Cat Fist Fury

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahasi started this mess. Go blame her. (Just 
kidding).

<>: Thoughts

                           Chapter 16
                       Fall of the Tokyo Tiger
                             Part 2

     "Excuse me? Run that by me again?" Ranma didn't like the sound 
of it. He had already been worn out from battling with Pantyhose and 
Happosai. Injuries he had sustained from both fights were only just 
starting to mend, despite his amazing recuperative abilities. As soon 
as he heard that death threat, he immediately got into a stance.
     White Claw assessed his opponent's stance and went into one of 
his own. "I meant what I said. No outsider may possess even the 
tiniest fraction of the Neko Ken and live. I have spent the last ten 
years or so, exterminating all who have succeeded in gaining a 
foothold on my clan's techniques."
     "Liar!" Ranma spat out. "You can't have been killing any Neko 
Ken fighters! That method has been banned for more than fifty years! 
I'm the only one who has been put through that goddamned training 
since then!"
     White Claw smirked as he shook his head. "You are mistaken. The 
last KNOWN incident was indeed half a century ago. However, there 
have been several cases in which some foolish individuals have tried 
to learn our fighting style. All of them have been dealt with before the 
outside world had learned of them. I myself had killed about a dozen 
of them. They were all quite pathetic. Half of them couldn't even 
summon up the basic Cat Fist without being scared out of their wits. 
The others were trapped in their feral state permanently. Those 
fighters gave me more of a challenge, but not by much."
     The Neko Ken warrior shuddered a bit as he remembered what he 
was like before the trip to Jusenkyo. The thought of being 
permanently like an animal sent a shiver down his spine. "So what's 
this got to do with me?"
     "It's quite simple. My clan will not accept any outsider who knows 
our techniques, and those who do must be terminated. However, I 
also enjoy the thrill and pain of combat. The others were as nothing 
to my power. You are far more skilled and therefore will provide me 
with quite a bit of entertainment before you die."
     Ranma began to feel his rage boiling again. Why couldn't he be 
cut a break? "Listen, I don't know what the hell this is all about and 
right now I don't CARE! I'm REALLY not in the mood to fight now!" 
Ranma's battle aura started to flare again.
     "Too bad. I AM!" White Claw suddenly flared with an aura that 
was similar to Ranma's, then let off a roar that sounded just like a 
tiger's. He then leapt forward with a speed that caught the normally 
fast Tokyo Tiger completely off guard.

