The story takes place in a small city between New York City and Philadelphia are chronicles a group of ordinary high school students now placed in an extraordinary position.

Felicia Tremont is a high school junior whose single father has developed a serious gambling problem to deal with the loss of his wife. When his debts get to be too high, he is threatened by a Mafia organization in league with the casino, and he and his daughter are taken to a secret location to be tortured. Expecting Al Tremont to refuse them the money, the mobster's fake Felicia's suicide and "rehabilitate" her into Mafia life.

Meanwhile, back at Felicia's school, her best friend, Rowen Tanner, is in grief, but still perplexed as to why her friend would kill herself. With the help of her other friend Corrine Carmichael, she tries to get to the bottom of things. The two girls find out about Al's debts and a mob trend of staged suicides and cross paths with fellow student Lisbeth Emerson, who knows a bit about the arms and drug traffic that has been going on in their community, also supposedly linked to the mob. Lisbeth signs on to help the two friends in their research, but her codependency on her best friend, Lydia Eriksson, gets the best of her, and she reluctantly offers her friend's help as well. Lydia, a total cynic, offers the group a realist perspective as well as a connection with some of the less-than-admirable students at their school.

Just as the four are learning pivotal information, there is an attempt on Rowen's life, and the chase after the attacker leads them to a Philly fetish/rave club called The Abyss. One of their fellow classmates, the introverted sexpot Ariel Holmes, as well as her older sister and legal guardian, Dorrie, frequent the club. Corrine, who has been trying to get Ariel to open up for some time now, takes a longshot and tries to convince her to assist in the pursuit. Dorrie gets wind of their problems and offers both her own and Ariel's help.

Ariel's role in the group quickly becomes that of the pretty, conniving decoy, despite her intelligence. Dorrie helps to train them in the schools of martial arts and weaponry, as well as providing the girls with their costumes, saying that the only effective way to beat the mobsters and get Felicia back is to become "neo-superheroines". The obvious ties to the Abyss are a help, too. Now entering into the picture are two unlikely informants. One is the excitable candyraver Becca Ford, better known at the Abyss as "Infiniti". The other is a "techno hippie" named Andrew Billings, a.k.a. "Aki", whose DJing job makes him the eyes and the ears of the club. At the same time, the girls are opposed by one of Dorrie's bouncer friends, Nick Weymouth, also known as "Suede".

The girls are really getting somewhere and plan to make a raid on a supposed mob hideout, when they suddenly find themselves up against two deft female assassins known only as "Bellissima" and "Jade". About the same time, Lydia meets a boy from her school named Tom Hernandez, more commonly known as "Shadow". Shadow and Lydia get off on the wrong foot, but become boyfriend and girlfriend. Corrine also finds herself attracted to the school's newest addition, the charming Brit Paul Clayton. He acts as a diversion, and Corrine is eventually forced to choose between lying to Paul and staying true to her cause. Adding to romantic tension is the love triangle between DJ Aki and both Ariel and Lisbeth. Ariel has tried to seduce him numerous times unsuccessfully, and continues to try even after seeing the link between him and Lisbeth. All the girls begin to lose trust in Ariel because of her shameless pursuit, as well as the fact that she proceeds to seduce and destroy Lydia's beau, Shadow.

Business runs as usual despite the unrest, in the forms of covert operations, stakeouts, fights, and more. After infiltrating a Mafia bigwig's lavish party, they find a new ally: A mystery woman in red acting as a double agent for both sides. But things between the group members start to boil to a head on the night of a major plan, and nothing looks like it's going well. The girls must attend a school dance and intercept notes and illegal substances being transferred between the Don's local errand boys and what they pick up could be the major clue to Felicia's whereabouts. When Lydia learns that Shadow is involved, she realized Ariel's true intentions and all is well between them, however her relationship with Shadow is clearly over.

Distraught, Shadow leaves behind his allegiance to the Don, Bellissima, Jade, Suede, and the rest of the family, and sacrifices all he knows to Lydia and her friends, although she is still hesitant about taking him back. He assists in the pursuit and so the group proceeds onto their final ambush, meant to definitely recover Felicia. As the other girls and Shadow go on to spring their friend, the unlikely pair of Lydia and Rowen team up to kill Jade, and Ariel pursues Bellissima. Ariel defeats her and is about to kill her, when Bellissima reveals herself as Dorrie, and tells her enemy that Don Giovanni is, in fact, their estranged father. Ariel kills her in disbelief. Shadow then knocks out Suede, leaving the Don without any immediate protection and Felicia ready to be rescued. Ariel goes after her supposed father while the others seek to free Felicia. The Don tries to convince his daughter to join him, but she refuses, just in time to get a few things off her chest, which gives the police time to show up and get things under control. Sure enough, by the time anyone can get there, the girls are all in normal dress and the scene has been set up to suggest that the Don went mad and attacked those of his inner circle when he figured them for informants.

In the aftermath, Rowen's family takes in Felicia and she is now able to be the sister Rowen never had. Similarly, Corrine offers to help Ariel out, but the independent girl refuses and walks away from her senior year alone. Lydia forgives Shadow and they stay together, and Shadow provides her with the happiness she has been seeking since the death of her mother. Lisbeth wins Aki, and Ariel comes to term with romantic defeat for the first time in her life…although an alternative relationship with Infiniti is fostered. Corrine and Paul also stay together, making them the sweetest couple ever. And the Don? Well, we might see him again sometime soon, you never know...

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