As they checked out the council pods, one was stuck. It wiggled violently—more than the others—as if its occupant were throwing a party in her sleep.
“This one. It’s still stuck tight,” Ray said, smashing it with a grunt.
Pop. Click.
The pod burst open in a hiss of clouds and a sudden squeal.
“WHEEEEEE! OH MY GOSH! IT’S SO BRIGHT OUT HERE—OH, YOU’RE ALL SO CUTE!”
A blur of red and orange shot out, bouncing like a bouncy ball across the candy-streaked floor before landing in a perfect somersault.
A red squirrel.
Small and fluffy, her tail bounced with every excited step. She wore pastel Harajuku fashion layered with glittery accessories and clashing fabrics: a sky-blue skirt over striped leggings, a hoodie with pom-poms, and clips of every color pinned haphazardly into her unruly curls. Her jacket was covered in handmade patches—some stars, some frogs, some... vaguely sandwich-shaped.
A pin that said “I tried my best and it kinda worked!” clung proudly to her chest.
She struck a pose. One shoe fell off.
“Hi! I’m Topsy! I like to sew, paint, bedazzle, patch things, glue things, and—uh—accidentally knock things over! A lot. But it’s fine! I’m really lucky!”
She rummaged through her overstuffed bag with the enthusiasm of someone digging for buried treasure and emerged with a string of mismatched beaded bracelets.
“You all look like you could use a pick-me-up. Bracelet? Tiny paper frog? I also made this Celeste plushie out of sock scraps and hope!”
Ray blinked. “What… is she?”
Mezzo leaned in. “Craft gremlin. Maxed-out in luck stats.”
Topsy beamed. “Aw, thank you! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said all week.”
She immediately began passing out lopsided friendship bracelets, hand-dyed scarves, and crayon-colored ‘emergency optimism’ pins she had clearly made herself. Every gift was lovingly flawed, as if each had been stitched during a thunderstorm.
“I made this one during the blackout! This one when the soup exploded! This one when I sneezed and accidentally set fire to a loom!”
The gang stared in stunned silence.
Skye blinked slowly. “She’s like... me on fizzy juice.”
Topsy spun on one toe and posed. “And guess what—BOOM! Hybrid! No hiding! Not even a little!”
She flicked her tail, which sparkled with faint electric energy, and opened her palms—revealing candy crystals growing like flowers from her fingers.
“Wanna see what else I can do? Oh wait, can I have a snack first?”
Arcade leaned close to Mezzo. “She’s like if sugar learned how to talk.”
Celeste, recovering from the shock, took a step forward.
“Topsy… you’ve, um, been in there for a while, haven’t you? Can you remember anything? Who did this? Or, er—why?”
Topsy tilted her head thoughtfully. Then her grin returned full force.
“Oh yeah. Big scary guy in a uniform with a shock baton—and, like, scary eyes. Totally freaky. Said I had potential. Said I was ‘genetically... something... unstable.’ Which I took as a compliment!”
She twirled once and gave a thumbs-up.
“So I spat gum in his face.”
Ray snorted. “You what?”
Topsy puffed her cheeks with mock pride, hands on her hips. “Spat gum. Right in his snobby, monocle-wearing, ‘I’m-the-law’ face. It was mint-flavored justice!”
Celeste blinked, utterly bewildered. “Oh—goodness. That was… very brave? And very sticky.”
“Oh! Then they arrested me for being an ‘annoyance to the Council.’”
Topsy did air quotes, still smiling like this was somehow a good thing. “Apparently, glitter explosions and impromptu karaoke are ‘acts of disruption.’ But honestly? I was bored, they were mean, and I had confetti.”
Mezzo laughed so hard he nearly dropped his guitar. “Stars, I like her already.”
Pitch pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Council arrested you for… being annoying?”
Topsy nodded enthusiastically, tail puffing up. “Yup! They said, ‘Miss Topsy Taradiddle, you are a public menace,’ and I said, ‘Thank you for noticing!’ And then they threw me in a pod.”
Arcade muttered under his breath, “Council really out here prioritizing threats to their patience over threats to society…”
Topsy gasped and held up a tiny crochet charm shaped like a cupcake. “Exactly! Oooh, you get it, spark-boy! Here—take a stress muffin! Handmade, slightly cursed, but it smells like strawberries!”
She pressed it into his hand. The frosting squeaked.
Celeste’s tail flicked with amusement. “Snacks are important. You can’t save the world hungry.”
Lumina giggled behind her paw. “I like her,” she whispered to Celeste.
Celeste, still trying to process the hurricane of energy in front of her, smiled despite herself. “You’re… really something, Topsy.”
Topsy winked. “Something sparkly, chaotic, and probably not legal. But I make great snacks!”
She twirled once, almost slipping on some stray sherbet. “Sooo, what did I miss? Is the world still ending? Did anyone fix the zombie problem? Oh wait—I can help!”
Ray arched a brow. “You got any experience with the undead?”
Topsy beamed. “Nope! But I do have a glue gun, three rolls of duct tape, and a lot of misplaced confidence!”
Mezzo elbowed Arcade with a grin. “Oh, she’s definitely one of us.”
Arcade sighed. “That’s what worries me.”
Celeste smiled gently, the faint glow of her core pulsing as if in agreement. “Welcome to the team, Topsy Taradiddle… Knight of Clawdiff.”
