Cover – Supergirl flying high above the clouds and looking down at a city during the day.

*Translated from Kryptonian

INFINITE SUPERGIRL

By KryptoKin

Girl of Steel, Heart of Flesh

Kansas City, Missouri, Now

Sitting on a bench at a bus stop was Mary-Lou Jones. Snow was on the ground and her knees were bouncing up and down while her teeth chattered. She was wearing boots, blue snow pants, a bright-red winter coat with a black knit cap, and a matching scarf. Her arms were wrapped around the pink, flowery backpack sitting on her lap. I hate the cold, she thought. I hate winter. I want summer back.

The sound of crunching snow made Mary turn awkwardly to her left and frown as soon as she saw who was coming towards her. Kara was wearing white sneakers, blue-jeans, a dark-brown jacket, and a blood-red scarf. Her blonde hair was down and she had on black, thick-rimmed glasses, and a Smallville Crows ball-cap. She slid her backpack off her shoulder and sat on the bench with Mary-Lou, who had wrapped her arms tighter around her bag.

"I hate you," she said. Kara pushed her glasses up her nose and smiled. "It's not fair you can walk around like that and I have to waddle around like this. How do you do it?"

"Mind over matter."

"You say that but…" Kara's attention was pulled away from Mary to something down the road. "…then you walk around as if it's summer…" She slipped her backpack on then stood up and watched as a yellow bus zoomed passed the two. Mary stopped talking and watched the bus drive away with her. "Was that our bus?"

"Yeah…" Kara pulled a cellphone out of her back pocket and turned to Mary. "Call Derrick?" Mary leaned back and pouted.

"Call Derrick."

Smallville, Kansas, 21 weeks ago

In an underground lab hidden behind the abandoned Smallville Quarry

Karen Starr stood in front of several monitors that had charts, graphs, and diagrams depicting the vitals of Supergirl. "*How are you doing Kara?" she said over her shoulder.

"Fine." Standing on a platform and pushing a giant machine up with her left hand was Kara in her Supergirl uniform sans the cape. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes. We need to see how powerful you are compared to Superman."

"Why?"

"Let me worry about that," said Karen as she pushed a lever up an inch. The pressure the machine was putting on Supergirl increased and she had to use two hands to keep it up. "Are you okay Kara?"

"Yeah. How much pressure am I holding up?"

"Just keep going..." Karen leaned closer to the monitors and frowned. Slowly, she increased the pressure until it was at the maximum level. Supergirl was struggling to hold the machine up, her knees beginning to buckle.

Instead of watching the monitors, Karen watched Supergirl. The blonde hero's shook slightly as the machine pushed her closer to the ground. When her right knee hit the floor Supergirl was able to stop the machine from moving her one more inch. Then little by little, she pushed the machine up. It released smoke into the room as it was pushed in reverse and several pieces of it fell to the ground around the platform. Karen watched with interest at the feat of strength Supergirl was showing.

Suddenly, a warning light went off as Supergirl stood up straight with the machine pushed high above her. Karen grabbed the lever and lowered the pressure until the machine rose up out of Supergirl's reach. There goes another one, she thought as Supergirl floated off the platform and down to Karen.

"How did I do?"

"You broke the machine again. A multi-billion dollar machine that took months to build and you break it in less than five minutes."

"You told me not to hold back." Karen turned to Supergirl with a scowl on her face.

"Then why do I feel like you are?" Supergirl shrugged then grabbed her cape off the back of a nearby chair. "Every time we do a test, whether on your speed or strength, you steadily get faster and stronger. I don't think it has everything to do with the increased exposure to the yellow sun."

"The point of these tests is not to test my limit but to see if I can limit myself. Going full-force, whatever that may look like, would be unwise. You said that yourself when we started these tests."

"I'm aware of that." Karen stroked a few keys and the information on the screen updated. Supergirl's eyes went wide as she finished fastening the cape to her uniform.

"I pressed that much?"

"I told you, you are getting stronger." Supergirl smiled and crossed her arms.

"All without breaking a sweat."

"Don't get cocky Kara. There are still other tests for you to take." Karen saw Supergirl pout out of the corner of her eye. "But we are done for the day. You have lessons to go to." Supergirl's head dropped as Karen turned off the monitors and walked towards a stairwell.

"Why do I need lessons? I have the translator." She floated behind Karen as the billionaire walked up the steps.

"You cannot rely on that Kara. You must learn the languages of Earth. Also, if someone were to see you wearing the necklace as you andas Supergirl they might connect the dots. Your necklace is not exactly common-looking."

"I suppose so…" Karen stopped as Supergirl slipped behind a wooden privacy screen. "Karen, tell me about Krypton. Your Krypton."

