I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari 2: The Price of Blood

-Chapter One: Partners

Spades Ikari stood speechless as he stared at the burning wreck in front of him. "Come on buddy, it's just a car!" Spades looked down at the bound man at his feet.

"Breathe, Spades," Mark Anderson ordered.

"I'm breathing," Spades hissed finally. He kneeled and picked the massive man up by his collar. "That was my car."

"I'll pay for it," the man shrieked.

"You're damn right you will!" Spades snapped as he shook the man. A gun shot went off and Spades leaned to the side so he could see his car while keeping most of his body hidden behind the man's. "Fire's reached the trunk," Spades commented.

"Or the glove compartment," Mark added, "maybe it's my Kel-Tec under the seat." Spades dropped the man and took a step back.

"We should seek cover before that thing goes off like Rambo," he stated.

"Yeah," Mark added.

"What about me?" the man demanded.

"You can stay here and maybe die, or you can come with me and die," Spades stated.

"Do I get time to think?" the man asked. Four more gunshots went off.

"Sure," Mark stated as he continued to back up.

"Time's up," Spades added. "Bolt."

"Yup," Mark replied. They both turned and sprinted away as the street began to sound like a war zone. "We're in so much trouble."

"Nah," Spades stated. "I bet that fire will destroy most of the illegal explosives and ammo we stockpiled."

"The cops will probably want to know why the car blew up like it was full of C4," Mark commented.

"We'll just tell them it was full of high-octane or something," Spades stated. "It's going to suck trying to replace everything we had in there."

"It's for the best," Mark replied. "That syntax was getting old."

"Do plastic explosives expire?" Spades wondered.

"Unless you want to find out, keep running."

"Yeah."

(:Two Weeks Later:)

"You're going to break it." Spades glared at his partner out of the corner of his eye.

"It's a police package," he stated. "They're meant for hard use."

"Not that hard," Mark commented. "Plus, it's an old car."

"Vintage," Spades corrected. The elevator doors opened and Spades and his partner made their way down the hall towards there office.

"We need to get these fixed," Mark commented, gesturing towards the bullet holes in the office's door.

"Steel core doors are expensive," Spades replied as he pushed the door open. "At least we got rid of the frosted glass."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "What was up with that?"

"Chief thought is gave us an old-timey look," Spades replied as they stepped into the office. "The old romantic stuff, you know?" The glare their boss was giving them stopped them both in place.

"What'd we do now?" Mark whispered.

"To hell if I know," Spades replied.

"I just got the insurance report from the night Spades' Chrysler was wrecked," Amber Young grated. "Why the hell did it blow up?"

"It was full of gas," Mark stated.

"Why did it blow up like a bomb was dropped on it?" Amber shrieked.

"It was full of high octane," Spades stated. Amber's anger seemed to deflate and she sat down.

"I know you two are lying to me," she stated.

"It's for your own good," Spades stated, nodding to the raven-haired woman standing by the secretary's desk.

"Plausible deniability," Mark agreed sagely. Amber glared at them. Spades stepped into the office and set down the bag he was carrying. It was then that he noticed the stranger sitting in front of Amber's desk.

"Who's she?"

"This is Mana Kirishima," Amber stated. "Since I agreed to let Misato work here, I needed to hire someone else to keep the buddy system even." She stared at them, an awful, for them, realization glowing in her eyes. "You know, I can't have two rookies working together." Spades glanced at his partner.

"Looks like we're not partners anymore," Mark commented.

"Fuck you," Spades stated.

"Fuck you too," Mark replied. Amber sighed in annoyance.

"Kirishima will be working with you Spades since she doesn't have a car." Spades nodded and stared at the redhead as she stood. She was pretty and carried herself like she knew a thing or two about fighting. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"So Misato's going to be my new driver?" Mark asked, nodding to the raven-haired woman standing next to Amber's desk. He must have noticed the look on Spades' face. "What?"

"She taught me how to drive," Spades stated. Mark's face lost a good bit of its color.

"I'm going to schedule another doctor's appointment. I'm going to need something a lot more powerful for my ulcers."

(:ii:)

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Amber frowned as she watched her newest employee shake Spades' hand. Was it her imagination, or was the redhead holding his hand longer than necessary? 'Down girl,' Amber ordered herself. 'It's not like you're dating the guy.'

"Same," Spades replied neutrally. He turned back to Amber. "I've got the day off Chief."

"What?" Amber demanded, noticing for the first time that Spades was wearing a black company T-shirt, combat boots, and tan BDU trousers instead of his typical suit. "When did you ask for a day off?"

"I cleared it with someone who actually knows what's going on," Spades stated. Amber glanced over at her oblivious secretary. She threw a wadded up ball of paper and the young woman caught it easily without looking up. She pushed her headphones back without raising her eyes from the screen.

"Yes?" Helen Christianson asked.

"Did Spades clear a day off with you?" Amber demanded.

"Uh huh," Helen replied simply. She put her headphones on. Amber sighed.

"You're going to the range, right?" Spades stared at her.

"What makes you think I'd spend my day off at the range?" he asked in something that could have almost been indignation.

"Where else would you go?" Amber asked reasonably. Spades sighed.

"Touché."

"Take the two newbies and get them to the range for qualification. If you have the time, give them a weapons familiarization course."

"We all use different weapons," Mark pointed out. "The only time we ever had standardization was when you bought all those Berettas and tried to make us use them."

"How much did you spend on those?" Spades asked.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Amber grated.

"Not so much now," Spades commented. Amber glared at him.

"Bet you can't guess what I'm thinking."

