The Cursed Vampire of Jusenkio
None of the characters are mine. There all either owned by James Parriott and Co. or Viacon Industries. It takes place before Ashes to Ashes. For those of you not familiar with Ranma 1/2, there's a whole love hexagon between the characters. Ranma is engaged to Akane, but Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kuno have feelings for him/her. Kuno and Ryoga have feelings for Akane. Mousse loves Shampoo, but she hates him. All explained? Okay, let's get to the story.
The Cursed Vampire of Jusenkio
It was a quiet night at the 96th Precinct. Nick and Tracy were working on the paperwork for the Jane Doe #275. The young girl's body was found the night before, shot in the head, but everyone was convinced that it was a suicide. Just as Nick was about to suggest timing off early, a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me," a male voice said behind him.
Nick turned and found himself facing a young man about 17 years old. His black hair was braided behind him, and his outfit and accent suggested a Japanese decent. But the boy didn't look Oriental. Behind him stood a older gentleman in glasses wearing a white martial arts robe and another man with black hair crying hysterically.
"How pathetic," Nick thought to himself. "How can I help you?" he asked the youth.
"My name is Ranma Saotome." He pronounced it Sou-toe-may. "This is my father, Genma Saotome, and his friend, Soun Tendo. We need someone to help us find Akane."
"Who's Akane?" Tracy chimed in.
"Oh my darling Akane, where are you?" cried the black haired gentleman. The whole precinct was starting to stare at him. Outside the station, thunder started to rumble.
"Akane Tendo is his daughter," Ranma pointed at the crying man. "And my fiancé." This raised Nick's eyebrows.
"Fiancé? Aren't you a little young...?"
"It was their idea!" Ranma yelled, pointing at the older gentlemen. Now the precinct was looking at the boy. "Look, Akane was visiting here as an exchange student. She wrote to us everyday. It's now been 5 days since her last letter and we think something's happened to her. Will you help us find her?"
Captain Reese had heard the conversation from his office and called to Nick and Tracy. "Why don't you two go help them? You've got nothing better to do. Plus, it might help with international ties between Japan and the US if we help them." Reese had also noticed the clothing and accents.
"Okay, we'll help," Nick agreed, and Tracy nodded.
"Thank you, oh thank you," Mr. Tendo cried desperately. Mr. Saotome put his hand over Tendo's mouth to silence him, and they all left the precinct.
======================
Outside the station, Nick and Tracy were surprised to find nine other people. And they were quite a bunch to observe. Ranma stepped toward the group and started to introduce everyone.
"Everyone, this is Detectives Nick Knight and Tracy Vetter." Then he brought three other young men forward. One had a wooden sword, which Nick found odd; another had an umbrella and a backpack, which Nick found odder; and the third was wearing glasses on top of his head. "This is Kuno," Ranma pointed to the boy with the sword. He started to continue, but the boy interrupted him.
"I, Tatewaki Kuno, offer my unconditional assistance in the retrieval of the goddess-like Akane Tendo. I, the Blue Thunder, have no qualms in facing any dangers that we might encounter." Just then, a crash of thunder boomed overhead, and Kuno fell to the ground in fear. Nick could tell that it was going to be a fun night.
"As I was saying," Ranma started again, this time pointing to the umbrella boy. "This is Ryoga Hibiki, otherwise known as P-Chan." Just as he said that, Ryoga yelled, "Who are you calling P-Chan?" and tried to attack him, but Ranma was too quick. As Ryoga lunged for him, Ranma jumped up out of the way, and Ryoga also fell to the ground.
"And this is Mousse," Ranma said of the remaining boy. Mousse stepped forward. As Nick extended his hand to shake Mousse's, the boy passed right by him and walked up to Genma.
"It's wonderful that you are helping us find Akane," he said to Genma.
"Put your glasses on, boy," Genma said to Mousse. And he did. Realizing his mistake, Mousse turned to Nick. "Sorry, thank you for helping us." And he returned to the group. Nick gave Tracy a look that said, Now we're in for it.
"These are Akane's sisters, Nabiki and Kasume," Ranma pointed to two girls standing by Mr. Tendo. Then he moved to another young lady, who Nick noticed had blue hair. "And this is Shampoo and her great-grandmother, Cologne." Ranma also pointed to an elderly lady balancing on a cane. She looked as old as Nick was. "This is Ukyo," and another young woman stepped forward. She had a pizza spatula across her back like a sword. "And this is..." but Ranma stopped short. "Where did he go?" he asked.
