Just is everything seems to be going all right, Panda flies off the handle and you get a visit from a heroine you thought you were done with!

By the time you are back together with Wushu Panda and the guys, you can tell that she and Daisaku got up to more than cracking a few hired goons heads together. Now that you and your copy are merged again and your powers restored to full, your enhanced sense of smell tells you that those two we're doing more than that to work up a sweat. They're making a point to sit at opposite ends of the coffee shop (the hotel bar wasn't an option because you're the only one of the three heroines old enough to be there, and sure, they probably wouldn't card a couple of heroines and costume, but you're breaking enough rules as is).

Honestly, you're pretty glad that Panda bungled and used those untested acupressure points on herself and you. It really does seem like Mike and Daisaku were able to bang some of the bitchiness out of her.

...and even more honestly, you're hoping that she ends up going for Daisaku after all. He's a sweet guy and all, but -

"Fuck yeah, we're cooking with gas now. You girls are a hell of a combination. I bet you had that slimeball criminal-trust-fund-baby screaming for mercy, didn't ya?"

Madman Mike stares at you and Ilyana, particularly at you. If anything his gaze is even more intense and last night during your so-called 'training session'.

"You should have seen Lynn." Magik Knight says. "The criminal was trying to crawl away on his hands and knees, when she grabbed him and told him she wasn't finished with him.."

You cough. "Alright already, you don't need to flatter me so much. And you shouldn't be counting your chickens before they hatch either, Mister! You do realize that just because we know which bank Deathsmite Junior is knocking over don't mean she isn't going to wipe the floor with our butts again, right?"

You poke the smirking wall of muscle right in one of his steely pecs, now visible behind an unbuttoned suit jacket and shirt - the lug seems to have more of a grudge against shirt buttons than he does against crime. "Don't go and tell me you're just going to shoot her! First of all, that's against the law and the League code. And-"

Mike puts his hand on your head and ruffles your short blonde hair. He seems to like doing that. "... and more importantly, it isn't going to work." he says with a chuckle. "C'mon sweetheart, this isn't my first rodeo with supervillains. Right Daisaku? Remember what I taught ya?"

"Huh? Wuzzat?" The slender, handsome Asian guy has been staring at Wushu Panda and blinks his way back to his senses. "Oh, right! You gotta think like a bad guy. This **** girl is like a superheroine, right? Just, an evil one. So we play unfair just like gangsters and masterminds do to girls like you. Me and Mike talked it over. She's got the combination to the bank vault so she can clean it out and fund getting herself some better henchmen than the ones you girls stomped all over. Which means, when she and Red Tattoo's gang go in to grab the loot, we just slam the vault door closed behind them and trigger the alarm so it seals itself shut!"

Wushu Panda makes a sputtering sound. "What?! That's your big strategy?"

"Huh? What's wrong with it?" Daisaku asks meekly.

"That's completely cowardly and dishonorable! How could we call doing something like that a victory? I know a true warrior when I face one, and I'm sure Deathsmite would sooner die than surrender to such a cheap trick!" Panda pontificates.

"Oh, but that's the beauty of it!" Mike says with his trademark cock sure grin showing off all his teeth. "Once the door slams shut, either she will blame the crooks for setting her up, or they'll blame her, or both! She'll end up having to fight them all, and if she wins-"

"If?" Magik asks with a wry grin.

"... Sure, okay, but anyway at that point she'll be so worn out that you can deal with her. Take it from a badass like me: I can deal with a supervillain, I can deal with twenty armed punks, but I can't deal with one right after the other." Mike pauses for a second and claps a hand on the back of his neck. "And yeah, yeah, I know, Daisaku - you tried to warn me before I learned that lesson for myself recently."

"Hmmmm." you cock your head to the side. "Whaddya think, Panda? It's a little unsporting, I reckon. But hey, who's gonna listen of Lady Dee starts making excuses for why you whooped her butt? All villains make excuses like that! And I promise, M-K and I won't interfere unless you really need it."

"H-hey!" Daisaku frowns. "You don't mean you're gonna let Miss Panda fight that psycho bitch, do you?!"

Wushu Panda sits up straight and gives him a hard look, wrinkling her nose cutely... the domino mask makes it hard to tell, but you think she might be blushing under there. "I can handle myself! Mind your own business!"

