#I had thought of like. hat and mu sitting in thrones

[down-with-the-mafia]

Heroes

@hatstacheweek day 2 🧡

fanart for The Way Time Twists by @robyn-goodfellowe

[cloudshapedpatch]

Misguided Royalty

Chapter 1: The Royal Guard Ain’t Shit

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The wind teased the small buds on the trees. The nearly bare branches swayed in the pleasant breeze. Far off yonder laid the mountains. They appeared blue against the cloudy sky, and the tips of the peaks shone white with glittering snowmelt.

Despite the gloomy weather, a girl crept among the bushes of her mother's garden. She was fourteen years old, and dreading her next birthday. This part is important, so you must listen closely.

A 15 year old girl was deemed a woman. A great party was held in her honor to celebrate her passing into adulthood. She would begin courting the young men of the town, laying her fate down in the hands of her father.

This particular girl, however, was not excited for her 15th birthday.

It was not because she thought her party would be boring. She was sure it would be the talk of the town.

It was not because she did not want to marry. She was quite the romantic, and had been dreaming of this for quite some time.

It was not because she wanted to remain a child, young and free. She was ready to be esteemed as a responsible adult.

Well, maybe she was a little nervous because of those things. But those thoughts gave her the warm flutters of anticipation. The real reason she did not want to turn 15 was because of the role it placed on her shoulders.

For at 15, she was set to become the next ruler of China.

So, what was the princess doing in the garden while the sky was preparing to weep? She was running from her scholar.

Marinette was not fond of most of her studies. She ~

Oh, I apologize. Did I forget to mention her name? Well, it's Marinette. Princess Marinette Cheng. I'll have to ask that you excuse my pardon.

As I was saying, Marinette liked to learn of her kingdom's history, and of it's geography. However, she did not enjoy her etiquette counseling. Poor child was constantly dropping tea cups and tripping over her own two feet. It seemed, for the young girl, that the list of rules to follow was ever-growing.

So Marinette, the esteemed princess, was crouching among the rose bushes and making her way to the stone arches on the other side of the statue of her mother. If she could just get there, then she could use the hidden passage and ~

“Your Highness! This is not very lady-like of you."

Marinette rolled her eyes whilst still hidden, but heaved a sigh and stood. Her hands fiddled with a ribbon from her dress.

"I apologize."

“Princess, you must master your studies. You must be a capable empress by the solstice."

It was true. Her birthday was on the summer equinox, fitting for royalty if I may say so. She would have to not only be ready to become empress, but also to become a wife.

"Oh, you and I both know I'd just be a consort." She said bitterly.

Her scholar, a stocky elder whose surname was Damocles, gasped.

"That is hardly befitting language to be coming from you. You are to be empress."

However, Marinette could only roll her eyes. Damocles gave her a wary look, and she looked to her feet in shame.

“Besides, Your Highness, it is not safe out here. We must go inside at once.”

Even I hate to admit it, but he was right. This was no time for the princess to be dawdling about in the open. Who knows who could be listening?

Well, I would know. But that is because I am the all-knowing narrator. You must find out of your own accord as the story progresses.

Sir Damocles led the upset princess back into the palace, where she was immediately summoned to her room. She was going to have dinner with the emperor tonight, she must look her finest.

Many maids fluttered about Marinette, tugging at her clothes and hair. She did not like this one little bit. She preferred the nightly routine better; it was much more gentle. But alas, soon her makeup was touched to match her fresh hair-do.

This was the dinner attire. The silk weighed heavily on her shoulders. And oh, how she fumed as she made her way to the dining hall.

At one end of the long table sat her mother with her shimmering eyes. Everyone adored Empress Sabine. She was just and kind to the entire kingdom, and was always making trips to far off cities to check on the people.

And at the other end of the table sat the Emperor himself. His large frame almost made the roast boar seem small in front of him.

“Thank you for joining us, Princess. Please, have a seat.”

Warily, Marinette sat at the middle of the long table. Silence filled the room as she was served.

Sabine cleared her throat after many long minutes. “So, honey, how were your studies?”

“They were fine, mother. They were the same as they always are.” She gave her steaming plate more attention than it deserved.

My goodness, I’ve never known how moody a child could be until Marinette came around.

Emperor Dupain looked up from his food to stare at Marinette. “Do we need to hire a new teacher?”

“NO!”

The only sound the could be heard was Empress Sabine’s chopsticks falling on the table.

“I mean... that won’t be needed, Your Majesty. Damocles is a fantastic teacher. Thank you.”

