You find out their backstory and give the younger of the hard-boiled duo some helpful advice!

"Alright buddy," the muscle-bound bruiser says to the young Asian man, "I know it's asking a lot to have you make sure none of these three supergirls get into trouble. " He winks, making Daisaku look embarrassed.

"So, I'll take one of them with me to watch my ass, just in case Matty's crew managed to tell us and are looking for some payback. We're gonna need to lay low for at least a few days after pissing off the mob that badly so I'll stock up. Hmmm..." Mike starts looking at you and your fellow superheroines appraisingly.

Somehow, you doubt a tactical consideration of your superpowers and skill sets is what's going through his mind.

"Of course it should be me!" Magik Knight says proudly with a sensual role of her tongue. "My magic has returned and I am quite capable of taking us there and back in the blink of an eye."

"Oh, actually.. " Magik Knight corrects herself, a sly smirk growing on her lips, "a little while to.. recharge before bringing us back. But I'm sure you'll have no problem covering me." She gives you a wink as well as if her meaning wasn't obvious enough.

You knit your eyebrows. Time for you to show some leadership. "Magik, dang it, you just got through telling the rest of us that jumping long distances like that isn't safe for you, and I've seen that it sure ain't firsthand! But even if it was, you popping out of nowhere with this side of beef is about the furthest thing from inconspicuous!"

"I'll go!" Wushu Panda thrusts her hand up. "My silent-shadow-steps technique will make it impossible for anyone to hear me coming or going!"

"No, no." Mike shakes his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're warming up to us-"

That suggestion provokes some incomprehensible swearing, of course. But he keeps going: "-but you're getting quite a reputation in this part of town, kid. Y'know... that skylight with the panda symbol? Every punk and gangster is gonna have his eyes peeled for you, with the way you've been hittin' the pavement night after night. And I'm kinda hard to miss myself. Daisaku? Looks like this one's on you."

Wait just a second, you think to yourself. Didn't he have a hard time recognizing Panda when he recognized you? Is he making up excuses on the fly because he wants to get Daisaku out of his hair so he can put the moves on... Magik Knight? Panda? Or... you? That last possibility makes you a little nervous.

"I'll go with him!" you say. Daisaku himself looks surprised and gets a deer-in-headlights expression. Your cheeks redden a little. "I mean - if we get into trouble or pick up a tail, I can literally split up and lose 'em!"

"Oh, I didn't think of that." the young japanese-american guy says. "That's pretty clever, Miss Lynn!"

"Nice, nice." Mr. Moreno says in his usual easygoing growl. "And I'll have a few words with Magik Knight here about how she's gonna pay me back for chucking a bunch of my gear and supplies into magic-hell."

"Hah!" Ilyana smirks and flicks her wrist at him dismissively. "Pay YOU back? I was just considering how large the invoice I give you for cleaning services should be!"

"Hahaha! If you're runnin' a business now, maybe you should put on a maid costume, baby! I'd pay big bucks to see THAT!"

"Hmph! You pig!" Ilyana slaps him across the face, but she's smirking. "Is my current outfit not enough for you~?"

...

Fortunately, it seems Daisaku has a back-up car, so you and he going out is a lot less conspicuous than in Mike's big, bulky mobile armory. The young guy in the drivers seat seems to be determined not to look at you.

"Hey... why're so quiet and shy all of a sudden? Ain't you ever seen a superheroine before? I find that pretty darn hard to believe, in a city like this!" you say, suddenly self-conscious of your skimpy white swimsuit-like costume. It doesn't bother you at all when crude, lecherous guys leer at you, but somehow, this young man averting his eyes makes you feel self-conscious.

"Well sure, but I've never worked with one before. You're, uh, probably wondering why me and Mike are doing this whole, uh, unauthorized crime fighting thing."

"Oh. Uh, sure?" you ask. Actually you'd been trying to think of an excuse to brag about your own heroic deeds without your bitchy teammates around to make cutting remarks.

"Fact of the matter is, Miss Lynn - oh, uh, it is 'Miss', right?"

"Oh! Uh, yup. I'm not hitched or anything. I don't have a boyfriend either, been too busy with the whole crime-fighting shebang!" you say with an awkward smirk.

"Good! I mean, uh, the crime-fighting, yeah." he says. "Anyway the fact is that the police department in this city is totally rotten. It's not because you hero girls, uh, and guys, aren't doin' a good job or anything like that. You're great. But y'know, even with the Millennium Challenge going on, there's only a few hundred heroes in this city. That sounds like a lot, but this is a city of about three million people, not counting the suburbs. Including somethin' like a hundred thousand criminals and gang members."

