Chapter 13

Hat Kid POV:

Upon entering the arena that Sanatch and Vanessa warped me and Paprika to, I realized that the place was filled with bright colors and that our arena was circular and a bit spacious. And Paprika was still unconscious, so I laid her on the ground and waited for her to wake up. After a few minutes, she finally did so and looked surprised by the change of surroundings.

"Whuh?! W-Where in the hell am I?!" she asked in shock before she locked eyes with me and she frowned angrily. "You..." she growled at me.

"Yeah, what about me?" I asked her honestly.

"You are the most selfish bitch in the universe! You had all that power with those Time Pieces and you choose not to fight evil! All you care about is yourself and helping out criminals!" Paprika growled angrily.

"Oh, really? Like how you helped out DJ Grooves, who cheated to win an award and planned to rewind time to get more?" I frowned at her, Paprika stammering a bit and her looking a bit troubled.

"I-I..." she stuttered as I spoke some more.

"Oh, and how about Prince Sanatch and Queen Vanessa? Not only did I help them out, I transformed the entire planet of Subcon back to normal without needing to rewind time! I helped them out while they were in transformed and demonic states, yet you decide to just rewind time and erase everything you think is bad," I frowned at her.

"I-Shut up! You have no-" she was about to finish before I explained even further.

"And remember the Mafia Boss? His name is Sterling Gold and he made Mafia Town for a reason. So he could make your planet have water on it. You turning on all of those faucets in the town? All that did was turn the volcano back on, which managed to bring water to the world the moment it got sealed. So not only would you have killed a whole mess of people if your plan succeeded, you would've been the complete opposite of who you claim to be," I frowned at her, Paprika growling as I saw tears form in her eyes.

"S-SHUT UP! I will not be called a bad guy by someone as sleazy and selfish as you! Tell me, if you had those Time Pieces for so bloody long, why wouldn't you go back and change anything in the timeline?!" she asked me angrily. I simply frowned and showed her something that I'd never shown a single person.

"I have," I frowned as I showed her the one time I tried to change the timeline... and the massive consequences it had.


It was my 79th birthday and I was just finishing the touches on my ship. It was also at this time that I finally learned the secrets of the Time Pieces that were inside of my body and I converted the ship to run on their power. And once the vault was filled, I then put in the coordinates back home, wondering how long it'd take... and when the data came back, I was stunned at how it would take roughly 120 years to get back. "This can't be right!" I exclaimed as I tried to think of some way to make the trip take less time... but then I looked at the Time Pieces and did the unthinkable. I started to rewind time. And when I did so, I did something I would immediately undo the moment I realized the severity of it. I rewound time to when I was an infant and being kidnapped by the pirate.

I knocked him out and gave my baby self back to my parents... but when I did that, the changes to the planet happened right in front of me when I went back to normal times. The planet had become a hellhole for everyone and I was ruling them all with an iron fist, even to the point that I'd locked up my own parents!

I immediately rectified my problem by battling and defeating the alternate me, which was easier said than done. And when she finally was defeated, I grabbed the Time Pieces and rewound time again, this time, undoing everything I did that screwed the timeline. And when I woke up again on my ship, I knew that these Time Pieces would be destructive to everyone if used by the wrong people. I made a vow from that day forward that I would never again rewind time to suit my own needs.


When I finished showing her the memories, Paprika gasped and looked taken aback by what she saw.

"J-Just changing one thing from your past... made you an evil dictator in the future?" she asked in absolute shock.

"Yes. But there is one other thing that I am still completely confused about concerning both you and Mustard in particular," I frowned, Paprika looking at me in confusion as I saw the influence leave her body and enter my own.

"What is it?" she asked in shock as she fell to the ground on her hands and knees, completely drained from the power leaving her body.

"You were able to use the powers of the Time Pieces despite never knowing about them before... and your sister, Mustard, was able to see the Memory Pons of those struck by Time Pieces in purple Time Rifts, something that only a Hattian can do... I want to know... was your biological father or mother a Hattian? Or was it the same people back on my ship?" I asked, Paprika sighing and laying down on her side at that.

"My mother... she said that, when me and Mustard were conceived, that she had a strange dream where she saw a mysterious man appear and touch her on the stomach... and he was said to be made of constellations... Bryce is the only member of the family to have been born the natural way," Paprika said with a sigh.

"I see..." I frowned, noting that she was now no longer a threat, especially since she gave me back all the powers she had and I then looked in the air and smiled. "Okay, Sanatch and Vanessa. I'm victorious, you can warp us back now," I said, me then feeling my body leave the place as well as Paprika, me holding her in my grasp and her smiling and hugging me... and her grip was actually so tight, that I could barely breathe when she grabbed my neck!

"HACK!" I coughed as I forced her hand off my neck and I breathed in deeply at that, me now knowing the full truth.

"Is something wrong, Hat Kid?" Saul asked when I breathed in and out after that.

"Guys, I need to explain something here... there's a reason that Paprika was able to use the powers of a Hattian so effortlessly. And it also explains why Mustard is able to see the Memory Pons of anyone caught in a purple time rift," I said, them looking at me in confusion.

"What's the reason?" Bryce asked.

"I think that you, Rosemary, may have been chosen by one of the guardian Hattians to have Mustard and Paprika be Hattians... but obviously, not full blooded," I said, Mustard gawking at that.

"What do you mean, Ketchup?" Mustard asked.

"I'm saying that you and Paprika are half Hattian. It's the only explanation I can think of," I frowned.

"H-How is that possi... wait... does that explain why I got pregnant with you girls? Because I never even was married when I had Paprika and she's the eldest," Rosemary gawked.

"Then that proves it... but I'm going to need to have a talk with my mom in dream time the next I fall asleep to confirm this... keep Paprika on a constant check-in basis. She was corrupted by the powers of my Time Pieces, which is why she was so angry at all of you. She's probably going to be asleep for well over 20 hours of your time," I frowned.

"Um... but what about the party?" DJ Grooves asked.

"Yeah, we busted our beaks tryin' to get up here for the party! We're not leavin' until we've got a proper shindig, ya here, lassie?" the Conductor said, me smiling at that.

"Fine, we'll commence the rest of the party starting... now!" I smiled widely.