Once dressed, Hattie took another look at her first contract. The title was written in purple font stating, "Death Wish." Ah yes, that didn't sound foreboding whatsoever.
This challenge was called, "Beat the Heat. Turn off all lava faucets." There was a little addition under it that said, "It's much hotter than usual, cool yourself off!" There were a couple bonuses too. "Don't get too hot" and "Don't cool down more than 2 times."
Hattie hummed, already seeming confused. Turn off the lava faucets? But they're already off. And how is she going to cool off? Looking up to Earth, she sharply gasped at the sudden change in scenery for Mafia Town.
What was blue oceans just a minute ago was now boiling lava. Wow, deja vu. Could Mu have turned them on again and Snatcher predicted that? No, wait, could he have turned them on?
Hattie rolled up the map and contract, placed them in her top hat and decided to find out for herself. Making sure she had a Time Piece on hand, she opened up the hatch of her ship and jumped down to Mafia Town.
Just as she vaguely remembered, it already felt warm dropping in. Lava was flooding all over Mafia Town. Mafiosos were all trying to take shelter on the rooftops while a few suffered in the rivers of lava that flowed throughout the town.
Hattie spotted the Science Mafia over by the observatory and landed there. "Science Mafia!"
He turned to Hattie, surprised. "Little hat girl! Mafia is so glad you're here! Perhaps you can help fix the town again?"
"Of course. What happened though?"
"Someone turned on all faucets in Mafia Town again. Same faucets that control the town volcano! Mafia thought it was red-hooded girl again, but this time, Mafia saw a strange creature. It looked like a shadow ghost."
Hattie frowned. So it really was Snatcher. But he never terrorized the people on this planet like this unless they were in his forest. Sure he'd love to scare them straight, but never try to destroy a whole town.
Seriously, what is wrong with him today?
"Little hat kid, can you help save Mafia Town again?" Hattie snapped out of her thoughts as she looked up to the Science Mafioso. She nodded with a confident smile.
"You can rely on me." And to start, she hopped right off the edge to the first faucet near the waterslides.
As she whacked the faucet off with her umbrella, she began to ponder the conditions of said contract as well as what Snatcher told her. It was a little hot now, sure, but she was doing alright so far. What if he only called them advanced contracts because they were outside his forest and appear a bit more challenging?
Hattie hummed in thought, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. Tapping her top hat, she sensed the next one near the Market Plaza. She dove right down to the stone balcony and used one of the patio umbrellas to leap up to the small pool deck. She spotted two faucets from there. One was at the tower where she sometimes would find the Badge Seller. The second was right in the middle of the plaza.
She dove over to the tower one first, turning it off. She then hopped onto the banner wire, making her way to the next faucet. Once in front of it, she began jumping on the wire to get some air. Once high enough, she dove to the faucet and turned it off.
Was it her or was it getting hotter by the second? Hattie began panting, taking her top hat off and waving it in front of her. But even that wasn't doing her any good. She had to stay focused though. Turn off the faucets.
Her top hat then pointed her to the lighthouse. On her way, she felt her movements go slower. In fact, her feet were kind of burning from running. Was it this hot the last time she did this?
"All this heat's great, eh? Personally, I prefer freezing to death." Hattie jolted, looking up the small staircase on the grassy patio. There was a large wooden bucket of water and Snatcher was sitting in it. He was even holding a glass of ice cold lemonade with ice cubes in it and a bendy straw.
"Snatcher? What are you doing here?" She went up the staircase, wiping a layer of sweat off her forehead.
"I'm just watching the show, kid. Mainly just to watch you fail your task." He then took a long slow sip of the lemonade. This somehow irritated Hattie. He doesn't even need to eat or drink and yet he is doing this to mock her. What a jerk!
He chuckled a little, seeing her reaction. "You might wanna get cooled off, kid. You're not looking too good."
Hattie did feel like her vision was starting to blur. She tried to climb into the bucket of water Snatcher was in, but he shoved her off, having her fall on her behind.
"Hey! This one's taken. Go find your own, brat." Hattie showed a scowl at him and picked herself up. She needed to cool off and fast. Otherwise, she's gonna pass out before getting to the faucet at the lighthouse.
Quickly using the patio umbrellas, she began looking around for another water bucket. To her luck and relief, she spotted one near the construction site where she saved one of the old citizens from some bullying Mafioso.
