...A Loop...

[Loop 1]

"Survive a loop? Ha, you're funny lil' guys aren't ya?" Verum said with a laugh as she made her way into the city of V'atruth. The kingdom was in a state of disrepair, the sight of people who used to roam the streets were instead replaced by inky figures who patrolled the streets with a sickly noise following them.

The rodent felt instantly familiar with the goop guards as she ducked into an alley. "Rule one of time loops. Remember every detail." The heroic doppelganger said as she appeared behind with an emotionless, quickly followed by her more feral self. "Rule two. Remember you're not in charge." 

"Huh?" Verum turned back, getting distracted for a single moment. She was soon impaled by an inky tendril that pierced her chest, killing her in a rather painful display that her Feral self winced at.

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[Loop 2]

The rodent felt instantly familiar with the goop guards as she ducked into an alley. "Rule one of time loops. Remember every detail." The heroic doppelganger said as she appeared behind with an emotionless, quickly followed by her more feral self. "Rule two. Remember you're not in charge."

Instead getting distracted, she leapt up the side of the building next to her and avoided the approaching guards. "Alright. You two got me that time... So how do I get outta here?" She asked, though getting no response from her doppelgangers who had vanished. 

With a sigh, Verum decided to wait out the day and see if this was just her heart power acting up. She sat on the rooftop as the sun began to set, playing with a set of summoned cards of light and shadow. 

The clock tower's bell rung out in the distance at exactly 20:00. 

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[Loop 3]

Verum awoke just outside the city again, waking up with another violent kick from her doppelgangers, who vanished once she awoke. The rodent rushed off into the kingdom and checked the time on the clock tower, seeing it was 09:17 exactly. 

"Alrighty. Okay, think Verum. You're a god who's seen twelve different time loop episodes. You've got the clock, you've got your weird hallucinations. What else do you need?" The rodent pondered to herself as she stuck to the roof tops, jumping around as she looked around the city to get a feel for it. 

"If ya need a hint, just look for someone outta the ordinary." The feral one said as she appeared with a smirk, shaking her hips in the opposite direction to her tail before bending backwards and pointing at a nearby crowd of people. 

"Thanks, me." The truth telling rodent said with a two finger salute before jumping down and checking it out, though not before grabbing a towel of a clothes line and using it like a hood. If she was going to be in a time loop, she might as well have fun with it.

The crowd were gathered around in a circle, egging on a fight between a living gingerbread man fighting off a chicken with a candy cane. Despite only having so many hours in a day, she did take the time to watch as the gingerbread man actually came out the victor, making the crowd cheer with excitement. 

"Awesome." She thought to herself before walking away, but was blocked by her more heroic counterpart. "Are you just thick in the skull or do you think a living gingerbread man is normal even in this world?"

"HEY!... I'm a god, you don't get to say that, me." She responded with a matter of fact tone out loud, drawing a bit of attention to herself. Her feral counterpart suddenly appeared with a small smirk. "What ###### is tryin' to say is, why don't ya talk to em? It's not everyday you meet a candy guy. Plus, we can eat 'im!" 

"We are NOT eating him." The heroic version said with a flat tone while Verum approached the resting gingerbread man. His icing eyes glanced her over as he rested against a crate. "You okay, Ratty? Talkin' to yourself ain't a good sign." He laughed.

"Whatever, whatever, whatever," She quickly scooped him up with her tail, holding him up to eye level with a playful grin. "Why the hell are you alive?"

"Uh... That's a-a bit harsh." 

"What? No, not like that! I meant why the hell is a snack talkin' back?" She snickered, walking away with him as the guards began investigating all the commotion. The gingerbread seemed a tad confused. "Are you new around here?"

Verum nodded her head as she entered a nearby toy store. The gingerbread gave a light sigh as he began explaining what the entire city was about and its history, but Verum's attention was else where as she had been enamoured by a novelty snow-globe of a snowman in glasses.

"And that is why you shouldn't cross- Are you even listening?" He complained. She was too distracted by the snow globe to really care, and failed to realise that her captive had managed to break free. 

"H-Hey, Verum." Her feral side tried calling out, but failed to grab her attention. "Oh my name..." The hero sighed before giving her a kick to the back of the shins. The rodent quickly swivelled around to see her gingerbread captive being devoured by a hungry child.

It was a cruel and brutal thing to watch... So she didn't, instead focusing back on the snow globes. The hours ticked away as she just stared at the globe without moving. The staff were rather creeped out by the bizarrely dressed Demi-Human just staring, so they kicked her out around 17:56.

"Well done. You wasted most of the day staring at globes." The heroic one grumbled while floating beside the rodent. "Welp. Might as well drink the night away." Verum playfully suggested before skipping playfully through alleyways and into a tavern on the other side of the kingdom.

Inside the dreary and depressing tavern were mostly human patrons with the occasional demi-human here and there. Verum sat herself on a stool at the counter and ordered a glass of whiskey. "Hey!" She called out to the middle aged woman behind the counter. "You guys invented Bagels yet?" 

"Weird question, rat." The bar maid grumbled before saying they did. "Great. Then can I have a bagel with bacon cooked with cheese and a pinch, I repeat, a PINCH of salt." 

With an eye roll from the bar maid, she went off to make the rodent's specific request. "Ah, the tavern. A place I spent many a time." The heroic version mused as she leant against the counter with her feral self standing behind the counter, eying up the selection.

As her heroic self began winding on about a story of her past, Verum's ears flickered when she overheard a conversation between two rather young adventurers. They were talking about how an artefact had been recovered from an ancient dungeon yesterday that was rumoured to control time. 

"You reckon this place has an adventures guild?" The feral doppelganger casually brought up while going through the register, trying her best to steal gold coins despite not being tangible. Verum snapped her fingers, taking the idea as her own.

As time ticked on, Verum finally got her bagel and-

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[Loop 4]

"Oh me damnit!" She yelled in frustration as she woke up from her doppelgangers kick. It felt like waking up from a dream. A dream she wanted to go back to. So before she went to try and find an adventures guild, Verum spent the entire day waiting for the same Tavern to open to get her bagel.