Chapter 29
"What a mess... What a goddamn mess..." Arthur said in a depressed tone, with both of his hands covering his face.
He and Hat Kid were currently outside of Subcon Village, the both of them sitting against a tree. After the unpleasant revelation that they couldn't go back to the spaceship because they had no souls, the young boy threw a fit and began yelling various insults about the Snatcher and the forest itself. Hat Kid had to cover his mouth and escort him out of the village, so he could blow off some steam before he could say something offending in front of the minions. After letting his frustration out, Arthur calmed down a little, but now he was in a state of depression. Hat Kid was at his side and she had her arm wrapped around his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"I can't believe that ghost... First, he takes our souls, makes us do his dirty work as if we were his damn maids, then he adds another contract to the pile and tells us we can't even leave?! Screw that grinning bastard!" the twelve-year-old boy said angrily. He then sighed as he removed his hands from his face, and he said, "Face it, Hat Kid, he'll never let us go. Who knows how many of those contracts he has in store for us? For all we know, it's an endless pile of chores that he'll keep throwing at us while he sits on a cozy chair, sipping his cocktail. And even if he runs out of contracts eventually, I'm pretty sure he'll try to get rid of us just to keep our souls."
He paused to let out a deep sigh, before he continued talking, "Listen... I know that the Badge Seller told us about his weakness, but let's be honest; he's a GHOST! Have you ever fought a ghost before, kid?". Hat Kid looked down in thought and shook her head. No, she never fought a ghost in any of her past adventures. Therefore, she wasn't sure either if it was even possible to defeat the Snatcher if they ever have to fight him.
"That's what I thought," Arthur muttered. A short silence occured before he spoke again. "I just can't see a way out of this, Hat Kid... Even if we collect all the Time Pieces in this forest, without our souls, I... I don't see the point anymore. We're just slaves at the mercy of a shadow that steals souls for a living... What can we even do now?" he said as he looked down, feeling hopeless.
Hat Kid glanced down in thought. It's true that there's not much they can do about the situation right now, and it's even harder to believe that there might be a way out of it... but the young alien still wanted to believe it, even if all hope seems lost at the moment. Maybe if they keep doing these contracts that the Snatcher gives them, perhaps an opportunity will present itself at some point and they might find a way to get their souls back, along with the Time Pieces and their freedom. They have to keep going, but Arthur seems ready to give up now. How can she convince him to hold on until they find a solution to their trouble?
Hat Kid then smiled as an idea came through her mind. She pulled out a pen and a paper, and wrote something on it. After that, she tugged on the short sleeve of Arthur's shirt, making him look at her. She then showed him the paper, while giving him an encouraging smile. It said 'As long as we have each other, we can do anything', followed by a smiling emote. Arthur stared at the paper for a few seconds, before he looked down in thought, letting the words sink in.
"I guess that's true," the young boy said, smiling slightly. "I don't know how you do it, Hat Kid. To keep going, even when all seems lost. How do you just keep going in a situation like this? Why... do you keep going?"
Hat Kid looked down in thought, then she smiled and wrote something else on her paper, before showing it to the boy. It said 'Because I know I'm not alone. I have my friends and the people at home that keep me going... and I have you too now,' followed by a winking emote.
Arthur looked at her shocked after reading this. So now... he was one of the reasons that kept her going? He wasn't sure how to react or feel about this – not that he could feel a lot right now – nor did he know which role he played in it... but he appreciated it.
"Heh... I'll never understand what you see in me that is worth wasting your time on, but... I appreciate it. Thank you," he said genuinely and appreciatively, smiling at her. Hat Kid only responded by hugging him, and Arthur returned the hug almost immediately. He was starting to get used to her hugging him every so often. Slowly but surely. They both pulled away from the hug after a minute.
"All right. Well... let's go take care of that well then," Arthur said as he got up to his feet. Hat Kid nodded and got up as well.
The two children headed back to the clearing with the tall tree where they landed earlier. When they passed near said tree, they noticed that someone was inside, unlike the last time they checked it. Curious, the duo walked up the vine and stopped in front of the entrance. Once they got a good look of the person inside...
