Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hat Kid couldn’t remember the last time she’d fought this hard. She could feel her energy draining, dropping to a point where even her opponent could sense her end was nigh, but it was the same for him. The butterscotch colored bird flung himself down from the rafters, praying that his parade of knife-wielding owls would keep the girl distracted just long enough for him to make the final blow, but Hat Kid wasn’t having it. She’d come too far to be beaten now. That time piece was hers, and she was going to get it if it was the last thing she ever did. She narrowly dodged his attack by diving off to the side. It was now or never. Armed with the projectile badge, Hat Kid raised her umbrella, poised to fire right at the momentarily flustered Conductor, and pulled the trigger.
    There was an ungodly flash of light that overtook the room, seemingly enveloping their arena in a sea of white. She shielded her eyes as the beam eliminated the death parade that had been marching behind her and swallowed up her foe. As the light dissipated, she lowered her arm, relieved to see that the parade had vanished and her opponent had fallen to his knees. As she rose to her feet unsteadily, she held out her umbrella once more and silently gestured for him to hand over what was rightfully hers.
    “Didn’t ah tell you, lassie,” he began weakly, “that you’d ‘ave to pry it from me cold dead hands?”
    Hat Kid grimaced as she felt her arm rise over her head. She had no desire to finish him off like this, but she couldn’t risk getting attacked again. It was with that reasoning that she swung the umbrella into him once more, knocking him back across the room where he collided with the stage. The painful sounding thud was followed by a sharp cracking sound and a gentle tinkling of glass. Hat Kid gasped as another flash of light consumed the dimly lit room and cringed at the familiar sight before her.
    “Peck, not again...” She cursed softly as she approached the swirling purple orb. She was too tired for this, but in a way, it was her own fault; she should have known he’d keep it close.
    Still, it was troublesome. She sighed irritably as she reached out towards the glowing orb, hesitating only slightly before letting herself be pulled in. she’d been in time rifts countless times before. She was sure she’d seen nearly everything and that this would be a piece of cake to clear, unlike the last one. She’d just find a handful of rift pons and leave just as she had a hundred times before; simple as that. But the purple time rifts always had a way of throwing her off. They were rarely in familiar places; things had a way of getting distorted and dangerous. She’d been expecting that. But as her head stopped spinning, her body stopped swaying, and the light  finished fading, she finally had a chance to see where she’d landed.

Entirely different from the rift she and Mustache Girl had made in Mafia Town, this rift was barren. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a few scattered platforms that she couldn’t reach and the occasional telephone pole in the hazy distance. The air held a strange rumble, as if the world itself were quaking, though she figured that was just her.

"Oough…" Hat Kid winced as her hand brushed against her side. 

A thick smear of blood had come off on her hand, leaving it sticky and damp. Conductor had really nailed her in their fight, but she was only just now seeing the aftermath. Several small cuts had pierced her clothes, biting into the flesh on her arms and legs, but the most noticeable wound was the devastating gash on her side. Hat Kid placed her hand over the gushing wound, whimpering and fighting back tears as pain coursed up her body every time she breathed. She hadn't even realized he'd gotten her there. She was scared to think it might not be the worst wound he gave her. 

The rumbling in the air grew in intensity, forcing her to grip onto a signpost on the platform for support. She didn't get a chance to question what was happening though before a shadow in the distance caught her eye. Something was coming, and it was large and fast and loud . She wanted to cover her ears, drown out the horrid roar of whatever was heading her way, but by the time she went to move her hands, the shadow was finally in focus.

"Is that- the Owl Express?"

As if in reply, the train’s sharp whistle pierced the stagnant air, shaking the very ground on which she stood. Hat Kid gripped the signpost once again, steadying herself as the Owl Express slowed to a crawl before her, wordlessly inviting her aboard its caboose. A quizzical glance was shot up at the locomotive looming over her, then down at the expanse of sky it traversed. There was no track as far as her eyes could see and no ground either. If the rift wanted her to climb aboard, it certainly did a good job of convincing her. 

Hat Kid shuddered as she made the small leap onto the platform of the caboose, not daring to look down as she passed over the gap that could have easily sent her to her doom. She was deathly silent as she pushed the door open, cringing at the loud, drawn out creak the old hinges made as it swung inwards and hit the inside wall with a soft thud. Inside was near complete darkness, no light aside from the rays filtering in from the open door and the tiny porthole window on the far side. The loud call of a whistle and the rumbling of an engine chugging sounded off the train’s departure, making Hat Kid glance outside to confirm it was in fact moving.

