Five hours later you're fighting alongside Maiden America!

Five hours later, you're getting a call from Julia, your trusty manager having returned from her extended leave of absence. You were afraid she'd be quitting after a particularly vile supervillain abused her whilst on the way to attempt to **** you, but all of her correspondence has been about how eager she is to return to work. Being good at said work, she has no trouble getting the access codes to the communication system of your new supersuit. And since you've been so preoccupied with the 'excitement' for the past six hours, you barely remember she exists, much less that she is on her way to Acropolis City, until a video window of her face is suddenly shouting at you. "Nig-! Nnnnh.... 'Thunderbox'! Why didn't you message me about this? What a disaster!"

"Oh," you say, resting against a wall for a moment, "I didn't... want to make you worry." you manage between heavy breaths. "And I'm going with 'Thunderbird'. I already had them change it in the registry."

"Worry? You think I was worried? About the attack? Huy!" she blows air through her lips and rolls her eyes. "You are a superheroine, it's normal for you to get attacked by villains, yes? You may be good at saving lives, but you're terrible at considering other people's problems Rikki. Do you have any idea how much work is involved in building up a B-rank hero team from scratch? There's multiple additional layers of regulations, PR gets ten times as complex, and-"

"There's a lot of background noise," you say, gritting your teeth and trying to split your attention with what you're doing. "Is one of the things you just said an unusual Spanish synonym for 'felicidades'?"

"Hah! This is how it starts, yes," Julia says wryly. "Get promoted to lead a team of superhumans and suddenly you get a big head. Anyway... in case you need a reminder, your original partner, Dr. Rainbow, has been captured by some of the world's worst villains. If you can't get her back pronto, that kind of disaster right at the beginning could sink a team before it even starts. I just got back to your crime lab. Hurry up and get down here so we can start looking!"

"Believe it or not, I have a bigger concern just at the moment."

"WHAT? Rikki!! I mean, fuck! I was the one who was **** about working with that magical waif. You, though, were totally into this dynamic duo thing. What could possibly be more important than investigating her disappearance?"

You turn off the sound cancellation, and see Julia yelp in shock and cover her ears as she suddenly hears the noisy chaos of a super-powered brawl going on all around you. "To make a long story short, Maiden America and Star just got back from their mission," you explain, "and after the HQ disaster, this crazy girl calling herself 'Maiden America's greatest nemesis' showed up while we were briefing Maiden A on the situation. She started monologuing about her greatest scientific creation, and-"

Rolling to the side, you nimbly dart between exposed chunks of concrete, keeping your eye on a dark, shadowy blur shadowing your movements. The sound of steel claws tearing apart stone echoes through the wrecked entryway of a once-fancy corporate plaza. Each time massive hands reach for you, you backflip or roll out of the way. While Julia watches the video in shock, she suddenly points towards you in horror. Turning to the side, you see a massive, deformed, vaguely canine head with various metallic plates and protuberances. One eye is yellow and full of feral madness, the other eye is replaced by a glowing red electronic sensor. A horrible snarl sounds as metal-laced jaws open. Acting quickly, you throw a backfist with your new sonically-powered gauntlet, catching the creature under the chin and sending all 400 lbs of furry, bionic bulk flying into a wall. A moment later, an enormous snowball is launched from somewhere out of view and pins the beast in place, leaving it half-buried.

"...and now I'm fighting cyborg werewolves." you finish your sentence in a deadpan tone. "I'm really going to need some more of that excellent coffee you make, Julia. Bring that and anything you have on those Wonderland jackasses to the headquarters." You close the video.

Falling back into a fighting pose, you brace yourself and check that Snowflake and Red Balloon are still safe behind you. They are, and another five of the bionically-augmented mutant creatures are laying defeated in front of them.

Star has a lot of bite marks on the generous stretches of skin that her costume leaves exposed, and she's laying in a daze against a wall. She's a deeply tan, broad-shouldered young Hispanic woman with long black hair. The star-spangled blue bikini top she's wearing is the main commonality her costume has with previous Star's... and though she's a bit more beefy than them, she has one big thing in common with all her predecessors. ...rather, she has TWO big things in common, the combined heft of which that legacy bikini top barely covers. Her midriff is left bare running down to a red and white striped miniskirt and a pair of stiletto boots. Like Spangle, the male, she wears a blue "Uncle Sam coat", and like him, she's never once been seen with it buttoned closed.

