take down the Titans, or I'll kill you."

"Grimlock call that fair. Never was one to tolerate bullies."

Armin started telling the others to get on the Dinobots, so they could charge into Trost and take down the attacking Titans. This time, it was going to be interesting to see how they handled the trial.

4.7

Sasha stared at Eren, and then at the stomach of his partially formed and rotting Titan that he had created deep within the forests of Wall Rose. Specifically, at the purple flowers that had grown within the crouch of it's torso. "Hey... Eren. What're those exactly?"

"Hmm?" Eren pulled his arm out of the malformed Titan. "What was that Sasha?"

Sasha pointed at flower. "You're growing flowers when you Titanize. By the way, what is this anyway?"

Eren examined the purple flower. "Don't know: I'm a doctor, not a botanist. Besides, does it matter?"

The newest looper of the bunch shrugged her shoulders, plucking the flower and slipping it into her breast pocket. Standing back up Sasha asked, "Well, I think it matters. I mean, Jean said it himself, we don't even have a lead on your Titan powers. This may be what cracks the case."

Eren stopped for a moment, an imperceptible look congealing onto his face. A wind blew, ruffling his hair and shaking the trees of the forest. Eren turned and left. "One flower, two, an orchard of them? It doesn't matter. It's just circumstantial."

Sasha spared one final look at the strange flowers before following Eren. "It's there, isn't it?"

Eren shook his head. "Here one loop, gone the next. Forget it Sasha. You'll get used to it. That's the way of the loop."

A final glance at a strange phenomenon... a piece of beauty created by a Titan... and Sasha was following her Anchor.

4.8

Stohess District:

Their was a knocking at the door. A curt, quick knock, loud enough to be heard and rouse a few of the girls in the room from their slumber, but immediate enough to be dismissed by most. A blonde with showered hair rolled over in her bed. "Get that Kara," she murmured

"You get that Hitch," Kara grumbled back.

"No, I said it first. You get it."

"No you."

"No you."

"No you!"

"No-"

Annie got out of her bed, threw her pillow at Hitch to shut her an Kara up, and got the door. The people behind it were really the last ones the Military Policewoman had expected.

"Meet us out at the stables. Commander Dawk has some important information regarding the recent expedition into Wall Maria," Connie Springer said. Annie stared at the smaller boy before nodding.

"Tell him I'll be a minute Connie."

A quick change of clothes (and the addition of her special ring) later, Annie had left the building and was at the stables, her awareness increasing further when she saw that Connie had Bertold and Reiner for company. Naturally, Commander Dawk was nowhere to be seen. "I take it we're making our move?"

Reiner shook his head, saddling his horse. "Connie said that we needed to get you out of Stohess before too late in the evening. Apparently you're in danger." The clueless look on Reiner's face was... not encouraging for anyone. It was like he had forgotten what he was doing in the walls.

Considering everything that had been going on and what Bertold had been telling Annie, it looked like his sickness, as Bertold referred to it, had not gotten better. Fortunately, a horse was already saddled for Annie and Connie was giving the all clear sign. In moments, the four had scrambled onto their horses and were riding out into the territory of Wall Rose.

The crisp night air and the silver moonlight brought Annie fully to her senses as she and her company rode on. The dim light of the distant satellite cast dancing shadows over the rolling plains and grassy knolls. The stars, so high above flickered with their strange light. For a brief instant, Annie, Bertold and Reiner forgot their worries, and simply rode with the nature rhythms of their steads.

Presently, Bertold fell back and came alongside Annie. "Annie, what do we do? Reiner isn't all there and Connie might be aware of what's happening. We can't-"

"Quiet Bertold." Annie gripped her reins tighter. "Connie might have figured part of this out, but he isn't smart enough to figure us out."

"But what if it's a trap?"

Annie allowed a weak smirk to form on her face. "Of course it's a trap. The only question is whether or not they know we know it's a trap. If they don't, then it's our escape route."

"And if they do?"

"..." Annie tightened her grip on the reins and urged her horse faster.

As the moon began to set and the dawn hurried ever closer, Connie, Annie, Bertold and Reiner came to stop in a small grove of trees. Tying their horses up, Connie led them to a small rock outcrop at the edge of the woods. "Me and my dad used to play here all the time. We should be fairly well hidden here from anything coming from the village."

