"Look Ranma, a shooting star!"

"Hmm," said martial artist muttered, glancing along the line his
(reluctant) fianc�e indicated just in time to watch the speck of light
disappear beyond the horizon.

A moment later a muted whistling noise grew on the wind, briefly rising
before disappearing abruptly. Thinking nothing of it, Ranma and Akane
made their way through the gates of the Tendo Dojo, eager to sit down to
the dinner they could smell on the evening breeze.

=====================

Metuo Palam Acerbus
By: Taiteki Kagato

Disclaimer and Authors Notes posted at the bottom.

Warning: Graphic scenes of violence and unsettling situations ahead.
Read at your own discretion.

=====================

Three weeks since witnessing the shooting star, Ranma Saotome paced by
the door, wondering where Akane was. That morning, Kasumi had run to the
market against her family's warnings, and after lunch time had rolled by
without her return, Akane had run out to find her sister. Now, as
bedtime approached, Akane too, it seemed, was missing.

Nabiki Tendo, sister to Akane and Kasumi, daughter of Soun, and future
sister-in-law to Ranma, watched the news with morbid curiosity, hoping
that the current report had nothing to do with the tardiness of her
sisters.

For the past week, an alarming number of people, children, adults, men
and women, had been disappearing, apparently chosen at random. Even more
unsettling, perhaps, was that the kidnapper was able to take people at
all times of the day. There was very little evidence to go by, and the
only information the police had given had clearly indicated that they
were as baffled as the rest of the populace.

Very little proof of a struggle was ever found, and only one victim had
been found so far, the body stashed in a trash heap and mutilated so
thoroughly that only after DNA testing had the remains been identified.

Hugging her knees to her chest, but not daring to close her eyes, Nabiki
watched for any information she might have missed. When the
disappearances had started, Nabiki, along with the rest of Nerima, had
shrugged it off, figuring that anyone kidnapping in Nerima would quickly
come to a rather violent end.

After a week and twelve disappearances, none of the citizens were
shrugging it off anymore. Schools had been closed down, a curfew had
been put into effect for Nerima and the surrounding wards, and an
invisible-yet-palpable tension filled the air.

All eyes turned to the Ranma as he cleared his throat. Akane had asked
him to stay here, and to trust in her, but she'd not returned, and his
patience was at its end. Before he could say anything, however, the door
to the porch collapsed, atop of which lay a moaning, bleeding Shampoo.

"Airen... they... Mousse..." Shampoo said through clenched teeth.
Staring in shock, the rest of the Tendo's tried to understand why she
looked somewhat different, but only after Nabiki spoke did they accept
what they had previously dismissed as impossible.

"Oh my god... her.. her Arm! Where the hell..." Nabiki collapsed to the
floor, and the others could hear retching from where she'd disappeared
behind the couch. However, they dismissed that as they realized that
Nabiki was right. Shampoo's left arm, curled up against her chest, was
nothing beyond the elbow but a shredded, ragged stump slowly oozing
blood onto the shattered remains of the door.

Soun and Genma gaped, while Ranma leapt across the room, gently scooping
Shampoo up and moving her over to the couch.

"Don't just stand there!" He shouted, shocking the two out of their
trance. Soun hurried over, ripping the sleeve off his gi to use as a
makeshift tourniquet, and Genma ran to the phone, quickly calling the
hospital.

Ranma, stepping aside as Soun tied the cloth around her upper arm
tightly, took the moment to examine Shampoo closely, before shuddering
as he realized just how bad off she was. Looking past the missing arm,
he noticed gashes that tore through muscle tissue and exposed the ivory
of her ribs when wiped clean. Her lower right leg was obviously broken,
and from the bruise he could see on her thigh, her femur might be
fractured as well. One eye was swollen shut, and her right hand was
spotted with holes, almost as if she'd been showered with molten metal.

"Who the hell could do this to Shampoo?" Ranma asked softly, as Genma
appeared with clean cloth and the first aid kit. Nabiki, meanwhile, was
holding back dry heaves as she tried to rationalize the situation.

"Shampoo... no... Aire-Ranma... Ranma... " Shampoo called weakly.

"I'm here, Shampoo. There's an Ambulance on the way. Just stay with us."
Ranma said, placing his hand on her shoulder gently, and frowning as she
winced at even that light pressure.

"Mousse... taken... Monsters took... Great...." Shampoo's voice was
fading in and out, now, and her eyes, already dazed and dilated, were
rolling slowly in her head, failing to settle on anything. The sound of
sirens rose over the television, and the residents breathed a
metaphorical sigh of relief, knowing Shampoo would soon be taken care of
by proper medical personnel.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on Nabiki, who'd been peering over her father's
shoulder in morbid fascination. For a moment, her eyes lost the wild,
shocked look, and Nabiki felt her blood turn to ice in her veins as
Shampoo's gaze turned to the cold, lifeless pits no Hollywood Makeup
Artists could pull off.

