Chapter Text
(This is a continuation of my previous story [A Peck in Time] referred to as the [Insanity Timeline], you do not have to read it as it does not have much impact on this story, but feel free to do so. Reading it will help explain why Mustache Girl is with Hat Kid & why HK has superpowers.)
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(SPOILER FOR [A Peck in Time], this is a small summary for those that don't want to read that fic or want a short summary.)
(Mu reverted time, Hat Kid got angy, Hat Kid imprisoned and tortured Mu, Hat Kid ate Time Pieces, Hat Kid became deranged and had superpowers, Mu with the power of friendship aka everyone else, beat Hat Kid and stopped her, then reverted Time to before she fell and decided to tag along with her, they became friends, Time's End did not occur.)
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"By the way, what do you need these hourglasses for?" Mu asked Hat Kid as they stood on the Mafia stage.
She already knew the answer. Mu slightly frowned.
"I... need them to return home..." HatKid replied.
"*Sigh* Alright." Mu suddenly smiled. "Do you know where other ones might be?"
...
"RUN MU!" Hat Kid screamed as the train crumbled behind them.
"I AM RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN! NOT EVERYONE HAS INHUMAN STRENGTH YOU KNOW!!"
Another wagon flew off.
...
Mu slowly pushed open a wooden door.
"Is s-she there? A-are we safe?" a voice came behind her.
"*SHHHH!* she might come back." Mu replied as they slowly walked toward the attic.
...
"Hey, big guy, do you know how to get *there* ?" Mu pointed at the glowing Time Piece across the mountain peaks.
The giant goat simply ignored her.
"HEY! I'M TALKING TO Y-"
"Mu... I don't think you are going to get an answer..." HK replied.
"Shut up Hattie! I know I'm close to getting an answer!"
...
"WE ARE SO GOING TO DIE! HATTIE WHY DID YOU TAKE THE WHEEL!?"
"IT LOOKED FUUUUUUN!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAA!"
*BOOM*
The massive cruise ship crashed with a loud boom.
...
"WHO THE HELL DESIGNED THIS METRO!?" Mu screamed.
"The devil that's who..." replied Hat Kid as they struggled to climb another cart.
...
Hat Kid placed the 56th Time Piece as she closed the vault. That was the last signal from the planet. She returned to face Mu. Mu who has been actually really useful. From what she saw and heard, Mu presumably lived in a cave before she came... Would she? Be willing to...
"Hey, Mu..."
"Yeah? What'sup? We got all the Time Pieces, right? Did we miss one?"
"No... we didn't but... I was wondering if... you would be willing to come with? I-I know this is a heavy decision and my home is really-really far away and I don't exactly have many friends there so-"
"OF COURSE I WILL!" Mu suddenly hugged Hat Kid to this, she was taken aback. This girl she had just met barely 2 weeks ago was willing to leave her whole planet, her life behind?
"Of course I will. And hey, it's gotta be better than a cave. AND I doubt there are any Mafia where you're from. I'm sure your home is great." Mu smiled.
Hearing the positive response, Hat Kid sat down on her chair and held onto the controls as she pushed forward. This was it. They were going home.
"Then! Here, we, GO!"
The planet disappeared in the distance as Mu was slightly pushed back by the force. Light bent around the glass window as the ship passed FTL speed.
Within moments, her planet was barely a spark of dust. Not even visible with the naked eye.
Mu turned from the side window to the front as she approached Hat Kid who was busy pressing a bunch of buttons on the control panel.
It looked like button smashing, was Hattie even qualified to pilot this ship? Well, she had it so she better be!
"So... How long until we arrive?" she asked.
"Not much, 3-4 hours at most. It's only around 20.000 lightyears. Why don't you go back and explore the ship a bit? We were constantly going out to look for Time Pieces, you never had the time to relax." Hat Kid spoke without turning back as she continued pressing buttons.
Mu looked past the window, at HatKid, and then around the hub. Guess it wouldn't hurt to explore a bit. Now that she was an actual guest and not a... prisoner...
