Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She sat next to the giant window in the hub of her spaceship. The lights were off and her only source of luminosity was a few electronic screens. She wore her signature yellow cape and one of her many purple shirts. Her favorite purple hat, with a yellow ribbon, sat beside her as she looked down onto the bright planet laid in front of her turquoise eyes called “Earth”. Her fingers ran through her hair repeatedly as she bit her lip.

She had such a fun journey on that strange planet, one she could almost call home. She wished it was truly her home instead, for the people she meant cared about her—or, almost all of them. She has gotten used to the planet’s language, but yet she couldn’t really write or read, only use it verbally. That was okay she realized, she had friends who almost tried to kill her, but now they care enough to teach her the native tongue. 

She stopped messing around with her hair, and her fingers made contact with the cold glass. She could see her reflection in the glass. A little girl all alone traveling in her spaceship, and her turquoise eyes that were usually filled with cheer. Right now though…

She looked away, not wanting to see her own reflection. She’d rather rethink her journey of collecting the timepieces. From the Mafia to MU, she loved the journey of it all. A smile slowly appeared on her face, a tear going down her cheek from all the nostalgia. It’s so funny really, it wasn’t even that long ago. She sadly chuckled to herself, as her attention was brought to the sleeping Rumbi against the control panel. 

How could she ever forget about her space-traveling companion? Rumbi was always there for her no matter what. Even before she got into this crazy journey, Rumbi was there to accompany her during her lonely space travels. She always appreciated everything Rumbi did— from cleaning to letting her stand on his back as she smug danced her heart out. Another tear left her eye, as she wiped it away with her sleeve. 

She only had a few timepieces she needed to get back before her spaceship had all the fuel it originally had. Her journey was almost done. She’s been waiting to go home for years—

So why does she want to stay here instead of going where she belonged…?

The question lingered in her mind. She slowly got up, holding her hat tightly. She quickly and quietly went to her room, her small head facing to the left which housed her pool of pillows. She took a deep breath as she put on her top hat and flicked the brim of the hat as a dim light changed her hat from a top hat to her ice hat. She jumped to her pillow pool and activated her ice hat, turning her body frozen for a few seconds as she went down to her candle lit room. She unfroze, tapping the ice hat as it turned back into her signature purple top hat. 

Her eyes adjusted to the lit room pretty quickly, her eyes landing on the open book laid on the little brown desk, accompanied by the timepiece statue. She waddled over to the book as her small hands gripped onto the sides of the hardcover of her diary, examining it. 

She flipped through the pages, skimming through and recalling every single day of her adventure. She was only just a kid, and yet she made so much impact on the planet in less than a year. She formed a small, sad smile on her face, realizing her burning desire to stay here. It felt so good to be here, her soul yearned for the freedom that she had here. 

Back at home through… she was treated just like her age. Stay at home… go to school… study... That was so boring for her! She couldn’t have lived there anymore like that. She wanted the taste of adventure. She would rather get her soul taken by Snatcher and still have freedom roaming around instead of staying home with her soul. 

It’s why she stole this ship and some timepieces to explore the galaxy. At least she knew how to control the spaceship by the time she stole it thanks to her mentor. Everyone at home probably thought she was dead. 

“I… I don’t wanna go back,” she told herself in a small, quiet voice. If she ever did… she was done for. She loved her life out here in the galaxy. If she had never left Earth, she would have probably lived in a city apartment she used to dream of all the time when she was done with school. 

She lifted her head up to see the dimly lit light orange ceiling, realizing she loved everything here. Could she really stay here and never come back? It’d be a dream come true for her. 

She dropped her diary onto her desk. She smiled to herself, walking into the tiny pillow pile as she jumped up and was back in her bedroom. She swam out of the pillow pile, brushing her outfit off if anything somehow landed on her outfit. She sighed, looking above to see her window, seeing the stars glowing brightly. For a second, she found herself looking at the glimmering stars that accompanied her through everything, acting as a witness to her wild ride through space. She couldn’t help but yawn, realizing her body adjusted to the planet’s day and night cycle. Her baggy turquoise eyes looked to her comfy bed, waiting for her. She ran towards her bed, quickly throwing her hat and umbrella at the drawer as she jumped into her bed, landing on her back. She slowly adjusted herself and wrapped herself in her blue blanket, finding a position comfortable enough to sleep in. As soon as she got comfy, she called it a night as her baggy eyes closed, and she wandered off into her dreams. 

.—.—.—.

She woke to a scream sounding familiar and the sound of a timepiece being broken. She started panicking, quickly jumping out of bed. She hastily grabbed her hat and her trusty umbrella and ran out of the room. She flicked the brim of her hat as a bright light turned her hat into her sprint hat. She abruptly stopped in the Main Hall, striking a pose as her hand was on the floor with one of her legs bent, and her umbrella out to scare the intruder. 

There were timepiece shards on her carpet. Her favorite carpet, mind you. The remnants of the timepiece were shining brightly, and they looked like little specks of glitter. The wooden case was broken, as the beads were scattered around the carpet. But the timepiece shards weren’t the hatted alien’s concern right now. She dropped her umbrella abruptly, her hands raised to her mouth as her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it, and how.

“Oh, peck…! H-how—“ She couldn’t believe what her eyes were showing her.

It was herself… but different.

Same height, same age. They looked exactly the same. 

But she didn’t have a top hat like her, she didn’t have the same outfit as her, she didn’t even have a weapon, she didn’t have the same energetic spark she had when others told her when they looked into her eyes.

The girl had the same hairstyle but she had a ribbon where she tied her hair. It looked like a replica of the one Snatcher gave her when she completed her first rift collapse. She had a purple sweater with a teacup, steam coming out of it in the middle, with dark purple, and pink shorts. She had white stockings with green stripes and pink slippers. 

“Why the hell do you look like me?!” Her… the other self screamed. She must have been part of another reality—or timeline. That’s the only thing she can think of and it made sense to her. So… what does she call her then? She didn’t want her other self to have the same name as her, for starters, she doesn’t even have an actual hat unless you counted that ribbon as one. She didn’t want to call her Bow Kid… there’s already a Bow Kid in this timeline. Bowie never came here to this planet though. 

“Peck… how do I explain this… Uhm—“ The hatted child paused, thinking of what to say. 

“Basically, I’m you! From another timeline. I dunno how you got into my timeline, but I have a few guesses.” She smiled, twirling and bowing while holding her sprint hat to introduce herself.

“There’s… Other timelines?!” Her doppelganger screamed, jumping at the realization. The girl took a quick glance at herself—her other self, terrified but curious.

“Yeah!! Well if you really want me to tell you kinda everything, I want to uh… give you a name so I can stop referencing you as ‘my other self’, y’ know?” She replied, looking at her mirror image for a response. 

“A name? Aren’t we the same person technically? Shouldn’t you know my—I mean, our name?” Her other self crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently for an answer.

“Peck! Don’t do that! You’re going to make more of a mess, that I have to clean up!” Her other self stopped abruptly, looking down at the messy floor.

“Sorry…?” Her alter ego replied.

“Okay... Well, I don’t really want to call you our real name when I show you around the planet. They call me ‘Hat Kid’ around this part of space!” She grinned, flickering the brim of her sprint hat as she threw her hat up into the air. It brightly changed back into her signature purple top hat that matched with her outfit as it floated back onto her head. Her other self’s eyes widened, clapping with amazement.

“Oh, no wonder. Wait… why aren’t they calling you our real name? I’m sure they can pronounce it right—“ She cut off her other self’s sentence.

“We aren’t at home.” Was all she said. Her other-self’s eyes widen again, taking a look at her surroundings. She was in a large spaceship with Rumbi sweeping things up, and her large window showed off the planet “Earth”. Her other self gasped, looking back towards the hatted alien.

“Where are we?! And why are we in a spaceship?!”

“Oooh, long story. Here; I’ll give you the shortened version of this one. Basically back at home, I used my spare time to learn how to drive a spaceship. One day I got sick of the stuff, so I stole this spaceship and some… ‘fuel.’ I went to go explore other planets! But then I wanted to go back home. So I was getting there when suddenly all my fuel was gone and floated into this planet called ‘Earth’! Pretty cool, right? So I went on this peckin’ awesome journey to recover my ‘fuel’, and everyone almost tried to kill me! But I kicked all their asses and recovered most of my “fuel”! I still need to go to this place called the S.S Literally Can’t Sink and Nyakuza Metro. They got my fuel still. Oh, yeah! Forgot to say this, but I got hats that have abilities n’ stuff!” 

“What…? That’s so different from my timeline?! My timeline is just about sleep, eat, school, study, sleep, repeat! Your timeline is so… Complex…? And why do you sound so calm when you said everyone almost tried to kill you?! I’d be terrified!!” Her doppelganger replied.

“Pfft, I’ve learned to look on the bright side! Besides, almost all those people are my friends now! I’m even BFF’s with one of them! It’s great, you should meet him! But on a serious note, what the peck am I gonna call you…?” She scratched her head with a curious look towards her clone.

“Well… Uhhh… Ribbon Kid…?” Her other self made a toothy grin as her eyebrows furrowed sadly, not knowing what else to call herself. 

“Well… maybe I could come up with something! Uhmmm…” She thought real hard when something in her mind clicked. Maybe…

“We could go to Nyakuza Metro and get you some cosmetics there! Maybe the one your most interested in, we could call you that! Like uhmmm… “Flower Kid” or something like that!” The hatted alien bounced up excitedly, her face full of happiness. Her other self scratched her head while nodding slowly.

“O-okay…? You said you’ve never been there before though?” Ribbon Kid asked. Well, guess the hatted child will call her other self Ribbon Kid for now.

“Well yeah! It’s gonna be fun adventuring the metro though! But first, I needa show you to my best friend! I’m just gonna refer you right now as Ribbon Kid since you did say so.” The hatted alien giggled, hopping onto her captain’s chair and punching in coordinations to Subcon Forest. Her ship flew from Mafia Town to Subcon Forest, floating above.

“Yeah okay… Is this the right place?” Ribbon curiously and cautiously asked Hattie, as Hattie just nodded excitedly.

With a mischievous grin, Hattie told her plan, “Okay well, we’ll both go down there together but not at the same time.  You will go first, to see him, then I’ll show up!” Hattie exclaimed, her ship zooming in on Subcon Forest. Hattie pointed to a circle that has dark purple outlining it. 

“Step in there and wait for him. You’ll be safe, I promise! If you get attacked or something which I doubt, I’ll fight them off!” Hattie grinned while Ribbon cautiously nodded.

“H-how will I land without dying?!” Hattie looked towards her, winking at Ribbon.

“You’ll land without a scratch, I promise.” Hattie smiled as she jumped off her captain’s chair and opened her glass door. She guided Ribbon to the door, telling her the plan one more time. Ribbon nodded, not being very sure that this is safe but if her other self said it is, then I guess she’ll have to trust her other-self. 

Ribbon poked her head out the door, seeing the forest in its entirety. She’ll land near the spot her alter ego wanted her to be, and walk towards that spot. Sounds simple, right? Hopefully. 

“Good luck!” Hattie smiled, pushing Ribbon off the spaceship. Ribbon screamed for her life, closing her eyes and wavering her arms all over. Hattie just shrugged as this was also her first reaction after she saw all her timepieces fly off to different parts of the planet, but somehow she survived without her umbrella. She’s sure her clone can survive. And hopefully, she could get there before Snatcher took her soul. 

.—.—.—.

Ribbon landed on her feet, striking a pose as if it was natural. Weird, she fell off from a spaceship AND survived. On top of that, she posed while landing? She’s never done that before but yet it felt natural. 

She saw the outline of the circle, which was where her other self instructed her to be. She skipped along the forest, seemingly feeling scared of everything. She landed on the circle, waiting for something. Her eyes widened as dark purple vines surround her as everything around her turned into shades of purple and the middle of it all was a purple ghost looming over the short girl. 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” The ghost laughed, its yellow glowing eyes looking over the girl. Strange, this girl looked just like the kiddo with the hat. She even has her similar aura, but still different. Ah oh well, a new contractor with a soul so similar to the kiddo’s. She’s even shaking, terrified! 

“YOU TOTALLY SCREWED YOURSELF! Nobody gets to go in and out of this forest alive!” Which was mostly true except that one little kiddo with a hat. It was embarrassing that he was beaten by a kid! In front of his minions too! Especially because she used his own attack against him! She’s a clever girl though, he’s got to give credit for her for that. 

“Tell you what though? That’s right! YOU GET TO LIVE! My last contractor seemingly… disappeared from this part of this planet. Guess YOU get to replace her! AHAHAHAHAHA!” Snatcher laughed again, the girl shaking now more than ever, filled with fear. As the Soul Stealing ghost looked into her eyes… her eyes even looked almost the exact same as the kiddo’s. These eyes though… lacked the energetic spark. The kiddo was a shining star in such a dark place like this. Seems like his new contractor had those same eyes… but lacked the light. It wasn’t the same as her starry eyes. 

“So tell you what, I’ve got a piece of paper here! Don’t worry about the details! I just need you to sign right here at the bottom.” The contract and the quill appeared, similar to the kid’s first contract. The terrified girl stepped forward yet still shaking, taking the quill when a certain someone interferes. 

“Alright, that’s enough! Snatcher, I’m not letting you take her soul.” The kiddo appeared in this somehow, looking awfully similar to the other girl. In fact… they look almost the same. 

“Oh, it’s you. Can’t you see I’m trying to take a contractor and a soul here, kiddo?” The hatted alien nodded and stared at Snatcher with a frown.

“Disable the trap or I won’t hesitate to show her what I did to you a couple of weeks ago! I will beat your ass again if I have to!” The kiddo crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. Snatcher groaned, not getting himself embarrassed again. He set down his trap as the threesome returned to Subcon Forest. 

“What’s the big deal, kid?! I’m already disappointed in seeing you here around these parts. Also, why does this girl look so similar to you?!” Snatcher stared at the kiddo, expecting an answer. The hatted child raised her finger, opening her mouth. 

“I’ll explain all of that! Just… don’t take her soul. I can explain if we go to my spaceship. She doesn’t seem very comfortable here. Oh well, I find it fascinating here!” Hattie smiled as Snatcher groaned and snapped his hands as he teleported the threesome into the kid’s spaceship, especially the bedroom part. Ribbon meanwhile was still shocked by what just happened. Did her other self just boss around a powerful ghost?!

“You better have a damn good reason for why you’ve pulled me out of my forest.” Snatcher floated and sat in his corner as the two sat beside him in the pillows, getting themselves comfortable. 

“I will be honest Ribbon, I kinda set you up there with Snatcher. I wanted to see your reaction. Of course, I didn’t want your soul taken as mine did!” Hattie laughed, while Ribbon stared right back at Hattie. 

“WHAT THE HELL?! I trusted you! I thought I was done for!” Ribbon yelled as Hattie laughed even more. Snatcher even joined in on the laugh. 

“I loved your reaction! I loved it all when you were TERRIFIED of me!” Snatcher laughed as Hattie nodded and laughed along in unison. 

Snatcher stopped laughing a few seconds later, addressing the elephant in the room, “Seriously kiddo, why does she look so similar to you?! I kinda thought I was taking your soul again until I saw that she was terrified. I knew you wouldn’t be terrified because you have stepped into my traps plentiful of times. You would’ve gotten used to it.”

“Okay… Well, I do have explaining to do. She’s me from another timeline. I don’t know how , but I saw timepiece shards around her when I first saw her. Peck, I was also surprised when I saw her! But, I do know a timepiece was involved in this, but I don’t understand how. How could she have gotten here?! She doesn’t even know time stuff and spaceships which I find absurd!” There was silence in the room for a minute until Snatcher cleared his throat.

”You. Don’t. Know. How. She. GOT. HERE?! You’re literally an expert on Time Stuff, especially with Timepieces!” Snatcher pointed to Ribbon, his face frustrated. Ribbon seemed confused and frustrated—how was she going to get home in her timeline? 

“Snatcher, I’m an expert on Time Travel, not Time Stuff first of all,” Hattie said with her famous smug look at Snatcher. Snatcher groaned with a tired look towards her while Ribbon giggled. 

“So guys… I’m still here. What does my other self—err… ‘Hat Kid’ mean when her soul was taken?” Ribbon questioned, mainly focusing on Hattie. Hattie smiled and laughed while Snatcher groaned and look away with his arms crossed. 

“Well, Ribbon… Snatcher basically took my soul! It was pretty weird. I did his pecking contracts though, which I don’t want to go into detail—“ Hattie paused, looking down and silently going through flashbacks of Queen Vanessa’s Manor. 

“Well, then we uhmm… fought. In the end, I’ve gotten my soul back and my timepiece from him.” Hattie said triumphantly, pride in her. Ribbon looked back and forth between Snatcher and Hattie, not believing a single thing but just went with it, 

”At least you didn’t go to detail…” Snatcher spoke, still looking away frustrated by the two children. 

“Ohoho, I can go into detail if you want me to, BFF!” Hattie smiled mischievously at Snatcher, her turquoise eyes staring right into his yellow glowing eyes.

”Heck no.” Snatcher huffed out, turning back to the two children with a frown. Hat Kid snickered as she hugged tightly her pillow. Ribbon meanwhile looked around the room. She was in a bedroom, sitting in a large pile of colorful pillows. Her eyes glimpsed at the starry window, then as her eyes looked to the other direction of the room, she saw a blue bed that looked so comfy to sleep in. There was also a closet and a toy chest that matched the blue bed. A desk sat near the toy chest with markers, crayons, and a red box laid on top of the desk. Few colored pictures were hung onto the yellow wall, as her eyes then stopped at the purple door that glowed brightly, a tree with a face in the middle of it all, blinking a bright blue in the midst of the purple door. This bedroom was like her dream bedroom! As Ribbon looked around the room, voices echoed in her ear as her eyes went back to Hattie’s—starry eyes with a spark of happiness and hope. 

“What I don’t understand is… How I can go home?” Ribbon smiled sadly, looking down as her fingers carefully brushed through her sideburns repeatedly, biting her lip. Snatcher and Hattie noticed her behavior as Hattie frowned while Snatcher looked at the kiddo. The kid was sad, but also thinking deeply hard on Ribbon’s situation. 

“I was thinking… You could come along with me collecting the rest of the timepieces so… I could go home…” Hattie lied on the last part—she was stuttering and hesitant on saying it which Snatcher looked at her in confusion. Fortunately, at least Snatcher knew when she was lying. Ribbon did not know of Hattie’s lie. 

“I’m not gonna go h-home though until I find you a way back to your timeline!” Hattie smiled sadly, feeling like she didn’t know how to help her other-self. On the bright side, she could show Ribbon the beautiful yet deadly planet. Hopefully, her other self is a platforming master, otherwise, Hattie’s gonna go to S.S Literally Can’t Sink and Nyakuza Metro on her own. She promised though to buy Ribbon new cosmetics though. After all, these pons she didn’t spend needed to go somewhere other than her small pocket dimension. 

“T-thank you…” Ribbon replied a small sweet smile appeared on her lips. It looked so similar to Hattie’s smile… It’s just she’s missing something. Snatcher couldn’t place his claw on it. The kiddo meanwhile just had an aura that brightened everything around her, even the darkest parts of Earth, like Subcon. Snatcher didn’t think she glowed in Vanessa’s Manor—he saw her reaction when she walked out of that manor with the timepiece. Her eyes seemed dull, looking for anything other than that manor. Least that was temporary… Her spark was back. 

Snatcher got bored with the subject and reminded himself to give the kiddo a private talk. For now, he changed the subject. ”Kiddo… don’t you have a mess to clean up? Those timepiece shards aren’t gonna clean themselves up. Maybe then you could try to bring it back or something. Oh well!” Snatcher paused, feeling a chill. He ever only gets those when Subcon needed his attention right away.

”Well kid, it seems like Subcon needs me. Smell you later!” Snatcher laughed, diving straight into the floor. His presence was gone, and now it was just the two girls again. Though, Snatcher’s hand appeared straight up from the floor and gave a quick wave. Hattie squealed and happily said bye and waved. Ribbon looked straight to her doppelganger. 

“... You’re friends with a GHOST?! Nevermind that, YOU’RE BEST FRIENDS WITH A POWERFUL GHOST LIKE HIM?!” Ribbon stared at Hat Kid in disbelief, but Hattie happily nodded. Hattie double jumped off the pillow pool and dived towards the floor before catching herself and landing back on her feet. She turned around to Ribbon, gesturing for her to come down. 

Ribbon gulped as she swam down the pillow pool to meet up with Hattie. Hattie hugged her tight catching Ribbon off guard as Hattie squeezed her. Ribbon stood there, shocked by her other self’s actions. She never received hugs or affection back home, and this was certainly the first time in a long time that she did. Nevermind that she, her other self gave her that affection, but she sent it right back and squeezed Hattie tight. Hattie laughed, being the first to let go of the hug which kept Ribbon warmth. She looked directly into Ribbon’s eyes, smiling. 

“You needed that. I haven’t received affection either back at home. It’s why… I ran away from home and landed here. I received more affection here— whether that be something trying to kill me or getting hugs.” Hattie explained, letting Ribbon process that affection. When was the last time she ever received that? Probably when she was a lot younger than she is now. She missed that greatly and wanted more. 

“Consider that as an apology for uhm… leading you into Snatcher’s Traps. I couldn’t help it though!” Hattie scratched her head, feeling embarrassed and guilt for doing that. Her reaction though was priceless, which made up for some of her emotions. Ribbon crossed her arms while snickering, while Hattie smiled and saw that Ribbon had indeed forgiven her for her mischievous deed. One thing off Hattie’s chest now. 

“So…’Hattie’, I guess I know the shortened version of your life. Yet, you don’t even know mine,” Ribbon bit her lip and looked at Hattie as she calmed down and stared at Ribbon, curious of her life story. Hattie led her to her bed as she sat down and pat down the empty spot next to her. Ribbon jumped and sat next to Hattie, taking a deep breath. 

“Uh, where do I even start…?” Ribbon nervously laughed while Hat Kid sat, confused. 

Chapter Text

Hat Kid was crying.

She was startled.

Ribbon looked at the starry child. Her eyes plead that the story wasn’t true. Ribbon couldn’t deny. How were the two even the same person? One was adventurous and brave; the other was terrified and lonely. No wonder why Hattie’s eyes looked so starry and bright—she was a star that brightens the darkest of nights. Ribbon was part of the darkness. At least, a bright light was here to light the darkest hour of her world.

Please… Please let her feel the happiness she could’ve had. She didn’t want to feel cold and lonely again. She wants to embrace the warmth she could’ve given to others. 

Hattie looked at her doppelganger, trying so bad to wipe the tears from her eyes. It only resulted in her purple sleeve being ruined with her tears. Her nose was stuffy thanks to her crying, and she took off her hat. 

The room was dark. Even Snatcher’s magical candles couldn’t light up the room. Not even the little star’s light next to Ribbon didn’t light up for once. The same star lit up an entire forest full of monsters creeping every corner and crack as you walked further. The same little star that saved the planet from one another whose desires and dreams were corrupted by timepieces. The same bright star could be seen as a hero to one’s eyes, and a villain to another. The one next to the bright little star—her light already drew to a close before she even landed herself in this timeline. Now, a fallen star was alone in a reality she never belonged. 

But her doppelganger—the bright little star could light the way through this dark hour and a way back home.  The fallen star couldn’t stay with the illuminating light. 

But at least she could stay for a bit. Hopefully, little Ribbon thought. 

The only thing that lit the room was the door that glowed with blue flashing colors. Still dim, so it didn’t make this any better. 

All Ribbon heard was Hattie sniffling as she heard sad sounds escape Hattie’s mouth as Hattie cried through the night. Ribbon stared at the dull floor, not knowing what to do. Usually, she’d suck it up and try to calm down. Doesn’t seem like her doppelganger won’t be stopping anytime soon. 

