Chapter 72: Loop

  A quiet spring breeze blew through the air as Doctor’s body laid crumpled in the ground. His black tendrils squirmed like snakes as they reformed into a body with a sickening squelching sound.

  “You… what are you?!” Doctor screeched. “How is this possible?! You have no mana! I tested it myself!”

  “Correct!” John said, applauding slowly. “Very good. You get a gold star. Your deductive skills are really good. Maybe it’s because of your overwhelming intelligence?”

  “Answer my question!” Doctor yelled, lashing forward.

  John leapt out of the way and caught the tendril, yanking hard as if pulling in a fish on a line. The abomination flew right into John’s hand, a crack ringing out through the air as fist met face, the mass of tendrils flying through the air at breakneck speeds, felling multiple trees in the process.

  His eye flashed as he clenched his fist again, telepathically pulling Doctor back right into his grasp, grabbing the monstrosity where he assumed the neck would be. Slamming the mass of goo onto the ground, he began pummelling, the crater getting deeper and deeper with each hit. His mind started to go blank as the beatdown continued, still going even as the face turned into a bloody pulp. It was only when he’d gotten sick of the feeling that he stopped, dropping the mess known as Doctor to the ground.

  “Get up.”

  The disgusting black goo squirmed itself back together, his face filled with indignation and rage, clearly upset at having been so greatly humiliated.

  “How? How, how, how?! No, no, it must be tricks. Smoke and lights. What are you pulling?”

  John frowned. “Are you a fucking idiot? Do you need me to beat the shit out of you to prove it wasn’t fake?”

  “A Final Stand using a manless core? Some sort of experiment I’ve never heard of? Or-”

  “Shut up!” John yelled, finally losing it. “I’m getting sick of your voice! Do you still not get it?! How do you think I know about your energy?!”

  Doctor froze.

  “No. Only two beings in this world have access to that energy. You cannot possibly have it as well. If you did, you would be-”

  “Does it make sense now?” John said, his voice tense as he began to let all his frustration out. “All that shit you were talking. About how I was deranged, how I was wrong. Any of that coming back?”

  Doctor’s eyes went wide as he stared at his hands.

  “No… no, that’s not possible. I am the one in control, the one who… there is no god above me! I cannot possibly be-”

  Doctor’s rant was interrupted as John shoved a pistol down his throat. Round after round was fired, Doctor’s tentacles spasming as his body was pumped full of bullets. That wasn’t enough, though. He wouldn’t die from just this. Crack after crack rang through the forest as John continued to pull the trigger, the inside of Doctor’s body lighting up like a lightning storm.

  “Shut up!” John yelled, unrelenting in his attack. “You think you have it bad? I’ve had to live with this, day after day, and in the end, none of this even matters! I’m gonna [Reset], and I’ll have to deal with you all over again, and you won’t remember any of this! No god above you?”

  He tossed his gun aside, bringing Doctor back up, telepathically pulling him apart until the tendrils began to rip.

  “I am the god above you! Do you get it?! The only one who can make me bow-” John pointed up to the sky, “is that bastard up there, writing my words as we speak! And if the one guy they can’t control is me, then I’m gonna take advantage of that as much as I fucking can! I swear to god, I’ll kill you as many times as it takes. I’ll kill you over, and over, and over, and over, until I break reality itself and you realize that you’re just a fucking piece of trash! You hear me?!”

  A fresh gun fell into John’s hand. He closed his eyes, the image of Prota’s corpse flashing in his mind. His heart tightened in anger.

  “Kill me… again and again?” Doctor said weakly. His eyes lit up in interest.

  “Ugh. You’re still conscious?”

  “I cannot die,” Doctor giggled. “I have no organs. No body to kill. How will you defeat me? I’ve killed your friends. Your family. Your last hopes. You said it yourself, did you not? Victory is what we want. I might’ve lost the battle, manaless boy, but you’ve lost the war. You may have denied me my victory over you, but what do you have? Nothing.”

  Doctor felt a sense of deep satisfaction as he watched as John closed his eyes, his hands trembling, taking in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He could see it. The despair in John’s eyes. All he needed was one small push.

  “You’ve lost, manaless boy. Admit it. Your friends are dead. Your sister is dead. I’ve won. Even if you kill me, there you failed.”

  John let out a slow breath and opened his eyes. The light emanating from his body began to dim until the only light left came from the full moon shining in the sky.

  “...nothing, huh? I never had anything in the first place. You’re talking as if you did something terrible to me.”

