Marvin convinced the driver that he needed to stop by his apartment for a couple hours so he could squeeze in his mid-morning nap and also have a couple beers so he could calm his nerves before meeting his new colleagues at the League of Scrupulousness. It occurred to him that it was always a good idea to make a good impression on people by bringing food, so he had the driver make a few stops to pick up ingredients and then they went back to the apartment so he could whip up a hopefully tasty concoction.

The timing actually worked out well because it was just about lunchtime when he waltzed into the conference room where the world's most powerful and popular superheroes were gathered around a giant circular table.

Marvin couldn't help but be starstruck. All of his favorites were there. Justice Woman, Photocopy Man, The Sting, Lightning Rod, Scorpion Girl, Hammerhead Shark, The Living Meteor, and, of course, Chicken Man. His brother, Megafantastic Man, sat in the biggest most comfortable chair and was just instructing his assistant Lester to get everybody's lunch order when Marvin waltzed in.

"No need for that, bros and ladies!" he shouted. "I brought my world famous chili! Everyone dig in!"

He was pleased to see everyone seemed to approve of his culinary skills as they gobbled down the whole pot. Except for his brother who seemed like he couldn't be bothered to sample Marvin's cooking. He was probably just jealous.

Photocopy Man even liked the chili so much that he made a copy of his bowl so he could enjoy more of it. Then he made a copy of himself so he could get another bowl and have more room for it. There was no doubt, the chili was a hit. He made sure to introduce himself to everyone individually as they filled up their bowls, and soaked in the compliments as they tasted it. He took a seat at the table and beamed with pride.

Unfortunately they ate it so fast that Marvin didn't get a bowl for himself.

Good thing I brought this bag of sunflower seeds he thought as he whipped out a bag. He started chewing on them and spitting the shells out on the ground as he tried to pay attention to what was being said as they resumed business.

"Well, all right, you've all met my brother Marvin," Megafantastic Man said. "It seems like we're stuck with him for the time being and we're all going to have to take turns coddling him. I know that's the last thing any of us need right now, but my father commanded it, so I'm afraid we don't have a choice. Lightning Rod, you can have the dubious honor of taking the first shift. And if he gets out of line, don't be afraid to zap him."

"You got it, boss," Lightning Rod said. He pointed at his eyes with two fingers and then pointed at Marvin.

"In the meantime, I'm going to turn the floor over to Justice Woman so she can give us more details about this intergalactic crisis."

"Thank you," Justice Woman said as she stood up and addressed the room. "It has come to our attention that the denizens of the planet Frz, whom we always believed to be a peaceful race, have just launched an unprovoked attack on the planet Qiron. The Frzian government claims that an extremely uncouth representative of Qiron personally insulted one of their top diplomats. The Qironians are adamant that no such thing ever happened and that they are the victims of the unchecked aggression of a bloodthirsty and expansionist Frz. They have vowed to take a terrible retribution on their attackers and assured us they will not rest until every last Frzian is dead. This is a catastrophe beyond imagining. Billions, if not trillions of innocent lives are at stake. The simple fact of the matter is that even though this war is taking place on two distant worlds, we cannot afford to stand idly by and let this happen. It's a complete mystery what the real cause of this conflict is, but the fact remains we have no choice but to intervene."

Marvin hadn't heard much of what Justice Woman had said because he was mesmerized by her skintight form-fitting spandex outfit. He was pretty sure he'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his entire life. And he wasn't sure, but he thought maybe she kept looking over and smiling at him while she was talking. Something about that Qiron and Frz business she mentioned seemed vaguely familiar to him, though, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Oh well. He waited until he thought she was making eye contact with him again and tried to wink at her and make a little kiss motion with his lips. She didn't give any sign that she had noticed, but that was okay. The fact remained, there was still hope.

"We're going to need our best and most powerful members on this journey and we have to leave immediately. That means Megafantastic Man, myself, and, of course, Chicken Man are going to have to head off into space with extreme haste. Photocopy Man will be in charge here on Earth in case of..."

Justice Woman stopped suddenly, put a fist to her mouth and let out a little burp.

"Excuse me. I was saying in case of..."

She stopped again as an involuntary wince crossed her face and she put both hands to her stomach. A loud rumbling sound could be heard emerging from her tummy.

"In case of... Oh my God! I need to use the facilities!" She tried to make a run for a side door, but didn't make it before she projectile vomited chili all over the floor.

