A New Destiny

Part 1 of 2

As had been done every year in the past, The Daily Planet, where Lois Lane worked as one of the star reporters, was holding a Halloween Party. Every year, a theme for the costume contest at the annual party was announced during the Labor Day weekend, to give everyone about two months to prepare. Since Superman was a regular visitor to the Planet, and a very good friend of Lois, it was a bit of a surprise that this year's theme had not been used in the past. Perry White, the editor of the newspaper, issued a memo on Friday afternoon before everybody who could took off for the holiday, announcing that the theme of this year's contest would be super heroes and super villains. The only stipulation made was that no more mask could be worn other than what the costume of the original had.

Lois had won the contest three times in the past with a combination of her originality in costume selection and her ability to put the costume together and wear it properly. That Friday evening, Lois started going through her memories of past and present super characters, trying to come up with a costume she could do and at the same time impress everybody with her choice. Some were too obvious and likely to be done by other women on the Planet staff, like Wonder Woman, Batgirl, or even Catwoman. The masks worn by the latter two would be advantageous, but Lois wanted to be more daring, and find a subject that no one else would think of. It was while thinking about Wonder Woman that a spark of an idea came to Lois, and she started doing research in her home files right away.

Finding absolutely no references to her subject in the past 8 years, Lois started to wonder what had become of her. The next morning, Lois called her friend Clark Kent and asked him if he could get in touch with Superman and ask him to make a visit to Lois' apartment. This would be easy for Clark, since he himself was Superman, as Lois sometimes suspected, but could never prove. She only knew they were close friends. Clark assured her that if no world shaking events had him otherwise occupied, Superman would surely be able to drop by at some point that morning.

Superman timed his arrival at Lois' apartment to coincide with her preparation of lunch. He had sneaky ways of working his visits with Lois into dates, usually involving food. Super being that he is, he still needed to eat, and if he could get Lois to prepare the meal, it was less work for him to do. Of course, Lois usually found ways to utilize Superman's powers in speeding her meal preparations, heat vision being a likely subject, and quick hands and super breath often were drafted into use in cleaning up afterwards. During lunch, Lois mentioned to Superman that she would like to get in touch with Wonder Woman, currently operating out of Washington, DC.

Superman wondered if this request could have anything to do with the upcoming contest. As Clark, he was planning to attend the party in a Flash costume he would borrow from his fellow Justice League member. Not wanting to raise any suspicions about knowledge of the party with Lois, he kept his musings to himself, and told Lois he would get in touch with Wonder Woman right away and try to arrange a get together for them. After Superman's super cleaning skills were put to use, Lois bade him a fond farewell, then went to work on planning her costume.

Later that afternoon, while Lois was at the mall shopping for materials, Wonder Woman called and left a message on Lois' answering machine asking her to call back at her convenience. When Lois got in with her bag of fabrics, she checked the blinking light on her phone, played back the two messages there, and noted that Wonder Woman had called three hours ago. Lois picked up her remote phone, dialed the number in D.C. that Wonder Woman had left in the message, then tucked the phone between her neck and shoulder as she started to put away her afternoon's acquistions. Wonder Woman, in this case actually Diana Prince, since she was out of costume and in her own apartment, picked up her phone after only two rings.

While Lois was putting away two fabric rolls in her den, she engaged Wonder Woman in girl to girl talk for a few minutes, then asked if she could fly down to D.C. to talk with her at length. Lois mentioned that what she was looking for was information on one of Wonder Woman's old foes. Diana wondered what need Lois would have for that kind of information, but agreed to meet her the following Saturday, presuming nothing came up requiring Wonder Woman to be needed elsewhere. Diana then asked Lois if she could bring some files from the Planet's archives with her when she came for her visit. Lois got all the info Diana wanted, then asked if a hard printout was needed or if a data file on disk would be okay. Diana told her the disk would be perfect. The ladies said their good byes, then Lois got out her patern collection and started to work on her costume.

All day Sunday, and into Monday, which Lois was one of the lucky few at the Planet to have off, Lois worked with the patterns, trying to work a way for different sets to combine into a pattern she could use. A lot of trial and error eventually resulted in something she figured she could work with, and each night after work for the rest of the week, Lois did fabric cutting and stitching with her sewing machine. By Friday night, Lois was starting to have the beginnings of her costume. At work during each of those days, Lois went into the archive to find any older references to her subject, and also got the data that Wonder Woman had said she was looking for.

Lois was dissappointed to learn that the shuttle flights between Metropolis and D.C. did not operate on Saturdays, but booked a seat on the first regular flight of the morning that would get her to D.C. at 8:00AM. During the flight down the coast, Lois reviewed in her notes what she had mananged to come up with in her searches of the archive. She wanted to make her visit with Wonder Woman as fruitful as possible, without wasting any of the Amazon's time. When the jet landed, Lois gathered her purse and shoulder bag from her seat position, then retrieved her suitbag from the closet at the front of the plane on the way out the door. Like many of her fellow passengers, Lois had flown enough to know that if she did not have to check any bags, she could get away from the airport a good 20 to 30 minutes ahead of anybody waiting on checked bags. She scooted through the claim area to the public transportation stand outside the door, then hailed a taxi to take her downtown.