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." Arthur muttered in annoyance.
It was the Snatcher. He was sitting on the armchair, reading a book. Therefore, the tall tree was revealed to be the Snatcher's home. Of all the people who could have been living here, it had to be him... The soul-stealing shadow looked up from his book and noticed the two children standing at the entrance of his home.
"What's up, kiddos? Are you lost or something?" he asked uninterested.
"Nah, we were just on our way," Arthur said through gritted teeth, clearly not wanting to deal with the Snatcher at the moment. He looked at Hat Kid and made a motion with his head to say that they should go. As he turned around to walk away, the Snatcher spoke again.
"Not so fast, kid. I could hear you yell from miles around earlier. Did I make you mad by saying you couldn't leave my forest until you finished all of your contracts? Whoops!" the soul-stealing shadow taunted with a smug grin, making Arthur look back at him with an annoyed glare.
"Ha ha," the young boy sarcastically made a fake laugh, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, come on, kid! Why do you have to be such a mood killer? It's no fun! Though I gotta admit, it is fun making you mad and hearing you yell and stuff. Maybe I should do it more often! HA HA HA HA HA!" the Snatcher said mockingly with an evil laugh.
"Yeah well, you ain't funny at all... so why you gotta act like the court jester?" Arthur hissed angrily.
"Careful about what you say to me, kiddo. 'Cause I still got your soul here and if you keep pushing me, you can wave it goodbye for good," the Snatcher threatened with a displeased look. Arthur sighed, having no other choice but to stay quiet. "Anyway, you're supposed to be cleaning the well, kids. It's deep inside the swamp, but it's big enough even tiny things like you can't miss it. Try not to trip and hit your heads at the bottom... HA HA HA HA HA HA!" the shadow added mockingly.
"Whatever you say, boss," Arthur said as he rolled his eyes. He looked at Hat Kid and said, "Come on, Hat Kid, let's go."
As they began to walk away, the Snatcher teasingly said, "Have fun, kids! Oh, and be careful not to fall in the swamp water. It kinda gives off a sinking feeling!". This statement caused the two children to stop walking and look at each other nervously. With a gulp, they continued making their way towards the swamp.
After watching the duo leave, the Snatcher shook his head and said, "Kids..." before going back to reading his book.
Entering the swamp, Arthur and Hat Kid began making their way across in order to reach the Subcon Well and clean it. As they walked on the wooden walkway illuminated by hanging lanterns, they looked at the strange purple-colored water below. It was bubbling and there were a few purple arms sticking out of it in some places. They grimaced, remembering the Snatcher telling them that the swamp water gives off a 'sinking feeling'. Maybe it was probably best to stay clear of it; the last thing they wanted was to get dragged to the bottom of the water and drown.
They came across two Fire Spirits dancing around a bonfire on the way. Sure enough, they asked the duo to help them commit suicide by burning some paintings into the fire. The two children accepted and started looking around the swamp for paintings. They found one of the paintings with a Moon Penguin trapped inside and threw it into the fire. Hat Kid found the last painting with a raccoon trapped inside a bit further ahead, although she had to go in the water to reach it and bring it back. The arms inside the water attempted to drag her to the bottom on her way back, but Arthur managed to grab her by the arms and pull her back on the walkway to safety. After that, they tossed the painting into the bonfire, receiving a thank you from the Fire Spirits as the latters disappeared along with the bonfire and another part of the fire barrier around the forest.
After that, Arthur and Hat Kid walked further on the walkway, until they finally saw it: the Subcon Well.
"Well damn, that is one big well," Arthur said, looking at the well in awe. Hat Kid nodded, also impressed by the size of the well.
Indeed, it was huge – probably about 30 feet high. At the foot of the well, there was a wooden platform with a floating bell surrounded by a small green translucent sphere. It looked like the only way to access the well was to climb up to the top by jumping on green holographic leaves that were around a couple of trees. Remembering the Badge Seller's explanation about the green objects, they figured they would have to use their Dweller's abilities to be able to stand on them. Speaking of which, there was large gap in the walkway in between the children and the platform at the foot of the well, and the only way to get across without falling in the water was to jump on a green holographic leafed branch.
