Chapa stumbled into the Man's Nest on dead feet, the rest of their team in tow. "Superhero-ing is exhausting; I could go for a nice long coma right about now." They slurred tiredly. Their teammates groaned in agreement. Their muscles felt like lead and protested with every step.
The teen made it just barely to the couch and was ready to collapse on it for a Danger Force pile nap when Ray stopped them with a sharp tone. "Ah, wait, Chapa! Head down to Drex's room and feed him won'tcha?"
Chapa's fingers sparked in protest. "What? No way! Doesn't he have an automatic feeder?" They replied.
"It's busted, he won't quit trying to use it to break out and I sent Schwoz out to get my groceries so he hasn't fixed it yet."
"It takes him all day to get you groceries?"
"You kids eat like the Tasmanian devil! Now get to it, that's an order, Volt."
"Who's the Tasmanian devil?" Bose piped up and Ray shook his head, grumbling something about kids and classics.
Chapa sighed, de-transforming and heading to one of the Man's Nest's many rooms as they heard Ray shout "Danger Force! Pile!"
Chapa rubbed their sore shoulder, wincing at the knot they felt. All this intense fighting was starting to take a toll on them. The tray of half-assed food they had picked up with what looked like the bare necessities wobbled in their grip, clearly meant to be held with both hands.
"Bleh, prison food?" They muttered, sticking their tongue out at the bland array. They pushed the door open, stepping inside and seeing Drex's laying form on the small cot.
He spoke without looking up. "Whatever it is, Ray, I don't care. Maybe Henry isn't returning your calls because you're fucking annoying old man."
Chapa smirked. "Rude," they said, and Drex turned his head around, interested.
"Chapa." He sounded pleased, probably happy to see someone other than Ray or the occasional Schwoz. "Ray put you on prison duty?"
They watch him cautiously, on edge and alert. "Yes he did." their clipped response just made him grin.
He tilted his head, eyes tracking them from his seat on the cot despite his relaxed tone. "What's the matter? Scared of big bad Drex?"
"You wanna come out here and say that to my face?" Chapa shot back, fingers crackling, "Oh wait, you can't." They lifted their chin, standing up taller as they met Drex's dark, intense stare.
His anger eased, face smoothing out as they stared at each other for a minute. "You don't know how to give me the food, do you?"
"Not really, no."
"Well," he smirked, "before he made the dispenser, Schwoz used to just open the door and hand it to me."
"Nice try." they deadpanned, walking over to a contraption that looked similar to something they'd seen used in mental institutions. They pulled its first door, but the damn thing was jammed. They yanked and tugged on it, but it just wouldn't budge. They shouted angrily, "Ugh! This is so-" they frustratedly kicked the cell wall, "-fucking-" they lifted the tray of food as Drex watched intently, "stupid!" they tilted the tray in an attempt to jam it down the small opening and zapped it, spilling the now burnt food all over the floor in the contraption, some slipping out to land in Drex's cell.
They looked up, grimacing, to see Drex simply watching, arms crossed as he looked at his sad meal making its home on the floor.
"Sorr-ee." They scratched the back of their neck, contemplating how to clean the mess. "Well shit," they muttered.
"I really hope you don't expect me to eat that." His claw hand gestured at the food. Chapa ran a hand down their face, dumbfounded.
Drex all of a sudden stepped forward. "You know, this could be a good thing! With the menu blank, could I make a request?"
Chapa scowled. "What."
"Ray thinks I should be getting the authentic 'prison' experience, food and all. But," He suddenly looked bashful, well, as bashful as a Drex could be. "I never got to try a Nacho Ball," he mumbled.
Chapa's jaw dropped. "Really? but they're literally amazing!"
Drex shrugged. "The franchise didn't start up till after I went to prison. And I wasn't very well-liked by the guards, or had any visitors, so I never got to try one," he said.
Chapa groaned, "Ugh, fiiine. But only because your sob story makes you sound pathetic." They looked down at the mess on the floor. "I will take care of that thing later," they muttered as they sped out the door.
They found Miles rummaging through drinks, and they glanced around, then shook his shoulder vigorously. He looked up, momentarily stunned. and they whisper-yelled to him, "Miles! I need you to take me to Nacho Ball!"
He looked at them bewilderedly, shaking his head. "The close one or the nice one?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Okay! Jeez...why are we whispering? And what's so urgent about Nacho Ball??"
