With a reckless click, the download began. The progress bar crawled like a tired snail. Leo spent the wait practicing his embouchure on a pencil, imagining the glory of nailing the high notes on The Stars and Stripes Forever . He could almost taste the virtual baboons. "Download Complete."

"One more song," a voice whispered from the PC's cooling fan. "Get an 'S' Rank, or you'll be the one sliding for eternity."

Leo double-clicked the icon. Instead of the cheerful, slightly off-key brass fanfare he expected, the speakers emitted a sound like a wet tuba falling down a flight of stairs. The screen didn't show the main menu; it showed a hyper-realistic, 3D-rendered trombone that seemed to be sweating.

The neon lights of the "FreeGamez-NoVirus-Real.exe" download button flickered on Leo’s monitor, casting a sickly green glow over his bedroom. It was 2:00 AM, and the internet’s most chaotic rhythm game, Trombone Champ , was calling his name. He knew version 1.07 had just dropped, and he wasn't about to let a little thing like a credit card balance stop him from achieving "Toot" greatness.

Leo grabbed the mouse. His fingers moved with the desperation of a man possessed. He dodged the "Nasty" notes, he channeled the power of a thousand middle-school band students, and he hit the final "Perfect" toot just as the sun began to peek through his blinds.

Leo froze. He looked at the screen. His score was currently "Pathotic." Honk-honk.

The game started, but something was wrong. The avatar wasn't the usual bobble-headed character. it was a shadowy figure holding a trombone made of what looked like old, rusted plumbing pipes. The song selection menu had only one track: The Requiem of the Rusty Slide.