Miss Chiff and a certain well known wizard make a little wager. This is a serial story that I wrote over a period of several months on my Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Morpheuscabinet2/

Part 1

In a room that was not a room, in a place that was not a place, something other than the known laws of physics held sway. The dimensions of the room were in constant flux as it seemed to grow and shrink from moment to moment while gravity itself seemed to be merely optional. A blue monkey sat on what some might call the ceiling, casually playing a game of jacks while a feathered pink snake slithered in the air around him. In the middle of the room, a globs of glowing liquid light bubbled and moved through the air, as though the room itself were a giant lava lamp.

The only thing in the room that seemed remotely normal was the card table that was placed in the center of the 'floor'. An old man wearing a bathrobe shuffled a deck of cards while the other three players watched him carefully, sure to catch any signs of cheating. Since he was a wizard well known for his trickery, none of them wanted to give him an opening to exploit. Once he finished shuffling and dealt the cards without doing anything suspicious, they each relaxed but felt a slight disappointment.

To one side of the old wizard was a sexy blonde woman wearing a gray pinstripe suit and fedora. Molly the Fairy Godmother took a drag on her cigar as she studied the cards in her hand, then she blew out a stream of thick pink smoke that smelled like perfuse. She looked around the table with an almost predatory grin.

Sitting across from Molly and on the other side of the wizard was a middle-aged woman with a broach that looked like a blue butterfly. She scowled at the others, looking very much the cross prude she currently was. However, the goddess of transformation changed her appearance and personality as often as most people changed clothing so could not be counted on to maintain this attitude.

The final member of the group sat directly across from the wizard, looking like a 14 year old girl with blonde hair and pointed ears. However, Miss Chiff was anything but innocent and childish. In fact, she carefully studied her fellow players for signs of weakness she could exploit during the next hand of their game.

"You know," Miss Chiff exclaimed, looking at the goddess of transformation, "you're my favorite cousin but you're really pissing me off today. Why did you have to come here as a prude? I mean, you were a hell of a lot more fun the last time..."

"Very well," the goddess of transformation said with a cross scowl. A moment later, her entire body began to shimmer and change until she looked absolutely nothing like the middle-aged woman she had been. Instead, she was now a teenage girl with short purple hair, as well as a number of piercings and tattoos. Even her clothes had changed to tattered black clothes more appropriate to goth girl she had become. "Is this more interesting you fuckin cunt?"

"Definitely," Chiff laughed with delight, knowing that this latest incarnation of her cousin would be so much easier to read.

"Good," Molly nodded, "I'm gettin tired of waitin here if you know what I mean. I wanna take yer money so's I can go and get back to work. I've got a kid I'm watchin who’s ripe for a wish... I got a feelin he's gonna be makin one tonight to get into a big party..." Then she pulled out her pager and glanced at it before turning her attention back to her cards.

"That's the problem with your job," Chiff shook her head, "You're always on call. I much prefer being able to make my own hours."

"Who the fuck cares?" the goddess of transformation snorted, "Are we playing here or what?"

The wizard just chuckled, "I think we all have hours we prefer to work. I myself like to close my shop and relax in the evening."

The goddess of transformation shrugged, "I'm like Chiff. I make my own hours, depending on my current personality."

"I know," Chiff laughed, "I remember when you turned into a workaholic and messed with people nonstop for a full week. It's just too bad you were such a tight-assed number cruncher the whole time."

"Well I believe I'll sweeten the pot," the wizard commented as he dropped some coins into the middle of the table.

"I think you're just trying to buy this hand," Chiff grinned at him after both Molly and her cousin dropped out, "I'm not gotta bite. I'm in."

The old wizard stared at her for a minute, then let out a sigh, "I fear you've got me." He set his cards on the table, revealing that he had a horrible hand. Both Molly and the goddess of transformation cursed at having been bluffed while Chiff just smirked.

"Sorry old timer," Chiff snickered, "It'll take more than you've got to beat me."

"You'd be surprised what I've got," the old wizard told her, "Don't underestimate me."

"You want to put your money where your mouth is?" Chiff asked with a grin, suddenly having a great idea. "How about we have our own little wager...?"

"You want a side bet on the next hand?" he asked her carefully, making sure to pay close attention to how she worded things. He knew Miss Chiff and she could be just as tricky with loopholes and technicalities as any lawyer when she wanted.

Chiff shook her head, "No, I was thinking a different game. Maybe something in the line of a McGuffin..."

"You want something from me," he mused, his eyes narrowing. "What is it you're after?"

"I was thinking you could wager Loki's ring," Chiff grinned. "I heard you stumbled across it last week and I'd kind of like to have it."

The wizard stared at her for a moment, "Of course you'd want it. The only way I would wager that is..." He thought about it for a minute, then announced his terms.

"You're kidding," Chiff gasped, "You've got to be kidding..." When she saw that he was serious, she sighed, "All right. I'll agree to those stakes if we can settle on a game..."

"Shit," the goddess of transformation snickered, "You must want that ring pretty badly."

"How about wishes?" Molly asked with a look of amusement, "You could compete over grantin wishes for some mark."

"Whoever grants the trickiest wish wins," the goddess of transformation suggested.

Chiff shook her head, then grinned, "How about we each get a proxy and have them go against each other."

"We each assist our own representative but can't touch the other's," the old man continued.

"No reality alterations or identity death," Chiff added with a growing grin.

"You should limit how much you interfere with your proxies," the goddess of transformation suggested, "I mean, you can't give them advice or tell them what to do."

"That should make it more interestin," Molly chuckled as she took a drag from her cigar.

At this point, Chiff and the old man grinned at each other, the poker game nearly forgotten as they discussed the details of the new game they were going to begin. They spent hours going over the details until everything was decided. Finally, they settled the wager with a handshake.

"Then it's agreed," Molly said, blowing out a stream of pink cigar smoke, "Since I'm impartial, I'll be actin as ref for this here match. I'll choose an area and you guys each choose yer proxy inside it. Ya can't tell em what's goin on or what ta do. No hittin blow the belt and all that jazz.... Now go out and have a good fight."

The old wizard and Miss Chiff stared at each other for a moment before she grinned, "This is gonna be fun." And with that, they each went their separate directions to make their plans.

Part 2

Clay pulled his coat tightly against himself to create a stronger barrier against the cold and wetness of the weather. It wasn't exactly raining, but there was a faint mist in the air and a strong enough chill that he could feel it slowly sinking through his skin. Unfortunately, he was only halfway home from school and the sky looked as though it would break open and start pouring at any moment. His coat wouldn't do him much good once that happened so he quickened his step.

"Stupid test," he grumbled, cursing the fact that he'd been sick and had missed several days of school last week. Because of that, he'd missed an important history test and had to stay late to make it up. Unfortunately, that meant he missed the school bus and had to walk home instead. "Stupid rain."

Just then, Clay noticed a little girl standing a short distance ahead of him, watching him with a strange expression of amusement. She had blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes that seemed to be locked right on him. She didn't even seem bothered in the least by the wet air or cold, in spite of the fact that she wasn't even wearing a coat or long sleeves.

"Hello mister," she greeted him, which earned her a faint nod as Clay went past. Just as he had stepped past her, he heard her call from behind him, "Hello Clay."

"What the...?" Clay blinked, suddenly stopping and turning around, wondering how this little girl could know his name.

But when Clay looked at the girl again, he gasped in shock. Instead of a little girl, she was now a teenager about the same age as him. She looked to be about sixteen, with long blonde hair and a very shapely body. She smiled and ran a hand through her hair, revealing that her ears were pointed like an elf.

"You and I need to talk Clay," the teenage girl told him with a gleam of amusement in her eyes.

Clay blinked and shook his head, sure that he was imagining things. But when he looked at her again, he was even more shocked to see that she had somehow changed again. Instead of a teenage girl, she had become a grown woman in her twenties. She was even sexier now and looked quite amused.

"What?" Clay blinked in confusion, "Who are you?"

The girl...woman didn't answer the question. Instead, she asked, "Have you ever felt as though you were meant for something special? That you had a different fate than everyone else?"

Clay didn't answer the questions and only stared at her, feeling nervous and curious at the same time. Who was this mysterious person and how did she change ages like that? How did she know his name? A part of him screamed that this was weird and that he should get away as fast as he could, but he was far too curious for that, especially with the way she was talking to him.

"You might say it's your lucky day," the woman smiled. "You are the chosen one."

"The chosen one?" he blinked skeptically.

She nodded, "Yes. I am not allowed to tell you more since that could change the course of your destiny, but you are indeed the chosen one."

"Chosen for what?" Clay demanded suspiciously. He normally would have just brushed her off as a crazy, but he had no doubt that this was something unusual. And though he didn't want to admit it, the talk about him being the chosen one had caught his interest.

"I can't tell you just yet," the woman shrugged, "But I can tell you that being the chosen one means you will have obstacles to overcome and challenges to meet. There is even another who will intentionally try to harm you, though they can't harm you directly. This person is close so you will have to be prepared to defend yourself and stop them if need be." Her expression was serious as she stared at him.

Clay gulped, not sure that he liked this talk of him being the chosen one anymore. "Defend myself how? Do I get a magic sword or something?"

"Or something," she nodded, smiling again.

She reached behind her back and pulled out a strangely shaped rock which looked as though it could have been a piece of clay sculpted by a child . It sparkled with small chips of gemstones that were embedded within it, though the light that sparkled seemed to come from within the chips rather than being reflected from an outside source.

"This is an item of great magic," the woman explained, her voice serious again. She ran her hand over the stone and explained, "It was created by a goddess and contains a portion of her power. It can grant wishes...within limitations."

"Wishes?" Clay gasped, his eyes being drawn to the strange looking rock. Then he blinked and stared at the woman suspiciously, "What kind of limitations?"

"You can't summon things but you can change them," she explained. "You can't change reality and there are a few smaller things."
"What other things?" Clay asked.

The blond gave him a faint look of annoyance and snapped, "Do I look like a lawyer?" Then she quickly smiled, "I've never used it myself since it was meant for the chosen one. I'm afraid you will have to discover any other rules and limitations for yourself."

Clay frowned, "Oh...," staring at the strange rock.

The woman handed him the rock and he felt a faint tingle along his skin the moment he touched it. He gasped in surprise which only seemed to amuse the blonde. "Use it carefully," she told him, "And remember, you will have an enemy to face and overcome before you can claim your destiny."

Clay nodded and just stared down at the rock in his hands, thinking that he could almost feel the very stone slowly moving and reshaping itself in his hands, though he didn't see anything unusual. He shook his head, sure that he was imagining things. But when he looked up at the woman to ask her about it, she was gone. There was no sign of her anywhere nearby.

"Weird," Clay whispered, knowing that he would have thought this whole thing was a strange dream if he didn't still hold the rock in his hand. He stared at again, "So I'm the chosen one and you're a magic wishing rock." He frowned, "I wonder what I'm chosen for..." Then he grinned, "And I wonder what I'm going to wish for first."

Part 3

Garett stepped inside the mall then shook the moisture from his umbrella before folding it up again. He hadn't truly needed the umbrella since it had been a relatively short distance across the parking lot between his car and the door, and the weather was merely drizzling rather than raining, but he had thought it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, how was he to know that it wouldn't be pouring when he left.

Garett was a tall and thin boy of seventeen, wearing a pair of thick glasses that were anything but fashionable. He had tried replacing them with contacts on several occasions but they had been far too uncomfortable and irritating to be useful so he was stuck with the glasses that had earned him some mocking in school.

After a moment, Garett pulled a small notepad from his pocket and looked over the list of items he needed to buy from the mall. It was a small list and he could easily have remembered everything on it though he found it much more organized to have them written down. He quickly considered which of the items would be closest to him and started in that direction.

Soon, Garett was walking out of a shop with a bag containing a new notebook and several pens, then he started for his second destination, the computer shop. He needed to pick up a new printer cartridge and had a coupon for twenty percent off. But when he reached the spot, he paused and stared at the shop front in surprise.

"Where is it?" Garett gasped.

The computer shop was normally located right in front of him, but it was gone now. There weren't any signs or indications that the store had been closed. Instead, there was a completely different shop in its place. Instead of the glass windows full of the latest computer accessories, there were brick walls. Instead of the wide opening, there was an actual wooden door that looked so old as to be an antique. A sign above the doorway proclaimed the new shop to be called Spells R Us.

"Impossible," Garett blurted out.

Garett stared at the store front for a moment, knowing that there was no way it should be here. The computer store had been there just three days ago, and even if it had closed right afterwards, there was still no way this new shop should exist. After all, new stores didn't just open up, they took weeks to remodel and stock up. This Spells R Us shop should not be there, of that he was certain.

"Yet it is here," Garett pointed out, deciding to check it out and perhaps ask what had happened to the computer shop. He certainly didn't think that one as busy as that would close so suddenly and without notice.

When Garett opened the door, a small old fashioned bell rang from above him and announced his presence. He looked around, feeling even more startled by the inside of the store. There were lots of shelves and racks, all full of items which seemed to have little relation to each other. Garett could see clothes, video games, antique lamps and things which were completely unrecognizable. As far as Garett could tell, the store looked more like a cross between an antiques shop and a garage sale than anything else. And strangely enough, there seemed to be a layer of dust over some of the items, as though they'd been there for a long time.

Then Garett noticed something else which actually shocked him. He'd been inside the computer shop on countless occasions, but this new shop was at least three times as large. There was much more floor space, which Garett knew to be impossible. The two stores on either side would prevent this new shop from expanding, yet somehow it was larger, though there had been absolutely no sign of this from the outside.

Before Garett could make sense of how this store that occupied the same space as the computer shop could be several times larger, a voice called his name. He turned and gasped to see an old man standing behind the counter. He hadn't even noticed anyone there a moment earlier. Only then did he realize that the old man behind the counter was wearing a bathrobe. He was obviously....eccentric.

"Did you call my name?" Garett cautiously asked the man, wondering how the man could possibly know his name.

"Indeed I did," the old man answered with a faint smile. "Come closer Garett. We have important business to discuss and little time."

Garett hesitated, feeling extremely nervous about the situation. After a moment, he took a deep breath and stepped toward the old man, refusing to act like some sort of coward and run away from a simple conversation. "How do you know who I am?" he asked suspiciously.

The old man simply responded, "Because I am a wizard."

"There's no such thing," Garett responded matter-of-factly.

The old man sighed, looking a little impatient. "I do get tired of having to do this every time, but I don't have time for it right now."

Suddenly, the old man's eyes began to glow and he held up his hands. Lightning shot out of his palms and hit Garett, sending tingles around his body but not really hurting. An instant later, everything in the shop suddenly seemed larger...seemed HUGE. It took Garett a moment to realize that it was he who had shrunk. In fact, his size was the least of the changes. His whole body felt different.

Garett tried to yell at the old man and demand an explanation but all that came from his mouth were barks and growls. He tried again but the old man merely watched him for a moment. As hard as it was for Garett to believe, he had somehow been turned into a dog.

Then the old man came over and snapped, "Enough of that." The old man bent over and picked Garett up, his eyes narrowing, "You are a firm believer in things that you see with your own eyes, so see this and believe." He held Garett up in front of a mirror so he could see a small dog being reflected back.

A moment later, the old man set Garett back on the floor and muttered a strange sounding word. An instant later, Garett had returned to his normal self. He gasped in relief but quickly ran his hands over himself to verify that he was indeed back to normal.

"Now that we've established the truth of my statement," the old man said, going back behind the counter and giving Garett a pleasant smile, "I think we can get down to business..."

"How...?" Garett stammered, "Why...?" The old man raised an eyebrow and he quickly gulped, "What kind of business...?"

"An excellent question," the old man responded with an approving nod. "I am here at the behest of a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. You, my dear boy, are in serious trouble."

"I am?" Garett gulped, taking a nervous step backwards, afraid that the old man would change him again.

"Yes," the old man told him with a serious expression. "Through no fault of your own, you have gained an enemy with great power. This enemy will attempt to cause you great harm for a reason I can not explain. Fortunately, your anonymous benefactor has taken pity on your situation and asked me to give you this."

With that, the old man put a hand on a wooden box on the counter. It was the size of a shoe box and made with several different types of wood that were seamlessly merged and intricately carved. It had to be one of the most fantastic pieces of carving that Garett had ever seen, and though he didn't know anything about woodcarving he could immediately recognize skilled work. Only after Garett had an opportunity to examine it did the old man finally open the box.

"This is an item of great power," the old man said, slowly pulling a bronze medallion from the box and holding it up for Garett to get a good look. It was a bronze disk about the size of a silver dollar, with strange symbols etched into the surface. The old man turned it around so Garett could see the other side...and the red stone embedded in the center. "This medallion has the power to grant the wishes of whomever wears it."

"Wishes?" Garett asked suspiciously, gulping when the old man gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," the old man snapped impatiently, "It grants wishes. Your benefactor wishes you to have this as it can save you from your enemy." He held it out and offered it to Garett, who accepted it cautiously.

"Who is this enemy?" Garett asked, "Why are they after me? Who is this benefactor you keep mentioning...?"

"I called your benefactor anonymous for a reason," the old man responded. "As for your enemy, I am not certain as to their identity as of yet but I'm sure whomever it is will make themselves known to you before long."

"And this grants wishes," Garett whispered, staring at the necklace in suspicion and amazement.

"You can use it to protect yourself from your enemy," the old man stated. "You can attack them or just use it to make your own life easier. However, you should be warned that you can not directly effect your enemy with these wishes, but likewise, your enemy will not be able to target you directly. You must be careful and cunning to deal with whomever it is."

Garett stared at the old man for a moment, "Um...thank you."

The old man just snorted impatient, "I fear that I can't help you on your own so you will be on your own. I wish you luck. Now I'm expecting a real customer any moment so be on your way."

Garett wanted to ask the old man some more questions but he had the feeling it wouldn't be a good idea, especially when the old man scowled at him. After a moment, he just clutched the medallion tightly in his hand and rushed out of the store, feeling a sense of relief once he had left. Then he turned around to take a look back but was stunned to see the computer store back where it should have been. There was no sign of the Spells R Us store that had been there a moment before.

"Magic," Garett whispered in awe. He looked down at the medallion in his hand and gulped, feeling both nervous and excited at the same time. "Real magic..."

Magic went against everything Garett believed in, but he couldn't deny his own senses. If the choices were between him being wrong about the existence of magic or that he was going insane, he chose to believe in magic. He gulped, clutching it tighter.

"So what am I going to wish for first?" Garett quietly asked himself. Then he fumbled for his notepad and pen to make a list of things that occurred to him so he could plan accordingly. Something like this required a lot of consideration before he started making wishes.

Part 4

Clay sat in his bedroom, staring at the strangely shaped rock in his hand, his mind filled with whirling thoughts. He could hardly believe that this was really a magic wishing rock like that strange woman had claimed, or that he was the chosen one with a special destiny. He grinned as he thought of it all, still unsure of what to think.

"I need to test it," Clay said decisively, then frowned, "But what should I wish for...?"

This was the question that had been occupying Clay's mind since that strange woman had given him the rock several hours ago. He had a lot of things that he wanted, but whenever he tried to think about which ones he wanted the most his mind went blank. After all, if he was going to make some wishes, he wanted his first one to be really special.

