Disclaimer: None of the authors own any of the referenced properties.

[Nocturne], [My Little Pony]
Naoki loses it – part 13
Author: Gamerex27

"Do you know what monotony does to mortals?" Morning Star asked Discord, leaning back in his wheelchair.

"Oh, gee. I don't know," the chaos spirit said sarcastically. "It bores them?"

"I do not mean that as in simple inactivity," the lord of chaos said, now in the form of an old, ancient stallion. "I meant eternity itself."

"Beings such as you, I, and even Celestia" he continued, "were never mortal in the first place. We see time not in minutes or hours, but in millions-no, billions-of years. I was there when the universe itself was born, you see," he said, pointing at the sky. "It was my power that set the sky ablaze with those shining stars. Some may call us static, true. But the mindset of an immortal allows us to do great and terrible things."

"And there lies the problem with mortals who dabble in time travel," he said, pointing at the mirror standing in front of them. "From when they first stepped out of the slime of this still-molten planet, they were meant to live, reproduce, and die. Every second is precious to them. Those who live beyond a century or so began to dull-with misfortune, their faculties can become impaired and they become shells of their former selves."

"This, chimera, is likely what happened with the boy," the mare in black explained, as she watched the yellow-scaled dragon pounce on the "Anchor" and try to claw him in half. "Eternity is hard enough for mortals to cope with. But with time itself in a never ending cycle of repetition? Where nothing has meaning? No actions, no changes, nothing at all is fixed?"

"Is it any wonder that he went mad?" she asked, as the Fiend effortlessly swatted the wyrm away. "That his mind snapped in half, like a dried twig drained of the waters of life?"

…

"You hit like a bitch!" Shadow Naoki taunted, rebuking Fluttershy's strike with a lash of a flesh tentacle from the walls of the Domain. "C'mon! Kindness or not, at least put up a better oof-"

He was cut off by Rainbow Dash tackling him into a wall.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" she yelled. Pulling back her foreleg, she slammed it into Shadow Naoki's jaw at around Mach 60. But the crunch of bone that should have followed did not come: instead, the Fiend turned right around and headbutted her.

"You might be fast, you know," he said, as he unleashed a bolt of thunder and lightning right into Rainbow Dash's bones, "but that's not everything!"

"Can you keep relying on one thing over and over to say the day?" he asked, as Rainbow Dash pushed through the pain, taking a martial arts stance to redirect the lightning at her opponent. "Branch out a bit!"

"Oh, buck off!" Gilda said, slashing at the Fiend's face with the Celestial Brush. "You think you're the only one who's suffered here?! Come off it, you arrogant, pigheaded tosser!"

"Mgh muh, mch!" it yelled through a split tongue, lashing out at her with more of the Domain's tentacles.

As his tongue slowly knit back together, Rarity mentally activated a telepathy spell.

Everypony?, she thought. We only have one shot to use the Elements. If he can just cancel out any peaceful solutions like that, the moment he knows we can use them...

..then he can stop them, Trixie concluded. Trixie just hopes he doesn't know about me being another Element of Magic.

What's the plaaAURGH!

Rainbow Dash's question was cut off by another bolt of eldritch lightning to the face, as her coat blackened with soot and ash and her wings blackened and burned. "MOTHERBUCKER!" she shrieked, popping onto her hind legs and uppercutting Shadow Naoki in the chin. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT HURTS TO HEAL THOSE?!"

We gotta distract him long enough to use the Elements! Pinkie Pie declared, as she fired her new muffin gun at the Fiend. "Eat delicious chocolate chip shrapnel, meanie!"

That disease you mentioned...of course! Pixie said, as she dodged a Freikugel eye laser spell and countered with a blast of Almighty energy. Someone has to go into his mind and dispell the virus!

I'll do it!, Nyx immediately said, as her horn glowed in preparation for the dream-walking spell.

No! That's too dangerous! Fluttershy said, as the Fiend narrowly flipped out of the way of her cone of fire breath. We need to beat him into unconciousness,so we can-

"And how the hee-hell are you sure that'll work?" Hee Ho asked, as he launched a massive spire of ice at Naoki's face.

Use the damn telepathic chan-

"Oh? Talking about behind my back, are you?" the Shadow asked, vanishing and suddenly reappearing behind the Black Frost. "This is for those f*cking prices, asswipe!" he screeched, as he punched his hoof right through the shopkeeper's head.

Holy hickory! Applejack yelled, tripping out of the way from the splatter of crainal snow. Dangerous or not, we gotta do sumethin' now, before he ends up killin' us all!, she stressed, as Shadow Naoki proceeded to dig into his friend's corpse.

Now or never, Nyx noted. Keep him off my body while I handle this! With that, Nyx's stuffed body collapsed to the ground, as her spirit flew across the room and pierced the mind of the distracted Shadow Self.

"Ghck!" he grunted, looking up from the already-melting pile of snow. "Really? You wanna fight me in my mind? Good luck with that, you friggin' moron!" Laughing again, he turned to his oldest friend. "You're next, you self-righteous bint!"

…

"Sheesh, cut with the melodrama!" Discord said, noticing how Rarity shoved the demon out of the way to take the brunt of the Shadow's eldritch magic. "I don't see how this is any worse than, say, that one centaur! He was going on and on about how he would conquer the world and everything!"

"His still-beating heart was delicious," Lucifer noted, licking his dry lips. "But, before I challenged him, he said something to the ponies that resonates even here."

"Yeah, yeah," Discord said dismissively. "These are the Elements of Harmony here! You know, those baubles that killed Sombra with one rainbow laser? The ones that stopped me in the height of my term of office? They can handle one little mortal!"

"No," Morning Star said, "they cannot."

"Tirek said that he was 'beyond their pitiful power of friendship to beat,'" the lord of chaos recounted. "While I do agree that their power of harmony is worthless (though even I must admit there is power on camraderie), he had a point."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda," Discord mumbled. "Oooh, the quilt one just went into his mind! This should be good!" he said, pulling out a pair of enchanted binoculars and staring into Naoki's mind.

