Hats Are Everything

"I'm sorry, but no hat-less ponies are allowed here," says the pony, looking through the peephole in the door.

"Wha- what do ya mean by that?" I stammer, hoping I can at least see what's it like in there. The place is towering and most of the community comes here every day.

"Again. If you don't have a hat," he bends down to show the hat he is wearing through the eye hole. A fedora. "Then you can't come in. As what we say: Hats are everything; day or night."

"But-"

"I'm sorry! You can't come in!" He repeated for the third time. And he slides the opening shut with a clack!

I turn around and hang my head low. Scuffing my hoof across the concrete of the sidewalk as I head down the street. Now what am I going to do? Get a hat I suppose. But there isn't any hat stores around this place. I huff in frustration of the lack of headgear I have yet garner.

I pass by a library. I guess I can read about hats. Maybe if I can impress him with a motley of hats, he would let me in. The thought intrigues me as I could, in theory, get a thinking cap. The place isn't out of the ordinary, save for the wizard hat that decorates the sign. It probably is a symbol of the magical adventures of reading or something. I pay no attention to that as I walk into the book bank.

The inside is that of an ordinary library. Rows upon rows of bookshelves with books sorted out in a way that will make any obsessively compulsive pony squeal with delight. But I'm not here to admire the chronologically ordered paperbacks. Instead, I'm trying to look for a librarian so I can traverse through this labyrinth of a stock without losing my sanity.

I see the librarian sitting in front of a computer, typing away on the keyboard, next to a couple of revolving book racks. And I wait no longer before I approached the young stallion

"Excuse me, do you happen to have a book about hats?" I ask him.

"Hats?" He stops typing and rubs his chin with a hoof, recalling the section by memory. "A bit of an unusual topic, but I know where that is. Follow me."

He sits up and wraps around into the hallway to the right of him. I quickly follow suit before I lose him in this maze. We go through a series of stairs, rooms, shelves, you name it. And we finally come upon another part of the library which I assume is the place. And I have to say, the place is well lit for a place I vaguely heard of.

I look at the several rows of books surrounding me. Dear Celestia please don't tell me this whole place is for this.

"Uh... is this whole part of the place, just for headgear?" I repeat my thoughts.

"Nope. It's just from here," he taps the one end of the hats section and saunters a couple of steps halfway through the row. "To here. But let me pull those two ends out for you as a bookmark." I stand aside as he pulls the two ends out with his magic and lays it on the table in front of me. Heh. A literal book-mark

"Thanks. I guess I better start reading."

"Well have fun then!" He says enthusiastically. "If you need me, I'll be where I was. Just follow the exit sign." He points to the sign above the door. I give him a small wave and he leaves me to venture the world of literature.

I held the two books in my hooves. One titled, "The Natural Selection of Hats." Probably boring. And the other, "A Team's Fortress of Hats." Interesting. I put the probably boring book away and opened the more interesting book.

I'm usually not a book reader, but this is one of the few that really gets my attention. It's about two brothers fighting over the other deed of the land their father left them. And they hired nine mercenaries, each appointed to their company. Builder's League United and Reliable Excavation and Demolition. The beginning really confuses me because there is nothing about hats. Until later when a company named Mann Co. supplied the headgear to those mercenaries and in the book it rumored of a hat with some kind of effect to it. Interesting indeed.

It felt like hours - probably has been hours - when I reach the end of the book. And I'm about to close it until I catch a glimpse of something. I quickly skim through the pages and found what I'm looking for. A rhyme of some sort.

I start to read the words in a low voice.

In this book is a tale of a hat

Inside a tall rock it sat

From the mountain it sits in a pyre;

With looks that burns like fire

What a strange poem that is. Wait. Why do I feel a breeze in here? The windows aren't open.

And like that, the breeze started to turn into a torrent of wind and I feel like I am being sucked into the book, the words lighting up in a purple aura. I cling onto the sides of the table, trying to resist, but the book's force is too much for me. And I get sucked into the book.

And now I see a world of black.

"Is he avake?" Comes a voice in the dark.