Curse you, a gloomy sad tale that forever impacted little Ribbon. She could still remember the shrill screams of the ones she loved before they were all mangled in front of poor Ribbon as she thrashed out yet still trapped. She could still vividly remember the tragic night. It still haunted her to this day. She wished she never witnessed it all. She was begging for her family’s murderer to stop it all. Her poor innocent aura was shattered into a million little pieces, and its absence was replaced by the horror she endured as just a little child. 

She remembered the dark room. Fear was in the air and you could smell it. She was trapped in a small metal room with a window to witness the tragedy. She banged on the dirty window, screaming and crying. She closed her eyes, so afraid to see any more of her loved ones being murdered right in front of her. She couldn’t do anything about it, she was so weak and helpless. 

She always felt cold and lonely ever since that tragedy befell on little Ribbon. Her loving light extinguished after what she saw. She always had anxiety ever since, so afraid of the world. 

“R-Ribbon! I-I’m so s-sorry! I-I should’ve gone through that! Not you!” Hattie tried her hardest to speak while crying in her native language, but Ribbon shushed her doppelgänger quickly.

“I don’t want your sympathy or pity. I’ve learned to try to get over it alone.” Ribbon spoke with her voice low. She looked at the floor, feeling like the tragedy had been so long ago. Alas, it still impacted her greatly, but she tried to push it out of her mind to the best of her ability. Ribbon was startled as she felt warms wrapped around her again, as her cheek was against fluffy and soft brunette hair. Her dull eyes looked down to see Hattie hugging her. Ribbon couldn’t bother to hug her back or move herself out of the way. Hat Kid looked up to ribbon, her eyes looking upset.

“You shouldn’t have gone through that alone. No one should do that! Why would you think that… that’s fine…?” Hattie looked at Ribbon who looked down at the floor, sighing. Ribbon lifted her head just a bit to see Hattie’s face.

“No one was there for me back then.” Ribbon let it out, yawning a bit. Hattie couldn’t wrap her head around that. Ribbon was truly alone.

“... But then I lived with a friend who wanted to take great care for me. We’ve been best friends ever since. W-Wait! She’s probably worried sick about me!” Ribbon lifted her head up, worry in her eyes. Hattie jumped backwards, startled. Ribbon panicked as she jumped off the bed and ran towards the spot she first appeared in. She was panting, steering her head to the left to see the vault of timepieces. She quickly ran up the ramp to be close to the vault when suddenly she felt herself slow down. Hattie was quickly going towards her at an ungodly speed, quickly stopping Ribbon from accessing the vault once time resumed normally.

“I can’t let you touch them! Not until we figure out how to get you home safely!” Hattie cried out, her arms stretched out to block Ribbon. Ribbon was desperate— she needed to go home. These… “timepieces” were the ones that got her here in the first place. She was pretty sure she could get back using them.

“Please! She’s waiting for me back home!” Ribbon yelled out, trying to get through Hattie. Hattie pushed her back as she took out her umbrella, her tears falling down the poor child’s cheeks again.

“I c-can’t! Please! I want you to go home badly too! But I can’t let you use my timepieces! Not until we figure out the way back and safely! Trust me, these things are powerful, dangerous, and manipulative! It’s my job to keep both you and those timepieces safe and secure!” Hattie cried out one last time. Ribbon decided it was useless, she would just injure herself trying to get the timepieces. Her doppelgänger just wants to protect her… thats all.

Ribbon backed off, letting Hattie calm down. “O-okay… fine.” The brunette replied, looking towards the big window. A planet looming in the distance as Hattie joined her doppelgänger, a yawn coming out from the tired hatted child. 

“Isn’t the planet nice?” The tired girl spoke in a low voice. Ribbon observed the strange planet in front of her, so different from home. She damn knows that her doppelgänger is either freaking strong, or all the people occupying the planet is a bunch of weaklings. 

“Yeah…” The girl with the ribbon replied, tapping her fingers against the railing, sighing. The hatted child yawned once again, rubbing her eyes. Ribbon noticed the tiredness in her counterpart’s eyes, as it’s been a long day for the both of them. 

“I’m gonna catch some Z’s. Whew… what a long day.” Hattie replied, taking Ribbon’s hand as she forced Ribbon to the bedroom. She let go of Ribbon’s hand as she knocked out immediately at her blue comfy bed. The child that was awake now however, looking to her left side to see the pillow of pools. She strolled on over to the pillow pool, making herself comfortable for a good night’s sleep. The tired girl yawned, closing her eyes and drifting so slowly to her dream. 

.—.—.—.

“WAKE UP, KIDDO!” Snatcher yelled, poking the hatted alien. The alien woke up startled, looking dazed. Ribbon woke up by the sounds of her doppelgänger’s frustration of her bestie waking her up. She kept her eyes closed, eavesdropping the conversation. A laughing Snatcher kept poking the kid as she groaned and yelled like a little 5 year old.

“Snatcher! What’s the matter with you!!!” Hat Kid whined as she jolted up, frustration building up towards her bestie. He’s been doing this for days now, and it seems like there was no sign of stopping except yesterday. 

“Just trying for you to wake up, kid! You should be waking up earlier than your alarm clock, you know? So, be grateful that I am waking you up.” Snatcher smiled at the hatted child. 

“My alarm clock is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up!!” Hattie yelled, her aggravated face caused Snatcher to laugh. She stood there mad for a second before joining Snatcher's laugh and hugging him. 

“Morning, BFF.” Hattie chirped.

“Ughhh… morning, kiddo.” Snatcher was now the one groaning which caused the hatted child to laugh even more. Snatcher sighed, letting her laugh. Damn, he grew a soft spot for her. 

Ribbon erupted a loud yawn, startling the two who were awake. Hattie quickly grabbed her umbrella and opened it to shield herself. Snatcher looked at his contractually obligated BFF with a “what the peck” face, staring at her. Ribbon’s eyes fluttered open and traced themselves to Snatcher and Hat Kid. 

“Oh peck, it’s you! I thought that was a dream!” Hat Kid lowered her umbrella and set it next to her bed, hugging her doppelgänger while proudly holding a cheerful smile. Ribbon froze up for a second, staring at Snatcher for help. He just smirked at her, chuckling to himself. Hattie quickly let go of the hug, hopping out of bed and going into her closet. She threw out clothes that now filled her once empty closet as she groaned to herself trying to find something. Snatcher sat next to Ribbon in which they both stared at the frustrated tiny alien. An alarm clock then rang which threw the kiddo onto the floor, shrieking at the sudden alarm before realizing. Ribbon was also caught off guard, not much like her doppelgänger though as Snatcher sighed, summoning a blue potion and throwing it to the kid’s alarm clock which then broke. 

“Snatcher!!” Hattie then groaned once again, finally grabbing her regular laundried outfit out of her closet and slamming its doors loud. She stomped out of her bedroom in frustration as she murmured things like “... this is my spaceship!, why are they so mean sometimes?!” and “what the peck…”. Snatcher laughed at her reactions. 

“It’s… Snatcher, right?” Ribbon’s voice cut Snatcher’s laugh as his glowing yellow eyes stared at the kiddo’s doppelgänger. 

“You got that right. Try anything funny and I’ll eat your soul.” Snatcher chuckled while Ribbon laughed nervously, scratching her head while avoiding eye contact with the purple noodle ghost. 

“Mmm… I’m just wondering… do you see me the same as my doppelgänger…?” Ribbon bit her lip as she looked back up to Snatcher. He then observed the girl closely, considering her question carefully while his contractually obligated BFF is gone. Instead of her though, it was her mirror image. 

“Honestly… I don’t. Now stop asking me questions. I would say ‘Get Lost’ but you don’t even know where the hell you are.” Snatcher groaned as he opened his hand, a blue fire blazing as it summoned a book. She looked at the cover of the book and saw the title “How to kill kids” with a yellow star being covered in blood. I looked at Snatcher with a questioning face. Wasn’t her doppelgänger his best friend? Why is he trying to murder his best friend— or her?! What if Snatcher killed Ribbon?! It froke the little girl as she went into a little panic, looking at Snatcher. 

“Relax… uh, kiiiiiiiiiiid 2? I don’t know what to call you, so I’ll just call you brat.” Snatcher laughed, opening the book to chapters 1 and 2. 

“H-hey! Why ‘brat!?! There are better names, y’know?!” The girl showed clear frustration, crossing her arms. 

“Because your doppelgänger is a brat and you’re acting like a brat right now. Simple!” Snatcher smirked, his menacing glowing yellow eyes looking down upon the girl. She gulped but her eyebrows were furrowed in anger. 

“Mad? I wouldn’t care. Your opinion doesn’t matter to me.” He cackled, as the girl opened her mouth to sat something that she’ll regret, but the doors had opened. They both steered their heads to Hattie, back in her normal and usual outfit. 

“S’matter with you guys? My mirror image looks like she’s about to scream at you, Snatcher!” Hattie walked forward to the both of them, slapping Snatcher’s book onto the floor and shutting Ribbon’s mouth up which honestly surprised Ribbon. Hattie wore a smug look and stared at Snatcher.

“Kid. I don’t think you know who you’re messing with.” Snatcher looked at Hattie, readying to summon a brilliant blue flame. Hattie smiled and took out a blue potion, as she made it clearly into Snatcher’s view. The spirit immediately groaned in anger, putting his power away. Hattie then smiled and put her blue potion back into her pocket dimension. 

“I don’t really think you know who you’re messing with.” Hattie remarked, turning to Ribbon and smiled. Ribbon chuckled as Hattie extended her hand to Ribbon, and Ribbon gladly accepted the offer. Hattie immediately then pulled her out of bed as she led Ribbon to the Main Hall then up the ramp to the kitchen. Hattie was running pretty fast but Ribbon was glad she wasn’t using her magical abilities to enhance her speed, otherwise Ribbon would’ve tripped at least 13 times. 

“Woah… what a weird kitchen.” Ribbon muttered under her breath, looking all around the room. She found a cat who was then cooking food which was completely unfamiliar to her. Hattie clapped and cheered, going to the orange tabby cat. 

“Morning, CC!” She greeted the cat, but she wasn’t expecting an answer until their breakfast was ready. 

“Morning Hon! I’ll look at you in a sec after I’m done cooking the bacon.” CC stayed focused on her cooking, putting the savory bacon onto a plate. She then turned off the oven and served the bacon onto the nearby dining table Hattie recently set up. 

“I don’t think you met Ribbon yet, CC!” Hattie called out to Cooking Cat while pulling Ribbon to her side and smiling at Cooking Cat. Ribbon looked nervous as she nervously smiled and said hi, accompanied by a little wave. 

“Hon, she looks exactly the same as you! You never told me you had a twin.” CC sat down on the dining chairs along with Hattie and Ribbon as they all started munching on the food which was delicious! Ribbon loved it, it was so new and fascinating to her. It was also pretty savory. Apparently it’s called ‘bacon’ from what the cat ‘CC’ said.

“CC, she is my doppelgänger! She’s from another timeline and she did some weird stuff so now she’s here!” Hattie spoke while trying to eat, which disgusted both Cooking Cat and Ribbon. 

“Don’t talk while trying to eat.” Ribbon spoke out finally, looking at her mirror image. 

“Uhhmmmm… okay…??” Hattie smiled childishly, getting back to munching on bacon and drinking water after finishing her sentence. What’s with everyone saying that she shouldn’t talk while eating? Even her own doppelgänger!!

After they finished eating, they all drank water and stayed silent for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Ribbon looked all over the kitchen, examining Hattie’s home. She finally found something odd and strange, and couldn’t believe she didn’t see it before. It was literally big and kind of in the way, being in the middle of the kitchen and all. It was a telescope looking up to the small glass roof. What the heck was a telescope doing in the middle of a kitchen?! Surely there must be some logical explanation. 

“Hattie… why is there a telescope in the middle of the room?” Ribbon tapped Hattie’s shoulder and pointed towards the telescope. Hattie then gasped, getting up from the dining table and next to the telescope. 

“This is a telescope to view Mafia Town! It’s the place where I first landed after falling from the sky, no biggie.” Hattie chirped, looking into the telescope’s view to see Mafia Town. 

“I would scream at that but I realize that you also made me fall from the sky but I landed in that spooky forest where that dumb brute of a ghost lives.” Ribbon crossed her arms and smiled, going next to Hattie. 

“Mafia Town is where I first met the girl! She was very polite and sweet to me compared to the Mafia!” CC chuckled while Hattie nodded, smiling. 

“Are the Mafia… not sweet and polite?” Ribbon looked at Hattie. Hattie looked at CC then back to Ribbon repeatedly until she and Cooking Cat started to laugh. Hattie tried her best to silence her laugh by putting her hand on top of mouth. 

“Not at all!” Hattie finally said as Ribbon gave out a “what the actual heck” face to Hattie. This caused Hattie to laugh even more while Cooking Cat stopped laughing. 

“Oh my stars!! We should go to Mafia Town right now!!” Hattie smiled and pointed towards her telescope right in the middle of the room.

“Didn’t you say yourself that the Mafia isn’t nice?” Ribbon questioned, examining the telescope and poking it. Hattie simply smiled and started to use the telescope as she found the area she wanted to land in. She stopped using the telescope, an adventurous look was filled in her eyes. 

“Alright, stay here Ribbon! I’m gonna grab my umbrella.” Hattie waved, flicking her hat as it magically turned into her sprint hat. She zoomed out of the kitchen, her doors opening wide. Ribbon sighed with a giggle as she closed the doors then sitting with Cooking Cat in silence, both waiting patiently for Hat Kid.

“What’s it like living here?” Ribbon muttered, catching CC off guard. CC simply stared at Ribbon, very careful of what she was going to say to Hat Kid’s mirror image. Well, this planet…

“It’s… pretty much a wild ride living on this planet is all I got to say, hon.” CC finally replied back to Ribbon. Ribbon then played with her hair, murmuring more things but CC couldn’t quite hear her. 

Hat Kid zoomed into the kitchen once again with her trusty umbrella. She threw it up in the air as it did a flip, then caught her umbrella by its handle. She flicked the brim of her sprint hat as it changed back to her classic purple top hat as Ribbon and CC was caught off guard by her, but clapped when she caught her umbrella. She then bowed with a smile.

Ribbon then walked towards Hat Kid, patting her on the shoulder. “Alright… So where is this ‘Mafia Town’ at?” Hat Kid was surprised— her doppelgänger wanted to go on an adventure!! Especially in Mafia Town; the beginning of the hatted child’s journey. This was gonna be exciting and fun, she thought. Both the children waved goodbye to Cooking Cat. They closed the doors behind them, as they heard CC say a sweet goodbye. Hat Kid then climbed on top of the rail then jumped down. Ribbon peaked her head over the rail and saw that her mirror image was fine. Ribbon spotted the ramp from earlier and just decided to take the safest route. She then met up with Hattie by the bay window and the entrance to her spaceship. 

Hat Kid opened the door to her spaceship, poking her head out. She looked to the planet, trying to find Mafia Town. Once she found the Mafia filled city, she pinpointed the general spot where she planned to land. Hattie looked back to Ribbon, tightening her grip on her umbrella as she extended her arm out to her mirror image. Ribbon gulped, hesitant at first but took her hand. 

“Hold me tight and don’t let go. Maybe don’t look down while you're at it, heh.” Hattie spoke, as Ribbon immediately hugged her tight but not that tight that Hattie couldn’t breathe. Hattie then stepped forward as Ribbon followed her, opening her umbrella outside the door and jumping off the spaceship. She felt Ribbon’s grip immediately tighten around her as they both jumped off the spaceship. She laughed, steering both of them to Mafia Town. They both glided off into the atmosphere of Earth as Ribbon screamed her head off the entire way and Hat Kid laughed a lot. 

They both finally reached Mafia Town but not quite the ground yet. When Hat Kid deemed it safe to close her umbrella, she looked at Ribbon and chuckled. Ribbon seemed to stop screaming her lungs off now, looking at the calming town and not its residents. Hat Kid finally thought it was appropriate now to close her umbrella, so she looked at her doppelgänger again for the last time, then closing her umbrella. They were both now falling as Ribbon immediately let go and wailed her arms in the air and Hat Kid was getting ready to strike her pose. They both land in the dump area of Mafia Town where Hat Kid first started her wild crazy journey as Hat Kid striked a pose and Ribbon barely managed to strike one too, wobbling immediately after her last second pose then falling to the floor as her head hit the trash bags for safe landing. 

“Oh— uhm, you okay?” Hat Kid turned Ribbon around so she could see her dizzy face. She then extended her arm to Ribbon, offering her the chance to get up. Ribbon after a while took her offer as Hat Kid pulled her up, tidying herself up by sweeping the dirt off her coat and hat. Ribbon did the same as well, then finally taking in her stinky surroundings. This place smells like crap, she thought. 

“This place smells like absolute sh—“ Hat Kid shushed her doppelgänger quickly, eyeing the only path in front of them. 

“Okay geez, be quiet!! I hear something,” Hattie whispered, lowering her hand as Ribbon stared at her in confusion. Ribbon did stay quiet though, wondering what her mirror image is talking about. Suddenly, a seagull dropped right in front of the two as its feathers were bathed in both the sunlight and red. Ribbon almost screamed, but Hattie yet again shoved her hand to Ribbon’s mouth, agitating Ribbon even more. 

As soon as Hattie didn’t hear anything anymore, she lowered her hand from Ribbon’s mouth. “What the actual hell.” was all Ribbon could say. Hat Kid looked back to her doppelgänger and scratched her own head with a guilty smile.

“Welcome to Mafia Town,” was all Hat Kid nervously said. Ribbon facepalmed as she dragged Hat Kid along the only available path in front of them as the sun greeted both the girls. They both stopped at the dead seagull as Hat Kid kicked it.

“That seagull did nothing, I tell ya.” Ribbon let her hands on her hips as Hat Kid simply nodded. 

“The Mafia told me that they were fishers and that seagulls kept eating their fishes… so they killed the seagulls so they wouldn’t touch the fish. Pretty dumb, right?” Hat Kid laughed while Ribbon stared down at the seagull, a sad tiny reminder of her past. She thought, maybe now is not the time to think of that. She was probably here for a reason other than a mere accident back at her home timeline, right? Hope was all she had then. 

Hat Kid then pulled Ribbon and ran along the path of Mafia Town, occasionally jumping from the left to the right just to platform a little. They did call her the platforming master, after all. Ribbon had a hard time keeping up and she couldn’t believe her eyes when Hat Kid double jumped. She tried it along as well and was just as surprised as 5 seconds ago. Hat Kid clapped, saying that maybe her doppelgänger can become a platform master just like her or something. Ribbon really doubted that. 

After all, she wasn’t really the same as her adventurous and brave counterpart, is she?

Chapter Text

A chilly night sweeped the town filled with Mafia as you could still smell the stuff the Mafia were cooking. It was stinky and disgusting as hell. Hat Kid always tried to steer Ribbon away from them, for she too wanted nothing more than to be far away from their cooking as much as possible. Disgusting, both the children thought. 

The two passed by a little cave that had a fireplace to warm the one occupying it, though Hat Kid knew who would stay here. She felt always terrible when seeing the blonde little girl or her terrible living conditions. Her food was scarce, and she honestly just wanted to help the poor girl. Whenever she offered to help her, the blonde girl with a mustache rejected, blaming the hatted child for where she was now. It made Hat Kid even more terrible, though she knew the little blonde girl’s words weren’t true. 

Ribbon pointed to the cave, saying how she felt a little shiver because of the chilly night. Hat Kid shook her head then holding onto Ribbon’s arm, pleading with her eyes to not go in there. Ribbon was confused— it’s just a harmless cave, right? What could potentially happen to them in there that makes her mirror image stay away from? 

“Just… don’t go in there. We can go back into my ship for the night. Besides, it’s starting to rain.” Hat Kid said, putting up her umbrella to cover herself from the sprinkle that was happening. Ribbon’s hair was sprinkled with dots of water on her hair, making her a bit nicer. Alas, more water would make her completely wet and damp. Ribbon sighed, going under Hat Kid’s umbrella instead of the cave. 

The rain poured as Hat Kid held the umbrella for both herself and her doppelgänger as they sat down far from the cave in which Ribbon didn’t know what was wrong with it. The moon once bathed them in the beauty of its light now hid away in its fluffy, dark clouds as the rain poured. Hat Kid sighed, while Ribbon stared into her reflection into the water. 

Hat Kid picked up a pebble and threw it into the water as a tiny splash hit the surface of the water in which it reflected the cloudy day. The rock sinks and disappears into the cold water’s grasp as the rain still poured on into their late night visit into Mafia Town. 

“I’ve been thinking about what you told me about your past… and don’t think that I’m trying to pry into your life story—“ Hat Kid paused, gaining the attention of her doppelgänger. Her mirror image’s gloomy eyes looked upon the gaze of Hat Kid, making her feel a little guilty for even bringing that sensitive topic to Ribbon, especially when they both came here to have fun. It seems like the weather gave off other vibes, though. 

“... I kinda, uhmm… don’t understand why you trust me with that, y’know? Yeah sure we are literally each other but the two of us are completely different—“ Hat Kid was cut off by a loud splash sound by the deep, calming waves. Ribbon threw her pebble hard into the ocean, grunting as she threw it. Her eyes followed the little pebble’s movements as it slowly sank into the fresh waters. 

“It’s just a feeling I had that I can trust myself, yeah?” Ribbon looked at Hat Kid, finally holding the umbrella along with her. Hat Kid chuckled with a small smile, nodding. 

“Let’s go back to your spaceship, I’m getting tired from this trip. I had a lot of fun though!” Ribbon flashed a smile at Hat Kid, catching her doppelgänger off guard since she didn’t really see Ribbon smile that much. Hat Kid pulled out one of her timepieces which glew brightly in the dark colors of the night. She closed her umbrella and put it away as the rain poured onto her brunette hair. She was honestly fine with wet hair, it was a refresher. Though… she needed to sleep. 

She stood up as the timepiece floated above her hand, taking her free hand and grabbing Ribbon. She sighed and looked up to see cloudy skies with rain pouring. She didn’t want to say soaking wet for long, and she, unfortunately, did not bring a raincoat due to Mafia Town being sunny earlier. She looked at her doppelgänger— confusion in her dull eyes. 

“Uh… hold tight to me. This may come off a little… weird for people’s first times.” Hat Kid chuckled in which Ribbon just chuckled and assured her mirror image that she can handle it. Hat Kid only shrugged, thinking that she isn’t gonna handle this calmly. Ribbon held tight into Hat Kid’s hand.

“Don’t let go.” Hat Kid said as she looked into the timepiece. She let the timepiece float by itself in all its glory for only a mere seconds before she placed her hand on top of it and flicked her hand up, starting the transportation back to her spaceship. She immediately felt her arm being squeezed as Hat Kid immediately hugged the timepiece as they all started floating up to the spaceship at a fast speed. A white light engulfed their vision as all the girls could see was each other and the timepiece. Hat Kid did best as she could to told tight onto the timepiece as she knew she could lose it very easily as well as holding on tight to Ribbon as peck— Ribbon isn’t a space adventurer like Hat Kid was and didn’t know peck on what to do if she was stranded in space. 

They finally ended up back in Hat Kid’s spaceship as Ribbon let go of Hat Kid very quickly. She fell down to the floor panting. Hat Kid quickly put away her timepiece as she helped Ribbon up. She swear she could’ve heard bits of Ribbon screaming her lungs off, but she just mostly ignored her screams as she focused on holding her valuable timepiece. 

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Ribbon screamed, trying to calm down but couldn’t fully comprehend Hattie’s transportation system.

“Transportation???” Hat Kid giggled, going up to her timepiece vault and putting her spare timepiece into the vault then shutting it tight. She double jumped back onto the main level of the spaceship, whistling about all the timepiece mess on her carpet. 

“That wasn’t what I thought when you said—“ Hattie immediately cut Ribbon off. 

“You said you could handle it!” Hat Kid pouted, crossing her arms as her gaze looked at Earth and not directly to Ribbon’s eye. Peck, eye contact wasn’t her thing right now. 

“I didn’t mean getting transported across the damn galaxy in like, the speed of light!!” Ribbon groaned, stomping around and screeching about the horrid short experience.

