CHAPTER 3: ARMAGEDDON - KILLSHED

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September 17th, 2023.

The world was no longer whispering about monsters—it was screaming.

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – 7:42 AM (BRT)

Carnaval music echoed in the background as locals filled the streets with laughter and color. That joy didn't last. From above, a shrill, guttural shriek tore through the clouds. A winged monstrosity—a grotesque, decaying macaw the size of a skyscraper—plummeted into the city. Its wings were frayed like rotting flesh stitched together, its beak cracked and bloodied, twitching erratically.

It opened its mouth, and rather than a scream, it vomited molten bile onto the crowds, dissolving hundreds in seconds. People ran, trampled one another, only to be scooped into the air by its talons and shredded mid-flight. Limbs and blood painted the streets red as it perched on a cathedral, letting out a screech so loud it shattered nearby windows and eardrums alike.

ARIZONA, USA – 4:23 AM (MST)

A border patrol convoy drove down a barren highway near Tucson. One of the officers squinted into the desert and slammed the brakes. The earth cracked open, revealing an insectoid horror with a segmented body as long as a train. Its many eyes blinked independently, its limbs jagged and barbed like spears. It skittered with unnatural speed, tearing through armored vehicles like wet paper.

It snatched a soldier, impaled him through the chest, and peeled his skin off with its pincers like unwrapping candy. Screams echoed through radios. Blood sprayed across the desert like a canvas, bodies twitching as they were pulled underground and silenced.

DUBLIN, IRELAND – 12:03 PM (IST)

At St. Stephen's Green, families picnicked and children played. The sky darkened—not from clouds, but from a towering, humanoid creature stepping through an unseen tear in the air. It was all wrong—its face stretched into an eternal grin with no lips, its body twitching as if barely stitched into existence.

It moved in complete silence, then with a burst of speed, it crushed a school bus beneath its heel. Blood leaked from its joints, and as it swung its elongated arms, people exploded on contact like bags of meat. One girl tried to crawl away, only for a massive foot to land on her, splitting her in two.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – 1:58 PM (SAST)

A festival was underway near Constitution Hill. That's when a monstrous figure emerged from the mists—its neck impossibly long, rising above buildings with a head that tilted, tilted, and tilted until its jaw dislocated. From its mouth dropped black sludge and rows of tendrils that latched onto people.

A man screamed as one wrapped around his leg, dragging him through concrete with bone-splitting speed. Another woman begged as she was lifted into the air and torn in half mid-scream. The streets were chaos, and the air was filled with wet tearing sounds, pleading cries, and gurgling death.

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES – 8:11 PM (PST)

The Quiapo Market was alive with chatter, vendors yelling prices, children darting between stalls—until the ground began to vibrate. Cracks formed. Then came the deafening roar. A colossal serpent burst from the earth like a missile, its armored, moss-covered body coiled with rows of jagged, obsidian scales that scraped against buildings. Its mouth was a vertical maw of rotating fangs, spiraling inward like a meat grinder.

It lunged and swallowed people whole—screaming humans vanishing down its gullet, their silhouettes briefly visible through its translucent flesh before vanishing. It slammed its body into nearby shops, flattening them like paper models, and crushed dozens in one swing of its tail. One mother ran with her son in her arms, only for the serpent to erupt beneath her, snapping her spine mid-leap and dragging the boy down by his leg as he shrieked for his mom.

By the time the military arrived, the market was flattened. Blood pooled between the fruit stands.

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OSAKA, JAPAN – 6:36 PM (JST)

The bustling Osaka Station came to a halt when the lights flickered and the air turned cold. Then, dripping from the ceiling like ink, came a spider-like monstrosity the size of a bullet train. It had a hundred twitching legs, eyes blinking from every inch of its grotesque body, and a face that resembled a broken porcelain doll sewn onto raw meat.

Screams echoed as its legs speared through people like skewers, pinning them to walls. Webbing shot from its belly—thick, fleshy cords that wrapped around commuters and dragged them into a web of twitching sacs, where muffled cries grew quieter and wetter. Inside, those trapped were dissolved alive, their blood oozing from the webs.

