Hey guys! Cayde, here back with another chapter. And in the first day there were already 50 views on the last chapter. Can't thank you guys enough, seriously. I finally was able to make it up with Hat Kid for my absence with my...*sniff* Cinnamon Rolls.
*Cayde looks over to the resting Hat Kid who was watching while eating a Cinnamon Roll*
*Sniff* Ahem! Anyways, I was serious when I said I wasn't giving up on you guys, so without further ado onto the next act!
I do not own the following. A Hat In Time and it's franchise all belong rightfully to Gears For Breakfast and no one else, with this in mind I thank you playing(reading) and I hope you enjoy! ;)
"Boop."
Pressing the button on the monitor next to the vault that "was" holding all of Hat Kid's Time Piece's. The power in the ship then turned back on as light filled the living room quarters of the ship. 4 out of the 40 Time Piece's to go. Hat Kid yawned as she held a hand to her mouth. She really wasn't a morning person.
"I'll collect all the Time Piece's for myself!"
MG's words echoed throughout Hat Kid's head as she let out a small sigh. If Hat Kid didn't find all the Time Piece's before MG does, her and reckless actions could put the timeline itself in danger.
Hat Kid then started walking down the ramp onto the first floor of the ship as she turned her head towards a resting individual in bean bag bed next to the door of her bedroom. Cayde. Who's body was in some type of shape as he snored lightly with the covers thrown off him a bit with the pillow on the floor. Hat Kid giggled at the sight as she walked over towards him.
She grabbed his pillow and lifted his head before placing it back onto the pillow. She then patted his head with a smile, before she jumped, startled by the main computers alarms going off. "Time Rift Detected! Time Rift Detected!"
Jumpy and startled, Hat Kid quickly ran up the ramp again towards the main computer and quickly turned off the alarm. She then stood still in worry. The alarm was LOUD. And she was worried it might haven woken Cayde up. Tipping towing over to ledge of the banister, looking over and down to the ground, Cayde was seen still sleeping away as if nothing happened.
Hat Kid exhaled a breath of relief. Thank goodness he was heavy sleeper. But another though came into her head. Time Rift? That couldn't be good. She quickly but quietly ran down to the machine room and scurried through her bookshelves looking for a specific book. If she remembered correctly, there should be a book about to handle Time Piece's carefully and how one should take care of that said Time Piece.
It wasn't in the machine room. Where else was a book shelf in her ship-Oh. Cayde's room. Slapping her forehead in stupidity, Hat Kid quickly left the machine room and back into the living room where she quietly tip-toed towards Cayde's "bedroom". She peeked behind the walls corner as she stared intently at Cayde before looking towards the book shelf next to him. Thankfully his bed wasn't directly on it, so she had some foot room to get there.
Just as she was about to start moving a "beep boop" sound went off behind her as she comically flew into the air before landing back onto the ground feet first, quickly turning around to the source. It was her pet Rumbi. It's robotic eyes made arrows pointing up, meaning it was happy to see her, but she quickly put a finger to mouth telling him be quiet.
She looked back over towards Cayde. Still sleeping. Great. She nodded as she quickly started tip toeing over towards him, before she went around the bag..and tripped. An "oof" sound came from her as her Hat slid forward near face onto the ground. She shook her head shaking off the quick daze. Just what did she trip on?
Turning her head, she looked towards the culprit. Only for her eye's to widen. Cayde's foot was out in the walkway. Quickly standing up, she looked towards him to see him shift in bed. She grabbed her hat and quickly hid behind as Cayde continued to shift before everything went silent. Hat Kid then cautiously peeked from behind her hat as she looked at him.
He turned the other way back towards her. She exhaled another breath of relief. Why was it so hard to sneak a book that she owned with out waking an injured friend? She honestly doesn't know. Hat Kid replaced her hat on her head and quickly started looking for the book she needed. She spotted the Time Manual and flipped it open.
She checked the index and found Time Rifts on pages, 27, 49, and 97. She checked page 27. Nothing, it just referenced it in the page. Page 49. A whole section was on the subject. She did fist pump, before reading into it. However, unknowingly to her, sitting down on the bean bag chair she had next to the shelf.
