Now with the two detectives alone again, they took stock of their situation, with Carmichael leading.

  "Disregarding whatever THAT was, everything is going smoothly so far. We haven't had any emergency communications from the assault squad either"

  SQUAWK

  "Enemy contact on the second layer......Some type of monster....Should be o...ARGHHHHH!"

  After the blood curdling scream left the radio, it clicked off and went deathly silent. Velásquez and Carmichael's eyes went wide in disbelief, with the former speaking up.

  "You fucking jinx Carmichael!...Lets go"

  Placing her pistol in her holster, she grasped the rifle from her back and checked it over, before speaking once again.

  "Be prepared to use coloured rounds"

  Leaving the room behind, they both went down the corridor, their rifles aimed forwards and apprehension reigning supreme within their hearts. Several other communications went up while they made their way forwards, each one no better than the last. The only information they had garnered was that a strong monster had appeared, one they assumed was being used as a guard dog.

  Reaching the second floor, a scene straight out of a horror film greeted them. The flickering lights along the corridor, cast intermittent shadows on the dismembered corpses that were strewn down its length. Doing a quick headcount, the entire assault squad had been butchered, as well as several criminals. The monster seemingly not trained, just a loose cannon that was directed at their enemies, and then backfired.

  They could not comprehend why the monster had not left, with the staircase to the 1st floor and then the outside world, just directly behind them.

  Moving forwards with deliberate steps, they both made sure not to slip on the copious amounts of blood, or accidentally step on a co-workers face. Checking each of the rooms on either side of the corridor, they were only met with store rooms, and no other unwanted sights. All that was left now was the double doors at the end of the corridor.

  It was only when they got close enough to the doors, did they notice the stains. Up until then, the distance and the lack of light, had hidden that detail. The holographic screens that their helmets provided, could enable perfect sight within complete darkness, but for some reason they did not show up the stains on the doors, and they both knew why.

  Carmichael was the first to say something, as he lightly brushed his boot against the door, and smeared the substance.

  "Monster blood, it's fresh"

  Seeing what it was, they both changed the magazines on their rifles, loading blue rounds. The peculiar ammunitions had been created to deal specifically with monsters, although they still did the trick on Humans, but their cost made it inefficient. Created by Light Mages at the Central Government, the bullets reacted with the light spectrum of the targets blood. Each coloured bullet turning into destructive and explosive rounds, when fired at the correspond blood filled target.

  Now through the doors, the expected rushing monster was not there, neither was the blood smeared walls they were expecting. The spacious white room had a large cage in its centre, with several fixed restraints that had been opened. A multitude of clear pipes dangled from the top of the cage, with long silver needles protruding from their ends.

  At the far right of the room, there were several long tables, lined with various glass beakers, jugs, vials, twisting pipes and other unfamiliar equipment. A large tray contained a heap of blue powder, and in a tray beside it, blue crystals had been sorted by size.

  Both detectives had seen enough drug labs to be able to identify it at first sight, and also identify the new drug they had been chasing, Blue Life. Before they could revel in taking such a large haul of the repulsive drug off the streets, a splash of blue liquid flew into the air. Turning their heads to look at it, they saw that the left side of the room had a large vat full of the substance.

  Raising their rifles to take aim at the movement, they silently approached, each step bringing more of the picture into view. The monster they had been seeking, the one the criminals used as a guard dog, that subsequently ripped them to shreds, and also their fellow police officers, was greedily drinking the blue liquid.

  The monster was easily the size of a horse, but had the body shape of a lizard, with smooth blue skin that was a near perfect colour match for the liquid it was consuming. With its stumpy back legs on the floor, its long tail swished about happily, while its head was submerged in the liquid. A torrent of air bubbles broke on the surface, before the monsters head reared up with a splash. At that moment the monster locked eyes with them, and their bodies instinctively froze in terror.

  The monster had two large eyes that resembled a snakes, its orange slits reflected its enemies perfectly. The corners of its mouth went from ear to ear, with it opening wide in what could only be described as a smile. Its maw was full of razor sharp teeth, at least three rows deep, and still containing traces of its previous victims.

