Kellie Ross took a moment to admire how she looked in the mirror.  The yellow bikini looked terrific on her, she had to admit.  She had filled out slightly in all the right places in the last seven months, but was still lean and fit, with abs that had actually washboarded a bit more due to her activities as Elevator Girl. She'd gotten her black belt more quickly than anyone ever had in her dojo.  Best of all, she and Dakota had remained a couple.

Kellie couldn't believe how much a help it was that both Dakota and his twin sister, Lakota, knew her secret identity.  Each had been able to help cover for her in some situations, as had her mom with some school absences.

As Elevator Girl, Kellie had begun to make contacts with law enforcement, media and government officials.  Saving the Mayor and Governor from the Planner didn't hurt that any, of course.  Those contacts might be useful down the line, she knew.

The one thing that disturbed Kellie was connected to that rescue.  The Planner's murderer, his mysterious boss who loved ice-themed technology, was still out there, but had been silent since November.  That was six months ago.  It was now May, and the weather was warming up.  Kellie hoped the mystery killer was simply done, but the Planner's murder still needed to be solved, and ice-oriented tech might actually be less effective at a time of year when people around the Great Lakes are used to dealing with the intense winters they sometimes get.  Kellie had a feeling this wasn't over.

But this was a summer-like Saturday.  Dakota was well, and looking the best he'd looked.  They were heading with their respective families to the beach, and she was going to enjoy herself.

Kellie put some light clothes overtop her bikini and went downstairs.  She froze when she saw her mother staring at Stamitos Stone.  The former Granite Man was still very chiseled in terms of his physique, and he was wearing a swimsuit himself.  Kellie smiled.  Her Mom looked smitten; but, then, she was, and everyone who saw her with Stamitos knew it.

Stamitos looked down at his swimsuit.  "Are you sure men wear this much fabric when they swim now?" he said.  "It just seems like a lot.  It'll make for a lot of drag in the water."

"Well, some men wear Speedos, which have a lot less fabric," said Kellie.

"You'd look great in a Speedo," said Gemma.

Stamitos smiled a smile that would melt the hearts of many a woman.  "You just think I look good," he said.

"I know you look fantastic," Gemma said.  "However, Speedos are considered scandalously small on a public beach such as this.  You just remember athletics back in your day, when men competed nude."

"Yeah, you'd just hate him to do that," Kellie said.  She knew her mother and Stamitos were now a couple in every sense of the word, and recalled vividly how red she'd blushed when her mother had told her that he was still a granite man in one sense.

"I'd hate having to share him that way," Gemma said.  "Right now, I've got him all to myself."

"Well, are you two teenagers ready?" Kellie asked jokingly.  "I don't want to keep the Greenes waiting for us."

"You mean, you don't want to keep Dakota waiting," Gemma said.  "All right, let's go."

Kellie looked up at Stamitos, who winked at her.  She grinned.  This was going to be more fun than Gemma knew.

The Rosses arrived at the beach and headed to the area where they were supposed to meet the Greenes.  They found them all there, with Lakota in a black bikini, and Dakota in a set of blue trunks.  He smiled on seeing Kellie, who felt like she was glowing when she saw him.  They ran together, hugged and kissed.

Mrs. Greene was looking at Stamitos and started fanning herself.  "Oh, my goodness!" she said, leaning in beside Gemma.  "You are going to be the envy of every woman at the beach!" Mrs. Greene said.

Gemma chuckled.  "He does look good, doesn't he?"

"'Good' isn't doing him justice," Mrs. Greene said.

Kellie, Lakota and Dakota found Kellie's friend Jenna with a group of other teens.  "Friend" might have become an exaggeration when describing Jenna's relationship with Kellie.  The need to maintain Elevator Girl's secret identity had driven a wedge between the two teens.

Nevertheless, the whole group of teens, including Jenna, played some beach volleyball for awhile.  Then Lakota went trolling for cute guys.  "I baited my hook," she said, gesturing to her bikini.  "I might as well do some fishing."

Kellie took Dakota's hand.  "I've got my catch," she said.

Dakota used his free hand and stuck a finger in his mouth, tugging as if he was a fish on a hook as he made a face.

Kellie laughed.  "You big goof," she said.

Dakota laughed back.

The two of them found a spot away from their parents, where they talked and laughed, and kissed and hugged.  Between that and fun with the other teens, the day flew by all too quickly.

The sun was starting to set when Kellie grabbed Dakota's hand as she stood up.  "Come on," she said.  "Something special is about to happen, and we don't want to miss it."

"OK," Dakota said, sounding confused as he stood up.

As they walked, Kellie asked, "You wanna get together tomorrow afternoon -- assuming, you know, no E.G. action?"

"Even if you don't need to take the 'elevator' tomorrow, I can't," Dakota said.  "Your mom and I have that function with the Greene-Ross Foundation tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," said Kellie.  It was a charitable dinner in support of the new foundation, with some high-powered speakers and unveiling the first uses of the technology that Kellie had used as Elevator Girl to bring Dakota to where he was now -- apparently cancer-free.  Kellie was supposed to attend, but Gemma was on the board, and Dakota was the face of the foundation, thanks to its link to the technology Elevator Girl used in saving his life.

"You know, I've always wondered," Dakota said.  "The br- the Elevator Girl tech warps time-space.  Does that mean it could be used to travel in time?"

Kellie shook her head, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening.  "No, it doesn't have enough power.  The time warps are only a few cells in size max -- like maybe the size of the head of an old-style pin for sewing.  The same would be true with making a wormhole for interplanetary or intergalactic travel.  Any major effects that way are way out of reach, and the tech won't scale up enough to produce a big enough field.  Warping time or folding space takes way more energy than the bubble in space my powers use."

"Oh," said Dakota.  He pointed to his family.  "There they are.  But where are your mom and Stamitos?"