"Another time Kara. I'm not sure you're ready to hear about it yet." Supergirl came out from behind the screen dressed in civilian clothes and her thick-rimmed glasses pushed to the top of her head.

"Why do you say that?"

"My Krypton was darker than yours Kara. I don't think you're ready to hear about it…" Karen pushed the up button on an elevator and the doors opened. The two stepped in and Karen pushed another button. "…and I'm not ready to tell it."

Kansas City, Now

Rickshaw High School

Derrick Albright, Mary, and Kara walked in the doors of the high school. Students passed them as they walked down the hallway. Overhead, a sky-blue banner saying "Freshman Winter Formal" in white hung and flyers saying the same thing were taped to the walls.

"Ah, to be a freshman again…" Mary handed Kara her book-bag then proceeded to unwrap her scarf and take her gloves off.

"Are you kidding me? You hated our freshman formal." Derrick took off his black and blue Letterman's jacket and draped it over right his arm.

"Other than Carl Brewster trying to stick his tongue down my throat, I had fun," she replied while trying to get out of her bulky coat. Derrick sighed then pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and started cleaning his Harry Potter-like glasses. Mary knelt down at a locker and finagled it until it opened. He stood a few feet from her and opened his locker. As the two put their things away, Kara stared at the banner.

I've never been to a dance before, she thought. Lana showed me movies with dances but still…I wonder what it's like. A hand tapped Kara on the shoulder and she popped out of her thoughts to see who the hand belonged to. A cute blonde boy with a crooked smile stood in front of her. He was an inch or two taller than Kara and looked slightly younger than her.

"You're Kara Lang, right?" Kara nodded. "Great, I'm wondering if you would like to go the freshman formal with me."

"Oh, um, I'm not sure if I want to go yet." The boy frowned slightly and nodded his head.

"Okay, if you change your mind we have the same lunch." Kara watched as the boy walked away, not noticing Derrick and Mary were staring at her with polar expressions; a smile on Mary's face and a frown on Derrick's.

"Kara, you just got asked to a dance by Bo Maroni. The cutest freshman in the school," said Mary as she took her book-bag from Kara.

"How do you even know that?" Mary simply smiled at Derrick then put her bag away. "Kara, you said you've never been to a dance before. Why not go? Even if it is with Bo Marriot, the cutest freshman in the school." Kara smiled as she looked up at Derrick. His brown hair was sticking up in funny places and the small strip of grey hair he had at the edge of his hairline was curled down over his forehead.

"I just don't think dances are all that important," she said as she fixed his hair. Different students were watching her do this as they walked by, including Mary who was still crouched down by her locker.

"True, but at least they're fun. Besides, it's nice to forget about your troubles and just be a teenager."

Smallville, 16 weeks ago

Supergirl slammed into the pavement, creating a big crater in the middle of the street. She tried to get up but a large creature landed on her and kept her pinned down.

"Dun-ka un-kan-shee." Supergirl grabbed the foot that was pushing her body deeper into the ground and pushed the dinosaur-like alien off of her. He landed with a crash on a red sports car. Supergirl stood up shakily and pressed her right hand to her heart.

Oh, that doesn't feel good. The creature rolled off the crushed car and stood like it was about to charge her. It made a gargling sound similar to a laugh before it spoke. "Dun-ka un-kan-shee."

"Zo, dun-ka…un-kairro-shee." The alien let out a roar and charged Supergirl. It's now or never. She planted her feet and prepared for it. As soon as it was in arm's length, Supergirl grabbed the creature's arm and swung it around. Then with a grunt, she flung him into the air and watched as he sailed through the sky.

"Supergirl, where did you throw him?" Supergirl lightly touched the receiver in her right ear.

"The bay, why?"

"The bay is in the opposite direction. You just threw him to the middle of a suburban neighborhood." In the distance, a cloud of dust rose into the air. Supergirl rolled her eyes before speeding off towards the cloud.

Kansas City, Now

Rickshaw High School

Kara stood at the back of the school where a line of cars were parked. A throng of students was rushing to them in a mild frenzy. She was staring at the sky when Derrick walked through the doors directly behind her. "Not taking the bus today?" Kara shook her head but kept her eyes to the sky.

"Lana told me she would be picking me up after school."

"Why?"

"She didn't say." Derrick smiled softly and looked up at the sky with Kara.

"What are you looking for when you look at the sky?"

"Something important." Derrick opened his mouth as if to ask why when a car honked in the distance. "That's Lana. Bye Derrick. I'll see you tomorrow." Kara ran off towards her guardian who was parked off in the distance and leaning against her Buick Somerset.

