Tainted Gestalt: They're Shocked and Confused

Jim dropped the cube, which no longer looked electrified, and felt disoriented.

"What the fuck was that?" came Rick's voice.

Jim turned towards his friend and was about to say something, but the words stopped dead in his mouth. He stared at his friend, who now looked totally different. Gone was his nerdy slacker appearance. His hair was dyed black and was formed into spikes, his skin was pale, his shirt was now black with the logo of something called "Orgy of the Damned" on it, his jeans had been replaced by black leather pants, and his shoes were now black boots. Around his neck was a black collar with 1/2 inch metal spikes, he had a demonic-looking tattoo on his right arm, he had black lipstick on his lips and eyeliner around his eyes, and piercings - a bunch in his ears, one in his eyebrow, and another in his nostril.

"Why the fuck are you staring at me like that?" Rick asked, getting irritated.

"Rick, you're different. Don't you notice?"

Rick looked down at himself, then glared at Jim. "What the fuck are you talking about? There's nothing different about me. You know what? This shit is getting old. You playing your nerdy mind games with me. I don't know why I even hang out with you. I'm heading home."

"To get ready for your date with Candace," Jim said, thinking he was finishing his friend's thought.

"What? Candace? Who the fuck is that? No, I'm going to the 'Orgy of the Damned' concert with Raven." As it turned out, "Orgy of the Damned" was a heavy metal band.

"Raven? You mean that weird Goth girl?" Jim asked.

"What other Raven do you know? Anyway, later on, we're thinking about doing a little bondage. You know how much I like that."

No, Jim did not know how much Rick liked that, or how he liked heavy metal, or anything. What the hell was going on? Why did Rick look like a Goth boy, why was he dating Raven instead of Candace ... what was happening?!

The cube losing its electrical look, Jon dropped it to the ground and immediately felt dizzy.

"Jon, you okay? You look like you've just been mind-fucked," came the voice of Karyn.

He looked in her direction, his eyes going wide. "Karyn? Is that you?" he asked in disbelief.

Karyn looked down at herself, then back up at Jon, a perplexed look on her face. "What do you mean? Of course, it's me."

Jon wasn't sure what was happening, but Karyn looked totally different. Her hair was long and blond, her skin smooth and perfect, her breasts much bigger, probably around a DD-cup, and her body looking much curvier. She definitely didn't have the tomboy body look. In fact, her body kind of reminded him of Sarah McMillan's. But the rest of her was far-removed from that of the bitchy cheerleader. Karyn's skin was pale, her make-up dark, almost black. She was wearing a black leather corset over a fishnet shirt, a worn black miniskirt, ripped fishnet stockings, and black buckled boots with five-inch stacks. Around her neck was a black collar with 1-inch metal spikes. And she had lots of piercings, some in her ears, two in her eyebrow, one in her nostril ... and the one in her nostril and one of the ones in her ear were connected by a chain. Other than the piercings, she reminded him quite bit of his sister Zoe. But how was this possible?

Karyn pushed herself up against Jon, catching him off guard. "W-what are you doing?"

"Can't your hot girlfriend be close to her man?" she asked, seductively.

"G-girlfriend?" he responded, stunned, before feeling her lips touching his own.

Ted tried to keep his balance as the cube fell out of his hands down to the sidewalk. What the hell was all that?

A car horn broke him out of his dizziness, but increased his headache. He looked over towards the road and got a surprise. It was Lauren, but at the same time not. It was nighttime, but even with the streetlamps, it was hard to see exactly what had changed about her, but he definitely didn't remember her wearing so much black before. Pink was her color, or other feminine pastels. And what happened to her car? She had a nice expensive one the last time he saw her. This one was old and beat up. Was that even really her? He was drunk, so maybe he was seeing things.

The car's horn was honked again and the driver sneered in his direction. "Ted, stop fucking around and get over here."

Yeah, that was her voice. But how could that be her?

He moved closer, getting a better look at her. She looked very gothic, something she wouldn't be caught dead looking like. "Lauren?" he asked, still not quite believing it was her.

"Yeah, it's me. Now get in the fucking car so we can go home. The kids are waiting for us."

The kids? Did she mean Dan and Allison? Wait a minute, home? What was she talking about? They didn't live together, not since a year before the divorce.

"Come on," she complained. "I can't wait any longer. I've been waiting all day for Allison to whip me. So get in the fucking car, NOW!"

Did she just say that she wanted their daughter to whip her? What the hell was going on?!

Teresa dropped the cube to the floor and just sat there on her bed in shock. The knocking on her door snapped her out of her daze. Couldn't her stupid mom just leave her alone, just once? In a huff, she stood up and angrily swung her door open, readying herself to chew her mother out. But the moment she saw her mom, her mouth locked shut. What the hell? Her mom was dressed all in black, and was that a spiked collar around her neck? And a tattoo running up her arm, all the way up to the side of her neck? And multiple piercings in her ears and even one in her nostril? What happened?

"It's about fucking time you opened this door," her mom said, stunning Teresa again. Her mom never used the F-word, even referring to it like that. It's one of the things her mom hated about Teresa, her casual use of profanity. "Come on, let's go," she said, grabbing Teresa's arm.

Teresa shrugged her off. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"You know what's going on. It's our night together. Your father is working late. So that gives us time to ourselves. Now come on. The faster I get to suck your pussy, the happier I'll be."

"Wait, what?" Teresa asked, stunned. Did her mom just say that she thought she said?