Chapter 48: A Tale of Two Children

A/N: Did you like that twist? I wasn't sure how the whole Pon mechanic would work with two players so I decided to keep it how it was basically designed, a one player boss fight. Nothing against Bow Kid, of course. How I feel now that this is over is the same way I felt when the game was over. Sad. At least I'm writing a prequel and a sequel.

When Hat Kid opened her eyes, she was back on the spaceship, and Bow Kid was there as well, looking around, disoriented. Bow Kid saw her captain and smiled at her, and Hat Kid tackled her to the ground in a hug, causing her to release an 'oof'.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," She apologized, and Bow Kid hugged her back.

"Shh, don't say anything," Bow Kid said quietly, and they stayed like that for a minute, just a hug, a bond between sisters shared by not many people.

"Don't ever do that again, please," Hat Kid begged Bow Kid and nuzzled into her shoulder, causing her hat to fall off.

"I promise with my life," Bow Kid promised, and they slowly got up, and Hat Kid remembered something and they dashed over to the hatch, relieved to see the planet back to normal. Hat Kid closed the hatch gleefully and sat in the captain's chair and pulled out the control pad, then playfully pressed some buttons, releasing a "Boop!" as she pressed the last one, and Bow Kid giggled.

Then, the vault opened and sucked all the Time Pieces into it, then it shut itself, and they turned to the monitor, overjoyed to see 46/46 Time Pieces accounted for. Hat Kid put her hand on a control stick, and Bow Kid sat down in her first officer's chair as Hat Kid cranked the control stick forward, causing the ship's hyperdrive to charge up, and the ship lurched forward but stopped abruptly, causing everything inside it to jolt.

Both girls were stunned by the sudden stop, but Hat Kid got up, flicked her hat up in irritation, and checked the computer, which said something had latched onto the ship. She stomped over to the hatch of the ship and opened it to see what debris had gotten stuck on the ship, and gasped at what she saw.

Bow Kid came over, and her jaw dropped at the sight. A Mafia Goon, Snatcher, DJ Grooves, and the Conductor had held on to the side of the ship, but why?

The Mafia Goon seemed close to crying. "Don't leave us!" He begged desperately.

Snatcher pulled out a contract, which Hat Kid could see was called: "Stay and Have Fun" and it's objectives were: "Be Nice", all of the forest would be available, and at the bottom it said "Please, be my BFF." It was a refined version of the contract that Hat Kid and Bow Kid had tricked Snatcher into signing. It made them both smile warmly.

"Hey, kiddos, let's sign another contract!" He said with a twinge of desperation.

DJ Grooves held his microphone close to Conductor's mouth so he could speak and have them hear. "Oh, don't ye dare leave, lasses!" He begged desperately as well.

DJ Grooves brought his microphone back to his face. "Let's watch our movies, darlings!" He suggested desperately, but Hat Kid picked up a comically large broom and held it out the hatch, and prepared to thrust it in the Mafia Goon's face.

The Mafia Goon flinched and closed his eyes, but he wasn't shoved in the face with a broom. He opened one eye, and saw the broom near his face, shaking, and looked to see Hat Kid shaking and sniffling, tears running down her face.

"Y-you actually want us to stay? After all of the trouble we've caused?" She asked surprisedly, and everyone nodded.

"Ye've caused more good than harm, lass! Let us in your ship to explain why ye want to leave so badly!" He shouted, and Hat Kid held the broom out for the Mafia to grab, which he did, and then Hat Kid pulled everyone inside.

"W-we want to stay, we really, really do, but we can't," She explained sadly.

"Why, darling?" DJ Grooves asked.

"Do you want the long story, or the short story?" Hat Kid responded.

"We want a full explanation of why the peck ye want to leave!" Conductor yelled, and Hat Kid sighed.

"Long story it is, then," She muttered.

She cleared her throat, then began. "As some of you already know, we're both aliens. We don't come from the same planet, but I'll begin with my story. I am a Time Lord, from planet 2XCAVB-a, or as we called it: Planet Chronos,"

"Mafia watch TV show about doctor Time Lord," The Mafia Goon grumbled, and Hat Kid turned beet red.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not like that. I know that show, and this is much different. We're called the Time Lords because of who we worship and because we created the Time Pieces. Basically, some people on my planet are elected to search for and handle Time Pieces, and I happen to be the youngest of that group of people. My parents also had the same role, but..."

