The Candidates

After an hour (and finishing her nuts), Fantasia Blackheart has her A list: Doctor Bimbo, Herself, Jurassica, Cowgirl, and Iron Fox. Of those, she really only NEEDS herself and the doctor on the team… but it takes at least three to get certified by the International Society of Supers (not strictly required, but it helps with government types to be registered), and four or five is generally preferred.

Jurassica is on the list because she's a melee powerhouse and a shape shifter. Fantasia expects she'll simply throw off most of the side effects when returning to human form, and will of course lay down the pain as a giant T-Rex, velociraptor, triceratops, or whatever fits the room; she can scout well due to the abilities to be something extra small and talk to birds; and she's an all-terrain hero, because there's no shortage of swimming, flying, or burrowing beasts she can copy.

Cowgirl is… well, she's already a busty blonde slut. Dr. Beaux's side effect will basically be business as usual for her beyond the different accent… and she's not a BAD hero, just a little… well… she's going to fit right in around these parts. But she has that… nice enough ranged attack, perfect for nonlethal takedowns.

Iron Fox… is someone Ms. Blackheart was a bit ambivalent about. She's already a busty blonde woman, so she certainly fits the ‘barely affected’ criteria, and that high-tech armor she flies around in certainly makes her an effective hero… but the supergenius types with advanced technology always rub Fantasia the wrong way. Still… the good witch is sure she can suppress her side of that friction. Eyes on the prize, and all.

Ms. Blackheart also builds a B list: Heroes that should be able to pull their weight and aren't already attached to a super organization… but have one or two reasons why the good witch doesn't think they'll fit well with her vision: People who would probably have a problem becoming busty blonde women, those that are very likely to cause conflicts with the people she wants, those that carry some heavy public image baggage (her own is enough!), and so on: People that could be made to work in a pinch, but are not ideal.

She also forwards both her A and B lists to a good background check firm: If some of these people have skeletons in their closets, the Sorceress wants to know about them before committing. That done, Fantasia also writes up some vague plans about custom-ordering team headquarters and vehicles; setting up training plans, paychecks, and such. She plans to fund everything, but doesn't really want to advertise that she is technically breaking counterfeiting laws every time she pays cash (no one has ever found a difference between the money she pulls from nowhere and the real thing, though), and so sets herself some budget numbers. Paperwork done, she checks the time, nods, and leaves, getting back on her broom and flying to her temporary housing… where she washes up and goes to sleep.

In the morning, she gets up, washes, dresses, and heads out to her scheduled meeting with the doctor. The doctor isn't maintaining a secret identity, and neither is Fantasia, so she flies openly to his practice, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight on her back… and enjoying that she can *mostly* ignore the weirdness of Bimboton from a thousand feet up (the broom lets her fly quickly… but if she falls off, her boots will let her walk on the air, so she won't fall far). The “birds” still give her the creeps, though.

From the air, Dr. Beaux's office is not much to look at: A small parking lot (mostly empty; there's only two cars, both of which match ones from the research folder: One employee and the doctor only, no patients at the moment) in front of a converted rambler-style house, with an overgrown pool in the back surrounded by well-maintained gardens of Japanese maples… which seem distinctly at odds with the pool at first blush. Still, not her place to judge.

Fantasia makes sure to arrive ten minutes before the scheduled time, land in the parking lot, and walk in carrying her broom… which she leaves in the bronze umbrella stand. Glancing around the waiting room, Ms. Blackheart finds it feels more like a sitting room than a doctor's office: It has comfortable recliners, end tables, and desk lamps. Okay, there are the medical magazines lying about, and a woman in a nurses’ outfit… well, a stripper parody of one one… sitting behind a counter, typing away on a computer.

The sorceress recognizes the busty blonde bimbo nurse from the files, “Amber, right? I have an appointment with Dr. Bimbo.”

The blonde looks up from her computer, “Oh, Em, Gee, you like, actually came? And you're like… not lobbing fireballs or some junk?” She sighs, “Well, I'm totally out of the office betting pool. Like… have a seat Ms. Blackheart, we'll totally let you know when the doctor is like, ready for you. Would you like, like some tea while you wait?”

She expected **** and still showed up? The good witch almost frowns, but hey, she's just a stupid bimbo: “My appointment is in less than ten minutes, and the patient parking area is empty.”

“Oh, right, like, duh!” The woman laughs, smiling vapidly, “Okie dokie, like, you can totally suit yourself.”

The sorceress sits down and waits.

And waits.

Thirty minutes later, Fantasia frowns, “Amber, what's the hold up?”

“Oh, like, the boss will totally see you when he's ready,” the blonde bimbo smiles back.

‘What in Pelor's name is he up to? Doesn't he know who he's dealing with?! I should…’ Ms. Blackheart starts boiling, and then realizes: ‘He's not slighting me, Dr. Beaux is testing me. Everyone expects me to be just like all the other Blackhearts. That's why minimum staff and no patients. The dictor is expecting a fight, and probably loaded for bear.’ The youngest scion of the Blackheart family sighs, “I'll take that tea now, if the invitation is still open.”

“Why, it totally is! Please hold for like, five minutes…” the bimbo gets up out of her chair and walks through a door behind her.

True to her word, five minutes later, she is back: No longer dressed like a stripper, but in a silk kimono, her hair up in long golden pins, and no shoes. Focusing, she speaks clearly, “This way, please… and do please remove your shoes.”

The Sorceress frowns, but obeys, following the woman through a door into a short hallway, which leads to a a sliding door, past which is a full Japanese tea room, with a full chadōgu set ready and waiting. The aparent tea master indicates a carpet, upon which the good witch sits, confused. The ‘bimbo’ performs a full four hour Chadō, flawlessly, in unaccented Japanese… although she is clearly concentrating on her words more than most practitioners of the tea ceremony.

When it is finally over, the woman relaxes and smiles, “Like, the doctor will totally see you now, this way…” and leads the very confused, but remarkably relaxed, woman to the doctor's office….