Kellie pointed to the water's edge in front of where they were.  "There," she said.

Stamitos and Gemma were backlit by the sunset over the water.  Kellie reached into her tote bag and brought out out a small case.  She trotted partway toward the couple.  When Stamitos saw her, she stopped and tossed the case into the air.  He snagged it and brought it down.

Gemma looked confused.  Then her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she saw Stamitos drop to one knee.

"Kellie tells me this is the modern tradition for doing this," Stamitos said.  He opened the case to reveal a diamond ring.  "Gemma Ross, will you marry me?"

Gemma brought her hands to her mouth.  As her lower lip quivered, she lowered one hand to her chest, then said, "Oh, yes!  Yes!  Yes!"

Stamitos leapt up and embraced her, lifting her into the air.  Kellie and the Greenes cheered from their vantage points, as did a few strangers on the beach who had spotted the scene.

Congratulations flowed for a few minutes.  Gemma slipped on the ring and stared at it.  "However did you afford this?" she asked.

"I have been working, you know," Stamitos said.  "I just saved what I could each week until I could get this ring.  I'd have loved to get you something bigger, but this was what I could afford."

"I wouldn't change it for the biggest diamond in the world," she said.  "It's perfect.  It's from you."  She kissed him, and he enfolded her in his muscular arms.

Mrs. Greene, Lakota and Kellie all sighed as they watched.

"Hey!" said Mr. Greene and Dakota, each to their own significant other.

Mrs. Greene smiled at her husband.  "Don't worry, dear," she said.  "He's a fun fantasy, but you're my reality, and I prefer reality."

Kellie took Dakota's hands.  "You know, you caught me, too, my fisherman Kota," she said.  "You hooked me that day in the hallway, when you told me what … you told me."  They both knew she referred to the moment when he had realized Kellie was Elevator Girl, simply by looking into her eyes.

Mr. Greene stretched.  "Well, the beach closes at sunset, so we'll need to head for home.  Let's get packed up, everybody," he said.

Kellie and Dakota kissed a few more times.  As the time came for them to part, he leaned down by her ear and said, "I'll say it for both of us again.  I love you."

Kellie kissed his cheek.  She was still afraid to say the words, afraid that admitting her love would cause her to lose Dakota.  But she knew that he knew how she felt, and this had become their running expression since the day Elevator Girl had found a way to cure his cancer.  "Ditto," she whispered to him.

The Rosses, complete with Stamitos, drove back to their house.  Gemma kept giggling, and Stamitos was beaming with a smile that could blind anyone foolish enough to look directly at it.

Kellie was happy for her mom.  Her dad had died years ago, and the teen was glad for the new love she had found with Stamitos, and for her own role in freeing the ancient Greek warrior from his curse and making this engagement possible.

Kellie thought about Dakota.  Maybe, some day, they would celebrate their engagement.

Elsewhere, the Planner's murderer finished work on her latest ice constructs.  These were the final pieces of the puzzle, and were in place just in time for tomorrow.

Now was the time, she knew.  Once her actions tomorrow were complete, it would be time to confront Elevator Girl, and strip her of her power once and for all.

Although she had killed the Planner, the mystery woman was not unable to plan for herself.  She knew she faced a potentially daunting task in defeating Elevator Girl, but the prize -- control of the powers Elevator Girl now had, for the woman's own use -- was well worth the risk.

And today was the day, the woman knew.  Her targets would be at the Greene-Ross fundraiser.  They were the namesakes of the company, after all.  But she had to accomplish two things first in order for the plan to work.

The first was to get Elevator Girl herself out of the way.  She would almost certainly be at the scene in person otherwise, and that would compromise her ability to accomplish the rest of the plan.  Since the girl no longer wore the bracelet that was the source of her powers, she needed the leverage to be able to get the heroine to bring the bracelet to her.

The second was to take out Stamitos Stone.  The woman was pretty sure he had been Granite Man.  Granite Man had rescued his old ally's protégé -- the woman had deduced that Elevator Girl actually was Elevator Man's granddaughter -- at a time that one of her targets was available to get him.  And she could find no records of Stamitos Stone except those filed after the disappearance fo a statue from one of the city's parks -- a statue that had borne an uncanny resemblance to Granite Man.  Among the few records she found was a certificate of baptismal record (from a legal standpoint, as good as a birth certificate, but made many years later.)  It indicated he was 40 years old and born in Greece.  It would let him get his driver's license.  If there was any chance that Stamitos Stone still could turn into Granite Man, he had to be taken out fast.

From there, the plan was simple.  The problem was, Elevator Girl was no simple opponent.  She had a knack for unexpected tactics.  But the woman would hold all the cards.

She smiled.  She would have Elevator Girl cold; with luck, stone cold.

It was early afternoon.  Gemma had put on her best dress.  "Do I look all right?" she asked.

"You look fine, Mom," Kellie said.

"Are you sure?" Gemma asked.  "I mean, I'd ask Stamitos, but he loves how I look in anything."

"Or nothing," Kellie said, blushing slightly.

"Well, we are engaged now," Gemma said.  She walked to a chair and sat down.  "Engaged.  Kellie, I'm engaged!"

Kellie nodded.  "I was there, remember?"

Gemma smiled.  "Cheering Stamitos on, as I recall."

Kellie grinned playfully.  "Well, at least you know I approve of your choice," she said.

"You made that choice possible," Gemma said.  "You freed him from his curse."

"Actually, it was your love that freed him," Kellie said.  "I just figured out what words to say to make it work for breaking the spell."

"Oh, yeah, like that's nothing when the man had been trapped as a stone statue for thousands of years," Gemma said.  She kissed her daughter's forehead.

Just then, a phone started to ring, playing the theme to a popular superhero cartoon show.  By now both Gemma and Kellie knew that ring tone.  It had become familiar to them in the last five months.  The city's e-911 service was calling for Elevator Girl's help.  The phone was untraceable by tower tracking and had a number not registered to any name.

