Cat Fist Fury



Insert standard disclaimer here.



<>: Thoughts



                                  Chapter 5

                                    Fight!



     It was a bright and sunny day at Himoto High as the soccer field 

behind the gymnasium was being prepared for the No Holds 

Barred Tournament. Bleachers were being filled to capacity as 

students filed in to watch the spectacle. Near the front of the gym, 

Ranma met with his fellow teammates as they prepared for the 

day's events.

     Students from at least five other high schools had come to this 

tournament to cheer on their teams. On the other side of the field, 

the Furinkan team, also known as the Nerima Wrecking Crew, 

assembled to plan their strategies.

     "Fear not, fellow warriors! I, the Great and Noble Tatewaki 

Kuno shall lead you to victory this day!"

     "Spare Shampoo this stupid talking!" A curvaceous purple-

haired girl said. She looked at the older boy who was wearing 

samurai robes and waving a wooden sword. "Shampoo agree to 

fight here to see if there really strong warriors! Stupid stick boy 

shut up mouth!"

     "Oh Shampoo!" A Chinese boy said in a dreamy voice as he 

glomped onto another person. "I'm so glad I'm with you!"

     Mousse promptly got bopped on the head by a bamboo 

umbrella, which caused him to drop like a bag of cement. Ryoga 

was clearly steamed that the myopic Master of Hidden Weapons 

had once again mistaken him for Shampoo! "Keep off you stupid 

jerk!"

     "Ryoga! Hi! You made it!"

     Ryoga turned around and saw Akane Tendo approach and he 

turned all starry-eyed. "H-H-eh, hi Akane! What brings you here?"

     The youngest Tendo gave him a smile, which made him blubber 

even more. "Silly! I'm part of this team! I'm glad you made it on 

time!"

     Ryoga became a little embarrassed as he twiddled his fingers. 

"Y-yeah. I started out five days ago, so I could get here on time."

     "You finally got somewhere on time." The group turned to see 

Ukyo approach, dressed in a boy's uniform and sporting a huge 

spatula on her back, plus several minis on a bandoleer. 

     Kuno looked at her with disdain. He then approached Akane and 

glomped onto her, saying, "Today Akane Tendo, I shall prove my 

worthiness to you! Once I have single-handedly won this 

tournament, I shall date with thee!"

     Akane promptly gave him a hard uppercut and sent him 

sprawling. Kuno landed on his face and moaned, "I think I shall 

rest here until the tournament starts!"

     Ranma and his team went to the judges' stand and looked up at 

the board.

     "Looks like we're up against Nosoto High." Sodan remarked.

     "Lucky break for us." Kosho remarked. "Furinkan will be 

fighting against Shinida. We'll be able to hold our own for a while. 

We'll also be able to see their fighters in action."

     Ranma simply nodded as he gazed toward the stands where 

Furinkan's team stood ready for the contest to start. His 

expression hardened when he saw that giant spatula. There was no 

doubt in his mind. It was his old buddy Ucchan. His heart began to 

sink, as he knew that before this day was out, he would have to 

fight his childhood friend. 

     "Hiyah!" Kosho screamed as he threw his opponent out of the 

ring, using a judo throw.

     Ranma watched as Kosho slowly stood up and had his arm 

raised in victory by the referee. So far, the first matches were 

easy enough. Kosho had chalked up his third victory, while Shang 

and Sakoto had eliminated the last two fighters of Nosoto's team.

     Now as his teammates returned to their bench to take a rest, 

they watched the field as Furinkan High took to the field.

     The first match was between Tatewaki Kuno and a kendo fighter 

from Shinida. The two faced each other off as the announcer 

introduced them.

     "In the white tiger corner, from Shinida High, Sentaro Makina! 

In the blue dragon corner"

     "HOLD!"

     The announcer became silent as Kuno held up his bokken.

     "I shall give my own introduction!" Kuno announced as his 

chest swelled with pride. "I am the undefeated captain of my 

school's kendo club! The rising new star of the high school 

fencing world! My peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan 

High!"

     A crack of thunder and lightning peeled off in the distance as 

Kuno finished his introduction. "Tatewaki Kuno, age 17!"

     The crowd moaned as he finished. Ranma looked around and 

asked, "I take it he's said this sort of thing before?"

     "He say it so many times, it getting very annoying!" Shang 

responded. "Though this is first time I hear him call himself Blue 

Thunder!"

     "Yeah! Last week I heard him call himself the Shooting Star!" 

Sakoto added.

     The announcer quickly composed himself and motioned for the 

match to start. The referee blew his whistle and the fight began 

and ended ten seconds later. The kendoist from Shinida tried to 

stab at Kuno's face, but was surprised when Kuno parried the 

blow, then pivoted his parry into a slash. His opponent was 

shocked to see his own bokken snapped into two pieces. As he 

looked dumbly at his useless weapon, Kuno delivered a downward 

blow to his foe's head, rendering him unconscious.

     As the referee declared him the winner, Kuno puffed out his 

chest more as he glanced at Akane with a smug look. Akane 

returned it with an angry glare.

     "Looks like Kuno's in rare form today Akane."

