Chapter 5

Mustard POV:

On my way to the photo booth with the Conductor, I happened to see a Rift, which I immediately bee-lined for and completed with ease. And when I touched it, I felt the thing warp me right back to the area I was before and the Conductor gawked at my return.

"Whoa! Where'd ya disappear to and then reappear at?! You some kind of magician?" the Conductor asked.

"No, I'm helping Hat Kid collect these hourglasses because they are incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands," I said to him.

"So that's how you disappeared. I was wondering what that blue light was there... Ahem, anyways, let's go get your ID made," Conductor smiled as he led me to the photo area just in time to see Ketchup finishing her photo. And I had to admit, her photo looked adorable! She had a cutesy pose with a peace sign on her fingers, which I thought adorable. And DJ Grooves agreed.

"Oh, Hat Kid! You are an absolute beast at photogenic opportunities!... Aha! I know the perfect movie for you! Come, it's time to make the fans squeal!" DJ Grooves smiled widely as he then led Ketchup off to their studio and I then went to take my photo next.

"Okay, name please?" Conductor asked.

"Name's Mustard, but you can just call me Mustache Girl," I smiled at him.

"Ah, a moniker user, eh? Then let's take a badass picture. Can you look smug and mean-looking?" Conductor smiled at me.

"Heh, that's my favorite look, mate," I smiled as I did my best badass face I could. Angry eyes, frown, and the twitching in my mustache. He then took the picture and smiled when I added the curled fist.

"Sweet! Now time for us to get to the filming area. Follow me," Conductor smiled at me as he led me out to the back of the studio and I gawked at how he happened to have a giant train prop that was put against a cool western backdrop. "Before film begins happening, I know I heard one of my Owl Guards say that there was a purple light in the train car before the engine. You get that one first, then we'll begin," the Conductor smiled at me.

"Thanks, mate," I smiled at him as I hopped onto the second train car and looked back at the Conductor.

"Meet me in the back of the caboose when you're done," he said, me nodding and giving the okay sign before entering the car and seeing the rift in the coffee area. And there were at least twenty crows nearby who were telling bad stories and laughing about them. Most likely extras to the film.

I then entered the rift and I gasped at how it was vastly different than the blue one prior. How so? The place looked almost like the studio proper, including the cameras that now had a red light to them. I soon git started and saw a strange yellow orb. I thought it important and picked it up to see something I didn't expect. It was Conductor when he won his very first award!

"Ah, this is a great success, boyos!" he smiled as the memory played out and I got a couple more, which furthered the memories. And then came the rival of DJ Grooves.

"Whuh?! A newbie like you beating me? Don't make me laugh!" Conductor laughed.

"You poor owls are gonna be begging to go hone after you see our swinging movies," Grooves smiled.

I then made it to the next area, which was filled with tons of crates and more cameras, which I felt would really hurt if I got seen by them. I got a couple more orbs and saw some more of the story play out.

"No! This is rigged! It's gotta be!" Conductor exclaimed at the fact that his movie lost to Grooves.

"Believe it, darlin', I just won. Now I'm gonna keep the viewers entertained for quite awhile," Grooves smiled, thus starting their rivalry.

And when I collected one final piece? "Okay, Grooves, ya better explain how all my trophies just up and vanished!" Conductor growled at the tacky penguin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, bud. Besides, you have no evidence. No evidence means no crime," DH Grooves said, me frowning at that. Grooves was lying through his beak. How could I tell? He wasn't dancing. He did the same thing when he told Ketchup that Birdemic was big in this planet.

"Despicable. Now I know I gotta win this. In the name of justice, I will expose DJ Grooves as the fraud hack job he really is!" I declared as I finally got to the area of interest, which was a small viewing venue with a pink sphere floating in the air in the side room. I went in and proceeded to whack the heck out of the sphere, getting a ton of those Green Pons as Ketchup called them. And when it finally shattered, a crow was the one who appeared along with the Time Piece.

"Wha?! What's going on? I feel like I had too many seeds... inserted into me head," the crow groaned.

