While I consider DisARMed my worst story so far, I consider Broken Glass to be my best. I know it's a long one, but if there's any you read please make it this one!
This is my fourth ARMS story in this series! This one is completely standalone, so don't worry if you haven't read the previous ones. Though I'd still recommend you do, since they're pretty fun too~
The format of this fic involves switching perspective a lot, so new chapters will be put out every Wednesday and Saturday from here on out! This is also a LONG fic, so buckle in...
Chapter One: Reflections I
Life as a father has its fair share of trials. It's a full-time job that requires constant attention, steady patience, and through thought. What kind of a person will your child grow to be? That's not predetermined - it's something you shape throughout their upbringing. Will your child be proud of you, in the end? And will you be proud of them, for what they become and the actions they take along the way? There could be no gift greater on this Earth than-
It was at this point that Master Mummy fell asleep, the pages of his father's guidance magazine falling flat on his belly as he lay back on the reclined armchair he sat in. Ever since he found his family back he had dedicated every spare hour he had to being the best husband and father he could possibly be.
But as a result? He got pretty darn tired when the moon was finally up. His son could be quite a handful at times, always beaming with energy and racing around like a tiger for hours on end. How was Mummy supposed to keep up? He was over a hundreds of years old at this point and had been quite literally raised from the dead. Somehow getting a bit stiff in middle age doesn't quite compare.
And so he lay there, in a pair of dad shorts and an old laundry-day T-shirt still stained with drips from that evening's spaghetti dinner, resting on the recliner with his feet raised and his head tilted back in heavy snores. The rain poured outside, leaving a gentle pitter-patter past the curtains and a comfortable tone throughout the living room he resided.
He could be a pretty deep sleeper at times, but he had only just dozed off and wasn't quite there yet. So when a careful knocking came to his door it only took a repetition or two to make him squint open his eyes.
Knock knock knock. So casual, like a neighbour passing by to borrow some sugar. But at this time? In this downpour? Why would anyone be so nonchalant?
Mummy hunched forward and wiped the drool from his chin with the back of his hand. Whoever it was, he was sure glad they chose to forego the doorbell. The last thing he needed was his son waking up.
He begrudgingly got to his feet, dropping the magazine he had been reading to the floor in the process, and stomped his way over to the front door. His head was a little dizzy and his eyelids were still weighing down, hoping to return him to the slumber he had just began. But he knew he couldn't rightfully keep a visitor out in the rain like this.
The cold air sent a slight shiver down his spine as he cracked the door open, bringing him face-to-face with the person who had come to see him - a young woman, it seemed. The dark of night made it tricky to see her properly, but the moon above did its best to help. Her skin was a smooth deep tan, not unlike Twintelle's but perhaps a touch duller. The dark curls of her hair were damp in the night's rain but still retained a rather poofy shape overall, rather like a cloud. And just as every cloud is said to have a silver lining, her hair had a swift streak of silver over her fringe. Hm.
"Uhhh... Can I help you?" Master Mummy groggily asked, still rather sleepy. Her mouth seemed to curve slightly into a smile. The deep blue mask adorning her face bore no unique markings or additions - standard issue, presumably. Though her thick white lashes blended eerily with the whites of her eyes, which in turn mixed all too indistinctly with the immensely pale irises and scleras she also featured, overall leaving her eyes as something of a white and empty void. Especially when the moonlight caught them.
"Master Mummy, correct?" She asked sweetly.
"...Yes." He confirmed. Her eyes were somewhat unsettling to look into, but he did his best to ignore it. Something about her struck him as unfortunate. If he had to guess, perhaps it'd be the cloak she wore - some sort of shroud overlaying her body, almost poncho-like. It was thin and brown, and likely didn't offer much warmth.
"I suppose I didn't really need to ask that, huh?" She smiled softly.
"...Can I help you?"
"I think you can, yes."
Time seemed to slow for a moment. The woman suddenly twisted back, and from out under her cloak came an ARM. It extended out into the air behind her, shimmering in the moonlight like a diamond almost blindingly, and at the end of it her hand folded down into a fist. It spun slightly as it became equipped with a standard-issue Buff glove.
