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Detective Ikari

-Chapter Eighteen: A New Beginning

Spades peaked around the corner and stared down the hallway. It looked empty enough. He reached into one of the pockets of his coat and pulled out one of the grenades he had taken from one of the soldiers. He tugged the pin and lobbed the explosive down the hallway before ducking behind the corner.

"Grenade!" Spades winced as the flash bang went off sending a rippling series of cracks through the hallways. Spades pivoted out with his pistol up. One man was staggering in the middle of the hall. Spades fired once and put the man down.

Another man dropped out of his hiding place and fired. Fortunately the effects of the flash bang kept him from aiming strait. Spades fired again and the second man went down. Spades leaned back and snapped open his weapon. He tugged the two spent .45 cartridges out and loaded two new ones. He was getting close.

"Freeze!" Spades turned and stared at the men filling the hallway. "Are you Shinji Ikari?"

"What?" Spades asked, faltering slightly. He had been about to draw.

"Are you Shinji Ikari?" the man in front asked.

"Yeah," Spades replied. "SEALs, right?"

"Uh, yeah," the man replied.

"Okay." Spades drew and fired. The SEALs ducked around the corner and he lobbed another flash bang at them.

(:ii:)

"He fucking shot at us!"

"I was there," Phillip snapped. He ears were still ringing. "Damn that hurt!"

"Did he think we worked for NERV?" Mac asked.

"No way," Chuck growled. "He knew who we were and he shot at us!"

"Doesn't he know we're trying to rescue him?" Domino asked.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be rescued," Grim suggested.

"Well, why the hell not?" Mac demanded. Phillip frowned as his thoughts were back to his briefing. They had said that Ikari was hostile and to be careful. They had also mentioned that he had a bone to pick with a lot of NERV's personnel.

"He couldn't," Phillip groaned.

"What's up sir?" Chuck asked.

"He's going after his old man," Phillip stated.

"Isn't his old man the commander here?" Spider asked. Phillip nodded. "Kid's got balls."

"Try not to sound so happy," Phillip growled. "We've still got to catch him."

(:ii:)

"Here we are," Johnny stated, climbing out of the car. He looked around the large airfield and the heavily guarded C-5 in front of him. "Well, that's a big plane."

"When is Shinji going to be here?" Amber demanded.

"When he's done," Johnny replied. "He shouldn't be much longer?"

"When he's done?" Amber exclaimed. "What the hell does he need to do?"

"Finish at NERV of course," Johnny replied. "He isn't going to leave the city and let them get away with kidnapping him."

I should have known," Amber grumbled. "This is your fault."

"My fault?" Johnny demanded.

"You gave him Melody!" Amber shrieked.

"You let him get kidnapped!" Johnny yelled back.

(:ii:)

Spades shoved his shoulder into the wall and fired several shots around the corner with his snubby. These delay tactics were slowing him down, which meant they were good delay tactics. They were also costing him much needed ammunition.

Spades loaded his snubby and then the Mateba. He only had five .45 rounds so he loaded the .454 into the last chamber. "Come out and surrender Ikari."

"Must be running low of men," Shinji mused as he dug his glasses out of his vest. "I'll think about it!" he called to the men as he slid his glasses on.

As fast as he could he leaned out into the hallway with the snubby. There were three men the closest only three yards away and the furthest was twelve. Spades was out and shooting before they could react. All three politely slumped to the ground.

Spades stepped into the hallway and pushed his glasses back into his coat pocket. He glanced around the new hallway and felt a rush of déjà vu. Yes, he was getting closer to the commander's office. He had been led through these halls and shackles once or twice and knew them well.

(:ii:)

"Report! I said report!" Donnie Jansport frowned, as he got no reply over the radio.

"Your team has been wiped out Sergeant," one of the bosses up in the control bridge stated. Donnie really hadn't needed to be told that. He had already figured it out.

"Thank you Lieutenant Obvious!" Donnie snapped. He glanced around the Commander's office. This was no good. They were backed into a corner. "Do you have an escape route sir?"

"Yes," Gendo replied. Donnie nodded thoughtfully.

"Use it and escape. We'll make our stand here."

"Very well," Commander Ikari replied. He walked to his desk and did something that caused a hidden door in the wall to swing open.

"You sure about this?" one of the men whispered. "I'm not being paid enough to be a sacrificial lamb. That guy's still coming. We ain't going to stop him."

"I know," Donnie rasped quietly. "We took the money, now we've got to work. We run away now and our reputations will be trashed. We'll never get work again."

"That guy's got us by the balls." The Commander disappeared into the doorway and it closed behind him. Almost at the same moment of the door burst open. Donnie hit the deck hard as a gray cylinder flew into the room.

(:ii:)

Spades looked around the room and slowly straightened up. He had been quick enough to catch them by surprise. "Oh shit." Spades pivoted and found himself aiming at a man lying on the ground. "How did you get here so fast?"

