While Asita watched Blackcard and the other leaders bet at the poker table, Tanya was sitting in the back of a taxi headed out of the city with Alex passed out in the seat next to her.

She could have just flown and made the trip a little faster, but flying in the city was just asking for trouble. Hostile magical girls from other gangs would snipe down anyone they could in a heartbeat, so most of the magical girls opted to use cars unless they were confident in their power.

Tanya sighed in boredom as she stared out the window, “I didn’t get to insert it… no fun.”

They drove deep into the forest where the road had long since turned to a thin dirt covered path. Beasts howled in the night, prompting the taxi driver to ready the car's armaments in case a mana creature attacked.

Tanya added some of her mana into the defense system as a service, increasing its efficiency. The driver noticed this and felt more relaxed knowing that the magical girl was helping, as not all bothered to care for the driver’s safety.

He had heard more than once from other drivers that some magical girls would just sit in the back and watch their driver get torn apart by magical beasts. Thankfully it seemed like this drive would be a ‘delivery’ and not a ‘feast.’

It took a bit of time until the car came to a large hill that towered above its surroundings. By all accounts, it was a pretty normal looking hill until you came around a corner and saw two massive gargoyle statues guarding a large hole in the center of the hill.

The space was just wide enough for the cab to enter, but the driver was sweating bullets by the time they approached within ten-meters of the hole. At that point, the gargoyles’ eyes lit up with green flames and their bodies made some sort of mechanical sounds as they raised themselves off the ground and stood.

One of the statues approached the driver's door. Although this was part of his job the driver could never calm down when he saw these mechanical puppets. With magical girls involved you never knew what could happen.

The gargoyle opened its mouth yet instead of a cold metallic voice, a cute girlish voice rang out.

“Tattoo please or be crushed by my babies~! You have five seconds.”

Before the driver could reply Tanya stuck her head out the window and pulled up her hair. revealing a four of spades. She yelled at the gargoyle with a snort, “Let us pass Gear, or I’ll trash your golems into scrap metal and dunk your head into a toilet after I’ve taken a shit in it!”

Hearing Tanya speak so venomously the girl controlling the gargoyles quickly became flustered, “Wha- w-well if it isn’t sister Tanya. My apologies, but you know that the boss wishes for the ritual site to be safe! Did you bring another ‘seedling?’ I thought you already made your quota. Are you trying to one-up our other sisters?”

Tanya replied with a shake of her head, “This isn’t my catch, it's sister Asita’s seedling. I’m only here to deliver it to the ritual site, nothing more nothing less.”

“Right-O~. I’ll prepare a cage right away! Do you want it next to your catch?”

“Humph, that sounds good!”

Darkness

Alex awoke to the smell of piss, shit, and fear. The sound of people sobbing could be heard all around her in the dimly lit room.

Holding her aching forehead, she tried to think of how she ended up here. She was heading back home after getting ketchup from the store and then…

The hazy memories began to click into place, causing her to tremble in fear. She reached for her crotch and felt no discomfort, meaning she hadn't been deflowered by that strange girl. With a sigh of relief, Alex tried to adjust her eyes to the dim surroundings. It took a bit, but what she saw once they had filled her with shock.

Rows upon rows of cages lined the walls, all filled with girls of various ages in collars, chained to the roof of the cage. Checking her neck, Alex found that she had a collar on her as well.

She tried to pull the chain with all her strength, yet the collar wouldn't budge in the slightest. Stranger though, she couldn't feel a lock anywhere on either the chain or the collar. The collar was smooth with the exception of the chain’s connector.

A chuckle rang out from her left.

In a fit of anger, Alex hissed at the person laughing, “What's so funny?!”

The laughing girl peeked through the bars of her cage with a smile, “So you're my new neighbor? Please don't turn crazy like the one from a few days ago. Save that for the ritual!”

Hearing the girl’s buttered-up voice so close to her ears stunned Alex. The girl had a singer's voice that seemed to be filled with honey, but it was so sweet that just listening to her almost made Alex stick.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Even in the dim light, Alex could see Sugar’s features, and they were stunning. Golden locks, blue eyes, and a beauty mark underneath her lip that screamed that this girl was an idol.

“How did such a looker end up in a place like this— is what you're thinking, right hun? Well, I choose to be here. I guess you’re one of the forced seedlings. Congrats!”

Alex tilted her head in confusion over the term and why this girl was acting like whatever was happening to them was such an honor.

Seeing her confusion Sugar smiled widely and started filling her in, “You see, you were brought here to become a magical girl! Your luck is pretty good, you only have to wait a few days until the ritual begins. Your big sis here has been waiting for over a month to get this over with!”

Magical Girl? Ritual? Seedling? The questions compounded within her mind one by one as Alex struggled to figure out what was happening. She knew who magical girls were. They were gang bangers with monstrous firepower. Not only that, but the more powerful they were the crazier they would be. It wasn’t unheard of for entire districts to be blown to smithereens during their conflicts.

