Chapter 4
"Whoaaa... So this is your spaceship?"
Mustache Girl was looking around the main room of the ship in awe. Hat Kid nodded proudly, her hands on her hips. It was needless to say that the red-hooded girl was really impressed by the technology, the decorations and the robot vacuum cleaner present in here. Hat Kid wished she could make her visit the entire ship, but unfortunately all of the other rooms are locked due to the lack of power. She will only be able to unlock them progressively once she gets enough Time Pieces. At least, she can still access the kitchen so perhaps she could try to offer some food to her new friend.
"That's so awesome!" Mustache Girl said, jumping up and down in excitement. "Arthur! Isn't that impressive?"
"Yeah yeah, very impressive..." Arthur said uninterested. He didn't want to admit it but it was indeed very impressive. This is the kind of the thing that you would think you only see in the movies, but seeing something like that with your own eyes... it was definitely something else. He may have been in this spaceship once before, but now he had more time to properly look around and he sure found it impressive. Of course, Arthur would never say it out loud since it belonged to the same girl who had knocked him out and tied him up to a chair earlier. Hat Kid could see the boy's lack of enthusiasm, but she didn't care.
"Anyway, we're here to come up with a plan to get in the Mafia's headquarters. So how about we just get on with it?" Arthur reminded the still-excited mustached girl, snapping her out of her trance.
"Oh right! The plan! Just hang on a second!" Mustache Girl said as she darted away from her spot.
Arthur and Hat Kid gave each other a confused look as they watched her running around the main room and into the kitchen as well. She seemed like she was searching for something. A few minutes later, she came back with a moving chalkboard and two chairs that she proceeded to place at the corner of the room.
"Alright, fellow rebel squad! Take a seat!" Mustache Girl said enthusiastically, motioning to the two chairs facing the chalkboard. Arthur and Hat Kid shrugged and went to sit on their respective chair, giving the red-hooded girl all their attention.
"Are you both ready to take down some Mafia!? Let's do it! I'm psyched!" Mustache Girl said in an excited tone. She turned to the chalkboard and began to scribble on it with a piece of chalk she found. Once she was finished, she turned around to look at her friends and talk to them about her plan. However, her smile dropped when she saw that Arthur and Hat Kid have both made a distance between them and they were looking away from each other. It was clear that these two really disliked each other.
'This isn't gonna do! They really need to learn to get along if I want this whole thing to work. Thankfully, I've got it all covered!' Mustache Girl thought, glancing between the two rivals.
"Ahem, so! Let's go over the plan! All assaults need a good plan, or it'll be a flop!" she said as she stood to the side so Arthur and Hat Kid could see the chalkboard. She had drawn a picture of what seemed to be the entrance of the Mafia's HQ with the words 'Master Plan' above it. One could notice a small figure drawn in red in front of the entrance with the word 'me' next to it that represented Mustache Girl.
She flipped the chalkboard, and the next picture almost sent both Arthur and Hat Kid through a heart attack. It was a drawing of Mustache Girl strangling one of the Mafia goons with his own tie.
"First, we strangle them! Choke 'em and watch 'em beg for mercy! That'll show them!" the red-hooded girl said with an evil grin as she rubbed her hands together. Arthur and Hat Kid formed a shocked expression on their face.
"Uhhh..." Arthur raised a finger to protest, but Mustache Girl cut him off.
"No, wait, strangling is too kind..." she said as she placed a hand on her chin in a thoughtful manner. Then she snapped her fingers as she suddenly had an idea. She erased the previous drawing with her sleeve and drew something else instead. However, this new picture was even worse than the previous one... It showed Mustache Girl crushing a Mafia man under her foot with blood spilling everywhere, an arrow pointing to the right to show another picture of what seemed to be a jar filled with blood and body parts.
"We smash them together into mush, and put their remain in a jar! Then we sell the jar for pocket money! That'll be the ultimate salt in the wound!" Mustache Girl said in an almost crazed tone.