Diana had arranged for Lois to meet her at one of the better restaurants in D.C. that had seen enough appearances by Wonder Woman to not give a second thought to seeing her eating inside. Lois had no difficulty getting to this restaurant, since Saturday morning traffic was nothing compared to regular weekday tie ups and snarls in rush hour. After giving the cabbie his fare and a nice tip for getting her there so effortlessly, Lois went through the front door of the restaurant, and went to the seating desk. Lois mentioned that she was there to meet with Wonder Woman, and the young lady at the desk immediately grinned and said, "Right this way, Ma'am. We were told to expect you. Any friend of Wonder Woman's is a supreme guest of the house." Lois was led to an ornate section of the restaurant which served as the VIP dining area, and Wonder Woman stood to greet her when she neared the table.

Lois greeted Wonder Woman with a quick hug, then took a seat opposite the Amazon. After remarking that the setting seemed a bit much, Lois was assured by Wonder Woman that the owners of the restaurant valued the services that Wonder Woman and her fellow super heroes gave to the city, and allowed them free usage of the facilities for hosting guests. Lois then got right down to business, asking Wonder Woman about the apparent disappearance of her one-time nemesis. The Amazon wondered herself what had become of her, remarking that she was last seen about eight years previously. Of course, she was in no way saying that she wanted to see her again. It was just puzzling that she would fade from sight so abruptly. Then Wonder Woman began giving Lois some historical details about her, and concluded by asking Lois if she could tell her what she needed all this information for. Lois grinned, then told Wonder Woman that the exact usage for the info was a secret, but that if Wonder Woman was to visit the Planet's Halloween Party, she might find her answer. Wonder Woman returned the grin, saying she had a good idea already of what was going on.

Wonder Woman then asked Lois if she'd had any luck getting the info from the archives she had been looking for. Lois reached into her purse, and pulled out a small sleeve with a 3.5" diskette in it, then handed it to the Amazon. Now it was Lois' turn to ask what the info was needed for, and Wonder Woman told her that the Justice League was interested in data related to Superman's early years. It was hoped that since Superman did not celebrate birthday's as such, the JLA could host a party for him celebrating the anniversary of his coming to this planet. Lois was relieved to find that there wasn't any more serious need for the data she had pulled from the Planet's archives. Lois and Wonder Woman then talked a bit more while finishing their breakfasts and coffee afterward. Lois was wished a lot of luck by Wonder Woman in her search for information, then the two got up to leave. As Wonder Woman leapt into the air to be borne by the winds, Lois decided to put her time in D.C. to further use.

Taking another cab to the Police Station a few blocks deeper into the city, Lois did some cursory checks into their historical files, then asked the Sergeant at the desk if he knew of anyone with any knowledge of her subject. To her surprise, Lois was told there was an old man not far from the station who was the local guru of info about the mystery lady. Lois thanked him for the tip, then walked the short distance to the address she had been given.

The run-down townhouse that Lois found when she reached that address gave her second thoughts about going further, but she gathered up her courage, then went up two flights of stairs to reach the number of her contact. Surprised that the doorbell worked, Lois waited only a few moments before the door was opened just enough for the occupant to stick an eyeball to the crack and see who was there. Seeing no potential problem in Lois, the door was opened a little bit more and he asked her what she wanted. As soon as Lois mentioned the name of her subject, the door was opened to the full, and she was invited in.

The old man gave Lois a brief rundown on what he knew of the last days of the woman she was looking for, and mentioned to her that it was not known why she retired or stopped her activities. Then he started to get a bit cagey with his further info. He asked Lois if she knew that the wearer of the costume did not die. When Lois replied in the negative, that all references to her stopped eight years ago, the old man dropped a bombshell on her. Lois was told that the lady who wore the costume merely stopped wearing it. He told Lois that the current whereabouts of the presumably ex-criminal was unknown, but that she did send cards on an occasional basis to let him know she was still alive and kicking.

Then Lois was stunned even further by the old man. Upon seeing the interest Lois was showing in his story, he asked Lois if she would like to have the old costume. He told Lois that it had been entrusted to his care when the old wearer left, and that since he had no real need for it and Lois was showing great interest, he would place it in her trust. He left Lois waiting in the living room while he went scrounging deeply into his bedroom closet. After a brief wait, Lois was greeted by the old man carrying a medium sized box. Giving it to Lois, he merely asked that she take good care of it, and not tell anyone where she got it from. With that, he abruptly halted any further conversation, and showed Lois to the door. If Lois had seen the evil grin forming on the old man's lips as he was closing his door, she might not have been smiling the way she was as she held her box while flagging a taxi. The old man knew a bit more about the costume and why it had been left in his care than he had told Lois.

