---
Cursed in Life, Cursed in Death
---
" " are speaking
' ' are quotes
{ } are thoughts
* * are sounds
### are flashbacks
---
Prologue : Here's Ranma...
---

Nerima's graveyard.

A burial was ongoing and the priest was telling the final 
farewells to the dead. The family and friends were reunited 
around the coffin. Most of them had tears running freely on 
their faces.

###

"Hey, let her alone!" shouted Ranma, seeing a group ganging on 
a girl.

The four assailants turned to face the newcomer and Ranma 
could see their faces... but were they truly humans? Their 
sharp teeth seemed able to tear apart flesh and bones with the 
same ease, their eyes shined an evil greenish light and their 
brow was bulging, finishing to ruin the faces of these beings 
so similar to their victim yet.

"Just when we were done with the appetizers, here come the 
main course all by himself, we are some lucky guys!" shouted 
one of the assailants.

"He came just right, I was starting to get hungry again." 
Added another creature.

###

Nodoka was crushed, supported by Genma who was staying 
impassive despite the tears running on his cheeks, betraying 
his real feelings.

For once, Soun wasn't trying to imitate a waterfall because he 
needed like his friend Genma to support his family. Kasumi was 
in a state alike Nodoka's. Nabiki was trying to keep her 
heartless mercenary fa�ade, but the wetness in her eyes was 
talking for her. And Akane closed herself from the outside 
after his death, beginning a refusal phase.

###

"Hu? What da ya mean 'you're hungry'? Are you some kind of 
cannibal?" Ranma was surprised by their remark.

"So innocent, so ignorant, your blood must be delicious." 
Stated one of the females of the group.

"First come, first get!" shouted another male, rushing forward 
with lightning speed, surprising Ranma and catching him by the 
throat with outrageous strength.

"What's the... urgh!" {Damn, he's strong, I must get free or 
I'll lost consciousness.} thought Ranma, gripping his inhuman 
opponent's wrist and preparing a counter.

"Not bad, you nearly got me here, but I won't let myself be 
surprised anymore." Told Ranma to the monster before throwing 
him into a wall while freeing himself in the same movement.

"He got notions. But we'll get him, dinner's ready!" shouted 
the other male while rushing like his friend had.

"Blood!" added the female, joining the fight.

"Come get me!" Ranma warned them.

The two creatures made random blows, not having the same level 
of martial arts mastery than Ranma. He blocked or dodged the 
hits with ease and grace like he always do.

###

The others girls were doing better. Ukyo was putting a brave 
face, crying nonetheless at the injustice, having lost 
everything all again. Kodachi was silent, rumor wanted that 
the emotional shock restored her sanity. Shampoo, despite 
being a proud amazon warrior, was the worst yet, showing that 
the Kiss of Marriage wasn't the only thing that pushed her to 
chase after her airen.

###

All was good for Ranma in that fight until... the monster that 
Ranma had thrown into the wall caught him from behind, Ranma 
thinking he was out cold. This gave the two others the 
opportunity to hit him dead on.

Ranma spitted blood.

{How can they be so strong? Even Ryoga's blows didn't have a 
tenth of that power.}

The last monster came closer to the one holding Ranma and 
helped him. The two hitting Ranma smiled evilly before 
starting to hit him again.

{I must get free or I'm done for. Don't have much choice, my 
arms are caught and I don't have strength in my legs to hit 
them hard enough. Time to take off kid gloves.} He concluded, 
starting to shine a golden light while his battle aura was 
spreading around him.

"What the fuck is..." Instinctively, the creatures backed off, 
understanding that their prey was going to use a devastative 
attack.

"Moko... TAKABISHA!!" shouted Ranma, sending his ki in both 
his hands and hitting the two monsters that were still holing 
him. They immediately died, turning to dust with a scream from 
beyond the grave. Freed, Ranma fell to his knees, gasping for 
air and more than astonished.

###

The boys, on the other hand, were taking things differently.

Ryoga should have been jumping all around in joy from getting 
rid of his nemesis, but it was only this one gone that he 
realized what he really was for him : his only true friend.

Mousse didn't have that problem, and seeing his injuries he 
surely thought that shampoo would finally be his, but she 
seemed to not have the same opinion.

Kuno wasn't present but running to Akane to announce that he 
had 'at last vanquished the sorcerer that keep them apart' 
wasn't that good an idea, Akane having broke several of the 
kendoist's bones in a fit of rage.

###

"What in hell was that!?" shouted Ranma, agape between the 
newly formed piles of dust.

"You'll pay!" screamed the female , kicking him in the head 
and sending him backward.

"Your blood won't be enough, you killed them and you'll regret 
this!" screamed the remaining male, jumping to get to Ranma 
faster. He caught him by the throat and lifted him easily off 
the ground.

"All that excitement got me hungry. Shall we dine?" the male 
asked his friend before directing his teeth toward Ranma's 
neck.

"I hope he's juicy, he sure made us work an appetite!" the 
female answered before biting on the other side of their 
prey's neck.

