Back at the alley Rena had a lot to ponder. She had completely figured out how to turn the aura sense on and off. On the bus to work she looked over everyone, as well as tried to glance at anyone walking on the street. She saw that everyone had an aura, though some extremely faint to where it was nearly impossible to see at a distance. A few people in the bus had auras brighter than hers, most dimmer, and some auras varied in intensity. Behind the front counter she looked through her phone. 

This time she specifically sought out any footage, pictures, or information about powered people. The first thing she had thought to try, which she already gussed wouldn’t work, didn’t. She couldn’t see any auras in photography. Nothing on the people on the screen. 

She tried to look at any videos of people exhibiting powers online. Trying to glean literally any information from them based on what she now knew. Of course, it was nearly impossible. She knew nothing. 

People were already bowling when she got to work. Something caught her attention a bit more than usual today. She kept hearing the strike announcer’s annoying voice repeatedly since coming in. 

“Hey is that Strike Master?” Rena asked to Mia. 

Mia lazilly turned her head from the computer screen, pausing in the middle of an action scene to look over at one of the aisles hosting a single person. “Yep. Strike Master on the scene.” 

Another deft, exaggerated motion sent the ball careening down the lane. Another one of the five or so strike animations played on the screen. 

Strike Master was the name the bowling alley staff gave to a man who often came in, once or twice a week, and only bowled perfect strikes. He would stay for a few hours, bowl dozens of strikes, then leave without saying much. Sometimes he would order a piece of food or two. Today Rena had a different perspective on the man called Strike Master. 

“Looking with aura sight, Strike master was aflame. When he was just standing around, his aura was very bright and easily surpassed Rena’s. When he was bowling though… 

Strike Master picked up the bowling ball as it emerged from the rail. As soon as he touched the bowling ball his aura reached out and engulfed it. His bodily aura increased as well. When he stood at the ready it increased even more, Strike Master was now shining as if he were the sun. Aura radiated from him. It was nothing like fire, it was like he was his own star, although it did not blind or inhibit visibility of what was inside or around it. He ran up, holding the ball low, and swung his arm, releasing a fireball that seemed to glide over the lane without even touching it. It rolled end over end over end over end over end, and left a trail of fire that was still connected with his hand. It collided with the pins, sending every one flying. It was like watching a stroke of god. Only after the ball disappeared down the back of the lane did the trail of fire go away, and Strike Master’s aura subside. 

He pumped his fist as if it was the first strike he had ever made.

Rena was entranced and watched several strikes before pulling her attention away from him. Mia was back to watching her trashy anime, completely unawares, or uninterested in the strike streak. Rena had to find some way to learn what he was doing. Is his power the same as mine? Or similar?

Rena looked over at Mia still watching her show. The main character was in the middle of a climactic battle, and did a speech before punching his enemy several thousand times in one second. 

“What would you do if you had power like that?” Rena asked Mia. 

“What? The power to punch a lot really hard?” Mia replied without breaking her gaze. 

“Yeah I guess. And you could move like that.” The character jumped and basically flew miles in an instant to begin pummeling the villain again. 

“Uh. Probably nothing? I don’t think I’d find much use in punching the shit out of things lmao.” Mia said deadpan. Mia often said ‘lmao’ as if it were a word. 

“You wouldn’t try to like. Dunno. Save the world? Or fight crime or something?”

“Uuuh. Keichi doesn’t fight to save the world or fight crime. He does it to avenge his clan and protect his friends.” Mia said, looking up at the ceiling as if Rena had said something stupid she should already know, which was true. 

Mia continued watching the triumphant moment for a few seconds. “But I guess not. There’s already tons of superheroes, and they get killed all the time. Seems like a lot of work to protect the late capitalist status quo.” 

Rena didn’t know how to respond to that. She had not put much genuine thought aside from idle fantasy into what she would do if she were ever granted incredible power. Not that this tepid awakening amounted to incredible power just yet. She figured that if she were ever granted powers, something she wanted more than anything, the way forward would be self evident depending on the power. She knew of course what she would do with all the common power types. Flight. Teleportation. Telekinesis. 

