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Chapter Text

"Uuuuugh..."

Hat Kid let out a muffled groan into her pillow as she hugged it close to her. She had been lying curled up in her bed for what felt like an eternity, but in actuality it was probably only around 30 minutes. The bed in question was cozy and warm, like someone had taken the fluffiest clouds in the cosmos and constructed the ultimate mattress.

But it was also very boring.

After having to deal with a particularly nasty time rift in the Alpine Skyline, one that would've caused reality to collapse in on itself had she not patched it up in time (You know, the perfect activity for any child), Hat Kid decided that she had had enough of pulling life-risking stunts for one day, and was just going to kick back and take it easy.

However, after all of the exciting things she had done while traversing this strange world, relaxing was easier said than done. Any activity her mind came up with to pass the time involved doing something dangerous, and most of the places she visited had at least one form of death trap. Even the parade she helped DJ Grooves throw for his big movie (Which was technically on the moon, but still) involved MISSLES being shot in her face. That had to have violated at least, like, several different safety laws, right?

Oh, what about taking a ride around on the Owl Express? The Conductor treated that train like it was his baby, and he DID help her out when Grooves kind of lost it and tried to kill her, after all; but then again, he WAS willing to blow up said train for the sake of a movie. She didn't want to hop on for a ride only to find out the Conductor was filming Train Rush 2: Countdown.

Speaking of which, that HAD to violate some safety laws too, didn't it? How did neither of them get in trouble for that? Did birds just have different laws? Was bird law a thing?

Hat Kid let out another tired groan into her pillow. This sucked! Why did all of the fun stuff have to involve her risking her life?

"Hun, are you okay?" Hat Kid heard a rather sugary voice call out, and looked away from her pillow to see that Cooking Cat had entered her room. "You don't sound well."

Hat Kid sat up with a tired huff. "I'm fine," She assured. "It's just...I'm so...bored!"

Hat Kid threw her hands up in the air for emphasis, before flopping back down onto the bed. "I just want to relax, but it feels so...lame! I want to do something fun."

Cooking Cat chuckled softly. "Well hun, you just had quite the adventure, so it's only natural." She explained, her tone carrying a sort of motherly inflection. "Is there anything in particular you want to do? Maybe help me with baking some sweets?"

"Oh...that sounds good!" Hat Kid nodded, before her face fell once more. "Hm, but I almost burned down the kitchen last time...um...oh! Actually, I have a question for you. Could you answer it for me?"

"Sure thing, dear!" Cooking Cat nodded. An excited smile formed on her face. "What is it you want to know? How to bake a cake? How to make pizza? I'd love to teach you-"

"Oh, no, not that," Hat Kid demurred. "Is Bird Law a thing? Like do birds have different laws?"

Cooking Cat blinked, somewhat surprised by the question that seemingly came out of nowhere. "I...um...I don't really know, hun." Cooking Cat answered with an awkward chuckle. "You'd...uh...have to ask a lawyer for that that."

That's when it clicked.

"That's it! I'll go bug Snatcher!" Hat Kid proclaimed, immediately hopping out of her bed and running over to her nearby telescope.

"I...who?"

"Snatcher!" Hat Kid repeated with an eager grin. When Cooking Cat still seemed just as confused, Hat Kid elaborated, "He's the ghost that I signed a BFF contract with."

"You mean the ghost that tried to kill you?" Cooking Cat asked, tilting her head, before immediately adding afterwards, "Wait, he's your BFF?"

"Well, kind of. He pretends he isn't but the contract doesn't lie." Hat Kid claimed with a smug grin. "He's a big jerk, so it's fun to annoy him."

As she continued looking through her telescope and plotting her destination, she heard an awkward cough from the cook.

"Dear, I'm not trying to be rude or anything," Cooking Cat began. "But you just said you're trying to relax, right?"

"Yep!"

"And you've decided that the best place to go to do this is...the Subcon Forest?"

"Uh-huh."

"And bother a ghost that has tried to kill you in the past?"

"Yeah."

"...Doesn't that seem a little...um...counterintuitive?" Cooking Cat reasoned.

"...Not really, no." Hat Kid answered with a carefree shrug. "Don't see what's so bad about wanting to hang out with my BFF. Besides, most of the people I've met on this planet have tried to kill me."

Cooking Cat went to open her mouth again, but faltered and closed it not too long afterwards. She stood there for a moment, with an expression Hat Kid couldn't quite read. Eventually, she spoke up again, her voice sounding rather strained as she attempted to go back to her usual sugary tone. "W-Well, um...would you like me to make some snacks you can bring along with?"

"Ooooh yeah, could you fry up some bacon, please?" Hat Kid asked. "It's Snatcher's favorite."

"I...can a ghost even eat food?" Cooking Cat inquired.

"Guess that's something else I can find out about, too! This day is already getting more interesting!" Hat Kid beamed, confused when Cooking Cat didn't seem to share that same sentiment.

"Um...guess you could call it that, hun."

Hat Kid landed just at the forest's entrance, using her trusty umbrella to help soften her landing. She surveyed the path before her, and the swirly, purple mist that enveloped it. The forest seemed just like it always did; dark, gloomy, and full of dead things.

Despite the rather melancholic appearance of the forest, Hat Kid felt anything but down. She was quite excited, on the contrary. Sure, Snatcher may have been all angsty and claimed that he despised her, but he WAS her BFF, even if he was still a big jerk sometimes. 

Besides, even if he moped and groaned about her traipsing around the woods, his minions didn't seem to mind. After her scuffle with the forest's head honcho, she actually earned a bit of their respect. According to them, very few people had managed to successfully dupe Snatcher, and she was the only one of them who had lived to tell the tale. That knowledge probably should've scared her, knowing how close she was to losing her life, but all it did was make her feel really cool.

Skipping and hopping along down the forest's dirt road, it wasn't long before she ran into one of Snatcher's minions, whom she recognized as Dave. He seemed to be pacing back and forth, muttering words to himself that she couldn't quite make out.

"Hi, Dave!" Hat Kid called out, causing the minion in-question to spin around with a surprised look.

"Oh, hey kid..." Dave greeted. He tried to sound welcoming, but it was clear that something was up. Dave usually sounded rather peppy-albeit maliciously peppy, since most of said peppiness stemmed from pulling pranks with Hat Kid-but today, he sounded rather worried. "Look, um...now's not the best time to be here."

"Is something wrong?" Hat Kid asked. "Did you get burnt trying to dump water on the fire spirits again?"

Dave brushed aside the query with a dismissive hand-wave. "No, no, no, nothing like that." He assured. "That happened yesterday. We're dealing with a problem right now and the boss is pretty...agitated."

"More than he usually is?" Hat Kid asked.

"100x more than he usually is." Dave affirmed.

"Ouch. That's bad." The child commented. "What's got him all riled up?"

"Well-"

Whatever Dave was going to say trailed off into a yelp when the loud, booming voice of the Subcon Woods' ruler echoed throughout the land. He flinched and scrunched his eye shut, as a ghost Hat Kid couldn't see but DEFINITELY could hear yelled out orders, sounding much more irritated than normal. 

"WELL, FIX IT! I'M NOT GOING TO BECOME A PRISONER IN MY OWN PECKING FOREST!"

As soon as the last echo of the agitated voice faded away, Dave looked up with a heavy exhale. "...Yeah, as you can see, he's REALLY upset." The minion explained. "It's probably a good idea for you to-HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?"

Although Hat Kid hadn't planned on doing anything dangerous, the curiosity about what got the spooky noodle so upset was too overwhelming for her to just immediately turn tail and run, and besides, she didn't want that bacon she brought Snatcher going cold. Because of that, she immediately took off down to Snatcher's home, ignoring Dave's continued instances of this being a really, REALLY bad idea as he trailed behind her.

The fog began to clear away as she got closer to the forest's center, where the massive tree that made up Snatcher's home resided on. It was there she could see the dark, purple specter himself. His back was turned to her, but based on how his claws were clenched up in fists and he was leering over a minion that looked nothing short of terrified, she could only assume his expression wasn't a positive one. 

"I'm sorry boss, we're trying!" The minion apologized frantically. "No one can get through! We just tried throwing a cherry bomb at it, but it seemed to just...break into a bunch of pieces. It shattered like glass!"

Hat Kid did a quick survey of her surroundings, and it didn't take long to see what the minion was referring to. All of the other routes that branched from the forest's center appeared to be blocked by...red strings?

Hat Kid blinked a couple of times, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but nope; they were definitely red strings. Multiple long, glowing, crimson threads had been delicately tied from one tree to the other, spanning across every route in Subcon except for the entrance path she had just walked down on. It looked as though someone had thought that Subcon was too drab and wanted to decorate it with some vibrancy. Why was Snatcher so upset about some string?

"Oh, that's just WONDERFUL. I go to rest my eyes for not even an hour, and then all of THIS HAPPENS." Snatcher exclaimed. "I can't leave this place unsupervised for even ONE PECKING MINUTE-"

"L-Language boss. Kid's here." The minion squeaked, looking off to the side and pointing with a shaking finger.

Snatcher spun around, and when Hat Kid briefly caught sight of his rage-filled face, she couldn't help but feel like she should've listened to Dave and went back on the ship. The ghost looked the angriest he had ever been, his usual mischievous smile contorted into a violent scowl and his yellow pupils glowing brightly with a fierceness that rivaled when Hat Kid had managed to defeat him. She froze, flinching as his hateful glare sent shivers down her spine.

However, as soon as the ghost saw who it was, the rage and anger on his face seemed to melt away...soon quickly being replaced with overwhelming exasperation, instead. "Oh, it's you." Snatcher uttered out.

Hat Kid gave the ghost a small wave, a nervous grin on her face. "...H-Hi, Snatcher," The child greeted timidly, before glancing past Snatcher and waving to the minion Snatcher had just been yelling at. This time with a much more cheerful tone, however. "...And hi, Jerry!"

Jerry waved back. "Hi, kid! Great to see-I mean..." Jerry fumbled, as soon as Snatcher sent a threatening glare his way. "I-I mean it's awful to see you. Absolutely sucks."

"I'm sorry boss. I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen." Dave apologized. 

Snatcher facepalmed with an exhausted groan, ignoring his two minions and instead focusing on the hatted child at hand. "Should've known you'd come here to bug me at the worst possible time," He uttered. "Look kiddo, as you can see, I'm dealing with a bit of a big problem right now. I already have a lot on my plate, and the last thing I need is YOU bothering me."

"...Would you add some food to your plate?" Hat Kid asked, reaching into her backpack to pull out the container.

"Kid, I'm DEAD, in case you haven't realized." Snatcher pointed out. "I don't need to eat."

"But, like...CAN you eat?" Hat Kid asked. "Like, can you taste stuff?"

"I...yes, I can-but that-that's not the point!" Snatcher dismissed in annoyance. "I want you out of the forest right now. I know you think you can just waltz on in and do whatever you want, but I'm SERIOUS THIS TIME-"

"I brought bacon."

Snatcher stopped.

"...What kind?"

"The crispy kind," Hat Kid replied with a smug grin, opening up the container and letting the steam and delicious smell of it's contents waft through the air. In a sing-song type of voice, she added, "Made by Cooking Cat..."

Snatcher's face seemed to light up briefly at the sight of the scrumptious looking bacon, before he immediately went back to looking grouchy as he glared at Hat Kid. "...Fine, I'll let you stay until I've finished eating this." The ghost conceded.

As Hat Kid smugly handed the ghost the container, she leaned over and gave Dave a high-five. "I'm getting pretty good at this contract thing."

"There wasn't a contract. You just gave him food."

"...I'm getting pretty good at this bribing thing."

"Okay kid, I'll admit it; this is the best bacon I've ever had," Snatcher began as he munched on another piece. "If you keep bringing me this stuff, I might actually think about killing you less often."

"How can a ghost eat food, anyways?" Hat Kid asked, her words muffled as her mouth was full with the delicious PB&J sandwich Cooking Cat had whipped up for her. "Does it just disappear as soon as you eat it?" 

The ghost in question merely shrugged. "Beats me, kiddo." Snatcher replied, after tearing off yet another crispy piece of bacon with his fanged mouth. "Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I know EVERYTHING about how being a ghost works."

After finally finishing the last bit of her sandwich and brushing all of the crumbs off, Hat Kid pointed over to the strings that Snatcher was so infuriated by earlier. "So, what's with all the red string? Who decided to decorate the forest?"

"None of your business," The spirit replied without missing a beat, before popping the last piece of food in his mouth.

"Come on, Snatcher!" Hat Kid persisted, stamping her foot. "I gave you bacon! You can at least tell me what's going on. I wanna know!"

"Well, too bad kid. I said I'd let you stay for a bit longer. Never said anything about explaining the forest's current plight," Snatcher stated.

"Yeah, but..." Hat Kid fumbled, then snapped her fingers with a sudden eureka moment. "We have the BFF contract, so that means you have to tell me!"

"Uh, nowhere on that contract does it say I have to tell you anything," The ghost pointed out. "If we're even treating that contract as valid to begin with..."

"But BFFs are ALWAYS honest with each other!" Hat Kid argued. "It's like, a super important law in friendship."

Snatcher carelessly tossed the now-empty container Hat Kid's way, much to her annoyance as she scrambled to catch it. "Well, hate to break it to you kiddo, but a 'super important law in friendship' would never hold up legally. Since you didn't include honesty in that silly little contract of yours, I'm not obligated to disclose information to you if I don't want to."

"To summarize: I don't have to tell you squat!" Snatcher finished, before arching his back and letting out an evil cackle. The laughter lasted for a few seconds, only ceasing when the ghost heard what sounded like scribbling. "Haha...wait, what are you doing?"

Hat Kid had sat down on the forest floor, a crayon in her hand as she scribbled over a piece of parchment paper. She sat there in silence, only speaking to shush Snatcher when he tried to tell her she couldn't do that. When she was finally finished, she stood up and showcased her new addition to the contract.

BFFs must be honest.

Friendship law is a real thing.

"Kiddo, that's not how contracts work," Snatcher pointed out. "You can't just add a bunch of extra stuff-"

"BFFs must be honest," Hat Kid interjected. "That is the law."

"And I'm being in honest in telling you that's NOT HOW CONTRACTS-" Snatcher let out a frustrated groan and once more facepalmed. "Forget it, I don't have time for this. Fine. You can have your little addition to this...stupid contract. But guess what?"

Snatcher leaned in with a wicked grin. "That addition isn't going to help you, because I actually DON'T know what's going on."

Hat Kid blinked. "W-What?" She faltered. "Hey, I thought we just agreed no lying-"

"Nope! Not a lie. Complete and total honesty," Snatcher declared. "I'd cross my heart and hope to die, if I still had a heart and weren't already...well, y'know."

"B-But..." Hat Kid stuttered. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"Kid, need I remind you that I am the ruler of this forest?" Snatcher queried. "I can't just go around and tell people 'Hey! There's a problem that I have no idea how to fix!' I have a reputation to keep up!"

"I mean...I guess that makes sense," Hat Kid acknowledged, although she wasn't sure exactly what reputation Snatcher was referring to.

"...Also, it is fun to annoy you," Snatcher added.

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out at him in response. Ah, so he must be referring to the reputation of being a big, smelly jerk.

"So, why are these strings such a problem, anyways?" Hat Kid asked. "I overheard you...um...talking...with Jerry. They got you really riled up!"

A frown appeared on Snatcher's face. "Yes, well, they seem to be creating some rather irritating barriers," He described. 

For emphasis, Snatcher leaned over to a nearby path that was obscured by the string and lightly tapped a spot just above the thread a couple of times. Hat Kid nearly jumped when a loud thump echoed out, and a red wall flickered in and out with each tap. "Wow..." Hat Kid replied after overcoming her shock. "That's so cool! B-But I mean, also bad and stuff too, of course."

"Yes, it is-bad, not cool, I mean." Snatcher corrected. "I've been spending all of my time trying to figure out how to get rid of these things."

Hat Kid leaned over with a curious head tilt. She was a bit nervous about asking the question that was on her mind, but eventually decided to do it. "...Could it be Vanessa?" She inquired, lowering her voice quite significantly when mentioning that name.

Snatcher visibly stiffened. For a moment, Hat Kid was worried he would yell at her for bringing up that name, but much to the child's relief, he seemed to relax after a few seconds.

"I...doubt it," Snatcher answered. "Her highness is pretty strong when it comes to ice magic, but that's about it. I highly doubt she had this power and only now just decided to use it out of the blue."

"...Oh." Hat Kid murmured back. "Um...have you tried cutting them?"

"Kid, I've been trying to take care of these pec-blasted things all day." Snatcher retorted with an irritated sigh. "Of COURSE I've tried-"

"No, but like, ACTUALLY cutting them! You know, with scissors?" Hat Kid elaborated. "I have a sewing kit with me! Maybe it will help!"

"I-you what?"

Hat Kid opened up her backpack once more, rummaging around a bit before pulling out a rather big, pastel blue sewing case. Most of it was covered in the stickers she had collected while on her trips around the planet.

"Do you ALWAYS carry that kit with you?" Snatcher asked incredulously, resulting in an offended glare from Hat Kid.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being prepared!" Hat Kid informed. She knelt down and pressed the buttons, the case opening up with a click! She stuck her hand into it the disorganized clutter of needles and thread and rummaged around carelessly, ignoring Snatcher's question of whether she was purposefully trying to stab her hand or not.

Eventually, she pulled out the scissors with a triumphant sound, holding them up to Snatcher with a gleeful expression. The ghost, in question, was unamused. "Oh, well done. You found some scissors." Snatcher responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He offered her three, slow, sarcastic claps as well. "What do you want, a cookie?"

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out. "Just watch, you big jerk!" Hat Kid claimed, preparing to cut the string. "You won't be laughing when your problem gets fixed with basic sewing materials-"

A bright red spark jumbled from the string, travelling over to the scissors like an electric current from a wire. Hat Kid recoiled back with a yelp, fumbling and letting go of the scissors just in time for the red to envelope them.

Upon the red spark reaching the scissors, they immediately shattered on contact. The bits and pieces fell to the ground, the handles bent and twisted into bizarre shapes. As soon as she had overcome her shock, Hat Kid knelt down, sifting through the twisted grass and dirt to try and get all the pieces.

"No! These were my favorite!" She exclaimed, cradling the broken pieces like they were a wounded animal. Those were her lucky scissors! Sure, she had more pairs back on the ship, but those ones were special!

She looked up at Snatcher, surprised to see that the ghost didn't seem to be that amused by her predicament; he just looked really tired. "What, aren't you gonna laugh?" She pouted.

"Eh, don't really feel like it." Snatcher replied. "This is more sad than anything."

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out. "Jerk."

"Well, if you hate me so much you can always consider getting rid of that bff contract-"

"Nope, you're stuck with me."

"...Ugh, fine."

Hat Kid stood up, opting to shove the broken scissor pieces in her pockets rather than leaving them on the forest floor. Dusting off her clothes, she looked towards the string. She already kind of disliked whoever set these things up, considering the strings just resulted in her losing a very valuable item; granted, the item in question would've probably been worth 5 pons and it WAS kind of her own fault, but that was besides the point! Those scissors were worth 50000 pons to her, and she was only just trying to help out her BFF! She, admittedly, didn't really understand law all too well, but she at least deserved SOME compensation, didn't she? Like, a new pair of scissors or something...or a brand new sewing kit! She could demand that, right?

Despite her scissors getting exploded, she still curled her hand into a fist and went to punch whatever invisible barrier the strings had managed to form, only to almost fall when her hand went right through it. After quickly getting her bearings, she looked up at Snatcher with a surprised look. "Hey, I can go through!" She proclaimed. "Maybe it only blocks ghosts n stuff?"

"Shame, I was hoping that would fry you," said the specter, disinterested. "Seriously, it's a wonder you've even survived that long considering how careless you are-"

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She dismissed. "I'm trying to give you solutions to your problem. Is there anyone here that could help you that's...uh...not dead?"

"You mean aside from yourself? No."

"...Oh." Hat Kid replied, her head immediately falling. If she was honest, she REALLY didn't want to do anything like that. She DID kind of feel bad about not wanting to stick around and help, but Snatcher wanted her to leave anyways, right? Besides, she deserved to take a break after that whole time rift situation she went through.

"Well, I don't exactly enjoy having you be here, but it seems some more work has popped up," Snatcher continued on. "You seem to like travelling around here-for some odd reason-so how about..."

Oh, nope. That got rid of any regret she was feeling. She was NOT signing another one of those. "I'm not signing a contract."

Snatcher's grin immediately fell. "What!? Why not?"

"They suck!" Hat Kid answered, ignoring the oddly offended gasp that came from the contract-making-ghost in question. "If I sign one of those contracts, you're gonna steal my soul and make me do a bunch of other dumb stuff, like visiting creepy manors or battling haunted toilets!"

"Kiddo, you're LUCKY you got to do those. I could've EASILY just ate your soul and t-"

"Yeah, yeah, toss my body, I know." Hat Kid cut-off with a dismissive hand-wave. "I came here to avoid life-threatening stuff and just chill with my bff. I'm tired and not in the mood to do anything dangerous."

Snatcher's face contorted with a furious rage. He opened his fanged mouth to retort, but seemed to falter and shifted over to a more confused expression. "I...hang on a minute, let me get this straight; you thought it would be wise to take a break from being in peril..."

"Uh-huh."

"...And you decided that the best place to go for this break was Subcon."

"Yep!"

Snatcher didn't say anything in response, but by the way he let out a exasperated groan and started rubbing his temples (Did ghosts even GET headaches?), Hat Kid could tell he thought it was stupid.

"Well, whatever. You're clearly too busy to do anything fun," Hat Kid opted to say instead. "Find someone else to take care of the strings. Sorry, but I'm done with danger for one day."

With that, Hat Kid swiftly turned on her heel and began making her way to the gloomy woods' exit, leaving behind a rather disgruntled ghost.

"Oh sure, leave. Can't say I blame you." Snatcher called out. Hat Kid ignored the ghost, a smug smile forming on her face. Sure, she probably SHOULD stay and help out, but if that giant spooky spaghetti noodle was going be such a jerk to her, then she didn't have any qualms about being one back.  

"...I mean, you probably wouldn't be able to handle it, anyways."

Hat Kid immediately stopped, her smug smile falling. She turned around slowly, looking at the ghost with a challenging glare. "What's THAT supposed to mean?" 

"I mean, let's be honest kid, this is something NEITHER of us understand," Snatcher prattled on, his grin widening with each word. "For all we know, this could be a murderous giant spider out for blood, or a demon that would drag you to the depths of the underworld, or an...um...what else would scare you..."

"...clowns?"

"Or a bunch of monstrous clowns that would tear you limb from limb!" Snatcher finished. "Whatever it is, I doubt you'd be able to handle it."

"What!?" Hat Kid exclaimed, astonished.

"Let's face it, you're a kid! If I can't take care of these red strings, there's no way some scrawny brat can." Snatcher continued on. "If defeating a haunted toilet exhausted you, than there's NO WAY you could handle this. I'm just being completely honest here, per our contract..."

Hat Kid's frown deepened. 

That jerk! Did he just HAPPEN to forget that she kicked his butt? She pointed an accusatory finger towards the ghost, not realizing that his grin had increased by tenfold. "I could take care of it if I wanted to!" Hat Kid declared. "I just don't want to do it right now!"

"Oh, suuuuuuure," Snatcher drawled, his tone oozing with a sort of sarcasm that infuriated Hat Kid to no end. "You just 'Don't feel like it right now'. Totally not using it as an excuse because you're scared. That would be absurd. Yep. Definitely."

Hat Kid's fists clenched, her face growing florid with rage. "It's true, you jerk! I could find the guy and kick their butt without breaking a sweat!"

A piece of aged parchment was unraveled before her alongside a quill, courtesy of Snatcher. "Then how about you prove me wrong, kiddo?"

"I will!" Hat Kid declared, snatching the quill out of his hand and hastily scribbling down her name. "Just you wait. I'll do your stupid job in no time. I can't wait to see the look on your dumb face when I-"

The realization of what was happening hit her like the Owl Express. Her eagerness to prove herself and the grin that came with it immediately vanished, and she glanced up to see that the look on Snatcher's 'dumb face' was of villainous glee. "W-Wait a minute-" She scrambled, only to have the contract yanked from her grasp.

"Well, thanks for that kid!" Snatcher said with a cheery disposition. He examined the contract before giving it his signature stamp of approval. "Looks like we're in business now!"

"Wait, wait, no!" Hat Kid cried out, stamping her feet in a similar fashion to the Conductor. "You tricked me! I don't want to do this stupid thing!"

"Sorry, no can do, kiddo!" Snatcher denied. "You signed it, after all. Quite willingly, I might add."

"B-But I..." Hat Kid could barely finish her sentence before burying her face into her hands and letting out a muffled scream. "You're the worst!"

All Snatcher did was chuckle in response. "Hey, relax kid! Believe me, if I didn't need this sorted out I would've kicked you out the moment you set foot here." Snatcher stated. He handed the contract back to her briefly. "I'm being much more lenient with this one."

Hat Kid read over the contract.

CONTRACT

GET RID OF THE RED STRINGS.

[] Find out who's behind this

[] Show them the error of their ways

[] Brutally murder them and savor their agonized screams

[] Learn an important lesson about property law and RESPECTING OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY (Hint on how to do this: Stop coming back here after this. Seriously. Don't you have anything better to do?)

If you try to get out of the contract you are required by law to fork over one (1) soul for consumption (Only your own will be accepted as payment, but if you want to give me more I won't stop you). Keep whatever junk you find.

"...You aren't gonna keep my soul hostage?" Hat Kid asked, bemused when she realized that Snatcher hadn't included any mention of it.

"Oh, I KNEW I was forgetting something!" Snatcher replied, picking up the contract once more. He rematerialized the quill and a grin appeared on his face. "Hm, better add that to the contract as well while we're here..."

"H-Hey! No!" Hat Kid yelped, waving her arms frantically and trying in vain to reach the spirit.

After listening to a couple more of Hat Kid's pleas, Snatcher shrugged, and poofed the quill and contract away. "Nah, never mind. Unlike you, I actually CARE about the validity of my contracts." The specter claimed, before dissolving into a fit of malicious cackles much to Hat Kid's annoyance.

"Ugh, you jerk!" Hat Kid said aloud again, for what felt like the quadrillionth time. "Fine. I'll do your stupid contract. But I'm not doing it for you! I'm doing it for all the other, less-jerk spirits that are stuck because of the strings."

"And because I'll eat your soul if you don't." Snatcher pointed out.

"...That too."  

Chapter Text

"Mmmm...stupid Snatcher and his stupid contracts!" Hat Kid muttered to herself, kicking a loose piece of gravel out of frustration as she continued down another one of the forest's many pathways. 

It was bad enough that the dumb ghost had managed to trick her into signing the contract, but on top of that, she had no idea where to go. She had assumed that the red threads would indirectly end up acting as a sort of breadcrumb trail, allowing her to find the exact location of the thing behind this, kick their butt, and leave. The problem was, there were WAY more threads than she had originally anticipated. They were as prominent as cobwebs were in a dusty attic. Attempting to follow the strings only led to multiple dead-ends, or looped her right back to the start. It was like trying to untangle a bunch of chords and finally managing to get one out, only to find out it was the wrong one.

Why did she even adhere to the contract's rules? Snatcher hadn't even taken her soul hostage this time! She could have left immediately if she wanted to. Sure, Snatcher threatened to consume her soul, but that was Snatcher; he probably said that to everyone. He wouldn't have REALLY ate her soul if she said no...right?

Hat Kid shook her head with a frustrated huff. Whatever, she was here now, and had already given up most of her time wandering around the woods. Even if Snatcher decided he wasn't hungry for her soul and let her leave the forest, giving up now and leaving empty-handed would only end up making her feel worse.

"Oh, how sad...our fires are becoming so much less bright..."

Hat Kid turned to the direction the sing-song voice came from, seeing that it belonged to one of the Fire Spirits. A group of them appeared to be dancing around a fire, however the fire in-question was significantly dimmer than it usually was. In addition to that, the fiery creatures seemed to be the same way. Their usual blazing orange hue had lost much of it's vibrancy. For a brief moment, Hat Kid considered hiding her hat, in case the spirits grew desperate and decided that they wanted to try using it for fuel. Nevertheless, she shook the thought away and began to approach them, hoping for some answers.

"Ah, it is the Hatted Child!" One of the Spirits commented with a delighted noise, the flames that enveloped their being briefly becoming brighter. They looked to the others, adding, "They are the one that helped our friends' fires burn so bright!"

A delighted bit of chatter rose from the others at this explanation. 

"Oh! Hello friend!" 

"Such a pleasure!" 

"Are you here to help us burn brightly, too?"

"I-I'm sorry, I can't," Hat Kid apologized. "I'm here on...business. Snatcher wants me to take care of the red strings enveloping Subcon."

Despite all of the spirit's grins remaining, their fires dimmed somewhat at the unfortunate news. "...Oh, alright." One of them said with a somewhat somber tone. "I DO hope the strings are gone soon. We are running out of things to keep our fire bright..."

Well, from that comment, it appeared that the Fire Spirits definitely didn't have anything to do with the red strings.

"Do you have ANY idea where I could find who-or what-is causing this?" Hat Kid inquired, her frown deepening when one of the foxes shook their head.

"We're sorry, but we don't..." The spirit answered. "We thought someone had left us a wonderful gift to add to our fires, but these strings just don't seem to budge!"

"Hm, okay..." Hat Kid said with a somewhat defeated tone. "I...guess I could go ask Snatcher's minions again...thanks, anyways."

Hat Kid bid the foxes farewell with a small wave, about to set off to go double-check with one of the many minions that were stuck because of the barriers, when one of the Fire Spirits called out to her. 

"Maybe the Dwellers have the answers you seek!"

That info made Hat Kid pause, and she turned back to the Fire Spirit with a bewildered expression. "The Dwellers?" Hat Kid repeated back. "But...they don't talk."

"Oh, sure they do!" Another Fire Spirit chimed in with an eager grin. "Just because someone doesn't say words aloud, does not mean that they cannot speak! You just need to take the time to listen!"

"Huh..." Hat Kid hummed thoughtfully. "Do you...speak with the Dwellers often?"

"Indeed. They are so kind! Always telling us how lovely our dances are." The fiery entity answered, twirling as they did. "Ah, but with these strings they are separated from us! And with no fires of their own to burn, either...poor things...they must be so lonely..."

Hearing that made Hat Kid's heart sink somewhat. The red strings were having much more of an impact on the forest and it's inhabitants than she had originally realized. It made her start to regret ever considering just saying "Peck it" and returning to her ship in the first place. Because of this, a new sort of ambition and confidence swirled inside her, and she flashed the mulling spirit a grin almost as bright as the blaze that enveloped it. "Well, don't you worry!" She proclaimed with an ambitious expression. "I'm going to get rid of all of these dumb strings, and turn everything back to normal-as normal as it gets in Subcon, at least."

"How wonderful!" The spirit chirped with delight. "We cannot wait for our fires to burn brightly once again. Soon, we will die! Yay!"

Hat Kid completely froze in place.

"...O-Oh!" Hat Kid replied, both her voice and grin strained. "That's...c-cool! I'll be...going now."

Hat Kid took off from the burning woods, heading down the direction of the Dweller's Village. As she had figured, there were many crimson strings enveloping the village, blocking any way for the Dwellers to leave. From the way they were acting, it seemed as though being closed off was getting to them. Their heads were hung low, and similar to the Fire Spirits, the ethereal glow that enveloped their bodies had somewhat dimmed.

