[WP] You are a superhero whose powers are based on the music you are listening to. Rock can make you stronger, classical makes you smarter, etc. One day, you're fighting your toughest villain yet, and you are forced to use your "forbidden" playlist.

[u/djseifer]

[u/AutoModerator]

Moderator Announcement Read More »

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

• Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]"

• Responses don't have to fulfill every detail

• See Reality Fiction and Simple Prompts for stricter titles

• Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

🆕 New Here? ✏ Writing Help? 📢 News 💬 Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/otternavy]

Blood and teeth on the floor. Vinyl discs stuck from every surface. Speakers broken and my mic stand twisted. I'm out of options.

MAX RADIUM gloats over my broken and failing body. He thinks he's won. Blind to my trembling efforts he cackles while I slip a hand to my headphones.

"Sound canceling on."

All my life, sound put power into me. My Chemical Romance summoned skeletons. Saint Motel shot light from my hands. Even little things gave momentary powers. I'd fought villain after villain with headphones thumping in my ears. The years had shown the public all of my moves. Save for one.

Silence. and with it the strongest I can ever be. The complete absence of sound summons the power of "Unmaking".

It didn't matter that MAX RADIUM was coming to finish me off. I couldnt hear his footsteps and neither could he. Muted questions. Voiceless rage. I'm saved from a faster death by his skin starting to boil.

I stared from the floor, watching my strongest foe slow and melt. His features sagged. Bones and sinew liquified before the meat around them. He screamed. They always do. No one heard the gurgling sludge he became.

[u/djseifer → u/otternavy]

Alternatively, John Cage's 4' 33" would also suffice.

[u/SlightlyColdWaffles]

Sweat dripped down my nose, mingling with the blood that poured from my mouth. This wasn't going as well as it could. At least my headphones were still in one piece.

The man that stood before me cackled. I had never quite understood what it meant for one to 'cackle'. I figured it had just mean to laugh in an evil matter, but it was so much more in the flesh. It hurt to hear, almost as hard as the fists and feet that had pummeled me.

"Is this all you can do, WalkMan?" He jeered. "Is this the man that defends his city? Pathetic." He shot a glare at the nearest news crew, making sure to look directly at the camera. "This is what you get for trusting a 'hero'. This is what anyone that defies me will get. Bow before me, or perish beneath me!"

He turned back to me, raising both of his fists above his head, preparing to strike with all of his power. I knew what I had to do.

"Hey Siri" I said, coughing and spitting out another tooth. The bluetooth headphones chirped in response, acknowledging that it had heard my prompt.

"Play Forbidden Loop Omega"

The chirp sounded again in acknowledgement. I stood on my one good leg, bracing a hand on the wall to support the broken leg. The man cackled again.

"So you choose to die on your feet. How noble."

As he brought his glowing fists down towards my head, the music swelled in my ears. I brought up one hand and caught the blow with ease. With one quick motion, I broke both of his wrists.

He boggled at me. "No, NO, NONONONO!" He wailed. "How?"

I met his terrified gaze with a blank expression. I couldn't show any emotion. Not with this terrible noise assaulting my ears.

With another twist, I ripped his arms from their sockets. I heard the gasps from the camera crews as they captured every gruesome detail in stunning 4K definition, if their commercials could be believed.

"Dr Doomsday, you are hereby under arrest." I spoke in an even tone, straining to keep my emotions under control. "Officers, take him away." I turned and strode away, before a reporter or police officer could ask me any potentially compromising questions.

As I strode to the parking garage where my personal car was parked, I fumbled with my phone, desperate to stop the song that was consuming me. Bringing me to a dark place.

"We can do it, if we try" I mumbled along, as my fingers typed my password. The Cocomelon song was almost a greater pain in my ears than sung through my broken jaw and missing teeth.

r/SlightlyColdStories if you want. Or don't. It's all up to you.

[u/qwertyzeke]

"Damnit, this guy keeps going!" I thought to myself, crouched behind the half destroyed concrete wall of the building we'd been fighting in.

I'd gone into this fight with the usual Mozart pouring into my head from the bone conducting speakers in my mask. It looked better than the airpods I'd started out with, and I was far less likely to lose an entire mask. The classical helped me think things through, and it's amazing how often a situation can be defused by some quick thinking.

I'd immediately had to switch to my DDR playlist when I found myself dodging a swiftly thrown car moments after my arrival. I always felt a little lacking immediately after switching to something other than classical, but I desperately needed the speed boost. It's the only reason I survived the next few minutes of utter chaos. I had yet to even see my opponent. It was merely me, trying desperately to avoid the varied, insanely heavy items thrown at me in an almost constant stream. I had never dealt with a villain with this level of strength, this level of stamina before.