“If there is a problem with your studies, then it must be addressed.”

“No, Your Majesty. There is no issue.”

“I just want what is best for you.”

“I can’t say that I agree, tìdài. You want what’s best for the kingdom.”

“Marinette!” Empress Sabine scolded, but she had already stood from the table.

“If you will excuse me, I must be getting some rest. I have a lot more to learn from Sir Damocles in the morning.” And then, she was gone.

She had stormed up to her room. Very typical of her.

Marinette’s personal maids had followed her into her bedroom to remove her makeup and help her into her nightclothes, but she waved them away glumly. Thankfully for the sanity of everyone in the castle, they knew just what to do when the princess was feeling down. So they sent word for the apprentice messenger.

The sun was setting when Alya Cesaire arrived at the palace gates. A royal guard hurried her through a side entrance and immediately to Marinette’s bedroom.

Upon hearing the knock on her door, Marinette only groaned.

“Oh please, Your Exquisite Royalness, do let me in.”

Alya smirked to the guard as they heard something hard fall to the ground on the other side of the door, followed by a quiet grunt of pain. Then in a flash, Alya was pulled into the room and onto the bed.

“Alya! What are you doing here?” The blue haired girl practically shouted.

“I’m here to see you, of course! Why else would I have rode in at sunset?”

“An important message?”

“Possibly. I do have the latest gossip from the market square. Would you like to hear it?”

“Would I? You know it always cheers me up.”

Marinette settled herself on her bed while Alya dramatically cleared her throat.

“Well, everyone is still quite upset with Emperor Dupain. The raised taxes are causing some women to start selling pottery and jewelry. Although, no one is buying because everyone else is struggling.”

“Awful! What else?”

“Lady Haprele got a new hat and has been parading the streets with it. It’s absolutely heinous.”

The girls giggled quietly as Alya started to brush Marinette’s long hair.

Unbeknownst to them, a stranger lurked in the shadows of the princess’s balcony.

He had been watching her all day. He listened in the garden, he eavesdropped their dinner conversation. He had a plan for exactly how he was going to obtain the bounty over the princess’s head. 5,000 gold pieces was certainly worth the effort to kill her.

I don’t know. He seemed like a bitch when he accepted the job.

Now he was here, sitting behind a tall plant and listening to her and Alya chatting about the latest gossip and occasionally switching back to talk about her father.

Correction; her step-father.

Emperor Dupain was not liked among the people. He taxed them when he wanted to go on a trip and barley kept the kingdom in working order. Anyone who was willing to marry him surely was just as uncaring as him. You can imagine how surprised the citizens felt about meeting their new Empress. But they had never seen the heir to their throne yet. She had yet to make an appearance, and her absence reminded everyone of the Emperor. It was not unexpected for the people to be wary. But oh, how they hated her. Never even met her, and yet they wanted her dead.

Could you blame the bounty hunter for accepting? Perhaps the Emperor would be next, and their kingdom would be saved under the wise hand of Empress Sabine. He made a silent promise that he would never let the corrupt princess into power.

This, however, became a problem. As he spent more and more time listening, he started sympathizing for her. He had yet to lay eyes on her, but when he did he was sure that he would be able to go through with the treason.

His cat-like ears twitched as he heard the Princess’s sweet voice bid her friend goodbye. He readied to jump into action, dagger in hand, as she stepped out into the night.

“Hello, Princess. It seems you’ve run out of time.”

She spun on her heel and gasped. And that was when he saw her.

Beautiful. Was the first thing that came to to his mind. His heart stopped beating for a moment, then pumped double-time as her impossibly blue eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“You’re... you’re... you’re Chat Noir.” It came as a coarse whisper. His heart twinged to hear her so scared, and it confused him.

Hell, I’d be confused too.

Before he could process the situation, she had stepped back, her foot catching on a flower pot. His callused hand grabbed her own before she could fall.

She looked at him in fear and confusion, her eyes flitting to the sharp dagger dangling lazily in his free hand.

Almost hastily, he pulled her up until she got her footing.

“You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?”

Now that he wanted to speak, the words stuck in his throat.

“Um...”

Without thinking, he sheathed his knife. He looked away only to give in and gaze at her once again.

“That was the plan, yes.”

Much to his surprise, she took a deep breath and held her arms out at her sides, eyes shut tight. “Do what you must. I must be worth a lot. That is, assuming you’re getting paid off.”

“Are you sure, Your Highness? Does 5 grand seem enough?”

“Dear goodness, I’d have thought I was worth more than that.”

“Have you no sense of self preservation?”