     Akane turned to face her sister Nabiki, who had taken a seat 

next to her. The older girl had short brown hair and carried herself 

with a businesslike air. "The odds I got on Kuno today are good!"

     Akane glared a bit at her older sister. "Hmpf! I can still beat 

him!"

     "I don't know Akane. He may prove himself better than you 

today!"

     "No one's better than me! I'll prove it today by winning this 

tournament!"

     "We'll see Akane. But be sure to put on a good show! I've got 

some good odds that you'll at least make it to the quarter-finals!"

     The next match was between Mousse and a person from Shinida 

who carried a Bo staff. Ranma watched as the referee signaled for 

the match to begin. The student tried to hit Mousse with the end of 

his weapon but the Chinese boy easily dodged out of the way, 

while calmly holding his arms out in front of him, with hands 

inside the sleeves. His opponent tried a series of strokes and jabs, 

but Mousse evaded those without counterattacking. By now the 

student had become angry and yelled out, "Fight!" With these 

words, he thrust his weapon at the Chinese boy's chest.

     It was then that Mousse's arms pulled out something from his 

robes and made a slashing motion. The Bo staff was reduced to 

splinters in a split second. Before he could react, Mousse made a 

blurring motion with his hands and struck forward.

     "FIST OF THE WHITE SWAN!"

     The student from Shinida didn't know what hit him. Mousse had 

moved so fast that the object the he had pulled out was a blur to 

the naked eye of any observer. Any observer except Ranma. As 

Mousse's opponent was knocked to the floor of the ring and 

lapsed into unconsciousness, the former Saotome's eyes 

narrowed. With his enhanced senses, Ranma had seen what 

Mousse had used to hit his adversary with.

     Sodan noticed Ranma's expression. "Hey Cojiro! Did you see 

what he just did?"

     Ranma nodded. "Yes. He's not going to get me with that one."

     The remaining fighters from Shinida were quickly dispatched. 

Shampoo displayed her raw power and skill as she pummeled a 

large wrestler to the mat with her steel maces. Akane Tendo took 

down a karate student in a minute, finally tossing him out of the 

fighting area. When Ukyo and Ryoga came up to fight, Ranma 

took special interest in their matches.

     Ryoga faced off against a huge sumo wrestler. With a single 

sweep of his bamboo umbrella, the eternal lost boy had knocked 

the 300lb+ student to the mat. It was then that he noticed Ryoga's 

body begin to glow with a green-white light. The sumo got back on 

his feet and launched himself at Ryoga. He began raining hard 

blows on him, but the Hibiki boy didn't even feel the attacks as his 

aura began to build up. After a minute of nonstop pummeling, 

Ryoga finally retaliated with a hard cross to the sumo's chin. This 

caused the sumo to stagger back a few feet. Before the stunned 

eyes of the audience, he cupped his palms before him and released 

his chi.

     "SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

     A huge blast of energy ripped forward and impacted against the 

sumo with tremendous force. The student didn't even have a 

chance to register what was happening as he was flung out of the 

ring.

     "What the hell was that?" Sakoto asked.

     "The Roaring Lion Bullet." Ranma replied as he watched Ryoga 

leave the fighting area. His teammates turned to him as he 

explained. "While I was traveling through China, I came across 

some masters who could use their emotions to focus their chi 

energies as an attack. One person was a former engineer who 

discovered that he could use his depression as a medium for his 

chi. He called it the Shi Shi Hokodan."

     "Can you do stuff like that?" Shang asked.

     Ranma nodded. "I learned how to do the Shi Shi Hokodan, but I 

really couldn't do it very well, since I couldn't get depressed 

enough to make it effective. But, I've learned to adapt it to 

something I could use."

     The final student from Shinida faced off against Ukyo. As soon 

as the referee blew his whistle, the okonomiyaki chef launched a 

barrage of razor-edged mini spatulas at her opponent. The boy was 

forced to dodge the projectiles and while he was distracted, Ukyo 

unslung her large spatula and delivered a hard blow to his head.

     CLANG!

     The student was hit solidly by her spatula and was out like a 

light.

     "Ouch! That's gotta hurt! That guy really knows how to deal out 

pain!" Kosho remarked.

     Ranma said nothing as he watched his childhood friend leave 

the ring. There was no doubt in his mind. After sifting through the 

scents of the crowds around him, he finally focused on Ukyo. He 

was absolutely positive that Ukyo was a girl. Humans gave off 

pheromones like animals, though to a very minute degree. 

Ranma's nose was sharp enough to pick up these trace odors and 

even discern between males and females. Ukyo was definitely 

female.

     Ranma shook his head sadly as he remembered all the happy 

times they had shared together. Then he frowned as he 

remembered why Ukyo would be so mad at him now. Genma 

Saotome, his father, had broken up the best friendship he ever had. 

He truly was not looking forward to when he would face off 

against his former friend.

     Ranma stepped into the ring as he prepared to face his first set 

of challengers. He found out that he would have to face off against 

all the members of Shankara High's team, since his other 

teammates had sustained minor injuries. They assured him that 

they would be recovered enough to challenge Furinkan High.