"The hell...?" Arthur whispered to himself with a disturbed expression. He had heard some crazy stuff coming from his dad and other people in the past, but this...? It was probably the worst thing he had ever heard... Just what had he gotten himself into? Hat Kid nodded in shock, reflecting the boy's thoughts. Even though the Mafia had been the reason she lost her Time Pieces and had attacked her, she didn't want to have to resort to killing them in such manner. Just knocking them out seemed like enough to her.
Mustache Girl noticed her two allies's uneasiness and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She cleared her throat and flipped the chalkboard to reveal a drawing of a Mafia man dressed differently from the others. Mustache Girl had added some insulting words such as 'bad', 'dumb', and 'probably smells' to describe him. Arthur and Hat Kid assumed that it was probably the boss of the Mafia.
"But first, we have to make it through their Mafia HQ. Once we find and dethrone the Mafia Boss, the rest will follow. Then our mush and jar party will be no problem!" the red-hooded girl explained enthusiastically.
"Sounds like a plan, but is the... 'mush and jar' thingy really necessary?" Arthur asked, showing disgust at the last statement. Hat Kid nodded in agreement with him, even though it was weird for her to agree with her enemy.
"Yup!" Mustache Girl said with a firm nod.
"Figures..." Arthur muttered. He had a feeling he wouldn't really get a say in this. He secretly hoped he wouldn't have to witness or even be a part of the massacre that the mustached girl had planned. Besides, all that mattered to him was to get on a boat and leave Mafia Town for good. So as soon as the Mafia Boss would be dealt with, he would have to slip away and find that boat quickly. Hat Kid was also disappointed with the answer, but as long as she retrieved her Time Pieces it was all that mattered.
"We've gotta get you both geared up though!" Mustache Girl said before flipping the chalkboard again, showing a drawing of Hat Kid's face frowning. This caused Arthur to snort, amused by the way Mustache Girl had drawn the purple-hatted girl's expression. Hat Kid heard him and gave him a death glare.
"Kid, your hat is... basic, and we don't do basic in this gang!" Mustache Girl said before flipping the chalkboard again, this time showing the drawing of a yarn with an arrow pointing at Hat Kid's hat. "Yarn can be found around Mafia Town and used to stitch new hats if you're crafty. I've collected one for you!".
Mustache Girl pulled out a red and white yarn with wings on it and tossed it at Hat Kid who happily caught it. She already had collected one from a red vault she found in the alleyway after she landed in Mafia Town. With this one, she had enough to stitch a new hat. She pulled out her umbrella and the other yarn. She tossed both yarns in the air and made quick movements with her umbrella on it, forming puffs of smoke around them.
"One, two... Presto!" Hat Kid said with a grin as she stopped her motion and caught the new hat in her hand. It was red and had two white wings on each side of it. Arthur looked at her dumbfounded. How did she just do that with her umbrella? Is there some sort of magic going on here?
Hat Kid removed her purple top hat from her head and replaced it with the new hat she had stitched. She could feel a wave of energy hit her and she suddenly felt like running around. So she did, and boy she was running so fast! This new hat must be giving her the ability to run faster.
"Weeeee!" Hat Kid exclaimed cheerfully as she continued running around at fast speed, going up to the second level and back down to the first one with a high jump. She already knew how to name this hat: the 'Sprint Hat'. Arthur formed an unamused expression. Yep, there was definitely some magic involved with this thing. Whatever is this place that the portal had taken him, it definitely defied the logic and physics laws he always knew until now.
Hat Kid went to sit back on her chair and changed her Sprint Hat for her regular hat again. As much as she loved this new hat's ability, she still prefered her purple top hat. She had it ever since she was 4 and it was her all-time favorite, she doesn't see herself changing it anytime soon. Plus, it helped her detect the Time Pieces on every planet she visited, it was her top hat's special ability. She will only use the Sprint Hat when she needs to.
