Lanie gaped at Angelina. Deep down, she knew Angelina was telling the truth, but she still couldn't get herself to believe it. A horrible woman like Angelina...Lanie's mother? The idea sickened her to her very core. "But how?" Lanie asked. "How can you be my mother?"

"I hooked up with your father nearly seventeen years ago," Angelina answered.

"What?" Lanie asked. "I thought you hated men."

"I didn't always hate men as much as I do," Angelina replied. "I've always been a feminist, but I was open to settling down with a man and starting a family. But then Richard started drinking and beating you and I. Him abusive nature opened my eyes to how bad men really were. So I abandoned you and found three other witches to help me start the Pretty And Pink Foster Care as a front for turning young boys into girls."

"As for you, well," Angelina continued, "I didn't bother bringing you with me when I left, since I didn't want a son there to tarnish my image. But then I realized I had a lot of opportunities with an heir. If I turned you into a girl and told you of your true nature as a witch, then I could have someone to pass my legacy on to when I died. So I sent Ruth out to find you, and turn you into a girl so you could have some time to adjust to being female before joining me. I didn't expect things to happen the way they did, but the important thing is that you and I are reunited. Now that I have awakened your magical abilities, you and I can continue the quest to expunge the male gender from this world. Then we can rule as mother and daughter."

Lanie slowly shook her head. "You're insane," she said.

"Oh, Lanie, my girl," Angelina said with a creepy smile, "You'll find that I am perfectly sane."

"What makes you think that I'd join you?" Lanie demanded. "You killed Melody, you tried to kill Conner, you tried to kill Jenny, and you tried to kill Rachel! And you've turned hundreds of boys into girls against your will!"

"But not you," Angelina countered. "You agreed to let Ruth turn you into a girl, didn't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"And it was genuinely the right thing for you, was it not? It prevented you from being charged with the murder of your father."

"Yeah, but I'm a special case! What you and your witches are doing to all those other boys-it's wrong!"

"It's for the better," Angelina countered. "You will understand in due time. Long have I waited for you, my child, to come home. I never wanted you dead. It is your birthright to stand by my side...to help me exterminate the world's males."

Lanie ground her teeth. "No," she said. "I won't subscribe to your misandrist ideas." She faced Angelina and balled her fists. In that moment, she realized that now that she had magic powers, she could use them to attack Angelina the way Angelina and Ruth had attacked Lanie's friends. Lanie willed a fireball to appear around her fist and hurled it at Angelina.

Angelina dodged the fireball and glared at Lanie. "It's treason, then," she said. She thrust her hand forward and threw a bolt of green energy at Lanie. The bolt hit Lanie and sent her flying backward into the wall.

Luckily, Lanie recovered from the blow quickly. She willed herself to rise off the ground and hurled several more fireballs at Angelina. Angelina managed to block or dodge every single one of them. "You should know that it's hopeless for you," she jibed. "You have no friends, and the only family you have here is me."

"It doesn't matter," said Lanie. "Because I'll never join you! Never!"

"So be it, girl," said Angelina. She thrust out both her hands and shot bolts of green magical energy at Lanie. Lanie responded by firing her own bolts of energy back at Angelina. The bolts of energy met between the two witches in an explosion of sparks. Mother and daughter pushed against each other, their bolts of energy pulsing with green light. Eventually, Angelina managed to overpower Lanie and throw her backward. Lanie landed against the wall in a heap.

"I am very disappointed in you, Lanie," said Angelina. "I could've given you the world. Made you a queen. We would've been widely revered for bringing in the world's new all-female age. But instead, you chose to rebel against me." She advanced on Lanie with balls of magical fire forming in her hands.

"Hey!" said a new voice. "Get away from my girl!"

Angelina whirled and was shocked to see Conner charging down into the underground bunker. "What...a boy?" she said.

"Conner!" Lanie exclaimed.

Conner didn't even stop to quip. He threw the wrench he was carrying at Angelina and hit her square in the chest. Angelina doubled over and gasped. The blow hadn't killed her, but it had knocked the wind out of her for a few moments.

When Angelina had regained her breath, she looked up at Conner with fury. "Don't tell me my daughter actually found herself a boyfriend," she seethed.

