Step  One  -  Stalking  Game
 
    The night sky of Nerima was a clear one.  The deep blue, almost a black but
well illuminated by the bright full moon, glistened with a pattern of twinkling
stars.  The background light from Tokyo was almost nonexistent, a pleasant
change of atmosphere that was rarely appreciated by most.  Except Akane.  She
loved the clear sky, the faint presence of the Milky Way as it wrapped itself
across the near-endless plane that was the sky. She stood out on the balcony,
staring into the deep azure and trying to discern the different colors of the
shining stars.  Was there life out there? she wondered.  The universe is so
huge, why not?  Besides, with all the absurd monsters that Ranma had
encountered in his travels and exploits you'd think that there might as well be
aliens to make the group whole.
    A streak of light suddenly pierced the night's sky and left a dazzling
trail of cosmic dust behind it.  Akane gasped in awe.  A falling star!
Brighter than most she had seen!  She quickly closed her eyes and made a wish,
knowing that a wish from a falling star had excellent chances of coming to
pass.  But the wish had to be strongly formed in one's mind, or else it would
dissipate with all the other bits of wishful thinking that took place in the
night.  Try to form an image, try to form an image.  She almost had it.  She
slowly opened her eyes and visualized...
    Ranma.  Hanging upside down from the rafters of the ceiling and looking at
her with an air of mild curiosity.
    "What in the world are you doing?"
    Akane yelped and nearly fell backwards.  He was no vision!  That idiot was
once again eavesdropping on her!
    "I WAS making a wish, you jerk!" she blurted out, "You've just ruined it,
though!"
    "Making wishes?"  Ranma let go of the ceiling and flipped over to his feet
before lightly touching the wooden ground. "Don't bother.  No amount of wishing
will make you a better cook. I think that's more of a miracle-type-thing..."
    "You insensitive JERK!"  Akane ran from the second-floor's porch and
quickly emerged from the entryway with a large wooden bokken.  She proceeded to
take swipes at Ranma, who easily dodged every attempt while looking amusedly at
her bluster.
    "Sticks and stones, tomboy."  Akane, fueled by even more anger, attempted
to wipe the huge grin from his face permanently with a charge and swung
furiously at her 'fiance'.  Ranma, backflipping off the balcony, stuck his
tongue out her while laughing all the way.
    Akane, out of range for any more stabbing, threw the bokken at Ranma, who
was able to twist his body a bit to the left and dodge the speedy projectile.
"Hah!  You need more practice, slowpoke!"  Unfortunately Ranma was forced to
literally eat his words when they were knocked back at his face with a frying
pan.
    "WHO are you calling 'slowpoke'?" Akane called out with a smirk as she saw
her second projectile hit target.  Ranma fell over in midair and landed
headfirst into the bushes below, a stunned look on his face as he tried to peel
off the black metal cookery.  Akane chuckled to herself and went back inside,
closing the glass door behind her and sealing the striped drapery.  Knocking
Ranma into the bushes with a frying pan : an excellent way to end the day.
Well, almost excellent... The fool had ruined her wish.  And it would have been
a GOOD wish, too, judging from how bright the shooting star had been.  No, at
best the evening had resulted in her breaking even.  Oh well, nothing could be
done about it now.
    Akane stepped into her room and shut the doors, stretched a bit and slipped
into bed, shutting off the small ornamental nightlite sitting on her bedstand
and happily snuggling in the blankets.  It's a shame P-Chan was nowhere around;
she wouldn't have minded the company, but for some reason her little piglet
seemed to have an agenda of his own.  He showed up whenever he did, and she
accepted that as part of his nature.  Kind of like Ryouga.  She smiled to
herself that she could have two good friends that were so much alike.  She
would really have to introduce the two some day...
    About five miles away, in the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo one (or more
appropriately both) of Akane's good friends was walking around the busy night
streets completely and utterly lost.  He was carrying a large fold-out map and
desperately trying to figure out where the Tendo residence was, but judging
from the fact that he was holding the map upside-down many onlookers didn't
think he was ever going to be ending up where he wanted.  Ryouga looked about,
but none of the terrain looked familiar.  Hell, terrain NEVER looked familiar
to him, but he could at least recall that this many people didn't actually live
in the dojo, so he was still not on the right track.  When he had seen that
bright falling star an hour back he was certain that it was a sign from the
heavens, an arrow to point him in the right direction, but all it did was aim
him here, wherever here was.  Growing somewhat tired Ryouga folded up the map
and sat down on a bus bench.  Once again he was hopelessly lost, with no chance
in the universe of finding his beloved Akane.  Perhaps he would never again see
anyone familiar to him... Ryouga sighed in sadness.  He would be destined to
live the rest of his life as a recluse, never again to spot a recognizable
face.
    "Ryouga?  What are you doing here?"
    Ryouga quickly turned about and saw the source of the question.  Ukyou was
standing behind him, holding a bag of newly purchased clothing and looking at
him in surprise.  Ryouga was overcome with joy.
    "Aaagh!  I never thought I'd see anyone familiar again!!" Weeping, Ryouga
hugged Ukyou's legs in desperation, an act she didn't seem too fond of.
    "Yeek!  Let go of me, you moron!  People are watching!"  Indeed, crowds
were staring at the two.  Ukyou, not wanting to ruin her image with Ranma as a
trustworthy fiance, pulled the large metal spatula from the strap on her back
and let Ryouga have it square on the forehead.  His grasp was effectively
released.
    "OW!"  Ryouga rubbed the large bruise that formed on his head and looked at
Ukyou with some annoyance.  "I WAS going to let go!"  "And so you did," was her
reply, "I simply gave you some prodding.  So, what was it you wanted?  I'm in
kind of a rush to get home."
    "Home?"  Ryouga scratched the back of his head, as though his often-made
request was still going to sound absurd.  "Could you please take me home with
you?"  Yep, it sounded absurd, all right.
    "Oh for crying out loud...  Okay, come on, we'll take the train back
together.  But YOU'RE paying for your own ticket!"  She took his hand and
dragged him along behind her, feeling as though she had just found a stray
child who couldn't find his mother.  From Ryouga's sheepish expression at being
led around it looked even more so.  But at least he would be back in Nerima,
and as long as he could keep himself from getting lost once more he would be
able to find his lovely Akane-san.
 
    Upon the windy steeples of the tall buildings of Tokyo loomed a new
presence, one whose kind hadn't visited the Land of the Rising Sun in many
decades.  Cold gusts of wind blew back and forth across its bare skin, but it
casually shrugged it off; the weather was an unpleasant change from the strong
heat it was so accustomed to, but sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of
Prey. The astounding height was no concern, however; on the contrary, stalking
Prey from the upper echelons of the city gave it more freedom of movement, a
higher point of attack, and an easier chance to move about totally undetected.
Intently it watched the throngs of people moving to and fro amongst the noise
and lights of the city, trying to find a bearing on its first Prey.  This would
be the preliminary procedure, grabbing the attention of the main Target by
eliminating its familiars.  Unfortunately the incredible number of people below
were warping the heat signatures, blending them into a single mass of red,
orange and yellow.  No problem, a true Hunter always had other means of
detection at hand.  Sound, for instance.  Its hearing was extremely acute, the
sensors in its helmet amplifying desired signals and processing them into a
visual code which it could use to plot trajectory and vector angles.  And there
it was, as clear as glass, two vocal patterns it had preprogrammed its helmet
to recognize and seek out.  One human male, the other a human female,
originating 0.41 kilometers northeast from its current position.
    The Hunter made sure all its gear was in place and immediately leapt from
its vantage point on the building's ledge to another shorter building
fifty-feet away.  Its bare feet easily gripped the surface as it continued to
run, from rooftop to rooftop until the audio signal was able to be properly
locked on and a visual track could be attained.  Six stories below, a platform
of some sort with a series of long metal tracks running both ways off into the
distance.  On the tracks was a small elongated vehicle of some sort, also made
of metal, and people were filing into it.  Including the two Targets.  With a
tap on its wrist-mounted control pad the Hunter was able to magnify their
visual images : a male and female pair, both a half-meter below its own height,
both in apparently excellent physical condition.  The male didn't seem to wield
any weapons, although the female had a large metal object attached to her back,
perhaps a blade weapon of some kind.  They followed the crowds into the
mass-transit machine and behind them the doors shut with a quiet "whish".  The
Hunt begins.
 
