Hotel work was rather inconsistent. At least in terms of work. One moment the bell boy was up to his armpits in luggage, other times they would stand by the front door for hours at a time waiting for guests.The latter had become much more commonplace with Penros’s current predicament. One of the pros of being your own boss was that you could essentially take off any time there wasn’t work to be done. Especially when your workplace was also your home.
Su stretched her arms before walking towards her room. She pictured her desk in her mind’s eye. There was a calligraphy set she had pushed into the corner and was interested in trying it out. But on her way to her room, something assaulted her nose. It was foul, yet otherwise unexplainable. Even though it didn’t smell like rotting flesh, it did bring the same sense of foreboding. Something was wrong.
“Mika?”
She could have called anyone, but Su had just walked past Mika not long ago. When Su followed the smell, it brought her towards the kitchen. She could hear the sound of metal scraping against metal, and the hallway seemed to twist and turn. It was hard for Su to discern if this effect was due to dark magic or the fumes themselves. She covered her nose and marched up to the kitchen door before throwing it open.
What Su saw shocked her to her very core.
The kitchen was spotless. Everything was clean and orderly to a level that was only attainable by Su or Helga’s diligence. What was so horrific was what was going on in the center of the room. Mika was watching Samantha stir a pot in total awe. The black mass she was beating was getting bigger, smellier, stronger. It would overtake everyone in the room if nothing was done.
“Mika!”
“Su.” Mika said without turning around. “I can’t look away, but that’s alright.” Her body trembled. “We don't need eyes where we’re going.”
Su took hold of Mika and pulled her backwards. She flash transformed and tried to combat the noxious smell with her wind magic. But as soon as it was displaced, Samantha’s stirring only beckoned it to return.
“Samantha!” Su shouted. “Leave it in the sink! Get out of here!”
Samantha turned around to face Su but didn't stop stirring, the abomination squelching as a result. Hers was a look of complete bewilderment at the suggestion she should leave. "Mmm?" she clearly didn't understand why Su and Mika were acting so strangely. Were they that hungry? Maybe she had better speed up the process, it would be rude to keep them waiting.
Now stirring even faster than before, the girl once again looked at the black mass that was supposed to be a meal she was cooking. "It's okay," she assured them. She poked her finger into the mass and licked what had stuck to her finger.
It was not okay.
But stubborn as she was, she couldn't admit defeat. She was a perfectionist, after all. And she wouldn't let that man from the Pitstop put her down, even if he made her a cake. But what was the silver lining in this situation? It was not a tasty meal, and she wasn't confident that it was healthy, either. She had to think.
"Look, it's not even sentient."
“Samantha!” Su repeated before pulling part of her uniform over her nose. “Don’t you smell that?”
Mika was starting to gag and fell onto all fours. “I have a mouth but I cannot scream.”
Being accustomed to the scent of death, Sam honestly didn't realize that people would find it unbearable. "Something smells?" she asked rather obliviously.
Su dropped her gaze to Mika’s form before lifting her eyes back up to Samantha. A fire was lit behind her irises, and she propelled herself forward. Su reached out and touched the mixing bowl, and the entire abomination vanished inside her hammer space handbag. With the danger gone, Su lowered her shirt off of her nose. It would take a moment to clear out the kitchen, but her magic could contend with it at this point. The scent of Samantha’s creation was forced out a chimney into the outside atmosphere, where it would hopefully disperse before causing any more damage. “I’m going to need to find an appropriate place to dispose of that. Along with everything else I had in there.”
”Uguu.” Mika rolled over onto her back. “I feel like I was stepped on by a troll.”
Su took a step closer to Samantha. “What is the meaning of this? Were you trying to poison everyone?”
Mika gasped for air. “She knows not what she does.” She managed before falling limp.
Samantha held an expression that could best be described as a half-hearted frown. In truth, she was hurt that Su had forcibly stopped her from cooking, but she couldn't say it was a bad thing that that festering eldritch abomination was removed.
She had been watching Mika's overly-dramatic demise with moderate interest, but when Su asked about her intentions, her crimson orbs moved up to her. "Poison?" she scoffed. "I'm a lot more partial to reliable methods, thank you." Her eyes then drifted back to where her meal had once been and softened. She really was incompetent, wasn't she? "I tried... well, I was trying..." she found the words to be a bit more difficult to speak than she'd have liked. "...I wanted to cook for you guys, but it seems that I'm no good. At least, I don't think chicken noodle soup is my forte."
“Is… that what you were trying to make?” Su placed a finger on her chin and scanned the kitchen again. With the threat removed, Su was able to see a box of noodles laying on the counter, as well as an assortment of vegetables that could come together to make some excellent chicken noodle soup. When Su looked back to Samantha, she folded her arms. But she looked concerned rather than irritated. ”So you’re used to living by yourself right? Do you typically do your own cooking?”