"That's good," Annie said as she laid down next to Connie. "But I think we'd prefer an explanation as to why we're here instead of a piece of your personal history."

"Is that your village?" Bertold asked, ruining Annie's argument.

Connie nodded, looking like he was trying to sink deeper into the cold stone. "It is." He pulled a pair of binoculars out and began scanning, first to the north, and then the south, stopping once he spotted the target he had selected. "Annie, at bearing seven-six-three, what do you see?"

Annie took the offered binoculars, looked through them, and gasped. "It's a Titan!"

Reiner ripped the binoculars out of Annie's hands, gasping when he saw it. "Wall Rose... Wall Rose has fallen."

"No it hasn't."

Annie, Reiner and Bertold (who was so scared that he was on the edge of bolting), shifted their gaze to Connie, who had just spoken. "Wall Rose is intact. The Titan you're seeing scaled it."

Annie put the pieces together. "That's why you brought us here, isn't it? To capture the Titan."

"Nope." Connie took his binoculars back. "I brought you here to stop it. You can do whatever you want to it, but just stop it from attacking my village."

Reiner raised the relevant question. "Well that's great. Thing is, we're just three people. We're good but-"

"You're also Titan shifters who want the Beast Titan, and guess what; that's it right there." Connie dropped his binoculars and looked at the three Titan shifters. "You want it, I want it gone, so hop-"

Reiner grabbed a rock and bashed Connie's head in.

The world coalesced into recognizable colors and shapes. Connie's father was looking at him. "Urgh... dad... I had the weirdest dream. I..."

The face of Connie's dad solidified into a horrible parody of his face. "D...dad?"

The Titan that had been Connie's father reached down, only for the nape of it's neck to explode in a bloody mess. "Jeez this thing's a. That's the third time I've run into it... Holy crap, Connie!"

Connie wiped the hot blood off his face and realized that his savior was a certain auburn haired girl with an affinity for potatoes. "Sasha... what are you doing?"

Sasha smiled at Connie and put away her swords. "Saving your sorry ass... Jesus Connie, what are you doing out here? Figured you'd pay your family a visit?"

"I... I... You BITCH! YOU KILLED MY DAD YOU BITCH!" Connie lunged up, trying to grab at Sasha's throat, his shouts losing coherency. "AHHHHHHH"

Sasha sidestepped Connie, shock and horror painted into her face. "Connie, what are you talking about? I didn't kill your dad, I saved-" Sasha saw the Titan corpse, it's steaming flesh dissolving as Connie broke down into fresh tears. "Oh no..."

In the distance, Ragako village was a steam cloud, soldiers and Eren's Titan form hard at work destroying the Titan's that had appeared inside it's boundaries. Connie resisted screaming again. "They're dead again... they're all dead again..."

A light hand on Connie's shoulder was the only sensation that registered with him. "Come on Connie. I think it's time we got you up to speed."

"Damn we're cursed."

Eren knocked back another bottle of beer, his Titanic metabolism fighting off the depressing effects of the alcohol. "We're not cursed Mikasa. We've just had a bad run."

Mikasa pointed at Armin, Sasha and Connie, the two more experienced loopers explaining the loops to the short survivor of Ragako. "Hans died his first loop. Jean replaced Kaworu and needed Armin to kill him. Sasha got shot in her first loop. And now we have to find out that Connie's looping after the Beast Titan takes Ragako Village, and lose Annie, Bertolt and Reiner because of it? Eren, we're cursed."

Eren downed another bottle of beer. "...I don't even get it. Why would Connie think that the Titan Shifters were a better choice then us? Even without Titan powers, we're still the best fighters in this loop. So why them?"

Mikasa looked at Connie, sorely tempted to ask him right then and there. A sharp glare from Armin though helped her hold her tongue. "Eren, after all of this time, what do we really know about the Beast Titan? We may have been more trustworthy, but Annie and Bertolt knew more about it this loop."

Mikasa grabbed one of Eren's beers telekinetically. "And there's one other thing. Connie trusted Reiner. He saw Reiner as an older brother, and capturing the Beast Titan was a win-win situation."