Hearing Hat Kid's footsteps, a couple of them looked up. One of them, a green one that dawned a fox mask, tilted it's head curiously as Hat Kid approached. It seemed to jump a bit when Hat Kid managed to get past the strings, seeming surprised that she had managed it, and floated over to her.

"Hiya!" Hat Kid greeted with a cheerful tone. "I um...was speaking to the Fire Spirits about the strings, and they said you guys might know something about it."

The Dweller did not respond, silently floating.

Hat Kid's smile fell somewhat. "Um...do you know?"

Still, no response. Hat Kid frowned. What did had those Fire Spirits even meant? How was she supposed to understand the Dwellers?

Her frustration was growing, however she managed to shake it away. The fox had told her she needed to take the time to listen. Maybe she just needed to be patient?

Hat Kid leaned in a bit closer to the Dweller, who didn't move away in-turn; were their voices just really quiet or-

"...Co...n...well..."

Hat Kid blinked, nearly jolting away in shock.

She could HEAR a voice! But it wasn't coming from anywhere out in the forest. It seemed to be...in her head?

The Dweller seemed to light up somewhat at Hat Kid's reaction, and once more, she heard the wispy, quiet voice appear in her head again, this time more clearer.

"You...ca...n...hea...r...me?"

A bright smile appeared on Hat Kid's face. "Yes!" She announced. "I can!"

This announcement caught the attention of the other Dwellers, and soon they had enveloped her, their little voices gathering in swarms.

"She...can hear us!"

"She can. She can, she can hear."

"It's...so long...no one...takes time to...listen...anymore..."

"Worried...only fire spirits...would ever listen...but you...listen, too!"

"Okay, okay!" Hat Kid exclaimed, causing the Dwellers to jump back somewhat. As the voices left her mind, Hat Kid let out a sigh, clutching her head. "I'm sorry...all those voices swirling around were giving me a headache."

She turned to the first Dweller that had spoken with her, the one that wore the fox mask. "As I said, I'm trying to get rid of the strings. You mentioned the well, right?"

"Yes...Subcon...Well. Saw...figure enter. Was...unfamiliar." The dweller answered. "Think...hiding there. Could...be wrong, though."

"Well, I've checked about every other place here already and I've come up empty-handed," Hat Kid reasoned with a shrug. The only other place she hadn't been to was Vanessa's, and she wasn't about to head over there any time soon. "There's no harm in checking it out! I'll see if I can find this spooky, mysterious figure, and I'll kick their butt!"

Hat Kid could hear what sounded like excited murmurs from the Dwellers.

"Thank you...for help. We are...rather...lonely."

"If...you...kick their...butt...will you...still come...visit?"

"We...love...having someone...to talk to."

Hat Kid grinned, and pulled as many of the Dwellers as she could into a tight hug. 

"Duh, of course!" She answered. "If the ruler of the forest is my bestie, that means you're all my besties, too!"

"Snatcher is really...your bestie?"

"We have the BFF contract," Hat Kid informed, unravelling it and presenting it to the group. "He can moan and groan all he wants, but the contract doesn't lie!"

"Oooooh...that is...so...cool!"

"Could...WE have a bestie...contract, too?"

"Absolutely!" Hat Kid agreed. "I'll see if I can convince the grouch to make one for us!"

"Yay! Thank...you!"

"What should...be on it?"

"Do...we add sleepovers?"

"No...sleepovers...already a part of...friendship law. No need...to add."

"Add that...friendship law rules...apply, maybe. Friendship law...always important to...follow."

"I KNOW, right!?" Hat Kid exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "That's what I said!"

Chapter Text

Hat Kid stood on the very top of the well, peering inside it with a curious hum. The outside of the well barely had any strings surrounding it, but the inside was a different story. Numerous glowing lines enveloped the interior like a complicated spider-web, suggesting that whatever had caused this created them as an extra safety precaution. More than likely because this was their hideout (Wow, that detective role she had in the Conductor's movie had really paid off, hadn't it?). 

Prior to her discussions with the Dwellers, she had neglected going down there. Aside from it being in the middle of Subcon's gross, purple, bubbling swamp that was made out of peck knows what, the well itself was dark and smelly, and an absolute pain to navigate. Heck, right at the beginning of her search, she had hoped to herself that she wouldn't wound up having to go down there. Had she jinxed it or something?

Nevertheless, despite her distaste for the well, she trusted the Dwellers more than anyone else in Subcon. Sure, she had made quite a few friends here, but a lot of them had an affinity for being  tricksters. With the Dwellers, she could trust that they wouldn't send her on a wild goose chase, at least.

"...Well, at least it won't be as gross as the toilet, right?" Hat Kid reasoned, attempting to give herself a pep-talk.

Hat Kid replied to herself with an exhausted sigh.

"Gosh, I hope this isn't for nothing."

With that, Hat Kid dove into the well.

Hat Kid landed into the icy cold water that rested at the bottom of the well, immediately regretting ever jumping in.

"Ah, cold! Cold, cold, cold, cold!" Hat Kid exclaimed, scrambling and flailing around as she tried to get her bearings. "Why is it so pecking COLD!?"

"Oh my!"

A panicked voice met Hat Kid's ears, one that she had never heard before but strangely sounded somewhat familiar. She then felt two hands, which she assumed to belong to the panicked individual in-question, grab her and hastily scoop her out before she could end up becoming a popsicle.

As soon as she was gently placed on dry ground, she shook the water off her clothes and then blew warm air into her palms, trying to shake off whatever bit of chill remained.

"Are-Are you alright?" The voice asked.

After a moment, Hat Kid nodded, finally beginning to feel the cold leave her. "Don't worry, I'm fine," Hat Kid replied, still not looking at the person as she was trying to get rid of the excess water that still remained on her clothes. "I just forgot how cold the water here was."

"Are you sure?" The voice pressed. "You don't have hypothermia?"

"What's that?" Hat Kid asked.

"Oh, well, it's uh..."

Hat Kid paused and her face scrunched up in suspicion. This voice sounded...kind of similar to Snatcher, in a way, but somewhat higher pitched and softer. Finally, she looked away from her soaked clothes and up at the figure that had helped her.

She was met with a figure so odd and unique-looking compared to any of the other people she had encountered, that upon seeing them she jumped back and let out a surprised yelp.

Dressed in clothes that, despite being tattered and torn, still looked quite fancy, was a pale blue man that looked like he was straight out of a bizarre fantasy storybook. His head shape was similar to that of an upward crescent moon, and one of his eyes seemed to be missing it's pupil entirely, instead being filled with a pattern of red diamonds. Partially covering the other eye was a small bit of broken glass, looking as though it had used to be a monocle. At the end of his wrists hung what appeared to be iron chains, that moved almost as if they were blowing in the wind. He floated in the air, his body ending just at his waist.

The entity seemed to jump somewhat in-response to Hat Kid's surprise, cupping his hands over his sharp-toothed mouth. "N-No, please don't be afraid, child!" He began, panicked. "I didn't mean to frighten you-"

"You look SO COOL!"

The figure stammered for a moment, looking bemused. "...What?"

Hat Kid jumped on the tips of her toes, looking at the man with amazement. "You!" She exclaimed. "You look so cool! You look like you're, like, straight out of a cool storybook or something!"

"O-Oh!" The man replied. A small smile appeared on his face. "Um...w-well, thank you! That is very nice of you to say, little one."

"So, who are you?" Hat Kid asked.

The entity politely extended his hand, allowing Hat Kid to shake it. "Well, I go by a couple names nowadays, but you can just call me Moonjumper." He answered. "And you are...?"  

"I'm Hat Kid!" The child answered with a grin.

The specter, in-response, tilted his head with a frown. "Forgive me, but...you call yourself...Hat Kid? Do you not have an actual name?"

"Well, I HAVE a name, but it's REALLY hard to pronounce," Hat Kid explained. "So everyone just calls me Hat Kid, or Lass, or Kiddo, or Darlin', or something along those lines."

"Well, what's your real name?" Moonjumper asked.

Hat Kid opened her mouth and spoke it aloud. It came out as a garbled mess, sounding as though someone had recorded themselves speaking gibberish, then proceeded to speed it up, slow it down, and reverse it at multiple different intervals.

"...That IS very hard to pronounce," Moonjumper commented after a moment.

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of it, either." Hat Kid admitted. "I have no idea why it's such a common name on my planet."

"Your...planet?" Moonjumper repeated back, and then his eyes brightly lit up with a gasp. "You...You're from SPACE?"

Hat Kid grinned. "Yep!" She chirped. "My spaceship is just outside of the forest! The fuel for my ship fell and scattered across the planet though, so I've been going around trying to gather it all back."

"That is incredible! I've never met someone from another world before." Moonjumper commented. "Ah, but it's a shame about your ship's fuel. Is that why you're down here? Perhaps I can assist you and send you on your way."

"Oh no, don't worry about that," Hat Kid demurred. "I've already gotten all of what landed in Subcon ages ago. Thanks for the offer, though!"

"Ah, you have...?" Moonjumper trailed off, looking concerned. "Then...why have you come back to Subcon? It's quite dangerous here."

"Oh, I came here just to chill and hang out with my BFF." Hat Kid explained. A small smirk on her face appeared as she added, "He likes to act like a huge grouch, but really on the inside he's a big softie. Oh, and he totally likes cuddling big stuffed animals while he sleeps, especially ones that smell like cotton candy."

She had to keep herself from giggling. She kind of wished Snatcher was here so she could see his expression, but she knew he would DEFINITELY have no qualms about eating her soul if he heard what was being said; that, or he would sue her for slander.

"Well, your friend sounds like...um, quite the character. Especially for one that lives in Subcon," Moonjumper remarked.

"Yeah, it was going to be just a fun hangout, but now I gotta take care of all these stupid strings," Hat Kid said bitterly.

"...O-Oh?" Moonjumper replied.

"Yeah! Don't know if you haven't noticed, but someone decided to put a bunch of random strings everywhere, so now no one can get through," Hat Kid ranted. "And because I'm the only one who can walk through them for some reason, I'M the one who has to take care of them! How stupid is that?"

"A-Ah, I s-see. U-Um...that is...terrible."

"It SUCKS. I've been wandering around all day and now I gotta go through this dumb well to figure out who's behind them all." Hat Kid rambled. "Have you seen any shady people around that'd do that?"

Moonjumper rubbed the back of his head. "I'm um...terribly sorry, Starlight, but I haven't. I've been just stuck here this whole time and um..."

"Hey, wait a second!" Hat Kid interrupted, finally noticing something was rather off with Moonjumper. Reaching forth, she grabbed his hand and examined it.

A red string was tied around his finger.

Hat Kid's head shot up, and a scowl developed on her face. "YOU'RE the one who made the strings!" She accused, all previous friendliness leaving her.

Moonjumper stammered. "U-Um, now listen, I know you are probably VERY irritated, but allow me to explain..."

Moonjumper held his hands up with a yelp when Hat Kid shoved her umbrella in his face threateningly. Sure, this Moonjumper guy had helped her out, but HE was the reason she ended up having to roam around the forest for hours on-end and landed in the freezing water in the well in the first place! Not to mention, she lost one of her most prized, luckiest items in the process. "You owe me a new pair of scissors!" Hat Kid demanded.

Despite the still panicked expression specter wore, he still managed to give the hatted child a puzzled look. "I-I'm sorry, I owe you what?"

Hat Kid moved her umbrella to the side, grumpily fishing through her pockets and pulling out the broken parts. She held them out for the Moonjumper to see. "These USED to be my lucky scissors, but after I tried cutting your dumb strings, they completely shattered!" She spat.

"O-Oh..." Was all Moonjumper could mustered out in response, looking rather guilty. "I'm...quite sorry about your scissors. Here, let me fix them."

Hat Kid was about to go on another tirade about how exhausting this day was for her, but paused at Moonjumper's offer. "What?" She said aloud. "How are you going to fix them? They're all busted up."

"W-Well, I'll show you, Starlight!" Moonjumper encouraged, with a small smile. Delicately, he took the metal pieces from Hat Kid's hands, and examined them with a thoughtful look. "S-See, all I have to do is...this!"

Strings formed at the edges of his finger tips, weaving into the metal and plastic handles. Hat Kid's unbridled rage quickly began to melt away as she examined the process in utter awe. Carefully, almost as if they were simply puzzle pieces, the red strings stuck the metal and plastic together into their original form.

"And a little bit of this...and...presto!" Moonjumper announced, extending out the scissors for Hat Kid to take. Aside from the strange, ethereal red glow that enveloped the scissors, they looked completely undamaged.

"Wow!" Hat Kid exclaimed, taking the scissors from Moonjumper's outstretched hand. After taking them, she realized that Moonjumper was still standing there anxiously waiting to see if she would freak out at him again, so she coughed awkwardly. "I...um...thank you. That looked really cool, too."

"I'm glad you thought so," Moonjumper replied, seeming relieved. He then gave the child an apologetic look. "Listen, I'm quite sorry. I never expected a child-much less an alien-to end up going down into this forest. You were quite justified in being upset with me."

"But...WHY did you cover all of Subcon in these strings?" Hat Kid pressed. "What's the deal?"

Moonjumper went quiet for a moment. His voice when he answered was much colder and harsher than it had been before.

"...That ghost."

"That ghost?" Hat Kid repeated, before it clicked. "You mean Snatcher?"

"Yes, that horrible...HORRIBLE creature." Moonjumper seethed, hands curling into fists. "That monster...I will make him pay for what he has done."

"Uh...what exactly HAS he done?" Hat Kid asked, to which Moonjumper blinked, the cold rage leaving his face as he recomposed himself.

"Do not worry about that, Starlight," Moonjumper answered. "It's...rather complicated. This ghost has hurt...many people. This is a way to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Hat Kid gave a thoughtful hum.

"Listen, I'll be totally honest," Hat Kid began. "I was planning on kicking the butt of whoever was making these strings. But you seem pretty nice, so I'm not going to do that."

"Oh, um...thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome," Hat Kid replied. "But, I still think you should get rid of the strings."

"B-But if I do that, that ghost could-"

"Listen," Hat Kid interrupted. "Snatcher's a big jerk, so I'm sure whatever beef you have with him is, like, completely justified, but you're making the whole forest suffer, too! The Fire Spirits are running out of stuff to keep their fires going, Snatcher's minions are all stuck and cooped up in random spots, and the Dwellers are all trapped in their village and are SUPER bummed out. I get that you're upset with Snatcher, but it's not fair that everyone else has to go through that, too."   

Moonjumper let out a sigh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. His cheeks grew a deep blue, appearing to be quite embarrassed. "I...never thought of that," He admitted. "You are correct, Starlight. The residents of the forest have done nothing to deserve being trapped...it would be wrong to make them suffer as well."

The peculiar man reached out, delicately taking the scissors he had just repaired from Hat Kid and examining them with intrigue. "Hm...these scissors appear to be now infused with a little bit of my magic." He observed, before handing them back to her. "You should, theoretically, be able to cut the threads scattered about Subcon now. I would do it myself, but...making my presence known to that beast would be...unwise."

"Oh yeah, probably not a good idea," Hat Kid concurred. She twirled the scissors with a carefree shrug. "Don't worry, this won't be a problem for me. I'm a sewing master! I can handle cutting a bit of string."

"Oh my, you are just filled with talents, aren't you?" Moonjumper chuckled, reaching down to pat the child's head; he ended up just patting her top hat, of course, but the gesture was appreciated nonetheless. "Thank you, Starlight, for showing me the error of my ways. It was very noble of you."

She had to say, it felt good explaining something to someone and having them actually listen. The last person she had tried to do that with was Mu, when the mustached girl had wanted to use a timepiece to go back in time and stop the Mafia. It was a noble effort, sure, but time travel could have serious consequences on...well, everything. Even if you managed to successfully change parts of the past, the resulting changes still left time rifts, which could have devastating effects on the world if left unchecked. Her reward for explaining this to Mu was getting called selfish and then having half of her pons stolen. Now, here was someone actually WILLING to listen! It felt like a breath of fresh air.

Hat Kid gave the specter a prideful smile and crossed her arms. "Why, thank you!" She replied. "It feels nice for someone to actually LISTEN to what I'm trying to say for once. You aren't too bad yourself!"

Hat Kid looked down at her new scissors once more, twirling them around. "Not gonna lie, I WAS gonna try and see about getting a new sewing kit out of this, but this is even better! Now my scissors are...like...7 times luckier!" She rambled. "Although, I do gotta ask; you seem like a pretty nice person. What did Snatcher do to make you wanna..."

Hat Kid trailed off.

Upon glancing back up, she had realized that the mysterious man had vanished.

"...Hello?" Hat Kid called out.

No answer.

"...Huh, weird." Hat Kid mumbled, before making her way out of the well.

"HEY, GUESS WHAT!?"

Snatcher looked up, turning around to see Hat Kid speeding down the forest's dirt road with a face of glee and excitement.

She skidded to a stop, pulling the now-repaired scissors out of her pocket. "I've got a solution for you guys!" She announced.

Snatcher's reply was a grumble and a facepalm. "Kid, if scissors didn't work before, they aren't going to work again-"

Hat Kid felt especially smug as Snatcher trailed off, seeing her effortlessly snap one of the red strings in-half with a single cut. "You suuuuure about that?" Hat Kid asked, awaiting Snatcher's response with an eager grin.

"...Huh," said Snatcher. "I...stand corrected."

Hat Kid handed over the scissors to one of the minions, which just so happened to be Dave. "Hey, do you think you guys could cut the rest of them if that's cool?" She inquired, before letting out what felt like one of the hugest yawns she had ever made. "I'm completely beat. Sooner I can get back on my ship and snooze the better."

"Yeah, no problem, kid!" Dave answered. "Thanks for figuring out this whole thing. You should've SEEN how panicked the boss was when he first woke-"

Dave scrambled away with a yelp when the ghost-in-question leered in, his eyes practically piercing into the poor minion's soul.

"No, no, please finish that sentence," Snatcher growled out. "I insist. Your soul would make for some excellent dessert."

Dave gulped nervously. "N-No, I'm sorry boss," He stuttered out. "W-Won't happen again."

Hat Kid snorted. "Give him a break, bestie!" She insisted, causing a rather disgruntled groan to come from the ghost. Ignoring the grumpy ghost, she looked at Dave with a grin. "Make sure to give those back to me when you guys are done, alright?"

"Yeah, sure thing, kid!" Dave nodded. "Don't get yourself into too much trouble now."

"That's rich, coming from you." Hat Kid said, before both she and the minion burst out into fits of laughter.

"...Children. All of my minions are literal children." Snatcher muttered, burying his face into his palms with a sound of frustration.

Once they were finished with their bout of laughter, Hat Kid wiped the tears out of her eyes and gave the minion a high-five before he took off, cutting any of the red strings he came across.

"...Since when did you start thinking you could give MY minions orders?" Snatcher questioned after a moment.

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out at him. "I didn't ORDER him to do anything," She retorted. "I ASKED him. It's called being polite; you should try it sometime."

"He's MY minion, which means he works for ME." Snatcher countered. "He doesn't answer to anyone else-"

"Oh, so you want me to stay in the forest longer?" Hat Kid interrupted with a smirk. "That's cool. I will happily bug you now that I've got this whole red string business sorted."

Snatcher frowned. "...Fair enough," He conceded.

After another moment, Snatcher spoke up again.

"Okay kiddo, I'll bite," Snatcher began. "What happened? You figure out who was making these infuriating little barriers, or..."

"Yep!" Hat Kid answered. "Dwellers told me they saw someone go into the well, so-"

Snatcher put his hands up, cutting Hat Kid off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...slow down." said the ghost. "The Dwellers told you?"

"Uh, yeah?" Hat Kid replied. "I went down to their village. They talked to me, but like...they were speaking in my head, instead? It was weird, but cool!"

Snatcher didn't say anything for a bit, wearing a rather thoughtful look.

"Huh...that's...actually kind of impressive, kiddo." Snatcher remarked.

That comment made Hat Kid gasp, and place her hands to her cheeks with pure, unbridled glee. "REALLY!?" She squealed, bouncing up and down.

"Ugh, don't let it go to your head," Snatcher said, dismissing her joy and excitement with a hand-wave. "You're still a nuisance to my forest."

"Oh, yeah! I showed the Dwellers our BFF contract, and they said they wanted one too!" Hat Kid mentioned, ignoring Snatcher's insults like she usually did. "They also said that friendship law was valid."

Snatcher snorted. "Okay kiddo, you are definitely making that up!"

"I'm NOT!" Hat Kid insisted. "Just ask them yourself!"

"Sure kid, whatever," The spooky noodle replied. "Enough about things that didn't happen. Tell me about what ACTUALLY happened when you went down to that well."

Hat Kid made herself comfortable on a twisted tree trunk, and recounted the events that had transpired and her meeting this mysterious Moonjumper to Snatcher, all the while the ghost sat there-or...floated there-with a look of deep thought.

After finishing the tale, Snatcher's frown deepened as he mulled over. Hat Kid sat, the curiosity of who this mysterious Moonjumper eating up at her.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Snatcher spoke.

"...So... you DIDN'T brutally murder him?" Snatcher asked.

Hat Kid threw her hands up in exasperation. "Oh, come ON, Snatcher!" Hat Kid whined. "Who cares about that?"

"Uh, it says right there in the contract you signed." Snatcher pointed out. "Tsk, violating a contract like that...I expected more from you."

"No you didn't."

"...Yeah, I didn't."

"Well, forget that!" said Hat Kid. "Who IS this Moonjumper? Do you know anything about him? Why he's so mad at you?"

"Pft, beats me," Snatcher answered. "Probably some sap that signed a contract and is all whiny because he didn't read the fine print..."

"I dunno, he sounded REALLY mad when talking about you." Hat Kid noted. "You must've done SOMETHING to get him that worked up."

"Look kid, I hired you to take care of some annoying threads; not to play psycho-analyst." Snatcher countered. "You did the job, congratulations. Here's a gold star, now get out of my forest."

Hat Kid stuck her tongue out. "Don't have to be such a jerk about it." She reasoned. "I'm just...worried, you know?"

"Worried?" Snatcher repeated back, sounding as if this was the first time he had ever even heard that word.

"Well, he sounded really angry. What if you get hurt or something?" Hat Kid asked. "Even if you're a big jerk, you're still my BFF. I don't want you to get hurt."

The ghost was unusually quiet for a few seconds, before he let out a loud cackle.

"Please, kid! This is ME we're talking about! I've been around for CENTURIES!" Snatcher proclaimed. "If he got freaked out by you pointing an umbrella at him, there's NO WAY that poor sap could actually handle taking on ME. I'd rip his soul out and consume it before he could even summon one of his stupid little strings."

"Mmmm...I don't know if I would go that far," Hat Kid replied. "He seems pretty nice. Maybe if you guys just talked?"

"Ah yes, and then we go frolic in the fields of friendship, while proclaiming that friendship law would definitely hold up in a court of law," Snatcher mocked, much to Hat Kid's annoyance.

"Ugh, fine!" said Hat Kid. "Forget I ever said anything."

There was some quietness between them for a bit, then Snatcher sat down next to Hat Kid.

"...Kid, I'll be fine, alright?" Snatcher insisted.

Hat Kid let out a huff. "...Okay," She agreed. "If you aren't worried, I won't be worried."

"Kid, at this point, the only thing I have to worry about is you making a mess of my forest."

"Aw, you worry about me! I knew you cared!"

"I LITERALLY never said that-'

"Too late! No takesies-backsies!" Hat Kid grinned. She jumped up and managed to pull the ghost into a quick hug, much to his dismay. She pulled away from the hug and hopped onto the ground, skipping off to the forest's entrance. Without missing a beat, she added, "See you later, bestie!"

Cooking Cat let out a heavy sigh of relief when Hat Kid finally returned back to the ship, looking pretty unharmed in-comparison to how her other adventures usually transpired. The chef rushed over, examining her like the child was her own kitten. "Oh, thank goodness," Cooking Cat said, pulling the child into a tight hug. "You were gone for so much longer than you said, hun. I was worried something bad happened."

"Oh, don't worry CC!" Hat Kid assured. "Nothing too bad happened. Subcon had a bit of a problem that I ended up having to fix, but I got to hang out with my bestie! It was pretty alright, all things considered."

"That's good news, dear," Cooking Cat replied with a warm smile. "You must be starving...oh! Did that um...Snatcher...did he like the bacon?"

"Oh yeah, he LOVED it! Said it was the best bacon he's ever eaten." Hat Kid answered with glee. "Told me he'd think about killing me less often if I brought more."

Cooking Cat's eye twitched.

"How...thoughtful!" The chef replied, gritting through her teeth. "What a...wonderful friend."

"Yeah. Not really sure how exactly a ghost can eat food, though..." Hat Kid rambled. "I asked him and he didn't know, either. I...oh no."

Cooking Cat frowned, her eyes widening when she saw Hat Kid's smile drop. She quickly scrambled, wanting to make sure the child was alright. "W-What's wrong, hun? Is everything okay-"

"I FORGOT TO ASK SNATCHER ABOUT BIRD LAW!"

Chapter Text

Snatcher sat curled up on his chair, grumbling to himself as he flipped through the pages of his book. It was a bit of a new one on how to keep people from continuously returning to your home even after you have told them not to multiple times.

Upon realizing that the kid had managed to get into the book and cover the pages with dozens of the irritating little stickers she had collected (Speaking of which, WHY were their stickers of him, and WHO did he have to sue for using his image?), Snatcher rolled his eyes and slammed the book shut with an infuriated groan.

That brat was such a pest...always thinking she could run around and do whatever she wanted to in his forest. Had he not had this little issue with this...what had the kiddo called him...Moonjumper? Had he not had this issue with 'Moonjumper', he would've kicked her out the moment she set foot onto the forest's soil.

...Well, maybe he'd still take the bacon she offered him, but after that, Snatcher would DEFINTELY have kicked her out.

It didn't help that his minions were also encouraging the kid's behavior; always being delighted and happy to see her, asking her to come back and visit soon even though he had SPECIFICALLY told them she wasn't allowed in the forest. At this point, he'd be disappointed but not surprised if they started making friendship bracelets. 

Whatever happened to Snatcher's minions helping him lure unsuspecting victims to their untimely demise? Dangling the chance of freedom over their pathetic heads, only to pull it away and watch the last bit of hope in their sad little hearts extinguish and be overcome with despair, as they realized they were mere pawns that Snatcher had never intended on freeing in the first place? What happened to the good old days?

Sure, when it came to contracts, he'd give it to the kid that she was pretty efficient, but if he knew that efficiency was going to come with the cost of having a chaotic brat ruining his forest, he would've just given her the timepieces and sent the kid on her way.

He still somewhat struggled to wrap it around his head that the kid had managed to figure out how to communicate with the Dwellers.

Dweller communication was...complicated, for a lack of a better word. Heck, most of Snatcher's minions, despite the fact that they had been Dwellers prior, had difficulty with it. They were much too restless and could never properly let the Dweller's voice filter in through their heads. You had to be calm and patient, allowing your mind to empty so that the Dweller's words would be able to properly reach you.

So it was quite a surprise that one of the most rambunctious, obnoxious, and hyperactive brats he ever had the misfortune of meeting was somehow able to have a conversation with not just one, but apparently MULTIPLE Dwellers at the same time. At some point he wondered if he had just made it up to sound cool, but then one of the Dwellers actually timidly approached him after she had left. 

Turns out, Hat Kid wasn't lying; they ALL wanted friendship contracts with the kid. They really thought that having a document that made them obligated to be bugged and bothered by some annoying brat was FUN.

The Dweller's face seemed to fall when Snatcher told them it wasn't happening. After all, there was no point in them having a contract for someone he was absolutely, positively, never going to allow in the forest again.

Absolutely never.

...

...Unless she brought more bacon. Then he could make an exception-

Snatcher mentally slapped himself. He couldn't allow his judgement to be clouded by cheap attempts at bribery! She wasn't allowed back in Subcon. She had caused enough problems. The only reason he let her stay is because it just so happened that there was a job that needed doing. She did the job, and now, she wasn't coming back.

...Where DID that Moonjumper sap go, anyways-

A sudden, sharp tug enveloped the ghost's chest, like several wires had ensnared his body. It jolted him from his thoughts, and he let out a yell as he felt some invincible force pull him out of his chair and send him hurling to the floor with a resounding thunk!

It took him a moment to get his bearings, and he blurrily looked down at his hands. Angered, with yellow pupils a flaming glow, he yelled out indignantly, "WHAT FOOL THINKS THEY CAN-"

He immediately trailed off. There were red strings wrapped around his claws, travelling up through his arms.

"What the-"

More strings materialized from seemingly nowhere, and the purple specter looked down at himself just in-time to see the crimson threads shoot towards his chest and wrap themselves around it, pulling tightly. The ghost struggled, vicious, furious growls bellowing from his fanged mouth as his efforts became more and more fruitless.

"That child was right," Snatcher heard a voice say from above. "It was wrong to make the others suffer for your sins. I will deal with you directly."

"Aaaaaand that should be the last of them!" Dave announced with pride as he finally managed to locate and cut the last of the strings that had been scattered about the forest. He turned to a nearby Dweller as he twirled the pair of scissors Hat Kid had leant him, commenting, "These scissors are pretty nifty, huh?"

"..."

Dave sighed. Despite previously being a Dweller, he had spent so much time being Snatcher's minion that the Dweller speech was almost a lost art to him. He could never quite properly clear his mind to hear what they had to say. 

"...Never mind."

When the Dweller's face seemed to sag somewhat, Dave panicked. "H-Hey, buddy! It's okay!" He assured, giving the Dweller a pat on the head. "It's not your fault. Don't feel bad."

The Dweller lifted it's head up, looking towards the starry sky. It's body slumped somewhat, almost as if it was sighing.

"...Aw, you miss her, huh?" Dave asked.

The Dweller nodded.

"Well, don't worry, buddy! If you want, you can join me in some pranks!" Dave suggested. "We can draw all over the spiders, or throw a cherry bomb at one of those headless statues, or...oh! We can toss some water on the Fire Spirits! It...er, didn't work out too well for me the other times, but hey! Third time's the charm, am I right?"

Dave didn't understand the Dweller, but based off it's expression, he could tell that none of what he just said appealed to it.

"Don't give me that look!" exclaimed Dave. "You just don't know classic comedy-"

A loud, booming, utterly terrifying voice shook throughout the whole forest, causing Dave to let out a yelp and the Dweller too snuggle into him out of fear. It was raw, pure rage and was one of the angriest tirades Dave had ever heard.

"IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, YOU'LL LET ME GO BEFORE I TAKE ONE OF MY CLAWS AND PECKING EAT YOUR SOUL, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE-"

Dave faltered, a panicked expression crossing his face. His boss had seldom ever reached that level of rage. The outburst he had earlier was nothing compared to the hatred that seemed to consume the ghost's entire being. Did Hat Kid come back and annoy him until he snapped? What got him so-

That's when what the boss had said finally began to catch up with Dave, and he panicked.

Something had managed to capture Snatcher.

Hurriedly, he snapped out of his frightened state and rushed down Subcon's trail to where he heard the yelling, the Dweller following close behind him.

"I am doing this for EVERYONE'S SAKE." Dave heard an unfamiliar voice as he began to get closer, the altercation seeming to be coming from the center of the forest where Snatcher's house lay. "Your days of cruelty and hate are finished, monster."

