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Chapter Text

Spring Man was the only one of many few that got up early in the morning. He was more bright and peppy too, his smile was wide and with his head held high. After the big debut of his title, "Spring Man" He had nothing more than to be friends with everyone, who would NOT like a guy like him? Well, here he was.. training, not that he didn't mind it but hey, his schedule was tight but no matter, it's in the morning and only lasts an hour and a half at max. Speaking of Max, he wanted to face the champion that was faced with stardom, Max Brass! His long desire and dream to plaster that belt on the halls wall with all other achievements that the other Spring Men did over the decades.

"Well… there's also one thing the league is needing to introduce you to." The retired Spring Man also known as Spring Man II piped up. That's when the rookie recalled.

"My rivals.." he looked up with a gasp. "I'm going to meet my rivals!??" He yelled with excitement. The other winced about how loud it truly was.

The mentor cleared his throat. "Well, yes, but you have to be ready for any outcome.. and don't expect everyone to like you automatically." He pointed out realistically. The young man nodded with understanding, he too needs to keep his expectations low, he needs to not make himself a fool infront of his rivals.. even just thinking about it makes him cringe slightly.

The drive to the meet was a long one, taking forever to get to point A to point B. In amense boredom Spring fell asleep on during the tour bus ride, sure he could've slept on the bed if he wanted to but even then he probably wasn't going to make it in time before passing out. It was a nice peace and quiet tone about it for sure.

He groaned as he rubbed his eyes with a yawn when his mentor woke him up, leaving him groggy so he took his time to actually get up and get things moving along. He was taken to a door led by the manager of the place laying ground rules.

No causing fights
Never harass the girls
Don't smoke
No alcoholic beverages
No drugs
And definitely do NOT start arguments, if you do it's going back to rule number 1

Spring agreed with everything before he was left alone with him and the door. He slowly taking a deep and exhaled. 'Behind this door, will be the people I will be up against' he thought to himself as he breathed in again, hesitant. He then held his head up, turning the door nob to greet whoever was inside with a smile. 'Be cool Spring'. Was the saying he replayed in his mind. He was greeted with a room that was once lively and full with chatter then stop in complete silence to stare at him. He slowly brought his hand down to awkwardly wave. "Hi.." he spoke with an awkward smile.

One of the girls smiled bright. "O..M..G!! Is it really him!? Ohh he's so cute!!" She gawked. She looked like someone that Spring has seen before. "Nice to meet you!! I'm Ribbon Girl!!" She chirped as she hopped to her feet to full welcome the newcomer. "Oh- and I almost forgot.. this is Twintelle! She and I go WAY back!!" She bragged, Twintelle waved her off with one of her arms.

"Although true I'm not a pop star now, more of a movie star, her family and I know each other though, nice to meet you by the way." Twintelle shook Spring's hand as he gasped when he realised who she was.

"Oh wait!! You're that French actress that everyone has been talking about!! You've got a lot of Hollywood films that are really good in your portfolio!!" Spring exclaimed. Twintelle nodded with delight, someone decent for once that isn't an incel or someone who only admires her for her looks and body alone. "I didn't know I would be meeting two celebrities today!" He chuckled.

Twintelle faned her face "Oh trust me, we're not the only one who's celebrities now." She joked, Spring and Ribbon laughed at that.

Spring took this opportunity to have a look around to see all of them doing their own things, some missing which, from what he's been told, there should be more of them to come that are here already. "That's funny.." he pondered. "Isn't there supposed to be more than 5 people in here?" He questioned.

Ribbon and Twintelle looked around. "Oh yeah, where is everyone?" Ribbon fidgeted remembering where one of them is. "I'll check on Mechanica, she's been gone for an awfully long time, I'll go see if she's okay." She suffles away to the supposed direction on where this 'Mechanica' person is.

Twintelle then pointed out some of the fighters to Spring. "The guy there in the snake like helmet is Kid Cobra, social media influencer and is very attached to his phone, call that 'phone addiction'" Spring rolled his eyes when he heard that come out of her mouth. She moved on the big, muscular mummy on the far right. "Right there is Master Mummy, isn't very talkative but if you get to know him he has a heart of gold. Majority of the time he's intimidating at best. That green blob is Helix." Twintelle spoke, watching him push it's head inside a vase, making a confused sound as if didn't know what was going on. Spring looked at that with a really confused and also really weirded out by him, hearing Twintelle speak up again. "He can't speak but is very friendly." As soon the blob heard Twintelle speak, his head dropped to the ground, hearing it smash before his head turned to the pair and ran over to greet the person with all smiles.

Spring smiles with a awkward wave until he saw Helix lean over causing Spring to run away, only to be consumed by the green bloob and only to then be spat back out, feeling grossed out. He watched the green blob bounce up and down with excitement and joy. "Aww he likes you." That comment from Twintelle made him frown which didn't help his case in the slightest when he heard the women chuckle, tasting a somewhat tropical flavour from him which made him even more grossed out.

She calmed down as she cleared her throat. "There's also Byte and Barq who is a cop duo that are robots. Barq is the most cutest robot dog, it's a shame they're out on patrol so they can't make it"

Spring had to take a double take to that. "Wait.. robot COPS!? And how did the dog get in?" He questioned.

"All valid questions." She acknowledged. "To make a long story short.. They came into the league as one person but turned out to be two opponents so the organisers just shrugged and allowed them to compete." She explained, leaving Spring stunned and confused. Guess that's something Spring has to work on 'expect the unexpected.'

His mind was cut off when he saw a girl stumble out from the back with a noodle arm and what looked to be a scaly arm but he wasn't sure on what it was to be exact. "Oh and that is Min Min. She works and lives in a ramen restaurant with her family. Apparently it's a popular place to dine at. Have you heard of Mintendo?" Now that's a name he's heard of.

"Oh that place with all the dragons with really good reviews and high quality customer service? Is that also a home which they live in?" He asked at the end.

Twintelle nodded. "Mhm, she works and lives there, you're bang on the dot."

Spring was, yet again, stunned. "Shut up." He said in a mere whisper. Never in his life he's met very famous people. He perked when he saw Ribbon come out with a very flustered girl. Spring tilted his head slightly. "They're a child?" He questioned.

"Not just any child!" Ribbon proclaimed. "This is Mechanica!! She's a world class child genius, maybe the youngest because she is the smartest girl you've ever met!" She wrapped her arm around Mechanica making her already flushed face beam brighter with now embarrassment.

"N-nice to meet you Spring Man.." She introduced, trying to hide her embarrassment with her orange hoodie. Spring smiled, he knew what and how that felt at her age.

Twintelle looked over at the sea of fighters with a confused face."No, that can't be right." She muttered to herself. Spring and Ribbon girl looked at her with confused looks.

"Everything okay Twintelle?" Spring managed to say to her.

She shook her head slightly. "Isn't there supposed to be one more of us? I know he's a trickster and a hider but I haven't seen him anywhere." She told the two.

Ribbon girl shifted a little bit with her skin turning white. "Do we have to.. I mean, we can always not include him in and besides, not like Spring would get along with him anyways." She nervously chuckled as she patted Spring's shoulders. Spring man was getting confused on who this guy was anyways.

Spring shrugged a little. "Who's 'he'" he questioned. To which Ribbon Girl made a motion with her hand making a gesture near her neck as she shook her head slowly at Twintelle.

Twintelle hummed as she gathered her thoughts. "Well…" she started off. "If I were to describe him in the best way possible? He would be-" She was cut off by a weapon fly by her and Spring, Spring watched that fly by like it was in slow motion before it hit a wall with it sticking out of it. "Whoa.." she managed to utter.

Spring slowly looked in the direction where that.. thing was thrown by. What he could see however was red piercing eyes, they looked mean, they looked fierce, they looked like the kind of eyes the devil would have. It didn't help that the shadow made him look even more intimidating. This caused Ribbon Girl to nervously chuckle. "And that…that is.. how to put it without making me scared shitless. Uhhh…" As she said that the man in the shadows' eyes widened. Ribbon tensed along with everyone else in the room.

Spring stood there, eyes wide. Is this guy really not worth a mention? Sure he's intimidating but he doesn't look intimidating, instead interesting. The man crept out of the shadows with the same intimidating face getting closer and closer. He walked over like he was out for blood and Spring didn't want to be a part of it. He walked back a few times. "Uhh.. h-hello there." He nervously smiles as he continues to walk back.

Spring kept walking until he was up against the wall, helpless. The eyes grew meaner and meaner the more he got closer making Spring gulp. Everyone including him gasped when something sharp was pointed straight towards his neck. Spring looked into the man's eyes with a nervous chuckle. "L-look I-I-I don't know what I did wrong? I-I'm Spring Man, the third one of their kind." He tried to introduce himself, trying his hardest not to stutter from the nerves.

Everyone stood around nervously, unknown as to what he may do or what they should do in a situation like this. The man stared daggers at him for what seemed to be an eternity until his eyes darted towards the door and turned into a puff of smoke until he reappeared in the same spot he came out of. Everyone looked at him with horror and confusion. It was all silenced when a bunch of people came in to gather everyone up along with their mentors and parental figures.

The ride home was a quiet one again but only this time Spring seemed to be lost in thought. "Something troubling you?" He heard the other Spring Man ask him.

