She arrived on Earth in a mysterious Symbio-Ship with false
memories and awesome powers and abilities beyond that of mortal men and women....

Issue #7

Powering Up

Written By Paul Daimler

The pain was overwhelming.

Power Girl gritted her teeth as the ray rolled over her, starting from her head and working it's way down to her feet. It then started at the bottom and worked it's way back up, and then back down. It was a process that the machine repeated over and over behind the safety glass.

Power Girl kept her eyes tightly shut, even though there were specially made goggles to protect her eyes from the radiation.

"You are doing excellent Ms. Steele." Dr. Zeul said on the other side of the glass, monitoring the computer display and read-outs as Dr. Livingston watched over her shoulder.

Power Girl would never get used to being addressed as Karen Steele, but it was an alias Oracle had set her up with for her appointments at STAR Labs under to keep her treatments here quiet and under the radar of the media. The last thing she needed was a tabloid splashing the story on their cover about Power Girl's top secret radiation treatments by reformed super-villain Dr. Doris Zeul a.k.a. Giganta the Gorilla Woman. It was the kind of thing that the tabloids loved.

"How much longer Dr. Zeul?" Power Girl asked through gritted teeth. As the radiation ray reached her feet, it went from incredibly painful to feeling as though the ray was burning through her and melting her bones.

"Only a few more minutes." Dr. Zeul replied, "You are doing very well."

The minutes ticked by slowly and Power Girl tried to pre-occupy herself with other thoughts. She tried to think about the Sci-Fi Convention Starrware had been invited to next month. The exposure would be good for their stock and their products. She tried to think about her cat, who had managed to manifest super-powers and moonlight as Super-Cat while she was in space. She had to ended up blasting him with a prototype MS76—the same weapon that had screwed her powers and meta-gene up. So far, Creaky hadn't exhibited any more superpowers, but she was blasting him every two weeks just to be safe. He had taken to hiding from her and occasionally hissing at her.

She tried to occupy her thoughts with the crystal star her recently revealed mother Kara of Argo City had given her—telling her it had the complete story of her heritage on it. The crystal she couldn't figure out how to use. She tired to concentrate on her last moments with Kara, after their family relationship was revealed. Supergirl was determined to find Kara of Argo City, lost somewhere in time and bring her home. Power Girl hadn't been able to tell Supergirl she thought it was a bad idea. She tried to think about anything.

Anything but the pain tearing through her.

Finally, it was more than she could take and Power Girl screamed bloody murder.

"Dr. Zeul?" Dr. Livingston, the STAR labs doctor who had first diagnosed the tricky issue with the meta-gene activated in her body during the Crisis. He had suggested Dr. Zeul's Evolver. He was still Power Girl's main doctor here at STAR Labs. Dr. Zeul was only the specialist treating her.

"I'm turning it off." Dr. Zeul said, frowning. "We just have to be careful. I have to slowly decrease the intensity of the radiation. If I stop too suddenly her system could freak-out and her meta-gene might mutate further, undoing our previous sessions."

"She screams like she's in intense pain." Dr. Livingston nervously stroked his graying brown beard, intently watching as Power Girl's body shivered and twitched beneath the radiation ray that moved slower and slower with each moment.

"She is in intense pain. We're changing her cellular structure, turning back the clock and undoing years of forced evolution of her body." Dr. Zeul said grimly. "There is no pain like it."

"You act like you know what that feels like." Dr. Livingston said.

"I do." Dr. Zeul replied, wiping a thin line of sweat from her forehead and sweeping damp red bangs out of her eyes. "You haven't read my file?"

"No. Should I have?"

"If you had, you would know that I've been through that machine." Dr. Zeul said quietly, her eyes not leaving the computer displays as she slowed the radiation rays even more slowly as she began moving the machine toward power off.

"Why?" Dr. Livingston asked.

"It's a long story. Look up Giganta the Gorilla Woman on the internet. Or go into my personnel file." Dr. Zeul said quietly.

"You mean that super-villain Gorilla that Wonder Woman fought a few years back?" Dr. Livingston asked, watching as Power Girl thrashed beneath the radiation. It looked as though her restraints were going to break and split before the radiation stopped.

"Yes, I do." Dr. Zeul replied, frowning as one set of graphs spiked up, indicating a surge of radiation was about to blast Power Girl.

