2025-02-24 20:13:11Breaking Limits
I take a deep breath, my muscles coiled like springs. The sensation of raw energy hums beneath my skin, an itch I can’t scratch. My body is no longer bound by the same rules. I feel it—every fiber of my being screaming for release, for motion, for something more. I need to push. I need to see how far I can go. The first test is speed. I lunge forward, the wind slicing past me as the world blurs. One moment, I’m at the end of my street. The next, I’m standing on the other side of town, my chest rising and falling in rapid bursts. My heart should be pounding from exertion, but it’s not. The rush of movement fills me with a heady kind of exhilaration. But then, the world twitches. The streetlights overhead flicker, their glow stuttering in odd, rhythmic pulses. The same couple I passed on the sidewalk a second ago reappears in front of me, walking the same path, holding the same conversation, their words eerily identical. I step back, a cold knot forming in my stomach. “What the hell?” A man across the street suddenly freezes mid-step. His coffee cup tilts, but the liquid inside remains suspended in midair. My breath catches as I watch him flicker—his entire body resetting as if the universe hit rewind for just a moment. And then he vanishes. Panic surges through me. I rub my temples, the buzzing in my skull intensifying. “No, no, no. Stay calm.” I take a slow breath, but it does nothing to stop the unease crawling up my spine. My abilities aren’t just growing—they’re ripping holes in reality. I decide to push again, this time testing my strength. A lamppost stands tall beside me. I grip it with both hands, planting my feet firmly. With a steady pull, I rip it from the ground as if it were nothing more than a twig. Metal groans, wires snap, and the light above sputters out. I stand there, holding the heavy post in my hands, feeling godlike—unstoppable. Then the world lurches again. The same man I saw vanish reappears across the street. But this time, he’s staring at me. “You’re not supposed to do that,” he says, voices distant and hollow. My chest tightens. “Who are you?” He doesn’t answer. Instead, his body glitches, distorting as if he’s caught between two frames of existence. The street around him warps, shifting between night and day in rapid succession. I stumble back, the sheer wrongness of it twisting my gut. The air thickens, pressing against my skin. And then— Time skips. I blink. I’m no longer standing in the street. I’m back at my house. My hands are shaking. My mind races. The lamppost is gone. The world is normal again. Except… it isn’t. I glance at the clock on my phone. It’s an hour later than it should be. A shiver runs through me. “I didn’t just move. Time did.” I grip the edge of the kitchen counter, grounding myself. I need to stop this. I need to figure out what’s happening before I lose control completely. A thought worms its way into my head, unbidden but relentless: What if I’ve already lost control? A knock at the door sends a jolt through my body. I move cautiously, every muscle in my body tense as I open it. Jackson stands on the porch, his eyes scanning me with a mix of concern and something else—something close to fear. “I saw it,” he says without preamble. “I saw what you did.” I don’t respond. I can’t. The weight of everything crashes down on me at once. Jackson steps inside, closing the door behind him. “You’re changing, Tony.” “I know,” I whisper, running a hand through my hair. “But I don’t know if it’s a good thing.” Jackson exhales sharply. “Neither do I.” For a long moment, we stand there in silence, the unspoken truth hanging between us. Then, from the corner of my eye, I see it. A shadow moving where no shadow should be. The world is watching me. And it’s about to push back.
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THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 8
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The Reset KeyThe fractures ran deep. They cut through space and time, jagged wounds in the fabric of reality, shifting and groaning like something alive. I could feel them pulsing under my skin, a slow unraveling of everything I had fought for.And I was the only thing holding it all together.The Shift swirled around me, vast and unrelenting, pressing against my mind with a quiet hum. I could barely feel the ground beneath my feet anymore, the weight of my own body growing lighter, like I was already slipping away.Behind me, Kane’s breathing was uneven. Sharp. She knew.She always knew."Tony," she whispered. "Tell me there’s another way."I clenched my fists. My whole life, I had been fighting, finding cracks in the system, pushing past the limits others thought were unbreakable. But this time…"There isn’t," I said.Kane took a step closer, her boots scraping against the cracked ground. "Then we find one."I turned to face her, and the look in her eyes nearly broke me.There was
CHAPTER 167
The Last GoodbyeI stood outside Darren’s door, staring at the grain of the wood like it held the answers to all my unspoken questions. The hallway smelled of old books and antiseptic, an odd combination of wisdom and decay. My fingers curled into a fist, but I didn't knock. Not yet.This wasn't like the other battles I’d fought. This wasn’t a confrontation where I could overpower the enemy, nor a negotiation where I could twist the terms in my favor. This was final. And I hated that word more than anything.Taking a breath, I let my hand fall against the door, the sound barely audible."Come in," a rough voice called from inside.I pushed the door open.Darren sat in a worn-out chair by the window, the soft glow of the late afternoon sun casting long shadows over his frail frame. The man I had once seen as an unmovable force now looked... small. His skin hung loose over sharp bones, his eyes sunken yet still piercing, still aware. The room smelled of age like time itself had settled
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Breaking PointI was unraveling.I felt it in the way my body flickered, my hands twisting in and out of focus like I was caught between layers of existence. The cold wind slid through me, and for a brief second, I wasn’t sure if I was standing on solid ground or floating above it.The sky above still refused to change. The horizon held onto its dying light, frozen between night and day as if reality itself was hesitating—waiting for me to decide what I was going to become.Elias was watching me. So was Kane.I could feel their eyes, their tension, their hesitation.“Tony,” Elias said, his voice steady but careful. “You need to stop.”Stop?The word almost made me laugh.I turned to him, and he flinched.That was new.Elias never flinched.The flickering was getting worse. My hands weren’t just blurring; they were stretching, unraveling at the edges before snapping back into place. It didn’t hurt, but it felt wrong. Like my body wasn’t sure what shape to take anymore.Kane took a step
CHAPTER 165
The Disappearing SunThe sunset.And then it never came back.I stood at the edge of the ruined city, staring at the horizon. The sky had darkened, but it hadn’t gone completely black. Instead, an eerie twilight lingered, stretching the shadows long and thin. It was like the world had forgotten how to move forward, stuck in the moment between day and night.A cold wind rushed through the streets, whistling between broken buildings, making them groan as if the city itself was holding its breath.“This isn’t normal.” Kane’s voice cut through the silence.I turned to see her standing a few feet away, arms crossed, eyes sharp as she scanned the sky. Elias was next to her, his usual composure cracking at the edges. He wasn’t the type to panic, but I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers twitched like he was holding back from reaching for a cigarette he didn’t have.“It’s him,” Elias muttered.I exhaled sharply. “You think I did this?”He met my gaze, and for once, there was
CHAPTER 164
The Last ReminderDarren stood at the city’s broken edge, the wind pulling at his jacket, carrying the scent of smoke and dust. The skyline was fractured, buildings leaning as if caught in their final moments of collapse. This city had seen better days—had been torn apart and stitched back together so many times that it barely resembled what it once was.And Darren had changed with it.I watched him from a distance, measuring the shift in his stance and his expression. The Darren I knew had always carried the weight of something—duty, regret, expectation. But the man standing there now wasn’t weighed down.He looked… lighter. Not in a way that made him weak. Just free.Kane stood beside me, arms crossed, her sharp eyes studying him the same way I was. “He’s different,” she muttered, and I could tell it unsettled her.Yeah. I felt it too.Darren turned, finally catching sight of us. His gaze met mine, and for a split second, I expected the usual tension—the stiffness in his shoulders,
