Doom Is Unimpressed

"SOFEN!" Doctor Doom's voice blared, loud enough to make Moonstone spill her whiskey. She cursed and sucked the sweet liquor off of her suddenly wet fingers. Above the desk, a holographic representation of Doom's hooded head glowered at her. Although she knew he wasn't really there, his dark eyes seemed to bore in on hers with disturbing intensity. "I have been monitoring your progress with the Invisible Woman."

"It's going well," Moonstone said. "She's eating out of the palm of my hand."

"I disagree," he said, voice dry as a desert grave. "I demand corruption, and you give me tawdry housewife fantasies. There is no evidence as of yet that the Invisible Woman will break her marriage."

"Look," Moonstone said. "We agreed that I would do this my way. That takes time. Any sudden change in her pattern of behavior is going to get noticed. If you want this to work it has to be organic...it needs to feel natural. She has to really believe she's a submissive lesbian slut!"

Doom glared. Moonstone glared back. It felt ridiculous to have a staring contest with a hologram, but she wasn't sure what else she could do. Doom was footing the bill for all this. He had given her the implants that refined her powers to make this possible. Moonstone knew if she tried to rush it, she would fail...

"Perhaps," Doom said carefully. "You require another upgrade to deliver real results."

Moonstone swallowed hard.

"I don't...I dont' need more implants. It's working. You just need to give me a little time..." she managed.

"I do not speak of more implants," Doom said.

A circle of wood descended from the top of the desk and disappeared. From the darkness, something floated...a crystalline object, like a gemstone, glowing with its own pale yellow light.

Instantly, Moonstone was on alert. Something deep within her resonated in sympathy to that gem, which began to pulse in sympathy to her heart.

"Another moonstone?" she whispered. Once, she had possessed a second such gem. Her powers had more than doubled. It had been...addictive. "Where did you find it?"

"I have access to unusual resources," Doctor Doom said. "Now...I want to see some real results."

The hologram vanished. Moonstone's whiskey-stained fingers caught the gem. She could feel it begin to synchronize with her. The crystal sank into her flesh, and her veins began to flash like neon circuits. Her eyes rolled back in her head as a sensation passed through her that was better than sex. The sensation of power...pure, unadulterated, union with one of the fundamental forces of the cosmos. She gasped and collapsed across the desk, ripping at her shirt in orgasmic fury, breasts heaving as golden light spilled from her eyes.