In a quiet suburb of Detroit, a young husband and wife are settling down to a quiet night of TV and champagne. They look very much in love with each other.

"Hard day today?"

The man smiles. "You wouldn't believe. We had so many calls today, I thought the city had gone nuts."

Their quiet conversation is interrupted by loud pounding on the door. The man looks up, and before he can get to the door, a loud crashing sound accompanies the door splintering. Four people, three women and a large man dressed in black outfits, brandish guns toward the two.

"Freeze! Police! Move and you're dead!"

The women approach the man, as the larger man heads toward the smaller's wife. Before the smaller man can stop them, one of the women has the business end of her Uzi shoved up his left nostril.

"The money, where is it?!"

"What money?"

"Don't screw with me, punk, I asked where the money is!"

Frightened, the man points into the kitchen. After telling the other two women to "hold him down," the third goes into the kitchen, looking for the cash. In the meanwhile, his wife is locked in a struggle with the large man. Finally, a scream is heard, as the man looks up. The larger man is in the middle of assaulting his wife.

"Stop!" The man reaches for his wallet, putting a thumb inside to open it. He is thrown down by one of the women holding him down.

"I told you, move and you're dead!"

The man throws off the two women, and runs toward the door. Before he gets there, however, one of the women shoots him in the back. As he falls, his wallet falls open, revealing a silver police badge.

In Motown Heat's 7th precinct offices, the Flea sits behind her desk, looking over her arrest reports from the previous week. She's startled when two other members of the team, Ramm and her sister, Sonic Boom, enter the office. Sonic Boom is still in street clothes, but she wears two Walkman headsets, one on each wrist.

"So, how was your date?"

"It wasn't exactly a date, Jill," intones Ramm. "We just went to see a movie, that's all."

"I see. Well, then, I suppose you wouldn't mind me asking where our good friend Jasmine is."

The mention of Cutup brings the present to mind. "No, I don't mind. In fact, she's downstairs getting our little surprise for our new cadet." Ramm is alluding to Sonic Boom.

"I see."

Just as Flea speaks, Cutup runs up the stairs with a package in her hands. "I've got it, Jack."

Sonic Boom turns to her sister. In American Sign Language, she signs, "What's going on?"

Speaking and using ASL, Flea replies, "It's something we've been planning on doing for a while now, sis. We decided that you simply can't go around wearing street clothes forever. After all, you are a member of the team, cadet or otherwise."

Cutup opens the package, extracting what will become Sonic Boom's costume and a leather jacket with a silver badge hooked to it.

"This is just to make it official, Meredith. Congratulations, you are now officially Motown Heat's fourth member, Sonic Boom!"

A wide smile crosses Meredith's face, as she goes over to Cutup and takes the costume and jacket from her. She turns back to her sister and signs "thank you." Just before she leaves the office to put the costume on, she hugs Flea tightly. As she leaves, the phone rings. Ramm picks up, and after minimal talk, he hangs up.

"Jill, that was the police in Wyoming Park. They've got a big problem. It's so big, they've managed to talk the Detroit Police into loaning us out."

Flea raises an eyebrow. "Hm, it must be big. What happened?"

"They've got a gang there impersonating a S.W.A.T. team, busting into people's houses. Last night, they struck the house of a cop and killed him."

Flea nods. "This is serious. Tell you what, let's head out there as soon as Meredith has her outfit on and check out the crime area."

Cutup nods, just as Sonic Boom walks back into the office, now wearing the costume, including the jacket. She signs "ready to go."

"Good. Jack, Jasmine, meet us in Wyoming Park in about a half hour."

Ramm and Cutup nod as they leave the office. Flea turns to her sister, signing.

"Ready to try it out?"

"As ready as I get." Sonic Boom turns the volume knob on her left-hand Walkman, and the headphones start playing a Bach chorale into her wrist. The sound is transferred into Sonic Boom's wrist, and she fires it off, lifting her out of the office window. Flea leaps out behind her.

The team reassembles outside of a house. Yellow police tape has been strung between trees around the house, but the team is let in when the local police notice the badges on their jackets. A plainclothes detective meets them at the door of the house. Flea keeps Sonic Boom up with her, translating the detective's story into ASL for her deaf sister.

