Chapter 57: Cruise Tickets and Favours
I think you can probably guess what happened for the next, like, half an hour.
If you guessed that we raced in her game, well, you'd be right. Who won, you ask? Well...
"Ha!" The kid shouted, "In your face!"
"Yeah, yeah. Well played and all that," I muttered, "So... you've won 4 races now and I've won 5? And first to six wins?"
"Mhm," She said confidently.
"So two more races until I win. Got it," I said with a smirk.
"You mean one more race until I win," She countered.
"Uhh, sure," I retorted.
I scooted closer to the small television to get a better view.
"Wait," She said, "What happened to your sweater?"
Huh?
I looked over my shoulder and saw her giving me a confused and concerned glare.
Wait...
Oh, what a dummy, I completely forgot that that cat slashed my sweater. Typical me.
"Didn't get out of the way fast enough for one attack. I didn't get hurt, but, well..." I muttered.
"I have to fix that right away!" She said.
I smirked.
"I thought we were busy?" I replied.
She blew a raspberry.
"Video games are less important than fashion!" She pouted.
I definitely did not agree with that statement, but there'd be no changing her mind.
"Well, I guess we'll call it a draw," I said.
"But I won one more race than you did!" She shouted.
"Fiiine. You win," I muttered grudgingly and jokingly.
A giant grin appeared on her face and she clapped her hands, then she ran into her bedroom, shouting that she needed to grab her sewing supplies.
While she was fumbling around, I quickly took off my sweater, folded it up nicely, and when she returned, I handed it to her.
She quickly got to work and I sat down and watched.
It really was quite amazing to watch the kid at work. I didn't quite understand how she did it, it was unlike anything else I'd seen before.
Like, I couldn't even begin to explain what exactly she was doing, all I knew was that it was working.
INTRUDER ALERT!
INTRUDER ALERT!
I quickly whipped my head around to see who was standing there.
There's a face we hadn't seen in awhile.
It was the Cooking Cat.
I got up and walked over. The kid put down what she was doing and walked over as well.
"Hello, dears! Sorry for going away for so long, someone had to make sure the Mafia didn't poison themselves!" The cat greeted warmly.
"Well that's a pretty good reason if I do say so myself," I said, "I'd be surprised if one of those buffoons could even make a microwaveable dinner with the instructions right in front of them."
She chuckled awkwardly, like she was recalling a not very pleasant memory.
"You're not wrong," She said, "But anyway, what have you two extraterrestrials been up to?"
"Long story. We've done a lot. In fact, we're almost done our mission," I said.
"Oh! That's wonderful!" She exclaimed, "What will you two do afterward?"
I scratched my head.
Not exactly something I wanted to think about at the moment. I knew we had to leave once we were finished, but... was leaving such a good idea?
I shook my head. Wasn't gonna bother myself with that crisis, nope. I'd talk to the kid about it when we were done.
"Dunno," I simply said, "What about you? What are you up to?"
"Well, I'm about to go on vacation! I've been very busy, so a friend of mine took over cooking for the Mafia and helped book me onto a cruise ship!" She exclaimed.
"Nice," I said.
"Also, because I know how busy you dears have been looking for those weird hourglasses, I decided to book for you two as well! And you won't even need to pay a single pon!" She said happily.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" I said, "That's... amazing, and thank you. We really appreciate it. But... we can't rest until we're done."
"Oh, hush!" She shushed, "You two deserve a break. You've been hard at work for, what, over a month now? You should take some time off."
"But... we have," I said awkwardly, "We take breaks when we finish searching an area."
"Well, clearly they weren't long or serious enough! You two need to take some time to completely unwind. Let your mind off your worries and just relax without a care in the world!" She suggested, "And an arctic cruise is the best place to do it!"
"But it's serious, though..." I muttered.
The kid then tugged on my arm. I looked over and she motioned to follow her out of earshot. I did so, and she turned to me.
