Yo. A 6 years older version of Oranj here. Only barely began to write fics around 6 years ago but never took off with it, but have decided to return to it now after some time. If any following or having seen my SAO story previously are interested - sorry, nope, I have no plans to continue it. Hopefully someone will find this fic interesting instead, taking place around the start of the Hellsing Ultimate OVA storyline with a crossover into the Ranma 1/2 universe, around the point in the story Ryoga becomes P-chan for the first time and is adopted by Akane, so inclusion of any future appearances in Ranma's canon isn't guaranteed but possible depending on how the story unfolds, although I do have a rough plan of how it's going to pan out. Final point before I begin, this idea for a crossover comes from "Ranma's Eternal Night" by Lawra, the concept from which interested me enough to start writing this, so it's loosely using that story for the base plot.
.Prologue.
Ranma Saotome's life had been more turbulent than expected as of late. Despite having been on an arduous and unfortunately, cursed journey to China's Jusenkyo spring waters, from which he returned somewhere between male and female, the chaos and strife had only just begun. Not only had he been pawned off by his father to become the fiancée of a girl, who was not only extremely volatile and 'uncute' by his own description, but he also found himself the subject of various violent confrontations based on this engagement's other half, Akane, who everyone surrounding except him seemed to have fallen for immediately. Those encounters were however, somewhat manageable considering his years of martial arts training having made him resilient both in combat and mentally. Compared to what was about to strike the city of Nerima, Ranma was still living in relative peace.
Another school morning in the week began fairly standardly with a rude awakening by his currently Panda-father plodding around the Tendo household, holding up a sign he stood at the foot of Ranma's futon. [Wake up, you're late!] it said, as Ranma looked down to find his futon wet and his body clearly female again - must've been Nabiki again - no wonder he slept so horribly. Getting up sluggishly and stretching, his father went to fetch him some hot water while he quickly grabbed something to eat and half-tuned his attention to the TV which was reporting the local news.
"In today: several girls and women, including some still in high school, have recently gone missing in the Nerima suburbs concurrently. Close relatives and friends report flu-like illness and pallor of the skin before sudden disappearance in 3 different cases within the last month."
"Better get that water Ranma, sounds like your condition puts you on the menu for a kidnapper," Nabiki hollered, giggling from the other room,
"Ain't nobody kidnappin' me, I'd beat the crap out of them before they even got the chance!" Ranma confidently retorted, finishing off the last of his rice and heading for the kettle which Panda-Genma was now bringing over.
On the way to school Ranma walked the fence alongside Akane as usual, but something seemed markedly unusual about the Tomboy's demeanour, her brow wrinkled in what seemed to be stress or worry.
"'Sup with you Akane? You seem out of sorts today," Ranma spoke into the wind, still facing forward, trying to feign aloofness.
"It's- It's just the news this morning. It makes me worry about Nabiki and Kasumi, especially considering how close those kidnappings were to our neighbourhood." Akane breathily confided, to the surprise of Ranma, who was half expecting her to snap at him. She must be really worried.
"With us two in the house we got nothing to worry about 'Kane," he replied after a pause, "besides, you should be worried 'bout yourself too." he half-whispered.
"I suppose you're right Ranma..." her head rose with a slight melancholic smile.
After arriving at school and fighting through a cavalcade of Akane's lovesick fans, Ranma arrived in class to realise that a couple of the seats in his class remained empty even through registration. That was certainly unusual. Staring out of the window through class almost all day Ranma contemplated the current situation with concern, thinking about what to do about the danger the girls were in. Gossip throughout the day reached his ears on occasion, mostly talking about how one of the missing seats was a girl who'd been off sick the previous day as well, not to mention she'd been deathly pale when she was last seen.
The paleness, the illness, the going missing... it didn't seem to make any sense. If one were to assume the illness and pallor were the kidnapper's doing, meaning they'd already visited or had contact with the victims, why wouldn't they simply kidnap them as intended in the first contact? It didn't make any sense, but it couldn't be a coincidence either. His thoughts swirling even until school ended Ranma made his way home with Akane walking on the pavement, rather than the fence top, only to find himself splashed with ice cold water by the same old lady as the other day, unable to avoid it in his dazed mental state. Now finding himself in a female form once again, cold, and with a splitting headache from the strain of worrying all day, Ranma resigned himself to a nap to let his mind rest as soon as he headed through the Tendo residence's front door. Faceplanting onto his futon, he quickly nodded off. Later on Kasumi knocked on his door, letting him know dinner was prepared and ready, to which she got no reply for a second, after which Ranma croaked, "I'll pass tonight Kasumi-san... too tired to even move..."
