Helga Makes A Contract With Kyubey | Hey Arnold x Madoka Magica Crossover Fanfic

Chapter 4

One night Kyuubey had approached Lila. She was walking away from a mission, triumphant, soul gem in hand, when she almost stepped on its tail.

I SEE YOU'VE COLLECTED ANOTHER GRIEF SEED.

Lila pocketed her soul gem and patted the area gently. "That's right," she said, pressing on.

ARE YOU NOT GOING TO HEAL YOURSELF?

Lila paused for a beat. "It's not really necessary. Besides, I'm saving this one for Helga."

I FIND IT PERPLEXING THAT YOU WOULD RISK YOUR OWN FITNESS TO PRESERVE THAT OF A GIRL THAT DOESN'T ENJOY YOUR COMPANY.

Lila responded with a smile. "Well...I wouldn't expect you to understand the concept of altruism."

She turned and walked away.

Helga had been cooped up in Lila's home for several weeks. She was starting to get restless. On a night that Lila was out, Helga left the house to get some much-needed fresh air. It was dusk in the city; the sun was setting and casting a beautiful orange-gold hue onto Hillwood.

She passed by Sunset Arms during her walk. Though she wasn't homesick, she suddenly realized how much she had missed being around Arnold. She snuck to the side of the boarding house and was about to climb up the fire escape when she heard movement coming from the front of the house. Arnold was throwing out the trash. When he opened the door to the boarding house, all of its cats and dogs (including Arnold's pet pig, Abner), scurried outside.

"No, shoo, Abner!" Helga heard Arnold say to his pet pig, probably to deter him from rummaging through the trash he was discarding. She listened as the clicking of hoofs came ever closer, until she was literally face-to-face with Abner. He cocked his head to one side, perplexed; Helga pressed her finger against her lip, signalling him to be quiet. Abner wagged his tail and began to bark eagerly, getting Arnold's attention.

"What is it, boy? You found something?"

Helga swore under her breath. She had to think up an escape plan, and fast. As a last-ditch effort, she pulled out her soul gem...

Arnold turned the corner only to find Abner barking frantically at seemingly nothing. He scratched his head in confusion. "Hrm...may I was wrong to let Grandma give you catnip..." He picked up his pet and made his way back inside the boarding house.

Meanwhile, Helga was levitating above Sunset Arms with the help of the tiny yet functional wings afforded to her, care of her Puella Magi costume. After she heard the door to the boarding house close, she finally lowered herself onto the roof. "Phew....that was too close for comfort..."

She settled upon the window roof that led into Arnold's living space in the attic. Inside, she could detect movement on the couch. Only, there was no way he could have made back to his room in that little time. Helga knelt down and squinted to get a better look at the trespasser inside her beloved's room...

She immediately straightened when she noticed the fog building around her ankles. A sense of dread engulfed her as she stepped off Arnold's windowed ceiling; the Lil Bo Peep Magi emerged seconds later, stoic but determined.

"You're a tricky one to track," remarked the girl.

Helga took another step back. "I don't wanna fight you....but....can you just tell me what your deal is? Why do you have it out for me?"

"Oh, Helga," she said, shaking her head sadly, "If you only knew...." But she would elaborate no further: staff in tow, the girl began the closing the gap between them.

It was apparent she wouldn't listen to reason, so Helga used the opportunity to test the true merit of wings, and did a leap of faith off the roof, onto the roof of the neighbouring roof, and made her hasty retreat.

The girl was in hot pursuit; she summoned a mass of floating sheep, upon which she rode like a hovercraft.

"Leave me alone!" Helga yelled.

Eventually the girl was able to catch up with her, and she cut off Helga before she was able to escape to another roof. But Helga wasn't going down without a fight; she suddenly remembered she had a weapon of her own and pulled out her bow and arrow, aiming it directly at her assailant. The girl did not react.

"Fine, don't tell me why you want to kill me!" said Helga. "Can you at least tell me who you are?"

"Alright I at least owe you that much. My name is Gloria. And for what it's worth, I don't have a personal vendetta against you."

Helga slightly lowered her weapon. "Then why are you chasing me?"

"This isn't about you. This is about saving the city. Saving the world!"

"Saving the...world?"

A thick fog rolled in and Gloria suddenly vanished. Helga looked around frantically, trying to locate the girl. Gloria re-appeared from above, behind Helga, and with her staff raised above her head. Helga tried to defend herself, but was smacked in the face with the staff, throwing her off-kilter. Gloria's hand went straight for Helga's lower back, where there was a bow with a pink jewel attached. Gloria forcefully yanked the bow off of her costume and kicked Helga in the back, knocking her to the ground. The force of the attack had also dislodged Helga's locket, which had somehow found itself embedded into her ribboned costume when she had transformed; the locket also clattered to the ground.

As Helga tried to get back up, Gloria planted her feet firmly on her back and pressed her into the ground.

"I'm sorry I had to do this, Helga," Gloria tossed the bow to the ground and used her staff to smash the jewel in the centre.

"Why-?" Immediately, Helga stopped struggling and flopped lifelessly back to the ground; her costume melted away and she was back in her normal civilian pink dress.

"NO!"

A pained cry rang through the air. Gloria looked ahead and saw Lila running towards them. She collapsed to the ground next to Helga and began to sob hysterically.

"Why? She wasn't harming anyone! Why did you have to kill her?!"

Lila held Helga's body close and cradled her in her arms. Gloria was caught off-guard by this unexpected element. Embarrassed, she rubbed her arm and struggled to get the words out.

"I...I had to do it. She was going to destroy us all. I had a vision..." Even as she said, she knew how absurd it sounded.

Lila stood up, furious. "I'm going to make you pay for this...!"

A scythe materialized in Lila's hands and she swung wildly and passionately at Gloria. Gloria could only defend herself, using her staff to block the sharp blade of the scythe from making contact.

As they fought, the air around them began to ripple. Only then did Lila slow her scythe and take notice of the space around them. "Dammit...not here...not now..."

Gloria looked around as well. Slowly but surely, the roof they were occupying gave way to glass. They were suddenly surrounded at all sides by mirrors of different shapes and sizes, their reflections cast back upon them in a disorientingly amplified fashion.

Unwittingly, the two girls had stumbled upon a witch's labyrinth.