Eren knocked back his sixth beer of the afternoon. "I need those beers, so don't drink too much. And how exactly would that work?"

"The Shifters would either get the Beast Titan, which would mean that no more Titans could be created ever, or they wouldn't, and in either case the noise would wake everyone up in the village, and they would bolt. And if the shifters did capture the Beast Titan, they would be able to leave us in peace, and if not, then we'd have three fewer spies, and maybe be down one Beast Titan." Mikasa sipped her beer. "A classic Xanatos gambit: no losing condition. One way or the other, Humanity walks away all the safer."

"Assuming the shifters can contain the Beast Titan. Assuming they even succeeded in capturing it. Assuming that they're not somewhere out there, waiting to attack Trost again." Eren glared at Connie. "Damn fool... ugh..." The Rogue Titan Shifter sat down. "This whole situation is fucked up."

Mikasa sipped her beer and nodded. "Think you're drunk enough not to attack Connie for treason now?"

Eren snorted. "One day, we'll find a loop were I'm an angry drunk, I just know it. Yeah, I'm pretty chilled out now. Let's go."

4.9 SeaOfFallingStars

Another loop, another case of enlistment and training. Eren didn't have to deal with the faulty 3DMG this go around, but all the loopers got into the habit of training with malfunctioning equipment. One loop, they even convinced the Drill Sergeant that it was a good exercise for everyone in case it happened in the field. But for now, all the loopers were huddled in a corner of the mess hall at midnight.

"Alright Sasha, what did you bring us out here for? Hopefully not another food raid; we almost got expelled from the last time we assisted you in one of those."
"No Jean, nothing like that. I already did the raid, and found the best way to do it!"

The Wall's resident black hole-er, foodie, opened her Pocket and pulled out a large number of baked potatoes, beef, and condiments. Eren slammed his head against the table, while Connie was drooling over the large meal before him. Armin rubbed his temple and sighed.

"Sasha, are you really going to use your pocket to steal food from the officers?"
"Sure! I learnt how during a loop where I was in adv... advance... somewhere called 'Wars World'. Had a sibling named Colin who was insecure. Couple of hunting trips helped that a lot."

Sasha blinked at the strange looks everyone was giving her. She got the feeling it wasn't from the foraged food. Mikasa spoke up, her quiet voice carrying through the silence.

"How did you stay sane in a place called Wars World?"
"Um, it wasn't that bad? It was kinda silly even with the average survival ratio of units..."

Her face contorted as Sasha realized she was in a world where people died in droves and it was a silly universe.

"Guys... I don't want to go back there..."

4.10 Crossoverpairinglover

"...What the fuck was that last loop"

In response to Jean's nauseous sounding question, Armin pulled out a Guide to Multiversal Variants (Third edition) and scanned a few pages.

"It's a variant loop to the Avengers universe, known as Nextwave, that may or may not also occur in baseline. It is known for its...oddness." Armin said the last bit in the same dry tone one might read a 'do not climb the wall' sign on Wall Maria.

"I know odd, and that wasn't odd. It was as far beyond odd as Mikasa is competence wise from a stormtrooper!"

4.11

For Eren, it went without saying that Eastern Cultures fascinated him. The displays of brilliance, of difference from Western Cultures was engaging, enthralling even. The tenets of balance, perfection, self-control, melded together from years of social evolution was amazing to his eyes.

Which was why when he, Armin and Mikasa Awoke in Republic City, his first instinct was to bolt and see the whole world. He loved the Avatar world, and had been planning to explore it if he ever looped in. Maybe he'd start by tracking down the Anchor Jinora, or watching a Pro-bending match, or getting some food, or abandon the city entirely and walk the Earth Kingdom... and maybe kill the Earth Queen in the interim.

But Armin's stomach had been growling when they woke up, so first order of business was decided to be food. Mikasa evidently agreed, since she was already leaving their apartment. Armin and Eren fell into step behind her, and began the hunt for lunch.

Teriyaki stands, ramen sellers, curry carts and stalls of seafood as far as the eye could see littered Republic City's streets, catering to the multicultural tastes of the fifth elemental nation. Restaurants dotted the street sides, doors open and savory smells wafting from their depths, saturating the crisp, cool air of autumn with the aromas of adventure. Mikasa nearly dragged Eren and Armin into a noodle shop when the scent hit them. In seconds flat, the trio were in, seated, and waiting for their orders.

