Chapter 2: Slaughterhouse!

As Ukyo entered the building, she heard arguing in the distance. Turning around she saw Ranma and Akane running up to the school, screeching at each other. 'Well that's typical,' she thought. And then out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw someone disappearing around the corner of the wall. 'Who the?,' she wondered. While she pondered on this, Ranma and Akane got up to the building and stopped their own argument when they saw the curious look on Ukyo's face.

"What's wrong Ukyo?" Ranma asked.

"I thought I saw someone at the school's gate when you came up," she responded. "I guess it was just my imagination." They walked into the building, not seeing the masked man who looked through the gate at them.

Tokyo Airport, 8:00 a.m.

Dr. Loomis disembarked his plane and looked around him at the city. 'Of all the things that this city has gone through in it's history, none will be more devastating than what's here now,' he thought to himself. He glanced out the window overlooking the airfield and noticed policemen swarming around a small bi-plane. As a stewardess came by, he asked her, "Excuse me miss, but what is going on down at that small plane on the landing strip?"

"Don't you know? It landed last night and the pilot killed one of the baggage handlers," she stated. "Then the guy just walked off!"

"Do you know where he went to?" Loomis asked.

"South, towards Nerima," she answered. 'Right to the girl,' he thought. He dashed away to the baggage claim to get his things.

Tendo Dojo, 10:15.

With Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki at school, Soun and Genma had decided to go for a foray into the park. Happosai was . . . somewhere, so Kasumi was by herself, washing the dishes from the night before. She lightly sang to herself to help pass the time. In the distance she heard the front door open and shut.

"Father, Mr. Saotome, is that you?" she called. When no answer came she tried again. "Father, are you home?" But still no one replied to her call. Leaving the dishes for a moment, she came out to see who had arrived. As she stepped around a corner, a man she had never set eyes on before stepped out. She couldn't see his face because of the bleach-white mask he wore over his head, but she saw the butcher knife in his hand instantly.

"Who are you?!" she screamed. In answer the man raised the knife slightly above her head, and she gasped. And then it came down straight into her bosom, blood squirting immediately. "Nooo!" she screamed helplessly as the knife rose and fell into her chest four or five more times. By the last time, she had stopped screaming. Her body fell limply to the floor as the shape looked on.

At Furinkan High School, Akane suddenly stopped in mid-motion while sitting down at her desk. A light gasp escaped her throat.

"Something wrong, Akane?" Ranma asked.

"I suddenly felt as if something horrible just happened," she said.

"Well, it's not like anyone just died," Ukyo said lightly as Akane finished taking her seat as the bell rang.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she replied. Down the hall in the upper class attended by Nabiki, she, too, suddenly gasped.

"Is something wrong, Nabiki Tendo?" Tatewaki Kuno asked from the desk next to hers.

"I don't know," she answered.

Tokyo Police Department, 11:36.

Dr. Loomis walked into the station, leaving his suitcase by the bench, and came up to the front desk.

"Who's the Sheriff around here?" he asked the young lady sitting there.

"I am," a female voice called from behind the desk. A woman of about thirty four in a traditional style police uniform came up to the desk and greeted Dr. Loomis. "Sheriff Minako Sorena. What can I do for you?"

"I'm Dr. Loomis, from America. I'm afraid I have some unsettling news for you," he answered.

"I don't think anything can top the murder at the airport last night. I still have people out there trying to find a trace of the killer," Mina stated dryly.

"The killer is my former patient, Michael Myers, and he has come to your city to kill a girl named Ukyo Kuonji and her father. And he will kill everyone who even remotely gets in his way. I've seen it several times in Haddonfield, Illinois," Loomis stated the important facts.

"If what you say is true, then why does this guy want to kill this girl Ukyo?" the sheriff asked tartly.

"Because she's his third cousin once removed. He believes that if he kills every last member of his family tree, his rage will end. That girl and her father are the last members of his family in the world," Loomis explained.

"How do I know you're even telling me the truth?" she asked pointedly.

"I expected that reaction, so I brought this," he replied, pulling a computer disk out of his pocket and handed it to her. She went to a nearby computer and went over the contents of the disk. After a few minutes she came back to the front desk and spoke to the receptionists.

"I want this girl's address brought up pronto. And I want every available officer patrolling the area up to six blocks from there! Loomis and I will wait for her at her place if she's not there, and get her someplace safe," Sheriff Mina gave out her orders.

"What was on the disk?" the girl asked as she made the necessary dispatches.

"Our boy's killing records from nineteen sixty three up," Mina answered.

Cat Cafe, 11:38.

Mousse was quietly busing the tables. It was a slow day, and Shampoo was out on a delivery. Cologne was in the kitchen cooking on the hot plate. It had been quiet all morning, and something felt unsettling for him.

