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

[Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Spectrobes]
The escape pod – part 12
Author: Tincanman125

===Akaboshi, Moon of Ziba===

"Damn it," Yu swore, "the big Krawl wasn't on Aoboshi and we haven't found a single trace of it here, so where the heck is it?

"I don't know," Minako replied, frustration evident in her voice, "but at this point I'm seriously considering blowing up both of these moons and calling it a day."

"I've got good news and bad news." Aldous said over the comm.

"What's the good news?" Yu asked.

"I've found the Vilokken agent we're looking for." Aldous replied.

"And the bad news?" Minako asked.

"It's attacking the ship, and it just took out the engines." Aldous told them.

The duo could only groan at their poor luck.

…

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Narukami asked.

"If what you're seeing is a tentacle monster with a cone of scrap metal on it confusing our ship for a potential mate, then yes I am." Izanagi deadpanned.

"Let's see just how tough it is shall we?" Minako asked, "Orpheus Telos, blast it with a Morning Star!"

At Minako's order the Persona launched a blast of Almighty energy at the Krawl, the attack kicking up a large cloud of dust as it connected.

"Think it's dead?" Pharos inquired.

"If it's not then it's probably in a lot of pain right now." Izanagi commented.

The dust suddenly cleared as the monster shot towards Orpheus nose cone first while spinning like a drill; with the force of the impact sending the Persona crashing into a nearby canyon wall.

"Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming," Izanagi said as he turned to Yu, "want me to try?" He asked.

"You might as well." Yu told him.

With that Izanagi-no-Okami unleashed a powerful Myraid Truths, only for the Vilokken to ascend rapidly into the atmosphere to avoid it, and causing the attack to carve a perfectly circular cave into the canyon (said cave would later become a popular tourist attraction, but that's a story for another time).

"This is getting old fast," Yu said, "I think it's about time to try out what we've been practicing."

"Agreed." Minako said with a knowing grin.

…

"Thanatos!" Minako yelled.

"Lucifer!" Yu called out.

"All Out Attack: Fall From Grace!" The pair shouted.

…

Thanatos let out a roar as his chains dug into the rocks below, only to burst out of the ground beneath the Vilokken and entangle it, bringing the beast crashing down and pinning it.

Next Lucifer flew up into the air and rained down powerful Almighty spells on the unfortunate Krawl, causing massive damage to the creature.

Once more it was Thanatos' turn to strike, as he used his sword to stab an exposed piece of the monster's flesh before shifting his grip to allow Lucifer to grab the weapon as well.

Then both of the Personas began to channel energy into the blade that was still stuck in the Krawl's skin, Thanatos channeling darkness, and Lucifer using light.

The massive amounts of energy being poured into it caused the Vilokken agent to explode in a rather impressive manner, with the light generated being able to be seen from Ziba's surface.

[Devil Survivor 2], [Pokémon]
Al Psyduck
Author: Gamerx27

"-use Sacred Fire!"

Chimchar blinked as he Awoke in a new Loop. He slowly pulled back his outstretched paw, which had been a hand a few seconds ago from his perspective, and rolled his eyes.

"Hate it when that happens," he muttered, strolling down the beach. "Wonder if Piplup is up for tricking Team Skull into stealing some other fruit? Pears? Bananas, maybe?"

"Nhhn."

"Speak of the Darkrai," the Anchor muttered, carefully making his way to the shoreline, treading slowly so as to not get himself wet (as it still tended to sting, no matter how many Loop powers helped him resist water burns). "Hey, there! Are you feeling Loopy?"

"Please...not so loud," the facedown Pokemon said. Chimchar quickly realized that this wasn't Piplup. Not because he was a Psyduck: species switching was often with their Loop. No, because his voice was totally different. Somehow, this new Looper carried an air of mystery and grace in his voice alone.

Though the undercurrents of pain did lessen the effect by a good deal.

"Oh. Sorry," Chimchar gently grabbed the Psyduck's hand and pulled him to his feet, ignoring the pins-and-needles on his paw from having to dip it in the ocean. "You Awake?"

"If by that, you mean that I have regained my memory of past Cycles, then yes." Once he was steady on his feet, the mystery Looper looked at the Anchor and smiled. "Ah. You must be a Pokemon. The Folder from which one of the animes the Shining One enjoys originates."

"That's...not the right terminology, but yeah, we're Pokemon. So are you, at the moment."

As the new Looper massaged his temples, he glanced downwards. "So I am. There are many breeds, correct? Which one have I taken the form of?'

"Psyduck. It's a Water Pokemon-"

He was cut off by soft chuckling. The other Looper brought a hand up to his mouth, trying to hold in his laughter, then winced again from the perennial headache of the species.

"Forgive me. It's...amusing that Yggdrasil makes such strange connections between individual datum. My name is Al Saiduq."

Chimchar wasn't sure whether to groan or laugh at the realization that Yggdrasil put a Looper in another Branch because of yet another pun, so he did neither. Instead, he held out his paw to shake. "Nice to meet you, Saiduq, I'm Chimchar."

Blinking, Saiduq hesitantly stuck his hand out parallel to Chimchar's paw. Sighing, the Fire-Type Pokemon grasped his hand and shook.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me: I did not realize that greetings via handshake were so universal. As such..." Saiduq trailed off, leaning to the side to look beyond Chimchar.

"Oh, right. It's now."

With that, Chimchar whirled around and breathed fire right into Zubat's face as he tried to lift the Relic Fragment out from his pack.

Screeching in pain, Koffing was likewise repulsed by a blast of psionic energy from Al Saiduq. After considering that instinctive reaction for a moment, he stretched out his hand and BOOOOOOOOM

…

As the evil duo went blasting off (again) into the sky, Chimchar cleared the embers out of his throat, and returned to their prior conversation. "Don't worry, those headaches will stop after you evolve."