“Hm, I hope this rift doesn’t turn out like Conductor’s Train Rush,” she groaned at the memories of all her close calls with acid, fire, and the tracks. “Ok. Rift pon. Rift po- ACK!”

A pipe found it’s way beneath her feet, rolling out from under her the moment her weight fell upon it. And without a moment to even register her spiral, Hat Kid was sent hurtling onto the floor. A sharp jolt of pain shot through her veins as her knees slammed against the metal floor, sending a jolt of icy cold through her veins that burned out and left her horribly numb a moment later. Hat Kid whimpered and stifled a fit of coughing as her vision blurred and her pulse quickened at the sickly pool of red gathering around her thoroughly soaked leg. The gash on her side was getting worse. Of that much, she was sure.

Ragged, uneven breaths scraped her sore throat as she gulped down air and tried to steady herself enough to stand, but the dizziness of blood loss was beginning to set in and it was all she could do to pull herself up on her knees. By the time she could finally move again, she could hear voices ahead, and a jolt of panic made her freeze.

“Hey, did you hear something just now?”

The door ahead of her started to open, only granting her a single moment to throw herself behind a nearby crate to hide.

“Wow, would’ya look at that,” a different voice cheered sarcastically, “not a peckin’ thing!”

“Bu-bu-but- I could have sworn I heard something.”

“Well, there’s nothing in here but a bunch of crates. You must have imagined it.”

“Ye-yeah. I guess we should get back to our po-posts. The Conductor’ll have our tails if we aren’t there when we st-stop.” Hat Kid pressed herself up against the crate she was behind, her breath hitching as she spotted her hat laying barely concealed within a shadow a few feet away. She hadn’t even realized it’d come off. “Wait-” The nervous owl’s ear tuft flicked as he peered back into the darkness. “Did you hear that?”

“You mean the sound of me losing my patience with you? Yeah. I hear it all the time.”

“Ugh, for-forget it. Let’s just get back before the Conductor gets mad.”

“The Conductor can go suck an egg for all I care.”

“He-hey! What if he hears you?!”

“Then peck him.”

The door latched with a resounding thud, followed by the creaking and slamming of another door just outside. Hat Kid finally peered around the corner, relieved to find herself alone once more. She was quick to grab her hat and slip back into her hiding spot, frantically trying to figure out how she was supposed to find the rift pons here. She didn’t have to think too hard.

“Next stop, Horse Butte: South District. All passengers getting off, please start collecting your belongings. Thank you for traveling with the Owl Express.” A crackling voice sounded over a crusty old intercom system as the whistle of the train blew once more, and the gravity in the car lessened as the train made its rapid descent below. 

Hat Kid gripped the wall tightly and staggered towards the back of the train, clinging to the edge of the door as she watched the ground come into focus below. “This is my chance,” she whispered to herself and waited for the train to drop lower and slow to a crawl.

What compelled her to jump was unknown even to her. Sure, in good health she could have landed that easily, but in her current state? She didn’t see the inevitable coming until her foot collided with the ground. She’d misjudged her height, and grossly overshot her landing angle. Her ankle twisted under the weight of her dropping body and she was sent tumbling down the slope of a sand dune, skidding to a stop at the bottom where she immediately curled into herself. 

“No…” her voice shook as tears gathered in her eyes. As far as she could see, there was nothing. Everything around her was just sand and sky, and no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t move. Bloodied fingers and legs barely twitched with the strain she put into moving them, and in the end, all she could do was cry and stare. “ I can’t…I can’t move! None of this was supposed to happen, ” she sobbed softly as her body started to numb. “ I just...wanted to go home. ”

A faint glimmer of hope emerged in the distance, a shimmering mirage, or perhaps a real shadow forming along the horizon. Hat Kid watched first with relief, then in utter horror as a short, owl-like figure came into view. Her vision, blurred by tears and sweltering heat locked onto the wavering form and widened in false recognition.
    “ Conductor? No. No! Please, don’t- ” she squirmed as much as her battered body would let her, desperately trying to recoil from the hand reaching out towards her face, but the bird was almost painfully gentle in the way she cradled the girl, and it was then that Hat Kid realized she was mistaken.

