Chapter 1

"Ugh... My head... I wanna die..."

Arthur woke up with a headache... and not just any headache. It was the kind of headache you would get after a long night of drinking, only worse. Not that Arthur tried it before of course, he was way too young and he had seen enough of his father to know that it was bad idea to even start.

He slowly sat up with a groan, his left hand on his forehead as he tried to shake off the bad feeling. God, it's been a while since he had felt this bad. It's like waking up in a hospital bed after being unconscious for days, and he talked about experience... He slowly opened his eyes to observe his surroundings and finds himself in a unfamiliar place.

"Where... Where am I?" Arthur wondered as he looked around in confusion. He was in an open room with two levels, a large vault next to a big screen on the second level, a TV off to the side and some strange looking doors leading to other rooms. Resting his left hand on the floor, he could feel the soft fabric of the carpet that was covering the entire lower level. This wasn't his bedroom! Where the heck was he?

As Arthur was trying to process everything, he remembered what happened earlier. He went home after another dreadful day of school, walked past his passed-out drunk father, and found a... strange glowing hourglass in his bedroom. After that he accidentally dropped it and the next thing he knew he was sucked into this portal that emerged from it. Wait a second... He quickly reached an hand to the top of his head and began to panic when he felt that his favorite cowboy hat was no longer here. He quickly looked around and found it resting on the carpet on his left side. He sighed in relief and grabbed it to put it back on his head. This hat meant a lot to him, no way in the world he would dare to lose it.

Getting back to the situation he was in, Arthur got up to his feet to take another look at the place. However, when he turned around, he found himself with a sight that nearly sent him through a heart attack. Behind a huge window, there was a huge void! This wasn't just any void though... He could see stars in the distance and there even was a strange looking planet below. He was in space! In SPACE! And that's when realization hit him: the room he was in was part of a spaceship!

This newfound informartion was a lot to take in, not to mention he had a fear of heights and just watching the empty void behind that window... Oh god... Arthur could feel himself start to hyperventilate, but he did his best to control himself.

'Pull yourself together, Arthur. You're gonna be fine. Can't fall as long as you're in there...' he thought as he took some deep breathes. He eventually managed to calm himself down. As he continued to look outside the window, he asked himself the big question...

"Just where the hell did I end up at?"

In another room of the spaceship, a young girl was groggily making her way toward her closet. She had brown long hair tied into a ponytail and turquoise blue eyes. She was wearing a long-sleeved purple pajamas with an orange cat face on it and she was barefeet. Her name was Hat Kid. Yeah, strange name you might say... but she has it because, one, she likes it, two, the purple top hat she was lazily dragging behind in her hand summed it all up pretty much, and three, for reasons that only the small child knew.

Hat Kid had just gotten out of bed. Indeed, she had been brutally awaken by the loud alarm once again. God, she hated that alarm! She really needed to change it at some point, but every time she wanted to she felt too lazy to do so. She really needed to get over herself sometimes... She opened her closet and went to grab an outfit: a long-sleeved purple shirt with a bright yellow cape sporting a large zipper, some white pants and brown boots. Even though she only had one outfit, she really loved it and she doesn't see herself changing it anytime soon. She proceeded to change into it, putting the clothes and her boots on. She also fixed her hair a little before putting the hat on top of her head. Finally, she hung her pajamas in the closet and closed it.

She let out a yawn and stretched her arms a little before setting her mind on today's task. It's been days since she was travelling space in her trusty spaceship. She was on her way back home after going off on an adventure to retrieve some Time Pieces that ended up on another planet.

Hat Kid was excited to go home. She missed everyone there and to be honest, she needed a break after that. Indeed, the results of her adventure weren't pretty... The planet she went on was very unstable and although she was able to retrieve all of the Time Pieces in time, the planet ended up being destroyed. Hat Kid wished she could have done something to prevent that from happening, but at least she was able to help the inhabitants escape before the explosion occured.

Dismissing the thought, Hat Kid made her way to the main room, the first door opening as she walked through it. She went through the second door that directly led to the main room. However, as she did, she saw something or rather... someone, standing near the large window that gave view to space. She gasped and quickly hid behind the wall. She took a peek to see if they had spotted her but to her relief they were too busy looking outside the window to notice.

She used a few seconds to take a look at the intruder. It was a boy, he seemed slightly older than her and he was wearing a strange black hat. Hat Kid was confused. Who was he? How did he get on her spaceship undetected? The intruder alarm was supposed to trigger if someone got through the hatch! She would need to check that as well... But more importantly: what was he doing here? Nobody except a few people from her planet knew she was here! So why did he come on her spaceship?

That only meant one thing... He was probably here to steal her Time Pieces! Hat Kid frowned. No one will lay a finger on her Time Pieces as long as she was here! She made on oath to keep them safe no matter what and that's exactly what she is gonna do!

She pulled out a blue umbrella that she used as a weapon and began to slowly walk toward the intruder. He seemed unaware of her presence so she kept going, hoping to catch him by surprise.

Arthur on the other hand was still staring outside the window. The situation was so overwhelming, and yet after calming down a little and just looking at the empty space, he found it absolutely... beautiful... relaxing... Just watching the shining stars, the different details of the planet below from afar... Just beautiful...