"I am glad to hear it." The alien entity turned his gaze towards the town in the distance. "A settlement? The inhabitants of this world...I see." He muttered something to himself about the spark of free will/creative potential, and smiled, managing to shut down his headache for the moment with a quick molecular reorganization of his neural chemistry. "I would like it very much if I could see this town for myself, Chimchar."

"Alright. We usually go there anyways." As the two began to walk off the beach, he decided to fill the guest Looper in on some current events. "Okay, some important stuff about this Loop. We've got a stock bad future, because the god of time's gone nuts, and there's also a dimensional..."

[Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Spectrobes]
The escape pod – part 13
Author: Tincanman125

Apparently the team had lucked out for once. They had quickly discovered that the Vilokken had merely managed to knock the wires running from the control console to the engine loose by rattling the ship.

"I'm glad that was an easy fix," Yu said, "I know we could have just used the door to the Velvet Room to get back to Kollin, but there's no telling how long it would have taken to get a new ship."

"Speaking of the Velvet Room, I'm probably going to need to see Igor again soon," Minako sighed. "Orpheus Telos went down surprisingly quickly for all the effort I had to put in to get him this loop."

"Are you going to ask him to fuse Messiah again?" Pharos asked.

"Yeah," Minako replied, "Igor is still maintaining the Compendium, so I wouldn't lose Thanatos for too long anyway."

"Good plan," Izanagi commented, "even with the powers I've picked up that thing still gives me a hard time whenever I have to fight it."

"So it's settled then," Aldous stated. "Minako will pay Igor a visit, meanwhile the rest of us will pick up the green keystone from the museum."

===Museum, Kollin===

"All hail the Lord of the Great Schnozzola!" A strange shirtless man on a crate yelled outside of the museum, "For he has come to deliver us from the threat of the Xeno, the Mutant, and the Heretic!"

"...I guess this was what Professor Kate was talking about when she mentioned that Igor had a cult." Aldous said, exasperated.

"Go on ahead without me," Yu told Aldous, "I need a video of this in case I ever need to blackmail Igor for some reason." He explained, "After that I'll probably take this nutcase in for disturbing the peace or something."

[Devil Survivor 2]
Activation snip – part 1
Author: Alternis_Alcor

As Sunday continued to crawl on by, a single person stood out amongst the crowded streets of Tokyo, but at the same time he remained unseen. Al Saiduq, as he preferred to be called now, had noticed time seemed to reset around him several dozen times so far. He could remember every iteration of the same week; even when there were subtle changes, like the demons people would call out or the major ones, where a person's whole character was changed.

He found that the few times he had died simply led to a new iteration, but when one of the others died, no such change would occur. He had found it to be quite lonely when he was the only one noticing the resets. When Hibiki started to notice them was a day he remembered fondly, as he was no longer alone.

The next were the Shining One's friends, Daichi Shijima and Io Nitta, who had the closest bonds to the boy. The only other one was Yamato Hotsuin, the leader of JP's. So far, only those four people were aware of what was going on, and it was only so often that they were… 'awake' all at the same time. Like now, actually.

Earlier, Al Saiduq had slain the one who would cause an ordeal for this world; Polaris, the Administrator of the Akashic Records, which meant that she was in charge of their reality. Whenever he didn't kill her right off.

Doing so would keep the ordeal from happening, and the first time he did it he thought that time would be fixed. Instead, even though the week was a quiet one, at the end time reset. The ordeal occurred and they saw their world deleted once again.

He felt that his friends, something he was quite happy to have, needed a rest after the last few iterations where everything just went… weird, but he noticed something that worried him. He couldn't figure out what had happened exactly, but he needed to find Hibiki so they could talk about it. Something had happened, and he had to find out what it was.

…

Hibiki and his friends were sitting at a table in a little cafe they had found, where he decided to treat them after the entrance exams.

The maids in the cafe cosplaying as different demons were just a bonus. Really.

"I don't remember this place being here before. Hell, I don't think it was here this morning!" Daichi commented, as he was served by a maid dressed like a pixie. He had a lot of trouble not staring at the girls.

Hibiki chuckled at Daichi's nervous expression, "I felt that we needed to relax a bit, so what better way than building a new cafe? Getting the demons to actually work here was a bit of a challenge, though."

"Wait, hang on. How did you build a cafe so quickly, let alone convince demons to work as maids!?"

Io had an inkling as to the how, "Does this have anything to the Records? That's the only way I can think of that can make such a quick change."

Hibiki nodded, "Yeah, I found out that I could access them though my phone ever since I became the Record's administrator that one time near the beginning. I can't do anything on a worldwide scale or create new things, but I can sort of 'edit' anything that exists on a smaller scale like making an old dilapidated building into a cafe."

Daichi and Io were shocked, they didn't know that he could do this. Daichi had to know, "So does that mean you can do something about the Septentrions?"

Hibiki shook his head, "No. The most I could do was change their attacks to become weaker and screw over Benetnasch's Pacify Skill , and that was after a lot of trial and error. Mostly I just see what changes I can make to us whenever I can."

Io nodded, and remembered one of the resets. "So the time that all the boys were turned into girls was your doing?"

"WHAT?"

"Ha ha, yeah that was my work. It was pretty funny watching all of you try to figure that one out."

"Dude, that wasn't funny! Do you know how much trouble that caused! I still have trouble going to the right bathroom!"

"Don't worry, Daichi. I was only trying to lighten things up that time."

"Even so, that was a serious misuse of power Shining One."

