Neither the open road nor its bland, verdant, scenery tickled the imagination of either passenger too badly. Instead, the boys cruising through the Tea County chose to put their time and energy into conversation. Dave, having spent the initial half-hour of their trip recounting his final minutes in his home town had transitioned into an improvised tour guide routine. Every dot on the map he had visited held a special memory he would hope to revisit one day. Whether it was Peppermint town's amazing thrift shops where he purchased his jackets or Green town where he saw a great band play a song stuck to his head to this very day.

"But that's enough about me," Dave said, wiping the ketchup off of his cheek and balling up the napkin. "I'm sure you've got an interesting story of your own to tell, right?"

Zed, who went through quite the emotional rollercoaster during Dave's tales, was laying back on his seat, eyes widened with his head turned a bit to face Dave. At the start of this trip, he could barely take a bite from his cricket burger as a lump welled up in his stomach when Dave, so nonchalantly, brought up the mass abduction of his family and neighbors. The concern grew more and more as Dave continued to add locations he's traveled through, with Zed wondering just how much of a toll these adventures had taken on Dave's body and mind. Someone with a steady mindset wouldn't just casually say things like this.

But as Dave went on and on, Zed got more excited to hear about what this man had done in such a short time. It was like watching late-night travel guide shows on TV with his grandmother all those years ago, hosted by a carefree fella full of life and enthusiasm. Before he knew it, he had scarfed his whole burger down in a handful of bites and was smiling as he waited for more. So invested into Dave's story was he, that Zed was caught off guard when Dave asked about his own life.

"Me? Oh!" He asked, licking his lips clean of burger debris. "Well, I don't think I can hold a candle to anything you brought up."

"Give it a shot anyway," Dave said, looking to Zed out of the corner of his eye. "I'm all ears."

Zed cleared his throat and sat back on the passenger's seat. "Let's see. Uhm. I was adopted by a family when I was very young."

Dave completely turned his eyes off the road and onto Zed with a cocked smile. "That is infinitely more interesting than me just going to a thrift store, I assure you."

"It's not" Zed objected, putting up his hands. "I don't even know the circumstances behind it. All I know is that when I was like 1 or 2, I was adopted."

Dave turned back to the road and chuckled. "Go on then."

"They were a great family, the best I could ask for, really. My dad would read comic books to me all the time growing up, and when I could read them myself, we would read them together. You name a comic book hero; my dad likely has their entire collection."

"Aside from the movies that've come out lately, I don't know any," Dave said, scratching his chin. "I know of like, Mighty Adam, and Iron Terry."

"Whole collection" Zed bragged, crossing his arms proudly. "From like 60 years ago."

Dave exhaled. "In mint condition that stuff would probably be worth a fortune. He knows that much, right

Zed smiled a wide smile and nodded his head to the side. "He knows. He doesn't care though" Zed raised his hands pretended to turn the pages of an invisible book in front of him. "He's read through all of them so many times, they've been worn something fierce. According to my dad, the memories of reading them are worth more than money."

"What did your mom have to say to that?"

"Something about not paying the mortgage with memories."

The two shared a laugh. Together, they piled their trash into one of the meal bags, and Zed stuffed it under the passenger's seat as Dave had instructed.

"I've been meaning to ask," Zed said, sitting back up. "That projector person we encountered. They said you had 'Wrecking Balls'? Did I miss something in the fight?"

Dave nodded and held out his hand, palm side down. A second later, a metal ball hanging off roughly half a foot of wire fell from his palm and dangled between him and Zed. "It's what I call my jewel power. It's a ball that wrecks anything it touches, so the name is fitting."

Staring in awe, Zed reached out to poke at Dave’s ball. "Careful now," Dave said, urging Zed to pull his finger back. "I wasn't kidding when I said it wrecks anything it touches. I don't want to be responsible for your broken finger."

With the gears in his head turning, Zed reached under his seat and picked up one of the used napkins. He balled it up and chucked it at the wrecking ball dangling between them, with the same level of glee that a schoolboy would have prior to doing something he shouldn’t be. The napkin, upon impact, exploded into confetti, littering both of their seats with small bits of brown paper.

Zed's eyes and smile grew wide. "Whoa."