“It wasn’t the entire galaxy!” Hat Kid looked at the planet even more, thinking it was just a short distance for transportation.

“It felt like it, damnit!!” Ribbon complained, crossing her arms now and looking at her doppelgänger. 

“It was only for a few seconds…” Hattie muttered, but apparently her words are just loud enough for Ribbon to hear. 

“It felt like forever, Hattie.” She stared into Hat Kid’s eyes before looking the other way, groaning. 

“Well gee if you don’t like using my transportation system then get up here yourself!” Hat Kid entered Ribbon’s vision again with the smuggest look she ever wore. Ribbon was awfully confused and mad at the same time by seeing her famous smug look. 

“Damn you… Fine. I’ll keep using your tRaNsPorTaTiOn sYsTeM. Only because it's the fastest way to get here besides your ship hovering RIGHT ABOVE Subcon.” Ribbon huffed and crossed her arms. Hattie clapped in excitement and smiled. 

All of a sudden, a pool noodle popped out of the ground. The two girls silenced themselves as they both turned around. Ribbon was horrified, her eyes widened while Hattie had the biggest smile on her face with stars in her eyes. The pool noodle groaned, its eyes opening up and staring at the two. He realized that they were in the middle of the Main Hall in Hat Kid’s spaceship. His glowing yellow eyes then looked at Hattie with mild annoyance. Hat Kid clapped at Snatcher being here and then suddenly started to tackle him with a hug which the ghost was angry at this point. Ribbon stayed silent— her jaw opened. 

“Relax brat, I’m not gonna kill you or anything! Maybe your little doppelgänger with a hat though. I’ve always wanted her soul.” Snatcher laughed in which Hat Kid smiled, laughing as she slowly took out a blue potion from her hat. Snatcher looked straight at Hat Kid and realized she still had the upper hand. 

“If you could kill me, sure! Have my soul! I didn’t really need to survive I guess. But don’t take my hat, you peck neck.” Hat Kid stared straight at Snatcher, dead serious on her last statement. Snatcher didn’t really have any intentions of taking her hat— he’d seen the kid’s wrath and didn’t really wanna face it again. He started to tease her though by gripping her hat but not quite stealing it from Hattie. Hattie yet again stared at him, raising a blue potion to his vision even more with her being a little mad. Snatcher chuckled and threw the kid off him as she landed right next to Ribbon. Ribbon yelped and tried to dodge as she thought Hattie was coming straight at her. 

“Oof.” was all Ribbon had to say once Hattie landed on the middle of the carpet. Hattie was groaning as she lifted her head up while she heard a laugh of the pool noodle. She instantly shot up and interrupted the ghost’s laugh. She caught both Ribbon and Snatcher surprised when she got immediately back to her two feet. 

“Snatcher!!” Hat Kid whined, frowning. Ribbon and Snatcher both laughed in unison as Hat Kid switched her hat to a brewing hat. Instead of the normal purple potion, they were filled blue. Snatcher immediately stopped laughing as the kid shook her blue potion aimed at Snatcher. She had a smug look on her face once again as Snatcher groaned in defeat. Ribbon stared at both Hat Kid and Snatcher, awaiting their next move. 

“Ooh— I… uhm… look at the time! We should all go to sleep!! It’s been a pretty long day you guys! Heh..” Ribbon nervously laughed at the end of her statement as both Hat Kid and Snatcher stared at her. Hat Kid still shook her potion but Snatcher opened his claw and a brilliant blue flame ignited in his hand. Both Hat Kid and Snatcher looked at Ribbon again; like two children about to fight each other when suddenly, the two idiots flashed a quick glance at each other with a smirk. Finally, they aimed their deadly weapons at Ribbon. Ribbon immediately panicked. The brunette felt cold sweat run down her face. She rubbed her palms on her shirt, and tried to get onto her feet to run; her legs stayed in place. 

Hat Kid and Snatcher then laughed while putting away their weapons as Ribbon was trying to calm down. This is what… the second time they bullied her? It was already embarrassing for her to walk right into Snatcher’s traps. 

“I don’t appreciate being harassed like that you guys!!” Ribbon whined, crossing her arms, like a disappointed mother glaring at two unruly children. 

“Sowwy…” Hat Kid said in an adorable voice which she used to manipulate people sometimes. Although, she rarely uses her adorable voice. Everyone thought she was cute anyways being an alien and all. 

“Mmmm… apology accepted I guess… what about you, Snatcher?” Ribbon eyed the purple pool noodle for an apology. Snatcher sighed. 

“You’re not getting some dumb apology from me, brat.” Snatcher looked at Ribbon, making himself look menacing and large. Ribbon just stared at him with a blank expression, shaking her head in disgust. 

“And your opinion doesn’t matter, Snatcher.” Ribbon looked up to Snatcher with the same smug look at Hat Kid had. It enraged Snatcher. He was both confused and mad, flying back to the kiddo’s bedroom. Hat Kid and Ribbon both laughed in unison, sharing a quick high five with each other. 

“Aw peck, that was a good one Ribbon!” Hat Kid cheered while Ribbon scratched the back of her head. She wasn’t really used to being… celebrated for her achievements. A yawn escaped from little Ribbon’s lips, stretching her arms. 

“Ooh… you wanna sleep. Gotcha. Let’s go to sleep then!” Hat Kid clapped and led Ribbon to the only bedroom in the spaceship. They were both greeted by the colorful bedroom palette and plus little dark specs of dark magic flying in the air, letting it be known that Snatcher was present. Of course, he was reading that same book called “How to Kill Kids.” Hat Kid would always laugh at this— if he really wanted to kill her, he should’ve just done it when he took her soul! Now everytime that Hat Kid beat his Death Wish contracts, she seemed stronger and more determined than the last. 

“Heeeyyyyy Snatchie!! We’re gonna sleep now so don’t mind us I guess?” Hat Kid waved and flashed a quick grin. Snatcher stared at Hat Kid with mild annoyance and shut his book, carefully laying it next to him.

“Don’t call me ‘Snatchie’ ever again, kid. I won’t hesitate to rip your soul out and kill you.” He immediately teleported to the kid, scaring her. She let go of Ribbon’s hand as Snatcher started to point at Hattie, a wide grin across the pool noodle’s face. Hattie seemed genuinely scared, her eyes widened with a little terror. She hadn’t been scared since two months ago when she accidentally fell onto Snatcher’s traps as he scolded and shouted at her. 

A sudden feeling then arose from both his mind and his cold, dead heart. He felt.. ah, what did humans call it? ‘Guilt’? The weirdest thing was that he didn’t really feel guilt when trying to kill her in his Death Wishes. Yet, a tiny part of this spooky noodle ghost rooted for the hatted alien to complete his challenges. So… why now he felt guilt?

He dropped his menacing act as he saw Hat Kid’s doppelgänger’s face. Ugh… he forgot her doppelgänger is more fragile than the kiddo herself. He went back to his spot in the corner and picked back up his book, not saying a single word towards Hat Kid or Ribbon. 

“I— I’m… sorry…” Hat Kid muttered, but the ghost had caught her words. He lifted his head from his book, looking at the kiddo. He hasn’t really heard her say those words lately. 

“No kid, it’s my fault. I kinda spooked you back there.” Snatcher stared at the kiddo for one last time before digging himself back into his book that… he realized is still the same damn book. “How to Kill Kids”. That didn’t really help his situation right now. So determined to grab this kid’s soul, and yet he felt guilty about making her feel bad. What was wrong with him?

“Ahem. I wanna go to sleep now.” Ribbon’s voice cut in, catching the other two in the room off guard. Hat Kid scurried about, muttering under her breath, going into her mostly empty closet and grabbing a spare blanket from there. She didn’t mutter a word about the fact that there was a skeleton in her closet as she quickly closed the closet and gave Ribbon the blanket. 

“Nightohaveagooddreamdontlettheghostbite!!” Hat Kid quickly said as Ribbon did not catch anything her mirror image said. Hat Kid then jumped away from her as her hat quickly floated away onto Hat Kid’s drawer while she was jumping and dropped her umbrella which leaned against the drawer. Hat Kid then jumped into bed and buried her head underneath her pillow. The lights then dimmed as the room was now only illuminated by Snatcher’s candles and the door. 

“Night Hat Kid.” Ribbon muttered, getting herself comfortable into the pillow pool. She wrapped herself in the spare blanket Hat Kid gave her. Hat Kid heard her little goodnight, silently echoing back a good night to Ribbon. A page was flipped as Snatcher read the next chapter of “How to Kill Kids”. 

Ribbon couldn’t really sleep. Her mind was occupied with what happened earlier back in Mafia Town. The rain was pouring and they had found a cave. The cave was pretty small and had chalk drawings inside such as “Mafia Sabotage” with a numbering system below the words. Next to the chalk drawing was a symbol of a blonde girl with a hood with a mustache. 

Why was her mirror image begging for her to not go inside that cave? No one seemed to occupy it right now. Maybe that girl with a mustache did, but she wasn’t really inside the cave, now was she? Ribbon was pretty sure it was going to be okay sitting inside that tiny cave for a while. She even bet the blonde girl with a mustache was nice and let them stay a bit. 

Her mind pondered a bit on why they couldn’t stay at the empty cave. It was pretty damn warm at the time because it was just cold when the rain poured in Mafia Town. Her mind couldn’t lead her to a conclusion so she just dropped the subject. She just wanted to sleep at this point. She closed her eyes, getting comfortable enough to sleep. She shuffled around in her spot, not quite finding a comfortable spot. 

When she couldn’t make up her mind, she groaned as quiet as possible to not disturb Hat Kid’s sleep. Her eyes looked around the room and found Snatcher, still reading through his damn “How to Kill Kids” book. How dedicated is he to kill Hat Kid? Is Hat Kid really that hard to take down or is Snatcher just weak? She really doubted Snatcher being weak though, she just witnessed Snatcher making Hat Kid terrified for a few minutes. Felt like it came straight out of a horror movie back in her timeline. Felt kinda weird and awkward but scary to witness. Glad it kinda worked out in the end between the two. 

She closed her eyes, just generally tired in all. She yawned, trying to make herself comfortable once again. As she tried to drift off into her dreams, she opened her eyes instead.

She couldn’t sleep. Damn everyone, why couldn’t she just sleep tonight?!

All of a sudden, she heard something. Something off. She looked at Snatcher who was also caught off guard— but yet Hat Kid was still sleeping peacefully in her dreams. Ribbon wondered what the dream was about. Something good, she hoped. 

Ribbon got out of the pillow pool, still listening to the unusual sound. It sounded like loud footsteps coming from the Main Hall. She heard groans and frustration— a voice of a little girl. That can’t be right. Hat Kid and her were the only children on this spaceship. 

 A woosh then played as Snatcher was right beside Ribbon. They both exchanged looks at each other, still hearing the sound of footsteps and frustration. After a few seconds though, Snatcher went through the hall and left Ribbon there. Ribbon quietly followed Snatcher through the purple hall that led to the Main Hall. 

She saw Snatcher’s head peak through the door although she didn’t hear the door make any sounds of opening. She stepped closer to Snatcher when she felt a strange and weird feeling being close to Snatcher. She looked at her hand, and realized it was being consumed by the shadow purple of Snatcher. 

“Shut up brat… I’m trying to blend you in with shadows right about now. You aren’t exactly dead, you know?” Snatcher whispered as Ribbon carefully approached, finally seeing the intruder in the large spaceship that belonged to Hat Kid. 

“Isn’t there an intruder alert? Why isn’t it playing?” Ribbon whispered, only to be met with silence instead. She didn’t really like silence as an answer. So, instead, she observed the intruder of the spaceship. It was a blonde girl with a mustache, most of her head being covered by a red hood. A golden medallion attached her cape as a whole, a shiny star in the design. The girl was wearing a pink dress with a lavender sash worn right above her hips. She wore blue shoes that matched the clips on her hair, lavender ribbons decorating her hair a bit. Ribbon found it strange that the girl had a mustache of all things, but then she looked right into the blonde girl’s eyes. They were orange, but the look within them was full of evil. Ribbon’s eyes widened. 

That girl… she looked exactly like the drawn symbol from the cave all the way back in Mafia Town. A blonde girl with a mustache and a red hood. No wonder why Hat Kid wanted to stay away from the cave. It all made sense to Ribbon now like a puzzle coming together. 

The blonde girl with a mustache eyed the big vault in the room. She must’ve known that the timepieces were stored there. That’s why she must be here. What does this girl want with Hat Kid’s timepieces, though? It confused her a lot. 

“Snatcher… who's this? Why does she want Hattie’s timepieces?” Ribbon whispered.

“We call her Mustache Girl, or MU for short. She should’ve get lost the moment Hat Kid defeated her.” Snatcher’s tone had anger in it. It got Ribbon confused, but Ribbon guessed that this blonde girl is a… villian. 

Ribbon saw the blonde girl with a mustache carefully approach the timepiece vault, not wanting to disturb anyone’s sleep. Ribbon backed up, afraid of Mustache Girl’s actions with the timepiece. Snatcher heard Ribbon’s quiet gulp as he looked back to Ribbon. 

“I’m gonna wake the kiddo up. She’s gonna fight that damn idiot while I do a spell that the kiddo will need. You stay here and distract that mustache kid.” Snatcher whispered to Ribbon as she stepped back from the door. Snatcher returned her appearance back to normal— no longer his shadows hid her from the girl with a mustache. 

“B-But I can’t fight! How am I gonna stall her?!” Ribbon quietly pleaded with Snatcher for some type of advice. He sighed and turned his back from the door, getting ready to wake the kid. 

“I dunno… crack a damn joke or something. Once Hat Kid gets here, you gotta hide in the kitchen. I’ll be there to protect you. I’m certain your little clone can defeat that idiot.” Snatcher replied back as Ribbon stared at him with disbelief. “Crack a damn joke or something”?! Is that all he had in his mind?! What kind of idiot of a powerful, menacing ghost is she talking to?! 

“Ugh… fine. I’ll distract her. But you better hurry.” Ribbon sighed as Snatcher flew off to the bedroom to wake the kid. Now or never, he thought. Meanwhile, Ribbon gulped, knowing she had to give them time. She cleared her throat, and stepped out of the hall. The door to the Main Hall opened, catching the intruder’s attention. She then called out the intruder’s name, making her move to distract that girl with a mustache. 

.—.—.—.

Snatcher quickly flew into the dim, colorful bedroom. He panted, immediately flying to the sleeping kid’s side. She was peacefully sleeping in her blue bed, hugging a Nomad plushie that resembled the Nomads from Alpine Skyline. Their eyes were bright yellow buttons. It reminded him of his own eyes— glowing yellow that terrified those who entered Subcon. Not this kid though… she was very unusual.

He was wasting time thanks to his little thought. He shook the kid awake quickly, scaring Hat Kid awake. She jolted up with her baggy eyes, mumbling on why he shook her awake. Snatcher silenced the kid with his hand.

“You have an intruder on the ship. They're gonna take the timepieces if you don’t stop them now.” Snatcher saw Hat Kid’s eyes widen with terror as she quickly jumped out of bed with a yawn, lazily grabbing her trusty hat and umbrella. She switched her hat to a sprint hat, sprinting across the purple hall and going into the Main Hall. Snatcher quickly followed the kiddo.

Ribbon was busy stalling Mustache girl as Ribbon threw everything around her that she could throw at Mustache Girl. There wasn’t really much Ribbon could throw, so she dodged to the best of her abilities. She saw in the corner of her vision Snatcher and Hat Kid, in which she nodded and ran into the kitchen. Snatcher nodded back at both Hat Kid and Ribbon, taking a quick swipe at Hat Kid’s carpet though then flying into the kitchen. 

Hat Kid looked at Mustache Girl, ready to take her down. Unfortunately, she was half asleep so she wasn’t gonna probably perform as well as being fully awake and ready to take someone down. They both stared at each other, Hat Kid taking out her umbrella while Mustache Girl threw punches at the air, not afraid to hit Hat Kid. They both charged right at each other, starting their fight. 

.—.—.—.

Ribbon sat down on one of the chairs by the counter the microwave was sitting on. She could hear the battle going on between Hat Kid and Mustache Girl. She was growing anxiety, hoping that Hat Kid would win against Mustache Girl. She looked down at the floor and bit her lip, still hearing insults juggled between the two fighters, as well as groans. Some “Hyahs!” and “Huahs!”. But… something felt wrong. 

Then Ribbon heard Snatcher groan.

She stared at what Snatcher was doing. He had a tiny pile of some dust in his hands. Shiny dust. That could only be timepiece dust, she thought. He summoned in his other hand two blue flowers, binding them together with his dark magic. Golden ribbons appeared, tying the two flowers and bonding them forever. She then saw Snatcher sprinkle timepiece dust on the two flowers, as a little light glew from them. There was a warm aura around it. Snatcher felt satisfied.

“What’s that?” Ribbon’s voice cut in as she tried to not think of the battle that was behind the kitchen walls. Snatcher looked at her, levitating the flowers in his claw. He sighed and faced the kid, lowering his claw. 

“Something I think your little clone needs.” He said in a flat tone, examining the item he had put together. Ribbon stared at the pretty item before Snatcher’s voice cut in once again. 

“Just to be clear, I hate flowers. Don’t ask me why or your little doppelgänger. I never thought I’d be seeing flowers or even consider using them ever again after…” His voice trailed off as Ribbon stared at the beauty of the item, not realizing he had gone quiet at the end. 

“Uhm… I didn’t quite hear you at the last part?” Ribbon eyed Snatcher while Snatcher just groaned, looking into the kitchen’s circle windows. 

“Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I need this item to touch her damn hat.” He eyed the hat the kiddo was wearing while she barely dodged Mustache Girl’s punch, using her homing attack to strike her chance against her foe. From his perspective, she doesn’t look good enough to fight. She was half asleep. 

Hat Kid reached for her hat. Mustache Girl took her chance to strike, and threw a punch at Hat Kid, hitting her  square on the jaw. Hat Kid fell backwards. Mustache Girl knew Hat Kid didn’t give up though, as she saw Hat Kid weakly get back on her two feet, panting. Her foe could see the hatted alien’s baggy eyes. She chuckled, as if she was mocking the brunette. 

Snatcher was starting to get afraid for Hat Kid’s condition. She was not doing too well as she could barely dodged Mustache Girl’s attacks. She could barely hit a homing attack, as hitting the mustache kid with her umbrella was hard. Her aim was off thanks to not being well rested, and her homing attack was her only chance to strike. Mustache Girl landed another punch, smirking. Hat Kid screamed in pain, falling onto her plush carpet. 

“WE NEED TO GO HELP HER!” Ribbon yelled, quickly storming off the kitchen and seeing Hat Kid badly injured on the plush carpet. It didn’t help that there were still some timepiece shards left on the carpet, making the scene a lot more messier. Ribbon jumped off the railing, approaching Hat Kid fast. Snatcher quickly followed Ribbon, his mysterious item finally touching the kiddo’s hat. 

The item turned starting sucking at Hat Kid’s magical hat’s abilities. The hat and the magical artifact itself was glowing a golden hue as you could see the artifact sucking her hat’s abilities. The golden hue dimmed as the two flowers glowed a beautiful blue, signalling that it was done taking all it could take from her hat. It couldn’t take that much due to not much timepiece dust sprinkled onto the magical flowers, but it could still help Hat Kid. 

Mustache Girl laughed at all of them, unlocking Hat Kid’s timepiece vault. 

“Haha! You can defeat me when I had your timepieces by my side, but not when all I’ve got is my damn fists?!” Mustache Girl mocked Hat Kid as a ball of timepieces flew out of the vault. In front of the three on the main floor. Mustache Girl jumped and was under the timepiece ball, making a loud noise when she landed. The timepieces glew a beautiful hue, spinning around in place. The blonde girl smirked, floating along with the timepieces. 

“P-Please!! Don’t smash them! PLEASE! I can’t… I couldn’t… take you on earlier! I wasn’t ready!” Hat Kid cried out, fearing for her life, and what Mustache Girl might do with the timepieces. Snatcher yelled and threw a blue flame to Mustache Girl in which she quickly dodged, mocking him. 

“Is that what you got? A little flame? Why’s a friendly ghost trying to cremate me?” Snatcher yelled once again, summoning a laser underneath Mustache Girl in which she wasn’t quick enough to dodge in time, but the laser didn’t hit the timepieces. 

“Ooh wow, the ghost finally got a bit of damage done. But… it doesn’t matter.” Mustache Girl took the ball of timepieces. She raised the timepieces up, waiting for Hat Kid’s reaction. Hat Kid was crying, hitting the floor in frustration that she couldn’t stop Mustache Girl. Ribbon was holding Hat Kid, supporting the injured hatted alien to sit up. 

“Who needs you, am I right? Hope you’ll enjoy this present from me!” Mustache Girl launched the timepieces on the floor, shattering all of them. It caused a lot of commotion as Hat Kid screamed a painful long “NO!”. Snatcher watched as the blonde girl laughed, and saw Hat Kid’s hat. 

Her Hat’s appearance was changing. White with gold at the end of the cracks formed on her Hat as the ship shaked quite a lot. The cracks on her Hat were glowing as everything was changing. He was surprised and didn’t know how to stop the cracks from forming. He was panicking, he didn’t know what to do! He wanted Hat Kid to be safe, he wanted her to be happy! He started to realize…

He actually cared for the kid.

He quickly looked down at his claw, revealing the glowing flowers. He realized he needed to give them to Hat Kid now. He looked at the poor kid as he slipped the flowers quietly onto her pocket, a dim light shining from her pockets. He was still looking up to see Mustache Girl’s movements, in case she decided to fight them even after the timepieces were doing their work. 

Ribbon was still supporting Hat Kid, helping her sit up, but she couldn’t comprehend the situation. All of the timepieces being shattered right in front of her. Tears started forming in her eyes, clouding her vision. This couldn’t be it. This must be a nightmare right?! It has too!

If it wasn’t… then she couldn’t go back to her timeline.

She screamed, closing her eyes, terrified of seeing anymore of what was happening. She was also terrified for Hat Kid, as she wasn’t doing too well. Hat Kid was forced to see all her hard work shattered right in front of her. All because of Mustache Girl’s greed.

For Hat Kid… she was just so scared. She felt like an absolute failure. For letting Snatcher down… For not getting Ribbon back home. God, it was horrible. She felt so much guilt inside her. She wanted to cry. She was shaking so much. This couldn’t be happening… 

Mustache Girl looked at the trio in front of her, smiling maliciously. She closed her eyes, feeling great for finally setting her plan to motion. 

Hat Kid’s eyes widened as a bright white light took her vision. 

“I’m sorry… for failing you, Mu.” Hat Kid whispered under her breath. She felt something in her pocket, trying to grab at it with what little strength she had left.

Two blue glowing flowers with a golden ribbon binding them sat in her hand. She found herself slowly losing consciousness as the white around her faded into darkness. She finally gave out, laying in darkness. 

A little star all alone in the depths of shadows.

Chapter Text

Hat Kid’s eyes slowly started to open to see she wasn’t on her spaceship anymore. The ground felt rocky and cold, and she couldn’t see anything but grey. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and she finally was fully awake. She jolted up in a frenzy. 

Her eyes wandered around where she was as she heard dripping liquid. She turned her head to the right, seeing a vast ocean and grey clouds. She saw that it was raining and noticed herself shivering. She started to get a clue from where she is, but she couldn’t confirm until she turned her head to the left. Her eyes widen, full of disbelief. 

Chalk was on the little cave walls, saying something like “Mafia Sabotage” with numbers under it. Her eyes looked then to the chalk drawing next to it, knowing fully now where she was. A picture of herself now appeared instead of what she expected Mustache Girl’s, and she instantly jolted back a bit. Why was she on the cave walls instead of Mustache Girl? 

She then sighed, putting her hand on her hat— wait, where was her hat?! It wasn’t on her head anymore, and she felt so cold and weird without it. She quickly tried to look around her surroundings to see if there was any hat, but she couldn’t see her signature purple hat with a yellow ribbon anywhere. She felt like she just lost a part of her identity when it was nowhere in sight. She cowered in the cold, starting to feel so alone and confused. All she could hear was droplets of rain on a dark night. There was no fire to keep her warm. She didn’t even have Rumbi anymore by her side. 

