Chapter 48: Old Wounds

A/N: So this took a bit longer than usual. Ironic, considering I already disliked how long I was taking to put out my chapters. I don't have any (good) excuses, so I won't waste your time with them.

I do have one thing I DO wanna talk about, though.

So... this story has gone on for quite awhile. Perhaps it's the shorter chapter length, but no matter. This realization has caused me to make a decision.

What is this decision? Well...

When the story of the main game ends, this book will, as well. But don't fret, I'm merely splitting what I had planned into two separate books, cause if I kept them as one I felt it'd be far too long.

It'd probably be like... 70-90 chapters long. Insane. So I'm probably gonna split it into two, idk. Having a story that long seems kinda crazy to me.

But that's still a little while away, so on with the show.

DJ Grooves, afro and all, standing right there. In the ship. For once he wasn't doing his stupid, obnoxious idle dance.

"You've got some nerve coming here," I hissed.

"I... had a feeling you'd say that," He muttered.

"You here to take back 'your' Time Piece? Finish what you started ages ago?" I spat.

He stared straight at me.

"Absolutely not," He scoffed, "I'm here to apologize, darling."

I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Apologize?" I heard the kid ask, from her bedroom door.

She must've heard the commotion and came to see what was going on.

"You don't need to worry yourself with this joker, kid. I can deal with him," I told her.

She shook her head.

"No, let him talk," She said.

I sighed and turned back to the penguin, crossing my arms.

"You wanted to apologize so you broke into her spaceship to do that?" I asked, putting as much disbelief into my voice as possible.

"Please, let me explain," He begged, then sighed. "You see, darlings, when I woke up after... uh... our little... well... you know..."

"After you tried to murder us," I stated blankly.

"Y-yes, when I woke up after that, I realized how much of a monster I'd been. I just saw a way to finally wipe away my past, all of my failures, and i-it..." He explained shakily.

"It consumed your thoughts," The kid finished for him, "You saw no other alternative. You had to change the past, no matter the cost. Right?"

...But she didn't believe him, did she?

He was an actor!

"I couldn't have put it a better way, darling," He agreed, "You know, I was originally a DJ. I owned my own nightclub. I was very successful in that profession, but it was never my passion. I loved movies for as long as I could remember, and I always wanted to be a movie director. When I eventually became a movie director..."

He sighed.

"It... didn't go well. The Conductor and I were bitter enemies from the start, and we competed instantly to see who could make the better movies," He narrated, "But I suppose the crowds preferred Conductor's western theme over my science fiction, pop, and dance. I lost award, after award, after award to him. Friends and family told me to go back to being a DJ, that I was embarrassing them as a director. But I ignored them and stuck on through."

"... Your friends and family abandoned you after that, didn't they?" The kid asked sadly and sympathetically.

Oh, right... the family thing... cause she was probably an orphan and all...

She'd definitely be feeling bad for him now.

He nodded.

"Even when I finally won award 42, they didn't care. And why should they have? Winning one award for losing another fourty-one is a poor ratio," He grumbled, then shook his head. "I just wanted to change everything, but that's no excuse for what I did. Nothing could excuse what I did. And for that..."

He took a deep breath, then shook his head rapidly.

"I'm so, so sorry, darlings!" He shouted, "I never want to see another one of those Time Pieces ever again!"

We were both silent.

I wasn't exactly expecting this.

But I still didn't trust him.

"It's just you and me now, darling!"

"Looks like it's bedtime for you, darling. Forever."

I shook my head.

"You verbally assault us, lie to us, put us in danger, withhold a Time Piece from us, attack us when we try to take it back, get me stabbed, and almost kill the kid, then you break into our spaceship afterward and expect us to believe that you just changed? Just like that?" I spat, snapping my fingers at the end, "If you truly have changed, then you can apologize by never showing your face again."

"Wait!" The kid shouted.

She walked toward the penguin.

"I've been around the Time Pieces all my life," She said, "I know what kind of things they can do to people, especially those with... bad pasts. People have gone insane from exposure to them. Heck, I've even wanted to turn back time a few times."

She giggled.

"Haven't we all?" She asked.

"That is true..." I muttered to myself

"I know you can be a better person than who we saw. So you know what? I forgive you," She stated.

DJ Grooves took a deep breath.

"Thank you, darling, oh thank you! You really are something special, both of you," He exclaimed, "I think I know a way to show my gratitude."

"No, that's okay," The kid said, "We got our Time Piece anyway."

I frowned. We only got it because it was taken off of his unconscious body.

"Maybe I can take you two out for ice cream or something sometime. I know the perfect place, darling," He thought aloud, "It's the least I could do, given what happened."

The kid clapped her hands.

Well, well, well.

There's nothing that can make a kid excited like mentioning ice cream. I know that from experience.

"That'd be awesome!" She shouted, then she turned to me. "We can go get ice cream with him, right?"

