Taken

Seven years ago...

Luchist Lasso had served in the disestablished kingdom's military as the most promising general of his time. He was a renowned strategist who boasted a one hundred percent success rate in all his crime-busting missions which earned him admiration even from foreign kingdoms. When the queen died and the military forces had been dissolved, he was appointed by Duke Liam Diethel, the founder of the Royal Police as a squad leader of the security unit that watched over the former central town.

That night, the town was far from being peaceful. There was a festival in the name of the former queen and the merrymaking citizens had organized themselves around her giant statue at the square. Luchist normally hated noisy crowds but right now, he was grateful for their presence. The continued revelry served as an indication that the Royal Police had been in good control of the situation. Nobody was curious enough to wonder why the number of police officers in the area had suddenly multiplied.

That's right. Enjoy the festivities and let us do our job. Luchist said to no one.

Just a few minutes ago they were chasing after a death row convict who had escaped from prison. The unstable man who was charged with arson and multiple counts of homicide possessed a gun which he took from the jail guard he had recently killed. Knowing that the police would not want to stir mass hysteria at such time, the convict had led them into the party scene and blended himself among the citizens.

Luchist's mission was to retrieve the criminal as discretely as possible so as not to cause panic during a celebratory occasion. He carefully surveyed the crowd with his eyes, examining each ragged and dirty person he could find among the people. But it was a difficult task of finding a needle in a haystack. The commencement of the floating lantern exhibit had citizens flocking the square every minute.

Come on. Show yourself. We got you surrounded. Luchist wanted to loudly threaten the convict in hiding but he knew too well he couldn't do that at such place. He roamed his eyes to check if a police unit had been deployed in every possible exit at the town square. The security forces had intermingled with the citizens, eating barbecues, watching street performers, talking to women. This was to avoid suspicions from the townsfolk that something was wrong.

You can't escape us. You can't escape ME.

Just when Luchist was getting impatient, a girl screamed nearby.

It was total chaos in an instant.

People began running from all directions. Women screamed. Children cried. Some sellers grabbed as much merchandise as they could carry before they abandoned their stalls. The surrounding security forces tried desperately to shepherd the crowd away from the hostage area.

"Damuko!" Horo-Horo was horrified to find his friend held at gunpoint by a grubby man.

"Don't come closer or I'll shoot this girl dead!" threatened the death row inmate. A group of police men had now rushed to the scene.

The tallest of the police officers who seemed to be the leader of the security unit waved at the others to step back. He then addressed the anxious blue-haired lad who apparently was an acquaintance of the hostage victim. "Out of the way, boy. Let me handle this." He quickly recognized the Royal Patch Academy uniform that the boy and the girl victim were wearing. Why on earth are these blue bloods out here?

"Please drop your weapon. We can talk about this." Luchist turned his attention to the escaped convict. "What do you want? Maybe I can help you." He spoke in his well-practiced negotiating tone yet he had never lowered his gun the whole time.

The hostage taker laughed. "Who are you fooling officer? You would just send me back to that stinking jail!"

Yeah, you're right. Who am I kidding? Luchist thought but continued on with his flowery talk. "My friend I know you are not such a bad person. I promise you, I would appeal to the jury to lower your sentence if you would just let the poor girl go."

"Don't toy with me!" The death row inmate poked Damuko's head lightly with the gun. "I shouldn't have been sent to prison in the first place! Those god damned relatives of mine deserved to die! They made me and my little brother suffer too much. Where is justice in this world, officer? Tell me!"

"There is justice, my friend, but you took it with your own hands. Let me help you truly obtain it." Luchist tried to focus his gaze at his target.

If I aim for the forehead, I could bring him down instantly. He is meant to die anyway.

But before he could pull the trigger, the blue-haired boy suddenly picked up a rock.

"Don't!" he barked at him but it was too late. Horo-Horo had already hurled the stone at the hostage taker. It hit the death row inmate at the forehead making him yelp in pain, freeing Damuko in the process.

"Damuko run!" Horo-Horo shouted at his friend. The young girl scampered away as fast as her legs could carry her.

The escapee was quick to recover. Blood from the open wound trickled down the convict's face making him looked even more like a terrifying mad man.

"You pesky little brat!" He fired instantly at the boy. Luchist answered back almost at the same time with a gunshot aimed at the already bleeding wound.

Two bodies dropped to the ground after a split second.