  “But those people-”

  “Weren’t you the one saying that I didn’t see them as people? I never said you were wrong. And besides, I’ll just bring them back. Did you think I picked a fight thinking I would lose?”

  “What are you talking-”

  “Regression. Do you know what that is?”

  Doctor froze.

  “...that is impossible. It is impossible for one to regress. That goes against the laws of the world.”

  “Yeah. If you were back on Earth and someone told you that you could reincarnate and shit, would you believe them?”

  His eyes took on a malicious glare as he looked down at his enemy. Finally. Someone else would feel the despair he felt. It would be for a bit of a different reason, but it felt good to be able to put his curse upon somebody else in a way.

  “I don’t know what allows you to bypass the role of an [Antagonist], but honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore. I told you. I’m not playing your game of chess. We’re gonna do what I want from here on out, ok?”

  John crouched down, getting nice and close, his voice dropping to a whisper.

  “You can’t win, Doctor. Honestly, I can tell you’re supposed to be smart. But you’re actually just a dumbass.”

  Doctor gasped in indignation, but John continued, not giving him time to refute.

  “You’re only as intelligent as the [Author] can be. And that person, well, they’re not all that bright. As far as I know, thinking up complex schemes, intricate plans, that’s just not their thing. They don’t know how to write an intelligent [Character]. That’s how it is. Sorry to break it to you, but in the end, you’re pretty stupid.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. Ironic. Everything he’d cursed about his own existence. Everything he’d hated about this world, the world of [Story]. It was all coming to work for him, wasn’t it? The [Author] he’d cursed so much was now helping him out. The lack of skill and quality the [Author] put into this goddamned [Story] was somehow allowing him to win.

  All I know is what happened. You are so focused on one thing that you cannot see the next!

  Maybe Zero had a point. Maybe not everything was a curse, after all.

  “I’m not very well designed, Doctor. I’m a stupid, overpowered character with no room for growth or development. I’m a Gary Stu, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, when it comes to winning, that kind of [Character] is perfect. I don’t know how you got past Fate. But it was never in the cards for you.”

  John looked back at Doctor, expecting to see shock, but Doctor just shook his head.

  “Marvellous. How marvellous. What a mind will come up with in desperation.”

  “...this guy’s an idiot.”

  “That would be you, manaless boy. The only fool here is you.”

  John sighed, getting up and dusting his hands off. A fresh gun fell into his hands, and he dropped it on the ground, where Doctor could easily reach it.

  “You know what? Let’s prove it. Kill me.”

  “...what?”

  “Kill me. Is it that hard to understand?”

  “Surely someone as powerful as you would not die to a simple-”

  “A powerful as me?” John laughed, a smile settling onto his face. “Don’t get it twisted. My body is still that of a human. I am by far, of all the people you’ve fought, the easiest person to kill.”

  “Impossible! The speed at which you move, the force with which you hit, an ordinary human body would never be able to withstand such-”

  “Kill me!” John roared, his smile vanishing just as quickly as it’d come. “Do it! Kill me right now! Or are you too much of a pussy?! Too much of a coward?!”

  “I-”

  “Because when you swing, you’d better make it count. You’d better make it hurt. Because I’m gonna come back, I’m gonna keep coming back, and every time, I’ll get closer and closer until I make you suffer as much as I have! Until you beg for death, until you realize that you aren’t god, just a puppet, just like I am!”

  “You-”

  “I swear to god I’ll beat the living shit out of you, so kill me! Do it! And if you’re not going to do it, then fucking kill yourself! Now!”

  He looked at Doctor, who was shaking on the ground. The monster had been coping with the words he’d been hearing, but somehow, deep down, Doctor had known that John wasn’t lying. Now, with nothing left to deny and John offering his own life, he could no longer refuse the truth. He wasn’t pleading for death. He was going to come back, and he was showing it off. All he could do was stare silently as John panted, twitching as he slowly calmed down.

  “Oh, one more thing. Your whole despair shit was cringe as hell. Also, it just doesn’t work all the time, you know?”

  “If you do it right-”

  “Do it right, my ass. Look. No process is perfect. Very few things are guaranteed. And the more you try something, the greater the odds of you failing are.”

  John crouched back down and held Doctor’s face, staring into his eyes, and for the first time, Doctor was forced to properly look at John. And what he saw was indescribable.