The three friends turned in surprise and saw Al Saiduq behind them, wearing his gentle smile as always.

"Dude, that still scares us, you know. Seriously, make some noise before just popping out of nowhere." After all this time and he still manages to scare them.

"My apologies, but I needed to speak with the Shining One about his use of the Records. You are welcome to stay if you wish." After Daichi and Io decided to stick around, the Septentrion continued. "Using the Akashic Records like this is something you can't take lightly. Even for a prank, that was irresponsible."

Hibiki sighed. "Yeah, but I just wanted to… cheer everyone up, with time repeating and everything. All the problems that happen could end up hurting them."

Daichi spoke up, "Yeah, but most of the time Al over here just takes out Polaris at the start, leaving us with some peace and quiet whenever the Triangulum don't show up again."

Io noticed Hibiki was starting to sweat a bit, and came to a realization. "You're trying to cheer yourself up, aren't you?"

As though he was struck by the statement, he tried to deny it. "That's not it at all! You know me, I'm the second mellowest person after Joe! Why would I need to cheer myself up?"

Daichi was beginning to piece together his own hypothesis, "Did something happen when Io and I weren't around or something?" 'This is starting to become like those Ace Attorney games!'

At his recoil, Al Saiduq said, "Does it have to do with that iteration we went through?"

Hibiki froze and couldn't answer, so Io asked, "What happened? Were we not 'awake' for this?"

"No. To put it simply, everything went to hell." To hear Al Saiduq say something like that was enough to show how bad it was. "The Shining One and I were the only ones to see it, and the only ones to survive."

With hesitation, Hibiki nodded. "We usually all stay together during the week and team up at the end, but everyone just ended up dying one by one. I couldn't get over it so I spent all these resets trying to distract myself with the pranks and stuff. I'm sorry if I did hurt your feelings doing it, but I just couldn't stand thinking about it anymore."

Anything else he was going to say disappeared as Io gave him a comforting hug. "You don't have to endure it alone, Hibiki. You have us with you to help."

Daichi nodded, "Yeah. After all you did to help us before this all started, it's the least we can do to return the favor. Speaking of which, I'm gonna get you back for turning me into a girl."

Even with tears in his eyes, Hibiki fired back, "You're just jealous you were even smaller that Airi."

As everyone laughed, Hibiki was glad that he didn't have to be alone.

Daichi then had a thought, and turned to Saiduq. "Hey, have you been able to figure out what's going on yet?"

The Septentrion shook his head, "I have not. Even checking the Records only results in errors when I look through them."

"Then it's a good thing someone does know!"

Surprised, they looked at their phones and saw two familiar faces. "Hey, Tico! And Tico. We haven't seen you in a while." Hibiki had noticed that they were usually gone during the resets, so he was glad to see that they were okay.

"It is good to see you too, Misters Kuze and Shijima. And you as well, Miss Nitta."

"Master had us looking everywhere in the Records trying to figure out why time was starting over and over and over and-"

"And we may not have found an answer, but we received an e-mail from someone who claims that they can tell us everything."

Al Saiduq was surprised at this. "Does the message say anything else.?"

"He's waiting with Yammy over at JP's to speak with all of us right now!"

"Very well. Thank you both for your help." Turning to his friends, Saiduq said, "We can finally get the answers we need. If they could contact the Ticos while they were in the Records, then this person can surely help us."

Daichi was excited. "Well what are we waiting for? Lets go!"

Io agreed with him, "We can't let this chance slip by."

"Yeah! Let's vamanos!"

"Again with the spanish?"

"Indeed. Hang on, I can get us there quickly."

Daichi realized what he had planned, "Wait no, not agai-"

And in a blink the four were gone, leaving a table full of food and an angry demon maid. "What the hell, they didn't even pay!"

…

Appearing in JP's Tokyo Branch, they hurried to find Yamato.

"So are we going to use the headquarters as our own secret clubhouse now? I feel as if I should start charging for this."

Hibiki just laughed, "Don't worry Yammy, we know you like having us here."

"Stop calling me that. Anyway, the one you're looking for is in the meeting room. Follow me."

Leading them to the meeting room, they saw a tall individual who was the very image of the hero Masakado. Even the one they could summon couldn't hold a candle to this guy.

"Greetings. My name is Masakado, the Admin for the Amala Branches of Yggdrasil. Now, we have much to discuss."

[Persona 3], [Doctor Who]
(no title)
Author: Gamerex27

"Why a gun?"

As the Vashta Nerada were burned away in Orpheus Telos's cleansing fire, Minato lowered his Evoker from his head and glanced back at the Doctor. "Huh?"

"Why does it have to be a gun?" he continued, his trenchcoat swaying as he pointed at the magitech device now holstered at Minato's belt. "Why not...well, anything else?!"

"That's how using a Persona works." Pausing his phone's music app, he nimbly leapt over one of the unfortunate souls killed by the shadows and looked at the Doctor, head tilted slightly in confusion. "Unless you've got a shortcut, like from Philimon or being in a place close to his realm, you need to get your 'flight or fight,' reflex going. You need to get your body under stress. The kind of stress when you're about to die."

"Right, I get that," the Doctor muttered, pacing around the room and checking for more "off" shadows. "But why not a knife? An adrenaline pump? A pin in your palm? A great big shock? Anything other than a gun?"

"...okay, I understand that you don't like killing-neither do I-and guns are usually weapons. But this one isn't." He drew the Evoker, pointed it at the wall, and pulled the trigger. An empty click sounded. He held it with one hand, pointing to the total lack of an ammo pack and place to put gunpowder. "What's the problem? You've never had a problem with weapons before. Remember the big wasp, and how you cut one of its wings off?"

