The Chameleon Loop

Liam wanted to shoot Loki right between the eyes, or in the dick. Preferably both places, repeatedly. But Taylor’s fancy 1911 had been crushed into smithereens and his contraband MP-7 was… in the future? Or an alternate timeline. Feck, that was a nice gun too, light, good fire rate, compact, but large enough you could really hang onto it and land all your shots. Thought Nox.

“What the fuck is that shirt?” Ruby muttered.

“Don’t talk to him. Ignore the dumbass.” Said Nox, marching across the grass and ascending the ziggurat before anyone could question him.

“Liam! What are you doing man! He can’t be human-” Shouted Nora.

“Stick to the plan Jesus! Ignore Loki!” Shouted Nox, interrupting Nora.

If the kill team wasn’t confused before, they were now. Especially Shakko and Ruby-Mae who were baffled by a mortal man –one supposedly weaker than herself– who was addressing the admiral of avarice as a ‘dumbass’. She rubbed her eyes, praying that this was all an illusion, or a trick of the sudden daylight filling them.

It wasn’t. Loki rose from his folding chair and offered Nox a helping hand, pulling him onto the ziggurat’s peak. Their hands attempted to form diamonds between them and might have succeeded, if Nox hadn’t released his at the earliest possible opportunity, scowling at the grinning Loki. His Mbar flashed as Nox plunged the combat knife into Loki’s stupid hawaiian shirt.

Not a single thread even stretched, but the Mbar –proprietary blend of steel, titanium, and mana crystal be damned– dissolved into dust, hilt bouncing off Loki’s shirt buttons.

“Fuck, I really hoped that might do something…” Scowled Nox. “Ugh, why are you here Loki?”

“Hehehe, I just wanted to get some sunshine.” Said the man, his twin black holes for eyes were only partially concealed by his knock-off aviators.

Black smoke leaked from his mouth with each word, a warning the other hunters caught wind of and avoided. Jamal raised a shard of mana crystal, ready to use the improvised dart until he saw Nox’s knife dissolve, while Ruby cowered behind him.

Is this guy really so bored that he’s got nothing better to do than make fun of us? Wondered Nox, staring into Loki’s face for several long moments. His human visage wasn’t entirely wrong, but every individual detail, from the perfectly even eyebrows to his symmetric nose and oddly domed teeth was wrong. Still, he appeared human, and were it not for the miasma leaking out of him, and the eyes that absorbed light, he might have passed for another hunter.

“Come now Nox, I come bearing Trojans!” Said Loki.

“Do you mean Trojan Horses…?” Asked Nox, wondering what the devil a dungeon entity would do with the alternative Trojans.

Condoms seemed like an odd analogy, while Loki might actually have a few Trojans from the city of Troy wandering around the labyrinth. After all, Thesus and the Minotaur were from a contemporary age to the Illiad.

“Only if the horses were still kickin!” Answered Loki, his mischievous mug sneering into a crin that opened behind his ears. “Let me Introduce Mia.”

His right hand gestured towards the ziggurat’s entrance, naturally summoning Nox’s gaze to the figure of a lanky girl. Scales covered her body, where there should have been skin, while her fingers and toes shone with a brassy hue, reminiscent of ancient Stheno’s brass hands. Faster than thought his eyes drank in the gorgon, flicking up her green silk dress to rest on her face and snakelocks.

“Cover your eyes!” Shouted Nox, a second after his own fell upon her eye sockets. Green scales glowed with the might of her closed Gorgon eyes.

Twin petrifying orbs that would slay every hunter present, if they had been open. Nox shut his face, looking away and throwing himself bodily off the ziggurat’s top to roll onto the step below. Other hunters ducked behind shields or ziggurat plateaus, anything to avoid the creature’s lethal gaze. Except for one. Ruby-Mae held her ground, only giving way to bend at the waist in a subtle bow.

“Despite my allies’ surprise, it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Mia. My name is Ruby, and this is not our first meeting.”

“Oh, my littles’ eyes aren’t sharp, but I would remember someone as cute as you.” Said Mia, extending her hair serpents towards ruby to examine her more intensely.

