Morning at the Tower

Crayon Marker Tigress stretched her arms wide on the observation deck of Crayon Marker Tower. The morning sun painted Craft Room City in golden hues below her. She could see the Paint Brush District with its rainbow-colored buildings, and the Scissors Square where the metal sculptures gleamed.

"Another beautiful day in the city," she said, adjusting her red cape as it fluttered in the breeze.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her friend Paintbrush Pete in the Paint District: "CM, something weird is happening here. My brushes are acting strange."

She frowned. Pete never worried about small things.

Down in Paper Plane Park, a humanoid zebra child ran to his mother. "Mom! My crayons won't color anymore!"

The zebra mother, wearing a green sundress, knelt beside him. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"Look!" The boy pressed his red crayon to paper. Nothing appeared.

Similar complaints echoed across the city's craft neighborhoods.

The Whispering Workshop

Crayon Marker Tigress leaped from rooftop to rooftop across the Paint Brush District. Below her, more children clutched broken crayons and dried-up markers. She landed with a soft thud on the flat roof of Pete's Art Supply Workshop.

"Pete!" she called, sliding down the fire escape ladder.

Paintbrush Pete, a humanoid zebra with black and white stripes, stood in his doorway. His usually neat workshop looked like a tornado had hit it. Brushes lay scattered everywhere, their bristles gray and lifeless.

"It happened so fast," Pete said, his brown eyes wide with worry. "One minute my brushes were fine, the next they turned to ash when touched."

Crayon Marker Tigress picked up a paintbrush. The moment her gloved fingers made contact, it crumbled to dust.

"Everything's dying," Pete whispered.

A small delivery drone buzzed overhead, dropping packages. One box crashed right through Pete's window, spilling rainbow-colored powder everywhere.

"My weekly pigment delivery," Pete said sadly. "But what's the point now?"

Crayon Marker Tigress stared at the colorful dust. Something about it seemed wrong, but she couldn't figure out what.