#a royal problem

“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.

Thank you guys so much for this journey of A Royal Problem!!

If you guys are going to stick around for the alternate endings, that’s great!! I’ll be seeing you again soon once I get it up. If you guys aren’t that’s fine too, I’m just glad you guys enjoyed ARP!!!

I’ll be now shifting focus to Eclipse, Ebb and Flow, and Cat-Tastrophe for the time being. However, I got tons of ideas for more AHIT fanfics coming your way! One being a bit “magical” and the other an “new adventure”! So stay tuned for that!

A bright blue flame then appeared out of the smoke and pushed Moonjumper back. He slowly got up, and was ready to attack again, when ice trapped him. “W-what?” Moonjumper asked. Soon the smoke cleared and Vanessa and Snatcher appeared as ghosts again, but something was different about them.

Snatcher looked like when he was still the prince, except purple, longer hair and glowing yellow eyes.

Vanessa was completely different. She looked like her human self from the storybook Hat Kid read, but was now black and green then her usual red and black color. Though she still kept her glowing red eyes though.

The two ghosts looked at each other and then themselves seeing they had somehow got back to normal in a way. They smiled and hugged each other seeing they are back to being ghosts! “You did it!” The ghost turned to see it was Hat Kid who cheered for them. The young child would’ve gone up to run and hugged them, but she was still injured that standing up she needed something to hold on to.

The celebration was soon cut short, when Moonjumper yelled as he freed himself from the ice. Snatcher and Vanessa looked at each other and Snatcher told her, “Let’s celebrate later, right now we have a moonjerk to beat!”

“Right.” Vanessa replied, giving a chuckle, her voice no longer sounding distorted or creepy. The two glared and were ready to fight Moonjumper, this time they had the advantage. Moonjumper went to use his strings again, but Snatcher burnt the strings before it could even reach them. Snatcher then used his ground lazer attack and blasted Moonjumper in the air. This attack also caused a part of Moonjumper’s clothes to rip.

Moonjumper tried to tackle them from the sky, but Vanessa used her ice as a shield to protect herself and Snatcher. This caused Moonjumper to slam into the ice shield and caused Vanessa and Snatcher to laugh. The moon ghost slid down and glared at the two, his eyes glowing red in anger at the two ghosts. “That’s IT!” He yelled. “I’ve been fighting you two brats for a long time, and everytime you’ve been using foolish tactics to defeat me. Well I’m finally going to put you two in your place.” He then glared, as a bunch of red strings started to form above him.

Snatcher and Vanessa looked up in fear and then at each other. “What do we do now?” Vanessa asked.

“We can end this, once and for all.” Snatcher told her.

“How?!”

Snatcher looked up at the red strings looming above him and then at the tree, where the entrance of the Horizon was. “We have to find a way to trap Moonjumper back to the Horizon forever,” he paused as a smirk was painted on his face. “And I have an idea.”

Vanessa smiled seeing her prince had an idea, but saw the strings ready to attack them. “Look out!” She shouted, and quickly, Vanessa used her ice powers to freeze the strings as they crumbled all to snow. This surprised Snatcher because this would usually turn to ice and hurt them. “So what’s the plan?”

Moonjumper growled and went to use his strings one more time, and that’s when Snatcher told the ice princess his plan. “Follow my lead.” He said as he tried to escape the upcoming red strings, but the string caught him by his arm. Though it more likely looked like Snatcher wanted to be caught.

Vanessa gasped and went over to help her friend, but she got trapped too. She pulled to release herself from the strings, but once she looked at Snatcher he nodded knowing this was his plan. Vanessa didn’t know what Snatcher was thinking, but nodded agreeing to help him with his plan.

Soon Snatcher started to run and wrapped Moonjumper with his strings. Vanessa saw this and ran the other way and started to help Snatcher wrap Moonjumper.

“W-what are you doing?” Moonjumper asked.

“Sending you back to the Horizon.” Snatcher started.