"I wish I had a million bucks," Clay finally said, unable to really think of anything better than money.

However, there was no flash of light, no puff of smoke, nor any genie suddenly appearing in front of him to grant his wish. In fact, nothing at all had happened. His wish had been granted about as well as it would have if he'd just grabbed any random rock from his back yard and wished on it.

"Come on," Clay snapped in irritation, rubbing the side of the rock next in case he had to treat it like a genie's lamp. However, nothing happened. "Work damn it..."

After Clay had tried rubbing the rock, knocking on it and simply commanding it to do what he wanted, he was frustrated enough that he nearly threw it against the wall. Then he paused, suddenly remembering that strange woman's warnings about it having limitations. Could this somehow be one of those limitations?

"What did she say about it?" Clay mused, trying hard to remember. She'd said something about it not being able to alter reality, and she'd also said something about summoning... "That's it!" he exclaimed in realization. The woman had told him that he could change things, but he couldn't summon something from nothing, which was exactly what he had been trying to do with his first wish.

Clay scowled and stared at the rock again, wondering what other limitations it had. That woman certainly hadn't been very clear about that when she'd given it to him. Then again, she'd told him that he was the chosen one and he knew from all the movies and books that whenever someone was a chosen one, they were required to somehow find the path to destiny on their own for it to mean anything. But at every other chosen one he'd heard about had some sort of guide at least.

"Merlin, Obi Wan, Morpheus," he mused to himself, "Where the hell is my guide?" Unfortunately, it looked like he would have to make do on his own for now at least.

After a minute of frustration, Clay turned his attention back to his wish, or at least to what he wanted to wish for. He thought about it for a few seconds, then went and pulled several one dollar bills from his wallet and set them down in front of him. He felt a little nervous as he clutched the rock and focused on what he wanted.

"I wish these were ten dollar bills instead," he stated firmly.

Suddenly, the rock felt somewhat warm in Clay's hand. The tiny jewel shards that covered it began to glow with an eerie light that came in a variety of colors, seeming to cover nearly the entire spectrum. Then there was a quick flash of light and the rock went dead again, looking just like it had before. He stared at it in awe, then looked at the money. The dollar bills had both changed into tens like he'd wanted.

"YES!" Clay exclaimed in delight, grinning excitedly as he thought about what else he could do with something like this. With a magic rock like this, he could do almost anything he wanted. He could have anything he wanted...or anyone. "Nikki," he whispered with a grin.

Nikki Adams was one of if not THE hottest girls in the entire school and Clay had long held a secret crush on her. Of course, he wasn't the only one since half the boys in school had crushes on her, secret or otherwise. And unlike the stereotype about beautiful and popular girls, she was nice to everyone, even those like Clay who weren't in the same social circle.

"I could make Nikki fall in love with me," Clay told himself eagerly.

Clay licked his lips at the thought of having Nikki as his girlfriend, of kissing her and then some. His heart raced as he realized that it was all within reach, that he could have the girl of his dreams just by saying a few words to the magic rock. However, there was a voice in the back of his head that kept him from doing it just yet. Something was warning him against this.

"The limitations," Clay mused to himself, trying to work it out. The mysterious woman who'd given him the rock had warned him about its limitations, of which he'd already bumped up against one. What if the other limitations were like in that Disney's Aladdin cartoon with Robin Williams. "It probably won't let me bring the dead back to life or make people fall in love..."

But as Clay thought about it, he realized that there was another reason he couldn't make that particular wish. As much as he wanted to have Nikki as his girlfriend, it just didn't seem right to make her love him with a wish. It was just...wrong. After all, he wanted her to love him for real, not because he wished it.

Then Clay suddenly had another idea. It didn't seem quite right to change Nikki, but why couldn't he change himself? He thought about it for a moment, then grinned as he thought of the perfect way to get Nikki's attention without having to use his magic on her.

As soon as Clay had his idea, he impulsively grabbed his magic rock and said, "I wish to physically turn into Nikki Adams' ideal lover."

The moment those words left Clay's mouth, the stone became warm in his hand and the small gemstone chips began to glow brightly again. A swirl of rainbow colors flowed around it and then began to flow around him. Clay gasped as a strange warmth flooded through his entire body followed by an intense tingling.

"This feels weird," Clay gasped as his body began to change.

Clay's body started to grow, making his clothes quickly become too tight so he had to struggle to get out of them. He stared at his changing body in awe and delight, realizing that he was not only getting a little taller but noticeably more muscular as well. When it finally stopped, he stood up to his new height of 6 foot 2 and flexed his muscles. They weren't huge and bulky like a bodybuilders, but they were very noticeable nonetheless. He flexed his muscles feeling more than pleased with the results.

Once Clay had taken in his new muscles, he looked between his legs and grinned at the size of his equipment. It was much larger than before, even when it wasn't erect. There was suddenly no doubt in his mind that he'd made the right decision with that wish. This was going to be great.

"I need a mirror," Clay exclaimed, deciding to wish for one. However, his wish didn't work and he mentally kicked himself for forgetting. "I wish that poster on my wall would turn into a mirror." A moment later he had a full length mirror to examine his new body in.

Clay was somewhat startled by his reflection since it looked absolutely nothing like he had before. He was tall and very athletic looking, as well as well endowed. His face however, was very handsome and reminded him a little of Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom. He was hansom, but not in an overly masculine or rugged way. There was a faint bit of disappointment in the realization that there wasn't even the faintest resemblance to his normal face.

"I guess this was the only way I'd get Nikki's attention after all," Clay told himself nervously. Then he looked down at himself and the pile of clothes on the floor which he had outgrown during his transformation. He put his hand on the stone and said, "I wish all of my clothes would change to fit my new body."

He watched with some amusement as his clothes changed right before his eyes. Only after he'd looked through his closet and dresser to make sure everything he owned really had changed did he bother getting dressed. He was delighted as he got dressed again, pausing occasionally to chuckle and wonder what his friends would say. They would be so jealous, especially when he had Nikki as a girlfriend. And since he looked like her ideal lover, he had absolutely no doubt that she'd happily become his girlfriend before long.

"This is great," Clay exclaimed as he flexed his new muscles in front of the mirror, amazed at just how good it felt to have them. Then he carefully picked up the oddly shaped rock again and grinned, "And with this baby, everything is going to be perfect."

part 5

Garett sat back, absently tapping his pen on the table as he stared at the list of wishes he had made. He had made the list of every wish he could possibly think of, then narrowed it down to the ten most important. He had gone over the list time and time again, rearranging the items and making changes as he considered the ramifications and importance of each.

Even though Garett had spent a great deal of time and thought on his list, he had yet to make a single wish. His eyes darted to the bronze medallion the strange old man had given him, a moment of doubt entering his mind. Then he shook it off, remembering his brief moment as a dog in the store. There was no way he could doubt that, nor the existence of magic.

"Perhaps I should make my first wish now," Garett mused to himself, though he hesitated, feeling nervous at the idea of messing with magic. It just seemed...wrong. It was unnatural and went against everything he'd always believed. However, he wouldn't let this opportunity pass him up, especially not if he had a mysterious enemy like that old man had told him. "It just might take me awhile to build my nerve is all..."

Just then, Garett saw a flash of green from the corner of his eye. He snapped around but didn't see its source. He frowned, suddenly feeling extremely nervous. There were enough strange things going on now that he was feeling a little paranoid and seeing things. After a moment, he shook his head and turned his attention back to the list.

The first item on the list was a wish for wealth, carefully worded so that Garett would be the sole winner of the lottery on the week after his eighteenth birthday. He would have to be patient, but he thought that this would be the best way to get the money. After all, there would be a lot less questions about how he got it if everyone knew he just happened to get 'lucky' in the lottery.

"Maybe it shouldn't be number one," Garett muttered, having changed the order of that particular wish several times already. Since it would take so long to pay off, it didn't seem that it was urgent enough to be the first wish, but it was one he thought very important.

Then there was wish number two, which he was extremely tempted to move to the top of the list though it seemed just a little too personal. Garett had always been called a geek or nerd, though he'd never undergone the same kind of ridicule that others with those titles seemed to get in the movies, or at least not too much. His second wish, was for him to gain a body like the jocks at school, athletic, muscular, and in perfect physical condition.

"That one should take care of these," Garett mused as he adjusted his glasses.

Garett went through his list one more time, more than a little tempted to ignore the order and start with wish number two. However, he had always thought it important to follow plans and not give in to every little distraction. Because of that, he was going to make his wishes in the order he had already decided on, even though he wouldn't see the benefits of the first wish for some months to come.

After another minute of consideration, Garett picked up the bronze medallion that would grant his wishes and cautiously slipped it over his head. He started, "I wish..." But just then, Garett saw the flash of green from the corner of his eyes again. He snapped around but didn't see anything there. He frowned and looked around, then grasped the medallion and stubbornly continued, "I wish that the first lottery ticket I buy after my eighteenth birthday will be the sole winner."

"Granted," a voice suddenly exclaimed from the side.

Garett nearly jumped as he snapped around to stare at the source of the voice. He was shocked to see a tiny girl sitting on the edge of his desk, looking almost bored. It took him a brief moment of staring with his mouth open before he realized that she wasn't exactly a girl but a pixie. She was maybe 4 inches tall and with a pair of dragonfly wings on her back. She had green hair and was dressed in black clothes that made her look like a goth, especially once he noticed that her black T-shirt had the logo of a band that was popular among some of his classmates. And as he continued to stare at her, he noticed several more details, such as the tiny metal studs through her nose and eyebrow.

The tiny pixie girl yawned as though bored, then asked in a sarcastic tone, "Get a good look?"

"Who...?" Garett gasped in shock, "What...?"

The pixie just stared up at him and smirked, then she reached into some pocket and pulled out a tiny pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it. She took a drag from her tiny cigarette and blew the smoke out to the side before announcing, "I'm called Pip, and what I am should be obvious."

"You're a fairie," Garett exclaimed.

"A pixie," she scowled, snubbing the cigarette out on the surface of his desk before standing up and glaring at him, barely higher than she had been while sitting. "And like I just said a minute ago, your wish is granted."

"You're...you're like a genie," Garett blurted out in realization.

Pip grinned mischieviously, "Actually, I'm like a pixie..."

Garett took a deep breath, trying to remain calm and think this through. He'd known the medallion could grant wishes but he hadn't realized it did so by summoning a genie...pixie. It wasn't quite what he had expected but there was a great deal about this that was surprising.

"I don't actually grant wishes," Pip explained with a shrug, "The medallion does that without me. You can think of me as an advisor. I'm here to help you with your wishes and dealing with your enemy."

"An advisor," Garett repeated quietly, trying to think this through. He wasn't good at making plans and decisions without time to think things through, but he could already see how useful an advisor could be. After a minute, he nodded and asked, "Can you tell me more about what's going on? And who is this mysterious enemy?"

Pip just grinned mischieviously and responded, "I thought you'd never ask..."

Part 6

Clay was feeling smug and more than a little pleased with himself as he started to leave his room. He couldn't wait to go out and show off his new body, to see how other people would treat him now that he looked like some kind of jock stud. A broad grin broke out across his face and he couldn't resist chuckling eagerly.

Just seconds after leaving his room, Clay stepped into his living room and found himself standing face to face with his mom. She stared at him in surprise, not an ounce of recognition in her eyes. Then she screamed. His dad burst into the room a moment later, taking in everything with one glance and glaring furiously at Clay, demanding, "Who the hell...?"

"Oh shit," Clay gasped as he suddenly realized that his own parents didn't even recognize him. Thanks to his wish, they thought a stranger had broken into their house. "Wait," he tried, but his dad started to charge at him with fists raised. A punch caught Clay in the face and sent him sprawling to the ground before he could get anything out.

"Who are you?" Clay's mom demanded.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in my house?" his dad added

Clay scrambled to think of a way to explain himself that they'd believe, but he knew that they'd never believe him. Then he realized that he was still clutching the strangely shaped rock. He took a deep breath and blurted out, "I wish my mom and dad would fall asleep."

The instant the words were out of Clay's mouth, his parents both froze, blank expressions passing over their faces before they collapsed to the floor. He stared at them for a moment, afraid that they'd immediately wake up and start coming after him again. Only when his dad began to snore a little did he let out a sigh of relief and relax.

"I guess I didn't think about what they'd think," he muttered, thinking about his transformation and how no one would recognize him now.

Clay gulped, trying to think of what to do now. If his parents woke up, they'd still be freaked out by his new appearance. They'd be too freaked out to even listen to his explanation. And after finally having a chance with Nikki, he didn't want to give it up before he'd even had a chance to see her.

After several minutes of thinking about it, Clay finally had an idea. He stared at his parents, taking a deep breath and rubbing the magic rock. "I wish," he finally said, "that mom and dad didn't care about how I looked and would always think it was perfectly normal." The gem chips in the rock glowed just as they had with his other wishes, though his parents showed no signs of anything being different as they continued to sleep on the floor. Clay only hoped this worked. "I wish they'd wake up again but not remember what happened when they didn't recognize me."

Clay had to wait a few seconds before his parents began to stir and wake. He grimaced at their confusion to waking up on the floor but fought back the impulse to simply wish them not to think about it. To his relief, when they looked at him, neither of them seemed to remember the incident of minutes before. Nor did they think anything strange about his appearance, which filled him with relief.

Once Clay verified that his parents accepted his new appearance as being perfectly normal, he felt it safe to leave the house. But when he stepped out the door, he paused, realizing that he didn't have any destination in mind. He knew that he wanted to show off his new body, but who could he really show it to? Then it dawned on him. Nikki.

"I wish," Clay grinned, reaching a hand into his jacket pocket and touching the magic stone, "I wish I knew where Nikki Adams is right now."

Clay gasped as he suddenly 'knew' Nikki was at home. He frowned, knowing that he couldn't just go over there and say hi, so he let out a sigh of defeat. Of course, he could wish her to leave and meet him at the mall. He was about to do just that when he caught an unexpected scent of perfume. It was strong and flowery, seeming to have appeared from nowhere.

Just then, a woman's voice came from behind Clay, "So you're this Clay person I've heard about."

Clay snapped around, surprised to see a gorgeous blonde woman standing there. She was wearing a gray pinstriped suit and fedora hat, making her look as though she were dressed as a gangster for Halloween. The woman even had a cigar clenched between her teeth, though the smoke that came from it was pink and smelled strongly of perfume.

"Who...?" Clay blinked in surprise and stepped away, thinking that this was too similar to when that strange girl had appeared and given him the wishing rock. "What...?"

"Da names Molly," she smirked, taking a long drag of her cigar, "And I'm a fairy godmother."

"You're my fairy godmother?" Clay gasped in surprise. He wasn't sure he really needed a fairy godmother since he already had a magic rock that granted wishes.

Molly just laughed, "Nope. Sorry kid, but I'm not here for that. Ya could say I'm here as a...what's the word...envoy." She took another drag from her cigar and blew a stream of pink smoke out at him, then she pointed at him with her cigar, "I'm kinda neutral in this game, but I'm here to get things going."

"Game?" Clay blinked, staring at the woman blankly.

"In a manner of speakin," she smirked. "Here," she reached into her jacket and pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Clay.

"What's this?" Clay asked blankly.

Molly chuckled and stuck the cigar back into her mouth, "It's the name of yer opponent. Thought ye'd like to know that little fact."

Clay gasped again and stared down at the envelope in his hand. Molly just stared at him with some amusement, adjusting her hat and then nodding. Suddenly she vanished in a puff of pink smoke, leaving a nearly overwhelming stench of perfume behind her.

For a minute, Clay just stood there, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Then he turned his attention to the envelope Molly had given him. He felt a knot in his stomach and hesitated to open it. The strange woman who had given him the wishing rock warned him that he had an enemy, though it hadn't actually seemed real since he had no idea who that enemy was.

Clay took a deep breath before opening the envelope and pulling out a large photo with a name written across the bottom. However, he didn't need the name to know the person who was his enemy. He recognized the boy in the picture, having seen him around his school a number of times. Clay didn't know the boy well but had always thought of him as a stuck up geek.

"Garett," Clay said, naming his enemy. He took a deep breath, wondering what he was going to do with this new knowledge.

Part 7

Garett stared down at the little pixie Pip as she began to tell him about how he was caught up in forces beyond his control. She wasn't very descriptive and he could tell she was leaving a lot out, but he listened intently so he could ask all his questions once she was finished. From what she did say though, it appeared as though he had been somehow chosen by fate, destiny or some other force in order to fight a dangerous enemy, one she claimed could destroy him and all he loved.

"Why me?" Garett asked once Pip was through. "Why was I chosen and who is this enemy you keep talking about."

"I don't know why you were chosen," Pip shrugged.

"But you have a theory," Garett said suspiciously.

Pip frowned, then reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think I'm gonna tell you."

"What?" Garett gasped in surprise.

"Think of it like a science experiment," Pip grinned. "If you fuck with it, you can invalidate the results. You were chosen for a reason and I wouldn't want to interfere in that..."

Garett grimaced, already wondering if he could wish her to answer all of his questions fully and to the best of her ability. It would certainly make things easier to find out what was going on. He was well aware of the fact that the more he knew, the more likely he was to be able to do something...rather than just stumble around.

"And who is this enemy?" Garett asked, hoping she'd at least answer that.

"Simple," Pip grinned, "It's..."

Suddenly, another voice announced, "I'll answer that question."

Garett snapped around, stunned to see a woman standing in his bedroom. It had been strange enough when Pip had appeared that he'd never thought it could happen again. However, this newcomer was barely over five feet tall. She was middle aged with a deep scowl, librarian glasses and dark hair that was pulled back in a strict bun. Even her suit was conservative and no nonsense. The only thing about her that seemed to have any real color was a blue pin in the shape of a butterfly that she wore on her jacket.

"Oh shit," Pip scowled, nervously stepping backwards.

"Who are you?" Garett demanded, trying to hide his fear. This had to be the mysterious enemy that he'd been warned about.

"My name is unimportant," the woman stated simply, glancing to Pip and then back to him. "I am here as a designated neutral party to provide you with specific information that is germane to your situation."

"Oh great," Pip rolled her eyes, "You've got a stick stuck up your ass... I guess that's better than the last time I saw you..."

The mysterious woman merely looked at Pip and responded, "As I have a familial relationship with one of the parties involved, the conditions for my own involvement in even this small matter include development of a completely impartial personality and a strict following of the rules. As for your own involvement, I believe that this is outside of those said rules..."

"But I am involved and you can't interfere without actually taking sides," Pip pointed out smugly.

The woman scowled slightly then turned her attention back to Garett, completely ignoring Pip. "As I said previously, I am here to provide you with certain information. Specifically, I am here to provide you with the identity of your opponent."

With that, she opened up a briefcase that Garett hadn't even noticed her holding. She reached in and pulled out a large manila envelope, then handed it to him without a word. After this, she withdrew a clipboard and a pen, handing those to him as well.

"Please sign and date that you have received the envelope," she told Garett.

"Um...okay," Garett blinked, signing the signature space at the bottom of the form she'd offered him.

"Initial here and here," she told him, gesturing to several places on the other side of the form.

"Is that all?" Garett asked hesitantly once he was done with the initials.

