Jerrica Benton

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

The name or term "Jem" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Jem and the Holograms (disambiguation).

Look at me, in a different role,
Trying out a brand new part.
But don't you worry, baby!
You know I'll never have a change of heart!

Jerrica Benton is the manager, co-songwriter, and former lead singer of Jem and the Holograms. Unbeknownst to those outside of the band, she's also the current lead singer as well! While Jerrica has a passion for music, she's rather shy by nature and has a severe case of stage fright, making her a rather awkward fit for the frontwoman of a hot, up and coming band like the Holograms. One day, however, Jerrica stumbled upon Synergy, a "holographic computer" created by her late father that has the power to create a wide array of dazzling, lifelike, hard-light holograms! With the power of Synergy, Jerrica was suddenly able to create a persona that would allow her to perform in front of an audience without fear, a persona that would come to be known as Jem!

Level-headed and mature, Jerrica is well suited to her responsibilities as both the band's manager and lead singer. However, the burden of always having to be "the grown-up" for her sisters and the considerable workload that comes with managing a band like the Holograms can weigh heavy on her and occasionally cause her to lose her patience. Thankfully, her responsible nature ensures that she's able to avoid any temptations to avoid the stresses of her life by living as her alter-ego... right?

Fiction

Jem Universe

Becoming Jem

Jerrica Benton was the first daughter of Emmet and Jacqui Benton. When she was a little girl, she and her sisters once helped their mother prepare a birthday lunch for her father and she went to go get him once everything was ready. When Emmet told her he'd be there in a minute and she relayed this information to Jacqui, Jerrica watched as her mother argued with her father over his project keeping him away from his family. When Emmet projected a Hologram to show Jacqui an example of the "virus" in the software he was trying to fight, the shocked Jerrica took off running before tripping on a water gun and falling into her family's pool, nearly drowning before her mother noticed and saved her. Dark Jem: Part Four

Years later, after they had grown into adulthood and both their parents had passed away, the four Benton sisters formed a band known as The Holograms with Jerrica on vocals. Though she had a good voice and had no problems in rehearsal, Jerrica soon found that she was unable to perform in front of an audience. Her stage fright reached a breaking point when The Holograms were filmming their submission for the Misfits VS! music video competition, something the band hoped to launch their careers off of, and Jerrica literally choked and went running out of the studio when the time came for her to start singing. Outside the studio, Jerrica's biological sister Kimber came out and talked to her, asking what she was having trouble with before regretfully issuing the ultimatum that she was going to quit if Jerrica didn't think she was up to the task of performing. Asking her sister for a moment alone before she rejoined them inside, when Jerrica returned it was in the middle of her sisters having an argument about her ability or inability to perform, causing her to suddenly take off back towards the Benton home. Taking refuge from the storm that had begun raging outside in their pool house/music studio, Jerrica began strumming a guitar and singing before the storm suddenly knocking out the electricity scared her into stopping.

Despite the outage, an odd glow began to fill the room and suddenly a tall, pink woman appeared before Jerrica and introduced herself as Synergy, a "holographic computer" created by her father that was suddenly rebooted by the storm. Explaining that her father left a gift for her that he was unable to give her before his death, Synergy gave Jerrica the code to Emmet's safe, allowing her to find a small box that contained two earrings that could serve as remote hologram projectors. Just then, Jerrica's sisters suddenly arrived at home looking for her, the three of them very confused by what they were looking at and growing no less confused as Jerrica tried to explain. As Synergy guided the four of them to the underground chamber that her systems were kept and showed off the versatility of her holograms, Jerrica began piecing together why her father left her the earrings and how she could use Synergy to fix her problems. Running to Synergy's computer, Jerrica punched in a few settings before donning the earrings and transforming for the first time from the meek, small Jerrica into the confident, statuesque Jem! Showtime: Part One

Now that she could become Jem, Jerrica had no problem performing and the newly rechristened Jem and the Holograms were able to create and submit their video for the Misfits VS! competition. With Synergy's holograms allowing them to create a rather impressive, elaborate video, the Holograms' submission began receiving thousands of hits and votes, something Kimber was extremely eager to show off to Jerrica the morning after their video went live. Gathering with her and Shana in the kitchen, the three sisters celebrated their success before Jerrica reminded them that they were due at the Starlight Community Center in an hour. As Kimber took off to get dressed and wake up Aja, Jerrica and Shana sat and discussed whether or not they really did the right thing by creating Jem, especially now that they were beginning to achieve success they could have only dreamed of before. Neither of them was quite sure and they both knew things were going to get more complicated from here, they also agreed that so long as the four of them stuck together they'd be able to handle anything.

As the Holograms arrived at the Starlight center, Jerrica was greeted with congratulations from Ms. Bailey about the band's video. As they talked, Ms. Bailey brought up that the celebrity MC they'd hired to host the upcoming Starlight benefit concert suddenly cancelled on them at the last minute and asked if the Holograms would consider playing the show. Agreeing to do the concert, Ashley called out to Jerrica, trying to hurry her so she'd come tutor her on playing guitar. Though they got right to it, Jerrica's tutoring was quickly interrupted by the sudden arrival of a man who was looking for her. Asking Ashley to excuse them and go join the other Starlights, Jerrica talked to the man, who introduced himself as a writer for The Score named Rio Pacheco. Having found out about the Holograms through his covering the Misfits VS! competition while embedded with The Misfits themselves, Rio found himself rather interested in the band and Jerrica herself in particular. Though she believed he was just interested in getting a story, Jerrica was surprised to learn his current assignment meant he couldn't even write about them if he wanted to and was even more surprised when he suddenly asked her out on a date later that night! Rather charmed by him, Jerrica agreed. Showtime: Part Two Meeting up with Rio outside of his apartment, Jerrica was taken to the nearby Pacific Park boardwalk. After starting their date with some cotton candy, Jerrica and Rio went on the Ferris Wheel where Jerrica gushed about her sisters to him. As the view from the top of the wheel took her breath away, Jerrica was flattered by Rio complimenting her songwriting skills. However, when he asked why she chose to stay in the background and let Jem become the band's frontwoman, she began to get cagey and concerned as he brought up that he liked to get to discover the truth behind what's shown on stage. However, the rest of their date went smoothly, Rio winning Jerrica a My Little Pony plush before taking her home, the two exchanging a goodnight kiss before Rio departed. Showtime: Part Three

