Trickster of the Butterfly

Chapter 4- Take Wing But Don't Crash

Michael liked making jokes and takes school only 70% seriously. He always manages to pass, though. But when it came to violating principles that protected him and the people around him, he could get serious and mad. That's why he couldn't stand his friends' teasing. He would never want to be the cause of anybody's lower grades or heartbreak.

As if in a trance, he trudged back to the demolished left wing. Partly floating, partly conscious and panicking out of his mind, he was aware that students were already leaving to get to their next classes, deserting the area.

Once back at the bordered demolition area, he felt a tugging feeling that he should go inside. His feet moved on their own and brought him to the opening in the plastic canvas which only construction workers and authorized personnel could go through.

Fortunately and unfortunately, he thought, nobody was around to tell him off for tresspassing mindlessly in an unstable zone.

He jumped over piles of gravel and crossed over potholes as he walked through the crumbling columms of the left wing.

Once he was at the center of the wreckage, the whole school disappeared and it was suddenly pitch black.

Michael regained full control of his body. He rubbed his shoes against the once gravelly ground which now felt smooth like it turned into polished marble.

"Good, you came," a deep gentle voice spoke in the darkness.
"More like drugged and dragged," Michael said angrily.

"Boy, you need not struggle. I am going to give you something that could make you much, much stronger and make your freshman year a little more... exciting," the voice said amusingly.

The offer tempted him. Michael had read enough comics and watched enough anime to figure this could be his very own super origin story. But first he had to be sure he knew what he was getting himself into. He was still angry at the voice for pulling him there but looked like a unique opportunity.

"Uhh, is it a superpower? Who or what the heck are you? Mama said I'm not supposed to take stuff from strangers," he asked casually.

"A stranger?" the voice sounded insulted. "To the elements, to the cosmos, to the morning and to the evening, I am no stranger. To mankind I have a common name. To you, I've been ignored for the past three months in favor of studies and the enjoyment of semestral break"

"Oh," Michael said it like it was obvious from the start.

"Is it a superpower?" the voice made a hearty laugh. "Call it a burden instead. After all, carrying weights do make you stronger."

"So, what is it then?" Michael said. The anticipation was already killing him.

An explosion of beautiful iridescent light suddenly shone from the east horizon of the black void for two seconds and illuminated the darkness like a rainbow-colored sun was going to rise. Then it subsided. Michael saw a a thin trail of light like a snake make its way from the horizon really fast. The light touched his foot and he felt his whole body warm up. His body began to glow with the seven colors of the rainbow. He could now see five feet in front of him but nothing was there but a black floor which reflected his colorful aura.

Michael felt powerful. This is what he felt whenever he watched Son Goku turn into his Super Saiyan 3 form, minus all the yelling.

"This, my child, is the Butterfly. It is a small manifestation of a fraction of time itself," the voice explained. "But as your Psychological Statistics Professor would say it, it can affect big systems later on."

The glow became stronger, now he could see ten feet away from him.

"So, what can it do?" Michael asked as he looked at his glowing hands.

"First, the why," the voice rebuked.

"Okay. Why'd you give this to me?" apparently Michael knew better than to talk back.

"To make you stronger, yes, we've established that. The Butterfly is yours to use however you wish, in wisdom or in folly. By the end of the school year I will evaluate you and we shall see if you would be able to handle the power longer. We shall see if you are worthy to hold time by its reins."

"Hmm, sounds like fun." Michael scratched his glowing chin. "So I guess I need to get uno in my Buttefly subject to pass. Or is 1.75 alright?" he joked.

"You make light of this now, but you shall see. As for what it can do--"

"Okay what does it do, what does it do?!" Michael interrupted.

The voice sighed. "Space and time form a continuum. Space does not advance unless time allows it to. For the wielder of the Butterfly, reality bends to your will. That is, if you're awake enough to use it," the voice explained.

"Oooo!" Michael exclaimed. "Reality and time manipulation..."

He paused for a second. The glow around him went dim.

"Can it change the past? Like turn back time?"

"That is its one restriction, my boy. You do not know how much good you can undo just by correcting something you don't see the big picture of."

"Oh. Bummer," he looked gloomy and the glow got even dimmer.

"I know your pain boy..." the voice said with concern. "The friends you've lost with your timidity. But it is that pain that made you stronger than who you were."

Michael thought about that for a second then cheered up immediately. He glowed brighter than ever.

"Yeah. I suppose I can do better now. Especially now that I have this power!" he said.

"That's what I want to hear," the voice said with a pleased tone.

"But wait, you said something about being awake enough to use it. What does that mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the voice said.

Perks always had catches, Michael thought. He hoped he could still have fun whatever that drawback may be.

"Alright. I'm all fired up now!" Michael shouted and threw his fist in the air. A 30-feet wide shockwave of rainbow-colored light burst from him.

"Woah!" Michael said in surprise. The ground shook.

"A very important word of advice..." Dust and pebbles seemed to be falling from the dark void above. "Keep your emotions in check."

The blackness and the glow around him disappeared and Michael was in the partly demolished GV building again.

For a moment, Michael wondered if all that was just a hallucination until a crumbling support beam fell right in front of him. He looked up and saw that the hollow structure was already giving out.

Hundreds of pounds of concrete were falling toward Michael. Then he passed out.