"Because a gun is nothing but a weapon." Flicking his sonic screwdriver on, he ran it across some of the walls. "A sword kills, yeah, but it can do more. Cut ropes, give you a shave and a haircut, a lever, and a door-opener. If you've got a lightsaber or laser sword anyways." Frowning, the Time Lord slipped a lightsaber from out of his sleeve and slashed it against the wall. As the shadows were seared into nothingness by the weapon's light, he turned back to his current companion. "But those don't do anything but kill. They can't. And I've had enough killing in my lifetime...'specially in the Time War."

Both of them were silent for some time.

"Not like I'm holding you at gunpoint to make you...uh, use a gun anyways," the Amalan Looper finally said. "But not all monsters can be outsmarted or beaten with words. You know this. You've got a death count. That's... hypocritical, from you."

The Doctor breathed in heavily, and exhaled. "Still a last resort," he replied. "Suppose you've got a point, though. Isn't a real gun, anyways."

"Doctor."

As he strode across the room and unlocked the TARDIS, he turned back. "Yeah?"

"Lots of monsters are immune to bullets, anyways," Minato said, smirking. "Ever tried magic?"

"Weee~eeell, yeah. 'Couse, it's not really magic-Clarke's Third Law and all-but I got it. Still don't like it, but I can make some Daleks into ice cubes when I need to."

"Just ice cubes?" Minato asked, chuckling as he followed the Doctor into his home/lover. "That's thinking a bit small. Try freezing every cell in their bodies. Works as a nonlethal distraction, too, if you do it for a second or so. Here, let me bring in Loki to show you how it works."

As the familiar sound of the TARDIS vanishing echoed through the Library, a booming gunshot was heard, followed by an English accent's cry of, "Oi! Put some trousers on your true inner self, willya?!"

[Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Spectrobes]
The escape pod – parts 14 and 15
Author: Tincanman125

===Colony, Nessa===

Cyrus pinched the bridge of his nose, "Of course you want want the blue keystone now." He sighed, "Every time I have one someone wants me to fork it over, but why should I give it to you?" He asked.

"The reasons aren't important," Narukami stated, "we just need to know your price."

"Well at least you're all smart enough to know better than to just demand it for free." Cyrus said, "So I'll make you a deal: I want a diamond mineral from Daichi's Table Top Mountains, you bring me one, and I'll give it to you."

"Sounds simple enough," Minako commented, "so what's the catch?"

Cyrus grinned, "Daichi's Aurora comes extremely close to the planet's surface there, you enter the area without protection, and you'd be dead within minutes."

"So we're screwed then?" Narukami asked.

"Nope," Cyrus told them, "there are special 'Corona suits' floating around which can stop it from killing you. The problem is that they happen to be pretty rare."

"Glad we already have a pair then." Minako remarked. "But wouldn't an Aurora suit work too?"

"Nah, that's just as bad as wearing normal clothing." Cyrus told her. "But no sense in worrying bout that, you two are prepared, so just get going."

=== Back at the Patrol Cruiser===

"Now I know why Igor suggested I fuse multiple Corona property Personas," Minako said, "but I don't know why he suggested I make twelve when we can only use four between the two of us."

"Hold on," Aldous interrupted, "you mean you didn't know that each Prizmod allows it's wielder to use six Spectrobes, or Personas in this case, in battle?" He asked, "Rallen pretty much figured it out right away, so I had assumed you had as well."

"What?" Yu asked. "I knew it could hold up to six, but since they never appeared in battle we only ever brought two along each." He explained.

"Now that I think about it, we've been working under the assumption that we were just using the power of the wild card like normal and that the Prizmod just functioned like an evoker." Minako mused, "And unlike the usual rules our powers operate under when we're together, we've been able to change our main Persona at will, and our sub Personas aren't usually this strong either."

"Well I may not understand exactly how both of your powers work," Aldous told them, "but usually the Prizmod allows one to have two Spectrobes fighting at once, and up to four 'support' Spectrobes providing passive benefits such as increased attack power to the ones that are in combat."

Yu facepalmed, "I can't believe we didn't ask Igor if there was anything different about the wild card, it's usually the first thing I do in a unfamiliar fused loop."

"To be fair, we were all pretty excited about him giving us a blank check for supplies the first time we saw him." Pharos pointed out. "Besides, we could just ask him now, we do have a direct connection to the Velvet Room in the cargo hold."

"Right," Izanagi agreed, "let's go see what The Nose knows."

Everyone else groaned at the bad pun.

===Velvet Room===

"I see that you finally figured out the discrepancies between how your powers usually behave and how they work now." Igor commented.

"Normally I'd chalk it up to being in a different loop," Minako explained, "but the mechanics of using our Personas seems to match up a little too perfectly to the Prizmod's intended function."

"I shall attempt to explain as best I can then." Igor told the group. "The way the power of the wild card works mirrors social interactions, when one with the Fool Arcana is alone, it acts as an individual would, allowing one to freely adapt to the trials they face. When two Fools are together it reflects a bond between partners, with the 'main' Persona representing the dominant individual, the one who needs to be strong and unchanging to give the 'sub' something to latch onto. Meanwhile the 'sub' or weaker partner focuses on adapting to help the 'main' deal with their shortcomings."

"Then why has it changed now?" Narukami asked.

"Because when there are three or more Fools, the wild card represents group dynamics, each individual contributes something, be they plans, experience, or resources; though they shall always have a leader with more influence than the others." Igor replied.

"Wait a second," Izanagi interupted, "are you telling us that-"

"Indeed, Aldous is the third, like the Fool he left his home on a journey to find something important, and because you have been looking to him to tell you where to go next he has naturally assumed the role of 'leader'," Igor explained, "thus the power of the wild card has molded itself based on his experiences."