"I don't think we should go through with this. A vacation? Sure, maybe when the job's done and we don't have to worry about a certain someone completely screwing up space and time," I reasoned.
She shook her head.
"You don't get it," She said, "We can look for Time Pieces on the ship! So we can relax and collect Time Pieces at once! Win-win!"
"But what if there aren't any there?" I countered.
She smirked.
"Oh, there will be. I just know it," She replied confidently, "Besides, if we don't find anything, we can return to the ship and go look somewhere else. There's no reason why we shouldn't go through with this. And she's right! We deserve a nice break. Well, you deserve a break. You're constantly overthinking, and worrying, and panicking. Honestly, you look tired. You need to just turn your brain off and relax."
"If only it were that easy," I grumbled, "But... I guess you're right. And I don't think I've been on many... or any cruises before. So... okay, let's do this."
She smiled and walked back to Cooking Cat. I smirked and shook my head.
"This kid has me completely wrapped around her finger..." I muttered, then walked back over as well.
"The ship sets sail in five days. Don't be late, now," Cooking Cat explained, smirking at me.
Was it really THAT obvious that the kid could persuade me so easily?
I chuckled.
"Alright, we'll be there," I said.
She then handed us our tickets for the cruise with a smile, said a quick goodbye, and jumped out.
"I imagine she has a way to land safely?" I muttered.
"See? You're overthinking again!" The kid pouted.
"Sorry!" I exclaimed, "I can't help it!"
She shook her head annoyedly.
"Well, I should get back to fixing your sweater," She muttered, skipping back over to the tv and beginning to hum as she got to work.
Meanwhile, I just sat down at the front and stared out the giant window at the planet below. Admiring the impeccable view.
Wasn't long before the kid shouted in victory, and I turned to see her holding up the repaired sweater.
I walked over and took it back, then looked for where the stitching was.
I couldn't find it. It was like it was brand new. No trace of slashing or whatnot anywhere.
"How did you...?" I exclaimed, then looked at her. She seemed confused. "How did you stitch it so well? I seriously can't find where it was slashed."
She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.
"I just... do, I guess," She muttered.
"Fair enough," I replied, then put the stitched sweater on.
This time I wouldn't let it get damaged so easily.
An alarm blared through the ship, causing me to frown. Hooray, time rifts.
I begged to the multiverse that it wouldn't be where I thought it would be.
I watched the kid head up to the big monitor and tap it...
And it seemed the multiverse didn't hear me.
It was in the Metro. Yay.
The photo showed a purple one in a corner of the Yellow Overpass. At least it was close, we could find it easily if we weren't... uh... bothered.
The kid seemed just as disgruntled as me about the situation, though.
"Why there...?" She pouted.
"Well, I guess we don't really have a choice on what we're doing now, do we?" I grumbled.
She nodded miserably. We went to the storage room and teleported down.
We hitched a ride to the metro, as we normally did, and I noticed that everyone else in the train was staring at us.
"What are you looking at?" I hissed.
They all looked away. Good.
We arrived at the main station quickly. One thing I noticed was that there was police tape and two policecats in front of the Empress' jewelry store.
Curious, I walked up to the cat on the right.
"What happened here?" I asked.
"I think you know what happened here," They grumbled, "You angered the Empress and caused a huge fuss, and now we have to clean up after it. At least it keeps us paid."
"Uhh..." I muttered awkwardly.
"You can go in and talk to her, if you want. She won't do anything with us around," They said with a grin, "She won't admit it, but she's completely terrified of us."
I turned to the kid.
"Well? Should we talk to her?" I asked.
She nodded rapidly with a big, smug grin.
"Okay, but try not to... uh... y'know, taunt her or anything. Police or no police, I don't think she'll accept it," I advised.
She nodded, and we stepped inside. There were two more police officers off to the side, doing who knows what.
The Empress watched us approach her.
"Walking right back into my claws... bold," She muttered, "Make no mistake. If the police weren't making a show of investigating things right now, you would not be leaving a second time."
