Chapter 1: Unscheduled Departures
Pink stared down at the advanced G-Phone in her hand, her thumb hovering directly over the glowing mghub button.
Beside her, Suki adjusted her posture in the booth, her brow furrowing slightly. "We should probably think about this carefully before we go..."
Miss Marcy let out a heavy, exhausted sigh and nodded in agreement. "Yeah... Suki is right. We shouldn't just jump into an unknown dimension completely unprepared."
Even Maya, sitting up high in her booster seat, leaned forward over the table. "There really is no rush, guys... Besides, I'm still eating." To prove her point, she took a massive, generous bite of her remaining food.
A few inches away, Ryley was quietly petting Pigeon Chad right on top of his head. The bird blinked up at her, tilting his neck as if he suspected she was teasing him.
Riley smiled faintly, her voice dropping its usual cold guard. "You have a loose little feather poking out, Chad." With a gentle tug, she pulled it free. Pigeon Chad let out a soft, blissful coo, closing his eyes in absolute satisfaction.
Alice, however, wasn't looking at the bird. She was looking at Pink’s thumb—which had just aggressively slammed straight down onto the screen.
Alice’s face immediately went pale, her eyes widening in horror. "Pink, wait! Don't—!"
It was already too late.
In a fraction of a second, the gravity inside the diner warped violently. All six of them instantly felt an overwhelming pressure, their bodies stretching out like strands of uncooked spaghetti as reality pulled them through a dimensional straw. The scent of shattered drywall and diner grease vanished, instantly replaced by the sharp, aromatic sting of cardamom and exotic spices filling their lungs. The ambient light became blindingly bright.
When the vertigo finally cleared, they found themselves standing dead center on a massive, gleaming crystalline platform.
Dozens of other magical girls were scattered across the plaza, traveling in cliques and talking business. Some of them looked like they had stepped straight out of a classic, sparkling shojo manga, while others wore elaborate, cutesy armor that belonged in a high-budget fantasy RPG.
As the flash of light faded, the surrounding crowd turned to look at the newcomers.
Because the G-Phone forced users back into their baseline bodies upon arrival, Team 7-A was standing there entirely in their mundane civilian forms. The onlookers' eyes scanned the girls, but immediately locked onto Tony, their eyebrows shooting up in universal confusion. He was undeniably a teenage boy, yet he had just materialized alongside five females via a direct Sparkle Syndicate transit line. In the standardized rules of the multiverse, that simply wasn't how things were supposed to happen.
Before a crowd could form, a corporate representative practically sprinted through the plaza toward them. She looked like she was currently running on a dangerous mixture of ten consecutive cups of coffee and high-voltage energy drinks.
"TEAM 7-A!!" she shrieked with terrifyingly bright enthusiasm, clapping her hands together. "WELCOME TO THE SPARKLE SYNDICATE HQ!! PLEASE, FOLLOW ME RIGHT THIS WAY!!"
The squad blinked, completely overwhelmed and a bit nervous as the hyperactive guide spun on her heel.
Tony quickly fell into step with the rest of his team, casting an anxious glance around the massive, bustling atrium. "This... is already a bit too much..."
Suki nodded grimly, her eyes scanning the sleek architecture. "This place looks immaculate... but it possesses a certain... artificial air to it."
Maya sniffed the air, crossing her arms. "It feels exactly like walking into a high-society gala where everyone is judging you and expecting you to act like a perfect, fragile princess..."
Everyone in the team stopped walking and turned to stare at her in shock.
Maya’s face flushed red, and she immediately went on the defensive, stomping her foot. "What!?! Why are you all looking at me like that!!! Don't look at me like that!!!"