Cat Fist Fury



Ranma and the gang are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. You 

know the rest.



                                  Chapter 7

                              The Tiger of Tokyo



     Ranma sighed as the last student swallowed his spoonful of 

hair-restorer. As the boy said thank you and left, the Neko Ken 

fighter looked at the table. As expected, all the bottles were empty 

and not a single drop of the Chinese formula was left in Japan. As 

he began cleaning up, he looked at his watch and saw that it was 

nearly 8:30. Behind him, Nabiki, Akane and Ukyo came toward 

him as the crowds dispersed. 

     "Hey Cojiro! We'd like to thank you again for all you've done 

for us today!" Ukyo said.

     "No problem!" Ranma replied as he tossed the bottles into a 

nearby trashcan. "Anyway, I better get back home! I've got class 

tomorrow and I start my new job too."

     "Where do you work?" Nabiki asked.

     "It's a little coffee shop near downtown Tokyo. I have a part-

time job as a cashier and server."

     "Say Cojiro," Ukyo said. "You've done so much for us today, 

how about coming over to my restaurant? I'll treat you to my best 

okonomiyaki! On the house!"

     Ranma smiled as he thought back to the times when he and 

Ukyo had played as kids. He remembered that no one could make 

okonomiyaki like his Ucchan. However, he also remembered the 

bad memories associated with his relationship with her, and 

decided to leave that aspect in the past. "Thanks for the offer, 

Ukyo but I really got to be going. Maybe another time?"

     Ukyo was clearly disappointed at being turned down, but 

nodded. "Well, just so you'd know, my offer still stands. Come in 

anytime! So long guys!" The chef waved her hand and walked off.

     Ranma turned his attention to the Tendo sisters and nodded to 

them. "Well, it's been quite a day!"

     "I'll say!" Nabiki agreed with enthusiasm. Akane was still a bit 

miffed at Ranma, but she couldn't help but concur with her sister. 

The principal was last seen heading out of Tokyo, still lamenting 

about his shaved head. She fingered her newly restored hair. It was 

almost the same length as it had been before the tournament. 

Ranma's hair-restorer had also given Nabiki a mane of brown hair 

that went a little past her shoulders. By tomorrow, everyone would 

no longer be sporting the 'principle-approved' hairstyles.

     Of course, this did not mean that Ranma was on Akane's good 

side. Boys were all the same after all. They were all stupid jerks 

that were only to be pummeled into the ground.

     "By the way. I didn't see Ryoga, Mousse, Shampoo or Kuno 

today. Something happen to them after the tournament?" Ranma 

asked.

     "Kuno's still in the hospital as far as I know." Akane answered.

     "Hospital?" Ranma asked with some concern. "I didn't hurt him 

that much at the contest, did I?"

     "No." Nabiki affirmed. "It was after you won. He was the first to 

get his head shaved and when the rest of the school found out 

about the contract, he was pounded into Intensive Care!"

     "Serves him right!" Akane half-yelled. "That idiot!"

     "Okay" Ranma replied slowly. "And what about Ryoga?"

     "What else?" Nabiki said. "He got lost and hasn't been seen 

since. I'm sure you've heard about how bad he is with directions."

     "Don't pick on him!" Akane spat out. "It's not his fault!"

     Ranma saw Akane's temper rise and changed the subject. "And 

the two Chinese students?"

     "Lucky for them, they aren't full-time students. They're taking a 

few correspondence courses and only come to school three days a 

week. They weren't here when the haircut rule came into effect. 

They'll be back tomorrow. They run a ramen shop a block away 

from where we live."

     Ranma nodded as he started to leave. "Well, it was nice meeting 

the two of you, but I have to get going. Bye!" Without a second 

thought, the martial artist jogged off and rounded a corner.

     "Hey wait up!" Nabiki called as she followed him with Akane 

behind her. However, by the time they got to the corner, Ranma 

was gone.

     "Where did he go?" Akane asked.