"Well, I guess it's time to put your mask and my badge to use," Arthur stated.
Hat Kid decided to go first. She switched her top hat with the Dweller's Mask, and closed her eyes to focus. After that, a green translucent sphere – similar to the one around the bell but bigger – appeared around her, and when she opened her eyes, they were glowing green through the mask. She noticed that the branch turned into a solid green while inside the sphere. Hat Kid jumped forward and landed on the leaves. Before jumping, she spotted a yarn inside of a hole in the tree. She grabbed it and jumped to the other side, just as the effect of the Dweller's Mask ended and the sphere disappeared as her eyes went back to normal.
The young alien switched back to her top hat and waved at Arthur, telling him to get across. Arthur nodded, and closed his eyes to try and focus like Hat Kid did. He then felt some sort of power within him, signaling him that the Dweller effect was now active. He opened his eyes, and sure enough, a sphere surrounded him and his eyes were glowing green. Taking a run up, the twelve-year-old boy jumped on the branch, then onto the other side. After he did, the effect wore off, causing the sphere to disappear and making his eyes go back to normal.
"That did the trick," Arthur said with a smile. He and Hat Kid then looked at the parkour of green translucent leaves they had to make to get to the top of the well. "Seems pretty high. I don't think our Dweller's effects will last long enough for us to make it to the top in time."
The duo's eyes then landed on the floating bell near them. Hat Kid thought for a few seconds as she stared at it, then she pulled out her umbrella and hit the bell with it to make it ring. The sphere around it then grew larger and larger until it passed all of the leaves, materializing them. Unlike the mask and the badge, the bell's sphere seemed to remain. However, the two children noticed that the sphere's size was slowly decreasing.
"Well, I think it might give us enough time to reach the top, but we still have to hurry. When I say 'go', hit the bell and then we rush to the top," Arthur suggested. Hat Kid nodded and readied herself. "Ready? GO!"
The purple-hatted girl hit the bell, bringing the sphere back to its largest size, and then she and Arthur quickly jumped from leaf to leaf until they reached the edge of the opening of the well. In his haste, Arthur landed unbalanced on the edge after making the last jump, and he moved his arms around frantically as he tried to regain his balance. Thankfully, Hat Kid grabbed one of his arms and pulled him back on the surface, before he could fall off.
"Phew, close one... Thanks, Hat Kid," Arthur said gratefully as he breathed heavily. Hat Kid nodded at him. The duo then looked down at the opening of the well. It was dark inside and it looked like a long drop.
"Alright, well... I guess there's only one way in. I don't know, this seems pretty deep..." Arthur said anxiously, remembering his fear of height. Hopefully, he won't start hyperventilating before and after making the jump. "Do you think you can use your umbrella to make us land safely in case... I don't know... that this well is all dried up?" he asked. Hat Kid nodded, clutching her umbrella in her hand.
"Thank god, 'cause I don't want to land flat at the bottom like a pancake on a frying pan," Arthur said, sighing in relief. "Well... let's get this done," he added nervously.
Hat Kid then grabbed the boy's hand and readied her umbrella. And then, the two children made the jump, falling deep into the well.
The duo fell down the well for a few seconds, and suddenly they could see some light as they neared the bottom. Hat Kid opened her umbrella, slowing down her fall, and held Arthur's hand tightly as the two of them were slowly descending to the bottom. They ended up in a mildly small puddle of water upon landing. They swam out of it and walked on a sandy surface. Arthur was a bit shaken by the fall, but he quickly pulled himself together to get back to the task at hand. He and Hat Kid then shivered and wrapped their arms around themselves as they felt the cold air hit their skin.
"Brrr... God damn, it's cold down here," Arthur said, rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm up. It certainly didn't help that they fell into a water puddle and were now soaked from head to feet.