“Hush, lass. It’s alright now. I’ve got ye,” a soothing female voice pulled her out of her state of terror, unclouding her horrified gaze long enough for her to see the bird looming over her wasn’t the murderous director she knew at all. “Yer safe now.”

Hat Kid choked back a sob as she was hoisted into the woman’s arms and held with great care against her chest. She could feel herself slipping as she stared up at her face, tracing the details and trying to place her, but everything was too scrambled inside her head. She couldn’t think. In the end, she settled with the simplest question her mind could form before her body slackened and she drifted to sleep:

“If you’re not him… then who…?”

Chapter Text

Gasp-

Hat Kid’s eyes shot open, a cold sweat trickling down her face and neck as she bolted upright. The dizziness and haze of waking far too quickly struck her all at once, numbing her body and dulling her vision before abruptly fizzling out. A low groan passed her lips as she reached to clutch her side, but where her trembling fingers should have brushed an open wound, instead they grazed a thick pad of gauze. 

“Huh?”

Her eyes shot down to her battered body, now patched up and bound in bandages she knew weren’t there before. Her tattered shirt had been removed, and the blood on her skin had been washed away. She shivered as she glanced around the space she was in, startled to find that the desert she remembered collapsing in was not where she was now.

Clean tile floors in a checkerboard pattern and a pale pink wallpaper adorned with small flowers filled her line of sight and overwhelmed her for a moment before her eyes finally drifted somewhere else. A sink was to her left, and an oven and stove were beside that. A small fridge rested in the far corner, divided from the rest of the appliances by a wall of cupboards and counters littered with food supplies. Hat Kid herself was sitting on a long table; a thick blanket and bloodied towels covered the table beneath her and the wrappers of freshly opened gauze littered her sides. She was in a kitchen, or at least, she figured she was, but what she couldn't wrap her head around was who’s kitchen it was, or more importantly, how had she gotten there?

“Where...am I,” she asked to no one in particular and slowly slid herself off the edge of the table. “Hn-”

Her hand shot over her mouth to stifle the rising cry of pain as her leg touched the ground. In her confusion, she’d forgotten how she’d twisted it leaping from the Owl Express, but she certainly remembered now. She took a few tentative steps away from the table, hobbling awkwardly until she managed to prop herself up against a wall. She was surprised to see it covered in frames. Picture after picture caught her eye only briefly, but she hardly had the energy to place their contents in her mind.

“Am I still in the time rift,” she whispered skeptically, suddenly unsure of her own memories of the events that took place earlier that day, “or was it all a- dream…” Hat Kid’s voice trailed off as her gaze locked onto a shimmering light at the back of the room. Sitting on a small table just a short distance away was an unmistakable object, hovering and glimmering just as they always did. “A rift pon!”

It was probably the most hopeful she’d been since surviving the fight, but the soaring relief in her heart fell flat as a low, gravelly sound erupted from an adjacent room. Her breath hitched as she backed away from the door and instinctively reached for her umbrella, but it seemed to be missing as well. A hushed curse passed her lips as she scanned for something, anything she could use as a weapon. The frying pan hanging on the wall would have to do. Bracing herself for the worst, she inched forward, cautiously poking her head around the corner of the doorframe and peering inside, always poised to strike at the first sight of danger. She wasn't quite prepared for what she saw. 

Laying back against a sofa, fast asleep with a young owlet resting against the fluffy feathers on his chest, was none other than the violent director who only moments before had been trying to murder her over a silly movie award. The scene was too surreal, and Hat Kid was almost frightened by it. What exactly was this time rift? And who was this bird sitting in front of her? He couldn't be the same guy. No way.

