Chapter 8: Princess Lolly Appears!

As the storm grew worse, the Candy Brigade had a harder time gliding towards it. The people below were too scared to look up, and if they did, they dismissed it as a trick of the eye. But despite the weather, they did make it to Sugar's house, or what was left as a giant swirling black hole now occupied the space. There were candy monsters of all shapes and sizes surrounding the hole, while Commander Dandy and Hershey were nowhere to be seen. Her parents, on the other hand, were being dragged towards the hole by two monsters against their will, struggling and screaming.

"Mom! Dad!" Sugar cried, letting go of the ribbon and aimed the wand at the two monsters as she fell towards the ground. "Candy Kiss Explosion!"

Unfortunately, a monster made of taffy blocked the beam, and got hit by it instead as it turned into a person. Then Sugar fell onto the lawn in front of her house with a thump, rolling over in pain while the other girls circled downward. Pepper immediately loaded her Cinnamon Barrel Gun and started shooting at the monsters below, stunning them long enough to allow them to land. Sugar quickly got up despite the pain and made a path using the wand's beam to absorb the monsters in the way, and they also turned into people as she regrouped with her friends. While the normalized people scurried away, the monsters surrounded Sugar and the Candy Brigade on all sides.

"I don't care how many of you there are, but I won't stop fighting!" Sugar cried, holding her wand high above her. "Because I'm Soldier Candy!"

"Soldier Cinnamon!" Pepper said, clicking the gun.

"Soldier Mint!" Aroma held her Mint Spear in an offensive position.

"Soldier Vanilla!" Crème shouted, pointing her Vanilla Foil at the monsters.

"And Soldier Lemon!" Meringue said, jumping right into the center of the circle the girls formed. Then she took out her Lemon Whip, and spun it around the girls' heads. As it spun, electrical sparks jumped from it, then Meringue shouted, "Lemon Electrical Charge!"

Bolts of lightning leapt from the spinning whip as it electrocuted every single one of the monsters within the vicinity, followed by another Candy Kiss Explosion by Sugar. They fought their way out of the circle by attacking from all sides, while Sugar absorbed them all into her wand. However, when they saw that her parents were near the edge of the swirling hole, Crème immediately floated over to them and slashed the monsters' backs. However, they were made of Jell-O, so the sword went through them and slashed the parents' backs instead. They cried out in agony, and stumbled into the hole, which then turned white upon their entrance. Sugar saw this, and became as rigid as a statue. The other girls kept fighting, but the monsters didn't stay down for long.

"Candy!" Meringue shouted, protecting Sugar from an incoming cotton-candy monster with a lemon-shaped shield. "What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be absorbing these guys! Don't just stand there!"

"My parents…fell into that hole…" Sugar muttered, as her eyes started to water.

Meringue's eyes widened as she saw the blinding white hole, which also drew the attention of the other girls as they stopped. The monsters didn't attack them, and instead cheered. Crème, who was nearest, started to get sucked in as well, causing Meringue to jump over the monsters and grab her sister in mid-air as they were sucked into the hole as well. While Aroma and Sugar stared in horror, Pepper grabbed one of the smaller monsters, a human-sized jellybean, and pointed at gun at its head.

"What's going on, and what have you done with my friends?!" Pepper shouted.

"I-I-It's n-n-not our f-f-fault! Lord Licorice s-s-spoke to us and-and-and said he was g-g-going to c-c-come to earth! But the p-p-portal only o-o-opened on his s-s-side, that's why i-i-it was b-b-black, so he d-demanded that a pair of s-s-sacrifices be made to him," stuttered the jellybean monster.

"So you sacrificed the couple who lived in the house because they happened to be where the portal opened up. But why did my friends get sucked in as well?"

"T-T-They j-j-just happened to be h-h-hovering over the portal, which sucks in a-a-anyone who goes n-near it."

"Now was there a chocolate rabbit and a guy in a cape that were here, and where are they now?"

"A ch-chocolate r-r-rabbit! W-We thought it looked delicious, so we a-ate it!"

Pepper smacked the side of the jellybean's head with the butt of her gun.

"You carnivorous monster! What about the guy in the cape?"

"H-He put up quite a fight with that…candy-cane axe of h-his, but we were t-t-too much for him, so he r-r-ran away!"

"Where?"

