Do I Really Deserve This? (Unordinary)

The Unusual Mall Trip

This particular Saturday had started out like any other. John had woken up at a reasonable time, 2 pm, only to be dragged to the mall by his only friend. The mall was a place the pair went to often, much to the dismay of one of them.

However, unlike the other times, there was an ability gauger. To others, this didn't seem out of place and for the most part, it wasn't. The only really momentous thing about those folks was their scamming ability.

The unusual part came after.

And if John knew that, he would have stayed far away from that booth on that fateful day. Well in his opinion it was more bad luck than any type of fate.

-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I ONLY GOT A FOUR?!"

John looked at the lady and sighed. Another egotistical elite-tier. Great. He looked at the two arguing about a refund and debated with himself if he should step in. This seemed like it would be more trouble than it was worth, but he felt a sort of sympathy for the guy. It was obviously another example of higher tiers using their power to justify their argument and John knew what the receiving end of that felt like.

It was only after having to listen for another minute of this lady's yelling that John got annoyed and spoke up. "Ma'am, please calm down." And of course, the yelling then turned on him. He loved going to the mall.

"HEY! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS BRAT!" Her angry expression was going to give her premature wrinkles, that was for sure.

John sighed and prepared himself for a long argument.

And he was correct. It took riling her up for way too long and then calling security for the random lady to finally stop yelling. Unfortunately, she still got her undeserved refund, so it was a wasted effort in the end. So much for sticking up for the weak.

John turned back to the ability gauger dude. "Sorry, We didn't mean to cause you more trouble..." Sera mumbled something about speaking for himself but he ignored it in favor of giving the man a light smile.

The man returned the smile. "There's no need to worry about that! I appreciate the gesture. Not many people are willing to speak out nowadays. So, thank you." At least he wasn't mad at them. "I assume you two are here to have your abilities read?"

John acting fast pulled Sera in front of him. "Yup! She is!" He would rather not have his secret revealed by this dude.

"Um..." Sera obviously did not appreciate the gesture.

"Great! I'll give you a free shot! It's the least I can do."

John smiled as he thought about the 10 dollars they just saved. Was it really saved though when he almost died to a lady with explosions? He guessed it would depend on the prize.

The man gently grasped Sera's hand as his ability activated. "Incredible! Your ability level is an eight!" He smiled up at Sera. "It's been a while since I've met someone as strong as you. You're very gifted, miss."

She just looked uncomfortable. The vendor did not help when he presented the prize. A bear that was worth as much as the fee to get your ability read. Honestly, it might even be cheaper. Yeah, definitely not worth risking his life over.

"Aaaand... Here's your prize! A cute little bear for a cute little lady." The man pushed the bear towards Sera. "And what about you, young man? Would you like to try as well?" He reaches out toward the unsuspecting teen.

Before John even realized he was standing a bit too close, the man grabbed onto his arm and pulled him forward. The Vendor's grip was tighter than it looked. John stumbled a bit before trying to step back and remove his hand. "Um, excuse me." Shit, this isn't good. Maybe he didn't get a good read?