The sun was positioned right in the middle of the sky, it's rays of light covering the land. There wasn't a cloud to be seen in the light blue sky. This heat was hitting Hot Soup particularly hard, whose hat fell off while getting flown away by birds. Starman was present as well, and he was also sweating, since his inking hair wig felt warm. He and Starman were in the middle of a big green lettuce field, far from the urbanism of Inkopolis.

"When are you going to find this 'finest' lettuce? We've been walking in this field for about an hour now." Hot Soup was on all fours, closely inspecting the features of the lettuce around him. "Give me time. I'll find it eventually. It's not too hard to spot, it's a far darker shade of green." Starman asked, "Tell me, why is this specific type of lettuce required?" Hot Soup got up and looked around the lettuce field. Then, he began to explain.

"You want a meal that's capable of giving you the 'ultimate' ability, right? To create such a meal, I'll need the ultimate ingredients. I can't just get any old supermarket tomatoes, or crap deli meat. I must find the finest ingredients available." Starman nodded to let Hot Soup know that he understood, and he said, "Carry on." Hot Soup continued to walk through the field and inspect every bit of lettuce there was. He thought to himself, "This fucking prick. 5 years ago, he killed my partner in cooking, and now he's forcing me to make him some sort of ultimate meal. I'll just give him what he wants and hopefully, by then, everything can be over."

Finally, Hot Soup spotted the type of lettuce he needed. "I've found it!" he exclaimed. He ripped the lettuce straight from the ground, and put it inside a ziplock bag he was carrying. "Is that all you require from this area?" asked Starman. "Yes." responded Hot Soup, tucking the bag into pocket. The two began to make their way out the field, until suddenly, a child had stopped them in their tracks. The young kid was on a tricycle, riding around in the lettuce field.

He stared at the two, and the two stared back. The child was noticeably scared, his face seeming terrified at the strangers who were on his father's property. "DADD!" he yelled out. Starman quickly pulled out a glock and shot the child in the head, killing him in an instant. Hot Soup leaped back when the heard the loud bang of the gunshot, and he looked at the child's corpse dead in the eye. He was shocked and absolutely disgusted.

"WH- WHAT THE FUCK!? STARMAN, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? THAT WAS A FUCKING CHILD!" Starman yelled back, "SILENCE! Are you an imbecile? That child was calling for his father, who could've alerted the authorities. Although I can deal with the police, I'd rather not get distracted by any meaningless skirmishes. Let's exit quickly now, someone could've heard the gunshot and your idiotic yelling." The two ran away from the field, Hot Soup thinking to himself, "This fucking monster, he's deranged!"

Starman told Hot Soup while running, "That child would've died tomorrow anyways. All I did was fast forward the process for him." The two got inside a stolen vehicle and began to drive back into Inkopolis. Starman dialed Cosmic Girl on a flip phone and said, "Hey, did you find the beef and tomatoes yet?" Cosmic Girl responded, "We've obtained the tomatoes, but the we're still searching for the beef." "Well, make sure it's the specific type I requested. Under no circumstances can you mess this up."

"I understand. Goodbye." "Goodbye." Starman hung up the phone and continued to drive. Eventually, they entered Inkopolis. "So, where's the bread you wish to obtain?" asked Starman. Hot Soup said, "In the bakery near the Miracle About You mall. Starman began to drive towards the mall as Hot Soup thought to himself, "I really hope Taka and Yasuha are still out there... I want someone to kill this bastard. What if they died? I really hope not. I'm scared of what'll happen to me if I don't give him the ability he wants. Please, someone, anyone. Come forth and kill this maniac!"

Suddenly, the car stopped. Something had happened to the front tires.

Starman exited the car to examine what happened, with Hot Soup deciding to stay inside. Starman looked down at the tires and noticed that they had both been popped by spikes which had been laid on the road. His head dashed around, trying to find anyone who could've been responsible for this. This street was relatively worn down and pretty crappy, as well as empty. The only person Starman spotted was a homeless man eating a sandwich.

"Hey! You!" he yelled at him. The homeless man looked up in fear, and exclaimed, "Me!?" Starman said, "Yes. You! What is the meaning of these spikes!? Did you do this!?" The man yelled back, "Man, ion even know! I just came!" Starman pulled out his glock and said, "I call bullshit! You're the only person present on this road! How did you find out about me!? Are you associated with Taka or Yasuha!?" The homeless man raised his arms and began to shake, "Woah buddy! Put that gat away! I told ya, I don't fuckin' know you! I didn't do nothin'!" Starman yelled, "I don't believe you!"

After 20 seconds of bickering that led to nothing, Starman shot the man in the head. "Creatures like that are the reason why I was put on earth." he said to himself. Suddenly, he heard the footsteps of another person. Starman quickly turned his head, and saw a man in a business suit approaching him. The man appeared to be about 40 years of age, standing at a height of 5'8. He had glasses, a mostly bald head aside from some blue hair, and a colorful tie. The tie had bizarre patterns and colors on it, consisting of the color red, blue, yellow, white, and green.

"Who are you!? Identify yourself!" yelled Starman. The man smirked, continuing to approach Starman without saying a word. Starman thought to himself, "This man seems awfully familiar, I feel as if I've seen him on television or social media... Wait! This man- he's the mayor of Inkopolis! Mr. Tallyhall!"

TO BE CONTINUED