Chapter Eight: Meet & Greet
"I know... Okay, I know... It's fiiine, I'll be fiiiiine! ...She'll be with me the whole time, it's perfectly safe... No, I-... I know..."
Min Min drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for Ribbon Girl's overly long call to end. Long drives were usually easier when they had each other to talk to - but with Ribbon Girl stuck on the phone, Min Min was left with little else to do but keep the car pointed straight.
"Okay... Okay... Yes... Okay... Over & out." Ribbon Girl hung up and sighed.
"Did she make you say 'over & out' or did you choose to say that?" Min Min smirked.
Ribbon Girl shrugged. "I thought it was appropriate, I guess."
"So... What's Coyle think, then?"
She laughed a little, if only out of exhaustion. "She is not happy with us going to the meet & greet. 'Any of your fans could be Mimi in disguise!' blah blah blahhhhh..."
"Yeahhh, figured as much." Min Min shrugged.
"I'm not gonna cancel just 'cause we're still on Mimi's 'list'. If we stick together we're fine, right?"
"Right! I've got your back, you've got mine. And then it'll be two against one!"
Ribbon Girl smiled. " Exactly. Coyle's just a little overprotective, I guess."
"Comes with being the champ, hun. All these other face snatchings coulda just been a distraction - she may only needs yourssss! " Min Min wobbled her voice, like a 'spooky' ghost in a cartoon.
"And if that were the case..." Ribbon Girl sighed. "...She'd have just come and got me first, before we knew she even existed. Does Coyle really not see the logic in that? Blehhh."
"She say anythin' else in that call? Or was she just repeating the same stuff over and over and over and over... and over... and overrrrr..."
"Mostly just repeating stuff. But apparently Twintelle got nabbed last night."
"Oh damn, really? Talk about a cat fight. Did Coyle give her a good whine about not being 'careful' enough?"
"Well, apparently she had some good info to share, so I guess Coyle went easy on her. Looks like Mimi turned up as BYTE. "
"Whaaat, she can do robots now?"
Ribbon Girl shrugged. "Something about mirrors also working for robots or whatever, I guess. I guess BYTE got nabbed right before Twintelle, then?"
"So why didn't she mimic Springtron back in the vault? Had good opportunity to do so there."
"She was probably more preoccupied with stealing whatever it was and blowing her cover just to get 'Tron probably wouldn't have been worth it." She sighed deeply. "I dunnoooo... I'm tired of this already. What's she even gonna do? I really can't see much damage coming from having our faces handy, honestly."
"Mehhhh..." Min Min groaned. "Part of me does still worry she's gonna take nudey pics of all of us and post 'em online."
"Yeah, that explains why she took Helix and BYTE." Ribbon Girl mumbled.
"Some people are probably into that!" Min Min smiled, before that smile fell. "Actually, some people probably are into that. Yikes. "
"She keeps bringing up her 'collection' so I really don't think it's much more than wanting to complete her face set or whatever. That's my guess, at least."
"I prefer to think they're like the chaos emeralds or something, and collecting 'em all turns her into Super Mimi or whatever. That'd be cool!" Min Min found a halfway decent parking spot and slipped in.
Ribbon Girl brought out her phone and sent out a tweet telling her fans where she'd be for the next half hour or so. "There we are." She sighed. "Always best to give them short notice - stops thousands from all showing up at once. We'll give it a few minutes then head over to the spot.
Min Min stretched out a bit on her car seat, giving a little moan in doing so. "Y'think Mimi follows your twitter?"
"Dunno." Ribbon Girl bit her lip. "Do you think she likes my music...? Hm."
"I don't see why she wouldn't~" Min Min winked. "A grudge 'gainst ARMS League fighters is one thing, but those jams are on a whole 'nother level." Min Min's phone buzzed briefly and she checked her message. "Ah! Kay-Cee wants to know what time we'll be at ARMS League World tomorrow~"
"Never o'clock." Ribbon Girl bluntly replied.
"But-"
Ribbon Girl opened the car door and began to head down to the meeting spot without another word, leaving Min Min to sigh and follow after her.
