Chapter Two: Things That Go Bump in the Night
Some time had passed since departure and the view of the sky from the suite window showed a gorgeous sunset blasting orange tones across the nearing sea.
"I'm hungry!" Min Min said, jumping up straight and stretching her back. "I think it's time to see how the food is." She turned around and offered an arm out to Ribbon Girl.
"I remember Brass saying how great it was." She grabbed Min Min's hand, helping her to her feet. "But you know he's not always got the most reliable tastes."
Min Min pulled her in close. "Dinner at sunset… Awfully romantic, huh?"
She smiled back, with a playful glare. "Yeah, surrounded by all our friends & colleagues… lucky me!"
"Oooooh! When'd you get all sarcastic, Ribs?" She smiled back, pulling her closer. "A dinner date is a dinner date, ya can't argue with that~"
"I guess you've got a point~" She smirked back, biting her lip. The two kissed deeply, before Ribs suddenly cut it off. "... Min. What's that? " She could feel something in the back pocket of Min Min's jeans.
"Take a wild guess." Min Min replied, rolling her eyes.
"Min!" Ribbon Girl hushed through her teeth. "You're supposed to keep your mask in your glove case!"
Min Min reached into her back pocket and pressed her mask to her face. Her two arms suddenly unraveled into a spiraling ramen-like mess, and she stuck her tongue out to Ribbon Girl. After a brief second she pulled the mask back off and her ARMS instantly raveled back up into manageable sleeves. "I always keep it on me! You know that."
Ribbon Girl pouted. "You better not get us in trouble."
"Pfffff, I betcha everyone else has theirs on 'em." She returned her mask to her back pocket.
Ribbon Girl sighed and opened the door. It was a good walk from their room to the dining cart, seeing as they were situated almost to the very back of the train - a detail that felt a little strange for passengers given 'champion' status.
On arriving they found the dining cart to be, as expected, immensely posh. The walls were adorned with golden spirals and wooden paneling, the table cloths were a velvet red with golden trimmings… You get the idea.
It seemed most other passengers were already here. At a table at the back sat Spring Man and Ninjara, who seemed to also be dining with Kid Cobra. At a booth in the far-end corner sat Twintelle, who for some reason was dining with Helix and somehow actually seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. And by the entrance they stood in was a booth with a familiar, bandage-clad face sat by the window.
"Hey Mummy!" Ribbon Girl smiled, walking up to the booth.
He turned to face them and smiled back. "Evening, ladies."
A face suddenly popped up from the long seat opposite him. "Hiya girls!" Beamed Lola, brightly.
Min Min's heart skipped a beat and she quietly stepped back a bit.
"Oh! Hello Lola. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person!" Ribbon Girl smiled warmly. "How are you finding the league? I've heard you're quite a natural."
"Oh yeah! It wasn't long ago that I got these silly sugar ARMS. I always figured wakin' up with ARMs musta hurt! Boy was I surprised to find the process was…" She winked an eye shut. "... Arm-less!"
"... Oh." Ribbon Girl smiled fakely. "Y-Yeah, I get it."
Lola turned to Min Min, who was grimacing toward her. "What's wrong, gum drop? Don't gotta sweet tooth?"
Min Min groaned quietly under her breath. "... I don't like clowns."
"Oh? But we're so much fun!" Lola smiled back largely.
Min Min groaned a little louder. "I don't get the whole make-up and silly colours and big shoes…" She crossed her arms, feeling uncomfortable. "It's not even funny it's just… Weird."
"Ya don't gotta problem with Twinsies's make-up though, do ya?"
"That's different! That's obviously different. I don't have a problem with Ribs' make-up either, or mine. There's a little thing called moderation. None of us are wearing big red noses too." She could feel herself grinding her teeth a bit in her mouth. "Like it's one thing in front of crowds, but is this really the place for all the clown gear? Don't you ever… Drop it?"
Lola starred her straight in the eyes, keeping a small smile on her face unendingly. "I'm always a clown, gum drop."
A shiver went down Min Min's spine. She didn't like it. Not at all.
