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This story was custom written to Circe's specifications as a prize for my fourth story contest. Ring on the Changes By Morpheus The Dragon's Trove was located in an old, red brick building, with a large window in the front that had a carefully painted picture of a dragon wrapped around a large pile of books on it. Within the used bookstore, only half of it was filled with the books that the sign represented and more than half of these were of the science fiction or fantasy genre, an inordinate amount for most bookstores. The rest of the Dragon's Trove was reserved for Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing game paraphernalia. At the moment, the Dragon's Trove was nearly empty of customers, save for a solitary teenager who slowly wandered among the stack of books, browsing more than buying. The owners of the store barely paid him any attention as they were gathered around a table, focusing on their most recent game of Dungeons and Dragons. Dave was of average height, with brown hair and an average appearance. In fact, Dave was so average looking that he had been known to nearly turn invisible in a crowd, so that his own friends had to look past him twice to even know he was there. However, he was an easygoing and friendly man, easily making friends with any who would give him a chance. Alison, known more often as Ali by her friends, sat beside Dave. She was a petite girl with shoulder length auburn hair and an easy smile. She was known to be a good friend or a nasty enemy, and it was sometimes said that she possessed more attitude than actual size. Sitting across from Dave was Chuck, who seemed to fit the 'geek' stereotype. Chuck was tall and skinny, having an awkward clumsiness that seemed to indicate he had never fully grown into his own body. He was shy, being uncomfortable around new people and slow to make friends, having few beyond the people at the table, though he was fiercely loyal to the ones he had. A pair of thick glasses perched on his nose and he absently adjusted them while considering his next move in their game. The last of the group was Bryan, a black man with short-cropped hair and a pair of glasses. Bryan was the most reserved of the group, thinking before he ever said a word. It was a trait that had kept him out of trouble and served him well over the years. He enjoyed spending this time with his friends, as it was a welcome distraction from all the work he had been putting into finishing his CPA. The four of them had been friends for years, having met up junior high school when they started playing Dungeons and Dragons together. At the time, it had been the cool thing to do, and they had continued their frequent meetings to play even after their peers had turned on the game and considered it immature or geeky. Several years after graduation, they had decided to take the things they loved and go into business together, opening the Dragon's Trove. And even though there had never been any actual discussion or decision about these roles, Dave had taken over responsibility for the books, Chuck for all the role-playing materials and Bryan for all the financial record keeping, while Ali usually worked the cash register and helped out wherever she was needed. Chuck grinned down at the character sheet in front of him, and as soon as they finished the epic battle that they had been role-playing for the last out, he exclaimed, "All right... And I walk away with a new magic sword." "Well I found a magic tiara," Ali winked at him, "It gives my character the power to see any and all wicked intentions that men have towards her." "Damn," Dave grumbled, less than pleased with how things had worked out for his character. The character that he had been playing had lost an arm in the battle as well as the magic staff he'd been using. "All that work and I come out behind. I was hoping to at least get a magic ring or something." "Maybe next time," Bryan smiled, looking at his watch. "I've got to get going and this looks like a good place to stop. We can finish the campaign later." "I think it's about time for lunch anyway," Dave pointed out, rubbing at his stomach. "I'm not hungry yet," Chuck told them, "I had a big breakfast. Besides, I want to look through that box." They all knew exactly which box Chuck was talking about. Just that morning, a woman had brought in a large box full of Dungeons and Dragons materials. She said that her college age son had been big into role-playing, but that he'd died in a car accident a few years earlier. After all this time, she'd finally decided to start cleaning out some of his old belongings and thought that the Dragon's Trove would be the perfect place for some of them. "How about Teriyaki?" Dave asked, looking at Ali and Bryan. Bryan hesitated a moment, looking tempted. Then he glanced at his watch and sighed, "I don't think so. I probably should have left a half hour ago." "Then I guess it's just you and me," Dave grinned at Ali. Dave and Ali looked at each other for a moment, trying not to show the relief that they both felt. They had always felt especially drawn together, especially lately, and had even gone on a few quiet dates together. The only reason that they hadn't started dating seriously was the fear that they would hurt their friends and ruin the friendships, especially with Chuck who had a long-standing crush on Ali. But even though they refused to do that to their friends, they still enjoyed spending time alone together and this was the perfect opportunity. As Dave and Ali left the Dragon's Trove, she turned to him with her hands on her forehead and exclaimed, "My magic tiara senses that you have wicked thoughts towards me." Dave just laughed at her and winked, "You really need a magic tiara to tell you that?" At the same time, Bryan was picking up his belongings, telling Chuck, "I'll be back in tomorrow to go over the weekly sales receipts." A minute later, he too was gone, leaving Chuck to mind the store by himself. Chuck immediately went to the box on the counter and began to look through the contents. There were several dozen role-playing books, a lot of pewter figurines, as well as countless dice and a few other items which would be normal for any frequent role-player to possess. The item that caught Chuck's attention the most was a book, which was nothing like the other books. Instead of being published, this book appeared to be hand made. It had a brown leather cover and only a dozen or so pages inside, but the pages looked old and were covered with handwritten writing. The writing was not immediately clear to Chuck, who could only make out a few words such as 'transformation' and 'gender' as he scanned through it. "It must be a game prop," Chuck mused, as he looked it over. "It was probably used as a magic book or something when he was playing..." After a minute of looking the book over again, he shook his head, "And it's really well made. It looks so realistic." For a moment, Chuck wondered just how much they could sell the book for. After all, it was a very realistic looking prop and there would certainly be a lot of gamers who would like something like it. But after a moment, he decided that he might just keep it for himself. It would make the games he played with his friends just a little more interesting. Chuck ran his hands over the book, admiring the work and wondering just who had made it. Then he finally noticed a slight bulge in the leather cover as his hand ran over it. There was something hard and round underneath it. After a little more careful looking, he noticed a slit in the cover at the top, where a thin ribbon came out and went between the pages as a bookmark. Chuck carefully tugged on the ribbon and noticed the bulge inside the cover moving. It was obviously attached. "I hope I'm not ruining the book mark," Chuck mused as he carefully pulled the ribbon and brought the item towards the