"His eyes are closed. That means he's dead," comes another one.

"Can we eat him?" Suggested the third. His words a tad too sober.

My eyes instantly shoot open at the suggestion that I'm going to be eaten.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" I shout.

The three figures jump back. And I jump back too. Although, more like scoot back

"It speaks!" One of them shouts. Pointing with something rubbery that I have no idea what it is.

"Uh. Of course I can speak," I confirm, confused. "But... what are you guys?"

"We're mercenaries, mate," comes a voice from behind them. "I'd ask the same question to you."

"Well.. I'm a pony..." I answer carefully, as if they would still try and eat me.

"A pony?" Another, but slightly chubbier figure comes behind the hatted stranger. "A small horse?" He adds.

After that, another mercanary makes his appearance. And I am pelted with questions like: what do I eat? Why do I have wings? Why is my coat a color of blue?

I feel like the questions will never end until some mercenary silenced the quizzical group with a loud throat clearing. The mercenaries turned to the interrupter. I can get a good view of him. He is wearing a red pinstripe suit with a mask covering his face and he is smoking a cigarette.

"Gentlemen. As much as you all want to ask him questions. I think that is good enough for now."

"Well how can we know if he's not one of them? He's blue!" The helmet wearing mercenary replies, pointing an accusing hoof- er- thing at me.

"Does he look like he wants to hurt us? He is not even carrying a weapon," the suited one questions.

"What if he is a weapon?" He theorizes.

"Don't be ridiculous."

And with that, they slowly dissolve away from me and apparently return to their original doings. He comes up to me and offers a help up as I'm still lying on my back.

"Thanks."

"Of course. But I am still curious as to how you got here," he asks and lets out a puff of smoke that dances in the air.

"Well I'm not so sure myself. The things I remember is that I read a book about some kind of hat in the mountains."

The room fell silent as if something I said was a key word for silence. Not that I am complaining.

A mercenary comes from the side of me and puts an arm on my shoulder. "You don't mean that hat. Do ya?" He is wearing a hard hat and welding goggles so it's difficult for me to see his emotions.

I carefully choose my next words. "What... do you mean by, that hat?"

"Well, I guess I'd better tell ya bout' it."

So me and the two sat on a bench nearby a closet of some sort. And he tells me the legend of the flaming hat. Or unusual he calls it. I read of the story back at the library, but I didn't want to be rude and interrupt him and let him finish the story. I learned a couple new things anyways. About how that there's other kinds of unusuals that lie in the possession of other mercenaries.

"And that's what, that hat, is." He finished. He stood stiff as if he heard something. "Ah heck. Where are my manners? I'm Engineer, what's your name?" He stuck out his arm in a greeting.

At least this doesn't seem too unfamiliar. "My name's Sky Surge," I say shaking hooves with him.

"Sky Surge. Nice to meet ya."

"I'm sorry if this sounds a bit weird," cutting to the chase, "but what are those things at the end of your arms?" I start to rub the back of my head with my hoof uncomfortably, wondering how he'll react.

"Oh these?" He holds them up. "They're hands."

Hands... weird

"Okay then. But I'm wondering if I am able to get that hat. I kinda need it."

"For what reason? May ah ask?"

"Well... you see, there's this one group that won't let me in because I don't have a hat," I say timidly.

Engineer broke into a smile. "Well say no more! Might as well treat ya in an adventure while we're at it."

"But a risky one at that." Spy adds.

"I'll ask the team, then."

The Engineer gets up from the chair and asks the room for their attention.

"Thank ya'll for quieting down so quickly. But I would like to say something." He starts to think of the words to say to them.

"Well? What is it?" Says a dog tag wearing mercenary, obviously not enjoying the quiet time.

"We're going on the quest for... the hat. And I'm just wondering if ya'll are up for it. For our friend, Sky Surge."

The silence is replaced with contemplation and exchanged glances as the team is deciding whether to help me on this... quest. Or not. And by the volunteers and general positive commotion , it seems like they are with me.

