Tuesday

“Did you see that last episode of Omoshitaito?” Tom asked, leaning over the counter beside Mia. Mia was engrossed in a game on her phone and paid the comment little mind. 

“Nah. I don’t really like that show.” Mia replied, not pulling her eyes from the half naked anime man she was prodding with her finger. 

“What!? That show is awesome! How could you not like it!?” Tom replied, as if stunned.

“I don’t know, man I just think it’s lame. It’s whatever I guess.” Mia replied.

“How many episodes did you see?”

“Uhhh like one? Maybe like half?” Mia was very uninterested in the discussion.

“Bruuuuuuuh you can’t just watch one! Listen you gotta watch till episode 5 it goes crazy! The first two aren’t that good but after that it goes crazy I promise.” 

“Uuuugh no I’m not gonna watch that much the art style sucks, dude!” Tom had finally goaded a real reaction out of Mia.

“The art style goes hard what are you talking about!!?” Tom exclaimed, excitedly. 

“It’s nasty! All the dudes are muscly and hideous!” Mia responded. 

“What do you mean!? You like Kenkasama, the dudes in that are buff too!” 

“Ugh you wouldn’t get it! It’s not the same.” Mia made a large physical expression of exasperation. 

Rena absentmindedly watched her coworkers bicker. She was too inside of her own thoughts to even hear what they were saying. Images of the night before crossed her mind rapidly. She turned over every detail she could remember. And another thought lingered in the back of her mind too. She still had not contacted Alec’s master. She hadn’t contacted Alec at all after he gave her the number. Would it be worth it to? Would he busy with his important quest to save his friend’s soul? 

Rena sat behind the counter in a dazed state. Bickering about stupid media was one of the primary ways the Runner Ball crew whiled the hours away. Tom took notice of Rena’s refusal to participate in something she would probably have some sort of opinion about. 

“What’s with her?” Tom asked Mia, indicating with a motion to Rena. “Hey, Rena! You alive in there?” 

Rena snapped back to reality. “Huh?” It was like coming out of a dream. 

“What’s been up with you? You’ve been weird for days.” Mia said, with actual concern. 

“Uuuh, buuuh duuuh” Rena was not prepared to engage in human conversation, or inhabit real life so quickly after ruminating on such important matters. 

“Seriously, girl you seem messed up.” Mia said, putting the phone down a little to concentrate on Rena. 

“Do you think the guys in Omoshitaito are too buff? It’s important.” Tom asked, resting his chin on the counter. 

“Dude shut up oh my god you’re so annoying!” Mia responded. Tom raised his hands in an expression of ‘don’t hit me’. 

“Uh. Sorry. A lot's been going on lately…” Rena trailed off. “Crazy few days you know.” 

“What’s been crazy about it?” Mia asked. 

“Did something weird happen when you were at that party a little while ago?” Tom was trying to retrace the steps he knew Rena had taken. 

“No no. I mean. I don’t know. Just been a lot going on. Outside of that.” Rena responded. She didn’t make eye contact with either of them. 

The kitchen door opened behind them and Chelsea floated through. 

Chelsea was an airy woman. She appeared to figuratively float on a cushion of cloud everywhere she went, rarely seeming to worry about anything and almost never getting bothered. To Rena it appeared that her large frame merely glided along unfettered. It had always seemed strange to Rena that she was the one most involved in the running of the alley. Michael was the more serious one, but he was never around. 

“Hello, lovelies, how are you doing on this fine day?” It had been a whole hour into the evening shift and she had not emerged from her office a single time. 

“It’s not day anymore, Chelsea. We’re wondering what’s been up with Rena lately.” Rena had expected an easy diversion from the topic of herself but Mia brought it right back on cue.

Chelsea turned her airy gaze to Rena. “Oh no. Rena are you sick? What’s going on?” 

“I’m not sick!” Rena responded a little too energetically. “Everything’s fine really. I’m perfectly alright.” 

“The other day she went to this insane party where a super powered duel went down and ever since she’s been acting cold. Well I mean, colder than usual.” I hate you, Tom you asshole. Rena thought to herself. 

“Oh dear. I hope you didn’t get mixed up with that.” Chelsea responded, with genuine concern. Why are they all so concerned with me? 

“My buddy told me somebody got thrown through a window!” Tom responded, smiling widely. “Wish I could have seen that.” 

“That’s so strange. I’ve been hearing about a lot of weird incidents happening around here lately. It’s scary.” Chelsea said, shaking her head.

“Oh yeah! A convenience store got blown up by somebody with a laser gun the other day!” Mia said. “That was actually pretty close to where you’re at wasn’t it, Rena?”

All three sets of eyes turned to Rena simultaneously. 

The weight of all of their expectation fell heavily on top of Rena’s head. “Uh yeah. It was. Pretty messed up right?” 

“Incidents like this have been happening all over. Nothing new I guess but I’d expect that stuff to stay downtown.” Mia said. 

“I think it’s cool. I mean, people rarely ever really get hurt right? It’s exciting.” Tom said. 