     "I don't know, he just vanished."

     "Oh well, it's not like we really need him anymore." Nabiki's 

sister shrugged as she ran her hand through her hair.

     "Akane, are you ever going to realize that not all boys are bad?"

     "Hah! All boys are the same! They're nothing but perverts and 

idiots! They always want something! I bet that guy had an ulterior 

motive for restoring our hair and beating up the principal! They 

always do!"

     Ranma was already running across rooftops at a good clip, 

feeling good about himself. Thanks to his hair-restorer, the 

students of Furinkan were no longer angry with him, except for 

Akane. Ranma had to almost shove the tonic down her throat, 

before Nabiki had convinced her to take it. He was quite annoyed 

at how Akane regarded him. Here he was,just trying to be nice and 

she didn't even bother to say 'thank you.' He couldn't believe that 

anyone would be so ungrateful. Whenever he looked at Akane, she 

would turn her nose up at him. Ranma sighed as he continued on. 

     His long strides quickly made distances shorter. His footsteps 

were light and looked like he was barely touching the roof tiles. 

When he was a sufficient distance away, he stopped and looked 

around. He saw that he was in an area that was relatively dark and 

less populated. That suited him just fine. It had been several days 

since he had been able to run freely in his tiger form. 

Transforming into that shape to scare off the principal's henchmen 

had been fun, but he needed more exercise, and a chance to satisfy 

the occasional need to romp around in his beast mode. 

     Early on, he had discovered that much of his behavior stemmed 

from his feral state. He found out, that by spending some time in 

his tiger body, he gained far better control over his animal urges 

as a human. He also needed to eat in his tiger form every now and 

then, since he would become somewhat weaker if did not do so. 

That was one of the reasons he chose an apartment that was near 

the city limits. Not only was it remote, but whenever he had the 

need to go hunt something, he wouldn't have far to go. A few miles 

from Tokyo were several forest areas that he could use to track 

deer and fish in the mountain streams.

     Tonight was one of those times. The fight with the principal and 

his henchmen, plus the short transformation, had gotten his blood 

up. It was time for him to stretch his legs, all four of them. He let 

off a loud roar, then triggered the change. An instant later, a 

shadowy form bounded off into the night.



     At a small restaurant known as the Nekohanten, two figures 

were reviewing a videotape in a room above the establishment. 

The screen showed a familiar scene.

     "ULTIMATE NEKO KEN! FINAL ATTACK! BERSERKER 

RAGE!"

     Shampoo flinched slightly as she watched Ryoga get ripped 

apart by his opponent. The diminutive and extremely old person 

beside her observed the scene with interest. She was less than two 

feet tall and was balancing on a wooden staff that was three times 

her height. She had long silver hair. To the casual observer, she 

would seem like nothing more than an old lady that couldn't 

possibly be a threat to anyone. But Shampoo and Mousse knew 

better.

     Cologne was a matriarch of the Joketsuzoku. In her three 

hundred years of life, she had amassed a formidable array of 

fighting skills and considerable knowledge in many fields, 

including pressure points and magic. Despite her extreme age, she 

was considered one of the most formidable martial artists in the 

world. Those who knew of her were very careful not to cross her. 

She was not someone to take likely. When she saw something that 

would be of great worth to her, there would be very little to stop 

her in obtaining it. And what she saw on the VCR was very valuable 

indeed.

     When the scene ended, she turned to her great-granddaughter. 

"So this is the one who defeated you?"

     Shampoo nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "Yes Great-

grandmother! He is Cojiro! Shampoo's airen!"

     "Have you given him the Kiss of Marriage?"

     Shampoo's expression became somewhat sadder as she bowed 

her head and said, "Not yet. Shampoo no find him! Try to look for 

him after tournament, but no one know where he lives! Went to 

Himoto yesterday but he already gone! Too busy at restaurant 

today to go look for him!"

     "Then it is not yet official! You know our laws, Shampoo. You 

must give him the Kiss of Marriage to validate your claim on him! 