As everyone quickly looked around, Nick was surprised when Tracy screamed. He turned to her and saw a small elderly man clinging to her chest. He reached over and grabbed the old man, but he had to use his vampire strength to actually pull the man off and throw him away from them. The old guy looked surprised--that is, until he hit the wall Nick had thrown him at. Then, he just looked like he was in pain.
The rest of the group stared at the elderly "gentleman," amazed that Nick was able to remove him from Tracy. "This is Happosai," Ranma continued. "He does that to every girl he encounters."
"Well, make sure he doesn't do it again," Tracy shot out. Nick nodded in agreement.
Happosai stirred off the ground, holding his head in pain. Then, he turned to Nick. "My boy, you have a great strength," he said to Nick. "If I trained you, you could the best fighter on Earth."
"Just ignore him," Ranma said. "He says that to anyone able to lay a hand on him." He paused, then continued, "but it's true that you are strong. Pretty much no one's been able to removed Happi when he's found a new 'target.'"
"Well, I work out," Nick lied.
Nabiki interrupted. "Uh, Ranma baby, I just felt our first drop of rain."
Nick noticed that Ranma, Genma, Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse all looked at the sky simultaneously. A look of worry appeared on all of their faces.
"We must find Akane, and soon," Ryoga stated boldly.
"Maybe you can give us something to work on," Tracy inquired.
"Well, Akane is 16, short black hair," Ranma said. "Built like a stick, dumb as a brick..."
"Quit bad-mouthing Akane!" Ryoga yelled.
But Nick and Tracy weren't listened to the two argue. They were both thinking of the Jane Doe case. A teenage girl with dark hair. No one could identify her. Sounded bad for the group.
"Okay, we'll split up," Nick remarked. "Half of you can go with Tracy to wherever she was staying. The other half can come with me."
"Where are you going?" Ukyo asked.
Nick and Tracy looked at each other. "A young girl was found dead yesterday," Nick explained. "I want some of you to come with me to see if you can identify her as Akane." The rest of the group looked extremely worried.
"Okay, I'll go with you," Ranma spoke up.
"I'll go too," Ryoga said.
"I will go as well," Kuno muttered, moving from off the floor.
"Shampoo go too," the blue-haired girl quickly chimed. "Hey, where Ranma goes, I go," Ukyo added. "I shall follow Shampoo everywhere," Mousse replied. Nick nodded.
"I guess the rest will go with me," Tracy said. "Where was Akane staying?"
"The Holiday Inn of Toronto," Kasumi answered her.
"We'll go there," Tracy told Nick, "see if anyone's seen her lately."
The two groups headed to the separate cars. As they piled into the Caddie, Nick silently hoped that the Jane Doe wouldn't be identified tonight. The moment they all got into their cars, the sky opened up and it started to pour.
======================
In the Caddie, the green light from the radio illuminated the faces of Nick and the kids. Tension filled the car, and the Nighcrawler's words were not helping.
"Tonight my children, we talk of our hidden quests. We each have our quests that we seek to conquer. Are we searching for something, or are we hiding from someone? We try to complete our quest before it's too late. What's your quest? The Nightcrawler is open to all."
Nick clicked the radio off.
"Do you really think Akane is the girl you found?" Ranma asked.
"I don't know," Nick answered. "I hope not."
Everyone nodded agreement.
======================
Tracy pulled the extremely crowded car to the front of building.
"What happened?" Nabiki asked. "I thought we were going to the hotel."
Tracy grabbed an umbrella that was next to her and prepared to get out of the car. "I have to talk to a friend of mine who lives here. He might know where Akane is."
"But why would he live in a church?" Genma questioned.
"He has a unique idea of architecture," Tracy remarked.
"I'm coming with you," Nabiki said. Kasume, Mr. Tendo, and the two elderly people also made it clear that they were also tagging along. Only Genma refused to get out of the car. "I'll just stay here out of the rain," he said.
======================
When Nick arrived at the coroner's office, the group in the car with him almost demanded that he park under an overhang. When they were satisfied with his parking spot, they emptied out of the car.
Nick led the way to Natalie's office. He was imagining what the look on her face would be when he entered with six other people.