“Let’s see you say that with a laser blaster in your face.” Mia replied. 

“I could take it. I’m strong!” Tom said puffing out his chest. He probably meant it as a joke but Mia’s expression was certain not amused. 

“You all be careful. It’s a crazy world out there! Wouldn’t want any of my precious employees getting hurt.” Chelsea said with a wistful expression. How can she talk like that and be completely serious?

“Yeah. Where else would you get a 20 something with nothing to do willing to sit around all day for easy pay?” Mia said. All three laughed. 

Rena felt a strange distance from all of them. In reality, not much had changed. She still had to come to work most days like usual. Mia and Tom still talked the same, about the same things. Nothing was really happening. Still something felt strangely unusual and it was difficult to talk to her coworkers in the usual way. Maybe I’m just too wrapped up in my own thoughts. I guess I did just come out of a hostage situation. 

The door dinged and Strike Master entered. Chelsea chimed up to greet him upon entry. Rena instinctively switched on the aura sense and began to study him, without even thinking about it. Normally the man’s aura wasn’t much to speak of. Before he began bowling it wasn’t much more discernible from the aura of a normal person. Wait. Is Strike Master a normal person?  Rena caught herself now about to observe the man’s aura when it really activated. Is this ok? Is this weird? The thought of observing secret knowledge of people was extremely strange to her. Then she had the thought. Can he tell I’m different too? 

Strike Master, whom Rena completely had forgotten the real name of at this point, got his usual large shoes and went to his usual spot, near the wall. He always said very little. The man seemed to only exist for bowling. 

After a while of setup, which felt like a million years to Rena, Strike Master got his first bowling ball. Immediately there was a change. As soon as the man touched the ball his aura jumped. It started to flow more freely, to Rena it gave the impression of someone with their hair in a tight style, letting it out to its full length. The man began to shine. The bowling ball became wrapped in the aura. I guess I should say Shin? I like aura better. Rena thought to herself. And as expected, he bowled a perfect strike. 

“You’re pretty interested in that guy.” Mia said. Tom had gone into the back after Chelsea. 

“Huh? What?” Rena said. She hadn’t been aware she had been being watched. 

“You watch that guy whenever he comes in here. What’s his deal?” Mia siad. 

“Oh uh. I guess… I just wonder how he does it.” Rena said, trying her best to not sound strange. 

“Yeah I wonder about it too. Guy must have a superpower for perfect strikes.” Mia said, watching the ball glide down the lane and emit the loud clatter all the employees were long since desensitized to.

Upon hearing what Mia said something connected in Rena’s mind. Strike Master, Wren, and to some extent, Rena, all seemed to derive power from Shin, and yet they all used it differently. Wren could create stuff with hers, although it wasn’t clear how much she could actually create. She already observed her weaving the aura into strands and wrapping them together. Strike Master engulfed his ball in his aura and controlled it that way, which Rena had tried and failed at copying a few times. And Rena could supposedly see the auras more finely than Wren could, for some reason. Rena began to get a sense that even if power was derived from the same place, it can manifest extremely differently. 

“Yeah. Some kinda superpower.’ Rena said, looking down at the desk. “If you could have a super power, any one in the world, which would you choose?” 

“Uhhh I don’t know plus I’m pretty sure you’ve already asked me that. Ummm maybe reading minds? No that sucks. Uuuh maybe I’d have my own house. My own castle that could move anywhere. And I can control it or something. So that I never have to pay rent and can have all my friends live in my house for free.” 

The thought intrigued Rena. Of course such powers did exist, almost any power anyone could think of existed, and yet whenever she imagined power it always jumped to ideas of fighting. Things that could be used for violence. Or Flight. It seemed to be the most prevalent type of power. It seemed either powers mostly manifested to do things you could use to defend yourself, or people who didn’t have defensive powers like that weren’t in the public eye very often. It could go either way really. Although many popular celebrities and heroes had powers, few people knew their exact nature. It was the cause of a lot of speculation on the exact powers and limits of the big heroes. Some of them were more open about how their powers worked. Rena thought back to her conversation with Wren. Maybe they were just really confident. 

Angel Man derived his power from being an angel, an extremely powerful being. It wasn’t clear if he was half an angel or a full angel. Nobody really knew. He was very popular and very handsome. It wouldn’t be odd to turn on the TV and see him on a talk show, playing along with a boisterous host. One of the faces of Protector. 

“That’s a good idea for a power. I didn’t think about that.” Rena said. 

“What about you? If you could have any power in the whole big wide universe what would it be?” Mia reclined in her chair and put her hands behind her head.

Another perfect strike rang out through the bowling alley. Rena thought about it. Turned it over in her mind several times. The truth was she had never really been able to come up with a good answer for this question. Flight, strength, speed. All of it was enticing of course. How could anyone choose just one thing? She considered the best way to put it into words. 

“I guess… The power I’d have is anything that lets me take control of my own life. You know? Something that gives me the power to change who I am.” Rena answered. 

“Wow.” Mia said, leaning back in her chair comfortably with her eyes closed. “You should try therapy.” 

