Chapter 8
Hat Kid led Arthur to a backroom that had two doors leading to the toilet – one of them was boarded up due to the fact that there were no women among the Mafia – and a wooden cage-like gate with a button at the center of the room. The purple-hatted girl pointed her finger at a certain object that was behind the closed gate: a key. That must be the one that Mustache Girl asked the duo to find.
Arthur glanced at the key, then at the gate, and finally at the button on the floor. Then he gave Hat Kid an unamused look. Really? Couldn't she just have stepped on the button to open the gate and taken the key with her instead of making him come here?
"So what? There's the key locked up behind some gate and literally a button on the floor. Don't you think the solution is simple enough?" Arthur asked sarcastically. Hat Kid rolled her eyes at him. There was a reason why she brought him here and she will show it to him.
The small girl stepped on the button. Sure enough, the gate opened. Arthur raised an eyebrow at her as if saying 'I told you.' However, when Hat Kid stepped off the button, the gate immediately closed again. The twelve-year-old boy's eyes widened as realization hit him. So that was why she needed him. Someone needed to stay on the button to keep the gate open while the other had to go grab the key. Hat Kid gave Arthur a smug look, making the boy roll his eyes at her.
"Alright, no need to rub it in my face. Well, here, you go get the key and I'll keep the gate open for you," Arthur said as he stepped on the button, making the gate open. Nodding, Hat Kid grabbed the key and went back to Arthur's side.
"Good. Now let's go find Mustache Girl," Arthur suggested. Hat Kid nodded and put the key in her pocket. The duo then walked out of the room.
As the two children headed to the kitchen, something suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed right in front of them, startling them both. Looking down on the floor, they saw a lobster lying on its back. It then rolled over on its legs and scurried off. Arthur and Hat Kid were confused by this.
"A lobster? Where the hell did it come from?" Arthur asked puzzled as he and Hat Kid looked up.
The two children saw nothing though. Strange... However, they could see a space between the support beams and the ceiling. Then they noticed that it was possible to reach the support beams by climbing on top of the bar. Hat Kid grew curious and wanted to investigate, so she turned to Arthur and pointed up, asking him if they could take a moment to see what was up there. The young boy looked at Hat Kid for a moment, then up at the support beams, and then at the door that leads to the kitchen. He didn't really want to keep Mustache Girl waiting for too long, but he had to admit he was also curious to know where that lobster came from. Arthur sighed in defeat.
"Alright, but let's be quick. We don't wanna keep Mustache Girl waiting for too long," he said. Hat Kid nodded with a smile.
With that, the duo used one of the stools to climb on top of the bar, then onto the support beams. As they looked before them, they could see some strange rats running along the support beams, and there was a wooden platform on the other side of the room. Arthur and Hat Kid could spot someone there. Strange... What were they doing over there? The two children made their way to the wooden platform by walking on top of the support beams, avoiding the rats in the process.
When they reached it, they could see a pile of fish and a few buckets filled with lobsters lying around. So that was where the lobster they saw earlier came from! There was also a fridge and an oven. In front of said oven was a crate where the person they saw was standing on it. They looked rather small in term of size, probably as tall as Arthur. They had their back turned on the two children as they seemed busy cooking some sort of dish. Arthur could feel his stomach growl at the smell. That's right, he was still hungry... With everything going on, he had completely forgotten about that. He really needed to find something to eat soon. Arthur shook his head. He will worry about it later. Now was not the time for that...
"Uh, hello?" Arthur said carefully. The person jolted in surprise and quickly turned around, but they relaxed when they saw it was just two children.
"Oh, hello there! I didn't hear you two coming up here," they said with a smile. It was an orange-furred cat, they had golden eyes, and they were wearing a chef's uniform and hat. The uniform had a red bow tied on the collar and red buttons. Judging by the voice, she was female.
Arthur couldn't believe it. A talking cat? Perhaps it was a thing from this world where some animals could talk and act like humans. This was starting to look like those movies and video games for kids...
"Sorry for startling you, uh, ma'am. But what are you doing up here?" Arthur asked curiously.
"Oh well, actually... I'm cooking dinner to replace the Mafia's with it," the chef cat explained. Arthur and Hat Kid were both confused by that statement.
"Uh, what?" Arthur asked with a confused expression on his face.
"You see, the Mafia are terrible at cooking! But fear not, Cooking Cat is here!" she said enthusiastically. So Cooking Cat was her name? It makes sense... "I prepare the actual dinner up here, and swap the food before anybody eats the Mafia's cooking. I'm fairly certain someone would die if they ate the Mafia-prepared food!".
"Are they really that bad at cooking?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You gotta smell it to believe it," Cooking Cat said as she shivered in disgust. Arthur and Hat Kid formed a look of disgust on their faces. They had a feeling they didn't want to know how the Mafia-prepared food actually smelled like.