Meanwhile?
     "What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Ukyo asked as 
she talked to Shang and his friends. She had planned to meet up with 
Ranma after school and maybe invite him over to her restaurant. 
However, when she saw the carnage and the ambulances at the front 
of Himoto High she became concerned. It wasn't long before she 
overheard three boys talking among each other as they watched 
Happosai and his pupils being loaded into the ambulance and taken 
to the hospital. 
     The police were holding back the crowds as they inspected the 
still unconscious and monstrous form of Pantyhose. Ukyo was 
awestruck at the sight of the Jusenkyo-cursed martial artist, but when 
she saw those claw marks all over his body, she knew that there was 
only person who was capable of inflicting that much damage.
     She had introduced herself to Shang and the others and they 
began filling her in on what had happened.
     "What?! Genma was here?!" Ukyo unslung her spatula and looked 
around for the object of her ten-year vengeance. 
     "He was." Kai replied. "The paramedics took him, another guy and 
Happosai to the hospital. If you ask me, that guy and his friend got 
off real lucky, compared to what Kojiro did to that monster and 
Happosai."
     "Yeah!" Kosho added. "Kojiro turned those two into hamburger!"
     "Yeah, and that not all. We not believe until we saw with own 
eyes." Shang said. "You may not be ready for this."
     "What?" Ukyo asked.
     Shang took a deep breath and said, "Kojiro is the Tokyo Tiger!"
     "Yeah! We saw him change into a huge, black saber-tooth and 
then he turned into some kind of werewolf or something!" Kosho 
said.
     Ukyo gazed at the three for a long time. During their dates, Ranma 
had told her about his friends at Himoto and how much he liked them. 
It was obvious that he had not informed them of his alter ego as the 
Tokyo Tiger, but since they now know about it?
     "Hey, did you hear me? Kojiro is the Tokyo Tiger!"
     Ukyo nodded as she said, "Yeah, I heard you. So what?"
     'What do you mean so what?" Kai asked.
     "I mean, so what if Kojiro turns into a tiger? I knew that already."
     "YOU KNEW?!" All three boys gaped at her.
     The okonomiyaki chef shrugged and gave them a smile. "Hey, I'm 
his girlfriend."
     "GIRLFRIEND?!"
     While this conversation was going on, the young Amazons were 
busy conversing with the two Elders. 
     "Great-grandmother, why you stop us from helping Airen?" 
Shampoo asked. She and the others had been ready to jump into the 
fray, but the two matriarches had stopped them.
     "I doubt you would have been able to help son-in-law against 
Happosai." Cologne replied. "Besides, you would have placed 
yourself in great danger if you had tried to approach him."
     Mascara nodded. "It seems that the boy does not have complete 
control of the Neko Ken as we had believed. He is becoming a 
berserker, and that is one thing that we do not need in the village, 
especially a beserker that has the power of the Neko Ken."
     Cologne nodded as she added. "I fear that you five girls are 
partially responsible for driving your future husband to this state. 
Your constant pursuit of him has made him feel like a hunted animal. 
Perhaps it would be best to nullify the Kiss of Marriage Law in his 
case."
     "No!" All five girls said in unison. They had worked too long and 
too hard to give up their prize now. No one could make them so eager 
as Ranma had done, especially after they glimpsed his hybrid form.
     Cologne and Mascara shook their heads tiredly. Oh to be young 
and foolish again. The two Elders sighed as they gestured for their 
prot?g?s to follow them. It was time to rethink their plans. Ranma 
represented a perfect chance to strengthen the Amazon bloodlines, 
but it was clear that he needed some space and some help with his 
emotional problems. 
     As the went back to the Cat Caf?, the Elders had decided on a new 
course of action. They forbade the girls to approach Ranma, until 
they had a chance to talk with him. Offering to help him cope with his 
feral tendencies might lessen the animosity he had against the female 
warriors. When the Elders were sure that Ranma could control the 
battle rages, then they would allow the girls to court him, with NONE 
of their previous? enthusiasm. If they could get Ranma to trust 
them, then they could work on getting to know him. And should 
Ranma fall for one of them, then all the better.