     "In the blue dragon corner, we have Shin Koga!" The announcer 

gestured to a large and heavily muscled individual that was 

brandishing a pair of nunchakus. "In the white tiger corner, we have 

Cojiro Shinkara!"

     Ranma smiled as he made a signaling gesture with a wave of his 

hand. "Let's fight!" Ranma decided to put his enhanced speed and 

strength to work, without resorting to his special Ultimate Neko 

Ken techniques. These were only high school students and his 

tiger-based skills were capable of causing serious injuries and 

even death.

     His opponent wasted no time in launching his attack. Lunging 

forward, he swung his weapon at Ranma's head. However, his 

opponent was already dodging the blow, moving with a speed and 

grace that was beyond belief. Jumping high so that the club would 

pass harmlessly underneath, Ranma turned and delivered a reverse 

spin kick to his adversary's temple. The blow appeared to be a 

light hit to the audience, but with Ranma's increased strength, the 

impact felt by Shin was devastating.

     The larger boy was knocked out of the ring and sent flying into 

the crowd, twenty feet away. The audience was left with their 

mouths open. The fight was over in less than two seconds! Shin 

was left dazed and was seeing stars.

     The Furinkan team looked at the newcomer with mixed 

expressions and comments.

     "I would have done it faster!" Kuno said with arrogance.

     "He isn't much! I could do that!" Akane remarked with disdain.

     "Not bad." Ukyo said.

     "Not too bad for start!" Shampoo said with a hint of interest.

     "He's no match for a Master of Hidden Weapons! That was just 

a fluke!" Mousse said confidently.

     Ryoga said nothing.

     Ranma's next opponent held a wooden bokken as he entered the 

ring. Ranma calmly gauged his stance and nodded, as he decided 

the easiest way to take him out. As soon as the referee blew his 

whistle, he lunged forward in a flash and struck a couple of 

pressure points on his opponent's arms, causing him to release his 

weapon. Before the startled boy's mind had registered what was 

going on, he saw his own bokken come crashing down between his 

eyes. 

     WHACK!

     The kendoist dropped to the mat on his face as Ranma casually 

stepped back, twirling the bokken like a baton.

     At this display, the Nerima Wrecking Crew lost some of its 

casual disregard for the newcomer.

     Nabiki gave off a low whistle as she looked at her watch. 

"Wow! He took him out in 1.3 seconds!"

     Akane frowned at her sister's comment and said, "Hmpf! It's 

easy to defeat someone who just stands there! I could still take 

him out! Any of us could, right?" Akane looked at her teammates 

for support.

     The rest of the team was still fixated on watching the 

newcomer as they slowly nodded.

     The third person to go up against Ranma was a wrestler who 

outmassed his opponent by nearly double and was about a foot 

taller. However, as soon as he grabbed at his foe, Ranma reacted 

with that same uncanny speed and had the wrestler's left wrist in 

an iron grip. The representative of Shankara High soon found 

himself flying out of the ring as Ranma casually tossed him over 

his shoulder. The student's face impacted against a steel lamppost 

and the match was over.

     By now, the Nerima Wrecking Crew was starting to reevaluate 

their conceptions about this newcomer.

     The fourth match was over with a spectacular move by Ranma. 

The giant bruiser he faced up against was nearly eight feet in 

height and weighed in at about 400lbs! However, as soon as 

Ranma grabbed him, the grappler found himself hoisted into the 

air. Ranma held him up with one hand, then body slammed him to 

the mat. He then grabbed the big guy by the legs and began 

swinging him around like an Olympic athlete competing in the 

Hammer Throw event. As soon as he gained enough momentum, 

Ranma released his opponent and sent him flying. The crowds had 

to duck for cover as the fighter-turned-projectile was sent 

crashing into the gymnasium, some two hundred yards away.

     Shampoo looked at Ranma with awe and said. "Shampoo must 

admit, he very strong!"

     The last person who was supposed to go up against Ranma had 

decided that he had seen enough and forfeited. After seeing the 

newcomer from Himoto polish off his teammates as easily as if 

he had been going through warm-up exercises, the student decided 

to play it safe.

     In the background, Ranma's team cheered on their new member 

as they realized that they were heading to the finals.

     After a few more matches, the two remaining schools left were 

Himoto and Furinkan.

     By now, his teammates were ready to face off against the 

Nerima Wrecking Crew. The final set of matches was to be a total 

elimination series. Each team would pit their members against 

their opposition with one-on-one bouts. Each member would 

continue to fight until he or she was defeated. The winner would 

be the team who had at least one member left. Himoto High's 

team found they were at a bit of a disadvantage as they numbered 

only five, while their opponents had six. The order in which each 

member was to fight was chosen at random by the judges. Ranma 

became worried as he was placed last in line for his team.

     The first bout was between Kosho and Kuno. Despite Kosho's 

assurance that he was ready, he was still a bit winded from his last 

bout. He had also suffered a pulled tendon in one of his arms after 

tossing out his last opponent. As a result, his reaction time was 

slower. He was unable to block Kuno's strikes for long and when a 

solid hit caught him on the back, he went down. 

