Rocky laments over Cutup's premature demise on the floor of the living chamber.  Behind her, Flea, Sonic Boom, and Ramm face down Fagin and his superhumans: Dodge, Aeriel, Bulk, Paragon, and Creature.

"Surely the rest of you won't be as foolish as unfortunate Miss Chin.  If we are left alone, we could be your best allies possible."

Flea's jaw is set, her expression firm and extremely pissed off.  "Not possible, Fagin.  I will not allow anyone who perverts children into monsters to operate in my city!"

The team strongly holds its ground, as Paragon and Creature, leaping over the other four, attack.  Immediately, Sonic Boom is caught in Paragon's coils, while Flea frantically fires her gun off, splitting her attention between Paragon and Creature.  Ramm seems to be having an easier time of it trying to face down Creature.

"Are you all right?"

A little confused, Cutup stands.  "Where am I?"

The Dodge replica approaches her.  "This is Fagin.  More specifically, it's Fagin's soul."

Cutup seems to be very confused.  Turning to the Aeriel replica, she asks, "All this?"

"Well, not exactly . . ."

The Bulk replica pipes in, "This is where Fagin draws his soul from.  Y'see, he has no soul of his own, and in order for him to operate, he has to feed off of us."

Suddenly, Cutup realizes who she's talking to.  "But . . . you're out there!  The rest of the team was fighting you!"

"Not us, ma'am.  Those were just our bodies.  Fagin only allows a small portion of our souls in the bodies to allow them to seem to live.  Without our souls, your friends are fighting dead bodies."

Two larger souls approach Cutup.  The Paragon replica also wears a police badge.

"I fear for your friends.  If you are here as an adult, your body has become some kind of frightful monster."  The speaker, the Creature replica, slashes his arm downward, and opens a hole.  In the hole is a full view of the entire fight.

"You're lucky thus far," the Creature replica says.  "You're still dead.  When Fagin needs your body's assistance, he will draw off of your soul to feed your body."

Cutup looks back at the scene, dreading the thought of her body turning into a hideous, mutated abomination.

"What's she doing?"

Ramm delivers the knockout blow to Creature and turns in the direction Flea is pointing.  They see Rocky kneeling, looking toward Fagin, chanting.

"Jisklea noerioan haeprowi jisorean kaookles qisoale . . ."

"I know what you're doing, sister, and it's not going to work!"  Fagin sends the pickpockets against rocky to attack her.  Her chant has reached a high point, and as Dodge speeds up to her, she raises her left hand and stops him in mid-stride.  Bulk and Aeriel immediately back off.

". . . lawwekeis miannso BoaaisllJEIASMNA!!"

"By God, she's gonna do it!  She's gonna do it!!"

"What?"

"That's the soul release incantation she's reciting.  Dodge is disappearing, which can only mean that his soul is returning to his body!"

Aeriel's soul starts disappearing as well, finally followed by Bulk's.  Cutup starts to become hopeful for a rescue.

"Jack, get those kids outta here now!  We still have bigger problems to face.."  Flea turns back to Paragon, finally hitting her sufficiently enough to get her to release her grip on Sonic Boom.  Sonic Boom rolls, regains her balance, and launches a volley of nine inch nails at Paragon, who reels under the attack.

Rocky is still distracted, however, facing down Fagin, still clutching to Cutup's body.

"Never knew you had it in you, sister dearest.  However, you're forgetting, I still hold three more souls, including your precious Jasmine."

"Let her go, Fagin!  I'm warning you!"

"Listen to yourself, Rocky.  You've become so passionate.  Whatever happened to the old, dull Rocky who spent centuries emotionlessly rescuing runaways I took in?"

"I've gotten better."  Almost instantly, Rocky flings six knives -- three of her own and three of Cutup's -- at Fagin.  Four miss, but two manage to gain some ground on him, which he is unable to recover: they both hit him in the shoulders.

"There's no way you're getting her back, Rocky."  Fagin lifts his hand toward Cutup's motionless body.  A stream of eldritch energy flows from his hand to Cutup, levitating her body a foot in the air.  Her body begins to strain against her clothes, as the transformation from human to beast begins.

"It has started.  In about thirty seconds, you will no longer be human, Jasmine."

Cutup grits her teeth.  An intense look in her eyes desperately shows her anger.  Through her pain, she manages to pull three of her knives out of her jacket, and with the most painful effort she has ever mustered, flings them blindly around the chamber.

"This ends now, Fagin!  No more children will be raped as such!"

Paragon shrieks, "You've done it!  We are free!"

As Paragon says that, a bigger rift forms in the chamber, as Rocky's hands pierce the chamber to free the collected souls.  All three eagerly leap out.

"No, sister!  If you do this, we both die!"

Rocky sheds a single tear.  "So be it."

The two siblings are lost in a brilliant flash of light, as Rocky merges Fagin's soul into her own.  However, the strain of an additional immortal soul has overstressed Rocky's own soul chamber, which has only been used this once.

The resulting shock wave leaves a huge, deep crater in the middle of Gratiot Avenue.

"Wha'hoppen?  Last I remember, I was trying to make a bust and . . ."

"Whoa, did you say, 'bust?'"

Paragon, steadily getting used to her new serpentine form, approaches Flea.  "Yes.  How long have I been gone?"

Flea, her expression still unbelieving, comes closer to Paragon.  "Well, who are you?"

"Detective Shelley Marcust, Detroit Police.  Narcotics division."

Flea suddenly has a revelation:  now that the number of criminal superhumans has risen, she may need a new member on her team.  "Come with me, Detective . . ."

"Rocky?  Rocky?!"

Sonic Boom approaches her.  "She's gone, Jasmid.  She was ad duh center ov duh blasd.  She sagfrifized herself do sabe us and duhstroy Fagin."

Cutup drops her head in sorrow, walking away from the others.  She passes by the inert body of Creature, who died in the blast, and climbs out of the crater until she reaqches the street level.  Finally on Gratiot, she collapses to her knees and cries miserably.

"Why, Rocky?  Why?  You didn't have to die!  For God's sake, you were immortal!!"

Cutup collapses prone on the street, consumed in guilt and sorrow.  A light appears over her, accompanied by a voice.

"Jasmine . . ."

Cutup looks up to see Rocky, floating above her.  She looks positively angelic.

"Rocky?"

"It was my time, Jasmine.  My time to die, as well as my brother's.  I had a long, sufficient, fulfilled life.  You should do the same now."

"But it won't be the same without you!"

Rocky approaches Cutup.  "No, it will not be the same.  But you must learn to move on with your own life.  You had done sufficiently well before I returned.  Live it as you think I would have lived it."

Rocky reaches out to cutup, placing her hand on Cutup's forehead.

"Know this, Jasmine.  Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you may fight, you have my protection.  Always.  No knife nor bullet will ever harm you again."

The light around Rocky consumes Cutup, and in the midst of the light, Cutup's costume changes.

"I will be with you.  These new clothes I endow to you will protect you always."

Cutup is smiling bravely through her tears.  "Thank you Rocky.  I love you like my own mother."

"And I will eternally consider you my daughter, Jasmine."

The two embrace one last time, then Rocky is drawn upward to the sky.  "Remember, Jasmine . . ."

Cutup returns to her sorrow.  Ramm comes up to her, with the other two pickpockets in tow, and pulls her into his arms.