The plane landed, and the girls got set to vertical next to it, stumbling drunk, leaning on each other for support. Alex, in particular, needed Loka and Sugar’s help to stand straight, or as close to straight as they were able to. She had double vision, and her mind was on cloud nine, walking forward out of the terminal she was laughing at every single thing.

Over tens of teachers herded the blanks like sheep along to the entrance of the airport. When the girls reached outside, they saw hundreds of jeeps waiting for them. The teachers filled each one with three to four blanks. With the wasted girls loaded in, the teachers took a spot along with the jeep convoy.

They waited for the allied gangs and branch gangs to join them, before heading off in the same direction. Alex and her group were loaded in, and their driver was a cheery man with dark hair.

Sugar and Loka wondered where they were heading, and Alex should have too, if she wasn’t so out of it. After the cars were loaded, they took off all at once. The girls enjoyed the warm air on their skin as they moved along the streets.

Such a movement attracted eyes. Yet once they noticed the magical girls, everyone made way. Those riding in the cars were still tripping out of their minds from the drugs, so they didn’t pay attention, or at least not to things they should have.

And so, they drove forth through the city and kept going north for hours. They traveled without stopping moving along the road until reaching the end of it.

Then, the path started to get bumpy, as the road became uneven and narrower as they traveled to the point that it became just a one-line drive.

By now, the girls were mostly sobered up after such a long drive, and were clutching their heads while trying to survive their hangovers. They were given neither food nor drink—making them grumpy at the very least, not looking around at all. The strange wildlife was watching them though. Some of them were your average animals from the earth and others were strange creatures that prowled the forest.

Ever since the first magical girl appeared, these monsters popped out of nowhere. Scientists around the world studied these new creatures and found something astounding.

All known life shared the common DNA double helix, but these creatures that appeared had a shocking triple helix!

It was when they found this out, that scientists around the world debated over the years until one general thesis was accepted.

These creatures weren't from earth.

These girls riding in the cars knew this from taking history in their classes. Still, a question remained.

Where did these creatures come from?

…

The line of jeeps kept going deeper into the forest. By now, they were traveling along a rarely traveled dirt road, with just enough space for them to turn a jeep around.

It was at that time that the jeeps suddenly stopped, making the girls confused. Some of the girls were arguing with their jeeps, but they ceased when the teachers stepped out of their cars and knocked on each car telling them to get out.

They then gathered at large, at a small clearing nearby. One jeep followed over, while the rest left. This made the girls even more confused, as there was nothing around them.

It was at this time Spada and a few other teachers walked over to the remaining jeep. This gathered more than half of the group’s attention, as it seemed that something was up.

By now, most of the girls were sobered up, and couldn’t think clearly due to head-splitting hangovers. Alex belonged to the part who was still a little tipsy.

Spada, without a word, jumped onto the roof of the jeep and stared at the group before her. Gazing at them she almost wanted to smirk, she was reminiscing when she was in their shoes when she was young.

She shook away her thoughts; she could think about punishing them later. For now, it was time to get this show on the road.

“Blanks! We will now be marching to the camp. Every one of you will be given a machete for self-defence, for we cannot guarantee your life from here on out. This is a test for you, to see if you have what it takes to survive!”

Not another word, Spada motioned with one of her hands, and a teacher opened the back of the jeep. Inside was a large number of machetes and water bottles.

Most of the blanks lined up themselves, and some were lined up. But all of them received their weapons and water, then headed to the empty section of the glade, where they were told to wait. When everyone had gotten their items,Alex had by then more or less recovered her thinking capacity.

“Eh? Where are we? Sugar, what’s going on?” Although she got dead drunk, Alex’s head wasn’t hurting over a hangover.

Seeing that her friend was now awake and sober anew, Sugar wanted to fill her in on the events as they started walking through the forest. Finding out how they were in an unknown part in Brazil and were now marching to the facility made Alex quite shocked.

She had passed the journey until this point either sleeping or completely intoxicated, and from what Loka filled in, she missed one hell of an extended party. Along with pretty boys to fool around with, and quite a few of the girls in the group losing their virginity in the ensuing 8-hour orgy when they had that long delay.

The teachers didn’t join them though, as they let the girls have their fun. Seeing their reactions, the blanks partied harder for, deep down, they knew that this might be their last time to let loose. Alex was even told that if it wasn’t for Sugar protecting her, she might have been raped!

Hearing that, Alex was shook to her core. First, it was how she could miss such a party. Second, these girls around her could be so shameless to have an orgy in an airport. And third, she was almost raped by the girls as a joke.

Deep in her heart, she made a promise to never be in such a scenario ever again.

“Thank you, Sugar, for protecting me!”

Hearing Alex thank her made Sugar blush. She scratched her cheek in response, “It was nothing. I mean, you did save my life in the ritual. That debt can’t be paid unless I save your life. And even then, I don’t think it would be enough.”

As the two girls shared a lovely moment between each other, Loka looked at them with disgust, “Damn! Leasbos, go get a room together. Hey, Virgin and Blondie, can you pay attention? We're not exactly in the city anymore.”

Alex and Sugar blushed and wanted to yell, “I’m not a lesbian!” But forced their words back on Loka’s other comment.

A good chunk of the girls were silent, chopping the vegetation in front of them. The teachers didn’t join them, and only guided the group. The blanks took turns cutting through the thick greenery along the path that blocked them.