As the two children looked around the place, they were in some sort of cave-like area with two entrances. They could spot ice in the rooms of both entrances, which explained the cold temperature of the place.
"Come on, let's explore this well and do our thing with it before we freeze to death," Arthur suggested, earning an agreeing nod from Hat Kid.
The duo walked through the rib-cage-like entrance, and found themselves in a large room with ice covering the walls and the floor. There were some bats hanging on the ceiling, a few big mushrooms, two cherry bombs, a Dweller, and a chest imprisoned inside a very large ice cube. Suddenly, a metallic sound was heard from behind the two children, causing them both to flinch in surprise.
"The hell was that?" Arthur asked in surprise as he and Hat Kid turned around. To their shock, some iron bars had risen behind them, closing off the exit and locking them both inside the room. "Oh great, now we're locked inside," the twelve-year-old boy said with a frustrated groan.
As the duo took a look around the room for a way out, Arthur spotted a button on a wooden platform conveniently placed on top of two pipes a few feet above the ground.
"I think I see a button up there," he said, pointing up at the platform. He then spotted a few lanterns hanging at the edge of ice bowed spikes, and it gave him an idea. "I guess we could use our Hookshot Badges to swing our way up to it with these lanterns. And while we're here, I guess we could also try to break this ice and take a look in that chest over there," he suggested.
Hat Kid nodded in agreement and went to pick up one of the cherry bombs, before making her way to the Dweller with it. The serpentine spirit flew into the fruit and, as expected, it began beeping and flashing. The purple-hatted girl threw the cherry at the ice cube and it exploded on impact, freeing the chest from its ice prison. Sure enough, the Dweller reappeared and went back to its original spot. The two children then walked up to the chest and opened it. Hat Kid then took the content out of it, which turned out to be a relic. It was another toy cow, but this one was wearing sunglasses on its eyes.
"Okay, now let's try to get out of here. I'm starting to freeze here," the young boy said, rubbing his arms.
Nodding, Hat Kid used her Hookshot ability on the nearest lantern and began swinging from lantern to lantern, grabbing a yarn in the process. She did that until she reached the platform with the button on it. She stepped on said button and the iron bars blocking the exit lowered. The young alien put her hands on her hips and nodded with a proud grin, before swinging her way back down to Arthur's side.
The duo exited the room and walked through the other entrance. They were now in a room that was also completely coated in ice, and looking up, there were several pipes sticking out of the walls with wooden platforms on them. In the middle of the room was a pipe with a giant cork in it that was attached to a rope which hung down beside the pipe with a hook at the end.
"Well, I think that's the whole well here. I don't really see what we can do here, everything seems clean enough..." Arthur remarked as he looked around the icy place. He then looked at the cork on the pipe and said, "Well, there's just this pipe here we could uncork, but that's about it," with a shrug. He looked at Hat Kid for approval and the latter shrugged as to say 'go for it'. With a nod, he walked forward until he was below the hook and latched onto it with his Hookshot ability, pulling it down.
Following the boy's action, the cork popped right off the pipe and fell onto the ground. After that, the pipe spouted out a large gust of air, and suddenly, rumbling was heard throughout the whole well.
"What the hell was that?!" Arthur asked startled. Then, to his and Hat Kid's shock, water came out of a few pipes and began filling the room, submerging the children's feet. "Okay, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all," the twelve-year-old boy said nervously as water began submerging half of his legs. He looked up at the pipes above him, then at the pipe that was shooting air in the middle of the room. It looks like the only way out of this well was to go up. "Let's get out of here before we drown like rats," he said, pointing up. Hat Kid quickly nodded in agreement. She didn't know how to swim, so it would be best if they could leave the well before it completely fills itself in water.
Without wasting any more time, the duo jumped onto the pipe and the strong gust of air shot them up onto some pipes above. They then climbed up a ladder to reach the upper pipes. As they were about to proceed, a giant spider with a creepy yellow-glowing face on its back and sawblade-like legs suddenly came down in front of them, hanging at the end of its thread and staring at the children menacingly.
