It seemed like a normal sort of day in the store. Mike was standing behind the counter looking tired and put-upon, Apu was stocking shelves, and the panda was mopping the floor. Ordinary. Boring ( Read more... )

Pink ( Read more... )

A sign appeared on the counter proclaiming a small part of the store to be HankCo. Super World. Mike wasn't able to move it no matter how hard he tried. It was like the cabbage vendor all over again ( Read more... )

The Christmas decorations were gone. The New Year's decorations had been up for a few days, but they also were gone. All the remnants of the holiday season were tucked away in the clearance aisle. In their place, the seasonal aisle and the big displays at the front of the store were filled with ( Read more... )

Christmas had exploded ( Read more... )

The store was still open, despite everything. Apu insisted, and Mike had to admit that he'd want the place to be here if any kids from the school needed anything ( Read more... )

Truth be told, Mike had been feeling like he was being a little paranoid over the whole gun vending machine business... and then the abandoned house across the street started filling up with crazy rejects from a Mel Gibson movie ( Read more... )

The whole Hyperion business was making Mike uneasy. Something was about to happen -- he could feel it in his gut. And not just the vibrations from the construction, although he could feel those, too, coming up through the floor ( Read more... )

On the positive side: The Cheese Panda seemed to find a sort of Zen-like satisfaction in sweeping the floor. A few scattered space heaters and a mop instead of a broom, and it was doing pretty well with the spontaneous-ice problem ( Read more... )

Mike was NOT going to talk about, or even think about, what had happened this weekend. His childhood had been awful the first time around. It had done wonders for all of his injuries, however, so there was that at least ( Read more... )