#moon penguin | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nasubeenwithcat · 1 year

Text

The Ghost Number of DJ Grooves’ Fan Club Pt.2

Conductor was back to normal. But DJ Grooves couldn't get back to normal. The yellow owl who was supposed to be his fan is now a completely hostile enemy. Why is he so cruel? Why is this Conductor instead of that Conductor next to me? No one loves this Conductor, not even himself. ＿＿＿＿If only time could be rewound, everything would be better, right?

ɪᴛ’s ᴀ ᴛᴡᴏ-ᴘᴀʀᴛ sᴛᴏʀʏ! ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴛ 1.

⚠️a lot of headcanons/violence/blood/alcohol/Manipulation of willingness by the timepiece/bullying/OCs(nameless)/machine translation(as checked as I can but it’s not clear)

I love birds!!!!!! But this time I had a bit of a purpose so that I needed to cut down on the expressions that defend Conductor. So you may be offended.

1. The Owl Express arrived at the last stop. Conductor beamed at the owls as they got off the train, all carrying their luggage on their backs. After a quick look around at the owls sleeping soundly in their berths, he got off the train. He was always cheerful then, but he was even more buoyant than usual.

"Conductor. You look somewhat happy, even though it's already nighttime. Did something good happen to you?" Yawning loosely, the driver said to Conductor. "A little different! I'm eating a cake."

Conductor wrote a few lines in his work log, which had little meaning anymore, and left the station in high spirits.

The day was his birthday. A day that comes only once a year. But for Conductor, it was as if it happened at least three times during the year. It was the birthday of his wife, himself, and his little daughter. He enjoyed and celebrated other birds' birthdays as much as his own. His house was not far from the station. Before he could finish one of his familiar humming songs, his beloved house appeared in front of him. He rang the doorbell and looked at the sky until his wife came to welcome him. Wonderfully, the sky was clear and cloudless. The glaring starry sky, so typical of the countryside, gently shone a spotlight on his birthday.

"Welcome home, darling." "Welcome home!" "Aye, I'm home."

A smaller, softer owl, "Cake, dad, quick!" she yelled and ran into the dining room. The bigger yellow owls laughed and followed their daughter into the warmth of the house.

The warm fire shone weakly on Conductor's face. The eight candles that lined the shortcake shook and burned as if frightened. He wondered for a moment how he was going to blow them out all at once, but his daughter urged him on and he vigorously extinguished the candles from the front. After all, only one candle remained lit, and he chuckled and fingered it to turn off.

The cake was cut up for the main bird and each bird was given a slice. It was an ordinary shortcake. The sugared gnomes were not on Conductor's plate; instead, his daughter was biting into them with a gusto. She loves sweets and holidays. Conductor and probably his wife were the same way. After devouring a large strawberry in one bite, he looked around our house with satisfaction. The house was not gorgeous, nor were there any gifts prepared for Conductor. No balloons or sign boards there. A large walnut table in the dining room with a violet tablecloth. Only today, there was a cake, a feast, and small crackers for the three of them on the table.

"Is he tasty?" His wife wiped her daughter's mouth with a handkerchief soaked in hot water. "Maybe?"

The yellow owls laughed aloud.

A few hours later, the small birthday party quietly came to an end. The cake, which had been the only thing that gave the party a birthday-like atmosphere, was gone, so Conductor pulled a small accordion out of the storeroom. Upon seeing it, a small owl ran up to him. The big owl smiled and began to spread the accordion to send air inside. He played the accordion only occasionally, when he was really energetic and in a fine mood. It was not a clear-cut performance, but it always gave the audience a nostalgic and heartwarming feeling. The less sophisticated melodies swam and flew innocently through the air. The little owl swayed slightly and began a small dance. The poor dance, just repeating the same movements, was simply adorable, and he liked to play music to accompany her lovely dance.

The clock made an indistinct sound. It was the signal to time for sleep. The little owl rubbed her eyes sleepily and disappeared into the bedroom with the big teddy bird. Conductor also set the alarm and lay down on the bed, half face down on the pillow. A fluffy, sun-scented white blanket wrapped him gently. The owl's body gradually became more rounded, and eventually he fell asleep with a peaceful breath. He had not been drinking much at the time, but by the looks of him, he did not seem to be suffering from insomnia. He had long ago given up on being a movie director. He was no longer a child but an adult, and there were many things he had to protect that took precedence over his dreams. That was this house and his train. A bird can be happy even if it does not fulfill its dreams. At least, Conductor was one of the very happy birds at that time. Even the meanest newspaper reporter could not find the seeds of malice in him, and even the most famous movie critics could not find any artistic sense in him.

That was Conductor before he divorced.

2. "Aw……" Conductor woke up with a terrible headache. It reminded him of a migraine he had experienced only once before in childhood. He left school early and wrapped himself in a soft blanket, but it did not calm down. Of course, this headache would not go away just by resting his head on a hard pillow. He next felt a strong thirst. Immediately his right hand wandered over to the sidetable in search of drinking water and found a small pitcher. With a lazy motion, he filled a cheap plastic cup to the brim and drank it all in one gulp. After getting some water, his dry brain finally started to work＿＿＿＿The strong smell of disinfectant, the noisy crying, the white bedding, the intravenous drip＿＿＿＿It was unmistakably a hospital. For some reason he was wearing white clothes instead of the uniform and was hooked up to an intravenous drip as if he were a very sick patient. Alone in a hospital room, isolated from the public, the yellow owl had no idea what had happened. He looked at the sidetable again, feeling uneasy, and saw something unfamiliar on it. It was surprisingly lighter than it looked, and only one side was smooth. Finding a small switch, he pressed it out of curiosity. The LCD suddenly lit up, and a large, vivid picture appeared. Conductor was startled and dropped it. There he saw himself and somebirds he didn't recognize. Many small birds were climbing on Conductor's head and arms and looking at him with angelic faces. He could not make out Conductor's face because of the inorganic overlapping numbers: four digits, the date, and the day of the week. Conductor was clueless as to what this object was, but he assumed they must be the calendar. And if he was right, something terrible was happening to him. Fifteen years?＿＿＿＿He did not know about smartphones.

His daughter's voice was somewhat of a thorn in his side as he listened over the phone. She was no longer the innocent girl Conductor remembered, but had grown into an independent lady.

"I see. So you don't remember anything?" "Sorry……"

Conductor reactively apologized. He himself did not understand why he was apologizing, but he could feel that his daughter was in an incredibly bad mood. The reason for this was probably Conductor. Maybe something, I had done＿＿＿＿Conductor looked at his left hand sadly. His wedding ring, which should have been there, had disappeared without a trace. Everything around him had changed＿＿＿＿To be more complicated.

Conductor was miserable and stuffed his loyalty cards and credit cards back into his wallet. Perhaps there was an ordering, but unfortunately he could not find out. Lots of loyalty cards from stores he didn't know fit into the unfamiliar wallet. Most of them were bar's loyalty cards. Do I drink alcohol often? Did I drink frequently enough to make a card despite being such a weak drinker? Conductor couldn't understand Conductor. He thought he was in a world where he had nothing to do with the taste of alcohol. He was aware that he had a weakness for alcohol, and he could not remember a thing while he was drunk. It would be much better to go home early and spend time with his family than to bother the people around him by forcing him to drink scotch or stop the train to make a movie. Conductor is a very busy bird.

He was keenly aware that it was rather him that had changed, not those around him. He was just repacking his cards, but that was communicated well enough without having to put it into words.

"What do you think of him?" "To be honest, he is pretty uncool." "He has not brought any of his crew with him. It's not like he's here to shoot."

The gaze of the moon penguins easily penetrated the irresistible owl. Clearly, it was tinged with alarm, which told him a lot about Conductor's usual behavior. What did I really do wrong? Why didn't anyone help me find the card? Maybe he was just that much of a nuisance to this studio, he thought. It was too painful.

Conductor dragged his heavy luggage back to the train. There were no passengers inside at all, which puzzled Conductor. It was natural, since the train had been out of service for a week, but he sensed something ominous in its condition. Because there was not even a driver on the train. There was no other transportation but this train, and yet Conductor was all alone in the train. ＿＿＿＿The Owl Express is not supposed to be a one-man operation. When Conductor is sick, there is an owl who takes his place and takes care of his duties. So there should be no way for the train to stop. The passengers should know this too, so why is no one there?

He ran to the sleeping quarters with a strong sense of urgency. There was not even half a berth there that needed bed making. Although it had been a week, the sheets were creased. This meant that the number of passengers had dwindled and the Conductor's assistant had disappeared. He was speechless and staggered to the driver's seat.

He just opened the door and almost cried involuntarily. The train engines were all switched to electric instead of coal, and all the operations were handled by machines. Could this be the reason the driver was missing? Conductor did not know anything about the machines, but he found a very thin and dirty manual booklet, so he did not have much of a problem with the operation. The problem was rather Conductor himself. He sat down in a cold iron chair without energy. It was hard and not very comfortable. There was no gentle scent of wood. What had happened in the past 15 years? What had happened to him? Which came first, the destruction of his family or the beginning of his pursuit of his dreams? Why did he have to remodel the Owl Express? What was the point of introducing heavy machinery that didn't fit the atmosphere of such a traditional and cool train? Why aren't everyone here? Conductor was alone on his steel chair, his shoulders shaking, and he began to cry. He missed so much the boring jokes that the driver told him very occasionally. Would he ever meet him again? Perhaps Conductor had an idea. However, Conductor could not deduce that for whatever reason.

Conductor immediately started running his train. The number of passengers was much lower than it had been 15 years earlier, which again depressed Conductor. By this time he had learned to use the smartphone, and had finished getting most of the material together to deduce the situation. Now that the Metro was built, this train was no longer "The Only Train In Existence". But that didn't seem to be the only reason for this decline in passengers. Strangely, no bird told Conductor what had happened. They just looked at the yellow owl with frightened eyes and pleadingly handed over their tickets. Some of the faces were familiar, making Conductor want to run away from the scene. He didn't wish to spend another minute on this strange Owl Express. He tried to imagine his cozy home, but he couldn't do that anymore either. The house belonged to somebird else. But he decided to ignore the awkwardness by smiling desperately, knowing that the conductor of the Owl Express should not be working with a gloomy face.

There was a delicate distance between the actor owls and the band owls. They were frightened of Conductor, and Conductor felt guilty about them. If he doesn't make a movie, they will lose their jobs. But he had no idea how to make a movie. Conductor divided his duties into sections and left each of them in charge of his own work, but the small number of passengers still left them with meaningless blank time.