Kellie looked at her mother.  "Mom, I'm sorry," she said.

Gemma smiled.  "Go," she said.  "Join us at the dinner if you get done in time."

Kellie grew enough to take the stairs to her room quickly, switched into her leather armor costume and headed back down to the basement and her secret exit at the former coal chute as she answered the phone.

The attack was one Kellie had been expecting.  It was an ice monster.  In fact, it sounded remarkably like the ice monster she had taken on when one attacked Jackson High School.

Kellie was at the attack site in the industrial park in a matter of minutes.  She smiled.  By now, her mom, Stamitos and the Greenes should all be at the fundraiser.

The monster was easy enough to spot.  It wasn't skyscraper-high, but neither were the buildings in the industrial area of town where it was located.

Kellie smiled.  "This should be easy," she said, smiling as she grew.

Then the monster grew, and split into three monsters that were each twice Kellie's height.

"OK, maybe this won't be so easy," Kellie said.

Meanwhile, Dakota and Gemma were seated at the head table.  Nearby, at a table for families, Dakota's parents and sister were seated with Stamitos.

The dignitaries were getting ready, with the scientists to describe developing treatments based on the technology Elevator Girl had used to treat Dakota. 

Lakota was disappointed when she was offered soda pop.  She had hoped she might get offered some wine, like some of the adults at the function were drinking.  But she, Dakota and Kellie all were underage, so they were getting only the nonalcoholic options.

The president of the foundation, Velma Rogers, started tapping a knife to a wine glass, signaling that the group needed to focus attention up front.

Then vapor streamed into the room -- icy vapor.  While the others tried to figure out what was happening, or just panicked, Stamitos stood up, instinctively striking a battle pose.  He may not have super-powers anymore, but he was still far stronger than  the average man, and he could put up a fight.

"Him," said a woman's voice, so cold it made the blood of some who heard it seem to freeze.  "And them."

The vapor converged on three spots in the room.  They were the positions where Stamitos stood and Gemma and Dakota were seated.  Then the mist solidified.  It encased Gemma and Dakota from the shoulders down in a thick coating.  But it completely encased Stamitos.

"Stam!" shouted Gemma.

"He can't hear you," said the cold voice.  "Soon, no one will hear you."

More mist entered the room.  It split into two segments.  The first solidified into a barrier between the people in the room and the three captives.  The second surrounded the two captives whose heads still were free.

Meanwhile, Elevator Girl had tried outgrowing the monsters, but they had gotten even larger, and each had split into five separate creatures.  Now she was surrounded.

Then  she got an idea; an idea that wouldn't have worked before she could operate the powers without manipulating the bracelet.  Kellie clapped her hands rapidly, swinging her size up and down as rapidly as she could in order to vary the sound.  The creatures all were made of ice; they had a crystalline structure.  And crystals can be broken by sound.

After a few seconds, Kellie hit the right combination of height and impact to produce the needed fequency, and the crystal structure cracked in about half the ice creatures, those she was facing.  She clapped again, and they shattered as those behind her moved toward her.  She pivoted and clapped again and again, and the remaining creatures shattered.  In a few seconds, Kellie was standing in a sea of shattered bits of ice.

Kellie smiled and turned her gaze toward downtown, where she would be heading from here.  Then her eyes widened in horror.  There was some sort of ship hovering over the building where the fundraiser was to take place -- a remarkably familiar ship.  It was larger, but the same configuration as the ship she had dealt with in her battle in the harbor in early November.  Someone was attacking the fundraiser -- and everyone Kellie loved!

Uncharacteristically, Kellie took off at a full run, then remembered there were other innocents below her.  She slowed enough to be careful,, but knew she needed to get to the banquet hall.

Inside the hall, the tier of mists that had not yet congealed lifted the forms of Dakota and Gemma toward a window.

"No!" Gemma screamed.  "Stamitos!  Kellie!"

"Help!" Dakota yelled.  He could hear his family on the other side of the ice barrier, screaming his name as they pounded on the wall of ice.

Gemma screeched in terror as they exited the window.  She was suddenly convinced that the wisps of icy mist would drop her and Dakota to their deaths.

Then they heard the bellowing of the deep, familiar voice of their favorite giantess.  "Dakota!  Mrs. Ross!"  Elevator Girl yelled, trying not to tip her hand as to relationships.  She was known to have contact with Dakota in this identity, but not with her mother.

"Stat!" said the cold voice, so cold it even sent a chill down Elevator Girl's massive spine.  But, by now, she was used to hearing voices at different sizes.  The voice was different in its coldness, but she knew it; she just couldn't quite place it.

At the instruction, the mists hurtled Dakota and Gemma into the crystalline ship from different directions.  Kellie was too far away to reach them, even by growing.

Desperate for a tactic -- any tactic -- that she started clapping her hands again.  She knew the ship might fall if she did, but figured she could catch the her loved ones as they fell.  At least, she hoped she could.

For a second, Kellie thought she had succeeded as she saw the ship splinter into three pieces.  Then she realized that it had, in fact, split into three separate ships -- as they went off in three different directions.

Kellie hesitated for a fraction of a second trying to decide which ship to follow before she realized that she had no hope of keeping up with any of the ships.  They were gone … and, with them, her mother and Dakota.

Kellie wanted to fall apart, but she didn't dare.  There were others inside, including Stamitos and Dakota's family, who might need help.  She needed to hang onto her composure, at least for now.

Kellie did a leap-and-shrink maneuver to enter through the smashed window.  The ice wall already was crumbling, but Stamitos was still encased in ice from head to toe.

Kellie trebled in height and smashed the ice with a single blow.  Stamitos fell out, gasping for air.  "That was uncomfortably familiar," he said quietly.  Then he looked around.  "Gemma? Dakota?"

