Reliving An Old Nightmare - Chapter 24
<= Chapter 23
Summary : Things don't go as planned.
Also available on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337299/chapters/59020252
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New chapter, yay !
[WARNING: the third and last drawing is gory]
THIS CHAPTER HAS AN AUDIO FILE ! I commissioned Puyo-Proto again, and he did an AMAZING JOB ! Please check his Twitter, he's so talented !! (Here : https://twitter.com/Puyo_Proto)
Thank you so much for voicing a part of this dialogue !
YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE !
I hope you'll like this chapter :)
Happy reading !
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Chapter 24
-“Oh, it’s so good to be back!” The voice coming from their enemy brought back Snatcher to reality: this was it. The moment he had been waiting for so long. The evil spirit was almost out of the breach as Vanessa launched another one of her ice attacks in his direction. The stranger avoided it by very little and managed to enter the rift, cackling threateningly as he did so.
Something felt very wrong about the way this guy laughed, thought Snatcher couldn’t put his finger on it. And it certainly wasn’t the time for this kind of thoughts.
Vanessa didn’t wait long to throw another attack, defiantly adopting an aggressive attitude against their common enemy, who kept dodging all of her attempts at hurting him. The stranger floated around, avoiding each ice pillar coming out of the floor with grace, all while laughing maniacally at the trio.
This Moonjumper guy was mocking them and certainly didn’t see them as a serious threat to his existence. Normally, this would enrage the shade more than enough, but in this particular scenario… This was extremely dangerous, because it meant their opponent was much more powerful than them. Plus, the latter had a Time Piece in his possession, which would definitely play a part in their fight.
What would happen if this guy used it to his advantage? The kid probably knew the answer, but the time wasn’t appropriate for questions. Now was the time to fight.
The other snickered, while Vanessa’s frustration intensified. She always missed her attacks and the ghost could see her powers corrupting her body more and more. Her attacks were becoming messier, meddled and less coordinated. If she continued like that, not only was she going to get consumed again by her powers, but she would most likely wear herself out. Considering the fact that she was the only one able to pit herself against this Moonjumper, this was not a good thing. The Queen needed to snap out of it and to stop letting herself be taunted by this guy. This was exactly what this spirit was trying to do!
Apparently, the kid on his side came to the same conclusion as him, though she reacted in a completely different way than Snatcher would. Without his powers, the ghost felt useless and quite literally harmless against an enemy able to resist Vanessa’s attacks. Trying to hurt this monster would likely result in him being thrown away or, in the worst-case scenario, getting killed. Thus, charging this opponent in that meat sack of a body was not something strategic, at least not if he wanted to attack the other physically. He didn’t even have a weapon!
But, of course, the hatted brat didn’t think. No, she just rushed into things without thinking about all the possible outcomes!
The little girl exchanged her dweller mask for her alchemist hat and then started to run to the crate she had broken earlier, grabbing one of the damaged planks on the ground. She took a good hold of it as she charged this Moonjumper while the latter was still busy dealing with Vanessa.
Fuelled by a feeling of panic, the ghost extended his hand towards the child, letting a “no!” out of his lips. But the moment his voice came out of his mouth, he deeply regretted it: their enemy hadn’t actually seen the kid approaching him but, now that Snatcher had voiced his worry aloud, the other spirit looked in the child’s direction and spotted her attempts at hurting him.
The shade wished he could have kept his mouth shut. Vanessa abruptly realizing how close the kid was to their enemy and was stopped in her tracks, as she was about to throw another attack. She had already risked hurting the hatted child before and surely didn’t want to do it again, but this had been a mistake too.
It simply gave the other a chance to attack as well.
A sickening smile appeared on their opponent’s strange face, as his crazed stare was fixed on the little girl, who had lifted her weapon above her head to hit him. Red strings suddenly appeared from the tips of the other spirit’s fingers and launched themselves in the kid’s direction. They moved in the air quickly, almost too quickly for Snatcher’s stare to follow them. However, before the child was able to dodge or defend herself, the red strings tied themselves around her small body, immediately immobilizing her and bringing her attack to an abrupt stop. The plank she was holding fell back on the ground.
