Chapter 7

Upon arrival to Dead Bird Studios at midnight, both myself and Mustard were creeped out at how the place had very little light at all. I needed to use my mask's night vision powers while holding onto Mustard in order to get us to the elevator in the Owl's suite, which was actually near the beginning of their side of the studio, which I was relieved at. I then pushed the button on the elevator to go down and the elevator opened up without issue. I then entered it with Mustard right behind me and I used my night vision to push the button that said basement. The door then closed and we were going down. And we went down for at least three minutes until we finally arrived at the basement, which was shocking that the place had this much depth in its infrastructure!

"Okay, proceed with caution, Ketchup. That loony penguin could be anywhere down here," Mustard warned.

"Agreed on the loony part," I smiled at that as we then saw the only way to progress was to use the thin wires of the electrical cords to cross a very large gap over a large basin of sharp scrap metal. "I have an idea. You, get on my back," I said to Mustard.

"You sure about this?" she asked with caution as she got on my back and she held her arms around my top hat, which made me smile.

"Trust me, I've hefted things ten times heavier than you without losing balance. Strength of a Hattian," I smiled as I then proceeded to run along the wires with precise jumps while avoiding the electrical current the whole way to the other side, where I then had to get to a higher vantage point. And when I did so by climbing up the pipes along the wall, I then saw my next hurdle. A bunch of distance between us and the area in front of us, which would lead to the supplies room.

"Okay, I'm gonna need to have that grappling hook badge I lent you earlier, Mustard," I smiled at her.

"Sure," she smiled as she picked it off her hood and I then placed it back on my hat. I then started to grapple the different light fixtures the whole way across the chasm until we were both on the other side and in the supplies room. And there were boxes stacked as high as you could see!

"Well, this is shocking. Didn't know that those birds had this much stuff!" I gawked at all the stuff until I saw something that made me understand. These things weren't for both of them. Red herring in one stack of boxes, special clocks in another, gaudy fashion designs in at least 14 dozen boxes, and even a box at the top that had a couple of words on it "For my trophies, when I finally get them... official, this is ALL Grooves's stuff! And the fact that he has a box for trophies means something that doesn't look good," I frowned as we then got into the next area to see that it was a security door with a special computer nearby it. I looked at the thing and smiled at how it was child's play compared to my computers on my ship.

"We may need to find the locking mechanisms that open this door," Mustard frowned as I approached the computer with a smile.

"Nah, just watch the master at work," I smiled as I began to type away at the computer's buttons furiously and quickly, not stopping until the amount of buttons I clicked finally overrided the system and the door opened up easy-peasy.

"Whoa... how'd you learn how to hack computers?!" Mustard gawked at me.

"Mustard, honey. Age difference between you and me. I'm at least 169 years old and, taking into account my age is half of that in your terms, I'm still well over 80 years old. I've had experiences from galaxies the world over and learned quite a few different crimes myself for being mischievous and for updating my ship. For instance, even if someone were to guess the secret password to the main central console, only I am the one who can actually operate it. If anyone else operated it, the thing would lock up just from the fact that only my hands are allowed to touch the console via DNA imprinting," I smiled.

"Well... I honestly keep on forgetting how old you are considering your looks... it's like, when I'm in my 20s, you'll still be the same height," Mustard smiled at me.

"I know, but that's how Hattians are. Their very existence is what keeps the Space-Time continuum in check. Every single time a Hattian is born, at least 1000 years are added to the timeline," I smiled.

"How do Hattians get born?" Mustard asked.

"That... is a good question... mother refused to tell me until I was 200 years old, which would mean I'd become an adult... wait... oh no..." I gulped as we found ourselves inside the studio's private housing. And guess what? DJ Grooves had a helper. "Paprika wuz here..." I read the text aloud from a large graffiti sign marked on the Conductor's side of the housing. And in one of DJ Grooves's rooms? All the stolen trophies that clearly belonged to the Conductor! I decided that enough was enough and took out my high-grade camera and started to take photos of the trophies and the graffiti on the wall. I also went further by adding memories into the camera of the hundreds of boxes that Grooves had in the luggage room.

"Oh my god... my sister told DJ Grooves about the Time Pieces! That's just gotta be the reason he was able to win the award!" Mustard gawked.

"This is bad... very bad. But with this special camera I have, we have him caught hook line and sinker. It contains enough evidence to book him for a very long time. All I have to do is push this button here and it will be instantly uploaded to every single news station and computer within a 40 light year radius! Every single person on these planets will know that DJ Grooves is a lying, cheating, corrupt penguin who makes terrible movies," I smiled widely.

"Then what are you waiting for? Press it!" Mustard smiled.

"Not yet. I think I need to wait until we actually see Grooves in person. The moment we start fighting him, I'm going to send it everywhere. And by the time we're done beating those tacky glasses off of his face, the cops should be all over Dead Bird Studios. It may even get the Conductor's attention," I smiled.