'Time Rifts are tears in reality that only appear when a Time Piece is fractured or severely damaged. If that said Time Rift is not sealed, time itself would alter or corrupt that said surrounding. When a Time Rift is formed, the Time Piece that caused it automatically be sent into TRP; Time Rift Repairs. In order to seal the Time Rift, one needs to locate it's location and repair the Time Piece and bring back into reality. Blue rift like portals only require to gain one Time Piece per rift. However if a purple rift appears follow these steps.
1.) Locate the tear and enter cautiously.
2.)Navigate through the tear to the source.
3.) Destroy the time rift and grab the Time Piece.
4.) Exit quickly before it seals itself.
Hat Kid nodded. She then started thinking how she should deal with this scenario. A comical like bubble appeared in her head, a comical version of her was seen entering the time rift and navigating through the obstacle like level, before reaching the Time Piece. She simply grabbed it and quickly left the rift without issue as she nodded in real time. Nodding to herself once more Hat Kid quickly put the back into it's shelf as she stood proudly on her bean bag chair.
She'll do it. She reclaim all the Time Piece's before MG even knew what hit her. The perfect plan! However, before she could do anything a groan sound was heard from underneath her. Confused she looked down towards the source as she froze. Laying underneath her was the one she tried to avoid waking up. Cayde. He was still sleep thank goodness, but the fact she was on top him made the situation worse to find out how to get off him.
Hat Kid, shoeless as her bare feet was on top of Cayde's stomach, breathed ever so carefully as she felt his abdomen rise and fall underneath her. She was just about to start moving carefully off him when she heard him talk.
"Hmm...Heavy.."
..Heavy? Wait, what was heavy? There was nothing else on him besides...her.
"Small.."
..What.
"Ticklish..hehe.."
Hat Kid was frozen like a statue as comical arrows where seen jabbed through her when Cayde said those words. She felt hurt, but most of all embarrassed. For crying out loud, she was still girl after all! Men need to respect women! Even though the poor boy was still injured, she had to get through that THICK skull of his.
Hat Kid, no longer caring if he was awake or not, slowly pulled out her umbrella and walked towards Cayde's head. Feeling something moving on top of him, Cayde after all the noise and ruckus finally awoke to see what was moving on top of him.
"Hmm..What the..? Oh, Hat Kid. Hey, what's up?" Cayde asked cheerfully unaware of what he said just moments ago.
Hat Kid then raised her umbrella above her head, her hat casting over eyes as single glowing star like eye appeared on the left side of her face.
"Uh..Hat Kid? What are you doing?" Cayde asked nervously.
"Me.."
"Me?"
"MEANIE!"
*WHACK*
Navigating through town, Hat Kid held a picture of where the time rift should be as looked closely to where the area should be. She eventually jumped down into an alleyway, water flowing through the jagged rocks as she cautiously watched stayed on her toes. She then looked up and spotted the broken pipe in the picture( Only to find it be the wrong one as you angrily throw your controller at the wall. *cough*experience*cough*).
She quickly climbed up into it, and sitting in front of her was the Time Rift.
She questioned how she was going enter since it was first time dealing with an issue like this. It was bit smaller than her, but she approached cautiously. She slowly reached her hand out and touched the Time Rift. Then, all around her, time seemed to have stopped. She then yelped as a bright flash light flashed in her face before everything went dark...
Back on the ship, Cayde was seen rubbing his head as he sat in front of the television Hat Kid owned.
"What the hell, why did she have to go hit me like that? I didn't even do anything wrong, right?" Cayde asked himself as he started thinking back to when he was sleeping.
All he remembered was something heavy pouncing on him in his dreams and he called heavy and some other stuff and when it heard those remarks it started getting closer, his dream ended to find a small toddler above him as he stared death in the face itself.
Shrugging his shoulders, Cayde decided to abandon the idea before he noticed a game console next to the TV.
"Oooooh." Cayde said as his eyes sparkled.
When Hat Kid opened her eyes, they widened in shock, amazement, and horror. She wasn't in Mafia Town anymore. Instead she stood what seemed to be an underwater void where bubbled were seen around the air, she was standing what looked like large white, blue crystal with a lamppost. Ahead of her were more these platforms. Some where spinning and rotating like gears while others opened like drawers from inside large wall.
This was so new and strange, but Hat Kid had no time to dwell in it's beauty. Just far ahead, she stop her Time Piece floating in the endless void. All she needed to do was navigate through the platforms and the Time Piece was hers. Easy as pie.
