Shaft starts narrating and talks about being lost at what to do with himself when rugby and heroing were closed off to him. Fortunately he had some savings from his last job at least, so he decided he should use them as funding to finding himself some work he could do alone and not bother anyone with. Shaft then talks to himself saying there's no way there'd be anything that would conveniently fit those parameters. And of course not, as work is a team thing that requires your participation in. Shaft talks about how he forgot that even one job is founded on the work of many others. With that in mind, Shaft decided he should at least look for a job where he'd be able to take sole responsibility for what he did. And so he made use of the one skill he had left which was driving a space car, then began working as a taxi driver.
In a flashback to the past, Shaft talks about paying the fees to join a taxi organization, dispatch registration, comm installation and the space taxi itself blew out almost all of his savings. Whether or not things would go well, Shaft had no other choice but to go all in, so he psyches himself up to do his best. He liked driving, but he didn't really have the know-how to make a living off of it. He had no idea how to actually find customers, and he had to struggle through with things. Everything came back to him, so he did his best to learn so he could do things well this time.
Life was unkind to Shaft. In one job, Shaft goes to greet a customer and somehow bumps into them, leaving him to frantically ask if they're okay. In another job, Shaft brings his customer to what he believes is their destination, only to find out they were heading for somewhere else. He had tried his best, but his work life was just a string of disasters piling on up. He chose a job hoping to not be a bother to those around him, yet that was what he did. Was he this much of a screwup when he was a rugby player? ...well no, he's not even a rugby player anymore. He's just Shaft now. He doesn't want to remember his past and cling to old glories anymore.
After a sigh, Shaft looks at his dusty old hero licence. On paper Shaft has transferred to a different hero agency, Global Drivers Union, but his licence remains suspended. He talks to himself about how that's understandable. If a hero can't become a hero, he might as well not be there. There's nothing else he can really do anymore, aside from beg for forgiveness for all his blunders. If he can just stick to his job, things will be okay. He'll have money and be able to eat, and then he can try to improve in his work. Maybe then his life wouldn't be so hollow... Today he hopes he won't make a mistake. Today he hopes he won't cause anyone problems. Today he hopes he won't disappoint anyone. It's tiring waking up with that depression hanging over him. God, some other hero, anyone really...can someone out there tell him how to get out of this funk?
Back to the present, Kalaski asks Mokdai if anyone is still following the party. Mokdai looks out the window looking nervous to check, but he sees that you guys seem to have made it out and thanks Kalaski for his plan. The party sighs and lets the tension melt out, and you compliment everyone for doing well and/or be relieved that everyone is okay for now.
Kalaski says it might be too early to be letting your guard, but that said everyone did great in cutting through so many enemies stacked against you to get out of there. Shaft says he was worried about everyone and is glad you're all okay, then says he'll set the car to autopilot so he sit in closer for the strategy meeting. Alchiba starts talking about how he hasn't seen through Vulpecula's teleportation trick yet, but finding out Kalaski's ability could work on him is a good find. Mokdai looks a bit sad as he turns to Alchiba and asks why Vulpecula would be so set on destroying the past that he'd lead a bunch of others for it. From what he can tell, Vulpecula isn't doing this for the evulz, and he says he'd be a great hero if he turned his power and efforts towards defending people.
Alchiba thinks on the question and says that only Vulpecula himself is privy to his motive, but from his own experience it doesn't seem like destruction is his actual desire. He keeps talking about stealing away the past, which Alchiba reframes as erasing. His friends seem to sympathize with him, and Alchiba believes they probably have dark pasts they want to get rid of as well. You consider the idea of not wanting to think about unpleasant things, but you say you feel that's nothing unusual. Mokdai says he wants Vulpecula to atone for his crimes and work as a hero. There's a lot of crimes to make up for, and he realizes he sounds naive, but he still wants him to consider it.
Kalaski says that if that's the ideal Mokdai is holding, he'll have to put in the effort to make it come true. People can have whatever ideals they want, and it's the job of heroes like them to realize them. Mokdai agrees after thinking for a second, and he says he needs to make Vulpecula accept the idea too as he nods to himself and balls up his fists. Shaft comments on how amazing Mokdai is for trying to understand Vulpecula and wanting to show him the right path to take. Mokdai is embarrassed as he says he's not that amazing. He just likes sentai and anime, and he finds it really cool when the heroes and villains have their own unyielding beliefs in justice and clash them together. Now that he's a hero too, he's thought about how he'll be doing that too, though the thought does embarrass him.
