NINE DAYS FOR ARMAGEDDON

"There's a war."

The word still didn’t feel real to Iris.

War.

Just saying the word wasn't really enough. She had always thought of war as something that occurred in faraway countries that you would only see on the news, but it was occurring somewhere in the world right that very moment.

She wasn't sure if it didn't feel real to her because she simply hadn't had time to think about it since they had escaped forged the guild, or if it was because they had never been thrown into a real battlefield full of death and despair flying back and forth.

According to the news on the radio, Magic Council forces had been deployed to help evacuate and defend the facilities that worked with them within this world. However, Iris still didn't feel any real sense of danger.

She had no idea what would happen from then on.

Iris honestly didn't care who won, who lost, or what effect it all had on who guided the world. As long as that ridiculous war ended quickly and someone who would protect her friends had some control over things, she didn't really care about the rest.

Iris thought about all that, but what she was truly worried about lay elsewhere. She may have been thinking about the problem of the war in order to avert her gaze from her true worry.

"...WE'RE OUT OF MACARONI!"

Nobody responded to this, though Ringo looked at Iris like she wanted to bust her skull. Well...if such a look could cross such a blank face. Hephaestus entered the room, looking tense. "We cannot afford to dawdle. The Council and Crux are already making their moves. We need to get ready as soon as we possibly can."

Vivian agreed with this statement. "The old man is right. We're not supposed to fool around here. War is nothing to joke about. We need to be strategic here, and scatter as soon as possible in order to confuse our foes."

Momoko was stunned. "Since when were you intelligent?"

Vivian offhandedly snarked, "I learned from a book...written by a race of squirrel demons."

"Heh heh heh..." The familiar voice of Akatsuki's mysterious benefactor sounded throughout the guild as Mr. E materialized in the center of the room. "So you are preparing as well...very nice..." He turned to Vivian. "By the way...that sandwich?"

Vivian attempted to brush Mr. E off, with a powerful spinning kick, but to no avail as she fell on her ass. "...Gragh...what do you want, old bastard?" She was...angrier than usual with him.

"E....!" Hephaestus looked at the man with what seemed like utmost distaste.

"Oh, hello Hephaestus. Glad to see you're fitting in well." There was a strange smirk in E's voice as he said this, as if he was aware of something everyone else was left out of.

Momoko attempted to get E's attention by stomping on his foot. "Oi, you!! The hell are you?" She latched onto him. "Oho, yes...your mask seems ancient! It could be worth a fair bit....Eheheehehehehehe..." She was in ruin maniac mode once more.

He slipped right through her, gliding next to Vivian, before turning back to cast the blank eyes of his baboonskin mask upon Momoko. "Oh, that's right. I forgot you added someone new."

"What do you want, E?" Hephaestus asked sharply.

"I'm merely here as an informant. You're most likely aware of this, but Shadow Remnants are on the move." He chuckled. "However, here's an interesting tidbit. The other primordial? It's in the possession of Crux."

Momoko rolled her eyes as she fell to the ground, picking herself up and bluntly stating, "I kinda guessed that one. I mean, in fiction, if there's a hero with a special power, the rival will always be the one who has something similar. It's a rule."

"You read. Charming." Mr. E smiled under the mask. "However, Crux is not a rival. Merely a pawn in my plan. I sent him to you."

Momoko wasn't impressed. "Oh come on. You're so obviously infallable that it makes you seem like one of those...what do you call them...Villainy Bruees?" This provoked a 'wat' reaction, definitely.

"Silly child. I'm far from a villain." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Think of me as an author, and the entire world as my book. Or, if you prefer, think of this world as my chess set. I'm playing everything to my whim."

Iris's ears stuck up. "Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you are~"

"Good luck to all of you." Mr. E said before vanishing, doing what pretty much no one else every really did. Ignore Iris Lavra.

Momoko sighed, "So, that's your information broker? He seems like a jackass."

"Disregarding the monkey, it's time to mo-" Hephaestus was quickly interrupted by the opening of a door, through with Mary Jane stepped through, looking slightly worried. "I...I want to come with you all!"

Vivian was worried for her safety. "No, you really shouldn't. If you get hurt then I'll have to take my anger out on somebody... preferably Momoko."

"B-but Onē-chan!" Mary seemed to be really bothered by her adoptive sister's refusal. "I can help too! And...I want to spend time with you!" Mary and Vivian HAD been rather seperate for a little while, with Vivian going on far more jobs than she was.

Vivian sulked. "...Tch, fine..." She felt guilty- a while back, she promised Mary Jane that she would buy her something; but somewhere in her head, she forgot about it until just now. "Okay! You can come with us! But! Do NOT pull the puppy-dog eyes on me. That's like a critical hit."

"You're the best, Onē-chan!" Mary wrapped her older sister in a vice-like hug. The sight of these guild members seemed to offset Hephaestus, but he didn't speak just yet.

"...What is her Dawn colour...?" Ringo asked. Despite her general stoicness, perhaps she liked the concept of the Dawn Rangers?

Iris cheered, "Vivian is DawnPink! The graceful warrior of love, lust, and possession of decent mammaries-OW!"

Vivian instinctively slapped Iris in the back of the head for that remark. "Shaddup!"

Iris continued, "And Mary Jane is...DawnPurple! What she lacks in the front...she makes up for in the back!"

Ulalia added on, "Aww, true dat."

"And Gaikou is DawnWhite. Basically that actress who can't emote, but with powers."

Mary seemed rather confused. "Um...alright. I'm just gonna stick close to you now Onē-chan...everyone got weirder."

Before anyone else could make a ridiculous disturbance, Hephaestus cleared his throat. "Momoko. I take it you possess your map?"

Momoko took out her map from her cleavage once more. "Of course."

"Then you will lead us." Hephaestus replied. "We will destroy these now, before any harm can come to this world."