Whoever had stolen her hat was going to pay for their crimes. She would take them down without hesitation just like she did with Snatcher— and she was going to be ready this time to fight back. No one could take her hat without seeing her rage. She was going to find them… but how would she when this planet was so big? 

She’d guessed right now though, she needed to survive in order to find the person who took her hat. She groaned, looking to the rain once again. She didn’t know what to do— if she went out there, she was going to be soaking wet. She didn’t even have any change of clothing anymore, so she just sat. 

She looked at her slightly damaged yellow cape. It was probably from the fight earlier. Ugh, she still couldn’t wrap her head around that Mustache Girl still beat her. It wasn’t even fair! She wasn’t ready and in good condition to fight; she was half asleep during that entire fight until the last moments on her spaceship. She crossed her arms and leaned against the cave walls. She sighed, knowing that the rain won’t be stopping for a while. Maybe later when the clouds clear up could she see her spaceship up in the sky. She then realized there were some things in her pocket. 

She dug into her pocket, pulling out whatever she had in there. Hopefully some food. Instead, she pulled out a blue umbrella with stars and glowing two flowers, tied with a golden ribbon. Her trusty umbrella! At least she could defend herself with the weapon she knew how to use and trust. She smiled, taking a grip of her umbrella. It could also defend her from the rain! She put her umbrella away, feeling a little confidence spark back. 

Her attention then went to the glowing flowers laid on the floor. It glowed bright and had a warm aura to it. Golden ribbons were tied at the stems and its long ribbon flowed. This could be something on her head for a while. She smiled, putting it on top of her ear. It felt a little nicer already to at least have something on her head. 

All of a sudden, she felt like a sudden boost of energy. It felt so familiar to her hat’s magical abilities, but there was just so little energy at the same time. Her mind pondered out for a bit, wondering how could this even have similar magic to her hat? Could it be that it is the same? She didn’t know how to even use this item; it didn’t act the same way as her hat! 

Her mind came into a conclusion that she’ll figure out how to use her headpiece along the way to get back her hat. She then stared back into the ocean, her mind also figuring out that she felt something or someone on her spaceship. Her mind also realized— where the peck was Mustache Girl and Ribbon?! 

.—.—.—.

Ribbon abruptly woke up hearing a voice with a weird accent, and that the floor was more fuzzy than usual. Did she fall asleep?! How the peck was she on Hat Kid’s carpet and not the pillow pool. Many questions roamed in Ribbon’s mind, but yet her eyes still remained closed, trying to think hard. 

Then it hit her. Everything that happened earlier. A bright white light— Hat Kid and Snatcher was with her too. Yet… this voice doesn’t even sound like Hat Kid or Snatcher. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing a girl looking at her. She had blonde hair and a mustache and was wearing…

Hat Kid’s Hat?

What the hell was she doing with Hat Kid’s Hat? And why were there golden cracks on it…? W-Where was Hat Kid and Snatcher anyways?

“AYE! What the hell are you doing on my spaceship?” The voice boomed as Ribbon saw a mouth moving in front of her. This was the girl who fucked up Ribbon’s chance to go back to her timeline. Ribbon wanted to literally punch her in the face but was trying to contain herself. Where was this situation going? She decided to stay quiet for now until Mustache Girl revealed more information so she could play along with whatever the hell she was doing. 

She took notice of what Mustache Girl said. Her spaceship? Is she being an idiot right now? This was her doppelgänger’s spaceship. 

“Who the hell are you?! Can you respond to me?! You look so similar to…” Mustache Girl’s statement trailed off, although Ribbon had a hunch of what the blonde girl was saying. Hmm… Ribbon thought of a plan. Maybe it could work. She needed more information before her plan swung into action. 

“Well if you’re not going to say anything, fine. If you’re trying to steal my timepieces, then I’m gonna have to kick you out.” Mustache Girl crossed her arms, huffing. Ribbon got up and looked around, acting like she just woke up. She stretched and yawned, waving a little ‘Hello!’ to Mustache Girl. Time to set her plan in motion. She could probably deceive the blonde to make her tell where Hat Kid went. At least… first she wanted to go to ‘Subcon Forest’, see if Snatcher’s there. 

“U-uhm… I’m your sister? Hello??” Ribbon looked saddened by her “sister” forgetting she existed. Mustache Girl looked physically confused for a second, before clearing her throat. 

“O-oh, uh, yeah! Sorry about that… uh?” Mustache Girl went on to try to guess Ribbon’s name. Ribbon honestly wanted to laugh at her because of the ridiculous names she listed off of. She does realize that if Hat Kid is considered alien around here, Ribbon would also be alien here. Mustache Girl was listing off Earth names! Oh well, whatever. She didn’t come close. 

“It’s Ribbon, you big dork!” Ribbon faked smiled as Mustache Girl laughed when Ribbon told her name. This girl does know that Ribbon remembered every single bit of earlier, right? She’s gotta be that dumb. 

“Y’know… my spaceship kinda died and you rescued me and took me in! You were about to introduce me to your friends.” Ribbon crossed her arms, looking impatient. Mustache Girl groaned and Ribbon could’ve sworn she heard the blonde mutter out ‘She’s such a bitch…’. Oh… the blonde was not getting away with calling her a bitch. 

“Where’d you wanna go first,” Mustache Girl replied in a monotone voice, pounding her fist against the large window in the Main Hall. Ribbon shuttered a bit by the sound, but she went closer to the window and tried to find Subcon Forest. Hopefully Snatcher could help her with finding her clone. It’s just… this girl is gonna follow her. Ribbon couldn’t let the blonde be by herself either… she couldn’t let Mustache Girl destroy time even more. 

Ribbon pointed to the dark spooky forest on the planet with a little smile. Mustache Girl never went there before, so she’d also experience Subcon Forest for the first time as well. Mustache Girl noticed a problem immediately— it was that she didn’t know how to fly a spaceship. She’d tried to see Hat Kid’s spaceship manuals, but they were all written in some weird scribble of an alien language. 

“... Could you fly us to Subcon? I don’t feel a little bit good to drive the spaceship around, y’know?” Mustache Girl looked at Ribbon as she pointed her head towards the control panel. Ribbon gulped, fake smiling and looking over the control panel. She didn’t know how to drive a spaceship. Luckily, she looked down into the planet and it seemed like the spaceship was just close enough to Subcon that they could jump down with no hassle. Hopefully they both didn’t need an umbrella to land, because Ribbon didn’t own an umbrella, and Ribbon also didn’t know if Mustache Girl had an umbrella. 

“We’re close enough anyways to jump down into Subcon! I think we can land without any trouble since we are pretty resilient at this.” Ribbon clapped, running towards the door and grabbing the handle. Mustache Girl seemed a bit worried but followed Ribbon to the spaceship’s entrance. Now she’ll be the one frailing her arms everywhere and screaming, Ribbon hoped. She opened the door, holding her hand out to the blonde with a smile. Mustache Girl hesitated but eventually took Ribbon’s offer as they both jumped down into Subcon. 

As it turns out, Ribbon’s prediction was mostly correct as Mustache Girl looked terrified going down at the planet from the sky. Ribbon felt like she was getting used to this. They both landed in front of Snatcher’s tree as Ribbon struck a pose and Mustache Girl barely landed. Ribbon laughed at Mustache Girl as the blonde got herself back up and groaned. 

“You look like you couldn’t handle it, sis. We’ve done this plenty of times!” Ribbon just had a hard time getting the word ‘sis’ out of her mouth as Mustache Girl crossed her arms. 

“What? We fell out from the damn sky plenty of times?!” Mustache Girl looked at Ribbon a bit terrified from the idea of falling out of the sky. Ribbon simply nodded. 

Ribbon’s eyes wandered around the dark spooky forest, looking ahead of the path with a clear outline of Snatcher’s Trap. Perhaps she could get Mustache Girl into his trap but this time, no one would be able to save her from getting her soul. She’s just gotta lead MU to the trap… but the brunette herself can’t fall in it herself. She’s just gotta get ahead and make the blonde chase after her. 

“Wowie! What’s over there!?” Ribbon gasped, running and jumping down the path. She ran down the path, jumping over the trap as she could hear MU’s footsteps following the girl. She could hear Mustache Girl gasp as the blonde’s footsteps came to a halt, a dark purple engulfing the girl. Ribbon looked back and saw the dark purple vines caging her in and magic being in the works. 

“AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA! FOOL!” Snatcher laugh boomed throughout the forest as tree branches slowly moved, some leafs falling off. All residents of Subcon Forest as well as Ribbon could feel the eerie tension in the air, a soul about be taken. Ribbon hid behind a nearby tree, her head poking out to see if Mustache Girl made it out alive but without her soul. 

“Oh, I remember you. You’re truly a damn idiot if you think I can let you get away with Death.” She could hear Snatcher getting angrier as she could still remember his eyes laying on herself, his glowing menacing eyes. 

“I also remember you. Do you know my… title, by chance?” Mustache Girl eyed him in which Snatcher picked her up with a cape as Ribbon could smell a fire. Yet it was Snatcher’s brilliant blue flame surrounding the purple vines. 

“The little blonde with a mustache who changed the world to fucking lava. I might’ve been okay, but you remind me of a certain ice bitch.” Snatcher growled, throwing Mustache Girl hard into the floor, blue flames surrounding the child. 

“I wonder how you recognized me even with this ugly purple hat here.” Mustache Girl shouted.

“You think the little kiddo’s timepiece magic works on spirits?! Try again, asshole. Maybe those little timepieces are powerful as hell, but they can’t affect everyone.” Snatcher spat, summoning a quill and a contract. 

“The fuck?” Mustache Girl yelled, getting up into her feet and looking at the contract. 

“Sign it or I’ll torture you for every single thing you’ve ever done.” Snatcher threatened, as Mustache Girl couldn’t really do anything at the moment. She skimmed the contract, scribbling her signature onto the paper. Snatcher smiled, laughing. His tone was filled with anger as he ripped away MU’s soul, flying away into the unknown. MU looked up as she realized what the actual hell she just got herself into. She thought, “Well damn, I think I just sold my soul away to the friendly neighborhood ghost.” 

“Good, good. I’ll start with you very… shortly. I need to tend to something else. Don’t think you can escape my clutches now.”  Snatcher slowly let down the trap as Ribbon held her breath and ran a little farther, hiding behind the trees. She couldn’t let Mustache Girl know she heard everything Snatcher said.The brunette was panting, finally coming back out after a few minutes, scrambling back to Mustache Girl. 

“Sis? Where’d you go?” Ribbon called out, finally seeing MU into view. God, she hated calling MU her sister. But if that’s what it takes to trick the blonde, then so be it. Ribbon ran to MU, panting. 

“A-are you alright, sis? You don’t entirely seem too good. Hey, what’s that paper poking out of your pocket?” Ribbon pointed to the paper in MU’s pocket as MU’s eyes widened— there was never a paper in her pocket until now. She took the paper and opened it, revealing it was a contract and her own signature was at the bottom. Shit… this is what she signed? She’d guess, maybe get them over with so it didn’t screw over her plans in the long run. 

“G-get rid of the possessed outhouse?” MU eyed her contract carefully, looking at the big red letters spelling out “Your Soul”. Ribbon peeked at the contract, seeing pictures attached to the contract. She could see a little purple hat poking out of the edges of the pictures and a blue umbrella, and she immediately knew this photo was taken during Hat Kid’s contracts with Snatcher. 

Both the girls followed the path, eventually ending off in front of the arena, where an outhouse awaited. Ribbon wished MU a good luck (but also quietly hoped that the blonde broke her arm). MU nodded, stepping into the arena. Ribbon waved MU bye, as she knew the mustached girl will take a while. She hid behind the trees as she felt Snatcher’s presence as he popped out of the ground. 

“Hey, brat. Still remember me?” Snatcher quietly chuckled as Ribbon smiled and nodded. Ribbon’s eyes were full of hope he realized. 

“God! I felt so lost! We need to find Hat Kid!” Ribbon quietly begged Snatcher as Snatcher looked around, teleporting both of them to his tree. They both were seated as Snatcher made a little TV out of magic, projecting the battle in the arena. 

“That’s good you still remember your doppelgänger. I know you heard my conversation earlier with the blonde idiot.”  Snatcher looked at her as Ribbon nodded, her mouth beginning to open. 

“Yeah… it’s just— I came to you for help. I need to find Hat Kid. I need to know if she’s okay, Snatcher. MU has Hattie’s Hat!” Ribbon pleaded while Snatcher rolled his eyes. 

“If I were you, I’d start searching in Mafia Town. Careful not to literally shout Hattie’s name out. Her timepieces are powerful and have the ability to… change stuff. So I guess, be careful.” 

“O-okay. I think I got an idea.” Ribbon was thinking of the cave they last saw at Mafia Town with Hat Kid begging Ribbon to not go inside. Ribbon guessed she knew why Hattie begged. Ribbon was okay with that. 

“Once you find her though, tell her to come back to Subcon, you hear me? I trust you to do what I request without a contract to make sure it happens. That doesn’t happen often, you know.” 

“Got it! We don’t need to sign a contract, I think it’s not necessary. Neither is taking my soul. But you know what I’m glad for?” Snatcher looked down at the gleaming Ribbon, expecting an answer. 

“What?” He finally said, impatient for the answer. 

“You took MU’s soul! I’m so glad! I have to call her sis just to trick her. I'm under the influence of the timepieces.” 

“Glad somebody enjoyed the suffering of hers, then! Damn, you’re kinda similar to the kiddo, y’know?”

“I’m like her clone but different!!” Ribbon crossed her arms, acting a little whiny when something caught both of their attention. Mustache Girl defeated the outhouse. Snatcher teleported Ribbon quickly to the front of the arena which Ribbon was confused at first on how she just got here when a second ago at Snatcher’s. Mustache Girl quickly stepped out of the arena, coughing out blood. 

“Oh heck!! What happened to you?!” Ribbon observed MU’s appearance. Her clothing was torn, her hair which was usually tied into braids was now just a big blob of mess. There was a scar on MU’s cheek as well. 

“M-my hat kinda helped I guess? Or it just led to more accidents.” MU coughed out— crap! Ribbon almost had forgotten that MU was wearing Hattie’s beloved hat. Ribbon just wanted to fight and get back the Hat, but she knew it wasn’t a wise choice. She herself didn’t know how to fight. She would lose easily to the blonde, as well as blow her cover. Worse case scenario, MU would think Ribbon was actually Hat Kid herself. 

Hat Kid’s Hat was covered in glowing cracks which made Ribbon worried. What the hell does this mean?! 

“We should get you back to the spaceship!! Maybe fix you up. Then I was hoping… maybe we could go somewhere else next?” Ribbon tried to get the thought off her mind until she found her doppelgänger. She hoped her clone held all the answers to the situation that was happening. 

“U-uhmm… okay. How do we get back up, exactly?” MU pointed to the spaceship which was still in the skies. Ribbon pondered for a moment… did they bring any timepieces?? That was the fastest way to travel back into the spaceship. 

“You got any timepieces? That’s how we usually get back up into spaceships.” Ribbon chirped in which MU hesitated and stared at the brunette. MU sighed after a while, taking out a timepiece as it levitated into the air. Its atmosphere calms those around it. Ribbon took ahold of the timepiece, feeling the power of them in her fingertips. She extended her hand out to MU’s in which the blonde grabbed it quickly. 

Ribbon smirked, happily wanting to see the blonde’s reaction to transportation. “Don’t let go!” Ribbon chirped the same words Hat Kid spoke to the poor girl. Felt kinda like deja vu. MU yawned and nodded, still holding Ribbon’s hand. With Ribbon’s free hand, she flicked her hand up as a bright light engulfed the girls as they felt their feet leave the ground. Ribbon tried hard to act like she was used to this and holding the timepiece tight. MU was shocked— what the peck?!

Seconds later, they were both back in Hat Kid’s Spaceship as MU fell face flat onto the carpet and Ribbon on her feet. She crossed her arms as she saw MU was very close to becoming unconscious. Ribbon sighed, helping the blonde sit up. 

“That’s how you— I mean, WE get back into spaceships?!” MU was shocked, brushing herself off and trying to stand on her own two feet. Her Hat almost slipped off her head but MU quickly caught the hat. It was almost like the Hat wasn’t bound to MU, while the Hat could never get off Hat Kid’s head unless she herself took it off. Ribbon simply nodded to answer MU. 

“Oh… uhm… I don’t really know how to bandage you up, sis.” Ribbon said in a low voice, trying to sound worried. The truth is, she was fine with the blonde being injured.

“I-I think I’ll be fine. Where’d you wanna go next…?” MU coughed out. 

“While you got lost chasing me earlier, I heard those weird purple guys with yellow faces say stuff about a place called ‘Mafia Town’ or something. I wanna go there next!” Ribbon smiled. MU immediately groaned at the words “Mafia Town”. It’s the last place MU ever wanted to be at ever. She couldn’t believe Hat Kid’s sister wanted to go into Mafia Town. 

“... Fine.” MU spat out, disgusted at the idea of being in Mafia Town. Ribbon bounced up and down and clapped, looking against the bay window and looking at Mafia Town. Some of the place was covered in dirty grey clouds and she couldn’t see the location of Mustache Girl’s cave. This was gonna be a lot harder, huh? 

“Tomorrow though, I feel kinda tired from exploring that forest.” MU yawned and stretched her arms. Ribbon whispered out a disappointed “oh,” but kept her composure. Finding her doppelgänger will be tomorrow then, she’d guess. 

.—.—.—.

The soft sound of the pouring rain finally halted for the night. Hattie’s baggy eyes slowly opened as she could herself wrapped in her thin yellow cape as a protection from the cold. It didn’t do that much sadly. 

She took a deep breath and slowly got up to observe her surroundings. She was still in MU’s cave, all alone with no food. There was no fire for warmth, and she didn’t know whether or not it was okay to sneak out and grab something to make a small fire or get some food. 

Her eyes adjusted to the starry night as she gasped in delight. She took her first step out of the cave, seeing her own reflection in the ocean. She could also see the bright piercing light of the moon reflected in the waters. She smiled, seeing tiny dots also being reflected. It must be the stars tonight, they looked wonderful. 

She looked up to the beautiful sky accompanying the town that was a paradise for the Mafia as she saw a different colored dot in the sky. Her eyes widened, realizing it was her spaceship. She fell to her knees, her hand reaching out to the dark sky for her spaceship. She was out of breath, out of words. How could she get back up onto the spaceship without a timepiece? That spaceship was her home, not Mustache Girl’s. Ribbon was also on that spaceship. 

The brunette hoped that her mirror image was alright. She whispered a hope, any sign that this can be alright. She just wanted to protect everyone from a dangerous power and only needed 16 timepieces more to get back all her timepieces. Why couldn’t she just get them normally with her trusty hat? Why did this have to happen? 

Her eyes traced back to the rocky ground, little pebbles around her. She grabbed one tight and threw it into the ocean with sadness filling in her. For once, she didn’t know how to proceed from here. What was next for her? Was she stuck like this forever, mostly forgotten because of a power that gotten into the wrong hands again? That she failed to stop them for once from using the timepieces? 

She threw another pebble into the ocean as it bounced and rippled through the calm ocean waters but she was filled with rage and sorrow. She sighed, knowing that there was no use being angry or sad right now. 

So she had gotten up again on her own two feet. She was stumbling for a bit, but eventually stood up. She took out her trusty blue umbrella and gripped on its handle tight, looking up at the spaceship she lived on. 

“I won’t give up. Not this time.” She spoke out loud, vowing to return everything back to normal again. Even if it meant she had to fight the blonde again and it had hurt so much to fight her the first time. 

“I’m not going down without a fight.” The brunette whispered as her words were lost into the wind of the night sky. 

Chapter Text

She woke up on the cold, rocky ground. She jolted up from her sleep, panting. Everything surrounding her was real. The reality she lived in was real and set in motion. She patted the top of her head, still missing her hat that always firmly held its place. 

The sun was rising above the ocean, its rays twinkling in the waters. The reflection of the sun in the water seemed so magical that her mind was almost filled with that simple thought alone. However, she shook her head, coming back into reality. It was a sunny day as the blue sky introduced itself into Mafia Town once again. 

Hattie smiled, getting back on her own two feet. Okay, she thought. She was still the same ol’ alien but without her hat. She didn’t need her hat for everything. 

She stepped out of the cramped cave, breathing in the fresh air and a horrible smell of the Mafia’s Cooking. She looked back, making sure she didn’t leave anything behind in the cave. Once she checked that everything she had was in her pockets and those weird magical flowers were still on her, she set up to explore Mafia Town. 

Of course, everything still stayed the same but for a few small details. Instead of MU’s graffiti on the walls, it had Hattie’s head instead. Hattie gasped at this, looking around with a frown. She sighed, knowing she can’t stay in one area for so long other than the cave. She wasn’t even welcomed back into her own spaceship. Hopefully everything was alright up there. 

As she walked the streets of Mafia Town, she could hear whispers all around her. Hattie felt distressed, keeping her head low. She didn’t even have a cape to hide herself. She could just hear the whispers floating around her. 

“That girl should’ve gotten lost!”

“Mafia don’t believe the little child has the audacity to stay!”

“She should get lost!”

Those were some of the whispers around her. Those whispers awfully sounded like the words directed at MU— but now its targetted at Hat Kid. She was innocent, but almost everything she ever known had changed thanks to the power of the timepieces. Cod, she wished she just didn’t have any timepieces anymore and be done with space travelling for once! 

She took a deep breath and turned around to where all the Mafia were shouting those rude insults at her. She had a smug look on her face, which confused the Mafia. Suddenly, the brunette blew a raspberry to the crowd. The Mafia were angry, starting to throw fists and punches towards Hattie’s way. She jumped and did a homing attack followed by three quick swings of her umbrella, leaving the Mafia dead. The other Mafia was charged at her, but she still held her head high and showed them not to mess with her. 

She blew another raspberry as she stomped on the Mafia. She jumped again, repeatedly stomping the Mafia until he was left dead. She jumped down in front of the crowd, pointing her umbrella towards the leftover Mafia. A little smug grin was worn on her face, using her umbrella to tell them to knock their pecking behavior off. 

Maybe she didn’t have her hat, her spaceship, and her timepieces right now. It doesn’t mean she can still send those back in their places— not messing with the little alien. 

She blew off a raspberry one last time before confidently walking away in the path that was clear. She put away her umbrella, seeing someone familiar. She ran up to the familiar face, hoping to cod they still remember her. A smile beamed on her face as the familiar called out her name. 

“Ah, it’s you, hatted child. It seems though you are separated from what makes your namesake.” The badge seller greeted the brunette, washing over a relief over the small alien. She cheerily smiled, greeting and bowing to the Badge Seller.

“You’re not affected by it?” The small girl asked. 

“Alas, no. Spirits cannot be affected by such a thing. I’m sure you know the other way that those cannot be affected by such magic.” The Badge Seller twitched but it did not bother Hat Kid, it was normal for the Badge Seller. 

“... Those who witness it being in the works.” The child mumbled, remembering reading one of those boring books that had many words. What was it, ‘chapter books ’? She preferred the books with pictures or just not really reading them at all. 

“While I am not such an expert as you child, I do believe that you need some type of help getting the timeline back to where it should be.” The Badge Seller used his wand and summoned three badges, each with a price. The girl looked up and saw the same badges she bought earlier in her journey that she attached to her hat. 

“I don’t have a hat anymore to attach the badges to. What do I do?” The small girl said with a little sorrow in her voice. She missed her purple top hat with a yellow accent greatly. 

“As long as you can feel like you can call out for their power, you don’t need to attach them to your headpiece. Can you feel their power calling out to you, young one?” The badge seller leant his hand closer to the girl, holding the projectile badge. Hat Kid stared into the badge then up to the badge seller, nodding. 