One man tried to shoot it. It responded by webbing his mouth shut, crawling over him, and puncturing his body with multiple limbs—each one tearing open his ribs, spilling steaming organs onto the tiles. Cameras caught the chaos before going dark.

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ISTANBUL, TURKEY – 3:02 PM (TRT)

The noon prayer had just ended. Devotees exited the mosque when a blinding beam of light from the sky illuminated the courtyard. From it descended a creature resembling a grotesque bat, but without wings—its limbs twisted into clawed arms, its chest pulsing with exposed muscle, and a skull-like face frozen in a screaming expression.

It crashed into the dome of the mosque with enough force to flatten the structure. Dust choked the air as people fled. It let out an ear-piercing, high-frequency screech that shattered glass and made blood pour from people's ears and noses. With animalistic fury, it tore through the crowd, grabbing people and slamming them against walls until their bones broke through skin.

It took a group of five and crushed them into a pulp with one step, their remains smeared like red paste against the cobblestone. One man, pinned under debris, watched helplessly as the beast devoured his daughter limb by limb, screaming until his voice gave out.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 11:27 AM (AEST)

Boats bobbed in the Sydney Harbour, tourists snapping photos near the Opera House. Then the sea frothed. A whirlpool formed, massive and hungry, and from it rose a behemoth covered in mucus and barnacle-encrusted skin. Tentacles—longer than any skyscraper was tall—lashed out of the water and wrapped around ferries.

One was yanked into the sky and slammed into the Harbour Bridge, exploding in a rain of bodies and twisted steel. Cars flew, helicopters were swatted out of the air. A tentacle crashed into the Opera House, splitting it open like a cracked egg, and dozens of people were scooped up and crushed midair.

A tourist tried to flee with his daughter. A tentacle wrapped around both of them—he was flung into a building and splattered like jam; his daughter was dragged underwater, her screams bubbling and fading into nothing. By the time it retreated back into the sea, the harbor was red and the skyline was burning.

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SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2023 – GLOBAL MONSTER COUNTEROFFENSIVE

BEIJING, CHINA – 6:42 AM (CST)

The skies were choked with smoke and fire as Chinese fighter jets screamed across the horizon. The target: a grotesque leviathan marching through the city's financial district—its limbs composed of interlocking human torsos, shrieking in agony, fused together by raw tissue and bone. Tanks lined the streets, opening fire with everything they had.

Explosions lit up its flesh, tearing chunks off, but the creature barely flinched. Each step flattened buildings and launched shockwaves that flipped APCs like toys. Troops rained gunfire, only to be swept away by a single limb. One squad fired a Javelin missile into its eye, causing it to bellow a deafening scream and rip its own face off in rage—hurling the bloody mass into a battalion, crushing thirty men instantly.

Even as they fell, reinforcements kept coming. The People's Liberation Army was at war with hell incarnate.

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BERLIN, GERMANY – 12:03 AM (CET)

Sirens howled through Berlin as NATO forces converged near Brandenburg Gate. Hovering above the city was an abomination shaped like a massive jellyfish—its tentacles stretching for miles, dripping acidic ichor that melted buildings and people alike.

German anti-aircraft batteries lit it up, tearing through its membranes, and American F-35s launched coordinated missile strikes. It shrieked in a guttural, synthetic tone, releasing waves of energy that knocked jets from the sky and made soldiers vomit blood.

Despite the losses, one squadron managed to fire a barrage of heat-seeking missiles directly into its core. It collapsed into the Reichstag in a final scream, its blood igniting into green fire that burned for hours.

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CAIRO, EGYPT – 7:55 AM (EET)

The pyramids loomed in the distance as an ancient horror emerged from beneath the sands—a colossal, spider-like creature with skulls embedded in its carapace and human hands twitching out of its thorax. Egyptian and allied forces opened fire from helicopters and Humvees.

It moved like a shadow, impossibly fast. It tore tanks in half with its mandibles, impaled soldiers with legs that moved like scythes. One brave soldier detonated explosives on its back, blowing away part of its shell—but it simply grew new limbs, twitching and fleshy, like tumors blossoming on command.

