Chapter 6
Hat Kid POV:
"Ugh... so many fans... the cheering... the constant touching... I feel exhausted..." I groaned as I had Mustard with me in the seats for the awards ceremony. I did manage to also get the Time Piece at the end of the rift DJ Grooves mentioned, but after that, I needed some sleep. I'd been operating on over 2 Hattian days without sleep after all!
"I'll watch over you while you catch a few Zs, Ketchup," Mustard smiled at me.
"Thanks..." I smiled as I then tried to dream. And to my surprise, I was immediately able to connect my mind to my mother's.
"Darling... you look dead tired. What have you been doing?" mom asked me with a worried tone in her voice.
"Ugh... a bit of turbulence in my ship happened, mother... the Time Pieces that power it were scattered across at least 5 different planets in the system I'm currently in... and I'm needing to team up with a little girl with a mustache on her in order to find them... and something else... her sister, Paprika, is wanting to use them to delete all evil from the universe..." I groaned, mother gasping at that.
"My child... you must've had quite the rough four days so far... have you been operating on four days without sleep?" mom asked me in shock, me only then gasping at that.
"Oh my god... you're right! The planets I keep going to have the same timeframe, which is nearly half the time for us Hattians!... So that means I've been awake for four straight days!... Ugh... I need to keep up a consistent sleep schedule..." I groaned.
"I recommend sleeping at least four hours a day if you can. You mustn't allow this Paprika woman to alter the timeline in any manner. I don't think I need to mention of what may happen if she succeeds, right?" mother asked me.
"I know already. If she eliminates all evil from the universe, nearly everyone in the world will be in grave danger. Both bad people and good people will never exist, planets would change drastically, and people would be erased from history... I can't allow that to happen to anyone... especially you... oh, I wish I could just see your face... Just one time..." I said with tears in my eyes.
"I know, darling... I know... you'll need to sleep for a bit, though. Regather your energy to collect your Time Pieces. The fate of the universe lies in your hands," mother said, me smiling as I felt her voice leave me and I slept normally a bit... but then I gasped awake as I saw that Mustard was shaking me awake... and I saw that it was nearly 9 pm in this planet!
"Wh... Who won?" I asked her.
"DJ Grooves did... but here's the thing. He won by only one point. A last-minute entry for a tie-breaker. I smell a rat and so does the Conductor... but DJ Grooves did tell me to give you this Time Piece as thanks for helping him win the award," Mustard smiled as she handed me a Time Piece and I smiled at her.
"Thanks... so I fell asleep at what time again?" I asked.
"Around 6. Why?" she asked.
"That means I've been asleep for 6 hours, then. I needed that rest... thanks," I smiled at her.
"Wait... huh? What are you talking about? It's been three hours," Mustard frowned.
"For everyone in this system of planets, yes, that would be the case. But as for my home planet, we have a time schedule that runs twice as fast as these ones. So one day for you is actually 2 for me. I was running on four days of no sleep," I smiled at Mustard, her gawking at that.
"Whoa, that's bad... we need to get back to the ship. You do the deed."
"Right," I smiled as I focused the power into our Time Pieces and we got back to the ship... but upon arriving back in the Engine Room, I was about to go through the door and I was surprised by something. "Huh? Locked? That's not right..." I frowned. I then tried to sense for other lifeforms on my ship, but I sensed none. I the heard a ringing noise from nearby and saw it came from the telephone booth I input to call my mother at certain times. "I'll get it," I smiled as I answered the call. "Hello, you've reached the spaceship of Hat Kid," I smiled at the person on the other end... but the voice on the other end terrified me.
"The award ceremony was rigged. DJ Grooves has massive skeletons in his closet," the voice said, it sounding completely demonic... "Go to Dead Bird Studio at Midnight. I'll leave the front door open for you. Get to their basement from the Owl studio's lounge. What do you think goes on under the studio when the day is done? Discover the truth," the voice said, it then hanging up and me gulping and hanging the phone up afterwards.
"Hey! The door's working now," Mustard smiled at me... but I was a bit shaken. "What's up, mate?"
"Someone just called saying that DJ Grooves won unfairly. He said to go to the basement of Dead Bird Studio at midnight tonight and that the caller would leave the front door open... but the voice sounded utterly terrifying..." I gulped as I shook a bit. I'd never heard a voice that scary before... but Mustard smiled at me.