"Well, folks, there's really not much left here. Officer Hayes died at the scene, shot in the back. His wife was airlifted to St. Johns with severe shock. We just received a call from a doctor there, confirming that she was raped."

Flea is the first to speak. "Did the wife positively ID the gang members?"

"She could only give us general descriptions. She said they were wearing black, and also wearing ski masks. She did say that there were four of them, one extremely large man and three women. Much like you folks."

Flea starts to turn on the detective. "Don't even think it, Detective. My sister and Ramm were at the movies, Cutup teaches a tai chi class after hours, and I was at the shooting range. It wasn't us."

The detective nods. "Very well, that eliminates my only suspects."

Sonic Boom signs to Flea, who translates for the detective. "Sonic Boom asks how many other reports of this gang there have been."

"About five other reports. This is the first one where there has been a killing. Most of the victims have been single women, as this is also the first to involve a man."

Cutup approaches the detective. "Sir, would it be possible for one or two of us to conduct a small sting operation at the next projected site?" The detective puts his chin in his hand, thinking. "I don't suppose that would be a problem. If you'll follow me to our police station, we'll show you what we've got."

"Agreed. You three go ahead, Meredith and I will meet you there." The team splits up again, Cutup and Ramm following behind the detective's car, and Flea and Sonic Boom taking to the skies.

They meet again at the Wyoming Park police station a few minutes later, and in short time are assembled in a lounge with a map set up. Uniformed officers are sitting around on their respective break periods while the five people are consulting their map.

"We've marked the sites of the six attacks on this map of the city. If you guys can find a pattern, you'll be doing better than us."

Ramm studies the map closely. Tracing with his finger, hoping for a picture pattern, he traces a random zigzag on the map.

"These are awfully few and far between, aren't they?"

The other four look down at the map. Sure enough, the attacks are separated by eleven city blocks in each direction. "Doesn't it seem really random to you?"

Cutup nods. "Yeah. Too random. It's so random, it has a pattern."

At that moment, two officers enter the lounge, pulling out a pack of cards and starting a euchre game. Sonic Boom happens to look over in their direction, and them yanks on Flea's sleeve. After a furious flurry of ASL, Flea looks up at the detective.

"My sister asks for a list of the addresses of the attacks. I think she may have found something."

The detective nods, pulling out his notebook and flipping a few pages into it, until he has the list of addresses. The team looks it over, and suddenly sees it.

The addresses read:

Sonic Boom is furiously signing at her sister.

"I see it too, Meredith. All of the addresses are formatted as three identical digits with a single oddball. Detective, are these in order?"

"That's the order that they've been hit."

"What's the next address in this general direction to be formatted as such?"

Closing his eyes to think, the detective finally replies. "There's only one left like that. 4044 Drake."

"Ramm, call the 7th and see if they can get us some wire equipment and at least two unmarked police cars ..."

"No need, Detective Flea. We can supply you with that."

"Thank you. Let's go!"

That night, after having evacuated the occupants of the house, Cutup and Sonic Boom, in street clothes, are sitting in the living room of the house, waiting for the fake S.W.A.T. team to strike. They sit on the sofa, watching the TV news intently.

"Hey Meredith, I've never really talked with you. What was it like living with your sister when you were kids?"

Sonic Boom turns to Cutup. "Nod berry preddy. She couldn'd ged a date id high school, 'cause none uv da guys could stand her. Fer dat madder, none uv dem would be caught dead wid her."

Cutup laughs, then gets up.

"I'm getting another cup of coffee, do you want one?"

"Sure."

Cutup walks into the kitchen, as Sonic Boom turns back to the TV. She's startled when she hears the door crash in. Three women and a man, dressed in black, run into the house.

"FREEZE! POLICE! Move and you're dead!"

Sonic Boom turns back to the TV, turning the volume to full blast. The women run at her, finally holding her down.

"The money, where is it?!"

