Spectacular World

Goodbye Says Mr. Larison, Hello Says Brightest Star

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"How did you manage to cut your finger? You have super durability!" Jack sighed, and his eye twitched as Hope gripped her finger.

"I don't know!" She whined. "I was just cutting and then hit it! Why is the kitchen knife sharp enough to cut me!"

"You're terrible at cooking." Lois snorted.

"Says the girl who hasn't done anything," Armin replied snidely.

"Hey! I'm doing my job. I'm a cute waiter." Lois flipped her blonde hair back and fanned herself off with one of the paper plates she had. "Besides, it's way too hot back here for me to actually do anything. I'd have a heat stroke for sure!"

"We got another order!" Mr. Thaddeus announced.

"I'm on it!" Armin ran to the back, turning the knob of an oven on full blast.

It was not in the middle of some dangerous mission that Team Pantheon found itself bonding; instead, it was actually deep within a little restaurant that they had opened for the day. On her first patrol, Hope had seen a group of people most heroes ignore: the homeless. At the time, Snowdawn had made an offhand remark about opening a soup shelter. Little did he know that his suggestion would have a significant impact.

Thaddeus liked the idea so much when Hope suggested it, and the moment all of their off-time schedules aligned, he had set up this little kitchen. Spider Street was filled to the brim with warehouses and storage lockers, most of which had been abandoned or unused. Thaddeus found them one, Jack had called up a few of his buddies in the Cleanup Squad, and they had turned the storage locker into a makeshift mini restaurant. It wasn't huge, but they set up a few tables outside with umbrellas over them, allowing people to stay in the shade while they ate. It was sort of like they had a food truck or, rather, a food shack.

The inside of the storage unit had several large grills that were hooked up near the back, as well as some stoves scattered about. They had some wooden tables filled with fruits and vegetables and pots and pans scattered about. It wasn't a particularly good restaurant, but it was getting the job done, and people seemed to be enjoying it. A large crowd had formed outside of their unit, and they were making an effort to make sure everyone got some food.

Thaddeus and Lois served as the waiters, making sure people had plenty of water to drink and would bring them plates of food. Armin and Hope were in charge of cutting up things like vegetables, fruit, or meat. Lastly, that left Jack, who served as the cook and made various types of soups, chilis, and burgers. All the food was free and served with a bottle of water. They had gotten a lot of their resources from Money Tree, who had donated a small fortune that allowed them to buy everything they needed. It was undoubtedly an unorthodox soup kitchen, but one that was making sure everyone on Spider Street would be well fed.

When they were out on patrol, the Sub Enforcers would come in and manage this mini kitchen. Their plan was to go until they fully ran out of food, and with how much they had, it was going to last them for a couple of days.

"Hey, Sir! How much do I stir this?" Armin asked, standing in front of a large pot of chili. Since Jack was busy tending to Hope, Armin had taken over cooking for the moment.

"I don't know. I'm not a professional cook." Jack shrugged.

"You could have just said chef instead of professional cook."

Jack ignored the ginger boy and took Hope's hand, looking down at it. She had somehow managed to cut herself with a regular knife. It wasn't a large wound, but it was a tiny mark on her fingertip. He placed his other hand over it and made sure their hands weren't visible to the public as a faint golden light seeped out, and he sealed the wound closed, healing it.