A New Destiny

Recap

At the end of part 1, Lois had finished donning the original costume of the villainess, The Cheetah, an old foe of Wonder Woman's who hadn't been seen in eight years. The original wearer of the costume, Priscilla Rich, had fallen under the spell of an image she had seen in her mirror of herself wearing a cheetah skin. This image commanded her to make a costume to match her image. Once the costume was made, Priscilla donned it and took on the identity of the image she'd seen in her mirror. The Cheetah took over Priscilla's personality any time she was in the presence of Wonder Woman. As Priscilla grew older, however, the magical identity in the costume induced her to stop wearing the costume and put it in the hands of a caretaker, the old man whom Lois met in D.C. He would retain the costume until he found a fitting recipient for it. Lois was just this person. In donning the costume, Lois unwittingly allowed the magical identity of The Cheetah to infuse itself into its new host, Lois Lane.

Part 2 of 2

As the Cheetah primped for herself in Lois' mirror, she checked to make sure the claw dart shooter on her left wrist still functioned. A small diamond shaped dart imbedded itself in the wall to the left of the mirror. Pleased with the result, the Cheetah used the knowledge she found in Lois' mind and went to her dresser and retrieved a small lead box. Extracting the small slivers of Green Kryptonite which Superman had entrusted to Lois a few years earlier in case they were ever needed, the Cheetah found a need for them that Superman would regret. Using her claws, she whitled two of the Green-K slivers into darts and slipped them into her wrist shooter. The other darts were tipped with a deadly poison which Priscilla had acquired before losing favor with the Cheetah identity. These were intended for, but not strictly limited to, the Cheetah's old nemesis, Wonder Woman.

The next thing the Cheetah did was take one of Lois' shoulder bags which had a false bottom, and laid it on the bed. She then got on the phone and made a reservation on the first flight of the next morning, Sunday, to Washington, D.C. After that call was completed, she called and made a reservation at the Crystall City Marriott right outside the airport. With the phone calls finished, the Cheetah took off her costume by first inducing the zipper to reappear, then reversing the process in which Lois had put it on. While still controlling Lois' mind, the Cheetah went to the sink and washed off the garish makeup Lois had put on. The makeup Lois had used was then placed in the shoulder bag. The Cheetah then allowed Lois' mind to come forward.

Lois blinked her eyes, then noticed that she was naked, sitting on the edge of her bed. The costume she had acquired earlier in the day was folded up on the bed next to one of her bags. Lois looked at her wall clock and saw that it was getting close to midnight, and wondered where the time had gone. Without a clue as to why she was doing so, Lois took the costume and placed it in the bottom of the shoulder bag, then put the false bottom over it and put some underwear and clothes on top of that. Lois put on her nightie, then set her alarm for 5:00AM in order to be up early enough to catch her flight. Her flight? Why was she going back to D.C.? Oh well, it must have slipped my mind, she thought.

The brief sleep that Lois got ended with an incistant ringing of her alarm clock. Reluctantly shucking her covers to the side of her bed, Lois slid her legs over the edge of the bed, stretched her arms in a gaping yawn, then stood up. She went to the kitchen to start the coffee going, then went to her bathroom to take a quick shower. After she had toweled herself dry, Lois went to get a cup of her freshly brewed java to sip at while she got dressed. Somehow, she knew that this time she had no need to dress sharply, and just put on a blouse and some slacks. Lois got on the phone and arranged for a taxi, then noticed what the lack of sleep had done to her face. She required little makeup to brighten her face with her natural good looks, and was finished there before her first cup even started to cool. Lois made two pieces of toast, then ate these and finished off her coffee. A short toot was heard, letting Lois know that her taxi had arrived. She grabbed her purse and the shoulder bag, put on a light jacket, then locked up her apartment and got on the start of her trip into a world she would be altering radically.

The flight southbound was uneventful, and the coffee and breakfast snack offered on the plane were gratefully accepted by Lois. The buzz she got from the additional caffeine gave Lois enough of a jolt to be fully awake as the plane touched down at Washington National Airport, now with Ronald Reagan's name attached to it also. Lois got on the courtesy phone in the bag claim area and reached the Marriott to get a ride on their airport shuttle. Lois was still trying to figure out why she was here in D.C., only one day later than her last visit, but figured that once in her hotel room she would probably remember. She might not remember, but she would certainly find out why she was there once she got to her room.