Cracking her neck and shaking her arms, before she took off. She began running and jumping from platform to platform, she hopped from one opening platform to the next until she reached a thin platform. Holding her arms out for balance, she walked through with ease and onto the next platform. When she landed ont he stable platform a memory flashed through her head.
A memory of her and Cayde when it was raining in Mafia Town. The two were back on the buildings with cable wire! Hat Kid watched as Cayde made his way towards her balancing, before she remembered. His fall. Quickly thinking and, she ran towards just as he fell. However, when she reached for his hands, she was back in the water like void at the edge of the platform she was on moments ago.
Hat Kid was still. She placed a hand to her chest as she her heart beating at a fast rate. Was this the Time Piece's doing? Was it making her remember all her worst fears and moments in time to when she could have done something? This was bad. If anyone were to find any of the rifts and jump into it, they could probably re-live their worst nightmares!
Nodding to herself, she cautiously ran along a rotating cubed platform, jumping a few times to keep from slipping down. She reached the gears and climbed her way up.
Once she reached the top, she caught her breath and looked up at the Time Piece. With an accomplished smile, she grabbed it. It then flashed and a bright light filled her vision once more. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself back in Mafia Town in the broken pipe. The Time Rift was gone and Time Piece in hand.
With a smile, she pocketed the Time Piece and hopped out from the pipe and back onto the bricked ground road and continued her search for more Time Piece's.
Golden Vault? Oh, that's gotta be promising. She's already opened a red, blue, and green vault already. Golden ones mean great value, as far as she knew. Well, that's what Cayde told her. Said something about having treasured value inside and if not worth tons of money or pons in this case. With an eager smile, she began looking for the vault codes around the island.
..Speaking of Cayde. She wonders what he's doing right now?
"Come on, come on, come on, come on...!" Cayde said as he mashed the button of the controller.
Currently Cayde, was playing a familiar yet odd game which consisted of a man with overalls and purple clothing with a hat with the letter "Z". He was currently mashing the button as the character jumped up and down on 3D like platforms as catchy music played.
"Damn it! Why is this like "Champions Road" from 3D World, but harder!" Cayde said eye twitching with a comical vein popping out from his forehead.
His injuries were irrelevant at this point as his injuries were magically already healed. He tore the bandages off and was rip off the band-aid but stopped as he remembered Hat Kid, he slowly let his hand fall as tore off the rest of white bandages on his upper body.
"Almost there..." Cayde mashed the button pressing it in unique patterns not even he knew he could do. Just as he grabbed the last key, an orange shockwave like beam came and killed him as the words "GAME OVER" appeared on the screen in a red back ground.
Cayde's eye twitched as he bared his teeth in anger. He then comically threw the controller to the ground letting out a war yell as he declared "I'll get my revenge" or something like that. Rumbi who was still doing his daily job, turned towards his yell with a questionable look on it's face.
Man, who have thought the codes would be THIS hard to find. I mean she knew it was going to be difficult but not straight impossible. She found one golden slip near the slides, but her child side took over as she slid down the slide a couple of times for the excitement. They went really fast and right into the ocean. She splashed and played as she thought of taking a break after finding all the Time Piece's. Maybe she'll invite Cayde to.
She found another one on the wiring. Walking along it while balancing her umbrella in one hand, as if she was doing a circus act. She jumped up and grabbed the slip while catching her umbrella with the other hand as some of the Mafia below clapped at the act.
She found another one far down at the docks. This one was the hardest to find of them all. If the Badge Seller didn't point out to where he saw the slip fly by, she would have been there all day! Just before it flew down into the ocean, she quickly swiped it and pocketed it.
Once again, she found another..behind the tower where the vault was. ..Yeah, she was upset about that. She jumped from wall to wall onto a building's roof before hopping onto the ledge od the tower taking the last vault code in her hand. She stared at before slammed it up against the wall and punched as hard as she could. Bad choice.
Her eyes widened as the pain flowed through her hand up to her wrist as she quickly let it up off the wall as she hopped and down. The pain was unbearable! It was almost as stubbing your toe on the living room table! The pain died down quickly as she grabbed the vault code once more before heading towards the vault.
