Hey guys. It’s been a while and well I made some changes to the endings I was going to share.
So just after posting the finale of ARP, my mental health went way, WAY down! I might have mentioned it a few times in a couple of story posts, but let’s just say everything caused me to have a major mental breakdown. I decided to hold off on the alternate endings for the time being as I just wanted to work on my other content until I felt ready to share the alternate endings.
However, that all changed about a month or two ago as I figured sharing the Neutral Ending and not the Bad Ending. Sorry for you all who wanted to wait for it, but just after everything that went down I didn’t want to work on the “Bad Ending” anymore, but wanted to share the other ending as it’s what I wanted to write the most!
So sorry for the wait, but here is the Neutral Ending or now the Alternate Ending to ARP!
Thanks to @gigilefache for beta reading!
Enjoy!!
“Vanessa NOW!” Snatcher shouted. He and Vanessa threw the Time Piece to the ground, however, instead of hearing a crack. The royal kids looked to see Moonjumper use his strings as he snatched the Time Piece away from them. He laughed as he clutched the Time Piece in his hands.
“Too late little brats!” Moonjumper laughed. “Now, what can I use this Time Piece for?” He thought as he stared at the device. “I can go back in time and prevent my untimely death, or I can kill the man that took my beloved Catherine away from me so I can be the only one for her, or,” he smirked, scaring Snatcher and Vanessa. “I could go back and make sure you two were never, ever born!” He raised the Time Piece ready to slam it on the ground and go back in time, but not before a weak voice interrupted him.
“I don’t think so.” Hat Kid whispered as she pointed her umbrella at Moonjumper’s hand as she launched a beam at Moonjumper’s hand causing him to drop the Time Piece. Luckily, the Time Piece didn’t break except the shard wasn’t fully put in and slipped out from the Time Piece.
Seeing the Time Piece, Snatcher went towards it and grabbed it from the ground. They were ready to smash it and revert to normal but stopped to see that the shard was missing once again. “Where’s the shard?” He asked.
Vanessa then saw something sparkle on the ground and smiled. “Found it!” She beamed. Just before she could hand it to Snatcher, red strings started to wrap around her hands causing her to scream.
Moonjumper laughed as he pulled Vanessa closer to him.
“Vanessa!” Snatcher yelled as he grabbed Vanessa’s dress and pulled her away from Moonjumper. “Let go of her!” The two struggled over Vanessa.
“Give me the Time Piece! Then I’ll let her go!” Moonjumper shouted back.
“Never!”
Moonjumper chuckled and shrugged as he held Vanessa tightly as he tried to yank her closer to him. It became a high-steaks game of tug-of-war. The ghost chuckled as he pulled the Princess closer to him, and he thought wouldn’t mind dragging Snatcher back with him as well.
Snatcher on the other hand didn’t want to give up as he pulled Vanessa towards him. He slowly started to feel his grip starting to slip, which triggered some memories of he and Vanessa’s time together during this whole journey.
Having breakfast and dinner together!
Battling the Nyakuza Cats!
Taking care of each other when they were sick!
Watching the Aurora Borealis together!
“No!” Snatcher shouted. He used one hand to hold onto Vanessa tighter with one hand, while he used the other to summon a flame. “I’m not going to lose Vanessa, EVER AGAIN!” He yelled as he launched a flame at Moonjumper’s face.
Moonjumper screamed in pain as his strings snapped and was pushed back towards the tree, aka the entrance to the Horizon. “W-what?” He asked, confused about what was going on. He then felt his hand and body being pulled back to the Horizon. “No! NO!” He struggled to free himself, but the force was so strong.
However, Moonjumper had one last chance before going back, he used his free hand and tried to release his red strings, but it was too late and the ghost was pulled back once again.
With Moonjumper gone, his red strings have faded and those who were controlled by the said strings were free. The skies went from a blood red, to a regular night sky with a white, shimmering moon.
The Royal kids collapsed on the ground and looked up at the moon and stars.
“We did it.” Snatcher sighed.
“We sure did.” Vanessa added. Then her eyes widened when she didn’t feel the shard in her hand. She got up and looked around the grass in hopes of finding the shard. “Where is it?!”
“What?” Snatcher asked, getting up as well.
“The Time Piece shard?! It’s gone!”
“What!? I-it can’t be!”
The Royal kiddos looked around the grass for the shard, as Hat Kid and Mu slowly got up and watched Snatcher and Vanessa desperately look for the shard. “What’s going on?” Hat Kid asked.
“The Time Piece shard! It’s gone” Vanessa shouted. Hat Kid’s eyes widened and soon she and Mu went looking for the shard too.
“H-how did you lose it?” Hat Kid asked.
Vanessa went on to explain to Hat Kid how she was holding the shard and by the time she and Snatcher defeated Moonjumper it was gone. As she explained, Snatcher’s eyes widened at what happened with the Time Piece.
When Snatcher used his flame to defeat Moonjumper it was possible that the Time Piece shard got caught on Moonjumper’s strings and went with him to the Horizon.
“Moonjumper has it.” Snatcher whispered. Hat Kid and Vanessa turned towards Snatcher. “When we defeated him, he must’ve grabbed the shard.”
“What?!” Vanessa shouted. “We need to get it back!”
“H-how! You know what we saw there! Plus what if we release Moonjumper again!”
Vanessa sighed, she knew her prince was right. Though they made it this far, the Princess went over to the Time Piece and picked it up. “Well, we can give it a try.”