"This is...going to be...hilari..." Discord trailed off, dropping the binoculars as the smirk fell from his face.

"It would appear," the mare in black noted, handing the horrified Discord back his mouth, "that his suffering goes beyond petty regrets and insecurities. A Shadow this dark cannot be so easily dispelled."

"Which brings me back to my point," Lucifer noted, as for once in his long, long life, Discord was rendered speechless by whatever he had seen. "No matter how much they would believe otherwise, and no matter ho much they cling to their ideals, they are doomed to failure."

"As, no matter how hard they try, their power of friendship cannot solve everything."

…

Nyx looked into Naoki's mind, and screamed.

[Nocturne], [Eiken]
Naoki… enjoys Eiken?!
Author: Gulping

Eiken.

The name alone sends shivers of dread up most Loopers' spines.

Naoki Kashima, also known as "Wait, what's tha-" to more than a few people, isn't like most Loopers.

Mostly because he went so thoroughly around the bend that it took an act of God to make him stop reacting to any form of stimulus with literally cataclysmic violence.

This gave him an almost entirely unique perspective on Eiken.

Here, he didn't have the power of the God-Killing Demi-Fiend. He didn't have the power that blindsided people eons more experienced than himself when he slammed into them in a berserk fury, surrounded by the molten remains of everything in the immediate area.

Here, he wasn't a pawn in an endless war against a broken deity in the twisted scraps left over from the apocalypse.

Here, he didn't have to put his best friends down like wild dogs when their deluded minds made them forsake their humanity and turn towards uncaring, alien beings for protection and fulfillment. Unlike himself, who had that sort of thing forced upon him after taking a blackjack upside the head and being dragged into a basement by the devil.

Here, he was just Naoki Kashima. Nothing more and nothing less.

And compared to everything else he'd been through...

This was paradise.

[Nocturne], [My Little Pony]
Naoki loses it – parts 14 to 15
Author: Gamerex27

While Nyx was, of course, Nightmare Moon herself, even she could still be startled. Such is the case as she backpeadled away from Princess Celestia's violated corpse.

Breathing heavily, she stared for a moment at the Princess's battered, broken, mutilated body. She wrenched her eyes away from the bloody sight. It wasn't that she was afraid: she had expected to see something that creepy when she came in here. It's just that seeing her sister/aunt/whatever not only dead, but...desecrated like this that startled her.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, she looked around. She was inside Celestia's castle-likely from Naoki's memories, judging from how it was on fire. Glancing at the floor, she grimaced as she noticed six pony skulls, picked clean of fur and muscle. The presence of unicorn horns on two of them only served to confirm her fears.

"Okay. So, he killed Mommy and everypony else. And...the rest of Equestria," she said, cringing as she looked outside a shattered stained glass window at the barren and blasted landscape where Ponyville and Canterlot had once been. "And...he was like this before he went crazy."

"Okay, Nyxie," she told herself, "you can do this. All you have to do is find where his dream self is, use some purifying magic, and we can win this. No pressure."

"Do you truly believe it to be so simple, Daughter of 'Mare'?"

Squeaking in surprise, Nyx whriled around to see...well, what she supposed was the normal Naoki. A white-coated pony, covered in black stripes and markings like an elaborate tattoo display. He lacked the skeletal wings, and his coat was much more neat, but it was him.

Or at least, it looked like him. There was something off about him. As he cantered towards her, Nyx noted that his steps were perfectly even with one another: almost robotic in nature. His eyes betrayed no emotion whatsoever. It wasn't totally emotionless, but any feelings he did possess were guarded behind what was the mental equivalent of Fort Knox.

"You're not...him," Nyx realized, given the fact that he wasn't trying to swallow her whole at the moment. "Who are you?"

"I am Kashima. Naoki Kashima," the being replied. "The human whom you met-and are currently fighting- is my host body."

"Host?" Nyx echoed, dodging a flaming chunk of debris as they spoke. "What are you?"

"I am a Fiend," he replied. "A demon of death. A superweapon, crafted by my lord to kill God Himself. I am a general of the armies of Chaos, with the strength to topple empires in the blink of an eye."

"And you are tresspassing in our mind," Kashima continued, still in his even, emotionless tone. "Under ordinary circimstances, I would have slain you on sight. But you and I share a common goal. So you may live...for now."

"Can you help me fix whatever is wrong with Naoki, then?" she asked. "Tell me where I can find him in here, so I can get rid of that magic virus and fix all this?"

Kashima sighed, motioning for her to follow him out of the castle. "Do you truly believe his breakdown can be solved so simply?" he asked. "That you can simply undo the boy's lunacy with but a single spell? Have you, perhaps, considered that he does not wish to be saved?"

"We have to try," Nyx stressed. "If we can't stop him in this Loop, he'll just keep going and going crazy, killing everyone everywhere he goes. We need to stop him! Skip whatever lecture you're going to give me and help! Because, if you're part of his mind, you're just as much to blame for all this TOO! I get enough lectures from Cheerliee as it is! Stop talking and start helping!"

Raising an eyebrow, Kashima was silent for a few moments, frowning. Nyx glared at him with more loathing than he had ever thought possible from an Equestrian. "He killed my mommy. He killed Luna. Any sympathy I would've had is long gone. The only reason we haven't just killed him already is because he's an Anchor, and he'd endanger other Loopers if we can't stop him now. We're not doing this to save him anymore! We're saving everyone else!"

Kashima stopped. He looked into the Everfree Forest, which they had just reached. "So, that is why he's doing this?"

"What?!"

"Do you think he would have ever done any of this normally?" he asked, turning around. "Demon-human hybrids do massacre others when they lose control of themselves, true, but his spite? The sheer lengths he goes to to earn your undying scorn? The lectures, the taunts, the sadism, the musical number? It is no accident, child. The Shadow-all of the boy's deepest, darkest emotions and desires-wants you to hate him. He wants you to despise him, with all your heart."

