Chapter 2

This day got really off to a bad start for Hat Kid... First, she woke up to find out there was an intruder on board and had to capture him, then a weird man from the Mafia blew a hole into the hatch. Next, the vacuum of the space sucked her out of her own ship and now she was falling down right toward an unknown planet. But things were about to get a lot worse...

As Hat Kid was falling down, she saw from a distance the vault inside her ship that was containing her Time Pieces being forced open by the strength of the vacuum. Then all of the Time Pieces flew out of the spaceship – one passing inches away from her head – and down toward the planet below. As she looked back at her ship, she saw the lights going off, meaning that the power was out due to the lack of fuel. She put her hands on her hips and let out an irritated growl as she entered the atmosphere of the planet.

She looked down to see herself heading toward some sort of island. She was getting closer and closer to the ground, so she readied herself for the landing. She knew what she was doing though, she had done that more than once. Once she reached the ground, she perfectly landed on her feet and did a little pose, a big grin appearing on her face. She felt proud of her landing as it only seemed to get better and better each time.

She then heard a thud nearby and turned around to see the Mafia man from earlier passed out against the wall. Apparently, his landing didn't go as well as Hat Kid's. He wasn't dead but he got knocked out on the impact. Suddenly, Hat Kid heard a faint screaming coming from above that only seemed to grow louder by the second. She looked up and saw Arthur – still tied up to his chair – falling from the sky and landing right in front of her, his chair breaking on the impact.

"Ah dammit...!" Arthur winced in pain at the brutal landing. God, this hurt like hell... At least the chair had shielded him from the fall, so he wasn't injured or anything, and he was now free from the ties. He pushed the ropes off of him and slowly sat up, groaning as he did. He looked up and saw his cowboy hat floating down and landing right on his face. He picked it up and placed it back on his head. He stood up, brushing himself off in the process, and turned around to find Hat Kid staring at him. And boy, she was mad...

"Don't come back," she said in a cold tone. Arthur's eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped. First words he heard from her and it was to tell him to go away?

"Go away, kid! You're in the way!"

"Get lost, you freak! I don't want to see your ugly face ever again!"

Arthur felt like tearing up any seconds at the sudden flashback. For years, the other kids and adults have been treating him like a liability, and now this little girl was doing the same to him. However, he managed to stop himself from crying. He wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction of seeing him break down on the spot. He gritted his teeth and tightened his fists. His face grew red and his anger was building up. And finally, it all exploded...

"FINE! I'm outta here then! I never wanted to be on your stupid spaceship anyway! Have fun getting back to it, jerk!" he shouted angrily before walking away into an alleyway.

Hat Kid would lie if she said she wasn't a bit shaken by Arthur's sudden outburst. She had seen people get mad before but this kid? It was something else... She shook her head. She had more important things to worry about right now, she had to find her Time Pieces before they fall in the wrong hands. They probably have been scattered all across the planet. Hat Kid brought her hands to her face and moaned in frustration. This was gonna take a lot of work to get them all back... so she had to get started immediately. She walked forward, taking a different path from Arthur.

Arthur couldn't believe what was happening to him. This day was just getting worse by the minute... It was probably not the worst day he had, but it was definitely close. Now he was stranded on an unknown island filled with only men from the Mafia, so he figured he landed in Mafia Town. Seriously, what kind of town was that? He had never heard of this one back home. So the possibilities were: he had landed on a planet that wasn't his or he was sent into another dimension... or it was all just a dream. A bad one if it was... Arthur really hoped he was just dreaming, but all of this felt too real. He really had to find a way back home. Not gonna lie, he hated it... But at least, he knew the place and how things worked there. It was best to be in a place you knew what to expect rather than an unknown town where you don't have a clue about what's going to happen to you. He hated both anyway, so he might as well just go with the former. So far, all he knew was that a portal had brought him here, so maybe there was a way to find another to bring him back. For now, his objective was to find a way to get off this island as soon as possible. A boat could probably do the trick if he could find one...