Before Master Mummy had time to think, her ARM had reached its furthest extent and began to fly in the other direction - right toward him. It slammed hard against his chest, pretty squarely striking him with a great deal of force, enough to send him flying back through his house. He landed hard against the stairway he had been standing before - the sheer weight of his collision causing the few small steps beneath him to crack and give way.
His mind jumped all over the place as he did his best to quickly process what had just happened, as the ache in his back shot through his body. The woman took two steps into his house and grabbed him firmly by the collar with both her ARMS. She pulled him toward her and looked him dead in the eyes, her mouth still cocked in a slight smile.
Mummy looked up at her face, beyond confused. Had he provoked her? Was this a person he had wronged before? But she didn't seem familiar in the slightest! Why on Earth would she come to his house and-
His eyes widened at the sight before him. Out of nowhere his view of the woman began to quite literally cloud up in a puff of smoke. The steam covered her quickly and obscured her from all sight, save for the tiny glimpses that came through between the misty streaks. That smile remained, as did those dead white eyes, which-
Instantly, alike the next frame in a sequence, her eyes were now black. The pale shimmer of her irises and scleras had been replaced with a deep red. And the smooth tan of her skin? Dry purple.
Master Mummy was now looking at a reflection of himself. A perfect duplicate - like a long lost twin brother he didn't know he had. The hands that were gripping him by his collar were his hands - large and purple, wrapped tightly in yellowing bandages. The slight smile she had had was now a large and toothy grin, with the exact same massive chompers he bore.
"H-Honey...?" Came a voice from atop the stairs, where a tall woman in similar bandages was stood, slightly shaken.
Master Mummy - that is, the one who had just a moment ago been the young woman from the rain - turned up to face her. He dropped the grin on his face, then turned back to face the real Mummy in his grip.
With a heavy thump, the real Mummy had been thrown back once again to the broken steps he had been slammed to just a moment ago. His wife hurried down and crouched by his side.
He did his best to angle himself back upward and watched in awe as his duplicate stomped back out into the rain, leaving off into the distance.
Just what the hell was that?
The third and final candy apple spun about three or four times in all before slowing to a halt as it came to just beneath where the circus tent hung above. The crowd held its breath, near certain something had gone wrong here - surely she didn't mean to throw it that high, right? But while the golden flame atop it seemed to tickle the fabric, it wasn't quite enough to set it alight, and the candy apple began to fall back down. They watched in awe as Lola stood there with an ARM outstretched ahead of her, ready to catch it.
The crowd went wild. The height of that throw, the danger of its flame... And she still caught it firmly and easily, without a flinch?! Bravo!
Lola hopped back to her feet from the one-ARM handstand she had been in, brought the flaming candy apple to her face, and blew it out. She took a big bite from it with a grin as she soaked in the applause, which was enough to sweeten the taste of what was admittedly a rather burnt candy apple.
One bow later and the crowd began to disperse back into the night. Another successful performance! But as Lola returned to her dressing room post-match, a knock on the door came to break her much needed relaxation.
The door opened ajar and the big burly purple face of Master Mummy peered in with a smile. "Hello Lola!"
She smiled brightly at him. "What's up, Mummy? I was super surprised to see you in the audience today!" She reclined back on her chair and reached into the nearby bowl of chocolate chips, scooping up a handful to munch on.
Master Mummy walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "Ah, well, I figured I'd catch your last show after puttin' the kid to bed."
"I appreciate it!" She smiled sincerely. "You're always welcome to drop by. Clean shirts optional~ " She teased, motioning to the spaghetti stains on his shirt.
Mummy brushed the stain with the back of his hand. "Well, you were great out there! Impressive stuff."
"Yeah? Fun fact - I was not supposed to throw that last one that high." Lola's eyes sprung wide open as she shrugged. "I was so sure it was gonna set the tent on fire. Scared the sugar outta me!"
He chuckled, looking over the room around him. "You're quite the performer, Lola. Must be tiring being up this late."