Conductor's chronic melancholy lasted for a long time, but the chance to get back on track came surprisingly quickly. One day, about a week after his return, Conductor was in his caboose, staring blankly at the old railroad tracks. The reality in his view was quite different from what he had seen 15 years earlier, even though his mind was always filled with vivid images of the scene 15 years earlier. He had always valued his friendships, and it was quite difficult for him to be surrounded by so many enemies. It was also a sad story that the cause of this situation was Conductor himself. He sighed deeply and silently listened to the sound of the wind. ＿＿＿＿He caught the hooting of a poor owl who had missed the train, despite its roar. In a hurry, he looked up and saw the station, and there indeed was an owl there, waving his hands wide to call Conductor. Conductor felt sorry for him and quickly went back inside the train and pulled the emergency stop lever with great vigor. The train shuddered to a halt and he staggered a little. He then picked up the microphone and made a short announcement to the train, then got off the train to pick him up.

"Good morning! That's a pretty big trunk ye got there." "Yeah, it's……." "For business trip? Or traveling? Either way, it's a bad idea to be late."

Conductor carried a large trunk and motioned for him to get on. The owl looked mystified the whole time and occasionally pinched his cheek. He didn't think Conductor would actually stop the train, even though he was the one who told the train to stop. When Conductor spoke to him in a friendly manner, the owl was even more frightened and quickly ran away to the train. He might have thought it was a mean-spirited sarcasm. Only the yellow owl and a large trunk remained in the lonely station. I'm just doing my job…… Conductor was hurt by his behavior, but he tried not to let it show on his face and returned to the train.

Anyway, the Owl Express came back to life. Thanks to that owl, more and more birds came to visit Conductor, and he began to get progressively busier. However, that was just because the previous Conductor's workload was too small, and he thought it was normal to be this busy. He thought about the previous Conductor. He had not kept a diary or anything that would reveal his private life, so Conductor could not quite read his thoughts. Movie Director. Is that a job worth tampering with the Owl Express timetable? Indeed, it seems that Conductor is famous. However, he was not very happy to hear that. Moreover, he wanted to see the movie that Conductor had made, but he did not have much time to make time for it. He only saw the package. He found Conductor posing in front of the Owl Express, but could hardly believe he is himself. Was the beautiful train console that adorned this package an inorganic machine? That thought made him afraid to buy the disks.

After a week, a few bluebirds began to appere in the train. Moon Penguins. Conductor was at a loss as to what attitude to take toward them, but he smiled and punched their tickets anyway. It was no illusion that he felt strong hostility from them, and Conductor, who was not accustomed to being hated, was not very fond of them. They often sat in box seats in groups. The nemophilas clustered on the red seats broke the line with each jolt of the train, but the next moment they were back in their original position.

One day he was stopped by them to punch their tickets.

"Hey, you got a time for us?" "A time……?"

Ignoring Conductor's dismay, one of them said with a giggle.

"You're a movie director. Why don't you come to the studio at all?" "Studio? Well…"

Conductor was speechless. Until now, he had even forgotten the fact that he was the director.

"Please. I dinna know anything about movies. And……" "I apologize for what I said before. But I need you to make a movie." "I dinna even have time for it." "……You don't even have time for it?"

One of the moon penguins heard the Conductor's excuse and laughed out loud.

"I'm sure the Owl Express has a new timetable. I won't say anything more bad about it, so please run the train according to the new timetable." "We're just getting familiar with new timetable, and we don't want to be stuck with the old one." "Got it?"

From that day on, the Owl Express timetable returned to "normal" service.

Starting with that conversation, the blue of the moon penguins became more noticeable in the train. They were beginning to relax their attitude toward Conductor as he returned the timetable to what they said it would be. Conductors had to visit them at least once, no matter how busy they were, because of ticketing. He didn't really mind that in itself. It was a relief for him not to feel overt hostility from the moon penguins, who had been a symbol of hostility in Conductor's mind. After a week of such days, Conductor was finally able to deal with them without hesitation. Ironically, they were the first source to tell Conductor what had happened. They did not understand Conductor very well and were quite prejudiced in what they told him, but Conductor was only too happy to hear it. He couldn't believe that the world hated him. Life was certainly hurting him, as if he could just greet people normally and they would be surprised and run away from him. He wanted a convincing reason for it. In other words, he wanted an enemy to hate. Conductor, which emphasizes only the negative aspects of the moon penguins as told through their beaks, was exactly what Conductor was looking for.

"Here. For you." The day before DJ Grooves arrived, the moon penguin handed a small paper bag to Conductor. Inside were three movies, with all the new elements adorning the package. Conductor looked at them curiously and put them back in the paper bag.

"You don't know a movie, just watch it first." "If you're going to see a movie, it should be a cutting-edge movie, not a worn-out classic." "It's real art, that's what it is! You're so lucky that the first movie you see is one of them."

The moon penguins all chanted at once to Conductor. Anyways he could sense that the movie must be very wonderful for them. He was not comfortable with science fiction and was not a big fan of flashy musicals. But that didn't matter much＿＿＿＿Conductor had never heard of smartphones until recently, so today's society itself was the equivalent of science fiction for him.

"Okay, thanks."

There was almost no choice in his mind not to watch the movies. He wanted to avoid making enemies of the moon penguins again at all costs. With all the enemies in the world, he was afraid of making new ones.

But before he could watch the movies, the opportunity for an important discussion came up. DJ Grooves was much bigger and flashier than he had heard. He was a little scary as he pounded the keys. He couldn't quite make out his expression. Anyway, the only thing he was sure of was that he was not in a friendly manner. When Conductor heard that he wanted to talk to him, he could not refuse. The mere thought of talking to somebird who had held a grudge against him for nearly a decade in a place he did not know was horrifying, but Conductor decided to act as usual as possible. Conductor had to pay the world a price for the actions of another Conductor. It was true that Conductor was busy, but he wanted Grooves to give up and leave early if he could. Even as he brought the service of his apologies, he left the car as if to run away because he could not bear the color of alarm he felt from him. But Grooves patiently waited for him. Perhaps it was simply because he was wasting his ticket money, but it made Conductor feel a little better. It suddenly occurred to him at that moment that maybe there was a chance to start over with him, too. Conductor intended to step down as movie director, but decided to withhold his response at that time.

Conductor finished writing in his work log and coyly took a movie out of the paper bag. The title of the movie was full of unfamiliar words, but he picked it out and set it on the reader. There was no popcorn or Coke in Conductor's hand. He just stared at the screen in the empty car of the Owl Express.

The movies were so wonderful. Conductor saw three of them in a row and was filled with a strange sense of satisfaction. Perhaps he was being drawn to the image of the moon penguins＿＿＿＿The overly radical screen changes were not classical, and this must have been an element that Conductor did not like very much. However, he felt that this was an effective direction. The rapidly changing screens may have portrayed the confusion and anxiety of the characters. Conductor did not like the music, which consisted only of unfamiliar sounds. However, if it were said that this was the best music that had been created at the end of exhaustive research, it would seem so. The variety of sounds, which were not bound by existing musical instruments, certainly created a mysterious worldview. Conductor was able to accept without spilling a single element that was too new to be avoided at first. Through the eyes of the moon penguins, he could feel and understand the charm of the movies. It was a very intense four hours.

"He is a genius!" He thought＿＿＿＿And the fact that he had made something better than these movies made it even more unbelievable. Moreover, the reality that the movie was made at the partial expense of the Owl Express made him hesitant to let Conductor pick up Conductor's movies.

He told the moon penguins what he thought of the movies the next morning. There was a loud sigh from the seats on the right and a loud cheer from the seats on the left. Then an exchange of money abruptly began right in front of Conductor. Apparently, they bet on Conductor's reaction. One of the very few birds whose wallets were moistened stood up dramatically and said.

"Anyone with the right artistic knowledge can arrive at the same answer."

Ostentatiously, he pulled a blue card from a small white box. It was reflected by the too strong sunlight coming through the window of the train, reviving the engraved hologram. It even had a kind of godlike quality to it. The moon penguin handed it to Conductor's small hand.

"We welcome anybird that understands art. Even if they were once our enemies."

From that day on, a beautiful membership card joined Conductor's crowded wallet. When the card was held up to the light at a specified angle, the words would appear＿＿＿＿DJ Grooves' Fan Club Membership Card. From the outside, it looked like just a credit card or a commemorative card.

"So, how did your chat with Grooves go? You're going back to the studio, right?" "I decided to bring it up next time. It was before I watched his movies, and I haven't even seen my own movies yet."

This time, loud sighs were heard on both sides. The deliberate sighs made Conductor nervous, as if they had planned it in advance. He wasn't too sure why they wanted him back in the studio. Is it really that important to win over Conductor? Was he doing something that would make them that competitive? Conductor couldn't stop thinking, but didn't say it out loud, that if they had time to worry about him, they could have used it to make a movie.

"I mean, maybe it's hard to suddenly get reinstated as director." A moon penguin murmured, breaking the awkward silence. "Who's going to teach him? Who knows the password to his computer which contains the shooting data, or anything like that?" "That's only Grooves. Currently, the only director is him…… Wait, that's really weird."

The moon penguins began to chatter. They were consulting among themselves, stealing glances at Conductor. Only he stood there with his card and scissors, not knowing what was going on.

"Is there really any point in having him back as a director? Don't you think that even if we beat him, it doesn't mean that we beat that Conductor?" "Only Grooves has the right to decide the answer to that question. Even if it is wrong, it needs to be done. Do we have to discuss such a basic issue?"

"He can't make movies. If Grooves were to be his teacher, it would no longer be a competition. Conductor will only be able to make the kind of movies that Grooves makes." "Wouldn't that be a good thing? It is wrong to compete in the first place. Art is not a competition. It is to enhance each other." "Did you say it's a good thing? It is not for us to decide what it means, but for our boss. And if he wants to fight Conductor again, we need to make it happen." "If you're going to go that far, you know other good teachers, 'aight? Or would you be his teacher?"

Just as the meeting of the moon penguins was going in circles, an actor owl entered the car. He had come there to report to Conductor that the bed-making had been completed. Since he had no further purpose, he had a brief conversation with Conductor and tried immediately left. But a sharp mention by a moon penguin prevented that from coming to pass.

"Hey do you have any ideas? If he doesn't come back, you'll never be an actor again."

Suddenly asked for his opinion, the owl was startled and hid behind Conductor. He was more timid than most. However, he is a great actor, which meant that he was quite dissatisfied with the current situation. The owl took a couple of deep breaths and mumbled as if he was trying to squeeze out. The audiences in the car, including Conductor, were still and breathless, trying to pick up on his words.