“At this rate, I’ll be lucky to make it to the solstice.”

Now Chat Noir was heavily confused. On one hand, everything he had heard of the princess was malicious. But the girl standing valiantly before him was anything but.

“What’s happening on the solstice?”

Marinette opened one eye. “You don’t know?”

“I can’t say that I do, Princess.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

Her hand dropped dramatically to her hips. “I will be turning fifteen. I will begin courting and soon after I will be married. I suppose to just become a consort.”

Chat Noir stood slack-jaw to hear the princess speak in this way.

“But I guess I won’t get to see that day, hm? Do you make all your victims talk like this?”

“Well, you aren’t a victim.” He said confidently. Truth be told, he felt a little weak. Then and there, he decided he could not kill the princess. Something stirred inside that told him not to. And when your life is spent on the run, you learn to trust your gut.

He still seems shady to me.

“I’m not?”

“Not anymore.”

“I suppose that’s good.” She still looked troubled, but she slowly walked over to her door. “Um, good night?”

“Yeah. I... I mean, good night, Your Highness.”

She certainly had not let him off the hook. Good for her! Marinette looked at him quizzically before softly closing her door and closing the curtains.

As Chat Noir leapt off the dark balcony, he had many thoughts swirling in his mind. But the most prominent one was, ‘What will I tell Papillon?’

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Ghost Kid Chapter Twenty-Five: Time’s End

This chapter's a bit rushed and the chapter I am most displeased with. It is however the best I could do. I tried like 5-6 times to write something good and this was the best I could do because eventually you just gotta settle on 'good enough' lest it reach a point where it's just not worth the stress to continue trying for something better. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad though, just not what I wanted it to be. How good or bad it is is up for y'all to decide because I'm too close to it to know truthfully.

Also, any plot holes created by the time travel stuff, I apologize for. They're nigh on unavoidable when you're messing with time travel.

-

[Mu does whatever she does in the game to stop the Mafia from invading the Island and then become the ruler of the world to stop all the bad guys except she has Moonjumper’s help. There’s a whole other potential story here but this isn’t the place to tell it.]

Mu had done it! Not only had she saved the island from the Mafia, she’d saved the entire world. She was in charge now and could ensure no more bad guys ever hurt anyone ever again. With the Time Pieces and Moonjumper on her side, no one could challenge her. It was glorious! Or at least it should’ve been.

Hat Kid’s ship was nowhere to be found. Mu had tried to return to it a few months off of present day to stop the crash but… it wasn’t there. It was very strange and she couldn’t find an explanation for it. Even worse though was the lava that started spreading, pulling Mu’s attention away from that mystery to try to solve the lava problem instead. Which didn’t seem like it had a solution. It wasn’t long before the kingdom she’d built was overrun with it.

She wanted to believe that it wasn’t a big deal, that given enough time, she could fix it. Or that she could just ignore it and it would go away on its own eventually. But… Hat Kid’s words about changing time causing the end of the world came back to her. This certainly seemed pretty apocalyptic.

“I think Hat Kid was right,” she finally said to Moonjumper as they surveyed the spreading lava through one of her castle’s windows. It had slowed down significantly from when it started but it was still only a matter of time before it covered everything.

“I presume, you mean you think she was right about the end of the world,” Moonjumper replied, seemingly indifferent. “That does indeed seem to be the case. Rather interesting. I wonder how that works exactly.”

“It doesn’t matter how it works, how do we fix it?”

Moonjumper shrugged. “Maybe clog the volcanoes.”

“That’s dumb.” Mu didn’t know much about volcanoes and stuff but she knew that wouldn’t work. “You always seem to know what to do.” With the Time Pieces, she could’ve done all this on her own but he’d streamlined the process with his ideas and actual assistance at times. “Help me.”

“I’m afraid the end of the world and preventing it is beyond my level of expertise. Perhaps it is time to figure out space travel. You’d best do it quick though, it doesn’t seem you have long left.”

Mu glared at him. “You sound like you don’t even care.”

“I’m offended at that accusation. Of course I care. I’m just staying calm because getting all worked up won’t fix it.” True but…

“Well then help me come up with a solution. A real one that works.” All Mu could think to do was go back to Hat Kid for help. Which she would’ve done expect for the whole Hat Kid’s ship still being missing thing so not only was the crash in impossible to prevent, Hat Kid could also not be found in general. Mu could maybe go back to the point in time she and Moonjumper had left Hat Kid and Snatcher and hope Hat Kid was still there. But that would mean giving up on stopping the crash and everything Mu had worked for would probably be taken away too. Neither of which were options.