Should another Amazon be defeated by him and give him the Kiss, 

then your chance will be lost!"

     "Is good thing no one else but Shampoo in Tokyo!"

     "Not for long! I have just received a letter from the village. 

Mascara is organizing a husband-hunting expedition and will soon 

be arriving! She'll certainly begin tracking this Cojiro as soon as 

she learns about him! She'll be bringing Conditioner, Bubbles, 

Brush and Comb with her!"

     "What?! Aiya! Shampoo must find quickly then! No let stupid 

Conditioner or other Amazons get this one! He better than Ryoga 

and much, much better than Mousse!"

     "Indeed! I had hoped I could fashion Ryoga into a good addition 

to the tribe, but his shortcomings and his infatuation with Akane 

Tendo are just too much trouble. Mousse is pathetic! This one 

however"

     "He is strong, handsome and very, very good fighter!"

     Cologne nodded. "Although I am curious about his fighting 

style. I wonder how he has been able to overcome the madness of 

the dreaded Neko Ken. No one else has even come close to 

conquering the resulting fear of cats, much less use the technique 

on a conscious level. He has certainly improved upon it. Be 

certain to find out all you can about him when you give him the 

Kiss of Marriage."

     "No worry Great-grandmother! Shampoo will find!"

     A short distance away, another person was also having thoughts 

about the only master of the Neko Ken. He was not happy at the 

way things were turning out.

     <Damn you Cojiro!> Mousse fumed. <Shampoo is mine! I'll 

make you pay for stealing her away from me!>



     Some distance away, a huge saber-toothed cat was bounding 

across rooftops with a grace that defied its size and mass. 

Ranma's run made him euphoric as he dashed along with nary a 

care. It felt good to leave behind the responsibilities and trappings 

of the human world, if only for a little while. After another half-

hour of leaping and running, he dropped down to an alleyway to 

rest and get his bearings.

     Ranma discerned that he was in the less traveled areas of the 

shopping districts. Very few people frequented the sidewalks at 

this late hour. The transformed martial artist looked around and 

saw that there were many stray cats wandering around. It was then 

that he saw something approach.

     Looking closer with his night vision, he saw that it was a van, 

which belonged to the animal shelter. It stopped near an 

intersection and two men came out, both were holding nets. 

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he watched the two go about their jobs, 

which in this case was rounding up stray cats. He saw many of the 

felines scatter as they tried to elude their pursuers. Several of 

them headed toward the alley where Ranma was hidden. As he 

backed further into the shadows to avoid detection, his sharp 

hearing picked up the conversation between the two men.

     "Hey Akira! Some of them went into that alley!"

     "Well, go get them Shirato! We're still about twenty cats under 

our quota!"

     "Right!" Shirato replied as he walked toward the alley. The man 

trotted off into the direction of the strays and called out, "Here 

kitty, kitty, kitty!"

     A minute later, Akira was putting his catches into the van and 

waiting for his partner to emerge. He looked back toward the dark 

alley and called out to his friend. "Hey Shirato! You found any 

back there?"

     "Hard to tell!" Shirato replied. "I forgot my flashlight and it's 

pretty dark in here! Wait a sec! I think I see something moving 

around in here!"

     "Well get the net on it!"

     "Right!"

     A second later he hears the distinctive whoosh of a net, then 

Akira nearly jumped out of his pants when a second sound pierced 

into the evening.

     "YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! IT'S A MONSTER!!!"

     Akira quickly took out his tranquilizer rifle and began running 

toward the alley. He stopped suddenly as he sees his partner come 

screaming out of the alley and running as if the devil was after 

him. (guess who he found?)

     The screaming man crashed into his coworker and both went 

tumbling down to the pavement. The two struggled with each other 

for a few minutes before Akira finally managed to rap on his 

friend's head with the butt of the rifle. This stunned Shirato back 

to a state of coherence.

     "What's wrong Shirato? What did you find there?"

