Hinako rested on the bed of the hospital and lightly grunted when the pain continued to echo inside of her body. She watched outside the window and noticed Shiden discreetly watching her and her surroundings. It had only been two days since she was attacked by Tsukikage and Shiden already came back with nothing coming from his world. There wasn't any order, neither any sign of Tsukikage betraying Katana world. The black ninja was one of the best and loyal warriors of his world and this sudden change of behavior was considered worrisome at best, extremely dangerous at worst.
She told the Buddy Police force what happened and Commander I took the case and already started investigating. Obviously, with the presence of the supervisor of the Police force, the investigation might not go as smoothly as possible. She heard that Tsukikage head was their target and was their main target and could consider the death of the ninja as something minor from their perspective.
She grunted and complained about one of her main worry of her current situation, "I'm going to lose a few days recovering before continuing the campaign," she didn't even thought about her possible descent in the popular opinion if a survey was made, it's still only the beginning. If the Buddy Police Force is flawless and we arrest Tsukikage, I think we can turn this around.
She hoped it would be the case.
The door opened and she saw Zanya entering and had his card case with his deck on him, "Hello."
Zanya gasped and hid near the entrance, outside of the room, "S-sorry," he nervously said as he started sweating.
"What is it?" she asked, knowing there must be an important reason he would come despite his fear of woman.
He grasped his courage and lightly calmed his fear of woman and slowly asked, "I want to know... What happened when Tsukikage came and try to kill you and where is he now?"
She explained everything that happened and when she concluded, "Why do you want to know about this?"
Zanya walked away and replied, "I'm going to stop him. No matter what."
That worried Hinako and decided to call Commander I about it.
Chapter 95: In The Way = Failed Justice
Tasuku and Jackknife were on duty as they flew above the city and waited if any crime involving monsters. So far, it was pretty calm and there wasn't anything they could do as Buddy Police member.
Jackknife turned toward the boy and asked, "Are you getting bored?"
"Yeah," the boy replied, he added, "But I'm also really worried Jack. Tsukikage is still on the loose. He killed two people and almost killed Hinako."
"I know Tasuku, but we cannot do anything as long as we don't know where he is. For now, we must focus on our mission," the green dragon reminded the boy.
"I know Jack. It's nice to have a calm day when we can just fly around together. It's sad that I cannot fly by your side with my buddy skill anymore," he sighed.
"I miss those times too Tasuku. We should-" Jackknife was interrupted when Tasuku received a message.
"-Tasuku. This is Stella. We got a situation at the bank.-"
"What is it?" Tasuku asked.
"-There is currently a robbery and there is a possibility of a buddy monster involved. We do not have the confirmation yet, but we need you to remain on standby near the bank,-" she told him.
Then the voice of Seiichi came, "-Remember Tasuku that you are forbidden of taking initiative. You can only act at my orders.-"
"Yes sir," Tasuku grunted, realising that he was chained by the supervisor.
"Keep it down Tasuku. Let's go," the green dragon warned the boy.
The green dragon flew toward the bank, reading to intervene if the criminals had a buddy. When they reached the bank, Jackknife was in midair and watched the bank. Tasuku couldn't see very well what was going on below and could only count on his dragon eyes.
"What's going on right now?" he asked his buddy.
"I don't see anything special for now. I can only see the police outside and talking to each other's. I don't know if they are negotiating with the criminals right now or not. Well... The police seem to have it under control," he answered.
"Then it's only the question of a buddy or not," the boy concluded.
They watched how the scene was going on. It wasn't really eventful from the sky and it was starting to affect Tasuku as the minutes passed. They waited for and waited and the boy started to feel his patience going down.
Jackknife knew his buddy and said, "Calm down Tasuku. I know it's taking a long time, but we cannot disobey the supervisors, no matter how much you and I want too."
"I know Jack, but waiting is only helping them if they have a buddy," Tasuku grunted.
"But we aren't sure if they have one."
"It's been a few minutes already. Shouldn't the police already aware of it?" he asked the green dragon.
"Maybe. I am not sure. We can only wait Tasuku," the green dragon replied.
Tasuku said nothing else and frowned as nothing happened on the street. Jackknife decided to fly around and tried to see if something was going on around the bank. Sadly, there was nothing exciting, only the absence of action or the capacity to act, which was taxing their patience. Jackknife had less trouble dealing with it, he had deal with things like that for a long time, but Tasuku wasn't.
"We can't wait here forever Jack. We have to do something. Staying here might even hurt the hostages inside!"
"I know, but we have to wait for the authorisation of Seiichi," Jackknife replied.
"But we-"
"We have to obey orders or we will be in trouble Tasuku Ryuengi," the green dragon warned his buddy by his full name.
The boy frowned and bit his lips. Jackknife didn't use his complete name unless he was ordering the boy not to do something. He didn't reply and continued watching and doing nothing.
They waited and waited before Tasuku eventually had enough, "Stella. What is going on in the bank? We got no news if there is a buddy or not."
