#punch-up

You sat in the break room, staring at the paper in frustration. Who decided letters should go into math? You sighed, looking away from the paper and up at Sonar with a pout.

"Come on, kid, just try it."

Sonar encouraged, sliding the paper closer to you.

"Listen, I graduated from Harvard, I'm the best teacher you could ever have."

You rolled your eyes, chuckling. Sonar could be so full of himself. You picked up your pencil looking down and giving the question another shot.

"It wants me to find x."

You said, thinking out loud. Sonar nodded, watching as you thought about what to do.

"So, I have to get x by itself."

"Right."

Sonar hummed in agreement. He watched as you did a simple equation, hesitantly writing down something.

"Then I... subtract, right?"

You murmured, glancing at Sonar for approval this time. He nodded, sipping his coffee. You let out a breath, more confident as you when through the next step.

"And then, I divide."

You said, with confidence this time. Sonar smiled as you turned your paper towards him, looking for his approval again.

"Is that right?"

Sonar read it for a moment before grinning.

"Yeah, good job. See, told you I was a great teacher."

You giggled, taking the paper back as you moved onto the next question, Sonar by your side to help if you needed it.

Like all things though, your break came to an end and you and Sonar had to get back to work. With a quick Shazam you were back to your hero form, following Sonar out of the office. It was a long shift and when you finally got back to the office, you received the worst news ever.

A meeting.

And not just a quick one with Robert or Blonde Blazer. One with higher up, which meant you couldn't really relax into your normal form until it was over. With a huff you walked to the meeting room, absolutely drained. You found a seat between Flambae and Punch-Up. They both glanced at you, noticing how tired you were.

"You alright, lad?"

Punch-Up question, leaning back in his seat. You nodded, resting you head on the table.

"'M fine..."

You murmured, neither bought it but the higher up came in before they could say anything.

"Hello z-team! It's a pleasure to be meeting with you all."

A cheery woman said. She was nice and all but after a while, her voice was nails on a chalkboard, and the man with her wasn't much better. He talked slowly, like you all were to dumb to understand what he was saying. You could see how Sonar's eye twitched when the man tried explaining the job market to him like he was from a different planet.

You tried to stay awake. You really did, especially because you didn't want to go back to you normal form in front of these two but you couldn't stop it once it began. Eyes fluttering shut as your body shrunk, muscles and bravado disappearing like Invisgal. You faintly heard how the woman was stunned into silence at last, feeling eyes on you.

"Is he, uh... why's he..."

"He's fine."

Flambae quickly jumped in, arms crossed. Robert gave him a look, praying he didn't chew this lady out over you even though it what all of them wanted to do.

"Just tired, now, is this meeting almost over? I have actually shit today with my time."

Both the lady and the man's cheeks burned red with embarrassment, eyes unable to look away from your small, sleeping form.

When you woke up, they were gone. Matter of a fact, you weren't even in the break room anymore. You looked around through sleep hazed eyes, recognizing Flambae's car. Prism was in the passenger seat, window rolled down slightly as she hit her vape and scolled on her phone. You looked up at the rear view mirror and locked eyes with Flambae.

"You alright?"

He asked, eyes drifting back to the road.

"Yeah, how long was I asleep?"

"Not that long. The meeting lasted like another 25 minutes and then I carried you out to the car. Surprised you didn't wake up then."

Flambae murmured, turning down the music slightly.

"You hungry?"

He asked. You shifted in the back seat, rubbing your eyes as you yawned.

"Yeah, can we get McDonalds?"

Flambae nodded but Prism bmgave you a lighthearted glance.

"Boy, we gotta get you into some higher end food. Oh! We should take him to that Mexican place we always used to go to."

Prism suggested as Flambae turned into the McDonalds parking lot, pulling up to the drive thru lane.

"Maybe. Might be too spice for him though."

"Uh, I'm still here y'know, and I can handle spicy food just fine."

Flambae chuckled, glancing up at the mirror to stare at you with a smirk.

"Fine, we'll go there next time then. You better not bitch out when he we get you a taco from there."

You grinned, like you were challenging Flambae.

"I won't, just wait and see."

Sonar: the rack of ribs. He spends the whole ride there quoting that one commercial from the early 2000s "I want my baby back baby back baby back." Proceeds to moderately concern everyone with how he tears into those ribs like they're still alive and might try to run away

Robert: it's gotta be the chicken bacon ranch quesadilla, come on now. He's ordered it every time since he was a kid, and he's not about to switch it up now - don't fuck with a good thing. Even if it is the most basic white boy item on the menu. Not hating, just a fact

Flambae: you already know he's getting the sizzlin' fajitas, because my man needs everyone in the restaurant to hear his plate coming and know he can handle the heat. He gets the order for 2 to share with Prism, and if some ends up on Robert's plate too he doesn't know how it got there. Pairs it with a sunset marg for the aesthetic

Invisigal: she's giving big mouth burger vibes. Partly because she likes saying the name, and also because she just loves a good bacon cheeseburger, sue her. She probably gets extra mayo just so she can lick it off of the corner of her mouth every time she catches Robert's eye

Punch-up: he gets ribs too, because the man needs finger foods, okay? His hands are not designed to hold dainty silverware. A foamy pint on the side won't be met with any complaints either

Prism: here for the happy hour margs. She orders the viral cheese sticks to film a TikTok of them with Flambae and shares his fajitas. But the star of the show are the frozen fruity margaritas, blue coconut and purple dragon fruit and pink lemonade. Bonus points for edible glitter

Malevola: saucy mango habanero wings, fries, and a beer or three. She's a simple gal, don't need anything fancy, and she's so real for that

Golem: he's getting the skillet cookie and eating it whole. Like, the cookie and the ice cream, sure, but also the skillet and the wooden tray and the potholder they bring out, all in one gulp. It's so hot some of his clay starts melting into mud

Coupe: a steak, rare. She prefers to use her own knife to cut it into bite sized cubes, and there's probably too much red liquid on her plate afterwards to be healthy, but she doesn't care. A simple presidente margarita to wash it down. She's mostly in it for the cherry in top

Waterboy: is it a little weird to order chicken crispers at his age? Maybe. But he knows what he likes, and the team can rip on him all they want for it, they don't know what they're missing. Also the tiniest bit of spice would create a spontaneous DIY sauna, and crispers are as mild as it gets

Phenomaman: feel like he gets way too into the chips and salsa, you know what I mean? Like he finds out these fried tortilla triangles are FREE and proceeds to personally see to it that every new basket they bring is empty in under five minutes