You get word that there's some videos starring Dr. Rainbow now... and the annoying Beast Beauty gives you a hint that might help figure out why Shush thought he could blackmail you...

"Ugh! Fiiiiinally! We finished the briefing on 'Walrus' and 'Caterpillar' and 'Carpen-Terror' and both 'kings' and all three 'queens' and even that disgusting sexless freak 'Mock Turtle'..." Red Balloon says.

Snowflake grits her teeth at that last one. You nod sympathetically to her but shrug in a 'what're you gonna do' kind of way as Balloon continues moaning theatrically: "...can we at least take a break and get something to eat now? We won't do any good going on a rescue mission exhausted and starved!" Balloon says.

Although it would be easy to point out that Red Balloon looks like she could stand to skip a few meals, you're too tired for another argument. With as many superpowered lackeys as Hot-Cross Bunny and Queen of Hearts have under them, preparing for a mission like this feels a bit like studying for a midterm. "Yeah, let's take five. But make damn sure you're down in the garage when Green Streak arrives with the limousine. We might not get another chance at this, and anyone who fucks this mission up in such a way that we end up losing Dr. Rainbow is off the team forever. And yes, that includes me."

It's mere moments before the weightless Red Balloon is zipping off down the hallway propelled by a gust of wind. The weightless way that she tends to float around instead of walking strikes you as terribly lazy, quite frankly. No wonder she has such a case of 'thunder thighs' going on. Although, judging by the way the random male hero she passes in that hall looks at her as she goes by, there's a significant subset of the League membership who wouldn't change a thing about her proportions.

You look over at Snowflake. "Y'know, Snowflake, you've been quiet. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the need to rescue Griffineagle as well during this mission. I mean, even though Doc is my biggest priority, you know I'd never leave a hero in the clutches of those Wonderland psychos if I could help it..."

"Oh!" Snowflake's chalk-white eyebrows shoot up and she looks guilty for a moment. You notice that she'd been texting someone on her communicator. "Um... yeah. Definitely."

You decide you can't help teasing her a little: "You seemed like you hit it off with him pretty well..."

Snowflake puffs her chest out and puts a finger in your chest, poking one of your breasts through your snug yellow leotard. "So you WERE spying on me!"

Damn it, that backfired. You sigh. "Alright, I confess. I did happen to turn on the full-feedback sensory-whatever on the suit when you were with him. I'm sorry. I can be a little bit of a voyeur, I guess. But, if you're going to be a superhero, you're going to have to get used to the fact that your sex life isn't always going to be private. It's just the way things are. Y'know, my very first patrol under my first heroine identity, I ended up having to have a threesome with a couple of no-name gangbangers. And it got recorded and spread around by criminals."

"It... uh...wow." Snowflake seems a little surprised by that, and a blush creeps into her tan cheeks.

You decide to make light of the situation: "Yeah, so, since you're the expert on these things - the fact that there's film of me riding a black guy's cock and sucking a hispanic guy off at the same time as part of my very first act of crime-fighting doesn't give me any kind of immunity from having to worry that my decisions are being influenced by unexamined racism, right?"

Snowflake's expression shifts from surprised and titillated back to the dour frown she usually wears. "Since you're cracking jokes about something as serious as prejudice, then I'm going to have to say that's a fairly obvious 'no', Thunderbird."

You snicker and shrug. "Yeah, but really though... when it comes to that kinda stuff there should be no secrets between us." You put your arm around her shoulder and start leading her towards the cafeteria. "I can show we're bonding as a team and learning to trust eachother by saying, for example, that even though they were selfish pigs who just wanted to use me for pleasure, I still got off with those two thugs. So tell me: who was better? Griffineagle, or Mr. E?"

Snowflake bites her lip and looks down at her feet as she walks. "Is that really necessary? I mean... uh... oh, fine. Griff, definitely Griff. E was nice and very much a gentleman in a way that's sweet and infuriatingly reactionary at the same time, but... before I joined this socially backwards, prejudice ridden League, one of the main things I had in mind was that it'd be really... interesting to meet up with a guy who is so strong he can..." she brings her hand up to her face and sighs, showing a stereotypically girlish side very much at odds with the gruff, tomboyish (or androgynous, as she'd prefer to say) way she presents herself, "...pick you up with one hand and toss you around like a toy. When he grabbed me by the neck, it was just... mmmph." She looks at you suspiciously. "You're not going to tell anyone I said something so... so stereotypical, right?"