"Who was that guy?" He mumbled under his breath.

The other raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Spring searched through his memory, even though he had a proper look at him he still couldn't recall what he looked like at all. "Well.. he had red eyes… green hair… and is really good with sharp objects." Spring described the figure he was talking about, but didn't really recall what ARMS he had.

The other man searched his face trying to pinpoint who he was talking about, but then a fighter came into mind, someone he knew about and saw pictures of and matched the description. "Ah." He smiled. "I see you met Ninjara. Red eyes, green hair, does he use a smoke screen like technique?" Well now that the other has mentioned it, he did recall he did do some teleportation technique. "Yep, knew it, he's a wild card, that one is." Spring Man II clicked his tongue. "A ninja student from a ninja college."

Spring perked up at that. "Student?" He repeated. "He didn't look like a college student.." he looked down at the floor, twiddling his thumbs.

The other hummed as he laid back into his seat. "No shit, Ninja students are far more different compared to regular college students. They're protectors, fighters, warriors, you need to go to college for that too." He put his hands behind his back and seeing the other had a worried look. "Tell ya what kid? He's not going to harm you, not unless you're in the league of course." He rested a hand on the young man's shoulder with a wink.

This raised Spring's spirits a little bit, he smiles with the reassuring knowledge of him not going through it alone. This whole ARMS League thing is going to be one long season.

__________________________________

It's been two days since the events went down prior, he got some neat 'Welcome' gifts from the others and even Min Min offered to give him a tour of Mintendo if he wanted to. As expected, Ninjara didn't want to give him any gifts, or is being pointed with the same dagger-like weapon by the neck count? No words, only anger? Luckily he was saved by the monitors of the whole thing.

Spring Man was fearing that he made a one-sided enemy with no reason. He wanted Ninjara to like him, warm up to him but instead he's left with an invisible target stamped to his back and if not careful he can be- WAIT!? He stopped in his training to shake this feeling away, what was he thinking? He couldn't go THAT far? Can he? He pondered on the thought for a moment. He felt like there were eyes piercing his soul as he pondered, is someone behind him? He took this chance to slowly glance over his shoulder to a nearby window to no surprise, no one was there.

He finished up his training and packed his things so that he can leave as fast as he could, he didn't know why he felt uncomfortable or unsafe, it's probably just the jitters from the other day right? He slipped into the showers to wash away his worries and dry up. He walked out of that only to be stared down by that same guy who did it days prior. Spring jumped back with a little yelp. "Would you stop trying to give me a heart attack!?" He raised his voice. "It's really creepy and unsettling with your piercing stare all the time!" He spoke loudly, his eyebrows frowning. And for the first time he's ever seen Ninjara, he blinked into a more softened, still pissed kind of look.

Spring breathed, unsure on what to do or handle this, this man REALLY is a wild card! He was snapped out of his thoughts when he spoke. "What?" He called, giving the other to speak again.

"人じゃらです.." he spoke loud enough only for him to hear as he shoved the other a side.

Spring stood there, how was he supposed to feel? Awe? Confused? This guy spoke to him, why isn't he saying anything? Why is he just standing there? But the way he spoke, it's like he spoke in a different language, maybe he doesn't know how to speak English? Does he know English? Can he understand English? Spring allowed the questions to fill up his mind as he shrugged it off and walked back only to realise that he was trying to introduce himself, he facepalmed at that sudden realisation. "I'm an idiot!" He muttered to himself in humiliation.

Chapter Text

The following days were hectic with Spring training a lot with the other fighters and sitting down to get to know them one on one. They all were nice and had their own unique personalities and different styles of fashion. How he got to know some of them was by unexpected occurrences like when he busted his Toaster for the first time and had to go to Mechanica for ARM repair.

His encounter with Kid Cobra was… not he was expecting, he was pretty much pulled into a video that he had no consent in the first place along with him trying to push the other away, he just wanted to get away from Kid Cobra as much as humanly possible before Kid starts to go on and on about how he's a 'cool guy'. And so on and so on. It's not to say he didn't LIKE the guy, he just heavily despised people on technology… bleh. Even he's not so bad when it comes to scrolling through social media.

He knows that the internet is a big vast thing he can escape from, hell, he even uses it himself. It's just the constant 'everyone is glued to their screens' he has a problem with. Everyone sucked into social media and letting that run the show meanwhile they have actual lives to care about instead of wasting time glued to their phones and Kid Cobra's no exception to this.

He managed to find the training room he was going to train I'm. "Hey, Kid.. you made it." The old man greeted. "Where have you been?" He asked.

Spring groaned as he sat his duffel bag down. "Trying to find this place, along with that Cobra guy shoving a camera in my face." He grunted as he grabbed his Toasters. "Are you ready or not?" He questioned, his hands slipping into the red gloves. He was led outside into a court or sorts, lines of metal laid horizontal with two platforms on either side.

"I'm sure you've heard of 'Skill Shot', it's quite an iconic mini game in the league." The older man asked with curiosity. The younger man hummed with a nod.

Spring listened as the other explained the rules and how to win, for some odd reason he seemed to feel eyes at the back of his head, it could be a false concern… but then again. Spring turned around to the direction where the staring came from. That's funny, he could've sworn he felt someone staring from the fence. He heard the other call his name, him shaking his head to snap whatever concerns lingered in his mind. Spring Man played for a few rounds until he got better at it. Even his mentor practised with him for a more hands on approach.

"I'm puffed." He panted, trying to regain his breath again.

The other Spring Man rested a hand on his shoulder. "You did well kid, let's take a break, I'll meet you inside." He smiled as he proceeded to give the other a water bottle which the 3rd happily took to chug from.

Spring Man drank from the bottle and wiped the excess water from his lips and sweat, he realised that he can feel the same eyes on him again, that same feeling he had before his training. He turned around once again to see someone, standing, or more like squatting down on the fence, it was that same guy from a few days ago. His eyes stared with daggers like last time too.

"痛々しい" the ninja tisked under his breath and turned into a puff of smoke again.

Spring raised his eyebrow, what's up with that guy, honestly? It didn't matter though, what matters now is him getting into a warm shower to wash off all the sweat. He was walking out of the court until he felt hands nab his waist as he was being hoisted into the air. For a split second he saw a figure he couldn't quite register until he was knocked down with his butt being stuck in something small and round as he tried to pull out of what looked like a basketball hoop. "HEY WHOEVER DID THAT, SHow-" He looked around to see that one, he was high up and two, there was no one in his sight, until he saw someone in a hood walking away. "HEY YOU! OVER THERE!! HELP ME!! HEEEY!!" He called out as loud as he could. The figure continued to walk away like he was non-existent.

He slumped back into the hoop. "Great.." he groaned with a frown. He was stuck there until someone by some miracle would swing by and help him. He waited… and waited…….. and waited… until he heard the whistles of a certain Cobra, finally some help. "KID COBRA…. KID COBRAAAA!!" He saw the man stop in his tracks to turn and saw him stuck as he ran up to the bouncer.

"Dude!!" He laughed. "What happened to you!?" He called to him.

Spring rolled his eyes. "Some jerk put me up here, they did a great job because now I'm stuck here." He looked down at the Speed demon. Kid Cobra chuckled and went under.

"Alright, I'm going to start pushing on your ass, is that okay with you?" He asked.

Spring's face suddenly heated up with that question. "What!? Isn't that harassment!?" He asked, horrified.

Kid made a face. "It's not when you're helping someone get out of a basketball hoop." He shrugged.

Spring shivered and took a deep breath. It's only helping he should have to- "wha- WHOAAA!!" He yelped, using his reflexes to grab hold of the hoop above him as he slowly lowered himself down until his feet touched the ground. "Phew, that was close." He patted himself down and turned to Kid. "You didn't need to do that!! I could've broken a bone!!" He scolded.

Kid put his hands up in defence. "Hey, you needed my help, no questions asked, the actual proper way of treating this would be at least a 'Thank you??'" He gestured.

Spring huffed a little with a small smile, he was telling the truth after all, he really did need the Cobra's help. He thanked the other before waving him off to get changed and head back, after all.. it was getting quite late.

He closed the door behind him with a heavy sigh. Getting a call from Twintelle, he raised an eyebrow, what does she want at this time? Isn't she busy? Well only one way to find out. "Hello?" He greeted.

"Spring!" The women on the other line greeted. "How have you been? The league hasn't given you too much trouble?" She asked sincerely.

Spring perked at this. "Well.. not really." He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

The women hummed on the other line. "Well that's good, I was meaning if you want to have a spar with me and Byte and Barq? I think it'll be a nice introduction for the pair of yous or should I say all three of yous?" She chuckled at the thought.

Spring chuckled slightly. "Well umm.. well there was one thing that happened today after my training.." he brought up, hearing a hum as Twintelle perked up. "Someone.. some jerk.. put me in a basketball hoop on the court." He explained. "I had to get Kid Cobra who was walking by to help me." He leaned on the wall, fury slightly taking place.

Twintelle sighed as she shook her head. "Ninjara's doing I presume?" She pondered.

"Wait.. why did Ninjar-"

Twintelle cut him off. "It's been a habit for a while now, first Barq, then Ribbon, then Helix and now you.." she listed. "It's been a thing he's been doing.. we don't know why he's been doing it, it'll probably dye out with time the more you settle in." She huffed, rubbing her forehead.