The wait for the shuttle was brief, and a short 5 minute ride got her off the airport and into the parking lot of the hotel. Checking in at 7:30 in the morning was not a normal occurance at the hotel, but with the combination of proximity to the airport, the Pentagon, and D.C. itself, the front desk staff were not terribly surprised to have Lois checking in at that time. She was given a room facing the airport on the 7th floor, and Lois ignored the bellhops who approached, slinging her shoulder bag into place and clutching her purse. After a quick elevator ride, Lois went down one corridor and turned right, finding her room halfway to the end of that hallway.

Shortly after she entered her room, Lois opened up her shoulder bag and pulled out the hat, trenchcoat and gloves she had put there earlier. Now what need did she have for these, she wondered. The under wear was easier to understand, but then Lois saw the false bottom bulging a little bit. Lifting the bottom, she saw the costume folded up there. "Now why on earth would I have brought this costume with me back to D.C.," Lois muttered to herself. Then she saw the cosmetic kit under the costume. As Lois lifted to costume out of the bag, she started to recall doing something like that the night before. "No," Lois exclaimed, "I remember now! I refuse to let this costume take me again!" Regardless, Lois found herself picking up the cosmetic kit and sitting at the room's dressing table.

When she looked into the mirror, Lois was shocked. "What's the matter, Lois?," she heard her evil sounding voice say as the lips on the Cheetah image in the mirror moved. "You can't deny me! I am your true self now, the predator you have become. You have no choice but to bring me forth!"

"No! I won't let you....," Lois started to say, but noticed her voice starting to match the image's. A sneer formed on Lois' lips, then only a "Ha, ha, ha!," was heard. Lois stripped off her pants and blouse, then removed her panties and bra. Once again, she worked over her face with the cosmetic kit, and in no time, Lois' beautiful face became a picture of elegant evil.

This time, the Cheetah was fully aware of the way she was putting on her costume, and savored every feeling as the sleek lycra-like material was drawn completely onto her body. After her hair had been tucked up and the cowl drawn over her head, the Cheetah willed the zipper to fade away, and the now seamless vision of feminine guile reached for and attached her dart shooter to her left wrist. Then the Cheetah donned the coat which Lois had packed, effectively hiding the garish cheetha print costume from view, except for the bottom, which any viewer would see as merely a set of cheetah print high heeled boots. She pulled Lois' leather gloves over her clawed 'hands' to hide them, then pulled the hat down over her cowl. This disguise would do well enough to get Cheetah out of the hotel. She would not need it for long after that!

The Cheetah got a couple of dollars out of Lois' purse and put them into a pocket on the coat. She then went down the elevator back to the lobby, where she attracted a large number of ogling eyes checking out her outrageous makeup and fantastic 'boots'. Ignoring them, she proceeded to the front desk and asked for a ride to the Metro Station. There, a pass was obtained from the bank of machines against the wall leading into the station, then the Cheetah got on the next Yellow Line train going directly downtown. Soon, all hell would be breaking loose.

The Cheetah had no clue as to Wonder Woman's location, but knew a way to get Wonder Woman to come to her instead of her having to find the Amazon. At the L'Enfant station on the DC side of the Potomac River, the Cheetah got off the train. She had no sooner cleared the turnstyle to leave the station when she stripped off her outer coverings, revealing her true self to all those present at the station. They soon were wishing they had never seen her. In an effort to draw out Wonder Woman, the Cheetah used one of her darts to kill one of the security guards. She then took his pistol and shot up the computer linkages in the station, effectively shutting it down and trapping close to a hundred people inside. No one on the outside could get in, either, for that matter. An alarm was quickly raised, and in no time a swarm of policemen were descending on the besieged Metro station.

Shortly after they spotted the garishly clad female causing all the trouble, the police came to the conclusion that Wonder Woman should be called for. Diana Prince had a set of alarms in her apartment for a number of different agencies, among them being the JLA, the police, the Pentagon, the UN, and Paradise Island, her original home. When the specific tone of the police alarm started going off while Diana was reading the comics in her Sunday paper, she put down the paper in a blur and hit the transmit button on the alarm. "What's the situation, Chief?," she inquired.

"We're not sure just who we're contending with, but there is a female in a gawdy costume holding the L'Enfant Metro station hostage. She has killed at least one security guard and shut down the computer control system at the station. There are close to a hundred people trapped in the station with her as of right now."

"Okay, Chief. I'm on my way!" Diana spun counter clockwise with her arms spread. After a quick flash of sparkling energy, the drably dressed Diana was replaced by the brightly clad Wonder Woman. She checked her back window to be sure no one was observing, then leapt into the sky. Wonder Woman was borne by the winds as if she were gossamer, and shortly was descending toward the Smithsonian side entrance to L'Enfant Plaza. Getting a quick rundown by the officer in charge, Wonder Woman then worked her way thru the crowds building up outside the station. Her Amazon strength easily handled the barriers immobilized by the computer shutdown, and soon Wonder Woman was descending the stationary escalator leading to the underground siege.

