Chapter 63: Takihara Is A Real Buddyfighter

Takihara reached the scene of the crime and parked near the police cars. He climbed out of the car with Card Burn and joined the policemen.

They took a quick glance and saw they were in front of a large house of around six floors with multiple windows.

"This is Takihara and my buddy Card Burn. What's the status in here?"

The policeman replied, "The hostage situation isn't going well. Our negotiator is trying to negotiate the release of the hostage, but the criminals aren't cooperative at all. I fear they might soon put their threat in place and start killing the hostages."

"What do you know about the criminals?" Card Burn asked.

"We know there are just one criminal and his buddy in there. We located them at the fourth floor, toward the left. You can see the windows are barricaded there," the policeman replied.

I wonder how Tasuku and the other are dealt with the age differences? Takihara asked himself. He looked at the barricaded window and noticed they couldn't try to charge there. They were clearly visible.

"How many hostages?" Takihara asked.

"Five. Three servants, the mother and her daughter," the policeman replied.

"The police cannot afford using brute force and neither can we," Card Burn concluded.

"Let's hope the negotiation goes well. If there are fewer hostages, it will be helpful if we have to take action," Takihara said.

"You think they saw us?" Card Burn asked.

Takihara nodded positively.

The policeman walked toward the negotiator. After briefly talking to him, he grunted.

"What is it?" Takihara asked.

"Their demands are one million dollars to release one hostage. We are also calling the father, but he isn't responding right now," the policeman replied, frustration starting to accumulate.

"Did they notice us?" Card Burn asked.

"The negotiator didn't hear anything about it. Maybe they are too busy negotiating right now to look below," the policeman suggested.

Card Burn hid out of the window sight, just in case they took a glimpse, behind the large truck of the police force.

"Maybe we can do something," Takihara thought.

Card Burn said, "I've finished downloading the print of this house." He made a hologram appeared and the police forces could see it.

"I do not see how this can help us?" the policeman commented.

Takihara looked at the hologram. It was in three dimensions and it looked like a mini version of the house. He observed it, but had trouble seeing how it can help until, "Wait. That's that?" he pointed over the room where the hostage where.

Card Burn replied, "It seems to be an air conduct passing over it."

Takihara smiled and said, "Maybe we have our way in. The air conduct can allow us to enter undetected and saved the hostages before they could react."

The policeman replied, "You can't. It's too risky to do it. If they find you, the will execute the hostages."

"We just have not to be seen by them," Takihara replied.

Card Burn said, "I agree. It's too dangerous to do anything."

"But the negotiation isn't going well. What if we need a plan B? Brute force will only cause their death," Takihara replied.

They didn't reply.

"Do not worry. Here's my plan, if things seem to turn for the worst," Takihara said. He talked to the policeman and Card Burn. He said everything until he concluded, "Of course. I'll remain behind. If the buddy can smell well, Card Burn should take the lead since he's a robot from Hero World."

Card Burn nodded, "The plan is... possible. We will enter from the side. They will not see us infiltrated by the air conduct. Mister policeman, Can you see inside the room from the building in front of the house?"

The policeman replied, "We have snipers watching inside, but they cannot see well inside the window. They cannot see where the hostages and the criminals are, but we know one thing, they aren't in that part of the room," he pointed toward the left of the room.

"So they will be toward the right," Card Burn took the information's in.

"Let's do this," Takihara said.

Card Burn flew in the air conduct with ease while Takihara slowly followed him behind.

"You are slow," Card Burn commented.

Takihara frowned and replied, "We aren't the same size and I cannot turn as small as you Card Burn."

The mini-robot nodded as he flew in the conduct. He checked the map and made sure of their current location. He saw they were at the third floor. He picked turned toward Takihara and said quietly, "We are at the third floor. We are getting close. We should be quiet now or they will hear us."

Takihara nodded. They continued until they had to climb to the fourth floor. Once they were there, they slowed town. Takihara activated his com and listened to the policeman report.

"There is no change in the negotiation for now. Things aren't going well and I'm starting to believe your plan might be the best one. The criminals aren't agitated yet, but they warned us that we have only one hour to give them what they want or they start killing the hostages."

Card Burn nodded at Takihara and they continued moving forward. Eventually, Card Burn showed his metallic palm, asking Takihara to stop.

The man knew they were close now and that they were close to be detected by his stench, if it was a monster with strong sense of smell. He nodded and let Card Burn continued on his own. He prepared his spellcard, ready to act when he got a signal. He had his ears opened and waited.

Card Burn flew toward the room where the hostage and the criminals were in and looked by a hole of the air conduit.

Card Burn looked around and observed toward the left, which was the right, when they looked at the room from the outside. He saw the five hostages, all where breathing loudly and barely maintained their calm. The mother was trying to be strong as she held her daughter against her to reassure her that everything will be alright.

Card Burn registered their location and evaluated the risk if anything backfired. The risk weren't high; they were in a corner, easy to defend during a fight. He searched for the human and the buddy.

He saw them. The man was had peach skin, green eyes, short brown hair. He wore a black shirt with black pants. He had a deck case in his hand. He was busy yelling in the phone that time was running out, "You have 15 minutes now! You better be ready!"

