Author's Notes;
-No, this fanfic is not dead. Okay, maybe I'm having some trouble finding the plot and where I want to go, but it's not... dead... yet!
Alright, let's get on with the show. I've kept you guys waiting for nearly a year again...
After finishing lunch with Kid Cobra, it was back to the job market... Again. As if I didn't have enough trouble finding a job the first time... Who would want to hire me now? Then another bad thought crept into brain;
What if they know about what happened at All Rolled Up?
I tried to shake it off. Nobody outside the sushi restaurant knew... not yet at least. I took a breath and tried to calm my thoughts. Maybe I could just fill out some more job applications. Try to pretend that All Rolled Up and my accidental destruction of the restaurant never ever happened. And if anyone asked, I could try to deny it.. Wait.
Stopping dead in my tracks, my thoughts continued to torment me.
Wait a minute. I thought. Isn't lying on a job application a federal offense?
I couldn't remember. If it was, it would land me in trouble for sure. I sighed and went onward. I collected job applications from ten different places and went back to my hotel room. I set the papers down, sorted them out, and looked at all the applications side by side.
1- Airport Food Vendor- Cashier at Smashburger
2- Server at River City Cafe
3- Ticket Vendor at Broadway Theatre
4- Busser at Kate's Cafe
5- Paid Volunteer Work- Cleaning up Central Park
6- Cashier at Buster Beach Resort Food Court
7- Tour Guide at the Mausoleum
8- Clerk at New York City Police Department
9- ARMS Cafe Employee (Hiring All Positions)
10- Graveyard Watcher at New Boot Hill
I sighed to empty air.
That first job sounds like a pain in the behind. The second one might not be too bad. Then again, would a new job even be the best thing for me right now? Maybe rushing into a new job is a bad idea... Oh wait. You have an impossible amount of debt to pay off in so little time... And even if you were to be interviewed and/or hired, how would you explain your departure from All Rolled Up? Maybe you could just say you were let go? I could, but then I'd have to follow up with why. Competing in ARMS competition? No, that would be a blatant lie. Or would it? My previous job didn't distract me from my training. I could lie... but would it be a good idea in the end?
I wasn't sure what the next best move would be. I spent the next few hours filling out applications. My eyes were tired by the end of it all, and I soon fell asleep.
My dreams were still very strange. Tonight's dream was divided into two parts.
First, it involved Ribbon Girl's reaction to learning who her opponent for the fifth round was. Me, Ribbon and a few other people were hanging out in the lobby. It was a few hours before my last shift at All Rolled Up had begun.
A few vibrations on the communicators were heard. "Hmm... Looks like they've determined my next opponent."
I remembered looking at her curiously and asking, "Who is it?"
Her gasp pierced the air. She looked pale and stiff, as if she had seen a ghost.
"No... it can't be. Please... please no!"
Her communicator fell out of her hands and onto the floor.
"Rib? What's wrong? Who is it?"
"It's... it's Indra."
The 'airess' quickly ran away in fear.
I remembered thinking to myself, Why does Ribbon Girl seem so terrified?
The second part involved me watching a scene from a movie while I was recovering from my broken arm. The movie was called Ruby and the Great Dragon Crown. It was one of the many movies Ella, better known as Twintelle, had starred in over the course of her career. It was also the last movie where Isabella Stefani was not featured with her magical ARMS hair. It wasn't as popular as some of her most recent films, but I still enjoyed it immensely.
The scene was the third one in the movie. Titled Out of Reach, this was where I had left off the last time I was watching it. Of course, I had seen the movie before, but I wanted to watch it again for fun, and hopefully to lift my spirits.
[The scene shows a girl on a lonely hill nearby a village. The girl stands under a tree on the hill, looking at the town below. Her name is Ruby Phoenixwing. The camera zooms in on her, revealing that Ruby has tanned skin, red velvet hair tumbling to her waist and a red silk-like dress with a fire design down towards the hem. The camera briefly zooms in on her eyes, revealing them to be amber. It shows her wearing a bracelet with many stones on it and an amulet with a white pentagram symbol on it.]
[Kevin Wintertalon, her friend, appears. His skin is shown to be as white as snow. He brushes the bangs of his white hair away from his deep blue eyes. He wears a white tunic with icy blue snow boots and a blue cape with a big light blue single snowflake design on it. He also wears snowy blue fingerless gloves and a silver ring with a blue gemstone on his right hand.]
[Ruby sits down, and pulls out a book, not noticing Kevin's presence at first. She puts the book away and waves at him.]
Ruby: Hey Kev.
Kevin: Hey Ruby. [he sits next to her] Come here to escape the teasing by your classmates?
[Ruby sighs]
Ruby: You know me too well.
Kevin: Look Ruby, I know you're deeply upset about not having witchcraft powers, but I think maybe you can find a way to make it in this world without them.
Ruby: How can I do that? I have no skills. I've tried cooking, cleaning, sewing, hunting, archery, and even sword-fighting. I'm not good at anything.