     "I-I-I-It's huge!" Shirato stammered. "I s-s-s-saw a b-b-b-big 

tiger in there!"

     "A tiger? Have you been drinking again?"

     "N-N-N-N-N-No! I swear! I-I-I-I-I haven't touched a drop! I 

went in there and a saw a big black shape moving around! I thought 

it was some big tomcat, so I netted it. It then stood up and grinned 

at me! I saw fangs that were bigger than Ginsu knives! That 

monster must have be larger than an American car!"

     "Oh come off it!" Akira said in an irritated tone. "We haven't 

heard of any reports of any escaped tigers from the city zoo 

today! If one were roaming the streets, they would've contacted us 

by now! I think you've been chugging down a few bottles of sake 

behind my back! The boss knows about your drinking problem!"

     "No! I swear! I haven't touched a drop in weeks! Besides, I 

don't think this tiger is from the zoo!"

     "What makes you say that?"

     "It's a lot larger than the ones I saw at the zoo and it has a pure 

black coat! No stripes!"

     "No stripes?" Akira repeated in a disbelieving tone. "Was it a 

lion?"

     "I don't think it was a lion. It didn't have a mane or anything and 

it looked more like a tiger. It's also got a set of canines that are at 

least SIX inches long!"

     "NOW I know that you've been at the bottle again! What you're 

describing has been extinct for thousands of years!"

     "What are you talking about?"

     "I saw what you're describing on a documentary once. They're 

called saber-toothed tigers! Now are you telling me that you just 

netted a saber-toothed tiger in that alley?"

     "Well, I wouldn't say netted." Shirato said reluctantly.

     "And what would you say?"

     "The net only fit over its head! It used those oversized teeth to 

bite through the net like it was chewing spaghetti!"

     "Okay that does it! I'm reporting you to the boss! This will be 

the third time you'll be written down for being intoxicated on the 

job!"

     "No! Akira, I swear! I am stone cold sober! If you don't believe 

me, then go see for yourself!" 

     "Fine! I will!" Akira and his partner got their feet and began to 

approach the entrance to the alley. Akira held up his tranquilizer 

gun while Shirato cowered behind him. Just before they entered 

the alley, they heard a sound that caused them to freeze in their 

tracks. Akira began to raise his rifle to eye level as they waited.

     A moment later, a large, black tomcat came strutting out into 

the street and sat on its haunches. It looked at the two men and 

then yawned, displaying its teeth at the two before scurrying off 

into the shadows.

     Akira then looked at his partner with an irritated expression. He 

then said in a sarcastic tone, "Well you were right. It was a bigger 

than normal cat and had a black coat. And I have admit, those teeth 

looked PRETTY scary!"

     Shirato could only reply with a sheepish grin.

     Ranma watched from the top of a nearby fire escape as the two 

men climbed into their van and drove off. Satisfied that he had 

evaded detection, he bounded off to continue his run. He made a 

mental note to limit his runs in the city. Not that he couldn't have 

handled those two, but the resulting media explosion would have 

caused people such as the police, hunters and scientists to be after 

him. Many of those people were of the shoot-first-and-ask-

questions-later variety, and Ranma was not willing to find out if he 

was bulletproof.

     As he continued on with his nightly run, he soon came across 

another darkened alley. Below he saw an old woman that was 

desperately trying to hold onto her handbag, in which a purse-

snatcher was trying to abscond with it. The two went on with this 

little tug-of-war with the old lady screaming for help. In another 

instant, the mugger ripped the bag free of its carrying strap and 

bolted away from his victim. That was when Ranma grinned and 

decided to intervene.

     The mugger ran at a fast clip, hoping to get away as before the 

woman's screams alerted someone. However, five seconds after 

he started to flee, something heavy landed on top of him. He fell 

onto the pavement and felt the wind knocked out of him. Hearing 

the woman's screams become even louder, he desperately tried to 

get to his feet. However, whatever had knocked him down was also 

pinning him to the ground. His adrenaline started pumping and his 

face became pale as he heard a low and menacing growl above 

him. He felt a hot breath on his back and neck and slowly turned 

his head to see what was keeping him down.

