Hattie groaned in her sleep as she adjusted her sore sleepy form. Sleeping on a burger cushion isn't as comfy as she hoped it would be. She could faintly hear the Time Rift alarm going off, but maybe after 5 more minutes, she'll take care of it. Yesterday was long for her.

But wait. Did this alarm sound a bit differently? Why is it more of a higher pitch, but not signaling an intruder alert?

Hattie then felt Rumbi bonk into her leg constantly and rapidly. They seemed extremely worried. Hattie moaned, then rubbed her eyes. She then picked up Rumbi and said, "Careful, buddy. You're gonna hurt yourself if you keep doing that. Now what's–"

"Warning! Warning! Unstable Time Rift detected!"

Unstable?

Hattie was wide awake now. How long has she been asleep? Was this time rift up for a long time? Did she miss one back when she went on the Arctic Cruise?

Frantic questions ran through her mind as she scrambled to her feet and to the computer. She didn't even bother saying, "Boop" when she pushed the button to check. Her heart dropped in horror as her screen displayed the problem.

A purple time rift currently collapsing in Mafia Town. The screen was flashing red, emphasizing the urgent matter that is happening. But even without it, Hattie would know that this was bad. Really bad!

A purple time rift itself is unstable enough. If it collapses, it could warp all time itself and rip the very fabric of it! Cod knows what would happen if it did.

Hattie had literally no time to waste. She dashed to her room, not even noticing that Snatcher was gone for a change. She grabbed her clothes and changed as she ran through the hallway, disregarding her pajamas. She'll pick those up and toss them in the laundry later.

Slipping on her boots as she exited the hallway, she ran to the hatch. But she was stopped when she heard Rumbi beep urgently. She glanced back to let them know that it was going to be okay when she noticed that they were trying to get her attention.

Rumbi was brushing the corner of a sheet of paper. She ran back to see what it was. Picking it up and taking only a quick glance, she only assumed it was a contract. The paper looked worn like one and it had some purple formal writing with Snatcher's stamp on it.

However, she had no time to deal with a contract. Now, she needed to keep Earth and everyone around it from disappearing along with possibly time itself. She just shoved the contract in her top hat and dashed back to the hatch. With a quick goodbye to Rumbi, she dove down to Mafia Town.

Oddly, this purple rift was in the same place as the one she found in Mafia Town before: at the beach. Though, this one was glitching and had a couple black pixels around it.

Hattie cautiously placed her hand on it and was transported within the rift. Immediately, she squinted. The area around her was disorienting. All sorts of colors and rippling surrounded the environment. Yet despite its appearance, this rift faintly looked exactly like the Mafia one. Piles of fish, gray platforms and warehouses. The only main difference aside the ripples and colors was there was no Mafioso to greet her and explain the rift.

Either way, she had no time to dwell on such thoughts for now. The rift was collapsing and she needed to seal it before it affects reality. She already knew this rift's history, if it truly is the same one, and she did not spot any golden pages. So she wasted no time jumping into the hatch to the next area.

If she had to estimate how much time this rift had, it would be around two minutes until this rift would collapse. As if to confirm her answer, she heard beeping coming from her pocket. She pulled out the source and saw that it was a sort of stopwatch watch. When did she get this?

"Two minutes and zero seconds until Rift Collapse. Oh no."

That familiar feminine voice from the bomb timers rang through the collapsing rift. Hattie's eyes were wide. She really did have two minutes to get through this entire rift and seal it. Quickly looking over the stopwatch, she saw Snatcher's familiar golden eyes and grin printed on the backside of it. Did Snatcher give her this while she was asleep? Did he know this was going to happen? What if he was the cause of this collapsing rift?

No, no delaying thoughts and questions! She quickly equipped her Sprint hat and frantically ran around, looking for Rift Pons so she could progress. Once she grabbed enough for the hatch, along with a couple extra, she dove into the next hatch.

