It was the night of the spring dance. Connie and Maria spent the entire evening wrapped around their respective dates, Burt and Tommy. Simone and Cookie, on the other hand, were dateless, and stood at the perimeter of the gym, Simone staring daggers into the back of Maria's head.
"That backstabbing tart," she muttered under her breath. "The only reason Tommy went with her instead of me is because of dumb luck."
Cookie said nothing, merely swirling her punch around in her cup.
Simone continued ranting. "Who does she think she is? I'm prettier and more popular than her…and now she's going to be voted Spring Dance Queen. I deserve it more than her…well?"
When Cookie didn't respond, Simone smacked the cup out of her hand, causing red punch to splatter everywhere. Simone then stormed out of the gym and into the hallway, walking until she reached a deserted part of the school. She sat on the floor beside a water fountain and sulked.
"It's not fair. I should be the Spring Dance Queen. I should be with Tommy…"
DO YOU REALLY THINK SO?
Simone's head snapped up. She thought she was alone, but apparently someone was spying on her. She quickly scanned the corridor but couldn't see anyone.
"Who's there?"
UP HERE.
Simone turned her head and gasped. A white creature was next to her, sitting atop the water fountain, and staring at her intently.
"W-what are you?"
I BELIEVE YOUR FRIEND CONNIE HAD REFERRED TO ME AS THE "CAT-GENIE".
"So…you AREN'T imaginary. How come I can I see you now and I couldn't before?"
THE FACT THAT I AM VISIBLE TO YOU MEANS THAT I CAN BE OF SOME ASSISTANCE TO YOU.
"Assistance?"
THERE IS SOMETHING YOU DESIRE THAT I CAN OFFER TO YOU. YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT BEING THE SPRING DANCE QUEEN. IS THAT TITLE IMPORTANT TO YOU?
"Well…yeah. What I wouldn't give to rub it in Maria's face if she lost…"
I CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
Simone stood up. "Really?"
YES, REALLY. I HAVE THE POWER TO GRANT ANY WISH YOU DESIRE. ALL I ASK OF YOU IN RETURN IS THAT YOU FORM A CONTRACT WITH ME TO BECOME A PUELLA MAGI.
"Okay, everybody, settle down!" A sixth grader with glasses tapped the microphone to get everyone's attention. "We're about to announce the King and Queen of this year's Spring Dance!"
Connie nudged Maria with her elbow. "You got this!" Maria smiled and nodded.
"Alright," said the sixth grader at the mic. "The person who earned the most votes for Spring Dance King is…Tommy Tuttoli!"
The audience cheered as Tommy made his way to the stage to accept his crown.
"And the girl who earned 100% of the male vote to be Spring Dance Queen is…Simone Anderson!"
"What?!" yelled a stunned Connie. "It's a fix! It's gotta be! Where's Burt?!"
Simone sauntered her way to the stage next to Tommy. She planted a kiss on his cheek just as Maria ran out of the gym.
"How could you!" Maria yelled at Tommy later on in the hall.
"I swear, I dunno what came over me…" Tommy explained lamely. "I was gonna pick you but…"
"But what? 100%? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Why don't you just be honest and say you like Simone better than me?"
"I'm tellin' ya, Maria, it ain't nothin' like that!"
"Know what," Maria took the tickets to Wrestlemania out of her pocket and threw them in Tommy's face. "You like her so much, go with her instead. Forget you!"
"Maria…wait!" But Maria had already left the building.
Later that evening, Maria lay sobbing on her bed, with Connie beside her, comforting her. Connie had also reneged on going to Wrestlemania, and the others had dropped them off via taxi before heading to the match.
"Tommy's such a jerk!" yelled Maria, her voice muffled by her pillow.
"Yeah, and Burt ain't no prize either," Connie added. "I can't believe they'd go behind our backs like that. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't be heading to Wrestlemania in the first place!"
"Well, at least this day couldn't possibly get any worse, right?"
Connie smiled at Maria. All of sudden, Connie went unconscious and fell on the bed. Frightened, Maria sat up and began to shake her best friend.
"Connie…hey, Connie! What's the matter with you? Wake up!"
At that moment, the bedroom door burst open and there was Cookie, red in the face. She darted over to the bed and placed a blue egg-shaped item on Connie's chest. Maria's eyes widened. "That's…"
Within seconds, Connie came back to life, gasping for air as though she had been holding her breath. When she sat up, she was surprised to see Maria and Cookie's worried faces on her.
"Uh…you gotta problem or something?"
Maria pointed at the item, now in Connie's lap. "Connie…where did you get that?"
"Huh? Oh this thing? It was a birthday present. I must've left it in the cab."
"Then why do I have the same thing?" Maria pulled out similar egg-shaped item, except hers was purple in colour.