Sam shook her head. "You're correct about me living by myself, but I've never really needed to cook," she answered. "Most of the time, I go out. And when that's not an option, I just use the microwave." the deadly chef said as she eyed the pitiful carcass of Mika. Should they just be leaving her like that?
With a sharp exhale, Su turned towards Mika. “She’s just being dramatic.” She pulled Mika to her feet, who stumbled around before Su turned back towards Samantha. “But I suppose it can’t be helped. I have to apologize for earlier. While I’m convinced that it’s impossible to create that horrific thing with the ingredients present, I do not believe you harbor any ill will towards us.” She bowed. “I’ve been meaning to teach Mika how to prepare her own food. Since the three of us are present I would not mind teaching you as well, if you’d be willing.”
Mika dusted herself off and placed her hands on her hips. “Silly and I get to be classmates?”
Samantha was not sure why Mika seemed to be excited at the prospect of becoming a 'classmate' with her. She was not a fun person to be around, she'd been told on occasion. "Well..." she scratched the back of her head. A flashback to that monstrosity that was the cake she tried to make a while back suddenly came to her. It spurred her to make a decision. "I suppose that would be nice. I do tire of my cooking trying to kill me." she agreed.
“Yes!” Mika psyched herself up.
”I’m glad you agree.” Su looked at a clock on the wall. ”Seems we have a few hours before dinner. With that in mind, let's make something special. It isn’t normal for me to have this much time to prepare dinner, so why don’t we make some pizza? I have never had a bad pizza before, so I think it would be a good dish for Samantha to learn.”
“Pizza!” Mika psyched herself up even more. “If I can make pizza, I’ll be even more irresistible!”
Cooking With Magical Girls:
Su's Pizza
Act 1
Su's Pizza
Act 1
”My Pizza recipe is easy. But like all bread products, it can be a little time consuming when made from scratch. You can’t just make bread rise and cook faster.”
Mika pouted. “What if we used Silly’s time magic?”
”I’d rather not use any magic. If I used wind magic to assist with this, how would you be able to make a Pizza without me?”
“True...”
The brown-eyed girl couldn't understand Su's reasoning behind not using magic, at least in this case. Time magic would only speed up the process, nothing more. The dish would be made the exact same, wouldn't it? But not intent on disrespecting her teacher, Samantha listened intently on Su's words, as an aspiring chef would.
Su smiled. ”In order to make the dough, we’re going to need a few ingredients namely...
1/4 ounce of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1-1/4 cups of warm water
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
And about 4 cups of all-purpose flour.”
1 teaspoon of sugar
1-1/4 cups of warm water
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
And about 4 cups of all-purpose flour.”
Su’s helpers quickly assembled the items she requested. To this, she gave a satisfied nod.
”First we pour the warm water into a bowl. Hot water from the tap is fine.” Su poured the water out of a measuring cup
“Hey! That bowl goes to the mixer!”
”While I don’t like to use magic, I’m fine using my Kitchenaid to mix ingredients. Though if you don’t have one at home Samantha, it just takes a bit longer to mix by hand. But let’s add the yeast and sugar before the water cools. You might want to give the yeast a quick stir with a spatula if it floats.” Su measured out the active dry yeast on a scale before dumping it into the warm water. ”Now we wait 5 minutes for the yeast to activate. If you want to get a head start on the next step, you could measure out the rest of the ingredients.”
There were a lot of steps involved in making pizza, a lot more than she would have thought. She now had a newfound sense of respect for those who made them for a living, and perhaps chefs in general. Pizza wasn't likely to be the hardest thing to make, after all. It was more than just placing an item into a microwave and pressing a couple of buttons.
"I see," she nodded. "Then I will do just that." Samantha then set out to measure the other ingredients with vigor. The act wasn't too difficult. Samantha wasn't an imbecile and diligently followed the orders down to a T. She didn't rush the step since they needed to wait, so it was about five minutes or so when she finished. "There," she said, a little bit more pleased with herself than she should be. "It is done. What next?"
Mika leaned over the edge of the bowl.“Whoa, the yeast melted!” She stated when she saw the activated yeast.
”Not quite. Active dry yeast is in a dormant state until it’s been added to warm water. The yeast is technically alive too. We added sugar in the last step to feed it, But let’s not get side tracked.” She pointed at the ingredients in front of Samantha. ”Since Samantha has measured out everything, all we need to do is add the remaining ingredients. The olive oil and salt go in first, then we can use the dough hook attachment to mix it up. If you don’t have a mixer, I would just add one cup at a time and mix it in. But since we have a mixer, we just need to make sure we don’t add in so much that it launches the flour back at us.”