As confused as she was, one thing was certain: all she needed to do was grab the rift pons she needed, find the door, and she'd be able to move on. She silently made her way to the small table at the back of the kitchen, sprinting past the door to the other room lest The Conductor suddenly wake and spot her, but once again stopped before getting there. Something had caught her eye. A small picture frame, worn and faded from years of use sat behind the pon, leaving Hat Kid to scrutinize its contents in disbelief as she wiped a thin layer of dust off the smudged glass. In it stood The Conductor, seemingly younger and more cheerful than he was now. He looked more like he did in the other room. But HK was more interested in the bird sitting in front of him. The Conductor’s hands rested on her shoulders, squeezing them lightly while one of her hands was folded across one of his endearingly. Whoever she was, it was clear that they were close.
    Hat Kid's lips moved as a thought crossed her mind, but the sound of another voice asking the same question startled her, "who-"
She jumped back, accidentally knocking the photo from the stand and sending it to the floor where it shattered with a violent crash and sent waves of glass and splintered wood spraying across the tile floor.. She covered her mouth with her hands, afraid that the sound would wake up The Conductor, but it seemed like she had bigger problems to deal with standing before her.
    "What do yer think yer doin’, lass?!" Another bird, possibly an owl, had emerged from another entrance to the room. She looked a lot like The Conductor, but her features seemed softer and rounder than his. The scowl on her face softened slightly then turned somber as her gaze shifted to the floor. "Oh dear..." she sighed as she stooped to pick up the broken picture frame, shaking away the loose fragments of glass.
    Hat Kid couldn't tell for sure but it seemed like the bird was more sad than angry. "S-sorry..." she whimpered, still unsure of the bird’s intentions.

“It’s ok, lass. Accidents happen.” She let out a dismal sigh as she set the photo down on a nearby counter and fetched a broom from the corner, sweeping up the glass by Hat Kid’s feet as carefully as possible. “Yer awfully jumpy, aren’t ye,” she asked as she swept up the last of the mess and dumped it into the trash. “Ah can’t say I blame ye. Afterall, yer only ‘ere because of him, right?”

Hat Kid looked up at her, the shock she felt showing plain as day on her pallid face. How did this bird know that? She shouldn’t have known that. The fact remained that she did, but Hat Kid didn’t have a chance to ask her about it before the bird gasped, set the broom aside, and reached for the girl.

“Lass, yer bleedin’! Let’s get those wounds of yers cleaned and wrapped again, aye?” Hat Kid jerked away from her, recoiling into the corner beside the table as she glared distrustfully at her. “Oh...hehe, right. I know ah’m a stranger, lassie, but, if I was goin’ tae hurt ye, do yer really think I’d have dressed yer wounds in the first place?” 

Hat Kid eyed her skeptically, flinching as she extended her hand towards the child and wordlessly pleaded with her to take it. As frightened as she was though, the bird hadn’t done anything to suggest she meant her any harm, and if it was true that she was the one who’d cleaned her up and taken care of her, then it didn’t seem all that far fetched to believe she was trustworthy. It was still with a bit of reluctance that Hat Kid finally took her hand and let herself be guided back to the table where she’d woken up. 

“Wait here a moment, lass,” she was prompted by the bird as she rushed off to the fridge and gathered some milk and cookies for the girl. “Here ye go,” she beamed and passed a heaping plate over to her, smiling from ear tuft to ear tuft as Hat Kid dug into the meal excitedly. “I hope ye like them. Ah made em myself. That and- well, I’m sure ye wouldn’t like me other snacks quite as much,” she laughed pleasantly as she pulled out something for herself from the freezer: a very frozen mouse on a stick. 

Hat Kid stuck out her tongue and pretended to gag as the questionably-an-owl lady scarfed it down and washed up before getting to work, setting out clean needles and gauze, so she could safely patch up the child’s wounds. She sat as still as she could as the bird played doctor, sewing up the larger gashes and bandaging everything with care. It almost didn’t feel like she was in a time rift, but the reminder still sat on the table in the back of the room. It wasn’t until the bird spoke up again that she was pulled from her thoughts.

"I still can’t believe my husband’s done this to a child." 

Hat Kid's eyes widened and her mouth hung agape at the word. “ HUSBAND?! ”

“Wha- yes?”

“YOU MARRIED HIM??!! ” She pointed aggressively towards the room where The Conductor was resting.

"Oh...you didn't know? I suppose he wouldn't have mentioned me, heh. I don't know what I expected." She shook her head and laughed. "Me name’s Edith. I'm a doctor, your ally, and, yes, the Conductor’s wife." Hat Kid glanced back between her, the shattered picture on the counter, and The Conductor in the other room, the expression on her face growing more bewildered with each passing second.
    "But..." she shook her head and frowned, "you're too nice!"
    "Hahaha, I suppose you would think that, but ye don't know him like I do." Hat Kid blinked, trying to imagine how such a kind person got stuck with such a meanie. But as Edith washed up once more and returned with a book in her hands, she realized she wouldn’t have to wonder. "The man you know...he wasn't always like that." She began softly as she set a photo album in front of her. 