She cleared her throat again, then shook her head. "I was an accident, never meant to happen, but when I was born, they didn't want me to get in their way or hold them down, so they abandoned me, left me to die in a dark alleyway, with nothing but my birth certificate," She explained sadly.

Hearing this infuriated everyone, even the Mafia Goon and Snatcher.

"What kind of person abandons their own daughter?!" Snatcher grumbled, "I steal and eat souls and I wouldn't even do something as cruel as that!"

"Mafia has found new person Mafia wants to punch," The Mafia Goon muttered.

"If your parents come by here, I'll give them a piece of my mind!" DJ Grooves hissed.

"Ohh, whoever they are, I'll be pecked if I let some Time Piece collectin' peck necks get away with betraying their own peckin' daughter!" Conductor yelled.

Hat Kid smiled anxiously. "Well, you're not going to get the chance. About a year after I was elected to search for Time Pieces, a criminal from my planet snuck aboard my ship and stole some Time Pieces from me, which I could've prevented if I hadn't been careless. He used them to give himself immense power and conquer my planet, and enslave most of my people, but it gets even worse," She continued.

"Darling, how could it get any worse than that? Your home was taken from you!" DJ Grooves asked concernedly.

"My parents didn't escape the planet, for better or for worse, but that isn't why I want to go back," She stated sadly, "This spaceship was built by my guardian as a reward for becoming the youngest person to be elected Timekeeper, which is what the people who search for Time Pieces are called. However, I couldn't run the ship at maximum efficiency by myself, so I hired a crew, not much older than myself. My crew were the only people I could consider my friends, and the pathetic excuse of a man that stole the Time Pieces from me, guess what he did."

"He captured them?" Conductor guessed, and Hat Kid shook her head sadly.

"Worse. He kidnapped every one of them, and I tried confronting him, negotiating with him, even sacrificing myself, but he beat me easily, ignored my negotiations, and kicked me out of the way," She hissed furiously, "He beat me down, then... t-then he killed all of my crew, right in front of me, just to taunt and spite me, and he didn't even give me time to mourn before he attacked me and harassed me, calling me worthless, useless, and far worse. I will never forgive him for what he did."

"So, uh, why exactly do you want to go back?" Conductor asked with confusion, and Hat Kid turned to look at everyone, and Conductor froze when he saw the look on her face, the very same look she gave him after he stabbed her friend.

"I just want to look him in the eye as I take it all back and take every single thing that he took from me, away from him," She said slowly and maliciously, "Even if it kills me."

Nobody knew how to respond. They all thought she was the happiest little girl in the Universe, almost always with a smile on her face and light in her eyes.

But now?

Now they saw a different side. A dark side. Seeing this bloodlust, will for reveange, and hatred, it scared them. What scared them most, however, was her eyes.

Where they once saw happiness, joy, optimism, innocence, and mercy, they now saw sadness, anger, malice, hatred, and mercilessness. It was like she had suddenly become the same, yet the opposite, of what she typically was.

Then the darkness in her eyes faded and she scratched her head sheepishly.

"Other than simply for reveange and to avenge my crew, I feel like it's my responsibility to fight. It is basically my fault this happened, so I feel like I need to reap what I have sewn, you know?" She explained awkwardly, "After that, my guardian sacrificed himself to get me off the planet safely, and shortly after that, I met Bow."

"She stopped at a planet, but the planet was made unstable, because the people mined the core, and managed to save one person," Bow Kid said, "Me. She let me come with her, and appointed me as her first officer. I felt like I owed her my life, so that's why I want to come with her and help her, and also why I took the knife for her in the Award Ceremony incident."

"Well, kiddos, if leaving is so important, we won't stop you," Snatcher stated.

"Go get 'em, darlings," DJ Grooves said,

"Make that Time Piece stealin', people killin', planet doomin' peck neck pay!" Conductor yelled.

"Since Mafia cannot punch person, punch him for Mafia!" The Goon ordered.

Both girls grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh, trust us, we will," Hat Kid said smugly, then everyone climbed out as both girls waved goodbye, and they waved back.

Hat Kid sat down in her chair, and Bow Kid in hers, and then both girls began crying quietly.

"We'll return, I promise!" Hat Kid yelled at the top of her lungs as she engaged the hyperdrive and the spaceship took off faster than light.