-“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” cooed the evil spirit with a dark smile.
Vanessa frowned at his tone and tried to attack him once again before stopping herself almost instantly when this Moonjumper pulled the child just in front of him, where the spikes would have hurt him if the Queen hadn’t hold herself back. The child let out a shriek and closed her eyes as the ice pillars almost hit her. She was unable to do anything else, much too tied up to move. Fear had suddenly replaced her determination as she was now completely harmless and powerless.
This guy was using the brat as a hostage. The thought made the shade absolutely livid. No one could dare to hurt that hatted brat, he was the only one. The ghost felt heat radiating from his body as he gave the other spirit a death glare.
-“You let go of her right now,” he started with a dark and threatening tone, “and maybe I’ll consider giving you a merciful death.”
The threat only made the other giggle cruelly. He pulled on the red strings with one hand, making them squeeze the brat tighter, as if he was taunting him. His victim winced from the sudden pain, not without struggling. But no matter how hard she was trying to get free, the strings only seemed to squeeze her more.
-“Is that so?” bragged Moonjumper: “And how are you going to attack me? You may look like your old form, though you are just as harmless to me than a regular and common human.”
He used his free hand to tie more strings around the hatted brat, this time around her neck. Terror appeared on the kid’s face as breathing was getting difficult for her.
Apart from Vanessa, the shade had never wanted to kill someone so badly. However, seeing how much in danger the kid was, he remained motionless and silent as their opponent started talking again, turning towards Vanessa:
-“As for you… I would not try to do anything if I were in your shoes,” he paused and continued, much more serious: “Unless you want another child to die because of you.”
The remark made the woman grow pale instantly and she lowered her black hands back to her hips, unable to do anything else. The ghost saw her glancing in his direction, probably wondering if she should try to attack the other and ignore the latter’s threat, but Snatcher glared at her in response. They would not take a risk like this one. Hurting the kid was not part of his plan of the day.
-“Good, good,” cooed this Moonjumper, sarcastically, sending more red strings in Vanessa’s direction. The strings tied her up before she was able to dodge them, keeping her in place: “Now, kneel,” ordered the evil spirit.
The woman hesitated, glaring at him fiercely. However, when the latter started to pull on the red strings on the little girl’s neck, Snatcher’s voice echoed in the room:
-“Do as he says!”
There was too much despair in his intonation for his taste but he couldn’t care less at the moment. The kid’s life was in danger and if Vanessa had to kneel to save her, then he would scream at her to do so. The Queen glanced at him and eventually complied, while the shade let out a sigh of relief when their enemy gave the child more slack.
Why would anyone want to murder them anyway? This made no sense! They didn’t know that guy!
-“Why are you doing this?” interrogated Snatcher, trying his best to sound calm, even if he definitely wasn’t.
The question seemed to take the other spirit aback as he simply stared at Snatcher in bewilderment for a few seconds. Why? This was a perfectly legitimate question! Who in their right mind would not ask that if they were in this particular situation?
Their enemy tilted his head in pure confusion and then a smile appeared on his lips. Slowly, his expression started to change, going from surprise to hilarity, and he then started to laugh. If his hands weren’t busy to keep the child in place, the other would have certainly clenched his sides from how much he was laughing.
This laugh, why did this laugh bother Snatcher so much?
It was now his turn to be confused and the trio couldn’t help but watch the scene before them, completely powerless. The child was glancing between the monster holding her as a hostage and her two adult companions, not knowing what to do or what to think at all.
The other spirit’s laugh ended darkly as he stared back at Snatcher, eyes full of hatred:
-“Oh, of course, you wouldn’t recognize me, how silly of me,” he growled as he squeezed the strings around the child even more, making her whine and close her eyes from the pain. The ghost was so going to murder this guy, slowly, making him suffer as long as possible.
However, the words took Snatcher aback: what did the other mean? Snatcher had never met another spirit like this so-called Moonjumper before! His frustration intensified, though he managed to keep his mouth shut, not forgetting that his interlocutor could very well snap the child’s neck if he wanted to.
