Hey, heads up! For spring break I'll be out of town for a week, so I won't be able to update next Wednesday.

It's just a one week hiatus, though. I'll be right back after that!

Hope you enjoy!

ACK I'M SORRY THANKS TO MY BETA READER

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Ticket in hand, the two pushed past the queue for the castle. Some of the alleged criminals, seeing Hat Kid, called out to her in hopes that she'd go in and beat up whoever was forcing this upon them. She just nodded awkwardly back to them; she was already planning to do that.

With Elliot behind her, she ascended the ramp, up one flight of stairs, and to the massive, imposing doors blocking where her enemy lay.

With the door flung open, Hattie gasped at the sight of it all. The castle was a sprawling dungeon with a scene much like its exterior, which meant there was a lot of lava, unstable platforms, and danger everywhere.

It would be a nightmare to try to traverse. It would need precise timing and movement just to get through the lava gauntlet.

At least she had Snatcher (Elliot?) at her side to use his fire magic to protect them if they fell into the lava. Though she doubted how functional he currently was. She glanced at him and saw he was staring, wide-eyed, down at the lava.

"Thoughts?" she asked.

"Too many," he replied.

"Fair." She tugged on his hand and leaped to the first platform, ignoring his yell of terror.

Inside the gauntlet, it wasn't as crowded, which thankfully made traversing it easier. She only saw the ones that liked the oppressive heat- some angry fire birds and dancing fire spirits. The birds were easy enough to take care of, and the fire spirits just did their own thing.

Still, she was handicapped by dragging her companion along. Elliot... Snatcher... he couldn't make as precise jumps, so she led the way, making sure he was as close to her as possible.

Hookshot. Swing. Jump. Hoist Snatcher up before he fell off a ledge and into the lava. At least Hattie didn't have to worry about his crown falling off. Whatever magic was in place kept the crown securely floating above his head.

She was almost impressed by the set determination in his eyes, rivaled only by the fearful way he held onto her. He was making it through with her with what she could only comprehend to be a killer headache. Hat Kid didn't think she'd be able to get through this at all if she was going through what Snatcher was at the moment.

As they flew through the air, Hat Kid noticed a figure on the next platform. It wasn't glowing like a fire spirit. Was someone insane enough to actually try and make it through?

Hat Kid landed safely, only to be hit square in the forehead with a book. She reeled back as the book thudded on the rocky ground at her feet. "HEY!" she shouted, glaring at the stressed-looking owl who'd thrown it.

"Give me your back-of-the-line ticket!" he yelled back. "I need it!"

"You're a loser!" Hattie shouted back. Pulling her umbrella, she rushed him. He squawked in alarm and tried to scramble away, but she whacked him hard in the stomach. He lost his footing, fell off the edge, and into the lava below.

Hat Kid turned away just before she saw him fall. None of the other owls had noticed thankfully, but Elliot was giving her a horrified look. "He's okay!" she assured him. Really, he isn't.

Elliot started to say something but got hit in the chest with a book. He crumpled and hit the ground, not moving.

Hat Kid cringed. She turned back to the rest of the owls.

It took a lot more book-dodging, owl-hitting, and fighting until they were all gone. With her ticket secured, Hat Kid put her umbrella and went back to Elliot, still lying motionless. He'd done nothing for so long that she'd started to wonder if he was dead. Or just unconscious.

She nudged him with her foot. "You okay?"

To her relief, he responded, though his voice was heavily muffled. "It's nice and warm here... I think I'll just sleep."

"You are surrounded by lava," Hat Kid reminded him. She picked him up by the hood of his cloak. "It's a little more than warm."

"Looks cozy..." His yellow eyes were pinpointed on the lava below.

Hat Kid knew he could survive thanks to his magic, but she still dragged him away. "Nope. Let's keep going."

He made a miserable noise and dragged his feet but, still came along with her.

