"Damnit!"
Harloss and Juniper jumped a little at the sudden yell, coming from a soaked figure, barely dressed with just a rag covering his waist.
He looked pale and weak, like he could fall at any moment. He breathed heavily, and his emerald eyes were...furious?
"And what are you looking at?!"
Dante yelled, grabbing an ice shard as he lunged at the frozen Harloss.
Without hesitation, his grip around the shard tightened despite him drawing blood from his palm and began stabbing Harloss repeatedly, the two of them falling with the latter beneath Dante as the youth continued to stab until the fat man's struggle inevitably ceased.
Dante then rises to his feet and takes his golden gun.
"W-Wha...ARE YOU CRAZY?! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?"
Dante turned to the side, only to find, like the few times before, Juniper's expression pale as both of his hands curled around his face.
And like usual, he raised his gun, however, paused just before pulling the trigger as he pulled his gun to the side, tilting his head as he stared at Juniper, waiting.
"BECAUSE OF YOU, THE ADMIRALS WILL BE HERE ANY MINUTE, AND THAT'S IF YOU SURVIVE SIR SHAMROCK! BECAUSE OF YOU, I'LL MOST LIKELY BE DONE FOR TOO!"
"Oh...you don't say," Dante mumbled satisfied.
This time, unlike the times before, he grabbed a nearby chair, sliding it over to Juniper. It did just that, gliding over the marble floor, easily due to the water and ice.
Juniper, teary-eyed, darted his eyes between Dante and the chair, to which the former raised an eyebrow.
"What are you looking at? Go on, sit. You're going to tell me everything about everything I've missed out on."
Juniper, clearly reluctant, paused for a few seconds in confusion considering they should have been running for their lives.
Dante let out a sharp exhale in annoyance.
"Come on, don't make me do some count to ten bullshit. Sit."
Juniper sits and Dante races back and forth in a straight line, the hollow point of the gun dangerously on his forehead as he looked as though he was thinking.
Dante stopped pacing for a second, muttering, "Two thousand years, huh? It's hard to think of where to start."
He turned to Juniper. "Alright, why not start with that nonsense you were spouting earlier. Admirals? What the hell are those?"
Juniper blinked in confusion, struggling to understand if the question was genuine.
Dante sighed, rolling his eyes. "Jeez, I've been in a popsicle for 2000 years, get over it. Clearly, I haven't gotten the memo on what the world is like, so start explaining it to me like I'm five, Junebug."
"W-Well...Admirals, they're the second highest rank within the Marines...Sir."
"Alright, now we're getting somewhere. So...what are the Marines?"
Juniper stared, his previous anxiety and fear being consumed completely by his confusion.
Thus began a sequence of questions and answers.
Juniper would explain and answer Dante's questions, however, they'd ultimately lead to follow-up questions that needed answers so the latter could understand the previous answer.
"Okay, this is good. World Government, Marines, I think I'm getting the gist of today's world."
"If you want, there's a map of the world over there, you can have a look if you'd like." Juniper pointed as Dante looked.
"Oh, good idea, thanks."
Dante ran to the map, looking for it.
As he did, Juniper eyed the door, quickly debating whether or not he'd be faster than a bullet...
"You are not faster than a bullet. Don't bother."
Dante answered the question without even having to look back, deflating any plan Juniper might have had.
He finally found the map, smiling as he opened it, staring.
But as he did, his smile slowly began to fade.
"What the hell is this?"
"W-What...that's the world map."
"Yeah, I heard you the first time. Is this supposed to be some joke? Where's Waterdrought?"
"Where?"
"Waterdrought. The island I grew up, it's in the middle of the All Blue."
Juniper stared with an expression like he was talking to a stupid person.
"There's no such thing as the All Blue."
"There is. It's supposed to be right here. What the hell is this wall in the middle of the world?"
"That's the Red Line...we're on it right now."
Dante turned to stare at Juniper, recalling the previous loop where he almost plummeted to his death.
If they were on this wall, it would explain it.
Despite that, Dante still muttered, "Why..."
The question was vague, sure, but Juniper understood what he meant...sort of.
"I don't know... It's just the way the world...is."
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing as he walked away from the map.
"Alright, let's try to cover a topic that maybe isn't so brain-numbing."
Dante thought for a few seconds, his face then lighting up.
"Science! What have been the advancements in that?"
"Well, uh, that depends. What knowledge do you have on that field?"