The woman looked down at the form he'd signed, verifying that it had been properly filled out. Only then did she nod, "It is sufficient."

"Good," Garett nodded, half afraid that she'd demand he sign everything in blood and in triplicate as well.

The woman merely nodded faintly, snapping her briefcase shut again. She didn't even look at Pip as she announced, "Since my business here is concluded, I will say farewell." An instant later, she was gone, leaving Garett to stare at the space she had been standing in a moment before.

"Not as flashy as usual," Pip mused, sounding a little relieved.

"You know who she is?" Garett turned to look at Pip.

Pip shrugged, then abruptly distracted him by asking, "So, what's in the envelope?"

Garett blinked, then quickly opened it to look inside. There were several large photos of a boy who looked familiar. There was even a name written across the bottom which suddenly sparked his recognition. He knew this boy from school, though they certainly weren't friends.

"My enemy is Clay?" Garett blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Why is the sky blue?" Pip asked. "All you really need to know is that he's out to get you and that he has the power to do it too."

"I mean, he doesn't seem the type," Garett said, "And what would he have against me...?" Then Garett paused as he realized what Pip had told him, "What do you mean about him having the power?"

"I really shouldn't be telling you this," Pip said conspiratorially, "but you really deserve to know what you're involved in. This Clay guy sold his soul to the devil in exchange for something that can grant wishes. Now he's doing some horrible things and I hear he even plans on taking over the world. There are some forces that don't like this and want him stopped. That's where you come in."

"Me?" Garett gasped.

"These forces wanted someone who was close enough to him to understand him and go to the places he goes," Pip explained, "But they didn't want someone who was too close to him and might be tricked. That's why they arranged for you to get the necklace. It's meant as an equalizer."

"My God," Garett gasped, collapsing onto his bed, "It's so much... It's so big... It can't be true..."

"Trust me...It's true," Pip said with a look of exaggerated innocence. "Would I lie to you?"

Part 8

When Clay walked into his school, he immediately noticed a difference in the way people were treating him. The other guys were being more respectful, stepping out of his way in the halls and generally nodding to him. The girls on the other hand were staring at him with a lot more interest than he had ever received before. He just grinned, soaking it all up and silently thanking that magic wishing rock.

Clay grinned, "I can't wait to see what Nikki thinks about the new me." Of course, he had no doubt that Nikki would like his new body since it was based off her ideal lover. Still, Clay was not only excited about that meeting but a little nervous too.

Just then, Clay noticed one of his friends standing on the other side of the hall. He stopped for a moment, staring at his friend and grinning smugly. This was definitely going to be fun showing off to his friends too, though he decided to keep the cause of his transformation secret. After all, he didn't want everyone getting jealous about him being the chosen one and having a magic wishing rock. Then again...that could be fun.

"Hey Phil," Clay greeted his friend who just stared at him blankly and asked, "Who are you?"

"It's me," Clay grinned proudly, "Clay. I got changed by magic."

"Bullshit," Phil responded with a snort, looking around, "Where's Clay at and how much did he pay you for this joke?"

"It's really me," Clay told him. "I told you... It was magic. I got a visit from a fairy godmother last night..."

Phil rolled his eyes, then snapped, "Whatever," before he walked away.

"Damn" Clay scowled in annoyance, "That didn't work out very well." Then he wondered what his teachers would say when they saw his changes and muttered, "Oh shit... This isn't going to be easy..."

He sighed, knowing that no one would believe that he was who he was. Even his own parents didn't believe him. Then again, he chuckled, realizing that this was hardly a problem.

"Let's see," Clay mused, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the magic wishing rock. "I knew it was a good idea brining this to school." He thought about he wish he'd used on his parents for a moment, then told the rock, "I wish that everyone at school would accept me as being normal regardless of how much I changed."

Clay's magic rock began to turn warm and gleam as it did every time it granted a wish, showing that it had worked. He grinned and quickly put the rock back into his pocket, then glanced around to make sure no one had noticed him making his wish. Once he was confident that no one had seen him, he turned and continued to his first period, eager to see Nikki Adams and for her to see him.

When Clay reached his first period class, he half expected the teacher to demand to know who he was. But to his relief, the teacher immediately recognized him, as did all the other students. Clay let out a long sigh of relief, thankful that the magic rock had worked. He hadn't been absolutely certain that his wish could affect so many people at once, but it had.

"This thing is fantastic," Clay grinned to himself as he took his seat.

Clay quickly noticed that most of the girls in class were staring at him, though most quickly looked away in embarrassment. Others saw that he'd noticed him and winked or blew kisses. It was strange getting this kind of attention from all the girls around him, though he knew he shouldn't be too surprised after the way girls had been looking at him in the hall. If he'd turned into Nikki Adams' ideal lover, then surely a lot of other girls would find him attractive too.

"I bet I could become a movie star or something," he muttered to himself, thinking about being the next Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom, with girls all over the world having pictures of him on their walls. It was nearly overwhelming, and he still hadn't run into Nikki. "Then again," he felt the hard lump through the side of his jacket pocked, "I'm already the chosen one."

Even though Clay was impatient to see Nikki, or at least to have her see him, he patiently waited through his first period, becoming more confident with the way some girls kept flirting with him through class. But as soon as the class was over, he immediately started for second period where he knew Nikki would be.

Clay's first encounter with Nikki was nearly everything he'd hoped it would be. The moment he stepped into the classroom, she stared at him with a look of undisguised attraction. She couldn't take her eyes off him, though after she noticed him staring she suddenly turned shy and blushed, becoming unable to meet his eyes. Clay was in delight, never having imagined that he'd get that kind of reaction from Nikki Adams.

At the same time, Clay stared back at her, stunned as always by her beauty. She was a gorgeous brunette with long dark hair, dark eyes and a body that could have come straight out of a magazine. But it wasn't just her beauty that attracted him, it was everything about her. She had the greatest smile, the smoothest voice and a laugh that somehow made everything nicer.

"Yes," he grinned in delight, taking his seat and waiting for a chance to talk to her.

The rest of the class was quite interesting for Clay who noticed that Nikki kept taking glances back at him, seeming just a little confused at the same time. He chuckled to himself, realizing that it must be strange for her to suddenly find him attractive when his wish made it so that she always thought he looked like this. It was absolutely great and it was all he could do to keep from laughing out loud.

As soon as the class ended, Clay made his way to Nikki and said, "Hi," hardly able to believe how nervous and excited he felt.

"Hi," Nikki blushed, staring at him for a moment before asking, "Did you get a haircut or something?" She gave him an odd look, still a little confused by the fact that she'd never really noticed him before when he was just so...perfect.

"Um...something like that," Clay told her with a nervous smile. "I was wondering if..."

"Yeah?" she asked excitedly.

Clay hesitated for a moment, half afraid that she'd turn him down in spite of the fact that she obviously wouldn't. "I was wondering if you'd like to maybe...go out some time?"

"Sure," Nikki responded, trying to hide her excitement. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" Clay blinked in surprise, never having hoped for anything that soon. She had a look of disappointment but he quickly told her, "Tonight would be great..."

Clay's heart raced with excitement as they agreed on a time then reluctantly went their separate ways for the next class period. He barely watched where he was going as he went down the hall, only thinking of Nikki and how much he was looking forward to seeing her that night. Of course he'd see her a few more times during the day first, but each of those times would be great too.

Then Clay suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine and stopped, looking around for the source. It only took him a second to notice the tall and skinny boy who stood on the other side of the hall staring at him with a cold expression through a pair of thick looking glasses. The other boy radiated an aura that screamed 'snobby nerd', but Clay knew this boy was more than just that.

"My enemy," he whispered with a feeling of cold dread. "Garett."

Sure, Clay had been given the information about Garett being his enemy the night before, but it had been hard picturing that nerd as any kind of an enemy. But seeing the other boy now, Clay no longer had any doubts. Garett was looking at him with a knowing expression, as though he wasn't affected by Clay's last wish, and that expression was definitely hostile too.

Clay glared back at Garett, silently daring him to try something. He drew confidence from the facts that he was the chosen one...and that he had the wishing rock right in his pocket. The two boys just stood there, glaring at each other with a cold menace and waiting for the other to make the first move. After a minute, a group of students passed between then and by the time Clay could see through them...Garett was gone.

"I don't know why you're after me Garett," Clay grimaced, "And I don't care. What I do know is that you are toast."

part 9

Garett walked through the halls of his school, shaking his head in disbelief. It was so hard to believe...impossible even, but he couldn't very well ignore the evidence of his own senses. Everything Pip and that strange old man had told him was the truth.

When Garett had first arrived in school that morning, he had gone looking for Clay, the other student who had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for power. Garett had wanted to see the other boy for himself, to see the person that he was supposed to stop. He had been skeptical at first, but that had all changed when he saw Clay with his own eyes.

"That can't be him," Garett scowled, thinking about what he'd seen.

Clay had somehow been changed so dramatically that Garett never would have recognized him as the same boy if Pip hadn't pointed him out. He now looked like one of the popular jocks or something, which he definitely hadn't been before. But what was even more amazing than Clay's transformation was the fact that no one at all seemed surprised by it. All the teachers and other students acted as though he'd always been this way.

"Pretty creepy, isn't it?" Pip whispered in Garett's ear, causing him to jump since he didn't know she was there.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, keeping his voice low. He looked around nervously, afraid that someone would see him talking to a pixie in the middle of the school hallway.

"I'm helping you," Pip responded with a shrug, then told him, "Don't worry... You're the only one here who can see me. It's one of the advantages of magic."

"Okay," Garett responded cautiously, still a bit nervous about other people seeing her. However, no one seemed to notice anything unusual.

"I'd be careful though," she smirked, "If anyone sees you, they just might think you're talking to yourself. You don't want to be hauled away by the men in white coats now do you?"

"No," Garett shook his head, trying to look as though nothing unusual was going on but not doing a very good job.

Pip hovered in the air in front of Garett, then turned around and suddenly lifted up her shirt, flashing her breasts at all the students in the hallway. When there was absolutely no reaction, she dropped her shirt and turned back to him with a smirk, "See... I'm as good as invisible."

"I guess," Garett blinked in surprise, a reaction that seemed to amuse the pixie.

"So how..." Garett paused and took a deep breath, then calmly said, "He obviously used one of those wishes you said he has to change himself, but why doesn't anyone else notice?" Pip didn't say anything to that while Garett finished the thought aloud. "He must have used another wish for that. But did he use one wish to cover everyone or does he have to make a wish for everyone one at a time?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Pip snapped in annoyance. Then she scowled, "I'd guess he probably used one wish since who the hell would want to keep making the same wish over and over."

"How many wishes does he have?" Garett asked hopefully, thinking that if Clay only had three wishes like in the stories, then he wouldn't be much problem. After all, Clay had used at least two wishes that Garett knew about.

"No idea," Pip shrugged. "It could be three...it could be three hundred. Fuck, it might damn well even be unlimited."

"If it is," Garett forced a smile, "then he probably got a real good deal on his soul." But after a quick glance at Pip, he added, "Not that I'd ever sell my own." Of course, he didn't tell her that he didn't even believe in souls or anything of the sort until very recently.

Pip didn't see to hear Garett as she was lost in her own thoughts, a calculating look on her face. "I think he may be up to something else too," she finally told Garett. "I was following Clay around and I noticed something strange..."

"I've noticed lots of strange things," Garett pointed out.

"I mean," Pip said with narrow eyes a and a faint smile, "He's suddenly getting straight A's in his classes. He doesn't seem the type, so I think the bastard is using a wish to change his grades."

"What?" Garett gasped, feeling nearly sick to his stomach. He worked hard for his good grades and the idea that someone else would cheat...would use magic to just go ahead and change their grades like that... It sickened him.

Garett grimaced in barely control anger, his hand going into his pocket almost of its own will. He clutched the magic medallion which he had planned on leaving home until Pip convinced him otherwise, his mind racing as he considered how to punish Clay for this horrible cheating. But after a minute and several deep breaths, he pulled his hand back without the medallion in it.

"Damn," Pip muttered in disappointment.

"I've got to get going," Garett told Pip with a deep scowl. "I've got to get to class..."

"What about Clay?" Pip reminded him in a harsh tone.

"I'll have to think about what to do with him," Garett told her as he started down the hallway.

"Too much thinking and not enough doing," Pip shook her head. "This fucker is really starting to get on my nerves..."

Garett hurried to his next class, his mind still swirling as he considered the problem of Clay. Anyone who was willing to sell their soul for power was dangerous enough, but give him something that could grant wishes and it made him a whole lot more dangerous. Garett didn't want to go up against something like that unprepared, and he was nothing if not good at making preparations.

While Garett sat in his class, he had his note pad opened in front of him and was writing down every idea of what he could do as it came to him. So far he had three possible ideas but there were problems with each of them. Of course he would keep thinking about it until he came up with something workable. He smiled confidently. Planning ahead always paid off and this was no different.

Unfortunately, Garett soon discovered that it was difficult to work on his problem with Clay while he was in class. The teacher was giving a lecture and he had to pay attention to that as well as write notes. Eventually, he put his note pad away and decided to wait until he got home. Once school was over and his homework was done, he'd have all the time he needed to focus on a solution without any distractions.

When history class started next, Garett found himself too busy taking a major essay test to even give any thought to Clay and the strange business of wishes. Instead, he organized his thoughts and focused on doing the best he could on the test. The other students always complained about these essay tests but he rather enjoyed the challenge. They really let him show off how much he'd learned. After he had finished his test, he turned it in and returned to his seat, feeling rather smug as he finally allowed his thoughts to return to what Pip had told him earlier.

"He doesn't have any problems helping himself with his wishes," Garett mused, thinking about how Clay had no only made himself look different but had done so much more. "He changes his grades and he seems to be a lot more popular now so he probably used a wish for that. I wonder what else he's done..."

A few minutes later, Garett's thoughts were interrupted when the teacher called out, "Garett...can you come up here for a moment?"

Garett paused in surprise, wondering what the teacher wanted. He shrugged and hurried to the teacher's desk, "Yes?"

The teacher scowled at Garett for a moment before holding up the paper he had turned in a short time ago. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"What?" Garett blinked in confusion, then took a closer look at his paper. The writing was smeared and almost completely illegible. There were even odd scribbles that he could make out a little, but they seemed to be complete nonsense. "But I didn't..."

"Do you think that I was going to automatically give you a good grade because of your past work?" the teacher demanded. "I can't believe that a student like you would get lazy and not even bother..."

"But...but..." Garett stammered, trying to defend himself and his work but having no idea how to do so. That wasn't what he'd turned in. His essays had been neat and readable...not nonsense and scribble.

"I'm horribly disappointed in you," the teacher shook his head sadly.

Before Garett could say anything in his defense and argue that the paper had been good when he'd turned it in, the timer went off and the teacher turned away from him and called for everyone else to turn in their papers as well. He stood there, trying to explain but the bell rang just a minute later and the teacher hurried out the door along with the mass of departing students.

"What happened?" Garett gasped as he staggered out of the classroom behind everyone else. "I turned it in... I studied... It would have gotten me an A. What happened?"

"HE happened," Pip exclaimed as she suddenly appeared in front of Garett. "That fucking bastard Clay found out you're supposed to stop him so he's trying to get to you."

"By attacking my test?" Garett demanded in disbelief and anger.

"He can't get you directly," Pip reminded him, "so he's getting you where he can."

"That...that bastard," Garett snarled with clenched fists. He was nearly bursting with rage. There was no doubt in his mind that this Clay had to be stopped and that he was going to be the one to do it. And after this little stunt, Garett would be more than happy to do it too. "He's going down..."

"What are you going to do?" Pip asked with a smirk.

Garett ignored her and reached into his pocket for the medallion, pulling it out and telling it, "I wish that all of Clay's teachers would give him F's."

"Is that all?" Pip asked in surprise.

"That'll teach him to mess with my grades," Garett stated with grim satisfaction, "Besides...I'm probably just giving him back the grades he had anyway."

Pip just rolled her eyes and shook her head, muttering, "At least it's a start."

Part 10

Clay sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, slowly eating the thick steak on his plate. He'd used a wish to transform the standard lunch from mystery meat into something much more enjoyable. The fact that everyone around him was staring at his lunch with jealousy and confusion, wondering how he rated something like that, only made it better.

However, Clay couldn't fully enjoy his lunch because he kept thinking of Garett. He knew without a doubt that he would have to do something about Garett soon. Garett had been given some sort of magic as well and he was about to come after Clay soon. Clay didn't want to wait for the other boy to strike first but he didn't know what to do yet.

Once Clay was finished eating, he threw what was left of his steak in the garbage, hearing groans from other students who couldn't believe he'd waste something like that. That meant little to him though as he was well aware of the fact he could easily turn another mystery meat meal into a steak or whatever else he happened to feel like with merely a few words. Then Clay started to leave the cafeteria, still lost in thoughts about what he was going to do with Garett.

Just then, something hit into Clay knocking him backward a little. He gasped, terrified that Garett was making his move. Someone was grabbing hold of Clay tightly and he scrambled to reach into his pocket until he suddenly realized that it was Nikki.

"Nikki?" Clay blinked in surprise as the sexy girl hugged him tightly.

"Hello," Nikki smiled up at him with a bit of a blush. "I couldn't resist."

Clay relaxed a little and grinned back, "You just surprised me a little."

"Sorry," Nikki apologized though she didn't really look very sorry at all. Instead, she grinned, "I can't wait for tonight..."

"Me too," Clay beamed back.

Then Nikki winked at him, "Just to give you something to look forward to," and she stretched up to kiss him on the lips. Before Clay had even realized it, she'd turned and was hurrying off down the hall, calling back, "I'll see you later."

Clay just stood there for a minute, grinning in dazed delight. Then he shook it off and started for his next class with a broad grin on his face. Even the problems with Garett and being the chosen one couldn't dampen his spirits now.

When the next class started, Clay just leaned back and mused, "I wonder what Phil's gonna say when he finds out I'm dating Nikki..." He chuckled to himself, hardly able to wait. Bragging about dating Nikki would be almost as much fun as actually doing it.

Then the teacher began to pass back the tests that they'd all taken the previous day and Clay had to shake himself out of his daydreams. When his test came back, Clay was startled to see that he'd gotten an F instead of the usual B or C that he'd been expecting. He scratched his head at that, especially since most of the answers actually seemed more or less correct when he compared them to the boy next to him.

"So why in the world did I get an F?" Clay scowled, staring at the big red letter that marked the top of his paper.

"Maybe she just doesn't like you," the other boy laughed, making Clay grumble.

"But I don't get it," Clay shook his head, You've got a B and I have most of the same answers you do."

The other boy didn't seem very sympathetic, especially when he whispered, "I heard you were kissing Nikki Adams during lunch..."

Clay blushed, then quietly admitted, "Actually, she was the one who kissed me." That seemed to impress the other boy even more.

"So what was it like?" the other boy grinned, "I mean, how did you end up with her?"

"What can I say?" Clay winked, "She likes me."

Clay thought about telling the other boy that he had a date with Nikki that very night but decided not to do so just yet. After all, there might very well be a whole lot more to tell after the date was done. That thought just caused a swirl of fantasies to rush through his eager mind and make him forget entirely about his unexpected grade.