    Ukyou and Ryouga slipped and slided through the tight crowds until a couple
of seats became available.  The train clattered down its tracks as the city
outside disappeared and was replaced by the speedily passing view of the
smaller suburbs.  Ukyou sighed and stared out the window at the night sky as it
twinkled back at her; having to play nursemaid to a man who would get lost
trying to leave a bathroom, how embarrassing.  Ukyou took a quick glance over
at Ryouga, who was absently looking at the other passengers of the train.  From
all the dirt that was covering his face and the awful stench he must have been
hopelessly wandering the countryside for days.  Didn't he carry any soap in
that huge backpack of his?
    Ukyou's concentration was quickly shaken as a loud "thump" shook the roof
of the train.  She looked out the window once again, this time trying to get a
glimpse upward.  She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary... Ukyou
shuddered, hoping that the train hadn't hit a bird or another such animal.
    "Did you hear something?" asked Ryouga.  Apparently he had noticed it, as
well.
    "Yes, what do you think it was?"
    "Beats me.  Probably a rock--"
    Thump!  There it was again.  Ukyou and Ryouga looked upward trying to
figure out exactly what part of the car was producing the sound.  Thump, once
more.  It was closer this time.
    "That's funny, it's coming this way..." Ukyou nodded in agreement with
Ryouga's comment.  Mumbling began to emanate from the other passengers; the
noise was now loud enough so that everyone could hear it.  Another thump, and a
few people begin to get scared.  Another thump.  And another.  And each time it
moved closer to Ukyou and Ryouga's position.
    Ryouga grabbed a hold of his satchel.  "I think we should move."
    "Good idea."
    The twosome got up and slowly began to maneuver through the throngs of
people, heading forward through the moving train.  The thumping continued, and
each time it reverberated through the car it got louder.  Upon reaching the end
of the passenger compartment Ryouga slid open the door and was beginning to
head into the next car when the sharp sound of tearing metal came from behind
them.  Ukyou and Ryouga quickly looked back to see a small hole rip open
through the roof and the seat beneath it tear apart, as though a large
invisible spear had been plunged into it.  It was the seat that Ryouga had been
sitting in.
    "Oh shit," was his response.
    The seat slowly rose upward on its unseen hook, tearing loose of its hinges
and rising for a few feet before falling back down to the hard metallic floor
panels with a loud clang.  Immediately the crowd dispersed, running and
screaming from the point of impact.  Ryouga and Ukyou decided to follow suit.
    Ryouga burst through the next car's rear door with Ukyou right behind him,
running through the masses of people as fast as possible.  The thumping
continued to follow them, moving faster in an attempt to catch up.
    "What the hell's going on?!" yelled out Ukyou.
    "I don't know, but I don't think we should stick around to find out!"
Ryouga moved through the next set of doors they lay before him. "How long until
this thing stops?"
    "I don't know, probably ten more minutes."  Ukyou looked back as the
pounding on the ceiling began to close its gap between them.  In that short
interval she failed to see the grocery bag in front of her and landed on her
chin as she tripped.
    Ryouga quickly noticed he was alone and turned around to see where Ukyou
had vanished to.  She was a few yards back, trying to scramble to her feet, but
was dizzy from the impact her head had received on the floor.  Ryouga promptly
stopped and ran back to her.
    And the ceiling just behind the two suddenly caved in, ripped open by an
invisible force just like before above the chair, but this time the hole was
much bigger.  Whatever came through the hole produced the same ominous thump
that had followed Ryouga and Ukyou throughout the train, along with the
creaking of the metal floor as it bent slightly at the point of impact.  Ukyou
leapt back and quickly regained her senses.  Or perhaps she hadn't : although
the sound of an impact with the floor took place, there didn't seem to be
anything there except some kind of near-invisible distortion.  A distortion
that was over two-and-a-half meters tall.  A distortion that seemed to look
right at her with a pair of glowing green eyes.  The sight just froze her; she
had completely forgotten about the sharp pain in her chin from which a small
trickle of blood was now free-flowing.  The invisible mass let out of quiet
growl and slowly walked towards her, and slowly she began to back away.  With
each step it took she would take another one back.  The crowds of people were
all running away for their lives, like mice locked in a cage with a hungry cat,
but Ukyou and the distortion ignored them.  Ryouga couldn't believe his eyes at
the sight either, but unlike Ukyou he had had more experience dealing with
various types of monstrosities and knew that acting was an immediate and
necessary option.
    In the distortion's hand a long thin impression that may have been what
tore apart Ryouga's seat was held in its grasp.  Ukyou quickly realized the
danger imminent and did the only thing should could think to do; carefully she
moved her hand back until her fingers coiled around the grip of her spatula.
As soon as her hand came into contact with her weapon the invisible creature
quickly raised its own hand above its head, a long metallic spear with
wicked-looking barbs on its ends appearing out of nowhere, and was preparing to
dispatch her with a swift motion of the arm. Ukyou felt as though her heart had
stopped beating -- there was no way she would be able to deflect a blow from
such a large weapon in time.
    Suddenly the entire train came to a harsh and sudden stop, throwing
everyone and everything off their feet.  Passengers slid back and crashed into
one another, and Ukyou was tossed backwards along with the cloaked creature.
Lights went out all over the train and with a final loud screeching of metal
against metal the entire train completely ceased to move.
    Ukyou had taken a nasty hit to the head from the rear wall, but that was
far preferable to whatever the anomaly had been planning on doing.  The pain
above and around her neck was  strong, but she knew that she would have to
ignore it and find some kind of defensive position.  Without warning a hand
grasped her wrist, startling her and prompting her to involuntarily cry out.
Another hand quickly slapped across her mouth.
    "Ssh!!  Be quiet and come on!"
    Ryouga quickly led Ukyou across the groaning masses of passengers and found
an exit.  Fortunately the emergency break switch he had pulled also released
all the door locks, and the two slipped out of the train without drawing any
extra attention to themselves.
    Before them lay a few miles of open grass, and just beyond that the lights
of Nerima's outskirts.  Ryouga, checking to see if Ukyou was okay, promptly set
her in front of him and had her lead the way to someplace safe.  As the twosome
ran through the tall grass Ryouga handed Ukyou one of his bandanas so that she
could wipe away the clotting blood on her chin and the fresh cut she got along
her arm from the sudden stop of the train.
    "Do you hear anything following us?" she asked.
    "I can't tell," said Ryouga, "the wind's blowing the grass around too much.
I don't see anything behind us, though."  To make sure Ryouga was right Ukyou
looked back; all that was visible were the faint lights coming back on in the
train.
    "What the hell WAS that thing?  Have you and Ran-chan fought it before?"
    "I've never seen anything like that before in my life!  Whatever it was it
sure wants one of us badly."
    "ONE of us?  It looked like it wanted to gut BOTH of us!"
    The chilly night air blew about them as they ran under the bright glow of
the moon, two sprinting silhouettes against a deep navy blue backdrop sprinkled
with stars.  Eventually the two completed their journey through the grass and
made it into the dark, empty streets of Nerima's outermost limits.  Ukyou and
Ryouga quickly looked about, but nothing threatening seemed to be in sight.  It
appeared that they had eluded whatever it was that had tried to kill them on
the train.
    Ukyou pointed to the southwest.  "Ran-chan's house is about seven or eight
blocks thataway.  We can go there, maybe he knows something about that...
whatever-it-is."
    Ryouga nodded in agreement while clenching his fist in anger. That fool
Ranma!  This was all probably HIS fault.  Somehow he had unleashed yet another
incarnation of evil upon the earth and now it was left to everyone else to pick
up the pieces.  He was getting pretty fed up with all these silly monsters...
    After a couple of seconds Ryouga discovered that Ukyou had already begun to
run ahead of him and quickly sprinted to catch up.  The two ran down the
streets and around a few corners, when Ryouga suddenly got the strange feeling
that something just didn't feel... right.
    "Hold it!" he called out as he stopped running.
    Ukyou stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with some annoyance.
"What is it?  We're almost there."  Her annoyance dissipated quickly when she
saw the look of caution on his face; obviously he had noticed something that
she had not.
    "Something's following us..."
    Ukyou carefully scanned up and down the street -- other than a few scraps
of paper drifting in the wind there was nothing on the dark moonlit asphalt.  A
few cars could be heard in the distance, but that was the sole extent of the
noise as well. "Are you sure you saw something?"
    "I didn't 'see' ANYTHING.  I just know something's out there."
    Ukyou began to get nervous.  Ryouga was a more experienced fighter than she
was, his sense of danger was probably far more acute than hers.  She took a
hold of his arm and tugged him along with her.  "Let's get moving.  Ran-chan
lives right down this street."
    Ukyou turned about and the second her foot touched ground she also knew
something was not right.  A high-pitched whine, much like the sound of a camera
flash recharging itself, drifted through the chilled air.  Ukyou pursed her
lips and looked about the empty Nerima streets but couldn't locate the source
of the sound.
    Three red dots.  Ukyou suddenly saw three brightly lit red dots shaped into
a triangular pattern on Ryouga's yellow shirt.  And she didn't think that the
fact they were placed right above his heart was a simple coincidence.
    With as much strength as she could muster Ukyou jerked Ryouga to the side
just as a burst of fire flew forward, passing right through the spot where
Ryouga's chest had been a moment before and striking the ground behind them
with explosive force.  The power of the blast combined with the momentum from
Ukyou's swing sent the two flying into the alley next to them, Ryouga crashing
into a garbage can and Ukyou rolling through a pile of cardboard boxes lining a
wall.
    Ryouga, shaking the trash off his head, leapt to his feet and looked at
their surroundings -- a dismal alleyway lined on both sides by buildings and
closed off at the far end by a brick wall. Ukyou was quickly digging herself
out of the boxes and looked at Ryouga when she finally unearthed herself.
    "I guess we didn't lose that thing after all..."  With one swift motion she
reached back and unsheathed her large spatula, holding it in a defensive stance
before her body.  Ryouga had left his umbrella along with his backpack on the
train, so he was forced to rely on defense without a weapon.  The two moved
back- to-back and vigilantly began to walk out of the alley, slowly and
watching every angle for any chance of a surprise attack.  Around them was the
ever-present silence of the street, still giving no indication of life but no
longer providing any sort of comfort.
    A small crack.  Ryouga and Ukyou both looked upward at the source of the
sound, but nothing was there.  Just the brick building, bits of the stone
border lining the roof crumbling from old age.  Something moved.  Ryouga
squinted carefully, but nothing was there.  Just the wall.
    "No," he thought to himself, "Something's there..."
    Whatever it was it was looking right back at him.
 
    It hung from the wall with the ease of a spider.  Its strong fingers
accompanied by the training of a lifetime enabled it to scale most surfaces
with absolutely no difficulty.  Below it stood the two targets, back-to-back,
one wielding her large metal weapon, the other holding nothing but its own
fists.  They knew it was here, but it didn't care : the sport is so much more
satisfying if your Prey knows you're out there.  They were agitated, afraid,
all evident by their heightened body temperatures, their strong breathing,
their rapid heart beats.  They were fast : most other humans would have been
torn in half by the blast of a pulse cannon, wouldn't have been able to dodge
with such skill.  They were strong : even after repeated blows to the head the
female continued to stand, even run full speed alongside the male without
stopping for the entire distance to this city.  Now it was time to test their
skill.
    It dropped from the wall above the humans, who leapt in opposite directions
to avoid being hit.  One human must be corralled in the alley.  This way at
least one would be unable to escape, and if they were both mates the other
would refuse to leave without the first.  The male was trapped between it and
the dead-end of the passageway, no place to run or hide.  With a quick flick of
the arm twin blades snapped from the holsters on its wrists.
 
    Ryouga looked at the creature before him with bristling defiance.  It
appeared even larger this close up when compared with its presence on the
train, at least seven feet tall.  It scared him to death, surprising
considering how many dangers he had faced in his life, but he would be damned
if he let it see fear.  Ryouga had to keep squinting to see it clearly; it was
nearly invisible, except for the distortion of the terrain behind it which
appeared warped and twisted.  The darkness of night was not helping his view,
either, but at least the two sets of gleaming metal blades that had just
appeared from its wrists weren't hidden along with the rest of the creature.
The monster took a step towards Ryouga, and Ryouga refused to let it take
another. Quickly he punched forward at where he hoped would be the stomach.
 
    The human threw a punch at it.  The Hunter blocked his fist with its own
and was surprised to discover how strong the human was.  For his size he
carried considerable power; the force of the punch alone was probably enough to
shatter a cinderblock wall.  But not enough to overpower it.  No human can ever
overcome one of its kind with mere physical strength.
 