"Elevator Girl!" shouted Lakota, from the other side of the collapsing ice wall.  "Did you get them?  Is everybody safe."

"No," said Kellie, trying to disguise her emotion by sounding breathless.  "Whoever it was that took them got your brother and Mrs. Ross and got away."

"Well, go after them!" shouted Mr. Greene.

"Their ship split into three pieces, and I couldn't keep up with them," she said.  "I'm calling the authorities.  My connections with the authorities may be able to help us track where they went, so I can find them.  Lakota, and Mr. … um …"

Realizing Kellie was trying to protect her identity, Stamitos said.  "Stone.  Stamitos Stone."

"Mr. Stone," Kellie said, "are you up to helping these people until authorities get here?"

"Of course," he said.

"Lakota, come with me," Kellie said.  "I may need help from a witness -- one with a clear head and no alcoholic intake."

Lakota followed Kellie into a service hallway behind the stage area.  There the two friends looked at each other.  With Lakota in on Kellie's secret now, there was no need for trying to preserve anything here.  The two girls simply collapsed into each other's arms, bawling.

After a moment, Kellie got Lakota's cell.  She gave a coded message and was put through to the Mayor's Office.

In seconds she hung up.  "The air-traffic authorities and Air National Guard will relay anything they get," she said.  "I'll need to hang onto your phone for a bit.  I've got nowhere to keep a phone on either costume."

"Do it," said Lakota.  "Do whatever you need to do.  Just save Dakota and your mom."

The two girls hugged.  Then Lakota's phone rang.  Kellie answered and spoke briefly, but Lakota couldn't tell anything from only one side of the conversation.  "Well?" she asked as Kellie hung up.

"The towers only tracked two ships at all, and only one for its whole trajectory," Kellie said.  She looked Lakota in the eye, her expression grim.  "It came down near my house, and burst into flame.  Everything where it landed is gone … and … and …"

"What?" Lakota asked.

Kellie's voice sounded small.  "They said no one could have survived that crash.  Whoever was in that ship is dead, and we don't know where the other two went.  Lakota … Someone we love … Someone I love may be … dead."

Elevator Girl carried the Greenes in one hand and both their and her mom's cars in the other as she walked back to their neighborhood.  EMS officials had insisted on taking Stamitos with them, since he had been frozen completely for a brief time.  She knew the issue of medical insurance could be a problem, but there was nothing she could do.  Stamitos had insurance through his job, but Kellie still wasn't sure he understood how such things worked.

Lakota kept glancing up at her friend.  She was horribly worried about her brother, but confident in his girlfriend's ability to save him.  At this instant, she could see that Kellie was worried herself, but was working very hard to hide it -- and was probably succeeding with anyone who didn't know her secret identity.

Then they saw the site where the ship had crashed.

"Oh, my God!" said Mr. Greene.

"Oh, no," whispered Kellie.

The ship had crashed into the riverbank that was Kellie and Dakota's special spot, the one that overlooked the cave where Elevator Girl's first headquarters was located.  The cave itself was intact, but much of the high bank had been destroyed, and what remained was just a black smudge.

"That's where Dakota and Kellie had their New Year's date," Mr. Greene said.  "God, I hope Kellie's all right.  For all we know, that villainess caught her before she got Dakota and Gemma."

"Her mom said she'd been delayed," Lakota said.  "Hopefully, that's all that happened to her."

Kellie reached over to her house and placed Gemma's car there, then lowered the Greenes to the ground, placing their car nearby.  Emergency workers were on the scene.

Kellie shrank down to Elevator Girl's "resting height" of 7 feet tall.  "What's our situation?" she asked.

"Well, most of the rubble is down the bank," said an emergency medical technician.  "We haven't found any human remains at this point.  We're thinking this may have been a drone -- unmanned."

"You mean no one was in it?"  Kellie asked.

"That's what it looks like," the EMT said.

Kellie almost collapsed with the sigh that followed.  She turned to the Greenes and gave them a smile and a "thumbs up" sign.  Lakota hugged her parents, who sandwiched her in between their own hug.

Kellie looked back to the EMT.  "Who's I.C.?" she asked.

The EMT pointed out the Incident Commander, a police sergeant.  Kellie quickly got permission to check the wreckage herself.  Using a technique she'd used here countless times before, she grew to a giantess, then shrank back down.

Being careful not to disturb the wreckage -- this was still a crime scene, after all -- Kellie looked for any clues that might be evident.  Her eyes had become quite good at spotting small things in the past nine months.

After a couple of minutes, she spotted it: a metal cylinder, apparently made of titanium, only about two inches across and two inches long, that seemed to have no useful purpose.  With her keen eye, she could tell there was something engraved on one end of the cylinder, something so small most people would miss it.

Kellie leapt into the air and dropped down in size to microscopic.  The engraving was a message, written in an odd script that made it hard to read.  When she read it, her blood seemed to freeze in her veins:

"EG, or KR:  Meet me tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the harbor or Mommy and Loverboy get the big chill.  Bring bracelet."

The message was unsigned.

Kellie was starting to sag onto a pebble with shock when she heard a tiny mechanical whir.  She pivoted and saw a microscopic camera -- the kind that had been used when she had cured Dakota's cancer.

Then she heard a hiss from behind her.  She spun back.  The cylinder had emitted some kind of acid, removing the etched message.  But it wasn't shooting anything at her.

Kellie re-enlarged, trying to put on her game face.  She glanced at Lakota.  Where her brother would have read Kellie's expression to know instantly that her identity was compromised and her loved ones in mortal danger, all Lakota could tell was that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Then the police decided to take the Greenes into protective custody.  "Whoever it was that did this, they're targeting people on the Greene-Ross board, and their family members could be targets, especially the most visible ones," the I.C. said.  "They've got Dakota, the face of the organization, and Mrs. Ross, whose father-in-law invented some of the technology they're using.  We can't locate Kellie Ross; for all we know, they have her, too.  We need to get the three of you to a safe house."