In a strange display of caution, Mika used a spatula to empty the measuring cup filled with flower into the mixing bowl. Before long, a soft dough formed.
“Now we beat it up!”
”We do, but first we need to dump it onto a dough rolling mat. Though if you don’t own one, you can just lightly cover a clean surface in flour before kneading the dough.”
As soon as Su laid out the mat, Mika slammed the dough down on the mat and looked at Samantha. “C’mon Silly! Beat it like it’s scent-e-ant!
They were supposed to beat the dough up? Knowing not the intricacies of cooking, she couldn't come up with a reason for this. Until it hit her. Su's earlier words.
”Not quite. Active dry yeast is in a dormant state until it’s been added to warm water. The yeast is technically alive too.”
Ah, so that's it. So long as it's alive, it is not entirely safe. We've got to put it down in the name of the pie we wish to make!
Samantha took a deep breath in. She steeled her nerves and prepared for the battle ahead. Su did not want them using magic, so she'd have to resolve this as a human. It wasn't preferable, but it was doable. She felt no magical presence from the dough, either.
"Understood," she said. "I'm on it."
Quite obviously, there was a difference in opinion between what Mika thought 'beating up' meant, and what 'Silly' thought it meant. It was likely she believed in a bit more subtlety. That it shouldn't be taken too seriously and only done with moderate force.
Sil, however, did not believe in holding back against a dangerous foe. With as much strength as she could muster, she unleashed a flurry of blows that rained down upon the dough. Instead of doing what it was supposed to, the attacks were of such magnitude that tiny pieces seemed to be separating and getting flung about. It wouldn't be long before bigger chunks would follow.
Mika had stopped hitting the dough at this point. “You can do it Silly!”
But Su gently placed a hand on Samantha’s arm. ”Kneading the dough is less about slaying the bread and more about strengthening the gluten strands. Kneading will make the crust thick and fluffy, as opposed to flat and hard.” She stepped in front of Samantha and pushed the dough together. ”You’re done when the dough is stretchy and easy to work with.” She looked at Samantha with a smile. ”Most of the kneading is usually done by the time it comes out of the mixer, but you would normally want to fold it on top of itself, turn it 90 degrees, fold it again, and just keep going until it’s the consistency you want. If you don’t have a dough mat, you might need to reflour the surface a few times. Just make sure you don’t add so much it throws off the entire recipe.” Su rolled the dough into a ball before getting out a glass bowl. ”Now we just need to lightly glaze a bowl with some butter or a spray, and then we can place the dough inside. Make sure to turn it over once to coat the dough.” She waited for Samantha to do this while pointing Mika towards the pantry. ”Then we’re going to cover it in plastic wrap and give it some time to raise.” Su picked up her kitchen timer. ”I’ve had good luck waiting about 45 minutes. The dough has usually doubled in size by then.”
Once Mika returned with the plastic wrap, she covered the dough. “Wait, that’s almost an hour! Is there any way to speed it up?”
”Efficient Cooking is all about time management. While the dough is rising, we’ll be preparing the toppings.” Su pulled a pepper and some mushrooms out of the fridge and placed them on the cutting board. ”We have vegetables to prepare, sausage to cook, pizza plates to prepare, preheat the oven, and we can clean the mixer and the measuring cups we used too. It won’t take long but it’s a good way to make use of our time.”
“Gotcha!” Mika saluted before collecting the dirty measuring cups and dumping them into the sink.
Intermission
With the three of them working, they would have to really stretch the work to make it last the entire 45 minutes required for the bread to rise.
Samantha did not seem keen on stretching out said work, however. She was able to clean their used cups and the sort in little time at all, as well as helping with the preparation of the vegetables. There were no factors left to Sil that could result in a botched pizza, so things went perfectly.
The remaining tasks did not require extra hands, so she found herself just behind Su, perhaps a little bit too close to the girl. While they weren't rubbing up against each other, the whole ‘personal space’ thing was beginning to look like it was foreign to Sam. She did not speak, but instead, her eyes were locked onto the sausage she was making.
Most would not find anything interesting with the mundane method in which Su stirred the sausage. It was just a lump of ground Italian sausage that she was splitting with a silicone spatula. She kept breaking it down, spinning it, completely oblivious to Samantha’s location. Wind users were said to be super aware of their surroundings, but Su was totally lost to the moment. She was humming the tune of “99 bottles” with a smile on her face.
A bit of grease leaped out of the pan and landed on Su’s arm, which startled her into taking a step backwards into Samantha. She soon discovered Su was wearing pumps as the heel was driven into the top of her foot. The counter in the middle of the kitchen gave Samantha no room to step backwards, forcing her and Su to stumble towards the stove. The bump wasn’t hard enough to throw Su into the stove, but it was impossible for Samantha to know that. So she hugged Su and the two of them stumbled backwards again. This time Samantha was able to keep Su’s heels off of her feet, but that was only because she was lifting Su into the air, and had to half lean backwards over the counter to do this. As awkward as this situation was, it did bring an end to their strange ballet.