Spring nodded, so it was Ninjara's doing eh? No wonder.. it seemed like not the first time either. From what he is hearing right now. "But for now, I should let you go."

Now it was Spring's turn to speak up. "Oh- and about that Spar…?" Twintelle hummed.

"Oh yes… what do you say about that?" She questioned.

Spring smiled with full confidence. "I will accept the offer, and tell the other two as well."

"Good." Twintelle laughed. "I shall get things organised." She heard someone call her name from the door. "I'll let you go now. I have a photoshoot to attend to."

Spring looked at the stove in his apartment. "Sure.. I'll let you go, enjoy the photoshoot." And with that he heard beeping from the phone as he slowly put it down from his ear.

Well that's something he'll look forward to. He wondered what the two robot cops would look like..well he doesn't want to let his expectations get the better of him. Are they nice? Well of course they would be. Maybe he's just tired, probably needs sleep and to relax. At least it's not one hell of an league.

Chapter Text

Spring took the next few days as an opportunity to prepare for his first actual battle, his real battle, that opponent is… Kid Cobra. Spring's eye twitched with his name being mentioned but easily shook it off. At least he's a real opponent rather than sparring with the other fighters. I mean sure they were but he hasn't taken a full real taste of what an actual battle looked like. He leaned on the rails of the stage he and Kid were battling in. "Snake Park." The home of snakeboarding, he hadn't tried snakeboarding before and it looked like fun. He smirked as he leapt over the fence catching someone's eye.

It didn't look too bad, the board was sturdy and the platform looked sturdy. Cautiously, he put his foot on with the board immediately reacting to his foot like touch as soon as he stood on it, it sped forward as he tried to regain balance but it was increasing even more speed, 'This was a dumb idea' he thought as the board crashed into the ledge that sent him flying leaving with a hard crash.

The little crowd gasped as a young girl broke through the crowd to meet with the dumb fighter. "Spring!? Oh my god, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She frantically asked as he helped the poor man up.

Spring sighed as he groaned in pain. "Ribbon?" He winced. "I'm okay, really." He smiled reassuringly. "That was a very dumb idea." He mumbled.

"Yeah, it was! What were you thinking? Having no health and safety regulations with no knowledge of how to drive the damn thing?" Ribbon huffed as she led him to a nearby bench as someone nearby gave her some bandages. "Thank you."

"No worries." They smiled. "Just what the hell were you thinking? I get your the new guy but you can't just jump on no biggie." They asked.

Spring sat in silence for a moment, eyes fixated to his grazed knee as Ribbon patched it. "I have a fight tonight… I wanted to know the ropes so I can know how to work my way around before it." He spoke softly and somberly.

The pair gasped. "Wait!? A match tonight!?" Ribbon questioned. Spring guiltily nodded, gripping his arm. "Well that explains the stupidity just then." She let out a small, relieved laugh as she touched up on her patchwork. "There, good as new." She put her hands down with a smile.

"Thanks Ribbon, I appreciate it." Spring slowly swung his leg down off the bench "I'll wash the bandage and give it back to you guys." He looked the person who walked over earlier.

"Nah don't." They exclaimed, arms folded. "Too much wasted time, besides we have a fat load stashed in the back." They gestured with their head. The two fighters turn back to see other skateboarders and snakeboarders walk in and out of the where they gestured.

"I see.." he spoke with a nod. "Thanks anyways." And with that he leapt up to prepare himself for his first ever match. The two of others look at him with questioning looks. It seemed that they were staring for some time. Watching him wink and being playful to all the girls that walked by like they had seen nothing stupid from what they saw earlier.

That was until one of them leaned over to the other. "You think that man would ever win against him?" They asked with concern in their voice.

Ribbon still watched the Bouncer 'Spring' inside the building. With a heavy sigh like she's been holding it in for a while and taking a deep breath once again as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "God no." She managed to utter with the very little hope of seeing the light of him again after this very fight.

Later into that evening, a crowd was finally gathering around the Snake Park, most of them wanting to see one of the ones most famous in that area meanwhile some came for the other. The crowd also watched and cheered for people's stunts on their Snakeboard with photos and the yells of 'oohh's and aahh's from them all. A crowd that made even every fighter gather in the VIP room upstairs to see the action. Ribbon was already there, hesitantly watching as she gazed at the ground below, with a voice that she found all too familiar with.

"Nervous?" A voice can be heard, making the young girl jump to face the other.

"Twintelle!?" She yelped with a small huff. Watching the other chuckle. "It's not nice to scare people like that!" She can't help but scold the older women for sneaking up on her.

Twintelle continued to laugh only then to cough to clear her throat. "Are you watching the fight too?" She asked with a small smile. Ribbon's pout made her mind come to that conclusion without the other even saying it. "Who do you think might win the fight tonight?" She asked the other with curiosity.

"Highly doubt it would be the newbie.." Ribbon admitted sheepishly. "He tried to ride a snakeboard and tripped, had to patch him up after that accident." The words that spilled out of her mouth that made the actress chuckle even more causing Ribbon to shoot her a glare. "Why, what about you?" She grumbled as she put her hands in her jacket pockets.

Twintelle giggled through her words as she processed. "Well.." she managed to get out before sighing, crossing her arms and flicking her hair-ARMS back with grace. "I have a hunch on who it would be." She side eyed Ribbon and just as quickly looked out in the same arena. She perked up when she heard the door open and close again, this got Ribbon's attention too as they both turned to face another fighter that's also coming to watch.

"Ninjara?" Ribbon muttered "coming to watch the fight too I see?" She asked as her eyes followed the ninja as he rested his back against the glass with his red eyes towards the rink, he spoke no words and it was painfully obvious that he didn't have time for chit-chat. "Not talking? Fine.. be that way." She finally backed off with a huff as she felt Twintelle's hand on her shoulder comfortably to remind her that she needs to calm down.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! WELCOME TO THE ARMS LEAGUE TOURNAMENT!!" With Biff announcing that the crowd immediately went into cheers. "Tonight, we have two fighters going up head to head, and I think the crowd here is pretty excited for who they are." While Biff was addressing the crowd, Spring looked out through a small crack to see how many people were out there, adrenaline rushing through him. He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply in an attempt to sooth his nerves.

"Alright, Spring, you can do this, all you need to do is go on those… things and hit that guy with a double knuckle sandwich." He spoke to himself, making punching and uppercut motions with a confident smile. This shouldn't be too hard right? This would be a piece of cake. Or so he told himself to make himself feel at least slightly better and not shaken up when he goes up there for real.

He put a confident smile as soon as Biff called his name out as he rushed out to greet everyone. He was met with cheers but not a lot of it when he thought about how much. But the crowd roared when his opponent came out, Kid Cobra. He groaned but not too hard for people to notice, at least this could be a good experience for him at least, I mean, he does know the saying "don't judge a book by its cover." He and Kid took their positions. His nerves were playing up again but why now, he hasn't even fought yet.

READY!!
…
STEADY!!!
…
ARMS!!!!

And they were off. Spring struggled to get a few punches in and his dodges made fighting even more difficult but manageable. He watched the Cobra's movements to try and mimic but only realised that he had to use the one thing that he's not good at and Kid was almost a beast with. 'Snakeboarding' Spring looked at it with determination, he might as well learn while he's at it. He may not gotten a single punch in yet but maybe.. just maybe he might get the upper hand. Without a trace he dodged and rolled in the direction towards it. Ribbon, Twintelle and Ninjara watched, Ribbon looking at Spring like he was some sort of crazy person.

The three of them along with Kid watched the other climb on, without a moment to waste it sprung to life, Spring steadied himself onto it, good, Good.. that's progress at least. "Oh my God.. he's insane." Ribbon declared as Twintelle smiled painfully and Ninjara wanted to roll his eyes to the back of his head.

Kid Cobra saw this as an opportunity to snag his victory. "You look like an idiot on that thing you know that right?" He teased the bouncer, his slammamanders hitting the others sides. "Do you even know how to ride on one of those?" He remarked cockily with a smug grin on his lips under his snake-like mask. Spring tried to focus on where the other his but his footing wobbled as his vision blurred, his eyes snapped open wide when he saw the other charge forward towards him and before he could get away, hands grabbed him as he was kicked up into the air and with a final slap he was sent flying, colliding with a wall.

The room was quiet as they all watched Spring collapse to the ground. Ribbon and Twintelle watching in both cringe and horror as they both said. "Oooohh." And Ribbon after that continuing. "Ouch…" She proclaimed quietly. And Ninjara, unlike the pair of them, expected it to be an easy win for the Cobra and sighed disappointedly.

Kid laughed as he basked in the light of the glory from victory and made his way over to tower over the limp body. "Sorry dude, it has to be this way." He said in a fake sympathetic tone. "BECAUSE YOU JUST BE BEATEN BY THE COOBRAAAA!!" He exclaimed loudly as he laughed when he heard horns going off in the back. His group chanted and granted him congratulations. Leaving Spring to lay limp for who knows how long.

The crew stayed around to clean up the place, not even acknowledging Spring's existence. Kid Cobra was sweeping until he heard a cry from across the rink from a very vocal pop idol. He stopped in his tracks and rested his elbow and shot a finger gun at them both. "Ladies~" he winked and was interrupted by Ribbon almost laying hands on him. "Whoa, WHOA, easy girl."

