The Ultimate Striker

Chapter 1: Gu

Chapter 1: Gu

It was time to get to work. A black haired young man picked up the house ball, and inserted his middle and ring finger into the top two holes, without inserting his thumb into the bottom one. He was using his left arm to support his right hand, which was inserted into the bowling ball.

"Yo! Alright bro, you got this!"

The young man walked up to the top left dots on the place where you stand to aim your ball, and began to walk forward. Aiming his ball, and taking a step with his right leg, he walked forward, until he met the line, and threw his ball.

It was his first throw of the night, so he didn't put too much force into it. This came with the drawback of not being thrown very far, causing it to hook way too early, leaving him with a gutter.

"Aw, you usually do so good. What happened there?"

The young man turned around, and looked the one responsible in the eye. That was his childhood best friend, Luis.

"Oh, you said he does really well, don't tell me you were just hyping him up?"

That voice was his friend's girlfriend.

Luis:- "What? Hell no, man has potential to be the greatest, I just know he does."

???:- "No, she was right. I'm not as great as you think I am."

He had gotten a gutter. Someone like him, who had been playing once a week since the age of 14, had gotten a gutterball. The only excuse being that the lane was dry, and that he didn't throw it far enough.

This man was Johan Thompson. His parents, while not being German, still gave him a name like that. When Johan asked his father as a kid, they said it was because one of his dad's best friends was named John, and they thought that they might as well make it sound exotic.

Johan:- "I'll get it next time."

Johan waited for his house ball to arrive, picked it up, and did the same thing, but this time, he threw it far out, so that it wouldn't hook too early. It went down the lane, and entered the "Pocket" of bowling, and Johan got a spare.

To those who may be unfamiliar with bowling terminology, a spare is what happens when you end up knocking all of the pins down on the second throw, but you didn't knock all of the pins down in the first throw, that is called a strike.

So, for Johan to get a gutter ball, that is, not knocking any pins down, for him to get a spare, that meant that he would have to get the equivalent of a strike, but for his second throw.

Johan went back to his seat, and sat down.

Luis:- "Alright, I'm up. Wish me luck, bro!"

Luis grabbed his house ball, and inserted his fingers into the bowling ball the "typical" way. He put his right foot on the middle dot furthest back, and put his left foot two dots over to the left, and walked forward, throwing it down the lane.

The ball was fast, and slammed into the pins, giving him a strike.

Luis:- "Wow, lucky me!"

Johan smiled. Luis was the type of bowler, where they usually performed average, but when they struck gold, they made a lot from it.

Johan was a bit more of an all rounder, performing well generally. The clash of those types of plays typically ended with Johan's win, but when Luis "struck gold", he destroyed Johan.

Luis' girlfriend went up, and threw the ball. The back of her hand was facing the pins, and her arm was way too bent, which led to it landing right in the gutter. A truly amateurish mistake. Johan looked with a look that exclaimed "pathetic".

Luis' girlfriend turned around, and asked Luis for some pointers, to which he obliged. He went up there, corrected her form, and she ended up knocking down 6 pins.

Luis' girlfriend:- "Yeah! I'm just like, the bestest ever."

Anyone who exclaims that they are the best, while obviously not, is a fool. They don't take bowling seriously enough. The group played throughout the night, playing for 3 hours. The group returned their shoes, and their bowling balls, and left.

Luis:- "Told you he was good."

Johan:- "Thanks."

Johan said goodbye to the others, and began to walk home. He lived not too far from a bowling alley. He got home, and checked the mailbox. There inside, he found a letter. He walked into his home, and opened it.

Looking inside, he saw something that would greatly impact the rest of his life.

"Greetings, Johan Thompson. We are the staff behind the Bowling Kingdom, an organization that seeks to create the greatest bowler of all time. If you would like to participate, please head to XXXX XXXXX. There, you will enter a bowling training camp, designed to create you into the greatest. We hope to see you there."

Johan looked at the letter, and dropped it. It might be a trap, or something to lure people into getting kidnapped. However, Johan wasn't afraid of such things. Call him a fool, and you would be correct, but also not.

Johan had no reason to live, other than bowling. Bowling meant everything to Johan. Throughout his life, he always wanted to be the best bowler in the world. However, his lack of money held him back from practicing more.

But this allowed him to finally achieve his dream. Feeling the desire to finally achieve his dream, he picked the letter up, and ran to the address. If he was kidnapped or killed, at least it was because he thought it would help him become a better bowler. If it truly was a training camp for bowlers, then that meant he would finally achieve his dream.

Ordinary bowling practice could never hope to help him become the best. Standard training and the like could never hope to make him the best. His reason for living was finally in front of him. If he did not take the chance, then he would never forgive himself.

Johan ran all the way to the address.

Johan:- "So, this is... the place."

Johan was breathing hard from all of the running he did. It was a building, a large one at that. Johan entered the building, and saw a lot of other people there.

"So, it seems the final one to enter has arrived. Welcome, all, to Gu."

There was a collective stuttering amongst everyone there. Gu? What is Gu?

"To those unaware, Gu is an ancient Chinese form of black magic. You take a large amount of poisonous insects, and the like, put them in a jar, and they will begin to cannibalize each other. The last one remaining will be used to make the poison. We will do that, but with people who love bowling."

Johan looked at the lanes. So, it was like that, huh? This was a place where you would have to beat out others, in order to grow. A place that was ultra competitive. This was it. This was the place that would help him achieve his dream.

"Well then, get prepared, because this place is going to mold you all into greatness. Grab your balls, and your shoes. Best time to start is now, right?"