Hmmm, your story reminds me a little of something I read in the British newspaper The Guardian recently. The newspaper reported that a man taking part in a survival course in the United States had died. Well, that was not the interesting part, of course. The man had died of dehydration and the guide that was with him had refused to give him any water (because that would be cheating, you know - the participants had to find their own water as they went along). But the really interesting thing was that the guide who had refused to give the dying man any water was apparently not going to be prosecuted. The man who died had signed a waiver saying that no one but himself would be held responsible if anything happened to him during this survival course.
Similarly, in this story, the Prankster is making Lois take part in a most horrible, gruelling "survival course". And if she dies, no one but Lois Lane herself will be responsible. Hey, she is doing this voluntarily, isn't she? So what if it is obvious that there is some degree of force or blackmail involved. As long as Lois won't file a complaint, the Prankster can tell the entire world that he is ordering Lois to organise her own execution or suffer the consequences. And if she dies, no one but Lois herself will be responsible.
Well, you are sure giving Lois the opportunity to be amazingly heroic here! Of course we all want to see her defeat the Prankster and save Clark. And it was heartening to see that Clark wasn't quite as absolutely helpless as he pretended to be. Let's hope that Lois and Clark can defeat the Prankster together!
Ann