"Ho, ho, HO! You want a pecking MONSTER?" Dave could hear his boss respond. "I'll SHOW you a MONSTER, you pecking-"

Many other minions and Dwellers had gathered alongside to witness what the commotion was about. Heck, even some Fire Spirits had decided to stop their dance and take a look.

Wrapped tightly in strings identical to the ones that were strewn up around the forest, was Snatcher. His boss was struggling about, yelling and screaming and adding 'Peck' to every other sentence. Floating above was a mysterious figure that Dave had never seen before, the red strings protruding from the tips of the entity's fingers as he struggled to keep the furious ghost still.

Finally, the one calm façade the creature wore was replaced with rage when he had finally had enough of Snatcher's threats. "Shut up!" He screamed. Red sparks formed on his fingers and zipped through the strings as if they were electrical conductors. As soon as they reached the ghost, a harsh, painful-looking red magic seemed to envelope Snatcher, silencing his empty threats with a pained noise.

A horrified expression appeared on Dave's face, and strangely, the man that was trapping Snatcher seemed to share a similar one.

"Oh no, I-I..." The figure stammered, before swallowing and shaking his head. "N-No! You do not deserve an apology. You have caused so much hurt and death here. This is what you deserve-"

"HEY!" Dave screamed out, finally snapping out of his shocked state.

The creature looked down, his expression softening somewhat. "A-Ah, hello, little one."

"Who are you!? What the PECK do you think you're doing!?" Dave demanded, much to the figure's confusion.

"I-I am Moonjumper? Why are you so upset?" He asked, tilting his head. "Do you not know what this monster has done? I am helping to save our forest, and the first step is to-"

"This isn't YOUR forest!" Dave retorted. "We don't even know who you pecking are! Get LOST!"

"I...no...no! I will not let this monster hurt anyone else!" Moonjumper refused, responding by tightening his grip around Snatcher. "This creature will pay for the pain and suffering it has wrought. I will not forgive it!"

"What the PECK are you talking about-" Was all Snatcher could mutter out before another wave of electric red magic enveloped the ghost, silencing him once more.

Dave began to panic. This was BAD. The minion's boss was COMPLETELY at this Moonjumper's mercy, and this fella didn't seem to plan on lightening up anytime soon. What was he supposed to do!? It wasn't like Snatcher had ever given him a rulebook! That terrifying specter (Or spooky ghost noodle, as Hat Kid called him) was supposed to be one of the most powerful entities in Subcon! How was Dave supposed to help him?

Dave felt the Dweller nudge him, and he quickly dismissed it.

"Listen buddy, not now. I need to think!"

Come on, come on, come on...it wasn't like there was a rulebook to deal with these sort of things! He doubted he would be strong enough to take care of Moonjumper himself, if this guy was able to get the drop on the boss...

The Dweller nudged him some more, this time with more force, and Dave once more shoved it away.

"Buddy, I'm serious! I need to think about what to do!"

What was the Moonjumper guy even talking about? Was it because of all the souls Snatcher had ate? To be fair, it was a lot, but...

The Dweller leaned in closely, blocking Dave's view with it's face.

"Would you just QUIT IT-"

"Hat Kid."

Dave stopped talking. "...Huh?"

"Hat Kid. Get her. Now."

He...he could make out what the Dweller was saying! As clear as day!

But...that excitement at being able to understand the Dweller was put on-hold when he realized what it was telling him to do.

"Look, I don't know if we can. The boss will kill us," Dave reasoned.

"We are already dead."

Dave paused. "...Fair enough," He agreed. "Let's go find the kid."     

Chapter Text

"Oh, wow! This is delicious!" Thanked Hat Kid. "You didn't have to go through all the trouble of making this for me, CC!"

Upon waking up from a much needed nap, Hat Kid stumbled into the kitchen only to find out that Cooking Cat had whipped up a cake for her! Cooking Cat had informed her it was a rather scrumptious delicacy known as Turtle Cheesecake. She felt a bit reluctant to try it at first-a cake made out of turtles and cheese didn't sound that appetizing-but man, was she glad she took a risk and tried it! It tasted like a rainbow of happy dreams and also caramel.

Cooking Cat merely gave Hat Kid a warm smile in response, shaking her head. "Nonsense, hun!" The feline demurred, leaning over and patting the child's head. "You've been nothing but busy with helping everyone out. You at least deserve a sweet treat for all the hard work you've done."

"Man, the people on my home planet would be SO jealous." Hat Kid commented as she savored another bite of the delicious cake. "All the food is SO BORING. There's no flavor or anything! I mean if you're going to give someone the nutrients required to survive extended periods of space travel, at least give it some flavor, y'know?"

"Hm...well, I've never tried to cook for people travelling across the vastness of space before, so I wouldn't really know, I'm honest." Cooking Cat replied with a chuckle. "Do you make...um, long trips like this often?"

"I've made a couple, but this is the longest trip I've been on so far!" Hat Kid answered. "I was given a SUPER important task to do. They sent me out to deal with a rather big calamity, sort of as a way to prove myself. Keeping timepieces out of the wrong hands and knowing how to patch up time rifts are huge responsibilities, so it shows them that I'm responsible enough to be out on my own."

Then, sheepishly, she quietly added, "I, uh...haven't told them about the scattered timepieces yet, though."

"Well, if you managed to complete your other task, I'm sure they wouldn't mind," Cooking Cat reasoned, taking a sip of warm milk from her mug. "Tell me, what issue did you have to deal with?"

"Oh, I sealed a supermassive black hole into a collapsing time rift."

The cook did a spit-take, violently hacking. The liquid stuck to the fur on her face and she hastily wiped it off, still coughing as she seemed to struggle wrapping her head around what she just heard. "I-I'm sorry, they asked you to do WHAT?"

"Yeah! I helped get rid of a black hole," Hat Kid repeated with a smile, kicking her feet as she excitedly recalled the story. "You should've been there; actually, maybe not since you may have got sucked into it, but it was SO COOL! Sure, I might have violated some of the laws of time and space to do it, but even they couldn't argue that efficiency is efficiency, you know?"

"I...really don't, hun," Cooking Cat answered earnestly. "I just...why ON EARTH are they making a child do such dangerous stunts?"

"But...it ISN'T Earth, CC," Hat Kid answered, bemused.

"It's a figure of speech, dear," Cooking Cat elaborated. "I'm just...concerned. You're so young. A little kid shouldn't be dealing with that level of stress."

"Is that...like, unusual here?" Hat Kid asked.

"Well, usually it is," Cooking Cat answered. With a weary sigh, she continued, saying, "Obviously nowadays it's gotten rather stressful, what with the Mafia and all, but normally kids aren't tasked with such heavy responsibilities. The most responsibility for a kid your age here would be to keep your room tidy and do your chores. They don't get given such heavy tasks."

"Oh no, that's like, SUPER normal for my planet." Hat Kid answered. "Especially if you're like me and wanted to get your time/space travel license."

"Your ship has a license?" Cooking Cat asked, surprised.

"Duh, why else do you think I haven't been pulled over by the time police yet?" Hat Kid replied.

"...There's TIME POLICE!?" Cooking Cat exclaimed.

"Yeah, but as far as I know we haven't broke any of THOSE time laws to warrant a visit, so we're good." Hat Kid answered. "Time Police are only reserved for people that have, and pardon my language, REALLY pecked up."

There was a bit of silence between the two, before Cooking Cat finally got up from her chair with a weary sigh.

"Listen hun, I think I need to lie down," She informed.

"Oh, sure! I bet baking that cheesecake was really tiresome," The girl remarked. "You're welcome to rest up in my pillow pile if you'd like!"

"Well, that's not why I need to lie down..." Cooking Cat trailed off. She smiled warmly, giving Hat Kid another pat. "...But thank you, that sounds lovely."

"No problem, CC!" Hat Kid chirped, before taking another giant bite of cheesecake. With her mouth full, she added, "Make yourself comfortable!"

As Cooking Cat exited the kitchen, Hat Kid looked around and groaned at all the dirty dishes there were. She knew she should clean up for Cooking Cat, since the chef had put so much effort into making her that gift, but still, that didn't mean she had to enjoy it. You had to use super hot water to clean, the soap and suds made your hands slippery, and not to mention the wet food that sunk to the bottom of the sink as icky sludge...

Why couldn't it have been an easier task?

Dave and the Dweller-Who, after managing to get a hold of properly communicating with them, Dave discovered that their name was Mercy-stood not too far from the forest's entrance. This had actually been the farthest either of them had went outside of the forest; Dave's contract with Snatcher made it so Dave couldn't go to places that were out of his boss's jurisdiction, and Mercy simply never desired to leave the forest.

However, since Snatcher was rather...ahem...new...at the whole soul contract thing at the time, and the 'Freezing' was still fresh in everyone's minds, Snatcher had added to his contract that there COULD be exceptions if assistance was needed. The exceptions, in-question, were in case her powers ever got out of hand again.

Obviously, Snatcher nowadays would absolutely NEVER put anything remotely like that in a contract, and the ghost had wracked up such a terrifying reputation that getting assistance was near pointless. Nevertheless, it was STILL in the contract Dave had signed, and the exceptions part of it was just vague enough that he could technically apply it to not just her, but any threat that the ghost had difficulty overcoming.

...He wasn't sure if Snatcher would be proud of him for finding a loophole, or furious.

But after Dave and Mercy had agreed to go out and get Hat Kid, they came across another problem.

...Exactly HOW were they supposed to reach Hat Kid's spaceship in the first place?

The kid's ship floated high above the sky, just outside of the planet's atmosphere. How were they supposed to notify or contact her?

"...Maybe...if we reach the top of Snatcher's tree, and jump really high, we could...get her attention, at least?" Dave suggested.

The Dweller didn't respond, shaking their head instead.

Dave's shoulders slumped. "Oh man, this is hopeless. What are we going to do?"

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear that you are in need of assistance?"

Both Dave and Mercy looked up, realizing that they weren't alone. Walking down the trail, twisted wooden staff in-tow, was someone the two recognized as the Badge Seller. They were an odd sort, claiming to have once travelled to every part of the world, now selling their trinkets and treasures to others. The badges they sold were varied and...weird, to say the least. Sometimes they were handy things that made completing the tasks Snatcher gave them easier; other times, the badges were just useless, like making other's words come out as vague mumbles, or making it so you heard a faint tune and got a weird filter over your eyes when you danced.

"I was just on my way down to Subcon to offer more of my exquisite badges," The Badge Seller informed. Their face twitched and spun around at impossible angles, but their voice had a layer of warmth and kindness to it. "However, it seems I've come at a rather...shall we say turbulent time for you."

"Y-Yeah..." Dave answered, nodding shakily. "Subcon is in trouble right now. Some weird freak we don't even know has it out for our boss, and he managed to get the drop on him!"

He pointed upwards, towards the night sky, where Hat Kid's spaceship could just barely be made out. "We want to try and get Hat Kid and see if she might be able to help," Dave continued. "B-But...we have no idea how to get up to her ship!"

The Badge Seller's eyes seemed to light up. "Ah, fear not, my little undead friends," They assured. "It seems we have met at a most opportune time! I have a badge that just might be able to allow you to reach your goal."

Dave blinked. "R-Really?" He asked.

The vendor responded with a twitchy smile, lifting up their hand and revealing a bright, shiny badge with what seemed to be a rocket ship on it. "This badge contains the answer to your issue." They informed. "Usually I would sell this for a hefty 300 pons, but as this seems to be a most dire emergency, I am willing to part with it for only 150."

"O-Okay!" Dave agreed almost immediately. "We'll take it!"

Dave phished out as many pons as he could from his pocket, practically tossing them at the Badge Seller before snatching the item from their hand. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver!" Dave rambled as they looked over the badge. "So, how do we activate this one? I don't have to dance, do I? Because I am terrible at-"

"Oh no, friend. Just flip it over."

Dave flipped over the badge, his expression falling.

"...This is just the phone number for the Moon Penguins' Taxi Service," Dave remarked.

"No, it's not only the phone number!" The Badge Seller demurred. "I am also giving you a rare collector's item on top of that. There are many taxi enthusiasts that would kill to have a limited edition Moon Penguins' Taxi badge. Why, would you like a refund?"

Before Dave could answer, Mercy leaned over and stared at the badge in-awe.

"Ooooh, it's so pretty! Could we keep it, please?"

"...No, it's fine," Dave conceded. "We'll keep the badge."

"Oh, good. To tell you the truth, there are no refunds; I was just trying to be polite."

Hat Kid let out a yawn as she crammed the last bit of baking supplies into the cupboard. She didn't get why Cooking Cat had talked about how kids were usually given easier tasks, when THIS was included in them. Patching up unstable time rifts and barely escaping just worked up an appetite, but THIS stuff? It was EXHAUSTING. She was sore, and tired, and just wanted to collapse in front of her TV and play her remastered copy of Corgi Quest. Making kids go through this was a nightmare! A lemony fresh scented nightmare, but a nightmare nonetheless!

Hat Kid rummaged through her fridge, ignoring the piece of food in her fridge that she couldn't throw out because at this point, it probably was sentient, and instead pulled out a can of soda. She slurped on it, enjoying the fizz and bubbles.

This planet's tastes in food were weird, but cool! They even gave their beverages fizz and flavor. Her home planet, despite having more access to time and space than anyone in the cosmos, never tried to give anything flavor, which always confused her. The people here never had access to anything like that, but they were always so creative! They made so many tasty treats, and better yet, they were all different depending on where you went! You could spend your whole life here and STILL find something new every day.

It made her kind of sad that, when she found all her timepieces, she'd have to leave.

Hat Kid shook the thoughts away, and went back to enjoying her can of soda. She could worry about that when she got to it...

Suddenly, a loud thwack was hear against the large window of her ship, and she nearly panicked and dropped her drink.

"HEY KID! DO YOU THINK YOU COULD LET US IN?"

Hat Kid peered over from the kitchen, and her face lit up.

Hanging from her ship for dear life-or, technically speaking, death-was none other than Dave, and what appeared to be one of the Dwellers! They had come out all this way just to see her!

Tossing away her soda can, Hat Kid sprinted over to the glass door and hastily pulled it open, letting the two in. As soon as Dave got into the ship, he all but collapsed onto the ground with a tired sigh.

"Oh, thanks, kid..." He breathed out. "Space is really chilly, even for dead people..."

Once Dave got back on his feet, Hat Kid pulled both him and the Dweller into a tight hug, a bubbly laugh escaping her. "It's so great to see you guys!" Hat Kid exclaimed. Pulling away, she gave the Dweller a somewhat apologetic look, realizing that she had never asked for any of the Dweller's names. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you guys what your names were. What's yours?"

"Mercy."

"Aw, that's a nice name," Hat Kid complimented, giggling when the Dweller responded by snuggling into her. With a warm smile, she gave the Dweller a pat and added, "It suits you!"

Hat Kid looked up towards Dave, discovering that he was wearing a rather surprised expression. "Wait kid, you can understand them?" Dave asked.

Hat Kid nodded. "Yep! I've been able to understand them since...well, yesterday," The girl explained. "But anyways, how are you guys? Did you finally have enough of that grouch and decided to visit?" She snapped her fingers excitedly, adding, "Ooooh, CC made me some turtle cheesecake! Would you guys like me to cut you a slice each?"

"Oh, that sounds really good..." Dave began, but faltered with a headshake. "But that's...not why we're here, kiddo."

Hat Kid blinked, realizing that Dave sounded rather off. "...What's wrong?" She begun, quickly shifting from excited to concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"W-Well..." Dave trailed off, and with a tired huff, he muttered under his breath, "How am I supposed to explain this without the boss getting annoyed later on..."

"Snatcher is in danger."

Hat Kid stopped. "...What?"

"Y-Yeah. Uh...boss is...isn't doing too well," Dave confirmed. "We heard yelling, a-and um...when we got to the source, we saw that the boss was like...ENCAGED in red strings."

Hat Kid's pupils shrunk, already realizing what that entailed, but she let the two continue.

"A strange man holds him hostage. Head shaped...like moon."

"Yeah, his head was shaped like a moon!" Dave nodded. "He called himself Moonjumper. Did you meet him when you found a way to cut the strings?"

Hat Kid swallowed thickly. "Um...yeah," Hat Kid answered. "He was the one who gave me them."

Dave glanced towards Mercy, the two sharing bemused looks at the answer.

"I told him off about how it wasn't cool to trap you all," Hat Kid elaborated. "But...I never directly told him to go after Snatcher instead! I meant, like, if he had an issue, they should talk it out like adults, not...ugh..."

Hat Kid buried her face into her palms with a grumble. So much for someone FINALLY listening to her.

"Relax kid, it's not your fault," Dave assured. "We've been trying to figure out what exactly Snatcher did to make this guy so mad, but he won't elaborate."

"Snatcher has done a lot of bad. Hard to tell."

"Very hard to tell," The minion concurred. "But even so, this Moonjumper guy doesn't seem to realize that the boss is one of the only guys strong enough to keep the Freezing caused by her from spreading. If he keeps this stupid grudge up and she finds out, she's going to use it as an opportunity to turn the rest of the forest into her own ice popsicle!"

"Are popsicles good? I've never had them."

"We'll make some afterwards," Dave suggested, before immediately turning back to and addressing Hat Kid. "But look...we know that Snatcher kind of tricked you into doing a contract, and if you're angry with him I totally get that. But..."

"Snatcher keeps forest safe."

"...Yeah." The minion nodded. "We're...really sorry to ask this, but can you help out?"

"Are you kidding?" Hat Kid asked.

"I know, we're sorry for asking this-" Dave started to say, before promptly being interrupted.

"Of course I'm going to help out my BFF if they're in danger!" Hat Kid finished. "What kind of a question is that?"

Both Dave and Mercy's faces seemed to light up somewhat. "You'll help?" The minion wore a hopeful expression.

"Duh!" Hat Kid answered. "Now, do you still have those scissors?"

Dave fumbled, quickly pulling out the enchanted object. "O-Of course! Here!"

Snatching the scissors from Dave's hand, Hat Kid twirled them around effortlessly. She wished she saved a pair of sunglasses from Dead Bird Studios, so then she would look and feel even cooler than she did right now. "Perfect!" She exclaimed. "Let's get going. We've got a spooky noodle to free!"

Chapter Text

Cooking Cat exited the bedroom with a tired yawn. The pillow pile the space-faring child had was infinitely more comfortable than any of the slabs the Mafia treated as beds. How the Mafia were even able to steer a ship and arrive at their island in the first place was beyond her.

"Hello dear," She called out. "Thank you for letting me rest! It was quite comfortable."

After there was no response, the chef entered the kitchen where she had last discussed things with the child, and a delighted noise left her when she saw that Hat Kid had decided to clean up everything for her! Truthfully, Cooking Cat wasn't looking too forward to scrubbing all of the pots and pans, so it was nice to see that she didn't have to worry about it.

Not only that, but it made her feel somewhat hopeful. The child was always putting herself in harms way, so maybe these small activities and chores could help her realize that they were rewarding in their own way, and that she didn't always have to do dangerous stunts.

As Cooking Cat took a seat, she noticed the girl had left a note on the table for her.

Hey, CC!

Thank you so much for the cake. It was delish.

While you were resting, two of my friends from Subcon came over. Surprise, surprise, bestie is in mortal peril! :O

Looks like I gotta go save the grouch again!

Hope you liked the comfy pillows! Feel free to rest there whenevs,

Take care! :D   

...Cooking Cat needed to lie down again.

"So, what's the plan?" Dave asked as they entered the forest.

"Um...I think I'll talk to him first." Hat Kid suggested.

"Tried to talk, but...won't listen." Mercy stated.

"I know, but...I managed to knock some sense into him before," Hat Kid explained. "So...maybe he'll listen to me again!"

"But what if he doesn't?" Inquired Dave.

"Then I'll ACTUALLY knock some sense into him."

Dave snorted. "NOW we're speaking the same language."

As Hat Kid went down the trail, she walked past many of the minions there. Almost all of them were frantically chattering amongst themselves, trying to figure out how they were supposed to assist the boss.

Overhearing this, Hat Kid began to pick up the pace, until she was full-on running towards the center of the forest.

When she got there, the girl almost couldn't believe what she was witnessing.

It...

...It was a lot worse than she had thought.

Despite the fact that she had defeated the ghost in the past, Snatcher still was, by all accounts, a powerful and intimidating figure; one that she enjoyed pestering and annoying, but still a powerful one all the same. When Hat Kid had finally managed to take him down, he sounded exhausted and fed-up at most.

...But this?

This was another story.

Pinned to the tree that was supposed to be Snatcher's home, was the aforementioned purple specter himself. Just as Dave and Mercy had described, numerous crimson red threads held the ghost in-place, keeping him stuck to the large tree. She had thought when she would get there, she'd see Snatcher screeching and yelling a plethora of threats directed towards Moonjumper, then he'd see her and act annoyed, but be secretly glad to see her, and then she'd free him, and he'd be all "I didn't need help I had it under control!", even though he TOTALLY didn't.

But this? This was...scary.

Snatcher looked so...weak. He looked like he could barely keep his head up, and his usually grinning face was contorted into one of exhaustion and...pain. He was hurt, and considering how often the ghost was able to put up facades when something was wrong, it was probably WAY worse than it looked.

Fear and worry gripping at her mind, Hat Kid went on auto-pilot and sprinted up towards the ghost. "Snatcher!" She yelled out, causing the specter to stir somewhat. "Snatcher, are you alright?"

A grumble left the spirit's fanged mouth, and he sluggishly managed to pry one of his yellow pupils open. "...Kid?" He began. His voice had lost all of it's gleeful malevolence and boastfulness, now a shell of what it once was.

Hat Kid felt anger start to boil over in her heart, and one of her hands curled into a fist. Snatcher COULD be a jerk sometimes, but he didn't deserve this! She wouldn't wish this on anyone, especially not her bestie! "Y-Yeah, it's me!" Hat Kid called out. "Don't worry, I'm here to help!"

Snatcher's face scrunched up, trying to appear angry but failing miserably as it. "Didn't I...tell you to leave?" He asked. He looked as if he meant it rhetorically, but he had such a hard time getting the words out that it ended up sounding as if he had genuinely forgot.

"I did, but I came back!" Hat Kid announced proudly. She pulled the glowing scissors out of her pocket and gripped them tightly. "Don't worry, alright? Y-You're going to be alright-"

"Starlight?"

Hat Kid winced at the soft, timid voice. She looked away from Snatcher, and her eyes met the ones of the pale blue ghost she had encountered in the Subcon Well.

Moonjumper looked down at the hatted child, his expression one of complete and total bewilderment. "S-Starlight, what are you doing back here?" He asked, softly. Seeing her holding the scissors he had repaired for her, Moonjumper's bemusement seemed to double. "A-And what are you trying to do?"

Hat Kid's face immediately scrunched up into one of rage, and she shoved the scissors back into her pocket before pointing her umbrella towards the ghost with a threatening gaze. "That's what I want to know!" She retorted. "What do you think you're doing to Snatcher!?"

"W-What are you talking about, Starlight?" He asked. "You...you told me that it was wrong to drag others into this, so I took care of the monster directly-"

His hasty explanation was cut off with Hat Kid letting out a frustrated grumble and stamping her foot. "No, no, no! THAT ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!" She yelled. "I never told you to go after Snatcher and do...WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU'RE PECKING DOING!"

Moonjumper flinched, quickly clearing his throat before replying. "W-Well...first of all, y-you must really watch your language, Starlight," He chastisized. "A-And second of all...what DID you want me to do?"

"I just...I wanted you to talk it out with him or something!" Hat Kid replied, throwing her hands up in the air.

Hat Kid didn't believe that to be such an absurd idea, but by Moonjumper's response it was safe to say he didn't agree. "T-Talk?" He scoffed. "Talk with that...that monster? Starlight, I'm sorry, b-but...that is ridiculous."

Much to the girl's dismay, she heard a quiet snort come from Snatcher. "...Finally," He managed to grumble out. "Some...common ground."

A dark blue blush formed on Moonjumper's face. "W-We are NOTHING alike!" He uttered out. He raised his hand, the red strings wrapped around his fingers beginning to glow. Before anything could be done, however, Hat Kid jumped in.

"Stop!" Hat Kid yelled, shoving the umbrella into Moonjumper's face once more. "Leave my BFF alone!"

Moonjumper blinked.

There was a bout of tense silence between the two.

Finally, as the blue ghost's hand slowly fell back to his side, he uttered out, "You...what?"

Hat Kid was unsure if this would put her onto this Moonjumper's 'Bad Guys' list, but at this point, she didn't care. With a determined gaze, she jabbed her trusty umbrella forward once more, causing the timid ghost to flinch back. "That's right!" She proclaimed. In one fluid motion, she pulled out her contract and unraveled it. "Snatcher is my legally-binding BFF, and I won't let anyone hurt my besties!"

For a moment, the man tilted his head towards the contract. He looked as if he was going to say something about it, but quickly shook his head as he seemed to have more important questions on his mind. "That...y-you mean that friend you were talking about...was that...that monster? You're...you're friends with him?" He stammered out in disbelief.

Then, blinking as he recalled the conversation he had had with the child earlier, he directed his attention towards Snatcher and added, "Wait, you sleep with stuffed animals?"

That statement seemed to ignite something in Snatcher, because for a brief moment he sprung to life and glared daggers at Hat Kid. "KIDDO, WHAT THE PECK DID YOU TELL HIM!?"

"It was just a little joke!" She reasoned. "I didn't think he'd remember it!"

"Unbelievable! I ought to sue you for slander, young lady!" The spooky noodle retorted.

"Ah, yep..." Hat Kid heard Dave say. "Now that sounds like our boss."

Finally, the banter was silenced by Moonjumper, who's voice rang out with a surprising amount of authority. "E-ENOUGH!" He yelled. Once he was certain the commotion would not be returning, his features softened, and he gave the child an oddly sympathetic look.

Leaning down, he gently put his hand on Hat Kid's shoulder. "Listen, Starlight..." He began. "This creature...he is not your friend. I know it might be hard to understand, but let me ask you this; are you aware of what this monster has done?"

"I mean...I know that he's eaten a lot of souls over the years..." Hat Kid answered. "And...he's sometimes a bit of a jerk. B-But you need to-"

"It's MORE than just eating souls, although that alone is reprehensible," Moonjumper spat out. "I am keeping this forest safe. I am finally freeing it from a wicked-"

"Listen to me!" Hat Kid interrupted, causing Moonjumper to quickly snap his mouth shut. With a heavy exhale, Hat Kid continued, desperately hoping that Moonjumper would listen to her once again. "Listen, I KNOW you are upset, but you NEED to see the bigger picture! I know that Snatcher is a big jerk, but..."

Hat Kid pointed over to a nearby trail, one that lead to a forsaken place of snow and ice. "You know where that leads, right? Have you seen the snow?" She asked.

After a moment, Moonjumper nodded.

"Okay, well..." Hat Kid began. "Someone really awful lives there. She's the reason the entire forest is the way that it is right now. One of the reasons she hasn't managed to freeze over the entire forest yet is because of Snatcher. He protects and keeps this forest safe, even if he doesn't seem like he does. If you keep up this grudge, and she finds out...well...Vanessa will freeze over the entire forest, and destroy everything!"

Hat Kid usually tried to refrain from using her name outright, since the kid knew how uncomfortable just the name alone of the jealous queen made others, but she knew she had to emphasize just how important this was.

Besides, despite everything that had transpired, Moonjumper seemed...relatively easy to reason with. Maybe the specter just didn't realize how big the stakes truly were!

There was a moment of silence, Hat Kid waiting to see if this timid ghost finally got the picture so that everyone could move on with their day.

Then...

"What LIES have you told this child!?"

...Huh?

Hat Kid stared up at Moonjumper, who was now seething with a horrible hatred the likes of which the child had never seen before, not even in Snatcher. The usual weariness in the pale blue ghost's voice had all but vanished, replaced instead with pure, unbridled rage.

"What the PECK are you talking about-"

Hat Kid's face contorted to one of horror when the strings that wrapped around Snatcher came to life, glowing brightly and silencing her BFF with a painful zap. He scrunched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep himself from yelling out in pain.

A panic Hat Kid had never really felt that often seized her. She was used to risking her life and throwing herself into danger without breaking a sweat, but this...this was different. "Stop it! Stop it!" She yelled, desperately. "Please, you're hurting him!"

Both Dave and Mercy rushed over to her sides as well, the minion trying to hop and reach Moonjumper, and the Dweller tugging on the fabric of his clothes as they desperately tried to make themselves heard.

A brief moment of guilt flashed over Moonjumper's face, but it left as quickly as it had arrived. He managed to gently pry Mercy away from his ragged clothing, before bringing his attention and hate back to Snatcher. "It's bad enough that you have destroyed this forest, and forced everyone to be your slaves," The pale ghost spat. He sent another shock through the strings, enveloping them with bright red sparks. "And now...now you blame the victim of your crimes!"

Hat Kid jumped and waved her hands, before quickly remembering she was holding her umbrella. Reeling back, she swung it at the vengeful ghost with all of her might. "STOP IT!" She screamed.

The umbrella hit the ghost's face with out a resounding thwack, knocking the ghost back and making contact with a nearby rock. Hat Kid's eyes were flooded with tears, so she couldn't exactly make out Moonjumper's expression, but at this point she didn't care. She spun towards Dave and Mercy.

"Guys, see if you can hold him back!" Hat Kid requested, hastily wiping the tears out of her eyes as she did. "I'm going to try and cut Snatcher down!"

"W-Wait, child, you don't understand!" Moonjumper called out, before finding himself being tackled by a rather angry minion.

"I got him!" Dave called out. Despite his rather scrawny appearance, the minion seemed to have quite a good grip on the ghost. "Mercy, see if you can get any other minions to come back here!"

The Dweller nodded, promptly speeding off.

"L-Listen, everyone!" Moonjumper stammered out, trying to pull away. "I'm trying to help-"

"I don't care!" Hat Kid yelled, before pulling the scissors out of her pocket. "You're a jerk! I won't let you hurt my BFF anymore!"

Hat Kid ran forward, taking as many handfuls of string as she could and promptly cutting them without a second thought.

"Child! Please!" Moonjumper shouted. "That monster can't be free again-"

Whatever explanation Moonjumper was going to make was overshadowed by Dave yelling at the fellow minions Mercy had managed to drag over.

"Guys! Help us hold him in place while the kid frees the boss!" Dave ordered.

The others complied, quickly hurrying over and grabbing the ghost.

"He is a monster! Listen, I am doing this for your benefits!" Moonjumper pleaded with the minions. "Please, I do not want to have to use my strings on you, as well-"

"You won't have to!" Hat Kid announced, as she finally cut the last string in-half.

For a moment, all of the commotion seemed to stop.

Then...

"HAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOL!"

A malicious cackle echoed throughout the forest, a new vigor appearing in Snatcher from seemingly nowhere. His golden mouth and pupils glowed brighter than they ever had before, and despite the grin he wore on his face, Hat Kid knew that glow meant otherwise.

Snatcher was very, very, very, angry.

All of the minions that were holding onto Moonjumper scrambled back, eagerly ready to let their boss do his work. The pale blue ghost didn't say anything in-response, simply staring up at the terrifying figure, paralyzed with fear.

"Sneaking up on me while I'm reading in my home?" Snatcher growled out. "Now, that isn't what I'd call a very fair fight, would you say?"

Since when did Snatcher care about what was and wasn't a fair fight, anyways?

"I don't know what your deal is," The purple specter seethed. "But if you have a problem with me, I'd be more than HAPPY to settle it. Try taking me on without your sad magic act, and we'll see who comes out on top!"