Arthur had been walking through town for a moment, and as he came out of the corner of the alleyway he spotted three Mafia men chatting with each other in the middle of the street. He quickly hid behind the wall to avoid them. These guys weren't the smartest ones alive from what he had seen so far, but they sure didn't look friendly either. He figured it was best to stay clear of them... He took a peek to make sure they hadn't seen him, but thankfully they didn't. Not wanting to risk it, Arthur took another path into a different alleyway. Suddenly, a figure came out of nowhere and bumped into him, making him fall to the ground on his back.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the figure said angrily. Startled, Arthur sat up and looked up to see who had bumped into him. It was a girl who seemed to be a year younger than him. She was wearing a red hooded cape, a rose pink tunic with a purple sash, purple pants, and green shoes. A medaillon with the shape of a star engraved into it was holding her cape closed. She had tawny eyes, blond hair styled into loose pigtails and she had a... mustache? What? Arthur sent her a glare.

"Me? How about YOU watch where you're going?!" he retorted angrily. The red-hooded girl only rolled her eyes at him in response. Arthur got up to his feet and patted the dust off of him. He was about to walk away when the girl spoke again.

"Hey, you're not one of those Mafia guys, are you?" she asked him. Arthur looked at her unamused. Really? What kind of question was that?

"Do I look like a eight-foot tall brute in a suit and a chef's apron that says 'Kiss my Butt'?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Fair enough," the mustached girl said with a shrug. Arthur rolled his eyes and walked past her. He didn't have time to be bothered by someone else. However, she stopped him once more.

"I've never seen you around before. You new in town?" she asked him curiously.

Arthur looked at her annoyed and said, "Yeah. So what?".

"Oh... Well, if you're here to go sightseeing, you... haven't really chosen the right place for it. I mean, you've seen all of those Mafia guys around, right?" she said curious as to why he was here. Arthur rolled his eyes again.

"Considering this town is filled with them, it's hard not to notice... They're one of the reasons I ended up here in the first place," Arthur said, catching the girl's interest.

"Oh, they gave you trouble too? They've also been a big pain in my butt for a while, so I've formed a little rebellion against them," she stated. She then rubbed her head nervously as she added, "Although I admit... I've been a one-member party this whole time. But hey, I've been doing okay so far!"

"A 'little rebellion'? What, you put an overdose of tabasco in their food?" Arthur asked jokingly.

"Something waaaay worse than tabasco," the red-hooded girl said with an evil grin as she twirled her mustache a bit. Arthur stared at her. He really didn't want to know what she put in their food...

"Oh, by the way, I'm Mustache Girl!" she said enthusiastically as she extended her hand for Arthur to shake. Wait, her name was 'Mustache Girl'? How fitting...

"Arthur," the twelve-year-old boy answered, though he didn't shake her hand. Mustache Girl's smile dropped and she crossed her arms.

"You're not very friendly, are you?" Mustache Girl said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Are you friendly?" Arthur retorted, crossing his arms as well.

"Only if you're not with the Mafia," she said seriously.

"Fair enough," Arthur muttered. Mustache Girl nodded, then an enthusiastic grin appeared on her face.

"Hey, I have an idea! Wanna join my little rebellion against the Mafia? I already had someone else join me earlier, and with you around that'd make a party of three! So what do say?" she eagerly offered, putting her hands on her hips as she waited for his answer. Wait... She wanted him to join her in her personal fight against the Mafia? Arthur was suprised by the sudden offer. However, he didn't want to get involved into this. It wasn't his fight and he had to find a way back home as quickly as possible. He shook his head.

"Sorry, Mustache Girl, but I don't have time for this. I wanna go back to where I'm from, so I have to find a boat or something and leave this island for good," he said.

"Ah yeah... About that... I think you're gonna have a hard time finding one..." Mustache Girl said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I mean, there are boats but, um... there are plenty of Mafia guys guarding them and they stop anyone from using them. Those who tried, well... they were catapulted away to the bottom of the sea with a cannon," she answered nervously. Arthur's eyes widened in shock. They... catapulted people away into the sea by using a cannon? That's just messed up!

"Fantastic..." he mumbled in an annoyed tone. There goes his probably only way to leave the island...

"Which is why you should stick with me! We could get rid of the Mafia together and then we'll get you a boat so you can leave," Mustache Girl said, attempting to convince Arthur to accept her offer. The twelve-year-old boy looked at her for a second before shaking his head no. Everytime he had trusted someone it always ended badly. He didn't want more people turning their back on him, so he decided it was best to stay alone.