"You know it." She sighed, leaning back a bit. "Gotta have longer open hours nowadays, though. Other attractions openin' up soon, gotta compete." She closed her eyes and began to yawn. "I could really do with a quiet even-"
Master Mummy suddenly struck Lola, sending her flying to the back of the room, knocking over her chair and several other things as she passed through them.
She squint her eyes open, putting her hand to the back of her head where it had collided with the wall behind her. " D-Dude?! " She muttered, an unbelievable sense of both confusion and betrayal in her voice. "Why did-" She cut herself off as she looked at the hulking man ahead of her.
Master Mummy stood tall, his shoulders wide, and his ARMS uncurled with two large Buffs on each of his hands. He had definitely hit her - that was easy enough to see - but there was something so off about the way he looked...
She stared at him, wide-eyed. The betrayal she felt from his surprise action briefly slipped away as a question burnt harder at the forefront of her mind. "...Where's your mask?!"
The mummified giant before her wasn't wearing a mask, yet his ARMS were extended and fight-ready. But... That shouldn't be possible, right? Nobody can extend their ARMS out without a mask on, that's like ARMS 101! So how in the hell could he have-
Her train of thought stopped abruptly as his hands gripped at her shoulders. He yanked her over to him suddenly and held her face-to-face.
Lola looked him dead in the eye with a look of clear and understandable I thought we were friends, dude! but Mummy seemed unphased by it. Then, as the steam began to raise around Mummy's head, that look on her face changed to something more bewildered.
Lola threw Lola to the ground and turned back to the door. Lola propped herself up and looked up at her sudden doppelganger, and finally it clicked in her head that whatever she was dealing with right now probably shouldn't get away without a fight. She hopped up quickly, a little wobbly from the throw before, and sent out a punch toward her.
The duplicate Lola turned on a dime and inflated herself like a balloon, her silly face stretching a goofy smile over her puffed-up cheeks. Lola's ARM fell to the floor as it bounced off Lola's shield, and Lola just stared in disbelief. What?!
Lola took the opportunity to send out an ARM of her own and struck the confused Lola back across the room. Ouch.
From the mess of broken furniture and fallen sweets, Lola watched as her mirror image turned back around and left through the door Mummy had come from, leaving her alone to process everything that had just happened.
Was this a dream? Was she seeing things? Had that flaming candy apple gone bad? Using ARMS without a mask, mimicking her appearance and abilities... None of this added up.
So much for a quiet evening.
Mechanica snored slightly as she lay on the floor of her workshop, her arms wrapped tightly around the large wrench she had been using a few hours ago. She had a strange habit of falling asleep mid-engineering, honestly. That hard concrete floor she lay on couldn't be all that comfortable, but for some reason she often managed to sleep soundly through the night regardless of comfort.
But tonight she awoke as the moon still hung in the sky, thanks to a harsh knocking on the garage door to the front of her warehouse. She split her eyes open and carefully propped herself up. Who could be here at this hour? It was the middle of the night!
She did her best to silently get to her feet, feeling a little frightened in the dark. She gripped her wrench tightly in her hand just in case . Though, just in case of what , exactly? It likely wasn't much good to defend herself with - it would be pretty darn hard to swing it around, given how weighty it was. Not that she would need to defend herself.
The knocking came again, making Mechanica jump out of her skin and begin to shake a bit. O-Okay, maybe she would need to defend herself...? Gah! No, it's probably just someone whose car has broken down, and they just want to borrow the phone. Right...?
More knocking. Mechanica's breath became a little more rapid. Should she get in her mech...? Or is that overkill?
She took a deep breath and assured herself that she'd be fine . She'd have to stop being a scaredy cat sooner or later, right? What if the other ARMS fighters saw her like this! With a deep inhale, she headed over to the garage door and pressed the button to raise it.
As the door loudly began to creak upwards, Mechanica made out a familiar pair of goofy clown boots from what had been revealed so far. Lola...? Oh, okay, phew! That's a relief.
The door came up enough to reveal Lola's face, and she smiled brightly down at Mechanica. "Heya, gumdrop!"