Within a couple minutes there were a good six or so fans around the two, generally focused on telling Ribbon Girl how much they love their music, asking for autographs, asking for pictures... But Min Min was getting a fair bit of attention, too! And it looked like a handful of them had actually visited her ramen join before.
About a half hour later there was a group of twelve or so people with them - perhaps not a massive turn out, but understandable given the short notice, the location, and the fact it was a weekday. A shorter turn out was hoped for anyway, seeing as things would be much more manageable this way.
"Far too chewy, probably like... Four outta ten." Min Min shrugged.
"What about the one down by the library?" Asked the fan she had been in a conversation with for a while now.
"A little too salty but it's bearable. Maybe six outta ten or something."
He laughed. "You've not given any of 'em a higher score than six yet!"
"Uh, yeah?" Min Min smirked. "'Cause my place is just that much better than 'em all! Mine's ten outta ten, theirs are all somewhere between 'gross' and ' okay '."
"Yours is def the best, don't get me wrong! But, I dunno, maybe I'm just not that picky 'bout ramen. I tend to just get the instant stuff anyway."
Min Min recoiled. "Yuck, dude! Don't get instant! Gotta love yourself more than that."
"It's not that bad if you know what brand to get!" He insisted. "But that's just if I'm feeling really lazy, I promise. Usually I go to the place by the gym." He jolted his head toward the end of the street. "They've got some good stuff there. Like, it's cheap, but it's good."
Min Min looked wide-eyed at him. "That place is a dump, dude! Like EVERY bowl is undercooked as hell!"
"Nah nah nah, that was the old place!" He reassured her. "They changed up the management and clearly got better staff in. S'wayyyy better."
"Oh damn, they changed it?"
"Mm. About a month ago, I think?"
"Shoot, I gotta try that. You hungry?"
His eyes lit up. "For real? Y-Yeah!"
"Like, not as a date . Obviously." Min Min glared.
He laughed. "I figured, don't worry."
"Cool! I'll pay." She tilted her head over to Ribbon Girl, who was surrounded by adoring fans, and shouted to her. "Yo, Ribs, I'm gonna go try some ramen. I'll be back!"
Ribbon Girl's smile dropped quickly. "Woah woah woah woah, wait! You're just gonna walk off alone?"
"Nah, I'm going with this dude." She struck a thumb out at him.
"You're supposed to-" She hushed her voice a bit, not wanting to concern fans about their private going-ons. " How do you know he's not...? "
Min Min rolled her eyes, turning back to address her fan. "Yo, are you Mimicutie?"
He stared blankly at her, confused. "...I dunno what that is?"
Min Min turned back to Ribbon Girl again. "All in the clear!"
She glared, unamused. This guy didn't even have ARMS! If Mimicutie did show up - and that's assuming she wasn't already him in disguise, having cleverly planted herself in with the other fans - then he wouldn't even be able to help her!
"Oh come on Ribs, I'll be fiiiine! It's one trip down the road, we're in public, and the chances of you-know-who being here are pretty slim, right?" Her eyes looked pleadingly at Ribbon Girl.
She sighed. It'd be a risky move on Mimi's part to swipe in on Min Min here and now, on a busy street... In broad daylight... That wasn't her style, right? She seemed way more into cornering people in the dead of night. "I'm a shout away if you need me, then..." She turned her attention back to her fans and smiled again, immediately getting back into the groove of things, as Min Min and her new friend headed off down the street.
"When's your next album?" One of them eagerly asked.
She giggled. "I can't say just yet, but I'm always working hard! It'll be worth it, I promise~"
"What's Twintelle like in-person?" Another posed.
"Hmmm..." She put a finger to her chin. "She's a complicated one! But she's pretty down-to-earth when you get to know her, I think!"
"Has she let you try her tea?"
"No... But I always see her drinking it and I'm really curious. It's gotta be good, right?"
"Are you gonna be at ARMS League World on Friday?"
"Absolutely no chance. I don't even want to think about being on those coast-"
She cut herself off as something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. The fan Min Min had walked off with was suddenly running back - but he had just left with her? Did something happen? He looked... Distressed.