-“Well, it is not really surprising, I suppose,” continued the monster, his cruel smile widening: “Using the Time Piece had some…Special effects on my vessel. It seems now that I am both dead and alive at the same time,” he explained, in the same tone someone would use to talk about the weather: “My appearance is quite different now because of that. A shame, truly.”
-“Listen,” protested the shade, careful not to sound too aggressive and kept going: “I have no idea who you are.” It certainly couldn’t be someone who died after one of his contracts, since he always ate their soul afterwards. Maybe an acquaintance of one of his victims? Yet, it didn’t make much sense as his interlocutor seemed to know him personally.
The ghost was not lying when he said he didn’t know this guy.
-“Oh, I know you don’t,” replied the latter cynically: “You never even knew I existed in the first place.”
-“So who are you?!” snapped the shade, unable to stay quiet anymore. He just wanted answers! He glared at his opponent as he kept talking, still watching the child carefully, hoping nothing would happen to her because of his attitude: “Why would you go through the trouble of recreating a whole version of our past just to kill us in the end? We don’t even know you!”
The evil spirit glared back at him but didn’t hurt the brat again, thankfully. Instead, he just smiled wickedly and tilted his head as he finally gave an answer to the question the trio waited for:
-“I am you.”
This was definitely not the answer Snatcher was expecting. From the look on his companions’ face, they didn’t expect that kind of answer either. Apparently, their reaction must have been pretty visible because this Moonjumper giggled and corrected himself:
-“Or, well, I used to,” he explained, then continued with a darker intonation: “Fortunately, I have nothing to do with you anymore.”
And when he said those last words, the stranger showed his left hand, as if to prove a point. For a few seconds, Snatcher didn’t know what to look at exactly, until he spotted something very special: a ring on his ring finger, a golden jewel on which could be seen a damaged ruby. Immediately, Snatcher’s heart sunk in his chest: he knew that ring. Even from afar, the shade could recognize what this ring was.
This was his old engagement ring. The one he used to have when he was alive. The one he had when he woke up in that forest. The same one he died with, so many years ago.
The shade’s eyes widened as everything started to make sense: the clothes this “Moonjumper” was wearing, his claims, the way he laughed, his corpse-looking like appearance, this ring… But this couldn’t be! Snatcher was here! And this guy was over there! If they were the same person, how could they be at two different places at the same time?
There had to be an explanation for all of this, and what this spirit had told him certainly wasn’t it.
The others must have perceived his scepticism because his smile widened as he spoke again:
-“You don’t believe me, do you? That is fine. I did not expect you to. It does not matter anymore,” he said, darkly: “Nothing matters anymore, because you are all going to die,” then, patting the little girl’s head in a very disturbingly slow manner, he added: “Well, not you, little one. I used to want you dead as well, but I changed my mind. This does not concern you in any way, after all. Furthermore…”
The evil spirit gave Vanessa a death glare as he continued :
-“If I did kill an innocent child, I wouldn’t be any better than you,” his smile returned as he turned back to the trembling victim in his hold: “Besides, if I do come back to the Horizon after this, I will have someone to keep me company!”
He chuckled at the sight of the brat’s confused and afraid expression. In the meantime, Snatcher’s anger and frustration kept growing. He didn’t understand a single word this guy was saying! The Horizon? What was that? What was he even talking about?
-“You’re crazy,” mumbled the shade, astonished. He couldn’t believe what was happening: this was the only explanation! There was no way this monster was right, it was simply and physically impossible!
The word caught the other’s attention, though in a very bad way. He frowned and threw a glance full of hatred at Snatcher:
-“Me, ‘crazy’?” he repeated, in a voice that was much too calm to be normal. The shade should have kept his mouth shut. His interlocutor kept going: “You know, this is quite ironic. You are the one who caused me so much trouble, who abandoned me… And I am the ‘crazy’ one?”
