Disclaimer: I don't own the Ranma 1/2 casts but I do own the fanfic. This fanfic is a little dark and it's serious, contain violence and blood shed and it's a little graphic about it, too. If you can't handle that, please do NOT read this. Also, please don't say I didn't warn ya! ^_^ Night Owl Part One By: Silver Star Akane twist and turned as sweat covered her whole body. Her knuckle turned white from holding the bed sheet so tightly. Her head went right and then left on her white pillow and sweat matted her short hair onto her forehead. "No..." she whimpered, her hands tightly clutching the bed sheet. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she started to breathe in small, short gasps. She clutched her throat as if she couldn't breath. She struggled to breathe but she couldn't as if something or someone is strangling her. Then, with one short breath, her body went slack and her hands, which were clutching at her throat, went limp onto her chest. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out. A blood red sign pulsed on the center of her forehead... <><><><><><> "It's late, granddaughter, go home and sleep." An old man said to a young girl in a dusty room piled with old boxes and junks. "But-" "No buts, Meiling. You need the sleep." "Alright, grandfather. But don't work too hard, alright?" "Yes, yes, now go." The girl took one last look at her grandfather and walked out the room. The old man looked at the dusty boxes and sighed. Suddenly, a shadow passed over the only open window in the room. The old man looked up sharply but nothing was there. There was a small noise behind him and he looked back. He screamed. <><><><><><> "Morning, Akane." Nabiki greeted her little sister as Akane made her way to her seat at breakfast table. "Hey, you okay?" Akane nodded but her face was deathly pale almost as if she has seen a ghost. She was also up later then usual and she's walking as if she's having a stomachache with her arm over her stomach. She sat down but didn't touch her food at all while Ranma and his pop ravaged their breakfast. "Are you alright, Akane?" Kasumi asked worriedly. "You are not eating anything at all. Are you sick?" "I'm okay, Kasumi." Akane said softly as if she has no strength to talk. She lifted her chopstick and took a few bites of the scrambled eggs but stopped after that. "Hey, listen to this." Nabiki said behind the Newspaper she's reading. "Last night an old man was murdered. According to the press, he was torn to bits! Yuck!" "How awful!" Soun exclaimed. "Here's what they say." Nabiki added and started to read from the paper. "'Last night at around midnight, the 64 years old Urusume Tagashi was murdered in the storage room of this newly bought store. According to his 14 years old granddaughter, Meiling Tagashi, they were clearing out the boxes in the storage room. At around 4 minutes after midnight, he told her to go to sleep but stayed to clean the room himself. He begin to scream about 2 minutes later and when Meiling came back, he was dead.' "It said here that it looks as if a beast fed on him. Now THAT'S disgusting!" Nabiki exclaimed and put down the paper. Akane threw-up. <><><><><><> "Hey, Akane." Ranma called down to the pale girl below him. "Are you sure you are okay? I mean, it's not too late to go back." Akane glared at him. "What are you hiding today? Do you have a date with one of your fiancée and doesn't want me to see her pick you up?" Even in this weak condition, her chi was still high. "No! No! Of course, not!" Ranma quickly yelled and dodged just in time. He gulped as he saw the dent Akane created. "Oh, man, I'm in BIG trouble!" "Come back here!!!" Akane screamed, her mallet held high in the air. "RAAAAAANNNNNNMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" <><><><><><> A shadow flitted from roof to roof quick as a lightning and quiet as a cat. Ukyou sighed and wiped her forehead of sweat with her arm. Her restaurant is filled with broken wood and splinters from the last fight between Ryouga and Ranma. One of the walls was cracked but not much damaged. Most of the chairs and tables were either totally destroyed or have at least one leg whacked off. "I wish Ranchan choose me now so Ryouga doesn't have to fight him all the time over Akane." Ukyou muttered to herself. She had stacked all the tables and chairs that are either still repairable or not exactly touched and there aren't a lot of them. Thankfully, most of her plates, glasses, and bowls were not broken but she can't say the same for the next time, which will be a while, at least with Ryouga, anyway. Ukyou looked at a clock. "Gosh, it's past midnight already? I didn't know I worked that long." She said to herself. She thought and got out a broom, shoving some of the broken dishes and splinters of wood together. She gathered them together in a small pile and then put them in a bag so she could take it to the dumpster. She was just a few steps out the door of her restaurant when she felt a very fait whoosh of air. So faint that if she wasn't a martial artist, she'll never detect. Years of battle and sneak attacks, and especially now in Nerima, made her always very cautious. She snapped around but all she saw was a blur shadow. She frowned, looking around cautiously. She thought to herself, never letting her guards down. She suddenly detected a rush of air and jumped out of the way just in time to watch a black blur made a dent at the place she had been a few seconds ago. It disappeared back into the shadows before she could take a look at her attacker. "Who are you?" She said in a loud voice, but not loud enough to wake everybody else on the street. "And what do you want?" It didn't answer nor did it move. They stayed like that for a few more seconds and then it attacked her again. Ukyou jumped back to avoid what seemed to be a punch only to be hit on the right should by it's other hand. Ukyou raised her left arm to block a blow and raised