"We all going to die." She stated calmly, moments before the young
Amazon began convulsing.

Watching the ambulance disappear into the night, Ranma stared up at the
cloudy night sky, then looked over his shoulder at the room behind him.
Nabiki sat at the table, staring at the wood so intensely Ranma expected
it to catch fire. Soun and Genma were walking around, too upset to
attempt a game of Shogi.

"I'm going out to look for them," he declared suddenly, before
disappearing outside. Leaping to the compound wall, then to a nearby
rooftop, Ranma ran towards the market, where he assumed Kasumi and Akane
had last been seen.

Running across the rooftops, Ranma stared down at the streets of Nerima
with no small degree of surprise. While it was true that nighttime meant
less activity in a suburban area like Nerima, the streets were usually
lightly peppered by the late-shift workers, late night movie-goers, and
the like.

Staring down at the utterly barren ribbon of asphalt, illuminated only
by harsh amber streetlights, Ranma shuddered. He'd grown up alone, and
knew what loneliness was. But that was in the middle of nowhere, a
forest or a mountaintop. Here, in the middle of a city, the silence was
unnatural. Oppressive.

Landing on a roof overlooking the small paved opening in which vendors
sold their wares by day, Ranma looked down at the barren stalls,
wondering where to search from here. He knew he should search the area
for clues, but exactly how to do that, he was uncertain; he was a
martial artist, not a detective. Still, he decided to search the first
thing that caught his eye, and began scrutinizing the plaza from his
vantage point.

Seeing nothing, he was about to leap down, when he heard s soft splash
come from somewhere over to his left. Moving over to the side of the
building, he realized there was a narrow, dark alley, and the noise he'd
heard had come from within. Staring down, he realized that none of the
lights shone directly into the alley, leaving the majority in almost
total darkness.

Leaping down, Ranma landed haphazardly on a surprisingly slippery uneven
surface, wobbling momentarily before regaining his balance. Staring at
the ground as if it had purposefully offended him, he realized he'd
landed with one foot on a large metal disk, obviously used to cover the
large open hole near by. Scowling at opening and the various unpleasant
smells that filled the alley, Ranma reached down to replace the manhole
cover, only to stop when he noticed something else lying near the
opening.

Crouching over the familiar-shaped object, Ranma realized after staring
at it for a moment that it was a policeman's badge. He'd seen them in
near-darkness enough times during his training trip to place it with
only a brief moment of scrutiny. Glancing at the manhole once more, he
stood up.

The splash he'd heard was probably the officer in the sewers below. The
badge had been left out so that anyone who thought to close the manhole
knew there was someone below. Now, Ranma faced a new dilemma. Should he
go down into the pitch black (not that this was much better) Nerima
drainage system, and offer assistance to the police officer?

Whoever had gotten Shampoo could probably tear a poorly-trained
Policeman to shreds, but most people tended to think twice about taking
on a law officer of any type, for the repercussion of such an action was
almost always an over-the-top manhunt.

The sound of air being sliced by something decidedly sharp was the only
warning Ranma had, leaping away from a descending blade. Landing warily,
he watched his silent attacker slip on the manhole cover as he had
earlier, before righting themselves.

"Look, buddy, I don't know who-" He started, only to be interrupted.

"Ranchan?"

"Uc-Ucchan?"

Ukyo Kuonji, her battle spatula held high, have a quick "yip" of
laughter, before she dropper her combat stance and leaned against the
wall, panting heavily.

"God, Ranchan. I thought you were..." She trailed off, the relief
evident in her posture. Ranma nodded softly to himself, before
straightening up and walking over to join her.

"What're you doing out here, Ucchan?"

"Looking for you, Ranma. What'd you think? I went by the dojo, and they
said you were out somewhere... is... is it true? About Akane and Kasumi?
And Shampoo?" Ukyo's voice had grown softer and more worried, and Ranma
closed his eyes as he nodded again.

"Everything they told you is true.. probably worse, from what the
paramedics said when they took Shampoo away."

"God... I..." Ukyo said, unsure of how to express the shock that had
gripped her heart. Ranma, understanding her reaction, merely placed his
hand on her shoulder, then looked up at the clouds that threatened to
burst above them.

"Ukyo... Ucchan... You should go home. Stay with Konatsu, where it's
safe. I'm sure he's worried sick about you al-"

"Konatsu's gone."

"He WHAT?" Ranma shouted in surprise.

"No! Not... He went home... one of his sisters went missing, and..."

"You mean, you're staying alone? With all this going on?" Ranma asked,
incredulously. Ukyo blinked.

"Umm, yeah. I'm not totally defenseless. I mean-"

"Ukyo, you didn't see Shampoo. She was..." Ranma sighed, "look, stay
with me, and we'll swing by your place before we go back to the Dojo...
I don't want anyone else staying alone if I can help it."

