Greta's house creaked as the storm winds rattled her windows. She set her teacup down, gaze drifting to the street below. At first, she thought it was another restless group of locals—but the moment she saw the colors, her heart froze.
The Black Serpents had returned.
Figures in black armor moved through the cobbled street, their glowing serpent insignias flickering under the rain. The villagers ran for cover, shutters slamming shut. Greta's hand tightened on the windowsill, her tentacles coiling in agitation.
But then—something bright cut through the darkness.
A figure in pink, sharp and dazzling, dropped from a rooftop and landed with a gymnast's grace. Her suit gleamed like hard candy under the streetlamps, her mask grinning with a mischievous smile.
"Alright, boys," she called, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I hope you skipped dessert, because I'm about to give you cavities."
She flicked her wrist, and suddenly—candy exploded into the street. Peppermint discs spun like buzzsaws, jawbreaker-sized orbs smashed into Serpent helmets, and sticky caramel webbing shot from her gloves, gluing two of them to a wall.
The Black Serpents reeled. One raised a rifle—only to get smacked in the face by a lollipop the size of a hammer.
From her window, Greta blinked. Candy?
She had heard rumors of a vigilante who turned street fights into candy-coated chaos, but she never thought she'd see her here, in this quiet fishing town.
Down below, Candy ducked a blade slash, twisted into a flip, and slammed a taffy-coated boot into a Serpent's chest. She laughed, sharp and wild. "Seriously, you guys ever think about getting a cooler name? Black Serpents? Try Black Licorice. Nobody likes that either!"
But there were too many. For every Serpent she dropped, two more pressed forward. One managed to smash her against the wall, her mask cracking slightly.
Greta's tentacles twitched furiously against her skin. She had promised herself she wouldn't get drawn in tonight—that she'd wait, observe, not dive into every battle that scraped across her street.
But Candy was outnumbered, and the Serpents were hunting her town.
Greta's chair scraped back. She yanked on her coat, the storm wind catching her hair as she stepped outside.
The first Serpent never saw her coming—swept off his feet by a surge of tentacles that dragged him across the cobblestones. Greta's eyes burned as she joined Candy in the fray.
Candy glanced at her, panting, then grinned despite the chaos. "Well, well… looks like dessert comes with calamari tonight."
Greta smirked, summoning a tide from the storm drains. "Don't slow me down, Candy."
Back-to-back, the sea witch and the candy storm tore into the Serpents, their powers colliding in a spectacle of sugar and saltwater.
And for the first time in weeks, Greta felt something dangerous stir inside her chest.
Not dread.
Excitement.