As she came to the bottom of the escalator, Wonder Woman gasped. There in front of her stood the Cheetah, someone she thought she'd seen the last of a long, long time ago. "Cheetah, how did you come back into being?," Wonder Woman exclaimed. "I thought you had ceased to exist eight years ago!"

"That I did, oh Amazon most hated!," replied the Cheetah. "I went into retirement when Priscilla couldn't handle me anymore. I have found a new host to allow me to finally get rid of you. Do you recognize the voice, Wonder Woman?"

With the way Cheetah was playing with Lois' vocal cords, her voice wasn't clearly one that Wonder Woman could remember hearing, and she said, "No, I'm sorry. I recognize you only as the Cheetah, I can't place the voice."

"See if this does anything for you then!," the Cheetah said as she pulled her cowl back.

"Lois Lane! Even under that garish makeup, I'd recognize that face!" replied a shocked Wonder Woman.

"Yes, Wonder Woman," said Cheetah, "I have taken Lois to be my new host. I am the Cheetah, once again in a viable young body. Now, prepare to die, Amazon!" Seeing the Cheetah start to move her left wrist, Wonder Woman instinctively raised her bracelets to deflect anything coming her way. The Cheetah had this move planned for. Raising her left wrist to aim at the Amazon's head and neck, she let loose a shotgun style burst of the poisoned claw darts. Wonder Woman deflected a few of them, but four got through and embedded themselves deeply in the Amazon's skin. The poison was very fast working, but before Wonder Woman faded completely away, she reached to her belt and pressed the JLA alert signal there.

When word went out to all the JLA members about Wonder Woman being in some kind of trouble, Superman replied that he would be closest and would check out the situation after a hyperspeed jaunt from Metropolis to Washington. At the time he recieved the signal, Clark was on the phone trying to reach Lois, who did not have her answering machine on and apparently wasn't home to pick up the phone either. With the lightning-like speed he was capable of, Clark hung up the phone, changed into his blue and red costume, and was zooming out his window within seconds. In the space of only 3 minutes, Superman was descending into Washington, D.C.

When he saw the crowd forming at the Metro station, Superman did a quick scan with his supervision, and noted a female in a wild looking costume running briskly away from the station. Knowing she had to have something to do with the emergency, Superman wanted to go after her, but felt that checking on Wonder Woman had priority. He was appalled when he discovered the Amazon already quite dead on the floor of the Metro station. Leaving her in the hands of the police coming on the scene, Superman turned and shot out of the station to find the person presumably responsible for Wonder Woman's death.

Superman once again spotted the running figure, and sped to a position directly in front of her. Dropping to the ground, blocking her path, he said, "If you had anything to do with the killing of my friend, Wonder Woman, you'd better hope the justice system gets to you before I do!"

The Cheetah halted in her tracks, placed her arms akimbo on her hips, then said, "Oh pooh! Just what I need! Get rid of one JLA member, and another shows up to try and ruin my day." Superman noted a strange familiarity to the voice he was hearing, then did a quick scan with X-Ray vision to look behind her cowl. The face was modified with the makeup, but the rest of that head belonged to his girlfriend!

"Lois! Is that you? Why are you wearing that costume, and why on earth did you kill Wonder Woman?"

"No, you blabbering super oaf! I am no longer Lois Lane. I've decided to do without her," replied the Cheetah. "I am now and forever more the Cheetah. I killed your precious Wonder Woman because I've been trying to get rid of her since I came into being. And thanks to Lois, I am now prepared to do the same to you! Good bye, Superman!" The Cheetah raised her left wrist, and before a shocked Superman could move, two Green-K claw darts shot into his neck. As the Green-K quickly sapped Superman of his strength and then the ability to even stand, he couldn't find the strength to even reach up and pull the darts from his skin. The Cheetah reached into a small pouch she had tucked into her waist under the costume. She pulled out the remaining pieces of Green Kryptonite from the stash Lois had in her bedroom, and pushed them into the back of Superman's throat. "That should speed up the process a bit," the Cheetah gloated. "Gee, two JLA members in one morning! I can't wait to see what the future holds for me!"

So this story ends. Lois has lost her connection to a life. The Cheetah has stolen it from her. The Cheetah is now not just a costume party entry Lois would play. She is her actual identity now!

This is the second 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.