"I'm glad you asked. I pride myself on being one of the best in my time. For example, one thing we were working on was something of a magical bar that could kill all evil substances we called "Bacteria"."
Despite Dante's nod of satisfaction and pride, Juniper stared at him with his eyebrows pinched.
"You mean soap?"
"Huh..."
Dante blinked.
"Yeah, it's called soap. Me and the kids on my island used to make some as a fun experiment."
Dante stared, frozen.
"What about the human skeleton?"
"Yeah, the 206 bones? What about them?"
"Gravity?"
"The falling apple story? Everyone's heard it."
"Flat earth?"
"It's actually round."
Dante continued to list off his, what he thought to be, vast knowledge. Yet, Juniper was able to match it, at times even topping the facts he brought up.
All until...
"What the...WHAT?!"
Dante threatened to pull out his own hair as he ground his teeth, until the door to the room swung open like in all the loops before.
"I heard some commotion and wanted to check if everything was..."
"Get the hell out before I demolish you, asshole," Dante yelled at the figure who walked in, only for the latter to stare at the scene, quickly turning back as his screams disappeared down the hallway.
Dante turned back to Juniper.
"And just so you know, in a few loops, I was that guy under the tree who got hit with the falling apple."
However, the momentary respite Juniper had felt in their conversation had disappeared upon witnessing the servant run, knowing the latter would alert everyone, his anxiety returning.
"...all those loops...all those fucking loops...all to now be less than the common man."
Dante helplessly looked back at the floating green clock, only seen by him, ticking backwards with a helpless face.
"And to think...I just had to place my checkpoint here, didn't I...now, I can never go back. I'm forced to live in this hell."
Dante paused for a second, blinking as his expression turned neutral, turning to the sweating Juniper.
"Hey...what do you know about Dante 'Lupin' Bond?"
"Uh...I've never heard of him."
"Nothing? No legends, stories or myths of a genius, handsome, rich and genius bounty hunter from back in the day?"
Juniper remained ignorant, Dante repeating, "Did I mention he was a genius?" but to no avail.
"I see..."
Despite everything he'd heard today...well, the multiple todays he's had, this one piece of information was what left him truly stunned, staring into blank air.
"Everything I've done..."
Nothing.
It all meant and amounted to nothing.
Despite him being a notable figure in his time, no one remembered him.
In the end, according to the history books, he was just a common crook who didn't even deserve to be recorded, succumbed to the hands of time.
'Heh...how ironic...'
"So...was it all worth it? ...Is it still all worth it?"
CRASH
As he stood there, still standing despite the commotion, the two twin doors were blown off their hinges.
The dust began to settle as Juniper dashed to those who entered.
A red-haired man with a sword was followed by a purple-haired female and countless knights as the red-haired man carried an aura that almost made the room itself shake.
"You...I know you. You're that Ice Sculpture..."
"...what's changed?"
Everyone paused as the youth suddenly mumbled something, his eyes slightly wider than usual and his expression deadpan, slowly turning to them.
"I live to just do whatever I want...and I did. I pretty much did everything..."
Dante paused...then a grin slowly began to spread from ear to ear.
"But this is a clean new world...fresh meat, new with...well, everything...shit, this all might just be a blessing in disguise."
Everyone remained quiet, unsure of what exactly was going on, staring.
"What's stopping me? What's stopping me from doing it all again? I did it once...sure, it'll be harder this time...but that's where all the fun is...so tell me, what's changed!"
Dante's voice had slowly begun to rise the more he spoke until he was flat out screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I see...I was looking forward to what a historic artifact such as yourself might hold. Knowledge. Experience. However, it seems you're just mad."
The red-haired man commented. However, Dante let out a single chuckle, then another, and another until he fell into a fit of manic laughter.
"No, I keep saying it, don't you all listen?"
"I'm a fucking genius...and a little mad, I'll admit."
The red-haired man drew his sword as Dante spread his arms, as if he were welcoming it.
"Go on, do it! Because I am telling the world, no, the universe, I will do it all again, better even. And this time..."
The red-haired man stood a few feet away from Dante as he raised his sword, yet the youth didn't even flinch, yelling once more for the final time.
"The name Lupin will forever be remembered! I PROMISE!"
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, a swing rendered Dante's vision upside down as he watched his body remain standing despite him dropping, rolling on the ground.
With this...the great Lupin died once more.