Mad Moon… The words replayed in the young girl's mind no matter how much she tried to dismiss them. If Moonjumper was mad, then he was the politest lunatic she'd ever met. And after everything she'd been through on the planet, she felt she'd met many. Hat Kid had lost count of the number of times she'd had to fight for her life—not even always for the Time Pieces. Even if he was just another insane person in an already insane world, she was more than capable of making that call herself.

Not to say that she still wasn't wary of him, just no more than several of the other people she'd met. In the very least, she wasn't going to let any sense of paranoia keep her from her mission. She wasn't even sure how many Time Pieces she had left to find. Her ship's scanners hadn't made it easy for her this time.

Luckily, some of the equipment the alien had brought with her did. It'd been a few minutes since she'd left the goblins' caves when suddenly an alarm blared from inside her pack. Immediately, she halted and slung her back around—shuffling through its contents until she removed a device built similarly to a stopwatch from inside. The small machine fit steadily in her hand, and was connected to her ship's scanners to trace both time-space anomalies and distortions in reality. For the most part though, she used it to track the time rifts.

Born from shattered Time Pieces, they would grow in both size and power. Left unattended, the small breaks in reality could rip apart the world around it. The only way to seal them was by going inside personally removing the Time Piece trapped within. That wasn't all though, as the rifts' environment would then distort based on the dreams and memories of whoever entered them. The only exceptions were the purple rifts—or story rifts, as she liked to call them—which instead absorbed those memories of a specific person if a Time Piece happened to already be in contact with that individual when it broke apart.

Luckily, the time rifts were the worst thing to come from the shattered hourglasses thus far and she was normally able to get to them in time. She wasn't about to break that streak. She paused before pulling up a mini-map on the device's screen. Would it even let her know where the rift was this time? Something blipped to life anyway, and soon she was running through the rugged terrain to cut back through the town. What few ghosts wandered the streets veered out of her way as she sped past.

It guided her into the forest, away from the trails to tear through the undergrowth. The device only gave her a general idea of where to look, and the forest's bioluminescence camouflaged the time rift within its maze of flourishing trees and widespread of flowers. After several minutes spent running in circles, she was finally able to spot it against the glaucous blue of a thick trunk. It was low to the ground and she was easily able to reach it, diving inside without a moment's hesitation.


Blue rifts always seemed to reflect her steadfast desire to return to her homeworld, as those memories seemed to be drawn from most to create the vast scene she found herself returning to. Always, there stood the massive, iconic clocktower overlooking the stretch of city far below her. Echoes of it stood at a further distance as distorted blurs, only recognizable by their golden faces piercing through a sea of blues brighter and warmer than the Horizon's. There was no wind, but the air was temperate and cool. It felt even more refreshing than usual after the hassle she'd gone through to get that last Time Piece. Platforms of white stone coursing with rich crystals almost like sapphires paved the way ahead.

The blue time rifts also had a way of pulling from recent memories as well. On her own wide section of rock, a pair of Dweller Crows snapped to attention at her sudden appearance. They weren't real, but so long as she stayed in the rift, any damage they could do would feel very real to her. Hat Kid shuffled back as it began to charge after her, quickly digging through her backpack until she grabbed ahold of her Dweller mask and slapped in onto her face. With it, the crows appeared more defined in front of her and she was easily able to beat the both of them back.

There's something new, she thought with a grin as she looked around for a way across—or any early sign of a Time Piece. Leading over to the next platform were a trio of large bubbles. It must've been a part of the dream elements at work. As she walked over, the girl could just reach the first with the tip of her umbrella. She gave it a careful poke only for it to burst in a spray of water, the force behind it knocking her arm back.

She didn't think they'd be stable in the first place, but now she felt that she could hop across them similarly to balloons. it was trick she learned all the way back in Mafia Town: So long as she was quick, she could make it. Hat Kid could picture her teachers rolling their eyes at the idea.

It was literal child's play to her though. Leaping over to the second, she landed on it with both feet and was instantly propelled over to the next. Flecks of water hit her tunic and cloak like heavy raindrops. As she bounced across on the third bubble, a puddle formed around her feet where she landed—nearly causing her to slide in place before raising her arms outward to steady herself.