The second area was now at the docks. The next Rift Pons were being held by a few angry Mafioso. She groaned, having no time for this.

"Wait a minute...time…" That's when an idea came to her mind. She quickly switched to her Time Stop Hat and pressed the clock button, quietly praying that this won't make the rift collapse more quickly.

Thankfully, time slowed down as she hoped it would. With a confident smile, she dashed up to the Mafioso holding the Rift Pons and attacked rapidly. They had no chance. Once knocked down, she quickly grabbed the pons right after the Time Stop hat's effects wore off. With enough pons to progress, she dove into the next hatch.

"One minute and twenty seconds until Rift Collapse. Better hurry."

The next area was the ship with the dancing Mafioso. She quickly recalled from memory that this hatch was open with no Rift Pons needed. She wasted no time diving into that hatch.

Now for the area with the Mafioso running on giant rolling meat. Was it Hattie or were they rolling faster? No, she couldn't question it. She probably only had a minute left now! She grabbed all the pons she could and dashed for the next hatch by running on the banner tightrope to the next plaza area.

Wait, there were two new Rift Pons in that area. Quietly questioning this, she grabbed them. She then ran up the stairs and jumped into the next hatch. Little did she know, behind her, the Mafioso that were running on the meat were glitching and disappearing.

"40 seconds until Rift Collapse. We're doomed."

Beach area. This should be the last one until she got to the rift and possible Time Piece. Dodging the cans being thrown by a few angry Mafioso, she grabbed the Rift Pons and unlocked the hatch. But then, she heard screaming behind her.

Looking back, she then saw the area around her begin to crumble and vanish. The angry Mafioso were the source of the screaming as they fell to their doom. With a scream, Hattie jumped into the hatch to escape before she fell into the abyss.

"10 seconds until Rift Collapse."

Hattie's heart was pounding. The rift was right there! She frantically began trying to smash it.

"Nine."

Another whack with the umbrella.

"Eight."

Why did it jump so far from her with that whack?!

"Seven."

The area rippled more. Hattie could swear she was faintly seeing a dark void appearing.

"Six."

Another whack.

"Five."

The final whack with her umbrella. The rift exploded, revealing...a Deathwish Time Piece? How did that get here?!

"Four."

Hattie sharply gasped as she glanced around, eyes wide with terror.

"Three."

The platform was vanishing, from the outer rim to the inside.

"Two."

Hattie dove for the Deathwish Time Piece, grabbing it.

"One."

Hattie screamed as the platform was about to vanish under her feet.

"Goodbye."

With a flash of light, she vanished from the rift, just a millisecond before it collapsed. She was then shot out back on the beach. Sitting up from the sand, she looked up at the glitching purple time rift.

It rose up, glitching more violently until it began to settle and seal itself, disappearing. All reality remained the same and the rift was gone. Everything is stable. Everyone is alive.

Hattie let out a breath she did not realize she was holding and collapsed on her back, letting a couple tears go down her cheeks. Her top hat also tumbled off her head as she did this.

That was closest Hattie has faced death by far. Near death experiences are officially terrifying. Never again. And if there is ever a Time Rift that has appeared, no matter how stable it seems, she's sealing it immediately. Going through a collapsing rift was dangerous enough with all the distortion.

She looked down at the Deathwish Time Piece. She didn't even realize she was hugging it close like it was a lifeline. Was it this Time Piece that got her out of the rift or the one she had in her pocket? At the moment, Hattie didn't care. All that mattered was the rift was sealed and time can continue as it should.

A small breeze then brushed past her and she spotted her new Deathwish contract peeking out of her top hat. That's right. Snatcher gave her a new one and she didn't even bother looking it over. Carefully setting the Deathwish Time Piece aside, she grabbed the rolled-up contract and read it over.

An angry expression then appeared on her face. Turns out the collapsing rift she just dealt with was the Deathwish. But she wasn't angry because of that; she was angry because if this was true, Snatcher set up this rift and basically put practically the entire universe's life on the line.

