September 9th, 2017

8.03 am, Key West, Florida

“How?” Spectrum asks in shock as he looks at Kaori.

Spectrum was sitting on the dining table, chowing down on some leftovers from yesterday. All of a sudden, he was interrupted by a girl dressed in a pink nightie that is covered by a large pink bathrobe. Somehow, Kaori had popped into existence from nothing right in front of Spectrum. Kaori is now sitting in a meditation position. Luckily, she landed on empty space.

“Not sure... I was thinking about food and then...” Kaori says as she steps down from the table.

“So you teleported? Wait, can you-” Spectrum begins to say, only to be interrupted by a disappearing Kaori. His light-speed reflexes enable him to see her reappear by the refrigerator.

“I am not sure if I should be envious or competitive.” Spectrum says.

“Well, food first. I’m hungry.” Kaori says as she opens up the refrigerator before looking back at Spectrum and asking, “How did you manage to consume most of the leftovers by yourself?”

“Hey! All that running left me famished. I even bought more food outside.” Spectrum says as he swallows another spoon of food, “So you are welcome for being a good messenger. And besides, how else was I to entertain myself with all the fucking going on in this house.”

Kaori shakes her head as she retrieves a container of food, finds some cutlery, then sits across from Spectrum. A few minutes of mowing down the food passes by in relative silence.

“Did you see… the kids?” Kaori asks.

Spectrum stops chewing then sighs and says, “Yeah. I was there when Sinclair and the Doc broke the news to them. They reacted as much as you’d expect. Alfred ran out with the Doc giving chase. Charlotte cried while being hugged by Winnie. Ben was just stunned.”

The room falls silent. Time passes.

“I feel so… argh.” Kaori says, her hands squeezing the spoon till it bends.

“I know.” Spectrum says, “Our best bet is to believe in the Chief and get this over with quickly.”

“We will make our way home soon.” Aviator says from behind, “We will be together again.”

“Did not even hear you come down.” Spectrum says, looking up.

“I feel light as air.” Aviator says as he leans in to kiss Kaori’s cheek, “Mind if I join?”

“Be my guest.” Spectrum says while Kaori nods.

Aviator heads to the fridge, pulls out a serving of food and accompanying cutleries plus a spare for Kaori then takes position beside her. Spectrum, meanwhile, drops off his dishes in the sink.

“Water anyone?” Spectrum asks.

“How dare you have a party without moi?” Wave’s voice booms from the stairs.

“Just couldn’t wait till we got down, could ya?” Quake’s voice follows.

“Look what you did.” Spectrum says to Aviator, “You brought the troublemakers.”

“Hey! I came down because I missed Kaori.” Aviator says, “And I was extremely hungry.”

“We were also hungry.” Quake says now at the table, “We heard the noise so why not join in.”

“How are you guys even that hungry?” Spectrum says as he returns to the table with a jug of water and cups, “Surely your sexing can not compare to speeding across the country.”

“Didn’t the Doc say our physical drives have increased along with higher metabolism rates.” Wave says as she looks at Kaori’s and Aviator’s plates with hunger glistening in her eyes.

“So we can do more but we need more energy.” Aviator says, swallowing more food.

“Seeing how much food we are currently eating, I don’t think we can rely on just food for fuel as we grow stronger.” Quake says as he heads to the fridge, “What do you want, honey?”

“More of what I had yesterday.” Wave says as she redirects her attention towards Quake.

“Seems we are eating roughly 3 times our usual amount.” Aviator says, “And given we usually eat double normal people that means we currently consume…”

“15000 calories for you lot.” Spectrum says, “I am probably in the 25000 calories range.”

“Should let Dr Wong know about that…” Kaori says, “Even if he has predicted it.”

“That and our sex drive.” Quake says as he settles on the table, “I feel it’s higher.”

“I agree.” Wave says right beside Quake, “And so does our bed.”

“You broke your bed too?” Aviator asks.

Kaori’s face instantly turns bright pink. Everyone laughs, bringing much needed jolliness to the table. The team sits in harmony. The guys are all in grey robes while Wave is in blue robes.

“Any word from the Chief?” Quake asks.

“Nope.” Spectrum says as he checks his phone.

“Let the old man blow off some steam.” Wave says, “And buy us more food when he returns.”

“Wait, I see him and…” Spectrum says as he gazes at the front door with rainbow eyes.

“And?” Quake asks impatiently.

“Well… Is that a walk of shame?” Spectrum mutters.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

“Any problems?” Aviator asks as he stands up.

“Nope. I will get the door.” Spectrum stands up as he flashes to the door in the blink of an eye.

“I come bearing gifts.” Fire says as he steps into the house carrying a big bag in each hand.

“Chief, did you break the bed too?” Quake asks.

“What?” Fire asks in utter confusion.

After looking at Fire and registering his face, everyone starts chuckling.

“So I am the only one without a broken bed.” Spectrum says as he takes one of the bags from Fire and heads to the table. His eyes have settled back to light brown.

“What’s funny?” Fire asks, clearly still astounded at his team’s reaction.

“Old man, you’ve got lipstick imprint on your chin.” Wave says as her laughter subsides.

Fire wipes his chin with his hand and sure enough, there’s lipstick. He shakes his head.

“Explains the funny looks at the store.” Fire says as he makes his way to the table.

“So the old man still got game.” Wave says, “How was it?”

“It was… enjoyable.” Fire says as he joins the team on the table.

“That’s some high praise.” Wave teases, “This woman must’ve been special.”

“Jones should be ready for us around 2 pm.” Fire says, killing the gossip and changing the topic.

“I will be ready to pick him up then.” Spectrum says, “Oh, Kaori can teleport.”

Everyone looks at Kaori, who has finished eating. She gets out of her chair, looks across the room and disappears then reappears less than a second later in the space she was looking at.

“Wow!” Everyone exclaims.

“I’m not sure how I am doing it.” Kaori says as she walks back to the table, “Feels... instinctual.”

“Any idea on the range?” Fire asks.

“I need to have an image in my head but I’m limiting it to visual range for now.” Kaori says.

“I see.” Fire says with a nod, “Amazing discovery. I will be sure to relay that to the Doc.”

“Just another day of casually rewriting the laws of physics.” Spectrum says.

“Our food consumption has gone up.” Aviator says, “Eating roughly 3 times our usual meals.”

“5 times for me.” Spectrum chimes in, “Roughly 25000 calories.”

“Mine too.” Fire says with a contemplative look, “That could become unsustainable.”

“We should look for alternative energy sources.” Wave adds in.

“If our powers align with Cosmic Energy then perhaps…” Fire says, rubbing his chin.

“That’s the Chief, already coming up with a solution.” Quake says with a smile.

“It’s just a hunch.” Fire says, “We will leave the how to the doctors. Let’s eat!”