Red Kryptonite (#42)

The crystal was a rough, faceted chunk, deep crimson in color. It seemed to pick up the light from the room and refract it, so that it was surrounded by a ruddy glow.

Lois felt a sudden heat build up, around her belly button. Not sexual excitement, but a physical sensation, almost burning, that spread slowly outwards.

The screens flickered, and Lois saw...herself, mirrored in there. She raised a hand, and the naked woman on screen did as well. The reporter knew she was watching herself in real-time, as captured by the cameras.

The tingle spread all over her body, and with it a strange...pressure all over. Not pain, exactly but a shift.

"This specimen was believed to 'de-age' an individual, but experimental shows that it causes a reversion to previous stage of biological development," Mercy said. "Controlled exposure all us to zero in on a target age of about 18-19 years. Skin regains its elasticity; fat is consumed and redistributed..."

Lois stared at the screen. She kept her body toned, so veins and hints of muscle showed beneath the skin, but now in places it was looking...smooth. The tingling concentrated on her face, hips, and breasts. The small lines around eyes and mouth faded into smooth, fresh skin...maybe even a touch of baby fat?

She quaked, suddenly, and bent over nearly double. Her pelvis had suddenly and audibly cracked. Lois looked down and saw her hips were smaller now than her shoulders—her waistline slimming, and much closer now. She was losing height as well... She wobbled for a moment...then saw two other somethings wobbling in front of her.

"...the target age is after the stages of puberty, when a flood of hormones lead to the development of secondary sex characteristics; reversing the effects of years of wear and tear on the body..."

Lois watched her tits hang in front of her. They had a touch of sag, lately, but now they began to rise, the pink nipples standing tall and proud as the teardrop-shaped breasts went from soft generous handfuls to taut, palmable b-cups. Hesitantly, she reached down and touched them—and gasped. They were sensitive, the nipples already growing perky under her hands, as though she had never been touched...

There was a terrifying thought, as she felt the tingling concentrate on her hips.

"...elastic tissues like the vagina resume their original configuration, becoming tight once more; scars are replaced by regular skin as though they had never been, and tissues such as the appendix and hymen are restored..."

Lois frowned as the implications sank in. She was a virgin, again. The reporter had to crane her neck more now to watch the screen, and she wondered how much height she had lost...when she was 19, she had almost reached her full adult height, so it couldn't have been more than a couple of inches...

Slowly, the red kryptonite retracted once more into the ceiling.

The reporter stared at the screen, then back at herself. The screen was now split, with a before and after image. Side by side, Lois could see the lines on her face were now gone, the skin healthy and glowing—in comparison to how she had been only a few minutes ago, she might have lost ten years. Like she had just graduated highschool, or her freshman year at college.

Damn, Lois thought, I'm a teenager again. One of those girls all the boys used to stroke themselves to sleep over at night.

"...all this," Mercy's voice assured her. "Is part of the teenager experience. Would you like to take your new body out for a test drive?"