Ukyo blushed lightly at Ranma's apparent concern, then frowned at her
own behavior, realizing the situation was far too serious to think about
anything but the missing Tendo's. She stood up, nodding once, before
looking out at the street.

"So, where to?"

"I want to swing by the Nekohanten real quick... see if there's any
clues there."

"Alright," Ukyo said, softly. She watched Ranma leap from wall to wall,
quickly reaching the roof of the lower building bordering the alley.
Crouching to follow, Ukyo glanced at the opening in the ground as a
tomcat within hissed at something or other before leaping off the walls
as Ranma had.

She landed beside him just in time to witness a fireball blossom a few
blocks away. It dissipated rapidly, the orange and red blast turning
into black smoke almost immediately, and Ranma and Ukyo began running in
that direction. That was when the rain started to fall.

The two girls arrived at the origin of the explosive, and Ranma gave a
little sigh before muttering quietly, "I knew there'd be a problem."

The Nekohanten blazed before the couple, rain hissing angrily as it fell
on heated building materials. The sound of approaching sirens reminded
Ranma of Shampoo, and earlier, evoking a small shudder, and the two
teens watched the fire truck round the corner and approach the burning
restaurant quickly.

"Well, I doubt we'll find much here, Ranma..." Ukyo said finally. Ranma
looked at the firemen scrambling around below, and turned away from the
burning wreckage that had once housed a rival, a teacher, and, most
importantly, friends. Nodding silently in the pouring rain, she turned
away, Ukyo pausing to watch the flames a moment longer before turning to
follow.

The two decided to try spiraling inward towards the market from the
Nekohanten, and took off, searching through the rain quickly and
quietly. Scouring the roads for any hint of Akane or Kasumi they could,
both teens found searching for anything in a pouring rainstorm yielded
poor results. Still, they searched on, twice spotting moving shadows
that, to their dismay, turned out to be nothing.

Finally, after two hours, the only concrete thing they had found was how
miserable a couple hours of searching in the driving rain could be.
Neither one wanted to admit defeat, but when they arrived back at the
opening to the alley where they'd met that night, Ranma and Ukyo locked
gazes for a moment before taking off towards the Ucchan's.

Ranma waited diligently in the doorway, not wanting to get water all
over the place. Ukyo hurried around her apartment upstairs, grabbing a
couple changes of clothes, and throwing them into a waterproof bag,
which she quickly slung over her shoulder.

Grabbing a mop and quickly wiping up the water on her way back to the
door, she locked the restaurant up, and she and Ranma headed for the
dojo. Entering silently, the two made their way to the bathroom, hoping
the furo would help warm their rain-soaked bones before they caught a
cold.

Ranma, still a girl, told Ukyo to go ahead first while she went to get
some dry clothes. As the redhead walked out the door, Ukyo quickly
disrobed, and washed herself quickly, before practically leaping into
the furo. Sighing softly as the heat seemed to melt away the cold and
tension from the outside in. She tried to relax, but knowing that Ranma
was in a similar state, she groaned, stood up, and quickly dried off,
slipping into the rolled Kimono she'd managed to stash inside her bag.

A moment later, there was a soft knock on the door, and Ranma called
through the door softly: "Ukyo, you finished?"

"Yeah, Ranchan. It's okay, you can come in now."

The door opened to admit the redhead, who was wearing a towel over her
shoulder, and a pair of dripping boxers. Ukyo frowned slightly, then
rolled her eyes, slipping towards the door. However, before she could
exit, Soun stepped in.

"Ranma! Did you find... Ukyo! What is the-" Soun trailed off as he
stared at Ranma's bare chest. Rolling her eyes, Ranma stepped into the
furo, her chest loosing any appeal it might have had to Soun.

"Thank you. Where was I?"

"'What is the,'" I think, Ukyo offered softly.

"Oh yes. Ranma! What is the meaning of this? You go out to look for
Kasumi and Akane, and you return with Ukyo?"

"It's not like I didn't look-" Ranma started.

"'WE,' Ranchan," Ukyo corrected.

"Err, yeah, we both looked, but we didn't find anything. Anything at
all," Ranma stared down at the floor as he finished, and Soun's anger
began to fade. Before he could ask, however, Ranma continued.

"Konatsu left Ukyo, and, well, I didn't want to leave anyone alone, so I
told her she could stay."

"Mr. Tendo, I'm sorry to intrude. I... I'll go back to my place now, and
tomorrow, Ranma can come get me to help him search for your daughters,"
Ukyo said, bowing apologetically.

Soun looked at her in surprise, then shook his head, "no, Ukyo, it's
alright. Ranma was right. You can stay in Akane's room tonight."