"-I'm sorry Tasuku, but they haven't confirm the presence of a buddy or not yet. The negotiator is currently talking with the leader of the thieves and they got hostages, so the process is slow. Even if there is a buddy with them, you cannot act or they will kill the hostages,-" she replied and warned the boy.
The green dragon added, "Inaction is the better option for now Tasuku."
"But we are losing time. Maybe I could have done something earlier if we didn't have to wait because of Seiichi," he replied a little harshly to his buddy.
Jackknife sighed, "You've been frustrated for a while Tasuku. I know the supervisors are causing us some trouble and slowing us down, but we cannot do anything until they left. You have to calm down and hold on."
Tasuku didn't calm down and continued watching the situation stagnating instead of evolving. The tension was rising in the air, both about the endless question of what was going on in the bank and of his inaction, slowly making him feel powerless.
"I have enough waiting," the boy decided.
"Tasuku! We cannot-"
"Screw what that guy said! I'm not going to let criminals escape justice because of what he ordered! Let's go down Jackknife," he said.
Jackknife looked at the boy and sighed, "No."
"What-"
"I said no! I won't let you get in trouble. I have to watch you Tasuku."
He then saw the boy in front of him, jumping from his back. The boy activated his buddyskill and flew toward where the temporary command center of the police force was installed. Jackknife turned in his mini form and followed him.
"Tasuku! Stop!" the green dragon ordered, but the boy didn't listen.
Tasuku landed on the ground and his buddy stayed in mid-air behind, disappointed by the boy and frustrated by disobeying two orders from the supervisors of the Buddy Police Force.
I didn't teach you to be that way Tasuku, the dragon worryingly thought.
"What is going on?" Tasuku asked, "I'm from the Buddy Police force."
The police officer watched the boy. He recognised him and said with respect, "We don't know what's going on in there Tasuku. The negotiator is trying to obtain information about the presence of a buddy monster, but so far, nothing. They said nothing and kept everything hidden."
"So they could fake the presence of a buddy, knowing that we won't act until confirmation," Tasuku's buddy commented.
"Yes. So we can only wait and hope that the negotiator will manage to obtain some confirmation so we can act," the policeman replied.
Jackknife wanted to have a talk with Tasuku, but it wasn't the moment right now. He wondered how they could arrange the situation. He also knew that the boy might try something.
Tasuku watched inside the building, but saw nothing. He crossed his arms and wanted to enter inside, but didn't dare went that far with Jackknife carefully watching him now.
Eventually, the police officer received a message and said, "Something happened inside! Got everyone ready to move! Come with us Tasuku and be careful!"
The policemen readied their gun while the boy prepared his card to protect everyone. The boy decided to say nothing to his superior, sure that Seiichi would say something against it and they didn't have time. They stood near the entrance and waited for the signal of the policeman watching inside. He gave a sign with his hands and everyone entered inside.
Jackknife remained in his mini form and was ready to transform if anything happened. They searching inside and didn't see any of the criminals. They were surprised when the hostages suddenly came to them, free and gave some confusing words.
"I'll go forward," Tasuku said while his buddy followed him.
"Some of you go with him," the superior of the police force present ordered.
Some of them followed him deeper in the bank. They heard nothing strange or even gun shot. They wondered what could cause everything, the lack of sounds, the hostages running away.
Jackknife sniffed the air and smelt something, "I know where they are. They are just at the corner, near the vault... I guess."
They walked toward the vault and when they peeked inside, the saw the door of the vault opened.
"Don't tell me they escaped already," one of the police man said. They readied their gun and entered inside, they stopped when they saw something unexpected. Inside the vault there were three darkness dragons maintaining the thieves on the ground and a buddy monster without any trouble. The one holding the buddy monster was no other than Demios himself.
"What the-" one of the cop started.
"Took you long enough," Demios replied.
"Demios," Jackknife frowned.
"What's going on here?" Tasuku wondered.
"How did they get in here?" another cop wondered as they pointed their gun at the dragons for safety reason.
One of the dragons took a step forward, but Demios raised his claw and he back down to his spot.
"We entered from a blind spot and we ambushed them," Demios simply replied.
"It is illegal-" but the cop who said that stopped when the two darkness dragons behind Demios frowned.
Their leader glared at them and gave a sign with his hands to behave, "We know it isn't legal, but we could so something and did it. Although, I thought Tasuku would have come here much sooner," he sighed with a disappointed undertone in his voice.
"We have no right to come here when it wasn't sure if there was a buddy here," Jackknife replied, turning in his real form as he gazed at the buddy monster that helped the thieves.
"Even so, that's not a reason to do nothing," the leader of the purgatory knights commented, "You can arrest them policemen. They are disarmed and we won't harm any of you."
The police hesitated a moment before their superior gave the order. The superior turned toward Tasuku who eventually said, "There is no reason to arrest them. They saved lives."
The superior nodded.
The boy turned toward them and said, "Thank you."
Demios chuckled, "It is the duty of a knight Tasuku," he was quiet for a moment before saying, "There is something I want to know. Let's go elsewhere when you are done here."
The dark dragons leaved the scene and left Tasuku and Jackknife confused of what they would want to talk about.
AC: This is the end of chapter 95.
Next chapter: Temptation.