"Wait a minute, why is Cookie here anyway? Shouldn't you be with the others?"
"Don't change the subject, Connie!" Maria snapped. "Something's obviously not right here. You blacked out, and only when Cookie came back with that thing did you snap out of it. It was like you were dead…"
THAT IS CORRECT, all eyes turned to the entrance. There was the white creature, along with Simone, who was holding a pink egg-shaped item. SHE WAS DEAD….TECHNICALLY. BUT ONLY FOR A BRIEF MOMENT.
"You stupid cat-genie," spat Connie, jumping up from the bed and staring down the creature. "What the hell did you do to us?!"
As Connie got up, the item that was on her lap migrated to the ground, bouncing harshly on the floor. When that occurred, Connie seemed to recoil in pain, then collapse on the ground.
ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN.
Connie punched the wall and swore while Simone began crying hysterically. Cookie rocked in the fetal position in one corner of the room. Maria did nothing, choosing instead to sit silently on her bed.
"This can't be real…this can't be real…!" cried Simone.
Connie picked up the white thing and shook it viciously. "You sayin' we a bunch of walking stiffs now?! A bunch of fucking zombies? How could you do this to us?"
She flung the creature against the opposite wall with all her might and there was a sickening CRACK as it bounced off and lay lifelessly on the ground. Simone stopped crying long enough to gasp in horror, then looked at Connie with anger. "You killed it!"
"I-It was an accident!"
"You idiot! That thing might have been the only thing able to get us back to normal!"
Suddenly, Cookie shrieked and pointed at the doorway. There was a second white creature, identical to the last, and it was walking the length of the room towards the deceased, where it started consuming it. Connie was so stunned she fell backwards and sat on the floor. Simone was so disgusted she threw up.
When the creature finished consuming the dead until there was nothing left, it turned to look at the girls.
I DON'T SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT. YOU EACH CAME TO ME WITH A SPECIFIC WISH, AND I GRANTED IT. I HELD UP MY END OF THE BARGAIN. IT IS NOW TIME FOR YOU TO DO THE SAME.
"What are you talking about?" Simone gasped, in-between losing her lunch.
YOU SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH ME TO BECOME PUELLA MAGI. YOU MADE AN AGREEMENT THAT YOU WOULD TRADE YOUR SOUL FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF HAVING YOUR GREATEST DESIRE FULFILLED.
"Our…souls?" Connie looked at the egg-shaped item in her hand.
CORRECT. WHAT YOU HOLD IN YOUR HAND IS YOUR SOUL GEM. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IT WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES, AS IT HOUSES THE VERY ESSENCE OF YOUR SOUL. EXCEPT FOR YOU, COOKIE. BE SURE NOT TO SWALLOW YOUR SOUL BY ACCIDENT.
Cookie's eyes widened and she blanched.
Connie continued talking: "So what do we gotta do now?"
YOU MUST NOW FIGHT WITCHES. I'M SURE IT WILL BE NO PROBLEM IF THE FOUR OF YOU STICK TOGETHER. LEARN YOUR POWERS QUICKLY AND YOU SHOULD BE FINE.
"Yeah, thanks…hey, wait a sec! Where are you going? Ain't you gonna help us?"
I'VE DONE ALL THAT I CAN FOR YOU. MY PURPOSE IS TO FIND GIRLS AND TO FULFILL CONTRACTS. GOODBYE.
The white creature exited the room. A silence hung for several seconds before Connie kicked the door shut.
"Well that's just great, now what?"
"I've never fought a person in my life," Simone said almost in a whisper.
"But I have."
The window across from the bedroom door opened and a light fog seeped into the room. A young, blonde girl dressed like Little Bo Peep came through the window and stood before the four girls.
Connie screamed and pointed. "Aaah! A witch!"
The girl made a face. "Hardly." She tapped the cane in her hand and in an instant the fog dissipated, and her clothes changed to a more normal pink dress.
Connie's eyes nearly bugged out. "Whoa…how'd you do that?"
The girl smiled and held out her hand, which was holding a pink soul gem. "My name is Gloria. And I'm just like you. I make it my mission to help all newly-minted Puella Magi get acquainted with their new lifestyle. Especially since Kyuubey can't be bothered to do the same."
Connie blinked. "Who?"
"The cat-genie."
"Oh."
"I'm sure you all have a lot on your mind, but I recommend we go looking for a witch right now. Some have you have gone days without replenishing your soul gems.
"No way…" Simone shook her head vehemently. "There's no way I'm doing what that cat-thing said. Why should I have to put my life on hold just because it says so?"
"What choice do we have?" Maria finally broke her silence, getting up from the bed and approaching Gloria. "We chose to make the contract, now we have to accept the consequences. No point regretting the past."
Gloria nodded somberly. "That's a good attitude to have. Let's go. I think I found an easy target where you can get some practice."