"Alright Ranma, I'll leave you be. Please let me know if you feel up to some food later, it's no good if you skip too many meals." She courteously replied.
"Sure thing... Kasu..." He mumbled straight into sleep's warm embrace.
Waking up around 5am, Ranma found himself in a cold sweat, after a startling nightmare. He'd dreamt about a dark figure looming over him, sizing him up, and staring through him with a pair of predatory, red, glowing eyes, the image of which was still burned into the back of his mind. Finding the resolve to suddenly get up for the morning he found himself feeling extremely fatigued, unable to spring to his feet like his normally spritely self. Assuming it was a combination of sleep deprivation and lack of food, he got up to make his way to the bathroom. Washing his face with lukewarm water he looked up to the mirror above the sink basin to find himself looking back at what could only be described as a ghost on first viewing. He was still in his female form, but was white as a sheet, had the darkest shadows under his eyes, and a pair of blackened bruises on the side of his neck. Suddenly, he realised, it was happening to him too, he was about to become a kidnap victim. Meaning the kidnapper had been in this house, and done something to him like the other victims.
Ranma refused to bow to despair in this situation. He knew, he could feel, that he still had determination left in him to make it out of this, even in his weakened state, he resolved himself to be the one to stop this person taking girls from their homes. After all he was in a unique position of having some idea what was happening to him, and with the idea that the kidnapper would likely return to the house at night tomorrow, he knew he had a chance to confront them and take them down. He'd have to find a way to recover quickly enough that he'd be in a sufficient physical state to take them on however, so, knowing that Tofu Sensei opened his doors at 7am, grabbed a quick meal and headed immediately to his clinic to find out what had happened to him.
Although he wanted to move urgently enough to get there quickly, Ranma found himself unable to run, his legs too weak, and buckling before he could even break into a jog. Not a good sign, but no matter. After a long, and unintentionally 'leisurely' walk to the clinic, he found himself at the doors around 6:20am. Knowing that despite not being open yet, Tofu Sensei would likely be awake and getting ready to open the clinic, Ranma decided to start banging on the window to the clinic with all the little strength he could manage in his current state. Hearing the banging, Tofu made his way to the clinic reception to find out what all the ruckus was about. Seeing a keeled over, panting Ranma at the window, he unlocked the front doors and rushed to his side, "Young girl, what brings you to the clinic this early?" He tenderly inquired, helping the apparent small high school girl to her feet.
"I've had something done to me in the night Tofu Sensei, I need you to find out what's wrong or I'm done for," Ranma gasped, still over exerted from the journey and the noise-making.
"We don't usually treat patients this early without a special appointment, but I can see this is urgent, I'll take you through." He supported the red haired girl through to one of the operating rooms. Noting the dark bruises on her neck and ghostly complexion, he grabbed a tourniquet and syringe to take a blood sample after lying her down on an operating bed. He took a blood sample, the girl gently writhing on the bed with her eyes forced shut in anguish and fatigue. Even without testing he could tell something was wrong with the girl's circulation when he saw how slowly blood filled the syringe, a sign of low blood pressure due to rapid blood loss. That was a strange thing to see in a girl with little to no cuts or holes in her, other than the two bruised swellings on her neck, which on closer inspection appeared to be punctures of around 2-3mm in diameter. Suddenly realising she was losing consciousness he surmised that her condition was even worse than it looked and rushed urgently to fetch some IV bags to aid her blood loss, she wasn't receiving enough oxygen supply to her brain, which could be fatal if not treated immediately.
Coming to a few hours later, Ranma lifted heavy eyelids to find Tofu Sensei beside him looking intently at some results on a screen and rubbing his chin in deep thought.
(Her blood's completely fine, was it really just rapid blood loss that caused this..? And through two tiny punctures no less...) Tofu found himself in a strange situation, he was actually stumped as to what had afflicted this girl, a rare situation indeed.