Through the rest of the tourney, they were faced with fire-spitting machines, lava, agitated birds, swinging hammers, missiles, dweller platforms and walls, and even more lava. They hardly had moments to stop and catch their breath before something else attacked them. Even on the safest, most stable platforms, there was some sort of enemy ready to make their lives living nightmares, if not shorten them.

And yet they made it through. Exhausted, Elliot collapsed, only held up by Hat Kid's arm. "I want to dieeee," he whined. After a moment's consideration, he added, "Again."

"Don't we all." Hat Kid lifted him just slightly so she wouldn't drag his face on the carpet and marched toward the doors. This was it. She couldn't stall now. Mu was just behind those doors. Probably. Okay, she had to be behind these doors since there were no other doors in the whole castle. They had to be important. Even Snatcher straightened up as they stepped forward.

Hat Kid shoved the door open, taking pause the moment she saw the room.

And what a room it was. It was a throne room. On top of a massive pile of timepieces (which were in danger of shattering and making an even bigger mess of time magic), Mustache Girl sat on a throne. Scattered timepieces lay around the room, and colored light filtered through a massive stained glass window at the back of the room.

Hat Kid gripped her umbrella tight, dark clouds building inside her. How dare she use all these timepieces in such a terrible abuse of power! She started to storm toward Mu, but the prince's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Hattie glared at him, but Elliot (Snatcher?) tilted his head toward the center of the room. Hat Kid followed his gaze and noticed a Mafia guy standing before Mu.

"I didn't punch old man for like, two days straight that one time!" the Mafia guy begged Mu. (In Hat Kid's eyes, it was a terrible defense. Maybe the Mafia men did deserve to be judged. Mu had a point with them, but not with the rest of the planet...)

Mu answered the Mafia Man with a sweet tone in her voice. "Oh, wow, what a touching story!" Then her face soured, and she stuck out her tongue. "Just kidding! Bad guy! NEXT!"

The floor opened up beneath the Mafia man and he fell, screaming, into what presumably was a pit of lava. Hat Kid didn't really want to speculate or find out. She just cringed. It might've been ultimately deserved, but... ouch.

"I said, NEXT!" Mu looked and sounded bored, contrasting the volume of her voice.

With the Mafia man gone, it was Hattie next. She stomped forward.

Mu raised an eyebrow, looking down at Hat Kid like she was something undesirable on the side of the road. Hattie scowled back, raising her gaze, not daring to break eye contact.

Mu really thought she could swoop in and get away with messing up the whole world? She thought she could be the judge, jury, and executioner? Hattie would show her.

Mustache Girl frowned as Hattie stood in the place where the Mafia man once was, Elliot just behind her. "Oh, it's you!" she sighed. She frowned thoughtfully. "You've been kinda a selfish little pest." She shrugged, completely missing Hat Kid's sharpened glare. "But eh! You only really tried to stop me once, and that failed. You get to go on. You're a good guy. I guess."

"Why should you decide who is or isn't a bad guy?" Hattie retorted. "You covered the whole world in lava!"

"Not the whole world!" Mu shot back. She sat up with a huff.

"Yes, the whole world!" Hat Kid said. "Not just the area around your castle! The whole planet is covered with lava!"

"Really?" Mu looked genuinely surprised.

"YES!" Hat Kid yelled. "That's what happens when you mess with time magic! If you don't know what you're doing, things get wildly messed up!"

Mu glowered at Hat Kid. "Well! How was I supposed to know that?! You never gave me any timepieces!"

"Because if I did, you would go and take over the planet and cover it with lava!" Hat Kid gripped at her hat, growing exceedingly frustrated. "You're no hero!"

"Just get out of here!" Mu stood fully and pointed toward the door. "You've been dismissed!"

Hat Kid bit the inside of her cheek, smothering a harsh response as she glanced at the door. She could just leave...

And with a stopped clock, she'd never have to worry about dying because her soul was gone.

It was a tempting thought.

She'd need some time to think.

