The sun had barely risen over the horizon, casting golden rays on the ever-growing Mango Plaza. Birds chirped lazily, camels yawned dramatically, and Mango-chan was humming a suspiciously catchy jingle about vitamin C.
But Hari? Hari was not humming.
He sat in the half-constructed Mango HQ, sipping lukewarm mango tea out of a coconut shell. His new ability, hovered behind him, arms crossed, equally brooding.
"System," he muttered. "Who attacked us?"
[Accessing Mangodatabase... Error. No records found. Initiating Quest: "Who Squeezed the Mango?"]
A scroll appeared in front of him in midair, glittering in orange:
Quest: "Who Squeezed the Mango?"
Objective: Find the culprits behind the mango-sabotage attack.
Clues:
A suspicious trail of flattened desert sand leading northwest.
A leftover receipt for 48 grapefruits and a suspicious trench coat.
A camel hair that doesn't belong to any registered Mango Camel.
Reward: Mango Intel Module™ – See shady stuff before it happens!
Hari sighed, "Of course it involves grapefruits. Jealous citrus cousins."
He leapt onto the nearest camel—whose name was officially Sir Spitsalot the Third—and galloped toward the northwest, stand hovering dramatically behind like a mango-scented specter of vengeance.
As he followed the trail, it took him to an abandoned smoothie shack—clearly shuttered due to a lack of mangoes. He dismounted, crouched dramatically, and picked up the receipt.
"Grapefruit smoothies…" Hari's eye twitched. "A declaration of fruit war."
Suddenly, a whisper echoed through the wind.
"They call themselves… The Bitter Peel."
Hari narrowed his eyes. "Lime extremists…"
Behind him, Mango-chan waddled into view, munching on a dried mango snack. "You sure it's not just angry ex-employees?"
"Could be both," Hari muttered, standing up. "But I'll find them. No one throws shade at my mangoes and walks away with their fruit license intact."
As the sun set behind the dunes, Hari rode off once more, Mango-chan dramatically flapping in the breeze, and Golden Pit glowing softly behind them.
The citrus war had begun.