Never trust gummy bears.
When the world came back into focus, it was an entirely different world than they remembered. Lush, green grass -- which smelled oddly like mint -- that came up to their ankles sparkled in the lemon-scented sun. Which looked like it was smiling.
A cherry-red gummy bear approached them, grinning wildly.
"Welcome to Candy Land!" it squeaked.
Akito screamed, terrified.
"KILL IT!" he cried, burying his face in Hatori's chest, "FOR THE LOVE OF ME, KILL IT ALREADY!"
Momiji darted forward, holding his hand out warmly. The gummy bear seemed unfazed, and shook his hand clumsily with his paw. Then he turned and took off, Momiji trailing behind with drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth. Haru sighed, then followed Momiji, and then Rin followed him, sneering at the sobbing Akito.
He looked up, and all four of them started running. Akito composed himself shortly thereafter. "They'll be back once they've done my bidding," he said confidently, "They're just doing as I asked."
No one dared contradict him.
Shortly thereafter…
An hour later found the group split up into search parties. Not only were Momiji, Haru, and Rin gone -- though the groups had each encountered gummy bears, they had not found a single cherry-red one -- but Ritsu and Kureno had vanished as well. Everyone vaguely remembered seeing them on the Scrabble table, but there'd been so much chaos, and the die had been so frightening… Well, no one knew where they were.
They tried not to think about it, either. It felt dreamlike enough to imagine that those who went missing had really just escaped back into the real world.
Therefore, every person left in Candy Land was trying to get lost.
Sugar addicts unite!
The first to split off had been Hana and Tohru. The two of them had gone chasing after the gummy bear, but had lost track of them when they saw an enormous pool of chocolate. Hana had insisted that Momiji would probably go for that, and -- though Tohru had noticed a strange glint in Hana's eye -- they'd set off.
The pool of chocolate, however, had turned out to be a monster with some very serious sugar issues. He seemed to have just come down off a sugar high, and all his words were slow and fuzzy. Hana was still trying to convince him to give up chocolate -- she'd even offered to take it off his hands herself -- when the sky went dark.
"Oh dear," the fudgy blob had mumbled, "It's Lord Licorice."
And he would say nothing more.
Prince Lollipop, I presume?
The second group had been Uo and Yuki, who'd taken off after Tohru and Hana. They'd followed them easily at first -- both of them were in much better shape than the others -- but then they'd gotten lost in a lollipop forest. The landscape seemed to shift as they went, only staying put near the rainbow road that Uo said she'd rather burn than walk on.
Yuki tried climbing the lollipops, but got stuck part of the way up. It seemed that his clothing was attached to the sticky blob, and he could either stay put or undress.
After five minutes of Uo's threats -- and, as she realized what was happening, cat calls -- he decided he wasn't sure which was the lesser evil.
When the sky went dark, the lollipop flung him off onto the ground and then vanished. The rainbow road appeared beside them, winding its way up to a castle. A dark figure stood on its highest spire and laughed.
But Yuki didn't notice, because it seemed that Uo had decided a sticky, rainbow Yuki with mussed up hair was much, much funnier than ominous licorice.
Call the fire department!
Kyou and Kagura made up the third group, though not by choice. Kyou had said something stupid -- and for the life of him, he couldn't remember what he'd said -- and Kagura had begun chasing him.
The landscape had changed a dozen times before she caught up. Though he'd tried going through the chimney of some sweet-smelling house -- he was too big, he thought, or not jolly enough -- going across candy moats and behind two different castles, it was only in the upper branches of a gumdrop tree that he found sanctuary.
Unfortunately, being a cat, he couldn't climb back down.
When darkness fell, he'd been throwing gumdrops at Kagura, who'd taken to calling them gifts of LOVE and ADORATION, and she'd been trying to climb up to join him in the tree.
Brr…
Shigure and Ayame, however, were having a very strange time indeed. Though they'd originally gone after their beloved cousins, eventually Ayame had decided to double back and chase his brother for some bonding time. They'd taken the rainbow road the entire way, though, and could see no trace of anyone.
