[New friends]

The Next Morning

Amira’s phone buzzed nonstop.

She groggily reached for it, barely cracking her eyes open as the screen flooded with notifications. Messages. News alerts. Social media exploding.

Then she saw the headlines.

[GLOBAL EMERGENCY: DUNGEON BREAKS REPORTED WORLDWIDE!]

[BREAKING: Awakeners Confirmed—Superpowered Individuals Emerging!]

[Who Are They? More People Developing Powers After Dungeon Breaks!]

Amira shot up in bed, her exhaustion vanishing instantly.

Her hands shook as she scrolled. It wasn’t just their city. It wasn’t just the country.

It was everywhere.

Tokyo. London. New York. Paris. Small towns. Big cities. Dungeon breaks were tearing through the world like wildfire. And people—random, everyday people—were developing powers.

Her heart pounded.

[GROUP CALL INCOMING – “We’re So Screwed”]

Without hesitation, she answered.

Ruby appeared first, looking half-asleep but already freaking out. “Tell me I’m hallucinating.”

“Nope,” Amira muttered. “This is real.”

Dave groaned as his screen popped up. “You know, I really thought we’d get at least one normal day after nearly dying.”

Sara exhaled sharply, her expression tense. “Guys, this isn’t just us anymore. There are hundreds of people awakening powers. Maybe thousands.”

Ruby scrolled through her phone. “Look at this—there are people breathing fire in Brazil, a guy in Germany lifted a whole car, and someone in India just straight-up teleported in front of a news crew.”

Dave rubbed his temples. “So we’re not the chosen ones. Got it.”

Amira swallowed hard. “But why is this happening now? The dungeon breaks started last week. How are people just now awakening?”

No one had an answer.

Then Sara said, “Maybe… the more dungeon breaks happen, the more the world is changing.”

Silence.

It made sense.

The first dungeon was small. Then they got bigger. Stronger. And now, people were changing with them.

Ruby sighed. “So, what do we do? ’Cause I’m guessing skipping school and pretending this isn’t happening isn’t an option.”

Amira clenched her jaw. “No. It’s not.”

Her vision flickered for a second—just a moment of blurriness before clearing up again. A reminder of what this power was costing her.

They had to get ahead of this. Fast.

Sara nodded. “Then we meet up. Now.”

Amira took a deep breath. The world was falling apart.

And they had no choice but to step up.

Amira stood in the kitchen, staring at the coffee maker like it personally offended her. She had barely gotten four hours of sleep, and after everything that happened, she wasn’t sure she could function without caffeine.

Footsteps approached, and Stacy walked in, already dressed for the day, holding her phone. “So, are we just ignoring the fact that our baby sister is a superhero now?”

Amira groaned. “Please don’t call me that.”

“I would, but it’s hard to ignore when you’re literally all over the internet.” Stacy turned her phone, showing yet another news clip. The footage from yesterday’s dungeon break played, zooming in on Amira mid-fight. “You’re kind of a big deal.”

Before Amira could respond, the doorbell rang.

“That’s them,” she muttered, shuffling toward the door.

She swung it open to see Ruby, Sara, and Dave standing there, all looking equally exhausted.

Ruby held up a bag of pastries. “Brought breakfast, because we all need comfort food.”

“Bless you,” Amira muttered, stepping aside so they could enter.

Kora was already at the table, working on some kind of mechanical part, while their mom poured coffee for herself and Stacy.

“Alright,” Kora said, glancing at them. “You guys better start explaining. And don’t leave anything out.”

Sara pulled out her phone and placed it in the center of the table. “It’s worse than we thought.”

The screen showed a map with red dots marking every dungeon break—hundreds of them. Some still active, some cleared, and the number was still rising.

Dave ran a hand through his hair. “This is getting out of control. Governments are trying to respond, but they’re overwhelmed. And now we’ve got people awakening powers left and right.”

Ruby took a bite of her pastry. “So the question is… what do we do?”

Amira sighed, rubbing her temples. “We can’t just sit around while this happens. But we also can’t be the only ones dealing with it.”

Their mom finally spoke up, setting down her coffee. “So, what’s the plan?”

Silence.

Sara exhaled. “We need to figure out what’s causing this.”

Amira nodded. “And fast. Because if we don’t…” She glanced at the map again.

This wasn’t stopping.

It was only getting started.

.

.

.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the five of them sat down at a table together, eating breakfast like normal people.

Amira wasn’t sure how long the peace would last, but right now? She was going to enjoy her pancakes.

“So,” Stacy said, sipping her coffee. “You guys are basically superheroes now. That’s… a thing.”

“Not by choice,” Ruby muttered, stuffing her face with a croissant.

Kora smirked. “You sure? Because if I had powers, I’d be running around in a cool suit by now.”

Amira groaned. “We are not getting superhero costumes.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ruby said, grinning. “I think I’d look amazing in a cape.”

Dave shook his head. “Capes are impractical.”

“That’s what you think,” Ruby shot back.

Their mom sighed, flipping through the news on her phone. “So, aside from saving the world, what else are you kids doing today?”

There was a beat of silence before Sara cleared her throat. “Uh. Homework?”

Kora snorted. “Right. Because that’s the biggest concern right now.”

Amira took another bite of her pancakes. The whole conversation felt almost too normal. Like they weren’t just fighting for their lives yesterday. Like the world wasn’t crumbling outside.

It was a little unnerving.