Despite the casualties, Cairo's forces stood firm. They refused to let the monster advance past the Nile.

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NEW YORK CITY, USA – 9:30 PM (EST)

The U.S. military went full DEFCON. Streets were barricaded. Apache helicopters swarmed the air. The threat: a hulking mass of muscle and tendons with dozens of twitching human faces screaming along its body. It towered over Times Square, knocking over buildings with ease.

The National Guard launched RPGs while Black Hawks rained minigun fire. Navy SEAL teams rappelled from choppers, setting up explosives across its limbs. Explosions tore through the creature, exposing writhing organs that grew back within seconds. One soldier was swallowed whole—his screams echoing for minutes before the thing vomited out bones.

In a desperate act, an A-10 Warthog unloaded a full burst of armor-piercing rounds into its skull, temporarily stunning it. The airstrike that followed reduced half the block to rubble—but still, it twitched. Still, it breathed.

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MOSCOW, RUSSIA – 4:01 AM (MSK)

Russia deployed everything. T-90 tanks, cruise missiles, even experimental railguns. A monster resembling a malformed bipedal bear—its skin raw, pulsing with worms—was tearing through Red Square. Its roars could be heard miles away.

Su-57s dropped payload after payload, but the creature adapted, growing new limbs where wounds formed. Soldiers fired until their guns overheated, and then fought with knives when ammunition ran dry.

They called it "Gorebear" in transmission logs. One soldier, pinned beneath rubble, activated a grenade and pulled the monster down with him. The explosion only knocked it unconscious for a few minutes—but enough for others to drag survivors to safety.

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From Buenos Aires to Lagos, from Toronto to Seoul, every continent burned. Global communications broke down as monster appearances multiplied by the hour. Some creatures had wings and emitted sonic shrieks. Others phased through walls or mimicked human voices to lure people close.

Militaries fought valiantly. Nukes were considered in desperation. But it wasn't enough. For every beast they killed, more came. Cities turned to ash, oceans boiled, and the sky was choked with smoke and falling debris. The monsters weren't just attacking—they were replacing the food chain.

The world had no choice but to fall.

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SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2023

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – 2:34 PM (IDT)

The Israeli Defense Forces managed to do what many couldn't—slay a monster. A grotesque amalgamation of twisted metal, flesh, and broken human arms had torn through the city's outer edge, absorbing anything it touched. But Israel's Iron Dome systems locked in, raining precision rockets as elite infantry units coordinated a trap beneath Azrieli Tower.

They lured the beast into an open plaza and detonated a network of shape charges beneath it. As it collapsed, wounded and flailing, an F-16 dropped a direct hit of bunker-busting payload onto its exposed core. The creature shrieked with voices of a thousand crying children—then died.

Cheers broke out across the comms. They had bled, but they had won.

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ROME, ITALY – 4:57 PM (CEST)

A serpentine creature with the face of a woman and the body of a skinned hydra slithered through the ruins of the Colosseum, hissing psalms in Latin as it dragged civilians into its jaws. The Vatican had long been evacuated, but Roman police and military forces were overwhelmed.

Italy begged for help on every frequency.

It came.

French and German joint forces stormed the creature with tanks and drones. The battle lit Rome with fire. Soldiers were eaten, burned, and torn apart—but one drone detonated a warhead inside the monster's neck, causing it to explode in a massive spurt of bile, bone, and gore.

Victory—but at the cost of Rome's soul.

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LAGOS, NIGERIA – 11:11 AM (WAT)

The sky over Lagos darkened as a towering humanoid with dangling intestines and obsidian skin emerged from the sea, walking inland like a god of death. It emitted no sound—but every footstep shattered the earth and ruptured glass citywide.

The Nigerian military fought bravely, deploying every aircraft and shell available. South Africa and Ghana sent reinforcements. Despite hundreds of casualties, the beast was slowed by concentrated artillery and ultimately brought down by a modified oil pipeline explosion beneath its legs.

The streets ran red, but Lagos stood.