"...Why?" she asked, confused. "Why would he-"

"-No," she cut herself off, "that's why. I've been to Igor's world: I know what a Shadow is. They always try to kill off their other selves, but since Loopers can't die..." she said, her eyes widening in horror.

"...he must settle for the closest thing," Kashima finished. "To make you absolutely despise him, on a level not seen since your Malevolent Looping Entities. To give in to such hatred that you shall kill him on sight each time you see him, forevermore. You have much pull in the Multiverse, after all. If you were, say, to warn them of a new MLE, they would listen to you. Since the Shadow cannot kill him, it must settle for the closest thing. To make all the world despise him. To ruin his life. And, even though the Loops may reset, the people in them will not."

"Oh." Nyx said softly. "I...I need to get out and warn them. But he won't just let me out, will-"

Suddenly, Kashima reared up on his hind legs and shoved her out of the way, as the earth shook before them.

"No," he said, as both of them stared at the meteorite that had come out of nowhere and would have crushed Nyx, "he will not. I doubt that actually succeeding in saving my host was in his plans. I suppose he has trapped you in his mind, blocking off any attempts at communication with your companions."

"The only way to fix this is to dispel the Parasite you came in for," he concluded, as he started to walk into the forest, "so I may seize control of our body and, perhaps, regain contact with Naoki to force some sense into his foalis-foolish mind."

"Where is he, then?" Nyx echoed.

"This way," the demon said, motioning for her to follow. "Mind the memories."

…

Somehow, the Everfree Forest in Naoki's mind was even creepier than the real thing. This, Nyx reflected, was probably because she and Kashima were the only living things in the forest. There were no birds chirping, no wild animals who defied the rules of nature by getting their own food, and not even any bugs. Just the two of them, moving through the woods.

"Why now?" she asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Why has he gone nuts now?" she continued. "Is...all of this really just spite? There has to be more to this than just...evil."

"The Shadow would tell you otherwise," the demon told her. "Recall that it wants you to despise him. It wishes to show no sympathetic traits whatsoever. But, yes, there is more to this than mere hatred.

"Have you ever had a bad day?" he asked. "Or a bad Loop? One where nothing seems to go right? Where everything you know, everything you hold dear, falls to pieces around you, and no matter what you try, you cannot stop it?"

"You're telling me this is why he went crazy?!" Nyx echoed in disbelief. "Because he had a bad day?!"

"Perhaps I am understating it," he muttered. "What is just the way of the world to me may have been...disquieting...for a human. Especially so when it never ends. And when one has another that has invaded their minds, and is constantly telling them to forsake morality and do his damned job." He paused. "On second thought, I suppose I do see how that could become irritating. I suppose I shall have to be more...accommodating."

"The reasons don't matter," Nyx said. "I told you before: we can debate why he's doing this after we stop him."

"And that moment is upon us. We are here."

They emerged from the forest into a clearing. This was usually the area where Zecora lived-though she wasn't present here for obvious reasons. However, in place of her hut was a wooden cage. A series of runes were etched into the bars, each one glowing with power. While it looked fragile, it was doing a good job holding the captive still.

"You must excuse the makeshift prison," Kashima said, apologetically. "I was forced to improvise on the spot."

He was met by snarls and hissing-the kind of noises a wild animal would make.

Nyx stared into the cage. Chained down inside...was Naoki.

He was a dead ringer for Kashima, save for the multiple wounds and splinters caused by constant struggling against the chains holding him down. He didn't say anything: he just roared and continued to struggle against his bonds, like a beast. Honestly, a few taunts and infuriating words would have been preferable to that.

"His Shadow is not the only problem here." Kashima trotted up to the cage and stared at his counterpart. "Yes, the Shadow is his id-all of his deepest, darkest desires, the things he would never admit to himself-given form. I, meanwhile, am a separate entity entirely. A 'hitchhiker,' as he often put it. Hence why I could do nothing to fight against the Shadow, until you breached his mind and gave me a way in."

"Starting to think I should have closed the door afterwards," she muttered.

"This is also not just the Delphinus Parasite's doing," the demon continued, ignoring her. "He has, to put it simply, gone mad. Even if the Shadow is defeated, and even if you purge Asura's virus from him, he would still rampage. Such is what happens when a demonic human loses control. But not as the sociopath the Shadow has attempted to convince you he was. As a foolish, foolish Son of Man, who would, in short order, become the most hated being in all of Yggdrasil. A sad end to a tale fraught with strife, as ours is."

"Are you going to try to even stop him?!" Nyx demanded. "Because you sound like you're going to let all this happen!"

"I have no wish to become a pariah," the demon simply said. "I am acting out of self-preservation. It is difficult to assemble an army when everyone in the multiverse wishes you dead, after all. So, yes. I will aid you.

"I will deactivate the runes so that you can use your magics to cure the virus," he said, "whilst I keep him occupied and distracted. Will this do?"

"Do it." Nyx took a deep breath, then drew on the power of Harmony within her. Although she was inherently a creature of darkness, she was still an Element of Honesty, and therefore could still use its power. Well, she could restore what passed for sanity in this man, anyways.

Slamming his hoof on the ground, Kashima shook the cage to pieces with a massive earthquake. Right before Naoki would have pounced on Nyx, fangs bared (and, incidentally, made her glad she was made of felt this Loop), Kashima slammed into him, sending him flying in the opposite direction.

"Now!" he yelled.

Focusing, Nyx took out the scroll and began to read from it, manifesting her own Element of Harmony as the spell's focus. Although she had never cast it before, it seemed simple enough to use, and hhrhfhfhfugfhff-

…

"A dream within a dream," Nyx muttered, as she roused herself awake. "I should have seen this coming. I guess I'll have to kill it from the inside."

She looked around her: at the moment, she was sitting on a cloud overlooking the city of Tokyo. Right below her, she could see a human teenager walking towards a hospital. She suddenly found herself flying at him out of no will of her own (though she was far too used to dreams by this point to be weirded out by anything in them).

