At Motown Heat's 7th precinct offices, two of the three members of the team are conferring over files from their last arrest, having arrested a minor superhuman pimp.
"That was the hardest arrest I've ever tried making," laments Ramm.
"And also the wimpiest superhuman we've faced," adds Cutup. "It's a wonder Jill didn't rip his head off before we made the arrest!"
"Speaking of our dear friend Miss Burke, where is she?"
"Downstairs at the booking desk. In fact, she should be coming up in a few minutes."
Just as Cutup speaks, the Flea walks up the stairs and shuffles her feet across the office to her desk. She slumps in her chair. Cutup and Ramm become concerned.
"What's wrong, Jill?"
Flea looks up. The fire in her eyes tells almost all.
"They let that bastard go."
"What?"
"You heard me. They let that pimp go. Something about a misuse of official powers, that we didn't conduct a proper investigation of his activities. Frankly, it twists my faith in the system in a tight granny knot, I tell you."
The familiar flame is apparent in the Flea now. She is about ready to slam herself against the desk.
"Maybe you should take some time off, and get yourself in order." "Whaddya mean, get myself in order?! I'm in perfect order! Don't tell me otherwise, I know I'm in good condition!"
Flea slams her fist against the desk. Recoiling in pain, she backs away from the desk, inspecting her hand: she broke three bones in it. At once, her other personality takes over.
"Now you've done it, Jill Burke! We just got our nose healed two weeks ago, and now you went and broke our hand!"
"SHUT UP, FERRET!!"
Realizing she just screamed the last phrase aloud, Flea looks at both Ramm and Cutup, who are giving her strange looks. Flea sheepishly smiles.
"I guess I could use a little time to myself."
"I thought so."
Cutup goes over to Flea and lays an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about a thing, Jill. We'll take care of all the paperwork."
Walking the streets of Detroit, the Flea looks around her, detesting the situation that the city is in. Disgusted by the appearance of the place, she walks into an apartment building, using her key to open the front door.
Walking into her apartment, she turns to her answering machine, hitting the "Play" button and listening to the messages which were left over the past six days.
"Jill, this is the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, we're wondering if you'll be able to make our annual dinner next month. Call Hank at 555-2083 to RSVP. Thanks."
In the kitchen, Flea smirks. "In your dreams."
"Jill, id's Meredith. Cull be. Id's ibportand. Use the T.D.D. Danks."
Hearing her sister's message, she quickly pushes stop on the answering machine, pulls out her T.D.D., and dials Meredith Burke's number. After hooking the receiver to the T.D.D., she calmly waits for the reply.
-MEREDITH, IT'S JILL. I GOT YOUR MESSAGE.
WHAT'S UP QQ GA
-I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A WHILE LAST NIGHT.
IT'S ABOUT THE ROCK THAT HIT ME. GA
-ROCK, WHAT ROCK QQ GA
-COME OVER. I NEED TO SHOW YOU. GA
Thinking it's something very strange, Burke relents.
-SEE YOU THEN. 'BYE. GA SKSKSKSKSK
Seeing the sign-off message from her sister, Jill hangs up the phone and unplugs the T.D.D. She quickly changes into street wear and leaps out the window.
An hour later, Jill arrives at her sister's apartment. After knocking on the window, she suddenly remembers that her sister is almost completely deaf. She slips a credit card through the frame of the window, unlocking it and opening it to let herself in.
After a few minutes, Meredith walks into the living room of the small apartment. Other than her dark black hair, Meredith could be a twin of Jill. The two women start conversing in American Sign Language.
"What happened?"
"Thanks for coming, sis. Let me show you." Meredith pulls up her shirt, and turns her back to Jill, who inspects a large circular scar in the middle of Meredith's back.
When Meredith turns again, Jill is in shock. "Jeez, how the hell did you get that?"
Using her clogged vocal English, Meredith replies. "A rock hid be. God me id da back when id fell oudda da sky."
Meteorite, Jill thinks. She returns to American Sign Language, remembering how it tortured her to hear Meredith talk.
"Is that all?"
"Not exactly. Look around you. That's the result."
Jill looks around, and sees the entire interior of the apartment covered in burn stains. Jill suddenly whistles.
She immediately realizes that no sound came out of her puckered lips, but had gone to Meredith, whose hand is beginning to glow. Suddenly, a beam of energy shoots from Meredith's hand.
"Thad's id."
Jill suddenly figures that her sister is going to need help learning how to use her newfound superhuman power. She turns to Meredith, returning to ASL.
"You're going to have to learn how to control this thing you've got."
"How?"
"Let me take you out for a bit." Jill goes behind Meredith and wraps her arms around Meredith's waist. After walking to the window, Jill springs out of it, taking Meredith with her.