"Well, that's settled then. We're going on a trip!" The Engineer concludes with a clap of his... ihandsi

And without a moment to spare, we went out of the gates and out into the garage where some kind of cart waits for us.

"What's that?" I point to the wheeled object.

"The truck?" Engineer asks.

"Yeah. That's what it's called?"

"Ah assume you don't have a truck where you're from?"

"Yeah."

The team already boarded the truck, save for Spy who was leaning against the side of the garage wall, smoking another cigarette. He must be fairly addicted. Probably his second or third one in these two hours or so.

I let that thought not cloud my mind as I enter the itrucki from behind. I notice the decal on the side that says, "RED Bread," as I saunter by. Are they bakers or something? As I board the truck, I notice they are already doing their own thing as if they've done this before. Of course, they're mercenaries. Some of them doing their casual chatting and things like that.

I glance around the roomy back of the truck and found a seat next to Engineer, the only one I feel comfortable to be around. And a few seconds later after we got settled, I start to hear a rumbling and the truck starts to vibrate. I start to feel a bit worried.

"Why's the truck rumbling?" I ask in a concerned tone, clutching the sides of the chair.

"It's startin'."

"What's starting?" I hope this doesn't take off into the skies.I hate heights. Even if I can fly.

"The truck."

"Oh." I still don't know how does it, "start." Magic maybe? I ease my death grip on the poor upholstery.

I let that thought kill a few minutes as we're out on the road, theorizing on how magic affects this truck's movement. Most of the time I just stare at the ground, letting my daydreaming purge my idle thoughts.

"Everythin' alright Sky?"

My ears perk up and I turn to face him. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just I thought that I asked too many questions already." Accounting for the couple of questions, but they're probably annoyed by my curiosity. But Engineer didn't seem too annoyed.

"No worries partner! If ah were in the same situation as you, mah mouth would be runnin' a mile a minute. You can ask me anythin'. Really!" His enthusiasm of curing my curiosity helps me open to be a little bit less timid on asking. "That is, if ya let me ask questions of my own. I'm quite curious too Sky Surge," he says with a humble chortle.

"I'm fine with that. So whose the rest of your friends?"

"Well that's easy." He starts to point at the various mercenaries. "That's Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Medic, Sniper, and over there, you already know him I assume."

"Yeah. Spy," I answer.

"Why don't ya introduce yourself to the others?" The thought scared me from the last time they thought about eating me.

"Uh... I'm not too sure about that."

"Don't be afraid. I'll come with ya then."

"Oookay then." Unsure about the events to come.

We didn't have to stray too far to meet the others. Some of them were okay. Some of them were drunk - I should say one of them but I can't be so sure at this point. And this one mercenary, specifically, doesn't really talk too much. He just sits there and plays with the lighter he has with him with the occasional "huddah." I guess it's from the rubber suit he wears.

"So, how is ze tour?" Spy asks.

"Fine, I guess."

"Well we have not formally introduced ourselves." He sticks out his hand in greeting. "I am Spy. Pleased to meet you."

"Sky Surge. Pleased to meet you too. Thanks for saving me back there," relating to the quizzical bombardment.

He nods with a small smile in a silent, "you're welcome."

"So where is this hat specifically?" I ask as the book wasn't very clear about it. Just some kind of lone mountain.

"Well, if the rumors are true, we're headin' to the mountain not too far from sawmill," Engineer replies.

"Okay. I guess we should head back to our seats. It's nice to meet you Spy," I give him a polite nod, in which he returned with a same one.

"Likewise."

Engineer hasn't really been asking me questions as he said he would. I guess he's as loathsome as I.

"So do you have any questions for me?" I ask.

"Well I have plenty. Like how do you know English?"

English? I tap my chin. "Well I guess it's the same as how you did it I suppose. Parents?" I ask rhetorically.

"That's quite interestin', Sky. But why are you blue instead of the usual pony colors?"

"Usual pony colors?"

"Ya know. Tan, white, brown, black."

"Well we ponies can be pretty much any color. Same goes for our mane." The thought of being, ithemi, makes me curious. "Also, if you haven't heard, who are they referring me to as ithemi?"

