Memory Lanes, formerly known as Downtown Alley, is a bowling alley that has maintained most of its original design, having gone through numerous renovations that respected its now-retro atmosphere. Since its founding in 1962, Downtown Alley endured many years of success, but following an incident with a local supervillain, the alley suffered foreclosure, only to be picked up by Bill Parker in 1974, who restored the location and renamed it Memory Lanes in honor of his sister whom passed away previously that year.
With the city having its usual, but manageable troubles, a hearty band of veteran supers have decided to take the evening off, agreeing to meet at Memory Lanes, the venue having been rented out as to provide them with their well-deserved privacy for the remainder of the night.
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:38 am
Nine1122
Harley Russo
“The early bird gets the worm,” uttered the heroine, having arrived a few minutes early to the venue to fetch the keys from the attendant waiting patiently at the front desk. After a quick and friendly exchange, the attendant made his way out, waving to the heroine as he drove onto the main road. Normally there’d be a rundown on the venue itself, but Susan was a longtime patron of the location, having gone to the same bowling alley since her teenage years. The mere sight of the location welcomed a gust of nostalgia. She hadn’t been to Memory Lanes in months.
For a moment, she peered at the exterior of the establishment, admiring the large neon sign outside. Despite the occasional flickering, or perhaps enhanced by it, she felt charmed by its design. While Memory Lanes had seen plenty of changes, namely new technology, plumbing, light, and redone coloring, plenty of it remained the same, from its leather seats to its colorful walls and art. As she walked by the many posters on the western wall, it truly felt like a walk through memory lane, especially as she viewed an old Alley Cats poster. She beamed at the framed portrait of her old team back in 1982, back when they’d won the annual bowling competition. She still had her team’s shirt framed inside her trophy room. The music was familiar, back when “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees was only a few years old. Susan felt a little old-fashioned herself, sporting a simple white tee, blue jeans, and white canvas shoes. Comfort was key; she dressed more for comfort as a youth to help her manage her superhuman strength. She may have perfected her control, but old habits die hard.
A quick glance on her phone displayed a text from Margot about Emma’s ice cream privileges. Margot volunteered to babysit Emma for the night, and the two—unsurprisingly—got along wonderfully. While Susan was initially concerned about the differences between babysitting a regular child and a super like Emma, they were quickly brushed aside when the two effortlessly became friends. Following this was a flattering message from Kyle Langston, a handsome English footballer who literally swept her off her feet at a charity ball three days prior, thanks in part to C.J., whom was quick to pair the two together for drinks and conversation. Ever since, the two remained in frequent contact, the previous message wishing her a good morning. Susan let out a small chuckle, but swiftly put her phone away when she heard someone at the door.
"No, Sam. I don't care who got blood on the couch. Fix it." Owen said in a somewhat irritated tone as he pulled into the parking lot and hung up. As any responsible driver would Owen was using his hands-free device- telekinesis. He plucked his phone out of the air where it was hovering next to him and slipped it back into his pocket before getting out of the car to see exactly what was happening at the alley. It looked a lot like Owen looked. Older and more weathered than most people remembered it. The sign flickered slightly and it made Owen smile. He had always laughed at neon signs that had one letter go out causing it to spell some other word. The bowling alley sign was not nearly so bad. It had more of a nostalgic feeling too it which is why Owen smiled. Irony. His favorite and least favorite humor. He'd been to the bowling alley surprisingly recently to check it out and make sure that if something went wrong he was prepared so he didn't linger outside for more than two or three minutes.
Owen gently pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. He'd been told in texts that they rented out the entire building but he wasn't sure exactly when that 'rented out' period began. Yet inside he saw only Susan waiting for everyone else. Owen didn't immediately say anything because he wasn't sure she knew he'd entered until she turned around. He shouldn't have expected to sneak by her here. The key to sneaking up on Susan was to simply be where she was going before she got there because footsteps always gave you away otherwise. When she saw him, Owen waved and looked around the building. He noticed the posters as well but didn't feel the same nostalgia Susan felt because the Horsemen had always preferred board games and the occasional ping pong match.
Owen looked very different than Susan would remember. Most of the hair on his head had been buzzed off and to balance his appearance a beard had been grown out. An appearance change that he had undergone for various reasons. Some more entertaining than others. Yet he worse the same kind of clothes he always did. Dark blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. He gave a short wave that was really simply him raising his hand to acknowledge that he had seen her and then he began walking over. As usual he was somewhat quiet and did not say anything. Fun group events were still unusual to him. Board room meetings were becoming less so though.
Soon after, additional steps would come, as the famous blonde waltzed in somewhat ungracefully considering she was excited to see her best friend. Her first sight, however, was the back of the previous gentleman to enter, with her friend in the distance. “Why do I feel like the old hag walking into the wrong high school reunion?” she exclaimed, shrugging and smiling. If only her list of powers included eternal youth like Forever 21 opposite of her. While it wasn’t a sprint, she walked speedily towards Susan, embracing her sincerely. “We haven’t gone out together in days!” It hadn’t really been that long, but the two were thick as thieves. After breaking the hug, the turned to the other fellow. “Hmm, you look like the brooding, mysterious type. You must be Owen! I’ve heard so much about you! Not really, though.” She quickly extended her hand for a handshake. “C.J. Parker, or Diamond Girl. I hear both still.” She turned to Susan. “They still call me Diamond Girl, right? Of course they do.” C.J. added, make a hand gesture as if to brush off the idea that they wouldn’t. The media only mentioned it, well, everywhere. It may have been a while since she was a superheroine, but the name stuck, tattooed on her careers: modeling, acting, dancing, show hosting, etcetera.
It didn't take more than a few seconds of hearing her speak for Owen to realize that he would get along best with CJ if he kept certain thoughts to himself. He wasn't sure how he felt hearing that he had been a topic of conversation between the friends but he realized that when you met someone by repeatedly breaking into their house, they were likely to tell their friend about it. Brooding and mysterious were descriptors Owen could live with. He liked having secrets. Knowing things. CJ extended a hand and Owen reached out to shake it. "Diamond Girl. I saw your first movie." Owen did not feel inclined to mention details such as the fact his old team had actually forced him to watch it when it came out or that he found it... dull. Nothing against her but the writing was terrible and she could only do so much to bring the script to life. Still Owen admired that she'd tried. Didn't get him back into the theaters for the sequel though. Owen let go of CJ's hand and looked over at Susan for a moment as if to call for help before he looked back to CJ who's energy was far brighter than his own. It was blinding.
Susan happily welcomed the embrace, and followed along as C.J. spoke with all the openness of a public desktop. Owen remarked about the movie, but it didn’t take super intelligence to realize C.J.’s mannerisms were a bit overwhelming. Susan quickly grabbed the subject and hopefully C.J.’s attention. “I didn’t. In fact, didn’t need to; this one spoiled the whole damn movie,” added Susan, playfully glaring at C.J. In fact, she was present during the filming. The two invited one other to just about everything. The director seemed more interested in flirting opportunities. Not a bad film, but more flashy storytelling than well-written plot. C.J. had been easy on the eyes,
She switched the subject. “That aside, glad you two made it. Mark said he’d be a little late. Ivan’s always late. Did you two invite anyone specific?” She was happy to bowl, but if there was anyone particularly known for arriving early or on-time, she wouldn’t mind waiting. Mark liked to keep himself busy, and Ivan was simply bad at organizing his schedule. In the meantime, she took a seat to try and switch into her bowling shoes. If they somehow forgot a pair, the rentals were at their leisure.