The covers opened to reveal a collection of photos, all featuring birds of the same kind as Conductor and Edith. A few of the pictures depicted the couple.

“Aww! Look at you two,” Hat Kid gushed as she spotted a photo of The Conductor and Edith brushing beaks and another of her holding a big bouquet of flowers. “Did he get you those?”
    “Every day actually.” Her cheeks flushed. “He’s really quite the sweetheart if ye get tae know him.”

“Is that him in overalls?”

“It is indeed.”

“He looks so dorky…”

“Yes, well,” Edith cleared her throat, “he’s my dork.”

“Ooh, what about this one,” she asked as she pointed to a picture of the two of them dancing. “The Conductor can dance?”

“Hehehehehehe...nae.”

“Oh! There he is with the Owl Express!”

“That’s right, lass!”

“He really likes his train, huh? Like...an unhealthy amount.”

“It was and still is my stiffest competition,” Edith muttered jokingly, eyeing the girl with a soft smile as she flipped through a few more pages before stopping at one for a long time. “What’s wrong?”

“Who are these guys?” Hat Kid held up the album for Edith to see. It was flipped open to a page with several portraits of owlets of varying ages, but they all seemed to be the same three.

“Ah, those are our kids! Darci, Quinn, and Buck!”

“You have children .” Hat Kid was, to say the least, flabbergasted. “But that means...you and The Conductor-”

“AHAHAHA aaaand that’s enough pictures!” Edith slammed the book shut and turned away from Hat Kid, flustered. She placed the album back in its place, taking a breath as her composure returned. "All that anger and the way he disregards others, that's new. Well, maybe not new ." She chuckled and retrieved Hat Kid’s mended and cleaned shirt from another room. "He always had a temper, but he was never cruel. Not before…well. I miss the way he once was." She walked back to the door frame that led to the room where her husband was, propping herself against it with a solemn whine.
    Hat Kid waited a long time before limping to her side, struggling to put her shirt and cape back on straight while watching Edith with a sorrowful expression of her own. "What happened?"
    Edith didn’t answer, not at first anyway. “That’s-” she cut herself off, grimacing suddenly and shifting her gaze away from the girl, her ear tufts flattening behind her head as she gazed off into the distance with a sharp frown.

“Edith?”

“No, it’s not-” 

Her explanation was interrupted by a sudden rumbling that made the whole room shudder. A thunderous roar similar to the one she’d heard when she first entered the rift splintered her eardrums, leaving both her and Edith to cover their ears and huddle until the noise and shaking finally subsided. 

“What was that?” Hat Kid yelped the moment she’d recollected herself. 

“You need tae leave.” Edith’s tone was sharp and frigid, a stark contrast to the friendly demeanor she’d put on before. She must have sensed Hat Kid’s spike of fear though, because her expression quickly became apologetic and worried. “Ah, nae lass, I just meant- It’s time for ye tae get movin’, isn’t it? Here,” she breathed and handed her the rift pon. “You were reachin’ fer this earlier, right? I dunnae what it is, but if ye need it, take it.” She rushed past her, returning a moment later with her hat, boots, and umbrella, plopping the former onto her head with a slight, mischievous grin. "I don't know exactly why you've come here, lass, but I do know that he's looking for you." She nodded towards The Conductor, who was still asleep in the other room much to Hat Kid’s horror. "He'll do whatever it takes to keep you from getting what you came for; you understand that, don't you?" 

HK nodded solemnly, confirming her grim question. Edith let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding as she sat down on the larger table and gently massaged her beak.

“Are you alright?” Hat Kid asked shakily as she finished putting on her boots and stood up.

“I’ll be fine, lass. Don’t ye worry about me. Oh! One more thing.” She pointed to the only closed door in the room. “There’s a, er, thing out back, showed up at the same time as that ball I just gave ye. I take it that’s yer ticket outta here?”

Hat Kid stuck her head out the door and grinned at the sight of the rift door and the “1” that hovered over it. “Yep!”