    In the blink of an eye the monster grabbed Ryouga's moving fist and was
pushed back, the ground beneath its feet tearing up slightly upon contact.
Unfortunately that was the extent of damage inflicted.  The creature responded
by closing its fist around Ryouga's and applying pressure; Ryouga winced as a
sharp pain ran up his arm and through his shoulder.  With the back of its hand
raised high the creature belted him across the face sending him flying into the
brick dead-end wall.  A loud crash and the wall caved in slightly, Ryouga
sliding five-feet down its side and slumping dazedly to the ground.  The
monster slowly walked up to the prone fighter, invisible fingers gripping
tightly around his neck.  Through the swollen left side of his face Ryouga
could see the glistening metal of long serrated blades on its arm.  The arm
raised up, preparing to cleave him in half.
    With a CLANG the monster was slammed to one side as a large flat sheet of
metal struck it upside the head.  It lost its grip on Ryouga, dropping him back
to the ground with a dull thud.  The monster rolled across the ground and
promptly righted itself, looking at its attacker.  Ukyou stood sternly between
it and Ryouga, spatula gripped and ready for anything.
    "Now you've got me to deal with, you... THING!"  Ukyou moved back a little
bit, trying to catch a glimpse of Ryouga from the corner of her eye. "Are you
alright?  Ryouga?!"  Ryouga was trying to get to his feet, his neck red from
being held so tight and seemingly unable to speak at the moment, but he nodded
his head weakly in confirmation that he was still in one piece.  Ukyou fully
redirected her attention back to the camouflaged monstrosity.  The dim light
from the streetlight beyond the alley provided an eerie glow to the narrow back
street, drowning most of the byway with shadow.  Ukyou could barely see the
monster, having to refocus on its image with every blink of her eyes.  Could it
see her with the same clarity? she wondered...
    Ukyou made her move, charging at the huge creature with spatula in hand.
With a twirl of the arm she took a swipe at it, a blow which it rapidly
deflected with the serrated claws on its left wrist.  Amidst a rain of sparks
it retaliated with a long slash with the sharp blades on its right wrist.
Ukyou leapt upward and dodged the strike, flipping over it and struck it in the
head with her weapon.  The monster staggered forward, but the blow had had less
effect on it than Ukyou had anticipated; before she could touch ground the
monster had spun around and delivered a fierce roundhouse kick to her back.
Ukyou's landing was less than perfect as she hit the ground hard with her
chest, knocking the wind out of her.  The monster had fully whirled about now
and was standing over her when Ryouga took the opportunity to take a hold of
both its arms and initiate a lock behind its back.
    "RUN!!" he cried out to her. "Get out of here!"
    Even if she had wanted to leave him to fight this thing alone Ukyou found
standing to be very difficult.  The blow to her back had done something to her
legs, left her weak.  Quickly she propped her spatula up under her and pulled
herself up, trying to get a foothold on the ground.  In the meantime Ryouga was
using every ounce of strength he had to keep the creature's arms held behind
it.  This monstrosity was incredibly strong and if it continued to thrash about
it would break his grip any second.  Ukyou, finally able to get to her feet,
reared back with her spatula and prepared to smash the creature in the head.
    With no warning at all Ryouga's grip was broken and the spatula was
violently sliced in half by the monster's arm blades. The cutting force knocked
Ukyou off her feet and she was thrown back into the building's wall before the
clattering of metal came from the ground of the alley.  A triad of red dots
appeared on her shirt.  The monster prepared to fire.
    Ryouga rammed into it with all his might.  The monster lost its tracking
and misfired, sending a burst of white flame into the upper echelons of the
western-most building.  The sounds of piping being sheared by the discharge
rang out.
    There was no way he could avoid the next attack; the monster was
unbelievably fast for its size.  It swung its fist back, too far away for skin
to strike skin, but close enough for the blades to meet instead.  Ryouga
grimaced as two lacerations formed across his face, not deep enough to do any
real harm but just enough to force him away and cause intense pain.
    As he stumbled back the invisible creature snagged Ryouga by his hair and
lifted him from the ground.
    Piping exploded.  A haze of water began to fall throughout the alley.
    Before Ryouga could even put his arms up to block the distortion drove its
clawed arm forward.
    Water drenched the two.
 
    The Hunter's blades struck the wall before it and nearly plowed all the way
through the brick.  Something had happened.  It wasn't sure how, but its Prey
had vanished from its hand just before striking.  It looked around quickly.
The female was still lain against the wall, breathing erratically, but the male
had disappeared from the alley.  It carefully listened.  A heartbeat. Yes,
there was another heartbeat.  But something was wrong; it moved much faster
than a human heart, like that of a small animal.  But there were no heat
signatures in the alleyway -- no, wait.  There, at its feet.  The Hunter looked
down and was surprised to see a small animal, a mammal of some sort.  The
Hunter bent down and scrutinized the creature carefully.  It was injured
somehow, bearing two scars across its face and a number of bruise injuries,
much like the Target's.
    A strange coincidence.  The pig looked back at it with a mixture of fear
and anger, also strange since the Hunter had done nothing to it.  After all, it
would never have harmed something so small and defenseless in the first place.
    The female, however, was another story.  It looked back at her pattern of
reds and yellows and oranges, placed upon the blue hue of the background.  Her
heartbeat was faster, her body temperature higher; she was truly afraid.  It
looked down at the damp ground; her halved weapon lay before its feet.  Back at
the human woman.  She had not moved, probably due to the blow to her spinal
area.  She would be no more trouble.  Instead, she would be its first Trophy of
the Hunt.
 
    Ukyou tried to grip the wall behind her, tried to pull herself back up.  It
was getting harder and harder to stand.  The distortion had missed Ryouga the
second he transformed into P-Chan, and seemed confused by the sudden absence of
its prey.  Ryouga was safe, for the moment at least, but its attention was now
directed solely at her.  Slowly it walked towards Ukyou, and slowly she was
able to make it back up, although the walls slick from water were not helping
her move at all.
    A spark flashed before her.  And another.  They were coming from the
monster.  The monster seemed surprised by this as well.  As the water from the
pipes drenched them both more and more sparks flew from the creature's body.
    Suddenly a solid image appeared before her.  It vanished for a second, then
reappeared.  With each electrical surge across the body more and more of it
became visible, yet the flickering between visibility and invisibility was more
difficult to watch than its completely distorted state.  The monster seemed to
have had enough of its inability to remain unseen and tapped a switch on its
wrist.  A beep acknowledged the command and the once- invisible monster became
completely discernible.
    Ukyou couldn't hold back a gasp at the sight of it.  It was just as tall as
she thought, towering over two feet above her, its body a mess of tight,
powerful muscles.  The skin was a pale brownish-yellow, small dark spots lacing
various parts of its body.  The silvery blades on its wrists revealed their
invisible holsters, brown gauntlets of metal on both arms.  Its shoulders,
shins, knees and groin were protected by black armor, kind of weird looking
since the most vulnerable part of its body, the chest cavity, was left
completely bare except for a thin netting and adorned only by a necklace of
teeth strung tightly together.  The only visible parts of its head were thick
black strands, what Ukyou assumed was hair, the rest of the head sealed in a
brown metal helmet; buried within the helmet were two dark slits that formed
the eyepieces.
    "My God... What ARE you?"
    The eyeslits simply looked at her in silent response.  Ukyou's fingers
desperately dug into the wall.  She HAD to do something quick.  Ryouga was in
no condition to help her, and her weapon of choice was lying on the ground in
two useless pieces.  She thoroughly regretted not bringing her small throwing
spatulas, but looking at the monster before her they probably wouldn't have
done more than annoy it anyway.
    Annoy it.  That was the only option left.  She had no more means of attack,
and she wasn't just going to let it cut her to ribbons.  She reached into her
shirt and grabbed a small bag of flour, then hefted it at the monster's face.
 
    Everything went black.  The female threw something at it just as the Hunter
was closing in for the kill, silencing all the heat sources in its field of
vision and effectively blinding it.  Why hadn't it detected the packed weapon
before she used it?  No matter, it had to get the substance off its visor or
the Prey would escape.  It thrashed about quickly, hoping to randomly strike
the target before she could disappear like her mate.  It felt something clip
the end of its blade but wasn't certain how much damage had been inflicted, if
any at all; for all it knew it had merely struck the wall once more.  The
still-falling water from the sky was cleansing its visor of the substance,
slowly the heat signatures began to return to it.  It looked about.
Nothing.  No life signs.  No human female.  No Trophy.  Not even the little pig
remained in the alley.  It listened carefully, hoping to catch noise in the
air.  Still nothing.  They were either staying completely still or had traveled
out of range.
    The Prey had escaped.
    The Hunter clenched its hand into a tight fist and punched at the wall in
anger, pulverizing the bricks into small particles of crumbling dust.  It
raised its head high and let out a cry of fury, bellowing to the night sky in a
ferocious howl.
 