“Where you belong!” Vanessa finished.

Moonjumper growled as he struggled to free himself from his own strings. Once he was fully tied up Vanessa and Snatcher nodded and both pushed Moonjumper towards the tree as the strings snapped from the duo’s arms.

Soon enough Moonjumper started to feel himself being sucked back into the Horizon. “Oh no! No! No!” He shouted. The ghost tried to escape his strings, but he kept on getting pulled more and more into the Horizon. Moonjumper finally got one string removed, but it was too late he was sucked back into the Horizon, and for good measure Vanessa used her ice to block the entrance to the Horizon so he could never escape.

Once he was gone, all of Moonjumper’s strings evaporated from Subcon, and the dwellers and Subconites were finally freed from his control. The sky finally cleared showing the moonlight sky of Subcon. Snatcher and Vanessa both collapsed tired from the entire battle. “We did it.” Vanessa sighed.

“Yeah.” Snatcher replied. The two looked at each other and smiled, before letting out a sigh. They got up when they heard footsteps running towards them, and soon were tackled and hugged by Hat Kid, who then started to cry. “K-kiddo?” Snatcher asked.

“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked as well.

Hat Kid sniffled and cried as she hugged them close to her. “I’m glad you're okay.” She sobbed. Vanessa and Snatcher’s eyes widened in surprise as they hugged Hat Kid back.

“Glad you're okay too, kiddo.” Snatcher replied.

A tad bit later, everyone went back on Hat Kid’s ship to treat their wounds. Mu was lying down on Hat Kid’s bed as her arm was wrapped in a cast and her foot was elevated with a couple of pillows. Vanessa and Cooking Cat were putting bandages on her and Hat Kid, and Snatcher was making sure Mu was comfortable.

“Feel good now?” Snatcher asked.

“Yep.” Mu replied. Snatcher chuckled seeing the mustached girl was alright. He ruffled her hair a bit, making Mu grumble a bit. Snatcher then turned to Hat Kid and saw she was done being patched up by Vanessa.

“There, you're all patched up.” Vanessa said. Hat Kid smiled and went to give Vanessa a hug, as a way of thanking her for fixing her up. The ghost smiled and hugged her best friend back.

Snatcher smiled and went over to Vanessa signaling her that he wanted to talk to her alone. The queen nodded and let go of Hat Kid as she went over to Snatcher as they walked out of the room and decided to talk in the main area of Hat Kid’s ship.

However, instead of talking they stared out into space as well as their reflections. The two just glanced at each other before looking back at their reflections. After a moment of silence, Snatcher was the first one to break it. “You look beautiful.”

Vanessa flinched and turned to Snatcher, who was now blushing over what he just said.

“W-what I mean is you're different from what you used to look like as a ghost.” Snatcher stuttered, correcting himself. Vanessa giggled and gave Snatcher a kiss on the cheek, which caused him to blush more.

“I like you this way too.” She told him. Snatcher smiled and the two put their arms around each other as they stared out into space. “So, what now?” Vanessa asked. Snatcher turned to look at her, tilting his head in confusion. “I mean things are back to normal, and after everything that happened between us I just want to know what will-“ she got cut off when Snatcher put a finger over her lips to stop her from talking.

Snatcher then removed his finger and explained to Vanessa his plan for the future, “I’m still going to rule Subcon, and take souls.” Vanessa was about to speak up, but was cut off again, “of people who plan harm to anyone, but…” He paused for a bit. “I’m looking for a partner, and I was wondering if you’d like to rule Subcon again with me?”

Vanessa’s eyes widened and sparkled hearing Snatcher’s offer. Vanessa couldn’t speak and instead she hugged Snatcher tight. “I’d love to, Snatcher.” She answered. Snatcher smiled and hugged Vanessa back.

