Lake Point High School, Principal's Office
Nadine Ferguson had explained to Principal Davison her whole dilemma, slowly. She had used up nearly a box's worth of tissues, wiping her tears over what had happened to her friend and her being too scared to do the one thing she knew might save her friend from what she had become. The transformed Principal Davison listened patiently throughout.
"Nadine, what happened to Theodora Blakely was an atrocity. There is no question of that." Ms. Davison began. "While it may give you some comfort that Steve Farber has already received punishment three times for it, it still does not undo the damage done."
"The people in your religious community tell you that using magic is sinful. Yet based on what we have seen and heard about the Prude Gun, it could be the key to restoring Ms. Blakely to her normal self. If it makes you feel better, I intend to keep the Prude Gun here until it's needed. If you decide you wish to use the Prude Gun after all, it will be waiting."
Nadine nodded, slowly. "Thank you." she said.
There was a commotion from the lobby, and a knocking on the door. "Jay and Athena are here. And they have some more Transformation Guns." Kyla Leeson's voice from the other side said.
Principal Davison opened the door, and stepped out into the lobby, followed by Nadine.
Lake Point High School, Principal's Office Lobby
Jay Duncan and Athena DeVries dropped a large box on the reception desk. "Mr. Matheson found these." Jay said. "I had to solve a division puzzle to get them, but he let me have them."
"I have the Goth Gun." Athena said. "You probably know what happened in the cafeteria by now."
The Principal looked in the box. "Good work. I'll add these to the collection in the safe." She carried the box into the office, and returned a bit later. Nadine sat down on one of the chairs.
"I'm handing in the Goth Gun." Athena said. "I probably don't need it right now. Jay's mom says they should have the Restoration Guns by now."
"Ryan texted me with the same thing." Kyla said. "Biff's real excited about it."
"It sucks that I have to wait a day or two." Biff said. "I can't go home like this. What will my dad think?"
Nicole turned to Biff. "The Transformation Guns are all over the news. Everyone's probably heard of them by now. You don't have anything to be ashamed of. Especially if you tell them you got zapped trying to help Sarah."
Principal Davison joined in the discussion. "Since you bring this up, we're reaching the point where normally the school day would come to an end. These are unusual circumstances, though. I'll have to make an announcement to everyone. But first, I need to contact a few people." She reached for her cellphone, and contacted Coach Berry.
"Yes, this is the Principal. I was changed by what they call the Babe Gun. Long story, I'll explain later. I've heard about the disturbance in the cafeteria. Tell me everything." The Principal listened for quite some time, before finally ending the call.
"I think I have enough, now. I'm going to make the announcement."
The Principal then went to the intercom system, to make the formal announcement to everyone within Lake Point High School.
"Attention, everyone. This is your Principal. Your new Principal ... sort of. Long story. Short version, I was changed by a Transformation Gun by accident. However, I will not let that deter me from making the following announcement."
"We are reaching the moment where normally, school would let out for the day. All students who wish to return home may do so, provided that they allow security to search their bags to make sure they do not smuggle any Transformation Guns out with them. All normal extracurricular afterschool activities for today are cancelled, but some students are welcome to stay behind and help the faculty in cleaning up the messes left behind."
"Speaking of which, the following students must stay after school and clean the cafeteria: Danny Foster, Zach Jones, Clyde Meehan, Starla Stanfield, Doug Townsend, Ted Manley, Tiffany Sanders, and Steve Farber. They knowingly caused trouble this day, and must accept the consequences for doing so. They will work under the supervision of Coach Felicia Barry, school nurse Dawn Carrington, and Enid Parkes and the rest of the cafeteria staff."
"Everyone, this has been a strange and trying day. Many of us have been changed in different ways. We are confused by our changes, but we must do the best we can not to let them overwhelm us."
"Wait!" Nicole said. "Aren't you forgetting about the Restoration Guns?"
"Excuse me?" Principal Davison said, leaving the intercom for a moment.
"I'll be right back." Principal Davison said to the intercom. She turned to Nicole.
"This is the first I've heard of this." And indeed this was the truth. Principal Davison had been in the office when Sarah called with the new information she'd learned, and when Kyla's cousin Ryan had texted Kyla with the update.
"Sarah says MTI has Restoration Guns, and Kyla confirmed it." Nicole said. "They were shoved in a storage locker for the past few hours, but Kyla's cousin and Jay Duncan's mother have recovered them. They can undo any Transformation Gun transformation less than thirty days old. After thirty days, the transformation becomes permanent."
"Ryan said they'll probably come here within the next week." Kyla said. "They can't right away because they've got messes of their own to clean up."
Principal Davison nodded, and returned to the intercom. "This is your Principal, resuming. I have just been informed that McMillan Tech Industries is in possession of Restoration Guns, which are capable of undoing the effects of any Transformation Gun transformation that is less than thirty days old. Therefore, the possibility exists that those who wish to return to their previous selves will be able to do so. However, it may be a few days before those at McMillan Tech Industries are able to bring these Restoration Guns here, as they have issues that need to be resolved over at their Lake Point headquarters."
"Until then, I advise you cope as best as you can with your transformations. Some of them come with new feelings or thoughts associated with them, but try your best to stay true to your true self. That is all I ask. In closing, this school day is officially concluded." With that, the Principal turned away from the intercom.
Nicole breathed a relieved sigh. "I thought this day would NEVER end."
"I know." Melissa Smith said. "I feel like this day has lasted, like, nearly twelve years."
"Probably because this day has been so totally weird." Amber Levine added.
Chris Morgan turned to Nicole and Melissa. The new girl stood there with an air of confidence, but also appeared a bit concerned. "I'm worried my family's going to freak out." she said. "I just hope they've been paying attention to the news."
"Don't worry." Nicole said. "If they freak out, that's their problem. You can call us if you need help."
"We'll be there for you." Melissa said.
"Thank you." Chris replied.
With that, Nicole, Melissa, Amber, Chris, and Biff left the office lobby.
"I'm going to meet up with Zoe and Trevor." Athena said. "And Sabrina and Zelda. The Spiked Pit will probably be closed tonight, so we'll probably just hang out with each other."
"I'm going to wait here till I hear from Mom again. Thank you for eveything." Jay said.
Jay waved as Athena left the room. The two of them had made an unlikely team, as Athena studied magical lore and artifacts, and Jay was more scientifically focused. But together, they had managed to track down and recover many of the Transformation Guns.
"My guess is your Mom's not going to come home until late." Kyla told Jay. "I suppose we can hang out with Leonard and Walter and some of the others for a while. Or we can stay here and help out."
Nadine Ferguson approached them. "These Restoration Guns of yours." she began, hesitantly. "When your family members come here with them, make sure they know about Theodora." She took a deep sigh.
Kyla nodded in sympathy. "Don't worry, Nadine. We'll let them know."
Nadine headed toward the door, turning back only briefly as if to silently thank Kyla. Then she left.
"I guess I should text my Mom." Jay said. "Let her know school's letting out. Even if she'll be there at MTI all night."
Kyla nodded, and proceeded to start texting her cousin.
Afterward, the two headed out to find Leonard, Walter, and the rest of their friends.
And so it was that many of the students of Lake Point High School (after having their bags searched by security guards to make sure they were not smuggling Transformation Guns) proceeded to leave the school and either return home or go to wherever they chose to meet after school.
The craziest school day of their lives had just come to an end. But they knew that things would likely never be the same again.