"Am I... gonna be alright Sensei..?" Ranma wheezed, finding it slightly hard to breathe momentarily, but otherwise feeling a lot more alive compared to before he had arrived.
"You're awake! That's brilliant news... yes that's good." He spoke aloud, half to himself, half to the pigtailed sickly girl on the bed behind him. Snapping himself out of the brooding stupor he had descended into Tofu snapped his head around to check on the girl, seeing that the IV bags had nearly emptied by three quarters.
"I recommend that you remain here for at least the next 24 hours, while it appears your condition has improved dramatically, I'd like to make sure there's nothing I've overlooked, especially considering the origins of the state you found yourself in at my clinic doors." He stated seriously to her, seeing that she had shifted around to sit with her legs dangling off the bed.
"I'm sorry Sensei, afraid I can't afford to waste any time, I gotta get out of here, something bad is gonna happen tonight and I need to stop it." Ranma resolutely met the doctor's gaze and began to drop his feet to the floor to make his way out. Beginning to pull at the catheter tube embedded into his wrist he found his hand stopped in its tracks by Tofu's grip. Turning his gaze, irritated, back to the doctor he gave him another determined frown.
"You can't keep me here Doc, I ain't signed no forms or nothin'" He gravely asserted to the deeply concerned Tofu.
"While you are correct, I must stress that I highly recommend you remain in my care. If you must leave, please take care and come back here immediately if you notice any symptoms similar to what you experienced earlier - for your own good. But yes, I can't keep you here against your will." Removing the catheter carefully as bid by the young girl, he sent her on her way, his brow only deepening in a wrinkled frown.
While making his way back to the Tendo house to get ready for school, Ranma assessed his physical state to be much improved, but still not one hundred percent. He was now able to jog, but running was still out of the question, his cardio somehow dramatically inhibited by whatever had afflicted him. Spying an alert, yet beat-up looking female Ranma, Genma approached him at the front door as he entered, "Where've you been boy? You must've been up early. Doing some extra training in secret?"
"Not today pops, something bad is happening in Nerima. Someone did something weird to me last night."
"Hmmm... the kidnapper eh..? But you're a man, they're not being targeted as far as I'm aware."
"I would've been if I didn't go to bed early last night, while I was still in this body, that is."
"I see. That's how you've gotten caught up in it. How come this fiend managed to get the better of you anyhow? I thought I taught you better to stay guarded!"
"That's the thing, I don't know how or what they did to me, but I woke up looking pale and dead, feeling like it too."
"Pale and weak hmm..? This doesn't bode well for this city, sounds like the fabled Okiagari(*1) to me son."
"You mean like - vampires and ghouls and stuff..?" Ranma brooded on his father's comment for a moment, joining the dots together. "Would that explain these marks on my neck?" He craned his head to the side to expose the couple of dark bruises that had appeared when he woke up. His eyes bulging at the disturbing sight laid before him, Genma grabbed Ranma by the arm and into the front room, grabbing him by the shoulders he bent down to look him sternly in the eyes.
"You are in grave danger my boy." He looked down and breathed out an uneasy sigh, "I've heard stories from my old man about creatures like this, and marks like that are an omen of death. This isn't something a mere martial artist could steel himself to deal with." His grip on his shoulders tightening, then loosening gradually, Genma let go of him and turned his head to the floor, pinching the bridge of his nose. Ranma, unsure how to react to his father's assessment of his situation, fell into deep thought.
"If I change back to a boy this won't be a problem though... right? This thing's only been goin' after girls," Ranma postulated, his resolve only somewhat shaken.
"I'm afraid it isn't so simple, Ranma boy. These demons don't stop once they've marked a victim, and who knows what being bitten means for your future even if they stop going after you." Genma, still staring blankly into the floorboards, suddenly snapped his head up. "There are institutions across the globe that deal with these kind of threats, your fate depends on them having mobilised to deal with the situation here."
"What kind of institution? How do we get 'em to help?" Ranma questioned, rubbing the side of his neck gingerly.
"That's the problem, they act in secret boy. You'd only know who to contact if you were already part of them. There are people who likely do contact them somewhat however. We'll need to go to the city hall and ask the mayor of Nerima-ku(*2), that's the only way I can think of."
