Attack on Titan: The Infinite Loops

Chapter 9

A/N: Well, another entry into the Attack loops anthology. Please, read and review. It's polite.

9.1 Crossoverpairinglover

Mikasa noted the boy who she was currently sharing her parent's home with. A rare loop, and she had to deal with some visitor messing with the sheer wonder of it.

The boy noticed her upset state and frowned "Let me guess, I'm interrupting your family time?"

Mikasa's glare was all the answer he needed.

"Look, I'll clear this up now, I'm not from this loop. I'm not supposed to be here, and I admit your concern is somewhat unusual to me and my loop in general. I have...issues with my father. My best friend has so many issues with both of his parents you could write a psychology book about it. His ace's situation with her mother and mother-in-law is just unpleasant. My student council president's parents keep trying to marry her off to get higher social standing. Really, the only person in loop who has a good relationship with both parents in nearly all loops is a girl named Shirley, and sometimes her father is involved in human experimentation."

"However, I am here. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy time with your mother and father. I won't interfere, as long as you don't mind me enjoying the novelty of having a mother for once". the last line was said somewhat sadly as Mikasa's glare softened.

"Very well. I suppose I'll just have to tolerate you this one time, Suzaku Ackerman".

"What happens when someone has a tie for the position of 1st ranked cadet?" Jean asked Armin as the two observed the pair of Ackermans destroy everything in their path.

"...I'm not sure actually" Armin admitted. "I think it depends on Shadis's mood"

9.2

"Oh Leeeeviiii."

There had been a pants based pun in there, somewhere.

"Look what weeee'veeee gooooot."

In fact, Mikasa had thought it would work. She may not have been Armin, but she was entitled to pranking her cousin.

"We're wearing our-"

Levi turned to his trio of Anchors, pressed his palms together, bowed, and quite suddenly Eren, Armin and Mikasa's blue jeans popped like balloons. "Have a nice day... Jackasses."

Naturally, Eren was not happy that one of the rare pranks that Mikasa had planned did not go over well. Armin was quite embarrassed to be standing around without pants. Mikasa herself...

Well, she got a rise out of Levi. That worked for her.

9.3

The mess hall of the cadets barracks was stuffed with it's usual occupants. For this particular loop, only the Anchoring trio had awoken so far, four years on. And for some reason, Armin was agonizing on something that baffled him. He claimed to have forgotten something.

Mikasa had seen what happened when Armin forgot something. The most recent situation had been five hundred years ago, and it had resulted in cyborg-Titans that had taken over the Walls. As such, she was more than a little scared. "Armin, are you sure that their's something you missed?"

Armin nodded. "I can't recall it, but I know... I know that I've forgotten something. I just know it." Armin gulped. "Mikasa, I'm scared."

Mikasa reached over. "Don't worry Armin. I'll keep you and Eren safe. Speaking of that, where is Eren?"

Outside the mess hall, Eren raced by. "Titantitantitantitantitantitan!"

Armin slammed his head into the table. "A long time ago, Eren convinced me to regularly Geass him to repress his rage towards the Titans. I think... I forgot, this loop."

"TitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitantitanTITAN!"

9.4

"Er..."

'Am I...'

"Ere..."

'I...feel...'

"Eren..."

'I'm in...side...'

"Eren!

'I hate... Waking up in my Titan."

Eren groaned and sat up, his back stretching in pain. His body was a living pincushion, every nerve and muscles fast asleep. The world was both so bright as to be painful, dark enough to be indistinct, and fuzzy enough to give him a headache. Eren swallowed hard and tasted hot foamy spit. "Agh..."

He could feel hands on him. One set gentle, smaller, even familiar. The other was colder, rougher, but Eren sensed a lack of malicious intent, and of clumsy slowness. Eren forced his eyes open again and ignored the nausea that struck him in response. "I'm here... give me a moment."

The world resolved itself slowly, fading into familiar shapes. Two faces coalesced from the blur, one long and topped with a thatch of blond, the other more rounded and gentle, infinitely unique and speaking. Jean and Mikasa. "Are you alright Eren?"

Eren nodded slowly, his fine motor control shot and the world spinning. "I'll live. I'll live... I hope." Eren tried to stand up, and almost fell over. Jean moved fast enough to grab him though. Eren glared a little at the young man, before glancing around the room. What he saw staggered him.

Long, tall pylons of hardened flesh, stretching from his Titan, supporting boulders and rocks. The faint glow of the ground indicated the location: the sanctuary underneath the Reiss chapel. Eren slowly righted himself, stunned. "I... did I create this?"

Jean chuckled. "I barely believed it when I woke up. Here I was, ready to die in baseline, and suddenly, all of this. I admit, you had me worried there Yeager."

Eren snorted quietly. "Yeah, but I guess having you be here means my plan didn't work out perfectly."

The chirping of bats heralded, of all people, Levi. The vampiric man appeared in a swirl of the flying creatures, as emotionless as ever. "Well, it seems the man of the hour is awake. I was wondering if you had wound up in a coma."

Eren was just staring at Levi. "...How did you do that?"

"My last loop was Castlevania." Levi gestured to his fangs. "Dracula, obviously." Levi pointed upwards. "Someone wants to see you, by the way. So clear up." Levi's body dissolved, from the feet up, into bats. "You look like shit."

Mikasa floated Eren up to the surface, where they were almost bowled over by Armin. "Thank god you two are okay. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Mikasa shrugged. "We'll live. We just... oh." Mikasa glanced around, and after a moment, Eren saw exactly what had shocked her. The earth had been torn to shreds, revealing the Reiss sanctuary to the open sky. In the distance though, something much larger was... was it crawling away. "Armin... is that what I think it is?"

Armin nodded solemnly. "That's Rod Reiss, or at least the Titan that was Rod. Heavily deformed and hotter than hell itself, and what's more, it's ignoring us." Armin casually slapped Mikasa on the back. "Nothing we haven't handled before."

Jean shouted something at Eren, an order to help Hange with his wounded shoulder. The group of nine quickly boarded into the cart that had ferried them out there, Jean taking up the reins as the pursued the distant aberrant Titan. Mikasa pulled out a compass. "Hmm... based on it's heading, the Titan is moving towards Orvud District." Mikasa pursed her lips. "Damn..."

Eren groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I always hated that district."

"Why's that?" Connie asked.

For a second, Levi saw that the Anchors were looking at Sasha. Their eyes quickly shifted back to Eren and Hange. "It's a long story, and we need to stay focused."