"I think it's better to let him come back as an actor, not as a director once. He's not going to get his memory back anyway, so it's not too late to let him learn some of the making of the movie……"

That's it!" and the moon penguins agreed in unison. Countless eyeless eyes shot out at Conductor and the owl. He was completely frightened and exited the compartment with lightning speed. Conductor sympathized with the actor. It is quite scary to be stared at by so many sunglasses. They have a psychological advantage just by being in a group. ＿＿＿＿Maybe they can easily breathe together without any meeting. Conductor thought that. Their goals are always the same, and they are never separated. Of course, sometimes there were conflicts, but always they were able to come to one final conclusion.

The same bird that presented the card to Conductor quickly summarized the discussion and dismissed the meeting.

"I have a suggestion for him today. You can come back as an actor or a cinematographer."

The night it was decided that he would join Grooves' staff, Conductor received nightly acting coaching from the owls. Over and over again, he was subjected to a series of rather detailed corrections, from the way he handled his fingertips to the way he stretched his legs. Conductor accepted the owls' instruction with desperation, not wanting to aggravate his current situation any further. He did not have the facial structure to make rich emotional expressions, so he had to compensate for this with gestures and vocal sounds. Fortunately, the owls were good teachers and great performers. His skills improved rapidly until he was able to control the atmosphere on his own. As a result, the relationship with the moon penguins who did not visit the train gradually became better and better. They shared a working experience and were able to develop their relationship to that of good colleagues.

For the yellow owl, hatred from anybird was more sinister than a stack of bills. He didn't need all the love in the world, but he didn't want to be hated enough to be taken seriously. Therefore, when somebird was angry or sad, he immediately detected the feeling and analyzed the cause. He was so hypersensitive to malice. He was empty, and all he had left was his family, who were like strangers to him, and the creepy Owl Express. He had nothing else to protect or live for, so even if he wanted to relinquish it, he couldn't. It was obvious that if he relinquished them, he would not be himself. Could previous Conductor have let these things go? Is that why he remembered his new purpose in life, his dream of becoming a movie director? He couldn't understand him. He just thought that if that was what had been so important to the Conductor, maybe he should take care of it too. Fortunately, his colleagues at Dead Bird Studio were at least not as cold as Conductor's daughter who had grown up.

In other words, he was happy, albeit in a much different situation than 15 years ago. Although not unlike familial love, Conductor embraced this new kind of happiness. Conductor was convinced as he hugged the fluffy white feathers. The comfortable body temperature, the soft fins, the nostalgic scent, the often audible peaceful breathing. He could even hear his heart beating in the same rhythm. He loved the thick blanket, but he loved holding somebird even more. It was a direct way to feel that he was allowed to be present, and of all the ways he could acknowledge another person's presence, this was one of the easiest. There was a sense of elusive happiness floating in the air, like before he fell asleep. He realized that Grooves was acknowledging his existence. He was genuinely acknowledging himself, not as a revenge device against his previous Conductor or a tool for a need for approval that had long gone unfulfilled. Conductor was pleased and tightened his holding.

For at least two weeks, he was fulfilled. He had found his lost purpose in life.

3. A second physical shock brought Conductor back to normal. The frowning yellow owl had lost all trace of the sun that had been brightly lighting up the studio for the past six months. His mouth was tight and stern, and his little footsteps nervously intimidated the studio. However, the surroundings did not quite return to normal. Only the movie critics were happy to have Conductor back, but the express owls, the moon penguins, and of course DJ Grooves did not welcome him back at all. The difference between the previous cozy home and the current chilling hell was too much to consider. The owls were frightened. They shuddered at the thought of being yelled at and scolded by the yellow owl who had been their temporary student. None of the birds wanted to mention it. But just because they didn't mention it doesn't mean that some of the birds didn't foolishly try to act on it.

Conductor could not sit in the director's seat from the time he left the hospital until he finished recording his first movie. Whenever Conductor stood still in the same spot, the spotlight would try falling on him. Each time, Conductor would scold the lighting crew, but they were too bold to do anything but smirk and laugh at him. This silly antics became so popular among some of the birds that he had to walk around the entire time he was in the studio without a break.

Did Grooves ever stop it? ＿＿＿＿He certainly wasn't stupid enough to actively join in the tomfoolery, but in its stead, he didn't actively try to stop it either. If anybird succeeded, that Conductor would be back again. Grooves had no reason to stop them. He watched Conductor narrowly avoid the spotlight from a distance, and went back to work.

But the fad suddenly came to an end. It was because many hourglasses were falling from the sky.

Grooves had seen the timepiece before. It was a long time ago, when he was a child, so he did not remember exactly the trigger. But they were certainly the same ones he had picked up on his way home from school in the past. It was gorgeous enough to be a child's treasure, and with a blush on his cheeks, he took it home and hung it on a shelf for safekeeping. It was his most favorite in the collection, but when he had a argument with his parents for various reasons, his father, in a fit of rage, broke the entire shelf. It is hard to describe how upset he was. Grooves and his family soon realized the magical power of the hourglass. And after many, many discussions, they decided that Grooves should bury it next to his grandmother's cemetery. There was no regret for him. There were many times when he wished he could rewind time, but there was a difference between actually doing it. The moment it is allowed to happen, the bird loses its birdity. As a child, he knew this all too well and understood that his father was trying to misuse the timepiece. He placed it gently, not in his grandmother's cemetery, but in the cleaning closet of an abandoned school far away. The broken, empty school was scary enough, but the timepiece was scarier.

Two weeks later, sure enough, his grandmother's cemetery was vandalized into a mess. The culprit didn't even try to hide it, and when he got home, he punched Grooves' shelves over and over again to find the timepiece. The sound of precious things being broken was strangely high-pitched and persistent in his ears. The sound of a family collapsing and the sound of china breaking are very similar. Eventually he punched Grooves repeatedly and shook his shoulder, but the little moon penguin kept his beak tight and never told him where it was hidden. He placed a coolant on his beaten, blushing cheek and cried into his mother's chest. His father was emotional and stubborn, but until that moment, he never hit his child. He taught Grooves to play guitar on holiday nights. His fins were stern as he plucked the strings, but only the fin that stroked his son's head when he praised him was ever so careful and gentle. The very first song he taught Grooves, a lullaby that Grooves had to listen to many times when he was even younger than he was at the time, symbolizes the warmth of his memories of his father.

What on earth did Dad want to fix? He was saddened to see the big moon penguin who kept destroying the room like crazy. The yelling and swearing and the sound of pottery breaking＿＿＿＿"Peck Neck, Grooves! You ruined my life all messed up! Pay for it, PAY FOR IT!!!" Grooves and his mother held each other in a shivering hug in the corner of the tiny kitchen. They mumbled in their beaks several times to encourage the other. It's okay, It's going to be okay…… This is just a dream.

Conductor was somewhat like his father, which had an even more negative impact on Grooves' mental health. When Grooves was told that he would be sharing the studio with him, he despaired, and his wounds grew deeper and festering from not always being able to beat Conductor. When he learned that he has a daughter and even grandchildren, he hated Conductor more than ever. He firmly believed that such a selfish bird would not do well if he had a family. Whenever Conductor would happily talk about his grandchildren, he would remember his miserable childhood and resent himself for having carelessly picked up the timepiece.

So when a beautiful hourglass fell from the sky, Grooves was alone in raptures. Perhaps he was having a bad dream. He must have been so frustrated and sad that Conductor had betrayed him, and the shock was affecting his dreams. He pinched his cheek, but a dull pain only quieted him.

Grooves immediately set out to collect the timepieces. While shooting the movie, he had the crews collect as many of them as they could under the guise of props. The crews no longer had enough time to devote to Conductor, and thus the malice slowly faded away. He felt strongly that this had to be dealt with. Surely it is not enough to hide it. It must be smashed. Before someone gets unhappy. When he had four timepieces in his possession, the child came to the studio.

4. "CUT!"

The music stopped with the reverberations of the clapperboard, and the joyful marching band came to a quick stop on the wire. The girl in front of them stopped after a couple of steps and turned toward the float with the turntable, waiting for instructions.

"Darling! One of you is out of line. I understand that the trumpets are limiting your vision and making it difficult to walk nicely, but please pay a little more attention to your surroundings. Okay?"

The director raised his voice and warned the trumpeter who was in the middle of the line. He nodded nervously several times and adjusted his trumpet position. Everyone was exhausted from the long shooting, and the flutist's beak was slightly trembling and twitching. The musicians were tired from blowing their instruments too hard. Some of the owls played scales, but the sound was shaky and not at all appropriate for a parade. The misery of the music reached the director's ears. He sighed and notified the entire staff.

"So…let's take a break. Everyone, give yourselves a good beak rest."

At these words, Hatkid jumped up happily and laid down on the rooftop in a big heap.

Grooves had a lot of timepieces. But it was not only him, but also Conductor. He did not know why Conductor attached to these items, but he had also ordered his crew to collect the timepieces. Grooves collected more, but the number of timepieces was irrelevant to using the power of the timepiece. He was rushed to find out that Conductor, of all people, wanted the hourglass. If he knew the secret, it was easy to imagine what he would use it for＿＿＿＿The Annual Bird Movie Award 42. He didn't seem to know the magic that the timepiece held, but being him, he would break that thing at some point and soon learn the truth. Then Grooves really won't win forever, and the world's movies will follow Conductor's lead and be filled with bad endings. Just the thought of a time when musicals and science fiction with happy endings would be even more despised made him nauseous.

Grooves looked down at the street from across the table. With the public gone, he could see the moon's skin clearly even from here. The street was filled with bright, colorful buildings, as if trying to hide the gray ground. But the malice and poverty that could not be hidden were collectively dumped in the back alleys. Somehow the plastic blue garbage cans reminded him of Conductor, and further reminded him of an unpleasant incident just the other day. Because of that one, Grooves had been forced to change some plans.

No big story, just that Conductor and Grooves happened to be in the same hallway at the same time, at the oddest time. That's all. Conductor was relieved that the long period of unreasonable harassment was over, and Grooves was quite relaxed at the time because his latest movie had been so well received. Conductor had a meeting scheduled, and Grooves had a recording session an hour away. They both realized that their rivals were close to each other. Grooves tried to ignore him, but Conductor would have none of it.

"Hello, DJ peck neck!" Conductor put his little foot in front of him, blocking his way. "What do you want?" "Yes, I just wanted to ask ye something. I heard my name was on the staff roll of that movie of yers."

Grooves sighed deeply and dropped his gaze to the floor to escape the owl's pursuit.

