"I wish..." Zoe pondered indecisively, unsure of what she should wish Jon to be good at. After some seconds, her face lit up as she thought of something. Just as her lips were about to move, an electrical sound distracted her and Sarah. As they peered their heads to the source of the sound, they were shocked to discover someone looking back at them. It was a 20-something looking man, about six foot with a lean but shredded physique. He was topless, wearing only loose-fitting shorts. He had some kind of bright green wristband on his left arm. His hair was a dark brown colour, styled into a fashionable man-bun with the short back. His face was covered by a moderately sized beard.
Zoe was frightened by the suddenly-appearing, imposing man and was unable to utter a sentence. Sarah felt scared but tried to maintain her sarcastic, sassy demeanour. "Who are you?! How did you get in here like that?", she demanded. "My identity is none of your concern", the mysterious man responded in a broadly southern English accent. "Give me the source of the power you're using to bend reality". Sarah wasn't stupid, she knew he was somehow aware of the stone and the group's reckless wish-making. However, she decided to play dumb. "What power? What are you talking about? I should call the police!", she shrieked at the interloper. "You are messing with power beyond your understanding", the man continued. "The consequences of this abuse can be disastrous. I suggest you hand it over". He looked over at Zoe, acknowledging how terrified she was. "Have you got it?", he sternly asked. "If you hand it over now, no one gets hurt and we can all move on this madness. However, I will use lethal force if necessary to retrieve the source of the power you've been abusing". Sarah moved her attention to Zoe, knowing she had the stone. Zoe, understanding the man's words, wanted to just give him the stone. She was just about to take it out of her hands when in the blink of an eye, Sarah grabbed the stone from Zoe and yelled, "I wish you were a pair of panties!". Smiling at her outsmarting of the interloper, she couldn't wait to wear the pantified man and humiliate him until he begged to be let go. However, after a couple of seconds, a deep, sinking feeling appeared in Sarah's stomach as nothing happened. "Unfortunately, that isn't going to work", the man replied to the attempted wish.
Jon was still outside, trying to get into his bedroom. This whole thing has been a disaster, he told himself. He silently cursed himself for not throwing the stone away like his gut told him to. At that moment, he heard Sarah shouting something about calling the police. "What the hell is going on in there?! Let me in!", he yelled to no avail. A few moments later, he heard Sarah triumphantly wishing for someone to be a pair of panties. At first, believing it was directed at him, Jon winced in anticipation, before a couple of seconds later realising nothing happened. "What are you doing this time Sarah?! Stop this at once!", Jon shouted in fury, his despair turning into anger.
The man heard Jon shouting, and figured that the "stone" was involved in this. He reached out his arm and snapped his fingers, which would have confused Zoe and Sarah if they weren't terrified. A moment later, the door swung open with aggression and Jon came crashing into his bedroom. He saw the man and the terrified look on his sister's face, and was immediately consumed by rage. "Sarah! What the hell is going on?! What the fuck did you do this time?!", he seethed at the horrified girl. "And you. How the fuck did you get into my bedroom?", he aggressively asked the man. "Ah, so then "Sarah", you're the one making the wishes, eh?", the man retorted in a sarcastic tone, almost as if he already knew. "Yes, that bitch is the one fucking up my life in front of me!", Jon confirmed. Panic overtaking her, Sarah went into denial, muttering things like "What? How is this possible? Who are you?". "So then Sarah, are you going to give me the stone then?", the man asked again. "Why should I?!", the girl responded. "How do I know you're not going to use it for evil intentions?". "Well, my intentions are honestly none of your business, and at this point, your compliance isn't a factor", the man, clearly in control of the situation, responded with collectedness. He reached his arm out at Zoe, who was clearly being traumatised by the whole experience, and snapped his fingers, just like last time. In an instant, Zoe was consumed by a bright light and disappeared. Jon was understandably mortified, yelling "What did you do to her?!" at the man. "Relax, Jon is it? Your sister is safe in bed. I merely removed all of the wishes on her", he reassured. "Oh, thank God for that! Sarah used the stone to corrupt her mind and see her as a role model.", Jon informed the man. "I know it wasn't you, Jon. I'm here to help", the man responded. "As for you, Sarah, have you always been Sarah or was the stone involved?". Fear instantly crept into Sarah's eyes. How could he possibly know about... that, Sarah thought to herself. Still not heeding the man's word, she decided to try and lie: "What kind of question is that? Of course I've always been Sarah!", she told the man with her usual sass. "Well, this is actually quite funny. You see, "Sarah", the thing is, I'm detecting the presence of another Sarah a few miles from here. Would you have ANY idea why that is?", the man responded with his usual hint of sarcasm. Sarah, knowing the game was up, tried to squeak a "no" out. "Not only that, but I detect another presence inside of you that is being suppressed", the man continued, "so I think it's time I put this to an end, don't you, "Sarah"?". Unable to mutter a word, Sarah stood in shock as the man once again lifted his arm and snapped his fingers. Sarah immediately felt her body reshaping, her painted red fingernails melting away. "No, what have you- No, please!", Sarah pleaded, but it was too late. "Noooooo!", she yelled as her face melted back into the more rounded shape of Karyn's face. Her blonde hair shortened and darkened and her breasts atrophied. Sarah's voice gradually faded and was replaced by Karyn's as her face changed. "I'm so sorry Jon, I was careless!", the now-restored Karyn pleaded. "No, it's my fault. I should have just thrown that fucking stone away instead of bringing it to school with me", Jon replied, just relieved to see his friend back. "But what about the real Sarah, she's-" "A pair of panties? I'm aware. I reverted all the wishes on both Karyn and her", the man clarified, "both your sister and the real Sarah will think of this as a really bizarre dream when they wake up in the morning. Everyone else involved will have no memory of the events that transpired. Now, the stone?" Karyn, still in a state of self-pity, gave the stone to the man. "Take it, I don't want that thing anymore."