Lois managed to convince the gate agent at the airport to let her take the box onboard the plane with her, even though she now had well over the usual limits for carry-on bags. Being a Saturday afternoon, there weren't that many passengers on the plane, so Lois was given permission to bring her entire collection with her. While the jet was working its way back north, Lois got out the pictures she had been given by Wonder Woman and the Police Sergeant. Looking over the images of her subject, she noticed a few things she hadn't spotted in the pictures at the Planet's archive. Lois started to wonder about being able to accurately copy the costume as she had been making it, then decided to do a comparison of her copy to the original which she now had once she got home. Figuring that there was little point in worrying about it on the plane, Lois put away the pictures and got out the inflight magazine to kill time for the remainder of the flight.

It was evening by the time Lois got back to her apartment. Laying her new photos out on the desk in her bedroom, Lois got out the costume she had been working on to compare it to them. Close inspection of the photos showed Lois something she had not noticed before. The costume in the photos appeared to be in one piece, with no breaks from the head all the way to the feet. What Lois had presumed to be boots worn over the costume actually appeared to be part of the costume. She held up her costume, and saw that some major work would have to be done to make it more closely match the original. Then an idea came to Lois that she was surprised she hadn't thought of before. She set down her costume, then opened the box given to her by the old man.

Sure enough, upon lifting the costume from the box, Lois discovered that the photos were accurate. There was a cowl to cover the head which included material to encircle the neck. A zipper led from the neck all the way down to the crotch. The feet at the bottom of the leggings were indeed in the form of built in boots. What really got Lois' attention was something that hadn't been apparent in the photos. The arms did not end at the wrists. They continued down into realistic looking gloves which looked just like hands, with sharp claws at each fingertip. Lois was amazed by the texture of the costumes material, thinking that it had to be at least twenty years old, but felt like it was brand new.

Lois picked up the costume she had been working on and held it next to the original. While the colors matched nicely, the details of the original would be difficult to copy. Lois put both costumes down on her bed, then went back to studying the photos. It was while looking from picture to picture and back again that an idea started forming in Lois' head. Putting the photos down, Lois suddenly froze for a moment. She shook her head, then had an inspiration. Why should she worry about making her copy match the original. She had the original right here!

This thought was not Lois' own. The original maker of the costume had been under the influence of a magical spell which bound her body and soul to the costume. This spell was still present in the costume. Lois was now acting as the costume itself suggested. She decided that if she was planning on using the original costume at the party, she'd better see if it fit. Quickly stripping off her clothes, Lois did something she could not figure out why. Lois sat at her dressing table and used her makeup kit to work over her face into an evil looking visage. Her eyes were heavily lined with dark blue, her eyebrows were angled sharply upward, her cheeks were brazenly highlighted and her lips were coated with a fire engine red lipstick. When she was finished, Lois was aghast at what see saw in her mirror. This was only the beginning, however.

Lois reached for the original costume, and drew the right leg up as she would a pair of hose. She inserted her foot into the built in boot, and at this point noticed the extreme heel and arch the boot had. Doing the same on the left side, Lois then drew the leggings up and smoothed them. The costume was pulled up past her waist, then she inserted her left hand into the left arm. When it had been brought into the flesh-like glove, Lois couldn't believe how realistic it looked. After the right hand and arm had been done, Lois pulled the costume up over her torso. As she started to pull up the zipper, she noticed that any worry about the costume not fitting was ridiculous. It was forming her to fit it! Her waist was drawn in considerably, almost as if there was a wasp waisted corset in the costume, yet Lois felt no constrictions. Her most noticeable change was in the breasts. She had expected the tight material of the costume to squeeze down on her normally ample chest and flatten it, but Lois found that she now had two bulbous breasts standing out with the costume clinging to them closely, molding them into tremendous proportions. To top this off, Lois saw her nipples growing and standing out at the front of each breast.

As she reached with her now clawed hands to cup her breasts, Lois was once again surprised to see instead the claws on each hand reaching for and pinching her nipples. The enchanted fabric of the costume resisted any efforts by the claws to rip it. Lois then completed her donning of the costume. She reached behind her head and pulled the cowl up over it, tucking her hair up and into the back of the cowl. Lois then pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, sealing her neck tightly. At that moment, the sorcery in the costume became complete. To Lois' astonishment, the zipper disappeared!

Lois turned to face her mirror. The image she saw was most definitely not her. Then she watched as her lips moved, and she heard a voice similar to her own but with more guile in it. "Thank you, Miss Lane, for freeing me from my stasis. My old wearer had become just that - old. I have been waiting all these years for someone to come to me and allow me to live once again. You are now mine for the rest of your life! I will allow you to live your life as before, but whenever I call, you will once again become your true self. You are now the Cheetah!

This is the first part of a two part story by Steve Zink. He has more stories on my page. Including X-Men, Legion of Superheroes and more Superman/Lois Lane Fanfics. Email hime about this cool concept.