1.96: Time To Be a Captain!

Franco stood before a bewildered Tedashii, who had no intentions of unveiling who he was.

"What are you doing, Tedashii?"

"I'm not Tedashii; I am MIGHTY RED-"

"Come on…you don't have to keep the act; I know it's you."

With dissatisfaction, Tedashii removed the mask. "Franco, what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking out for the team…something YOU should be doing!"

"I am! You wouldn't understand; it's a long story..." he turned anger into sadness, so Franco set the scolding aside. "Then talk to me; I am the vice-captain for a reason."

***

They sat on the top of a building, staring at the sunset. Tedashii explained the whole situation about Konami and how he wanted to get stronger.

"I see…but you could have told us this. We were all worried to death about you. I thought of contacting Miss Miku, but you haven't been at their house either."

"I know. I slept at Mister Kenichi's house to speed up the job. How is the school doing?"

"Well, you missed the first week so far, but we had off. But we haven't taken any action since you left."

"How so?"

Franco pointed at one of the blue poles at the corner of the street and then showed him a collar attached to his guild armor. "That pole there is the SOS system provided to the civilians in case of a "Ronin" emergency. Our collars beep every time a pole in our street is pressed, and then we are dispatched."

"That's a great mechanism…although how was there no call for you guys?"

"Sir Williams rigged ours due to our cold relationship with him. We can only be dispatched if the captain confirms the call with his collar."

Tedashii could not believe it. They went to the headquarters and looked at his collar.

"…"

"That can't be real, 37 missed SOS calls?!" Franco exclaimed.

"That's ridiculous! What would happen if you went regardless of the call?" Tedashii asked.

"Other guilds get dispatched. Our rating will be a red flag if we get in their way."

SLAM!

Tedashii hit the wall next to him and stared at the window. "My first time being a captain…and I'm already causing a mess. How many do we have so far?"

"8," Franco answered.

"Out of?"

"10…"

"WHAT?!"

"Unfortunately…if we get two more, we'll be labeled as unreliable and will get disbanded."

"Y… You've gotta be joking…we are about to be disbanded-…where is everyone else?"

"They're all at their homes and stopped coming to the hideout…ever since we got the news. Look, Tedashii,…" Franco sat down on the stairs, but for the first time, without a smile. "I am still thankful to you that you and your uncle-…Mister Gaiyato spared me after everything that went down, and you will forever be seen as my captain. But my place in this team is still taken to heart…I don't want it all to end because of this. You are the captain, so please, can you…save our team?"

He stared at Franco's face, still in awe of his character change. He really loved the team and all they had accomplished so far, but now, he would see it all fade away because of a careless captain.

"Franco…I know what you're saying, and I can see the passion in your eyes for all of this. Trust me…this is all I ever dreamed of, but I had no idea I'd have endeavored to so many responsibilities. Our district sees us as unreliable; one way out of this is by earning the word of the PEOPLE, right?"

Franco thought for a moment and agreed. "Well, technically, yes."

"Then that's the plan; we will win their hearts. If not with our usefulness on the battlefield, let's try off the field!"

"That…could actually work!"

"RIGHT! It's Friday today, so I have two missions for you. Can you help?"

Franco had a puzzled expression but agreed anyway. "Yeah, Shoot."

"This Saturday and Sunday, you and I will need to visit two captains at their headquarters. If I'm going to become a good captain, learn from better ones."

"That sounds reasonable as well, but which ones?"

"Well, let's make it clear that the Dawns are out of the options…I HATE Gale Wind; Skylark reminds me too much of Rin, so no offense… he's not a good option."

Franco held his laugh in and stayed focused. "Oh, remember that Brittany officially became a Guild captain of The Golden Girls, too."

"Yeah, but she…scares me a bit. The same goes for the Vipers too…So no,"

Franco sulked when he denied the idea.

"You just want to go there because of Nikki."

"W-WHAT?!?! NO, I WOULD NEVER!!"

"ANYWAYS, that leaves us with the Rangers, Moons, Bullets, Hazels and the Angels."

"Uhh, the Angels are a no. They don't let demons in their headquarters," Franco said with a frowned face. But we have two days, so we can visit two each day. What about that?"

"Alright! That covers the first phase…now here is my second plan, Operation Reconcile with your teammates!"

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