"But he doesn't even have a Persona." Pharos pointed out.

"Lacking the ability to manifest a Persona is not the same as lacking a Persona itself," Igor stated, "and he is still able to influence the the wild card even if his power has not yet awakened, given time he will be able to use his ability in the same manner as the both of you."

"I will?" Aldous blinked in surprise.

"Hold on," Yu said, "you told us that 'everyone contributes something' so what do Minako and I contribute?"

"Simple," Igor said, "you contribute the ability to change Personas in battle as opposed to merely outside of battle, something that could not be done otherwise, in addition, your presence is why Personas can be fused at all."

Satisfied with Igor's answers, the group decided to leave the Velvet Room and continue on their mission.

[Devil Survivor 2]
Activation snip – part 2
Author: Alternis_Alcor

"So let me see if I got this right. There is this big ol' tree called Yggdrasil, which holds all of reality in it apparently, and something broke it. Now every individual reality is constantly 'Looping' indefinitely as you Admins try to fix it." Daichi was amazed that he was actually keeping up with this stuff. It usually went over his head.

Masakado nodded and said, "Yes, Shijima-san. These Loops are based around an Anchor to stabilize the repeating time. For this world, Alcor - oh pardon, Al Saiduq is the Anchor."

Io was stuck on one certain part of the Admin's explanation. "You said that you had a lot of trouble getting our world Looping, right? What exactly happened?"

"Polaris happened. Before we could even start, we had to make sure that all the damage she did in the baseline wouldn't interfere with the Looping process. Her deletion of your world caused a lot of problems, there was missing data on many things. We had to use a similar branch to help make a hard copy to save the data, for lack of a better explanation. Now, even if the world disappears now, it will cause the Loop to crash and reset."

"What of the Records, then. If a visiting Looper reaches them, could they have any control over it?" Saiduq wanted to make sure that no one could do as they please with thier world.

"We have made precautions to make sure that no one will be able to use the Akashic Records outside of what you need it for in baseline. Through some heavy patching courtesy of Skuld, the Chief Debugger, you cannot access the Records in other worlds you will no doubt Loop into. This is because they were patched to only work for this world only, and as part of the world's system you won't be able to take it with you."

Yamato looked over to Hibiki in thought. "What of Kuze's control of the Records? I would have thought you would have made limits on that, if not outright remove it."

"We have placed some serious patches on Kuze-san already. That he even has that little control over the Records is astounding."

"Wait, changing people's genders and making demon maids is considered LITTLE control?"

"Yes, as I said he was heavily patched. The changes he can do is limited to you and your friends and locations within his immediate surroundings. Even then, the Records will only allow him to use them in this world. The demon issue is nothing new considering the Amala Branches use such mechanics on a daily basis."

"...that is somewhat worrying to me."

"Does anything not worry you, Shijima?"

"As I was going to say, I had actually intended to meet with Kuze-san about his use of the Records. But, as you lot have already addressed that issue prior to our meeting, I believe that we can let you keep this bit of power for now. We will be monitoring you for some time, but I feel that we can hold off of further patching if you show some restraint. I might get yelled at, but I am willing to do this."

Hibiki nodded. "I understand, and thank you for trusting me enough for a second chance."

"Indeed. At least you cause less problems that others in the multiverse. Still, some of us have found some amusement in your use of the Records."

Al Saiduq had an idea that worried him then. "How many of use would be able to Loop? Would we need to watch out for Polaris?" That had caught everyone's attention. If the 'administrator' of Heaven's Throne started Looping, then who knew what she could cause.

"Have no worries. As I have said, we made plenty of precautions. We have made sure that she would never activate as a Looper. Neither will Canopus."

Hibiki nodded. "Ah, right. Forgot about him." Daichi, Io, and Saiduq all blushed in embarrassment, having also forgotten about the 'Divine Order of the Universe'; Yamato just didn't care.

"We have taken measures to keep him from attacking unless the baseline runs, so you won't have to worry about him all too much. Now, unless there is anything else, let us adjourn this meeting."

…

As he stood tall atop Tokyo's Sky Tower, Al Saiduq was pondering. After the meeting with the Admin (who had decided to take a week off for a mini vacation) he had separated from his friends to think.

If there was always an Anchor in any given Loop, and if he was replaced, could the visiting Anchor be able to help stop Polaris and Canopus? If he wasn't Awake, would the visiting Anchor befriend him or claim his life when they found out his identity? He spent some time wondering these and many more questions, when he felt two presences behind him.

"My lord, is there anything we can do to help you?" Fallen Botis of the Goetia, a servant of Al Saiduq, had been worried when his master disappeared. When he returned he was beset by a melancholy mood since.

"Hee probably found an excuse to go all 'Anguished One' or something, hoo." Jaki Black Frost was not as worried. He and Botis may not have gotten along, but he was better than being around Fallen Bifrons any day.

"Do not worry, Botis. I am merely worried for this world's future, about things I have no control over."

"But you have slain Polaris, do you not have control over the Records?"

Remembering Masakado's words, he replied, "I have no more control over them as does a man over time." Although that might not be all true anymore. With the Loops occurring, any Looper could do anything he decided, and pick the other choice the next Loop. Or just do whatever, there was no set path anymore. Not with the Records basically locked out from him.

But then he thought; if there was no set path anymore, how would man grow? If Loopers were no longer bound by time's finality of death, where would their paths take them? The sudden thought excited him greatly.

Suddenly, he wanted to see how other worlds grew. This world flourished when he gave them fire and the arts. How had others flourished, how had people become who they were? These Loops would give him these answers, he knew this for fact.