When Clay was finished with his class and back in the hallway to his next one, he suddenly found three large guys on the football team stepping in front of him and blocking his path. His first impulse was to feel terrified that they were going to kick his ass for some reason, until he remembered that he was nearly as large as they were now. And of course, he also had a certain wishing rock.

"I've been looking for you," one of the football players said grimly.

Clay immediately recognized him as Jimmy Marks, with the two boys beside him being Ron Lawrence and Chad Deacon. They were three of the star athletes at school and had a reputation as being nice to anyone who was nice to them...and nasty to anyone who stood in their way. Clay had never fallen into either category before so didn't quite know what to make of their showing up this way.

"Look," Jimmy said with a somewhat fake looking smile, "I've heard you were hitting on Nikki and I'd appreciate it if you didn't. You see, I've been interested in her for some time and was really making some progress... I don't want you fucking up my chances." His eyes narrowed threateningly. "I hope we have an understanding."

"If you get near her again," Ron said without any attempt to appear friendly, "We're gonna kick your ass."

"You don't want to make us mad at you," Chad said almost an afterthought.

Jimmy gave Clay an almost pleasant smile as he turned to walk away, "Have a nice day..."

"What a jerk," Clay grumbled, knowing that it would only get worse when Jimmy found out about his date with Nikki that night. Then his hand slipped into his pocket and felt the magic rock. "I wonder..."

Clay had no doubt that he could take care of Jimmy and his friends with a single wish, though he wasn't sure what wish he should make or even if he should make one. There were other ways to solve problems like this, but at the same time, the idea of just wishing it away was so tempting.

It'll be easy," Clay muttered to himself thoughtfully. "I can make it so he doesn't ever bother me or anyone else again."

Clay thought about it for a minute and then laughed, "I've got it..." He chuckled to himself for another minute before reaching into his pocket for the magic wishing rock. He clutched it tightly and said, "I wish Jimmy Marks would turn into a sexy girl on the cheerleading squad. And I wish everyone at school...and everyone who knows him would think that he's always been like this."

A moment later, Clay could feel the warmth coming from the magic rock...telling him that his wishes had been granted. Then he grimaced, suddenly regretting that he hadn't done this while Jimmy was right there for him to see. It was too late now, though Clay decided that he could always wish he had a DVD recording of the transformation after he got home.

"I can hardly wait to watch it," Clay grinned. Then he felt a momentary pang of guilt for having done that to Jimmy, though he quickly shrugged it off. "He deserves it. Besides, I'll turn him back in a day or two... This way there's no way he can mess up my date with Nikki."

Clay continued chuckling to himself as he went to his next class, eager to see Jimmy again and find out how he looked. It would definitely be quite a joyful experience, though not nearly so much so as seeing Nikki after school.

During Clay's next class, the teacher surprised them all with a quiz, and to his complete shock he got another F. Clay could only stare at his quiz paper without comprehension. It had been an open book quiz and he'd actually taken every answer straight from the book. There was no way that what should have been a guaranteed A on the paper could come back as an F.

"Impossible," Clay grimaced, "It must have been graded wrong..."

Clay frowned, remembering his earlier test and the unexpected F on that one as well. There was something very strange going on here. He wasn't the best student in the school but he wasn't the worst either. There was no way he should be getting an F when he had the answers right in front of him.

"I think there's something wrong with this," Clay said, taking his quiz up to his teacher Mr. Mackey.

"You've got an F," Mr. Mackey said, not even bothering to look at the paper.

"But I've got the same answers as everyone else," Clay pointed out. "And they got A's."

"Well you've got an F," Mr. Mackey responded, reaching out with a red pen to write a second F on the paper.

Clay growled and returned to his seat, reaching into his pocket for the rock. "I wish he was wearing girl's underwear," Clay muttered, feeling the rock warm in response. Then he smiled, feeling better at having gotten that small revenge. However, that didn't answer the question as to what was going on with his tests. He sighed and absently muttered, "I wish I knew why I'm getting Fs..."

An instant later, Clay gasped as images flashed through his mind. He hadn't meant that last as an actual wish since he was merely speaking to himself, but the rock had granted it anyway. He suddenly KNEW that Garett had made a wish to ruin all of his grades. He didn't know why Garett had chosen to come after him that way and he didn't care. Clay clenched his fists in anger.

"That sneaky bastard," Clay snarled. "He's gonna pay for this..."

With that, Clay grabbed the magic rock and muttered a wish for Garett to 'shit himself' wherever he was at. But there was no response from the rock. It didn't become warm or glow in the least. Clay cursed under his breath, remembering that the weird girl who'd given it to him had said it wouldn't work on his enemy.

"He's immune," Clay reminded himself grimly, knowing that he'd have to find something else. "Maybe I'll just find him and kick his ass myself..."

Clay paused, suddenly realizing that this was a great idea. He'd kick Garett's ass. Sure, he couldn't use magic on Garett, but that didn't mean he couldn't use other things. Then again, why should he bother beating up Garett himself when he could get someone else to do it for him.

"I wish," Clay grinned evilly as he clenched the rock, "I wish Jimmy's old friends Ron and Chad would go and beat up Garett." He snickered to himself, "That will teach the bastard a lesson."

However, Clay knew that sending those goons after Garett wasn't nearly enough. Garett was after Clay for some strange reason and had shown himself to be the enemy. There was no way that Clay was going to just sit back and wait to see what Garett did next. He had a magic wishing rock for a reason and he was going to use it. Now he just needed to figure out what else he was going to do to his new enemy.

Part 11

Pip darted back and forth as she flew through the school hallway, musing on what she would do with the things she had learned. She had just spent several hours following Clay and had seen just how he'd been using his wishes. She found the idea that he'd transformed that bully into a woman quite amusing, though the wish about sending those two goons after Garett could become problematic.

"I wonder," Pip thought aloud, trying to decide how she could manipulate this knowledge to her advantage. It had been relatively easy to push Garett in the direction she wanted and warning him about the goons would certainly make him trust her even more. However, she couldn't help wondering if her purposes might be better served by not warning Garett. "I can definitely use this though..."

Then Pip paused and suddenly burst out laughing. She knew exactly what she could do with this information. She rubbed her hands together with glee, trying to decide exactly how she was going to twist the information for Garett. She would have to be careful though or he might see through her deceptions and ruin her hard work.

Suddenly, golden bars appeared around Pip on all sides. She gasped in surprise and snapped around, desperately looking all around her and seeing that she was now inside a cage. It looked like a bird cage of some sort thought he bars were intricately shaped golden wire. She paid little attention to that though and grabbed the bars, struggling to bend them far enough to escape. She struggled and struggled with no effect. The bars were unmovable.

Then Pip looked out beyond the cage, seeing a huge face staring at her. She gulped and took an instinctive step back, immediately recognize the old wizard who ran the Spells R Us shop. And he was staring at her with a deep scowl.

"It seems," the old wizard said calmly, "that my opponent Miss Chiff has found a loophole in hour agreement not to interfere directly by sending you in her stead..."

"It's not what you think," Pip stammered out fearfully, knowing full well what this wizard was capable of. "Didn't you ever think that I might be helping you win?"

The old wizard stared at her for a moment before chuckling, "No, I can't say that thought ever crossed my mind."

Pip landed on the bottom of the cage and stood up to her full but still miniscule height, "I lost a bet to that bitch once and I've been paying for it ever since. Maybe I just wanted to see her lose a bet for once."

"Perhaps," the old wizard said cautiously, staring down at Pip with a suspicious expression. "But you know very well that I can't read your mind to determine the truth of your words."

"But I can help you," Pip quickly pointed out, "I've already been helping your proxy."

"I don't dare trust you," he pointed out thoughtfully, "You've become far too much like your mistress in the many years you've served her. No, it is much better for all if you stay safely out of the way until this game is completed."

"Let me out of here," Pip demanded, shaking the bars of her cage. "C'mon... I can help you beat her..."

However, the old wizard seemed to have enough of the conversation. He ignored Pip and turned to walk away, leaving her stuck inside the bird cage, shaking the bars and screaming profanities to his back.

--------------------

Garett nervously glanced at the clock, thankful that the school day was nearly over. He'd been on his guard for most of the day and it was really beginning to wear on him. However, he didn't dare relax since he had no idea when Clay might choose to strike.

"And where's Pip?" Garett muttered, glancing around with the hope of catching a sight of the little pixie. He hadn't seen her in some time and he was starting to get worried. "What if Clay got her?" He gulped, horrified of the idea. After all, he wouldn't put anything past a person who would sell their very soul for power. "I hope she's okay..."

Garett reached into his pocket and looked over his note pad, mentally listing each and every item on there before he saw it. He had no need to look at his notes but it made him feel better to do so. He took a deep breath, thinking again about his possible means of dealing with Clay, eager to ask Pip some more questions so he could make them more efficient.

"Where is she?" he grumbled impatiently to hide his growing worry.

Then as the final bell of the day rang, Garett hurried out of his class with a relieved sigh. He couldn't remember ever being that eager to get out of school, not since one time when he was a kid and knew he had a birthday party waiting for him when he got home. Unfortunately, this time it merely meant he wouldn't have to watch his back every moment.

Just then, Garett suddenly noticed two large figures coming down the hall towards him. He recognized them as two boys from the school football team though their names escaped him since they didn't socialize in the same circles. He wouldn't have thought much of seeing them in the hall except that they were both staring straight at him and looking pissed.

"Not good," Garett gulped, suddenly having a very bad feeling about this.

"We want a word with you," one of the boys snarled menacingly. The other boy just lapped a fist into his palm, looking at Garett with a nasty smirk.

"What for?" Garett gulped fearfully, trying to back away but finding that he'd backed himself into a corner.

One of the boys suddenly punched Garett in the stomach, causing him to collapse to his knees in pain. The other boy grabbed Garett's shoulders and flung him across the hallway so that he slammed into the wall on the other side. Both of them came at him again, slowly but surely. They were obviously intending to make this encounter last awhile.

Garett rolled on the floor, nearly emptying his stomach from the punch. He winced in pain as one of them kicked his side, though he didn't think anything was broke. He was terrified and angry all at once, wishing that he could do something to make it all end. Then Garett remembered the magic necklace in his pocket.

"Please don't," he begged, reaching into his pocket for the necklace and whimpering, "I wish they'd just forget I even existed..."

The two boys paused and stood there for a moment with looks of blank confusion. "What the hell was I doing again?" one of them asked, looking to the other for an answer.

"How the hell should I know?" the second boy answered in annoyance, looking equally confused.

"I guess it's time to go home," the first boy said hesitantly, not even looking at Garett. He shook his head and then walked down the hallway with the second boy joining him.

Garett watched the two boys leave then let out a sigh of relief. He stood up, realizing as he did that he was still shaking. He gulped, deciding to get home as fast as he could. It obviously wasn't safe staying at school any longer than he had to.

"HE'S behind this," Garett told himself bitterly. He knew it. Clay must have sent his thugs to take care of him, which only proved that he was becoming a threat. "I'm getting to him..." Garett wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing though.

When Garett reached home, he locked himself in his bedroom and did his homework, impatiently waiting for Pip to show up. Eventually though he got tired of waiting, sure that something was wrong. He took the medallion and told it, "I wish I knew where Pip was." But to Garett's surprise, the medallion didn't become warm or show any sign of granting his wish. He looked around, seeing no sign of Pop. Then he gasped, "Maybe I used up all the wishes..."

Garett sat back, feeling stunned and horrified at the idea that he might have used up all his wishes. The medallion was supposed to be his weapon against Clay and he knew he couldn't do much against the other boy without it. He mentally chided himself for wasting the last wish on saving himself from the bullies.

"But maybe it's something else," he tried to calm down. "Maybe it won't work on Pip for some reason..."

Garett closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, mentally reciting some of last week’s homework to help him calm down and stay focused. After several minutes he was calm enough to think clearly again. He was disappointed that he didn't have Pip there to help him at the moment but he couldn't just sit and wait.

"I need to think bigger," he told himself, "I need to make a plan..."

Unfortunately, Garett knew that he couldn't make a very good plan unless he had more information. "And without Pip to help me..."

Garett frowned and decided to try thinking of this as a riddle. How could he possibly defeat an enemy when he didn't have enough information? The answer was to get the information. But what do you do when your source of information was missing? The answer was find another source.

"I've got it," Garett exclaimed after a moment. He picked up the medallion, hoping...even praying that he hadn't used up his wishes. He took a deep breath and said, "I wish this blank paper on my desk had a complete list of every wish Clay has already made, worded exactly how he worded them."

To Garett's relief, the medallion became warm in his hand and he could feel the strange tingling that indicated it was working. His eyes quickly went to his desk and to the sheet of paper he'd used as the target of his wish. The paper began to blur and words began to appear on its surface. It was a list...exactly as Garett had wished for.

"It worked," he gasped in relief, thankful that the medallion still had some power in it. "Now I've still got a chance..."

Garett looked over the list of wishes that Clay had made, surprised that it wasn't a lot longer. He would have expected Clay to make more wishes than this. Then as he read over the list again, he was startled by the absence of several wishes he knew Clay had made.

"It doesn't have anything about wishing for better grades," Garett frowned in confusion, "or about messing with my test..."

Garett noticed that there was also nothing about Pip on the list, but that didn't mean Clay hadn't found some other way of taking her out. For all he knew, Clay might have used a flyswatter on the little pixie or something else that didn't require a wish. But he most definitely saw the wish to send those two boys...Ron and Chad to beat him up.

"I knew he did that," Garett exclaimed smugly.

Garett sat down at his desk and pulled out his note pad to write down his thoughts as he went over Clay's wish list again and again. He scowled as he saw what Clay had done to the football player Jimmy Marks, turning him into a girl. It was horrible. And the way Clay was going after that girl Nikki...

"I wish I could get to Clay," Garett muttered to himself, knowing that his wishes couldn't directly affect the other boy. Then he thought about the way Clay had worded one of his own wishes and he gasped, "I've got it..."

Garett was nearly shaking as he read Clay's wish, making sure that it was worded the way he thought it was. Unfortunately, Garett couldn't touch Clay with any of his own wishes or this would already be done and over with. However, Clay could obviously affect himself. The trick then would be to somehow get Clay to do Garett's work for him, which wouldn't be nearly as difficult as he'd feared since Clay had already created an opening for Garett to exploit. And best of all, another of Clay's wishes gave Garett the idea of exactly how he could use that opening.

"You're going down," Garett smirked as he reached for the medallion. He held it tightly and exclaimed, "I wish Nikki Adams was a lesbian."

Part 12

Clay was absolutely delighted when Nikki showed up at his house after school. He couldn't believe his luck, even though he'd created it with one of his own wishes. His only concerns now were that his parents might do something to embarrass him...or that he might do something to embarrass himself.

"Come on in," Clay quickly ushered into his room, dodging past the awkward comments his parents had about him 'finally' bringing a girl home to meet them. "My room's back here..."

Nikki took a quick look around the room but didn't look too impressed. Instead, she turned her attention to Clay himself and grinned as she admired his body. He could see that she was just as turned on by him as he was by her, a fact which made him grin excitedly. This was exactly what he'd been fantasizing about.

"This is a nice room," Nikki said, more to just talk and get through the awkward silence than anything else.

"Thanks," Clay responded, feeling a little hesitant. He'd been dreaming of getting Nikki alone in his room, but now that they were he wasn't sure what to do. He knew what he wanted to do, just not quite how to get there.

"Did you see the big football game last week?" Nikki abruptly asked, still looking for something to talk about. "They made a great play."

"I'm not really into football," Clay admitted.

Nikki's eyes widened, "You've got the right build for it so you should try out for the team."

"Really?" Clay asked, suddenly thinking that it might not be a bad idea. He could use a wish to give himself all the football skills he'd ever need and then become a star player. He could be popular around school and could even get famous some day. He licked his lips, "I'll think about it..." It was definitely worth considering.

Clay and Nikki talked awkwardly for several more minutes, each too attracted to the other to clearly think beyond that. Finally Clay gathered his nerve and moved forward to kiss Nikki. She didn't move away as he had half feared she would but kissed him back instead, sending his heart and hormones racing.

After they kissed for several minutes, tongues going into each other's mouths, Nikki pulled back and asked, "Want to see something?"

"Okay," Clay responded with a little disappointment.

However, Clay's disappointment quickly vanished when Nikki began removing her shirt. She let Clay get a good look at her bra and cleavage before she blushed brightly and removed the bra as well. His eyes widened in awe as he saw her naked breasts, a sight he had imagined countless times. The real thing was even better.

"You can touch them if you want," Nikki said hesitantly, looking a bit embarrassed.

Clay merely nodded and licked his lips before slowly reaching out to accept her invitation. He gasped in delight, excited that his every fantasy was coming true. He silently thanked whatever had made him the chosen one and had given him the magic rock. There were definite benefits to being the chosen one.

"Careful," Nikki warned him, "they're sensitive."

Then Nikki moved a hand to Clay's crotch, making him gasp as she gently squeezed through his jeans. She looked at him with a bright blush, then bit her lip and slowly slipped her hand down the front of his jean to grab his equipment, causing him to gasp even more. He couldn't believe this was really happening.

"I just hope my mom and dad don't come in," he gulped, earning a nervous giggle from Nikki.

"That could be embarrassing," she told him. "Maybe we should wait..."

"No," he nearly blurted out, "Keep going..."

They continued to slowly explore each other's bodies for several minutes, caressing each other’s skin and getting more excited. Clay couldn't believe that he was about to get laid, and he was sure he was. With the way it was going, it was guaranteed. The only thing that could possibly ruin this was if his parents came in.

Just then a familiar musical tune began to fill the air and Clay blinked, "What the...?"

"It's my cell phone," Nikki grimaced in annoyance, reaching into her purse and pulling out the ringing phone. "Hello?" She sat there for a moment before sighing, "Yes... Okay... Do I have to...? All right..."

"What was that?" Clay asked Nikki as soon as she'd hung up.

"My dad," Nikki responded with a look of horrible disappointment. "He wants me to come home immediately because something just came up and I have to look after my baby sister for awhile..."

"Do you have to?" Clay gasped.

Nikki nodded sadly, "Yeah... I don't have much choice..."

Clay clenched his fist and cursed, "Shit..." They were so close. He watched Nikki putting her clothes back on and hesitantly asked, "Maybe we can meet up again sometime..."

"I'd like that," she grinned at him eagerly. "Maybe next time we can get a bit more privacy." She glanced to his door, indicating his parents who were still in the house.

"Yeah," Clay grinned, thinking that he could easily manage that with a wish or two.

Once Nikki was gone, Clay lay on his bed and began masturbating, fantasizing about Nikki and what had nearly happened. He cursed her parents the entire time, wishing that such a thing hadn't happened. Unfortunately, Nikki was gone and he was left with nothing but his fantasies and right hand. Neither of them was enough.

"I wish I could get my hands on her again," Clay muttered to himself.

A moment later, Clay felt a strange tingle rush over his body. He gasped, recognizing the same sensations as when he'd been transformed into Nikki's ideal lover. He immediately sat up, realizing that his body was changing again. He could feel his flesh shifting and transforming.

