shadow rif :)

first chapter baby!! I needed to remember how to write but I think I did it?

Here we go.

edit: why is Wattpad so janky

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Hat Kid dodged just in time as an eruption of color exploded out of the ground where she'd just been standing. She clutched her umbrella tightly, panting, shaking with adrenaline and fear- but mostly adrenaline.

Her eyes followed movement; her gaze flicked to her attacker before her. Smug, proud, and hatted, the Snatcher rose and lifted his hands in preparation.

What is he going to do now? Hattie had a split second to analyze his movements and make a decision.

He dropped his hands and disappeared.

How had she gotten here? Why had everything come to this?

All she wanted was her soul back. But Snatcher was too selfish and stupid to-!

He appeared again, shadows dripping off his form as he rose from the ground. Hat Kid saw the shockwave coming and jumped, sprinting toward Snatcher as fast as her feet could take her.

Why did everything always end in a fight?

She lashed out, Snatcher disappeared, and Hat Kid groaned in frustration.

Everything would be so much easier if he would just stand still!

He appeared again. Hattie whirled just in time to see the shockwave that swept her off her feet. She gasped and went sprawling, landing face-first against the unforgiving ground. Smooth circular metal in her pocket dug into her side. Hat Kid gasped for air.

She pushed herself back up only to get swept back down again. She yelled in pain. "Are you kidding me?!"

There was something wrong. Snatcher was too quick and unpredictable. He wasn't following the same patterns of attack as the time before.

And the time before that.

How many times had she died?

Just one peek at the watch in her pocket would remind her. Hat Kid could almost hear it ticking over the din of Snatcher's laughter and attacks. But it was too dangerous to risk a glance. She was already half-dead, and Snatcher hadn't started throwing potions yet.

Almost on cue, Snatcher clasped his hands together and towered over Hat Kid. "You're probably waiting for me to turn blue, aren't you?" he jeered.

Yes! Hattie's eyes widened. This was it! He'd be throwing those blue potions soon! She tuned out as Snatcher continued his monologue. Hattie heard him say the exact same thing several times before, but she needed the extra moment to catch her breath and regain her bearings.

"...I guess that makes me invincible, huh? That's too bad!" Snatcher cackled, and Hat Kid readied herself.

Synchronized, they started moving. Hat Kid circled the arena as Snatcher summoned a small ring of vials around him, all full of a bright blue substance. Her eyes tracked them as they rocketed toward her, and she dodged nimbly out of the impact zones.

That was the easy part. The next moment, a thousand hovered around Snatcher before slamming into the ground.

One hit the ground before she could escape. It exploded, and scalding hot blue liquid scorched Hat Kid's skin. She cried out and stumbled away, breathing heavily.

One more hit and she'd be dead. But all she needed to do was throw one potion at Snatcher. Then when she hit him, she would be healed!

Her head snapped up as the barrage ended. At the other end of the arena, a single potion had survived and sat on its side.

She started sprinting, feet pounding against the uneven stone floor. Snatcher lowered his hands, and his minions flowed into the arena, obediently grouping around his clawtips.

She knew how to dodge this. It was easy. It would slow her down, sure, but she was ready.

The minions came. She jumped, once, twice, over. She ran.

Snatcher kept turning. Repetition. The second group of minions approached. She jumped, once-

One minion in the middle of the group jumped too and knocked Hat Kid over. She crashed against the ground as they stampeded over her.

---

Hat Kid immediately came to and dug the watch out of her pocket. She delicately ran her trembling fingers over the object and sagged in relief when she felt everything was still in good condition.

What was the time before that last fight? Hattie took a moment to recall. 2:22:37:45

Dread and bile rose in her stomach as she checked the watch's face.

She ignored the clock's hands and instead focused on the small countdown in the middle. Tiny numbers ticked by with every second, counting down to oblivion.

2:22:31:04.

