Rust & Rhythm

When survival is measured in milliseconds, speed is god. The "Iron Pulse" changed everything. Fighters don't train anymore; they inject. The serum turns blood into rocket fuel and men into blurring demigods—at the cost of their humanity. Marcus "The Piston" Graves is a relic. He’s 35, his knees click, and he fights with a style the new world calls "obsolete." He was content to rust away in the dark, a forgotten king of a dead era. But when the city’s most dangerous syndicate comes knocking, Marcus is forced back into the light. To save the only family he has left, he must enter a tournament designed to showcase the very monsters he hates. Outmatched, outgunned, and out of time.Everyone says he needs the Pulse to survive. Everyone says he needs to evolve. Marcus has a different theory: Engines can stall. Hearts can break. And even the fastest machine has a rhythm waiting to be exploited.