Chapter 5: Road to Redemption
A/N: Ack, sorry this took so long. I got hooked on a new game that came out recently: Paper Mario: The Origami King. It's AMAZING. And it has a main character that just might be more adorable than Hat Kid (don't believe me? go see for yourself.)
Also, I wasn't quite sure how I was gonna do this chapter for awhile, so those two factors combined kinda ground progress to a halt.
As for now, I'll do my best to try and upload at a reasonable rate, but I'm kinda planning an Origami King fanfiction, so... uh... again, I'll do my best.
When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was check the kid's room. If the moustached kid showed up during the night, she'd probably be in the giant pillow pile.
I opened the door, and sure enough, the red-hooded girl laid atop a pillow, snoring away.
Even from afar, I noticed she had some bruises though.
"Guess she wasn't joking about being attacked," I muttered quietly.
I sighed. Poor kid... she just wanted to help, and all this happens.
I knew what it was like... although not at this extent. I had all sorts of bad memories about trying to do something that seemed nice that ended up going horribly wrong... that I'd rather not go into detail about.
It wouldn't stay like this, though.
I knew it would change. With our help, we could find ways to help her apologize to everybody. Would people forget what she did? Of course not. But forgiving and forgetting are two different things. And I, personally, would rather be forgiven than forgotten.
I nodded and walked out with a determined look on my face.
Satisfied, I went and got ready for the day, then sat and waited in the main hub for the girls to wake up.
It wasn't a very long wait before they both came wandering out. Moustache Girl looked very tired, a sharp contrast to the kid running out with a smile on her face.
"Morning," I greeted, "How'd you two sleep?"
"Great!" The kid shouted.
Moustache Girl just shrugged her shoulders.
"Kinda hard to sleep knowing your planet doesn't want you," She muttered.
I noticed the kid's smile disappear instantly.
"Well, I'm sure they'll come around," I replied, "And you could always try to make it up to them if you wanted to. Nothing gets people to forgive you like an apology gift."
"I'm NOT apologizing to the Mafia!" She yelled, "Do you even know what they did?"
...
"They took over your home," I muttered.
"Yes, they did," She hissed, "And now I don't have a home or a family because of it!"
"Oh... I never knew that part of the story," I responded bleakly, "I can see why you hate them so much now. You're right, I don't think they really deserve an apology... not as a group, but there are some good Mafia members out there. They're not all bad."
"I don't care," She replied.
"... Well, you can at least apologize to the birds, and the nomads," I suggested.
"I guess so... what should I do, then?" She asked.
I turned to the kid and smirked.
"The two of us will go ask 'em all things they like, and we'll tell you what we learn. That way, the three of us can come up with perfect ways to apologize to them," I stated.
The kid grinned from ear to ear and gave a double thumbs up.
"So... should I just stay here, then?" Moustache Girl asked, "There's not a lot to do around here..."
"You can do whatever you want. It's your life, after all," I said.
She smirked.
"Good, cause I got some Mafia to mess with!" She chuckled before running toward the kitchen, "See ya!"
I turned back to the kid.
"Well, we should probably get started, huh?" I suggested.
She nodded. First place we went was Mafia Town, to find Cooking Cat. So, we made a beeline for the Mafia Headquarters and went inside. And sure enough, it didn't take long to find her.
"Oh, hello dears!" She greeted as she ran by, "I'm a bit busy today... but I can make time. What brings you two here today?"
"We wanted to know if you want or need anything. Like for a gift!" The kid explained happily.
"A gift? For me?" She laughed warmly, "Oh, I don't need anything. I'm plenty happy with what I have now."
"You sure?" I asked.
"Positive, dear," She replied, "But thank you for asking!"
I nodded slowly.
"If you say so," I said, "See you later, then."
She waved and ran off.
"She really must not've been joking about being busy," I muttered, "I guess we should go check on the directors now?"
"Mhm," The kid said, "Let's get going, the faster, the better!"
She ran off, and I quickly followed suit. Outside, we returned to the ship, quickly went over to the Machine Room, and teleported down to the studio.
Inside, I saw something I never thought I'd see before.
Conductor and DJ Grooves were standing there, having a... normal conversation? Conductor seemed oddly calm, and DJ Grooves didn't look displeased.
As we walked forward, Conductor noticed us and waved.
"Ah, what great timin'!" He shouted, "Get over here!"
Intrigued, I walked over to them, and the kid did the same.
"Alright, something's up, you two having a conversation without yelling at eachother, what's the big idea?" I said with faked suspicion.
Conductor laughed.
"I'll let DJ Grooves explain," He muttered.
Huh. For once he referred to him normally.
"Alright, darlin'," He said, "Thanks to recent events, we've been having some chats recently, and we've gotten to know eachother a bit better. Because of this, we've decided that we're going to do something absolutely unheard of."
"And that is?" I asked.
"A collaboration project!" He shouted proudly, "The crowds will go absolutely crazy!"
I was dumbfounded.
These two birds, who've been bitter enemies for God knows how long, somehow manage to put aside their differences and decide to work together in under a week.
How is that even possible?
... Perhaps it'd be better to just go with it.
"Cool," I said, "I take it we're gonna be getting busy soon, then?"