opening. He was curious to see what it was, and knew that he could easily put it back in when he was done. A few seconds later, Chuck found that he had a ring tied to the strand of ribbon. It was a gold ring, with strange symbols etched on the inside and out. He had seen a number of rings used as props for the game before, but most of them didn't look as though they were made of real gold. It only took Chuck a moment to see the gaming possibilities with such a ring, and he proudly held it up and exclaimed, "One ring to rule them all, one ring to bind them." Then he clutched it possessively and hissed, "My precious..." A moment later, he burst out laughing, eager to use the ring in a later game. Chuck grinned as he slipped the ring onto his finger, not expecting it to actually fit. To his surprise, it went right on and rested there as comfortably as though it were the perfect size. A mere moment later, Chuck suddenly felt a strange twisting through his entire body and very being. "What in the world was that?" Chuck gasped as soon as it had faded. The strange dizzy sensation had come and gone so fast that he almost doubted that it had ever happened in the first place. Then Chuck paused for a moment, realizing, "Something isn't quite right." Chuck knew that something was different, that something had changed. However, when he looked around the Dragon's Trove, he couldn't see any clues as to what that something might be. He looked down at himself on the off chance that the ring might have turned him invisible, but that did not seem to be the case either. "I wonder," Chuck mused as he removed the ring from his finger. Nothing happened as he did so and there was no return of the strange dizziness. For a moment, Chuck just stood there, wondering what could have changed with it suddenly dawned on him. He looked back down at himself, his eyes going wide as he realized that it was he himself that had been changed. With a single glance, it was obvious that Chuck had been transformed into a woman, something made even more obvious by the fact that his clothes had become girl clothes as well. "I'm a girl," Chuck said in an oddly calm tone. As strange as Chuck's sudden transformation was, the strangest thing about it was just how normal it felt. For some reason, Chuck felt perfectly comfortable as a girl and wasn't bothered by that in the least. In fact, it felt normal, as though this were the way he had always been. "Weird," he commented, the idea of being a boy seeming a little more strange than being a girl. "This ring really changed me..." Chuck carefully placed the ring on the counter, then stood back and stared at it nervously. If it could transform his entire body, his very gender, and make it so that he wasn't even bothered by these changes, then what else could it do? This was a question that he most definitely did not want to have answered the hard way. After a minute of consideration, Chuck went to the small bathroom in the back of the store and stared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. The young woman who stared back at him seemed more than a little familiar, looking a great deal like his old male self, or like the twin sister that he'd never had. "Not the most attractive woman in the world," he sighed in disappointment, wishing that he wasn't so tall and skinny. He thought of Ali, and instead of the familiar crush, he felt a bit of envy instead. If only he were built more like her. "Very odd," he whispered, realizing the direction his thoughts were going. "I'm thinking like a girl too..." Chuck frowned thoughtfully as he left the bathroom, then went behind the counter and pulled his purse out from behind it. He wasn't sure how he knew that he had a purse back there, only that he did. And when he looked inside, he found a driver's license that had a picture of his new self, labeled him as being female and said that his name was Charlene. "It seems that he changes go beyond just my own body," Charlene said thoughtfully. "And my mind." She couldn't help wondering just how far these changes extended. Charlene picked the ring back up and stared at it, her mind swirling with a thousand questions. It was obviously a magical ring, in spite of the fact that such things were not supposed to exist. She'd always loved the whole fantasy genre, and though her conscious mind had always known that such things in it were just that, fantasy, a part of her had always suspected or at least hoped that there was some truth to it. And now, she had physical proof that magic existed in her very hand. "But how does it work?" Charlene asked herself, turning and looking to the book that the ring had been hidden inside of. She had a feeling that the answers to her questions would be located inside as well. When Chuck had first looked at the book, he had only scanned through the hand written pages, but now as Charlene, she attempted to read it. It was not easy to read, as the writing was all hand written in a form of calligraphy that had a number of strange spellings and was smudged in several places. She struggled to make out several of the words, but was slowly able to make her way through the thin book. The book told Charlene absolutely nothing about the origins of the ring and how it came to be, though it was still extremely informative. It was written as a journal by some unidentified person who had acquired the ring, though the facts of this acquisition were not detailed either. What was written in the book were the notes of the writer, who had discovered the ring's powers through trial and error, then recorded them in those very pages. "Very interesting," Charlene whispered as she stared at the ring with renewed fascination and a new understanding. "Absolutely incredible..." Charlene could barely wait for her friends to return so she could tell them about her discovery, and when Dave and Ali returned from lunch a short while later, she nearly burst from excitement. The moment they had come back into the Dragon's Trove, she blurted out, "You'll never guess what I found." "Hey Charlene," Ali grinned at her, "You look like you're in a good mood." "What happened?" Dave asked, "Did someone drop off a first edition, autographed copy of the Hobbit?" "I wish," Charlene sighed, then smirked at her friends, "But it is something even better. Do you notice anything different about me?" Charlene noticed the blank looks that both Dave and Ali gave her, not being offended in the least when they shook their heads. In fact, she had been expected a reaction of this type, though it did serve to verify what she'd read in the book. According to the book, whenever someone put on the ring, it would not only cause them to change gender, but would also change reality itself so only those who witnessed the transformation would even remember the way things had been. Since Dave and Ali had been away when Chuck became Charlene, they only remembered her as having always been a girl. "Are you wearing some new makeup?" Dave guessed carefully. "Sort of," Charlene laughed. Then she asked, "Do you guys believe in magic? I mean, the kind we talk about in the games..." "Of course not," Ali rolled her eyes, "That kind of thing is fun to play with, but it doesn't exist in real life." "Kind of a shame," Dave sighed, "I'd make a great wizard." Charlene just laughed, "You're going to be in for a big surprise then." "What are you talking about?" Dave asked with a frown. "You'll see," Charlene grinned. Charlene looked at the clock and smiled, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer. She felt a surge of butterflies in her stomach and wondered what her friends would say once she told them the truth. Then it finally hit, the wave of dizziness that she had been expecting. A moment later, Chuck was standing there back in his male form. Chuck let out a faint sigh of relief, glad to be back. Of course, he knew that this was slightly ironic since a minute earlier he had