Wow, it has been a LONG time since I looked back on this fic! I apologize for making you all wait, but I did want a break to focus on other multiple projects and make sure my writing didn't end up getting worse by forcing myself to write chapters. I'm slowly getting back on track now though and I'm hoping that these future chapters won't be too choppy. Luckily I at least made notes. But enough of my rambling and excuses; let us finally continue!
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The next day, the Conductor and DJ Grooves were already off to a stressful start to their day. Somehow, by high demand, they were asked to do a re-run of their latest movies. So many various comments. "Needs more explosions." "Not enough glamour." "The murderer culprit was too obvious." But the directors were not aware that the actual public didn't want this; "Snatcher" did. He was basically the one that wrote up all the comments and complaints while adjusting his own hand-writing a bit to make it seem like they came from multiple people.
Now the two were separately in their offices, trying to think over how to approach this. It's so much more difficult to deny the public when it's this demanding; how will they get good approval ratings for the next Annual Bird Movie Awards if they do deny?
After a few cups of coffee and some thinking, the Conductor at least made his stance on the decision first. No way was he going to do a re-run of the movies. A re-run of a movie is too unoriginal. Besides, if a re-run had to happen, it should be modified from the old one. The Conductor didn't see much to change though. They are what helped him win in the first place.
Another important factor for his decision was his train. He finally got it fully repaired and told himself not to put it through the same situation in his Train Rush movie. It was a horrible aftermath experience emotionally and financially. No way was his baby getting blown up again.
The Conductor exited his office, throwing away a small handful of the recommendations in the trash bin. "Whether the public wants it or not, me train is not getting blown up like that again." He began heading back up the stairs to his side of the studio to continue his new movie idea.
To his misfortune though, "Snatcher" was watching him from the shadows. Moonjumper raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I see the old director doesn't want to follow along. Well, we can work with that."
With Snatcher under Moonjumper's control, the two fly out to the Owl Express train parked just behind the studio lot. "Snatcher" rubbed his clawed hands together mischievously. "Time to bring out some real modern movie magic."
He darkly chuckled as he began flying through the studio, sticking to the shadows so no one would spot or notice him. To his luck, the Conductor still had plenty of explosives stock-piled from the Train Rush movie. Gathering all he could carry and still going back for more, he filled the train with all the explosives and sawblades he could, making sure it would look like it did in the old movie.
Snatcher then went to the front of the train to pull the throttle switch and take the train off its brakes. The whistle was heard as it began chugging off without the Conductor aboard. The owls that were waiting outside the studio for the Conductor saw the train take off and quickly rushed out, shouting for it to stop. They had places to go on that train!
The Conductor was just exiting his studio and heading towards his train right as it was taking off. He was looking down at his watch though. "So the first stop is Raven's Peak…" He then heard the whistle and looked up. If his eyes were visible, they would widen immensely at the sight of his train taking off without him. "Whadda what?!" He quickly tried to catch it on foot, shouting for it to stop.
Hat Kid was about to arrive on the scene as well, believing she should check in with the directors. Floating down, she spotted the train taking off. She didn't think much about it until she saw the Conductor and the owls, going after it on foot. Now this seemed to be a problem.
Redirecting her umbrella, she glided down to the train and landed on the caboose platform. On the backdoor, there was a new contract attached to it. The second she read the title, her eyes widened. "10 Seconds Until Self-Destruct"?! There's no way Snatcher is serious. This train is huge! She won't be able to reach the end of the second car in 10 seconds.
Not even bothering to read the terms and bonuses, she dashes inside. Badgeseller was on board and holding onto his staff while propped up against the wall. The train was moving at alarming speeds and explosions could already be heard in the next car.
Hattie was about to address the Badge Selle, but all he could tell her was, "Hurry and get to the front of the train!" Hattie nodded and now wasted no time. Actually, she truly had no time! The timer that appeared in her pocket already started counting down.
"10 seconds until self-destruct."
Hattie screamed as she tied her sprinting ribbon in her hair and began making a mad-dash to the next car door. The timer continued counting down. How was she going to make this?!