Ukyo nodded, bowing and thanking him as she withdrew from the room. Soun
looked at Ranma like he wanted to say more, before sighing and walking
out the door. Ranma sat down, tossing the towel over the changing room
door, and shivered as the heat drove the cold deeper, before vanquishing
it completely.

After he'd reached a more comfortable internal temperature Ranma stood,
briefly stretching out the muscles the hot water had loosened. Making
his way quickly to the room he shared with his father, he slipped into
some fresh clothes, and climbed into his bed.

Tossing and turning, however, was the only thing he could accomplish,
and finally he sat up, staring at the pouring rain outside the window
for a moment before climbing to his feet.

"Akane," he whispered to himself, a shiver going up his back. What was
he doing, trying to sleep, while Akane- 'And Kasumi!' he reminded
himself- were both out there somewhere.

"You're going to go look for them again, eh?" someone asked from the
doorway. Ranma grunted, the answer rather obvious.

"Don't worry, Sugar, I understand. We were probably thinking the same
thing."

Ranma turned to look at Ukyo, and blinked as he realized she was dressed
in her Okonomiyaki-seller's/fighting outfit, spatulas ready. She walked
into the room and stood beside him, before turning her gaze towards the
window and the rain beyond. Neither of them said anything, for a moment,
and finally, Ranma moved to get something a bit warmer on.

"Don't go."

Ukyo and Ranma both froze as a new voice spoke from out in the hallway.
Nabiki walked in, looking somewhat pale in the muted light leaking in
from the window. The streetlight was far enough away that, with the
rain, any illumination it provided was practically ephemeral.

"I... we have to," Ranma said, finally.

"What's the point?" Nabiki retorted harshly. Ukyo's jaw dropped, and
Ranma glared at her. His mouth opened to speak, but before he could say
anything, Nabiki continued, "Don't forget, Saotome, that Akane was my
sister LONG before she was your fianc�e."

"Then why...?" Ukyo asked, softly.

"Because, it's pitch black out there, it's pouring rain, and you're both
nearly exhausted. I doubt you could find much more than a street light
in these conditions. Wait until the morning, and I'll make some calls.
Everyone who owes me anything will be here to help you two search. We'll
turn Tokyo upside down if that's what it takes to find my sisters."

"I... I don't..." Ranma started, hesitantly.

"Sao... Ranma... You may not realize it, but Daddy and I... and Mr.
Saotome too, I think, wan... need you here. We both saw Shampoo...
whoever did that to her, if they got to us..." Nabiki trailed off as she
hugged herself, shivering despite the relative warmth of the room.

"Please wait, Ranma," Nabiki said, finally. Ranma was about to protest
again, when he saw the tears glimmering in the dim light, and realized
that Nabiki was truly scared; frightened even. Taking a step back, his
movements echoed by Ukyo, who'd noticed the tears as well, Ranma stared
at the floor, holding back the retort to this seemingly unprovoked
attack, and finally nodded in defeat.

However, before Nabiki could disappear, he spoke, "you'd better make
those calls... we're getting up early-"

"Six O'clock," Ukyo interjected swiftly. Ranma nodded, continuing, "And
we're leaving to look for her at..." he paused to think of a good amount
of time to give everyone, before speaking again, "seven-thirty. Enough
time for anyone who's serious to get here, no matter where in Nerima
they are."

"Fine." Nabiki said, her tone business-like once again. She backed out
of the room, and disappeared down the hall, leaving Ranma and Ukyo alone
with a snoring Genma-Panda.

Ukyo looked at the window, briefly considering searching alone, since
only Ranma'd given his word, before turning towards the door. From what
she'd understood, Shampoo'd been utterly defeated, and while Ukyo knew
she was better than the Chinese Amazon, she seriously doubted she could
handle someone that managed to defeat Akane, Shampoo, Mousse, and most
likely Cologne, as well. Vowing to go on a lengthy, intense training
trip when this ordeal was all over, Ukyo slipped out the door, and
headed for her room.

Ranma watched Ukyo go, and knew she wished to continue searching almost
as much as he did. But, despite Nabiki's apparent fear, the middle Tendo
had managed to keep the two anxious fighters inside for a night he knew
would relinquish little (if any) sleep. Sliding back under the covers,
Ranma closed his eyes, and surprisingly fell asleep almost immediately.

"KASUMI! AKANE!" someone shouted, jolting the residents of the house out
of their uneasy slumber. Ranma glanced at the clock, which read "5:57",
before jumping to his feet. Running towards the stairs, Ranma heard a
cough come from below that sounded exceedingly familiar. Forgoing the
stairs and leaping to the floor below, Ranma was greeted to the sight of
both 'missing' Tendo daughters sitting down and sipping what looked like
tea.