Would being a superhero, or a vigilante be cool? What would it be like? Certainly more exciting than the bowling alley. Strike Master put another one in the pocket. The announcer chimed up once again. 

Rena wasn’t the talkative type. She did not converse with the customers more than she had to to perform her duties. She wasn’t going to just walk up to the superpowered man bowling like a god and ask him how he was doing that. In fact, seeing how large his aura was made her not want to be near him. 

Rena saw the anime character do something. She was familiar with this show so she already knew how it worked but something she just saw caught her eye like it hadn’t before. Keichi used a signature move. He announced the name of the move, as they do, and his aura spread out from his body. Immense power surged from his body and covered everything in a 1 kilometer radius. When a character in the show did this all people who did not have strong soul energy could die inside the sphere of aura. Keichi used this to exponentially amplify his power and dominate his opponent, which he demonstrated. 

“Do you think anyone can do that?” Asked Rena. She wasn’t used to asking so many questions. Especially about something she already knew about. She worried she was annoying Mia. 

“Life Annihilating Soul Amplifier?” No idea. Mia pressed down a wayward curl of her short dark brown hair. 

Of course everyone in the show could amplify their soul flame, the source of all life in the show, and use it to do various things. 

“You’re a lot more interested in stuff like that today huh? Did you see something cool online?” I’ve always been very interested in this stuff I just never showed you. Rena thought. 

“Yeah I guess I saw some hero that used like, soul energy or something. In a video.” Why did I lie? 

“I don’t really keep up with super stuff you know. I’ve never seen a superhero as hot as Keichi.” This was true. “I know there’s guys who can do stuff kinda like that. I don’t really know anything about it.” The video ended. Turns out it was a clip of the fight scene posted elsewhere. It was an older series, Rena was sure Mia had already seen the entire show. 

Strike Master had finished his game and was approaching the counter. It was now or… maybe next week, to say something. “I’ll take care of this.” Rena said. Mia didn’t move anyway. 

Strike Master placed his shoes on the counter. Rena took them and brought them back behind the counter and exchanged them with his shoes on the rack. Large shoes. She brought them forth in the box. “So uh..” Rena started. “Uh. You uh.” She paused and composed herself. Strike Master retrieved his shoes and bent down to put them on. “You’re pretty good at bowling. How did you get that good?” Rena said sheepishly. Even without the aura, Strike Master was much taller than her. Right now the aura had subsided to coming a few inches off of his body. 

“Hm.” He didn’t look like he thought the question was weird. But he had a weird air about him. “I don’t know. Practice makes perfect.” That’s all he said. Then he was gone. The digital doorbell dinged as he exited. Tom walked in shortly after. 

“You’re fucking weird lmao.” Mia said, looking down at her phone. I guess I didn’t handle that well. Rena thought. 

Tom approached the counter. “Tomald.” Rena said. He glanced at her briefly and went into the back. Probably looking for Chelsea again. 

Rena scanned the feeds again. There was always news regarding powers. Many people ran accounts using their powers to get money and attention, some of which Rena followed. There was one in particular who used a shapeshifting ability to do perfect cosplays of any kind of character. Most of the attention powered people got went to superheroes and supervillains. People who used their abilities to fight crime or cause mayhem. Both had huge fanbases. The biggest superheroes worked for companies. The largest of which was called Protector. Several very powerful people were a part of it, and many people considered those heroes the main defense and peacekeepers of the earth against forces normal means could not deal with. They saved the world from alien invasions and supervillains and all that regularly. 

