Chapter Three: Fears I
Ribbon Girl was outside again, about two thirds of the way to the hotel from the car park. It was dark outside now, and the moonlight shimmered as it reflected on the rain pouring down.
"Wh-Wha-?!" She gasped, quickly hugging her ARMS around her. It was freezing out here, and she was getting soaked! But she had just been inside - what the hell happened? Where was she? And were all the others? The-
A bolt of lightning struck near by, about twenty feet away from her. She jumped out of her skin, falling back and landing straight down in the wet mud below her. She quickly hopped to her feet again and backed up about another ten feet.
She was shaking now quite a bit. That had really caught her off guard and she hated lightning. Outright couldn't stand it. The sound of thunder always made her body tense up, and every flash coming through the curtains felt like it was right beside her. But now the lightning actually was right beside her.
Another bolt, this one about twenty five feet behind her. She jumped again, before backing up more in the opposite direction.
Okay, okay, okay - priority number one? Get the hell out of the storm.
She turned on a dime and looked back down to where the car park stood. It was too dark to see it properly, and she wasn't about to hope for a lightning strike to illuminate things - it'd be too quick to see properly anyway. The car park would probably be about five minutes away if she ran, and a car was a safe place to be in a storm, right? The wheels were the only part to touch the ground, and those were made of delicious non-conductive rubber...
Another strike. Ten feet away.
She fell back into the mud, this time kicking her feet to push her back quickly, before even getting up again. That one was close enough to feel the heat. She was growing more and more terrified.
Okay, the car park was out of the question - it was further away than the hotel and she didn't have the key for Min Min's car anyway. She hopped to her feet quickly and began to dash toward the tower ahead.
More and more lightning, all scattered around in the distance for the most part, lit the dark grey clouds above with a sickening electric blue. She could feel tears running down her face now, as all she wanted was to get to somewhere she wouldn't be in the direct firing line of them.
She looked to the hotel in front of her. There was one main issue that struck her now, just as a lightning bolt struck a nearby tree stump - all the doors and windows of the hotel were boarded up. The boards looked tough , too. They were thick planks of wood, and the lower-level ones were even stacked doubly for reinforcement. There was no way she could get through them, no matter how strong her ARMS were.
But up at the very top of the tower there was a light on - the only light in a sea of otherwise dark windows. The light shined bright, like her beacon of hope in this dire situation, and it shined unobstructed. The window wasn't boarded up and, hell, it was even open!
She managed to get to the front of the tower, panting heavily now. Another bolt struck close and she jumped again, her face scrunching in a cry. If she wanted to get to safety she'd have to climb.
So that's what she began to do.
Min Min had really hoped for the soft carpet of the hotel room she had seen to be the thing that met with her foot when it finally pressed down in her assigned room. Instead? Laminated wood.
She was back in the ballroom downstairs, only the room was filled with...
With a unsteady gulp, she put her hands flat over her mouth. The entire room was packed with clown dolls. All of different designs and sizes, with different colour schemes and makeup patterns. There were so many she was damn near certain there wasn't a single space on the floor where she could stand without a clown doll within five feet of her.
The room-wide orange glow she had created through Helix a while earlier was once again present in this room, though it didn't seem to be emitting from anywhere specific, giving it more of an ominous presence. The burning shades of gold and orange really didn't help to make the clowns easier to look at. Not one bit.
Min Min put her hands behind her, eyes still fixed on the room, and felt around. She was... She was right beside the door! She grabbed the handle and tried to pull it, but the doors remained shut, only rattling slightly. " Come on... " She muttered quietly, shaking the doors again. " COME ON... "
She hurriedly turned around and grabbed the handle properly, pulling at it with a good deal more strength. It still didn't budge.
A childlike laughter came from behind her. She turned her head over her shoulder quickly, only to find that every clown doll in the room had silently rotated, and now all of them were looking directly at her.
She thumped her back against the wall, pressing flat against it as her chest heaved up and down. They... Were just dolls, right?
