"The Road" part 1! Shade, Kathy and Lenny set off on a wandering journey of random adventure through America. On the trip, tensions run high between Shade, his sadistic alter ego and his companions, but Shade's real problem arises from his horrifying flashbacks that just won't quit.
On the road, the three take turns driving at the wheel and Shade starts to become unsure if he's losing Kathy or he's just getting paranoid. But while he sleeps in the back he dreams of other things, first his childhood, then of the night he let his "brother" take control and what he discovers is something happened that night that he struggles to remember, there was a person he met in a ditch beside the bar. But before he can see the face he is ripped from his dream when the girls scream and swerve to stop themselves from hitting what has appeared on the road, a giant, younger version of Shade.
Shade uncreates it and apologizes, surprised that spillover from his dreams was still happening as it hadn't since he first arrived on Earth. It is then that Lenny reveals the three are on a road that doesn't exist and that they are lost so Shade surveys the surroundings and finds a building nearby they can find shelter in. It turns out to be a "House of Cars" but it is vacant and the three decide to stay.
Shade and Kathy intend to have sex that night but Shade can't concentrate with the mystery of who he met in that ditch so he goes off to be alone for a bit and meets with his brother again, letting his brother take control so he can probe his mind and reveal the memories that are hidden from him. His brother takes a shine to Lenny rather then Kathy and tries to come onto her but Shade doesn't care and instead tries to relive that night...and before he is ripped from his memory one final time he sees the face, Stringer.
Shade retakes control of his body, finds out Lenny named his alter-ego Hades (an anagram of Shade) and Shade confronts the newly-named Hades, learning nothing about the events of that night except that what happened must be of great importance. But before he can discover anything further, Kathy makes a shocking discovery...the road is alive.
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