"I guess you can see the answer to that. I couldn't kick you out of the studio, so I cast you as an actor instead. You should be thanking me." "Ye cast me as an actor instead? I knew ye were desperate to offer me."

Penguin just shut up. It had not been Grooves' idea to use him as an actor, but it was Grooves who had asked him not to leave the studio. Therefore, he could not outright deny Conductor's response, and he was at a loss for a reply.

"I canna understand it. Was this a great opportunity but no one wanted to kick me out of the studio? Or did they finally realize that their own abilities were not enough to win an award?"

Conductor said this with a wry smile. And after a few seconds, he too seemed to have had an epiphany from his own words.

"Oh, I see! Is that what ye mean? Ye tried to improve the quality of the movie by having me in the cast? That's outrageous＿＿＿＿Maybe it wasna ye who won the award, but me!" "No!" "Silence! All right, hear me out. There were several of yer movies in my room. And there were six movies of mine in there that were brand-new and unopened! Do yer know what this means?"

Grooves put a slight strain on his fin holding his microphone＿＿＿＿Unopened? Why didn't Conductor watch his movies, since westerns must be more familiar to him than sci-fi. Hadn't he wondered what kind of work he had made before? That was weird, too. He just quietly waited for his next words.

"I guess you can see the answer to that, right!? One of you must have put into it my mind! You gave me the information that was good for you and used me to your advantage, when I didn't have enough information. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been in your movie, and I wouldn't have joined your peckin' fan club!" "Wait, why is my fan club even mentioned?" "You're just going to pretend now? Don't tell me you don't know what this is, peck neck!"

Conductor pulled his wallet out of his large right pocket and pulled out a single sapphire blue card. He thrust it in front of the impassive sunglasses and asked for his opinion. The massive hologram reflected well against the studio's dark lighting and made a word. That was proof enough. But even that was news to DJ Grooves. My fan club?＿＿＿＿After a few seconds, he remembered the group of penguins he had seen at the station. Come to think of it, they were in charge of managing the fan club. When did they invite him to be a member? Conductor, of all birds. What was their purpose? Could it be that they had directed Conductor?＿＿＿＿As soon as the terrible idea occurred to him, he was struck by a shock like a bolt of lightning. Exactly, he thought it was too ideal. They could do something like that. They've been managing Grooves' fan club for decades, so it's only natural that they're good at talking and directing. They are professionals in advertising.

"I canna believe you tricked me into helping you make a movie and then tried to collect a cruel subscription from me! On top of that, they wouldn't give me a refund and wouldna let me cancel peckin’ membership. You all peck!"

Conductor pressed Grooves for an answer. He demanded a suitably convincing reason from the penguin. But for once Grooves felt the same way. Was that friendship created by somebird? Was he unaware of it, or was he aware of it but pretending not to know? Only they knew the truth, of course, but even if Grooves asked them, they would never recognize it.

“I bet he was so impressed with your movies that he was afraid to watch his own?”＿＿＿＿Arguing with them is a waste of energy. They have the clear advantage in the information fight.

Noticing that Grooves was almost in a passive position, Conductor kicked the floor needlessly out of frustration. No one could take his stress properly. Only when Conductor asked for his opinion, no one offered it to him. He spat out a few words in annoyance.

"Too bad my memory came back, eh? As long as I surrender to you, you will have everything you want from that moment on. Money, love, trophies, whatever you want!" "……" "Peck neck, peck neck……"

Conductor finally walked past Grooves and into Meeting Room 2. Grooves had never missed a word he let slip just as they passed each other.

"If only I could rewound time……"

Grooves heard this dreadful muttering and hypothesized that Conductor actually already knew about the magic of the timepiece. Even if it was an accidental word choice, it was highly suggestive.

That evening, he took one of the timepieces out of the showcase and looked at it. The light it emitted was somehow attractive to birds, and it could be said that it was a work of art in its own right. Perhaps great power requires a suitable vessel. The surface was not particularly dirty, but Grooves caressed its surface with his fluffy fins. Would Conductor use this? He would use it, he thought. It is rather difficult to find a reason not to use it. Grooves' father was changed by this hourglass, and his warm home was destroyed in an instant. I'm about to have even my warmest triumphs destroyed. By this damned hourglass…… Even knowing that, he had no idea how to stop it. In any case, taking the timepiece from Conductor was out of the question. It would mean that the hourglass had more value to Grooves than a prop, and of course Conductor would question it. Conductor is a fool, but he is not stupid. He will find out the secret. Grooves stopped the fin that was stroking the hourglass and furrowed his brow in distress. If he is going to use us anyway, we have to use him＿＿＿＿It is an obvious fact that the advantages of using it are greater than the disadvantages of using it. He can get back that cozy studio, that golden award trophies, that Conductor as a friend, he can get it all back. Just one transgression can make up for a hundred or more mistakes and everything else. At that moment, Grooves could not take his eyes off the hourglass. The sparkling, pure white light with a hint of heat was like a small spotlight. Or the too-strong starlight of a first-magnitude star. Yes, should use it, so when he's done with his business, he can return it to the girl with a nonchalant look on his face. He doesn't know if there can be a way to do that from dead bird studio before 10 years, but if there isn't, he should just keep quiet. Besides, this is for the good of the studio, and by extension, the entire planet. There should never be a time when bad endings and unmoralities are in vogue. And it can't be a bad story for Conductor. He looked so happy. He looked much happier in the past than he does now. He gasped loosely to let the excitement escape. The fins encircling the timepiece trembled slightly.

＿＿＿＿What do we if we go back in time? Can we leave Conductor the way he was? Doesn't he need to let to understand the art that Conductor has always valued?

He spoke to the timepiece. It didn't need a voice, it was nearly a self-question. He idly stared at the light and thought. A single, coherent, unintelligible, dreamlike movie was playing in his mind's eye. It was unconsciously edited and easily induced Grooves.

The second time he got on his train. He really respected Grooves and even seemed a little embarrassed to tell him what he thought of his movies in front of him. He had no acting training at that time, so Conductor was really a fan of his. Grooves was a little surprised when he heard that he was going to make a movie with Conductor, but in the end he welcomed him. It was an act out of responsibility, but wasn't Grooves himself happy about it at that time? But he didn't want to admit it, so he brought up the convenient reason of responsibility?

When he hugged him that day. He never thought he would see the day he would share an hug with him. He was much softer, more comfortable and warmer than he imagined. He had the scent of the sun. It must have been one of those things that Grooves was unfamiliar with, but the scent reminded him of his childhood when he was still happy. It is a scent that reassures birds to anywhere. His unconditional affirmation of himself was really cute and gratifying. By that time, he had already forgotten half of his memories of the days when he and Conductor were on bad terms. Instead, he stuffed as many happy memories with his new friend as his brain would allow. Plus, he was much better than the other moon penguins, and he always put Grooves' ideas first.

Yes, Conductor can be fans of Grooves like any other bird. The moon penguins only made Conductor himself aware of this possibility. It is Conductor himself who has embraced the possibility. He just can't admit it because he's fighting Grooves right now. That's why everyone is so unhappy right now. That's a huge waste of energy.

Isn't keeping silent about the current situation tantamount to abandoning a his own fan?

Grooves could no longer regard Conductor as an enemy. The strange wave of anxiety he had felt in his hospital room that day had not yet released him. He felt ashamed and embarrassed of himself, but he couldn't escape that hell. Every time Conductor evaded the spotlight, Grooves was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He wrote a script for him in the hopes that Conductor would change his assessment of him. He never liked the Owl Express but he wrote the script just for the rival. He had never written a murder mystery before, but he thought Conductor would probably like it. However, he knew that if he gave it to Conductor in a foolishly honest manner, he would not receive it, so he decided to go to the trouble of making a case. The kindly owl was happy to help. His too had fond memories of Dead Bird Studio when Conductor and Grooves had been good friends. Conductor seemed to like the script. Or maybe he couldn't believe the fact that something unexpected happened on the Owl Express under his control, and he tried to keep up appearances by treating it as a movie. He promptly produced the movie with a new female actor, but never said a word of thanks to Grooves or even put his name on the staff roll.

In other words, the reason Conductor hates Grooves so much is because he is a movie director. How can I get him to quit being a movie director? He has been kind to Conductor, he has had fights with him. Then there is only one way to stay, isn't there? I'm about to do something crazy. But it's not for me, it's for Conductor. The logic was rather broken and unreasonable, but he didn't particularly care about that. Conductor should not have been movie director＿＿＿＿Oh, really? So I still have to make the new movie on my own? I don't really care. It's enough that Conductor is still Conductor. Because he is my fan! He wanted nothing else, anyway, as long as he had a good reason to be allowed to do what he did.

After an hour break, the band returned to their positions. Hatkid also put her hat back on and stood in front of them. Grooves turned on the turntable and motioned for the crew to begin shooting. Turning back the clock would have to wait a little longer. After DJ Grooves had won Conductor as movie director and finished his revenge for all that he had done.

5. Grooves posed proudly in front of the giant screen and answered the audience's congratulations with a big smile. Behind him, the completed "The Big Parade" was being screened, and a glamorous musical band was playing lively on the screen. The story of a gloomy town saved by music linked well with the public's need for a happy ending after the end of Dead Bird New-Cinema, and the audience empathized with the movie. Anyway, DJ Grooves won. And Conductor took on the challenge in perfect condition and lost.

Conductor stared at Grooves with hidden eyes from a table in the very back. His feathers were ruffled and his hands, clutching the hem of his coat, were veiny and strong. There was an incessant grinding of teeth in his beak, and at this very moment he was trying to bite Grooves' throat. "That award was supposed to be mine!"＿＿＿＿He glared at Grooves as much as to say that. Grooves chuckled softly at the sight. After all, pure victory always feels good. The movie critics, who had been so supportive of Conductor, had recently begun to approve of Grooves and were now reevaluating Conductor's movies in a more critical way. Eventually, a lone moon penguin stepped forward in front of Grooves, carrying a large blue bouquet of flowers. Grooves motioned to the moon penguin with a meaningful look. He gave a very small nod and quietly slipped out of the hall with several other moon penguins. Grooves held the bouquet back in front of his chest. Dozens of large newspaper cameras lined up for him. The star laughed. It was out of relief that he had successfully won the award and the anticipation of finally meeting his friend. He was quite confident in his plan. He smiled at Conductor through the gap between cameras. To him, of course, it was fan service for his little friend. To Conductor, it appeared to be a very cunning and vulgar smile.