"And... nobody sees you swapping the food or anything?" Arthur asked perplexed.
"I try to make it quick, and besides you probably have noticed the Mafia aren't exactly the smartest persons that exist," Cooking Cat answered jokingly.
"That we did," Arthur said with chuckle, making Hat Kid giggle as well. However, Cooking Cat's smile suddenly dropped when she noticed that Arthur's face was a bit pale and he had bags under his eyes.
"You don't look so good, dear. Are you okay?" the chef cat asked concerned. Arthur was a bit taken aback by the sudden question, and he was especially suprised to see someone notice his state and feel concerned about him. He shook his head.
"I'm fine. I'm just a bit... tired is all," he lied, brushing off the concern. Hat Kid could see that he was lying. She had also noticed that he didn't look so good when she had first met him on her ship. She couldn't help but feel concerned for him as well, but she could see that the boy didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps she could save that question for later when he feels up to it. Cooking Cat wasn't convinced by Arthur's lie either, but she decided not to insist.
"Uh... Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Cooking Cat, but... we're a little busy at the moment, so we should probably get going," Arthur said nervously, trying to get the attention off of him. Cooking Cat slowly nodded.
"No problem! If you wish to talk to me again or maybe taste some of my recipes, I'll be up here most of the time," the chef cat said with a smile.
"We'll keep that in mind. See you," Arthur said before walking away. Hat Kid nodded at Cooking Cat with a smile to say good bye. The chef cat returned the smile and nodded at her as well, before turning her attention back to the dish on the oven.
Hat Kid caught up with Arthur. As she walked behind him, she couldn't help but stare at him. The way the young boy acted right after Cooking Cat asked him if he was okay was worrying her. He looked... surprised and panicked at the same time. For what reason did he act that way? Have people never showed concern to him before? Hat Kid was really curious and she wished she knew more about the boy to have the answers to her questions. But for now, it didn't seem like he was ready to open up to her just yet. So she decided to drop it for now.
The two children jumped down on top of the bar and onto the floor again. Then they entered the kitchen where Mustache Girl was waiting for them. However, it was soon proved to be one of the worst decisions they had ever made...
"Oh Jesus! Yuck!" Arthur gagged as he quickly covered his nose with both of his hands. Hat Kid coughed and covered her nose as well.
The smell in this room was just... horrendous! Looking at the whole kitchen, it was in such a poor state that it would make any professional cook scream in horror. The walls and the ceiling were deteriorated and traces of mold were clearly visible on them. Remains of rotten food and sauce – as well as cooking equipment and tin cans of the Mafia's poor excuse of food – were all spilled on the counters and the floor. There even was... wait, is that a cockroach? No wait... multiple cockroaches on the floor! Gross! Not just one second spent in this room and the two children already wanted out of it.
"Ew, ugh... I know Cooking Cat said they were bad at cooking, but this? Gotta smell it to believe it," Arthur said disgusted, repeating the chef cat's words. Hat Kid nodded in agreement. Seriously, how was it possible to cook under such conditions and especially with such food?
At the end of the room, the duo spotted Mustache Girl standing next to the back door leading to the cold room, she had her hands covering her nose as well. They were wondering how she had managed to stay in the kitchen for this long without throwing up.
"Not very appetizing, huh?" the red-hooded girl said with disgust as Arthur and Hat Kid approached her.
"Ugh, no kidding... Even my room smells better than that," Arthur admitted in a disgusted tone, causing the two girls to snort in their hands.
"Did you know that these idiots were actually called the Mafia of Cooks?" Mustache Girl deadpanned.
"The 'Mafia of Cooks', seriously?! Did they get their cooking license in a cereal box or something?" Arthur asked sarcastically in disbelief.
"I don't think they even got one in the first place..." Mustache Girl stated.
"Sounds about right..." Arthur muttered.
"Honestly, I'm surprised they're even still alive! It's like someone is swapping these numbskulls's food with their own instead," Mustache Girl said, wondering how the Mafia men still haven't died of food poisoning.
"Yeah, that's... very strange indeed," Arthur said nervously as he and Hat Kid gave each other a knowing look. It was probably best not to tell their friend about the chef cat they met earlier.
"So, did you guys find the key?" Mustache Girl asked. Hat Kid nodded, and pulled out said key with one hand while keeping the other on her nose.
"Perfect! You guys go on ahead, and... I'll keep guard here," the red-hooded girl said.
"You just gonna stay here and endure the smell?" Arthur asked surprised. Staying in this room was literally torture! Did this girl have a death wish or something?
"Someone gotta stay here in case the Mafia show up without a warning. I'll meet ya both at the Mafia Boss's room later. Don't worry about me, I've been putting up with these guys for a year now, I'm used to the smell," Mustache Girl assured, though she didn't know herself how much longer she could hold out without throwing up.