     Officer Hanzo Shamato was just exiting the coffee shop and 

heading back towards his squad car when he heard a women 

scream from a nearby alley. Dropping his cup, he sprinted off 

toward the source of the noise, drawing his gun at the same time. 

An instant later he heard another scream, this time it was a man. 

He then heard the sounds of something being shredded and then a 

man came running out of the alley. His clothes were tattered and 

he was screaming hysterically. When he saw the uniformed 

officer, he made a beeline toward him and then cowered behind 

the confused policeman.

     "HELP! It's after me!"

     "What's after you?" Hanzo asked.

     "It's that monster! Arrest me please! Lock me up! Just keep that 

thing away from me!" The mugger pointed a trembling hand at the 

entrance to the alley.

     The officer aimed his gun at the shadows and waited. A moment 

later, the old woman emerged from the alley with her purse in 

hand. Hanzo did a double take from the woman to the mugger, who 

was still trembling like a leaf. He saw the broken strap on the 

purse and assumed what had happened, knowing that the old 

woman would give her testimony. He then shrugged and put the 

cuffs on the mugger while saying, "Well I have to admit, she does 

look a LITTLE dangerous!"

     Above the three people, on the rooftop of a nearby shop, 

Ranma smiled as he bounded away.

     It was an hour after that incident when the transformed martial 

artist decided that it was time for him to head home. As he started 

off toward his apartment, he began to smell something. It was the 

faint odor of something burning. Concentrating on the smell, he 

turned his head and saw a bright light in the distance, flickering 

like a fire? He saw a small column of black smoke rise into the 

night sky. Acting on curiosity, he decided to head toward the light. 

Within ten minutes, Ranma had covered the distance and came to 

the scene.

     It was one of the more older buildings in Tokyo that was 

scheduled for demolition. Most of the surrounding buildings were 

already demolished and the structure stood alone in an empty lot. 

It was a five-story building and most of the windows were boarded 

up. For some reason, it had caught on fire. Judging from the size 

of the blaze, the derelict had been burning for fifteen minutes or 

so. The foundation was engulfed in flames and it looked like the 

rest of the building would soon follow. Ranma then picked up the 

sounds of fire engines in the distance and assumed that this would 

be taken care of. He was about to turn around when he suddenly 

heard a high-pitched scream of a young girl. Turning back toward 

the sound, he focused his keen night vision and hearing on the 

source of the scream. Below him on the streets, the fire trucks 

screeched to a halt as fire fighters came out to begin their efforts 

to control the blaze. Ranma's eyes widened in shock as he saw 

what was on the soon-to-be-collapsed roof.

     The girl was about five years old and was wearing a tattered 

dress. She was barefoot and thin. She screaming and desperately 

waving to someone on a building from across the street. Ranma 

looked over and saw a women on the ground, calling back to the 

child. Assuming that the woman was her mother, Ranma decided 

to get involved. Looking back toward the roof, he saw that the 

structure was beginning to moan and shift as the fire ate away at 

the supports. The little girl coughed and wheezed as the smoke 

seared her lungs. Small fires began to eat away at the roof and it 

seemed that it would give way any second.

     Ranma looked at the distance between the roof of the burning 

building and the one nearest to it. He headed toward it. When he 

got there, he saw that the distance between the rooftops was about 

a hundred feet. <Hmmmm. Too far for me to jump as a human, 

even with my enhanced strength. I could only make a running jump 

like that in my tiger form. Problem is, I doubt that roof could 

support my weight when I land! What to do?>

     Ranma pondered the problem for a moment before deciding on 

a course of action. His timing had to be perfect. He then backed 

away to the other side of the roof, then crouched down. Tensing 

his muscles, he took a deep breath, said a quiet prayer and sprang 

forward. As he ran toward the edge, he built up as much speed as 

he could. He let off a huge roar as he leapt off the edge.

