Early Breakfast at HQ

It was around 7:00AM and Everything-Man was sat at the mission table eating his first breakfast while Metallia was getting coffee for the both of them.  

Hmm I wonder when the kids are gonna show up today. Told them to come by 8 but the boys are always five minutes late somehow.

—

Everything-Man thought as he slowly ate his food.   Suddenly, StraightShot entered the room, walking in slouched, obviously tired from having to wake up so early.  

"Morning."

—

She said with a yawn.  

"Morning. You look like you haven't slept at all, are you ok?"

—

Replied Everything-Man.  

"That's cause I basically didn't, only slept for about an hour I think. Also had to rush cause I missed my alarm."

—

StraightShot responded exhaustingly.  

"Y'know I told y'all to come by 8 right? You could have slept longer."

—

Everything-Man said matter of factly.  

"I know, but if any of the guys were here before me today they'd never let me live it down so I got up early."

—

StraightShot replied.  

"Heh, that's true I guess. Well did you at least get the chance to eat your breakfast? We ain't going to Tim's today."

—

Everything-Man asked.  

"No I did not. Didn't get the chance."

—

StraightShot said just as her stomach started growling.  

"Ya want some of mine? I promise it tastes good, and it's healthy!"

—

Everything-Man said proudly as he knows his cooking is great.  

"Sure, whaddya got?"

—

StraightShot asked curiously.   Everything-Man held his open hand above his breakfast and concentrated for a moment. He then slid his hand forward and from the food before him came an exact copy of the plastic container that held it along with all the food it contained.   He then brought his hand up with his index and middle finger touching his thumb as if he were drawing a card and made a spoon appear in his hand. He put the spoon in the duplicated container and slid the whole thing over to StraightShot as she watched in confusion.  

"There ya go, now eat up. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

—

He half-lectured the girl, holding his index up as he said it.  

"W..what.. what."

—

She asked, completely dumbfounded at what she just saw happen in front of her.  

"Yea that's a thing I can do, it's pretty weird but most people try not to think about it too much since it kinda boggles their minds a bit too much."

—

He said nonchalantly.   Before she could say anything in response he quickly added.

"And yes before you ask, I can totally 'Jesus' some bread as well if I wanted to and turn water into wine though I haven't really had to do that too often since whatever problem that requires me to do either of those is a bit niche."

—

  Her face went from utterly confused to acceptance as she chose to not think deeply about it.  

"So what exactly is this anyways?"

—

She asked as she swirled her spoon around the container.  

"I'm not sure what to call it exactly, it's kind of a random homemade thing I made one day by mixing a bunch of stuff healthy stuff I like together with some spices for flavor."

—

He responded.   The container held a mish mash of diced green peppers, cucumbers and onions along with an overwhelming amount of chickpeas. The smell emanating from it was very strong and suggested that Everything-Man's definition of "some spices" was very different from hers.  

"Hmm sounds and looks pretty good, thank you!"

—

She beamed at him.  

"No problem, if you ever need food don't hesitate to ask, I'd rather you be annoying than hungry."

—

He replied, smiling.   She gathered a spoonful of the unique dish and ate her first bite.   Everything-Man watched her face as she reacted to the taste.   At first she frowned as her eyes began to water slightly from the amount of spices and she coughed a little but then her face contorted into a satisfied smile.  

"A bit more spice than I would have put but it's actually pretty damn good."

—

She stated.  

"See? What did I tell ya? Ol' Everything-Man can cook and he can cook like a motherfucker."

—

He said triumphantly, as he beamed towards her.  

"You're certainly old alright."

—

She snickered.   Everything-Man's smile quickly faded as he pursed his lips at her in an annoyed manner.  

"Yea yea keep talkin shortstack."

—

He retorted.   This time it was her turn to look at him in annoyance and a bit of anger.   Just before she could respond, Metallia returned to the room with 2 cups of coffee.  

"Here ya go sweetie."

—

She said as she set one of the cups onto the table in front of him.  

"Thanks honey."

—

Replied Everything-Man.   She took a seat at the side of the table, near Everything-Man.  

"Oh, hey StraightShot! Almost didn't see you there haha."

—

She said to the girl across from her after noticing her presence.  

"Morning Metallia!"

—

The girl responded in a delighted but tired manner.  

"Morning everyone."

—

Henry suddenly chimed in, entering the room coffee in hand, clad in black button up shirt, a silver tie, and a blue suit jacket with matching pants along with a pair of black fancy, expensive, looking shoes.   Rather than taking a seat he chose to stand at the opposite side of the table from Everything-Man and lean against it.   Metallia and StraightShot gave a generic greeting.  