"HOLY PECKING HELL!" Arthur yelped in surprise, before pulling out his crowbar and whacking the spider with it. The giant arthropod was knocked off its thread and fell down in the water below. "Giant spiders?! What the heck?!" the young boy yelled with a shocked look. He shook his head and said, "Doesn't matter, we gotta move!".
The two children continued making their way up on the pipes, activating buttons, swinging on lanterns, getting shot up by air gusts from some pipes, and knocking off any other spiders they came across. The water was filling the well very quickly, so the duo did their best to reach the top as fast as possible.
They eventually reached the end of the parkour; however, to their shock, the exit was blocked off by an ice wall. Peck, they were trapped! Thinking quickly, Hat Kid spotted three cherry bombs on the side and a Dweller near the wall. She quickly picked up a cherry and ran to the Dweller who immediately flew inside of it and activated it. She then threw the fruit at the wall, blowing it up and opening up the passage. Suddenly, the whole well rumbled and in a matter of seconds, a wave of water rushed over the two children and flowed right through the exit. Arthur and Hat Kid both screamed as the water carried them out of the well.
Rumbling was felt at Subcon Village, where the rock avalanche laid out at the beginning of the river, startling the minions and the Dwellers surrounding the area. Water then bursted through the rocks, knocking them away and refilling the river. Arthur and Hat Kid, in that burst, flew right out and both let out a scream as they fell into the refilled river, alongside the Dweller that helped them blow up the ice wall. The two children both surfaced and gasped for air, eventually coughing some water out of their lungs.
"I'll just say it now: that's the last time I'm going inside a well to clean it!" Arthur said, feeling shaken and irritated at the same time.
Something then came out at the surface of the water in between the duo. It was a Time Piece. Hat Kid smiled and grabbed it. It must have probably been stuck in one of the pipes inside the well, before water freed it.
"Look! The water is back!" a voice suddenly said. Arthur and Hat Kid looked to the side and saw a few minions, along with some Dwellers, gathering at the edge of the river. More of them arrived on the scene, looking at the water with marvel. Hat Kid quickly put her Time Piece in her pocket before anyone could see it.
"Hey look! They're the newbies who arrived in the forest recently!" one of the minions said, pointing at the two children in the water.
"Uhh, heya," Arthur said timidly as he and Hat Kid both waved at the minions nervously.
"Whoa, you both did it! You cleaned up the well!" a minion said enthusiastically.
"We haven't seen water in this river for ages!" another one said happily.
"You're both amazing!" another one praised the duo.
"Thank you so much, newbies!" another one thanked them gratefully.
Arthur and Hat Kid were both surprised by the minions' praises. It seems like they did them all a favor by cleaning up the well and bringing back the water in the river. Neither of the two children expected the minions to feel grateful for their actions, since the latters worked for the Snatcher and therefore they expected them to be evil and all.
"Uh yeah, don't mention it..." Arthur said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the praises. He still wasn't used to people praising him for his actions.
"Well done, kiddos," a familiar and unpleasant voice was heard from behind the duo. Arthur and Hat Kid both turned around and frowned. The Snatcher was waiting at the river's edge, opposite of the one the minions were on, with a towel in his arm. The two children swam up to the edge and walked out of the water.
"Alright, we did it," Arthur said, giving the shadow an annoyed look.
"I can see that," the Snatcher simply said with a satisfied grin. He then looked at his minions and the Dwellers who were watching and said, "Can you leave me alone with my two contractors? I need to speak with them in private." They all obeyed and walked back to the village, leaving the children alone with the soul-stealing shadow.
"Well, that's one way of cleaning the well, kids. Looks like you both took a cold shower though! He he he he he!" the Snatcher said with a snicker. Arthur and Hat Kid gave him unamused looks in response. "Don't worry though, I brought you a towel so you can dry off. I need you both for my contracts, no way I'm dealing with two kids with a cold," the soul-stealing shadow said. He then threw the towel at Arthur's face, causing it to comically wrap itself around the boy's head and earning an irritated groan from him. Hat Kid couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight. Arthur removed the towel from his face and glared at the Snatcher.