her leg to kick her opponent. It seemed to know what she's planning and did graceful back flip to avoid Ukyou's foot. Now it's in the light and Ukyou took a look at her attacker. It's a girl around her age with short black hair. Her face is in the shadow of her bangs and hood but Ukyou thought she looked familiar. Around the girls neck is a solid gold collar-like necklace with a big oval shaped onyx in the center of it. She's wearing a loose long- sleeved black shirt with loose Chinese pants. Around her wrists were two gold cuffs. Black heel-less shoes covered her feet and two gold cuffs covered her ankles. The girl blurred over to Ukyou without a sound and uppercut her, ending her to the center of the road. Ukyou quickly got up and took out several sharp spatulas, throwing them with a lightning speed at the girl. Several of them missed but one found its mark and embedded itself into the girl's right forearm. "WRRREEOOWWW!!" The girl screeched. The sound was almost like a cat or a lion. Ukyou started and realized for the first time that the girl has sharp cat fangs. The girl took out the spatula and threw it away, blood spill out of her wound but not much. She jumped up and placed a kick at Ukyou's chest. Ukyou brought her hands up and grabbed the girl's foot just before it connects and twist it. The girl took the chance and twists her other foot up, hitting Ukyou on the side of her face. The girl back flipped and put several feet of distance between them. A thin trickle of blood came down Ukyou's chin and she wiped it away. Ukyou thought, keeping her eyes on the girl. The girl charged again and extended her right arm to punch Ukyou. Ukyou ducked down to avoid the punch and took the opportunity to place an elbow on the girl's ribs. They both quickly jumped back. They waited for a moment and then this time, Ukyou made the first move. She charged toward the girl and extended her left arm to punch her. The girl simply moved her head to the right a little and the punch hit empty air. Before Ukyou could get back, the girl pulled up her knees and hit Ukyou's stomach. Ukyou spat out a little blood and then flipped so the girl's back is facing her. She reached behind her but come up nothing. Ukyou quickly jumped up to avoid another punch. She used the girl's back as the ground to get herself further away and at the same time hit the girl. By this time, Ukyou was breathing hard. The girl's breathing is as even as when she first appeared. Suddenly, before Ukyou's stunned eyes, the girl shifted. Her hands suddenly turned into claws/paws like a lion or a tiger. Her feet turned into paws, too. Because of the shifting, the sleeves of her shirt were ripped open and so were her shoes and the bottom of the pants. Somehow, the golden cuffs didn't came off. The girl raised her head to revealed a human face with cat ears, and sharp fangs. Her eyes were not of human but of the beautiful emerald green eyes of cats. A long furry tail lashed back and forth behind her. "Wha- what in the world- how- who-" Ukyou stammered but quickly jumped back to avoid been sliced open. The cat-girl lashed out her paws again and this time caught Ukyou on the chest. Three gashes were over her chest and they were soon filled with blood. "WRRREEOOOWWWW!!!" It screeched again in frustration or triumph, Ukyou doesn't know. All she knew is that this THING is what killed that old man and she's about to have the same fate. The cat-girl's tail suddenly whipped out and binds itself tightly around Ukyou's waist. Ukyou tried to get away but found she couldn't. To her surprise, another tail lashed out and wrapped itself around her neck, so tight that she has to struggle to breathe. Suddenly, there were flashes of light and a whirring sound. She asked herself, she was dizzy and black spots appeared in her vision. Everything was so blurry and it felt like somebody's blowing a horn in her ears. Unexpectedly, to her surprise, the tails loosened and she fell to the ground. The last things she saw were paramedics putting an oxygen mask over her. <><><><><><> "Hey, Ranma, one of your fiancées was attacked last night." Nabiki said. "I think it's that girl using the spatula." She added. "Uchan?!" Ranma exclaimed in shock. "Ukyou?" "Yeah, that's the name, Ukyou Kuonji." Nabiki confirmed. "She was attacked by possibly the same person or animal that killed that old man the day before yesterday. The police got there just in time. If they hadn't gotten there, that killer could have killed Kuonji." "Uchan? How can that be?" Ranma asked, suddenly confused. "She's a great martial artist. I mean, she can beat Akane any day and she even can beat Shampoo if she want to!" He suddenly stopped as he remembered that Akane is just sitting beside him. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the mallet. Nothing. He opened his eyes and stared at the girl beside him. Akane wasn't paying any attention to him or any other members of the family. Her face was as white as yesterday and dark shadows were under her eyes. She got up as late as yesterday and it's obvious she hadn't follow up her usual running routine in the morning nor did she train any. "Hey, Akane, you okay?" He asked, concerned. Akane didn't lift her gaze from the pancake in front of her. "Akane! Hey, what's with you, you uncute tomboy?!" Ranma yelled, hoping to bring her out with anger. Nothing. "Sis, you okay?" Nabiki asked. "Huh? What?" Akane snapped out of her trance at the sound of Nabiki's voice. "Akane, are you alright. You are as pale as a sheet." Kasumi said. "I'm perfectly fine!" Akane snapped back. Kasumi reared back in surprise. "I- I'm sorry." Akane stammered when she realized what she said. Ranma frowned but didn't say anything. <><><><><><> To be continued... <><><><><><> So? Any comments? Suggestions? Or questions? Anything but flames!! Anyway, email me at bailuli@hotmail.com Please email me!! ^_^ Oh, and visit my page. It's better than before, now!!