Be Careful What You Wish For | Hey Arnold! x Puella Magi Madoka Magica Crossover

Chapter 7

Helga was still somewhat stunned by the time she realized her new position amongst the trash, and was about to curse Gloria out very vocally, but then she caught herself.

Up until that moment, Gloria conducted herself in a very calm, cool and collected manner. And yet, when Helga was thrust away so forcefully by her, she read in her face what she had been expertly trying to conceal: dread. Fear. For her own sake, but, more importantly, for Phoebe's sake. For that reason, Helga felt strongly compelled to listen to Gloria's orders and stay put.

It was then that she first caught sight of the newcomers. They looked older, like middle-schoolers. One was a brunette wearing a magenta-coloured angular outfit that jutted out in many different peculiar angles; the other was a black girl, her curly hair arranged in two puffy pigtails adorning the sides of her head. Her outfit was less complicated; a purple tubetop dress with a single black horizontal line separating the top and bottom portions. Somehow, Helga suspected her overly-innocent look to be misleading, especially when the girl was brandishing a very dangerous weapon: a large pugil stick that looked like it could do some significant damage.

Where have I seen these two before? wondered Helga. She concentrated on placing the faces of both girls as the brunette sauntered over to Gloria, closing the distance between them. The girl was not smiling, but then again, she wasn't glowering either; if anything, an ambivalent look of indifference was plastered on her features, almost as if she were bored. When she was about two metres from Gloria, the girl finally stopped, and placed an arm on her waist (Helga almost expected her to walk right back to where she originally stood, as if she was simply doing a little turn on the catwalk).

"Hello, Gloria," the brunette finally said. "Long time no see."

"Hello, Simone," replied Gloria in an overly pleasant tone. Helga could tell that Gloria was trying to match the other girl's cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor, but it was evident in the way she was straining to maintain her smile that she'd rather be anywhere else at that moment.

"I thought you'd be a thousand miles away by now. For a girl that specializes in sheep, you're much braver than I give you credit for."

Gloria let a forced laugh, which almost sounded like a cough. "Well, what can I say? This city has been very good to me. I guess I never really found a reason to leave. Cookie, you're looking well."

POP! The black girl chewed her gum audibly but said nothing in return to Gloria, but the snub didn't seem to faze her.

I know I know these girls, but from where? as Helga grappled with the dredges of her mind to conjure up a memory, Phoebe approached the girls. Apparently, she remembered them as well, for in her eyes Helga could see a faint glimmer of hope.

"Simone? You're a Puella Magi, too?"

Simone broke her gaze on Gloria to casually glance over at Phoebe. Gloria turned around to also look at Phoebe. "You know her?"

"Yes...I know both of them. They go to my school. We use to be in the same class together, when I was briefly in the sixth grade."

Ah. Now Helga remembered them, but it wasn't on good terms. When Phoebe was skipped two grades ahead she befriended a group of sixth-grade girls who exploited her intelligence and naïveté to their own selfish gains. She recalled how upset and unsure Phoebe felt about herself after being used, how enraged she felt to see her best friend in such disarray. But she made sure to get back at them. Cookie. Simone. Connie. Maria. They were all made to pay.

Now that she thought about it, these four girls always travelled in a pack; Helga absently wondered what happened to the other two...

"Simone...it's me. Phoebe Heyerdahl!" There's was an edge of desperation to her voice. "We used to be friends...remember?"