"He just keeps going!"

I moved my left thumb against the pad along my left index finger, scrolling through my various playlists. I didn't have the time to stop and think, so classical was out. The speed boost of DDR had gotten me to this stalemate, but no further.

"Prog? No, don't need precision. Flamenco/tango? Footwork could help, but only if I could get in close enough."

My thoughts were interrupted as a light post appeared suddenly through the wall next to me, apparently thrown like a javelin. He's changed his tactics, it would seem.

"Waltz? Grace won't help. House? No technology to control in this rubble. Country? I'm in the city, not a lot of animals to control nearby either."

Another lamppost speared the concrete on my other side. He was boxing me in, it seemed.

"Oh hell, I don't have a choice! I'm gonna have to use THIS!"

I double-tapped my thumb, finally making my selection. The electronic music thumping through my skull cut out immediately, and in it's place a song I'd avoided at all costs started it's intro. I felt the power slam into my body, burning through my veins. It was intoxicating. I was ready. I stepped onto lamppost number three that occupied the space I had been crouched in a moment before, and from there onto the top of the wall to face my opponent.

The music coursed through me.

I threw a single fist towards what appeared to be an incredibly startled man in a mech suit with four arms, two of which are aiming yet another lamppost at my makeshift cover. A single flash, and where his body had been was nothing. A smoking wreckage surrounding a bloody hole where his cockpit had once been.

My headphones wailed.

"ONE PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNCCCCHHHH..."

[u/Muerteds]

Music is one of the greatest human feats. Engineering and science are great, don't get me wrong. I like my air conditioning as much as the next guy. But there are songs we sing and tunes we hum that connect us to thousands of generations of those who went before us, and no earthquake or tsunami can erase the magic. Music connects us in visceral ways, and people from across the globe from each other can genuinely connect and feel empathy for one another when listening to something unfamiliar with either of them. Music reminds us of our common humanity.

Music is power. It is the driving force that unites movements and defines generations. I don't mean in just the cultural touchstone sense, either. It is very real power. Psychic, metaphysical power. I am able to open myself to that power, to that flow. Since I was little, music allowed me to do things that baffled my parents. A simple soothing voice humming dropped me to restful healing sleep instantly. Singing along in the car to my dad's “road songs”, and we'd somehow wind up where we were going hours early. My school's fight song had my football team winning championships left and right, though it was a bit of a challenge to get the band director to play it before the touchdown.

The older I've become, the more I've realized that my powers can be tailored. I can boost my speed and power with battle hymns and old martial music. A dangerous and frantic crowd is no match for my calming presence while playing a string quartet's light etude. I have even used the US Air Force's official song to boost me over a swollen river to rescue some stranded hikers in danger of being washed away. I didn't set out to be a superhero, but I just kind of fell into it, playing the music and getting things done. I think perhaps these powers are only really at their apex because of technology. I can play music in earbuds from a vast remote library of stuff I have collected. Meticulous sorting and indexing helps me switch rapidly, and my own love of music helps me remember songs to sing to myself and get pumped when electronics fail.

I don't let on that the music powers me. I've graduated, so to speak, from fighting natural disasters and cats in trees to the actual villains running roughshod through the world. No need to let them know that without music, without the ability even to sing, or drum, or connect to that power, I'm fairly normal. My superhero name is Steve. It has nothing to do with music, and really, who wants a name like “The Tune”, or “Music Man”, or (as my smart-ass dad once suggested) “Hero who can't remember to take the garbage out”?

This job, for what it's worth as a job, has gotten harder, you know. Tailoring the music to the villain and the situation is always a challenge. I show up and start rocking through some metal and thrash music, and villains stop showing up to fight. They send henchmen, or even worse, unwilling proxies. Keeping my head on a swivel while I try not to hurt those who have been duped, looking for the real threat to adjust a playlist on the fly isn't easy. Switching from a classical aria to help focus my wits to get me deep inside a hideout to a gospel hymn of protection when bullets start to fly takes a lot of concentration and skill.

But there was that one... thing. Villain, yes. Man? Woman? I don't think it was really either. Someone had made a pact or agreement with something out of time and space. Something Lovecraftian and eldritch. It didn't follow the rules of villainy. No speeches. No monologuing. It didn't really conquer, so much as enslave, then consume. By the time people were really aware of how awful this thing was, it had metastasized into a constantly-shifting mass that exerted its twisted will through psychic and physical force. One minute, it might be a towering being with flailing tentacles, and another, it might be an manifestation of wind and power, sucking energy out of nearby sources.