Memories of the past, before the incident played in Snatcher’s head again. This is what he dreamed of, this is what he hoped for before he decided to become the Snatcher and love and kindness were buried in the back of his mind. Even though what Vanessa did to him was hurtful, this was a new chapter and she did deserve a second chance, and she proved herself worthy of that chance.

The two let go of each other, and soon they were about to lean over for a kiss until...

“Are you two going to kiss now?” Vanessa and Snatcher froze and turned to see Hat Kid, with a smug look on her face leaning near the door to her room.

“H-How long were you standing there?” Vanessa asked.

“The whole conversation.” Hat Kid replied. “So you two are ruling Subcon together?”

Vanessa smiled and nodded. “Yep. In fact,” She then walked over to Hat Kid and put her hands on the child’s shoulder. “I was wondering if you and Mu would like to live in Subcon with us?” She asked.

The alien child was speechless when she heard that offer. “A-Are you serious?” She asked.

“It’s a thank you for raising us.” Snatcher said, walking closer to Hat Kid. The latter smiled and hugged Snatcher and Vanessa tight.

“Thank you, but could I at least go back home first and tell everyone?” Hat Kid asked. “I don’t want my best friend back home to worry.”

“Of course.” Snatcher replied. Hat Kid smiled and hugged the two older ghosts back.

A bit later, once Hat Kid and Mu were asleep, Vanessa and Snatcher went over to Subcon and gathered all the Subconites and Dwellers to give them the good news. “So, Vanessa and I will be running Subcon together.” Snatcher announced.

“And we will be rebuilding Subcon into something livelier almost like in the past.” Vanessa added.

Hoping that the Subconites and Dwellers would be happy about this, all of them were quiet and just looking at each other in confusion.

Vanessa sighed knowing why all the minions were quiet. “Look, I know I did a horrible, horrible thing.” She started. “I’m sorry. I know many of you aren’t going to forgive my actions, but I’m willing to make it up to all of you. It’s fine if you don’t forgive me.”

Soon the Subconites and Dwellers went into groups whispering amongst each other. They then split or grouped with other Subconites and Dwellers till all of them went into their groups. “We were talking.” One Subconite spoke up. “And we're a bit mixed.” The Subconite then faced another Subconite who gave a nod of approval to speak next.

“Well most of us forgive you, and thank you and boss for saving us.” The other Subconite spoke up, which made Vanessa smile. “However,” Vanessa frowned knowing there was a downside to it. “Most of us can’t forgive you just yet.”

“I understand.” Vanessa replied.

“But.” Another Subconite, this one who looked a bit smaller than the others, started, “some of us don’t know yet. We want to give you a chance, but we're still not sure.” The Subconite turned to three others who nodded in agreement. “Just give some of us some time to trust you.”

Vanessa gave a small smile and nodded. “Take all the time you need.” She told them.

“Thank you, your majesty.” The little Subconite replied. Vanessa blushed, she couldn’t remember the last time she was called your majesty. Snatcher put a hand on her shoulder and the two smiled for the new future for Subcon.

“So what do we do first Boss?” A Subconite asked.

“Well, we're going to rebuild Subcon. However, we're going to help.” Snatcher replied. The Subconites and Dwellers cheered hearing that all of them will be rebuilding their beloved home. All of them ran to grab supplies or find a place to build first.

Vanessa and Snatcher screamed as they left the portal and landed back inside the manor on the attic level. They slowly got up and saw they were back in their own world. The duo got up and brushed themselves off and heard a blast, which sounded like Hat Kid’s brewing potions. Snatcher and Vanessa went over to the window, where they saw what had been going on.

Moonjumper was winning the fight, and Hat Kid was injured more than ever. Blood was trickling down her nose and mouth, she had marks from Moonjumper’s strings, her clothes and hat were torn and ripped. Mu, however was on the ground watching the rest of the fight, she too was injured and bleeding, but it seemed her arm was broken as she watched her best friend continue the fight.