Ribbon was struggling with Twintelle's grip. "Ribbon, you need to calm down!!" She exclaimed as Ribbon struggled even more.

"I am calm." She shot back.

"No you're not, calm down before talking him." Twintelle retorted, causing Ribbon to let go with a groan as she stomped past both of them. "Well, now we can actually talk without her interfering." She sighed, fixing her hair. "Don't you think you were being a bit too… harsh on him?"

Kid gave her a look. "Wha-? What do you mean by that? I was doing what I normally do, it isn't like he is dead right?" He laughed nervously, turning to the still limp Spring. "RIGHT BUDDY?" He yelled nervously. The man continued to lay there with no sign of reaction or movement. This of course raised concern, making him curse under his breath, racing over there. "Okay, you can stop playing dead now? It's not funny anymore." He jokes and poked his back. Yet again, Spring gave no reaction. "Is he-?" He asked quietly to Twintelle as she bent down to feel for a pulse.

"Yep, still has one. That's a relief at least." She sighed as she stood next to the Cobra. Kid stood there, lost in his own thoughts until a particular figure walked by.

He happily galloped over to him. "Hey Ninjara, how's it goOOH! Okay, okay, I get it, don't touch you, I get it!" He put his hands up defensively when Ninjara held up a weapon near his face. With a side glance he walked off, putting the weapon back into his pocket as he trodden off. "Geez.." Kid huffed. "The hell's wrong with him?" He asked Twintelle as he pondered more questions. "And why is he alwa- wait- where did he go?" He stopped pondering when he saw Ninjara magically gone. "HEY!!" He yelled out, seeing if he was in the dark somewhere but only was left were crickets and other noises of traffic being left behind.

Chapter Text

Spring woke up to a feeling of something soft and warm, something putting pressure on his chest but not quite his chest plate, no it can't be that, he feels much lighter with it off him. The air smelt like medicine you'd find in a dentist or chemist near a supermarket. The bed he laid on wasn't the warmest or comfiest but it did its job. Wait.. air smelling like medicine… fight!! He had to fight!! Where's Kid Cobra??

In a moment without hesitation he sat up as he frantically looked around, he saw some lady working in a bland, white room. The clock on the wall read 8:23am. Where was he? And more importantly, what happened? He looked at the women with a blink. How does he bring this conversation? Moreover, how does he bring this up? She seemed busy after all.

A knock, finally, someone to hopefully give him answers. The door opened to reveal…

"Gramps!!" He exclaimed, catching both him and the women off guard.

"Whoa now, I'm not that old." The older Spring Man said blankly. Without any hesitation he sat down on a chair beside him, giving the women a light nod before she continued to talk on the phone.

Spring sat in the bed for a while before finally asking. "Where am I? How did I get here?"

The other sat there, thinking. "Isn't it obvious?" He told. "You're in the nurse's office in the Snake Park." He told him bluntly. "And second, we had to call the office to provide a stretcher, apparently they had one here." He paused to think of other words to say. "Thank god you're not dead, and two: I'm just glad you're okay.." he admitted. Spring sat there as if he had been confused while his mentor explained. "In fact… I'm more embarrassed of myself than being embarrassed of you."

Now it was Spring's turn to speak up. "Embarrassed? Why were you embarrassed?" He spoke in a more aggressive tone, his head still spinning slightly.

"Because I.." the old Spring pondered once more. "I didn't teach you how to ride that thing. If I would have known that Biff assigned that stage sooner I would've been more weary about how you could go about that fight differently. But I didn't." He spoke with true honesty. Spring couldn't help but feel his heart sink a little bit, he couldn't help but feel guilty for lashing out at him. Or what he thought he was anyways.

His eyes fixated to his chest plate laying on the floor along with his belongings. "I'm sorry, I was just confused and a little woozy from the knockout, I didn't mean it.." he apologised.

The other man smiled at him. "It's fine kid, don't worry about it. Sometimes it takes multiple fights just to get the hang of it, don't worry too much about it. It's just your first fight after all. Tell you what, after when you have recovered we'll go through the basics for every stage that Biff may assign us so none of that would happen again. Sounds fair?" Spring smiled at his mentor's compromise. He did quite like that idea, and agreed. Just in time for the nurse to get off the phone to let Spring go officially.

Spring came back to the smell of his own apartment with relief washing over him. He checked his phone with his phone blown up by messages from his siblings and even from his cousins and dad. He smiled as he replied to everyone stating that he was okay and no he wasn't "dead". He then got a link from of them that linked to a victory video that Kid had made. It was snarky and egotistical, which the comments didn't do much besides fan the other's ego, he didn't give two seconds to be mad at. He put up a good fight even if he didn't get at least one jab in, he was new to it all and still finding his ground in all this.

Instead of getting mad and throwing his phone he just just sighed and turned his phone off, his head slumping onto the bench, he blew it but he wasn't going to give up just yet. Not until he earns that belt. Is he that exhausted by the sudden change of pace? He looked at the clock. It's only 9:15am. He should do something productive at least. Yeah.. that's what he should do. A smile crept onto his face as he raced into his room to grab something and came back out with a guitar and pieces of paper. He slumped down to tune the strings of his guitar before finally playing a few strings of notes.

The music was easy going and soft, something that he always enjoyed. He was glad that his guitar was a hand-me-down from his dad because ever since he was in high school he never stopped playing this thing. He was always into music; it was just the way of what he told people about it. It was always embarrassing to even mention it to anyone, especially the ones closest to him but here, he had no one to play for, he can always hide this secret from anyone and not be afraid of who or what they could hear from him. It was no one but him and he liked that. Throughout his session his phone began to ring once again catching Spring off guard and grabbed it to answer.

"Hello?" He answered.

There was a cheery voice on the other line. "Spring, how is your recovery? Hope those punches from Kid didn't break a bone or something?" They teased on the other side of the line.

"Nope.. nothing yet." Spring laughed at the light tease. "I still did crap though." He half admitted, rubbing his neck.

"Ah you'll get used to it, maybe one day, you can get your first win." They laughed but much to their dismay Spring didn't react. "Ummm… I'm sure you'll improve is what I was meant to say." They tried to fix what they were saying with a clear throat.

Spring just silently nodded. "I'm just resting for now. Besides, I'm going straight back to training as always." He mumbled into the phone.

"I'm sure of it, there's always a next round." They reassured gleefully. Spring smiled with a hum. "Als- oh- sorry, someone needs me, I'll let you go now Spring, take care now." And with that they hung up on him leaving Spring to set it down one last time, his gaze still glued on the phone for a while, still somewhat entranced by it. Maybe he should just call it a day, he should probably order pizza or something just to clear the buzz in his head. Or maybe just lay down for a bit until he settled on what to do next.
__________________________________

It was quiet.. too quiet… very quiet, the college halls were always this quiet through class sessions. His eyes scanned the halls as he walked them, looking for any sign or subtle hints that someone is here, but no one took any footing. He quietly opened the door to see someone else gathering paperwork and carrying them to wherever they're going.

"Ah, I see you're here to return your homework perhaps?" The professor asked with a keened smile. The student gave a nod as he gave the professor his recent work. "Still in tip-top condition like how you received it when I first gave it to ya." He laughed.

The green haired student watched with a glint of nervousness in his eye but didn't give it a second thought as his face still remained calm and collected, watching as the professor opened his work to inspect the contents he gave. "Hmmm not a bad point of view, everything still looks to be on point." He muttered as he thought. "I'd say, you might be top of the class again… like you always do.." he played off the backhanded comment towards the student like it was a compliment. Before Ninjara could protest he was cut off. "Thank you, you may now be on your way, them training skills for the league won't train themselves." The professor patted Ninjara's shoulder before Ninjara shook it off just as quickly.

Ninjara stood there in the empty classroom for a bit to hear the door slide close with a click. He clutched his hand tight before silently leaving the room to meet with another person, someone who's on top of the buildings, meditating like he has been doing every afternoon. He climbed into the dark-ish room trying to be as quiet as possible.

"I've been waiting for you."

A voice called out, Ninjara jerked at the sudden call out, looking at the figure who's back was faced towards him, still in his meditating like pose. He turned the kettle on to boil and made some tea for the two of them and placed them on a tray to take, sitting next to the elder ninja beside him where the cushion was placed so he was comfortable, taking the cup to drink. "Thank you Ninjara.. you're too kind." The one spoke with a smile. "I know I can always rely on my pupil to do something." He chuckled as he grabbed the other cup that was placed on the tray.

Ninjara didn't speak any words to communicate, only his body language as he watched the small students and teachers walk by below them. "I do say though.." the wise one began. "You don't talk as much as you used to back then, it's.. a shame really but I won't force you to talk, you do more listening and observing as you are socially." He pondered out loud. Ninjara's gaze then looked at his headmaster, what did he mean by it? Sure he's quiet but he isn't that much of a quiet person. He frowned a little.

The door behind them swung again. "Sorry Sensei, I had to deal with a few students and- oh?" She was cut off by Ninjara's sudden appearance. "Let me guess you're here for training too?" She put her hands on her hips. Ninjara was going to say something but was cut off by his headmaster.

