Dawn at the Tower

Marker Red Riding Hood stood on the observation deck of Marker Tower, watching Wild Metropolis wake up below. The city stretched out like a colorful patchwork quilt—red brick buildings, green parks, blue rooftops, and yellow taxi cabs weaving through the streets. Humans walked alongside wolf-people in business suits, fox families chatted at bus stops, and a deer lady jogged past carrying her morning coffee.

"Another beautiful day to protect the city," she said, adjusting her red hood. Her magic marker glowed softly at her side.

But as she watched, something strange caught her eye. The yellow taxi cab she'd been following suddenly looked... different. Less bright. She blinked hard and looked again.

"That's weird," she murmured.

A boar gentleman reading his newspaper on a bench below seemed to be having trouble with his paper. He held it up to the light, squinting.

Red pulled out her binoculars for a closer look. The newspaper that had been crisp black and white moments ago now looked oddly faded.

Something was definitely not right in Wild Metropolis.

The Gray Morning

Red zoomed down from Marker Tower, her cape fluttering behind her. She needed a closer look at what was happening to the city's colors.

She landed softly on Main Street, right next to the boar gentleman who was still squinting at his newspaper. Up close, she could see the problem clearly—the black ink was turning gray, and it was spreading like spilled water across the page.

"Excuse me, sir," she said. "Are you having trouble reading that?"

The boar looked up, his small dark eyes worried. "Young lady, this is the strangest thing. My newspaper was perfectly fine when I bought it ten minutes ago. Now look at it!"

He held up the paper, and Red watched in amazement as more of the black text faded to pale gray before her eyes.

"It's not just your newspaper," Red said, pointing around them. "Look!"

The yellow taxi cabs were now a dull cream color. The bright red fire hydrant had turned pink. Even the green leaves on the oak trees were becoming a sickly pale shade.

"Something is stealing all the colors from Wild Metropolis," Red whispered.