The rain-slicked street glistened with broken glass and spilled candy. Greta slammed a Serpent soldier into a wall with a tidal lash of water, just as Candy spun, tossing a cluster of peppermints like throwing stars. Their enemies dropped almost in unison.
The two heroines glanced at each other.
"You're good," Candy said, panting but grinning wide.
"You're loud," Greta shot back, though her lips tugged into the ghost of a smile.
And just like that, the bond was forged.
The battle flowed effortlessly between them—Greta's water currents carrying Candy's sugar-shrapnel, Candy's sticky webs pinning Serpents just long enough for Greta's tentacles to slam them into the ground. For every Serpent strike, the pair delivered a counter that left the enemy reeling.
As the Serpents retreated into the shadows, Candy flicked her cracked mask up, revealing sharp eyes full of fire. "Not bad, squid girl. We make a good team."
Greta brushed wet curls from her face. "Don't get used to it." But her eyes betrayed the truth—she was glad Candy had appeared.
---
Meanwhile…
Far from Greta's coastal town, a different storm brewed. Mausgrau and Delilah trudged along the dirt road of a small Bavarian town, the horizon glowing orange with fire.
"Smell that?" Mausgrau's whiskers twitched. "Serpents."
Delilah's body—sharp, radiant in its alien elegance—tensed. "Not just Serpents. Mutants."
The town square was chaos. The X-Men were there. A small strike team—Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler—stood against a swarm of Black Serpents wielding experimental tech. Blades shimmered with strange light, guns fired bursts of corrosive energy.
Storm raised a hand, lightning splitting the sky, scattering Serpents. But their numbers didn't thin. Cyclops fired blast after blast, and even Nightcrawler, darting in and out with his teleportation, was getting overwhelmed.
"Black Serpents fighting the X-Men," Mausgrau muttered. "That's… bigger than I thought."
Delilah smirked. "Guess we pick a side."
Without waiting for a response, she charged. Her hands reshaped into blades of light, slicing through Serpent armor. Mausgrau leapt onto a soldier's shoulders, twisting and slamming him down with inhuman precision.
Nightcrawler blinked mid-fight, momentarily stunned by the rat-woman tearing through enemies like shadows incarnate. "Mein Gott… who are they?"
"Doesn't matter," Cyclops barked, firing a wide blast that cleared space. "They're helping."
For once, Delilah didn't smirk at the praise—her blows came harder, sharper. She wasn't fighting for domination. She was fighting to protect.
Side by side, Mausgrau and Delilah clashed with the Serpents, their strange partnership aligning with the X-Men's strength.
And in that small town, under the firelit sky, a fragile alliance was born.