"Then go," she smiled warmly. "I hope you find what you're looking for, lass." Hat Kid beamed back at her, walking back inside for a moment. “Eh? What’re ye doin’, lass-” Edith smiled warmly as Hat Kid threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Ah, I see. Heh, well, ye best be goin’ now,” Edith wiped her eyes and stood beside her. “Come on. I’ll walk ye out.”

Edith watched in silence as Hat Kid managed to open the massive door without lifting a finger before leaping inside the mysterious tube, pausing only for a moment to wave to her one last time before dropping down the chute and vanishing into the unknown. 

“...Should I have told her?”

A faint rumbling began again in the distance, this time much stronger than the last. Edith clung to the door frame as the earth crumbled around her, but her strength was already slipping as her part of the rift began to dim. Knocked to her knees by the force of the quake and on the last legs of her conscious thoughts, Edith looked to where Hat Kid last stood and gave her final plea.
    "Please..." her voice trailed off as the world began to fade to white, "be safe."

Chapter Text

The familiar warmth of light faded slowly, plunging Hat Kid into another world of cold, although, after being in the desert heat for a while, she was entirely relieved. 

“Dead Bird Studio,” she whispered breathlessly as she looked around her.

Floor to ceiling posters adorned the walls, resting behind massive trophy cases filled with Bird Movie Awards. Despite the lights being on, and the electrical hum of the air conditioning filling the silence, the lobby seemed vacant. It was just her and the familiar, but unplaceable different decor. She shrugged it off, chalking the vague unease she felt as being a feature of the rift. She could spend all day trying to guess what was amiss, but frankly, she didn’t care. Her eyes glazed over the rest of the room, searching for anything of note before quickly spotting the rift door resting in the corner by the benches.

“That’s convenient.” She beamed and mentally noted that she only needed three pons to get out of there. “Shouldn’t be too hard. I just have to decide where to-”

Before she could finish her thought, the door to The Conductor’s side of the studio opened, swinging shut with a heavy thud after a small, yellow cream colored bird came running out. A blur of purple trailed behind her until she stopped on the other side of Hat Kid, sticking out her tongue for a mere second before taking off into DJ Grooves’ half of the studio.

“-begin… Who was that?”
    A quizzical look crossed her face as she slowly rounded the counter and watched the door fully draw to a close. Whoever that had been, they were more of a clue than anything else she’d seen thus far, and considering how rifts had a way of leading her where she needed to go, she wasn’t sure it could have given her a clearer sign. It was with that thought that she stumbled into Grooves’ side of the studio.

She wasn’t really sure what she’d expected, but finding that a movie was in full blown production certainly wasn't it. The roar of pyrotechnics and loud dance music blared throughout the studio. Speakers boomed with enough intensity to shake the ground and rattle the scaffolding around the sets. How any of the cameras stayed stable was a wonder in itself. Hat Kid shook her head in confusion at the whole thing, unsure of why she hadn’t been able to hear all the commotion from the lobby, even when the door was open, but her thoughts quickly shifted back to the bird she’d seen before.

“Right. Where did they go??” Her eyes scanned the open room curiously, squinting every time a stray spotlight whizzed past her face. Grooves really knew how to party, but Hat Kid had some questions about his cinematography skills. She was about to give up and move on when her eye caught on something else, shimmering and glowing brightly in a heap of props being pushed along in a cart. “H-Hey! Wait!”

Hat Kid pushed her way through a small crowd of Moon Penguins, gaining a frenzy of confused squawks from them as she inadvertently stepped on several toes. A slew of swears followed her every apology, but she made no effort to stop and check on any of them. Her eyes stayed locked on the rift pon in the cart until it was pushed through a side door. She burst forth from the crowd, barrelling into the door just a second after it had closed, fully expecting to be within reach of the penguin pushing the cart, but-

“And that concludes today's meeti- uh...hello?”

Hat Kid blinked in confusion as she stared at what was very obviously an ongoing meeting amongst a group of owls. No matter where she looked in the cramped and compact room, there was not a single Moon Penguin, let alone a cart carrying a rift pon. “Wh-what the heck?”

“Security,” the owl seemingly in charge of the meeting suddenly called out, making Hat Kid jump and scramble to get out of the room.