Finally, she found the last one in a abandoned home. There was a small fire pit, a hole in the roof and few broken decorations. Hat Kid grabbed the slip and was about to exit when something caught her eye. She walked over and picked it up. A few broken shards of glass fell to the floor, she quickly dodged it before looking towards the object. A Picture Frame.
In the picture were a mother, father, and a little girl. The mother had beautiful long blonde hair as well as blue ocean like eyes. The father had the same blue ocean like eyes with a small mustache on his face. The little girl in the picture-
No. It couldn't be..
In the picture..was Mustache Girl. This was a picture of her family before the attack. The reason? It was because she didn't have a mustache and she was a lot smaller than she looked in the picture itself. But if this was MG's house, where was her mom and dad? Was this truly her home or camp? She looked around the abandoned house, it was raided from top to bottom.
Hat Kid then recalled MG's spite against the Mafia. "I'll collect all the Time Piece's for myself!"
Hat Kid finally realized MG's hate for the Mafia. This was her home. The Mafia came and took it all away from her. Her family had to leave and..MG was left behind. She has nothing left. Everything he loved and cared about..was gone.
Hat Kid felt a wave of sympathy in her heart as she quietly put the picture back chimney ledge. She left the house, making sure it wasn't damaged more than it already was. Letting out a sigh, she took one last look towards the small house.
"One day.." Hat Kid said before she took off back for the golden vault.
Once she imputed the code, the vault opened right up. Her eyes lit up with what was inside. A Time Piece. A Mafia must have locked it up in there for safe keeping. Kinda of a but place to put a vault, but who cares, mission complete. Two Time Piece's in one day. She's made great progress. Just then,the suns light hit her in the face a she turned towards it.
The sun was already setting as the once beautiful blue sky was now a an orange beautiful sunset. Hat Kid stared in awe at the sight. It was so beautiful. So relaxing. Wanting to remember the moment Hat Kid pulled out a camera she earned from jumping across one island to another to get it back from a bird. She held the camera towards the sun as she snapped the picture with it coming out from the bottom.
The picture faded in as the sunset was seen in it. Smiling to herself, Hat Kid placed the both the camera and photo in her pocket, before teleporting back to her ship.
Upon entering the ship, Hat Kid exhaled a breath of the feeling of being back in her ship. However, her moment was soon interrupted by a certain someone's yell.
"YES! YES! YES! GOD DAMN IT! YYYYYEEEEESSSSS!" Cayde yelled as the plumber like character was on top of the goal post as he slid down it.
Almost in sync the two started jumping around, before jumping into the air yelling," Wahoo!" Only, Cayde's was a lot louder.
Ragged breathing escaped Cayde's mouth as his chest was moving up and down due to the loss of oxygen. Hat Kid stared at him shock before a blush appeared on her face. Cayde was shirtless again and his chest was..out in the open.
Hat Kid blankly stared as her face grew more red by the second before she shook her head before walking over to him and tugged at his pant leg. Feeling the tug at his leg, Cayde stopped his victory pose before looking own to see a blushing toddler at his feet.
"Oh, Kid. Hey, where'd you go?" Cayde said squatting down to her level.
Hat Kid answered his question by pulling out the two Time Piece's she found in Mafia Town.
"Oh sweet! You found some more! Good job little buddy." He said patting her hat as she giggled at the gesture.
Hat Kid was starting to enjoy these head rubs by the day, every time he did it, it felt like s sense of accomplishment or compliment. However, she stopped her their moment by tilting her head towards him.
Cayde stared before realizing what she was asking. "Oh, what was I doing?"
She nodded.
"Nah, nothing. Just beating a ridiculous level that didn't wan to be beat." He said presenting with the "Champions Road" completed screen.
Hat Kid stared before her mouth dropped. It was done. It was completed. Someone other than her was able to beat the "Champion Road"! It took Hat Kid, trial and error for her to even get to the second area of the level before she put stop to it due to her job, but she was into it. And into to it she was. She wouldn't sleep for days on her days off(Which is basically everyday) as she tried countless hours, dying over and over again to the point the gamer rage took over.
And here she was, standing before a completed "Champion Road" level. This was Cayde's first time trying games like these..and he beat in less than day! ..What is he?
Hat Kid slowly turned towards as he looked down at her waiting for a response. She turned towards him fully before doing a bow in respect. Seeing the bow, he did the same before the two broke out in fit of giggles.