Blue flames enveloped Snatcher's claws. "...How does that sound?" He asked, deathly calm.

Moonjumper said nothing for a few seconds.

Finally, the fear in the pale spirit's face left. Rather than accept the fight, he sat up (Or floated up) and cleared his throat. "W-Well...I see I still have some convincing to do." He commented.

"...Huh?" Snatcher tilted his head.

"But...know this, monster," Moonjumper began. "The others might be fooled by you, but I know better. She wouldn't do this. I know she wouldn't."

"Oh please, enough of this stupid melodrama, soap opera...whatever you have going on!" Snatcher exclaimed, the flames that enveloped his claws glowing even brighter. "Are we fighting or not!?"

Moonjumper merely placed his hands behind his back.

"...No." He answered. "No, we aren't. Not yet."

Then, before anyone could even take a single step, the strange ghost vanished in an ethereal wisp of red smoke.

"...Coward." Snatcher uttered out.

Hat Kid stared blankly, watching the smoke dissipate. She was...relieved, in a way, but...also confused. So many questions that hadn't popped up in the heat of the moment were now coming in droves and making her head spin. She knew her BFF had a bit of a mean-streak, but...what that Moonjumper jerk was talking about made no sense. Was he...accusing Snatcher of The Freezing?

Not to mention, what was that about Vanessa being a victim? If anything, Snatcher was the victim! Hat Kid knew what happened to him, thanks to the purple time-rift, but the whole reason Vanessa even went haywire to begin with was because of something petty. Snatcher got locked up in an cold dark cellar and left to die because he bought flowers for someone he cared about, and all of a sudden, VANESSA'S the victim!?

Sure, what happened to Snatcher, as horrible as it was, didn't justify the amount of souls he had taken over his years of being a spooky noodle, but to accuse Snatcher of causing The Freezing!? Pardon the pun, but that was just cold.

Well, Hat Kid's train of thought ended up being put somewhat on hold when she heard a tired sigh come from the spooky noodle in-question, and looked up just in time to see Snatcher promptly collapse onto the forest ground.

"S-Snatcher!" Hat Kid stammered, quickly kneeling down and looking over him.

The minions followed suite, hurrying over and frantically looking over their boss.

"Boss, are you alright!?"

"Stay with us, boss!"

"Hang in there!"

A muffled groan came from the ghost. "Mmmm...fine," He slurred out, sounding as if he had just won a drinking contest with the Conductor. "Just...mmm...five...more minutes."

Hat Kid wrapped her arms around the ghost, hugging him tightly. "I-I'm sorry I told him you had stuffed animals. It was just a joke." She apologized. Then with a sniffle, she added, "Please don't sue me."

"It's fiiiiiine..." He grumbled. "Just...let me sleep forra bit. Then I'll uh...talk about the suing thing."

Hat Kid stood up, turning to Dave with a worried look. "I think he's a lot more hurt than he's letting on," She observed. "I don't think he should stay here right now."

"What do you mean?" Dave asked.

"I think he needs a place to recover." Hat Kid elaborated. "Like maybe my ship or something. If Moonjumper returns when he's this exhausted, or if she finds out he's hurt...he's not going to be able to defend himself."

"I mean, look," Hat Kid continued, bringing her attention back to Snatcher. Cupping her hands over her mouth, she called out to the exhausted ghost, "Hey Snatcher, is friendship law a real law?"

"Mmm...sure," Snatcher muttered out, his face still in the dirt. He sluggishly lifted up one of his noodle arms, giving the kid a thumbs-up. "Friendship law? Sounds...real to me. Definitely will...um...hold up in...court? Yeah, court..."

"Okay, yeah," Dave agreed with a nod. "He's not staying here."

"Your spaceship it is, then?" Mercy asked.

"Yep, my spaceship it is." Hat Kid agreed. "Now, who here wants to help me transport a spooky noodle?"

 "Ah, hello!" Cooking Cat greeted, as soon as she saw that Hat Kid had once more returned. "I'm glad to see you're all safe and sound."

"Hi, CC!" Hat Kid greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine, dear," She answered. "Listen, I was wondering; you've been so busy. Would you like to spend today or tomorrow baking with me? Taking an easy, non life-threatening day off?"

"Oh, um..." Hat Kid faltered, looking rather sheepish. "That sounds really nice, CC, but...I can't. You see, I'm actually transporting a spooky noodle right now."

"...You're what?"

Cooking Cat looked over Hat Kid's shoulder, seeing a group of small ghostly-like apparitions dragging a giant, unconscious one onto the ship.

"...That's your BFF, isn't it." Cooking Cat stated.

"Yep!"

"The one that tried to kill you, and continues to make jokes about killing you?"

"Yep!"

"And now, he's resting on your ship?"

"Yep!"

Cooking Cat didn't respond. Instead, she pulled out a bottle of milk from the fridge and wordlessly filled an entire pint-sized glass with it.

"Sounds lovely." She finally said.

Chapter Text

The manor was a shell of it's former self. It was so long ago, but the memory of what the manor once was still resided in the hearts of the many ghosts that resided in Subcon. It had bustled with life, beds of innumerable sweet-smelling flowers doted over by a family of florists, groups of children sitting at the edge of it's stairs as the Queen read them delightful fairytales of happily-ever-afters.

Of course, the manor's icy encasement showcased that happy endings weren't always a guarantee. The manor no longer symbolized kindness and a just kingdom, but hatred and death. The long-dead flower beds were no longer looked back on with a fondness, but instead acted as a grim reminder of the simple misunderstanding that lead to it in the first place.

It was a frozen wasteland, and it's interior was just as cold, but not because of the ice.

A rather frightening figure shambled through the manor's halls, her very presence causing the portraits that littered the walls to shake. She slowly opened a door to one of the manor's many rooms, briefly pausing at one of the 'Ice Sculptures' she had acquired. It's hands were clasped together, looking as if it was pleading for mercy, and it's face was twisted into one of pure horror.

After a moment, she merely scoffed at it. Not only had they dared enter her home, but they couldn't even be bothered to have made themselves look presentable in their final moments. It did not fit the manor's décor at ALL. How on earth would she be able to explain away such tackiness to her guests?

Oh well, it mattered not; if she couldn't find a place where it would match, she could always just toss it in the cellar with the rest of the other junk.

Entering the room, the figure briefly glanced towards it's window. The continuous blizzard obscured it, not allowing her to see anything beyond the heavy snowflakes. She did not mind it; the ice and frost were one of the few things that felt strangely comforting to her.

Bringing her attention towards a shattered mirror, she leaned over, slowly tracing the cracked glass with a soft hum. 

"Oh...my prince..." She whispered. "Where have you gone...?"

A manic fit of giggling overcame her as soon as the words had left her lips, and she nearly keeled over as she shook with laughter.

This figure, once a queen beloved by many in her kingdom, was now a monster morphed from her own jealousy and hatred, her very name striking fear into the lost souls of Subcon.

All but one.

Unnoticed by the Queen, due to the aforementioned blizzard, was Moonjumper. The pale ghost watched as the Queen continued to laugh, slowly bringing his hand and placing his fingers against the frosted glass.

Swallowing thickly, watching as his beloved's laughter trickled to a stop and she shambled out of the room, he whispered out, "...I'm here, Vanessa."

Tears began to well up in the specter's eyes, but he quickly rubbed them away with the tattered sleeve of his shirt. He had already shed enough tears; crying would not free Vanessa from her torment.

"...I promise, my love," Moonjumper continued, despite the Queen being nowhere near to hear it. "I will stop that monster. I will...I will show this forest your kindness, your beauty, y-your..."

The ghost's voice cracked. After struggling a moment, he managed to swallow down his tears before continuing.

"I know you, my love," He mumbled. "You...you wouldn't do this-not of your own free will, at least. I will show them. I will help guide this forest to a better future; guide US to a better future."

He remembered so many things about Vanessa. He remembered her smile, her delight in seeing him and others happy. How she'd try to hide her wonderfully boisterous laugh in public. How she'd invite him to sit side by side, reading stories for children; talking about how, someday, they could read stories to children of their own.

Theflowershewassoexcitedtogiveherwhywasntshesmiling-

Moonjumper scrunched his eyes shut and mumbled, the sudden gibberish that had managed to squirm it's way into his mind giving him a headache. With a tired huff, the specter rubbed his forehead, waiting for it to subside.

After the pain had left him, he looked back up at the window and gave it one last somber expression, before taking off.

He KNEW the truth; Vanessa was wonderful. She did not deserve to have her name dragged through the mud. She deserved to be remembered as a person with a heart of gold.

However, as long as Subcon's residents continued to believe that monster's lies, neither Moonjumper nor his love would be welcomed in the forest.

It was best for now that he retreated and searched for solutions beyond that monster's reach.

"I'm sorry, my dear..." Moonjumper whispered. "I promise, I will come back."

As he had assumed, there was no response, however it left his heart feeling heavy all the same.

As the specter made his way outside of the forest, being careful to ensure that none of the forest's many residents had witnessed his departure, more worried thoughts entered his mind.

The first time he had encountered Vanessa in that state had been...devastating. He had desperately attempted to reach out, to try and free her from the prison she was entrapped in, but his soft-spoken voice only seemed to agitate her more. She screamed at him of betrayal, the ice magic she had always had a knack for, that she had used to make snow cones for her people on hot summer days, now twisted into a horrible weapon. The ghost was lucky to have escaped with only a mean case of frostbite, but the horror of seeing Vanessa in that state was another thing entirely.

Truly, although his heart ached to admit it, he could see why the poor lost souls were tricked into thinking Vanessa was awful. They had all been through so much, and were being manipulated by an awful creature on top of that.

If he could just show them the truth...

"You've GOT to be kidding me!"

An unfamiliar voice snapped Moonjumper out of his worried thoughts. With a timid noise, he flinched and went still just as a rather angry looking child stormed past, clutching what appeared to be an hourglass in her hands. The red hood of her cape obscured some of her face, but Moonjumper could see that the girl seemed to have a moustache.

"That badge-seller KNEW what I meant when I said I wanted to find hourglasses." The little girl ranted. "Why do they even sell a badge to find regular, non-time-travelling hourglasses in the first place!? Who could POSSIBLY need that!?"

Then, much, to Moonjumper's dismay, the child swung her head towards the ghost's direction, ready to throw the apparent 'regular, non-time-travelling hourglass' into the thicket.

Upon seeing the ghost, the girl immediately froze, pupils shrinking.

"U-Um...hi?" Moonjumper greeted.

There was a brief moment of silence, then...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH, A GHOST!"

After Snatcher's minions headed back down to Subcon-but not before unceremoniously dumping him in the the ship's pillow pile-the purple ghost continued to lay there for what felt like ages, unconscious safe for a few moments where he deliriously insisted he was fine before promptly falling back asleep.

Hat Kid had to admit that it was a bit frightening to see the ghost get that exhausted, especially considering the fact that he was a GHOST to begin with. How did ghosts get injuries? If you died again as a ghost would you become ghost²? Like a ghost, but even more transparent? Could a ghost that died twice still eat bacon?

All of these questions were starting to make her head spin; those books on the laws of time were massive, but none of them ever covered anything on ghosts.

A loud blaring ring snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked down to see that her communication device, a sleek piece of technology similar to a tablet, was going off.

She nervously gulped; what if her higherups were calling? She was going to have to explain the whole timepiece situation to them...

Taking a deep breath, the space-faring girl finally worked up the courage and pressed the red button, answering the call.

Much to the child's relief and delight, it was not one of the higherups calling to inquire about how her travel back was going, but instead, it was one of her friends, Bow!

Bow had left to do an important mission around the same time Hat Kid had left, although Bow's one was much farther away. Hat Kid had recalled both her and Bow trying to convince the higherups to put them on a mission together, but unfortunately they wouldn't allow it, which really bothered her. If Bow had went with her, she could've gotten a BFF contract with Snatcher as well!

Nevertheless, she was still excited to hear from her friend. Hat Kid excitedly spun around in her chair, waving to Bow with a bright smile.

"Hey, Bow!" Hat Kid greeted. "How are you!? Oh my gosh, it feels like it's been FOREVER!"

"Hi, Hattie!" Bow replied with an equally wide grin. "I was on my way back home and found out I was FINALLY close enough to get a connection! How are you?"

"I'm doing great!" Hat Kid replied with a grin, before somewhat faltering. "W-Well, kind of..."

"Oh? What's wrong?" Bow asked, tilting her head. "If there's something wrong, you can tell me!"

"Hm, well...it's a bit bad, but also lead to me having a lot of fun, so um..." Hat Kid rambled. "Some...weird big guy kind of punched a hole in my ship-"

"What!?"

"B-But that got fixed!" Hat Kid elaborated. "But it caused a vacuum and sucked out all of the timepieces."

"I'm collecting them, though!" Hat Kid continued, noticing Bow looking rather panicked. "I was in orbit with the planet when it happened, so they all got scattered down there. I've just been exploring and collecting them."

Much to Hat Kid's dismay, that didn't seem to get rid of the worry on Bow's face.

"Oh, golly...that's serious, Hattie," Bow Kid remarked. "Has the planet been affected at all? Is it acting...you know, weird?"

"Well, it already WAS pretty weird before I came here," Hat Kid replied. "There's an island where some big dumb guys roll around on giant hunks of meat, and there's a haunted forest where some ghost spouts legal jargon before taking your soul."

Bow blinked a couple of times, processing what Hat Kid had just said.

"...That's um...well..." Bow mumbled, at a bit of a loss for words.

"Yeah, it's really weird, but it's cool!" Hat Kid explained. "And the ghost guy actually isn't that bad! We're actually pretty chill buddies, now."

Bow snorted. "Leave it to you to manage to get a big scary ghost to be your bestie!" She chirped. "Man, now I really wish I joined you. That sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Oh, yeah! I even got the ghost guy to sign a BFF contract though, so we're extra cool," Hat Kid added, pulling out the contract and showing it to Bow for her to see.

The child's eyes lit up. "Oh, neat!" She replied, then with a laugh, she added, "Ask that ghost if I can have one too!"

"Sure thing!" Hat Kid agreed, before immediately looking over her shoulder and hollering out to the exhausted ghost. "Hey, Snatcher! My friend Bow wants to know if she can have a BFF contract, too!"

There was a shuffle, followed by a loud, exhausted groan.

"Eh....? Oh...sure, kid..." The ghost slurred out. "Whatever..."

"Wait, he's ON your ship?" Bow Kid asked excitedly. "I've NEVER seen a ghost before! What does he look like?"

"He looks like a giant noodle."

"...What?"

Hat Kid held the screen up, showing Bow what Snatcher looked like.

"Oh my gosh, you're right. He totally looks like a giant noodle," Bow agreed.

Chapter Text

Moonjumper jumped back, a startled yelp leaving him at the girl's horrified shriek.

"A-Ah, I'm sorry, child! I didn't mean to scare you!" He stammered. "P-Please, don't be frightened!"

Asking her not to be frightened actually seemed to work, but not for the right reasons; instead, the mustached girl got offended.

"M-Me? SCARED?" The girl scoffed, her face bright red from embarrassment. She folded her arms in a huff and turned away with a prideful expression. "Please, I'm a hero! Hero's don't get SCARED. I-I was...practicing my acting skills! Yes!" 

She snapped her fingers, before pointing towards Moonjumper with a big grin. "You should've seen the look on your face! You TOTALLY thought I was ACTUALLY scared."

"O-Oh, well...that was some very good acting!" Moonjumper complimented, giving the girl a polite clap. "You certainly had me fooled. H-Have you considered a career in theatre?"

That compliment seemed to put the girl at ease, and she gave the specter a smile. "Hah, yeah! It WAS pretty good!" She agreed. "But no. I'm a hero! Hero's don't have time for NERD stuff like that. I'm too busy saving the world!"

Theatre's for nerds? Moonjumper thought to himself, before quickly shaking the thought away; something else the girl mentioned intrigued him.

"Hero?" Moonjumper repeated back.

The girl frowned. "Oh come on, you haven't heard of me, either!?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm Mu! I'm the one who beat that Mafia bully to a pulp! Literally!"

"...T-There's a mafia?"

"...Oh, wow. You REALLY don't get out much, do you?" Mu remarked. "Well, I GUESS I can let it slide that you don't know who I am, then. Long story short, the island I live on got run over by a bunch of big, ugly, selfish brutes. The boss is gone, but all the big dumb selfish jerks that he brought are still mucking things up."

A gasp left the ghost's mouth. "O-Oh my, that's horrible!" Moonjumper exclaimed. "No one deserves to go through such a thing, let alone a child. My love would've NEVER allowed such a thing to happen to her subjects-"

"Wait, subjects?" Mu interrupted. Then, with an excited squeal, she exclaimed, "You're ROYALTY!?"

Moonjumper stammered a bit, realizing he had let that little bit of information slip out in the heat of the moment. However, the little girl seemed to ignore his flustering, beginning to pace back and forth with a newfound authority she hadn't had prior.

"This is GREAT!" Mu said giddily. "We could get an entire KINGDOM to go to the island and just DRIVE the Mafia out! An entire cavalry of horses, and pointy sharp things to beat e'm up with! We'll poke e'm with lances, knock out their teeth with maces-the extra, extra spiky kind-and dice em up with swords! Oh, and after all that's done, we'll get the EXECUTIONER OUT-"

"U-Um...I don't exactly...H-HAVE any of those." Moonjumper said timidly, immediately cutting the girl's rant short.

"...What?"

"T-The kingdom I was a part of has l-long since been abandoned." Moonjumper explained, hastily adding, "B-Besides, even if it wasn't, we never had that large of an army-and we especially didn't have an executioner! That would be quite barbaric."

Mu threw her arms in the air, causing the shy specter to flinch back. "But the Mafia IS barbaric!" She retorted. "They're a bunch of mean, horrible jerks, and they're too stupid to even be reasoned with! Everything's been absolutely miserable since they showed up! I WISH IT NEVER TURNED INTO MAFIA TOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

The sudden outburst from the girl seemed to have disturbed some of the creatures that rested about Subcon's branches, as soon after a cacophony of noise was heard, followed by the sounds of feathered wings fluttering into the night sky.

There was a brief moment of silence as the poor girl's shoulder heaved up and down, small tears beginning to develop in her eyes. Moonjumper's heart grew heavy with sadness, and he desperately wished he knew what exactly to say to cheer her up.

"Oh, I'm...so sorry, child," He apologized. "I...I know this must be really hard for you-"

"N-No, I'm fine!" Mu insisted, sniffling as she attempted to keep anymore of her tears from spilling. "I'm a hero! Hero's don't cry. I was j-just..."

"Oh, you were showing me you're acting again!" Moonjumper exclaimed with feigned surprise. "Oh my, you truly are talented! You completely had me fooled."

"...Y-Yeah!" Mu agreed, a smile forming on her face. "I'm REALLY good at this stuff! I would totally be the best movie star! I'd get ALL the awards, I bet! Those dumb birds should've hired ME instead of Hat Kid!"

"I-I'm sorry..." Moonjumper faltered, tilting his head slightly. "...You know Hat Kid?"

The mention of the hatted child seemed to immediately sour Mu's good mood, her face curling into one of disgust.

"Ugh, unfortunately." Mu grumbled out.

"Unfortunately? How?" 

"She's actually the worst!" Mu spat, angrily kicking loose gravel about as she did. "She like, seems nice, but when you get to know her, she's SUPER selfish!"

Moonjumper tilted his head at that. The hatted girl he met REALLY didn't seem that selfish; a little misguided, sure, but she had helped him see that it was unfair to make the whole forest suffer just because of the actions of one monster. Someone who was selfish wouldn't do that, right?

"Are you sure?" Moonjumper asked. "How is she selfish?"

Mu picked up the hourglass she had dropped amidst being startled, holding it up to the specter for emphasis. "This is the reason!" She declared.

All Moonjumper could do was give the mustached girl a bemused expression.

"O-Okay, well, this is just a regular one..." Mu continued. "So just...consider this as a prop or something for emphasis!"

"U-Uh...okay?" Moonjumper agreed.

"Okay, so, like...she has these hourglasses, right?" Mu described, pacing back and forth as she did. "And they look like completely normal, regular hourglasses, but a bit more sparkly. So you think 'Oh, this is just some dumb collector's item for nerds or something', right?"

"U-Um...I...guess-"

"But they're NOT regular hourglasses! These things can let you travel through time!" Mu proclaimed, before lifting up the hourglass and hurling it to the ground with all her might.

The object immediately shattered on-contact, causing Moonjumper to flinch away as chunks of glass scattered about.

There was a brief moment of silence as the two both stared down at the heap of shattered glass and wood that was once an hourglass.

"...Nothing happened," commented Moonjumper.

"I told you, that's just a prop I'm using for emphasis!" Mu reminded. "W-Well, WAS using, but that's besides the point. The ones Hat Kid got will let you travel through time if you break e'm!"

This new information caused Moonjumper to pause.

"I'm sorry...time travel?" Moonjumper repeated back.

"Yeah! I could've used those to ACTUALLY go back and stop Mafia Town from even existing," Mu described. "But Hat Kid didn't care! She told me I couldn't use it! She was all 'It's the fuel for my ship' and all 'Blah Blah Blah complicated nerd stuff that'd make anyone fall asleep'. She's only in it for herself!"

Oh, so THAT'S what she meant by fuel for her ship, Moonjumper observed. "I don't know...time travel seems rather...serious, doesn't it?" Moonjumper commented. "I'm sure she had a good reason for not wanting to use it."

"I'd rather deal with ANY dumb nerd stuff if it meant never having the Mafia!" Mu countered. "I mean, COME ON; isn't there something YOU'D want to go back in-time to? To stop from EVER happening?"

That question made the ghost ponder.

"Hm...I...suppose I would," Moonjumper agreed. With a heavy sigh, he elaborated, "The kingdom I was a part of fell to ruin. A horrible monster corrupted my love, and all of the lost souls that float about have been fed his lies..."

"See? With time-travel, we could go back and stop that from ever happening!" Mu reasoned. "You could keep your kingdom from EVER falling apart! And we can use that kingdom to beat the mafia to a pulp-ahem, I mean, you can stop that jerk from corrupting your...um...what is their name?"

"Oh! My Vanessa!" Moonjumper chirped. He let out a dreamy sigh, finding his heart beginning to flutter about in his chest. "She's so wonderful. My beautiful, kind, sweet, light of my life, my-"

"Okay, enough!" Mu interrupted, looking nauseous. "You're going to give me a stomachache with all the sappiness. But...think about it! You could stop her from getting hurt in the first place!"

"I-I mean, if I could stop her from EVER getting hurt..." Moonjumper pondered aloud, adorning a thoughtful expression.

"Exactly! Time-Travel is, like, SUPER USEFUL!" Mu replied. "We would be able to make things WAY better."

"If...um...I HAD any hourglasses to time-travel with," She added solemnly.

Moonjumper couldn't help relate to the poor child. He knew what it was like to have a place you loved and called home torn apart by an outside force; feeling like you were all alone, that no one would listen to you, that every attempt to fix things would be in-vain... 

"W-Well, perhaps I can help you!" The ghost suggested.

Mu perked up somewhat at that, lifting her head up. "Eh?"

"It's just...well, I-I'm not really, um...welcome in the forest right now...and you mentioned that the Mafia are a bunch of idiots, right?" Moonjumper recalled. "Imagine how they'd react if a ghost appeared!" 

This idea caused a devilish grin to form on Mu's face. "Haha, yeah! I bet they'd get scared so badly, their skeletons would pop out of their bodies!" Mu agreed. "And then, we'll put their skeletons on display, and sell them to a museum for a bunch of money-"

"U-Um...m-maybe we should just stick with scaring them, f-first." Moonjumper interrupted.

Mu shrugged. "Alright, fine." The girl agreed. "Let's go scare some big dumb brutes!"

She jumped up and gave the ghost an unexpected high-five, before immediately recoiling back with a jolt.

"Ack! Your hand is FREEZING!" The girl complained.

"S-Sorry...t-that tends to happen when you're dead..."

"So anyways, that's why I'm putting timepiece hunting on-hold," Hat Kid finished, finally done with her rather long explanation. It would've been shorter, but because of stuff like the well, the fire spirits, and the ghost friends she had made, the girl ended up getting a bit sidetracked to answer questions about her escapades.

Bow sat there on the other side of the screen, an impressed but also worried expression on her face. "Golly...that's a lot to go through, Hattie." Bow replied after a moment. "Did you let home know that you're staying here to help out?"

Hat Kid froze. She grinned sheepishly, beads of sweat rolling down her face as she tugged at the color of her cape. "W-Well um...I haven't really...told them anything, yet?"

Bow let out a tired sigh. "Hattie..." She began. "You KNOW you're supposed to send a report in whenever a timepiece is stolen from your spaceship!"

"H-Hey, technically speaking, no one STOLE them," Hat Kid pointed out. "The loss was a result of an unrelated hole in my ship that caused them to get sucked into the vacuum of space. And like, there's a legit law here called 'Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers' too, so..."

"Hattie, that's not the point. You need to be responsible about this." Bow criticized. "This is your dream!"

"I know it is..." Hat Kid acknowledged. "It's just...I can always write that report after I get all the timepieces! I-If they see that I'm determined enough to go and collect EVERY single one, it might impress them! They'll know I can handle myself even in uncertain, crazy environments..."

"...and, I might not have to go back and do all that other boring stuff." Hat Kid suggested. She let out a tired exhale before continuing. "I won't have to wait until I'm an adult to go and explore wherever I want, or rely on freak accidents to explore bright new worlds."

Bow went quiet for a moment, a small frown on her face as she looked at her friend with concern.

"Listen, Hattie..." She began. "I know how much you wanna explore-I do, too!-but we gotta be reasonable about it...it's usually really rare for someone to get the okay for that before completing everything else. We still have so many more licenses to get before we're allowed to go on our own!"

"I know..." Hat Kid moped. "...But, like...I still wanna do the report later; they're so BORING!"

Bow couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, that sounds like you." She replied. "But make SURE you do it, alright?"

"Okay, okay...I will," Hat Kid agreed, melodramatically rolling her eyes as she did. "I gotta go see how the purple noodle is doing. I'll talk to ya laters, okay Bow?"

Hat Kid put her screen to the tablet in an attempt at a fist-bump, and Bow quickly returned the gesture. "Alright, Hattie!" Bow chirped. "Take care!"

The screen went black, and Hat Kid placed the tablet onto the table with a sigh. She sat in her chair for a moment, a frown on her face as she stared down at her hands.

"...I hope I won't have to leave here..." She mumbled to herself.

Her introspections were interrupted by a loud snore from the still sleeping ghost. She turned around to see that the noodle was curled up comfortably around a bunch of pillows. She hopped off her chair and climbed up so she was right next to the ghost's face.

Leaning over, she brought her hand up, and gave the specter's cheek a sharp poke. "How you feeling, BFF?" She asked.

A grumble left the ghost's fanged mouth, and he covered his hands over his face like a cat did when you booped it's nose. "...Five more minutes..."

"How about as many minutes as you'd like? No additional cost." Hat Kid negotiated.

"Ugh...sounds like an investment, kiddo..." The ghost grumbled. "Now...let me sleep."

So he was definitely starting to act like his old self again; at least that was something.

"Well, bestie...I'm going back down to Subcon to see if I can find any evidence on this Moonjumper guy." Hat Kid explained. "You be good while on my ship, alright?"

"...Whatever..." The ghost grumbled.

Hat Kid gave the ghost a quick pat on the head, much to his dismay, before she hopped back down and exited her bedroom.

She headed up to the kitchen to inform Cooking Cat of her plans, and was immediately greeted by an unexpected sight.

Dave and Mercy were in the kitchen alongside the chef. Mercy and Dave were leaning over what appeared to be a cookie mix, with Cooking Cat giving the Dweller and the Minion what sounded like baking tips.

"See, it's a good idea to mix the flour one cup at a time rather than all at once," Cooking Cat informed. "That way, it'll mix with the rest of the ingredients more easily!"

Faintly, Hat Kid could make out the little Dweller's voice.

Oh, that's really cool! You're so good at this!

"Aw, thank you honey," Cooking Cat smiled, leaning over and giving the Dweller a motherly pat on their head. "With all of the help you two have given me, they'll taste extra wonderful!"

Dave turned around, his face brightening up the moment he saw Hat Kid. "Hey, kid!" He greeted. He hopped over to her, Mercy quickly following suite. "Think the boss will be in the mood for some cookies later?"

This has been so much fun! Dave even showed her how to talk to me. It's been so wonderful!

Under his breath, Dave added, "Man, I was gonna pull some pranks, but...I can't. She's just too nice."

Hat Kid nodded. "Good choice." She concurred. "So, what's up? I thought you guys would've headed back down to Subcon with the others."

"Well, that's the thing..." Dave began. "See..."

We wanna help!

Hat Kid's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, you've done a TON for the forest, even if the boss won't admit it." Dave remarked. "Thanks to you, our forest is no longer covered in strings, and Dwellers like Mercy have people to talk to!"

You've helped out so much. It's the least we can do!

A big smile formed on Hat Kid's face. "Oh wow, thanks guys!" She said, pulling the two in a hug. "You two are the best!"

"So, what's the plan?" Dave asked.

"First, we'll head on over back to Subcon to see if we can find any info." Hat Kid answered. "Oh, actually, make that second; first, I wanna show you Snatcher. He's all curled up like a grumpy cat."

"Not a good idea, kid. The boss would KILL us."

"Aren't you already dead?"

"...Fair enough."

Chapter Text

The sky was a mesmerizing, bright blue, the sun's rays glaring down and sending dazzling glimmers across the cool ocean water. The few clouds that were up in the sky looked soft and comforting, like giant pieces of cotton candy. Hot air balloons of a variety of vibrant colors floated high in the sky, blending harmoniously with the already picture perfect sight.

It was the kind of sight that would be the backdrop of an ad for the perfect vacation spot; one with people relaxing on a beach, sipping refreshing beverages out of those funky-looking swirly straws, carefree and not having to worry about the usual hardships of life, like being served disgusting seafood or being shot out of cannons. 

It was just such a shame that such a lovely view was wasted on complete and utter bozos.

Ever since the Mafia had taken over the island, things, to summarize it all in one word, sucked. The Mafia were the worst kind of bully; strong enough to hold their own, and dumb enough to never listen to reason. They got angry over the slightest thing, and treated anyone they hadn't launched out of cannons like their own personal servants, punching bags, or both (and it was usually both).

It was like this for so long, that no one could barely even remember what the island used to be like! Anyone who had an answer were either being beat up by the bullies, or had already been shot out of a cannon.

But even if they couldn't remember what the island used to be like, the residents that were still living in Mafia Town when the Mafia Boss was finally defeated were hopeful that things would, to summarize it all in two words, suck less.

And they did!

...Well, kind of.

The Mafia Boss may have been beaten into a literal pulp, but the rest of the goons still stayed on the island. It wasn't like they wanted to avenge their boss or something; they just were too dim-witted to realize they had been defeated. They still pushed people around, and while said people were now finally gaining more courage to stand up to them, brutes were still...well, brutes. It was kind of hard to stick up for yourself when it meant being pummeled into the concrete.

But they weren't going to stick around for much longer.

Not if Mu had anything to say about it.

"Little man!"

A tourist let out a groan at the irritating nickname, turning to meet the gaze of a goon lounging about in a beach chair. "What do you want?" He asked, annoyed.

