The crew was finally getting ready to sleep. One by one, each of them fell asleep. Before Siran and Zia fell asleep, Zia said to Siran "I guess I should thank you".
"For what?" Siran asks.
"Other than the many other things you've already done" Zia says, "I should thank you for sharing your story with us. I always wanted to hear the story when I was a kid, although that stopped being important to me after so long. But I'm glad you finally opened up to us".
Zia fell asleep before long but Siran had troubles falling asleep and stayed awake by himself for hours in silence. When the next day arrived, Siran was no longer in his monstrous form. He was back to his old appearance.
"When did you shapeshift?" Finn asks as Siran finally wakes up after everyone else.
"Late last night" Siran says in a tired voice. "Shapeshifting actually requires a constant flow of endo, so when I'm in my other form I can actually cast more magic".
"They why choose your normal form?" Alex asks.
"Because" Siran says, "it's more familiar to you guys".
"By the way" Rose asks, "did your wounds heal?".
"Not really" Siran says, "but with shapeshifting, I stopped the bleeding. I'll be fine eventually".
"How many times do I need to tell you to stop being so reckless?" Vivi asks.
"It'll be fine" Siran says, "don't worry".
"Also, I need to ask" Satomi says, "in your story, the Mages didn't sound so evil and bent on control. What changed in this country?".
"That's a good question" Siran says, "the first Mages weren't really bad people. Granted, we had bad blood between each other, but they had good intentions. Why are the current Mages so focused on controlling everything?".
"Well" Alex says, "the next Mages are usually chosen by the previous Mages before they retire. In some cases, there are exceptions. For example, if one or more of the previous Mages die prematurely, then the seat has to be filled by someone who is deemed to have exceptional skills with magic".
"So if the old Mages were killed" Siran says, "and this is just a theory, then it's possible the one who was selected might've tampered with who would be chosen as the next set of Mages. If those Mages were corrupt enough, then they'd probably take part in this scheme that the Mages seem to be currently pulling".
"Definitely possible" Alex says, "although it's not exactly a likely case".
"Long story short" Vivi says sarcastically while once again drinking coffee straight out of the coffee pot, "the only way to know for sure is to ask them. By ask, I clearly mean beat the shit out of them?".
"That's one method" Siran says.
"But you're not going to be that reckless this time, right?" Vivi asks.
"I'm thinking about it" Siran says.
"Siran..." Vivi says in a disappointed tone, "you're not going to take my advice seriously, are you?".
"I said I'm thinking" Siran says, "I don't know what to do just yet!".
"Think harder" Vivi says, "but don't hurt yourself".
"If I may?" Robin says, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "If I recall, my dad was the first of the new group of Mages and Markwood was the second. However, Markwood currently holds the leading seat in the council. Does any of that help?".
"Oh my..." Finn says, "I can't believe it. We forgot that Robin is Hood's son".
"No" Vivi says, "you guys forgot, I didn't care".
"I also didn't care" Demetri says, barely paying attention.
"That's a start" Siran says. "Now if we can question Garreth Hood on the matter, we can maybe have answers. Where is your dad now?".
"Probably in the Omnium Guild" Robin says, "with the rest of the Mages".
"Great" Alex says, "back to square one of let's go on a suicide mission".
Siran sighs and says "Maybe we do need to do the dumbest thing just for answers".
"Question" Vivi asks, "why do we need these answers? I know it's generally better to know as much about your enemy as possible, but why would it be worth risking a suicide mission again?".
"Well, what I was thinking about" Siran says, "is if we knocked right on the Mages front door and got a small taste of their power and retreated, we may be able to have at least a small understanding about their capabilities. We could use that knowledge to launch a real attack on them later".
"But it'd also keep them on their toes" Vivi says, "which sometimes can bring a tactical advantage, but in this case would likely allow them to keep a vice grip on our movements. Also, there's a very low chance that we'll actually be able to take any of the Mages prisoner, let alone Garreth Hood. It's a high risk; low opportunity situation, Siran".
"You're right!" Siran says as something in his mind seems to suddenly click. "And that's exactly what they wouldn't expect! Think about it, they know at least a little about most- if not all of us. Especially me, they know a lot about me thanks to James Markwood. We have the benefit of the doubt right now!".
"Oh no" Vivi says, "no no no, see? This is exactly what I mean by being reckless".
"Is everyone else okay with this plan?" Siran asks.