A surprise attack might take the deck case away from them, Card Burn thought. But Takihara won't be aware of it since he's behind. Now... Where is the buddy?

He saw it, watching at the window, carefully of course or the sniper would notice him. It was a ninja coming from Katana world, but he seemed to be an exile one with a red mark on his shoulder used as banishment in Katana world. Also, he noticed he lacked some maturity or gears for a real battle.

The ninja had red eyes with red skin coming out of his black hood, covering a part of his face. He wore a black suit with white shoulder plates. He had a katana on his back and a few shuriken sticking out of his purple belt.

The ninja was focused on watching outside. Card Burn guessed they infiltrated the house with his ninja skills and took them by surprised. He remembered there was no sign of infraction.

Even if it wasn't a buddy with a good nose, the ninja surely had good ears, so Takihara had to remain behind until he took action.

His ears aren't as good as most ninjas are, he didn't finish training his detection skills, or he would already hear me, even if I'm quiet, Card Burn thought.

He remembered what Takihara suggested and looked for an escape route for the hostage. He saw the door leading outside, according to the map, wasn't far from them, but they didn't try to use it in their current situation. He sent a message to Takihara, with the order not to reply and gave him all the information's he had and his actions that he will soon do. He waited a minute, before acting.

He jumped out of the air conduct and charged at the man. Him and his buddy didn't react as he stole the deck case and flew away from them.

"Kill the hostage!" the man yelled.

The ninja took his shuriken and threw them at the hostage, who yelled.

Takihara kicked the door and opened it. He took out his spellcard and yelled, "I've seen through your move!"

The shuriken missed their target.

"Run!" Takihara yelled.

The hostage didn't lose a second and ran away. Takihara drew another spellcard and said, "The hostages are gone. Surrender now or face justice!"

The ninja drew his katana and charged toward Takihara. Card Burn appeared in front of the man and was turned into his real form.

The police force gasped when they saw the window where the hostage were exploding while a big robot punched the face of a ninja and threw the ninja against the ground.

Card Burn mostly looked the same, but much bigger. He pointed his arm toward him and fired a blast of his cannon on the enemy. He fired and an explosion blasted everything around him. The ninja from Katana world appeared behind the robot and slashed his back, cutting in the plate, but missing the circuit inside of it. Card Burn turned around himself and punched the ninja away from him, against the house.

"Do not worry, the hostage are safe!" Card Burn yelled before flying toward the ninja.

He grabbed the ninja before he could escape and released electricity at him. He electrocuted the ninja until he was unconscious. He flew down and put the ninja on the ground, "The battle was over for you since the moment I've first hit you. It was obvious you didn't finish your training and lacked experience."

He looked at the window and wondered how Takihara was when he saw the man coming out of the building, a few minutes later with the criminal handcuff.

"He was pretty easy without his deck case," Takihara said while Card Burn returned to his mini form. He flew by the side of his buddy and nodded.

They let the cops take care of the criminals. Takihara was about to call Tasuku when he landed near him with Jackknife and another gray dragon he never saw before.

"Takihara! Is everything alright?" Tasuku asked.

Jackknife said with a small smile, "Tasuku. He handled the situation by himself."

The boy and Demios looked toward the right and saw the criminal and his buddy put in a police truck.

"I'll explain later how we got them," Takihara said.

Tasuku smiled and said, "Good work."

"It was teamwork," Card Burn said with a small smile.

Demios turned toward Jackknife and quietly said with a small grin, "He handled it better than you and with less experience."

Jackknife turned toward Demios and showed his fangs.

Everyone wasn't aware of the dragon's venom and quiet confrontation.

"Yeah. We can do this by ourselves now," Takihara proudly said. "I wonder how Commander I will react when he knows what happened... Maybe he won't be that glad since I kinda disobey his orders."

"Do not worry. I would have called someone else if I didn't think you couldn't do it," Tasuku honestly replied. He never told Takihara what he thought about him, but he could see he already had experience as a cop and he adjusted quite fast with having a buddy.

"Thanks Tasuku. That means a lot coming from you," Takihara honestly replied, making Tasuku feel close to an adult.

Demios and Jackknife continued to send glare at each other's. When the green dragon noticed that they weren't giving any attention to them, Jackknife walked closer and whispered, "I don't know what you have in mind Demios, but I know it has something to do with Tasuku."

Demios grinned, "I won't hide that I have interest in him... And that you aren't worthy of a boy like him. He has such potential, but it is wasted on you."

"We are family Demios. I will do everything to protect him and stand by his side," Jackknife replied.

Demios said nothing. He eventually turned around and opened his wings, "You have failed to protect him today Jackknife. Also, family isn't something that resists everything."

He flew away and left Jackknife behind. The green dragon closed his eyes, he didn't like what Demios just said.

Tasuku brought him back to reality, "We should give our report Jack."

He turned toward the boy and nodded, "Yes. We should."

They returned in the buddy police car. Takihara turned toward them and said, "Hang on. This might be the last time you are in the car. If not, it's soon over."

He then drove back to the Buddy Police office.

AC: This is the end of chapter 63.

Next chapter: Worries.