“Uhm… I don’t think I have any pons on me to buy them. Sorry…” Hat Kid spoke and held a sincere apology to the badge seller. The badge seller simply shook his head, his wand’s magic levitating the badge to her small hands. 

“Nonsense. You’ve done me a great favor by just reverting this planet from its fiery fate back into what it usually is. Think of this as repayment, child.” Hat Kid put the projectile badge away into her pocket, bringing out her umbrella. She called upon the badges power, seeing a yellow light beam fly away from her umbrella and hit a nearby Mafia. She was amazed and stared back at the badge seller. 

“Have the badge, for I know you’ll be needing it a lot.” The badge seller gave Hat Kid the No Bonk Badge. She smiled, thanking the badge seller and putting it away. 

“Thank you so much! I won’t forget this!!” The girl smiled, waving goodbye to the badge seller. They simply nodded and thanked the brunette for stopping on by. She cheerily replied back one last time before running back into the Mafia roads. 

She went all over the town as fast as she could before receiving another sudden energy boost. She was suddenly sprinting across the water fountain before tripping as the effect weared off. She was caught off guard with no explanation; how did she start to sprint so fast? That was never possible unless she wore her trusty sprint hat. 

Hat Kid quickly got back onto her feet and jumping onto roofs where no one could possibly hurt her. She sat down at the lush grass, swaying side to side with the breeze that usually swept Mafia Town and its shores. She took off her headpiece, looking at the two flowers now sitting in her hand. What the peck was going on?

The two flowers suddenly glew, a dark aura surrounding them, startling Hat Kid. She looked up around her, and her vision was darkened. Brilliant blue particles came out of her headpiece as Hattie looked everywhere around her. Everything felt like it was slowing down as she saw the Mafia walk even slower than before. Her eyes widened, realizing that the headpiece was causing time to slow down. Before she could look at the flowers mysterious glow, time resumed back at normal speed, surprising the alien even more. How did it have the power to slow down time?! 

She quickly put the headpiece back on, knowing she couldn’t let it stay onto her hand forever. She got up, snagging a heart pon and absorbing it, feeling refreshed. She sighed, sitting down on the edge of the roof, dangling her feet. She could see the square(?) pretty well, but boredom caught up to the girl fast.

The girl sat around, looking at the Mafia. Once in a while some Mafia tried to throw some cans at her but she just blocked it with her arm or she would just ignore the hit. The girl blew a raspberry at them in boredom, snickering at the Mafia’s resentment towards the young alien. She kept teasing the Mafia until she heard strange sounds coming from her left. 

Hat Kid quickly tried to hide herself, getting onto the higher roofs that had lots of birbs everytime she went there. She quickly disposed of her enemies, learning over the rail to see two familiar faces. She slapped her mouth in order to not make a sound. She quietly observed them as they went in front of the fountain. 

“What do you want to do here again…” Mu spoke out in boredom while giving death stares to nearby Mafia. A girl with brunette hair was next to the blonde, making Hat Kid’s eyes widen in shock. The blonde was wearing her hat, but something seemed wrong with her hat. It had… golden cracks. Oh peck , that’s not a good sign. 

“To… explore! Duh…” Ribbon spoke out, looking everywhere to find what she was looking for. Her eyes wandered everywhere until she saw something strange in one of the roofs. It had a pair of blue eyes and brunette hair with two flowers as a headpiece. Ribbon immediately gasped, quickly turning her head back to Mu.

“Can you get us some food please? I’m hungry. I’ll wait for you here while you get the food!!” Ribbon quickly muttered out and pushed Mu to the nearby food stalls, ignoring Mu’s protests. Eventually, Mu caved in and went to go order food at the stalls. Once Ribbon knew Mu was distracted, she went to go climb up to the roofs. Hat Kid waved, grabbing onto Ribbon’s hand as she pulled Ribbon up onto the roofs. 

The two both looked at each other, panting. Hat Kid’s hair was all messy but still kept her ponytail. Ribbon looked decent but she could be doing better. They both stared at each other before tackling the other with a tight hug. 

Hat Kid quickly let go, “Holy peck! You’re alright!” The girl was full of happiness. 

“I manage. But hell, look at you. Are you okay?? What happened to you?” Ribbon expressed her worries but Hat Kid quickly dismissed her worries with a small smile. 

“It’s been alright— I guess? Just trying to get used to this, y’know?” Hat Kid chuckled. 

“Snatcher told me I could probably find you here! He told me you should go see him in Subcon. Anyways… ever since that whole situation earlier, I’m stuck with Mu and it sucks! I’ve been calling her ‘ sis ’ and it’s really the worst, Hattie.” Ribbon went on a mini rant as Hat Kid chuckled even more about how “dreadful” it was with Mu. Hattie surely knew it wasn’t that bad with Mi. Then again though, Hattie and Mu weren’t exactly on the best terms right now. 

“I guess the next place I go is Subcon. I can’t want to annoy my BFF.” Hat Kid let her arms rest upon her hips as she smiled proudly. Ribbon just stared at her doppelgänger blankly. 

“Oookay, you do you, I guess. By the way… do you know why there’s golden cracks on your hat by chance?” Curiosity filled Ribbon as she stared at Hat Kid for a response. Hattie gulped and shrugged, disappointing Ribbon. Ribbon sighed while Hattie let out a breath of relief. There was no way her doppelgänger was ready to know what those cracks meant. 

“I’m really not used to you not wearing a hat…” Ribbon mumbled in which Hat Kid scratched her head and chuckled. Hat Kid pointed to her headpiece which replaced her normal array of hats. Ribbon looked confused— where did she find a new headpiece so quickly? In fact… it looked almost familiar. Like she’d seen it before. 

“I have no idea whatsoever of where the peck I got this thing from.” Hat Kid admitted, taking off her headpiece again and observing it. Finally, an idea struck Ribbon’s head. She has seen this before. How in the world did Snatcher got that in her hands? She thought hard, trying to remember that fateful day. 

.—.—.—.

She was holding Hat Kid tight, helping her clone sit up. The look of terror was on poor Hat Kid’s face. She, herself was also terrified. Mustache Girl had the timepieces in her hands, making changes to this timeline. She personally never lived in this timeline, but she was so scared for Hat Kid. 

She was so busy holding Hat Kid that she almost didn’t notice Snatcher. Snatcher was looking at Hat Kid’s scared and terrified face, as Ribbon saw his expression a deep regret for only a mere second. She saw the shadow take a deep breath. 

He extended out his other hand in which he held something glowing. Two flowers were tied with a golden lace, gleaming bright. She saw Snatcher shove the item into Hat Kid’s pocket. A dim light glew from her pocket now as she saw Snatcher quickly pay attention back to Mustache Girl. 

Ribbon decided to not question why he shoved it in her pocket, but she could hopefully assume the best. After all, she was still freaking out about not coming home and for her future. Why does she always experience the worst…

.—.—.—.

“I know where that was from!” Ribbon gasped, catching Hat Kid’s attention quickly. The small alien begged her doppelgänger for an answer. Ribbon opened her mouth, about to say the answer. 

All of a sudden, the two could hear the calls of Mustache Girl calling out for Ribbon. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to go! If I don’t come to her, she’ll be suspicious.” Ribbon whispered in which Hat Kid was saddened, but understood. She trapped Ribbon in a tight hug, smiling. Ribbon wrapped her arms around her doppelgänger, thankful for the embrace.

“Next time we meet, we take back the spaceship, you hear?” Ribbon was filled with determination. Hat Kid wore a smug look and nodded, liking her doppelgänger’s thinking. Besides, Mu can’t know there’s still timepieces out there that Hat Kid hasn’t collected yet. 

The two girls said their goodbyes and waved at each other. Bittersweet, Ribbon quickly left and jumped down the building, landing a dramatic pose. She landed next to Mu in which the blonde got jumpscared by the fact the brunette was just suddenly next to her. It reminded her of when she watched Hat Kid fell down from the sky. What a grand entrance for a small alien like Hat Kid to come into hell. 

“Where the fu— I mean… where did you come from?” Mu eyed the brunette carefully then looking up to the sky seeing nothing but roofs and Mafia HQ. 

“I was just exploring. This town seems pretty cool!! Can we visit another day~?” Ribbon smiled, holding onto hope that the blonde will say yes. Mu crossed her arms, staring at Ribbon. 

“Fine.” Mu spat out, pinching her nose. She hated this place personally and just wanted to set it on fire. She couldn’t since she had a certain witness always following her. 

“Wait, can I try the food you got?” Ribbon pointed to the awful food Mu was holding. Mu sighed, handing her the Mafia’s disgusting food. Ribbon immediately started to eat the food Mu got her. Ribbon looked immediately up at Mu at disgust and ran towards the railing, throwing up the food at a Mafia’s head that was below her. 

Ribbon coughed the remaining out. Mu looked at the Mafia goon, laughing at him. Now this was top tier gold! Committing arson on this town is one thing, but vomit on a Mafia goon’s head was just hilarious. Hat Kid from faraway was looking at the two. She was also laughing, but felt bad for poor Ribbon. Why did she even taste the Mafia’s cooking—

Hat Kid’s eyes widened when Ribbon threw the food at the same poor Mafia goon whose head was covered in vomit. The food was all over the Mafia’s clothing, his apron especially now brown instead of its pure white color. Hat Kid immediately bursted into tears of joy, seeing that Mafia goon literally being bullied by Ribbon. Mustache Girl was laughing so hard while Ribbon finally felt kind of better. 

“What the hell… that tasted so awful…” Ribbon coughed out while Mu continued laughing. Why did she eat such a thing, dear god. She didn’t even bother to give the food a glance or even smell it. 

“Now you know to not touch the Mafia’s cooking ever, you know?” Mu had a smug look on her face, agitating the brunette. While Mu was right about her statement, why didn’t the blonde tell her about how disgusting the food was here? Ribbon wanted to smack the girl across the face right there and now but tried her best to stop herself from doing that. 

“Lesson learned… I guess,” Ribbon sighed. She finally was calm and okay now compared to earlier, but she still felt like absolute hell thanks to the Mafia’s cooking. Heck, she didn’t care about the Mafia she threw up on and threw the same dish at. The Mafia were pretty narcissistic by what she saw from them. 

“Forget this joint, I’m tired and want some rest. Can we go back?” Ribbon asked politely, letting out a small yawn. Although it’s still pretty sunny in Mafia Town, Mu agreed that they should go back up to the spaceship. After all, Mu didn’t like being here anyways and nodded graciously to Ribbon, holding tight to the brunette as the girl took out a timepiece and flicked her hand up, starting the teleportation process. 

Again, Ribbon heard the yells and screams of the blonde. Still flailing her free arm around, Ribbon sighed and groaned in boredem. After feeling the ground of the spaceship, Ribbon immediately threw Mu to the grounf with a blank expression, sitting down on the captain’s chair next and twirling around on it. The two girls were pretty lucky going to Mafia Town. By “girls”, she meant just herself. She understood the manual anyways since it was in her native language, but only got the basics down of controlling a spaceship. She could only punch in coordinates and let the ship steer itself to that location in the planet. She didn’t really understand any other controls, and Hat Kid had conveniently had saved the coordinations of Mafia Town and other weird places like “Dead Bird Studio” (Why the hell does her doppelgänger have studio coordinates? Was she starring in some movie?) 

.—.—.—.

A clear starry night sky had greeted the tropical island once again. Hat Kid could just smell the fresh air of the night sky, the stars dancing whenever she stared at them. They were always a sight down in the planet, but she’d offen get quite bored of stars in her spaceship nowadays. But she isn’t in her spaceship anymore.

She leaned against the rocky walls of the cave, shivering. She closed her eyes and warmed up her hands in order to make herself comfortable as possible living in such a place. She opened her eyes again, greeted with a non-lit fireplace. She sighed, still not knowing how Mu lived with this lifestyle. 

Her stomach grumbled, startling the girl. She held her stomach, looking around the area. She gulped, getting out of her cave and going back into town to find food. She wasn’t the best at being sneaky but she was always good navigating the town. She only had been here a few months and yet she knew the planet so well now. 

The girl picked up some pons and went around the entire island, looking for food. She had found a stall with the Mafia running it, though the food smelled horrible. She bet it also tasted disgusting, but what else is there to choose? Biting the bullet, she went up the stall. 

“Can I have some food?” The small alien asked politely, pointing to the Mafia. In her hand that was pointing up to the Mafia held one pon, signifying she had money to give in exchange for food. She smiled, waiting for the Mafia’s answer.

“Mafia not give food to naughty girl. Mafia say, GET LOST!” The Mafia threw a can directly to her chest as she stepped back, seeing the anger in his eyes. She gulped and took out her umbrella, shielding herself from the second can attack. The small child didn’t hold back, launching herself straight towards the Mafia and beating him up. She dodged the Mafia’s attacks thanks to her knowing all the Mafia’s attack patterns, easily disposing of them. She dragged the Mafia to the next empty stall, hiding him on the shelf beneath the counter. Once she was satisfied, she went back to the stall and went to go grab some of the food. 

She picked up one of the Mafia’s fish, carefully examining it. It gave off a smelly odor, making the girl look away in disgust. But if it’s her only choice for dinner tonight, she had to eat the fish in order to satisfy her stomach. She lifted up the fish as it slowly approached her mouth when suddenly someone snatched it from her, both satisfying the girl and making her sad that she couldn’t eat anything to satisfy the hunger. She looked up to see her thief, but seeing two familiar faces. 

“I don’t care who you are, but I’m not letting you eat the Mafia’s food, no matter what bad deeds you’ve done!” The feline dressed in a chef’s outfit exclaimed, throwing the Mafia’s food that was once in Hattie’s hands to the ocean. The feline wiped her paws, greeting Hat Kid. Hattie smiled, almost embracing the feline when she realized who was besides her. 

“I’m not about to let you go through the same situation as me earlier. C’mon, I’m sure Cookie can make you something!” Ribbon waved, giving Hat Kid flashbacks of earlier’s events. Hattie laughed, embracing Ribbon tight. 

She then let go, addressing the two. “Oh peck, you have no idea how happy I am to see you guys!!” The alien was delighted to see familiar faces once again in her journey, her smile beamed. Ribbon was laughing while Cookie was awkwardly saying hi. 

“Oh… uh, Cookie, Ribbon? How’d you guys get here?” The brunette asked, clutching her stomach with a weary smile. 

“Mu was asleep for the rest of the night (and I made sure that she was asleep, don’t worry,) so I convinced Cookie to chaperone me around Mafia Town and help me find you! Boy are we lucky to see each other twice in one day!” Ribbon cheerily responded which Cookie nodded to confirm. Once again, Hattie’s stomach grumbled for food. 

“Oh gosh, you’re starving! C’mon, let’s go to my apartment and get you some real decent food.” Cookie gestured to the two girls to come along with her, and the two girls obliged. They followed Cookie to her small apartment in Mafia Town, settling down on the couch as Cookie locked the door.

“You’ve always been hanging out by my spaceship, but I’ve never seen your place before Cookie!” The small alien exclaimed in which Ribbon nodded in agreement. While the apartment was sure as small, it was decorated neatly. Pictures of the feline cook all around the world hung up on the apartment walls, as well as shelves of just plain ol’ books (Bet Snatcher would be interested in that, Hattie thought,). There was a clear entrance to the kitchen in which Cookie went in and settled down her things. 

“Mmm… you have a spaceship, honey?” The feline looked at the hatless brunette in which the small girl just stayed silent. It clicked very quick for her— Cookie didn’t know whom she truly is. Guess Ribbon didn’t tell the feline cook. 

“... That’s okay if you stay silent. I can make us some pizza tonight.” The feline noticed the hatless child’s silence and went straight to telling them what she’d be cooking tonight. Of course, being an alien and all, Hattie didn’t know what pizza is and neither did Ribbon.

“What’s pizza?” Ribbon blurted out, a small gasp coming from Cookie. She turned her head to see Ribbon and Hat Kid, clearing her throat. Oh boy, how did these girls not know what pizza is?! 

“Pizza is… a meal. It consists of dough, sauce, cheese and any topping that fits, like pepperoni.” Cookie explained, but the two girls didn’t really understand what the chef had said. Neither Ribbon and Hat Kid were cooks, and Hat Kid didn’t even bother to try cooking Earth food herself. She just had so many pons that she’d always buy her food from outside. Apparently people called it “take-out”. She was learning quick on their language! 

“Even though I still don’t really know what pizza is, I can’t wait to try it! I know its gonna be great cause your cooking is always so good, Cookie!” Hat Kid exclaimed and clapped in joy, making the feline chef easily flustered. The cook went straight into cooking while the two brunettes sat in her living room, planning their next course of action. 

“Okay, we need to take back my ship and the timepieces! I can’t let Mu destroy the timeline again!” Hattie said, determination filling the girl. Ribbon nodded with a serious look on her face, all ears on what the plan will be. 

“First… I need to go to Snatcher and hope he comes to my spaceship as backup to get it back. Then, we find the remaining of my timepieces before Mu does, then hope its enough to reverse her plan and set things right. Aka, beat her pecking ass and get back my hat.” Hattie explained, using her fingers to show her plan step by step while explaining. Ribbon nodded, biting her lip in hopes she can also help and fight Mu. 

“... So, uhm… next time we meet, I’ll be at Subcon. It’ll probably take a day or two since I don’t have a single timepiece to teleport to Subcon. Hopefully Snatcher recognizes me and doesn’t eat my soul…” Hattie hoped with a bit of sweat, feeling nervous. Ribbon patted her shoulder, assuring her doppelgänger that Snatcher still knows Hat Kid as a brat. The hatless child quickly beamed a small smile, feeling dumb for a second. She still was thankful that she took a class back on her home planet on why the hell timepieces are so dangerous. If not for that class, she wouldn’t realize that timepiece magic doesn’t work on spirits and witnesses of its magic unfolding. 

“Pizza’s ready!” The feline announced as the two girls run to the dining table, hyping themselves up for the delicious meal. Hattie eagerly awaited for the meal, her stomach grumbling even louder, demanding food. Once Cookie served the girls two slices of “pepperoni pizza”, Hattie immediately dug in to her meal, the smell of the fresh pizza couldn’t make her wait any longer. The taste of the pizza was savory, making her feel pleased to eat it. She quickly finished the meal, burping in delight. Both Cookie and Ribbon were weirded out by Hattie’s burping, but they shrugged it off and ate their slices of pizza. 

“So now that you girls finished your meals (which I hope they were delicious!), I’ve got a question. Especially towards you honey,” The chef pointed to Hat Kid in which she was drinking down some water, cleaning her lips with her sleeve. The child quickly noticed that Cookie was pointing at her, quickly repositioning and making herself comfortable in the chair. She was all ears. 

“Who really are you?” The words echo in Hattie’s ears as her turquoise eyes widened— her jaw dropping. She was caught off guard with that question, and it made her feel… so uneasy. She was mentally panicking and she didn’t really know why. 

All of a sudden, her world turned dark. She looked at her shaky hands and realized what this meant. Blue particles floated around her, Cookie’s and Ribbon’s movements started to slow down. She knew that time was slowing down, but she didn’t know how she activated that power again. 

She gulped, using this to her advantage. She fled the apartment, never looking back as she realized her vision turned to normal and her shaky hands were back to its normal colors instead of the inky black that always plagued the girl when she was using her timestop hat. Sprinting, her mind recalled those four words.

Who really was she?

Chapter Text

.—.—.—.

“... Sweetie, who really are you?” The sweet sound of her mother’s tone caused the young child to spring up with a smile, standing up by herself with her hands on her hips. 

“I wanna explore the entire galaxy! I wanna go on a space adventure!” The young brunette cheered as her mother chuckled. She patted the empty spot on the couch as the young girl sat next to her mother. The small girl obliged to her mother’s wishes, settling in on the brown couch and making herself comfortable as possible. 

“That’s so sweet! You always make me laugh,” Her mother laughed, unintentionally breaking the young child’s dream. Was her mother making fun of her? She really did want to leave her studies and explore what the universe had to offer. Then again… the young spunky brunette didn’t even know how to control a spaceship. All she wanted was to make her mother proud.

“Now dear, you should get back to work. School is tomorrow, you know.” Her mother reminded her, ignoring the small child’s protests and pushing her back to her room. Once in her room, her mother fid her a small bye before closing the door, leaving her child isolated once again to go study her next exam. 

The girl bit her lip before burying her head in her knees, soft cries emitting from the small child. She didn’t want to study any longer! She wanted to go explore the world— even the universe if the child got a chance! The thought made her so excited, but she crushed her hope almost immediately once she thought of her mother. Her mother would be so disappointed she wasn’t studying and going to school. She couldn’t bare to see her mother’s face when she was sad or angry. She just wanted to make her mother proud! 

She slowly lifted her small head, looking at the dull grey window that didn’t shine any light thanks to her curtains her mother made her put on her windows incase of any “stalkers” watching the small girl. She tried to clear her tears but her efforts were futile, making the girl upset even more. She stood up, walking towards her study and ripping out her old notes on the exam she took last week. Boy, did it feel so good ripping the notes. She felt rebellious; happy to shred the paper as she was disobeying her mother for once. 

Maybe, she could care less if her mother was upset that she shredded notes that proved useless to the small child. A small smug face appeared on the child as she started to sway her arms back and forth, opening her window and tieing her curtains so the sun greeted the small child. She beamed a smile, dancing away alone in her room. 

Who was she, her mother said? She was a child who wouldn’t give up! 

.—.—.—.

She sprinted into Mafia Town as her vision turned back to normal, her legs diving and leaping to gain as much speed to get away. She ended up almost tripping along the way, hearing the shouts and cries of both Cookie and Ribbon from far away. She sprinted even more, tears gushing out from the young child’s eyes as she recalled a short memory when she was back in her home planet.

She jumped far, taking a leap and jumping across buildings and buildings in Mafia Town in hopes to make Cookie and Ribbon confused and give up their search. Hat Kid wanted very much alone time, but her mind ached to go back to Cookie and Ribbon. Her heart was racing and she was panting, but she hid back into her cave in hopes that they wouldn’t her. 

She tried to calm herself down but she was only met with more tears streaming down her face and sniffles. God, she’s being so overemotional these last few days. The last time she cried before this whole situation was when her friends begged her to stay here, causing the young girl to burst into tears and happily accept her friends offer. It made her feel like she was wanted here more than back home. It’s not like anyone really knew she was alive back at home. 

Once she’d horribly ruined her sleeves by trying to wipe off all her tears, she eventually calmed down and just looked at the rocky ground, deep into her thoughts. Sod, she didn’t even really know why she wanted to go back home at this point. Maybe because she could finally see her mothers face and tell her she had exceeded her mother’s expectations, showing off every nook n’ cranny she herself earned throughout her entire adventure. Now? She didn’t really find interest in that anymore. 

The brunette tried to clear her mind by looking deep into the glowing stars that twinkled in her eyes. They always felt so magical when she really started to focus in on em’. The stars were always her comfort anyways, they were always there with her from the start of her space exploration. Eventually, her peace and tranquillity was disturbed by her doppelgänger and the star feline chef, blocking her view of the stars and making her focus on the two. Great, she wasn’t ready to confront them right now. Not like this… when she felt so weak. 

“How’d you find me…? I thought you would give up searching for me.” The hatless child spoke in a soft tone, feeling sad as ever. Cookie bent down to Hat Kid’s height and patted the poor girl, hugging her after. It took Hat Kid off guard, but eventually she accepted the embrace that the feline chef had so graciously given her. 

“When your little friend and I saw a flash of purple and yellow, we knew it was you and I just knew deep in my heart, you weren’t okay. Deeply sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, honey.” Cookie apologized, helping Hat Kid get out of the cave and properly talk to the two. Hat Kid’s eyes met Ribbon’s as the child with a ribbon showed a small smile and an awkward wave, making Hat Kid’s day a little better today. The hatless child always appreciated when people tried to not double-cross her and want to be her friends. It was always surprising at first; everyone in this damn planet was full of stupid jerks. Fun jerks though, Hat Kid thought. 

