“Aren’t there like…drug dealers here?”, Supergirl asked as she glided through the high thin clouds above Venezuela. Charlie was on her back, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly. She didn’t understand why, but he insisted that he felt more comfortable that way. Maybe it had something to do with watching the ground rush by below that frightened him a little bit.
“That’s Colombia”, Charlie lectured, “It’s thousands of miles from here.”
“Oh”, Supergirl whispered. She regretted all of those times she used her high-school geography class to catch up on sleep.
“Are we there yet?”, Charlie asked.
Supergirl turned her head to look toward Charlie. “How should I know? You’re the one with the map, Charlie.”
“Uh, well…”, Charlie mumbled.
“You do have the map, don’t you?”
“I…think I dropped it somewhere over Panama.”
“Oh, nuts.” Supergirl started flying lower, trying to find some sign of civilization. It was her only chance to figure out where she was. Luckily, she noticed a small prop plane flying just below her – and at the altitude it was flying, it was most likely about to land.
“Why don’t you follow that plane?”, Charlie asked.
“Thanks, Charlie”, Supergirl said in a tone dripping with sarcasm, “Maybe I’ll just do that.”
“I’m sorry I dropped the map, Linda. I’ll make it up to you.”
Supergirl smiled. Just when Charlie would begin to get on her nerves, he would always say something sweet. “No need, Charlie. I can deal with it.”
—
Supergirl landed gently on the top parking deck of the airport to avoid attracting too much attention. At least no more then she already attracted from the few people who saw her land with Charlie hanging on to her.
“Well, at least I know we’re in Caracas”, Supergirl said as she glanced at the large sign above the parking garage that read ‘Bienvenidos al Aerupuerto Internacional Simon Bolivar de Caracas’.
“You understand Spanish?”, Charlie asked.
“No, but I understand the words ‘Aeropuerto’ and ‘Caracas'”
Charlie shook his head and laughed.
Supergirl ignored him and removed a slip of paper from her belt. “Now how do we get to this address?”
“Take a cab, of course”, Charlie said as he walked toward the parking garage elevator.
“But Charlie”, Supergirl said, “We don’t have any local currency.”
“We can get that inside the airport”, Charlie pointed out.
“Normally, yeah”, Supergirl said, looking down at herself, “But dressed like this?”
“Don’t worry, they’ve all seen you before”, Charlie said, “There won’t be any problem.”
—
“∞Madre de Dios!”, the clerk behind the currency exchange counter yelled before babbling incoherently and spilling an entire container of coins all over the floor. “∞No puede ser!…∞Es ella!…∞Mira, mira!”
“Sure, Charlie”, Supergirl said, “No problem at all.”
“She gave us our money, didn’t she?”, Charlie said.
Supergirl rolled her eyes and headed toward the restroom. “I’m going to go change.”
By the time she changed to Linda and walked out the door, Charlie was already sitting in the back of a cab trying to speak broken Spanish to the driver – who didn’t understand a word he was saying.
Linda slipped into the cab next to Charlie and closed the door behind her. Without a word, she handed the piece of paper with the address to the cab driver and leaned back against the seat.
“Hey, no problem!”, the cab driver said in a New York accent as he drove away from the curb quickly, nearly sideswiping an airport shuttle.
Linda couldn’t help but look at the advertisement on the side of the shuttle, encouraging people to take the bus to work instead of their cars. As usual in that kind of situation, Charlie clung to Linda, hoping she would offer him some protection when they finally crashed.
“You’re from New York?”, Linda asked.
“Yup. The Big Apple”, the cab driver said.
“So how come you’re not driving a cab in New York?”, Linda asked.
The cab driver laughed. “Lady, now ya know why none o’ th’ cab drivers in New York speak English!”
—
About an hour later, the cab drove up in front of a small, unassuming brick building. A rather ugly, broken down brick building. Although Linda couldn’t help but notice a small intercom next to the entrance.
“Here ya are”, the cab driver said as he pulled the car over and stopped, “That’ll be twenty bucks.”
