Star Sapphire, Again

Lois Lane—the original, or so she hoped—turned from her doppelganger toward the screen, where the Star Sapphire was talking.

"...all that anger, fear, and greed, gone. Now let the purple light of love fill your entire being..."

A light filled the room, descending through the ceiling, a scintillating brilliance that seemed to cut through everything. The other woman hissed, held her arm before her face to block it out from her eyes, but Lois stared right into the heart of it. She could almost hear the words...

Lois Lane of Earth. You are capable of great love. Welcome to the Star Sapphire Corps.

There was a weight on the ring finger of her right hand. Lois stared down at the light that emanated from it. If anything it was brighter now, the whole of the room filled with brilliant purple light. The voice was singing to her, strange alien words that the ring was translating, and all the time the light grew brighter around her.

She saw the first Star Sapphire—the lovers who came together, man and woman, their love preserved for all time as the crystal grew over them. Names washed over her. Oans, Guardians, Zamorans, Green Lanterns; some familiar, others alien and strange. She was learning so much...

The reporter tried to shift her head, to look at the ring from a different angle, and realized she couldn't. For the first time in a long time, she tried to blink—and couldn't do that either. There was only the ring, it's bright light dimming, but the world was still violet...hard and violet...and dimly Lois realized she wasn't breathing, frozen in place, the world outside dim and misty as if viewed through violet-hued spectacles, her dark doppelganger wandering closer to tap on something hard and unyielding that resonated all around her.

As the ring dimmed down to a final spark, she heard it sing:

For hearts long lost and full of fright,

For those alone in blackest night,

Accept our ring and join our fight,

Love conquers all—with violet light!

Outside the violet crystal that had grown to encompass her other self, the "evil" Lois Lane observed her naked counterpart, completely frozen and unmoving within the alien gemstone.

"Fucksticks," she muttered. "Stupid bitch. What did she think was going to happen. Oy!" Lois raised her voice. "Alien cunts! Any magic rings for me?"