Without hesitation, she dove right to it and jumped in, exhaling with relief. She swore she heard steam. But as it turns out, she wasn't alone in here.
"Hey! Go get your own–wait...Hat Kid?" Hattie blinked, seeing Mu with her.
"Mu? Oh my gosh, you're okay!"
"Yeah! Once I saw the lava come, I took shelter in here, since it's nice and cool. Thankfully, no Mafia can fit in these buckets. But if you think I caused this, I swear it wasn't me this time! Honest."
"No, I know. The Science Mafia guy said that it might've been Snatcher."
"That noodle-looking shadow ghost guy you're friends with? He can't torment the Mafia! That's my job!" Mu frowned, now seeming irritated.
"Either way, something's not right about him. He's...never been a jerk like this before."
"I knew he was a real bad guy!" Mu slammed her fist down, proud of her belief, but that splashed both her and Hattie in the face. "Oh, my bad."
Hattie wiped away the cooling water. "No, that's fine. It helps. But no, what I mean is that he's never acted like this before. But I think he did this for the contract he made me sign." She then pulled out the contract and showed it to Mu.
After Mu looked it over and handed it back to her, she then said, "Well, I don't know how I can help ya, kid. If I were you, I'd focus on getting the last few faucets then cooling off."
Hattie then blinked, getting an idea. She then grabbed Mu's hands. "Mu, maybe you can help me! Help me turn off the faucets!"
Mu blinked in surprise, then looked outside the bucket. "I dunno. It's kinda nice to watch the Mafia suffer the consequences."
"Mu, c'mon. You don't have to be nice to them, but we can't just leave them like this. On top of that, if I don't get this done, I won't be able to help Snatcher."
Mu let out a small groan. "Fine! I'll at least get one faucet for ya. I'll head for the lighthouse, you grab the one under the house near that blue bridge."
"Alright, I already got the two by the plaza and the one near the waterslides."
"Oh, cool! Then it's just the two I mentioned and the one near the docks. Ready, rebel squad member?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, my friend." The two girls nodded with a determined smile as they readied themselves.
"Ready, break!" The two jumped out of the bucket, splitting up. Hattie dove for the one past the bridge while Mu navigated through the town, making her way to the lighthouse.
Snatcher was watching the Mafia struggle through their lava coated town when he spotted Mu heading for one of the faucets.
"Hm? The hatted child is getting some help through her contract? Oh, that won't do."
Snatcher then flew out of the water bucket, dropping his glass of lemonade in the process, and headed towards Mu.
She managed to reach the faucet, wrapping her arms around the handle. "Geez, this was a lot easier when the town didn't have lava flowing! How does Hat Kid do this normally?"
"Perhaps because she is the one that is supposed to be doing this?" Mu jolted by the sound of the menacing voice. Before she could turn to the source, she was then grabbed by her hoodie, now hanging 50 feet in the air over the pool of lava below.
"H-hey! Let go of me, you psycho!"
"Oh, I'd be more than happy to do so, kid." Mu managed to look up at who was holding her. Her expression then looked mildly terrified. Snatcher was showing a wide sinister smile, still having a tight grip around her cape.
"But unfortunately, I've got big plans for the kid if she survives this and you'll need to be alive for it. Then again, if she fails…" A dark chuckle escaped. "What was it that you were saying before about us bad guys deserving to be thrown in to lava?"
Mu's face went pale. He wouldn't.
"Well, let's see how you handle it!" He then tightly gripped her waist and reared back to throw her.
"WAIT! NO! DON'T THROW MEEEEEEEEEE!" But he does so, chucking her out to the lava sea. He laughed, watching her go.
Mu screamed as she began getting close to hitting the lava pool below her. But just as she was 5 feet away from doing so, she was grabbed by her hood again. Trembling, she looked up, seeing Snatcher as the one that grabbed her again.
"But like I said...I need you alive if that kid manages to finish this first contract. Man though, you should've seen your face. HAHAHAHAHA! Priceless!" Mu quickly wiped away the tears that were stinging in her eyes. Hattie wasn't kidding; he really is being a jerk.
Snatcher floated back to the town and dropped her into the clock tower. "Now if you want to be a good guy, you will stay put until the kid is done with her task." He then flew off before she could answer.
Mu was trembling. He actually almost killed her. She had a hard time believing that Hattie had the right to call him a friend. She's gotta warn her.