"Not yet, I was going to ask Ninjara how the league is doing so far. This old man needs details on his students too." He laughed.

Ninjara slumped in his seat, unable to say anything until he found the correct words to say. ¹"ARMS…ARMSなんかいいよね..." he started off.. licking his lips as he processed what to say next. ²"変なところだし、戦闘も変。忍者の武器で戦うようなものはありません。" He managed to get out, clutching the cup he has in his hands tightly.

His headmaster hummed at his response. "Well, that's what you get when you are fighting in a different field. I hope you're training up to our standards, Ninjara?" He laughed as he put a finger to his lips with a pondering expression. Ninjara just stayed quiet, allowing the women to speak.

He didn't hear much besides from buzzes in his head that had been shadowed by his own thoughts. He watched the scenery and the city lighting up as the sun was setting along the hidden horizon. "Ninjara!?" A voice called out, Ninjara turned quickly with a shocked look. "Are you coming to train or what?" She asked as she passed him his katana which he nonchalantly took.

///

Ninjara came back to his dorm room hours later, tired and exhausted as he let out a sigh. He was glad to be back in his usual place, his usual room where he spends most of his days studying. He sat at his seat where he got his work out and began to finally study, something he's been waiting to do since he got back from training in the league and handed in his homework to a professor who works there for several months now. He can finally now have his own peace and quiet. Well, besides from the general squabbles of his neighbours through the thick walls.

Yes they are thick walls but even he has a hard time believing in that due to the amount of times he had to shut them up from the fighting, at least he was lucky enough that the dorm he has he never had to suck up to a roommate, even though it was designed exactly like the others he just was given the opinion that he happily chose to live by himself. He didn't want any distractions, he already has many of those. Now he can sit, relax and study, hoping and praying that his neighbours won't be too noisy for his own sane mind.

Chapter Text

The sun beamed brightly into the window of the dorm, the warm rays casting its yellow light down onto the floor, a metal hand glistened in the warm sun with the body slumped in its arms breathed calmly and soothingly as he calmly slept on the wooden table that supported his weight. It was suddenly short lived by the loud beeping coming from an alarm, the man groaned until he reached out to turn the alarm off. He slowly sat up, yawning as he stretched and cracking his aching back. He sluggishly looked at his notes from the following night, from everything it looked like a steady spiral down to dreamland, from the gibberish handwriting to it slowly becoming more scribbles than writing. He rolled his eyes, he could just fix the notes he was writing later. Luckily he wasn't late for class like the last time.

Today was another boring day of the life of a Ninja college student. It gets even more boring with the teachers going on and on about the things he already knew like the back of his own hand, things he shouldn't have to study for but he didn't want to seem like he wasn't productive. Today was like no other day, besides from one thing.. training for the league, working out. He wasn't fond of it but if his graduation was on the line he'd do it in a heartbeat. He ran on the treadmill, punched a punching bag, which he found works really well for releasing his anger out on something in a more healthier way.

Shinobi training was no biggie either, he has to stay on top of his gain either way. One thing he struggled with was… ARM..fighting… he swallowed hard when he saw the punching target, maybe he'll beat his score? The last few attempts he didn't improve at all, it makes him drive him in circles on what areas he's doing wrong and he's not going to bother strangers for any help. He took his position, lifted his arm and.. BAM he fired his arm out to the target to break it.

Results…. The same as last time. Ninjara scowled at this. He tried once more, same things, and again, still the same, AND again… still nothing has changed. He growled, what was he doing wrong? He held enough self restraint to not throw the dang glove at the thing but knowing in doing that, he would get the same results. Grumbling in silence he gave up, he got back to the locker rooms to shower and change. Besides, he would be in time before his class started anyways.

Class was tiring, it was something he already learned before. It was about the history of the shinobi, nothing new, he gets it though, a lot of new students his age have entered into the college that enrolled recently and need this kind of thing but personally, he would much rather read a book and tune out of it, he's learned so much of it, it practically falls on subconscious learning, he can pretty much pull a straight A on all the tests, the same ones he's been doing for years now. Instead he just casually just sits at the back of the classroom and watches the birds or the sports field that the students are playing on.

Any entertainment is good entertainment for him at this point, he would do anything to zone out without getting lost in his thoughts while acting like he was, meanwhile still remaining focused. He looked back down to the teacher that's explaining in case he she looked around and noticed that he's 'not paying attention'. To be fair, some students who were on the same boat were getting bored with this too. It's good to know he's not the only one that thinks this is getting too boring.

"Now, I need everyone's bored attention spans to be on me please?" The teacher chirped, clapping her hands together. "I had some talk with the other senseis to see if there's more history we could cover." The sentence made Ninjara perk up, his cheek wasn't resting on his fist anymore as he listened with interest. "We were talking about this, all the older students will remain in this classroom and the new students will be moved by tomorrow to a different teacher who will discuss everything that you all have not been very interested in since it's been drilled in your heads by now."

Finally, common ground, he can hear the other older students sigh with small whispers of a 'finally' and 'hallelujah', it's small coming to terms with this is when they can finally say that it's won them over. "Because, I've been talking with some staff and I just got a word back that we're going to be learning about the history of the ARMS ability!" She declared with excitement. Ninjara was stunned, sure he understood why, hell he has them, he should know about it, but why hasn't it taken the college this long to finally implement a simple, vidal part of history that everyone was begging to learn when he was growing up.

The end of the class session was a quiet one like nothing else, the sun setting, the maple leaves on the trees were falling, huh, he actually forgot it was the middle of Autumn the more he thought about it. He was finally back in his dorm building, walking by several students quietly chatting before finally slipping back into the comfort of his own dorm. He placed his belongings down before collapsing on his futon, it was a long, tiring day. He checked his phone, there were a few unread texts and voicemails.

He pressed 'play' on one of the voice mails someone sent and allowed it to speak. "Hey Ninjara, I wanted to make sure you're okay and that you haven't overworked yourself to the point of burnout. I know there's… a lot on your plate right now so if you need to talk I-..I'll, umm, I'll be here when you need me, shoot me a text and I'll be waiting..alright? Cya, Bye." And with that, it cut off with a beep. Ninjara sighed through his nostrils and pressed another one.

"Ah shit.. wrong number, sorry whoever is listening to this-" BEEP!

And another one.. one that immediately made him disgusted, moaning?? REALLY!? Thank the heavens no one was around.. embarrassing, he thought as he deleted the voice mail. After a bit of scrolling and getting through those voice mails he finally just decided to give up and let his arm drop to the side after doing all that. He stared at the roof that's covered in glow in the dark stickers, since when he's done that? It doesn't really matter anyways, besides, he is going to be needing his energy for studying anyways and tomorrow he'll be training and working out at the gym to up his game..something that he has to do unfortunately.

He allowed himself to close his eyes, taking a deep, slow breath. Maybe it was his exhaustan getting the best of him or whatever it was.. he found peace.

…

..

.

"Ninjara-Senpai? Our sensei wants to see you!"

Or so he thought, he opened his eyes to the sudden shock of the younger year barging in his dorm, sending the left opened door a glare as he heard the other students outside; possibly his friends, chuckling at the little stunt he made, he learned with the countless of times he's been subjected to the little prank that it was best to just ignore it. He slid the door closed and laid back down, letting the laughter fade away as the students walked away further from his dorm room, seeping into the kind of peace he was used to.

"Jara…"

His attention turned towards this mysterious voice.

"injara.."

Was he hearing things again? Who's saying his name. It was quiet.. too quiet… eerily quiet until there was not hesitation.

"Ninjara!"

Said the voice loud and clear, he shot up to- huh?? No one was around? Was-... was he-?? He couldn't be-? Right-? He looked around, the room getting darker as the light began to fade, it was getting late and no one was in sight, maybe it was time to get to work? He looked around, his blanket was tangled at his feet, his chain-like glasses were hanging on a hook and his desk.. tidy? Was that the word? Definitely more organised at least. Someone was here but why didn't his sensors pick up who it was? Why didn't it alert him when he was-?

Wait! How long was he relaxing for? Had he fallen asleep and didn't notice? He panned around once again, well the room was brighter before so it wouldn't be a far observation if he had been asleep. That's to say that the little power nap and.. whatever that dream was did give him enough energy to power through the assignment he had been working on for a week now, best to make progress instead of leaving it to go to waste, besides, he had to fix those scribbles he did before he fell asleep.

~Meanwhile in a ramen shop~

It had been a while of cleaning up but she finally got it done and flipped the sign to 'close' after a long day of working. She turned back to see her mum standing there in the kitchen. "Just done cleaning up, you can go upstairs and make dinner if you want mum." She eyed the mop as she spoke to her mom.

Her mum laughed a little, not giving her words much thought. "I thought you were making dinner for the family tonight?" She waiting until the girl paused to process until groaning in realisation. She giggled as she made her way upstairs. "Don't fret, I'll make dinner how's that?"

Min Min halted. "Mom, no, you made dinner for the last two nights this week mum, I'm sure you need a break."

Min Min's mum turned towards her "nonsense, you need breaks too, I'm more than happy to make it tonight." She perked up when she heard knocks on the door. "Speaking of tonight, can you deal with the uninvited guest we have at the door? I'm pretty sure he can see we're closed. That'll be your little payback for not making dinner tonight."