Until a glistening confection had appeared before them, of course. One lone woman stood at the tip of one yummy spire, resplendent in pastels. It dropped thirty degrees without any warning whatsoever, and Ayame transformed.
Of course, Shigure had wrapped him around his neck -- 'you're a boa!' they'd laughed, the sugar in the air finally permeating their brains -- and continued on over to the sugary dream land. The woman floated down to them, calling out in a high, sweet voice.
Someone unexpected.
"Welcome! I am Queen Frostine, and this--"
She stopped as she heard the two of them crack up. Surely she'd heard one voice, as there was only one man? But, no, there had most definitely been two.
"Look at that dress!" came a voice, "Short sleeves in this weather?"
The Queen bristled, searching for the one to insult her, but the only man present was still laughing. It couldn't have been him.
"I feel no cold," she said huffily, "I am Queen Frostine, and--"
"I certainly feel cold," the voice replied, and the man's laughter fell to a chuckle, then a giggle, then a cough.
"Yes," he said, "It is rather chilly."
"You know," the other voice added, cutting off the Queen's reply, "I could design a new outfit for you, one that would add beauty and romance to your life. The fantasies I could weave for you! If only you'd leave this frigid wasteland, I'd be more than willing to design something for you."
"I am an Ice Princess," the Queen replied, glaring at them, "I--"
"Oh, so you're too good to talk to us, then?" the man replied, rolling his eyes.
"How rude of her! Don't you agree, Gure-san?"
"Well, I suppose the Queen must have more important people to talk to than us, Aaya," the man replied, voice thick with sarcasm.
"Of course, of course. After all, we are merely artists, isn't that so? So unappreciated! All I did was offer to give her a new look!"
"I'll melt if I go into the sun!" the Queen snapped, patience spent. She was supposed to welcome guests, but these two--
"Oh, how delicate!" the man replied, "I suppose the Queen can't be bothered with a sunburn!"
Her reply was cut off as the sky suddenly went dark, and red licorice lightning whistled between her highest tower and the Licorice Estate.
Oh dear. The day was not looking up.
And evil masterminds.
Hatori and Akito were the next group. They were not searching for the lost members of their group -- Akito was sure that they would never be able to resist him, and that they'd be drawn back eventually -- but storming a castle.
Akito, as it turned out, had accepted a cookie from a sweet little old woman. A cookie with nuts. As Akito was allergic to nuts, he had thrown the cookie at the woman and run away screaming, 'Off with her head' and leaving poor Gramma Nut completely befuddled.
Next, he'd decided that -- in order to be powerful enough to have someone complete his demand -- he needed to take over Candy Land.
There were three castles that he'd seen. The first was too cold, and the second was too sugary, but the third… The third was just right.
So he'd ordered his Hatori to get them inside no matter what.
After breaking down the licorice door, they'd thrown Lord Licorice out the window and continued to the highest tower, from which Akito assumed he would be able to control all the world.
Unfortunately, the highest tower was a candy storage room. After downing three super-sized Pixie Stix -- THE POWER! THE PURE, UNADULTERATED POWER! -- Akito had leapt through the window, expecting to fly, and a gust of sugary air had complied, lifting his bony frame up to the roof, where he had burst into maniacal laughter.
Shortly thereafter, Lord Licorice burst into the energy room and shut off Candy Land's power supply. Without its constant supply of Pixie Stix, Mr. Sun crashed from his constant sugar high, plunging Candy Land into darkness.
Clean up after yourselves.
Tohru looked around, decided that they were making a mess, and said, "Zippy razzmatazz bippity boppity boo."
And Mr. Sun smiled, and the world fell apart.
That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Forgotten?
Hiro and Kisa looked around. The sun had turned back on, but Momiji, Haru, and Rin were nowhere to be seen. For that matter, they seemed to be the only ones left in Candy Land.
Oh well. They could wait with Gramma Nut until the world made sense again.