Lakota looked at Kellie.  She didn't want to leave her friend alone, especially now.

Kellie nodded grimly.  "Do it."  She turned to the Greenes.  "Mr. and Mrs. Greene, Lakota, I will get them, back -- both of them; all three, if they have Kellie Ross.  I promise you, I will get them back."

Mrs. Greene smiled.  "We know you will, dear."

Mr. Greene was so angry he was on the verge of tears.  "Kick that frosty bitch's ass for me," he said.

Kellie smiled.  "Will do," she said.

Lakota burst over and hugged Kellie. She whispered up into the heroine's ear, "You be careful.  We want you back, too.  I know he does."

Kellie was fighting back tears as she nodded.  The Greenes were taken away, Lakota looking over her shoulder as she walked off, watching Kellie stare at them as they faded into the crowd of emergency vehicles.

Standing in a sea of emergency workers, Kellie was the most truly alone that she had ever been in her life.  The two people she loved most were kidnapped and in mortal danger, and the two people she was now next closest two -- Lakota and Stamitos -- both were taken away from her.  She was facing a foe whose identity was unknown to her, but who clearly knew, not only her identity, but who she cared about and the secret source of her powers.  She needed someone -- anyone, just for a moment, a hug, a sense of support.  Instead, she was standing, masked, in a ridiculous leather get-up, surrounded by swarm of people trying to deal with the aftermath of this attack.

Kelliie needed a plan of action.  At least, if she had a plan of action, she could do something.  For that, she needed a starting point … and home base was a logical starting point.

Kellie turned to the I.C.  "I've got something I need to investigate Elevator Girl style," she said.

"Good luck, Elevator Girl," the commander said.

In fact, Kellie simply traveled the short distance to her own house.  She saw no officers posted outside; no one appeared to be waiting for her there.  She entered through her secret entrance at the old coal chute and went upstairs.

Kellie was making her way to her room, where the bracelet that was the source of her powers was stored, when she spotted her special Elevator Girl cell phone, where she had left it when she'd gone out as Elevator Girl that afternoon.  She frowned at the memory.  The emergency that prompted that call had been a decoy, she now knew, meant to get her away from her family and friends.  Without that call, Dakota and her mom might now be safe.

Then Kellie realized the screen on her phone was showing that there had been a message.  She picked up the phone and played it:

"Kellie, this is Stamitos.  They're keeping me in the hospital overnight.  They said I've been exposed to some sort of cryonic or cryogenic chemicals, and they want to monitor me until tomorrow to make sure I'm really all right.  Don't worry about me.  Stay safe.  May the gods be with you."

Kellie wasn't worried about Stamitos using her real name on this phone; it was untraceable, and no one at the hospital would have known about the Elevator Girl connection.  But something in what Stamitos said triggered a thought, a memory, a connection she'd been trying to make for months.

Cryonics or cryogenics …

Kellie bolted up the stairs to her computer.  She got online and looked up one record.  She hadn't connected it all before because the various technologies weren't clearly connected.  Cryonics didn't connect to ice-making or creating ice monsters, and those didn't connect to a little freezing unit for removing possibly precancerous growths.

But Kellie knew one person who tied all those together, and who had seen the oddly-shaped burn caused by an electrical short in her Elevator Girl bracelet; who, as a doctor, could have been the mystery physician who checked out Dakota's chart when Elevator Girl was beating back his cancer; and would use a word like "stat," hospital parlance for "fast."  And she was on hand when Elevator Girl first went into action without needing to actually wear the bracelet, and when the Planner was murdered.

Then  Kellie found the record she was looking for.  Dr. Christine Dekker's name and the medical specialty in which she'd first entered the profession.

Kellie snatched up the phone.  She called the hospital and got connected to Stamitos' room.  "Stamitos, it's Elevator Girl."

"Elevator Girl?" Stamitos said.  "This is a surprise.  Thanks for saving my life earlier."

"Just returning the favor," Kellie said, thinking of her first battle with the Planner.  "Look, Stamitos, watch your back.  Tell your nurses not to let Dr. Christine Dekker in to see you under any circumstances.  Not under ANY circumstances.  Got it?"

"Got it," he said.  "Actually, they mentioned a Dr. Dekker they were trying to reach today to check out my condition because of her background, but they haven't been able to reach her."

"She's busy with a couple of people we know," Kellie said.

"Got it," Stamitos said, sounding grim.  "You sure you don't want me to try to hold her if she turns up?"

"Negative," Kellie said.  "I'm going to take my shot at that tomorrow.  We have a meeting."

There was a pause.  "Wish I could help like I did before," Stamitos said.

Kellie smiled.  "I don't," she said.  "Mrs. Ross will want her fiance with her when this is over.  I'll be in touch."

Kellie put on the bracelet, grabbed a change of clothes for both Kellie and Elevator Girl and left.  It felt strange, actually wearing it the bracelet again, and stranger still that she was wearing it but not using the buttons.  But she would need it for her plan.  The catch was, she needed help.

Finding a place to switch clothes, Kellie, as Kellie, made her way to her once-best-friend Jenna's house.  She and Jenna had drifted apart because of Elevator Girl, although Jenna didn't know that was the reason.

Kellie knocked and Jenna answered.  She looked surprised and slightly annoyed to see Kellie.  "What's up?" Jenna asked.

"I need your help," Kellie said.

Jenna was getting ready to make a smart-aleck comment when she realized that Kellie was an emotional wreck; she knew her friend well enough to recognize that, even now. "Get in here," Jenna said.

"Are your folks here?" Kellie asked, looking around nervously.

Jenna shook her head.  "They're out at some church thing," she said.  "It's for adults, so I'm here alone."