“Dollars?”, Charlie asked.
“Yup”, the cab driver said, “Y’see, I’d rather take dollars. That way, I don’t have to do currency conversions to send money home to family.”
“Oookay”, Charlie said as he dug into his pockets and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.
Linda got out of the cab first and started staring at the building. As soon as Charlie got out, she turned and looked at him. “How do we get in? It looks pretty secure.”
Charlie shrugged. “We could try knocking.”
Linda sighed and knocked on the door. She stood there for several seconds before realizing that no one was going to answer her knock.
“How about using the intercom?”
Charlie and Linda turned around to look at the woman who said that. “And you are?”, Linda asked.
“Mara”, she said, “I work here. And, I’m the person who called Charlie and asked for you.”
Linda looked at Charlie. “She did?”
Charlie shook his head ‘yes’.
Mara pushed the button on the intercom.
“Yes?”, an impatient voice yelled, emanating from the intercom.
“M-32 reporting in”, Mara spoke into the intercom.
Linda laughed as she asked herself if someone had given Mara a number and taken away her name.
“Enter your I.D.”, the impatient voice yelled from the intercom.
The intercom flipped up like a door to reveal a keypad below. Mara quickly typed in a code, and the door opened.
—
Linda and Charlie followed Mara into a small entrance area, facing yet another door. A security guard sat in a booth to the left – and he was staring at Linda and Charlie.
“They’re with me”, Mara said.
The security guard nodded, and buzzed open the second door. As soon as Mara, Linda, and Charlie were past the second door, Mara stopped and turned to Charlie.
“Sorry, Charlie, you’ll have to wait here in reception. Past those doors is a secured area, and my boss hasn’t cleared you to enter”.
“And Linda has been cleared?”, Charlie asked.
“Yes”, Mara said, “Actually I’m a little embarrassed, we were expecting Linda to come alone–”
Charlie smiled. “No problem, that happens a lot.” He walked into the reception area and sat down, as he glanced at the vending machines, phone, and television.
Linda peeked around the corner of the reception room. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be fine”, Charlie said.
As Linda followed Mara through yet another door into a long hallway, she couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Charlie. She knew he hated being left out of her adventures, but he was too polite to say so. “Wow, this place sure is big considering how small it looks outside.”
Mara laughed. “As I tell everyone who comes in here, appearances can be deceiving.”
They walked into a large room that could best be described as a control center. It was staffed by a large number of people, at various computer workstations or watching one of several television screens. There were people milling around carrying small computer cartridges or paperwork. It looked very busy. So busy, in fact, that no one seemed to noticed Linda walk into the room.
That’s also when Linda noticed the way everyone was dressed. “My God…And people think Supergirl’s skirt is too short!”
Mara laughed again. “You’ll get used to seeing–”
“But I can see their…underpants!”, Linda said, just a little too loud. Too loud because all activity suddenly stopped, and everyone stared at her.
“You can also see London and France from here too”, another woman said as she pointed at the computer monitors above her.
Mara seemed a little embarrassed now as she quickly herded Linda toward one of the offices. “Come on, the boss wants to meet you.”
As soon as Linda walked into the office, Mara closed the door. “This is Seish, the director of Girls In White.”
“Girls In White?”, Linda laughed, “You can’t be serious.”
Mara and Seish just stared at her silently for a minute. Seish raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word.
“You are serious”, Linda said quietly.
“Please, have a seat. We’ll begin this meeting as soon as our third person joins us.”, Seish said as he leaned back in his chair and stared at Linda.”
“But you’re already talking in third person”, Linda pointed out.
Seish scowled and looked at Mara, who shrugged.
Just then, they heard a knock on the door.
“Come”, Seish announced.
A brown-haired woman with blue eyes walked in. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Glad you could make it, Mate”, Seish said, “Please have a seat. We’re just about to get started.”
“Where’s Charlie Lewis?”, Mate asked, “And who’s this?”