Soun, having only recently got up, overheard Genma's comment about visiting the city hall, he called out, "Seeing the mayor? What kind of situation demands such an early outing?" Turning to meet his dear friend's gaze, Genma swiftly delivered the details to Soun, whose face turned dark just as fast.
"The Okiagari... I fear you may be right my friend. I will tell the girls you've headed off for some urgent training - they may worry otherwise."
After boiling some water and changing back into a boy, Genma and Ranma headed off towards the gubernatorial buildings at the centre of the city. After an hour's speed walk, Ranma was exhausted, trying to catch his breath as his father beheld the municipal structure ahead of them. "Come on now boy, we're here, get yourself together."
"That's... easy for you to say... old man..." he spluttered, exasperated, "you ain't had some creature drain half your blood in the night!"
"May be true, but this is no time to sit around, let's find the mayor."
Finding themselves at the front desk of the building, Genma grew impatient after being asked to 'wait for an official to attend to them' when he spewed out his fears about the bloodsuckers blighting Nerima and his son's bitten state. "Alright, where's his office?" Genma towered over the receptionist with a heavy expression. When they began to reiterate the same bureaucratic pre-written lines, he grabbed them by their collar and pulled them over their desk in irritation. " I'll say it again, tell me where his office is. Now."
Catching the look of desperation and rage in his eyes, the receptionist apprehensively divulged the directions to the mayor's office, "Th- Third on the right after you head down there. Can't miss it." Immediately dropping them roughly back into their chair, Genma then single-mindedly strode, Ranma in tow, towards the prescribed door. Meeting the large, ornate entrance that was assuredly the desired room, he went to grab the door handle, only to pause upon hearing some interesting dialogue unfolding inside.
"I assure you, Mayor Maekawa, we'll have this under control in a day. Now, if you'll excuse us. Thank you for your time."
Hearing the steps of those currently in the room approach the door, Genma took a few steps back, the door promptly opening a few seconds later. Out of the doorway stepped three very strange individuals: a young, long silver-haired, stately looking woman, wearing a pair of round glasses; an equally distinguished older fellow, wearing a monocle, tied back black hair, and full butler uniform with a waistcoat; and an extremely tall, towering figure of a man clad in a custom red suit, not to mention his large, circular, side-brimmed, orange-tinted glasses that glowed slightly while under the shadow of his matching, wide-brimmed hat. The peculiar, yet remarkable, crimson-clad man seemed to look directly at Ranma on his way out. The slightly pale, exhausted boy swore he noticed the massive man exhibit the edges of a smile as he walked away, but wasn't sure if it was his imagination.
Rushing after into the mayoral office, Genma grabbed Ranma along with him and began to relay his fears to the already startled Mayor Maekawa. "Listen here, my son is in grave danger, and he's going to need the company of the kind of people who deal with this sort of threat or he could die within the next 24 hours."
Exasperated by his previous meeting in the office, whatever that was, the mayor seemed to be already on a short fuse. "While I understand your worries, I'm afraid I don't appreciate people breaking into my office uninvited, especially not those who've already threatened my staff," he gestured towards the phone besides him, "security will arrive momentarily to remove you from the premises." Genma backed off from the mayor's desk, his face turning red. "However, if you're looking for someone who could help your son, they're probably the group you just saw leaving my office. I bid you good day, now please leave." The mayor returned to his paper work as some men in uniform filed into the room to remove the pair.
"Don't worry, we're already leaving, no need to force us out the door." Genma resigned, bringing Ranma with him at an accelerated, near-jogging, pace. "We've got to catch up to those three we saw my boy. They're your only way out of this." Exploding out of the front doors, and scanning the surrounding road spasmodically, Genma spotted the butler gentleman hushing the woman and other man into a black, elongated car on the opposite side of the street. Hurrying down the stairs before the city hall building, Genma waved at the car, roaring for their attention. Behind him, Ranma, finally feeling the physical exertion of the journey catch up to him, suddenly fell to his knees, sprawled out, and collapsed onto the steps. Turning in horror to his now rag doll son, then back to the now leaving car, the anxious father came to his side to support him, finding him to be unconscious.
"That one's not long for this world." A low, smooth, voice reverberated in Genma's skull. Turning to the side, the shadow of the crimson giant loomed over him - he could've sworn he saw this man get into the car and leave, but by some miracle had appeared beside him in an instant.
