You and Dr. Rainbow fend off Red Balloon and decide to work off this frustration while awaiting your chance...

"Wait a second... Thunderbird? Where are we going?" Snowflake asks as you go marching right past the video archive.

"Taking the long way around. There's something else I have to take care of first." you say casually as you acrobatically toss the video into the return. You then speak to Snowflake via whispers using your power: "Also, we need to wait a little while for camera-head to let his guard down. My sonar just sensed that there are several other people in that video archive room right now. Probably other heroes or security. We need to catch him when he's alone."

You and your two teammates continue down the halls and down an elevator to the first floor. "Why the fuck are we going to the dormitory areas?" Snowflake asks impatiently.

With a rush of air, an incredibly curvaceous and buxom woman in a helmet and a black latex leotard with white-and-red stockings floats out into the hallway. Red Balloon, of course.

"Hi again, Red Balloon!" Dr. Rainbow says in a cheerful voice as always, as if nothing were wrong. "I'm so glad you changed your mind about trying to tattle on Thunderbird for doing some slightly naughty things! And I'm even more glad you didn't un-ethically report some unsubstantiated claims you mentioned in your letter, while claiming they were true!"

R.B. is so stunned that when Dr. Rainbow skips and hops over to her and gives her a hug (which produces a loud squeak, on account of all the latex) that she does a double take. "Miss Rainbow! Ugh! Please get OFF me!" Red Balloon sways her backside and booty-checks Dr. Rainbow away from her, lurching towards you in the air.

Unfortunately, unlike a real balloon, this woman isn't gone after finally being 'pricked' once (by your conniving blackmailing scumbag of a stepbrother, no less). She dramatically gasps and puts a hand up to her mouth. "I cannot belieeeeeve this! You're coming back here as if nothing is wrong, Thunderbird? I hope you're here to ask if I have any good turns of phrase for your resignation letter, instead of trying to do something stupid~"

You crack your knuckles.

"Hey... wait a second." Red Balloon giggles. "Don't think you can scare me bluffing like that. If you start a fight with me in heeeeeeeere, that will just bring the Big 7 down on you faster, hee hee!" she gives you a very smug smirk.

"I don't need to because you won't say shit to Maiden America." you say.

"Oh, I would just loooooooooove to hear why you think that is!" Red Balloon says in her insufferable squeak of a high-pitched voice.

"Because I will drag your career to hell with mine, bitch." you say matter-of-factly.

"Oh my!" Dr, Rainbow puts a hand over her mouth. "Um, Thunderbird? Perhaps we can make this a bit less confrontational...?"

"I very much d-" Red Balloon begs speaking but you shut her up by aiming your sound-amplifying power glive right at her, making her cringe.

"I know about the deal you made with the little demon-talk-show-host guy, Mr. Magopolis." you say. "I've got it recorded. Maybe you should have paid attention when La Petite Mort was explaining all the recording functions in these suits? You do realize that turning the recording off doesn't get rid of what's already been recorded, right?"

"What? Recorded? I didn't consent to that! My lawyer will-EEK!" Red Balloon starts to complain but you charge up your sonic weapon, making her lose her composure and flinch again.

You continue: "AND if you're planning to rely on him to back you up, you can tell that piece of shit 'Shush'," you say defiantly, "that I've kept records of all the shit he pulled since five years ago. Including the photos he sent me yesterday to try and **** me for the most despicable reason anyone has ever blackmailed their own family, for the second fucking time!"

Red Balloon looks over her shoulder towards her quarters and gulps loudly. "You have a lot more to lose than he does." she hisses in a low voice, narrowing her eyes.

"Sorry, actually, I was burying the lede here, but I don't really care that much about your scheme. It's way down the list on my priorities. I'm coming to the climax of a chain of clues that started with my first patrol." you say. "So here's what I came here to say: I'm officially declaring a state of emergency for the Weather Watch."

"WHAT?!" Red Balloon's jaw drops in dismay.

"That means until the end of the current crisis, all disciplinary investigations yadda yadda yadda are on hold, and any and all measures I deem necessary are to be taken. When the current crisis is ended, I'll have to answer to a superhero tribunal for invoking an emergency anyway, so you can throw whatever accusation you want at me then."

"This is bullshit! She can't do this, can she?" Red Balloon asks desperately.

Snowflake shrugs. "I've done a lot of studying of the League's prejudiced bylaws, and I'm pretty sure she can, yes. Just another example of elitism run amok in the League of Propriety."

"So," you poke Red Balloon in one of her big, squishy tits, "You can either join my investigation, or, at the very least, stay out of the way. I'd honestly probably prefer the latter."

"What 'emergency' are you even talking about?" Red Balloon protests. "The Wonderland Warriors base is being raided right now, and all kidnapped superheroines have been recovered, including Aegis Angel and Sister Spray! And, uh, whatever her name is with the bikini and the medieval knight helmet."

"Just 'Shining Knight', I think." you chime in.

"WHAAAAAT EMERGENCY?!" A wind blows through the room and a small crackling thundercloud with sparks of lightning popping off of it manifests over Red Balloon's head.

"A 'code 97': Infiltration of the highest echelons of the League of Propriety by a being of inscrutable evil." you say confidently. "Look it up if you don't belive me."

"Yeah, that's right!" Snowflake steps forward. "That asshole Jack of Hearts! He has a lot to answer for."

You shake your head. "No, Snowflake. That guy, whoever he is, is just a pawn. It's all the way at the top."