Sonic Boom sets her teeth in a tight grit, and waits for her power to warm up. Finally, feeling the glow around her hand begin to grow, she lifts her hand toward the women, and with one blast sends them all against the opposite wall. They start to approach the kitchen, but Cutup flings three knives at them from the kitchen (two steak knives and a meat cleaver), hitting them all. The meat cleaver chops into one of the women's shoulder, pinning her against the wall, her wound bleeding. She suddenly rips off her mask. Cutup finds herself facing down a woman who could be her own twin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The other two members of the team, who had been waiting in an unmarked van outside, rush into the house.

"FREEZE! POLICE!"

The large man charges Flea, who snaps off a shot into his face. He collapses backward, but his mask is gone, and everyone can see that he looks like Ramm.

"What is this? Who are you?!"

The remaining two women rip off their masks. They appear to be the mirror images of the Burke sisters.

The Sonic Boom duplicate turns toward the real Flea. She is obviously not Sonic Boom, because she speaks clearly.

"We are the result of meticulous conditioning and cloning."

"What?! We're years away from cloning technology!"

"Not as far away as you think, Detective. We were created from samples of your tissues. In your case, Flea, it was a blood sample, Cutup was a blood sample. I was created from tissue extracted at Meredith Burke's last pap smear, and Ramm was formed by some of the real Ramm's hair."

"But who? Why?"

"We were created by the Circle Point Syndicate, to serve Virginia Maroone. Miss Maroone created us for one purpose: It was her hope to discredit Motown Heat, to make you less efficient and less trusted by Detroit at large. We were ordered to stage these attacks here in Wyoming Park, and pin them on you four."

The three freestanding clones walk toward the Cutup duplicate, still pinned to the wall with the meat cleaver.

"Our mission is a failure. We are programmed to self-destruct in fifteen seconds."

Flea's eyes open wide, as the Sonic Boom duplicate speaks the last words. "Everyone out now! Move it! Get out!"

Panicked, the four team members sprint out of the house. They are all barely able to dive behind the unmarked car before the entire house explodes, the result of the clones' self-destruction. When the dust and blast wave settles, Flea looks up at Ramm, fury in her eyes.

"Let's get that witch Maroone before she can make any more clones!"

Late that night, in the executive office of Maroone Technologies, Virginia Maroone looks out her window, toward the rest of the city of Detroit. She smiles, thinking that her clones should have done the job insofar as discrediting Motown Heat is concerned.

The intercom blares at her. Annoyed, she turns around and presses down on the button.

"What is it, Winifred?"

"Miss, four unauthorized superhumans are on their way up. It's Motown Heat!"

"I see. I'm not worried."

"No, miss, these aren't your clones! These are the real Motown Heat!"

A flash of concern crosses Maroone's face. She lets go of the button of the intercom, and picks up her personal phone.

"Security to ..."

"Don't bother, Maroone!!" Flea busts in the door, assuming a steady firing stance toward Maroone. "You're under arrest for accessory to commit breaking and entering, rape, and murder!"

"Really, am I? I didn't know those were crimes." Maroone quickly pulls out her own .57, a gun which is exactly like the Flea's gun, and points it. Sonic Boom, however, is quicker to protect her sister. With her right hand Walkman blasting with Danzig, she fires a beam at Maroone, hitting her square in the chest and sending her out the window, plummeting to the ground. The team runs over to the window, and finds Maroone hanging by one hand from the ledge of her window.

"Help ... me ... Flea!!"

Flea bends over to Maroone, her gun still loosely in her hand. Maroone suddenly grabs Flea's gun hand and points it toward her own chest. By pulling the gun forward toward her, she manages to pull the trigger with Flea's finger, hitting herself square in the chest.

"Police ... brutality!" She smiles as she releases her grip on the ledge, and plummets down the side of the building.

Flea turns back to the rest of the team. She suddenly realizes what she has been forced to do, and collapses on the floor, consumed in her guilt.

Outside the building, along the side Maroone is falling down, she looks up, thinking she will finally be free of Motown Heat.

Suddenly, Maroone is caught by a strange beam, originating high in the sky. She is slowly levitated upward, toward the source of the beam. Smiling one last time, she expires.

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