Min tried to protest but it was too late as she gave up and groaned, the silence being taken by the knocking on the door. Annoyed, she turned to finally open and shoo away whoever it was only to find out it was Spring. She leaned against the doorframe with a scowl. "What?" She growled.

Spring perked at the opportunity to pipe up but was hushed up immediately. "Before you say anything, you better make this brief and quick." Spring frowned before finally letting a word in.

"Listen, can we talk?" Min Min raised an eyebrow at his sudden request. "Inside? To be preferred.." he clarified. She looked at him, her annoyance softening into confusion about Spring's sudden request.

"Don't expect to get a free ticket to get free food, you got it? We don't run this joint giving out free services." She declared while making and giving Spring a bowl of piping hot ramen. "Here ya' go.. now, can you tell me why you came here to see me during closing hours?" She asked with a huff.

Spring got a pair of chopsticks only to hesitantly open the wrapping and split them in half and try to hold them correctly but to immediately put them down to clear his throat, allowing the ramen to cool down. "Right- uhh well… have.. have any of you tried befriending Ninjara before?" He asked out of curiosity.

Min Min almost choked on her water. "W-what? What do you mean befriend?"

Spring mulled over what to say next. "Like.. have you not gotten closer to him to be his friend or..?"

"Spring, that's ridiculous, you cannot just befriend a ninja off the bat, they're very picky about who they choose but-" She cut herself off to think over what she's saying. "L-look, it's not like you can't befriend a ninja but it's hard and hardly anyone, or anyone I've know never had a friend who was one, I've spoken to him a few times before he's a regular here but other than that.. he seems to get a weird kick out of just intimating us."

Spring nodded in acknowledgement, sure it'll be hard, it just means he's going to work for it. "Mind me asking?" He looked up to see her leaning over the counter. "Why is it that you want to befriend him?"

Spring thought about it as his gaze turned down to the still cooling ramen, gazing at his reflection on the liquid it was coated in. "I- I don't know, I guess he's just mysterious, one of those guys that is tough on the outside with a sweet centre." He smiled at his reflection only to gaze up to Min Min with a determined smile. "Mark my words, I'll have him wrapped around my finger." He puffed out his chest with pride.

Min Min smirked. "Wanna bet that he's probably not willing to make friends with anyone?" She half teased, shooting his pride and ego.

"Huuuuuuh!?" He cried in confusion. Min Min chuckled before sighing.

"Let's be realistic here, he's probably not going to be friends with us, in fact, he'll probably not want us to be friends with him in the first place, I know you have your reasons but reality is, is that you can't make everyone your friend, we may not be a type of people he wants to hang out with."

Spring watched and listened to Min's concerns, pondering what to say next. A few seconds of silence before he spoke to break the silence. "It just means I'll just have to try."

Min Min looked at him like he was crazy. "Wait wha-? Didn't you just hear what I said?" She was met with sparkling eyes.

"I won't find out if I won't try!" He declared as he stood up. "I'll have to say, it was nice chatting you Min Min but iiii gotta bounce, cya Min!" He chirped as he swung the door closed behind him.

Min Min looked down to see that the ramen she made hadn't been touched. "Wait a second- he hadn't-" She jumped over the counter to swing open the door to see Spring still running off deeper into the night's darkness "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TOUCHED YOUR FOOD IDIOT!" She yelled.

"SORRY, I REALLY GOTTA GO, I'LL TALK TO TOMORROW MIN MIN, I PROMISE!!" He yelled back as he sprinted into the dark.

This left Min to groan in annoyance and bang her head onto the pillar next to the door on her way in. "That man's such a idiot, I swear.." she stood like that for a few moments, unaware her mum was standing right there.

"You okay honey?" Her mum asked.

"Yes mom, I'm alright, I just had to deal with an idiot who didn't even touch his ramen." She huffed.

"Oh- well.. dinner's ready, I'll put yours in the microwave if you're not hungry or you're having the ramen on the table, I'll clean the kitchen while you have dinner, it's obvious you haven't eaten in a while it's making you cranky." She fully stepped down to reassure Min that it was okay for her to finish cleaning.

Min Min wanted to protest more but only smiled in acknowledgement and grabbed the bowl and the (thankfully clean) chopsticks and made her way upstairs to join the rest of her family while eating dinner.

Chapter Text

This fight he made sure he came more prepared, he knows what strategy and what he should go for in order to win, of course with a little help with his mentor of course. Spring trained hard to better prepare himself for the battle between him and Ninjara at a place called 'Raisen Ninjutsu College', a ninja university located in a forest near the city, or so that's what he recalled from his mentor in question.

"Alright Kiddo, this fighter is about speed so it's best that you outplay your opponent. He can outsmart you whenever you are not paying attention to it's best you vigilant and aware of his movements at best as possible and at all times, you got that?" The older man asked.

"I guess.." Spring replied with a shrug. "Although, it's best to use my boomerangs to best secure Ninjara so that way I get best leverage?" He predicted, getting a pat on the shoulder.

"Now you're speaking my language, c'mon, let's do some practice rounds first then we can talk more about mobility." The other waved the other over as he tossed a Toaster at the younger fighter.

From a few miles away they were spotted by some fighters as a robot dog came barking as soon as it laid eyes on a certain blue haired fighter to which caught him off guard. "Barq… ugh, quiet down will ya?" A voice was heard. Spring looked down at the robot dog, giving him a few pets on his metal head as the siren light flicked on with happiness.

"Apologies, are we interrupting?" A voice asked in a robotic tone, Spring glanced up to see a.. police officer? "Hello, you must be Spring correct?"

Spring nodded in response. "Uh huh, and you?" He gestured.

The robot in question stood straight in a happy like manner. "My current model is K-9000 but those who greet me call me 'Byte' and my companion is 'Barq'" and as soon as Barq heard that name he woofed in response to the name. "Please just refer to us as.. Byte and-"

"BO-WOO"

And with that they did a pose with an introduction behind it, it was rather endearing to see two robots have a unique personality unlike any other robot creation he's seen. Spring smiled at this little introduction, man he sure wished he was confident enough to have a cool introduction, it'll come with time though he's sure of it. His mind was then cut off by a familiar chuckle.

"Don't mind us, Barq just wanted to say hello, you guys haven't met yet and Barq was itching to see you." She admits.

Spring was about to say something but was caught by the older man behind him. "It's good to see you three but we're kind of busy training, the kid could talk to you later once he's done."

Twintelle cleared her throat. "Oh- of course, we won't be around for too long now, have fun training Spring." And with that the three of them walked away as he too waved them off. Barq stood around for a bit before finally separating to catch up with his handler, barking as if he was sending him off too. Spring stood there with a sweet smile on his face, dog's sure do make a man smile. He felt a hand on his shoulder once again before pulling him back, making him unsteady his balance.

"C'mon, let's get you training before you get sidetracked and get distracted from your main focus."

The training was tiring but he got a handle on what he was meant to be doing, he came in with the Toaster throwing him off with the Boomerang, blowing him away for good measure. He avoided all incoming attacks that would be obvious for a naked eye to spot as counter those once he was down with that he was now talking about mobility.

"Ninjara has a unique ability which allows him to warp between one place to another, this is one thing that you need to keep an eye on when he's in the air and warping around the place, he can throw you off very easily if you're not paying attention." Spring II explained to Spring without a second thought. Spring nodding to understand where he's coming from. "Your aim here is to try and see which direction he's coming from and stop him in his tracks before he can perform any more attacks against you. "

Spring nodded, how hard could a fight be? Well.. he wouldn't say he was sure but it's one thing that Spring has a very skilful opponent and that he's fast.. and a ninja too which adds onto the skilfulness. A worthy opponent if he does say so himself.

Many weeks have gone by and the tournament is here. Spring was nervous like the last one but he did come prepared unlike the last, he was confident he was going to win but with one problem..he doesn't know where it took place. He was driving on the road to get to the college, all the trees were all a mixture of reds and greens and yellows as he drove past, the sight was worth the drive down with his motorcycle and-ah! The entrance. There was a car park which he drove in, locked it up in case anyone would run off with it and headed inside the office.

It looked..offly modern, he thought it was a very traditional office or whatever 'traditional' meant to him he thought it looked a lot like that. A lady sat behind her computer waiting to serve him. "Excuse me?" She piped up with a smile, Spring turned all of his attention towards her. "I'm sorry but outsiders can't be here, Shinobi students only." She politely explained with an awkwardly sweet smile.

Spring coked his head with a confused expression. "But I was told to come here?" He looked at the time. "A tournament was supposed to be taking place here around 20 minutes?" He stood there complexed with the situation and a little bit awkward and silly and the few staff looking at him like he was a weird or insane person for thinking that really made him want to shrink down, not to mention that the women still continuing to awkwardly smile as she looked around the room to try and not seem weird. Was he at the wrong place or at the wrong day or time or-? Why is this conversation not flowing the way he wanted it to go?

"Umm.. t-there's uhh.." He stuttered, what was he supposed to say? He had a fight on the very grounds and that they don't know who he is? Okay, maybe not in that way but still awkward nonetheless, thankfully someone came in to rescue the poor soul.