"Last I heard Wonder Woman took her to Transformation Island off the coast of Paradise Island."

"Just look it up on the internet. I don't care to rehash the story." Dr. Zeul twisted dials and typed in a code to diffuse the radiation ray harmlessly through one of the re-routers in the Evolver.

"Well, I know that your grandfather created the original Giganta during World War II." Dr. Livingston said.

"Yes. He took a female gorilla and put her in the earliest version of the Evolver and evolved her into a human woman." Dr. Zeul replied. "But, eventually Queen Hippolyta captured her, de-evolved her with my grandfather's help and last I heard she was happily married in Gorilla City. The Giganta from a few years ago was someone else entirely."

Dr. Zeul turned the Evolver off.

"Ms. Steele? It's safe to come out of the Evolver." Dr. Zeul said. "I would recommend taking a nap for about thirty minutes. Dr. Livingston and I will have some results from today's session that we can go over with you."

"Sounds good Doc." Power Girl said, aching all over. However, this dull aching was much preferable to the searing tearing awful pain of just a few minutes ago. At moments like these, she wondered if she should have just given up on having super-powers and let them fade.

Before she could ponder this too deeply, she had fallen into a deep sleep and Doctors Zeul and Livingston had left the room to consult technical readouts.

Sitting in her office, Karen Starr's entire body still ached from her session with Dr. Zeul last week and every move protested that she was going again today. When she had met with Zeul and Dr. Livingston afterward, they had displayed charts showing that she was roughly in the same place she'd been genetically when she'd been effected by the Godwave and found her powers and weaknesses changing again. After four sessions, she was not even half-way back to where she had started. However, it was better than being powerless or having her powers go in and out. There had been no sign of on-again off-again powers since her first session with Dr. Zeul.

The phone on her desk began beeping at her, even as her instant messenger began flashing on her computer screen.

"What have you got for me Beverly?" Karen asked.

"Bart Farrington called to cancel your afternoon meeting. His plane has been delayed in Chicago and they've had to reschedule his flight. He won't be in until nearly midnight. He wants to meet tomorrow." Beverly said.

Karen frowned, "Tomorrow is pretty tight." She had already pulled up her calendar and was looking at it intently. "Did he say a time?"

"He didn't." Beverly said. "He said he'll take whatever you have."

"Which means he's as desperate to make a deal as I thought." Karen said, "Which is good for us. Despite his show's slip in the ratings, ‘Passionate Suburban Wives' is still a hot property. And, if we can hammer out a deal then it will help Starrware's stock go up and help cover our losses from last quarter."

"Is there anywhere to fit him in?" Karen asked.

"Not that I see." Beverly said. "You have a lunch meeting with Felicity Raymond."

"And, she flew in from Philadelphia for that meeting. And, with the losses our Philadelphia offices have taken, that is an important meeting. We have to turn it around there or close doors… and I do not relish that." Karen grimaced, "OK. I have the afternoon meeting with the department heads. Reschedule that for Wednesday and fit Bart in there. Make sure to get the memo out before five today that we're rescheduling and order a gift basket for Bart. When he gets to his hotel tonight I want him to have a pleasant surprise. I know and you know that he's approaching us in hopes of getting his show some visibility and PR. He needs us more than we need him. But, I want him to feel as though he's being wooed."

"Will do. Also, you have messages from Clark Kent, Linda Danvers, Barbara Gordon, and Liz and Carrie-Joyce Phillips." Beverly said.

Karen smiled, "And those messages?"

"Clark wanted to remind you about Sunday dinner. Miss Danvers said she needed to talk to you about someone named Karrie, but wouldn't elaborate. Babs wanted to confirm your coffee date next week. And Liz and Carrie-Joyce are coming into town for Garth McGarth's art show at the Sudan Gallery next month and wanted to meet up for drinks, dinner, and hanging out. Like the old days, I think is what Liz said." Beverly said. Her voice was cheerful, as it often was when relaying personal messages. Karen knew that Beverly worried about Karen spending long hours at the office and working and not enough time living her life. Of course, if Beverly knew she was Power Girl… Karen didn't want to think about the mother-hen treatment she would get if Beverly knew that secret.