His guess wasn't too far off. Her eyes widened at the sight of seven people all coming in at one time. "Nick, do you have something to tell me that I should know?"
"Nat, this is Ranma Saotome and his friends," he started. "They might be able to recognize the Jane Doe from the other night."
Nat looked down to the floor. "Okay, well, the locker's over there. Let me just finish this report and then I'll open the door."
======================
"Vachon, I have guests, so you'd better be 'decent,'" Tracy yelled as she was leading everyone up the stairs.
"Everything's okay Trace," called a voice from above.
The group entered the upper room and found Javier Vachon sitting in his chair with his guitar. "When you said 'guests,' I thought you meant maybe two people, not six," he mentioned, barely looking up from his instrument.
"Very funny," Tracy remarked smiling. Then her smile vanished. "Vachon, have you heard anything about a young Japanese girl being kidnapped or something like that?"
Vachon gave her an inquisitive look. After noticing the concerned looks on the rest of the group's faces, he turned serious. "Nothing's reached these ears. Why, she a friend of yours?" he asked.
Multiple voices chimed in at once. "My daughter." "My sister." "My grand-daughter."
"Well, I'll keep my eyes and ears open," Vachon told the band.
======================
Ukyo gazed at the detective and affirmed her belief that he was gorgeous. It surprised her, because Detective Knight was the complete opposite of her beloved Ranma. Instead of Ranma's raven black hair, he had silky straw-colored locks. Nick was taller and seemed more sincere and more kind than Ranma tended to act. Plus, he was probably more than 20 years older than her and Ranma. Still, she couldn't help but have a small crush on the detective. She wasn't allowed to think of that now, though. She had to think about helping Ranma find Akane, as much as she didn't want to.
======================
Natalie put her papers away and got up from her desk. As she headed toward the locker, she could tell everyone was worried.
She pulled open the door, revealing the covered table. Under the white covering, the form of a body showed.
Everyone tensed as she started to pull back the sheet. When she revealed the face of the body, Kuno fainted. But the look on everyone else's face told Nick what he wanted to know. Nick pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tracy's number.
======================
At the church, Tracy and the others were just about to leave when her phone rang. She pulled it out from under her jacket and flipped it open.
"Vetter." she answered it.
The rest of the gang watched her closely as she listened to Nick talk. Finally, she hung up the phone.
"The Jane Doe wasn't Akane."
Relief flooded over everyone. Mr. Tendo started crying in happiness.
"So, we're off to the hotel," Tracy said, mostly to Vachon.
======================
Nick hung up with Tracy and turned to everyone else. "Okay, Tracy's heading over to the hotel. I say we check some of the other clubs that teens hang around."
Nick picked up Kuno, who was still unconscious on the floor. "We need to get back to the car and head out."
"It's raining pretty hard Nick," Nat stated aloud, then more quietly, "Be careful, not like it matters to you, but you do have cargo."
"Don't worry," he said and pecked her a kiss on the cheek. Then carrying the inanimate Kuno, he directed the rest to the Caddie.
When they got to their spot however, there was a problem. The Caddie was missing. Nick almost dropped Kuno in anger.
"Where car go?" asked Shampoo.
Nick then noticed the tow-away zone sign where the car had been. He cursed himself for not seeing it before. "Looks like we'll have to walk. At least until I can call someone and get my car back."
Nick watched as most of the group looked at him, almost annoyed with the fact that he suggested walking in this downpour. He ignored them and stepped out into the rain. Besides the fact that he was getting soaked, another thing bothered him. The original scents that his companions gave off had vanished. Instead, his vampire senses were picking up animal scents. He turned around and this time did drop Kuno, not out of anger but out of surprise.
Where Shampoo, Ryoga and Mousse had stood, there was now a cat, a pig and a duck, respectively. And were Ranma had been, a girl cowered, apparently afraid of the cat. The girl had red hair, pulled back in a braided pigtail, and she was wearing the same clothed Ranma had been wearing.
Kuno barely opened his eyes. "Pig-tailed girl," he muttered, and then he fell unconscious again.
"What--what is this?" Nick asked.
"Nick baby, have we got a lot to explain to you," Ukyo said.
======================
When they got back to his loft, Nick couldn't help but laugh at the occurrences during their trip home. Ukyo had grabbed everyone else's belongings, and Nick had picked Kuno up again. During the whole walk home, the red haired girl walked as far away from the cat as she could. But the cat kept trying to get close to the girl. The duck and the pig just followed behind them.