"Mafia finds weather to be rather unpleasantly hot today. Wishes for cold beverage." The oaf answered.

"Ugh, get it yourself. I'm trying to get the perfect shot." The tourist refused, returning back to fiddling with the camera he had finally managed to get back from the darn seagull. Quietly, he muttered under his breath, "Oh, I'm soooooo totally gonna upstage Steve with this..."

A large inflatable beach ball hit him square in the face. There was a surprising amount of force to it, and it caused him to stumble back and drop his camera. The moment it hit the ground, a nearby seagull saw it's opportunity and swooped down, swiftly grabbing it and flying away before the poor sap even had a chance to react.

"OH COME ON!" The man shouted, anguished. "NOT AGAIN!"

The tourist turned to source of the normally fun-filled projectile, who happened to be the goon that demanded a drink.

"Little man will bring Mafia drink. If not, Mafia will hit with something much harder than beach ball," The Mafia goon demanded, curling his meaty hand into a fist for emphasis.

The tourist muttered a bunch of words under his breath, none of which were polite, before storming off and grabbing a nearby glass (One that the goon could've EASILY gotten himself if he hadn't been so lazy).

"Here's your stupid drink," The tourist grumbled, shoving the glass of ice-cold water unceremoniously into the brute's clumsy hands, much to his dismay.

"Careful!" The Mafia thug replied indignantly. He plucked the tiny umbrella out of the glass, examining it with an unusual amount of concern. "Little man almost damaged even littler umbrella."

The goon took a sip, immediately pausing afterwards. He examined the glass as he swished the water in his mouth, like he was a snob at a wine-tasting event pretending to know everything.

"Hm, Mafia finds this drink to be refreshing. What do you call this beverage?"

"...You mean...the water?" The man replied.

The thug let out a hearty chuckle. "Very funny, little man. If this is water, why is Mafia not tasting any salt and getting sick?"

"...You've all been drinking SEAWATER this whole time!?" The tourist exclaimed.

"Of course! Best drink to wash down with seafood," The thug answered. He tilted his head with a thoughtful hum. "Hm, little man seems rather dense. Should consider spending more time with Mafia. Make brain capable of storing vast quantities of knowledge."

"Really? Then why does someone with such a good memory need a string tied to their finger?" The tourist questioned.

The thug went to answer, but soon quickly faltered as he examined the red string tied around it. "Hm, Mafia does not remember putting that there...did Mafia forget something important?"

"Oooooooooh...."

Quickly, the tourist faltered, flinching at an eerie noise that was akin to a ghostly howl. He looked around as, right on cue, the weather started to change for the worst.  Grey clouds began to swirl overhead, and thunder rumbled off in the far distance. The goon, of course, remained completely oblivious to this, scratching his chin thoughtfully, wondering aloud about the red string.

"Hm, maybe Mafia put it on as reminder to turn off stove..." He pondered. "...Wait, did Mafia leave stove on!?"

The tourist gaped as a red glow formed around the thread, and a strange being emerged from it. The man could only stare, slack jawed as this strange, otherworldly being the likes of which he had never seen before, floated just above the shoulder of the (unsurprisingly) still clueless oaf.

The creature cleared it's throat. "U-Um..." It stammered awkwardly, before clearing it's throat and making another ghostly noise. "Ooooooooooooh..."

"...Ah, that is right!" The goon realized, snapping his fingers. "Mafia forgot to launch little man out of cannon for writing 1 star review of restaurant."

It was at this point the being rolled it's eyes, and tapped the goon's shoulder. "H-Hey, excuse me, sir..."

The goon turned around, immediately stumbling out of his beach chair with a frightened yelp. 
"Ah!" He yelled. He held his hands up, shaking violently and trembling at the horrible, frightening sight before him. "It's a...it's..."

The thug stopped.

"...Mafia does not know what it is."

"I...think it's a ghost?" Suggested the tourist.

That caused the goon to let out a terrified squeak. "A g-g-ghost!?"

This seemed to please the specter, and he gave the tourist a thankful smile before turning his attention back to the goon.

"Ooooooh, yes that is right! I am a ghoooooost!" The figure drawled dramatically. "And if you don't leave this island at once, I shall...um...continue to make this noise! Ooooooooooh..."

The brute all but crumpled onto the sandy beach, whimpering and cowering as he covered his ears. The usual deep, baritone voice most Mafia goons had was replaced with a high-pitched squeal. "No! Anything but that!" The man whimpered. "Please, leave Mafia alone!"

"Ooooooh, then leaaaave! Only then will I leave you alooooone!" The ghost persisted.

There was a pause.

"...Right now?" The thug asked.

The ghost sighed, slumping his shoulders. "...Yes, right now." Before raising his arms and letting out one last, frightening cry, "Now goooooooooo!"

The goon quickly turned tail and ran, tripping on his feet and kicking up large clouds of sand as he scrambled over to the edge of the beach. With all the grace of a beached whale, the Mafia goon dove into the water. The tourist could only watch, flabbergasted as the thug, who only a few minutes ago was too sluggish and lazy to even reach for a glass of water, paddled away at the speed of the Owl Express.

"O-Oh no...I meant I wanted him to leave on a ship..." The ghost spoke sheepishly. "I um...hope he'll be alright..."

After another moment of slack-jawed staring, the tourist eventually snapped out of it, and responded to the concerned ghost with a simple shrug. "W-Well..." He began. "I mean...he'll have all the water he can drink."

Moonjumper could only really tilt his head, bewildered as the tourist gave him finger-guns and a big grin. The tourist wasn't saying anything, but the expression he wore just screamed "Am I right, guys?"

Once the tourist seemed to realize he wasn't going to be getting a laugh anytime soon, he awkwardly cleared his throat. "U-Um, anyways," He began. "Um...you aren't kicking me out too, are ya?"

The ghost quickly gave the tourist a handwave, dismissing the inquiry. "Oh, good heavens, no!" He replied. "I'm just here to give those bullies a well-deserved fright. Speaking of..."

With the lightest swish of his hand, a black polaroid camera materialized into Moonjumper's palm. He leaned down, handing the camera to the man with a polite smile. "I saw you lose your camera, so I found it for you!" He explained. "I have to say though; that seagull is surprisingly good at photography."

A big grin enveloped the tourist's face, and he happily took the camera from the ghost's pale blue hands. "Gee, thanks man!" He chirped. "You're a really swell guy!"

"Would ya mind if I took a photo with you?" He continued, holding up the now seagull-absent camera. "Steve would be SO jealous!"

"I...don't know who that is, but sure!" Moonjumper agreed.

After the the tourist got his photo, he gave the ghost another wave before skipping off, leaving with the promise that he would try to keep his camera out of the clutches of seafaring birds with a knack for photo composition in the future.

The ghost couldn't help but smile, feeling a flutter where his heart would've been when he was alive. It had been a long time since he had experienced the joy of helping others in the kingdom, but it was a feeling he had never quite forgotten. Seeing the smiles of young children as he'd climb trees and retrieve the toys and kites that had gotten stuck in their branches; he had gotten quite the talking to from Vanessa after he ended up with a broken arm from one of those stunts.

A sigh left the ghost.

If only things could've always stayed that way...

"Hey!"

Moonjumper, no pun intended, jumped, scrambling backwards at the sudden, highly-energetic voice next to him.

"That was amazing!" Mu exclaimed, jumping up and down with barely containable energy. She pumped her fist in the air with a triumphant grin. "Haha, did you SEE that idiot? I bet he's gonna give a TON of fish indigestion! I haven't seen one of those oafs move that fast since...well, ever."

"Y-Yeah, I have to say, I wasn't expecting that," Moonjumper agreed. "I hope the others will at least leave on a ship..."

Mu stopped pumping her fist, glancing up at Moonjumper with a bemused expression. "What? Why?" She asked, causing the ghost to falter. "If they all leave on a ship, they're just going to end up antagonizing some other poor spot. If all of them swim off the island, the only thing we have to worry about is the ocean being polluted; y'know, cause' of how smelly they are."

Moonjumper faltered somewhat, not too sure of what to say. "O-Oh, well..." He stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. "...It's still...um...not exactly practical. It would...take too long?"

Mu thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. "Hm...I GUESS," She somewhat agreed. "Still, we need a way to make sure they don't go bugging other spots after we got this spot cleared. I haven't ever exactly gotten this far into defeating the Mafia, so these are new waters for me-"

"Ah-hah!"

Mu's musings were interrupted when suddenly, emerging from the ocean, was the very Mafia thug Moonjumper had scared off.

"Mafia went to retrieve forgotten beverage, and sees this!" said the goon. "Mafia should've known; there is no dumb ghost! This is just weird-looking magic trick made by little girl!"

Moonjumper made an offended noise. "Now, I know my appearance is unusual, but there's no need for names," He chastised.

"Yeah, and who are you calling little, when your brain is the size of a pea!" Mu chimed in.

The thug gasped. "What did you just say?" He asked. "...No, really, Mafia did not understand comment."

"I was calling you stupid, you big dumb pecking oaf!" The hot-tempered girl spat, immediately blowing a raspberry at the goon afterwards.

"Language, please-" Moonjumper tried to interject.

"That's it," The thug cracked his knuckles. "Mafia is going to teach little girl some manners!"

Moonjumper looked at the man in astonishment. "I-Are you SERIOUSLY going to try and beat up a CHILD-"

"Bring it on, you big jerk! I could knock you out with two hands tied behind my back!"

The ghost swung back towards Mu. "What-no! D-Don't do a-any of that-"

"Mafia will see about that!"

"I feel like neither of you are listening-"

"I'll beat you to a pulp like your crummy boss-"

"ENOUGH!"

The yell that came from the ghost was soon followed by a burst of ethereal red mist, and vibrant crimson strings were spun and woven without rhyme or reason. The specter wasn't even really thinking as the red threads snaked outwards; something about the noise and yelling...it was all so overwhelming, and he just wanted it to stop.

Moonjumper panted heavily, the overwhelming fog and stress that had enveloped his senses finally starting to fade. It was quiet now, safe for the sounds of the ocean waves and a familiar tourist screaming off in the distance about a seagull stealing his camera again.

Finally, after one last, heavy sigh, the ghost opened his eyes.

He was met with Mu, who was staring at him in complete shock and awe, and it wasn't long after that he saw why.

The threads that had spun from his fingertips had made their way to the Mafia goon, holding him in-place like a puppet. A sinking horror filled the ghost's chest when he realized what he had done.

This was a power he seldom ever used; heck, he hadn't even used it on that foul beast. He never really liked the idea of...puppeteering someone.

However, his silent contemplating was soon broken when Mu looked at him excitedly.

"How did you DO that?"

Chapter Text

Once again, Hat Kid landed just at entrance to the forest, with Mercy and Dave alongside her. The moment they set foot back onto the ground, Dave shuddered and let out a weary exhale. "Man, kid, it already feels bad here," He commented.  "It's...spookier, and not the good, fun kind of spooky."

Hat Kid nodded in agreement, immediately noticing the much more ominous atmosphere the permeated throughout the forest. Snatcher may have been a centuries old, vengeful spirit that'd hold people's souls hostage in-exchange for them doing menial tasks, but this was Subcon; for the residents, that was the norm, and for Hat Kid, she already kicked his butt and got a BFF contract out of it.

But Snatcher not being here made things...uneasy. The ghost was one of the most powerful beings in Subcon, and while he probably would never admit it out loud, he kept the forest safe. If she ever decided to throw one of her royal temper tantrums again, Snatcher would be the only one powerful enough to keep her from freezing over the rest of Subcon.

And while Hat Kid wasn't scared of that purple spooky noodle anymore, she was scared of her.

And if that cold-hearted Queen decided to make herself known while Snatcher was still recovering?

Well, let's just say, Hat Kid-who already had enough of the heebie jeebies as it was-decided to stop thinking about that scenario.

"Well..." Hat Kid said with a thoughtful hum. "I think it's time we start doing a little bit of investigating."

"What exactly should we be searching for?" Dave inquired with a tilt of his head.

"Hm..." She said, scratching her chin in an attempt to look more wiser. "I wanna see if we can find things that tell us who this Moonjumper guy is. He spent so much time tying those strings up in the forest, so maybe he accidentally left some stuff behind?"

"Sounds good," Dave nodded. "Where do ya wanna start, kid?"

"Well, I'm thinking it'd be a good idea if we split up," Hat Kid mentioned. "That way, we can cover more ground."

The minion sputtered at the idea, giving the hatted child a wide-eyed, incredulous look. "W-What-split up!?" Dave exclaimed. "Kid, haven't horror movies taught you anything!?"

"What? Snatcher had me go do a bunch of deadly stuff on my own," Hat Kid pointed out. "I went into a gross, smelly well and almost drowned. Twice."

"Yeah, but the boss isn't here," Dave retorted. "You yourself agreed about the forest being...different."

"Dave, are you afraid because Snatcher isn't here?" Mercy inquired, giving the minion a concerned look.

The minion's face turned a shade of bright purple, and he frantically shook his head while attempting to scoff. "W-What? Scared? ME? Of course not!" He stuttered. "I mean, I have a boss that makes a living-or, dead...ing-eating souls. I don't get scared!"

"There's nothing wrong with being scared." Mercy assured, their tone soft and comforting. "I'm nervous, too. It certainly feels a lot less safe."

"Yeah," Hat Kid nodded in-agreement, giving the ghost a smile of her own. "If you're feeling a bit uneasy, we can stick together. It's really no big deal-"

"N-No, don't worry!" Dave interrupted. "I'm not uneasy, or scared, or feeling an impending sense of doom because one of the only people capable of keeping an ice-wielding maniac at bay is currently incapacitated,  no sir!"

"I-In fact, I'll prove it!" He continued. "Just to show you how...not scared...I am, we'll do the split-up thing!"

Hat Kid and Mercy shared a concerned look, before turning back to the minion. "Are you...sure?" Hat Kid asked. "It's really no biggie if you want to stay as a group-"

"No, no," Dave demurred, waving his hand dismissively. "I insist! We can cover much more ground, like you said."

Hat Kid pondered it for a bit, before eventually nodding. "Alright," Hat Kid agreed. "But if you end up feeling too nervous, you're free to meet back up with me or Mercy-"

"Oh, thank you for the offer, but you won't have to worry about that!" Dave reassured. "Because, like I have stated before, I am absolutely not scared at all in no way shape or form."

With that, Dave gave the two finger-guns, and before either Mercy or Hat Kid could get another word out, the minion spun on his heel and scurried off from the group.

Hat Kid could hear a sigh come from Mercy, but it honestly felt like it belonged to her, too.

"Well, what about you, Mercy?" Hat Kid asked, turning to face the Dweller in question. "Will you be okay?"

"I...I think I'll be okay," Mercy nodded. "I think I'm going to explore the well. There are some other dwellers down there I need to catch up with, anyways."

"Okay, sounds good," Hat Kid nodded, giving the Dweller a hug. "Tell them I said hi, would you?"

"Of course!" Nodded Mercy. They nuzzled into Hat Kid's face one more time, before gliding off into the direction of the purple swamp.

Hat Kid  glanced up at the forest's spiraling pathway, a thoughtful expression on her face. She eventually decided that it would probably be best to go up to Snatcher's tree, first. Sure, whenever she visited him, he was always reading the same book (One which so happened to be on how to kill kids) but she knew the ghost by now; he probably only read that one when she came by to scare her off. He most certainly HAD to have some more books hidden away in that hollowed-out tree that she could look through.

With that, she set off towards the tree. She knew Snatcher would probably try to accuse her of 'Breaking and Entering' or whatever, but she didn't really care at this point. She would deal with whatever legal jargon he spewed out later, and probably doze off while he did it. 

Dave walked down towards...well, he hadn't exactly realized where he wanted to start searching quite yet, but what he DID know he was going to be the least scared out of anyone in the forest, absolutely!

I mean, he was one of Snatcher's minions! They fed on fear for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! How would his boss react if he found out that a minion of his was acting like a child who was left home alone for the first time? He'd completely flip!

Well, that wasn't going to be an issue! Sure, Subcon may have been left out in the open for a certain someone to freeze the place over, which was a thought that terrified him and shook him to his core, but he was a minion to one of the most fiercest entities around! He could handle anything-

There was the loud snap of a branch.

"Ackimsorrypleasedontfreezeme-" Dave jumped, frantically waving his arms about in the air and nearly falling onto the forest floor. He swung his head in every direction, looking for the source of the noise.

"Freeze you? Oh, I would never!" A shrill, sing-song voice responded. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Dave looked up, finally realizing the source of the noise and where he was. He was so busy focused on not being scared-which, for the record, he absolutely totally wasn't-that he hadn't realized he had stumbled into the Burning Woods. The loud snap he had heard was a Fire Spirit, whom was in the process of tearing off a tree branch to use for fuel.

The same Fire Spirit who he had just so happened to try and throw water on as a prank.

"O-Oh..." Dave stammered, giving the emblazed fox a small wave. "U-um...hi?"

The Fire Spirit seemed less than amused. "Is there a reason you're here?" It asked, it's usual fiery grin replaced with a frown. "Have you come to try and snuff out our fires again?"

"No, no!" Dave assured. "I'm not here to do anything like that; scout's honor!"

"Hm, I doubt that," The Fire Spirit maintained. "Why should I believe you aren't here to be a scoundrel?"

Noticing that the Fire Spirit's hands were beginning to burn brighter, Dave scrambled. "I-I'm helping out Hat Kid!"

Almost immediately, the Fire Spirit's dismissive nature melted away, and a bright smile enveloped the it's face. "Oh, Hat Kid!" It chirped. "Is she here? How is she? We want to thank her for taking care of those dreadful strings, earlier!"

"Yeah, that's the thing." Dave explained. "You see, the kid wants to do some investigating. We're trying to figure out who the guy that made these strings is, and why he's after the boss."

The spirit faltered. "Ah yes, you do work for that thing..." It muttered distastefully, causing Dave to roll his eyes. Why did these spirits always have to act so high and mighty when all they wanted to do was commit glorified arson? "We saw that strange ghost when it took your boss captive, but other than that, we haven't seen him since."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Dave pressed. 

"Yes, I'm sure," The spirit repeated. "Now, if you excuse me, I and my friends plan to burn brighter than ever before, and we'd prefer scoundrels like you to not be around for it."

"Aw, come on," Dave exclaimed. "That other time was just a joke!"

"A joke not a single one of us found funny," The Fire Spirit retorted. "You promised to help us, and then you poured water all over our fire!"

"Hey, I didn't tell you how I would help you." Dave pointed out. "I mean, you wanted to blow yourselves up in a ball of fire. You clearly needed a different kind of help."

The usual quiet, somber atmosphere of Subcon was broken as a minion hopped onto the main trail, narrowly dodging an onset of fire balls being thrown in his direction. As he desperately rolled onto the dirt ground to put out the small fire that had started on his cloak, he started to wonder if maybe he should've taken up that offer of sticking together.

Hat Kid climbed into the specter's humble abode, wearing a somewhat smug look on her face. While she was there to do some investigating, she was also super excited to potentially find definitive proof that Snatcher was a giant softie. What if she found a secret compartment of stuffed animals, or a scrapbook of him and his minions? Just the thought of showing said evidence to Snatcher when she got back on the ship made her giddy.

It wasn't long before the crafty kid managed to discover where he kept his books. While examining the dresser, she discovered there was a secret compartment! Either there were some dangerous books in there that would give her the info she needed, or Hat Kid now had some new blackmail; either way, it worked for her!

She reached in, excitedly grabbing one of the books, and began flipping through it with an eager grin.

Her grin slowly fell with each page she turned to.

...It was just a law book.

She closed it soon after, and picked up another one, flipping through the pages; it too, was another law book.

In fact, after going through all the books she could find, it was determined that every single one in there was nothing more than a boring law book.

A groan left Hat Kid, and she flopped to the ground with a defeated sigh.

...Oh well, maybe she could at least find out if Bird Law was real before she left.

Chapter Text

The purple, bubbling swamp was an anomaly to be sure, even to the forest's most powerful entities. Mercy's first interaction with the swamp was with Snatcher whom, after witnessing a purple hand spring forth from the swamp and grab a crow, merely turned to Mercy, shrugged, and said "Eh, don't worry about it."

If even Snatcher didn't really have an explanation for how a swamp with sprawling limbs came to be, than they knew it was dangerous. As such, they took extra care as they glided over it's purple muck, less it decided that the random spirit passing over it looked like it's next 5 star meal.

When they had finally reached the well, Mercy let out a sigh of relief, using their wispy tail to wipe the nonexistent sweat off their brow. They peered into the well with a thoughtful hum, before slowly floating down into it's depths.

As soon as they arrived at the well's bottom, they were almost immediately greeted by a wave of Dweller voices. The group that surrounded them had a sense of chattiness that could rival that of even Hat Kid! So many voices wormed their way into Mercy's mind, but not in a way that was overwhelming or headache-inducing; it was welcoming and kind, like a gentle group hug.

Mercy truly wanted to prattle on and on about how much fun they had been having...that because of Hat Kid, they ALL had more people they could talk to...the delicious cookies Cookie Cat showed them how to bake...but, Mercy knew that they had a job to do, so  they tried to be as brief as possible with their explanation.

"Oh, Moonjumper. Ah yes, we saw him." One piped up. "For someone keeping us hostage in a well, he was oddly...polite, about it."

"Granted, we probably wouldn't have left, anyways," Another admitted. "But staying down in a well just isn't really the same when you're being FORCED to do it, you know?"

Mercy nodded, a solemn look on their face. "I'm so sorry you all went through that." They said. "Are you doing better, now?"

"We'll be fine, but...will Snatcher be okay?" Another asked. "I know we try to steer clear from him, but...if he's gone..."

"S-She..."

"S-She...she could..."

Mercy waved their ghostly tail about in a frantic motion, sensing the panic that was starting to stir amongst the group. "N-No! Don't worry, we aren't going to let that happen." They assured. 

It felt kind of...weird, saying these things, to say the least. They had spent most of their life - well, afterlife, but you get the picture - wandering about aimlessly in a doomed forest, with nothing but the company of others that shared the same fate to keep them occupied; they never would have imagined that they'd be in such a position; being a part of an important mission where the stakes were the destruction of the very forest they resided in. They never thought THEY'D be the one trying to quell the fear of their companions, and that they had everything under control.

But, they didn't shy away from it.

After all, one thing that stayed with Mercy, even after all they had been through, was the desire to help when they could.

This was just helping people, but like...times ten, right?

"Hat Kid wants to find out why exactly Moonjumper is trying to hurt Snatcher," Mercy explained. "Do you guys have any ideas on why?"

There was a bit of silence amongst the group for a moment.

"...Well, I mean..." One of them piped up.

"...It IS Snatcher." Another finished.

Mercy couldn't help but agree, despite everything. They slouched with a soft sigh, before saying, "...Point taken."

"Oh, but we DID see something strange after he left," A Dweller commented, causing Mercy to perk up. "It's...a strange, glowing, blue...thingy? It's kind of hard to describe."

"It looks sort of like a small orb, but...broken."

"But all the pieces are floating!"

"Don't forget about the red strings!"

"Hey, I was about to bring that up!"

"Oh, you so totally weren't. You completely forgot!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did-"

The bickering that had started amongst the other Dwellers, caused Mercy to spin about in a dizzy, letting out a "Whoooooa..." as they did. The other voices that had entered their mind had gone from being pleasant to headache-inducing, with how they were clambering on top of one another in an effort to get a word in.

Eventually, however, Mercy managed to snap out of their dizzy state long enough for them to make a pronounced and sharp *ahem*, which finally caused the others to cease their bickering.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be impolite..." Mercy began. "...But where is strange object you mentioned?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." One of the Dwellers that had been bickering said. They gave the one they had been arguing with a playful flick in the head with their tail, before continuing. "It's a bit further down into the well. Follow me, I'll show you!"

"Nah, they'd lose their head if it wasn't screwed on. I know the way better than anyone!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Mercy sighed as the voices went right back to bickering, feeling their headache beginning to return.

Hat Kid slammed the last law book closed with an irritated sigh, before carelessly cramming it back into the dresser. She had read through all of them, hoping to find some sort of hidden text that revealed Snatcher as a giant softie (Oh, and a clue about who Moonjumper is and stuff), but all she found was a bunch of definitions for that legal jargon Snatcher was so fond of spewing out.

I mean, sure, that's kind of what was expected to come from a law book, but even with all of that dumb, fancy, law-abiding talk, they didn't even have the courtesy to discuss Bird Law! What did she have to do to get an accurate answer? What would she do if her bird ID didn't hold up in court!?

Hat Kid let out a tired yawn as she stretched, finding that all of that reading had really worn her down. Her books on the laws of time and space may have been 500 times longer, but they were INTERESTING; they talked about giant intergalactic space battles where the price of losing would've been the entire eradication of the universe! Reading books that you had no interest in was like running a marathon with a broken leg (But, like, for your brain).

"Hey, kid!" A familiar minion called out.

Hat Kid looked up, giving Dave a tired wave as he hopped over to her. Her smile soon fell, however, when she realized that Dave's cape was leaving behind a trail of smoke with each step he took. It didn't take long for her to realize what had happened, and with an exhale, she said, "Burning Woods?"

Dave faltered for a moment, before sagging his shoulders and nodding. "...Yeah."

"...What did you do this time?"

"...Told a Fire Spirit they needed help for wanting to commit arson."

"...Yeah...uh..." Hat Kid began. She crossed her arms, giving him a look that said that she was a bit disappointed in him, but not surprised.  "...Maybe keep the pranking outside of Burning Woods range for the time being."

Dave agreed without hesitation. "No argument there."

"Hey guys!"

Hat Kid jumped somewhat at Mercy's voice, which had popped in her head rather unexpectedly. She looked around, until eventually she saw Mercy floating over the purple, bubbling swamp. The Dweller was bobbing up and down excitedly, and seemed to have something wrapped around their ghostly tail.

They swiveled over to Hat Kid, practically beaming with eagerness as their excitement only increased. "I think I found something! I'm not sure what it is, but..." They rambled, but eventually trailed off as they suddenly started sniffing the air. "...Hold on, is something burning? Why do I..."

Mercy turned to look at Dave, and their face fell as they finally noticed the tattered, burnt cloak.

"...Again, Dave?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Dave exclaimed indignantly.

Chapter Text

There was a long moment of silence from Moonjumper.

The ghost could not stop fidgeting and stammering, a horrible guilt aching in his chest at the Mafia thug that stood still, zombified and unable to move.

He truly, truly hadn't meant to do that. This was a power he had that he despised with every ounce of his being; the ability to take over one's body, and control them like a puppet. 

It reminded him of what that horrible purple specter did to his beloved, corrupting to her core and leaving her as a shambling husk of her former self. As such, he vowed to never, EVER use such a horrible power. No one, not even that foul, wretched specter himself, deserved to have their control ripped away like that.

And now in a fit of panic and frustration, the specter had gone ahead and placed a Mafia thug under this spell.

Right in front of Mu.

Moonjumper nervously strummed his fingers against his arm, a weary smile forming on his face. "O-Oh, I'm...sorry about that." He stammered. "I...I just panicked. I didn't mean to do such a thing."

Moonjumper had expected as least some form of hesitation from the girl, but Mu immediately gave the ghost an astonished look. "What? Why are you apologizing!?" She exclaimed. With a jump as she pumped her fists in the air, she all but shrieked, "That was AWESOME!"

Moonjumper's stutters fell on deaf ears as Mu paced back and forth, a delightful, oh so malicious glee dripping in her voice. "This is absolutely genius! Think of what we can do!" She rambled. "We can make them beat each other up, we can make them serve us, we can make them JUMP INTO THE OCEAN AND GET EATEN BY SHARKS-"

"W-Whoa, please! Slow down!" Moonjumper interjected, a worrisome look on his face. "L-Listen...I...understand your...excitement. B-But...I really don't think that's a good idea."

Mu looked up at him, tilting her head. "What? Why not!?" She asked, arms folded with a huff.

"It's just...you're trying to free people from being controlled, right?" Moonjumper asked. "Doing all of that to those thugs...d-doesn't it seem like we'd be stooping to their level?"

Mu paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate those words...

...Then a loud snort left her.

"What? Please!" She scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "You can't stoop as low as the Mafia! They're, like, the lowest of the low. We'd just be, y'know, giving em a taste of their own medicine!"

Mu gestured towards the gigantic brute. "These guys are the WORST kind of bully," Mu claimed. "They've spent ages treating everyone here like puppets; shoving e'm around, forcing them to be at their beck and call....I mean..." Mu threw her hands in the air with an exasperated huff before continuing, adding. "Come on! That evil guy that apparently ruined your big fairy tale...life...story. Would you NOT consider using that on him?"

Moonjumper seemed to have trouble answering that one. "U-Um...well I..." He mumbled. He crossed his arms, rubbing one of his shoulders sheepishly as he looked the other way. "I...I don't know...wouldn't that make me just as bad?"

"What!? No!" Mu exclaimed. "That's not what...ugh..."

The little mustached girl buried her palms into her face with a grumble. She inhaled deeply through her nose, and then clasped her hands together. "Okay, here's the thing," She began, pointing her clasped hands towards the ghost. "You have a problem-well, two. We'll start with number one: You're TOO nice."

A deep blue blush formed over Moonjumper's face, hearing the compliment. "O-Oh!" He stammered. "Well, um...thank you, I guess!"

Mu frowned. "That wasn't a compliment," She informed, sharply. "See, this leads to my second point; you're so nice, you're letting people walk all over you! You can't be feeling sorry for people like the Mafia. They don't deserve sympathy."

Mu picked up a nearby stick and began drawing on the golden sand with it. She a small stick figure version of herself, standing proudly over a pile of crudely drawn Mafia thugs. "Heroes act as soon as the opportunity strikes! Sometimes that means you might have to get your hands dirty, but in the end, it's all for the greater good." Mu proudly stated. She then drew a stick figure version of Moonjumper, smiling and pumping his fist in the air alongside Mu. "If you don't act, how are you gonna save your Queen?"

Moonjumper curled back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I...I've never really thought about it that way..." He mumbled. "...This whole time, I've been trying to find ways around using this power...but..."

Moonjumper thought back to the strings he had set up about the forest, and cringed. All those poor spirits that ended up being trapped because of him, terrified that they may never be able to see or hear from their friends again...

"...Maybe by not using it, I've..." Moonjumper began, trying to find the right words. "...I've ended up just making things worse."

Mu gave the ghost an affirmative nod, and gave him a large slap on the back. "See? You get it!" Mu exclaimed. "That's another good aspect about heroes, too; they always know to admit when they're in the wrong. Like me! I always acknowledge my mistakes when I peck up."

"Language, please." Moonjumper chastised, to which Mu promptly ignored.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that Mafia guy was still standing there,"  Mu commented, tossing her drawing utensil (Or...stick-tensil? Uten-Stick? Whatever) aside as she turned over to the petrified thug. "Say...why don't we do what I suggested, and give him a taste of his own medicine?"

Moonjumper looked at her, curiously. "...W-What did you have in mind?"

"Hm...why don't YOU decide?" Mu replied, a mischievous grin forming on her face. "Make it fun, though!"

The specter nodded, an eager grin forming on his face. "O-Okay!" He agreed, turning over to the thug. "Um...let me think...oh, I know!"

A devilish grin formed on his face as he waved his hands about in a whimsical yet mysterious fashion. "I want you to go to every single person you have wronged, and give them a genuine letter of apology!" The ghost commanded.

Mu let out a loud, exasperated sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "...Okay, we still have a fair bit to work on, it seems..."
 

