The name on the building, in view despite the rain, reads "Dix Technologies Labs."

In the loading bay, a large security team is surrounding a box being loaded off of a truck.  Three scientists in lab coats are behind them, urging them onward.

"Move it!  We don't want her to catch cold!"

Quicker, the security team carries the box inside the loading bay.  As they back away from it, it's revealed to be a cage.  Its lone occupant is a nude young woman, whose eyes shine brightly, like those of a cat.  Her ears are mutated slightly so that they resemble cat ears more than human ears, and eight thin stripes highlight the features of her face.  She snarls at the scientists as they approach her.

"Careful there.  She's got some bite."

"I know what I'm doing, just shut yer hole!"

The third scientist crouches down to take a closer look at the woman.  Slowly he smiles.

"Yes, my fine Indian girl.  Mr. McCordill will really like you.  You'll be a much better fighter than that Style chick who's hanging on his every word right now." (Ed. note:  For more on Style, see Issue #3, "Style is All That Matters")

The woman lashes out with her left hand, slicing the scientist on the cheek.  He backs away, shocked, but still smiling.

"Quite the shrew, I'd say.  Where'd we pick her up, anyway?"

"Outside of Bhopal.  One of our labs there is trying to measure the effects of the chemical spill seventeen years ago and picked her up.  Apparently, she had been orphaned and mutated by the spill."

The first scientist nods.  "Well, we'll start our work on her tomorrow morning.  It's getting late."

"I agree."  The scientists start walking out.

"Wait a minute, sirs!"  The security guard startles the scientists.  "One of you should stay behind, in case she has something wrong with her."

"Agreed.  I'll stay."  This coming from the scientist who she had cut.

"Sure, Kal.  She likes you!"  The other two scientists laugh as they walk out of the bay.  Kal seems steamed, but otherwise turns back to the security guard.

With three karate moves, the shadow figure, a woman, has knocked out the guard on duty.

Not hearing the guard's boots clang against the metal floor has startled Kal, watching the woman in the cage sleep.

"Lane?  You there, buddy?"

The only sound to be heard is loud thudding, a sickly thudding.  When a figure finally appears in the doorway, it's not Lane.  The shadow figure is still in silhouette, but her eyes can be seen, as well as her hand, holding a large serrated-edge knife dripping with blood.

"Holding a woman in a cage, are we?  Typical male."

The shadow figure charges Kal, who only has time for a short scream before she plunges her knife into his heart, killing him instantly.  A loud hissing is heard, which awakens the woman in the cage.  When she turns toward the door of the cage, it falls off: the hinges and lock have been melted off.

The shadow figure turns to the woman just before leaving.  "Go in peace, sister."  With the short time her face is in the light, the formerly-caged woman sees that her rescuer is wearing a mask.  However, she has no idea who the shadow figure is, and goes in peace, as instructed, running out of the loading bay on all fours.

In an alley on a cross street from where he's walking, a crouched figure catches his attention. He approaches the figure clowly, trying to get a closer look at whoever it is.  Finally, he gets close enough to figure out that's it's a woman lying in the street.  Taking off his trenchcoat (under which he's wearing a sweatshirt over his "work" attire), he wraps it around the woman, picking her up in his large arms.  She slowly rouses.

"Had a rough night, honey?"

The woman purrs.

"Ah, not up to talking.  Well don't worry, we'll get you someplace nice and warm."

Ramm carries her with him to the 7th Precinct wrapped in his trenchcoat.

"That's more like it, Dodge!  Now, use your position as an advantage!"

Dodge, Aeriel, Tomboy, Bulk, and Paragon are working their way through a gauntlet of dummies set up in a slalom-type course.  Everyone on the course is using their particular powers in unique ways: Dodge is zipping between dummies tipping them over, Aeriel is picking them up, Bulk is pummeling them, Tomboy is using her vast array of bodies to wreck them, and Paragon is whipping them with her tail.

"Watch yourself, Aeriel!  That suspect you're picking up could be armed!"

Aeriel turns to see Flea give this suggestion a little too late.  With a remote control in her hand, Flea sets off a mild electric charge in the dummy, which knocks Aeriel for a loop into the floor.  Using her position to the best advantage she can, she uses one of her wings to bat away the dummy as it falls.

"Remember that, kids!"  A buzzer goes off, signaling the end of their training session.  "All right, that's it for this morning.  Head over to the school for classes."

Tomboy, Bulk, Aeriel, and Dodge head for the door.  Paragon slithers back over with the rest of the team.

"Whaddya think, Jill?"

"Shelley, I'd have to say that you're the most at ease with your powers.  The rest of the team, well, they act like . . . can't think of a better word than 'kids.'"

"Jill, they are kids."

Cutup's interjection seems unwelcome.  "Don't you think I know that?!"

The conversation is interrupted by Ramm walking into the gym with his bundle in his arms.

"Guys, I think you'd better see this."

