The rain hadn't stopped. If anything, it got louder, like the sky itself was arguing with them now. Six soaked disasters huddled under a half-broken billboard that used to say "Live, Laugh, Enjoy" which felt like mockery at this point.
Tim sneezed so violently it scared a passing crow. "Bro," Luna muttered, "if you sneeze one more time, I'm using you as zombie bait. "Tim sniffled. "At least I'll die fashionable."You're wearing socks with sandals, Tim."Fashion!."
Pluto sighed, clearly rethinking every life choice that led to this. "Can someone explain how we time-travelled, met three strangers from the future, and still ended up in the middle of a thunderstorm?"
Tango brushed rain off his glowing wristband and said casually, "Oh, you know, typical Tuesday for us."
Luna blinked. "Excuse me? "Tanya leaned forward. "He means… this happens a lot."
The entire trio from the past just stared. Tim: "...like what? Apocalypses?"Asuka: "Pretty much. Pluto: "You people need better hobbies."
Tango sighed. "Okay, listen. Since you're clearly not from our timeline, here's the short version before you all start screaming again...."Luna raised a hand. "No promises."
Tango ignored her and continued, "There was this scientist, Dr. Varex. Genius type. Also, a complete psychopath. He was obsessed with controlling evolution. Thought he could make humans stronger, faster, unkillable."
Tim squinted. "Lemme guess. He ended up creating zombies instead?"Tango nodded. "Bingo! He developed a chemical compound called Serum-V, tested it on one of his lab assistants, and, well… the guy didn't die."
Luna frowned. "That's good, right?"Tanya deadpanned, "He didn't die. He just stopped being human."
The group fell silent. Rain pounded around them.
Pluto finally muttered, "So your villain made a human smoothie and accidentally invented cannibalism."Asuka winced. "That's one way to put it."
Tim groaned. "So how'd it spread? Like… sneeze-on-you-and-you're-doomed kind of way?"Tango's expression darkened. "Worse. The infected started producing the chemical naturally. One scratch, one drop of blood, and the virus replicated. Within weeks, the whole city; gone."
Luna looked around the ghostly streets, flickering lights, broken signs. "So this isn't just the end of our world. It's the future's too."
Tanya nodded, tightening her gloves. "Yeah. Except for us."Tim frowned. "Why you three though? Like; why aren't you infected?"Asuka shrugged. "Luck. Stupidity. Plot armour. Take your pick."
Luna cracked a grin through the tension. "Well, if the world ended because some nerd couldn't stop playing God, at least we're the six idiots left to mess it up more."Pluto sighed. "That's not comforting."Tim clapped him on the shoulder. "That's team spirit, my dude."
Tango glanced at his glowing wristband again, numbers flickering like a countdown. "We've got maybe an hour before the next wave. The infection's adapting. We need to move."
Luna rolled her eyes but got up anyway. "Fine. But next time I fall on my face, I'm blaming the future.""Blame Dr. Varex," Tanya muttered. "He's the reason the planet's a zombie buffet."
Tim looked up at the stormy sky. "You think he's still alive?"Asuka's voice dropped to a whisper. "Alive? Maybe not. But he's still out there."
Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and for the first time, even Luna stopped joking.Because somewhere in the distance, through the rain and the ruin… a mechanical voice echoed.
"PROJECT VAREX; REACTIVATING PHASE TWO."
Tim gulped. "So… is this the part where we run again?"Luna grabbed his wrist. "Oh, absolutely."And just like that ; chaos....began.