"There weren't any more guys," Spades stated. The man leaned back and groaned in pain as he clutched his abdomen.

"Those fuckers deserted," he growled. "Shit!"

"Where'd the old man go?" Spades asked. The man sighed.

"There's a button in the desk," he stated.

"Thanks," Spades replied, faintly surprised by the man's answer.

"Don't," the man growled. "This is because that fucker has killed a lot of men through his mismanagement."

"Alright." Spades knocked the man's weapon away carefully and moved to the desk. He tried the drawers and found the button. He pushed it and watched as a door in the wall swung open. "I'm not even surprise anymore." Shinji holstered his stubbie, it was empty anyway, and drew the Mateba. He scribbled a note quickly and set it on the desk before walking into the hidden passes.

(:ii:)

Grim raised his sub-machinegun and glanced back at his boss. Phillip nodded and Grim swung into the room, moving to his station quickly. "Clear!"

"Clear!" Grim glanced down and frowned.

"Party's over sir."

"Check 'em," Phillip ordered. Grim kneeled and checked the pulse of the man lying at his feet.

"Nothing."

"Same here."

"All dead," Spider agreed.

"Note sir," Domino commented.

"Note?" Phillip asked. Domino picked a piece of paper up from the desk.

"Push the button, squid. Love, Spades." Domino peeked behind the desk.

"Button?" Phillip asked.

"Yep," Domino stated. "It's in one of the drawers. Kinda cliché."

"Yeah," Grim agreed.

"Just push it," Phillip ordered.

"You know how I love pushing your buttons."

"Just push the God damned button!"

(:ii:)

Spades could hear the old man. He was running, probably all out, but the simple fact was that Spades was in better shape. The commander could not outrun him. A speck of light appeared at the end of the tunnel and Spades saw a flash of a silhouette. In an instant he had jammed his glasses on and was kneeling, bringing the Mateba to bear.

In that short moment the commander had escaped from Spades' vision. "Damn it." Spades stood and sprinted towards the opening, thinking little of his own safety. He burst from them tunnel into the forest surrounding Central Dogma. For a moment the sudden change disoriented him, but he got his bearings and saw a flash of a green uniform.

Spades lifted the Mateba and fired, the massive 250-grain slug burst from the barrel at five hundred and eighty meters per second and slammed into the tree that had passed between Spades and his moving target.

For a moment Spades wondered if he had missed, but a low groan of pain reached his ears. With a savage grin, Spades sprinted towards the noise. The realization that he hadn't checked the ammo in the Mateba froze him in his tracks. A quick check revealed the worst, he was shit out of ammo. Spades holstered the Mateba and began forward much more cautiously while drawing his knife.

(:ii:)

The Commander of NERV was sprawled across the ground, clutching at his shattered shoulder. Spades was mildly surprised that the arm was still attached. "Well," Spades began, "I don't know about you, but I find this rather humorous." The Commander rolled over and glared at Spades.

"You."

"Me," Spades agreed, taking his glasses off and knocking the commander on his back with a hard kick. The kneeled and pulled the Commander's weapon out from under his arm.

"I suppose you want to know why I pursued you," the commander stated.

"I already ran into Ayanami," Spades stated, flicking a dry red flake off his knife. For a moment the commander's eyes widened.

"I see," Gendo stated. "It's a shame you weren't like this when we met in Tokyo-3."

"If I was like this, I wouldn't have shown up," Spades stated. "I really don't care about any reason you think you have for behaving this way, I can even understand your actions because I would have made many of the same decisions."

"There will be more after me," Gendo stated. "You are more useful then you could ever guess."

"A warning?" Spades asked. "I'm touched."

"I only warn you in the hopes that you will be able to kill a few of them before you die," Gendo stated.

"Who are they?" Spades asked.

"You will find out." Spades frowned in annoyance.

"And on that note. . ." Spades trailed off and raised his knife.

(:ii:)

"Weirder and weirder man."

"Shut up Alice."

"I'm just saying. . ."

"Don't," Phillip warned. He looked around the forest and sighed. As if this day couldn't get stranger. Then there was the fact that they were in a brightly-lit forest wearing black combat gear.

"Here!" Phillip sprinted towards the cry and came upon a fairly disturbing scene. Mac was standing over Shinji Ikari, his hands raised. Shinji glanced at them for a moment.

"Drop the weapon!" Phillip snapped.

"Doesn't matter." Ikari snapped pushed the cylinder release and it swung outward to reveal six empty chambers.

"You just got taken prisoner with an empty weapon," Spider commented as Ikari holstered his weapon and stood.

"Wasn't waving it around like it was empty," Mac growled. "You gonna come quietly this time."

"Yeah," Ikari stated. "I've finished with my business." He pointed behind a few bushes. Phillip glanced behind the bushes and gagged.