Kevin: You only tried sword-fighting once and then gave up.
Ruby: Heh... That is true. She lamented. I just... feel like I have no purpose. No calling, no necessary tasks, no importance, no destiny. Nothing.
[Kevin is visibly disheartened after she speaks. He turns to her.]
Kevin: You think that having powers would complete your life?
Ruby: Well, yeah, probably. If I was granted magic powers right now, I'd do a fire divination spell of some sort and figure out my destiny, if I really do have one.
[Kevin raises an eyebrow.]
Kevin: How do you know you'd be a fire witch?
Ruby: I've got the personality traits of a fire witch such as a fiery-temper, ambition, sassiness, and the warming kindness similar to a fire in a fire place and harshness when people hurt me. Also my fave color is red. If those aren't signs I could be a fire witch, I don't know what is.
Kevin: You do have importance, with or without powers. Don't be selfish and unreasonable. [Ruby frowns.]
Ruby: Is it wrong to want power? [He doesn't answer. A smile slowly forms on her face.] I'll take that silence as a no. I'm glad you understand.
Kevin: Yeah...
[He looks away from her with a look of sadness and guilt.]
Ruby: Besides, there's got to be something that will work to give me power. I've heard rumors about this activate inner fire potion at the tavern. [she smiles brightly, her eyes light up] That might be the ticket to giving me the power I have always sought.
[Kevin stammers.]
Kevin: Are you sure that would work? [Ruby nods.]
Ruby: Yeah, I'm positive.
Kevin: You're not gonna borrow money to pay for it, are you?
Ruby: The last time I borrowed money was three years ago!
Kevin: It was me you borrowed from. [Ruby gets up from the ground.] And what if this potion is only temporary? Then what?
Ruby: Then I'll buy a bunch of them and use them wisely. I'm not giving up. Not easily. I know I can do it.
I paused the movie as the fourth scene was about to start. I remembered looking at my arm thinking, If only I could be optimistic now as she was at this point in the film. Will I ever heal? Will I ever be able to finish the suit?
I woke up, even though I really didn't want to. Rolling over, I checked the time on the digital alarm clock.
2:55 am.
Groaning in fatigue, I got up and pondered my next move. I had already gotten several hours of sleep, so I knew going back to bed would be futile.
I looked at my ARMS Communicator to see my next match. There were a few unread messages, reminders about something.
"Oh crap."
My match with Springman was scheduled for... today. And I hadn't been training for it.
How much time do I have?
The match was scheduled for noon. It was nearly three in the morning. Seven hours to prepare for a fight I had nearly forgotten about. Not to mention my opponent was extremely angry with me.
This was majorly bad.
Several hours had passed. After some fruitless attempts to get more sleep, I choked down some bitter coffee, ate something resembling breakfast (which was really a piece or two of bacon and a cup of yogurt I was given by Ribbon Girl), I stood in my room, pacing around nervously.
It was almost time for the fifth round matches to begin. I was up against Springman. Once he was a rookie, but this was no longer the case. He didn't seem extremely tough, but I had to be on my guard. What were his ARMS gloves again? What was his ability, if any at all were present?
My mind was drawing a blank. How could I form a feasible strategy on how to defeat him?
Trying to fight the nervous churning of my stomach (or was it growling?), I got into my suit and made my way down the stairs to the first floor. From there I made my way to the teleportation room. I breathed in to calm myself and entered the portal to find Spring Man in the Spring Stadium.
"It's about time you showed up!" a familiar voice called out.
Spring Man himself was already waiting there, and he looked quite impatient.
"I didn't think you'd show up after you ran away like a coward!"
I was tempted to say something, but I breathed in to keep my cool.
The announcer began the introductions. "In this corner, we have a guy who puts the Bounce in Bouncer, Spring Man!"
A chorus of cheers was heard as the announcer finished introducing him. I tried to keep my best poker face.
"And in this corner, she's the only fighter who built her way into the ARMS League, Mechanica!"
Cheers were heard, but it seemed lesser in volume, and then I realized... that there were less people in the stands for me than there was for Spring Man.
I couldn't help but silently pout at this. Oh great, my reputation is really going downhill.
"It's Spring Man versus "the scrapyard scrapper," Mechanica!" Biff began. "Her hefty suit makes her a heavyweight! Can Spring Man stand up to such punishment? We'll soon find out!"
We chose out our respective sets of ARMS Gloves. Springman opted for a Toaster on his right and a Boomerang on his left. I chose a Whammer for my left, and a Homie for my right.
The fight began, and Springman didn't hesitate on making the first move. He came at me with his right ARM and I dashed back to dodge it. He wasted no time firing his attacks right and left, left and right. I was on the receiving end of many blows as I tried, and failed, to get him from behind. I realized that, as a pilot for a heavyweight robot mech, that I was too slow for the sneaky approach and needed a new tactic.