"Sunday dinner is on the calendar. As is coffee with Babs." Karen said, looking at her calendar. "Find something in a week or two for Linda. Then call her with the date. Did Liz and Carrie give the dates they'd be in town?"

"Yes." Beverly said. "It's mid-month."

"That's right before the Sci-Fi convention." Karen said thoughtfully. "Clear a day while they are in town for me to spend with them. I could use a day of shopping and lunch and just relaxing with friends. I haven't had that yet since we've been here."

"Very good." Beverly said.

"Thank you Bev." Karen said disconnecting the line.

She looked at the flashing box on her computer desktop.

Her friend and business partner Cheryl Delayre was asking about a project.

Karen typed in her response and sent.

"I feel like *&^%$ Dr. Zeul." Power Girl said. She'd thrown up just a few minutes ago.

"I know. The de-evolution process is very harsh on the body. When my grandfather devised and created the original Evolver in the 1940's he mainly worked with simian breeds. Save the occasional super-villain using it to try and hurt Queen Hippolyta and her friends. With the improvements the Amazons and I have made on it in recent years, it is far safer than it was. But, I can sympathize with the pain. The evolution cycles are much more painful than de-evolution." Dr. Zeul smiled sarcastically.

"But you survived it, and you don't even have super-powers." Power Girl said.

"I'm not sure how I survived it." Dr. Zeul said. "However, your body copes with the treatment very well. Your alien and homo-magi DNA makes you resilient and able to within stand it, whereas a normal person might have already died. I only survived because I started the procedures as a gorilla. Part of what you consenting to these procedures is going to help us do is get more research to try to find away to refine the Evolver's processes so normal mortals can handle it. My eventual goal is to have it used as widely as chemo-therapy and to use it treat people with terminal illnesses. If we can de-evolve someone's body to a point before they had cancer—then we might be able to save a lot of people."

Power Girl studied the woman's profile, the prominent cheekbones and luscious lips. Her red hair was a vivid shade of crimson and her eyes a deep brown. Before she'd agreed to this procedure, she'd talked to Wonder Woman to get the full scoop of Dr. Doris Zeul, formerly Giganta the Gorilla Woman.

Power Girl had been hesitant to trust the woman. Super-villains rarely reformed. But, Diana had assured her that one of the main side effects of Dr. Zeul's rare blood disease was insanity—the very insanity that had led her to try and co-op Wonder Woman's body. Then having her mind trapped first in a computer and then in the body of a gorilla had made her insanity worse. After having her body evolved into it's current form while on Transformation Island and receiving rehabilitation through the Amazon's system, Dr. Zeul's insanity had been cured and she had dedicated her life to helping others again and had been on the straight and narrow for the entire year since she'd left Paradise Island.

"How many more sessions do you think I have?" Power Girl asked.

"Well, the chart from your session today is back, and it looks as though you are again a genetic match to where you were when you fought the Grayman. So, we are much closer to your original genetic code." Dr. Zeul said putting charts down in front of Power Girl. "Based on how your body is responding to these treatments, I would say four or five more sessions to get you to this—" Dr. Zeul put down the chart STAR Labs had from Power Girl's first visit to STAR Labs, after she'd first arrived on Earth. "Which is your starting point."

"Four or five?" Power Girl groaned. "That seems like forever."

"It does. But, look at it this way. It's one session a week. And, when it's done all of your power issues will be resolved and your meta-gene will be deactivated." Dr. Zeul said, "You won't have constantly mutating powers."

"I know Dr." Power Girl sighed, "I was just really sick after our session last week. I was in bed the entire next day."

"And the day after?"

"I felt like I could take on the world." Power Girl smiled.

Dr. Zeul smiled back. "Did you take on the world? Or did you follow my orders and not suit up and fight to save the world."

"I sort of followed your orders." Power Girl shrugged. "I stopped several crimes in Century City. I did not go on a Justice League Europe mission. I also declined missions with Supergirl, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the JLA."

"That's not perfect. But, I'm going to assume you didn't fight any super-villains in Century City. So, you were probably just fighting muggers and bank robbers?"

"Mostly." Power Girl hated this part of the visit. Each time they had their after-session visit, Dr. Zeul busted her for not following orders. "I did have to take down Trident and the Royal Flush Gang. Other than that, just muggers, bank robbers, and a few couple car accidents."