"You're one sick mother fucker."

"I haven't had my pills," Ikari stated. "You guys have a ride?"

"It's in the parking garage," Phillip answered. "Be easier if you told the driver to meet us by the east four elevator. Its right over there." Phillip glanced in the direst Ikari was pointing.

"Good deal."

(:ii:)

"They have him!" Amber glanced up and saw Johnny walking towards her.

"They have him?" she repeated. The hit man nodded.

"They should be here in less than the minute," he stated. "Spades passed out, but it looks like it was just exhaustion."

"It take it his father is dead, right?" Amber asked.

"The CO for the SEAL team said Spades Pezzed him."

"What?" Amber asked. "Wait. I don't want to know, do I?"

"Nope," Johnny stated. He glanced at the other two women.

"We'll be taking off quick," he stated. "I'm not even sure you'll be able to talk to Spades, but if you do you'll have to be fast."

"Alright," Hikari replied.

"Yeah," Asuka agreed.

(:ii:)

The van jerked to a halt and Spades snapped out of his half-dazed slumber. "We're here," one of the SEALs stated as the van's doors opened. Spades climbed out quickly. He was used to 'bad' driving, but could only handle it when it was his own.

"Spades!" He glanced up in time to see his boss jumping at him. Mainly due to his size compared to hers he didn't fall on his ass, though he nearly did when she kissed him.

"Knew you wasn't gay." Spades broke away from the younger woman.

"I'm out of bullets Johnny, but I do have a knife."

"Shutting up," Johnny replied. "Here comes the rest of your fan club." Spades turned and saw Hikari and Asuka walking towards him.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We were worried about you," Hikari stated. Spades glanced at Asuka with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't you give me that look idiot," she warned.

"Sorry."

"Asuka put us in contact with Misato," Amber explained.

"Misato?"

"You rang?" Spades turned and saw the driver from the van. She grabbed him in a tight hug. "You should have told me you were coming back!"

"We have to go!" Spades glanced at the Navy man waving them towards the van. He turned back to Hikari and Asuka.

"Amber gave us your number," Asuka stated before Shinji could talk. "I hear you do bodyguard business." Spades nodded. "I do believe I have a tour in American coming up. I'll check your rates." She shook his hand and stepped back.

"I was going on visiting American some time," Hikari said.

"Don't be a stranger," Shinji replied. "Take care and give me a call when you get there." Hikari hugged him and Spades turned to Misato.

"She's coming with us," Amber stated.

"She is?" Spades asked.

"Meet the newest member of Young Private Investigations," Amber stated.

"Nice to meet you," Misato added jokingly.

"We go to a foreign country and come back with a woman," Spades commented. "We're never going to hear the end of it."

"In the plane now!" the lead SEAL shouted. Spades followed Misato and Amber up the stairs and into the place, pausing to wave to Hikari and Amber.

"Told you you'd have fun," Amber commented.

"I tore out my father's throat," Spades deadpanned.

"Beats having to wait all that time for him to die of natural causes, doesn't it?" Spades paused for a moment.

"Why yes, yes it does."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, this was fun. For some reason this story seemed to go by faster and cleaned than my others. This chapter actually took as long as about the fast half of the story because of writer's block.

I really don't have much to say about this story. It was fun and breezy without too much of the over thinking that happens with some of my stories. I think this is because I wrote about seven chapters before I released this one. That seemed to have worked so well that I'm doing most of my stories like that.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Now here's a little something for reading this far. Don't expect it any time soon, but it will be coming.

Detective Ikari 2 (working title)

Misato looked up as the door to the office opened and Spades stepped in. "How is she?" Amber asked.

"She's critical," Spades stated flatly.

"What are we going to do?" Misato asked.

"Private detecitve arithmetic," Tim stated.

"What's private detective arithmetic?" Misato asked.

"They hurt one of ours," Al began, "we kill ten of theirs.The cops don't like those UN guys. They won't interfere."

"Good," Spades stated quietly. Amber stood up and made her way over to a large bookcase against the wall. She kicked it hard and Misato gaped as it swung open to reveal a hidden room. A light snapped on to reveal dozens of gleaming automatic weapons.

"Pick your poisons," Amber ordered. "Nobody ever messes with a Young private detective."

"Got mine," Freddie stated, picking up something from behind Helen's desk. He set the massive rifle on the secretary's desk and patted it lovingly.

"You've been looking for that thing for a month," Mike stated. "Where did you find it?"

"Spades' trunk," Freddie stated.

"What were you doing in my car?" Spades asked.

"What was my rifle doing in your car?" Freddie retorted.

"Deer hunting," Spades deadpanned.

"With an anti-tank rifle?"

"Big dear," Spades stated. "Get some autos. We're doing a drive by."

"On who?" Misato asked. "We don't know where they are!"

"But we know who's helping them," Spades stated. "Time to take care of some loose ends."

-End