"But how...?" Clay gasped, pausing as he realized that he'd just made a wish a minute earlier. He looked around though and blinked in confusion as he saw that the magic rock was still sitting on top of his dresser where he'd left it. "But I'm supposed to touch it for it to work..."

Clay stared down at himself, surprised at the fact that he was transforming in the reverse of the way he had the last time. He was getting smaller and thinner. However, he quickly realized that he was changing much more than that. He was getting even shorter and thinner than he had started out. And his chest... His chest was starting to swell out into two very noticeable orbs.

"Oh shit," Clay exclaimed in horror, sure that he had to be having a nightmare or something.

Clay grabbed his chest...his growing breasts, staring at them in shock. His fingers were becoming more slender too with long nails growing from the tips as he watched. He could feel his entire body going through these changes, especially when a weird pulling sensation hit his groin. He winced, imagining what must be happening there from what he'd seen of the rest of himself. And when he reached down to grab his crotch, his fears were proven.

"It's gone," Clay gulped, "I'm... I'm a girl..."

When the transformation was over, Clay looked over his body in stunned silence, knowing that this was nothing like what he'd wished for. Then he gulped, "I wished I could get my hands on Nikki again... Maybe it turned me into her..."

Clay was horrified by the idea but strangely excited at the same time. He wanted to get close to Nikki and he couldn't get any closer than being in her body...or at least looking identical to her. He gulped and nervously went to the large mirror he now kept in his bedroom, his eyes going wide as he saw his reflection.

"Holy shit," Clay gasped.

The girl in the mirror was incredibly gorgeous...incredibly sexy, but she was most definitely not Nikki. Nikki was brunette with dark eyes, but the girl in the mirror had long golden blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. She had a knockout figure with perfect long legs, a firm but slender waist, and a pair of perfectly shaped breasts that were at least a cup or two larger than Nikki's.

"I'm not Nikki," Clay blinked, staring in amazement at the girl in the mirror but having no idea who she was. All he knew was that she was a complete and total babe.

Clay just stood there for several minutes, his eyes darting between the mirror and at his actually transformed flesh. He was confused yet curious at the same time. He couldn't help but feeling stunned by actually looking like something out of one of his wet dreams. However, it was definitely not the kind of body he had in mind for himself.

"I don't know how it did this to me," Clay muttered as he picked up the magic rock, "I mean, I didn't wish for anything like this and I wasn't even touching it when I made that wish..." He shook his head, "Well, at least I can fix it." Clay took a deep breath and told the rock, "I wish I was back the way I was before I turned into a girl."

Clay felt the tingling rush through his body again and smiled as he felt the transformation start. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, watching as he slowly started to grow taller and more athletic. His new breasts began to recede as he slowly returned to a more familiar male form. However, when the transformation was only halfway through, Clay felt something strange. The transformation seemed to hesitate and then stopped entirely. Then it began to go backwards, reversing those changes and turning him back into the sexy blonde girl he'd been staring at a minute earlier.

"No way," Clay stared at his reflection in horror and then down at the rock, "This is impossible..." Unfortunately, the girl in the mirror argued otherwise.

Part 13

Clay grimaced as he arrived at school, looking around nervously, afraid that people would point at him and start laughing. The fact that no one gave him a second look hardly made him feel better. He was just a little relieved that no one was making a scene, but at the same time it only made him feel worse.

"Damn," Clay cursed as he looked down at his now female body, feeling uncomfortable as he did so.

After Clay had been changed into a girl the night before, he had desperately tried to wish himself back to normal several times. Unfortunately, his wishes did no good. He would turn halfway back to normal before reverting into his new form as a hot looking girl. He was frustrated, furious and confused. Now Clay had to go to school as a girl, even wearing the girl clothes since his normal ones would no longer fit.

"Stupid magic rock," Clay muttered as he looked around at the other students.

Clay stood there for a minute, slowly looking around at the other students and shuddering slightly as they looked at him and saw a girl. He had been somewhat surprised to come out of his room and face his parents...only to find that they didn't think there was anything wrong. They even acted as though he'd always been a girl. Clay had been confused at first until he remembered he'd made a previous wish about them accepting his changes as normal, which apparently worked when his appearance changed again. And since he'd made a similar wish about everyone at school, everyone there seemed to think he was perfectly normal as a girl too.

"Something's really wrong," Clay grimly stated the obvious. "Garett must have done this to me somehow."

Clay scowled in confusion, trying to figure out how Garett could have possibly done this to him. After all, the strange lady who'd given him the magic rock told him that he'd be immune from the magic his enemies would try using on him. And the fact that he couldn't even wish himself back to normal... It scared him, showing that his wishing rock wasn't as powerful as he'd thought.

"I'm the chosen one," Clay reminded himself in order to gather his courage, "I can beat this...somehow."

Then Clay sighed, still not even sure that Garett had been responsible. After all, he was supposed to be immune to Garett's magic and he had made his own wish when this happened....even though he hadn't touching the rock at the time. Maybe the rock was somehow malfunctioning now. Maybe it was reaching the limits of its magic. It still worked...a fact which he'd proven when he changed his clothes to girl clothes, but maybe it was getting low on power or something and just didn't have enough energy for another big wish like changing him back.

"Maybe that's it," Clay frowned. "Maybe it needs to recharge or something." He took another look down at himself and silently wished that it would happen soon. He didn't want to be stuck as a girl like this. What would Nikki think?

Clay shook his head and started for his first class, pausing nervously when he saw his friend Phil standing around in front of the door. He gulped and hoped he could get in without Phil noticing him, though it was impossible.

"Hey, how's it going?" Phil grinned at him, acting as though there was nothing unusual with his being a girl.

"Fine," Clay responded cautiously because he knew he couldn't just say, "Lousy because I had a magic sex change last night."

"You're looking really good today," Phil told him with a look of obvious attraction that made Clay wince. He couldn't believe his best friend was hitting on him like this.

Clay grunted and shoved past the confused Phil to take his seat. This was just too weird. He had to figure how what had gone wrong with this magic wishing rock and fix it as soon as possible. And though he had no proof, he was sure that Garett was somehow involved.

It wasn't easy for Clay to just sit still for class, especially when he caught other boys giving him the eye. He winced each and every time, hating the thought that boys would look at him the same way he looked at Nikki. It just seemed wrong. It was even worse when Phil kept doing it because Phil was his best friend.

Finally, Clay reached into his pocket for the stone and took a deep breath before whispering, "I wish Phil didn't find me attractive anymore." The stone grew warm in his hand, telling him that the wish had been granted. "That should take care of that."

Clay sat back with a grin, thankful that Phil was no longer turning and staring at him every couple minutes. It made things much easier for him. However, by the time class ended, he realized that Phil was sneaking peaks at one of the guys.

"Oh shit," Clay gulped as he rushed out the door, realizing that his wish had just made Phil gay. He reached into his pocket to undo that wish on his best friend, but then hesitated. "I'll change him back later... After I get back to normal." After all, it would be much easier to deal with Phil if he wasn't coming onto him. "If I can be stuck as a girl, he can be gay for a little bit."

After that decision, Clay continued to his second class. He was annoyed by the fact that every boy seemed to be staring at him with 'that look', and he was even tempted to use the rock to turn them all gay. However, Clay kept control of himself and tried to just go about his normal daily routine as much as possible.

Eventually Clay had to go to the bathroom and he started walking into the one he normally used until some of the boys began to stare at him and snicker. He glanced down at himself and winced in remembrance, then rushed into the girl's room as fast has he could, blushing horribly.

"I can't believe I'm using the girl’s bathroom," he muttered as he ducked into one of the stalls, giving himself a mental reminder to sit down.

Clay was extremely nervous as he relieved himself, half afraid that some girl in the bathroom would point him out as a fake or scream that there was a boy in the girl’s bathroom. Nothing of the sort happened though and Clay began to relax, feeling a little less apprehensive.

"Wait a minute," Clay mused as he went to the sink to wash his hands, "I can go into the girl's bathroom without anyone thinking it's strange..." He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, staring at the hot looking girl for a minute before grinning broadly, "I can go into the girl's locker room too..."

Clay was grinning as he left the bathroom, eagerly looking forward to gym class and his chance to go into the girl's locker room. He couldn't wait to see all those girls getting undressed and maybe even showering with them. The idea of being stuck as a girl for awhile was seeming much less horrible now that he realized the opportunities that came along with it.

Maybe that's the reason this happened to me," Clay chuckled, "Now I can learn a lot more about girls before I change back. I'll bet all the guys will start coming to me for advice on how to handle them..."

Clay was almost feeling smug as he started for his next class, though his emotions quickly turned to nervousness when he saw Nikki coming down the hall towards him. He gulped, getting turned on by the sight of her and marveling at the strange sensations in his new body. He remembered very well what they'd been doing the night before and couldn't resist smiling at the memory.

Unfortunately, Clay was very well aware of the fact that his physical transformation had changed things.

"Hello Clay," Nikki purred as she came up to him, pausing for a moment to comment, "You know, I just realized how odd a name that is for a girl..."

"Yeah," Clay forced a smile, Odd..."

Then Nikki grinned, "God you look sexy." She winked at him, then came up to purr in his ear, "I so wish we hadn't been interrupted last night..."

"Me too," Clay gasped, stunned and delighted by the fact that Nikki was still coming onto him in spite of his transformed body.

Nikki licked her lips and whispered, "Maybe we can try it again tonight..."

"That...that sounds great to me," Clay responded eagerly, "I can even get my parents out of the house..." He absently patted the rock in his pocket, knowing that it would be very easy for the two of them to get the house to themselves.

"I can't wait," Nikki purred, winking at Clay before she turned and walked away with a sexy sway.

"Damn," Clay shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Nikki still liked him after... Then he grinned to himself, "This might be even more interesting than I thought."

Part 14

Garett looked at his watch, seeing that there were only a couple hours of school left before the day ended. Of course, he already knew that much but this way he could tell exactly how much time there was left until the end of class as well. He thought that always paid to be as accurate as possible.

"Where is that Pip?" Garett asked with a scowl, feeling annoyed that his miniscule advisor hadn't shown up for awhile. He wanted to ask her some more questions but he hadn't seen her since the day before. Garett had actually used his magic medallion to wish that he knew what happened to Pip, but the wish wasn't granted and he was left just as ignorant as before. "I bet Clay did something to her."

With his thoughts turning back to Clay, Garett shook his head, hardly able to believe what Clay looked like. He had actually seen Clay several times during the day but hadn't actually recognized him. It wasn't until Garett actually went to find out the results of his last wish that he discovered the beautiful girl he saw was Clay.

"But he deserves worse than that," Garett reminded himself. "No one who makes deals like that with the devil should get off so easily..."

Then Garett laughed. Just a few days earlier he hadn't believed in magic, the devil, or anything of the sort and now he was using magic to go after someone who was heavily involved in that sort of thing. Of course, Clay deserved even more punishment for whatever it was he'd done with Pip.

"I can't believe he even had the courage to come to school as a girl," Garett shook his head, surprised that he'd actually seen Clay laughing once or twice. Of course, he felt much better about the times he'd seen Clay looking uncomfortable and embarrassed. "I bet he's got something else planned for me."

Garett frowned, feeling a bit nervous and looking around to make sure Clay wasn't anywhere in sight. He let out a sigh, feeling embarrassed for reacting like that but he knew that Clay would be after more revenge. His only chance was to get Clay again and to keep getting him. He had to keep Clay completely off balance until he could figure out how to stop Clay for good.

After a minute, Garett began to write down some quick notes as to things he could use to keep Clay off balance for awhile. He came up with a few good ideas though some of them seemed just a little too vicious and nasty. Not even Clay deserved to have some of those done to him. Still, it was part of the planning process to come up with everything he could think of and then work from there.

When the class was finally over, Clay left the classroom, nervously looking around to make sure Clay didn't have someone else there to ambush him. He was still worried about Ron and Chad, afraid that they might come after him again. He sighed with relief once he saw the coast was clear and began walking to the next class.

"I've got to do something about this," Garett muttered to himself with a grimace, getting tired of having to watch his back.

Garett had just gone a little way down the hall when he noticed a beautiful looking girl who was obviously not happy. He overheard her cursing, "I can't believe everyone thinks I've always been like this... That bastard Ron even tried hitting on me..."

"What?" Garett blinked in surprise, staring at the girl. He didn't recognize her from around school but had a sinking feeling that he knew who she was. "I shouldn't get involved..." But after a minute he decided that this might be his opportunity. He hurried to the girl and said, "Excuse me..."

"What do you want geek?" the girl snapped at him with a look of disgust. Garett became even more sure that he knew who she was.

"You're Jimmy Marks, aren't you?" Garett asked, hardly able to believe that this was the same jock who caused trouble around school. In fact, if he hadn't seen Clay's list of wishes he never would have believed it himself.

"What?" she gasped in shock. "How come you remember who I am? Everyone else thinks I've always been like this..." Then her eyes narrowed, "Did you have something to do with this?"

"No," Garett quickly tried to reassure her, "But I know who did."

Jimmy stared at Garett for a moment as if sure that he was joking. Then she demanded, "Who? Who fucked me up like this?"

"It was a guy named Clay," Garett told Jimmy with a faint smile. "He used some sort of magic to get revenge on you and then made everyone else forget about who you really were."

"Clay?" Jimmy's eyes narrowed and she slammed a fist into her other palm threateningly. "That little bitch..." Then she paused, "That's a weird name for a hot babe like her..."

"Jimmy is an odd name for a girl like you," Garett pointed out, thankful that Jimmy hadn't asked about how come he remembered the old Jimmy when no one else did.

"People have been calling me Jenny," Jimmy blushed uncomfortably.

Garett nodded, trying to look sympathetic. "Maybe Clay can change you back to normal if he...if she really wanted."

"Oh yeah," Jimmy smirked, trying to look threatening but looking more cute instead. "I'm gonna mess her up good."

With that, Jimmy turned and hurried away down the hall while Garett snickered to himself in delight. He'd just found a great way to mess Clay up and keep him distracted and he didn't even have to use a wish to do it. It was only then that Garett thought that he could probably change Jimmy back to a guy, making him even more dangerous to Clay.

"No," Garett decided after a minute. "Not quite yet..." He rubbed the medallion and thought that Jimmy would be much more motivated to go after Clay if he was still stuck as a girl. Once he changed back into a guy it wouldn't be nearly so urgent. "That should keep Clay occupied while I figure out how to stop him for good."

Part 15

Clay looked at his watch and saw that the day was nearly over. Of course, he didn't need to look at his watch to know that but he couldn't resist looking anyway. School was finally about to get out and he'd be able to go home and have some more fun.

"With Nikki," Clay mused to himself.

Then Clay looked down at his still female body and scowled. He still wasn't happy about having been turned into a girl and he was definitely going to find a way back to normal. However, he grinned to himself, deciding that could wait until he'd at least had a chance to experience a little lesbian action.

"Thank God Nikki still likes me like this," Clay smirked, eager to see what his girl body felt like with Nikki. "It's gonna be interesting..."

Clay smiled dreamily as he considered all the things he could do with his new body before he found a way to change back to normal. He'd already fulfilled his fantasy of going into the girl's locker room, though it wasn't nearly as exciting as he'd hoped. It was hardly as interesting either when he was a lot better looking than any of the girl's who'd been in there at the time and he had a willing and eager Nikki waiting for him.

"And I can take some pictures of myself too," Clay grinned, thinking that it might be fun to pretend he was a model in one of those adult magazines. "Then I can look at them after I change back to normal..."

Just then, Clay suddenly noticed a girl staring at him with a strange expression. She was a goth with blue hair and a lot of black clothes. She also had some sort of pin on her leather jacket that looked like a blue butterfly. Clay frowned, not recognizing the girl and wondering why she was staring at him like that.

"Maybe she's a lesbian and has the hots for me," he suggested to himself.

The goth girl with the blue butterfly pendant continued to just stand there and smirk at him for a minute. But when Clay looked away for a moment and then looked back, she was gone. It was as though she'd suddenly vanished. He felt a faint chill run up his spine.

"I wonder if she has something to do with me being the chosen one," he muttered with a frown.

When the final bell for the day rang, Clay rushed down the hallway as fast as he could, not sure if he should find Nikki or just go home and wait for her there. Either way, it was going to be a lot of fun. He could hardly wait.

"Maybe I should figure out what to do about Garett," he muttered to himself, suddenly remembering the enemy who was after him.

But before Clay could think of anything, he suddenly found himself confronted by a beautiful girl he'd seen around school once or twice during the day. He didn't recognize her but she was glaring at him with an expression of absolute hatred.

"I think we need to have a little talk," the girl sneered.

Clay blinked in confusion, "Who are you?"

The girl looked a bit surprised, then angry. "Everyone's been calling me Jenny...but you know me as Jimmy."

"Jimmy?" Garett gasped in surprise, remembering the wish he'd made to turn the bully into a sexy girl.

Jimmy snarled, "I know you did this to me..." And with that she punched Clay as hard as she could, causing Clay to stumble backwards.

"Ouch," Clay winced, rubbing his cheek and then gasping as he realized that it didn't hurt nearly as much as Jimmy's punches normally would have. He couldn't resist snickering, "You hit like a girl..."

"You bitch!" Jimmy snarled again, throwing herself at Clay with a series of punches.

Clay scrambled to get away from Jimmy's furious assault and didn't succeed nearly as well as he would have liked. Jimmy's punches didn't hurt as much as they would have normally, but they still hurt. He was vaguely aware of students gathering around and cheering, "Cat fight..."

"I'm gonna kill you," Jimmy screamed at Clay, "Change me back right now..."

Clay desperately tried reaching into his pocket for the magic rock but he couldn't get to it with Jimmy being all over him. Suddenly he realized that Jimmy wasn't on him anymore, that someone was pulling him back. Clay saw that one of the teachers had finally arrived and was pulling Jimmy back.

Come on," one of the students called out from the crowd, "Let her go..."

Cat fight, cat fight, cat fight," several others cheered loudly.

"Oh shit," Clay gasped as he put his hand to his nose and realized that it was bleeding. Jimmy had given him a bloody nose, and from the feel of it, a black eye. He grimaced in fury, then turned and ran to get away as fast as he could. "That bastard..."

Once Clay was out the door, he finally stopped, thinking that he was safe from Jimmy. He turned and looked back down the hall, anger and resentment ready to burst. Jimmy had always been a pain and he'd thought that this would fix that problem. Obviously it hadn't. With that, he reached into his pocket for the rock.

"I wish," Clay snarled, trying to think of the worst thing he could do to get even with Jimmy. "I wish Jimmy was a nympho slut." He felt the rock grow warm to his touch and he grinned evilly, "That should teach Jimmy not to mess with me..." This his eyes narrowed, "Now I just need to take care of Garett..."

Just then, Clay noticed a woman standing a short distance away. She was blonde, good looking and wearing a gray pinstriped suit with a fedora had. She was even smoking a cigar with pink smoke. Clay immediately recognized her as Molly, that strange woman who'd come and warned him that Garett was his enemy.

"Maybe she's got something else to tell me," Clay mused, realizing that he could really use some more advice on how to stop Garett. But when Clay tried to get closer to her, she suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. "Damn..." He shook his head, "Maybe she'll show up again when there aren't so many people around."

