Chapter 7: 7 – Run!

Forneus, the incinerator. One of the demon generals. He wore his full-body crimson armor and a mighty horned helmet – which was totally compensating for his real horns that were actually pretty small in comparison. He wasn’t all that strong when compared to the other generals. But still, he was here. And that sucked.

“I’m cursed. Fated to always attract this crap to me no matter where I go,” Jessica mumbled from her sitting position on the ground whilst hugging her knees. “This is like… what, the eleventh time just this year?”

The trio of girls with her exchanged a knowing look.

“Well… if you are cursed, then all of us are,” Nicole stated.

What she didn’t say was the strange blessing of the magical girls to always be near any brewing trouble at all times no matter what they did. It was the reason why they always managed to intervene soon after the demons attacked. And it was also the reason why this misfortune seemingly also followed Jessica, the friend they often hung out with.

“We should move from here. They are gonna find us soon…” Erika said, peeking out from their hiding spot between the clothes racks.

“What? No way! The magical girls are probably gonna come and save the day soon. We should just keep hiding,” Jessica argued.

Naturally, the trio felt very awkward at that moment. What Jessica was suggesting would be the best course of action… if they weren’t the magical girls who were supposed to be saving the day.

“That’s… true. But I still feel like we should…” Erika tried coming up with a sound argument but failed. The others weren’t doing much better trying to come up with an excuse to run off.

“Stop right there!” A female voice coming from the outside interrupted them. “How dare you take the entire mall hostage?!”

The girls peeked out from their hiding spot to see the situation outside. 

There she stood… or rather, floated in mid-air. White/light blue gradient-colored dress with several snowflake ornaments. Her azure hair was tied into a low ponytail with a stylish snow-white band, and her hands held her signature shield, the Ice Aegis.

“Ooh! It’s Pretty Frost! That means the others aren’t far behind! See? What did I tell you?” Jessica smiled at the trio.

They only felt more awkward at that. They couldn’t just leave everything to Frost. Especially since not only was she at her weakest right now but also because the matchup was terrible for her.

Sure, they could just tell Jessica about their secret identities, transform right then and there, and go help Frost. That would be the simplest solution. Jessica was a good friend and they knew they could trust her with their secrets… but would that really be fine?

They wanted to keep their identities secret as much as possible. Moreover, they already kept dragging Jessica into these situations too often. They didn’t want to burden her even more.

“Ha! Do you think you can stop me on your own, little girl?!” the maniacal voice of the demon general boomed. “Where are all your little friends, huh?!”

“Oh, don’t you worry! They are on their way!”

Erika visibly cringed at that. Luckily, Jessica wasn’t looking.

“All I have to do is keep you busy until they arrive!” the magical girl yelled at him before raising her shield–

“I-glue!”

– and slamming it into the ground, releasing a magical shockwave in all directions, which eventually stopped and solidified into a spherical barrier centered around her.

All nearby minions’ outfits as well as the general’s armor gained a light blue hue, substantially slowing or straight up freezing them in place. The minions, of course, did their best to scream like good minions.

“Mmph! Is this all you got?!” the general yelled in response, whilst curling up into himself with jerked movements, before abruptly spreading his arms wide open again with a roar. At the same time, he released a magical shockwave similar to Frost’s, encompassing her barrier and canceling it.

“Wha–?!” Pretty Frost jumped back in surprise, before swiftly lifting her shield up again.

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“Hahaha! You will need to do better than that to contain this great Forneus!”

“Argh! This is looking bad! Where are the others?!” Jessica grumbled to herself, unknowingly making her friends only more frustrated.

Sarah opted to simply sneak away when Jessica wasn’t paying attention. Unfortunately, with the lights out of commission, she couldn’t see the clothes rack in the way and ran straight into it, tangling with it and making a lot of noise.

“Uwah?!”

“What was that?!” the general outside shouted.

“What are you doing?!” Jessica scream-whispered.

“S-sorry! Oh no…”

Several minions were already entering the backroom of the clothes shop where the girls had been hiding.

“Run!” Erika shouted before grabbing a hold of Jessica and splitting off from the others.

A game of cat and mouse began. The minions tried to capture the girls, while they did their best to shove clothes, racks, and boxes in their faces to keep them busy. Jessica could have sworn there was some silly music playing in the background.

Sarah and Nicole managed to slip through and vanish from sight, but Erika and Jessica were having trouble.

Jessica wanted nothing more than to use magic to blast them all away, but obviously, doing that would spell trouble on too many levels. Well, at least she could use the pepper spray she had in her–

“Whoa?!” she yelped as someone managed to grab her from behind before she could retrieve her weapon. They hooked their arms below her armpits, preventing her from using her arms.

“Jessica!” Erika was almost out but hesitated for a second because of her friend– “Gah!” – and got captured as well.

The minions dragged them out into the open.

“Hold it!” yelled a familiar voice.

“Not on my watch!” another familiar voice echoed in the mall.

Jessica’s annoyance got pushed to the side as she spotted two more magical girls joining Frost. They were mopping up minions left and right, rescuing hostages, and taking potshots at Forneus.

Just as Pretty Spark set her sights on the minions holding them, Forneus made a quick move over to them and snatched both girls from the minions wrapping his arms under their necks.

“Don’t make a move, or those two are done for!” he yelled out.

“Ugh! Damn you!” Spark gritted out.

“N-nooo! Help me!” Jessica screamed, seemingly terrified.

‘Goddammit, not this shit again,’ she said to herself in her mind.

Erika, held in his other arm, stayed silent. She was too busy being stunned at the realization that Jessica was only pretending to be scared.