"Well, that ties up your first contract then," the Snatcher said, before snapping his fingers. A small *poof* was heard from inside Hat Kid's hat. The small girl removed it and checked the content, only to find that their contract on cleaning the well was now gone and only the one they signed recently was left in it. She placed her hat back on her head with a smile, knowing they got their first contract out of the way.
"Next up: Retrieve the thing that ended up in the attic of the... manor..." the Snatcher said, trailing off at the end of his sentence and forming a blank expression. He then quickly regained his composure and gleefully said, "I hope you two got strong nerves, 'cause you're gonna need them for this one! And if you don't make it out of the manor alive... well... it was nice knowing you, kids! AHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!" And with that, he vanished into the ground. The two children were left visibly disturbed and worried about the last statement.
"... I'm really starting to think you should've picked the mail delivery contract instead, Hat Kid," Arthur said anxiously. Hat Kid rubbed the back of her head shamefully and nervously. "Whatever. We gotta get this done anyway. I have no idea what's inside that manor... but I really hope it's just the Snatcher and his minions messing with us, because I'm not a big fan of horror experiences, kid," he explained nervously as he used the towel to dry himself off.
And unfortunately, Arthur's hopes will soon be crushed, because inside the manor in the middle of a snowy area... a dark, horrific, and menacing figure was lurking inside a dark room at this very moment. The figure turned around, revealing eyes glowing red. Soon, this very same figure will become the scariest threat that both children will ever face...
A/N: Hey everyone! Here we are with another chapter and this clears out Act 2 of Subcon Forest as well as the first contract for the duo! So since Arthur and Hat Kid both got their Hookshot Badges from the Badge Seller in Chapter 21, I decided to replace the chest's content inside the well – where you normally get the Hookshot Badge in game – with a relic. I hope it's good replacement enough. ^^;
Anyway, next up... heh... you all know what's coming, right? Yup... a small bit of horror experience inside Queen Vanessa's manor is awaiting the duo. Let's see how they handle it. You can already tell that Arthur is not going to like that.
Alright! Time to answer a few reviews! Oh, speaking of which, I noticed that the story went over 150 reviews! That's a lot! Thank you so much for your wonderful comments, guys! I'm glad you still enjoy my story to this day, and I hope to continue that way until the end!
To HexoSpikeZ: Yeah, has this annoying habit of removing half of any links you post, probably for safety matters. It did the same for me when I tried to share my drawings of Arthur with you all. Though, I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that I had the Filter Profanity on; I just removed it by the way. Anyway, if you wanna show me your fanart, my Discord username is Fighter33000#3013. You can DM it here if you want.
To Katoptris12: That could be a theory. Arthur seemed ready to give up at the beginning of the chapter, until Hat Kid encouraged him to keep going. Let's see how it goes as time passes through the chapters.
To pokemonsora01: Yeah, hopefully. Anyway, thank you!
To Snowballs FF: Thank you! I had this theory in my head in which when your soul is taken, any sorts of emotion or empathy you feel is little to none. Will it gets worse though? I guess we'll see. And don't worry, Queen Vanessa's Act is coming in the next chapter... Hope you're ready for the chills. ;)
To Rub37: Indeed, he's the most hospitable host you'll ever see. He lets you stay in his forest in exchange for your soul and some hard work. ;D
To PatoMayo: Probably because they now feel empty and lack of empathy. RIP. TwT
To Mr. Mega1423: Indeed, the next chapter will be... quite something. Anyway, thank you! As for the Snatcher's fight, well... only time will tell. ;)
To Mad King C: Thank you! Indeed, like I said before, this is my theory on how it feels to have no soul. Sometimes, it may bring out the worst in someone, and unfortunately, this poor Mafia man paid the price of Hat Kid's lack of soul in one of the most... painful ways that exist. ^^;
Anyway, that's all for today, folks! See you all in the next chapter!