For the next day, James tried to forget about the strange new power he had gained… the whole ‘turning into a magical girl’ was a strange idea in of itself… he certainly didn’t think he ‘could’ be a super hero and it wasn’t like there was an actual ‘need’ for such people. They didn’t live in a comc-book world. It was all quite…
…mundane.
Maybe part of him was disappointed in that. After all who wouldn’t want to fight ‘bad guys’… but of course James remembered he was not into fighting at all. It was a world he loved reading about but the reality would be too scary. He was afraid of people in general and just wanted to be left alone. He was the absolute worse person to be given such a power! That and well- ‘they’ got the gender completely wrong. He had no ability to complain about the product he honestly didn’t know what he was doing.
In class he was ignored for the most part… as always. However there was one girl who was constantly looking at him. James ignored it… he didn’t know what her ‘deal’ was and he didn’t really like the staring. What the heck did she want? He squirmed a bit on his desk as he tried to get on with his reading… Though a thought came to him to try looking at his classroom with the strange HUD in his head.
Activating it was like throwing a mental switch. It felt… strange to do and in some ways it almost made the world feel ‘less real’. Like it was all just a video game… he wasn’t sure what to make of it as meta-information was being fed directly on all the people around him. It seemed to be limited to their names, age, and there was some kind of percentage which he had yet to work out what that meant. However there was also a very ‘bold’ line being drawn straight…
…to Mary.
“Magical girl…” he whispered seeing those words spread at the top of her name as a title.
James quickly looked away. He had no idea this power could identify other magical girls! However if that was happening then… ‘Oh crap. She knows!’ Now James was looking at her. She gave a slight grin back.
Mary was a rather cute looking girl in pigtails. She had a rather ‘sharp’ personality and was actually quite tall for a girl her age. The two continued to share a look.
‘Can you hear me?’ A voice spoke.
James gasped. “Huh?” That voice… where? It was inside his head!
‘It’s one of the powers we have…’
James looked distinctly uncomfortable. Great, Mary was a psychic magic girl? He didn’t want to deal with this! He quickly tried to make an excuse to leave class. “Uh- Sorry- gotta go- bathroom-“
The teacher seemed surprise but nodded. “Sure go ahead.” He knew James was a good student after all.
Mary watched him go putting a hand on her chin. “Hm… curious indeed…”
James was slowly breathing in and out as he panted heavily in the bathroom. “She knows. Crap. She knows!” If she knows then eventually everyone will. Girls gossip like wild fire. His life would be over. They might dissect him or do horrible things! He didn’t know what to do. Maybe… maybe he could deny it? Yes that might work. Mary could just be seen as ‘crazy’… Accusing him of something like that- and it’s not like magical girls are even ‘real’ anyway right?
Feeling a bit calmer now that he had a plan, he started to make his way out…
…only to see Mary waiting for him in the corridor. “I think we should talk,” She said folding her arms.
“…oh? Uh… what about?” James asked calmly.
“How many MGP points do you have?” Mary asked suddenly.
James looked at her with confusion again. “…points? I don’t… what’s MGP?”
“Magical Girl Points… MGP.” She said with a sigh. “You’re not the only one to have found that site on Q-Net you know. Though I’m … surprised you uh… you got ‘that’ deal.” She looked him over. “So… what does your girl form look like?” She continued to grin.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” James said with a shrug. “You know accessing the Alien-Net isn’t allowed anyway.” He tried to dismiss everything… deny it. That was the plan. Mary was nuts! Crazy… he could rest assured on that.
Mary gave a rather stubborn look and did a quick glance around. “I’ll show you mine.” Suddenly her body was bathed in light. It seemed to be a deeper pink- almost red rather then James’s pure white light. It was like a rose bloomed in the background behind her. Flowers showing around her head as she subtly became a bit larger then before. Mary had always been quite all, but now she was imposing. Her long hair of blonde changed colour into a dazzling purple. The uniform looked like it was primarily green… and as if that wasn’t enough Mary now sported a pair of elven ears.
James stared at her and glanced around again. “Damn it- you didn’t have to-“ He quickly brought her into the boys toilets. “Just get in here nobody is in.”
“So concerned,” Mary giggled. “Aw… well now I have your attention right?” She said putting her hands on her hips. “Given I lost no points in revealing myself ti you… I think I am fair to say you are in the game.”
“Game? So- this is .. a… game?”
“Well- Yeah. Just a game,” Mary explained. “You do a few quests, get some points, improve your level and skill and… be a super hero. You can convert MGP into credits and get alien technology too!” She smiled. “So come on I’ve shown you my form, can’t I see yours?”
“Whoa- hold on,” James said. “I didn’t agree to that-“
“Sure you did. It was on the website. Besides you can’t just ‘quit’… well .. unless you want to lose more then access to the alien internet ..”