"Can I bring explosives?" Demetri asks.
"I'd usually be against it, but go nuts" Siran says.
"I'm up for the task" Finn says. "I mean- this whole situation has been one suicide mission after another, right?".
"I'm sure we'll make it out just fine" Holly says. "You've got me here, so you can count on us having a strong defense. Although, if my calculations are correct, we have exactly zero chances of success".
"Thanks" Finn says sarcastically, "you Debbie downer".
"Mind your own business" Holly says.
"But... this is my business" Finn says.
"Oh yeah! Finally some action!" Rose says. "By the way, who's Debbie?".
"I'm up for the task" Alex says.
"We're ready when you are!" Satomi says, putting one elbow on Mikoto's shoulder.
"Wow, okay!" Vivi says, sounding very disappointed, "guess I'll be ignored". Vivi sighs and then says "if you're all going, I'm coming too".
"Let's do this" Zia says.
The team leaves to the Omnium Guild. When they get there, they gather outside of the city to create a plan.
"So how should we start this?" Finn asks.
"Carefully" Alex says, "Because once they figure out that we're coming, they'll cover this city with a giant digital shield that surrounds the entire city".
"Then I have an idea" Siran says. "I think I know their weakness here".
"And that is?" Rose asks.
"Well, they know most of our faces well" Siran says, "but there's a group of us that they don't know. Vivi, Demetri, Robin, Tanya, Satomi and Mikoto. Markwood has only seen Satomi and Mikoto once, but I doubt anyone else will recognize them. They should be able to enter the city before us without much of a problem".
"But separating us will increase the likelihood of suffering casualties" Holly says.
"Ah, that's right" Siran says. He thinks for a moment and then says, "I've got it! What do most people think we they hear The Six Guns?".
"That we're outlaws?" Vivi asks.
"No, that there's six of us" Siran says. "But there's actually twelve of us altogether. So what if we made them think that the six of you they don't know about are actually us six?".
"I'm not sure I follow" Tanya says.
"What I mean is" Siran says, "we get them to raise those shields. You guys make your appearance as The Six Guns, as we find a way to take down their shields. Once the shields are down, we reconvene to initiate the attack. You guys remain in a sort of disguise using illusion magic to pretend to be our doubles. It'll be hard for them to see through your illusions since we all have more endo than they do. They'll have to cast a debuff that overpowers you. This way, your identities remain hidden and if they're dumb enough, some may even think that we found a way to clone ourselves or something".
"Not bad" Mikoto says, "but how do you plan on taking down the shield?".
"I'll have to over power the shield" Siran says.
"There'll be dozens of soldiers holding that shield up" Alex says. "They'll use many times more people than we have now all putting their power into that one shield. How are you going to overpower that?".
"Reactive endo" Siran says, "it's the only thing I know of that can directly damage endo itself. The only downside is, I can only use up that much magic when I'm not shapeshifted".
"That's not a real problem though" Alex says. "We've all seen your... other form".
"Sounds like a start so far" Vivi says, "but what do we do after we enter the city?".
"We head straight for the capital building" Siran says. "Anger the Mages Guild just a little, defend against their attack, tactically retreat. Hopefully we can get the opportunity to capture Garreth Hood or James Markwood in the process. Knowing Markwood's cocky nature though, we may even be able to get answers without needing to capture any of them. Then again, I might know of a way to get answers out of him. I think I know of another weakness they may have and it has to do with the general lack of knowledge amongst the civilians".
And so, the first group of six went up to the city as the rest get ready. The first group of six use illusion magic to look similar to The Six Guns that the world all knew. Siran changed back into his real form and then the rest of them approached the city. The shield came up faster than they thought. The illusion magic was working. The city became restless as soldiers started escorting citizens out of the way. As the first group of six finally reached the edge of the shield, the second group of six approached over the hills.
"Are you sure about going through with this? At a time like this even?" Alex asked Siran.
Siran looked up and smiled. "We have to, but you all already knew that. Ask stupid questions: Get stupid answers, am I right, Zia?".
"Glad to see you finally got the gist of it, Syr-" Zia responded. "And to think I only had to remind you every so often. It's been a while since I've had to say that".
"Hey!" Rose interjects, "How come you get to speak so casually to the cap'n with all your nicknames and stuff? I wanna be close friends with the leader too! We're all supposed to be a family!" She began puffing up her cheeks to form a pitiable pouting face.