“I’m Linda Danvers”, Linda said, “I work with Charlie. Mara here asked him to wait in the reception area.”
“Oh, I see”, Mate said, “But you work with him?”
“Yup.”
“I guess that’s close enough”, Mate said.
Seish leaned forward in his chair toward Linda. “Do you know why we asked you here?”
“No, not really.”
Seish looked at Mara, prompting her to stand up, lean against the desk, and begin explaining what’s going on. “You and Charlie will be looking for mutated aliens why prey on young women. Mate will work with you to help lure, track, and perhaps capture some of them.”
“How is she going to do that?”, Linda asked.
Mara looked at Seish, and back at Linda. “That’s…uh…top secret.”
Seish held his hand up to stop Mara from talking for a minute, and turned to Linda. “Could you stand up for a minute?”
Linda was confused as to why, but she stood up anyway.
“Fan of blue jeans, huh?”, Seish asked as he looked closely at Linda.
“No, but I am a fan of Metallica”, Linda said, “Aren’t you Lars whathisname…no wait, that’s the drummer.”
This time Mate started snickering. She didn’t stop, even when Seish made a face at her.
“While you’re working with Mate, you’re going to need to wear a skirt”, Seish said as he pointed at Mate, “Kind of like that one.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
Seish, Mara, and Mate stared at Linda again.
“You’re not kidding?”, Linda said, “Oh my God, I can’t wear something like that!”
“Why not?”, Mate said frankly, “You wear a skirt as Supergirl.”
Linda stumbled a little when she heard that.
Without a word from Linda, Seish explained, “Remember those monitors you saw on the way in? We watch everything. Everything, Linda.”
“My apartment?”
“Everything.”
“Well”, Linda said as she turned toward the door, “In that case, please excuse me. I need the backpack I gave to Charlie, and then I need to use the restroom.”
“Mate”, Seish said, “Since you will be working with her, you might as well show her where she needs to go.”
Mate nodded and motioned for Linda to follow her. “You have a lot of enthusiasm, Linda. Just make sure it doesn’t get you into trouble.”
“Trouble?”, Linda joked, “Trouble’s my middle name. Linda T. Danvers, private investigator!”
“Oookay”, Mate said as she opened the door to the reception area, where Charlie sat watching television.
“Looks like you made it out of there alive”, Charlie joked when he saw Linda walking toward him.
“Not yet”, Linda said, “I need my backpack.”
Charlie looked at Mate and back at Linda. “You can’t use that here, can you?”
“Relax, Charlie, they know everything here. They see everything that goes on outside these walls.”, Linda said.
“My apartment?”
“Everything.”
—
Supergirl returned from the restroom next to the reception area in just under a minute. Of course, since she already guessed she was being watched the entire time she was in the place, she disabled all three cameras in the restroom. That meant, of course, that Seish and Mara met her in the reception area as well as Mate.
“What?”
Seish didn’t look happy, and Mara looked positively furious. “Do you know how much those three cameras cost?”, Mara yelled impatiently.
“I dunno. Look, I’m sorry. I’ll pay for–”
“Three million dollars!”, Mara yelled, “They’re a million each! And I’m responsible for them!”
Mate grabbed Supergirl’s wrist with one hand, and Charlie’s wrist with the other. “Come on, let’s get out of here while you still can.”
Supergirl followed Mate outside, back to the front of the ugly brick building that served as a facade for Girls In White. After being inside that super-high-tech complex, she felt strangely out of place standing outside a building which could easily be hundreds of years old.
“Congratulations, Linda, you caused more damage to GiW in one hour then anyone has done in their entire career”, Mate joked.
“Call me Supergirl in public”, Supergirl said, “No one’s supposed to know who I am.”
“How about Mae?”
“No, only a few very close friends call me Mae”, Supergirl said, “It’ll feel weird if I have too many people calling me that, you know?”.
Mate walked over to a black Ferarri parked in front of the building and grabbed Charlie’s hand just before he touched the mirror-like finish.
