THE MOMENT
Wayne felt like the day was already a loss as he turned on his 'Open' sign. He was excited at first. It was early and the strip mall was bustling with patrons. He saw dozens of teenagers and almost as many adults that were obviously parents. Superpowers were a popular coming-of-age gift and graduation was right around the corner; it was peak season.
Unfortunately, not a single person noticed him unlocking his shop, despite the extra loud shakes of his keys. They were all content to sit and wait for the new shop that appeared last month. That shop sold 'New' superpowers; but, they didn't open for another couple of hours yet. Wayne was open already, but no one seemed interested in even killing time in his shop. With a heavy sigh, he turned and walked back to his seat behind the counter.
Wayne's selection was commonly referred to as 'Used' superpowers. While it was true that all the abilities he sold had previous owners, that in itself didn't have any effect on them. They worked just as well from person to person. But, the fact was the new shop sold 'New' powers. Some were never seen before, and most of them were tailored to the user. Even in the real world, power creep was a real thing and he was feeling left behind.
With nothing left to do, he decided to take inventory again. He hadn't had a visitor in a week, and even before that, he hadn't made a sale in some time. But, Wayne still took inventory every day. He considered it unprofessional to be doing anything else but work if someone should happen to walk in. He did not want to be caught sitting down on the job. He knelt behind the display case to open it and pull out the first row of abilities.
"Oh, sorry. Are you open?" Someone asked him as soon as his view was obscured by the counter. It was odd that he hadn't heard the door jingle and he popped back up. A bronze-skinned teenage girl with neon green hair smiled at him. Questions tried to form in Wayne's mind, but he gave his head a quick shake to dismiss them. He didn't have time for questions; he was working.
"Oh, you're not?" the girl asked when his head swiveled. "Sorry, I'll come back when you are."
"No, wait!" Wayne said. "I am. I was just surprised; I didn't hear the door."
"Oh, sorry," she nodded. "I came in through a portal."
"Oh," Wayne said. Portals were one of the 'New' powers. If she could do that, it made him wonder what she was doing in his shop. "Well, how may I help you?" he asked. The girl stepped closer to the counter and looked down into the display case.
The powers were held in glass cards. They were all transparent, but Wayne had a lot of time to organize his stock. She scanned the rows of upright cards reading the labels at the front of each row.
"I'm looking for...," she dragged it out as her eyes moved from label to label. Then, she looked up at him. "..do you have any disease or contagion-focused abilities?"
"Really?" Wayne nodded even as surprise forced the question out of his mouth. He'd moved those abilities to the storage locker after a particularly obnoxious teenager mocked him for having them on display. "Debuffs aren't even in the meta,' he'd laughed. Wayne had no idea what that meant, but the message was clear. No one was interested in them anymore.
"Yeah, I'm trying a disease build; but, it's still missing something," she replied.
"I have some in the back," Wayne grinned as he spun on his heels to get them. He went straight to the storage locker in the back room and grabbed the small wooden box. Then, he returned and opened it on the counter in front of her. Unlike the rows in the display case, each transparent card he pulled out had a label taped on it. "Unfortunately, this is all I've got," he said. He considered clear communication to be a cornerstone of quality customer service.
"Thanks!" the girl replied and she immediately began inspecting the cards. "Whoa, these are great!" she said. She separated two cards from the rest and held them up. "Can I try these?" she asked.
"Of course," Wayne nodded. He reached over to the register and pressed a button. In an instant, the lobby on the other side of the display counter was surrounded by glass walls. The few chairs he had disappeared leaving her alone on a white, smooth surface. Without hesitation, she knelt and placed her hand on the ground for a moment. Then, she stood up and pulled her hand upward. A neon green skeleton climbed out of the white surface and remained still.
Wayne assumed she was going to try and fight the skeleton somehow; but, he was surprised when she touched the card to it. The skeleton's neon green color darkened and it began releasing a sickly green mist.
"Noxious Laughter...?" Wayne knew what powers she picked but he'd never seen an ability used like that. After a moment, she nodded to herself, then she pulled the card away and tried the next one. This time, black spikes jutted out of every possible surface on the skeleton. "Toxic Thorns...,"
She pulled the card away, then turned and nodded at Wayne. He reached over to press the button again and the glass walls disappeared; his lobby chairs returned.
"That worked great!" she said. She put the two cards down on top of the other cards, then organized them together. "I'll take them all," she said.
"YES! THANK YOU!" he couldn't help but shout in pure joy. She noticed and giggled while he rang her up.
"You sure know how to make your customers feel special," she said.
"You're the only one I've had in weeks," he admitted as he gestured at the total on the register
"Really? But you've got such cool powers here," she said. She handed him five glowing, golden cubes; each was about the size of a golf ball.
"Yeah, really," he sighed. "I wish someone would tell them," he gestured out the window at the waiting crowd. "They're all waiting for 'New' powers." He offered her the change, a small golden sugarcube. But, she smiled and shook her head.
"Keep the change," she said.
"Really? This much?" he asked. She nodded.
"Sure. And one more thing," she added.
"What's that?" Wayne asked. The girl's green hair glowed brighter as she looked him in the eyes.
"You've got such cool powers here!" she said. This time, her voice was firm and loud, but not yelling. Then, she smiled and waved. She sank into a portal and disappeared before Wayne knew what happened. But, as soon as she was gone, the door jingled and a teenager poked his head in.
"I heard you had cool powers here!?" he asked. A line was forming behind him.