As the chef prepared their lunch, Eren took in the whole of the situation from his Loop memories. "So we're a few months before Avatar Korra shows up. Which means we're ahead of Amon and the Equalist's ramping things up."

"Which also means that we're going to be dodging Equalists in the interim, since we're benders," Armin pointed out, accentuating his point with a slight water bending move.

The trio's dishes arrived after a moment, Eren dissolving the conversation with a heartfelt "Itadakimasu."

"And their goes Mako, opening round two with a barrage of fire bolts aimed at the Red Tiger Boars Earthbender."

Mikasa watched from the stands of the pro-bending arena as Mako and Bolin opened up a combo attack against the Tiger Boars, their movements and fluid teamwork unveiling their looper nature. A bit of popcorn found its' way into her mouth. "Gotta shay, dose two are good," she said around her full mouth.

Eren chuckled as Hasook got blasted back into the second zone by a stray earth disc. "Yeah, they're probably the best Earth and Firebenders around, outside of Toph and Zuko." A thoughtful look crossed Eren's face. "I wonder if they'll awake this loop."

Armin shrugged, more focused on silently critiquing Bolin and Mako's barebones strategy then talking.

"Actually, they're awake this loop. It's just the five of us," Asami clarified. "And Bolin's still better at Lavabending then Toph, but she's catching up."

The Titan Anchor's nearly jumped out of their skin when they noticed Asami. The heiress rolled her eyes in acknowledgement of the humor of it. "Well, since no one's given you three the welcome wagon, I figured I might as well."

Mikasa growled at her inattentiveness and ate another handful of popcorn. Eren on the other hand broke out a large smile. "Asami Sato. It's an honor to meet you."

Asami smiled self-consciously. "I wouldn't exactly call it an honor, but okay. It's nice to meet you... hey." A look of recognition hit Asami. "Aren't you those three... what were you called again, Indecisive Anchors?"

Armin broke from his strategy analysis to enter lecture mode. "Actually, we're called Nebulous Anchors. Our universe was damaged in such a manner that the Admins couldn't determine the most optimal Anchor candidate, since they couldn't determine who amongst us would survive until the Loop's full expansion. As such we were designated-"

"Armin, you're lecturing again." Eren broke his friend out of the mode. Armin grimaced.

"Okay, long story short, we all need to loop as a single Anchor, since any one of us may die in the Baseline. In fact, one of our loopers did die in the baseline. He was disemboweled by a Titan, incidentally-"

"Armin." Mikasa broke him out of lecture mode again.

The blond boy winced internally. "Well... yeah. That's it."

Asami looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry for your difficulties. It must be very hard for you to live like that."

Mikasa shrugged. "I have faith in my strength. I'll protect Eren and Armin to my death."

Asami smiled at her conviction, a smile mirrored by Eren and Armin. "That's very sweet of you Mikasa. Oh, and one more thing you three."

"Eh?" Eren asked.

Asami pointed helpfully at Armin's hair. "You may want to dye that something dark. You're the only blond on the planet."

A dark blush crossed Armin's face. Mikasa reached around Eren and patted him on the shoulder. "I like it blond. Don't change it."

Armin nodded at Mikasa. "Okay then."

Asami cocked an eyebrow minutely, but made no comment.

"And there goes Bolin, slamming another barrage of earth bending blows into the Tiger Boars Water bender. This season's been kind to the bending brothers, and it looks like we're in for another win for the Fire Ferrets. If the Tiger Boars can't take them down, I don't know what will."

Mako spun left, ducked, spun right and countered left. Eren blocked high, back stepped, and leaned right. The fire bender lunged forward, delivering an arm bar to Eren's midriff and sent Eren through a textbook flip, throwing the boy ass over skull and landing him squarely on his back. The Titan shifter glared at Mako. "I could have beaten you."

Mako smirked and helped Eren back to his feet. "But you didn't, and I won. Again?"

"Again."

Across the room, Bolin and Mikasa were grappling. Mikasa's raw combat talent was fighting against Bolin's centuries of experience... and getting its' ass handed to it. "Come on Mikasa, you're a badass. I know you can do-" Bolin picked Mikasa up and threw her. "Better than this."