"Morning Henry. Anything for us to look into yet or are things still pretty calm?"

—

Asked Everything-Man.  

"Well nothing so far from the looks of it, if things are still like this by the time everyone else shows up, you'll probably just need to patrol again. Heck there was nothing big happening last night either funnily enough."

—

Henry reported back to the hero.  

"Well that's good, more patrol and PR practice for the kids then."

—

Everything-Man said with a small chuckle.  

"Hey we're getting pretty good at both of those things!"

—

StraightShot exclaimed with a mouthful of food.  

"Yea you are, but you there's nothing wrong with more practice. As the saying goes, 'Practice makes perfect.' And hey, no talking with your mouth full of food."

—

Everything-Man responded, lecturing the girl.   StraightShot rolled her eyes and shook her head at Everything-Man and went back to eating her breakfast.  

"Anyways... How's the planning going for the Earth Defense System? I know you guys said that what we have now works as a super basic template and that we need to upgrade heavily to be ready for the next attack, but exactly how much work is there to do?"

—

Asked Metallia curiously.   Everything-Man gave a long sigh.  

"Well, firstly we need to upgrade the force-field that it generates, it needs to be stronger, more energy efficient and have a couple of emergency protocols and redundancies in place."

—

Explained Everything-Man.  

"Yea, based off just those things alone we're thinking of having the force-field be in zones rather than just generated from one or two generators."

—

Henry added.  

"Apart from that, the generators need to be full on stations rather than small, well relatively small, machines, that way the generators themselves are stronger and can have offensive capabilities. And if for some reason we are in the upper atmosphere, we can control them manually. Which also enables them to still be useful in case their connection to home base gets disconnected."

—

Everything-Man explained further.  

"And having those offensive capabilities is crucial because we need guns up there as well as down here, if we can weaken them, even just a little bit, before they touch down. It could give us an advantage."

—

Henry added once more.  

"Exactly."

—

Everything-Man said while pointing to Henry.  

"We need every advantage possible, their tech is literally out of this world, we need to be able to counter it."

—

He continued.  

"Jeez, that sounds like a lot of work, sorry I can't be much more help in that department."

—

Metallia said guiltily.  

"Same."

—

StraightShot added in between bites.  

"Hey you two are still helping with the physical aspects of this and that's more than enough, no help is too little and not everyone needs to be a scientist or an engineer. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, we just need to use them accordingly is all."

—

Everything-Man said inspiringly.  

"See, this is why I said yes."

—

Metallia pointed out.  

"You mean it wasn't for my great jokes?"

—

Asked Everything-Man jokingly.  

"Absolutely not."

—

Metallia replied with a straight face.   Everything-Man let out a small "Aw" while looking down in response to his fiancée.   Just then a small portal opened inside the room and The Wizard stepped through into the room.  

"Hello everyone"

—

He said as he entered and took a seat at the table, choosing to go around it completely and sit next to Metallia as to save the spot next to StraightShot for God-Man.  

"Oh shit, you're early today huh?"

—

Everything-Man joked at his magical teammate with a playful smirk.  

"Very funny, I'll be sure to keep that in mind the next time we spar, y'know when I beat you with my magic again."

—

The Wizard quipped back,   A small snicker escaped from the mouth of StraightShot.  

"You only won that one time cause I wasn't ready for your attack that's all."

—

Everything-Man said before slunking into his chair and pouting.  

"Sure sure, whatever you say."

—

Said the Wizard smugly.   StraightShot finally finished her breakfast and produced a rather large and hearty belch for someone of her size.  

"Scuse' me."

—

The girl said as she leaned back in her chair, putting her arms behind her head, smiling in satisfaction.  

"Nice!"

—

Said Everything-Man with an approving nod.   Metallia joined in on the approving nod but remained quiet.   Henry and The Wizard both shook their heads.  

"Wiz, have you had any breakfast yet?"

—

Everything-Man asked.  

"Yes, I had some eggs with a bit of bacon and some tea."

—

The Wizard responded.  

"Of course you had tea, why did I even ask?"

—

Everything-Man said as he rolled his eyes.  

"Is the Wizard having tea again? Isn't that like his 100th cup this week?"

—

Said Eric jokingly as he entered the room.  

"Ha ha, very funny captain."

—

The Wizard said, unamused.   Everything-Man chuckled at the captains joke.  