    Akane was startled into waking.  What was THAT?  She was certain she had
heard something, like the roar of a lion.  But it was so full of raw anger.
    Lifting her covers back she slid out of bed and looked through the drapes
of her window.  There was no telling where the cry came from, it echoed all
over the district.  A few lights from neighboring houses had gone on; evidently
others had heard the noise as well.  Akane stepped away from the window and
exited her room.  If anyone in the house was awake they hadn't turned their
lights on, yet.
    Some clanking came from downstairs, accompanied by the sound of running
water.  Someone had been woken up after all... Akane descended the staircase
and headed for the source of the clatter, the kitchen.  A cold breeze whipped
across her shoulder and bare face.  Akane looked to her left and noticed that
the front door was slightly open, blowing back and forth in the gentle wind.
    Burglars!  Akane quickly looked around the dark living room but couldn't
see anything usable as an offensive weapon.  No problem, regardless of the
constant insults hurtled from Ranma belittling her fighting abilities she
considered herself perfectly capable of ousting some petty thieves.  Carefully
she tip-toed to the kitchen entrance and looked inside.  The lights were still
out, but the outlines of two figures could plainly be seen in the pale
moonlight piercing the window.  Whoever they were they certainly weren't very
good burglars -- the noise they were making would probably wake the dead.  Any
minute now her father and the others would be down here wondering what was
causing all the commotion.  All the more reason to dispatch the prowlers
herself : this way Ranma would have to eat his nasty words regarding her
prowess in kenpo.  Akane readied herself, slowly reaching in to turn on the
lights and then take them by surprise...
    The lights went on.
    Ryouga looked back at her.  "Akane-san!"
    Akane was shocked to see a battered Ryouga and Ukyou in her kitchen and ran
up to the two, looking them over carefully.  Ryouga was wearing nothing but a
towel around his waist and his trademark yellow and black bandana across his
forehead.  His body was covered in bruises, especially a large one around his
neck in the shape of a huge hand.  Across his face were a couple of long scars,
still fresh judging from the blood.  He was kneeling over a seated Ukyou,
cleaning off her injuries with warm sink water.  Ukyou was in apparently much
worse condition : her chin was slightly split and there was a long cut across
her arm, although these injuries seemed to have closed up at the moment.  The
most noticeable cut was the one along her side, where the appendix was supposed
to be.  The towels Ryouga had used to absorb the blood were almost saturated,
but even hidden beneath the cloth the wound was obviously a mess and would need
treatment immediately.
    "UKYOU!  RYOUGA-KUN!  What happened?!!"  She began to look over Ukyou : she
was practically unconscious, mumbling a little bit to herself in delirium, eyes
staring blankly to the ceiling.  Ranma, Genma and the rest of the Tendos
suddenly entered the room and caught sight of the injured pair.
    "HOLY SHIT!!  _UK-CHAN_!!!"  Ranma ran up to his friend and, shoving Ryouga
out of the way, checked her for all signs of injury.  "Someone call a doctor!!"
    Kasumi was already on the phone before Ranma had finished his sentence.
After a couple of minutes of talking she hung up the phone and returned to the
family.  "An ambulance will be here soon," she announced, "And Doctor Tofu will
be here in a minute as well."
    Kasumi and Nabiki quickly left for the bathroom and returned with some more
towels, a wooden water bucket and a bathrobe for Ryouga.  Soun and Akane
checked Ryouga's injuries while Genma and Ranma were making sure Ukyou's blood
loss stayed at minimal levels.  Shortly afterward the sounds of a car's
screeching tires was heard outside, accompanied by the opening of the front
gate and the swish of the front door.  Doctor Tofu ran into the kitchen, a
small medical kit in hand, and without even acknowledging the Tendos he moved
in next to Ukyou.
    "What happened to her?" he asked without taking an eye off his patient.
    Ranma looked at Ukyou with intense concern, then at Ryouga.  "What DID
happen?" he asked, anger practically spilling through his voice.
    Ryouga shook his head.  "We were attacked by... something.  A ghost, some
kind of demon, I don't know.  It sliced her across the chest when we tried to
escape.  Whatever the hell it was it nearly killed both of us."
    Tofu opened his medical kit and pulled out a pair of scissors. "It may
still have succeeded with her.  I'll need all of you to leave.  Except you
Kasumi, I'll need your help to keep her stable.  Mr. Tendo, when the ambulance
arrives send them in here quick, tell them she may need an immediate
appendectomy."  Tofu began to cut off Ukyou's shirt around the area of injury,
making sure not to remove any of the towels sealing her wound.  Kasumi calmly
stood by him, ready to help him with whatever he needed.  Amidst this tragedy
Akane couldn't help but feel surprised that Doctor Tofu was not suffering from
his usual affliction of lightheadedness in the presence of her eldest sister;
apparently he was quite capable of staying totally professional when dire needs
arose.  She felt a light tug on her arm and quickly noticed that her father was
trying to get her to leave the room as ordered.  Ranma needed a little more
prodding, but some reassuring words from Kasumi were enough to convince him to
leave them to their work.
    The Tendos watched Tofu from down the hallway while Ranma maneuvered Ryouga
into the unlit corner of the living room. "Alright Ryouga, what did that to
her?"  His voice was deadly serious.
    "I was hoping you'd know..."  Ryouga laid out the entire story to Ranma,
hoping that a description of the monster's abilities and tactics might jog his
memory, but Ranma drew nothing except a blank.
    "So whatever this thing is neither of us has ever had any contact with it
before this."  Ranma turned and scratched his chin in thought.  An invisible
monster stronger than Ryouga and powerful enough to defeat him and Ukyou at the
same time.  Ranma wasn't about to miss the fact that it had singled them both
out, either, following them all the way from the train into Nerima.  "And it
became visible after it became wet?"
    "Right, but I don't think it had anything to do with Jhusenkyou.  If the
attack was related to our being cursed it would have probably recognized me
when I turned into P-Chan."  Ryouga lightly scratched at the itching bandages
on his face, wincing as his fingers ran across the covered lacerations.  They
would eventually heal without any real scars if he could get some stitches, but
the injury would sting for quite some time regardless.  It would have to wait;
this creature took first priority over his own problems.  Especially after what
it did to Ukyou.
    Ranma turned back to Ryouga, his brow knit together in assertion.  "We'll
have to head out and try to locate that thing tonight.  If it IS after you two
it might find you in the hospital and then Uk-chan would really be in some
danger."
    Akane walked up to the two of them.  The dim lights from outside the room
gave her an almost-golden silhouette in the near-black room.  She looked at
Ryouga with some concern, noting the still-swollen state of the side of his
face.  "How are you feeling, Ryouga-kun?  Any better?"
    Ryouga quickly dropped his stern demeanor and gave Akane a strong look of
confidence, as though he didn't have a care in the world. "No sweat, Akane-san.
This'll heal over in no time."
    Akane smiled at Ryouga (who blushed as red as a beet in response), then
turned her attention to Ranma.  "What are we going to do about this monster?"
she asked.
    "I'M going with Pop, Mr. Tendo and Ryouga to go find it and take it down.
YOU'RE going to stay here with your sisters."
    Akane frowned in protest.  "Why shouldn't I go along with you?  _I_ can
fight, too!"
    "You?  Fight?!"  Ranma scoffed at this comment. "You'd just end up getting
yourself hurt."
    "What?!  But--!"
    "You're not going!"
    Akane threw a scowl Ranma's way and was about to continue her protest when
a thought hit her.  "Wait a second.  Are you actually _worried_ about me?"
    Ranma nearly fell backward at this comment, out of embarrassment or out of
exasperation she couldn't tell.  Akane smiled in amusement.  "Ah-HAH!  I knew
it!"
    Ranma turned the same shade Ryouga had before, trying to quickly come up
with some form of retort.  He chided himself on the inside; he had blindly
walked right into that one.  "What?!!" he finally blurted out, "N-no, I--"
    Ryouga interrupted Ranma by walking up to Akane and looking at her with
intense concern.  "Akane-san, as much an idiot as Ranma is..."
    "HEY!"
    Ryouga continued as though Ranma hadn't made a sound.  "...he's also right
not to want you to come with us.  This thing is EXTREMELY dangerous, and it's
going to take the four of us to fight it.  Instead, I want you to go to the
hospital and stay with Ukyou.  Make sure she's got somebody there watching
her."
    "Ryouga-kun..."
    Akane was cut off as the sounds of sirens rang throughout the block.  A
team of doctors were in the house within a matter of seconds and were checking
out Ukyou's condition while talking to Tofu.  In a short time they had her on a
stretcher and were wheeling her out the door.  Akane looked at the doctors,
then back at Ryouga and Ranma apprehensively.  Ranma, to her surprise, smiled
at her in a way that somehow told her not to worry.  Slowly she stepped out of
the living room and, looking back at the twosome one more time, ran upstairs to
grab a change of clothing, telling Doctor Tofu to wait for her before driving
back to the hospital.  Less than a minute later they were gone slightly behind
the emergency team.
    Ranma and Ryouga exchanged glances, warriors preparing to face a difficult
enemy, a common foe.  As much tragedy as the monster had caused already the
couldn't help but grin a little in the face of such a challenge.  Soun and
Genma also entered the room, the bleak shadows blanketing them as well.
"Alright," exclaimed Ranma, "Let's get this thing."
 
-------------------------End  -  Step  One-----------------------
 

                     Step  Two  -  Alternative  Targets
 
    After driving its fist furiously into the wall a couple more times the
Hunter calmed down.  Yes, the Prey was gone.  But there were others that would
still suffice, that could be used to bait the master Target.  The records on
its intended Quarry indicated others that it held under its wing, as well as
where to find them.  Coming across the first two so quickly was simply a matter
of incredible luck; originally it had intended to locate their dwellings and
dispense with them there.  Exactly which one of these dwellings the main Target
resided at was unknown, but the Hunter was certain that one of them was the
right place.  Stepping out of the shadowed sidestreet and onto the dry road,
dimly illuminated by the single streetlight, it tapped its wrist- mounted
controls a couple of times and with a silent hum the alien blended back into
the darkness of the night and climbed to the housetops above, leaping from
roof-to-roof to its next selection of Game.
 
