1.26: Our Last Final Talk.

"Aww, man. We lost the chance to find out what they had-"

"HEY! HOW DID YOU DO THAT??!!" Monk questioned.

"HUH?"

"You demanded him, and he listened! How??"

"I just… had a gut feeling that he would stop."

Monk immediately turned back to the screen. "I gotta say, you're an idiot. But overall, you always find a way to impress me. To think you managed to speak to that guy through your consciousness."

Tedashii just stood there and took all the admiration and praises like any other person's entirety of themselves. "Yeah, this isn't the first time I do this. You may think that-"

SLAM!!

"YOU SHOULD STOP DOING THAT!! That hurts…"

The screen began to get clearer again, but this time he was elsewhere. 

"Huff, Huff, Huff…"

All he could see was a red light, and on the floor was someone lying down on their back.

"Kevin…are you…alright?"

Tedashii recognized that voice and began to feel tense. Monk noticed him louring but didn't know why. "That guy on the floor, you know him?"

"Yeah, and the one speaking. That's the guy who didn't like me at all. It's Franco and Makoto..."

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Franco and Makoto were both still compressed inside the building.

All the citizens were gazing upon the situation from the vision tower. As they witnessed their last hope of reclaiming society fade, they gave up on believing.

"They are going to die!"

"THAT'S THE SAME MAN FROM EVERY SINGLE MISSION!"

"I TOLD YOU THEY WEREN'T TRUSTWORTHY!!"

"BOOOO!!! BOOO!!! WE HATE YOU, LIARS!!!"

"WHERE IS THE PRESIDENT??!!"

The commotion only worsened, but then Mercedes spotted the camera.

"Oh, what do we have here?"

From the view of the people, it looked like he knew where they were. So he dropped his focus on the building and got closer to it.

"Is this thing on? Ah, there we go." The green light flashed to indicate it spotted movement from up close.

"Dear citizens and Mister President. As you may know for the eighteenth time now, my name is Mercedes, and I am responsible for reducing all your hopes and beliefs to dust. As you all can see, the two ronins you trusted for SUCH AN IMPORTANT JOB are on the brink of death in that very structure. And if you're asking about the other guilds, it is still futile. No matter what transport you take, at least 30 minutes is all it takes to reach the Central District."

He then looked back at the crushed building and gave it a circular shape.

CRUMBLE!! CRUMBLE!!

The building formed such a refined circle that it broke Franco's barrier. Now, all he had left to protect himself and Makoto was his body in its way.

"GYAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" His arms and legs were well spread to keep some space around Makoto, who was still lying on the ground with his fatal wound. The inner space was getting smaller and smaller, to a point where Franco felt like they would get crushed soon enough.

"Hold…on Makoto! I won't…let it end like this!!..."

But then, right before Mercedes could end their lives, he stopped the compression. 

"On second thought, I have come up with something fun to do. I'll give anyone ten minutes if you wish to stop me from ending the lives of these two. If you don't, I'll have a new concrete marble to add to my collection."

All the citizens began to panic.

"EWW, HE WILL CRUSH THEM TO THAT SIZE?!"

"WHERE ARE THE OTHER CAPTAINS?!!!"

"CAN'T REBIRTH DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?!!"

"PLEASE RONINS, SAVE LEGON CITY!!!"

All the commotion set a warning to the other guilds, and Haruro wasn't pleased about it. He then switched on his communication device, hoping to reach all captains. 

"Calling all captains, how is it going on your side?!"

"Uraka, no demoniacs here."

"Skylark, not a single enemy on the breech."

"Charlotte, negative."

"Shiyo…Uhhh…no enemies…"

"Eon, we don't have anything against us."

"Stella from white Angels here. No luck."

"Ryuko…here…enemies? Nope."

Haruro finally realized that the demoniacs were not heading to other districts as a plan to separate the Elite Force at the hot spot.

"DAMMIT, EVERYONE GET BACK TO THE CENTRAL DISTRICT!! IT WAS A SCAPEGOAT! ALL ENEMIES ARE AGAINST THE ELITE FORCE!"

After being shocked, all the leaders jumped into their vehicles and tried to return to the Elite Force as quickly as possible. They knew that even if they drove immensely fast, it would be too late to change anything if they were too distant from their destination.

***

Franco kept the space stable by maintaining his posture upright while trying to lower his pressure. The rocks kept compressing, but he kept the current space around them stable. "Hey…Makoto. Are you alright?"

Makoto couldn't even do anything to help them. The stab wound was disrupting the flow of spiritas around his body. So, all he could accomplish was breathing to avoid passing out.

"Great…you're still alive. That's…a relief."

"*Cough, Cough, Cough!!" Makoto coughed out blood as the flow reached his lungs.

"Come on, just lay on the other side! We… can't die here!!"

Makoto did his best and turned towards Franco with a smile. "Since when…did you become so soft?" Franco gazed with wonder. "I was…usually the one…to ask that…question. And look at…you now. Huff, do you…remember our promise to each other?"

Franco tried to think. "Not sure…we surely vowed each other a lot of things, he-he."

They both laughed softly. "The one…about when we enter high school."

Franco recalled, but then his smile disappeared. "Asking our crushes out… we said the first one not to do so would owe the other a favor. Sh*t…"

"You…would never ask Nikki out even…if it was the end of the world."

"Yeah, right, and you wouldn't go anywhere near Kate without getting friend-zoned."

"Why, you little, COUGH!! COUGH!!"

Franco smiled, but tears began to flow out of his eyes. "Don't talk, you…idiot. You'll die if that keeps up."

"Who cares? In ten minutes, we'll both be crushed to marble size. And yet, I still can't put all the…blame on you…"

"SHUT UP MAKOTO!! WE WILL MAKE IT OUT OF HE- COUGH!"

Blood spat out of Franco's mouth, for one of his ribs pierced him internally. He couldn't feel his arms and legs after the impact.

"Dude, I don't want to die-" Makoto said, with a desperate tone.

"WE WON'T! YOU KNOW I WILL FIND-"

"FRANCO, JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!! *COUGH!!"

"…" 

"Give me a break…you know dam well. This is it for us…" 

The hope of finding a way out fell to dust in Franco's face. No matter how badly he tried to overcome reality, he knew the truth himself. He then let go of the surface and fell on his knees.

"In ten minutes…that guy will finish us off…And I won't be able…to do nothing about it.?" Franco said.

"Let's not go down with…sadness in our eyes. We-"

THUD!!

"…"

"Franco?"

"…"

"Franco..?"

"Hey man…this isn't the best time to do that…"

"…"

"FRANCO?! COME ON!!"

"…"