Vanessa and Snatcher watched the fight in horror, seeing they’ve been gone for maybe an hour or two and Hat Kid was still fighting to protect them. During the fight Vanessa saw that Moonjumper still had the Time Piece, and it was now tied to his waist.

“Now how do we grab the Time Piece?” Vanessa asked, disappointed seeing there was no easy way of grabbing the Time Piece now.

“Later.” Snatcher answered as he took Vanessa’s hand, which made her turn to face him. “Right now, we have friends to save!” He dashed out of the basement to where the fight was going on, outside of the manor.

Hat Kid got hit with another attack from Moonjumper, and stayed down. She slowly opened her eyes to see Moonjumper looming over her. “Let’s wrap this up!” He said in a sinister tone as he started to form red strings that looked as sharp as a knife and was ready to aim at Hat Kid.

The time traveling child letting out a shivered gasp, and let out a gulp bracing herself for her death. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. Not to Moonjumper, but to Snatcher and Vanessa. She failed them, they’re stuck in some world as children, and now she was about to accept her fate until she felt a cold chill in front of her.

Opening her eyes, Hat Kid saw that Moonjumper’s strings were frozen and crumbled into nothing but snow. Moonjumper and Hat Kid turned and saw Vanessa and Snatcher outside with their powers ready to fight Moonjumper.

Hat Kid smiled seeing her friends were alright. “You're okay.” She whispered.

“H-how?” Moonjumper asked. “How did you escape the Horizon?!”

Snatcher smiled, “Let’s just say an old friend of yours showed us the way out.” He told him.

Moonjumper glared and growled knowing who it was. He then floated over to them, and the royal kids were ready to fight him. Snatcher and Vanessa split apart, which made Moonjumper to fight them. The moon ghost felt a burn on his shoulder and let out a painful yell. He looked at his injury and saw it was Snatcher who caused it.

Snatcher snickered, getting a hit on Moonjumper. The latter was not so happy, and was ready to kill the kids. “YOU BRATS!” He growled. “SENDING YOU TO THE HORIZON WASN’T ENOUGH! SO MURDERING YOU IS THE NEXT BEST THING!” Strings started to appear from his hands as he tried to capture Snatcher.

The young prince missed the attack and burned the strings, causing them to turn to ashes and blow away in the wind. “Do you think killing us would work, we’ll just be ghosts again and kick you-“ Snatcher got cut off when pixelated boxes hovered above him and projectiles were about to land on him.

Snatcher missed the attack, however the force of the projectiles pushed him back causing him to slide into the snow.

“Think threads were just my motif? Think again.” Moonjumper sneered. He then started to glow blue as he started to ram into Snatcher. The young prince had barely time to get up before Moonjumper rammed him into a wall.

Vanessa gasped seeing Snatcher slammed into the wall “Snatcher!” She exclaimed, however instead of calling him Lucas, she called him by his new name, Snatcher. Growling, she stomped on the ground and a bunch of ice crystals came crashing towards Moonjumper, which pushed him back and caused him to drop Snatcher.

On the ground confused, Snatcher turned to Vanessa who was now running towards him. “You called me Snatcher.” Snatcher said surprised.

Vanessa chuckled and helped Snatcher up. “Well I think it’s a lovely name then Lucas.” She revealed. Snatcher smiled, but before they could get cute and romantic they heard Moonjumper getting up.

“Oh you dumb BRATS!” Moonjumper shouted. He then launched a string attack on them. Snatcher and Vanessa quickly missed the attack, but Moonjumper wasn’t going to let them miss that easily. He then dashed and grabbed Vanessa slamming her down to the ground by her throat.

“Vanessa!” Snatcher screamed.

Vanessa whimpered as she struggled to get out of Moonjumper’s grasp. The moon ghost chuckled, raising a claw to slash Vanessa, but before he could do so a light blue blast hit Moonjumper. Despite the attack pushing him away, Moonjumper still left a scratch on Vanessa’s cheek.

Hat Kid, with the little energy she had, used her umbrella blast to push the ghost out of the way.