The rest of the team approaches Ramm, looking into the trenchcoat to see the woman looking around.  Flea comes up to the fore, as the expression of her face changes to show Ferret in control.

"Where did you find this woman, Jack Porter?"

"In an alley on my way this morning.  It looked like she'd been there all night."

Flea takes a cursory look over the body in Ramm's arms.  Finally she looks up.

"This woman is a mutant.  Not only that, she is extremely malnourished.  We need to get her food immediately."

"Take her to the cafeteria," comes from Cutup.  "I'll explain the situation."

"Where did you say you found her, Jack?"

"In an alley, why?"

Flea and Cutup walk in.  "I'll tell you why.  Dix Technologies just called in a multiple murder at one of their labs.  They said a cage was broken into, or more precisely, had the door melted off of its hinges."

"You're saying that she came from there?"

"That's my best guess.  Just from the way she eats."

Everyone turns back toward the woman, who looks up when she realizes she's the center of attention, her cheeks filled, with foor smeared all over her face.  She swallows hard, then jumps off of the table, sitting on her haunches next to Ramm.  Only then does anyone noice that she's in a spare costume of Sonic Boom's.

"Well, let's check it out, anyway.  Me and Meredith will meet you guys there."  Flea jumps out an upper-level window, with Sonic Boom blasting off right behind her.

Ramm, Cutup, and Paragon start heading for the door, toward the motor pool.  Suddenly, the woman jumps up on Ramm's back.  This surprises him.

"What's wrong, honey?  You wanna come along?"

Ramm tries to take her off his back, a move she responds to by unsheathing her claws and digging into his back.  Ramm's eyes go extremely wide.

"I guess you do." The group walks out of the cafeteria, the woman still clinging to Ramm's back.

"What's it look like right now?"

"Well, I dunno," starts Paragon.  "Lessee, there's blood spilled all over hell, we're all up to our butts in bodies, and there's only one dead guy here who's not a security guard.  Just your typical jaywalking case, Jill."

Flea gives Paragon a sidewise look.  "You're weird, Shelley."

Paragon smiles.  "Sorry."  Cutup and Sonic Boom suddenly call toward the group, who walk over to the area.

"Jill, we may have found something.  We were looking at the wounds to see what kind of weapon was used."

Sonic Boom starts signing.  "Look at their clothes.  It looks like something very big ripped through their shirts."

Flea takes a closer look at the wounds, and seeing what her sister is talking about, nods.

"Yup.  This and the damage to the cage pretty much wraps up who did this."

Paragon taps Flea on the shoulder.  "Uhhh, who, Jill?  I've been out of the loop for two years, remember."

Flea nods, understanding. "Sorry.  A while back, we encountered a huge woman who professes to be the savior of all things feminine.  She calls herself the Feminist." (Ed. note: Want to know more?  See Issue #4, aptly titled "The Feminist.")

"Definitely the Feminist.  The cage's hinges and lock have been melted off their bases.  Let's check the body."

Sonic Boom pulls off a sheet from the body closest to the cage and reveals the scientist, Kal.  The side of his face with the scratches is up, as is the massive stab wound.  Suddenly, the mystery woman hisses, leaping off of Ramm's back and arching her own back at the body.

"Something's really bugging her, Jack."  Paragon's getting nervous.

"Look at this."  Cutup points out the scratches on Kal's face.  "This isn't typical Feminist handiwork.  Did she get sloppy or something?"

The woman bares her fangs toward the body, unsheathing her claws.  Ramm picks up one of her hands, comparing her claws to the scratch.

"I'll tell you why.  That scratch didn't come from our perp, it came from the mystery woman here."  Ramm picks up the mystery woman, holding her limbs.  She puts up a bit of a fight, unsheathing her claws and slashing away at Ramm, but Ramm's impenetrable hide prevails, leaving him unscathed, yet wearing a shredded shirt.  The woman has tired herself out struggling against Ramm, and now lies in a frustrated sleep in her arms.

"Jill, we might have another perp.  Get your super-strength cuffs, the mystery woman was here."

"Jack, just because she was here doesn't mean she was another perp."

Cutup looks up at Flea.  "This victim has a scratch wound on his face which matches this woman's claws."

Flea and Paragon come over, inspecting the body and the mystery woman, lying asleep in Ramm's arms.  It appears to pain her, but Flea pulls her handcuffs out and places them around the mystery woman's wrists.

"I'm not sure she even knows English, Jill.  She might have come from that cage, and it was marked with some city in India."

Flea nods.  Just then, Cutup enters the room with a dark-skinned man in a suit, wearing the Indian flag on his left lapel.

"Jill, I noticed the location from the cage, and thought I'd call in a favor.  This is Giran Maeli, he's an official translator for the Indian delegation to the United Nations.  He lives around here, and since we can't figure out what this girl's saying, I thought we could use his help."

Flea and Ramm look at each other in shock, then turn back toward Cutup and Maeli.  "Have at it, Mr. Maeli. We'd appreciate any help you can provide."