actually been a little nervous about the prospect of turning back into a boy. The ring really had made him comfortable as a girl, so much so that it seemed like that was normal rather than being a boy. At the moment though, he was thankful that the ring's effects were indeed only temporary like the book claimed. "What the hell?" Dave gasped, staring at Chuck with a strange expression. Ali stood next to him with a look of blank confusion on her face. For a moment, Chuck just stood there, wondering what he was going to do. He knew from the book that if someone watched you transform, then they remembered the previous reality. Since they'd just watched him turn back into Chuck, would they remember him as Charlene and think that she'd suddenly turned into a boy for no reason? "You were just a girl," Dave blurted out, pausing to shake his head and wonder if he was imagining things. "I mean, you were a girl and I actually thought it was normal... But now you're a guy again... What the heck is going on?" "What's going on?" Ali demanded, "I know that you're a guy now, but a minute ago I thought you'd always been a girl. What's going on?" "Magic," Chuck exclaimed with a broad grin. "It really exists." Then he paused and took a deep breath, looking around the Dragon's Trove and adding, "But we should get Bryan here before I explain everything." "He's not going to be back until tomorrow," Ali pointed out. "I can't wait till tomorrow," Dave grumbled, "I want to know what's going on now." Ali nodded her head in agreement, giving Chuck a steady look. Normally, Chuck would have collapsed at getting that look from Ali and would have told her whatever she wanted to know. This time, however, he stuck to his guns and shook his head, "Not until I can tell Bryan too." --- It was late in the afternoon when Dave, Ali and Chuck shuffled into Bryan's small apartment, each of them feeling eager and impatient. They had even closed the Dragon's Trove early in order to come, doing so as soon as they thought that Bryan would be home. Bryan frowned as they came in, annoyed at the unannounced interruption but curious about the expression he saw on their faces. "So what's going on?" Bryan asked, trying to keep his voice level, even as he raised an eyebrow. "Chuck has something big going on," Dave told him with a scowl, "But he wouldn't tell us without you." Ali nodded her head, then turned to Chuck, "Start talking beanstalk." Chuck took a deep breath, ignoring her use of the old nickname. "You guys remember that box of D&D stuff that lady dropped off this morning?" "What about it?" Bryan asked cautiously. "Well, it had this book in it," Chuck told them, reaching into his backpack and pulling out the leather book. "And I found this hidden in the cover." He held the ring out for them all to see, "It's a magic ring." "And how do you know it's a magic ring?" Bryan asked with a deeply skeptical sigh. "Because I've already tried it," Chick explained. He held the book up again, "This explains how it all works." Ali stared at the ring and the book, which Chuck was still holding out. "So these things are what did what we saw?" "Cool," Dave nodded, his eyes showing more interest than he let into his voice. "So what exactly does it do?" Chuck hesitated as he looked at his friends, afraid that they would make fun of him for the time he had spent as a girl. But at the same time, the prospect of having real magic in hand... literally, was incredibly exciting. This was something that they would all want to know about. "When you put it on," he explained carefully, "It makes you change sexes, but only for an hour. And it has some rules too, like for every minute or two you keep wearing it after changing, that adds an extra hour to the time you stay changed." "What about the way we thought you were a real girl?" Ali asked with a scowl. Chuck blushed at that, "Only the people who see you change actually remember the way things were." "An interesting joke," Bryan smiled, "But it's too easy to prove it's a joke. All you have to do is put the ring on." "Or easy to prove I'm telling the truth," Chuck responded with a nervous grin, then slowly slipped the ring back onto his finger. The strange dizziness washed over Chuck again, and a moment later, he had become Charlene again, though a very different Charlene than before. The last time Chuck had become a girl, he had merely become a female version of himself. This time, however, she looked nothing like either Chuck. Instead of being tall and skinny, this Charlene was short and buxom, standing at 5 foot 2 with long blonde hair and a very sexy body. "Holy shit!" Bryan blurted out in uncharacteristic exuberance. "No fucking way..." "What a babe," Dave gasped, staring at Charlene with a look of clear lust. "You didn't look anything like that last time," Ali exclaimed with a look of surprise. Charlene blushed slightly, but still turned to show off her sexy body while simultaneously removing the ring. "Last time?" Bryan asked. "I used the ring earlier by accident," Charlene explained to him, "It was before I read the book and found out how it worked. If you just put the ring on, it just makes you change genders. But the book said that if you concentrate on what you want to look like when you put the ring on, you can make yourself look however you want." She looked down at herself and smirked, "It obviously works." "Why in the world would you want to look like that?" Dave asked with a look of surprise. "Why didn't you turn into Brad Pitt or something?" "Well," Charlene sighed in exasperation, "this is only the second time I've used it, but the book says that it can only change you into someone of the other sex. That means Ali might be able to turn into Brad Pitt, but I can't." "Since you're a girl now," Bryan mused thoughtfully, beginning to accept that this might be real, "then couldn't you put it on again and turn into Brad Pitt?" Charlene hesitated, then admitted, "I don't think so. The book said that once you change, you can't use the ring again until you change back." She put the ring on her finger again and had a look of concentration, but nothing happened and she remained a sexy blond. "It looks like the book is right about that too," she announced as she took the ring back off, not wanting to accidentally remain in that form for too long, in spite of the fact that it felt perfectly normal. "And it does wear off?" Dave asked skeptically. "Of course," Charlene smiled, "After all, you saw it wear off the first time and do you think I'd willingly change myself into this if I couldn't change back?" "This is just weird," Dave shook his head. "Are you really female?" Ali asked him curiously, "I mean entirely..." Charlene nodded, "I even have a driver's license that says I am." She reached into the purse that had appeared over her shoulder when she transformed and brought it out to show them. "Remember, everyone but us thinks that this is the way I've always been." "Amazing," Bryan mused, "Simply amazing. Something that can alter the very fabric of reality has to be unimaginably powerful." "More powerful than the one ring?" Dave asked with a grin "I wouldn't go that far," Ali laughed. "Do you guys want to try it out?" Charlene asked, holding the ring out for any of her friends to take. All of them stared at it but none of them made a move to reach for it. "I can't believe you're all chicken." "I'll try it," Ali blurted out, quickly snatching the ring from Charlene's palm. Ali held the ring in her hand for just a moment as she began to have second thoughts. Then with a scowl of determination, she slipped it onto her finger, gasping as the dizziness hit her. The others stared in awe as Ali's image rippled and changed, being replaced with one of a very familiar looking actor. "You turned into Brad Pitt," Dave blurted out the obvious. "I feel pretty... normal," Ali, now Al exclaimed in surprise. He felt his now flat chest, staring down at the new