Su turned her head to look back at Samantha. She said nothing, but her wide eyed expression let Samantha know that she wanted to say something, she just didn’t know what it should be.
After a puzzled expression towards Su's choice to remain silent, Samantha's first action was to set the busty girl down, though this required a fair amount of effort. From the position they were in, she was halfway to becoming a WWE superstar. Having no reason to finish the suplex, she forced one of her hands down onto the counter to push her away from it, while the other one continued to hold onto the wind girl so as not to have her just fall to the ground. Thankfully, this succeeded in placing them in a position where Sil could safely let the girl down, which she proceeded to do, then stepping away to put a minimal amount of distance between them.
Su still hadn't spoken, so she might've been hoping Samantha would instead. And she did, just not immediately. She first took a long inhale, and let loose an even longer exhale. Her foot hurt! But once that was done, she broke the silence that somehow hadn't already been so by Mika by clearing her throat.
"Is there something wrong? Why did you stop?" she asked Su as though nothing happened, with a completely deadpan stare. It was a flawless act unspoiled by any tells of the lie, except for the incredibly subtle way Sil was flicking the foot Su stepped on, as though trying to wake it. Truly subtle.
Su blinked. ”You just-” She looked at Samantha’s clapping foot before making eye contact with the assassin again. ”You startled me. There’s not much room between the stove and the center counter and-” She placed the spatula beside the stove. ”I don’t have a splatter shield. The old one started to rust, and I’m not dressed up for the kitchen.You should always have sleeves and pants if you’re going to cook anything on the stove top.”
“Oh.” Mika was leaning around a chair. “I thought you guys were going to kiss.”
Su cleared her throat. ”No Mika, if I did that, it would hurt Helga’s feelings. Samantha and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“Well.” She looked between Su and Samantha. “Does Silly feel that way about anyone?”
There was a moment in time the two of them could swear Samantha had frozen herself in time. She was completely still. Not the slightest sway, it didn't appear like she was breathing, or like she even seemed like she heard what Mika said. The sound of a dial-up connection was the only tell that she was still among them.
Suddenly, she came back to life. "F-feel what way? I don't understand what you mean by that."
“Like you can only kiss one person for the rest of your life.” Mika smiled as she delivered her answer. “Do you feel that way about someone?”
Samantha wasn't sure why this subject was making her uncomfortable, but it was. But was what they said right? Were you only allowed to kiss one person your entire life? She did not know these sorts of things, so she couldn't refute such a claim with confidence.
"I'm not sure..." contrary to earlier, she seemed a bit meek. "Does kissing your superior count?" she asked innocently.
Su folded her arms and gave Samantha a sideways glance. ”Only if you love them.” Su looked to the floor. ”You know, it’s something you willingly surrender yourself to. If you don’t want to, then it’s not love.” Su turned towards Samantha. ”I mean there are exceptions. I kiss Boteg and Mika from time to time. But it’s not the same with Helga. I think Mika has oversimplified it a little.” She steeled her gaze. ”What she’s asking is if there’s anyone in your life who you put above everyone else. Someone you crave to spend all of your hours with. Someone who brings you comfort in an unforgiving world.”
Samantha felt herself retreating into her scarf, despite not being cold. She wasn't sure why. But all of those things were sounding familiar. She could associate them with Veronica, but was that really it? Did she feel 'love' for her employer? She didn't know.
"I... can't say. Maybe?" she pondered a second. "I haven't really felt especially strong about anyone, not even my own parents, so I couldn't tell you for sure."
Mika crept up beside Samantha and took one of her hands in her own. “Well, if you don’t know, just hang out with me.” She lightly patted Samantha’s hand. “I think I can make you feel that way.”
Samantha couldn't say why Mika suddenly took her hand, but something she said clicked with her. "You can?" she thought back to the graveyard, and stirring in her chest when she looked upon the girl's features. That was... foreign. She wasn't sure then, but maybe she would be now. "I see. I do remember feeling something for you," she told the girl. "Let me try something, just to make sure.”
So saying, Samantha took her other hand to Mika's face, glanced intimately at her, and then pinched a cheek.
“GAH! MOMMY!”
Su raised an eyebrow. ”You kind of brought that on yourself.” Su took her time walking up to the two and separating them with a gentle push. While Mika rubbed her cheek, Su came to a realization. ”Wait, mommy?”
“Yea.” Mika was still rubbing her face. “It just came to me, should I not call you that?”
”N-no, I’m just not used to it.” Su scratched the back of her head. ”But your real parents, they’re still alive right?”