But before she could exit, she then looked down. Seems Snatcher took away the banner wirelines that usually connected to the clock tower. On top of that the floor was surrounded by lava. No way she could jump to the rooftops as well. Overall, she was stuck.
Mu groaned in frustration and punched the stone wall beside her. It was getting hot too. She slid down, tucking her legs up. "Hat Kid...for the love of cod, finish this task quickly."
Hattie whacked the docks' faucet off and smiled. "All done!"
"I wouldn't say that, kiddo. You're still missing one." Hattie gasped, seeing Snatcher float down in front of her.
Did Mu bail on her? No, she saw the look in her golden-orange eyes. She was set on helping her. She wouldn't backstab her again.
"I saw that red-hooded brat try to do your task for you. Can't let that happen, kiddo. This is your contract. No one's holding your hand through it."
Hattie softly gasped. "Where is she?"
"Relax, she's just sitting cozy up in the clock tower. Though, she's not gonna be able to cool off from there. If I were you, I'd hightail it to that last faucet if you wanna make sure she doesn't end up with heatstroke. Hahahahahahahaha!" He then flew off.
Hattie's eyes widen with worry. Mu was stuck at the clock tower without a cooling water bucket to get to? She'll get overheated! With no time to lose, she quickly scrambled off the faucet, looking for a shortcut to the lighthouse.
She then spotted the ice platforms her Ice Hat could use to fly her to different areas. She quickly placed on her Ice Hat and flung herself to the observatory platform. Running around, she dove back to the lighthouse.
Using the stream as a bit of a boost, she dashed down and used her hookshot to swing to the faucet. She quickly turned it off the moment she landed. "Got it!"
Just like the last time she did it, water bursted out instead of lava. The place was still boiling hot though and Hattie was coming close to passing out. She quickly swung back to find a bucket of cooling water to dive into.
She passed Snatcher, who was now sitting in the cooling bucket she found him in before. As she ran by, she heard him go, "If I knew setting you on fire was this easy, I would've done it ages ago!"
Hattie frowned, ignoring him. She then spotted the cooling bucket she found Mu in ahead and dove into it. She didn't stay in long though. Just a quick splash and out. She tapped her top hat, now wondering what to do to show she completed the contract.
It then pointed her to the observatory deck. She climbed up quickly and spotted the cannon to Mafia HQ open. She climbed into it and it shot her up. Much like last time, there were Mafia with treats and goodies, celebrating Hat Kid's victory.
The Science Mafia shook her hand and said, "You did it once again, little hat child! Here, take this as a reward, little hero. Mafia remember it looked like something you used to look for."
Hattie was questioning what he meant when she looked to her reward. Her eyes then widen. Wait...was that a Time Piece? No, it couldn't be. It looked like one, but different.
Instead of its white sparkling sand, it now had dark purple sand and gave off an eerie glow. The sense of power it was emitting felt...wrong. Like it held a more corrupting power than a regular Time Piece. Something dark.
Hattie cautiously picked it up and looked it over. Even holding it in her hands felt wrong. Hattie softly said to herself, "Snatcher...what did you do?"
She then gasped, remembering something. "MU!" She carefully pocketed this strange Time Piece and dove for her friend in the clock tower. Her eyes widen with worry when she found her, laying on the ground, unconscious. Her face looked flushed and she was sweating profusely.
Hattie quickly hugged her, pulling out her real Time Piece. "Hang in there, sis. I gotcha." Holding onto her, the two flew back up to the ship.
"Snatcher" frowned, watching her go from below. Seems the kid actually passed.
"Ha! Told ya, Moonboy. It's gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of the kid."
Still keeping Snatcher under control, Moonjumper allowed a dark smile to be shown.
"So...the child refuses to die, huh?" He then flew back up to the ship.
"W̶̰̦͌͠é̴̡͖'̵̕͜l̶̜͂l̶̳̩͐̓ ̵̡͓̏̒j̸̦̐͝ͅu̷̹̓́s̵̛̯̪͑ẗ̸̲͠ ̴̡̊͝s̵̱͖̔ḙ̷̂͆é̸̞̃ ̴̦̈́͒a̵͚̪͝b̵̳̺̑̍ó̸̯͝ű̶͈͍t̵̡̢͑͛ ̵̲͋̄t̴̰͈̽h̸̔͠ͅả̸̓ͅt."