She looked at the facial features of the boy, and shuddered. While humans were never a perfect resemblance to their pony forms, for obvious reasons, she could plainly see that this was Naoki. Or, at least, the memory of him: this must be what that demon was talking about.

The scene suddenly shifted to Naoki speaking with another human in the hospital: a human girl wearing expensive clothing.

"Hey, Chiaki," he greeted her, a small smile on his face.

"Naoki," she said. "You finally made it. You know, this hospital...it's a little strange," she remarked, nervously glancing around. "There's...nobody here. Not a single person. Look, even the reception desk is empty!"

"...Yeah, I guess it is kind of weird," Past-Naoki said. "Sets the hairs on my neck on edge."

"Isn't it creepy?" She sighed. "Isamu is looking for Miss Takao right now. He hasn't come back yet, though."

"Why the hell did she come here, anyways?" Naoki asked, looking around again. "Hospitalized or not, this is like something out of a horror movie! I feel like some asshole gonna' leap out from behind the desk with a chainsaw." He laughed. "Eh, they're usually slow. We could just retreat, then find some kind of weapon or something. A bonesaw, maybe?"

"Or...we could call the police," Chiaki said, sighing again. "You watch way too many B-Movies."

The scene shifted again-this time to another human's entrance: this one wearing a hat Rarity would have loved to have seen, as well as some punk-style clothing.

"-even checked the men's room for her," the boy in the hat said, eliciting a chuckle from Naoki.

"I...don't think we needed to know that, Isamu" said Chiaki. "We're in the middle of a conversation, so please save the details for later."

"What's up with the conspiracy rag?" Isamu asked, pointing at the magazine in Chaiki's lap (Nyx could briefly make out several occult symbols on the cover).

"He lent it to me: something to do while we wait," she replied. "It's...kind of disturbing."

"Some nutjob pretty much shoved it down my throat, near where the park massacre happened the other day," Naoki said. "It's mostly just babble about the 'End of the world, Birth of the New One, repent all thy sins, our cult will rule over all," and that kinda crap."

"The way he says it, though..." Chiaki muttered, "it..feels ominous. And the weirdest part? It says 'A hospital on the east side of Shinjuku is closely linked to their plan.'"

"Let me guess," Isamu cut her off, "it ends with 'more to come in our next issue,' right?

"You know," he continued, "this could be the place. I've heard tons of freaky rumors about this hospital. Things like they experiment on the patients, and a psychic got scared and ran outta here. Not to mention that a cult hides around here."

"If he was really too stupid to leave an obvious ghost story setup right away," Nyx muttered, knowing that memory dreams can't really be interrupted by a visitor so easily, "this would explain a lot."

Chiaki shuddered. "I don't normally take this kind of magazine seriously, but-"

"Cult or not, Miss Takao is somewhere in here," Naoki cut in.

"Yeah," Isamu agreed, "we have to try and look for her, at least. I have to hand in that late paper somehow."

For a moment, the images of the three humans flashed. Chiaki's arm had been replaced by a squirming black tentacle, and her eyes had turned blood-red, Isamu had become a gigantic, amorphous, whale-shaped blob, and Naoki was suddenly in his Demi-Fiend form, adorned in tattoos and the horn on his neck.

What was really disturbing about all that, however, was that, for a brief moment, all three were trying to kill one another.

Then, the scene returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Isamu, you check the third floor, since we already did the second. I'll take the basement, and Chiaki-"

"This floor," she said. "I got it. Be careful, alright?"

Naoki smiled-not an evil smirk, not a slasher's grin- but an actual, good-natured smile. "You too."

The world dissolved into blackness. Sniffing, Nyx picked up the scent of blood (something she was far more used to than she would like, due to her centuries of experience in Lemon Rush's world).

"Disease is thataway, I guess," she said, "but why the memories playbacks?"

"Listen to me!" Kashima yelled, his voice echoing all over the black void. "I doubt you can reply, but I can only contain him for so long. Follow the scent of the plague, and you shall find the infection-like a tumor, taking root in his Horses do not have teeth that sharp, how did you do that?!"

He hissed in pain. "Do try to not get distracted by the memories, Daughter of BEND TO MY WILL! You curiosity brings them to the forefront, but do not fall off the trail! Keep going: you only have so much time to did you truly just cut off my ear with your tail?!"

[Nocturne], [Xenoblade Chronicles], [Admin Shenanigans]
RIP AND TEAR – parts 1 and 2
Author: Gulping

As always, Shulk came to in the field, his hands on a pile of mechon scrap that he knows is housing a cantankerous crabble. He gently pulls them back, as always, to avoid aggravating the creature and provoking a wildly pointless battle. He stands, and stretches, breathing easily as he adjusts to a new loop.

Then his Monado is in his hand, and he's swinging, just in time for the divine tool to come into contact with the fist of an angry god-killer.

The residents of Colony 9 all stumble, swearing and crying out as the earth shakes and wind roars, a sudden gust blowing a cloud of dust over the town, a plume of pulverized metal and stone soaring into the sky.

Shulk clenches his teeth, a white knuckle grip on the Monado as he uses its power to massively enhance his speed and agility, leaping away from the crater where he was standing not even a second ago.

"Hah... what the... Wha-" His musing is cut off as he parries another furious blow, the force of the impact obliterating the part of the crag he's standing on.

"What is th-" *BOOM* "Who ar-" *BOOM* "Would y-" *BOOM* "Enough! BUSTER!" *BRAAAAAAAAAAAM*

Shulk swings for the fences, throwing his assailant into the mountainous body of the Bionis, the impact more than enough to cause a severe rockslide. Fortunately, whatever's attacking him has managed to take him far enough away from Colony 9 to avoid collateral damage.

Well, HOPEFULLY avoid collateral damage, he amends as he leaps away from a flash of light that carves another great hole into Zanza's old trousers.

"Who in... A Looper?" Shulk's mind races as he realizes just how rogered he and everyone else would be if he couldn't pull out his own personal God-Sword on reflex. Then he considers that he still might be as he finally gets a look at his opponent. A young homs, dark haired, around his age if not younger, and covered in markings that remind him somewhat of faced mechon. Up to and including the sinister red glow.

