Chapter 5: Magnifique Chaos
Alice's eye twitched violently, her fingernails digging into her palms. "You love... everything!?!"
Somehow, her unnerving, wide Cheshire smile stretched even longer across her face, the yellow fabric of her old dress glitching aggressively around her shoulders.
Red didn't flinch. She just stared up at her with that same wobbly, heart-eyed grin, instantly throwing her arms around Alice in a tight embrace. "Awww, you're literally smiling out of pure jealousy for me!!! My heart swells... my feet feel entirely numb from overwhelming joy!"
Placing the back of her free hand against her forehead, she leaned back dramatically while still anchoring Alice to her waist. "C'est magnifique!!"
Red's cheeks flushed a deeper crimson. She leaned in close, her breath warm against Alice's cheek. "Je t'aime à en mourir."
And then, she kissed her.
Alice's terrifying, wide grin crumbled instantly. Her eyes went wide, a fierce blush exploding across her face as her mind completely short-circuited.
She... didn't push her away.
In fact, after a stunned second, Alice slowly closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, kissing her right back.
Miss Marcy's face turned bright red, immediately looking away to give them privacy.
Maya's face was equally flushed, but she was cackling at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger at them. "Red stole your first kiss and rebooted your brain! Hahahaha!!"
Suki cleared her throat loudly, using her hand to fan her face. "I was entirely unprepared for that level of spiciness..." she noted, her voice completely deadpan, without a single hint of a blush.
Riley stood by, her eyes wide as she looked from the rest of the squad back to Red. Resting on her shoulder, Pigeon Chad stared intently at the display, letting out a soft, muscular coo of absolute approval.
The moment Red broke the kiss, the crimson magical girl's face went completely beet red. A look of profound, localized shock washed over her features. She began to tremble violently, her knees buckling as she fell straight backward onto the linoleum floor.
The entire squad gasped, immediately crowding around her as she lay on her back, shivering in a total panic. "I... I actually... kissed... someone... And... It was Alice...!!?" she whimpered.
The team instantly recognized the sudden wave of baseline anxiety. This wasn't Red anymore-it was Tony.
Maya dropped to the floor, clutching her stomach in stitches, practically crying from how hard she was laughing. "No way!!! The kiss was so incredibly intense it literally shocked Tony back into control!!! Ahahahaha!!"
Before Tony could pull himself together, Celeste's team marched across the lobby, their expressions thunderous. "That fight didn't count!" their vanguard shouted, glaring down at them. "It was completely unorthodox!"
"Actually... it absolutely counted!" the hyperactive representative interrupted, jogging over while tapping furiously on her glowing datapad. "The entire match has been officially recorded, and Miss Sarah herself is currently reviewing the live footage!"
Celeste's team went entirely pale, their collective bravado vanishing in an instant. "M... Miss Sarah?!?!"
The representative nodded rapidly, her eyes wide with frantic energy. "Yes! She was profoundly impressed by the battle! You know, I just looked up their file, and Team 7-A actually defeated a high-tier Dark Knight on there Earth! And they've only been registered magical girls for three days!!?"
She clapped her hands together, practically vibrating. "Miss Sarah is absolutely ecstatic! She's already drafting the paperwork to name them this month's official S-Rank rookie team!"
A collective gasp rippled through the gathered crowds in the lobby.
The girls of Team 7-A looked at each other in disbelief-except for Tony, who was still processing his existential crisis on the floor, and Alice, who was quietly touching her lips, a gentle, genuine blush on her cheeks as she stood protectively right by his side.
From her seat in the waiting area, Celeste looked up, glaring death at the representative before locking her eyes onto Team 7-A. Her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Like... hell they will ever take my spot," Celeste hissed.