“Yea, but I don’t see them anymore.” When she moved her hand, there was a red welt on her cheek where Samantha had pinched her. “I don’t really know where they are now. Some day I’ll look for them.” She looked between Su and Samantha. “You guys don’t have parents, right Silly?”
Samantha had a dreamy expression on her face throughout the small discussion. Mika's adorable reaction sure had done what she thought it would. Sam would have to do that again sometime, but it seemed things were taking an interesting turn, so she snapped out of it. Mostly.
"No," she told them with a small grin still on her face. She must have still been on cloud nine. "I don't know if they're dead or not, but it does not change anything if they aren't." she explained nonchalantly. There was nothing more she felt she needed to add, so she turned to Su. "And you?"
Su smiled briefly. ”Well, I’ve been around for a while. My parents aren’t magical girls, so naturally I’ve outlived them.” Su kept her arms crossed.
“But what about Boteg? Isn’t he your dad?”
Su’s eyes shot open. ”Mika! What did I tell-”
”It’s okay!” Mika put on a big stupid grin. It was like the welt on her cheek wasn’t even hurting her anymore. ”Silly is one of Harmonica’s, erm, Var-Monika’s agent people. I think she calls Silly a top agent.”
Su’s head swung over towards Samantha. Her eyes were wide for a second or so, but then they quickly narrowed to slits. ”I see.” Su placed her arms at her sides. ”That explains a few things, at least.”
The happy expression existing at all was probably the most important thing. That fact that it did not last too long was not as much. But the reason being was, of course, Mika. Not that Samantha was too upset by this, because she knew it had to happen eventually. It was in Mika's D.N.A to do that.
"Mika, can I have your other cheek for a second? I need to make sure of something else." She threatened the cheek by pressing her thumb and her index finger together in a pinching fashion. Honestly she wasn't sure if Mika did that on purpose or not, but either way, she'd feel it soon.
”Mom!” Mika hid behind Su.
Samantha turned to Su. "The Overcity wasn't a good place to reveal that, and it never got brought up here. Sorry for that." she tried explaining to Su. "But yes," she said. "I'm considered Veronica's top agent, and I was there to personally witness your... event, so to speak."
Su placed a hand on her head and nodded. ”The overcity was not the best place to talk about the past, yes. I came to the same conclusion, especially with Rina present. It’s a comfort to know who you work for though.” She turned to look at Mika. ”And since everyone present knows my secret, I can talk a bit about my parents.” She bent her legs and placed her hands on her knees so that she was the same height as Mika. ”I’m a familiar, so I was not born like humans are. Boteg came to this world scared and confused, and he wanted a guide to help him navigate it. So he created me.” Su patted her chest. ”You may know that when magical girls die, they struggle to acquire enough mana to recreate their forms. They don’t always get to do that though, as it’s strenuous work. Quite competitive to boot. But I’m told that I was made from the soul of a departed magical girl.
”So this isn’t the first time you’ve been a magical girl?” Mika’s eyes lit up.
”Mmmmm, maybe? That’s kind of a hard question to answer. Su stood back up. ”I have a lot of memories from a lot of different people. That’s the point of a familiar, to have lots of memories across various experiences to make everything ‘familiar’ to them. That’s why familiars are such great guides. So I’m not sure if I can take credit for every memory I have, or even which ones belong to my original soul. She chuckled. ”That’s why my age is such a tricky topic. I’ve only existed as Su for about fifty years, but some of these memories go quite far back.
”Mommy got to be several magical girls?” Mika winked. ”Mommy is so lucky, I bet you got a lot of friends.”
Su blushed a bit before changing the topic. ”It’s a shame I can’t talk about myself more openly with others. That was fun. She turned back to Samantha. ”I’m sure Veronica must be proud of her top agent. After giving her a small bow, Su looked at the time. ”The dough should be ready any moment now, and we still have a few things to prepare. So let’s get back to it.
Samantha's gaze lingered on Su for a moment. So it was fun to speak of things you typically couldn't? Yeah, she supposed so. It was also nice to hear a bit about Su, her origin was interesting.
"Very well," Samantha nodded. "A finished pizza is sounding more appetizing by the minute."
Cooking With Magical Girls:
Su's Pizza
Act 2
Su's Pizza
Act 2
Su looked at her two apprentice chefs. ”The dough is just about ready, so we need to make sure we have everything to top the pizza. For that we’ll need…
Pizza sauce (pasta sauce works too, and is what I use most of the time)
Enough mozzarella cheese to cover the pizza
1 bell pepper, any color you like
4-6 medium portobello mushrooms (If small, just use more!)
ground Italian sausage (I tend to cook a lot and use it for a lot of meals.)
And a few slices of pepperoni.”
