Grandmère, Mathilde asked, what would happen if the superheroes were not here? Grandmère told her to hush, and drink the water the nice flying man made out of the air. His head was on fire, Grandmère noticed, but he did not seem to mind. Mathilde persisted, and wanted to know. Grandmère sighed, and tried to explain. She told Mathilde to look around her, and see what they were doing.
Down the hill, Superman held up the entire side of a collapsed building, while Flash and Animal Man scoured the interior for survivors. Zatanna, just across the street from them, spoke something Mathilde could not understand, and all of the dead bodies in the street vanished. A Green Lantern cleared the street of tons of debris, while another Green Lantern created an entire hospital out of green light, so the doctors and surgeons could work. Grandmère told Mathilde it would be too horrible to imagine if they were not here. Even with aid from all over the world, it would be overwhelming. There would be no food, no water, no medicine. Many many more people would have died, if not for them.
Mathilde thought about it, and told Grandmère that she was right, it was too horrible to think about.
A plastic man stretched past, pausing briefly to make a clown face and offer Mathilde an ice cream. She laughed, and thanked him.