" Dear Diary,

Well…..here we go AGAIN….."
- Hat Kid

Tots in Time: A Hat In Time Sequel

Prologue: The Eight-Sided Attack

~ Hat Kid's Bedroom | Hat Kid's Spaceship ~

In her oddly shaped spaceship, we find our young protagonist, Hat Kid, sitting at her desk while doodling on a sheet of paper with a box of crayons next to her. Her notable top hat sat nearby her as we notice she is still in her pajamas. The sun was beaming outside her spaceship windows as we notice the outside is a world similar to that of Earth, the world that Hat Kid calls home. Since she originally left the world of her previous endeavor, a few months have passed without her hearing any kind of notice from her new "friends" on that planet. Just then, the radio in her bedroom turned on, catching a glance from her.

"Good morning ladies and gents! It is a fine sunny day here in Hatopolis as we're about to start your day off right with some of your favorite music! If you have a request to hear a song, don't forget to chime in with a phone call! We're ALWAYS listening!" the announcer proclaimed with joy. A smile came on Hat Kid's face.

"Tee hee." she giggled before turning back to her drawings. Looking closely, we see the drawing she is doing is of herself with Mustache Girl. Setting down her yellow crayon, she picked up the picture and looked at it for a while, sighing afterwards. No matter how much time had passed, in her heart, she felt a hole in it. This was most likely from the ordeal she had to go through with someone she thought could be her friend, Mustache Girl. Setting down her drawing, she nodded before hopping out of her chair and plucked her hat from the table. She then dashed into the armoire in her room. When she popped back out, she was now wearing her top hat but, strangely, a pink ballerina outfit complete with tutu. She looks at the camera.

"Oopsie!" she gasped from embarrassment. Leaping back into her armoire, she popped back out again in her traditional attire. One look at her clothes brought a big grin on her face.

"Yay!" she called. With clothes on, she made her way towards the cockpit of her spaceship, ready to take on the day.

~ Outside the Spaceship - Hatopolis ~

Out in the town on her home planet of Hatopolis, we find Hat Kid wandering around the town streets with a bright smile on her face. The sky was crystal clear with little to no clouds at all. Each time she walked past someone on her walk, she reply to their greetings with a simple tip of the hat. Eventually, out walking through Hatopolis Park, she came upon a store selling bundles of yarn that Hat Kid used to create hats. The shopkeeper was a kind elderly woman whose shop was set up like a giant top hat. This was Hat Kid's favorite shop when on her home planet.

"Oh, well hello dearie. I had a feeling I'd be seeing you." the shopkeeper said, waving her way. Hat Kid replied with a gentle wave herself.

"So, what are you in the market for today little miss? We just got a fresh supply of Mystery Yarn in today. From what I gather, Mystery Yarn is a extra special yarn that you can use to make ANY kind of hat you can imagine. I'd think of no one else who'd get the most use out of it in the whole town." she said. Hat Kid's smile grew extra big.

"Yay!" she cheered, doing a small dance. The shopkeeper chuckled.

"Here. Let me get it for you. Be back in a moment." she said. Hat Kid nodded and waited by the front door of the shop as she went inside, closing the door behind her. As she waited, Hat Kid lightly rocked back and forth in place, humming the melody of Mafia Town to herself. Just then, the skies above were filled with wicked, child-pitched laughter as Hat Kid gasped. It was then followed by thick black clouds covering the once blue sky.

" Mwa ha ha ha ha HA! "

Her eyes fixated on the sky, Hat Kid tried to find the source of the laughter before she saw what appeared to be a smaller spaceship flying through a swirling vortex in the dark clouds above. The spaceship was shaped like a giant rocker being pulled by rocket-powered wooden horses. It stopped right above Hat Kid's location as everyone around her looked on in fear.

"W-What is that?! A….A baby cradle?!" a citizen asked. Another gasped.

"No! Even WORSE! That's the vessel of the Octuplets of Terror! B-But what are they doing HERE?!" the next cried. Suddenly, a pod door opened on the bottom of the ship, projecting a traction beam towards the ground. Hat Kid's face turned serious as she saw seven shadows descending down through the beam. Each shadow was of someone close to her stature and each carrying a different weapon. When all the shadowy figures landed, the beam disappated, revealing three girls and four boys. Each of them wore a black and red patterened suit with each weapon in hand. One of the girls, a young miss with twin pigtails, stepped forward. She held onto a large rattle-like club.