As the day of the Starlight Benefit came around, Jerrica complained about Kimber's absence while she, Aja, and Shana loaded up their van with their equipment. Her frustration with Kimber only grew as she continued to be missing as they were setting up for the show but Rio's sudden arrival provided a distraction. Introducing him to Shana, the two of them took Rio up on his offer to go get them coffee. With him gone, Jerrica was able to change into Jem. However, her transformation caused some awkwardness when Rio brought Jerrica's drink to her and Jem's shared dressing room and Jem grabbed the drink meant for her alter-ego. With Rio quickly excusing himself, Jem worried about the rather poor first impression she just made. As the time for the Holograms' first live show came around, Jem gave an impassioned performance... a performance that was cut short as she noticed the light rigging was about to fall right on top of her! Showtime: Part Four Jem was saved from getting crushed by Aja pushing her out of the way just in the nick of time but Aja ended up getting trapped herself. While the other Holograms and Rio freed Aja, Jem rushed off backstage and turned back into Jerrica. Rushing back out as her injured sister was loaded onto an ambulance, Jerrica had Synergy project a hologram of Jem climbing into a cab to explain where she'd gone to Rio. Though he was shocked that Jem would abandon her bandmates like that, he was more concerned by all the mysterious cuts and bruises she had on her legs. Jerrica and her sisters spent the night at the hospital waiting for Aja to recover, all three of them falling asleep at the foot of her bed. With Aja's injuries proving minimal, the Holograms spent the next few weeks practicing for the next part Misfits VS! competition: the battle of the bands. In her off time, Jerrica kept spending time with Rio, their relationship slowly growing more serious.

When the day of the Misfits VS! battle of the bands and the associated festival came, Jerrica took charge in managing the band's time, trying to make sure everything went smoothly. When the makeup trailer turned out to be full of the other bands that were participating in the battle, Jerrica decided that they'd try coming back in an hour and go enjoy the fair in the meantime. With Kimber having gone off on her own, Jerrica hung out with Aja and Shana and was almost immediately fretting over getting back to the trailer in time to her sisters' annoyance. Thankfully for them, Rio soon appeared and he and Jerrica went off together. Taking another ferris wheel ride together, Rio asked about where Jem was and expressed concern about how she's seemingly leaving all the work to the others. Jerrica took offense at this, telling Rio that he shouldn't be making those kinds of judgements about Jem's character when he doesn't even know her. Leaving Rio behind after getting off the ride, Jerrica met back up with her sisters at the fair, the three of them showing concern for her when they noticed something seemed wrong. Soon after this, Kimber noticed that The Misfits were nearby. Taking the lead, Jerrica introduced herself to their frontwoman Pizzazz but was mostly ignored by her, the green haired woman only asking her where Jem was. This rather awkward introduction only got worse when The Misfits' assistant Clash suddenly arrived with coffee for the band and Kimber recognized her from running into her at the Starlight Benefit where she noticed that she had a pair of bolt cutters in her bag. Assuming this must have meant that the incident with the falling rigging must have been a Misfits engineered act of sabotage, Jerrica demanded to know if this was true. Before they could talk things out though, Kimber threw a pie in Pizzazz's face, instigating a food fight between the bands that Jerrica reluctantly participated in. Showtime: Part Five

In the aftermath of the food fight, the Holograms and Misfits were brought before a trio of executive from The Misfits' label 5x5 Records. With the fight having broken several rules of the competition, Jem and the Holograms were formally disqualified and asked to leave. Though an enraged Kimber spoke up first, Jerrica attempted to give a more reasoned and calm explanation of what happened in hopes of remaining part of the contest but it ended up being for naught. After the ruling, Jerrica spoke with Rio as she and the other Holograms prepared to leave. Rio again brought up how strange it was that Jem was nowhere to be found during all this and expressed concerns that her acting like a diva could ruin the band but Jerrica insisted that he just didn't understand.

Returning home, Jerrica joined her sisters on the couch as Aja confronted Kimber about whether or not her mysterious new girlfriend was actually Stormer of The Misfits. Rephrasing a poorly asked question from Aja, Jerrica asked Kimber why she'd keep this a secret when she's usually so open and had her and the other Holograms promise not to keep any more secrets like that. After the three of them tried to reassure Kimber that they didn't think Stormer had anything to do with the Starlight incident, Jerrica brought up that she was starting to form a plan they could use to still make their first big, public splash and get back at The Misfits. After calling in a favor with Rio, Jerrica set up a Jem and the Holograms concert held in an abandoned building directly across from the venue The Misfits were playing a full set to after the battle of the bands at, stealing their audience away for a dazzling, hologram filled live performance! Showtime: Part Six

Rising Fame

Following their Misfits VS! crashing concert, Jerrica and her sisters returned home feeling both exhausted but still far too amped up to go to sleep. With Synergy informing them that she had access to a system that could get them any movie they wanted, the girls decided to stay up and have a slumber party but all of them ended up passing out before they could settle on a movie they wanted to watch. While asleep, Jerrica had a dream inspired both by Teen Wolf and her anxieties over whether people only cared about her as Jem and not as herself. Outrageous Annual

In the wake of the Holograms' sudden fame, Jerrica's workload as the band's manager quickly began to surge to an unmanageable level. Though she tried to enlist the help of Aja and Shana, they had too much going on in their personal lives to be to helpful. To help lighten her load though, Aja suggested Jerrica enlist Synergy's help with some of her more immediate concerns. Naturally, the AI was perfectly up to the task!