Laughing as you walk with her, you shake your head. "Hahaa, oh, it's not like I have any room at all to be gossiping about what's made anyone else feel good. I always thought my mother was being unfair when she treated me like I was a total degenerate but I've come to realize, yeah, she's pretty much right. That's part of why I need Dr. Rainbow back so much. To be a moderating influence. So, yeah, because this 'Shush' guy might show up again or Red Balloon might bring it up, there's something I should tell you about some of the fucked up things I've done in the past. I can pretty safely say that you're on the 'pro-choice' side of the aisle, right Snowflake?"

"Uh, yeah? Obviously? Pregnant persons should-" she starts.

"Yeah, yeah. So anyway, here's what happened..."

You explain the whole sordid story to Snowflake as the two of you go down to the cafeteria. As you finish and sit down with your food, she makes a sour face.

"What?" You look at her, feeling a little defensive. "C'mon, I was 19. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with my sexuality, right? Even if it did take the form of meeting up with anonymous men from an internet message board. I definitely did NOT know it was my stepdad in that hotel room. He was the one cheating, I wasn't doing anything wrong. And although it's true I should've said something about wearing a condom or whatever, he was being way more irresponsible not to-"

"No, it's not that." Snowflake says. "I agree, Thunderbird, it doesn't seem that bad. I'm talking about that." she points to your tray where a chicken-fried steak and gravy sits next to some creamed spinach and carrots.

"Huh?" you're genuinely baffled.

Snowflake points to her own tray where there is some curry with tofu and rice. Truth be told, part of the reason you'd wanted to come down here with her is because curiosity about what ethnicity she is keeps nagging you and you thought her food choices might give you some clue. It's impossible to tell by looking at her if she's latino (or 'latinx' as she'd no doubt prefer), african american, or what. The fact that she went for tofu seems to maybe suggest she might be of south asian descent although it's still far from certain.

"Uh...?" you shake your head slightly, indicating you still don't understand.

Snowflake sighs huffily and narrows her eyes. "This team we're on is called the 'Weather Watch' and is themed around weather and climate. Aside from defeating criminals and villains we're supposed to be spreading awareness about the environment and the health of the atmosphere. Don't you think you should be setting a good example by making plant-based choices for your diet? Do you know how many greenhouse gases were produced just so privileged Americans like you could casually order up beef like that?"

You glance over your shoulder to where Red Balloon has set up well away from you - near where several handsome male heroes are in easy flirting distance. There's a huge portion of spaghetti and meatballs on her plate, which she slurps up while winking at them and teasingly licking some of the meaty spheres.

Damn. Between Dr. Rainbow (who is also vocally vegan) and Snowflake here, you've finally found an area of solidarity between you and Red Balloon. "Maybe I won't kick her off the team after I manage to stop that little imp guy she's made a demonic bargain with," you say subsonically to yourself. "I could use some backup on this. I need my protein, dammit."

Before you can get any further, a familiar and unwelcome sight comes over. It's Beast Beauty, the shape-shifting animorph, wearing a frilly pink apron over her bodysuit. Seeing her immediately reminds you that as tiresome as Snowflake's preachy PC morality is, the exact opposite of it is even worse. You don't think she's encountered Snowflake much yet - briefly, you wonder if you should try to head off the obvious incoming conflict or just sit back and watch the fireworks.

However, Beast Beauty is uncharacteristically downcast. "Oh. Hello, Thunderbird. I'm really glad I could give you some small kinda comfort in a real bummer of a time like this with my cooking."

You have just finished pulling the mask part of your costume off and setting it aside so you can eat. "Yeah... well, don't spread it around too much but thanks to your 'platonic best friend' Green Streak I plan to have Dr. Rainbow back here where she belongs before, uh, the cock crows." You smirk. Surely making bird puns will eventually get tiresome but for the moment, it's still coming naturally.