"Whoa, that was gnarly!" Marvin shouted.

All around the table Marvin could hear other people starting to moan in pain and grasp at their stomachs.

"Oh, I don't feel so good," The Living Meteor said. He was sweating profusely and his face was turning a pale shade of green.

On the other side of the table Hammerhead Shark collapsed onto the floor and began writhing around as liquid began shooting out explosively from every orifice in his body.

Scorpion Girl also made a run for the exit but ran into The Sting who'd had a similar idea. They both fell to the ground in a jumble of limbs and began wailing in agony.

Several copies of Photocopy Man were doubled over on the floor in pain.

Even the mighty Chicken Man had his head down on the table and was fighting a losing battle to keep his lunch down.

Only Marvin and Megafantastic Man remained unaffected.

"Marvin," Megafantastic Man said with a sigh. "What in God's name did you put in that chili? You seem to have given everyone a severe case of food poisoning."

"Just the usual stuff one puts in chili," Marvin said. "You know. Chili powder, kidney beans, tomatoes. Oh yeah, I got a really good deal on the ground beef from some guy named Discount Al who had set up a little makeshift stand in a dirty alleyway. I've never patronized him before, but his prices were too good to pass up. Say, you don't suppose Discount Al sold me some sort of sub-par product, do you?"

Megafantastic Man smacked his forehead and let out a loud sigh. "I don't have time to deal with your nonsense right now. I'm needed in outer space to put a stop to the largest interplanetary war that's ever existed. Justice Woman! Chicken Man! Get up! We need to get on the Scrupulous Spaceship right now and be on our way!"

"So... much... pain..." Justice Woman moaned from the ground.

Chicken Man let out an incoherent gurgle.

Megafantastic Man put an arm around each of them and hoisted them onto his shoulders. "Come on! There's no time to waste. There are ample facilities on the spaceship and you can spend the whole travel time resting in the beds, but we need to go. Lester! You're with me in case I need assisting. As for you, Marvin. You're going to sit in the corner over there and not move a muscle for however long it takes for the rest of the team to recover from their illnesses. Do you understand me?"

"Loud and clear, broski!" Marvin said as he took a seat in the corner.

He could hear the thruster blasts coming from the nearby hangar as the Scrupulous Spaceship powered up and then launched off into space.

Marvin was left alone in a room full of incapacitated superheroes. He twiddled his thumbs for a few moments and chewed on his lips. Sitting around doing nothing was really boring. He thought being a member of the League of Scrupulousness would be a lot more exciting than this.

That was when a big bright red light labeled emergency beacon started blinking near a giant video screen. He heard a familiar voice broadcasting into the room.

"Can anybody hear me? This is Dad! We have an urgent situation on our hands! Hello! Is anybody there? Please respond immediately!"

Marvin hopped up and ran over to the transmitter. "I'm reading you loud and clear, Pops! What's up?"

"Marvin? Is that you? Put your brother on the line."

"No can do, Dad. He just took off into outer space."

"Well then put Justice Woman on. This is extremely important."

"She went with him. So did Chicken Man. I know you were going to ask about him next, so I just thought I'd save you the trouble."

"Who the hell is still there? I thought I made it clear someone was supposed to be keeping an eye on you at all times."

"Everybody else is here, but they're all a little under the weather. I don't think they're going to be in any sort of shape to do anything for a while. Why, what's going on?"

"Blast it!" Dad shouted and then was silent for a moment.

"Dad? Are you still there? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry. I'm trapped in the elevator right now. Someone seems to have mashed in all the buttons and they're stuck. My top maintenance men are doing everything they can to get me out, but in the meantime I'm basically a prisoner. I knew it was a bad idea to invest in those super reinforced elevator doors. But don't worry about me, Marvin. Listen. We've pinpointed the location of Dr. Magnus's secret lair. We've got a jet ready to head there right now and time is of the essence. Dr. Magnus has announced that he's got himself a nuke. And not just any nuke, but a supercharged one powerful enough to obliterate half the planet. He's threatened to launch in 24 hours if his first delivery of children isn't shipped by then. This is your moment to shine Marvin. It's time to step up to the plate and save the day. You're the Earth's only hope now."

"No, I'm not," Marvin said. "Let me just call in my backup and then I'll be ready to roll. You're going to be really proud of me, Dad. You'll see."