Using her umbrella to slow her fall, Hat Kid looked around the set from above. She came back from her ship after putting away her 11th Time Piece and eating a quick dinner, which was mainly pizza.
She was gazing at a bustling city landscape. It was night time, so the stars were shining brightly as well as any lights. There were buildings of all shapes and sizes as well as a lot of Moon Penguins running around. She then spotted a stage with DJ Grooves' picture as a backdrop. About 7 Moon Penguins were standing around and DJ Grooves himself was standing on the stage.
"I'm sure she'll drop in any minute now," Hat Kid heard him say. She smirked a bit and guided her umbrella to the stage. She'll drop in, alright. Literally.
Once at a safe distance from the ground, she closed her umbrella and landed on her feet. She raised her arms up as a sort of pose with a smile. The Moon Penguins cheered a bit, seeing her. DJ Grooves was surprised but smiled.
"Not bad for an entrance, darling! Welcome to the first day of shooting." She smiled a bit, turning to DJ Grooves.
"Glad to be here."
He continued, "We need to transform you into the biggest movie star the bird world has ever seen! You need to become...a diva!"
"A diva?" This could be tougher than she thought. She's just a little girl with a hat. How could she become as famous as that? Hopefully, he won't ask her to sing or something.
"Quite right, darling. That's why I called a press conference here on our moon set. You need to get out there in front of the cameras and electrify the public! Get 'em really up and going for your movies!"
So all she has to do is pose in front of a few cameras and mingle with the public? Sounds simple enough.
"I'll also help you out by having a few call buttons for you to use. We can give you quite the good reputation when we do a few action moments." Hat Kid nodded in understanding.
"Once you've got them going crazy, come back to the stage and we'll show off our new prop! That's right, we'll unveil our new movie prop to the masses!" He must be referring to another Time Piece. Determined to get it, she nodded with a confident smile.
She hopped down from the stage and looked to the 7 Moon Penguins present. They all looked at her, causing her to go a bit shy. She looked to DJ Grooves, who gave her a thumbs-up. "You've got this, darling. Show them what you're made of."
She looked at them and shyly waved. The penguins clapped, giving her a bit more confidence. She looked out at the bustling streets and took a deep breath. It was time to become famous.
She ran along the streets, looking for any other Moon Penguin to wave to. Then a flash of light made her stop in her tracks and rub her eyes. One penguin took her picture. He must be a part of a paparazzi or something. He also shouted, "Thank you!"
After regaining her vision, she looked to the plaza fountain, where a small crowd of Moon Penguins gathered. She went over and waved to them, showing a small smile. They perked up a bit, seeing her, but not too much praise.
Hat Kid then noticed a button on the fountain base. It had DJ Grooves' face on it. This must be one of the call buttons. She pressed it and immediately heard DJ Grooves' voice.
"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" He then stepped into the scene. A couple cameras fixated on the two.
"All you penguins out there know my name...DJ Grooves! And I'm telling you this young girl is the next hot thing. Guaranteed!" He motioned to Hat Kid, who looked at the camera with a tiny shy smile.
"Hi there."
The penguins clapped a bit louder. DJ Grooves continued, "Just look, as she'll climb up this statue and rescue the poor puppy that has gotten stuck! Right, darling?" Hat Kid looked up at the top of the fountain. It was a cardboard cut-out of a puppy that looked very similar to the one she rescued from a wood-cutting machine back in the Conductor's movie. If that is the same dog, she would question how Scooter kept getting into dangerous situations like that.
But she did not have time to dwell on that. She looked to DJ Grooves with a nod. She then easily jumped up the statue fountain, scaling it until she reached the top. Then with a quick nudge, the dog was brought down from the top of the fountain.
"Look at that! She brought the puppy down, safe and sound! Too bad it ran off and definitely didn't break into multiple pieces." Hat Kid glanced down. It did break into multiple pieces. She could not do it in front of the cameras, but she quietly paid her respects. Rest in pieces, Scooter. ...But then again, they can be fixed with glue or tape.
"This is truly a diva I can get behind! Let it be known that this lil' girl is all about animals. Make sure you join her fan club! DJ Grooves...out!" With that statement, he left the scene and the cameras turned off. Her ratings skyrocketed from about 30 members of her fan club to now about 110.