"Peck neck! The bird movie industry has gone down the toilet! I don't know how such a poor, creepy, delusional movie gets so much recognition……"

In a small, dimly lit room in the basement of the studio, Conductor opened a bottle of scotch that he had been saving for today. The orange lamps were like a faint sunset, not even illuminating the small hiding place. The alcohol, which was to be drunk as a victory gift, glistened in the weak light. It seemed to both comfort and mock Conductor. To his right, an owl, also holding a glass, silently dipped the tip of his beak into the golden liquid.

"They definitely, definitely cheated! They bought the committee! It ain't even funny that they took over the bird movie industry while I was messing up……"

Conductor's swearing went on for several minutes, then it lost speed and disappeared into the darkness. Shadows fell in honey-colored. Conductor and the owl were silent, just drinking and drinking for a lonely time.

Conductor was suddenly thinking back to how he came to be a movie director. He had been running so far, staring only ahead, and it was quite a precious moment for him to reflect on the past. What was it first? ＿＿＿＿It was divorce……And the cause was his wife's cheating. A deep crease was etched on Conductor's brow. But his thoughts did not stop and he searched for and brought a chain of images. One boring short movie dominated his vision. He loved his family. As long as he had his family and his train, he had no desire for any other happiness. But his wife was different. She didn't like living a quiet life without luxuries, and suddenly destroyed the family they had carefully built up. She left the divorce papers with only his name blank and the wedding ring returned to him. It was enough to wipe the smile off the cheerful owl's face.

The daughter was going to a distant town with her new family. Conductor pushed his disappointment aside and ran the Owl Express with his daughter frightened by a strange owl, his awkward ex-wife, and a very handsome and stylish owl. There was no Metro in those days, so they always had to take Conductor's train when they moved. Conductor tried to smile in front of the three of them, but to no avail. The corners of his mouth never lifted, and in the end he asked them to present their tickets in a brusque attitude. Three tickets. While punching them, Conductor was inwardly fighting an intense urge. It was a black, black emotion that he had never felt before. He gritted his teeth and quietly returned the tickets. If he didn't, he was going to punch the stylish owl. Conductor was just wretched and embarrassed. He was angry at himself for being betrayed by the most precious thing in the world, and for not trying to fight back at all. She did not love Conductor, but he still loved his ex-wife. The stylish owl kept giggling as if he was mocking Conductor, and even flaunted his gorgeous gold ring to the yellow owl when they exchanged tickets.

He had a rough time after that. He couldn't believe in anything anymore and couldn't do his conductor duties properly. A few owls saw this and taught Conductor how to drink and smoke.

"I'm sure you'll find someone better than her soon." "If you're having a hard time, you have to let the stress go. For the sake of those around you and your own."

The first bottle of wine he drank was so strong that he got drunk before he could give an impression of its taste. It was bitter and not very tasty, but he thought that was the way it was supposed to be, so Conductor downed the whole bottle in one night. It felt pretty good to be invaded by a poison he couldn't process. For that one night, it felt like all wrongs were forgiven. It was a feeling of seamless almightiness and euphoria. Suddenly, the tension that had previously restrained Conductor completely disappeared. Every muscle in his body relaxed and he began rambling loudly in a babbling, unintelligible language. The yellow owl became emotionally unstable and cried on the counter seat, his shoulders shaking. Oh, he's broken＿＿＿＿The bartender thought so. A correct insight. A few owls rubbed his back.

Once he got a taste for alcohol, it didn't take him long to learn to smoke. He soon learned how to handle the smoke and began to consume it inertially in his lonely caboose. It was not as immediate as alcohol, but the bittersweet heat calmed Conductor's anger and kept him cool at all times. Naturally, Conductor changed. He started going to bars and making new friends. These friends were all the same kind of jerks that previous Conductor would have shied away from even having anything to do with. They took a liking to Conductor and frequently invited him to join them in the back alleys. In the process, their extremely vulgar language infected Conductor.

They nurtured Conductor's violent nature in a hideout where the sun never reached. They taught them with copious amounts of alcohol that offense is the best defense and domination is the kindest thing for the weak. Conductor memorized them with an obedient brain that did not work well. If only he had not been poisoned by scotch at the time, he would never have believed what they said. If only so, he was so hypersensitive to malice that he could have seen that they were trying to drag Conductor into the dark. He had lost the ability to judge what is good and what is bad. It all didn't matter. Conductor surrendered himself to them, as long as they acknowledged his righteousness and even his existence.

"You must have been insulted. That's because you're walking around soooo classy~!" "That's right. It is just right that you walk with your footsteps intentionally. When everyone becomes frightened at the mere sound of your footsteps, that's when you'll finally be at the starting line!"

Each time they imparted their wisdom to Conductor, they filled his glass with liquor and forced him to drink. It did not matter how drunk Conductor was or how afraid he was of it. If he resisted them cheekily, they thrust the tip of the wine bottle down the yellow owl's throat as punishment. Of course, his throat was deeply wounded. It prevented him from ever singing with his beautiful voice again. His ugly voice, which tasted of back-alley grease, deprived Conductor of the joy of music. Eventually he sold his accordion. Whenever Conductor obeyed what they said, they always gave him a generous hug. That's an easy way for the birds to acknowledge their presence. Broken Conductor has been acknowledged time and time again. Original Conductor has been denied over and over again. Sometimes he even hugged one of them. The strong alcohol made their hearts beat fast. They were never in harmony. Just one rushed the other and they hit rock bottom. The yellow owl still smelled of the sun, but it created an eerie contrast to the hellish landscape around them.

The owls were scared and afraid of the new Conductor. They deleted Conductor's phone number from their phone. Some of them were express crew members. They abruptly left their resignation letters in the driver's seat one day and ran away. They got off the train without even saying hello to Conductor.

Conductor opened another bottle of scotch. He poured the poison all over the owl's glass and then poured a large amount into his own glass. He downed it in one gulp and filled his glass again. Like a programmed machine, there was no hesitation in his sequence of actions. The reason why he wanted to become a movie director was not a very clean one. In his haste, he realized that he had already signed a contract with Dead Bird Studio. Because he had heard that he could get rich, because it would bring the express back to life, and because it was a dream of his once. Anyway, Conductor was shooting for awards. He hoped for an increase in box-office revenue from the awards and advertisement. He hoped that his movies would revitalize the Owl Express. So it was no wonder Grooves couldn't beat him. From the beginning, Conductor was making movies with material he is good at, not material he likes. The battle between the two was like a fanzine and a commercial magazine, so to speak; in other words, Grooves was not even on the same starting line the first time around. The Annual Bird Movie Awards was a job for Conductor, never an art event. For him, filmmaking was surprisingly boring. Every day he read and analyzed the sickening reviews of movie critics and made what he thought they would like. Conductor has always been hypersensitive to malice, so he knew right away what they didn't like. Conductor did indeed get trophies. It is built on a dead art form. Even he wanted to make a movie with something he liked. It's by no means that he doesn't like Owl Express. What he dislikes are the shootouts. The righteous sheriff vs. the selfish villains. It's always the same picture. He wanted to shoot a happy ending on his beloved train, about something he loved, a very happy family. But after a few days of writing those scripts, he realized that they were just creepy things made up of dreams that he couldn't fulfill at all, and he ended up tearing them.

For the yellow owl, the behavior of the moon penguins was stressful. Although they wanted the awards, they did not care to analyze the judges' preferences. They would not hesitate to say that it was an act that destroyed their art, but when they were defeated by Conductor, they twisted their faces in mortification.

Any bird that cannot be serious about the movie industry does not even have the right to rent Dead Bird Studio. The keys should only be rented to real birds who can abandon themselves and be serious about movies.

Conductor hated DJ Grooves. His pasty smile and over-the-top attitude always reminded him of that stylish owl. Just being with him was painful because it brought back bad memories. The fact that he had so many fans and so much money always hurt Conductor. He had money and love. How he envied him＿＿＿＿He did not know that Grooves was just as financially strapped as he was. He subconsciously associated that over-the-top, arrogant attitude of his with the rich, stylish owl, and assumed that Grooves is rich＿＿＿＿ He didn't want to lose out on the awards to Grooves at any cost. Harmonious works of art should never be defeated by selfish art. He vowed to his wallet, which had lost all its weight.

If he had had enough money to be extravagant at that time, he might have been able to maintain a family＿＿＿＿The many nightmares that arose during his life as a movie director were sure to devour Conductor. He is sure that he would be able to build a good family now. Now he knows exactly what his wife wanted. If only he had had money instead of love at that time. Ironically, Conductor now had a large number of unpaid bills and did not even have the financial wherewithal, not to mention the mental capacity. Most of this still is due to the Owl Express. About two years before Conductor became director, the Metro was suddenly built. The express was no longer the only mode of transportation on the planet. Understandably, the majority of passengers opted for the cheaper and faster Metro over the inconvenient Owl Express. Conductor had to return passengers to the Owl Express for income, and those factors led him to the boring director's seat. It is quite absurd to be the conductor and the movie director at the same time. Moreover, at that time, the only bird on the train crew was already Conductor. Finally, he decided to remodel part of the Owl Express. It was a hard decision. He agonized over it for six months. But if this sacrifice would make everything better, he ordered the construction order. This was a mistake. It is true that Conductor's duties have been greatly simplified, and he no longer has to return to the driver's seat every time he wants to take a beautiful cinematic picture. It became possible to move the train with a single remote control. But regular inspections cost a lot of money each time, and they deprived tasty pumpkins for breakfast.

"Conductor……"

The owl broke the silence and spoke to Conductor. The yellow owl was startled and chocked on scotch, but the express owl paid him no mind and continued talking.

"Who do you think is happier, before you became a director or now?" "Hmmm? ……either one of them, peck neck." "Then, which is easier?"

Conductor stopped holding the glass and was at a loss for words. Then he answered as if he were trying to squeeze out a word.

"Well, that is before I became a director. All I had to think about was my family and the train……nothing is easier than being naive."

The owl nodded gravely. Conductor was taken aback, having failed to grasp the intent of the unconnected question. He couldn't stand the eerie silence and brought the glass to his beak. Immediately the golden liquid seemed to fall onto his purple tongue and run down the back of his throat.

＿＿＿＿But that did not happen.

Conductor's body was suddenly yanked backward and knocked to the floor. The chair fell over with a loud thud, and the bottle with more than half the scotch left in it cracked and splashed its contents. The small glass left his hand, flew through the air, and bounced off the wall. The sound of an explosion. Shards of glass and a dirty drink. For a moment Conductor didn't know what had happened. He just stared at his scotch-soaked shirt and tie. Then he found an unfamiliar rope tightly wound around them.

"I told you we'd pull it together!"

He heard the moon penguins' exasperated voice.