     Ranma cried out as Kuno gave his opponent a hard blow to the 

head, knocking him out. Then he decided to add insult to injury as 

he gave a savage kick to Kosho's midsection. 

     "Hey!" Ranma shouted out as he began to feel his temper rise. 

He began to advance on the ring but was held back by Sakoto and 

Sodan. The referee was giving him a warning, which Kuno 

blatantly ignored as he casually waited for his next opponent. As 

Kosho was being carried out of the fighting area, Ranma glared at 

the smug kendoist. <Oh yeah I'm definitely going to enjoy 

taking down this jerk a peg or twenty!>

     Sodan was next to face off against Kuno, but he didn't last long. 

He managed to evade some of the kendoist's quick strikes, but his 

speed was nowhere near Kuno's. Falling for a feint, Sodan was hit 

on the head with the hilt of Kuno's bokken. Sodan went down.

     Kuno simply laughed as he held up his bokken in triumph. 

"Against the awesome might of the Blue Thunder, no mere mortal 

could stand against me!"

     Kuno also defeated Shang and Sakoto in short order. Shang had 

received a side blow to his left flank, causing him to fall out of the 

ring. Sakoto was far too massive and slow to dodge and was 

subjected to hundreds of bokken strikes. When it was all over, 

Ranma found himself the last member of his team still able to 

fight.

     As he quietly entered the ring, Kuno laughed maniacally. All he 

had to do was defeat the last member of the Himoto team and 

victory would be Furinkan's. Or rather victory would be his!

     Ranma's expression became dark and menacing as he watched 

Kuno. <Okay! I think this would be a good time to show him what 

someone who knows the Neko Ken can do! After what you did to 

Kosho and the others, I'm in the mood to deal out some serious 

pain here!> With those thoughts, Ranma took up a new stance. His 

fists opened up and formed 'claws' as he began focusing his chi. A 

battle aura began to form and glowed with red. The audience 

became silent as he waited for Kuno to stop laughing and face 

him.

     Kuno was a bit unnerved to see his final opponent seem to 

glare at him like a tiger ready to pounce on him. He quickly 

smothered his thoughts as he readied his wooden sword. Before 

the referee signaled the start of the fight, Kuno decided to taunt 

his adversary. "So this is it. With your defeat, I will once again 

prove to all that I, Tatewaki Kuno am the greatest warrior of all 

time! Not that anything that Himoto High had any competent 

fighters to begin with! Mere peasants that not even worthy to 

grovel at my feet!"

     Just as the referee blew his whistle, Ranma let out a 

tremendous roar that sounded like his tiger form. This startled 

both Kuno and the audience. Before the arrogant kendoist knew it, 

Ranma was already in front of him and delivering a downward 

slash with his claws. In a nanosecond, his bokken was reduced to 

thin slices. Kuno was still standing in shock as Ranma spun and 

delivered a hard backhand to his face. The Blue Thunder was sent 

flying out of the ring and collided with a nearby billboard, 

smashing through it and collapsing it.

     The crowd stood in awe as several judges ran over to the pile of 

rubble and checked on Kuno's condition. After a minute, they 

signaled to the others that the kendoist had survived. Ranma stood 

and waited for his next challenger.

     The Furinkan team stood with their mouths open. They had 

never seen Kuno get defeated so quickly and badly before. They 

had seen Akane defeat him, but she had never been able to do it 

that efficiently.

     Nabiki stared at her watch and said, "Holy! He beat Kuno in 

one tenth of a second!"

     "So what?" Akane said. "I beat Kuno all the time! Here I thought 

I wasn't going to have a chance against this guy! Looks like I'll be 

able to show everyone that I'm the best fighter!" Although Akane 

said those words with confidence, a small part of her began to 

worry.

     The next match was between Mousse and Ranma. Mousse was 

confident that he would be able to defeat this newcomer and prove 

his worthiness to Shampoo. As soon as the referee blew his 

whistle, he exploded into action. He began his assault by lobbing 

smoke bombs at his opponent, hoping to confuse him. The ring 

was briefly covered in a thick black cloud. However, when he 

lunged at his opponent with a wicked-looking club, he discovered 

that Ranma was not there.

     Mousse was then smashed hard in the shoulder and back as 

Ranma came up behind him and delivered several blows. The 

smoke may have confused his sense of smell, but not his hearing. 

He had heard the myopic martial artist's approach and dodged his 

attack. Ranma then turned and let loose with several more 

punches.

     When the smoke cleared Ranma and Mousse faced off. The 

crowd clearly noticed that the Chinese boy sported several large 

bruises on his face and was a bit unsteady. Ranma calmly took a 

new stance and waited.

     Mousse was more than ticked off as he launched a barrage of 

chains and sharp projectiles, which Ranma easily dodged, as he 

closed the gap between him and his opponent. Mousse couldn't 

believe the speed, in which his foe was moving and decided to give 

him his final attack. Blurring his hands, he took out an object and 

shouted out.

     "FIST OF THE WHITE SWAN!"

     However, much to his surprise, Ranma evaded the blow, kicked 

the object out of his hands and sent it flying upward. Before 

Mousse could pull out another weapon, Ranma's claws glowed 

with an eerie red light.

