ISSUE #2: Dealt a Queen (Feat. Doctor Rainbow)

Covered in sweat, but wearing a proud smile, you shake the hand of a greying woman in a black conductor's uniform, a crowd of disheveled commuters behind her applauding uproariously and taking photos of their lovely rescuers.

"I simply can't thank you enough," the conductor said, holding your hand with both of hers in a deathgrip. "There's no way that we would have made it if you hadn't pulled us out of that runaway L-train! I... I just don't understand it, the company swore up and down to us operators that the fail-safes really were infallible this time..." she pants, shaking her head defeatedly. "This is the 15th train I've had to be rescued from in my lifetime. I swear that the rails in this city have gremlins, sometimes...."

It wasn't outside the realm of possibility, really. Back behind you, your partner, Dr. Rainbow, was multitasking, accepting the profuse thanks of the driver of the stranded school-bus that had been sitting on the tracks when you and your new heroic partner arrived on the scene. Naturally, Dr. Rainbow was a big hit with the kids. It was just lucky that she'd pulled the schoolbus out of the way while you rescued the train passengers... lives saved or not, ASPIC would have a few choice words about a bunch of middle schoolers getting too close a look at a costume like yours. Even though you had added a leather jacket to your ensemble since yesterday (with the provision that you keep the front zipped down whenever you weren't driving), your bikini bottoms never stopped being on public display.

Now it was time to move off - lingering too long before an adoring crowd after rescuing them as the sign of a poser. You did a sexy (but not too sexy) strut over to Dr. Rainbow, a petite 5'6 woman whose multicolored costume was a lot more modest than yours. Oh, sure, her vertically-striped sailor suit had a short, flared skirt that barely reached down past her fingertips and she was wearing knee highs that might, in isolation, be classified as "hooker boots". But the teeny a-cups on her chest weren't emphasized at all, and she wasn't showing any midriff, and you at least needed a stiff breeze in order to see her panties.

"Yay!" the teal-haired young lady exclaimed excitably as she climbed onto the back of your motorcycle and strapped on her unicorn-themed helmet. "Another success for the spirit of humanitarianism! Doesn't it just feel wonderful making the world a better place, Nightingale?"

You respond to her with a musical, condescending laugh. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, dear, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security by this feel-good afternoon cat-stuck-up-a-tree business."

"There's a kitty stuck up a tree?!" Dr. Rainbow's eyes widen and she starts making an oath to rescue the poor creature before she looks at your exasperated expression and relents, shyly bumping her index fingers together. "Oh, ohhh, you were using metaphor. Sorry, I'm still not used to the big city yet..."

Revving up the engine and zipping up your new top, you smile as Dr. Rainbow puts her arms around your waist to hold on. "Acropolis sings a different song at night. All the naughty boys and girls come out. And-"

Before you can continue, a voice buzzing in your ear reaches you from your brilliant assistant and mission control, Julia. "Hello there! Sorry I didn't check in with you sooner Rikki, but after some of the things I overheard at the LoP I, well, it was just awkward is all, hah. A couple of things though. First off, while you've been out on patrol with her, I did a little inquiring about this Dr. Rainbow character you're showing a night on the town. The things I've heard are... well, not that encouraging. Apparently every single patrol she's attempted so far has ended in disaster and her being pulled out of a sticky situation by a rescue team - emphasis on the sticky. I've had three separate sources describe her as a 'space case'."

Thanks to your powers you can respond quite clearly without your new partner overhearing. "Are you kidding, Julia?? I guess you didn't see but she just stopped a runaway train speeding at 100 miles per hour with a giant band-aid. She subdued a berserk zoo elephant solo with one little poke of a syringe. Bad luck happens to everybody Jules - there's certainly nothing wrong with her powers, and she knows how to use them. Plus she's really charming, you'd like her."

"If you say so." Julia says with a sniff, not sounding convinced. "Secondly, your mom called again... asked me when would be a good time to call, and I sort of blurted out 'tomorrow morning', and she made me promise to pass it along. Said that there was some group you should meet while you're up there in Acropolis City? She was being cryptic."

"Every superheroine's real secret weakness..." you sigh, rolling your eyes. "Well, anything else?"

"Oh yes!" Julia said excitedly, as if suddenly remembering. "You remember that streetcorner where the gang bosses hang out that you bugged? Well, in the last few hours there have been dozens of mentions of 'the poker crew' and how they've made a warning to the underworld that they're going to hit one of mob boss Cagliari's holdings tonight and dared him to try and stop them..."

"GOD. DAMN IT. JULIA." you shout, temporarily losing control of your powers.

Dr. Rainbow gasps behind you. "N-Nightingale! That wasn't a very nice thing to say! And how did you know that motorist's name was Julia anyway? Just because we're heroes doesn't mean we're exempt from the rules of road courtesy!"

Apparently you said that part out loud. You go back to speaking to Julia in your muffled, subsonic voice. "Don't you think you were burying the lede there, Jules?! Why didn't you tell me that first?"

Julia snickers at you over the two-way radio. "Come on, 'Nightingale', don't lay an egg now, heheh. I knew that if I mentioned anything about the Full House then you'd cut me off and speed off after them as soon as I finished talki-"

Hand coming up to your ear, you mute the radio and turn back to Dr. Rainbow. "It's showtime, dear! Smooth down that colorful plumage of yours-"

"Huh?" Rainbow asks quizzically.

"Sorry," you say. "I was making a pun, I meant sit on your skirt so it doesn't flutter everywhere when I accelerate. The point is, the villains that I've been tracking are making their move! Now! If I was them, I wouldn't go to any of the brothels or gambling dens, too much chance of meeting a bigger, nastier villain by chance. No, I'll bet anything that their target is going to be Greenview Bank - owned by the mob, but practically deserted during the night, and easy for a technically adept team to take over and pilfer so silently that no alarm ever goes off." You step on the gas.

"Wow! Really? Well, if you believe I'm ready, Nightingale, then so do I!" she pumps one of her tiny fists energetically as she clings to you with one hand. "Onward, to justice! I won't show them any mercy! Until they apologize!"