Actually, amending that. This glow is much more ominous than any lightshow anyone up to and including Zanza ever put out.

"_!" And then there's the inarticulate scream of rage that Shulk swears is making the dead titans themselves shake. Possibly in fear. Somehow. Which is impressive, given the whole dead, empty husk thing.

"What... What are you?"

…

"Masakado, we have a problem."

One of the most unfortunate Admins looked up at Monad as the transparent, sexless deity came in, politely closing the door behind it.

"It's about Naoki, as I'm sure you can guess." The God of Tokyo twitched slightly at the mention of his wayward Anchor, who had gone completely mad and decided to go all walking apocalypse on everyone who had the misfortune of being anywhere near him following a disastrous incident in Equestria. Which is why he was keeping his door locked.

Sighing the sigh of those who have worked thanklessly in suffering, Masakado tore himself away from the streaming code stating that everything was just as fucked as it was ten divine seconds ago. "Let me guess, you're here to chew me out over something I couldn't actually control?"

Monad shakes its head, expression neutral as everything else about itself. "Actually, I believe that there might be a way for you to neutralize him. You were assigned to that one Branch, correct?"

"You're gonna have to be more specific. All I've had time to think about is this Amala clusterfuck. Hephaestus would be weeping if he was dealing with this kind of shit. I think that this whole mess might be fundamentally broken..."

"I was not referring to the Amala Branch. I was referring to that Branch."

Masakado raises an eyebrow as Monad points at something, and turns to look.

"Shulk and the Monado were able to defeat Naoki, although it resulted in a minor crash. Taking that into account, that Branch is already mostly stable, and I believe that the Anchor would be more than capable of breaking Naoki out of his madness, based on what has been established in the baseline."

"...Your brilliant plan is to have Naoki beat his head against that guy until he runs out of anger?" Masakado's tone is wildly incredulous. Monad's only response is a solemn nod.

Masakado sighs again, heavier this time. "Alright. Let's give it a shot. Not like he'd listen to me or anyone else in this state, so let's just tire him out. Could you give me a hand with this? It's going to take some precise timing and I need to boot the Branch up so we can shove Naoki into it at all."

"It would be no trouble, Masakado. I have faith that this will work, although it is not needed. Not with the man in question."

[Nocturne], [Strange Journey], [SMT IV], [Animorphs]
Why Subspace Pockets shouldn't store livings beings – part 1
Author: Gamerex27

My name is Langdon.

My name is Langdon Alder.

There's no point in trying to disguise my identity. The Yeerks will never get their hands on this and even if they did, it wouldn't matter beyond this Loop.

May as well get this out of the way. I am the Anchor for the Schwarzwelt portion of Amala-yes, that Amala, the Branch that seems like it's actively trying to ruin your day.

But, of course, that's now what most of you know me for, is it? I'm sure that the second you saw my name, you instantly thought of "the guy who found out first hand why putting living things in your Pocket is a horrible idea."

I've been dying to set the record straight. I am not some living textbook paragraph: I'm a human being. And after hearing apologies and pity for thousands of Loops, I've finally got the confidence to speak out about what the hell happened all those eons ago.

It happened shortly after the infamous...well, what we pulled sort of defies description. I don't even fully understand what we did, since the things we saw were literally beyond mortal comprehension. Whatever it was, though, it worked: no one Crashed (although we may have been cutting things dangerously close), and it all led to a karmic payback for all of us. The first Loop after all that, we all ended up together for the first time in a long while, where Skuld yelled at us and Izanagi congratulated us at the same time. Mixed messages there, Admins.

So, anyways, about a dozen Loops after that, I found myself Awakening in an awkward position.

Namely, with an angry blue centaur-scorpion's bladed tail at my throat.

You are not Prince Jake, he hissed telepathically.

"Huh?" I was still too disoriented and confused from Waking Up to come up with a coherent response (not that I'm good with words anyways. Comes with the whole "military grunt" job).

Where. Is. Prince. JAKE?!

I twisted out of the way, and felt the blade slash at my neck, just barely missing being decapitated.

"Calm yourself!" I heard a feminine voice-Isabeau's-cry. "Must I remind you that a fleet of angry extraterrestrials is about to-"

All this time, the alien hissed, They remained here. Tobias always convinced the others to investigate and rescue me from this sinking prison. And I cannot hear him. Where is he?! Where is Prince Jake?!

Wait a second, I thought. Jake, Tobias...and he looks suspiciously like-

"Ax!" I blurted out, before I could stop myself. Childhood memories-and I mean from my Baseline-dragged themselves to the surface-memories of going to the bookstore, buying those books with teenagers turning into animals on the front, and reading about their daring adventures in saving the Earth from alien puppermasters.

Of course, now that I know most fiction is actually a backup for real Branches, I realized that all those struggles were real. And, if he had just started Looping, as he had implied, and wait there goes my arm. Ow.

Grunting, I grabbed at my shoulder stump with my remaining hand, countless lifetimes of military training preventing me from breaking down and going catatonic from the pain. "Wait!" I yelled. "Has time been repeating endlessly for you?"

The Groundhog Loop? Instantly, Ax's tail was at my throat again. In the background, I could see Flynn and Superpixie in the same post-Waking haze I had been in, with Isabeau struggling to keep the doors closed and not-flooded. What do you know of it?

I was quiet for a moment, barely managing to use the Force to stem the blood pouring out of my side. Memories of a construction site, another Andalite, and a blue box flooded my mind. Memories that had come to me out of the blue in this new Loop. "You can let me morph and heal so I can explain," I said, agony making my voice shaky, "or you could keep trying to kill us, and never get a solid answer."

I head Ax growl in frustration in thought-speak, and he withdrew his blade. Very well, he said. But when we get to land, you will tell me everything.

"Can you not just cast a water-breathing spell to help us get out?" Flynn said, already at Isabeau's side, trying to hold the door closed.

