Alex moved through the forest unhindered, feeling a slight aching headache from overtaxing her brain. She had been going from tree to tree, taking a wide detour, and covering her tracks so as to throw off potential pursuers. Slowly, she made it to the hill that they had planned to meet up at and began climbing. It took about an hour to find the three people hiding in a well defensible rock outcrop.

As she closed in she could hear them talking.

“Think she got away?” Wio's voice rang out.

“Nah, Mummy might be good, but you heard those explosions and saw how many there were. Probably got her shit kicked in.” As Alex got closer, she could see Task leaning on a rock playing with a knife in the air.

“I’ll bet a bag of drugs that she got away. Mummy is too crafty to go down from such a trap,” Reipi responded, making Alex smile, although wished they would drop calling her 'Mummy'.

“You're on.”

“Easy profit.”

A few other voices rang out, and Alex noticed they had met up with other allied forces while they were retreating.

Laying atop a rock, dramatically leaning her head on her hand, she announced herself to the group, “Sup, sluts. Can I get on that bet? I wanna make some easy profit,” saying such as she caught the knife that Task had sent her way from being startled.

“Alex!”, Task's choked voice rang out.

“You're alive, holy shit!”

“Fuck, my drugs!” a sad magical girl rang out full of mourning.

“Told ya she wouldn’t die so easily. Now hand over the goods!” Reipi crackled in glee as she held out her hand.

“What a warm greeting. Here, this is yours.” Alex laughed as she sat up and threw the knife back, to which Task caught it with her powers, “So, how many are here?”

“We got three more as we were making a tactical retreat. If you didn’t show up in an hour we were planning on heading out or setting up,” Reipi responded with a smile, as she gathered her bag of drugs.

“Sounds good, then, as one of the leaders, I’ll agree with the motion to set up. Once I have rested, I’ll be heading out to gather the others to this point. Did we snag any earth users?”

“Yah, Jade from the Terra Clan is here,” Task pointed over some rocks where Jade popped her head out. Green hair and yellow eyes, she wore a stylish earthen robe that was made for combat. To Alex, she wasn’t bad on the eyes, as the numbers pulled up her rank.

Jade - Rank 48

“Great, I’ll leave it to you to fortify our area against attacks. Take it slow and steady, and make sure the natural outer terrain isn’t messed with too much. Our opponents are too organized and have hidden their strength. We need to link up, otherwise we'll just get run over by them.”

Although there were some frowning faces, no one raised a complaint.

I’ll have to nip those thoughts of attacking in the bud.

“I see a few aren't happy with what I propose, no doubt wanting to acquire tags. I’m with you, as I wanna eat good fucking food. But, I had to escape from dozens of magical girls all allied together. Some were hiding their strength and could easily have reached the top ten. They have something that has allowed them to quickly gather. Meaning, with our forces, we’ll suffer too much if we move now.”

With further explanation, those frowning thought it over and nodded their head in agreement, but a question still remained.

“Then how will we acquire forces if we just stay up here?” Task pointed out which Alex easily responded.

“Once my arm has recovered, which shouldn’t be long, I’ll be scouting, since I’m the best scout here. I’ll be heading out to acquire information and people. Give me an hour and I’ll be heading out.”

“Hm, true, you are like a monkey. Alright, I’ll support this plan.”

With a smile, the other girls nodded along.

Alex just rolled her eyes inwardly.

I know you guys just wanna be lazy, but since I have a need for you, I’ll let it slide for now.

“Now let’s go over the spoils we got from the supply drop.”

…

Eating a good fucking burger that was cooked to perfection, Alex went over their supplies. They had dozens of flashbangs, and rope to create a fair amount of traps. Splitting out the ammo, she took three mags for her pistol and one for her rifle, each of which would be enough. The rest would be split between the others for base defense.

She found a set of 12 adrenaline needles that could remove the effects of paralysis. Alex had already stabbed one into her arm. With little fanfare she felt her spine shiver, as feeling returned to her arm.

Drinking from an orange pop to wash down the tasty burger, she truly felt alive for once in a while, as she went over the drugs they acquired and nodded as she split it among the party for morale and to sedate them from acting retarded.

Hmmm, I should begin my scouting as soon as I finish savoring this meal. The girls here should listen enough to not act out while I’m gone. I wonder what mayhem I’ll cause… Oh, god, I sound like a thug.