"Holy smokes! That many?" you ask, a little shocked.

"No joke, Miss. That's something like three hundred bad guys for every hero. But try tellin' the police commissioner that. Whenever somethin' bad is happening, he always says 'Let the costumed weirdos handle it, they want the glory anyway so make 'em earn it. If you see something bad on patrol, pass it up the chain and the League will get around to it in good time'."

Daisaku waves a fist for emphasis: "But the crooks have long since figured out that the League usually has bigger fish to fry. You know, like that, uh, floating glowing brain from last year who held the city hostage with a neutron bomb?"

"You mean 'Atomic Brain'?" you ask.

"Yeah, exactly." Daisaku nods. "Every organized crime outfit has figured out that heroes don't have time to investigate and gather evidence, and they don't care if their mooks and soldiers get beat up. So they've all moved in and set up rackets here because it's so profitable. And they got their slimy tentacles in the police department, too! Half the department is on the take! Mostly the upper half! My first assignment was to bust a cop who'd been accused of corruption, racketeering, pimping, arms dealing, and lots and lots of excessive use of ****."

"Mike?" you ask.

"Yup, you got it." Daisaku nods. "Except I found out it was all bullshit! Uh, except that last one. He gets a little over-enthusiastic sometimes. But who wouldn't, havin' ta deal with the scum of society night after night? Internal Affairs told me to pin all those raps on him, and I told 'em to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Uh, pardon my language, sorry. It's been a while since I was, y'know, spending time around ladies."

"Hehehehe!" you giggle, giving him a clap on the shoulder (and 'accidentally' letting one of your boobs brush up against his shoulder). "Partner, I haven't been called a 'lady' since the last time I was at my grandmaw's house! Don't sweat it. I don't mind if you talk about sticking things anywhere."

The guy makes a sort of nervous stammering sound. Oh, oops - that came out sounding kind of flirty, you realize. Oh well. Apologizing would just be more awkward.

"Oh hey," he says nervously, "here we are! Nice little grocery store with an owner who owes me and Mike for busting the guys who'd been shaking them down. They'll keep things quiet."

"Uh..." he looks down at your fit, curvaceous body barely concealed by your skimpy costume. "I'm guessing you don't have a wallet in those cowboy boots? No worries, take mine." he hands you his. "And never mind the cost - you'll be more than payin' us back if you help us take down the gang that's been gunning for us. Us non-bulletproof guys have to be careful, you know?"

.....

On the way back, he starts asking you about... Wushu Panda. "So she's really out fighting crime without any superpowers or anything?"

You feel a little annoyed that he's asking about that obnoxious brat instead of you. "She likes to brag about it, but I'm calling bullshit on that. I've seen her run vertically up a fifteen-foot-tall stack of crates and jump twenty feet. I don't care if she ain't officially a 'metahuman' or whatever they call us, that kung fu stuff she does absolutely counts as a dang superpower."

"So is she... just a little suspicious, or does she really hate us?" he asks nervously.

At first you're about to protest that you just met Wushu Panda today and don't know her well. But.... annoying as it is to have this guy making use of his time alone with a girl as hot as you asking about somebody else, this could be a good thing. Panda is too prickly to work with effectively right now. She's never gonna simmer down just because you ask her to. But maybe a handsome guy like this will be able to get past her defenses in a way you can't.

"Nah, she doesn't really hate you. She's a pill to everybody. If anything, I think y'all two made a good impression on her. Especially you."

"Y-you really think so?" Daisaku's eyes go wide and he gulps, disregarding his own advice from earlier and neglecting to watch the road. "Maybe she's tsundere...' he says under his breath, not that you know what that word means.

"Shure she does!" you drawl. "And honestly partner, you'd be doin' me a favor if you got her in a better mood. I don't wanna be fighting with her and the bad guys at the same time. I think she's got a chip on her shoulder towards me on account of this whole 'team leader' thing but I reckon you can get on her good side."

"But how?" he asks, sounding quite genuine.

"Hmmm... well, my mama always said that the way to a man's heart is his stomach."

"Is that why you were volunteering to come make a supply run with me?" Daisaku says. So he does have a sense of humor after all.