"You haven't been watching news?"

Jenna shook her head.  "Listening to my tunes," she said.  "What's going on?"

"I need to stay here tonight," Kellie said.  "And I need to borrow something of yours."

Jenna was trying to process this.  "Kellie, it's obvious that something's upsetting you, but you've been way more interested in Dakota and Lakota than me for months.  Why can't you stay with them?"

"Because Dakota and my mom have been kidnapped by a supervillainess, and mom's fiance is in the hospital, and the Greenes are in protective custody, and I don't dare go home."

Jenna made a face.  "What?" she said.  "What a ridiculous story!"

"It's true," said Kellie, fighting back tears.

"But why would a supervillainess kidnap Dakota and your mom?"  Jenna asked.

"Because she found out that I'm Elevator Girl," Kellie said.

"What?" Jenna said.  "Elevator Girl? You?"

Then Jenna watched as her friend stood up … and up … and up.  Kellie was now so tall she had to duck to keep her head from hitting the ceiling.

"Yeah," Kellie said.  "Elevator Girl."

Jenna leaned on the arm of the sofa, her head in her hand.  "God," she said, "Now it all makes sense."

Kellie shrank back down.  "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she said.  "But I need a place to stay tonight, and I need to borrow something from you."

Jenna took her friend's hands.  "I'm not sure where we are yet, with all that this means," she said, "but I'll gladly help.  But why the overnighter?"

"The villainess and I are meeting tomorrow," Kellie said.  "She's so thorough I can't be sure my house isn't monitored, and she's not likely to turn up at any of her own regular haunts today or tonight either.  I can shrink and sleep in a drawer or something so your folks won't know I'm here."

"Why not just stay openly?" Jenna asked.

"As far as the police are concerned, Kellie Ross is missing," Kellie said.  "If your folks have heard the news, they might tip the police.  If they're watching me tomorrow --"

"You can't make the rescue meeting," Jenna said.

Kellie nodded.

Jenna hugged her friend.  "OK, Kellie.  Let's head up to my room.  We'll figure out where you can sleep, and get you set up.  Just try to rest.  We'll sort out the rest as we need to."

Kellie nodded.  Jenna opened a drawer full of her T-shirts and Kellie shrank down and collapsed into it.  She was so exhausted she dozed off almost immediately, murmuring, "Thanks, Jenna," as she did.

Jenna put her hand over her mouth, still trying to process everything, and fearful for her friend and those she loved.  "You're welcome," she whispered.

Jenna turned off the light and left the room, with the drawer open just a crack (but enough for Elevator Girl to get through.)  There was so much to talk about, were so many unanswered questions.  But none of that really mattered now.  Kellie was facing a life and death battle the next day.  The rest could be sorted out when that was over … if she survived …

"Kellie.  Kellie," came a voice from above her.  Even though it was whispering, it was loud and sounded both feminine and deep at the same time.  "Kellie.  Wake up.  I got you some breakfast."

Jenna was crouched over the drawer in which her shrunken friend slept.  She saw 15-year-old Kellie Ross, still wearing the clothes she wore yesterday, only about 8 inches tall and curled up in the fetal position atop a stack of T-shirts.  For Jenna, she saw her friend, who she had learned the day before was Elevator Girl, curled up and sleeping like a baby, but smaller than a baby.  In that instant, she wished she could scoop Kellie up and hug her, cradle her like the infant she resembled -- especially since Jenna knew what awaited Kellie that day.

"Kellie," said Jenna.  "Come on.  I can't get much louder; Mom and Dad don't know you're here, remember?  Wake up!  I got you some breakfast."

Kellie groggily pulled herself up.  "Oh.  Hi, Jenna," she said.  Jenna almost laughed.  Her friend's voice sounded like a cartoon chipmunk at this size.

"I made you some scrambled eggs," Jenna said, placing the plate and fork beside Kellie.  "I remember you prefer over-easy eggs from our sleepovers, but this was what I could get away with making."

Kellie smiled up at her friend.  "This is fine.  Thanks, Jenna," she said.  To Jenna's amazement, Kellie crawled over to thje plate, put her hands on it, and shrank.  Now only about an inch tall, she walked over to the mountain of eggs.  She looked up at Jenna.  "I've always wanted to do this," she shouted, her voice so small Jenna could barely hear it.  "I better do it today, while I've got the chance."

Kellie ran over to what, to her, was a mound of eggs larger than her body and dove in.  Jenna laughed.  She was still getting used to the idea of her friend changing sizes, and now she was playing with it.  For just a moment, the pair of teens allowed themselves to forget what lay ahead today for Kellie.

After eating some of the eggs,. Kellie grew closer to a foot tall and ate more.  She took off the egg-encrusted clothes.  "Where did you put the uniforms I brought yesterday?" she asked.

Jenna pulled them from under her bed.  "Here they are," she said.  "The leather one I know, of course, but I don't think I've ever seen the other one."

"I've never worn it in public," Kellie said.  "Can you bring me in a glass of water so I can rinse off this egg?"

"Sure," said Jenna.  She returned with a paper cup.  Kellie shrank to 4 inches tall and had Jenna place her in the cup.  Once done, she dried off on a handkerchief and grew to her normal Kellie height and started dressing.

"I'll need to leave for school," Jenna said.  "I'll relay that you're out of town with a family member -- an aunt or something."

"Make it a cousin," Kellie said.  "I've got more of those."

"Cousin, right," Jenna said.  "Dad's the last to leave for work.  Once that happens, you'll have no trouble getting out of the house for your … appointment."

"OK," said Kellie grimly.  "Jenna … Thanks.  For the loan, of course, and for everything.  All of everything, not just yesterday and today."

Jenna hugged her friend.  "You, too," she said.  "Just save your mom and Dakota." she pulled back and looked Kellie in the eye.  "And you stay safe, too, OK?  We have a lot to talk through once this is over.  I'd really like the chance to do that."