     The crowds below were startled when they heard the roar. 

Bystanders and fire fighters alike simultaneously looked up and 

saw a black shape jumping above them. Wild speculation began 

amongst them as they pointed to at the shape. Suddenly, a section 

of the third floor of the building exploded, sending flames and 

debris everywhere. The crowds scattered as the entire building 

shifted to one side. The resulting confusion and smoke was 

enough to obscure the unidentified shape at just the right time. 

     Ranma had just hit the apex of his jump when the explosion had 

occurred. It was mere coincidence that the explosion had 

obscured him from sight when he triggered his transformation. As 

he made his downward descent toward the roof, he changed back 

into his human form. He landed on the roof and performed a tuck 

and roll to lessen the impact. Fortunately for Ranma, his human 

form weighed far less than his beast form.

     Quickly getting to his feet, he looked around and saw the girl 

cowering near a skylight. "P-P-Please! Help me!"

     The martial artist nodded as he swept up the child in his arms 

and began looking for a way off the roof. Unfortunately, as he 

took a step forward, his foot found a weak spot in the roof. The 

two of them let out a scream as they fell through. They tumbled 

down toward the floor beneath them. Ranma acted on instinct and 

shifted to his tiger form, knowing that it could take the impact 

better than his human body could. Twisting his feline body so that 

he would be between the girl and the ground, the two plummeted 

downward. 

     The two fell into and through the fifth floor, and landed down 

into the level below it. Ranma felt his body ache with pain and heat 

when they landed with a thump. He felt a sharp pain in his right 

flank when they hit the floor. Shaking his head to clear it, he got to 

his feet and looked down. The girl had passed out, either from 

smoke inhalation or from seeing him transform. Either way, he 

had no time to ponder it. The building gave a final shudder and 

began to collapse in on itself. 

     Ranma desperately looked around for an escape exit. He 

spotted a window that was blocked by debris and flames. Knowing 

that he would have only one chance, he began focusing his chi. His 

eyes glowed with red light as he prepared to release the energy. 

He let off a roar and fired off twin beams of force at the window.

     The wall was blown out, leaving a huge hole in it, just as the 

building started its downward descent into oblivion. Ranma 

quickly used his teeth to snatch up the girl by the back of her 

dress. He then made a mad dash toward the opening as the floor 

rumbled beneath him. Just as the floor gave way, he leaped out of 

the building.

     The derelict crashed to the ground, causing the fire fighters and 

the crowds to pull back. They did not see Ranma and the girl exit 

the building from the other side as the tiger landed on all fours 

near an adjacent lot. Ranma carefully set the girl down and looked 

back at the wreckage. It had been a near thing.

     Looking down at the girl, he saw that she was still breathing but 

a bit dazed. Hoping to get her to come around, he leaned down and 

gave her face a gentle nuzzle with the side of his huge head. She 

stirred a bit, then coughed as her lungs cleared themselves. She 

then turned her head and gazed up at the tiger above her.

     <Uh oh! Here it comes!> Ranma was fully expecting the girl to 

scream in terror at the sight of him. During his travels in China, he 

had often gotten that response whenever he was a tiger. However, 

the girl's reaction to him was anything but that. The girl smiled as 

she reached up with her tiny hands and began stroking the sides of 

his face.

     Ranma was a little more than surprised at her lack of fear 

toward him. He was even more surprised when she said in a happy 

voice, "Nice kitty! You want to be my pet?'

     The moment was shattered at that moment when a scream was 

heard. Ranma turned his head. He saw that it was the girl's mother 

and she wasn't happy to see her child under some animal that 

could devour her daughter in one bite.

     "HELP! SOMEONE! A MONSTER HAS MY AIKA!"

     The woman's screams instantly alerted the police, who had 

arrived at the area to perform crowd control. When they looked in 

the direction of the woman's screaming, their eyes widened at the 

sight of a huge, black saber-toothed tiger. Quickly drawing their 

guns, they began running toward the transformed martial artist.