Snatcher made his way towards Vanessa and gave her a quick hug. “You okay? He didn’t…” Snatcher gasped seeing blood trickle from Vanessa’s cheek. The young princess saw Snatcher’s expression and touched her cheek. She shivered seeing the blood on her hands.

This made Snatcher glare and growl at Moonjumper. The moon ghost got up, and turned to see Snatcher ready to attack him, but Moonjumper used his strings and grabbed Snatcher.

Moonjumper then threw Snatcher into the air, and soon he flew up and slammed Snatcher into the ground. Vanessa gasped, and once the smoke cleared Snatcher was okay, but gravely injured.

The young prince slowly got up, but Moonjumper kept him pinned down. “You just love to mess with me kid.” He hissed. Moonjumper raised his claws and striked Snatcher. A loud scream came from this child’s mouth.

Vanessa gasped and slowly went over to where Snatcher and Moonjumper landed. Snatcher started to bleed through his stomach, slowly getting weaker from the fight. He never thought Moonjumper was this tough to beat. Then, Snatcher saw he had a chance, with Moonjumper on top of him he saw the Time Piece just inches away from him. He needed to do this now, if he didn’t, everyone would die at the hands of Moonjumper.

“So any final words, Prince Lucas?” Moonjumper asked, raising his claws once again.

Snatcher nodded slowly, before determination and trickery was in his eyes. “Fool.” He said in a low voice and kicked Moonjumper hard in the stomach. The ghost was pushed back with force as the Time Piece fell from his grasp. He tried to catch it, but it got caught by Snatcher.

“No!” Moonjumper yelled.

Vanessa helped her prince up as the two got ready to use the Time Piece and transform back. “Sorry Moonjumper, but your time is up!” Vanessa yelled.

Snatcher chuckled as he grabbed the last shard from his pocket and placed it on the hole. Soon, the Time Piece glowed brightly. “Let’s do this together Vanessa!” Snatcher commanded.

“Right!” Vanessa replied. She put her hand on the Time Piece as she and Snatcher held it together. Moonjumper growled and went to charge at them again. “Do we smash it now?” She asked.

“Not yet.” Snatcher told her.

The two royal kids waited for the right time for Moonjumper to get close to them. Vanessa was scared and looked at Snatcher waiting for his signal. Just before Moonjumper could strike, Snatcher shouted, “Vanessa NOW!”

Soon the two royal kids slammed the Time Piece on the ground causing it to shatter once again. Moonjumper was pushed back by the blast and Hat Kid and Mu covered their eyes from it.

Once the light started to fade, Hat Kid saw two silhouettes from where Vanessa and Snatcher were once standing. “S-Snatcher? V-Vanessa?” She asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Snatcher groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes snapped open when he saw he wasn’t back on Hat Kid’s ship nor Subcon. The place he landed was nothing but red; red skies, red dead trees, and a black colored ground. There was no moon, nor sun, not even clouds or stars. Just red!

Getting up, Snatcher looked around the place and realized this is the Horizon where Moonjumper lives.

As he got up, Snatcher checked to see if anything was different about him. Luckily, he was normal except that his eyes were glowing just like when he used to be a ghost.

A moment later, Vanessa got up and got scared seeing she was in the Horizon with Snatcher. What she didn’t notice was her eyes were red like in her monster form, but she was still human. “W-where are we?” She whimpered.

“The Horizon.” Snatcher replied, not looking back at Vanessa. The princess walked towards Snatcher, and tried to put hand on his shoulder, but he quickly moved it away. He turned to Vanessa, glaring deeply at her with glowing golden eyes. “Why did you do that?!” He shouted.

Vanessa flinched stepping back from Snatcher. “I-I thought my plan would work.” She replied. “I-I never thought he’d-“ before she could continue. Snatcher cut her off.