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LOSSES ACROSS THE WORLD

BANGKOK, THAILAND – 8:21 PM (ICT)

Fell in a matter of hours. A floating entity shaped like a giant Buddha but covered in crying human eyes descended from the clouds, releasing psychic shrieks that made people kill themselves or gouge out their own eyes. Resistance collapsed before it ever reached ground level.

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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – 10:45 PM (CDT)

Was consumed from below. A worm-like monster the size of a skyscraper erupted through the earth, swallowing entire neighborhoods in seconds. Military forces attempted bombing runs, but were destroyed by the creature's tendrils, which snatched jets mid-air and crushed them. The city is now a crater.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 7:00 AM (AEST)

The Opera House drowned in blood. A spiderlike creature, thin and tall, walked upside-down on clouds, piercing people from the sky with its limbs. Civilians tried to flee by sea, but were dragged under by eyeless dolphins and mutilated sea beasts. No official survivors reported.

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MOSCOW, RUSSIA – STATUS: UNKNOWN

Last contact came from a satellite feed showing the entire Red Square glowing with pulsating red light. Then the feed cut. No comms. No signals. Nothing but silence.

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HOPE STILL REMAINS… BARELY

Some areas of the world have pushed back.

Some cities hold on.

But the death toll is in the billions.

Governments are splintering. Religions are collapsing. Panic rules.

As the monsters grow in number and intelligence, humanity teeters at the edge.

This is no longer a series of attacks.

This is extinction in progress.

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THE UNITED STATES – THE WHITE HOUSE – 12:05 PM (EST)

President James Connors sat in the Oval Office, his hands trembling as he read the latest briefing reports—casualty numbers that grew exponentially by the hour. His security detail had told him to leave, to flee with the rest of the government to a hidden location.

But Connors, a man who had spent his entire life in politics, could not bring himself to leave.

He called an emergency press conference. With sweat dripping down his brow, he stood before the cameras, trying to appear calm as explosions from Washington's outskirts rattled the windows behind him.

"We will fight this," he declared, his voice hoarse but filled with conviction. "We are not just Americans. We are humans. And we fight for survival."

Moments later, the White House was hit. The building collapsed as an enormous winged beast—a fusion of a giant bat and eagle—descended from the sky, tearing into the structure. The last transmission from President Connors was the sound of muffled screams. The rest of the broadcast cut to static.

The U.S. government was no more.

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RUSSIA – THE KREMLIN – 1:30 PM (MSK)

Russian President Vladimir Zolotov sat in the command center, eyes glued to a map of Moscow as his advisors screamed into his earpiece. "Mr. President, the creatures are breaking through every checkpoint!"

Zolotov clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing. He'd been on the battlefield before, but this was something else entirely. Monsters with no remorse, no fear, and no boundaries.

In the war room, generals and soldiers looked to Zolotov, waiting for his orders. But as the thunderous sound of something massive slamming into the Kremlin's walls shook the room, Zolotov, now pale with fear, looked at his comrades and said, "We cannot fight this."

He turned, grabbing his coat. "I'll take the underground route to safety. There's nothing more I can do here."

As he rushed to escape, a massive, skeletal, dragon-like creature tore through the stone pillars of the Kremlin, crushing everything in its path. Zolotov's last moments were spent running through corridors, before being devoured whole by the beast that had breached the building. Russia's last leader died in the jaws of the apocalypse.

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FRANCE – ÉLYSÉE PALACE – 3:00 PM (CEST)

French President Marie Lefevre stood on the balcony of the Élysée Palace, overlooking the chaos that had unfolded in Paris.

The city was burning. Monsters rampaged through the streets, eating and destroying anything in their path. The Eiffel Tower had fallen, its once-proud structure now nothing more than rubble.

She had been told to escape, to board a helicopter and leave the capital. But Lefevre, determined to remain with her people, ordered her military to hold the line.

But as the sun dipped below the horizon, a thick, toxic cloud of black smoke rolled through the streets, and in the distance, a behemoth-like creature—a massive centipede with multiple rows of human faces—appeared, spitting venom that melted buildings and people alike.

Lefevre's last words were spoken into a radio as she coordinated the evacuation: "We will fight, even if we die."