Beast Beauty grimaces. "Uhhhh, ohh man. Heavy stuff, sis. Yikes. I'm guessing you haven't heard the latest about her? It's kind of a worst-case scenario."

A chill runs down your spine and the fork falls from your limp fingers. "Wait... no. No way. You don't mean... they didn't..." You feel like your heart is about to stop. Dear, sweet Dr. Rainbow! The gentlest and most innocent person in the world! Would those animals really...?

"Yeah, I'm afraid so. They..." in a complete departure from her usual clownish demeanor, Beast Beauty looks soulful and tears glisten in her eyes, causing her to sniffle and brush them away. "I'm so sorry to be the one to have to tell you this Thunderbird... but they..." she sighs theatrically as you're already thinking about how all bets are off on bringing Queen of Hearts to justice non-fatally if this means what you think it means and hissing through your teeth about how you're going to 'tear that psycho bitch's head off and shove it up her own ass'...

"...made Dr. Rainbow star in a porn movie and released it." Beast Beauty finally says with a moan. "I'm so sorry Thunderbird! I feel partially responsible for this! I have to confess that I let Cheshire Huntress escape in the confusion, and..."

Before she can continue you interrupt Beast Beauty with a huge sigh of relief and an awkward squawk of a laugh as you pick your fork back up and stab it into the fried steak. Snowflake gives you a nonplussed glare. Beast Beauty looks a little annoyed at your flippant reaction.

"Shit, Beastie. You scared me half to death there, you weirdo! I thought you were going to say they cut her head off or something. She was all in one piece in this video, right?" you say.

"Um," Beast Beauty furrows her brow. "I totally don't like being all judgmental and stuff, but what the heck, Thunderbird? You're acting like what I said is no big deal!"

You do feel a little guilt to have her call you out like that, and you react defensively. "Ah... that is... Shit, it's Dr. Rainbow, right? I absolutely love and adore her. But her record of crime-fighting is... It's not anything that hasn't happened to her before, after all. When she was my sole partner a month or so ago, there was one time on patrol when I was moving through some air vents to outflank some drug dealers... I took my eyes off her for less than five minutes and the moment I dropped down to spring the ambush, the first thing I see of her is those cute rainbow stockings of hers wrapped around some 250 pound gorilla of a man's waist, with her rainbow-and-unicorn print panties dangling around one of her ankles. Before I could even shout a battle cry and go in and kick ass, the dealer was grunting, like..." you shift your voice down using your powers into a perfect re-creating of the thuggish gang leader's voice: "'Uuughh, I'm cumming, I'm cumming!'"

That gets you several weirded out or annoyed looks from other random heroines but you continue. "Honestly, I was kind of relieved that time to see that, after I finished kicking his ass, that guy was one of the rare few criminals who at least had the decency to put a condom on. Especially since that was before we had access to La Petite Mort's contraceptive robot things. Damn, I really wish Petite Mort would get her butt out of sickbay and make some more of those things already, since we're going on a mission and, judging by what you say, Beastie, it sounds like Doc is probably going to need one ASAP?"

"Thunderbird!!" Snowflake raises her voice. "I can't believe you! You were making all those nasty threats towards Red Balloon during the attack when we first lost track of Dr. Rainbow, and this is your response? That's disgusting! I mean for fuck's sake! Even Beast Beauty, the worst hero in the whole League, is offended that you're just brushing off the fact that a nice person like Dr. Rainbow just got... sexually assaulted!"

"Wha?" Beast Beauty says. "Nah, that's not it dude. There's nothing surprising about a man taking advantage of the fact that an unprepared female tried to get in a fight with him and taking what he wants from her, as long as he doesn't do her any real harm. What people call 'rape' nowadays is just how the world worked for 99% of the history of the world and stuff. Kinda hypocritical to say 'oooh that's so bad' when you probably wouldn't exist if some caveman hadn't dragged your great great-to-the-max grandma off, you feel me? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't call it a GOOD thing or nothin'. Certainly not something I would wish on myself or any of my friends. I'd totally put a stop to it if I could, but sometimes it just really do be that way."

