Near the castle, the storm swallowed everything.

Visibility dropped to almost nothing — mana fog thick as milk, lightning crawling through it like living veins. The old stone of the castle loomed only in fragments, appearing and vanishing as the wind tore past.

“Skye!” Arcade shouted, voice cracking through the storm. “Lumina! Can you hear me?!”

No answer.

Mezzo stayed close, wings shielding where he could, one hand gripping Celeste’s tightly so she wouldn’t be ripped away by the wind.
“You alright?” he yelled.

Celeste nodded, though her heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
“I’m here—just—don’t let go!”

Something moved in the fog.

Mezzo reacted instantly.

“Incoming!”

His axe flared into existence with a roar of mana just as two Doggonaughts burst out of the mist — canine-shaped candy zombies, bodies fizzing and unstable, jaws stretching too wide.

Mezzo swung.

The axe cleaved through the first one, detonating it in a shower of burning sugar. The second lunged—

—and exploded mid-air as Mezzo twisted, blasting it apart.

The shockwave threw Arcade off his feet.

“ARC—!”

He slammed into the side of a wrecked car, rolling hard behind it as candy shrapnel rained down. The blast scorched the pavement — but the wreckage hid him perfectly from view.

Celeste staggered, ears ringing.

Then she froze.

A shadow sprinted through the fog toward the looming bulk of Sweettooth Harmonics.

Not a zombie.

Not a raider.

A person.

And then—another shape slid in beside the building.

A Council carriage, sleek and armored, its sigils glowing faintly through the storm as it pulled up alongside Sweettooth’s shattered entrance.

Arcade peeked over the hood of the car, eyes narrowing.
“…What in the stars is going on there?”

Celeste squinted through the haze, heart lurching as recognition hit.

“That—” she whispered. “That’s Topsy.”

Mezzo blinked. “Wait—Topsy? Why’s she—”

Celeste stepped forward instinctively.
“She’s running away from the building,” she said, panic threading her voice. “Why would she—?”

She turned toward them, already moving.

“We should help her.”

The storm howled.

Sweettooth Harmonics loomed ahead — dark, alive with secrets.

The Council carriage hissed as its door opened.

A tall doberman stepped out first — early fifties, broad-shouldered, coat immaculate despite the storm. His suit beneath was dark and severe, the kind worn by someone who expected rooms to fall silent when he entered them. Mana-light flickered across the polished metal of his cane.

Celeste squinted through the rain.
“…Mezzo?” she asked quietly. “Who is that?”

Mezzo frowned, trying to place him.
“I’ve seen him. At the trial.”
His ears flattened. “Didn’t talk much. Just… watched.”

Arcade’s Arcbracer chimed as he pulled up a profile, eyes narrowing.

“…Stars,” he muttered. “That’s Lord Rex Gideon.”

Celeste stiffened.
“Inner Council?”

“Former,” Arcade corrected grimly. “Suspended from the Inner Ring. Kicked down to the Outer Ring for… unspecified reasons.”
He scrolled. “No public explanation. Which usually means something ugly got buried.”

Gideon turned, barking a short order. Armed Council operatives poured out of the carriage behind him, moving with drilled precision. Without hesitation, they pushed through the shattered entrance of Sweettooth Harmonics.

Celeste’s chest tightened.
“They went inside.”

Her mind raced. The underground corridors. The alarms. The kids.

“…Maybe Lumina and Skye went in there too,” she whispered.

Arcade hesitated, shaking his head.
“I don’t know. Doesn’t feel like them. But—”
He looked back at the entrance, jaw set.
“—if they did, we can’t let Gideon get to them first. Whatever he’s doing here, it’s not charity work.”

The storm surged, lightning cracking overhead.

Mezzo didn’t wait.

“Cover the front,” he said sharply. “I’ll circle.”

Then he vanished.

A blur of motion — super-speed carrying him around the side of the building, boots barely touching the ground as he raced toward the rear access bays.

Celeste swallowed hard, gripping her blades.

Sweettooth Harmonics loomed ahead — now occupied by Council forces, secrets, and something that had already trapped her sister once.

“Alright,” she said softly, resolve hardening beneath the fear.
“…Let’s go.”

They slipped in through a broken service door at the rear of Sweettooth Harmonics, the storm’s roar muffling the scrape of metal behind them.

“Lights,” Arcade whispered.

Three Arcbracers flared at once.

Arcade’s quills crackled—and immediately powered the corridor lights in a violent snap of white.

He took one step forward.

THWACK.

His face met a hardcover book mid-air.

The title slapped across his goggles in bold, dusty lettering:

QUIET HIDING PLACES FOR THE EXTREMELY OBVIOUS.

A shriek echoed down the hall.

“EEEE—!”

Topsy burst out from behind a rolling cart, flailing—then froze when she saw who she’d hit.

“…Oh.”

She blinked.

“ARC—!”

Arcade peeled the book off his face.
“TOPSY. You just assaulted me with irony.”

She launched herself at him anyway, arms squeezing tight around his torso.

“I MISSED YOUR SPIKY ASS,” she declared, squeezing so hard his lungs wheezed.

“—I CANNOT BREATHE—” Arcade wheezed. “Let go—no—okay—fine—hi.”

Celeste hurried over, half-relieved, half-exasperated.
“Topsy—what are you doing here?”

Topsy gasped dramatically, slapped a fake moustache onto Celeste’s face, and hissed,
“SHHHHH. We are hiding.”

Celeste blinked, moustache crooked.
“…From what?”

Mezzo leaned in. “Yeah. From who?”

Topsy solemnly placed a cardboard box over Mezzo’s head.

“There,” she said. “Now you’re safe.”