Chapter Text

Hat Kid thoughtfully hummed as she sat at the chair in her workshop, examining the mysterious object with the upmost of intensity. It was unlike anything the space-farer had ever seen. It had an appearance and aura surrounding it that was similar to that of your standard time rift, but it wasn't a time rift at all! 

It seemed to be a glass ball that had shattered, but some strange power was causing the pieces to stay somewhat together. The pieces hovered and had gaps between them, but even an Express Owl without his glasses would be able to see that if you pushed the pieces together, they'd fit.

And then there was the strings. Right in the middle of the object was a bundle of bright red strings. It almost looked like a tiny ball of yarn, except pieces of the string would untether itself from the mass and sway about as if they were underwater, looking as if they were reaching out for someone.

Creepy.

Hat Kid let out another long hum, tapping her chin.

"Kiddo, would you stop humming like a bug?" A groggy, irritated voice called out from behind. "You're already a pest enough as it is." 

Hat Kid rolled her eyes and spun her chair around to face the purple ghost. Snatcher had been completely zonked out for awhile, and any words that he did have for Hat Kid were usually slurred variations of 'Peck off and let me sleep', but it seemed as though the ghost was finally starting to wake up!  

 "Well, good morning, sleepyhead." Hat Kid greeted with a smug grin. "Have any good dreams?"

A loud yawn left Snatcher as he stretched. "Oh, definitely. I dreamt you were far, FAR away from my forest." He replied. "Now, I don't mean to be impolite, but I believe you've more than wore out your welcome here, so..."

Snatcher turned away, ready to point at what was supposed to be the exit of his home back in Subcon, only for his grin to soon fall at the sight he was met with. "...Wait a minute..." The specter began, looking around the bedroom with a puzzled expression. "...This...isn't my forest."

Hat Kid had to keep herself from bursting out laughing. She didn't want to be too mean, obviously-he was her BFF, after all-but she had never seen Snatcher look so completely and utterly baffled! He looked even more confused than when she had turned his 'Get out of my forest' demand into a legally-binding besties for life contract, and that was saying something!

Nevertheless, although she didn't want to break any of the many important rules of friendship law, she also couldn't help but be a little bit smug with her response.

"Correct!" Hat Kid confirmed. "You got knocked on your butt and me, being an awesome BFF, decided to let you crash in my pillow pile to recover."

There was a moment of silence between the two, Snatcher's expression of complete confusion remaining totally unchanged.

"Uh..." Hat Kid began. "...You're...welcome, I guess?"

That seemed to finally snap Snatcher out of it.

"What-welcome?" Snatcher faltered, his frown deepening. "Welcome for what? I don't want to be on your stupid spaceship!"

An offended gasp left Hat Kid. She hopped off her chair and folded her arms with a scowl. "Hey! My spaceship is NOT stupid!" Hat Kid retorted. "Besides, you weren't calling it stupid when you were snoring away all cozy, and getting your weird ghost drool all over my pillows!"

"Please, ghosts can't-" Snatcher trailed off when he turned towards the pillows, seeing the 'weird ghost drool' in-question. "Oh...ew."

"Yeah, 'ew' is right." Hat Kid snapped. "So, as I was saying, you're welcome."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but I'm still not exactly thankful, kid," Snatcher replied, turning back to the space-farer in-question. A large smirk formed on his face. "I mean, you basically kidnapped me; I'm PRETTY sure that's a crime-"

"Except for the fact that your minions agreed you needed rest, and that my spaceship was the safest place to recover."

Snatcher's grin fell.

"...What?"

"Oh yeah, and Dave told me a bit about the contract you had them all sign." Hat Kid continued, ignoring Snatcher. "Didn't mention anything about them not being allowed to bring you to a spaceship in the event that you got your butt kicked."

Okay, that was a complete lie, but she could at least ASSUME it never mentioned that, right?

Whatever Snatcher was about to say was halted when the bedroom door opened, both Dave and Mercy entering the room.

"Hey kid, you GOTTA try the cookies we helped CC make! Did you know that pumpkin-spiced stuff is a thing? I had no idea-" Dave trailed off, realizing that his boss had finally fully awoken. "Oh...uh..."

There was a long moment of silence between the minion and his boss, as Snatcher's frown deepened with each passing second.

"...Boss, did you know about pumpkin-spiced-"

"YOU DRAGGED ME ONTO THE BRAT'S SHIP!?"

Snatcher's booming voice caused the entire room to shake, and Hat Kid stumbled and almost fell from it's sheer intensity.

She was used to him being angry or annoyed-mainly annoyed-but she wasn't used to seeing him THIS angry. She was beginning to regret her decision to be smug. especially since it meant a friend of hers was enduring such wrath.

Dave stammered. "B-Boss, we didn't have a choice!" He reasoned. "You could barely move! W-What if that ghost came back? You would've been t-toast!"

"Who cares about that stupid guy? WHAT IF SHE FOUND OUT!?" Snatcher retorted, the mention of her causing a shudder to come from the other ghosts, as well as Hat Kid. "WHAT IF SHE FOUND OUT I WAS HERE, SNORING AWAY? SHE COULD HAVE FROZEN THE ENTIRE-"

Snatcher's tirade was cut short with a pained noise. He curled in on himself, clutching his chest as his face scrunched up in pain.

Hat Kid's expression immediately shifted from fear to one of concern. She went over to the ghost, hesitantly reaching her hand out. "Snatcher? Are you okay?"

"I'm FINE, kiddo." Snatcher bit back. "It's going to-ow-take a lot more than-ow-some vengeance-seeking ghost to-ow-take me down-ow!"

An angry mutter left the ghost as a red spark seemed to shoot out from the injury. "Jeez, what the peck were those strings made out of?" He muttered to himself. Upon realizing that everyone had heard what he had just said, he sheepishly cleared his throat before continuing. "But, anyways, as I was saying, I'm-"

"You're staying here." Hat Kid interrupted.

The ghost sputtered at that. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Hat Kid retorted. "I'm not having my BFF get hurt again because he's too stubborn to know when he needs help!"

"Since when do YOU give out the orders-" 

"B-Boss, with all due respect, you can't run the forest in the state you're in." Dave tried to reason. "I get...I get that you want to keep her at bay-"

"And I have a very important reputation to keep up."

"Yeah sure, that too..." Dave nodded with a sigh. "But...what will happen if you go back to the forest like this and that Moonjumper guy comes back, or if she finds out you're hurt?"

"I'm NOT hurt-"

"Yes, you are." Mercy chimed in.

Mercy went over to the ghost, a determined glint shining through the holes of their mask.

"You're injured, probably more severely than you're even letting on. The forest may be less protected for now, yes, but what would be worse? Subcon being less protected for a little bit, or you potentially being defeated, and having the entire forest open for her to freeze over?"

There was a tense silence amongst the group, as Mercy's words sunk in. Snatcher looked away for a moment, seeming to contemplate what his response was going to be.

"...Well for starters, you're not even employed by me, so legally you don't really have a say in what-"

"Alright, that's enough."

Another voice entered the room; one that was usually very sweet and motherly, but this time sounded a bit strained. Hat Kid turned to see Cooking Cat, who seemed to be attempting to keep a warm and kind smile on her face but was having some difficulty. The bipedal cat went towards the ghost, holding her hands together as she looked up at him politely.

"Listen, I know that you are probably very confused and upset, but they're just trying to keep you from getting hurt." Cooking Cat explained. "Hat Kid is going out of her way to help you, and these two sweethearts-"

Mercy and Dave both blushed at that.

"-Want nothing more than for you to recover. I don't really know how your forest works, and I'm sure it must be very special to you, but Hat Kid has some incredibly important tasks as well, and she's putting them on-hold to help you out. Don't you think that you could just be...I don't know...just...a LITTLE bit more polite?"

"Oh my, you're absolutely right!" Snatcher said with a cheeriness that's fakeness couldn't be more obvious. "Thank you, brat, for convincing my minions that I was incapable of taking care of myself, and deciding to throw me into some strange alien ship with no way of escaping lest I get sucked into the cold vacuum of space!"

"Alright, that's it." Cooking Cat said, her sweet and sugary voice dropping an octave. She turned towards Hat Kid and the two other ghosts, giving them a polite smile. "Would you dolls mind stepping out of the room for just a second? I want to have a word with this...Snatcher."

Hat Kid reached over and picked up the object she had been examining from her worktable, before giving the cat a nod. "Sure thing, CC!" She agreed. "I need to talk to Dave and Mercy about this thing, anyways."

Hat Kid headed out into the living room, Dave and Mercy following suite. She plopped down onto the soft carpet, placing the object down in front of her.

"So, kid, do you have any idea what this is?" Dave asked as he sat down beside her.

"Well-"

Hat Kid paused as she heard what seemed to be muffled shouting coming from her room, before shrugging and continuing.

"Well, it looks like a time rift, but it definitely isn't. A time rift would've pulled you into it the moment you touched it." Hat Kid explained. "Still, it clearly seems to be related to Moonjumper. I'm just not sure how to piece it toge-"

Hat Kid paused.

"Wait...piece it together! That's it!" Hat Kid jumped up.

"What? What is it?" Dave asked. "Is it some weird puzzle we have to solve? Because I'm terrible at those."

"No, it isn't that." Hat Kid denied. "Well, kind of. I think this might be a piece of a relic!"

Hat Kid waited for the two's responses.

"...Sorry, you lost me, kiddo." Dave replied, Mercy nodding in agreement. "What do you mean by relic?"

"Ohhhh, you've never heard about relics?" Hat Kid asked. She pointed towards one of the relics she had already collected. "It's simple! See that giant burger that tastes like a pillow?"

"...Uh...yeah?"

"That's a relic!"

"...I'm even more confused now."

Hat Kid sighed. "Okay, you know what? I'll be right back." said Hat Kid. She ran up to one of the ship's many machines, and began rummaging through it's storage compartment. Within a couple minutes, she pulled out a gigantic book. It was as wide and as tall as her, and was easily over a thousand pages long. Nevertheless, she seemed to carry it back towards the stunned ghosts with relative ease. "You're lucky I decided to hold onto my old book on Time Anomalies."

Ignoring Dave's sputtering, Hat Kid opened the book to page 1106, and began explaining it's contents to the others.

"You see, time rifts come in all shapes and sizes," Hat Kid explained. "Usually they're just kind of tears in the timeline that you need to seal shut, but  there's a special time rift called a purple time rift-"

"You just call it a purple time rift?"

"Look there's like a million different time anomalies. You can't find a cool name for all of them." Hat Kid countered with a shrug. "But anyways, Purple Time Rifts let you look into the pasts or memories of specific people. It's how I found out about..."

Hat Kid faltered for a moment.

"...Well, it's how I found out about what she did."

She shared a glance with the two ghosts, gauging what their reactions would be.

"...That explains so much." Mercy commented.

"Yeah, I was trying to figure out why the boss would even THINK of telling you his story," Dave added. "Random time stuff aside, this makes so much more sense."

"Did you start to wonder if Snatcher was actually just a big giant softie underneath?" Hat Kid asked with a grin.

"If you think you're going to get anything you can use for blackmail, you can forget it kiddo-"

"The answer is yes."

"Wh-Mercy!" Dave exclaimed, completely flustered.

A small chuckle left the Dweller.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. But anyways, you were saying, Hattie?"

"Right, well, the thing about purple time rifts is that they're hidden," Hat Kid continued. She pointed to the page, showing an example drawing of a relic. "The only way you can make them come out of hiding is if you find something related to it, which we call relics. When you put the pieces of the relic together, it makes the time rift appear!"

She held the object up in her hands.

"So if I'm correct, and this is a part of a relic..." Hat Kid began. "...Then we could find the other pieces, find the purple time rift, and figure out who this Moonjumper guy is!"

"Wow, that's some pretty nifty detective work." Dave complimented.

"Why thank you, it's good to know that my hard training as an actor paid off," Hat Kid smiled.

"Where do you think the other pieces could be?" Mercy inquired.

"Hm, more than likely in Subcon," Hat Kid answered. "Not to mention, Moonjumper clearly has a style going on; I have no idea what the peck I'd CALL that style, but he certainly has it. I think it'd be relatively easy to find the other pieces!"

"Great! The sooner we can find out what his deal is, the better," Dave commented. "I mean, I know the boss can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but this Moonjumper guy seems to really have it out for him over something he didn't even do!"

"Oh, no argument there," Hat Kid agreed. "Well, except for the part about Snatcher being a jerk sometimes-let's be real, he's a jerk ALL of the time-but I digress. If there's one thing Snatcher doesn't deserve to be blamed for, it's her temper tantrum. That's just going too far."

"Actually, speaking of freakouts...is CC alright?"

Almost right on-cue, a somewhat disheveled Cooking Cat exited the bedroom. Despite her fur being tangled and her chef hat ascue, she still wore a bright a smile while greeting the trio.

"Well hello there, dears. Sorry if there was any racket," Cooking Cat apologized. "How did your research go?"

"Oh, it went fine, but..." Hat Kid began, a worried frown beginning to form on her face. "Are you...okay?"

Cooking Cat chuckled brightly. "Oh, I'm fine dear!" She assured, waving her hand dismissively. "I just gave that ghost a stern talking to, is all. He's agreed to stay here until he gets better, and he'll at least somewhat cut back on the attitude."

"Whoa..." Dave gasped. "How the heck did you manage to do that? To the BOSS of all people!?"

Cooking Cat let out a bubbly giggle, and leaned down and ruffled the minion's head. "Don't worry about it, hun. Just make sure you don't develop that same attitude, alright?"

The chef stepped back, giving the group one last big smile. "Well, I need to go back and finish up the last batch of pumpkin cookies. I'm sure you'll all enjoy some after a hard day's work of investigating!"

With that, the cat hopped back up to the kitchen, giving the three one last happy wave before disappearing into the room.

"...She is, without a doubt, both the sweetest AND the scariest person I have ever met." Dave commented.

"I know, right?" Hat Kid agreed. "Isn't she just the best?"  

Chapter Text

Snatcher all but slumped onto the gigantic pile of pillows, a heavy sigh leaving him. He found himself fidgeting with his claws as an involuntary shudder left his ghostly form.

How could such a sickingly adorable little creature be so...vicious?

It was all a blur, what happened an hour ago. One moment he sat with a grin, his arms-that were NOT noodles, as much as Hat Kid claimed, thank you very much-crossed over his chest with an aura of smugness that he had managed to get under that annoyingly sweet cook's skin; or rather, fur.

The next, he was hurriedly complying and agreeing to behave himself amidst a fury of claws and shrill hisses and threats that would've had all of Subcon rolling in it's grave.

...He had to say, he was thoroughly impressed. It wasn't often threats actually got under that fluffy ghost fur of his; peck, saying you'd like to mount someone's head on your wall was a flattering compliment to give someone down in Subcon.

Maybe he could see if he could get her to sign a contract to keep all those brats she so fond of out of Subcon. Clearly Hat Kid was more willing to listen to that cat than a terrifying ghost...

Snatcher sat up, a frustrated noise leaving him.

Gah! What was he doing? Letting some probably flea-ridden feline boss him around? He was the Snatcher! He could easily gobble up that chef's soul and FINALLY get it through that brat's head that he wasn't a being to be trifled with! It wasn't like that BFF contract had any REAL legal value anyways. He wasn't that brat's friend, and he didn't need to play nice with any of her other accomplices, either.

The purple ghost puffed out his chest, a new sense of malicious determination enveloping him.

He had a forest to run and a ice-wielding maniac to keep out. He wasn't going to be lounging around here anymore-

The futuristic door to Hat Kid's bedroom slid open, and the cat stepped in.

"Um, Snatcher?" She called out.

Almost immediately, Snatcher sat back down and placed his claws on his lap, clearing his throat. "Uh, yeah, what's up." He replied, wanting to slap himself both physically and mentally.

"Well..." Cooking Cat began, and it was then that Snatcher realized she was holding a tray. His eyes lit up when he saw that there was freshly cooked, sizzling bacon sat on a plate. "I just wanted to-"

Snatcher quickly interrupted. "Yeah sure, water under the bridge, whatever," He dismissed, reaching for one of those delicious, smoky pieces of bacon. "I'll be taking tha-"

An indignant gasp left him when his hand was promptly swatted at by her clawed paw.

"Ah, oh no you don't!" Cooking Cat said, waving her finger. "You are going to be polite and let me finish speaking before you even THINK about having a piece."

A growl left Snatcher. "Listen, lady, I don't think you've realized that you're in the presence of the SNATCHER." He emphasized. "And I think the name should be obvious, but in case it isn't, it means I like to snatch people's souls; especially those that try to tell ME what to do."

Much to his irritation, the chef merely rolled her eyes. "If you eat my soul, you wouldn't be getting any more bacon cooked for you, hun." She pointed out.

Snatcher went to reply, but eventually closed his mouth. With another irritated grumble, he folded his limbs and gave her an annoyed look. "...Fine. Spit it out already."

"Well," The culinary feline began. "I just wanted to say that despite my...um...previous outburst...I don't have any...um...STRONG feelings of hatred towards you, per say."

"Wow, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Cooking Cat gave the ghost a weird look, seeming unsure if that comment was sarcastic or not, before continuing. "Anyways, you might not be the nicest, but...Hat Kid says you're okay, and I trust her judgement."

"The only thing that brat is a good judge of is what annoys people."

Cooking Cat frowned, but did not respond to the comment. "Well, I hope you realize we aren't doing this to be mean." She claimed. "Hat Kid is really worried about you, and she wants you to make a full recovery. She only has you on the ship because it's the safest option."

"...Is there a point to the spiel, lady?" Snatcher asked.

"I'm just giving you something to chew on, hun." She explained, holding up the tray. "Both figuratively and literally, that is."

Then, after a beat, she added, "...Now you can enjoy some bacon."

 Snatcher took the piece off the plate, doing it somewhat slowly to make sure it wasn't a trick and the cat wouldn't swat at him again.

"You know, if you poisoned this it won't work, since I'm already dead," Snatcher commented, eyeing the piece of bacon in his claws with a shrug as he popped it into his mouth. "All you'd be doing is giving it more flavor."

The ghost thought that comment would offend the chef, but much to his surprise a chuckle left her. "Well, it isn't poisoned, but I suppose it's good to know any dietary constraints." She joked. "Though, I do have to ask, what flavor IS poison, exactly?"

"Eh, a bit strong and somewhat bitter, but it mellows out after the first sip. Tastes great with glass shards," Snatcher described, then with a dark grin, added, "You should try it sometime!"

"...Well, it still does sound slightly more edible than the Mafia's cooking," Cooking Cat commented, and that response made Snatcher stop mid-bite into his bacon.

"Ew, those idiot's souls taste the worst," Snatcher recalled with a noise of disgust.

Cooking Cat stopped, tilting her head. "...Exactly how many of them have you eaten?" She asked with a concerned tone.

"Enough to discover that they somehow gave me food poisoning." He answered. "Don't ask me. I don't know how that worked, either."

"I live in Mafia Town," Cooking Cat mentioned. "I've seen what they eat first-hand, so I am not surprised."

"Ugh, I live in a twisted forest with sentient nooses and fire spirits that crave the sweet release of death, and even I pity you," Snatcher replied. "I can't count how many times those idiots got lost in the forest because they went outside of their town for five minutes."

"That doesn't surprise me, either." Cooking Cat said with a sigh. "I once watched one of them cry because their makeshift pufferfish balloon wasn't working."

"One of them tried to do that stupid high-five game on a Dweller, and fell face-first into Subcon's swamp."

A chuckle left Cooking Cat. "I think it served him right." She said.

An odd look was sent her way by the ghost. "Really?" He replied. "I don't know, it's a bit much, even for me."

"What? I'm sure he looked ridiculous when he got up."

"If he ever gets back up from there, I don't think there's going to be much of him left TO look ridiculous."

Cooking Cat paused, and finally a somewhat horrified look appeared on her face. "...O-Oh..."

It looked like she would definitely be needing a pint or two of milk after hearing that.

Chapter Text

So as it turned out, finding the rest of the pieces hadn't been as easy as Hat Kid thought.

Hat Kid was for SURE certain that the strange object Mercy had found was connected to a relic, but no matter how much the alien and the ghosts searched for the remaining parts, nothing turned up.

The three had decided to stay together as a group this time (Mainly so that any fire spirits they encountered would be less tempted to try and turn Dave into the newest barbeque special) and searched every nook and cranny of the forest. They searched around Snatcher's home, scoured the Burning Woods, and even went back into the damp and disgusting well, but no matter how much they looked or how many residents they asked, nothing turned up.

Eventually, while searching through Sucbon's well, a shudder of disgust left Hat Kid and she tossed her hands in the air with a frustrated grumble.

"Ugh, I HATE this!" She exclaimed. "It's so cold, and gross, and slimy, and...just...yucky!"

She plopped down on the ground, resting her head in her hands with a defeated sigh.

"...I thought for sure that that was a relic piece," Hat Kid contemplated, rubbing her chin with a thoughtful hum. "But we've looked everywhere, and nothing's turned up."

Mercy floated over, placing themselves next to Hat Kid. Their voice reached the troubled girl's mind, filling it with a warm assurance. "Don't worry, Hattie. I'm sure something will turn up eventually!" The ghost chirped. "The forest is huge. I'm sure there's a place we've overlooked!"

Hat Kid patted Mercy's head with a small smile, before hopping up off the ground to do some much needed pacing. "Well, let me think..." She hummed. "We've checked Snatcher's house, we've checked the Burning Woods, the swamp, the well, and we've turned up cold-"

Cold.

Hat Kid froze in her tracks, a lightbulb going off in her head; except it was one lightbulb she wished had decided to stay fizzled out.

Slowly, Hat Kid turned over to the ghosts. The two stared back, still completely oblivious to the realization she had just had.

"...The only place we haven't checked yet is..." Hat Kid began. "...Her home."

And there it was; the realization. Both the ghosts went completely stiff, their glowing pupils shrinking to tiny little dots. Even Mercy, who would instinctually hover up and down in the air, completely went stiff.

"...You're kidding," Dave remarked.

Hat Kid desperately wanted to take back what she had said, but...

"I mean, it would make sense, wouldn't it?" Hat Kid reasoned, shrugging nervously. "This Moonjumper guy seems to be connected to her. If this is a relic, than the pieces being in her house would make the most sense..."

Almost immediately Dave jumped, waving his tiny little arms frantically in the air. "Absolutely not!" He refused, practically shouting with his shrill voice. "There is absolutely no way we're doing that!"

As Dave continued his adamant dislike of the plan, Mercy curled back, their voice going silent as they seemed to shudder with intense fear.

"I'd rather sacrifice myself to the Fire Spirits than set foot in there!" Dave continued to ramble. "At least they're welcoming would be warm-"

"You two aren't going."

Dave trailed off, finally settling down. He turned to look at Hat Kid with an incredulous expression.

"What?"

"You guys aren't going." Hat Kid repeated. "I'll go on my own."

Truly, Hat Kid wanted the company if she was going to set foot in there again. It was a terrifying place, even taking her out of the equation, but she knew she couldn't put her two ghost besties through that. Vanessa had been responsible for the freezing of the forest, and as much as she was scared of the Ice Queen, Hat Kid knew she wouldn't even be able to fathom the fear the victims of the Freezing felt.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," She assured, mustering up the biggest grin she could. "I was able to survive last time, and Snatcher didn't even let me use my hats! I'm sure with my hats, it will be a breeze!"

"Kid, this is insane!" Dave insisted, almost immediately going back to hopping and jumping as soon as the space-farer was finished speaking. "As nifty as your hats are, the Queen has been around for ages. What are you going to do if you get cornered?"

Hat Kid resisted the urge to shudder. "Don't worry, I promise I'll be safe!" She insisted. "I'm just going to do a little bit of snooping, that's all."

She put her arm around the minion, giving him a  confident grin that she hoped he didn't realize was completely fake. "You guys just wait outside, and I'll pop back out when I find something!"

She looked up at Mercy, seeing what the Dweller thought of the plan. Her fake smile soon fell when she saw how Mercy was reacting.

The poor ghost had curled in on themselves and was shaking uncontrollably. Hat Kid could not hear the Dweller's voice, but she was certain that if she could, it would be filled with terror. She approached the ghost with a sympathetic look, worry evident in her tone as she tried to comfort them. "Aw, Mercy..." She began, wrapping her arms around the ghost and pulling them tightly into a hug. "It's gonna be okay..."

Finally, Hat Kid could make the voice out in her head again; it had grown more confident over their journey, but Hat Kid found it had became as soft as it had first been originally. "I'm...sorry..." Mercy managed out. "I'm...j...ust...s...ca...r...e...d..."

"You don't have to worry, okay?" Hat Kid reassured, tightening her hug. "You guys won't have to go anywhere near that manor. Peck, you don't even have to go across the bridge!"

"No...I'm scared...for...y...o...u."

Hat Kid's mouth curved to a frown for a moment, but she quickly forced herself to smile as she pulled away from the hug. "Aw, you don't have to worry about me!" She proclaimed, giving the ghost a wink. "I got access to my hats now, remember? If I run into her, I have a ton of neat tricks up my sleeves!"

"And if she gets too close," Hat Kid continued, stepping back as she did. "I can always just..."

The girl unsheathed her umbrella, pointing it to a nearby wall with utter grace and elegance. "I can always just give her ONE OF THESE!" She exclaimed, making a slicing motion and letting out a 'Hyah!' as she did.

Hat Kid's theatrics seemed to slightly amuse Mercy, and she heard a chuckle leave them as their voice gradually became clear and coherent once more. "Are...Are you sure?" Mercy asked, and Hat Kid gave them a beaming smile.

"Absolutely!" The girl insisted, swinging their umbrella over their shoulder. "I've handled time rifts and supermassive black holes. I can handle this!"

Mercy looked over to the ghostly minion. "Dave...what do you think?" They asked.

Dave didn't answer at first. He appeared to be rather torn between insisting that no, this was a terrible idea and going back in there was a literal death wish, and agreeing that Hat Kid had a shot at this plan of hers.

Finally, after much deliberation, a defeated sigh left him. "...Okay kid, I'll bite," He agreed. "As much as I don't want you to have to deal with HER again...there's more pressing concerns at hand. If you think you got this...I trust you."

Hat Kid gave the ghost a thumbs-up. "That's what I like to hear!" Hat Kid chirped. Suppressing another terrified shudder, she proclaimed, "Let's get going to the manor!"

The group got out of the well, but not before Hat Kid went into another area on her own so she could dry-heave without the others seeing.

It was a bright, beautiful sunny day in Mafia Town, as it usually was. One of the local goons stumbled about on the local beach, a tired yawn leaving him as he stretched his meaty arms. The man had just finished being incredibly productive, by Mafia standards. He had managed to trick five locals into playing the high-five game in an hour. Not only was that a new record for him, but after counting, he realized that was the exact number of fingers on his hand! The other Mafia goons would be so jealous of him.

As he was walking about, looking for someone to brag his accomplishments to, he saw another thug standing idly by. He seemed rather still, even for a member of the Mafia. Perhaps bragging about his accomplishments was just what the other needed to lift his spirits!

The goon approached the other, clearing his throat. "Fellow Mafia! Mafia did good today. Gave five high-fives!" He proclaimed.

The other goon turned to look at him, and it was then that the goon realized that he was covered in red strings.

"Fellow Mafia?" He called out. "Why is Mafia wearing red strings? Is there special holiday event that Mafia is unaware of?"

The goon expected a lot of replies, but a punch in the face was not one of them.

The thug fell to the ground, kicking up big clumps of sand with his fall. Just as he pulled himself up, he felt a large arm wrap around his head, while another found it's way to his head.

"Agh! What is Mafia doing!?" The goon exclaimed as he received the worst noogie known to man. "Mafia just had head polished this morning!"

The other goon said nothing, and when he was finished he mercilessly threw the thug to the ground, kicking up another layer of sand in the process.

The thug lifted his head up, spitting out mouthfuls of sand and furiously rubbing his eyes with pained grunts.

"Agh, Mafia got sand in eyes!" He yelled, everything becoming blurry as his eyes began to fill with tears. All of the pride he had felt earlier was now replaced with rage, and he turned over to the blurry blob that was responsible for his torment. His eyes were so bad from the attack that he didn't even see the red strings that had enveloped the other disappear.

"Ah, fellow Mafia," The other began. "How has day been-"

The other's seemingly innocent question quickly ended with a pained grunt as he was tacked to the ground, and his head was shoved mercilessly into the sand.

Chapter Text

The girl rubbed her hands together as she approached the vast expanse of land that led to Queen Vanessa's manor. Even being nearby caused chills to be sent through Hat Kid's spine, and not just because of the cold...

To say that Hat Kid was terrified would be...well, an understatement. She usually patted herself on the back for her quick thinking skills, but this was one time she had wished she'd kept her mouth shut. Sure, she and the two ghosts had scoured the forest for relic pieces and came up empty-handed, so it was only logical that the next place to search WOULD be the Ice Queen's residence, but...gosh, peck logic! She was scared!

She looked up towards the manor, it's silhouetted shape giving off a dark, red aura that sent shivers down her spine. She clutched her umbrella tighter to herself, finding her body freezing up as she continued to stare.

"Uh...kid?" Dave chimed in. "You gonna be alright?"

A forced laugh left Hat Kid as she spun around to face her ghost friend. "Psh, whaaaat?" Hat Kid replied. "Are you kidding? I've never been more pumped in my life."

The two ghosts turned to each other, both wearing expressions that said they absolutely didn't buy what she was selling.

A defeated sigh left Hat Kid as her shoulders slumped. "Okay, I'm obviously terrified." She admitted. "But, like, what else am I supposed to do? It's one of the only places I haven't looked yet."

"But...I can't believe I'm asking this...but are you SURE you don't need our help?" Dave asked.

Hat Kid shook her head. "No," She answered, ignoring the minion's overwhelming sigh of relief. "You...you guys have a lot of bad memories with all this. Putting you through that...well, it just wouldn't be cool."

She pulled the two ghosts into a hug, wrapping her arms around each of them and squeezing. "I won't get hurt. I promise."

"...Okay," Mercy agreed. "I trust you, Hattie."

"Me too, kid. If you get into trouble, just scream at the top of your lungs." Dave suggested, causing the space-farer to let out an awkward chuckle.

"Y-You got it, haha..." The girl's awkward chuckle dissolved into an even more awkward cough, as she once more attempted to swallow her fears back down; as well as her heart, which currently felt as if it was in her throat.

"...oh peck, CC is gonna kill me for this stunt..." She muttered.

As Hat Kid stumbled through the thick snow, the violent blizzard pelting harsh snow against her face, she couldn't help but shiver, both from the cold and from the eeriness of the whole thing. Snow was supposed to be a nice, pleasant thing. It was a source of fun and creativity, to make goofy snowman that would turn into even goofier blobs when they melted.

But nothing ever melted here, and nothing ever looked goofy or silly, either. The closest thing to a snowman here would be the frozen remains of the Queen's previous victims.

Hat Kid gulped, brushing the snow out of her face once more.

Focus. I can do this.

She continued to trudge through the thick snow, the blizzard's winds seeming somehow even stronger than last time, causing her cape to violently whip back and forth.

"I made a promise to my friend..." She muttered through gritted teeth, ignoring her racing heart as she finally managed to make out the cellar doors through the tide of white.

"I can't go back on my word!" Hat Kid exclaimed as she gripped onto the wood of the doors, tightly digging her nails into it. With one large huff, she heaved the large doors open, the doors clanking against the snow with a resounding thunk!