"Seems like we're just having a regular ass patrol day today according to Henry."

—

Said Everything-Man after he finished chuckling.  

"Yea it really seems that way, nothing happened overnight in the city and according to our scanners nothings happened in space either. It's been pretty quiet for the last little while."

—

Eric responded.  

"Let's enjoy it while it lasts, who knows when the next crime or invasion will happen."

—

Said Everything-Man.  

"Uh what are we gonna do when the next invasion happens? Like we don't have the Earth Defense System up yet, what happens if they decide to come again before it's done?"

—

Asked StraightShot with a bit of worry in her voice.  

"Well if it's not up by the time they come again, hopefully we'll be more prepared than the last few times. Plus this time it won't be a surprise since we know they're coming eventually and we have scanners placed throughout the solar system that'll alert us if they get close."

—

Everything-Man reassured the girl.  

"Well the scanners are still prototypes right? Technically we don't know if they work yet since there hasn't been an invasion since we've launched them."

—

Added The Wizard.  

"Thanks Wiz, that's real optimistic of you."

—

Replied Everything-Man. sarcastically.  

"Just stating the facts."

—

The Wizard said with a shrug.  

"Uh huh."

—

Said Everything-Man, slightly annoyed.   Just then a loud THUNK noise was heard outside.  

"Oh hey, the big guy's here."

—

Stated Everything-Man.   Just then, Metal-Head entered the room, his suit making small whiring noises as he walked.  

"Morning guys."

—

He said, sounding slightly robotic as his helmet is on.   Everyone greeted him almost simultaneously.  

"Didya get something to eat before coming here?"

—

Asked Everything-Man.  

"Shit, no I didn't. Wait we're going to Tim's today right? I'll just get something there."

—

Metal-Head responded.   Everything-Man brought his hand to his face and started to rub his eyes.  

"No, I told you guys we aren't going to Tim's today, did you not hear me say that?"

—

Asked Everything-Man, annoyed.  

"I uhhhh forgot?"

—

Metal-Head responded, hoping to convince his leader.  

"You forgot or didn't know in the first place because you didn't pay attention?"

—

Asked Everything-Man.  

"I didn't pay attention in the first place."

—

Admitted Metal-Head, dropping his head.   Everything-Man reached into his jackets interior pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened his wallet and pulled out a $20 bill and tossed it to the young hero.  

"Here, we still have some time and we're waiting on God-Man anyways so go to the nearest Tim's and buy yourself something to eat."

—

Everything-Man said.   "Thank you." Metal-Head said while joining his hands together, seemingly out of habit as he slighty stopped himself from bringing them up to face level.  

"No problem but please by attention next time, I don't wanna have to lecture you guys on small things like this on top of training."

—

Everything-Man said.   Metal-Head nodded then flew to the exit hurriedly.  

"AND GET SOME TIMBITS FOR EVERYONE WHILE YOU'RE THERE!!"

—

Everything-Man yelled after turning around in his chair.  

"GOT IT!"

—

Metal-Head yelled back before exiting the building and flying off.  

"Couldn't you just have told him that through comms rather than yelling at him from across the room?"

—

Metallia asked Everything-Man.  

"I uh wanted to make sure he was paying attention this time."

—

Everything-Man said, hoping to convince his fiancé.  

"Sure pal, whatever you say."

—

Replied Metallia, not convinced.   This caused a small amount of laughter to come from the group.   Everything-Man sank lower in his seat and grumbled. He grabbed his coffee off the table and took small sip then pulled back and grunted. He then blew on the drink with an icy breath and then took another sip this time satisfied with the temperature.  

"He can hold a black-hole for six years yet hot coffee is what gets to him."

—

Eric said jokingly.   This caused the room to erupt in laughter.   Everything-Man sat silent with a scowl on his face as he sipped his coffee and simmered in his chair.   After a few moments of laughter, Henry calmed himself down and asked.  

"So did you want to go over the plans for the Earth Defense System today or tomorrow?"

—

 

"Eh, today I guess, I mean we don't exactly have all the time in the world, but I do want to patrol and train with the kids a bit first."

—

Everything-Man responded.  

"That's understandable, is around 1 ok or do you think training is gonna take long today?"

—

Henry asked.  

"1 sounds pretty good, that'll give us more than enough time."

—

Everything-Man responded.   Just then, Metal-Head entered the room once more, this time choosing to make a less noisey entrance than before. He came carrying a medium cup of coffee, a paper Tim's bag presumably filled with his breakfast and a large box of Timbits.   "Hey guys." He said as he sat one seat down from StraightShot, near Henry.   He put down all the things he was carrying onto the table, he then slid the box of Timbits towards Everything-Man along with the change that was leftover from his purchase.  

