Since the concept sprang from a prompt, I figured posting it here made the most sense. For anyone that's coming across this fresh, https://lemmy.world/comment/16264684 is the first story.

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Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist left

BLAM

Okay. Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner right knee.

BLAM

Fucking hell. Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner left knee.

BLAM

This fucker needs to go down! Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's gonna need evac if I don't want to deal with fucking paperwork when he dies. Don't fucking care right now. Move Don, move!

Okay, okay, what's next? Shit, Damage is in trouble.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta fucking get to Damage and not fucking die again. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee oughta do it. Shrike is down, Damage has this, move, Don, move! Find the fucker. Find the fucker.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, Damage has this, move, Don, move! Find the fucker. Find the fucker. Stay in cover this time. Last shot came from somewhere over there. Fuck. Breathe. Too much fucking dust.

BLAM

What the fuck!? They shot Damage! Dammit all to hell. Looked like focused energy though. Doesn't fucking matter, move!

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod, faster this time, and to the right.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod, faster this time, and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, over the car befo

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod, faster this time, and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, under the SUV, stop, watch this time. Okay, okay, creep out

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. Had to have come from the Gant building, only thing still standing with an angle to see that spot. Test it, watch careful, hand out first, move slow.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. Path to the Gant building is rough. No way to keep cover. Fucking blast doesn't have a tell. Thus is gonna fucking suck. Okay, dash to the statue.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it. Yes! Fuuuck, that's a long run. This is gonna suck worse. One path at a time, mix in rolls and jumps.

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll left

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll right, up and roll back left

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll right, duck, forward roll, call for cov

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll right, duck, twist right, dive then call for covering fi

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, twist right,

BLAM

What the fuck! Dammit, what the fuck?! Fucked the order, must have fucked the order. Fucking bullshit not able to reset closer. What the fuck worked? Was it a duck and roll? Duck and twist? This fucking sucks. Gotta get the General to ready covering fire anyway

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll left

BLAM

BLAM

BLAM

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll right, duck, forward roll, call for covering fire, run Don, run!

There, fucking made it! Okay, one of Max's dupes should be here... now! Yes! Fuck, I hate watching my own ass when I run.

BLAM

Gotcha motherfucker! Duped by a dupe! Third floor. Just gotta bring a rifle next time and we got this fucker. Okay, step out and take the hit

BLAM

Two steps right. Duck, roll, twist right, shoot Scanner center of mass. Yes! Fucker's down again. Gotta handle Shrike. Stay low, stay fucking low.

Kick to the back of the knee. Shrike is down, pull Damage with me behind the fence. "Stay put for now". Good, got the nod. Out , and to the left. Right on! Scramble motherfucker, scramble, stay under the big piece of metal for a sec. This fucking sucks . Okay, dash to the statue, roll left behind it.

Two steps right, roll right, duck, forward roll, call for covering fire, run Don, run!

There, fucking made it! Okay, the dupe should be here... now! Yes! Fuck, I still hate watching my own ass when I run.

CRACK

---

"Jesus Eternus, did you have to make it a head shot?"

"Fuck off Jamie. You were too busy flirting with Razor, and everyone else had taken hits from whoever it was and gone down."

Blood was dripping from a few dozen slashes, one ball was hanging from a hole in his shorts and had a cut on it too. The look on his face was bloodier, standing there in the transport waiting for Switch to bring us home.

"Fuck you Don! You've gotten fucking trigger happy ever since the interview. Razor tried to fucking castrate me, and she's still alive."

"No, fuck you Jamie. Twenty five times I got my brain splattered by that fucking blast. He killed Damage once. The cunts have ramped up because I had to fucking go public with some of what I do. They go harder, I end up in a fucking corner."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Fuck! We're supposed to be heroes, not executioners."

"No fucking shit! You think I signed on to be a damn killer? Do you?"

"No, Don, I know you didn't. And I know there's shit you can't tell us. I know there's a big fucking deal coming and you're scattered as Damage's shit after taco night. But maybe you're taking the easy way out more often because of that."

"Hey, I hosed the bathroom down that time. Not my fault the hot sauce hit me hard."

"Sorry Del, was just trying to dial things back a little."

"Sokay Jamie, I get it. Maybe the jerk has a point though, Don. Are you maybe just taking the fastest way to a win instead of making the win as low impact as possible?"

Fuck. Was I?

"No. I don't think so. I mean, even if I was, how many times do I have to die or get mangled before it's okay to use lethal force? If I was a fucking cop, that would be a clean shoot. Do any of you really think I should be replaying things an extra dozen times trying to find a non lethal shot?

Fuck me, almost half of the repeats this time were because I couldn't keep track. Got my paths confused and had to rebuild the pattern again. Maybe I go back now and get even more turned around. Maybe I fuck up bad enough one of you is dead and I can't sort it out, so you stay dead, all for the sake of trying not to kill that fuckknuckle.

Do any of you want me to do that?"

Jamie had the decency to look me in the eye when he shook his head, "Nah, Don, nobody wants that. But I'm fucking worried about you. You've let enough slip that we've figured out some things. You're pushing too hard. You'll fucking snap, man."

"We? What the fuck? Is there an 'Eternus is losing it' coffee klatch now?"

"Hey man, it ain't like that" Del's rumble cut in.

"Then what's it like?"

"It's like watching your brother implode. Your hands shake a lot now. When we're on shift at base, you talk some in your sleep. You slip up and mumble things during briefings. It was Lightstorm figured out you're looping more than a day, that you're cycling back years from something big you can't tell us about. Or can you? Have you tried?"

Fuck. Didn't know it was that bad.

"Yeah, I've tried. It made too many milestones change, I couldn't keep the main timeline where we all survive to the, ah big shitshow on track. Only tell the people that I can't avoid telling, and even that changed shit. Like today, that cunt sniping us, I've never seen before. The primary line? I can't manage to get things back to that. Gave up five repeats ago."

Jamie started crying, "How many? Jesus fucking christ Don, how many times have you looped back from the big thing?"

"I dunno for sure. I've lost track. Max asks something similar most times, after I start the plan to get Generator with us. I try and figure it out when he does. A few hundred I think. Maybe more. Thousands of years. Most of the time, I don't have to start all the way over, makes it harder to keep track.

And Jamie?"

"Yeah Don?"

"Put your nut back in your shorts, it's distracting."

"Fuck you man, fuck you"

At least it got everyone laughing and off my ass for a while.