A few class periods later, Steve was walking down the hallway, trying to figure out just what the rings were doing. His own changes had continued a little, and by now he had lost nearly a foot in height and his frame had become quite petite.
The changes had not gone unnoticed, and while most the time people just stared or mistook him for a younger cousin of himself, there was the occasional heckler. As if on cue, "Moose" Matthews, one of the football team, shouted over to Steve. "Hey, what happened to you, Farber? You decide to quit the football squad to take up ballet."
Steve rolled his eyes. The insult was actually rather sophisticated for Moose, but still quite rudimentary and ultimately ineffective. Luckily, Biff appeared, telling Moose to shut up before he pulled out his tongue and made him eat it.
"Thanks," Steve said, appreciative of Biff even if his methods of deterrence were rather crude.
"Not a problem man. That ring's really doing a number on you. Any idea how to stop it?"
"First we must identify the problem before we can combat it," Steve said. "We need to find Jon, as well as Karyn Black?"
"Karyn? So chicks can get the rings as well?"
Steve nodded. "Indeed. I am even starting to think is possible your girlfriend is absent because she had a ring."
Biff paled at the prospect. "Do you think it works the other way?"
"The other way?"
"You know, you and Gibson are turning sorta... girlier. You don't think a ring could turn Sarah mannish?"
"I think a ring could hypothetically make her more than merely mannish" Steve replied with a shrug.
They soon found Karyn, who was outside the school, staring serenely across the schoolyard. She too had gone through further changes. Her hair was now earthy brown ringlets, which she had taken to tying up in a bun, and her figure had grown minutely fuller. She was hardly thick or pudgy, but her frame had more body to it.
"You seem calm," Steve observed, as he and Biff approached.
"Hm? Oh, just trying to center myself. People were getting to me towards the end of the day, you know, figured it might be good to step back," Karyn said with a smile. Her smile faded when she noticed Biff. "Why's he here?" she demanded.
"Easy, Black, I'm just here to my friend Steve with... whatever he's going through. You know what exactly he's going through?" Biff asked.
Karyn shook her head. "Jon would know the most of all of us, but I haven't seen him since gym class. He also mentioned about talking to Athena, a friend of his sister's and apparently an expert on the occult. We'll have to find one or both of them before you get any more answers."
Steve nodded. "Fair enough. Biff, go with Karyn. I have a hunch Jon will be the harder one to find of the two. I'll go find this Athena girl. She's one of those goths, right?"
"Yeah," Karyn said, eyeing Biff warily.
"Good. Let's get going then, and make sure to play nice, you two," Steve said, before heading back into the crowd. The goths were something of social outcasts from the school at large, so Athena's location would likely be one of a few places they tended to congregate between and after classes, he figured.