  There was rage. There was sorrow. But it didn’t burn deep. Those emotions didn’t feel the same. Doctor had seen a lot of rage. A lot of sorrow. In the eyes of his toys, it was quite common. They’d hit him, glare at him, fight back, and in the eyes of those people, the emotion burned deep into their eyes. To call eyes the windows of the soul was quite fitting.

  So when Doctor stared at John, his emotions were more like a filter. A blind, to trick people into believing that that’s all there was. But Doctor could see. He was especially talented at peeking past blinds.

  And once he did, he saw nothing. Nothing at all.

  John had never been in despair. He’d long since accepted whatever he’d been put through.

  And with that, all that was left was…

  “I have nothing left to lose, Doctor. And if I have nothing to lose, then there is no way you can win. Do you get it?”

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  John kicked his gun over, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

  “Or are you still too stupid? Either way, I’m done arguing with you.”

  He stood up, arms open wide.

  “Alright! Time to die. Kill me, Doctor. Let’s get on with it.”

  For a second, Doctor considered ending his own life. Had he been influenced by the sheer number of times John had said those words? In the end, though, he held onto his resolve.

  “No,” Doctor gasped. “No, I won’t give you the satisfaction. You do it.”

  The words John had uttered to Doctor so many times were now being repeated back at John.

  “Kill yourself.”

  John picked up his gun and stared at it, seemingly contemplating the choice. Doctor calmed down just then, believing he had called a bluff, but then stared in horror as John raised the gun, muzzle pointed just under his chin.

  “Fine.”

  Doctor couldn’t believe it. Had he really lost? Anybody else would’ve assume Doctor had won. John, after all, was about to die. But despite all of John’s words, he wasn’t really an idiot. He knew that John killing himself would really mean the boy would go back in time and try again.

  In the end, he had no choice but to admit defeat.

  “I’ll be back.”

  There was a loud crack, and the sillouhetted of John’s brains being blown out was shadowed by the bright full moon.

  ~~~

  John gasped as he sat up in the [Reset Room]. He looked down. His body was fine.

  “Ugh,” he muttered, rubbing his head.

  A shot to the head wasn’t instantaneous death. Had he thought about it a little more, he would’ve just taken his pill, but John wasn’t always the brightest.

  “Feeling better?” Zero grinned, popping up beside him. “You seemed a little upset.”

  “Yeah? You try getting yourself tied to a cross for days in a row,” John grumbled. “Let’s see how you feel after that.”

  Despite his annoyance, there was a hint of something else in John’s voice. Zero’s smile faded as he sat down next to his host quietly.

  “It’s not the first time you’ve seen Prota like that.”

  “...it kinda is, though.”

  Zero just sighed.

  “John. Why are you regretting your choice? You’re the one who told her to do that. You can’t be upset about this.”

  “What?”

  “You lied to Doctor. You won because you got upset. You got upset because you saw her like that. You told her to make a choice. Once you did that, it was up to her to choose what she wanted to do. Or did you mean to say something like ‘make a choice, but only if it keeps you safe’? Don’t be ridiculous. You knew making a choice might’ve involved something you didn’t like.”

  Zero pointed to Prota, who was lying a bit further away. It seemed she was sleeping. Had she arrived earlier than John?

  “She died on her own, John. It’s what she chose to do. She made the choice to protect you. Even though she could’ve died. Even though she had no idea whether she’d be able to [Reset] or not. She chose you. Because that’s what she wanted to do. Wasn’t that the whole point of this?”

  John looked at Prota. What had she said before dying?

  “Thank you.”

  Ultimately, those two words didn’t mean much. But she’d gone against his words. She’d sacrificed herself, not knowing the consequences, not knowing the aftermath, and killed herself to keep John alive for just a bit longer, even though she knew he’d [Reset]. Even though she didn’t know what would happen to her.

  And she’d thanked him for it.

  She was a [Character]. Why was she dying for him? She valued life. He didn’t. He was supposed to be the one in control. He was the [Reader]. The [Writer]. And yet here he was, being outdone by a [Character]. Someone he was still indecisive about. Someone he might abandon at any moment.

  …no. Was he indecisive about Prota? He told himself he was. In his mind, he was still considering the possibility that he might lose her. That she’d leave. That she’d die. But his heart wouldn’t let him accept it.

  He had to admit it. At this point, he was too fond of her. Giving up on her after everything they’d been through was out of the question. Destiny? Danjo? Yeah, if it came to it, he’d sacrifice them for his own goal. But Prota? He couldn’t leave her behind. He’d opened up to her. Shared the truth of the world in hopes that she’d become his companion. His friend. His family.

  His sister.

  “...Prota.”

  The small girl stirred as her name was called and she sat up, her long white hair wrapped around her, tangled up like a bird’s nest.

  “Nn.”

  “Ready?”

  “Ready for…”

  Prota got quiet as she realized what was coming next. Her eyes drooped a little.

  “We’ve got to do it again.”

  Prota slumped down. She remembered what’d happened with Doctor. She couldn’t win. No matter how many [Resets] they went through, she’d never catch up. She’d never beat that man. She’d given her all to die. What else was there? If it took everything to block just one hit, just one, then what could she possibly do to win? She knew it. In her heart, she knew that winning against that monster would never be possible.

  She looked up.

  “...sorry.”

  “Sorry? For what?”

  “I died for nothing. John still died. So… I’lll stay out of John-”

  “Hey. What? You wanna sacrifice yourself? Go ahead. Do it.”

  Prota looked up at John.

  “Seriously, do you not understand how [Reset] works yet? We just keep trying until we can’t. This is a [Story], and for now, we have the power of [Plot Armor] on our side. How the hell are we supposed to lose?”

  He stood up and walked toward the glowing [Reset] button.

  “Come on. Let’s do it again.”