Half an hour later, a cantering of hooves announced a new arrival. "Ho, Levi squad. Are you behind this Titan?"

Levi craned his neck over at Erwin Smith, the commander of the Scouting Regiment. "Yes, in fact. We have much to report, but we've recovered both Historia and Eren."

Erwin reined his horse in and along into a trot next to Levi's spot in the cart. "Good. What can you tell me about this Titan."

"That Titan is Rod Reiss, transformed..."

"Holy lord, it's the sun."

From their spot atop Wall Sina, bordering Orvud District and watching Rod Reiss' Titan slowly approach, Sasha glanced up and was nearly blinded by the first rays of dawn. "Ow... Is that...?"

Connie shielded his own eyes, not looking away. "Yeah. It's the rising sun." He grinned a little. "I guess this hot night in hell is finally over."

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Levi snarked. "The Hot Night in Hell? Please, the Hell isn't here yet."

Jean glanced back at the cannons, arrayed on the lip of the Wall and ready to lay waste to the Titan formerly known as Rod Reiss. Erwin has suggested using cannon fire to try to kill the Titan, and if that failed, to throw Eren at it. "You know... the Hell Titan wouldn't be such a bad name for it."

"I vote calling it the Hell Titan," Historia through her two cents in.

"Whatever..." Connie muttered. "It's just that, after all this time, all these loops fighting through the Reiss chapel, gaining a few minutes here, a few seconds there, isn't it weird that we suddenly get like, four hours of time."

Sasha pulled an apple out of her subspace pocket, before putting it back in. Jean took notice. "Not hungry?"

"Not after all of this."

Historia reached into her pocket and pulled out a loaf of bread. "Here Sasha. It's just how you like it."

Sasha took the loaf and wolfed it down. "You know just to bake a loaf of bread, don't you?"

Historia smiled. "I'm good with helping people."

Levi, believe it or not, chuckled. "Well, don't make a habit of it. We might get back into the habit of calling you Christa."

The benevolent girl rolled her eyes. "I do like helping people. I can still be myself, but at the same time, I'm also the person I wanted to be. I'm meaningful, on my own terms now." A smile crept onto her face. "I am Historia Reiss, and I mean something, to all of you."

"Yeah, yeah, we don't need to be told you're awesome." Eren's voice roused the group, signaling his, Mikasa's and Armin's return. The Anchor trio had been in council with Erwin to figure out the battle plan. "You guys ready to fight?"

Jean stood up. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Sasha and Historia leapt to their feet. "Let's do it!"

Levi nodded silently, eyes turning red in anticipation.

Connie, perhaps the most reluctant, got to his feet. "Well, might as well not die here."

Eren turned away from the rising sun, facing Rod Reiss' Titan form, the Hell Titan. "Let's do this!"

"YEAH!"

Eren, quite suddenly, found himself staring up at Bertolt's colossal Titan form, from within his twelve year old body. "WHAT! THAT'S IT!?"

It was later agreed upon, by consensus, that Loops had a terrible habit of ending at exactly the wrong time.

9.5

Another late start into Trost, and Jean was already running.

The wash of pings that had hit him had told him that everyone was Awake this loop, and that they had a guest. In fact, Armin admitted he had been looking forward to this person, just before Jean had bolted out of earshot. He really didn't care who had showed up: if he was this late, there might not be enough time to save...

Marco. Jean was too late.

Marco's bisected corpse, a grisly sight, was lain against a wall for inspection. Jean, staggered and pained, walked to it. "Marco... I'm so sorry." The distraught man crouched down and tried to gain a handle on his emotions. "I'm sorry."

"Jeeeeeaaaaan..."

Jean's head jolted up at the ethereal voice. "What...?"

"Jeeeeeaaaaan... I've come too back haaaauuuuunt youuuuu..."

On the cold street in Trost, Jean gripped his head in stunned horror. "Oh my god..."

"Jeeeeeeaaaan..."

"I'm hearing voices."

"I've- ...wait, what?"

Jean gripped his head and visibly shuddered a scream. "I've finally cracked... I'm hearing Marco's voice! I've gone mad!"

"Wait, you think I'm a voice in your head? Seriously!?"

Jean started to sweat. "Oh no... get out of my head! You're not real!"

"Jean, I'm right here."

Jean looked over his shoulder, at the perfectly intact and somewhat annoyed Marco standing on the street. The taller boy nodded at Jean. "You see, I'm-"

"Oh god I'M SEEING THINGS!"

Marco deflated. "Oh goddammit." He pointed at one of the soldiers who was watching the exchange with wonder. "You! Am I real?"

The soldier jumped at the sudden invocation of herself, before stuttering out a loud, "Y-yes! You're as real as I am." Several voices of agreement followed, no one quite wanting to annoy the soldier that, in their mind, had appeared from thin air.

Marco folded his arms and glared at Jean. "Seriously Jean, I'm not in your head. I'm just loo-"

"MASS HYSTERIA!"

Marco now actually glared at Jean. "Seriously, are you actually crazy or just screwing around!?"

A beat passed in the conversation. Jean glanced over his shoulder, looked Marco right in the eyes, and answered. "You're... half-right."

Another beat passed. "You jerk."

"Yeah, I know." Jean smiled and stuck out a hand. "That really you Marco?"

Marco took Jean's hand with a firm grip. "In the flesh." At that moment, Marco's hand phased through Jean's. "Mostly. Ever heard of a looper by the name of Daniel Fenton?"

"Have I? Come on, let's get you introduced. Oh, and by the way..." Jean pointe at the half-corpse. "How'd you do that?"

The corpse's left half reappeared, and the whole duplicate flashed Jean the thumbs up before disappearing. Marco smiled and duplicated himself again. "Ghost powers. You gotta love em!"

Jean's AT field wrapped around him, and together he and Marco hovered off towards the other loopers. "Yes you do."

9.6 SeaOfFallingStars

Eren Yeager, Cybertronian name 'Titanfall'

Biography:

Cadet Yeager is one of the more intriguing persons to enter my office. He has blatant mental instability mixed with bloodlust. He is fanatically devoted to his friends and tries to learn skills to keep them alive in addition to expanding his fighting repertoire. His two closest allies are his 'siblings' Mikasa 'Clear-Cut' Ackerman and Armin 'Checkmate' Arlert. Magnus tells me that they are one of several Special cases that he would like me to do. Yeager saw his parents perish at a frighteningly young age alongside Mikasa, which spurred him into joining the military. As a result, his drive and outlet for his bloodlust keeps him relatively sane in comparison to the others.

