Augustus Freeman, Esq.

There were medical tests, all conducted in the nude. Height, weight, blood pressure, blood and urine samples. Before photos, which brought a flush to the reporter's cheeks. Lois Lane chewed on the inside of her mouth, playing the good little test subject. Lex Luthor hovered in the background, watching everything, his cold gaze studying the reporter's nude form. A part of her still didn't trust him...but as she was led into the testing procedure her little insurance policy was just about to come into play.

"Now then," Lex said, indicating a door that would have easily served as a bank vault. "This is our Kryptonite storage facility. As we agreed, you can select the type of Kryptonite you'll be exposed to. Type 63 results in total gender inversion—female becomes male. Type 64 causes the growth of a functional penis and testes, resulting in a true hermaphrodite. Type 66 enhances the erectile tissues of the clitoris, which grows into a pseudopenis..."

Lex kept talking, going into detail, reciting the transformations from memory. Lois, keenly aware of her vulnerability, wondered how many women had gone through these transformations for him to have this much data...and how many of those transformations had been imperfect or temporary, if he was now relying on her.

"So," he said. "What shall it be?"

Lois fidgeted, not sure how much more time she could buy...

...and then the door to the testing facility opened. A tall Black man strode in, his bespoke gray suit expertly crafted to accommodate shoulders like a linebacker and a trim waist. For the first time that night, Lois saw Lex Luthor taken momentarily aback.

"Augusts Freeman, Esquire," the big man said. Like a magic trick, a card appeared in one huge hand. "Miss Lane's attorney."

"She signed the contract—" Luthor said.

The lawyer smiled. Sharks rarely showed as many teeth.

"She did. However, in Metropolis contract law, a contract for medical testing may be nullified by any individual with a medical power of attorney for the signee, to ensure the subject is not being...exploited. Miss Lane granted me such a power of attorney, in the event some accident in her dangerous occupation required someone to make decisions on her behalf."

Luthor frowned. "You dare..."

"I do more than that," Freeman said, dropping the smile and stepping so close to Luthor that their chests almost touched. The lawyer was taller and wider than Luthor, but it was the keen intelligence in his eyes that made a single bead of sweat run down Luthor's forehead. "And unless we come to terms for proper compensation to Miss Lane and full disclosure of all the details of this procedure, she is leaving with me, right now."

Lois grinned. She would have to thank Clark Kent for giving her Freeman's number.

"Very well. What...amendment...would you like to add to the contract?" Luthor said, as coolly and collectedly as possible.