"MISANGOOOO?" She called out nervously. "ARE YOU BACK THERE, DUDE?" She whined through gritted teeth, immensely uncomfortable. "I NEED YOU TO OPEN THE DOOR!"
She got no response, but she kept hoping for one anyway. It was preferable to turning around again - she wasn't about to let these dolls out of her sight for a second. Even if looking at them was heart-thumping on its own.
Suddenly the ambient golden light surrounding the room began to flicker. It was never off for more than a split second at a time, but it definitely felt like it was gearing up to turn off completely. "OPEN THE DOOR, DUDE!" She banged her fists on the door behind her. " OPEN THE DOOR! "
The light vanished for about half a second, returning the room to pitch blackness, before coming back to reveal that every clown doll dotted around was now... Grinning. Many of them seemed to have particularly sharp or rotted teeth, too.
Min Min tensed up harder, slowly sliding her back down the door until she was sitting. She brought her knees to her chest and held them, still shaking.
The light began to flicker again, and Min Min shut her eyes, not ready for whatever was coming next.
Ribbon Girl's grip on the hotel's exterior wasn't great. The rain made everything pretty slippery to begin with, but her shaking made firmly grasping anything much more of a chore. And when lightning struck? Well she was surprised she wasn't on her way down to her death pretty much every time the thunder crash followed.
Her first real slip was at about the third floor, when a bolt had come close enough for her to one again feel the heat from it. Her left hand completely disconnected from the ridge she was gripping, and she was only saved by the firm grip of her right hand. At this height the fall likely wouldn't kill her, but she'd be in some serious pain and have broken quite a few bones.
The threat of falling was very real, but she couldn't stay out here in the storm. She just couldn't bare it at all - the light above was the only beacon of safety she had, so she was going to take it. Perhaps a calmer and more rational Ribbon Girl would have thought of something else, but right now calm-Ribbon Girl was out of commission, and wouldn't be back until the clouds above had cleared.
She continued to ascend, extending her ARMS up full stories at a time, and waiting until her grip was firm on its hold before she'd let go with her other hand. It was a long way up, and while she didn't want to rush it, she didn't exactly want to take her time either.
A bolt struck the side of the hotel. She yelped, tightening her grip on her hold while she hugged the building, tears running down her rain-soaked face. She became horribly aware that she was more than likely to die within the next few minutes, either by losing her grip or outright being struck by lightning before she reached her safe haven. They'd find her mangled body in the mud the next day - and she'd have died with whiskers painted on her face. Some way to go, for sure.
The thought terrified her, but she had already begun her ascent now - going back down would be even harder, and she didn't have much faith in her ability to hum a safe float down with her jaw quivering the way it was.
She attempted to steady her breath a bit, pulling herself up another floor. She was about half way there now, and certain a fall would completely kill her at this point.
Another floor up. If she just kept ascending like this, taking each floor one-at-a-time, she could make it. She knew she could, she just had to remain calm and-
Another bolt struck the hotel's side, crumbling some decorative stone and sending it down to the dark below. Her hand came off its support again, but the other gripped tightly, if trembling.
She carefully looked toward where the bolt had struck - a big black scorch mark lay there, but thankfully no fire. Her eyes were wet, both from tears and the heavy rain, but she'd be able to see a fire if there was one, given how dark everything else was. Fire... That would be another detail in an already awful situation, if one started. She was pretty glad she didn't have to deal with that just yet.
Another floor up. It occurred to her that one of her main gloves had an electric attribute, and another had fire. Was that some awful irony, predicting how she'd die from the moment she chose those gloves? Her third main was wind, and there was a fair bit of that here too! The rain was practically diagonal.
About three quarters of the way up now. She was so close - so close! She'd soon be safe and in Min Min's ARMS, and Mechanica and Kid Cobra and Coyle and Brass - they're all be there to support her! They'd probably wonder how the hell she got outside, or where she'd-
A bolt of lightning struck Ribbon Girl. Not directly, no, but close enough to feel it. It landed with a harsh crash right beside her left ARM - she could feel the static course through her. Through her chest. Through her face. Through the ribbons in her right ARM and then the ribbons in her left.