    Mousse looked out the door into the chill of the evening, trying to figure
out what had produced the bellowing noise that had slightly rattled the
Nekohanten windows a few minutes before. It sounded like it had come from four
or five blocks across town, but it hadn't been loud enough to alert anyone
nearby.  Mousse shrugged to himself and shivered a little bit as the cold wind
blew across his bare chest, brushing his black Chinese pants against his legs.
Quickly he stepped back into the Nekohanten and shut and locked the door behind
him, then shut off the lights and began to head to his room upstairs while
pocketing his glasses.  Damn that old woman, making him stay up to scrub the
entire kitchen with a toothbrush!  His darling Shampoo was already fast asleep,
had been for a couple of hours now, so he couldn't go and chat with her as he
had planned earlier in the night.  He saw the little ghoul's twisted reasoning
behind the over-abundance of chorework, he supposed : she had left for the
evening to visit some neighbors and didn't want him to be around the lovely
Shampoo without her presence to keep the two apart.  Mousse shivered even more,
this time out of disgust;  when he would finally win Shampoo's heart and have
her as his wife that would mean that Cologne would become his...
grandmother-in-law.  Yech!  He hoped she wouldn't be so unnerving after they
were related.
    As he climbed the stairs a noise, some kind of a heavy thud, caught his
ear.  Mousse looked upward to the ceiling, the source of the sound.  Curious,
he passed his room and continued up the staircase to the entrance leading onto
the roof.  Cautiously he looked out, but all he could see was a single dark
blur matted together with alternating patterns of light and dark.  Mousse
pursed his lips in annoyance and extracted his glasses, resting the metal
framework on his nose.  The world before him zoomed into focus and he took
another look about.  No, nothing was out there. Mousse stepped out onto the
roof and looked behind the radiator and mini-shed, but there still wasn't a
sign of life. Dismissively, Mousse scratched his head and turned about.
    And nearly suffered a mild heart attack when Shampoo hollered out "BOO!!"
as loud as she could into his ear.
    "Aaaaagh!!"  Mousse tripped back and clutched at his chest,  his glasses
slipping off his nose as he stumbled and clattering to the ground.  Getting
down on his knees Mousse desperately fumbled about trying to find them; they
were too thick to be damaged from such a short fall, but he preferred to have
them safe in hand, just in case.  "Don't do that!" he said as he groped about.
    Shampoo, wearing a legless set of pink Chinese pajamas, picked up the
glasses with her toes and took them in hand, looking at Mousse with utter
contempt.  What a hapless idiot, on his hands and knees like some ridiculous
animal.  "What the hell are you doing out here?" she asked him in an irritated
Cantonese.
    Mousse looked up at her (or more accurately in her general direction).  "I
thought I heard something," he said, "Somewhere out here."  He gave up looking
for his glasses at the moment and looked about once again.  He could at least
discern the differences in light, the brightness of the moonlight casting a
luminescent glow across the rooftops.
    Shampoo looked about as well, a mark of vigilance lightly crossing her
face.  She had heard the noise, too, and at first she thought that it had
solely been Mousse goofing around up on the roof doing who-knew-what.  But he
had noticed something as well, and as big a fool as he was he had an
exceptional battle- sense.  There didn't seem to be anything out on the
rooftop, but Shampoo decided to give Mousse the benefit of the doubt and
checked around for signs of life.  No, after a couple of minutes she found
absolutely nothing.  The Chinese warrior-woman frowned sourly at Mousse, who
had gone back to searching for his glasses. Her pajamas weren't made to keep
out the cold of the open air, and thanks to him goosebumps were now covering
her arms and legs.
    Shampoo decided that an adequate punishment to the blind moron would be to
lock him out on the roof without his glasses.  Mousse looked up in confusion as
the sound of a closing door accompanied by the click of a lock snagged his ear.
"Shampoo?  Shampoo, my sweet, where are you?"
    Ah, a distinct improvement over the chill of the outside.  Shampoo
descended the wooden staircase while examining the thick pair of glasses held
in her hand, a small ray from the streetlight outside shining in through the
window in Mousse's room providing a thin beam of yellow to the empty
second-floor hallway.  Stopping a bit short of her door she decided to satisfy
a mild curiosity that had been lingering in her mind for quite some time and
put the glasses on, trying to get an idea of what it must be like to look
through his eyes.  As soon as the glasses touched her nose Shampoo nearly
toppled over at the incredible haziness enveloping her.  She held her hand up
before her face; it was almost completely unrecognizable.  The entire hallway
was totally unfamiliar to her, nothing but a mashed blur of color and light.
    Except one thing.
    One thing that startled Shampoo so much she nearly cried out in surprise.
Resisting the temptation she firmly held her mouth shut as she fully absorbed
the image of the humongous monstrosity standing before her, at least seven feet
in height, wearing bits of armor across its muscular body and sporting what may
have either been its head or possibly even a helmet of some sort upon its broad
shoulders.  The creature was less than a foot away from her and looked at her
curiously, as though something had surprised it equally in turn.  One thing
shot through her mind immediately : she had to get some space between herself
and the thing, make enough room to fight.  Slowly she reached back for the
doorknob leading to her room.
    The second her hand flexed the creature moved at her, swiftly grabbing her
opposite wrist and lifting her off the ground as though she were a rag doll.
Shampoo desperately tried to pry the fingers loose but the grip was like iron;
_already_ her hand had began to grow numb.  The monster just looked her over
curiously, like an entomologist studying an interesting butterfly, ignoring her
attempts to remove its hand.  Shampoo quickly decided to forget the vise-like
grip and instead tried to redirect its attention to something else.  Twisting
her body a bit to the side she pulled in her leg and delivered a strong kick to
its sternum. With a loud growl the monster staggered back, the breath knocked
out of its lungs, and slightly loosened its hold on her wrist.  As fast as she
could Shampoo slipped out her hand and dove between its legs, running down the
hall and leaping down all the stairs at once.  Unfortunately she was still
wearing Mousse's glasses and misjudged the distance down, landing improperly on
her ankle and twisting it on impact.
    As she fell forward to the floor she felt something whip across the tip of
her hair accompanied by the strong sound of tearing and splintering wood.
Quickly she rolled to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain in her leg and saw the
monstrosity right behind her, removing a set of claws on its wrist from a blur
that must have been the wall.  The thing looked at her once more and advanced
on her slowly, forcing her to slowly step back, arms poised ready to defend or
attack.  Shampoo was beginning to get dizzy from the intense haziness around
her; aside from the huge crystal-clear monster walking towards her the entire
Nekohanten was nothing but a blurry mess.  Shampoo quickly pulled the glasses
off her face.
    The entire cafe came back into focus, although it was still a bit foggy as
her eyes tried to adjust to the return of her normal vision.  Something was
missing.  Shampoo looked about confused... Where had the demon gone?  It was
standing right in front of her the second before.  Shampoo frowned pensively --
"Did I imagine the entire thing?" she asked herself out loud.  As she scanned
the restaurant she was answered with a quick no.  The support to the open wall
that separated the kitchen from the dining area was cleaved in half, just where
the monster had struck it.  Shampoo shook her head quickly, trying to get her
vision to adjust properly once more.  The rest of the cafe had come into focus,
but the spot right before seemed awfully distorted...
    Shampoo caught a glimmer of silver reflecting in the streetlight coming
through the front window, something shaped like a serrated claw.  She caught on
immediately.  The monster was invisible.
    As fast as she could Shampoo leaped back over the tables into the far
corner of the Nekohanten.  The tables that were between her and where the
monster had been last began to tear apart one- by-one as the unseen force
plowed through them to get to her.  Shampoo grimaced a little as she landed,
the pain in her leg stabbing at her again.  She ignored it; her years of
fighting had made her very pain-tolerant, something as minor as a sprained
ankle would hurt but wouldn't slow her down in the slightest.  The metal claws
were quite clear to her vision now as the distortion that had blocked her
vision before moved at her, only a couple of tables away now, only visible by
the distortion it created and the long claws sticking out of empty space.
Shampoo quickly put the glasses back on; it would restrict her movement about
the shop a bit but at least she'd be able to see her opponent.  Sure enough,
the Nekohanten practically vanished and the yellow-brown creature was before
her once more.
    It had a new weapon in its hand this time, some small disk-shaped device
with a series of small flashing lights along the finger holes the monster
gripped with.  The outer edge of the disk was lined with a rather sharp-looking
blade.  Shampoo waited until the creature was within a few feet of her,
preparing to make her strike.
    She took her shot as the creature swung at her with the rounded
razor-blade.  It was fast, but she had always prided herself on being faster.
She quickly dropped to the ground as the blade flew past where her head had
been and propping herself on one hand she threw all her weight upward in a
handstand and slammed her heel into what she hoped would be the solarplexus.
The thing toppled back with a howl and was barely able to regain its footing
when Shampoo flipped upward and delivered a roundhouse to the kidney area
before she landed on the ground.  Unfortunately the creature's arm was in the
way and provided adequate cushioning to the blow.  Before she could try for a
foot sweep a backhanded fist struck her across the forehead and slammed her
across the dining area through the open serving area into the kitchen beyond,
where she crashed into a series of cabinets and finally dropped to the ground,
pieces of the cabinet sprinkling her backside as she landed hard on the tiled
floor.
    Shampoo coughed and wheezed a bit, her lungs completely relieved of their
air supply.  She quickly discovered that the glasses were no longer on her
face, instead strewn about on the ground before her in shattered pieces.  The
creature would be undetectable once more.  Checking herself for injuries and
finding little more than a number of bruises and a minor laceration across her
forehead she quickly forced herself to her feet and slipped as quietly as she
could into the back storeroom.
    The storeroom was incredibly dark, not a beam of light coming in from
anywhere except the faint glow shed from the open door. Actually the storeroom
was simply the neighboring building attached to the back of the Nekohanten from
the opposite street, and since no one had made claim to it since Shampoo and
her grandmother had moved into the store property Cologne and a number of other
people in the neighborhood had decided to take advantage of the two-story open
space and store all their crates and other items of luggage in it.  A thin
layer of dust covered the floor and large boxes filling the room, a stale smell
hanging in the air.  Shampoo grabbed a flashlight from out of one of the
kitchen drawers, then silently stepped into the storeroom and shut and locked
the door behind her.  The entire room went totally black but was quickly relit
with a thin beam of white as Shampoo flicked on the flashlight.
    A doorway was positioned on the far wall, boarded up and probably locked
from the outside.  "No problem," Shampoo thought to herself, "I'll just smash
it open and slip out of here in no time."  If she could get out of the building
she would be able to reach higher ground, prepare some kind of trap and weaken
the monster enough to overpower it.  Shampoo weaved through the towers of boxes
towards the door.
    The dust on the floor suddenly shook beneath her feet, a loud cracking
sound bouncing off of the cold stone walls of the storeroom.  Without looking
back Shampoo dropped to ground and backed up to a box, shutting off her
flashlight and drawing from her pajamas a quartet of small sharp throwing
blades.  A second cracking sound rang out, this time much louder, and the faint
glow of a streetlight changed the room from solid black to a dark gray, vague
outlines of crates and the glow of floating dust taking their place before her
eyes.  It was in the storeroom with her.
    The weak light wasn't much of an improvement, but as long as she had
difficulty seeing so would her opponent.  Shampoo kept her head low and
silently crept among the boxes to the exit, trying to follow the path she set
in her memory.  As she slipped through the translucent screen of dust she was
surprised at not hearing any form of sound, especially considering how well
honed her senses were.  Had the monster gone in after her?  Slowly she decided
to take a peek at the surroundings and stuck her head out from behind one of
the boxes.
    Nothing was there.  Only the door to the Nekohanten, ripped open and barely
hanging on its hinges, was in view.  Nothing appeared to be walking among the
boxes, and something so large couldn't possibly be capable of skulking about
without making any noise : the boxes were stacked too close together for it to
maneuver between without pushing them aside.  Shampoo looked at the visible box
lids.  Not one of them showed sign of footprints or looked as though some
invisible weight were standing upon them.  Apparently nothing had entered the
storeroom.  Shampoo decided not to take any chances; for all she knew it was
standing in the doorway and she simply couldn't see it.  She ducked back down
and began to continue her trek to the door leading outside.
    "...gut BOTH of us..."
    Shampoo froze in place.  Her heart nearly shot out of her chest in fright
at hearing the words.  Quickly backing up to a crate, forgetting for a second
to be silent, she looked about rapidly from left to right, knives in hand.  A
pain, duller than the one in her ankle but strong nonetheless, shot across her
back.  The impact with the cabinets earlier was beginning to make itself felt;
in the morning she would have a bruise the size of a watermelon across her
shoulders.
    "...gut BOTH of us..."
    As vigilant as possible she looked at her surroundings again. Where was the
sound coming from?!
    "What ARE you?" reverberated off the walls.
    Shampoo began to notice something about the words as they echoed throughout
the large room.  No, it couldn't be... Why would SHE be here?
    The voice appeared once more.  "My GOD... What ARE you?"
    Shampoo knit her brow together and called out in a whisper. "Ukyou?  That
YOU?"
    "...wanted to gut BOTH of us..." was the response.
    It was Ukyou's voice.  Shampoo couldn't mistake it, she was sure.  But
something was wrong with it; it had a raspy, almost unnatural tone to it.
    Shampoo shivered as he realized it wasn't Ukyou.
    It terrified her.
    Suddenly what sounded like the activation of a vacuum cleaner hit her ears.
Instinct took a hold of Shampoo and she dropped to the ground as low as
possible.
    It had been a wise move.  The box she had used to shield her back tore
apart violently with a light spark as the image of a rounded blade cleaved
right through it.  As is flew through another couple of boxes the disk
mysteriously froze in mid-air, the vacuum-like hum still flowing from it, and
turned a complete 180 degrees, returning to its point of origin like a
futuristic boomerang.  Shampoo rolled onto her back and kippuped, watching the
circular blade intently as it flew to the ceiling and vanished amidst the metal
piping that lined the roof.
    "Aiya..."  The words escaped her mouth without her even realizing it.
    It was hanging from the pipes.
    Shampoo swallowed hard.  She couldn't see it but she knew it had to be
there.  Instantly taking blind aim the four small blades sailed through the air
with a hard flick of her wrist towards the spot the monster's weapon had
vanished.  Three were deflected with a light clang, either hitting the
creature's armor or being blocked she couldn't be sure.  She could be sure that
her fourth blade hit target, however; after the familiar "thut" of metal
piercing skin the dagger was floating in space, as though lodged in the air
itself. Something dripped from the point of impact, some kind of viscous,
glowing green liquid.  Not much, just a few drops.  But at least it was blood
of SOME sort.
    The knife suddenly dropped from the rafters to the crates below, but didn't
clatter on the wooden boxes as Shampoo had expected.  The crate below it caved
in, and the blade continued to hover in place.  Bits of wood were pushed aside
by a distorted, transparent hand, and a huge set of footprints threw up the
dust on the ground as they emerged from the wrecked crate. Shampoo slowly
backed away.  The distortion made no move to stop her.  A couple of low beeps
were heard.
    It stood before her, a monstrosity brought to life from out of thin air
against the dark background of the storeroom.  It looked at Shampoo; she could
swear it was almost with an air of amusement to it.  She looked at the blade
still embedded in its chest, right above where the human heart would have been.
With a large hand the creature wrapped its fingers about the thin metal blade's
hilt and drew it out sharply, a thin dribble of neon- green blood emerging from
the hole.  The monster didn't even flinch.
    As fast as she could Shampoo spun about and made a break for the blockaded
storeroom door.  Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness enough to make out
the silhouette of the sealed doorway clearly, but door or not she'd have to get
out of there.  If necessary she'd have to smash through the wall, although
without her large maces she would have to hope the walls didn't contain any
steel girders for the sake of her knuckles.
    Suddenly a sharp pain ran through her entire left leg, much stronger than
the bruises or twisted ankle she had already received, accompanied by the
sensation of a light blow, as though something had struck her.  The quick
sensation of pain forced her to lose her footing and she fell.
    Shampoo's shoulder received a hard blow as she smashed through the rear
door on her way down.  The small metal lock on the outside easily caved in when
overwhelmed by the force of her body and the whole door was immediately
relieved of its hinges.  Shampoo rolled out onto the cold night street, wood
and glass flying everywhere, trying to get to her feet but unable to get her
left leg to straighten out.  Shampoo quickly felt around under the rear of her
thigh and with a wince detected the source of the malaise.  Mustering a good
deal of her endurance she tried to yank her small throwing blade out of the
meat of her limb, a difficult task considering that it must have been jammed
all the way into the bone.  As much pain as she was in she couldn't help but
feel somewhat incompetent : the monster's aim was probably better than her own,
and on top of that it had actually taken her down with her own weapon.  If her
grandmother were here she would have received a nasty scolding, indeed.
    Shampoo continued to try and remove the blade, fairly certain that the
creature would emerge from the doorway before she was done and finish her off
while she was helpless.  After half-a- minute, however, nothing came.  As she
was able to finally get a solid grip on the blade handle she nearly laughed at
herself -- was she actually becoming impatient for it to show itself and kill
her?
    The sound of breaking wood came from inside the storeroom.  "What in the
world?" she wondered.  She was quickly answered as a battle cry resounded
through the open doorway, accompanied by the clammor of smashing crates.
    "MOUSSE!" Shampoo called out in excitement.  He must have picked the lock
and come back in, finding the Nekohanten in a shambles and discovering that she
was missing.  And now he was fighting that monstrosity in the building.
Shampoo put fingers from both hands to the handle and pulled as hard as she
could.  Mousse was strong in his own right, loathe as Shampoo was to admit it,
but even he wouldn't last long against that creature by himself.  And as long
as the blade was stuck in her leg she wouldn't be much help.  Gritting her
teeth she gave one more hard yank on the blade.  The dagger unlodged itself
