As Matthew placed Brandon/Simon under the spell of the watch, a few problems occurred to him. He grimaced internally, and thought very quickly.
First: Matthew couldn't do a separation, because with Mark and Walter were two minds in a body; whereas the Jocks had replaced Simon outright with Brandon, and Simon technically no longer existed.
This didn't worry Matthew long, on the grounds that, until a few hours ago, Brandon hadn't existed, either.
The second thought, though, worried him a great deal. Removing Brandon from the equation risked the creation of a Paradox, a defilement of reality itself. Brandon was the Captain, now, and removing him would mean that the team had no Captain, since Mark was by definition NOT the Captain, at least not yet. How would the watch compensate for this flaw of logic?
Matthew glanced at Allison. Her eyes held lust for Brandon's body, but beneath that was a deep fear for Simon's soul.
Matthew snarled. Damn reality, he'd given his word!
"Brandon, you're going to go away now. You're going to go back to being Simon, completely and totally. You're going to do this because I tell you to, and so long as I hold the watch and you are entranced, my word is Law. And I'm telling you to do this because Allison loves you, and I gave my word to restore you. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
And with that, Brandon began to change. He shrank, from his imposing 6'3" to his original 5'10", an inch shorter than Allison. His hair turned a mousey brown, his eyes unfocused slightly, and he lost his lantern jaw. His muscles deflated, leaving him long, lanky and weak. His cock returned to it's low-end-of-average size, and his clothes became geeky thrift-store purchases. Matthew nodded.
"When I snap my fingers, Simon, you will awaken from trance and have your free will restored to you." *Snap* went Matthew's fingers. Simon opened his eyes, and looked at Allison.
"You...You love me?"
Allison burst into tears, and glomped onto Simon.
"Of course I do, you idiot!"
And then it all went horribly, horribly wrong.
Matthew screamed and dropped the watch, which had grown unnaturally hot and seared his flesh. The sound of a cloister bell rang out loudly from an unidentifiable source. Matthew clutched his hand and snarled, as Simon and Allison held onto each other in fear.
"Damn, double damn, and thrice damn! The Paradox!"