Later that night in the ship, Cayde was seen in the kitchen looking for something to eat, while Hat Kid was in her room writing her diary before an alarm broke out startling the two from their objectives. Wondering what the alarm was for, Cayde quickly closed the fridge and went into the main lobby.
However, Hat Kid knew what that alarm was for. It was the intruder alarm. Panicking wondering if MG had somehow sneaked her way in to steal the Time Piece's, Hat Kid scrambled from her pillow fort and into the main lobby.
"Oh hello, deary!" Hat Kid stopped and exhaled a breath of relief. It wasn't MG, it was just Cooking Cat. Sneaking her way into the ship..that was all the way in space.
..Wait what? How did she get up here?!
"Kid?" Hat Kid turned towards Cayde who walked up behind her and looked towards the so called "intruder" before he stared blankly at the culprit. "Uh..what is she doing here?" Cayde whispered.
Hat Kid shrugged, before turning towards Cooking Cat and giving her a small wave and walked up to her. Cooking Cat stated," What a lovely ship you got going on here. Sorry for the breaking-and-entering. I just really wanted to see what an alien ship was like."
Cayde laughed to himself before saying," Nah, it's cool. Really, she doesn't mind. Besides I bet if she wasn't an alien and our roles were swapped her she would done just that. Wouldn't you, Kid?"
Hat Kid nodded putting her hands to her hips as she smiled proudly as she..glowed?
"That isn't something you should be proud of." Cayde comically said.
"You know, I expected aliens to be more green with a thirst for flesh. But I guess all aliens come in shapes and sizes, huh?" Hat Kid giggled at the statement. Green and with a thirst for flesh? Sounds like something you see in a horror movie.
"You know that sounds awfully like that one movie I watched back in dimension." Cayde said putting a finger to his chin.
"Oh? And what was is called?" Cooking Cat asked peeking interest in the boys comment.
"It was called "The Predator". Cayde said making his voice deep for effect.
"The Predator"? What's that about?"
"Basically, it's about an alien who happened to fall on a planet named Earth, reek havoc trying ti find his stolen from a child who happened to find his ship and escape with the stuff on it. After that, a whole heck of stuff happens like, fighting, jump scares, shooting alien like guns and..well you get the rest." A chibi Cayde said as a projector was seen displaying what he was talking about, along with a chibi Hat Kid and Cooking Cat awing interest.
"Hey, if you two are looking to explore our planet, you have to understand it first. Otherwise, you won't know if your stepping on grass or quicksand! Ever heard of relics?" Hat Kid tilted in confusion and curiosity, while Cayde narrowed his eyes in speculation but also in curiosity.
Relics? Does she mean what Hat Kid keeps finding around in random places? She found one of the strange pieces in Mafia Town while exploring.
Cooking Cat smiled at their curiosity. "Don't know what those are for? Worry not! Cooking Cat is here!" Cooking Cat then pulled a Cayde as comical like projector with a board was pulled from..somewhere. A chibi Cooking Cat then reappeared as she started explaining.
"I'll let you have this burger cushion for free." She hands Cayde a bun with lettuce like pillow as he stared at in wide eyes.
"A burger!"
"Oh? So you know this type of food?"
"Know it? I love it! I've been trying to looking for something edible ever since I've I got here!" Cayde said as his eyes sparkled.
"Well before we talk about food let's stay on task. You can identify these things if you put them together on some sort of podium. If you place them correctly in the right order, you'll be able to make out the design. If you'r able to identify it, something great might happen! You never know so keep your eye's out for relics." The duo nodded in understanding as the mini chibi like lesson ended.
Hat Kid hopped off from Cayde's lap as she walked her way towards an old podium to the side of the main hub. The ship came with these old podiums scattered around, but she never found use for them. But now that she could finally use them, she began putting together what Cayde called a "Burger Cushion". She placed the first piece which was the bottom on the podium before placing the second one on top of it. Once it sparkled, Hat Kid must have realized she put it together correctly.
She turned towards Cayde with sparkly eyes as he gave her a thumbs up for a job well done.
She began to put down a label and description while Cooking Cat started talking. "While you two work on that, I'll be in kitchen if you need anything." Just before she started walking she heard her name being called. Cooking Cat turned towards the voice to find it to be Cayde who's hat was shadowing over his eyes.