“‘m sorry… I’m not usually like this,” Hat Kid’s fingers ran through her right sideburns as she bit her lip, feeling guilt struck inside the young child. The feline quickly assured her, saying sweet words to the hatless child. Ribbon also went along, comforting her doppelgänger as much as she can. Seeing her clone sad made her feel like seeing herself sad… and Ribbon didn’t really like seeing herself all gloomy. It just reminded her of the darker times in her life and no one was there to comfort her. She couldn’t allow that to anyone else to be alone like that. 

“You’ve got nothin’ to worry about.” Ribbon quickly assured her doppelgänger once last time before finally getting herself back on her two feet, letting Hat Kid have her own space. The hatless brunette lifted her head up, a small but warm smile finally appearing on the usually cheery girl. 

Hat Kid started to slowly get out of the cave, standing on her own two feet again. She quietly started to hum a melody she hummed once when she arrived on the planet for a first time, a melody where it was just perfect for a new adventure. Wouldn’t she know, it was going to be another start of a long adventure. Her smile beamed bright like a shooting star in the night sky. She took both Ribbon’s hand and Cookie’s paw, leading them farther to the cave and closer to the edge of the rock, letting go of one of their hands and pointing to such a familiar sight, a familiar home. 

“Now I know that things may be tough, but you should know I never give up! I’m gonna be taking my spaceship back, and I’m gonna fix this timeline,” The hatless child lifted her hand as she waved her hand around like following a shooting star before turning to her friends, a new profound energetic spark in her eyes. The feline chef smiled, loving the child’s determination while Ribbon was simply shocked of Hat Kid’s quick recovery. 

Hat Kid’s hum ceased, but the melody of starting a new adventure still played in her head. She was gonna get her spaceship, her timepieces, her everything back. She was gonna go through everything that stood in her way just to turn the timeline back on track. After all, wasn’t time on her side? 

.—.—-.—.

It was a week later after Ribbon and Cookie’s confrontation in the starry night in Mafia Town. The two were back on the spaceship, keeping Mu distracted and keeping her far away as possible to doing something alone besides going to the bathroom. It was too dangerous to not keep track of the blonde; they couldn’t predict what she was gonna do next. 

Cookie promised the hatless alien that she was on their side, believing that the timeline was wrong. The star chef wanted to do everything in she can from stopping the little mischievous mustached child. Ribbon and Cookie had made a plan; when Ribbon needed to go out, Cookie had to distract Mu for the time being and the feline chef happily obliged. While Ribbon hadn’t seen Hat Kid in quite a while; she had gotten a long with Mu just to make sure she could be trusted by Mu and not look suspicious— and it seems like it was working. 

It has been a week since their confrontation; Ribbon was sure Hat Kid travelled to Subcon Forest by now. They needed to move fast but they also couldn’t afford any mistakes in their effort to fix the timeline. Ribbon grew quite fond of Hat Kid’s timeline even though she hasn’t visited many parts of the planet and she hoped that throughout their journey to fix everything, she would see more of the crazy planet her clone had loved deep in her heart so much now.

Ribbon was minding her own business in the spaceship— it was Cookie’s turn to distract the mustached girl since Ribbon had been doing her shift earlier. All of a sudden, the brunette heard cries of the blonde, swiftly running into the bedroom to see the distressed Mu clutching her chest. 

“Hngg, it hurts so much…” Mu yelled out, Cookie quickly panicking and trying to help the blonde the best she could. The blonde quickly shook her head, leaning against the blue bedframe. 

“I k-keep hearing voices inside my head, saying to go to Subcon! It drives me crazy!” Mu shrieked out, her cries of pain echo within the halls of the spaceship. Ribbon’s eyes immediately open and recalled the events from over a week ago, remembering her time in Subcon Forest with Mu. Her hands immediately blocked her mouth as the brunette had flashbacks to a week ago. 

.—.—.—.

She remembered the booms of the terrifying noodle ghost her adventerous clone had befriended as she hid behind the trees, her head poking out to see the confrontation between Snatcher and Mustache Girl. She could see Snatcher’s minions behind her, curiosity filling them up as they eavesdropped the conversation. 

“ You think the little kiddo’s timepiece magic works on spirits?! Try again, asshole. Maybe those little timepieces are powerful as hell, but they can’t affect everyone. ” She heard the spirit yell and the shudders of the blonde, fear and anxiety filling up Ribbon as she could hear everything. She can hear Snatcher’s tone, hate filling up the spectre. Then, the brunette heard a flame, a sound she heard before. This was the sound of a contract being made, as she too was stuck in Snatcher’s traps once. 

“The fuck?” The blonde had yelled, trying to stay strong by the tone of her voice. She could also hear the blonde’s confusion. 

“ Sign it or I’ll torture you for every single thing you’ve ever done. ” His threat could be heard throughout the entire forest, echos of the threat ring in Ribbon’s ears. She could hear Mu’s panicking, scribbling onto a piece of paper. Well, Ribbon knew that that piece of paper Mu was signing was one of Snatcher’s contracts. The brunette then heard the girl’s shrieks as something flew away from the trap, something red flowing into another direction. Ribbon’s eyes widened as she had a hint of what just happened between the blonde and the spectre. 

“Good, good. I’ll start with you very… shortly. I need to tend to something else. Don’t think you can escape my clutches now.” The spectre’s voice boomed through the forest as Ribbon saw the dark purple twisted vines unravel, the trap was disabling. She let out a quick gasp before hiding completely behind the tree. She saw minions run away, heading back to their respective locations. She then ran a little farther away from the trap, hoping Mu did not catch a glimpse of her. If she knew that Ribbon was eavesdropping her conversation with Snatcher, Ribbon would be screwed. Ribbon was panting, sweat slowly coming down. 

Apparently, this won’t be the last time she’d be in this forest, huh?

.—.—.—.

“Sis… I think we need to go back to Subcon,” Ribbon blurted as Mu screamed out in pain even more. Her vibrant orange eyes slowly look up to meet Ribbon’s dull turquoise, and Mu weakly nodded. Ribbon then looked to Cookie, silently asking she’d keep the spaceship tidy when they were in Subcon. Cookie gave a hearty laugh and nodded, assuring Ribbon her troubles. Ribbon whispered a quick thank you to Cookie before helping Mu up. 

Ribbon carefully helped Mu all the way to the Main hall of the spaceship, carefully setting her down against one of the relic stands. The brunette quickly ran to the Captain’s chair, punching in a command to the ship to go to Subcon. Once the ship obeyed her command, she quickly opened the door, looking at Mu. She groaned, quickly grabbing Mu and jumping down below. 

It was probably too much for Mu right now, seeing all the pain she was in right now. Her pain ceased once they reached the ground of Subcon Forest, the brunette carefully observing her companion was slowly gaining back strength. The blonde slowly got onto her two feet before the two were encaged in dark twisting purple vines before they had blinked. The spectre plobbed out of the ground, scaring the two girls. 

“ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! ” The spectre boomed, the two girls shaking. Snatcher observed their reactions, enjoying all of this all too well. He saw that Ribbon herself got caught in his trap herself with the disgusting blonde in which he had gotten an idea.

“ So you’ve bought a plus one this time? You know, I could always just rip your little friend’s head off. Though… she has more value being alive than dead, ” Snatcher quickly grabbed Ribbon as she started to shriek out of horror, quickly trying her best to get out. Her efforts were proven frutile as Snatcher laughed, and Mu was just too shocked to fully comprehend the situation at hand. 

“ Now as for you, you fiesty asshole, I’ve got another contract for you at hand, ” With the spectre’s free hand, he quickly summoned another contract by a brilliant blue flame. This time, the contract had read that his contractor had to go unclog the Subcon Well. It was always such a hassle for his contractors, and that’s why he kept loving and giving this contract! 

“Ugh, this is disgusting! You keep giving me these plumber jobs!” The blonde had complained, reading over the contract and what she had to do. 

“ Do the damn contract or you’ll be experiencing immense pain for the rest of your pathetic life. Let me make this clear, you imbecile; YOUR OPINION DOESN’T MATTER TO ME. ” The spectre roared, surrounding the blonde with such a brilliant and controlled blue flame. The mustached girl yelped, quickly scribbling her signature onto the contract once again. She knew who she was up against, and she knew she couldn’t win. 

“ And if you fail to obey me… your friend won’t be seeing another day. ” Snatcher laughed, making the brunette extremely scared now. She thought Snatcher wouldn’t kill her! She felt so betrayed… and she hoped Mu wouldn’t dare disobey him. Though the week of getting along and knowing Mu was awful for Ribbon, didn’t it mean anything for Mu?

The blonde had promised to obey the spectre from now on which prompted Snatcher to disable the trap. The flames disappeared along with the purple vines, the threesome were back in Subcon Forest. Snatcher still held on to Ribbon, listening to her struggles of tryjng to get out of his grasp. It still didn’t do anything to Snatcher as he sent Mu off to do her duty. The spectre flew back to his tree which then he finally let go of Ribbon. 

The brunette felt extremely dizzy and just laid on his table for a few minutes and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. At this point, she is literally being held hostage by her doppelgänger’s so-called BFF, and she is about to scream but couldn’t do so. It would just make her situation worse. 

“ Relax brat, I’m not gonna actually hurt you. I’m just trying to make the ass do this by herself. Your reaction was hilarous though! ” Snatcher chuckled, which caused Ribbon to be both confused and upset. She was about to utter nonsense to the spectre when she heard another voice follow his. Her eyes widened when a girl popped behind his chair. Her brown locks now look nice again and her turquoise eyes are still blazing determination. 

“H-Hat Kid?” Ribbon said, confusion striking the girl. The hatless kiddo nodded, smiling proudly as ever. Ribbon felt a breath of a relief when suddenly she remembered that she was being held hostage for goddamn nothing. She was about to punch the damn spectre when she realized her tiny fist would just go theough him and wouldn’t actually hurt him. Apparently though, Hat Kid bested him when they were fighting each other. 

“I’m in Subcon now!! Snatcher says I can stay here for a while. This is more comfortable than the cave in Mafia Town.” Hat Kid had admitted, living in a cave wasn’t the best. Though the forest was filled with shocking things, it didn’t really bother the alien. She was so used to it, she wasn’t scared anymore. She would walk along these woods with ease, each step more brave she felt walking along such a forest. 

“ I uh… don’t really care. Anyways, I’d like to get this kiddo out of my forest as soon as possible. What the hell are we gonna do? ” Snatcher groaned, summoning a TV out of flames, revealing Mu’s progress on unclogging well. To be honest, she was doing way worse than Hat Kid’s attempt on unclogging the thing. Hat Kid was literally speedrunning her way on unclogging the damn well, reaching the top in under 1:25 minutes. Damn impressive, he thought. 

“I’m gonna fight Mu again and this time, I’m taking back the ship.” Hat Kid declared but was met with disapproval from her BFF. He shook his head, lifting a finger to explain to Hat Kid. 

“ Kid, I don’t know if you noticed, but the nuisance has timepieces. You don’t. She’ll easily kill you, kid! I recommend grabbing more timepieces to help you, after all; you did say you still had more timepieces to grab before heading home. ” Snatcher explained, his last words making Hat Kid have a little chill, biting her lip. Snatcher saw her distaste but wondered why she was acting like that— didn’t she want to go home?

“You’re right, I guess. But I can’t just grab timepieces looking like this. People think I’m the bad guy and ruined the entire planet now!” Hat Kid described her issue in which an idea popped into Snatcher’s head. He snapped a dark purple cape into existence, looking very similar to Hat Kid’s yellow cape but with a different color and having a hood to hide herself. Hat Kid gasped, immediately grabbing the cape and putting it on. Her flower headpiece stayed to the side of her head, perfectly sticking onto the child’s head even with her hood on. The girl smiled, setting her yellow cape aside.

“This is perfect! Thanks, BFF!” Hat Kid cheered and hugged her BFF which caught the spectre in surprise. He usually didn’t like hugs and would pull immediately away from them, but something about this hug felt different. It felt genuine… so full of happiness that the spectre just sat in his chair, so confused and lost just for a moment. The cape looked good on her. Ribbon only chuckled while her arms were crossed and examined Snatcher’s reaction. 

“ If anyone else finds out about this, I’ll rip your head off, ” Snatcher whispered this threat to Ribbon in which she only responded with a smug look on her face. Hat Kid finally let go of her hug, apologizing for no warning on the hug. Snatcher was fine with the apology, considering he didn’t wanna pressure the kid anymore to her situation. 

“ Hey kid, do you remember where your last timepieces are? ” Snatcher quickly changed the subject, geniunely wondering where the kiddo’s timepieces are. Hat Kid stayed silent for a mere second before letting out a gasp and a nod. Ribbon looked towards her doppelgänger, curiosity filling her up as well. 

“My ship said the last of my timepieces are somewhere called ’The S.S Literally Can’t Sink ’ and ’Nyakuza Metro’. I haven’t checked out the places yet, obviously, but I can tell when my timepieces are near me. Apparently, this planet has a scarce amount of its own timepieces, and you know how well they mess with people. Ribbon can come along in helping me find the timepieces!” Hat Kid cheered, in which Ribbon gasped and nodded almost immediately. Ribbon could not deny the offer Hat Kid just gave her— she’d loved to explore the planet more. Hopefully its… less threatening than what Hat Kid had described. 

“ Never really heard of those places since I don’t really go outside my forest, but you should note that I have to stay here and protect the forest, kid. Can’t let an ice bitch invade, now can we? ” Snatcher had leaned towards Hat Kid in which the girl had shuddered, nodding very slowly. Ribbon had shown a visible confusion on her face, but by the looks on her doppelgänger’s, she didn’t want to know whom Snatcher was refering to. 

“... So when do we start?” Ribbon asked in which Hat Kid stroked her chin, thinking very carefully on when to start collecting timepieces. 

“... Maaybbeee next week. I kinda wanna get accustomed to the forest and where I’ll be staying for a while, y’know? My spaceship is awfully occupied at the moment,” Hat Kid had commented with a little chuckle. Ribbon just nodded as the two both turned their attention back to the TV which showed Mu very close to unclogging the well. 

“Man, I can unclog that well waaayyy faster than her! Why’d you make her do it?” Hat Kid had questioned the spectre who was being a little quiet. The spectre yawned, turning to Hat Kid.

“ Because free labor. I would ask you but my rage is a lot… larger towards that asshole. Believe me, I would let you unclog the well again but it’s boring to not see you struggle. This imbecile struggling right here is much more entertaining, you know? ” Snatcher had laughed. Hat Kid crossed her arms, acting like she was clearly offended by Snatcher’s statement. She blew a raspberry in his direction in which the spectre had stopped laughing, giving a glare towards the kid. The girl had simply smiled, feeling victorious for her small feat. 

“... Dunno ‘bout you guys, but I can’t even climb that thing.” Ribbon remarked, both Snatcher and Hat Kid gasping in surprise. 

“ You’re literally the kiddo’s clone! How are you not the expert at platforming? ” Snatcher had a questioning look on his face while Hat Kid just sat shocked. Literally doppelgängers and her counterpart couldn’t even platform like she does? She felt almost embarrassed for Ribbon. 

“... Ever had the clue that I didn ’ t travel the entire galaxy or climbed anything…?” Ribbon remarked, both Snatcher just shrugging and Hat Kid just shaking her head. Hat Kid could never imagine a reality where she didn’t climb things, nor where she didn’t explore the galaxy. 

All of a sudden, the three turned their heads to Snatcher’s magical TV. Mu had just unclogged the well (damn finally,) and now Snatcher had to go terrorize the blonde. 

“ Well, gotta return your bratty equivalent to the asshole now. Guess you can find each other here again by coming along in this forest. I can keep the imbecile at bay with some contracts while you two can have your tea parties. Anyways, gotta terrorize a little contractor. Smell you later! ” Snatcher had said his farewell, grabbing Ribbon in his hand as the brunette was just caught off guard. Hat Kid just waved at Ribbon, returning to her hiding spot in case Mu ever saw her. Snatcher used his magic, teleporting both him and Ribbon to Mu. 

The blonde was just sitting down on the grass, absolutely soaked from unclogging the well. At least the pain in her chest was gone now, and she figured out how to use one of Hat Kid’s magical abilities now. She could now use more energy to sprint her way, which was pretty useful. The blonde was just relaxing for a mere moment before finding herself trapped within thick dark purple vines, Snatcher popping out of the ground with a terrified Ribbon in his hand. 

“ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good, good! You’ve successfully completed your contractual obligations. Don’t think I’m done with you yet, though. Be glad I had some mercy and spared your little friend, ” He threw Ribbon besides Mu in which Mu caught the brunette. She wasn’t injured thankfully, but she looked so tired. Mu gritted her teeth that he literally took Ribbon hostage and expected herself to be back for more of his stupid contracts. 

“ Now get lost . I’ll call on your services again soon. Smell you later! ” The ghost had winked, the walls that barricaded Mu and Ribbon were gone, and Snatcher had left the two. They were back in Subcon Village now, the spectre nowhere in sight. 

“Hey… I’m kinda sorry for what happened to you. Just take us back to the spaceship and you’ll be fine, yeah?” Mu had begged Ribbon in which the brunette weakly nodded, taking out a timepiece and starting the teleportation. Mu had finally tried getting used to the teleportation and now both girls were back at the spaceship, feeling all beaten up. 

Cookie had entered the main hall, horrified to see the girls look all tired. She had carried both of them to the best of her abilties to the pillow fort, trying to care for the both of them. Whatever happened in Subcon, they were probably not gonna be back in that forest for a while. At least, that’s what Mu hoped anyways. She’d be damned if she had to do another contract tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

It had been a week since Ribbon and Hat Kid had last talked. The hatless child had convinced her spectre best friend to make a treehouse for her to live in a while. It took quite some time to convince the ghostly man to make her a treehouse, but she had found it worth it in the end. All she had to do was annoy the peck out of him and do some of his chores. 

Now, the spectre used a tree nearby his hollow to magically put a treehouse together with some help from his minions. Even Hat Kid herself pitched in, getting used to the strange artifact that was on her head that gave her such similar abilities to her own hats. Maybe she should ask Snatcher about this someday. With his big brain knowledge, Hat Kid was certain her BFF had some explanation to give the child. 

In the end, Hat Kid adored her new place for the time being. She had a bed made out of leaves from the Subcon trees which was comfy for her small head, and little plushies made by the Subconities. Her blanket and pillow was also made up of leaves, a nice place for the small child. She also had a little desk nearby, holding a brand new sketchbook the girl had found one day while zooming through Mafia Town for anything useful for her treehouse. 

She had also begged Snatcher for a safe place where she can put her timepieces at for now, and at least she didn’t have to piss him off for him to do so. Her BFF realized how powerful and dangerous the timepieces were, and that they needed to be kept safe from the wrong hands and be hidden from the world. Not like anyone really wants to step into Subcon unless they want a bad time. The hideout for her timepieces was under Snatcher’s tree, and to be able to enter they needed Snatcher or Hat Kid present. Snatcher had given Hat Kid enough power for herself to open the hideout’s entrance, and nothing more or less. Snatcher had made sure the hideout was only accessible through his magic. The hideout itself had a grey vault similar to Hat Kid’s, but it too must be opened with Snatcher’s magic. Good thing Hat Kid had some power given to her by Snatcher. Not like she could summon lasers or anything like her bestie. 

Overall, the week had been pleasant for the hatless child, and tiring for the spectre. He didn’t expect Hat Kid moving in to be so tiring. Least a certain cold bitch didn't bother the forest. When the two were chilling up at Snatcher’s place, the kid would just always be bothering the spirit. It wasn’t very pleasant, as he always told the girl to scram, but she had nowhere really to go. Defeated, the child would always look at him with her signature smug expression and dance. It irritated him. 

“ Damn kid, you have been asking a lot from me. Hopefully you can repay it soon, I don’t do things for free. Souls are my preferred choice. ” Snatcher had commented, setting down his law book. Hat Kid lifted her head up and opened her mouth in protest, but couldn’t bring the words out. Snatcher only laughed and continued. 

“ Don’t you have a certain task to do? ” Snatcher looked at Hat Kid with curiosity as the girl slowly nodded. He saw that the child bit her lip, her expression changing from a silly little childish grin to a determined look. That gleam in her eyes always suited her. 

“Okay… call Ribbon.” And with that command coming out of the child, Snatcher had snapped his claws, a little fire blazing for a mere second. He chuckled, putting up his book again to patiently wait for his contractor. 

“ You know where you’ll be starting, right, kid? ” The spectre continued reading his book, not staring at the hatless child. The girl had recalled back to her memories, remembering that there were two places where her timepieces had gone. The first place was called S.S Literally Can't Sink, which was in a middle of the cold ocean and Nyakuza Metro, which was underground but seemed dangerous to venture to from what she asked some owls at Dead Bird Studio one time about it. 

“Gonna go to this epic cruise ship first! Bet it’s gonna be fun!” The girl cheered, clapping her hands. Snatcher put down his book, about to respond to the child when he had felt something in his forest. He raised his claw and put it up to his lips as the bratty child instantly went quiet and hid in his tree, understanding that Ribbon was here. 

The pool noodle hid in his forest’s shadow, summoning his magic and trapping both the mustached girl and the girl with a ribbon in her hair. They both were being encaged by his dark purple vines, and by the time they were fully trapped inside, the spectre was satisfied and popped out of the ground as the two girls held each other, shaking with fear. He could just smell it and it was so delicious! 

“ AHAHAHAAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOL! Knew you couldn’t resist my contracts! So pick your damn poison, you imbecile! ” Snatcher’s laugh echoed through the forest, snatching Ribbon up and she was squirming, shrieking for help. She tried to reach for Mu, but once again her efforts were futile. Mu already knew this was gonna happen in order for her to make her do her job. She sighed, skimming both the contracts. One was delivering mail for the whole day, and the other was go to a town and pick Snatcher some books. That also took an entire day, so the blonde sighed and signed the delivering mail contract. She scribbled her name on it, a stamp of the spectre was now there, the contract now official. 

“ Oh, that’s a good one. Give me a minute to grab the supplies for this particular contract now. ” Snatcher had poofed out of the trap with Ribbon, leaving Mu all alone. Snatcher had also used his magic to pickpocket Mu’s timepiece, making sure she couldn’t escape. The two ended up at Snatcher’s hollow, as the spectre quickly let go of Ribbon and gave her Mu’s timepiece. 

“ Alright you brats, I’ll keep that asshole occupied for the whole day. You two better hurry up and be getting that timepiece. ” Snatcher whispered as Hat Kid had appeared, hugging Ribbon and not saying a word. The alien nodded at Snatcher’s response, quickly waving and mouthing a small bye. The ghost just chuckled, grabbing the mail delivery scooter from his pocket dimension. Hat Kid had a smile in her face from seeing the scooter, having fond memories of delivering mail to the Subconites. 

Both the girls had exited the hollow, the opposite from where Snatcher had Mu trapped. Ribbon gave Hat Kid the timepiece as Hat Kid quickly caught it, giving a small sigh. She formed a small smile and squeezed Ribbon’s hand. All she had to do was remember that cruise’s appearance from what her ship’s monitor had shown her. Suddenly, the girl just remembered something. 

“Hold on for this timepiece for a second!” Hat Kid quickly gave Ribbon the timepiece in which she almost dropped it but caught it last second, seeing Hat Kid race to the mysterious guy near the hollow. She quickly shown him some of the planet’s currency as he gave Hat Kid something small and she smiled, quickly racing back to Ribbon, taking out other small and similar items, attaching it to her hood before grabbing back the timepiece. Ribbon didn’t question it. 

“Okay, ready? It’ll be a doozy,” Hat Kid whispered, which Ribbon just giggled and nodded. Once she confirmed, Hat Kid had let go of the timepiece as it floats by her hand as she taps the top of it, remembering and visualing the arctic cruise ship in her mind. The teleportation started as Hat Kid quickly held tight to the timepiece, both bracing themselves. Hat Kid wasn’t sure why timepieces allowed her to teleport, but she didn’t really care either. 