"The Royal Flush Gang is still around? As inept as they are, it seems like they would have been stopped for good years ago." Dr. Zeul remarked dryly. "Well, it's not perfect Ms. Steele, but I know you wouldn't stop fighting the good fight. Even if you had no powers you would still be out there."

"That's true." Power Girl smiled, "And you don't have to call me Ms. Steele."

"OK, then Power Girl." Dr. Zeul started.

Power Girl laughed, "No. You can call me Karen. You're my doctor. Besides, I know Dr. Livingston advised you I'm here under an alias. Karen Steele is not my real name."

"OK, Karen. Do you have any questions for me?"

"I don't think so. I'm only eating the foods you had on my diet list. My only cheat has been diet cola and lemon coconut bars my secretary brought me. And, I've been doing the recommended exercises and those dietary supplements." Power Girl said.

"Good." Dr. Zeul nodded, "OK. Then I think we're done. How are you getting home?"

"I have a helicopter reserved. I have followed orders and avoided the JLA transporter and flying long distances on my own. I haven't even used the rocket boots."

"Good. Like I told you, with your DNA in a state of flux right now, the transporters could cause serious harm. It will be six months before you can use one of those."

"No problem there Doc. I hate those things. And besides, once we are done with these sessions, I'll be fast enough that I can fly anywhere in the world in minutes and can survive in space? Who needs a JLA transporter?"

"OK. I will talk to you next week then. Same bat-time, same bat-channel." Dr. Zeul smiled, leaving the room so Power Girl could change from the white jumpsuit she wore in the Evolver and into jeans and a t-shirt for the helicopter ride back to Century City.

Karen walked into the office kitchen, a microwave dinner and microwave soup in hand.

The office kitchen was mostly empty at this time of day. Karen looked at the clock which proudly declared it was two p.m. She normally had lunch around 12:30 or one o'clock. The lack of food explained the headache setting in on top of her general body aches from the radiation treatments. She had skipped breakfast too due to having to cut her commute to work short to stop an armed robbery at a convenience store.

Beverly had the day off for a doctor's appointment, and as usual without Beverly, Karen was lost. She had forgotten to ask the office secretary filling in for Beverly to order her lunch. Beverly usually had to remind Karen about lunch. Luckily, Beverly kept microwaveable foods in the little refrigerator/freezer in Karen's office.

"Karen!" Cheryl Delayre called, waving her over. Cheryl was sitting at a table eating take-out Chinese and talking to a man in his mid-twenties.

"Hi, Cheryl." Karen went over to the table.

"Beverly off today?" Cheryl asked regarding the microwave foods in Karen's hands.

"Yeah," Karen grinned sheepishly. "But, she makes sure I'm covered."

"This is Victor Church." Cheryl said, "My new personal assistant."

"Hi Victor." Karen extended her hand, "Welcome to Starrware. I'm sorry we haven't got a chance to meet. These past few weeks have been crazy."

Victor shook her hand and replied, "No worries. Being CEO of this company and one of it's main dealmakers probably keeps you busy. Along with your other… endeavors."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Karen said, not sure why she was suddenly uncomfortable under the man's dark eyes. There was something off in his gaze. She studied his face. He was conventionally handsome with short buzzed blonde hair and seemed to be well-built—and uncomfortable in his business casual wear. As though it were the last thing he'd normally wear.

"Just life outside of the job." Victor shrugged.

"Oh." Karen didn't think that's what he meant. "Yeah, most of my life outside of Starrware is filled with Starrware work."

"Good job on that Passionate Suburban Wives deal, by the way." Cheryl complimented. "Johnny Dee and the game division already have about twenty different proposals. Of those I'd say five of them are good possibilities. And, Micki and Mikey have some ideas for lifestyle software that are pretty cool."

"That's good to hear. I know that they want games for sure. Bart Farrington thinks a couple of the right kind of games can really get his brand out there to people who would normally never notice Passionate Suburban Housewives and drum up some viewers, as well as extra licensing revenue." Karen said, going over to the microwave to heat up her lunch.

"If I had a game proposal, how would I submit that?" Victor asked.

"You would just write up a proposal and submit it to the Games division." Cheryl said, "Like I told you your first day, we encourage all of our employees to submit ideas."