Her transmission was cut off as the creature's massive tail slammed into the palace, sending debris crashing down. Her body was never found. France was left in ruins, its government in shambles.

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UNITED KINGDOM – BUCKINGHAM PALACE – 5:00 PM (BST)

Queen Evelyn of the United Kingdom had been one of the last remaining leaders who hadn't fled. While many of her fellow monarchs and world leaders scrambled for safety, Queen Evelyn refused to abandon her people. Her royal guard had fortified Buckingham Palace, preparing for the inevitable assault.

When the creatures arrived, a monstrous form—resembling an enormous serpentine amalgamation of humans and beasts—crawled across the streets of London, dragging its broken, dismembered limbs.

Queen Evelyn stood tall at the head of her army, dressed in ceremonial armor and wielding a sword. Her final act of defiance was to charge toward the beast, urging her soldiers to follow.

She was overwhelmed in seconds. The creature's tentacles wrapped around her, crushing her chest before swallowing her whole.

Her death symbolized the collapse of the United Kingdom.

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AUSTRALIA – CANBERRA – 6:45 PM (AEST)

In the Australian capital, Prime Minister David Briggs found himself in a different kind of struggle. His country, geographically isolated from the rest of the world, had initially been spared the worst of the monster attacks. But as the creatures swept across the globe, it became clear that no place was safe.

Briggs had gathered the last remnants of the Australian government in the Parliament House. Military forces were scattered across the coastline, preparing to defend the nation.

But as reports came in of sea creatures—massive, cephalopod-like horrors—beginning to invade the shores, Briggs realized there was no hope. The government's plan was simple: attempt to fight back for as long as possible before retreating into the interior, hoping that the mountains would provide some cover.

His advisors urged him to flee, but Briggs stood his ground. "We will die here. We will make them pay for every inch of this land."

Moments after making his speech, a gargantuan octopus-like monster reached the shores, its tendrils dragging ships and buildings into the ocean. Briggs was killed instantly when one of its tentacles broke through the Parliament House, taking him and his staff in a violent, gory sweep.

Australia had fallen.

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CHINA – BEIJING – 7:30 PM (CST)

President Li Wei of China was no stranger to war, but nothing could have prepared him for what was happening now. The streets of Beijing were littered with fallen soldiers, blood flowing through the gutters like rivers.

A massive, insectoid creature with translucent wings had descended upon the city, its spindly limbs slicing through buildings and military vehicles alike. Li Wei and his top military leaders had fought fiercely, but they were being overrun.

The decision to flee was final. Li Wei boarded a helicopter with his remaining soldiers and flew toward a safe zone.

But as they ascended into the air, the insect's long, razor-sharp claws slashed through the sky, catching the helicopter in mid-flight and sending it spiraling into the ground.

Li Wei died in the crash, his final moments filled with the horrific screams of his men. China's government had been lost.

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Around the world, leaders who once commanded armies, controlled nations, and stood as symbols of hope were either dead, scattered, or fleeing.

In their absence, humanity was left without guidance—without anyone to lead them.

The monsters, relentless and growing in number, left a shattered world in their wake.

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SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2023

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NEW YORK CITY – 9:00 AM (EST)

Once known as the city that never sleeps, New York City now stood as a decimated wasteland. Skyscrapers that once pierced the heavens were reduced to rubble, their glass and steel skeletons jutting out of the ground like broken fingers.

The famous streets that were once alive with thousands of people now lay silent, save for the occasional roar or screech echoing through the wreckage.

In the distance, a massive, reptilian creature—its skin resembling cracked stone—wandered aimlessly, crushing cars and debris beneath its enormous feet. Its bulging eyes scanned the ruins, seeking prey, and occasionally stopping to gnaw on anything it could catch, tearing through bodies with ease.

The once iconic Statue of Liberty was now half-submerged in the water, a grim reminder of the world that had been lost.

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – 12:00 PM (BRT)

The heart of South America was no better. The sprawling streets of Sao Paulo were flooded with blood. The once vibrant city was now blanketed in darkness, a haunting silence filling the air.