Shaft feels a bit ashamed of himself seeing how into this Mokdai is, saying Mokdai does his best for the things he likes while all he can do is hide while everyone fights. He apologizes for not being any help despite there being a villain right in front of him, and he looks away and deflates. Alchiba shakes his head at this, saying Shaft is being too self-deprecating and he should be affirming himself the most. Shaft apologizes again, and Alchiba admits that everyone has times where they loathe themselves. Shaft himself noticeably has some serious mental baggage.
Alchiba cups his chin as he thinks for a moment before continuing. Since the party is up against armed villains in this case, Shaft doesn't have any reason to mentally beat himself up for not being able to help fight. Even if they weren't trying to hurt anyone there's always the chance that a stray bullet could hit him. No matter what he did in his past, Shaft is now a noncombatant driver taking the group over to the memorial monoliths. He's doing his best to complete his job, and that's good enough. That's already helping everyone.
Shaft concedes the point and apologizes for saying too much. Kalaski decides to clarify for Alchiba and says he's worried for him. Nobody here thinks of Shaft as a useless waste of space; they want him to do what he can do. No one is planning to grill Shaft over what happened in his past, but since he can't act as a hero right now, he's a civilian everyone should protect. Wouldn't he say the same thing if he were a hero? Shaft pats down his chest as he looks more cheerful than before, agreeing with the point and saying he was overthinking things. You either tease Alchiba for not being more forthcoming or Kalaski for being nice. In A, Alchiba says he's always honest and straightforward. He might not have said enough though, so he'll have to be careful of that. In B, Kalaski sighs and says he wasn't trying to comfort Shaft. He was just speaking the truth.
Anyways, Alchiba thinks for a moment as he looks over at Shaft. It might not be of any help at the moment, but he offers to talk about his past while you guys take a break. So, he used to be what the Earth would call a police force, but stuff happened and he ended up quitting. He temporarily lost the ability to become a hero after that no matter how much he tried, which he notes is the same with Shaft. He feels that he was more self-indulgent than he'd like to admit or think about back then, and when he lost the power to be a hero he lost the motivation to find another job. Supporting himself took all his effort then, but he slowly figured out what he could do between his last job and the way he is now. When he decided to be a detective rather than a hero or policeman, he changed a bit. That's why he decided to live embodying his new wish and belief in making things clearly black and white. It was then that he regained his ability to be a hero, and he feels his new wish led him back to that point.
Shaft looks surprised at this story, and Alchiba says while he's proud of his current work, it's the same thing Shaft is doing when you get down to it. It's helping people who are in trouble. Shaft just does it by driving them where they want to go while Alchiba solves mysteries and investigates. Alchiba suggests Shaft could stand to be prouder of his work, so Shaft thanks him and wonders if that's how it should be.
Alchiba smiles and jokingly continues by saying Shaft's a disaster of a driver, but he asks him to stick with you guys until you get to your destination. Mokdai agrees, saying it was Shaft who had the idea to check for Vulpecula's video updates. Kalaski adds that Shaft was the one who told the party about the dream burial bird to figure out the video riddle. He may not have confidence in himself, but there's still meaning in him doing what needs to be done and him knowing what he knows. Shaft still looks at a loss at how to process what everyone's saying to him, but his eyes look brighter than they have before. He admits he still thinks of himself as a drag on you guys, but he thanks everyone again saying all the comments are making him feel more upbeat.
Shaft gives an embarrassed laugh, at which point you notice something up front and ask if it's the monoliths. Shaft says you guys are almost there now, but he notices something in front of them the next moment. He shuffles back over to the driver's seat and hits the zoom button on the dashboard, and the screen shows that there are mercenaries waiting up ahead. Kalaski notes that they're Vulpecula's minions and says there's clearly more of them than you guys saw earlier. He asks you to get everyone transformed so the party can go greet them.
You comply with the request and ask everyone to be careful. Once the party is suited up, Alchiba sighs at how there hasn't been time to really have a break from the fighting. For now though, he asks you to stay in the car with Shaft and operate from here. Mokdai also asks you to run the camera and says it's been prepped for streaming, then remembers to ask you to mute the microphone this time to make it video only. He can run the sound with a mic on his end, and he says doing it that way should bring in even more views. Mokdai then says he'll do his best out there, so you say you understand and will take care of things.
