//------------------------------// // Prologue: Trickery // Story: Time is of the Matter // by munomana //------------------------------// Time is of the matter Prologue: Trickery Time is money, but in this case, I've got as much as I want. It was a beautiful day today. The sun shining. The birds chirping. The flowers blooming. But for me, that was all wasted in a person's least favorite time of day, School. I always spent these splendid days sitting through classes, working on assignments, and hanging with friends. I had many friends, but they weren't like me. I was a guy who got A's and B's, looked good, and was pretty strong. These weren't what I was known for though. I was a funny guy. I could always find a way to crack a joke in any kind of situation, whether it be an inside joke, making fun of the ignorant, or just a plain old joke. Well it was a Tuesday morning around lunch time as I chatted with my friends over some cheese sandwiches and cookies, talking about some of life's most intriguing subjects. "-and that's why avocados are the best things in the world." my friend finished as he swallowed the remainder of his sandwich. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." exclaimed another friend as they shared a heated argument. "Hey! That's my opinion!" he said as he tried to defend himself. "You guys are both stupid, now let's clean up, class is in 10 minutes," I exclaimed as I finally finished my lunch and stood up to throw my trash away. "Well I'm still sticking to my-" my friend stopped. He stood in place, holding his tray as if he had seen a ghost. "Well what, dude?" I asked, Curious as to why he stopped talking. I examined him to closer to discover that he wasn't moving AT ALL. "Hey! Dude! You okay?" It was then that I realized that he wasn't the only one who stopped. I looked around. Everyone around my had frozen in place as if they were stone. wondering what was going on, I stood up. Color quickly faded as the vibrant brown of the table slowly turned to a grey, along with every other item as well. Before long, the color was drained from existence as only black, white, and grey lingered, splattered all over the area as if they were in an old movie. 'This is really creepy... what's going on?' The room was silent, nothing moved. The food was untouched. The people, stone. Everything but... me. I looked at myself. I was still clothed in the same shade of colors I adorned moments ago, while everything around me differentiated in almost every aspect. I was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, White sneakers, and a white shirt. I wasn't a sharp dresser, but I'd choose this over anything else, any day. 'Wait, why can I move?' I thought as I took a few steps around my seat, noticing no difference in how it was before. I decided that I needed to figure out what was going on or if I was the source of what was going on. After a minute of embarrassing straining, I came to the solution that it probably wasn't me. 'Time to find out why the HELL this is going on.' I quickly walked way from the table, looking around at the world that stood frozen upon me. I looked around. 'The cafeteria's still the same, all the food's there, the people, the lighting, the-' I then saw what lay in the center of the cafeteria. A small, circular light emitted from the ground, creating a lightened pillar indicating my answer was bound to be there. As I reached the center of the area, I walked in the middle of the column. I faced down the aisle as a bright light began to shine in that specific direction, blinding me. It was as if the sun was attempting to eat my eyes. The light soon faded away as I opened my eyes to figure out what had just happened. As I adjusted my vision, I realized what was directly in front of me. About a meter away, a white door sat. around the edges. Light extricated in the form of sunlight as if some godly figure sat inside. Curious, I peeked behind wondering where it could possibly lead to. To my astonishment, nothing lied behind but the many students frozen in time. 'Where am I? Am I dead?' I questioned in my thoughts. 'Only one way to find out.' Doing what I thought I should do, I reached for the handle. It was flawless gold that was warm to the touch. I then turned the handle and opened the strange door. Inside was a completely white room. A beautiful glass chandelier hung from the roof, emitting a light that filled the room, extracting any darkness that could possibly be held here. In the center of the room, a crafted wooden desk sat. On the center of the desk, a stopwatch lay still, making me wonder if this was the key to my experience. Behind the the desk sat a man in a simple office chair. He looked no more than his mid-40's but had grey hair. A brown jacket was draped on his chest and shoulders. He wore a white dress shirt and black pants similar to the ones a business man would wear. Before I could speak up to ask him any questions, he cut me off. "Hello, my name is Discord," He spoke with a voice that could challenge a voice actor. "I've been waiting for you." "Who are you? Why is everything still? Am I dead? Why is this happening to me!?" I asked, barraging the man with questions. "You're not dead," He explained in a calm voice. "Then why is everything still?" "I have a proposition." "What are you talking about!?" I screamed. "Would you like the ability to manipulate time?" That question stopped me in my tracks. 'WHAT!? Controlling time!? that would be so cool!!!'. "Why me?" I replied in confusion. "There is something special about you," He answered, putting on a smirk. "Now, do you accept my offer?" "Yes! No, wait wait wait." I replied in joy before quickly trying to rationalize. There has to be a catch of some sort. Nobody just passes out the ability to manipulate time just because you're 'special'. "As you wish," He said with his dark voice before starting to laugh in a way that matched his voice. Evil. "NO! WAIT-" I exclaimed before the world became dark around my eyes, drifting off into unconsciousness.