"Well, it's just our luck that we managed to get out in the first place. You really had us there," I admitted.
"Don't remind me," She muttered, "After your little stunt, the Chief wants to renegotiate our business proposal. He thinks sending a few of his kittens down here will pressure me."
She chuckled darkly.
"However, it does mean that I need to keep things in check though. No 'accidents' happening to anyone, you know," She muttered, "But, this will all blow over soon. If you're both smart, then you'll run."
"Uh... we don't plan on staying here very long anyway. We just came by to... uh..." I said.
"Deal with that strange purple orb that appeared in the Yellow Overpass," She guessed.
"... Yeah, that," I muttered, "It won't take too long. Then we'll be out of your hair for good."
"Good," She grumbled.
I walked away, then stopped and turned around.
"Also, I know you probably don't care, but, uh, sorry for the whole betrayal and stealing thing. We never wanted to have to do it, but we kinda had no choice," I apologized uncomfortably.
She rolled her eyes.
"It doesn't matter anymore. Just go do what you need to do and never come back," She hissed.
I walked away and chuckled. I had a feeling that was coming.
When we stepped outside, the kid seemed to adopt a thoughtful look.
"What?" I asked.
"She seemed really miserable about everything. I wonder if she really did trust us and was hoping we could join her team," She muttered, "If so, our betrayal probably hit her hard."
"But Time Pieces are more important, so too bad for her," I grumbled, "Why does it matter now, anyway? You were the one telling me to stay focused earlier."
"I'm wondering if we can maybe make it up to her. Maybe do a few favours for her to... well... not get her to forgive us, but at least not want us dead," She thought aloud.
I put a hand to my chin. She definitely didn't seem like someone we wanted to have as an enemy. Because once the police left... we'd be completely unable to return here or else we'd die. So if more Time Rifts appeared... well...
"Well, I guess we could talk to her afterward and see what she thinks. I'm sure she wouldn't say no to someone doing a job for her for free," I agreed, "But let's go deal with that Time Rift already."
We headed to the Yellow Overpass station-the easy way, this time-and found the Time Rift tucked away in a corner.
"Stay here, make sure nobody comes and sets up a trap or something," She stated.
"And if something does go wrong?" I asked.
"Come into the rift and try to find me. And no, nothing bad will happen if I close the rift and you aren't with me. It just makes it a bit more annoying for me, that's all," She explained.
I nodded. That cleared up my main worry.
"Alright. Sounds like a plan," I muttered, and she hopped into the rift.
I leaned against the wall and waited.
"You came back... you have nerve, I'll give you that."
I looked around and saw a cat waiting in the shadows.
I shook my head.
"Not really. I just kinda had no choice. This thing is, like, really important and needs to be dealt with right away," I explained, pointing at the Time Rift.
"Important enough to risk your life after you both got so close to losing them?" The cat asked.
"Well... yeah," I replied.
The cat chuckled.
"Sounds just like a true warrior," The cat said, then stepped out of the shadows. A familiar eyepatch covered their left eye.
"Oh, it's you," I said, "Should I be relieved...?"
The cat chuckled.
"Don't worry, I have no need to fight you again," They explained, "I must admit, Empress was not pleased with me after you two got away, but such is life. I do not fear her or her wrath. She knows I am not like her other goons, and she knows that if she tried to trick or kill me, that it would not end well for her, and I'll try to show her the same for you two."
"Why, though?" I asked, "Why help us?"
"A true warrior helps a warrior in need," They answered.
I nodded slowly.
"Well, thanks. Glad to have friends in here," I said.
They nodded, then walljumped and somersaulted out of view.
"What a cool person," I muttered.
The kid popped out of the rift soon, and it disappeared. She seemed a bit... off, though. She wasn't smiling, and she seemed a bit sad.
"Hey kid... did something happen in there?" I asked.