Suddenly, he could feel a presence behind him and it seemed to get closer. His instincts were telling him that someone was trying to sneak on him. He frowned. No... No one will get the jump on him this time. A lot of people have done that already, he wasn't about to let that happen again. If he had to defend himself, he would... He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Eventually, the person got close enough and, seizing his chance, Arthur quickly turned around and threw a punch at the stranger. However, the latter had quick reflexes and jumped back to dodge it. Arthur looked at his attacker angrily and was able to see their appearance. It was another kid, a girl to be more specific. She was wearing a purple top hat and she had an umbrella in her hand. She seemed slightly younger than him, probably three years younger. He looked at her in shock and his expression softened. He couldn't just attack a little girl like that, it wasn't right... Maybe she didn't mean to sneak on him like that.

However, seeing that he let his guard down, the girl suddenly charged at him and whacked him across the face with her umbrella before he could react. The hit was so hard that he did a spin and fell face first on the floor. Arthur's vision was blurry and he was losing consciousness quite fast. He looked to the side to see the other child slowly walk toward him with an angry expression on her face and that was the last thing he saw before his eyes closed and he drifted out of consciousness.

Arthur slowly opened his eyes, letting out a groan in the process. His face felt really sore from the hit he took. His vision was still a bit blurry, so he shook his head to wake himself up a little. After a few seconds, he could see clearly again. He tried to move but strangely found himself unable to.

"What the...?" he said confused. Looking down at his body, he noticed ropes wrapped all around him. Wait... ropes? He tried to move his hands but he couldn't do that either. He turned his head and saw ropes restaining his hands behind the chair he was sitting on. He was tied up... The damn kid had tied him up to a freaking chair! Arthur sighed in frustration.

'Just fantastic... This day really couldn't get any worse,' he thought angrily. Now he couldn't even trust a little girl to not attack him out of the blue.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a robotic noise. He looked down at his feet and saw a little robot vacuum cleaner on the floor. Its form was cylindrical, it seemed an inch taller than Arthur's feet and it had some pink lighted LED face on the front. Judging by the look of said face, it seemed angry at him. Arthur glared back at it.

"What? See something green?" he asked sarcastically. In response, the small robot jumped up and down furiously and began to bump into Arthur's feet repeatedly, making angry robotic noises in the process. It was trying to attack him but its bumping clearly did nothing to him. The twelve-year-old boy simply stared at it, clearly unamused. Suddenly, a door opening was heard from a distance, causing the small robot to stop its 'attack'. Arthur turned his head and saw the purple hatted child exit a room on the second level.

After knocking the intruder out and tying him up to a chair in the middle of the main room, Hat Kid had decided to have some breakfast in the kitchen while waiting for him to wake up. As she exited the kitchen, she made her way toward her monitor. She brought her finger to the screen and touched it, letting out a small "Boop!" as she did. It was just something she loved to do whenever she touched the monitor, she found it funny. The screen then showed her spaceship's fuel, which showed 56/56, and seconds later it switched to show her trip's progress. She was halfway from reaching her home planet. It brought a smile to her face as she stepped back to observe her progress.

However, her smile dropped when she remembered her 'unexpected guest'. Right, she had yet to check if he was awake and interrogate him. She climbed down the ladder to the lower level and was greeted by Rumbi, her trusty robot vacuum cleaner, who jumped up and down happily upon seeing her. Hat Kid waved at it with a smile. Rumbi made a happy face and went back to cleaning up the large room. Hat Kid turned her attention to the boy tied up to the chair and noticed he was awake. She walked up to him, and once she was close enough she took a good look at him. God, he looked horrible! His face was a bit pale and she could notice the bags under his eyes. Was he sick or something? She stood there without a word as she continued to stare at him.

A few seconds passed and Arthur was starting to get very unconfortable. He didn't like when people just stared at him without saying anything, it was very unnerving and it felt like they were silently judging him. He began to grow irritated.

"What?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Hat Kid snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Arthur with a serious expression. She pulled out her umbrella and pointed it at him. She raised an eyebrow, earning a confused look from Arthur. Then he understood, the girl was trying to interrogate him but she wasn't saying anything. She probably didn't like to talk. This meant he would have to figure out what the hatted child was trying to say. Right now it was easy, she was asking what he was doing on her spaceship.

"Look, I didn't mean to get here. I was in my room minding my own business, then I found this strange hourglass, accidentally broke it, and the next I knew I woke up here! That's all I know," Arthur answered truthfully. However, Hat Kid narrowed her eyes at him. Clearly she didn't believe him.

"That's the truth, I ended up here by accident! I don't even know what's going here!" he said hoping to convince his captor, but she still wasn't having it. Arthur sighed in defeat.

"Forget about it... Look, just let me go and I'll leave. You'll never see me again," Arthur pleaded.