"I have tried," she grumbled. "Many times. Something...Something is preventing me from utilizing my Subspace Pocket!"

"Wonderful," Pixie sighed. "Should we go with the fancy new shapeshifting stuff I've got Loop Memories of?"

Ignoring pain, I nodded, and concentrated on the image of a dolphin.

For those of you wondering, yes, the Escafil Device is just as uncomfortable to use as it sounds. The twisting of bones, growing and losing new limbs, losing and gaining organs. It should be fatal. It should hurt. It should be agonizing. Thankfully, it isn't, but you still have to listen to those horrible sounds of your bones twisting like pretzels and stuff.

…

I was wondering when you guys would get here, I heard a familiar voice say as we surfaced, weary from dodging sharks, an angry Visser Three, and the occasional amorous dolphin.

Naoki?

I'd say "the one and only," but it's a common name in Japan. So, I can't.

According to my Loop memories, Unawake Naoki had taken the role of Tobias, and just like his counterpart, and managed to get himself trapped in morph.

However, I'm pretty sure that Tobias was a red-tailed hawk, and not a Hork-Bajir.

I get that you'd be the type to go in guns...er, blade...blazing, I asked him, but where'd you even get the DNA for that morph?

Elfangor put up a hell of a fight before the Pisser took him down, he replied, glancing at one of the many blades on his arm. I got some of the blood on me, and next thing I know, that's the first thing I morph. I wanted to use it as a battle morph, since some bastard is messing with our Pockets, but this ain't a bad body to be stuck in.

He leaned back on his small sailboat. "You want a lift?" he asked aloud, his usually soft and distinct voice turned harsh by the alien's rough vocal cords.

One by one, he hauled us up as we de-morphed, the process healing the many, many injuries he accidentally (I hope) inflicted in the effort.

"Alright," I breathed as soon as my mouth appeared. "Bird morphs to get back. Ax, I'll explain on the way.

Oh, sure! Naoki said sarcastically. You take the easy way home, and leave the multi-ton walking Swiss Army Knife to take the slow way back to the coast, run as fast as these sluggish legs can take me, and hide in the woods until I can finally come into the shitty barn. Real nice of you, soldier boy!

Just call us on the Che- I stopped myself mid thought. Better to not creep Ax out even more with foreknowledge, and try to ease him into it. Uh, we'll be back later. Isabeau, you're the best with this stuff.

Very well, then, she said with a mental sigh. I wish I had the aid of my Gauntlet to explain this, but as I don't, words will have to suffice. Let me begin: all the omniverse rests on the branches of a supercomputer known as Yggdrasil...

…

Ax had listened to the explanation in total silence, and was still quiet by the time we got back to Cassie's (Isabeau's, I guess) barn.

"...Are you...well?" Flynn asked, a few seconds after he finished demorphing.

I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from joking about Andalite pride stopping him from admitting that a more advanced race exists. I wasn't talking to a book, after all: Ax, and the rest of the Animorphs, were just as real as I was.

It...is much to take in, he finally replied. As odd as it seems, your reasoning is sound, and matches with the trends Tobias and I have noted throughout the cycles-or Loops, as you say.

"Don't worry, mister!" Pixie said, slapping him on the back. "As long as you're not cursed by some giant cosmic string, you'll be able to change stuff!"

"String?" Isabeau asked. "I do not recall seeing a string during the-"

Is there anything else different in this iteration? Ax suddenly asked. I seem to recall a bizarre xeno-mythology lesson from school about near-godlike aliens, but I-

"-Slept through it again?" I asked. "You have to start drinking coffee or something."

Please stop doing that, Ax said. I understand that these "backups" allowed you to learn of my "Branch" many years ago, but the foreknowledge is...unnerving.

"Alright," I said, holding up my hands defensively. "I'm sorry. So, what do you usually do at this point? Have you found some kind of shortcut to beat the Yeerks?"

Before we do that, I would like to investigate this Variation. We have no way of knowing what had changed, from what I can tell, and I also wish to learn how to utilize the "Subspace Pocket."

"Fair enough." I opened the barn doors. "We'll break for tonight, then meet up on the weekend, I guess. Been a while since I've been to school."

Have I mentioned how cool it is to not have to go to school, but have a GED from another Loop anyways? Naoki asked. Because it-OW!

"Stop being a jerk!" Pixie said, withdrawing her hand. "You've already made enough people mad with your rampage: being mean to everybody will make it worse!"

As the two began to argue, I looked at Flynn and Isabeau. Both of the shrugged, and left the barn with me.

…

-RING!- -RING!-

"Nrgh," I groaned. "F'k off, Tom," I said, going off Loop Memories. "Too early for school."

As I slowly got out of the bed, I realized that it wasn't an alarm clock going off, but a phone. One of those old-fashioned, wired ones: Animorphs really did turn out to be a period piece, didn't it?

"Hello?" I asked.

"Barn. Now!" Naoki's voice bellowed.

"Have another nightmare again?" I asked, smirking. "Just get Slaanesh to tuck you back in."

Before Naoki could launch into another rant about how shi was not his girl/boy/whateverfriend, Ax's voice came on the phone. "An alien has appeared in the city. Ci-teeeh."

That got my attention fast. "Is Crayak pulling something? Or was it that Diablous-Ex-Machina from the last bo-Uh, I mean the end of your Loop?"

"Neither," he replied. "According to Yeerk transmissions, it is called 'Dubhe.' And it is a giant ice cream cone."

"...what?"

"Ice cream. Iiiice creeeea-"

As the sound of another slap to the face interrupted him, I hung up the phone, and opened the window. "Just once," I growled, "I'd like a good vacation."

[Nocturne], [One-Punch Man]
RIP AND TEAR – part 3
Author: Gulping

Naoki Kashima was not having a good day.

Which meant that nobody was having a good day.

A rather large amount of people were not having good days as a direct result of Naoki Kashima.

Several of these people were very powerful and skilled, with abilities that came uncomfortably close to the very limits of man's ability to comprehend reality.