...

Well, it'd be a shame to dampen her excitement.

"I guess so," I said, "But, I mean, it's your ship, kid. You're the one in charge here."

"But didn't you say something about 'being the adult' awhile ago?" She countered.

"That's different," I replied, "I just need to make sure that you're properly taking care of your ship and yourself. That's it. You're the captain of this ship, captain."

She grinned.

"Captain Hat Kid!" She shouted, "I like it!"

I smirked, then took a deep breath.

Now that we were going somewhere with DJ Grooves, I felt like I needed to make something clear to him, but I didn't want the kid to hear it. It'd make her uncomfortable.

So...

"Kid, can you go to your bedroom for a minute? I wanna discuss something with DJ Grooves," I asked.

She gave me a confused look, shrugged her shoulders, and went to her bedroom. Good, we were alone now.

"Something wrong, darling?" He asked.

"Yes, something is wrong," I grumbled, then turned and stared at him. "So, you might've won the kid's trust and forgiveness, and you know what? She's a forgiving person. It's not super surprising. But I'm not so lenient," I hissed, "Sure, you can hang out with the kid, but I must make something crystal clear. I will only say this once, so you'd better listen carefully."

He visibly gulped.

"If you harm her at all, even if you didn't mean to," I growled slowly and powerfully, "I will annihilate you."

He scratched his head and chuckled nervously.

"I wouldn't dream of it," He said, clearly intimidated, "I'm a changed bird, darling, I promise."

I nodded. That did the trick.

"Good, then we shouldn't have a problem," I muttered, "I'll go get the kid, then we can head out."

I went and got the kid, and the three of us sat in the main hall.

"So, how'd you even get here?" I asked.

"By spaceship, of course!" He exclaimed, then pointed toward the hatch.

There was a decently big cheesy-looking spaceship docked to it. Like something you'd see in an old, low-budget alien movie.

"Oh," I muttered, "I guess that makes sense."

He walked over to the hatch and opened it, then hopped inside his spaceship.

"Come in, darlings! It's perfectly safe," He assured.

I shook my head. This was gonna be something else.

I sighed and entered his spaceship, then the kid did as well, closing the hatch behind her.

I turned around and raised an eyebrow.

I could hardly focus on one thing. There was so much... colourful crap around that it was hard to discern a single item out. The closest thing I could compare it to was like the back of a limousine, except this was a spaceship, and practically everything was holographic and sci-fi.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," I said, "But I guess I wasn't really expecting anything, so whatever."

I sat down at a couch, and the kid sat down next to me. DJ Grooves remained standing, and the spaceship took off on its own.

"Autopilot?" I asked.

"No, darlin', I have my own hired pilot," He answered.

"Ah. Makes sense," I replied.

"Although, I did hear that a company from my hometown has started developing autopiloting systems for spaceships, but so far every test has ended in a crash," He explained, "But I guess that's to be expected. It's just starting out."

"Yeah, it's bound to happen. Failure is natural. You learn from your mistakes and do something better," I muttered.

"Exactly, darling," He agreed.

"Our spaceships don't have autopilot," The kid said suddenly, "Where I come from, simply thinking about creating an autopilot was seen as stupid. People would say that 'depending on a machine for an important task like piloting rather than your own skills is asking for disaster' or something like that."

"Your people seem very intelligent, darling," DJ Grooves complimented her.

She frowned slightly.

"I guess so," She muttered.

The spaceship was filled with an awkward silence. It was then I noticed some music playing in the background, but it didn't help.

"Uh... anyway," I begun, "Where exactly are we going? Somewhere on the moon?"

DJ Grooves nodded.

"There's an ice cream parlour that my parents would always take me to when I was little. It has some of the best ice cream around, and I wanted to share it with you two," He explained.

"That's pretty thoughtful of you," I muttered, "Thank you. However..."

I turned to the kid.

"I have a bad feeling that you and sugar don't mix," I joked.

Both of them started laughing at that.

"You won't be able to keep up with her!" He exclaimed, "I think I should be apologizing!"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I already can't, so it's really gonna be something else," I joked.

He laughed again.

A smirk crept on my face, and a thought crept into my mind.

Maybe we could finally be friends, for once...

Because some old wounds were finally beginning to mend.

A/N (again): So. DJ Grooves has returned. He was bad, but now he's good, right?

I realized I'd kinda forgotten about a few NPC's, so the next couple chapters are gonna be for that. And Time Rifts. Cause I kinda forgot about those, too.

But now, to answer a review:

2lazy2login (i know the feeling btw): Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. It definitely helps with the motivation (although I'd force myself to write a chapter if I had to, haha). This fanfic was kind of an experiment for me, in a way. It was an experiment with first-person writing, and I NEVER would've expected it to blow up like this. It's extremely flattering.

Thank you for the review, and thank every one of you for reading!