Somehow, his bloodlust worryingly is related to the instability; the longer it is contained the worse his mental state is.

Skills:

Cadet Yeager shows an interesting and eclectic set of skills. Ranging from astonishing hand-to-hand skills and intermediate sword handling, he also shows impressive knowledge of anatomy for several species.

I gave him a simulated test against opponents larger than himself across several biomes and locales to test this; of the twenty tests, only three were failed. The rest ended when he lethally took down his opponent.

His alternate form is strange. While it is bestial for a vehicle, he also can navigate close to every type of terrain a wheeled vehicle is on. He tells me that training with some sort of 'Omni-Directional Gear' made using his wheels easy in comparison. His bloodlust also manifests two unique Outlier abilities. One lets him strengthen his substructure to hit harder or in turn endure a harsher blow. The second lets him heal faster to the point that field repairs are often all he needs. Very curious to see in action.

History:

Eren Yeager comes from a strange world referred to at this point as 'Titan-Terra' as while similar to Earth, it is also populated by biologically improbably giants. Apparently some natives can switch between being human and being a titan. He was raised on the outermost district of the country he was born in. Shingshigana, I believe. It was meant to be a decoy so the rest of the area would be safe from the titans.

Aside from a disturbing event where Mikasa was almost kidnapped, there was not much of note during Eren's childhood.

This changed during local year 845 P.W. (that is Post-Wall, referring to stone walls running the length of the nation to protect it) when the 'Colossal' titan broke one gate, allowing titankind to swarm in the walls, and the 'Armored' titan broke through the gate to the land behind the outermost wall. As he watched his home be destroyed, Eren swore revenge on all titans.

Within a few years he joined the military alongside Armin and Mikasa. They distinguished themselves when, on the day of their graduation, they had to fight off the titans after the 'Colossal' titan broke another gate. They managed to seal the breach, through methods Eren tells me is classified. I inquired further but he told me that unless Ultra Magnus was in the room he wasn't going to tell me.

He became quiet and did not answer any more of my questions or fill in any more of his history. I hope that Mikasa and Armin yield answers.

Conclusion for Ultra Magnus: Psychologically unstable, best kept busy with labor-intensive tasks. Subject cleared for combat missions under supervision. Keep away from Metrotitans at all costs.

9.7 SeaOfFallingStars

Pandora was nervous.

Sure, she had been grounded for the stunt she pulled helping Athena, but that was to get it working! Honestly, she tried to help her mom and got grounded. At least she got to spook Belldandy. Or was it scar? Either way, she was feeling better and-

"Where are you going, young lady?"

-Hestia was on her. Shit.

"Just, visiting Ganesha to talk over something. Several fused loops, and the frequency of which they've been scheduled." An eyebrow was raised, awaiting clarification.

"I swear on your immaculate dwelling and skills I didn't do it! May I combust if this is false!" It still didn't budge.

Though the fact that the room (or Pandora) wasn't on fire spoke volumes of why she was taking off. Hestia sighed and rubbed the ridge of her nose.

"Fine. I will accompany you so at least your mother won't wind up on a warpath. Then Pandora, we will discuss your habits with potential loopers." Pandora didn't know if to sigh in relief or squeak.

"Alright. Just... Most folks have one universe per loop. I have six running parallel at best, more often it's desynchronous to the point that as soon as one ends another begins while five others can be at any point in time. Skuld was amazed, but I think that's because someone who shared her domain in the multiverse managed to stay sane through it."

"Vector never sees his loop reset?"

"Nadda. If anything, he acts as a moderator. Heh, I should grant him that title. My universe acts enough like a forum."

Pandora's childish giggling continued as they hunted for Ganesha. Along the way they passed Freya, who was busy trying to set up a fused loop in between her two main sets, and Hermes, who took one look at Pandora, winked, handed her something, then walked off.

"What did he give you?"

"Nothing much. I just asked him next time he was in Bell's world if he'd pick up some Transformers. I may have one or two of their sub-universes locked off, but I still keep an eye on them. Skuld'll have to see what Brainstorm did. A time chase! A legitimate, stable, time chase! Why, if Shockwave hadn't flipped and almost successfully destroyed time as a concept there, I'd honestly set that to be one of the more frequent loops!"

"We're here. I'll go prep some food. Tikki Masala and Gyros?"

"Sure. He won't mind as long as I'm tidy."

Stepping into Ganesha's office, Pandora was surprised to see Skuld in there chatting with him over something they pulled on Zeus. She pouted.

"You pulled a prank on my quote 'Grandfather' who has more than once groped me and I didn't get to see it?"

They paused, before looking at her. Ganesha seemed annoyed, while Skuld was still chuckling.

"Sorry, I came to discuss the odd amount of Transformers fused loops with Attack on Titan." Ganesha nodded, while Skuld moved to leave.

Pandora blocked her.

"Nope, got something to tell you as well. Besides, Hestia's cooking a meal and I know you love her cooking."

9.8 RecordTheRecording

Wall Maria. This infamous construct failed time and again to not let man-eating giants rush past and feast upon the hapless people like an overworked cubicle-dweller would to a Happy Meal.

Even when certain very powerful people knew what was coming and how it would unfold. Such was the cruelty of their home Loop.

But that doesn't stop them from trying, at least some of the time.

With a crash and a rumble, a huge hole was once again kicked in the Wall, and the Titan responsible walked in.

However, things went a little differently on account that said Titan found himself to be the only Titan there. Looking about in puzzlement, he soon saw why.

There was another Titan running from a horde consisting of every other Titan nearby. Slung over the fleeing Titan's shoulders dangled something very out of place and undoubtedly very expensive: a gigantic ice cream sandwich.

In his confusion and surprise, he never noticed Mikasa heading for his nape.

9.9 SeaOfFallingStars

Another Awakening, another loop. Armin looked around, seeing they were in a... cargo plane? He was in a dune buggy, while he spotted Sasha, Connie, and Jean in the plane with him. Why was Sasha in a tractor with a thresher on the back? At least Jean's dirt bike made sense if his in-loop memories were right. Motorstorm Festival? What was it? How did they wind up here?

"Alright lunatics, you and the siblings on our wingman are about to drop. I don't care if you decided to name your group something snappy like the 'Survey Corps' or anything like that. I've never had a man die on any sort of skydive and I'm not about to stop now! Cargo bay doors are about to open so start your engines! You're going to find a good spot for folks to race in. Understand?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

Well, maybe that explained Sasha's tractor. The dimly lit interior made it hard to make out who was driving what. Connie looked to be in some small thing that was mostly roll cage. Jean was in a makeshift armored truck of some sort. Armin himself? A mobile headquarters vehicle.