"What is your idea?" Karen asked, getting silverware from the drawer beneath the microwave.

"I have an idea for a Power Girl game." Karen stopped what she was doing. There was something about Victor's tone that made her pause. She turned to find Victor staring right at her.

"We've already done one." Karen said. "A couple years ago with did a series of games starring female super-heroes. We did Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Batgirl, Power Girl, Ladies of the Teen Titans, and Ladies of the Justice League. They did pretty well. But, I don't think there is a market right now for a second Power Girl game."

"I disagree." Victor said.

"Just submit your proposal. The submissions department will decide." Cheryl said. "Although a Supergirl game might do better. She's really popular right now."

Karen repressed the urge to scream.

"How are you feeling Karen?" Dr. Zeul asked, coming into the room.

"Ready for this to be over." Power Girl said, feeling cold in the white jumpsuit. Every time she slipped the full body jumpsuit on now, her entire body erupted in splotches and she felt dizzy. She knew it was merely a psychosomatic reaction, but it was still a reaction.

"Well, we have two more sessions after today and you're done. Except of course for recovery. But, that doesn't involve any more sessions in the Evolver." Dr. Zeul smiled. "Dr. Livingston will not be joining us today. He has an meeting with his son's teacher he couldn't get out of."

"It's OK." Power Girl said, "Dr. Livingston mainly stands and watches over your shoulder. He doesn't seem to do much in here."

"Not with the Evolver. He is more about the genetic testing after the fact." Dr. Zeul said. "Which means that I'm not going to have results for you. But, Dr. Livingston will contact you with them after he analyses them."

"That's fine." Power Girl said.

"OK. If you're ready, step into the Evolver."

"I'm never really ready." Power Girl grumbled, opening the reinforced and specially treated glass door to the Evolver. She leaned back on the tilted slab and put her wrists and ankles in the restraints.

Dr. Zeul came in and secured Power Girl.

"We're doing an hour today. I don't expect you'll begin feeling any pain until about half-way through. Based on where we have you genetically right now, your body is in line with just after you were blasted with anti-matter during the Crisis. So, you should be at one of your more powerful levels and nearly invulnerable."

"I hope. Last week was pretty bad." Power Girl replied.

Dr. Zeul closed the door to the Evolver and went over to the control panel, turning it on.

It was at the thirty minute point, when she started to feel pain that Power Girl realized something was wrong. Through the glass door she saw Dr. Zeul's expression get weird. The woman frowned and then her eyes widened with shock and she started typing rapidly into the keyboard.

"Karen. I'm going to stop the session a bit early. There is a huge radiation surge. I'm not sure why." Dr. Zeul shook her head, her crimson hair swinging into her eyes. "I don't like it. I don't like it at all. We might have to postpone our session next week until I can—"

Dr. Zeul's next words were muffled as sparks flew from the Evolver and an explosion tore the side of it out.

Power Girl felt the radiation intensify, tripling in an instance.

Power Girl screamed out in pain. The next explosion that rocked the Evolver shattered the door, sending glass showering out. Dr. Zeul dropped to the floor, cowering behind the console as glass rained all around her.

Power Girl tugged at the restraints, feeling them resist her. But, they didn't resist long. When she'd started these sessions, the restraints had been able to hold her back. She'd been depowered and weak. But, now her power levels were up. And, the promethium restraints tore like tissue. Ripping her ankles free, Power Girl made her way out of the Evolver, just as it made a horrible grinding noise.

One last explosion sounded and the air was disrupted as a wave of nearly invisible radiation emanated from the ruined Evolver.

"Oh &*#&!" Power Girl cried out as the radiation slammed into her knocking her down.

From behind the console, Dr. Doris Zeul stood up just in time for the radiation to slam into her. Knocking her into the wall. Unconsciousness took over Dr. Zeul.

Laying on the ground, unconscious, Dr. Doris Zeul's face seemed to change, rippling as though it were made of wax—looking simian for several moments before returning it's current angular composition.

"Dr. Zeul?" Power Girl called, standing up. Her entire body tingled, although the pain from earlier was gone. She felt oddly well.

Power Girl made her way over to where Doris Zeul slumped on the floor. The Evolver sat quiet in the corner, a light puff of smoke drifting from it.