When they both opened their eyes, they were suddenly greeted with a very large cruise ship. Hat Kid squealed, admiring how big such a ship can be while Ribbon gulped, surprised on how the hell a ship can actually be that big. Both were a little chilly, but the temperature didn’t bother them too much. Hat Kid put up her hood, making sure her headpiece stayed put and putting away the timepiece in her pocket. 

Hat Kid felt kind of nervous and was fidgetting as she stepped forward, seeing more and more familiar faces. She wanted to wave to them and say hi, but she knew they couldn’t recognize her. Condcutor was there with his grandkids and some moon penguins, and she just wanted to greet them all. Give them hugs and maybe annoy them, but she knew they couldn’t look at her the same. They all think she took the timepieces and used it for her own selfish gain. If the whole timeline wasn’t falling apart right now, she would’ve been enjoying this vacation! 

Ribbon quickly tapped her shoulder, pointing forwards towards the entrance. Hat Kid quickly nodded, stepping forward to where two seals and a walrus, which she presumed to be the captain, was smoking his cigar. Both the girls approached the captain when he lifted his walkietalkie, trying to test it when the response was a loud seal noise as he flinched back, putting away his walkietalkie. He noticed two small girls in front of him, one of them in a dark purple hood with two flowers quickly saluting with pride, while the other one in a purple sweater was just awkwardly saying hi. He’d only stared at them in response as the two girls walked away and went to the boarding section, which was messed up by his crew once again. 

The two approached the red platforms as Hat Kid quickly jumped to the other side, feeling good to just jump across platforms once again. She quickly turned to her side to only realize Ribbon wasn’t besides her as she looked back and Ribbon was still in the first platform. She’d let out a small gasp— she had forgotten her doppelgänger didn’t know how to platform. She jumped back to Ribbon’s platform, chuckling. 

“M’kay! Just try to follow my lead. Watch me double jump!” Hat Kid double jumped in place, seeing Ribbon observing before quickly copying her movements. Ribbon was a quick learner, thank sod for that. Hat Kid then double jumped to the second platform, waving for Ribbon to follow. Ribbon gulped, quickly trying to jump across. She did land it, making Hat Kid proud! They both turned to the third platform, with a wall and a platform sitting above the wall. Hat Kid quickly dived forward, climbing up the wall and using the edge to jump onto the platform, safe and sound. Ribbon quickly gulped, trying the same thing as Hat Kid. She tried to wall climb, barely landing on the top. Hat Kid patted her shoulder, a little smile forming. Both the girls looked to their next platform, which a hookshot was needed. Hat Kid studied the jump, and she wouldn’t make it with just a double jump. She could try a Sprint Double Jump, but she wasn’t certain her new profound power can keep up for long. 

“Stay calm, and don’t freak out,” was all the alien covered with a hood said as she picked up Ribbon, quickly jumping and using her other hand to use her hookshot. She landed on the next platform, promptly dropping Ribbon and rubbed her hands against each other repeatedly. Her, uh, less skilled version of herself was just shocked and got herself back up on her own two feet, her mouth open wide with shock. Ribbon’s damn doppelgänger was too good. 

“How the hell did you manage to carry me AND make that jump?” Was all Ribbon could say. She would’ve backed up and said “BEGONE, THOT!” but she knew somehow deep inside that her doppelgänger would just question her and also the platform is quite small. Hat Kid merely shrugged, wall climbing up to the next platform. She sat at the edge, patting the platform to tell Ribbon to get her butt up here. Ribbon sighed, proceeding to the best of her abilities to get the hell up. Yet again, the duo was faced with another hookshot. 

“lol not sorry” Hat Kid scooped Ribbon up once again with only one arm. Ribbon screeched, thrashing everywhere but her efforts were quickly silenced once Hat Kid started to double jump and used her hookshot again, landing the duo on the last platform. Hat Kid proceeded to drop Ribbon onto the floor again with no mercy, wiping her hands yet again and feeling accomplished. Ribbon just landed hard on her butt, silently whispering that she’ll get Hat Kid once day and proceeded to get back up her two tiny feet. The two girls pressed on and boarded the cruise as the ship staff greeted the young consumers aboard the ship, and told them where to go in order to get to reception. Hat Kid grabbed Ribbon’s hand and proceeded to drag her all over the ship, following the seal’s directions to the receptionist. 

They arrived to the Garden where Hat Kid just proceeded to just jump all the way down, diving to try to cancel fall damage. She landed safe and sound, waving to Ribbon. Ribbon gulped, slowly trying to replicate her clone’s actions. She fell down, and would’ve taken damage if Hat Kid didn’t catch her. Hat Kid merely chuckled, dragging Ribbon again to wherever the seals pointed to. They went into the Starboard wing, jumping down from balcony to balcony and following the purple halls to the lobby, not before being greeted by rushing carts with meals on top. Hat Kid simply dived and leaped, gaining speed to not get hit by the rushing carts. Ribbon simply let her two feet guide her to the other side, unscathed fortunately. They finally got into the lobby as the ship started to shake as announcements went on about the ship starting to sail. After the shaking stopped, the two girls went up to front desk for help. 

“Oh! You’we lwooking fow this?” The seal replied as Hat Kid explained she was looking for an ‘hourglass’ as the two turned around, seeing a seal pushing a large load of luggage as it accidentally bumps into what seems that was covering up glass shards. Hat Kid gasped and turned back to the seal receptionist for an explanation of why her hourglass was in pieces. 

“Oh! We bwoke one of those and twied to hid it fwom the captain! Sowwy, miss…” The seal deeply apologized as Hat Kid waved it off and said it was fine, and beamed a smile towards the two seal receptionists. The seals seemed happy again, as they seemed energetic once again before the conversation. The two girls walked up to the glass shards as Hat Kid observed the glass shards. She realized maybe if she found the rest of the shards… she could fix up the timepiece. She looked up to see one of the fans were broken and had something jammed in them, so without hesitation, the girl went immediately to the broken fan and grabbed another shard from inside, returning to Ribbon’s side in seconds. 

“We need to search the entire ship for timepieces… hmmm,” Hat Kid closed her eyes as her mind focused on any timepiece magic detection, and had a feeling that each room in the ship had a shard. She opened her eyes again, pocketing the first glass shard. 

“... Doesn’t that hurt pocketing glass?” Her companion blurted out in mere curiosity as Hat Kid shook her head, already trying to focus on where another shard could be. Her headpiece sparkled, whipping Hat Kid’s head to below the reception desk. Hat Kid darted straight for the desk, passing the seals and following the dark tunnel. She was now in the electricity room, seeing another shard on top of one of the pumping pillars. With her platforming expertise, she jumped to the pumping platform and got back to the start safely without getting executed. She smiled, pocketing another shard. Ribbon suddenly appeared by her side again, panting. 

“Can you go slower? I can’t keep running after you when you keep rushing over to the next glass shard that’s apparently not hurting you.” Ribbon got out, out of breath while the hatless child just slowly nodded. Hat Kid closed her eyes again and focused on where the nearest shard would be, and her headpiece told her it was above the electricy room. She grabbed Ribbon’s hand and raced up the tunnel and jumping out of the reception desk, cheering in excitement. Ribbon barely kept up with her as Hat Kid found a route upwards thanks to the tall piles of luggage, seeing the big words shining “CASINO”. She had slowed her pace, entering the area slowly with Ribbon. The room was extremely colorful as its walls were filled with marine life. This damn cruise is really luxurious! 

Ribbon had gone into one of the machines, sitting down but realizing she didn’t have any chips to use the machine. Luckily, Hat Kid stole some from a nearby poker table, giving some to Ribbon.

“Sealie won’t hand me these purple things because I’m apparently too young to ‘gamble’. Nerve of those sealies! I thought I could trust them…” Hat Kid sighed as Ribbon used the slot machine, a loud gasp erupting from the girl as the machine shot out a timepiece shard out. Hat Kid quickly grabbed the shard, thanking Ribbon for the help. 

“Gambling sounds cool. Hopefully the rest of the slot machines don’t spit out glass shards as a reward. I guess since Mr. Sealie thinks we’re too young to be here, then we should proceed to wherever that next shard thing is,” Hat Kid nodded, using her senses once again to try to pick up another detection for the next shard. She gasped once she felt another shard, quickly wall jumping up onto the Casino lights. Ribbon let out a small ‘oh’, following right behind Hat Kid. As soon as Ribbon caught up to Hat Kid, the damn girl already had the next shard pocketed. 

“I’m completely convinced you’re a speedrunner.” Ribbon crossed her arms, saying out what was on her mind. Damn girl already got like 4 shards out of like… 11. 

“Watch me,” Hat Kid simply replied and looked back to her doppelgänger, a smugass™️ look on her face. Ribbon felt immediately stomped on with that smug look on her face, a fierce determination to prove she was a speedrunner. Oh boy, she’s really going out with this whole speedrunner thing. Ribbon doesn’t even think she can keep up with her speed. 

.—.—.—.

Ribbon was waiting at the Control Panel, seeing Hat Kid rush up to the Walrus Captain with an injured seal in her hands, staring at Ribbon with that same smugass look from  earlier. Her hair was messy and her hood was off, listening attentively to the grumpy captain.

“Do I look like a doc? Go kiss it yourself, pup,” was all the Captain said before whisking back to the control panel, monitoring the ship. Hat Kid saluted then proceeded to walk up the the injured seal, blowing a kiss to its injury. The seal smiled, jumping around in delight. 

“Thank you miss! I feel bettew alweady!” The seal happily spoke, giving Hat Kid another shard. Hat Kid immediately grabbed the shard, excitement in her. The shard then levitated by itself as Hat Kid took out the other shards from her speedrunning. 11 shards total floated, a bright light formed as the 11 shards put themselves back together, a fixed and normal functioning timepiece in its presence. A calm and soothing aura was released as Hat Kid fully embraced it while the aura left Ribbon surprised. It was so calming, it felt so strange to her. Hat Kid looked to Ribbon and smiled. 

Hat Kid then turned back to the illuminating timepiece, jumping up and grabbing the timepiece. She floated aswell, the aura was washing away as Hat Kid twirled around the timepiece, posing with it in midair. The girl then grabbed its handles, slowly falling to the floor. Ribbon hugged her tight in celebration that Hat Kid had gotten back the first of many timepieces to go. 

.—.—.—.

Mu had been driving around all day with the rental scooter her boss had given to her, saying that she’d needed to deliver mail to the subconites all day. Of course, she agreed, otherwise Ribbon wouldn’t had been alive right about now. The blonde had delivered the 420th mail to the subconite before laying down on the dirt path in exhaustion from just sitting around on the scooter all day and throwing mail. 

“ Don’t think you can slack off now. I’m always watching your every move in my forest. ” Whispers from every direction in the forest erupted, startling the girl with the mustache and a hat as she jolted up, trying to recognize where that voice was coming from. 

“Relax you idiot , I’m taking a break.” Mu simply returned to relaxing on the dirt path, trying to take a breather. The spectre didn’t like his newest contractor to slack off, especially when the girls could be returning anytime now and she could see them teleporting back. 

“ Get back to work, or I’ll make you regret this . ” The spectre warned but his damned controller didn’t even lift a finger, just continued laying down without a care in the world right now. The spectre growled before sensing a beam coming into his forest quite soon. Snatcher pinched his non-existent nose, teleporting Mu to Subcon Village so she couldn’t see Hat Kid and Ribbon’s entrance into the forest. The blonde sputtered out gibberish in mere confusion of where the hell was she and what just happened. 

The spectre quickly attended to the two girls, seeing them both exhausted. Before Snatcher said anything, he noticed how now Hat Kid held a shining timepiece in her hands, a warm smile on the kiddo. Ribbon was just simply panting from exhaustion. Must’ve been rough for the two on wherever Hat Kid’s timepiece came from. 

“ Alright, I’m gonna have to cut this farewell goodbye. The imbecile is bound to come here any minute, so I’m gonna have to grab this brat here… ” Snatcher quickly held Ribbon in his hand as the girl simply shrugged and gotten used to it. She’d try to struggle once she was at Mu’s presence again. Hat Kid merely just chuckled and waved her farewell to Ribbon, quickly putitng the timepiece in her pocket and disappearing into the shadows. 

The girl with a mustache, meanwhile, was driving up to Snatcher’s hollow to complain when once again she was jumpscared by purple vines encasing her again so suddenly, Snatcher popping out of the ground with Ribbon in his hand, her desperate cries and pleas for Snatcher to let her go. Snatcher merely laughed at her pathetic attempts and threw the brunette towards the blonde. 

“ Seems like you made it through another one of my contracts. Don’t forget, I’m not done terrorizing your miserable life— and your friend’s too. It was simply hilarious watching her try to get out while watching your miserable progress on delivering mail to my subjects. ” Snatcher cackled as Mu merelt starred at him in mere anger. The girl gritted her teeth and was about to insult Snatcher when she bit her tongue, knowing that she’d just put herself and Ribbon in danger even more. 

“... Asshole. Just literally give me pain and I’ll be here to do your shit, your majesty.” The girl mocked Snatcher, making him angry. Too bad the blonde couldn’t resist just insulting him, biting her tongue was for nothing. The spectre suddenly looked 10x his size, Mu quickly realizing and just sits against the ground, crawling back in hopes to get herself away from him. She should’ve just bit her tongue again. 

“ You’ll be fucking regretting that on your next contract. ” The spectre announced, clawing Mu’s shirt. It only left a small hole in her clothing, as it was just a mere warning to not insult him again. The blonde simply furrowed her eyebrows in anger but not saying anything. 

“ Get out of my forest and don’t come back until I’ve called you on your next contract. ” The spectre backed away, quickly disappearing into the shadows of Subcon and the trap was disabling once again. Mu’s mail scooter was gone, and Ribbon just sat on the floor, merely shaking. 

“... Just… beam us back home,” Mu said, and Ribbon just slightly nodded. She took out her timepiece and held Mu’s arm, and beamed both of then out of Subcon. From the shadows of Subcon, Hat Kid merely watched as the beam flew through the leaves of Subcon and into her spaceship. The girl merely sighed, hugging her timepiece tight. 

“ So kid… I think we need to talk, ” The girl gasped and almost dropped her timepiece in a panic as she turned around and saw Snatcher right besides her. 

Chapter Text

Hat Kid sat idly by in her temporary home, staring at the boring wooden ceiling as her mind was just blank as her legs kicked against the bed, clearly bored. Snatcher had said he wanted to talk to her and said in her treehouse, but she’d been left with curiosity as their talk would be today: what could her BFF need to talk about. 

She wore her trusty yellow cape once again to remind herself of the days before this whole timeline falling apart, still missing the feeling of her trusty hat on her head. Instead, two flowers that mysteriously had her hat’s powers sat in its place. It was nowhere near as good as her hat, but at least this new headpiece can aid the girl, but she herself truly didn’t know how to fully control those abilities like her hats. 

The girl laid in her bed and grumbled, visible confusion clear on the young child’s face. She was clearly bored out of her pecking mind and she’d just wanted to go collect another timepiece. She’d pinched her nose in annoyance, impatient about Snatcher’s arrival. He sure is taking his sweet pecking time. 

“ Hey, kiddo! ” The spectre finally made his appearance to the girl’s humble and yet temporary home. Hat Kid immediately shot out of bed with a smile on her face, coming straight towards him. Snatcher merely grumbled, crossing his noodly arms as his contractually obligated (damn, she really isn’t regretting this whole BFF shit, huh?) BFF went straight towards him. 

The spectre merely said a greeting back to her as he sat down on a chair next to Hat Kid’s bed. She’d almost immediately accompanied him by sitting on her own bed, just looking at him and waiting to see what he’d say next. So their “talk” is finally starting. He’d wonder what would happen between a hundreds of years old spirit and a 9 year old girl that wasn’t even from this planet, a child from outer space. 

“ Alright kid, I’m gonna cut it straight to the point. Remember when your annoying doppelgänger showed her face around for the first time? Well… I remember a lie coming through straight from your mouth. ” Snatcher stared at Hat Kid in which the young girl gulped, her hands slowly tighting her grip on her blanket as her lips trembled. She’d remember that lie she spat out. 

.—.—-.—.

“I was thinking… You could come along with me collecting the test of the timepieces so… I could go home…,” Hat Kid lied through her tongue, the word ‘home’ just cut deep into her soul. She didn’t want to go home. She wanted to stay here and have more adventures and have more fun on the planet. She had friends that maybe tried to kill her, but they were on good terms with her and she was so happy.

Her heart swelled by every fascinating thing she discovered on such a planet, her mind filled with adventurous spirit and a never ending blazing energy. Every step she took she fell deeply in love with the idea of just living in this strange but wonderful planet, even if it was filled with a bunch of pecking jerks. She’s just as much as a jerk as everyone else then, and she’d be content with that. 

Once again, the idea of returning home ached in the young child’s mind. While she did love the planet and wanted to live here, she belonged back at home. She’d been pushing for her timepieces, every single piece, searching every single nook n’ cranny of this pecking planet just so she could go home. After all, she did all those “heroic” acts only for the timepieces. 

Snatcher had seen the distress on the young alien child’s face, pure confusion drawn in the spectre’s face. She was lying, and she seemed so distressed about it. It seemed like she didn’t want to go home. The feeling bothered the spectre, and this conversation never left the spectre’s mind. As he looked to Hat Kid’s clone, she had seemed fooled by the lie, merely just staring at the girl for the next sentence. 

“I’m not gonna go h-home though until I find you a way back to your timeline!” The hatted child smiled sadly, for Snatcher just knew something wasn’t right, now was it? 

Maybe she wasn’t a normal child, but she’s still a child. With so much more on her plate.

.—.—-.—.

Hat Kid merely looked at Snatcher in shock. This conversation was almost a month ago and this lie told by the child had been on her BFF’s mind since cod knows? She wanted to just run away from the conversation, but she couldn’t just do that. She didn’t want to face with Snatcher’s wrath again right now.

“ ... Somethings off, kid. I need to know what’s wrong, ” The spectre lifted the child’s head so his and her eyes were on the same level as they stared into each other, one clearly looking like she’s hiding something from him. 

“I… I can’t hide things from you anymore. Snatcher…,” Hat Kid paused, collecting her thoughts inside her head before continuing, “... I don’t want to go home.” She’d let out, finally revealing the truth as she let out a breath, feeling just a bit better to admit her thoughts. At least it was Snatcher who’d saw pass her bubbly personality and saw the girl who was just trying to delay the inevitable. So selfish, wasn’t she?

Snatcher didn’t say a word, just merely grabbing Hat Kid’s hands and just holding it up as the spectre looked at the girl, her hands shaking. How much did her home fuck Hat Kid up so bad that she’d no longer wanted to go home anymore. Either that, or she’d just like to live in a different world than her home. Snatcher couldn’t laugh at a time like this.

She was a mere child, and yet, she still stood up to what was facing her with no second thought. Her timepieces lost? She’d recovered each and every one of them fast. Offering a Deathwish? Without thinking a second thought, her determination led through the way and in the end, she was still alive. He couldn’t understand anymore; all he wanted to do is just help her. For once, as her contractually obligated BFF. 

“ Look, kid, It’s okay if you don’t wanna go. If you wanna talk to me more about it… I can be there. Don’t get any damn ideas that I’m softening up, kiddo! It just looks like your not doing great, and I need you in tip top shape just in case you want to do any other Deathwishes. ” Hat Kid merely just looked at him, and just embraced him. 

Snatcher was stunned; frozen. The hell? He wasn’t really used to this. He particularly never liked hugs, so why was he allowing this?! Is he actually warming up to the kid? He already admitted to himself back in her spaceship that he cared for her; he couldn’t just say it out loud though! It’d ruin his reputation! 

“It’s just… I don’t even know if anyone misses me back home,” The child started, worry in her tone as she tried to look back to Snatcher. “They probably think I’m dead.” She muttered. 

“ Kid. I’d just not head back there. It seems like a waste of time going to wherever you lived before. Said it yourself kid— they probably think your dead. ” 

“Snatcher. I just don’t know! I’m just a kid! I don’t even pecking know what to do anymore! Waltz to Mu right here and now and slap her ass?! You saw the fight. I’m not so sure I can take her down. I…” She paused her venting, taking a deep breath to just clear her mind and think. “I… I just feel like it was pure luck defeating her the first time. I just feel like I’m no longer strong. I don’t have my hat—“ Snatcher immediately cut her off, catching Hat Kid off guard.

“ Kid. Hat or not, you’re still the most damn strongest fighter I’ve seen in my entire life and afterlife. Hell, the only reason that shitlord won was because you were half awake while fighting her. ” 

“Snatcher! I just want everything to get back to normal! I want my spaceship back! I want Rumbi back! I want my hat back! I… I want my life back.” The child teared up, her head looking down as Snatcher just started to panic. Shit, she’s about to have a mental breakdown.

“ Kid! I need you right now. You can have all of it back— hell, I’d even help you kill Mu. What happened to the stubborn, determined, (and damn annoying) kid that I know?! The one that blows her damn tongue at me everytime she proves my doubts wrong? ” 

Hat Kid stayed silent and only looked up to Snatcher once again. As the spectre looked deep in her eyes, he could still see the small spark of hope in her, waiting to be ignited and blow like a dynamite. 

“ Kid. Forget that damn home. It doesn’t matter about that place anymore. What matters is just finding a place that feels like home. It’s this planet? Damn, I couldn’t a shit anymore. ” 

He slowly saw a smile form on the small child, paying attention to every single word he said to her. Again, the small child leaped and rushed in to hug her contractually obligated BFF, leaving Snatcher merely stunned once again. The spectre didn’t really know how to feel about embraces anymore, so he just sat there, speechless.

“I wanna stay here.” The kid announced, a wide smile beaming on her face. 

.—.—.—.

Running through her brown sideburns while biting her lip in worry, Ribbon sat in the Kitchen with Cooking Cat. The feline chef told the young girl that she’d whisk something special just for her in order to brighten her mood. Sizzling was heard throughout the Kitchen as Cooking Cat was making some bacon just for the girl.

Mu was in the bedroom, looking carefully at Hat Kid’s prized possession; her hat. The thing was in a horrible condition; glowing cracks appearing in her rival’s hat. The hell was wrong with the hat? Did it not like her or something? The blonde bit her lip in anger as she slammed the floor with her fist. 

The blonde just swiped the purple hat and put it on. It wasn’t the best fit but it stayed on her hat as she stood still. She was slowly getting better at using Hat Kid’s hat, yet she still had a lot more to go in order to properly use the hat to her disposal. 

Suddenly, the blonde was just hit with another pain as she screamed suddenly. She could hear footsteps quickly coming, the purple doors erupting with a brunette, panting. Worry was in the brunette’s turquoise eyes as she examined the mustached girl, in pain once again. 

The brunette quickly helped Mu up and getting her to Subcon as quickly as possible. Poor Ribbon ignored the rumble of her stomach for the delicious meal Cookie was cooking up for her as she jumped out of the spaceship with Mu, silently wishing for the tasty meal filling up her stomach. 

The two had arrived in Subcon yet again as Snatcher terrorized them yet once again, terror always striking the two girls. The spectre could not care less and took Ribbon as hostage yet again, smiling devilishly at the blonde girl and her anger. The spectre merely gave her another contract that’d made her stuck here for an entire day yet again, ignoring her protests and whines. 

Ribbon met up with Hat Kid once again who looked more energetic as ever and looked like she could sink a cruise ship if she wanted to with no remorse. Of course, Ribbon knew Hat Kid would ever do that!, … She hoped.

“Alrighty, let’s go back to that cruise ship!” Hat Kid said enthusiastically, clapping her hands. She grabbed Ribbon and used a timepiece to teleport out of Subcon Forest and teleport directly onto the sailing cruise ship as the cold winds greeted the girls with a shiver. Hat Kid just smiled, putting her hood on as she looked around the luxurious cruise ship. 

The two girls merely explored the cruise ship once again, suddenly finding themselves at the receptionist. Hat Kid apparently had sensed a timepiece around there and her suspicions were confirmed once she saw her timepiece in a box labeled the Lost and Found. She asked the seals for the timepiece, claiming it was hers. The seals simply replied that the Captain would reward her with her item if she did some tasks around the ship.

