Harriet falls out of the purple timerift, a "whoa" echoing out from her voice.
For the last half-an-hour, she had gone through the latest purple timerift, which had the Conductor and Grooves' origin stories inside. The awards was today, and Grooves won in a landslide. She glances at the photos again, and hums.
"They really aren't so different…" she mutters. She then rushes to the awards, seeing Grooves on the stage with moon penguins cheering him on. She walks up to him when Grooves sees her, as he gestures wildly to come closer.
"Thank you darling, thank you! You secured our victory! We won the annual bird movie awards!" Grooves cheers, bowing to the whooping audience. "The Conductor is probably awfully sour from his second loss ever, but don't worry, he'll come around!"
"I suppose…" Harriet mutters sarcastically.
"Anyway, we're all done here! No more movies until next year. Since you're so eager to get your hands on them, you can take my final movie prop as your last movie star payment!"
He takes out a timepiece, giving it to Harriet.
"What, did you expect something crazy to happen? Nonsense, darling Harriet, nonsense!" Grooves chuckles. Harriet hesitantly takes it, leaving.
At the entrance of the studios however, the phone began to ring.
"Huh? Wait, wasn't there one more timepiece?" Harriet questions after she put the hourglass in her pocket. Her eyes narrow, and she picks up the phone.
"The winner knows about the power of the Timepieces. He's been keeping one, and he's gonna break it. The truth lies buried underneath Dead Bird Studio. What goes on in Dead Bird Studio when no one else is around? Blow the cover on this thing, Harriet lass!"
The line goes dead, and Harriet turns, gunning for the same air vent that she had used previously.
It was fairly dark, but she could still see due to some of the lights still on. She parkoured her way to an elevator she had noticed previously. She clicks the call button, stepping inside.
The ride was a long and drawn out one, not even elevator music played! Harriet taps her foot, impatient and sour that she was tricked.
"I just hope Duncan isn't here… What if something happens?" she questions quietly.
For an hour, she traversed the basement of the studio, collecting yarn and pons. She was frankly annoyed, but determined to get the last timepiece owed to her. At one point she was able to make a dweller's mask, but she still kept her visor on for now. Once waiting through yet another elevator ride, she arrived to an odd stage. Grooves stood on a stage, moon penguins hollering on the sidelines.
"What the-"
"Look who we've got here, darling! I guess you found my little secret, huh? This last timepiece is all for me, darling. If you want it, well, I guess you're just gonna have to come and take it!"
Harriet could smell the battle cry a mile away. With a large inhale and exhale, the battle began.
Grooves leapt at her, yelling a battle cry of his own. She narrowly dodges, hitting him with her umbrella. He jumps back, jumping up on to a disco ball.
"Here we… Go!" he yells, smashing the disco ball into the ground. Harriet dodges the aftershock, once again hitting Grooves.
The battle went on for a little while, neither side showing any sign of stopping. Spot lights fell from the ceiling, saw blades of all things were thrown at Harriet, people sent heart pons through air kisses. All the while Grooves seemed to keep getting stronger and angrier.
At one point he pulled a knife! And it definitely wasn't rubber!
"Dad told me never to run with knives! You're breaking, like, the number one rule, buddy!"
Of course, Grooves didn't care.
"Time to bring out the big guns!"
The room went dark, and quiet. Too quiet. Casual piano music started to play, and Harriet began to sweat.
"Let's have a little heart-to-heart. Have a seat, darling."
Harriet hesitantly sits down.
"Ever since the explosion that happened, these timepieces have fallen from the sky. Now, I understand if you feel they belong to you, darling. I understand. But did you know they allow for rewinding time?" he questions.
"I did, actually," Harriet states bitterly. Grooves shrugs this off, showing off the hourglass in his flipper proudly. Harriet holds herself back from swiping it, considering he could have his knife on him still.
"With one timepiece, I could reclaim all the trophies that belong to me, darling. Every single trophy I've lost to the Conductor, where he has cheated his way to victory. I can't prove it, darling, but I'm certain the Conductor has been manipulating everything to make sure I never win! I need just one timepiece to fix years of cheating and fraud. Can't you spare me just one timepiece, darling Harriet?"
Harriet knew the answer immediately.
"No way, DJ Grooves! Give me the hourglass!" Harriet stands, holding out her hands, glaring at him.
"Darling, darling, darling. You're so persistently selfish. I've brought you to stardom, and all I ask in return is a single timepiece… but you won't share?" Grooves huffs, shoving the timepiece away in his pocket. "Well, darling, if you want this timepiece back so bad, come and get it!"
The table and chairs were swiped away, and Harriet felt something heavy get shoved onto her back. The lights turned back on, and Harriet gasps.
Did this dude put an actual bomb on a kid?!
"Remember this bomb, darling? I stole it from the Conductor's movie set, and now it'll be your demise!" Grooves laughs.
"I'm sorry you didn't win this year, grandpa. But there's always next year, right?" Duncan asks, an unsure smile on his face. Conductor sighs heavily, frankly exhausted, angry, and irritated.
"I suppose, lad. Let's just bring ye home before yer ma complains," Conductor huffs.