"Oh. Them?" For some reason continuing the pronoun game.

"Who?"

"Other mercenaries. The BLU team."

And if the situation isn't evident enough, I don't know what will, but I think I'm in the book I read at the library. It all makes sense now, and the ones I talked to are the RED team. I open my mouth to say something about it, but I decide to keep it shut for now as I'm not sure if it will create some kind of paradox. Better safe than sorry I suppose. Thankfully he didn't catch my hesitation. It might have gotten awkward. And maybe destructive. In a dimensional way.

"Is that why Soldier said I might be an enemy?"

"That's right. We usually attack blue colored mercenaries on sight. But thankfully we didn't have our weapons with us. Or else you'd be a goner."

"Weapons, what we-." I stop mid sentence and look around to notice a few bladed weapons next to the mercenaries, and I could even identify the bat I saw with Scout earlier. But what's more confusing is the things that don't look like a bladed weapon or bat. More specifically the one that Sniper is holding at the moment. It must be an ease for them to hold them with their slender hands.

"Yeah, I see them now. But what's the one Sniper's holding?"

"Well why don't ya ask him? Hey Sniper!" He waves to him before I have a chance to protest.

He puts the item down and walks up to us. "What's up Engineer?"

"Sky Surge here is just wonderin' what's that over there." He motions his head to the direction of the chair Sniper was sitting on. "What you were just holding a few seconds ago."

"Ah. That? Gimmie a second." He walks back with an eager chuckle and picks up the metal and wood object and comes back to us. "This is my beaut. A fifty caliber single-shot bolt-action sniper rifle," he says with pride. "Just aim for the head and they won't be getting up any time soon."

"A gun, is pretty much what he's sayin'," says Engineer, clearing it up in means of translation, but adding another layer of confusion. iA gun?i

"Hey! It's not ijusti a gun," he says, cradling the gun protectively. "It's a piece of work." He pulls some kind of metal tube with something slender sticking from one end, up and out. And back to where it was. iInterestingi.

"Well that piece of work sure made Sky curious. Thanks for showin' us."

He nods his head and returns to where he was.

"And what about you Engineer? Do you have a gun of your own?"

"Well it depends. Which one?"

I'm confused. "What do you mean by, 'which one'?"

"It's better if I show you." He takes a tube-looking gun with a bent end on his lap. "This, is one of em'." Engineer then slides a toolbox from outside my vision in front of him. The metal chest opens up and something mechanical opens up and starts to spin and turn and rotate around in various movements and angles. Already I'm mesmerized.

Something that moves on its own. Sure I've seen unicorns levitating stuff before, but this one isn't enveloped in a magical aura. Nothing was making it move but itself. About twenty seconds later the machine stops moving and something cylindrical on a tripod is the finished product.

"Wow," I say both impressed and intrigued. I notice it start to swivel left and right, making a periodical ibeepi as it rebounds to the other direction.

"I built that."

"What is it?"

"A sentry."

A sentry? I've heard of it before but it's one of those royal guards that are watching the castle, not some kind of machine that beeps at me. I am about to ask him more, but the truck jerks to a stop, feeling the momentum throw me off balance for a bit.

Heavy walks into the back. "We're here."

The team and I hop off the truck and before me in the distance is a voluminous mountain and appreciating the location, everything around it looks so small with its towering heights.

"Well?" Scout asks. "Betta get started."

We move through the large patch of grass in agreement, the mountain growing bigger as we near it. And through a few minutes of walking, we start to see orphaned rocks in the fields of grass around us.

The sightseeing is breathtaking from the near-base of the mountain. And I notice another group of blue colored mercenaries. Wait...

Pyro, who was in front of us, sticks out an arm to stop our advancement. He points to the BLU team to the right of us. And we take immediate action, hiding behind a couple of rocks big enough for us to be obscured.

"Vat are zey doing here?" Medic said behind clenching teeth.

Sniper takes out his rifle and aims at one of them. But Spy quickly lowers his barrel before he can take the shot.