Mezzo’s muffled voice echoed inside the box.
“…I hate that this makes sense.”

Topsy clasped her paws together.
“I may have slightly angered someone important,” she admitted cheerfully. “So now I’m hiding.”

Arcade narrowed his eyes.
“Define ‘slightly.’”

Before she could answer, a monitor on the far wall flickered to life.

Arcade turned—

—and froze.

On the screen:

A glass observation room.

Two small figures crouched inside.

Skye and Lumina.

They were pressed against the wall, surrounded by shadows, zombies clawing at the glass from the other side.

Lumina hugged her rabbit doll tight, humming shakily.

Skye held her hand, eyes locked on the door.

Celeste’s breath caught painfully.
“…That’s them.”

Mezzo tore the box off his head.
“They’re trapped.”

Arcade’s jaw tightened.
“And they don’t know we’re here.”

Down the corridor, footsteps echoed.

Measured. Heavy.

The camera angle shifted.

Lord Rex Gideon strode through the facility with his men, coats immaculate, boots crunching glass and candy residue alike.

Gideon glanced up at the monitors—expression unreadable.

Celeste lifted her Arcbracer with trembling paws, fingers flying over the runes.

“Lady Umbranox… please…” she whispered.

Static answered her.

She tried again. And again.

Nothing but distortion — mana crackle and dead air.

Her ears drooped as the realization hit.
“…The storm,” she breathed. “It’s jamming everything.”

Arcade nodded grimly, already rerouting power and scanning frequencies.
“Yeah. Same reason the kids couldn’t call for help. Arcbracers hate mana storms. They scramble signals like eggs.”

Celeste swallowed hard, guilt pressing heavy on her chest.

Arcade paced, eyes darting between the monitors and the corridors.
“Okay. We need a distraction. Something big enough to pull zombies and Gideon’s men away from the observation room.”

Mezzo scratched his chin.
“…Or,” he said carefully, “we could just ask why he’s here? I mean, technically we work for the Council now.”

Topsy gasped so hard she nearly inhaled the fake moustache.
“NONONO. BAD IDEA.”

Celeste turned to her. “Why?”

Topsy wrung her paws, whispering furiously.
“Because he is very cross with me.”

Mezzo blinked. “What did you do?”

“Well,” Topsy said brightly, “I was looking for candy to help get my powers like you, so I went to Zygurr Distributions—”

Arcade stiffened.
“…Of course you did.”

“—and then Lord Gideon showed up,” Topsy continued. “Apparently he didn’t want me to see something.”

She paused.

“And I may have accidentally eaten a USB.”

The room went dead silent.

Mezzo stared.
“…How.”

Topsy shrugged, unapologetic.
“I thought it was a sweet.”

Arcade pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m going to age ten years tonight.”

Topsy’s ears drooped as she added, quieter now,
“He’s hunting me down. I swear, he nearly burnt my tail off.”

Celeste stepped forward without hesitation, placing a paw gently on Topsy’s shoulder.
“Hey. Don’t worry. You’re not alone.”

Her voice steadied, resolve hardening beneath the fear.
“We’ll get you somewhere safe. I promise.”

On the monitor, Lumina hummed softly in the glass room, Skye squeezing her hand tighter as shadows pressed closer.

Down the corridor, Gideon’s footsteps drew nearer.

And somewhere inside Topsy’s stomach—

whatever she’d swallowed was very much not meant to stay hidden.

Gideon’s voice slid down the corridor like oil over broken glass.

“I know you’re here,” he called lazily. “Pathetic little half-breed.”

Celeste stiffened.

“Be a good little squirrel and stay still,” Gideon went on, almost bored. “We only want to shoot you. I promise it will be quick if you comply.”

Topsy squeaked and dove under a table, yanking a tarp with her.

“PRETEND I’M NOT HERE,” she stage-whispered.

Then, immediately distracted:

“…Ooooh. Candy.”

There was the unmistakable rustle of wrappers.

Celeste stared, horrified.
“Topsy—now is not—”

“Emergency snacks,” Topsy whispered back. “For morale.”

Celeste turned, panicking.
“What do we do?”

Mezzo didn’t miss a beat.
“Grenade down the stairs.”

Celeste snapped her head toward him.
“Bad, Mezzo.”

Arcade didn’t even look up from his bracer.
“Also impossible. I left the grenades in the van.”

Mezzo snapped his fingers.
“Right. Then plan B.”

“What is plan B?” Celeste asked.

Mezzo shrugged.
“We run past them really fast?”

Arcade grimaced.
“Against Council rifles? Hard pass.”

He paused, then his eyes lit up.

“…I’ve got it.”

He started typing rapidly.
“I’ll trigger a facility alarm—something loud, something ugly. It’ll pull the zombies straight toward Gideon and his squad.”

Celeste’s stomach dropped.
“That’s… that’s dangerous.”

Arcade met her eyes, serious now.
“So is letting him find the kids.”

Mezzo grinned.
“Great plan. Love it. Very ‘chaos goblin,’ very on brand.”

Celeste swallowed.
“…And me?”

Mezzo put both hands on her shoulders, very solemn.
“You stand there.”

She blinked.
“…That’s it?”

“And look adorable,” he added. “Very non-threatening. Council hates that.”
He leaned in. “If something goes wrong, feel free to jump in and save us dramatically.”

Celeste exhaled shakily.
“…I hate that this is the plan.”

Arcade hit ENTER.

The facility screamed.

Sirens wailed. Lights strobed red. Somewhere deep below, dormant candy cores ignited.

In the hallway, Gideon stopped mid-step.

“…What,” he said flatly.

From every side passage—

zombies surged.

Celeste clenched her fists.

“Okay,” she whispered.
“Let’s go get my sister.”