The ride up in the elevator had been even more fun. The cat had jumped into the girl's arms, causing her to scream and become paralyzed with fear. "You must excuse her," Ukyo said, pulling the cat away from the girl. "She is violently afraid of cats." Finally, they entered the loft. Ukyo dropped the bundle she was carrying and walked to the stove. As Nick put Kuno down on the couch, he watched her start to boil water. After about two minutes, Ukyo took the water off and called the other girl to sit at the table.
"This will start the explaining," Ukyo said as she poured the hot water onto the pig-tailed girl. Nick watched in amazement as the girl changed before him. Now Ranma sat at the table.
"Where'd the girl go?" Nick almost yelled.
"I am the girl," Ranma said. "Several years ago, my father and I had been training in China at the fabled Cursed Springs of Jusenkio. What we hadn't known was that they were cursed. Legend has it that if anyone falls into a spring, they transform into whatever drowned there last. My father fell into one of the pools, and now he turns into a giant panda whenever he is splashed with cold water. I fell into another pool, and I now turn into a girl. The others also fell into pools, but at different times. Ryoga turns into P-Chan, the pig; Mousse into a duck, and Shampoo into a c-c-cat." Ranma paused to recollect himself. "Whenever we are splashed with hot water, we change back to normal."
"Then perhaps we should boil more water for them," Nick suggested, pointing at the cat, pig, and duck.
"Maybe, but I think they'd be embarrassed," Ranma said. "When they change, they lose their clothing. If they change back now, they'd be naked."
"Oh, so maybe they'd prefer the shower."
"I think they would," Ranma said.
======================
In an abandoned warehouse, Akane sat tied to a pole. A small but dark figure stood over her, a mischievous smile over its face.
"Soon your debt to me will be repaid, Ranma," the figure said to itself. "You'll do anything to regain your darling Akane. And when you come to rescue her, you shall die."
======================
The trip to the hotel had been in vain. When they arrived there, the congregation found her room ransacked, complete with overturned tables and chairs.
"She's not here," Tracy said to everyone but Genma, who had stayed in the car again. "Let me check with Nick. Maybe they've found something." She pulled out her phone and dialed. After a minute, she clicked it off.
"This is just great," she exclaimed. "Nick's car has been towed, so they're all at his loft. He wants us to meet him there."
"So we go to his loft?" Nabiki questioned.
"Well, I can only stay for a while," Tracy informed them. "The sun is rising soon, and I need to get some sleep. Nick offered for you to stay at his place if you want to."
"That was extremely kind of him," Kasumi said.
"Especially since we haven't booked anywhere to stay," Nabiki added in her usual sarcastic manner.
======================
When Tracy's gang finally arrived, Shampoo, Ryoga and Mousse had all changed back to normal, and Nick had called someone about returning his car. Tracy left quickly, making the excuse that she always goes to sleep as the sun was rising. Secretly, Nick knew she just wanted to see Vachon again before he went to sleep.
In his mind, Nick was trying to figure out how he was going to provide sleeping accommodations for this many people. His thought were distracted when Happosai picked up the remote to the automatic shutters.
"Isn't it kinda dark in here?" he asked, about to press the open button.
"Don't touch the blinds!" Nick demanded.
Happosai was so surprised that someone spoke to him this way, that he fell backwards, knocking Ukyo's glass of water off the table and over Mousse. A second later, Mousse was a duck again.
"Quack," was all he could say.
Shampoo felt a twinge of pity for Mousse. She got up from the leather chair and walked into the kitchen. When she returned, she had a kettle of hot water in her hand. She poured it over the duck, and it became Mousse again.
He stood up, arms outstretched. "You do care about me, Shampoo my love." Everyone looked at him peculiarly. Mousse then remembered that when he turned into a duck, he loses his clothes. He quickly crossed his arms in attempt to hide what was left of his dignity. Then, he ran upstairs. Ryoga followed with Mousse's clothing.
"Well, that was interesting," Nick said.
After about five minutes, Ryoga and Mousse returned downstairs. Mousse's face was bright red from embarrassment. The group didn't taunt him about it though. They seemed to forget it.
"Maybe we should get some sleep," Nick suggested. "It's been a long night."
No one disagreed with him.
