Blur took me to five different Walmart stores.

I guess in other dimensions, the naming scheme for addresses is all messed up, and many streets are just in different places than they are in this dimension. So Blur had just been saving people and traveling on instinct up until this point. I guess I couldn't blame the guy, since he probably had spent a total of 5 months in this dimension since he got his powers...

But yeah, 5 different stores. One of them didn't even have a vision center. One of them was closed, but we couldn't tell. We attempted to recruit 3 ordinary women, thinking they had superpowers or were living some sort of double life. Each time, we were escorted out by security, and one of those times, we had to slip away while they called the cops.

Long story short, ever since that day, I never went anywhere alone with Blur again. But anyway, back to the story at hand.

Finally, we reached the correct store. But we had to get an Uber. Not even because I didn't trust Blur anymore; he didn't trust himself, and was actually the one who suggested the Uber idea.

The smell of fresh produce and disinfectant hit our noses as soon as we entered the store. People bustled all around is, fumbling with shopping carts and groceries. The cashiers and many lines of people were directly ahead of us, and the sound of hundreds of intermingling conversations filled the air. Blur looked up, and pointed at the sign that read, "Check Out Our Vision Center!" and a little arrow pointing to the right. I nodded at him, and we headed off in the direction the sign had been pointing toward.

As we headed for the vision center, we caught sight of the woman working there, and I could kind of tell she was who we were looking for. She kept looking at the clock, and some other closed door toward the back of the Vision Center. Just to be extra sure this time, I closed my eyes and channeled my "Universal Sense" ability... and I could feel an odd connection to this person, similar to the connection I felt with Blur, and even Behemoth.

We walked up to the counter, and got a better look at her. She wore a small pair of sunglasses, that were balanced near the tip of her nose; which was odd, since we were indoors. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she had a nametag that read "Erin". She'd been reading something on the little computer monitor across from us, and as we drew closer she looked up at us. She flashed a warm, welcoming smile, and seemed eager to do her job; which seemed like a quality we'd want in someone we were about to bring onto our team. Leaning over the counter, I said in a low voice, "Hello, we're looking for a woman who supposedly leads a double life as a superhero?"

Her eyes widened from behind her glasses, and she said in a hushed voice, "Wh-who's asking? Are you with the FBI? It's not me, I swear. But even if it was, you should be looking for Gladys, the lady who works Wednesdays. I'll tell you anything you need to know about her."

"We're forming a team, called the Champions of the Universe. We protect this sector of the galaxy from threats that are too big for it to handle. It's kind of a big deal...you can join, you know. If you want."

I didn't say that, in case you were wondering. That was Blur. He seemed to be trying to subtly hit on her, which I really hated to see, and I thought he'd have learned after all the trouble we'd been through today, but clearly he hadn't.

Still, I was pretty new to this whole "recruitment" thing, so I decided to go with it. "Yeah... if you want." I said, echoing Blur.

"But seriously, we could really use you." I added. This is probably my worst attempt yet. Why did Behemoth send me to recruit this woman without even telling me what her name was, or what her powers were? I thought to myself.

She seemed to have thought of something, and immediately became very guarded. "Oh.. this is a scam, or something, right? You're probably going around to all the Walmart Vision Centers, trying to lure people like me into whatever cult you have going on. Obviously, most people don't just happen to 'have' superpowers. I certainly don't. You must think I was born yesterday," She said. I was about to protest, but she cut me off.

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"Now, please stop wasting my time. This is very unprofessional, and you're holding up the line." I looked behind me, and saw at least 10 people that had accumulated behind us. "O-oh, sorry about that."

Blur and I stepped off to the side, as she proceeded to help the actual customers. "What do we do now?" He asked me.

In truth, I had no clue. "Let's just grab a bite to eat, and regroup. Maybe we can figure something out."

A few minutes later, we were eating burgers and fries at a little joint nearby. Blur told me it was the best in town. I had no idea how he knew that, but couldn't locate the Walmart, but after the day I'd had with him I decided not to question it. I tried to think of a way to get through to Erin, but Blur kept telling me all sorts of stories about his adventures through the multiverse. I kept getting engrossed in his storytelling, so we probably spent a lot more time there than we should have.

Even as we left the restaurant, and were headed back to the Walmart, Blur was still

"-And then, the guy with the sword surprised all of us and actually brought that big thing down. It was insane." He finished, but an expression of realization spread across his face.

He'd been fiddling with the new watch Behemoth gave him all afternoon, but seemed to only just realize what the time was.

"Wait, I think we missed our window. The Walmart Vision Center is probably closed." I facepalmed in response.

Hard.

"What!? What are we going to do now? Why did Behemoth make us do this? We spent all afternoon talking to the wrong people, and we finally met the right one, only to be rejected. I mean, her reasons were perfectly understandable... but still."

The sun was beginning to set, and the air had become a little colder. Blur was about to respond, when we heard a familiar voice behind us.

"There you are!" We whirled around, and saw the woman from earlier.

"I couldn't let anything slip earlier, since we were in public. I mean, you guys' whispering was top notch, I could barely hear you. But.. well, let's just say someone in the store is always listening."

I was extremely confused, and so was Blur. "I thought you didn't believe us? What changed?"

"I believed you from the start. Or... I guess, I want to. My name is Erin Werner, and at night I go by 'Retina'. I used to read comics all the time when I was a kid, and ever since I got my powers all I ever wanted was to join a real Superhero team! So I'm definitely willing to give you guys a shot."

"Oh, thank you! You won't regret this. I'm Chiron, and I'm actually the leader of the little group we're forming. This is Blur, the fastest man alive."

"What's up! I'm happy to show you the ropes, if you need any help getting adjusted.." He added, leaving out the part where I just recruited him today, and he had never even seen the ship.

This was the best news we could have gotten. She seemed all to eager to join us, so I braced myself, ready for Behemoth to show up at any moment.

But nothing happened.

"Awesome! So what do we do now? Where do we go? Do you have like, an HQ or something..."

I was starting to get a little annoyed about not knowing how to answer that question. "Just, uh, wait a moment. Usually, there's a guy who shows up.." I said, pretending there was more than one instance of this actually happening.

Just then, the Walmart began to crumble, and pieces of debris began to fall all over us.

"Oh no..." Retina said. "I thought... no.. doomsday wasn't until next week!"

I kid you not. I'm being dead serious. A giant robotic chicken emerged from the Walmart. It had to be 50 feet tall.

"What's happening?" I asked, beyond confused. Glancing at Blur, I could tell that I wasn't the only one.

"It's... remember Gladys? That person I told you that you should look into if you're with the FBI? She's um, kind of my 'main villain', if you want to use comic book terms. She's a super smart person, apparently she has an IQ of 200, and she is going through a nasty divorce with her husband a couple blocks over. She keeps coming up with a bunch of elaborate schemes to attack him, that seem to have to do with fights they had when they were married. But she always ends up testing her inventions on the town... and well, I'm sad to say this happens pretty regularly." Her voice sounded quite deflated, like she was tired of having to deal with this all the time. "Doomsday... is supposed to be the fight of all fights. Winner takes all- and by that, I mean everything in the divorce."

"W-why isn't she behind bars? How do you even know this much about her?" I asked, feeling these were relevant questions. She seemed a little offended at the second question.

"Aren't you supposed to be like, my leader now? And Blur's too? This isn't the time for questions like that. I'll explain later- for now, let's take care of the problem at hand."