  Velásquez thought back on the substance on the door, that they assumed was its blood, and now a horrible thought occurred to her, that it may of just been the drug residue. If the monsters blood was not in fact blue, then their prepared rounds would be useless. Calming herself down, she analysed the entire scene in her mind, reassuring herself that her initial assessment was correct, and they most likely harvested the monsters blood for the drug.

  Before she could make a move against the monster that stared deep into her soul, her partner Carmichael, unloaded round after round directly at the monster. Streaks of blue light cut through the air, each one aimed for the monster. Although the bullets were near instant in their flight, the monster was seemingly quicker. Its long tail moved to block them, while its large body shrank back behind the vat, using it for cover.

  The moment the coloured bullets hit the monsters tail, they exploded on contact, sending chunks of flesh across the room and disintegrating its tail. The after effects of the bullets explosion did not cease, with a burning effect that traced the colour blue. With its tail stub flailing, the ignited blood sprayed wildly and landed on the surface of the vat of monster blood. Thankfully the bullets effects had waned, or the resulting explosion would of annihilated them.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Velásquez moved to the left, while Carmichael circled to the right, as the noise of him reloading echoed out. In a move that took her by surprise, several barbs were fired from the monster while it was still behind cover. Completely unseen, they punctured the vat, travelling through it and out the other side, they were aimed directly for Velásquez.

  Three barbs made of bone cut through the air, with two of them landing perfectly, and the third slamming into the wall and burying deep. A cry of pain left Velásquez's mouth, her right arm had been pinned to the wall, forcing her to fly backwards and crash onto the floor, her arm stuck fast against the wall. The two barbs had decimated her arm, leaving it completely unusable. Her forearm and bicep were punctured, with the barbs presence, the only thing stopping her from dying of blood loss.

  Her rifle clattered the floor, her left arm unable to wield the weapon, all she could do is look on in pain. The monster now full of confidence, emerged from the side of the vat, its blue blood gushing out of the holes that its barbs made in the giant vat. The monsters grin seemed to be wider, it taking great pleasure in the suffering of its prey.

  Raising its tail stub in the air, Velásquez could only internally lament at the fact it had regenerated, and now its fully formed tail was aimed at her. A barb was protruding from the end, apparently being the appendage that fired the three shots earlier.

  There was one saving grace, the monsters hubris trumped its intelligence. With her rifle resting on the floor, she had enough strength for a pull of the trigger, but was unfortunately unable to aim.

  Thankfully the Gods smiled down upon her, as the rifle fired, the recoil kicked the muzzle up in the air, sending the bullet straight for its leg. With a resounding splat, followed by an explosion, the monsters leg was no more. Now unstable, it fell face first in to the floor. Its snake like eyes shifted sideways, it could only harbour hate as it witnessed the other person it considered prey, firing a full magazine at it.

  Carmichael fired every blue bullet he had loaded in his magazine, not wanting to take any chances. The effect was brutal, the bullets perforated the monster, its face, limbs, and body were blown away, leaving traces of it all over the room. Only blue splashes and wayward flames flickered over near every surface. The smell of gunpowder wafted about, with the ringing from the rifle firing, and explosions, only now relenting.

  Velásquez's body relaxed slightly, her hand had previously gripped her pistol and had decided to take her own life, rather than end up in that abominations stomach. Resting it on her lap, she no longer felt the pain of her ruined arm, the adrenaline coursing through her playing its vital part. Looking over at her partner, she could only smile.

  Expecting to see the reassuring smile of her partner, the one that was always beside her and gave her a sense of safety, that smile was not present. A flat look was on his face as he stared at her, and then he proceeded to load a new magazine into his rifle. When Velásquez saw the colour of the bullets, her smile faded and she wanted nothing more than to rip her arm off, and charge at him.

  "Why Carmichael, why!?"

  With the bullets loaded, designed especially for creatures with red blood, only Velásquez and Carmichael were left alive, the situation could be understood by a child. Aiming his rifle at her, he then deigned to reply.

  "What a stupid question....I've had to work beside a useless dyke bitch for so long...Tsch...If it wasn't for strict orders, I would of butchered you long ago"

  The answer she received, was not what Velásquez was expecting at all. Not once had she thought that her partner held animosity towards her. She knew central had a mole, she guessed her own District also did, but nothing pointed towards her partner. The one and only thing that slightly made her suspicious, was the fleeting glance the black haired beauty gave him earlier, it had played in her mind, but she was not sure why, until now.