Snatcher looked at the Time Piece and grabbed it as well.
“I’m so sorry.” Hat Kid spoke up. The Royal kiddos looked at Hat Kid. “But without that shard, you won’t be able to transform back.”
Snatcher and Vanessa’s eyes widened as they looked at the Time Piece and back at Hat Kid. “Wait, w-we’re stuck like this?” Snatcher asked.
Hat Kid nodded. “I’m really sorry.” She apologized again.
“What happens if we break it without the shard?” Vanessa asked.
“Nothing. It’s just gonna break again, and without that last shard the Time Piece’s power is just…useless.” Hat Kid explained.
Vanessa and Snatcher hung their heads down in shame. They were so close becoming ghosts again, ruling over Subcon and that one stray shard was their ticket. Feeling bad for them, Hat Kid pulled them both into a hug and started to cry, and Snatcher and Vanessa slowly hugged her back.
Back on Hat Kid’s ship, Cooking Cat helped patch up the kid's injury from their battle. Once they were bandaged up, the chef decided to cook the kids a delicious meal.
Snatcher and Vanessa were in the living room, while Hat Kid and Mu were in the former’s room sitting on the bed quietly.
Mu turned to her friend, and saw she hadn’t spoken, or even looked up since arriving back. “Hat Kid?” Mu heard no response. “Are you alright?” Still nothing.
After a moment of silence, Hat Kid whispered. “I failed them.”
“What?” Mu asked, confused.
“I failed them.” Hat Kid said louder, looking up. “They weren’t supposed to be stuck like this.”
Then, Mu grabbed Hat Kid by her shoulders. “Stop beating yourself up like this, Hat! It wasn’t your fault!”
Hat Kid went quiet and turned away from Mu. The latter sighed seeing she couldn’t get through to Hat Kid. Soon the door to Hat Kid’s room opened and Mu looked up to see it was Snatcher and Vanessa.
“Um...may we come in?” Vanessa asked.
Hat Kid turned to see the royal kiddos and nodded. “Yeah, you can come in.”
Snatcher and Vanessa came into Hat Kid’s room, both looking nervous towards the older girl. “Are you okay?” Vanessa asked, again.
“A bit.” Hat Kid replied. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t turn you two back to normal.”
“It’s okay, kiddo.” Snatcher said. “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I delivered that final shot.”
“But, it’s my fault too.” Vanessa spoke up. “I didn’t hold on to that piece tight enough.”
Hat Kid’s eyes widened and went over to Snatcher and Vanessa. “I know you both wanted to turn to normal, but it’s my fault that all this happened. If I knew about that Time Piece sooner or-”
Suddenly, Hat Kid was cut off by Mu. “None of you three or at fault.” She spoke up. “None of you knew this was gonna happen, and it was an accident. The only thing you should be worried about is if that shard is still powerful as a Time Piece itself, or what happens with that broke Time Piece.” Mu was frustrated and tired seeing her friends blame themselves over what happened.
The ship soon went quiet again, and soon Hat Kid spoke up. “Well, the shard has no powers unless attached to the Time Piece, but the Time Piece itself won’t work anymore. It’s now just some hourglass.” She explained.
“There you go.” Mu spoke up. “There’s nothing to worry about now, is there?” Hat Kid shook her head in reply as a smile started to form on her face. Mu smiled. Then she turned to the royal kids. “Now you two,” Snatcher and Vanessa looked at Mu. “I know you two won’t be able to turn back to normal, but are you two really mad or upset that you’ll be stuck like this? Kids and have to grow up again?”
“Actually, I don’t mind it at all.” Vanessa answered, surprising everyone. “At least I can have fun with my new childhood then what I had before.”
Hat Kid smiled, but turned to Snatcher to get his answer. “What about you, Snatcher?”
The young prince thought about it for a bit. Sure he had a good childhood, but he did notice how he wasn’t as angry as he would’ve been about this. “I guess growing up again wouldn’t be bad.” He let out a chuckle. “After all I guess you and I could start over.” He said as he grabbed Vanessa’s hand.
A blush appeared on Vanessa’s face. She smiled and hugged Snatcher tight. “I’d love that.” Snatcher smiled and hugged Vanessa back.
“Also I wouldn’t mind if I could stick around with my partner?” Hat Kid asked.
Mu’s eyes widened as she faced Hat Kid. “Wait, you mean…”
Hat Kid nodded. “I don’t know about Crime Fight Time Travelers, but in case we’re in need of assistance I’d like to have a crime fighter by our side.” She offered.
Mu smiled and nodded. “You can count on me, Hat Kid!” She beamed giving a salute.
“Kids!” C.C called out. “Dinner is ready!” The four kids smiled and left the room to enjoy their dinner. Throughout dinner they told C.C their plans starting today, which made the chef cat happy to see the four of them becoming a family.
It felt weird for Snatcher, or rather Lucas and Vanessa being kids again and growing up to relive their lives, but now they’ll have new adventures together with Hat Kid and Mu by their sides.
I’ve been commissioned by @dreamnoteprincess for her fanfiction “A Royal Problem” ! You can read the first chapter here !
Thank you so much for commissioning me !! I really enjoyed drawing your commission !
(Also if some of you want to commission me, my commissions are open, don’t hesitate to ask me ! I’m currently rebuilding my commission page, but in the meantime, you can always ask me in dms !)