His unconscious mind swimming, Ranma found himself in a void of black, floating. Looking around, only to find more darkness, he began to think he might be dead. Hearing a rumbling sound in the distance, he willed his body to float through the viscera of whatever dark space he was trapped within. A presence, enshrouded in pitch black approached through the void, touching him. Finding himself unable to move, he felt the presence slide up beside him and put some kind of tendril around his neck. Opening up before him, were what appeared to be an infinity of eyes, all staring at him, no, through him. They wanted his blood. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. He felt the eyes move in closer, moving in for the kill.
Awakening from his disturbing nightmare, Ranma shot up, sweat on his furrowed brow. He looked down to find his body laid out on some kind of gurney, with a set of catheter tubes once again embedded into his right arm's wrist, linked up to an IV bag and a blood transfusion bag. There also appeared to be some kinds of electrodes attached to his chest, monitoring his vital signs on a screen to his left. Looking around the rest of his surroundings, he found himself in an otherwise empty, green tarp tent.
"You're both a lucky and unlucky man, Mr. Saotome." A raspy voice called out from across the tent. Tilting his head forwards, he saw the same butler-dressed man as earlier in the city hall. Making his way to the foot of the gurney, the older man, stood straight upright with his hands together behind his back. "My name is Walter C Dornez, I'm a member of the organisation known as Hellsing. You have been treated for your current physical state appropriately by our mobile medical team, but I'm afraid the current outlook for your future health is not good."
"Be honest with me. Am I... gonna kick the bucket?" Ranma asked hoarsely.
"I'm afraid so Mr. Saotome. The ailment from which you are unfortunately suffering is not one that an ordinary human can shake off." The butler closed his eyes for a second then righted the monocle resting on his nose bridge. "You appear to have been bitten by a new type of vampiric entity, the aftermath of which leads to the shutdown of your vital organs over the course of the following week, regardless of the treatment administered in the time following the incident. While the current treatment protocol will keep you alive and functioning for now, your time is running out."
Half-accepting his fate, a gloomy-faced Ranma shifted his body to sit on the side of the wheeled stretcher. "Does my pops know?"
"I'm afraid we were unable to relay this information to your father, considering the clandestine nature of the operations here he has been sent away."
"I gotta tell him. He deserves to know!" He jerked up onto his feet, accidentally pulling the catheter tubes out and electrodes off.
Briskly arriving at his side, Walter urged him, "I would ask that you remain here for the time being, your treatment session is still incomplete."
"Like you already said old man, this treatment ain't gonna do nothin' 'cept keep me upright for a few more days than I already got left." Pushing the butler out of his way, Ranma made his way to the curtain doors of the tent, "I need some fresh air." Emerging from the tent, he discovered immediately that it was raining - to only add insult to injury. Sighing, the dying boy, now girl, gazed up at the stormy, dark-grey skies. He'd been out for so long it was already dusk, and he could hear the rain slamming hard against the roof of the medical tent behind him. He cursed himself for not having heard it before brashly marching outside.
Meeting him in the rain, Walter found a 6 inch shorter person, a crimson-haired girl, in place of the boy he had moments ago seen exit. The girl was clearly wearing the same clothes as the boy, a white tank and shorts, both of which seemed to be the same size as the boy's, considering how loosely they hung off her smaller frame.
"Am I to assume you are the same boy with whom I was hitherto?" The butler enquired.
Pausing to take a breath, Ranma responded, "Yeah. I have a weird condition - as I'm sure you can guess."
"It seems indubitably so. Now, if you are willing, I'd like to have you resume the remainder of your transfusion."
His flash of determination snuffed out by the rain, Ranma acquiesced and followed Walter back into the tent.
After another hour or two of treatment, Ranma found that his body, although female, now felt much more loaded with vigour. Walter, seeing that the treatment had reached completion, disconnected all the medical apparatus.
"Mr. Saotome, I must regrettably ask that you remain in our care for the rest of your time. While you may now walk and leave this tent, you are to keep within the perimeter of the Hellsing encampment here, lest your current state attract the vampiric entity towards other civilians." Walter explained, whilst a prominent, crimson figure pierced into the tent with a grin on his enshrouded face.
"Now, Walter that won't do. Can't you see this one wants to do something worthwhile with her time? I suggest you allow her to accompany me into the night while she still has the chance."