Light spilled in as the doors opened and they were flying VERY low for a plane. The cacophonous roar of the mismatched vehicles was muffled by his rig, but Armin couldn't help but smile. They were going to their team's area (an old military base if his memory was right) but decided the 'Motorstorm Combat Drop' was the way to do so. Pushing a button on the dashboard, Armin got into contact with his friends.

"Alright, I'm not sure if Eren and Mikasa can hear this, but once we arrive at our base, let's review what is going on then make plans for this loop. Everyone ready? Charge!" The glee that filled his voice was that of a man set free.

As they all surged out of the cargo plane, the tropical locale briefly went backwards before their vehicles began to gain speed (at various paces) over the uneven terrain. Poor Connie kept sliding through the mud and ricocheting off the others.

Shortly after passing some other racers going in a different direction, Eren and Mikasa joined them. Mikasa's mud-stained racing uniform had the survey corp's symbol on it. Eren… was driving some sort of muscle car themed monster truck.

It was good to race with friends.

~Bang Bang Bang~

When they arrived at the rather beat up base, Armin saw an older aircraft hangar repurposed as a garage and a barracks that was surprisingly well-restored. Stopping his vehicle, he got out as the others pulled up behind him.

The figure running from the garage was somewhat scary. Apparently, for this vacation loop, Hange was their mechanic, and there were two of them.

"Alright guys, let's get our vehicles in there and then head over to what looks like the HQ building for a planning session."

At least this universe was nice enough to run on video game fuel logic. Thank Yggdrasil for that.

9.10

It was only a few seconds after the beginning of the loop. Eren Yeager stared at the big nosed... thing, that had replaced Armin this loop. He internally debated what he should do.

"Hi!" said the spectacular idiot named Billy. He pulled two pies out of nowhere. "Do you like pies?"

Eren came to a decision. He cocked a leg back and kicked Billy into the mouth of the nearest Titan. It was oddly satisfying. Behind him, Mikasa cocked an eyebrow. "You do know you're going to need to explain where he went, right?"

"Well, not for a long while," Eren pointed out. He dusted off his hands and smiled. "That's at least one... problem... solved..."

The Titan that Eren had kicked Billy into was gripping it's head in obvious pain. Some sort of growth, almost like an enormous tumor, was sprouting on it's face. Suddenly and without warning, the growth erupted fully, developing into a gigantic nose. In fact, it now bore a striking resemblance to...

"No..."

The Titan pulled two pies out of nowhere. "DO YOU LIKE PIES?"

Eren and Mikasa were running, fleeing for the gate, before the Billy Titan had even finished it's sentence. "Mikasa, what's going on!?"

"I don't know! I've never seen that kid in my life!" Mikasa glanced back and nearly tripped over her own two feet. Eren skidded to a halt next to her and stared in open horror at what he saw.

A second Titan was approaching the Billy-Titan, nearly the giggling monstrosity. Eren found himself furiously thinking of how he shouldn't tempt fate. And then, fate screwed itself over by having the Billy Titan bite the regular Titan.

Eren gulped. "Well, I guess... this won't go over well."

And then the Titan grew a giant nose. Billy's stupidity was contagious in Titans.

"Run, Mikasa?"

"Yes Eren. Now we run."

Ten minutes, lots of fire, and one loop reset later...

Eren, staring up at Bertolt's slowly retreating form, turned to Armin. "Armin, have I ever told you how much me and Mikasa love you?"

Armin pursed his lips as Mikasa wrapped her arms around him. "You could stand to now mention it more, I presume. Why, what's wrong?"

Mikasa nuzzled up to Armin. "We met a new looper. In the span of ten minutes, it infected the Titans with his stupidity, drove half of Zhiganshina insane, nearly ate us, and finally crashed the loop."

Armin opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed. "Harsh."

Eren nodded. "Yeah, you don't know the half of it."

9.11 Crossoverpairinglover

"We're off to slay the Titans, the horrible Titans from beyond!"

"Let's domesticate bats this loops" Armin suggested.

"Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Off to Slaying we Go!"

"Levi seems oddly tall among the rest of the dwarves this loop" Mikasa observed

"Got to Slay them all, Survey Corps!"

"I wish I was a Whismur" Eren stated the current wish of all three anchors

9.12

"I'm gonna kill every last one of them and gargle on their blood, but not before I teach them how to speak, so they can beg for mercy while I kill them slowly and painfully!"

'Ladies and gentlemen, an Abridged Loop,' Armin thought. He tried to keep himself from face palming. This particular variant, while thankfully uncommon, was his least favorite. It railroaded like nothing else, even when everyone was looping. Eren was a Titan hating sociopath... well, more of a Titan hating sociopath than usual. Mikasa ignored him on a good day, and belittled him the rest of the time. And then there was the fact that Eren was going to start hearing his mom's voice inside his head...

"I'm gonna kill em all!"

Armin lost the battle with his impulses, and face palmed.

And, fast forward two years, and he was in the training corps. Armin really had no idea why: Eren was borderline psychotic, and Mikasa was the most enabliest enabler to have ever enabled. But perhaps out of habit, or perhaps camaraderie, he found himself string down Shadis again, out in the hot sun. Shadis was yelling in his face, again. "WHY! ARE YOU! HERE!"

Armin just shouted back, "I DON'T KNOW SIR!" cursing his nasal voice all the while.

It could have been worse though. He had been very clear with Reiner that he was a guy, so at least Reiner wouldn't hit on him. That was one problem nipped in the bud, at least.

Meanwhile, in the back of the group of new recruits, Reiner was slightly and involuntarily shaking. "Armin is not a girl. Armin is not a girl. Armin is not a girl..."

Step number two for surviving the loop: make friends with Marco. Is wasn't nearly as nutty as the others, just lonely. Marco was a safe bet for companionship.

In fact...

As the group was dismissed, Armin sidled up to Marco's side, as the tall, freckled boy made his way to the barracks. Armin intrusively ribbed him. "Hey, Marco, did you forget your ping again?"

Marco stuttered and winced. "Oops. Sorry Armin." He tried to cover his fault up with a grin. "Still getting the hang of this time travel thing."

Yes, Armin decided. He was in for what was at least a survivable loop.

"TitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitanTitan!"

Armin tried his best to keep a straight face. He, Eren, Mina, David, Harold and... that guy... who died first? Well, their squadron was being sent out to fight the Titans in the battle of Trost. Which meant, at any moment now...