“Thought he’d fall for it?!” Snatcher shouted. “Vanessa, this ghost is smarter than I am! You think he’d fall for your plan?” He asked. Vanessa stayed quiet and turned away from her prince.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered in reply. “I was just trying to help.”

Snatcher growled. He was ready to blow up at Vanessa again, and Vanessa turned away protecting herself from Snatcher’s anger. However, it didn’t happen Snatcher just shook his head in disappointment. “Just leave me alone.” He said as he walked away from Vanessa leaving her alone. Once Snatcher was gone, Vanessa was all alone again and she fell to the ground sobbing.

As the young princess cried, a creature in the Horizon frowned, seeing the young child sad. The creature turned to where Snatcher was going and went to follow the young boy.

Snatcher walked around the Horizon to blow off some steam. He kept looking behind him and saw Vanessa didn’t follow him, the young prince sighed and just kept walking and would talk to Vanessa and apologize once they found a way to escape from here.

While looking for a way to escape, the Prince remembered he and Vanessa were sent here via a tree. With that in mind, the young prince try punching trees hoping one of them could lead him and Vanessa out of here, but all it caused was pain in Snatcher’s hand. Snatcher yelled as he punched as many trees as possible, until he couldn’t anymore.

Snatcher collapsed to the ground and cried. Crying because he’s in pain, crying because he and Vanessa would never escape this prison, and crying because Vanessa probably hates him now for snapping at her.

He cried for a while, but stopped when he heard rustling coming from the bushes. Snatcher looked up and saw a small bunny-like creature popping out of the bushes. The bunny looked like a plush and was pink in color, with stitching marks.

Sniffling, Snatcher wiped the tears from his face, “hi there.” The bunny creature hopped closer to Snatcher and nuzzled his leg. Snatcher gave a light chuckle and picked up the creature. “Where did you come from?” He asked.

The bunny squeaked and nuzzled on Snatcher’s face making the young prince laugh. Once the bunny saw they made Snatcher laugh they started to hop away from the child.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Snatcher asked. He quickly got up and ran after the bunny who turned back, and continued on running when the young prince got closer. “Come back!” Snatcher yelled. He kept chasing after the bunny until he lost track of the creature, and was now lost. With a sigh, Snatcher decided to give up and just walk away, but not until he heard a squeak coming from the creature.

Snatcher quickly ran following the sounds of the bunny, and saw it got tangled in a lot of thorny bushes. “Hang on!” Snatcher yelled. He got in front of the bushes, but as he tried to save the bunny the thorns cut his arms and hands. “Gah!” Snatcher yelped as he looked at the cuts that formed in his arms, and one cut in particular was leaking blood. The prince wanted to give up, but he couldn’t leave the bunny in pain; that was his old ghost self’s job!

“Don’t worry I’ll find a way to get you out.” Snatcher reassured the bunny. The prince decided to focus on his fire magic hoping to carefully burn the thorns without harming the bunny. However, no flames were producing from his hands. Snatcher stopped his feet in frustration seeing his powers weren’t working here and decided to use the more natural way to help.

“Lucas?” Snatcher turned to see Vanessa, looking worriedly at him.

“Vanessa? How did you find me?” Snatcher asked.

“I heard something, followed it and found you.” Vanessa replied. She stepped back seeing the cuts and blood all over Snatcher’s hands. The prince replied, by hiding his hands but Vanessa, carefully, took one of them to see for herself. The princess was horrified at the state her prince was in, and Snatcher felt his stomach go into knots seeing the sad pained expression on her face.

“I-I’m fine Vanessa!” He reassured her. “Really! I am-Ooof!” Vanessa gave Snatcher a tight hug and started to sob on him.

“I’m sorry.” Vanessa cried. “I’m sorry were stuck here because of my stupid plan! I’m sorry that I treated you horribly in the past! I’m sorry I’m a horrible person that you were stuck with since we met! You deserve someone better than me!”

Snatcher just listened to the young girl’s cries and held her tight. “I’m sorry for snapping at you Vanessa. I understand you wanted to stop Moonjumper.” He replied, which stopped her cries only sniffling.