-“I have no idea what you are talking about,” insisted Snatcher, putting an emphasis on each syllable as he answered. But the other was not having it:
-“You left me in there to rot, literally! You left me, your other half, to be stuck in a hellish dimension for hundreds of years!” yelled their opponent, absolutely livid: “I spent all this time, alone, having to watch you, of all people, being this pathetic while I couldn’t even leave this place!”
Snatcher’s eyes widened as he was listening to the other, astounded. “Other half”? “To rot”? This guy couldn’t mean…
The latter guessed his thoughts and finished them for him:
-“I am the part you left behind, that night,” he explained with a low voice: “You are the coward part of us that fled because you were just too afraid to face her!” he accused, pointing at Vanessa as he kept going: “And you abandoned me in there, with her! You left me in this pathetic body while you buried your head in the sand, not even considering the possibility I existed!”
He laughed bitterly, tilting his head on his side:
-“You know, I have thought a lot about why I was stuck in this place, the Horizon as I like to call it now. And I think I know. I can’t believe it took me so long to understand why!”
He squinted, looking daggers at Snatcher:
-“I am incomplete. That’s why I can’t dwell in the mortal plane like a dweller or go to Heaven if it even exists! You are the reason I got stuck in this dimension, forced to watch people living happily while I was alone for years! I have no idea how you even exist, why I was the one to suffer because of this… But I will definitely fix what you did to me.”
He paused, smiling in a horrifying way as he revealed his plan:
-“I will not be incomplete once you just stop existing. I will not be missing any part of myself anymore. As soon as I stop maintaining the stability of the rift… You will both perish and I will finally be free.”
A cruel laugh came out of his lips as he watched in delight Snatcher and Vanessa’s reaction to his plan. This guy was absolutely mad. They had to act now!
The shade was trying to find something, anything to help the kid and get them out of a situation like this one. However, when his eyes fell on the brat’s, he noticed her expression had changed from fear to determination. With her eyes, she instructed him to look at her right hand. When the spirit’s glanced down, his ghostly face grew pale immediately.
The kid had materialized a potion in his hand and was cautiously and gently shaking it to activate it.
Instantly, Snatcher’s body became weak at what she was planning to do. She couldn’t seriously think this was a good idea! There were so many other ways involving her not hurting herself in the process of getting away from this monster!
Said monster let his laugh die slowly and started to talk again:
-“Well… I guess this is time for us to say goodbye,” he said, before turning to Vanessa, who was shaking from rage: “I really must thank you, Vanessa. Without you, I would have never been able to go this far. You were so easy to manipulate! Getting the opportunity to finally kill you is the best gift you could have ever given to me.”
He was about to add something when a strong-willed voice interrupted him:
-“Not so fast, you crazy peck neck!”
The little girl’s voice echoed in the room, forcing the other to look at her, surprised. However, when his eyes fell on the little vial in the kid’s hand, his face crumpled in distress. Everything after that happened so fast. The monster immediately released her, trying to get away from her before the potion exploded. Once she was free again, the hat-wearing child managed to throw the potion in his direction while she was sent flying to the other side of the room. Red strings had caught her arms and were taking her as far as possible, but it was too late. The vial had been thrown and the kid had managed to get away from their enemy without getting harmed!
But as Moonjumper was blinded with the explosion, he lost the control of his strings, not seeing where they were taking the brat anymore. But Snatcher was seeing what was about to happen, but he was far too slow to prevent any of it. A deafening and horrifying scream left his lips as he witnessed the little girl being impaled on one of Vanessa’s previous ice pillars.
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:)
=> Chapter 25
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My backstories and headcanons about the Hat Kiddos (TW: mentions of child abuse, neglect, child kidnapping and child murder, premeditated and otherwise
Caitlyn (1HT Hat Kid).
Had a pretty rough childhood, her parents divorced when she was about 78 years old (in her home planets time) her father would have custody and her mother would have to pay child support. Instead Caitlyn's mother took her and ran away to an isolated spacestation and turned possessive and abusive, eventually Caitlyn stole a recently decommisioned yacht to escape her mother's torment. Her father thinks she is dead and her mother went insane, what happened to her is unknown.