"Your turn to be judged," she blurted, shoving Snatcher (Elliot?) forward. He stumbled and stiffened the moment Mu's eyes locked onto him.

"Hm." Mu sat back down, crossing her legs. She gave the prince a pensive look. "I don't know you very well, but you haven't really done anything to try and stop me, hm?" She shrugged. "I'd say you're alright. Just don't get in my way, princey."

Snatcher's brow furrowed. "King," he muttered. "I'm the king of Subcon."

Mu gave him a questioning look. "What's that?"

He shook his head, distressed. "Never mind. Sorry. I don't know why I said that."

Mu studied him another second, then shrugged again. "Whatever. Next!" she called.

Hat Kid looked back at Elliot. With his head hung, she could see the heaviness in his eyes. That's right. Even if the time rift had brought Hattie some relief by stopping her clock, the whole world was suffering because of Mu's carelessness. And Elliot and Snatcher were suffering most of all. She didn't understand what was going on inside his head, but she could guess that it wasn't at all pretty.

She couldn't just leave him and the entire world at Mu's mercy.

Instead of walking back through the doors, she marched toward Mu.

"What are you doing?" Elliot called from behind. "Kiddo, wait!"

She shot him a grin over her shoulder. Don't worry. I'm gonna fix things.

At the foot of the timepiece pile, she hesitated only to test her weight on the glass timepieces. Breaking these would only bring more trouble.

But they held under her weight. Confident, she looked up toward Mu again, climbing the timepieces like they were a staircase.

When she reached Mu, she knocked her back again. Hat Kid tumbled down the pile and skidded on the floor, but she picked herself up again to glare back at Mu.

"Excuse me?!" Mu yelled, standing from her throne, holding her hand close to her indignantly. "Don't you dare get anywhere near me. I don't think you quite understand who's in charge, little missy."

Hat Kid blew her a raspberry.

Enraged, Mu pointed at her. "You know, I was willing to forgive you. I once thought we were gonna be best buds. But NOPE, you turned out to be rotten and selfish! Save the planet from bad guys? Pfft, who needs that, am I right?"

"Save the planet?" Hat Kid repeated. "You destroyed it! You're the one who's rotten and selfish!"

Mu gritted her teeth and balled her fists. "Look at all I've done without you!" she huffed. "I've restored justice. I am the justice. No more bad guys, ever!"

"Yeah, 'cause you're killing them," Hat Kid pointed out. "Isn't murder a crime? Doesn't that make you a bad guy?"

With her logic, in Hattie's opinion, completely destroyed, Mu gasped angrily. "I don't need you!" she yelled. "This planet doesn't need you! Nobody will miss you, and nobody will care!"

She leaped down from the pile of timepieces, finally joining Hattie on the ground. Hat Kid's grip tightened on her umbrella as Mu got into a fighting stance. "You are the bad guy," Mu declared. "And I'll show you how this justice system deals with bad guys!"

"Wait! Hold on, time out!" Before either of the girls had made a single move, Elliot stumbled between them, holding his hands out. "Listen. I'm not entirely sure about my stance on violence right now, but could you please not fight?" He offered Mu a shaky smile that must've been hard for him at the moment. "I'm sure this can be resolved!"

"Out of the way, nerd," Hat Kid said, earning a disappointed glare from Elliot.

"I hate to agree with a bad guy, but yeah, out of the way," Mu said. "This could've been settled peacefully a long time ago, but nah. We have a score to settle." She gave him a disapproving look. "And if you don't wanna get beat up too, you'd best get out of the way."

The toes of Snatcher's boot dragged on the carpet for a single moment, as if he considered getting out of the way.

But he stood firm. "Sorry, kiddo," he said. "I really don't want to fight you, but you have no idea how to properly run a justice system. It's almost disgraceful." He winced. "Sorry, that was harsh... but I'm not taking it back."

Mu rolled her eyes. "Okay, weirdo. I'm done debating with all you bad guys." She glared at the two. "This ends now!"