"No!" you protest awkwardly. "Don't go teasing me now, I'm tryin' to help out! Anyway, I can't imagine a feisty firecracker like Panda wanting to cook for anyone else but I reckon it works the other way just as good! We got time to make one more stop out here, right? Here's what we'll do..."

....

A half hour later you and Daisaku are back at the hidden headquarters. "Alright boys and girls! Time for me to take the lead! Magik Knight might be good at cleanin' up, but with this special power of mine, I'll be a one-woman chuck wagon!"

"Hey, Lynn, honey, you're a guest! You don't gotta do that. I can throw something together. Besides, everything tastes good with beer!" Mike shuffles over, and puts a meaty hand on your shoulder.

"Uh... Mike," Daisaku clears his throat. "I didn't buy any beer. I think these ladies might be underage."

"I ain't!" you say defensively, putting your hands on your hips.

"Underage? C'mon, Dizzy," Mike cajoles, making Daisaku visibly wince at the use of such a patronizing pet name, "we're out here tryin' to stop murderers and terrorists! Besides, that didn't stop you the first time you asked me to buy you a twelve-pack after patrol!"

"S-shut up!" Daisaku's ears redden as he scrunches up his face. "We shouldn't be breaking laws if we can help it! And getting you drunk off your ass is NOT for the greater good!"

"Heh heh." you chuckle. "C'mon now, mister - we ought to save that for after the bad guys are all taken care of, don't you reckon? I got some cream soda instead. Now... Lynn? Get in there and fire up that range!" You scrunch your face up and... pop! It's easy and painless this time as you split a copy of yourself off.

And then an awkward moment ensues as you and the identical freckled, voluptuous short-haired blonde in front of you stare each other down. "Well? What're you waiting for? Get to it!" she snaps her fingers.

"Heck no! I'm the one who split you off of me so I wouldn't have to do i-" you catch yourself. "Oh, dang it. Fine, you lazy good-for-nothing copy. I'll get the prep started. But you better bring the rest of the groceries in! We're gonna need four pairs of hands to make enough, I worked up a heck of an appetite smashing Deathsmite's robot toy!"

"Mmm." Mike leans over to stare down at the shopping bag you're holding (ostensibly - he's actually staring down at your cleavage, and not very subtly either). "So what's cookin', good looking?"

"AHEM!" Wushu Panda raises her index finger. "I hope you realize, Lynn, that I am on a noble path of enlightenment with strict boundaries! Besides abstaining from ****, I cannot consume meat, stimulating spices, or odiferous foods such as garlic and onions! I hope you are not planning on preparing any of that?"

"Uh..." you smile awkwardly. "Well... um... my 'Uncle Ray's Famous Four-Alarm Chili' might contain a little tiny bit of, uh, all of those things. I'm sure I got something that'd be okay on its own."

Wushu Panda slaps her palm against her forehead. "Just... just give me a can of plain beans."

You wince harder than when you took an **** rifle bullet rescuing Panda from those mobsters a while ago. "There's no beans in this recipe... Uh, how about a can of pureed tomaters?"

Before the latest avalanche of foreign profanity can get past a few syllables, Daisaku holds up a paper bag. "Whoah, calm down Miss Panda! I thought that might be a little bit of a problem when Lynn told me what she was making so while she was runnin' through the grocery store, I made a secondary stop and got some fresh carrots, cup noodles, and tofu. I'm pretty handy with that stuff, it helped me survive on a rookie's paycheck with the rent costs in this city."

"Oh." Wushu Panda folds her arms over the perky bosoms barely concealed by her undersized panda-symbol tee-shirt and allows herself a small smirk. "That... would be much better. Thank you. I mean... I'm only saying thank you because it's polite! Not because I like you, you vigilante scum!" she adds hastily.

"Of course, of course." the slender young guy nods. "Oh, and I got a few packages of moon pies too, but those're mostly just for me. I hafta keep 'em hidden so Mike doesn't steal them, but I figure you wouldn't want something junky like that..."

"Who said that?!" Panda sputters indignantly. "Hand them over! I'll start with one of those!" she snatches the bag out of Daisaku's hand so quickly he only flinches away in surprise after she's already pulled one out.

"So you won't eat my delicious family recipe chili, but you'll stuff a bunch of cheap sugar and marshmallow down your throat?!" you ask, a little indignant.

Wushu Panda has already taken a huge bite out of one of the sweet cakes. "Nomf~ mmm... I'm a Buddhist, not a saint."

