The biggest time-waster in the history of his village, 10-year-old Alto Quack is told by an emissary from the Emperor of Time that, because he has so disrespected time, the emperor has decided that he shall have only three hours more to live, then, "Kaput!" Thus begins Alto's desperate race against time through a series of hair-raising and lesson-learning adventures in the Forbidden Forest to find the emperor and beg for more time.