body, which somehow felt familiar and comfortable. "And you look pretty cute," Charlene said, blushing as she realized just how true that statement was. Her mind was beginning to fill with fantasies about her and the famous looking man in front of her. And from the way Al was staring back, she knew that she wasn't the only one entertaining those kind of thoughts. Then Charlene blinked, "Oh, you'd better take the ring off or you'll be stuck like that for longer than you want." "Good thing you reminded me," Al told her, removing the ring with an expression of faint nervousness. Then he shook his head, "I can't believe that I'm really a guy. I've got to get a look at this..." "There's a mirror in my bathroom," Bryan pointed out. Al nodded and rushed there, with the others following close behind. He stared at his reflection for nearly a minute, nodding slightly and making a few faces before turning back to the others, "I suppose I could get a job as a Brad Pitt impersonator looking like this." "Or knock him off and take his place," Charlene teased Al, who just laughed. "But this is only temporary," Al pointed out. "I'd have to wear it half an hour a day to stay like this, not that I really want to. "Actually," Charlene blushed, "You'd only need to wear it for an hour straight." At the curious looks the others were giving her, she continued, "The book said that if you wear the ring for an hour, your new form becomes your default one." "What?" Al gasped in surprise. "I think it means you stay like that permanently," Charlene said slowly, "But you can still use the ring to turn back into your old self if you really want to. It just treats your new form as the real one. Anyway, you'd have to wear the ring for a full hour for that to happen, not that I've tested it of course." "Any other rules we should know about?" Al asked. Charlene thought about it for a moment, "Not that I can think of. You guys are welcome to read the book for yourselves, but it is kind of hard to make out some of it." Bryan nodded, "I think I'll do that." He picked up the book and began to look through it with an expression of concentration as he tried making out some of the words. "So, what's it like?" Dave asked after a minute, "I mean, turning into a girl... Or turning into a guy." He looked at Al, uncomfortable with the knowledge that this man was really his would be girlfriend. The fact that Ali seemed perfectly comfortable as Al only made him more unnerved. "It's not as strange as you'd think," Charlene grinned up at Dave, "Except for seeing you stare at my tits that is." Dave immediately blushed at that while everyone else laughed. "You should try it," Al exclaimed, holding the ring out to Dave, who stared at it as though it were a poisonous snake. "I don't think so," he shook his head, "I'm perfectly fine like I am." "Chicken," Al teased, "Are you going to let the girl of the group be more of a man than you are?" "If I use that ring," Dave pointed out, "I won't be much of a man at all." Bryan sat back and quietly read through the book himself while Al and Charlene kept urging Dave to try on the ring. After fifteen minutes, Dave finally gave in and snatched up the ring, for no other reason than to get the others to leave him alone. As soon as the ring was on his finger, he felt the dizziness that Al and Charlene had described to him. "Omigawd," the former Dave exclaimed as she looked down at her new body. She had become a very attractive 16 year old girl in a cheerleaders outfit, an exact duplicate of a girl that Dave used to have a crush on back in high school. "I really turned into Rachael McGuiness." "You used to have a crush on her, didn't you?" Al asked with a slightly icy tone. "Yeah," the apparent teenage girl admitted, looking rather embarrassed. "So what's your name now?" Charlene asked. "I don't think there's a female version of Dave." "I don't know," she admitted, looking around in confusion. "Maybe you have a purse around here somewhere," Charlene suggested. "One showed up the first time I changed." When they didn't find a purse, Al suggested, "Let's just call you Debbie for now." "Whatever," Debbie sighed. "I can't believe I'm a teenage girl, and it isn't freaking me out." Charlene grinned, "It does make it a lot less embarrassing to be like this when it feels so normal. Maybe it's because of our new brain chemistry." "Or maybe it's because the whole thing is magic," Al pointed out, "If that ring can change reality like you say, then I don't think that making someone comfortable with that new reality is really pushing things." Debbie nodded, then looked at Al, absently letting out a dreamy sigh as she thought about how cute he was. She felt a surge of excitement go through her body as she stared at the image of Brad Pitt. The Dave part of her would have been horrified by this emotional reaction, but to the Debbie part it seemed perfectly natural, albeit a little embarrassing. After a minute, Debbie hurried to the bathroom to examine herself in the mirror, much as Al had a short time earlier. It was strange for her to see her high school crush staring back at her, and stranger still to realize that this didn't feel nearly as odd as it should have. She shook her head and returned to the living room, eyeing the apparent Brad Pitt for a moment before forcing her attention away. "Hey Bryan," Debbie grinned at her friend, "Now it's your turn." "I don't think so," Bryan grimaced. "If I had to do it," Debbie announced, "You have to." Bryan protested, though not nearly as emphatically as Dave, surrendering to the inevitable in less than a third of the time. "All right," he grumbled, "Let's get this over with." Seconds later, Bryan had transformed into a copy of Halle Berry, except for several noticeable changes, including bigger breasts and long dark hair down to her ass. She stood there for a moment, silently looking over her body with an approving expression. "I suppose this proves that magic really does exist," the former Bryan sighed with a shake of her head. "Now I'll have to throw out just about everything I've ever read in my text books." "Look," Al exclaimed, gesturing to the apartment around them, "Everything's changed. It looks a lot more feminine now." "This old picture of you looks like the new you," Debbie pointed out as she examined a picture, which hung on the wall. "I think I have a purse around here somewhere," the former Bryan said, walking to the counter and picking it up as though she'd always known exactly where it was. She pulled out her driver's license and nodded, "It seems I'm Bryanna. Kind of silly to just give me a female version of my own name. If I'd actually been born female, I would have been named something else." "Maybe it's our subconscious which fills in these little details," Charlene pointed out. "Who really knows how the magic works?" "This is a little ironic," Al suddenly exclaimed, "I'm normally the only girl in the group, but now I'm the only guy." Then he winked, "I feel like I've got my own harem." "Ha, ha," Debbie rolled her eyes. "I'm not turning into a harem girl for you or anyone else." "That's too bad," Al teased him, "You'd look so cute in a little harem girl outfit." Debbie only responded by sticking her tongue out at him. "So," Bryanna mused, "Now that we've all switched sexes, what are we going to do?" Then she noticed the flicker of interest going across Al's face and glared, "And don't even think about it." "What?" Al asked with mock innocence, "I was only going to suggest that we go out and have a few drinks." Charlene hesitated for a moment, then gave a nervous smile, "I guess it'll be interesting seeing how people treat me now that I'm a sexy babe instead of a geeky guy." "There's a bar just down the street," Bryanna pointed out, "We can walk." After a minute, they all agreed to go to the bar, but when they arrived, the man at the door took one look at Debbie and shook his head no. "Sorry girl," he