"Docked paycheck?" Mark asked.

"Docked paycheck," Spades agreed.

"What does that mean?" Mana asked.

"Its means the Chief can't think of anything smart to say," Spades stated.

"Grab a pair of Berettas out of the locker and get the hell out of here!" Amber snapped.

(:ii:)

"Is she always so up tight?" Spades glanced at his new partner.

"More or less."

"Some days are better than others," Mark added as he checked one of the Beretta Px4s he had taken from the armory. The elevator doors opened and Spades stepped into the garage. He walked up to his new Dodge Charger and slid into the driver side seat. Mana slid into the front passenger seat. Mark and Misato were heading for Misato's old Renault.

"So," Mana began, "do you want to know anything about me?"

"You've shot before," Spades stated. Mana nodded even though it wasn't a question. "Ever been in a fight?"

"A fair fight?" Mana asked.

"Not necessarily."

"Never been in a fair fight," Mana stated. "Been in many unfair fights."

"I see," Spades replied.

"What kind of name is Spades?"

"It's a nickname," Spades stated as he started the Charger and pulled out of the parking spot.

"Are you always this cheerful?" Mana asked.

"More or less."

"Great," Mana replied. "Where are we going?"

"The Stumps," Spades replied.

"The Marine Base?"

"Near there," Spades replied. "Chief's brother is the CEO of one of the largest PMCs in the country. We use their shooting ranges for free."

"Nice."

"Oh, yeah."

(:ii:)

"She was hitting on him."

"Yup."

"Poor girl," Misato stated.

"No kidding," Mark replied. "Spades has left a long line of disappointed, confused, and pissed off women in the years I've known him. I still don't know why he leads them on, everyone knows he's gay."

"I don't know," Misato replied.

"Come on," Mark grumbled. "It's obvious."

"There was the Fifth Child," Misato began. "I always did think they seemed a little too friendly."

"See? Obvious."

"I guess," Misato replied.

(:ii:)

"There's the range." Mana leaned forward in her seat and stared at the rather simple pistol range.

"That's it?" Mana asked.

"That's it," Spades replied as he pulled into the dirt parking lot.

"It's not much," Mana commented.

"That's what I think of your shooting skills right now," Spades stated.

"Kiss my ass," Mana growled.

"Do well here and at the other ranges and I'll do whatever you ask," Spades replied as he climbed out of the Charger. "Think of this as your first step. Every journey needs a first step."

"You could have said that without taking a shot at my skills," Mana stated as she climbed out after him.

"I could have," Spades agreed, "but that just wouldn't be me."

"Its little wonder why you can't keep a girlfriend." Mana turned and stared at the man who had walked over to them. "Keep it up and she'll go the way of the rest of them."

"She's not my girlfriend," Spades stated. "She's my new partner." The man's jaw dropped.

"And I thought you and Mark were a live-action buddy flick," the man commented.

"What about me?" Mark asked as he joined them.

"You got a new partner too?" the man asked.

"Blame your sister," Mark stated. "This is Max Young. Max, this is Misato Katsuragi."

"Nice to meet you," Misato replied.

"My partner can introduce herself," Spades stated as he shrugged off his coat and walked onto the range.

"Regular old ball of sunshine," Mana gritted.

"Learning already," Max stated.

"I'm Mana Kirishima," Mana stated. "Nice to meet you."

"He seems anxious," Max commented.

"He's got a new gun," Mark stated. "He'll mellow out after he puts a few rounds through it."

"What happened to that Mateba?" Max demanded.

"It got blown up," Mark stated. Max's jaw dropped.

"That was a nice gun too. What about his snubby? That was a fine piece of custom work."

"I'm pretty sure he sleeps with it," Mark stated. "For it to get blown up, he'd have to be blown up."

"It's happened before," Max commented.

"That barely counted," Spades stated. "Now hurry up or I'll turn this into a moving target range."

(:ii:)

Mark watched as Max lectured the two new private detectives on range safety. "They both look like they know what they're doing."

"Ranges are one thing," Spades stated. "The street is something different."

"That's why we put them through these courses," Mark stated. "They only get to come along if they get certified here and these guys don't pull punches."

"Neither do I," Spades stated. He opened the bag he had been carrying and pulled out a long black revolver with stained hard wood grips.

"Smith and Wesson?" Mark guessed. "How old is that thing?"

"Beretta remake," Spades stated.

"Ah, moving up on the technological ladder, eh? Maybe some day we'll even get you to use a semi-auto."

"You'll just have to wait until they make an automatic as reliable as a revolver," Spades stated. Mark looked at the revolver and stared at the rear sight. There was something strange about it.

"What's that?"

"Micro electronic reflex sight," Spades stated. "I used to have one on my comp 9mm, but it was too bulky. Then I found a company that makes these things."

"High tech and old tech, kind of cool."

"Yeah," Spades agreed as he thumbed the hammer back to half-cocked, pushed the barrel latch up and broke the weapon open. "You think those two will pass?" A burst of gunfire interrupted them and they both turned to glance down range. There were two new dents and the chest area of Mana's target and a third in its head.

"It's a distinct possibility," Mark replied.

"Hmm," Spades agreed.

"Maybe you should be nicer to her."

"I will be if she proves that wasn't a fluke."

"Hope she doesn't prove it by doing it to you," Mark commented.

"Hmm."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. And here it is. Stop bothering me for it! Gah! On another note. When I put out Lycanthrope 3, I noticed some confusion. The two in this story's title indicates a sequel. It will be confusing unless you read the first. Okay?