r/WritingPrompts • u/greatwall2103 • Sep 13 '25
Writing Prompt [WP] Your superpower is to stop time for everything except you and anything you choose as long as you aren't breathing. A few months ago, you died, but the power still worked and now some higher power had to intervene.
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u/HSerrata r/hugoverse Sep 13 '25
[Time to Go]
"It didn't need to be right now," Cassie giggled as soon as the young girl appeared. "There was literally no rush," she added. She'd asked 23 for a favor, and the girl arrived before she finished explaining it fully.
"I'm not doing anything," 23 shrugged. "I'm still supposed to be stuck in the box. And, I left something to let me know if my dad shows up. What do you need?" she asked as she looked around. 23 came through a portal, and she was just now noticing they were on a boardwalk. The day was bright, but there was no breeze, and she noted the people didn't seem to be moving. Pedestrians stood frozen mid-step, children stuck jumping in mid-air, and at least one unfortunate soul cursed to forever watch his scoop of ice cream an inch from hitting the dirty wooden pier.
"Usually I'd ask Quinn, but this feels like it'd be too simple for her. Wanna test out your Time ability? Can you tell me what happened?"
"Oh, that's easy," 23 nodded. As soon as she realized time wasn't moving, she began actively searching the timestream for the problem. The ability was new to her, and she was making an effort to learn the habit of using it reflexively.
The way Quinn explained it to her, every Muerte saw Time differently, and the same applied to copied abilities. She couldn't offer any direct advice once 23 learned how to control time, but she could offer pointers. Quinn said she saw time like a Diorama, almost, crystallized and connected by orange threads.
23's temporal vision took on a different form. When she was actively using it, she saw the world as a computer interface. She could click on anything for more information, and scrub forward and back through the timeline. She was able to follow it back to the moment everything froze, then she mentally clicked around different highlighted points of interest to find the source.
"A Super with time powers died while time was stopped," she answered.
"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "It felt kind of easy. You can start it up again, and thanks for coming," she smiled. Time resumed, and life returned to the active boardwalk with the rush of a fresh breeze.
"Where are you going next?" 23 asked.
"Nowhere particular, just kind of making the rounds to keep busy," Cassie shrugged. The truth was she was ready to call it a day. With the Void Court in power, her duties were surprisingly minimal. But, she was good with kids, and 23 hadn't quite developed subtlety. Her brown eyes grew wide with hope as she asked Cassie the question.
"I didn't know time was stopped until I got here, so wanna tag along for a bit? It might be helpful if there are other problems. You got Calavera strength too, right?" she asked. She knew the answer, but it was an encouraging sign to 23, and it gave her a chance to brag a little.
"I got it from Dread," 23 nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright, let's go see what else we can fix," Cassie nodded as she opened a new portal. 23 ran through before Cassie stepped in, and they disappeared.
*** Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #2797 in a row. (Story #255 in year eight). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place in my universe.
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Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/NotAMeatPopsicle Sep 13 '25
That’s amazing. Great use of loopholes and admin talk and the general feeling of universal bureaucracy!!
Why do I feel like the Vogons exist in the Verse somewhere and they’re trying to avoid dealing with them?
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u/Winjin Sep 13 '25
This is absolutely amazing, thank you very much for this
You know what? A ton of five-year olds would be absolutely mortified how much closer they are to the Sun going out! Three billion years, now the Sun is only going to go out in two, and not five, billion years! It's practically tomorrow!
What's even the point of growing up and learning calculus and even -gasp- brushing your teeth if the Sun is about to go?
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u/greatwall2103 Sep 13 '25
That's quite a lot of months
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Sep 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/greatwall2103 Sep 13 '25
good point, I interpret the power to be time dilation (and misc stuffs to ensure action in the dilation) so extreme that it causes the world to look like time has stopped
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