"But like I told you, I'm a black belt in Shōtōkan, too! Which, I know, it can't hold a candle to your ancient Shaolin temple secrets, but, y'know, what if one of the goons tries to jump you from behind, or something? Please, Fang, let me help-"

"CHSHHHKKKK!" An angry, strangled sound comes from Wushu Panda. One of her feet lashes out and kicks the young vigilante in the knee, sending him toppling to the floor in pain. "Who told you you could call me that? Idiot!"

"Huh?" you tilt your head to the side. "Oh, is that your name? I never understood the whole 'secret identity' thing. Always seemed like it'd get real confusing. It's way easier to just use your plain ol' name."

"I think 'Fang' is more fitting to her personality." Magik Knight says with a smirk. "Panda bears are gentle, cuddly, and peaceful, da? Whereas this one..."

"Alright, alright." you say, waving your hands. "Let's save the kung-fu kicks and the sarcasm for the bad folks, y'all. It sounds like a good plan and I'm sure Wushu Panda will handle it fine, and the rest of us can tag in if something goes wrong somehow. There's just one thing left. We gotta get into the bank and have plenty of time to set up. And if what Dominic said is true, we don't have long... Deathsmite and her new gangster buddies are gonna be storming that barn in the wee hours, twelve hours from now or thereabouts."

"Did you forget that I can simply teleport us all in?" Magik Knight says with an indignant shake of her hair.

"I sure as shit didn't forget getting teleported like that! I ain't going through that again!" you bark. "Last time was bad enough! Next time you might give me 'the full Montauk'!"

"The what?" Wushu Panda's anger is diffused by confusion as she peers quizzically at you.

"Look it up!" you say.

Mike starts chuckling and slides up behind you to wrap an arm around your shoulder. "Lynn! I had no idea you were a fan of 'The History Channel' too! When all this is over we should do a binge session to celebrate!"

You push him away, redness rising in your nose and cheeks. "T-that ain't where I learned about it!" you lie through your teeth. "And besides, that's breaking the law! Just 'cause we're heroines doesn't mean we can bust into anywhere where there is suspicion of a crime!"

"I agree with Lynn." Panda says. "I will NOT have my **** on that bitch undercut by petty bureaucrats at the League saying I violated the rules."

"Hmmmm..." Magik Knight turns to Panda and faintly licks her lips. "I think it should be your responsibility to get us in then, Panda. It seems to me that you could use a little practice in using your greatest talents."

"Practice?!" Wushu Panda purses her lips. "When I'm not pursuing evildoers, I spend no less than one hundred and eight hours per week in training, exercises and meditation to keep my skills sharp! I do more practice than everyone in this room put together! Do you not recall that I defeated the strongest one of Deathsmite's recruits, Sunshadow, with a single kick?!"

Normally you would take issue with the fact that Wushu Panda considers knocking out a goofy guy in a ninja costume more worthy of bragging over than you demolishing a ten-foot-tall robot armed with machine guns. But you're starting to learn that sometimes, leadership is about what you don't say.

Rapidly, Magik Knight telpeorts behind Panda and grabs her perky tits from behind, giving them a squeeze... it's so fast that by the time Panda has finished her annoyed grunt and is whirling around to deliver a spinning backfist, M-K has already teleported back to where she started, leaving Panda ineffectually lashing out at thin air.

"Hmhmhm. I didn't mean your fist-fighting talents, my dear. I meant the kind of talents that set heroines apart from crude, violent, hairy neanderthals like Mister Madman there."

"Hairy?!" Mike grunts indignantly.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Panda narrows her eyes at Ilyana, though a quaver in her voice suggests she does have an idea.

"Your feminine charms, of course!" Magik Knight says. "Mmm... perhaps the word 'feminine' is not the right term. Even my dear Lynn is more ladylike than you are. But you know what I mean. Even if your personality is not charming, your chest and those well-toned thighs of yours certainly are. Clearly, you know what you are doing when the time for words is past... does she not, gentlemen?" she looks at Mike and Daisaku.

Both men, even Mike, grin awkwardly, look away from Ilyana's piercing blue eyes, and share a nervous glance with one another. Wushu Panda looks like she's about to explode from embarrassment.

"Isn't it obvious what you can do?" Ilyana says, winking suggestively. "Go to the bank manager and simply ask him. Make him think he has a chance of receiving some... gratitude if he will bend the rules and allow us to rig the vault door as a trap. When he offers you a seat, just slowly cross and uncross your legs. That should be all it takes."