Back down at street level?
     "So where did Ko-Chan go?"
     Shang pointed off to where they had seen Ranma heading off. 
"Shang not sure if Ukyo-san should go after Kojiro now."
     "Yeah, I mean he could rip you apart like he did to Happosai and 
that other guy." Kosho shivered at the memory.
     "My Ko-Chan would never do such a thing." Ukyo said 
confidently.
     "How do you know?" Kai asked.
     "Because, whatever else he may be, Ko-Chan would never hurt 
me." Ukyo replied. She smiled as she remembered how anguished he 
was when he found out about Genma's dirty trick a decade ago. She 
also remembered how much he wanted to rekindle their friendship 
and gone out with her, albeit reluctantly. She was pretty certain that 
Ranma would not harm her or anyone else, unless they were foolish 
enough to attack him first. She had to think of him like the tiger he 
turned into. As long as one didn't bother him, one would be safe. 
"Trust me, he's not like that. I mean, he listened to you Shang, didn't 
he?"
     Shang nodded as he remebered how close Ranma had come to 
being a murderer.
     "That means that he CAN be reached!" Ukyo declared as she 
began running off to where Ranma had gone off.
     The three boys stood where they were as they watched Ukyo 
disappear into the distance. They were a bit unsure as to what to do. 
They were more than frightened at the thought of facing off against 
the hybrid or tiger form of their friend. They had seen the blood in his 
eyes and his willingness to end Happosai's life. Though no one 
would mourn the passing of the pervert, murder was still murder. 
     However, they also got to thinking at what Kojiro had done for 
them as well. The school would have lost it atheletic funding if 
Ranma had not won the No Holds Barred Tournament. Kai was 
making big bucks with selling videos of Kojiro in action. Shang and 
Kosho were getting better in their martial arts with him sparring with 
them. Shang liked Kojiro the most as Kojiro gave him a kind of 
confidence that he never had before. Both Furinkan and Himoto 
owed a great debt to him and it was time that they started giving him 
some returns. One by one, the boys began following Ukyo's lead.
     As they began searching for Ranma, the person in question was in 
serious trouble?
     "TIGER CLAW FRENZY!"
     Ranma blurred forward with his claws, delivering 417 slashes at his 
adversary. To his amazement, White Claw not only evaded every 
swipe, but then countered with something even more deadly.
     "Not bad. Now try mine! WHITE CLAW STORM!"
     White Claw slashed forward at unbelievable speeds and each 
slash left a trailing flash of chi energy. Ranma winced and bit back the 
pain as he backed off with his arms crossed. When he got enough 
distance, he looked down at his arms and blanched. The sleeves of 
his school uniform was torn to shreds and he began bleeding from 
dozens of small cuts.
     Ranma couoldn't understand it. He had thought that he was the 
only master of the Neko Ken, but this guy was not to be believed. 
Not only had he countered each of his attack, but he was using much 
more powerful claw techniques than his own. His speed and strength 
had proven to be far greater than his and whatever blows and slashes 
that Ranma could land were simply shrugged off. They had been 
fighting nonstop for ten minutes and with Ranma on the verge of 
collapsing, things did not look good.
     Looking back up, he saw his foe nonchalantly lick the blood off 
one finger. The Neko Ken fighter began to feel his rage swell as he 
charged at his enemy to deliver a sidekick. However, as fast as he 
was, White Claw proved to be faster. He caught Ranma's 
outstretched foot with one hand, then began swinging Ranma around 
above his head. He then slammed Ranma into the roof of the building 
with such force, that the tiles were sent flying and the wood below 
buckled.
     CRASH! 
     Ranma fell through the roof and down into the room below. White 
Claw stepped back and waited. A moment later, he called down the 
gaping hole. "All too easy. Surely that wasn't all you were capabale 
of, was it?" A moment later, he was answered.
     "RAGING TIGER BOLT!"
     White Claw leaned out of the way as a blast of chi energy rocket 
up through the hole and into the sky. It was then that a black shape 
leapt out and landed in front of him, giving off a roar of anger.
     Ranma's opponent smiled as he gazed upon Ranma's hybrid form. 
"Hmmm? I was wondering when you would change. Perhaps now 
things will get more interesting!"
     Ranma let off another roar and he powered up his chi and leapt at 
him.
     "RIPCLAW SLASH!"
     White Claw simply smiled as he thrust out an arm with the palm 
open toward Ranma's throat. To an observer, it looked like a suicide 
maneuver, considering that Ranma had a longer reach than White 
Claw in his hybrid form. Then something unexpected happened. 
White Claw suddenly became a foot taller and furrier.
     Ranma's eyes widened as he saw the transformation, but it was 
too late for him to stop. His opponent's hand put a vice-grip on his 
neck and the Tokyo Tiger found himself beginning to suffocate. 
Ranma gripped the forearm in an effort to keep from choking as he 
was held up by one arm.
     "You fight with the ferocity that is worthy of our clan, yet you do 
not fight with your full power or the killer instinct!" The transformed 
White Claw said casually as he continued to squeeze. His hybrid 
form was similar to Ranma's except that he white fur and his eyes 
were gold instead of red. His tail swished back and forth as he 
continued, "Is this the great Tokyo Tiger?"