"I think hee had an empathy or something, hoo."

"Epiphany, you overgrown snowball."

But even when he desired to see these other worlds, he had a duty to this world first. He would not willingly abandon this world for his fancies, and he would never give up his friends. He had learned this from his best friend, Hibiki Kuze, after all, who had not left any of his friends behind, no matter what path he took.

"You know, I do not feel worried anymore. Let's go, my friends."

"I guess that enethy worked, hee hoo."

"Now you're just doing this on purpose."

Alcor the Sword of Polaris, who took the name Al Saiduq the Anchor, could only laugh as his demon friends bickered as only demons could. 'How would other worlds benefit from Nicea, I wonder?'

…

Hibiki, Daichi, and Io eventually returned to the demon cafe, and the maids made them work there for making them waste food and for not paying.

"Gotta say Daichi, we make these maid outfits work." Hibiki decided to roll with this as he changed Daichi and himself into girls to better fit the dresses.

"Dude." Daichi decided that this was one of the worst things that happened to him so far into these Loops.

[Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Spectrobes]
The escape pod – parts 16 to 21
Author: Tincanman125

===Table Top Mountain Plateau, Daichi===

The climb up the mountain had been ridiculously easy, thanks in no small part to Lucifer's utterly broken combination of Armageddon and Victory Cry, and the tree stump containing the Diamond mineral was just ahead, as was the Vilokken agent waiting to ambush them; so the pair decided to take a break.

"So you and Marie huh?" Minako asked.

"What about us?" Yu responded.

"I'm just saying, you did bring Kaguya Hime up here." Minako teased.

"You do realize that you brought Messiah and Cybele right?" Narukami teased right back. "Don't they represent you and Yukari?"

The pair shared a laugh.

"It's been nice spending time like this with you, I really wish we could do it more often." Minako said.

"Remember the last time we went through the Group Date Café labyrinth?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, it was suprising when everyone fell through the floor at the end," Minako chuckled, "I wonder what that actually meant though?"

Yu shrugged.

===Some time later===

The Vilokken looked like a large crystal top held together by the Krawl fused to it, normally a simple Armageddon attack would be enough to destroy it, but the pair really didn't want to risk destroying what they came for.

Cybele had been unloading massive amounts of Myriad Arrows on the thing, Lucifer and Messiah had been doing their best to keep the creature still, and Kaguya had been healing Cybele to allow her to continue pressing the attack.

The fight itself was simple, the problem was that the Vilokken itself had been extremely durable, and as such had required an incredibly long time to take down.

…

"I'm too tired to actually dig up this damn thing." Minako sighed.

"I think I might have a solution." Yu said.

"Really? What is it?" Minako asked.

"Why not try hooking the sonic tool to your music player and blasting 'Burn My Dread' at full volume?" Yu suggested.

"I like the way you think Narukami." Minako smirked.

===Colony, Nessa===

"Ok I give," Cyrus sighed, "what's with the sack?"

Instead of answering, Narukami and Minako dropped the bag, causing thousands of Diamond minerals to spill out.

"H-how did you get this many?" A flabbergasted Cyrus asked.

"Well..." Yu trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head.

===Earlier, Daichi===

"I can't believe we made it out in time." Minako said as she stopped to catch her breath.

"Uh, look behind you." Narukami told her.

"Oh we are so screwed!" Minako yelled as she turned around and saw a giant pile of rubble where the mountain once stood.

"Let's just hope something survived." Narukami said grimly.

===Present===

"We really don't want to talk about it." Yu said.

"From now on you owe us Cyrus," Minako told him, "you're going to tell us anything we want to know whenever we want to know it, and you're giving us that keystone."

"For this much I'd give you my firstborn if you asked." Cyrus told them. "The keystone will be loaded onto your ship when you get back."

===Ruins, Nessa===

One of the Vilokken had come crashing through a wall as Minako and Yu were setting the keystones, the creature as a vaguely humanoid shape with bits of rubble sticking out of its body in various places.

"You know, this has pretty much become a chore by now." Minako stated. "Izanagi, would you and Thanatos kindly send this thing back outside?"

At Yu's command Izanagi and Thanatos rammed the beast, sending it flying back out of the hole in the wall it had entered from, meanwhile Minako and Narukami walked outside as well, with Messiah and Lucifer following close behind.

…

"Wanna toy with it a bit, or just finish it off now?" Yu asked.

"Let's just kill it quick and get back to what we were doing." Minako sighed.

"Lucifer"

"Messiah"

"Rapture!" The duo ordered.

…

Lucifer floated just above Messiah's head, with a faintly glowing light connecting them,The Light-Bringer's power being shared with the Savior of Mankind.

Messiah uttered a single word in some language that neither Yu nor Minako could understand, which was surprising, seeing as both of them were practically omniglots after so many loops.

Suddenly spears of light began to rain down from the sky, vaguely reminding those present of how they'd heard a Gungnir strike described a while back from an Admin, albeit on an extremely less destructive scale than the real thing.

Each spear of holy light caused the Vilokken to writhe in pain as they hit, and each one had exploded shortly after impact, eventually there was nothing left but a small crater; and even that would soon be filled by the desert sand.

…

Aldous had landed the ship right next to the hole in the ruins, meanwhile the others had set the keystones into place, and everyone had decided to take a break.

"I want you to have this." Minako said as she handed Aldous an Evoker.

"Is this some sort of weapon? I've never seen anything quite like it before." Aldous told her.

"Sort of," Minako replied, "it's called an 'Evoker', I used to need one to summon my Persona, now I can without one, but it does ease the process." Minako explained. "The design is based off a ballistic weapon called a 'gun'."