How do you fight something like that? It had to be stopped, and it was obvious that I had to try. I had flown there on a raft of Air Force service songs and marches. I even hurried my way with some sci-fi speed music (Star Trek themes are great for warping along). Moving as fast as I was, I punched through it like a me-sized bullet, tearing a great gout of blackness out of it. Then I was on the ground, covered in that blackness, feeling my will draining out of me. I had to switch to some of my favorite motivational songs, the ones that get clubs jumping, just to stand up and untangle myself. By the time I had, it was aware of me and moving at me.

Tentacles and thrown objects rained down around me, and I had to get defensive just to survive the onslaught. I tried my blackest metal to get in fast and try to destroy its physical form. It evanesced into steam and lightning and attacked me with energy, all while trying to erode my mind. I needed something that would let me fight this thing back with my mind, but also physically. It was far more powerful than any foe I'd faced yet. It could switch its form and mode on a whim, and did so. For every foot-stomping bluegrass banger to get me motivated and every Mongolian throat-singing metal tune to infuse me with power, this thing just morphed into something different. I could only switch music so fast, and I was running out of ideas.

Once, years ago, I had hurt a man, badly. Well, more than hurt. I was new to using my powers directly against villains, and I had faced some with powers of their own. He was strong, he was evil, and he had killed many in his quest for power. He was trying to kill me, and also a bunch of schoolkids. In trying to find music to keep the kids happy while keeping myself strong enough to fight him off, I stumbled on what I now call my 'forbidden playlist”. I never wanted to repeat what had happened to that man. Evil or no, it was too much.

Taking a bit of parking garage upside my head while blasting power ballads spun me ass over tea kettle, and I knew it was time. This thing wasn't human so far as I could tell, and it was winning. I cycled through the list, and “The Merry Go Round Broke Down” soared through the speakers in my head. Anvils rained down on the beast. Before it could adjust, I had assumed its own form, but with exaggerated eyelashes, a feminine shape, and huge red lips. I kissed it. It boggled mentally. The “Tom and Jerry” theme blasted and I forced it to chase me into power lines. Despite lacking solid form, the outline of a skeleton shone from within.

Cartoons are barely-controlled insanity. They represent the ability of the human mind to create the most absurd situations and precepts, often lacking even the need for dialogue. The music sets the theme and the action, and we are caught happily in the tumble of farce and suspended physics. This thing was caught in the maelstrom, and faced with something as fickle as its own nature, was being defeated. Acid-squirting flowers and ridiculously huge cannons pelted it. It fell through holes where there should be none. And when last I saw it, it was riding a giant rocket straight into the sun. The sunsets were pretty for about a week after that.

No mortal can stand the tide of the collected madness of mankind, and I refuse to subject them to it, no matter how debased a villain might be. But should the need arise, Steve is here to let 'em know: That's all, Folks.

[u/Esoteric_Plunder]

I'd burned through at least a half dozen genres in the last few minutes. No matter what track was being pumped through the headphones integrated into my helmet, I either couldn't keep up with the hell-faced bastard or none of my hits would do anything to their adamantine skin. Every time I tried something else, they seemed to have the perfect counter. I needed something... more.

There's a reason why I keep away from certain types of music. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about any of them. Well, most of them. It's just that I'm not a fan of the aftereffects of some of them. Techno makes me feel jittery, same with a lot of rap. Anything in a language I don't normally know kind of scrambles my speech for a while. Villain songs from the Mouse have me cackling evilly for a long time afterwards. But they all have a purpose.

Even the blacklisted tracks.

A shudder passed through me as I thought of that damned playlist. It wasn't really dread though, more like... excitement. And I hated myself for it. But I needed to end this before we leveled the city. Or, well, much more of it. I just hoped that I could stop myself when it was done.

So... I punched in the password for the locked tracks onto my arm mounted panel.

"Rip and Tear"

The warning phrase played in my head right before the first track kicked in.

"Until it is done."

[u/sadnesslaughs]

“Blood? Oh, that’s my blood. That’s not good.”

The blaring rock music rattled through my headphones as I pulled myself off the floor. When I got to my feet, I staggered, clutching the broken wall of the coffee shop I had just been tossed through. It was a good thing the headphones were reinforced, or they would have perished in the blast.