"A-Akane!" He said, relief flooding through him. She was disheveled,
wet, and looked flushed, but none of that mattered, as to him, she
looked absolutely wonderful. Tearing his gaze from her, he realized
Kasumi was in a similar condition, and moved towards the table to sit
down and find out where they'd been.

Genma, Ukyo, and Nabiki also joined the no-longer missing sisters at the
table, while Soun emerged from the kitchen a moment later with more tea,
some of which he used to turn Genma back into a human.

"What?" Ukyo finally queried, while Nabiki asked "how?" at the same
time.

Both sisters glanced at each other before Ranma spoke, "Where the hell
have you two been?"

Akane looked down at her tea, coughed as if to get the attention she
already had more than enough of, then replied softly, "I don't know."

"You don't know... or you don't want to say?" Nabiki asked, a sinking
feeling in her stomach.

"I... Akane and I... We're not really sure where we were. Or what
happened," Kasumi said, softly. Nabiki worried more, but hesitated to
say any more.

"But, I mean, you have to remember something! I mean, how'd you get
here?" Ukyo said, hitting the table with her palm, and causing everyone
sitting around it to jump. She blushed and settled back down, thankful
nobody seemed surprised by the outburst, and after a moment of awkward
silence, Akane spoke again.

"The first thing I remember is waking up in... a room. It was dark, and
I was tied up somehow..."

"Some sick bastard is going to pay," Ranma stated evenly, his fists
clenched.

"Oh, my! It's past Six! I have to get breakfast started!" Kasumi said,
climbing quickly to her feet.

"Kasumi! Don't worry about breakfast, I'm sure we can go without making
you work for one morning," Soun said, finally breaking his silence.
While his tears of joy were still cascading down his face, his back was
straight, and he looked 20 years younger than he had the night before.

"That's right, Hon. I can cook this morning." Ukyo said, standing up.
Kasumi, however, would have none of it.

"But, that would be improper and rude of me! I promise, Father, I feel
fine. Just a sore throat. I actually feel better than fine!"

"Are you sure?" Nabiki asked, looking for any sign that someone had
forced their way on her older sister. Seeing none, she sighed, while
Kasumi nodded.

"Well, then... I suppose if you insist... Akane, what else do you
remember?"

"Well, like I said, it was dark, and I was tied up, but I managed to
pull my arms free after a while-"

All conversation stopped as Kasumi appeared to collapse. The Tendo's and
Saotome's moved seemingly as one over to where she'd hit the floor,
everyone asking if she was alright at once. Kasumi's face was flushed,
and she had a large, worried frown on her face. Then she started
screaming.

Not words, or in fear, these were soul-rending screams of utter pain,
and the collective group of would-be-helpers took an unconscious step
back as she began writing on the floor in obvious agony.

"Kasumi!" Soun cried, when he realized she was having some sort of
seizure. He stepped forward, taking her flailing hand in his before
yelling at those gathered behind him to call for help. Kasumi stopped
struggling for a second, her beet-red face covered in sweat, then she
moaned. It didn't last, however, as the moan grew into a roar, and
suddenly there was a muffled tearing sound, and Soun felt moisture coat
his face. Blinking, he looked down in horror, as Kasumi shuddered, her
chest heaving, as something seemed to push out of the tear visible
through her ripped blouse.

Everyone, even Soun, stepped back in utter horror as a worm-like 'thing'
slithered its way out of Kasumi's bloodied clothing, and coiled up on
her chest. It snarled at them then, its eye-less head looking around the
room briefly before springing itself towards Soun, who was closest.

Soun shrieked as it did so, then shrieked again as the creature wormed
its way into his gi. He began jumping around in a way that would almost
seem comical, had the creature causing the commotion not just chewed and
punched its way out of Kasumi's chest. However, when Soun stopped
jumping around, and started screaming, a bloodstain above his right hip
suddenly growing large, the macabre entertainment ended.

Nabiki fainted, and Genma stood still, unsure how to help his friend
without getting attacked by the horrific little demon himself. Akane was
switching back and forth from bawling and retching in the corner, and
Ukyo simply joined Nabiki on the floor.

Ranma stood frozen, much like his father, until he realized Soun was
being eaten alive, and he had to do something. Moving as fast as he
could, he tore Soun's gi off, which exposed a ragged, oozing hole in the
older man's side, the tapered tail of the creature still visible. It
curled up as Ranma exposed it, like some grotesque, alien finger
beckoning to a lover.

Ranma wrapped his hand around it and pulled, surprised at how much of a
fight the little worm-like demon put up. Still, after a short fight,
only the head remained inside, and Ranma blanched as he saw that there
was a dark red organ of some sort in its teeth. Before he could consider
what to do, the creature bit down, tearing a large chunk of flesh from
the organ, which began to bleed profusely. Soun collapsed then, and
Ranma threw the worm across the room as it began twisting around to bite
at him.