"I don't mean to bother you all but there's a- eh?" A young student looked at what was taking place in front of her as it dawned on her. "Ohhhh yeah about him.. he's with me, a sensei wanted me to see if you-" She turned to Spring, "were here, sorry for the confusion everyone, don't worry, he's here for a reason, the same people that also came here too, there's a ARMS tournament between him and Ninjara." She explained, the staff now didn't seem as frazzled and awkward as their faces softened, about time.

Spring sighed, thank God he was meant to be here as the student ushered him out and told the staff that anyone with weird merch or someone who looks important, let them in. The women behind the counter looked shock. "Oh.. I'm sorry, I didn't realise, you may proceed, Oh- and good luck!!" She now had her normal sweet smile back on, not too awkward but more relaxed, something he wished he had just moments ago to ease his awkwardness.

"Sorry, we forgot to let staff know ahead of time, you should be good now." She reassured Spring as he nodded in a way to thank her for the help.

"I owe you one big time." He muttered as the student simply smiled as she guided him to the stage.

A stairwell that leads up and down from the classes, it looked pretty big, it was accompanied by a building on top of it with big star like logo with two brushes on either side, this must be it, there's people gathering around it and speakers getting set up, people waving and greeting each other to talk about plans and layouts. Spring stood there in awe taking it all in.

"Hey you made it!" A voice came all too familiar to Spring. "I thought you got lost on your way." He laughed.

Spring shrugged, rubbing behind his neck. "Only barely.. had struggled my way in." He half admitted. "Staff wanted me out.." he huffed, looking back at how awkward the interaction was.

The mentor laughed. "Should've known." He continued before quieting down. "You have half an hour to prepare yourself so in the meantime there's food the students took the time out of their day to make." He offered. "No point fighting with an empty stomach."

Spring shrugged and joined in with lunch. It wasn't much but delicious nonetheless, the students were not only just nice but talented too. Three of them chatted to him, talking about the event and how exciting it must be to have a special event at their very campus.

"Ninjara.. oh-! That one, the one that never talks and gets straight A's!! He's our senior here." One student mentioned.

"Didn't one rumour say that his mum used to come here?" Another mentioned.

"Or asexual.." Another pointed out, the rest all looked at her. "Whaaaat? Haven't you seen him date anyone? Didn't think so!"

Spring smiled awkwardly, not wanting to say anything and allowed the three to bicker about whether or not he was dating anyone or if it was anyone's business to begin with, someone waved Spring over allowing himself to leave quietly.

"What she means is that-!?" The Student paused to take in that Spring was nowhere in sight anymore. "Where the hell did he go?" He stammered.

Spring took this opportunity to find a locker room to get changed, he took off his shirt to replace with his white shirt before slipping on his chest plate, he heard a door open and someone walking in. Perfect, they could help him with his chest plate, as he was going to turn to ask he just as quickly was turned around, pinned against the wall and before Spring got to process what's going on a sharp blade was aimed at his throat. Finally Spring's eyes were aimed at the person who walked in.

"Ninjara?" He questioned, sending the blade to get closer. "Uhh- I-I'm not doing anything, l-lets talk without pointy things aimed at my nECK!!" He eeked, as he if he were to slide up the side of it, his gaze pleading innocent.

"これは面白いと思いますか? ¹" Ninjara hissed.

Spring looked confused and now scared, what did he mean by this? "H-huuh?" He questioned, trying to seem as calm as possible.

"これは面白いと思いますか? ²" Ninjara questioned, hissing at Spring's response, now.gripling tighter at the weapon he held.

"Look, I don't mean harm just.. d-don't kill me, I'm innocent." He begged, not wanting anything harmful or shameful. He looked up to find that the sharp grip was gone, as for the weapon and Ninjara, he was gone too, whatever that scare tactic was, he needs to watch out for, he felt his heart pound in his chest, his hands shook, he took deep breaths to try and shake off this shaky feeling. How was he ever going to befriend Ninjara if he was doing something like this? Whatever it was he needed to get down to it quickly.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE ARMS GRAND PRIX! TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY WITH CLOUDY SKIES AS THE WARM SUN STILL SHINES ON!" Biff talked into the intercom as students and fans gathered to cheer on their represented fighters.

Spring walked to his mentor, still looking half shaken, not as much as he was before though. "Hey, you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." He heard his mentor ask.

"J-just..nervous.." he spoke in a shaken tone. 'Actually.. I'm nervous as all fucking hell.' He shivered as he not so patiently waited for his name to be called out. He walked out to see a crowd cheering for him, a crowd roared when Biff called Ninjara's name, apparently he has a cult following.

"NINJARA-SENPAI!!" Some girls screamed!!!

"KAKOIIII" screamed some more students and fans.

Ninjara just stood there, his attention being more towards Spring's direction. Spring swallowed, if this isn't the time he should be panicking then why is Ninjara a LOT more intimidating to fight then off rink? The got into position, fear and worry swelling in his gut but he tried to not let that sway him into surrendering, I mean, how could a fight between Spring and him go down anyways?

3….

2…

1..

ARMS

Spring started off with a dash to throw in his first punch, Ninjara jumped to dodge to throw one of his own down to just barely miss Spring as he shot out his Boomerang only to get his first hit. A hit!! Good! He should keep it up, that got his fans cheering, he smiled, he was only getting warmed up. He jumped to avoid another throw from Ninjara before getting a hit to the face by a green glove.

Well.. at least he was on equal footing with Ninjara, he's not under prepared like last time. He stood back up and charged his arms and so did Ninjara, they each came in with their own ARMS swinging, Spring got Ninjara's hits and Ninjara got Spring's, it really seemed like people were really enjoying the fight. Each punch got cheers and so was every throw and 'came in with the guard' clutches. It was really like Spring got the upper hand on Ninjara.

"What's wrong? Giving up already? I'm just getting started!" He said confidently as he shot out a shock wave. Ninjara huffed but his eyes said something else.

Ninjara slowly stood up as he ran straight forward to Spring when Spring wasn't paying attention, he leapt up to give Spring a side punch to knock him down, Spring looked up, trying to find Ninjara but now he was in a fickle, everywhere he looked where Ninjara was he was a poof of smoke the next before surprising Spring by punching him in the face, sending him flying, the crowd gasped as Biff laughed in ecstatic.

"WOW!! A CLOCK TO THE FACE!! WOULD SPRING RECOVER IN TIME FOLKS OR WOULD HE BE TWO ON HIS LOSING STREAK??" He then quiets his voice down to his normal talking voice. "Uhhh seriously, the last fight was a no bueno for Kid Cobra." Serving some chuckles from the crowd.

Spring pushed himself up, so this is what his mentor mentioned to him if he wasn't paying attention. He looked at the time.

20…

19..

18..

Right, 20 seconds left, he'll just have to chip him down to his very weakest. Ninjara was ready to pass out anyways but wasn't giving up yet, he can just chip it down, he can do it. He jumped up and smiled. "Let's dance Ninja." He huffed as he sprinted, this caused Ninjara to look up to race to the centre of the stairway to meet Spring to continue their throwdown of punches before-

"TIME!!" Biff commenced, the fans cheered as the two fighters stopped fighting to catch their breath, heavy panting as sweat dripped down. "After a quick look over with the footage I can safely say that it was a tie."

A tie? That's neat!! Not a win but not a loss either, an improvement on his end. It's a start; progress. There's still room left for improvement however so he can say that with a heart on his chest.

Chapter Text

Spring saw the ninja slump down, still panting. "Hey, good game out there! You did great." Spring said cherrily as he reached out a hand. Ninjara on the other hand saw that and hissed, shoving him aside instead of a shake, stumbling up the stairs with students watching him and some stepping aside when they watched him come close so that he could recover at the nurse. Spring raised an eyebrow but that didn't stay for long as students flock to him and congratulated him, he stood there wide eyed at this and took in the compliments.

Meanwhile, doors swung open as Ninjara stumbled into the room. He sat down on his study table opening a textbook and clicking his pen to write answers and sentences from the textbook to his notes. Hours after hours he pretty much ignored his injuries and hissed when he touched them, as if to remind him that he too was injured and not Spring. His phone buzzed on his table, picking it up to see a text from a familiar person, he scoffed and placed it back down to continue his study work. It was coming close to midnight, his eyes were becoming heavy the more he studied and the more he felt his brain fry but he pushed forward not letting it get to him.

Until around one thirty where Ninjara was basically down and out for the count, his hand was only the life support with the strength ever decreasing as his arm giving out midway and-

THUNK!!

He shot up, covering where he had smacked his head on the wooden table, although annoying, this hasn't been his first rodeo. "Oww~" he whined, softly rubbing the spot. He wouldn't be surprised if the next morning would have been given enough time to form a bump or a bruise with it swelling. He slapped himself lightly on his cheeks, this assignment isn't going to finish itself, he might as well finish it in time. He adjusted his posture and got back to work, working on his homework, as instructed to do by default.

The sun arose but this time darker than most, rain was about to come and spoil the day. Luckily Ninjara had nothing besides…studying… and even more…. With a twinge of training… but even more after that was MORE study work. Ninjara simply couldn't catch a single break, speaking of which, how nights had he stayed up studying? His hand grazed over the spot where his coffee was supposed to be but became confused. He sighed, he can't risk another day without coffee. Or so he thought.