"Who are you though? Why did you help us?", Jon asked the man. "Well, I can't tell you much, but I am what you could call a God, and I happen to have domain over the energy you were abusing", the being clarified. "The energy in the stone is a particularly potent kind that has the ability to manipulate atomic structures, including the presence of lifeforms. It's a good thing I came when I did; that pseudo "Sarah" wasn't far from making wishes that would very quickly extrapolate to this entire world and even further beyond". Jon was both terrified and intrigued by what he was hearing. "My grandfather's gift could've destroyed Earth? Holy shit... I definitely should've thrown it away". "Oh, much more than the Earth. If this energy is abused too much, it can interfere with spacetime itself. This stone doesn't have enough power for that, but this string of wishes was starting to disturb the local flow of time. In the worst case scenario, several galaxies would've been fucked for certain. Probably some sort of black hole formation. Luckily that was avoided and everything is going back to normal."
Karyn was disgusted with herself after hearing this. "Oh my God, what have I done? The power got to my head!", she cried out in regret, tears filling her eyes. "Yes Karyn, it did. You made accidental wish after accidental wish without thinking, and you created a maniac in doing so. As much as I don't like this, I must serve some kind of punishment", the being agreed. Jon's eyes widened in fear for his friend. "No, Mr. God, Sir or whatever I should call you, it was MY magical stone, you should punish ME. Don't do anything to Karyn, please!", he pleaded. "Jon, you were a victim of Karyn's recklessness in all this. You wanted to throw the stone away. Your only wish was totally innocuous. This was Karyn's doing and because of that, there is no way I can punish you instead of her. She must take her punishment. I know how hard it is to see your friend suffer like this, but the punishment I'm going to serve is honestly very light, and most Gods would not be this lenient", the being informed. "Jon, it's okay, it's my fault and I need to face the consequences. Do whatever you need to do, Mr God man", Karyn sorrowfully accepted. Jon couldn't watch as the man held his arm out in a slightly different position to before. He began to glow a faint, bright green colour, the same as his wristband. At that moment, Karyn was consumed by the same glow, until it engulfed her entire person. The person-shaped light then shrank, and shrank, and shrank, until it was less than a foot in height. It then started to take on a vaguely square shape. The glow subsided, and as it did, a light grey, fluffy pillow emerged. At the centre of the pillow was Karyn's face; it was the same colour as the pillow and has the same fluffy texture. "Oh my god, this feels so weird! What happened to me? I can't move!", the girl squealed as she realised what happened to her. Jon was shocked, but knew better than to try and question this otherworldly being. "Let me be clear: This IS mercy. If I ever, EVER have to come back here again, I will be forced to terminate this world for the safety of the multiverse. I am sorry, Jon and Karyn", the being warned. "She does not need to eat or breathe, no one will be worried about Karyn's apparent disappearance, and your mum and sister will not be shocked by Karyn's form. This is the lightest punishment I can give". "Mr God, Sir, I can assure you that this will never happen again, thank you for your mercy!", Jon anxiously reassured the being. The man made a forward motion with his hand and what appeared to be a portal appeared in Jon's bedroom. "Take good care of her.", he told Jon as he stepped into the portal, before a loud whooshing sound was heard and the portal closed.
After taking a moment to process the events of the last 24 hours, Jon rushed over to the pillowfied Karyn. "Jon, what happened to me? What did he mean?", she desperately asked her friend. "Karyn, I'm so sorry... he made you a fluffy pillow", Jon responded honestly. "Oh my god!", Karyn cried in despair, "I deserve this. No, I deserve worse! I should've been turned into a slug, or an amoeba!" "No, shh, don't say that!", Jon demanded as he gently rubbed the pillowgirl's face to comfort her. "I'm going to look after you, okay? I owe it to you, I got you into this mess", Jon committed. "How are you being so nice to me after everything I've done?", Karyn asked in self-pity. "Because you're my friend Karyn.", Jon reassured her. "Well, that and you make a really cute pillow.", he honestly told her as he tickled the pillowgirl's face. "I am not cute!", Karyn insisted. "The way you said that was so cute.", Jon playfully remarked. "Okay, take me to a mirror and show me!", Karyn demanded. Jon promptly picked her up and took her to the bathroom, which had a large face mirror. Being picked up and carried around was such a weird experience. "And ta-da!", Jon called as he showed Karyn her new fluffy reflection in the mirror. Karyn gasped as she saw a grey, fluffy pillow with her face in it looking back at her. She was filled with a combination of fear, embarrassment and coziness. She did have to admit that it felt very snug. "Aww, who's a cute little pillow?", Jon jeered. "Okay, maybe I am kinda cute", Karyn admitted, looking down with embarrassment. "Yes, you can hug me if you want!". "What? What do you..." Jon asked, somewhat confused. "Oh come on, I know you wanted to!", Karyn urged. "Alright then", Jon said, trying to hide his excitement. He pulled the pillowgirl above his shoulders and embraced her. "Aww, are you enjoying this?", Karyn cooed as a few seconds passed. "You're really soft and comfy!", Jon justified. After a few more seconds, he ended the embrace. "So, I'm sorry if this is a bit weird, but could I hug you in bed at night?", Jon asked, slightly embarrassed. "Of course you can!", Karyn responded with glee. "Oh really? Only if you're sure...", Jon double-checked, trying to respect boundaries. "I'm a fluffy pillow, I love being hugged!", Karyn confirmed. "Okay, if you're certain.", Jon replied. With that, the pair made way for Jon's bedroom.