He ran all the way back to them and put his hands to his knees, panting hard. "M-Min Min j-just... Just got grabbed... B-By some girl?"
Ribbon girl's eyes sprung wide, just as Min Min made her way back to them too. She looked Ribbon Girl dead in the eyes, scarily serious. "She's here."
Not even a split second later, a second Min Min came up just behind the other. "Wh-What? What do you mean she's here, you mean you're here!"
The first one turned around suddenly to face the other, an angry expression on her face. "Huh? Cut it out, dude! "
She squinted at her mirror image. "Are you... Pretending to be the real one? "
"I'M NOT PRETENDING! " The first one shouted.
Ribbon Girl stared with a dead look of shock across her face. The fans nearby seemed to be both confused and somewhat amused, unsure of exactly what was going on.
The Min Min on Ribbon Girl's left - the first one to arrive - turned to address her. "She snuck up on me as we turned the corner. Musta been watching from the rooftops or something..."
"A-Are you crazy? YOU SNUCK UP ON ME! " The one on her right corrected.
Ribbon Girl took a deep breath, putting her hands to her head. "O-Okay, stand apart from each other. NOW. " She spoke commandingly, clearly rather stressed.
The one on the left took a slight shimmy to the side as she glared at the other Min Min.
"The real Min Min knows stuff the fake one does not. That's how I'll tell you apart, so, when I give you-"
"YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO BE-" The one on the right started.
" WHEN I GIVE YOU THE SIGNAL. " Ribbon Girl interrupted. "...I want you to both give me something only the real Min Min would know. And I'll remind you that we're in public so..." She eyed both of them back and forth. Seeing two of her was really messing with her mind. "Ready...?" She pointed to the one on the left. "You first."
The left-hand Min Min paused, open-mouthed for a moment, unsure what to even say. "...Your first album was originally named Blossom Trees before you changed it."
"That's no good." Ribbon Girl glared. "I've definitely mentioned that in interviews before."
Left-Min Min looked annoyed. "What, so I gotta remember what you have and haven't mentioned in interviews too, now?!"
Ribbon Girl sighed deeply, rather annoyed. She pointed to the right-hand Min Min. "Your turn."
"Wh-Wha?" Right-Min Min glared. "You're just gonna accept that answer? Everyone knows that!"
"Just say something already!" She groaned. "Gosh, two Min Mins is one too many..."
Right-Min Min groaned. "Okay, fine, you..." She puffed up her cheeks. "I dunno, ask me something!"
" Fine - when's my birthday?"
"July 9th!" She happily answered.
The Left-Min Min looked disgruntled. "Ohhh, sure, nothing you may have mentioned in an interview but something that could be easily found on Wikipedia? Totally fine! "
Ribbon Girl glared at her.
"I'm getting really sick of this faker." Right-Min Min mumbled.
" Faker? You're the fake Min Min here." The other glared. "You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake."
"I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!" Shouted the other, extending her ARMS.
"No no no no no no! " Ribbon Girl insisted, putting her ARMS out between the two. "We are not starting a fight here." She eyed the surrounding people who were passing by as each of them looked over at the commotion that was unfolding. The nearby fans seemed equally uneasy now.
"But I know she's the fake one!" The right-hand Min Min insisted.
"Seriously? Quit making me out to be so dumb!" The other grunted.
"I'm not- H-Hey!" The other glared.
Ribbon Girl slowly retracted her ARMS and took a deep breath. " Next question . This one's for you again." She motioned to the one on her left. "I'm gonna be a jerk about it, so you better answer in detail."
"Lay it on me!" She smirked.
" Exactly how did we meet?"
"Ha, that's easy!" She grinned.
"You've definitely mentioned that in inter-" The other began.
Ribbon Girl struck a finger out to her as if to shush her. "Let her answer."
"This is really entertaining." One fan, who still seemed to be enjoying this, nudged to another, who wasn't.
"Okay, so..." Left-Min Min began, a confident smile on her face. "We met in the ring on your first day at the League. It was a close match, but I beat you in the end."