  ~~~

  Prota’s eyes snapped open, and she was in front of a door.

  “Ready?” Fate whispered.

  Prota blinked a couple of times, trying to regain her bearings. This door. Fate. Danjo. They were in front of the room that was keeping John captive. John, and that girl beside him. She was Danjo’s sister, if she remembered correctly. Her mind felt muddled. The fight hadn’t lasted more than an hour at best, but somehow, it’d felt like an eternity ago.

  “Nn,” Prota nodded.

  “Let’s go.”

  Fate bashed the door down with a kick, and the group piled in, once again seeing nothing. Just like last time, Danjo reached out, calling his sister’s name, and Fate held him back.

  “You two. Remember. This isn’t the time to act irrationally.”

  This time, though, Prota saw the burning anger in Fate’s eyes and understood it. He’d done so much to get here. So much to reach his goal. She wondered how he would feel he knew that he would lose. That even Kit stood no chance against the monster waiting for them behind that door. She wanted to comfort him. But how? And what if he questioned her? Would she say that she knew because they’d lost, and she’d come back to life?

  It was too late. Fate called out, starting the whole process all over again.

  “You! You’re the one known as Doctor, right? You’ve done way too much. It’s time to pay for your sins. There’s no one else here. Give it up.”

  Those words were so familiar, yet so distant. Like a fading memory, a familiar tune.

  “Bravo! Bravo! You’ve done it! You, the good guys, have broken into my lair and slain my underlings. I’m alone and helpless. Is that not it?”

  Prota was a lot more controlled this time. She locked eyes with John, and he gave her a reassuring nod.

  [Ready?]

  The messaging system was up. Prota closed her system and looked toward Olivia, chained to the ground. Doctor was talking. Fate was shaking. Suddenly, a new message appeared in her system.

  [You have time to free Olivia. As [Characters], they shouldn’t notice you while they’re going back and forth. Just remember not to drop the chains.]

  Prota slowly shuffled around, and just like John had predicted, Doctor didn’t make a single move to stop her. Danjo was too busy being overly nervous in the corner, so the only ones who knew what was going on were John and Prota.

  “You… I see you’re still the same. You’re still doing the same things. Doing the same sick experiments. You’re not human. You’re a monster.”

  Prota inched closer and closer. Soon, she was right beside the chained elf.

  “What the-” Olivia started, but shut her mouth as Prota put a finger to her lips.

  Without a word, she froze the chains and broke them as quietly as possible, freeing Olivia’s arms and legs. The elf turned to John, wanting to help him, but he shook his head.

  “Go,” John whispered. “Get your brother out of here. Leave now. We’ll handle this.”

  Prota quietly shuffled over to John, slicing through his ropes. Doctor and Fate were still stuck in their own world of dialogue, allowing John time to rub his sore spots. He didn’t do any more than that. What was there for him to do? With time to kill, he began to think.

  If the last loop was any indication of what would happen, it would be impossible for anyone in this party to win. [Deus Ex Machina] energy was simply a cheat code. Even Kit had been easily demolished by Doctor. It was simply an energy that existed outside of the rules of this world. Doctor was playing according to a different set of rules. He was cheating at a game that was impossible to win otherwise.