     Ranma knew that things were about to get ugly. Although he 

hated to run from a fight, this was one of those times when 

discretion was the better part of valor. Taking a final glance at the 

little girl, the Neko Ken fighter broke out into a run. He leapt 

toward a nearby-parked car and used it as a springboard to launch 

himself up to a nearby roof. In an instant, he disappeared into the 

night.

     Back at the empty lot, the woman swept up her child and held 

her tight. She was constantly weeping as paramedics led her to a 

waiting ambulance to treat her daughter. Police were already 

trying to ask the child for information about the tiger, but all she 

would say was, "Can I keep him?'

     An hour later, Ranma, as a human, staggered into his apartment 

and headed straight toward the bathroom. Leaning over the sink, he 

began to wipe the grime and dirt that he had received from the 

night's activities. His body was sore and sported a few minor cuts 

and burns. However, these injuries were of no concern to him. The 

former son of Genma Saotome had discovered that his body had 

extraordinary healing capabilities after the accident at Jusenkyo. 

The scratches and burns would be completely healed within the 

hour without even a trace of a scar. The bruised ribs he had 

received from the fall would no longer ache by morning. 

     <Man! That wasn't what I had in mind when I wanted some 

exercise! I guess from now on, I better not transform in the city 

too much! I have a feeling that tonight's adventure is going to 

make the morning news!>

     With these thoughts, Ranma stripped off his clothes and 

stepped into the shower, eager to wash away the tension the 

evening had caused.



     The very next morning at the Tendo residence, the head of the 

family was reading the front-page article about a saber-toothed 

tiger that had appeared to rescue a small child from a burning 

building. Soun Tendo raised an eye at the story, then noticed a 

couple of smaller articles about a man from the animal shelter and 

a police report. The worker from the animal shelter claimed he 

had netted the world's biggest alley cat, and the policeman 

reported that the mugger had begged him to put him jail after 

being stopped by a giant monster.

     On the television set, Nabiki and her sisters were watching the 

morning news. The top story was of course, the Tiger of Tokyo. 

The middle daughter turned up the volume as the announcer 

related the story.

     "This scene was taken by one of our camera men during the fire 

in downtown Tokyo. Although no one knows what this creature is, 

it apparently had saved a little girl from the burning building. 

According to the girl, whose name is being withheld by her 

mother's request, the creature is some kind of were-beast as she 

claimed that a person appeared on the roof and transformed in 

front of her eyes. Due to the smoke and confusion, the girl is 

unable to identify her rescuer. This clip is the only known footage 

of the Tiger of Tokyo!"

     The scene shifts and we see Ranma's tiger form bounding off 

into the night. Nabiki gave off a low whistle at the powerful, yet 

agile form. Already, her keen mind was formulating various 

endeavors on how she could profit on such a development. Akane 

and Kasumi were still watching the television, fascinated by the 

appearance of such a magnificent animal.

     In another part of the world, other people had also gotten wind 

of the recent developments in Japan. One such individual was a 

certain Theodore Diggers. He placed the phone receiver back on 

its cradle and then looked at the photo that had been sent to him by 

fax machine. His eyes slightly narrowed as he looked over the 

picture that his correspondent in Japan had sent him.

     "Hmmm very interesting! A saber-toothed were-tiger!" The 

achmage said to himself as he turned toward the door. He then 

called out for his children. "Gina! Brittany! Brianna! Could you 

please come here? We may be going on a little trip!"

     In a small port city in China, several women were preparing to 

board a fishing boat that was bound for Japan. An elderly woman 

who was about two feet tall was hopping on a staff and leading 

four young and beautiful girls onto the ship. Their destination was 

Nerima.



To be continued 



Author's Notes

     The rewrite is minor as I don't really know what to add to it. 

Most of the gaps in the previous chapters have been dealt with and 

now it's time to move on.