Mikasa got back up and spat a lock of her hair out of her mouth. "Again."

Bolin threw himself at her, got the upper hand again and tossed Mikasa. "You need to widen your stance. Use your legs to keep me from getting inside your guard. Block me."

"Again."

In the back, Armin and Asami were sharing a cake and pouring over a spare set of 3DMG, waiting for Korra to show up. "See, this control rod is what regulates the velocity of the user and tethers the speed triggers to the motor."

"But such a small motor can't possibly supply the torque to move the rider vertically at these speeds. The metal would warp under the weight."

"Which is why it's made out of an aluminum alloy. Its' weight and durability make it the only substitute for steel."

"But even with Aluminum's strength, the pistol rods are too short. It's a good speed increaser, but it'll lower the torque to insurmountable levels. You can't climb walls with this."

"That aside, we do."

"Well maybe you just think you climb walls with it?" said a newcomer.

The locals and visitors broke from their conversation as Korra and Jinora entered the room, the diminutive Anchor postulating the solution. "Maybe you just think it works, and so it does. Suspension of disbelief is a powerful thing."

"You've replaced Rincewind haven't you?" Armin guessed. When Jinora nodded he continued. "Just so you know, we're not actually from a world like that. Ours' is more... lethal."

Korra showily bent some water out of a cistern recessed into the ground, holding it over herself in a large arch. "How lethal? Vast swathes of land destroyed? Close, important people dying towards the end?"

"Towards the end, around the middle, at the beginning... my grandfather, Eren's parents, our friends, Eren himself-"

"I got better."

"-Close friends, enemies, people we don't know, entire villages, good people, bad people... and there's a fair chance that one of us will die as well," Armin concluded tonelessly. "So... rather lethal."

Korra winced and lowered her water back into the cistern. "Ouch... that blows."

Armin shrugged, but didn't look Korra in the eye. "It could be worse. We're still alive."

Mako looked at Eren, then Mikasa, and finally Armin. "Well, you'll have a good run, at least for a while. And Death isn't permanent, not here in the loops."

Eren clenched his hand, crushing the heat that had sprung up inside it. "Yeah, we know Mako."

A few moments of silence held as the assembled loopers digested the fact that, one day, three amongst them could very well be dead. Korra pulled some water out of the cistern and tossed it at Armin, who caught it effortlessly and returned it. "Looks like you're pretty skilled with Tai Chi Zhang already, so maybe we can skip to some more advanced techniques."

Armin smiled, forgetting his morbid thoughts as the moment took over. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Eren and Mikasa smiled, and together, they returned to their training, content in the knowledge that, at least for this loop, they were safe from death.

Of course, once they had returned to their world, Mikasa discovered the ludicrously adaptive earth bending techniques that Bolin had passed onto her had a very nice little application: sealing the hole in Wall Maria. But really, where was the fun in that?

Well...

Hannes watched from a nearby rooftop as the trio danced amongst the Titans, slaying anything that made it beyond a sixty meter radius. On one side of him, the Garrison's Shiganshina commander was staring slack jawed at the absolute carnage the three twelve year olds wrought. On the other, Grisha Jaeger was more surprised that his son and adoptive daughter were killing Titans... and making it look easy. He gulped quietly. 'Maybe I shouldn't have Eren eat me.'

4.12

Deep within the wilds of Argentina, there is seated a strange, silent realm. Titans have not ventured within it for nearly a century. Man has yet to reclaim the pastoral lands. It's a world that man has not befouled in generations, and has been left to the reclamation of nature. Curiously, its' grand valleys still held a single mark of man's influence: ancient strips of asphalt miraculously preserved between the high mountains.

Regardless, the world was a pastoral one, a piece of empty wilderness sealed from the rest of the world. Perfect, brilliant, beautiful, and silent...

Except the bits that had a car with a V8 in them. Those bits were rather loud.

"The speed. The ferocity. The raw power beneath the hood. This is what motoring, what all cars, are supposed to be. Fearless, powerful, eventful. It's amazing."