She peered into the darkness of the cellar. Another gulp left her.

"Oh peck, I'm gonna die." She mumbled.

Cooking Cat let out a pleasant hum, letting the smell of the chocolate chip cookies she had just finished baking waft up to her nose. There was just something so relaxing about the smell of freshly baked goods and pastries. It brought her back to those times spent with her mama, where she first learned the joys that came from cooking.

And also, like her mother, someone's hand had to be swatted away from trying to steal a bite; only this time, it wasn't Cooking Cat's hand.

"Nah-ah!" Cooking Cat snapped, waving her finger in the purple specter's face. "This is for later, when Hattie gets back. You can have one then."

Snatcher groaned, rolling his eyes. "Sheesh lady, are you the head of this brat's fan club, or something?" The ghost remarked. "You've done nothing but spoil her."

"Hattie is taking time out of her incredibly busy schedule to help you." The cat reminded. "The least she deserves is an acknowledgement of her efforts."

Snatcher snorted, floating back with his arms crossed. "Please," He scoffed, shrugging as he did. "What kind of busy schedule could that brat have? The kid spends most of her time finding ways to annoy me."

Cooking Cat exhaled. "You'd be surprised, but that girl has completed feats that neither of us could accomplish in our lives..." She described. Then, with an awkward cough, she added under breath, "O-Or afterlife..."

"Please, name ONE thing that kid has done-"

"She destroyed a black hole."

"Aside from defeating me-wait, what?"

For once, the ghost seemed utterly flabbergasted, and seemed to actually WANT Cooking Cat to continue talking.

Cooking Cat nodded. "That's what she was travelling home from. It was a mission they gave her." She explained. "I don't know the ins and outs of her homeworld, but that enough tells me that the poor thing has a lot on her shoulders."

"I'm sorry..." Snatcher began, massaging his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "...You're telling me that the brat that wanders about disrupting my forest is the same one that-"

He cut himself off, another confused grumble leaving him as he buried his face into the palm of his hand.

"-Are we talking about the same brat?" He finished.

Cooking Cat nodded once more with an affirmative hum. "I'm afraid so." The chef confirmed, turning her attention back to the cookies with a smirk. "She's much more resilient than you give her credit for."

"I mean...but that can't fly legally, right?"

This caused the cat to pause, and she turned back to face the ghost. "What?"

"The brat's like, what, 12? 11?" Snatcher continued. "And they're making her do THAT? They're ignoring dozens upon dozens of child labor laws."

Cooking Cat was bemused at first, but quickly remembered Hat Kid mentioning something about how Snatcher used to be a lawyer. "Well, she IS from another world, Snatcher." Cooking Cat pointed out. "They're capable of controlling time and destroying black holes; I don't think it's out of the question to assume they're laws are a bit different over there, as well. Also I don't think you're one to talk about ignoring child labor laws."

"But a brat her age shouldn't be having to worry about something like that!" Snatcher replied. "She should be...I don't know, eating dirt or something."

Cooking Cat went to say more, but then something clicked. A smug smile spread over the chef's face. "Are you worried about her?"

The cook had to hold back a chuckle as the ghost's eyes went wide, and she could notice the smallest bit of yellow bloom over his cheeks.

An obviously forced cackle left the ghost. "Please, don't make me laugh, lady!" He laughed. "Worried for that kid? If anything, it's more of a reason to keep her out of my forest, if she's capable of doing something like THAT."

"Well, your forest isn't threatening time and space itself; at least, I hope it isn't." The feline remarked with a shrug.

"My point still stands." The ghost retorted. "It's on the list of why she's never allowed back after this whole stupid mess is over with."

Cooking Cat frowned. "Are you really never letting her back in? After what she's doing for you?"

"Hey, it's MY property. I can decide who I want there or not." Snatcher snapped, arms folded with a scowl. "Besides, if her stupid timepieces didn't end up in my forest, I bet none of this would have happened in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if that Moonjumper guy is some weird hourglass spawn."

"I can assure you dear, it isn't." Cooking Cat replied. "Hat Kid takes her job VERY seriously. If that was the case, she would have already had it figured out by now and sorted, I'm sure."

"Well, if she takes her job-whatever it is-so seriously, why is she wandering around my forest instead of-"

"Because she cares about you, you dummy."

Snatcher's sarcastic remark trailed off into silence.

Cooking Cat closed her eyes and let out a sigh, turning her back to the ghost as she started plucking the cookies from the baking sheet and placing them onto a nearby plate. "That BFF contract might seem laughable to you, but it's real to her." The chef stated. "As much as you seem to get on each other's nerves...you mean a whole lot to her."

The chef was met with silence. She didn't bother to turn to look at Snatcher, assuming the ghost was probably scowling, with his noodley arms folded in a huff.

"...I shouldn't."

The cat's ears perked, and she quietly turned her head, just enough so that she could see Snatcher but not enough for it to  be noticeable.

Rather than scowling, the ghost seemed, for once...somber. His bright yellow eyes had dimmed to an almost melancholic hue, his scowl more of just a sad frown as his shoulders were slumped forward.

However, Cooking Cat didn't address it. Her eyes shifted back over to the plate of cookies, and a huff left her.

"...Would you like a cookie, Snatcher?"

Chapter Text

There was a loud splash as Hat Kid's feet connected with the flooded floor of the cellar. Yet another shiver left her, both from the sheer coldness of the icy water, as well as the terror that she just couldn't shake off.

Just thinking about that woman's shrill, horrible voice, the darkness that seemed to envelope all of her as she shambled about...

Hat Kid slapped herself, trying to focus. She could do this! She had so many ways of defending herself now, now that she didn't have to worry about a dumb contract that forbade her from using any of her trusty hats.

The girl tip-toed up the stairs and reached the cellar's exit, another silent gulp leaving her as she gripped onto the doorknob, slowly twisting it and pushing it open...

As she looked through the crack of the door, she had a moment to process it.

The spindly red hand that rested on the other side.

But it was not enough time for her to step back.

The door was ripped open, a hand reaching out of a dark mass and gripping the fabric of her cloak. The girl could barely let out a whimper as she was yanked forward, her horrified eyes filled with the image of the Queen's piercing red ones.

All of the bravado Hat Kid had felt earlier had vanished. Despite still holding her umbrella, she found her limbs felt slack. She couldn't move. She couldn't fight back. She couldn't even kick and scream and yell for help.

She was paralyzed.

This is it. I'm dead. Oh peck, this was all for nothing. Now I'm gonna get frozen and be used as some tacky furniture.

The cold that seeped through the Queen's icy hands could be felt even through fabric, sending even more shivers down Hat Kid's spine. She waited to see it; the blue ice that would shoot from the Queen's fingers and envelope her in an icy tomb.

I am absolutely dead. I am going to die. This is going to be my final moment.

Seconds ticked by.

...Why is this taking so long?

"...Why have you come back?"

Her sharp, sinister voice cut through the silence like a knife.

She wasn't...immediately killing her. She was....she was...talking to her?

A few more seconds passed as Hat Kid still struggled to wrap what was going on in her head, until it clicked that the Queen had...asked her a question.

"U-Um..." Hat Kid began, another shiver leaving her as the ghost leaned in. "I-I got...lost...in the storm. I-I was trying to f-find h-help."

The Queen squinted. "It's very un-ladylike to lie, you know." She hissed. "Especially when you were hollering why you were here at the top of your lungs just a few minutes ago."

A bloom formed over Hat Kid's cheeks. "Y-You heard that?"

"The whole manor heard you, dear." The Queen retorted, her voice a quiet yet terrifying hiss. "Which is...as a matter of fact...why we're having this little...conversation."

She lifted Hat Kid up closer to her, causing another gulp to leave the girl. It felt as though Vanessa's eyes were staring into her very soul.

"Originally, I had just planned on freezing you and making you a new décor on the fireplace..." The specter sneered, and Hat Kid felt her heart drop into her stomach. "...But you said something that intrigued me. Something about...oh...what was it..."

The Queen leaned in closer.

"...Keeping a promise to your friend?"

"A-Ah...I-I...u-um..."

"Yes, I do believe that was it." The Queen said with a sly smirk. "Hm, I wonder who that friend is? Is it someone I know? Because if he is who I think he is..."

The terror that had enveloped Hat Kid quickly left, now replaced with another one.

She couldn't have the Queen find out about Snatcher! She'd use the opportunity to freeze the whole forest! She had to think of someone else, anyone else that would both stop Vanessa from killing her and stop her from finding out about Snatcher's absence.

"M-My f-friend is..." Hat Kid stammered, frantically looking around, and that's when it clicked. "M-My friend is...a prince."

The Queen paused.

"...What?"

Hat Kid nodded, offering the ghost a poor attempt of a smile. "H-He's a prince f-from a f-far away land. Y-You've never met him before."

The Queen's grip on Hat Kid's cloak seemed to loosen somewhat.

"...What does he look like?" Vanessa asked, her tone not nearly as vitriolic as it had been before.

"H-He...uh," Hat Kid looked back, recalling what Snatcher had looked like prior to when he was alive. "H-He has light brown hair and...b-baby blue eyes. He wants to dye it blonde, though. His hair, I mean, not his eyes. That'd be weird. He thinks blonde hair is beautiful. A-Almost as beautiful as green dresses with diamond patterns."

An unusually delighted gasp left the Queen.

"Oh my, he sounds...well, lovely." She replied. "But...wait, why are you here if I have never met him before?"

"W-Well, that's the thing s-see..." Hat Kid stuttered. Despite still being in the grip of the Queen, she attempted to shrug. "...A-After I told him about what happened, h-he was very upset with me. He told me...um..." Hat Kid snapped her fingers. "That it was very un-ladylike to be going into someone else's home without their permission, and to be dragging dirt all around as well."

"Especially to, uh, someone of such beauty and kindness." Hat Kid quickly added at the end.

Vanessa tilted her head. "...Then why are you-"

"B-Because I wanted to apologize!" Hat Kid grinned. "R-Right, should have started with that. The prince told me that it would be the proper, ladylike thing if I went over and apologized. I know the doors were locked, but I just...I just really thought you deserved that apology, you know? I know the prince would have been disappointed if I didn't tell you h-how sorry I was. So I...uh...went in the cellar. Yep."

Hat Kid gave her a wide smile.

"...Could you put me down now, please?"

Hat Kid closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief as she felt her feet make contact with the floor.

"Oh my...a prince!" Vanessa gasped, her hands covering her mouth giddily. "Oh...I suppose I can let it go this one time..."

She leaned down, her spindly finger dotting Hat Kid's nose.

"I can't believe it...a prince. You've known a prince all along!" Vanessa chirped. "Oh...I must meet him! He sounds so charming."

"T-That might take a bit." Hat Kid responded. "See, he really likes you, but he's very shy. I'm pushing him to go ahead and tell you how he feels, b-but...he's just not ready yet."

"Oh, please, you must convince him to visit. I promise I don't bite!" The Queen assured with a high-pitched giggle. "Ah, to be in love again...I miss it so."

"W-Well...now that I've apologized, I think I...um...should be off." Hat Kid announced. "I-It has been an absolute pleasure, my Queen. I'll-"

"Nonsense! The weather is absolutely dreadful outside. Besides, you MUST tell me more!" Vanessa wrapped her hand around Hat Kid's pulling her forth towards the living room. "I want you to tell me everything you can about this mysterious prince!"

Oh, peck.

Chapter Text

A frustrated sigh left the minion as he buried his hands into his face. 

Almost an hour had passed. That was too long. Far too long for Hat Kid of all people to still be in there. Hat Kid should have been in the manor and out of it by at least 30 minutes tops, if things went well.

But it was starting to seem like things hadn't.

"C'mon, kiddo...hurry up..." Dave mumbled, pacing back and forth on the bridge. "Just get back here, already..."

"Dave."

A soft, gentle voice reached his head, and his pacing slowed to a stop. He let out a loud sigh, slumping his shoulders as he stared at the ground.

"We have to go in." Mercy continued.

Dave shut his eye, nodding. "...Yeah, I know."

Mercy gazed over to the to the silhouette of the manor, which loomed over them like a great giant beast. Dave looked over at the fox-masked specter, who's ghostly tail began to curl in on themselves as shudders began to roll over their entire being.

"Hey, buddy. It's okay!" Dave assured, offering the ghost a pat on the back. "C'mon, focus. We can do this!"

The minion turned back towards the manor. "We'll march right on over to that awful place, and help Hat Kid out of this jam," Dave proclaimed. "And if we see that giant, hulking, horrible, terrifying..."

Dave's face fell slightly as he continued.

"...Monstrous creature, who can...turn us into ice with just the tap of a f-finger..."

Dave shuddered.

"W-We will...um...we will..."

The minion trailed off.

"...Do you want to wait at least five more minutes?"

Hat Kid slowly took a sip of her tea, trying to steady her shaking hand as to keep it from spilling all over herself. As she did, she never broke eye contact with the queen. Her expressions were quite hard to read, on the account of her being constantly shrouded in a veil of darkness. However, considering the fact that she was offering Hat Kid tea, the girl could easily make the assumption that the Queen wasn't about to jump from her chair and attack.

"So..." Vanessa began, her voice and tone a far cry from it's usual maniacal-ness. She sounded so giddy and happy, like a girl that just received her first Valentine's from a secret admirer. "Please, tell me ALL the gossip! How did this...prince..."

Just as she said the word "prince" she covered her mouth, stifling another happy giggle.

"...Oh, excuse me. I'm just so..." She let out a whimsical sigh. "...Oh, I'm so happy! You don't know how much this means to me..."

Vanessa paused, taking the time to adjust her hair and crown.

"I know looks can be deceiving, considering how well-put together I am..." She continued, addressing her disheveled and hulking form. Hat Kid, for obvious reasons, simply smiled and nodded. "...But truly, I've been struggling. It's so lonely, being cooped up in this manor all by myself."

Hat Kid nodded along, attempting to offer her a sympathetic face. "That sounds...well, it can't be easy, I'm sure." The girl remarked. "I suppose it makes it difficult for people to visit, w-what with this blizzard and all..."

"Oh no, that's not the reason. They don't want to visit me because I froze everyone in a fit of rage."

Hat Kid's face fell. "...O-Oh..."

"I mean, it's not as if I MEANT to," The Queen continued with a half-hearted shrug. "I was just...gosh I was just so upset. I completely lost my composure. I had only just noticed the ice that surrounded me by the time I had finished screaming."

Hat Kid gulped.

"Obviously I know the ladylike thing to do is to be the better person, but when you suffered such a betrayal like I did..." Vanessa looked to the side, a brief period of somberness flashing over her eyes. "...Nevertheless, it was such a long time ago. You'd think they would let bygones be bygones by now."

Despite the terror she still felt, Hat Kid couldn't help but mentally glare at the queen.

It wasn't a betrayal. It was a misunderstanding that you blew out of proportion, ya pecking-

"But anyways, I've rambled on and on about my woes enough." said the Ice Queen, waving her hand dismissively. "Please tell me, how did this prince come to find out about me?"

Hat Kid placed her teacup onto it's saucer, before delicately placing it onto the table. "Ah, that's a...funny story, actually." She began, clearing her throat. "You see, I...told him about you. Yes. When I was in here before-which, if I may repeat, I am INCREDIBLY sorry about that-I discovered about your...betrayal. I felt awful that you had, um, experienced such a thing. S-So, I told him, and he said that someone as beautiful and as kind as you didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Another giggle left Vanessa. "Beautiful and kind? Did he...say anything else?"

"O-Oh yeah, lots! He had so many wonderful things to say about you." Hat Kid frantically nodded. "So much stuff, in fact, that it would take almost all day to tell you. W-Which is why I should probably be off before it gets too late-"

Vanessa suddenly stood up from her seat, causing Hat Kid flinch back with a small yelp.

"Nonsense. People your age have nothing BUT free time!" Vanessa stated. "You must share at least a story or two about this mysterious charmer. I'll go brew some more tea. Would you like anything to eat?"

"T-Thank you very much for your hospitality, my Queen, b-but..." Hat Kid trailed off, catching a glimpse of two figures out in the hallway from the corner of her eye. "...b-but if it's not too much to ask...could I have some cookies, please?"

"Why, certainly!" Vanessa answered, grasping her spindly hands together. "I'll just be in the other room getting everything ready. Don't you go anywhere!"
 

Hat Kid nodded, giving her a big smile. "Of course not! I'd never!"

The queen shambled into the other room, and Hat Kid let out a silent sigh of relief. She looked over at the entrance to the hallway, confirming that she hadn't just been seeing things; Dave and Mercy were just outside, peering in with expressions that were a mix of both horror and confusion.

Quickly and quietly, Hat Kid hopped off the chair and tip-toed over to the two.

"Kid, what the peck are you doing!?" Dave whispered.

"Quiet, keep your voices down." The space-farer shushed. She leaned in. "Listen, it's a long story but I've gotten on her good side. I can't leave right now unless I have a death wish. You guys just..."

Hat Kid's face lit up as a lightbulb went off in her head.

"You guys...go look around the manor; the attic, maybe. I'll keep her preoccupied for as long as I can." She suggested.

"What!? Are you nuts-"

A shrill, sing-song sort of voice could be heard from the other room.

"A dozen cookies, coming right up!" Vanessa sang out.

Hat Kid hurriedly shoved the two away. "Quick, go, go, go!" She pushed. "I'll be fine. Just don't let Vanessa see you!"

The queen entered the room just as Hat Kid sat back in her chair, a large tray with what was practically a tower of cookies and a pot of fresh tea in her hands. She set it down at the table, before lifting the teapot from the tray and pouring herself another cup. "Help yourself to as many as you'd like, dear."

For once, against all odds, Hat Kid found herself actually perking up a bit under the usually ruthless Queen's gaze. "Oh...really?" She asked.

"But of course!" Vanessa chirped. "Now, what else can you tell me about this lovely admirer of mine?"

Hat Kid hesitantly took a cookie off of the tray, popping it into her mouth. "Hm, let's see..." She began as she chewed. "He REALLY loves how you style your hair..."

A nervous gulp left the minion as he scurried down the hallways of the vast manor, Hat Kid's chattering about the...whoever she was talking about growing quieter and quieter the further he and Mercy went.

"The kid's crazy. She's nuts. She's completely and utterly insane." Dave muttered under his breath. He looked around frantically, being careful to make sure he didn't accidentally make direct eye-contact with one of the many frozen victims of the Queen's in the process. "This is stupid. We should've never let her go into this pecking place."

Mercy's voice echoed in his mind. "Dave, its okay. Remember what you told me. We can do this."

"But she's in there with that monster right now." Dave countered as he quietly rummaged through the drawers of an end table. The lamp that sat top of it wobbled ever-so-slightly, and the minion's undead heart skipped a beat as he quickly scrambled to steady it. After letting out a relieved breath, he turned back to his friend and continued. "She...she doesn't know her as well as we do. She doesn't know what she's capable of."

Mercy glanced over at a frozen victim that hadn't been nearly as lucky as Hat Kid had been. "...That monster is feeding Hattie tea and cookies right now. I don't know what Hattie told her, but..." They paused. "...I trust her, and right now, she's trusting us, too."

Dave still didn't seem completely convinced, but he eventually shut his eye and nodded. "You're right..." He mumbled with a defeated grumble. "...I still hate this, though."

"It's okay, I do too."

"Do you think he'd have a problem with all of this snow?" Inquired Vanessa, to which Hat kid vehemently shook her head. 

"Oh, not at all!" Hat Kid answered. "He prefers the cold, actually. Don't tell him I told you this, but..."

The Queen put her hand to her mouth, leaning in as Hat Kid told her the juicy gossip.

"...He likes the cold because it gives him an excuse to cuddle."

Vanessa sat back, covering her mouth to stifle yet another joyful giggle. "Oh, my!" She grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. It will be a secret between us girls."

"I HAVE to ask though, do you think he'd be okay with bringing some flowers over when he visits?" Vanessa continued. She leaned over, placing her hand on a nearby frozen statue. "So many of my decorations look so lovely, but..."

She lifted her hand up, addressing the face of the victim, which was contorted into a horrified scream. "...the faces always muck everything up! I really think some flowers to cover that part would go such a long way, don't you?"

Hat Kid blinked a few times, before swallowing.

"...Y-Yeah! I totally see what you mean." Hat Kid agreed. "I-I'm sure when he comes to visit, h-h-he'll shower you with...m-m-millions of flowers!"

Hat Kid went to go say more, but was cut short by a loud thump! coming from up above.

Vanessa looked up, a frown forming on her face. "Oh my, what was that?" She pondered, beginning to rise from her seat. "I'll have to go see-"

Hat Kid quickly jumped up from her chair. "No! Don't!" She exclaimed, before quickly trying to make up an excuse and re-cover. "I-I mean, you've been so hospitable and nice to me! Let ME check for you instead; it's the least I could do!"

A wide smile spread over the Queen's face. "Oh, how polite!" She observed. "Very well, but please don't be too long! The quicker you are, the more I can hear about this dreamboat!"

Hat Kid barely managed to hold back a gag.

As soon as she was sure that she was out of Vanessa's line of sight, the space-farer dashed off down the manor's hallways, heading upstairs past the bedrooms and eventually, reaching the attic. Climbing up the ladder, she poked her head in and immediately recognized her two ghostly companions.

"Guys..." She whispered to get their attention, and both of them spun around with their eyes as big as dinner plates. "Relax! It's just me."

She hopped up off the ladder, dusting off the many cobwebs that had already begun to cling to her coat. "I have to make this quick, but..." She began. "...Are you guys okay?"

"I think we're fairing better than you, kid." Dave remarked. "How you feeling? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Hat Kid shook her head. "No, but she's making me sick to my stomach; I mean all those cookies probably aren't helping," She acknowledged with a face of disgust. "But...ugh. Anyways, did you find anything yet?"

Mercy popped up from a chest they had been rummaging through, a rather stylish feathered hat on their head. "Nothing yet." They chimed in.

A sigh left Hat Kid, knowing that meant she was probably going to have to go back down and spend even more time with that unbearable woman...

"Dear..."

Oh peck, speak of the devil.

Hat Kid placed her finger to her mouth, motioning for the two ghosts to be quiet; though it seemed as if they were already one step ahead of her, completing freezing in-place upon hearing that shrill voice.

Hat Kid quickly went over, hanging her head over the entrance. "Y-Yes?" She asked.

"Whatever are you doing up in my attic?" The queen asked, tilting her head bemusedly. "You still haven't told me his favorite color, yet!"

"Ah, I found the source of the noise!" Hat Kid explained with a wide smile. "It's a rat-"

There was a crash as Mercy's tail accidentally bumped into a pile of books, toppling them over.

"-A-A giant rat. Like..." The child held her arms out as far as they could go. "...This big."

A shriek left the queen. "Eek! How horrid!" She exclaimed, stepping towards the ladder. "I will take care of this imme-"

"W-Wait! I got this!" Hat Kid hurriedly assured. "Rats are no problem for me! Besides, you're a queen, right? A queen shouldn't have to worry about taking care of yucky rodents; especially not in her own home!"

Vanessa stopped to ponder this offer for a moment, letting out a thoughtful hum. "...Well, I suppose it would be quite un-ladylike for me to handle such disgusting vermin..." She mused. Finally, much to Hat Kid's relief, she stepped back. "Very well! I'll let you take care of this. But don't be too long. A queen shouldn't be kept waiting!"

Hat Kid let out yet another sigh of relief (How many times had she done that, by now? She MUST have broken a world record, at this point) as the queen shambled off. The girl sat back, wiping sweat off her brow. "...Whew..."

"Hattie, I think I found it!"

Finally, good news! The girl spun towards the Dweller, who had the treasured item curled in their tail. Hat Kid only had to take one glance at the red strings that swayed about it to know that it was definitely a piece of the relic. Had Mercy and Dave not been ghosts already, the hug she gave the two of them might have turned them into ones. 

"Oh, thank goodness..." She whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I really didn't wanna go back down there."

A soft chuckle left Dave. "That makes two of us, kiddo." He agreed, patting her arm. "That was really brave, what you did."

Hat Kid's smile widened. "You really think so?"

"I know so." Dave reaffirmed. "Even the boss would be impressed."

Hat Kid's face fell slightly.

Right, Snatcher...he was still up in her spaceship, brooding. Their last conversation had been rather...well, messy would be an understatement. He always was a bit of a grump, but...

"...You don't think he'll hate me for this, do you?" Hat Kid asked.

Dave looked up at her quizzically.

"For forcing him to be on my spaceship." Hat Kid elaborated. "I know I like to poke fun at him, but..."

Dave put a hand on Hat Kid's shoulder.

"Kid, don't worry about that." He assured. "Our boss hates everyone already."

Hat Kid's mouth curved to a frown.

"...But, if he truly, truly hated you," Dave continued. "...he wouldn't have a BFF contract with you, would he?"

Hat Kid gave the minion a small smile.

"...You aren't gonna tell him I told you that, are you?"

Hat Kid shook her head. "Don't worry, I won't tell him." She replied, ruffling the minion's head. "It will be a secret between us friends."

A sigh left Vanessa as she returned back to the attic; the child was taking far too long to take care of that pest, and her tea was getting cold. She had tried to be patient, but...oh, she just NEEDED to hear more about this wonderful prince!

"Child, is everything okay?" She called out. A frown grew over her face when, after a moment, there was no answer. "...The rat didn't eat you, did it?"

When there was, yet again, no answer, Vanessa decided enough was enough. "Alright, I'm coming up!" She hollered.

A noise of disgust left her as cobwebs clung onto her dress. The amount of dirt and debris in this area was outrageous! Why hadn't any of her servants taken care of this by now-

The former Queen of Subcon paused, realization hitting her.

Oh, right. She didn't have those anymore.

As a matter of fact, she hadn't had anyone else visit her manor in awhile. That child had been the first in a long while, and the last few prior to her had all been intruders that only came by because that annoying, arrogant purple specter told them to.

Well, it didn't matter! Soon that lovely new prince would come visit her, and she'd be lonely no more!

The Queen roamed around the attic, looking for signs of the girl; or subsequently, the rat that might have eaten her.

But instead, she found neither of them.

All she saw was a piece of paper on the ground.

Quickly picking it up, Vanessa examined and read over it.

Dear Vanessa,

I'm super sorry, but I have to leave! I took care of the rat, but a big emergency came up. I can't even go into detail about it that's how big the emergency is. Just know that its bad so I gotta leave. Not sure when I can get the prince to visit as he's super shy, but I'll let him know you like him ;)

P.S. His favorite color is periwinkle

With lots of love,

Hat Kid

Well, her penmanship had much to be desired, but it was understandable, at least.

So the girl's name was...Hat Kid? That was an...interesting name.

A sigh left the queen. It was certainly a shame that the girl couldn't stay longer, but it was good to know that she hadn't been eaten by a rat; otherwise, the queen probably would never get to see that handsome prince!

A bubbly, content sigh left her.

She'd wait here as long as it took.

Her new prince would come.

He'd love her, he'd care for her, he'd treat her the way she had always deserved to be treated. He wouldn't abandon her, or betray her, or break her heart into a thousand tiny pieces.

He'd be happy with her, and she'd be happy with him, and she would be content.

That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

Chapter Text

"You did WHAT!?"

Okay, so it seems as though Snatcher wasn't as happy as the three had hoped he'd be.

Hat Kid held her hands up. "Hey, you didn't let me finish!" She pointed out. "I was gonna say, I went into Vanessa's manor and-"

Once again, the ghost interrupted her. "I don't need to hear anything else!" He spat. "What the PECK were you thinking!?"

An annoyed grumble left Hat Kid. "Geez, would you stop cutting me off?" She asked. "I was helping!"

"How is almost getting yourself killed helping!?" Snatcher demanded, before pausing, a thought crossing his mind. "Well, I mean it technically is, since you dying would mean not bothering me anymore..."

A voice near the kitchen chimed in. "Snatcher, don't push it." The chef chastised, her arms folded over her chest. Hat Kid saw the ghost in-question frown, and she awaited for him to rebuttal with a snarky comment as he usual.

However, much to Hat Kid's surprise, that comment never came, and Snatcher moved on. "Yeah, yeah...anyways," He continued. "Out of all the places to do that, why did you pick her Royal Temperament? The last thing I need is her throwing a tantrum and freezing everything while I'm here!"

"Listen, you don't need to worry about that!" Hat Kid assured. "In fact, she's probably more likely to be staying in the manor for a long time coming, so you're welcome for that."

For the first time in awhile, Snatcher seemed to be completely caught off-guard at that response. He usually tried to keep either a wide grin or a disappointed frown when speaking with Hat Kid (And it was usually a disappointed frown), but this time, he just seemed completely and utterly baffled. "...Kiddo, what the peck are you talking about?"

Cooking Cat chimed in once more. "Snatcher, language-"

"No, I'm allowed it this time. It is COMPLETELY pecking warranted." Snatcher retorted, before turning his head back to Hat Kid with an incredibly serious expression. "You better start explaining now, kid."

Hat Kid jumped back a bit, startled by his sudden change in mood. "Whoa, you uh..." She began, a nervous chuckle leaving her. "You sure sound...serious."

"This IS serious." Snatcher stated. His voice held no malicious glee, but...it was somehow a thousand times scarier that way with how deathly calm it was. "If you've done something to my forest, especially involving her..."

A nervous squeak left his nearby minion. "Oh boy..." Dave muttered, pulling Hat Kid aside. "We've done it now. The boss is in lawyer mode."

Hat Kid blinked a few times. "...Isn't he always in that mode?"

"N-No, this is...serious, serious lawyer mode." Dave clarified. "He only gets this way when people really mess up. A-And unless they have a good explanation he usually ends up eating their souls."

A snort left Hat Kid. "Oh, come on, we're besties!" The girl exclaimed. "We're WAY passed the whole 'eating my soul' thing. Right, Snatcher?"

The girl's grin faltered as the ghost's demeanor remained unchanged, his frown neither fading or deepening.

"I'm waiting for an explanation, kid." Snatcher repeated.

Oh, peck.

Hat Kid cleared her throat. "O-Okay, well you see..." She fidgeted with the zipper of her cloak. "I um...did a bit of lawyering, myself."

The ghost raised an eyebrow quizzically. "What, you took her to court?"

"No, I lied a bunch."

Snatcher nodded, the answering seeming satisfactory. "Ah, alright."

"U-Uh, she caught me as soon as I tried to go in." Hat Kid explained. "So to keep her from freezing me then and there, I told her I was there because of a prince."

Hat Kid looked at Snatcher, trying to gauge his reaction. He seemed contemplative, but she couldn't tell whether he was angry or not at her.

"S-So anyways, I told her that I knew a Prince that was, like, super in love with her but too shy to visit himself, and I managed to talk her into not...um...freezing me. After that, Dave and Mercy helped me find the other relic piece, and...bada-bing bada-boom, here we are."

Hat Kid tried to offer another smile, but it soon faded away once more as it remained unreciprocated. Snatcher looked towards the two ghosts that sat on either side of Hat Kid.

"...Are you two alright?"

"W-We're fine, boss!" Dave stammered, nodding fervently.  

Mercy flicked their tail upwards to their head, addressing the feathered hat that now sat atop their head. "I found a very stylish hat."

"It looks wonderful on you, sweet-pea!" Cooking Cat chimed in.

Snatcher let out an exhale, before turning back to Hat Kid. "...Alright." He concluded. "I've heard all I've needed to."

The ghost sat up and arched his back, and let out the loudest cackle Hat Kid had ever heard come from him.