Ribbon Girl opened her mouth to say something, but paused briefly as a bombastic laugh echoed through the cart. She looked over to the corner where Twinetelle and Helix were sat, and saw her laughing heartily as she spoke to Helix.
Master Mummy turned back to the others, having turned to the source of the laughter too. "I think Helix is giving you a run for your money there, Lola." She pouted. "Who'd have thought Twintelle and Helix would get along so well, eh?"
Ribbon Girl shrugged. "Helix is a little weird but I'm pretty sure he means well. It's good of Twintelle to look past all his… Blobbiness."
"Mm. Well said." Master Mummy cut into his steak dinner. "Say, Ribbon Girl, I don't recall seeing your name on the tournament listing?"
"Oh! No, actually, I won't be fighting in it." She smiled back to them. "I'm still a little exhausted from the championship battle, so I'm just here to support Min Min. Oh, and I'll be doing a concert too!"
The ARMS league had initially asked her to fight, but weren't too disappointed when she declined. Oddly, it seemed they had something already planned for the final fight, though no one was quite sure yet what it would be.
Mummy motioned toward Ribbon Girl and Min Min. "You two should come sit with us. Lola and I were just talking about the ethics in political deception and ambiguity. Fascinating stuff."
It was surprising to find Lola involved in Master Mummy's overly theoretical discussions. It was usually hard for most ARMS fighters to keep up with so much of what he said when he'd bring up these kinda things. Maybe there was more to Lola than there seemed?
"Mm, it's fascinating, I won't lie…" Lola winked again. "But then again, I'm not a politician~! Get it?" Easy come easy go, I guess.
Again, no one laughed. But Min Min did groan a decent bit louder.
"I… I appreciate the offer!" Ribbon Girl smiled at the two of them. "But I think Min would prefer we found our own table." She turned to Min Min, who was standing a bit further back, arms crossed, grimacing at the wall. "Come on, sweetie~"
"Sweetie?" Lola winked. "I thought I was the sweet one!"
"IT'S NOT FUNNYYYYYYY!" Min Min groaned again, walking off to a distant table. Ribbon Girl laughed nervously, said goodbye to the two, and followed after Min Min.
The evening continued rather nicely as they sat down and had their orders taken. The evening sky began to darken more, deepening the orange hues to reds, and bringing in sprinkles of starlight dotted across the skyline.
Ribbon Girl giggled as she spoke to Min Min over dinner, when something caught her eye across the room. The door from the sleeper carriages opened slowly and Mechanica walked in, looking around a little nervously. "Mechy!" Ribbon Girl called out to her, a little loudly. She caught Mechanica's attention and beckoned her over to sit with them.
"H-Hi!" She smiled to them as she quietly took her seat. "Thank you so much, again, for the ticket."
"Of course, Mechanica! I'm glad you could make it."
"Hell yeah." Min Min motioned at Mechanica with a finger-gun as she chewed her pasta. "Pretty fancy dig, huh?"
"The train? Yeah! It's so-" Mechanica's eager smile dropped slowly as she stared off at a table to the back.
"... Mechy?" Min Min squinted, before twisting her head back behind her. "... OH!" She turned back to Mechanica again. "That's Kid Cobra."
"O-Oh. Sorry, I just… I've never seen him without his helmet before."
She continued to stare a couple tables back, where Ninjara and Spring Man were dining with Kid Cobra. Without his helmet he was remarkably snake-like, with slit nostrils and jaggad, scaly skin.
"You get used to it." Min Min shrugged. "Just don't let him sneak up on ya'. Trust me, you won't hear it comin'."
A waitress appeared beside them and took Mechanica's order. It wasn't long until her meal arrived, and the three continued talking deeper into the night, as the sky fell black and the stars really began to pop against it.
The carriage door opened again and metallic footsteps began to clang against the wooden floor, accompanied by the sound of a whirring wheel.
Min Min flicked her eyes to the open door and gasped hard, almost choking on her food. "BARQ!" She smiled brightly, beginning to pat at her lap. "Here boy, here boy!"
BARQ slowly rolled over to her and played a small sound clip of a dog's bark.