From there, she came to a wall of sliding platforms, moving in rhythm one right after the other. It was an easy climb up, timing each step, only to run into another crow at the top and smack it across the ledge. A lamppost stood beside her and she grabbed onto it as she slipped her mask up for a moment to gaze into the distance. From a ways off, sure enough, she spotted the bright, familiar shine of a Time Piece. There were still obstacles ahead, but it wasn't terribly far.

The next platform was wide and swung like a pendulum in front of Hat Kid. Rotating stonework followed after it, covered with cubic edges jutting out of it, like pins on a music box's cylinder. Again, she timed her jumps, riding along the first until the second had turned almost level with her. Then she bulleted across, weaving around the rock. She couldn't stop, flipping through the air before the platform could turn over on her, rebounding off another bubble, and landing once more on steady ground.

She paused to catch her breath for just a second, taking in the view all the while. The young alien wondered how much she'd miss this planet when she finally did leave—or if anyone on it would truly miss her. Sure, she'd help save their planet when Mustache Girl tried to change time, but it was her fault for losing the hourglasses in the first place and many of the people she'd met had wanted them for the similar reasons. It wasn't like she truly made amends with anyone either. She'd made plenty of friends, like Cooking Cat, but also plenty of enemies… By all means, the girl shouldn't have even set foot on the backwater world, well on her way to her own planet by now.

Minus all of the work she'd had to do, she was actually enjoying herself on the planet. There was hardly any space between one thrill and the next, and nothing about its places or its people were alike. They were wonderfully zany, and funny, and different. She'd never forget them.

So yes, she'd miss them, at least a little. Mustache Girl had stolen from her—twice—but they'd once been friends. The Conductor and DJ Grooves had nearly done her in multiple times with their crazy stunts, but she liked being in their movies. Even Snatcher had her sympathy and was fun to be around, as grumpy and frustrating as he could be. Maybe one day she'd get to visit them again.

There was a small path of platforms descending in front of her, turning as though on dials, then a tower-like structure that had her climbing a set of 'stairs' that reversed motions every other step. More bubbles past that, lined in a zigzag pattern until she could reach another trio of crows waiting for her on a floating cube. Although she had some trouble with the second, each obstacle was taken in stride and she conquered each in their own time.

By now, the end of her cloak was dripping from the multiple sprays. Hat Kid grabbed the tail of it and rung it tightly with both hands to squeeze the liquid out. It was slightly sticky on her fingers and smelled like detergent.

But the Time Piece was just up ahead. The next jump was a bit farther than usual, and she threw more force into it to make it. Thin slates of rock twisted in opposing directions ahead of her. She waited until they had lined up before making her way across, adjusting her weight with each step to keep her balance as they once more slowly moved out of place. Then she was on stabled ground again, climbing just a little higher to reach the Time Piece.

As soon as she grabbed it, her surroundings began to break apart as she was spirited away back to the Horizon.


Despite the poor situation, entering a blue time rift typically refreshed her. It gave her a glimpse of her end goal and a moment away from everything to just think things over. It was a more than needed respite.

Its effects didn't have long to last.

Hat Kid gave herself the usual minute to collect her bearings after leaving the rift. Instead of white stone, there was grass at her feet. A faint, floral scent tickled her nose. A canopy of foliage hung over her. The Time Piece was still cradled in her arms. She'd made it back without a scratch and none the environment seemed to have been distorted by the now-sealed and vanished anomaly. She took off her mask. A sense of satisfaction welled in her chest. Finding two Time Pieces in one day was a good score. Maybe she'd reward herself with a small break and a well-deserved snack—

As soon as she spun around to head back to the trail, her heart leapt in her throat. There was a third one now: A third figure to mock her with its silence where it limply stood about four meters away. It was a girl this time, a teenager, with dark locks similar to hers pulled into a side ponytail decorated with a loose, canary yellow ribbon. Her grey, belted tunic fit her lithe body well, long sleeves meeting gloved hands. She stared not at the child, but directly toward her, so there was no hiding the smooth contours of her face.

Hat Kid didn't know what she was doing. A pained, confused expression twisted onto her face. This time, the sight bothered her enough that, before she knew it, she was about to throw the Time Piece at the mute figure. Then someone shouted for her, jarring her out of the spell to pull her eyes away for the split second it took for the being to disappear when she looked back.

"