"H-Hey Lola!" Mechanica smiled back, still a little nervous. She felt silly for being so frightened just a moment ago.
"What's that for?" Lola cocked her head to one side, motioning to the wrench Mechanica was holding.
"Huh? O-Oh!" She sighed. "I fell asleep while working on stuff, I think. I was kinda... Holding it." A more accurate word would be hugging, but that felt a little too dorky to say. Especially since this was the wrench she had had Ribbon Girl sign a couple years ago. "Um... Why are you here? It's the middle of the night..."
"Oh, I just got done with my circus shows for tonight! I was walking through the neighbourhood and figured I'd stop by and show you a new trick I was working on~" The clown smiled brightly.
Mechanica felt a little uneasy. Lola's whole clown get-up had a habit of frightening a number of the other fighters, but to her it always seemed harmlessly fun. But here in the middle of the night, in the dark and the dim moonlight? Okay, kinda creepy.
"You okay, gumdrop?"
"Hm? O-Oh, yeah, sorry! I was just... Yeah, I'd love to see a new trick!" She smiled nervously, trying not to worry herself further.
" Sweet! " She grinned. "Sit still, thennnn!"
Lola extended her ARMS and grabbed Mechanica softly by the shoulders and began to slowly rise her into the air. Something about this felt off. Really off.
Mechanica became uneasy again. Her breathing began to quicken and she shook a little. Lola, reacting to this, clamped her hands down tighter on Mechanica's shoulders, holding her in place firmly.
The wrench clanged to the ground loudly as it fell from Mechanica's grip. She put both her hands to Lola's ARMS and fidgeted, trying to free herself, and watched in fear as Lola's face began to engulf in a thick mist.
She had been raised in the air about a foot above Lola, but slowly she began to descend with Lola's grip. She was being drawn closer to Lola, as her ARMS coiled back up and-
Mechanica dropped Mechanica to the floor. The sugar-speckled ARMS that were holding her were now flesh and blood, and her duplicate was looking over them. "I'm still not used to copying people without ARMS." She mumbled. "They feel so squishy ."
Laying on the floor, Mechanica could do little more than look up at herself and quiver. The wrench was within arms reach, yes, but she couldn't bring herself to even try and fight back like this.
The new Mechanica looked down at her, her expression serious and unforgiving. "You're young and you're used to a protective mech. So I'm not gonna hit you." She turned to the outside and looked at the moon above. "But if you try to follow me I will rip you out of that mech and scrape you against the concrete floor. Understood?"
With one more small glance over her shoulder, the duplicate walked away at a casual pace and disappeared into the night. Mechanica stayed frozen on the cold warehouse floor, tears streaming down her face, with little idea of just what the hell she was to do now.
Ribbon Girl and Min Min lay together in a mess of blankets as the moonlight seeped ever so slightly through the curtains. They were both rather sound sleep, having gone to bed pretty late after an already busy day of ARMS fighting. Earlier nights were something Ribbon Girl had insisted they tried for more often, to Min Min's begrudging agreement, but they hadn't really had much luck with that so far.
An array of rings came on the doorbell downstairs, and it took a great many repetitions to bring either one of them to open their eyes even just a little bit. Min Min squinted hers open slightly. Who the hell was bothering them now? Go away.
Min Min was, at first, content to just try and ignore it. But the ringing didn't cease at all - it's like their visitor was trying to burn out their doorbell's battery or something. Ribbon Girl, the heavy sleeper that she was, was still firmly sound asleep. Which left Min Min to deal with it herself.
With a major sigh, she carefully removed her ARM from Ribbon Girl's tight embrace and then wiped the back of her hand on the nearest blanket. Ribbon had such a drooling problem, ew. She took a look at the nearby clock and drowsily got to her feet.
She clambered down the stairs as carefully as she could - there was no way she was turning any lights on, after all. Her eyes couldn't take that right now. She made it to her front door and unlocked the bolt at the top, before turning the handle and opening it up.
"Mmmhm?" She groggily looked down. "Mechanica? What's up...?"