======================
Though everyone else seemed out cold, Nick had trouble falling asleep for two reasons. One was the fact that the floor was really hard when compared to his bed. The other was that he couldn't help but think of how they were going to find Akane. It seemed impossible, even for someone with centuries of experience. One person in a city of hundreds of thousands. "Can we say needle in a haystack?" he asked himself with a whisper.
"Are you still awake Detective Knight?" Ranma called him from the chair.
"I thought I was the only one."
"Well, I'm worried about Akane," the boy said.
"That makes two of us," Nick assured him. He tried to change the subject. "So why are all of these women following you?"
"They all have their reasons. Nabiki and Kasumi are Akane's sisters."
"What about Shampoo?" Nick inquired.
"She's my fiancé."
"I thought Akane is your fiancé." Nick was confused.
"She is."
"And Ukyo?"
"My fiancé."
"Now I'm really lost."
"Well, my father and I used to travel a lot. Along the way, we would get really hungry. My father would get so hungry that he would trade me for a meal. He traded me to Ukyo's father and another girl's father, promising them that I would marry their daughters when we were old enough. He would always steal me back when the fathers were not looking. Shampoo was a different story. After my father and I had left Jusenkio, we traveled through China in our different forms. We ran into Shampoo's Amazon tribe, and she and I got into a fight. Well, I beat her. Amazon law says that when an Amazon is beaten by another woman in battle, she must find her opponent and kill her. Well, when she found me, I was in my normal form. We fought again, and I beat her again. This time, Amazon law stated that if an Amazon is beaten by a male, she must marry him."
"So, how many future wives do you have?" Nick questioned.
"Four, that I know of." After that, Ranma yawned.
"You should get some sleep," Nick told the boy.
"Good idea. Good night, I mean, day."
"Thank you." Then, they both drifted off to sleep.
======================
At about noon, Shampoo woke up and wandered downstairs from the master bedroom. She was hungry, so she went into the kitchen. When she opened the refrigerator, she found nothing but bottles of what appeared to be red wine. She picked one up and examined it. Granmother forbids me to drink alcohol, she thought to herself, as she replaced it in the fridge and closed it. How can Detective Knight live like this? she pondered. There's no food, nothing decent to drink. Maybe when he awakes I'll make him dinner. She looked over where the men were sleeping and stared at Nick. She could not help but think about how good looking he was. "Grandmother be mad if think about another man but Ranma," she whispered to herself. "Can think only of fiancé." With that, she went back up stairs, forgetting her hunger. She only wanted to sleep it off now.
======================
Ukyo stared up at the ceiling, unblinking. She had awakened when Shampoo had returned from downstairs. She kept thinking about Detective Knight, and it bothered her. Why do I find him so attractive? she asked herself. I have Ranma. How can I be falling for another? Slowly, she drifted back to sleep.
======================
When Tracy showed up shortly before sunset, she found the guys sleeping everywhere on the bottom floor. Nick, being the gentleman that he is, had obviously offered his bed to the ladies. Knight was now sleeping on the floor next to the couch with his hands crossed over his chest. Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome were sleeping on Nick's table. Happosai was unconscious under the table, clutching something that looked like a bra. Tracy didn't want to know if it was one. Ranma had crashed on the leather chair, and Kuno was still asleep on the couch. Tracy couldn't find the other two boys, the ones named Ryoga and Mousse. Instead, there was a little black pig and a white duck were asleep on the part of the couch that Kuno wasn't hogging. She didn't remember any animals when she first met the group. She quietly closed the elevator door.
As if he had sensed her, Nick suddenly snapped awake. "Tracy, what are you doing here? Why didn't you wait until our shift started?"
"I was about to, but I got word from one of my sources." Nick knew she meant Vachon, but he didn't say anything. He liked to keep her in the dark. She didn't know that he was friends with Vachon. She still didn't know that he was a vampire, or even that he knew Vachon was a vampire. He preferred it that way. She continued, "He heard that someone was staying at this old abandoned warehouse on 5th street. A young girl has been seen tied up in there."
"It has to be Akane!" Ranma was suddenly awake. "We need to go find her."
The whole group seemed to wake up at the mention of Akane's name. The girls all came down the stairs. The guys rose one by one, first Mr. Tendo then Mr. Saotome. Happi and Kuno followed suit. Then, the pig and duck awoke. They took one look at Tracy and bolted up the stairs. A minute later, Ryoga and Mousse came down to the lower level. Tracy didn't think twice about it.