"I think that would be entirely inappropriate Alucard. Saotome is not an operative of Hellsing nor is he trained in combat." Walter rebuked.
Ranma considered the opportunity laid before him carefully, the spark of determination returning. No way was he going to pass up the possibility of getting revenge on the "I'll do it." he declared, earning a startled look from Walter and an even wider grin from Alucard. "I'm gonna die anyway, and you're wrong, Walter. I'm actually a trained martial artist, so I can handle myself fine."
"See Walter? She's got a fire inside her, don't be a killjoy." he beamed, chuckling to himself.
Getting up, Ranma gestured towards the exit. Firmly he spoke, "Let's go take care of this bastard." To which Alucard reacted, "Good... looks like I've stumbled upon quite the interesting one indeed."
Strolling outside, still maniacally grinning, Alucard led the grim-faced girl to the main administration tent, within which resided a familiar flinty silver-haired woman who was currently, with Hellsing leading officers, finalising the plans for securing the area of Nerima in which the vampire was most likely to be found.
"Ah, Alucard, I was wondering where you'd disappeared to. Who's this girl?" The woman queried, almost entirely ignoring Ranma's presence otherwise.
"Ranma Saotome. And I'm actually a man." He retorted, before Alucard could speak for him.
"Girl, tomboy or man, it doesn't matter. What are you doing in here?" She grilled in return.
"Alucard's lettin' me go with him to find this bloodsucker bastard."
"I see. Alucard. She's your responsibility now. Do at least try not to get her killed."
"Understood. I shall take her under my wing, master." Alucard acceded with a shallow bow, his gloved hand crossing to his side. "Quickly, come with me, girl."
"I ain't a girl. Stop calling me that." he spat, aggravated.
"Male, female, it makes no difference to a midian who can change their form at will. I will call you as you are." Alucard calmly declined.
"Wait... y- you're a vampire? Like the one kidnapping people in Nerima?" Freezing in his tracks, Ranma stood, staring holes into the back of the giant man's crimson coat.
Laughing quietly to himself, Alucard responded, "I'm not comparable to the scum that's been plaguing this city. It is a mere shadow of a true vampire, otherwise you would have already have succumbed to becoming a ghoul since you were bitten."
"A ghoul..?" Ranma drawled, remembering his father having mentioned that word earlier on.
"Yes, indeed. A pitiful, mindless husk of a creature, only loyal to the vampire who drained their blood. You should count yourself lucky our little rat of an opponent is so substandard."
Looking up at the towering man beside him, Ranma realised with a glance at his grin that this man did indeed possess fangs. The subtle red glow behind his tinted glasses, and the abyssal aura the man gave off, all of what encompassed this man told him that he likely was truly the vampire he said he was. This vampire however, was clearly on the side that were dispatching of the other that was hiding in his city, so no matter how much it unsettled him to be walking alongside the kind of monster that had cut his lifespan short, he decided to set aside those feelings for now in pursuit of the greater goal. Besides, despite being called a girl, on closer consideration this man was the only first encounter he'd had where his gender ambiguity simply didn't matter to them. It was refreshing, but also disconcerting.
After some time walking with Alucard, outside the encampment and into the suburbs, Ranma began to wonder where exactly they were headed. The supposed vampire simply seemed to know exactly where to go, making turns and redirections with purpose as if he had some kind of sixth sense. Maybe he actually did. The pair came to a stop in front of a house, upon closer inspection it was more familiar than Ranma hoped. It was the Tendo household.
"This is my fiancée's family's house." He stated, with an austere monotone, sweat forming on his brow.
"That is no coincidence girl. The rat has returned for more."
"I can't let them get involved in this. I'm gonna flush them out." Ranma rushed off incontinently, leaping up onto the high wall surrounding the garden, there he scouted for signs of the vampire. Watching the feisty tomboy move with speed and grace between the wall tops and rooves, Alucard discerned that his terminally ill company still had some firepower in her yet.
Spotting a shadowy figure slithering by the deck of the garden, near the dojo, Ranma bellowed, "Don't even think about it motherfucker!" He made a spirited belt at the figure as they turned to face him with predatory eyes. Receiving a powerful mid-air roundhouse kick from Ranma, the lurker blocked with crossed forearms, off of which the small redhead backflipped into a defensive stance. To the side of the alley by the dojo, Alucard seemed to emerge from the shadows below the walls, as if he had somehow become immaterial and harmlessly penetrated the barrier. "There you are, you false midian scum."