But what was this ritual? And this thing about being a seedling? Alex didn’t even know how girls became magical girls. By law, all information about it was wiped from the history books. Only the gangs and the elite held the knowledge about it now.

Even talking about the subject was a major taboo. In extreme cases merely mentioning it could lead to beheadings. Alex only knew about the heroes of old that ripped through the battlefields due to the history books. Anything and everything about magical girls in the current age were shrouded in mystery.

Reading her thoughts, Sugar gave a small smile, “Oh, you're an innocent little sheep that doesn’t know anything? Don’t worry little lamb, let your big sister tell you what great opportunity has befallen upon you.”

Ritual

Blackcard grinned, sliding all the chips and items to her side of the table while a furious Leona pulled her hair out. She yelled in frustration, “How could you have a straight flush?! How could you bet it all on the river?! I had four of a kind, I should have been the one to win!”

With a chuckle, Blackcard placed the items into her dimensional storage, “Sometimes you just gotta risk it all Leona. Thanks for the items, I’ll put them to good use. Until next time ladies, it seems my subordinate needs me. Play as long as you like.”

Gnashing her teeth, Leona pulled out a bottle of glowing green liquid and took a swing, “I’ll win those items back, Blackcard. I always do!”

Wavinggoodbye Blackcard’s smiling expression turned solemn when she faced Asita, “Come, Iron Fist.”

Blackcard took the lead and headed for a private room and Asita followed closely behind her mother, leaving a distance of two meters between them. They went into the private room and Asita locked the door behind them. With a flick of her fingers, a forcefield covered the room, cutting the space off from the outside world.

Putting her hand in her jacket pocket, Blackcard pulled out a box of smokes and slid one out. Seeing her mom hold up the cigarette, Asita took out a lighter and lit the end for her. Blackcard brought the cig to her mouth, taking a deep inhale before she blew out a few rings of smoke.

Asita didn’t dare make a sound and silently waited until she was spoken to. Luckily it didn’t take long for her mother to get into the mood.

“Iron Fist, did you prepare everything for the gathering? How many are ready for the ritual? Did you fill your quota?”

“Yes Mistress. it went better than we predicted. We’ve gathered 129 seedlings since I last checked. I filled my quota today, and she was a remarkable piece of jade at that. I have great hopes that she’ll make it through.”

Blackcard kept a neutral expression as she stared up at the ceiling, listening to her daughter talk about how the preparations were going. Invitations had been sent out, the security had been tightened around the site, and everything was ahead of the schedule.

Asita was getting into the details when her mother held up her hand and stopped her, “I understand, Iron Fist. I’ll hear the rest when I visit the site. From now on your mother is speaking. How is the girl you brought in? Does she fit your tastes?”

Seeing her mother speak informally, Asita scratched her cheek, “If I had to say... she’s a very average bookworm, but if you take away her glass and add some makeup she’d be a real looker. She’s a really good cook so if she awakens to a support role she’ll do great! And the best part... she shaves her legs!”

A small smile crept onto Blackcard’s face that quickly disappeared as she put on a mask filled with annoyance, “That’s good news, daughter. I wish we could speak more, but it seems that a problem has happened in one of our bars that requires me to take care of it. We can spend more time together after the ritual. I’ll see you later, Iron Fist. Go play and stay out of trouble.”

Blackcard unlocked the door without another word. Asita watched her mother’s back as she left, wishing that they could have more time to talk. But she knew that being the Boss of Blackcard made her mother a busy person. She was just happy to get enough time to see her.

Picking herself up, Asita decided to wait at the bar for Tanya.

We should do some ‘shrooms when she gets back. Asita mused as she headed upstairs.

Waiting

Alex sat in her cage, absentmindedly digesting what Sugar had told her. She didn’t know what to feel knowing that in a few days she’d have a chance to become a magical girl. She’d always wanted something to change in her bleak life, but this!?

But she didn’t even have a choice in the matter. Powerless in this strange turn of events, Alex could only wonder what this ritual would be about.

Sugar kept mum about that fact for some reason, only saying something along the lines of, “Don’t worry, it’ll be a blast!”

That merely gave Alex the feeling that it wouldn’t be fun at all, however. It would probably be the exact opposite of fun. Yet the only thing Alex really felt sad about was how those bitches fooled around with her and ate her meatloaf.

When she became a magical girl she’d beat those two black and blue and demand an apology, along with one hundred pounds of meatloaf. Just the thought of so much meat in one place made Alex giggle to herself, making Sugar back a tad away from her cage in the thought that she had yet another crazy neighbor.

Well, all she had to do was wait a few days for this ritual to start. Even though it would be boring, the meals served by those hot men were pretty good. Some of the captive girls were asking for the guys’ numbers or trying to seduce the men in an attempt to get them to let them out of their cages.

‘Sluts,’ Alex thought as she bit into her hamburger.