Epilogue

Ribbon Girl and Min Min sat atop Min Min's car, blankets draped around their shoulders, given to them by the paramedics on the scene. There was a multitude of emergency vehicles surrounding the outside of ARMS League World - so much so that the flashing lights atop them all were kinda dizzying.

Coyle approached the two shortly. "There." She raised a small metal box between her fingers. "Springtron's black box recorder. I'll put him in a new body and he'll be just as we knew him, memories and all." She slipped the box into her pocket. "For better or for worse."

"Bold of him to jump on her like that." Min Min mumbled back. "Glad you guys managed without me at the end there."

"Don't sweat it." Coyle shrugged. "You did great out there. Sorry about your ARM. No lasting damage done, at least."

"So what now, then?" Min Min asked.

"Well, they'll probably salvage some stuff from the park, but I don't know how much there'll be. She got everything 'cept the petting zoo, in the end." Coyle sighed. "I guess King Cobra's doing alright, just needs a new cart."

"I don't care about the park." Ribbon Girl bitterly muttered, staring to the pavement below.

Coyle shut her eyes, inhaling deeply. " Ribbon... We really couldn't have helped her."

"You don't know that." She quickly insisted.

"Champion or not, you couldn't have handwaved a terrorist attack. You know that."

Ribbon Girl sighed. " She deserved better... " She sniffled. "She just got dealt a bad hand..."

" Look... " Coyle scratched behind her neck. "I'll admit that much. She got handed a bad situation and, had she received counselling or something, I think she could have definitely been saved before all of this. But by the time we got into that storage room? It was too late. "

Min Min put her right ARM around her girlfriend, holding her close. "She lost her chance at being saved when she started attacking the park."

"Then I should have talked her out of it." Ribbon Girl muttered.

"She lost her chance when she tried to kill Brass. " Coyle injected. "I'm sorry, Ribbon. I really am." She chewed her lip. "...If you need someone to talk about it, the Lab is always here for you."

"Mm." Ribbon Girl nodded slightly, starting to accept, as difficult as it was, that the situation was unwinnable when she got there. Doesn't mean she didn't still have a ton of regrets, though.

About two weeks later, Coyle had just won a team match over in Sky Arena and returned, with her teammate, to the locker rooms following the match. The two showered off and got changed in what was generally silence, until about when Coyle began putting her boots back on.

Her teammate sat down on the bench beside her. " So... " They began, reaching into their gym bag for a few final touch-ups. "The kid didn't make it, in the end?"

"Hm?" Coyle raised an eyebrow.

"The mirror mimic." They clarified.

"Ah." Coyle sighed. "Yeah, it was a tricky situation. Really did a number on Ribbon Girl." She began to tie her laces. "And on me, I guess. Kinda." She mumbled.

"Mm." Her teammate nodded. "Shame. She could have been so much more."

"Yeah, well, it happens." Coyle shrugged. "It was her choices that lead her to that park to start swinging."

" Her choices?"

Coyle glared at them. " Yes. She was dealt a bad hand, sure, but ultimately it was her choice to seek revenge. You can't pin the League on that."

"Mm." Her teammate sighed. "I'd still be wary of vilifying her that strongly, however."

"And why's that?"

Her opponent gave a small laugh. "You don't really see any of yourself in her?"

"No." Coyle glared. "I'm not planning to start a killing spree over something petty and unimportant."

"And if the ARMS Lab was shut down?"

"...Well, for one, that isn't something petty and unimportant." Coyle mumbled. "But even still, I don't think I'd jump to something like that. I do have some sanity, y'know."

"Mm, well, I wonder sometimes." Her teammate shrugged. "I'm sure Mimi would have said the same thing before her park closed."

Coyle sighed loudly. "For what reason are you saying all this?"

"Ah, well..." Her teammate smirked. "I'm just drawing a parallel. I can see a similarity in you both and I wouldn't rule out that one day you may find yourself in similar shoes to hers. I hope not. And I hope you wouldn't ever do something so drastic. But I think it's worth considering before you find you have little good to say on her. I doubt you'd appreciate being remembered in the same way."

Coyle shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I suppose I see your point." She could also see some similarities between herself and Mimicutie - especially with that mirror at the end, there. Not that her opponent would have recognised that one. She sighed, got to her feet and picked up her carrier bag.

"Coyle."

"Hm?" She paused before leaving.

"That's your cue to find something nice to say about her."

She blinked. "After what she did, I have nothing to-"

" Coyle. " Her teammate sighed. "You know very well the logic behind it. You wouldn't want to be remembered the same way, so..."

" Fine. " Coyle begrudgingly agreed. "Then, in that case, I guess..." She puffed her cheeks up as she thought. "...When we met face-to-face in that park?"

Her teammate looked at her from the reflection of the makeup mirror they held.

"...I thought she had good taste in lipstick." Coyle shrugged. "Happy?"

As Coyle then finally left, Twintelle looked back to her mirror and saw a small, sad smile looking back at her.

And so Broken Glass comes to an end. Easily my longest fic so far - someone stop me, please!

My main goal for this fic was to make something a bit more action-packed and serious than some of my previous works, while also giving each ARMS fighter a chapter-in-the-spotlight of sorts with each Reflection chapter. It took me a while to really nail down what I wanted to DO with Mimicutie, but I think in the end she was an interesting mix of cunning, calculating, anger, and desperation. What do you think? Let me know!

After having antagonists in this fic, DisARMed, and Who Killed Byte?, I think my next few fics will go in a different direction and not HAVE a focus antagonists. More character-driven then plot-driven, for a bit. That should mix stuff up.

See you next time!

If you'd like to talk about ARMS fanon and headcanons with other fans, share and review fan art and fan fiction, and just generally have fun with ARMS world building then consider checking out my ARMS fanon discord server!
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