Chapter 3: Back In Business
We arrived back at the kitchen and walked back out into the main hub.
"Well... didn't think I'd be back here again," Moustache Girl muttered.
"Life is funny like that," I replied.
"I guess so," She said, "Anyway, I can just sleep on the floor if there's nowhere else."
"No way!" The kid shouted, "We wouldn't let you just sleep on the floor! That's mean!"
Moustache Girl scratched her head.
"Come on!" The kid shouted, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her down to where my old hammock laid. "You can sleep here if you want. Or I can set up something in my pillow mountain."
Moustache Girl perked up at that.
"I'm sorry, did you just say pillow MOUNTAIN?!" She gasped.
The kid nodded rapidly.
"Wanna see?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah!" Moustache Girl replied eagerly.
"Follow me!"
The two girls ran off to the kid's bedroom.
I took a sigh of relief.
It was nice to see the kid getting along with another girl around her age. There was only so much adults could do, there were just some things that only little girls could do together, because of their shared interests and shared understandings and whatnot.
So... yeah, it made me happy to see it finally happening... and made me wonder if there were any other kids her age on this planet.
Seeing how eager the two girls were, though, I figured it'd be best to just leave the kid to touring her around, I'd just get in the way.
So I waited in the main hub and watched them zoom back and forth, barely able to hear them talk before they zoomed too far away to hear.
It was like the kid got a friend over for a slumber party, it was the most adorable thing ever.
However, it didn't take long for their tour to finish, what with the spaceship being not very big and how fast they were bouncing around the place.
So the two girls, now slightly exhausted, sat in the main hub, the kid grinning from ear to ear and Moustache Girl just appearing amazed.
"Well, there's definitely more to this place than I first thought, that's for sure!" She shouted.
The kid nodded rapidly.
"I guess I'll go back down to Mafia Town, though," She said, "I'll wait until you two fix your dumb lock before I set up shop in here. And again... thanks a lot. It's been... I don't even know how long since I've had an actual home to live in."
I nodded slowly.
"Alright, and it's no problem. Just stay out of trouble, yeah?" I said.
"Will do," She responded.
"Are you sure you'll be okay until it's ready?" The kid questioned.
Moustache Girl just shrugged it off.
"Eh, I've dealt with the Mafia being jerks for how long, I can deal with this too," She muttered.
"We'll take your word for it," I replied.
She then got up and ran over to the hatch.
I chuckled.
"You know there's a better way to get down, right?" I asked her with a smirk.
She gave me a confused look.
"Go into the kitchen and take a gander through that telescope, it'll take you right down," I explained.
"You aliens are weird," She muttered as she walked over to the kitchen.
"Hey, I didn't design this place," I countered with a smirk, "I just live here."
"Still weird!" She shouted, "See ya!"
I quickly got up and meandered to the kitchen, and she was gone.
So I turned around and walked out, then looked down at the kid sitting below.
"Well? Where to now, kid?" I asked.
"Subcon, duh!" She shouted.
I chuckled. How'd I know she was gonna say that?
"Alrighty then," I said.
So, we mosied our way over to the telescope in her room and beamed ourselves down to Snatcher's tree.
Looking around, it was evident Snatcher wasn't in his typical spot, although his book was resting open-side down on his chair.
I walked over to the tree and stepped inside.
Hmm... a thought struck me.
I picked up his book...
"BOO!"
I didn't even budge.
I smirked and nonchalantly put the book down, and looked up to see the soulstealer standing there looking very confused.
"You know, that was pretty predictable," I said, "I knew that was coming from a mile away. You need to step your game up, Snatcher."
He growled
"Well, that's one way to ruin my day. You two seem to be very good at finding those," He grumbled.
"Says the one who begged us to stay," I countered.
"'BEGGED'?" He shouted, then made a gagging sound, "Wow... I didn't even know I could still do that... Anyway, I did not BEG you! If you think I did, you need to visit a psychiatrist, cause you're clearly delusional! I merely have contracts you need to do that you vowed you would! Business! NOT-... you're screwing with me, aren't you?"
I slowly clapped.
