Trickster of the Butterfly

Chapter 8- Got Power?

"Bakit msshh? BAKIT? Hindi ko tssshhha naiintindihan. Bakit? Anong fzsshh ginawa ko? Anong mali!?"

"Hi-hindi ikaw sszhhh... A-a-ako yung mali..."

"Bakit..."

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Michael woke up from sleeping on his armchair with saliva dripping from his mouth. Standing in front of him, Sarah was tapping her finger on his head.

"Mike, tara wala pa namang prof kain muna tayuuu! Eww! may laway ka sa bibig mo!" she said with that squeaky voice she always used to sound cute.

He wiped off the saliva with his handkerchief then shook his head vigorously and rubbed his face with the cloth to lose the drowsiness.

"Oo sige na, sige na mauna na kayo," he said sleepily.

"Yosh!" she said happily then walked out of the classroom.

Michael's head felt really heavy. For the past few days after he got the Butterfly, he'd learned a couple new abilities which all sapped his energy. He learned that how drowsy he was going to get really depended on how long and how much concentration he needed for his abilities to work. Freezing time and looking 5 minutes into the past were the least "sleepiest" powers and needed only a little concentration, but still made his eyes feel heavy afterward. He found those useful for last minute changes to his homework and getting to school on time before Mrs. Nadora yelled at him for being late. He was tempted to use those powers to cheat on quizzes, but "With great power comes great responsibilities" he always said to himself, plus he never really liked cheating anyway.

He tried to open time portals to the future but he could only seem to open them to pop out from thin air small objects from the past. One time he managed to make the head of his old B-Daman toy which he lost when he was 10 years old. He blamed himself for making his past self cry for losing that thing 7 years ago. That ability made him fall asleep immediately, snore for five seconds, then wake up just as quickly. He decided not to always use that one.

He also resolved not to try to use his "Super Rainbow Fluffy Power Shockwave", as he named it, since he really didn't want to accidentally blast his little brother off the balcony, notagain atleast.

One time, he concentrated really hard on somehow making a small rainbow pulse blast instead. Instead, he discovered he could produce short iridescent tendrils from his hand. At one time, he used that power to pick up his phone from a table 5 feet away from him. He willed the tendril to extend and it latched on to the phone like bubble gum then it pulled it to his hand. How that power was related to time, he wasn't really sure. A physical manifestation of time maybe? He speculated. At any rate, it caused him to collapse from exhaustion right after. Good thing he used it while he was in the bathroom. That made his head feel the glorious water that dwelt in the sea of the toilet bowl. Gross.

But his most disturbing power was his future sight. He had tried to look into the future for around three times now. It took a lot of concentration and each time he used it, he fell asleep before he could see anything so the future appeared like a dream. But what disturbed him was the one scene he always saw:

A young girl with half her face covered with darkness from the top of her head to her nose so Michael couldn't recognize her. She had medium-length black hair, snow white skin and was wearing a pale pink blouse and fitted denim jeans.

She shouted in a breaking and sad voice, "Bakit msshh? BAKIT? Hindi ko tssshhha naiintindihan. Bakit? Anong fzsshh ginawa ko? Anong mali!?"

In front of the girl, was a boy with black hair, black-colored eyes, a high-bridged nose, and light-brown skin. He was wearing a red polo shirt and dark denim jeans.

It was Michael. He looked older with his greatly distressed expression.

"Hi-hindi ikaw sszhhh... A-a-ako yung mali..." he said then sobbed.

"Bakit..." she said before she was cut-off as the glitchy vision faded and Michael would wake up.

He might have to practice that power to see and hear the vision more clearly later on. How he would end up possibly hurting a lady like that, it made him shudder.

"A big consequence shall come..." Michael recalled the voice's last words to him as he got up and walked out of the classroom to see his friends leaning on the railings, looking impatient for waiting so long for Michael to wake up.

"Sorry miladies," Michael said, grinning. "Grabe lang kasi work-out ko kagabi eh. Ten pounds ng lata ng corned beef binuhat ko for 20 minutes, nakakapagod kaya yun!"

"Whatever. Hali ka na nga! Di na naman siguro naligo yan si Mike eh," Joy said as the other ladies chuckled and followed her lead to the stairs.

Michael still felt shaken from his vision. But he thought he could set that aside for now. He'd like to enjoy the Butterfly and hanging out with his friends while he still could.

"Uy hindi ah! Naliligo naman ako... minsan. Diba Alora?" he shouted then followed behind them.

"Ha-ha-ha. Lagi nga!" Alora said sarcastically.