Was it right to change someone's entire personality? I could end up being as bad as Mike. It was pretty tempting, but I thought about how I felt when Mike demanded the stone from me for no other reason than that he wanted it. Did I want to be bullying other people like that?
No, I didn't, and just because I was using magic instead of punching didn't make it any less bullying. It's still a kind of fighting. I was never really that good at fighting, but now that I had magic which let me fight anyone, anytime, I had to decide. And I decided that I wasn't going to be a magical bully.
"I've been thinking," I said.
"Oh?" replied Mike.
"I don't want to become like you, and twisting your brain with the stone is no better than you twisting my neck. But I have to do something."
Mike glared at me, perhaps psyching herself up to try to attack me anyway.
"First. I wish that you are docile in that you won't hurt or steal from me or my friends or our family, but that otherwise you can act as you will." Well, Mike certainly wasn't going to attack me now.
"I also wish that you're as strong and tough as you were as a guy, but adjusted by the difference between guys and girls, so you're a little weaker than before but not much."
"Now some insurance. I wish that all future wishes I make about Mike, I can reverse if I want to. You see, I really don't want to permanently hurt you."
Mike flexed his muscles. "So change me back to a guy!" he said.
"You're in no position to demand that," I said. "Now, Mike, making a wish changes reality, so when you go home everything will be as if you were always a girl. But I wish that except for our memories, everything will be as if you were the kind of girl you leave this room as, and you'll even keep your old friends. So I'm not making you go back to a pink room, and your mother won't wonder why you aren't as feminine as you were yesterday. Of course, that doesn't mean nothing changes at all; I bet even a girl who beats people up and likes cars still owns a few dresses."
"I wish that your name is Michelle, but that people can call you Mike as short for that if they want to. Finally, I wish that until you leave this room today, you can change your body and clothes so you're whatever kind of girl you want, within normal human limits. You can walk out as a cute brunette like you are now. You can make yourself butch and you'll have always been butch. You can change your age, hair, everything about yourself. I wish there's a mirror here to help you do that."
"Come on, Jon, please...." A word I never heard from Mike before.
"I told you, Mike, or Michelle, since I don't have to call you Mike, I can't reverse wishes. You attacked me; you threatened me; you didn't give me enough time to do anything more than make a quick wish to defend myself. In other words, it's your fault. I'm going easy on you. I'm giving you a chance to be yourself as much as I can."
Michelle looked at the mirror, then at me, but walked over to the mirror and began trying a few changes.
But you see, I was pulling a bit of a trick on Michelle. She could change into whatever kind of girl would be the best for her. She could also do a thoughtless, hasty, change. In other words, I gave Michelle a chance to screw it up, and if she did, it would be her fault again.
I watched as Mike/Michelle changed herself. Just what kind of girl would she decide to become?