She stood up, brushing the sand off her and pocketing the Deathwish Time Piece and contract. She then pulled out her Time Piece and flew back up to her ship.

She needed to have a word with Snatcher.

"You're absolutely insane!"

"She made it through, didn't she? I thought you had faith in her." Moonjumper looked dismissive by Snatcher's bold statement. Actually, he seemed almost a little disappointed that the rift didn't finish her off.

"I have faith in the kid, but not enough to open up whatever that was and risk our world falling apart!" Snatcher, on the other hand, was practically freaking out. He wasn't sure what those weird swirling orbs were, but they were clearly trouble when he saw the results of the collapsing one.

When the kid jumped into the rift to seal it, all of reality was glitching and becoming distorted itself in the process. He swore he felt himself fall apart and piece back together again. The world around them was glitching violently too. It was like old gaming graphics glitching. It would lose its color at one point. It was look blurry and pixelated the next.

"Are you really that willing to let the world get destroyed just to take out some kid?" Moonjumper frowned. He will admit to himself that those rifts had a far more powerful effect on reality than anticipated. But with his strings, surely he could have sealed it himself once the child fell into the void. If not, surely he would have the Time Pieces on hand to fix it. ...Right?

"I could have repaired it. After all, I would have the Time Pieces in my possession once the child was out of the picture." A dark smile then showed as he hovered in front of the restrained Snatcher. The strings tightened around Snatcher's form a little, making him struggle.

"Also, you and I both know that she is not just 'some child.' There is more potential in that girl that I previously expected, I admit. But she did come close to death. I'm sure we'll get lucky with the next coming contracts."

He then silenced himself when he faintly heard the hallway doors make the wooshing sound as they opened. Speaking of said child, she was coming now. He quickly faded back within Snatcher, taking control once more.

Previously, they were in Mafia Town to watch and see if Hattie could get through the rift. Moonjumper, and Snatcher in result, showed an irritated frown for a moment. Oh he could still faintly recall that smug grin Snatcher showed when Hattie made it out with barely a second to spare. The thought of it made the red strings around Snatcher tighten a little.

That's when Hattie entered the room and "Snatcher" put on his usual wide grin, looking down at the kid. Wow, she looked mad.

Hattie stormed up to Snatcher, holding the Deathwish Time Piece in one hand and the contract in the other. Snatcher simply stated, "Hey there, kiddo! Hope that contract was a good wake-up call to your day!"

Her only response was shoving the Deathwish Time Piece into his talons and opening up the contract to show its completion. The title was, "Rift Collapse: Mafia of Cooks." Her main mission was to seal the rift before it collapsed. She didn't get the one bonus where she had to make it through with only 30 seconds to spare, but at the moment, she could care less.

"I want explanations. What made you think this was a good idea?! Do you have any idea how dangerous an unstable time rift is?"

Snatcher's smile remained, but his eyes narrowed. "I'm not fond of your attitude, kid. If you're gonna ask me something, then maybe–"

"The whole world could've been destroyed! Maybe even time itself! How did you even manage to let this happen?"

Snatcher sighed. The kid wasn't going to listen, so he may as well give her what she asked. He took the contract and explained, "Well, I recall seeing those weird swirling orbs that you've jumped into every now and then. That's when I found this book and got to know more about it." He then held up her Time Piece Manual.

Truth be told, Moonjumper did see Hattie enter those orbs long ago and pondered what they were about. Though, by the looks of it, he needed those Time Pieces to exit it. He couldn't just jump into one without one. Now possessing Snatcher and able to infiltrate the child's ship, he looked around and did some research. The manual he was now holding was a great source of information about his main objective.

Snatcher continued, "A thought then crossed my mind after knowing all this. Those rifts surely had to be challenging, so why don't I offer a similar challenge as well?"