Instead I put a shield up and waited for him to try and grab me. He took the bait and I soon retaliated with a charged Homie, getting a significant hit. He growled and tried to get me with the left. I dashed forward to avoid the boomerang and soon bonked him on the head with the Whammer. A red bomb was soon brought into the ring, and I immediately punched it with my right. It blew up right in his face, hurting him even more.
As the bomb blew up, I formed something resembling a strategy. Speed wasn't his specialty (at least, I didn't think it was), but he was light on his feet, bouncing around from one spring board to another. I soon found a way around it; knocking him down with a charged hammer and throwing him down.
A few more blows later, he was down on the ground for that round.
"K.O!" the announcer declared.
"Owah!" I cheered.
"Augh..." Springman groaned.
He growled before getting up again.
The first round was mine. So why wasn't I happy?
Going back onto our other sides of the ring, we swapped out our ARMS gloves. He chose two Toasters this time, and I chose two Whammers.
As the second round began, Spring Man wasted no time charging at me with his charged Toasters. I was hit with both of them, feeling the fire, if only limited.
I don't get it! I thought, dodging his left Toaster. Why is he so mad at me?!
I stopped in my tracks and blinked. Oh... The gym.
"Spring Man," I began, shielding myself. "I just want to..."
He grabbed me and threw me into the wall.
"Save it, scrappy!" he exclaimed. "Your words are cheap, just like your suit!"
"Ooo! A major burn!" Biff remarked.
Well, that failed.
Focus on the match! I told myself. Apology later!
I tried to regain my focus, but it wasn't easy. My Whammers were too slow against his Toasters and it was hard to land a hit on him. Just as I was about to get a hit on him, he activated his rush attack, and nearly knocked me down. I was on my last legs, I needed a plan, but what?
He still had half his stamina left.
Maybe I can...
Nope! My plan quickly fell apart after a simple punch to the suit.
"K.O!" the announcer spoke.
I slumped to the ground. "Ough..."
"Yeah, ha ha!"
Was he taunting me? Or was he just happy to be here? Either way, the second round was over, and he had taken the win. We were now evenly matched. This round was for all the marbles.
I felt a pang of sorrow. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I wasn't strong enough?
We swapped out our ARMS gloves one last time. Springman kept the same ARMS as last round, while I opted for a Revolver on my right and a Homie on my left.
The third started with him making the first move; he went forth with a charged toaster, but I quickly guarded myself. As he tried to grab me, I charged in with an electric Revolver shot, stunning him and knocking down his right ARM. I disabled the other one, and hit him with the Homie. He was knocked against the wall.
Soon a robot drone came in with a green healing potion. He dashed into the ring, but I couldn't let him stay there. I threw him out of the health circle ring, and claimed it for myself, even though I didn't really need it. Once the healing potion disappeared however, he grabbed me and threw me aside and across the field.
Using the jetpack on my mecha suit, I ascended into the air and curved my Homie punch to throw Springman off his game. He dodged to his left as I got his ARM again.
I soon remembered that I had my rush attack ready. But now was not the time to use it.
Springman came towards me, but I dashed back to avoid his attack. I did this several times before noticing how little time I had left.
40 seconds.
The clock was ticking, and Springman had more health left than I did.
"Give it up, Mechanica! Just go home!"
My blood boiled and I held in my anger, charging up both ARMS and hitting him with them at once.
"Shut up, Springboy!" I yelled back. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?!"
He hit me with a Toaster, causing slight damage. "No, and why should I...?"
"I lost my job!" I blurted out.
"Huh?!"
Taking advantage of his hesitation, I growled and unleashed my rush attack, hitting him with one blow after another, until he was finally down.
"K.O!" the announcer shouted.
"And the winner is Mechanica!" Biff announced.
"Aw, man!" he exclaimed in anger.
"Ooooh woo-hoo!" I cheered.
I had just won. I couldn't believe it. I was halfway there!
Jumping into the air with my suit, I posed for victory, letting out a joyful cry.
"Mechanica!"
I had just exited the portal to the Spring Stadium and happily made my way through the hallways.
Yes! I'm halfway there! At this rate, I'll...
My thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a staggered pace. I turned around, trying to find the source. Turning right, walking down another corridor and then turning left, I found Ribbon Girl, who was stumbling around, about twenty feet away from me. A stream of blue lightning danced across the wrist of her left arm all the way to her right shoulder.
There was no sweat on her forehead, but her face was flushed and burning up. Her hair, normally in its ribbon-like ponytail, was now loose, frizzy and becoming undone. Her eyes were sunken and dazed, and she looked exhausted. Her left heeled shoe had its heel broken and she struggled to maintain her balance.
I tried to take it all in, my senses overwhelmed with terror, as the Airess fell to the ground unconscious, her right arm in front of her.
"Ribbon Girl!"
As she laid on the ground, the lightning continued to crackle and damage her. Then I noticed something even worse; there was more than one bolt of lightning surging through her.