Kellie smiled.  "I'll do my best," she said.

"You always do," Jenna said.  "See ya."  She hugged Kellie again and left the room on her way out of the house.

Once she was dressed, the leather uniform under the bed and the dirty plate with the doll-sized, egg-covered clothes on them shut in the drawer, Kellie shrank down to bug size and rested on the side of Jenna's pillow that was away from the bedroom door.  She heard the sounds of Jenna's father making his way out the door, including the door shutting, and knew she was alone.

Kellie regrew to her normal Kellie height and sat on the edge of the bed.  She stared at nothing in the general direction of the floor.  So much was riding on this today.  Dr. Dekker seemed to hold all the cards.  Kellie was hoping that she was right, that Dekker hadn't seen this uniform before and didn't know its capabilities, but she couldn't be sure.  If she was right, the uniform gave her an edge.  If she was wrong, she and her loved ones might not survive.

Kellie glanced at the clock every few minutes.  Soon it was time to get to the harbor and face Dr. Dekker for the sake of those she loved.  She slipped out the house's back door, grew to giant size and started the walk to the harbor.

From a distance, Kellie saw one of the three ice ships from the day before hovering over the harbor.  She dropped to just below the heights of the buildings and sprinted toward the harbor.  When she cleared the buildings, she reduced to the height of a normal human woman, then  ran to the harbor and dove in.

Kellie was wearing the uniform she'd used to defeat Dakota's cancer in December.  That was the uniform that incorporated her specially-made SCUBA gear. Growing slowly, she swam under the water's surface until she was directly under the ship.  Then she rocketed up in size, snatching the ship from the air.

Muffled by Kellie's colossal hand came the icy cold voice heard at the kidnapping the day before.  "Impressive," the voice said, "But someone you love is in this ship.  Let it go now, or she dies."

Mom, Kellie thought, even as she let the ship go.  But where was Dakota?

"Now, get in the ship," the chilling voice said.

"Why?" said Kellie.  "You say you have a hostage there, but I don't know that.  Show yourself, and show her, or I'm not getting in the ship."

A hologram appeared in the sky in front of the ship, showing some sort of cryonics tube holding Gemma Ross, Kellie's mother.  Sitting at some controls was Dr. Christine Dekker, wearing a white jumpsuit.  "There," she said.  "Happy?"

"No," said Kellie.  "You could be anywhere.  Show yourself in person."

The ship's side hatch swung open almost immediately, and Dekker stood in it.  "I'm done playing," she said.  "Get in now, or say bye-bye to Mommy Dearest."

Kellie made her leap-and-shrink maneuver to enter the ship.  She stayed 7 feet tall, making her taller than Dekker.

"What do you want, Dekker?" Kellie asked.

"You should know that from my message," Dekker said.  "The bracelet; give it.  Now."

Her expression grim, Kellie slipped the bracelet off her wrist and handed it carefully to Dekker.  "Here you go, 'doctor,'" she said.

Dekker sat at the control console and smiled, holding the bracelet loosely as she watched Elevator Girl for any sudden moves.  "You know, I tried finding a cool codename for my villain identity, but I couldn't find one I liked that didn't have problems," she said.  "'Cold Queen' was an old brand of refrigerator;  'Ice Queen' sounds like a movie bitch;  'Snow Queen' --"

"Nobody cares about your damned codename!" shouted Kellie.  "You've got your bracelet!  Free my mother!"

Dekker looked peeved.  "Don't you care why I did this?" she asked.

"You've got some kind of obsession with cold, and now one with me," Kellie said.  "For all I know, you're a super-stalker.  But you've got my mom, and I've met your terms.  Let her go.  Now!"

Dekker frowned, looking peeved.  She pressed a button on the console, and the tube holding Gemma made a hissing sound.  "It'll take her a minute to stabilize, after this exposure," she said.  "Now, you will listen."

"Where's Dakota?" Kellie asked.

"That's why you'll listen, if you want him back," Dekker said.  "You see, I realized as a child that cold is where the universe is moving.  Eventually, all moves toward the ultimate zero of cold -- the cold of entropy -- the cold of death.  Cold always wins.  I thought of cold as the ultimate power, so I learned all I could about it, and how to manipulate it and anything associated with it."

"You became a doctor, and specialized in cryonics, but there's not much work in that field, yada-yada-yada," Kellie said.

Dekker glared up at Kellie.  "Don't interrupt me again," Dekker said.  She sauntered in front of the teen heroine.  "But, when I saw you in action, I realized you were manipulating a building block of the universe even more fundamental than cold -- space-time itself.  I thought I was becoming the ultimate power, and was on the verge of claiming it, when you turned up.  So, I had to put my plans on hold while I sorted out how your powers worked.  I could wait for that as long as needed.  After all, cold is patient, and cold always wins.

"It was a lucky break when you came into my dermatology office," Dekker said.  "I knew what that burn on your wrist was right away;  I was watching when you got it.  I got another break when I found out Elevator Girl was in the hospital saving Dakota Greene from his cancer.  Then I knew he wasn't just a Wish-Granters Foundation date for you; he was more.  It took months to get this trap ready, but now I have the bracelet, and with it the keys to controlling space and time themselves."

"It can't do much that way, you know," Kellie said.

"I'll figure out what needs to happen," Dekker said.  "Al I need is time."

"And cold is patient," Kellie said.

Dekker nodded.

"But where's Dakota?" Kellie asked.

"You didn't think I'd bring all my leverage here, did you?" Dekker asked.  "He's … elsewhere.  I'll release him when I'm safely away with the bracelet, and not until."

Kellie felt a deep hole open in her stomach.  She hadn't planned for this.  Now there was a real possibility she might not get Dakota back.

Behind them both, Gemma gasped for air as the tube she was in opened with a hiss.