Enough mozzarella cheese to cover the pizza
1 bell pepper, any color you like
4-6 medium portobello mushrooms (If small, just use more!)
ground Italian sausage (I tend to cook a lot and use it for a lot of meals.)
And a few slices of pepperoni.”
So let’s make sure we have everything in order.
“Samantha did a good job with the veggies!” Mika gave her Superior chef a salute while standing beside Samantha’s handy work.
”I’ve also browned the sausage, pepperoni comes cooked, and I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Something else I did was tear out two sheets of parchment paper that were roughly the size of the pizza pans.”
Mika scratched her head. “Why do you do that again?”
”Because when I preheat the oven, I leave the pizza pans on the racks so that they heat up as well. This makes the crust under the pizza crispier because it doesn’t need to heat up with the pizza.” Right on cue, the timer for the dough sounded. ”Alright Samantha, I want you to peel back the plastic wrap and punch down the dough.” She raised a finger ”B-but one punch is fine, it’s a weak opponent. And don’t break the glass bowl.” Su looked just a bit nervous.
"Affirmative." Sil nodded to Su, looking at the bowl with a fire in her eyes. She would best this foe properly, so that Su would be pleased with her. This pizza would be excellent!
And so it was that she laid bare the dough, unhindered by plastic. With its vital open, Sam attacked decisively. "Haa!" she pulled her fist back and let loose a... normal punch, not particularly loaded with a great deal of force.
Glass bowls weren't very durable.
The bowl rocked a bit, but when Samantha pulled back her hand, the dough had deflated a bit, and had an imprint of her fist on it.
Mika frowned. “It got smaller!”
”That’s okay!” Su encouraged. ”It’s supposed to do that. When you punch the dough, it collapses it so that it can raise a second time. It improves the flavor too. If we were gentle with it, there would be a lot of air bubbles. That’s not something we want in pizza dough.” Su used a knife to divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of parchment paper. ”Alright Samantha, I’m going to let you handle this one, and Mika’s going to have this one.”
The two apprentice chiefs stepped up to their respective stations. “So we just push it out like a pancake?”
”Just work from the center out and make it as thin as you can. If it tears, you can knead it back together. You can leave the edge a little fat since that will be the crust.”
After working the dough a bit, Mika made what looked like a pizza shell. “I think I got it!”
”Very good.” Su smiled. ”Now you want to lay down the sauce. It’s not too hard, just scoop it out and smear it all over the center of the pizza with your spoon until it’s evenly covered. It’s okay if there’s a few light spots. Then you want to top it with cheese, and add all of your vegetables. Well, half of them. Samantha is going to need the other half for her Pizza.”
“And then you add the meat!” Mika used her hands to sprinkle the sausage and pepperoni on top of the Pizza. Su had to step in to prevent her from getting too carried away. But it was looking pretty good.
”That looks really good Mika.” Su turned to look at Samantha. ”Are you making out alright?”
Samantha was quiet for a second but nodded. "Yes, I believe I am."
She was lagging behind just a bit, presumably because she was being extra cautious of the steps. But once she was done placing the sausage, she gave a thumbs up to Su.
Su returned the gesture, even if it wasn’t something she normally did. ”So now we just need to cook them. The Pizza pans in the oven should be sufficiently hot, so we just have to transfer the pizzas onto them.” This was pretty simple. Su just got an oven mitt to handle the hot pizza pans and used her free hand to pull the parchment papered pizzas onto them. ”Just don’t burn yourself. I have two racks set up so we can cook both of the pizzas at the same time.” After getting the Pizzas all situated in the oven, she shut the oven and turned back to the others. ”Cooking time varies a bit from oven to oven. Even though mine has a thermostat, few ovens are 100% true to what you set them to. Like I noticed when I set mine to 400, it actually cooks at about 430. Sadly the best way to find out what's the most ideal is simple trial and error. I find 16 minutes works great for me.” Su turned back towards the oven. ”Another thing you want to keep in mind is that once the oven gets hot, all of the walls radiate heat. So certain parts of the oven are hotter than others. Because of this, I’m going to swap both pizzas and rotate then 180 degrees half way through the cooking process.”
Bon appetit!
”Alright they’re coming out!” Su Pulled out Mika’s pizza and placed it on top of the stove.
Mika clapped her hands together. “It’s beautiful!” Mika eyed the finished pizza with delight. Her eyes wandered over every glossy piece of meat, her nose took in the aroma, and it was plain on her face that she felt a sense of accomplishment seeing something she helped create turn out so good. “How did the other one turn out?”
”Let's find out.”
Samantha's pensive stare at the oven betrayed her anxiety. Would she mess things up again? Or would they be alright? Mika's pizza looked fine. She imagined it would taste great. So, having followed Su's directions as well, that should be the same for her, right?
"...!"