"Dr. Zeul?" Power Girl touched the woman's shoulder, but the woman's eyes did not open.

"Is everything all right in here? We just had a power surge from this room that was off-the-charts and kicked in the emergency generator." A security guard said, stepping into the room. Several other guards followed him in. There were all in white containment suits. "We're evacuating the building now."

"I'm not sure." Power Girl said, "The Evolver malfunctioned and now Dr. Zeul is unconscious. It bathed the room in radiation."

As the men in the containment suits came over, Dr. Zeul's eyes popped open.

"Are you OK, Dr. Zuel?" The man asked, removing a small machine from his belt to check to woman's pulse and vitals.

"UNHAND ME LITTLE MAN!" Dr. Zeul screamed, knocking the man away from her. She rose to her feet slowly, "YOU PRESUME TO TOUCH GIGANTA?!"

"Uh-oh." Power Girl looked at Dr. Zeul's eyes which now burned with a fiery rage. The woman had clenched her fists tightly.

"Dr. Zeul?"

"Dr. Zeul is no more. There is only Giganta!" The woman said.

"What do we do?" One of the security guards asked.

"I'm not sure. I think that radiation de-evolved her some." Power Girl said.

Giganta screamed and it was like the scream of a jungle ape.

"You men get out of here. She's dangerous in this state." Power Girl commanded.

As the men rushed from the room, Giganta rushed toward Power Girl.

With a single blow, Power Girl knocked Giganta back—sending the woman flying back into the wall.

"That was stupid." Giganta said, getting back to her feet immediately.

Before Power Girl could reply, she was treated to a most incredibly sight. Right before her eyes, Giganta began to grow in size, expanding until she her head touched the high ceiling. She had to be at least sixteen feet tall.

"Oh, that's bad." Power Girl said.

Giganta put her hands against the ceiling and continued growing. Her hands smashed through the ceiling, tearing through to the floor above as she pushed her way out of the building. The building began to quake as Giganta tore through it. Power Girl flew out of the room.

As she zoomed through the corridors, Power Girl marveled at her speed--realizing she hadn't flown this fast since the Crisis. Power Girl came across a section of collapsed ceiling, one woman was pinned beneath it, while another cradled her head.

She landed and tossed the chunk of ceiling aside, freeing the woman pinned beneath. The other woman was sobbing as she cradled the unconscious one.

"She's not moving." The sobbing woman said.

"She's hurt. But, I can hear a pulse and her heart-beating." Power Girl said, lifting the unconscious woman.

"You can?" The sobbing woman said, pulling herself to her feet.

The building continued to shake violently around them.

"Yes." Power Girl nodded. Her super-hearing was back. "She's alive. We have to get out of this building. I'm going to carry her. What's your name?"

"Becky."

"OK, Becky. What I need you to do is hold on tight so we can get out of here before this building collapses completely on us."

Becky threw her arms around Power Girl's neck, holding on.

"Now close your eyes and hold on tight. This is going to be a bumpy ride." Power Girl said. She flew as quickly as could with the unconscious woman in her arms, and was aware that she was holding back so as not to endanger the women she was carrying to safety.

I'm fast and stronger and my super-hearing is back, Power Girl thought. She looked ahead and found that her super-vision had returned. I can see through walls, I can see far distances, and I can see things at a microscopic size.

Power Girl passed above the heads of others trying to evacuate the building. She wanted to stop and help them, but she had to get these two women out. Then she could go back to help the others. Power Girl burst from the building into the afternoon. Several yards away, a crowd had gathered. Power Girl assumed it was mostly people from inside. The police were already on the scene, but they attention was on something in the sky.

Power Girl landed by the perimeter the police were setting up and called for paramedics for the women. She then turned around and looked up. Standing in the building, at least fifty-feet high was Dr. Doris Zeul—Giganta. Her dark brown eyes looked down at the people as she pushed sections of building away. Giganta pushed her way free, stomping away. People scurried like ants, avoiding her feet.

Interesting, Power Girl thought. Although Giganta had grown to fifty feet tall, apparently her clothes were imbued with whatever properties allowed her to grow to giant size. At least there isn't a fifty-foot naked woman running around.