Give or take a minute and a half of her survival during the fight or so, plus the five minutes automatically lost whenever she died.

Hat Kid exhaled a frustrated breath and shoved the watch back into her pocket. Well, fine, she thought with a touch of annoyance. If she had to she could keep fighting for the remaining two days. Hat Kid could eventually get through this in two days, right? She'd be able to predict anything Snatcher threw her way by then.

She turned her gaze back to the ghost lingering above her. With narrow eyes, she stared defiantly back. She steadied herself and adjusted her hat-

Wait, why did she still have her hat? Why hadn't Snatcher, well, snatched it already?

The dread, already overwhelming, increased.

Snatcher made no moves to attack her. He only stood, hands clasped, looking disinterested.

A prick of irritation spiked through Hattie. "Well?" she yelled up at him. "Aren't we gonna fight?"

The ghost sighed overdramatically and rolled his eyes. "No, not this time," he lamented. "It gets boring. Tedious." He zeroed in on her, his yellow eyes becoming slits. "Repetitive, you might say." There was a knowing lilt to his voice.

Realization struck her immediately.

He knows...?

Snatcher laughed at the look on her face. Hat Kid quickly replaced her expression with stone and ice.

"I can see why you want this so badly!" he crowed, turning the palm of his left hand upward. The timepiece he'd so cruelly taunted her with earlier appeared again and floated at his clawtips. "Time magic, huh?" He clicked his tongue. "Pretty impressive. And it's mine!"

"No, it's not!" Hat Kid retorted. Anger swelled through her. Ugh, she had no way of attacking him while he was gloating like this! She couldn't reach him, and any movement would just be struck down! She couldn't risk another death with the timepiece so close...

"They fell into my forest," Snatcher repeated. "They belong to me." Smugly, he tapped the hourglass.

What if it breaks what if it breaks what if it breaks- "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Hat Kid yelled, impulsively moving forward.

In the blink of an eye, Snatcher bent down at her eye level. His free hand shot out, and suddenly she was airborne, a pressure around her neck. Hat Kid's vision blurred as Snatcher stretched to his full height, and she was ten, twenty, maybe thirty feet from the ground.

His claws were like knives at her throat and were digging in deeper. Hattie gritted her teeth but kept from crying out in agony. "Peck neck," she whispered.

Snatcher dangled the timepiece in front of her (did he not hear her, or did he ignore her insult?) teasingly. Hat Kid could see her reflection in its smooth glass; it was so tantalizingly close. "Why?" he whined, layering each statement with sarcasm. "What'll happen? It's just a pretty little hourglass full of powerful magic... you're just a possessive brat!"

Maybe it was the rapidly declining amount of oxygen reaching her brain, the growing desperation, or perhaps a combination of the two, but all of the thoughts drained out of Hattie's analytical brain. She ignored her earlier advice and acted on impulse.

With a jerk of her leg, she punted the timepiece out of Snatcher's hand.

Everything happened in no time at all. Snatcher yelped, dropped Hattie, and dove for the timepiece. Hat Kid crashed against the ground and watched weakly as Snatcher reached for the precious relic.

In his panic, he'd overshot and gone too far. The timepiece was above his head, not his outstretched hands.

And that was exactly where it landed.

The hourglass shattered over his head.

Shards of glass scattered, spreading in midair. Each piece hummed and crackled with energy, buzzing louder with its release. Snatcher froze, his look one of last-second shock.

As quickly as it had happened, the glass shot back together. The timepiece pieced itself to perfection again, and a flash of blinding light filled the room.

Hat Kid groaned as her eyes closed too quickly. Her ears rang, complementing her newly formed headache nicely. Just another to check off the list of general pains and annoyances.

She only opened her eyes again when the room was deathly silent. The powerful humming faded away.

Snatcher was gone. In his place, a sparking ball of energy hummed.

A time rift.

Ignoring her pain, Hat Kid scrambled to her feet and stared.

"Oh no," she murmured.