Ruby smiled, extending one hand to create a matrix of barriers, a fusion of Mae’s knowledge and Ruby’s talent that coalesced into a glowing origami construct with four legs and a bushy tail. Mia clapped her hands in open-mouthed joy, lifting the barrier origami from Ruby’s fingertips with clawed hands that sent shivers down Nox’s spine. Talons that sent ripples of mana reverberating through his chest.

“Look look! Look what the pretty lady gave me!” Said Mia, waving the silver fox in front of Loki’s nose.

“Oh? Do you like that?” Asked Loki.

Mia shot him a look and pulled the origami construct to her chest, clutching it like a homeless child might protect their last loaf of bread.

“It’s mine.” She warned, exposing a mouth full of venomous fangs.

Loki waved his hand, and the construct poofed out of existence, replaced with a construct of black paper. Identical in every aspect save for color, though this new construct had silver trim across every edge, metallic gilding for Mia’s new toy.

“You’re welcome.” Said Loki, turning to face Nox and the other hunters who were peeking over the stone lip with fiber optic periscopes.

“Get off your asses, Mia’s here to show you around the armory. Take whatever you please.” Said Loki.

This has to be a trap… But Loki’s the master here, this isn’t the Mia he warned me about. She’s short, has legs instead of a tail, and looks like a twelve year old girl-child!

“What’s your angle? Why give us access to weapons now?” Asked Nox.

“Hehehe, playing musical bodies with your souls has been fun, but Mia isn’t the only thing I changed this loop. As you are now, I fear Theseus will breeze through your lives, take my generosity. Even the playing field. I’ll even let you control your respawn points.” Said Loki, grinning wickedly.

A game menu appeared in Nox’s mind. With a scroll bar that ran all the way from his conception within Elizabeth’s womb to 2500 AD, three hundred years past his expected lifespan. Buttons lined both sides, clearly labeled with options such as FWD, RWD, SET RESPAWN, FORCE RESPAWN, RESPAWN ON SLEEP, RESPAWN ON DEATH. Damnit, you’re really making this difficult Loki. What’s your angle? Thought Nox.

“Same as it's always been.” Loki said aloud, reading Nox’s mind and earning him a scowl.

“Whatever. Ruby, lead the way…” Said Nox, closing his eyes to avoid frowning at Mia. “Uhm, sorry Mia, but Loki warned me never to meet you, even showed me dozens of petrified creatures and said it was because of you…” Said Nox.

Mia harrumphed at his apology, ignoring him as she took Ruby’s hand and led her into the ziggurat’s bowels, tugging past closed doors and down switchbacks until they reached the armory. With each step came a growing tightness in Nox’s chest, as if they were walking into the coils of a great serpent.

[Mana 300%] !!! REDUCE MANA LEVEL IMMEDIATELY!!!

On reflex he selected the [minotaur soul] to unlock, already deciding to rotate casting the spells he’d acquired from dead Lala and Zoe. What he hadn’t expected was for a dialogue box to appear in his mind.

[INSUFFICIENT MANA]

Do you wish to activate soul/body-link?

Yes

No

Soul//body link? Uhm, what is that? Does this have something to do with Taylor’s body? I’m still in his and not my own…

“Liam, what the hell are you doing with my body!?” Snapped Taylor, halting his descension to berate his fellow hunter.

“Why am I not surprised you’re always so contrarian. I’m going to save your life. Remember this moment Taylor. Remember it well.” Said Nox, deciding to activate the ‘Yes’ option.

Taylor can choke on a bag of dicks, lets do this. Thought Nox, watching his mana drain to zero and then suddenly remembering what happened after his mana was gone. The healthbar shot across his vision. His very life was vanishing before his eyes, and by Taylor’s slackjawed stare, it was happening to him as well. Their healthbars plummeted to 10%, then 8%. Agony, exhaustion, and the sensation of every bone in his body splitting lengthwise beat Nox into the stone floor. Both hunters collapsed where they stood, falling limply as their minds shut off to prevent damage.

Darkness was the last thing Nox saw.

—

Six. That was the number of trips required for Jamal and Ruby to loot the ziggurat’s armory. Every modern weapon was stuffed into a backpack and passed off for Jon to load and manage, while Nox’s unconscious weight brought concern into their forebrains. Fortunately, Ashley –via Shakko– had the healing power to rejuvenate Nox and Taylor, though they remained unconscious, with weak pulses and bones that constantly shifted beneath their skin. As if their skeletons were restructuring, propelled by some arcane might, or a shapeshifter’s desire. The latter being why no one dared to intervene.