She didn’t waste a second in slamming the door shut behind her, planting herself against the wall in hopes that the guards would run past her without noticing her so she could safely slip by, but no one came. Curious, she peered back into the door, only, where she should have seen that same meeting taking place, there was nothing but a janitor's closet filled to the brim with cleaning supplies.

“What the-”

She jerked back and took another look at the space she was in, certain that she should have been back in Grooves’s studio considering she had only gone through one door between it and the meeting room, but on closer observation, she realized she was actually in Conductor’s set now, and where all the birds had been blocking her way were nothing but barren platforms. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed as she looked around for another door to test something, and after finding one she was certain had led to an office outside of the rift, she opened it and frowned as she entered a bathroom.

“What’s going on here?” She folded her arms across her chest and stepped back out, entering another door and closing it behind her only to find herself in a different part of The Conductor’s set. No matter how many doors she went through, she never seemed to come back out in the same place once the door had shut, and after the first few test doors, she finally stopped and sighed. “So that’s it…” she thought silently, resting her chin on one hand. “Something is making this time rift unstable...probably how it was formed. So now when I go through doors, they take me somewhere random. Maybe they even take me to different times .”

She scowled at the realization that, as cool as it was to experience this sort of anomaly first hand, there was the terrifying reality that she couldn’t be certain she’d find the rift pons like this, let alone get back to the rift door even if she did. “If I’m right though,” she let out a deep sigh before stepping through one more door, her hands on her hips as she scowled and stared out at whatever new space lay beyond, blissfully unaware of the rift pon sitting on the roof directly over her head, “Then finding these rift pons is going to be way harder than I thought.”

Chapter Text

The faint shimmering sound finally caught her attention, her face scrunching up in recognition as she whirled around, seeking out the source before finally spotting a rift pon resting on a ledge above her.

“Oh. Well that was easy.”

She snorted before walking back a short ways, climbing up a wooden fence and reaching up for the pon in the gutter. Her fingertips just barely brushed against the side of the pon when a thunderous creaking noise sounded behind her.

“What the-”

Hat Kid looked back mid climb and finally noticed the filming in progress, but her eyes were drawn more towards the frantically shouting owls and The Conductor himself, all running onto the set and slamming themselves against a building’s wall. She wasn’t sure what was happening at first until the creaking grew louder. Out of nowhere, the shriek of metal wrenching itself loose and grinding against more metal tore through the frantic scene, eliciting pained and panicked shouts from the frenzied crew members below. The Conductor’s bellowing voice cried for everyone to get out, get out of the set, but there wasn’t any time. 

Hat Kid screamed as the wall they were holding splintered in half, launching some of the owls holding it and pinning the rest beneath as the scaffolding, walls, furniture, lights, cameras, and machinery all came crashing down from behind it. A massive girder hurtled towards her, leaving her no other choice than to jump off the railing and reach for the ledge with the pon. Sweaty fingers gripped the edge as smoke clouded her vision and filled her lungs. Pained screams resounded behind her, lights flickering as more and more loud and violent crashing noises could be heard, but she didn’t dare look back until she’d pulled herself up. By the time the smoke finally cleared, what remained for her to see was ghastly.

“Oh no…”

From the looks of it, an entire, elaborate set had collapsed: huge girders lay strewn about with some being bent horribly out of shape. Gaudy props were broken and crushed, studio lights were either sparking or flickering where they lay, and cameras were scattered and broken across the floor. The Receptionist and a few Express Owls who had managed to escape were in shock, but quickly got to work, clearing debris and helping those who had become trapped under fallen bits of the set. DJ Grooves burst through the door to the studio, his booming voice cutting off with a startled, choked noise as he lowered his glasses to get a better look at the room. Hat Kid watched with bated breath as he slowly walked in further, observing the chaos with his beak agape. An Express Owl hurried past him, but they were swiftly grabbed by their shoulder, stopping them in their tracks.

“Darling,” Grooves whispered breathlessly to the owl, his gaze never shifting from the scene before him, “what in the WORLD happened here?”

The owl blinked at the penguin, turning to better address him, though their gaze was unfocused and their body trembling. “Th-th-th-the set collapsed. I th-think our set builders forgot to tighten some very important screws!” His voice cracked as he tried to pull away, nearly staggering backwards when Grooves let go. “The Conductor’s gonna be FURIOUS...that is, once-once we find him.”

