Who: Lois Lane-Kent, Clark Kent NPC: Reporters, Senator James, Misc. Where: Unity Tower, Metropolis When: February 8, 2014 What: Lois dies. But she was a Skrull, so it's okay. Or not okay, because OH MY GOD, SKRULLS! Note: This televised revelation is the turning point, making the Skrull Invasion public knowledge. You may now feel free to panic.
It was an idea long overdue - a Summit, bringing together key representatives from the tri-state area to meet with members of the human, mutant, and meta-human communities in the hopes of finding common ground and establishing a peaceful accord in the aftermath of the MHMRA. Lois had been among the loudest supporters of the proposal, so it was only right that she had a front row seat on day one, and the delegates filed through the doors of the newly renamed Unity Tower, formerly owned by Lex Luthor.
As the Senator from Metropolis had been the one to introduce the idea, she had the honor of hosting it in her home city. As Lois was something of a local celebrity (and had made friends with Senator James during her time as Press Secretary), it was easy to maneuver her way through the crowd to the front steps in order to cadge the first interview of the morning.
There’s an old maxim that says you never hear the bullet that gets you - for Lois, it wasn’t true. She not only heard it, she saw it. Senator James laughed, brushed her hair as she stepped sideways, and a loud clap preceded by seconds a small black object whizzing right through the air the Senator had occupied moments before.
What she didn’t register immediately was the pain. The Senator was still smiling as she turned to discover the source of the rising panic. Lois’ instincts in response to the same were beginning to kick in - but her body refused to respond. She put her hand on the Senator’s shoulder, intending to push her down out of danger, but instead felt herself falling. The look on Senator James’ face, eyes falling to focus somewhere around Lois’ abdomen, only increased her confusion until she looked.
Then she felt it, and sank to her knees on the steps. “Clark,” she whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The aftermath of Luthor’s presidency was still being felt, even with the maniac out of office. There was a need to take new steps to getting the population of the US trusting each other again, powered and unpowered. The need was addressed today, and Clark was there, taking quotes from the crowd.
His hearing was heightened, and he knew now the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Head whipping around, he was just starting to reach to pull off his glasses and duck out through the crowd to change when … he saw the center of the chaos, and the woman that had been shot.
And everything froze. Time froze, his feet, which could run around the globe in mere minutes, were suddenly too heavy to move, so great was his shock. The only thing he heard plainly now was the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.
“L-Lois?” It was a whimper. And then a yell, shouting her name as he shoved through the crowd to get to her. “LOIS!” Heads turned his way, fingers pointing, expressions full of horror and pain. But all he could see right now was his wife, and the spreading red stain on her stomach.
He shouldered James roughly aside and caught her in his arms. All thoughts of Superman were gone now, there was only Lois and what had happened. “Lois… Lois … honey …?” His fingers clumsily cupped her cheek, hands and almost his entire body shaking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Clark?” He was there. He was always there, and everything was going to be alright now. Part of her felt hot, and she reached to touch, surprised when her hand came away wet. Of course, she’d be shot. She had to focus, remember what she should do to take care of herself. Something about shock, but she was freezing and even Clark’s hand against her face didn’t seem warm enough.
He looked so scared. Clark never looked scared. It must be bad. Lois reached up to touch him, once again forgetting the blood until she saw it against his cheek. Breath escaping in a ragged explosion, it was that sight that drove home what was happening. She felt the tears in her eyes and swore softly at herself. How the hell could she die with Clark right here, with him in the same room? How was he going to get over that?
“I love you, honey.” It hurt to talk, and it was difficult to concentrate. “It’ll be alright.” Her fingers started slipping from his face and she curled them into the lapel of his jacket to hold on. Lois tried to keep her eyes open and focused on the love of her life for as long as she could. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh Rao no … no not like this. She was slipping away faster than he had time to save her. Clark could feel her growing cold, and pulled her closer, trying to get her warm again with his own body heat.
He was still shaking when she touched him, and his tears spilling onto her, and his voice was broken sounding. “Lois please stay with me,” he begged, starting to lift her into his arms and stand. Her injury made it difficult, as he didn’t want to make it worse.
A sob escaped his lips when she spoke, and he felt full panic come over him as her voice got fainter. He tried to move through the crowd to get to a clear space, but too many people pressed around them, trying to help. “Lois … Lois please honey stay here, stay please just st-stay …” And then he froze as his heightened sense of hearing made him realize her heart had stopped. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She was in his arms, and if she was going to be anywhere right now, it was here. Lois could hear people around them, voices trying to get close enough to help, reporters speaking into their microphones (even her death was making the news), but the only voice that mattered was Clark’s, begging her to stay. If she could have spoken, Lois thought of a million things she wanted to tell him that she should have told him already. Things he likely knew but should hear, anyway.
He was carrying her - someone was telling her not to, and a light was shining in her face - and the only thing Lois could manage to say was “Shit,” in Kryptonian. It was one of the few words she knew. Suddenly her eyes widened and understanding cleared the fear and confusion on her face for three seconds before her heart slowed to a stop and her eyes closed forever.
Those closest to Clark noticed him freeze in his frantic effort to get to the door, just as they noticed the slackening of her features. The reporters with their cameras trained on the image of the distraught husband carrying his now deceased wife lowered their voices respectfully in tribute to their fallen colleague.
It’s uncertain who noticed the transformation first, but what started as a rumble of confusion rose to a roar of fear and chaos as it became clear that the body that had only moments before been world-renowned investigative journalist Lois Lane, had transformed into some sort of alien.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“No … oh god no. No please….” Clark’s head went down as she faded from him, her body going light in his arms. “No, honey …” he was sobbing, feeling his heart break right there in the middle of the now silent crowd. “Lois please,” he sobbed softly, burying his face into her shoulder. “Please no…. come back, please don’t leave me … I’m not … I’m not me …. I can’t be …. without you….”
The noise from the crowd made him lift his head, tears streaming down his face, and he blinked in confusion at the … thing in his arms. “Lois?” he asked, eyes going wide behind his glasses. “What … what …” She was gone, replaced by something strange, alien.
His despair and sadness turned to anger, and his jaw clenched as the horrible realization hit him. “MOVE!” he shouted at the crowd, who parted away from him in surprise. Clark dashed through the space, still clutching the alien being, his anger rolling off of him in waves. Who had done this, who had brought him to his lowest point with some kind of trick like this?
Whoever it was now had an angry Kryptonian to deal with, but for now, he headed for home, the only safe place he could think of at the moment.