Val thought to stick out her thumb to continue hitchhiking towards Altis Point, but this method of transportation seemed like it would take too long. She did not have the money for another night in even the cheapest of motels, and most definitely, she did not want to sleep under an overpass like a bum.

“If only we had a car, this would be a lot easier,” Val mused down to Foofy.

He did not look at her. Rather, his attention had been drawn to the slamming of car doors and the people who walked around their cars at a small, empty gas station.

“Good idea, Foofy,” she said and gave him a pat on the head.

Foofy bent his ears back as her hand caressed over his skull, then perked back up to observe the people.

Likewise, Val watched and waited for one of the two cars to leave. On her phone, she pulled up the GPS and set up a route to Altimus Pier so that she would not have to play around with that later. By the time that she had finished, there was only one customer left who was exiting the gas station after having paid inside.

The quiet nature of this gas station could not be more perfect. Val jogged across the street with Foofy pulling on the leash, and they intercepted the man before he could get into his car.

The Dobie’s ears flicked at the new person, and his eyes stared with all intensity. To ensure that Foofy would not get wild when Val got wild, she laid Keep the Peace over him preemptively.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said, waving down the middle-aged man before he got into his car. “Are you doing anything important today?”

“No, I’m not doing anything particularly important,” the man began robotically. It must have dawned on him that a stranger had asked him this question out of the blue. He shoved his glasses up his nose and barked, “Wait, why?”

If she was about to ruin somebody’s day, Val did not want to make them miss anything important. “Well,” she said, rubbing one foot on the ground, “I was just wondering if I could have your number.”

What in the Nether was she saying? Val did not even know, but she batted her eyelashes because flirting with her target might make the process of stealing this guy’s car a little easier, or something like that. For some reason, she had thought that it would be a good idea to preserve the element of surprise for a little longer, and thus, her brain had conjured up this crack idea.

Frankly, this middle-aged, rotund man with the ugly spectacles ought to feel flattered that a woman, just past the age of eighteen, had asked for his number at all. There were prettier girls than Val who existed in the world, but she was by no means ugly. In her opinion, she looked young and healthy, and had a nice body hidden beneath her straight, long-sleeve shirt and jeans. Basically, her point was: Val was way out of this man’s league.

“Uh, no,” the man said, glaring at her. “I have a wife. Are you even eighteen?” With an angry shake of his head, he said, “I have to go.” The man unlocked his car and moved to put his keys back into his pocket.

Val blinked from shock. If she were entirely honest with herself, she felt a little peeved that she had just been rejected by someone as old, fat, and ugly as him. He had a wife though, so that much was understandable at least.

As a mortal man, he never really stood a chance against Val. With her quicker movements, she plucked the keys from his hand and shoved them into her own pocket. The aforementioned anger brought her to shove him against the door of his car a little harder than she would have otherwise.

“Ow! What is the meaning of this, young lady?” The man struggled and tried to throw her off, but he discovered that he could not budge an inch under Val’s strength.

While she kept the man pinned, Foofy stood there and smiled in a happy pant. The sun and pavement heated up his dark fur, and Keep the Peace kept him amicable as Val attacked somebody.

“You are going to give me your number because I am going to borrow your car. I will text you its location once I am done with it.”

“What? No. Help!” the man called out.

Val flitted her eyes to the gas station and saw a movement of the attendant through the window.

The woman at work picked up a phone and started dialing hastily. It was too late to try and use Keep the Peace for the first time on a human to stop her.

Whether or not she got this man’s number to return the car, Val would skedaddle out of here before the cops would arrive. Though she would probably not be strong enough against tasers and guns to justify the South Pen Demigod Special Force for her, it would take even longer for them to arrive if need be.

Val twisted his arm around his back, threatening to break it. “Start spitting out numbers if you want your car back—now.”

Whimpering and stuttering, he obliged her with a phone number.

Val did not have her hands free to save it in her phone, nor did she have a perfect memory to store it in her mind. When she needed to call him, she would use Past Insight to retrieve the number once again. “Thanks.”

She pulled the man up from his car and tried to throw him gently away.

The man flew backwards and slid on his back along the pavement.

Wincing, Val realized that she probably had hurt the man more than intended. If he had gotten road rash from that

Val opened the door and said, “Come on, Foofy!”

Foofy went sailing into the car with all eagerness.

Getting in herself, Val had to shoo him away from the driver’s seat and into the passenger’s side. She stuck the key into the car and lighted the ignition.

By the time that the man rolled over and picked himself to his feet, he had no chance at getting Val out of the car. “No! Stop!” he said lamely.

Val had already speeded out of the gas station and drove over a curve with a massive thump. “Oops.”

As badly as she wanted to return this car in a good condition, Val did not have the driving experience to make any guarantees.

A combination of living in the heart of Brillion City and her family’s poor economic standing meant that Val did not exactly have a driver’s license. Even so, she had a tiny bit of driving experience. Her mother had made sure to get a rental car and show both Val and Ross the basics of driving, even though they could not legally drive. It was a good thing that both of them had been careful and competent enough not to crash so that their mother could return that car in one piece.

Val sped onto the highway once again in the direction of Altis Point. Flying well over the speed limit, she hoped to get there and abandon the car long before any police came to arrest her.