The V8, a 1967 Mustang Fastback, dug into the corner and turned on a dime. "Damn, its' even fun. I tell you, this car-"

Behind the muscle car, a relatively normal Nissan sedan trailed. Its' occupants were trying to give the lead driver as much space as possible, lest she turn them into her copilots, or worse: her versions of James May and Jeremy Clarkson.

Eren watched, rather impassively, as Mikasa did her best Richard Hammond impression. "She's banned from all BBC productions."

Armin, who was wondering if now was a good time to mention that The Doctor was looping, silently nodded. Mikasa, as a fan girl, was scary.

Mikasa as a fangirl within relative proximity to the actual of her fan girl tendencies was... terrifying.

That, and Armin wanted the Doctor for himself.

4.13 Crossoverpairinglover

In a blinding flash of golden lightning both the Armored and Colossal Titans fled from battle.

Rather annoyed at them getting away (again), even if he did spare Shiganshina this time, Eren glared off into the horizon, his Loki-Buster Gun not even halfway depleted of energy.

"Come back here, you cowards! Come back here and die!"

And they did come back...just not quite the same...

A Colossal Armored Titan rose up before Eren. Giant, Armored, and billowing out more steam than an R-Rated movie studio.

"Fusion Titan..." Eren said in shock.

That was a new one for the loops.

4.14

(Excerpt of communication between an Admin and the Anchors of their assigned loop)

Dear Ganesha Vinayaka, Hindu deity of the word, education during reading, beginnings, remover of obstacles, patron of the arts, and owner of an enormous trunk.

Hi. It's us, Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. We're the Anchors for the Attack on Titan loops, but you already know that. Now assuming that you can actually read this, since Armin is telling us that since you're a god of letters and writing you can, we would like to inform you of several issues that we've been dealing with in our recent loops.

First off are personal grievances: Eren would again petition you to move the beginning of the loop to an earlier time to enable more efficient protection of both Carla Jaeger and Wall Maria. He views your repeated refusal as-

(Several lines are crossed out here, though the words "Absolute Bastard" are legible)

-Unprofessional and rude at the highest order.

Secondly is the reiteration of Armin Arlert's desire to replace "Black Leg" Sanji, a resident of the so called "One Piece" loops. His remarks indicate that Sanji's skill set, which includes strategy, stealth and direct combat, along with culinary preparation would be a superior fit, above Usopp's own ranged combat and inferior strategic skills.

Finally, Mikasa Ackerman would like to pass joyful greetings and sends her regards.

Now, down to business:

Due to recent events taking place within our Loop, we have denoted that further loopers are, by default, unprepared for the situations that will arise, and will most certainly encounter lethal or traumatic occurrences that are, by poor luck, commonplace within our loop. With this in mind, we may draw the corollary that loopers who have not experienced fused loops (and thus gained some measure of ability beyond baseline powers) are at a significant and rather dangerous disadvantage.

To remedy this, it has been decided that a new system be implemented for new loopers: prior activation as a looper, a preplanned fused loop is selected to host them, for their second aware loop. In this manner, a new looper is able to gain some knowledge of our baseline (assuming that the selected world is privy to hosting our manga), along with a more extensive power set. We have observed the early loops of our fellow loopers Hans, Jean, Sasha and Connie, and have concluded that Sasha and Jean, who's first loops were fused loops though some miraculous coincidence, have a significantly improved rate of survival when compared to Connie and a pre-Theldesia Hans.

Our request is, in admittance, a fairly serious one. We are aware of who long certain loops can last, which may have a severe negative effect on our loopers. However, the mortality rate of our loop is a serious consideration, thus making the request, we hope, be more reasonable. As such and in conclusion, we request that from now on all new loopers experience a single loop outside our world as preparation for our own.

Yours sincerely, Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, and Eren Yeager.

(Reply from Ganesha.)

1: Eren, you're well aware of the fact that the area of the timeline immediately prior to Bertolt's arrival is saturated with pseudo-temporal waves because of the crash. Setting your baseline start any earlier runs the risk of crashing your loop on a regular basis.

2: Armin, you had your chance to learn Sanji's moves. In fact, according to our records you're a decent chef.

3: This is a fairly difficult proposition, as you admit. Not undoable, in any measure, but certainly abnormal. I'll consider it, but be aware that it may be a while before I arrive at a concrete answer.