"Mousse, would you take the trash can out back, please?" Cologne called.

"Sure," Mousse replied as he straightened up. He went to the back and picked up the can. 'Whew! She was right, it's time for it to go out!' he thought. He carried it to the back door, and stopping only to open it, passed through to the alley behind. He dropped the can in the usual spot for the garbage men, and quickly tied off the bag. As he stood back up, he suddenly had the feeling he was being watched. He turned around to return to the door, and saw a man in a white mask standing in front of him.

"Who the . . .?" Mousse started, but then saw the object in the man's upraised hand. One of Shampoo's bon-bori's, the ball turned away from him. Before he even had a chance to react the stick of the bon-bori came crashing into his left eye. His body fell limply in the alley.

"Mousse?! What's going on?" Cologne called, curious as to his sudden shout, but no further sound was heard. "Must have been his imagination, whatever it was," she said quietly to herself. As she continued cooking she heard the shuffling of something heavy in the alley, then footsteps entering the room.

"What did you do? Knock out a dog?" she asked. No answer. Then she felt a hand touch her hair and slightly move down. "What are you doing?" she began to ask as she turned around, and then saw the shape. As she started to scream, he shoved her face down hard on the hot plate, and held her there while she screamed in total agony for several minutes. When she finally went slack, the shape removed his hand and looked at the remains for a moment.

Twenty minutes later . . .

"Great Grandmother! Mousse! I home!" Shampoo called from the front door as she came in. When no answer came she walked further in. "Hello! Grandmother? Mousse?" she called again. Then she caught the scent, the scent of something burning. Something odd. She walked up to the kitchen to see what her grandmother was cooking, and saw the kitchen partly filled with smoke. As she moved forward, she started to discern a shape near the stove. She got closer and finally saw her great-grandparent.

"Grandmother!" she screamed, and dove forward. As soon as she shook the body, the small wrinkled form fell to the floor, the side of her face that had been pressed against the hot plate burned down to the bone, and in couple of spots even further. Shampoo screamed in horror and began to back up. And then felt herself whap into something. She whirled around and saw Mousse propped up against the cabinet, the bon-bori still in his eye.

"Mousse!" she cried, and without thinking she ran out the front door, dove onto her bike, and rode away as fast as she could to the only place she could think of to go. To Furinkan High, to Ranma.

Ukyo's House, 12:02.

Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Mina looked around Ukyo's private retreat. A small place with only the bear necessities. As they looked around they found a small closet had been entered, and a box of portraits had been spilled on the floor and sifted through.

"He's been here," Loomis said. He looked at some of the photo's and found one of a middle aged man with a dark beard holding an infant in one arm and the handle of a cooking cart with the other hand. A handwritten message on the back read, 'Daddy and me with our first cart.' "At least we know what her father looks like," Loomis stated quietly.

As he said so, Mina pulled up another picture of a young man in a red Chinese shirt and blue pants flanked by two girls, one in a blue dress and jacket with short black hair, the other with long brown hair tied back in a pony tail wearing a blue and white top and black tights. The handwritten message on this read, 'Akane, Ranma, and I at school."

"Which one do you think is her?" Mina asked, indicating the two girls in the photo. Dr. Loomis compared the two pictures before responding.

"That one," he said, pointing at the brunette. He then pointed at the giant spatula she carried on her back, and a similar one carried on the back of her father in the other picture. "It's the same spatula carried by both, you see," he added.

"Family heirloom," Mina commented.

"What school is that behind them?" Loomis asked, pointing at the building behind the trio in the second snapshot.

"Local place, Furinkan High," she answered, then realized right where he was going with this train of thought. " I want five cars at Furinkan High School, stat!" she snapped into her walkie talkie as they got up and headed to the door.

Furinkan Field, 12:07.

Ukyo pelted the ball over the net, right at the opposing team. One the girls on the other side moved and returned the serve. The ball went flying in several directions for a while and finally Ukyo round housed it out of the volleyball court, and right into Principal Kuno, who went into a mud puddle.

"Who did dat!" he bellowed as he rose, squeezing the ball in rage.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to hit you," Ukyo apologized profusely.

"Well now you do detention, TONIGHT!" he screamed at her, then glanced down at his own current attire. "If anyone want me, I be in the shower," he said to a nearby coach, and walked off.

Men's Locker room, 12:09.

Principal Kuno quickly rinsed away the mud while plotting new and horrible punishments for the students. He snickered at himself as he thought of a particularly nasty one. Then he heard a shuffling from nearby.

"Who's there?!" he called. But no one answered. After a moment there was silence. He shrugged it off and returned to scrubbing himself down. Behind him a hand reached down and picked up one of his trademark razors. More shuffling was heard, and this time Principal Kuno turned all the way around.