"If you say so... Come on, kid, open this door already before I'm forced to throw up on this girl's mustache," Arthur said to Hat Kid jokingly.
"Don't you dare!" Mustache Girl threatened in disgust. Arthur and Hat Kid both chuckled at the red-hooded girl's reaction.
Hat Kid used the key to unlock the door. She opened it and headed inside, with Arthur following close behind.
"See ya later, you two!" the duo heard Mustache Girl say before she closed the door behind them.
As soon as they entered the room, they could feel the cold temperature on their skin. It was freezing, but at least the air was breatheable again. Both children wrapped their arms around themselves and rubbed their skin to try keeping themselves warm.
"Oof...! It sure is cold in here..." Arthur muttered, shivering. Hat Kid nodded in agreement.
They took a look around the cold room and they could see lots of fish hung from hooks under some meat hanger racks. Then they spotted the vent that Mustache Girl had told them about at the top left corner of the room, but it was too high for them to reach from here. They looked around for a way to reach up there and noticed that it was possible to climb on top of the racks to reach the vent.
"Come on. Let's reach that vent before we freeze to death," Arthur suggested as he rubbed his hands together. Hat Kid nodded, wanting to get out of the cold as well.
The duo began to climb on top of the racks. Hat Kid didn't have too much trouble jumping from rack to rack, while Arthur on the other hand was struggling as he was less agile than the purple-hatted girl. The cold wasn't making it any easier for him either. On each racks, he had to hold onto the edge after missing his jumps to avoid falling back to the ground, and Hat Kid had to pull him up every time.
Eventually, they were able to reach the vent by jumping on top of three big crates, conveniently placed under it. Hat Kid was about to crawl into the vent, but then she spotted a chest sitting on top of two other crates on the other side of the room. Curious about its content, she told Arthur to wait here and she headed toward the chest, using another rack to reach it. She opened the chest and was happy to find a yarn inside. That was four yarns she had now, with the ones she found earlier when climbing up to the top of the building where she found her previous Time Piece. She probably had enough to stitch a new hat, but she decided to save that for later. She jumped down and used the same path to climb back up to the vent where Arthur was waiting for her impatiently.
"Are you done? Good. Now let's move before we turn into ice statues," Arthur grumbled before crawling into the vent. Hat Kid rolled her eyes and followed him in.
A few paces in, Arthur eventually reached the end of the vent and stopped to look down at the drop below. However, Hat Kid didn't expect him to stop and accidentally bumped into him, causing the twelve-year-old boy to let out a yelp as he fell down the hole. Lucky for him, his fall was softened when he landed face first on a pile of... coins? Arthur lifted himself up a little and his eyes widened when he saw huge piles of golden coins and gems lying around on the floor. This was probably the Mafia's treasure room! Well, damn... That was a lot of gold!
He was suddenly pulled out of his trance when he felt something land on top of him, forcing his face back in the coins. He groaned and looked up behind him to see Hat Kid on top of him. Again?! That was twice in a row now!
"Oops! Sorry!" Hat Kid apologized with a sheepish smile.
"Off of me. Now," Arthur ordered in an annoyed tone. Hat Kid quickly did as she was told and got off of the young boy.
The purple-hatted girl's jaw dropped when she suddenly noticed the loot present in the room. She had never seen so many gold before! Arthur got up to his feet and brushed himself off.
"You ever seen so many gold before?" he asked. Hat Kid shook her head in response. "Yeah, me neither."
Arthur would lie if he said he wasn't even a bit tempted to take some for himself, but he didn't want to steal from the Mafia. That would be a bad idea. Besides, they were here to take down the Mafia Boss, not stealing. Hat Kid on the other hand was completely hypnotized by the amount of gold there was here. There was just so many gold... So shiny... Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if she just took some...
"Don't even think about it, girl," Arthur said, staring at her unamused. Hat Kid snapped out of her trance and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Right, they had more important things to do right now...
Arthur shook his head and said, "Come on, let's go find the Mafia Boss." He then walked away, with Hat Kid following him.
The two children peeked around the corner and saw a long hallway with a long red carpet on the floor, small piles of gold and golden statues of Mafia men on the sides, and red curtains on the walls. At the end of the hallway, the duo spotted a Mafia man sitting on a throne, with two Mafia goons in black suits keeping guard. This man was dressed differently from all the other goons: he was wearing a chef's hat and uniform with a red coat over it, blue striped pants and brown shoes. He had black hair, blue eyes, and black mustache and goatee. No doubt, it was the Mafia Boss.
From afar, the stout man already looked very imposing and intimidating. Arthur could feel his anxiety rising. What will this guy do to them once they confront him? What if they can't beat him? What if he captures them or worse? The twelve-year-old boy began to hyperventilate. He quickly hid behind the wall and tried to calm himself down. Hat Kid looked at him worried and put an hand on his shoulder. However, Arthur jolted at the sudden contact, causing the small girl to immediately withdraw her hand in surprise.