"PFFFT-HAHAHAHAHA-I CAN'T-" Snatcher wheezed, punching the nearby walls of the spaceship with a thunderous laugh. "THAT IS-" Another wheeze. "-TOO GOOD."

Another hideous wheeze left the ghost, and he buckled over, another series of guffaws leaving his fanged mouth. "Oh god, my sides are killing me...metaphorically speaking, I mean, since I'm already-you know what, whatever." He wiped the tears that had formed in his eyes. "Wow kiddo, you can be a comedic genius sometimes!"

Hat Kid pouted. "H-Hey! This wasn't a joke! I'm being 100% serious!"

"I know! That's the best part of this!" Snatcher said with an ear-to-ear grin. "You've just wrapped yourself into doing even more work for me!"

The girl's pouting stopped, replaced with bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

"Kid, you just told the most unstable ghost in the forest that a prince is in love with her." Snatcher elaborated. "And trust me, I know first-hand how impatient she can be. Someone is going to have to...oh, I don't know...placate her while I'm gone. You know..."

Snatcher unrolled a contract. "...The person who lied in the first place!"

Hat Kid's mouth fell open. "Aw, c'mon, what!?" She exclaimed. "I already found the relic piece I was looking for!"

"Yep, and now you've got the Queen expecting some dumb sap to come over." Snatcher retorted. "Trust me kid, if she doesn't hear back from this guy in the next few days, there won't be a single part of Subcon that hasn't been frozen over. I assure you, this is simply business."

"...It's also hilarious, as well." Snatcher added with a snide chuckle.

"B-But I don't want to go back in there again!" Hat Kid refused. "I don't like Vanessa!"

"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to pull this stunt." Snatcher replied, uncaringly. "Think of this as community service. Maybe you'll finally learn a lesson."

"B-Boss..." Dave began. "Is...is this really necessary?"

A chuckle left Snatcher. "Absolutely!" The specter replied with a grin. "Don't get me wrong, I think this is one of the funniest things to have happened in Subcon in AGES, but there's actual value to it being done. I know she's going to be kept at bay, at least until you all stop coddling me and let me get back down to Subcon."

Cooking Cat frowned. "Now, hang on a minute." The chef butted in, her arms crossed over her chest. "That poor girl has done enough work for you. You're not going to be forcing her to sign a-"

"I'll do it."

The feline's speech trailed off into silence. She glanced to Hat Kid, who wore a somewhat sad but determined expression on her face.

Hat Kid closed her eyes, a huff leaving her as her shoulders sagged. "...I'm keeping Snatcher from his home," The girl began, opening her eyes to look up towards Snatcher. "It's only fair that I help keep it safe while he's recovering."

The ghost didn't reply as Hat Kid plucked the piece of parchment paper from his hands, using one of her favorite glittery gel pens to sign the contract. As she handed it back, she half-expected some dumb reply about how glittery pens would never be allowed in a real court of law, but that he would "allow it this once" or something along those lines. However, that never came.

Hat Kid looked up at the ghost and noticed a spark of something in his eyes as he read over the contract she had just given back. He probably wasn't going to admit it out loud, but...it looked like respect?

Well, whatever it was, he quickly let it disappear with a snicker. "Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it'd be!" Letting the contract vanish in a puff of purple, wispy smoke. "Now all we gotta do is figure out your working hours."

"Could...we do that later?" Hat Kid asked, stifling a yawn. "I'm really tired. I wanna rest a bit, and I gotta go look at that relic thingy later..."

Snatcher opened his mouth to say something else, but fell silent. After another a moment, he sighed and shrugged. "Yeah sure, kid. We can talk about it later."

"U-Uh, boss...what about us?" Dave asked. "Do we get hours?"

Snatcher gave the minion an odd look. "What? You want to go back there as well?" The ghost replied win an incredulous expression. "Are you guys just using this as an excuse to throw a bunch of parties or something?"

"W-Well...we gotta be there in case the kid needs help." Dave insisted, and Hat Kid sent a smile over the minion's way.

Snatcher rolled his eyes, but conceded. "...Fine, I'll think about it." He agreed. "Is that everything?"

Hat Kid nodded, stretching as another yawn escaped her. "Yep. C'mon guys, we should get some rest!" She insisted. As she tugged the other ghosts forward, she looked over her shoulder and called out to the purple noodle with a wide grin. "We're going to need it, if we're gonna be working under this smelly jerk!"

Snatcher rolled his eyes at the parting comment the kid made, burying his hand into his face with a frustrated grumble.

The hilarity of Hat Kid having to placate Vanessa was starting to die down, and as the number of stresses and issues with this situation came to mind, the more agitated he became.

What the peck was that kid thinking? It was bad enough being outside of the forest, but now that icy woman thought there was another Prince waiting for her. He hadn't been exaggerating when he told the kid that it was necessary for her to keep going back to the Queen and make up excuses for why her mysterious prince hadn't arrived yet; if was left to stew in her thoughts for too long, Vanessa WOULD take matters into her own hands.

He frowned.

Just the mention of another prince. That's all it had taken, huh? Just the mention of another prince, and any memory of him was tossed aside like it was nothing?

Snatcher stopped, mentally slapping himself.

Why was he thinking about this, like he cared? He didn't care. He didn't care about what she thought of him. Not anymore. Not after what she had done.

He didn't care. He was the furthest from caring anyone could possibly be. A seagull with a half a working brain would somehow be able to care more about this situation than he did.

He didn't care. He didn't.

...So why did it hurt so much?

"Snatcher?" The chef called out. She must have caught sight of Snatcher's grimace, because the cat didn't seem to want to chastise him for putting Hat Kid in danger, for once. "Are you okay, dear?" She asked instead.

"Pft, peachy," He lied with a grin. "Just trying to figure out how much damage control has to be done because of the kiddo's little stunt."

The cat glanced briefly to the entrance of Hat Kid's room, before bringing her attention back over to Snatcher. "...Who is this Vanessa person?" Cooking Cat asked, her voice soft as if she was worried Hat Kid would hear. "I keep hearing of her, but...never enough to really know what's going on."

"Eh, no need to concern yourself with it." Snatcher shrugged with a dismissive hand-wave. "All you need to know is she knows how to cause some pretty nasty frostbite, and her finding out I'm not in Subcon would have some pretty bad consequences."

The cat stayed silent for a moment, taking this information in.

"...You said you knew first-hand what she's like." Cooking Cat's voice was barely a whisper this time, but Snatcher heard it clear day.

"...Like I said, no need to concern yourself with it." Snatcher replied.

Chapter Text

Hat Kid stifled a yawn as she finally began to stir awake from her nap. It was pretty crazy that simply talking with Vanessa had drained so much energy out of her, but resting up had thankfully eliminated any remaining fatigue.

The girl hopped out of her bed and headed over to her pillow pile. Dave was sprawled out on top of a pillow like a starfish, snoring away, while Mercy had curled their ghostly tail around them like a cat. Hat Kid had to stop herself from letting out a loud "Awwww!" and waking them up. For something that was supposed to be as spooky as ghosts, these ghostly friends of hers were always so adorable!

Carefully, she tiptoed over to her workbench and took a seat, picking up the piece of the relic they had found at the manor. It was a piece of wood cut into a circle, with pieces of red string wrapped around it. The ends of the strings floated in the air, drifting slowly as if they were being pulled along an underwater current.

A thoughtful hum left Hat Kid as she reached across the desk and grabbed the other half of the relic. The red string surrounding the pieces were an easy indicator that they were connected, but how? One piece was a broken glass structure, the other was a piece of wood...

The answer quickly hit her, and Hat Kid almost slapped herself.

An hourglass, duh! Of course! The glass structure already resembled one, so it would make sense that the other parts would be the wooden structures that held it together!

Hat Kid smiled, patting herself on the back as she congratulated herself on her quick thinking skills.

Then she faltered, realizing something.

That one wooden piece and the glass part wasn't enough to make a full relic.

There were still other pieces missing.

"Aw, are you kidding me!?" Hat Kid threw both her head and hands into the air, a noise of frustration leaving her.

There was a snort from the nearby minion as he was startled awake, attempting to sit up only to fall off his pillow and land face-first into another. "Whazzit?" He mumbled, drowsily.

Mercy's awakening wasn't nearly as slap-sticky, quickly unravelling themselves from their sleeping position like that of a snake, but Hat Kid would have been lying if she said she didn't think that looked cool as heck. "Are you alright, Hattie?" They asked, tilting their head.

"I'm fine guys, don't worry..." Hat Kid assured. "It's just that...well, it seems like we don't have all the relic pieces yet."

Now it was time for the ghosts to be annoyed. Dave lifted his head, now much more alert having just heard the news. "Aw, come on. Are you kidding me?"

Hat Kid threw her hands in the air once again. "I know right? That's what I said!"

"Well, Snatcher says you have to go back to Vanessa again," Mercy chimed in. "Maybe the other pieces are somewhere else in the manor?"

Hat Kid went to reply, however whatever she was about to say was cut-short by a sudden realization from Dave. "Hey!" The minion exclaimed, spinning towards his friend. "You said her name!"

Mercy blinked, realization quickly dawning on them in-kind. "H-Hey! I did!" They replied, a giddy inflection in their voice. "I said her name, and I wasn't scared!"

"V-V...Vanessa." Mercy repeated, their smile widening. "I did it again!"

"Great job, buddy!" Dave congratulated, a chuckle leaving him as Mercy used their ghostly tail to pull him into a hug. Hat Kid covered her mouth, trying to stifle a squeal from how adorable the Dweller was being.

"You say it, too!" Mercy encouraged, and the minion seemed to falter.

"U-Uh...I-I don't know, buddy..." Dave stammered. "I..u-um...I'm not sure if I can."

Mercy offered the minion a reassuring squeeze. "You can do it!" Mercy encouraged. "We went into her manor; we can say her name!"

"V...V..Vane-V..." Dave tried to stutter out. "V...Vanessa. Vanessa!"

Dave's eye lit up. "I did it!" He proclaimed. "I said Vanessa!"

A gasp left him. "I did it again!" The ghost exclaimed, pulling his Dweller companion into an even tighter hug. "We did it! We said Vanessa!"

Hat Kid couldn't stifle her excited squeal anymore; this was just TOO sweet! She needed to take a picture of this moment! "Let me get my camera out!" Hat Kid chirped. "We'll take a picture to celebrate!"

Sure, while it may have only been a name to some people, Hat Kid knew how big of a deal this truly was for them. They had been living in fear of that monster for centuries, and she couldn't imagine the weight being lifted from their ghostly shoulders. This was such a big step for them, and such a moment deserved to be celebrated.

The girl finally phished her camera out, pointing it towards her ghost buddies. "Okay, on the count of three, say 'Vanessa's a witch', okay?" She requested, earning an eager nod from the two. "One, two, three!"

"Vanessa's a witch!" The two ghosts said in unison, followed by an audible click and a flash.

Hat Kid was so excited she all but yanked the developing photo out of her camera, handing it to the ghosts for them to look at. "Awesome!" She chirped with a smile. "You guys look fabulous."

"Oh, we should do another with Mercy's new hat!" Dave suggested. "That'll look great!"

"Oooooh yeah!" Hat Kid nodded. "That would make Mercy, like, ten thousand times more fabulous!"

Hat Kid tossed the hat towards Mercy, who caught it and swiftly placed it onto their head with an almost diva-like heir to it.

"Ooooh, keep that pose!" Hat Kid ordered, bringing her camera back up to her face. "You look like a fashion-diva!"

"Okay, what's going on?"

Hat Kid drew her face away from the camera lens, and turned towards the purple specter that had just entered the room. Cooking Cat soon followed after, more than likely there to make sure Snatcher didn't say anything too nasty.

"You're saying the Ice Queen's name so loud I'm sure it could be heard in the vacuum of space." Snatcher commented, his arms folded with a frown. He looked towards his minion, before adding, "You DO know I was joking about the whole 'summon her if you say her name enough' thing, right?"

A blush grew over Dave's cheeks. "U-Uh, y-yeah!" Dave stammered, beads of sweat trickling down his face. "O-Of course I knew that, boss!"

"Well, don't worry, bestie. We're not trying to summon her." Hat Kid assured with a grin. She held up one of the developed photos. "We're celebrating! Mercy and Dave are finally getting comfortable with saying Vanessa's name!"

"Yeah! We were just brainstorming, and Mercy just said her name like it was nothing!" Dave exclaimed, slapping Mercy on the back with pride. "It was so cool!"

Hat Kid looked up at her contractually-obligated BFF, awaiting to see what his response would be.

"...Kiddo, I want to have a word with these two. Alone."

Hat Kid's face fell. What was with the sudden shift? His tone and demeanor was all serious now. "What? Why?"

"None of your business." Snatcher replied. He turned towards Cooking Cat. "Go like...lure her away with cookies, or something."

Cooking Cat's mouth curved to a frown. "Now, hang on a second, Snatcher," She began. "Why are you-"

"Like I said, it is none of your business," Snatcher interrupted. "All you need to know is that your presence is not needed."

Hat Kid frowned, worry overcoming her. He wasn't angry at them, was he? But...why would he be mad at them? Did they do something wrong by saying her name over and over? Was the summoning thing actually real?

Nevertheless, Hat Kid nodded with a defeated sigh. "Fine. I'll go be eating cookies or something..." Hat Kid agreed. She turned to the other two ghosts, who seemed just as confused as she was. She offered them a reassuring smile, hoping that whatever Snatcher was about to say to them wouldn't be too harsh.

If he made either of them cry, she wouldn't hesitate to kick his butt again!

Dave looked towards Mercy, a feeling of uncertainty radiating through his spectral form. He just felt so confused; sure, they were a bit loud and might have caused a bit of a ruckus with their sudden makeshift photoshoot, but surely not enough to infuriate the boss, right?

Had he not already been dead, his heart would have been beating like crazy. His boss's back was still turned to him as he seemed to wait for the girl to be out of earshot. What was going to happen? What had they done wrong?

Eventually, Dave, cleared his throat. "B-Boss?" He called out, his voice a shrivel of the confidence it had had only a mere few minutes ago. "D-Did we do something wrong?"

The boss's shoulders sank, and he let out a sigh. "No, you didn't." He answered.

Snatcher turned towards the two ghosts, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I had to get the brat out of here, or she'd never let me live this down." He explained, slowly approaching the two ghosts. Finally, he stopped, and dropped the serious look on his face with an exhale. "But, good job. I'm proud of ya."

Dave blinked, startled by the sentiment. "R-Really?" He asked.

"Listen, I might be a centuries-old spirit that spends most of their time sending innocents to meet their untimely demise, but I'm not completely heartless," Snatcher claimed. "I know when something isn't easy. Saying her name after what she's put us through? That takes some guts, I'll give you that."

"But, neither of you let it get to your heads." Snatcher reminded. "And if either of you tell the brat what I just said, just know that your souls would make for some excellent appetizers."

A gulp left Dave. "S-Sure thing, boss. Scout's honor."

Mercy nodded alongside their friend. "Thank you, Snatcher." They said. "Really. It means a lot."

"...Enough to consider signing a contra-"

"No."

Snatcher frowned. "Hmph, fine, have it your way..." He complied. "...But Dave will tell ya himself that you're missing out."

Dave kind of shrugged. "U-Uh, yep! S-Sure are..."

Snatcher eyed the minion with an annoyed look. "Well now, don't sound TOO pleased..." He commented sarcastically.

Chapter Text

Snatcher entered the main area, being sure to do an extra loud grumble as he did. Clearing his throat, he audibly announced, "Well, that should teach them a lesson..."

As the ghost looked towards Hat Kid, he trailed off. He expected the brat to be looking annoyed, not...grinning.

"...What are you smirking at?" Snatcher asked, puzzled. The kid should have been kicking up a storm, raging about how he better not have hurt her "Ghost Besties' feelings" or some dumb thing like that. However instead, she was leaning against the wall, arms crossed with the same stupid smirk she had when they had last fought.

"Oh...nothing!" Hat Kid shrugged, the smugness in her smirk growing tenfold.

Oh, it was DEFINITELY something.

"What did you see?" Snatcher demanded, squinting down at her. Did she have cameras in her room or something?

"Oh, what DIDN'T I see?" Hat Kid replied.

"She didn't see anything."

Both the ghost and the brat looked up towards Cooking Cat. She crossed her arms and gave the girl a disapproving glance. "She was in the kitchen with me the whole time. I don't know what she's talking about."

"Aw, dang it, CC!" The girl exclaimed, a smile forming on Snatcher's face as her entire smug aura was zapped away in an instant. Her grin fell away into a pout as she stamped her foot. "It was gonna be a whole thing! I was gonna, like, pretend I know, so he'd accidentally tell me. It would've been..."

She trailed off, looking up at the big grin Snatcher now wore on his face with a pout.

"...What are you smirking at?"" She demanded, to which a snort left the specter.

"Oh, nothing..." He replied with a shrug.

"Well, you better not have said anything mean to them!" Hat Kid warned. Then, with a smile, she added, "Though, based off how you panicked earlier..."

"Do you want to get sent back down to Vanessa's right now?" Snatcher asked. "Because we haven't set up your hours, yet."

Hat Kid's smirk fell almost immediately. "N-No..." She answered, shuffling in-place nervously at the thought.

"Then zip it." The ghost retorted.

Cooking Cat gave the ghost a look that was a mix of things. It was clear she still didn't approve of Hat Kid being sent back down to Vanessa's manor, but the chef also seemed puzzled as well. "Why are you talking about this like it's a 9 to 5 job?"

"Because that's basically what it is." Snatcher answered, which resulted in an incredulous squeak from Hat Kid.

"What!? I have to work THAT long!?" She exclaimed.

"No, you're..." Snatcher trailed off, a grin forming as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, you being out of my hair for 8 hours sounds VERY appealing, now that you mention it..."

Another angry noise left the kid as she stamped her foot on the ground, pouting.

"Eh, nah." Snatcher dismissed the idea with a shrug. "I might be a jerk but 8 hours? With her? Too far, even for me."

A sigh left the girl as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, so can you just, like, tell me how long I have to be there for, already?" Hat Kid pleaded.

Snatcher shrugged. "Eh, probably like 2 hours, at most?" He guessed. "Just, like...talk to her and convince her that her prince will be down to see her later, or something."

"Okay, I can manage that." Hat Kid complied. "What about stuff I could bring her?"

Snatcher gave the brat a bemused look. "What?"

"Like gifts I can say are from the prince." Hat Kid clarified. "What does she like?"

"Pft, how should I know?" Snatcher scoffed.

"What do you mean? You 're literally her ex!" Hat Kid pointed out.

"Okay, first: Ew, don't phrase it like that. Second: That was back when I was still alive, which was centuries ago. You really expect me to remember-" Snatcher began but was quickly interrupted by an astonished Cooking Cat.

"Wait, your WHAT!?"

Snatcher snapped his head up, a scowl on his face. "Is interrupting me REALLY necessary?" He asked, only to, of course, be promptly ignored by the chef in-question.

"You used to be in a....in a relationship?" Cooking Cat asked with a tone of disbelief. "You, of all people?"

Snatcher frowned, confused by the chef's befuddlement. "Hey, why does that sound so hard to believe!?" The ghost exclaimed.

"O-Oh, um...it isn't!" Cooking Cat backtracked, a nervous smile on her face. "I-I w-was just...um..."

"Surprised anyone could stand to be around him?" Hat Kid chimed in.

"Yes-NO." Cooking Cat caught herself, waving her hands frantically to try and save face. "T-That's not..."

She fell quiet, beads of sweat trickling down her face as she turned away sheepishly.

"...I-I'm just gonna stop talking for now." She finished, fidgeting as she did.

 "You know what? Probably for the best." Snatcher retorted with a scowl, before finally bringing his attention back to Hat Kid. "Now, where were we..."

He snapped his fingers.

"Ah, right, work hours...uh, yeah, just go down there tomorrow or something." Snatcher requested. "Anyways, on another note, what's with the whole relic business?"

Hat Kid's shoulders slumped. "Still missing some pieces." She answered with an exasperated huff. "Not sure where they might be, but Dave and Mercy are gonna be looking around while I..."

A shudder left Hat Kid as a noise of disgust left her.

"...Tell Vanessa more about her handsome prince." She finished.

"Well, you'd probably never have set foot in the manor again if not for me!" Snatcher claimed. "So, you're welcome for that."

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you for providing me with more ways to meet a gruesome demise. " She replied.

"Oh please, it's my pleasure."

"Well, I'm going back to do that photoshoot with Dave and Mercy!" Hat Kid announced. "They're gonna be the most fashionable ghosts Subcon has EVER seen!"

Then with that, she spun around on her heels and darted off to her bedroom.

Snatcher all but slumped forward, a tired groan leaving him. "Ugh, that brat..." He muttered. "She should be thankful that's all I'm having her do after the messes she's caused."

He folded his arms, another irritable huff leaving his fanged mouth.

"I mean, wreaking havoc in my forest is one thing, but promising a prince to HER, of all people? The peck was that brat thinking?" Snatcher continued to angrily mutter under his breath. "If her royal temperament wrecks my forest while I'm gone-"

"So, Vanessa's your ex, huh?"

Snatcher went silent, barely processing what was said before a soft, yellow blush began to form on his cheeks. He sputtered a bit, bringing his attention to the chef that made that statement. "A-Again, I'd appreciate it if you didn't phrase it like that." He requested, barely able to hide his disdain.

A sigh left Cooking Cat and she folded her arms. "Well, I'm not really sure how else I'm supposed to phrase it, dear." She admitted. "What would you prefer? Past lovers?"

A gag involuntarily left Snatcher. "Oh, EW. No. That's somehow worse." He all but spat out, scowling just at the idea of it. "How about you just stuck with something nice, like "Queen of Ice" or "Horrible Monster that I regret ever meeting?" That last one really rolls of the tongue, I think-"

"What did she do to make them so scared?"

Snatcher decided to put his list of insulting names on-hold. "Huh?"

"Mercy and Dave," The chef clarified. "What did she put them through? Why were they so scared just to say her name?"

Then, looking up at Snatcher with what he could only describe as pity, the chef asked, "What did...what did she put YOU through?"

Snatcher stared at the chef, watching as she put two and two together, and her eyes widened with realization. "Are you...because of..."

She trailed of, unable to finish the query.

There was a tense silence in the room, but that silence was quickly soon broken when Snatcher erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Hahahaha, seriously?" Snatcher snickered, ignoring the cat's disbelief. "I'm a ghost, lady. Do you really think I'd be hanging around in spirit form if the circumstances of my death weren't at least a LITTLE pecked up?"

Snatcher's chuckling continued as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's funny. Shocked you never really thought about it till-"

"I'm so sorry."

"Eh?"

Snatcher's noise of confusion was promptly ignored as Cooking Cat reached forward and put her hands in his own. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that." She apologized. "I don't know much about this Vanessa, but from what I've heard from you and Hat Kid, she sounds absolutely vile. No one deserves to be treated like that; not even the Mafia."

"Make no mistake, I still think the way you've been treating Hat Kid and her hospitality is unacceptable," The chef added, looking away with a soft exhale. "But...you didn't deserve to have your life taken away like that. I'm sorry you-"

"Okay, what is this?"

Cooking Cat looked up towards the ghost, puzzled. "What?"

"What is this. What are you doing." Snatcher repeated, the ever-growing frown on his face deepening more and more. "What, do you think you can just throw a pity party and we're all buddy-buddy now?"

Cooking Cat seemed taken aback, attempting to stammer out a response. "I-I...n-no, I just-"

Snatcher all but yanked his hands back, away from the chef, before folding his arms over his chest. "Oh, do you think this is going to magically make me just spill my guts-or, well...lack thereof-to you? That all of the sudden we're just gonna get this sappy moment between us, and we'll all be sunshine and rainbows?"

Snatcher felt his anger growing, and if he was honest to himself, he wasn't even really sure why the chef's sentiments had gotten him so worked up. When Hat Kid had discovered his past, she was far less formal about it, but even then, he hadn't felt as irritated as he did now.

"N-No, that's-Snatcher, listen..." Cooking Cat tried to explain. "I just wanted you to know it's okay-"

"I know it's okay!" Snatcher snapped, causing the chef to flinch back with a nervous gulp. "I've been like this for centuries, and I've been JUST fine, thank you very much. I don’t need your pity, or anyone else's. I don't want it."

Cooking Cat frowned. "I... I’m not pitying you, Snatcher. I..." The chef went quiet, seeming to conclude that she was fighting a losing battle trying to get him to see her words as anything other than pity. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset," Snatcher bit back. "I'm just stating the facts."

"Yes, well...I'm sorry. I meant what I said about..." Cooking Cat trailed off once more and cleared her throat. "...Never mind. How about we just drop the topic?"

"Fine with me." Snatcher replied. "It was a stupid topic, anyways."

The chef attempted to offer a light chuckle, in response to the ghost's rather blunt behavior. "Yes, well...what would you think about a topic on...cooking?" She offered.

The ghost was quiet for a moment. Then, softly, he said, "...Make it about bacon, and you got yourself a deal."

Chapter Text

There were many things you could say about the Conductor. He was an eccentric critter, an owl who defied all of the common clichés of said bird species being sages of wisdom, by being one of the most loudest, squawky, rudest, and above all else, one of the most stubborn birds of all bird-kind. He even defied the common appearance of an owl, by looking absolutely nothing like one, instead having a jagged toothy beak/mouth that spouted out either directions for surprisingly well-crafted western films, vulgarities, or, usually, a mix of both.

But one thing you couldn't say about the Conductor was that he wasn't passionate.

The Conductor put his heart and soul into everything he did, regardless of how insignificantly small or incomprehensibly big the task at-hand was. He may have only stuck to creating Westerns, but there were NEVER any half-measures in his work. His Westerns weren't just all gun-wielding cow-birds and action schlock! They were ART, peck it! Something that stupid DJ Grooves never seemed to be able to wrap his head around, that award 42 stealing-

Ahem. All of this was to say that, for all of the arrogance the Conductor carried about, there was something to be admired about him following his true passions, while still making sure his train, his other pride and joy, was always on time (When he wasn't risking it's destruction for the sake of an action piece, of course.)

But that passion had it's downsides, especially when mixed with his stubborn tenacity.

Which was why the Conductor was where he was now, at the entrance to the Alpine Skyline.

"Ah, finally! Took long enough!" The Conductor hooted, stretching out his feathered arms as he did. He turned to the two Express Owls he had forced to come along. "How are we doing, boys?"

A shutter left one, his eyes staring at the ground as if he had just seen some unspeakable evil. "I...I can't feel my wings..." He gasped out.

The other seemed to share the same sentiments, nearly collapsing on the ground. "Is this even real? Am I just hallucinating? Please almighty Phoenix let this be real-"

"Alright, glad to hear it!" The Conductor chirped, dismissing their complaints and turning back to the task at-hand. "Let's get this over with. The sooner we find the next big set piece for ma film, the sooner we can upstage that no-good peck-neck DJ Grooves!"

"C-Can we please rest first?" One of the Express Owls pleaded, sounding less like he was asking for a 10 minute break and more like he was begging for his life. "Please, my wings feel like their burning..."

"No can-do, lads! I pay ye to work, not to rest!" The angry, Scottish avian chastised.

"You DON'T pay us! We don't even WORK for you!" The other Express Owl exclaimed. "We just take the train to get our jobs!"

"...Oh." Was all the Conductor replied with. Then, without missing a beat, he quickly added, "Well, why didn't either of ye say anything?"

"We did. The entire time you dragged us up here."

"Well, say it louder next time. You lot are too quiet. No wonder neither of ye got main roles in ma work."

Just as one of the Express Owls lurched forward to wrap his feathers around the Conductor's scrawny neck, a new voice entered the fray and interjected.

"Um, hello! Excuse me, can I help you?"

The trio of birds glanced up, being greeted by one of the Alpine Skyline's residents; a Nomad, who's burley cloak and hood obscured all but their bright, glowing yellow eyes. Upon getting a better look at the three, a delighted noise left the Nomad.

"Oh, owls! And...um..." The Nomad paused, their yellow pupils squinting in bemusement as they looked towards the Conductor.

"...An owl." The Conductor answered with a frown.

"Oh! Right! You're an owl as well Of course. I knew that." The Nomad said. "We've had our fair-share of birds stop by on their flights, but we've never had owls! What brings you here?"

"Well, I'm glad ye asked!" The Conductor began with a proud smile. "We're here on a mission! A mission to create the most sensational, amazing piece of art anyone has ever seen, bird or otherwise! Something that will explode yer mind a THOUSAND times over-"

"He wants props for his Western movie." One of the Express Owls chimed in. "He thinks having stuff from here will take his film to new heights; both figuratively and literally-"

"AH WAS GETTING TO THAT!" The Conductor barked, causing the other Owl in-question to flinch back with a yelp. Clearing his throat, the Conductor turned back to the still very confused Nomad, continuing with, "But yes, that is the gist of it.  I'm looking for something that will put that no-good hack DJ Grooves to shame!"

"Oh, DJ Grooves! I know about him!" The Nomad exclaimed. "His Big Parade movie was so fun! It was such a co-"

The Nomad paused their compliments, seeing the Express Owls both frantically shaking their heads and waving their hands about frantically.

"I mean...it was a...co...colossal piece of trash!" The Nomad corrected. "It was...uh...fun how bad it was!"

A delighted hoot left the Conductor. "Oh, thank peck! Someone with common sense! For a second there I thought ya'd do something crazy, like sing his praises or something..." He snorted. "Ah, that'd be a laugh..."

The Nomad offered a nervous chuckle. "Haha...yeah..." They agreed. "So...um...you're looking for props?"

The Conductor cleared his throat. "Yes...well, ah figured if anyone had something new to show the screen, it'd be you lot!" He exclaimed. Then, without missing a beat, he turned to one of the many decorative ropes that hung about the Alpine Skyline and pointed towards it, yelling, "Oh, like that! We could make one of the lads swing down over a...a massive chasm of spikes and death or something!"

Nervous gulps left the other owls.

"Haha, um...well..." The Nomad began, chuckling nervously. "We uh...actually can't part with any of those. We kind of need them to, uh, traverse the area without falling to our deaths."

The Conductor's feathers drooped somewhat. "Oh..."

"Ah, but we do have someone who lives nearby!" The Nomad chirped, causing the Conductor to perk up once again. "She specializes in flowers, but she also has a couple of different cool knick-knacks! I'm sure she'd be okay with you asking about them."

"Flowers, ya say?" The Conductor repeated. "Where can ah find this lass?"

The Nomad pointed towards the direction, where a lone shop sat atop one of the many stone pillars that touched the skies. "She's just over there!" The Nomad explained. "Now, I'll warn you, her appearance might be unexpected-"

However, the Conductor didn't even seem to care about the rest of the Nomad's explanation. "Yes, yes, thank ya for yer time or whatever." He interrupted, briefly taking a moment to look at the other two owls. "You lads ask around in case this conversation with the flower lass doesn't work out. I don't pay you to stand around!"

"But you don't pay us-" The express owl fell quiet as the Conductor took off, beating his wings like there was no tomorrow. "-Oh, whatever."

Once the Conductor was out of earshot, the Nomad turned to the two owls with a look of bemusement. "Well, he seems...eccentric." They commented. "Why does he hate DJ Grooves so much?"

"Honestly, I think it might be like a...love-hate thing?" One of the owls suggested. "Like, is it just me?"

The other owl let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Phoenix, I thought I was the only one. He is SO crushing on that penguin."