The Morning Patrol

Lightning Crayon Doe stretched her arms wide as the morning sun painted Scribble Forest City in golden hues. Her blue and black supersuit crackled with tiny sparks of electricity as she stepped onto the observation deck of her Lightning Crayon Fortress.

"Another beautiful day to keep the city safe," she said, adjusting her bright yellow mask.

The four crayon towers of her fortress gleamed in the sunlight, each one a different color that matched the vibrant neighborhoods below. Cars honked cheerfully on the streets while humanoid deer and humans walked side by side toward their morning destinations.

Lightning Crayon Doe summoned her giant yellow lightning crayon, its electric glow casting dancing shadows on the tower walls. She was about to take off for her regular patrol when something caught her eye.

A small patch of flowers in Central Park looked... different. Where bright red tulips should have been blooming, she saw only pale gray stems swaying in the breeze.

"That's odd," she murmured, squinting at the distant garden.

The Sparrow's Warning

Lightning Crayon Doe leaped from her tower, her supersuit crackling with electricity as she soared toward Central Park. The gray tulips looked even stranger up close—completely drained of their red color.

"This doesn't make sense," she muttered, kneeling beside the colorless flowers.

A small brown sparrow landed on a nearby bench. "You noticed it too!" the bird chirped excitedly. "I'm Professor Featherworth. I study colors for the Scribble Forest Science Institute."

Lightning Crayon Doe blinked in surprise. Talking animals weren't uncommon in the city, but she'd never met this particular sparrow before.

"The colors started disappearing three hours ago," Professor Featherworth explained, hopping closer. "First these flowers, then the yellow taxi on Maple Street turned white. Even my own feathers are losing their brown!"

She looked at the sparrow more carefully. Sure enough, patches of his wings had faded to pale gray.

"This is spreading," she realized, standing up quickly.

Professor Featherworth nodded gravely. "At this rate, the entire city will be colorless by sunset. We need to find the source fast."

Lightning Crayon Doe's mask felt suddenly heavier as she grasped the magnitude of this crisis.