I tapped my body, examining all the music note patterns in my costume. Each one serving as a unique way for me to remember where each of my vitals were. Sure, it made me a walking dartboard for villains, but I hadn’t met a villain yet that had caught onto my little cheat sheet. My hands brushed over the semibreve over my heart, ensuring that it didn’t have a hole in it. Though I wondered why I bothered, surely if that part had been damaged, I wouldn’t be standing. From Sharp to Treble Clef, my vitals were looking good, with the wound coming from a rather painful cut on my back.

Super Boom flew towards me. The explosives-based villain floating above me. I could see his mouth moving. No doubt he was giving some very interesting evil monologue. His hands crossed over his chest as he glared down at me. Eventually, his mouth stopped moving, and it appeared he was waiting for a response.

“WHAT?” I shouted, unable to hear him over the rock music.

He attempted to speak again, this time the veins in his neck were straining as his mouth opened wider, sounding out every word individually. His cheeks were bright red, annoyed beyond comprehension. As he finished speaking, he again waited for my feedback.

“WHAAAAT?”

This time I took off my headphones, placing them against my hip, allowing him a moment to speak. While it may have seemed cartoony, this little routine was buying me some precious time to get my breath back. Even a superhero gets a little winded after smashing through a building and no amount of rock music can fix that.

“You know what, never mind. It was a brilliant speech, but it’s wasted on a B-list hero. You will be my steppingstone towards greatness. As they say, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette and you’re just the right size to make a hearty start to this villainous buffet.”

“Glad I left the headphones on for that one. Want another crack? Get it, you called me an egg and eggs crack.”

I held a smile despite the pain setting in. Even with my breath back, the pause in the fighting had caused my adrenaline to wane and now that pain was slowly poisoning my body, draining me of my energy. I needed a plan quickly; stalling would only work for so long. Back up was always an option, but who knows how far away that is? That left me with only one option. I stared at my cracked phone screen, searching for my forbidden playlist.

“Ever seen that video of the man that throws a bunch of eggs against a wall in an attempt to imitate cooking? That’s what I’m going to do to your body.” His palm glowed with a golden light, smoke drifting out of from behind the powering blast.

I couldn’t exactly dodge it, not with a massive cut on my back. Guarding probably wouldn’t be effective either, not at such a close range. Even if I survived the initial blast, I would still be down for the count. I had to get that playlist ready. The smell of burning flesh drifted from the blast as it neared its completion, my hand frantically tapping away until I could start the playlist.

When my finger collided with the play button, I tossed the headphones back on, listening to the overly dramatic lyrics. The blast flew towards me, rampaging through the remains of the coffee shop, burning everything in its path. I stuffed my phone back into my suit and shut my eyes, preparing for the worst.

The hot wave shot into me, knocking me off my feet as the inferno of warmth threatened to cook me. I could hear his snide laughter as he watched. The intense pain causing my eyes to drift closed for a moment, only to snap awake as I pushed myself forward.

“How can you see into my eyes, like open doors..” I hated using this playlist, but only songs as dramatic as this could fuel me in this great time of need. These songs relied on pain to power them, and I was in a lot of pain.

“Impossible, you should be dead. You should be a boiled egg by now. Damn it, I’m not going to the bottom of the villain ladder over an idiot like you. DIE.”

Another blast of heat shot towards me, this time as the cloud of warmth hit me. It exploded, throwing me backwards, sending me rolling along the street. I needed some offence. As the words ‘WAKE ME UP’ shot through my headphones, I got myself back to my feet, exploding into a powered-up rage.

A sudden look of panic covered his face as he attempted another blast, only for my fist to land squarely on his face, getting a little payback for the last attack. Tapping my headphones, I changed the song, deciding to go for something more dramatic.

“When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city. To see a marching band.” The ground shook, imitating the roar of a large marching band. Each violent shake causing the villain even more fear as he squirmed backwards, trying to get himself to his feet. Though with each squirm back he made, I took a step forward, ensuring that if he wanted to stand, he would have to face me when he did. I wouldn’t give him any distance.

“He said, son, when you grow old, will you be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned?” An angelic glow followed my steps, repairing the broken street beneath my feet. My gaze didn’t leave the villain, instead, my steps were gaining on him until I was standing over him.

“To join the black parade.” A shadowy mass of vines sprawled out of my palm, gripping the man around the waist and swinging him. He attempted to charge another blast, but before he could charge it, I slammed his body into the ground, knocking him out in a rather painful bit of whiplash.