Kalaski hands Shaft a radio transceiver and asks him to keep in touch while avoiding the enemies. Shaft agrees to the request, so Kalaski asks if Mokdai and Alchiba are ready to jump out when they get closer to the enemies. Alchiba says he is and says there being this many mobs around means Vulpecula should be nearby too. He also decides to treat this as a warm up for his new form, and Mokdai says he's ready to fight and try to make Vulpecula see things his way. Kalaski counts down then, and once he hits zero the party jumps out. Shaft wishes everyone good luck, then talks to himself about doing the things he can do himself. The episode battle begins as he says you guys are heading in too and warns you the ride will get bumpy. The story continues after that.
After the battle, the story tunes in midway as Alchiba uses his ultimate to laser blast his way through the mercenaries. The finisher damages them, but the mobs still try to rally themselves to block the way. Kalaski runs in to use his burst shot to disrupt their formation, setting them up for Mokdai to swing in with his own finishing move. Mokdai's attack kicks up a shockwave, and you continue filming all this through the window as Shaft keeps driving.
Shaft is surprised at how the party is pushing through despite the huge numbers disadvantage against you guys. He then remembers to radio Kalaski and informs him you guys will be able to break through the enemy lines in a moment. He says that positioning the monoliths at 12 oclock and banking to 3 oclock, he'll be able to come pick up the party so you guys can all zoom off to the destination. Kalaski gives a quick affirmative response, then relays the message to Alchiba and Mokdai.
Shaft gets himself mentally ready, then asks you to handle the camera from the passenger side seat. You agree to this and say his directing is perfect, which causes Shaft to laugh as he thanks you. Now that he's found something he can do, it seems he's giving it his all. You note that he's avoiding all the stray bullets flying out there and has great driving skills, though Shaft says it's not that amazing. He says he actually hasn't been in the driving business that long, and he starts to talk about a previous job before trailing off. His brows knit as he takes a deep breath, then keeps his eyes straight ahead as he asks if you'll listen to him.
Shaft admits he knows this isn't the best time to be having this conversation, but he wanted you to hear him out a bit. He has a certain worry on his mind, and while you guys have found out about it already, he talks about how he's always made a lot of mistakes even back then. He slightly hangs his head in shame, but he pushes through with his confessional to say he hated how clumsy he was. He always told himself he had to keep it together, but he kept bothering people and became anxious about whether he was souring them on him. Eventually he tried to distance himself to keep from being a bother, but he still hurt someone in doing so. Even now he's a civilian who can't fight as a hero, and at this point Shaft stops himself and apologizes for suddenly talking about all this.
You point out to Shaft that you're just an Operator and not a hero either. You've also thought about how you couldn't do anything besides have the others fight for you, so Shaft apologizes for coming off as terrible when he was speaking to you. He tells you he thinks you're amazing, and he feels like everyone has the things he's lost and doesn't have. You pause for a moment before telling him you understand how he feels since the same goes for you, and this surprises Shaft enough to briefly look to you as he asks what you mean.
You tell Shaft that you were fired from your previous workplace upon becoming an Observer, and that you've only just recently transferred jobs. Shaft quickly apologizes as he figures this is an awkward subject for you, and he panics quietly about being insensitive. You however shake your head, and you tell Shaft that while what you can do is severely limited, it's not a bad thing to be helped by everyone.
Shaft sucks in his breath before reiterating that he really does think of you as someone amazing. You're doing the things he didn't have the courage to do. Around this point Shaft veers over to some ruined buildings for cover as you two approach the rendezvous point with the party, and you refute Shaft's statement by saying it's thanks to him you guys got here and are about to pick up the party. You give him a quick look as you keep the camera running, and you smile when you meet Shaft's eyes. You ask him if he considers any of this as assistance for the heroes fighting out there.
You turn back to focus on watching the party, and Shaft mulls over what you said to himself for a moment. If what he's doing is helping out the heroes, then that means he's still on a team like when he was in rugby. You can't win a game all on your own, and while he was called Iron Man, he was able to do what he could because everyone was supporting him. He starts having a realization that he can still do things in his current state, and upon reaching your destination he quickly changes the car to go to the pickup point for the party. Shaft thanks you for listening to him, and he says he'll try a little more and see if he can find what it is he can do. He gives an embarrassed laugh, then focuses on where the party is. He asks you to hold on tight as he'll be flooring the pedal to pick them up, and the episode ends with the title card popping up. This episode is titled What I Can Do Now.
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