"Well." Began Taylor. "We lost again."

Lisa sighed. "Seriously? How did that not work?"

"Simple." Answered Aisha. "Scion is Haxx."

Alec sipped some coffee. "So... I don't usually make it this far. When does the Time Loop kick in?"

"We lost, so it'll warp us back when we die."

Alec frowned. "No different to usual, then. I was hoping it would be different."

"It is, when we win." Replied Rachael.

Everyone kept quiet for a moment. Taylor sipped her tea.

"Why didn't we cover this place in explosives?" Asked Aisha.

"Optimism." Replied Lisa.

"I'm surprised we still have any of that, after ten thousand loops." Noted Brain.

"Not ten thousand." Corrected Lisa. "Nine-thousand eight-hundred and forty-nine."

Alec opened his mouth, but Lisa glared at him. "You've already made the 'Over Nine-Thousand' joke. Roughly six-hundred and eleven times."

Aisha nodded. "Yeah. Let me use it for once."

Alec sighed. "You guys are no fu-"

And that's when Scion's mega-laser tore them apart.

Way back on the second loop

Glastig Ua- No, it was Valkyrie now- Woke up.

Odd, she didn't recall going to sleep. Or going back inside after her da-

Wait, was she back in Birdcage?

Valkyrie took a quick look around.

Yep. She was back in Birdcage.

Well, that was no fun.

It took her a second to swap out two of her Ghosts for Doormaker and Clairvoyant, and another to go to Chevalier.

"...You look younger." Valkyrie noted, confused. Chevalier sighed.

"Could you have waited for me to get out of bed?" Asked Chevalier.

"No." Replied Valkyrie. "Why aren't you at the Headquaters?" And why was I in Birdcage again?"

Chevalier blinked, looked around.

"Ah..." He began. "I think..."

He trailed off, and Valkyrie tapped her foot in impatience.

"You think? Is that supposed to be a big revelation?"

Chevalier bit his lip. "Valkyrie, could you open a portal to Legend? I want to check something."

Valkyrie nodded, having Doormaker create a door to Legend, who was standing near Eidolon and Ale-

...Wait.

"They're dead." Said Valkyrie, pointing through the portal. "Why aren't they dead?"

Chevalier sighed. "Simple. We just went back in time."

Valkyrie blinked. "What."

"Alexandria's there, so it's before Scion at the least. And she's actually talking to Legend and Eidolon, so that means it's not Pretender. Which means it's before Weaver turned herself in. Can't get a closer timeframe then that without checking, sorry."

Valkyrie thought on that for a moment.

"Time travel, huh? I wonder how Queen Admi- I mean, Taylor- Is doing..."

Meanwhile

"Hello, Dinah."

"Hello, Taylor. 85% Odds that Coil tries to kill you some time this week."

Danny frowned. "Wait, what?"

Taylor sighed. "This is going to be a pain to explain..."