Nicole pulled the Babe Gun away from Steve, but in the process, the Babe Gun went off. Three times. Three blasts struck different accidental targets.
One blast hit Chris Morgan, who had just arrived from the hallway with Randy Goodman and Amber Levine. The second blast hit Steve Farber, the loser in the struggle for the Babe Gun. And the third hit Principal Davison, who was emerging from his office into the lobby in response to all the commotion.
Everyone else in the room watched wide-eyed in surprise and astonishment as they saw the three transform.
A bright glow briefly surrounded Chris, as his figure reshaped itself into that of an attractive young woman. Her hair grew to shoulder-length, and became bright and shiny. She had the good looks of an attractive young actress who might star in a high school comedy or drama movie.
Steve, too, similarly transformed. He, too, became an amazingly attractive young woman, with long shiny hair, and a breast size that was just large enough to be 'large'. She looked like she could easily be a supermodel.
Principal Davison also transformed into an attractive woman, though remaining the same age. She looked like a woman who kept herself in excellent shape in her forties, to the point where she looked fifteen years younger.
Nicole gasped, and in her surprise, dropped the Babe Gun.
"What ... what just happened?" Chris said, in a new female voice. She looked at her new self, confused.
Steve just stood there silently, frozen in shock.
"You... turned into a girl!" Randy Goodman exclaimed.
"The Babe Gun did it!" Melissa said.
"Obviously." said an unfamiliar female voice. Everyone turned to the transformed Principal Davison. She seemed a bit stunned, but was recovering. "Nicole Tiller, I think it's time the Babe Gun joined the others in the safe."
Amber grabbed the Mime Gun, the Clown Gun, and the Emo Gun, which Chris and Randy had dropped in their surprise, and brought them to the Principal. "Here, you can have these too." she said.
"Are you all right?" Nicole asked.
"I won't lie to you. This feels strange. Different." Principal Davison replied. "But I still have the knowledge the Geek Gun gave me, of all these stories where transformations like these are commonplace. Some people in those stories react better than others. I know that while I've changed into a woman, I'm still capable of doing my duties as Principal. I need to focus on that, and worry about how this will affect my personal life later."
She turned to accept the other Transformation Guns Amber was giving her. "Thank you, Miss Levine." She then turned back to Nicole. "And now, the Babe Gun."
Nicole picked up the Babe Gun and gave it to the principal. "I'm sorry. I didn't know the Babe Gun could give people sex changes."
Kyla spoke up. "That's because you've only seen it used on girls until now. You had no way of knowing what its definition of 'Babe' is."
"I accept your apology." Ms. Davison replied. "I'll be all right, don't worry about me. But your friends might need some help."
Chris Morgan was now sitting down on a chair, with Randy Goodman on the chair next to her. "I... I'm okay. I just feel ... weird." she said. "It's Steve we need to worry about."
Randy turned in the direction of Steve, as did everyone else.
The young woman who had been Steve Farber stared at herself, speechless. She then turned to the nearby mirror, and stared in shock and wonder. She saw an extremely attractive young woman ... the sort Steve, under normal circumstances, would certainly have the hots for. But this young lady ... was her.
The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. This, combined with the shock of the transformation and the events leading up to it, was too much. She did something Steve Farber never would have done otherwise. She fainted.
"Get her some cushions!" shouted Melissa. Randy, Melissa, Amber, and Chris rushed to Steve, and lifted her off the floor. They then made room for her on the lobby's most comfortable couch. (Which wasn't saying much, as like many school offices, the visitors' furniture left something to be desired as far as comfort was concerned).
"Where's the school nurse?" asked Amber.
"I haven't heard from her since this whole crisis began." Ms. Davison replied. "I hope she's safe."
"I think Steve will be all right." Randy said. "He ... she ... just fainted, that's all."
"I'll be right back." Principal Davison said. "Just make sure everyone is comfortable." She then went back into the inner office, to store the Babe Gun, the Emo Gun, the Clown Gun, and the Mime Gun in the safe.
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief once the Transformation Guns were removed from the room. She then turned to Kyla Leeson. "What's that you were saying earlier?"
"About the Babe Gun?" Kyla replied. "The word 'babe' has a lot of different meanings. In fact, I just looked them up on my phone's search engine. While some dictionaries online say it's used to refer to an attractive person of any gender, there are plenty of them that use it to mean an attractive young woman. Clearly that's the definition whoever designed the Babe Gun chose to use."
"Who DID design these Transformation Guns anyway?" Nicole asked rhetorically, knowing full well no one in the room had an answer. "My guess is, from what Gladys told us earlier, they came from McMillan Tech Industries, but how did they get to the school?"
"McMillan Tech Industries?" Amber asked. "The place owned by Sarah's dad?"
"The same." Nicole said. "I'm sure they have something to do with these Transformation Guns, but I don't know how they're involved."