"Snatcher" laughed as he watched her from the outside. The real Snatcher, however, was struggling in his binds. Even he found this unfair.
"10 seconds to get through the whole train with all the traps in place? There's no way you can expect the kid to finish this!" He was confident in the kid's abilities, but the only way the kid would be able to do it was either be capable of teleporting, flying, or stopping time altogether. The kid can't do the first two abilities and her Time Stop Hat can only slow down time. Unfortunately, Moonjumper thought ahead on that factor and already enchanted the timer so that the Time Stop hat could not slow down the timer. That train was blowing up in 10 seconds no matter what she used.
"I don't expect her to finish it. That's what is going to make this a quick easy death." His dark grin widened as he watched Hattie struggle and push through the door to the second car. There was only 3 seconds left now.
Snatcher didn't want to watch, but Moonjumper was making him as the two were hearing the timer continue counting down. Hattie was screaming the rest of the way as she frantically tried avoiding the missiles and acid.
"3…2...1–" A bit of static was then heard. Then after 20 seconds the automated voice changed.
"10 seconds until self-destruct."
"What?!" How was that possible? The train should have blown up. Hat Kid should have lost. Why was the timer still going?
The answer to that question was the Badge Seller. Given his glitchy broken form, he had capabilities to alter various things in this world. He directed his powers to the timer connected to the explosives, glitching them so that Hattie in actuality had more than 10 seconds to get through. He would add 20 seconds each time she reached either the end of a car or at least halfway. Seems Moonjumper didn't account for the Badge Seller's interference.
Hattie was confused as well as she took the timer out of her pocket and looked at it. It had a couple purple and black pixels shimmering off it as the numbers would glitch. She smiled, feeling more confident in getting through this contract, as she continued forth to the top of the train.
Hattie continued mad-dashing through, getting a couple extra seconds with each large obstacle she passed. She would hop and air dash onto a platform, skip a couple fire rings, and continue running. However, Snatcher added an extra feature atop the train: homing missiles.
"Oh come on," was Hattie's main reaction as she dove out of the way of them and continued running. The missiles that hit the train would create holes in them. Hattie swung through the window, shuffling past the broken glass, as she reached the room with lava.
She double checked her timer. Around 25 seconds. Good. She kept running. Pillars of fire circled around the platforms she hopped across, burning the end of her cap to a crisp, and she narrowly avoided getting hit by one of the bombs that would pop out onto the platforms. With the last platforms, she decided to use her Time Stop Hat to properly avoid the pillars of fire. She then heard her timer clearly.
"10, 9, 8…"
Hattie scrambled off the platforms and headed to the door.
"7, 6…"
She slams through the door, finding the shut-off button.
"5, 4…"
She leapt forward and landed on it, shutting down the explosives. She let out a shaky exhale of relief. Her clothes were burnt up, she was bruised in a couple places from bumping into a few walls to dodge some obstacles, and her hair was a bit of a mess. That was the worst.
There was still one more thing she had to do though. She went to the front control panel and looked it over frantically. She then looked to the levers next to her, noticing they had the words "Throttle" and "Brake" written on them.
She quickly pulled on the brake while kicking the throttle back upright. The train came to a screeching halt, having Hattie thrown a bit forward to the control panel. Luckily, she caught herself by propping her hand against the panel before the rest of her body slammed against it.
Hattie hopped out of the locomotive, exhaling with relief. Then she heard a familiar Scottish voice scream out, "ME TRAIN!" When the Conductor finally caught up, he saw his train in ruins once more. Two cars were thrown off the tracks and the rest were filled with acid, lava, holes, and explosives that have still not gone off.
He fell to his knees, picking up a broken board from one of the cars. "...What have ye done…?" Hattie cautiously walked up to him.
"I-It wasn't me, Conductor. I think Snatcher might've...I-I tried to stop it and...I'm so sorry…"
The Conductor kept his head low as his hands trembled. Hattie wasn't sure if it was because of his current distraught or anger. He then spoke in a low tone. "Lassie. Leave."