"Oh, come on, now. It's not that exciting" Dave dryly said. Suddenly, the wire holding the ball retracted into Dave's palm, the ball appearing to be absorbed back into his hand. "Doesn't hold a candle to what you did back there. Puts my thing to shame."

"Yeah, about that" Zeds started, adjusting himself back in his seat and scratching the side of his head. "Remind me, what exactly was it that I did? It's all kind of a blur to me."

Dave whistled. "What did you do? It was amazing." Zed's eyes and smile widened even more with anticipation. "There was this light that surrounded you, and all of a sudden, you had this awesome looking suit and this gun."

Zed's expression quickly dropped. "A g-gun?" He asked, putting his hands to his chest. "Tell me I didn't hurt anyone."

"No no," Dave assured, patting him on the shoulder. "Well, okay maybe. But it was the agent you shot, so it's fine. Besides, it wasn't even bullets you were shooting. It was some sort of, uh" Dave paused to consider his words as Zed's anxious expression got more and more pronounced. Finally, Dave snapped his fingers. "A light ball. You shot a light ball, I'd say."

Zed's ears perked up, and he got a curious look on his face. Putting an index finger and thumb on his chin, he thought for a moment. "A gun that shoots light? Like one of those sci-fi laser guns? A blaster, even?"

"Sure. You looked pretty sci-fi yourself" Taking his hand off of Zed's shoulder, Dave grabbed the steering wheel and turned onto an off-ramp, following a sign reading 'Chamomille – 400 miles.' "Your helmet had a big star on-ah-ah" Dave was cut out by a long and sudden yawn. Following the yawn, he groaned and shook his head. "Ah geez."

"Tired? Think we should stop and get some rest?" Zed asked, looking at the signs they were driving by. "Looks like there's a motel down the road."

"S'only been a coupla hours since we lef'" Dave tiredly said. "I can go a bi' longer, define'ly." Dave exhaled loudly and reached down for his soda. He took a long draw, and almost immediately sucked it dry. Thoughtlessly, he tried to throw it out the window, but seeing as the window was closed, the cup burst open and spewed a shower of sticky soda and ice all over his person. Dave stared daggers into his wet lap but cracked a smile when he heard Zed's suppressed laugh. "Maybe a quick nap couldn't hurt. And a change of pants."

Dave turned the car into a motel parking lot, and the two stepped out, keeping an eye out for any cars that may try to follow them. Dave quickly went into the trunk of his car and changed from his soda sprayed trousers to an almost identical, yet clean pair of black leather pants. So quickly was the change that Zed didn't even realize he had done it, by the time he cornered the building, Dave was right behind him, putting on a belt and zipping up his fly.

The two entered the lobby and immediately Dave wandered over to an ATM in the corner of the room. From his jacket pocket, he drew the yellow card he'd taken off the agent in Earl and slid it into the machine. This caught Zed's attention, who peaked over his shoulder. "That's the card you took from the Scarlatto agent, isn't it?"

"It's a cash card" Dave explained, punching in the same 6-digit PIN that every Scarlatto cash cardholder inexplicably used, 031380. Dave could only presume that this was Scarlatto's birthday. "I don't have any money myself, and I heavily rely on these, uh, 'donations' if you will." Out of the machine came a stack of cash and a receipt that Dave scrutinized.

Peaking at the wad of cash, Zed looked to Dave with narrowed eyes. "That sounds like stealing, Dave."

A pang of guilt welled up in Dave's stomach. Looking between Zed and the money in his hands, he furrowed his brow. "Well, I'm stealing from bad guys, so its fine. They started it, I'm just trying to get by" he explained, almost nervously.

“Hmm” was all Zed would say, as he crossed his arms and turned away, walking over to the receptionist's desk. This only made the guilty sensation within Dave feel worse. "I'm not gonna stop" he quietly said, pocketing the money and following Zed.

Ringing the bell on the reception desk, Zed looked around and quickly came to the realization that the lobby was completely empty. It was almost noon, and yet not a single person was around. No one coming or going, no cleaners, no delivery men, and after a minute of waiting a few more rings of the bell, no receptionist. Unbothered, Dave leaped over the counter and grabbed a room key off of the wall. "Let's just help ourselves. We'll pay if we're caught. Definitely not stealing."