"See you around Kara," said Derrick quietly before walking away from the school.

St. Mary's Hospital, 21 weeks and 3 days ago

Room 403

Kara stood in civilian clothes with her left arm in a sling. She was absentmindedly rubbing the gold translator around her neck while staring out the bay window and listening to the voices coming from the other side of the wall behind her.

"That's not fair. She's our friend we should be allowed to see her. Right Dee-Dee?"

"Uh, yeah sure we, uh…um…"

"What my son is trying to say is that she's not a prisoner. They should be allowed to see her."

"Sergeant Albright, I would like to let you in but it's not my decision sir." Kara rubbed her temples with her free hand and sighed. A hand was placed on her left shoulder that caused her to look up. Kate Kane, also dressed in civilian clothes, had her back to the window. The sun shining through it added a glow to her red hair.

"Your friends are out there. Do want to see them before you go?"

"It's only fair." Kate smiled and went to open the door. She mumbled something then opened it wider to let Mary and Derrick run in. They enveloped her in a bear hug. Kara froze in confusion for a moment then let herself relax into her two friends with a smile on her face. In the background, Kate, Mary's parents, Derrick's dad, and an Air Force enlisted watched the three teens in silence.

Half-an-hour outside of Kansas City, Now

Lana Lang's House

The sun was almost set by the time Lana's car pulled into the long driveway. Her house sat in the middle of a clearing the size of four football fields sitting side-by-side, in the woods. "How was school?" Lana asked as the two got out of the car. The sound of crunching snow could be heard as their feet hit the ground

"Fine. I tuned my math and science teacher out but stayed focused during American Lit and history," she answered while taking groceries out of the trunk of the car. The wind blew the snow around her as she picked up the six plastic bags easily with both hands

"That's good. Seems like a normal day." The two walked up the steps and Lana opened the door after unlocking it.

"This morning a freshman asked me to the dance."

"Really…" A smile spread across the red-head's face as she dropped the keys in a bowl by the door and Kara placed her ball-cap on a hook. "Who?"

"Some blonde named Bo Marriott. According to MJ, he's the cutest freshman guy in the school." Lana cleared the kitchen table before letting Kara set the bags on them.

"That's nice. What did you say?" She placed her jacket on a chair as Kara grabbed an apple then hopped on the counter near the fridge.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to go."

"Do you want to?"

"It would be nice, and Bo is cute."

"Then go. Have fun?"

"What if there's an emergency?" Lana stopped putting the groceries away and placed her hands on her hips.

"Kara Zor-El, you go to that dance and have fun. Got that?" Kara smiled then took a big bite from her apple.

"Got it," she said with a mouth full of apple. Lana's face scrunched up in disgust.

"I thought Kryptonians are supposed to have good manners."

"Not all," Kara said with a smile before kissing Lana on the top of the head and leaving the kitchen.

Sitting in a black car far from the house, a pair of binoculars watched Kara open the back door and step onto the porch. They continued to watch her as she trotted through the snow and disappeared behind a tree.

"This is Kilo. I lost sight of her in the trees. She's all yours now."

"Negative Kilo. We can't see her."

"Don't tell me we lost her again?"

"We lost her again."

"Dammit!"

Floating up in the sky, high enough where the lights from Lana's house were nothing but specks was Kara. She was chewing on her apple and listening to the conversation.

"This is Kilo. Keep an eye out. We'll just have to wait until she shows again." Kara smiled and dropped her apple core; watching as it fell to the ground. As she floated, she closed her eyes and listened to the other voices of the night.

"…and she just shows up like she's dressed for a warm fall. Who does that?" "Apparently honey, she does."

"…she's lonely dad. She misses her parents." "What makes you think that?" "I don't think, I know."

"…yes I've been watching her closely….Other than the disappearances there has been no other suspicious activity…I understand. I'll see you tomorrow….Yes, sir."

Kara opened her eyes and looked up at the sky when a shooting star flew across it. You were right father. You can see the falling meteorites of Ka' Ul from Earth. Suddenly, the sight of falling comets filled the entire sky. Kara smiled and ran her left hand through her hair as the wind blew around her.

"Happy Birthday Kara. Happy Birthday."

Look for INFINITE SUPERGIRL #7: WHERE THERE'S SMOKE…, next month.

Things are getting hot for Supergirl as a new villainess named Volcana decides to show up and turn up the heat for her. Though Supergirl can stand a little fire, the same cannot be said for her friends. And who is this new hero new with the percussive abilities? Guess you'll have to wait and see.

Also to look for in February, INFINITE SUPERGIRL #0: LITTLE GIRL LOST