"My clothes are soaking wet, God damn it!" "I've given you the sign so many times! It's your fault for being so clumsy."

After a few seconds of hearing this, Conductor finally took in the situation. He tried to get out of the rope as violently as he could, but his muscles, completely flaccid from alcohol intoxication, could not move much. In no time at all, he was tied up in a circle with the rope and stood up while the moon penguin yelled at him. The owl just watched him. He sat as if that dirty crate were a throne and looked down at Conductor. His beak twisted softly.

"You said it, didn't you? You just admitted that you were more comfortable before you became a director." "What the-" "Oh, don't get us wrong. We love Conductor＿＿＿＿But it's not you. We need to fix you."

He stood up gracefully and slowly approached Conductor. Then he embraced him over the rope. His wings had a slightly distinctive shape. They were slightly bent at the tips from long years of gripping the small, stiff handle of the Owl Express.

"＿＿＿＿I'm sorry, Conductor. You needed help and I could not help you to the end. It's all, all my fault." "Shut up, peck neck! Don't- say anything……!!"

Conductor was frightened and tried to cover his ears, but his hands did not move. He really hated it when people referred to him when he was still happy. He felt the offending color in his pronunciation of "Conductor."

The driver smiled encouragingly at Conductor.

6. The deepest area of Dead Bird Studio, second workplace of DJ Grooves, was more alive than ever. The grand piano was as beautiful as ever on the stage, and the speakers around it seemed very happy to be able to sing for the first time in a long time. Grooves looked out at the decorated stage from the center of the hall. Framed by blue curtains, it was a completely different view. He nodded in satisfaction. The lighting should be perfect, since this party is quite large and long. This lively party was not merely a triumph for Grooves. The proof is in the air, as the express owls were tuning up their instruments amongst the moon penguins. This party was also a farewell and welcome party, and his victory, which had already been well celebrated, was more of an excuse for the party. He recited the program in his beak＿＿＿＿ First, when the preparations for the party are finished, we'll bring Conductor here. When everything is done, he will probably fall asleep, so we'll have a little music festival in the meantime. When the yellow owl wakes up, we will open the screen and watch movies. Of course, it will be my movies that will be shown there, not the Conductor's. The party will probably take until morning. Maybe it will take all day, but it doesn't matter. We have plenty of time. As he headed backstage to start setting up his instruments, the elevator arrived.

"Get off me, peck necks! Abduction is a capital crime!"

the yellow owl cried out. His body was pinned in a circle by the rope and he was unable to move, hardly walking properly without the assistance of the penguins. He cut through the bustling party air and was pulled out in front of Grooves.

"Oh my, darling!……So good to see you again." Grooves stopped thinking and said happily. "I trust our crews were not too rough with your escort."

The moon penguins looked at each other awkwardly and laughed. For all intents and purposes, their work was rough.

"Everybird, the highlight of the party came a little early!"

Grooves announced in high spirits and climbed on stage with Conductor. The yellow owl was reluctant to the last but as if these things had no effect. Finally, he was forced to sit on the big chair at the grand piano, and the excess rope was tied to the legs of the chair, along with Conductor's tiny feet. Everything happened so fast, seemingly carefully planned in advance. The owls and penguins stopped touching their instruments and turned their attention to the stage. Conductor saw in each of their gazes a frightening sense of anticipation. Grooves stood facing Conductor and deliberately coughed before beginning to speak.

"So, welcome~! I guess this is the beginning of a farewell party that no one will be sad to see go." "What did ye say?" Conductor struggled to move his knees. But the rope did not loosen at all. "It all started with that unfortunate accident! You don't remember it, but if you've been fishing through the back issues from a year ago, you can at least guess what the situation was like, right? The only movie you ever released became a silver trophy and the one we co-produced became a gold trophy……" Grooves cut off his words once here, as though to check the effectiveness of his speech.

"For everyone's sake, and most of all for yours, I think we should go back a year here. Now that Dead Bird New-Cinema is over, what's the benefit of you being you?"

Conductor was speechless when he heard it＿＿＿＿Is merit something a bird needs to live a normal life? The value of its existence can change as much as one wants if one changes one's point of view, but can't the moon penguin understand such things? The yellow owl looked around the audiences for his endorsers, but everyone agreed with the demented moon penguin. Even the express owls were nodding enthusiastically to show their support. Could it really be an action out of sympathy for Conductor? No way!＿＿＿＿Conductor turned his head down.

"Unfortunately you're back to normal, but it's not all too late."

Grooves pulled a single sparkling hourglass from his pocket＿＿＿＿the timepiece. In other words, just a movie prop. His smile grew deeper as the audiences cheered. Only Conductor was left behind, not knowing what was going on. He didn't even know the real name of that hourglass.

"It's a very useful and dangerous thing. If you knew how to use it, you would have used it right away."

Grooves whispered, his voice dropping in tone＿＿＿＿"It can turn back time! Anytime, anywhere, if you break the hourglass and explode the energy inside, the reaction will cause time to rewind. And it's controllable."

*** At the time, all the birds working at Dead Bird Studio were in the basement except for the guards, but there was one exception. One shadowy the express owl managed to escape the watchful eye and get into the elevator. Then he alighted one floor above and hurriedly began to turn the telephone dial. He picked a number and turned it halfway around, spending several frustrating moments with an unpleasant sound. Then a rattling bell began to ring, and he picked up the receiver. The owl waited for an answer, praying that the monsters below would not notice the sound. After a few seconds, the phone finally connected to ＿＿＿＿"Hello?" At the sound of his voice, the blue-faced owl suddenly perked up, but began to speak calmly. He carefully blasted his words into the machine, trusting the poor sound quality of the phone＿＿＿＿Soon, however, the footsteps of several bird began to increase in volume. It was getting progressively faster. He mimicked Conductor's accent, trying to communicate as accurately as he could what had happened in the short time he was there＿＿＿＿What would I say to let she come?

"The Annual Bird Movie Award was rigged. It was an inside job＿＿＿＿"

*** Just as the owl's phone was connected, the performance on stage was about to reach its finale. The yellow owl, now fully aware of what it was in for, clenched its beak and lashed out. If he did not, he would be consumed by fear and allow the penguin's evil to take place. Eventually, his right leg, which was strapped to the leg of the piano chair, became untied and free. Conductor struggled to break the rope by placing his right foot on the floor and swinging his left leg wide in an attempt to escape, but before he could finish, Grooves forced him back into his original position.

"You really think you can walk away from this? If you do, you're losing your mind."

That hourglass was thrust in front of Conductor's eyes. The light, too strong than necessary, was easily blinding. He tried to wriggle away from the light, but Grooves would have none of it.

"Please, you can't escape it anyway, so just stay put. I've explained this thing to you before, but knowledge is not the same thing as action. In other words, I'm a newbie at this magic stuff＿＿＿＿If you get out of control, I might not be able to control it very well, you know? Not only a year, but your whole memory could be blown."

Grooves said this with a wry smile. And after a few seconds, he too seemed to have had an epiphany from his own words.

"Well, yeah, even if that were to happen, there would be no inconvenience to me, huh? That would be wonderful. Don't worry, I'll teach you everything from the ground up. You won't be able to say 'I haven't seen many musicals or sci-fi' every time you watch one of my movies."

The way he said it was quite nasty. It was a bit of an act, and combined with the tense reality, it was strangely persuasive. Conductor's resistance was being weakened.

It's going to be gone. All my memories. All the things Conductor has cherished, the things he hates, the things he likes, the work he has to do, the times he was happy, and the present, which is just painful. Suddenly empty, what am I filled in for myself instead? To a freshly washed, pure towel, a brand new, blank canvas? The answer was obvious without even having to think about it. It's what Grooves has cherished, what he hates, what he likes, the information that has been conveniently processed, the time that is only to be dominated and nows that never was. For example, Conductor loves his grandchildren and the Owl Express, but surely tomorrow he would loved Grooves and his movies. Fluffy towels would absorbed muddy water without resistance, and the campus would be stained a deep blue deep into its fibers. The Conductor finally gave up his resistance completely after an intense struggle. At the very least, he did not want to be deprived of the memories of his happy days. This is the memory that he hates the most, and the memory that he loves the most. In other words, it is the core of Conductor. DJ Grooves, aware of Conductor's surrender, announced to the audiences through the microphone.

"Well, I guess this is farewell, darling."

When Grooves said this, the audiences started counting down in unison, even though there was no particularly loud sign. Their voices sounded somewhat joyful, like children with Christmas Eve dinner in front of them.

"3!"

The distance between the moon penguin and the yellow owl shrinks. The time that Conductor can be Conductor is shrinking.

"2!"

Grooves held up the timepiece and began to grab it. Conductor closed his eyes and tried not to witness his end. He gritted his teeth and fought desperately against his fear.

"1!"

The sun had fallen.

7. The fireworks dispersed easily. The next moment, Conductor collapsed onto the chair like a puppet with broken strings. Conductor's body melted away as his posture suddenly became unstable, putting all his weight on his right leg, which was not properly secured. Grooves caught it and quickly freed the yellow owl from the rope. The body, completely at his mercy, was easily held up. Grooves held him sideways to protect the yellow owl's head. Conductor was asleep. By the looks of it, he did not appear to be suffering from any insomnia. In other words, the plan worked, and he was sleeping temporarily to process his memories. DJ Grooves chuckled. The moon penguin holding the yellow owl looked just like he had a few hours earlier when he was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Welcome back, darling……"

The farewell party, which saddened no one, quietly transitioned into a large welcome party.

Hatkid stared at the whiteboard. Crowded with information and scraps of ideas that hadn't been put together, it looked troubled at a level that even she, an amateur about movie making, could recognize at a glance. She knew this linear handwriting by sight. Anyone who had read Conductor's very out-of-the-way clapperboard indication would have known that he had been slumping for years, even if he hadn't read this all the way through. Hatkid lingered in front of the poor whiteboard for a few seconds, but eventually decided to enter the room to the left. The smell of a big case always wafted purposefully to her. It smelled very much like coffee, which meant that Hatkid hated it. She had to drink it to stay awake, but if she drank it, she would get nervous and not be able to calm down.

She was a temporary female actor. However, they didn't pay her and she wasn't very good at acting, so it was a bit questionable whether she could officially be called a female actor. She hates to lose and she hates to lie. Hatkid had been helping Conductor, but losing out to DJ Grooves, and being lied to so transparently by him, had made the moon penguin's impression on her worse than ever. So when she received that mysterious phone call, she drank her hated coffee and returned to Dead Bird Studio in high spirits, even though it was midnight. She had more than enough reason to fight with DJ Grooves, and she had enough sense of mission to do it.