“You were right. I was so stupid to think he’d fall for it.” Vanessa said as she wiped her tears.

“Actually, I think it was cool of you to try and fight him yourself. “

Vanessa looked up at Snatcher with widened eyes and smiled. “Really?”

Snatcher nodded. “Really.” He replied. Vanessa hugged Snatcher tighter and the young prince held her back tight.

“I love you Lucas.” Vanessa whispered.

Snatcher was surprised and smiled at that. He didn’t know why, in the past he did, but after the incident and Vanessa or anyone told him “love you” he’d end up with a sour taste in his mouth.

He was about to say I love you until he heard the familiar squeak from the rabbit. Vanessa and Snatcher let go of each other and turned to see the rabbit squeaking to get out.

“Vanessa, do you think you could help me rescue the bunny?” Snatcher asked. He then went on to explain what happened and Vanessa realized that’s the squeaking she heard before reuniting with Snatcher.

Vanessa nodded and went over to the thorns and carefully removed them, not getting cut as much as Snatcher. Snatcher blinked in surprise to see how careful Vanessa was with the thorns. “I’ve done gardening in the manor, and dealt with bushes like these before.” She explained.

Snatcher was impressed seeing how Vanessa handled the thorns. She got a few cuts from it, but she seemed to bare it. Once enough of the thorns were removed the bunny was able to get out of the thorns.

The bunny hopped and landed in Snatcher’s arm. “Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?” He asked.

The bunny squeaked in reply and soon started to glow. The royal kids started in surprise as the bunny started to take the shape of a woman. The woman had long pink hair with a starry effect, a long purple dress, pale purple skin, and a bunny eye mask. Once she opened her eyes they were bright Orange with hearts.

“Who are you?” Vanessa asked.

The woman smiled. “Hi Vanessa.” Vanessa and Snatcher were confused at the woman, wondering how this woman knew who they were. “You don’t remember me?”

“No.” Snatcher shook his head.

Vanessa walked over to this woman and took a good look at her. Her dress, her hair, it didn’t click with her for a second, but then the memories of her from the journal earlier made sense who she is. “Could you be...my grandmother?” Vanessa guessed.

The woman smiled and nodded. Snatcher blinked and was surprised. “Wait! Your Princess Catherine!?” He asked. The woman, Catherine nodded.

Vanessa didn’t know why, but she walked towards Catherine and gave her a huge hug. Princess Catherine smiled and hugged her granddaughter back. “W-what are you doing here?” She asked, as she pulled away from her grandmother

Catherine sighed. “Your grandfather sent me as well as the rest of our family here.” She revealed.

Vanessa and Snatcher were surprised. When Vanessa heard everyone she gulped knowing who else was here. “Even…”

“Yes.” Catherine replied with a nod. She then turned to the distance to where Queen Elizabeth was being held. Vanessa gulped, knowing her mother was still around and here in the Horizon.

“Why are you here in the Horizon, then in the...afterlife?” Snatcher asked.

Catherine sighed. “When we died, Artie or Moonjumper as he likes to be called sent out spirits here. He imprisoned my parents, and my husband but spared me.” She explained, remembering reuniting with her beloved once again. “I was happy, but I didn’t like how the rest of our family was being imprisoned. I tried talking to Artie to stop this, but he wouldn’t listen and I somehow turned into a smaller form.”

Vanessa and Snatcher now understood why she became a small bunny like creature. “So you were the only free member of the family?” Vanessa asked.

Catherine nodded. “Artie loved me, and he didn’t want to hurt me. Only those who hurt him.”

“How did Moonjumper escape then?” Snatcher asked.

Putting her hands together, Catherine summons a familiar looking shard. Snatcher and Vanessa gasped knowing what that shard is. “The Time Piece shard!” They both shouted.