"That rift... wasn't like the other rifts," She said, "Instead of being themed after the area we found it in... this one... hit closer to home."
It what?
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"It was a factory. A... rumbi factory. And it was filled with angri rumbis that would chase me and explode," She said, "There's no way Rumbi would actually do that... no, that couldn't be real, could it? Why would it be here of all places, anyway?"
"How do Time Rifts appear anyway?" I asked.
"They appear after someone gets hit on the head with a Time Piece, but the swirling orbs that let you inside of them don't appear for awhile afterward and often like to appear all at once," She explained, "Blue rifts are the more common ones, but if someone is hit really hard with one, the rift can be filled with their memories."
I put two and two together.
"Did you feel anything hit you on the head while you were exploring around here?" I asked.
She adopted a thoughtful look, then a look of realization hit her.
"Yeah... I did," She said, "When I turned around to see what hit me, there was nothing there."
"Did you ever visit a factory that produced Rumbis?" I asked.
She took a gulp of air.
"My... my father worked for the Rumbi company," She said desolately, "He was a factory worker... he helped maintain the robots and things that kept the factory running."
It all came together.
"So that was your Time Rift," I explained, "Maybe I should've been the one to go in there..."
She shook her head.
"No, it's a good thing I did," She muttered, "I feel a tiny bit better now."
I smiled.
"That's always good to hear," I responded, "Shall we go pay the Empress another visit?"
She smirked and nodded.
So we did.
We went back to the main station and entered the Empress' store once again.
"Did you finish what you needed to do?" She asked.
"Well, yes, but-" I said, but was interrupted.
"Then leave," She hissed.
"Well, we were wondering if there was anything we could do to make up for the loss of the Time Pieces," I explained, "I mean, at least so that you won't try to kill us whenever you have the chance. We don't want to stay on your bad side. So if there's anything we can do for you, let us know. We'll gladly help. For free."
She fumed, then seemed to get deep in thought.
I stood there and scratched my head, waiting for a response.
She then nodded slowly.
"Free labour, with anything I want... hm. I suppose that could be useful..." She thought aloud, "Fine. If I want your assistance, I will call upon you. But don't expect to ever get anything from me, and don't think you can try to betray me again. I'm watching you two, and if you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, I will have you both killed before you can even scream."
I stepped back in alarm.
Yikes, she was really upset about that, wasn't she?
"We'll keep that in mind..." I muttered.
"Good. I don't have any plans for now... for obvious reasons... so I shouldn't expect to see you two roaming around my metro for at least two weeks," She grumbled.
"We'll be busy soon anyway," I replied.
"Good. So, now that we have that arranged, get out of my sight," She grumbled.
I nodded and we left.
We hopped on a train out of the Metro, and I turned to the kid and smirked.
"Well, I'd say that went well, wouldn't you?" I asked.
"Mhm," She said, "She's probably gonna make us do some really nasty and dangerous stuff, though."
"Stuff that we'll be able to handle," I assured her.
She nodded rapidly.
Working for the Empress again... certainly not something I was expecting, but better than being on her wanted list.
But for now, we'd have to prepare for our upcoming cruise.
Finally, I'd be able to relax. I didn't realize how much I needed it until now, and...
Whoo, boy, I couldn't wait.
A/N: Well, there you have it. If you're wondering what the favours for the Empress will be like... well, they're not gonna be in this story. They'll be in the next one. But yeah, it'll be doing random jobs for her, stealing/heisting things, transporting things, uh... 'taking care' of enemies... you know, doing what you'd expect to do when working in a large criminal syndicate.
It'll be fun, that's for sure. Next chapter, we begin the Arctic Cruise... or deal with the spaceship Time Rifts. Haven't decided yet.
But that brings up something I've been thinking: Because the Arctic Cruise is so short, I'm gonna be probably adding some filler content between missions and what have you, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna do for said filler content, so it might take awhile to figure that all out. I'll do what I can.
But anyway, thanks for reading, and see y'all next chapter.