“Careful, you might not survive the electric shock”, Mate said as she clicked a button on her keychain to deactivate the alarm system with a satisfying ‘chirp’.
“You can call her Mae if you let me drive”, Charlie said.
Mate laughed. “If you drive, we’ll all be killed. This car’s been specially modified.”
“Maybe you two would be killed”, Supergirl said as they all crammed into the car, “But I wouldn’t.”
Mate started the car, and tore away from the curb. The first thing Supergirl noticed was that the car sounded funny – kind of like a jet engine. Mate must not have exaggerated when she said the car was specially modified. The second thing she noticed was that Mate was driving about eighty miles per hour along a winding coastal road.
“Aren’t there speed limits in Caracas?”
“Yeah, for most people”, Mate said as she smiled and drove faster.
—
A few minutes later, they arrived at a fairly small, unassuming apartment building – a concrete structure with six floors. Supergirl looked up at the building from the car – it was one of those ultra-modern buildings, heavy on design but light on character. Sure some new buildings were beautiful, but they just didn’t have the same richness to them as a lot of older ones did.
Supergirl’s mind wandered for a minute, as her imagination started to appreciate the buildings she’d seen in Gotham City. Sure they were all dark and gothic in style, but they were exquisitely detailed. It’s like someone genuinely cared about the look of the buildings. No matter what anyone said about Gotham – descriptions ranging from ‘scary’ to ‘demonic’ – she’d always think of it as beautiful.
“Uh, Supergirl”, Charlie said as he leaned into the front seat, “Can you get out of the car so I won’t be trapped in the back seat?”
“Oh, sorry”, Supergirl said as she jumped out of the car, “My mind was somewhere else.”
Mate led Charlie and Linda up to her apartment and turned on a light – not fast enough, though, because Charlie tripped over an unopened box on the floor.
“Sorry”, Mate said, “I’m just moving in.”
“What’s your real name, Mate?”, Supergirl said, “I feel like I’m in Australia when I keep calling you that.”
“Maria Teresa Gonzalez.”
“Maria?”, Supergirl asked, “I like the name Maria. Can’t I call you that?”
Mate shrugged. “I prefer Mate, but you can call me anything you like–”
“Just don’t call you late for dinner?”, Charlie interrupted.
Mate made a face.
“Sorry, old joke”, Charlie said as he sat down on the couch, “So why exactly were we called?”
“Actually, I called you”, Mate said, “And GiW called Linda.”
Supergirl laughed. “It sounds like a typical bureaucratic nightmare.”
“It is”, Mate said as she tried to stifle her own giggling.
“But why are we here?”, Charlie asked more insistently.
“To track brain-damaged, mutated aliens”, Mate said.
“Aren’t the Men In Black supposed to do that?”, Supergirl asked.
Mate gave Supergirl an angry look. “No, they’re more like the immigration service. We’re more like the police – only with much cooler cars and weapons.”
“Uh…weapons?”, Supergirl said disapprovingly.
“She’s not a fan of weapons”, Charlie said, just as he caught an angry look from Supergirl, “And…uh…neither am I.”
“Who are these aliens?”, Supergirl asked, “They sound like my territory.”
“I’ll give you the short version so I won’t bore you. They came to Earth about twenty years ago”, Mate explained, “They changed form to imitate humans. Exposure to human behavior caused them brain damage, and now they prey on young women with white underpants.”
“Did you say white underpants?”, Supergirl asked.
Mate shook her head ‘yes’.
“So that’s why…back at the…Oh God, I’m so embarrassed”, Supergirl said, “They must all think I’m an idiot.”
Mate laughed. “It actually happens a lot. Every time we bring in someone new, in fact. Now I have an important question for you – what color are your underpants?”
Supergirl just stared at Mate in surprise for a minute. “That’s none of your–”
“It’s important”, Mate said, “If they’re not white, the aliens will not reveal themselves to you.”
Supergirl was angry now. “I don’t want anyone revealing themselves to me!”