“I will think on it.”

“Good! I’m going to get back to getting rid of the bad guys.” Once all the bad guys were gone, all they’d need to do was fix the lava problem and the world would be a much better place.

[A couple weeks later in which things get worse]

Mu froze as she strode into the throne room. Moonjumper was sitting on her throne. On one hand, she’d come in here looking for him, but on the other, why was he on her throne? It was hers, she was the ruler here, he just her right hand man.

She took a breath, ready to say something to him about it but… bit back on it. Now wasn’t the time to get mad and start an argument, there were much more important things going on then Moonjumper sitting on her throne. Like how the fire and lava kept getting worse no matter what she tried in the present or in the past via time travel.

What good was ridding the world of all the bad guys if everyone else was going to die in lava too? And everyone was blaming her for it. Normally she would’ve been mad at them – she’d gotten rid of all the bad guys, what right did they have to be mad at her? – but they were right, it was her fault. She’d caused it by meddling with time. Which meant it was her responsibility to fix it and at this point she’d be willing to do almost anything to do so. She was desperate for a solution so she needed Moonjumper’s help because she couldn’t do it herself no matter how hard she tried. … She was just a kid, who could really ask her to come up with a way to undo the apocalypse by herself?

“Greetings Mu,” Moonjumper said with a grin. Was it particularly evil looking today or was that just her imagination?

“Greetings,” she said, imitating him even though it was dumb. “Have you found a way to fix this yet?” Like he’d said he would. Surely he would’ve come to her if he had but… she was desperate. Even just an solid idea would do for now, she just needed something.

“Nope, the only way to fix it would be to take the Time Pieces to an expert on them and hope they can fix it.”

“Meaning… Hat Kid huh?” And she was still nowhere to be found in this time or the near past.

“Yep. Though, I suspect, going back and undoing everything we did might fix it as well, that’s presumably what caused it. But other than that, there’s no way to fix it. It is a shame I know but at least we get to go out as rulers of the world, right? Also, it’s not ice killing everyone and destroying the planet so really things aren’t as bad as they could be. And you are getting your wish, soon there will be no more bad guys, so you should be happy, right?”

“No! Good people are dying, I already got rid of all the bad guys.” She’d judged them and now only good people were left. The world would be perfect if it wasn’t for the lava.

Moonjumper grinned even wider. “Dear Mu, you’re so naïve, as long as there are people, there will be bad guys. That is the rule of sentient beings everywhere across time. I would imagine it even transcends our puny little planet.”

“That… that can’t be true.” Surely it was possible to have only good guys like Mu was trying to do. … Except the people she’d judged as ‘good’ were fighting over food and water last she’d saw them, things good people just didn’t do. She could go back in the past and judge them differently but… how long could she keep that up? There were only so many people left, getting rid of more wouldn’t solve anything, would it? And the more she changed things, the faster the lava seemed to spread.

“It is true and you know it. The only way to rid the world of bad guys is for us all to die. Which you yourself have made happen, you even sped the process along with your whole judging thing. You should be happy, not many people can say they’d so thoroughly accomplished their life goals.”

The way he spoke made her sound like a bad guy. Which wasn’t true… was it? She wanted to make the world a better place. She wanted to make sure no one ever suffered the same way she and the islanders had under the hand of the Mafia or anyone like them. But… had she really accomplished that? All she’d done was kill a bunch of people – mostly Mafia but a few others as well – intentionally and cause the unintentional inevitable deaths of literally everyone and everything else… of the whole planet in fact.

That… wasn’t even really what she’d set out to do initially. At the start all she’d wanted to do was stop the Mafia from taking over the Island and save Hat Kid but once she’d started and with all that power, mostly the Time Pieces but Moonjumper’s too… she’d done this instead. She’d thought, making herself ruler and getting rid of all the bad guys would lead to no more suffering but… everyone was suffering even more than they’d been before.

With no place to grow more food, it was quickly growing scarce. Most of the water had boiled away, what little they’d managed to save was quickly depleting. As the lava continued to spread day by day, the room people had to even just exist grew smaller. They all lived in the castle now but even it couldn’t resist the lava for forever even if it was doing a good job so far. And it was all her fault and she couldn’t fix it. Which meant…

“Then… then let’s…. go back to where we left Hat Kid,” as a ghost because Mu was supposed to fix that too but couldn’t, “and… ask her to help fix it.” It would mean giving up on everything Mu had worked for but… it had all lead to this and this was the opposite of what she wanted.

