The City That Never Sleeps on a Monday

Art Metropolis never looked boring from above — not with its painted crosswalks, muraled skyscrapers, and streets that smelled faintly of fresh ink.

Crayon Marker Hero landed on the wide rooftop ledge of Crayon Marker HQ with a soft thud, his grey cape settling behind him. The building hummed at his back — black walls, blue-lit windows, the crayon tower rising on his left, the marker tower on his right. His home. His city.

Below, a deer mother in a yellow scarf waved up at him. He gave her a quick salute and grinned.

"Scanner shows nothing unusual," said Pip, his wristband AI, in a cheerful beep-and-buzz voice. "Low crime. Clear skies. Perfect Tuesday."

Crayon Marker Hero stretched his arms wide and took a deep breath.

"Too quiet," he muttered.

Pip beeped again. "You say that every time it's peaceful."

"And every time," he said, tilting his head toward a faint orange glow pulsing on the far horizon, "I'm right."

The Kid Who Landed Uninvited

That orange glow on the horizon was still pulsing when something streaked across the sky and landed on the HQ rooftop with a loud, confident crack.

A kid — about his age, maybe younger — stood up from a crouch and brushed dust off a bright orange-and-white supersuit. She had a large mechanical paintbrush strapped to her back, its bristles glowing faintly silver.

"You're Crayon Marker Hero?" she said, looking him up and down. "Smaller than I expected."

"You just landed on my roof."

"You're welcome." She crossed her arms. "I'm Prism Dash. Top-ranked junior artist-hero in Volta City. I'm here because your city's got a problem."

Pip beeped sharply on his wrist — a warning tone, different from the usual cheerful buzz.

"The orange glow," Pip said. "It's spreading. Fast."

Prism Dash pulled a small folded screen from her belt, like a tablet that expanded mid-air. A live drone feed lit up above it, showing Art Metropolis's arts district — and what looked like every painting, every mural, every colored surface in the city slowly turning grey.