"People of Hatopolis! WE are the Octuplets of Terror! And, in case you're a bit slow as to what this means for you, we are here to cause a ruckus….with THIS!" she shouted, reaching behind her. What she pulled out was a Time Piece, holding it high above her head. Hat Kid gasped upon sight of it.

"With this here Time Piece, we're gonna start a revolution upon your pitiful planet! When we're through, no one will recognize this dump!" she exclaimed, laughing afterwards. However, as she continued her laughter, Hat Kid was seen diving over her head. With hands extended outward, she nabbed the Time Piece from her hands while the girl kept laughing. Following this, one of the boys tried tapping her shoulder.

"Uhh….Angelica?" a slow-wit boy asked. Angelica groaned and turned back.

"UGH! Butch! Don't interrupt me when I'm….hey….wait." she said, realizing nothing was in her hand. Looking at her palm, she leapt from shock.

"H-HEY! WHO TOOK MY TIME PIECE?!" she yelled. Butch and the others pointed towards Hat Kid, slightly crouched on the ground with the piece in hand.

"Wh-Wha?! What gives? Who the heck are you supposed to be, brat?" she asked. Hat Kid quickly tucked the Time Piece under her cape before turning to face Angelica. She then gave a sour rasberry her way, offending Angelica.

"Oh! A SMART one are we? Well, it don't matter who you are. Anyone who STEALS from us is in for some SERIOUS pain! Get 'er my siblings!" she ordered. The others laughed before they each pulled a Time Piece out, shocking Hat Kid, and slapped them against their weapons. The effect of the pieces caused their childish weapons to double in size.

"Time to bash some HEADS!" Butch yelled, lunging at Hat Kid with a giant squeaky hammer. She gasped and quickly rolled away, watching as the boy's hammer created a crater in the ground upon impact. This left Hat Kid gawking with a flabergasted look on her eyes.

"Hee hee hee hee!" another pair called out. Looking behind her, Hat Kid was tackled by a pair of pony sticks and sent sliding across the ground. Butch slowly rose up his hammer.

"Duhh…NOW I gots ya!" he called. Hat Kid gasped before hopping to her feet, reaching under her cloak. But when she thought she grabbed her umbrella, she pulled out air. Looking at her hand, Hat Kid gasped.

"Oh….looking for something?" Angelica asked, flaunting Hat Kid's umbrella in her hands. It was knocked off her person when the twins tackled her from behind.

"Now Butch! Flatten her into a pancake!" Angelica yelled. As Butch prepare to swing, Hat Kid dived out towards the side. But Butch laughed and revealed he was setting up a side swing, catching Hat Kid off guard. She remained pressed against the hammer before she was sent flying away into the sky like a rocket.

"Ya-hoo! That 'a boy Butch! You sent that little brat flyin' to da moon!" a cow-girl child yelled. All eyes looked to the sky as Hat Kid was still nowhere to be seen. However, Butch saw something hurdling his way while his eyes remained fixated on it. It appeared to be a giant ice statue of Hat Kid, crashing down in the midst of the Octuplets, kicking up a giant dust cloud around it.

"DAH! W-What the heck?!" one of the twins cried. Angelica coughed as she attempted to swat away the smoke. But admist the confusion, Hat Kid rushed through and snatched her umbrella back.

"Hey!" Angelica called, feeling the swipe. As the smoke cleared, Hat Kid appeared behind Angelica and gave her a swat to the back of the head. She continued pounding away at her while the others watched.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! OWWW! What! Are! You! Imbeciles! WAITING FOR?! Get her off me!" Angelica yelled. The others growled before all lunging towards Angelica with weapons drawn out. Sensing their attack, Hat Kid leapt into the air, shocking Angelica.

"Oh…..NO." she muttered before they all came crashing down upon her, barreling her with their weapons. As the massacre continued, Hat Kid slowly stepped back before taking off towards her ship. The dust settled as Angelica remained face down in the concrete, beaten senseless by her siblings.

"Oh….sorry Angelica." Butch muttered. Pushing herself free, Angelica growled and looked in the direction of Hat Kid.

"She's getting away you numbskulls! GET HER!" she bellowed. The others all charged after Hat Kid, each running as fast as they could. Looking back at them, a fearful look was in Hat Kid's eyes. She knew she'd have no chance against all seven of them.

TO BE CONTINUED…