Snowflake's jaw drops in horror and she stares in mute shock and fury at Beast Beauty. Beast Beauty doesn't seem to notice and continues. "Nah. I mean, I had been hammering things with her out for what coulda been one of the biggest causes of Dr. Rainbow's career! Confronting the public health crisis of pornography! And now, like, every time she'd try to do anything about it people would be saying she was a hypocrite 'n stuff!" she rubs a hand on her forehead and sighs. "Man, this is partly my fault. Like, karmically. Just the other day I decided to get some well-justified revenge on Cheshire Huntress for what she helped do to my previous team and organized a little gangbang party for some of my fanboys here in the HQ. I figured it would be alright to record it to threaten Chessy with if she ever tries to infiltrate the HQ again, since she's, like, invisible and stuff... so it wouldn't corrupt any guys who happened to watch it and risk turning them into passive porn-consuming beta males. Like, what dude wants to watch a bunch of dicks thrusting into empty space? Unless he's a faggot or something."

"Hrhghhh... rughghkkk... ffhhhhhhh..." Strangled noises come from Snowflake's mouth as she struggles to find words. "I am literally shaking right now..." she finally manages in a low voice.

But Beast Beauty just ignores her and goes on rambling. "I realized I'd made a mistake but that damn degenerate pornographer C.C. up in the video archives had already confiscated it, and said he needed to hold onto the video just in case it was needed for 'those' archives of his...." she looks over to you. "Hey, Thunderbird! Since you're her team leader, I think you'd have authority to go ahead and collect that video the Wonderland Warriors sent us, from the communications center, before C.C. can get his greasy paws on it and make any archival copies. Which he probably will claim to be needed, since although Rainbow is only on there getting worked over by a female villain - gross and fucked up, I know - there was some proper mating with another captured heroine, 'Ajax Angel' or something like that, who C.C. would use as an excuse to add the vid to his sicko collection."

As usual, you struggle to parse the madness Beast Beauty is barraging you with and pick out the parts that might actually be relevant. "Wait a second... archives? There's some kind of a collection of porn movies starring heroines, right here in the headquarters?"

Beast Beauty nods, looking vindicated. "Yeah! There totally is! I mean, I guess it's kinda supposed to be a secret? They always told us in the Big 7 not to spread it around. But you're B-ranked now, right Thunderbird? I think that means you can get clearance if you ask. It'd be bad enough if it was just stuff made by villains. Or, um, momentarily misguided heroes." she makes a silly face and flicks herself on one of her pointed ears. "Ooof. But anyway, that sicko C.C. actually uses some secret method or another to retroactively capture video of it when, uh, certain 'consequential' acts involving a hero or heroine take place. He claims it's because of some kind of government regulation or something but it smells like bull shit to me, and I've got the nose of a bloodhound!"

You furrow your brow. "Archive... ugh... do they have the recording of my, uh, first patrol up there?"

"Hmm..." Beast Beauty chews on one of her fingertips. "Now that you mention it... on the one hand that would have been, like, a hundred or two hundred days ago, right Thunderbird? Back when you were a different kinda bird? I dunno, I'm bad at math. And time. But I think I did overhear that beta loser, Asphalt, talking about 'checking out that recent video with the hot redhead in the leotard and the domino mask' just a couple of days ago!"

Damn! Does this mean that more than a few heroes have been jerking themselves off to that humiliation you've tried to forget? Complicated feelings flood you. It's mortifying but... if you're being honest with yourself, also perhaps a bit flattering?

"Wait a second..." you say to yourself in a low voice. "Elliot and those photos of the red haired girl at the clinic... shit, it would be just like him to turn around and try and show those to Mom, anyway.... maybe I can find some proof up there that whoever that heroine was, she had nothing to do with me..." You look up to Beast Beauty. "Could you tell me where I can find this archive? I've got a couple hours to kill until Green Streak is scheduled to pick us up. I might as well make sure Doc's humiliation doesn't get seen by any more heroes than it has to be, and maybe see if I can tie up a loose end of my own while I'm at it."

"Snowflake," you say as you stand up, taking your plate with you, "I'm taking this to go. You wanna catch up with me later?"

"No. I'll come with you." Snowflake says in a low, menacing tone as Beast Beauty flounces off. "I think I lost my appetite."