"You're starting to learn," I said, "It's a miracle!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Beginning to think I should've just let the contracts go," He muttered, "Anyway, enough chitchat. Time for business!"
He snapped his fingers and a contract appeared.
"Seeing as you two are staying permanently, I've got more of a long-game approach planned here. Just take a look!" He said proudly.
I read the contract thoroughly... frowning the whole way through.
"I have to do what now?!" I scoffed.
The contract was called Forest Building Service.
I'd have to help expand Subcon Village by helping build housing.
Me. Building.
What?
And if anything got in our way, like trees, mushrooms, or even freaking nooses, I'd have to deal with those by myself.
"Relax!" Snatcher shouted, "You have all the time in the world to do this! And I'm not chaining you here this time, so you can leave whenever you want! But don't forget, or you'll be hearing from me!"
"And this is just the first contract?" I asked desolately.
"First of five! This is the easy one!" He laughed.
"You are joking," I hissed.
"Of course!" He shouted, "There's actually seven!"
I gave him the hardest death glare I could muster.
"Hey, I actually was joking about the 'easy one' part," He said, "They should all take the same amount of time. I'm no sadist."
"That's debatable," The kid said.
I sighed.
"This is still going to be a nightmare," I grumbled.
"Oh, don't you complain, you know why I'm doing this. How much you value her life for, hm? How many contracts do you think she's worth?" He mocked.
...
I took a deep breath.
"It's immeasurable," I muttered, admitting defeat.
"That's what I thought," He said with a smirk, "So be happy I don't make you do more!"
I nodded slowly.
"Also, you don't have to begin right away. Start whenever! As long as it gets done in a reasonable amount of time, I don't care!" He shouted.
"True," I said, "Now that I think about it, this is actually quite generous."
"See? Ain't I just the best 'bff' ever? (Whatever that is...)" He exclaimed.
Both me and the kid laughed at that.
"Yeah, sure, buddy," I said.
"Well if you're not gonna get started today, then scram! I don't need you distracting my minions," He grumbled.
"Well, that's a complete 180 from what you just said, but okay," I said, "Should we go, kid?"
She nodded.
"Alright," I said. I then walked up to her and turned back to Snatcher with a smirk.
"Later, spook!"
We teleported back before he could respond, both of us chuckling.
"Well. That just about covers everything, right?" I questioned.
"We haven't gone down to Alpine Skyline or the Metro," She explained.
"Is there really anything left for us to do in Alpine Skyline? We're not exactly best buds with anyone there, we just know them and they just know us," I said, "I don't even know if they know we live in a spaceship."
"But the Metro?" She suggested.
Right...
"That's a different story, we do have things to do there," I muttered, "Would probably be best to hop down and see if the Empress wants anything from us after this whole fiasco."
With that, the kid nodded and ran off.
I was about to run after her, but...
"Hey."
I turned around to see the Traveller standing there.
"Hello... again," I greeted, "Come to puzzle me again?"
"Not at all," He said, "In fact, I've come here to make you an offer."
"An offer?" I asked.
"Yes, an offer," He confirmed, "I'm willing to offer you training. For your power. Seeing as you're settling down here, I don't think there's any other way to help unlock it. And that's not good for either of us."
"I suppose," I muttered, "Is there a catch?"
"Not really," He denied, "I'm just trying to help, as usual."
Something seemed mildly off about the way he said that... but he was kind of an off guy in general.
"Alright," I agreed, "Sounds good. Just let me know when and where to begin."
"I will," He said, "See you later."
He then vanished.
I shook my head.
Something I'd noticed... he'd kinda changed. At first he was all spooky, mysterious, a riddler type person. Whereas now he seemed a bit more... casual? He was still mysterious, he always would be, but it was still weird.
"Are you coming or what?" I heard the kid shout.
"Huh- yeah!" I shouted back and ran out. Gotten completely distracted.
She was waiting impatiently in the main hub.
"I already think I know what the holdup was," She said, "But whatever, you can spill the beans later, let's goooooooooo!"
She then dragged me down all the way to the metro room.
I noticed the huge pile of cash was gone, though.