The girl taking the initiative to help Conductor, who was alone and isolated in the studio, must have seemed quite strange to most of the others. the moon penguin, as well as the express owls, were suspicious of the girl's behavior on several occasions. How rude! Hatkid puffed her cheeks out in face of the huge trophy. Tiny eyes, green from the mixture of the trophy's gold, glared at Hatkid. DJ Grooves was quite unhappy that Hatkid was not helping him with his movie. But to her, that didn't seem to be the only reason for his strange attitude. Hatkid knew Grooves had looked at her with pity when she talked to Conductor. It was as if he was warning her that something terrible was about to happen. Hatkid dared not heed the warning. Is that why he told that stupid lie?

She chose Conductor simply because he looks like Hatkid. He hates to lose and hates to lie. He also hated DJ Grooves and had the strongest fighting spirit in the studio. From Hatkid's experience, it's these simple, easy-to-understand birds that are better to have as friends, and DJ Grooves was quite strange and unfathomable in that way. Despite his mass production of replicas of award trophies, she never sensed any fighting spirit from him toward Conductor. It couldn't be more contradictory to have an obsession with trophies and not want this competition. Could it be because he had another goal in mind from the beginning? What does this have to do with not giving the timepiece? Hatkid looked at the uncountable trophies and the beautiful scarlet beds and decided to think again about the directors. But she couldn't deduce anything about them at all, as she had only known them for a short time. She quickly gave up and continued down the hallway. It was not unreasonable. The logic Grooves was basing it on was too forced and self-serving, and Hatkid was unaware of the tragedy that had occurred a year earlier. If she had been well informed, she might have thought this＿＿＿＿Does he want his art to be recognized by the awards committee? Or does DJ Grooves want to be recognized by Conductor, not by the awards committee? Or both?

"Darling! My plans were almost ruined! How could you?"

The farewell party should have been over, but the atmosphere in the basement was bleak. The musicians had quickly retreated from the hall with their instruments, and the screen already set up had been put away. The popcorn and coke tables had been moved to the end of the hall, as if they were fleeing from some troublesome situation. The cause of this is the little owl. The express owls stared at his broken wings unpreparedly. The guard owls glared at him, urging him to respond. But he only muttered "peck necks" and refused to say anything else. DJ Grooves clicked his tongue lightly and shoved him into the crowd of owls. The owls around the table all stood up at once and flocked to the brave bird. It was like feeding a small amount of food to a small tank filled with too many killifish, i.e., something not very ethical was beginning to happen. A very quiet scream. Slaves to a sense of justice. That was true of all the birds gathered in the basement. Grooves is back on stage. Don't worry, there's only one change, and it can be fixed. Just one girl is no match for the struggling and painstaking DJ Grooves, and he had plenty of potential weapons in his arsenal. And he had just a few minutes ago acquired a real weapon.

The elevator began to lift. To welcome someone new.

8. The fight did not go as smoothly as expected. It clearly frustrated Grooves and slowly robbed him of his composure. Hatkid was a better fighter than he had guessed and knew how to handle an umbrella. Nevertheless, the underground environment was quite favorable to Grooves. The too strong disco floor light often tormented the Hatkid, and Grooves was not her only enemy. The moon penguins, who completely dominated the lighting, were quite annoying. Grooves didn't mind the floor light too much thanks to his sunglasses, and the lighting crew showed off all the skills they had developed through their previous insidious bullying. The stage was as tall as a child, so there was nothing she could do as Grooves took refuge on the stage. Despite this, Hatkid had a far greater advantage in the battle. She evaded the attacks of the moon penguins with the ease of Chaplin. Grooves, on the other fin, had never killed a bird before, so he couldn't handle a knife very well. Peeling an apple and killing a small child require different skills. He had no idea of the theory behind a knife attack, and this gave the child quite a gap to exploit. He was in a hurry and used a lot of moon cars and mirror balls, but it was as if they didn't work on the little girl. Grooves used his weight to quickly slash at Hatkid with his knife. The girl had already read the move and fired back at Grooves with a powerful kick to the floor. The girl is small and Grooves is big. This led directly to the ease of application of the attack. Grooves' face became distorted as he took a decent beating. The audiences had never seen the big star of the moon look so pained and pitiful before. But he no longer had the luxury of playing the penguin in the aquarium.

His body unwillingly lost its grip due to the dull ache. The portable microphone, which had been whirring like a helicopter propeller earlier, gradually slowed down and broke its circle. It took on an oval shape and a messy trajectory. The cord deflected, undulated, and punched the air. That was when the circle collapsed completely and the cord swam straight through the air. It hit something. The portable microphone recoiled and wrapped into it, getting mangled into a mess. As soon as Hatkid made the landing, she found that Grooves' microphone-wielding fin had suddenly stopped. She didn't know what had happened to him, but she considered that the damage seemed to have been done anyway＿＿＿＿and let her guard down.

The portable microphone teased out her umbrella.

For a moment, the girl thought about taking her umbrella back from the cord. But it was caught in every detail of the umbrella, entangled deeper than expected. Moreover, Grooves was not about to let this opportunity go to waste, so he came at her with his knife at the ready. If she bothered with the umbrella, she would surely die to his knife in her head. She gracefully gave up on her umbrella and swapped out her hat. She threw her entangled partner at the penguin, but before it could do so, Grooves tossed them far away.

After that, a chemical and knife fight continued, but it was not a very spectacular fight. Hatkid has a good handle on the umbrella, but was not very adept at throwing things. Blending the chemicals took time, and setting the standard for Grooves, who jumped from place to place, took even more time.

＿＿＿＿Conductor slowly awoke to the sound of a loud impact and explosion. His vision still blurred and his head not clear, he wobbled unsteadily to his upper body. Conductor had been asleep on two lined up chairs. A thick scarlet blanket fell into his lap. He rubbed his face and pondered what was going on. For all appearances, it was that amazing basement, and there seemed to be some kind of violent fight going on next to him. He wondered why. Had he collapsed, perhaps suffering from anemia or something? When Conductor was filled with a strange anxiety, one of the express owls finally noticed him.

"Conductor!"

He came up to the yellow owl with a bottle of wine in his hand. He was quite drunk and unusually excited, like a different bird. He put his arm around Conductor's shoulder in a friendly manner. A strong scent of grapes came from his wide-open beak.

"You woke up! That's great. Do you know what's happening now?" "Well……?" "They are fighting right now, haha. It's not very interesting because of the stalemate that's going on. Do you want to see it, Conductor~?"

His face, so red that it was clearly visible even from the darkness, was full of joy at having discovered a new toy. Without waiting for Conductor's reply, the owl yanked his arm and forced him to stand. Breaking through the waves of the audiences, the drunken bird led Conductor to the front row of the disastrous scene. A small child who is injured to look at. Next, a big, familiar-looking moon penguin. The runaway cars set up around them, the unreasonable rain of spotlights, the dangerous mirror balls, the flickering disco floor lights that hurt his eyes. Conductor couldn't look directly at them for three seconds. He screamed and immediately turned his head the other side. But the drunk, amused by the yellow owl's reaction, grabbed him by the head and returned his gaze to its former position. Conductor tried to escape the horrific sight by shaking his head, but many hands reached out behind him and pinned his head. Then, the audiences were paying more attention to Conductor's reaction than to the trivial fight. If the distinction between birds and others is biological, rather than legal, and if furthermore, in recognizing them as birds, birdity is required of them, then there was no longer anyone there who could be called a bird, except for Conductor. The yellow owl, which had become the center of attention all at once, had no idea what was going on and was just frightened and listening to the screams of the child. Why did this happen? Why is DJ Grooves attacking her? Why doesn't everyone help the child? When is it now anyway?

He saw his own daughter in the girl, her face slick with tears and sweat. One day his daughter jumped into Conductor's chest, crying violently. Conductor was heartbroken as a father to see her little body trembling in search of a safe zone. When he asked her what had happened, his daughter did not speak. She must have encountered something so terrible that it was hard for her to even speak about it. Without asking any more questions, Conductor just stroked the girl's head gently. He brought water to the crying, dehydrated owl and took a beak tap on her forehead to encourage her. It is a familiar expression of affection in owls. Conductor did not even know her name. But what did that have to do with not helping her? He ran out into the hall and struggled to save the girl, but the drunks noticed and crushed Conductor with their smirks.

Grooves frowned more when he realized that Conductor was awake. He himself did not feel too guilty about the fight, but he did not want Conductor to see it. The moon penguin was well aware that he had no tolerance for this kind of uncensored violence and malice. From the high stage, one could clearly see Conductor struggling among the waves of owls. He was about to interrupt the fight at any moment. He was probably lashing out for the kid. That would mean he would be Grooves' enemy, even though Grooves is fighting for Conductor (at least he thought he was). He wasn't exactly good with a knife, even if it was a flattering one. So if a brave yellow owl jumped in front of Grooves, he might accidentally kill him. That is the end of the line. The fight must end before Conductor manages to overcome the resistance of the owls. He set out to advance his plan. He readied the saws, flipped the switch, and let it slide to the floor. The relentless electric saw easily pushed the rainbow aside and lunged at the girl. But the constant rhythm of the repetitions was easy to avoid, and Hatkid dealt with them appropriately. The fight was boring, after all. It was no different from a movie about Conductor who runs out of ideas. Instead of booing the girl, the audiences were preoccupied with desperately trying to stall Conductor.

The resistance of the yellow owl, sobered up from its intoxication, was tremendous, and it was surely damaging the express owls. However, the overwhelming violence of their numbers was no match for them, and he was finally pulled to the other side.

"What are we going to do about this?"

One of the express owls said. His arm pressed Conductor firmly to the floor.

"We need alcohol." "Someone bring me a bottle of wine, just a cheap one."