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile at the Spring gym Spring was looking out the window of the nurse's office watching the rain sprinkle down.

He sighed. “Out of all days.. Why today?” He muttered to himself, the elder walking up to him with a bandage in hand, grabbing his arm, the Rookie allowing him to take it to patch him up. He hissed when he felt something touch a sensitive spot. “Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry Kiddo.” Spring II spoke gruffly. “It's going to sting, you need this in order to heal.” He held the other's arm steady as he continued to apply before bandaging him up. “There, how's that?” He asked.

The younger Spring looked at his patched work, “Better, thank you Gramps.” He smirked.

He snapped his fingers. “Hey, I'm not that old, I'm not old yet.” That caused a chuckle out of the other, only to be interrupted by a boom. “Jesus..” Spring II whistled. “Looked like a heavy storm is under way.” He called.

Spring now frowned. “I didn't even bring an umbrella either.” He moaned.

“Ah you'll be fine, kid” the elder patted hard on the others shoulder. “At least you can survive the rain. You can't get colds while out in it right?” He wrongfully assumed.

Spring looked up at him, silent. The elder looked at him, not breaking the silence. “.... I have a really weak immune system.” Spring finally broke.

The other laughed it off at first until his mind fully registered what he just said. “Wait…. WHAT-?!” The elder asked dumbfounded as the other shrank a little, having an awkward smile on his face. “How did I not know this!?” He asked.

“I, but,...umm…well..” Spring stuttered. “What were you expecting me to say at that interview, ‘Hello, I want to be the new Spring Man of all of Spring Men, oh- by the way, I have the lowest immune system that ARMS people and average people combined’??”

Spring Man II sighed, “You… should've just stated that on your medical things that we should've been aware of..why-?” He huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose before finishing his sentence. “Just… next time.. please don't leave out any detail on your medical record… also slight side note, is the peanut allergy-”

Spring cut him off. “Yes I'm actually allergic.”

The other sighed. “Okay good.. I'm just making sure.” He laughed, relieved.

After everything Spring was through, it was time he started to head back home, ordering a cab on the way home as he stood outside undercover as rain poured, he felt his pocket buzz, picking it up. “Hello? Spring speaking.” He answered.

“Spring, come quick, Ribbon Girl is freaking out.” A woman's voice came out on the other line.

Spring adjusted his grip on his phone and belongings. “What? The storm?”

“Yes the storm..” she yelled, Spring pulled his hand away from his ear. “She had been freaking out and Kid Cobra and I had been trying everything to make her calm down, Twintelle is unavailable at the moment because of a business meeting and Mechanica is a school and pretty sure she's at her dads for the weekend.

Spring giggled at Min Min's cries for help. “Alright, alright I'll come over, make sure you have ramen saved for me, eh?”

Min Min sighed. “Ugh, fine, but hurry, she's going to be kicked out if she continues to scream in the restaurant and she's disturbed the guest at least once!”

Spring couldn't help but find it amusing. “Oh pipe down, you're being even more dramatic than Ribbon Girl is right now.” And before Min Min got to protest he hung up, just in time for the cab to show up only to redirect the driver to Mintendo's Noodle house before quickly jumping in. When finally got the time to relax, as a giant boom happened once again, this time he was left shaken as he looked at the building, the lights were off and slowly flickering back on. Luckily he was not inside to experience the horror that went in there.

Chapter Text

He arrived with the rain thundering down, tipping the driver before racing inside as his jacket was getting drenched in the process as he wiped his face off with the remaining dry fabric before seeing a pacing Min Min.

“Order for table Spring?” He called out.

Min Min's face, washed with relief. “Spring! Thank god! How's your injuries?” She asked.

Spring showed them to her. “Eh, not bad, it'll need to be a lot more to get me weak.” He shook his head. “Anyways, I'm here for a Ribbon crisis?”

Min Min snapped her fingers as if she just remembered, bringing him upstairs when Kid was on her couch sitting next to a very anxious Ribbon. “There he is, took you long enough.” Kid chuckled.

Spring gave a reinsurancing nod to Ribbon as the pop star curled into the blankets in shame. “She's… definitely calmed down since you were begging for my help.” He noted.

“Well because we had to distract her, you like cute dog videos right?” Kid asked Ribbon.

“Well… more like rabbit videos. I always watch them when storms like this happen.”

The four broke into a bit of silence before Min Min broke it by clearing her throat. “soooo about that rain, you must be freezing, may I interest you in some hot chocolate? Would anyone else like to have some too?” she offered.

“That sounds delightful Min Min, thank you.” Spring smiled.

“Ayo! Me please!”

“I-I would like some too.”

Lightning stuck as the whole room went black, only light was appearing on Kid's phone as Ribbon squeezed Kid Cobra's arm nervously.

“Well…shit..” Min Min groaned annoyingly.

The others sat around before the lights eventually flicked on again, allowing Min Min to make her hot chocolate. Discussing mindless things like social media drama and fighting stuff and getting to know one another.

“Well.. since we never fought with Ninjara before, how was he?” Min Min eventually brought up leaving Spring taken aback leaving him to remain silent. “So… you don't know?”

“No, no, no, I was just more or less thinking, how is it that you all never fought him before?”

“Because he's quote, “too dangerous”” Kid chimed in. “According to the labs, that is, they say Ninjas never fought in a league and are too dangerous for people like us because they're really powerful and can hurt us at any time.” Kid noted.

A scoff. “Is just a rumour though, they never confirmed nor denied anything.”

The snake puffed out his chest. “And? What if it's true?”

“If it was true, why do you think Ninjara got in then?”

“It's rigged.”

“And how?” Spring Man asked.

Kid thought about it. “Okay, hear me out-”

“Oh here we go.” Min Min rolled her eyes.

“This is extreme tin foil hat theory okay.”

“Oh God..” Ribbon covered her face with the covered hands.

“But what if… they killed someone, threatened their lives to get themselves, not that. Let HIM in.”

Everyone sat in silence. “That.. wouldn't make sense.” Spring declared.

“Or maybe it's time to get off the internet Kid.” Min Min called from across the room.

Ribbon agreed as Min Min glared at the idiot, leaving the Cobra wide eyed, unable to comprehend what he just heard.

~~~~~~

Ninjara stretched, allowing himself to feel relaxed under the sound of rain as he looked at his homework then looked at the many others, his eyes fluttering closed and opening a second after closing, his head subconsciously looking at his bed before he shook his head as he tried to pay attention to his work at front since it's the only thing that's going through his mind. The pen tapped on the wooden surface making his mind focus on the task at hand, he eyed the papers, tapping his pen faster until his eyes fluttered as a deep yawn slipped out. He shook his head, slapping himself. ‘Snap out of it, what are you doing?’ His thoughts hissed as he sank back into his work, his body doing the bare minimum with his eyes getting heavier.

Ninjara straightened himself, rubbing his eyes. “URGHHHH I GIVE UP!” He exclaimed, humming angrily afterwards. After sitting there for all of entirety his eyes slowly floated towards the very thing he had been avoiding. He finally acknowledged it and swirled towards its direction. He eyed it for a bit, maybe it was-? He shook his head once again but his mind wanted to do something else besides homework. It's like the bed was calling for him. He breathed heavily, he might as well suck it up and get back to work.

[10:41pm]

Ninjara rolled his eyes as he slumped back into his chair, flipping his pen as he tried to shackle his brain for any more clues but remained helpless. He stood up, walking away.

It was cool outside. Not to mention the soothing sound of crickets and faint ribits of the frogs. The sky cleared to make way for the moon, the roofs were too wet for ninjas to safely walk on so Ninjara's best option was the ground, kicking any wet rocks as he avoided the small puddles. The area in the college grounds was eerie with little to no students. Teachers wandered around the place or had to supervise some students in rooms that were lit for them to work on their latest projects, even Ninjara didn't mind stealing a glance or two at the works other students were doing, the art students were his favourite because of this, he, frankly, was almost caught staring out of the window by how just beautiful the works were.

He walked by a class lit up, stopping to take a look. There were a few teachers talking. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary but then a certain someone came around, a young woman with deep purple hair started talking to them and having a great time. An interaction that Ninjara hadn't realised that his face changed from his plain, straight face to one of pain, a look that the certain women would catch. Ninjara jumped as he hid. “I knew someone was out here. Natsumi? What brings you here?” She asked politely.

“Why are you getting into MY business?” He scoffed.

She shut the door behind her. “Well, why were you staring then? Did you wanna join?” She mocked him.

“No!” He hissed as he proceeded to shove her face away when she got too close. “And I was just taking my mind off the assignment, I wasn't expecting you to be there.” He folded his arms.

The woman rolled her eyes. “C'mon I know you were jealous of you sister getting the-”

“YOU'RE NOT MY SISTER!!”

His voice echoed into the empty streets of the college. This made the woman not flinch but just stood there, unphased. “I know you hate to admit this but you know were both raised by the same headmaster AND we basically know each other like family-”

“Just… what do you want Maiya?” He hissed

Maiya sighed, hand on the door knob. “Just.. checking if you were alright lil’ bro.” She spoke soothingly.

“Do not-!?”

The door closed before he had a single sentence in but decided to just give up and go back to his dorm back to where he had sat in the middle of his room.

He picked up his pen, sighing deeply.