"I-I-I don't know, I didn't see him leave!"

"You…killed my parents," Sugar's tears ran down her face as she spoke. "You took away my friends…and you ate…MY CHOCOLATE BUNNY!"

Suddenly, she started to emit a pink glow as she held the wand high, which glittered in white and pink sparkles. The other girls watched as she started to levitate into the air with her eyes closed. As the light fell on the monsters, they became afraid and backed away, while the portal was still glowing white. When her eyes opened, they were filled with anger and hatred for the monsters around her, as she gripped the wand with both hands and shouted, "CANDY KISS EXPLOSION!"

The white light that came from the wand was so bright that it enveloped the entire area. While the monsters fled, they were absorbed into the wand as tiny yellow lights. They were all people, as the girls got together and steered them away from the portal, which started to grow dim in the wand's light. It was then that a familiar face came stumbling out from a manhole in the middle of the street, covered in sewage water with his military cap nearly falling off his face. Naturally, the girls were surprised to see him. But Pepper wasn't happy, and smacked him across the face as he approached them.

"You're no Duke of Swirl at all, but a pathetic coward dressed in pink!" Pepper shouted.

"Commander Dandy is the Duke of Swirl?" Aroma was surprised. "But…why didn't I recognize him when I saw him?"

"His magic power is very strong, so he was able to hide his true identity even among us," Kit Kat explained. "But that gives him no excuse to leave the battle when he should've been protecting the Princess!"

"The Princess? You mean…" Aroma turned around, and looked up at Sugar.

But to her surprise, Sugar was changing right before her eyes. Her eyes had gone from brown to purple, and so did her hair, which also grew longer. The clothes she wore were not a pink military uniform, but a long white dress trimmed with lollipops, a thin rainbow-colored shawl, and purple slippers. Then to top off the transformation, her Lollipop Wand became rainbow-colored with a white stick instead of a pink one that extended down to her feet, and a shining tiara made of lollipops encircled Sugar's head.

"That's right," Kit Kat nodded. "When you guys sealed Princess Lolly's powers away, her hair went from purple to brown, along with her eyes. You left her at the hospital, where Mr. and Ms. Marmalade found her and raised her as their own, while you sealed your powers and went separate ways until Hershey would awaken the Princess' powers when she was old enough to receive them."

"But Hershey, who had never seen the Princess in her sealed state, didn't automatically recognize Sugar as the Princess, so she gave the Lollypop Wand to her when Sugar unintentionally reopened the portal playing Candyland, allowing the monsters from Candyland to escape to this world after they had ravaged our own," Aroma realized.

"That's why I came here," Commander Dandy said, catching the girls' attention. "To protect the Princess. I tried to follow you when you left, but the portal closed before I could. So I waited, knowing Lord Licorice had predicted that the Princess would reopen the portal from the other side. Naturally, I didn't want to believe it. But when the portal opened, I took the opportunity and went to this world. Then sensing her presence at the school, I became a student by the name of 'Duke'.

I became acquainted with Sugar, though with a rough introduction, and as I sensed the monsters roaming the town, I became Commander Dandy to stop them, only to find Soldier Candy. I had heard from prophecies that Soldier Candy was the key to defeating Lord Licorice, and knew she was connected to the Princess somehow. So I constantly protected her, hoping to find answers. As for the reason I fled…my powers were dwindling, and I didn't want Soldier Candy to find out my identity as 'Duke', otherwise it would put him in danger, just like that blonde boy she has a crush on."

"Miloe?" Aroma inquired.

"How did you know she has a crush on him?" Pepper asked.

"I could tell by the way she looked at him," Dandy replied. But before he could say more, the cap came off, and he fell face-first onto the street.

"What are you all doing just standing there?" The girls looked up at Sugar, or Princess Lolly now. Her voice was almost like Sugar's, only more refined and with a sterner tone. "Pick him up, and follow me to the portal. It will close if we don't leave now!"

Pepper lifted Commander Dandy up without too much trouble, and carried him to the portal, which was starting to shrink as the white light continued to shine from Princess Lolly's lollipop staff. All the people that had been released after being possessed by the monsters stared in awe as the three girls and chocolate bunny walked up to the portal and jumped down into it. As soon as they were inside, the portal swirled shut, leaving a charred house and circle of fire as the lawn was suddenly ignited.

End of Chapter 8