After passing out from exhaustion, Jerrica was woken by Shana, who then drew her attention to the shockingly glowing review of the Misfits VS! concert Rio had written. Angered that he'd be so positive about a concert put on by people who put her sister in the hospital, Jerrica didn't have to wait long to confront her boyfriend as he'd just arrived at the front door mere moments later. Not particularly caring about his insistence that he was just doing his duty as a journalist by trying to give the Misfits an honest, objective review, Jerrica was then shocked to learn that the reason he'd shown up to the Benton home in the first place was because he'd been assigned to write a piece on Jem, aiming to get a look at the woman behind the performer! Viral: Part One

After watching the new music video Synergy had put together for MoreMoreMore and having to remind Kimber that they couldn't let anyone know the truth about Synergy, Jerrica again found her sisters were all too busy to help her with mailing out invitations to the upcoming Halloween party where the band would debut their new video. Trying her best not to let her frustration show, Jerrica instead only asked that Shana and Aja sign the record deal contracts she'd gotten from 5x5 Records. When her sisters raised concerns about them signing to the same label as the Misfits, Jerrica snapped at them, saying that they had the best offer of all the ones she'd gotten and that if she was going to do all the work of managing the band by herself, it was up to her to make decisions like that for the rest of them. Trying to calm her down, Aja and Shana told Jerrica that they trusted her decision making and agreed to sign, feeling that even if they were signed to the same label they probably wouldn't be seeing the Misfits any more than they normally would. Viral: Part Two

As the Holograms' Halloween party rolled around, Jerrica (as Jem) was swarmed by fans complimenting her on the new music video until Rio arrived to break up the crowd. As he took her into another room, Jem thanked Rio for his help and admitted that she was still getting used to all the attention that came with her newfound fame. As they continued talking, eventually the subject of the interview he'd been assigned came up and, though she expressed some hesitation, they eventually came to an agreement whereby once Jem was ready to be interviewed, Rio would be the first one to know. As a satisfied Rio took off to look for Jerrica, Jem sneaked through the house trying to find another room to slip into and change back into Jerrica, unknowingly catching the party-crashing Pizzazz's attention as she did so. While Techrat distracted Pizzazz long enough for Jerrica to slip away without her noticing, Jerrica met back up with Rio and quickly kissed and made up with him over their earlier argument. Viral: Part Three After the party had ended and the girls were busy cleaning their house up, they received another visit from Rio who was looking for their help, hoping he could get an interview with the band on their upcoming tour with the Misfits so that he could make that the bulk of the piece he'd been assigned to write on Pizzazz's recent car accident and resulting injuries. Though Jerrica and her sisters were shocked to learn that they were going on tour with the Misfits, they ultimately agreed, with Synergy taking Jerrica's place as Jem for the interview. Rio Pacheco: Boy Reporter

With the holidays coming around, Jerrica and the other Holograms attended 5x5 Records' holiday party and participated in a Secret Santa drawing. Much to the shock of both bands, all of the Holograms pulled the name of someone in the Misfits and vice versa, with Jerrica pulling Pizzazz's name. Though she was as frustrated as the rest of them, ultimately Jerrica decided that they should be the bigger band and follow through on getting the Misfits gifts. Though Pizzazz wasn't planning on getting Jem anything, once she'd received her gift of an engraved collar for her cat Madmartigan, the thoughtfulness of the gift caused her to come to the Holograms' door on Christmas day to give Jem her gift. At first answering the front door as herself, Jerrica ducked back inside in a panic and transformed to get Pizzazz's gift of what she called a "go bag", a gigantic duffel bag stuffed full of various things front women like them might need on the road. Holiday Special 2015

As the joint Holograms-Misfits tour drew closer, both bands were called into a meeting at 5x5 headquarters to finalize the details of the tour. Arriving as herself along with a hologram of Jem, Jerrica and her Synergy-controlled alter ego were the only ones at the meeting not to drink the water Kimber had spiked with a love potion! After the meeting was over, Jerrica was shocked to find her incredibly gay sister declaring her love for Rio. Wrestling them apart, Kimber explained that she'd only intended to use the potion to ease the tensions between the bands but unknowingly used too much, creating something that causes all those who drink it to fall in love with the first person they see! Locking Kimber up in the back of the Holograms' van, Jerrica and Rio split up to find and restrain the others. Jerrica first found Aja and Jetta fighting over the same ramen chef and, as their arguing became a real fight, she backed off before finding Stormer on her knees professing her undying love to a barista. After having Synergy create a Hologram of the barista to lure Stormer into the backseat of her car, Jerrica met back up with Rio and got his help splitting up Aja and Jetta. After that, the two spotted Pizzazz and the Misfits' manager Eric Raymond making puppy dog eyes at one another and agreed that neither of them wanted to touch that one. Once everything was said and done, Jerrica gave Kimber a month on dish washing duty for what she'd done. Valentine Special

Dark Makeover

After returning home from tutoring The Starlights where she and her sisters taught them that fights between band members never solve anything, Jerrica was frustrated by her sisters wanting to throw a pool party to celebrate the unusually warm weather. Given that her main grief is that she didn't want to put one together so soon after their last party, she eventually relented when her sisters agreed that they'd do all the work of getting it set up. While she watched them clean up the pool from the pool house, Jerrica was approached by Synergy, who had something she wanted Jerrica to listen to. Agreeing, Jerrica was shocked to hear a piercingly loud, discordant noise. Despite her initially negative reaction to the noise, Jerrica slowly came around to it, even going so far as to ask Synergy for more as her eyes gradually turned yellow...