The former princess of Subcon looked at the shard now knowing what it was. “You see this shard, somehow fell into the Horizon and Moonjumper used this as his way of escaping.” She explained. “Once this thing went through it opened up the Horizon so he could escape. I kept it safe because I wasn’t sure how dangerous it was.” Snatcher took the shard from Catherine’s hand as it shined.

“Vanessa, this is the missing piece! We got all the pieces!” Snatcher cheered. Vanessa smiled and hugged Snatcher tight as the two celebrated, but Vanessa realized something and quickly let go.

“However, Moonjumper has the Time Piece and we're stuck here.” Vanessa reminded him. Snatcher sighed realizing Vanessa is right they are stuck here with the last Time Piece shard.

“You know.” Catherine spoke up. “I do know another way out of here.” Vanessa and Snatcher looked at each other in surprise seeing there was a chance to escape. “However, before I could take you there, could you do something for me first Vanessa?”

“Anything.” She replied.

Catherine led the royal kids to the further part of the Horizon. Vanessa and Snatcher weren’t sure where Catherine was taking them, but prepared themselves if it was a trap. They then made it to a small building, inside the building was a black and blue ghost sitting down turned away from the door.

“Who is that?” Snatcher asked.

The former princess sighed ready to reveal the ghost’s identity. However, Vanessa answered for her. “Is that mother?” She asked.

“Yes.” Catherine replied. “When she got sent here, Moonjumper punished her for her actions. She regrets how she treated you Vanessa.” She explained.

“Does she?”

Catherine sighed. “She was never born with powers, and thought your powers would help protect the kingdom. However, after all she went through she just snapped.” Vanessa looked at the door where her mother was held, and looked at Catherine and Snatcher. “I think you should talk to her and accept her apology.”

Giving a gulp she hesitated opening the door. Every second of her mother’s horrible treatment played in her head, making her tear up. Quickly, she removed her hand on the door and collapsed on her knees.

“I can’t do it.” She whimpered. “I just can’t!” She cried. “She ruined my life! If she only treated me better, I’d never hurt Subcon or Lucas! But NO!” She screamed, punishing the ground. “All she did was hurt me! She’d just seen me as a tool! Never a daughter! I can’t forgive her! No matter what I just can’t!” Vanessa collapsed sobbing her eyes out.

Snatcher walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. In reply, the princess held Snatcher tight as her cries started to settle down.

“I’m sorry Vanessa.” Catherine whispered. “Your mother just thought she could fix things up with you, and I told her I promised I would.” She then let out a heavy sigh, and waited for Vanessa to calm down.

Once the younger princess was calm she was able to speak clearly. “It’s fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it, but all I can say is I’m glad she realized what she did to me was wrong. Though it doesn’t mean I can forgive her.”

“Understandable.” Catherine replied. Keeping her promise she went over to a tree and started to cast a spell on it. Snatcher and Vanessa looked up and saw a portal back to Subcon. “I promised I would find a way to take you back.”

“Thank you.” Vanessa replied. “You should come with us, and help us stop Moonjumper.”

Catherine sighed. “I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Why?”

Catherine then pulled up her sleeves to show red strings on her arms. “I may not be imprisoned, but I can’t escape the Horizon like Moonjumper can.” She told them. Vanessa sighed, it would’ve been nice to have another ghost to help them stop Moonjumper, especially one that has known the moon ghost for quite some time. “However, I do believe you two can stop them yourselves.”

Snatcher gave a light blush. “She’s right. We can stop him, together.” He told Vanessa, with a smile.

Vanessa smiled in reply and nodded back. “Right.”

Soon the portal slowly started to shrink, which Catherine noticed and was ready to push them in. “Quickly, before it closes!” She exclaimed. Snatcher and Vanessa looked behind them and saw that it was indeed closing. Snatcher went in first, and Vanessa was about to go in but not before giving a glance to Catherine.

“I’m so glad I met you.” Vanessa said, giving a tearful smile just as she followed Snatcher through the portal.