Chapter Text
A new day in Karmaland with the sun illuminating the entire peaceful meadow.
The sun's rays fell on the plants, bathing them in the same way, giving them vital energy to live another day in the forest.
The leaves of the trees danced gently in the light currents of fresh air.
The villagers opened their shops or chatted with their neighbors carefree, spreading the joy of each other.
Everything was simply perfect in Karmaland.
Or so everyone tried to pretend.
It hadn't been long since that alien ship had unexpectedly arrived in Karmaland just a few minutes before the verdict of who would obtain custody of the now deceased child Titanicus, or better known as Titi for the heroes of Karmaland.
Everyone tried to continue with their daily tasks, but it was impossible, and even more so for the heroes since they couldn't help but feel that emptiness.
But those who were hit the hardest by the news were Titi's own father, Rubius, and to a certain extent the youngest hero of the group, Quackity.
Staxx hardly ever left his house, spending most of his time in bed crying over the loss of his son so much that he lost a lot of weight and also neglected his responsibilities as a hero, although no one but Vegeta said anything to him since they understood his reason for pain and so they respected his space.
Rubius was a "somewhat" similar case; in a moment of total desperation, his mind in defense mode blocked all tragic memories of Titi's accident, so that soon the bear hybrid could be seen wandering around Karmaland as if nothing had happened, even some of his companions came to hear him mutter and talk to himself. This could not help but arouse concern for the mental health of his companion.
Quackity, that young duck hybrid, suffered several injuries in that small war, such as burns and certain fractures in some areas of his body, so his isolation was understandable for many, although they were quite worried when Luzu, after returning from his mission, could not talk to the younger, since he was reluctant to engage in conversation with him or the rest who tried to do the same. Although for everyone he returned to being the same carefree boy after a week when he left his house totally as good as new.
Although the problems as they went away, other bigger ones came.
The gods of Karmaland did not take long to identify certain "faults" within their server.
They were certainly confused since they could not fully identify what these were and where they led, so they quickly communicated with their messenger Merlon about this inconvenience.
..~..
It was 5:30 and the sun was giving its first rays and these were sneaking through the window of a certain pyramid, falling directly on the face of the person who was resting in his comfortable bed. Quackity cursed under his breath because he had recently woken up due to the natural light that the sun gave every morning, he made a mental note to remove that window and seal that hole so that the sun would no longer bother him in the mornings.
He turned around and there he saw him, it was his turtle son Merlon Vegeta, who was sleeping peacefully next to him in his bed. He had planned to wake him up, but decided to let him rest a little longer while he tried to have breakfast to remove the emptiness in his stomach.
He got up a little lazily from the bed, massaged his face and groped for his mask while he got rid of his morning sleepiness. Once he found it, he got up and searched his chests for some edible food for him and Merlon, but he found nothing.
He complained again about his luck and how fucked up his morning was, he complained so much that Merlon ended up getting up because of the shouting Quackity was doing.
- Oh, kid, we ran out of bread, I'm such an idiot, I ate it all yesterday and didn't buy more, I would have asked my Sugar Daddy for more - the Mexican lamented
Merlon didn't say anything, he admired his father complaining about how bad life was and even about big-assed goths with the curious name Luzu.
After Quackity finished complaining (half an hour) he left his humble home with Merlon in search of a store in town that could sell him food for his morning and the next ones.
The walk was quiet and the only noise was his footsteps on the semi-wet grass under his feet and some small birds that fluttered around the forest where they sang softly.
He liked that feeling of peace, but he also longed for a bit of the characteristic chaos that Karmaland always possessed. The days were a bit monotonous since that incident with Titi, but little by little everything was returning to normal and soon he would hear the laughter and complaints of his companions being exploited by Rubius' mines.
Or well that was what he thought until he received a message from Vegeta, asking everyone to go to the center of the town, that it was an urgent warning from Merlón and that they all had to be punctual. And he stressed it especially for Rubius and him.
- Great, our breakfast is screwed, my son - lamented the duck looking at the little turtle totally annoyed.
He let out a sigh full of resignation and resumed his walk to the town, only this time with the objective of reaching that meeting.
Although that would have been possible if he had not been distracted by a strange noise coming from one of the bushes near his position, it sounded like a kind of static which would assimilate it to one of when the television is on the air channel and the signal goes out. Quackity looked at Merlon, and as if Merlon could see his face (which showed confusion over the noise) he looked at him too.
They stayed like that for several minutes, until the duck's curiosity could not go any further and he ended up approaching very cautiously to the place where that strange noise came from with Merlon behind him.
Every step he took the noise became more intense, that was when he reached its origin. Behind some bushes, a kind of dimensional breach was hidden there.
This had driven Quackity out of his wires.
The entire pantry was emptied leaving them without food, he missed breakfast because Merlon felt like it, he couldn't sleep comfortably because he had a window next to him, now he deviated from the path to end up in front of a hole with cable static worthy of Movistar. ¿What's next? ¿Rubius is straight?
Without a doubt his attention was not at all on his surroundings, so oblivious to everything, he didn't notice when his son Merlon approached a worrying distance from that hole.
- ¡Wait Merlon! ¡Don't get too close! - He exclaimed, jumping to approach the animal who instantly complied with what the duck hybrid said.
It was then that a not at all intelligent idea occurred to him.
¿What if he went in?
He looked suspiciously at the hole full of static in the bush, seriously thinking if it was a good idea to go in, it could be, ¿right?
I mean, these days he had felt very stressed, more than usual.
The mines around the town were already causing him some paranoia about Merlon's safety, the mods were also a case, plus old Merlon kept harassing him every time he went to town about improving his performance in his work as a hero... no wait, harassing is an understatement.
¡He threatened to remove him from the group!
For him I would have said "awebo prize", but I reconsidered it when I analyzed that ultimatum better. He was not sure that removing him from the group would be just that, he does not know what the Gods would do with him if he no longer has that title.
Worse still, he doesn't know what they would do with Merlon, being literally a creation of the gods.
He looked at his pet/son, analyzing all the existing possibilities.
- ¿Mijo, what do you say? ¿Do we jump in and do whatever God wants? Or do we stay to see the face of the old cricose - he asked the turtle after thinking about it for a while, seeing that he didn't have many possibilities
Merlon looked at him for a few seconds, he was also thinking about whether it was a good idea to go down that hole of dubious origin. ¿But what did they have to lose? ¿Their lives? Maybe, but at some point they are going to die anyway.
He just hopes he doesn't die, because if he does it would be a dishonorable and very stupid death.
He took out a gun and shot into the sky, Quackity smiled animatedly under his mask at his son's statement - "A really badass vacation then mijo."
He put the little turtle in his arms and held it well, he leaned slightly to gain momentum for the jump he will make.
- ¿Quacks? ¿What are you doing? - A voice made him stumble and lose his balance.
- ¡¿Lusu?! ¡LUSU! WAIT-¡¡¡¡FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
And he fell into the hole after tripping on a rock.
- ¡QUACKS!
He heard the cry of the ruby-eyed brown-haired boy, increasingly distant and echoing, which filled him with panic. The boy took him by surprise, but he could no longer do anything.
He hugged Merlon tightly and curled up into a ball while almost completely covering himself with his golden wings to protect himself from anything that might threaten the safety of his son or himself, and seconds later he lost consciousness.