One

Noise.

That was the exact description for one of the busiest streets in the city. People crowded the street despite the late hour. Most of them probably came from their offices or schools and on their way to their own houses.

It was already past 9 P.M., but the street and the road were being shower by lights from the colorful stores and boutiques around the corners. Though there were a few stores already prepping to call it a day to end their shifts.

Unknown to all, there was a man standing in a dark alley while everyone was busy. He was wearing a business suit while he rested his back on the wall. Around him, the alley was reeking of rotten smell as there were a handful of trash bags slumped on the corner. To some people, they might find it odd why this kind of man wearing a business suit loitering around this stinking alley.

A stray cat landed from the roof of a nearby store landed its way on top of the trash bags. It started to rummage bags to find some food. With continuous slashing on the trash bag, a big hole tore open leaking different solid and liquid items outside. The cat voraciously chewed on the leftover foods from the bag while ignoring the man in a business suit just standing in the alley with a vacant look on his face.

The cat was about finishing its food when it sensed the strange man started moving. It tilted its head looking at the strange human and readying itself to bolt out of the alley.

The strange man walked slowly with an arched back as if there was a heavy item on his back. He started groaning and drooling at the same time while starting to move. The man walked towards the direction of the stray cat and raised his right arm like beckoning for the cat to come near him.

"Foooood," the man uttered in a guttural way. He tried to inch closer to the cat with his slow movement.

The stray cat sensed a wrongness from the man and turned its back quickly heading for an escape. But something odd happened.

The strange man stilled like it was frozen while still gazing at the fleeing cat. Then his mouth stretched forming a weird smile. He leaped from the ground and made a quick movement towards the cat.

The stray cat felt the imminent danger as the strange man loomed his waiting hands on it looking forward to grab the cat.

It just shrieked at him as he clutched its warm body.

*****

Strolling the busy street, a young woman with long red hair swaying as she walked on the street. She appeared to be a high school girl as she was wearing a black and white sailor-like school-issued uniform. She kept on looking from left to right while wearing a troubled look as if she lost something.

"Did you find where is it now?" she spoke to no one. But the people milling the street just simply ignored her as they were pretty occupied with their mobile phones tapping on the screens or talking to their companions.

"Give me a few seconds," someone replied in a cool female voice, but she was the only one who could hear the voice since she was wearing an earpiece in her right ear.

The red-haired girl rolled her eyes out of frustration as she was itching for an action already. She was strolling this street for two hours already looking for the target.

While scanning her eyes around the area, she found two police officers lounging beside the police car. Their voices were too loud, so she was forced to listen to their conversation.

At first, she thought it was just your typical masculine talk but then...

"You know what's weird? I've just received my sixth call today from people reporting that they found a dead cat," said the police officer with balding head while he held his coffee cup in his left hand.

The other cop just laughed at him in reply which made the other man irritated.

"I'm serious! And it'll get weirder. All of those dead cats have missing bodies. Only their heads were found on the ground." The officer shook his head recalling the stories of the callers.

"That's nasty, dude. But is it our job to cover that kind of thing?"

"Of course, it is! You, idiot! Any disturbance in the neighborhood is our thing!" He replied to the young police officer and stressing on the last word.

The young police officer apologized to his companion and changed their topic to other stuff.

The red-haired girl stopped listening also to the police officers and smiled.

"I think our target is cat crazy," she told the other line.

"Really? Those poor little cats," the female voice replied in somber.

The girl was about to pull out her cellphone from her pocket when she heard a commotion in a nearby alley. She heard a faint sound of shrieking and turned towards the direction of the sound.

"Got it now! I found its location!" The female voice gleefully said on the line.

"I think I've found it also," she replied.

"Oh? That's fast! Here's the thing. Our target is a few meters away from you. Looking at the map, in an alley near from your position. And you have to move fast, it's close to full transformation."

"Got it!" She hastened her steps while avoiding the people on her path. She spotted the alley that the girl on the other line was talking about and headed inside.

The place was reeking of rotten smell where various garbage scattered around the area. Then she found her target.

A man in a business suit was holding a squirming cat in his grasp. She could see that he was drooling all over the place eager to consume the little animal.

"Please save the cat," said the female voice in the earpiece.

The red-haired girl snickered and darted forward to the man. She launched her right leg at him and kicked him on his back.

The man groaned in pain and fell to the ground, freeing the helpless cat at last. The stray cat didn't waste time and ran away from the scene.

"Fooood," he groaned while looking in agony at the fleeing cat. He twisted his body and faced his assailant - a young girl.

His face contorted in a feral expression and sprang on all fours like an animal. The red-haired girl noticed that the man's eyes were turning from black to red.

"Finally, some action!" The girl said in delight. "I'll open the warp now!"

"Noted on that," the female voice replied changing to a serious tone.

The red-haired girl pulled something from her pocket and threw it away in the direction of the man.

The thing - a small blue cube fell before the man. It was anti-climatic as he was expecting a fight, but a small interesting cube was thrown at him. The man snarled at the young woman and was about to launch an attack when the small cube opened releasing a blinding light.