Clay continued to stare at the space that Molly had occupied for another minute, hoping that she'd come back. But when she didn't, he shook his head and turned to go home. Nikki was going to be there in awhile and he wanted to get cleaned up before then.

Part 16

Garett looked at his watch just as he stepped into the mall. He had a very limited amount of time before he had to be home for dinner, which left him an even more limited amount of time to take care of his business at the mall.

"Where was it?" Garett mused to himself, though he didn't have to. He knew exactly where that strange Spells R Us store had been the last time he'd been here. "I just need to ask that strange wizard some questions..."

Garett hurried to where the strange shop had been, but he wasn't surprised to see no sign of it. He remembered how it had mysteriously appeared and then vanished from that very location the last time. However, he'd been hoping that it would return so he could get some more information about what Clay's magic could do, and perhaps some advice on how to circumvent it.

"At least I was able to send Jimmy after Clay without using magic," Garett smirked to himself, feeling more than a little pleased by that little bit of cleverness. "I just wonder how Jimmy did..." Then he sighed, knowing that he'd find out soon enough.

After walking around the mall twice without seeing any sign of that strange shop, Garett decided that he might as well give up. He looked at his watch again, annoyed that he'd wasted so much time on this. He still had several school projects that he needed to do and which he could have been working on instead.

"If I get a bad grade because Clay was distracting me..." Garett scowled intently, "I'll really make him pay."

Then Clay paused as he suddenly noticed something strange. There was a beautiful blonde woman standing across the hall, dressed in a gray suit with a hat that made her look almost as though she was dressed as a gangster for Halloween. The strange thing about her though was that she was smoking a cigar that had pink smoke coming from it. That and the fact that she was staring at him.

The woman kept watching Garett with an unreadable expression as she put her hand into her pocket and pulled out an old fashioned watch on a chain. She finally looked at it, nodded faintly, then put it back into her pocket.

Garett stared at the woman for moment then began to walk towards her. He had a funny feeling about this woman and knew that she was somehow mixed up in what was going on with that wizard and Clay. However, he didn't know which side she was on but he planned on finding out.

"Who are you?" Garett demanded of the woman.

She raised an eyebrow, "What's it to ya kid?"

With that, she blew a stream of pink cigar smoke into his face, causing Garett to cough and gag. It smelled like perfume rather than the foul cigar smell he had expected, but it was still strong and caused his eyes to tear up. When he wiped his eyes and looked back, he was surprised to find that the woman was gone. He looked up and down the mall hallway but didn't see any signs of her.

"Where'd she go?" he asked, having a chill go down his spine as he remembered the way that the wizard's store had vanished. "Who is she...?"

Garett thought about these questions for a minute before deciding that he knew exactly how to find out the answers. He reached for the magic medallion and said, "I wish to know who that woman was." However, the medallion didn't get warm or show any signs of granting his wish. He tried again several more times, phrasing it differently and wishing the answers to be written on a piece of paper. None of the attempts did any good, making Garett wonder if the medallion had ceased working.

"Who is she?" Garett demanded in frustration. He hated being left in the dark like this and was in a bad mood as he hurried out of the mall so as not to be late for dinner.

When Garett reached his house a short time later, he was startled to see a little girl skipping with her jump rope on the sidewalk out front. She was a little black girl of about 6 or 7, wearing a pink shirt with a bright blue butterfly on the front. Garett absently wondered who she was as he walked past, then paused as something struck him as familiar.

"A blue butterfly," he said thoughtfully, remembering the strange woman who'd given him the information on Clay. She had a pin with a blue butterfly on it, and it had looked almost exactly like the one on the girl's shirt.

Garett quickly turned and went back to talk to the little girl, but she was no longer on the sidewalk. Like the woman at the mall, she seemed to have vanished without a trace. However, he quickly noticed that she actually had left a trace. There was a blue butterfly drawn in chalk on the sidewalk where she'd been.

"I didn't see that before," Garett whispered nervously, feeling more and more uncomfortable with these strange people who kept appearing and disappearing.

Garett clutched the medallion, thinking about wishing to know about the little girl but fearing it wouldn't tell him. It hadn't helped him with the other woman. In fact, Garett wasn't even sure that the medallion was still working. For all he knew, he might have already used up all his wishes.

"That would not be a good thing," Garett scowled, thinking about how he still had to deal with Clay. "I'll have to test it and see if it still works..."

With that, Garett went back inside for dinner, but he was unable to stop thinking of the strange things that were going on. Nor could he stop thinking of the stranger people who were involved in some mysterious fashion. He had a growing feeling that there was much more going on than he knew, which didn't sit well with him at all.

--------------------

Elsewhere, Molly the fairy godmother leaned back against a tree, taking a long drag from her cigar and then blowing clouds of pink smoke over her head. The smoke shifted and swirled, taking forms of small objects that caught her fancy. A hot air balloon made of smoke followed a bird and a sail boat while a dancing sheep led the way.

Suddenly a voice asked, "Whatcha doing?"

Molly turned to look at the little black girl who stood beside her, staring up with wide eyed amazement. The goddess of transformation had chosen a very innocent look this time, though the fairy godmother wasn't at all fooled. She knew that the goddess of transformation was anything but an innocent child, no matter what she might seem.

"I'm thinkin," Molly responded with a scowl.

"About what?" the goddess asked innocently.

"You know damn well what," Molly glared down at her. "Besides, I thought you wasn't gonna get involved in this anymore..."

"Maybe I changed my mind," the diminutive goddess giggled.

"I should certainly hope not," a new voice said.

Molly and the goddess of transformation both turned to stare at the newcomer, the old wizard in the bath robe. And almost as if on cue, Miss Chiff appeared beside him, grinning with amusement as she looked them over.

"We rely on you two to be impartial," the old wizard stated with a bow of his head. "One to be a judge...and the other a witness."

"Fine," the goddess of transformation snapped in an annoyed tone. Suddenly she began to change, growing older and larger, becoming an elderly Asian woman. "I'll stay to the sides....for now."

"Boring," Miss Chiff rolled her eyes.

"Do you want her working against you?" the wizard asked her with an arched eyebrow.

"Not really," Chiff shrugged, "But it might be interesting to see what she did..."

"I think we have enough to interest us at the moment," he smiled faintly while Chiff shrugged.

Molly looked at Chiff and the wizard, taking a drag from her cigar and saying, "I know whatcha want and I ain't gonna tell ya..."

"What's that?" Chiff asked with mock innocence that didn't fool anyone present.

"You two wanna know who’s winning," Molly stated, pulling out her gold watch and looking at it carefully. "The game ain't over yet and I ain't about to blab my thoughts till it is. Now shoo, I've got some of my own business to take care of for a bit..."

"And what might that be?" the apparently elderly goddess of transformation asked with a polite smile.

"I've got some schmuck to grant a wish for," Molly shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he'll be making it tonight and I wanna be ready. Don't worry though, I'll be keeping an eye on your game. I ain't forgotten my job as judge here."

"See that you don't," the wizard gave her a steady look, then glanced at Chiff, "Someone might try to bend the rules..."

"Hey," Chiff protested defensively, "I never break the rules..."

"No," the old wizard chuckled, "But you bend them until they're unrecognizable."

"As fun as this is," Molly finally said, "I've gotta get going." Then she looked at her pocket watch again and added, "You'll find out who won your little bet before long."

"I can't wait to get the Ring of Loki," Chiff grinned at the wizard.

The wizard merely shrugged, "We shall see."

And with that, all four of them turned and started walking in different directions, each vanishing after mere moments so there was no sign they had ever been there.

Part 17

Clay leaned back and smirked as he thought about the night before and just how good it had been. Nikki came over, just as they'd planned. And with just a single wish from his magic rock, he'd sent his parents off on a date which left him and Nikki with all the privacy they'd needed.

"Damn that felt good," Clay grinned as he remembered how they'd made out. His current body was certainly different from his male one, but he had to admit that there were definitely some advantages. For one, he felt some things that he never would have felt as a guy. "Now I only need to switch back so I can compare..."

Then Clay sighed, still not having any idea about how he could switch back to normal. He'd tried wishing himself back to being a guy several more times to no effect. The most that would happen was that he'd change halfway back to normal then revert back to being a girl. It seemed that he was stuck for now.

"I've got to figure out how to get back to normal," he told himself firmly. But at the same time, he couldn't resist chuckling, "At least being stuck like this for awhile isn't too bad..." He grinned even more when he thought about how he'd already asked Nikki to come over after school again. This was going to be fantastic.

After a few minutes of just thinking about the night before and about how it was going to repeat, Clay finally turned his attention back to the teacher and the lecture. He wasn't sure why he bothered though since it seemed that the teachers were all dead set on giving him straight Fs in class. He'd failed a quiz the day before and he'd been having problems the day before that.

"I wonder if Garett's responsible," Clay mused to himself, suddenly thinking that it was a bit suspicious. Sure, he wasn't the greatest student, but there was something wrong when he got an F on an open book quiz and had the same answers as everyone else.

But before Clay could continue with that line of thought, he heard a few boys several seats over talking. They'd been talking for awhile though he hadn't paid any attention until now. He turned to look but tried to pretend that he wasn't.

"Man, that Jenny Marks is something," one of the boys exclaimed, "I mean, she jumped me and damn near raped me last night..."

"I heard someone caught her giving Tom Coogan a blow job before school this morning," a second boy snickered. "Damn, it's like she's some kind of nympho slut..."

"Yeah," the first boy chuckled with delight. "I'm gonna look her up again at lunch and see if she's up for it again..."

"I might have to do that too," the second boy agreed.

Clay just listened to them quietly continue and chuckled to himself. It seemed that his little revenge on Jimmy Marks was paying off even better than he'd imagined. He felt a brief jab of guilt for doing that to Jimmy, but it quickly passed. After all, if he was stuck as a girl it only seemed fair that a jerk like Jimmy should be too. And since Jimmy kept trying to beat him up all the time, Clay thought this might keep him too distracted to cause any more trouble.

"That's what he gets for coming after the chosen one," Clay smirked to himself.

After a minute though, Clay decided that he just might take pity and Jimmy and turn him back...after a few more days. That would surely teach him not to ever mess with Clay again, and Clay felt rather pleased with his plans for mercy. After all, the chosen one could afford to be merciful, especially when he had a magic wishing rock.

Unfortunately, Clay realized that he still needed a way to deal with Garett. Since his magic wishing rock wouldn't work on Garett directly, he needed to figure out something else. He tried though it didn't do much good. In fact, all that thinking about it just gave him a headache instead. Clay continued thinking about the problem of how to deal with Garett even after the class ended. He wandered to one of the vending machines down the hall and bought a bottled water.

Clay leaned back against the wall and stuck a hand into his pocket, caressing the magic rock as he absently mused, "I wish I had something that could change Garett..."

Suddenly, Clay felt the rock grow warm to the touch while the bottle of water began glowing in his hand. He was so startled by this that he accidentally dropped the bottle of water. After the glow faded, he slowly bent to pick the bottle up again, noticing that it had somehow changed. The bottle was a different shape and had a completely different wrapper on it.

"What's this?" Clay blinked in surprise, not having intended to make a wish at all. Then as he looked at the wrapper, his eyes went wide, "Wow..."

Clay stared at the label for a full minute, half sure that it had to be some kind of joke. But it had come when he'd made his wish so it had to be real. And since he'd wished for something that would work on Garett, he was sure that this would.

"Very cool," Clay grinned broadly, reading the label, "Pure Fountain of Youth Water." Then he frowned, "But how in the world do I get Garett to drink this?"

Clay scowled thoughtfully for several minutes as he considered the bottle of water, trying to decide how he could make use of it. When nothing came to him, he decided to do what he rarely did...read the directions on the back. It was simple enough to use. All he had to was get Garett to drink a small amount of the water. But that still left him with the same problem. Then Clay saw the warning label on the side.

"That's it," he exclaimed excitedly, grinning as he had the perfect idea of how to use it.

Since the magic rock couldn't just summon something from nothing, Clay had to find some loose garbage in the nearest trash can that he could use for another wish. A few minutes later, Clay held a small Super Soaker squirt gun in his hand, filled with the fountain of youth water. Only afterwards did he realize that he could have just changed the bottle itself.

"Perfect," Clay grinned evilly.

The warning label on the bottle had clearly stated not to come into prolonged contact with the water as it could be partly absorbed through the skin. It might not be nearly as effective as having Garett drink it, but soaking him in it should have the same kind of effect. And this was the perfect way to do it.

"But I've got to make sure it works first," Clay told himself grimly, knowing that it would be a mistake to use this on Garett without making sure it did what he thought it would. "I need to test it on someone..."

Clay thought about this as he walked to his next class with the squirt gun hidden in his bag. Then as he took his seat, he decided that this would be the perfect place to test his new weapon. He carefully reached into his pocket for the magic rock and made a wish that would ensure no one but him noticed what was to come.

"Take this," Clay laughed aloud as he stood up and opened fire, squirting the teacher and several kids who'd always annoyed him. None of them seemed to notice his actions, even as the water dripped down their faces. He got so carried away that he even continued to shoot half the kids in the class before he finally sat down. "I probably shouldn't waste this..."

Clay frowned in disappointment when nothing seemed to happen and class continued on as though nothing had. However, halfway through class, Clay began to notice the changes. His eyes went wide as he saw several girls adjusting their new too loose bras. Several boys looked younger and smaller as well. Even the teacher looked several years younger.

"It does work," he exclaimed in delight. "It's just slow this way..."

Clay continued watching his teacher and classmates become younger, though it seemed to stop after they'd only last a few years. Still, it was enough to make him grin evilly, knowing that he now had the perfect weapon to use against Garett.

"I can't wait," Clay clutched his squirt gun possessively, "I can't wait to see the look on his face..."

Part 18

Garett was a little nervous as he stepped into the lunchroom and paused to look around for any sign of Clay or any other threat. He let out a faint sigh of relief when he saw that there wasn't one. He'd been increasingly jumpy ever since Clay sent Ron and Chad after him and he didn't want to get caught in some other ambush.

"I just wonder what he's going to try next," Garett grimaced, opening his notebook and looking over the list of ideas he'd had for dealing with Clay. The sight of the list made him feel more comfortable, as though it were a security blanket that could somehow guarantee his safety. "I'm going to stop him though..."

Just a few minutes later, Garett was sitting alone at a table just as he normally did. He wasn't completely alone since he was surrounded by other students, but he didn't know who most of them were and never shared a word. Instead, he focused on eating his lunch and ignoring their mindless chatter.

Garett was in the middle of eating when suddenly he felt something cold and wet hit the back of his head. He gasped and bent over while everyone around him started yelling. He looked up to see a stream of water shoot past him and it the girl sitting on the other side of the table.

"Fucking bastard," the boy beside Garett snarled. "If I get my hands on him, I'll shove that squirt gun up his ass..." Other students nearby echoed those sentiments.

"Just great," Garett scowled, running a hand through his wet hair and wishing he had a dry shirt. Of course, he could simply use his magic medallion to wish himself dry, but that seemed like a waste of a wish, even if he wasn't surrounded by witnesses. Then he looked at his lunch plate and grimaced, "He even got my food wet too..."

Shaking his head, Garett went back to eating his lunch, wishing that he'd at least seen who'd done it so he could turn them in. After all, any jerk who ran around the lunch room squirting people with water deserved to be suspended. Garett just hoped that someone beat him up for it first.

"But I can't worry about that now," Garett reminded himself, "I've got more important things to worry about... Like Clay..."

Garett tried thinking of new ways of dealing with Clay as he ate, then paused to shift uncomfortably. His clothes felt a little more loose on him than usual, though he didn't give it much thought. He absently tugged on his shirt, then turned to write some new notes into his note book.

When Garett was finished eating, he looked up and noticed the girl across from him adjusting her bra and frowning. Her shirt was a bit loose in front and he decided that she'd obviously been stuffing it. She barely even looked old enough to go to high school, though he could have sworn he hadn't thought so earlier. It was hard to be sure though since he hadn't actually paid any attention to the people around him. But now that he thought about it, most of them looked kind of young.

Garett got up and left the table, discovering that his clothes were even looser than he'd thought. He frowned in confusion. They'd fit him just fine earlier but now his pant legs were dragging the floor and his feet were sliding around a little in his shoes. Something was definitely wrong though Garett didn't know what it was just yet.

Just then, another boy exclaimed, "Hey kid....the junior high is down the street..." He burst out laughing and walked away.

"What's up with him?" Garett demanded, gulping as he suddenly realized that the boy had been taller than him. But Garett knew that boy. They had several classes together and Garett was definitely taller than him. "Oh no..."

Garett thought about the way everyone sitting next to him at the table had looked young and he turned back. The few who remained definitely looked too young for high school. It was only the ones who'd been sitting next to him as well. Everyone else at the table seemed to have been fine.

"Clay," he gasped in horror, knowing that Clay was somehow responsible for this. "But how..."

Garett turned and ran out of the lunch room as fast as he could though he kept stepping on his pants legs. Then he slipped and fell face first in the middle of the school hallway, one of his feet nearly coming right out of his shoe. Garett quickly got back to his feet and rushed to the nearest bathroom, knowing that he had to get some privacy and that was the only place in school he'd be able to get even a little.

When Garett got to the bathroom door, he was surprised to find that it seemed so much bigger than before. He gulped in terror, especially when another boy stepped out the door and looked down at him. Garett was short compared to the other student.

"Oh no," Garett whispered, staring down at himself and his now very large clothes. He was practically swimming in them. "I...I'm shrinking..."

Garett quickly rushed inside the rest room, turning to look into the mirror but having a hard time. It was too high for him. He had to jump up to get a good look at himself and when he did, he could only gasp in even more horror. The image staring back at him was identical to the picture his mom had on the living room wall...taken when he was only 8 years old.

"I...I'm a kid," Garett gasped, feeling completely and totally stunned. "But this can't... Clay... How...?"

Garett shook his head, sure that something was severely wrong. When that strange old man had given him the magic medallion, he'd told Garett that he would be immune to any direct use of Clay's magic. He should be immune from this. Clay shouldn't be able to do anything at all to him...

"But I got Clay," he reminded himself, thinking of how he'd used Clay's own wish to be Nikki's ideal lover against him. "But I never made any wishes that could do something like this to me..." He shook his head, thinking of the other students at the table who'd looked younger, "It must have been that water..."

Just then, another student started to come into the bathroom. Garett paled, not wanting to be seen like this. He quickly rushed into the stall before anyone could see him. He sat down on the toilet seat and stared at his hands. They were little kid hands. He looked down at the rest of his body, at his oversized clothes, feeling a cold dread.

But after a minute, Garett realized that this wasn't really much of a problem. He remembered the magic wishing medallion in his pocket and smiled. That could fix him with no problem. After all, this was the kind of thing he'd been given it to in order to prevent. But when Garett reached into his pocket, he found it empty. The medallion was gone.

"Oh no," he gasped, suddenly realizing that it must have fallen out of his pocket when he'd fallen in the middle of the hallway. "I've got to get it..."

Garett ran out of his stall and promptly fell on his face again, right in the middle of the bathroom floor. A student turned to look at him from the urinal, a look of surprise on his face. "What the hell?" the other boy exclaimed, "What's a kid doing in here?"