"Now what is going. . .," he started, and then saw the shape. He grabbed Principal Kuno by the upper throat and lifted him a foot off the ground. The last thing Principal Kuno ever saw was his razor being lifted to his throat, and then the shape switched it on and drug it across the base of Principal Kuno's neck, slitting it. After a moment Principal Kuno became forever still.

A few minutes later some of the guys came in to wash up and change for their next class. One moved up to the shower stall, and screamed in horror.

"What is it?" one of the others called.

"It's Principal Kuno! He . . . he's dead!" the first guy exclaimed. One boy ran out and returned a few moments later with Tatewaki Kuno, dressed in his usual blue kimono and carrying his wooden boken in one hand.

"What's so urgent that you drug me all the way here for?" he asked.

"It's easier if you just see," the boy answered as he drug Kuno through the gathering crowd in the shower stall. A few moments later Kuno's horrified scream erupted from the crowd.

Ice Rink, 12:30.

"C' mon, Mikado! Get the lead out! We need to practice!" the brown haired girl in the pink ice skating outfit called.

"I'll be out in a minute, Azusa!" the tall, short brown haired teen called from his seat. He wore his normal pants and shirt, and was tying off the first skate. Behind him a man came up and picked up the other skate. When he went to look for it, it was gone.

"What the?" he said, then heard the breathing behind him and turned his head, looking up into the face of the shape. The next thing he saw was his missing skate raised above his head, the blade facing him. And then the shape brought it down hard into Mikado's face, blood squirting outward.

Outside, Azusa continued to wait impatiently. First time they got off school a little early, and he was taking forever to get ready. Finally she stormed into the room to find her errant partner. But when she reached where he was last, all she found was a small pool of blood on the floor, and an abandoned ice skate, the blade covered in blood. She didn't even try to hide her scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Furinkan Gate, 12:51.

Kuno walked toward the gate of the school, half dazed. Ranma, Ukyo, and Akane saw him and went over to see what was wrong. From further away, Nabiki saw him, and ran a hand through her short brown hair, then dashed over as well.

"Hey, Kuno! Where're you going?" Ranma asked. Kuno turned to him, a look of devastation and pain on his face.

"Don't you know?" Daisuki called from the side. "Someone killed Principal Kuno!"

"Yeah, his throat was slit by his own razor!" Hiroshi added.

"You're kidding!" Nabiki stated as she came up.

"I . . . have to t-tell Kodachi," Kuno said quietly as he turned back to the gate.

"We'll come with you," the Tendo girls said simultaneously. They knew what it was like to loose a parent.

"I'll come to," Ranma said with sympathy.

"If Ran-Chan's going, I'm going," Ukyo said. With the principal dead, all punishments were most likely off. As they left the gate, Shampoo came barreling up on her bicycle. In her shock she had ridden in circles a couple of times on the way over.

"What are you doing here, Shampoo?" Akane asked.

"Mousse . . . and Grandmother . . . are dead," Shampoo choked out.

"What!" Ranma exclaimed. He'd wanted Cologne dead for awhile now, but never really gave any thought to a world literally without her.

"You better tell us on the way," Ukyo said, "And feel free to take your time." As the small group headed off to St. Hebereke's School for Girls, a figure stepped out from around a corner at the end of the walk, and watched them proceed. After a moment he began to follow at a discreet distance. Twenty minutes later, a police car roared up to the school, and Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Mina stepped out. Without waiting, Daisuke zipped up to the female officer.

"You here to investigate the murder?" he asked.

"Murder?" she responded.

"Of who?" Loomis asked the boy.

"Of Principal Kuno. Someone killed him in the Men's Locker Room about forty minutes ago!" Hiroshi said.

"Where's Ukyo Kuonji?!" Dr. Loomis demanded.

"She just left with Tatewaki Kuno and some others to tell his sister Kodachi about her father." Daisuke said.

"Doesn't she attend this school?" Mina inquired.

"No. She attends St. Hebereke's School for Girls," Hiroshi explained. Five patrol cars came up right then, and Mina turned to them.

"What do we got?" one officer asked as got out of his car.

"The school's principal is dead. These boys will show you where. Just maintain control until further notice. The rest of you, he's headed for St. Hebereke's. Let's move!" Mina ordered as she and Loomis got back into their car and all but one drove off.

Tendo Dojo, 1:12.

"Kasumi! We're home!" Soun called. He walked into the house with Genma, ready for a quick meal. Soun wore his usual grey gi, and Genma wore his usual white one and head cloth. As they walked in, they realized they couldn't smell anything cooking at all.

