A group of monochromatic girls sauntered across a checkered blue and green tiled floor. This mass of girls – a clique, more or less, were then suddenly ambushed by a glowing blue fist, as Connie appeared and forcefully smashed her way through. Rather than decimate the group, it effectively split in half and continued with its nondescript banter.

"They just keep multiplying!" Connie yelled.

The four girls were in a labyrinth, fashioned to look like an endless school hallway. And while they were the same size as the familiars – the cliques – they were, by comparison, significantly dwarfed by the looming lockers and slow-moving creature up ahead.

"Don't worry about it!" Maria yelled back. "Gloria said to focus on the witch!"

As if on cue, the witch had arrived: a giant, gangly, feminine-looking creature with long nails and exaggeratedly high heels. The witch approached the group while gabbing into what appeared to be a cell phone.

A barrage of paper fortune tellers with teeth flew towards the girls. Any that came close to Cookie were quickly dispatched care of her pugil stick. Several came for Simone; she outstretched her hands and stopped them in their tracks, incinerating a few in the process.

Unbeknownst to Simone, a clique appeared behind her and began its murmurings, as though it were sharing gossip. The murmurings manifested themselves into a strange hazy miasma that had reached Simone and caused her to be paralyzed. Suddenly, a vacuum began pulling Simone towards one of the lockers, which was opening and closing in a manner that would surely crush her.

Simone was saved by a Maria's whip; Connie made short work of the offensive locker by smashing it inward with her fists. Cookie trapped the offending clique inside a bubble, then smashed it with her pugil stick, effectively destroying it.

"Alright!" yelled Connie. "So you CAN kill those things!"

"Forget those, we got bigger problems!" yelled Maria, pointing to the witch that was now right in front of them.

"I got it!" Connie went in for the attack, but was promptly swatted away. The witch then used her hands to fire off the nail projectiles. Simone attempted to freeze the nails in mid-air, but could only hold them for a few seconds; Maria had to step in to save her again.

"Yo, this broad is enormous! How the heck are we supposed to take it down?"

Maria looked to her perimeters, then had a plan. "Follow my lead," she said, as she barrelled her way towards the witch, then used her whip to bind by the legs. "Hey, vato – come over here!"

Cookie was next; first her entire body became pink, then in a flash she bounced back and forth amongst the lockers, leaving a sticky, gummy trail in her wake. This eventually created a web that immobilized the witch.

"Now, Connie!" Maria yelled. Connie charged the witch again, who was this time unable to swat her away. Fists glowing blue, Connie struck the witch in the face with such force that it fell backwards. Because it was attached to the lockers, when it fell down it took the lockers with it and was crushed.

The labyrinth started to fade away as Connie and Maria cheered. There was a slow clap and the girls turned to see an impressed Gloria.

"Very good, very good," she said. "Not a bad showing for your first witch. You should be fine. Did it drop a grief seed?"

Cookie approached the group, the grief seed in her hand. She handed it to Maria.

"Wait a sec – why are you giving this to me? We all pitched in to fight this thing."

"Yeah, but it was your plan, Maria," Connie insisted. "You're like, I dunno – our leader, or something. Take it Maria – you've earned it."

"Youse guys…" Maria smiled, but then her eyes wandered over to Simone, who was kneeling on the floor and breathing heavily. She still hadn't recovered from using her powers in the labyrinth.

Maria walked over to Simone and placed the grief seed in her hand. Simone looked up at Maria and glowered. "What are you doing?"

"Take it. You need it more than me."

Simone looked at the grief seed, then looked on as Maria re-joined the group. She squeezed the grief seed tightly in the palm of her hand. Her very being shaken by hatred.

Cookie left her home late one night, her soul gem in hand, and followed the glow to a potential witch. Unbeknownst to her, Simone was hiding along the side of her building, waiting her until she was well out of sight.

Knock, knock, knock

"I'll get it!" Cookie's five-year-old younger sister made her way to the front door.

"No way, I wanna get it!" said the young girl's twin brother. When they both opened the door they were met by the brunette sixth-grader, towering above them menacingly.

"Mom…?"

Several hours later, Cookie returned home – grief seed in hand – only to realize that home was nowhere to be found. Instead, several fire trucks and police cars were parked of what remained, just a smouldering pile of black ash.

Cookie was mortified. As she backed away, she overheard some of the fireman say that a gas leak had caused her house to explode. Overcome with grief, Cookie ran away from the scene. Not running anywhere in particular, she finally just collapsed along the sidewalk, sobbing. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Simone standing before her.

"That was no accident," Simone said.

Cookie stopped crying and gave her a perplexed look.

"I know who did this to you, Cookie. It was Gloria. I overheard her tell Connie and Maria that you were dead weight. She wanted to get rid of you and replace you with a new girl."

Cookie sat up and looked at the ground in shock. Simone placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her earnestly.

"Let's not give them the chance."

Ruth awoke with a start in the middle of the night. She turned and looked at her open window and was surprised to find someone sitting on the ledge. All she could see was an silhouette of the intruder.

"W-who are you?"

"Never mind that," replied the girl in shadow. "You're in grave danger."

"Danger?" repeated Ruth, confused.

"You are going to be hunted by a group of girls you used to know. If you want to live, you need to leave right now."

Ruth cracked a smile. "I must be dreaming."

"Okay. You can choose to listen to my warning and live to see another day. Or you can go back to bed and dream your silly little dreams, before getting killed in your sleep. I saw your future, and it's not pretty. I've done all that I can to help you."

The girl hopped from the ledge and disappeared into the night.

"So what do you think Gloria wants to tell us?" Connie asked, in her Puella Magi uniform.

Connie and Maria were walking towards an abandoned warehouse, where they were allegedly told that an important meeting was to take place. Maria, also as a Puella Magi, shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno. Maybe she found a way to get us out of this stupid contract."

"Boy, that would really be something."

They appeared to be the first ones inside when they arrived. Connie walked a head and looked around, while Maria whipped out her phone and started texting.

Connie shuddered, and held her arms close to her sides for emphasis. "This place gives me the creeps, eh Maria."

A sound of surprise came from Maria, then the sound of a phone sliding across the floor

"Maria…?"

Connie turned around to see her best friend on the ground, motionless. After a few seconds, her costume de-materialized and transformed back to her civilian clothes.

"Maria!"

Connie ran to Maria's aid and knelt by her side. As she cried for her friend to wake up, her two other friends came to begin their own nightmare.