"You don't get it? That was Conductor callin' ya! He used that same voice with me durin' the Murder on the Owl Express movie. Remember?" she asked, me gasping as I did remember. The voice sounded just like the mystery caller in the movie that Mustard starred in as the detective!
"Oh yeah, you're right! That could very easily be the case!... Okay, let's go to the safe to put in the Time Pieces and then spend some time deciding on a plan of attack to the basement of Dead Bird Studio," I smiled.
"Agreed," Mustard smiled as we went to the vault and deposited our Time Pieces, the score now coming out to 19 total. "Okay, one more and my bedroom will have power back," I smiled.
"Alright, now let's-" Mustard was about to say... but the alarms suddenly went off out of nowhere! I gasped as I happened to see someone waiting outside of my spaceship that I did not expect. It was the leader of the mafia and he was in a rocket-powered wheelchair!
"Ahem... excuse me, but I'd like to join you on the ship, please?... Mafia boss feel threatened from Paprika woman," the boss said, me frowning at him and switching my hat to the announcing set.
"And why should I trust you again?" I asked him.
"Mafia boss don't expect you to trust in me... but think about it. Chair too big to go up your tiny ramps, legs broken, and escape doors boarded up. Mafia boss no harm to you," the guy said, me sighing at that and looking at Mustard with a frown.
"I'm going to ask... what do you think, Mustard?" I asked my friend.
"He's an evil person, but that just means he's a big target for my sister's plans. And like he said, he won't be of any harm. Let him on, but make sure he is restricted to this room only," Mustard frowned.
"Fine, you're in. If you need to use the bathroom or need food, talk to my service disc. She'll help you out," I smiled at him.
"Um... service disc?" Mustard asked as I warped the Mafia boss to the main room and I immediately took off the rockets that were on his wheelchair, which the mafia boss sighed at.
"Sorry, but I can't take chances. Espeically with the contents of that vault. The items within are incredibly dangerous and can spell doom upon the whole universe if misused," I frowned.
"Yes, I heard you say that before. Back in main suite," he said.
"Correct. Now, like I said, the service disc here can help with getting you food, drink, and helping you go to the bathroom. Just say the word followed by the word please and she'll do it for ya," I smiled as I then demonstrated as the disc came around to me. "Water, please," I smiled at it.
"Refreshments on their way," the service disc smiled as it then made a couple beeping noises and Mustard and the mafia boss were surprised and stunned when a glass of water floated from the kitchen all the way to my hand. "Refreshments are served," the service disc smiled... before it then smacked into the display of one of my personal treasures and groaned. "Ack! Changing directions," she smiled, making Mustard smirk.
"She uh... has a couple of kinks to work out in the movement department, but she's getting better," I smiled at them.
"Cute little robot," the mafia leader smiled.
"Oh, and one more thing, the buttons on my control panel are all off limits. In fact..." I frowned as I then went to the desk and put it into sleep mode. "Okay, now the thing can't be broken into unless they put my secret password inside. And nobody but me knows my password," I smiled.
"Password please?" Mustard smiled as the service disc.
"Unauthorized access. Please say Master Recognition Code in 30 seconds or the alarms will go off," the service bot said, me smiling at her and saying the word to her.
"Mocha Malt of Mount Moon," I smiled.
"Master Recognition Code recognized. Alarms canceled," the service bot smiled.
"Okay, so is that the password for the console?" Mustard asked, me shaking my head no with a smile.
"You think I'm going to reuse the Master Recognition Code for my entire ship's controls? I have a password for anything on my ship of grave importance. I require a different password for the central control panel, the main engine, the boiler room temperature controls, and even to gain entry into the laboratory," I smiled.
"Wait, you have a lab on this ship?" Mustard gawked.
"Yes, but it won't be able to open up until we have a total of 40 Time Pieces," I said.
"Ah, okay. Hmm..." Mustard frowned as she looked at her watch and I looked at it too. It was roughly 11 pm on the planet of the birds according to it. "Time seemed to have passed quickly, huh? Let's go to the bird place in roughly 50 minutes. That should give us the opportunity to have a nice soft landing," Mustard smiled.
"Your wish will be granted," I smiled at her.