"Thank you, Detective." Maeli sits down across the table from the woman, and begins speaking to her in her native language. "What is your name?"

The woman looks up. "What?"

"What is your name?"

The woman stands up. "I am Khalida."

Maeli smiles. "Well, we have a breakthrough. She said her name is Khalida."

"Ask her why she was at the lab."

Maeli turns back to the woman. "Why were you at the building in the cage?"

"I was taken from my family, the great tigers. The men took me, put me in a box, and brought me here."

"What happened last night?"

"A big woman freed me."

Maeli nods, then turns back to Flea, Ramm, and Cutup. "She said she was taken from her family, and that some men caged her up to bring her here. She also mentioned a big woman freeing her."

Flea nods. "That would be the Feminist."

At that point, Khalida suddenly pipes up in fractured English, "Go in peace, sister."

"That certainly sounds like her." Cutup turns to Maeli to thank him, only to see his furrowed brow, deep in thought. "What's wrong?"

"It's who she said her family was. She said that she was taken from 'the great tigers.'"

Ramm lifts an eyebrow. "I know what that means. Jill, we're dealing here with a feral child."

Flea nods. Paragon and Sonic Boom suddenly run into the room.

"Guys, we've got reports all over the switchboard of the Feminist being spotted at Eight Mile and Trumbull."

Flea turns away from the rest of the people in the room. "Let's roll!"

Ramm smiles, walking over to Khalida and uncuffing her. "I guess you're coming along with us, Khalida. Or maybe . . ." 

"I see the police still don't understand my mission."

"All we understand is that we have to take you in, Arshola!"

The two cops land. Flea looks worriedly between the Feminist and her sister, knowing full well what the Feminist does to those who "get in her way." Sonic Boom, though, having never faced the Feminist, blasts sound waves behind her and rushes the Feminist.

"Meredith, WAIT! . . ."

Too late, because just then she is unable to duck around the Feminist's glove, and gets hit with a fistful of acid. Sonic Boom drops to the ground, screaming, just as the rest of the team arrives. Ramm immediately rushes over to shield Meredith from any more attacks. Paragon rushes forward, only to have her tail be caught by the Feminist's knife. Unable to wring the knife loose, Paragon starts writhing on the ground, helpless. After making sure that Sonic Boom is okay, Ramm turns his wrath toward the Feminist, charging toward her.

The Feminist, for some sick reason, is smiling.

"Do you think I'm still the same Feminist you faced so long ago, Ramm?" The Feminist thrusts her gloved hand forward, revealing a second chute on the glove. "This one's new and improved!!"

The left-hand chute sprays fire across the expanse of street and immolates Ramm, whose hair, unlike his body, is not invulnerable. Panicked, he starts rolling on the ground.

Suddenly, Khalida climbs out of the car where the rest of the team had come from. Her eyes are aglow with anger, as she slowly starts approaching the Feminist, growling under her breath.

"Feminist . . . hurt . . . Ramm!"

Shocked to hear this, the Feminist turns to face Khalida. "What are you talking about? I rescued you! After what those pigs did to you, shutting you in that cage, you couldn't attach yourself to a man!!"

Khalida's low growl becomes a savage roar, as she pounces on the Feminist, claws out.

"Tigress . . . no . . . like . . . Feminist!!"

Tigress lands on top of the Feminist, pinning her down. She pulls her hand back, preparing to strike with her sharp claws. As a last ditch effort, the Feminist puts up her ungloved hand to block the blow, but it comes unwelcomed as Tigress strikes anyway, slashing through the feminist's hand like butter.

Seeing she has gotten her point across, Tigress jumps off of the Feminist. Hurriedly, the Feminist scrambles to her feet. Finding herself surrounded, she finally gives in, kneeling down on the pavement, her head hung in shame. 

"She did help us bring the Feminist in," says Ramm.

"Indeed. She is a superhuman. Didn't you tell me that Detroit needs all the superhuman cops it can get, Jill?" asks Paragon.

"That I did. However, she's only a kid! What is she, barely sixteen years old!"

"Train her with the rest of the kids," signs Sonic Boom. "All she would need is a place to live. I would gladly volunteer, but I've already got Bulk living with me."

Ramm looks over at Meredith. "True . . . but I've still got space." He turns back toward Jill, who rolls her eyes in resignation.

"Okay, okay." Flea walks up to Tigress. "Do you think you'd like to stay here with us? We could be a family for you."

Tigress looks up. "Family?" She jumps off the desk, into the middle of the group, walking around and looking them over until she reaches Ramm. "Ramm . . . give . . . Tigress . . . family?"

"Sure, why not? I know I get lonely after a while, and I'd imagine you are, too, so far away from your family."

Tigress smiles. "Thank . . . you. Jack."

Ramm smiles, as Tigress enters his arms, hugging him tightly, smiling. The rest of the team members crowd in on the, welcoming Tigress into the team's "family."