This immense power did not make them somehow immune to what was basically a rabid, god-eating bastard mutant spawn of a honey badger and a wolverine from coming out of nowhere and putting his fist through their important organs.

This was, of course, mostly just bad luck and being unaware that somebody was coming to put fists through their organs until he was already there.

With his fists through their organs.

Naoki Kashima can move really fast when he's more pissed off than anyone has been since the incident that lead to certain members of Yggdrasil's administration staff becoming rather a lot more professional on the job.

But this is digression, and it only really serves to illustrate that Naoki Kashima is about to make a lot of people have a very bad day indeed.

Well, he WOULD, except for the fact that before he could actually go about the business of sticking his fists through people's organs, he was interrupted, and promptly sent flying out of the city, over a mountain, through a forest, and into a lake.

…

"Huh. That was different. That guy felt like bad news." The bald, cape-and-costume wearing man watched Naoki's figure disappear over the horizon with something resembling interest. "He didn't explode, turn inside-out, or disintegrate either. That's only happened... Twice?"

Saitama of Z-City rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he gazed off where he had just launched the Demi-Fiend, though he was unaware of the specifics regarding that identity. Granted, being unaware of the specifics was more or less Saitama's normal state of being.

Just as an example of how unaware of the specifics Saitama is? He has not yet realized he's in a time loop.

This isn't because he's stupid or anything, mind you.

This is because Saitama is strong.

Impossibly strong.

Unbelievably strong.

Through constant training and effort, he became strong.

Also all his hair fell out.

But that's not actually important to anyone besides Saitama. The important bit is that he's strong.

Saitama is so strong, in fact, that he can no longer bring himself to care.

Saitama, who wished to become a hero, who wishes to face strong opponents, cannot find fulfillment.

So Saitama, despite his incredible strength, lives a mediocre, impoverished life.

Saitama doesn't particularly care about that, though.

The giant cloud of dust, debris, and what used to be a lake rising out from where he launched Naoki Kashima, though...

"Oh."

That looks like it might merit caring.

[Nocturne], [My Little Pony]
Naoki loses it – parts 16 and 17
Author: Gamerex27

"Damnit...what the hell, Ms. Takao!" Naoki hissed, rubbing at the burn on his arm again. "Look, I don't wanna be rude, but your friend down there in the basement pulled some kind of monster out of his ass and threw fire at me! Is the school's healthcare that bad you had to come here?"

"I didn't want you to fall prey to that demon," Yuko Takao replied, staring out at the city limits from the hospital's roof. "But I'm just one woman. I can't stop that...I can't stop this..."

"Huh?"

"You heard what Hikawa said, right?" she asked. "The world is about to be engulfed by chaos. He calls it 'The Conception.' The rebirth of the world, an event which no human has ever witnessed."

"...Do you want me to get you a coffee or something?" Naoki asked, staring at his teacher like she had just grown at least a dozen extra heads. "You sound like you're still doped up on morphine."

"Please don't," she told him. "The nearest coffee shop is across the street. And everyone outside of this hospital will perish."

"It'd only take me a few-wait, what?!"

"I doubt anyone would approve of such a terrible thing," Yuko said, "but even if we let this old world continue to exist, it would eventually lose all of its power. The world must first die, for it to be reborn again."

"Oh, God," Naoki said, massaging his temples, "you've drank the Kool-Aid (*), haven't you? No offense, Miss Takao, but maybe you should've gone to a psyche ward instead."

"If this was the kind of person he looked up to," Nyx muttered, "that explains even more."

"No," she replied. "I alone must bear the sins of this world. And I have no regrets."

She walked closer to the fenced off edge of the roof, and Naoki stepped in front of her. "No. I'm not gonna let you throw yourself off a roof because some nutjob with an oil drum and pet monster told you to!"

"You came here," she continued, seemingly paying him no heed, "guided by fate. And it is your fate that you will live through the Conception. It may actually be more painful than death."

"Look," the boy told her, "knock all the crazy talk off. I don't wanna have to stop you. Please, just-"

"Listen," she said, staring past him at the city behind them "I believe in you.

"Naoki. No matter how the world changes, I'll be your strength. As the Maiden, I'll take part in the creation of a new world. I know it's difficult for you to understand."

"No, you're the one who's not getting it!" he rebutted. "The world's not going to go and change just 'cause one guy says it will!"

Yuko paused for a brief moment. "There's no point arguing," she said, finally. "Naoki, if you can find me on your own, I promise that I'll tell you everything."

And before Naoki could reply, Nyx felt a pressure building up in the air. Her entire coat stood on end, as lightning struck out of the clear sky at the horizon.

"What the hell?!"

The ground beneath them shook, as the city stretched into the distance. Lighting struck at each and every building in Tokyo: in another flash of light, the entire sky went dark.

Massive bolts of electricity thundered towards the ground, blackening entire city blocks with their touch. A wave of unholy light extended from the horizon, travelling through the city and draining color from everywhere it touched. The edges of the city just vanished, leaving nothing beyond a blank void past the city expanse of Tokyo.

While Nyx knew she wasn't in any real danger from a simple memory, she couldn't help but stare in horror at the apocalypse before her. Slowly, what was left of Tokyo-or rather, what was left of the entire planet-slowly stretched upwards, forming into a giant dome over the city.

Nyx couldn't see anything beyond that: a blinding light flashed from the unnatural sun forming under the dome, and she was left alone in the darkness.

"That...was in his Baseline?" Nyx murmured to herself, as she trotted forwards towards the scent of disease. The knowledge came unbidden to her: stray tidbits of information, floating around in this sad stallion's mind.

As she walked onwards, she saw dozens of small images, floating in the aether around her. All of them replayed the same thing she had just seen, sans sound: Naoki and his teacher on the rooftops, watching as the world ended. However, something was different in each image. In some, Naoki was visibly incensed, standing in a much more hostile pose and looking like he was threatening Yuko. In others, he was much more direct, shaking Yuko by the shoulders and screaming unheard words at her face. In others still, Naoki was on his knees, pleading for his mentor to come to her senses and snap out of it. And in others, he faced down a stone-faced man with a widow's peak (likely the "Hikawa" Yuko had spoken of), lunging at him and slamming him repeatedly into a barrel-like chunk of metal, in a desperate attempt to turn it off.