Ranma was felling faint, falling into darkness, while his 
blood was being sucked out of his body. It was only now that 
it was too late that he understood the true nature of there 
creatures : vampires

###

Keeping themselves apart were a 'troll' and a 'ghoul', and 
even if their eyes were devoid of tears, their faces showed 
great sadness from having lost so young an adept so good at 
their respective arts. He had been their last student, 
combining the strongest parts of their arts without the 
weakness.

Knowing Happy, he was surely weeping after his student's girl 
body. And Cologne's heart went out for Shampoo, knowing the 
pain of losing one's love.

###

After the two vampires drank their fills, they laid Ranma on 
the ground.

"And now, his turn." Sniggered the male, cutting his palm with 
a sharp nail and letting his tainted blood flow into Ranma's 
mouth kept open by the female.

Ranma's body acted on instinct to keep from drowning and 
swallowed the blood gathering on the back of his throat.

Ranma being conscious, he'd have spat the vampire's blood, 
knowing what the cursed liquid would do to him. But it wasn't 
the case and Ranma couldn't prevent fate from running it's 
course.

###

After the ceremony, the graveyard was emptied slowly but it 
was only late into the afternoon that the last person 
departed, leaving the nightfall and a feeble wind to watch 
after the fresh grave.

After the sun disappeared, a couple came to visit the grave. 
Strangely, their eyes were shining a greenish light into the 
darkness of night.

"Hmmm... I feel him living already. We were nearly late." The 
girl said to her friend.

"Pff, we are here in time to celebrate the rebirth of the last 
member of our little family." He replied, grinning evilly.

The freshly moved earth on the grave moved then shoot out 
while a hang was trying to free itself. Then came the arm, the 
hole into the earth grown until a head appeared.

A familiar head, with black hair tied into a pigtail, but the 
eyes were glowing the same green as the two nocturnal visitors 
instead of two blue-gray orbs.

A few more efforts and the new undead finished to dig himself 
from his own grave, dressed in the same clothes he liked so 
much when still alive : chinese red shirt with black tai-fu 
pants, matching sleepers and combat bracers.

After he got rid of the last remain of confusion he was 
feeling, because of his troubling awakening, Ranma cast a 
glare at the couple in front of him. For a short time, he 
didn't recognize them, then his memories started up again.

"You!" He shouted, wanting to jump them, but he tripped, his 
body still sore from his rebirth. "What did you do to me?" He 
screamed surprised of the strange way his body reacted.

"I offered you eternal life, welcome into the family of the 
night's children." Explained the man.

"After you killed our two friends yesterday, it was rather 
nice of us, don't you agree?" added the woman. "You'd have 
died anyway."

"So we changed you like us." Completed the man.

"NOOOO!" screamed Ranma, jumping on the man and sending both 
of them rolling between tombstones. "I'm not like you! I'll 
never be! NEVER!" Ranma continued to scream, punching the man 
between two rolls.

"Is that your way to thank us?" shouted the woman, coming to 
the help of her friend. Her only reward was a punch from 
Ranma, sending the vampire back from where she came.

"I never asked you to make me into a... a..." said Ranma.

"Vampire?" asked the man, still pinned under Ranma, then he 
used his vampire's strength to push Ranma back who rolled 
backward and fell into an open grave, already dug for the next 
day. Ranma exited the hole a few seconds later, holding a 
shovel.

"All you had to do was to die!" said Ranma before breaking the 
shovel's handle on his knee. "Last time, I didn't know what 
you were, but now I do!" He showed off his self made stake.

"You think you can kill both of us?" shouted the girl, jumping 
on Ranma.

On one fluid movement, he deviated her punch with his free 
hand before planting the stake on her heart with the other 
hand. The nocturne creature was dusted without even having 
time to scream.

"Bastard! As if the Slayer wasn't enough! Are we going to get 
killed by our own now?" shouted the man, in rage.

"The Slayer? What's that?" asked Ranma.

"He, he, he. Why should I tell you?" the vampire asked back. 
In a blink, Ranma was on him, holding the stake only 
millimeters away from the vampire's heart.

"Because I can kill you without breaking a sweat if you don't 
answer." Ranma told him coldly.

"Uuh... if you see it that way... the vampire slayer, that's 
her title. She's a girl with the power to fight against us and 
win. Each time she's killed, another girl inherit the power 
and become the next slayer." The vampire explained obediently, 
trembling out of fear and backpedaling. But for each step 
backward, Ranma took one step forward, keeping the stake at 
the same distance from it's target.

"And where's the actual slayer?" asked Ranma, making the stake 
to touch the man's torso.

"Som... somewhere in the USA, near Los Angeles. A small city. 
Something like Sonnydale, or Sunnybale. I know only one more 
thing : you must keep as much distance you can between 
yourself and a slayer if you value your skin." Told the 
vampire, trembling more and more.

"If you have nothing more to add, then I'm finished with you!" 
said Ranma even colder  than before, pushing the stake past 
the torso and into the heart, killing his own sire.

"Sunnydale? Here, everybody think I'm dead, and I'll not add 
to their mourning by imposing them this new curse. USA, here I 
come!" Ranma decided, turning his back to his old life.

---
Prologue - End



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