There were also vigilantes. Being powered could get you a nice job as professional muscle, if your power was suited to it, you could become a super powered cop or mercenary, but those people weren’t very popular. To most, at least those who Rena talked to, using your abilities to serve money was a pretty lame thing to do. Some of her friends looked up to various vigilantes however. People who roamed the streets expressing their own form of “good”. One of Rena’s favorites was a girl she followed on twitter who went by the name of Wren. She had a bird motif, could fly on ethereal wings, and used dual energy swords. Her flashy style and theatrics captivated Rena’s imagination. Whenever she envisioned herself with powers, Wren was always the first example. 

Most people with powers didn’t use them for much at all. Not an uncommon belief among the general populace, powered or not, was that those who used their powers for fame or some self serving purpose were just showboats, attention addicts, and losers. 

Millvale was a relatively small, unimportant city. Not many vigilantes, at least ones Rena knew about, operated here. Wren worked in the largest nearby city, some dozens of miles away. Living in smaller, more out of the way areas was generally a safe bet. Attacks on large cities were rare, and about as frequent as attacks on small cities, but the fact that so many people were crammed into a tight space in the larger cities, and the high rate of people with powers, put some on edge. Rena’s parents moved to Millvale from a large metropolis for this reason. Rena could not complain, though the short time she spent in Halyn City for university, Wren’s city, was like going to another, far more exciting planet. 

Halyn was not a huge city, but it felt as if Rena had stepped into a metropolis whenever she went. Truthfully, such a crowded environment did not play to Rena’s strengths. She was awkward at best and did not enjoy being around too many strangers, but something about the anonymous crowds of Halyn allowed Rena to feel as if she were just a single face in a sea of faces. There was no scrutiny in such an anonymous locale. Everyone had their places to be, and she had hers, and none would be concerned about a single awkward girl in a sea of bodies.

The college campus was wonderful. Growing up in a small suburb with few to no sidewalks, and nothing to walk to regardless, Rena had been elated to be in an environment where she could reach everything she needed without having to rent a car, or get on a bus. The campus was like its own village, and although Rena did not absolutely love her classes, or her major, she found happiness with the small group of friends she could cultivate and see often. All in all it was a lot like a break from the average tedium Rena considered her every day life up to that point. In her little group of friends, who did most things together outside of classes, that she met Anne…

It was just good luck that she met someone that knew someone who needed a roommate back in Millvale. That way she didn’t need to go back to live with her parents. Just good luck…

The hours passed and the cold grip of boredom wrapped itself around Rena’s brainstem. It was a paradoxical feeling. Rena felt like she was close to a breakthrough, a life changing event, something incredible, or amazing, or unusual, but it was just out of her grasp. She had found a key but no lock. No door in sight.

She had been practicing meditation, or whatever you would call it with her eyes still open, trying to build up energy, trying to expel energy, trying to do anything. Nothing was coming. It felt like this was it, the extent of her ability. All she would be able to do is see if other people have incredible power without having it for herself. Her mind frequently returned to a disturbing popular fact. Most people with power found no use for it. Something a teacher or a parent might say to a kid who wouldn’t stop dreaming up a fantastical life to distract them from their boring reality. She thought about Sylvie’s hypothetical exploding fart power. She imagined the lamest supervillain ever, who could only embarrass himself while he robbed banks at asspoint. 

Would it be worth it?

A buzz on the desk. A text. Mari. 

“Heyoooo come to this party with me Saturday night”

“Where. Who. Why.”

“It’ll be fun and it’ll get you out of that stinky bowling alley.” 

“It is my job to ensure the bowling alley is not stinky.”

“Chandra and Kelsey are throwing it at their place.”

“You’ve committed a grave act insulting my skill at cleaning the bowling alley.”

“Ok I am sorry, my goddess. Please do not smite me. *bow emoji*”

“You will be spared this time if only because you have a car and I do not.” 

“Thank you, queen. The party starts at 9. Please be ready. Do not be stinky.”

“I am never stinky fuck you.”

I guess I now have plans. Rena thought. It had been some time since Mari had invited her to a party. Probably taking pity on her because she knew the only places she ever existed were the alley and her little apartment. partment.