But none of it worked. Not a single one.

…

Nyx had not had an easy life. Being stalked by an evil cult and the target of numerous assassination attempts can do that to a mare.

However, she reflected, at least she had many loved ones and friends who stuck with her, thick and thin, throughout the Loops. She was starting to see why Naoki had snapped. No matter where she looked, over the course of countless years worth of memories, she could not find a single one where Naoki stopped the end of the world or saved his friends. Even in those Loops where he had reset the world to its previous state by remaking it in the exact same image, the Loop ended mere seconds later.

"But...that doesn't make any sense," she muttered to herself, as the smell of blood and disease grew stronger the farther she walked. "I mean...if he was in that much pain for so long, how come no one helped him?"

As she turned right by several degrees to follow the scent again, she concentrated on the thought of Naoki talking about his troubles to anyone. Anyone at all.

The thousands of screens, with eons of memories, vanished in the blink of an eye. All but one.

"Really?" Nyx asked herself. "How-" she stopped herself. She looked again at the screen, as it expanded and she found herself sitting at a bar.

The moment she felt her hindquarters touch the velvet stool, she started looking around. Obviously, the asari tending the bar meant this was in Shepard's Branch. But the gaggle of demons at the tables? The succubus, making out with the elcor in the corner? The three women attached to a clock (were those the Norn?!) engaged in a drinking contest with the three human women sharing a single eye between them and a very drunk angel wearing bondage gear that Slaanesh would have loved? Must be a Fused Loop.

"Something wrong?" a dark-haired human said, as he sat down on the other side of Nyx.

Nyx restrained herself from speaking, knowing that she wasn't really here, and that he couldn't be talking to her.

"I'm fine," a voice besides him grunted. Leaning her head over the bar (and through the projection of the bartender), she saw that the speaker was a giant, hunched over, reptilian alien with a head-crest (a krogan, she thought?). One with Naoki's neck-horn.

"You've been down ever since we beat the White," the man continued. "For someone who just helped to save an entire Loop from Mechacthulhu Ascending, you seem down in the dumps."

Nyx's ears twitched. It was too early to tell, but this sounded like the Loop Mama had mentioned once when she was drinking with Shepard. The one where a crazy machine-god had tried to Ascend, and Shepard stopped him with the help of a bunch of Loopers that Mama didn't recognize. Were those Loopers from Amala?

"It's just that..." Krogan Naoki stopped, then sighed. "They know way too much. They give you a breaking speech too?"

"Yeah," the soldier sighed. "They're part of mankind's collective unconsciousness, like all the big shots. All despair, all self-loathing, all hopelessness, pressed into four tiny human-shaped bodies. So they know all your weak spots and all the buttons to push, which makes them a bitch to fight. They went on and on about how I'll always be trapped in the Schwarzwelt for all eternity, forced to see my squadmates all go nuts and die. But it's never all of them. Just a ton of people I never got to know very well, and Jimenez and Zelenin. Enough of my friends make it through that I'm not too lonely or broken up about it."

"Must be nice for you, Langdon," Naoki muttered, stirring his drink.

"...you sound a bit...resentful," the soldier noted. "I don't want to pry, but is something..."

"Other than the fact that my entire planet dies, and everything I do to try and re-make it or make a new world never sticks?" Naoki muttered, slurring his words slightly. "No. We've all got our demons to fight-some literal, and others in here," he said, thumping his chest. "It gets grating, but other people've got it worse."

"I've never seen you this sullen," his companion said, shaking his head. "Stoic, yeah, but I don't remember you getting broken up over anythi-"

"Broken up?!" Naoki muttered in a low voice. "No. No. Pixie just started Looping, so I'm not really alone. Not alone," he repeated, to seemingly no one in particular. "We can fix this."

"Naoki," Langdon said, his voice turning grave. "If something is wrong, you just need to tell us. Just let it-"

"Let it all out?" the krogan hissed. "What will that solve? 'Oh, woe is me, I'm caught in a time Loop where I have to go through the same things over and over again, totally alone and being forced to see all my friends die again and again?!' I'm no Shinji. Every Anchor goes through this by definition: you, me, Shepard, everyone. I know damn well that sitting around and bitching about how much my life sucks won't change a damn thing. Angst doesn't solve anything: action does. No point spending time whining about how much my life sucks when I have the power to change it."

"There's more to this than normal Looper cabin fever, isn't there?" Langdon guessed, moving to put his hand on Naoki's shoulder. "If something's wrong, you can just ask for our help?"

Naoki was silent for a few moments.

"...do you know how rare Fused Loops are? I've counted how many Loops I've spent outside of my home Loop. You know how many? Somewhere around 5%. Of all the Loops I've been through for billions of years. 4% was with you guys. So, I appreciate the offer, but you guys only come along so rarely that you may never get the chance to do it yourselves. I need to do this on my own."

"Listen to me, damnit-"

"I'm. Fine," the Demi-Fiend hissed.

"No, you're not!' Langdon shouted suddenly, grabbing the krogan by the shoulder. "I'm no doctor, but I know shell shock when I see it! You need a Loop with the Invesrigation Team, or the ponies, or some other Sanctuary-"

"Always with the fucking ponies!" Naoki screamed back. "SHUT UP ABOUT THEM FOR FIVE MINUTES. GOD DAMNIT, I'M FINE!"

And before Langdon could reply, Naoki slipped a gemstone out of his sleeve, and pressed down on it, vanishing in a flash of light into a small, one-man ship.

"I'M FINE!" he screamed again, yelling at no one. "I'm...fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine..."

He was silent for some time, panting and clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly. He stayed that way until the memory faded to oblivion, and Nyx found herself ever-closer to the Delphinus Parasite.