Hat Kid blinked. He was asking her to just let him go? Was he saying the truth? Did he really end up here by accident? She shook her head firmly. No, she couldn't allow herself to fall for that trick... If she did he would probably try to attack her or come back later for revenge, then he would steal her Time Pieces and she would have failed in her mission. She couldn't take any risks, especially since he nearly hit her before. Arthur's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?! You can't just keep me here! I wanna go home, you hear?!" he spat angrily. Hat Kid still refused to let him go and she blew a raspberry at him in response. Arthur was taken aback by that, his eye began to twitch and he could feel his anger boiling up in his blood.

"Well, screw you then..." he muttered bitterly. Nobody ever listens to him anyway... A gurgling noise suddenly came out of his stomach. He was getting hungry... He hadn't eaten well at lunch and he didn't have time to eat something before he was transported here. He sighed and looked Hat Kid in the eyes.

"Well... Could you at least bring something to eat, please? I'm starving..." he asked desperatedly.

Hat Kid shrugged. If she had to keep him here as her prisoner, that's probably the least she could do for him. She walked back into the kitchen and came back seconds later with a slice of pizza on a plate in her hand. She placed it on Arthur's legs and simply stared at him. Arthur looked at the slice of pizza on his legs, then back at Hat Kid with a are-you-kidding-me look.

"Really? How am I supposed to eat when my hands are still tied up?" he asked, wriggling his tied hands to prove his point. Hat Kid simply shrugged, telling him to figure it out on his own. She wasn't gonna risk having him trying to bite her hand while trying to feed him herself. Arthur gave her a dirty look.

"Well, I don't see you opening up a four-star restaurant anytime soon if this how you treat your customers," he said sarcastically. Hat Kid rolled her eyes in response. She was about to leave when she suddenly heard a noise that made her jump in surprise.

Both her and Arthur turned their heads and were met with a shocking sight: there was a large man on the other side of the window knocking repeatedly on the hatch. The man was bald, had grey eyes and had a black mustache. He was wearing a blue suit and pants, black shoes, and a chef's apron with 'Kiss the Cook' written in red on it. Both children were staring at him in disbelief. How did this guy get here? But more importantly, how was he able to breathe in space? Hat Kid looked back at Arthur with a glare, believing the man to be his friend coming to rescue him.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! I don't even know this guy!" Arthur said to defend himself.

Hat Kid simply let out a small "Hmpf!" in disbelief and went to the hatch to see what the big man wanted. The latter stopped knocking when he noticed Hat Kid and looked down at her with a serious and threatening expression.

"What is this? Flying boat? All boats need to pay toll in Mafia Town. Even in space! Mafia come in to collect," he spoke in third person. In third person? Seriously? Who even talks like that?

Then to both children's shock, the Mafia man grabbed the handle of the hatch and began to open it slightly. Panicking, Hat Kid jumped up and grabbed the handle to shut the hatch and prevent him from getting in. She managed to win this battle and she was able to close the hatch at the Mafia man's face.

"How rude!" the Mafia man said irritated as he began to float back in the empty space. Hat Kid sighed in relief, she hopped down and brushed her hands off. That should take care of the problem.

However, the Mafia man was not done yet. He was going to get in and collect whether the little girl liked it or not. He gritted his teeth and balled his hand into a fist, ready to force his way in just as Hat Kid turned her back on him. Arthur saw this and formed a panicked look.

"Hey hey, look out!" he tried to warn Hat Kid, but too late. Before she could react, the Mafia man swiftly charged at the window and broke it open. Of course, the vacuum of the space did its effect and pulled the Mafia man back to the hole he broke through.

The man only said "Uh oh..." before the strength of the vacuum shot him back into space and toward the nearby planet. Hat Kid, who was dangerously close to the hole, gasped and tried to run away from it but it was no use and she was sucked through the hole as well, letting out a scream as she did. Arthur was watching the entire scene in shock, and soon the vacuum of the space was starting to drag the chair he was tied up to with it.

"No no no no NO!" he shouted in panic as he was being pulled toward the hole. And then, he let out a scream as he was shot out in the empty space, sharing the same fate as his captor and the Mafia man.

A/N: Hey everyone! First chapter of the story after the prologue! I hope you all enjoyed it. As mentioned in the chapter, Hat Kid is 9 in this fanfiction. I know some people tend to convert her age in alien age, but for me her age works the same as humans. Also yes, I'm planning to include both DLCs from the game in this story. Oh boy, this is gonna be one long story. Hope my motivation will hold on until the end... ^^;

Also, I will use this A/N section to answer a few reviews I've got. May or may not change in the future.

To Linkone1: Thank you very much, I'm glad the story got your interest. I will do my best to continue updating this story and hopefully my motivation will hold until the end.

To Mr. Mega1423: Indeed, your story 'Megacharge' has inspired me to do this. I've also read your A Hat in Time series. Loved all three stories. Keep up the good work! Also I'm glad you like the story. I hope not to disappoint everyone with my own. ^^

To Ray Solren : This story? I started posting it about four days ago. And don't worry, I'll do my best to continue it until the end. I'm aware that some stories are being made and then discontinued. I'll try to make sure this isn't one of them, but know it might take a while until it's finished and my motivation will likely play in it.

That's all for now, folks, I'll see you all in the next chapter! Have a good day!