“What do you mean ‘once you’ve found him,’” DJ Grooves asked, finally turning to the owl with a sharp glare.

“He-he saw the set starting to collapse, so he and some of the others tried to stop it! But they-they couldn’t. We’re still trying to find some of them in the rubble,” the owl nervously explained.

Hat Kid felt her chest tighten at the realization that Conductor and some of the owls really were trapped in the debris. No way. No way! She whimpered to herself, peering over the edge of the roof she’d climbed on to see how hard it’d be to make her way down. I should help too!

Without another second of hesitation, she hopped off the roof, using her umbrella to safely glide down to the uneven ground before. The Conductor’s whole half of the studio was a wreck put lightly, and it seemed that no matter where she landed, her footing would be uneven. 

“A few untightened screws caused all of this?” She turned around to get a full look at the damage done around her, only to find that the doorway she had gone through just moments before had collapsed and become buried amongst the rubble. “I hope I didn’t need to go back through there...oh-”

Her eyes widened as she spotted something shimmering beneath the pile of splintered wood and plaster, pushing what she could aside to see what was there. It was the rift pon she’d been after, knocked down by the set collapse. She plucked it out of the pile and dusted it off with her cape, holding it up a few times to make sure it hadn’t cracked or broken before tucking it away for safekeeping. That was one down, two to go.

“DJ Grooves!” Hat Kid jumped at the sudden shout, ducking behind a fallen sign and peeking around the corner to see who had called him. “I came as soon as I could!”

“Edith?” Hat Kid shrunk back into the shadows as she spotted the yellow bird rushing into the set, a serious and calm expression set on her face.
    Grooves ran up to her, seemingly informing her about what had happened, though Hat Kid couldn’t quite tell what they were saying through the chorus of murmurs that echoed throughout the set. Their conversation was brief however, and Edith quickly parted ways with Grooves and made her way towards the nearest injured owl she saw. Hat Kid admired how calm she was despite the disaster that surrounded her, making quick work of treating the owl’s injuries. Grooves returned a few moments later, and while she once again couldn’t really hear what was being said, she did hear him mention something about the ‘more severely injured owls.’ Edith nodded as she finished wrapping up her current patient’s wing and followed Grooves. 

Following them was the most logical next step. Time rifts had a way of leading her where she needed to go, and if the reappearance of Edith didn’t mean something important, she’d be genuinely surprised. Fortunately Edith wasn’t leaving the room, or Hat Kid would have lost her for sure. She was merely positioned along the wall furthest from the disaster. several owls were resting over there, awaiting treatment. It looked as if Edith had brought along additional help as several more birds entered the facility donning medical kits.
    “Where’s Conductor,” she laughed slightly whilst bandaging an owl’s bloodied wing. “I’m surprised he’s nae here yellin’ at someone.” Grooves was uncomfortably silent, making her hesitate before abruptly whirling around to face him in a panic. “He’s not dead , is he?!”
    “No, no! At least, I certainly hope not,” he wheezed and held up his hands in defense. “I don’t even want to see the amount of paperwork there’d be for that . We er...haven’t found him yet, darlin’.”

“Well, shouldn’t ye be lookin’ for him then?!” She hopped up, fists balled at her sides as she bit back at him, worry seeping into her firm tone. 

Right, right! Of course, darlin’. Don’t you worry a feather on your head. We’ll find him...” Grooves backed away and bolted back towards the site of the collapse, leaving her to finish up with the owls she already had on hand. “I just hope he’ll be in one piece when we do…”
    “So do I,” Hat Kid whimpered quietly to herself as she stepped out from her hiding spot and took a better look around.

The makeshift clean-up crew was making record time in their frenzy to make sure everyone was accounted for, having already cleared away and sifted through huge piles of rubble amongst the wreckage of the set. It was a relief to her to see moon penguins pitching in to help too. The Grooves and Conductor she knew would’ve never offered the other this kind of assistance, let alone accept it from them. What she saw now was such a happy contrast from outside of the rift, she almost didn’t dare to ask what ruined it all. How had they become so bitter?

But with all the focus she put on the scene ahead of her, she completely neglected to notice the massive, hulking figure emerging from the shadows behind her, and it wouldn’t be until she heard her own startled scream and the hand gripping her shoulder that she’d know there was a threat at all.