“Hmmm… nah, I don’t think I want to.”

“W-what?”

“I don’t want to give up the Time Pieces.” His voice was calm as ever as if he wasn’t talking about letting the world end. “We should go back and steal Hat Kid’s ship instead and try again on another planet. Given enough tries we could probably make something resembling a utopia for a little while at least without also ending the world. It’d be fun to try, don’t you think?” His grin was definitely eviler looking today than it normally was.

“No!” Mu wasn’t going to just let this planet die while there was still a chance save it. “What’s wrong with you?” He’d always sympathized with her before and had never seemed heartless so why this?

“Nothing, you’ve just had a false interpretation of me if you think I would give up this game without a fight.”

‘A fight’? How was Mu supposed to fight him? She was a child and he was a… whatever the hell he was, it was powerful. And… there was no way she could steal the Time Pieces from him, was there? He kept them in the horizon for ‘safekeeping’ because she’d asked him to, not wanting to risk anyone else stealing them after he’d suggested someone might if she’d kept them as her throne pedestal like she’d wanted to do. She’d trusted him! She’d been wrong to do so and now… there was nothing she could do to fix any of this.

She wanted to be angry about it and she should be but… she was just so tired. She’d been trying so hard for so long to fix it and make everything better and be a good ruler but it was all for naught. She’d been betrayed and now the world was going to end and it was all her fault.

She should’ve listened to Hat Kid at the start then Hat Kid never would’ve died and everything would be… not perfect but not this pecked up either. After the crash she’d even had doubts about the whole thing, she should’ve listened to them. Or heck, she should’ve been the one to die in the crash instead of Hat Kid, the world would literally be a better place if she had and no one could deny that.

Her vision blurring with tears, she shrunk to the floor. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead crying in front of someone but what did it matter when she and everyone else would be dead in a matter of weeks if not days? Would Moonjumper die though? He was supernatural entity and he had the Time Pieces which was apparently planning on…

“What?” Moonjumper sounded shocked enough to pull Mu’s gaze back up to him. “Why are you crying? You should be mad and you should be attacking me, why are you not?”

“What would be the point? I can’t beat you.” Maybe if she had the use of the Time Pieces she could but she didn’t so it wasn’t worth speculating on. And if she did have them, she wouldn’t have to fight him because she could just leave and fix things herself.

Moonjumper frowned at her before deflating back into the throne with a heavy sigh. “Well I suppose this plan was doomed to fail from the start. You’re a normal child, of course you can’t fight me and you’re smart enough to know that. I should’ve given you a weapon to give you the confidence to try but alas, I didn’t think to and now it is too late. Which means the climax to our game is lacking an epic battle and you sadly don’t get to come out of it feeling like a hero. How… disappointing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This game is no longer fun, I’m done playing. I wanted you to fight me for the Time Pieces, I was planning on letting you win so you could go save the day. But you started crying instead and I can’t handle tears, especially those of a child. For someone who has such a big soft spot for children, Lukas was rather incompetent with them when he was alive so now I am too. He’s a bit better with them now that he has one but he’s not here to ask advice of so I’m left with no choice but to call off this charade.”

Mu stood back up. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. This was confusing. What was his deal? Was he swapping back to her side? Or… what?

With another sigh, Moonjumper used his strings to pull the ball of Time Pieces out of the horizon. “Let’s go ask Hat Kid to fix the mess we made, shall we?”

-

Does the stuff Moonjumper said about what he wanted to happen count as breaking the 4th wall? Because that's what *I* wanted to have happen. Initially I was thinking the ending would be Mu controlled by Moonjumper's strings vs Snatcher and Hat Kid in an epic battle but then they ended up getting left in the past. I maybe could've wriggled my way out of that but then I had the thought that Mu could fully redeem herself and change her mind and decide all on her own to give up on everything she worked for to save the world. But in the game during her boss battle, she's using the Time Pieces to fight. She can't fight super well without them, making a battle against Moonjumper hopeless for her and she's smart enough to see that. He would've let her win of course because of the reasons he stated in the fic but her attacking him anyway just didn't make sense. I tried very hard to make it work, having her be frustrated and angry enough to not care that she was 'doomed to lose', but it just wasn't working after how desperate she was to fix her mistake. But if she had the Time Pieces she wouldn't have to fight Moonjumper because she could just use them to go back on her own and thus still no fight. So I settled on this as the best I could do. As stated in the top note, I don't know how good or bad it is, but it's definitely the best I could do and that's all I and all y'all can ask of me.

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