The charges against Marquetta were eventually dropped, but because of the incident and the ensuing ordeal, she lost both of her jobs. Furthermore, other potential employers were not so keen on hiring someone who’d spent a couple of nights in prison. LaLa’s mother was forced to acquire public assistance, but even that was not enough to keep them from being evicted. They moved to the King housing projects and Marquetta was eventually able to secure some house-cleaning gigs. She worked 18-hour days, leaving LaLa home alone for long stretches of time. Needless to say, she could no longer participate in choir.

One night a fire broke out in their housing unit. LaLa made it out okay, but when the authorities arrived they found that the 8-year-old girl had been in her house alone since coming home from school that day. Child Services were called and LaLa was taken away from her mother. They would not see each other again for many years.

LaLa grew angry and depressed during her years in foster care, but she eventually channeled her frustration into music. She became a talented rapper and singer and used her unique powers to enhance the songs she created. By the time she was 15 she was well known throughout the country for her raw lyrics, powerful voice and somewhat controversial content, in which she criticized the government and, specifically, law enforcement agencies. This was not taken lightly by several officials in Platinum City and she became a target. They made it difficult for her to make a living as a rap artist – somehow managing to get her music banned from the radio stations; hiring computer specialists to hack her website; encoding any digital music files or internet videos she released with dangerous viruses; sending officers to arrest her and her entourage on trumped-up charges and more. They put ridiculous restrictions on concert venues and just generally made her life a living hell. By the time she was 19 years old, she was no longer able to make enough money from her music to fight all the legal battles coming her way and eventually she was forced to quit the industry.

She went back to the King projects, where she moved in with her friend, a promising young rapper who called himself “A.K.A.” She produced beats and music tracks for him and it wasn’t long before he gained a little bit of notoriety. In fact, A.K.A. was on the verge of signing a record deal, and he was more than willing to take LaLa with him to the top. But then she received a visit from an old friend she hadn’t seen in a long time – Travis Williams, also known as Blunt.

Blunt’s brother had recently been killed by a vigilante superhero named The Prosecutor, and he wanted revenge. His first attempt at retribution had been thwarted by other heroes who came to Prosecutor’s aid. And now the members of the City Watch superhero squad were protecting him. Blunt wouldn’t be able to get close to his prey without some help. So he convinced LaLa to give him hand.

That night they paid a visit to The Prosecutor’s upper-class neighborhood of Summercrest, and as suspected, Brass Eagle, The Gavel and Colonel Justice were all present. But before they had a chance to react, LaLa took a deep breath and unleashed a vocal bombardment of sonic energy that absolutely demolished the vigilante’s home. In other words, she huffed and she puffed and she blew the Prosecutor’s house down. Blunt saw his opening and made a bee-line for his brother’s killer, but Colonel Justice flew in and scooped his teammate up just as a half dozen police cars arrived on the scene. Another vocal blast from LaLa cleared the barricade the cops had set up and she and Blunt hopped in their car and fled the scene.

But a dozen more police cruisers were right on their tail. And even more were coming right at them. LaLa used every evasive maneuver she could think of, but it just wasn’t enough. The officers spiked their tires and the car flipped over 10 times before coming to a stop against the side of a building. Blunt, whose super strength made him extremely durable, protected LaLa from serious injury. But as they crawled out of the wreckage, they found no less than 30 officers pointing firearms at them.

LaLa looked around at the crazy situation in which she now found herself. She had a choice – either she could surrender and await her fate; or she could take her life into her own hands and fight alongside her old friend…

Blunt and LaLa took one last look at each other and charged right at the police! Then suddenly a thick smog fell from the sky. Everyone began to cough and choke. The officers were forced to drop their firearms and Blunt and LaLa were forced to drop to their knees. Just when she was on the verge of suffocating, LaLa looked up to see a figure walking calmly through the smoke. It was well-known and much-respected legend of the ‘hood – Spliff. He held out a hand and LaLa felt the smoke in her lungs dissipate. Both she and Blunt were able to take deep breaths and regain their composure.

When the smoke finally cleared, the officers quickly realized they were gone.