" Kijin Raishuu-Dan!" Ranma heard Genma shout, the elder Saotome
launching a vacuum blade across the room, which bisected the worm-thing
into two gory, pale pieces.

"What the fuck was that!?" Ranma shouted, as steam started rising from
the split body. Soun collapsed beside his eldest daughter's corpse,
blood slowly pooling under him. Genma approached the dead creature
cautiously, yelping involuntarily as he tried waving the steam away and
his hand suddenly began stinging, like he'd put it in fire.

Staring at his hand like he'd never seen it before, he watched it slowly
swell and turn an angry red, the stinging pain spreading up his arm
somewhat before stopping. A faint hissing noise tore his gaze from his
hand back down to the creature, which he now realized was leaking some
sort of acidic fluid all over the floorboards. Said acid was quickly
eating a hole in the floorboards which steadily grow, until the
creature's parts disappeared into it.

Ranma watched the milky acidic fumes waft from the edges of the hole and
shuddered, before turning to Soun and Kasumi. He felt his gorge rise as
he looked at the confused terror frozen on Kasumi's lifeless face,
before turning his gaze to Soun. The Tendo Patriarch was trembling,
unconscious, and a sickly pale-yellow, prompting Ranma to run for a
phone.

Quickly dialing the hospital for another ambulance, he decided, wisely,
to tell them there were two training incidents, mentioning the Dojo
name, before giving the address, and hanging up.

"Akane, put pressure on your father's wound, I've got to see if that
thing is really dead."

Akane sat there, quivering in the corner, and staring down at the puddle
of mucous and vomit she'd managed to heave up.

"Akane.." Ranma said, softer. Still no response whatsoever.

"Akane, Look, I know this is... this is hard for all of us, but your
father needs to be taken care of, and Someone needs to make
sure...Akane?"

As he moved closer, he heard her mumbling softly, but only after he'd
gotten right up next to her, did he realize she was praying almost too
quickly to comprehend.

Sighing, he moved over to Soun, hoping the creature was truly dead,
before putting pressure on the gaping wound in Soun's side. Genma
finally made his way to the kitchen, making a bowl of ice and placing
his hand in it. He hoped whatever that acidic stuff was, treating it
like any other burn would help it.

Taking stock of the situation, he kneeled beside his son, his face
ashen, before speaking.

"I'll take care of Soun... I think, son, it'd be best if you moved your
Fianc�e, Ukyo, and Nabiki out of the room." Ranma nodded, and stood up
as Genme slid his hand under Ranma's to keep pressure on the ragged
wound.

Ranma glanced at the unconscious Nabiki and Ukyo, then the confusing
Akane, before sighing and turning to look at Kasumi. Shuddering once,
and feeling his eyes tear up, he hesitantly approached her, keeping his
gaze on her face, and not her chest, before kneeling over her, and
closing her eyes gently. Shivering again, he backed away hastily, before
turning away and moving towards Akane.

"Akane... lets get you to your room."

She continued praying, again giving no indication she'd heard him. He
repeated himself a little louder, to which she continued ignoring him.
He sighed, and placed his hand on her shoulder, gaining a reaction he'd
not expected.

With a loud sob, Akane flung herself at Ranma, hugging him so tightly
the breath was forced from his lungs. Ukyo and Nabiki awoke to this, and
slowly sat up, looking around in surprise.

They both spotted Kasumi and Soun at the same time, but both reacted
differently. Nabiki started hyperventilating, the floor seeming to move
beneath her as she fought to stay conscious. The floor rippled in her
vision, and only after staring at it did she realize she was crying.
Then she broke down, her ice-queen fa�ade shattering utterly, and began
crying in earnest. Ukyo, unable to tear her eyes away from the gaping
hole in Kasumi, crab walked away from the body swiftly, not stopping
after she reached the wall, and pushing ineffectively at the floorboards
as she tried to get more distance between her and the body.

Akane sucked in a ragged breath, before sobbing loudly again, and Ukyo
jerked her head over to look at the distraction, finally able to tear
her eyes from the gruesome scene.

Akane began mumbling incoherently and rapidly, and Ranma tried in vain
to make sense of it all. Ukyo, watching Akane hold Ranma tight, felt
none of the jealousy she would have if this situation were not so grim.
Instead, her vision went blurry, and she stiffly crawled over to the
two, holding back the tears until she was embracing the two as well.

Akane continued mumbling, but Ranma wrapped his arm around Ukyo, giving
her a thankful look that she totally missed as she cried along with
Akane. Ranma opened his eyes as he felt another arm wrap around him, and
spun quickly, only to find Nabiki joining in the mass hug.

It seemed like forever, but finally, the sound of sirens were heard in
the distance, slowly growing louder, until they stopped outside the
compound. Running inside, the paramedics spotted the prone figures right
away, and rushed over, only to stop in horror as they finally got a good
look at Kasumi.