Monstrous beasts—like the grotesque, disfigured macaw that had first terrorized the city—had decimated entire blocks. Its vibrant plumage was now covered in the blood of those it had slaughtered, and it screeched a deafening, guttural cry that echoed through the city's empty streets.

The once-bustling metropolis was now a graveyard, with broken bodies hanging from light posts and twisted remains scattered across the streets. The horrific bird-monster circled overhead, still hunting for survivors, its jaws dripping with the viscera of its victims.

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TOKYO, JAPAN – 2:30 PM (JST)

In Tokyo, the famed skyline was unrecognizable. The towering buildings were crumbled into jagged piles of debris, leaving only half-standing shells behind. The streets, normally filled with the hum of daily life, were now devoid of human presence.

In their place, strange and twisted forms prowled through the wreckage. A hulking, humanoid creature—its form a mass of spindly limbs and jagged teeth—stomped through Shibuya, sending tremors through the cracked concrete. Its hollow eyes scanned the area, stopping to tear apart anything it could reach.

Another smaller, insect-like creature scuttled across the ground, darting through alleys and streets, feeding on whatever scraps it could find. Tokyo was now a city ruled by monsters.

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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – 4:00 PM (SAST)

Johannesburg was no different. The towering skyline that once stood proud in Africa's economic hub was now reduced to a shadow of its former self.

A massive, long-necked creature—its body like an ancient serpent covered in jagged, spiny armor—slithered through the city, leaving destruction in its wake. Its monstrous head swayed through the ruins, sniffing the air as it searched for food.

What was once a bustling, vibrant city now stood abandoned, its people either dead or scattered, leaving behind only the stench of decay and the growls of the creatures who claimed it.

The wreckage of cars and buildings was scattered across the streets like the remnants of an old warzone. Fires burned on the outskirts of the city, a warning to anyone who might dare approach.

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 6:00 PM (BST)

London was another casualty of the apocalypse. Big Ben's clock face was frozen, shattered by a massive claw that had struck it. The Houses of Parliament were barely recognizable, half-destroyed by the impact of a creature that resembled a grotesque, multi-eyed spider with long, twisted legs.

Its movements were deliberate as it scuttled across the city, dragging its many limbs along the cracked roads. It paused only to feast on whatever unlucky survivor it could find, its many eyes scanning the darkened streets for any sign of life.

London's once-famous streets now lay in ruins, littered with debris and the remains of those who hadn't escaped in time. The eerie silence was broken only by the hissing of the spider-creature as it continued its hunt.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 7:30 PM (AEST)

Sydney, the once-proud coastal city, now lay submerged in chaos. The Sydney Opera House had been reduced to a mangled heap of broken stone and shattered glass. The city's famous harbor was filled with debris, the calm waters now disturbed by the monstrous sea creatures that swam beneath.

A massive, tentacled beast—its skin a slick, dark green—emerged from the depths of the harbor. It roared as it lashed out with its thick, writhing tentacles, tearing apart any ship or building it could reach. The once-beautiful coastline was now littered with the wreckage of civilization.

The population had been all but wiped out, their bodies floating lifelessly in the water or crushed under the weight of the beasts that now ruled the land and seas.

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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – 9:00 PM (CST)

Mexico City was a city that never slept, but now, it was drowned in a sea of nightmares. A gigantic, winged monster, its body resembling a grotesque mix of bat and dragon, circled above the city's empty streets.

Below, the city's once-bustling markets and plazas were now filled with the screams of the dying. The monster swooped down from the sky, tearing apart buildings and devouring everything in its path.

Its wings beat violently, sending gusts of wind strong enough to shatter windows and uproot trees. Mexico City, once a proud symbol of Latin America's resilience, now lay in ruin, its people either dead or scattered across the wasteland.

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All across the globe, cities were left in ruins. People—those who had survived—either ran for the hills or hid in fear, praying for a miracle that would never come.

Monsters roamed freely now, their hunger insatiable, their dominance undeniable. No corner of the Earth was safe. The monsters had come to claim it all.

The world had fallen.

Humanity was on the brink of extinction, and it felt like the end of time.

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SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2023 – GLOBAL CHAOS

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