As her pizza was pulled from the oven, Samantha couldn't contain her surprise, and her lips curved upwards. The pizza looked... absolutely delicious! She'd done it, she'd really done it! An edible food, no eldritch abomination!
"Thank you," she nodded to Su. "It seems to have come out fine." she turned back to the pizza, and couldn't take her eye off of it, it still felt unreal.
And then it felt chilled.
...leas...ki...e...*gh*...p...l...m...*gh*
"...who's whispering into my ear, please stop that." she looked at the other two, but they weren't really in a position to do so. She glanced both ways, but nothing was there. Strange.
“Was that my tummy?” Mika placed a hand up against the side of her head.
”Wait, someone’s coming!”
Sure enough, they could hear someone approach the kitchen. The door knob turned, and in stepped Boteg, dressed head to toe like a man. But his head was still unmistakably draconian.
”Sky scare! Little scare! Time scare?” He briefly inspected Samantha before looking at the pizzas. ”Didst thou slave over most splendid meal? Me thoughts I doth smell yellow melt!”
”Right, I almost forgot.” Su turned to look at Samantha. ”Boteg loves cheese. He must have smelled the pizzas we made. ”
The golden dragon walked over to the two pizzas, eyeing them with a pleased smile. ”Tis a most pleasant surprise! Me thinks I can’t verily go long without a taste.” He looked at the girls. ”At thou behest.” His fingers danced over the pizzas.
A well-dressed dragon was not the strangest thing Samantha had ever witnessed, so she simply rolled with it. The fact that Boteg liked cheese was honestly more surprising. "They just came out of the oven," she warned. "We were going to wait for them to cool down."
Mika looked at Samantha. “We were?”
Samantha narrowed her eyes at Mika, and in an instant, she closed the small distance between them. "Mika," she said, tugging at the girl's cheeks again. "How do your cheeks feel?"
“Very sore!” She cried.
Su folded her arms and kept her eyes on Boteg. ”While we all made the Pizzas, Samantha put most of her effort in the one on the right. She’s new to cooking, but I feel like she learned a lot, and I think it would do a lot for her confidence if you tried her Pizza first.”
”Tis a most splendid idea!” Boteg took a Pizza roller and cut the Pizza into 8 slices. When the blade rolled through the toppings, they parted like the red sea. The pizza let out some steam with every cut, and Boteg looked like he was starting to salivate. He lifted a slice off of the pan and held it up in the air. ”I doth partake in time scare’s wondrous creation!” He opened his maw and lowered the pizza into his mouth, eating almost everything up to the crust. When he pulled his head away, there were strands of cheese going from his lips to what was left of the pizza in his hand. He chewed the food slowly, but then suddenly stopped. His eyes started to dilate while the rest of his body was perfectly still.
“Boteg?” Mika’s cheek was still pinched between Samantha’s fingers.
Samantha slowly let go of Mika's cheeks. "Does he usually do this when he eats cheese?" she asked the other two.
Nobody answered Samantha’s question, and instead stared at the golden dragon in absolute horror. He turned his gaze to the door behind himself and pushed it open. Naturally, the three magical girls waked after him. Now they were standing in a hallway. There were no remarkable features, aside from a short table holding a vase, and a window on the wall opposite of the vase. Boteg walked until he was standing between both of these objects. Using both hands, he placed the Pizza crust on the table before turning to face the window. Mika and Su walked back into the kitchen, leaving Samantha alone in the hallway with Boteg. But he did not acknowledge her. Instead, he threw open the window before hopping onto the window sill. Then, without any hesitation, his body leaned forward and he fell out of the window.
Samantha threw out her hand as if to stop Boteg, but she wasn't quick enough. The poor man (dragon) had left them.
She was not sure where she heard it from, but she could swear she heard a 'thanks' coming from inside. Ignoring it for now, she turned around and hurried back into the kitchen. "Why did he just jump out of the window?"
Samantha would have her question answered when she heard what sounded like a dragon belching fire into the sky.
Su was crouched down in the corner of the room looking at her feet, and Mika was reaching for a slice of pizza, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. Though she was picking from the one to the left that Samantha had less involvement in. “This tastes great!” Mika had two plates, each with a pizza slice on it. “Thanks mommy! I’m going to show this to Lupa!” She hurried off without saying another word.
Su looked up from her corner. ”H-he’ll calm down soon.”
Mika was as proud as a peacock. If there was one thing all of her friends liked, it was Pizza. Now that she could make Pizza, the possibilities were quite possibly endless. She was confident she could become the president with her pizzas. But for now, she’d keep her expectations modest.
“Oh Lupa! I want you to try something!”
She was quite confident that Lupa would love her forever and ever if she even just smelled this Pizza. Of course she’d have to find her first.
“Do you smell it Lupa? I know you smell it!”