As the party guests arrived, Jerrica came out looking extremely different, having cut the sides of her hair very short and dying part of it black. While her sisters were shocked by Jerrica's makeover, once she brought them inside and had Synergy play the same noise for them, they slowly began coming around to her shift in style... Dark Jem: Part One With her and her sisters now all having given themselves a darker, edgier makeover, they returned to the Starlight Community Center and played a song for their young students, the sound of it similar to the noise Synergy had played for them. Back at the Benton home, the roadies were packing up the darker Holograms' equipment as they prepared to leave for their tour with The Misfits. When Rio approached her, Jerrica gave rather dispassionate, detached responses to his questions about where the Holograms had been since the pool party, claiming that they had been busy writing new material that she thought would "blow his mind", and about the band's sudden makeover. After transforming into Jem backstage at the first concert of the tour, she was annoyed by Rio showing up again asking where Jerrica was before taking the stage with her sisters and playing one of their new songs, which turned the audience's eyes the same shade of yellow that theirs were. Dark Jem: Part Two

With her band having essentially transformed the concert's entire audience into dispassionate zombies, Jem and her sisters headed back to their tour bus as The Misfits took the stage, blowing past Rio, Aja's new boyfriend Craig, and several fans who hadn't been transformed. After her sisters vacated the bus, Jem was approached by Rio, who asked if he had done something to offend her. As he continued to go on about how he hasn't been able to find Jerrica anywhere and only ever seems to find her, Jem raised an eyebrow and pulled Rio in for a kiss. Throwing her off, an extremely offended Rio left the bus in a huff, leaving Jem behind calling out to him before she slowly realized she wasn't sure what had just happened. Suddenly getting hit with a piercing pain in her head, Jem let out a silent scream and took off running, her hologram flickering off and on as she ran through a crowd of people before collapsing in an alley while begging the mysterious entity that had taken control of her to let go. Waking up after briefly passing out, Jerrica was now free of the mind control, the act of kissing Rio as Jem shocking her out of it, but still fully aware of what she'd done. Because of this, she made a beeline for the motel room Rio was sharing with Craig, embracing and kissing her boyfriend the second he opened the door.

After giving the boys the short, Synergy-censored version of what had happened, Jerrica explained a plan she'd concocted where the three of them would kidnap each of her sisters and restrain them until their mind control had worn off. With both of them agreeing, Jerrica's plan largely went off without a hitch and her sisters were all back to normal within six hours. Once they'd all broken the spell, the horror of what they'd done began hitting them, realizing that they'd infected a whole stadium full of people as well as anyone who watched or listened to a recording of the concert online. With that, Jerrica informed her sisters that she felt they only had one option to stop more people from getting infected and hurt... disconnecting Synergy. Dark Jem: Part Three Though Kimber was quite distraught at the prospect of disconnecting, and therefore killing, Synergy, the other Holograms agreed that they didn't see too many other options, even though doing so would also mean there'd be no more Jem. With the four of them agreeing to stay together at the motel for the night and head down to the tour bus to disconnect Synergy first thing in the morning, Jerrica climbed into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. Though she also made her sisters promise not to risk anything by going off on their own in the middle of the night, Aja and Kimber broke that promise as soon as Jerrica had fallen asleep, both of them running off to see their significant others. Awakened after Shana got a late night text from her boyfriend Tony saying he was outside with coffee, Jerrica asked her where the others were. Though Aja soon returned with Craig and Rio, Kimber was still missing, though it didn't take them long to figure out where she'd gone. Rushing down to where the Misfit and Hologram tour buses were parked, Jerrica and her sisters found Kimber on her knees being menaced by Silica, the glitch in Synergy's systems that was behind the corruption now having taken on her own separate form. In shock at what they were seeing, the Holograms failed to notice the members of The Sickness, Silica's new agents for spreading her mind control, sneaking up behind them to remove their earphones. Without that protection, Jerrica and her sisters all collapsed onto the ground, their eyes turning white as Synergy looked on in horror. Dark Jem: Part Four

Waking up that morning, Jerrica found herself inside of a protective holographic tent Synergy had built around her and her sisters to protect them from Silica causing them any further harm. As the other Holograms slowly woke back up, Synergy went on to explain that Silica has become a completely separate, independent entity from herself with her own separate computer system from her own and is planning to use that night's concert to spread her mind control across the world. In order to stop the evil AI from world domination, Jerrica proposed a plan that involved the unthinkable: teaming up with The Misfits! Going to their rivals' tour bus, they discovered that Clash and the band's replacement singer Blaze had both succumbed to Silica's mind control. After they were both restored to normal by being shocked out of it by Roxy and Jetta and Techrat had explained how he believed Silica's mind control worked, Jerrica asked everyone present if they had any ideas on how they could stop Silica and do something shocking enough to break her hold on those she had control over. Fittingly enough, a solution came from a somewhat shocking source... Pizzazz, who's voice had now fully healed from her car accident and was ready to get back into action! Dark Jem: Part Five

Believing that the sight of their bands performing together would be a big enough surprise to loosen Silica's grip on people, Pizzazz sent the Holograms away to go get Jem. As they left, Jerrica confided in her sisters that she wasn't sure if she could be Jem again after everything that had happened and that some part of her believed this whole situation might finally be the thing that pushed her into being herself on stage. Ultimately though, Jerrica recognized that for this plan to work, she needed to become Jem. After having the plan explained to her while she was in her alter ego, the Holograms returned to their bus briefly so that Synergy could take over as Jem for Jerrica, who would be running around backstage trying to locate and shut down Silica's computer. With Pizzazz's plan going off without a hitch, Jerrica and Rio watched the two bands perform backstage, both expressing amazement at how well their sounds complimented one another. Dark Jem: Part Six

