Masked (A Hat In Time)

Grand Finale

I can't believe that after a month or so of telling myself "I'm not gonna change the story anymore, the events are as fine already," I change the finale.

I'll be honest, though. The changes are much better! They're much more dramatic, and they make use of  something I set up earlier that I was never planning to use. But now I'm making use of Chekhov's Guns, y'know.

Although since you never saw it coming, I guess I could call it Chekhov's Sniper Rifle.

Also- at 4,000+ words, this is by far the longest chapter in the book.

TW: Blood, character death, Outlander.

Stay safe.

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Before Bow could even act, there were flickers of blue sparks behind her. Her eyes grew wide as the prince suddenly appeared behind the Outlander, blue flames trailing off his fingers. He looked strangely...empty.

The prince grabbed the Outlander by the neck and pulled him away, making the Outlander stumble and the timepiece slip from his hands.

"GET IT!" Hattie, Bow, and the Outlander all screamed at the same time. The kids lunged for it, and the Outlander jabbed his elbow into the prince's chest, making him double over in pain. He broke free and dove for the timepiece.

The only one who didn't make a move was Jaide. She merely tilted her head curiously as it fell.

Bow Kid caught it right before it hit the ground. Internally she breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately rolled out of the way of the Outlander's attack.

"Let's go!" Hat Kid yelled. "We have the timepiece. Let's go home!"

Home? But that was several planets away...but as Hattie grabbed the prince's hand, Bow Kid realized that Hat Kid was talking about their spaceship. Bow Kid pushed herself to her feet, clutching the timepiece close to her with one hand. With her free hand, she reached out and took Hat Kid's other hand.

"No!" the Outlander yelled, whipping around. "STOP THEM-"

It was too late. The three of them disappeared.

They all collapsed in a heap back in the safety of their room. Bow Kid relaxed for just a single moment as she felt herself automatically healing. Then she remembered the timepiece and jumped to her feet. She had to put this away now. What if the Outlander came after them? He could travel through shadows to find them!

As she hurried out of the room, she told herself that she was just overthinking things. The spaceship was a safe place. The Outlander couldn't reach them there.

The hall doors wooshed open, and she found herself in the main room. Immediately she ran for the ladder next to the kitchen and pulled herself up to the small balcony. She ran over to the timepiece vault and threw the door open.

Seeing all the other timepieces there made her pause. Hattie had unintentionally reminded Bow of home. And seeing all of these hourglasses glittering in a neat pile made her realize that they had enough to finally leave this planet. And go home. Actually go home.

She shook the thought away. Now wasn't the time to think about that. She had to make sure the prince was okay. Bow Kid put the timepiece in and closed the vault. She jumped off the balcony and ran down the hall into their room.

As the bedroom doors whooshed open for her, she saw Hattie talking to the prince. They both looked surprised and confused. "...you saved us!" Hat Kid was saying.

"And I told you, I-I don't remember doing it," he answered.

"How could you not remember saving us?!"

Bow Kid walked up to them. "What's going on?" she asked.