They arrive in a back alley behind Jill's apartment building, with a fence blocking off the end of the path. Jill sets up four cans on the ledge of the fence, then returns to Meredith's side.
"Try to aim directly at one of those cans, and knock it off. Don't destroy it, just knock them over."
Meredith nods, then aims her hands toward the fence and tries to shoot over the cans. Nothing happens.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know. It wavers in and out, but I don't know what will make it work."
"Try it again."
Meredith aims her hands toward the fence again. Just at that moment, a car passes the alley, blasting its radio. Just as it passes, the sound is sucked toward Meredith, who shoots a beam at the fence, pulverizing two of the cans and leaving a large burn mark in the top of the fence. Jill suddenly figures out the link.
"I think I know how it works, Meredith." Jill leaps up to her apartment window, and returns to the alley with her Walkman. She puts the headphones on Meredith's left hand and hits the "Play" button.
"Try it now."
With the Walkman blaring at Meredith's left wrist, she aims at one of the two remaining cans, and a beam shoots from the hand, knocking over one of the cans.
"What?"
"Sound is what triggers it. The louder the sound, the worse you get."
"What were you playing?"
Jill clicks off the Walkman, removing the headphones from Meredith's wrist. "Mozart. I'm switching sides now, so try hitting the fourth can."
Jill places the headphones on Meredith's wrist again. The tape starts playing again, as Meredith aims at the fourth can and shoots a beam. The beam pulverizes the fourth can, and also splinters half of the fence. Jill nods and turns off the Walkman.
"What was that?"
"Twisted Sister. I was right."
Three thugs jump into the alley, confronting the two women. They appear to be gang members.
"All right, ladies, on your knees." They all pull out knives.
"I don't think so!" Jill leaps over the thugs and lands behind them. Unfortunately, her broken hand is starting to bother her. She then realizes that she left her deaf sister to confront them alone. Searching for something to help her, she suddenly remembers her sister's new power.
Meredith has dropped to her knees in the alleyway, and two of the gang members are frisking her. Suddenly, one ofcthem removes her two hearing aids. He brings them to the first for inspection.
"Meredith Burke ... say, you're the sister of that superhuman slut Flea who arrested me last night. Ohhh, this is gonna be so much fun!"
The leader kicks Meredith, who flies across the alley against the fence she had been shooting at. The three gangbangers start to approach her.
Back up in her apartment, Flea is lugging her stereo equipment over to her window overlooking the alley. She's struggling under the weight of the equipment, but finally manages to get it out to the ledge of the window. She points the speakers out of the window.
"All right, let's see you react to this!"
Looking quickly over her CD collection, Jill finally sees the CD she wants:
Pantera.
She clicks the disc into the player, and heads over to the window.
Down in the alley, two of the gangbangers are holding Meredith down, and the leader is threatening her with a knife when all three are distracted.
"Hey, you!"
The three attackers look up. Distractedly, Meredith looks up as well, and sees that her sister is looking out her window, with her speakers hanging out as well.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you, butthead! You don't seem to realize, since I'm a superhuman, so's my SISTER!"
The leader is smirking.
Jill has her finger hovering precariously over the "play" button on her CD player. The volume on the device has been set to the highest it gets.
"Oh, I didn't introduce you formal like, did I, Muscles? Meet my sister ... SONIC BOOM!"
Jill punches down on the "play" button, and at once, the alley is filled with deafening death rock. Figuring out what her sister wants her to do, Meredith uses her powers, scaring two of the thugs efficiently to chase them away. The leader, however, is still hanging around.
"No way I'm letting this noise beat me!" He lunges for Meredith. She responds by laying him flat with a beam, which hits him at point-blank range. When he recovers, his chest is burning. He launches one last lunge at Meredith, but she hits him again with a blast, which launches him clear out of the alley. Frightened, he runs.
Meredith picks up her hearing aids as the music stops. Putting them back in, she looks up to see her sister descending quickly to the street.
"Great job, sis! You're superhuman material after all!"
Meredith smiles. "Thanks, Jill."
"Well, I guess we should talk with my chief, see if we can get you some formal training."
Meredith balks. "Hey, sis, you know I already washed out of the police academy!"
"No, nothing like that. I mean, I'm gonna see if you can stay with me and the rest of the team. In short, you'd be a cadet member of Motown Heat."
Meredith smiles. "Thanks, sis!"
Meredith comes over to Jill and hugs her tightly. Unfortunately, her hearing aids start to squeal, as feedback whines out of them. She pulls away from her sister, but Jill insists on keeping her tightly against herself, as she puts her arms arund Meredith and leaps.
"By the way, Jill ..." Meredith signs.
"Yeah?"
"What happened to your hand?"
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