A leaping Titan flew up. The squadron scattered, but in case of one, not fast enough. The blond guy with the short hair immediately found himself eaten by the leaping Titan. His last words? "Looks like... it got the jump on me."

Now Armin was supposed to say something... what was he suppose to say...? Oh, right. "Oh no! Thomas! We knew him so well!" That was his name, right? Thomas?

Eren, predictably, flew into his homicidal rage standard form, type B (where he went after the Titan with his ODM gear), and shot off in pursuit, dragging... well, basically everyone with him. In the following seconds, Eren got his leg bitten off, David and Harold got crushed by a Titan, and Mina, having been internally narrating the entire ordeal, was slammed back first into a wall. Armin grumbled as he landed onto the roof opposite of Eren.

Personally he had had enough of this loop, and the rampant death and destruction did nothing to faze him. Armin idly tracked the aged Titan that had tried to eat him the first time, bored and wondering whether or not he'd be sent to Eiken if he died.

As was normal though, as the Titan dropped him down it's gullet, Eren reached in and grabbed his arm, throwing him out of the Titan's mouth and on to the rooftop. "I'll show you!"

Armin cocked an eyebrow after a moment. Wasn't something opposed to happen? Like a... crazy something?

"How's that, bitch?" Eren asked. Oh right, that. Now Eren was ranting at a voice in his head. "You always compared me to her! She's not even your kid!"

"No, Eren, get out of there." Armin said flatly.

"Shut up! I hate you!" Eren ranted insanely.

Armin rolled his eyes. 'Well, this was a waste of a loop.'

"I'll show you! I'm gonna kill all-!"

And then the Titan but down and ate Eren, leaving a fairly annoyed and apathetic Armin on the rooftop. "Well... that could have gone worse."

It was later that day that Armin met up with Marco again, as the cadets were waiting futilely for someone to bring them gas so they could scale the wall. The newest looper seemed quite disturbed by the variant. But the appearance of his Anchor was enough to bring a smile to his face. "Hey Armin. You holding up?"

Armin shrugged. "I let Eren get eaten again, and he Titanized, so at least we don't need to worry about the Rogue Titan not saving us. But he's still insane, so we'll have to deal with that."

Marco looked more than a little horrified at Armin's nonchalance with the fact of Armin's apathy, but he forced it down after a moment. "So, you said something about the loop ending soon. In like... a few hours?"

The loop incidentally did end soon. It would terminate once Eren sealed Trost, meaning that Armin would only need to tough it out for the next few hours. "Yep. Let's just hope nothing goes too wrong."

At that moment, Mikasa landed on the rooftop. "Where's Eren?"

"Spoke too soon."

It was later, when Eren had almost sealed the gate, that Armin decided that, above everything else, everything was worth seeing Eren seal the gate. It was simply a badass show.

9.13 Crossoverpairinglover

Eren, Mikasa and Armin were in a dazed state.

That was the first thing that Sasha noticed when she poked her head into the magical underground room of mystery that was Eren's basement, now sterile white and resembling the interior of a discrete and malevolent government facility.

As she entered the basement, knowledge entered Sasha's mind.

This was a Truth Trap: a room in which those who entered without permission were frozen, with the next one to come in able to get all the answers they wanted out of them.

Apparently this was the room that Eren's father through in people who he wanted answers for, perhaps trying to root out who sneezed first. Sasha wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Their faces were somewhere between 'high on truth serum' and 'brainwashed', and it was kind of disturbing.

However, it was also a time she could get some interesting information out of them. After all, the anchors had secrets that few others knew.

"Oh Armin!" she decided to go alphabetically first "What's it like having Ymir and Historia for moms!"

"Oh, it's wonderful" if Armin had ever spoken like that, Mikasa and Eren would have freaked out and gone to beat up the nearest person capable of mental manipulation "They are so loving and caring. Historia makes delicious lunches and Ymir scares all my thug like bullies away..."

Finishing her questioning of Armin after a number of other questions and further details on others (and a comment about some alternate Ymir's biology that made her want to drink), she turned to Mikasa. "How many people have you killed because of them hurting Armin or Eren in previous loops?"

"Not enough"

Sasha decided to file that answer in 'recycle bin', and deleted it immediately. "So...how many times have you been multiplied?"

While Armin's responses were interesting, Mikasa's were somewhat terrifying. So she turned to Eren, hoping he was going to be more stabl...life considerate, than his sister.

"So Eren" she decided to ask the truth drunk Titan Shifter "Do you do anything that Mikasa and Armin don't know about"

She immediately regretted the question when she realized what sort of responses that risked, but thankfully Eren did not tell her such things.

"Well, they don't know I was involved in the Death Note War" Eren began.

"The Death Note War?" Sasha inquired, but before reality could answer...

She found herself in a Konoha Ramen Bar, a steaming bowl of Pork Ramen before her and a hungry Anchor pigging out beside her.

9.14

High above the sunset-stained clouds, high above the Walled world, the Carla cruised lazily through the sky and clouds, it's turbines at quarter rotation, the autopilot set in a holding pattern. Inside it's structure, Quinjet's had been inventoried, weapons stocked and rooms prepared. Armin had cooked dinner with Sasha that evening, and the twelve loopers had gathered for the night. They had taken up residence in the forward command center, which had over time been converted into a lounge. A few couches, matching carpet, and a table had come together to give the group a little respite.

In the lull of hardship, Marco was catching up with Jean and Connie, resting their feet on a beer cooler. Ymir and Historia has sequestered themselves to a small love seat. Levi and Hange were sipping expensive tea while Sasha had grabbed a beer and had kicked back with them.

Hans was smiling and picking through his delicious shrimp pasta and discussing Armin's recent loop into an Abridged world. Eren and Mikasa were silent, watching the clouds drift lazily by after another long loop into the world of the Pokemon. A glass of milk was held in Eren's hands, while Mikasa stuck with water.

As the sun began to sink underneath the horizon, Marco called for attention to his person. As the group turned to him, Marco smiled. "Well, I guess I should all say that, as the newest looper here, it's a real pleasure to be alive and kicking again. Really, I'm alright."

There were one or two restrained chuckles. Sasha put her hands to her mouth and called at him. "Too soon."

Marco smiled at Sasha and raised his drink. "I know that, after all this time, we've changed. That in some respects we've grown apart, or together. That we've become different people. But I know, in the end, that we are still our friends." Marco's smile turned a little wistful. "We're still true companions."