There were people inside STAR Labs she needed to get out, but the falling debris—made of concrete, steel, and glass were a more immediate concern. Power Girl managed to pluck every piece from the sky, catching it and setting them harmlessly in the ground. She was faster than the human eye. She figured she wasn't as fast as the Flash, but she was almost as fast. And that was good enough for her.

Power Girl scanned the building with her x-ray vision, seeing all of the survivors and all of the casualties. She flew into the ruined building and began rescuing people. It took a total of five minutes for her to rescue the remaining thirty people trapped in the building, and another three for her to remove the sixteen dead.

Power Girl did not waste time looking Giganta. The woman was not easily missed. She was walking toward the north. Dust clouds mushroomed up around her as she crashed through the city of New Athens. Power Girl flew after her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Power Girl asked.

"Get away from me gnat!" Giganta said, swatting at Power Girl. Power Girl avoided the swipe, but grabbed Giganta by the finger. With her renewed super-strength, Power Girl easily lifted Giganta from the ground and tossed her toward the sea. The giant woman spun end over end before splashing into the Atlantic.

"That gets her away from the city and the populace." Power Girl muttered to herself.

Power Girl flew after her, halting mid-air above the giant rippling area where Giganta had gone under. She had easily tossed her three miles out to sea. Giant air-bubbles came violently to the surface.

"This is going to be bad." Power Girl said.

Giganta exploded from the water, grabbing Power Girl in her fist and squeezing.

Power Girl used every bit of her strength to break free of Giganta's fist. She punched the giant woman with of her might, sending the woman flying back into the ocean.

A giant splash of water drenched Power Girl. In horror, Power Girl watched the giant splash turn into a massive wave--heading toward the coast. Power Girl flew after it, her eyes tingling as she used her heat vision. Twin ruby rays of light struck the wave, causing it to evaporate before it could crash into the shoreline and create disaster.

Power Girl turned back toward the ocean, where Giganta had gone under and flew back.

She searched the area for nearly an hour, but could find no trace of the giant woman.

Power Girl gave up as the sun began to set and flew back toward New Athens, Virginia.

Landing near the ruins of STAR Labs, Power Girl went over to the police chief at the barrier blocking off the ruins of STAR Labs' New Athens division. Dr. Livingston was standing with the man.

"I got here as soon as I could." Dr. Livingston said to Power Girl as she walked up. "Where's Dr. Zeul? I heard she turned into a giant."

"I don't know." Power Girl shook her head. "There was an accident with the Evolver and it exploded. The radiation had an effect on her—it appeared to drive her mad again, and then she started growing to giant size. I got her out of the city to prevent her from doing more damage to it, and we fought over the sea. But, she disappeared while I was stopping a giant wave she had created."

"Do you think she's alive?" The police chief asked.

"Probably." Power Girl frowned, "Super-villains never die or disappear that easy."

"Dr. Zeul is not a super-villain." Dr. Livingston said curtly.

"You're right." Power Girl replied, "Dr. Zeul isn't. However, Giganta is. And after the radiation hit her, Dr. Zeul was calling herself Giganta again."

Epilogue 1:

She awoke on the beach, covered in sea-weed and sand. The moon was full and bright and a chill filled her body. It was mid-December and definitely not beach weather.

Sitting up, she looked at her dirty lab coat and slacks and sweater. She was soaked to the bone.

"Where am I?" Dr. Zeul asked, pulling herself to her feet. The last thing she remembered was being in the lab with Power Girl. She made her way toward town, realizing that she was at least five miles south of New Athens.

When she finally reached New Athens, shortly after midnight, she made her way to her apartment downtown. Letting herself in, she changed out of her wet clothes and took a shower.

"I have to figure out what is going on." She whispered, wrapping a towel around herself. She turned on the television, getting the cordless phone from it's mount.

Before she could dial, the newscast made her pause.

"An accident at STAR Labs today resulted in an attack by a super-villain. Eye-witnesses state the villain, a 50 foot giant, referred to herself as Giganta." The male newscaster said. A picture of Dr. Zeul towering above the city flashed onto the screen, "Giganta wrecked a several block radius of downtown before being stopped by Power Girl. Her current whereabouts are unknown. New Athens police chief Ronald Parker states that it is believed Giganta is Dr. Doris Zeul, an employee of STAR Labs who's body was not recovered from the debris. Whether or not this Giganta has any connection to the previous Giganta, a super-smart gorilla foe of Wonder Woman is unclear at this time. If you see her, you are encouraged to contact the New Athens Police Department. You are cautioned to not try to apprehend her or approach her as she is considered extremely dangerous."