     Ranma began to gag as he felt the claws begin to dig into his flesh. 
He knew that he wouldn't last long. He also knew that the battle rage 
within had started to reach critical again. Ranma didn't want to sink 
into the depths of his primal emoti0ons, but time was running out. He 
thrashed about, hoping to kick out at White Claw, but he simply used 
his free hand to block each attempt.
     "Show me your true power or die!"
     "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Ranma's eyes glowed with 
a raging crimson and then fired off twin beams of hot chi. White Claw 
tilted his head to the side and only received a slight, glancing hit to 
his cheek. This was all the distraction Ranma needed to let go of the 
arm that held him and deliver a double Ripclaw Slash to White Claw's 
chest.
     "AAAAHHH!" White Claw let off a yelp in pain, but then threw 
Ranma hard down toward the ground.
     Ranma slammed into a wall and felt new pain in his back as he 
caused a deep depression in the concrete. He then slowly got to his 
feet as White Claw dropped down to the ground, making a perfect 
landing. He then smiled at Ranma with slight fangs as he touched a 
finger to his chest wound. "That was much better. So? do you have 
more?"
     Ranma couldn't believe it. Those two slashes alone would have 
sliced an ordinary person in half, but White Claw was treating it like a 
minor superficial cut. Ranma found himslef like a wounded and 
cornered tiger. There was no way out of the alley he had landed in 
and his opponent was coming to finish him off. He could feel his rage 
building and building. He knew that this was it. It was all or nothing. 
In order to win, he had to embrace the beast!
     "ULTIMATE NEKO KEN! FINAL ATTACK! BERSERKER RAGE!"
     White Claw stood motionless for a brief moment as Ranma sped 
forward, claws extended and chi blazing. Then he gave Ranma the 
biggest shock of his life.
     "FINAL ATTACK? CAT FIST FURY!"
     Ranma could only see a white blur suddenly dash toward him 
before he was introduced to a world of unimaginable pain.
     Meanwhile, Ukyo and the others were still searching the streets 
for their friend when they suddenly heard a scream. A scream they 
recognized as Ranma's. They saw a series light flashes being emitted 
from an alley and they rushed toward it. Ukyo was the first into the 
alley and what she saw was horrifying.
     Ranma was face down on the ground, his hybrid body covered in 
deep gashes and blood pooling onto the pavement. Standing above 
him was White Claw, in his human form and giving his defeated foe a 
frown. 
     "I must say, you were a bit more of a challenge than the others, 
but you still cannot compare to my skills. Perhaps it would be best if I 
were to put you out of your misery now."
     Ukyo's eyes widened as she saw the stranger raise a hand and 
then make a claw gesture that was similar to Ranma's Ripclaw Slash 
technique. When she saw that hand blaze with chi energy, she knew 
she had to act fast. With reflexes born from years of training, she 
threw three of her min-spatuals at White Claw's hand.
     White Claw caught the movement and then casually swatted the 
incoming projectiles away.
     Ukyo was undaunted as she took out bher large spatula and 
charged at him. "Leave him alone!" She was stopped dead in her 
tracks as her weapon was suddenly sliced to pieces. The hardened 
steel weapon fell apart into five neat pieces and she found herself 
unarmed against Ranma's opponent. She backed off a bit, but still 
looked for an opening.
     "Who might you be?" White Claw asked casually as he stood up 
and faced her. He then sniffed a bit and recognized the scent of 
Ranma on her. "Ah. I see. Are you his? mate?" He smirked at her.
     Ukyo blushed at the comment, but then remembered theat Ranma 
was seriously injured. "I'm his fiancee!" She replied with pride. "And 
if you think I'm going to let you kill him then?"
     White Claw cut her off. "It does not matter. He has already proven 
to be no challenge to my Neko Ken skills, and in accordance to my 
clan's laws, he must die!"
     Ukyo was surprised to hear that another claimed to know of the 
Neko Ken, but she then said, "That's only because he was too worn 
out from fighting Happosai and that other guy! No way could Kojiro 
lose to you!"
     "Really?" White Claw leapt to the top of a roof and said, "Then 
there might be hope for him yet." He then switched to his hybrid 
form, startling Ukyo and the others as they entered the alley. 
Fortunately, he was too far away for his pheromones to have any 
effect on her. "Tell Kojiro to rest up and train. Then we shall battle 
again! I hope that he will give White Claw a match worthy of the 
Felinar Clan before he dies! Farewell for now. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
     Ukyo shivered as he darted away and was gone. She then 
remebered Ranma and rushed to his side. She carefully rolled him 
onto his back and cradled his head in her arms. She was so distraught 
over seeing him in such a state, she started calling him by his real 
nickname. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she tried to rouse him. 
Running up towards them was Shang, Kai and Kosho. 
     "Ran-chan? Can you hear me? Ran-chan?"
     But Ranma did not respond?

To be continued?

Author's Notes
     Ain't I stinker, leaving you hanging like this? Well, the readers 
have been demanding that Kojiro be given a challenge and brother 
he's got one! Next chapter, Ranma will begin the long road to 
recovery and will have to come to terms with who he really is. More 
about the Neko Ken's history will be revealed as well as White Claw. 
Stay tuned!