smirked, "But you have to be twenty-one." "I am over twenty-one," Debbie protested in surprise. The man just laughed, "Sorry cheerleader, but you don't even look eighteen. Unless you can show me a driver's license, a REAL one, you ain't getting inside." Debbie looked down at herself and muttered, "Damn." She shook her head, wondering why she'd turned into her old high school crush when she could have turned into Angelina Jolie or someone else. At least then she'd be able to get inside. "Sorry," Al told Debbie with a look of amusement, "But it looks like you need to grow up a little more before you can go out partying." "We won't be too long," Bryanna told her sympathetically. "We just want to check this out." She winked at Debbie and went inside. The man at the door watched Al with some curiosity as he went past, obviously surprised to see what appeared to be Brad Pitt going into the bar, though he obviously didn't think that Al was the real thing. Of course, he'd seen Al's driver's license as well. "Damn," Debbie muttered again, about to go back to Bryanna's apartment to wait for them and then remembering that she didn't have any keys. She would have to wait for them to come back out. With a scowl and several profanities, she found herself a place to sit and wait for the others. Inside the bar, Al was immediately drawing a great deal of attention. Not only did he look like a famous movie star, but he had come in with two very beautiful women, one of whom also looked extremely familiar. They tried ignoring the attention as they sat down at a table and ordered a few beers, though they were quite amused by it at the same time. "No, I'm not Brad Pitt," Al tried convincing one woman, "I just look like him. I work as a celebrity impersonator for parties..." That explanation also served to explain Bryanna, who they played off as a fellow celebrity impersonator. "This is kind of creepy," Bryanna said after they finally had a little privacy, "I feel like we're being stalked in here. I swear, that woman is still staring at you Al." "I might not look famous," Charlene said, "But I'm certainly getting my fair share of attention." She smiled weakly, not sure whether to be proud of the way all the men in the bar were staring at her or unnerved. She had never received this type of attention in her life and wasn't certain how to handle it. "Poor Debbie," Al grinned, shaking his head. "I wish she could be in here with us, but I guess that's what she gets for turning into a high school cheerleader." "You're just jealous that Dave had a crush on Rachael back then," Charlene pointed out, only to realize from the look on Al's face that this was the truth. She blinked in surprise, never having considered that there could be anything between Dave and Ali, but now it suddenly seemed so obvious. Why hadn't she noticed all those clues before? "You like her... or him, don't you?" Al carefully controlled his expression and asked, "What do you mean?" "Maybe it's because I'm a woman now and gained some sort of instinct for this kind of thing," Charlene said with a slight chuckle, "But you like Dave, don't you? I mean, Alison likes Dave... as more than just a friend." Al nodded, then slowly responded, "Yeah..." He was a little uncomfortable with this topic, especially since he didn't want Charlene to feel hurt. But since they were talking, he decided to lay it all out. And since Charlene had started referring him Alice as though she were someone entirely separate from Al, he decided to continue with that as well. Somehow, it seemed to make the subject easier to talk about. "Ali and Dave do like each other. A lot." Charlene gulped, "Oh, I see..." "I was wondering if you'd two would ever admit it," Bryanna told Al with a grin. "Why didn't you... they say anything?" Charlene asked in surprise. "And how serious is it?" Al was silent for a moment, then admitted, "They care about each other a lot, but don't want to hurt their friends. They didn't want to risk losing them." "Did you know that I... I mean that Chuck liked Ali too?" Charlene asked quietly, unable to bring herself to look Al in the eyes. After a few seconds, Al nodded silently, not quite able to meet Charlene's eyes either. "She likes him, but not like that. She didn't want to hurt him." Charlene gulped and just stared down at her hands for a minute. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up at Al, "Chuck knew that she didn't like him that way and was happy to just be friends with her. He just wants her to be happy." Then Charlene smiled weakly, "I know you don't need my permission or anything, but you do have my blessing." "Thank you," Al blinked in surprise, then surprised Charlene by bending forward and kissing her on the forehead. "That means a lot." "Now that you're both done talking in third person," Bryanna rolled her eyes, "maybe we can get another round. I need another beer." "Amen to that," Al grinned back. Just then, Charlene felt the strange yet familiar dizziness rush through her being again. A moment later, Chuck blinked and looked around, quickly readjusting to his taller height. "I guess I lost track of the time." Al quickly looked around, saying, "I don't think anyone was watching when it happened." "We should get out of here," Bryanna pointed out, "We'll be changing back before long too and I don't want to do it with anyone else watching." The three of them quickly made their out of the bar, only to have Debbie see them and exclaim, "It took you long enough." She glared at them each in annoyance before finally noticing that Chuck was back. Before she could say anything else, Al began to blur and transformed back to Ali. "Now I'm the only guy with a bunch of beautiful girls," Chuck grinned at the others. "Not for much longer," Debbie stuck her tongue out at him, "I should be changing back pretty soon too." Shortly after they returned to Bryanna's apartment, Debbie returned to her male form, quickly followed by Bryanna. They all stood around and silently stared at each other for a few minutes, thinking about what everyone else looked like while they'd been transformed. It was strange to imagine that they had actually been transformed so completely yet accepted it so easily, but there was no doubt that it try happened in any of their minds. "We're definitely going to have to try this again," Ali grinned, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she considered all the possibilities of this magic ring. Bryan frowned slightly, "It was interesting, but I'm not sure I want to go through that again." "Well, I don't think I'd mind trying it again sometime," Dave admitted with some embarrassment. "It's weird, but kind of fun." "Well I'm done for tonight at least," Bryan said, gesturing to his desk, "I was doing some work for one of my classes when you guys showed up and I really need to finish it before bed." "I guess we should get going," Ali blushed, "Dave and I need to have a little talk." Then Ali surprised Dave by suddenly kissing him, right in front of the others. He quickly looked at them, afraid of what they might say about him and Ali getting romantic. But to his further surprise, Bryan and Chuck were both grinning. "We had a little talk while you waited outside," Ali told him with a smile, "We kind of cleared the air about a few things." Then she clutched his hand tightly as she pulled him towards the door. "See you guys tomorrow..." "I guess I should get going too," Chuck sighed, nodding to Bryan as he walked out the door as well. Once Chuck was outside, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. He stared at for a moment, then smiled wickedly and slipped it onto his finger. --- The next morning, all four of them arrived at the Dragon's Trove, including Bryan who was not supposed to be there until quite a bit later. Though he had a hard time admitting it, he was curious about the ring and wanted to see what else it could do, even if that meant some of his