"I'm not a kid," Garett snapped, trying to maintain what little dignity he had left. He picked up the legs of his pants to keep from tripping on them then hurried back down the hall as fast as his oversized clothes would let him. "I'm going to kill Clay for this..."

When Garett reached the place in the hallway where he'd tripped, he looked all over but didn't see the medallion on the floor. He gulped, a cold chill spreading through his body. He stared down at himself with an even greater horror than before. Not only had he been turned into a little boy, but he'd lost the only thing that could change him back.

"I'm in BIG trouble," Garett whispered with a sinking dread, not having any idea of what to do now.

Part 19

Garett stared down at himself with a sinking horror, trying to make sense of what had happened to him and how. He had been turned into a little kid of about 8 years old and he had no idea how Clay had done it. It had to be that water, but that still made no sense. The wizard who'd given him the magic medallion had assured him he was protected from Clay's power.

"He found some way around it," Garett shook, wondering how it could be possible. He'd found a way around Clay's protection by using one of Clay's own wishes, but he hadn't left himself open like that at all. "How do I get changed back...?"

Garett looked up and down the hall, not seeing any sign of the magic medallion which had fallen out of his pocket. He gulped in a near panic as he thought of the fact that he might be stuck as a little kid. Without that medallion, he didn't have any way to change himself back. His only choices were to find it...or to somehow get Clay to change him back.

"And that's not likely," he winced in dread.

Garett stood where he was for several minutes, too confused to move. He couldn't think of what his next step should be. After he'd calmed down a little, he focused on the idea that he needed to find the medallion. He picked up his clothes as much as he could so he wouldn't trip and started down the hall again.

Before Garett had gone very far, he suddenly found himself confronted by a giant. He looked up and gulped, realizing that it was a teacher who was blocking his way and staring down at him in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" the middle aged man demanded, "And why are you dressed like that?" He shook his head, "If this is someone's idea of a joke, it's not funny..."

Garett gulped and tried to get around but the teacher put a hand on his shoulder and prevented him from going anywhere. "Let me go," Garett said, feeling terrified at being manhandled so easily.

"You don't belong here," the teacher told him with a scowl. "Let's take you to the office where they can figure out what to do with you..."

"But I'm a student here," Garett protested weakly, knowing that it sounded absolutely ridiculous considering his new age.

"Enough nonsense," the teacher snapped and pushed him towards the office. Garett tried to resist but got a quick swat onto his rear for his effort and he was still pushed along.

Just a few minutes later, Garett was sitting in the school office while the teacher explained how he'd found Garett wandering the halls. When they started asking Garett for his name and information, he grew afraid that they'd find out who he really was and then he'd be in even more trouble. He doubted anyone would believe that he was really a student here or that he was really 17 years old.

"I'm Gar..," he started, then finished, "I'm Gary..."

He gulped as he looked up at the teachers, not sure how he could explain being in the school or wearing oversized clothes. Fortunately, they provided explanation for him by deciding that one of the students had been playing a prank on the teachers by bringing his little brother to school. Garett decided to play along with this since it made more sense than anything else.

"Now who brought you here and dressed you up like this?" someone asked him gently. "What's your last name?"

Garett pretended confusion and the school administrators who were talking to him were too afraid of scaring him any more to push the issue too much. But when they started to call the police about him, he gasped, realizing that things were getting even worse for him by the minute.

"Oh no," Garett gulped, suddenly imagining getting caught up in the foster system and sent to live in some orphanage since they wouldn't be able to find his parents. "I've got to get fixed..."

Garett waited until the administrators were distracted, then he slipped out of the school office. He ran down the hall as fast as he could with his oversized clothes, knowing that they'd be after him soon. He was only glad that it was during class so the halls weren't filled with students who'd grab him and give him back.

"I've got to hide," Garett exclaimed, looking around desperately for a place they wouldn't be able to find him.

Garett ducked around the side of a vending machine and glanced around the corner only to see one of the administrators coming down the hall. He pulled himself back further and held his breath, letting it out only after the administrator had passed without seeing him.

"I've got to find the medallion," Garett told himself with a growing sense of desperation. "Maybe I should have asked if someone had turned it into lost and found while I was in the office..." He winced, knowing that it was too late for that now.

After waiting another minute, Garett peaked out from his hiding space to make sure it was safe, then he made his way down the hall again, keeping an eye out for any teachers or administrators. He cursed the whole time, wishing that he'd cut classes before this happened so at least he'd have more experience to draw on. As it was, he'd never done anything like this before and was terrified of what would happen if he got caught.

"I need to figure out what to do," Garett grimaced to himself, wishing he had a plan. He wished he had his notebook on him so he could write down ideas and help make a plan. "I need to think this through..." Unfortunately, he was well aware that he didn't have the time to figure out all the variables and come up with a strategy. And without a well thought out plan of what to do, he was left with no idea.

Just then, Garett saw a woman stepping around the corner. He gasped and looked for a place to hide, only to realize he'd seen this woman before. It was the strange gangster looking woman with the cigar that he'd noticed following him on several occasions

"Ma'am," he called out to her, "You've got to help me... I know you're involved in this..."

However, the woman just stood there staring at him with a strange expression. She pulled a golden pocket watch from her pocket and looked at it, then shook her head. After giving him one more look, she turned and went around the corner again.

"Ma'am," Garett called out again as he ran after her, "Miss..."

But when Garett turned around the corner himself, there was no sign of her other than a small cloud of pink smoke that spelled of perfume. He grimaced, thinking about the way she'd looked at him and at that watch. He wasn't sure what was going on but he had a feeling that time was running out.

Part 20

Clay was absolutely stunned when he saw Garett standing in the school hallway, never expecting him to be so small or young. Not with a single spray of fountain of youth water. The only way Garett should be that young was if he'd drank some of the water instead of just getting it on his skin.

"I sprayed him while he was eating lunch," Clay gasped in to himself, "Some of it must have gotten in his food..."

Clay just stood there for a moment with the squirt gun in hand, grinning as he realized how easily this had been. He'd been expecting to ambush Garett and shoot him several times to get him that young. Now he'd been able to do it with only one, thanks to the water getting into Garett's lunch.

"Perfect," Clay smirked, making sure to stay back so Garett wouldn't see him.

Though Clay was trying to avoid being seen by his rival, he had no such fears about the teachers. Thanks to a wish he'd made a short time ago, none of the teachers would care if they saw him in the hall between classes. That meant he had the freedom to go around school and follow Garett.

"Too bad it won't work on him," Clay sighed, thinking about how much simpler everything would be if he could simply wish Garett into leaving him alone. "Of course, there wouldn't be any need for a chosen one if it was that easy..."

After watching Garett run down the hallway and hiding from sight for a few minutes, Clay decided that it was time to act. He clutched the squirt gun tightly in his hand, laughing evilly as he thought about turning Garett into a toddler. He couldn't wait to see the look on Garett's face.

Clay made his way closer to Garett, trying hard not to be seen. Once he was close enough, he thought about shooting Garett from behind again but decided against it. He wanted to see Garett's expression.

"There you are," Clay exclaimed, laughing when Garett jumped and snapped around to face him. It was even funnier when Garett tripped over his own baggy pants and nearly fell on his face. "You're a lot smaller than I remember you being..."

Garett stared up at Clay with a look of horror on his face, especially when he saw the squirt gun in Clay's hand. He knew that this water was what had somehow made him shrink and he knew that being sprayed again would not be a good thing.

"How did you do it?" Garett gulped, hoping to gain information and stall for time. He still couldn't understand how Clay had changed him when he was immune to Clay's magic...or at least when he thought he was. He really wished that Pip was around to ask. He still had no idea what had happened to her, though he knew Clay had to be responsible for that too somehow.

Clay just grinned, feeling rather smug. "I've got fountain of youth water." He tapped the squirt gun, wondering if he should have told Garett that. Then again, there wasn't much Garett could do at the moment.

"Fountain of youth water," Garett gasped, hardly able to believe it. He stared at Clay, wondering how the other boy could have figured that out. He'd never thought of Clay as being all that bright...just impulsive.

"You know," Clay smirked, "You really shouldn't be wearing big boy clothes anymore..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the magic rock. Garett's eyes widened at the sight of it as he realized that this was the source of Clay's magic. This was what he was making his wishes on. This was what Clay must have sold his soul for. Clay just grinned, "I wish Garett had little kid clothes on..."

For a brief moment, Garett had been completely terrified but he let out a sigh of relief when Clay made that wish. He stared down at his clothes which were all shrinking on him. Within moments his clothes fit him perfectly again, though they were hardly the same style. He was now wearing clothes more appropriate for a little boy, including a shirt with a picture of Pixar's Buzz Lightyear on it.

"That's better," Clay said with a nod of satisfaction. Then he paused, "I guess I'll have to change them again in a few minutes." He snickered, "You're gonna be wearing diapers next..."

Just then, the bell started to ring and students rushed out of classrooms to fill the hallway. Garett took advantage of the distraction to turn and run as fast as he could. Clay grimaced and started to squirt after him with the Super Soaker. And though Clay hit nearly a dozen other students, he missed Garett entirely.

"Damn," Clay grimaced, "I've got to get that little bastard before he comes after me next..."

Clay ran after Garett as fast as he could, though he was hard to see him through the thick crowd of students. He cursed as he ran, wondering how come it was so difficult to catch a little kid...or at least someone who was the size of one.

"I'm gonna get him for turning me into a chick," Clay grimaced, though he still didn't know how Garett had managed it. "I'll turn him into a little girl by the time I'm done. He'll be wearing pink diapers..."

Clay caught sight of Garett and shot at him again, missing entirely though one girl got caught alongside the head. Clay felt a momentary pang of guilt but kept chasing after Garett, promising himself that he'd take care of the innocent bystanders once he was done with the real problem.

Garett ran up the stairs to the second floor and Clay chased after him, firing several more shots of squirt gun. Unfortunately, Garett was a hard target to hit while dodging between other students. Clay lost track of how many students he'd sprayed by accident, focusing instead on how much closer he was getting.

Then as Garett turned the corner, he found himself flying forward and landing face first on the floor. Garett laughed as he got back up, pleased that his plan to trip Clay had worked. Clay reached for his squirt gun which he'd dropped, only to stare in horror at the split along the side of it. It had burst open and all the water had poured out. His eyes went to the edge of the railing where the water was dripping onto the floor below, and probably right onto the heads of unsuspecting students.

"You're dead," Clay snarled as he got back to his feet, determined to throw Garett over his knee and spank him. That would teach Garett not to be such a bad guy. Now he only needed a few wishes to make sure Garett couldn't get away. But when Clay reached into his pocket for the magic rock, he gasped to find it empty.

"Are you looking for something?" Garett asked with a smirk, holding up the magic rock which had fallen out of Clay's pocket during his fall. Garett was particularly pleased with himself and his quickly thought of plan. If he could lose his magic medallion while falling, it only seemed right that Clay could lose his magic rock. Now Garett had it and was the only one able to make wishes.

"Oh shit," Clay gasped in horror as he stared at the magic rock in Garett's hands.

Garett just clutched the rock tightly and stared at Clay with an evil grin as he began, "I wish..."

Part 21

"I wish Clay would turn into a toddler," Garett exclaimed with an evil grin, eager to bring Clay down to his size and even smaller.

"Oh shit," Clay exclaimed, staring at Garett and the magic wishing rock in his hand with horror.

A moment later, Clay gasped at the feeling of his body changing again. He grabbed at his chest, at the breasts he'd started to get used to possessing. They were beginning to deflate on him while his clothes seemed to grow bigger. However, he knew that it wasn't he clothes that were growing but him that was shrinking.

"You bastard," Clay snapped out angrily, sounding like a little girl.

Clay stared down at himself in horror, grabbing his now completely flat chest and then his crotch. It was just as empty as before so he wasn't turning back into a boy in spite of his missing breasts. He winced, then glared at Garett furiously, wishing he could do something but knowing that he was about to become even smaller and more helpless than Garett

But when Clay was the same size as Garett, his shrinking stopped and then began to reverse. He felt a surge of delight as he realized that it was just like the times he'd tried wishing himself back to normal. It just didn't work. He'd change halfway, then go back to being a hot looking girl. For once, he was more than happy to be turning into a hot teenage girl again. It was a hell of a lot better than being a 2 year old girl.

"What?" Garett gasped, staring at Clay in surprise. Then he realized what was wrong and exclaimed, "On no... I forgot..."

Clay was nearly back to his full size and jumped at Garett, taking advantage of the other boys surprise to grab the magic rock back before it could be used again. The rock fell out of Garett's hand and hit the floor with a loud thud. They both stared at the rock for an instant before Clay dove at it. Garett knew he wouldn't stand a chance of wrestling it away from the larger Clay so turned and ran down the hall again as fast as he could.

"Why didn't I think of a better wish?" Garett demanded of himself angrily. "Why didn't I wish myself back to normal?" Unfortunately, he knew that he'd been so caught up in trying to hurt Clay that he hadn't even thought of taking advantage of the opportunity to fix his own condition while he could. "Why...?"

Clay picked up his magic rock and looked around angrily. "I can't believe that brat tried doing that to me..." Unfortunately, he didn't see any signs of Garett, who'd successfully vanished from sight. He looked down at his chest which pushed out impressively, feeling a strange relief at seeing those breasts again. "At least this is better than being a toddler..."

After taking a moment to be relieved that he wasn't a small and helpless toddler, Clay turned and began going down the hall as fast as he could, looking for Garett. He knew Garett couldn't have gone far with those little legs, and he couldn't do much with his own magic or he would have already. Clay wasn't sure why Garett wasn't using his own magic anymore, but he was grateful for it.

"Maybe he ran out of magic," Clay mused absently. "I sure hope so..."

Clay turned a corner and looked down the hall for any sign of Garett, then paused with a loud gasp as he saw a familiar woman standing a short distance away. It was that strange Molly woman who'd warned him about Garett. She had cigar with pink smoke coming from it between her lips as she glanced at him and then at the pocket watch in her hand. Then she smirked slightly.

Then Clay's attention went to the woman beside Molly. She was a very grim and proper looking middle aged woman wearing a professional suit and with hair pulled back into a severe bun. The only thing about her that didn't seem hard and no-nonsense was the shiny blue broach she wore that was shaped like a butterfly.

"What's Garett at?" Clay asked Molly, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice.

"Sorry kid," Molly smirked, "I can't tell ya. But whatever yer gonna do with him, you'd better hurry. Times almost up."

The woman beside Molly scowled, "I believe that technically speaking, providing that information is against the rules."

"Stuff it," Molly snapped in annoyance, taking a drag from her cigar and blowing a stream of pink smoke into the other woman's face. "I ain't gonna take sides or do nothin I shouldn't."

"What's going on?" Clay demanded.

"That is none of your concern at the moment," the strict woman with the butterfly pin snapped in an arrogant tone. "Be about your business."

Molly glanced at her watch again and grinned, "Better hurry..."

A moment later, Molly and the other woman vanished in a puff of pink smoke, leaving Clay standing there by himself. "What in the world was that about?" He scowled, realizing that there was something going on that he still didn't know. "I don't have time for that though... I've still got to find Garett..."

Garett hid inside one of the boy's bathrooms, sitting on the toilet with the stall door locked shut behind him. He was terrified that Clay would come bursting in at any moment and catch him unable to defend himself. If he had his magic medallion things would be different. But he didn't have it, which left him at Clay's mercy.

"And anyone who'd sell their soul to the devil for power isn't likely to have much mercy," Garett grimaced.

But as Garett sat there, he couldn't help but wondering why him. Why was it his responsibility to stop Clay? He barely even knew Clay before this whole mess started. It just didn't seem fair that all the responsibility would be laid on his shoulders.

"That's what I get for being so responsible," he grimaced, deciding that this was why they must have chosen him. He felt rather proud of that, knowing that he was the one who could take down Clay. But that still made him wonder again, "Why me?" Something just didn't seem quite right about this.

Garett waited several more minutes before leaving the safety of the bathroom stall and sticking his head out into the hallway. He immediately caught the strong scent of perfume and then saw two women standing beside the door, staring straight at him. It took him a moment before he recognized one of them as the same woman who'd given him the warning about Clay. The other one was the sexy blonde woman in a pin-striped suit that he'd seen around several times.

"Bout time ya came out," the blonde in the pin-striped suit snapped, taking a puff of a cigar with pink smoke coming from it.

The professional looking woman with the butterfly pin scowled and stated, "In the interest of fairness, we are here to provide notice that you are nearly out of time."

"What?" Garett blinked in confusion. Then he gasped, "It's almost too late to stop Clay?"

"We can't tell ya no more," the blonde scowled, glancing at a pocket watch and then snapping her fingers. As soon as she'd done so, the two women vanished in a puff of pink smoke that smelled of perfume.

Garett stared at the empty space they'd occupied and scowled, feeling even more confused than before. There was obviously a lot more going on around here than he knew and he was getting tired of it. How could he be expected to stop Clay if he didn't even have all the facts?

"I'm going to find out what's really going on," Garett stated with determination. "But first...I need to find my medallion again."

Part 22

Clay scowled as he looked down the hallway, trying to see where Garett had gone. His mind kept racing with questions about what was really going on and that little encounter with Molly had only made it worse. Something strange was going on, but he didn't have time to think about it at the moment.

"I've got to find Garett," he reminded himself, knowing that he didn't dare get distracted by those questions. Garett was out there and he was dangerous. If Clay didn't find him soon, there was no telling what Garett would do to him next. "I'll worry about what's really going down once I stop Garett..."

Of course, Clay knew that he wasn't going after Garett just in self-defense, though that was a big part of it. He also wanted revenge. Clay didn't know how, but Garett was responsible for somehow turning him into a girl. And on top of that, Garett had even tried turning him into a baby. There was no way Clay was going to let Garett get away with that.

"I'm really gonna get even with him when I find him again," Clay stated with a smirk. "I can't wait..."

Just then, Clay saw Garett running down the far end of the hall and grinned in delight. Without any hesitation, he began running after his enemy, determined to get this over with once and for all. He was tired of playing these games with Garett so it was time to end it.

"Stop," Clay called out after Garett as he quickly started catching up to him, though Garett was dodging between other students to get away. Clay pulled out his magic rock and exclaimed, "I wish the floor was really slippery..."

Garett glanced back at Clay in fear, then suddenly lost his footing and hit the ground...as did everyone around him. A half dozen other students all slipped and fell at the same time, most of them cursing loudly because of it. He tried to get back up but his hand slid along the tile as though it were coated with baby oil.

"There's not traction," Garett exclaimed as he struggled to regain some balance, "No friction..."

Clay watched Garett fumble around on the ground and laughed hard as he moved closer for a better look. However, he got too close and suddenly his foot hit the slick spot as well, sending him to the floor along with the others. "God damn!"

Garett quickly looked at Clay and couldn't resist grinning faintly. Then instead of trying to get traction on the floor, he grabbed hold of one of the other students that had fallen over and started to climb over him. He quickly scampered over the other students until he was out of the slippery area, then he paused to give one more glance at Clay before turning and running down the hall again.

"SHIT!" Clay screamed out.