"Perfect! Just know that you need more yarn for some hats than others. I guess being creative isn't free, huh? So keep an eye out for yarn!" Mustache Girl explained before she turned her attention to Arthur.
"Now as for you, Arthur..." The red-hooded girl said as she flipped the chalkboard to reveal a drawing of the twelve-year-old boy's face and a sword next to it. "You're gonna need a weapon to defend yourself, or else you're gonna end up in another Mafia-made hole like when you tried to save me before. No offense."
"None taken..." Arthur grumbled as Hat Kid tried her best to suppress a laugh. The young boy then noticed that Mustache Girl had drawn his face with a grumpy expression. "Should I take offense for the expression you drew for my face though?" he asked unamused.
"Well, as far as I've known you, you've always had a sour face, so..." Mustache Girl said with a teasing smirk. Hat Kid giggled while Arthur rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Very funny. So what? Am I gonna get a sword or something?" the twelve-year-old boy asked, looking at the drawing of the sword on the chalkboard.
"No, but I found this behind some barrels in town," Mustache Girl said as she pulled out a crowbar and handed it to Arthur. The latter took it and felt the weapon's weight in his hands.
"A crowbar? Do I get to bash the kid's skull with it?" Arthur asked jokingly, motioning his head to Hat Kid. In response, the purple-hatted child waved her umbrella at him in a threatening manner.
"There'll be plenty of Mafia goon's skulls to bash with, Arthur," Mustache Girl retorted with a smirk.
"If you say so," Arthur simply said, putting the crowbar away. Mustache Girl flipped the chalkboard one last time to show a drawing of herself giving a thumbs-up.
"Alright! Now you're both killing machines! Let's go get them!" the red-hooded girl beamed as she raised a fist in the air. Arthur and Hat Kid both nodded and got up from their chair.
With their plan set, the trio walked over to the hatch, not before noticing dark clouds surounding Mafia Town as they looked down at the planet below.
"Oh, looks like there's a big storm going on down there! If you guys have raincoats or something, you should definitely put them on before we go! I don't have any but I'm fine without it," said Mustache Girl. Hat Kid nodded and ran off to search for her raincoat.
"What about you, Arthur?" Mustache Girl asked the young boy.
"I don't have a raincoat, but I don't mind," Arthur simply answered. As a matter of fact, he loved the rain. He always found it southing and the feeling of water drops on his skin always made him feel at peace. It always helped him clear his mind from all the bad and frustrating events he had during the day. And right now, he could definitely use that.
"A rain person, huh? That's fine! I like rain too, you know!" the red-hooded girl said with a smile. Arthur was surprised to hear her say that. Usually, the people he knew didn't like rain and prefered a fully sun day. It sure was strange to hear someone else say they like rain too. He nodded, unsure what to make of it.
About two minutes later, Hat Kid came back with her yellow raincoat on. She had just finished buttoning it as she joined her friend and her enemy-turned-ally.
"You're done? Good. Can we go now? This robot has been annoying me for the past two minutes already," Arthur said unamused. Indeed, Rumbi was once again trying to 'attack' the twelve-year-old boy by bumping into his feet. And although it still didn't hurt him, getting his feet repeatedly bumped in was clearly irritating him. The two girls giggled at the sight, making Arthur roll his eyes. Hat Kid then motioned for Rumbi to go back to cleaning the main room. The small vacuum robot obeyed with a happy face.
"Alright! Umm... How do we get down safely, kid?" Mustache Girl asked Hat Kid. The purple-hatted girl waved her umbrella a little and opened it to show what she meant.
"Oh, you open your umbrella before the impact? That's cool! I mean, I expected something more like a parachute, but still cool," Mustache Girl said with a smile. Hat Kid nodded.
The small child motioned for Mustache Girl to grab her hand and for Arthur to grab the red-hooded girl's other hand just like before. The two children did as they were told, then Hat Kid opened the hatch and jumped out of the spaceship with Mustache Girl and Arthur following suit.
