“Hey Dave” “Yeah?” “Can you sleep?” “No. How about you?” “No.” Both men, laying in their hotel beds in the dark, sighed in unison, before sitting up in their beds and looking at the other’s silhouette, illuminated by the yellow street lights outside. “Wanna get something to eat?” Dave asked, pulling off his blanket and throwing his feet to the side of the bed. “Sure. Better than just sitting here for hours” Zed answered, grabbing his glasses off his night stand. Within minutes, the two were dressed and outside. Zed changed into a nice white sweater from a popular clothing brand, while Dave had switched to a green leather jacket to go with his leather pants. Zed could only wonder just how many colored jackets this guy had in his possession, and where he was storing them all. Wandering the empty streets was a stark contrast to their earlier walk. It was like everyone who had been there mere hours ago were all suddenly abducted by aliens. The two walked the empty streets, Dave keeping his eye out for any sudden attacks around street corners or on opposite streets. He stopped in a panic when he realized Zed wasn’t following him anymore. Having not heard anyone else approach, or any sounds that might indicate a struggle, Dave slowly turned around expecting the worst. There Zed patiently stood with his hands behind his back, on the other side of an intersection that Dave had thoughtlessly crossed. “What’re you doing?” Dave asked. “Waiting for someone?” Zed raised his arm and pointed to the crossing light above him. It flashed a bright orange hand, asking pedestrians to stop. “Gotta wait for the light to change.” Dave looked down the empty roads at all of the parked cars and zero traffic. He wanted to say something, but the light changed before he got his words out. Zed cheerfully marched across the street to join his partner in their search for a bite to eat, walking passed him as Dave was still staring, slack-jawed. They came across a 24/7 diner, and following a quick glance around for any pursuers, walked in and took a seat by a window. “If anyone’s approaching, I want to see them coming” Dave explained as he slid into the booth and put a foot up. A smoking waitress came to their booth and dropped menus on their table before returning behind the counter to continue her discussion with the chef. “I want to share something with you, Dave” Zed suddenly said, as he picked up his menu. Dave looked up from his own menu and watched as a wide, enthusiastic smile grew on Zed’s face and he practically started to shake. “I’m really excited about this!” he said in a whisper. “What? The fried egg sandwich?” “No no, the atmosphere. Look around, would you?” Zed excitedly said, raising his arm and gesturing to the restaurant. Dave did just that, he took his eyes off his companion and surveyed the empty diner the two found themselves in. The waitress disappeared behind a door and when she did that, the two in the booth were the only ones present. “Yeah, we're alone in a diner at night.” “Yeah, we are! It’s the middle of the night, we’re a couple of dudes out getting a bite to eat. Everyone with a job and a normal life is already asleep getting energy for the day to come. But not us. We’re out on a secret mission no one knows about! We’re Outsiders to society. A couple of cool renegades, us!” “You didn’t cross the street when the light was red, don’t tell me you’re a renegade” Dave said, pointing to that very street outside the window. “Yeah well you gotta follow some of the rules,” Zed explained, adjusting his glasses. “If you just follow no rules, you’re a criminal. Renegades have a sense of justice you know.” Dave returned a blank expression, but smiled out of the corner of his mouth. “Is there a comic book called 'The Renegades' that has this concept? They go out to diners at night too?” He asked, putting his hands together under his chin. Zed paused and stared at Dave with wide eyes. “Ye-No. No. No there isn’t” he said, dropping his eyes to his menu and pretending to look for the fried egg sandwich Dave brought up. “Is that what you want to do with your life anyway? Be a renegade?” Flipping through his menu pages, Dave’s eyes landed on a fried cockroach platter that really looked like it would hit the spot. “Sleeping when all the normal people are stirring? Going out at night on secret missions and eating alone in a dank diner?” “Well actually…” Zed started, putting his menu down and looking at the ceiling. “I always… I always wanted to be a teacher” “A teacher, huh?” Dave asked, not looking up. “Are you boys ready to order?” a voice interrupted, causing both men to jump in their seats. It was a waiter holding a pen and pad of paper, who only stared impatiently as the two fumbled to pick up their menus and flip through the pages. “No, not yet. Sorry,” Dave said with a nervous laugh. With a sigh, the waiter left them and returned to the kitchen area through the same door the waitress disappeared through. Dave watched the waiter walk away, noticing something that caught his eye. But before he could catch what it was, he was dragged back into the conversation with Zed. “Yeah, I want to help mold the young minds of the future, you