[Sharp Laugh]

Ray blinked. Then, he did it again to be sure. He grinned as he filled his lungs with cool, stale air. He could feel again, finally. He had no idea how long he stared at the blank white wall in front of him; but, that was the only thing he could do until now. He was unable to twitch or even a muscle; his body was frozen in time for his sentence. However, his mind stayed awake the entire time. Ray gently tugged at the black chain wrapped around his wrist to get a feel for it. He was sure he could break it; but, his mind worked fast. He knew there was a reason why he could move again. He decided to wait and see what happened. Luckily, it did not take long for the white wall in front of him to open to the side like elevator doors.

A pale man in a white business suit and red tie stood behind the wall as it pulled away. He had neat, dark hair combed to the side and he wore an amused smirk as he eyed Ray. The moment Ray saw the red scissor logo on his breast pocket, he knew why the man was there.

"Are you ready to behave and stick to Ms. Sharp's plan?" the stranger asked a simple question. It was the only question that mattered to Ray's captors.

"How long was that?" Ray asked. He knew he was pushing his luck; but, that was an important question for him to gauge whether he could endure the punishment any longer.

"Not long, about a million years," the man shrugged.

"A million?" Ray laughed. It honestly felt like it and he wasn't eager to go through that again. "Didn't Dana already miss the window for her scheme?"

"Ray...," the suited man shook his head. "Ms. Sharp only punished you for a million years," he said as he gestured to the small white cell that kept him locked up. "That much time passed in here, but not out there," he said. "She asked me to check on you after a million years. If you're not ready yet, you're welcome to take another few billion years to think about it. Take as much time as you need," he grinned. "No matter how long it takes you to come around, you'll be out in time to do your part."

"Then, why me?" Ray asked. "She's made herself into a god, why pick on me? I'm not the only Calavera with Super speed," he added.

"Why do mosquitos exist?" the man gave an exaggerated shrug. "Everyone has a part to play. Ms. Sharp knows how the universe works; I don't," he said. "Did you ever consider that she's doing you a favor by choosing you?"

"Some favor...," Ray chuckled as he rolled his eyes and jangled the chains around his wrist.

"If you weren't so murdery, you wouldn't be in here," the man said. "And, you can leave as soon as you're ready to follow orders."

"Fine...," Ray sighed. "...I'll play ball," he said. It was only a temporary promise. He didn't have anything against Ms. Sharp personally; in fact, he almost admired her. She didn't mind if he killed the occasional person either; but, it was simply the fact that she tried to tell him what to do that chafed him the most. Ray preferred to be in charge of his own life; he wanted to live and kill how and when he wanted to. He initially thought that he could inconvenience her, if not ruin her plan, by being stubborn and refusing to participate. But, now he knew that wasn't going to work.

"Then, you're free to go, Ray," the man held up a clear glass card in front of Ray and the black chains binding his wrists and ankles dissolved into white powder.

"Ray?" the lean prisoner asked as he reached for the node. He shook his head with a chuckle. "Don't call me that, it's a stupid name," he said. He grabbed the node and held it out in front of him. "Actually, it's hilarious!"

A flash of golden light came from the node as soon as he gave his password. The wiry, old man that was chained up disappeared. In his place stood a lean, athletic, white-skinned man with long, stringy blue hair pulled back in a ponytail. A red ball sat on his nose and he wore rainbow suspenders and loose red pants with giant clown shoes.

"I prefer the name Laughtrack."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1805 in a row. (Story #360 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.