Charlie was doubled over with laughter by now, nearly falling off of the couch onto the floor.
Mate was trying hard not to laugh. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant the aliens will not change to their natural form.”
“Oh”, Supergirl said quietly, “Never mind, then.” With Charlie laughing and Mate probably summing her up as a dumb blonde by now, Supergirl wanted badly to just slip out the door and leave – but she couldn’t, she had a job to do.
“Look”, Mate said a little impatiently, “You two just follow my lead. I’ll show you how to find one of the aliens, and you guys can help after that.” With that, Mate walked out of her apartment, and down toward her car.
“I think we upset her”, Supergirl said.
Charlie shrugged. “It was bound to happen, with the language barrier and all.”
Supergirl giggled at Charlie’s joke, and gave a little shove on the way out of the apartment.
—
“Mate, why exactly are we sitting on a park bench?”, Supergirl asked, “And why does Charlie have to sit over by the fountain?”
“We’re bait.”
“Bait?”, Supergirl asked, “What exactly do you mean by that?”
“We’re luring one of the aliens over here–”
“Yeah, as well as every guy in a two-mile radius”, Supergirl mumbled as she noticed Mate’s much-too-short skirt.
“Which is why”, Mate continued, “Charlie has to stay over there. He’d chase away the aliens.”
Supergirl thought it was a little strange that such dangerous aliens would be afraid of Charlie. “But if the aliens are so dangerous–”
“Shh!”, Mate said, “Here comes someone.”
“With my luck”, Supergirl whispered, “He’s more likely to be a demon then an alien.”
“Hello, ladies”, a man said as he walked up next to the bench they were sitting on. “Mind if I sit down?”
Supergirl felt something strange about this guy – she could tell he was completely fake. Not phony like a politician, but actually fake. She noticed that he didn’t…move like a normal human being. Then, as if to confirm her suspicions, she caught the man looking down at Mate’s lap, and then her own. She felt lucky that she had her legs crossed at the moment.
The man looked at Mate. “Would you like to go for a little walk with me and talk?”
As Mate stood up, alarm bells and sirens went off in Supergirl’s mind. She knew that something was wrong. She was being driven to do something about it. That’s when she noticed something else suspicious – they were in Caracas, and this man was speaking English!
While Mate walked away, she turned and gave a thumbs-up to Supergirl, as if to tell her everything is under control. Supergirl didn’t believe it though – as soon as Mate and the man were out of sight, Supergirl took off for the skies to keep an eye on Mate and her new companion from the air.
By the time Supergirl spotted Mate, she was already in trouble. The man had just thrown her to the ground in the woods, and was waving a finger at her. Supergirl began to descend quickly from the air, like a hawk taking aim at it’s prey. That’s when she realized it wasn’t a finger, it was some kind of strange, alien tentacle!
“Hey!”, Supergirl yelled as she flew toward the ground. Mate looked up, but the guy refused to acknowledge Supergirl. He apparently thought he had other business to attend to. Supergirl landed quickly, grabbed the guy from behind and wheeled him around quickly. As soon as she did, he transformed into a hideous alien monster!
“That…just…figures!”, Supergirl commented as she started fighting all of the alien’s tentacles, which were wrapping around her arms and legs to try and disable her. Luckily, she didn’t need arms or legs to fight this creature. Supergirl’s eyes lit with fire, and in an instant the alien was baking alive in fiery columns from Supergirl’s eyes.
A horrible screech came from the creature as the fire began to burn it’s skin and tentacles, while Supergirl’s cape suddenly set itself ablaze and molded into the shape of wings. A few seconds later, the wings absorbed the flames, leaving the alien unconscious, badly burned, and charred – but still alive.
“Holy–“, Mate started saying.
“That’s about right”, Charlie said, as he tried to catch his breath after running to catch up, “She’s an Earth-born angel.”
“Riiight”, Mate said as she put her hands on her hips, “And what makes you so sure this isn’t magic?”