other commitments had to be delayed. "So how is everyone this morning?" Charlene asked with a grin, especially looking at Dave and Ali who blushed in response. "Just a little sore," Ali whispered to her conspiratorially. "I don't know why Dave and I waited so long to really get involved like this." "Sometimes it just takes the right push," Charlene told her, feeling a faint regret but also happiness for her friends. Once the others had rushed off to take care of various things around the store, Charlene took the opportunity to look down at herself and smile. It had been wonderful to play around with her friends like that, to have them treat her as though she had always been the tall and slender brunette that she currently was. None of them had the slightest idea that she had ever been a boy named Chuck, except perhaps while playing with the ring. After Chuck had placed the ring on his finger the night before and transformed into the current version of Charlene, she had been careful to keep it on long enough to stay that way all through the night. It had been a wonderful experience to go to bed as a woman and then wake up as one. Of course, she had also been careful not to leave the ring on too long. "This is fun," she grinned to herself, pulling the ring from her pocket to stare at it. For a moment, she felt a brief regret that she had ever shared it with her friends, but that quickly passed. Something this incredible just screamed out to be shared, especially by her closest friends. "So what should we do with the ring now?" Dave asked after a short while, finally verbalizing what each of them had been thinking. "I think we should hold off a little longer," Charlene told them, quickly glancing at her watch. Bryan watched her with a suspicious look in his eyes that made her wonder if he suspected that she was already using the ring. But he said nothing, much to Charlene's relief. "I guess we should shelf all those new books that came in last week," Ali sighed with disappointment. Charlene nodded in relief, not wanting her friends to figure out what she was doing just yet. She enjoyed playing the role of being a perfectly ordinary woman with her friends and to have them learn the truth at this point could prove just a little embarrassing. For the next hour, Charlene kept looking at her watch, knowing that she was due to turn back into Chuck at any time. Then she finally felt the expected wave of dizziness and quickly looked around. None of the others were looking at Chuck so he let out a faint sigh of relief, glad that none of them had witnessed his transformation back. "Hey, I've got a fun idea," Chuck called out to the others just a minute later. "Let's roll up some new characters, then use the ring to turn into them while we play a short game." "That sounds like fun," Dave grinned, "I used to have that female Elf cleric character that I could pull out and use." "Sounds great to me," Ali grinned with a faint gleam in her eyes. They all turned to Bryan, who looked a bit hesitant. "I don't know," he said after a moment, "We still don't know what kind of long term side effects that ring might have." "It'll be fun," Ali protested. "You don't have to use it," Dave pointed out in annoyance, "You could always just DM the game." Bryan agreed and a minute later, Ali and Chuck were creating new role- playing characters of the opposite sex, while Dave was recreating one that he had played before. They quickly finished and stood around the gaming table, staring at the ring Chuck had set right in the middle. "I'll go first," Dave announced, grabbing the ring and putting it on. A moment later, a tall, elegant looking Elf woman stood in his place. She had long, platinum blonde hair that nearly faded into silver, a pair of pointed ears and beautiful green eyes. She even wore the appropriate clothes for the character Dave had chosen to play, a velvet green dress with a leather corset built in. "This is a little odd," the elf woman smiled after a moment as she felt her now pointed ears. "Wicked," Chuck grinned, "You look like a real Elf." "I think I am a real Elf," Debbie said with an arched eyebrow. "My turn," Ali exclaimed, holding her hand out for the ring, though Debbie just nodded and pointed out that they'd want to stay transformed for several hours in order to play the game. After several minutes, Debbie removed the ring and handed it to Ali, who muttered, "Finally." Seconds later, Ali had transformed into a tall and heavily muscled barbarian warrior. Al stood there, smirking down at everyone else now that he was the tallest person in the room. He was even taller than Chuck, an experience which he found quite amusing since his tall and gangly friend had always towered over him. "I can't believe how strong I feel," Al exclaimed in a booming voice, flexing his arm and staring at the bulging bicep. "I'm tempted to go to the gym and see just how strong I am now." "Later," Dave told him with an appreciative look, "We have a game to play, remember?" "Yeah, yeah," Al grumbled, standing there for another minute before finally removing the ring and handing it to Chuck. Chuck silently stared over his character sheet for a moment, fixing the details in his mind. Then he put on the ring and began to transform. The Charlene that stood there a moment later was quite a bit different from any of the previous versions. This one was not even human, but a Dark Elf instead. She had a tall and sexy body, with dark gray skin. Her hair was long and white, while her ears came to a long point. A pair of strange, yellow eyes looked out at her friends as she stood there, smirking at the expressions on their faces. "Wow," Debbie exclaimed, staring at Charlene in surprise. "But isn't your character a human sorceress?" Bryan asked. "She was going to be," Charlene admitted, "But after I saw Dave turn into an Elf, I couldn't resist. I'll just change my character sheet to match." "Well you do look pretty cool," Al admitted, staring at Charlene with an admiring look until Debbie elbowed him in the side. "I'm the only Elf you're allowed to look at like that," Debbie told Al with a faint glare. "It's like window shopping," Al grinned back, repeating something that Dave had told Ali several times, "I'm can look, but I just can't touch." Everyone stood there and stared at each other for a minute before Charlene finally began making the changes to her character sheet. When she was done, Ali pointed out, "You forgot to take off the ring and you've had it on for over five minutes." "That means five or six hours as a sexy Elf," Bryan pointed out with some amusement. "I guess I forgot I still had it on," Charlene blushed as she took it off and set it in the middle of the table. Bryan carefully picked up the ring and examined it for a moment. Everyone stared at him in surprise as he slipped it onto his ringer, immediately transforming into a slender Caucasian girl with long red hair and a pair of brilliant green eyes. "A white girl?" Debbie asked in surprise. "I can play around too," Bryanna smiled self-consciously. "I thought you were just going to DM," Al stared at her appreciatively. "I'm still going to do that," Bryanna shrugged, "I just thought the party could use a thief so I'm doubling as a player." Having the Dungeon Master, the person in charge of the game doubling as a regular player was not uncommon in their games, though they were a little surprised that Bryanna could choose to do that at the moment considering her earlier nervousness with the ring. However, they were all pleased that she decided to get in on the fun since it made things much more interesting. Bryanna kept the ring on for just a minute before taking it off, then she went to work writing up her own character sheet. She ignored the curious way the others were looking at her, focusing instead on creating the perfect female thief for this particular short campaign. "Let me try something," Charlene exclaimed