"Thanks."

—

Everything-Man said as he stuffed the change into his utility belt and opened the box of Timbits.   In the box were a plethora of assorted Timbits ranging from chocolate to jelly filled to birthday cake and more. Everything-Man grabbed a chocolate-glazed one and a birthday cake one and slid the box over to Metallia.   She took a jelly filled one and a sour-cream-glazed one and passed the box over to StraightShot.   StraightShot took two chocolate-glazed ones and was about to pass the box over to Metal-Head when Eric reached over her and grabbed two sour-cream-glazed ones. She waited till he was done then passed the box over to Metal-Head, he chose to not take any and passed the box over to The Wizard.   The Wizard thought carefully for a moment then took a jelly filled one and a lemon one and then passed the box to Henry.   Henry quickly took two jelly filled ones and passed the box across the table back to Everything-Man.   As the box slid into Everything-Man's hand he felt a familiar power radiate from outside get closer and closer.  

"Feels like God-Man is here."

—

he said.   Just then God-Man came sprinting into the building as if he were late.  

"I'm here! I'm here!"

—

he shouted across the room to them.  

"Dude calm down, you're actually early today, no need to panic."

—

Everything-Man said to the young hero, reassuring him.   "Oh shit really?! Damn that means my clock must be messed up." he said, panting.   "Why don't you just use your phone for alarms?" asked StraightShot curiously.   "Cause I got a clock, may as well use it." he said.   Everything-Man rubbed his eyes with his two fingers and gave a long sigh.   "Is that why you're always late?" he asked.   "You know what, yea probably." God-Man said in a sudden realization.   Everyone in the room facepalmed.   "Well anyways, did ya eat before you got here?" Everything-Man asked, wanting to move away from the clock conversation.   "Yea I ate some bread." God-Man replied as he took a seat next to StraightShot.   "You mean a sandwich?" Everything-Man asked.   "No I legit ate like four pieces of bread before coming here cause I thought I was late. I was kinda rushing ya know?" he responded.   "That's not a proper breakfast." Everything-Man lectured while facepalming again.   "Well we're going to Tim's today, right? I can just get something to eat there." he said.   Everything-Man stayed silent and just stared at him with a blank expression.   After a few moments God-Man was struck with a moment of realization.   "Oh we're not.... We're not going to Tim's today are we...?" he asked, already knowing the answer.   "No. We're not." Everything-Man responded, still staring at him.   "Ah." was the only thing that escaped God-Man's mouth.   "What time is it?" Everything-Man asked no one in particular as he looked down at his watch.   According to his watch it was 7:40.   "Looks like we still got time." he said,   He gave a long sigh and got up from his seat.   "Well I'm not gonna let you go about the day without a breakfast, let's go to the kitchen and I'll make something for you to eat." he said.   "Really?!" God-Man asked, excited.   "yea come on, let's go." he said as he gestured at God-Man to follow him.   "Uh can I also come along please? The food you gave me was really good but it wasn't really fulfilling," StraightShot asked sheepishly.   "Sure, why not?" Everything-Man responded.   "Do you want some help?" Metallia asked her fiancè.   "Nah, I'm just gonna make some eggs but thanks for the offer." he responded.   The three headed down to the kitchen which was just a small walk away from the mission area. Rather than being a room by itself the kitchen was actually just a small area off in the corner of the HQ. However it still included all the necessities that make up a real kitchen including: a large countertop, a multitude of utensils and equipment, a large fully stocked walk-in fridge and freezer, a large fully stocked walk-in pantry, a sink, and a large collection of various plates and bowls.   "Grab a seat at the counter guys and I'll whip something up real quick." he said to the young heroes.   StraightShot and God-Man both went over to the counter and took a seat next to eachother.   Everything-Man walked into the fridge and grabbed a carton of eggs and some vegetables, he then went over to the pantry and grabbed some spices and returned to the counter.   He then began cooking the meal for the young heroes. They watched him while he cooked, to them he seemed like an expert, everything he did from cracking the eggs to chopping the vegetables to adding the spices made it seem like he cooked for a living.   "Alright looks like they're done." he said as he got out two plates.   He appeared to have made a pair of rather tasty looking omeletes. He plated both of them and slid the plates over to the kids along with a fork for each of them.   "Dig in." he said proudly.   The two immediately started to devour their meal,