“I’m pretty sure”, Supergirl said as she turned to the side a little bit, “See? Wings.”
Mate looked around to make sure there was nobody within view, and then held her hands out in front of her. A second later, a huge spout of water came out of her hands and created a small lake in a dip in the ground. “See? Water. That was magic.”
“Wow”, Supergirl whispered, “That’s amazing! I’ve never seen a trick like that.”
“You mean you’re wings aren’t–”
“No, they’re not magic”, Supergirl said, “I’m not really sure I got them, aside from what Wally told me about them.”
“Wally?”, Mate asked skeptically.
“Yeah”, Supergirl said, “He’s a nine-year-old kid with a baseball bat. Says he’s God.”
Mate collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter. “You expect me to believe that?” While Mate was on the ground, a baseball rolled up to her and bumped into her arm.
“A little help?”, a little boy a few yards away asked.
Mate stopped laughing, picked up the baseball, and walked over to the boy.
“Hi, I’m God”, the boy said as he tipped his bowler hat.
Supergirl walked over to Mate. “I see you’ve met Wally.”
“Excuse me, you two”, Wally said as he walked over to the burned, unconscious alien on the ground, “This one doesn’t belong here.”
“Doesn’t belong here?”, Mate asked.
“Yes, I didn’t place him on Earth.”
“You didn’t–”
“You really should use your water-spouting talent more often. Water’s beautiful. Well, gotta go.” Wally quickly started walking into the trees.
“Wait!” Mate tried to follow him, but quickly lost him – he just seemed to vanish. She quietly walked back to Supergirl and Charlie in a daze, wondering what to make of all of that.
Supergirl smiled at her when she came back. “Welcome to the club.”
Mate shook her head sadly. “And I thought things were strange when I joined GiW.”
“Yeah?”, Charlie said, “Try living in Leesburg for a while.”
Supergirl looked down at the unconscious alien. “So what do we do with him?”
“Bring him back to GiW headquarters, I guess”, Mate said, “This has never happened before, so there really aren’t any guidelines–”
“Say no more”, Supergirl said, “It’s time to show you another one of my angelic gifts.” Supergirl’s wings suddenly flared out and formed a small tunnel ahead of her.
Charlie looked at Mate. “After you.”
Mate looked at Charlie like he was insane.
“It’s safe”, Charlie said, “I’ve gone through it before.”
“Well…Okay”, Mate said. She closed her eyes and raced through it quickly. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of GiW headquarters, with everyone staring at her. Charlie came through next, and then Supergirl, carrying the unconscious alien with one hand.
Seish came out of his office with a big frown, and looked down at the burned alien on the floor. “What in hell is going on in here?”
“Not hell”, Supergirl said as she stood with her wings still lit, “Heaven.”
Mara suddenly came rushing out of the office. “Oh my God! What’s this doing here? Did you put her up to this, Mate?”
“No, it was my idea”, Supergirl said as her wings flickered out and became a cape once more, “I can transport anywhere I’ve seen firsthand.”
“Even my apartment?”, Mate asked.
“Anywhere.”
—
Mate poured herself a cup of coffee as Charlie and Supergirl sat down in the reception area. She watched as Supergirl wrinkled her nose at the smell of the coffee – apparently she was not much of a coffee drinker.
“So where are you two off to?”, Mara said as she walked into the reception area.
“Home”, Supergirl said, “Leesburg.”
“Next time you’re in town”, Mate said, “Feel free to drop in on me. I’ll be glad to give you guys a tour.”
Charlie stood up, preparing to leave, and looked at Mara. “Aren’t you supposed to make Supergirl an honorary GiW agent?”
Mara laughed. “This isn’t some cheesy television show, Charlie. Besides, Supergirl wouldn’t fit in here.”
“Why not?”, Supergirl asked. She felt a little hurt.
“Because we have rules here”, Mara said, “And so far, in less then twenty-four hours you’ve broken most of them.”
Charlie started laughing again, and this time Mate joined in.
