May wakes up feeling hotter than usual. Cold sweat trickles down her chin as she sits up, the window beside her and the bowing plants greeting her morning–just like always. The bed sheets are wet, just as it should be and the pale are full…are full and not overflowing!? What are these yellow streaks and spots in her little cabin? May treats her run down. only cardboard, and rustic pipe shelter as a cabin and crawling out of it, she sees that the alley way is bright and warm compared to the usual blues and gray.
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The pale is gone, and the raining along with it! What has happened?
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Never had she expected to see her little shelter be shone with godrays over alley walls. Nor would it look so peaceful and beautiful in this concrete jungle. She runs towards the nearest television store to check the news and it shows that the clouds are clearing! The eternal rain from the time of President Driz is waning. Everyone watches in shock and gasp. Before being blown with a breeze so unexpected that they started screaming away from it even though it is just a gentle cheek kisser.
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Most of the bystanders think that it is bad. Especially the men in orange with yellow hard caps. May listens in, and they think that they do not know where to get water now that the rain is gone. Unlike in our world, we have water pipelines but they do not, they only have pales and basins to catch the eternal rain’s blessing and having to add the water pipelines, nobody is thinking of it.
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May runs around, splashing puddles with eager eyes looking at the colors so new that it makes her lonely smile span widely. Not ever did she see a tree look so green. Nor is the signage so red! And what is that yellow ball rising from beyond the mountains and lake horizon! Those white birds in the sky. It is so beautiful! And May jumps up on top of the flood breakers to fully feel the blissful winds coming her way. A saltiness in the air that she never had tasted before.
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There are boats! She can now see the boards that only the luxurious wealthy can from their high skyscrapers. An iron boat, a wooden boat, rowing and blowing horns, all now seen with no more fog! Dolphins breach at where the golden ball is. Their shadows magnificently praise how morning’s beauty can be. Of course, she cannot always stay gazing at the new sights. Her skin feels like it might peel off. The ball of light now in the clear blue sky. So clear that it makes all water sparkle and land dry and hot. Dust falls and now settles like snow and quick spirited messenger rain men now dispirited with expressions at the golden sun, wondering how they will go about their day.
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As the sun climbs higher in the cloudless sky, casting an unforgiving heat wave over the city, shadows begin to lengthen and twist in unsettling ways. From the corners of her eye, May catches glimpses of movement – long, serpentine forms slithering across rooftops and between buildings. Whispers travel on the unfamiliar wind, tales passed down through generations about the creatures the rain kept at bay.
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Panic erupts as a monstrous screech shatters the fragile peace. A hulking elephant, its scales shimmering with an oily sheen, bursts through the side of a skyscraper, sending debris raining down. May ducks for cover as the creature lets out another ear-splitting roar, its voice a cacophony of scraping metal and grinding gears.
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The once pristine sky is now marred by the silhouettes of winged horse horrors, their leathery wings blotting out the sun in brief moments. Mayhem erupts as these flying nightmares descend upon the city, snatching terrified bystanders in their razor-sharp talons.
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Suddenly, the gentle breeze transforms into a howling gale. The dusty streets, whipped into a frenzy, become choking whirlwinds. Grotesque manlike figures emerge from the swirling sand, their forms shifting and changing, their scarlet eyes burning with an unnatural hunger.
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May, adrenaline coursing through her veins, realizes this isn't just a world without rain – it's a world without the shield that kept the nightmares at bay. Now, with the endless downpour of a mere memory, the nightmares have returned – and they're ravenous.
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She sprints past K. street, a silent panic in her eyes that wishes for the mountains through the alleyways she has always used. A number of others join her flee when she runs past. They push through the alley way, dodging falling debris and hiding behind trash cans to avoid the grotesque sand creatures. The monstrous winged horses screech overhead, snatching hapless victims with their cruel talons. Just as they reach a narrow alleyway, their escape route is blocked.
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A colossal cockroach monster, its segmented exoskeleton gleaming under the harsh sunlight, slams its body against the opposite wall and climbs on top of the rubble, effectively sealing their exit. People scream in horror as it has been chewing a baby with its head being gritted and munched in front of them. Some collapsing in despair while May grits her teeth against a cold dread grip her heart, her ragged breath caught in her clenched throat.
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But then a figure streaks across the sky like a crimson comet. It lands with a resounding thud right in front of the monstrous roach. A man, bald and clad in a flowing red cape, wearing nothing but yellow spandex with red gloves and boots.
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Without a word, the caped man delivers a single, powerful punch. The force behind it is unimaginable that it blew May’s hair back. The cockroach monster lets out a sickening crunch as its entire body folds in on itself, collapsing into a twitching heap of chitinous limbs and green bile.
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All those behind his shadow look up with empty gazes and terror of what just happened. The caped man doesn't linger. With a final, emotionless glance at the stunned group, he leaps back into the air striking the winged horses into the cloudless blue expanse as quickly as he arrived. And just like her savior, May does not sit around for her body to be munched and head left uneaten. She paces herself for above the rubble and run for the mountains, never looking back at whoever or whatever is following her. People? Screams? Monsters? She sprints, gritting herself and teeth scraping out blood off her lips in complaint against her spasming legs. The mountain is one alley beyond and with enough grit and forceful strides for life, she hides in a cave, wondering if she is safe here.
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