"Do not engage them. It is too dangerous. Not when our friend is here" Sniper puts down his gun and takes some other gun out, and hoofs it to me.

"You might need this." I carefully take the gun and clumsily hold it in my hooves. Apparently it's tailored only to their slender hands as the thin handles are a tad too small for me to grasp. I start to look down the hollowed barrel of the gun to marvel at the workings of this, iguni, but Sniper immediately takes notice and quickly points the barrel away from my curious eye.

"Try not to do that, mate." He looks at me with a concerned expression. "Not unless you'd want your head blown off."

And with that notion I don't want to try and peep through it again. I give up trying to use such sophisticated weaponry and peep past the rocks and at the BLU team.

"Are they after the same thing?" I ask Engineer.

"I guess so," he replies.

I let out a huff of frustration that there's somepony else trying to get it. "Are we able to get there faster than them?"

"They're moving, we're standing. Of course they're going to beat us!" Soldier says in a hushed shout.

Although his logic doesn't make that much sense, we have to get a move on in order for us to get ahead. "Well shall we get going?" I ask the team. Most of the team gave me a subtle nod and quickly head down to the base of the mountain.

The BLU team has passed our line of sight as we neared the towering mountain, possibly heading for the entrance, but Engineer says that they're heading the wrong way or what he tells me. I took trust in his saying because he knows this world better than I and we circle around the mountain and found the caving entrance in front of us.

"What'd I tell ya, Sky? We made it before they did!" Engineer says enthusiastically.

I simply smile in return. "Well we better hurry inside then. Before we meet them here." I nodded towards the opposite direction from where we came from reminding them that we're still in a race for the prize.

"Well what makes ya think that we can't beat these bozos?" Scout challenged.

"We have someone with us, and we cannot risk him getting hurt," Spy replied.

Scout opens his mouth to say something in retaliation but the rest of us are already heading inside the cave, leaving him outside.

"Ya- Hey! Wait up!" Scout shouts and hurriedly runs inside.

The cave is, to my surprise, well lit with a nicely made-out trail that spirals upwards to the top of the mountain. I was expecting something poorly lit, if not pitch black with an undefined path that would lead us to a possible death pit.

But there is no death pit, no profiled gauntlet before the grand treasure. Me and the rest of the team are wondering if this could all be a trick. Then we came across a split path with a sign that points to the right that says "FOR HAT," and another one to the opposite direction that says, "NOT FOR HAT."

Silence fills the air.

"Well that's a no braina'," Scout says.

"What if it's a trap?" Soldier asks.

"Soldier, this ain't a trap: just look at it." He motions at the sign in front of us.

"But what if the sign lies to us?"

Scout lets out a groan of annoyance and walks up to the sign. "Excuse me, sign. But can you tell us the direction of the hat?" He leans in closer and puts a hand up to his ear. "What's that?"

Soldier cranes forward to the sign. "What does it say?"

"Nothing!" Scout shouts at him. "I'm done with you guys, I'm heading on by my own."

"But tiny man cannot go by himself!" Heavy pleads.

"Well forget it, fatso!" Scout comes nose to nose with me and pokes my chest. I didn't budge. "And you. What makes ya think that you should get the hat? If at most, I should be gettin' it! I'm betta' than all you knuckleheads combined!" And with that, he storms down the, "FOR HAT," direction.

We stare at him as he stomps down the path until he turns a corner and disappears.

"What's his problem?" Demoman slurs.

"I don't know about you but if the sign is telling us the truth, then we better head the right direction." Soldier starts to march down Scout's previous path.

"Now hold on a second, Soldier." Engineers stops him and inspects the sign. His face knots into a scowl when he notices something. The words look freshly painted.

"Vat is wrong Engineer?"

Engineer smears his finger on the words which easily came off. He shows his paint-covered hand to Medic. "This."

"Could it be a trap?" I ask. The though of BLU team beating us seeps into my mind. "Did BLU team get here before us?"

"These guys are really gettin' on my nerves," growls Scout, not talking to anyone in particular as he walks down the now darkening cave.