Hattie hesitated. "B-but–"
"JUST–...just go...I need a minute." He luckily caught himself before he let out an outburst. But that was enough to have Hattie quietly nod and head back to the studio. The Conductor sighed, a bit relieved that she listened. He didn't want to lose his temper on the lass. She didn't deserve that if it really was Snatcher's fault.
The owls finally caught up, panting and clearly out of breath. "S-Sir…?" The Conductor got to his feet and cleared his throat as he turned to address the Express Owls. He then said as calmly as he could, "We've got a bit of cleaning up to do."
A little bit later, Hattie was sitting at the Dead Bird Studio lounge room, head resting on her folded arms. The way he dismissed her made her believe that this was all her fault and he was mad at her. Just as they finally started making up for what happened after the Annual Bird Movie Awards, this happens.
DJ Grooves quietly entered the lounge and spotted Hattie all along at one of the lounge tables. "Everything alright, darling?"
Hattie sighed and turned her head to look to Grooves. "No. I think the Conductor's mad at me again." DJ Grooves got a good look at Hattie's current condition and his eyes widened, alert.
He quickly goes to her side and looks her over. His voice lowered in a threatening way as he asked, "Did he do this to you?"
Hattie frantically waved her hands. "No no no! This just uh...happened when I was trying to stop the train. I think...Snatcher started it up with all the explosives and stuff inside, since the Conductor and the owls weren't on board and were chasing after the train instead. So I had to rush to the front and stop it. ...Didn't have a lot of time like before so I got a little hurt along the way."
DJ Grooves hummed, calming himself back down. Good, the Conductor didn't intentionally do anything harmful to his little star. Regardless, he was going to treat her. He takes her hand and starts heading to his office with her quietly trailing behind.
"You're not gonna be mad at the Conductor, are you?"
"Of course not, darling. Though, I am now a little ticked off at that shadow ghost for having you endure all that." They enter his office and Grooves sets her down on a chair, then starts looking through a mini-fridge. He pulls out a couple ice packs, grabs a couple clean towels, and wraps them up in said towels.
He hands Hattie one and says, "Just put this on the bruise on your elbow, darling." Hattie nodded in understanding and does as she's told. Grooves, meanwhile, places the other one on her other arm, holding it there for her.
She quietly smiled and thanked him, then noticed the slips of paper all over his large vanity table. "Are those more bills?"
Grooves looked back to them and sighed. "No, they're public recommendation slips. Somehow, the Conductor and I both got our fair share of recommendations to remake our movies that we qualified for the Annual Bird Movie Awards."
Hattie hummed in thought. It can't just be a coincidence. "Do you think Snatcher was the one that actually wrote those?"
DJ Grooves sighed. "That wouldn't surprise me if that's the case. I know the Conductor at least refused, but after hearing that his train took off with the explosives, I assumed the worst and thought he just lied to supposedly get ahead of me."
Now Hattie frowned in worry. If that's the case, Snatcher must've made a remake of Train Rush by force, even without the Conductor present. She took out the now-completed contract she grabbed from the door of the caboose and read it over. The title read, "10 Seconds Until Self-Destruct" while the main term underneath it stated, "Complete Train Rush." That confirmed it for Hattie; Snatcher truly was the one behind remaking the movie.
DJ Grooves sighed. "If that really is the case, I'd hate to see you possibly getting wrapped up in one of my movies without my supervision and directing. I may have to go along with what the 'public' wants and remake the Big Parade, since that's at the highest demand."
Hattie nodded in understanding, tucking her contract back in her hat. "I'm sure Snatcher is probably preparing for that. But if I'm to help him get out of his corrupted state, we have to do this."
DJ Grooves nodded, then lowered his flipper, handing her the second ice pack. "Then I'll have my penguins and the Express Owls that helped me with the parade last time preparing the set. I'll make sure to check the fireworks before getting them set on stage as well, just so we don't have another homing missile incident."
Hattie smiled and got up. "Thanks, DJ Grooves. I'd better get home and change then. I should still have the parade outfit in my closet." Grooves nodded and waved as she took off with a wave in return.
DJ Grooves then quietly sighed as he turned back to his vanity table and picked up one of the forms.
"Hmm...odd though that more birds have already signed up to be in the marching band…"