Marco pulled the cooler he and Jean had been resting their feet on out into the middle of the room. "Long ago, we made a pact, that once we had grown old, we'd all come together to drink and share our tales." Marco made a grand, wide gesture. "So here, together, with beer, stories, and aged minds, why don't we make good our pact."

Marco kicked open the cooler and held up a beer. "Take a beer, and tell a story. Let's hear about what you've done in the Loops. What do you all say?"

"Here here!" half the loopers said. It was time to swap stories.

"Hmm... I beat the Colossal Titan using only a salt shaker," Eren began. The stares were enough of a clue to tell him that most of the loopers were more than a little incredulous. "In my defense, it was a salt shaker the size of a building."

"The giant Tolberone bar." Mikasa scratched her chin. "Wait... or was that a giant Twix bar..."

"Wasn't it a Hershey's chocolate bar?" Armin thought up.

Hans smiled and flicked up a finger. "I got one. I saved the whole of Wall Maria's territory with just baseline abilities, and a sonorous charm."

"Bullshit," Hange said, but it did nothing to damage Hans' smile.

Jean sipped his beer mulling a story over. "Hmm... what about that one time when Levi ended up as my dad? Heh, crazy times, right?"

Levi reached over and took Jean's beer. He proceeded to through it out the window. "Strange times indeed."

Sasha smiled and pulled a bottle of some sort of green-brown liquid from her pocket. "Ladies and gentlemen, potato-cider. The ultimate Irish beverage."

"Really?" Ymir looked at the bottle. "Can I try some?"

"Sure!" smiling innocently, Sasha handed Ymir the bottle.

The Titan shifter proceeded to drink straight from it and savor the taste. "Woah. Strong stuff you got here." Ymir's arm fell off. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"First person who tried it..." Sasha took the bottle back and sipped it happily. "They went blind. Don't worry though. You'll recover." Sasha sipped from the bottle again, and was frozen midmotion.

Historia put her cane aside. "Fuck with my girlfriend, fuck with me."

Ymir caressed Historia's chin with her free hand. "Don't do that. It'll only last until she thaws out, and then, she'll be bitching at you."

"Moving on!" Hange said loudly. "I believe that, if you asked me, my most interesting loop was into an alternate history of Great Britain, where they figured out how to manipulate genetics. Case in point." Hange removed a large, scaly thing from his pocket, placed it on his back, and ground his teeth against the pain. A moment later, large, feathery white wings burst from the carapace of the genetically modified creature. "Tada!"

Levi rolled his eyes. "Feathers? Really?" Two large wings folded off his back. "Vestigial wings are what you should have."

"I look like an angel," Hange countered. "I'm keeping this."

"Santa Titan," was Historia's statement. Judging by the extended groan that emitted from Eren, it was a story best left unheard.

Ymir, however, leaned back into her chair. "I don't really got any stories. Not a real good memory, not yet." A smile crossed Ymir's face though. "Who says I need one anyway? I'm fucking Ymir: what's there else to say?"

"Well, what about your backstory?" Historia asked. "Those are always great stories."

"Meh." Ymir shrugged. "It's too complicated to really explain."

"Story, story, story, story," the collective loopers chanted.

Ymir rolled her eyes, never fully losing her smile. "Alright, alright. So, a while back, I got this weird variant. 'Parrently, I wasn't just any ole schmuck who got caught by the Beast Titan: I was the daughter of the First King. Which made me Historia's great, great, great Aunt, or something." Ymir looked at her beer for a moment, and downed it all. "Very disturbing loop, that one."

The collective beer drinking was indicative of the group's agreement.

Marco recovered first. "So, I guess I might as well explain how I got my ghost powers." The shouts of 'YES' got him going on. "So, I'd just woken up in this house that I didn't recognize, and my in loop sister was trying to help me…

The loopers talked long into the night, recalling their old times, and swapping their stories, just as they had promised to do, all those years ago.

9.15 SeaOfFallingStars

Eren was immediately suspicious of the banquet he and Levi squad were invited to. it said he could invite some friends, so Mikasa, Armin, and Sasha were with him. As the group (plus Hange, who always seemed to gravitate towards Eren) sat at the noble's ridiculous table, everyone who was looping looked at Sasha.

Potatoes were a prominent dish, which rubbed them the wrong way. Rolling her eyes, Sasha went to eat first.

"Really guys? You KNOW I prefer meat!" A loud crunch echoed as she bit into one of the ones near her.

After a few seconds, her face shifted to anger and she swallowed the large chunk of potato.

"These are poisoned. Why did you poison them?" The noble was shaking. How did this rural girl not keel over from the toxins baked into his dishes?

Of course, even with well-trained bodyguards they still didn't last more than a minute or two.

9.16 Crossoverpairinglover

"We now pronounce you, Hange and Hanji Zoe, husband and wife!"

As the wedding bells chimed and the bride and groom kissed, a somewhat nervous Armin turned to Levi with a frown.

"Are you sure about what you heard about non-awake loopers and non-loopers being spared the 'can't have non-baseline children' rule?"

Levi nodded, having seen some strange combinations in past fused loops. That loop with the female Draco Malfoy in particular was one that he would not want to forget, just for how much it was scaring to see Dracoline flirt with...well, it wasn't Harry but it was still abnormal.

"So, that means those two could possibly have a kid?"

Levi nodded, before he paled at imagining the results.

Note to self, next Scout Regiment mission was to ensure there was no Uranium within the walls. Or Adamantium. Or Vibranium. Or Hardtofindium. Or Pizzazium Infinionite. Or Tellerium.

Especially not Tellerium.

9.17

Hanji kicked down the door, an apparatus of gears, cogs, and suction cups trailing behind her. "LEVI! It's time to-"

"Ack! OUT, OUT, OUT!" Petra shrieked. Isabel, roused from her position, saw Hanji and turned a very deep shade of red, despite her already pale cheeks. Levi himself looked completely unrepentant, but was glaring daggers at Hanji.

Hanji herself was a little confused. "Levi, what are you doing with Isabel and Petra?"

Levi's expression was plumbing new depths of annoyed. "We're having a threesome shit-glasses." Levi finished bandaging Petra's arm. "What does it look like!? I was thirsty, and they said yes."

"Wait..." Isabel pointed at Hanji. "You're not freaking out... did you already know?"

"That Levi was a vampire? Yeah, I've known for a while." Hanji strode to a window and pulled the blinds back, eliciting an embarrassed groan from the room's sole sparkling man. "The heliophobia didn't tip you off?"