"Hmph!" Magik Knight teleports over and grabs the small paper bag. "I shall have the tofu as well. I want none of zis 'chili'." she says, as if it was a dirty word.

"What?!" you put your hands on your hips. "For chrissakes! Why? Are you a vegetarian too?"

"No, I just don't like spicy, fattening things. Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to devour half a cow and have it go straight to our chest!" she pokes one of your protruding boobs, making you screw your face up and pout.

"Don't worry one bit, Lynn. It ain't gonna go to waste. And don't go easy on the heat! You're never more alive than when you can taste ****, that's what I say!" the burly, testosterone-poisoned gunslinger says, shouldering aside his younger partner.

...

The kitchen in this place is large and well-appointed, since it was originally meant to serve a whole lot of people, and fortunately it's a lot cleaner than the rest of the place was. While your first three iterations start throwing together a pot of chili, you (er... one of 'you', anyway) gets grabbed by Daisaku and pulled aside. He leans close and whispers to you: "Wow! That worked great! How'd you know she was a vegetarian and stuff, or that she'd like the other things?"

You give a little snort and smirk. "I knew she'd find a problem with whatever I ended up making. So I figured get some tofu if she wants health food crud, and cup noodles if she's into easy. 'Sides, I can't take all the credit. Those moon pies were all you. Heck, if she doesn't get 'em all, I'm gonna sneak one. Everybody loves those. Except for high-and-mightly primma donnas like Ilyana, I guess."

"Uh..." Daisaku suddenly looks guilty. "Jeez. Y'know, I didn't mean it like this. It's not like I'm trying to get Panda to, to... I mean, I'm not that kinda guy, I just want her to be comfortable and all..."

"Hold that thought." you say with a smirk. "I think I hear Panda comin' into the kitchen here..." with no warning, you wrap your arms around the handsome young man and pull him close. He's an inch or two shorter than you, so his arms go stiffly and awkwardly around your sides while your sizable breasts mash themselves against his chest. And then, you reach over and give him a little kiss on the cheek.

Amusingly enough, the other three copies of you notice this, and stop what they're doing to giggle, clap and make 'Ooooh'-ing sounds. But one member of your audience is not amused.

"LYNN!" Wushu Panda is there, sure enough, and she gasps indignantly. "What... I... I thought you were supposed to be cooking in here, damn it!"

"I was, I was! She just grabbed me out of nowhere!" Daisaku protests.

"What's the big idea, Panda?" you say, giving her a sultry sway of your hips as you walk away from the stunned guy. "I was just giving a little thank-you hug to the feller who saved me from getting hauled off by creepy mobsters! Don't go making it a big deal, now~"

"W-w-whatever!" Wushu Panda is staring daggers at you from behind her black domino mask. "Just hurry up making your disgusting tomato-meat-slop! We still need to plan how we're going to actually win against Deathsmite this time!" and with that, she slams the door closed behind her.

You give him a thumbs up. But... he just keeps staring at you. You'd be lying if you said you weren't a little flattered.

"Hey!" one of the copy-Lynns elbows him. "You heard the girl! Get to it! I don't want Panda and Ilyana bitchin' up a storm while the rest of us are tryin' to dig in!"

.....

Although you're a little annoyed the other girls dissed your chili, it turns out to be a good thing that they turned up their noses at it. The other three copies of yourself refuse to re-merge before they start tearing into the pot of chili, which means that there's four statuesque women and a 250 pound brick shithouse of a man all devouring it at once. Not a single bit remains.

On several occasions, Mike tried to offer some to Magik Knight, telling her she needed to try it. That seemed to annoy her, as she gave you several dirty looks.

"Ahem!" Magik Knight clasps her hands. "If you are all finished doing your part to inflict a food shortage on the city, we cannot waste the rest of the night!"

"Eh... I think it's, like, one AM already? Maybe closer to two?" Daisaku observes weakly.

"What, you think villains are going to be doing anything at nine in the morning?" Magik huffs. "Those hours are for peasants and bankers! They will make their move tomorrow evening, and we need to be ready. If you two crude, unhygenic gangsters are going to be any help, you will need the assistance of a veteran of the League of Propriety, like myself! 'Leader' or not, Lickety-Split-Lynn - ugh, that name," she wrinkles her nose in disapproval, "...only had as much success as she did because of my training, so pay careful attention! Have either of you ever fought an opponent with superpowers before?"

Daisaku frowns, looking suddenly insecure. "Uh... no, I don't think so."