"They found Akane!" Ranma announced.
"We think we did," Nick corrected him. "we'll check it out tonight." He turned to Tracy. "Call Reese. Inform him of what we're going to do."
"Okay." Tracy picked up Nick's phone and called the precinct.
Reese seemed pleased with their chosen course of action. He urged them to hurry and to be careful. "I don't want to lose my best detectives to an outside case," he insisted.
When Tracy hung up with the captain, Nick was ready to roll. So was everyone else. They split into the groups from the previous night and headed to the warehouse.
======================
When they arrived, Nick let his senses wander. With his vampiric hearing, he caught the sound of two distinct heartbeats, one weaker than the other. Then to Nick's dismay, he also heard about 10 other heartbeats. This guy had guards protecting him.
"Okay, I think your source was right. There's definitely signs of life." he told them. "We need to surround the place. Tracy, you take your group to the front. We'll go around back."
Tracy nodded. Then, the two groups separated.
======================
Vachon was sitting alone at the church, tuning his guitar. When Tracy had visited him earlier, he informed her of the fact that several of his kind had noticed mortals hanging around a common vampire refuge. He had been suspicious of whether or not this could be the girl she was searching for with Knight. But now, he wasn't so sure that he should have let her go by herself. Putting his guitar down, Vachon decided to find her and help.
======================
When Nick's group got to the rear entrance, Knight got an idea. "We need someone to sneak in and make sure it really is Akane in there."
"I'll go," Ranma volunteered.
"No, we need someone smaller," Nick insisted. "Or something. Something like a stray cat." He turned to Shampoo. The rest of the group caught onto his idea and also faced Shampoo.
Then, Shampoo understood. "No way. Shampoo help *Ranma*. Shampoo no help little Akane."
It was too late. Nick had already grabbed a nearby bucket of excess rain water and thrown it on the blue haired girl. A split second later, she was a cat. Ranma hid behind Nick.
"Let me guess," Nick said. "The boy form of Ranma is also afraid of cats."
Ukyo nodded. "Psychotic trauma from his Cat-Fu training. Genma had covered Ranma with fish sausage and hung him over a pit of hungry cats. Instead of strengthening Ranma like it was supposed to, the training backfired and Ranma developed an extreme fear of cats."
"Just feel lucky he hasn't gone into the Neko-ken yet," Ryoga added.
Nick quickly translated. "Cat-Fist?"
"He actually starts acting like a cat then," Ryoga said. "It's not fun."
Nick cracked open the door to let Shampoo in. Just as he did, the door slammed open the rest of the way and five guys came out, armed with semi-automatics. Just before they started firing at them, Nick had succeeded in pushing everyone out of the way. Then, he turned on the gunmen. Concentrating on drawing their fire away from the group, Nick barely noticed that Ranma had joined by his side to fight.
"Ranma, get back!" Nick growled, about to lose control of the beast inside. He didn't want Ranma and his friends to see him in vampire form. He struggled to keep control until the boy was out of sight, but it didn't look like that would happen any time soon.
Nick quickly looked around to see how the others were doing. Ryoga was fighting off one guard with his umbrella, using it to deflect bullets and bash the shooter. Shampoo was helping him all she could by jumping up and scratching the gunman's face. Ukyo was using her pizza spatula as a sword, beating her opponent. Kuno wasn't doing too bad with his adversary, actually using his wooden sword to slap the shooter. Mousse was trying to help him by tripping up the gunman with chains that came out his sleeves.
That left two opponents for Ranma and Nick. Ranma was doing pretty well in fighting his rival. When Nick had the chance to look over, he saw Ranma punching the guy at an incredible speed, even from the perspective of a vampire. One final kick and Ranma had knocked the man out cold.
Nick did not have the time to congratulate the boy though, because the man he had been fighting with had gotten the chance to fire his gun another time. The bullet zinged by Nick, but hit Ranma in the shoulder. The boy fell down in pain.
This made Nick lose any and all control he had over the vampire inside. He turned on the gunman, fangs bared and eyes glowing. The man took one look at Nick, and turned to run. He was stopped, however, when Ukyo's spatula connected with his head. Hard.