Mu shook her head, that was waaaay in the past. Hat Kid was nice, she wouldn't do anything of such. Though she had been doing some unexplainable things again (like accidentally teleporting, breaking something by using excessive strength, levitating slightly when jumping, etc.), she seemed to be sane and even cute.
Mu herself had changed as well. Maybe even more dramatic than the hatted girl next to her. She was no longer so bound by feelings of blinded vengeance. Not seeking revenge on every step. Heck, she might have even given up on becoming a 'Crime Fighting Time Traveler'. Her powers were seemingly gone the moment time reset. And she hadn't felt anything change yet.
Mu looked at her hands. They were clean and healthy. Unlike how she used to be. Maybe this was for the better. No powers meant no responsibility.
Well, this was a new opportunity. To maybe make some new friends? Explore a new civilization? Find new and exciting things? Well, at least one of the above.
It was sad to leave everyone behind, well, not really. She didn't know anyone that well, but it was still not the best feeling.
As Mu noticed she was standing still awkwardly, she regained her focus as she walked towards the middle of the ship. The engine room was still a bit dangerous so she decided to explore the mechanic's room.
It was by far the most interesting. There were weird techy-looking machines and even a few games on them. Hattie never really explained how they worked, frankly, Mu was suspicious if she even knew how they worked herself, but the place was buzzing with bits and bobs moving about.
Not wanting to break anything, Mu walked to the back, the 'gallery' was a weird place. Why did Hattie even have these weird paintings of herself? Did she enjoy being portrayed like this? Almost alienated? Maybe.
Speaking of aliens, this place they were going was practically full of them. Or well, full of whatever species Hattie was. She seemed humanoid enough, it was hard to think she wasn't. Then again... She did just eat an entire plate and not metaphorically just this morning... Should she even ask about what difference there is between them? Mu doubted Hattie would know herself considering she didn't know she herself couldn't eat fricking metal...
...
"Mu! Come to the bridge, we have arrived!" Hat Kid announced as Mu bolted from her place. She ran toward the hub as the sight took her breath...
A massive... Hourglass-shaped megastructure that was orbiting around what was a massive black ball? No, she had heard this, it was a Black Hole. The massive HourGlass had several hundred glowing orbs around it along with tens of spaceships of all different sizes and shapes flying around toward or from it.
It also had several other things around it; golden, crystal, metalic, wooden and some other types of rings surrounded the megastructure. It was a sight to behold, Mu always assumed Hat Kid lived on a planet like her but guess she was wrong... They slowly moved toward the half metalic half glass megastructure as Mu walked toward the window.
It was breathtaking. How did they even build this thing!? It was larger than- her- her entire planet! They were closing in and the sheer size of the structure had consumed her as she slightly backed away.
W-What if they kicked h-her out!? Didn't let her in or something!? Could Hattie really take her there!? These types of questions appeared in Mu's mind as she quickly looked at Hattie who was calmly pushing the ship's controls.
No! If Hattie was calm, it meant everything was fine. They probably allowed anyone to enter right? Yeah, surely she would be fine.
Hat Kid piloted the ship towards a kind of hanger, passing some kind of laser barrier as the ship landed down, shaking the entire hub as Mu almost fell down.
"You okay?" Hat Kid asked the girl as Mu nodded.
Hat Kid suddenly held onto Mu's hand as she pulled her toward the back of the ship.
"Woah!"
They stood next to an elevator kinda area as Hat Kid turned to Mu.
"Oh, almost forgot."
Hat Kid took her top hat as she plunged her hand inside, looking for something(?), and soon after, took out what appeared to be an ID card?
"This. Is a Time's End Intergalactic Identification Card for Alien Species. Or TEII-CAS for short." Hat Kid placed the card on Mu's chest as it made a small clicking noise, sticking to the clothing with some sci-fi technology. Suddenly, Hat Kid held on to Mu with both arms.
"Mu. You MUST keep in mind to ALWAYS wear this card and NEVER in ANY CIRCUMSTANCE take it off, understand?" Mu nodded as Hat Kid retracted her arms, seemingly content with the answer.
"Good. As long as you have that, nothing will happen to you. Probably."
"What do you mean probably-"
"Now come on!" Hat Kid pulled Mu to the elevator as they descended to the ground level.