  But John was just as much of a cheater as Doctor was. He had the same cheat code. [Infinity]. He’d already proven that he could win using an energy of a similar calibur. Doctor hadn’t been able to defend himself against it. The only issue was that using it in front of everyone would raise too many questions. Cause too many issues. It would be impossible to deal with them effectively, especially with Fate’s lie detection ability. If Fate were to learn the truth of the world, it might break him.

  He needed everyone else out. Dead, unconscious, or gone.

  As far as he was concerned, Danjo and Olivia were the easiest to get rid of. They’d get killed by Doctor, or they’d escape together. Olivia was already slowly making her way to Danjo, so it looked like rescuing them would be easy. If she died in the process, then she died. John wasn’t going to go out of his way to prevent that, especially since he suspected she was meant to die anyway.

  Unfortunately, John’s planning was unable to go any further as Fate’s roar snapped him back to reality. Doctor still seemed preoccupied with whatever was going on, so he didn’t see Danjo and Olivia leaving. Good. If she got out, that was fine.

  Fate was being played with again. Just like last time. The same as before.

  “Prota.”

  She looked up.

  “Go.”

  Prota nodded and fired off a volley of spells, which Doctor’s tendrils easily blocked. The battle proceeded mainly as it had before, but Prota was informed. She knew some patterns, understood how the tendrils worked and thus was able to do a bit better than before. That didn’t change the fact that they were losing. It was a strange sight. A thin, frail man beating up a young boy and girl.

  John knew now, though. Doctor was not frail and weak. Underneath that coat was a wriggling mass of something unkillable. Why was Doctor protecting himself in the first place?

  “This ends here!” Fate roared, the attack going off as it had before.

  “Ah, you’re still the same as always, Sixteen. Headstrong. Ambitious. Yet utterly blind, still playing the role of the pawn in a larger game of chess.”

  John couldn’t help but scoff. A pawn in a larger game of chess? Doctor was still unaware that he’d lost once already. He just had to pull it off again. It wasn’t a matter of being able to beat Doctor. It was a matter of getting everyone out in time.

  Danjo and Olivia were almost out. Olivia was still weak, having just removed her mana restrainer, and Danjo was helping her out. Unfortunately, Danjo didn’t know what John knew, and his kindness worked against him. He looked back to see Fate fighting against Doctor, struggling and losing.

  “Fate!” Danjo cried out nervously, clearly torn between saving his sister and his friend.

  John cursed under his breath. He’d forgotten to account for something like this. Danjo wasn’t like him. He wasn’t going to judge the situation selfishly. He wanted to save Fate, even if it was impossible.

  “You two,” Doctor frowned, and tendrils pierced both their heads, killing them in the blink of an eye. “I can’t be having this.”

  John froze. Wait. Wait a minute. Something was wrong. No… no, Doctor should’ve been playing with his food better. Why had he just killed them like that? Danjo had almost escaped last time. Doctor had stalled for time. Why had he killed them immediately? Something was wrong.

  Something was different. And things weren’t meant to be different. This was already becoming headache-worthy. Was it really worth the effort?

  “I don’t need those two anymore. Honestly, I’m insulted. Did you think I hadn’t noticed what you were doing?”

  Prota looked up at John, dejection in her eyes. John shook his head and calmed himself down. Doctor had noticed what they were doing. Just another reminder that he didn’t abide by the rules of the [Story]. Right. This was a learning experience. He hadn’t expected this to be the winning loop anyway. [Resets] were best used in bulk, after all. He looked at Prota.

  “Go nuts.”

  Prota closed her eyes and nodded, charging in blindly.

  “Wh- what the?” Doctor sputtered as he was seemingly overwhelmed with magic.

  John’s frown deepened. Why was Doctor struggling? He’d defeated Kit, a Mystic. So why was he struggling against Prota?

  “Enough!” Doctor yelled, all of his tendrils shooting out at once. A sudden increase in power. A spike of sorts.

  This was new. This was different. Something to learn from. Something to improve on. If only he could-

  “J-John,” Prota called out weakly. She’d gotten impaled by a tendril.

  “John!” Fate yelled in desperation. “Prota, she’s-”

  “No more out of you,” Doctor smiled, wrapping Fate’s mouth.

  “Now, manaless boy. You got out of your ropes. But now what? You’ve lost. I won. So- what are you doing?”

  John had pulled his gun out. Why? Why was he going through this again? He’d beat Doctor. And every time he [Reset], he’d just have to watch Prota die. Again. And again. And again.

  For what? A [Character] he didn’t even care about?

  “I’ll see you again,” he grunted, pulling the trigger.