"Aye, I knew ye'd ask that," Conductor chuckled, "It's not like we'd find anyone better to be the stars, eh? And we already talked earlier about gettin' ye both permanent actin' roles here, so... yeah, we already assumed ye'd be takin' part in this."
"Do you guys not have contracts here or something?" I asked.
They both facepalmed.
"Contracts are the business of that spook," Conductor grumbled, "We do verbal agreements here. We'll come lookin' for ya when we're ready to set up a deal. Alright?"
"Okay then," I muttered, then a thought clicked into my head. "Wait, why did we come here again...?"
The kid smirked, shook her head, and stepped forward.
"We wanted to know if you two wanted anything for a gift," She said, "Something that'd mean a lot to you."
Oh, right. That's why we came here.
"A gift?" DJ Grooves asked, "Well, that's certainly an interesting question. If you don't mind me asking, why ask?"
Conductor nodded.
"Just wondering for future reference," I lied.
Their following silence told me that they didn't buy it.
"Hmm, okay then," DJ Grooves said, "I love anything related to space, technology, flashy lights, or music."
"And anything western, mechanical, or just generally train-related 'ill put a smile on my face," Conductor explained.
"Duly noted," I replied, "Thanks, and see you two soon, I guess."
They both quickly said goodbyes, and we left.
"A collaboration project," I thought aloud, "Who would've thought?"
"It sounds so fun!" The kid exclaimed, "I can't wait to see what they come up with!"
"No kidding," I agreed, "And we won't be running for our lives! It's a win-win!"
She laughed.
"Well, I think you know where we're going next," She said mischeviously.
"Subcon?" I guessed.
"Of course!" She beamed, running for her bedroom.
I smirked and followed.
After a short gander through the old telescope, we found ourselves at Snatcher's oh-so-recognizeable tree.
"WHY HELLO THERE!"
I whipped around to see Snatcher standing there, huge grin on his face.
"Did I getcha?" He taunted.
"You wish," I retorted, "That was very fast. Were you waiting for us?"
"In fact, I was! But not for the reason you think, punk!" He spat, "I take it you're here to start your contractual obligations?"
"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnot quite," I replied.
His grin vanished.
"Then why are you even here?" He grumbled.
"Who says we can't visit just to visit our contractually obligated BFF?" The kid said, a sly grin on her face.
Snatcher's eye twitched.
"Jokes aside, we were here to ask about... uh..." I said.
How would I say this in a way that wouldn't make either of us uncomfortable?
"Is there anything you want or need?" I ask.
"What I need," He replied almost instantly, "is peace and quiet, and FOR THIS WORK TO GET DONE! So get to it or get lost!"
I sighed. He always had to make things difficult.
"Well, let's get going, then," I grumbled, and we left.
The kid seemed a bit bummed out upon returning. Couldn't say I blamed her.
"Well, that went horribly," She said.
"Bah," I scoffed, "Moron trying to make himself seem tougher and meaner than he actually is. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't let his foolishness get to you."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Do we have anywhere else to go?" She asked, clearly attempting to change the subject.
I let it happen.
"I dunno," I replied, "We don't really know anybody in Alpine Skyline, and- what even happened with the crew of that ship we were on anyway?"
She scratched her head.
"I have no idea," She said intriguedly, "Maybe they're building another ship?"
"Probably," I responded, "It'd be best to just let them do their own thing, doubt they even care about what happened with the whole fiasco."
"What about the metro?" She asked.
"Absolutely not," I replied immediately, "We're on low enough terms with Empress as it is, all that would happen if we tried is that we'd get all three of us killed."
"Oh... right," She muttered, scratching her head, "Soooo... I guess that's everybody, then...?"
"Unless we wanna find Badge Seller, but he's knowledgeable enough that he probably knew what happened anyway and realizes it was a mistake," I said.
She let out a 'hmmm' sound.
"Okay," She said, "But I don't think apologizing to four people is really gonna be enough to change the whole planet's view of her, is it? Maybe we can have her speak in front of an audience of people!"
"Don't get in over your head, kid," I said, "If what she said is true, she'll be chased out before she can say a single word. It'd be best to take this slowly. Besides, the people she's gonna be apologizing to happen to be very important people who are held in high regard in places in the world. We could get them to help, too."
"That's a great idea!" She shouted, "But yeah, you're right. We'll go with this and see what happens. She'll be so happy!"
"Yep. I say we did a great job," I said.
"High five!" She shouted, throwing up her hand.
I gladly took the offer.
"Now I guess we just wait for her to get back," I said, sitting down on the carpet floor.
She sat down next to me.
A few moments of silence passed, then I looked at her and smirked.
"Wanna play games?"
She bolted for the television immediately.
"... I'll take that as a yes."
A/N: I'd say this chapter turned out pretty well. It's quite hard to make completely new content for this kinda thing, but I'm doing my best, and I think it's working alright so far. As I said before, I have a few interesting things planned for this story.
A new review this time, coming from Phantaum:
Yeah, she does kinda get forgotten a bit, doesn't she? And also, not to worry, if you can't tell already, it's gonna be a few chapters yet before the focus shifts from her, heh. Thanks for the review.
Well, see you guys soon- or as soon as possible. Juggling two stories again is gonna be painful. But whatever.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see y'all next chapter. It should be here in about a week.