     "TIGER CLAW FRENZY!"

     Ranma's arms blurred he began slashing at his opponent with 

unbelievable speed. Within one second, he delivered more than 

six hundred slashes, which reduced the Chinese boy's robes to 

tattered rags. The attack had also cut whatever remaining weapons 

in his clothes into scrap metal. When Ranma leapt back, Mousse 

stood dumbfounded as his clothes fell apart. His upper body was 

covered in red marks. When the pain of the attack reached his 

brain a half-second later, Mousse passed out and fell on his face. 

It was then that the object that Ranma had kicked out earlier 

landed on the mat beside him. It was a training potty that was 

shaped like a duck.

     By now, the members of Team Furinkan had become more 

concerned. The newcomer had just displayed a technique that was 

both unbelievable and extremely effective. One person in 

particular was very interested after seeing Mousse be so easily 

defeated.

     <Hmmm. Shampoo think that maybe this is the one!> She put 

on a face of determination as she stepped into the ring, bonbori 

held at the ready. As she took a stance, Ranma's eyes widened a 

bit.

     <Hey! She's the one I saw a year ago in China! Wonder what 

she's doing here?> Ranma thought for a moment, then shrugged as 

he prepared for her first attack. As the referee blew his whistle, 

the two leapt to the attack.

     Immediately, Ranma noticed that Shampoo was a far more 

seasoned fighter than Kuno and Mousse. Her attacks were 

especially strong as he blocked and dodged. She was as powerful 

as the rumors said she was. Ranma began fighting a defensive 

pattern as he analyzed her moves.

     <Whoa! She's packing some serious power! Good moves too! 

But> Ranma then noticed a weakness in her legwork. 

Apparently, her heavy steel maces were putting her off balance a 

bit, causing her to exert a bit more to compensate. With that in 

mind, Ranma found his opening. As Shampoo delivered another 

series of strikes, he moved forward and gave a horizontal slash 

before leaping back.

     Shampoo thought that Ranma had missed and charged at him. 

Just as she raised her weapons and sent them toward his head, the 

steel maces fell off their handles and clattered to the mat. This all 

happened too fast for Shampoo to stop her charge. As she tried to 

halt her forward momentum, Ranma spun around and delivered a 

smooth kick to her midsection. As she went down, he moved 

toward one of the broken maces and used a foot motion to flip the 

sphere into the air.

     Shampoo scrambled to her feet attacked him with fists flying. 

She then shouted out her special technique.

     "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

     Ranma was caught off guard by the sudden blurring of 

Shampoo's hands. He was hit at least three hundred times in the 

chest and face before he stepped back a few paces. Despite his 

enhanced strength and endurance, his body felt a bit sore from the 

assault. Shaking his head a bit, he took a stance, then lunged back 

at her and delivered his own counterattack.

     "TIGER CLAW FRENZY!"

     After seeing Mousse get savaged by that particular attack, 

Shampoo knew that the best way to counter it was to simply stay 

out of reach. She used several evasive maneuvers, which had her 

dancing around the ring. At first she thought she had outsmarted 

her opponent, but then she saw him smiling?

     She left even more confused when he suddenly stopped his 

assault and leapt back. He casually stood with his arms crossed 

and waited. Shampoo looked at him for a moment, then decided to 

launch another attack. Then it hit her.

     The broken mace that Ranma had sent into the air came 

crashing down on Shampoo's head. Shampoo fell to the mat in a 

heap. The audience was stunned. The previous attack had been a 

decoy to get her to move under the descending weapon. Ranma 

smiled as the referee declared him the winner. Ukyo and Akane 

entered the ring and carried their unconscious teammate to their 

bench.

     <Three down, three to go!> Ranma thought as the announcer 

signaled for a five-minute time out.

     As Ranma sat on his bench, he looked over to where the 

opposing team sat. His gaze first looked at the one named Akane. 

She had an angry look about her as she returned his gaze with a 

glare of her own. His eyes then trained themselves on Ukyo, who 

was at the moment dabbing a wet rag over Shampoo's forehead. 

The Amazon was still a bit dazed as she lay on the bench. Ryoga 

was standing near Akane and was giving him a look of appraisal.

     Ranma sighed as he looked to his own empty bench. His 

teammates had been taken to the infirmary, along with Mousse and 

Kuno. Ranma let out another depressed sigh as he thought about 

how much his team had gone through to get to this final set of 

matches. It was now all up to him to win it for Himoto High. With 

that in mind, he stood up and prepared for the next match.

     "In the blue dragon corner," The announcer began after the time 

out expired. "Representing Furinkan High, Akane Tendo of the 

Anything Goes School of Martial Arts!"

     He then gestured to Ranma. "In the white tiger corner, Cojiro 

of Himoto High!"