“Oh my god fuck off.” Rena said, scoffing. Mia burst out laughing.

“I guess that’s the answer most people would give though right? If you want something you can’t have, you want to change your circumstances. Change your life. Maybe you’d do things differently. Go back in time. Right?” 

“Never really was interested in going back in time. Time paradoxes don’t seem any fun.” Rena said. 

“Naah if you went back in time you’d create an alternate timeline. The one you came from wouldn’t be affected.” Mia said confidently.

“And how do you know that?” Rena said. 

“Chronomaster said it that one time. You didn’t see it?” 

Chronomaster was a guy who could travel through time. He used to make frequent appearances on talk shows, discussing his findings in ‘Chronological Research’. Not so much a super hero, just a guy with a power who used it to get famous. He would occasionally bring back artifacts from other timelines to show off. Several of them were in museums, or in Protector custody. They often were the targets of theft attempts by supervillains. One day Chronomaster seemingly went crazy and killed dozens of people. Nobody knows what happened to him after that.

“That guy was crazy.” Rena said, definitively. 

Mia shrugged. “Maybe. Doesn’t really matter to me either way.” 

Rena thought in silence for a moment. “I mean, do you really want to work at this bowling alley for the rest of your life?” 

“Uh, no? Obviously not.” Mia said. “I’m working on my degree. Probably gonna end up in some dead end job that I hate in a big city somewhere.” 

“See? That’s the other thing. You just have to work some shitty job until you die. Doesn’t really seem like any way to live to me.” Rena said. 

“I mean yeah but that’s kinda just how it is right? I’m sure a lot of the big heroes hate their jobs too. I wouldn’t like having to put my life on the line fighting aliens or whatever the fuck every day. Sounds like it sucks.” 

“Maybe they do hate it. But they could just quit if they really hated it couldn’t they?” Rena said. 

“I don’t know. Power and responsibility right? Would you quit if you were the only person who could defend people from whatever?”

“Yeah but there’s tons of people who can protect the world. There’s like dozens of them.” Rena said. 

“Eh. Maybe. I just know I have to worry about what I’ve got going for me now, I can’t be worrying about how my life could be if I turned out differently.” Mia said.

“I guess you’re right about that.” Rena said. 

Tom came back through the door to the kitchen. “What’s up? What’s up?” 

“Tom if you could have any super power what would it be? Go!” Mia said. 

“Uuuuuh. I guess I’d probably uuuuuuh, Flight? And… laser eyes. For sure laser eyes.” Tom replied. 

"Why laser eyes?” Mia replied. 

“So I could melt the brain of anyone who looks at me wrong.” 

“What a profound response, Tomald.” Rena said, exhausted. 

“So what? Nobody could step to me. You know I got my eyes on me. Namean??” Tom responded with his typical Tom-like grin. Rena was getting annoyed. 

“Just be like Tom. Not a care in the world. Not a thought in his head.” Mia said, returning to her recline. 

“Neither of you have any idea what I’ve got going on up here. If I ever got laser eyes, y'all'd better watch out.” Tom replied. 

Chelsea entered through the back doors. “Listen up, kids!”

“I’m 22!” Mia exclaimed. It was common for Chelsea to speak to everyone diminutively, although she was not much older than any of the employees.

 “Runner Ball will be holding a bowling tournament very soon! At the end of the month we’ll be hosting all the greatest bowlers in the entire tri state area! And maybe even beyond!” Chelsea was beaming with excitement.

“Hell yeah!” Tom exclaimed.

“You all will be getting overtime on that night. You know how bowling can go. It can last into the wee hours of the night. Bowling gets intense! We’re gonna extend the hours of the early shift too. You guys will finally be able to meet eachother!” 

A strange thing to say. It’s not like the early shifters were unknown. Whoever got to the alley first in the evening took over from the last people to leave the early shift. 

“Wait. Uhh. Do we have to do overtime? What if we have something already scheduled for that time?” Rena asked, trying desperately to get out of extra work.

“Do you have anything scheduled for the end of the month, Rena?” Chelsea asked very sweetly but her eyes burned a hole right through Rena, effortlessly seeing through her cheap excuse.

“Um. Uh.” Rena shrank. 

“I hope to see all of you there! All hands on deck at the end of the month!” As quickly as she came Chelsea floated back into the kitchen. 

Rena groaned and threw her head back in her seat. 

“It’ll be fun. Don’t worry. It’s gonna be awesome!” Tom said. 

“We’re going to actually have to do work. Big sigh.” Mia said. 

“The pretzel machine is gonna have to get used.” Rena said, dejectedly. 

Pretzels had been stricken from the menu not long after Rena and Mia started working at the alley due to the immense difficulty of using the esoteric pretzel machine. 

The sound of pins once again rang out. Rena’s thoughts immediately went to Strike Master. Surely he would be at the tournament. It might be a good way to observe his skills. If the tournament was at the end of the month it would give Rena a few weeks to practice her powers with Wren before the day, and maybe she would have more luck in mimicking Strike Master’s ability at that time.