1.48: Our final Preparations!

A day passed by. The city was finally swarming with life after so long. It would take time to restore, maybe months, but to return to the building for which they drew blood, sweat, and tears gave them hope. Each clan came by to help with the restoration, remembering they still had to have their clan bands on. The Cassoule clan were specialist in the construction side since they were associated with steel in their abilities. So, they were in charge of rebuilding the most damaged buildings and roads with potholes. The Motsubi clan was on the electricity side to make it run well in the city again, while the Yakuzas were in charge of the clean-up thanks to their speed. 

***

All the Quarts members came to Legon City and were told to keep their bands on around the humans. Sir Williams Pluto called all the captains to the town hall to congratulate them. As all the captains assembled, the day's heroes arrived: The Elite Force. 

However, one person wasn't happy to see them. Of course, Sir Williams thought his well-orchestrated plan with the Anti-ronins and Hajiman would work just fine. Still, he was surprised by the sudden return of the calamity and the betrayal of Gaiyato. All leading to his defeat and absolute setback of his constant loop with the Apprehensions.

"Well, I welcome you all back to HQ. Congratulations again on your victory-"

"Don't play dumb with us, President. We already know that all this was to the Elite Force." Gaiyato interrupted Williams as he entered with them.

"Gaiyato, I'm not pleased to see you here. You know damn well that you shouldn't have set foot here after what you did." Williams said. "Lennox, please conduct the meeting. Gaiyato, head to my office. We'll have a long talk with you and me."

Gaiyato kept smiling on the way while Lennox waited for each of the captains and their teammates to take their seats.

POP!!!

All the mentors took out a party popper, and the confetti went all over the room.

"CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!! YOU GUYS DID IT!" Lennox said as each mentor came closer to their respected captain.

"I can't believe how far you have gotten. Unfortunately, Gaiyato is right. This win goes to the Elite Force." Gonzalez said while patting Tedashii on his back. "You are amazing, Tedashii…but we have a problem with you now..."

Beep!

The table flashed the images of Tedashii that were taken during the mission.

"The humans are supportive of their bond with the ronins. However, it all comes down to these,"

He then showed them the band on his wrist. "These are the signs that show that we are with the humans. Those that don't are considered the enemy. As we can see, Tedashii, you did not have it on during this event."

Tedashii then noticed that he hadn't had his with ever since his fight with Rin.

"Wait, so what does that result in? He saved the city!" Franco asked.

"You can save the city, but you can be a villain. The citizens now see him as an enemy and aren't sure whether to trust him."

Tedashii looked at everyone else, and they showed him their bands. He was now the only one without one.

Shouting was heard outside of the meeting room.

"What is going on, Bobby?" Lennox asked through their communicator.

"It's hard to explain, but do not open the front door. ESPECIALLY not Tedashii!"

Lennox just looked at Tedashii. Suddenly, another message appeared on the big screen.

"Guys, take a look at this!" Haruro said.

Countless reports about Tedashii went viral on Roningram.

'Tedashii, friend or foe?'

'Ronin with demon power to be a savior?'

'Legon saved, but villain still in city!'

The stories just kept coming.

"It's as if Tedashii has become a fugitive," Rin said while the Elite Force came down to see him.

"What do we do now?" Adrian asked.

They all kept quiet while thinking to themselves.

Tedashii walked to the door. "TEDASHII, WAIT!"

He opened the door and saw the citizens crowding up the place. The moment they saw Tedashii walk out the door, their complaints got even worse.

"THERE HE IS!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU? WITH OR WITHOUT US?!"

"GET OUT OF OUR CITY!!"

They kept on slandering him as he built up spiritas. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone went quiet. "Why…why are you guys doing this? We have finally retained your city after so long, and yet you guys are thanking us like this?!" He held his wrist out to them. 

"That band seems like it's the bond between humans and us, ronins. But tell me this! If you were in peril, would you rather be saved by a hero or a villain? Does that matter to you guys?! It's all about who does what and who they are! And if he is known not to have the band, you would hate them?"

 He punched the air and left his fist pointing at them. "I don't know who started this trend of trusting someone because of their stature. BUT I'M GOING TO END THAT BY BECOMING THE NEXT MEMBER OF THE F5!! And then, YOU WILL ALL RECOGNIZE ME AS THE LAST HERO OF THE WORLD!!!"

Everyone was dead silent. Tedashii was looking around, and no one seemed willing to join him.

THUD!!

Suddenly, a band was thrown down next to him. It was Franco's as he stood aside with Tedashii.

"I, Franco Cassoule, promise to follow you until the end. And I'll help to end this trend!"

He punched the air towards the crowd as well. Later on, three more bands were thrown down to the ground. Adrian, Genti, and Leah came too.

"I promised to follow my boss until death!" Genti said.

"A team makes decisions together, and I will follow this one!" Leah said.

"That's why we are standing with our captain!" Adrian said as they also held their fists towards the crowd.

Yuro just smiled and held his fist with them. Ado and Rin joined them and threw their bands on the ground.

"Well, I guess we have made a promise to our captain. No need for this thing no more." Makoto said, and he also dropped his band.

Tedashii smiled with pride as his entire team joined his move to change the perspective of the humans. He then built spiritas onto his hand.

"Remember this, everyone: WE ARE THE ELITE FORCE! AND WE ARE THE PROTECTORS OF THE CENTRAL DISTRICT!!"

SMASH!!

He then destroyed the bands and looked back at everyone. They all stared at them, and each began to clap for them one by one.

"ELITE FORCE! ELITE FORCE! ELITE FORCE!!"

The chants could not lift Tedashii's smile any higher, as this was the most significant step toward their achievement of becoming the heroes the citizens would look up to for many years to come.

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