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. Mousse fumed. 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. 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. 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. 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.