He then held up the Deathwish Time Piece and stated, "After all, these may not be the Time Pieces you're used to, but they're still Time Pieces. Problem is that since it's mainly made of dark magic, it can only make unstable purple rifts."

Hattie was frowning, but the explanation did clear up some questions. She thought it over for a solid minute. She almost questioned why the rift looked almost exactly like the one purple time rift she ventured through before, but she came up with the answer herself.

From what she has learned, a purple time rift is like opening up a slightly unstable glimpse of the past, mainly because it fell on someone's head or it had a special influence in a certain region. And surely there is more than just one entry to said area than through only one rift. There are multiple blue time rifts, but they open up in a similar area. Different obstacles, yes, but the same underwater-themed place.

She then shook her head. The explanation helped, but it still didn't get rid of the worrying thought that came. She looked up to Snatcher and said, "But were you really willing to risk the forest just to do that? Your minions too?"

The smile disappeared as Snatcher's eyes went wide. He twitched violently and clutched his head, his talons retracting and appearing rapidly as they clawed his head.

Hattie's eyes were practically wide with terror. She took a step back, a little fearful of what he was going to do. Snatcher managed to look to Hattie with a distressed expression.

"M-minions...f-forest…" was all he was able to utter until he twitched and appeared infuriated. He shot a death glare to Hattie, making her step back once more. For the first time since her fight with Snatcher, she truly felt afraid. Afraid of him.

He growled under his breath and turned away. "They would've been fine. Even if you didn't make it, I would've sealed it myself."

He then grabbed the "How to Kill Kids" book he set to the side and opened it. "Now go away, kid. You bother me."

Hattie took a few more steps back, looking hesitant. "...No more contracts?"

Snatcher growled a little under his breath, making Hattie feel nervous. But to her relief, instead of lashing out or yelling, he said, "Not for now. Go get breakfast or something, then come back to me."

Hattie stepped back more until she was at the base of her pillow pile. She continued hesitating as she made her way to the door. Until with one final glance back to Snatcher, she exited and headed to her kitchen.

Moonjumper already had a couple more contracts planned out, but Hattie needed to leave so he could have a chat with his little puppet. Phasing out and turning to the tied up Snatcher, he showed a disappointed expression.

Snatcher, on the other hand, was practically enraged as he struggled in the strings. "Release me NOW, Moonbrat!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, my dear puppet. If this is about the forest and minions, I can assure you they're okay for the moment."

"You put them in danger, you string-weaving peck neck! When I get free, you're going to PAY!"

"Such language. And here I thought you were better than that Conductor fellow. But I am more disappointed by the fact that you almost broke free once more. I had faith you were going to be a more cooperating puppet...but I suppose punishment is in order."

Before Snatcher could question what he meant, Moonjumper had a crazed smile show as he clenched one of his fists. Reacting to his magic, the blue strings around Snatcher's wrists tightened. The magic and the tightness of the strings caused Snatcher to start screaming.

The pain...it was unbearable. The sensation was burning, digging into his incorporeal form as the strings continued tightening on his wrists. Thankfully, it did not last long. Snatcher felt physically weak and his wrists felt like they were on fire.

Emotionally, Snatcher felt enraged. He hated that Moonjumper was getting away with this. He hated how he couldn't do anything to stop this insane spirit. He hated feeling weak.

But he knew he couldn't lash out unless he wanted a repeat of that torture. Panting, he kept his head low. He swore he could still see Moonjumper's smug grin though.

Moonjumper sighed, satisfied. "Now I hope you understand your place. And since I'm in a good mood, I'll grant the hatted child one of those rewards I promised. After all, I'm not one to break a promise."

Hattie frowned as she grabbed the toast from the toaster. Putting butter on it, she began thinking over what she witnessed. Snatcher just went berserk and turned dismissive. He got really emotional the moment she mentioned his forest. Was he even in his right mindset?