Losing Control

With 5x5 wanting their album sooner than they'd expected, Jem and the Holograms got into the studio to record. While they played though, Jem noticed that Shana wasn't playing with the same kind of passion she usually did that day. With Shana not believing she'd be able to get back on her game that day, Jem called the recording session off early as she and her sisters decided to spend the rest of the day out at the lake behind the mansion they were renting. As they hung out in the water, Aja found it odd that Jerrica was hanging out in her Jem disguise even though there was no reason to. Claiming she hadn't even noticed, Jem played off her and Kimber's concerns by saying it wasn't a big deal but still didn't change back until Aja continued to drive the point home. Now back to being Jerrica, she moved her innertube over to the dock Shana was sitting on and asked why she hadn't joined the rest of them but her sister continued to be cagy with her answers about why she seemed to be so down lately. Joining Shana on the dock after accidentally falling out of her innertube, Jerrica told her sister that she and Aja were planning on inviting their boyfriends up to the house for a bonfire. While Shana was okay with that, she was concerned that they seemed to be excluding Stormer from their plans given how serious her and Kimber's relationship was. Though Jerrica was slightly concerned about having a Misfit over, she eventually came around, not wanting to hurt Kimber's feelings.

Later that night, while waiting for everyone's significant others to arrive, Jerrica noticed Aja seeming to experiment with her hairstyle in the bathroom and joked that that didn't bode well for her relationship with Craig given that her changing her hair almost always seemed to line up with her ending a relationship. Annoyed, Aja changed the subject to if Jerrica had any idea what was bothering Shana and then to bringing up Kimber's concerns that Jerrica was going to drop out of the band given what she'd talked about during the Silica incident. Though Jerrica promised she was committed to the band, she did mention she was beginning to consider telling Rio the truth about Jem. Though Aja was skeptical but still somewhat trusting about letting Rio in on the truth, this brought up the concern of whether or not Stormer could be trusted with the secret. Later, as all the boyfriends arrived but Stormer was still worryingly late, Jerrica assured Kimber that the rest of them would help her look for her girlfriend, with Jerrica and Rio climbing into his car to look together. Ch-Ch-Changes: Part One Now that they were alone together, Rio revealed he had something to tell Jerrica: that Jem had kissed him! Though she was concerned at first, once she knew what he was talking about Jerrica just laughed the news off, claiming that Jem had already told her and apologized. As they continued to talk, Rio not quite understanding why Jerrica was willing to give Jem a free pass on this, Jerrica stopped keeping a close eye on the road and ended up crashing into Stormer's car, which itself had crashed into a tree!

Getting out, Jerrica discovered she had no cell signal out in the woods as she and Rio discussed where the missing Misfit may have run off to. Jerrica then noticed a piece of fabric hanging off a tree and assumed it must have belonged to Stormer. Grabbing a flashlight from the trunk, Jerrica prepared to take off into the woods after Stormer but then found Rio trying to talk her into staying. While Jerrica refused to let Rio go alone, the sound of a roar and an accompanying scream was enough for them to both take off running! Eventually finding Stormer, they discovered she'd been scared off into the trees by a bear, which then suddenly appeared behind them! Thinking quick, Jerrica called Synergy to project a hologram of another, even bigger bear to scare the other one off. Once both the real and holographic bears were gone, the three of them made their way back to the road and found Aja, Craig, and Kimber there waiting for them. While there was celebration at first, once they were back at the house Kimber pulled Jerrica aside and demanded to know what the hell she was thinking scaring Stormer like that with an even bigger bear. As Aja, speaking up in Jerrica's defense, Kimber, and Jerrica all continued arguing, the frustrated Shana finally let slip what had been bothering her all this time... she was going to quit the band! With that successfully changing the subject, Jerrica somewhat uneasily congratulated her on having gotten the fashion internship she'd been working for so hard before all of them shared a teary eyed group hug, all four women uncertain what this meant for their futures... Ch-Ch-Changes: Part Two

Weeks later, Jem tried to hurry Aja and Kimber along, the three of them already late for their appointment to see the auditions for potential new drummers to replace Shana. While they continued to show concern about her seeming to spend more and more time as Jem rather than herself, she again brushed them off, feeling that them letting an outsider into the group meant she'd have to spend more time as Jem than ever. Once at 5x5's recording studio, the auditioning drummers all failed to impress. While taking a break, Jem got up and wandered about the studio, following the sound of singing through the halls until she finally came to the studio where The Stingers were practicing. While she was very impressed by their lead singer Riot's vocals, Pizzazz's sudden arrival put a slight damper on things as she began arguing with Harcourt over her band getting kicked out of their studio space to make room for the Stingers. As Jem got involved with the argument, the Stingers concluded their song and greeted the two women. Though Pizzazz left in a huff, Riot began getting very friendly with Jem, flattering her with compliments and asking if there was anything he could do to help with Pizzazz. Though she politely declined his offer for help, she was very receptive to the compliments. After getting teased by her sisters for how she was acting and being told to turn off the Jem hologram, Jerrica agreed with Aja that they needed to pretend the auditions were going well so that Shana wouldn't feel pressured into staying. Enter The Stingers: Part One The next day, Jerrica answered the door to find that the Benton home was receiving an unexpected visit from Riot, who claimed he had news he wanted to share with Jem. Claiming she was already expecting Jem to arrive any minute, Jerrica invited Riot inside and sat him down with Aja and Kimber and their partners while she took off to transform. However, by the time she got back alongside a hologram of herself as Jerrica, she found Stormer leaving the room in tears, Riot having already shared his news that, despite Jem turning down his help, he had asked Harcourt to drop The Misfits as part of a romantic gesture towards Jem! With Riot feeling it would be best that he leave now rather than risk causing a bigger scene, Jem walked him outside and asked if he really had gotten the Misfits dropped for her. Though she was of two minds about him doing so, she clearly wasn't upset with Riot enough to say no to him asking her out for a date the following night! Later that night, Jerrica was introduced to The Fox, a skilled drummer Aja had invited to take Shana's place. Enter The Stingers: Part Two