Snapping their head towards Alucard, who was slowly pulling out a type of massive silver handgun, the figure's eyes bulged and they took off straightaway. Their speed seemed unnaturally augmented, becoming a blur to Ranma who chased after them as fast as he could, jumping over the walls back into the streets. Alucard would have already shot the figure, but Ranma had moved in the way just as he was about to fire. Seeing their silhouette slip around an alley corner, the springy girl sprinted after them, turning the corner with a slide, only to find the alley empty. Continuing down the alley hurriedly, he suddenly heard a slight sound of the breeze behind him, but by the time he began to react, turning his head, it was already too late.
The shadowed figure came into view, a fairly regular middle-aged looking man, with dark, devilish eyes, and a pair of long, pointed, canine fangs adorning his gaping mouth. Capturing and restraining Ranma from behind, the creature breathed cold air down his neck, making him shiver. He tried to break free, but found his captor to be inhumanly strong, not to mention impervious to a human show of force as he kicked and elbowed to no avail. "I was looking for you. You have my thanks for bringing your delicious blood directly to me, but let's not forget that amazing body of yours too..." The demonic man took a hold around Ranma's arms with one of his own, keeping them still, his grip cutting off circulation. With his other hand he grabbed one of his victim's breasts through the loosely fitting tank top, and began to trace his tongue down his neck, fangs pressing lightly against his skin. Ranma began to panic, realising he had little chance of escaping this situation, and at this rate he was going to be dead sooner rather than later. Adrenaline taking over, he opted to make a final stand of resistance. His close quarters martial arts training meant he knew the perfect way to strike to escape. Struggling to take carefully controlled breaths through the torturous grapple he was enduring, he prepared himself to move with lightning fast explosive power. Jerking his shorter arms out and through the brace of his assailant, Ranma then flung his knuckles into his eyes, taking the second of stun it afforded to slip under his arms and swipe his feet out from under him. It didn't matter how strong they were if he used their own weight against them. Spinning, ribs first into the concrete, the vampire rumbled with a savage growl. It seemed like he had a chance to escape- but then the vampire blinked out of sight in a flash. He was too fast. Deigning to simply use force rather than restraint, the vampire struck at Ranma with all his strength.
Ranma was stopped dead mid flight. Feeling a sudden 'absence' in his midsection, he looked down to see the vampires hand erupting from his stomach, dripping with his blood. The man twisted his forearm, making his prey yelp in pain, at which he chuckled with delight. Sliding his arm slightly further through the girl, he prepared to yank his arm back out from whence it came. With a horrible squelch, Ranma was impaled no more. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell to the floor, bleeding profusely through the hole his attacker had made. Tears forming in his eyes, he turned his eyes to scornfully glower at the vampire, enraged by how unfair this situation was. He was already dying, but now dying horribly like this? It just wasn't fair. Then, just as the creature moved to feast on his prey - BANG. Ranma watched as his soon-to-be killer froze in place, a look of disbelief staining the remaining half of his eviscerated face. A few seconds passed, then the vampire's eye rolled to the back of its skull as it collapsed limply beside him. 'Thank fuck I got to see that bastard die before I did,' he thought to himself.
With a poor patchwork of hands covering the opening of the hole in her stomach, the crimson-haired, crimson stained girl felt her body lose the warmth of life as it leaked out of her back. Holding desperately onto consciousness, she gazed sadly at Alucard, who knelt down beside her.
"Are you a virgin, girl?" He intoned, emotionlessly.
Almost managing a laugh interrupted by a bloody splutter, "Could at least ask me out ta dinner first, and I'm not really into guys - but yes I am." She muttered, assuming Alucard was asking her that for more than just to jest at as she died.
"Then I offer you a choice. Do you wish to die here, or live on in the night?"
Struggling to speak, the girl answered, "I... don- don't wanna die... just yet."
Then everything turned black.
Chuckling to himself once again, Alucard accepted the girl's request. "I was just thinking I fancied a bite to drink."
(1) Okiagari / 起き上がり = The 'risen' aka undead
(2) Nerima-ku / 練馬区 = Nerima ward, special ward of Tokyo