"Hold on a second, Magik Knight," you say. "What if the guy's married? Being flirty ain't gonna work then, will... oh, shoot."

You pout, as you hadn't even managed to get all the way through the sentence before Magik Knight began laughing uproariously at you. "Alright, yep." you say, rolling your eyes. "I started feelin' a little dumb while I was saying it. You city slickers could really use a dose of family values, y'know?"

"Aha hah haaaah..." Magik Knight looks very pleased with herself. "Lynn, before you go on any further about family values, let me ask - is there anyone in this building that you HAVEN'T had sex with, including yourself?"

"Hrkk!" now it's your turn to make an awkward **** sound. "That's... I mean... of course there is! Wushu Panda! Right, Panda?"

"You don't think fingering yourself while watching her take a vibrator up the asshole counts?" Magik Knight asks teasingly.

Before you can reply, you get another impromptu lesson in Mandarin swear words as Wushu Panda buries her face in her hands. "Fine! If you're going to try and hold it over me and the alternative is trusting you not to teleport me into the bottom of the ocean, I'll do it. You think I don't know how to distract men? Why do you think I dress like this?"

"H-hold on a goddamn second!" Daisaku has gotten back to his feet now, though he's still limping a little. "Fa- uhh, I mean, Panda, Magik Knight is just joking around. She wouldn't seriously expect you to do something like that! Right?!" he gives a very hard glare to Ilyana.

A big, meaty, tan-skinned hand claps down on his shoulder and forces the short Japanese-american guy back into his seat. "Daisaku," Mike says, "c'mon, you gotta get your head out of the past, buddy. As of a few months ago, we're officially in the 21st century now, remember? And besides, Wushu Panda isn't some girl-next-door, she's a superheroine. It's different. You'll save yourself a lot of heartache if you just accept that sometimes girls like these three just, heheheh, 'do what has to be done.'" he pauses and then turns to give you a lascivious wink. "Or 'who'."

...you are becoming more and more convinced that the fact that this morning's plan required you to have a three-way with a cowardly, classless lout of a criminal is something Madman Mike considered a benefit rather than a drawback. It isn't just that he didn't mind, he fully intended for it to happen, and he's actually turned on by it. Is that... something you should be offended by? It's so out of left field you don't even know how to process it.

"It wounds my pride to agree with her, or him," Panda points to Mike and Ilyana, "but they're right, Daisaku. Seduction can be a fighting technique like any other. And it will look less suspicious, in case any of Deathsmite's lackeys are staking out the place. I've already been talking to some investors, trying to get more funding to install more of my panda skylight signals around the city."

Daisku visibly looks distraught, but can't find any support from others. He looks to you, but you just shrug.

"I will return soon." Wushu Panda says, tying on her short cape and hiking up her sexy black thigh-high stockings. "I expect to have this minor obstacle knocked out within an hour!"

......

Approximately an hour later you are barging into the entrance of the opulently decorated Gildersternberg bank, having just finished jogging there at top speed through traffic.

You're a bit too late to smooth things over, as you can see a well-dressed older man in a business suit being wheeled away on a gurney by a team of paramedics, with a breathing tube down his throat.

At the other end of the lobby, flanked by several police officers, is Wushu Panda, wearing a pair of handcuffs on her wrists and staring dejectedly at her feet. "Please, officers, it was all a misunderstanding. At least let me go over and formally apologize!"

You sigh heavily as you go over. "Hey there, listen fellas... I can't explain it all right now, but Wushu Panda here is part of my heroine team. We're on a big time important mission right now, dealing with a, uh, dangerous terrorist. Any chance you could get those bracelets off her and put this business to the side until the danger is past?"

"Sorry, Miss, uhh..." the cop seems to lose his train of thought watching your breasts as they bounce up and down while you're jogging over to him. "Tom, which one was this again?"

"Lickety-Split Lynn." the cop next to her says with a broad grin. From how quickly and confidently he says your name, you get the feeling he's been thinking about you a fair bit since your debut was heralded in the papers.

"Sorry Miss Lynn," the first cop says, "but I checked with headquarters already, and they said that the whole 'deferred criminal charges' system for League superheroes doesn't apply to probationary members from the Millennium Challenge like Wushu Panda and you. We've already called the League to send out a full-status hero to assess the situation and sign off on a release, if need be."