     There was a great amount of cheering coming from the male 

members of the audience. <Must be Akane fans.> Ranma mused 

as he began sizing up his opponent. The girl was shorter than he 

was by about nine inches. His enhanced senses began reading her 

aura. <Man! She's really angry! Uncontrolled. Short temper 

and> Akane rushed at her opponent and threw a hard, straight 

right, which Ranma easily dodged. <Telegraphing her moves! Too 

easy!> Ranma almost unconsciously began weaving and evading 

her next series of attacks. <She may be using the Anything Goes 

style, but she's too predictable! Not much on patience either! Her 

defense is almost nonexistent! The holes in it are so big; you 

could drive a semi truck through them!> Ranma then weaved 

around a dozen more blows. <She's too slow and all she's doing is 

attacking! She's using up her energy way too fast and she's not 

compensating for any of her misses! Ranma jumped over a series 

of roundhouse kicks. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy! She's just lashing 

out! No strategy at all! Sheesh! Her skills are highly overrated! 

How she manages to beat those boys every day is a mystery to me! 

Kuno's better than she is!>

     Akane couldn't understand it. She was throwing solid punches 

and kicks, but this boy was dodging as if they were nothing. He 

didn't seem to be even taking her seriously. This lack of attention 

began to make her temper rise. Wasn't she the best martial artist 

in Nerima? Didn't she always beat up Kuno and fifty other boys 

every day? Akane tried another combination, only to have those 

evaded as well. He wasn't even fighting back. He was mocking her 

and her skills! <Grrrr I'll show him!> She then began throwing 

even more punches and kicks, forcing him toward the edge of the 

ring. <I got him now!> Akane threw a full-strength punch at his 

face.

     <Good grief! I could see that one coming a mile away! I better 

finish this quick before she hurts herself!> Ranma simply leapt 

over the blow and did a flip over her head, landing behind her. As 

Akane was still moving forward from her attack, he took advantage 

of her being temporarily off balance. Reaching out with an arm 

and extending an index finger, he gave a firm push at the back of 

her head. Akane yelped as she toppled forward and out of the 

ring. As she did so, he heard a lot of boos and hisses, as the 

crowds became a little ugly.

     Akane fell on her stomach and then looked up. Her expression 

turned from shock to rage as she glared back at her opponent. She 

scrambled to her feet and charged at her opponent. The referee 

blew his whistle, stopping her and alerting the crowds.

     "You have lost the match! The winner is Cojiro!"

     "How dare he do that to Akane!" Ryoga shouted as he began 

charging the ring. The referee blew his whistle, while Ukyo moved 

up and placed her spatula in front of the lost boy, halting him.

     "One more outburst like that and Furinkan forfeits the 

tournament!" One of the judges said from their podium. At these 

words, the students from Furinkan suddenly grew quiet and 

audience became deathly silent. Ranma looked around in 

confusion as he wondered what was going on.

     "Ease off Ryoga!" Ukyo said as she lowered her spatula. "If you 

attack him now, we'll lose for sure! And you know what will 

happen if we do!"

     Ryoga gave Ranma an intense glare, then backed off to join 

Akane at the bench, who was still fuming at her humiliation.

     Nabiki couldn't help but rub it in. "Well Akane. You SURE 

showed him who's the best martial artist!"

     "Shut up Nabiki!"

     A few minutes later, Ranma was against the one person with 

whom he didn't want to fight. Ukyo stood at the ready with her 

giant spatula as the referee blew his whistle. She immediately 

charged at Ranma and started swinging.

     Ranma countered each of her attacks with kicks and punches, 

trying to find out a way for him to win without seriously hurting 

his old friend. Being so close to her was also a bit of a distraction. 

Her pheromones were coming in strong and it was hard for him to 

keep focused.

     Ranma was almost clipped by her weapon as it narrowly missed 

his head. Mentally chiding himself for not paying better attention, 

he then went on the offensive. Ducking yet another series of 

blows, he moved forward and got inside her defenses. Jabbing 

forward with his fingers, he hit several pressure points on her 

arms, making her relax her grip on the handle. With a swift drop 

kick, he sent the huge cooking utensil upward. Leaping high, he 

met the spatula at a height of twenty-five feet. His hands glowed 

with a blue light as he formed his claws and made a downward 

slash with both hands.

     "RIPCLAW SLASH!"

     When Ranma landed the crowd and Ukyo were stunned. The 

metal spatula fell to the mat in six neatly cut pieces. Ukyo stared 

at her remains of her weapon in shock. Her face then took on a 

mask of rage as she took out her throwing spatulas and launched 

them at her opponent. With a single swipe of his claws, Ranma 

reduced the deadly projectiles to metal confetti. 

     Ukyo began to get desperate as she reached into her 

okonomiyaki outfit and then threw what looked like thin ropes. 

Ranma was a bit surprised that she still had something to fight 

with. His slight distraction cost him as the ropes snared his arms.

     "What the heck are these?" Ranma asked as he got a better look 

at what was holding him.

     "Those are my special Rubber Yakasoba Noodles!" Ukyo 

replied as she somehow produced a bucket and then leapt toward 

him. She then said, "Here's another of my special ingredients, 

Tempura Flakes and Gunpowder!" She then dumped the contents 

of the bucket onto her foe, which caused a huge cloud and several 

explosions.

     Ukyo stepped back and waited for the cloud to disperse. For a 

long moment, no sound came from the cloud and Ukyo shrugged, 

assuming she had won the match. "Hm. Nothing left but the 

cleanup!" It was then that something burst forth from the cloud.