Dekker turned toward the tube.  "Ah, Mommy's awake," she said.

Kellie knew she didn't dare wait any longer.  If Dekker realized what she'd done, she might not get her mother back, and there was still a chance that she could save Dakota.

Kellie raised her hands and fired the micro-blaster unit that was built into this, and only this, costume.  She caught Dekker just behind and above the ear.  Dekker let out a yell, pivoting toward Kellie.

Looking at Kellie, Dekker realized what had happened.  Kellie was using the blaster unit that had destroyed Dakota's cancer cells.  It had shrunk just enough cells in the doctor's skull to sting her with pain.

Dekker tried to move toward the console, but Kellie kept firing, keeping her away.  "Mom!  Take cover!" Kellie yelled.  Gemma was still slightly groggy, but followed the instruction, hiding behind the tube she'd been in.

Kellie grew toward Dekker, grabbing her by the front of her jumpsuit and hauling her upward.  She pointed the blaster right at Dekker's head.  "Where is Dakota?  Tell me now!"

Dekker leered evilly and hit the down button on the bracelet.

Nothing happened.

Dekker hit the button again, then several more times.  "This …  isn't real," she said.  "It's one of those knockoffs that were popular six months ago."

"You didn't think I'd bring my only leverage here," Kellie said.  "Now, where is he?"

Dekker said nothing.

Kellie fired, and Dekker winced with pain.  "At this range and on this setting, I'm shrinking brain cells," Kellie said.  "Where is Dakota?"

After a second, as Kellie prepared to fire again, Dekker curled forward and kicked the arm the blaster was on aside.  It fired off to the side, and hit something in the ship's equipment.

The wall exploded.  All Kellie could see was a fireball, surrounded by ice crystals.  She heard screaming, and realized it was coming from both her mother and Dekker.

Kellie slammed her height upward as hard and fast as she could, moving her hand under her mother.  Gemma was merely terrified.  To Kellie's horror, she realized that Dekker was covered in flames.  Kellie spat on the fireball that contained her nemesis, putting the fire out.

Kellie's feet hit the water at almost the same instant they hit the ground underwater.  She stopped growing and clutched her mother to her chest as she crouched to catch Dekker.

Kellie stepped to shore and shrank to 7 feet tall.  Police were keeping people, including the media, well back;  Elevator Girl's presence in the harbor, the day after the well-publicized kidnapping, was drawing a lot of attention.

As soon as Gemma was safely down, Kellie grabbed Dekker.  The woman was almost unrecognizable.  Much of her skin was burned off, and there were nasty wounds to her abdomen and left thigh from shrapnel of the exploding ship.

Kellie could feel Dekker's skin tearing off as she grabbed her, but she knew the doctor was dying.  "Where is he?"  she screamed, sounding panic-stricken.  "Where's Dakota?  Where is Dakota Greene?"

"After the fire, … cold welcomes me," Dekker said faintly.  "It knows its servant, … and it embraces me now."

Kellie shook Dekker.  "WHERE'S DAKOTA?" the teen shrieked.

Dekker looked her in the eye and smiled.  "So this … is how … I win," she said, her voice fading, "with your love … growing cold.  Cold … always … wins…."   She barely breathed the last word, and she did it with her last breath.

Kellie's eyes widened in a mix of shock, horror and mortal fear as she realized what had just happened.  The only woman who knew where Dakota was had just died, and had left no clue as to how to find the boy Kellie loved.

Kellie screamed, "NOOOOO!"  She shook the body she held, and more skin peeled off, causing it to fall from her hands.  Then Kellie began to sob uncontrollably.  Instinctively, she turned to her mom and collapsed into her arms.

"What am I gonna do?" Kellie sobbed.  "What am I gonna do?  She's got Dakota somewhere, and he's all alone, alone in the cold, and I can't find him!  I don't even know where to look!"

Gemma -- at this point, far more aware of the media presence than Kellie was --nevertheless stroked her daughter's hair.  "I don't know, Elevator Girl," Gemma said.  "I don't know."

"But he could be anywhere!" Kellie said, still sobbing.  "He could be in orbit, or on his way into deep space, or at the bottom of the ocean, or on a mountain, or deep in a jungle!"  I don't know how to find him!  How do I find him?  How do I save him?  I can't just leave him there in the cold -- all alone …"   Too faintly for the anyone but her mother to hear, she added, "I never even told him I love him …"

Kellie fell into a heap.  Gemma, realizing the situation, patted her daughter.  She, too, was now a public figure, especially after this incident.

Gemma stood up, helping her 7-foot daughter do likewise.  "The media's here," she said.  "What do you want to do?"

Kellie looked morosely up.  She was astounded when she saw the faces of the reporters there.  Every one of them looked at her, their eyes wide, most moist with tears.  They had seen her grief, and even they were moved.

Kellie stepped forward.  "I have a statement, and I will not take any questions," she said.  "Mrs. Gemma Ross has been successfully rescued.  While I was working to free her, the woman who kidnapped Mrs. Ross and Dakota Greene, Dr. Christine Dekker, took actions that caused her ship to explode.  Injuries from the explosion claimed Dr. Dekker's life.  All efforts are still being made to locate and rescue Dakota Greene.  I ask that --"  Kellie's voice cracked with emotion " -- that you respect the privacy of the Greene and Ross families at this time.  That is all."

While one reporter barked, "What about Kellie Ross?  Has she been found?"  Kellie grew to skyscraper height, picked up her mother and left.

"Well, she knows how to make an exit," another reporter said.

Kellie and Gemma traveled in silence.  They both knew Gemma would need to be checked out by a doctor, and that Elevator Girl would need to make a report to police.  In that moment, neither cared.

Gemma looked up at Kellie, knowing no way to ease her daughter's obvious pain.  But what could be done now?  How would they find Dakota?  Where was he?  And was he even still alive?