With a confident smile, she hopped down from the fountain and looked for more attention. She spotted a few penguins close by, who looked to her.
"Hello?"
They cheered a bit. Ratings go up more. Hat Kid smiled and continued running around. She spotted a paparazzi penguin and this time, she was prepared. She did an action pose of her dashing through the air. The penguin took a perfect shot of it and shouted, "Wow!" The ratings rapidly grew. The flash of the camera did not even hurt her eyes this time. She must be getting used to them.
She then went around the corner and ended up in the back corner of an alleyway. A couple Moon Penguins were standing nearby, bickering about something. Maybe her awesome presence can break up the fight. She stepped forward but then heard a click under her feet. When she looked down, lifting her foot up, she realized she pressed a DJ Grooves call button.
He then jumps in, cameras set. "All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves! And I'm here once more to tell you that this girl is the next hottest thing!" Hat Kid looked at one of the cameras and gave the audience a small shy wave. DJ Grooves then glanced over at the bickering penguins and got an idea on how to increase her popularity.
"Look at how street-smart this diva is. She's standing in this sinister alleyway, right next to some potential wrongdoers!"
The two penguins, overhearing, stopped bickering and looked to the cameras questionably. Hat Kid gave a shy wave to them. Surprisingly, they waved back with small smiles on their beaks.
"Danger is her middle name, and she's not afraid to step outside of her comfort zone! So make sure you join her fan club! DJ Grooves...out!" The cameras turned off and DJ Grooves steps away. Hat Kid's ratings skyrocketed. They were practically close to 10,000 fans! Hat Kid, ready to max out those ratings, ran around town some more.
She jumped into a few more photo opportunities, posing action shots through them. That kept her ratings climbing sky-high. It was almost to max. Probably one more photo or endorsement moment will do. She then spotted a couple cameras set up around a large bird's nest.
Curious by the sight, she climbed up and found herself in the middle of a card game with an egg wearing a fedora like one of the Moon Penguins. She could faintly see the number on one of the cards. Then, she spotted DJ Grooves' call button and pressed it.
He immediately jumped into the scene, cameras turning on. "All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves! And I'm telling you if you already don't know by now that this girl is the next hot thing! Watch as she beats these hard-boiled card players at their own game...on her first try!"
Hat Kid's eyes widened a bit as she looked at the egg. Well, if she will be asked to know what one of his cards says, then this should not be too hard. DJ Grooves patted her back while saying, "This game is easy to understand, darling. You just guess which number of card the other player is holding from 1 to 10. So, which card do you think he's holding, darling?"
The camera zoomed in at an angle that showed Hat Kid thinking over what number of the cards can be seen by the audience. Little did they know that on one of the cards, it has the same appearance on both sides. To look impressive, Hat Kid looked up and hummed in thought.
"I'm gonna guess...three!"
The camera zoomed in on the card that had the number 3. DJ Grooves then shouted enthusiastically, "Wow, fantastic, incredible! The answer is indeed three! Folks at home, you have just witnessed the stunning intuition of a true star. Be sure to join her fan club! DJ Grooves...out!"
And the ratings shot over the maximum. Hat Kid was officially a diva. DJ Grooves hopped down to the stage and shouted while looking at the charts off-camera, "The audience is going crazy, darling! Come over here and show off our new stunner...our new prop!" He then held up the Time Piece as it shone brightly.
If Hat Kid was going to retrieve this, she was going to do it in style. She hopped down from the rooftops, wall jumped off the backboard of the stage, grabbed the Time Piece with a flip, and stuck the landing on stage with her arms out wide. The audience went wild as they cheered and applauded.
Time Piece in hand, she took a bow.
In the theatre on the day of its showing, the bird audience loved it! The style, the prop, and especially "The Mysterious Diva" Hat Kid. The points for the film were around 650-700, which meant the Conductor was running behind.
Speaking of the Conductor, he stood in the back of the theatre and growled, clenching his winged-fists.
"Alright, DJ Peck Neck. You wanna play rough? Well, let's see if you can outmatch me next film." He walked out the exit with an evil grin and dark chuckle.
"It's going to be the bomb."
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Ahhhh sorry it took long to get this up! I had tests to take care of as well as other important things. But at least I'm back. Hope I didn't keep you all waiting for long. x)