After a few moments the last row of torches pass by him and now he's treading in the dark.

"Jeez, this place is gettin' dark now."

"Maybe you should see the reason why," comes a voice in the abyss.

"Spy? Is that you?" Scout infers from the French accent he heard.

But there is no answer. And a torch was lit in front of him, illuminating the environment around.

And a couple of BLU colored mercenaries.

He could let out a scream only before he was knocked out.

"Maybe: we did take the long way," says Soldier.

"Wait," Engineer says dumbfounded. "The long way?"

"Yes."

Before Engineer could open his mouth to ask him by what he means by the long way, a less-than-masculine scream echoes in the cave.

"Scout!" I shout.

The team and I rush towards him to give him possible aid. And as we reach the end of the tunnel, the mouth opens up to reveal a giant cavern. And in front of us is the legendary unusual that elegantly stands on top of a pedestal where the BLU team is behind. I notice Scout tied on a stick being hauled away by the BLU team. Even if he seems quite rude, he's team nonetheless.

"Hey! Put him down!" I yell at the BLU team.

The nine mercenaries turn towards us, guns already poised. I bare my teeth in an attempt to deter them before Pyro pulled me behind cover with a volley of bullets following suit. My heart is instantly sent racing, barely dodging death. He taps my shoulder to get my attention and mumbled something to me while pointing at the ground. Apparently he wants me to say here.

"Stay here?" I pant. He nods before peeking out of the cover with his flamethrower and reflecting a rocket with a great Woosh! and charges forward towards his adversaries.

The explosions and bullets aren't helping my recovery from death, but with a few deep breaths I gain a little bit of my sanity back. I immediately set my eyes on the hat where none of the BLU team isn't watching. I immediately took action and sprint between cover towards the hat.

After the third row of rocks I unfurl my wings and gave them a strong flap towards the unusual, keeping low to the ground to prevent them seeing me. But as my hoof touched the flaming hat, a hand simultaneously reaches for it.

I look past the hat to see the ski-masked mercenary who probably has the same goal as I. But I know only one of us is going to trot away with the hat, and I'm not going to let him get it. Me and the mysterious mercenary engaged in a tug-of-war for the hat, throwing a couple of punches and kicks as we try to take the hat from each other.

"Give up: you are not going to get this hat!" He finally protests as a rocket flew past us, blowing up a couple of stalagmites near us with a echoing Boom!.

"Oh yeah?" I retort. I reel around to give him a strong kick in the chest. A satisfying thud makes its mark and he is sent tumbling down the slope. I snag the hat with my teeth, but he manages to grab my hoof and brings me with him rolling down the hill.

We slide into a halt near a cave cliff with the hat lays a few feet in front of us. I make a run for it, closing in on the distance, but the BLU Spy pulls me back and goes ahead of me. I tackle him and continue to sprint towards it. And this went on until I grasp the unusual between my teeth and fell on my back a few inches from the edge of the bottomless pit, knocking a couple pebbles into the blackness. I look at the falling pebbles until they are shrouded in the shadows

"I am done playing games with you." I hear him call to me. He pulls out a knife and slowly skulks towards me with a wicked smile on his face.  He closes the distance between us. I start to panic. "You had your chance. And now it is too late."

I am about to agree with him as he raises his knife until a sudden torrent of wind pushes him over me and into the cliff. He screams for what seems like an eternity before he disappears into the darkness. Something saved my life. No. Someone saved my life.

I turn away from the cliff to see Pyro in front of me with his hand extended to help me up.

"Thank you," I say, a little bit shaken up as he pulls me to my hooves.

Then a few pops from a grenade launcher reaches our ears. And Pyro manages to push me away before he is hit by one of them.

"Pyro!' I scream as he was knocked to the ground. I immediately rush towards him to help. "Are you okay?" I ask rhetorically. Of course he isn't okay. He was just hit by a grenade.

But Pyro didn't care about his condition and I hear the first intelligible words through his mask ever since I got here.

"Go!" I hear him mumble.