"That's all been said before in-"
"And then..." She approached Ribbon Girl slowly, cutting her off. "When we met back behind stage, I had this big goofy smile on my face. And I was super excited to meet you..."
The ends of Ribbon Girl's mouth started to curve into a soft smile.
"And I remember the first thing I said to you was-"
Without warning, the Min Min who had just been speaking suddenly grabbed onto Ribbon Girl tightly and dragged her forward. The fans gasped and stepped back as fog started to cloud all around the two.
Reacting quickly, however, the other Min Min lunged forward and grabbed her duplicate by the shoulders. She pulled back and ripped her off of Ribbon Girl, throwing her straight to the floor behind them.
Ribbon Girl dropped to her knees and gasped. A fan approached her to check if she was okay, and they all watched as the mist-spewing body on the floor seemed to writher around.
"D-Damn it!" Ribbon Girl mumbled between breaths. "I let my guard d-" She paused. "Wh-What is she doing...?"
Min Min, her ARMS up and ready for a fight, squinted at her assailant. Behind the smoke she seemed to be flickering uncontrollably between being Min Min, being Ribbon Girl, and being her natural un-disguised self.
After a short moment, the fog cleared away and Mimicutie panted heavily . "A-Ahhh.. Th-That was a risky grab, I-I should have waited longer..." She shook her head rapidly, clearing her mind, and then hopped to her feet and looked back at the crowd ahead of her. "Hm...?"
"That's... Weird. " Min Min mumbled, ahead of the others in a protective stance.
Mimicutie looked down at herself. "Ah... I didn't quite get the colours copied." Her body perfectly resembled Ribbon Girl's, but the deep pinks and dark blues of her outfit were instead greens and oranges. "I guess I'm still drawing from Min Min's reflection in some of these places... Oh?" She ran her fingers along the dangly ribbon coming from her head. "But where did this colour come from? Are you naturally brunette? I kinda like it!"
"Wh-What is going on...?" One of the fans asked. They all seemed to be having less fun now - there was clearly something going on here that just wasn't right.
" You need to get the hell outta here. " Min Min glared at Mimicutie, ready to strike.
"N-No, wait!" Ribbon Girl yelped, getting to her feet and coming up beside Min Min. "L-Listen, we don't want to fight you! Can't we talk this all out...?"
The alternate Ribbon Girl smiled softly. "That's sweet, but I think it's a little late for that. I've already lost too much."
"L-Lost?" Ribbon Girl frowned. "What did you lose? A-Are you sure we can't help?"
"Too much talk." Mimicutie shrugged, extending the ARMS of her abnormally coloured Ribbon Girl body slowly.
"Two against one, punk." Min Min glared. "You sure about this?"
"Hm." Mimicutie looked her in the eye. "Well, I have what I came for . It's a little off colour, but oh well, it'll do..."
With that, the alternate Ribbon Girl retracted her ARMS quickly and leapt away in an instant. Min Min and the real Ribbon Girl immediately began to follow, regrettably leaving their fans behind, as they did their best to keep on Mimicutie's tail.
She peered over her shoulder and, noticing the two coming after her, began to pick up the pace. She used her new found air-jumping abilities to hop up and onto one of the nearby buildings, which she knew the real Ribbon Girl would easily repeat. But pulling Min Min up with her after each leap? That'd surely delay her a bit!
Mimicutie continued over the building tops, ascending more and more, until she reached the end of the street. There were no nearby buildings left, and it was a loooong way down. A drop she could manage, should she use an ability she had taken, but... Hm. Was this mis-coloured form good enough? Ribbon Girl was the champion, after all. There should be no one question it's her.
"End of the line, Mimi!" Min Min grumbled as the two caught up behind her.
She turned around on a dime, smiling at them both. "You're persistent. I'm sure Coyle will be happy to hear about that!"
"How did you know we were here...?" Ribbon Girl muttered, worried.
"Hm?" She cocked her head to one side, causing her ribbon ponytail to dangle in the air. "I follow you on twitter, dummy! I just happened to be in the area, too. It was awfully convenient."
Min Min grumbled. "It's still two against one, y'know. You wanna make this easy for us?"