while Bryan worked. She held out her hand with a look of intense concentration, which baffled the others. "What are you doing?" Debbie asked with a curious expression. "I'm trying to see if I can really cast a spell," Charlene explained. "My character is a mage, so I thought I'd give it a try and see if I get her powers along with her form." She tried again to no effect. Debbie stared at her for a moment before nodding, "Interesting idea." She closed her own eyes and silently prayed to the goddess her character worshipped, though nothing happened. She tried willing her characters powers to come to life, but none did. "It looks like you only look like them," Al grinned broadly, flexing his muscular arm. "On the other hand, these muscles are perfectly real." "But you probably wouldn't know how to use a real sword if you got your hands on one," Debbie pointed out. Al just grinned, "Actually, my character uses an ax..." "Too bad we don't get their powers and skills," Bryanna commented as she finished her character sheet. It might have been interesting to have all these acrobatic and thief skills. "I'm done though, so lets play." Though they had all enjoyed various role-playing games a great deal, they soon realized that none of them had ever been as exciting as this one. Looking exactly like the characters they were playing added a whole new dimension of reality to the game, one which quickly got their blood pumping. "I take my mighty ax and slash at the monster," Al roared out, jumping up and flexing his powerful muscles. "Next time," Debbie sighed with an embarrassed shake of her head, "we're gonna make you play a Hobbit. And I don't mean the ring bearer kind either." "You're just jealous of these biceps," Al smirked. "Quit acting so macho and sit down," Charlene sighed. Then she winked at Debbie and exclaimed, "Men..." This earned a round of chuckles from everyone at the table, including Al. Just then, one of their frequent customers came into the Dragon's Trove. He was a middle-aged man who took one look at them and didn't even blink at the fact that Charlene was a Dark Elf. "Hey Charlene," he winked at her, "Looking good today." Then he continued walking past to check out the bookshelf. "That is strange," Charlene shook her head. "I know that the ring is supposed to change reality, but he didn't even blink at seeing me like this, and I don't even look human." "It doesn't make sense," Bryanna agreed. Debbie grinned, "It doesn't have to make sense. It's magic." "Enough talking," Al grumbled, "Let's get back to playing." "Hey, you're the one who started it with your celebratory muscle dance," Debbie pointed out, earning a very unmanly raspberry from Al. They returned to the game, but it wasn't much longer before Debbie suddenly transformed back to Dave, followed a few minutes later by Al's return to Ali. There were sighs of disappointment as well as suggestions of immediately transforming back so they could finish the game. "I think we should pause in play for awhile anyway," Dave said, "We can come back and continue the campaign a little later." "Hey," Charlene protested, "I'm stuck like this for a few more hours and I want to make the most of it." "I'm need a break in playing too," Bryanna said thoughtfully. "I didn't exactly have time to come up with many ideas for it before we started and I'm about out of inspiration." Then as if to emphasize her point, she transformed back into male form as well. Charlene grumbled and sat there pouting in disappointment for a moment before exclaiming, "At least we... or at least you guys can still play around with the ring. I'm stuck for a little longer." "You go ahead," Bryan commented, holding up the book that the ring had come in, "I want to look through this thing a little more." "It's too bad that I can only turn into a guy with this," Ali said as she picked up the ring and stared at it. "If I could turn into other women, there would be a whole lot more possibilities." She winked at Dave. Bryan stared at them for a moment, then mused aloud, "I wonder..." "What?" Charlene asked. Bryan was silent for a minute, carefully reviewing his own thought process before revealing them. This was a habit of his that sometimes frustrated his friends and they struggled to be patient. Finally, he announced, "If you wear the ring for an hour, it makes that form your default one." "That's what the book said," Charlene shrugged. "Well," Bryan continued slowly, looking straight at Ali, "If you wore the ring long enough to permanently turn male, then it might see you as any other man and you could use the ring to turn into any female you wanted." "I didn't see that in the book," Charlene protested. "Whoever wrote the book might not have tested it that far," Bryan pointed out. "Besides, it's just a theory, but I think it makes sense." "Makes sense to me too," Dave admitted. "I just wonder how far this can go," Ali mused, staring at the ring thoughtfully. "If it can turn us into Elves, maybe it can turn me into a dragon." "NO!" Dave, Charlene and Bryan protested at once, jumping at her to keep her from putting the ring on. "I wasn't actually going to turn into a dragon," Ali protested defensively, though they couldn't be sure if she was telling the truth or not. "Maybe we can test it without risking the destruction of the Trove," Bryan suggested. Dave held up the ring, having snatched it out of Ali's hands in desperation just moments earlier, "I have an idea." A moment after Dave slipped the ring on his finger, he was sitting down in a wheelchair, in a body that was most definitely neither human nor male. Debbie had an extremely sexy body, with G cup breasts and long red hair that would have cascaded to the floor if it weren't pulled around into her lap. The most startling aspect about the transformation though was that from her waist down, she had a fish like tail with bluish green scales. "You're a mermaid," Ali blurted out in surprise. "Wow," Charlene exclaimed, "You look like Hugh Hefner's version of the Little Mermaid." Debbie immediately removed the ring and smiled, "I wanted to see how extreme the changes could be." "That's pretty extreme all right," Ali agreed, looking a bit jealous. At that moment, a tinkling sound came from the bell above the doorway and they all turned to see one of their frequent customers enter. She was an elderly lady who had taste for fantasy, apparently having discovered the joys of J.R.R. Tolkien some decades earlier, before his work was popularized by the movies. "How are you all doing today?" the old woman asked. "Just fine Mrs. Birch," Ali responded, giving a nervous glance at Debbie. "Does anything look different about me today?" Debbie asked cautiously. Mrs. Birch chuckled, "There's no need trying to shock me dear. I'll admit, your birth defect is rather unique, but I have seen it before you know." After a minute of polite conversation, Mrs. Birch continued towards the shelves of books, quickly moving out of hearing. Charlene immediately turned to Debbie and exclaimed, "Man, she didn't even think it was weird." "We did learn something though," Bryan pointed out, "The didn't suddenly alter human history and create a whole race of mermaids to explain her. It found a simpler explanation. I'll bet everyone else just thinks that Charlene has an interesting birth defect too." "Great," Charlene rolled her eyes, "A minute ago I was a fantastic magical creature. Now I'm a birth defect." "Well it's my turn next," Ali said, taking the ring back. She hesitated long enough to look and make sure that Mrs. Birch wasn't watching before putting the ring on. A moment later, Al stood there as a centaur whose equine half was a black stallion and whose human half held a strong resemblance to the barbarian warrior he had been for the earlier role-playing game. "I've got a couple extra legs," Al commented, moving all four of his legs one at a time as he familiarized himself with his new body. As