Sitting down and munching on the toast, she continued thinking. If Snatcher truly wasn't acting like himself, what was the cause of it? Thinking back to the storybook she got from Subcon Forest's purple rift, she tried to compare Snatcher to Vanessa. Could some sort of dark magic shifted his attitude like that?

Then again, that would've happened long ago. It probably did happen, actually. If Hattie had to assume what Snatcher was like when he was the prince, she would say he was a sweet, charming one. Almost hard to believe since he consumes souls for an after-life living and says stuff like, "Smell ya later." But Vanessa seemed nice before her heart was broken. Hattie could only assume though.

"So why is he being so weird…?" Hattie finished her toast and wiped the crumbs off her cheeks with her sleeve. Maybe she could question him. She should be careful with her wording though.

With a firm nod, she headed out of the kitchen and back to her room. She looked up to his usual spot and saw him the same way she left him: reading a book. The air felt less tense though. Perhaps he finally calmed down.

He then looked up from the book and showed that wide grin she was unfortunately familiar with. Though, did it seem more friendly than forced?

"Hey, kiddo! Ready for another contract?"

Hattie frowned and only replied, "I guess so...but I did want to ask–"

"Oh, before we get started, I got a little gift for ya! All for doing such a good job repairing the rift." Hattie tilted her head in confusion. A gift? When did Snatcher ever give gifts? Not that she was complaining.

She carefully approached, making sure she had her umbrella ready in case it was something dangerous. Once she was close, he then said, "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Well, that's comforting. But she was nervous, unsure what he would do if she disobeyed. So she squinted her eyes shut and held her hands out. Her hands were shaking a little, nervous he was going to put something sharp or worse in her hands.

But to her surprise, what he placed on her hand felt soft and smooth. Like silk. "Alright, open them up, kiddo."

Hattie opened her eyes cautiously, then gasped at what she saw. A yellow ribbon tied into a big bow. Was this a new accessory?

"Saw your wardrobe was so empty. Figured I'd help you fill some space by giving you this Sprint Hat flair. I did promise rewards if you completed some contracts."

Hattie was a little shocked. Not long ago, he was shoving her and forcing her to do contracts that will risk her soul. Now, he was acting nice and giving her nice things. She looked up to him, wondering if his expression would show if it was a trick or not.

He was smiling, but it seemed warm and genuine, unlike that wide creepy grin he had not long ago. Hattie couldn't help it; she began to smile too. Maybe Snatcher was just having a bad day yesterday and going through some mood swings. Heck if she knew for sure.

She took off her top hat and tied the bow around her ponytail band. With a warm smile, she said, "Thank you!" She then hugged Snatcher's arm. He seemed to flinch and pause as she did so.

Moonjumper was a little surprised by the sudden warm gesture. It felt...nice. He almost hugged her back, but then snapped back to his normal senses. No, he was meant to kill the kid. He can't get attached.

Snatcher roughly shoved her off, saying, "Yeah yeah, just don't say I never gave you anything, kiddo. Now, back to the old grindstone!" He then handed her the next contract.

She quietly took the contract and opened it up. "Collect-a-thon. Simply collect 100 pons." Wait, that's it? Just collect some pons? She looked up to Snatcher, wondering what the catch was.

Snatcher smirked as he said, "What's with that look? All you gotta do is keep collecting pons. Just keep an eye out for boxes, barrels, bullies, and other things that you can crack open to get a lot at once!"

One of the bonuses did read, however, that she can't break any boxes or barrels. She shrugged though. This didn't seem difficult at all. But she did have one question.

"How could I lose my soul by doing this?"

That's when Snatcher's wide smile became a little more sinister-looking. "Well, your limit is 300. If you go over that and still not get me enough pons, then your soul will be the only thing to pay off that debt."

How could she collect 300 if she only needed 100? Noting her confused expression, Snatcher booped her nose and said, "You'll find out soon enough. Now get to it, trooper!"

Hattie rubbed her nose and quietly nodded, exiting the room. Guess she will find out once she heads to Mafia Town.