As soon as they reached the ground of Mafia Town, the trio could feel the rain pouring on them. The landing went well, although Arthur's fear of heights had kicked in during the fall and he had started to hyperventilate after landing, earning a concerned expression from the two girls – even Hat Kid despite her rivalry with him. However, Arthur assured them it was nothing and told them not to worry. Though he only said that because he didn't want them to make fun of him for being afraid of heights. After he was able to calm down, the trio decided to get back to business.
"Alright! So here's what we're gonna do! You two head around town and try to find some jars to put all the Mafia mush in. In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can get the cannon working!" Mustache Girl said.
"The cannon?!" Arthur half-shouted in confusion and shock.
"Yeah! That's the only way to get to the Mafia HQ," Mustache Girl stated.
"So no stairs then..." Arthur muttered. These Mafia goons must be really stupid to use such a way to get to their main base...
"Unfortunately, no. So I'm gonna work on that and you two go get those jars for our plan!" said Mustache Girl.
"Now hang on a sec! You want me and her to work together?!" Arthur asked angrily as he pointed at Hat Kid. The purple-hatted girl didn't like the idea either and crossed her arms angrily.
"Come on, you two! I need you to try and get along on this one!" Mustache Girl pleaded.
"No! I ain't teaming up with her! Screw that! Let her get the jars on her own!" Arthur spat angrily. Hat Kid let out a small "Hmpf!" angrily as she turned away from him.
"Guys, please! I really want this thing to work! And for that, I need you two to get over yourselves and work together! Besides, what's best other than working together to solve conflicts, right?" Mustache Girl said as she put her hands on her hips.
"We'll kill each other before we even get a chance to make up..." Arthur muttered angrily.
"Come on, guys... Do it for me, please?" Mustache Girl said in a pleading tone. Arthur and Hat Kid both sighed in defeat.
"Fine... But that doesn't make me okay with it!" Arthur stated firmly. Hat Kid nodded with a frown, reflecting her rival's thought.
"That'll do! Alright! I'm gonna get to work! I'll see you guys later then!" Mustache Girl said before running off, leaving Arthur and Hat Kid alone.
The two children gave each other the nastiest look they could give. If looks could kill, the both of them would be in the ground already.
"You listen to me now, kid... I'll only say it once. We are working together on this for now... But as soon as this whole thing is over, I'm getting on a boat and I'm getting the heck out of here... and I hope to never see you. Ever. Again... Am I clear?" Arthur said slowly and through gritted teeth.
"Deal," Hat Kid said with a serious and firm expression.
"Deal indeed..." Arthur muttered angrily.
With that said, the duo, forced to work together against their will, began to make their way around town under the big storm. It seemed like trying to get along was going to be the hardest thing both Arthur and Hat Kid were going to do...
A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! So yeah, there's a bit of tension at the end of it... But don't worry, things will get better eventually. After all, you don't exactly expect conflicts to be just over with a finger snap. Also, during my gameplay in A Hat in Time, I like to keep Hat Kid's default hat on since it's her main appearance. I only use the other hats when I need their abilities. Otherwise, you'll always see my Hat Kid run around with her regular hat on and that applies to this story as well.
Alright! Time to answer some reviews!
To Linkone1: Thank you, I really appreciate you wanting to review on every chapter. It helps me to stay motivated for this story. So thank you. ^^
To Shadow Necro: Well, Arthur finally got his weapon in this chapter. It's not a revolver, but a crowbar is still a good weapon. I don't know why I imagined this weapon for Arthur. (Probably a mod featuring a crowbar I saw for A Hat in Time. ^^;)
To Maoshin: Welp, your review got deleted somehow, but I still got it in my email box, so I'm gonna answer it. Anyway, thank you! I'm really glad you're enjoying this story so far. It really helps me to stay motivated knowing that people like my fanfic so far. ^^
That's all for today, folks! See you all in the next chapter!