"Wait," said Conner. "Lanie's your daughter?"

"Yes, she is," said Angelina. "But you, boy..."

"Don't you touch him!" Lanie barked. Just the thought of Angelina threatening Conner fueled her with enough rage to get back up. Lanie focused all her newfound magical energy into forming the biggest, most powerful fireball she'd created yet. Once the fireball had formed in her hands, Lanie hurled it at Angelina. Angelina barely had time to react before the fireball hit her. The fireball incinerated Angelina as easily as if she'd been doused in gasoline. The evil witch let out one last scream of agony before she crumbled into a pile of black ashes.

Conner stared at the pile of ashes that used to be Angelina Aguilar. "Did...did you just..."

"Yes," said Lanie. "Yes, I did."

"Whoa," said Rachel. Lanie hadn't noticed, but Rachel had come up behind Conner, along with...was that Diana Jackson behind her? "Lanie, you're...you're a witch!"

"I know," said Lanie. "I can't believe it either."

"Oh my god!" said yet another new voice. Lanie turned and saw someone coming out of a side door she hadn't noticed before. It was that lady Bea who'd been with Angelina when she came to kidnap Lanie. "You...you killed Angelina."

Lanie felt a jolt of dread. "I, uh..."

"Well done!" Bea exclaimed. "I've been dreaming of doing that for years!"

"Wait, what?"

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" Bea asked. "Angelina hired me on as her assistant when she founded Pretty And Pink Foster Care, and I found I did not enjoy working for her at all. She treated me like a slave, forcing me to perform even the most mundane tasks for her. I was privy to her evil schemes, but she threatened me with death if I ever divulged her secrets. So I've been forced to live under her wicked thumb-until now."

"So now what?" Rachel asked. "If Angelina's dead, then...what's gonna happen to Pretty And Pink?"

Bea smiled. "I think I might be able to shut it down," she said. "But as for all the girls in our care, well..."

"What?"

"I think we'd better call an assembly for all the girls here," said Bea. "Immediately."

***

About fifteen minutes later, all the girls in the foster home were gathered in the building's auditorium-something that hadn't been present at Pretty And Pink's Nashville establishment. Bea stood on the stage with Lanie, Rachel, Conner, Diana, and Bryce at her side. "Greetings, young ladies," Bea said to the girls. "I have gathered you here with some great news. Angelina Aguilar, the witch responsible for turning you all into girls, has been defeated."

The assembled girls let out collective gasps. "What the...the rest of you were..." several of them said.

"Yes, you all have been gaslit," said Bea. "Angelina-and Ruth, and Anna, and Elena-they told each of you that you were the only boy-turned-girl at Pretty And Pink, and that you were not to divulge your little secret, but that was not the case. Angelina and her fellow witches harbored a hatred of the male gender and wished to turn all the world's men into women. But these kids have put an end to their schemes."

Lanie felt all the eyes in the room turn her way. "Yes, we did," said Lanie. "Me and Rachel here-we were bunkmates at the Nashville building. But then when a new girl was assigned to our room, and she broke down about how she used to be a boy too, it exposed Pretty And Pink for what it really was. Me and Rachel, and this new girl and one of our roommates-we broke into the Nashville building's secret underground bunker and caught Angelina's attention. We had to escape and hitch a ride on a train to Atlanta, Georgia. That's where we've been for the last month or so."

"That's where we met these guys," said Rachel. "Conner, and Diana, and Bryce. But when Angelina managed to track us down and kidnap Lanie, we came back here to rescue her. And we were able to kill Elena, and Anna, and now Angelina."

"That means we're all free," said Bea. "The witches' plans are no more, and Pretty And Pink Foster Care can be shut down."

"But what will happen to us?" Taylor asked. She and Alexis were both sitting in the auditorium's front row. "Will we be transferred to new foster homes?"

"Yes, but there is something else I can do for you," said Bea. "Since Angelina is now dead, I will have access to all of her magic formulas and potion recipes. I believe I can work from her gender-changing potion and reverse-engineer it to create a new elixir. When I have perfected it, I can turn you all back into boys if you so desire."

For a few seconds, the crowd of girls stared at Bea, not sure if they believed her. Then several of them started saying "Yes! Yes, please! I hate being a girl!"