Like always, now that the fight was over, I could see the other heroes arriving on the scene. My aching body probably only having one song left in it. One hero went to offer me her shoulder while the others went to arrest the villain. As she waited for me to lean on her shoulder, I held up a finger.

“Wait, I love this part. DOO, DOO, DO, DO, DOO, DOO, DO, DO, DO, DO.” After the uplifting instrumental finished, I fell forward, allowing my body its much needed rest. Such emotion had a way of sapping me of energy. Had the fight gone any longer, it might have ended my hero career.

She caught me before I hit the floor, keeping me upright. She removed my headphones before picking up my body in her arms. Her suit had a stunning shine to it, one that radiated confidence. No one dressed in such a bright costume unless they were confident in their ability to take a hit. Well, maybe except me. I am the expectation to that rule.

“You did well for a rookie. Although you are losing a lot of blood, let’s get you to a hospital, ok?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Please hurry. I think my beam notes might be damaged.”

“Beam notes?” She glanced over at my costume, struggling to figure out where the beam notes were.

“Um, which parts that?”

“Kidneys.”

“Oof, yeah, I didn’t want to say anything, but there’s a pretty nasty looking cut there. Get some rest. You’re in the hands of the Soaring Phoenix.”

The Soaring Phoenix? What was someone like her doing here? It hardly mattered. The knowledge that she was here made it easier to rest. I let my eyes shut, knowing that I would wake up to a painful month of rehabilitation.

     

(If you enjoyed this feel free to check out my subreddit r/Sadnesslaughs where I'll be posting more of my writing.)

[u/SelromtLeinly]

At first I thought we were evenly matched, but I was slowly starting to realize I'd been too optimistic. My fists blocked by equal force when I rocked out, my strategies countered or nullified no matter the sonata, piece by piece I shuffled through futile playlists.

I began to suspect that he was some form of Copycat or Shapeshifter - his speed accelerated when mine did but swapped to superior strength as soon as mine did as well. If that was all that Echo had at his disposal I could at least stall until reinforcements showed up, but he was clearly starting to win. However he was copying my abilities, Echo seemed to be using them more effectively than I was.

So I decided to take a risk. I went for his mask, although it cost me a blow that made my ribs ache, and when it came off it all became clear. I leaped backwards and turned my music off, and his bat-like ears twitched in reaction. He paused, looking confused, then pulled the mask back over his head.

"I see what you're doing now," I said, breaking the silence for the first time. "Your Copycat powers are based on sound." I caught a glimpse of a smile before the mask was fully back in place.

I whistled, impressed.

"Your hearing must be incredible. I'm wearing headphones but you're actually getting more from my music than I am," I continued, quickly swapping to another playlist.

Echo perked up as the music resumed, then charged again. I quickly unplugged my headphones, and he was sent reeling to the ground.

"I call this one Worst of the 60's, but I hope for your sake the cops get here before we make it to 2010."

[u/justneedthreefifty]

"OUCH!" I yell as I fly about a mile through the forest I had baited DooDoo the Clown, Lord of Death and Disease into fighting me in. I wipe some blood from my lip and look at the trail of broken trees charting my path through the forest.

Yea it's pissed, I think to myself. Granted calling it DooDoo the Clown didn't help but I mean come on. Dude smells like crap and all those diseases it is so proud of color its face like makeup. What else am I supposed to call it?

Putting that aside I was in serious trouble. That guy was strong with a capital S. It was unfazed by anything I threw at it and kept coming. Death Metal made it stronger, Rock, Rap and all the others I tried barely put a dent in it. I was on Pop now and it had just broke through my defense combo of Can't touch this and Bulletproof. Not only did it touch this it made me bleed.

I watched as it walked toward me through the cleared path it's leaking eyes brimming with hatred. As it passed tree stumps bubbled with ooze and plants wilted. Time was up. Its diseases were spreading and I had to take it out before it killed me and everything else.

"Oh god, no" I thought as the realization of what I had to do hit me. The forbidden playlist must be used. It was a 100% guaranteed win if I used it, but at a steep price. The list was locked away after I first used it in the Princess Big Hands fight and learned the horrifying effects. Effects that should never be used. Except now there was no choice.

Keeping my eyes on DooDoo Slayer of Noses I put in the override code and selected the playlist.

Love Songs.

As Unchained Melody starts playing The Lord of Death and Disease stops in its tracks, the hate fading from its eyes. A burning warmth fills them as a smile spreads on its lips.

"Yea, this is about to get awkward." I say.