Alex's chest heaved.
The red crack pulsed, bigger and brighter than ever.
Everything around him—the street, the trash cans, the stray cat—seemed to tremble with unstable time.
"…Okay, Alex," he muttered,
"…think fast. Think creative. Think… chaotic genius."
The First Experiment
Alex grabbed a loose newspaper.
He folded it into a paper plane.
"…Yep, desperate times call for paper planes," he muttered.
He tossed it toward a smaller crack near a streetlamp.
The crack pulled the paper plane in, but instead of absorbing it, the paper plane split into three smaller planes, flying unpredictably.
"…Uh… okay. Not what I expected. But… I'll take it."
The planes distracted the red crack slightly.
It pulsed, shuddered—but didn't expand further.
Alex grinned. "…Chaos… working for me. Finally!"
Comedy Amid Chaos
A pigeon swooped down, chasing one of the paper planes.
It flew through a crack, vanished… then reappeared on top of a moving car, perfectly balanced.
Alex blinked. "…I am officially running a bird circus in the middle of a time collapse. Perfect."
A stray dog ran past.
It jumped through a small crack.
Time stretched.
It landed three seconds later… in a completely different alley.
"…Yep," Alex muttered, laughing nervously,
"…this is my life now."
Creative Tricks
Alex noticed a pattern.
The smaller cracks reacted faster than the red crack, especially when multiple objects moved through them simultaneously.
"…So… if I overload the small cracks…" he whispered,
"…maybe I can confuse the big one."
He grabbed:
A trash can
A traffic cone
A skateboard
Three small rocks
He focused on each item, pulling it toward a small crack.
Then, with a deep breath, he redirected the objects toward the red crack.
The red crack pulsed violently.
It seemed disoriented, unable to absorb everything at once.
Alex whispered: "…Yes! Disorientation! Confusion! My favorite weapons!"
Villain's Subtle Influence
The figure at the end of the street tilted its head, watching silently.
"Interesting. Adaptive. But do you understand the consequences?"
Alex blinked. "…Consequences? Are we grading essays or fighting reality?"
"Both. Every choice echoes through time."
Alex gulped. "…Echoes… like… ripple effect? Great. Just what I needed."
The red crack pulsed again.
Alex felt a strange pull in his stomach.
"…Okay… I can manipulate small cracks… but the big one… it's… something else entirely."
Escalation
Suddenly—a streetlight flew past him.
Trash bins hovered.
Even a car spun slowly in the air, frozen in a mid-turn.
Alex ducked behind a dumpster. "…Yep. I'm in the middle of a time tornado. Totally normal."
He peeked out.
The red crack pulsed violently.
The figure smiled faintly, almost amused.
"Adaptation… resourcefulness… promising. But Phase 3 has many layers. This is only the beginning."
Alex muttered: "…Layers? Great. Like an onion of chaos. Fantastic."
Cliffhanger
Alex focused again.
He pulled all smaller cracks toward him, trying one final maneuver.
The red crack pulsed.
Then—a second red crack formed behind it, bigger and brighter.
Alex froze. "…Uh… two? Two red cracks now? Oh no… not two…"
The figure's mechanical voice echoed:
"Welcome to Phase 3, Level 2. Time itself will test you now."
Alex gulped. "…Okay… survival mode: full power. Let's do this."
End of Chapter 9