Bea smiled. "I thought I might get that reaction," she said. She turned to Lanie and Rachel and said "And you two, I believe, were affected by those witches' magic."

"Yes, we were," said Lanie.

"And will you partake of my elixir once I have perfected it?"

"Wait...you mean...do we want to be boys again?"

"Yes."

Lanie hesitated. A month and a half ago, she would've said yes. Ever since Ruth turned Landon into Lanie, his/her life had turned completely upside down. But now, after everything that had happened...she just couldn't imagine going back. She'd been on this incredible journey, and she'd meet lots of great people-Diana, Jenny, Melody, Bryce, Taylor, Alexis, Aaron, Trevor, and most especially Rachel. As if that wasn't enough, she had a sweet, devoted boyfriend in Conner. She'd come to learn everything there was to know about being a girl. Wearing skirts and high heels, doing her hair, being a part of cliques at school...it all just felt right to her. It was as if becoming a girl had awakened something inside her that she didn't even know she wanted.

"No," said Lanie. "I'll stay a girl."

Bea looked surprised. "You will?"

"Yes," said Lanie. "I think life as a girl is what's right for me."

"Me too," said Rachel.

Bea shrugged. "Very well," she said. "As long as you're happy, then that's the main thing."

Lanie smiled. "It sure is," she said.

***

Before Lanie, Rachel, Conner, Diana, and Bryce left, they met with Taylor and Alexis again in the foster home's lobby. "Wow," said Taylor. "I can't believe you guys went through so much trouble."

"Neither can we," said Rachel. "And we weren't sure if we'd see you guys again."

"Well, it is a small world," said Alexis.

"Taylor I'm sorry that we kind of scared you," said Lanie. "When we were escaping the Nashville building, and we ran into you-"

"It's okay," said Taylor. "Now I know what was really going on that day."

"You're not gonna accept Bea's offer, are you?" Rachel asked. "Are you gonna let her turn you back into boys?"

Taylor and Alexis exchanged glances. "I think so, yes," said Taylor.

"So...you'll be Tyler and Alex?" Bryce asked.

"Yep," said Alexis.

"Ah," said Lanie. "Well...good luck, guys."

"We'll keep in touch," said Alexis. She and Taylor took turns hugging Lanie and Rachel-and even Conner, Diana, and Bryce.

After Taylor and Alexis left, the five friends started back toward the foster home's main doors. "Thank you guys so much for coming to rescue me," said Lanie.

"No problem," said Conner. "It's what friends do."

"No, you've all gone beyond the call of duty," said Lanie. "Diana, and Rachel, and Conner...and even you, Bryce."

"I know," said Bryce. "I never would've thought I'd end up driving up to save the life of a girl I saw Conner take out to the place where I work."

"Me either."

Rachel spoke up. "So Lanie...are you glad that you and I are gonna stay girls?"

"Of course!" said Lanie. "If I hadn't been turned into a girl, then I never would've met any of you!"

"Plus, if you were a guy, well...I've never been gay at all, so..." said Conner.

Lanie laughed. "Neither was I, when I was Landon," she said.

"Well, at least you're together now," said Diana. "And that's all that matters, right?"

"Right." Lanie and Conner both hugged each other deeply. After a minute of hugging, Rachel joined in, as did Diana. Even Bryce got in on the act. The five of them relished in their group hug as a celebration of everything they'd done, and everything they'd learned from their interactions with one another. They'd come to appreciate each other so much more after their adventure.

"So...now what?" Rachel asked when they'd all parted.

"We go back home," said Lanie. "To Utah."

"I'm driving," Diana said quickly.

"But it's my car!" said Bryce.

"You can take a turn driving later," Diana replied.

"I call shotgun," said Lanie.

And together, the five of them left Pretty And Pink to where their exciting new future awaited them.

***

Well, that's all, folks. It took me years to get around to writing this story, but now I've finally done it. I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I appreciate seeing all the views and Kudos that these chapters have received. But to those of you who've managed to make it this far, please feel free to leave a comment sharing your feedback. Proud of my work as I might be, I am interested to see what others think of it. Especially because many of the users on this site have written long TG stories of their own, and I always like hearing their different perspectives.

Fin