"Well, that's peculiar," I said, "I'm gonna bet the Empress had something to do with this."
She nodded.
"Let's go say hi!" She shouted, running over to the telescope and peering through. I did the same.
After our typical boring route, we found ourselves at the Main Station and walked over to the Empress' jewelry store. I noticed how this time, the caution tape and policecats were gone.
We entered the store.
"Well, well, well. Back so soon."
We walked up to the counter where the Empress stood, as per usual.
"You two must just be raring to be put to work, aren't you?" She said, chuckling.
"Well, after the whole... uh... planet getting ruined fiasco, we figured it'd be a good idea to stop by and see if anything's changed," I explained.
"No," She negated, "You cleaned up the mess you caused. If anything, I should have you do more work for wasting my time."
I scratched my head.
"Also, I sent a team of my best cats to take back my money. Seems pretty fair, if you ask me, you did betray me," She grumbled.
"Yeah..." I muttered uncomfortably, "So, will we begin soon?"
"Be back here at this time in a week for your first mission debriefing. Don't be late," She ordered.
We nodded, then promptly left.
On the way to our route out, though...
"So, you think you two can just walk back in here and get away with it, huh?"
I turned around to see a large group of cats circling us. Some had baseball bats, others had kunais, others had shurikens.
"Of course not. You think we'd be stupid enough to come back here after near certain death unless we had a very good reason? No," I grumbled.
"Yet here you are, walking around like you own the place. Looks to me like someone has a place to be taught, eh fellas?"
A resounding 'yeah!'
"Talk to your boss. We're working for her for free to make up for our betrayal. If you don't like that, I'm sure she'll gladly listen to your complaints," I spat.
"Liar!"
"Moron!"
"You really think we'll believe that?"
"Reality is often stranger than fiction," I said with a shrug.
"Not today! Get 'em!"
I braced for impact.
Of all the ways to die...
"Not. So. Fast."
The Empress walked forward.
"Now, normally I'm not one to care very much about who lives or who dies in this place, but you've just happened to chosen the two people who I happen to have business with," She hissed.
"They betrayed us!" A cat shouted, "And you're... working with them?!"
A thud was heard.
"Watch who you're talking to, idiot!" Another hissed.
Empress chuckled darkly.
"I know what they did," She said, staring directly at me, "And you'd best bet I'll never let it happen again. But they're talented... and they struck me a deal I can't refuse. It'd be a shame to see that, well, go to waste."
I wasn't sure what to say to that.
"So. I don't want to see a single paw laid on them unless I specifically order it. I don't think I need to say what'll happen if this is ignored," She hissed, "Am I clear?"
A chorus of confirmations.
"Good. Now get back to work!"She roared.
The crowd dispersed, leaving just the three of us.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she rolled her eyes.
"Don't even start. I didn't do this for you, I'd have gladly let you die were it any other situation," She scoffed, "We have a deal. I don't take kindly to other people interfering with my business. So just get out of here before this happens again. I won't save you next time."
We did exactly what she said, and got the PECK out of there.
Of all the people who could've saved our lives... this planet just managed to get stranger and stranger.
A/N: Alright. That wraps this chapter up. So our favourite duo are gonna be working THREE jobs at once, and only one paying! (Well, Hat Kid technically has two but you know she's not gonna let Markus be all alone.)
Anyway, for reviews:
I already gave a detailed reply to HeadPhoneKid in a private message, so don't worry, I'm not ignoring anybody. But again, thank you very much.
And for Xenuro... that makes two of us! Thank you, I appreciate it a lot. As for your suggestion... Moustache Girl's residence is only temporary. As Markus said, dealing with one over-the-top kid is enough. Although that's still a wonderful idea.
I'd like to take this moment to make something clear, however.
If you have a suggestion, PM me! I check my inbox every day!
If you're simply unable to, then that's perfectly fine, but I'd really prefer to get suggestions in the form of private messages, not reviews. Just makes life easier for me.
So yeah. If you can and you're wanting to suggest something, PM me. Thanks.
As for the next chapter... I'm not 100% sure yet. But I'll figure something out. See you all then.