Maiden America emerges triumphant from beneath another ten monstrous lupine creatures. She looks battered, bruised, and out of breath, and even has some scratches that haven't regenerated yet. Even marked by battle she is a sight to behold; the tallest woman in the League at six foot eight (rumor has it that she started as a small girl but kept getting larger as the country itself grew... it's a good thing America hasn't annexed any new states in the last hundred years or so), she is muscular but not bulky. Red and white striped knee-high heel boots scrape against the concrete as she strikes a defiant pose. Her perfectly sculpted body is covered by a gold pair of bikini bottoms that don't do a whole lot to protect her modesty when she's in a wide stance like that even though she's actually wearing them over the top of her one-piece costume. Said costume amounts to a sleeveless one-piece bathing suit with patriotic stripes around the midriff, deep decolletage, and a large white star over each of her protruding breasts. She's not as well-endowed relative to her size as some heroines, but few would say she's anything but perfect. Even when tousled and frayed her long blonde hair looks striking and dramatic.

Apparently, being attacked by multiple super-strong assailants at once in an enclosed space is a threat even to her. Some say that she grows more powerful in response to larger threats, so small fry like these can still catch her off guard and give her a few bruises... Or perhaps she just likes to put on a good show. Maiden America speaks in ringing, dramatic tone. "It's over, Belladonna! These poor, abused test subjects of yours are beaten! I sincerely hope that great American doctors can undo the mutilations you put these people through. You, meanwhile, have a date with the inside of a cell! So long as I am guardian of this shining city on a hill, justice and the American Way will always prevail!"

"And for the record," Star sneers as the villainess staggers to her feet, "you aren't Amy's 'greatest nemesis'! Being her greatest nemesis entails, y'know, having fought her more than once."

A woman's voice responds sharply. "You think you've won, Maiden America? You've barely even begun to see the extent of my genius! Next time my beauties will be..." and there she goes monologuing. You can see that Maiden America looking rather bemused at this villainess's proclamations of grandeur even now that her minions have been beaten - and, lacking any superpowers of her own, talking is all she can really do now. 'Bella Donna', she calls herself. She looks very young - as young as you or younger, and since you're only 24 yourself, her claim to suddenly be the greatest threat yet to a heroine who's been fighting evil for 200 years is questionable.

Your sensitive hearing detects a ****, insincere bluster in her words... she's not the sleek, confident supervillainess she's desperately trying to appear to be. Still, you suppose that everyone has to get their start somewhere, villainess or heroine, so you don't pile onto her. When Bella Donna glances at you, you just shrug. "Don't look at me, I'm just here as backup. I'm not out to... steal Maiden America's thunder." Star gets your pun and gives you a toothy grin and an encouraging thumbs up.

You turn to check up on your fellow super team members. Red Balloon, who can control wind and electricity, and whose snug one-piece red and black latex outfit makes everyone who sees it silently observe that her name should be "Balloons", is floating over towards Maiden A and trying to horn in on her monologue. Star, Maiden A's female sidekick, grabs her to 'ask if she's okay' as a polite way of bouncing Red Balloon's attempt to claim credit.

Over in the corner is Snowflake; tall, lithe and athletic but sporting a bustline equal to yours, with hair in a stark white pixie cut, wearing an off-white bodysuit with deep cleavage running all the way down past her crotch (a small exterior thong having been added to the costume once it became clear that the transparent material of the cutout showed EVERYTHING). It's a mystery to you what ethnicity she is, exactly, but it isn't caucasian, as she is fond of reminding you at every opportunity. She also insists on identifying as 'gender non-binary'. Having given it some further thought, you have decided you can't blame her all that much for being defensive about the latter, since apparently she would have preferred a costume that didn't show off her curves nearly so much. She has been quiet and tense ever since HQ raid. Since she didn't know Doctor Rainbow you suspect she might be concerned about the capture of her boyfriend 'Griffineagle' by the villains. Er... is boyfriend the right word? The two of them had known each other for about half an hour, but within that time, Snowflake had wild, passionate sex with him, so you figure you'll keep using the word.

Clearly the situation is more dire than usual, because Maiden America and her sidekicks don't even wait for the reporters to show up and snap pictures, telling you that they have a mountain of work to do in re-organizing the League and strategic decision-making to deal with a wave of super-crime that the Wonderland Warriors and Photobomber's attack has kicked off. Red Balloon is furious, muttering hatefully about Maiden A's "selfishness" in not taking the time to let her get a photo-op after helping her out in battle. That leaves you and the rest of the Weather Watch all the work of rounding up this mad scientist villainess's creations and seeing that they're shipped to a hospital that can study (and hopefully, cure) them.

Since Red Balloon is the only one in the team who can fly under her own power, once ambulances arrive to sedate and cart off the folks mutated and augmented into Bella Donna's monstrous creations, you and your teammates make for the ruins of Headquarters in a less-than-glamorous generic SUV painted in the League's bright colors (a "Justicemobile"). Although your team has been granted a special vehicle of your own, it's actually slower than a normal car would be and you didn't feel like trying to maneuver it through the streets.

