The Return

Hat Kid's ship pulled to a stop next to the planet, and she looked down on it with a delighted smile.

It had been a while since she had last been here, recollecting her Time Pieces, fighting bosses, climbing and platforming, and acquiring cool badges.

She had left when she was done, of course- she… she had to get home. Her parents had been waiting for her. (Of course, they simply left her a note and a couple of presents like always. The child didn't exactly mind getting stuff, but... it hurt that they weren't there. They were never there.)

But she was back, and Hat Kid was going to visit her friends! Nothing in the galaxy could stop her! It was frankly a little surprising that the denizens of this world were her friends- many of them had tried to kill her, after all, but then again, one of them was contractually obligated to be her BFF.

She should visit him first. The Snatcher was big, and mean, and kinda scary, but the Hat Kid was pretty sure he liked her and was just one of those things from TV- a soon-de-ray, or something. Plus, his forest was really cool and creepy, except for that scary old manor. That was just scary.

At least that creepy old lady didn't seem to want to leave the manor much.

Oh! Yeah, she should probably be going now. Hat Kid carefully maneuvered her ship and set it to stay over the general area of Subcon forest, keeping up with the speed of the planet's rotation. The child then opened up the window, and jumped, aiming herself for the top of the Snatcher's big tree. She'd be fine- the girl had fallen from her ship to the concrete of Mafia Town, and the big mushroom there was a much softer- and higher- landing.

Hat Kid fell through space and then air, wind whipping past her face as the child let out a whoop of excitement and exhilaration. She would never get tired of this feeling of free-fall. It was a significant chunk of why she loved her adventures so much!

The girl saw the plane grow larger and larger in her vision as she plummeted to it, eventually landing right on top of the large mushroom with a flourish and a tremendous thud. It kind of ruined the elegance of Hat Kid's entrance, but whatever. She was here now, and she was going to bother the peck out of Snatcher.

Hat Kid then began the treacherous journey down from the top of the tree, jumping on mushrooms and branches until she had almost reached the bottom. Once she had, the mischievous child carefully positioned herself and jumped through the "window" of Snatcher's home, bouncing once upon his head and landing in front of him with another flourish, exactly like the one she had done before.

The shadow ghost started at Hat Kid in shock for a solid 30 seconds. One, she was back. Everyone had thought she was never returning after the child had pushed them away from her ship and flew off. Two, she had just bounced off his fucking head and landed in front of him so he should be royally pissed, and three, she had come to see him first. Snatcher assumed that he would have caught wind of her return to another area- Mafia town or maybe that movie studio- he would have heard about from his minions.

Finally, however, the devilish contractor and ruler of Subcon Forest found his words. They were surprisingly calm and even in tone, given the inner turmoil he was currently experiencing. "Kid, what the actual fuck?"

Snatcher figured that swearing at children was acceptable in this circumstance. Also, he literally stole souls for a living. A little profanity was probably the least awful thing he had done this week.

The hat brat simply gave him a shit-eating grin. "I'm just here to see my contractually-obligated bff!~ What, didn't you miss me? You did go all the way up to space to try and get me to stay, and you helped me kick Mustache Girl's butt..." The terrible, awful child's voice was teasing.

Snatcher wanted to die. Again. Or maybe kill her. A murder-suicide actually sounded very reasonable right now, although that could just be the heat of the moment talking. Who knew, really?

"I have no idea what you're talking about, kiddo. Anyway, didn't put contract specifically tell you to get out of my forest?"

He didn't really have any intentions to force her out- he couldn't if he tried, and though he might deny it until the day he forgave Vanessa for his death, (and since he was absolutely never doing that, the day Snatcher would admit his thoughts was a long time coming,) the shadow had almost missed her presence in his woods, and not just because the child was useful to him.

Hat Kid simply gave him another shit-eating grin- really, he shouldn't be tolerating this, it was mostly because of that contract and the bond forged by fighting a power mad brat that the Snatcher stayed his hand- and said. "Really? I recall it saying I should 'stay and be nice', and that's exactly what I plan to do! After all, what kind of best friend would I be if I couldn't stay cordial to my best pal in the whole world?"

Well. If the Hat Brat was going to play that game, there was surely something that the devilish contractor could figure out to twist this to his advantage. If he couldn't, then what the hell had he gone to law school for?! The Snatcher liked to think he was at the very least reasonably good at law, and that meant not being beat out by a what- 10? 11? year old brat from space. Never mind the fact that he had been beaten before by this same child. It wasn't that important to him, anyway. (Yes. Yes it was.)

After a pause and another moment of thinking, the Snatcher matched Hat Kid'a grin with one of his own oversized ones, showing off a smile that was all teeth, at least in the figurative sense

"Well, if you're so determined to stay… it would be a lovely and nice thing for my best friend to go and clear out my minion's pumpkin patch, as a gesture of kindness and affection. What do ya say, kiddo? Wanna sign another contract?"

Check and mate, baby!