Some of Dan's friends are in a classroom, waiting for the next bell to start.
"PSSSSST, JOE!" Gary whispered loudly across the classroom. "Did you hear what Dan did to Billy yesterday?"
"NO WHAT DID HE DO!?" Joe whispered back.
"I saw him trick Billy into that Transformation Photobooth thing. You know, the one that can paint you to look like anything you want? Anyway, I saw him turn Billy into a dog! The machine painted him black and white like a Dalmatian! Dan said he had set it to a year, so that Billy wouldn't be able to wash off his makeover."
"Oh wow! So Billy got turned into a dog? Do you know if he had the guts to come to school today?" Joe asked.
"That's the weird part," said Gary. "I just saw him by his locker, and he looked NORMAL! He looked like himself, but that's not possible! I've had some experience with that machine myself. When I first joined Dan's "gang" he told me I had to be initiated first."
"Uh oh, what happened?" asked Joe.
"He took me over to the photobooth and told me that if I wanted to be HIS friend, I had to step inside. I didn't know anyone else that well at the time, so I went along with it."
"Did he transform you too?" asked Joe.
"YEAH! When I got in, he shut the doors and turned me into a pink and purple kitty cat! He said only tough guys make it on his friend list; then he set the timer to last for a month! He said if I was tough enough to hold out for a month, I could join his gang. Trust me, I tried every kind of soap, solvent, and scouring pad I could find, but I was stuck as a cat for a whole month. It was awful; I looked like a really girly cat. People made fun of me non-stop until the month ended. So I know first hand that once you are changed in that thing, you are stuck that way until your time runs out. There's no way he's gotten off that easy! We have to figure out what his secret is!" said Gary.
"Maybe he figured out how to cover over the paint with something, if it can't be taken off," offered Joe.
"Yeah! Maybe we can wash off whatever it is and expose him in front of the whole school!"
"I'll try to squirt him with my water bottle and see what happens," said Joe. "SSSHHHH! Here he comes!," Joe snickered.