"Oh..." you frown. "Well... who is it? And how long's it gonna take? We are on an important mission, y'know!"

You see the two officers' eyes moving to the side, and the look a bit surprised. "Uh, actually..." the first cop says.

But before he can finish, you hear a woman's voice from right behind you, close enough that she could whisper. "Hello again, Lickety-Split Lynn."

You whirl around and see a tall red-haired woman in a purple and black bodysuit, wearing a domino mask over her eyes.

A lump forms in your throat and you gulp before giving her a nervous wave. "Ahhh.... uhh... hi again, Nightingale. Funny coincidence meetin' you again, huh?"

"No." Nightingale says flatly.

Both you and Panda are visibly taken aback. "What?! But you haven't even listened to my explanation yet! Give me a damn chance before you refuse to get my teammate off the hook, at least! Remember how I was meeting with La Petite Mort at the porn-" you catch yourself and cough dryly. "...I mean, at that empty apartment yesterday? Well, Panda is my teammate now and we're following up on-"

"That isn't what I meant." Nightingale says in her characteristic low, humorless tone of voice. "I mean it isn't a coincidence. I've been looking for you and Magik Knight all day, actually. When Wushu Panda there told the League dispatcher than she was acting on your orders when this incident occurred, I got here as quickly as I could."

"It was Magik Knight's idea!" you protest. Wushu Panda shoots you a dirty look immediately, reminding you that you probably shouldn't say anything about what she was trying to do when things got out of hand. Why DID she beat that poor bank manager up, anyway, you wonder? You suppose it could've been a lot of reasons, most of which boil down to 'Panda being Panda'.

"A-and besides," you stammer, clumsily trying to change the subject, "I thought you said that you were givin' up on mentoring me and Magik Knight!"

"And now I see that was a serious mistake," Nightingale says condescendingly, "considering what you've gotten yourself into. Though perhaps a mistake that some good can come of."

"Huh? You lost me." you say.

"As it so happens," Nightingale says, somehow managing to loom over you in presence despite being several inches shorter than you, "I have been pursuing an investigation against some particularly elusive criminals who have been relentlessly expanding their control of prostituted women and street-level extortion in the waterfront district. Led by a notoriously violent underworld figure with a, hm, 'colorful' nickname."

A lightbulb goes on in your mind. Of course! 'Red Tattoo' and the gang, Mike and Daisku's enemies who Magik Knight helped trick into seeking out Lady Deathsmite as a new employer, as a way to track her and bait her into using a fixer who Mike knew could be compromised. With your, uh... help.

You smile broadly. "Oh! Oh, yeah, this is a, uh, whatchamacalit, serendipity kinda situation! We've been barking up the same tree as you, Nightingale!"

"That's one way of putting it." you feel like you hear a contemptuous sacrasm dripping from her words. "If I have Wushu Panda released from custody, will you promise to assist in apprehending this notorious figure? I am perfectly willing to allow you to claim to have led the effort, Lynn. Unlike Magik Knight, I care much less about newspaper headlines or break room braggadocio than I do about getting degenerate scum who **** women off the streets and into a cell where they belong."

"Sure!" you start smiling more broadly. "I can't say too much, on account of the walls here might be havin' ears and all, but if you'll check back tomorrow, I think I'll have some very good news about-"

Suddenly, you notice that your voice cuts out suddenly, like a TV being muted. Your lips are moving but no sound is coming out. Oh. Ohhhh. That's right, you remember now - Nightingale's superpower is being able to control sound. Pretty rude of her to use it like that.

"I think I had better supervise it. To start with why don't you tell me the last known location of the wanted criminal?" Nightingale says.

You are trying to protest that you haven't gotten to see Red Tattoo yet and only Magik Knight knows exactly where he or his thugs are, but you're still 'muted'. Nightingale continues speaking: "He's approximately six feet four inches tall, tan, black hair, 260 pounds, of Puerto Rican descent, 28 years old. Clean shaven aside from a chevron moustache. Does that sound familiar?"

"Huh. Is that what 'Red Tattoo' looks like? I ain't got to see him in person yet. Heh, that's funny - that sounds a lil' bit like Mike."

Nightingale stands there, as still and silent as a statue. From behind her purple domino mask, the redheaded heroine's slate-grey eyes are boring into you.

Your smile wavers and collapses into a deeply chagrined frown.

"Aw, shit."