"Dear god..."

"What the fuck..."

"I can see into her goddam chest!"

The three paled when the realized the crying mess in the corner was
staring at them in horror and disgust, before quickly shutting up. The
three quickly surrounded Soun's body when they realized he was the one
in need of immediate medical attention, the younger girl obviously dead.

While two of the paramedics began working on Soun, the third pulled
Genma aside, intent on asking what had happened. Then he looked at
Genma's hand. The swelling had immobilized the hand, and blood was now
dotting his hand as it forced it's way through the skin.

"God, this looks like... hmm... Have you been working with any strong
acids or alkalis recently?"

Genma stared dumbly down at Soun, until the paramedic spoke louder,
"Sir?"

Jumping, as if he'd been slapped, Genma turned to the hole in the floor,
the smoky vapor no longer rising from within.

"Smoke from that fluid, I.. what..." Genma muttered.

Moving towards the hole, his eyes widened considerably as he realized it
wasn't cut from the floor, but eaten, as if an incredibly strong acid
had been spilled here. Looking down, he saw that one of the support
struts for the house was totally eaten through as well, the darkness
under the house swallowed up anything else that had been damaged.

The paramedic nodded to himself, reaching for his walkie-talkie and
calling ahead for some Calcium Gluconate Gel be readied for their
return.

The other two had managed to bandage Soun's wound, but the look they
gave each other was one of little hope. The body below them was almost
drained of blood, and from what they could see of the wound, whatever
had gotten into his side had made a mess of his internal organs.

Getting Genma to go along with them was a bit of a hassle, but Ranma's
reassurance that they'd be okay, and the throbbing purple mess of his
hand finally convinced him, and with a promise to return as soon as
possible, the ambulance took off.

Before the siren could fade into the distance, the faster siren of a
police car grew, approaching rapidly. A minute later, a Police officer
stepped him, reacting similarly to Kasumi as the paramedics had.

Regaining his composure, he radioed for the coroner, and moved towards
the huddled mass of children, intent on finding out what the hell had
happened.

"Excuse me... Kids? I'm Officer Nakahara, and I need to ask you a few
questions..."

An hour later, the officer closed his notebook in disgust. Akane and
Nabiki's elder sister was lying dead with a gaping hole in her chest,
and they kept talking about monsters for Mars or something.

The younger sister, 'Akane' her sister had told him, hadn't spoken at
all, leading Nakahara to believe they were hiding something, and she
might be his way of finding out what had really happened.

Upstairs, in Nabiki's room, Ukyo and Ranma tried getting Akane to speak,
with no luck. Finally, Nabiki stopped them.

"It won't work."

"Wha?" Ranma said, turning to her with a frown, "Well, I'm not going to
just give up! Why the hell aren't you trying anything?" Ranma nearly
shouted, realizing Nabiki'd gotten very cold once the huddle downstairs
was broken up by the nosy policeman.

"Akane..." Nabiki said, her voice quavering, "Akane..." this time it
broke, and the final syllable came out as a hoarse whisper.

"Nabiki, what's wrong?" Ukyo said, not understanding. Ranma looked at
Akane, then Nabiki, confused, and Nabiki growled, tears falling down her
face again.

"Don't you get it? Akane was with Kasumi. In the SAME PLACE! At the SAME
TIME!" Both Ukyo and Ranma stared at Nabiki, then leapt back from Akane
as realization hit.

"No... no no no nononono-" Ranma started, sinking to his knees in
horror.

"Akane..." Ukyo whispered, before putting her hand to her mouth, tasting
bile in the back of her throat. Both felt their eyes go watery.

Akane suddenly looked at Ranma, her face transforming from panicked fear
to a lifeless look of resignation.

"Kill me."

Ranma felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. Thinking back, he'd
been feeling it since this nightmarish day had started, but this time,
he felt something spiritual break. He began breathing heavily, the air
in the room suddenly growing cloyingly thick. Ranma felt like he was
fighting for each breath; as if the atmosphere had suddenly decided not
to relinquish the oxygen within.

"What?" he asked weakly, panting.

"Kill me, Ranma. Before... before..." she trailed off, and looked at the
door, mentally looking past it, at her dead sister, currently being
carried away inside one of the black bags that, up until this morning,
she'd only seen in movies.

"Akane, I..."

"Damnit Ranma! How hard a request is this! I didn't ask you to marry me,
and you sure as hell aren't my idea of the perfect guy, but I love you,
and I can't... I want... " She trailed off, shuddering for a moment
before breaking down into quiet sobs, and Ranma watched, helpless, as
Akane cried, each breath bringing her closer to her last.

"I.... You..." Ranma sighed, then looked at the floor, before
continuing, " Akane, I know you didn't... want this relationship, and,
well, I know I've not been the best guy at times.. but I.. I don't think
I can. I.. I Love you too much to take your life."

