Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
She narrowed her purple eyes, unimpressed.
"C'mon..." she muttered, folding her arms, then trying again. Another bubble formed at the wand, wobbling, stretching, it grew.
And grew.
Sadya's eyes widened slightly as the bubble expanded far larger than any before. It shimmered with soft rainbow colors, reflecting the sky and webs around the city.
The bubble swelled to the size of her torso.
She slowly lowered the wand, staring.
"I actually did it."
Her voice carried quiet excitement, rare, genuine. She reached out carefully and held the massive bubble between her hands. It wobbled like liquid glass, light as air.
Then it began to lift.
Sadya blinked as the bubble gently pulled upward, tugging her feet from the rooftop. She instinctively grabbed onto it, and suddenly she was floating, rising slowly into the air. The bubble lifted her untill she was sitting in the bubble.
"I Tanya of the Whimsy class have finally accomplished the unthinkable."
A thought came to her "Imagine me and spider boy fucking in a floating bubble gum."
Her eyes widened as the wind brushed against her face.
Below her, Gray Hawk's marketplace spread across the island, web-lined streets, vendor stalls, citizens moving like tiny figures. From this height, everything looked peaceful.
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She let out a quiet breath, almost smiling.
"I've always wanted to fly," she said softly.
"...guess all that bubble blowing came in handy."
The bubble carried her a little higher.
Then, a deep rumble echoed through the air.
The entire island shuddered.
Sadya's eyes snapped open. The bubble wobbled violently as a second tremor rolled through Gray Hawk. Buildings creaked. Web lines tightened. Distant voices began to rise into panicked noise.
The island was moving.
Lower.
Her expression shifted instantly.
"Oh no..." she whispered. "The island is sinking again."
Far below, citizens stopped and looked toward the sky's edge. A heavy mechanical groan echoed across Gray Hawk as the massive web-engines strained somewhere in the distance. The floating landmass tilted almost imperceptibly, but enough for everyone to feel.
Then the first tendrils of pink smoke crept over the island's lower rim.
It slithered upward like a living fog.
Fear rippled through the city.
Shouts began to rise from the marketplace. Web banners fluttered violently as the island slowly descended, inch by inch, toward the poisoned surface below, toward the monstrous Barrakudo crawling in the ruined world beneath the clouds.
Sadya clutched the giant bubble tighter as it bobbed unsteadily in the trembling air.
Her excitement vanished.
Only dread remained as Gray Hawk Island continued to sink.
Meanwhile
"The island dropped another three feet last night," Madam Spider announced to the assembled Webguards.
Sadya sat between Weaver and Captain Long Legs, trying to focus. Plemeton was across from her. She was actively not looking at him.
"That's faster than usual," Captain Long Legs rumbled.
"Much faster." Madam Spider pulled up a holographic map of Gray Hawk. Red sections showed structural damage. "The eastern district has cracks forming. We're evacuating civilians to reinforced zones."
"Do we know what's causing it?" Weaver asked.
"No." Madam Spider's multiple eyes scanned the room. "Which is why I'm sending you four to investigate the Underlayers."
Captain Long Legs "Madam, the others down by the market, I'll contact them and ready the spider drones. W may not be able to see much through the pink smoke but we must try."
Madam Spider watched him go "Joy, may you be witht he people of Gray Hawk."