from her leg and slid through the meat, neatly clattering to the ground stained
crimson.  The pain was blisteringly sharp for a few seconds, her eyes watering
as she withheld the burning impulse to cry out, then receded almost instantly.
Shampoo quickly retrieved the blade and sliced off a long strip of her pajama,
wrapping the cloth around her leg to keep the wound from growing, then ran back
inside the storeroom.
    The fight was no longer taking place in the storage building but was now
emanating from the Nekohanten.  Shampoo sped through the room and reemerged
into the kitchen.  Through the serving area she could see the two in the dining
room, Mousse attempting to entangle the monster in a mess of chains and ropes.
He had a minor cut across his chest but it was nothing that would bother him at
all. The monstrosity, on the other hand, had its hands full with him : it was
using most of its resources just to keep itself free of any type of bondage,
and to Shampoo's amazement was actually restricted to defensive maneuvers.
    "What have you done to my lovely Shampoo, you FIEND?!!" he called out
enraged, "Tell me or I'll slice you to ribbons!!"  As if to prove his point
Mousse flicked his wrist and out of nowhere a quintet of throwing blades like
the ones Shampoo carried appeared in his hand.  The seven-foot-tall creature
swatted at the blades with claws of its own as they flew; a diagonal and
vertical sweep of the claws destroyed the daggers, but had simultaneously
placed its body in the perfect position for attack.  Mousse reached behind his
back and revealed a long, thick chain, a heavy weight dangling from its end;
spinning the chain about he quickly released the weight and let it snap itself
around the creature's body, pinning its arms to its chest.  To complete the
maneuver Mousse snapped the length of the chain with his wrist, creating strong
coils that wrapped around and ensnared the monster from shoulder to ankle.  The
creature violently tried to break the chain-link trap but was totally
unsuccessful, causing itself instead to lose footing and fall to the ground
helpless.
    As soon as the ground rolled with a loud thud Mousse was at the monster's
throat brandishing a scimitar and looking extremely angry.  The monster itself
didn't seem too pleased at being tied up, bellowing a furious storm of growls
and other fowl-sounding noises while continuing to thrash about.  "For the LAST
time, where is my dear SHAMPOO?!!"
    "I'm right here, Mousse."
    Mousse spun about and saw Shampoo standing casually in the kitchen
entrance.  "Shampoo-chan, you're alright!!" he cried out as he ran for her with
open arms.  She quickly set him back in his place as she punched him in the
face, sending him to the hard tiled floor.  As Mousse slowly got up he heaved a
long sigh... Even after defeating such a dangerous beast she didn't respect
him.  What would it _take_?! he wondered.  On his nose sat a spare set of
glasses, and with a quick glance he discerned the many injuries riddling her
body.  His face twisted into a horrendous scowl, one so enraged that Shampoo
actually considered backing away from him.  Her mind was quickly put to rest as
she realized where that rage was being directed; Mousse turned back to the
still-struggling, still-screaming creature, sword brandished once more, ready
to cut its lousy head off for what it had done to her beautiful body.
    While Shampoo had no problems with Mousse's anger towards it she felt that
dispatching the creature was at the moment not a good idea, at least not until
they found out where it came from and what it was doing in the Nekohanten.
        Shampoo suddenly realized that the cafe had become much quieter.  The
monster had stopped thrashing about.  It was about to try something.  She
opened her mouth to warn him.
    "Mousse--"
    With a blinding flash of white fire Mousse howled out painfully, the smell
of ozone and cooking flesh filling the room. He clutched at his shoulder
tightly as he was blasted to the ground, a black charred burn marring him,
easily visible beneath his hand.  Blood spilled to the floor in huge amounts
and smeared his chest and arm as he vainly tried to hold the wound together.
"MOUSSE!!" Shampoo found herself crying out unexpectedly as the Chinese man
collapsed unconscious on the floor, vital fluid still running across the
Nekohanten tiles.  The area of impact had been cauterized along the edges, but
the open wound was cleanly visible inside.  If whatever the monster had just
shot at him had been three inches higher it would have severed his arm clean
off; as it was the wound had burnt through some muscle and may have even gone
through his back, she couldn't tell just yet.
    The hum of the razor-sharp discus came from behind her, and Shampoo turned
around to see the monster get up as the round cutter in its hand snapped
through the chains like a hot knife through butter.  With a clatter they sank
to the ground in a pile and the thing loomed over her once more.  On its
shoulder a small mounted weapon, a gun of some sort, automatically settled back
into its resting position with a light click.
    Shampoo reacted quickly.  As fast as she could she threw a slew of
high-powered kicks at its gut, hoping to catch it off guard once more and make
a break upstairs where her weapons cache was.  The monster had learned its
lesson, though; it took the blows and decided to make a counterattack of its
own, grabbing almost all of Shampoo's upper-left chest with its large hand and
tightly squeezing the rib cage together.  Shampoo lost all her ability to fight
as an incredible wave of pain shot through her chest cavity, her own ribs and
organs slowly crushing against her heart.  She tried to call out but no sound
came from her mouth except for a high-pitched wheeze.  The thing easily lifted
her up in the air above its head and she was quickly blinded by a series of red
lights shining in her eyes, emanating from the creature's helmet. The small
shoulder-mounted cannon raised its turret and took aim where the light shone.
The fire in her chest grew stronger, tighter, sharper.  Nothing in her body
wanted to work anymore; she was still awake yet her eyes stared blankly at
nothing, her mouth hung agape, her arms and legs dangled loosely around her.  A
high-pitched whine like the sound of a camera flash recharging filled the room.
    She didn't want to die this way!
    Shampoo was about to lose consciousness from the lightning running through
her body; at least she wouldn't be awake when death claimed her.  "Goodbye,
Ranma," she thought to herself sadly, "I love you..."
    The world around her faded to black.
    The world around her came back to life.
    With the hard thump of her rear hitting the ground.
    Shampoo rolled over onto her stomach and gasped violently for air, pain
still coursing through her system although now it was from her organs
rebounding back to their original positions.  Resisting the immediate urge to
vomit she crawled onto her arms and legs and scrambled away, where to didn't
matter, just _away_ from the beast.  She found the corner of the room and dug
herself into it, desperately hoping that somehow the monster wouldn't see her
if she forced herself deep enough inside it.
    The room shuddered.  Growling.  Shampoo didn't want to look and buried her
head as deeply into her arms as possible.  Yelling, more growling, the sounds
of breaking glass were heard.  Shampoo couldn't force herself any farther into
the corner, much as she tried.
    Voices rang through her head, a mumbling barrage of meaningless words.
Something touched her shoulder.  Shampoo tried to scream out as loud as she
could but her throat was raspy and parched.  She wanted to thrash about, fight
back, but that would mean she'd have to leave her safe little corner.  So all
she did was try to scream from a throat that refused to oblige her.
    Something tried to talk to her.  It was Cantonese.  Big deal, the monster
could speak.  It was just trying to lure her out of her precious corner using
words she was familiar with.  She wasn't going to fall for it, no WAY.
Suddenly, unwillingly, she was whirled about and a swift sting made itself felt
on her cheek.  Amazing, with all the physical anguish she was still in a slap
on the cheek could still be felt.
    A slap on the cheek?
    Shampoo slowly raised her hand to her face and felt it.  Yes, something had
indeed slapped her.  Shampoo quickly noticed that the Nekohanten lights were
on.  The meaningless Cantonese babbling began to take the shape of real
words... "Granddaughter, get a hold of yourself!!"
    Shampoo looked at the form next to her.  A two-foot-tall wrinkled woman
with long white hair and a gnarled wooden cane.  "Grandmother?" she asked, just
to be sure.
    The words changed to Japanese, although they still held the same voice.
"Thank the heavens, she's starting to come out of it."  Shampoo slowly raised
her head and looked about the cafe.  It was still a horrendous mess, blood and
shattered tables everywhere, but this time there were people with her, familiar
people -- her grandmother, Ryouga, Mr. Tendo, Mr. Saotome, and...
    "RANMA!!"  Shampoo cried out upon seeing the face of the man she loved.
She tried to get up and run to him, to be safe in his arms, but as before
nothing in her body wanted to work.  On top of that Cologne didn't appear to
want her moving either.
    "Ssh, stay put dear, everything is fine.  We drove the creature away."
    Shampoo no longer needed the safety of the corner, she had friends with her
to protect her against the thing.  Slowly she was able to get her limbs to move
and loosened her grip on the wall, slumping her back against it exhausted.  She
checked herself over.  Her entire body was wracked with splitting pain, her
eyes burned and the wound in her leg was warm.  Shampoo looked at it and saw
that it was bleeding quite a bit.  As she tried to reach for a nearby dishrag
to clot it she noticed how violently her hands were trembling.  "What
happened?" she was able to mutter out, forgetting the wound in her leg.
    Cologne took the dry dishrag and placed it under the thigh.  "I heard the
sounds of fighting coming from down the street and came to investigate.  When I
walked in the store and saw your opponent I was truly... worried."  Shampoo was
surprised a bit at this statement; her grandmother was such a stickler for
improvement in fighting prowess, such feelings of sentiment after so utter a
defeat were strange indeed.  Under other circumstances Cologne would have
griped out Shampoo for being defeated and made her do all of Mousse's chores
along with her own for the remainder of the week.  Shampoo looked at Ranma once
more; he looked back at her with intense concern.  Not that she was complaining
or anything, but why had HE come?  Surely he couldn't have heard her all the
way at the Tendo residence--
    It began to come back to her.  Why her throat was so burnt out, why her
eyes stung... She must have been screaming and crying with all of her might
without even realizing it until her grandmother had slapped some sense into
her.  Shampoo felt utterly disgusted with herself, more so than she had ever
felt before.  She had been cowering in the corner of the Nekohanten wailing
like a little girl, trembling with fear instead of fighting with all her
strength like she had been taught all her life, like the most skilled warrior
of the Joketsuzoku Amazon tribe that she was supposed to be.
    And Ranma had seen her.
    She felt like crying once more, out of sorrow instead of terror, but she
would be damned if she'd ever let anyone see her like that again; besides, her
eyes were completely flushed out, not a drop left in them.  Ignoring the
incredible shock that blasted through her body she stood up sharply and took
the rag from her grandmother, cleaning off the bloody injury herself without
flinching.  Her face had instantly changed to a mask of utter defiance and
resilience.
    "What happen to Mousse?" she calmly asked, not seeing him laying about.
    "An ambulance took him to the hospital," the old woman answered, "He
suffered a nasty injury to his arm and had lost a lot of blood but should pull
through."
    That explained the voices that she had heard, the hand that she felt touch
her.  Shampoo's shame increased; she was so completely in shock that she hadn't
even noticed the presence of an ambulence or its medical team trying to get her
to leave her corner.
    Ranma decided to get down to the business at hand.  "We were coming down
the street when we heard the racket and saw the thing jump out the window, but
that was all we caught before it vanished into thin air.  How did YOU beat it,
old woman?"
    Cologne shook her head.  "I didn't defeat it at all.  It simply refused to
harm me.  As would all of its kind."
    Ryouga spoke out.  "You know what that monster is?!"
    "Why won't it attack you?" asked Soun.
    "Why did it attack Shampoo and Ryouga?" asked Genma.
    Shampoo turned to Genma at the last question.  "It attack Ryouga, too?" she
asked in her imperfect Japanese.  She HAD wondered why he had a set of bandages
taped across his face.  "What going on?"
    Cologne sat down on what was left of the kitchen counter and picked at the
top of her cane.  "Yes, I do know what it is.  'It' is no more a monster than
most of mankind, however, just a little more advanced in its ways."  Cologne
looked at the group of five as they intently watched her.  "It is a hunter of
sorts, a trophy seeker from beyond the heavens that considers humans to be
rather entertaining game."
    "Beyond the stars?" mouthed Ryouga, "As in FROM SPACE?!!"
    "Trophies?"
    "Yes, son-in-law, trophies.  Just as a poacher in Africa will mount the
head of a rhinoceros on his wall, so do these creatures take the same pleasure
with the human skull."  Cologne smiled amusedly as the group's eyes widened at
the plural reference of 'creatures'.  "Oh, there are quite a few of them," she
answered their silent question, "They have been using this world as their
personal hunting grounds for many, many years."
    "And you have met these beasts before?" asked Soun.
    "Heh, I have."  Cologne pulled up her sleeve to reveal her little wrinkly
arm.  The group looked closely but didn't see anything upon first glance.
    "Grandmother, what that?"  Shampoo pointed to a long, almost invisible
white marking running the entire length of her great- grandmother's arm.  The
four men noticed it as well when it had been pointed out.
    "A cut?  You've FOUGHT these demons?!!" asked Genma excitedly.
    Cologne chuckled as she slid her sleeve back down to its full length.  "It
was a very long time ago.  The wound is almost undetectable to the naked eye
because it has had a long time to heal."  The old woman leapt off the table and
ran back into the storeroom.  A few annoyed mutterings regarding the mess and
the sound of a box lid being pried open and Cologne appeared from the dark room
back into the Nekohanten once more, holding a large wrapped package of some
sort under her arm.  With a thunk she dropped the wrapped mess of bright purple
cloth on the counter and motioned to the group to open it.
    Ranma went to the counter and unwrapped the cloth bandaging; there was
something large and made of metal buried inside.
    Ryouga and Shampoo both drew in deep breaths.
    It was a helmet.
    A large, somewhat damaged helmet, similar in design to the one worn by the
creature but bearing some minor cosmetic differences; still there was enough
likeness to indicate exactly what it was.  Ranma keenly studied it, turning it
about and looking at it from all angles; if had any mechanical functions before
they had been rendered useless by the damage or perhaps by the passage of time.
Ryouga looked at the thing unpleasantly.  Shampoo had to struggle to repress a
shudder and the desire to back away; she felt even more sickened at how scared
she was of a simple helmet.  "Where did you get this?" asked Ranma, still
examining the alien headpiece.
    "As I said, I have fought its kind before, when I was about Shampoo's age."
    Ranma nearly dropped the mess of metal.  Wasn't Cologne supposed to be over
three-hundred years old?!
    "It was extremely difficult but through some cunning and a lot of luck I
was able to drive it over the edge of a cliff.  When I climbed down to insure
the demise of my opponent I was... 'greeted' by others of its kind, waiting for
me to finish my descent.  I was expecting another fight but they simply carried
off the body, trying to offer me some rusty old blade the creature had claimed
in some previous victory as a 'prize' for my kill.  I refused the weapon,
believing I deserved more for my efforts and instead insisted on claiming its
helmet as my trophy, which they readily provided."
    Ryouga raised a skeptical eyebrow.  "And the only injury you got was a cut
on your arm?"  Cologne smiled back slyly.  "I have evidence on other parts of
my body if you wish to examine me..." Every man promptly covered his mouth to
suppress gagging and shook their heads, readily declining the offer.
    Soun tried to keep the conversation from careening off track. "So it is a
hunter in search of sport..."  Cologne waved her finger to indicate that he was
incorrect.  "Not _A_ hunter, foolish man.  _THE_ Hunter."
    "So why did it leave when you got here?" asked Genma.  "Why didn't it just
attack?"
    "I am considered 'untouchable' by them now.  I have killed one of their
kind in a fair Hunt -- they will never try to seek me out again."
    Ranma's eyes lit up.  "Fantastic!  You can come and help us fight it!"  The
old woman looked at the ground dourly.  "I'm afraid it won't be that easy,
son-in-law.  If it detects me it will immediately run and wait for a time when
I am not around to protect you."
    "So why did it attack Shampoo, Mousse, myself _and_ Ukyou?" asked Ryouga.
    Shampoo looked at him in surprise.  "It attack Ukyou, too?"
    "I am not certain why it chose the lot of you.  Were you fighting anyone
before it struck?"  Ryouga shook his head 'no'; Cologne frowned deeply.  "Then
you are ALL truly in danger."
    "What you mean, Grandmother?"
    "Normally the beast is drawn by conflict, killing whatever in its eyes
looks strong at the time.  In YOUR case, however, it is stalking a single Prey,
using the others to weed it out."
    Everyone looked at her intently.  Soun asked the impending question. "Who?"
    The old woman looked sadly back at the ground for a moment, then looked
back at the group.  "You must ask such a question?  Which one of us is
connected to all the others so strongly?"
    Silence.  Then an answer.  "Me."
    "Yes, son-in-law, _you_."
    Shampoo felt her heart freeze.  "NO!"
    Ranma, remaining rather unconcerned at the sudden revelation that he was
the subject of a potentially fatal Hunt, handed the helmet back to Cologne,
which she wrapped back up in its cloth.  "How strong is this so-called Hunter?"
   "Physically they are considerably beyond the normal bounds of human kind.
Even for those as powerful as yourselves its endurance and raw physical prowess
is quite high.  Mentally it is equally as competent, possessing a great deal of
cunning and intelligence."
    "Well, it IS from outer space."  Ryouga quickly noticed that he had
interrupted and shut up.
    "As I was saying, its arsenal is unmatched by anything we have on this
world.  It is, after all," Cologne threw Ryouga an amused glance, "from outer
space.  However, I cannot give you specifics on its weapons; technology
develops and improves all the time, and I would be surprised if they haven't
grown more advanced since my last encounter.  Just one thing to note..."
Cologne looked at everyone with a fierce eye, making sure that they were fully
attentive on this point.  "When you confront it, DO NOT trust your eyes and
ears.  They mimic human sound, like a duck call would draw birds, and as you
all know by now they can become nearly unseeable by the eye.  Trust your
_instincts_!  Trust your _skills_!  They will lead you in the right direction.
But when you DO confront it, beware.  To these creatures Hunting anything for
sport is a way of life, their lifeblood, just as fighting is yours.  As you,
son-in-law, deem yourself the ultimate warrior, these aliens deem THEMSELVES as
the ultimate Predators."
    After a moment of silence Ryouga scratched his chin in thought.  "It's
after Ranma.  So why didn't it go straight for him?  Why were we used as bait?"
    Cologne shrugged.  "It apparently does not know where he resides.  That is
why it sought out the Nekohanten, hoping that Ranma would be living here.  I
suppose that it will try Ukyou's restaurant sometime soon."
    A blast of cold air brushed against the group inside, and a bit of broken
glass dropped from the vacated window frame, shattering as it struck the wooden
border of the frame's opposite end.  Not a one of the men made a sound, for
they had all realized something terrible at the same instant, an unthinkable
yet utterly logical conclusion.  There were three places that Ranma frequented
on a regular basis, three places that he could use to reside at, three places
with potential mates.
    The Nekohanten.
    Uk-Chan's.
    The Tendo Dojo.
    Akane would be its next target.
 