"Uh, I...I don't want Ray to find out and make me get him some."
Miles tilted his head. "Fair enough, he is a total moocher." He placed a hand on Chapa's shoulder and thrust his fist into the air, teleporting them behind the restaurant.
The two stood in line until they got to the counter and Chapa ordered, Miles adding in something extra for himself. "It's my transportation fee," He told Chapa.
As they sat down to wait for their food, Miles gave Chapa an inquisitive look. "You didn't get your usual order, you got the most basic nacho ball I've ever seen. What happened to 'if it doesn't burn your tongue off then you're not doing it right?'" He asked.
Chapa shrugged, scratching the back of their neck. "I just wanted to try something different is all," they said.
Miles squinted at them. They tried not to look away from his speculating eye contact, and it was all they took not to avoid his gaze.
He grinned. "Okay, but knowing you, your tongue is gonna fall asleep from the mildness of that there ball," he joked.
Chapa inwardly sighed with relief as they replied, "Yeah, you're probably right, but hey, gotta shake things up a little, yaknow?"
Mike's opened his mouth to answer, but their names were called for their food. They got the bags and headed out to a secluded area where Miles could teleport them to the Man's Nest.
Once they got back, Miles dug into the bag to get his food. He grinned, digging in at the table, but paused when he spotted Chapa creeping away with the bag of food. "Where are you going?" He asked, eyebrows raised.
Chapa spun around, eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, uhm, well, I just realized that you were right, uhm, about the spice thing." They gripped the bag in their fist, scratching the back of their neck with their other hand. "So I'm just gonna, um, go find some hot sauce or...something," They said as they walked out, food in hand, muttering curses as they went.
Drex was aggressively rifling through the threadbare bedding on his cot, and he looked up when Chapa entered the room eyes brightening as they focused on the Nacho Ball bag. "Huh, you actually got it. Nice job," He said, grinning as he stood straight and walked up to the red bars of his cell.
Chapa looked over their shoulder, pushing the door shut with their fingertips as Drex eyed the bag curiously. They shrugged. "No big deal," they muttered, though there was a slight tremor to their voice. Fuck, if Ray found out about this he'd be pissed. He'd turn it into some long lecture about helping the enemy, even if the enemy is stuck in a cell and just wants to try a nacho ball.
They stuffed the bag into the compartment and Drex took it, reaching inside to grab the nacho ball, inspecting it with a furrowed brow. Chapa sipped their drink through the straw as they watched. "Just uh, crack it open and eat it, be careful though it might be a bit messy," they said, gesturing at the food.
Drex followed their instructions, humming in satisfaction as he ate it. "You know that's actually pretty good," he commented, turning the food in his hands.
"Well it's as good as fast food can get," Chapa scoffed, the tension in their shoulders easing a bit.
Drex laughed, "Well, it's definitely better than prison food, and whatever shit Ray feeds me." He rolled his eyes, then perked up. "So, we're eating together now, aren't we?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow.
Chapa shook their head vigorously, "Not like that, you're still awful and this is not going to be a regular thing. I just need to get rid of the evidence when you finish," they shot back defensively.
Drex nodded. "Sure, whatever you say," he said, though he seemed to be eating even slower than before.
"Dude, hurry up!" Chapa snapped, "The longer I'm down here, the more likely Ray's gonna come down and find me!"
Drex let out a derisive snort. "Well fuck me for wanting some company that isn't the chest monster or an occasional tiny Ray. Besides, Ray has 3 other kids up there to deal with, and I know he can barely handle one!" He replied, finishing up the food.
Chapa leaned forward to take the leftover bag and napkins, pointing at Drex's hands where the food had been. "Those are totally better with more spice, just saying. 20 times better once you add some hot sauce or something," They said, balling up the trash and stuffing it in their pockets to throw away later.
Drex leaned against the wall, saying "Well, I'll just have to get out of here and try that sometime." As he watched them walk out of the room. "By the way, thanks, Chapa."
They hesitated for a second as they exited the room, "Uhm, yeah, your welcome Drex," they spoke with the barest hint of a smile before closing the door behind them and sneaking away to dispose of the evidence.
Ray was heard throughout the Nest later in the day when from up in the living area, peeking into the trash can and yelling "WHO GOT NACHO BALL WITHOUT ME??!" As Chapa and Miles fled the room.
A/n: someone pls tell me how the FUCK you eat a big ass nacho ball wtf. hope you guys liked it!