The room froze as Quackleton leaped into the air, his wings flapping dramatically as he dove straight for the Pie of Power. Time seemed to slow. Kazuya, holding the glowing artifact aloft, stared in horror as the duck's beady eyes locked onto his prize.
"Quackleton, NO!" Kazuya shouted, but it was too late.
With a triumphant squawk, Quackleton clamped his beak onto the Pie, his entire body radiating golden light as the artifact's mysterious energy flowed into him.
The Birth of Quackthulhu
The transformation was immediate and absurd. Quackleton began to grow, his feathers shimmering with cosmic patterns. His tiny wings expanded into majestic, glowing appendages, and his beak glowed like molten gold. Within seconds, he had quadrupled in size, his head nearly scraping the ceiling of the doughy chamber.
"I AM QUACKTHULHU, LORD OF THE BREADSTICKS," Quackleton declared, his voice now a deep, booming baritone that shook the walls.
"This is why we don't give ducks godlike power!" Sylvara shouted, shielding her eyes from the radiant duck.
The Pâtissière of Peril stared in shock. "This… this wasn't part of my plan!"
"Oh, really?" Ravynne snapped. "You didn't account for the duck eating the Pie of Power? Shocking!"
Quackthulhu's Rampage
Quackthulhu turned his glowing eyes on the Pâtissière, who immediately began to backpedal. "Wait! Mighty Quackthulhu! We can work together! Think of the pastries we could create—"
"YOUR BAKERY IS WEAK, MORTAL," Quackthulhu bellowed, flapping his enormous wings. A gust of wind swept through the chamber, knocking over the Pâtissière and scattering her henchmen like bowling pins.
"I can't believe this is happening," Kazuya muttered, watching as the duck-turned-god began to reshape the room with every quack. The bread dough walls turned into sentient baguettes, hopping around and attacking anything in sight.
One particularly aggressive baguette lunged at Crustopher, who batted it away with his own bread weapon. "This is getting out of hand!"
"Getting out of hand?!" Sylvara shouted, summoning a shield of magic to block a flying croissant. "We're well past 'out of hand'!"
The Great Bread Battle
The team sprang into action, dodging attacks from sentient pastries while trying to avoid Quackthulhu's wrath.
"Someone has to talk him down!" Ravynne said, slicing through a rogue éclair with her enchanted rapier.
"I'll try!" Kazuya shouted, stepping forward cautiously. "Quackleton—uh, I mean, Quackthulhu! Buddy! Remember who you are! You're our friend, not a bread god!"
Quackthulhu tilted his massive, glowing head. For a moment, it seemed like Kazuya's words were getting through. But then the duck let out an earth-shaking quack.
"YOU DARE QUESTION MY NEW PURPOSE?" Quackthulhu boomed. "ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE THE QUACKENING!"
"Yeah, he's gone full megalomaniac," Sylvara said. "Plan B?"
"What's Plan B?" Kazuya asked, ducking (ironically) under a flying baguette.
"Hit him really hard until he stops glowing," Sylvara said, her hands crackling with magical energy.
Kazuya's Heroic Move
As the chaos continued, Kazuya noticed something glowing faintly beneath Quackthulhu's feathers—a tiny, flickering light at the duck's heart. The source of the Pie's power.
"I have an idea!" Kazuya shouted to the group. "Keep him distracted!"
"Distract him?!" Ravynne yelled, narrowly dodging a flying danish. "How do you distract a cosmic bread duck?!"
"I don't know! Improvise!"
Sylvara rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Hey, Quackthulhu! Bet you can't handle this!" She conjured a massive illusion of a golden loaf of bread, shimmering tantalizingly.
Quackthulhu's eyes lit up. "IS THAT… THE LEGENDARY LOAF?"
"Yes!" Sylvara lied, waving her hands dramatically. "But you'll have to catch it first!" She sent the illusion flying across the room, and Quackthulhu immediately took off after it, his massive wings knocking over several sentient baguettes.
The Final Blow
While Quackthulhu was distracted, Kazuya sprinted forward, leaping onto the duck's back. Climbing the glowing feathers was no easy task, but he pressed on, determined to reach the source of the Pie's power.
"Almost… there!" he grunted, finally reaching the glowing spot at Quackthulhu's heart.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MORTAL?!" Quackthulhu roared, trying to shake him off.
"Saving you!" Kazuya shouted, plunging his hand into the light.
The room erupted in a blinding flash as the Pie's power was released.
The Aftermath
When the light faded, Quackleton was back to his normal duck self, sitting in Kazuya's arms and looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Well, that was traumatic," Sylvara said, brushing pastry crumbs out of her hair.
"Did… did we win?" Crustopher asked, looking around at the wrecked chamber.
The Pâtissière was nowhere to be seen, having apparently fled during the chaos. The sentient pastries were now lifeless piles of dough, and the Pie of Power lay shattered on the ground.
"We won," Kazuya said, holding Quackleton up to eye level. "But you, little guy, are officially on thin ice."
Quackleton quacked defiantly, and the group couldn't help but laugh.
To Be Continued…
As they made their way out of the ruined chamber, the group couldn't shake the feeling that their chaotic adventures were far from over.