An earthquake rattles them however. Conductor holds his grandson in place.
"What was that?!" Duncan cries. Conductor then inhales sharply.
"The lass!"
"Harriet?! What do you mean?!"
Cheering that they didn't hear before gets louder than before, Harriet yelling. Conductor and Duncan sprint for the storage room, finding it decked out in Grooves' style decorations. Moon penguins jumped up and down, and…
"Isn't that the trains bomb?!" Duncan cries.
"Lass, over here!" Conductor yells. Harriet's eyes were full of tears, red faced. "Oh, hang in there! We'll find a way to defuse the bomb!"
The two run off out, frantically looking around in the boxes.
"Wait! Grandpa, wasn't there a very comically large pair of scissors you used once?"
"To cut the red ribbon for the first bird movie awards!" Conductor remembers. They run to grab it, both of them grunting as they run to carry it into the room once more.
"Harriet!" Duncan screams over the music.
"I only have ten seconds!"
"Our defuser is ready, come here!" Conductor announces. Harriet runs over, jumping up as the two cut the wire to the fuse. The bomb falls and only a harmless explosion occurs as a result.
Grooves yells in aggression, the band from the parade appearing. Only, with knives. Great.
Harriet runs around, hitting Grooves as much as she could when he got near.
Finally, the battle was over.
"I hate you, darling!" Grooves screams, before passing out. Harriet pulls out the timepiece, holding it protectively.
Duncan and Conductor run off the stands, running over to Harriet. Duncan hugs Harriet close, which she gladly returns, tears still in her eyes.
"I'll deal with DJ Peck neck. You two get out of here," Conductor orders. Duncan guides Harriet out, and soon they stand in the cool air in the parking lot.
"Harriet, you ok?" Duncan asks, putting his hands on her shoulders. Harriet nods, still clutching the timepiece.
"I really overestimate things sometimes, don't I?" she laughs sadly.
"It's ok. You're unharmed, and that's all that matters. Do you want me to bring you home?"
Harriet sniffles, wiping at her eyes.
"No, no. Your parents and sister are probably wondering where you are. I'll be ok, I promise."
Duncan and Harriet hug again, Harriet letting out a shaky breath.
"I'll be at your place tomorrow, ok? We can chill out or something."
Harriet nods.
"Yeah, that would be great."
Snatcher freezes up, seeing the condition Harriet's clothes were in. They were cut up from the near misses of the knives, not too much, but enough to be noticeable.
"Holy- Harriet, what happened?! Who did this to you?" Snatcher asks, rushing to her side, checking to see if there were any injuries.
"Papa, papa I'm fine. I fell into some brambles, and-"
"Harriet," Snatcher says immediately. "Who did this?" His voice wasn't the usual calm one, but now the more booming echo-like voice. The one he used to intimidate unsuspecting victims of his contracts.
"I... " Harriet closes her eyes and sighs. "There was a fight. Over this."
Harriet produces the timepiece. Snatcher's stomach drops. The worst was confirmed, right there in front of him. He already knew, yes, but there was still denial.
"I… I've been collecting these!" Harriet suddenly cries, tears falling from her eyes. She sobs into his shoulder, setting the timepiece down so it didn't break. Snatcher hugs her close, letting her cry it out. "I've kept it a secret for so long- but-but I don't know why! Please don't hate me!"
"H-Harriet, why would I hate you?" Snatcher questions, confused.
"You usually hate it when people lie to you! An-and-"
Snatcher cups her cheek comfortingly, wiping at her tears.
"Harriet, I'd never, ever hate you. Kiddo, it's ok to not tell me things sometimes until you're ready. I want you to know that you should be able to tell me anything. I know I'm… basically a scary, soul-stealing boogeyman, but I'm not heartless."
Harriet sniffles.
"I know. But I was… I was scared that if you knew, something would happen. I don't know what, but something."
Ah, the old keep them safe by keeping them blissfully ignorant. He knew that all too well…
"Harriet, I promise you, everything will be ok. Do you want me to bring you your dinner and read you a story tonight?"
Harriet nods slowly. Snatcher pats her off after snapping a handkerchief into existence.
"Snatcher, what in blue blazes happened?"
Snatcher turns to CC, her eyes wide.
"Our suspicions were confirmed. Harriet really is an alien. And she told me the truth."
CC's mouth parts, putting a paw on his side.
"What do we do now?"
"Not treat her any different. She's not a monster."
"Well, of course not! But…"
Snatcher sighs.
"Let's make her favorite, can we do that?"
CC smiles softly, her eyes crinkling.
"Of course. I have the ingredients for it. Cookies for dessert?"
Snatcher nods.
"Definitely."
Harriet sits down, wiping away her tears with her handkerchief. She pulls out her pajamas, putting them on and lying down in bed.
Suddenly, there was a loud CRASH, and beeping came out of the timepiece device.
Harriet sits up quickly, looking at the monitor. Six blips appeared on the radar, and Harriet gasps.
"Timepieces? In Subcon?" she questions. She looks outside, her eyes wide.
Tomorrow would be an adventure. She'd make sure of that.