The scantily-clad villainess cuffed in the back seat is pouting and glaring at all of you. Red Balloon is typing on a keypad, mass-emailing photos of herself engaged in the fight to media outlets. Snowflake is just staring out the window with a bored, annoyed look on her face - since Bella Donna is african-american and never 'misgendered' her, it seems Snowflake can't find anything to get indignant about.

A smirk creeps across your lips as you think, again, about how funny it is that Snowflake, who has such a chip on her shoulder and is so godawful at getting along with people that she's gotten kicked off of two super teams within 3 months of joining the League, is an utter delight as a teammate compared to Red Balloon. Snowflake has a rotten attitude but at least her heart is in the right place. Red Balloon, on the other hand, made an infernal bargain with some kind of evil demon/genie/leprechaun to destroy your reputation and take your place as leader within *less than an hour*of the team being formed.

Bella Donna seems to think you're smirking at her. "Wipe that smile off ya face, Thunder Thighs. As soon as I get back on the streets an' teach that flashy flag-wavin' bitch a permanent lesson, the papers are gonna have to censor the photos of what I got in store for you."

You chuckle softly. "Thunder Thighs? Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to get used to that one. Pretty obvious. It might actually sting if it wasn't so blatantly obvious that I'm the sexiest woman on the team, if not in the entire League of Propriety." You purse your lips highlighted in glossy yellow lipstick and blow her a kiss, making her fume and grit her teeth. Red Balloon stares daggers and wrinkles her nose.

"Anyway," you continue, "I think you'll be the one with a weight problem soon enough. I've never tried it myself but I hear prison food is high in carbs and low in nutrients. Ten to twenty years of that, and I don't think those pleather thigh-high boots of yours are going to fit so well. Which might be for the best, honestly. I mean, God damn - did you get thrown forward in time from the 1970s or something?"

"Hah! HAAAAAAH!" Bella Donna laughs sharply, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Ten to twenty... Yeah right, you noisy old cow. Ain't any 'villains'," she makes air quotes, "spending that long in a cell, not in this city. I know for a fact that those mutant punk cat girls that made the mistake of turning down a job working for me have been in and out of the joint five times in the last eight months. I'll just turn on the waterworks in front of the jury, and then-"

"Sure, sure," you mute her with your powers and interrupt. "Cheetah-Grrl and Puma-Grrl. That's because they just rob banks and corporate labs, and give the occasional security guard a broken arm or two. That's apples and oranges, sweet summer child." You manage to avoid wincing at your own line... making decent weather puns is even harder than it is for birds. "Have you already forgotten the bloodbath you left behind in the offices upstairs before we showed up to confront you?"

Bella Donna flares her nostrils and crosses her arms over her chest. "So what? They were just pharmaceutical company executives. EVERYBODY hates those guys. Mothafuckers shouldn't have mocked my genius new technologies."

You sigh and roll your eyes. "Okay, maybe that wasn't a wise decision on their part considering what city this is. But setting aside the question of how exactly transforming people into cybernetic werewolves was marketable, you had better hope none of those old farts are DOA at the hospital. There's a reason that most villains set up deathtraps people can be rescued from instead of just ripping whoever they dislike to bits. From one novice in costume to another, you have to pay attention to what the pros do, not what they say. Not that you're going to get a chance to learn. If I had to bet, you're going to be doing hard, hard time for this one."

The young mad scientist just gives you a rude gesture, but you can see in her eyes that she's afraid. You sort of feel bad for her now. 'Damn it', you think, 'this is why I need Dr. Rainbow around. If there's nobody to play good cop to my bad cop I just look like a bitch...'

"Leave her alone already, Thunderbird." Snowflake says. "With systemic racism, surely a lot of brilliant young people from underprivileged neighborhoods don't see any way to advance in the world besides creating brainwashed mutants using experimental serums and going on a crime spree-"

Alas, Bella Donna doesn't care for that either. "Shut the hell up, 'Mount Everest'!" she says, sharply elbowing Snowflake in the left boob. "I don't fuckin' need your condescension!"

Red Balloon giggles in her grating, helium-infused voice. "OooOOOooooh Snooooowflake, I think she just made a crack about your freakish height! Isn't that a 'microaggression'? Or is it 'macro-aggression'? Since you're sooo taAIEEEEEEEE!"

Seeing that she wasn't wearing her seatbelt, you take the opportunity to slam on the brakes as you finally reach the League's parking garage. Balloon gets hurled forward over the seat, and one of her oversized tits lands painfully hard on your shoulder. "Safety first, Red." you say smugly. Oddly, Snowflake seems more nonplussed about Balloon's insults than anything. "I'm not really that tall. 6 feet is barely above average in this League. Mountain Man is like seven foot two."