"I have!" Mike thumps his chest proudly. "I took down a low-level villain who had the power that he couldn't be killed, 'Masked Immortal'. Heh heh heh... eight shotgun rounds, six magnum bullets, twenty nine-mils, a grenade and a couple times gettin' run over with my car later, he found out that wasn't such a great superpower after all."

"Yeah, Mike, not gonna lie," Daisaku smirks, "I'm on your side and all, but you REALLY should've seen that 'police brutality' charge coming."

You consider pointing out that you're not actually sure that Lady Deathsmite has superpowers, herself, but that would only encourage Wushu Panda to get on her high horse again, so you take a different tack. "Yeah, and now that you mention it, I think we were caught off guard by some of that heavy firepower, today. It's a good thing Panda was able to do that healing pressure point mumbo-jumbo on me, even if she was a little ruder about it than she needed to be. Knowing you guys, I bet that whoever you managed to piss off is gonna put a lot of flying lead in the air when we go to deal with them."

"Mmm... that gives me an idea." Magik Knight says. "You boys have some criminal organization on your heels, da? Our leader, Lickety-Split Lynn, is more of a brawn-over-brains type..."

"Hey! I'm sitting right here!" you pout. And here you were thinking that your plan to help out Wushu Panda with her uptightness by getting her a little male attention was clever and a sign you shouldn't be underestimated! Too bad you can't point that out without spoiling it.

"...so I am not confident she will be able to track Lady Deathsmite down. And the League of Propriety? Hah! Even if they weren't handcuffed by their fear of that smug villain bitch's daddy coming out of retirement, if they got wind of this, my stupid brother would try and swoop in and 'protect' me to steal all my fame once again! So there is no point asking them."

"I don't wanna deal with that prissy little unpatriotic snob Petite Mort again, anyway..." you say. "I'm the only real red-blooded American on a team with a buncha dang foreigners. Uh, not talking about you guys, of course! Shoot, I really didn't mean that like a 'race' thing, I mean, Magik Knight over there is a blue-eyed blonde, you know what I-"

"No offense taken, babe." Mike smirks. "I grew up in this city. And my parents are from San Juan."

"I'm from New York, but that still wasn't a very nice thing to say, Lynn..." Daisaku mutters.

"Setting aside our redneck bonafides," Ilyana says with a roll of her eyes, "the point is, I think I can use YOUR enemies to track down OUR enemy! I will make them think it is their own idea. It is, how do you say, killing two birds with one rock? Just tell me where their hideout is and I will take care of the rest."

"Whoah... that's awfully risky, isn't it, Miss Magik?" Daisaku says with concern.

"Nonsense. I have more tricks than just teleportation, you know? Manipulating small-time cree-minals is one of my specialties. Lynn, do you not recall how easily I managed to place Wushu Panda and Arrowlette in peril to test your speed and intelligence, to see if you were worth the effort of mentoring?"

"Placed me in WHAT?!" Panda's cheeks puff out as she is consumed with fury at someone besides you for a change. "You mean YOU were the one who tipped those gun-runners off so they could ambush me?!!"

"Oh shit," you say, "Arrowlette! I forgot about her! Do you reckon she came out alright, Ilyana?"

"Of course she is. They were just some Yakuza. She can handle herself. Any heroine can escape from a few common thugs." Ilyana says.

///////////////

Many city blocks away, a petite blonde girl with a ponytail and in a red costume is barging into her apartment in a hurry, tossing her bow aside and yanking off the frilly white skirt she's wearing. She hurries into the bathroom. "Crap, crap, crap! I can't believe I had to take the train like this! Yuck, I can smell it from here!" She plops down on the toilet and spreads her legs wide. Two thick white trails of semen are running down her inner thighs.

Tensing up her tummy, the slender, athletic heroine grunts as she sticks a gloved hand down to her crotch and tries to scoop out the cum. "Augh! I can't believe that guy came so much inside me! What the hell happened to Magik Knight, anyway? She was supposed to be my backup!"

Pulling off her domino mask, the lithe blonde sighs. "I'm definitely gonna get those guys! The old man, that creepy incestuous lady, and that..." her cheeks blush red, "fucker with the thick dick. Yeah... think of ****. And the bust. They'll be in jail. This will all be fine. It's probably not that risky anyway. I mean, when was my last period anyhow?" she flicks some of the dribbling semen off her fingertips and counts off on her fingers. Her shoulders slump. "...fuck." she says in a resigned tone.