The doors to the elevator opened to reveal a massive hanger. Buzzing with kids(?) some nearly toddlers while some barely preteens. But all children nonetheless. With a better look at the area, Mu couldn't see a single adult or even a teenager...
"Hey, uh... Hattie? Are there no... adults here?" Mu asked curiously.
"Adults? There are obviously. Adults are in charge of managing the galactic civilization, management of large-scale resources, economics, research, energy harvesting, diplomatic meetings, system setups, large-scale construction, etc. While use kids are in charge of simpler tasks like taking care of exploration, repair, agriculture, cooking, small-scale development, constructing robots and/or machines, etc. We also go to school along with those tasks but school is only around 3 months a year."
Mu looked into Hat Kid's eyes as she continued speaking. What the hell!? The kids did like p-much everything around here!? Wasn't this child slavery!? Wait, hold on... How did the children even DO those tasks!!? Like... They are children... Shouldn't those kinda things be like, really difficult??
"Wait wait, hold on... You mean children work here?" Mu asked.
"Of course? Why wouldn't we? A lot of basic tasks like mining resources, planting food, and so on are done by automated robots and we kids do things like manage those robots and take care of ourselves while the adults do more complex jobs. They overlook and manage the entire galactic civilization and megastructure while we manage the small-scale areas. It is the perfect harmony. All the adults live in the top half of the HourGlass while all the children live in the lower. There isn't any kind of hierarchy with age either, the HourGlass rotates regularly. We receive education from a very young age but only towards the tasks we are either suited or want to..."
In the middle of the explanation, another kid maybe a year younger than Hattie came running toward us with a tablet in his hand.
"Captain Hat Kid!" He shouted as he wheezed, taking a breather to come back to his senses from exhaustion.
"It is good to see you too Pen Kid. Sorry to come later than reported, I had an unexpected detour." Hat Kid scratched her head as she spoke.
Now that Mu had a better look, she could see a white pen placed on top of the kid's ear. So, they were really 'named' after their prized possession huh? Well, she wasn't any better...
"I-It is alright, Captain Hat Kid, though who is this with you? I was not informed of a-"
"human" Mu replied.
"-human coming along with you." he finished.
"Ah, it was more or less a last-minute decision. I will be issuing my authority as Captain to grant her a temporary identification. You may rest assured."
"Of course. Alright boys! I need some repair Kids here!" the 'Pen Kid' ran off as Hat Kid started walking while holding Mu's wrist.
Mu looked around herself, the buzzing activity was quite exhilarating, to say the least. They walked toward a metalic door as it opened to both sides. Mu quickly followed Hat Kid as they walked toward some destination Mu didn't know of.
The tunnel(?) was fully lit and appeared to be made out of glass with a blue-ish carpet extending across. Mu could see other kids and even a few robots and adults walking in the other tunnels in the distance.
"Uhm, Hattie, if I could ask... why are you a captain? I don't see any crew members..."
Hat Kid spoke without turning her back.
"I have just recently become a Captain and have not been assigned any crew yet. This was actually my first mission, to contact three planets and scan one. The one I was supposed to scan was yours actually. Though I can probably report that one as 'Peace Established'. You can choose any profession you wish for here as long as you complete the necessary education for it. Come on, let's go."
"Where are we going exactly?" Mu asked.
"The living quarters of course. I want you to meet my roommate, well she will be your roommate as well now that you are staying here." Hat Kid answered.
"Wait, wha? You have a roommate? And we will be staying together!? You never said that!" Mu was a bit flustered, she had to share a house with not only Hattie which would be totally fine but some random other kid!?
"Relax Mu, the villa is large enough for all three of us."
The what now? Mu asked herself as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing a bright blue sky and grassy field. There was a central road going for kilometers past the elevator with large three-floored houses on both sides. The houses were mostly all kinds of colors, blue, cyan, purple, pink, brown, wooden, marble, metalic...
HatKid walked towards a wooden-looking house as she knocked on the door. Guess this was her house? Figures, her spaceship was made of wood(?) as well.
