Karyn and Sarah soon arrived at Jon's house. There were no cars in the driveway.
"Jon's probably the only one home." Karyn said. "His mother's an assistant at a law firm downtown. Zoe's probably at school though I haven't seen her or her friends all day. And his little brother Mikey's at his own school. So it's just Jon in there. But I don't know if he wants to see anyone. I told you what he was like last I saw him."
"I don't care! He got us into this mess, so he needs to help us get out of it." Sarah grumbled. She marched to the door, and rang the doorbell. She then knocked on the door loudly.
"OPEN UP!" she shouted. "We know you're in there!"
"Sarah!" Karyn shouted. "We don't want to frighten him, or her. The girl he's become was so scared of everything..."
"So?" Sarah growled. "Whatever he is now, he's sitting on the one thing that could get my boyfriend back to his normal age and turn everyone back. You think I'll go easy on him just cause the Random Gun gave him such a weak personality?"
Karyn sighed. "Look, if we ask him nicely he might be more willing to help us."
"Oh, really? You told me he wouldn't give you the stone because he was afraid YOU'D screw up and wished himself home!" Sarah replied. "What makes you think he'll just give you the stone now? Because you ask nicely enough? That won't work!"
"Well what do YOU suggest? That we break into the house?" Karyn asked.
"Why not? He's obviously not going to open the door." Sarah replied. "And I don't want to just stand here waiting for his parents or his sister to come home."
Karyn wondered where Zoe was, anyway.
At that moment, Zoe was at Lake Point High School with her friend Athena DeVries. They were now being confronted by Jay Duncan (the thin nerd science genius with glasses) and Rebecca Fadil, a cheerleader turned into a Goth by the still missing Goth Gun.
"We know there's a Goth Gun somewhere in this school, and Rebecca isn't the only one changed. Tom Welles was seen turned into a Goth, when normally he's a Jock who's insulted me a dozen times." Jay said. "Do you know where it might be?"
"Look, just because we're Goths doesn't mean we're going around turning people into Goths." Zoe grumbled.
Athena spoke up. "Goth is about freedom. The freedom to wear black even if others prefer brighter colors. To be who we want to be. I don't think any of us wants to force being a Goth on other people."
"She's right, you know." Rebecca added. "Why not ask someone who's not a Goth?"
Jay paused. "Where are your friends? Trevor Blake and Zelda Whitefield?"
"I don't know." Zoe said. "I haven't seen them since these Transformation Guns started showing up. And now that the ambulance has arrived for that teacher who got hurt, the whole place is on lockdown. We can't leave the school."
"I'd like to get a closer look at those Transformation Guns." Jay said. "Whoever created them must be a scientific genius."
Athena noted the sound of awe in Jay's voice. "Are you kidding? It's obvious these things are magical. I mean, look at what happened to your friend Leonard Drullers. He used to be a fat nerd, but the Jock Gun gave him the body of an athlete. And anything that could change people the way the Random Gun changed people HAS to be magical."
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is ..." Jay began, but was cut off.
"I know. I'm tired of hearing that line from the science crowd." Athena said. "But magic ... real magic ... exists in the world. And I know real magic when I see it. These Transformation Guns might look like science fiction ray guns, but they're almost certainly magic-powered."
"Look, aren't we supposed to be looking for these guns?" Zoe interrupted. "Standing around arguing over what they are won't get us anywhere."
At that point, another voice spoke. "I cut myself to know I am still alive."
They turned. The words were similar to something the school's only emo student, Derek Lettman, might have said, but the voice was definitely NOT Derek Lettman's. Instead, the voice was very familiar to Zoe and Athena.
"Trevor?" Athena asked.
Indeed, it was Trevor Blake. He was dressed in a far different style of dark clothing than the Goth he normally wore, and he now sat on the floor, looking completely miserable. "Life is pain..."
"You mean ... somewhere in this school, there's an Emo Gun?" Rebecca asked.
"Obviously there is one." Jay said. "But who has it? Who turned your friend into an Emo?"