"Ah, good thinking! That guy is a genius at making convincing plots! He's sure to aid us in fighting DJ Grooves," Mustard smiled as we finally found a second elevator with a new feature on it. "Huh... Secret Floor? Let's go there," I smiled as I pushed it and the elevator started descending again. This time, it only took 30 seconds before we arrived in a hallway that led to a room that was basically one giant disco arena, complete with a giant disco ball, the multicolored floor, the strobe lights, and all the penguins and DJ Grooves partying like they didn't care.

"HEY, DJ DROOLS!" I exclaimed angrily, making the turntable player stop the music and for the DJ penguin to look at me in surprise.

"HUH?! Well, look what we have here!" DJ Grooves smiled. "Looks like you managed to find out my little secret, darlings. But I am not giving up my final Time Piece so easily. I suggest you stand there like good little girls and forget what you saw here, understand?" DJ Grooves smiled.

"Oh, don't you worry, Grooves. We have the upper hand. See this camera?" I smiled.

"Yeah? What about it?" he asked. I then did the deed and pushed the button, literally all the penguins checking their cell phones and gasping at the status updates that I'd posted with my own little article I added for good measure.

"B-BOSS! SHE JUST SPILLED THE BEANS WORLDWIDE!" the one penguin exclaimed, him looking at him with a frown.

"Come on, player, how could that possibly be the case? Hmm?..." Grooves asked as he then got on his phone and he answered it. "Yo, you got the Grooves! Who this be? I'm kinda busy here," DJ Grooves said into the phone, him then gasping at the words that came out of the phone. "W-WHAT?! What do ya mean my goose is cooked?! I dunno what you talkin' bout, sheriff!" Grooves said in shock. "Wait... all over social media?... ALL FIVE PLANETS KNOW ABOUT IT?! OH THAT FUCKING TEARS IT, BITCHES!" DJ Grooves exclaimed in anger as he then shattered his phone and we entered his arena.

"It's over, DJ Grooves. Your days of smuggling, thieving, con-artistry, and just being an overall lousy director are THROUGH!" I smiled at him.

"Wha?... LOUSY DIRECTOR?! You are really pushing my BUTTONS! If I go down, I'm taking both of you with me!" Grooves exclaimed as he then tried to come after me with his attacks by doing some wrestling slams into the ground, but I was well prepared. I used my own time manipulating bandanna and started to pound into his fat ass for at least 30 seconds of slowed time until I could hear him wheezing. "SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS!" DJ Grooves exclaimed, the guys doing so and me switching to night-vision mask mode in order to see where he was. But guess what? He was still right in front of me as he happened to fix up a small coffee table and three chairs on the fly!

"Come on and sit down. Let's have a little chat, ladies," he said with a pompous smirk.

"Hmph, as you will. No attacking," I frowned at him.

"Of course not. Not to my best actress and her best friend," he smiled, me going into the chair left of him while Mustard got in the chair across from him. "Listen, darlings, ever since you girls came here, them Time Pieces have kept on falling from the sky. Now, I know that they belong to you, but I need to tell you something. These babies have the power to rewind time. If I use this Time Piece, I can go back in time and get all the trophies that should've rightfully gone to me... that the stupid Conductor cheated his life so hard to get. I can't prove it now, ladies, but I know he's been rigging the awards just to tick me off. Just let me have this one little Time Piece and delete all that evidence and you can go home," DJ Grooves smiled, me frowning at him and telling him my point of view.

"Okay, DJ Grooves. You need to learn the hard truth. This is not the first time in my life that someone has messed with my Time Pieces. And do you want me to show you and all of your penguin friends how it worked out for the last guy that tried to rewind time to make it what he wanted?" I asked them, being completely serious in my words.

"Hmph, do tell, what is it?" Grooves asked. I then shared with him the deepest memories that I had never told a single soul since it happened. Not even my mother knew about it. But now, it would all be revealed.


The day was the 6th of January in the Hattian calendar and I was age 101 at the time of the occurrence. I was tending to the stash of Time Pieces in my vault with a smile, having made a crew of roughly three different people at the time, each of them traveling with me after I'd visited and befriended them from each of their unique worlds.

But the day would be one I'd never forget.

As I was inspecting the Time Pieces, I noticed something strange. One of them was missing! I immediately sensed for it on my ship and I saw it was on my head chef's person. He was a very kind person I thought and he made me the best spaghetti my mouth had ever tasted to this very day. But today, he revealed his true colors.

"Chef? Why do you have one of my Time Pieces? I told you those things are off limits to everyone but me," I frowned at him, the chef smiling and laughing at that.

