Karma's Tale

Prologue

It was a dark night within the streets of Musutafu. A young boy sat in his bed playing video games with his friends online, a headset on as he talked to them. He had a fizzy drink sat beside him in a two litre bottle, the bottle top on tight to make sure there was no potential spillages. He was smiling and laughing and joking with his friends, enjoying his time with them when all of a sudden, the door to his house burst open. He took the headset off and muted his mic, fearing the worst. He opened his bedroom door and slowly made his way to the staircase, heading down the side of the steps to avoid the creaking wood as he sat to eavesdrop on the conversation that his mother and father had started.

"H-hey... what's... Up... biiiitch? How's JoJo?" said his father, having drunkenly stumbled into the house, his legs barely functioning as he used the doorframe as support to keep himself standing as the young boy's mother looked in disgust

"I can't believe you sometimes! Instead of being a father, you leave to drink your responsibility away. I might be a single fucking parent!" screamed a woman's voice with a loud banging sound following almost immediately as a howl of pain left her mouth. The young Joseph continued to watch from the staircase, seeing his mother and father having the usual conflict. Instead of getting involved, the young boy made his way up the stairs as quickly and quietly as he could, finding himself buried deeply underneath his duvet as the physical and verbal dispute of his parents continued. He kept himself hidden, keeping his feelings hidden as he pulled his smartphone from atop the drawer sat at his bedside. He loaded up videos of better times and kept himself relaxed, the sounds of the fighting soon being drowned out by poorly recorded videos of a younger boy enjoying his parents company. He soon fell asleep, phone in hand when suddenly, his mother entered the room, sat at the bottom of his bed.

"Joseph? JoJo?" she asked softly as her son groggily made his way out from under the large duvet of his bed, his eyes barely open and his face clearly showing that he had just woken up. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to his mother.

"Yeah?" he asked, not able to ask much else as his mother soon had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

"I promise this will end one day" she said, hugging him as he felt a tear roll from her face down the side of his own neck. He ignored it and nodded, having acknowledged every word his mother had said before he laid back down to sleep. She smiled and brushed a hand through his dark brown hair before slowly rising from his bed and leaving the room. He opened his eyes long enough to see her leave his room before closing them again, doing his best to fall back asleep.

In his dream, he found himself in a dark corridor with several doors. He walked to the door closest to him and peeked inside, seeing his father attacking his mother. He closed the door and made his way to the second door, opening it to see his father yelling foul names and slurred obscenities. He closed the second time and let out a sigh. He fought the urge to open the third door and turned around to see that the two previous doors had vanished. He turned back around seeing that all but one door had vanished. He made his way to the door and opened it, seeing a boy identical to himself, but with darker hair and crimson red eyes.

"Things won't get better, will they?" Joseph asked the boy in front of him, seeing him shake his head.

"She's said the same thing for years now and has anything changed?" the other boy answered with a question of his own. "Our friends are all we have and they live so far away. We'll never get to see them" the boy continued, seeing Joseph nod reluctantly in agreement.

"Is it us?" Joseph asked him. The boy in the doorway stood and shrugged his shoulders.

"If it is, I don't know why. We've got nothing that the guys out there do!" the boy answered with a look of confusion. "Now, you probably don't wanna be stood there, feeling miserable. Come on in!" he said with an eager smile, offering a hand to Joseph. The boy smiled and took his hand as they entered the doorway, finding themselves in a grassy field, vibrant colours filling the world around them with friendly faces near and far. The sight brought a much larger smile to Joseph's face, who walked around, loving the sight he saw. The sight showing nothing but pure, unbridled positivity.

"I love coming here!" Joseph said to the boy, who looked to him with a smile and a nod. Along with the friendly faces, he saw a number of heroes that he looked up to. Upon trying to talk to them though, he was suddenly stopped by police, their hands on his chest.

"You have no right being so close to them, kid" they said, pushing him backwards gently. He soon awoke in his bed, feeling rather restless. He was unable to go back to sleep. He sighed loudly and left his bedroom, only to find himself stood face-to-face with his father, a strong look of self-loathing clear to even the young ten year old.

"Heeeey, buddy..." his father said, looking down to his son with a soft smile.

"You and mom fought again" Joseph said, seeing his father's smile fade.

"I know... and I hate it, buddy. It's just... your old man's finding it hard to control his impulses right now. A lot of shi... bad things have happened lately and with our... role in this world marked already? There's nothing we can do but endure it, you know?" his father explained before kneeling to his son, their eyes meeting. "Let's make a deal, okay? I'll fix myself up to my absolute best and in return, you promise to pull the Bates name out from the dirt and onto billboards. Make a name for us. What do you say?" he asked his son, who nodded. "Atta boy. Now, get rested up! Starting now, I promise not to have a single drink and tomorrow? You, your mother and I are all going on a magic car ride around town, making as much stops as we need to make sure you have the most fun possible" his father continued, a genuine smile being brought to Joseph's face as he nodded intensely with a look of joy and excitement on his face. He hugged his father tightly and made his way back to bed.

"Love you, dad!" he said with a smile on his face, curling up under his blanket as he slept like a baby though the night, his mind at ease.