"Thank you Bob," The female newscaster said. "The accident today brings into question STAR Labs continued survival in New Athens. As viewers will remember, the opening of this STAR Labs sites was vehemently opposed by many ten years ago when it was first proposed. This is the fifth super-villain attack in that time and one of the worst. With STAR Labs's contract with the city up in the Spring, it's possible that STAR Labs New Athens will not remain in New Athens."

"In other news…"

Dr. Zeul snapped the TV off.

She began to dial the number Diana had given her when she'd left Transformation Island. She had told Dr. Zeul that she could call it any time from any place and Diana would send someone for her.

Dr. Zeul wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew that Diana and the Amazons could help her.

Dr. Zeul had dialed four numbers of the number when the massive headache tore through her head. She screamed and collapsed, dropping the phone. It skittered off under a chair.

"You will not be calling Wonder Woman tonight." Giganta's harsh voice said. "Not tonight, or any night Dr. Zeul. You will not again banish Giganta to the nether regions of your mind." The woman laughed, "Giganta is here to stay!"

Getting Dr. Zeul's credit cards and checking and savings account information, Giganta fled into the night, heading to a secret location she had before Wonder Woman had apprehended her.

Epilogue 2:

"Sorry about the surroundings," Dr. Livingston said, "But STAR Labs New Athens is condemned. And, the board of directors hasn't decided if we'll rebuilt or just move to another city. We'll have to continue working out of this warehouse until a decision is made."

"It's OK." Power Girl said, "Although it's sad that New Athens has turned on you guys so quickly."

"Well, if we're not able to rebuild here, we have a short list of cities that might house us." Dr. Livingston said, "One of the locations we're considering is Century City."

"That's handy." Power Girl smiled.

Dr. Livingston typed something into his computer and then the small monitor screen popped up with an X-Ray scan.

"So, this is your scan." Dr. Livingston said. He then pulled a file from Power Girl's file. "You'll see from this one, that it's an exact match."

"That it is." Power Girl said. "This is my first STAR Labs scan isn't it. The one from the first time Superman brought me in."

"It is." Dr. Livingston said with a smile. "As far as we can tell, your DNA is back at it's starting point. All of your old powers should be back in effect, and your meta-gene is not in evidence."

"I figured as much. I've been testing my powers the first few days, and with the exception of super-ventriloquism, all my old powers appear to be back." Power Girl said.

"Super ventriloquism?"

"Don't ask." Power Girl said.

"I will caution you of two things though." Dr. Livingston said, "First: it's still possible that at some point something could reactivate your meta-gene, and second: you were still quite young when that anti-matter ray struck you and altered your physiology—activating the meta-gene. Your powers were probably not fully evolved or mature. It is possible they will evolve and change naturally, as they would have had your meta-gene not started remapping your DNA. However, those changes will be natural and along your race's genetic coding."

"My race." Power Girl whispered. Her heritage was Daxamite, Coulverian, Kryptonian, and Homo-Magi. Who knew what the natural evolution for her would be? "So… my powers might still be unpredictable?"

"No. I'm just saying, your powers might change and grow. Which is normal." Dr. Livingston said. "I just don't want you to think increases or changes in your powers mean anything is wrong. If anything like that happens, come and see us. I still want you to have regular check-ups for the next six months. And take it easy for the next month or so. And, you need to avoid JLA transporters for at least six months."

"Of course, Dr. Livingston." Power Girl nodded her head.

"Ok, we're all done. You have a good day Power Girl."

Power Girl bid Dr. Livingston good-bye and left, flying off, streaking through the sky to Century City.

THE END

Next Issue: "Join us at the Century City Science and Fantasy Convention with special guests Starrware, Whiz Kid Minerva Bates, the cast of Space Trek 2022: The Next Generation, and special guest star TV's Wendy the Werewolf Stalker Tara Renee Keller!" That's what the flier says. However, it makes no mention of the Heist of the Century or the mysterious Team Gemini, both of which will converge in our "Science Fiction Double Feature". Oh, yeah, and Power Girl makes an appearance.