The voltage wasn't nearly enough to kill her, just like that - it was only a nearby shock, not a direct hit. But it was enough for to feel it. Enough for her ARMS to... For her ARMS to...
She was falling. Her ARMS were limp and lifeless, as if she had just been struck by a Revolver or a Seekie or a-
It didn't matter. She was falling now, and she was powerless to stop it. Time seemed to slow as the view of that open window above grew steadily further and further away. She would never see Min Min again. Or Mechanica. Or any of the others at all. She'd never fight in an ARMS match again, or sing at a concert. This was the end of her story.
She shut her eyes and passed out, not expecting to wake up again.
Min Min shook in place, her body wrapped up small as she waited for whatever horrible thing was about to happen to her to happen. She waited with her eyes shut tightly for a good three minutes or so, before she began to feel... Impatient?
Why was nothing happening? She couldn't hear anything moving - not that she had been able to the last few times - and she couldn't feel anything near her... The wait was getting painful. Why wouldn't they just hurry up and get her or whatever?
She considered now, nervously, that if she were to open her eyes they'd be leaning right over her. That there'd really be one right in front of her face, and it had been there for a while without her even knowing, its sharp yellow teeth ready to bite down on her. Yuck. That thought made her stomach churn.
She began to try focusing on her breathing, trying to steady her heart a bit and calm herself. The complete silence around her made her feel immensely tense but, she supposed, it did help her try and focus on other thoughts. She thought of the weekend prior, when she and Ribbon Girl had had a nice barbeque, just the two of them. She thought vividly of the hotdogs she grilled - how they smelt, how they tasted, how they looked... Every little detail she could remember. They were a little burnt on one side. The bun was a little dry. Sauce smeared on her nose as she took her first bite. It wasn't great, but it was still pretty good. She really was the quintessential barbequing dad, just younger and curvier.
With a few more long breaths, she finally convinced herself to open her eyes. The clowns... The clowns were gone!
...But in their places? Large and striped boxes dotted the room. She wasn't sure what they were , but she didn't want to find out either.
The golden light was gone now, replaced by only the party's colour-changing lights above, though they were each frozen on a random colour. It was darker than it had been with the golden light, yes, but without the fog effect the lights above did illuminate the room a fair bit.
She carefully got to her feet, still pretty shakey. She checked the door behind her again, though still not turning toward it. No budge, big surprised. She thought it best not to stand there and continue trying, given there was now a brighter option ahead.
A green 'EXIT' sign had lit up across the room. There was no door there, but directly below it was another box - the largest, it seemed. How was the box an exit? Would it contain a key...? Why would the key need such a big box?
Well, it was her best bet, so carefully began to walk across the room. The sooner she could get out of here, the better. She knew going through those stupid door-portals would be a bad idea! Why was everyone else so eager to pass through? They should have expected this!
But wait... The others weren't here. So where were they...? Did they all have a situation like this to deal with? Just where the hell was Ribbon G-
Min Min stepped too close to one of the boxes, and suddenly a clown figure burst out of it with a ghastly laugher sound clip. She yelped, falling right back onto her ass, kicking her way back to where she'd come from. Her heart was pounding rapidly again.
They were all Jack-in-the-boxes... How cruel is that?!
She shuddered in place, trying to calm herself again. The clown figure that had emerged, and was tied to the box with an ARM-like spring, simply laid limp where it was after it had sprung out.
Okay. She inhaled. All she would have to do is get over to the exit sign. She could do that. She could do that.
She got up again and began, once more, to walk in the direction of the exit sign. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she passed by the limp clown figure, but she made it past without any more sudden surprises.
But now there was another dilemma - she couldn't go any further without triggering another box. She was sure of it. It was simply too close.