With Shana having left for Milan, the Holograms all practiced together out in the pool house, Fox having integrated herself into their sound with next to no issue. However, they soon discovered their new drummer had quite the curious nature as she poked around the jukebox that hid Synergy's central computer, which they were quick to usher her away from. Meanwhile, Jem continued her relationship with Riot, which inevitably led to them appearing on the front cover of a tabloid. Upon discovering this, Jem found herself confronted by her sisters yet again. With them demanding to know why she was doing this while she supposedly was still in a relationship with Rio, Jem/Jerrica let slip the worrying comment that it doesn't matter because Jem was the one dating Riot, not Jerrica! Running off to another room to avoid Fox potentially overhearing something she shouldn't, Aja asked her sister if she still understood that Jerrica and Jem are the same person. With Jem admitting that she's been having trouble keeping her selves straight, she deactivated the hologram at Aja's request and then let her sisters tuck her into bed, agreeing that she would get some rest so they could sort things out in the morning. Enter The Stingers: Part Three Ultimately Jerrica and her sisters came to an agreement that Jerrica could only be herself or Jem with no Synergy impersonating the other and that she had to decide to break up with either Riot or Rio. If she broke either of these promises, she would have to hang up the Jem persona.

As the night of the 5x5 masquerade ball that both the Holograms and Stingers would be playing rolled around, Jem was pulled aside by Aja yet again when she found Rio outside waiting to take Jerrica to the ball. Thoroughly frightened by Jem immediately having Synergy create a Jerrica hologram, Aja reminded her sister of the promise she made. Promising to hang up the Jem persona for a while after tonight, she and her sisters claimed Jerrica had gotten sick at the last minute and then took off for the ball in a limo. Once at the event, Jem ran into Riot and attempted to break up with him but, before she got the chance, the Stinger was called up to the stage to perform a song he had decided to dedicate to her. With them going on stage next, Jem and her sisters prepared to go on but, at the last second, The Fox dropped out, revealing herself as a spy sent by Pizzazz to sabotage the band! Enter The Stingers: Part Four While trying to stall for time and figure something out, the Holograms eventually received an offer of help from the Stingers' drummer Raya. Taking her up on it, Raya turned in an amazing performance with the Holograms! After the show, the two bands met back up and Jem took Riot aside and again attempted to break up with him. While she managed to get the words out this time, they were again interrupted by a sudden explosion of fireworks from the Misfits' plan on getting back at both of their enemy bands. With explosion being far bigger than intended, the venue was quickly set aflame and all attendees were forced to evacuate. Leaving Riot behind, Jem got back with Aja and helped her bring Kimber to her feet after she twisted her ankle by tripping on her own dress. Unbeknownst to her, the Jem hologram briefly flickered, allowing the nearby Raya to see through Jerrica's disguise before Kimber called her over so they could evacuate together. While all this was going on, Rio sneaked into the Benton home with a cup of chicken soup for Jerrica only to discover she was nowhere to be found.

The next day, Jerrica answered the door and found Raya outside, having come there to explain she'd left the Stingers and was wanting to join the Holograms. While they let her on, what the Holograms didn't know is that Shana had decided to return home early! Enter The Stingers: Part Five While things were awkward at first, they eventually found room for both Shana and Raya in the band, moving Shana onto bass guitar while Raya stayed on drums.

After getting invited to play a benefit concert there, the Holograms flew down to Maui, Hawaii for a vacation. Though they were enjoying the island paradise, a slight damper was put on the festivities when they discovered The Stingers had booked the beach house next to theirs! After the Holograms discovered who their neighbors were, Jem was approached by Riot, who had clearly still not gotten over their break up. As she ignored Riot's begging and let Kimber and Aja argue with the band's remaining female members, Jem left to answer the ringing doorbell to discover that the boyfriends had finally arrived along with their surprise guest Stormer, who had somehow managed to escape the watchful eye of the Misfits reality show crew! As Rio asked about Jerrica's whereabouts, Jem offered to take him to her. As she guided him down the hall away from the others, Aja pulled her aside and asked what she was doing, prompting Jem to say she felt it was time she tell Rio the truth about who she really was.

As the others all left for the luau that was being held that night, Jem sat Rio down in her room before leaving and going back to Jerrica in the hall. Sitting down with her boyfriend, Rio told her that he was glad that she invited him down there, having grown worried that she was considering breaking things off or at the very least was hiding something big from him. After an awkward silence, Rio commented he was surprised Jem didn't take such a big, lavish room for herself. Saying it was funny that he should mention that, Jerrica stood up and tapped her earring, transforming into Jem before Rio's eyes! Truly Outrageous: Part One Sitting back down, Jem explained that she had always been Jerrica underneath all along and apologized for lying to him, feeling that keeping that secret was for the best. While Rio was thoroughly confused by what he was seeing, what he did understand was that if Jerrica and Jem really were the same person, that meant that she had been cheating on him with Riot. While Jem explained the trouble she was having lately keeping her two identities straight, she also admitted that she had made a mistake starting things with Riot and apologized for that as well. Telling Jem to turn back to Jerrica, Rio then asked about what exactly this "Synergy" thing she kept referring to was. Though Jerrica tried to change the subject, Rio refused to relent, leaving her no choice but to ask Synergy to reveal herself, throwing Rio through even more of a loop that led to him storming out and calling a cab to bring him back to the airport.

With the others returning just in time to witness Rio's abrupt departure, Jerrica's sisters gathered around her to try and comfort her but Aja's rather blunt questioning about whether or not he seemed pissed enough to leak the secret got Jerrica to storm out of the house herself. Tearing up out in the back yard, Jerrica was approached by Riot who claimed that he too was suffering from a broken heart when she explained what had gotten her so down. Though he at first seemed to be more upset by the simple fact that he for once wasn't the one breaking things off, the Stinger eventually claimed that the thing he was really upset about was that the future he had envisioned for Jem and himself would never actually come to pass and he would never get to learn more about her. Telling him that she found that oddly sweet, Jerrica was then caught off guard by Riot immediately proposing that they both hook up to get back at both of their exes!