"Look, I appreciate the offer but I'll be fine on my own. Now if you'll excuse me..." Arthur said as he began to walk away from the red-hooded girl.

"Alright. Well, if you change your mind, I won't be far," Mustache Girl said as the boy just continued to walk away from her. She was a bit disappointed by his decision, but she remained hopeful that he would come around eventually.

"Sure," Arthur said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Hey Arthur! Cool hat by the way!" the mustached girl complimented him. Arthur stopped and looked back at her, visibly surprised.

"Uhh yeah, thanks..." he said, unsure if she was being honest or just making fun of him. Honestly, he didn't want to know. Then he went on his way, leaving Mustache Girl alone in the alleyway.

'I really need to find a way to convince this boy to join me. I'm certain he could be a big help in my fight against the Mafia,' she thought as she watched him leave. 'Speaking of which, it's time to go beat some of them up!' Then she ran off to find some Mafia men to beat up.

"A portal, a spaceship, a little girl with a hat, Mafia men who speak in third person, another girl with a mustache... What's next? A twitchy man with a mask?" Arthur muttered to himself.

"Greetings, young one," a voice said from behind. Arthur froze in his tracks and turned around. When he did, he was met by a strange person wearing a red t-shirt tied around by a brown belt, purple baggy pants and brown boots. A purple cloak was covering their head, a mask was on their face and they were holding a wooden cane in their left hand. However, something seemed wrong with this person... Their body was twitchy and purple particles were emanating from it. It was very unsettling... Arthur was unamused. He had just described an appearance like theirs out of pure sarcasm a second ago, and suddenly they just show up out of nowhere.

"Figures... And who are you?" Arthur asked, clearly suspicious of the twitchy person.

"Ah, my apologies. I am just a traveller. I come from a far away land, I have visited every corner of this planet and now I sell some of my discoveries. You may call me the Badge Seller," the person introduced themselves.

'Badge Seller, huh? They really have strange names around here...' Arthur thought.

"You seem lost. Is everything all right?" the Badge Seller asked with concern.

"Just peachy..." Arthur simply said as he looked at the glitchy person curiously. Something about them felt... familiar somehow. "Uh, excuse me but... have we met somewhere before?" he carefully asked. The Badge Seller only smiled at him.

"I meet a lot of people during my travels, but it is possible that we already met, young one," they answered. Arthur gave them a confused look. They had already met before? The twelve-year-old boy shook his head. No, that is impossible. He had never seen that person in his life before and if he did he would have remembered. This whole situation was getting unsettling for him.

"Okay...? Well, uh... I should probably get going," he said as he turned around and began to walk away.

"I hope you will find what you are looking for, Arthur Jones," the Badge Seller suddenly said with a smile. The boy immediately froze when he heard his full name being pronounced.

"What?" Arthur quickly turned around, but when he did the Badge Seller was nowhere to be seen. Okay, now he was confused. Just who was this guy and how did they know his name? Arthur didn't like that one bit...

"Okay, this is getting weirder by the second... I'd better get out of here..." he muttered to himself and continued to walk on the path, only much faster this time. There was definitely something strange going on around here...

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. So yeah, you've heard Hat Kid's first words in it. In this fanfiction, Hat Kid will occasionally talk, but when she does it'll be short and straight to the point. Indeed, she is a silent protagonist and rarely speaks in the game, so I want to keep her that way. Also, as mentioned here, Mustache Girl is 11 here. So that clears all of the kids' ages for this fanfiction.

Alright, now it's time to answer to reviews:

To Linkone1: Thank you very much! I'm happy to know you like the story so far. I'm enjoying writing it at the moment so you can be sure there's gonna be updates very soon. ^^

To Mr. Mega1423: Thank you! Your stories are good too! Also if you like dark things in stories, well... don't worry, you're in for a treat in this fanfic. ;)

To R.S: Thank you. And no, I'm not planning to add romance between Arthur and Hat Kid. There's gonna be a bond between them eventually but not this one.

Alright, that's all for today, folks! Have a good day!