My Revolution 3

Graaaaaah!

Sing, Kazikli Bey.

Skreeeeee!

Ha! You took out my knight-classes just like that! Guess they don't call you humankind's greatest warrior for nothing.

Mordred, Prince of Darkness. Your death throes shall be as the cock's crow, signaling the end of this long night.

Oh yeah? Guess it's your holy gun against my wicked pistol then. Let's find out once and for all whether it's you humans or us demons who were meant to rule the world!

Aaand cut!! Good work, you two! Excellent emoting!

I'm glad to hear that.

(Gasp!) Ahhhhhh! Ghhh!

Whoa! Are you okay!?

The feels... So many feels... I don't think I can take this.

And this is just the rehearsal! What's going to happen to me when we get to the real thing!?

What's going to happen to you?

Well, long story short, you'll die.

Hooraaay! I knew iiit!

Please calm down, Miss Crane! It's okay! You're just having one of your (usual) fits!

Just roll her out of here! I'm used to this from her by now. She'll sort herself out sooner or later.

So hey, did we really have to play pretend like that?

Have you ever worked as a model before? You have not, correct? Then how do you expect to suddenly start making the kind of convincing expressions and poses we need for the photos?

That's why we're having you play pretend, to help you get into character and make the expressions we need.

Hmm. I guess that makes sense.

You make a great villain, Mo. Between being the Knight of Treachery and a wicked prince, it's like you were born for the role.

Was that supposed to be a compliment, Manny?

Of course!

...

Besides, this playing pretend stuff is fun!

It can talk!?

Don't worry, it's just me. I made a costume from some of the leftover material!

？！

If we're going to make a photo collection with real depth, we need to draw out the full potential of all the story aspects.

Here, this is the plan I threw together. I wrote it in about an hour, so it's more ideas sketched in brief than a proper plan as such, but nevertheless.

Oh man! This is thicker than most of the books I've read!

Um, let's see...

The photo collection will be titled "Ever Dark, Battlefront of Endless Night." Its theme will be "stylish occult gunplay."

Humans and demons battle for supremacy in a fictional future London shrouded in endless night.

Vlad is the humans' strongest warrior, and the leader of the Royal Demon Eradication Agency. Mordred is a child of destiny born to human and demon parents.

The story's main appeal will be in the two protagonists overcoming their differences and coming together to defeat the true villain.

Now then, we'd better get to work. Come to your senses already, Miss Crane!

...No, wait. That's the opposite of what we need now. Give in to the chaos, Miss Crane!

Okay!

What about our support staff? Have they arrived yet?

Oh yes, they're all here and ready to begin. First up, the human team!

Human warrior Diarmuid, at your service! There is nothing and no one my crimson and gold pistols cannot pierce.

I'll make sure the demons pay for their crimes. My Mystic Eyes will sniff them out no matter where they try to hide.

And this is the demon team!

Hey there! I'm Demon Baron Charlemagne! We're gonna have so much fun slaughtering humans left and right, Xu Fu!

You say that as casually as if we're about to go bowling or something... I mean, ahem. Xufufufufu! Prepare to die, humans.

Those are some very impressive teams, but I don't see a lot of thematic consistency between them.

Hahaha! Just wait until the real show begins!

We'll have consistency out the wazoo once we put on the costumes Miss Crane made for us!

I never thought I would be able to repay for my outfit like this. Rest assured that I, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, will gladly play my part!

It seems Count Vlad's kindness for Miss Crane et al. has paid off in an unexpected fashion.

Anyway, it seems all the main actors have arrived now. Would you dress the extras as well once they show up?

Leave it to me!

You mean there's going to be people besides Vlad and Mordred taking part?

Indeed. I thought we would handle this shoot as though it were a true reenactment.

A reenactment? What's that?

Recreations of historical events performed for fun or academic study.

For example, a reenactment of the Battle of Austerlitz from the nineteenth century could be done for amusement, or by researchers to gain a better perspective on how the events played out.

Of course, in our case, we'll be reenacting an entirely fictional battle, so perhaps it's more akin to a LARP?

But let's set aside definitions for now.

I put out a call to people with time to spare and asked them to take part in this reenactment as extras.

Oh wow, this is all way bigger than I was expecting. It really does feel like an actual war.

Hell yeah! We're gonna make a big ruckus and rub it right in the damn Normalization Committee's face!

Hey, I know! Master! Mash! Manny! You guys should all get in on this, too!

Us!?

Yeah! We've got way more costumes than we know what to do with anyway, thanks to Crane and Habbycat!

That's a wonderful idea. Go on, Master. Enjoy yourself.

Don't worry. We can at least treat you to lunch for your trouble.

Okay, MasP, come with me, and we'll get you all suited up.

？！

There we are. Now we are set to cause quite a ruckus.

Okay, what's next on the agenda... Ah, here we go. We'll be photographing scenes 5-A, 8, and 12-C all in one go.

Of course, the photo layouts need polish, too... Suffice to say, there's still a long road ahead!

Not to mention I expect Mordred to get another harebrained idea any moment now.

But no matter! Whatever happens next, I will face it!

I'm not about to merely march to my own beat. I'm going to dance to it, too. Why? Because I'm James freaking Moriarty!

...Well, we may not have taken the most straightforward path to get here...

...but at long last, we've managed to complete our second ever doujin.

Yay! We did it!

Hehe, feels good, man!

I am touched beyond words. This is nothing if not a miracle.

Yes, it is. And it's thanks to all of you.

But the one who contributed the most is

...

Hey. Is he...?

I can't say I'm surprised. He's been working like a man possessed. I can scarcely count the hats he wore during this process. It was truly a great accomplishment.

(Sniff... Sob...) Thank you, Moriarty.

Man, now that's the face of a guy who went out doing what he loved. I hope I can die looking that content.

I'm not dead!

Ghh! M-my back... There's something wrong with my back!

Oh for... Shoo, shoo. Get out of here.

James Moriarty.

Ow, ow, ow... Hm? What is it?

You took the fragments of our respective dreams and wove them together into a single tapestry.

I can't thank you enough.

And I'm so sorry for all the hardships we put you through.

Hmph, you can say that again. I've never had my perfect calculations go so horribly awry.

But my biggest blunder was how deeply involved I got. I only invited you all to form this club as an experiment, but soon, I became a full-fledged member myself.

Ahh, I swear, there's no one more troublesome to deal with than a creator!

Oh my. Hehehe.

What? What is it?

Oh, nothing. Your smile was just so wonderfully bright and happy. That's all.

Hmm...

Well, I guess that's all right. You're supposed to smile and enjoy yourself at summer festivals, y'know!