Morning Splutters

Ink Doe stretched her arms wide, watching the sunrise paint Chapter City in golden strokes. From her bedroom window in the Ink Fortress, she could see sheep and deer citizens starting their morning routines below.

"Time to practice my ink blasts," she said, stepping onto her balcony.

She raised her gloved hand toward a practice target across the courtyard. Usually, thick black ink would shoot out like a cannon. Today, only tiny droplets sputtered from her fingertips.

"What?" Ink Doe stared at her hands. She tried again. More sputtering.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Mayor Woolsworth: "Emergency downtown! Graffiti vandal striking again!"

Ink Doe's stomach twisted. Chapter City needed her, but her powers were acting strange. She'd never had ink problems before. The small droplets on her gloves looked weaker than usual.

"I can still fly and use my other powers," she told herself, launching into the morning sky. But doubt crept into her mind as she soared toward downtown.

Purple Messages

Ink Doe soared through the morning air, her cape fluttering behind her. The downtown district spread below like a colorful patchwork quilt. She spotted the problem immediately—bright purple graffiti covered the entire side of the Chapter City Music Shop.

But this wasn't ordinary vandalism. The purple paint seemed to move and swirl on its own, forming words that changed as she watched: "YOUR CREATIVITY IS MINE NOW."

She landed next to a sheep baker who stood frozen outside his shop, flour-covered apron dusted white. His normally cheerful face looked completely blank.

"Sir, are you okay?" Ink Doe asked.

The baker turned toward her with empty eyes. "I... I can't remember how to make bread. The recipes are just... gone from my head."

Ink Doe's stomach dropped. This was worse than graffiti. Someone was stealing people's creativity, their very thoughts.

She raised her hand toward the moving graffiti, trying to blast it away with her ink powers. Only tiny droplets emerged again, barely reaching the wall.

The purple words shifted: "SOON, EVERYONE WILL BE AS EMPTY AS HIM."