"I-I'm fine... Just... gimme a sec..." the young boy said in between breathes. Hat Kid got really concerned for him. His heavy breathing, combined with the way he reacted when she touched his shoulder... That didn't look good.
After a few seconds, Arthur managed to calm himself down. He took a huge breathe. He couldn't let his anxiety get the best of him now. He had to be strong and... help take down the Mafia Boss. It was the only way to secure himself a boat to leave Mafia Town for good.
"Alright... I'm good. Let's get this over with," Arthur said. He then noticed the worried look that Hat Kid was giving him. He sighed and said "Let's just go," firmly, before he started walking in the hallway. Hat Kid sighed and followed him. She really hoped that the situation won't be too much for him to handle.
The duo walked along the hallway toward the Mafia Boss. The latter spotted the two children and pulled a lever on the side of his throne. A wooden gate suddenly rose before Arthur and Hat Kid, blocking their path. Then two curtains on both sides opened, revealing two Mafia men in black suits.
"Ah, should've expected that... Get ready!" Arthur said as he and Hat Kid pulled out their respective weapons, ready to defend themselves.
The two Mafia men began to approach the duo. Hat Kid jumped on the first goon's head, stunning him, then she finished him off with a few good whacks of her umbrella. The second goon threw a punch at Arthur, but the young boy dodged it by rolling under his legs and he got behind him. He whacked the Mafia man twice in the back and once in the head, knocking him out.
Seeing that his ambush didn't work, the Mafia Boss growled and pulled the lever again, lowering the gate to let the two children through. If these kids were planning to cause trouble, then he would have to deal with them personally. He hopped down from his throne as Arthur and Hat Kid approached him, and he stared at them menacingly.
"So... it is you!" the Mafia Boss said angrily, making both children flinch at his tone. "Ever since you two landed in Mafia Town, it's been raining with these magical hourglasses."
He paused for a second and continued, "You must be very lost, kids with hats. You're both in the heart of our town, standing before the most powerful man you will ever witness. Everything you've ever owned belongs to me now. Including this hourglass piece." He then pulled out a Time Piece from his pocket and waved it in front of the children. Hat Kid immediately gasped when she saw it, making the crime lord grin evilly at her.
"Interested, huh? If you want it, we'll have to settle it in true Mafia style!" the Mafia Boss said before he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the lights in the room went off.
"Wow, what?! What's happening?!" Arthur asked in a panicked tone. Suddenly, he and Hat Kid yelped as they felt someone pick the both of them up from behind.
"Hey! Let go of us!" Arthur shouted angrily as he fidgeted in his captor's grip, but it was no use as the person refused to let him go. After a few seconds, the two children were dropped on the ground.
"Lights!"
Suddenly, the lights went on again. However, they realized they weren't in the throne room anymore. Instead, they were on a theather stage with a spotlight on them. Looking before them, they could see lots of Mafia men watching them from their seats. They cheered as they saw that the show was about to begin. Arthur suddenly felt extremely nervous and uncomfortable. Once again, he was at the center of attention. He hated that, because every time he was at the center of attention, it was when people were humiliating him in public.
Arthur and Hat Kid heard another spotlight being activated and they looked on their left. Their faces grew pale when they saw the Mafia Boss standing under the spotlight, holding two machetes in his hands. The two children gulped nervously, however, they remained determined. They were here now, and there was a Time Piece and Arthur's way out of here on the line. They couldn't back down now! Arthur and Hat Kid nodded firmly at each other as they readied their weapons. It was time for them to put their differences aside and work together to overcome this dangerous foe! They glared at the Mafia Boss who grinned at them menacingly in return.
"Action! It is... showtime." the crime lord announced, ready to battle.
A/N: Hey everyone! Alright, so I know I said I was going away for two weeks, but then something personal happened in real life and... my trip got delayed to Friday, August 2, instead. So I decided to use that extra time to write one last chapter for you guys before I go on my trip. Hope you enjoyed it!
Now, it's time to answer reviews:
To Katoptris12: I appreciate that you enjoy the AHiT content I'm providing. At least, I was able to write this new chapter before I go for a while.
To Shadow Necro: The Mafia Boss fight will come up in the next chapter. ;) And sure, Arthur will soon find out the truth about Hat Kid's Time Pieces.
To Maoshin: Thank you very much! I promise to come back good as new after those two weeks away. For now, have this little chapter here. ^^
To Mr. Mega1423: No rush, my friend. Take the time you need for your stories. ;) Anyway, thank you! ^^
To Linkone1: Indeed, we all know that Arthur needs some advices and support from people, even if he isn't convinced for now. And it's okay, no need to apologize, I understand. And thank you! ^^
Annnnd that's it, folks! See you all in two weeks (for real this time)!