------------------------End  -  Step  Two------------------------
 

                 Step  Three  -  Invading the Nest
 
    "MY _DAUGHTERS_!!"  Soun wheeled about and prepared to bolt through the
Nekohanten door when Genma caught him by the shoulder.
    "Wait, Tendo-kun, we have nothing to worry about!  Akane went to the
hospital with Doctor Tofu, remember?"
    Ranma began to head out of the cafe.  "Yeah, but Kasumi and Nabiki are
still at the dojo.  They won't stand a CHANCE against i--"  Cologne interrupted
him, waving her arm about dissmisively. "Do not fear, son-in-law, the Hunter is
dangerous but it won't harm them.  It doubt it would consider them 'sporting
enough'."
    "I don't care what you THINK it may or may not do, you little ghoul!  Those
are my girls!!"
    Soun tried to pry himself loose of Genma's hand but Ranma and Ryouga were
able to keep him from leaving the store, taking him by his arms.  "Mr. Tendo,"
Ryouga called out, "If we go to the dojo it might decide that they ARE worth
hurting!  We'd just be putting them in danger!"  Soun looked like he wanted to
struggle some more, but a sag of his shoulders and the loss of tension in his
arms announced his reluctant acknowledgement of Ryouga's statement.  "Then the
least I can do is call them and let them know that this monster is still on the
loose."  Cologne nodded her agreement to the idea and pointed him towards the
phone, which he made for in a flash.
    "So if we can't go to the Tendo house what are we going to do?" asked
Ranma.
    "Well, as far as I know no one is at Ukyou's place now, and Shampoo's
grandmother said there's a chance that the creature would go there."
    "Good thinking, Pop.  Uk-chan's restaurant is closer to the Nekohanten than
the dojo is anyway, so the monster would probably try to go there first.  If we
can catch it off guard there the five of us can beat it together."
    Cologne didn't seem to like Ranma's plan, an unpleasant expression crossing
her face.  "Son-in-law, this isn't some idiot monster that will blindly fight
you.  It is extremely intelligent and aims to take your head home as a trophy!
You cannot just walk into a building, overpower it with brute force or sheer
numbers and then expect to walk out with it in chains!"
    Soun walked back in the room, his hands fiddling with each other nervously.
"It was busy," he said, a minor tremble in the back of his throat.  "I tried
three times but it was just busy."
    Genma went up to his life-long friend and patted him comfortingly on the
shoulder.  "Don't worry, Tendo-kun, it's probably just Akane calling the girls
from the hospital telling them that everything's alright."
    "I hope you're right, Saotome-kun."
    Ranma scrutinized the bundles of cloth that concealed the alien helmet,
then turned for the exit once more.  "We'll call them again from Uk-Chan's,
just to be on the safe side, Mr.Tendo."
    Cologne looked at Ranma disapprovingly but said nothing.  He had had his
chance to listen to her advice.
    "And what if we find the alien there?" Ryouga asked dubiously.
    "Simple.  We'll know that it wasn't at the dojo."
 