"Sorry correct if me i'm wrong, but uh..you said you'll be in the "Kitchen" if we need anything?" Cayde said slowly walking towards the orange cat.
"Why yes, if you wan to whip something up I'll be happy to oblige."
That did it. Cayde then zipped in front of her at speeds he didn't even know he had as he got on his hands and knees as he pleaded.
"Please! For the love of god, I'm starving! I haven't been able to anything for the past 2 or 3 days! I'm a growing boy and I need food to keep me up to shape! I haven't been able to eat any of Hat Kid's food due to it being.." Cayde then looked towards the camera winking his right eye before saying," Out of this world."
BUM DUM TSSH
Snickers we're heard from Coooking Cat but mostly from Hat Kid as she put her hand to her mouth trying to hid her laughs. But Cayde, then went back pleading at the cats feet as pleaded for food.
"Now now, calm down, sugar. Cooking Cat always keeps her word, now come along with me to kitchen as I'll whip you up something good. Before, that go wash your hands." She said walking up the ramp into the kitchen.
"H-Hat Kid, did you hear that?" Cayde said staring at the double blue doors Cooking Cat entered.
Hat Kid finished her sign as she walked towards Cayde with an eyebrow raised.
"We're finally going to get some food! Hallelujah, dam- I mean, Dang it!" Cayde said correcting himself.
Hat Kid blankly stared at him, unamused with his words. She knew he wasn't talking about her, but they way he said they we're going to get some "real" food kinda ticked her off. It was almost saying as if her cooking was horrible! She could cook! Just look at her! Perfectly healthy and breathing normally like anyone else, but then again..Cayde was human. But, that still isn't excuse!
Hat Kid turned away with a "hmph", as Cayde stared at her with confusion. "What are you upset about?" Cayde said sweat dropping.
Seriously? He doesn't know what he just said? Ugh, boys..Hat Kid liked hanging around them but sometimes they can be so dense. Just like this one on her ship.
Cayde was about to walk over and ask what was up, before he noticed the burger cushion. He walked up to it and examined the "Information". It read: "The Earthling Sitting Device." It's description read," Research concludes that this thing is very soft to sit on. So soft, that the only logical conclusion is that these are chairs on this planet. It's not a snack. I tried it. It tastes like fabric."
Hat Kid happily waited for his reply as she held her closed hands close to her face with sparkly eyes, Cayde turned towards her and looked away with snicker as his voice caught his laugh. Hat Kid's world shattered as her eyes were shadowed away comically at his response with an open mouth.
Did he..laugh? Laugh at her new investigation?! Come one! It was new her to her! Yes, not not to him since he was used to it but this was something completely different for her! Upset, Hat Kid walked over to the cushion and hopped onto it, planning to grab it and throw various pieces at him, but when she did she..bounced?
Not only was the item soft but it was too bouncy. In an instant, Hat Kid completely forgot about punishing Cayde as she happily bounced up and down on the burger with playful little giggles. Cayde took notice of the childlike giggles in front of him and looked onto the burger and smiled.
She was really enjoying herself, at this time she almost seemed like a little sister who wouldn't leave the big brother alone as she bounced on his bed. Taking note of this situation, Cayde pulled out the camera he found..sometime ago and took a picture.
Hat Kid hearing the sound of a picture being taken stopped her bouncing and looked towards Cayde who was holding the photo in hand as he smiled at it. Curious, she hopped off and ran towards tugging on his leg motioning, "Let me see!"
Cayde lowered himself and showed the photo. And should he say she was damn adorable. However, before Cayde could tease her for her childish actions something in the photo caught his eye. The planet..was orange? Almost like lava fire like texture to it. Was it filter? Did he put a filter on by accident?
Hat Kid also noticing the planet's strange color looked up from the photo towards the planet itself..and gasped loud enough for Cayde to here as he looked towards her, then towards Earth before his eyes widened.
The planet really was different. It glowed really orange, but it was only in Mafia Town. Concerned the two looked at each other and nodded as they raced towards the kitchen and looked into the telescope racing their way towards Mafia Town, completely unprepared for what their going to find out once there.
Another chapter down! Yes! Really getting back into the swing of things! You guys really love this story and the characters which makes just so happy! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one! Peace!