  "You work for the drug gang? All this time! What about Maria, your child?"

  For a mere moment, Carmichael's expression changed, a mixture of regret and something else that she could not pinpoint. As quick as it appeared, it vanished and he replied.

  "Drug gang? Don't lump me in with those small fry......Maria, she knows nothing. Do what you want with them, they hold no place in my heart....It's pointless me even telling you this, it's not like you can do anything....But, I have to thank you. I had no fucking idea an undercover agent had wormed her way into that shitty gang.....So I'll give you a quick death......Any last words?"

  SQUAWK

  "This is Bravo squad....Reinforcements have arrived.....Beginning sweep through...Over"

  Carmichael's eyes went wide when the radio message came through. On the other side, it spurred Velásquez for a last ditch attempt.

  "Yeah, fuck you!"

  Velásquez's words were full of spite, her jaw tensing and veins bulging in her neck as she spat the words out. Although her words were venomous, the real effect came from her trusty side-arm resting on her lap. Carmichael saw it too late, he could only move his rifle in an attempt to block the incoming bullet and save his life.

  Velásquez squeezed her finger and fired directly towards Carmichael's face, but unfortunately the bullet was stopped mid flight. His rifle had blocked the shot, but took the bullet directly to the barrel of the rifle, rendering it useless apart from as a club.

  "Damn bitch!?!"

  Without wasting a single millisecond on making a decision, he launched his rifle towards Velásquez, blocking her shot and sight, and giving him enough time to seek cover. Now behind the table of drugs, he drew his pistol and swore internally. He knew full well his aim was massively inferior to his partners when it came to pistols.

  Holstering his pistol again, he swiped the plastic container of blue crystals from the top of the table. While he set to work, he could hear the mocking tone of Velásquez.

  "Awww what's up little Doreen? Where's your confidence gone, is it because you can't hit a barn door with that shit aim of yours, hey DOREEN!?...You can't even beat a little girl, how pathetic DOREEN!"

  Velásquez let out a laugh, and with it a spray of blood left her lips. The sight would of pleased Carmichael, but at that moment, his teeth were grinding in anger. The name Doreen was given by his mother, believing that giving him a girls name would lead to him being bullied, and subsequently toughen him up. It partly worked, he grew up tough, but with a twisted mind, one that ultimately led him to criminality.

  He would of loved nothing more than to change his name, but since the creation of the Central Government, changing of ones name was not permissible, and so he was stuck with a mind full of hatred.

  Continuing with his work, Carmichael had removed a grenade from his belt and shoved it into the middle of the blue crystals. Setting the digital timer, he closed the lid on the plastic box, and launched it over the table towards Velásquez.

  Seeing the incoming container and not knowing its purpose, she loosed several rounds towards it, while keeping an eye out for Carmichael, in case it was merely a diversion. Traces of blue crystals flew out of the bullet holes in the container, as it landed on the floor and skidded to less than a metre from her.

  An ominous feeling took her over, before Carmichael's mocking voice came next.

  "Have a nice trip to the afterlife, bitch!"

  Carmichael was unsure if it would kill her, but at least it would severely damage her. He now had no time to act, with the reinforcements coming, and his identity now known by his partner and the Central agent outside.

  Not wanting to get a face full of drugs, he dove at the concrete wall. Using his ability that not even the police knew about, a door just large enough for one person to squeeze through, instantly appeared in the wall and beckoned him in. Diving through it, the door slammed close behind him and vanished.

  Now travelling through a corridor that led downwards, his power was perfected for escape, an ability he created as a child to hide from the incessant bullying.

  Velásquez could only close her eyes and shield her face with her one functioning arm. In that moment, the grenade exploded and sent blue crystals flying across the entire room. A torrent of the razor sharp crystals perforated Velásquez, her arms and legs taking the brunt, with her bulletproof vest tanking the rest. A cloud of blue powder circulated around the room, and was readily inhaled by the injured detective, before her mind and vision both went blank.