"I can't just go! I can't just leave you here!" I wrap my hooves around him to pull him to cover.

He mumbles something again as I drag him which I perceive as, "Don't worry about me! Just go!" and reflected another grenade.

"But... I can't leave you here to die." I plead to him. He just shook his head and got back on his feet and charged towards the enemies, his flamethrower blazing to life in a stream of fiery destruction.

I take his advice before whispering my thanks. And run towards the wooden sign that says "EXIT" with the flaming hat on my head.

"Don't let him get away!" BLU Soldier shouts at me. But Engineer hits him across the face with a wrench and puts him down.

"Get goin', Sky! We'll be okay!"

But a few of the BLU team manages to push him back and charges towards me. But Pyro steps between us.

"Fire!" He shouts again. And a torrent of rockets, bullets and grenades flies towards my protector and the exit in front of me caves in.

"No!" I yell for him but my calls towards him didn't reach past the rubble. I desperately try to move the rocks, but they were too heavy for me to lift. I didn't want to accept it, but Pyro was gone. And at this rate, so will the rest of the team.

Forcing myself to stop trying to move the immovable, I fly out of the mountain and backtrack to where we came from. Heading through the grassy plains and buildings and into the truck where I vent my sadness for what everyone has done for me. I didn't care if anypony can hear my sobs, but suddenly a comforting hand is placed on my shoulder. And I turn to see my sympathizer.

And the unmistakable mask of Pyro.

"Pyro!" I said with exultant joy and wrap my hooves in an embrace.

"Like what Engie said: we'll be okay." I hear Scout say to me as the rest of the team boards the truck.

"But how?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he chuckles. "We beat them."

Engineer walks up to me with a smile. "We're just glad that you're okay, Sky. You scared us back there when they were trying to get ya and the exit cavin' in and all."

"Speak for yourself! I was so worried about you guys."

"Ahem," says Spy. "I hate to interrupt, but shall we save the reunion on the way back?"

"Oh yeah," Scout deadpans. "Hey Heavy, let's get this truck movin'."

"No need to ask Heavy," he replies. And a few moments later the truck is driving down the road back to base. I took off my hat to inspect it further

The team and I sit in the truck relapsing in today's battle until Scout comes up to me near the back of the truck.

"Hey, uh, Sky Surge."

"Hm?" I turn my attention towards him.

"Look. Ya know about earlier on what I said to ya."

"Yeah?"

He looks at the rest of the team who are distracted by the chatter and back to me. "I, uh, would like to apologize on what I said. You deserve... that hat... more than I do. At this point."

I give him a nudge. "Hey, don't sweat it."

"Heh. Thanks." And we were silent for a few moments before Soldier appears between us.

"Sky Surge!" Soldier asks. I jump at his sudden appearance.

"Uh. What, Soldier?"

"You forgot this!" He held up a book. But not just any book, the book I read back at the library.

The book as if on queue flipped open several pages to reveal a sketch of the hat that I am wearing and I'm all of a sudden sucked into the book.

And back into the library where I first read the book.

"Whoa," is all I can say. I look at the top of the head where the hat still lies. I look back at the book to where it was open to the drawing of the hat. Apparently the hat I'm wearing is a Team Captain. And the non-burning flames still flicker above it. I look out the window where the light shafts beam into the room. It's still afternoon. That means I can get inside that place!

I leave the two books on the desk and head out after thanking the librarian for showing me the book. And I head back to the place with a new found hope.

I knock on the door and the same colt shows up in the peephole.

"I told you already. You can't come in without a-," he stops talking and stares at the flaming item on my head.

"Hat?" I offer to fill in the blanks.

"Y-yeah. May I ask how did you get that?" He says to me, still baffled.

"Well let's just say that I went through an adventure to get this. Now will you let me in?" I cut to the point.

"Sorry. But this place isn't open in the weekends." He apologizes and politely closes the hatch before I can say anything else.

I let my head fall against the door with a thunk and let out a frustrated groan.

Apparently hats mean everything. Except for the weekends.