"Ah, no wonder I didn't recognize it!" Aldous explained. "The people of Giorna used to have such weapons in the past, but they haven't seen usage for thousands of years."

"Anyway, since Igor thinks you can summon a Persona, I want you to practice using it." Minako told him. "All you need to do is point it at your head and pull the trigger, your instincts should take over from there."

"I see," Aldous said, "thank you very much, err I believe 'Sen-sai' was the correct term."

"Actually 'Sensei' is the proper term." Minako corrected. "But it's good to see you're putting those books on Japanese culture that Narukami gave you to good use."

…

It had taken mere minutes for the Ancient Starship to rise out of the sands of Nessa's desert, and soon after Yu and Minako found themselves en route to the ice world known as Himuro (which this loop's natives insisted was the sixth planet of the system, despite it clearly being a moon orbiting Meido). It would be there that the group would find a method of breaking through Meido's Krawl covered skies, and also where they could find information about a powerful artifact known as a Geo.

While Aldous was practicing summoning his Persona in the cargo hold, Yu and Minako were busy flying the ship.

Meanwhile Izanagi and Pharos were fighting a losing battle against boredom.

===Surface of Himuro, Three Days Later (Kollin Standard Time)===

"So you want to come with us?" Yu asked.

"It took awhile, but I'm finally able to summon my Persona in a controlled environment." Aldous declared proudly. "All that's left is to attempt it under combat conditions."

"So how does it feel?" Pharos asked curiously.

"I'm not quite sure." Aldous replied. "The best way to put it is that I feel 'more complete' I suppose, even though I've only had this power for a short time it's hard to imagine going back to a life without it."

"I think the more important question is: who answered your call?" Izanagi interjected.

"You'll know soon enough." Aldous quipped.

…

"Thou art I...and I am thou..."

"From the sea of thine soul I have come..."

"I am Epimetheus, he who was gifted hindsight."

And with that Aldous' Persona let out a Maragion to fry all the nearby Krawl to a crisp.

…

"I think we have a successful field test." Minako declared. "I wish Orpheus was that strong when I first got him."

"He probably developed a social link with us before summoning it without realizing." Narukami guessed. "Most non-Amala loopers aren't as sensitive to shifts in social relationships as we are; hell, even other Amala loopers aren't as sensitive to it as we are."

"True," Minako conceded, "he probably doesn't get the sudden voice from nowhere informing him when he gets closer to people. It's going to be a pain determining how much power he'll get from fusions."

"Both of you should get your heads examined if you're hearing voices." Aldous said with no small amount of concern for his comrades.

"Don't worry," Pharos reassured him, "Igor says they're fine."

Aldous let out a sigh of relief, "Let's split up then, half of us will go fix one generator, the rest will fix the other." He suggested. "I'll head for the main control room, contact me when you've restored power to your area."

===Alignment Control Room, Himuro===

The first thing Aldous did when he reached the control room was walk over to the main console and pick up the Data Crystal containing the Geo locations resting on it. Next he called up the two generator teams.

"I have the crystal," he stated, "so at least we have a backup plan if this harebrained scheme of yours doesn't work."

"Good timing," Minako commented, "Pharos and I have our generator running."

"Don't worry Aldous, it'll work," Narukami said reassuringly, "my generator's running too, so all you need to do is line this ball of ice up so the light can cut a path through the Krawl."

"Ok, everyone hold on I'm beginning the rotation now." Aldous informed everyone via comm-link as the planet began to shake violently. "It's done, our firing line is clear."

"I'll head back now," Minako informed everyone, "I should have the miniature Mass Relay installed on the Ancient Starship when you all get back."

===Orbit over Meido===

"Hey Arisato."

"Yes Narukami?"

"How many Omnipotent Orbs does it take to destroy a planet?" Yu asked slyly.

"One at sufficient velocity." Minako replied with a grin.

"I've run the math and all conclusions point to one thing." Izanagi interjected. "This is going to be awesome."

"Can I push the button?" Pharos asked enthusiastically.

"How can I say no to face like that?" Aldous replied with a chuckle.

Pharos merely smiled as he pushed the newly installed "Big Red Button of Doom".

…

It took less than a millisecond for the miniature Mass Relay to warm up.

The Omnipotent Orb was fired half a second later.

In less than three seconds the Orb impacted Meido's surface, causing the planet to explode into an asteroid field in a flash of light.

…

"We are going to be in so much trouble for that." Aldous commented. "But it was still totally worth it."

[Persona 3], [Persona 4], [Spectrobes]
The escape pod – part 22 (START OF ARC 2)
Author: Tincanman125

It had been two years since the defeat of the Krawl swarm and the destruction of Meido, but the group was not idle for long.

In the months following the incident the team hunted down the Geos, each one having been named after an Arcana; though only the Sun Geo found on Genshi was active and was currently being studied by the NPP.

Professor Kate had a mild panic attack upon hearing of Meido's destruction, though thankfully she quickly recovered. She currently spends her time researching the Ancient Starship in one of Kollin's many Orbital Service Bays.

Doctor Wright, being the leading authority on fossils, and the no longer extinct creatures that had come from them by proxy, was hired by the NPP and moved to the "Persona Research Lab" on Kollin.

With Dr. Wright's departure, Digg was placed in charge of the research lab on Genshi.

Cyrus continued to be an informant for the NPP, and in his own words is "filthy stinkin' rich."

As it could no longer orbit Meido, Himuro fell into an orbit around the local star; thus it had truly become the sixth planet of the Nanairo system.

Aldous received a new Prizmod, bringing him up to full combat effectiveness, and assists Dr. Wright in his research.

Izanagi and Pharos, bored in peacetime, are currently "on loan" to Aldous and Dr. Wright.