This was really strange. It wasn’t like Lupa’s room was very big. Aside from the bed and closet, there weren’t any places to hide.
“I know what you’re doing!”
Mika giggled and ran over to her room, only to discover she wasn’t there.
“Lupa?”
The door to her room swung shut. The pizza would get cold if Mika waited too long. Before she could choose her next course of action, she could hear a window open in Lupa’s room.
“Lupa!” Mika ran to Lupa’s room and shoved the door open. Sure enough Lupa was closing the window behind herself, and shaking the snow off of her feet. “Lupa I made Pizza! Come have a slice!”
”Really? So that’s what you’ve been shouting about?” Lupa took the plate and examined the pizza. ”It looks really tasty. Way better than the criteria garbage I use to eat. No contest.” She set the plate on her dresser before strolling over to her bed. ”I’ve got something kind of heavy to tell you Mika. Wanna sit down for a bit?” She wore a wistful smile.
“Sure?” Mika wasn’t too sure how words could be heavy, but did have to admit there was something hanging in the air. A sense that she was going to hear things she didn’t want to. “What did you wanna say, Lupa?”
“Well, Mika.” Lupa looked at the floor. “The other day I attacked Helga. We weren’t play fighting, there was a real chance one of us could die. Had another magical girl not intervened, that might have been the case.”
Mika blinked. “Well, nobody did die though!” She giggled. “You’re just being silly! You’d never hurt Helga.”
Lupa shook her head. “You don’t understand. My true patron is a primal force that lives inside of me. It drives me to do things to sate its hunger, and with every passing day I become weaker to its influence. If it can make me attack Helga, there’s nothing stopping me from trying to kill you.”
“We’ll just get it removed then!” Mika sprung to her feet.
“It’s not that easy.” Lupa turned to Mika. “The only people with the power to do that is Beacon, and, well.” Lupa pointed outside. “They appear to be more interested in killing monster girls than redeeming them, despite what the PI reported a few months ago.”
Mika’s legs suddenly felt weak. “W-why are you being negative? No one has to die!”
“Remaining here is just going to cause trouble for everyone.” Lupa took her younger companion’s hand and gently pulled her down to a sitting position. “I’m going to leave Penrose. I heard the Beacon branch in New York is more tolerant of monster girls.”
Mika bit her lip. “NO!” She sprung to her feet and ran over to the window. “You’re not going to leave!” She locked it before running over to the door. “I-Im going to make sure you stay!” With all the exits locked, she ran over to her Pizza. It was kind of warm now, but that was fine. “A-and if not, I’ll come with you!”
“Mika.” Lupa fret her brow. “I’m not even Lupa, I’m one of her clones. She left Penrose hours ago. She isn’t even aware we’re having this talk, only that she wanted me to have it with you.”
The pizza fell to the floor, only moments before Mika’s hands and knees. “B-but, I-” She lifted her torso up and clasped her hands together. “I-I love you! Tell me where she is! You gotta.”
“Lupa” sighed. “No Mika, you don’t. Not in the way you’re implying anyway.” She stood up. “When we were at the beach, you barely spent any time with me. You were darting between as many girls as possible, from Hilaria to Rina to Kimble. It isn’t even an isolated event. I’m pretty sure you were trying to put the moves on Samantha too. There has to be more I’m not even aware of.”
“You gotta...” Mika whimpered and sunk to the floor.
“Don’t be sad Mika.” Lupa placed her hand on Mika’s head. “You just have a lot of growing to do. Someday you’ll realize It’s impossible to share your heart with everyone. Just like a pizza pie, really.” She bent over and picked up the pizza. “You can’t share pizza with just anyone. You need to make sure each of those slices goes to someone you want to feed.” Lupa consumed Mika’s food in a single bite. “Mmmm.” She licked her fingers. “I gotta say, she would have loved that.”
And then, the clone dissipated into smoke. Mika’s fist was fully extended through where their chest had been, and a mix of tears and sweat trickled down her face. Her fingers trembled as she lowered her arm back to her side. She was still in total disbelief that Lupa would have left her like that. But it made sense. Kimble worked for Beacon, likely in an attempt to weaken her relationships. Even Abigail did this when she promised to get Mika closer to Alicia. Beacon was also trying to hurt Helga and Su. Rina even said she didn’t like Beacon, comparing them to the Mint.
“Why didn’t I notice sooner?”
It was clear as day. Beacon was trying to ruin her life. They were just a bunch of unpleasant people who prayed on the happiness of others. That was the real reason why they drove Lupa to say such hurtful things. She’d show them. She’d show all of them. By the end of this she’d have more friends than anyone.
Mika walked back into her room and laid in her bed. She’d go to Brittany’s shop tomorrow. There were tools there Mika could make use of.
Lupa ~ Fin