     It was her own noodles, which wrapped themselves around her 

body, pinning her arms to her sides. When the dust cleared, Ranma 

stood while holding the other ends of the noodles. He looked at 

Ukyo's surprised expression with a stern look, then sighed as he 

said in very quiet whisper, "Forgive me Ucchan."

     "Huh? What did you just call erk!" Ukyo found herself pulled 

forward and then thrown out of the ring. She landed on her back on 

a soft patch of grass. She looked up at the ring in confusion as the 

referee announced Ranma's latest victory.

     "And now for the final match!" The announcer said as Ryoga 

entered the ring. "In the blue dragon corner, Ryoga Hibiki of 

Furinkan High!" There was a loud cheer from the students from 

Furinkan. "In the white tiger corner, Cojiro Shinkara of Himoto!" 

Another loud cheer came from the crowds, this time from Himoto 

High supporters.

     "You'll pay for what you did to Akane!" Ryoga shouted as he 

took on a stance.

     Ranma took his own stance and began measuring up his final 

opponent. <Hmmm. A lot more power than the others. Good chi 

control. Strong from what I can tell. He might just be able to give 

me a decent workout.>

     Ryoga was already attacking as soon as the referee blew his 

whistle. Rushing toward Ranma, he began swinging his umbrella. 

Ranma however, was just too fast as he evaded the first few strikes 

with catlike quickness. As soon as Ryoga's umbrella came down at 

his head, Ranma's hand came up and caught it. Using his inhuman 

strength, he wrenched it from Ryoga's hands and then sent it 

crashing down on the lost boy's skull.

     WHAM!

     Ryoga staggered back, more from surprise than pain at being 

hit by his own weapon. 

     <Hey, he's got pretty good endurance!> Ranma thought as he 

watched his adversary shake his head to clear it. Ryoga then 

became enraged as he pulled off his bandanna and launched it at 

him.

     Ranma ducked underneath the flying piece of cloth, thinking 

that it was some sort of joke. He changed his opinion a moment 

later when he looked behind him and saw the bandanna slice 

through a nearby sign. Looking back at his opponent, he saw 

Ryoga begin pulling out more bandannas from his forehead, 

revealing yet another one beneath it. He launched a dozen or so of 

the homemade shurikens at him.

     Ranma wasted not time in countering the attacks. With a series 

of quick slashes, he reduced the bandannas into harmless tattered 

pieces of cloth. He then rushed forward and got inside Ryoga's 

defense, delivering several solid blows at his midsection. Ranma 

took special care to pull his punches, since he knew that hitting 

him full strength would have been fatal.

     To Ranma's surprise however, Ryoga simply stood unmoving 

and took each punch. Ranma stepped back and looked at him with 

confusion. Ryoga gave him a smug grin and said. "Is that the best 

you can do? Those punches felt like a baby was hitting me! Let's 

see how you like my punches!" Ryoga sent a hard right cross to 

Ranma's chin, then winced in pain as he pulled back his fist. 

     Ranma also stood there and looked back at Ryoga. "Well, I was 

surprised that you had such good endurance, but then again I was 

holding back that last time. Let's see if you can take it when I hit 

you a little HARDER!"

     Ryoga tried another series of vicious punches, but Ranma 

ducked under the assault and planted a blow to his gut. Ryoga's 

breath whooshed out as he felt pain flaring in his belly. The punch 

was far more than he expected as he was sent flying toward the 

end of the ring. Only by doing a tuck and roll, did he manage to 

prevent himself from being knocked out of the ring.

     The last fighter of Furinkan High picked himself painfully off 

the ground and took a stance against his opponent. <Damn, this 

guy's strong! I FELT THAT! I thought the Backusai Tenketsu 

training would make me stand up against anything! I'm going to 

have to go all out!> Ryoga began focusing his chi.

     Ranma immediately noticed the power buildup and he also 

began concentrating. <Looks like he's going to try that Shi Shi 

Hokodan! Lucky for me, I know how to beat it!>

     Both combatants glowed with bright auras as the crowd 

watched in anticipation. They knew what was going on.

     Ryoga suddenly threw his hands forward and released a huge 

blast of green energy.

     "SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

     Ranma then thrust his hands forward and released his own 

attack.

     "RAGING TIGER BOLT!"

     Ranma's attack was composed of blue energy and was shaped 

like an oval as it collided with Ryoga's fireball. For a moment, it 

appeared as if the two attacks would cancel each other out. Then 

Ranma's attack blasted through Ryoga's and struck him full force 

in the chest. Ryoga screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. He 

then looked up and said, "N-no way! Nobody could defeat my 

Roaring Lion Bullet!"

     "Says you!" Ranma replied as he began powering up his chi 

again. "Your chi attack is based on your emotions, specifically 

your depression! My chi attack not only uses my feelings of 

determination, but it also absorbs power from nature! Like this!" 

Ranma's eyes began glowing red, then flared as he launched 

another attack.

     "CAT'S EYE BEAMS!"

     Twin beams of red-hot energy lanced forth and struck Ryoga. 