Minako and Yu are currently on probation for the destruction of a planet.

Igor faked his own death to escape his cult, his replacement Commander Grant is aware of Igor's survival, and still reports directly to him.

[Nocturne], [Strange Journey], [SMT IV], [Mass Effect]
Sovereign's New Groove – part 2
Author: Gamerex27

"Wait a sec." Before Shepard could press the panel to open the airlock, he felt his hand pushed down by biotic force.

He turned to glare at Pixie. She didn't seem too perturbed by this, and continued.

"What happened to that bird gu-sorry, turian that was supposed to be with you?" she asked, circling Shepard in a lazy circle of flight. "Flynn said he was here to see if you could make the cut for the GHOSTS. SPECTRES. Whatever they're called."

"She...raises a valid point," Flynn said, backing away from the door and glancing around the corridors of the Normandy. "Where is Nihlus?"

"..damnit," Shepard swore, rolling his eyes. "He tried to keep me in the sickbay when I gave him a sit-rep. I had to knock him out and stuff him somewhere out of the way."

"I'd argue against that," Langdon chimed in, pacing over to the Mako in the cargo bay, "but he'd probably just end up being extra baggage. Like bringing a civvie on a SEAL team mission."

"Where'd you put this guy, again?" Naoki asked, leaning on the tank.

"I...wait, it was inside-"

Langdon keyed in his access codes, and the door swung open; a disgruntled turian took the time to fall out of the tank, moaning slightly.

"...the Mako," Shepard finished. "Should've kept better track of that. The fact that the universe is about to die was a bit more important," he quickly justified, as some of his comerades moved to chastise him for being so forgetfull in such a vital mission.

"Wh-Shepard!" Mandibles flaring in rage, Nihlus sprung up from his prone position and reached for his sidearm. Finding it missing, he made the turian equivalent of a scowl. "What the hell are-stand down! That's an order!"

"That...won't be necessary, Nihlus." Stepping forwards, Flynn placed what he intended to be a comforting hand on the other Spectre's shoulder.

And was promptly punched square in the face for his trouble.

Nihlus noticed who this was a few seconds after the reflexive blow. He blinked in confusion. "Frinn? What are you doing here?"

"Aiding Shepard in stopping some very dangerous demons from tearing reality apart at the seams," Flynn nodded, ignoring the now throbbing pain between his eyes and the drops of blue blood trickling down from his nose.

"...Wait...you're here to..." Nihlus tried to keep his body language neutral, but Shepard could tell from spending lifetimes with Garrus that he was about to have a panic attack of some kind. "Don't tell me that nonsense Shepard spouted about time and that Tree was..."

"All of it true. Give the man a prize," Naoki cut in. "Look, we're really short on time, and I'm itching to do something other than trudge through the Vortex World over and over, so just go with it."

Nihlus glared at the krogan. He took several deep breaths to steady himself. "What...exactly are you going to do?"

"Hunt down the anthropomorphic personifications of organic despair, slay them, and convince a giant robotic cuttlefish not to take his own life and the world with it," Isabeau replied, her voice clipped and annoyed.

Nihlus just stared at her.

"We live in a world where all the creatures of myth and legend we've read as kids exist in the flesh," Langdon exclaimed, exasperation clear in his voice. "Our friend there," (Naoki smirked and waved his three-fingered hand mockingly) "is a living weapon created by the incarnation of chaos and entropy. You helped fight off a hanar Enkindler from exterminating all life on the Citadel with a magic spell just last year, according to the news! And we've got about a dozen demons made of death sitting in our cell phones, ready to beat up a Reaper with a violin and a trumpet! I think we at least deserve the benefit of the doubt!"

The Council Agent was silent for a few seconds as he processed all of this. Biting back questions like "what's a cell phone?" and "I thought the Council had that incident with the angel classified?", he glanced at the motley crew Shepard had assembled in the scant few hours he was knocked out, and slowly nodded. "Fine."

"Alright," Shepard said, already stepping past Nihlus and making his first step into the Mako. "Don't worry too much: if the universe doesn't implode in the next few hours, then-"

Nihlus quickly stepped back into the tank he has been locked up in, bumping into Shepard hard. The Commander grunted, flopping down into his seat.

"I'm coming with you," Nihlus said firmly. "The storage capacity was upgraded to hold demons, so we should all be able to come."

"You...do realize that you're going to be way out of your depth, right?" Landgon asked, even as he followed the turian into the tank and sat down on one of the passenger's seats.

"If what you're saying is true, every life..every organic that's ever lived is going to be wiped out if you fail." Nihlus buckled himself in. "I'm a Spectre. The best of the best. I can't sit back and let the galaxy fall apart without trying to stop it."

"Your funeral," Naoki replied, squeezing through the narrow hatch and taking his own seat.

"Naooooki, you're being too negative!" Pixie said teasingly, moving to playfully bop Naoki on the nose. He batted her hand away, and she rolled her eyes. "I mean, this is just the White! You know, the guys Flynn and Isabeau have beaten dozens of times? What could-"

"NO!"

Squeaking, Pixie nearly toppled over from the surprise of half a dozen voices screaming at her at once. Flapping her wings quickly to regain her balance, she glanced around the room, bemused. "What? What'd I say!"

"Those words." Langdon muttered. "NEVER say those words."

"Oh...you mean 'what could possibly g-'"

She was cut off by a quick electric shock to the face from an aggrivated Shepard.

"Just...don't," he said. "We've got enough at risk already without jinxing it."

"You actually believe-"

"We went over this, dumbass," interjected Naoki, cutting Nihlus off. "Magic's a thing. It's been a thing for decades in this Loop. Get over it."