======================
Ukyo turned to Nick, smiling with self-satisfaction, knowing that she had helped Nick. Her smile vanished quickly when she caught a glimpse of Nick's eyes. The denim blue eyes that she had found so amazing were now feral yellow, and his incredibly white teeth had elongated into fangs. He's a monster, she thought to herself. Why do I always fall for the freaks?
======================
Nick looked at the girl and Ukyo looked back at him. His eyes were still yellow and, even though he had close his mouth some, his fangs were still visible. But he didn't worry about the girl looking at him.
What worried him was that the rest of the group was now watching him. Ranma had applied pressure to the gunshot wound and was looking up at Nick. Ryoga's and Mousse's eyes were wide in horror, and Kuno fainted again. Even Shampoo the Cat was shocked.
Nick didn't think hard about it though, because a disturbing thought hit him. If the guards were able to attack them out back where they were being stealth and quiet, then what about...
"Tracy," he hissed. Not caring about whether the kids saw him, he took to the air, intending to fly over the building. He was just about to land when the front door was kicked open and three more guards started to fire at Tracy and her posse.
======================
Nick might have been too late, but Vachon wasn't. Just as the trio started to open fire, Vachon swooped in and knocked all three down to the ground. This gave Tracy the chance to run for cover. Genma also took advantage of the chance.
"Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts' final attack." He prepared into battle stance. "Ready...set...RUN AWAY!" Mr. Saotome pivoted and ran off, grabbing Happosai and Cologne on the way. Mr. Tendo followed his lead, dragging his daughters behind him.
The gunmen did not stay down long, but with Tracy out of the way, Nick was not afraid to help his fellow vampire. He, too, flew down to street level. Together, they turned on their doomed enemies. They attacked in full vampire form; Vachon took on one of the gunmen while the older and more experienced vampire took on the other two. As their adversaries tried to defend themselves, Nick and Vachon were able to fight the shooters down to the ground and render them unconscious.
Nick and Vachon were able to change back before Ranma and his friends came from around the building. Soon, Tracy realized that the trouble had passed and she brought her group back to the door.
======================
When Tracy saw Vachon, she knew he had saved everyone from the shooters. She smiled gratefully, but the smile faded when she realized that Nick had possibly seen Vachon fly in. She had spent this long keeping the existence of vampires a secret, but now the secret might be out just because Vachon had saved her life.
Nick noticed that his partner looked worried. he chuckled to himself. To put her at ease, he turned to Vachon. "You're Vachon, right? I guess we're lucky you ran in here when you did."
That calmed Tracy down. The secret of vampires was safe for now.
"I was just in the neighborhood," Vachon played along. He knew that Tracy was oblivious to Nick's "condition," so he did not want to spill the beans, so to speak.
======================
"We need to get inside," Kuno said.
"Okay, let's go, charge," Ranma said sarcastically. "Think about it Kuno. There could be more of those creeps. And you have no idea how much this gunshot hurts. I can't fight if I'm this injured."
"Tracy, can you take care of Ranma?" Nick asked. "If so, we can go in and find Akane."
"No, you are not going in there without me," Ranma stated. "Just because I'm in pain doesn't mean I can't fight."
"But you just said..." Ryoga said.
"Forget what I said," Ranma demanded. "Besides, when do you listen to what I say?"
"Where'd the cat come from?" Tracy changed the subject.
"Just a stray," Nick replied.
"Reow, hiss," the cat arched its back.
"Look. I think I should call for backup," Tracy mentioned. "If there are more of these guys, we'll need help."
"Good plan." Nick said. "you go call for reinforcements over the radio."
"We'll go with you," Nabiki replied, and the rest of Tracy's group agreed.
As Tracy left with her group following, Nick turned to Vachon. "Come on, while she's gone, we can get in there."
Vachon moved to Nick's side and as they prepared to go in, Ranma joined them. "There's no way you're going without me," Ranma repeated.
"Okay, but be careful," Nick said.
"Of the gunmen or of you?" Ranma asked.
Vachon turned to Nick with a questioning look on his face. "He saw me," Nick explained. "All of these kids did."
"All of them?" Vachon pondered.
"Well, most of us," Ukyo answered.
"Boy, do you have a lot of work ahead of you," Vachon told Nick. Nick knew what he meant. He would have to make all of them forget. But right now, he wasn't concerned with his future task. Right now, he just wanted to save the girl inside.
"Okay, let's go," he said to Vachon and Ranma.