Since Clay had slipped and fallen at the edge of the slippery area, he had landed mostly outside of it and was easily able to get back to his feet. But as he was nearly up, he caught part of the slick area again and nearly lost his balance, recovering it just in time.

"Here," another boy said, holding out a hand to help Clay up though it wasn't needed.

"I'm fine," Clay snapped, glancing at the other boy and noticing that he was staring straight at Clay's chest. Clay looked down at his breasts and blushed brightly before snapping, "I wish you had a pair of your own..."

Clay hadn't realized he was still holding the magic rock until he said that and then it was too late. The other boy gasped in shock as his shirt began to swell out into two very recognizable bumps. Clay could only stare at him with a mixture of surprise and amusement. The other boy grabbed his new breasts and started to yell in panic

"Serves him right," Clay laughed as he turned to find Garett again. It shouldn't be too hard since Garett had short legs and not too much of a heard start. "Maybe I'll change that guy back later..."

With that, Clay began going down the hall again, being very careful as he made his way around the slick spot on the floor. He absently told himself that he'd have to fix that once Garett was dealt with as well. He'd have a lot of cleaning up to do, but that could all wait until later.

Further down the hallway, Caitlen Brewster stood with one of the other cheerleaders, sharing the latest gossip. At the same time, Caitlen absently looked at a strange medallion she'd found in the middle of the hallway sometime earlier. It had a bright red gem in the center that had drawn her attention to it immediately. Though she knew it was really just costume jewelry, she couldn't help but thinking that it would look great with her sexy red blouse.

"I can't believe Mrs. Hendrix made such a huge deal about my shoes," Caitlen's friend Lisa exclaimed angrily, gesturing down to the stiletto heeled shoes she'd worn to school.

"I know," Caitlen agreed with a nod, "She's so old fashioned..."

"These kind of shoes don't belong in school," Lisa snorted as she repeated what her math teacher had said, "She even said only prostitutes and strippers wore these kind of shoes..."

"I wish she were a prostitute," Caitlen said in sympathy, feeling a faint warmth coming from the necklace in her hand though she didn't pay it much attention. "Those shoes are awesome..."

"High heels should be required in the school dress code," Lisa exclaimed. "I know the guys love them..."

Caitlen just laughed, "I wish every girl in school was wearing high heels... Imagine how much the boys would all be drooling..."

Clay grinned when he finally caught sight of Garett again. "I've got you now," he called out, grinning wider when Garett glanced back with a look of fear on his face.

Suddenly, Clay's feet shifted position and he completely lost his balance, falling face first onto the ground. He let out a loud profanity and started to get up, only to notice a lot of the girls in the hall were falling over or grabbing someone else for support. He stared, feeling that something was wrong but not knowing what.

"I didn't see him do anything," Clay blinked in confusion. Then he finally noticed his feet and exclaimed, "Holy shit... I'm wearing high heels..."

Clay stared at the stiletto heeled shoes on his feet, wondering how they got there. He hadn't seen Garett do anything at all. Then he looked around and noticed that all the girls in the hall were wearing high heeled shoes. His eyes went wide then he grimaced, getting back to his feet and struggling to keep his balance in the new shoes.

"That bastard," Clay snarled, seeing Garett stopped still in the hall a short distance away, "I'm gonna strangle his little neck..."

Garett looked around at him in confusion as the girls were all falling over, having lost their balance when their shoes transformed to high heels without any warning. Some of the girls adjusted amazingly fast while others acted as if they had little or no experience wearing such shoes. He burst out laughing when he saw that Clay was one of those and was struggling to just get to his feet.

"But why would he...?" Garett scowled, confused as to why Clay would do something that would mess himself up like that. "Unless he didn't..."

Just then, Garett heard a girl exclaiming, "It happened... My wish came true... Holy shit, my wish came true..."

"Oh no," Garett gasped, realizing where his missing medallion must have gone.

Garett rushed to the sound of the voice, only to see two cheerleaders standing there. One of the cheerleaders was staring down at her feet, or at the high heeled shoes she currently wore. There was a look of amazement on her face as well as excitement.

"Caitlen and Lisa," Garett said as he remembered their names. He'd never talked to them but he was in a couple classes with both.

"This is great," Caitlen exclaimed, holding up Garett's medallion. He gasped at the sight of it, and then again in horror when he saw her staring at it with a hungry...greedy expression.

"No," Garett cried out, rushing to Caitlen as fast as he could.

"I wish I ruled the world," Caitlen told the medallion. Then she scowled when nothing happened.

Garett saw his opportunity and snatched the medallion out of the unsuspecting Caitlen's hand. She was surprised for a moment but quickly grabbed at him, trying to get the medallion back.

"Let go," Caitlen demanded.

"You brat," Lisa hissed.

Garett struggled to get away from them, to keep the medallion out of their hands. Then he had an idea, "I wish they'd forget the medallion even exists..."

The two cheerleaders blinked in confusion and let Garett go. He took one more look at them and turned to get away. However, he found himself facing Clay instead. The two boys stood there, silently glaring at each other as they each held their items of power.

Garett snarled, furious at the way Clay had humiliated him. At the moment, he didn't care if Clay had made a deal with the devil. He just wanted to get even... He wanted revenge on his enemy. Then he grinned as he thought of how he could do it. He could show off his power over Clay with just a simple wish. Then he'd change himself back a moment later.

"I wish," Garett smirked, "that Nikki Adams was attracted to big busted sluts."

"What?" Clay gasped in confusion as he suddenly felt the familiar tingle of transformation running through his body. That made no sense... Garett hadn't said a single thing about him...

Clay moaned as his breasts began to swell larger and larger, stretching the bra and then snapping it. His shirt stretched to the breaking point and then burst open as his breasts swelled even larger, stopping when they were each the size of basketballs. He staggered under the weight, having found it hard to move around in the high heels and nearly impossible to do so now.

"I look like a fucking stripper!" Clay exclaimed in shock and horror.

Then he noticed something else. Clay gulped at the suddenly realization that he was feeling turned on. No, it was more than that. He was feeling downright horny. He was wet and nearly even dripping down his own leg. He looked around, noticing that a lot of the girls and even some of the guys were starting to look rather interesting.

"No," Clay winced, forcing his attention back to Garett, who just stood there smirk... "How...?" He clutched his massive breasts, trying to cover them while still holding the magic rock, "It's not possible..." Then he spat out, "You evil bastard..."

"Me?" Garett snorted, "I'm not the one who made a deal with the devil."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Clay demanded, feeling a little distracted by just how good his hands felt against his nipples. "I never made a deal with anyone... Some lady just showed up and told me I was the chosen one, then gave me the magic rock..."

"What?" Garett blinked in confusion, realizing that something really strange was going on. He already knew that much but hadn't had time to figure it out. But now, he was even more sure of it. Somehow, he had a feeling that he'd been played. That he and Clay had both been tricked.

Clay stared down at his massive breasts, trying to make sense of how this possibly could have happened. Molly had said he was immune from being changed by Garett's power... But then again, Garett's last wish hadn't mentioned him at all. It made no sense... Then Clay gasped as he suddenly realized how Garett had done it.

"Nikki," Clay gasped. Garett had wished for Nikki to like big breasted sluts...and he had transformed. "My wish..." Clay remembered his earlier wish, the one where he'd wished to be Nikki's ideal lover. "My wish is still working..."

Now everything made sense to Clay. It explained how Garett had been able to change him...and why he hadn't been able to change himself back. His earlier wish was still working, so whenever he got changed he'd simply transform back into Nikki's ideal lover. Garett had figured that out and simply changed the kind of lover that Nikki wanted.

"Wait," Garett exclaimed in desperation, "We've got to stop this..."

Clay just glared at him, feeling furious...and excited. Now that he knew what Garett had really done to him, it would be easy to fix it. Not only that, but he could make things even better than before. In fact, he knew the perfect wish. With one good wish...with the right wish he'd be able to turn this all around and stop Garett for good.

"You've got to listen to me," Garett snapped, "It's important... We have to talk..."

"It's too late to talk," Clay snarled furiously, clutching his magic rock tight and starting on his perfect wish, "I wish..."

Suddenly, a woman's voice yelled out, "TIME!" They both turned to see Molly standing there with a cigar between her lips and a pocket watch in her hand. She looked at watch and exclaimed, "Time's up... Da game's over..."

Part 23

Clay and Garett stared in surprise at Molly, who stood there in her pinstriped suit, surrounded by pink cigar smoke. She took one more look at her pocket watch before putting it away, a strange expression on her face.

A moment later, a very strict looking middle-aged woman appeared out of nowhere beside Molly. The only real touch of color or personality that either could see about her was the little blue butterfly pin on her professional looking jacket. Garett stared at the woman who'd given him those warnings, having a VERY bad feeling now that she'd appeared like this.

"The time period for the competition has expired," the strict looking woman with the blue pin announced, glancing to Molly and then the two boys. "It is time for the judging."

"Judging?" Clay and Garett both gasped at once, their fight forgotten about for the moment.

Suddenly, a light swirled in the air and two more people appeared, standing on opposite sides of Molly the goddess of transformation. One was an old man wearing a bath robe, a man that Garett immediately recognized as the one who gave him the wishing medallion and the task of stopping Clay.

"You?" Garett gasped, to which the old man merely nodded faintly, looking at him with an expression of faint amusement.

The other person to appear was a beautiful teenage girl with blonde hair and pointed years. Clay recognized the mysterious woman who'd given him the magic rock and told him he was the chosen one. However, Miss Chiff barely even glanced in his direction, instead looking at Molly and the old man.

"What's going on?" Clay demanded of them, growing angry as he realized that they'd been keeping him in the dark. How could he be the chosen one if they wouldn't even tell him what was really going on? "I wish I knew what was happening..."

"Sorry," Chiff smirked, "But we can't have that..."

"What?" Clay gasped as the rock suddenly began to glow in his hands. However, it wasn't the same kind of glow that it had when it was granting a wish. The glow only lasted for a moment though as the rock crumbled to dust and fell through his fingers, seeming to vanish before it ever even touched the floor. "WHAT THE HELL?"

The old man looked to Garett and made a slight gesture with his hand. A second later, the medallion vanished as though it had never been there. Garett gasped and felt a surge of fear, realizing that things were far out of his control. In fact, he knew now that he'd never been in control...even with the wishing medallion.

"There is no longer a need for these items," the old man said, sounding almost apologetic about it. Then he turned to Molly, "I believe you have a judgment to make..."

"The competition is over and you are the judge," the goddess of transformation stated unnecessarily.

Molly chewed on her cigar for a moment, looking at Clay and Garett. She had a thoughtful expression on her face before she finally took the cigar from her mouth and dropped it onto the ground. She stepped on it and then nodded.

"Yeah, da game's over and I'm da judge," Molly reminded everyone, "What I say goes. Got it?"

"Of course," Chiff rolled her eyes. "We're the ones who chose you as our ref."

"What are you talking about?" Clay demanded, looking at Chiff and Molly, wondering what was going on. "I have a right to know. You said I'm the chosen one..."

"And you are," Chiff grinned, "I chose you myself. I chose you to be my patsy."

"Patsy?" Clay blinked in confusion.

"We've been had," Garett scowled, glaring at all four of the mysterious beings. "They've used us both as pawns in some game..."

"I fear you're correct," the old man told Garett with a faint nod. "I apologize for the necessity of involving you in our affairs." However, he didn't look at all regretful about his actions.

"You guys were pretty fun to watch," Chiff laughed, "I love the bit about turning that guy into a bimbo and making all those kids younger..."

"Why me?" Garett demanded angrily, "Why us?"

"Why did youse guys choose em?" Molly asked, with a vague curiosity.

"I chose my proxy because of his careful consideration before taking action," the old man said, again giving Garett a nod of approval. "It is my experience that this trait is extremely beneficial when it comes to matters of magic."

"My guy is impulsive," Chiff grinned. "Just like me. I love it when they surprise me..."

"Dis one did cause all sorts of chaos," Molly said, looking at Clay with a thoughtful expression. "He...or maybe I should say SHE," she smirked, reminding Clay of his drastically transformed body and causing him to blush horribly. "I mean, look at dat Jimmy kid she turned into a bimbo, her best friend she made gay...or all da kids she really turned into kids..."

"Wasn't it great?" Chiff exclaimed. "I did hope for a little more chaos, but this was still pretty good..."

"What?" Clay gasped.

"And dis one," Molly looked to the old man but gestured to Garett, "He didn't use his wishin nearly as much, but he did figure out how to use Clay's own wish against him... Dat's pretty clever... But he barely used his wishing medallion compared to Clay..."

"HA!" Chiff laughed at the old man, "Now you owe me the Ring of Loki..."

"The bet was not over whose proxy could cause the most chaos," the goddess of transformation reminded them. "It was over whose proxy would come out ahead in the end..."

"One's just a snot nosed kid now," Molly smirked at Garett, "And de other is a big titted slut..." She frowned and reached into her pocket, pulling out a cigar which seemed to light itself as she put it between her lips. She took a long drag and blew out a stream of pink smoke that smelled of perfume. After taking another puff, she finally announced, "The old wizard wins this one."

"WHAT?" Chiff exclaimed, looking almost angry. However, it passed in just a moment and she shrugged, "Damn..."'

The old man merely nodded with an amused smile. "Of course. You were more interested in your own amusement than you were in winning."

Chiff glared at him for a moment before nodding, "I guess you're right."

"What about us?" Garett demanded, "I don't want to be stuck like this..." He gestured down at himself and his 8 year old body.

"What about me?" Clay demanded angrily, nearly falling over in his stiletto heeled shoes. Between those and his now huge breasts, he could hardly stand up straight.

However, the two of them were ignored as the old man smirked at Chiff, "My dear Miss Chiff... I do believe you have a debt to pay..."

Chiff let out a sigh, "All right..."

With that, Chiff and the old man vanished in a flash of light. Molly and the goddess of transformation remained just a moment longer, long enough for the goddess of transformation to suddenly transform into a busty teenage girl. Then with a nod to each other, the two of them vanished as well.

"WHAT ABOUT US?" Garett screamed out.

Suddenly, all of the students in the hall who'd been completely avoiding and ignoring them blinked and turned to stare at both him and Clay. There were gasps of surprise and a lot of stares that made both boys cringe uncomfortably.

Clay stared down at himself in horror as he realized that without his magic rock, he couldn't change himself back. He was stuck like this...as a girl. And not just a girl, but as one with really big breasts and a strong libido. But at least, he told himself quietly, he was a really hot girl and Nikki would definitely love him like this. Garett's last wish would make sure of that.

"Oh God," Clay gulped, feeling even wetter down below and more horny. A few horrifying thoughts were slipping into his mind. He couldn't believe he'd actually think about doing that with a boy...even for a moment. "I've got to find Nikki... Damn, I need her bad..."

"Wait," Garett exclaimed, looking up at Clay and trying hard not to think about what it would mean being stuck as a little kid again. "We should talk..."

"About what?" Clay snapped angrily, "You're the one who did this to me..."

"And you did this to me," Garett reminded him grimly. "Those people screwed us both over... They lied to us and used us both as pawns in their game...."

Clay glared at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding. "Okay... Yeah..."

"If we're stuck like this," Garett pointed out grimly, "Maybe we should help each other... I want to compare what we both know... Maybe we'll figure out something..."

"Okay," Clay sighed, squirming uncomfortably, "But let's find someplace private first... And let's make it quickly." He looked down at his breasts and licked his lips as several sexy thoughts intruded into his mind, "But let's make this quick... I'm really horny and need to go find Nikki..."

Garett stared at Clay for a moment and felt a surge of guilt for what he'd done to the other boy. Of course, it quickly went away when he remembered what Clay had done to him as well. But at the moment, they needed each other if either of them was ever going to get back to normal.

"If we can," Garett whispered, then said, "Come on...," as he led the way down the hall to a great hiding spot he'd found earlier. They'd be able to talk there in private for sure.

--------------------

A strange little store sat in the middle of a mall, placed exactly where a popular clothing store was normally located. A wooden door in the front stood out as different than any other store in the mall, revealing with a single glance that this shop was unlike any other. The only thing that truly hinted at what was inside was the sign above the door which proclaimed Spells R Us.

Spells R Us was much larger on the inside than would be guessed from the exterior. It was far wider and longer than any other store in the mall, filled with countless shelves containing nearly everything imaginable. The sheer variety of items ranging from antique lamps to state of the art video games gave the place a feeling of randomness and chaos, though anyone who paid attention would feel a sense of power as well.

Towards the front of the store was an old wooden counter, behind which stood a person who was every bit as unusual as the store itself. The old woman behind the counter was dressed in a bath robe and was looking over the store with a long sigh.

"This is boring," Miss Chiff complained, looking down at herself and the bath robe she currently wore.

Sitting on the counter beside Chiff was a golden bird cage with the pixie Pip sitting inside. Pip looked through the bars and scowled, "You're the one who made the bet..."

"Yeah," Chiff grumbled, "I know. I agreed to take his place. Now I'm stuck here looking after his stupid store for him for a month while he's on vacation." She shook her head again, "As if that wasn't bad enough, he even insists I stay old and wear the bathrobe all the time."

"You have my sympathies," Pip snorted sarcastically, glaring out at Chiff.

"You certainly don't sound sympathetic," Chiff said with narrowed eyes.

Pip shrugged, "So I like seeing you lose a wager for once... Can you blame me?" Then Pip asked, "So, when are you gonna let me out of this fucking cage?"

"You know," Chiff raised an eyebrow, "You're lucky he gave you back to me at all..."

Pip snorted, "Yeah, I'm real fucking lucky..." She rattled the bars of the bird cage and muttered several profanities.

"You're the one who went behind my back and started helping Garett," Chiff reminded her diminutive sidekick with a glare.

"I wasn't helping him," Pip protested, "I was trying to trick him...to help you by sending him in the wrong direction... It would have worked if HE hadn't interfered..."

Chiff snorted, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Pip and Chiff just stood there silently glaring at each other for nearly a minute. Finally, Pip demanded, "Let me the hell out of this cage..."

"I don't think so," Chiff responded with a faint smile. She smirked, "As punishment for trying to betray me, I think I'll leave you in there for a bit longer. After all, if I have to be stuck working in this store for a month, you can remain there as long..."

Pip glared at Chiff, then grinned slyly, "While you're here, why don't you look for where he left the Ring of Loki..."

"I already did," Chiff admitted after a few seconds. She scowled, "I didn't think he'd keep it here and he didn't. But don't worry," she grinned mischieviously, "I haven't given up on it yet. I'll just try finding another way to get it from him."

Pip plopped down on the floor of her bird cage with a snort and continued to glare at Chiff through the bars. She crossed her arms stubbornly, muttering profanities and trying to figure out how she could escape the cage.

Unfortunately, she knew her boss and suspected there would be no early parole for her. She'd have to be stuck there for a full month.

Just then, there was the tinkling of a bell as the door opened and a young man came in. Miss Chiff immediately watched him with the same expression a cat used on a canary. She quickly glanced to all the inventory of the store, the only things she was allowed to use for a full month, trying to decide which would make for the most fun.

"Welcome to Spells R Us," Miss Chiff smile innocently to her first customer. Then she whispered to Pip, "This might not be so bad after all..."

THE END