You set your ship down on a large helipad on what looks like a former strip mall that had repurposed.

"Here we are, and trust me, you aren't missing out on anything with the nutrient paste," said Dave.  "I have missed the food of Earth SO DAMN MUCH.  Also looking at human beings.  Hell, anyone with two legs and two arms."

As you head inside, you find Red Shift waiting on everyone in the main room. There is several pizzas, donuts and some drinks.

"So, uh, hey there," said Dave.  "Thank you all very much for inviting me over.  And wow, pizza.  Nice."

And here, it was awkward.  He'd learned to socialize with a good dozen alien species, but he was out of practice with humans.  But this was his chance, and he wasn't going to throw it away.

"So, I mentioned before that I don't have a code name you can really pronounce easily.  That's because it was given to me by people who don't have human mouthparts.  I can manage their language, but it isn't easy.  Uh, I've been away from Earth for a few years; I was, I kid you not, abducted by aliens.  As a slave, because of my useful-but-completely-not-flashy mutant power.  They modified me like this so they could keep me around in their atmosphere and temperature, and it all sucked a lot.  So I got heavily involved in a slave rebellion, and then kind of a multinational coalition to crush the slavers, and when the dust settled, I had a chance to go home.  And here I am."

"That is a pretty cool origin story," Red Shift said.

"Cool to hear about, not so great to live through," said Dave.  "Especially the early days.  What about you three?"

"I was born with my powers, but I don't know if I count as a mutant," Scion said. "Both my parents had them."

"I got a bunch of weird chemicals spilled on me," Red Shift said.

"I don't have any powers, but I invented my nice little spheres," Tinker said.

"Handy," said Dave.  "What do they do?"

"They can make shields, images, bash into people, and I'm working on being able to fold out and me being able to fly on them," Tinker said.

"Very nice!" said Dave.  "My mutant power is a weird one, by the way-- it's just translation.  I can read, speak, understand, whatever any language my senses can pick up.  Handy on strange planets, less important when fighting supervillains."

"I'm sure it could be used for interesting stuff. Does that work with computer languages?" Scion asked.

"Honestly, I haven't had the chance to try it with real languages," said Dave.  "All the computers I've been exposed to have interfaces for non-programmers.  But I think I could fake it, yes.  I'm pretty good with tech by now.  Have to be for self-repair."

"Meh, computers are pretty boring. C'mon food now," Red Shift said.

"Food is good," agreed Dave, and descended on the pizza and doughnuts with a fervor that suggested a growth spurt.

It was certainly good food food. It had been a while since you've had Earth junk food.

"Red, you have some excellent taste," said Dave, wiping his lips with a napkin.  "That was amazing.  Thank you."

"hey, no problem, since you're gonna be our new teammate, right?" Red Shift asked.

"Absolutely," said Dave.  He did look at the other two for confirmation, though.  He suspected that Red Shift had a way of acting on her own...

The other two nodded.

"Excellent," said Dave.  "A toast:  To the team!"

He drank something.

"...so," he added, "does anyone sleep here?  Just asking; I've got a bunk in El Liberador."

"We have some bedrooms, but no one stays here full time," Tinker said. "I'll show you."

She led you through the building, which had a small library/computer room, what Tinker said was a training room and then to a series of five bedrooms that were identical, though the girls had already claimed one each. Each had a bed, dresser, shelf and smallish TV.

"If you're okay with it, it looks better than what I have on my ship," said Dave.  "Built for humans and all that."

"Do you need anything else?" Tinker asked.

"Oh, probably," said Dave.  "The living-on-Earth stuff.  Clothes.  A phone.  That kind of thing.  Honestly, I ought to go shopping.  I've been working on getting paid by selling translation services to some government types..."

"Oh right," Tinker said. "The bathroom's down the hall here on the right."

"Uh, yes, that would be good," said Dave.  "Oh, hey, a plus for the group while I'm here:  I do have room for a bunch of passengers on El Liberador.  If we ever need to go somewhere fast, we can do that."

"Cool, but I think Scion's parents don't let her out of the city," Tinker said.

"...who are your parents, Scion?" asked Dave.

"Ultrawoman and Ian Vincible," Scion said.

"Is there a reason they don't want you to leave town?" said Dave.  They were letting her be a superhero, after all.

"To limit where I can go," Scion said. "I can hero only in places they can easily watch me."

"Are they trying to protect you?" Dave asked.  "You seem pretty tough..."

"They do have some powerful enemies," Scion said.

"Do they cause trouble for you often?" Dave asked.

"I'm going to assume you mean the enemies and not my parents, though I have opinions about them too," Scion said. "On occasion."

"So clearly what we have to do is fight together with you well enough that your parents relax," said Dave.  "Got it."

"Thanks, they are crazy tough though," Scion said.

"Sure, but we can probably do better if we work together," said Dave.  "I'm pretty tough too."

"Good," Scion said. "Maybe we can test that sometime."

"Slightly scared but still up for it," said Dave.  "Anyone up for helping me on a shopping run?"

It might be awkward, of course, given his appearance...

"That sounds fun! Let's do that!" Tinker said.

The other girls nodded.

"Cool," said Dave.  "So, uh, I'm ready whenever."

"Give us a bit to change," Tinker said as Red Shift ran off and was back in casual clothes instantly.

"Nice style," said Dave.  "I'm gonna have a harder time, though..."

"Thanks," Red Shift said as the other two went off to change. "I'm sure we can find something."

"Yep," said Dave.  "...I hope it's not too awkward, though.  Do you have secret identities?  I can't really do those."

"It's fine, don't worry," Red Shift. "I can't be photographed and Tinker's actually from the future."

"And Scion's public, I'm guessing?" said Dave.  That would make sense-- the child of two heroes would be a press magnet.

"Yep, her dad never had a secret ID," Red Shift said.

"That's honestly got to be pretty rough," said Dave.  "Being in the public eye constantly, as a kid."

"I suppose, kids of all kind of celebrities get it," Red Shift said.

"And something that I'll deal with," said Dave.  "But I've been standing out a lot for other reasons.  I can always try the hat-and-trenchcoat look here if I want to be less obvious."

"I always wanted to see if that'd work!" Red Shift said.

"I imagine that it works better on a rainy night in October than at a rave," said Dave.  "Just a guess, obviously."

"Maybe, but you never know," Red Shift said.

"So you're saying we should go to a rave in trenchcoats and hats?" said Dave.

"It might be something to try later," Red Shift said.

Dave laughed.

"Well, I won't overheat from it," he said.  "Who knows?  It might be fun..."

Scion and Tinker finally got back.

"Ready to go?" Scion asked.

"I am cliche ready to go," said Dave.  "Let's do this.  Uh, are we flying, walking or driving?"

"Walking," Tinker said. "It's nice to do every once and a while."

"Fair, fair," said Dave.  "I can do that.  How far is it?"

"Not far," Scion said as you all headed out.