"Goooooooood boyyyyyyyyyyy!" She gleed, petting atop his metal casing excitedly. "Do you wanna dog biscuit?"
Ribbon Girl sighed, rolling her eyes. For someone who wasn't a fan of Lola's comedy she sure didn't have a much better sense of humour.
"B-But wait!" Min Min gasped, hanging her jaw. "You don't have a mouth, BARQ! How are you gonna eat the biscuit?"
BARQ played a small dog whine sound clip.
BYTE walked over to the table too, following his dog companion. " Good evening citizens. " He said mechanically.
"Hi BYTE!" Ribbon Girl smiled to him. "You'll be competing in the tournament, yeah?"
" Affirmative ."
"Then I look forward to seeing you fight!"
"Hey BYTE, what's up with the off-limits cart?" Min Min chimed in, the thought randomly coming to her head.
" Classified information. " He replied bluntly. " No passengers may enter the cargo carriage for the duration of the trip. "
"Not even you?"
" I am an exception. I have been tasked with safeguarding the cargo carriage for the duration of the trip. " Another whimper came from BARQ. " ... BARQ is also an exception and will be accompanying me. He is... A good boy. " A happy bark came from BARQ.
Ribbon Girl smiled as she watched BYTE bend down to pet BARQ. It was remarkable just how human he was. I mean, he was pretty clearly a robot in and out - but it was easy to characterize him and really grow close to him as a person . She considered for a moment if that was a weird thing to feel, but given how close Min Min clearly was to BARQ, she didn't have to consider that long.
" We must continue on our way. Enjoy your meals. " BYTE presented a thumbs up to the trio and BARQ played another happy bark sound clip, before the two began heading away.
"I love that dog so much." Min Min smiled warmly, leaning back against her chair.
"More than me?" Ribbon Girl teased.
"Duh." Min Min replied before thinking. "Wait, I mean I love him more than you love him. Not that I love him more than I love you!"
Ribbon Girl giggled back.
"... Soooooo whatcha think's in the cargo carriage?" Min Min asked quietly.
"Well theh ARHMS lahb-" Mechanica paused a moment to finish the mouthful of macaroni and cheese she was eating. "... Well the ARMS lab is funding the new stadium a lot, so I'm thinking it's something from them."
Ribbon Girl leaned in close, speaking quietly and looking a little worried. "... You don't think they've brought Hedlok, do you?"
"Oh! Uh… No no I don't think so." She thought back to the mayhem that had followed the championship battle. "I think Hedlok is probably still too much of a prototype. And not to mention dangerous ."
"Mm." Ribbon Girl mumbled quietly. "... But on the off chance it is Hedlok, you've still got that code, yeah? The one you used to get him off Brass?"
"Mmhmm!" Mechanica chimed back. "That'd be nothing to worry about!"
"Unless it glomps onta you! " Min Min teased, pointing her fork at Mechanica. "Then we're ALL doomed!"
The three of them laughed and moved onto other things. The night drew to a close not long after, with their dinners thoroughly enjoyed and their eyes getting heavy, Ribbon Girl and Min Min said their good nights to Mechanica and headed back to their room for some sleep.
And it didn't take long at all for the two of them to doze off, wrapped up in those soft velvety sheets, with the cool sea air breezing in softly from the open window. Ribbon Girl was deep asleep, her arms wrapped around Min Min snugly, but Min Min wasn't sleeping quite as soundly.
There was a strange dull thumping in her head, once every two seconds or so.
Thunk… Thunk… Thunk… Thunk…
I was beginning to get hard to ignore, when suddenly it dawned on her that the noise she was hearing was coming from the room. She opened her eyes and sat up a bit as best she could, still being grasped by Ribbon Girl. The room was dark, illuminated only by a slight blue tint from the moonlight.
Thunk… Thunk… Thunk… Thunk…
… It was coming from the door. Something was constantly smacking against the base of the door, about two or three feet from the ground.