Caitlyn met Bow Kid in preschool and both became good friends and the two would keep in touch until Bow began her pilot training (around the same time Caitlyn was kidnapped) and the two would move on from each other, eventually though the two of them would reunite and they would have their shared adventure on Terra at the ages of 168 and 168 (about 12 in Terran years) respectively. Bow would perish in an interstellar accident delibrately caused by Caitlyn's mother known only as the incident of spaceport 63, Caitlyn wouldn't know of her passing until her final confrontation with 3HT Hat Kid.
Personality wise Caitlyn has mostly matured since her previous adventure and is now the alien equivelant of 15 Terran years old but has (mostly) retained her canon personality, she is experienced in her space faring shennanigans and engineering and is also really good at getting into places that she isn't allowed in.
Caitlyn is a selective mute and in her age she is more of a 'less talk and get shit done' then anything else. Caitlyn also has taken a liking to more brutish melee weapons like baseball bats, clubs and crowbars although guns are a close second as she can carry a ridiculous amount of weapons and ammunition on her person.
Caitlyn enjoys gaming, drawing, knitting and riding on her RUMBI unit, she also enjoys hitting the range and has a secret interest in military history. Caitlyn also has a Memory walking ability (explaining the events of Habboi's custom levels).
Caitlyn's physical strength is nearly immeasurable which not only allowed her to perform her feats of strength during her adventure but also allowed her to whoop Cavus so badly he became a black mass stuck in a jam jar in Caitlyn's freezer.
When the cataclysm occured it knocked Caitlyn's ship out of atmosphere and it ended up exploding due to the fuel tank cooking off (and unintentionally halting the Cataclysm), killing RUMBI and flinging Caitlyn and Jar Cavus out and into the sea where they washed up on the shore of 1HT Mafia Town (which had been melded with both the barbour and Calcite). Caitlyn was blamed for the whole Cataclysm and had to skulk around the area with gun and crowbar in hand before being pardoned by the town following a fight with the 2HT Mafia Boss and a corrupted Proto Kid.
Natalie (2HT Hat Kid) and Proto Kid.
Both have lived in Calcite for all their lives, Natalie was born to unknown parents and Proto was created by tim the CEO of Time in order to serve him. 2HT Bow moved here with her family when Natalie was around 3 and the two became good friends.
Natalie shares Caitlyn's personality minus a decently sized chunk of trauma.
Proto is more serious than Natalie and is generally more level headed, always focused on the task at hand. The problem is she is terrfied of failure since unlike Natalie she was created to serve, not born to a loving family.
It has been a few months since Tim's first meltdown.
Proto, Natalie and Bow had the privalidge of being under Tim's protection when the mafia arrived, 2HT Mustache Girl (or Mu) wasn't lucky. They also had the privalidge of being the first to explore 1HT Mafia Town just after the cataclysm.
Proto was the first to accuse Caitlyn of causing the cataclysm and caught up in pursuing her that Caitlyn literally shoved her in a freezer (alongside Jar Cavus) when the two forgave each other following Caitlyn's pardon.
Like Caitlyn, Natalie is really damn strong but like young Caitlyn her strength is RNG based. Proto isn't though and has to rely on agility.
Natalie does talk but is often shy, 2HT Bow does all the speaking and Proto never speaks (its kinda a 'I have no mouth and I must scream' situation).
3HT Hat Kid
her origins, real name and story are unknown but she is known to be 168 years old (or 12 in Terran years), meaning she shares Natalie's age. Unlike Natalie However 3HT Hat Kid is a huge piece of shit, forged by the world around her.
Singlehandedly abused the power of all the Time Pieces in order to make herself God, fuelled by years of repressed rage and anger she mashed three universes together and became a god in her quest to reset things to give herself a better life.
It is unknown how she ended up this way but due to 3HT Snatcher also surviving a rough guess can be made.
Following her defeat, 3HT Hat Kid layed low for a while before having the unfortunate exprience of encountering a certain thoroughly pissed off old Timeline keeper by the name of Lady Puella who proceeded to butcher the child in a manner so horrific that it would make death by Vita Carnis Harvester look tame in comparrision.
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