before, it didn't really feel at all uncomfortable, which surprised him considering just how more extensive the differences were this time. "Am I the only one," Bryan asked in exasperation, "who doesn't feel the urge to become some sort of fantasy world freak?" The other three stared at him for a moment before Debbie answered, "I think so." "You know," Charlene changed the topic, "It's getting to be around lunch time." "Maybe," Debbie shrugged, "But I'm not going out looking like this. Sure, everyone may think this is just some sort of birth defect, but it would just be too weird." "We can go when we change back," Al shrugged, not looking very concerned with it. Once Debbie and Al had reverted to their normal selves, they were finally ready to go to lunch. But just as they started for the door, the ring caught Dave's attention. He hesitated for a moment and put it on, much to Ali's surprise. "What are you doing?" Ali demanded, "We just changed back." Ali stared in surprise as Debbie stood there, now an identical copy to her, except for the fact that the apparent Ali had a smirk on her face. It was almost like looking in a mirror, and Ali's expression to this caused Charlene to burst out laughing. "I thought we could go to lunch as each other," Debbie suggested, handing the ring to Ali. "I can't believe you did that," Charlene grinned, "I mean, one Ali is enough." Ali glared at Charlene, then set the ring down and shook her head. "Naw," she grinned, "I always wondered what it would be like having a twin sister. Now I'll get to find out." "We can go to lunch when they get back," Bryan suggested to Charlene. Charlene nodded, watching Debbie and Ali leave the store, knowing that she'd probably be feeling a bit jealous if she were still Chuck. Then she turned to Bryan and smiled, realizing that at the moment, there was someone else that she'd much rather have than Alice. Chuck might have been interested in her, but Charlene didn't swing that way. "I wonder," Charlene mused for a moment, then smiled, walking away from Bryan with a flip of her hair and as sexy a stroll as she could produce. Though she gave no sign that she noticed the look of intense interest that Bryan gave her, she did notice and smirked inside. When Debbie and Ali returned a half hour later, laughing and smiling, Charlene immediately grabbed Bryan and purred, "It's our turn for lunch." "What?" Bryan blinked in surprise, not sure of what to think about the way Charlene was acting towards him. He wasn't used to gorgeous, and extremely exotic women throwing themselves him like this and he couldn't help but reacting. But at the same time, he knew that inside of this delectable creature was his old friend Chuck. Bryan shook his head, confused by this contradictory feelings rushing, through him. "Come on," Charlene winked as she pulled him towards the door, "It's our turn to go out to lunch." After Charlene and Bryan were gone, Ali wasted no time in picking up the ring and putting it on. Debbie more than half expected Ali to turn into a version of Dave since she still looked like Ali, but to her surprise, the new Al was a dwarf. He was short, stocky and had a long red beard that was tucked into his belt. "I wanted to try out some more fantasy creatures," Al explained with a deep voice. "The only thing I'm missing here is a big ax." He chuckled broadly, "Imagine the fun we could have making a Dungeons and Dragons movie..." "It would certainly have better makeup than the last one they made," Debbie giggled. "You should be changing back pretty soon now," Al pointed out, scratching at his beard as though it were a long habit, in spite of the fact that this was the first time he'd ever had one. Then he grinned, "I have an idea of what you should try next." Debbie sighed, "Actually, I was thinking about spending a little time as myself. It's getting a little weird spending so much time as other people." "Come on," Al teased, "Don't be a chicken. We've got a lot more things to try out with this ring." After a minute, Debbie nodded her reluctant agreement. She looked at her watch, knowing that she should be changing back into Dave at any moment. And as soon as she did so, Dave almost immediately put the ring back on, concentrating on the form that Al suggested he try. "Holy shit," the tiny pixie Debbie exclaimed as she hovered in the air a moment later. She was 6 inches tall, with pink hair and dragonfly wings, exactly as she had been imagining. "It really worked." "You're flying," Al grinned, "I guess flying isn't like magic spells or anything..." "I guess not," Debbie agreed. Debbie stared down at herself, then at her hands. To her surprise, the ring had shrunk along with the rest of her body and still fit perfectly over her tiny finger. She quickly pulled the ring off, not wanting to spend too much time as a pixie. Then as she dropped the now tiny ring onto the counter, it quickly grew back to it's normal size, large enough for her to use as a crown if she wanted to. "The only thing missing is Charlene," Al chuckled, "We could use an elf to round things out." "We could also get Bryan to become a centaur or something," Debbie pointed out. "Then we'd all be mythical creatures." Debbie laughed and they continued talking about what fun it would be for them all to try out the forms of different fantasy creatures. This conversation continued until Bryan and Chuck eventually returned. Chuck was scowling, embarrassed that the effects of the ring had worn off and transformed him back in the middle of lunch while some little boy had been staring at him. "I swear, that kid's going to be messed up for life," Bryan teased Chuck about the incident. "It's not my fault," Chuck grumbled self-consciously, "I wasn't expecting to have it wear off yet." Bryan paused to look at Debbie and Al with a thoughtful expression, then said, "I spite of what I remember, it's too much of a coincidence that you guys are a dwarf and a pixie." "Just testing the ring a little more," Al grinned. "It's pretty amazing." "Definitely," Debbie laughed, flying circles above their heads. "I feel so light and airy. Flying comes so natural when I'm like this, like some kind of instinct." "I might have to try that out," Chuck mused thoughtfully. Bryan just shook his head, "I think you can leave me out of that one. I have no interest in turning into Tinkerbell." "If you do, I'll be Captain Hook," Al laughed, "I've always wanted to be a pirate." A short time later, Al and Debbie reverted to their true forms. And though they were tempted put on the ring and try out some more forms, they decided that they'd had enough for the moment. The ring was carefully put away as they took a break from it and worked until closing time as their natural selves. When it was nearly time to close the Dragon's Trove and go home, Ali grinned at Dave then asked Bryan and Chuck, "Do guys mind if we take the ring home tonight?" She winked at Dave, who just blushed. "I don't care," Bryan shrugged. Chuck stared at Ali for a moment, feeling a brief stirring of jealousy before pushing it away. She and Dave belonged together, and a large part of him had realized that some time ago, though he hadn't been ready to admit it to himself until he'd seen things with a new and more feminine perspective. There was nothing between him and Ali but friendship and he was happy to have that. "Go ahead," Chuck told her after a few seconds of hesitation. "But I want to use it for a few minutes first." When Chuck put the ring on, he immediately transformed into a beautiful woman with long, raven black hair, bronzed skin and an indeterminate ethnicity. Charlene slowly turned to show off her incredibly sexy new body, smirking and winking at Bryan as she did so. "This feels SOOO good," she purred, running her hands over her breasts and laughing at her friend's reaction. "My turn," Ali held out her hand. Charlene shook her head, "Not quite yet." She looked down at the ring and smir