"Hello? Who is this?" a voice came from the speaker next to the doorbell. It sounded softer than Hat Kid's voice, maybe more timid? Though not exactly thinner.
"Bow, it's me. I came back from the mission with... a friend."
"Back with a friend? Really. Last time you were going off some unknown place I found you stuffing yourself with cookies in the cafeteria..."
"H-Hey now, no need to make me remember..."
"Too late."
The door slowly crept open as a curly-haired girl in green clothing and a comically large blue bow on her head appeared beside it.
"Come on in..." Bow(?) seemed to be staring at Mu as she slightly turned away her face with a small blush. Bow was looking at her ID card.
"So..." Hat Kid spoke as they entered the house.
"Bow, this is Mustache Girl or Mu, well you can call her Mu. And Mu, this here is Bow Kid or Bow, my roommate."
Mu looked at the curly-haired girl as she stared back. Not uttering a single word. Well, this was awkward... Guess she better get along if they were going to stay together huh?
Mu extended her hand in shyness as she spoke.
"I'm Mu. Nice to meetcha."
"Bow. And... What's with the mustache..." Bow held on to Mu's stache as she slightly pulled.
"*AWWWW!* THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" Mu suddenly screamed.
"I-I am sorry. I t-thought they were f-fake..." Bow quickly apologized. Mu slowly calmed down. She shouldn't hold this against her. The girl had probably never seen one of her species, ever...
"I-It's fine." Mu replied, a bit flustered.
*Boom*
In the next moment, a loud noise came from the outside.
"W-WHAT WAS THAT!?" Mu screamed in panic.
All three of them turned to the window as heavy rainfall started.
Bow quickly took out something(?) from her pocket as she tapped it a few times and brought it up for both the girls to see.
"Today is Tuesday. It's rainy." she added.
With the symbols of a cloud and raindrops next to the letters 'Tue' displaying on the screen(?).
Mu deadpanned at both of them as she stared out the window. It was 'supposed to be rainy'? How!? They were in outer space! Wha...
Seeing Mu's confusion, Hat Kid responded.
"Don't worry about it Mu, we have a weather control device above the sky dome that changes the weather according to the predetermined calendar."
Bow continued, "Monday is clear, Tuesday is rainy, Wednesday is windy, Thursday is cloudy, Friday is cloudless sunny and the weekends are either snowy or clear depending on the season."
"The temperature also changes according to the state of the HourGlass, if we are on the top, it's winter, if we are in the bottom, it is summer. Right now, it is summer for us." Hat Kid finished.
Mu was... blown away, to say the least. They had simulated weather!? In space!!? And- and seasons!? Even she didn't have those on her island...
"By the way, Hat, did you check in your report?" Bow asked.
"Shoot! I have to go! Mu, stay with Bow okay? And DON'T do anything she tells you NOT to do." Hattie bolted off the door as Mu and Bow looked at each other.
"So, uh..." Mu started.
"We can check out the house?" Bow asked Mu.
Mu's face lit up. She remembered living in a house before the Mafia kicked her but it was a small one, barely 3 rooms in the entire house. And this place was HUGE in comparison. Mu nodded.
Bow started walking as Mu followed while Bow started explaining.
"This is the first-floor entrance, on the left is the kitchen and dining room, and on the right is the living room. We also have a door back in the living room that leads to the backyard."
Bow and Mu walked into the wooden elevator as they ascended to the second floor.
"This is the second floor, here we have the study room and the archive, Hat's unnecessary ball pit, the communal bathroom, and a front and back balcony."
They walked back into the elevator as they ascended.
"And finally, here is the third floor, we have me and Hat's bedroom, a smaller bathroom, a small relaxation area, the sky dome, and the galactic mapping area which is Hat's workspace."
Bow walked into the bedroom with Mu behind her as Mu's eyes lit. It was nearly as large as Hattie's bedroom in her ship! With two double beds, a smaller version of the pillow pool, two desks, a couch, dressers, and more!
"I will call for an additional bed delivery seeing as you will be staying here." Bow added and took out the device she used to show the date.
"For now, do you have any belongings?" Bow spoke while she continued tapping the device.