Coming back inside, Jerrica was surprised to see Stormer there when she was supposed to be with Kimber on some sort of romantic rendezvous, something the Misfit had no knowledge of. Realizing that her sister had been tricked, Jerrica ordered everyone to fan out and search the house for the invitation Kimber had gotten so they could figure out where she was. Truly Outrageous: Part Two While Jerrica called the police to ask them to put out an alert for Kimber, Aja got in contact with Keani Akana, the organizer for the charity the Holograms were playing for and a Maui native to help in their search. After Raya put two and two together and realized that Rapture and Minx were likely behind Kimber's disappearance, Jerrica drove up to where the two Stingers had arranged a fake picnic to try and sabotage Kimber and Stormer's relationship. After Keani and Aja rescued Kimber from the bottom of the cliff she'd fallen down, Jerrica and the others all visited her in the hospital, her injuries thankfully being minor enough that she could be discharged almost immediately. While they were gathered around Kimber's bed, Jerrica apologized to Shana for not letting her know how important she was to them after she took the opportunity to apologize for leaving the band before. While the four of them hugged things out, they were approached by Raya, who shut the door behind her and revealed that she knew about Jerrica's dual identity. With her doing this because she'd been approached by the sneaky Misfits reality show crew and asked to reveal the Holograms' "big secret" that she theorized Rapture and Minx had told them about without knowing that there actually was a big secret, Jerrica got an idea for how to get the TV crew off their backs and get back at the Stingers. After having Synergy fake Rapture talking smack about Raya, Jem and the Holograms played their charity concert to a huge, cheering audience. After the show, Jem commented to her bandmates that she wasn't sure she could let go of being Jem if Rio revealed the truth. When the Holograms finally returned home, they found an unexpected guest in the form of Rio waiting on their front porch. Walking him back to the pool house so the could be alone, Jerrica and Rio had an awkward conversation where he explained what his mental space had been since the last time they'd seen each other. While he still loved her, he was no longer sure what was going to happen to them and said that only time would tell whether or not they got back together. Addressing the other elephant in the room, Rio promised Jerrica that he wasn't going to reveal their secret, though he did warn her that something this big couldn't stay under wraps forever and that it'd be better if they came out with the truth rather than let somebody else reveal it. After he left, the two of them staring into each other's eyes briefly before he did so, Jerrica's sisters gathered around her to comfort her, promising that no matter what happened, they'd always be there to support her. Truly Outrageous: Part Three

Across The Infinite

Some time after their trip to Hawaii, Jem and the Holograms headlined a charity concert for the Starlight Foundation. While the performance itself was a huge success, things got more awkward for Jem when she bumped into Rio backstage; though he complimented their performance, he rebuffed her offers to hang out with the band later on, it being too soon for him after their messy breakup. He also encouraged her to come clean about really being Jerrica, pointing out that things could be worse if it got out before she did. Meeting the rest of the band in the tour bus, Jerrica was offered sympathy by her bandmates, who debated the merits of revealing the truth, but together they eventually decided that it was too risky. Jerrica and the rest of the band embraced, happy to have each other. Unfortunately, this happiness didn't last, as within twenty minutes they found themselves in an argument with the Misfits, Pizzazz accusing them of having intentionally trying to ruin the Misfits' careers, no matter how many times Jem tried to explain that Riot was responsible. Despite Jem wanting the entire feud put to rest, it quickly devolved into a screaming match until the two bands realised that they were being watched and photographed by fans, forcing them to break up the argument — though Pizzazz promised that it would continue "another time", something Jem was certain of, given her rival's inability to let go of her grudge.

As the Holograms were leaving, however, they were encountered by a somewhat different-looking Techrat, who asked for the band's help. Jem wasn't impressed, assuming that Pizzazz had put him up to it, and was furious when he invoked the name of their father Emmett, forcing him to explain: he wasn't the Techrat they knew, but the Techrat of an alternate reality where their father was still alive! The Holograms, for obvious reasons, found his story hilarious, up until the point where Techrat activated the device he'd brought with him and created a portal to the other universe. Despite the evidence, Jem wasn't sure whether to believe, and so Techrat dropped one last bombshell: he knew that she was really Jerrica, and that her hologram technology was the same thing that had ruined his universe. Finally accepting the truth, the Holograms entered the portal to the other world. Infinite: Part One On arriving in the other universe, Jerrica, having disabled the "Jem" hologram, and her bandmates were soon followed by Techrat... along with the Misfits, who had discovered the portal and insisted on coming along.

The world revealed to them was little like the one they knew, though: an apparent high-tech utopia where hologram technology — and the likenesses and music of Jem and the Holograms — were everywhere. As Techrat ushered them into his auxiliary lab, Jerrica was confused by what was so bad about their universe that it needed "saving". Techrat revealed that the city that they had seen was only for those rich enough to afford hologram technology, with everyone else forced to live outside the city's walls. While they spoke, Pizzazz realised that Jem wasn't present, and asked where she was, forcing Jerrica to reveal the truth to the Misfits... which they didn't believe, prompting her to try and transform into Jem, but in the process she realised that Synergy hadn't come through into the other universe with them. Pizzazz continued to refuse to believe until Jerrica was persuaded to sing for them, thereby absolutely blowing the Misfits' minds. After the Misfits recovered from their shock, the two bands made ready to go and meet Emmett, putting on Jemstar earrings to blend in in the city, but Pizzazz announced that the Misfits had their own plans, intending to go and find where they were in "Jemworld"; which, as far as Techrat knew, would be on the other side of the wall. The two bands split up, with the Holograms heading for Emmett's apartment. Infinite: Part Two On their way to the apartment, Jerrica and the Holograms marvelled at their surroundings, though Techrat urged them to hurry and keep a low profile rather than risk being found out... which became difficult when Jemworld's version of Rio spotted her and started kissing her, having been searching for Jemworld's Jerrica after she went missing. The Holograms eventually managed to pull Jerrica away from Rio, leaving her to promise to call him.