And the reason Loka told them to shut up was that it was almost their turn to cut. And they judged by the yelling and screaming ahead that it wasn’t an easy job. Every time the girls rotated, they saw the girls covered in wounds and bruises ranging from large to small.

Those that complained were beaten by the teacher of their gang, and had the content of their pockets confiscated. Those that didn’t go to the front were not only beaten by the teachers, but having learned their lesson, other magical girls were mugging them beforehand not to waste lifegiving goods. Those that didn’t move fast enough through the greenery were just beaten.

Most of the wounds, though, weren't from the beatings. They came from the thorny greenery and the various animals that attacked them. One of the girls that came back even had a broken arm hung at her side. After the first few shifts, they concluded that it was safer to go forward and work, rather than try to weather the double beating by both ravenous magical girls and the teachers. Especially magical girls who were not pulling their punches.

So it wasn’t time to mess around. They needed focus, since they were up soon after the next two shifts. Alex, Loka, Sugar, and seven other blanks stood ready, their hands armed with their machetes rearing to go.

After twenty minutes, it was their time. Every group was given ten minutes to cut away the greenery before switching out. It might not seem like much time, but those who stood on the frontlines were drenched in sweat and blood.

They weren’t used to the weather, which made them sweat even more, and that greenery wasn’t just common flora. The stuff wouldn’t let you cut it without a fight. Trees used vines to attack the girls, swinging at them.

Although weak individually, they were great in number, and would relentlessly attack if you didn’t cut it till you were out of its range. Alex and her group learned this lesson the hard way, as they cut and cut, and kept cutting, making slow but steady progress.

Of the group, Sugar was making the most progress out of them, with Loka a close second. Among them, Alex was around the bottom of the pack, which made her confused by her exhausted state. From all the hell she went through getting that tattoo, she assumed that she should have gotten stronger.

She could feel the energy on her back pulsating, but she couldn’t tap into it for some weird reason. So she ended up drenched in sweat and wounds all over her body, before they were sent back to the end of the group.

Alex had gotten some wounds on her arms and legs, but she didn’t scream out or complain. Gritting her teeth, she kept it inside, and there was a reason for this; that she couldn’t show weakness since she was now in the gang. She used the resources that she gathered from the plane to numb the exhaustion.

Those that showed weakness were beaten by their teachers harshly for making their gang lose face. After that, they were beaten again, this time by other magical girls that were running out of their stuff looted from the airplane and the after-party. She had seen one of the girls who was up ahead of her who had her left-hand fingers broken one by one every time she let out a scream... She didn’t learn to be silent till the third.

Being pleased, the teacher forced her fingers back in place and threw her back to the group. Magical girls had much fewer inhibitions, as their first argument of choice were their machetes. Still, nothing more grievous than the machetes lodged in both arms occurred. After all, they did it to acquire stuff, not to kill an additional workforce. Like this, the hellish experience had just begun for the blanks.

Soon after the second rotation, girls started running out of the water to drink, making their throats dry and raspy, since most of it was used to alleviate hangovers. Alex and her group were not excluded in this, as Alex had finished half of her water already, and her group had drunk most of the water without holding back.

Alex whispered to her group, “Reserve the rest of your water or you will run out.”

“Why? I mean, the place shouldn’t be that far. They did give us a bottle each. Why would we need more?”

“Just trust me, this seems like a scheme.”

The group was quite doubtful at Alex’s remark, but decided to do as she said. After all, it would be better to be safe than sorry, and it wouldn’t be that hard to ration their drinking water. And by the fourth rotation, Alex's fears were proven right. Besides her group, most of the girls had run out of the water and were breathing heavily.

They had been cutting for most of the day with no end in sight. It wasn’t until it was close to dark that they finally reached another clearing. At this point, the girls, exhausted, had their eyes brighten up as the teachers said they were setting up a camp for now.

That wasn’t the only thing.

In the center of the clearing was a pile of food and water, laying in the open.

One of the girls in front yelled out in shock, “Guys, there’s food and water! Let's feast!”

The voice traveled to the back of the group making everyone excited, even Alex’s group. Unfortunately for Alex’s and co., they were in the middle of the pack and wouldn’t be the first to jump on it.

Who rushed forward the first was the girl who screamed the news, but she was quickly beaten by her teacher for making a move. Seeing these girls who wanted to rush forward dropped dead in their tracks, the rest waited with fear. The first few rows consisted of the mugged group that had nothing to ease their hunger and exhaustion. The stronger group was further in the back, enjoying the setting sun and pranking each other.

The teacher stepped forward and looked coldly at the blanks, “This one will not get food! The rest of you go to the field and wait to be called to get your food and water!”

The girls listened and looked at the girl who rushed out with pity. Not being able to eat any food... As they walked, Alex's mind was working overtime, trying to figure out what the scheme was. This whole part felt fishy to her, as it didn’t feel gang-like at all.

Why only now did they give them supplies when they could’ve done so in the beginning? What did those smirks mean when they said we could now eat and drink? As the questions floated in her mind the group of blanks were corralled into the empty part of the field.

It was then that she noticed that near the food and water, a magical girl from the Knife Knife Gang transformed the ground into hard stone. And then it all clicked in her head, what these magical girls were scheming all along.

What a brutal group of bitches.

Spada stood in front of the blanks with her arms behind her back cracking a faint smile, “Machete 7, Machete 39, step up and acquire your food supplies!”

Alex wanted to laugh. Instead, she mumbled to herself, “Magical Girls are really fucked up.”