Hanji adjusted her glasses, the jovial posture and tone deserting her. "Right now though, I need to speak with him. Now."

The girls caught Hanji's tone and scampered, Isabel only stopping to blow a kiss at Levi. Levi himself sighed and met Hanji's gaze. "Hanji, look, I-"

"No," Hanji said flatly. "No, there is no excuse for this. Isabel and Petra are not looping! I know you're happy that variants with Isabel are more frequent now, but that's an excuse to do... that!"

"I'm just thirsty. I need to drink someone's blood, and they said yes," Levi countered angrily.

Hanji clenched her fists. "Dammit Levi, you know the connotations of a vampire sucking someone's blood!"

"I'm not having sex with them!"

"No, it's just a BLOODY THREESOME!"

Levi's face twitched, fighting rage. After a moment though, Hanji shrunk in pained defeat. "Levi, I know that you care about them, and that you do love them both, but they aren't looping. They don't know you like you know them. Isn't doing this... taking advantage of them?"

The pain in Levi's eyes betrayed his thoughts. "Hanji, I can't just... I can't just step back and let them... drift away from me." Levi looked down and away from Hanji. "I don't want to lose them, and if being close to them means that they'll loop that much sooner, then isn't that good enough?"

Hanji didn't answer immediately, instead stepping forward and trying to pull Levi into a hug. The shorter man stepped out of it. Hanji heaved a sigh. "Levi... did I ever tell you about the loop where I had two children?"

The vaguely surprised expression on Levi's face, betraying his utter shock, confirmed that Hanji had not. The scientist smiled lightly. "Before the loop began, I ended up getting some call girl from Chlorba knocked up. It was twins. And... I raised them." A wistful, and pained, expression coalesced onto Hanji's face. "My little boys, Sawney and Bean. You can imagine what happened when the loop ended."

Depression. Sorrow. Agony. Horror. Anger. Denile.

Hanji reached forward and succeeded in placing her hand on Levi's shoulder. "There will be a lot of debate on what's right and wrong in the loops, and if you've suffered, than it can be much harder to figure out what they are. Levi, I know that you're lonely, and thirsty, but please, for their sakes; leave Petra and Isabel out of this."

Levi stared at Hanji, before pulling her arm off of his shoulder. "Hn. I will decide what's right and wrong for me to do."

Levi walked to the door and took the handle, but paused. "But... I'll try to control myself."

Levi stepped out of the room, leaving Hanji all alone with her thoughts and memories.

9.18

Eren stared at his dessert. "Mikasa."

"Yes Eren?"

"Do you think that Armin and Sasha have gone a little overboard with their creative cooking?"

"No. Why?"

Eren held up his dessert. "This is a brownie... in the shape of Reiner's head!"

For a moment, Mikasa stared at her brother. Eren stared back. Then he started eating his braunie.

9.19

It was during a lonely loop, with only herself and Hange Awake that Mikasa found Hange camped out on top of an embankment, a camcorder poised in his hands. The mad-scientist smiled at her and returned to his recording. Mikasa, rather intrigued, pulled out her own set of binoculars and checked down range to see what Hange was recording.

In the distance, a castle rose above the trees, with several derelict stables and cottages around it. Mikasa instantly recognized the castle as being the same one that Levi squad had sequestered Eren in prior to the 57th expedition beyond the walls. In fact, Mikasa was sure that if she tracked to the right spot, she'd probably see Eren, working with the rest of the squad to make...

Oh. So that was what Hange was recording.

Mikasa lowered her binoculars and hunkered down next to Hange. "Hange, what are you filming my brother?"

Hange winked at Mikasa. "Blackmail. You can never have too much of it."

Mikasa's eyes narrowed. "Be that as it may..." Without warning, Hange's camcorder vanished into Mikasa's subspace pocket, surprising the gender-bending scientist. "Eren and Levi are, for this loop, in a close, loving relationship. And I will not allow you to ruin it for them."

Hange groaned. "Aww... come on. I never get a chance like this. Please Mikasa."

Mikasa leaned back, her face darkening from the shadows, and from her intent. "No."

With that, Mikasa took Hange by his hood and apparated them away.

9.20 Crossoverpairinglover and myself.

It's great and noodled appendages lay against the wall.

It's meaty eyes gazed upon the unrepentant and the sloth.

It's gurgling sent the ignorant and the foolish squirming away in fear.

Eren Yaeger stared in fury at what awaited him, and bit his hand in fury.

As lightning answered his action, Eren vowed that humanity would be safe this loop.

Sentient, Pasta, Gods, Would, Not, Triumph!

NEVER!

As the Rogue Titan stared it down, the Flying Spaghetti Monster seemed to almost frown before reality itself dissolved.

"Up next, will Eren and Megan be able to save their mother from being assimilated by the horrible giants! Find out next, on Battle of the Giants! Only on 4Kids TV!"

The loop after that debacle, Eren found himself very unhappily slumped over a bar in Trost district, drinking. "You know, this could have been worse."

Mikasa, her name having been happily restored, raised an eyebrow from her spot next to him. "A 4Kids loop... that could have been worse? Really?"

Eren held up a bandaged hand. "It didn't let me keep the Spaghetti-Titan, so it has to have been a good thing."

Mikasa could not find a fault in that argument.

9.21 Shimmer712

Tucked away and hidden from sight, Eren and Mikasa watched as a man was pulled from his house by the military police. Said man was vomiting and soiling himself, to the officers disgust. One officer was calming placing a number of items in a wagon. The pair recognized the items as possessions of the nobility.

How could they not recognize? It was mere hours ago they had planted them in the man's house and left and anonymous tip.

"They'll probably execute him for stealing so much from the nobility unless he proves it wasn't him," Mikasa noted.

"Why set him up with execution?" Eren asked.

"A corpse cannot molest anyone," Mikasa said. "And given how much he upset Armin with his actions during the baseline when he and Jean were disguised as you and Historia, he deserves punishment."

"...I would have been happy with just giving him non-lethal poisons..." Eren muttered. Why kill someone? You couldn't really do anything to a corpse. A live person you could make really miserable. A live person you could make sure suffered. Eren wondered if he sometimes crossed the line then shrugged it off. He had Armin and Mikasa. Even when they were kids, when he got angry, they had always made sure he didn't get carried away. If he crossed the line, they would pull him back over.

He considered the possibility of the other two crossing the line, then dismissed it. Armin and Mikasa had never been prone to the sort of outbursts he had. They had always been sensible and controlled. The notion of the pair sliding down the slippery slope was just stupid.