The best surgeon in the world, wouldn’t know how to operate on a shapeshifter with mobile organs. So they let the pair recover in peace, nestled atop the Labyrinth’s walls. Away from the thirsty sawgrass or the endless flow of the ziggurat’s mana. Safe, or at least as safe as one could be within the dungeon.

Ruby shuddered, feeling the mana begin to crystalize within her veins. While the hunter’s power was astounding, they had not earned their might, and their body’s were maladapted to constant mana, creating errors within her.

“Jamal, that’s our last trip. I need some time to cultivate.” Said Ruby-mae.

“Cultivate? You gonna try planting seeds in the sawgrass?” Asked Jamal, genuinely confused.

Cultivate? Do they not understand what that means? Mae wondered, internally consulting Ruby.

‘Say meditation, to clear our mana cancer.’ Thought Ruby, whispering across her sea of suppressed consciousness.

Her will to exist was beyond weak, in fact, it was nearly non-existant. There was nothing she was fighting for, no one who would miss her if she died, and not even a mother to remember she existed. Such an impotent will confuddled the message to Mae’s dominant mind. All so Ruby could spend a little more time in the sweet embrace of oblivion.

“I mean, med-ee-tay-te, to cure our banana cancer.” Said Mae, pronouncing the words delicately, with a tongue designed for conversation instead of likking meat from bones.

“Dafuq? Naw, ya know what, fine. Do ur thang.” Said Jamal, jogging along the walltop to deliver bundles of ancient weapons, pausing only to beat off a wall’s corner and haul the hunk of marble with him.

For her part, Ruby watched the sky for seven minutes and twelve seconds, using the time to steady her beating heart and align her breathing. Then, with her body in order, Mae delved into her chakras, circulating mana throughout her body as she’d seen the cultivators of old gather ki into their lower and middle dan tians. Yet the mana refused her body, rejecting her alien body as any human would reject a ten foot tall flea.

Which happened to be the exact outcome she desired. Excess mana split from her body, forming a crystal an inch above her heart and another crystal two inches below her naval. Raw energy split from her spirit, exhausting itself to form a lattice of crystallized power. An effortless process. Not a painless one.

Since the crystal was formed from Mae’s will, it’s shape was perfect a hexagonal protrusion that began within her body. Her flesh was pushed aside by the physical mana, Only for the pressure to build, pressing crisp diamond lines into her skinn until it gave way, carved asunder by the inevitable growth of crystals. Tears flowed freely as twin crystals began to protrude. At least this is easier than birthing the fireball that became Shakko. Thought Mae, smiling as realized this term would be measured by hours instead of months.

Pressure built as she meditated, time passing around her like Niagra falls flowing around Terrapin Point. An ocean’s worth of existence washing around the jewel that was Ruby-mae’s condensing figure. When the mana crystals finally tore through her skin the dungeon resonated with them, encapsulating them in a layer of silver energy. Mae continued to channel her mana into the crystals until no power remained. Then she stirred, awaking into a world she failed to recognize.

The freak hunter, Nox, sat in front of her. His ass resting on the corpse of a wyvern.

ssshhhheewwww THUNK

A spear flew through the air and buried itself within the wyvern’s hide, slipping between the scales.

“Bout time you’re awake.” Said Nox, walking across the wyvern’s body to Ruby. That’s not right… the walls are too tall for a single wyvern… A glance informed her that they had stacked three wyvern corpses, using them to wall off this particular passageway.

Liam’s immense hand –more a clawed buckler with fingers on the underside– grasped Ruby’s shoulder while the other took hold of the mana crystal protruding from her chest. His hold was gentle, but carried the weight of a half-ton truck. Able to rip the crystal out of her, or pound it through her chest and heart. A threat he made clear by pushing on the crystal until her ribcage creaked in her inner ears then pulling on it.

“Choose your words very very carefully demon.” Hissed Nox, leaning in so close to Ruby that she could taste his musk. “What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen in this dungeon?”