"You're all a lot closer to my heart than you can imagine" Siran spoke softly.
"We've been planning on moving the plan along, even taking into account that mishap" Holly says unenthusiastically while sitting on the grass, tapping away on her laptop. "The calculations of our success were already made, are we going or not?"
"Aren't you the one who said we had exactly zero chances of success though?" Finn said, leaning against a nearby tree, taking it easy.
"Aren't you the one I told to mind your own business?" Holly replied. "You're not involved in this".
"So cold..." now Finn begins pouting. "I'm part of the team too, I'm feelin' pretty involved".
"We HAD zero chances" Rose speaks quietly. "But now, we don't have the time to worry about possibilities. We have to worry about the impossibilities right now. Besides, Siran thinks he found their weakness. Are you implying you'd rather keep running away rather than sticking with him? Hm?".
"I thought we agreed on no more stupid questions" Alex says looking back.
"Yeah" Finn says, seemingly cheering up. "You already know I've got cap'n's back all the way!".
"As do we all" Zia says, grabbing Siran's shoulder and nodding. "Just like how he helped all of us, whenever he had the chance to".
"Thanks" Siran says. "Now without further ado." The crew pulls out their magic guns and points them all the same direction. "Guns, let's not keep them waiting any longer!... I just hope what we're doing is right".
"I know it is" Zia says.
"They just don't know it yet" Alex says while punching the shoulder that Zia isn't holding onto. "Even if we still look like the bad guys, we're doing this for a better future".
Siran nods, and a sudden release of magic causes the ground to quake around them. They all load their guns with magic, and prepare for the worst.
"I may not be able to fix my mistake, but I sure as hell will make up for it." Siran says to himself. "Guns! Go!".
Siran, Alex, Zia, Finn, Rose and Holly all shoot close to the top of the shield. When the magic hits the shield, the shield seems to weaken at the top slightly. Then Siran creates a small bright white light in his hand, a ball of reactive endo, and throws it. The reactive endo flies above where the shield was hit. Siran stops the reactive endo in mid-air and redirects it straight down on top of the shield with a heavy impact. The endo pierced the shield quickly, and sent a shockwave throughout the shield, quickly dismantling the spell entirely. It was like watching a bubble pop in slow motion. After the shield fell, both groups of The Six Guns ran into the city together.
"There's two!?" The soldiers in the city panicked. "There's two of The Six Guns!? When did they double their numbers!?".
As they ran through, soldiers surrounded them at every corner. However, they couldn't match their speed as the crew ran right through the city. All around them spells clashed against Holly's shield. Holly surrounded them in her Dokkaebi shield as they ran, and Tanya, Satomi and Mikoto helped reinforce Holly's shield with their magic. The crew didn't take the time to fight off any of the soldiers. Instead, they dove straight into the heart of the city. By the time they arrived at the capital building, all ten of the Mages were waiting outside for them.
"Hey Markwood!" Siran shouts as they approached them, "I need to have a little chat with you".
"Awfully bold to just barge right into the city like that" Markwood says, "What's your angle? I'm guessing your crew knows all about you now, judging from your disgusting appearance?".
"You know" Siran says, "I had some time to think about this while I was alone. Why haven't you tried telling the whole world who I am? Why did you try to separate our team by telling them who I am, but not the rest of the world?".
"Clever man" Markwood says. "It's because I love chaos. Chaos is what brings peace. The chaos from the war against Naris brought the whole world together. There weren't anymore wars for almost a century after Naris was defeated. Why? Because of the chaos. It brought the world together. To rebuild. To reconstruct. Humans don't know how to handle peace... but when it comes to chaos, that's where humans prove to be the dominant species".
"And what would happen if I told the world who I was?" Siran asks. "Would people still fight your wars if they knew what they were up against? Would people still fund your development for this war?".
"You call this a war?" Markwood scoffs. "This war is only just getting started".
"And I can end it just as fast" Siran says. "I can play your game".
"But can you really?" Markwood says as he charges up a bright white light in his hand. Markwood forms a ball of reactive endo and throws it at Siran. Siran throws another spell of reactive endo and the two collide, causing the ground between them to split.
"Your time has long since been over, Siran" Markwood says as the rest of the Mages prepare for battle. "You'll die here".
"We'll see about that" Siran says as the entire Six Guns crew also prepares for battle. "Last time someone told me something like that, we were both wrong".