Topsy gasped, clasping her paws dramatically. “Oh my stars—a title! I’ll need to embroider that on everything!”
Then she paused mid-bounce, her ears flicking. “Also… do we have snacks? ‘Cause being adorable is hungry work.”
Mezzo, still half-laughing from her earlier chaos, crouched beside Topsy. “Alright, Miss Glitterbomb, serious question—do you actually have any powers, or are you just… pure chaos incarnate?”
Topsy blinked. “Powers? Like… baking? I’m really good at baking!”
Pitch groaned, rubbing his temples. “If she can’t summon a weapon, she can’t join us. That’s the rule. We’re not babysitting a walking craft fair.”
Topsy pouted. “Wait—what do you mean ‘summon a weapon’? Like—abracadabra? Or do I need props? I’ve got a glue gun and half a bag of glitter—that’s kinda dangerous!”
Before anyone could answer, Celeste stepped forward. With a soft inhale, her twin katanas shimmered into existence—Starlight and Starbrite—glowing pink and silver in the dim power plant light.
Topsy’s eyes went huge. She squealed so loudly it echoed down the corridor.
“OH MY STARS, THAT’S SO COOL—YOU HAVE STARSWORDS BUT PRETTY!”
Celeste blinked, a little taken aback. “Oh, um—thank you! They’re, uh, Starlight and Starbrite. I didn’t name them to match, it just sort of… happened. I’m not very good at naming things.”
Topsy spun in a full circle, tail poofing with excitement. “How do you do that?! Do you shout something? Is it like—‘Weapon, go!’ or ‘Sugar Rush Slash?!’ I need one!”
Celeste giggled nervously. “Actually… I, uh, ate a gumball. At a comic convention.”
Topsy froze mid-spin. “…You ate a gumball and got magic weapons?”
Celeste shrugged. “Pretty much.”
There was a long pause—then Topsy threw both paws in the air.
“Right! After we’re done here, I’m absolutely heading there! I want to do everything you can do! I’ll eat all the gumballs! Even the weird ones!”
Mezzo snorted. “That’s a death sentence waiting to happen.”
Pitch muttered, “And we thought Celeste was the dangerous one…”
Celeste smiled despite herself. “Topsy… maybe don’t eat random glowing candy, okay?”
Topsy grinned, undeterred. “Too late! I already licked the walls in here, so I’m basically halfway to a superpower!”
Ray groaned. “Stars save us. We’ve adopted a sugar-addicted maniac.”
Mezzo slung his guitar over his shoulder, laughing. “Yup. And somehow, I feel like she’s gonna fit right in.”
Topsy clasped her hands dramatically, eyes sparkling. “I knew today was gonna be a good day!”
Celeste smiled shyly as Topsy twirled again, her pastel outfit jingling with mismatched charms. “You know, I… actually like crafting too,” she admitted, almost bashfully. “Before all this, I studied illustration at Clawdiff University.”
Topsy froze mid-spin, gasping as if Celeste had just confessed to being royalty. “NO WAY! You went to Clawdiff Uni too?!”
Celeste nodded. “Mm-hmm. Art and design. I used to make plushies and sketch outfits during lectures.”
Topsy squealed, hands on her cheeks. “That’s amazing! I was in the textile department before I got arrested for excessive enthusiasm! I wonder if my studio stuff is still there… maybe I’ll pop by after we’re done saving the world—or, y’know, not dying.”
Celeste giggled. “I adore your clothes, by the way. They’re so colorful! You look like a rainbow threw a party and invited itself.”
Topsy gasped. “Thank you! And you! That hat—that hat! I love it! Wait—why aren’t you wearing it now?!”
Celeste blushed faintly, pawing at her hair, then to her side where her hat was tucked into her belt. “Oh, um… Council didn’t like it. But I love the wing charms from it.”
Topsy beamed, digging through her massive glittery bag. “Then I’ll make you a new one! Something sparkly and dramatic—with little wings on the brim!”
Celeste giggled, eyes soft. “You’re delightful. I can’t wait to see it.”
As the two devolved into excited chatter about embroidery and candy beads, Celeste laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.
“Oh dear, my cheeks hurt. Topsy, you’re dangerous.”
The two of them launched into a fast-paced conversation about kawaii fashion, glitter embroidery, pastel dyeing techniques, and the ethics of using candy beads as accessories (“Sticky, but stylish!” Topsy declared).
Mezzo leaned on his guitar and groaned theatrically. “Oh no… Celeste’s made a friend.”
Ray folded her arms, smirking. “Correction—she’s made another her. But louder.”
Pitch deadpanned, “Stars help us all.”
Skye whispered to Lumina, “Should we stop them?”
Lumina, smiling behind her paw, whispered back, “No. I want to see how this plays out.”
Ray chuckled, shaking her head. “This’ll be interesting.”
Mezzo sighed. “And feckin loud.”
Topsy, meanwhile, was already sketching hat ideas on a candy wrapper. “Okay! So, matching accessories! I’ll make bracelets, Celeste will design pins, and we’ll call it—wait for it—Kawaii Knights of Clawdiff!”
Celeste gasped. “That’s… perfect! It even sounds heroic—just, um, adorably heroic.”
Arcade facepalmed. “And thus, we perish—not by zombies, but by sparkles.”
Topsy grinned. “If we’re gonna die, we’re gonna look adorable doing it!”