But… maybe they needed this. A moment of peace before whatever came next.

Ruby stretched and sighed dramatically. “You know what? This is nice. No monsters. No death. Just food.”

Dave hummed. “Feels a little too nice.”

As if on cue, Amira’s phone buzzed loudly on the table.

They all froze.

Amira hesitated, then reached for it.

One new notification.

[BREAKING NEWS: Largest Dungeon Break Yet Appears in Capital City!]

And just like that, the peaceful morning was over.

.

.

.

Amira groaned, dropping her fork onto her plate with a loud clank. “Bitch, I knew it was too good to be true to ask for a peaceful day.”

Ruby sighed dramatically, shoving the last bite of her croissant into her mouth. “Welp. It was nice while it lasted.”

Sara grabbed Amira’s phone and skimmed the article, her face tightening. “This isn’t just another break… This one’s massive.”

Kora leaned in, raising an eyebrow. “How bad are we talking?”

Dave pulled up his own phone and tapped a live news broadcast. “See for yourself.”

On the screen, aerial footage showed the capital city in chaos. A massive, swirling black rift hovered over downtown, with creatures pouring out. Unlike the ones they’d fought before, these monsters were bigger, faster, deadlier.

“Holy shit,” Stacy muttered.

Their mom set down her coffee, her face unreadable. “And I assume you kids are going to do something about this?”

Amira exhaled sharply, leaning back in her chair. “What else can we do? Sit here and hope someone else fixes it?”

Ruby cracked her knuckles. “Not our style.”

Dave groaned. “I was really hoping to be lazy today.”

Sara stood, her expression firm. “We need a plan. If we just rush in—”

BOOM.

The whole house shook.

The ground rumbled beneath them, rattling the dishes on the table.

Kora shot to her feet. “What the hell was that?!”

Amira’s heart pounded. She rushed to the window—and froze.

Another dungeon break.

This time, right in their city.

“Shit,” she muttered. “Change of plans. We don’t have to go looking for a fight—”

Ruby smirked, already summoning ice to her fingertips.

“—because the fight just came to us.”

Amira barely had time to grab her jacket before they were running out the door.

The city was already in chaos. Cars screeched to a halt, alarms blared, and panicked civilians fled in all directions. Above them, the sky cracked with eerie purple lightning—the sign of a dungeon break in progress.

“Eyes up!” Sara shouted as a monstrous, six-legged beast crawled out of the swirling portal above a nearby building. Its skin was black and jagged like obsidian, and its glowing red eyes locked onto them.

“Dibs,” Ruby said, forming ice daggers in her hands.

“I swear, you’re too excited for this,” Dave muttered, already summoning wind around him.

The monster leaped—but before it could land, Amira was already moving. Flames erupted in her hands, shaping into a massive sword. She slashed upward, cutting through the beast’s thick hide, sending it crashing onto the pavement.

More creatures poured out of the portal—winged ones, clawed ones, some moving in eerie synchronization.

“This is worse than last time,” Amira muttered, wiping blood off her cheek.

“No shit!” Dave yelled as he blasted a flying creature away with a burst of wind.

Then, out of nowhere, a massive boulder flew past them and crushed a group of monsters in an instant.

“What the—?!” Amira turned to see a young man, maybe a little older than her, standing atop a wrecked car. His hands were covered in dust, and the ground beneath him cracked like he had just ripped the boulder from the street itself.

Another figure darted past—a boy with short, electric-blue hair, moving so fast he was practically a blur. One second he was ten feet away, the next she was behind a monster, slicing through it with a glowing dagger.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones fighting,” Ruby said, raising an eyebrow.

The guy with earth powers cracked his knuckles, giving them a nod. “You guys the ones from the news?”

Amira narrowed her eyes, still gripping her sword. “Who’s asking?”

The speedster grinned. “Two more awakeners looking for answers.”

Amira exhaled, glancing at the destruction around them.

“Then let’s survive this fight first,” she said, flames flaring in her hands.

Amira felt the heat surging through her veins, the flames licking up her arms, growing wilder. Despite everything—the chaos, the danger—she couldn't help it. A grin stretched across her face.

This was getting interesting.

She lunged forward, flames flaring as she drove her sword through another creature. The rush of adrenaline was intoxicating, her fire burning brighter with every movement. It was as if her body thrived in battle, the thrill pushing her beyond her limits.

“Amira!” Sara’s voice barely registered as a beast with a jagged exoskeleton leaped at her from the side.

She twisted at the last second, her flames flaring uncontrollably. A massive burst of heat shot outward, incinerating the monster mid-air. The sudden explosion of power sent her staggering back slightly, her vision flickering.

“Whoa,” the blue-haired speedster muttered, skidding to a stop next to her. “Did your flames just evolve mid-fight?”

Amira’s breathing was heavy, but she barely noticed. The fire in her hands flickered, shifting into a deep, intense purple for a split second before returning to its usual red-orange.

She clenched her fists.

Something was happening to her.

And she liked it.

“Less talking, more fighting!” Ruby yelled, freezing a monster solid before shattering it with a well-placed kick.

The earth-user slammed his hands to the ground, sending a wave of stone spikes erupting from the pavement, impaling several enemies at once. “We need to shut that portal down before more come through!”

Amira exhaled sharply, forcing herself to focus. The heat in her blood, the overwhelming power—it would have to wait.

“Then let’s finish this,” she said, gripping her sword as flames reignited.

The battle was far from over......

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***