!ycnangerP sihT odnU

Silence reigned for a moment. Zatanna held her hands only an inch away from her belly. A trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. The witch took a deep breath, and Lois could only stare at the last button on her coat as it held on for dear life...

Zatanna pronounced the incantation. Even though Lois had heard it before, she still couldn't quite wrap her head around it—she could hear the sounds being pronounced backwards, as though the sorceress were running her voice in reverse through her own throat.

As the final syllable rolled off her tongue, a blinding light emanated from Zatanna's swollen belly. Lois closed her eyes to mere slits and threw up a hand in front of her face, looking away, suddenly queasy...and at that moment, her eye fell on the strange gravid form of the idol, the curves in its carvings growing from within with a sickly green phosphorescence...

Then the blinding flash was gone. Lois lowered her hand, blinking away the purplish shadows that hovered in front her eyes. She stared at the witch, to see if the spell had worked...and ducked, instinctively, as a button sprang past her head.

"Fuck!" Zatanna's voice thundered, a scream of outrage and desperation. Lois turned to survey the damage.

The witch was still pregnant. More pregnant, if possible. Lois thought to herself. The waistcoat hung open around her belly, the skin showing through as they pushed against the remaining buttons on the shirt clung on for dear life. Zatanna's breasts had overspilled their bra, dark nipples clearly evident against the fabric of her shirt. One of the top buttons had disappeared, revealing a deep line of cleavage.

Then something told Lois to look down at herself.

The belly was back, with a vengeance. It was definitely more defined and prominent than it had been when Zatanna had first shown up, and the dark line extended up to her belly button now. Instinctively, Lois tried to suck it in...and found that she couldn't. Her nipples were darker too, swollen, more prominent...and she didn't think she had a bra that could fit them. Once, she could easily have cupped one of her breasts in a single hand, now the swollen tits would overflow her hand, great wobbling masses that just rested on top of her bulging stomach.

"That was...not...supposed to happen," Zatanna spoke through gritted teeth. She looked ready to scream.

"When you cast your spell, I saw a green light come from the idol." Lois offered. "I don't know anything about magic, but maybe...?"

Zatanna twirled to look at the idol. "Yesss...some sort of protective enchantment for the fetus? That's why when I tried to remove yours it moved to me—and when I tried to remove mine, it stayed put and gave you yours back. If I tried it again, one or both of us would probably end up with twins..."

Lois stared hard at the witch's swollen stomach, not sure that Zatanna wasn't carrying twins from the look of her, but polite enough not to say anything. The magician was clearly in an agitated state.

"Okay then. Step one: get rid of the protective enchantment. Step two: get rid of these pregnancies. Easy." Zatanna muttered...and then struck a pose.

Shoulders back, chest jutting out proudly, looking down her nose at the idol, one leg forward and slightly bent, one arm extended, pointing at the idol with her wrist...it would have been more impressive if her clothing wasn't about to give out at the seams, and Lois swore that she could see an outie belly-button poking through a rent in Zatanna's shirt.

Once again, Zatanna began the intonation of a spell. Lois crossed her fingers. Third time's the charm, right?