Mariel Songrose's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Mariel opened the Miitopia character creator and stared at the empty face template. She needed a villain and a hero for her first real video — the one that would prove to everyone watching that she could turn strangers into a story worth caring about. Her viewers had already voted: Andyiscool would be the hero, and my-melody-is-trash21 would be the villain. She clicked through face options until she found the right one for Andyiscool. Salt and pepper hair. Orange eyes. A lightning bolt across his blue shirt. She saved the Mii and watched it spin on screen, already imagining the thumbnail. The hero needed to look approachable, someone people would root for without question. She adjusted the smile wider, then saved it again. The villain took longer. Mariel built her with black hair and sharp red eyes, then dressed her in a dark maroon gown that looked expensive and cruel. She added a detail no one asked for — a little plush rabbit at the villain's feet, mid-kick. The image was perfect: someone who hurt innocent things for fun. She named the Mii after the username and felt a small thrill at how easily cruelty could be made cute. Mariel exported both characters and opened her editing software. She placed a pink button graphic in the center of the screen with the word Start written in lavender script. Around it, she arranged screenshots: the hero standing tall on one side, the villain sneering on the other. She touched the ribbon in her hair and smiled at her monitor. Her story had its first two pieces, and everyone who voted would see themselves inside it.