The cheap ones, by which they meant wines with a very high alcohol content and no taste at all. It was previous Conductor's least favorite wine. The unopened bottle was soon in the hands of a drunk. It was a blood-red color with no luster. The cork was popped with a loud clang. The bottle began to bleed unceremoniously. The drunk jammed it down Conductor's throat. He screamed and flailed about, but to no avail. Unable to breathe properly, he became increasingly breathless, and his body began to twitch slightly from lack of oxygen. One of the owls noticed this and hurriedly took the bottle away, pondered for a few seconds, and poured what was left over on the yellow owl's head. It was enough for a movie performance. The beautiful golden feathers, the milk-colored cutter shirt, the violet tie, and the uniform, as black as the summer shadows wherever it went, turned violently red. Conductor's tongue drooped lazily as he sucked on the alcohol. Soon the poison was in his blood, eating away at his reasoning and clarity of vision. His body was like a mannequin, refusing to listen. In short, the spectacle directed a kind of sickly beauty. It fueled the interest and aggravation of the express owls, whose violence was heightened by excessive alcohol and a bloated sense of righteousness. Cute Aggression, a word that cannot describe the heat that was raised, brought in another bottle of the cheap one. What could Conductor have done? He thought through his fading consciousness as he was soaked in the poison of the room temperature. He could still hear the child's screams, but Conductor could do nothing. He gulped down the wine, which tasted as sour as soy sauce, and stared out into the hall with unfocused eyes. The child was crying in front of him again. She is crying and fighting. At the same time, he hears the laughter of an adult who is cruel in a childish tone. With a terrible headache, it plays in Conductor's brain, exaggerated and repetitive. The unpleasant circular chorus tormented the yellow owl. Help her, Grooves! ＿＿＿＿he wanted to shout at least that, but the faint tremor in his throat only echoed emptily in the wine bottle.

When the third bottle of wine was empty, Hatkid let out a loud scream. It was as sharp as a train whistle and as instantaneous as a viola pitchcart. She cowered in the center of the disco floor, holding her right leg. Her tricornered hat slipped off and obscured her face, but it was clear to anyone who looked at her that she was probably crying.

Her right foot was as lovely as ever ＿＿＿＿if only he hadn't seen her cracked sole.

Things are simple. Grooves dropped five mirror balls. She jumped to avoid them as usual. Then she jumped one last step higher to counterattack. The penguin dodged the unstable chemicals in the nick of time and threw a saw at the defenseless girl's landing spot. Perhaps if she had switched hats at the moment of landing, she might have been able to defend herself, but alas, the girl was not that skillful. The vicious electric saw easily broke the thick-soled boot and caused a big wound on the girl. A lot of blood flowed between the leather and her skin. It made small pools and stained the floor. There was a small piece of flesh on the saw. The boot had saved the nerves, but it was still a serious injury. The right leg was her dominant leg, which meant she could no longer jump. The unnatural red, like coloring, glowed faintly iridescent in the too strong light from below. Grooves knew he had won at that moment, and the audiences were excited to see that the boring mud fight was finally coming to a finale. Birds started to dance, some splashed wine all over the place, others made vulgar noises, while others stepped back and sneered at them.

Conductor listened it too, of course. His brain, which was barely working properly, picked up the girl's scream and the adult's laughter, and put them in the same file. Something noisy. He could move this time if he wanted to, because the audience had left Conductor to watch the finale in the hall. But as usual, his alcohol-sensitive body would not listen, and he just lazily wiggled on the floor. The caterpillar-like yellow owl lay there feeling the cold wood temperature. And he was struggling to reason his way through the intense shock. What did she do? Who is she? Why is she here? Why isn't anyone taking her water and bandages? I'm sure that if she doesn't, the fungus will get into her wound and her leg will rot. If no one else is going to do it, then I must do it. But how am I going to get there? Where are the water and bandages? Conductor's brain was too tired to bring him the information he needed. His brain, which had gone completely haywire, searched for an answer to his request, but he did not know where the water and bandages were. So of course his cerebrum could not respond properly. Finally, it suggested alternative information to Conductor. As an apology, it tried to be as helpful as possible.

Conductor could do nothing else, so he took it in silence.

10. Her life lasted surprisingly long. She kept as much distance from Grooves as possible and continued to dodge attacks as best she could. Little Charlie accurately analyzed the penguin's gaze and knife habits, and avoided the shockwaves created by the mirror ball by making small jumps with one foot. As expected, she couldn't completely avoid all of them, but it was enough to renew Grooves' frustration. He howled as he vomited blood. His throat was hurting. His disappointment in himself that he couldn't kill one little girl who couldn't even jump properly, and his anxiety that he hadn't seen Conductor since a few minutes ago, were definitely getting to him. He knew that the owls were swarming around him, but he doubted that they had killed him. Killing him wouldn't be a big problem since he would be back to previous anyway, but seeing the dead body of a friend is not very pleasant for anyone. In fact, he had a feeling it was even worse than that. As harmless as owls are, there is no telling what they might do if he took his eyes off of them. The same could be said for moon penguins, but Grooves was wary of them anyway because of the previous incident. Grooves stepped in with his right foot and attacked the girl, closing the distance at once. He was also unfamiliar with fighting, and he had to hold the knife. His hearing was getting duller and his vision even worse. It shouldn't have been such a difficult fight, but accidents and luck were making both sides suffer more than necessary.

When the lights, which had been deliberately turned off, came back on, he felt a real touch and weight on his tired fins. He felt his fintips gradually warming. From behind his sunglasses he found himself finally cutting into the girl's shoulder. He couldn't make out much of her complexion, but he had an idea that she was probably turning quite blue. Anyway, the important thing was that the girl had lost yet another means of attack. If she could no longer throw chemicals, the only way she had left was to rely on the shockwave created by the ice sculpture.

When the girl realized that her arm was no longer useful, she immediately changed her hat. Her speed of decision making was to be called a talent now. The thick ice had saved her from Grooves' second blow in the nick of time. From her temporary safe zone, she watched the moon penguin break the ice in a half-maddened frenzy.

＿＿＿＿Something quick and small ran right by Grooves, hit the wall and popped.

A warning shot, they both thought at the same moment. The knife stopped in mid-air. Grooves looked at Hatkid, who had spotted something over his shoulder, and saw her face fill with hope as quickly as it had appeared, and the anxiety that had been gnawing at him was amplified. He turned fearfully. There was a yellow owl. Conductor was pointing his muzzle at Grooves. Even with his well-defined eyes, he could see his anger. Grooves let out a grand sigh, realizing that his bad premonition had come true.

The overdose brought Conductor a wide variety of discomforts and a memory of 15 years later that had been suggested by his brain, which was no longer functioning properly because of it. Conductor still couldn't remember Hatkid, but at least he had some basis for fighting back against the studio and what was wrong with it. His memory ended before the 42nd Award, so he had not doubt that he was superior to Grooves. He was understandably angry. Just the fact that Grooves was using his props without the holder's permission was upsetting, but the way he was using them was so much worse. It was undeniably all Conductor's props that were putting the girl in a tight spot. The same is true of the knife Grooves is now desperately grasping. It was the very knife Conductor had always carried for self-defense. He must have pulled it out while he was asleep. Conductor had every reason to attack Grooves. It was one of the dangerous gifts given to him by a friend. It was specialized to kill someone because it was sharp and easy to grip. Conductor always carried it with him as if it were a talisman.

Conductor did not lower his pistol, nor did he say anything. He was unable to open his mouth due to an overpowering sense of malaise. The fake, but practical pistol was glaring at Grooves＿＿＿＿It is not supposed to be a real pistol, but its construction is quite authentic and it can be shot as long as it is loaded. DJ Grooves laughed weakly. So Conductor is Conductor, huh? He muttered to himself, "So this is what happens in the end." For a while, the sound of gloomy laughter echoed lonely in the hall. It was a little too graphic to be music, and it didn't carry enough of a message to be called art. Conductor waited. He quietly demanded that Grooves apologize to him, to Hatkid, and to all the rest. When it finally got through to the moon penguin, the laughter slowly faded out.

"＿＿＿＿I hate, I hate YOU, darling!"

The audiences just stared at the sequence of events. They did nothing. They just stared blankly, their eyes fixed on the quiet finale that had come so suddenly. No one could act, panic taking over. Conductor brought Hatkid some bandages and water, and her injuries were treated. There were so deep and numerous, that it took quite a while just to disinfect and bandage them. During this time, Hatkid explain Conductor the situation to her in a quiet voice. It was a fairly logical and understandable explanation considering she is a child.

"It's my fault." Hatkid's voice began to shake. "It's always like this……timepiece. I couldn't retrieve it before this happened."

Hatkid broke the hourglass. Her bandage-covered body was instantly restored. Smooth skin wrapped the girl in a look of innocence. Conductor was shocked, then fell flat on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unconscious moon penguin lying on the floor. Finally, he was not fit to be called a bird, both in spirit and appearance＿＿＿＿Why didn't he use the timepiece on himself during the fight? He could have safely recovered himself by taking refuge on the stage and using it. Was there some reason why he could not do so? He didn't know anything about it now. For once, Conductor felt compassion for Grooves. Everyone has a past they want to redo. He probably wanted to redo all the battles he had fought. He wanted to beat Conductor so badly that he had to resort to this kind of mysterious magic. Conductor's insight was not correct, but he was able to guess the end point of his obsession. ＿＿＿＿DJ Grooves did this because of Conductor. That said, Conductor was not about to apologize to Grooves. He believed that it was wrong to bring something so uncertain as art into the awards. He felt pity for Grooves, but he concluded that Conductor was the one who should be pitied. It was definitely DJ Grooves who cheated, and Conductor was just abducted here.

"Do it quickly. Fix it……everything, everything that wasna there……"

Conductor squeezed out his gruff voice. He pulled Hatkid's small body into a tight hug. Dripping tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto Conductor's beak.

The battle had begun long, but it would end, and its repair, in a moment.

11. The Express Owl began to slide slowly down the railroad tracks. Conductor spotted the express owl rushing after it from its lonely caboose, but he did not bother to stop the train, but rather mocked him. That alone made that morning one of Conductor's most wonderful mornings. He rested his cheek on the railing and stared at the scenery, which flowed like a river. Sand, hills, sometimes cacti. What shall I make happen here next? Conductor is a movie director, so anything is possible. Most of his stories ended with a bad ending, but Conductor thought it was much more artistic than an irresponsible happy ending. Besides, this kind of violence is what the judges like. If I am going to make a case, I want it to be extremely flamboyant and dangerous. However, since what is required in a movie is a modicum of the unusual and not fantasy, a certain degree of reality is also important. In the realm of reality, the most dangerous things are usually bombs or guns. He smelled the scent of the wind mixed with sand. We have plenty of time before the 42nd Annual Bird Movie Award. So let's take at least a day off from shooting. Because it's so hot today.

***

Thanks for reading this far! I wanted to explain the background of the studio, but I was limited. Anyway, I should mention that some birds like broken Conductor. Of course he can be kind too. The shadowy owl is one of them.

Anyway, great writers! I admire your patience and ability to express yourselves……Happy Valentine!!!!

#a hat in time #ahit fanfic #my writing #ahit conductor #ahit dj grooves #ahit hat kid #ahit moon penguin #ahit express owl #the conductor #dj grooves #hat kid #moon penguin #express owl

22 notes · View notes