Of course, determined to do anything just to get the timepieces back, Hattie nodded and raced towards the Control Deck where the Captain was located. Her other partner was just barely registering that Hat was just gone so quick, and Ribbon tried to follow her trail. 

“Get goin’, pup, and make sure to do it fast. You can start with this box here,” Ribbon just arrived once the Captain finished instructing Hat Kid as she picked up the box, grabbing Ribbon’s hand so she wouldn’t get lost. Ribbon’s mouth was agape, wondering what sort of bullshit deal did Hat Kid got herself into this time. 

Zooming through the halls, Hat Kid’s mysterious headpiece started to glow once again as she felt a sudden boost of energy. The girl smiled, thanking for her magical abilities to help her. It felt so weird not having her trusty hats on her head but having some part of their abilities still. Hat Kid dropped the box off to the kitchen dumpster, feeling like she could take it on. Ribbon was just merely panting from all the catching up since she didn’t have any magical abilities like Hat Kid. Well, crap, she’s gonna have to do a lot of running today, didn’t she? 

.—.—.—.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” The blonde sputtered out loud, reading over the contract fully. The contract required her to go to the nearest bookstore and get books (specifically law books, ugh, disgusting), then giving those books to Snatcher. While it doesn’t sound hard, it would meant travelling. Where the hell was the nearest bookstores? This entire contract was gonna take an entire day again just like the last contract.

“ Oh, I don’t think I’m joking when it comes to contracts. ” An echo flew by her ears, startling the blonde. The fuck? Now the stupid ghost is stalking her! This was complete bullshit! 

“Damn you, why can’t you just let me and Ribbon go?!” The mustached girl yelled out, stomping and throwing her right hand out in frustration. This was just such a complete waste of time for both of them at this point, and she already felt bad for dragging Ribbon here, just like how she felt bad for… nevermind. 

“ You’re a fool to even think I’d let you go that easily, you piece of shit. I don’t think you’d want to go through popping your head off if you really want all of this to stop, ” The spectre cackled, echos still ringing throgh the forest, 

“You little shit— how did Hat Kid get out of here?!” The blonde yelled, demanding answers as she threw down her contract onto the floor. She was only met with complete silence, making her frustrated even more. 

“The fuck? Was she just so special that you’d let her go off the hook? Complete bullshit! Tell me, oh Snatcher the mighty scary spooky ghost, how the hell did her stupid ass get out of here?!” Mu yelled out once again, only for her to see Snatcher right in front of her. His creepy, ominous face looked down upon the small child, a murderous smile worn by the shade. 

“ You little shit. She was actually worthy of getting out of this forest alive and with her soul. Maybe she didn’t come out unscathed, but you aren’t even close to a hero she is. ” Snatcher grabbed Mu by her clothes and speaking, feeling like about to choke her. He didn’t, of course, he’d knew his little girl’s— Hat Kid’s reaction to Mu’s death, and he’d hate to deal with an upset child (again ). 

“THAT’S A CLEAR LIE.” Mu screamed out, about to throw fists at the spectre, but she knew it wouldn’t even hurt him. Her fist would just phase through the shade, and she didn’t want to know the feeling of going through something. 

“ So prove it. What heroic act have you done? So far, that annoying brat actually has done some heroic acts despite that she didn’t even mean to. She saved the world from your selfish gain. ” Snatcher spat out, throwing the blonde hard onto the dirt floor. 

“I was getting rid of all the bad guys ! What the hell, that was heroic!” The mustached girl spat out, still recovering from the throw. 

“ That’s funny. You threw basically everyone down into the lava before she came to place you back where you belong. Look what you’re even doing now, asshole. You’ve basically took everything from her. You took her home, her relationships, her damn Rumbi, everything . Now I don’t know about you, but that’s not pretty heroic. Let me tell you something here you piece of shit, ” Snatcher used his magic and made himself three times as bigger, scaring his contractor as she tried to back up, but found herself against a rock. Her eyes were wide, her hands trying to defend herself from any upcoming attack. 

“ No matter how much you know a person, their is always a bad side to everyone. Some show more than others. There is no such thing as a fucking good guy, because we are all bad guys either way, ” He finally felt satisfied with scaring his contractor, seeing how the mustached girl was shaking, her eyes widened with terror. His glowing eyes almost blinded the girl since his face was so close to her’s in order to scare the living shit out of the blonde. 

“ Fulfill your damn contract already. I’m terribly impatient. You know what happens if you don’t fulfill it by the end of the day,” Snatcher delved onto the floor, disappearing into the forest. The blonde was catching her breath, feeling her sweat. She decided to just try to calm down for a few minutes, thinking about everything Snatcher said to her. 

“ There is no such thing as a fucking good guy, because we are all the bad guys either way, ”

His words haunted the blonde as she used her sprint hat and picked up her contract, dashing away from the forest in order to grab the books and to save Ribbon from a terrible fate yet again. This was all her fault… her second friend she ever made was about to die because she didn’t want to pick up books and whined instead. 

But the words still haunted the blonde. 

.—.—.—.

The two girls decided to split up and complete the 18 tasks the Captain had assigned them. Sweat was coming down, as the anxiety fills the two girls up. The more Hat Kid grabbed, the more her movements became unstable. All the tasks she grabbed were draggng the girl down as she could barely make jumps that she would’ve easily made. 

Hat Kid could feel the anger coming from the Captain each time she messed up a task or she was too late to complete them. Ribbon was having no luck either, everything was more harder because she didn’t have the magical energetic boost Hat Kid had. She was so damn lucky to even have that. 

The clock was ticking, and both girls felt their hearts racing each and every second went. Sometimes when Hat Kid blinked, she could just see black and clocks ticking, blue particles coming out of the girl. She would then realized her headpiece had activated time stop occasionally, and she took advantage of everytime it happened. 

Finally, one more task was to be done before the Captain would reward the girls with a timepiece. He was already so angry, and if they screwed up this one last task or was too late, they’d had to restart everything again. They didn’t want to frankly, because their anxiety was just not helping either of the girls. 

Hat Kid sprinted along, carrying a dish the kitchen gave her that she had to deliver to the East Wing of the cruise ship. Suddenly, her headpiece decided to no longer support the child with its magical abilities as she felt the sudden energetic boost disappear. She panted and almost tripped, realizing the consequences if she failed now. 

The girl leaped and dived, doing a roll to gain speed to get to her destination. Her heart beating fast, her anxiety filling up as seconds fly by. Where the hell was her powers now?! Oh sod… she can already hear the Captain just being so disappointed and mad. 

Seconds are flying by, and she had approximately 10 more seconds to deliver the meal. She could see her destination now, relived but still stressed as peck to deliver the final meal. She ran over there, seeing the owl with his orange juice admiring the cold ocean. She smirked, leaping up into the air and throwing the plate onto the table. 

Fortunately, the plate was just fine and so was the meal. She smiled as she dropped down on the floor, hearing the Captain calling her back. She immediately got up again, running without that energetic speed boost up onto the control deck. Ribbon was just waiting for her, seeing Hat Kid’s hair all ruffled but her hood still kept up so she couldn’t see the rest of her hair. 

“Not bad pups, that’s more than what the crew can manage. Help yourselfs out to the Lost and Found.” The Captain directed them out of the room in which Hat Kid merely nodded, just tired at this point. She metely walked out of the room with Ribbon and into the Dining Area. They carefully got down onto ground floor, passing through the kitchen and getting to the Receptionists again.

Hat Kid could feel the timepiece awaiting, her soul sensing the magical aura of the timepiece. Without warning, she could suddenly feel that energetic speed boost coming from her headpiece as she dashed into the receptionist area, immediately hopping behind the desk and hugging the timepiece, floating up once again and reclaiming it as hers. 

Ribbon finally catched up to her doppelgänger in which she already collected the timepiece. A smile appeared on both the girls faces, as they both held hands and teleported out of the cruise ship. Another timepiece down. Thank sod. 

The two struck down Subcon Forest again, appearing in Snatcher’s hollow. Hat Kid made sure her hood was up, knowing that Mu could be anywhere. Ribbon just merely looked up and saw an angry spectre sitting on his cushion chair, awaiting the two girls.

“ Took you long enough. She’s just about coming back anyways, her shit aura is approaching here fast. ” To which Hat Kid just nodded sadly, looking towards Ribbon and just saying her farewells for now, hugging her doppelgänger. Ribbon returned the embrace then letting Snatcher grab her shortly. Hat Kid waved before hiding under the table, even though she knew Mu wouldn’t really see her. 

As Snatcher returned Ribbon to Mu after the blonde gave him new law books for him to read, he saw Hat Kid peaking at the two as they both teleported away from Subcon. She bolted out of the tree, seeing that the beam went into her spaceship. Her mouth was agape, her hands clutched into fists as she was forced to see someone else living in her home.

She hugged her second timepiece, looking at its sturdy build. Her index finger traced the outline of the wood, biting her lip as this was only the beginning of such a long trip. 

Chapter Text

“Say, Hat Kid, where you from?” The blonde looked towards the brunette, curiosity taking ahold of the mustached girl. The hatted alien next to the blonde simply looked at her and pointed out to the night sky, a smile beaming across her face. The blonde smiled aswell, knowing how beautiful home could be. 

“I… uh, live in a cave. It’s not much, but it’s still home.” The blonde’s friend looked to her in dismay and worry, alas still not saying a single word. It was fine for the mustached girl honestly, at least she wasn’t talking to a total brick. At least her friend showed her emotions, but she always wore a smile in the end. Good for her, the blonde supposed. 

This kid that literally fell from the sky from outer space that landed in a shady alleyway in Mafia Town was her first real friend ever since the invasion of the stupid Mafia. It always felt weird to be around someone who doesn’t want to hurt you 24/7, let alone trust them. Sod, this was all so new to the mustached girl. 

The blonde bit her lip and looked down to see the paths way below her feet. They both sat at the clocktower in Mafia Town to get to know each other better. The mustached girl would’ve said about doing this in daytime, but her new friend insisted that they should do it at night. Good thing the blonde didn’t protest, the sky sure looked damn pretty when it wasn’t raining in Mafia Town. 

An unfamiliar voice caught the blonde’s attention as she looked around them, looking hostile. She then turned to her attention to the unfamiliar voice once again, where Hat Kid was. “Hey.” The hatted girl spoke once again, “Relax, we’re okay.” 

“Y-you can talk?” The blonde blurted out loud, immediately placing both of her hands on top of her mouth to shut up. It kinda hurt a bit, but she realized she might’ve been rude towards her first friend. 

Hat Kid merely giggled, “Yeah, I can. I just choose to stay silent. It’s just,” the hatted girl paused, “You don’t seem alright.” The hatted child finished, looking at her friend to see if she understood. From what the blonde knew, her friend was still adjusting to the language people speak on this planet. The mustached girl didn’t mind to help at all, she’d help her friend get used to everything here. 

“Oh. It’s just, uh—“ The blonde tried to speak, but she thought long and hard on her next words, “... Damn it, okay, fine. I’m just not really used to having a friend, is all.” The blonde crossed her arms, feeling defeated to say what she really felt right now. But right now, she honestly just wanted to let it out, and she can finally do so with someone she trusted.

“To be honest? Me neither. I just… don’t like the feeling of isolation.” The hatted child spoke out in a soft voice, her tone weary. The brunette looked down as well, slowly swinging her feet as she stared down to the brick paths of Mafia Town sighing. 

“I guess we’ll be there for each other, yeah?” The blonde tapped the brunette’s shoulder as she boasted a smile. The brunette noticed, a little shocked. With a deep breath, the hatted child turned to the mustached girl with a smile.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, her eyes shining bright in the dark night. The mustached girl simply grinned, happily knowing that they’ll go through whatever came their way together, as friends. 

“... Don’t let anyone know about this, yeah?” The blonde looked at her friend. Hat Kid merely chuckled, lifting her hand to cover her smile. 

“I don’t really know anyone here besides you. I literally arrived yesterday.” The hatted child smiled in which the blonde just laughed with her, realizing her stupidity a few seconds ago. 

.—.—.—.

Mustache Girl jolted up with a cold sweat, realizing her dream from a few seconds ago. It was more like reliving a memory, except now it only bought the blonde sorrow. Her first friend had betrayed her to use the timepieces for herself in order to get herself home. It had angered the blonde, instantly declaring from that moment that they were enemies. 

She’d now regret that moment. And everything that led her here. 

The blonde was still panting from her dream, observing the colorful room. Ribbon was still sleeping in the pillow fort with a loud snore, hugging a pink pillow like a stuffed animal. The mustached girl sighed in relief, at least she didn’t wake anyone from her nightmare. 

It’s been at least a month now since her plan went into affect. She basically took everything from Hat Kid’s live. She now had the advantage with the timepieces by her side, but truly she only did this so Hat Kid could keep her grubby selfish hands off the timepieces. 

Her eyes traced back to Ribbon, who looked so much like her former friend. Apparently she doesn’t remember anything before her plan went into affect and only thought of the blonde as her sister. Perhaps… maybe once again the blonde could have a friend and keep it for real. Ribbon seemed uninterested in the timepieces, only just wanting to hang out with the mustached girl or the star feline chef hanging around. 

God, this felt so weird. Ribbon looked exactly like Hat Kid. Yet, she was also so different. It’s like she was more secretive, always watching her back. Hat Kid was more  carefree and didn’t have a single care in the world except getting back the timepieces of course. And now Ribbon was sleeping here . If it weren’t for seeing two of them in the same room before the blonde changed time, the blonde would’ve kicked Ribbon right off the ship. 

Now that she was thinking about it, Ribbon looked so confused about spaceship junk. That was weird , since if Hat Kid knew how, then wouldn’t Ribbon known too?! They were sisters after all. It’s not like they were the same person but from different timelines, right?? Pfft, of course they aren’t. That would be so weird if that was true.

.—.—.—.

“... and that’s why you don’t get the Mafia’s cooking, ever.” The mustached girl snorted while Hat Kid immediately threw up the food that was cooked by the Mafia. She threw up in the leaking fountain, the kid’s trusty hat still staying on her head. She used her hands to get any remainings of the cooking out of her tongue asap, falling against the fountain wall after. She held her stomach, her appetite lost due to earlier. Grumbling in annoyance, she stared at the blonde with annoyed eyes, her other hand holding tight to her umbrella. 

The blonde immediately noticed her friend and shut herself up, slapping her own hands against her mouth. The mustached girl looked back to her hatted friend, guilt in her eyes while she awkwardly chuckled. The brunette bit her lip and looked away from her friend, Feeling embarrassed, the hatted child crossed her arms while looking to the floor. 

“M’sorry…” The brunette muttered. The blonde took immediate offence to that, feeling guilty for making her friend apologize when it should be herself who should apologize. The mustached girl stomped on the floor, her hands turning into fists as she grabbed the hatted child’s attention.

“The heck? It was my fault, not yours. Why would it be yours?” The blonde spat out, sitting besides her hatted friend and finding a comfortable position. The fountain water still ran, a mix of vomit along with it. The two girls both didn’t want to look at it, instead, they both stared at each other awkwardly. 

“... I should’ve listened to you. This whole situation could’ve been avoided.” The hatted child finally spoke out in a low tone as her head lifted out to the blue sky gracing Mafia Town. The sunny rays of the planet’s sun shines upon her face as the child squinted her eyes. Too bright.

“That doesn’t matter. I made fun of you when I shouldn’t.” The blonde admitted, hiding in her own lap. She hated admitting defeat, and this was just like it. The brunette looked at her with an ‘oh,’ and tapped her shoulder, grabbing the embarrassed mustached girl’s attention. Her orange eyes met the turquoise pair that belonged to the hatted child as Hat Kid stood up, her hand reaching to Mustache Girl as an offee to help her first friend up. Mustache Girl reached foward but then hestitated, looking up to her friend for confirmation. The hatted child merely nodded as the blonde took up the offer. The hatted child then proceeded to embrace her, catching the blonde off guard.

They were both merely speechless. Hat Kid just kept embracing her friend for a whole five minutes before letting go, not caring for any witnesses around her. Heck, the whole Mafia population could throw TNT barrels at both of them and Hat Kid would just merely dodge them, helping her friend finally escape the clutches of the Mafia of Cooks. 

“Uh… thanks, I guess. Don’t tell anyone about this though.” The blonde crossed her arms as she looked to Hat Kid. The hatted child stayed quiet for a second before nodding with a small laughter. Ah, that’s right. The hatted alien did not know anyone else besides her mustached friend. She would also say she knew the Mafia, but they were often rude to her. She wouldn’t tell anyone. 

.—.—.—.

Memories stormed into the mustached girl’s head once again. She was filled with such heavy regret, but she knew she couldn’t go back. After all, her plan was going well and she could finally eliminate all the bad guys. Unfortunate for her, her first friend was also a bad guy for selfishly keeping all the timepieces to herself. Now with the power of the timepieces, the blonde can finally set course to her final destination of her careful planning in her cave. 

Alas, Ribbon and Cookie were both in the way. The blonde preferred to not have any witnesses, but unfortunately both the brunette who looks too close to Hat Kid plus the feline star chef stayed here. She would say both lived here, but Cookie has an apartment back in Mafia Town. Cookie just loved hanging out here with both the blonde and Ribbon and cooking for them. 

The blonde groaned, but shoved her hands in front of her mouth as she soon realized that Ribbon was still sleeping soundly in the pillow fort. Mu’s heavy, baggy eyes looked towards the brunette for only a quick second, seeing that she did not disturb Ribbon’s peaceful sleep. Mu slowly got out of bed, making the least amount of noise to sneak out of Hat Kid’s bedroom and go to the kitchen to grab some water. 

She seriously needs to think everything over again while having that cup of water. Sod, did that kid make her softer?

.—.—.—.

“Snaaaaaatcher.” Hat Kid happily called out, taking a nice stroll through the eerie Subcon Forest. She waved little greetings to the Subconites or ‘Snatcher’s Minions’. They were adorable little guys and super friendly to chat with whenever Snatcher was being a grumpy meany and didn’t want to see Hat Kid. 

The smiling child followed down through the paths in Subcon until she reached Snatcher’s hollow, a chuckle erupting from the child. She skipped along the dirt path, carefully following the purple vine to inside of his house. There she noticed Snatcher reading another book, a stern look on the shade’s face. Hat Kid merely chuckled and tapped his hand, grabbing her BFF’s attention and greeting him. 

“Kid, what do you want? I’m trying to read something here.” The spectre put down his book, his magic levitating said book back onto a bookshelf, sighing as he saw the little alien smiling right at him. 

“I’m sensing a timerift! I need to go fix it ASAP. Can you get Ribbon down, pleaaase?” The little girl put on her puppy eyes, and while it doesn’t actually do anything, Snatcher merely sighed once again and agreed to her request. 

With a snap of his fingers without warning, Ribbon appeared right in front Hat Kid as Snatcher also merely disappeared after the snap. Hat Kid merely gasped at the sight of her doppelgänger suddenly appearing right in front of her. Hat Kid whisked her head to the side where she saw purple vines engulfing its victim, and she immediately took her doppelgänger’s hand and ran to the other direction of the purple vines. 

Ribbon was dizzy and confused— what the hell just happened?? Wasn’t she on the spaceship literally seconds ago? How did she get here? Where was she in the forest? Most importantly: where was MU and what was she doing?? She was panicking when someone tapped her shoulder, waving with a beaming smile. 

“It’s just me, silly.” Hat Kid patted her doppelgänger’s shoulder, relaxing her. Ribbon began to calm down, relieved that at least someone familiar was here. A small smile appeared on her Ribbon’s face as Hat Kid merely giggled about Ribbon’s little “WAIT WHAT?!” reaction. 

“Okay, okay. Anyways, I kinda sensed a timerift on that cruise ship. We need to go now to fix the timerift.” Hat Kid explained, taking out a timepiece. She was about to teleport the both of them into the cruise ship when Ribbon suddenly gripped on Hat Kid’s wrist, immediately alarming the child as she looked up to Ribbon in mere confusion. 

Ribbon suddenly noticed what she said and immediately let go of Hat Kid’s wrist and cleared her throat before stating her confusion: “What’s uhm… a timerift?” She awkwardly laughed, feeling embarrassed. Hat Kid was in mere confusion before realizing what she meant and let out a small “oh”. 

“A timerift is basically— uhm, well, basically a timepiece can’t fix itself and we need to go and fix it. It usually has obstacles in the way and sometimes it tells a story.” Hat Kid explained, which Ribbon just merely nodded like she knew what Hat Kid had said. “A timepiece that can’t fix itself”, what does that mean? Timepieces can fix themselves? What the heck?

“Ah, uh, ok? Let’s go then?” Ribbon lifted a finger and awkwardly smiled. Hat Kid nodded before starting the teleportation process to the cruise ship. Within seconds, Ribbon’s eyes fluttered open to the cold arctic ocean and the ship’s railing. The cold greeted the duo, Ribbon immediately shivering and trying to warm herself up. Hat Kid merely put her timepiece away, patting Ribbon’s back. 

“Let’s find the rift quick. C’mon!” Hat Kid grabbed Ribbon’s hand and bolted inside the ship, finding themselves in the giant hotel area. Hat Kid and Ribbon both quint their eyes, scanning the giant room for any unusual things going on. Hat Kid’s eyes lit up as she saw a giant blue orb floating. She quickly tapped Ribbon’s shoulder and pointed to the timerift entrance.

It was like instinct that Hat Kid jumped from balcony to balcony to get to the timerift. She almost touched it but she hesitated, glancing back to the first balcony Ribbon was still on. She gasped, gesturing Ribbon with her hand to come over here. Ribbon noticed and gulped, slowly coming to Hat Kid. After minutes later, Ribbon finally got onto the balcony where the timerift laid on. 

Hat Kid touched the timerift, Ribbon quickly followed her moment. Around the both of them, time seemed to stop as Ribbon’s eyes widened, feeling like she couldn’t move. Her eyes looked over to Hat Kid’s who managed to sneak a look back at her. All of a sudden, they both felt sucked into the blue glowing orb, the environment around them seeming to flicker and glitch around them. Both of their visions black out, both seemingly disappear from the world.

When Ribbon woke up, she swore she saw bubbles. She jolted up out of fear, seeing blue and little skylines and clock towers far away from the distance. She looked up, seeing a cloaked small figure and light shining down upon the both of them. The cloaked figure offered their hand, their hair floating along with bubbles. Ribbon hesitated, but accepted the offer. She got up with the help of the cloaked figure. As she tried to fix her own appearance, she looked up to see the cloaked figure was just Hat Kid. Her flowers glowed bright as it’s golden ribbons floated. 

“Geez, you’re finally awake.” Hat Kid planted her hands on her hips, an annoyed look on her face. How did she talk? Wait, how was the both of them breathing? God, she thought she was drowning! With a confused look, she opened her mouth and said “How the hell are we talking?!”

“Ehm, that I kinda dunno? I don’t usually talk here anyways,” Hat Kid looked into their obstacle for the timerift, seeing that it seemed long. It didn’t look too difficult, just maybe it’ll take some time. It also seemed fun too as there were lots of opportunities for some sliding down. In fact, it just seemed like it was the theme for this timerift. This got the girl excited, it seemed like the perfect time to just have fun and forget her situation. 

“Oh heck.” was all Ribbon muttered as she realized that oh god, she better not mess anything up.

.—.—.—.

As Snatcher sent Mu on another contract that could take the entire day, he felt something enter his forest. Not Vanessa, no, it was something similar to the kiddo’s timepiece aura. Curiosity overtook the spectre’s mind as he teleported to where he thought the aura was. 

As he popped out of the ground, he scouted the area for anything unusual. Suddenly, he heard a boom and whisked his head to the front as the sound came from in front. His vision turned black as he turned his head, and suddenly, he was no longer in Subcon Forest. 

To his shock, everything felt so damn weird as he opened his eyes to lush green grass and eternal blue skies. He jolted up, feeling pain everywhere. He was suddenly feeling pain as he looked at his hands— wait, hands? His eyes widened as he had five fingers and not two talons.