She grinned. "Nope!"
"We can still talk about this, Mimi!" Ribbon Girl pleaded.
"Not happening." She insisted again.
With a sigh, Ribbon Girl extended her ARMS. "Then I really don't think this is a fight you can win..."
Mimicutie cocked a small smile, feeling rather excited. "Oh, I agree! Not on my own, certainly." She laughed a little to herself. "Lucky for me, one of you will be on my side..."
The two looked quite confused, but took an uneasy step back as they watched her put an ARM into the air. It was a gesture they recognised.
"And to think I almost past it up! It really was better to be safe than sorry, after all. But, now, which of you do I pick...?"
A roar echoed throughout the nearby streets, and suddenly Mimicutie, with her ARM still high in the air, tilted her wrist forward and pointed a finger toward the real Ribbon Girl.
Out of nowhere, a shining golden Hedlok clamped down on Ribbon Girl's shoulders. She screamed, but it came out distorted through the metallic filter.
"R-RIBS!" Min Min yelped.
"I'll leave you two to have some fun. It's been a pleasure!" She began to fog up again, until Twintelle soon took her place. She flipped backwards, off the building, and began to float slowly down to the ground below.
Min Min stared at the massive golden skull on Ribbon Girl's shoulders as its eyes turned red and its ARMS began to extend. " Shit! " She grunted. "Oh, god, I'm sorry Ribs!" She put her ARMS up again and took a swing, trying to fight the thing off of her.
Ribbon Girl, now under Hedlok's control, avoided pretty much every punch she swung with great ease. The four ARMS affixed to Hedlok's shell struck at Min Min with a ferocity, each hitting one-after-the-other in rapid succession every time she failed to avoid the first.
She panted heavily, already out of breath. This was a fight she knew she couldn't win - it had taken three of them to fight off the silver Hedlok that had taken over Brass back during Ribbon Girl's rise to championship. And even then, it only really came off after Mechanica disabled it.
She charged up her dragon ARM. It was her greatest asset right now, for sure - ordinary ramen just wouldn't cut it. But she had to exert herself to keep the scales, and that wasn't something she could do forever. She'd most likely exhaust her dragon ARM back into ramen before she could get that damn thing off of Ribbon Girl...
Bah! What use was thinking like this doing? If fighting Hedlok off was the only way to free the woman she loved, she'd keep her dragon ARM charged through sheer will power alone until the sun burnt out! You're going down, Hedlok.
Ribbon Girl reeled back and her shining golden cage launched a thick fireball toward Min Min. Through some stroke of luck, she reacted quickly enough to throw herself flat to the rooftop she was standing on, just barely avoiding it but harshly feeling the burn pass over her as it shot into the distance and, thankfully, exploded in the sky where it didn't seem to harm anyone.
Min Min, stared over the end of the building where she lay. Yikes! - That's a loooong way down, and unlike her girlfriend she had no way of slowing her fall or-
"Huh?" Min Min squinted. Her eyes widened, and she shouted down to someone passing by down below. "YO, DUDE!"
Hearing her voice, the man below turned and squinted back up at her. "...Min Min?"
She grinned, thankful she hadn't mistaken a stranger. "Ninjara!" She called out with a smile. "You gotta help me up here!"
Hedlok's roar echoed through the street and a look of panic struck his face. "O-Oh god, hold on, I'll be right up!"
Min Min let out a sigh of relief, then rolled aside and flipped back up to her feet. The shining gold of Hedlok's shell gleamed a light in her eye. Okay . She thought. Two people... The odds are certainly better now.
Of course, she couldn't help but consider that the Ninjara she had just called to may, in fact, be Mimicutie. But she hadn't taken Ninjara's face, right? Well they'd established already that she can't make a mask appear out of nowhere, and the one from below was maskless when he looked up. If he starts fighting without a mask, well-
"I'm here!" Ninjara poofed in out of nowhere, his ARMS extended and a striking blue mask adorning his face.
Ah, yes! Min Min grinned. In the clear! She brought her attention back to the golden Hedlok. "Mimi's gone and locked Ribs under... That. "
Ninjara seemed a little unease. "Mimi's the copycat, right? And where is she at?"