Eren ignored the fact he himself had been uneasy with some things they had done. Armin and Mikasa were the safe ones. If anyone was going slip, it would be him.

And he wouldn't because he had them to make sure he didn't.

9.22 Shimmer712

Eren looked at the list.

Things Not To Do

1) No Exploding Kittens.

Geez, he didn't even blow up a full grown cat little alone a kitten. The closest would be the incident with the chocolate. Which Eren still believed was hilarious.

2) Do not repeat the Bubblegum Kenny incident

Eren remembered that one. Short version, he and Historia decided to mess around with Kenny and Rod. Historia had stopped to gawk at something that Eren had done while Kenny… rolled with it. And wound up causing Rod to curl up in a ball and blubber to himself.

On the bright side, no Hell Titan. Or was it the Inferno Titan or something. Did Rod's titan form have an official name now? On the down side…Eren totally agreed with Hannes (or was it Hans this loop?). It was not to be repeated.

Eren shuddered. Kenny was a scary scary man.

3) No Squid cannons.

…It was still funny.

4) No hordes of Giant Spiders unless you have a way to keep them under control.

Okay, Eren had to admit that was his bad.

5) No groin attacks involving knives.

Rod was a bastard. That was all. Eren scowled and considered what he should do this loop. He shook his head and looked at the list.

The long list.

"Why am I the only one getting a list?" he grumbled.

9.23

In the early dawn, the Wall opened it's eyes, and launched into song.

"Hooooooooooooh I'm a wall, I'm a wall, I'm a wall, I'm a wall, I'm a wall, I'm a wall, I'm a wall wall wall."

Meanwhile, down amongst the sane people:

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Three months and one enlistment later:

"You know," Eren said one fine morning in the mess hall. "This whole things coming to life deal-"

"I'm a sandwich!"

Eren ate his sandwich and mercilessly ignored it's screams of pain and terror. "It could have gone a whole lot worse."

"I know," Armin said. "Our blades are enlisting themselves-"

"Yeah, I've gotten a pretty good kill count, five Titans before I dull."

"Pssh. Yeah right."

"-Our walls are keeping eyes on the Titans for us-"

"Ooh, there's one, there's one, there's one, don't forget those two..."

Erwin frowned and wondered if the Wall would be more specific.

"-and our ODM gear doesn't break anymore!"

"Except Philmore," Mikasa clarified as she sat down next to Armin.

In the armory, Philmore the ODM gear opened his eyes. "You know guys, I've always wanted to sing. SOMEWHERE, OVER THE RAINBOW, WAY UP HIGH..."

"Argh..." Groan the rest of the gear.

Armin cracked his knuckles and leaned back, putting his feet on the table. "It's still mostly positive," he pointed out.

"Could you get your feet off me?" the table asked.

"Oh, sorry."

9.24 See Mohn

Hannes sighed, hearing the familiar crash of lightning and steam that heralded the fall of Wall Maria yet again. Quickly shouting instructions to the nearest soldiers to prepare an evacuation, he took off with his gear toward the three Anchors' usual starting point. When he got there, Eren and Mikasa gone, and the wall somehow hadn't been kicked in yet.

"Where are Eren and Mikasa, and... What the hell is that?" he said, finally looking up.

Armin shrugged. "Eren and Mikasa are off trying to get Carla away from the house. This one's new to us too, but it hasn't attacked yet, so we just might be able to save her for once."

A Colossal Titan with skin, a bald head, and a long nose peeked over the wall, fingers from both hands extending down over the edge. Hannes couldn't help but snort when he saw the thing's disproportionally tiny and beady eyes.

Armin furrowed his brow, then snapped his fingers. "I remember now, this was graffiti back in the Hub." Comprehension dawned on Hannes' face.

The Kilroy Titan was here.

9.1: It's a fused loop with Geass, apparently.

9.2: Levies. Great pants, poor people.

9.3: A shout out to a great Abridge series.

9.4: My reaction to the BADASS that is the most recent chapter of Attack on Titan

9.5: Marco Bodt. Dead, but not.

9.6: Eren is not stable.

9.7: A writer wanted to clear something up.

9.8: I want that sandwich.

9.9: A racing game. Love it.

9.10: Hurricane Billy. It's a long (and stupid) story. But we can now say that the Attack on Titan Loops are almost into the modern age of the loops.

9.11: The joke is they're singing... the Survey Corp, that is.

9.12: Abridge on Infinite!

9.13: That Death Note War is going to be important later.

9.14: Making good on an old promise.

9.15: Sasha's Conduit power's don't grant immunity to a specific poison, only to poisons inside of potatoes.

9.16: Taking Screw Yourself to a new level.

9.17: Of course, then you get into the complications of what we can... politely... call the ethics of sex and companionship inside of the loops. I'm not sure I executed this well, so please be gentle.

9.18: Reiner Braun.

9.19: I decided to branch out a little bit, practice my yaoi. It's surprisingly fun to write.

9.20: Thank golf that 4Kids can never get a hold of AoT.

9.21: Frankly... that bastard deserved it.

9.22: It's a long list.

9.23: Everything... IT'S ALIVE!

9.24: Kilroy wasn't here.

A/N: That's a lot of loops... Maybe we have time for one more!

9.25

Ganesha, Administrator for the worlds of Magic: The Gathering, Attack on Titan, Evangelion, Steven Universe, and now Hometsuck, was dealing with a major headache. A headache named Eren.

Eren was a good kid. He was idealistic, empathetic, intelligent, in touch with his emotions, held (most) of humanity in high regard, and cared deeply for his sister and brother. And he was in severe danger of Sakura Syndrome.

Sakura Syndrome was a nasty mental illness, a real piece of work, but one anchored in two major factors endemic to all creatures in the multiverse. It sprung from the simple, logical realization that no matter how badly your hurt someone, they would inevitably get better in the loops. It was compounded by the fact that almost all beings inside the multiverse could experience pleasure and gratification on some level. These issues, combined with the natural tendency of the loops to slowly traumatize all loopers over time, and Eren's own psychosis... things were not simple. Ganesha groaned again. He was stymied.

He had to find someway to put up some sort of wall between Eren and insanity. Some way to safeguard him. But he was drawing a blank. He needed something. He needed...

He needed food. He was hungry. 'I wonder if Kali will make that special curry I like so much...'

An idea snapped into focus. Ganesha lunged at the computer and began frantically typing. If he could pull this off, it would be a miracle. If not...

Well actually he didn't stand to lose anything for trying. He had to add just one final looper to the roster. And it would be one no one expected.