“Let me finish”, Mara said, “You might make a great GiW agent, if you can only find the discipline to follow rules. You’re too much of a free spirit. You would endanger us all.”
Supergirl walked outside with Charlie and Mate close behind. She was feeling a little rejected – even though she wouldn’t join GiW anyway, it would have been nice to be invited. But they didn’t want her.
“Don’t let them get to you”, Charlie said, “You always were a loner, and frankly, you work better that way. They say they don’t want you now, but one day they’ll be begging for your help.”
“Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Charlie”, Supergirl said, “I’m okay with it.”
“If it makes you feel any better”, Mate added, “I’ve been rejected countless times. But I still found my dream.”
“Maybe we’ll visit you again one day, Mate”, Supergirl said, “See you later.”
“Wait!”, Mate yelled as Supergirl grabbed Charlie around the waist and started flying upward, “How will I get home? We left my car–”
“Oops”, Supergirl said as she dropped back down to the ground quickly, “Sorry, I forgot about that. Let’s get you home.” She held out her hand to Mate, as her cape turned into wings of flame with a flash of light, and a tunnel of flame appeared behind her.
Mate smiled. This time she felt no fear as she stepped through the tunnel.
—
“Nice poster”, Charlie said as soon as he stepped into Mate’s apartment and out of the flaming tunnel.
Supergirl looked to seen what he was talking about – it was a drawn poster of herself, created for fans. She couldn’t help but laugh a little bit when she saw it. There was something else that caught her attention, too.
“A bean bag chair!”, Supergirl yelled as she jumped onto the bag, making a loud ‘crunch!’. “I used to have one of these. How come I didn’t notice it when I was here earlier?”
“Probably because you were too busy talking about underwear”, Charlie said.
Supergirl frowned at Charlie and picked up a book off of the floor – it was titled, ‘Girls In White Quick Reference Guide’. She started leafing through it slowly. “What’s this, Hustler magazine?”
Mate laughed. “That’s the guide book for Girls In White.”
Charlie laughed as he read the book over Supergirl’s shoulder. “I wonder if GiW knows they could make a lot of money selling their little guide?”
Mate tried to snatch the book away from Supergirl, but found she couldn’t remove the book from Supergirl’s grasp.
Supergirl looked up at Mate and smiled. “Want it back?” She closed the book and held it out to Mate.
Mate took the guide book and looked at Supergirl as she stood up. “Do you mind if I test something?”
“Sure”, Supergirl said, “Go ahead.”
Mate picked up two phone books with both hands and gave them to Supergirl. “Tear these two book in half.”
“No, I don’t want to do that”, Supergirl said as she shook her head, “How will you look up telephone numbers without them?”
“These are old ones. Don’t worry about it.”
Supergirl sighed and took the phone books. She stood over the trash can and started quickly tearing both phone books at once into small shreds of paper.
“Wow!”, Mate said, “I had no idea you were so strong! I heard about it, but I never believed it.”
“That’s nothing”, Charlie interrupted, “She could probably shred your apartment building as easily as that phone book.”
Mate looked at Supergirl. “Is that true?”
“I guess so”, Supergirl said as she shrugged, “I’d rather not test that theory, if it’s all the same to you.” Supergirl glanced over at the clock, and then at Charlie. “It’s getting late, Charlie and I should be heading home.”
“You’re right”, Charlie said, “I nearly forgot about the time difference.”
“So Charlie – do you want to take the long way, or the short way?”, Supergirl asked as she stepped over to the window.
“Let’s take the long way”, Charlie said, “Teleporting may be quicker, but it’s boring.”
Supergirl laughed as she opened up the window. “Thanks for inviting us to Caracas, Mate.”
Mate smiled. “Thank you for coming to visit. Feel free to come back whenever you want.”
Supergirl grabbed Charlie around the waist, and floated out the window slowly. Mate waved until Supergirl disappeared from sight. She’d never forget the day Supergirl visited Caracas, and did the impossible.