Ukyo didn't react at all to this, instead staring at Akane with wary
sorrow. When Akane turned to her, Ukyo jumped slightly.

"Then... Ukyo, could you.."

"No!" The chef shouted, falling back as her legs gave out from
underneath her. Akane kneeled on her bed, and stared at the comforter
below her, tears steadily falling towards the center of her vision.

"So that's it, then? You're going to let me die Like Kasumi... Like..."
She shuddered and sobbed again, pausing to cough, to which Ranma, Ukyo
and Nabiki inched back until she stopped.

"Akane." Nabiki said, finally. When Akane failed to acknowledge her, she
repeated herself a little louder, " Akane."

Akane looked up, and Nabiki stared into her eyes, trying to memorize
every feature while she still could, before turning around and moving
towards her closet. Pulling a false panel out of the wall, and quickly
spinning the dial of a small wall safe, she swung the well-oiled door
aside quietly, reaching inside before pulling something small and black
out.

It took a moment before Ranma realized he was looking at a small,
deadly, and very illegal revolver. Ukyo gasped as she realized what she
was looking at as well, and Nabiki fumbled with the weapon for a moment
before finally opening the cylinder and making sure it was as unloaded
as she'd left it.

"Nabiki..." Akane said, softly.

"I can't... I won't do it... but this is the most painless way I can
think of, if you can find someone capable of pulling the trigger."
Nabiki reached into the safe, and pulled out a speed loader, removing
one of the bullets before putting it back. Handing both to Akane,
Nabiki's fa�ade melted, and she embraced her sister, crying on Akane's
shoulder while Ukyo and Ranma still tried to grasp what Nabiki had just
offered.

Nabiki pulled away from Akane for a moment, before turning to Ranma and
Ukyo, and asking them to leave for a few minutes.

"You aren't..." Ukyo started, staring at the weapon lying on the bed
beside Akane. Nabiki shook her head no, then shut the door, leaving Ukyo
and Ranma alone in the hallway.

Officer Nakahara suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, and Ranma
and Ukyo turned to him when he cleared his throat.

"More questions?" Ranma asked, scowling. The officer had the courtesy to
blush, and Ranma sighed, stepping towards the officer and away from the
door. When he and Ukyo had gotten closer, Nakahara spoke in hushed
tones, wringing his hands together. He hated giving bad news at a bad
time, but it was his job to.

"I... I regret to inform you that Mr. Tendo passed away in the hospital
after a lengthy battle in the OR to save him. From what I was told, it
was a combination of blood loss, shock, and some sort of trauma to the
liver."

Ukyo slid down the wall to the floor, while Ranma stood swaying on his
feet as if he hadn't gotten any sleep in weeks. Apologizing again,
Nakahara withdrew quietly, leaving them alone after handing Ranma a card
with his cell phone number on it. Ranma stared at the floor, wondering
what else would happen, before turning to look at Ukyo, who was staring
up at him.

"Well... we have to tell them..." Ranma said, finally. He turned to go,
but Ukyo reached out and grabbed his leg, her grip so tight the feeling
in his foot began fading almost immediately.

"Not yet. Not... not Akane. Tell Nabiki, but you.. we.. shouldn't tell
Akane."

Ranma frowned, before pausing to think about it. Akane was... dying, and
Ukyo wanted to give her some small bit of happiness before... Ranma
shuddered, managing to turn the final shakes into an exaggerated nod,
before Ukyo let him go, and slowly climbed to her feet.

=====================

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma 1/2. The Aliens series is owned
by 20th Century Fox. I'd like to thank Rumiko Takahashi and Ridley
Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet for making
such wonderful worlds.

Authors Notes: Holy geeze, was that fun to write. Yet to come is the
conclusive part two, in which more stuff happens. This story came about
after reading the fic Predator and Prey, by Benares, and realizing to my
dismay that there were, as far as I could tell, no Aliens crossovers
with the Ranma-verse.

The reasoning behind such a lack was somewhat confusing because, despite
the difference in story-type, weirder, less-likely crossovers have been
and will (most likely) be made. So I figured I'd give it a go.
Unfortunately, after thinking up an outline, I realized I had fallen
into a trap that was only apparent once I wrote out the first few
scenes. Deciding to go for broke, I re-wrote the outline, which ended up
much more like this.

Hopefully it was as shocking to you all as it was to my pre-readers, who
I'd like to thank.

Nathan Huss (Wakoid2), Parker Schadegg (Mikhal001R), and Anthony, Thanks
for all the help. Nathan also wishes to express that he had no influence
on my decisions of who died, and that he doesn't think this story will
be well received, whatsoever.

Please C&C as I can't expect to get better without it.

GAH! I'd also like to thank Sam Brown, for writing 3FT, which I have so 
desperately needed in the past.

-Kagato


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'