    A telephone receiver was casually placed back on its stand, Akane
unwrapping her fingers from the black plastic as she sighed to herself.  "It
was busy."
    "Really?"
    "I tried to call them three times but all I got were busy signals.  Are you
sure that they told you they were going to the Nekohanten before they left?"
    Kasumi placed her finger to her chin and looked at the ceiling in thought.
"I'm pretty certain that was the place.  They said they were going to try and
get Mousse's and Shampoo's help to find that monster."
    Akane drew in a breath and sat down next to her sister at the dining room
table.  Great, the line was busy.  Now they wouldn't know that she was still
home, still ready to help them fight that awful creature.
    "God, I feel useless..."
    Nabiki emerged from the kitchen with a half-eaten apple in her hand.  Upon
seeing Akane she was mildly surprised.  "What are you doing here?" she asked,
"I thought you went to the hospital with Doctor Tofu."
    "He remembered some lame hospital rule saying that only the next-of-kin or
their doctors can stay with patients in the emergency room.  Now I've got to
sit here on my butt and wait for Ranma and everyone else to give us a phone
call before I can go out and help them."  Akane propped her elbows on the table
and drooped her head in her cupped hands, staring unhappily at the far wall.
    "They'll probably just tell you to stay here, you know."
    "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that jerk Ranma will just tell me I'd be getting in
the way," Akane scowled.  "Still, it's better than just sitting here and
waiting.
    Kasumi sipped on a cup of tea.  "I agree with Ranma-kun's decision not to
have you tag along.  That beast is obviously very dangerous, and he just
doesn't want you getting hurt."
    "Yeah, I know that, too..."  Akane felt a little good knowing that Ranma
was looking out for her well-being, but she would certainly have appreciated it
more if Ranma was more polite about it, instead of just insulting her the way
he did so often -- he could be such a jerk at times!  A pang of worry hit her
chest as she thought about him; right now he was out there hunting some
strange, terrible monster with all the other expert fighters and here she was,
stuck in the house, totally unable to help, miles away from it all.
 
    A recognized voice pattern.  There were two others that didn't register on
its helmet's audio recognition program as potential Targets, but one did, the
smallest thermal signature in the structure.  Undetectable to the human eye
once more, it casually leapt over the fence surrounding the house and walked
across the dry grass towards the building.
    It almost HAD the last two Targets!  The male was practically dead, the
female would have been dead less than a second afterward.  And then an
Untouchable entered the room.  An UNTOUCHABLE!  _Here_, of all places!  The
Predator could barely stand it, deprived of so many wonderful, deserving
trophies in such a short period of time.  One vanishing into thin air before
its eyes, another escaping by use of a secret weapon, and now those two, saved
by the rarest of breeds, one that must never be Hunted again by virtue of its
own skill.
    THIS one, however, would not be so fortunate.  The Hunter would take her
head, then lure the primary Game out into the open using her as bait.  It
stopped in place and looked around just to be certain... Good, no other heat
signatures within the structure's boundaries that it hadn't already seen.
Nothing would come to rescue this one, and escape would be impossible as she
was trapped within her own borders.
 
    Akane paced about nervously as her sisters sat leisurely at the table.
Nabiki just watched her move from one side of the room to the next, back and
forth like a tennis match.  Eventually she got tired of the repeating
spectacle.  "Look Akane, why don't you go drain some of that excess energy
you've got in the dojo?"
    The youngest Tendo sister looked at her elder sibling flabbergasted.  "Are
you kidding?!  If I practice in the dojo now I won't have any energy to help
fight the monster!"
    "Then go take read a book or take a bath or something.  Your pacing is
beginning to make me NAUSEOUS."
    Akane stopped walking and looked back at her with a sigh.  "I suppose I am
a little worked up... Just make sure to yell if they call, okay?"
    Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Of course, of course."
    Akane's stomach growled a bit.  She hadn't had anything to eat for a while,
perhaps a quick bite would do her good.  Akane speedily made off for the
kitchen.
    Kasumi stood up and lightly rubbed her eyes.  The pressure of the night was
beginning to take its toll on her, more so than on the others; she hadn't
anticipated that nursing Ukyou for that short time alongside Doctor Tofu would
be so draining.  After all, most of the injury treatment she had performed was
on Akane after the small scraps she would get herself into when she was
younger, or just the basic nursing that most mother-figures would perform on
their families.  Still, she was happy that she had been there to help in the
first place.
    "Where're you headed off to?" asked Nabiki as Kasumi began to head for the
stairs.
    "I suppose I'm beginning to feel much like Akane about now," she responded.
"I'll just go upstairs and check on the laundry, try to keep my mind occupied
on something."
    Kasumi ascended the staircase and walked over to the small laundry room at
the end of the hall.  Inside the small enclosure was a washing machine huddled
amongst the other household cleaning utilities such as ironing boards,
detergents, vacuum cleaners and the like.  It was a shame there wasn't enough
room for the drier, but that was what they had allocated the small closet in
the first-floor entry hall for.  Kasumi gave a quick check on the machine and
decided that another half-hour would be needed before anything could be
removed.
    The faint crack of glass came from outside the little room.  Kasumi looked
out the doors to the hallway but saw nothing except the dark shadows of the
second floor, broken ever-so-often by the soft lights of the bedrooms shining
from under their closed doors and the faint glow of the first story lights
creeping up the stairs.  She was surprised to have heard anything at all, what
with all the noise the washer was making, but decided to investigate
nonetheless.
    Kasumi opened the door to Ranma's room and saw nothing out of the ordinary,
just the usual mess he and his father left on their floor.  Before she closed
the door behind her she pursed her lips in mild annoyance : these people were
so wasteful, leaving their lights on even after they had left.  With a flick of
the switch on the wall Kasumi shut off the lights to the room and closed the
door.
    She was pleased that her father and Nabiki were somewhat more frugal with
the electric bill : no lights were visible in their rooms, and after a fleeting
scan of the premises there was nothing to indicate the breaking glass came from
their rooms, either.
    Kasumi scratched her head and felt kind of silly investigating each room
for a noise that may have just as easily been the muffled sounds of Akane
breaking things as per usual downstairs in the kitchen.  Still, it gave her
something to do, and in the end it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Kasumi quickly checked her room for any broken bits of glass and was pleased to
see nothing fragile had fallen from its place.
    Kasumi went to Akane's room and opened the door.  Just as usual her room
was clean and there was nothing out of the ordinary on the floor or anywhere
else on the premises.  She would have to have a talk with her little sister
regarding the waste of electricity, however; like her fiance Akane had left her
lights on when there was no need.  Kasumi shook her head amusedly at the
wastefulness of some young people as she went to the nightlight on the bedstand
and reached for the switch.
    A thin, cold breeze nabbed her hand as she touched the small lamp.  Kasumi
curiously looked at the source of the cool air and noticed the drapes lightly
billowing.  She was certainly surprised by her younger sister, now -- surely
Akane hadn't left her window open to the chilly night air when the heater was
running throughout the house.  Kasumi pulled back the spotted drapes to shut
the window, contemplating what she would say to her sister about such an absurd
waste of precious heat.
    The window was already closed.  Kasumi looked at it curiously; she still
felt some kind of cold breeze coming from the window but where was it--?
Kasumi's eyes caught the source, a small, half-circle of glass cut out of the
window, right behind the metal latch that kept the window from being opened on
the outside.  "Now what in the world caused that?" she asked herself, carefully
fingering the vacated portion of the window pane.
    Something caught the corner of her eye.  Kasumi abruptly turned to her left
with a start.  Nothing was there, just Akane's empty room.  After a second
Kasumi shrugged and dug through Akane's desk, hoping to find some tape or a
piece of cloth she could seal over the aperture until a new pane could be fit.
    Something moved.  Kasumi nearly yelped and turned to look the room over
carefully once more.  As was before, nothing was in the room with her.
Sighing, she put her hand to her head.  "I must be more worn out than I
thought..." she said to no one in particular.
 
    The Hunter stayed as motionless as possible.  The human female still had
not seen it standing on the side of the room opposite from her own, at least
not enough to warrant any real suspicion beyond a possible trick of the eyes.
IT'S eyes, however, were quite able to see her in return, her pattern of reds,
yellows, oranges, the varying shades of blues, blacks and whites that drew the
shapes of the terrain she stood on.  She had found it's means of entry, but at
the moment it didn't appear as though she had truly suspected any form of
intrusion.
    Still, it may be necessary to silence her so as not to alert its Prey.
Nothing fatal, just a swift blow to the head would suffice...
 
    Ring-ring-ring.
    Kasumi's attention was quickly redirected from the glass to the telephone
ringing from downstairs; perhaps it was a word from the hospital, or even from
her father.  Shutting off the lights and deciding to worry about the window
later she jogged out the door and head down the stairs.  Nabiki was reaching
for the phone when she saw Kasumi descending the staircase and relinquished
lifting the receiver to her older sister.
    "Tendo residence."
    "Kasumi, you're ALRIGHT!"
    "Father?"  His voice sounded strained and panicky.  Kasumi began to worry
that something had gone terribly wrong.  Nabiki could also hear the tension in
her father's voice from the receiver and put her head next to Kasumi's.  "Is
something the matter, Father?" asked Kasumi.
    Nabiki spoke up. "Did someone get hurt or something, Dad?  Where are you?"
    "We're all here at Ukyou's restaurant..."
    "Ukyou's?  I thought you were going to the Nekohanten."
    "The monster had already BEEN there!  We're worried that it's coming to the
dojo now!"  Kasumi and Nabiki looked at each other with fear.  "WHAT?!" came
from both their mouths.
    Soun quickly tried to calm them down, not a very easy task considering that
he was pretty tightly wound himself at this point.  "Listen to me carefully --
it WON'T hurt you.  Just stay calm, don't act like you know anything, don't
make any sudden moves..."
    "'Don't make any sudden moves'?!!  Are you telling us it's already HERE, in
the _HOUSE_ with us?!!"
    "For God's sake, Nabiki, I hope not... Hold on..."  A bit of mumbling came
from the background, as though their father was talking to someone, and a short
while later he was once again on the line.  "Okay, I want you girls to slowly,
_very carefully_ leave the house.  Just walk out like you don't know a thing
and you two will stay safe."
    "What about Akane?" asked Kasumi.
    For a while there was a short pause, then with a very heavy tremble to his
voice Soun asked "What ABOUT Akane?"
    "She came back from the hospital.  She's in the kitchen right now."
    Soun's voice vanished from the line and was replaced with the clattering of
a telephone as it was dropped to the ground from the other end.  Kasumi and
Nabiki listened carefully as yelling accompanied by the sound of running and
the slamming of a door could be heard.  After that there was just silence.
    The Tendo sisters hesitantly hung up the p