Mei was sitting on the edge of a rooftop, peering down at the busy streets below.

She was technically on patrol. So she was looking for crime. How the hell was she supposed to recognize crime from this high? How was she supposed to spot crime while flying around? She could barely see when she was flying around because of the wind... She needed to get goggles. Or maybe find the ones that originally came with the suit.

For that matter, maybe she should get some binoculars.

But she didn't need binoculars to see trouble coming when a fifteen-foot tall giraffe made of string smashed out of a building and picked up a truck.

Silly String.

Mei sighed. The villains she had to deal with were either ridiculous or terrifyingly violent. There was no in-between.

She activated her combat bodysuit and flew down to street level.

"Silly String!" Mei felt silly just saying it. "Put down the truck full of plushies."

"NEVERRRRRR!" the towering twine titan bellowed.

The last time Mei had fought this guy, she'd spent a half hour fruitlessly punching and blasting and not making any progress until her efforts had drawn her attention to a flapping loose bit of twine. She'd grabbed it, realized what it was, and tied it to a taxi and told the driver to drive.

This time, she knew to look for his end piece and he was unraveled with little effort.

"currrrsesssssss," he hissed.

"I may have ninety-nine problems but you are not one of them, Silly." She moved the large pile of unraveled twine out of the road so it wouldn't get in the way of traffic.

"Well done, Problem Panda!" complimented a female voice.

Mei turned around. Then she looked down.

There was a little goat in a cape, clapping her gloved hands softly.

"Uh. Hello," answered Mei.

"Problem Panda is your nom de guerre, right?" continued the goat. "Kind of an unorthodox codename... but memorable! Alliteration works!"

Mei scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, not sure how to react. "Are you a... fan? Or something?"

The goat smiled. "I should say so! The way you've kept your cool with Kay so far! Your capture of Snipstream recently! Heck, just now with Silly String! You've got so much potential!"

Mei wasn't sure how to handle this. People were generally somewhat enthused to see superheroes do superhero stuff and grateful to be helped. But she hadn't met an out-and-out over exuberant fan before. And she'd avoided looking herself up on the internet because nothing good could come of that.

"Do you want an autograph? I don't have a pen..."

"That'd be neat! But what I really want is to make a proposal! A partnership of some kind! I think I could really help you out! Problem Panda and Ballistic Gal, a dynamite combo! But either way, an honor to meet you!"

And the goat confidently extended a hand for Mei to shake.

Mei did not.

Oh, geez. She'd inspired some girl who thought all she needed to do was throw on a cape to become Mei's sidekick. Mei barely felt responsible for herself. No way was she taking responsibility for a child.

"Are you here with someone? An older sibling or a parent?"

"W-what?"

Mei cupped her hands around her mouth. "Lost child! Is anyone missing a smol goat in a cape?"

Ballistic Gal didn't put her hand down and the smile stayed on her face but it shrank a bit. "I'm an adult superhero."

"If you say so," Mei said, voice very clearly full of doubt. "But I'm not looking for a sidekick."

"Partnership!" insisted Ballistic Gal with forced cheer.

Oh no, true believers! It seems like this collaboration between veteran and promising rookie is crashing before it even gets off the ground!

---

Sammy just feels like she'd be short, based on her adopt image. And Mei doesn't really know the classics so she wouldn't recognize Ballistic Gal on sight. And that's how we get to this.

Mei wondering what's the deal with this sassy lost child while Sammy acts as the bigger person and lets all the accidental insults fly over her head. Which is easy for her to do because she's short.

Sammy's costume in color.
Mei's costume in color.

Mei Zheng and Sammy Stella owned by me
Art by  MustLoveFrogs