The lost boy's body flared anew with pain as he felt a searing heat 

envelop him. Before he had time to even scream Ranma made a 

slashing motion with his right arm.

     "CRESCENT SLASH!"

     A large blast of red energy shaped like a quarter moon flew 

forward. Ryoga barely managed to duck under the attack. The 

crowd watched in awe as the attack flew onward and struck the 

nearby gymnasium, easily slicing off a large section of the roof.

     Ryoga was in serious pain as he saw Ranma beginning to glow 

with an intense aura. <I have to stop him!> Concentrating what 

little strength he had, Ryoga released his most powerful attack.

     "ULTIMATE SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

     A huge green ball of energy exploded upward from Ryoga and 

started to descend on Ranma. However, just as it was about to 

crash down on top of him, Ranma's eyes became solid red and he 

let loose his technique.

     "ULTIMATE NEKO KEN, FINAL ATTACK! BERSERKER 

RAGE!"

     Ranma's aura flared as he moved forward at a speed that 

registered as a trailing blur. The green fireball impacted 

harmlessly at the spot where Ranma had been a nanosecond 

before. Before Ryoga had even a chance to react, his opponent 

was already upon him.

     Ranma leapt up and began subjecting his opponent to an intense 

mauling. His hands shaped into claws and began slashing at his foe 

with a ferocity that made his Tiger Claw Frenzy technique seem 

tame. In less than one second, Ryoga was slashed more than two 

thousand times! His body jerked and swayed as it was thoroughly 

shredded. As the last slash went by, Ranma grabbed the battered 

boy and threw him up into the air. Concentrating his chi he leapt 

up after him to deliver the final hit.

     Just as Ryoga was starting his downward descent, Ranma 

crossed his arms together, then whipped them out in downward, 

diagonal slashes. His claws trailed blazing arcs of energy, which 

enveloped the lost boy and exploded. Ryoga landed on his face in 

a torn up heap. Although he had received far deeper cuts and 

gashes than Mousse did, Ranma had made certain that the 

technique had rendered him unconscious and not dead. He lightly 

landed on the mat a few feet away and waited.

     The audience stared in absolute silence as they all looked to 

the judges. The referee ran up to the beaten form of Ryoga and 

checked for signs of life. A moment later, he signaled to the 

judges that the Hibiki boy would recover, and the head judge 

announced Ranma to be the winner of the tournament.

     The crowd that was composed of Himoto students cheered him 

with an ovation that was deafening. However, the Furinkan High 

students watched in shocked silence. One stranger had defeated 

their best fighters and now, they were going to pay for their loss.

     Ranma looked with a puzzled expression at the Furinkan High 

side of the crowd as he was carried off on the shoulders of 

excited shoulders of his fellow students. <Why are they so sad? I 

mean, it was only just a tournament. It's not like they had lost 

something really important to them, did they?>



To be continued



Author's Notes

     Below, you'll find a small explanation of each of Ranma's 

special moves.

     Tiger Claw Frenzy: This is the original Cat Fist technique, but 

is under Ranma's conscious control. In the anime, we've seen him 

shred through tree trunks and other materials within seconds. Its 

speed is even greater than the Chestnut Fist. It is fast and it is 

extremely useful for close-quarters, able to deliver an average of 

six hundred strikes per second! It doesn't have much in terms of 

damage, compared to his other techniques.

     Rip Claw Slash: By focusing his chi, Ranma is able to 

strengthen the power of his cat strikes to the point in which they 

are able to slice through stronger materials such as stone and even 

tempered steel. He is not able to deliver many strikes with this 

technique, but he doesn't need to since the skill can cause greater 

damage.

     Cat's Eye Beams: Through some unknown process that is 

inherent in both his human and tiger form, Ranma can shoot out 

beams of heat or concussive force. The range and the extent of 

damage of the beams are not yet known but Ranma has been able 

to melt metals with them.

     Raging Tiger Bolt: Unlike the Moko Takabisha that we know in 

the mange and anime, this chi blast is far stronger than the normal 

Shi Shi Hokodan. It does not draw its power from Ranma's ego or 

pride, but rather from his determination. Since he is patterned 

after a tiger, his will to survive is far greater than his desire to be 

the best. His animal form is a thing of nature, so Ranma is able to 

tap into nature's power. His journey through China has also helped 

him as he learned from masters who were able to tap into the chi 

of their environment.

     Crescent Slash: A variation of the Raging Tiger Bolt that is 

flattened out and given an edge for cutting. Ranma is able to slice 

though materials from a distance with it.

     Berserker Rage: Ranma's finishing move, in which he allows 

himself to partially submerge into the ferocity of his beast form. 

Ranma is able to rush toward his opponent at unbelievable speed 

and deliver an amplified version of the Tiger Claw Frenzy. The 

damage is still the same, but at four times the speed! The final part 

of the move is actually a midair Rip Claw Slash with both hands. In 

this case, Ranma had purposely held back, as he knew that a full-

powered strike would have sliced Ryoga to pieces!

     In any case, I hope the rewrites so far has cleared up some of 

the discrepancies and explained a few things. I intend to continue 

on as I go along.