She tried to get up from the bed, but found Ribbon Girl trying to pull her back. She carefully unhinged Ribbon Girl's grip and laid her down comfortably on the bed, and quietly got to her feet. She approached the door with caution, grabbing her phone from the bedside table and switching the screen on for some light.
The door handle was cold against her fingertips as she slowly twisted it to one side and slipped the door ajar. She motioned her phone to illuminate the hallway floor, and found BARQ looking up at her, his faceplate lit up by her phone. He whimpered quietly.
"... H-Hey, boy." She said sleepily, keeping quiet not to disturb Ribbon Girl. "It's, like, four or five in the morning. Do you want a dog biscuit or something?"
BARQ continued to whimper, before slowly driving about a foot down the hall and turning back to Min Min.
"Come on BARQ, I've gotta sleep…"
He continued whimpering, moving further down slowly. She sighed and stepped into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind her.
"It's freezing out here, BARQ. I'm barely dressed for this."
He didn't stop whimpering, playing the exact same sound clip over and over, every few seconds. Min Min followed slowly as he led her to a door at the back of the carriage.
"I can't go back there, BARQ. That's off limits."
She paused, stood in front of him as he looked up at her sadly. Or as sadly as a non-expressive metallic faceplate can be.
She sighed and opened the door. A cool blast of night ocean air brushed over her and she began to shiver as she stepped out to the space between the carriages, pressing her bare feet against the metal flooring.
She opened the door to the cargo carriage with much more urgency, eager to get out of the cold. But the floor here was made of equally cold metal. As were the walls. In fact, it was somehow even colder in here than it was between the carriages.
A stack of metal boxes were weirdly walled up a few feet into the carriage. A box in the corner had been pushed out and back against the wall, leaving a BARQ-sized hole where it was. BARQ wheeled through the hole and past the wall of boxes, leaving Min Min on the other side.
She waited for a moment, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. She could hear him whimpering still, so she sighed and carefully gripped one of the boxes. It was freezing against her bare hands, but she managed to carefully lift it aside.
Not much could be seen from the gap she had created. The rest of the carriage was dark, with only a small blue glow coming from a large rectangular box against the carriage wall, a slight beam of moonlight coming from the window of the door in the back, and a strange quiet sparking coming from in front of the glowing blue.
She reluctantly picked up another cold box and put it aside, her hands now getting numb from the cold. She stepped over the box in front of her, through the gap she had created, and beside the still whimpering BARQ.
BARQ moved forward slightly, though not much. The weird blue glow was just in front of her now. With the light from her phone she could tell it was some type of chamber - a thick white casing with a glass top, though the glass was completely frozen over, only seeping out a small blue glow stemming from the lights behind the frosted glass.
She shined her phone's screen light further along the length of the chamber, until something else began coming into view: a strange golden tubing, with slight gaps every couple inches. She followed it upward slightly, until the tubing came to a thick blue plating with golden text printed-
She gasped softly, recognising what she was seeing as part of BYTE , and quickly shined her light over to where she was expecting his head to be. But his chestpiece bore no head - just a handful of quietly sparking wires stemming from the empty gap. She was not expecting that.
She gasped hard and fell back against the floor, letting out a loud yelp that echoed back through the carriage and out through the open doors. She quickly stumbled to her feet and dashed over the boxes and out of the cargo carriage as fast as she could.
Ribbon Girl jolted awake at the sound of Min Min's yelp from the carriage over. It was recognisable, and Min Min was clearly not laying beside her, so she jumped to her feet and swung the door open quickly.
Ribbon Girl headed down the hall and collided with Min Min, who embraced her quickly, wrapping her arms around her.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…" Min Min hyperventilated.
A door further back in the carriage swung open quickly and Ninjara stumbled into the hallway, running up to Ribbon Girl and Min Min as quickly as he could. "W-What's going on? Why'd you scream?" He panted. Spring Man followed behind him too, shortly followed by Master Mummy from the sleeper carriage behind.
Min Min hugged Ribbon Girl deeply, still shaking from the shock, before pulling back and pressing her cold hands to Ribbon Girl's face. Her lip quivered as she spoke, her eyes batting forth rapidly. " BYTE's dead. "