She sighed, shutting her eyes and trying to be brave. She walked with big and deliberate steps, pausing between each one, until a big springing sound and another laughter clip shouted out from the box she had seen ahead.
Thankfully, she didn't get too scared by that one. She had expected it, and having her eyes closed certainly seemed to help. But she'd have to open them to know where to go next.
Her stomach churned as she saw the clown's face right beside her own, its teeth sharp and yellow. She bit her lip, trying not to vomit, and carefully edged her way past. She could see another two boxes on her way to the other side of the room that would likely jump out of her. Great.
By the time she reached the wall by the exit sign, Min Min was actually feeling pretty good about herself. She had managed to make it there without being too startled by any of the other boxes along the way - even when a third had gone off unexpectedly.
She bent down and looked at the box below the exit sign. It hadn't jumped out at her like all the others, though the paint job was similar so... Hm?
She found a metal handle on the right-hand side of the box. Great. With a deep sigh, she began to crank the handle. The tune of Pop Goes the Weasel began to sound out from the box. GREAT.
Against all inside her that was begging her not to continue, Min Min played the box's handle until the song had met its end. And when it did?
The box suddenly burst open, and another figure jumped out, falling limp over the side of the box. Min Min jumped back - she hadn't prepared for it, not properly. The music had unnerved her too much.
The figure began to pant hard, as if it had been holding its breath in there. She squinted at it, after a moment. "...L-Lola?"
Lola turned her head up. "M... Min Min? Phew, hey! Boyyy am I glad to see you..."
"I'm hardly glad to see you. " She muttered back through her teeth, still deeply unsettled by the killer clown costume Lola had dressed herself in.
"Wh-Where are we...?" Lola mumbled, carefully stepping out of the box she had been in.
"Some b-bizarre haunted v-version of the party room..." Min Min muttered, holding her upper ARM with one hand as she overlooked the unopened boxes of the room.
" Yikes. " Lola bit her lip. "Well let's get the hell out of here, then."
A split of light hit the corner of Min Min's eye. Bright light. She turned back to Lola, who was holding open a door by the box she had emerged from. "H-Huh?" Min Min gasped. "Th-That wasn't there a second ago!"
"You comin' or not?" Lola mumbled, drumming her fingertips on the door she was holding.
The two walked out and back into the light.
Ribbon Girl opened her eyes slowly. "Nyhhh.." She groaned, putting a hand to her head. "Where... Am... I...?"
"Y'alright?" The recognisable mask of Batman looked down at her.
She leaned up a bit to survey her surroundings. She was still outside the hotel, but the storm had stopped. The rain was gone altogether, even leaving the ground beneath her relatively dry. "I... I..." She looked at the tower, which was no longer boarded up on every window. "...I was falling..."
"Yeah, you were." Ninjara sighed. Thankfully he wasn't trying to do the Batman voice anymore. "I was lucky to catch you."
"You... Caught me?" She looked back at him, her eyes wide.
"Well I appeared up there, grabbed you, and appeared back down here with you. Less momentum, so you didn't go..." He would have followed up with the word 'splat', but that thought seemed too realistic to actually say it.
"Wh-Where were you...?" Ribbon Girl sat up, still feeling a little weak in her stomach. "I thought I was alone..."
"I dunno where I was. It was all kinda dark, and I couldn't move." He stood, his cape falling over him in quite a cool way. "Then suddenly I was right here, and I looked up and saw you falling down."
"...Th-Thank you..." Ribbon Girl mumbled, carefully getting to her feet, with Ninjara's assistance. "I-It was raining, a-and there was lightning a-and..." She gulped. "I was trying to get t-to the window at the top, it was the only one o-open..."
Ninjara looked up at the window, though he couldn't make out which one - none were open. None even had lights on.
"W-Where are the others...? I was with Min and Mechanica, a-and Coyle and Brass and Cobra."
"I dunno." He shrugged. "Still inside, I guess?" He walked toward the doors of the lobby - it seemed empty through the windows, but they figured it'd be better to head on in anyway and try to regroup.