know?” Zed resumed, “By day at least, but then-“ “Fight crime at night?” Dave interrupted. Zed’s eyes went wide. “How’d you guess?” Dave smirked. “I saw those drawings at your apartment.” Zed’s face went red. The memory of him deciding to stick them up to the wall came back to him, and he wondered why he didn’t just keep them in a desk where no one would ever see them. “You did, huh? Well, what did you think of them?” “They were creative, don’t get me wrong. I’d sleep sounder at night knowing one of those dudes was keeping the streets safe, but if you ask me, they were kinda cheesy.” “The cheese is the best part!” Zed perked up. “I want people to see me and realize that there’s nothing to be afraid of.” “You don’t think it would be cause for concern if a guy in speedos and a cape suddenly fell out of the sky?” “Alright, I don’t know what I was thinking with that one. Think I just got carried away. But forget about it for a second, you see how I look when I transform, right?” “Yeah, you have the big star on your head and the tights.” “It’s like a symbol, isn’t it? I wonder what they all mean.” Their conversation was interrupted when the waiter suddenly returned, and brought two plates with a fried egg sandwich on them. Quickly, he turned away and made for the kitchen door, almost like he was trying to make a run for it. “Uhm, excuse me!” Dave said, raising a hand and making the waiter freeze in his place. “We didn’t order these. I think you have the wrong booth, fella.” “Courtesy of the man at the counter,” the waiter said pointing to a man sitting at the counter. He wore what appeared to be a waiter’s uniform, matching the one their waiter had. In fact, a lot of their features matched almost perfectly. The man at the counter raised a hand, and Zed returned a kind wave as thanks. “Zed,” Dave whispered, eyes focusing on the man at the counter, “did you hear that guy come inside?” Zed, who had lifted his sandwich’s top bun to sprinkle some salt, turned his attention to the bell hanging over the door. It didn’t ring once. “No. You don’t think he’s staff, do you? He’s dressed like the other guy.” “More to it than that. They look the same. Almost exactly the same” “Oh Dave.” Zed said in a disappointed tone, shaking his head at his companions’ comments. “I expected better from you.” Dave returned a confused expression, but shook his head when the exact words he said clicked. “No, I don’t mean it like that. They look totally identical! To their clothes, and the cut on his ear.” Pulling off the top and bottom buns of his fried egg sandwich, Dave scanned the bread for any irregularities as he held out his hand to Zed. “Don’t eat anything, something might be off with this food.” Zed put down his salt-shaker and looked over to the man at the counter, who had gotten up from his seat and walked around the corner to meet the other waiter in the kitchen. It was about now that he noticed another waiter sitting in a booth right in front of them, and another pressing buttons on the cash register. As Dave had mentioned, they all looked completely identical. “You think a Scarlatto agent followed us?” “I don’t know, but we better get out of here.” In unison, they shuffled out of their booths and stood up. As soon as their shoes hit the ground, every set of eyes in the diner darted up to stare at them. Both froze in place, as the waiter and chef also emerged from the back to stare the two down. Before anyone could make a move, Dave reached into his back pocket and withdrew a wad of bills that he dropped on the table. “Well, we couldn’t eat another bite” he flippantly said, patting his stomach. “We left you guys a nice tip for your troubles. We’re just gonna get out of your hair now, yeah?” The chef reached into his apron pocket, and from them he drew a handful of kitchen knives of varying sizes and different intentions. From the looks on their eyes, Dave could tell that they only had a single intention in mind for those knives. Zed clenched a fist and took a backwards step towards the door, but as he looked over his shoulder, he saw that another waiter was positioned right in front of the only exit. Suddenly, Dave held out his hands in front of him. “Gentlemen, please, there’s enough money here for all of you” Dave said, glancing over to Zed. “And definitely more than enough to fix your broken window.” The identical waiters all looked at one another, and scanned the diner’s windows for the break Dave had mentioned. This momentary distraction was all Dave needed, as he and Zed quickly leapt onto the diner table and dove towards the window. Holding out his hands, Dave produced his Wrecking Balls from his palms and tapped the glass in the instant before he and Zed made contact. The touch was enough to destroy the window in a loud bang, and allow both men to dive through and roll behind a nearby car as the chef and waiters inside shielded their eyes from the explosion of glass. They did not wait long for a response, however, as all 5 men inside the diner made for the door to pursue their targets. They weren’t about to let them escape after all the trouble they had gone through to find them.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.