Blue Windows, Busy Morning

CMD Fortress looked like a black puzzle box dropped in the middle of Forest Metropolis. Blue windows blinked in neat rows. Two crayon towers and two marker towers rose like giant tools stuck in the sky.

Crayon Marker Doe jogged across the training bay floor, her teal cape flicking behind her.

Coach Brindle Buck blew his whistle.

“Again,” he said. “And try not to repaint my cones.”

“I make no promises,” she said, grinning.

She tapped her utility belt. Her phone buzzed.

A city alert filled the screen: BAD GUY SPOTTED—LIVE FEED.

A wall monitor snapped on. The video was shaky, shot from a street corner. A teal cape. A teal mask. Warm tan fur. Small antlers.

Crayon’s smile fell.

On-screen, the look-alike swung a giant marker and blasted bright streaks that splattered a snack cart.

Coach Brindle Buck stared.

“Is that… you?”

Crayon swallowed hard, then yanked her giant crayon into her hand and ran for the launch doors

Wet Footprints

Crayon Marker Doe burst through the launch doors and jumped onto her hoverboard. Wind tugged her teal cape as she shot into Forest Metropolis.

Her phone map chirped and turned her toward downtown, where a music festival filled the streets with drumbeats and snack smells.

Sprinklers had just shut off. Puddles shone on the pavement.

A giant screen above the stage replayed the “bad guy” clip. The crowd booed.

A kid pointed at Crayon.

“Same mask!” he shouted.

Two adults stepped back, hands up. “Do not blast us!”

“I am not her,” Crayon snapped. Her ears went hot.

A shoemaker booth sat near the curb. A human woman with short black hair leaned over a sewing machine, stitching a sneaker.

“Hey!” the woman said. “Watch the water!”

Crayon swung her giant marker and fired a bright line into the air, trying to draw a clean wall between herself and the crowd.

Her board hit a puddle. The blast skidded sideways and splattered the shoemaker’s shoes in dripping teal.

The woman stared at her ruined display.

Above them, a city drone speaker crackled.

“CRAYON MARKER DOE. STOP. REPORT FOR CAPTURE.”