At Emmett's apartment, Jerrica and her sisters had an emotional reunion with their father, before they began thinking about how to take down Jemcorp. Aja suggested using the Silica corruption to take control of Synergy again, but Jerrica was opposed, seeing Silica as too dangerous to be released. Techrat and Emmett were intrigued by the idea, but had no idea how to access Synergy to exploit it given the limited access that the Jemstar earrings allowed, until Jerrica produced her own earrings: the originals, which had unlimited access to the AI on her own Earth. While Emmett and Techrat worked on their plan, Jerrica suggested contacting Jemworld's versions of the Holograms for their help, only for Emmett to reveal the truth: the Jem and the Holograms of his world were dead, having been killed by Jemcorp and replaced by pure holograms when they refused to support the corporation. This, however, only increased the Holograms' resolve to reveal the truth and take down Jemcorp once and for all! Infinite: Part Three To put their plan into action, Jerrica contacted the Misfits outside the wall, and arranged to meet them back in the city. Infinite: Part Four

The Holograms' rivals took a while to arrive, which Jerrica fretted over, but were eventually arrived along with two unexpected guests: Jemworld's versions of Kimber and Stormer, who — despite being thought dead — were still alive on the other side of the wall! While Emmett reunited with his daughter and her girlfriend, Jerrica brought the Misfits up to speed on their plan for the two bands to help sneak Techrat and Emmett into the surprise Holograms concert at Jemcorp Headquarters; Jerrica also recruited Rio to help them, who she told the truth about the death of his Jerrica and the Holograms. After they snuck onto the site and Rio knocked out a guard, he thanked her for telling him, and reassured her that her Rio would come back to her. Jerrica sent Rio home in case things went wrong, and went to wait for Techrat and Emmett to find Silica... which took several hours, much to both bands' dismay.

With Silica having made the connection with the corrupted version of Synergy, Emmett was able to disable the holograms of the Holograms and allow the real Holograms and Misfits to take their place, Jerrica becoming Jem once more. During their performance, at Pizzazz's urging, she deactivated the Jem hologram and revealed her true identity, and denounced Jemcorp's control over the world before reactivating the hologram as a new, "best self" for Jem. Infinite: Part Five While Jem rallied the people, the Jemworld Kimber and Stormer came onto the stage, revealing how Jemcorp had attempted to murder them, faked their deaths, and replaced them with holograms. Next, the other Kimber and Stormer came onto the stage, revealing the existence of the otherworldly Misfits and Holograms; Pizzazz took to the microphone, rallying the fans to fight back against Jemcorp's control. With Pizzazz and Jem working together to lead them, the crowd were persuaded to take off their hologram technology and open the gates in the city walls.

In the aftermath of the fall of Jemcorp, the Holograms reunited with their father, but though Kimber asked him to come back with them, he felt the need to stay behind and help the world rebuild, and take care of his Kimber and Stormer. With the world saved, the Holograms and Misfits returned to their own world, though Jerrica and Pizzazz continued to bicker with each other; on reaching the other side of the interdimensional portal, the two bands realised that they had to work together in future to prevent the world from learning the Holograms' secret. Infinite: Part Six

Hasbro Universe

A sleepy soldier stationed outside of Cooper's Mill implored Jem to "sing it" as he dozed off. Reinforcements, Part 1

The Starlights' Fan Fiction

In the Jem and the Holograms fanfiction written by The Starlights, Jem was the leader of the Holograms, a quartet of popstar princesses challenging the tyrannical rule of Majestrix Pizzazz. After the team retrieved Stormer from The Planet of Lost Souls, Jem insisted that they not lose hope even after Pizzazz's heart crumbled into ash after it was freed from the ball and chain Stormer was forced to wear in her banishment. Believing music would be the solution to all their problems, Jem led her sisters and Stormer to Planet Pizzazz, the capital of Pizzazz's empire, and began playing an impromptu concert to the planet's populace. Though Pizzazz was quick to sic her royal guard on the rebels, when Jem handed the mic off to Stormer, the sound of her singing a soulful ballad was enough to regrow her heart. This lead to Pizzazz softening her iron grip on the galaxy, at last becoming a fair and just ruler. Outrageous Annual 2017

Jemcorp Universe

After Pizzazz found out about Synergy due to Kimber and Stormer being careless with keeping the technology a secret, the government came in and took the technology away from the Bentons while Jerrica and Kimber watched. Infinite: Part Four After Jemcorp was formed to regulate the now widely available Hologram technology, Jerrica and her sisters continued to perform as the Holograms until they took issue with the totalitarian approach Jemcorp had with dividing society into haves and have nots. Upon trying to stop Jemcorp's plans, all of the Holograms save for Kimber were secretly killed and replaced with holographic duplicates to keep up the illusion they were still alive. Infinite: Part Three

Notes

• In her profile, Jerrica is noted to be 23 years old. In an answer on her Tumblr, IDW Jem writer Kelly Thompson gave Jerrica's date of birth as June 1. However, June 1 was the also the date stated in one episode from the 80s cartoon where it was mentioned she was a Gemini, the 'two different faces'.
• Said profile also notes that while she stands at 5'5" as Jerrica, her transformation somehow causes her to gain a few inches so that she's 5'11" as Jem! No telling how much of that is actually just the crazy heels Jem tends to wear though.

External links

• Jerrica Benton at the TFWiki