Throwing and locking such turmoil away like a normal teenager regarding their life decisions, she turned to the girls doing drugs off the rocks.

“I’m heading out, hold the fort while I am gone.”

Reipi just waved her hand off, as she did a line of drugs, “Sure, try not to get taken out, Mummy.”

“Go, our fearless leader!” Jade laughed as she dug into her steak, seasoned with white powder.

Fuckers.

Cracking her neck, Alex re-checked her gear once more, before heading out, letting the numbers guide her way.

…

Descending from the hill swiftly, Alex wandered along the tree tops like a cat, letting her ears and eyes scan the area.

Activity to the west a quarter mile away. 2-5 people.

With a direction set, Alex began to move along, starting to notice some changes to how she perceived the world.

After going through that high intensity fight, taking those drugs, and the shot that recovered my body, I feel like I’ve gained a deeper understanding of my power. I can feel the vibrations in the ground more clearly, and the electric current in the air. At will, I can increase my senses to double my normal abilities.

Before the numbers told me, I already felt the movement in the jungle. I wonder if my numbers are purely based on my magical powers, or a mix of it and my senses. Or perhaps I’m subconsciously enhancing them with magic. Or they are just finding better compatibility. I should ask a teacher what it could be after the exam.

Something to think about for later. Now, who will I be meeting?

Crouching in a treetop, well hidden in the leaves, holding her rifle in hand, ready to make someone have a really shitty day, she watched along a trail, clearing the leaves for the group to appear through her scope.

It didn’t take long to see who it was, seeing that familiar orange hair,

Ah it’s Fei and a few allies.

As she was about to move to greet her friend and allies, her senses tingled, feeling a shift in the area.

Other Humanoids in the area.

Where… Ah.

Looking around, she saw a flash of silver heading towards Fei's group from the north.

Morderca Gang, some fun hunting then. One, three, seven. Man, I have to figure out how they grouped so fast.

Taking a breather, as she had a few minutes before contact, she unzipped a pouch and pulled out a small bottle.

Gonna have to push it with so many targets, I can’t afford to screw up.

After a minute of waiting, Alex set aside her rifle, and tilted her head back while pushing apart her right eye eyelids.

“I didn’t wanna use it so soon, but for a friend, it’s worth it. Let’s see how good you are, red eyes.”

One drop of red liquid dripped out of the bottle and entered her eye. She closed her other eye, as her right began to glow red and bloodshot. Everything began to slow, as her heart began to beat in her ears, every leaf was crystal clear to her, as she felt a bloodthirsty excitement.

The description wasn’t kidding, what a hell of a drug.

Feeling her senses double, she doubled them again. And actively feeling as if she was swimming in quicksand, she lifted her rifle up.

Waiting for the right moment, in the clearing, waiting for the group to stall once they spotted Fei, Alex kept a calm breath despite the feeling of blood pumping through her.

One second. Two seconds. Ten seconds. Felt like an eternity that was driving her mad in waiting, until she spotted the key moment.

There.

Bang.

The leader went down with a headshot, in a foaming tased mess. Yet, Alex didn’t stop moving her rifle, as the click of the chamber loaded another shot.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Four shots four downed magical girls before the group even began to react to the danger.

Too late to dodge.

Mind and reactions accelerating, Alex tracked the fifth girl with ease, smashing into her head as she tried to fall to the ground. The sixth tried to hide behind the tree, but using the numbers to figure out a bounce trajectory, she also went down like a bag of rocks.

It was only the seventh that managed to survive the first bullet, and just by cutting it in half only. With laser quick reactions, Alex pulled out her pistol and fired with both it and her rifle. Not expecting a second bullet to come after another rifle shot, the final girl went down and done.

Successful ambush.

The numbers flashed, as Alex inhaled and exhaled.

Damn straight, now it's time to deal with my good friend.

“Shit, sniper! Everyone hit the ground!” Fei’s voice rang out, which only made Alex roll her eyes, as they all began to crawl along the ground.

“Friendly. Fei, stop crawling on the ground. If I wanted to nail you, I’d already have done it.”

“Alex?! Sorry, but you're not my type! I like mine tan and ripped, with a tomboy attitude! I hope we can still be friends!”

This bitch… Should’ve shot her.