"I dunno." Min Min dived under some ARMS being sent her way and struck the side of Hedlok's shell with a firm punch. "I think she ran off."
Ninjara poofed behind Hedlok and struck him with two solid hits, before poofing right back to where he had been before, before Hedlok could turn around and get back at him. He threw another punch, colliding hard with Ribbon Girl's hip and making her wobble a bit.
"D-Dude!" Min Min grunted. "Can you try to not aim for Ribs? There's a big golden target on her head, man!"
"I'm just concerned with beating this stupid thing!" He glared briefly.
The two jumped away from each other as another fireball shot past. Min Min checked over her shoulder, once again, to make sure it had dispersed in the air and not damaged a building or hurt a person. Those fireballs were strong, and a halfway decent strike to a supporting wall... Well, it could make all this into a much greater problem than it already was.
"Distract it!" Ninjara smirked. "I'm gonna go for a grab!"
"Alright." Min Min nodded, trying to calm herself and get back into her usual fighting mindset. Her breathing steadied and she fell silent, hopping back and forth and striking Hedlok with charged dragon ARM shots - something he clearly didn't like. His attention focused directly on her as a result, and she had to contend with six ARMS coming her way, but knowing it left Ninjara open for his strike kept her calm.
Ninjara poofed to the side and struck both ARMS forward at lightning speed, the sound of chains soaring forth echoed through the air as they firmly grasped his target. Holding on tightly, Ninjara spun in a circle and gave a hearty throw, sending Min Min out into the distance far, far away as a smirk appeared on his face.
Hedlok watched as Min Min was sent away, and then turned back to Ninjara, a tinge of confusion on his face. "Good work, buddy." The Ninja giggled, before a blast of hot steam shot up from his neck. Mimicutie, now disguised as Min Min again, clapped her hands. Hedlok's beaming red eyes faded into dark and a small sound of tumblers unlocking emerged from his shell.
With a quick punch forward, Hedlok fell straight back and Ribbon Girl dropped to her knees, panting viciously.
She ran up to the fallen champion. "H-Hun, are you okay?"
"I-I..." She gasped for air. "Oh my god, all my th-thoughts were j-just filled with his f-face! H-How long did he have me? It felt like hours! "
"I-I've got you, it's okay..." She held onto Ribbon Girl tightly in a hug, putting her head on her shoulder.
"D-Did she make me fight you...?" Ribbon Girl's lip quivered. "Hun, I'm s-so sorry, I-"
Ribbon Girl's face fell still as a heavy mist began to emerge from the one she was holding so tightly onto. She stared blankly into the distance, an unchanging look of emptiness on her face, understanding her defeat. Mimicutie pulled back a bit and looked at her face-to-face, her now correctly coloured reflection smirking softly. "Sorry, Ribbon Girl."
Mimicutie let go and got back to her feet, leaving Ribbon Girl slumped over, feeling nothing but disappointment and defeat.
Her duplicate looked off into the distance and struck a now-ribbon hand out, pointing firmly with her finger at a nearby park. "Your girlfriend should be around there somewhere. I did aim for a tree to soften the blow."
Ribbon Girl looked up, solemnly. Mimicutie's duplication now resembled her perfectly . So much for the upper hand.
"No hard feelings." Mimicutie smirked, fading herself out and into Lola's form. "I'm sorry I had to drag you into all this. But you are the champion, after all. I couldn't exactly skip out on you. " She clicked her fingers and the deactivated Hedlok shell soared back into the air, off to wherever Mimicutie was keeping him.
She then gave a deep bow - the kind Lola would do after every circus performance or ARMS match - and then walked back toward the edge of the building.
"My list is nearing completion now. Not much longer to go at all." She peered down at the street blow. Quite a drop indeed. "When this is all over? I'm sorry for what you'll have to answer for." She stared blankly, her smile fading. "...But it's what you all deserve."
With that, she hopped right off the building top and inflated into a goofy looking ball. She bounced when she hit the floor, and continued to bounce away until she was out of sight.
Ribbon Girl sighed.