"No... I only have my clothes... And emergency Time Piece." Mu took out a Time Piece as it levitated slightly above her hand.
Bow stared at her in shock.
"M-Mu! T-That's dangerous! You s-shouldn't hold one! Why do you e-even have one!? Those are used as power sources! Their raw usage is extremely dangerous!!" Bow shouted.
Mu quickly hid the piece again. They were dangerous!? Well, yeah, they were dangerous she supposed but really? Hat Kid had told her not to show anyone that piece but not even her roommate?
"O-Ok, don't worry. I know what I am doing, I have used them bef-"
"YOU USED THEM!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW UNSTABLE THOSE ARE!? A WRONG MOVE AND YOU CAN DELETE A WHOLE PLANET!!" Bow was panicking now. This was bad. Mu had to calm her down before she started calling people. Mu held Bow's shoulders and shook her.
"Bow. Bow! It is fine. Calm down, Hat Kid gave it to me, I swear NOT to use it unless it is life or death, okay?"
Bow didn't seem convinced as she turned her head to the side, thinking something. She sighed as she turned back.
"Alright. alright. But don't show that to anyone, they might even revoke your ID." Bow added.
What!? They would kick her out just for carrying a Time Piece!? In a place where they had presumably thousands of Time Pieces!!?
"I should tell you before you get the wrong idea, Time Pieces aren't exactly THAT dangerous persay, but the problem is YOU possessing one. Time Lords, well, our species is naturally resistant to changes in the spacetime and can not be altered easily. However... any other creature can be simply deleted out of existence by a simple wish..."
Mu gulped. So, that was why she couldn't teleport Hattie back to the ship using a Time Piece but she could teleport both of them...
Wait, hold on, Hattie could teleport without Time Pieces... Only sometimes though.
"Hey, Bow. Uh, can you like teleport? Or fire lasers?.." Bow looked at Mu as if she just asked if she was secretly a superhero.
"Of course, I can't what do you think I am, a superhero? Well, I could probably if I used a Time Piece, but not without one. Time Piece usage is generally thought from the age of 3..." she responded.
Mu stopped to think for a moment. Should she tell her Hattie can sometimes do it without one? It seemed to be getting more and more potent as time went on as well. Was her powers from the... [Insanity Timeline] returning? Bow did say they were resistant to changes in the timeline right? Would her memories return as well? Mu shuddered at the thought. What would she even do if Hattie became deranged again?
Could she even hope to stop her? This place was probably filled with hundreds maybe thousands of Time Pieces... What would happen if that version of Hat Kid got hold of them? Mu shook her head. No! That wasn't possible, it was a contract that erased her memories not the time magic in play.
"Bow... I know you probably won't believ-"
"I'm back! Aaaand! I got Mu's ID verified! " Hat Kid opened the door as she happily shouted from the first floor.
The elevator dinged as the door opened to reveal Hat Kid with a weirdly long document in hand. She showed the paper with a smirk as Bow took it from her hand.
"Bla bla... we allow her to... bla bla... as long as no harm... bla bla... signed SpaceTime Management™" Bow finished reading the incredibly long document within seconds as she gave it back to Hat Kid.
"Guess you will be staying with us then." Bow smiled.
"Though, what was that you were saying befo-"
*grrrr*
Mu's stomach grumbled. She hadn't eaten anything since last night and the excitement was making her hungry...
"*Hehe* It seems your friend is quite hungry. Though..." Bow glared at Mu's ID card.
"I don't exactly know what humans can eat... Mu, would blue squid be alright?" Bow asked softly.
"I think? I used to live on an island and did eat squid before..." Mu replied.
"Great! I was already making some for lunch so we have it ready to serve. Do you prefer a wooden or metal fork?"
"metal..." The question itself was suspicious to Mu.
"Let me check then, we might be out of metal forks though... Because Hat keeps eating them while I am away at work!" She glared at Hat Kid as the suspect gulped.
Yeah, Mu was right, the question was suspicious. Anyway, who even ate forks!? Surely they had no nutrient value... What would you even gain from eating a hunk of metal!? Mu decided to simply ignore the issue as they headed down to the dining hall.
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