"Kasumi, dear! Where are you?" Genma called. But no answer came. As they rounded the corner, Genma's eyes spotted what lay in front of the kitchen. "Uh, maybe we should try her room, Tendo," Genma said, trying to divert his friend from the site.

"What are you talking about, Saotome," Soun demanded, and pushed past him. And then he saw what Genma had, a pool of blood in front of the kitchen door. "Kasumi!" he roared, and dashed through the house in search of his eldest daughter.

St. Hebereke's School For Girls, Home Ec. Room, 1:20.

Another quiet day. Cook something, then something else. Always the same. Kodachi found herself getting bored. She wore her usual blue leotard under a white coverall, and a white cap over her black hair which was tied off in a pony tale on one side of her head. She was about to announce she was leaving early, again, when a knock came at the door, and her brother entered along with Akane, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo, and Ranma. They all seemed dazed. And her brother looked completely out of it.

"Brother dear, what is it?" she asked.

"Father . . . was . . . murdered," he spat it out. Kodachi looked at his face for a moment, trying to find anything there to say this was just some sort of sick practical joke. But all she saw in her brother's eyes were horror.

"Noo!" she cried as she fell to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

"What did you do to him?!" a female voice rang from behind. They turned and saw Azusa right behind them, a look of terror in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"Mikado disappeared, and all I found was this!" she said, holding up the skate by the laces. The blood covering the blade was enough to make anyone feel suddenly ill, and in fact several of the cooking students proceeded to do just that!

"First Cologne and Mousse, then Principal Kuno, now Mikado," Akane went over the growing list. Fear was becoming quite paramount, and then a female cop with two or three others and a man in a brown trench coat with scars over half his face came in.

"The young man did nothing, miss. It was Michael Myers. He has come to your town to kill," the man said.

"Who the heck are you?" Nabiki demanded.

"I'm Dr. Loomis, from America," Loomis said, holding out his hand to shake, and each did in turn, giving their names. As Ukyo took his hand he said, "You're not an easy person to find, Ms. Kuonji."

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"I went to your house to find you. Found a picture instead. He's already been there, so it's no longer safe to go to," Loomis responded.

"My house? But why would this guy go to my house?" Ukyo asked.

"Because you're the one he's after. He's possessed of the idea that he must kill every last member of his family, and you and your father are last ones. He'll kill even more people to get to you!" Loomis explained.

"What about Mikado?" Azusa cried. "What happened to him?"

"Hard to say. We've already found the corpses at the Cat Cafe, and we have one at the airport where this sicko came in," the female officer said.

"I'm sorry. This is Sheriff Mina, of the Tokyo P.D.," Loomis introduced her.

"My men have the area secured, no sign of anyone matching your description within three miles," Sheriff Mina said with professional calmness.

"I'd feel better if I had a weapon in my hand," Ranma said.

"We can use my stash," Kodachi said as she got up.

"Your stash?" Loomis inquired.

"In my locker next to the gym. It's filled with weapons I use for . . . certain priorities," she explained.

"Ah," said Akane, remembering her first meeting with Kodachi. Kodachi moved for the door, but Loomis got in her way.

"You can't go alone. He could be in the building already," he told her.

"I'll go with her," Kuno spoke up, a notable shiver to his voice. "She's my sister, after all," he added.

"Alright," Loomis said, "Good luck."

"You," Mina said to one cop, "Go with them." The man saluted and the three raced down the hall and went around the corner. So far so good. No sign of him. They continued forward until they reached the area adjacent to the gym. Kodachi moved into a room nearby filled with lockers. She quickly moved along them to the one that was hers, and gasped.

"What's wrong?!" the cop asked.

"It's been broken into!" she said as she stared at the doorless locker. Kuno came up and glanced into it.

"Where are the weapons?" he asked. They heard a light bat behind them. They turned and saw the door connecting the locker room to the gym lightly swaying back and forth. They cautiously moved forward, the cop pulling his gun. Kuno stretched his boken out at arms length and used it to open the door. He and Kodachi let out a gasp at the sight. There were fifteen gymnasts in the room, along with two coaches. And all had met one of Kodachi's weapons up close and personal.

"By the gods," Kuno breathed. As the three looked at the carnage, they heard a light breathing from the other side of the gym.

"He's here," the cop said quietly. And from shadows next to the expandable benches came a man in a grey jumpsuit and white mask.

To Be Continued!


Well, are we scared yet?! The corpse count has risen to thirty one unfortunate souls, and it's not finished yet! And remember how I said I wrote all this just prior to the theatrical release of H20? Imagine my surprise when went to see it and in the first ten minutes a teen jerk gets iced with a hockey skate to the face! They robbed my brain! Nah, just great minds thinking alike, I think. Leave a review!