Lois Admits She Is

The reporter nodded, curtly. Whatever had caused this, she wanted to see it.

No matter how often she had seen the strangeness this world had to offer, Lois Lane had always felt drawn to the seemingly miraculous transformations that people could go through. How a chance encounter could turn a normal human being into a hero or villain, a freakish monster or a god...

"Then follow me," Blaze told her. The demon turned, muscular ass-cheeks bouncing beneath her loose tunic.

Lois followed, down a red-carpeted hallway. Past doors marked with the names of superwomen and villainesses. Muffled moans came from some of them, rhythmic thumpings. The reporter doubted that all of the women here were entirely voluntary...Blaze didn't seem like the type to offer any gift without price.

"As you know, I've fought the alien Superman many times," Blaze said, voice carrying over the sensual moans. "And I've come to study my foe, looking for weaknesses. He is **** to magic, of course, but also a rare mineral..."

"Kryptonite," Lois breathed the word. Her heart felt like it was in her throat.

"Indeed. Green kryptonite is deadly, gold robs his powers...ah, but red! Red kryptonite caught my attention. The transformations it offered were endless...fascinating..."

They arrived at a set of unmarked double doors, and Blaze opened them to reveal a kind of lounge. The room was circular, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, the walls lined with red leather couches. The flat ceiling was mirrored, as were the walls above the couches, and the floor was a plate of mirrored glass. In the center, a pedestal of white crystal tipped with something that glowed with a great ruddy light.

"...so I made my own."

Blaze let Lois enter, then closed the doors behind her. Lois realized then that the red crystal was the only light source in the room. Her own reflection looked back at her from every angle, cast in that crimson glow.

Immediately, Lois placed her hand on the door, to see if it was locked, to get out of here before...

"Look at it Lois. It is perfectly safe." The demon's voice came through clearly from beyond the door. "You wanted to see it, examine it. Go, look...to your heart's content..."

The reporter set her jaw. It felt like a trap. Yet...curiosity **** Lois to take a step toward the crystal.

I can grab it, she thought. Maybe figure out a way to help those women...

It was only a few steps to the center of the room. Yet each step, Lois could see her own distorted reflections staring back at her. Could see every bit of herself she didn't like, that could be improved...

Is that me thinking that? Lois wondered. Or is Blaze affecting my mind somehow? Is this what she did to those other women?

"Just imagine the possibilities, Lois," Blaze said as the reporter neared the gem. This close she could see that it had a distinctly gem-like quality, like a great ruby, cut in the shape of a human heart. "Imagine...who you really are. Who and what you could be. Who are you Lois Lane?"

Lois tried to focus her mind, not to let the demon's questions get to her. Fought the images that came into her head. The gem was there, right there, glowing crimson tendrils like veins leeching down the crystalline stalagmite it was resting on. Her hands reached up...her hands, her regular hands, the hands of a reporter who had no boyfriend, no real life outside of work...and that last question stuck resolutely in her head as her hands closed on the warm surface of Blaze's magic red kryptonite.