Red Balloon tends to sweat a lot to begin with, on account of all the latex she's wearing. And of being a bit on the plump side, even if it is in what millions of horny guys across the country think are all the right places. But right now, she is clearly sweating way above her usual quota. She conjures up a gust of air to fan herself, but that just makes it more obvious.

"I need to... confer with someone! Excuuuuuuuse me, Thunderbird!" A sudden breeze sucks her in through the doorway she just left like a real balloon getting sucked into a ventillation shaft, and the door slams shut.

"Wow!" Dr. Rainbow applauds. "Even though it used some hurtful words, you managed to resolve the conflict without anyone resorting to ****, Thunderbird! I think that's a real victory!" she leans in and gives you a hug. "Now we're a team again, right?"

"I wouldn't say that. But she and Elliot will be too wrapped up getting their story straight to cause us any trouble." you say. "I won't need that long. I'm getting to the bottom of this today."

"Alright, Thunderbird, I have to ask," Snowflake says, shaking her head. "How, exactly did you know that Red Balloon was going to pick right now to go off to tell Maiden America what you did? Did you fucking turn the spy cameras in these suits Mort made back on, or something?" She runs her hands down her sexy, curvaceous body barely hidden by the midriff-exposing white bodysuit she wears.

"Actually I was going to just avoid her. I was hoping to let Julia sandbag her on the electronic end instead of having to confront Red Balloon face to face." you say. "I came down here for a different reason."

"You... huh? Why?" Snowflake asks, even though you are already walking down the hall again. A couple more corners and you come to a different dormitory door and pound on it with your hand.

After a minute, it slides open. Standing in the doorway is a rugged-looking guy in a sort of snazzed-up version of a coal miner's attire, with a glittering crystalline pickaxe slung over his back. He's always a bit smudged-looking and has a perpetual five-o-clock shadow.

Mineshaft. A low-key hero you and Red Balloon had a brief interaction with previously, when you flirted with him to prove a point.

"Thunderbird?" he looks surprised to see you. "Hey, listen, I'd love to talk, but there's a potential crisis I'm working on here. A shady corporation is trying to recover fossils from an extinct race of super-dinosaurs in order to clone them, and I'm kind of on a race-against-the-clock situation here."

"Oh." you say nonchalantly. "That sounds important." without being asked, you barge right into his room, pulling Dr. Rainbow behind with you by her hand.

"It is, it is- Yes, Andre, I'm still on the line," Mineshaft says hurriedly to his communicator. "Just a second, alright? Yes, Andre, I heard you - shoot exploding plasma rocks from their horns. It sounds really dangerous..."

Mineshaft looks up at you and Dr. Rainbow. "Thunderbird, I, uh, I'd still love to talk to you again, but if you're hoping to form a strike **** for this dino-clone situation," he cringes uncomfortably and sucks air through his teeth, "I kinda already made a commitment to the Glory **** that I was going to call on them if I needed backup for a big disaster. They offered me a slot on the team, and it seems like your Weather Watch is doing the all-girls thing, so..."

"Oh, no, man, I totally get you." you say, holding up your hands. "It's the same for us right now. Total crisis. I won't take too much of your time. Can we talk for a second?" you gesture towards his communicator.

"Thunderbird," Mineshaft smiles awkwardly and cocks his head to the side. "I'm sorry, but I just talked to Raven Woman as acting League leader for the moment, and she really wants me to get out ahead of this whole dinosaur thing. She says the city desperately needs a day with no large scale disasters..."

"I totally understand..." you say... and as you speak, you un-cross your legs, showing there the crotch portion of your bright yellow romprs is still torn open, exposing the pink labial lips of your pussy. "It's just that I've gotten dosed with a powerful aphrodisiac, and I was really hoping you could spare a few minutes to help me and my bisexual friend-with-benefits sidekick Dr. Rainbow work out our excessive arousal with the help of that mighty stalagmite you've got in your pants." Your tone is completely nonchalant and causal.

*KLANG* The walkie-talkie-like communicator that just fell to the floor with a resoundign clatter keeps sqauwking as the guy on the other end tries to get Mineshaft's attention: 'M.S.? M.S., can you hear me? Hey, I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to keep transmitting from this hidden server before CretaceousTech catches onto me, are you ready to-"

With a crunch, Mineshaft brings his heavy boot down right on top of the communciator, crushing it into a pile of scrap. He swaggers forward without a word and grabs you by your waist, using his moderate-level super strength to pick you up off your feet. Dr. Rainbow is likewise nabbed around her waist, and the determined hero immediately turns around takes a few steps, and tosses the both of you onto his king-sized bed - covered with a tacky blanket with a detailed map of the Appalaichan mountains printed on it. There is a rattle as he starts to undo his overalls, a huge grin on his face.

"Are you serious? What the fuck, Thunderbird?" Snowflake, still in the doorway, gapes in indignant astonishment.

"Yeah, you've got the idea!" You're going to have to replace this version of your Thunderbird costume anyway so you might as well have an excuse to take it off. You throw aside your glove, kick off your boots, and unbutton the cuffs on your romper, peeling it off your perfectly toned body and tossing it aside, leaving you in nothing but your facemask.

"Can I at least... I mean, why did you go out of your way to exclude me?" Snowflake is blushing again, hands on her hips.

"Sorry, Snowflake! Three's company, four's a crowd!" you shout at her as you start yanking off one of Dr. Rainbow's thigh-high boots while she gasps in astonishment. "Go find that metal-face guy or something! This one is TAKEN!" you wrap your hand around the 'shaft' that Mineshaft has just exposed and start jerking it to hardnes.