Even as they walked toward the door, Kuno strode to the brick exterior and broke through the wall with his sword.
"Uh, Kuno. There is a door," Ukyo mentioned.
"Be silent woman!" Kuno commanded.
"Is he always like this?" Vachon questioned.
"Oh yeah," Ranma answered.
With that, Nick, Vachon and Ranma entered the warehouse together, through the door.
======================
Inside, it was pitch black, but Vachon and Nick had no trouble seeing. The whole warehouse appeared to be just a couple of large rooms, but the two couldn't see Akane anywhere.
Suddenly, the two remaining guards jumped from behind a corner. Before they could fire a shot from their handguns, Nick and Vachon were able to throw them against the wall, knocking them out cold.
"Thanks." Ranma's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he had seen what they had just did. "Quick question: are you like him?" he asked Vachon.
Vachon nodded. "For about 500 years now."
"500!?" Ranma almost yelled. "You're older than Happi! How old are you Nick?"
"800 years old," Nick said, trying to keep his voice down. "Pretty young for my our kind."
"800," Ranma couldn't believe it. "That's incredible."
"Yeah, well, let's find Akane, and then we'll discuss it," Nick said.
The trio entered the main room where they found Akane bound to a pole. She was almost unconscious, but when she saw Ranma, she struggled against the ropes.
"Well, well, well. Ranma Saotome. How kind of you to join us," a voice called from the darkness. As the three watched, a small figure stepped from the shadows.
"Suzaku?" Ranma asked.
"But of course," the voice answered. "Were you expecting someone else?"
"You know this guy?" Nick wondered.
"Ryoga and I used to go to school with him," Ranma replied. Then to Suzaku: "What are you doing with Akane?"
"She's just bait for you," Suzaku said. "I just wanted a chance to take a shot at you." With that, Suzaku pulled out a gun. "Literally."
Ranma flinched when he saw the gun. "Why?"
"Remember in second grade when you stole my baseball, and you called me 'Ball-less?' Well, the nickname stuck. For nine years I've had to live with that name. So now, you'll pay for my suffering. Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" And then he fired at Ranma.
======================
When Tracy came back and noticed that Nick, Vachon, and Ranma were gone, she was furious. "Why the hell did they go in there without me or backup?"
"Ranma kinda made them," Kasumi said. "He tends to be rather persistent."
"Well, I'm going in after them," Tracy suggested, but Ryoga stopped her.
"I'm sure they can handle it. I mean, Ranma can fight, even though he's injured, and your friend, Vachon, seems pretty strong, and Nick has that advantage."
"What advantage?" Tracy asked.
Ryoga realized that she didn't know, so he tried to cover it up. "The advantage...of being a cop. Yeah, that's what I mean."
"Oh."
Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a gun shot from inside the warehouse. Tracy pulled out her gun and entered the building, despite Ryoga's attempts to stop her.
======================
Ranma tensed as he waited for the bullet to hit him. It never hit though. Just as the shot was fired, Nick had flown in front of Ranma with incredible speed. He fell as the bullet hit him in the chest.
Everyone watched as Nick rose from the floor, mad as anything. His eyes were feral yellow and his fangs extended. He looked down at his shirt, that was now torn where the bullet had hit him. Looking at Suzaku: "Now you've done it. You put a hole in my favorite shirt. Tsk-tsk-tsk."
Before Nick could advance, Ranma did as flying helicopter kick and connected with Suzaku's head. "I told you I could still fight if I'm injured." With that he walked over to Akane. He untied her from the pole and helped her up.
"Ranma, you cared enough to come and rescue me," she said.
"Who would care about a tom-boy like you?" he replied.
"What!!!" she screamed, then pulled out a mallet from behind her and slammed Ranma over the head with it.
Nick turned back to normal and pulled his handcuffs out. Slapping them on Suzaku's wrists, he picked up the boy and carried him out over his shoulder. Ranma and Vachon followed.
======================
On the way out, they met with Tracy. When she saw the boy in cuffs, she knew he had captured the kidnapper.
When Mr. Tendo saw his daughter, he burst out into tears. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!!"
"I'm okay Dad." Akane assured him.
"Well, this has been crazy," Mr. Tendo said. "Thank God I was able to help."
"How did you help!?" Ranma cried and splashed his father with a bucket of water. Tracy fainted when a giant panda appeared in his place. The panda held up a sign:
"Oh well."
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