2026-01-28 09:57:50The night air outside the theater felt thicker now, heavy with the kind of quiet that comes right before everything explodes. Tony stumbled through the broken doors, broken trombone pieces clutched in his shaking hands like some weird trophy from a cosmic prank. His head buzzed with leftover energy, every heartbeat sounding louder in his ears, as if his own pulse had decided to join the new soundtrack playing inside him. Beasts growled somewhere in the dark—low, hungry rumbles that used to make his stomach twist with fear. Tonight they sounded different. Almost... curious.
Lila burst around the corner of a crashed truck, water already swirling around her fists like angry blue snakes. Her eyes found him instantly, wide with panic that melted into pure relief the second she saw he was standing. "Tony! What the hell happened? The whole building shook, and then these things started howling like they heard dinner being served!" She sprinted the last few steps, grabbing his shoulders, checking him for blood or broken bones with quick, worried hands. Tony opened his mouth to answer, but a laugh bubbled out instead—shaky, wild, the kind you make when reality just pulled the rug out from under you and then handed you rocket boots. "I... I think I just became a god," he said, voice cracking on the last word. He held up the mangled trombone bell. "Through this. Seriously. The universe has the worst sense of humor." Lila stared at the twisted metal, then at his face, searching for the joke. When she saw he wasn't kidding, her mouth dropped open. "Show me," she whispered, half command, half plea. Tony swallowed hard. The golden words still floated in the corner of his vision, waiting patiently like they had all the time in the world. He took a breath, closed his eyes, and let out a single, careful note—not a hum this time, but something clearer, smoother, like the first clean breath after crying. The sound rolled out soft and golden, and the world listened. Puddles on the cracked pavement rippled in perfect circles. Loose gravel lifted an inch off the ground and spun lazily. Even the distant beast growls softened, turning into confused whines before fading away completely. The air itself felt warmer, lighter, like someone had turned up the brightness on existence. Lila's water snakes froze mid-twirl, then danced to the note, twisting into little spirals that matched the rhythm perfectly. Her eyes went huge. "Tony..." she breathed, voice full of wonder and a tiny bit of fear. "That's... that's not normal power. That's something else." He opened his eyes, grinning so wide it hurt. "Yeah. X-Class. God of Songs and Music. The prompt said reality hums my melody. I think it meant it literally." He laughed again, a little manic. "I can't even sing Happy Birthday without butchering it, and now I'm supposed to conduct the apocalypse?" Lila grabbed his arm tighter, pulling him behind the truck as another low growl echoed from the shadows. "We need to move. If the wrong people find out you've got something this big, they'll come for you. Raiders, other title-holders, maybe even the cult everyone whispers about." Her face hardened, protective fire lighting her eyes. "But first, you need to tell me everything. Every word the prompt said. No holding back this time." They started jogging back toward the settlement, keeping low, Tony's backpack bouncing against his spine. Every few steps he couldn't help testing it—little hums under his breath that made vines shift aside, broken glass crunch softly into powder, even the wind change direction to push them faster. It felt ridiculous. It felt amazing. It felt terrifying. Halfway down the highway, a pack of mutants finally caught their scent—six hulking things with too many teeth and eyes that glowed like dying embers. They charged from the overgrowth, claws scraping asphalt, snarls ripping the night apart. Lila raised her hands, water surging up in a massive wall. "Stay behind me!" But Tony stepped forward instead, heart hammering with a wild mix of fear and excitement. "Wait," he said, voice steadier than he felt. He lifted the broken trombone bell like a makeshift microphone, took a deep breath, and let out a long, low note—deeper than he'd ever managed before. The sound rolled out like warm honey, slow and heavy. The charging beasts faltered mid-stride. Their snarls turned into confused huffs. One by one, they slowed, heads tilting, eyes glazing over as if listening to the most beautiful lullaby they'd ever heard. Then, impossibly, they sat down. All six of them, right there on the cracked road, tails thumping like sleepy dogs. Lila's water wall dropped in slow, stunned drips. She stared at the peaceful pack, then at her brother, mouth open so wide Tony could have parked a truck in it. Tony lowered the trombone bell, cheeks burning. "Okay... so that happened." Lila blinked once, twice, then burst out laughing—loud, bright, the kind of laugh that said she was equal parts proud and completely terrified. "You just sang a monster gang to sleep. With a broken trombone. Tony, you absolute disaster of a god." He shrugged, trying to look cool even though his knees were shaking. "Hey, at least I'm useful now." They kept moving, faster this time, the settlement lights twinkling in the distance like a promise. Behind them, the sleeping beasts stayed down, breathing in slow, peaceful rhythm to the fading echo of Tony's note. Whatever came next—raiders, cults, other title-holders who might want to test the new kid on the block—Tony knew one thing for sure. The world had changed again tonight. And this time, it had a beat.
