Raven Is Looking For The Idol

The Dark Web advert had an email attached to it—GothTitan—and Lois Lane quickly sent out a message. She typed one-handed, the other one rubbing her stomach. The reporter didn't need to look to realize that things were filling up her apartment that she hadn't remembered seeing a few minutes ago: bottles of cocoa butter and prenatal vitamins in the bathroom, an unassembled crib, packages of diapers and formula in her closet, stretchy pants and big shirts that passed as maternity wear, the pile of pregnancy books on her bedside table...

Like I knew I was pregnant, Lois thought. She could almost feel the crowd of new memories, just beneath the surface. Like I was preparing for it.

A chat window popped up. It was GothTitan.

GT: You have the idol?
LL: Yes! I...I got it tonight, and I think it's affecting me.
GT: If it's activated u r in danger. Where r u?

The reporter hesitated. She didn't know if she wanted to give this complete stranger from the dark web her address. GothTitan obviously intuited the reason for Lois Lane's lack of immediate response. A picture popped up on screen.

GT: I'm Raven of the Titans. Superhero. U can trust me.

Dammit Lane, Lois thought. You have to trust somebody.

She typed in her address.

GT: Can I cum over?
LL: Okay
GT: ty. Incoming.

Lois wasn't sure what that meant...and then every hair on her body stood up on end. The shadows in the apartment grew darker...and out of the deepest and darkest of them stepped a figure in cloak and cowl. As soon as her boots touched onto the carpet, the shadows returned to normal, and the intruder pulled back her hood.

Dark, straight hair that fell down on either side of her face. The young face of a woman in her early twenties, pale as a goth, eyes rimmed with kohl, some sort of red jewel on her forehead beneath the widow's peak. She was dressed in a one-piece purple unitard; which showcased her modest breasts and trim stomach, and her long, muscular legs and arms were bare; a kind of belt was cinched about her waist, and Lois caught a glimpse of a smartphone on one hip.

Immediately, Raven scanned the room, taking into place the gravid reporter, and the gravid idol.

"I'm Raven."

"Lois Lane," the reporter swallowed. "Reporter for the Daily Planet."

Raven nodded. "How far along are you?"

"I don't...I wasn't," the reporter rubber her forehead with her temples. "Five months? Six? It keeps...feeling like...a dream. Like I keep getting bigger."

"Because you are," the heroine stalked toward the idol, staring at it intently, though not touching it. "It's rewriting your past. You can't remember who knocked you up, right?"

"No. I can't." Lois felt a little relief at how easily Raven was taking this all. "I feel like...like I had this one-night stand, which is totally unlike me."

"A few more hours, and you'll give birth tonight." The goth said. "It should be safe to handle after that..."

"What? I have to give birth? I thought...I thought you could fix it!" Lois said.

The witch turned to Lois, her face carefully blank. The reporter shuddered. There was something almost inhuman in that gaze.

"Why did you want the idol anyway?"

"It belonged to my mother," Raven said. "I think it's how she conceived me."

The witch raised her gloved hands, holding them just above the gravid idol's belly.

"I'm going to try something."