"I just saved you from this world. Now, I'll need you to hold onto me when I touch the hourglass. It's the only way to get back onto the train," I smiled at him.

"Okay... I trust ya," the crow said, him holding on with his wing as I grabbed the Time Piece and I felt both of us warp back to the train just as the crows began to laugh again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to my position for when the filming starts," the crow said, me nodding at him as I simply hid the Time Piece in my small backpack, which managed to hold it easily.

"Time to go to the caboose to meet with the Conductor," I smiled as I proceeded in that direction with a smile on my face. I did have to wonder how the movie would get filmed...


Hat Kid POV:

I saw everything that Mustard saw when she was in that purple rift, which I honestly didn't expect to see. But I knew it was plausible for her to see the memories of the ones affected in those purple rifts, as she wasn't a Hattian. But since she wasn't, she was able to see the memories play out and I saw them as well. And now I knew that DJ Grooves was a fraud and a lying cheater. And that was made blatantly obvious when the first movie role he gave me was basically nothing but trying to make me popular with regular people. It wasn't a movie. It was a celebrity endorsement! But I didn't say anything and instead used my powers to help out in certain challenges such as getting a puppy down from a fountain (it was a cutout piece of plywood), going to an alleyway to tango with some penguin thugs, and using my powers to look at a penguin's mind to deduce which card he had in his hand. A three of spades. And once the thing was all said and done, DJ Grooves gave me one of his Time Pieces and I did a final pose for the camera with it in hand, me winking in it with a big smile.

And when the day came for the movie critics' reception, I smiled at how Mustard's movie, Murder on the Owl Express, was actually the superior one. And the critics agreed. While they gave Grooves's movie a score of 607, they gave the Conductor's movie a rating of 790!

"Well, well, it looks like the Conductor's movie is superior this time," Mustard smirked at me in the waiting rooms.

"Yeah... but so you know, I saw everything that you did in that purple rift. It made me surprised, mostly because I thought only Hattians could see them," I admitted to her.

"Now we know that we need to be careful. We can't tell the duo anything about our plan. And we need to keep to our scripts... oh, and by the way, I'll need to borrow your grappling hook badge. The next movie Conductor signed me up for requires me to be quick and nimble across multiple gaps."

"Okay, here ya go," I smiled as I took the badge off of my hat and put it right on her hood, which she smiled at. "Just remember that the hook is going to come out of your umbrella's tip."

"Got it. Umbrella tip equals grappling hook," Mustard smiled as I then saw that DJ Grooves was approaching us.

"Okay, I think we should go back to our respective directors, now. Good luck, Mustache Girl," I smiled at her.

"And good luck to you as well, Hat Kid," she smiled back at me as I went to DJ Grooves and he looked at me with a smile.

"Getting chummy with the competition are we, darlin'?" he smiled at me.

"Naw, we were just chatting about non-movie stuff. Mainly the rifts that she had to go into to get a couple more of those hourglasses," I said with a smile.

"Rifts? What do they look like?" DJ Grooves asked.

"They're like a sphere with swirls in it and they contain a large gauntlet of skill in order to get to the hourglass at the end. It happens whenever they collide with a person or an object and shatters. As in, nothing good happens," I frowned at him.

"Hmm, I see. So you know, the place we were filming today? There is a blue circle thing in an area by the balconies of the houses to the northwest of the area. You know, where we started filming yesterday? Around that area," DJ Grooves said.

"Got it. So what are we going to do for our next movie?" I asked him.

"Oh, darling, we're going to make you the star of the largest cast of characters in the history of film! You're going to be the center attraction to the most elaborate parade of all time! And you're going to be the leader of a marching band. The fans are going to go ca-razy for it!" DJ Grooves smiled at me. I had to admit, that sounded very fun. "Of course, you'll need to do the shoot first before going to the rift, but when the shoot is done, you'll be free to do the rift or whatever that entails."

"Thanks, pal," I smiled at him as we then went off to our set, which was actually a few blocks away from the studio.