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under the big top
The big top's entrance flap parted with a soft rustle, and Tony stepped inside first, heart thumping like a drum in his chest. The inside glowed with string lights draped like spiderwebs, casting warm yellow spots over sawdust floors and faded posters of acrobats who probably never saw the end of the world. Tables ringed the center ring, piled with fresh bread, canned fruits, and even some roasted meat that smelled like heaven after days of dry rations. About thirty people and creatures milled around—humans with tired smiles, a few mutants on leashes that looked more like pets than guards, all chatting and laughing as if the apocalypse was just a bad dream.Seraphina Lune waited in the center, pink hair shining under the lights, her smile wide and genuine now, no smoke or tricks in sight. She clapped her hands together once, and the chatter died down. "Welcome, darlings! Come in, sit down. You look like you've walked through hell and back. Let me fix that."She waved them to a table,
Pink smoke and bad ideas
The three of them had been walking since the ice rain, legs heavy but spirits strangely light, when the road decided to play a trick. One minute they were passing rusted billboards promising long-gone roller coasters, the next minute a sagging big top rose out of the dark like a drunk uncle who refused to leave the party. The circus tent was battered, red-and-white stripes faded to pink-and-dirt, poles leaning like tired soldiers. Fairy lights still blinked in weak yellow pulses along the entrance arch, powered by who-knows-what stubborn generator. Music—scratchy calliope notes—floated out, cheerful and wrong, like laughter at a funeral.Tony stopped first. "That's… a circus."Lila tilted her head. "In the middle of nowhere. After the world ended. Sure. Why not."Elias's breeze tightened around them. "Patrols," he murmured. "And they're not normal dogs."They crept closer. Two shapes padded along the perimeter fence—huge, too huge. German shepherds maybe, once. Now their fur grew in p
Rain of ice
The train wreck lay quiet now, the six wolf-mutants scattered like broken toys across the gravel. Tony's heart still hammered from the fight, but the new creature—the one that used to be human—stood tall in the moonlight, claws flexing, second mouth hissing on its throat. The pack circled it, growling low, welcoming their newest member.Lila stepped forward. "Stay back," she said, voice calm but iron-hard.Tony and Elias moved behind her without a word. The air around Lila began to change. It grew colder, sharper. Tiny beads of moisture lifted from the grass, from the puddles, from the very breath they exhaled. The humidity in the night air thickened, then pulled toward her like iron to a magnet. She raised both hands, fingers spread, and the water answered.It came fast.Droplets from every direction rushed in, spinning into a tight, swirling sphere above her palms. The sphere grew, darkening, until it was the size of a basketball, then a beach ball, then bigger still. The air itself
Train wreck
The road had curved away from the highway hours ago, dipping into what used to be a small rail yard. Twisted tracks snaked through tall grass and broken gravel, leading to a long line of rusted train cars that looked like a giant metal snake someone had chopped into pieces. One engine lay on its side, half-buried in dirt, its front smashed open like a cracked egg. The cars behind it tilted at strange angles, windows gone, roofs peeled back by time and weather. Vines crawled over everything, thick and dark green, turning the whole wreck into a green-and-rust jungle under the moonlight.Tony walked slower here, eyes wide, taking it all in. The air smelled wet and sour, like old metal mixed with rotting leaves. Crickets chirped in the grass, but not many—too quiet for a place this overgrown. Lila stayed close on his left, water skin already uncapped, a thin stream ready to whip out if needed. Elias walked on the right, breeze always moving around him, listening to things the rest of them
Flames
The highway stretched dark and empty under a sky full of stars, the kind that looked too bright and too close after living so long under broken ceilings. Tony walked in the middle, Lila on his left, Elias on his right, their footsteps falling into a quiet rhythm that almost felt like music if he listened hard enough. The packs were light on their backs, but the silence between them was heavy, full of things no one wanted to say out loud yet.Tony kept his hands in his pockets, fingers brushing the trombone bell wrapped in cloth. He didn't dare hum again—not after what happened with Darius. The memory of the flames dying with one clap still made his palms tingle. He glanced sideways at Elias, who walked with that calm breeze always circling him, like the air itself was his bodyguard."You've fought S-Class before?" Tony asked, voice low.Elias nodded once. "Not really, just once"Lila looked over at him, her face lit by faint moonlight. "You never told me the details.""Didn't want to
Dusk
Dusk wrapped the highway in soft purple shadows, the air cool and thick with the scent of rust and distant rain. Tony walked between Lila and Elias, backpack straps digging into his shoulders, every step crunching on cracked asphalt that felt like walking on old bones. The settlement lights faded behind them, and ahead the road twisted through overgrown cars and vines, like nature was slowly eating the world back. Tony's mind raced with the new power humming inside him, a secret song waiting to burst out, but he kept it locked tight, focusing on the rhythm of their footsteps instead.Lila glanced over her shoulder every few minutes, eyes sharp and worried, her hand hovering near the water skin at her hip as if ready to pull a flood from thin air. Elias walked with easy grace, the breeze around him whispering secrets only he could hear, his face calm but alert. Tony felt a little safer with them, like they were a small team against whatever the night might throw, but the quiet made his
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