"You really want to know, kid? I saw your journal you keep in your room. It said these things can rewind time for anyone with just a simple smack! I'm going to use that power to become the greatest chef in the universe! I shall serve for the best planets' rulers, my culinary arts will be unbound!" the chef laughed as he then smacked the Time Piece against the table and I gasped audibly as he then rewound time for himself and he vanished from my ship. And just from him doing that one simple misdeed, the planets currently surrounding me had changed drastically. All four of them used to have greenery and vegetation. But now, only one of them still had vegetation. At the northernmost point of the planet. And a huge castle was placed at the very center of it all.

"C-Captain?! What's going on with the world?! What's happening to the planets?!" asked my second mate, Bow Kid, him being in shock just as much as me. And as for my best friend... my friend from the start... Cutlass Hand... she was in shock at the devastation of the world before her.

"NO! The worlds are losing all of their greenery! And all of their water! We need to go save them!" Cutlass Hand exclaimed as she then rushed for the secret escape hatch in the kitchen, Bow Kid rushing after her knowing the repercussions of what'd happen if they left the safety of the ship.

"CUTLASS HAND! STOP! WE'LL BE ERA-" Bow Kid said before I heard the sound of him getting muffled. He was being crammed in it first! I gasped as I looked out of the ship towards the planet he'd just been sent to and I saw Cutlass Hand follow after. And the moment they were at least a mile away from my ship, it happened. I watched helplessly as their bodies aged to dust right before my very eyes!

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO! ! ! ! ! !" I exclaimed in utter disbelief, shock, sadness, and despair. My entire crew... they were gone. The chef had to be taken down... but it wouldn't bring back Bow Kid or Cutlass Hand after they were turned to ashes in space. They'd be lost in the voids of time immemorial.


"Oh my god... Surely you must've saved them after defeating that traitorous chef, right?!" DJ Grooves asked in shock, me sighing and shaking my head.

"That's not how it works. See, if someone is within a mile of my ship and someone screws with the space-time continuum like the chef did, they'll be completely unaffected from the effects. Same can be said if they were over a mile away from the ship when it happened and I fixed the events that happened. They would have been completely unharmed... but anyone on my ship that was on it and then tries to get a mile away after that happens... their bodies age to dust, the particles being sent to various different timelines across the universe, never to be recovered... Cutlass Hand... Bow Kid..." I sniffed at the memories of them before I finally broke down into tears, me feeling something touch me and seeing that it happened to be DJ Grooves handing me a Time Piece.

"Here... if these things are truly this dangerous, I don't want nothing to do with them no-how," DJ Grooves said, me taking the Time Piece with a smile. "I only ask for one thing in return, darling. Get rid of the evidence. Once you do that, I'll start fresh," he said. And he happened to be bopping his head when he said that, a form of dancing. He only lied when he wasn't dancing.

"Fine, I'll do it," I said as I focused my powers into the camera and forced it to auto-delete the news from all over the world followed by another message that said. "Pranked ya!"

"Okay, now I suggest you try to have a bit more experience in trying to make movies, DJ Grooves. Speaking from my mouth, your movies aren't really that well paced or have much plot to them. Here, have this. It might help you get inspired," I smiled as I gave him something personal through my tears.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's my dream journal," I said. "It contains all of my vivid dreams I've had in my lifetime, which is over 44 years worth. I describe them with great detail. Maybe it can inspire you to make better movies. I'll be looking forward to catching them in the future, so don't let me down," I smiled at him.

"Thanks, darling," he smiled as he hugged me after that, me smiling at the softness of it as I saw the Conductor in the stands with a smile on his face. I smiled and put my fingers to my lips and he smiled and nodded at that.

"Okay, boss. What say we get going back to the ship? We should be able to get to the next place after a good rest," Mustard smiled at me, me smiling at the fact she called me boss.

"Okay..." I smiled as I used the power of the Time Piece and we were warped back to my ship, me intentionally warping both of us to the engine room so I could check out the gallery before we went off to the vault.

"What's up, Ketchup?" Mustard smiled.

"I think that I happened to see one of the Time Pieces fall in the gallery before... aha! There it is!" I smiled as I found the Time Piece right by the stand in the gallery of a special treasure I found on a different planet that viewed my ship as something totally different and mocking.

"Sweet! That's 21 under our belt now! Time for the next area, but only after we get some sleep," Mustard smiled.

"Agreed. Just need to lock up everything before we do so," I smiled as I proceeded to lock up all the different exits, entrances, vaults, and all electronics before I then opened the way to the bedroom and, after we saw that the Mafia Boss was currently sleeping, we went into my bedroom and I smiled at the place.

"Okay, you can sleep in the mountain of stuffed animals while I get the bed," I smiled.

"You just gave away the store, missy," Mustard smiled as she went up to the diving board and dove into the large pile of plushies, her giggling at it before she closed her eyes contentedly, me smiling at her as I then went to my bed and closed my eyes, clapping my hands for the lights to turn off as I then started to dream.