Zed opened his mouth to argue that it would be better to just wait for the receptionist, but slowly closed his mouth when he figured that the receptionist was probably not coming. There wasn't even the sound of someone approaching. But there was another sound, albeit faint, that caught Zed’s attention. As Dave was about to hop the counter again, Zed held out a hand and put one over his ear.

“Do you hear that?” he asked, looking around for the sound’s source.

“What? That dripping sound?” Dave returned, hopping the counter as quietly as he could. “It’s probably a leaking faucet.”

“And every single staff member and guest is out investigating it? Come on, let’s look around. This place should be busier than this, especially at this hour.”

Dave shrugged and hopped the counter, following Zed to find the source of the dripping sound. Their investigation, oddly, did not lead to the nearby bathroom or dining area, places where one would expect a dripping faucet to be. Instead, the dripping seemed to come from a nearby staircase. The boys shared a glance before approaching the staircase, with Zed’s face recoiling at the smell that suddenly wafted his way. Dave would register the odor an instant later.

Finally, the source of the dripping was discovered, and neither Dave nor Zed could believe what was staring them in the face. It was the staircase leading to the motel’s second floor. Emanating from the top of the steps was a steady, ceaseless stream of blood. It dropped from step to step, creating the conspicuous dripping sound that had alerted the two. Zed threw his hands to his mouth, as Dave tried to decide whether to investigate or not. Neither could imagine what sat at the top of the stairs, what could have possibly caused this.

Dave took a step forward, but this only allowed him to get a look at his companion, and the expression that snuffed his curiosity. The color had faded from Zed’s face, and his wide, unblinking eyes were welling up with tears. Grabbing him by the hand, Dave lead Zed around the corner and outside of the lobby’s front doors to get some air.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. Looks like they found out that I was coming this way" he said, patting Zed on the shoulder.

This would be the tipping point. Zed's cheeks suddenly filled up, and he ran to a bush to throw up in it. Backing up and holding up his hands, Dave spotted a vending machine and used one of the large bills he'd acquired to buy a can of Ginger Ale, unbothered by the change eaten in exchange. Bringing it to Zed, Dave couldn't find it in him to look him in the eye, even as he was hunched over a bush. "Look," he said, scratching the back of his head. "If you want me to take you home, I can. It's not too far from-" A metal rattling sound from behind cut Dave off and drew his attention.

Stood atop the lamp post behind him was a suited figure with a Dutch, blonde braid. Her stone face was still wet with blood, but her suit was somehow completely spotless. Protruding from each of her fingertips was a long, sharp blade dripping with blood. Dave dropped the can of Ginger Ale at the sight of her, which caught Zed's attention. He too looked up at the woman. The sight of this blade-wielding slasher, the one obviously responsible for all of the carnage inside the motel made Zed's blood boil, and he shot her a furious expression. The slasher on the pole met Zed’s rage with a minuscule smirk.

"We have to get out of here," Dave said, grabbing Zed's hand while keeping his eye on the slasher above them. "Let's run to the car, now!"

Zed grabbed Dave's arm and stepped in front of him. "You get the car around," Zed said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "If we both run, she'll catch us. I'll hold her off to save you some time."

The slasher on the post bent her knees, preparing a strike. "Look at the blades on her," Dave said, pointing to the slasher, "she'll cut through you like butter!" Zed turned to face him, staring at Dave with an intense look.

"She won't. Because I’ll bring her to justice!" Zed said, as surely as one would say they'd call the next morning.

Like in Earl, a bright green star suddenly appeared above Zed's head. Both Dave, and the slasher on the post saw it and hesitated their movements. Swallowing hard, Dave nodded at his back and burst into a sprint around the corner to get to the car. "I'll only be a second," he said, as he disappeared from the slasher's line of sight.

The slasher on the post had waited long enough. Her cold, expressionless face remained unchanged as she dove off of the post, all 10 blades primed and aiming to slice Zed into ribbons.

"I completely froze when I saw those stairs," Zed thought, "it's just like back in Earl." Without looking, Zed raised his hand and grabbed at the star above him. The blinding green light coated him again, making the slasher squint as she approached him faster and faster. "People upstairs could be hurt, and I was too scared to do anything."

"I won’t be inactive like that again!" Zed called out loud as the light around him dissipated. He emerged once again in his green and white uniform and thrust forth his palm at the falling woman. "And I’m not gonna let you get away with your rampage!”